Category: Baseball

On a steamy Sunday when everyone in the Dodger Stadium seats was using programs to fan themselves, Blake Snell was fanning Pittsburgh Pirates — six strikeouts in six innings of work — and the bottom of the order played like the top of the lineup, providing ample offensive spark for a 4-0 victory that stretched the Dodgers’ winning streak to six games.

What a weekend for Dodger pitchers — Yoshinobu Yamamoto followed by Tarik Skubal followed by Snell, with Tyler Glasnow on deck and Shohei Ohtani getting healthier by the day and scheduled to throw a bullpen session during the upcoming series in Atlanta.

“It’s daunting,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, barely suppressing a smile. “As an offense — an opposing offense — to look at the probables you see Glasnow, Yamamoto, Snell, [Roki] Sasaki, and then potentially Shohei. It gets daunting.”

Come October, Dodger Stadium could be a daunted house.

Read more:'I haven’t done my job.' Edwin Díaz accepts low-leverage role with Dodgers — for now

In the meantime, the team is coming off back-to-back sweeps of the Colorado Rockies and Pirates (63-69), who mustered two hits Sunday after a combined 14 in the first two games of the series.

For his part, Snell was happy but not thrilled about his performance, which included three walks and one hit batter.

“There were a couple innings there where, you know, get two quick outs and then full-count walk, full-count walk,” he said. “It’s not acceptable. Especially with, I feel good, I know I can command the ball. Honestly, it’s lazy. It’s me trying to get strikeouts instead of, you know, trying to go seven, eight, nine. So I definitely got to clean that up. But I know I’m going to do that, and just continue to get better, and learn, and grow.”

Yamamoto, Skubal and Snell combined for 26 strikeouts, five walks and five earned runs in 19 innings.

“It’s going to be a lot of good competition within the starting rotation,” Snell said. “I’m really excited about it. I mean, being able to watch some of the best pitchers in the game and learn from them — their mentality, the way they attack — having those conversations are very big. I’m definitely grateful to be on the same team, but a lot to learn.”

At the plate, the Dodgers (80-51) got some welcome help from the bottom of the order. Center fielder Alek Thomas and catcher Hunter Feduccia — replacements for injured All-Stars Andy Pages and Will Smith — drove in runs with consecutive singles in the fourth. That turned a familiar one-run game, of which the Dodgers have had a lot lately, into a leisurely Sunday stroll.

Before the game, Roberts expressed some concern that while Thomas could handle all the defensive responsibilities of Pages, there might be a drop-off in hitting. But that hasn’t been a worry so far, as Thomas had key hits on both Saturday and Sunday.

“Definitely feels good,” said Thomas, formerly of the Arizona Diamondbacks. “Coming here, I played against the Dodgers my whole career, grew up not really liking the team, whatever. And coming over here, it feels good to be on a side that wins a lot and has fun.”

No need to remind Kyle Tucker. The huge-money outfielder has been one of the more compelling stories this season. He came into the weekend hitting .189 at Dodger Stadium, and he had gone 0 for 19 in his last homestand. That futility was starting to spill over to his defense, too, as he dropped a routine foul ball in front of a crowd whose patience had long since worn thin.

But on Friday night, there was a concerted effort by Dodgers fans to cheer him loudly every time he stepped to the plate, in hopes of lifting him out of the ditch. Three years ago, fans of the Philadelphia Phillies famously buoyed the spirits of underperforming shortstop Trea Turner by giving him the same kind of standing ovation.

Did it work for Tucker? He had the winning hit Saturday, a two-run single in the fifth, and Sunday had a hit and scored a run.

“I feel good this weekend, just the contribution in this game,” he said. “It was great, we got a sweep so can’t complain too much about that.

“I’ve had some good at-bats, a couple barrels. Even [Saturday], a couple balls hit harder, they just didn’t find good spots. But that happens sometimes. Just trying to put together good at-bats, get guys over, man.”

Ohtani’s pitching timeline

Ohtani is on the mend from a left knee injury and could be ready to return to the pitching rotation soon.

