Category: Baseball

Here's what happened in Mets Land on Sunday, in case you missed it...

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• The Mets let an early five-run advantage slip away as they were walked off by the Brewers on Sunday afternoon 
• Despite suffering their seventh straight loss, Carlos Mendoza said the team can't be looking at the standings
• Prior to the game, the skipper said the team hasn't made a decision on Frankie Montas' future in the rotation after his rough outing Saturday 
• Pete Alonso discussed hitting his 252nd career homer, officially tying Darryl Strawberry's all-time franchise record
• Down on the farm, Nolan McLean threw four more strong innings in Syracuse
• McLean will have some new teammates this week as fellow top prospects Jonah Tong, Jett Williams, Carson Benge, and Ryan Clifford were all promoted from Binghamton
• WATCH: Edwin Diaz, Sean Manaea, Brandon Nimmo discuss Sunday's frustrating loss

A lazy, lovely afternoon at Chavez Ravine was startled awake Sunday by three blue-curdling screams.

The Dodger bullpen had struck again.

Eighth inning, one out, Dodgers leading the Toronto Blue Jays by a run, rusty Blake Treinen on the mound.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., boom, nooooo!

Addison Barger, boom, nooooo!

Ninth inning, game tied, Alex Vesia on the mound acting like a closer because the Dodgers don’t have a healthy closer.

Ernie Clement, boom, not again!

Battered by three home runs in the last two innings Sunday, the Dodgers lost a game they should have won, blew a game they should have had, and planted an ominous message deep into the bowels of sweaty Dodger Stadium.

Read more:Dave Roberts criticizes Shohei Ohtani after Dodgers' frustrating loss to Blue Jays

This is a team trying to win a second consecutive championship without an adequate bullpen.

The 5-4 loss wasted a sterling start by Tyler Glasnow, frittered away 10 hits and 13 walks from a burgeoning offense, ruined a chance to sweep the team with the best record in the American League, and created a trivia question that will be bandied about the league until the last week in October.

What standout reliever did the Dodgers acquire at the trade deadline?

Nobody.

What standout reliever had their critics been begging them to acquire for weeks?

Any of them.

Maybe Andrew Friedman’s previous deadline brilliance convinced everyone into thinking he could pull something off again, and maybe the public pressure was less than usual because of the credits earned by the 2024 title, but here’s guessing much of Dodger nation woke up Monday morning after watching a reliever tagged with the loss in three of the last six games and thought...

What just happened? Is it too late to fix?

What happened was the Dodgers' belief in the recovering health of their bullpen. And, um, yeah, unless you want to bring Bobby Miller up from Oklahoma City to close games (not a bad idea, eh?), it’s not getting fixed anytime soon.

Michael Kopech, Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates should all be returning from the injured list, and the thought is that the Dodgers can find a closer somewhere in there, but you’ve seen them all and do you agree?

There is also the belief in this weird bit of Dodger closer history — the final inning in their last two championships was worked by a starter.

This is countered by the fact that the last two times Friedman didn’t make a significant pitching upgrade at the deadline they were eliminated in the first round.

So, yes, Friedman hasn’t lost any of his smarts and Dave Roberts hasn’t lost any of his savvy and they can probably piece this mess together for short periods in October.

But between now and then, you need someone to make the big pitch in the clutch situation and save the offense from itself.

You need a closer so you don’t have the eternal optimist Roberts looking oddly despondent late Sunday afternoon.

“This is frustrating because I just felt there is no way we should lose this game today,” he said.

He wasn’t so upset with Vesia and Treinen — both guys have been put in tough spots, especially Treinen, who recently came off the injured list.

He was mostly upset with the Dodger offense that made the withering bullpen — which has recorded the most innings in baseball — so necessary.

The Dodgers had a 3-2 lead after six innings. The back-to-back dingers in the eighth cost them that lead.

The Dodgers came back to tie it on a bases-loaded walk to Freddie Freeman in the eighth.

Clement’s long ball grabbed the lead again for the Blue Jays in the ninth.

“Yeah, it’s pretty frustrating,” Vesia said.

