Category: MLB

It’s like whiplash.

The sky was falling on the Los Angeles Dodgers, and now the sky is the limit. At least that’s how it feels.

The Dodgers lost 10 of 13 games between July 26 and Aug. 9. Now they’ve won 10 of 13 games and have the second best record in baseball, one game behind the Milwaukee Brewers with five weeks until the playoffs start.

There’s no question the quality of opponents was superior during the Dodgers' losing skid. But there’s no denying there's reason for optimism on the field. (Owner Mark Walter and the investigation into potential business fraud, well, that’s another story.)

As the Dodgers head into a three-game road series against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday Aug. 25, here’s the best news: Pitcher Tyler Glasnow is scheduled to make his first start in 3 ½ months after being sidelined with back spasms.

“I’m excited to see Tyler back and I know he's been missing competing,’’ Roberts told reporters.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Now in his third stint in the Major Leagues this season, Spencer Jones has begun to show some consistency at the plate, earning the praise of his teammates and coaches in the process. Cody Bellinger, who recently returned from the IL, called him “a freak athlete [and] a great defender” who has finally started “controlling his at-bats really well,” while manager Aaron Boone praised his ability to “to make adjustments to become a more well-rounded hitter.” That high praise — plus his strong performance of late — bodes well for the Yankees, who need to continue to rely on him while Aaron Judge remains on the injured list.

Yahoo! Sports | Bob Klapisch: The story of Jones as a prospect is well-known — a player with prodigious power potential and a prodigious ability to swing and miss — and indeed, his first two stints in The Show fit that description to such a degree that an anonymous scout called him “Joey Gallo 2.0” and believed that it would be wise for the Yankees to trade him before he lost any more value. Over the last few weeks, though, his ability to make adjustments has surprised even this anonymous scout, and while there is still a pretty big hole in his swing — high velocity up in the zone — there’s plenty of reason for optimism.

FanGraphs | Jay Jaffe: As part of his annual series in which he checks in on players’ Hall of Fame chances, Jay Jaffe dove into the list of players who, through either injury or underperformance, saw their Cooperstown chances take a hit this season. A pair of Yankees outfielders made this list: Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. While Judge’s injury likely doesn’t derail his candidacy too much — after all, ZiPS still gives him a 28 percent chance of reaching 600 home runs, apparently — Stanton’s series of injuries may unfortunately end his time in the Bronx, and, thus, his best shot at hitting 500 home runs.

MLB Trade Rumors | Steve Adams: In case you missed it, the Yankees selected the contract of Justin Topa and recalled him from Triple-A Scranton yesterday, sending Brendan Beck back down. The veteran reliever has struggled this season, and really hasn’t been a truly reliable arm since 2023, but he can generate ground balls. With the Yankees in need of some bullpen depth, it’s worth knocking on every door, and by promoting him now, he will be eligible for the postseason roster.

‘D-Hill' and ‘De La' are giving the Phillies everything they were missing originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

SEATTLE — Before this past one, the last two trade deadlines followed a familiar pattern for the Phillies.

They needed a right-handed outfield bat. They went out and got one.

Last year, it was Harrison Bader. Two years ago, it was Austin Hays. In 2026, that need existed again, maybe even more clearly.

The Phillies’ right-handed bats had struggled badly. Their bench needed more punch. Their outfield mix still looked like it could use another right-handed piece.

Then Dave Dombrowski went a different route.

The Phillies’ biggest deadline addition was not a corner outfielder. It was Luis Arraez, a three-time batting champion and left-handed hitter whose arrival forced one of the more unusual defensive shuffles of the season.

Bryce Harper moved from first base to right field. Alec Bohm moved from third to first. Bryson Stott moved from second to third. Arraez took over at second.

The move gave the Phillies elite contact and a different offensive identity, but it also meant they were going to have to trust what they already had from the right side in the outfield.

So far, that has meant Derek Hill and Bryan De La Cruz.

One came in a June trade with the White Sox. The other signed a minor-league deal last November. Neither move brought the kind of deadline attention that a Taylor Ward-type acquisition would have.

But both have helped explain why the Phillies felt they could add Arraez and make the rest of the roster work.

Hill, 30, arrived from Chicago in a trade that sent two minor leaguers to the White Sox. He had played for six big-league teams across six seasons, still chasing the complete player profile that made him a first-round pick by Dombrowski in 2014.

The one thing the Phillies knew they were getting was a right-handed bat with a history of doing damage against lefties. Hill entered the trade with a career .491 slugging percentage against southpaws.

That mattered for a Phillies team whose right-handed hitters had produced a .622 OPS against lefties, a mark that would have ranked near the bottom of any season since those splits began being tracked in 1974.

Hill has not only helped there.

He has posted a .767 OPS with the Phillies, bringing defense, speed and energy to a roster that needed all three. He might already be one of the best defensive outfielders the Phillies have had in years.

And he has fit quickly.

“Everybody’s pulling from the same side,” Hill said. “Everybody’s been talking to each other in here. There’s not a lot of people just sitting doing their own thing. It’s very nice to be a part of a clubhouse.”

That has shown up in the way Hill talks about hitting here. It is not one voice or one adjustment. It is a lot of them.

“There’s just so much information here,” Hill said. “It’s easy to pull from and grab from. You can choose whatever applies to your process.”

That includes the hitting coaches. It includes the stars around him. It includes Arraez, whose bat has quickly become a resource in that room.

“If Schwarber’s in there, I’m picking his brain before the game starts,” Hill said. “Turner, Harper, if they’re in there, I’m picking their brains. It’s just a bunch of guys pulling from the same side.”

Hill said that part of his work with the Phillies has been getting into his legs more. He has also credited the group around him for helping him settle into a role that can be difficult. He does not play every day, but he plays with a clear purpose when he is in the lineup.

De La Cruz has done the same.

The sample is smaller, but the production has been loud. Through his first 45 plate appearances with the Phillies, De La Cruz is batting .359, the best start by a Phillie over that PA span since Wilson Ramos in late 2018.

De La Cruz was familiar to the Phillies before he ever got here. He spent parts of four seasons with the Marlins and played under Don Mattingly in Miami.

Before a rough 2025 season, De La Cruz had already shown he could be a productive major leaguer. Across his 162-game averages, he was a .253 hitter with nearly 50 extra-base hits and 71 RBIs. There was swing-and-miss in his game, but there was impact, too.

The Phillies signed him to a minor-league deal last November. He went on to win Dominican Winter League MVP, played well for Triple-A Lehigh Valley and earned a call-up before he could trigger free agency.

Now, even without steady playing time, he has stayed ready.

“I like the fact that he fits in with the group,” Mattingly said. “He has a role. It’s one of the things I like about where we’re at right now. The pieces kind of fit together. These guys know when they’re going to play, they know when they pinch-hit, when we defend and things like that.”

That role is not easy.

De La Cruz might sit for two or three days, then get one at-bat in a high-leverage spot. That was the case last Sunday in Minnesota, when he came off the bench and poked a two-run single down the first-base line to give the Phillies a 7-5 lead in their comeback win over the Twins.

