Category: MLB

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitching staff has been hit hard with injuries so far this season. And the club received another tough update regarding one of its key bullpen pieces on Thursday.

The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya reported that a recent MRI showed bone chips in Dodgers reliever Will Klein’s elbow. It’s unclear what the next steps will be to address this, but arthroscopic surgery is typically the outcome when loose bodies are floating around a pitcher’s elbow.

If Klein, who was placed on the 15-day injured list with right elbow discomfort on Aug. 1, ends up needing surgery, there is a good chance it would mean his 2026 season is over.

Klein has been stable in the Dodgers’ bullpen this season, producing a 3.67 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 41.2 innings pitched (36 appearances). He had been struggling before the injury, posting a 9.82 ERA in his past seven games but would still be an important piece of Dave Roberts’ relief corps moving forward if he could return.

Klein proved how valuable he can be during the Dodgers’ 2025 postseason run. He threw five scoreless innings in the World Series, including four scoreless frames during the Dodgers’ 18-inning marathon Game 3 win against the Toronto Blue Jays last October.

The Dodgers’ injury bug has been headlined by two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, whose lingering knee injury has kept him off the mound since July. A right biceps injury is also plaguing Ohtani at this point, further clouding his pitching return. There is a chance that Ohtani might not return to the mound this season, although he has remained in Los Angeles’ lineup as a designated hitter.

An update regarding whether Klein will need surgery should be announced soon.

The Texas Rangers had one of the quietest trade deadlines of any major league team this year. Despite being in the playoff hunt in a very mediocre American League (and particularly, a very mediocre American League West), and having clear needs to be addressed (the exact number depending on whether you want to count “the bullpen” as one need or “several relievers for the bullpen” as several needs), the Rangers largely stood pat.

Here’s the list of the deadline moves:

July 29 — Traded low-A infielder Angel Arredondo to the Angels for catcher Logan O’Hoppe (who was sent to AAA) and righthanded reliever Chase Silseth (who was anointed the Rangers’ new 8th inning guy)

August 3 — Traded Opening Day second baseman turned AAA utility guy Josh Smith and AAA righthanded pitcher Josh Stephan to the Blue Jays for minor league lefthanded reliever Adam Macko (who was sent to AAA)

If you want to be more generous in your definition of “deadline moves” you can include the June 30 trade of high-A catcher Ben Hartl to the Chicago White Sox for righthanded reliever Ben Peoples, who was toiling in AAA for the Pale Hose and was going to exercise an opt out in his contract and become a free agent, and presumably sign a major league deal with someone (maybe the Rangers, maybe not), were he not added to a 40 man roster at that point. Even so, it doesn’t really change the overall analysis, and conclusion, that the Rangers made few moves, and the ones they made were minor in nature.

It was fairly out of character for an organization that moved aggressively as buyers at the deadline in both 2023 and 2025, and made a handful of smaller moves in 2024 when the team was more on the fringes of the race, as well as being active in the offseason the past several years. Chris Young would probably agree with you, based on his comments on July 28 of this year, when asked about the team’s deadline posture:

Have you guys decided how aggressive you want to be at the deadline or are this week’s games going to have an impact on that mindset?

Young: So I’d say we want to always be super aggressive. We want to go out and be the most aggressive team.

Young goes on to explain that it depends on the market, that stars are hard to get and that depth pieces can be as well, that there’s a lot of ins and a lot of outs and a lot of strands to keep in his head, but that it was going to be a busy week for the team, and that they “try to stay engaged with every team and understand the market and understand what teams are trying to do, and who may become available, and then again make the best decisions in real time.”

When Young gave that interview, the Rangers were up 2 games in the American League West, were a game up on Cleveland, which held the third Wild Card spot, and were just a half-game behind Boston, who had the second Wild Card spot. They were beginning a tough six game road trip at Tampa and Houston, but they’d just won three of four against presumptive A.L. West favorites Seattle, and they seemed to be a very good place.

The next day, the Rangers pulled the trigger on the Anaheim trade, one that was widely heralded as a coup by Texas. Having beaten the Rays the day before in the series opener, they had just lost the middle game of the series to Tampa, but they were still in first place in the division and well-positioned as far as the Wild Card went.

The Rangers promptly lost the last game in Tampa and all three games in Houston, dropping the Rangers into second place in the division, 2.5 games out, and a game and a half back in the Wild Card race. Ken Rosenthal reported before that game that the Rangers’ deadline plans could, absurdly, depend on what happened in the Sunday finale in Houston, saying that with a loss “the Rangers could sell, perhaps even in a big way.”

Let’s take a step back and think about this.

The bullpen — the Achilles heel of the team all year — was the culprit in that Sunday game that everything supposedly hinged upon. After Brandon Nimmo had tied up the game in the top of the seventh with a solo homer, Tyler Alexander — who has been solid for the Rangers this year — came in for the seventh. Christian Walker smoked a double, then Alexander hit Taylor Trammell with a pitch. Jose Altuve hit a 5U grounder, bringing up righthanded hitting Cam Smith with runners and first and second and one out in a tie game.

I feel like managing a bullpen is the most difficult thing a manager has to do in-game — especially when the bullpen you are managing is nothing like the bullpen you were hoping you’d be managing at that point.

Let’s hop into the Wayback Machine, and go all the way back to six-plus months ago, when Evan Grant, in late January, made his initial 2026 Opening Day roster projection for the Texas Rangers. It was two months prior to Opening Day, it was too early to be taken too seriously, but it also gives us a pretty good sense of what the bullpen was expected to look like for 2026 heading into spring training:

Bullpen (8)

RHP Chris Martin, LHP Robert Garcia, RHP Jakob Junis, RHP Cole Winn, RHP Alexis Diaz, LHP Tyler Alexander, RHP Luis Curvelo, RHP Carter Baumler

Also contending: RHP Josh Sborz, RHP Marc Church, RHP Zak Kent, RHP Emiliano Teodo, LHP Austin Gomber

One could nit-pick in regards to the last couple of spots on the roster, but the first six definitely seemed set, and the projection wasn’t exactly controversial.

On the Sunday before the deadline, what was the status of the projected 2026 Rangers relievers?

Chris Martin — On another rehab assignment, and a day away from being DFA’d, having been hurt much of the year and terrible when he wasn’t hurt.

Robert Garcia — On the injured list since mid-April with a shoulder injury

Jakob Junis — Had pitched well all season! Also was placed on the injured list earlier that week, so wasn’t available in this game.

Cole Winn — Healthy, supposedly, having been on the injured list for a couple of weeks in late-May/early-June. Wildly inconsistent, having allowed 11 runs in 7 innings over a 7 game span in late June/early July, then having allowed just two runs over from early July to the beginning of August. 5.84 ERA and 4.50 ERA on the year.

Alexis Diaz — Supposed to be the team’s closer, but was so bad in spring training that he was DFA’d so the Rangers could add newly signed Jalen Beeks to the bullpen. Diaz went unclaimed, was sent to AAA, and has been there all year.

Jalen Beeks* — With an asterisk since he wasn’t in the roster projection, having been signed late in the spring to essentially replace Diaz because Diaz was terrible. Lost for the season in early June due to injury.

Tyler Alexander — He’s been good! And was the guy being replaced in the bottom of the 7th, so…

Luis Curvelo — Up and down guy who had been sent down the day before after giving up four runs in the opener against Houston.