But equally frustrating was the 16 men the Dodgers left on base, including leaving the bases loaded three times, twice in the last two innings.

“We had them on the ropes numerous times,” Roberts said. “And for us not to win is so frustrating.”

Read more:Blake Snell turns in a performance befitting his 'Snellzilla' nickname in Dodgers' blowout win

How disappointed was Roberts? When is the last time you’ve heard him criticize Shohei Ohtani’s play? Well, he did it Sunday, twice in a span of a minute.

First, there was Ohtani ending the sixth inning by getting thrown out attempting to steal third base with Freeman at the plate.

“Not a good baseball play,” Roberts said.

Then there was Ohtani striking out with a wild swing on a low and outside full-count pitch from Mason Fluharty — he of the 5.15 ERA — with bases loaded in the ninth.

“We’ve got to come up with one right there,” Roberts said. “Chasing the ball down below ... is something that we can’t have.”

You know what could have prevented all this angst? A deeper bullpen. A more rested bullpen. A fixed bullpen.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Mets are promoting four prospects in Joe DeMayo's midseason top 30 for SNY -- infielder/center fielder Jett Williams (No. 1), right-handed pitcher Jonah Tong (No. 2), outfielder Carson Benge (No. 3) and first baseman Ryan Clifford (No. 6) -- from Double-A Binghamton to Triple-A Syracuse, according to a report Sunday by The Athletic's Will Sammon.

Outfielder A.J. Ewing (No. 9) is also going to Binghamton from High-A Brooklyn, Sammon reported.

Tong, 22, allowed one run on three hits while striking out eight over five innings Sunday in Binghamton's 2-0 loss to the Yankees-affiliated Somerset Patriots. He is 8-5 with a 1.59 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in 20 starts for Binghamton this season.

The 21-year-old Williams was the Mets' No. 14 overall pick in the first round of the 2022 MLB Draft. Through 96 games this season for Binghamton, he is slashing .281/.390/.477 with 10 home runs and 37 RBI.

Benge, 22, was New York's first-round pick in 2024 at No. 19 overall. Promoted to Binghamton June 23, Benge has slashed .317/.407/.571 with eight home runs and 23 RBI through 32 Double-A games.

Also 22, Clifford is slashing .243/.355/.493 with 24 home runs and 75 RBI through 105 games this season for Binghamton.

Ewing, meanwhile, is 21 and enjoying a breakout year after getting promoted from Low-A St. Lucie to Brooklyn. Through 78 games for Brooklyn, he is slashing .288/.387/.388 with two home runs and 26 RBI.

The Yankees have lost three straight series and seven of their past nines games after they looked lifeless in Sunday's 7-1 finale against the Houston Astros, but manager Aaron Boone and his players maintain that a run is possible while New York clings to a postseason spot.

"Obviously, we're feeling it and we know we have to be better," Boone said after the Yankees (62-56) totaled three hits in the rubber match with Houston (66-52). "We know we have a much higher standard for ourselves and expectations. At the same time, we're in control of this.

"I wholeheartedly believe we are going to get rolling and turn this thing around. When it does, you start to really build that next layer of confidence where guys are kind of feeding off each other. It's all just talk right now, but that's how I feel about it. We've got to go do it."

The Yankees are 6.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East Division. Even the second-place Boston Red Sox are 2.5 games ahead while New York holds a half-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians for the third wild card.

"The game is littered with dead and buried teams," Boone said. "We're in a playoff position right now, and we've been through a bad two months where we haven't performed at a level we need to. But look at last year, go back to the year before, year before. You can pick out a number of teams that are sitting in a worse position than we are right now that go on that run. We have the people to do that. No doubt in my mind. But just sitting here, it's talk right now and we haven't been good enough the last two months.

"But this is different than, say, even like '23 where I didn't think we were necessarily capable of that run that we needed to really get hot -- and we were out of position at that point. This is different. We're in a position right now where we're in control of things, we're in a playoff spot, technically, right now, and I believe we have the people to get it done. We've got to play consistent baseball, period."