Mattingly understands what that asks of a hitter.

“It’s definitely easier playing every day, getting regular at-bats, seeing pitching every day,” Mattingly said. “Guys like (De La Cruz), they have to work harder than the other guys. Always trying to stay up to speed. It’s tougher in that role.”

To no surprise De La Cruz has looked more settled than the young player Mattingly remembers from Miami.

“He’s a lot more experienced,” Mattingly said. “Experience, as a player, gives you a lot more comfort. A lot more situations out on the field, on the bases, at the plate. So he’s definitely a lot more experienced and probably calmer.”

Together, Hill and De La Cruz have given the Phillies a useful version of the right-handed outfield bat they did not acquire at the deadline.

Viewed as a pair, they are slashing .291/.333/.496 with an .829 OPS, five doubles and seven home runs in 139 plate appearances. With runners in scoring position, those numbers rise to a .317 average and .894 OPS.

They have also delivered in the kind of spots that tend to stick.

Since joining the Phillies this season, Hill and De La Cruz have combined for seven go-ahead or game-tying hits in the fifth inning or later. De La Cruz has four. Hill has three.

Quietly, they have essentially matched the production Bader gave the Phillies after last year’s deadline, when he hit .305 with five homers and an .824 OPS.

That is not a small thing.

For more reference, the rest of the Phillies’ right-handed regulars — Trea Turner, Bohm, J.T. Realmuto, Edmundo Sosa and Adolis García — have combined for a .233/.292/.372 slash line and a .664 OPS in that same span. Some of them have surged lately, but none entered this stretch batting .250 on the season or carrying an OPS above .690.

That is why Hill and De La Cruz have become more than extra pieces.

A postseason roster needs stars, but it also needs the surrounding cast to hold up. The 2008 Phillies had Greg Dobbs, Matt Stairs and Chris Coste giving them real production around the edges. Different players, different roles, different team, but the same general idea.

When the bench is useful, the roster feels deeper.

When the bench is timely, it can change games.

Hill has brought speed, energy (a toothpick), and a right-handed option who can be moved around. De La Cruz has brought an experienced bat that can sit for a few days and still be trusted in a spot.

The clubhouse piece is important, as well. Hill pointed to the way this group has stayed connected through a season that started poorly, heated up, cooled off after the All-Star break and has since found another gear.

“Things go up, things go down,” Hill said. “It’s just if you guys are going to stick together and keep that camaraderie rolling. I think that’s the most important part.”

Playing the Mariners put the deadline part of this into perspective, too.

With his on-base abilities, Ward was one of the most obvious right-handed outfield fits on the market. Seattle acquired him from Baltimore for big-league reliever Alex Hoppe and two minor-league prospects.

Since arriving with the Mariners, Ward has the lowest batting average and OPS in the American League.

That is hindsight, and deadline decisions should not be judged only through three weeks of results. But the Phillies chose a different path. They acquired Arraez, trusted Harper’s move to right field and kept rolling with “D-Hill” and “De La” as their right-handed outfield support.

So far, that plan has held up.

The Phillies did not add the obvious right-handed outfield bat at the deadline.

They may have already had enough of one here.

PHOENIX — The Chicago Cubs might not be the best team in their own division.

They might not even be the best team in their hometown.

But, oh, as they proved Monday night with a 7-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in front of largely their own fans at Chase Field, they sure are armed and dangerous.

The Cubs, 76-56 and running away with the NL wild-card race, are dreaming big.

Yes, World Series big.

With the Mariners showing no consistent signs in the second half that they’d put their first-half struggles behind them, many fans have put to bed their hopes for the playoffs, especially as the team entered into this particularly grueling stretch of a long road trip combined with playing three very tough NL teams: the Brewers, Cubs, and now the Phillies. Both the Brewers and Cubs series featured brutal, humiliating losses, the Brewers a historic 22-0 drubbing and the Cubs – despite a series win thanks to scraping out wins in the first two games – a game that saw multiple position players have to take the mound in a 19-2 loss. But just as the Mariners bounced back to snatch a game from the Brewers after making team history (derogatory), they again bounced back tonight to surprise the Phillies with a dominant 9-2 win that also made history (complimentary).

It certainly didn’t look like things were going to go this way. The game got off to a rough start for Logan Gilbert, who walked Kyle Schwarber on five pitches to lead off the game. He struck out Trea Turner on a spicy 98 mph heater, but then surrendered back-to-back singles to Bryce Harper and Luis Arraez to load the bases with just one out. To Gilbert’s credit, though, he didn’t wilt under pressure, continuing to execute pitch after pitch. Alex Boehm hit into an RBI groundout on a slow roller that could have been an inning-ending double play, and then Gilbert bullied Bryson Stott on four pitches, striking him out on another spicy heater. In the end, the Phillies only got one run out of all that traffic, and the only real damage was done to Logan’s pitch count, at 29.

But Zack Wheeler had his own struggles in the bottom of the first, and would finish the inning with a similarly inflated pitch count (33) but significantly more damage on the scoreboard thanks to two Mariners home runs. MULTI-run home runs, even, which is delightful. Randy Arozarena led off the game with a walk, followed by a sharply-hit single from Dominic Canzone (110 EV), and then Julio Rodríguez – who scuffled in the Cubs series, going 1-for-13 with seven strikeouts – tattooed a splitter that caught too much plate for a home run into the visitor’s bullpen.

And then, and this is the part you’ll really like, the Mariners didn’t stop there. So often we’ve seen this team score a few early and then take their foot off the gas. Instead, they kept the pressure on Wheeler in the first, with Josh Naylor singling into right field (but then getting thrown out and also bonked on the head trying to stretch it into a double, no Josh!), and then Taylor Ward refusing to chase off the plate for a walk to extend Wheeler’s inning. That brought up Cal Raleigh, and Wheeler tried to dispense of him with a fastball up, a pitch Cal has been consistently missing this season. He did not miss this one:

Asked if that’s a pitch he would have missed a few weeks ago, Cal was brutally honest. “I mean, I’d like to say no, but I don’t know. I know when I wasn’t getting that pitch in the middle up a little, I was just missing it. Even though I was seeing it well, I wasn’t taking advantage of it. And today I was able to take advantage of it, so I feel good.”

So the question is which starter would absorb the punch in the mouth better, and which offense would continue to stress the starter’s workloads. It was Gilbert who blinked first, getting two strikes on J.T. Realmuto but then leaving a four-seamer right in his kitchen for him to pull over the left-field fence to make the game a closer 5-2. Wheeler then did his job to shut the Mariners down in the bottom of the inning, bookending a 1-2-3 inning with strikeouts of Brock Rodden and Canzone.