Carter Baumler — Rule 5 guy who was available in the Rule 5 draft because he kept getting hurt. Got hurt after four appearances. Has been on the injured list since the second week of the season, and is out for the year.

So two of the guys expected to be in the Opening Day bullpen heading into spring training were active then, and one of them had been, shall we say, less than reliable. Though in fairness, Jacob Latz was projected to be on the Opening Day roster, just in the rotation rather than the bullpen, so I guess we can say three were active if we include him.

As for the “also contending” list, one of them was designated for assignment barely a week into camp and lost on waivers, one was designated for assignment early in the season and was unclaimed, one was released in mid-May for being terrible in AAA, one has been in AAA all season not pitching well but hanging around as a 2023 organizational talisman, and one got called up mid-July because the bullpen needed a body, made his major league debut in a blowout loss, was bad, and was sent back to AAA the next day.

So who did Schumaker have to pick from on that fateful Sunday in H-Town?

Of the eight guys in the bullpen, Robby Ahlstrom and Tyler Alexander had been used.

Chase Silseth and Jacob Latz were being saved for the eighth and ninth, assuming the Rangers ever got a lead, or perhaps later, if the game remained tied and was potentially going into extra innings.

Nolan Kingham, who had never pitched pitched in the majors, had been signed out of the Mexican League earlier in the year by the Rangers because they were desperate for pitchers at Round Rock, and who hadn’t pitched in affiliated ball since 2023 prior to that, but had been called up the day before to replace Curvelo.

Peyton Gray, who had pitched the day before (as had Winn, Alexander and Silseth).

Ben Peoples, who had made his major league debut less than a month before, and who had a sparkling 2.70 ERA but an ugly 6.59 FIP in 10 appearances for the Rangers heading into the game.

The aforementioned Cole Winn.

So not a lot of great options. You could leave Alexander out there, but he’d given up two really hard hit balls and hit a batter.

You could go with Gray or Silseth, but you probably want to hold them for later in the game, potentially with the possibility of extra innings and the likelihood each would be limited somewhat in how deep they could go since they were pitching on back-to-back days. You also have the bottom of the lineup coming up, and would likely rather use one of them the next inning when the top of the order is due.

You’re not using Latz in that situation. You’re not asking Nolan Kingham to make his debut in that situation.

So you’re choosing between Winn, who had been pitching very well of late but did not have good numbers overall on the season, or Peoples, with barely any major league experience and problems throwing strikes.

Oh, and its not Schumaker making the decision anyway, since he got run between innings due to continuing an argument over a bad call in the top of the inning. Its presumably bench coach Luis Urueta. I’m guessing that’s who took over for Schumaker.

Anyway, Cam Smith hits a chopper in the hole on the left side. Neither Ezequiel Duran nor Corey Seager can reach it. Trammell heads home, where a good throw likely gets him. Wyatt Langford doesn’t make a good throw home, and it is 4-3 Astros. Cole Winn — who, whatever his other flaws in 2026, hadn’t been walking people — walks Nick Allen, who isn’t good offensively at anything, including drawing walks. Bases loaded, pinch hitter LaMonte Wade Jr. hits a weak chopper in no man’s land that Jake Burger fields but can’t record an out on because Winn doesn’t cover first, making it 5-3. Jeremy Pena strikes out for what would be the third out but for the uncovered base on the Wade chopper, which sets the stage for Yordan Alvarez to double in two runs and make it 7-3.

This confluence of events — bad call keeping Joc Pederson from batting in a tie game with the bases loaded, followed by middle relievers in the patchwork bullpen getting victimized by a combination of bad pitching and bad luck and bad defense — determines the future fate of the Rangers, we are told.

That chaotic Monday morning, trade deadline day — somehow just three days ago — we hear that the Rangers are listening on everyone, that no one is off-limits. The Rangers, we are told, have approached Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi — who have full no-trade clauses — as well as Corey Seager, who can block a trade to eight teams, asking if they will waive their no-trades. The Atlanta Braves, we are told, have interest in deGrom. A full on fire sale, briefly, seems possible.

There are differing opinions on what the Rangers’ real goal was on Monday — whether they were actively trying to dump everyone expensive, whether they were seeing what was out there, whether they were looking to dump some salaries in order to add some other salaries and rebalance the roster. Here’s what I said late Monday morning in the piece linked above:

I don’t think that the Rangers are going into full-blown rebuild mode. I don’t think Langford, Evan Carter, Kumar Rocker, Jack Leiter, or similar guys under team control for several years are going anywhere. My guess would be that the team either deals Pederson and maybe someone like Tyler Alexander or Jakob Junis, or else largely stands pay, maybe adding a controllable reliever for a nominal cost.

I thought at the time — and still do — that Young was doing what he indicated they were going to do in the quote earlier on — stay engaged with teams, see what was out there, and be prepared to make decisions in real time. I think that Chris Young did not, and does not, view 2027 as a rebuilding season. If, in a seller’s market, a team was going to make it worth their while to sell, to move guys for a premium return at the deadline such that they can essentially engage in arbitrage by making moves in the offseason to replace anyone traded off at a lower price, they were willing to do that. If not, well, they wouldn’t.

Jacob deGrom eliminated much of the drama by refusing to waive his no trade clause, stating that he came to Texas to win a title, that he believes in this team and wants to win here rather than chase with someone else. The Rangers reportedly told him that if he wanted to be dealt to Atlanta, they’d make that happen, and we can argue all day about whether that was the Rangers trying to get rid of deGrom and the roughly $40 million he’s owed from now to the end of 2027 or whether it was Texas giving a respected veteran in his late 30s, a future Hall of Famer, the agency to determine where he finishes out his contract, and no one on one side is likely to convince the other.

And so the Rangers largely stood pat, only adding a controllable reliever for a nominal cost. Adam Macko is in AAA, and may be someone who will add value to the pen going forward, or may be another Walter Pennington. To get him, they parted with a 24 year old righthanded pitchability-over-stuff starter who has not had success above A ball, and who would have become a free agent at season’s end when the Rangers didn’t add him to the 40 man roster, and Josh Smith, a guy who has gone from integral part of the team’s future to a salary dump.

Moving on from Smith was shocking but not really surprising. Smith was a spark plug for the team the previous two seasons, providing versatility and energy. He won a Silver Slugger in 2024 and was a legitimate candidate for the All Star team that year. The trade of Marcus Semien was made, in part, to open up a spot in the starting lineup for Smith.

But as we all know, Smith has a lengthy history of late season fades. He has a career 532 OPS in August and a career 551 OPS in September. He has missed time this year due to a glute strain as well as, flukily, a bout with viral meningitis, which hospitalized him and very well may be a contributing factor to his struggles since coming off the injured list. He hasn’t performed well in the majors or in AAA this year, despite being well into his prime — he turns 29 tomorrow. And even if he stays in the minors the rest of 2026, he has just two years of team control remaining beyond this year, and likely, due to how the arbitration process works, would likely receive a raise from this year’s $3.23 million salary if he sticks on a 40 man roster past the tender date.

The major criticism levied at the Rangers in regards to this year’s trade deadline is that they didn’t commit to either buying or selling, and were largely stuck in the mushy middle, where no one wants to be.

And that’s a fair criticism. But I want to look at how and why the Rangers ended up having done almost nothing when the bell rang on Monday afternoon.