Ohtani threw 30 pitches in a live batting-practice session Saturday at Dodger Stadium, marking his first time facing hitters since his last start on July 3. Roberts said that outing puts him in position to return to action soon.

The right-hander is scheduled to throw a bullpen session during the upcoming series at Atlanta, and the Dodgers will then decide whether he’s ready to rejoin the rotation or needs to throw more live batting practice. Roberts said there’s a possibility Ohtani could return as soon as the first week of September.

Last year, when Ohtani was returning from a second career Tommy John surgery, the Dodgers eased him into pitching slowly, starting with one inning and then adding an inning each appearance. Apparently, the team won’t be quite as cautious this time.

“I would say it’d be a little bit more aggressive,” Roberts said.

Asked if that could mean, theoretically, the Ohtani could build up to five innings by the end of the season, the manager said: “In theory, yes.”

Read more:Swanson: Struggling Dodgers outfielder Kyle Tucker simply needs to relax

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Dodgers are now in the midst of a six-game winning streak, as they shut out the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0 on Sunday to complete the three-game sweep.

Shohei Ohtani worked an 11-pitch leadoff walk to begin the game against right-handed reliever Lake Bachar, the longest plate appearance for him this season. Freddie Freeman put runners on the corners with nobody out, and although Mookie Betts grounded into a double play, Ohtani scored to give the Dodgers an early 1-0 lead.

The Dodgers were left silent until the bottom of the fourth inning against Carmen Mlodzinski, as Tommy Edman was plunked before Kyle Tucker singled to put two men on with one out. After Teoscar Hernández struck out looking (and wasted their final ABS challenge), Alek Thomas came through with an RBI single to knock home Edman, giving him two consecutive games with an RBI single in the fourth inning. Hunter Feduccia continued the rally with an RBI single to bring home Tucker and give the Dodgers a three-run lead. The Dodgers added another run in the fifth inning on an RBI groundout from Max Muncy.

Getting just one run was enough for Blake Snell, as he was nearly unhittable after escaping a first-inning jam. Snell allowed a one-out single to Spencer Horwitz in the top of the second, but that was the only hit that the Pirates could muster against the left-hander the rest of the way. The command late in innings became a recurring issue, as Snell gave up a two-out walk in three consecutive innings, but his final inning saw him retire the side in order with a pair of strikeouts.

Snell has dominated in his three starts back from injury, logging a quality start in each. Snell’s scoreless start on Sunday was the first time he didn’t allow a run in the regular season since his 12-strikeout gem against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sept. 17 last year. Snell’s ERA now sits at just 1.00 over his last 18 innings, striking out 21 and walking seven.

Both offenses struggled to produce much of anything over the final four innings of Sunday’s contest, as the Dodgers had just one baserunner with a Tommy Edman walk in the bottom of the eighth while Pittsburgh went 0-13 with one baserunner over their final 4 1/3 innings at the plate.

The Dodgers have taken the season series from the Pirates 5-1, their best record against them in a season since taking all six contests against them in 2021. Sunday’s 4-0 final score was their first shutout win of the second half and their first since shutting out the San Diego Padres 3-0 on July 4.

Game particulars

• WP— Blake Snell (2-1): 6 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts
• LP— Lake Bachar (1-3): 2 IP, 1 hit, 1 earned run, 3 walks, 1 strikeout
• SV— Alex Vesia (4): 1 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout

Up next

The Dodgers begin a six-game road trip after an off day on Monday, with a three-game set against the Atlanta Braves on starting Tuesday (4:15 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Tyler Glasnow makes his first start since May 6, while Atlanta has yet to announce their starter.

The Atlanta Braves are looking to avoid a sweep…yet again, too soon after suffering one and avoiding another in Chicago. How do we end up in these situations?

A better question is, how do we get out of them…ASAP?

Tune in at 7:10 to see if the Braves can turn things around.

