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The Toronto Blue Jays are -150 favorites at BET99 tonight, and will look to bounce back after losing Game 1 of the series against the Kansas City Royals.

One of the lone bright spots in that game was Brett Bateman, and we're riding with him to stay hot in my Royals vs. Blue Jays prediction.

Let’s dive into my MLB picks for Wednesday, Aug. 26, and bring the units home.

Royals vs Blue Jays predictions

Royals vs Blue Jays best bet: Brett Bateman 2+ Hits/Runs/RBI (-150)

Brett Bateman has made an immediate splash with the Toronto Blue Jays since coming over at the deadline in a deal for Kevin Gausman.

Not for his power, but for his ability to grind out at-bats and get on base, which has immediately thrust him into the everyday leadoff role. That's my type of player. 

Just yesterday, Bateman recorded his sixth multi-hit game across his last nine and has scored at least one run in four of his last eight. With a .349 OBP against righties this season, we have way too many outs to cash this one.

Look for him to create some chaos on the base paths tonight.

COVERS INTEL:Randy Dobnak is a contact pitcher, which plays right into our hands with a contact-first hitter like Bateman. While his 1.58 ERA is nice, his underlying metrics and 4.74 xERA leave a lot to be desired. Owning a 14.8% K rate and a career-high .292 xBA, we should see plenty of opportunities tonight.

Royals vs Blue Jays same-game parlay (SGP)

If the Blue Jays have any chance of staying close in the Wild Card race, a win tonight will go a long way. Currently three games back, a bullpen day is the last thing they wanted after their latest injury to Shane Bieber. However, the last time they ran out their bullpen, they limited the New York Yankees to one run on four hits.

Toronto will need a similar outcome tonight if they want to stop the Kansas City Royals, who have won nine straight.

Royals vs Blue Jays SGP

• Blue Jays moneyline
• Alejandro Kirk 2+ H/R/RBI
• Brett Bateman 2+ H/R/RBI

Royals vs Blue Jays home run pick: Alejandro Kirk (+675) 

With limited at-bats against Dobnak, I'm running with the hottest hitter in the Blue Jays' lineup. Alejandro Kirk is on a 12-game hit streak in games he's started, which includes three homers and two doubles.

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt against a contact pitcher who throws a sinker 38% of the time - a pitch Kirk owns a .333 average against this season.

Let's see him run into one tonight.

Royals vs Blue Jays odds

• Moneyline: Kansas City (+130) | Toronto (-150)
• Run line: Kansas City +1.5 (-150) | Toronto -1.5 (+130)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (-115) | Under 8.5 (-105)

Royals vs Blue Jays trend

The Under is 6-0-1 in the Blue Jays' last seven home games vs. a right-handed starter. Find more MLB betting trends for Royals vs. Blue Jays.

How to watch Royals vs Blue Jays and game info

Royals vs Blue Jays latest injuries

Royals vs Blue Jays weather

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Today marks David Price’s 41st birthday.

Although Price was with the Blue Jays for just three months, those months were incredibly exciting.

The Blue Jays acquired him on July 30th, 2015, when the team was 52-51, tied for second place and six games behind the Yankees. After Price joined, the Jays went 41-18 and finished first in the AL East, sparking an exhilarating ALDS against the Rangers and a thrilling ALCS versus the Royals (though, unfortunately, it didn’t end in our favor).

Price posted an impressive 9-1 record in 11 starts for the Jays (remarkably earning 10 decisions) with a 2.30 ERA. However, he struggled during the playoffs.

The Jays finished six games ahead of the Yankees. While no single player can account for a 12-game swing over 59 games, the addition of Price (and Troy Tulowitzki) energized the team.

Off the mound, Price was a joy to have around. He was the team’s head cheerleader, loved Rogers Centre popcorn, and appeared to relish every moment. Reports highlighted his positive presence in the clubhouse, making him very hard not to like.

After the season, Price signed as a free agent with the Red Sox, agreeing to a seven-year, $217 million contract. Over five years, he posted a 46-24 record with a 3.84 ERA across 103 games (98 starts). While he may not have been worth every penny, he was solid—if somewhat inconsistent—and missed time due to injuries.

In February 2020, the Red Sox traded Price and Mookie Betts to the Dodgers. Price opted out of the 2020 season. In 2021, he went 5-2 with a 4.03 ERA in 39 games (11 starts). The following year, he was 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA in 40 relief appearances before retiring after the season.

Happy birthday, David. Wishing you a wonderful day.

Former Jays prospect Darin Mastroianni also turns 41 today.

Darin appeared on our top 40 prospects lists several times—ranked 10th in 2011, and previously 22nd and 26th.

The Jays lost him to the Twins on waivers before the 2012 season. He played parts of two seasons and three weeks with Minnesota, hitting .214/.286/.286 with 3 home runs and 25 steals (caught four times) in 121 games.

In April 2014, Toronto reclaimed him off waivers. He played just 14 games for the Jays, hitting .156/.156/.250. Afterwards, he moved on to the Phillies, Nationals, returned to the Twins (appearing in seven more MLB games), and then to the Rangers. He hasn’t played in the majors since 2016.

His best MLB season was in 2012, when he played 77 games and hit .252/.328/.350 with 21 steals. He excelled defensively in the outfield and was frequently used as a pinch runner or defensive replacement.

I had high hopes for Darin. In the minors, he drew walks, got on base, and was a standout base stealer—swiping 70 bags between Dunedin and New Hampshire in 2009. However, his lack of power led higher-level pitchers to challenge him, forcing him to earn his way on base by hitting.

Happy birthday, Darin.

Jayson Nix celebrates his 44th birthday today.

Nix enjoyed an eight-year MLB career, playing for eight different teams.

He played 46 games for the Jays in 2011, hitting .169/.256/.309 with four home runs. Nix then joined the Yankees, spending two seasons as a fill-in for the oft-injured or suspended Alex Rodriguez. He performed a bit better in New York, hitting .239/.307/.340 in 161 games over two years. Afterward, he played one final MLB season with three different teams.

Over his seven-year career, he hit .212/.282/.345 in 466 games.

Happy birthday, Jayson.