That sent Gilbert right back out facing the teeth of the Phillies lineup, but aside from a line-drive base hit to Harper, Gilbert emerged unscathed. The offense then had an opportunity to really open this game up, once again getting to Wheeler – Julio beat out an infield hit on a bobbled ball from Tuner at short, then Naylor hit the exact same single he did in the first inning but this time didn’t get thrown out, hooray. Ward worked his second walk of the game to load the bases and then with Cal up, Julio scored on a wild pitch, extending the lead to 6-2. Cal then walked to re-load the bases and it felt like the Mariners really had something cooking – except Cole Young grounded out on the first pitch he saw, followed by a Weston Wilson strikeout and a Brock Rodden groundout. So this time it was the Mariners who only got one run, but did drive up Wheeler’s pitch count to 77 through three innings.

After some more navigating around a leadoff base hit on the changeup in the fourth, Gilbert hung another zero. The Mariners looked like they might be back to pressing Wheeler again, with Randy working a leadoff walk – already Wheeler’s fifth of the game – but Canzone chose that time to hit into the game’s first double play, neatly trimming a few pitches off Wheeler’s pitch count. Julio kept the line moving by torturing Turner again, smacking a sweeper at him that he couldn’t handle, and Naylor kept things going after that with a sharp single up the middle that pushed Julio to third. Ward couldn’t come up with yet another walk, grounding out to end the inning, but with Wheeler at 94 pitches, it looked like the Mariners would be able to get into the Phillies bullpen early, always a plus in the first game of a series.

But plot twist! Don Mattingly – who is the Phillies manager, did you know that? – opted to send Wheeler back out in the bottom of the fifth, maybe hoping to scrape another inning out of his starter against the bottom of the Mariners lineup. Instead he was greeted very rudely, first by Cal, who in a full count got a cutter right in the middle of the plate and…did not miss it.

“I feel like I’ve been seeing the ball pretty well,” said Cal. “I’ve been trying to get my hands back sooner, and I feel like I’ve been doing a better job of that…Being in a good position as early as possible is something that Edgar always talks about and has always been a pillar of mine throughout my career, even down all the way to Little League. It’s a very simple thing, but it’s sometimes harder to go out there and execute that.”

Mattingly then left Wheeler in to pitch to Young, who admittedly has been frigid at the plate in August, his .197 average for the month a hundred points lower than his average in June. We miss you, Good Cole. Apparently, he misses him too:

That made the score a comfortable 8-2, and gave Seranthony Dominguez a nice cushion to work with over two innings against his former team. He went three up and three down each time, the second inning aided by a Cal Raleigh ABS challenge on a pitch that was so clearly strike three that Schwarber started walking towards the dugout before the ump had even announced that the pitch was being challenged. Fun fact: if you take out his blowout first appearance as a Mariner, Seranthony has a 3.86 ERA with an xERA of 1.81 and a 2.51 FIP, with a K/9 of over 10.

Because Cal is at his heart a competitive monster, he had to one-up Randy in his big game, knocking his third homer of the night against new reliever Chase Shugart. Behind in the count 3-1, Shugart tried to shneak a cutter past Cal, who wasn’t having any of that:

Gabe Speier, in need of some work after the Mariners got blown out baby diaper style yesterday, worked the eighth against the top of the Phillies lineup and hung a zero of his own, and then Carlos Vargas finished things off in style, posting his own 1-2-3 inning and topping it off with a pair of sharp defensive plays (even if the first one had me cringing). So that’s four shutout innings from the bullpen, allowing zero hits, walking none, and three strikeouts. Pretty nifty.

Something I’ve been complaining about with these Mariners all season is that they lack consistency. It turns out, lacking consistency isn’t always a bad thing when the day before is a blowout loss.

“Listen. A loss is a loss,” said Coach Cal postgame. “You hate to get blown out, obviously you don’t feel good at the time, and maybe it hurts a little more in the moment. But at the end of the day, we won the series [with Chicago]…regardless of how bad it was, it would have stung just as bad to lose 5-4. It is what it is. Move on. Baseball players are kind of wired that way anyway. You have to have a short memory. If you don’t, typically things tend to linger. But this team doesn’t have that problem.”

The 2026 Mariners: many problems, but not this particular problem. And maybe not the problem of last year’s MVP-adjacent franchise leader in home runs continuing to struggle at the plate. For the bad history the Mariners made recently, Cal made some good history tonight, becoming the first Mariner at home to have a three-home run game since Edgar Martinez did it in 1999 (May 18 vs. Minnesota). It’s also the first time a Mariner has had a three-homer game at T-Mobile Park. And Julio, after his struggles in the Chicago series, made some history of his own with his fifth-straight 20+ home run season, the first player in Mariners history to start his career with five-straight such seasons, and just the 20th player to do that all-time. Whatever happens going forward, at least the 2026 Mariners will have made some history (complimentary).

In the past 10 days, the Twins have been swept by the Phillies, swept the Braves, and then were swept by the Padres. It’s all or nothing in the dog days of summer and hopefully the win today puts them back in the “all” category.

The Twins got off to a great start and, unlike some other games in recent weeks, kept on adding throughout the middle innings to put this one out of reach for the opponent. Byron Buxton walked and Ryan Jeffers singled to put two men on for RBI machine Josh Bell. Bell crushed the first pitch he saw to left-center for what he thought was a three-run dong, but instead bounced off the very top of the wall for a double. Buxton scored but the A’s got the ball back in quickly to keep Jeffers at third. Either way, the Twins took yet another early lead.

Bell also drove in Minnesota’s second run, though this one came in a very different matter. After hitting his first one about 379.9 feet, this one went all of six feet. But with Buxton on third base, that was all the Twins needed to score.

The homeless A’s rallied in the third to bring the game within one. Twins starter Zebby Matthews gave up back to back singles to rookie Henry Bolte and veteran Jeff McNeil to start the inning, but the damage was limited thanks to a Zack Gelof GIDP. Lawrence Butler still drove in Bolte with a two out single, but Matthews did a good job keeping things in check.

Things finally broke open for the Twins the next inning. Local Sacramento kid Ryan Kreidler led off with a solo homer, his first in nearly two months. Buxton and Jeffers reached again ahead of Bell who wasn’t able to drive in a run in three straight ABs, but Kody Clemens delivered a clutch two-out hit off a lefty to put the Twins up 4-1.

The Twins added on again in the sixth, with the first four batters of the inning reaching, highlighted by Luke Keaschall’s two run double with the bases loaded. Josh Bell got one more RBI in the inning, because of course he did, a sac fly to give the Twins a 7-1 lead.

They weren’t quite done their though. The Twins kept making contact and the the A’s kept on not getting outs. Buxton, Clemens, and Culpepper all singled in the eighth to plate two more for Minnesota. Culpepper’s hit was his fourth of the night and put Minnesota up 9-1.

On the pitching front, it was a delightfully uneventful night from Zebby Matthews. This A’s lineup isn’t that strong anymore with All-Stars Nick Kurtz, Jacob Wilson, Brent Rooker, and Shea Langeliers all on the IL along with regulars like Tyler Soderstrom and Denzel Clarke, but Zebby did exactly what he needed to do. He pounded the zone, kept the ball down to induce a couple of key double plays, and delivered seven strong innings to a bullpen that’s been a bit overtaxed this past week.

