Category: Baseball

Matthew Liberatore’s start went south from the very first pitch, but he avoided a meltdown as the St. Louis Cardinals were playing catchup from the beginning of the game. The question would end up being whether their less than spectacular offense lately would muster enough runs to overcome the Rockies fast start. Short answer? No.

Pitch one of inning one to the Colorado Rockies was a 95 mph four-seam fastball from Matthew Liberatore to Jake McCarthy and it traveled 420 feet into the right field stands of Busch Stadium for an immediate 1-0 Rockies lead. It could have been worse as Matthew then walked Karros and many of us in Cardinals fandom started fearing a 1st inning meltdown like we’ve seen from Liberatore a few times this season. Fortunately, one run is all the Rockies would get after a bonehead baserunning error as Karros was doubled off of second on a ball caught by Winn.

The St. Louis Cardinals would seize back the lead in the bottom of the 1st inning when Iván Herrera ripped a two-out double to left. Alec Burleson would strike out, but reach first on a passed ball charged to Goodman. That would bring up José Fermín who would provide a true big league 8-pitch at-bat eventually pulling an 82 mph knuckle-curve into the left field corner scoring both Herrera and Burleson giving the Cardinals a temporary 2-1 lead.

Liberatore would run into trouble in the top of the 3rd inning, too. With one out, McCarthy would reach first on an infield single. Matthew then hit Karros with a pitch giving Colorado runners on first and second. Both those runners would steal off of of Herrera before Carrigg would double to center scoring both runners and giving the Rockies a 3-2 lead. They would add more more when Goodman singled to right making it 4-2 Colorado.

The Cardinals would miss a great chance to either tie or take the lead in the bottom of the 4th inning when they would load the bases on a Fermín walk, a Blaze Jordan single and a hit-by-pitch from newcomer Everson Pereira. With two outs, JJ Wetherholt would hit a laser shot with the bases loaded that unfortunately was directed right at Rockies centerfielder Cole Carrigg to end the threat.

Colorado would up their lead to 3 in the top of the 5th inning when Carrigg would hit a one-out double to left. Two batters later, Rumfield would single through the hole at shortstop scoring Carrigg and making it 5-2 Rockies.

The St. Louis Cardinals would have another great opportunity in the bottom of the 5th inning when they would load the bases again, this time with just one out when Herrera doubled, Burleson and Fermín would walk. That brought up Masyn Winn with a chance to do damage. His damage would be light, but effective. He flied out to centerfield and the throw home was not handled by Rockies catcher Goodman as Herrera scored cutting into the Colorado lead making it 5-3. The St. Louis threat wasn’t over. A wild pitch by Meija would move the Cardinals runners up to 2nd and 3rd and then he walked Bryan Torres to load the bases again. Nathan Church ripped a 95 mph four-seam fastball that was unfortunately grabbed by Rockies second baseman Castro who threw him out at first to end the Cardinals 5th.

Matthew Liberatore’s night would end after 5 laborious innings. He surrendered 9 hits, 5 earned runs while striking out 3 and walking 2. Luis Gastelum took over in the top of the 6th inning and he was helped by a great recovery by Alec Burleson on a pop fly from Burk. Two batters later after a walk to Tovar, Gastellum grooved a 94 mph four-seam fastball to McCarthy who sent it flying 417 feet to center giving the Rockies a commanding 7-3 lead.

The Cardinals would fight back in the bottom of the 6th inning when Everson Pereira drew a leadoff walk. After Wetherholt and Walker were unable to drive him in, Pereira would score when Herrera would come through again inching the Cardinals closer as the Rockies lead was cut to 3 at 7-4.

The St. Louis Cardinals bottom of the 7th would get interesting quick when Fermin drew a leadoff walk followed by a solid single to left by Masyn Winn giving St. Louis runners at first and second with no outs. Bryan Torres followed with a lineout to left. Nathan Church barely missed the pitch he was looking for as he just got under an 82 mph sweeper flying out to right for the second out. Pereira weak flyball to right would end the Cardinals 7th leaving them with another opportunity missed.

The top of the 8th inning would be handled by one of the newest members of the Cardinals bullpen, Peter Strzelecki. He set the Rockies down 1-2-3 to keep St. Louis within (somewhat) striking distance. The definition of “striking distance” depends on how optimistic or not you are about the Cardinals offense ability to rally at this point of the season. Jordan Walker gave us all hope when he broke his homerless streak since his historic Home Run Derby ripping a mammoth 432 foot blast off of a 79 mph changeup cutting the Rockies lead to 7-5.