Lineups

Preview

The Red Sox took care of business against the San Francisco Giants today, winning the third and final game of the series by a final score of 5-4. Things started out rocky, with Jake Bennett getting hit around early and surrendering three runs in the first two innings. The Red Sox, as they always seem to do these days, quickly punched back. They grabbed a run in the bottom of the second, another in the third, and three more in the fourth to take the lead. Tyron Guerrero and Aroldis Chapman closed the door, and the Red Sox swept the series.

The story isn’t that the Red Sox won the game. It’s who contributed in the win. Wilyer Abreu, Willson Contreras, and Caleb Durbin were a combined 0-12. The production came from Jahmai Jones (2-2, 3B) and Mickey Gasper (pinch-hit RBI double) at the top of the order. It came from Nick Sogard (2-3, 2B, HR). It nearly came from Andruw Monasterio, who doubled off the monster in the bottom of the eighth, but was stranded on base.

With Roman Anthony, Isaiah Kiner-Falefa, and Trevor Story returning from injury imminently, Sogard, Jones, Gasper, and Monasterio are all candidates to be sent to Worcester. Anthony Seigler feels like a lock for one of the corresponding moves. Gasper is likely another because he has options, but he’s come up big against right-handed pitching. Jones doesn’t have any options and crushes lefties. Monasterio has slowed offensively of late, but he’s manned shortstop and was a key contributor to the turnaround. Sogard has options too, but he should be untouchable.

The roster that’s righted the ship for the Red Sox isn’t the one that they’ll go into the postseason with. The pitching side is close to fixed, but the lineup still has several moving pieces. Today, some of the players who might not see the postseason roster are the reason they won the game. That’s both a credit to the front office for amassing quality depth, and a reminder that baseball season is a long, winding road with many different chapters. We’re on to Miami for a three game set with the Marlins, who have played very well at home this season.

Three Studs

Ceddanne Rafaela (3-4, 2 RBI, diving catch)

I didn’t mention Rafaela above because he didn’t fit my narrative. He played a great game, racking up three singles and making a diving catch to get Bennett out of a jam.

Jake Bennett (7 IP, 3 ER, 6 K, 1 BB)

Nick Sogard (2-3, 2B, HR)

Three Duds

Wilyer Abreu (0-4, Throwing Error)

Willson Contreras (0-4, Threw his bat an almost hit the umpire by accident, broke a bat that hit someone in the crowd who was carted out)

Caleb Durbin (0-4, no errors or moments of violence, accidental or otherwise)

Win number eight wasn’t pretty, but the Royals got the job done in an 11-7 victory over the Tigers to extend their wining streak. The Royals won all seven games of their homestand, just the fourth time in club history they have had a perfect homestand of seven or more games.

If you had “Salvador Perez stolen base” on your bingo card today, congrats, you’re a winner! Salvy stole second base in the second inning, his first steal in five years.

The Royals loaded the bases before Kyle Isbel brought home two with a single. Nick Loftin delivered a big blow with a three-run homer. Loftin finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs and scored three times.

Daniel Lynch IV had his longest start of the season, pitching into the fifth. He exited after a one-out walk, and Mason Black allowed the run to score. Lynch finished with two runs allowed in 4.1 innings with two strikeouts and a walk. Detroit rallied against Black scoring four runs to turn a 5-1 deficit into a 5-5 tie. But the Royals immediately answered in the bottom of the inning. Vinnie Pasquantino doubled home Loftin, Salvy followed with an RBI double, and John Rave’s two-run homer pushed Kansas City’s lead to 9-5.

Black gave up a run in the sixth, and Jose Cuas gave up a run in the seventh, although he escaped a jam that could have been a lot worse. But the lineup added some insurance runs in the eighth off Tigers rookie Andrew Sears, who making his MLB debut. Isbel and Loftin each singled home runs to make it 11-7. Isbel enjoyed a 3 RBI afternoon.

Steven Cruz closed the door with a scoreless ninth, the last out recorded on an overturned call for strike three. The Royals improve to 58-74 and they are 7.5 games out of a playoff spot, just four games back of the Tigers. They will travel tomorrow and begin a six-game road trip in Toronto and Cleveland, starting on Tuesday.