Things got interesting in the late innings. With a 9-1 lead, the Twins turned to Tommy Nance, who had trouble locating his signature slider and allowed a run across. Derek Shelton then turned to closer Yoendrys Gomez in the ninth inning since he hadn’t pitched in nearly a week and the rust showed. Gomez quickly got two outs, albeit on two line drives hit directly at Kody Clemens, and then came trouble. The next five A’s batters reached with one out to go in the game, bring the Athletics within three and putting the tying run in the on-deck circle. Rookie Andrew Morris came in to clean up the mess and finished the game on one pitch.

This game went about as well as the Twins could have hoped right up until the ninth, but we’ll chalk that up to Gomez being a bit rusty. A win is a win and one that emphasizes the need to add on in the middle innings isn’t necessarily a bad thing for this lineup.

STUDS

• Zebby Matthews: 7 IP, 6 H, R, BB, 7 K
• Kaelen Culpepper: 4-5, R, RBI
• Byron Buxton: 3-5, 4 R, BB, 2B
• Josh Bell: 3 RBI
• Luke Keaschall: two doubles
• Andrew Morris: one pitch, one save

DUDS

• NO DUDS TWINS WIN!!

PLAYOFFS STANDINGS UPDATE

AL Central:

1. White Sox (68-63)
2. Guardians (66-66) — 2.5 GB
3. Twins (64-68) — 4.5 GB

AL Wild Card

1. Guardians (66-66)
2. Astros (65-66) — 0.5 GB
3. Twins (64-68) — 2 GB
4. Blue Jays (64-68) — 2 GB
5. Orioles (63-68) — 2.5 GB
6. Mariners (63-69) — 3 GB

The White Sox lost to the Rangers, who moved into the AL West lead and bumped Houston back into the Wild Card mix. The Guardians handled their business with the Angels while the Mariners continued their rollercoaster week, beating the Phillies 9-2. The Tigers are 1-9 in their past 10 and are getting dropped off the updates for the time being. The Twins have an incredibly easy schedule in September, with only the Guardians having an easier path to October among teams they are jockeying with.

It’s going to be a fun final stretch! We’ll see you again tomorrow for some more late night summer baseball.

Record 69-63. Pace: 85-77. Change on 2025: +5.

Well, in the broader scheme of things, that probably went about as well as could be expected. It was a Merrill Kelly start, after all. He hasn’t picked up a W in more than a month, his last win coming back on July 22. As mentioned in the GDT tonight, August has been a cruel month for Kelly. Tonight, to be fair, wasn’t so bad. He came within one out of a quality start, something we haven’t seen from Merrill in eight attempts now, since before the All-Star break. While the Arizona bullpen certainly didn’t help matters, this one was more on the offense. Here’s some insightful baseball analysis for you. You won’t win many games when you fail to score any runs. You’re welcome!

After a quick first inning on both sides, it look like Merrill Kelly’s night was set up to be a short one. A one-out walk was followed by a two-out triple, as Corbin Carroll couldn’t corral the ball in the right field corner. Kelly then lost control of his change-up entirely, walking the Cubs #8 and #9 hitters, to load the bases in front of presumptive 2026 NL MVP, Pete Crow-Armstrong. Cue thoughts of, “It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for ’em”. Fortunately, it did, though only just, as PCA sent it 388 feet to die in the center field glove of Ryan Waldschmidt. An elevated pitch count for Merrill and a 1-0 deficit were by no means a disaster.

Indeed, Kelly settled down surprisingly well after that, rediscovering the feel for his off-speed pitches. He set down the Cubs in order in the third with a pair of strikeouts, then had another 1-2-3 frame in the 4th, including another K. He did allow another run in the 5th on a pair of doubles, as the Cubs took a 2-0 lead, but it was a solid enough outing. The most interesting thing though, was likely a spat between Kelly and the third-base coach for the Cubs, Quintin Berry. At one point, he stepped off the mound, stared pointedly at Berry, and then the occupants of the D-backs and Cubs dugouts started jawing at each other. The exact specifics of the discussion will have to await the Jomboy breakdown.

However, the broadcast team speculated that Berry’s positioning might have allowed him to look into Merrill’s glove and relay information to the batter, if there was a runner on second. It was notable that, after Kelly was lifted from the game, he remained in the dugout, unusual behavior for a starting pitcher. In particular, he remained right on the top step of the dugout, at the end nearest Berry, and Kelly appeared to be trying to trigger a Scanners-like explosion of Berry’s head, through the sheer force of his stare. Kelly’s final line? 5.2 innings, three runs allowed on five hits and three walks, with four strikeouts. It’s his fifth consecutive outing with at least three walks. Nobody has gone longer for Arizona since Robbie Ray went seven straight in 2018-19.

The Cubs did get the last laugh, however. After Merrill’s exit with two outs in the sixth, Taylor Clarke came in and allowed back-to-back home-runs, the first a two-run shot due to the runner he inherited. In five pitches, the deficit had gone from a still potentially surmountable two runs, to five. We did get to see Drey Jameson’s first outing since he came back off the injured list. But it didn’t go so well, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk over two innings. Juan Burgos pitched a scoreless ninth. He was called up today with Mitch Bratt being optioned down. Though I suspect Bratt may well end up being the 27th man for the double-header vs the Giants on Saturday.

About the sole fragment of good news is that Pete Crow-Armstrong went 0-for-5 today. It’s only the third game this year, where he has had 5+ at-bats and not reached base. However, following on from Sunday’s mauling of the Mariners, the Cubs have now scored twenty-six runs since their opponents last crossed home-plate. If I heard the booth right, that’s the most unanswered runs in a row since 1969. Though, let’s be honest, my attention may not have been a hundred percent focused on the game by that point. Those apple turnovers weren’t going to eat themselves, after all.

The Arizona offense barely showed up, which is why it has not merited a single word of description. There were only five hits, all singles, and one walk. The latter saw Tim Tawa eventually get picked off-base with spectacular ease, after wandering further and further off-base. The D-backs mustered only two at-bats with a runner in scoring position, and one of those was with two outs in the ninth. The other came courtesy of Corbin Carroll, who stole bases #19 and #20 on the season in the fourth. It’s the 31st 20-SB season in franchise history, and Carroll’s fourth such. That ties him with Tony Womack for the franchise record. I’ve a feeling Corbin will have sole possession by the end of 2027. Or whenever the next full season might be.

Click for details at Fangraphs
The Bear Necessities: Corbin Carroll, +16%
Un-bear-able: Geraldo Perdomo, -21%
Bare-ly adequate: Taylor Clarke, -18%

Understandably, not exactly an enthusiastic Gameday Thread. Just one comment turned Sedona Red, an acknowledgement of an athletic play with the glove by Drey Jameson from AzDesertLovr:

The good news is, the Phillies’ nine-game winning streak came to an abrupt end, the Big Dumper homering three times as the Mariners beat them 9-2. The Pirates and Padres are still playing in San Diego, and at least Pittsburgh are putting up a fight, this one being tied at two in the ninth inning. Let’s go, Bucs! Here in Arizona, we’ll hope for better tomorrow, in the second game of the series against the Cubs. We’ll be sending up Brandon Pfaadt, and hoping that last time’s blow-up in Boston was just an aberration. First pitch is 6:40 pm, Arizona time.