Not helping the Yankees is the fact that left-hander Max Fried, New York's 2025 ace, has not won a start since July 29. Fried (12-4, 2.94 ERA) allowed four runs on eight hits in five innings of Sunday's 94-pitch, 64-strike start.

"That's just the way I've felt since I've come into the big leagues," Fried said of expecting to win. "I work hard and I only get to play once a week -- once every five, six games. So, when I take the ball, I want to go out there and I expect to win."

The Yankees are 1-4 in Fried's past four starts.

"Obviously, we're aware of it," Fried said. "We know that we're not performing to where we want to be or where we know that we can. We have a lot of really talented guys in here and we expect to win every day.

"So, when we come out and we lose, we're obviously frustrated and want to be able to be able to show that the talent and results can match up."

A quick turnaround follows New York's 1-2 weekend with the Minnesota Twins coming to town for a three-game series that completes a six-game homestand.

"We've got a great team in this room," said Yankees captain Aaron Judge, who was 0-for-3 with a walk in Sunday's loss to the Astros. "Got a lot of great players, guys that have had their backs up against the wall before and in tough situations. So, every year you play here, you're going to have your back up against the wall.

"So, guys have been there and done that and just got to step up and do it on the field. We can sit here and talk about it. You can ask me how everything's going. But it's about what we do on the field."

New York is 20-31 since starting 42-25 through June 12.

"Yeah, it's tough, but there's no excuses," said Judge, who is slashing .337/.446/.691 with 37 home runs and 86 RBI through 108 games. "We've got to go out there and perform at our best, go out there and win baseball games. Fans are still packing out and showing support for us, and we've got to show out for them and just go out there and do our job. That's what it comes down to. It's we're not doing our job. We're not doing the little things to put ourselves in a good position to go out there and win baseball games.

"So, it's going to take all of us. It's going to take everybody in this room -- every reliever, every infield-outfield guy. So, we've just go to step up. That's what it comes down to. I wouldn't say the confidence has really changed. We have a lot of confident guys in this room, and we've just got to focus on what we can control and go out there and do it."

The Toronto Blue Jays did everything possible to hand the Dodgers a victory Sunday.

Their pitchers gave up 10 hits, including two home runs. They walked 13, a season-high for the Dodgers, twice loading the bases on free passes in the final two innings. At the plate, Toronto struck out 14 times.

The Dodgers, however, refused to accept the gift, giving up an eighth-inning lead in a 5-4 loss that dropped their lead over the San Diego Padres in the National League West to two games. The Padres trailed by six games less than three weeks ago.

“This is frustrating because I just felt there's no way we should lose this game today,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “We had them on the ropes numerous times. And for us not to win is so frustrating.”

Read more:Blake Snell turns in a performance befitting his 'Snellzilla' nickname in Dodgers' blowout win

How frustrating? The Dodgers were one for 10 with runners in scoring position. They left a season-high 16 men on base — six in the last two innings.

Every Dodgers starter reached base at least once. Yet they still lost.

Afterward, third baseman Max Muncy insisted the black cloud had a silver lining, even if no one else could see it.

“We were creating opportunities. So, you know, we were doing the first part of it,” he said. “We just weren't cashing in today. The positive you take out of it is we found a way to create a lot of opportunities.

“You just have to finish the job.”

That goes double for the Dodger relievers. Starter Tyler Glasnow was brilliant, striking out eight and allowing just two runs over 5⅔ innings, turning a 3-2 lead over to a bullpen that had to get 10 outs. Once again they couldn’t do it, with Blake Treinen and Alex Vesia giving up three solo home runs in the span of six batters.

“You give good hitters pitches right down the middle, they’re going to do damage,” said Treinen, who came on in the eighth with a one-run lead and left five batters later trailing after back-to-back home runs by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Addison Barger.

“Sometimes we get away with making bad locations turn into outs. They made me pay for it and it cost us a game.”