Imagine that you are a MLB pitcher. Perhaps you’re a fireballing southpaw, perhaps you’re a crafty control artist. The type of pitcher you are doesn’t really matter for our purposes (although if you imagined yourself as a knuckleballer, you’re a hurler after my own heart). Imagine that you’re facing the Phillies. First up is Trea Turner. He’s fast, and he’s good, but you get past him. Then there’s Kyle Schwarber. Your heart is in your throat as he takes mighty hacks at your offerings. You could swear you felt the wind from the last one buffeting your face. But finally, mercifully, you manage to make him take the K. Then Bryce Harper is up. You really don’t want to face him. But you have to. But you don’t really have to. You can just toss him some pitches outside; maybe you’ll get lucky and he’ll chase. You can probably handle whoever is taking cleanup for the Phillies; sometimes it’s Alec Bohm, and sometimes it’s Brandon Marsh, and they both have the potential to be dangerous, but they don’t keep pitchers awake at night like the opening trio did. You can risk a walk. Sure enough, the free pass comes to pass, and to the plate comes… Luis Arraez.

That is the nightmare scenario that has awaited opposing pitchers since the trade deadline. Imagine facing Schwarber and Harper knowing that the fourth man up is the Contact King, who you can strike out about as often as you can open your Christmas presents: once a year, if you’re good. One of the main cases for acquiring Arraez, and for hitting him in the cleanup spot, is that he would offer protection to the big sluggers. Having had Arraez in the fold for a few weeks, we can start to take stock: have opponents started to pitch to the Phillies’ leadoff trio differently now that Arraez looms in the spot after them? (All stats prior to Tuesday night’s game)

So far, no signs that pitchers are less willing to throw pitches outside the zone with Arraez at cleanup. Turner and Harper are taking more pitches outside this month than last, though I doubt that’s a meaningful increase.

What about the pitchers’ tendencies when the batter is ahead in the count, when the dread threat of a baserunner for Arraez to bring home is looming?

No real indication that pitchers are more reluctant to go outside when the batter has the advantage either. And I won’t make you look at another chart (yet), but two of them (Harper and Turner) are getting more pitches outside the zone when they’re in a three-ball count, although that’s getting into tiny sample sizes and subsequent lack of real meaning.

But that isn’t to say that nothing has changed for the Phillies who bat before the new guy. Both Harper and Turner have increased their walk rates month-over-month. And while Turner’s increase is small enough that it doesn’t seem terribly significant, Harper’s is notable: from 12.7% in July to 28% in August. As for how he’s walking so much more when he’s no more likely to get pitches out of the zone, there can really be only one explanation: he’s chasing less. 13% less than last month, to be specific. His in zone swing rate has dropped a bit too, from 71.1% t0 64.4%. He’s also missing less when he does swing in the zone, having cut his miss rate on pitches in the zone by more than half: 21.1% to 8.9%%. Perhaps he’s taking some cues from Arraez.

For the moment, that isn’t producing a different approach from opposing pitchers. But they won’t let that turbocharged walk rate stand for long. If Harper keeps this up, opposing pitchers may respond by tossing him more pitches in the zone. Of course, that creates a problem of its own. Do you put Harper on first with the three-time defending batting champ behind him? Or do you risk him putting one in the seats? There’s no good answer. Aren’t you glad you’re not a pitcher?

Oof. I wasn’t trying to tempt the baseball gods when I said that this Cubs team hasn’t had many of these, what I call, “true” blown saves. That is, a lead that gets to the ninth inning and is blown there. For some reason, I can’t readily lay my hands on the records of various teams when winning after eight innings. After a game like this, it’s an interesting thing to look at. The thing is, even the very worst teams often have an extremely lopsided wins to losses ratio. These games are unicorns for every team. By very nature, it’s a large subset. For instance, noted Cub late inning reliever had to sweat through protecting the Cubs lead after eight innings on Sunday. All of those games are in there.

This Cubs team is a very good one. Notwithstanding that they have a very large number of last team at-bat wins, they just generally have a ton of wins. Many of those games involving them scoring seven or more runs and not being particularly close. So I can say without laying hands on the numbers that the Cub record in these types of games is lopsided, despite what has been an extremely uneven year from their bullpen. The overall numbers have slowly crept into a reasonable range as this season has worn on. It’s hard to identify the right stat or basket of stats to evaluate a team bullpen. The Cubs are 11th in team bullpen ERA. 12th in team bullpen WHIP. Their opponent batting average drops down quite a bit, but their team bullpen BB/9 is sixth. It’s a feature of this team that they have a heavy focus on not issuing walks.

Even with this nightmare stretch with two of these blown ninth-inning leads in just five games on this road trip, the team has a 2.58 in the ninth inning or late (4th) per stats available on MLB.com. When I pull it back to the eighth or later, they drop to 16th (4.04). When I pull it back to the seventh or later, it is 3.61 (8th). If I change the tab to what they define as Late/Close, they don’t show ERA. In terms of WHIP, the Cubs are exactly middle of the road at 1.35 (15th).

I love to give a stat and then contextualize it where reasonable to do so. The blind spot for those seventh, eighth or ninth and later stats, again, is that the numbers from Sunday’s massacre in Seattle are in there. That can be one of the difficult things about trying to analyze how your team did in the line of fire so to speak. If you solely look at the thinnest margins, like Tuesday night’s game, where a one-run lead is being protected in the ninth, you have a very small sample. That can have blind spots for what was an otherwise pretty effective bullpen. But if you try to grab larger samples, it encompasses a lot of really low leverage games. Especially for this Cub team that has really piled up a lot of blow out wins.

So throw away the numbers. It’s highly unlikely that you are a casual Cub fan and also in here reading what I have to write. You’ve followed this team with some level of regularity. What is your honest assessment of the body of work of this year’s Cubs relievers? We have to contextualize it. You can say whatever you want about offseason decisions that went into bringing this very large group of players who have contributed for better or for worse to the overall 2026 Cubs bullpen. If I told you in spring training that there would be this volume of injuries. If I told you that most of the guys who were maybe going to work as multi-inning relievers would instead spend most of their time in the rotation, you’d have assumed this bullpen would be a dumpster fire. So contextualized, you thought this would be the Hindenburg, but this was more of a somewhat controlled burn.

The bullpen has been better than we’d have reasonably hoped given the adversity it has had to battle. At the same time, it has been uneven at best and has clearly been a problem at times. But the very simplest way to look at a bullpen, how may losses does it have? Wins and losses for individual pitchers can be folly. But as a group? There is no painting over it when the bullpen loses the game. The bullpen was handed either a tie or a winning game and then lost it (or they were handed a losing game, held things together while the offense took the lead and then lost it). The Cubs bullpen has 20 losses. That’s fourth fewest in baseball. That context is obvious, this team is usually leading and often by a lot. But on a pass/fail basis, it usually passes.

For amusement only, the bullpen is seventh in wins. I feel like that’s a bit more credit to the offense. There is nothing a bullpen can do to actively win a game. They can hold the line forever and the offense still has to do something to win it. Still, a 31-20 record out of the pen states that Cub bullpens are holding up a fair bit better than their opposition.