With any luck, Hagen Smith’s best days in a White Sox uniform are yet to come. And if today’s clutch performance was any indication, that could mean some pretty special things.

Smith was dialed in for undoubtedly the finest performance of his young career, entering a 0-0 ballgame with two on and none out in the seventh inning. After falling behind 3-0 to Jared Young, Smith began dotting corners like Picasso, ultimately striking out the side and retiring all six of the batters he faced, without much of a protest.

For a moment, it looked as if it wouldn’t be enough. But like the Tristan Peters fly ball sailing over the fence in right-center field to end the ballgame, it was just enough to squeak by in a dramatic 2-1 White Sox win over the Mets to steal another bounce-back series win.

There were a few moments throughout the early going where it appeared one team or the other might put something together. The Mets opened the third inning with a baserunner on when Munetaka Murakami was slow to cover his base on a ground ball, but it was subsequently erased by a double play upon Erick Fedde’s entrance into the game. A batter later, Francisco Lindor came feet away from his 13th longball of the season, but Braden Montgomery’s rocket throw back into the infield held him to a single, and an inconsequential one at that.

As I suspected would be the case, the Sox got their share of free baserunners. Murakami, Miguel Vargas, Andrew Benintendi and Braden Montgomery all drew free passes from Mets starter Nolan McLean, while Sam Antonacci collected his team-record 24th hit-by-pitch of the season. As has been the case for much of the second half, though, the bats just couldn’t wake themselves up in time.

Sean Newcomb’s dominance as an opener continued with two scoreless innings, and Erick Fedde continued to play the role of flexible veteran with aplomb, contributing four shutout innings of his own after taking over, inducing multiple key double plays to nip New York rallies in the bud. That makes 12 1/3 combined scoreless innings of opener and bulk relief in their last two appearances; if the Sox manage to survive the dog days of the 2026 season, Newcomb and Fedde will have played a significant part in it.

McLean notched his 16th quality start of the campaign opposite the Sox duo. Beyond the walks, only an Antonacci single blemished the righthander’s line as he held the Sox completely off the board over six innings. To the eye, it was a textbook display of effectively wild. For all the deep counts and free bases, McLean’s stuff moves so much that doing anything with it when it is in the zone appeared sisphyean at times. This is not a pitcher who knew much where the ball was going, but the stuff is of a caliber where it simply didn’t really matter.

Still, when Smith got the White Sox to the bottom of the eighth with a scoreless game somehow still intact, it felt like there was some kind of magic in the air, magic that manifested in reality when back-to-back hits from Vargas and Benintendi snapped what felt like weeks of offensive futility in the span of a few pitches from Mets righty Dedniel Nuñez. For all the angst about the exhaustion of the bullpen amid this interminable stretch without an off day, here they were heading into the ninth with a 1-0 lead. Better, Grant Taylor was perfectly rested and ready to close things out.

Naturally, it was too good to be true. For one of the first times since the season’s midway point, Taylor simply didn’t quite have it, racking up Ks to escape the damage caused by scattered walks and singles. It was only one run of damage, and the first earned run he’s let up in several weeks. But it seemed for a moment that it would be enough damage to send the game to extra innings.

Until Peters stepped to the plate, of course:

I get to polish off my recapping August with four consecutive weekend series clinchers, which brings me as much pleasure as I’m sure is being brought to the White Sox by their newly minted 68-62 record and successfully-protected 3 ½-game lead in the Central. The Texas Rangers are on their way into town as we speak, and just three games with them stand between the Sox and their first day off in nearly three weeks. A starter for the home side has yet to be announced for tomorrow night, but Anthony Kay and Sean Burke have already been announced as Tuesday and Wednesday’s ball-handlers. First pitch tomorrow is set for 7:10 p.m. CT, and we’ll see you there!

MVP
Tristan Peters: 2-for-4, 1B, Walk-Off HR

Runners-Up
Hagen Smith: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO
Erick Fedde: 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO

Cold Cat
Colson Montgomery: 0-for-4, 2 K

Runners-Up
Chase Meidroth: 0-for-4
Jake Rogers: 0-for-3, 2 SO

The A’s got the job done this afternoon in the series finale, beating the Houston Astros 7-6 in the series finale and getting to ride home on a high.