As I mentioned above, I do not believe that the front office believes that this team needs to go into a multi-year rebuild. I believe that the front office wants to be a playoff contender in 2027 — and more importantly, thinks the Rangers can be a playoff contender in 2027. Yes, they were listening, but Evan Grant reported just after noon on Monday that he was hearing “that the Rangers aren’t motivated sellers.” I am sure there are folks that think that if deGrom had been willing to waive his no-trade clause that would have been different, and we’d have seen wholesale sell-off, but I don’t think that’s the case.

So if the Rangers were going to be sellers, they were only going to be selling on guys who were not going to be around after 2026. The list of such players on the 2026 Rangers who would be worth parting with — either because of salary savings or because of the potential return — is very short. Joc Pederson, owed around $6 million for the rest of the season, would maybe have brought you an interesting prospect if you ate a bunch of the money he was owed. A team probably would have taken him and his contract off your hands if you were willing to give him away (and that might still happen, via the waiver process, if the Rangers are out of the mix in late August). But that would blow a hole in the lineup, for a team that still had a respectable — if not great — chance of making the playoffs, for minimal gain.

Other than Pederson, though, no one who is a free agent after 2026 is going to save you much money or get you much of a return. I mentioned Alexander and Junis as possibilities, as relievers are always in demand at the deadline and maybe you get a guy you like more than everyone else in exchange, but they aren’t bringing a big return (especially with Junis hurt) and aren’t going to save you money. You’re better off having them in your leaky bullpen down the stretch, both because you are still hoping to stumble into the playoffs and because you need guys to pitch competently out of the pen down the stretch even if you aren’t in the playoff hunt.

So the Rangers aren’t going to be sellers. Why not be buyers? All the arms that moved at the deadline, all the relievers who would be an upgrade over Nolan Kingham or who would allow you to option Ben Peoples or Peyton Gray to increase your depth, and on deadline day the Rangers couldn’t do better than a guy in AAA for the Blue Jays who is now in AAA for Texas? Why didn’t the Rangers get one of the rentals who are out there?

My guess is that there’s a couple of reasons. One is the state of the farm, much depleted due to win-now moves in 2023-25, the loss of second and third round draft picks in 2023 and 2024, and the, shall we say, questionable acquisition of MacKenzie Gore this past winter. The Rangers have a bottom five farm system — bottom ten, maybe, if you’re feeling generous — and are lacking in both quantity and quality as far as prospect capital goes.

But that is not the main reason the Rangers stood pat, I don’t think.

The main reason has to do with the men who own the Texas Rangers not wanting to spend the money necessary to add payroll.

Remember I mentioned Josh Smith and his $3.23 million salary earlier? A team that’s not hurting for 40 man roster spots, that has an infield laden with players with injury histories, is going to see Smith as useful depth. They aren’t going to move him, while in a playoff race, for a AAA reliever with little major league experience.

Not unless the pursestrings are being held very tight.

On July 28 — the same day Chris Young talked about always wanting to be super aggressive — Evan Grant wrote a column about potential bullpen targets. One of the sections dealt with relievers the Angels, clearly in sell mode at that point, could deal, one of which was Chase Silseth, who the Rangers ended up acquiring.

Another paragraph in that section, however, set off alarm bells with me:

As for Yates, he had a magical 2024 season for the Rangers and has served as Anaheim’s closer, but he’s got $1.7 million left on his deal for this year. That’s about $1.25 million more than either of the other two Angels. Davis would have to be willing to take on the money.

Let’s take a step back for a moment and remember…the Texas Rangers slashed payroll this past offseason. Their year-end 40 man roster payroll, per Cots, was over $240 million in 2023 and 2024, and $229 million in 2025, ranking sixth or seventh in the majors each of those three years. Their year end payroll for competitive balance tax purposes, which averages out salaries for players on long-term contracts and includes an identical amount from each team for player benefits and the pre-arbitration pool, was 9th last year, 5th in 2024 and 8th in 2023.

We don’t have the year end 2026 payroll number yet since the year isn’t over yet, but we do have the projected end of season payroll figure for 2026 — $191 million, per Cot’s. That’s almost $50 million less than 2023 and 2024, and almost $40 million less than last year.

So not only have the Rangers cut 20-25 percent in payroll this year from the previous three seasons, ownership is apparently balking at a potential increase of less than one percent in order to add reinforcements at the deadline.

The Pirates acquired Kirby Yates, and the $1.7 million left on his deal. They gave up Kyle Robinson, a non-descript 23 year old pitcher they acquired earlier this season from the A’s, who had drafted him in the 11th round in 2024. Baseball America’s rankings of all the prospects traded at the deadline had Robinson at #77 — six spots below Angel Arredondo, and six spots above Josh Stephan.

The Rangers could have acquired Yates, it would appear, for a nominal cost in terms of prospects, if they’d have been willing to take on the $1.7 million that Yates is owed. Yates isn’t 2024 Kirby Yates, of course — he’s a serviceable middle reliever/set up man right now. But a team fighting for the playoffs, with a mediocre at best bullpen laden with guys found off the scrap heap, could sure as hell use a serviceable middle reliever/setup man.

It didn’t have to be Yates, of course. I’m just using him as an example. There were plenty of other relief arms that were moved for a negligible price, to teams that were willing to pay more than the pro-rated league minimum to fortify their bullpens. None of them ended up with Texas.

And maybe I’m off-base. Maybe ownership was willing to spend, was willing to add a million or two in salary the rest of the way in the right deal, and Chris Young & Co. couldn’t make it happen, couldn’t provide someone the Angels valued more than Kyle Robinson to get Kirby Yates, or that they valued more than Nacho Alvarez Jr. to get Brent Suter, or that the Mets valued more than Luke Gabrysh and John Spikerman to get Brooks Raley. Maybe the Rangers felt that the return of Junis, Cody Bradford coming back, Jordan Montgomery and Jack Leiter returning, would be fortification enough.

But when you see how payroll was slashed, see the reporting indicating that ownership didn’t want to add payroll, see that the one move that the Rangers did made was a salary dump of Josh Smith — resulting in them cutting payroll at the deadline, since Smith is making more than Logan O’Hoppe, the one guy making more than league minimum that the Rangers did add — it points to the conclusion that the lack of activity was Ray Davis mandated.

I’ve defended Rangers ownership since they bought the team from Tom Hicks, that crazy day in bankruptcy court when this group out-bid Mark Cuban and Jim Crane for the rights to the team. I’ve consistently pointed out that ownership has spent money, has had a top 10 payroll consistently, that when the team hasn’t spent big its been because it didn’t make sense to. They spent big in free agency two years in a row this decade, and were rewarded with a World Series.

But I can’t defend this. Yes, the Bally Sports bankruptcy hurt the club, like it has so many other franchises. Yes, the Victory+ mess no doubt has had an impact on the bottom line. I am sure that the Rangers are not bringing in as much money from their media rights as the organization anticipated it would even a few years ago.

But Ray Davis is estimated to be worth $4 billion by Forbes. Bob Simpson, the oil man who was the other chief money guy in the Rangers’ ownership group, does not have publicly available net worth figures, but if he’s not a billionaire, he’s a multi-hundred millionaire.

They bought the Rangers for $593 million in 2010. Forbes estimates the value of the club to be $2.7 billion, which may be conservative, given the San Diego Padres just sold for $3.9 million earlier this year.