So there you have almost a 900-word essay on the 2026 Cubs bullpen. I grade it as solidly better than you’d probably expect and still definitely frustrating at times, particularly so with recency bias. Watching the two relievers you want on the mound late in a Cub postseason game give up a four-run lead over the last two innings was discouraging and frustrating to say the least. But this Cub bullpen has had to be resilient and it’ll bounce back from this.

Three Positives:

• Clay Holmes looks like a terrific deadline acquisition. Seven shutout innings, two hits, two walks, five strikeouts. I can construct an argument that the three Cub starters in a three game series should be Holmes, Kevin Gausman and David Peterson, the three in-season acquisitions who are currently in the Cub rotation.
• Michael Busch had a single, double, walk, RBI and run scored in four plate appearances. The results haven’t been there for him this year, but he’s still a very productive hitter.
• Ian Happ. After a day where I saw his name repeatedly trashed for being on the Cubs 150th anniversary team, it was fun to see him work a long at-bat and then hit a three-run homer in a game where the Cub offense hadn’t done much of anything to that point. He’s been an above average bat every single year of his Cub career, has four Gold Gloves, one All-Star appearance, was top 10 for Rookie of the Year, had a top 20 MVP season. He doesn’t have a single standout season, to be sure. But on a career basis? Year after year after year being very good. Yeah, he belonged.

Game 133, August 25: Diamondbacks 5, Cubs 4 (76-57)

Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Clay Holmes (.338). 7 IP, 25 BF, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 K
• Hero/Sidekick: (.166). Michael Busch/Ian Happ. Busch: 2-3, 2B, BB, RBI, R; Happ: 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, R

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Jacob Webb (-.694). IP, 5 BF, H, BB, 2 R (L 6-4)
• Goat: Daniel Palencia (-.221). 0.2 IP, 6 BF, 2 H, BB, 3 R
• Kid: Alex Bregman (-.109). 0-4, DP

Note: Webb’s WPA game score is the second lowest of the year, behind the loss Saturday. It also gives him the four lowest WPA scores of the year and five of the nine lowest. Ouch.

WPA Play of the Game: The Ryan Waldschmidt walk-off homer with two outs in the ninth. (.856)

Cubs Play of the Game: Ian Happ’s three-run homer. (.198)

Cubs Player of the Game:

Game 132 Winner: Kevin Gausman received 90 of 95 votes.

Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)

The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.

• Pete Crow-Armstrong +25
• Alex Bregman +22
• Ben Brown +13.5
• Carson Kelly +12.5
• Javier Assad +12
• Seiya Suzuki/Nico Hoerner -11
• Edward Cabrera -12.5
• Jameson Taillon -13
• Dansby Swanson -17
• Caleb Thielbar -18.5

Scoreboard Watching: Brewers lose (5.5 ahead of Cubs). Dodgers lose (4.5 ahead) to Braves (1.5 ahead). Diamondbacks (six back). Padres lose (five back). Phillies lose (three back).

Up Next: One more game to end this series and this trip against two teams in much more desperate situations than the Cubs. I always hate playing a team that might be playing with a little extra motivation. It definitely hasn’t served the Cubs well. The best they can do is split the trip by winning this game and the series. I snubbed Matthew Boyd (8-2, 4.15) in my comment above about potentially using the three in-season acquisitions to start a three game playoff series. That’s because Matthew has allowed 11 earned runs in 11.1 innings in his last two starts. That after a brilliant seven-start stretch. The Cubs need him to get back in the groove because he should replace Peterson in that three-game grouping.

33-year-old lefty Eduardo Rodriguez (13-4, 2.61) starts for the Diamondbacks. It’s easy to see he’s having a terrific year. It’s slowed down just a little at 5-1, 3.51 over his last seven. But really, even those numbers are still excellent. There are two games in that last seven, starts against the Cardinals 7/19 and the Padres 8/4 that are dragging the recent numbers down. In those two starts, he allowed 12 runs, 10 earner in just 8.1 innings. Both starts were at home. That said, for the year home (2.67) and away (2.54) are similar. He’s 9-1 with a 2.08 at night, so the day game does look like a little break.

This is a tough one. Find a way, win a game and a series.

The Luis Perales for Jake Bennett trade has been a major talking point among the fanbase this season. We have seen Bennett have success in Boston, while Perales has been up and down in AAA. However, we are finally going to get a chance to see Perales who will be debuting for the Nats as a reliever.

For a lot of the season, Perales has struggled to turn his electric stuff into whiffs. That has been changing the last couple of months though. In his last 37.1 innings since July 1st, Perales has 49 strikeouts. Command has still been a question mark for the 23 year old righty, but that swing and miss stuff is a big reason for his promotion.

The biggest key to unlocking more whiffs has been his splitter. Since July, Perales has been using that pitch a lot more and it has devastated hitters. For the season, hitters are whiffing 46.4% of the time against the offering. That pitch alone seems like enough for him to carve out a role as a high leverage arm, especially when combined with a fastball that regularly touches 100.

Perales’ command remains a work in progress. Even during this successful run lately, he has been walking a lot of batters. However, with his stuff, he does not need to be pinpoint. Perales can use his fastball, splitter and cutter to have a lot of success.

Interestingly, Perales got moved to a bullpen role where he throws in 2 inning spurts after spending most of this season as a starter. There are a couple potential reasons for this. The first one is to manage his innings. For the year, Perales is at 96.1 innings, which is actually a career high. In those innings, he posted a 3.64 ERA. He is also coming off Tommy John, which cost him virtually all of last season.

The Nats do not want Perales blowing past his career high in innings after barely throwing at all last year. Another reason is that this is a way for him to help the big league team right away. His command may not be ready to start in the big leagues, but his stuff is certainly MLB ready. If Clayton Beeter can have levels of success in the bullpen, Perales certainly can.

Perales has also been very good in this bullpen role. In his last three outings, he has gone 6 scoreless innings, allowing no runs, striking out 12 and walking just two. With his fastball and splitter, he could immediately be one of the Nats best relievers.

The Nats may want to try out Perales as a starter for longer, but honestly I think his home is in the bullpen. However, I think Perales can be one of the better relievers in the league. His arm is absolutely electric and he is already showing he is able to adapt to the role well.

This should be a very exciting debut for Nats fans. Perales will come in and light up the radar gun. However, his splitter is the real star of the show at the moment. If the strike-throwing is even mediocre, Perales can be a closer. Even if it is below average, he should make an impact for a long time. Buckle up and get ready to see some rocket fuel because Luis Perales is here.