More to come…

The White Sox have developed a flair for dramatic finishes at the Mets’ expense.

For the second time in three days, the White Sox walked off the Mets with a home run, as New York took a tough 2-1 loss Sunday in Chicago. Tristan Peters blasted his first career walk-off homer to center field off Kodai Senga in the bottom of the ninth inning, voiding an otherwise good day for the Mets pitching staff.

Nolan McLean pitched six shutout innings for New York, but the Mets lineup missed several opportunities against Chicago’s pitching staff. The White Sox didn’t fare much better offensively, finally breaking through with a run in the eighth to take a 1-0 lead, and scoring again with Peters’ walk-off.

The Mets’ lone run came in the ninth inning on an RBI single by Jared Young. Young’s hit tied the game 1-1 and set up rookie AJ Ewing for a chance at the biggest hit of his fresh career. Ewing struck out with the bases loaded against White Sox reliever Grant Taylor to end the rally and set the stage for a disappointing ninth. Ewing also had a chance at snagging the Peters’ homer, in what would have been one of the best catches of the year. He couldn’t quite grab it as the Mets dropped the series rubber match.

Senga’s move to a ninth-inning arm had been going well in a limited sample size, earning four saves in as many tries. But with no room for error Sunday, Senga was on the hook for the loss, bringing his season record to a brutal 0-9.

McLean was cruising early, striking out five of the first nine batters, but briefly struggled in the third inning. Sam Antonacci got the White Sox’s first hit before McLean walked Munetaka Murakami and Miguel Vargas to load the bases. Fortunately for the Mets, Andrew Benintendi was next up for Chicago. Benintendi had three at-bats with the bases loaded in Saturday’s game, but only came away with a sacrifice fly. McLean struck out Benintendi to keep the White Sox off the board, but more than doubled his pitch count to survive the third.

Quickly bouncing back, McLean didn’t allow a runner into scoring position over the next three innings. The young right-hander allowed just one hit but walked four across his six shutout innings. Dedniel Núñez picked up where McLean left off with a scoreless seventh inning. However, Daniel Duarte couldn’t keep the shutout going as Benintendi redeemed himself with an RBI double in the eighth.

With the White Sox going with a bullpen game, the Mets lineup couldn’t get going despite being one of the hottest teams since the trade deadline. Francisco Lindor led off the game with a double and added a single in third to account for half of the Mets’ hits through the first six innings. Sean Newcombe and Erick Fedde combined to pitch six scoreless innings for Chicago. Fedde was especially effective, getting through his four innings on 44 pitches with no walks and two hits allowed.

New York missed an opportunity in the seventh inning with Fedde finally running out of gas. Carson Benge led off with a ground-rule double and Luis Robert Jr. drew a walk to chase Fedde. White Sox rookie Hagen Smith entered in relief and struck out Young, Francisco Alvarez, and Marcus Semien to strand the runners and keep the game scoreless.

In Saturday’s 10-5 win, Mets interim manager Andy Green had success with his pinch-hitting decisions, but mostly ran out of luck in Sunday’s loss. New York’s four pinch hitters went 1-for-5 with four strikeouts. Bo Bichette’s 12-game on-base streak also came to an end.

The Mets get Monday off before hosting the best-in-baseball Milwaukee Braves for a three-game series starting Tuesday at 7:10 PM EDT.

SB Nation GameThreads

Amazin’ Avenue
South Side Sox

Box scores

MLB.com

ESPN

Win Probability Added

FanGraphs.com

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Nolan McLean, +36% WPA
Big Mets loser: Kodai Senga, -36% WPA
Mets pitchers: -15% WPA
Mets hitters: -35% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Jared Young single, +30% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Tristan Peters home run, -42% WPA

The Texas Rangers scored five runs while the Anaheim Angels scored three runs.

It’s a controversial take, I know, but I think your favorite baseball team scoring runs is better than them not scoring runs.