He’s not the only one who had to pay. Because after Freddie Freeman walked with the bases loaded for the second time to tie the game in the eighth, Vesia came on to start the ninth with the score even again. Ernie Clement unevened it on Vesia’s first pitch, driving an 85-mph slider over the wall in left field to put Toronto ahead. It was the 65th homer Dodgers relievers have allowed this season; only two bullpens in the majors have given up more.

But the Blue Jays’ generosity knew no end, so Toronto tried to give the win back when reliever Jeff Hoffman loaded the bases with one out for Shohei Ohtani.

Dave Roberts addresses the media following the Dodgers' 5-4 defeat to the Blue Jays in the series finale. pic.twitter.com/dyKYMGrKML

— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) August 11, 2025

But after fouling off two tough full-count pitches from Mason Fluharty, a left-hander with a 5.15 earned-run average and Toronto’s eighth pitcher of the day, Ohtani waved at a sweeper outside the zone to strike out.

“The last thing I was thinking was he was going to strike out. ... We’ve got to come up with one right there," Roberts said. "Chasing the ball down below is something we can't have happen."

Mookie Betts followed by grounding into a force out to end the game.

Three innings earlier Ohtani, who had two hits, including his 41st homer of the season to run his hitting streak to a season-best nine games, was thrown out trying to steal third with two outs and Freeman at the plate, ending another Dodger threat.

“That was his decision,” Roberts said. “Not a good baseball play.”

Read more:In a battle of 3,000K stars, Clayton Kershaw outduels Max Scherzer in Dodgers' win

Now the Dodgers head to Anaheim for a three-game series with the Angels before returning home to face the Padres, likely with the division lead at stake.

The Dodgers have been faltering since July 1, going 15-18. San Diego has been on fire, going 21-13 over the same span. Among NL teams, only the Milwaukee Brewers have been better.

While San Diego has the most saves (39) and the best bullpen ERA in baseball (3.04), Dodgers relievers rank 21st (4.24).

And while the Padres got better at last month’s trade deadline, making five trades that netted them reliever Mason Miller and left-hander JP Sears from Oakland, first baseman/outfielder Ryan O’Hearn and left fielder Ramón Laureano from the Orioles and catcher Freddy Fermin from the Royals, the Dodgers barely tinkered around the edges. Their major acquisition, reliever Brock Stewart, has given up six hits and two runs in 3⅔ innings.

The Padres went all in. The Dodgers did not.

Talk about frustrating.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Mets dropped Sunday's series finale at the Milwaukee Brewers, blowing a five-run lead on their way to a 7-6 walk-off defeat that leaves them with a season-high-tying seven-game losing streak.

"It's hard to describe -- off, frustrating, but we've got to turn the page," said New York manager Carlos Mendoza. "We've got to keep going. We've got to find a way to start getting a victory here. That wasn't a good showing there. They pretty much outplayed us."

Mendoza's Mets (63-55) have lost 11 of their past 12 games. They are 5.5 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East Division and 1.5 games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds for the third wild card.

"We've got to go out and do it," Mendoza said. "We're going to keep saying it. The bottom line -- we've got to go out and do it. I'm going to keep saying we've got the talent, we've got the players. But until we start playing better and getting the job done, we continue to believe in the guys -- and we will. It's tough. I know it's tough right now. It's very frustrating. We are all very frustrated. But we've got to keep going. We've got to keep going. Nobody said it was going to be easy."

New York has Monday off before returning to Citi Field for a six-game homestand. The stretch begins with a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves, led by Tuesday's 7:10 p.m. opener on SNY.

"We haven't played well for quite a bit now, and that's what happens," Mendoza said. "We can't be looking at the standings. We've got to start getting the job done -- that simple. We can't sit here and start looking back. There's no looking back. Like I said, we've got to get the job done -- and we will. We'll turn it around."

The Mets turn to right-hander Clay Holmes (9-6, 3.46 ERA) Tuesday after southpaw Sean Manaea allowed four runs on six hits (one homer) while striking out five and walking two in four innings Sunday.

"It's a lot," Manaea (1-1, 4.33 ERA) said of the Mets losing seven in a row. "It's frustrating. No one wants to be here. But at the end of the day, we've just got to get through it. There's no way around it."