Major League Baseball's 2026 playoff race is heating up as the season enters its final month, with plenty of uncertainty surrounding the wide-open wild-card races, particularly in the American League.

Entering play Wednesday, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have the top two wild card spots all but locked up, but there's seven teams separated by less than five games for the AL's final postseason berth. Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Rays try to fight off their AL East rivals for the top spot in the division.

In the NL, the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers lead their respective divisions, with the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies holding firm grasps on their wild card positions. The San Diego Padres currently sit third, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks for the last berth.

Here's a look at the latest in the MLB playoff race:

Through games played Tuesday, Aug. 25

AL wild card standings

Top three teams qualify for wild-card series

1. New York Yankees (74-57) +8 games
2. Boston Red Sox (73-59) +6.5 games
3. Cleveland Guardians (67-66)
4. Texas Rangers (66-67) – 1 GB
5. Baltimore Orioles (64-68) – 2.5 GB
6. Toronto Blue Jays (64-69) – 3 GB
7. Minnesota Twins (64-69) – 3 GB
8. Seattle Mariners (64-69) – 3 GB
9. Detroit Tigers (62-70) – 4.5 GB

NL wild card standings

Top three teams qualify

1. Chicago Cubs (76-57) +5 games
2. Philadelphia Phillies (73-60) +2 games
3. San Diego Padres (71-62)
4. Arizona Diamondbacks (70-63) – 1 GB
5. Miami Marlins (67-66) – 4 GB
6. St. Louis Cardinals (66-67) – 5 GB
7. Pittsburgh Pirates (65-69) – 6.5 GB

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It's time to get the dinger train back on the rails after a great August run that has made up a ton of ground. It's an afternoon getaway Wednesday with a lot of MLB player props and four-baggers to choose from.

The Nationals have to be on the card today, and CJ Abrams is the obvious choice at his current price. Plus, it's time to test the "day after theory" as I'm going back to Vinnie Pasquantino vs. the Jays' bullpen.

These are my favorite home run props for Wednesday, Aug. 26. 

Best MLB home run props today

Player to hit a HR	Odds
CJ Abrams	+321
Vinnie Pasquantino	+588

Home run pick: CJ Abrams (+321)

CJ Abrams has the fourth-best probability to go deep today, and his home run price at +300 or better is a buy for me. He gets the best home run matchup in Colorado's Tanner Gordon, who has the worst HR/9 among all starters today since the beginning of last season.

Gordon is a fringe starter and is only in the rotation because the Rockies released Michael Lorenzen. As a starter (six games), he owns a 1.028 OPS against, with seven homers allowed in just 28+ innings. Batters are killing him the second time through the order, slashing .383/.453/.617. But even in the first plate appearance, hitters have a .673 slugging against Gordon. 

The Nationals could put up seven runs today, and all their starters are live on the longball, but I'll take a soon-to-be 30-HR hitter at a price on the good side of three dollars. Nationals Park also ranks as the third-best park for home runs today, per Ball Park Pal. 

• Time: 6:45 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Nationals.TV, Rockies.TV

Home run pick: Vinnie Pasquantino (+588)

I want another piece of the Royals offense today in the second-best HR park, facing the Jays on a bullpen day after Toronto already used five bullpen arms in yesterday’s series opener.

Bobby Witt is +EV, but the Blue Jays intentionally walked him yesterday, which scares me a little. Losing 20-25% of your chances to go deep is not something I want to deal with, so I’ll get back on the Pasquatch today at a price a little shorter than yesterday.

Vinnie Pasquantino at +500 or better is the route I want after betting him at +600 yesterday. I had a fair price of +450 yesterday, and that number is maybe 20-25 points higher today. With Jac Caglianone banged up, Pasquantino is the best hitter in this lineup right now, posting a .656 SLG over the last 30 days with a 54.8% fly-ball rate that paces the club.

Walking Witt to get to Vinnie is going to backfire on the Jays today.

• Time: 7:07 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Sportsnet, Royals.TV

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The Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks both rank Top-5 in win rate against left-handed starters.

Given the home team has the pitcher with a much better track record at suppressing runs, I'm backing Arizona with my Cubs vs. Diamondbacks predictions and MLB picks for Wednesday, Aug. 26.

Who will win Cubs vs Diamondbacks today: Diamondbacks moneyline (-115)

The Arizona Diamondbacks are as good as it gets against lefties. 

They rank near the top of the league in almost every major offensive category while also owning the best winning percentage when facing a southpaw.

Chicago Cubs starter Matthew Boyd enters this contest in poor form, sporting a 4.787 ERA and 5.47 SIERA over the past month.

Eduardo Rodriguez has allowed a barrel rate of just 3% and walked only 3.8% of opposing batters during the same stretch. That profile will help him limit Chicago’s offense. 

Back Arizona to -125.

COVERS INTEL: Over the last month, Matthew Boyd ranks 29th in SIERA among today's 30 projected starters.

Cubs vs Diamondbacks Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (-105)

The Cubs are a good offense, but they’re running a little hot against left-handed pitching. They lead the majors in wOBA this month despite sitting 19th in hard hit rate. E-Rod is capable of slowing them down.

Arizona’s lineup isn’t quite as potent without Ketel Marte, who leads their team in ISO while trailing only Corbin Carroll in wOBA against lefties.

His absence takes a healthy bite out of their lineup and gives Boyd a better chance of putting together a competent start.

I’d play the under to -113.

Cubs vs Diamondbacks home run prediction: Nolan Arenado (+540)

There’s a lot to like with Nolan Arenado in this matchup. He has hit for more power against lefties while Boyd has bled homers to right-handed hitters, allowing 1.82 HR/9.

Boyd attacks batters with a steady dose of fastballs and changeups. That’s music to the ears of Arenado, who owns ISOs of .452 and .304 against those pitches when thrown by southpaws.

Priced at +540 to leave the yard, there's plenty of value in backing Arenado this afternoon. Play this to +500.

Cubs vs Diamondbacks weather

This game will be played indoors.

Cubs vs Diamondbacks odds

• Moneyline: Cubs -105 | Diamondbacks -115
• Run line: Cubs -1.5 (+155) | Diamondbacks +1.5 (-180)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (-115) | Under 8.5 (-105)

Cubs vs Diamondbacks trend

The Diamondbacks have cashed the moneyline in 29 of the last 50 games for +11.15 units and a 19% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends for Cubs vs. Diamondbacks.

How to watch Cubs vs Diamondbacks and game info

Cubs vs Diamondbacks latest injuries

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Another day of minor league baseball is in the books. See the results below. Check out the previous day’s recap here.