The Rangers had been drip feeding us practically all season but the spigot was nearly fully wrenched shut during this homestand with Texas averaging 1.5 runs per game coming into today’s contest, including two shutout losses, one of which came in yesterday’s latest embarrassment against the Angels.

After a one-hit, 3-0 loss yesterday, the Rangers took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning with homestand MVP Ezequiel Duran opening the scoring with a solo home run. In that same frame, newest Ranger and former Angel Logan O’Hoppe singled and scored his first run for Texas via a triple off the bat of Cody Freeman.

Elias Diaz brought in Freeman with a sacrifice fly and just like that, the Rangers had scored more runs in that one inning than they had in five of their last six games. Texas wasn’t done there, luckily, as Diaz hit his sixth home run of the year, a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth off Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi.

In that same frame, Corey Seager singled and Wyatt Langford doubled which allowed Seager to score Texas’ fifth and final run via a Brandon Nimmo sac fly. It would turn out that the Rangers would need those extra runs as the Angels mounted a comeback bid in the late innings.

Eventually Jacob Latz snuffed out Anaheim’s hopes in the ninth and the Rangers had a series win and winning homestand.

Player of the Game: Cal Quantrill’s first outing of the second half was his worst of the season, a six-run stinker in Atlanta in what appeared to be his final start before Jack Leiter and Nathan Eovaldi hit the shelf to twice keep him in the rotation.

Since that mid-July loss, Quantrill has appeared in seven games, making five starts, and hasn’t allowed more than two runs in any of them. In August, spanning four starts and five appearances, Quantrill has allowed two runs total in 25 innings.

After seven shutout innings in his previous start during this homestand, today Quantrill followed up his win over Washington by blanking the Angels over six innings. It was a devilish appearance for Quantrill as he spread around six hits in his six innings with six strikeouts. Quantrill allowed a hit in each of his first five innings, including two in the top of the second, but he didn’t walk anyone and stranded all six baserunners.

A Quantrill appearance used to mean the Rangers were playing in a lost cause with the veteran righty performing long relief or mop up duties. Now, however, a Quantrill appearance means the Rangers have one of their best chances to win.

Up Next: The Rangers embark for a trip north to begin a series against the AL Central-leading White Sox with RHP Kumar Rocker next up to take the bump for Texas opposite a pitcher to be named for Chicago.

The Monday evening first pitch from Rate Field is scheduled for 6:40 pm CDT and will be aired on the Rangers Sports Network.

CHICAGO — Kodai Senga stood with his hands on his hips in disgust as fireworks exploded beyond the center field scoreboard at Rate Field.

“It’s kind of a moment of realization that I’m in a position where the game can end with one pitch, with one swing of the bat,” Senga said through his interpreter after surrendering a walk-off homer to Tristan Peters in the Mets’ 2-1 loss to the White Sox. “Seeing the ball like that it just kind of dawns on me again, that’s the role I’m playing.”

Peters’ blast to center on a 96 mph fastball, which just eluded A.J. Ewing’s outstretched glove, became Senga’s first hiccup since becoming the closer two weeks ago when Devin Williams was placed on the injured list.

Among the realities of the job is pitching on consecutive days — something Senga was doing for the first time Sunday.

A night earlier he had pitched a scoreless ninth in a non-save situation.

“I think he was fine — he had his [velocity] down a little bit,” interim manager Andy Green said. “It was good to get that under his belt and have done that. … Senga has gotten something done that he hadn’t done, and that is good for us.”

The Mets lost on a second walk-off homer in three games to drop only their second series in the six they have played since the trade deadline.

Overall, they are 12-6 during that stretch.

Senga had a 1.29 ERA in his previous seven appearances this month but had the benefit of at least a day of rest between each of them.

“It was no big issue being out on the mound,” Senga said of his first back-to-back stint.

The Mets homered five times a night earlier but were stifled for the first eight innings in essentially a bullpen game for the White Sox.

Green’s starting lineup included backups Eric Wagaman and Christopher Morel to give the Mets additional right-handed bats.