Zack Wheeler’s struggles continued as the Philadelphia Phillies’ (73-59) MLB-best nine-game winning streak came to screeching halt with a 9-2 humbling at the hands of the Seattle Mariners (63-69).

Wheeler surrendered eight runs on nine hits, five walks and four home runs, raising his ERA from 2.92 to 3.40. It was the second time in his career he allowed five first inning runs and first as a member of the Phillies. He has an 8.51 ERA in his last six starts.

The Phillies loaded the bases in the first frame of the game and put up the first run on an Alec Bohm sacrifice fly.

The first six batters Wheeler faced reached base and accounted for five runs on a pair of multi-RBI homers by Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh.

Struggling most of the year after a historic campaign last year, Raleigh had his best game of 2026 with his first career three-home run game, two of which came against Wheeler and another by Chase Shugart in his mop up duty.

JT Realmuto hit his ninth home run of the season in the second inning, a solo shot that cut the lead to three.

Singles by Bryce Harper in the third and Bryson Stott in the fourth were all the offense the Phillies had left in the tank after their momentous comeback yesterday afternoon.

Alex McFarlane and Jose Alvarado each pitched a scoreless inning in relief of Wheeler.

Harper tied his career long on base streak at 27 games.

Aaron Nola is scheduled to face George Kirby in the middle game of the series tomorrow night.

A very businesslike win for the Guardians tonight as they beat the Angels 4-2.

The Guardians scored early to give Parker Messick a small lead to work with, which has been rare of late for Cleveland’s best pitcher and Cy Young/Rookie of the Year candidate.

Nathaniel “Knows What to Do With RISP” Lowe got a sacrifice fly in the third after a Kwan walk, Jose single and Jo Adell walk. Rocchio had flied out sharply to begin the inning and Angel Genao was putting up an excellent AB when Adell was caught in a rundown that ended with Jose getting tagged out at third.

Messick’s only troublesome inning was the fourth where a single from Zach Neto and single from Mike Trout allowed a Moises Ballesteros single to drive in the Angels’ only run to tie the game at 1. I am so impressed with how Messick never gets frustrated. He finds his center and gets himself out of trouble over and over.

Another Guardians newcomer got a hit with RISP when Adell got an RBI hit in the fifth to make it 2-1 Guardians.

Then, folks… Austin Hedges hit a two-run homer off a lefty reliever to score Angel Genao who had walked. Somehow, we are at August 24th and Hedges has a 110 wRC+. Is this man going to get a $10M contract from someone as a 35 year old? Good for him. Incredible.

Messick went six, Colin Holderman and Hunter Gaddis held the Angels scoreless for two and then Cade Smith had another shaky ninth, weirdly, but still got the save allowing one run.

I felt like Jose looked a little better at the plate. Now, to hope that Chase DeLauter’s hamstring tightness scratching him from the initial lineup turns out to be nothing. Also… does anyone know if David Fry is alive? Man hasn’t had an at-bat since he got back.

I have to say that it IS nice to know fly balls to the outfield will be caught by either Kwan or Petey Halpin. I get it, Stephen. I get it.

The Guardians are now .500, 2.5 games in back of the Central Division-leading White Sox and 0.5 games ahead for the AL’s third wildcard spot.

It’s no secret that the Rockies are struggling at home right now.

Not only has Colorado lost eight in a row at Coors Field, but the Rockies are 27-38 at home. That’s more losses at home than every team except the A’s, who are temporarily playing in West Sacramento as a rest stop between Oakland and Las Vegas.

While there needs to be significant improvement on the pitching side and on the hitting side for Colorado at 5,280 feet, having more Rockies fans engaged in the game also couldn’t hurt.

There are the fountains that get fired up in center field on homers, which doesn’t happen as much as it needs to, and there is the dark-into-flashing lights before the ninth inning, but it seems like there needs to be more.

This summer, MLB.com is running a 250 for 250 series. As MLB.com says, “As part of our celebration of America 250, MLB’s content team has created 25 top 10 lists that capture the plays, people, rituals and moments that make baseball America’s game.”

In other words, it’s a list of lists. The list for Aug. 21 featured the top 10 in-stadium traditions. The list includes these 10 rituals:

1. Wrigley Field sings “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”

2. The Phillie Phanatic means Phun

3. Mascot races take over the Majors

4. Yankees fans perform the Roll Call

5. “Sweet Caroline” is a hit at Fenway

6. Orioles fans put their emphasis on national anthem

7. The Homer Hanky is a Twins postseason icon

8. Mets hit a homer? Raise the Home Run Apple!

9. Bernie Brewer celebrates every big fly with a slide

10. Angels fans rally behind the Rally Monkey

It got me thinking that the Rockies need a new tradition. Purple Row’s Zeke Perez got a discussion going about a new mascot race in June. That could certainly be part of it.

What do you think the Rockies should do? Should it be a new feature of the stadium? Something on the field? A fan-centered activity?

Personally, I love the traditions that include a song. I miss singing “Tooooniiggghhtttt” when Charlie Blackman came to the plate. Singing “All the Small Things” by blink-182 at Colorado Avalanche games is about as good as it gets. I liked it when the sound crew used to play “Mountain Music” by Alabama after the seventh-inning stretch. I think it’s time for something new and I also think John Denver is overplayed in Colorado events.

But what about “Mountain Sound” by Of Monsters of Men?

Or a ballad sing along of “Mountains Win Again” by Blues Traveler? That is if the Rockies can find ways to win again at home.

Or, perhaps following the Angels rally monkey theme, and in an attempt to fuel more late-inning comebacks, the Rockies should go with a Colorado band. Anytime the Rockies start a rally, or need one, they could play Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats “Survivor.” It’s made for a sports showdown and could definitely provide some energy.

What do you all think?

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The White Sox got steamrolled, 11-2, by a team that entered the game worse than .500. The pitching was terrible, the bats were ice-cold, and the Rangers took advantage of the long ball on several occasions.

José Urquidy did not have a great start, tossing 39 pitches in his first frame. He walked the leadoff batter and the third batter, then hit Brandon Nimmo with a pitch to load the bases with only one out. Ezequiel Duran grounded into a force out at second, but sent Joc Pederson home. Evan Carter doubled, putting the second run on the board. With two outs, Jake Burger picked up a walk, but a pop-up from Elias Díaz would finally stop the damage. Miguel Vargas singled with two outs, and Andrew Benintendi nearly tied the game and would have with just a bit more wind, but Nimmo jumped up to rob the good guys of any runs.