Davis is in his mid-80s. Simpson is in his late-70s. They have more money than they can ever spend, than their families can ever spend. They have the wealth to do almost anything they want in the years they have left.

But apparently, they don’t want to use that wealth to add Kirby Yates to the Texas Rangers.

Especially with a potential lockout looming, and Davis being on the labor committee, and reportedly one of the hawks among the owners who are willing to jeopardize the 2027 season to get a salary cap in MLB.

While Nolan Mclean has been one of the Mets’ more reliable starters this season, consistently commanding his pitches has been a bugaboo for the young-right-hander, and Thursday’s outing against the Cleveland Guardians was another example. 

McLean walked three in his 5.0 innings, and only 54 of his 94 pitches went for strikes. While he cruised through the middle innings, he walked two in the first inning, and that led to a pair of Guardians runs.

He then appeared to be tiring in the fifth inning, routinely missing to his arm side. McLean then allowed a three-run homer to Nathaniel Lowe, with a four-seam fastball that ended up middle-middle.

"He made the adjustment," interim manager Andy Green said. "Was in typical Nolan cruise control there for a while, spinning the baseball really well, mixing really well. And then in that fifth inning, I know he doesn’t want to fall behind 3-0. Falling behind 3-0 to good hitters puts you in some tough spots." 

"Unfortunately for me I wasn’t really able to locate the fastball that well today," McLean said of his outing. "I always talk about offspeeds for strikes, and that was pretty much the only thing that I had going for me today. From the get-go I noticed that they were trying to jump me early, but I just didn’t do a great job staying in the zone."

McLean allowed five earned runs on eight hits, striking out eight and walking three. His season ERA rose slightly to 3.51. Despite his iffy command, particularly in those two innings, McLean left with the lead, and the Mets went on to a 13-6 win to complete a series sweep.

Next up, the Mets continue their nine-game road trip with three games in Pittsburgh, beginning on Friday, and the Mets will obviously look to keep the momentum in their favor.

"We’ve got some good energy in the clubhouse right now," McLean said. "We got to see Jefry [Yan] throw the other day, and it’s pretty special, and I think it’s cool to watch guys with that much passion play the game of baseball. It kind of gets you back to your routes a little bit of just remembering why you play. It’s just to have fun, and it’s a great blessing to be 25 years old for me and playing the game that I played when I was six or seven years old, so it’s awesome."

"Winning is a good start," McLean added. "Anytime you’re winning baseball games, the vibes are always a little bit higher."

TV: NESN
First Pitch: 7:10 p.m. ET
Location: Fenway Park

The Red Sox could secure their third straight series sweep with a victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday at Fenway Park.

Boston’s recent stretch of success is almost difficult to put into words, though you can put it rather simply by looking at their 25-4 record since July 1.

Ranger Suarez will toe the rubber for the third time since being placed on the injured list, with his last two outings lasting just 4.2 innings and 4.0 innings, respectively, against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays. It’s expected that he’ll be given a longer leash moving forward with innings becoming an issue for Payton Tolle and Jake Bennett.

Willson Contreras will get the day off after being removed from Wednesday’s game with an illness, with Nick Sogard sliding over to first base and being replaced at second base by Anthony Seigler. Red Sox manager Chad Tracy won’t make any other personnel changes.

Luis Castillo will make his first start since being acquired from the Seattle Mariners on Monday, carrying a 5.06 ERA over from his time in the Pacific Northwest.

Brenton Doyle, Joey Bart, Luisangel Acuña, and Randall Grichuk will enter the lineup for the Southsiders. Sam Antonacci, Andrew Benintendi, Tristan Peters, and Drew Romo will depart.

The Red Sox will move on to host the Sacramento Athletics over the weekend at Fenway Park.

The Royals continue to search for pitching, claiming young left-hander Luke Little off waivers from the Cubs today. Little has appeared in 40 games over parts of the last four seasons with the Cubs with a 2.97 ERA, showing great velocity, but poor control.

Little was a fourth round pick in the 2020 draft out of San Jacinto College after going viral for some videos that exhibited some elite velocity. He stands at 6’8” and has a fastball that averages 96 mph. He made his MLB debut in 2023 with the Cubs, strikihng out 12 of the 30 batters he faced, and made 30 appearances for them in 2024. He had a 3.46 ERA that year with 28 strikeout and 18 walks in 26 innings.

Little appeared in just one game with the Cubs this year, and has struggled with his control in the minors. He has 34 walks in 39.1 innings to go with 44 strikeout and a 5.03 ERA across Double-A and Triple-A. The Cubs designated him for assignment this week after the trade deadline and the 26-year old is in his final year of options.

To make room for Little on the 40-man roster, the Royals transferred Luinder Avila to the 60-day Injured List. Avila is out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery yesterday.

CLEVELAND — All it took was a trade deadline overhaul to get the Mets on track.

Whether it was balls exploding beyond the fence or unproven relievers emerging, the Mets had their act together for three straight days, which is saying a lot for a team that hadn’t swept a series since May.

This three-game sweep was completed Thursday with a 13-6 victory over the Guardians. The sweep was only the third by the Mets this season.

For a third straight day, the Mets hit three homers. Marcus Semien, Luis Torrens and Francisco Lindor compiled the latest barrage to lead an 18-hit attack. The Mets averaged 8.3 runs in the three games.

It followed Monday’s deadline purge, in which Huascar Brazobán, Brooks Raley, Luke Weaver, Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor departed in trades. Freddy Peralta and A.J. Minter were traded in the days leading up to the deadline.

“It’s a new group of guys, so getting to know everyone is a great step,” Carson Benge said. “We have already jelled together quite nice, and losing all those guys hurts, but there is plenty more depth for this organization.”

The new arrivals have included Jefry Yan, a fireballing lefty reliever with colorful strikeout celebrations.

“We have got some good energy in the clubhouse right now,” Nolan McLean said. “We got to see Jefry throw the other day, and it’s pretty special. I think it’s just cool to watch guys with that much passion play the game of baseball, and it kind of gets you back to your roots a little bit of just remember why you play and it’s just to have fun.

“It’s a great blessing to be 25 years old and for me and playing a game that I played when I was 6 or 7 years old, so it’s awesome.”

Interim manager Andy Green noted the Mets slumped offensively in losing three of four games to the Marlins before the trade deadline.

“We didn’t swing the bats well, and so when you come in here guys are swinging the bats and feed off each other and then you add in those debuts and guys just touching their dreams for the first time,” Green said. “Everybody wants to be a part of that, no matter how the season has gone.”

It was a seesaw outing for McLean, who sandwiched three strong innings around two stinkers. Overall, the right-hander surrendered five earned runs on eight hits with three walks and eight strikeouts over five innings.

McLean slogged through the first inning, allowing two walks and three hits in placing the Mets in a 2-0 hole. Angel Martinez stroked a two-run single with the bases loaded, but McLean escaped further damage by retiring Patrick Bailey for the final out after surrendering two additional singles in the inning.

Semien and Torrens homered in the second to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. Torrens’ blast, a two-run shot, was his second in three days.

Benge just missed hitting a homer in a third straight game and settled for an RBI triple in the third that increased the Mets lead to 4-2. Semien hit a sacrifice fly in the inning to boost the lead to 5-2.

Jared Young delivered an RBI single in the fifth that gave the Mets a 6-2 lead.