AAA: Sugar Land Space Cowboys (66-60) lost 6-5 (BOX SCORE)

Sugar Land got on the board in the first inning on a Biggio RBI single. They got another run in the 2nd inning on a Cole RBI single. Hendrickson started for Sugar Land and went 3 innings allowing 3 runs. In the 5th inning, Cole added a solo home run. Santos relieved Hendrickson and allowed 2 unearned runs. Sugar Land rallied late getting a run in the 8th on a Brooks groundout and a run in the 9th on a Biggio RBI single to tie it. The game went to extra innings and in the 10th, the Aviators walked it off as Sugar Land fell 6-5.

Note: Biggio has a .820 OPS in Triple-A.

• Jake Meyers, CF: 1-for-3, R, 2B
  • Lucas Spence, CF: 1-for-2, R, 2B, BB
• Cavan Biggio, 2B: 2-for-3, R, 2 RBI, 3 BB
• Joey Loperfido, LF: 2-for-5
• Zach Dezenzo, DH: 0-for-3, R, 2 BB
• Trenton Brooks, 1B: 0-for-3, RBI, 2 BB
• Zach Cole, RF: 2-for-3, R, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB

• Josh Hendrickson, LHP: 3.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• Alex Santos II, RHP: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
• Logan VanWey, RHP: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
• Alimber Santa, RHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
• Trey McLoughlin, RHP: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• Miguel Ullola, RHP: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
• Roddery Munoz, RHP: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (57-64) lost 7-3 (BOX SCORE)

Dombroski started for the Hooks and allowed 4 runs over 4 innings of work. The Hooks got on the board in the 4th inning on a Schiavone solo home run. Leach relieved Dombroski and allowed 3 runs. In the 6th, Schiavone connected on a 2 run home run. The game was called in the bottom of the 6th due to rain as the Hooks fell 7-3.

Note: Schiavone has 27 home runs this season.

• Justin Thomas, CF: 1-for-2, R, BB
• Walker Janek, C: 1-for-3
• Jason Schiavone, DH: 2-for-3, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI

• Trey Dombroski, LHP: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• Hudson Leach, RHP: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

A+: Asheville Tourists (41-78) lost 6-3 (BOX SCORE)

Asheville got a run in the first inning on a Moss sac fly. Potter started for Asheville but struggled allowing 4 runs over 3 innings of work. The offense got another run in the 5th on an error, but the Keys responded with 2 more in the 6th to extend their lead. Walker connected on a solo home run in the 8th but that was it from the offense as Asheville fell 6-3.

Note: Walker has 34 stolen bases this season.

• Kyle Walker, 2B: 1-for-2, 2 R, HR, RBI, BB, 2 SB
• Jack Moss, 1B: 0-for-2, RBI, BB
• John Garcia, C: 1-for-2, R, BB, SB

• Nick Potter, RHP: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
• Yeriel Santos, RHP: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

A: Fayetteville Woodpeckers (65-53) won 3-2 (BOX SCORE)

Smith started for the Woodpeckers and allowed 2 runs over 5 innings, with both runs coming in the first inning. The Woodpeckers got on the board in the 5th inning on a Flores solo home run. They scored another run in the 6th on a Piasecki double. Cassedy pitched in relief tossing 3 scoreless innings. The Woodpeckers took the lead in the 7th on a Nowak RBI double. Uebelhor struck out the side in the 9th inning as the Woodpeckers won 3-2.

Note: Hughes is hitting .360 this season.

• Logan Hughes, 1B: 1-for-4, R, 2B
• Owen Nowak, LF: 2-for-3, R, 2B, RBI
• Aaron Piasecki, DH: 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, BB
• Arturo Flores, C: 1-for-3, R, HR, RBI, BB
• Petey Soto, 2B: 1-for-2, 2 BB

• Aubrey Smith, RHP: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
• Brandon Cassedy, RHP: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (WIN)
• Mick Uebelhor, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K (SAVE)

Today’s minor league starters:

SL: Jason Alexander – 9:05 CT

CC: Cole Hertzler – 6:35 CT

AV: Javier Perez – 6:00 CT

FV: TBD – 3:35 CT

Kinley Rasmus of Phenix City Little League, daughter of former Major League pitcher Cory Rasmus, has emerged as one of the breakout stars of this year’s Little League World Series. Shining as both a pitcher and a hitter, Kinley has delivered a series of record-breaking performances in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

At the plate in this LLWS, Kinley has tied the all-time tournament record for a girl with five total hits. She delivered a crucial RBI double to left field against California, becoming just the fifth girl in tournament history to achieve a multi-hit game. Against Tacoma, Washington, she went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.

On the pitching side, Kinley has 14 total strikeouts in the tournament, tying the all-time LLWS record for a girl set by Mo’ne Davis. She also recorded eight strikeouts in a single game, matching the single-game record during her debut against Washington.

With three straight wins under their belt, Phenix City has advanced to the elimination round and is set to face West Side Little League from Hamilton, Ohio, on Wednesday.

More: Little League World Series 2026: Latest bracket, full schedule, teams, TV, stream

Who is Kinley Rasmus?

Kinley Rasmus is one of just two girls competing in the 2026 Little League World Series. The talented young athlete carries on a baseball legacy as the daughter of former Major League pitcher Cory Rasmus, who played for the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Angels during his professional career.

Cory Rasmus himself once played for the very same Phenix City Little League team, helping them reach the LLWS championship game back in 1999.

Does Kinley have any other famous relatives?

Yes, Kinley's uncle is Colby Rasmus, a former MLB outfielder. The 10-year MLB veteran played for five teams from 2009 to 2018, beginning his career with the St. Louis Cardinals before moving on to the Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Rays, and Baltimore Orioles.

TWG Global — the holding company of Dodgers owner Mark Walter — rejected allegations of financial impropriety in the purchase and operation of the Dodgers and reiterated the team is not for sale.

At a time insurance regulators and federal investigators are looking into allegations that insurance companies under Walter’s umbrella did not properly disclose and conduct transactions between other companies he controls, and after Walter sold his controlling interest in the Lakers at a record $12.5 billion valuation, potential bidders have monitored whether the Dodgers might be sold as well.

In a statement Tuesday, TWG Global decried “multipronged attacks against TWG … by unnamed sources with self-serving interests” and said no insurance policyholder has been hurt as a result of the company’s financial transactions.

Read more:Mark Walter flipped the Lakers for a record price. Did Bob Iger and Josh Kushner overpay?

“There is no victim here,” the statement said. “No one has been harmed, and no one has claimed they were harmed.”

In 2012, when Walter and his partners bought the Dodgers for $2 billion, The Times reported the use of $1.2 million from Guggenheim Partners insurance funds into the deal. At the time, rival bidders expressed concern over the unusual financing, but state insurance regulators cleared the deal and Major League Baseball approved it.