With two outs in the top of the second, Corey Seager singled and was safe at second after Colson Montgomery scooped up a single from Wyatt Langford. Drew Romo blew through the first challenge as Nimmo picked up a walk to load the bases, with Urquidy already passing the 50-pitch mark. Chase Meidroth slipped, unable to grab what should’ve been an easy out, and another run came in on an infield single from Duran. Pederson, after not getting his challenge call in on time on a strikeout, continued to throw a tantrum, leading to his ejection. Romo ended additional on-field drama by tagging home for the inning-ending force-out. Braden Montgomery singled for the Good Guys, and with two outs, Tristan Peters took a slider and made the Rangers pay, cutting the deficit to 3-2. That home run put him in double-digits and his 10th homer this season:

With one out in the top of the third, Elias Díaz was hit by a pitch, and Cody Freeman singled. Seager caused more damage with a two-run double, giving the Rangers a 5-2 lead with two outs. The frame ended with a pop fly, but also on 93 pitches for Urquidy. The the bottom half Munetaka Murakami singled and Miguel Vargas walked to put two on base early. Benintendi grounded into a fielder’s choice, and Braden Montgomery picked up a walk to load the bases. Of course, the next two batters struck out to strand all three runners.

Jake Burger started the fifth with a solo homer off Tyler Schweitzer to make it 6-2. Justin Foscue, who replaced Pederson, doubled, and Seager sent Foscue home on another double, making it 7-2 before Langford struck out to end the top half of the fifth. The White Sox went down in order.

Duran picked up a one-out walk and was caught stealing in the sixth. Carter walked right after, and Burger sent him home before being thrown out while trying to get to third on what should’ve stayed a double, making it 8-2.

Duran was back to double in the eighth, got to third on a wild pitch, and came home on a wild pitch/ball four to Burger, making it 9-2. The Rangers continued to pile it on in the ninth, as old friend Nicky Lopez singled and Langford homered, making it 11-2. To spare the already-taxed bullpen, Luisangel Acuña came in to pitch. He got Nimmo to hit a grounder for the final out, at least.

There was no answer to the 11 runs, and the White Sox lost in an embarrassing fashion.

MVP:
Tristan Peters: 1 HR, 1 RBI

Runner-Up:
Braden Montgomery: 1 H, 1 BB, 1 R

Cold Cat:
José Urquidy: 3 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 4 BB

Runners-Up:
Colson Montgomery: 0-for-4, 3 K
The entire bullpen: 6 IP, 6 ER, 4 K, 4 BB
Chase Meidroth: BB, 0 H, 2 K

For Kiké Hernández, one of the most meaningful connections of his baseball career began when baseball was temporarily taken away from him.

The Los Angeles Dodgers superutility player has spent plenty of time on the injured list over the past two seasons, where the rhythms of a major league season suddenly give way to rehab rooms, empty hours and plenty of time in isolation. Somewhere inside that monotony, Hernández realized that baseball had consumed so much of his life that he didn’t have any real hobbies. 

“If I’m being honest, the IL is something that’s very boring and lonely,” Hernández told the California Post in an exclusive interview last Thursday at the Harold & Carole Pump Foundation 26th Anniversary Celebrity Dinner. “I’ve spent a lot of time on it the last two years.”

So instead of taking up pickleball, crochet or baking, Hernández started ripping Pokémon packs. 

Hernández said he originally started collecting Pokémon cards as a kid, but was excited to return to it as an adult. The first pack he opened was enough to transport the 35-year-old Dodgers fan favorite backward in time. 

“The smell, the sensation of ripping a pack, all these things,” Hernández said. “It made me feel like a kid.”

What began as an escape during an emotionally difficult stretch soon became something bigger when his 5-year-old daughter, Penélope, joined him.

She fell for Pikachu, just like her dad.

Now, father and daughter tear into packs of Pokémon, Disney, My Little Pony and even Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters, turning Hernández’s hobby into family time. His collecting obsession has even turned into a side business for the three-time World Series Champion. 

Hernández created his own social media channels under the name “PokéKikémon,” his Pokémon- inspired alter ego. His Instagram account alone has over 112,000 followers and spawned its own line of merchandise. 

“Not only do I get my fix, but it also helps us connect as a family,” Hernández said. “It’s something that we look forward to.”

We asked Hernández what’s the greatest pull he’s ever had to date. His answer was a Japanese Sabrina’s Gengar 1st edition that sells for over $10,000 on some collection sites. 

“I pulled it and got it graded a [PSA] 10. So that is definitely my best one, for sure,” said Hernandez. 

But every collector has a holy grail and there’s one card that Hernández wants that still haunts him. It’s a 2001 Japanese Corocoro promotional card whose shining Mew tail swirl artwork caught his eye before the price climbed between $75,000 and $500,000

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It’s another week here at BCB After Dark: the hippest hangout for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and sit with us for a while. It may be hot outside, but it’s cool in here. There’s no cover charge. We still have a few tables available. The hostess will seat you now. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

Last week I asked you if the Cubs should re-sign Clay Holmes. A large majority of you thought that was a good idea, with 75 percent of you thinking that the three-year, $70 million offer was fair. Another 16 percent of you wanted to re-sign Holmes for less.

Here’s the part where we listen to music and talk movies. You can come join us or you can skip ahead. Or you can stay for the music and movies and skip the baseball stuff. Or you can just read it all. Your call.

Tonight we’re featuring the legendary team of trumpeter Clifford Brown and drummer Max Roach in 1954. This is one of their signature tunes, “Jordu,” from 1954. Joining Brown and Roach are Harold Land on tenor sax, George Morrow on bass and Richie Powell on piano.

Director Edward Dmytryk was coming off an Oscar nomination for Crossfire in 1947 when he was summoned before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Dmytryk refused to testify and became known as one of the “Hollywood Ten” who were charged with contempt and subsequently blacklisted by the film industry. Rather than go to prison, Dmytryk fled to England and directed a few films there before returning to the United States in the early fifties. He then served his six-month prison sentence. After he got out, he changed his mind and agreed to testify before Congress about communism in the film industry and he was cleared to work in Hollywood again. He was the only one of the “Hollywood Ten” who reversed their position and agreed to name names. Dmytryk claimed that he only gave Congress names they already had, but many who suffered under the blacklist never forgave him for testifying.

That’s a long introduction to The Sniper (1952), Dmytryk’s first studio film (and second overall) after getting off the blacklist. It’s a disturbing picture about a mentally-ill serial killer who shoots and kills brunette women from a distance with an M1 rifle. Like many other films by producer Stanley Kramer (High Noon, Inherit the Wind, Judgment at Nuremberg, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?), The Sniper is a message picture and in this case, not a very subtle one about mental illness and sex criminals. I can’t say it’s a good film, but there are a lot of good things about it, including an unhinged performance by Arthur Franz as the titular serial killer Eddie Miller.

Miller is what we’d today call an “incel.” He has a menial job as a delivery man for a dry cleaner. He finds himself attracted to women, particularly brunettes, but he is so socially awkward he is invariably rejected by them. This makes him feel emasculated and angry—angry enough to kill them. He first takes out his anger on himself by burning his hand on a hot stove. The doctor who treats him knows that it was intentional and wants to put a psychiatric hold on Miller for his own good, but he’s too busy at the moment and he gets released.