McLean retired 11 straight batters into the fifth, but Nathaniel Lowe crushed a three-run homer to bring the Guardians to within 6-5.

Lindor’s three-run blast in the seventh extended the Mets lead to 9-5. Lindor’s homer was his eighth since returning from the injured list June 24.

The Mets padded their lead with four runs in the eighth. Alvarez stroked an RBI double and Young and Torrens each walked with the bases loaded before Bo Bichette singled in the final run.

“That Lindor home run today was huge for us after they scored three in the fifth and got to Nolan a little bit,” Green said. “To answer back and get those three runs back, I think, ended the game for us. We still had some things to do, but that was huge for us.”

The Mets racked up 18 hits on their way to their third win and series sweep against the Guardians, 13-6. Nolan McLean was good for most of his outing, and when he needed to come out after the fifth inning, the bullpen smothered the Guardians’ hitters, allowing two hits and one run.

The first inning was deceptively quiet for the Mets. With two outs, Luis Robert, Jr. sneaked a ground ball into left field for a single, but Carson Benge struck out immediately after that. When McLean took the mound for the bottom of the inning he issued two walks back-to-back, and then allowed a line-drive single to Nathaniel Lowe to load the bases. After this, Angel Martínez managed an RBI single on a grounder to center field that scored Chase DeLauter and José Ramírez. After getting the second out, McLean gave up another single, this one on a fly ball smacked into left field by Petey Halpin. Fortunately, McLean got Patrick Bailey to fly out right after that, and the inning ended with the Guardians leading 2-0.

In the second inning, Marcus Semien responded by bouncing a home run off the top of the fence, slightly confusing the announcers. Next up, Eric Wagaman lined a single into center field, setting up Luis Torrens to drive a two-run home run into right field, stunning new Guardians pitcher Foster Griffin and giving the Mets the lead. McLean continued to struggle slightly with walks, allowing one to Travis Bazzana. Bazzana stole second base after Torrens’ throw to second was a bit too high, but he was stranded there when Wagaman dove to stop a ground ball from Ramírez and got it to McLean in time for the third out. The score remained Mets 3, Guardians 2 at the end of the inning.

Bo Bichette walked to lead off the third inning but was caught in a fielder’s choice out when Robert grounded to third softly. With Robert on first, Carson Benge smacked an RBI triple off the wall above Halpin’s head, scoring Robert. Francisco Alvarez walked as well, and Semien scored Benge on a sac fly into left field for the second out. Wagaman struck out for the third out, but after Nolan McLean retired the batters in order at the bottom of the inning, the score was Mets 5, Guardians 2.

With two outs in the fourth inning, Lindor drove a single into left field, and Bichette doubled on another line drive, sending Lindor to third base. However, Robert flied out to right field to end the half-inning and strand the pair in scoring position. McLean once again worked a 1-2-3 inning. Matt Festa replaced Foster Griffin in the top of the fifth inning and gave up another walk to Alvarez with one out. Semien then rolled a double down the left field line, and Alvarez slid into to third. Jared Young pinch-hit for Wagaman and threaded an RBI single through the infielders into left field, scoring Alvarez. Young then stole second base completely uncontested. However, the next two outs came back-to-back to strand the runners in scoring position again.

At the bottom of the fifth inning, the Guardians punched back. DeLauter lined a single into right field, and Ramírez followed up by socking a single into right field. Nathaniel Lowe then smacked a three-run home run to score both DeLauter and Ramírez and bring the Guardians within one run of the Mets, with only one out. McLean’s troubles did not end there. After striking out Martínez, he allowed singles to both Brayan Rocchio and Halpin. McLean managed to get Patrick Bailey to ground out to end the inning, but his outing ended after the fifth inning, and the score stood at Mets 6, Guardians 5.

In the sixth inning, the Mets once again hit a couple of singles, this time from Robert and Benge, and once again stranded the runners without scoring. Nate Lavender worked a 1-2-3 inning in his second big-league outing. At the top of the seventh, Semien lined a single into right field. Jared Young popped a ball up that Angel Genao allowed to drop before getting the force out at second. Young once again stole second base, this time because nobody was covering second base. When Torrens hit a fly ball single to right field, Young made it to third base. When A.J. Ewing tried for a safety squeeze, he was thrown out at first, even though Andy Green came out to discuss if it was foul or fair with the umpires. With two outs, Lindor belted a three-run home run to right field, providing more cushion to the Mets’ lead. Kodai Senga replaced Nate Lavender in the bottom of the seventh and demonstrated again how well his new role is working, retiring the side in order. The score was now Mets 9, Guardians 5.

Slade Cecconi came out for the top of the eighth inning for the Guardians, and the Mets proceeded to take him for a ride. Robert led off with an infield single, and Benge followed up by lining a single into left field. A wild pitch by Cecconi allowed both runners to move up, and when Alvarez clobbered an RBI double off the wall in left field, Robert scored. With no outs yet recorded, Semien walked to load the bases, and then Young worked a walk to score a run. At that point, Tim Herrin replaced Cecconi on the mound, but he walked Torrens on four pitches to walk in another run and keep the bases loaded, still with no outs. Ewing struck out for the first out, but not before narrowly missing a hit by pitch, and Lindor struck out for the second. Next up, though, Bichette bounced a grounder just past third base for an RBI single to score Semien. Catcher Austin Hedges became the third pitcher in the inning for the Guardians when he replaced Herrin, and he struck out Robert, who was in his second plate appearance of the inning, for the third out. Xzavion Curry piled on for the Mets by retiring the Guardians batters in order, the third straight inning that the Mets bullpen shut down the Guardians offense. The eighth inning ended with the Mets 13, Guardians 5.

The ninth inning was quiet offensively for the Mets, and Xzavion Curry came back out after only needing seven pitches to close out the eighth. He struggled a bit more this time, allowing a leadoff single from Genao, who advanced to second on defensive indifference. With one out, DeLauter tapped an RBI single into center field and advanced to second base on defensive indifference himself. After allowing a walk to Lowe, Curry closed things out by getting Martínez to pop out to center field for the Mets’ win, the final score being Mets 13, Guardians 6.

The Mets begin a new series in Pittsburgh tomorrow against the Pirates. Zac Thornton will face TBD with first pitch at 6:40 PM ET.

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Win Probability Added

Fangraphs

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Marcus Semien, +19% WPA
Big Mets loser: Nolan McLean, -23% WPA
Mets pitchers: -10% WPA
Mets hitters: +60% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Francisco Lindor 3-run home run, +22.9% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Nathaniel Lowe 3-run hoome run, -22.3% WPA

For 114 games this season, Ozzie Albies has been in the starting lineup. Sometimes he’s hit third, sometimes he’s hit sixth, he had a long stretch hitting second… but he’s been in there.

Tonight, for the first time in 2026, Albies won’t be in there. He gives way to Mauricio Dubon, who will slide over to the keystone and bat fifth.

The rest of the lineup is more or less as expected, with the Braves loading up on lefties against right-hander Janson Junk, a day after they loaded up on righties against right-hander Eury Perez. Austin Riley remains set in the eight-hole, as the Braves double up on lefties after Dubon.

Given that Junk has already made one start against the Braves this year, there’s no lack of familiarity here, though neither Drake Baldwin nor Jim Jarvis have stood in against him yet. And, really, we’re not talking a lot of PAs for the other seven guys, as Mike Yastrzemski leads the way with nine. The collective line is just a .255 xwOBA in 34 PAs… but it does come with a .340 wOBA. Both Riley and Dominic Smith hit three-run homers off Junk earlier this year.