Refusing to depart without at least a fight, the Mets tied it 1-1 on Jared Young’s RBI single in the ninth after they put two runners aboard against Grant Taylor.

But with a chance to take the lead, the Mets sputtered: Francisco Alvarez and Ewing each struck out, the latter occurring with the bases loaded.

Andrew Benintendi’s RBI triple in the eighth against Daniel Duarte produced the game’s first run.

Duarte, who has been ultra-reliable in the setup role, allowed two hits in the inning.

Dedniel Núñez pitched a scoreless seventh for his third appearance in his last four without allowing an earned run.

The right-hander is working back from Tommy John surgery rehab and had two rough outings upon rejoining the Mets, but has shown improvement lately.

Nolan McLean dominated over six shutout innings in which he allowed only one hit.

The right-hander walked four batters and hit another, finishing with six strikeouts.

The start was McLean’s third straight of at least six innings with one or no runs allowed.

Over that stretch his ERA dropped from 3.51 to 3.21.

“I wouldn’t say I am any stronger or any better than I felt to start the season,” McLean said. “It’s just every time I go out there, I am trying to learn and hopefully doing a better job of that.”

McLean loaded the bases with consecutive walks to Munetaka Murakami and Miguel Vargas in the third, but following a visit from pitching coach Justin Willard, struck out Benintendi on three pitches.

Jake Rogers hit a shot to left field in the fifth inning that leaping Luis Robert Jr. caught at the fence to deprive Rogers — who won Friday’s game with a walk-off homer against lefty Jefry Yan in the ninth — of an extra-base hit.

On this day it was Peters with the walk-off magic for the AL Central leader.

“You come out of a series 1-2, you don’t feel great about that,” Green said. “But that was competitive.”

In the third inning, Jacob Young made one of the most incredible catches you will ever see. He scaled the wall like spiderman to make an insane grab to rob Heriberto Hernandez of extra bases. It was a truly thrilling moment. Outside of that, it was the same dreary, depressing Nationals that we have gotten used to since the trade deadline.

I do not think I have ever seen a team go from ultra-exciting to completely unwatchable so quickly. The 2021 Nats come close, but even that does not do this justice in my opinion. A team that played with so much energy and vigor for the first 4 months of the season is slowly walking towards season’s end like a zombie.

With James Wood and CJ Abrams injured as well as Luis Garcia Jr. and Curtis Mead being traded, this lineup is the rotting husk of the one that took baseball by storm. Some of this is misfortune, some due to the front office stripping away pieces, but the 2026 Nationals look a lot like the skeleton crew that Miguel Cairo led to end last season.

The Nats have had problems late in games for a while now, but the lack of spunk we are seeing at the end of games is just sad. These last couple games, the Marlins have scored first before the Nats would respond and tie the game. However, the second the Marlins retook the lead, there was nothing left for the Nats. Maybe they would make one final push before inevitably leaving runners in scoring position.

The numbers from this month are beyond ugly, and the Spencer Nusbaum tweet down below comes with a content warning. They have dropped to a truly shocking 11-30 against divisional opponents. In this road trip, the Nats went 1-8 while scoring just 20 runs. Given where this team was just a month ago, it is truly sad to see what has become of this group.

Selling at the deadline was the smartest move on paper, but it has clearly left a huge mark on the clubhouse. Curtis Mead, Foster Griffin and Luis Garcia Jr. were not only major on field contributors, but they were also leaders. There is now a leadership and talent void.

In addition to that, it does not seem like the announcement of CJ Abrams’ position switch has done anything to help the atmosphere. With James Wood on the shelf and the offense depleted, there was already a lot on Abrams’ plate. The position switch just seems like something that should have been done in the offseason.

Given how the first half went, there is still hope for this team moving forward. If they can recapture that offensive magic once they are healthy and reinforced next season, this could be an exciting team again. Hopefully the pitching additions start to make their mark next season as well.

Clearly 2026 was not a top priority for Paul Toboni. His goal is to build a sustainable winner and in his eyes the deadline sell off was necessary evil in achieving that goal. I largely agree with that assessment, but we will need to see these prospects turn into winning players down the road. The jury is still very much out on this deadline, but in the short term, it made the team much less watchable, even more than expected. 