“The transaction was subject to a full investigation conducted by an outside law firm on behalf of insurance regulators from multiple states,” the statement said, “which identified no irregularities and resulted in no further action.”

Even with the Dodgers issuing over a billion dollars in deferred contracts and amid whatever transactions might have been conducted between TWG-related insurance companies and the Dodgers’ affiliates — including ones that hold the team’s television rights and ticket revenues — the Dodgers’ ability to fund player contracts is not at risk, according to the statement.

“The Dodgers have the highest revenue in baseball, and it significantly exceeds the team’s obligations to its players,” the statement said.

The statement reiterated that, as Dodgers president Stan Kasten has said, “the team is not being sold and no sale process has been initiated.”

The Dodgers, if sold, could likely command a price in the range of $10 billion to $13 billion, industry analysts have told The Times.

The Lakers sold at a record price for a North American sports franchise, although industry analysts have said a competitive bidding process likely would have resulted in an even higher sale price.

Said the statement: “Mr. Walter was approached by Josh Kushner and his team about this transaction and the agreement represents a 25% premium to the price paid by Mr. Walter less than a year ago (and an even higher premium to the $5.0 billion valuation Mr. Walter paid in 2021) — hardly a ‘fire sale.’”

Read more:Dodgers president Stan Kasten reiterates 'Dodgers are not being sold'

The statement added: “TWG is not looking to sell its sports assets at ‘fire sale’ prices to raise capital for its insurance operations.”

TWG said it is “working cooperatively and in partnership with the Delaware Department of Insurance” to resolve the regulatory issues and “is committed to working with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve their inquiries.”

“TWG stands firmly behind the integrity of its business,” the statement read. “Despite what has been reported, there has been no fraud.”

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Columbus Clingstones are the most exciting team in the system and Tuesday night lived up to the billing in full. Cam Caminiti has had little trouble in making the jump to Double-A, with a couple of incredible starts consecutively and a pitch mix that has popped off of the page. Alex Lodise is having no trouble with the move either and has carried the momentum he had in Rome up a level thanks to his improvements in making consistent contact.

(63-63) Gwinnett Stripers 8, (57-68) Louisville Bats 1

Box Score

Statcast

• Patrick Clohisy, LF: 0-3, 2 BB, .357/.440/.512
• Jim Jarvis, SS: 1-3, 2B, 2 BB, .313/.409/.463
• David McCabe, DH: 2-4, 2B, RBI, .417/.357/.833
• Owen Murphy, SP: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 3.42 ERA
• Blake Burkhalter, RP: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 1.29 ERA

It was an off day for Owen Murphy, and in allowing only one run he had to feel fortunate after he left this outing. Murphy had a lot of trouble landing his fastball up in the strike zone, and across his arsenal he left way too many pitches in hittable locations. Murphy gave up a lot of loud contact, but Louisville didn’t get him squarely too often and he survived on fly outs for five innings. The one exception came in the second inning when Murphy through a middle-middle fastball that got tattooed for a 447 foot home run. This was quite a departure from where Murphy typically is on the mound and I’m inclined to chalk that up to a bad day for now. Over the past couple of months Murphy has been solid with his fastball location and has held his velocity deeper into games, so it could have just been an off day. He could also finally be reaching the ceiling of his stamina for the year, given that he’s well past his career-high and has made ten more appearances this season than in his prior two combined. Murphy’s velocity early in the game recovered a little bit from his prior starts but he couldn’t maintain that the second time through the order, and when combined with a drop in spin rate and command I’d suspect that fatigue wall to be coming up on him. Regardless of where the rest of the year takes him this has been a resounding success. He’s been healthy for most of the year and improved drastically, and anything beyond this point is icing on the cake. The biggest focus is keeping Murphy healthy, and I don’t see any reason to believe the Braves would take a risk if does start to wear down.

Gwinnett’s lineup has surged back to relevancy with the transactions over the past couple of weeks, and an eight-run opening to this series is nothing to sneeze at. Lizandro Espinoza put the exclamation on the game with a three-run home run to push his OPS over 1.000, though it wasn’t the most impressive of shots. He curled in a wall-scraper in the left field corner and otherwise had a bit of a rough day out there, but there is little to complain about what Espinoza has done so far. He’s definitely aggressive at the plate and is going to have to cool it a bit, but he’s shown the ability to adjust at the lower levels and I think he’s shown he can already handle being a depth piece as a utility player. David McCabe hasn’t played too many games since coming back but he has been a monster at the plate. He had two hits and four more hard hit balls in this game. The whiffs are there in a bad way and he just doesn’t seem to have enough overall value as a player to be valuable to keep at the major league level, but he has a good enough power/approach combination to keep some value as depth in the minor leagues. I’m also liking some of what we’re seeing from Patrick Clohisy. He’s not doing much damage on secondary pitches but has been a lot better the past week with his playte discipline and that showed with two more walks in this game. He’s shown a history in his career of being streaky with his power, but as long as he can make the adjustments to get on base and play defense as well as he does he’ll have a long professional future ahead of himself even if he’s never a starter-caliber option.

Swing and Misses

Owen Murphy – 7

James Karinchak – 3

(57-59) Columbus Clingstones 6, (53-68) Chattanooga Lookouts 7

Box Score

• John Gil, 2B: 1-4, 2B, BB, .293/.379/.413
• Eric Hartman, LF: 1-4, 2B, .247/.375/.370
• Alex Lodise, SS: 3-5, 2B, RBI, .286/.355/.429
• Owen Carey, RF: 1-5, .250/.325/.417
• Cam Caminiti, SP: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, 2.33 ERA

If you’re not excited about what Cam Caminiti is doing you might be dead inside, because this has been an outstanding sequence of games from him. He has immediately kept pace with the Double-A level without even blinking, and has found a way to integrate his entire arsenal better and better with each start. The command issues were still apparent in this game and that will remain a running theme for him, but it’s so much better than it was at the start of the season. That was something that was expected coming in from Caminiti but the process is working and the hope is that eventually his athleticism will take over and allow him to find more consistency. It’s absolutely a point of emphasis and he will need to bring his walks down before he’ll get a shot at the Triple-A level, but the pitch quality itself is already good enough to make the jump. It’s rare to find a 20-year-old with confidence in three different pitches and even if there is plenty of room for development there has already been a massive improvement. Caminiti is taking all of the steps necessary to be make it yet another quick ascension for a young Braves pitcher.