After his release, Miller turns to killing brunettes from a distance. Miller also writes letters to the police begging them to catch him, but of course he doesn’t stop the killing. Adolphe Menjou plays the police lieutenant Frank Kafka, who is assigned to catching the sniper killer. Kafka talks to psychologists to try to narrow down the suspects and understand his motive, which is a very early example of criminal profiling. There’s some suggestion that the killer might be a veteran, although Miller doesn’t appear to be one in the end. I found that interesting because the Defense Department at the time was hyper-sensitive to the idea that soldiers might return from the battlefield with PTSD that turned them into killers. Kramer probably wanted to raise the possibility, but Columbia Pictures probably didn’t want to incur the wrath of the Pentagon.

Much of Kafka trying to catch Miller is just the same kind of stuff you’d see on an episode of CSI or Law and Order, minus the modern forensics. But the film also wants to get a message out about sex criminals. The psychiatrist (Richard Kiley) makes a plea that all sex offenders need to be locked up at their first offense. That’s something that a lot of people today would agree with, but then he goes on to say that “those who can be cured should be released.” That’s an awful lot of trust in the psychological community that they can tell when someone is “cured” of their urges to commit sex crimes or that criminals wouldn’t be able to fool them into thinking they were “cured” to earn their release. It’s a noble but not-very-well thought out sentiment.

I was also disturbed by The Sniper for how prescient it was. While there were certainly serial killers in the 1950s (and the film makes a reference to Albert Fish), Charles Whitman and the Texas Tower sniper shooting was still 14 years in the future. The idea that Miller was some kind of “incel” who turns to murder over his frustrations over being constantly rejected by women has also become a major topic in mass shootings today.

As noted earlier, Franz’s portrayal of Miller is the best part of the movie. He plays him as both unhinged and sympathetic, swinging between the two poles with ease. The film wants to make clear that this is a sick man who can be cured more than a hardened criminal who is a natural-born predator. Noir veteran Marie Windsor plays one of Miller’s victims who doesn’t even realize that she’s rejected Miller’s advances. Menjou is just a stock “wise veteran detective.”

The film also makes great use of the streets of San Francisco to create its world. Cinematographer Burnett Guffey would go on to win Oscars for From Here to Eternity and Bonnie and Clyde, and you can see his skill in an earlier work here. The streets look narrow enough to feel claustrophobic but expansive enough to give sniper a good shot from a distance. There’s lots of crawling around rooftops and fire escapes. Anyone interested in what San Francisco looked like in the early-fifties will want to watch The Sniper.

The Sniper veers too close to an episode of of a police procedural for me to think it’s a good film. The performance of Franz and the terrific black-and-white cinematography certainly keep it from being a bad film. But more than anything else, it certainly disturbed me in the way it predicted events that were years in the future.

Here’s the trailer for The Sniper. The entire film appears to be available for fr on YouTube.

Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.

We are one week away from roster expansion from 26 to 28 players on September 1. The Cubs, like every other team, will be allowed to add one position player and one pitcher.

The Cubs are going to have some hard decisions on the pitching side, as there are several relievers who are getting healthy and will be ready to be activated by next Tuesday. Things aren’t much more straightforward with the position players. Matt Shaw is getting ready to return from his injury and may be activated ahead of the September roster expansion. In his case, however, either Kevin Alcántara can be sent back down to Iowa or Gabriel Arias can be designated for assignment. (Which would be the third DFA this month for Arias.)

One of the bigger questions, however, is who the Cubs should call up to be their 14th position player on September 1. One option that is getting a lot of attention is the Cubs’ number-two prospect, catcher Owen Ayers.

The Cubs have been extraordinarily lucky this season in that neither of their two catchers, Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya, have been injured this year. It’s especially fortunate because the Cubs’ haven’t had an experienced catcher in Triple-A since Christian Bethancourt opted out of his contract in mid-July. Had either Kelly or Amaya gone down after that, the front office would have had to scramble for a replacement.

The one thing any front office should plan for during a season is that at least one of their catchers is going to get hurt. It’s an incredibly physically-demanding position and all it takes is one pulled hamstring coming out of the crouch or one missed catch that hits them in a bad spot to take them out for a while. We all know this from experience as Amaya missed most of last season with injuries.

Manager Craig Counsell has done a good job of alternating Kelly and Amaya to keep their workloads manageable. Yes, there’s been a lot of luck in the two staying healthy, but giving them days off has probably helped a lot too.

This is where Ayers comes in. When Bethancourt opted out in July, Ayers got promoted from Double-A Knoxville to Iowa. Ayers had never played above Low-A Myrtle Beach before this season, unless you count the Arizona Fall League, but he blew through High-A South Bend in 11 games (hitting .372/.481/.860) and then dominated in Double-A with a line of .304/.417/.591 with 16 home runs in 65 games. The power hasn’t translated to Triple-A, but he’s still performing at a very respectable clip of .270/.387/.370 with two home runs over 29 games.

So would you call up Owen Ayers for his major league debut to help keep Kelly and Amaya fresh down the stretch? He probably wouldn’t play much—just one or two games a week for the final four weeks. The switch-hitter might get an occasional pinch-hitting opportunity as well if he shows he’s not overpowered by major-league pitching. But having Ayers on the major league roster would allow the other two catchers to get a little more rest as well as give Counsell more roster flexibility to pinch-run for Kelly or Amaya in critical situations.

Defensively, Ayers is a mixed bag. No one questions his arm or his ability to control the running game. He’s thrown out ten runners trying to steal in 35 attempts and I suspect that he would throw out a lot more if he had pitchers who could hold runners on better. I’d put a “70” (on the 20-to-80 scouting scale) on Ayers’ arm, and most online evaluators agree with me.

He does struggle a bit with the “catching” part of catching, as he has five passed balls in those 26 games in Iowa. Now some of that may just be him getting used to new pitchers, but he’d (mostly) have that same problem in the majors. He also needs to work on pitch framing, although the ABS system lessens that problem somewhat. Ayers could use more experience calling a game from behind the plate, although one would think that working with Kelly and Amaya for a month would be the best way to improve that skill. There’s also always the choice of calling pitches from the dugout like the Marlins and some other teams do.

The other negative about calling up Ayers for September is that it also means that someone like Kevin Alcántara or James Triantos. The Cubs would also have to put Ayers on the 40-man roster, which might have implications for next year and a possible lockout.

The positive is that Ayers would get his feet wet in the majors, he could be pretty good, he could gain some knowledge working with Kelly and Amaya and he would give Counsell more flexibility with his catchers. The downsides is that he wouldn’t play a lot, he’d have to be added to the 40-man roster, his total defensive might not be fully major league ready and it would prevent the Cubs from calling up someone else.

So would you call up Owen Ayers on September 1?

Thanks for stopping by tonight. We’re always glad when you decide to stop by. Please get home safely. Call a ride if you need one. Don’t forget any personal items. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow night for more BCB After Dark.