Aha, here’s the Miami lineup, after I posted this:

It’s a bit of an interesting one: Agustin Ramirez is making a start for the first time in about three months. He’s pinch hit in both games of this series, but has been mostly toiling in Triple-A, and is now back and batting third. Ramirez is supposed to be a fairly big-time prospect who provides huge power with the ability to at least fake it at catcher. The knock on him has been plate discipline, but he’s actually avoided a lot of chase this year, and has reasonable walk and strikeout rates. Instead, Ramirez has been killed by fairly awful contact, including grounderitis.

Though Perez has been around a long time, many of these Marlins bats haven’t. Only six guys in this lineup have faced him, and none for more than six PAs. It’s a collective .303 wOBA and .345 xwOBA in 28 PAs. Esteury Ruiz has nearly a .100 point xwOBA overperformance (.408 to .311) against lefties this year in 75 PAs, so that’s fun for him.

Wednesday night’s Mariners game had a wild twist.

Fans at T-Mobile Park celebrated local raccoon celebrity Jimothy at the M’s game against the Tigers — and those who purchased tickets with a special promotional offer were given Jimothy shirts.

The first 20,000 fans at the game received Jimothy trading cards with his stats, including his hometown of Ballard and his throwing hand, “all fours.”

Many others arrived at the game with their own regalia.

Jimothy, who typically roams around the Ballard area, went viral for his interesting, spherical shape, likely caused by a spine condition.

Upon announcing the Jimothy theme night, special tickets quickly sold out, which prompted the team to schedule a second Jimothy night for later this week.

M’s fans came prepared for the celebration, such as Hannah McCausland, who wore matching headbands with friends Donika Saqipi and Robert Kinsey.

“It was specifically to wear our Jimothy attire and support the Jimothy,” McCausland said.

Other fans were pleasantly surprised when they showed up to the game and caught wind of the festivities.

Payton Ives crocheted two Jimothys on the drive up from Portland, Oregon, and gave one to Mariners pre- and postgame TV host Brad Adam.

Even the players got in on the fun.

Mariners star Julio Rodriguez gave his teammates Jimothy batting practice shirts.

It was hard to go anywhere in the stadium and not see a Jimothy reference.

An inflatable raccoon posed for pictures with the Mariner Moose on the field pregame, and the SEAcret Door’s drink for the game was called a Trashed Panda.

Jimothy raced in the Salmon Run, and the video board displayed a “Get Loud for Jimothy” graphic.

Aiden Karmil, a tutor at a local Mathnasium, said the raccoon is a topic with the young kids at work.

“I love a theme night,” Karmil said. “I love something that brings something from Seattle into the park.”

The Mets crushed the Guardians, 13-6, on Thursday afternoon in Cleveland to secure a three-game sweep. 

Here are the takeaways...

- Batting in the top of the sixth inning with the Mets leading, 6-5, Francisco Lindor was in an 0-2 hole with runners on second and third with two outs. He then went down and got a changeup at the bottom of the zone, golfing it into the right field seats for a three-run homer that upped New York's lead to 9-5. 

The Mets poured it on in the eighth.

Francisco Alvarez hit a ringing double high off the left field wall, Jared Young and Luis Torrens drew bases loaded walks, and Bo Bichette had an infield hit as New York took a 13-5 advantage. 

- Kodai Senga, pitching for the second time in his new, high-leverage relief role, fired a dominant 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the seventh. 

Using almost exclusively four-seam fastballs and forkballs, Senga retired Jose Ramirez on one pitch before getting two swinging strikeouts -- one on a 97.3 mph four-seamer, the other on an 84.1 mph forkball. Senga's fastball topped out at 100 mph. 

- The Mets answered back immediately after falling into a 2-0 hole, with a solo homer by Marcus Semien and two-run opposite field shot off the bat of Torrens giving them a 3-2 lead in the top of the second.

New York added on in the third, with Carson Benge smoking a run-scoring triple high off the center field wall and Semien cashing in a run with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2.

In the fifth, the Mets tacked on a run on a YoungRBI single to make it 6-2, but couldn't capitalize further, withTorrenspopping out and pinch-hitter A.J. Ewing grounding out to strand runners on second and third.

- Against a lineup that featured all left-handed hitters, Nolan McLean struggled with his control in the first inning (often missing away), issuing a pair of one-out walks to get into trouble. After a two-run single by Angel Martinez gave Cleveland a 2-0 lead, the Guardians loaded the bases with two outs on a flare single by Petey Halpin. McLean escaped a potentially disastrous inning by inducing a fly out to right field -- capping a frame where he threw nearly as many balls (12) as strikes (14).

After his laborious first inning, McLean settled in, needing just 39 total pitches to get through the next three innings -- retiring eight batters in a row to cap that span.

Things came crashing in for McLean in the fifth, though as he again had serious issues with control as he again missed predominantly arm side.

McLean struck out Travis Bazzana looking before giving up back-to-back singles by Chase DeLauter and Jose Ramirez. He then threw a four-seam fastball that caught too much plate, with Nathaniel Lowe turning it around for a three-run homer that trimmed New York's lead to 6-5.

Overall, McLean allowed five runs over 5.0 innings while giving up eight hits, walking three, and striking out eight.

- Semien had a huge day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a sacrifice fly and a walk -- finishing a triple shy of the cycle.

- Rookie Nate Lavender twirled a perfect sixth inning with a pair of strikeouts, inducing a number of uncomfortable swings along the way.

Highlights

Marcus Semien home run! pic.twitter.com/29TzTqoCGR

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 6, 2026

Two-run shot for Luis Torrens gives the Mets the lead! pic.twitter.com/WX9APGbWIm

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 6, 2026

Eric Wagaman makes the diving play at first base to end the inning pic.twitter.com/WwmqTlMexZ

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 6, 2026

RBI triple for Carson Benge 💪 pic.twitter.com/gSBh6EPsA8

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 6, 2026

Marcus Semien's sac fly extends the Mets' lead pic.twitter.com/tj6ao8Rg4k

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 6, 2026

Jared Young drives in Francisco Alvarez! pic.twitter.com/VN0xU9vvYy

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 6, 2026

Francisco Lindor with a three-run home run!!! pic.twitter.com/Jko5FeAl15

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 6, 2026

Kodai Senga strikes out two batters in a 1-2-3 7th inning pic.twitter.com/JOa9biFK5A

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 6, 2026

Francisco Alvarez doubles to bring Luis Robert Jr. home! pic.twitter.com/2uBG7DCiAL

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 6, 2026

Jared Young is walked by Slade Cecconi with the bases loaded to force in a run pic.twitter.com/PKvHagMBHe

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 6, 2026

What's next

The Mets open a three-game series against the Pirates on Friday night in Pittsburgh at 6:40.

Zac Thornton gets the start for New York.

The St. Louis Cardinals return to Busch Stadium Friday night for the start of a 3-game series versus the NL West cellar-dwelling Colorado Rockies. It should (key word) be an opportunity for the Cardinals to relearn their winning ways while enjoying some home cooking, but we all know how best laid plans go this season.

The Colorado Rockies are a meager 45-70 this season trailing the billionaires Los Angeles Dodgers by 24 games so playoff talk is not a factor for them. They have lost 7 of their last 10 games so no worries about big momentum from the Coloradoans.