Alex Lodise keeps doing his thing, and it’s massively impressive to watch. Lodise had some hard hit balls in this game and came away with three hits, but even though he faced a number of two-strike counts he never struck out. Lodise hasn’t had much chance to draw walks since being called up as pitchers are attacking him in the strike zone, but Lodise has handled it much better than he did early in the season. He’s showing that he’s not going to chase sliders below the zone nearly as often as early this season, and when he does get a tough pitch in the zone he is fouling them off instead of swing through them. Lodise has only 11 strikeouts in his past 24 games, which is a phrase I would not have thought possible even a month ago. I like where Eric Hartman is still, and of course the two home runs last week helps that evaluation quite a bit. Hartman is overly aggressive on secondaries out of the strike zone and needs to pare that back, but he’s getting to hard pull-side contact again and that’s the key to his profile. Owen Carey has gone the other direction as of late and is struggling with his swing. He’s had an inconsistent path to the ball highlighted by a tendency to dive in with his back shoulder, and it’s robbing him both of the ability to get the barrel on the ball consistently and the bat speed to hit the ball with force. It’s nothing he can’t work through quickly and he has shown flashes of good play, but dialing back the aggression and keeping himself on balance will help flip my views of his recent plate appearances. I have zero complaints on John Gil right now. His approach has been top notch and he is turning on pitches well the past few games. He had a hard hit double this game and has been exactly the image of an on-base first hitter with enough power to keep himself in an everyday lineup. Gil’s biggest nit is that he has been wildly inconsistent throughout his career, but 20 year olds are just like that sometimes. He’s undergone a number of swing changes that have made keeping a consistent level across multiple years difficult but he’s in his best form at the moment even if the numbers are lagging a half step behind his actual talent and progression.

Swing and Misses

Cam Caminiti – 18

LJ McDonough – 1

(57-61) Rome Emperors 5, (53-65) Greenville Drive 6

Box Score

• Carter Beck, CF: 1-5, 2B, RBI, .231/.333/.346
• Conor Essenburg, RF: 1-5, .226/.410/.306
• Luis Guanipa, LF: 1-3, BB, .220/.234/.374
• Zach Royse, SP: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 3.86 ERA

Rome lost this game in tough fashion with a blown save and walk off in the ninth inning, though it’s hard to say they hit well enough as a team to deserve this game. The starter for Greenville had very little in the way of control and to Rome’s credit they did capitalize and put up three runs early thanks to his mistakes. They ended the game in a rut, however, as they weren’t finding solid contact in the strike zone. Connor Essenburg is in a small rut as of late with the walks and power drying up on him, though the command at the plate hasn’t gone away for him. He’s chasing a bit more in two-strike situations and that’s hurting him, but with as deep as he works into counts strikeouts are always going to be there. He isn’t elevating the ball on his pull side right now, which I really see as just sample size fluctation for him as he knows who he is as a hitter and will end up hitting for power in Rome. There was only a small flash of good news for Luis Guanipa last week, but that doesn’t mean that flash wasn’t backed up by real progress. Guanipa has had more good swings than bad, and even if that isn’t always coming with hard contact I think he’s still on the way. He’s been more forceful with his swings on mistakes in the strike zone and has been a bit more willing to let borderline pitches away from him go early in counts, and it’s leading to more swings that look like a Luis Guanipa who can have impact power. He’s due for one silly at bat every game it seems like, but I don’t think he’s stuck in the mud and he’s making the kind of adjustments that led to him going on a run in Augusta this season. Guanipa is getting a ton of breaking balls and he is not barreling them when they’re left in the strike zone, but I don’t see that as a pattern for Guanipa rather simply a fluctuation. He’s shown the ability to hit mistake breaking balls in the past and there is no reason to believe he won’t eventually start making High-A pitchers pay for bad locations.

Overall it turned out to be a solid start for Zach Royse. He threw a ton of strikes with his sinker, and with his velocity and the action of that pitch in the strike zone that predictably led to a slew of ground ball outs. Royse kept his momentum throughout the evening and had a never fell into bad counts, which kept the Drive having to swing at sinkers and pound them into the dirt. Royse didn’t have his slider in this game like he did last week, and it’s something I’ll have to take a closer look into because he’s been far more inconsistent with that pitch in High-A. This game he didn’t struggle to throw the pitch around the zone, but the electric bite it showed earlier this season isn’t coming through for him. That pitch is what made him an interesting relief option for me and maybe it’s just him being extremely deep into the season and showing signs of fatigue. He has had flashes of his peak form, like the seven strikeout performance last week, it’s just not a week-in and week-out spectacle like his stretch from May to June.

Swing and Misses 

Zach Royse – 9

Tyler Schoff – 4

David Rodriguez – 3

(64-56) Augusta GreenJackets 4, (46-72) Myrtle Beach Pelicans 5

Box Score

• Manuel Campos, SS: 0-5, .200/.226/.300
• Juan Mateo, 3-5, HR, 2B: 0-3, BB, .258/.338/.367
• Derek Vartanian, SP: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 4.14 ERA

This surge from Juan Mateo has been impressive. He started off his evening with a rocket liner for a double and then bookended a moonshot home run, and if this is the sort of power production that becomes standard for him that’s going to make a huge impact on his profile. Mateo has five home runs in his past 41 games after having one in his prior 176, and even with a severely repressed BABIP he has outperformed his overall season stats for the past two months. He’s done so without sacrificing the contact ability that is the cornerstone of his profile, and it’s all an approach change to just put the ball in the air more often. Mateo is going to face physical limitations in his profile, and of course the run environment factors in here so even this sort of home run pace is something I don’t think he’s capable of sustaining. However, hitting for even moderate power will make him a tenable option outside of the unlikely chance he develops into a major-league caliber shortstop. Mateo’s ball-strike approach could use a lot of work and he needs to add weight if and when he does shift off of shortstop, but seeing any power from him already creates more confidence in his future as a prospect. It was a rough game out there for Manuel Campos, which is unfortunate because he’s in the middle of a solid stretch of play otherwise. Like we’ve seen from other guys his age getting that first taste of full season ball Campos is a bit out of his depth right now because his approach is not at the level it needs to be. However he’s got some feel for barrel control and a chance to stick at shortstop so it will just take time to see the fruits of his development.

Derek Vartanian has had trouble consistently putting together a three-pitch arsenal this season, but when it’s working for him he can hang with anyone. His slider and splitter were both nasty this game and the Pelicans had an inconsistent time getting a read on Vartanian who was able to throw both of those pitches past the whole lineup. Vartanian was just in the strike zone a bit too much and gave up some hard hit balls, most notably a second inning home run. His curveball was a major weakness this game because he could not get it out of the top half of the strike zone, and even though it does have the potential to work well off of his splitter against left-handed batters he can’t make those mistakes especially on a pitch in the high-70’s. I’m surprised Vartanian hasn’t gotten a look at a higher level given his age, as his pitch quality and fastball command are good enough to warrant promotion even with him not often bringing his best game. He’s on a nice stretch here to end the season and has been a solid find for an undrafted guy, and I do think he’s got real back-end potential if he can find a rhythm across a full season.