Folks in the District of Columbia were not moved by the opportunity to see two of the National League’s struggling teams on a Monday night, as the Colorado Rockies (50-80) and the Washington Nationals (61-71) kicked off their four-game series in front of a sparse crowd of 12,105. Those that did show up got to witness an offensive outburst for the hometown team.

The game started with a strong battle between starters Ryan Feltner and Cade Cavalli. Then — stop me if you’ve heard this before — one big inning brought the Rockies down. Colorado couldn’t claw back into it after a fifth inning full of Nationals hits, Rockies errors, and an Ezequiel Tovar injury that erased their early lead.

The Rockies logged their 50th win back on August 16th. The 51st has proven to be elusive as Colorado’s losing streak climbs to a season-high seven straight losses.

A pitcher’s duel through the first three frames

Cavalli had built a good bit of momentum through his last few starts. He carried that into the early part of today’s game. After giving up a leadoff single to Jake McCarthy, Cavalli got the next three batters out with balls in play.

The Nationals followed suit and stranded runners of their own in the first. Feltner walked his first batter faced in CJ Abrams, but came right back to strike out Abimelec Ortiz, getting him to chase a changeup outside. Abrams threatened by stealing second before Feltner walked Dylan Crews. The Nationals couldn’t do anything from there, as a Daylen Lile line out and a Brady House grounder left runners on first and second.

Feltner started the second inning with another walk to Kelbert Ruiz. Then he flipped the switch in a big way after his early struggles. With Ruiz on first, he sat down the next six batters faced. He logged four strikeouts across those six.

Of note was a successful challenge by Brett Sullivan in the bottom of the second to turn a ball into a strike that would ring up Jorbit Vivas.

The Rockies went down 1-2-3 in the second and couldn’t muster much in the third, despite an Ezequiel Tovar double giving them a shot.

Drawing first blood, Big Willi Style

Heading into the fourth, Cavalli reached 20 consecutive innings without surrendering a run. That streak came to a quick end when Willi Castro took a 96 MPH fastball in the middle of the zone deep to right field.

Castro donned the purple jacked and launched the Rockies to a 1-0 lead. Cavalli seemed a little rattled in the immediate aftermath, giving up a single to TJ Rumfield next and then walking Troy Johnston before a mound visit would calm him down.

With runners on first and second and no outs, the Rockies faltered and Cavalli responded by getting three quick outs (including two Ks) to escape the inning without further damage.

Despite some contact, the Nats’ bats kept quiet through the fourth inning. Lile and House grounded out, before a Ruiz fly ball to right ended the inning.

A rollercoaster fifth inning swings the game

Good news, the Rockies started the fifth in a big way. Tovar, party of one?

Another solo home run gave them a 2-0 lead as Tovar followed up his third inning double with a 416-foot shot to center.

Bad news, the Rockies ended the fifth in an uglier way. Feltner had a no-hitter going through four innings of work. In the blink of an eye, the hits jumped from zero to five. When all was said and done, several sloppy plays later, the Rockies two-run lead turned into a three-run deficit.

It all started when Jacob Young hit a soft line drive towards the gap. Tovar tried to make a diving grab to stop the ball and rolled over on his wrist. He was shaken up but stayed in the game (at least initially).

The bad news snowballed from there. Vivas singled to advance Young. Nasim Nuñez dropped a sacrifice bunt, but a bad throw by Castro got by Connor Norby to score both baserunners and tie the game. Next, an Abrams double brought Nuñez home.

It keeps going…

Abrams stole third, which turned into a run on an Ortiz grounder, making it 4-2 Nats. Lile came to the plate and doubled. Lile would try to join the steals club and take third. Sullivan tried to make the throw, but another throwing error would end up scoring Lile, as the ball ricocheted off of House’s bat and got away.

House then doubled, but the Rockies got Ruiz to line out to end the action at 5-2.

An unceremonious end to the pitcher’s duel

The Rockies went down 1-2-3 in the top of the sixth, unable to chip away at the lead.

The Nationals bats, on the other hand, were officially awake. The bad news kept pouring in for Colorado, both in terms of the score and personnel. Tovar was no longer able to play through his injury and was replaced by Ryan Ritter to start the sixth.

What was once a battle between Feltner and Cavalli continued to grow more lopsided. Vivas singled, Nuñez walked, and Feltner’s day ended with two on and two outs after 103 pitches (one shy of his career high). Feltner’s line for the day was 5.2 innings pitched, seven runs (five earned) on six hits, with six strikeouts and four walks.

Juan Mejia entered in relief of Feltner, walked Ortiz to load the bases, and walked a run in. He then gave up a single to make things 8-2 Nationals. The early no-hitter was nothing more than a distant memory.

Cavalli was replaced by Erik Tolman to begin the seventh. Cavalli ended his day in line for his seventh win in eight games at 6.0 innings pitched with five hits and two earned runs, seven strikeouts, and one walk.

A major league debut amidst the chaos

Yesterday, the Rockies announced moves to place Kyle Freeland on the 15-day injured list and select the contract of Blake Adams. Adams, the right-handed pitcher drafted by the Rockies in 2022, made his MLB debut, entering in relief in the bottom of the seventh.

In 17 appearances (two starts) with the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes, he was 2-5 with an 8.10 ERA across 50 innings.

Unfortunately, he got his “welcome to the big leagues” moment and gave up a single to his first batter faced in Ruiz. Familiar names continued to go off for the Nats, as Young connected for a double, followed by a Vivas single that scored both Ruiz and Young to make the game 10-2.

Adams started the eighth, but it wasn’t pretty. He allowed a leadoff single followed by a walk. Lile capitalized with a three-run dinger. 13-3 Nats (following a Norby RBI single for the Rockies in the top of the inning).

Adams was given a chance to stay in and walked House before being pulled for a Troy Johnston pitching appearance. His debut line was one inning of work with five runs on five hits.

Final Thoughts

The Rockies started the night in promising fashion, chipping away at a strong starter in Cade Cavalli. It felt for a moment like they might shake the bad baseball that has caused losses to pile up this month.

Unfortunately, one rough play turned into a few batters that got away which led to a bad inning which spiraled into 13 runs and a game that got away.

Manager Warren Schaeffer pointed to the defensive miscues that sparked the loss: “We gotta take care of the baseball better than that. That was an inning that got out of control. This is the big leagues. We have to play better than that.”

This falls into the column of “when it rains, it pours” soul-crushing losses that the Rockies have been susceptible to this season.

Up Next

The Rockies and Nats are back at it for another 4:45 p.m. MT first pitch on Tuesday night.

Along with the Blake Adams roster move, the Rockies were expected to call up right-handed pitcher Mason Adams who was acquired in the Brenton Doyle trade with the Chicago White Sox.

Schaeffer confirmed that Mason Adams will make his MLB debut with a start tomorrow. Since being acquired by Colorado, Adams has a 2.08 ERA in three starts with Albuquerque.

Southpaw Andrew Alvarez will start for the Nationals. Through 19 games (including 11 starts), Alvarez is 2-5 with a 3.60 ERA, a 1.338 WHIP, and 74 strikeouts.

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