Here are the projected pitching matchups

Friday, August 7 – Kyle Leahy vs Ryan Feltner (RHP 4-5, 5.75 ERA, 57 SO)

Saturday, August 8 – Matthew Liberatore vs Kyle Freeland (LHP 3-10, 6.81 ERA, 93 SO)

Sunday, August 9 – Michael McGreevy vs Michael Lorenzon (RHP 3-10, 6.94 ERA, 80 SO)

Ryan Feltner won his last start for Colorado on August 1 as he tossed 6 innings allowing 8 hits and 4 earned runs vs the Royals, but he lost the previous 2 before that against the Brewers and Reds. Kyle Freeland also won his last start throwing a complete game gem vs the Royals on August 2 allowing just 5 hits and 1 earned run. Michael Lorenzon lost his last start vs Tampa Bay on August 3 lasting just 3 innings and getting thumped for 7 earned runs. He had 2 no decisions prior to that.

Here are the Colorado Rockies players to watch

Hunter Goodman (C): Leads the Rockies with 33 home runs and 66 RBIs.

TJ Rumfield (1B): Team’s highest batting average (.294) and on-base percentage (.374) with a team-leading 116 hits.

Jake McCarthy (OF): Steady .293 batting average alongside 17 stolen bases.

Mickey Moniak (LF): Extra-base power with 19 home runs and 52 RBIs.

Kyle Karros (3B): Decent contact bat hitting .268 with a .366 OBP.

What did the Colorado Rockies do at the trade deadline?

Brenton Doyle: Traded to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for a pair of minor league prospects.

Antonio Senzatela: Traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for pitching depth/prospect returns.

Victor Vodnik: Traded to the Miami Marlins

This is another series where on paper it looks like the St. Louis Cardinals should have an opportunity to win if not sweep the Colorado Rockies. However, St. Louis has a similar downward spiral since the All-Star break that Colorado has. The expectation is that Jordan Walker should be back in the starting lineup starting Friday after nursing knee soreness. Masyn Winn also expected to be back at short after a couple of days off including sitting out Wednesday night’s game in New York. I can tend to be unrealistically optimistic sometimes which is probably why I’m hopeful this young Cardinals team can rediscover their early season energy and make an unexpected run at the third wild card playoff spot. Is that delusional? Magic 8 Ball says “YES”.

On Wednesday, Minor League Baseball announced that Wilder Dalis (No. 24 PuRP) was named July’s Player of the Month for the California League.

In winning the award, the Fresno Grizzlies infielder and native of Maracay, Venezuela, received recognition for his performance over the course of the month.

Over 24 games in July, Dalis batted .374/.443/.727 with a combined 1.170 OPS, while collecting 37 hits, including nine doubles, a triple, and eight home runs, 24 runs scored and 35 RBI.

He led the California League in hits, RBI and total bases (72) for the month, and finished second in the league in runs, doubles, home runs, stolen bases (10), and slugging percentage. In addition, Dalis ranked third in the league in OPS and fourth in batting average. His 35 RBI led all of Minor League Baseball for July, and his 72 total bases ranked second.

His 2026 season has not been without injury.

After appearing in 18 games in April and then three in May, Dalis was placed on the Injured List until June 16, when he returned to the Grizzlies’ lineup. It did not take long for him to get back on track. Dalis hit .341 with six doubles over his final 13 games of June. He followed that up by putting together one of the most productive months by any hitter in the California League this season.

Consider the numbers.

Dalis reached base multiple times in 11 different games during July. He set a career high with four hits on July 8 against Stockton and equaled it on July 26 against Rancho Cucamonga, when he went 4-for-5 with a home run, three runs scored, and four RBI. He also went 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBI on July 10 against Stockton and delivered a 3-for-4 day with a double, a home run, and four RBI on July 23 against Rancho Cucamonga.

To end July, on the 30th, his 20th birthday, Dalis hit a three-run homer and drove in four to spark a blowout win for Fresno.

Also notable, Dalis produced the numbers while manning multiple spots on the infield.

Over the course of July, he started at third base, second base and shortstop, giving Fresno’s lineup flexibility.

Since returning to the lineup on June 16, Dalis has hit .370 with 11 home runs, 50 RBI, and 17 stolen bases over his last 37 games, posting a .466 on-base percentage, a .705 slugging percentage and a 1.171 OPS in that stretch.

For the season, Dalis is hitting .310 with 15 home runs, 64 RBI and 21 stolen bases across 61 games. Entering August, he ranked seventh in the California League in batting average, tied for fourth in home runs, eighth in RBI, fourth in on-base percentage, second in slugging percentage, and third in OPS.

In August, he picked up where he finished July, going 6-for-11 with two home runs and eight RBI over his first three games of the month.

“Obviously, I know I’m talented,” Dalis said earlier in the season, “but I’m not thinking about ‘Hey, I’m a prospect in the Top 100’ or whatever. I know what I have and my abilities, and that’s it. I don’t worry about the other stuff.

“Hopefully in the near future, I’ll be there (in the majors) and can help the team win and make an impact with the team in Denver.”

And as a reminder, our PuPRs voting closes tomorrow. Leave your rankings here.

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

Detroit Tigers (55-59) vs. Seattle Mariners (56-59)

Time/Place: 4:10 p.m., T-Mobile Park
SB Nation Site:Lookout Landing
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: LHP Framber Valdez (6-7, 4.41 ERA) vs. RHP Bryce Miller (4-5, 2.80 ERA

The Orioles entered today’s game with a chance to pull into a tie for a Wild Card spot. And as it turns out, with the Guardians likely to lose today, the O’s would have done exactly that — if only they had actually, you know, remembered to win.

Instead, they put up one of their most pathetic, frustrating efforts of the season and dropped the finale to the worst in the majors, the Angels, by a 4-1 score. It was another stark reminder that O’s fans should never make the mistake of getting their hopes up. This team is simply too flawed to let you feel good about their chances.

It didn’t take long into the afternoon to realize that this was going to be one of those games. You know the ones I mean. The kind where the Orioles do lots and lots of dumb stuff to give away an easily winnable game. Like, say, losing a routine pop-up in the sun because your sunglasses are on your hat instead of your face, which is exactly what Jackson Holliday did in the second. And even though Brandon Young pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam that inning, the miscue forced him to throw 29 pitches.

That was the unfortunate story of the game for Young, who lacked his usual crispness and command. The entire afternoon was a struggle for the normally reliable right-hander, no inning moreso than the third. An infield single (on which Young himself committed a throwing error) and a walk put two on for the struggling Zach Neto, who hadn’t homered in more than a month. I think you know where I’m going with this. One big fly into the bleachers later, the Angels had a 3-0 lead. Sigh.

Young trudged through a 25-pitch inning in the fourth, including 13 pitches to the #9 hitter, Oswald Peraza, though he escaped a two-on, no-out jam on a well-timed double play. But with his pitch count so elevated, Young couldn’t get deep into the game, exiting after 4.1 innings with 98 pitches. That’s a disappointingly short outing on a day when most of the Orioles’ high-leverage relievers were unavailable. Then again, you don’t need high-leverage relievers when your offense can’t even make it a competitive game.