Closer Edwin Diaz, who got New York out of a two-out jam in the eighth inning before allowing Isaac Collins' game-winning home run to lead off the ninth, kept a positive outlook.

"It's tough," Diaz said. "We know we've got a really good team here. We've got a really good group. We've just got to stay together, stick together, keep playing baseball. We know we can turn it around. On Tuesday, we can come back and play really good baseball. So, just stay together and keep fighting."

Before the 11-of-12 slide, the Mets went on a season-high-tying seven-game winning streak from July 20-27. They have won six games or more four times this season, and Brandon Nimmo sees the potential for another one.

"We can go on a run," Nimmo said. "We've still got time. But it just takes putting it together, playing some good baseball. I don't think the division's slipping away. We're still within shot, and we've been known -- this team, specifically -- to go on runs. So, we can easily rattle off a winning streak, especially with the people that we've got in here. But, yeah, it's going to take, obviously, turning it around."

Jen Pawol breezed through Sunday's Marlins-Braves game as if breaking a gender barrier was just another day on the job.

Considering Pawol became the first female umpire to work behind the plate in the majors, making unprecedented history appear to be routine was especially impressive.

“I think Jen did a really nice job,” Miami manager Clayton McCullough said after Atlanta's 7-1 win over the Marlins.

“I think she’s very composed back there. She handled and managed the game very well. And big day for her. Big day for Major League Baseball. I congratulated her again on that because it’s quite the accomplishment.”

Read more:Blake Snell turns in a performance befitting his 'Snellzilla' nickname in Dodgers' blowout win

It was an impressive cap to a memorable weekend for Pawol. She made history in Saturday’s doubleheader as the first female umpire to work a regular-season game in the majors. She called the bases in the doubleheader before moving behind the plate on Sunday, placing her in the brightest spotlight for an umpire.

Pawol never showed any indication of being affected by the attention, even while knowing every call would be closely watched.

“Congrats to Jen, obviously,” said Braves left-hander Joey Wentz, who earned the win by allowing only one run in 5 1/3 innings.

Asked about Pawol's calls, Wentz said, “I try not to focus on the zone, to be honest with you. ... I thought it was good though.”

There were few opportunities for disputes as Wentz and Miami starting pitcher Cal Quantrill combined for only three strikeouts. The first called third strike came in the fifth inning, when Pawol used a fist pump when calling out Miami's Kyle Stowers on a pitch that was close to the edge of the plate.

McCullough was seen in the Marlins dugout with his palms held up as if asking about the pitch call. He said after the game it's not unusual to question a close called strike.

“Over the course of the game, there are a number of times that you just are going to be asking for clarity on one, if you aren’t sure,” McCullough said. “So it could have been that.”

The 48-year-old Pawol was called up as a rover umpire, so her next assignment in the majors has not been announced.

“I wish her the best moving forward as she continues to, I’m sure, hopefully one day be up full time, you know, a permanent big league umpire,” McCullough said.

Pawol also received positive reviews from Braves manager Brian Snitker, who on Saturday said, “You can tell she knows what she does.”

Pawol's work in the minor leagues began in 2016 when she was assigned to the Gulf Coast League. She worked in the Triple-A championship game in 2023 and in spring training games in 2024 and again this year.

Read more:In a battle of 3,000K stars, Clayton Kershaw outduels Max Scherzer in Dodgers' win

“We certainly didn’t call her up from A ball, right?” Quantrll said. “So yeah, I’m sure she was well prepared. And like I said I think, you know, part of the game moving forward is that if this is normal then we’re going to treat it normal, too. So, you know, I thought it was fine. I think she did she did a quality job. ... And yeah, I think she’d be very proud of herself. And, you know, it’s kind of a cool little thing to be part of.”

Pawol spoke to reporters on Saturday when she said, "The dream actually came true today. I’m still living in it. I’m so grateful to my family and Major League Baseball for creating such an incredible work environment. … I’m just so thankful.”

Pawol received cheers from fans on both days. On Sunday, some held up “Way to go Jen!” signs.

Odum writes for the Associated Press.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.