Swing and Misses

Derek Vartanian – 18

Kade Woods – 4

The Yankees’ bullpen deserves a lot of credit for exceeding expectations in 2026. There was plenty of eye-rolling in the offseason when it became clear that they were going with pretty much the same bunch that ended 2026, minus Luke Weaver and Devin Williams. Minimal offseason improvements were made.

And yes, there were absolutely misses. Camilo Doval and Jake Bird were terrible; they’ve since been traded. But while David Bednar’s success was expected … Brent Headrick, Paul Blackburn, and Fernando Cruz 2: Electric Boogaloo? They’ve helped this pitching staff stand up and carry the team during a wretched stretch for the bats. The bad news is that because said bats were, again, so wretched for so long, the Yankees were always playing close ballgames, and Aaron Boone had to ride the bullpen’s best like mid-2000s Joe Torre or else risk close games falling into the hands of Doval, Bird, Ryan Yarbrough, or whoever the 26th man happened to be that day.

Well, now the worm has turned. It’s more apparent for Cruz, who has surrendered 11 runs and five homers across his last 13.2 innings, but Headrick got hit hard last night as well. There is very little wiggle room at this point in the AL East race for the Yankees to be giving away ballgames when the offense actually shows up, but that’s what happened. So … that’s swell.

Here’s what else was afoot while the Yankees beefed it on Tuesday night.

Tampa Bay Rays (78-53) 1, Detroit Tigers (62-70) 4

Yes, the Yankees could be 2.5 games back in the division now if they had held on to even one of their leads because the Tigers fully flipped the script from losing 4-1 to the Rays on Monday. The surrogate Bronx hero of the day was rookie Max Clark, the No. 3 overall pick from 2023 who debuted with Detroit just before they bid adieu to Tarik Skubal. The Rays were trying to steal a win with one of their Casey Legumina/Ian Seymour piggyback starts, but with the latter on for the fifth, Clark went yard in the Motor City for the first time:

A missed grounder by Jonathan Aranda allowed Gleyber Torres to scamper home with the Tigers’ third run, and they tacked on another in the seventh when Hao-Yu Lee drove in Javier Báez on a single to left.

Meanwhile, Detroit did a nice job of holding the Rays down. In his fourth start since his return from Tommy John surgery, Jackson Jobe kept them at one run in 4.1 innings on 86 pitches before Drew Sommers finished out the fifth (and the sixth). Jacob Waguespack, Tyler Holton, and Kenley Jansen made it a smooth night from the Tigers’ bullpen for a change, Jansen completing his 493rd career save.

Other Games

Boston Red Sox (73-59) 7, Miami Marlins (67-66) 3 (11 innings): The Fish had their shots in this one. They withstood a pair of solo shots from Baby Bomber alum Mickey Gasper to tie it up in sixth against Payton Tolle on a Heriberto Hernández homer, and they had 14 different at-bats with runners in scoring position on the night. But they only registered one hit in those 14 chances: an infield hit in the seventh where Jakob Marsee was thrown out at home (Connor Wong may have been overly blocking the plate, but the call held).

Boston Trade Deadline acquisition Erik Miller struck out the side in a perfect ninth to send it to extras in Miami. Marlins catcher Brian Navarreto allowed the Red Sox to score their zombie runner on a passed ball, but an Andruw Monasterio error helped set up a runners-on-second-and-third, one-out situation for Miami in the 10th. A clean hit from Javier Sanoja would have won it. He struck out, and though Wyatt Olds’ pitch sailed wide to plate the tying run and move the potential game-winner to third, Xavier Edwards grounded out against Alec Gamboa to strand it. Give too many chances to Boston, and they’ll take advantage. Enter Jarren Duran:

The 11th-inning slam broke it open, and that was all she wrote. Boston is within a game and a half of the Yankees for the top Wild Card spot, and five behind Tampa Bay for the AL East.

Chicago White Sox (69-63) 11, Texas Rangers (66-67) 7: When you match up with Jacob deGrom, you’re not normally expecting an 11-run game. But the Pale Hose and their Pontiff are living a blessed 2026, as evidenced by the sequencing of all this weak contact in an improbable six-run first:

The walks didn’t help and the Rangers were clearly sloppy in the field, but dang. The Rangers stayed in this one and eventually cut the deficit to 10-7 by the top of the sixth, but Chicago held on. Texas and Houston swapped places atop the ugly AL West, with the .500 Astros now leading by a half-game. Oh, and with the suddenly-surging Cal Raleigh homering in his fourth consecutive at-bat to kick off last night in Seattle, the Mariners’ 4-1 win over the Phillies has them two and a half back.

AL Wild Card Rock Fight

Cleveland Guardians (67-66) 8, Los Angeles Angels (52-81) 6 (10 innings): Cleveland continued to take advantage of a light August with their sixth win in a row to keep the pressure on Chicago, who they still trail by just two and a half games in the AL Central. The Guardians are now also a full game clear for the last Wild Card spot. Gavin Williams didn’t have it and fell behind 5-0 early, but fortunately for Cleveland, the Angels are still the Angels. A series of doubles and singles tied it back up at 5-5 in the fifth, and though Vaughn Grissom’s homer put the Halos up 6-5, José Ramírez hit a game-tying double in the eighth before burning The Big A again in the 10th with a two-run two-bagger that proved decisive.

Baltimore Orioles (64-68) 13, St. Louis Cardinals (66-67) 1: AL Player of the Month frontrunner Pete Alonso continued his surge with a three-run homer during a 4-for-4 night in St. Louis. The O’s obliterated Matthew Liberatore and company, plating eight in the fifth inning alone. They’re two and a half games back of Cleveland.

Minnesota Twins (64-69) 2, The Athletics (52-81) 4;
Toronto Blue Jays (64-69) 3, Kansas City Royals (59-74) 5: A great way for me to pay even less attention to you as fringe Wild Card contenders is to lose to a garbage team! Despite an immaculate inning from Taj Bradley, the Twins obliged, as did the ever-sinking Jays (Max Scherzer has a 7.02 ERA; this is so depressing). They’re both three games behind, tied with Seattle. Kudos to KC on its ninth win in a row, but the Royals are firmly in JoJo Territory.