Oh my, that Orioles offense. This is going to be a real problem for the rest of the season, isn’t it? With Samuel Basallo and Blaze Alexander on the shelf, and with Gunnar Henderson showing no signs of breaking out of his season-long slumber, and with Taylor Ward and his team-leading OBP gone, and with Adley Rutschman never to return, the O’s are trotting out a truly woeful offense most days. The Orioles fielded a lineup today in which six of the nine hitters have a sub-.700 OPS for the season. They’ve got nobody that any pitcher should be afraid of except maybe Pete Alonso. That’s not going to win you many games.

And indeed it didn’t. The Birds’ offensive flaws were on full display against a pitcher that by all accounts they should have clobbered, Angels right-hander Ryan Johnson and his 7.63 ERA. What if I told you that the Orioles put nine runners on base in 4.2 innings against him? That he walked five batters and plunked another? How many runs would you assume the O’s scored?

The answer is one, and it came on a solo homer by Yohel Pozo. All of those walks and free baserunners? They amounted to nothing, because if there’s one thing you can count on the Orioles to do, it’s to waste every opportunity that comes their way. They ended both the first and second innings by grounding into a double play.

Then came the torturous bottom of the third, which started off promisingly enough on Pozo’s unlikely dinger, the first of his Orioles career. Yet somehow, even though the next four batters all reached base, the Orioles didn’t score again. That’s because Dylan Beavers, who singled, got himself thrown out trying to steal. Johnson practically begged the Orioles to start another rally by walking the next two batters and plunking another to load the bases for Holliday.

Pop quiz time: if you’re up to bat and the clearly struggling pitcher has just walked and/or hit three consecutive batters, what do you do? Do you work the count and try to force him to throw strikes, or do you just hack away at the very first pitch, ground out weakly, and let him off the hook completely? I think you can guess which approach Holliday took, and it was painful. Holliday, who had been red hot to end July, is now 0-for-14 in August. And he also doesn’t know how to wear sunglasses, apparently.

Johnson didn’t end up getting the win because he was removed with two outs in the fifth, but he finished with 4.2 innings of one-run ball despite issuing five walks and throwing more balls (39) than strikes (37). Johnson, who threw six scoreless innings against the Orioles in June, now has a 0.84 ERA against the Orioles and 8.78 against all other teams this year. Sometimes all you can do is laugh.

The Angels added an insurance run in the seventh against Yaramil Hiraldo, and their 4-1 lead might as well have been 40-1. The Angels’ bullpen, even after all of their best relievers were traded a few days ago, dominated the Orioles’ listless lineup. Four guys I have never heard of — Mitch Farris, Luke Murphy, Taylor Saucedo, and Sammy Natera Jr. — combined to work 4.1 scoreless innings. The O’s only got one hit off these randos! Are we still laughing?

The Birds’ best chance to score came in the eighth when they brought Jeremiah Jackson to the plate as the possible tying run, but Gunnar Henderson tried to score from third on a wild pitch that unluckily bounced off the wall and back to the catcher, who fired to Natera covering the plate for the out. Replays showed that Henderson hesitated for a split-second coming down the line, which likely cost him the chance to score. It was that kind of day.

Natera finished things off with a perfect ninth, sealing one of the Orioles’ dumbest losses of the year. And there have been many.

The Athletics took on the Cincinnati Reds in the series finale, seeking to avoid a sweep and end a seven-game losing streak. The Reds secured the series sweep by defeating the A’s 6-5, dropping the Green and Gold to their eighth straight defeat in a game that played out all too similar to several of the team’s previous losses. For the third straight day, the bullpen faltered, and the offense was unable to do enough to overcome the pitching struggles.

Reds Strike First

A’s starter Mason Barnett got off to a rough start. The first batter he faced, Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz, hit his 19th home run of the season, putting the hosts up 1-0.

His counterpart, Reds starter Andrew Abbott, pitched three scoreless innings to begin the game, consistently getting A’s hitters to chase pitches outside the strike zone and inducing strikeouts and soft-contact groundouts.

A’s Take the Lead

Athletics center fielder Henry Bolte and first baseman Tommy White led off the fourth inning with back-to-back singles, setting up the visitors first scoring opportunity of the game. Jonah Heim drew a walk, bringing up Tyler Soderstrom with the bases loaded and no outs. The A’s left fielder delivered, grounding a two-run single to center field to give his team a 2-1 lead.

After Max Muncy singled to re-load the bases, Lawrence Butler grounded into the A’s second double play of the game, bringing home the third run of the inning, but preventing the rally from extending further. That replay-aided play swung the momentum in the Reds’ favor and they never looked back.

More A’s Pitching Troubles

The Reds immediately responded. First baseman Sal Stewart led off the last of the fourth with his 25th home run of the season, a solo shot to center field that cut the A’s lead to 3-2. Later that inning, catcher Tyler Stephenson tied the game with his 10th home run of the season, another solo shot to center field.

The Reds had the chance to re-take the lead after drawing two walks, but Barnett recorded the final out of the frame to keep the game tied at three. Innings like these have been a major reason the A’s have struggled to win baseball games lately, as their pitching staff has repeatedly allowed opponents to score immediately after the offense provides a spark.

Same Story Every Game!

The Reds threatened to retake the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, loading the bases with one out against Barnett. After he walked JJ Bleday to load the bases, A’s manager Mark Kotsay made a pitching change, bringing in hard-throwing but erratic reliever Elvis Alvarado, a move that quickly backfired.

After striking out the first hitter he faced, Alvarado lost his command and walked in two runs, giving the Reds a 5-3 lead through five innings. It seems like a bases-loaded situation may not be the ideal spot to use Alvarado, raising the question of which pitcher the A’s should have turned to instead.

For the second time this series, the A’s bullpen gave the Reds free runs, with Alvarado’s walks fest coming two days after Hogan Harris’ wild pitch bonanza. No wonder this team has the worst bullpen ERA in the major leagues! Both of the runs scored were charged to Barnett, who allowed five runs on five hits over 4 1/3 innings. His seven strikeouts were encouraging, but allowing three home runs proved costly.

Reds Eying the Sweep

Unlike the A’s, the Reds can actually throw strikes and hold leads. Abbott completed his second straight scoreless inning, keeping the game’s momentum firmly on his team’s side. Cincinnati’s southpaw turned in a quality start, allowing three runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings.

New A’s reliever Seth Johnson made his first appearance in the eighth inning, and unfortunately, he fit right in with the rest of the A’s struggling bullpen. With one out, Bleday launched his 20th home run of the season and the Reds’ fourth of the game, turning the deficit into a three-run hole. Bleday, who struggled last season with the Athletics, has revitalized his career in Cincinnati, putting a spotlight on the A’s player development staff.

A’s Comeback Falls Short

Down by three, the A’s attempted to come back in the ninth. Facing Reds left-hander Brock Burke, Butler reached on an infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error by shortstop Elly De La Cruz. A’s catcher Brian Serven hit his second home run of the season, a two-run shot to left-center, field that cut the Reds’ lead to one.

That was as close as the visitors got. Burke retired the next two hitters to earn his second save of the season. The loss was the Athletics’ eighth straight, dropping them to 6-32 over their last 38 games as they were swept for the second consecutive series.

It could be more of the same this weekend as the A’s head to Boston to face a Red Sox team trending in the opposite direction. Right-hander Jack Perkins is scheduled to start for the Athletics on Friday evening, while the Red Sox have yet to announce their starter.