However, the talent gap is not the only one that the Nats will have to bridge if they want to climb the NL East standings. Whenever we have played the Marlins, there has been a real gap on the situational side. We saw that today when the two teams had bases loaded and two out situations. The struggling Abimelec Ortiz was unable to come through while Xavier Edwards just guided a ball into left for the Marlins.

While Miami does not have much in the way of star talent, their crisp and team oriented style is one the Nats need to take a look at. They are not a team that beats themselves and has quality depth. 

Being 11-30 in division and seeing the season crumble like this needs to be a wakeup call for management. It felt like besides the bullpen, this group could not do a whole lot of wrong. Now, they are being hit by adversity and the team is not responding well.

Moving forward the Nats need to build a reliable and steady team that can withstand the vigors of a 162 game season. Do not get me wrong, I still have faith in this regime in the long term. There are positive signs on the horizon with the young talent on the farm, but eventually the rebuild wary fanbase needs to see wins. Just as it looked like the light was flickering on, it disappeared. Hopefully it comes back next season.

Nick Martinez has been the guy the Rays have needed time and time again. He’s been the clubhouse leader. He’s changed and set tones left and right. And on the field, on his bump day, Martinez has delivered.

Nick Martinez has had a few bumps along the road, but the thing that has made Martinez the true stopper the Rays have needed is he basically doesn’t have two bumps in a row.

Last time out, Martinez was not sharp at home and Toronto chased him early. Today, with the Rays continuing to drop series and facing down a sweep in Baltimore, Martinez came out and delivered the ace level performance that the Rays have counted on all year.

6 innings pitched, 0 walks, and just 1 measly hit (although more on that later thanks to Johnny DeLuca defense). Most importantly for a Rays club that has struggled in every facet: 0 runs given up. Kept the game tied and allowed the Rays bats to not have to chase or claw their way back.

After the Rays were able to score, Martinez came back out for the bottom of the 6th and again delivered the shutdown inning that has eluded the Rays during this recent 3 series losing streak.

Rays needed a starter to give them length, to shut down a team, to give their offense a chance to steal a win, give the bullpen a breather, and Nick Martinez delivered in every possible way.

It’s been awhile since the Rays were able to contributions in the clutch from their big 3. We have seen Yandy and Junior have individual heroics, and while Aranda is still very much in his multi month long slump, Aranda is still capable of some quality of his own. Finally, closing out yet another disapointing series for a team really scuffling to put anything good on film lately, they all three came through to give the Rays a lead.

With 2 outs in the 6th, Yandy got it started with a classic Diaz oppo field sharp groundball single. Aranda followed it up with a sharp grounder that found space to get Yandy to 3rd. That extra bit of hustle from Yandy would prove useful as a wild pitch would allow the big man to rumble home to give the Rays a 1-0. Junior followed it up with a base hit up the middle to score Aranda, and suddenly the Rays offense had a pulse! Liam Hicks would draw a walk, and then the red hot Chandler Simpson would knock in the 3rd run, driving home a hustling Junior Caminero with the smooth trea Turner-esque slide.

Rays are built around pitching, timely hitting, and defense. We got the first two, and oh boy did we ever get the last one too. Particularly, Johnny DeLuca was a man possessed in the field today.

DeLuca saved a run early with a spectacular route and leaping catch at the wall.

And later on DeLuca doubled up with a diving catch to erase yet another hit

In a game so tight, with so few opportunities for the Rays offense to mount a threat, it was DeLuca who proved to be the difference. Baltimore yet again came within a swing of extending the game, and a few of their swings seemed destined for damage if not for DeLuca’s dynamite day in the field.

Baltimore gave the Rays a threat in the 9th, once again bringing the tying run to the plate three times. However on this day, Bryan Baker was able to lock in and close it out to extend his MLB best 37 saves.

Rays continue to cling to a fleeting division lead while they travel to Detroit to conclude this lengthy road trip.