Strzelecki stayed in the game for the top of the 9th, but could not keep the Rockies from adding to their lead. After McCarthy reached on a one-out bunt single, he stole second easily on Herrera and then advanced to third on a balk by Strzelecki. Karros then hit a sacrifice fly that scored McCarthy upping the Colorado lead to 8-5.

Colorado Rockies reliever Jordan Romano was brought in to shut down the Cardinals in the bottom of the 9th. José Fermín welcomed him to the game with a leadoff single. He stole second because the Rockies didn’t care about his run, but it got the Cardinals out of a double play situation. Masyn Winn flew out to left on the 7th pitch he saw for the first out. Bryan Torres grounded out to first for the second out. Nathan Church ripped a RBI single to right scoring Fermín cutting the Rockies lead to 8-6 and bringing up the tying run in the form of pinch-hitter Cesar Prieto who sadly struck out to end the game.

The St. Louis Cardinals wrap up their weekend series against the Colorado Rockies on Sunday as Michael McGreevy gets the ball for the good guys while the mountain people will start RHP Michael Lorensen. First pitch is scheduled for 1:15pm at Busch Stadium and the TV broadcast will be handled by Cardinals.tv.

Blue Jays 7 Phillies 5 (11 innings)

That was a game and a half, as my dad would say. Baseball doesn’t get much better.

Max Scherzer was great, thru five innings, and then gave up two solo homers in the sixth, before leaving the game. In all, he allowed 5 hits, 2 earned, 0 walks with 5 strikeouts, which moved him to tenth in all-time strikeouts (until MLB decides that Walter Johnson actually had 10 more than we previously thought). Having Max go out for the for the sixth inning may have been a mistake, but the bullpen is working very hard lately.

Spencer Miles came in with one-out and none on, and gave up 2 runs before getting out of the inning.

Matt Waldron pitched a scoreless seventh

Braydon Fisher got through the eighth, despite a hit and a walk.

Louis Varland had a 3-up, 3-down ninth.

In regulation time we scored:

• One in the first: Vlad homered. Very nice to see.
• One in the third: Myles Straw walked. Nathan Lukes singled. An out later, Vlad singled.
• Two in the eight: With one out, Vlad walked. Then Alejandro Kirk walked. George Springer pinch ran for Kirk. An out later, Andrés Giménez double both home. Just a great swing.

We had 10 hits and 6 walks on the day. Lukes had three hits. Vlad (with a walk), Clement and Giménez had two each. Bateman, Valenzuela, Smith (with a walk)/Okamoto and Straw (with a walk) had 0 fors.

Extra innings:

Top of the ninth:

Bateman starts at second. Vlad up, ground ball right at the shortstop, one out without moving up the runner. Davis Schneider in to pinch hit for George Springer (who was just in the game to pinch run, after being pulled from the lineup with a tight shoulder). Davis walked (with him winning a challenge early in the count). Ernie Clement rolled one down the first base line, the first baseman picked up the ball, but for some reason, looked at the other bases, and then threw to the pitcher, Ernie was safe. Andrés Giménez hit a fly just deep enough to score Bateman (Bateman can run). Brandon Valenzuela struck out on a pitch the umpire called a ball but was overturned on a Phillies challenge. It was barely a strike.

Bottom of the tenth:

Trea Turner on second. Louis Varland pitching his second inning. Bryce Harper ground out moving Turner to third. Luis Arraez hit a sac fly, tie game again. Varland started Bryson Stott off with two strikes but then threw four straight balls. A wild pitch moved the runner to second, but Louis got Brandon Marsh to fly out to left.

Top of the eleventh:

Brandon Valenzuela starts at second base. Kazuma Okamoto flied out to medium right. Myles Straw ground out to first. Then Nathan Lukes homered.

Bottom of the eleventh:

Lazaro Estrada in to pitch. Brandon Marsh starting on second base. Justin Crawford popped out. A Bryan De La Cruz strikeout put us one out away from the win. Estrada, with two outs, decided to do three disengagements to move the runner to third, thinking Marsh was relaying pitches. Since that run didn’t matter, it was a good move. A fly out ended the game. Estrada gets his first career save.

Jays of the Game: Lukes (0.49, with the game winning home run, plus some great defense), Giménez (0.35, plus great defense), Estrada (0.20, just a great job), Fisher (0.11) and Varland (0.09).

Other Award: Spencer Miles (-0.27), Okamoto (-0.23), Bateman (-0.16, but he motored on that sac fly in the 10th), Valenzuela (-0.14) and Straw (-0.13)

There was some amazing defense on both sides of the ball. Plus some awful defense out of the Phillies first basemen (Schwarber and Bohm).

Tomorrow the Jays try for the sweep. It is a 1:30 start time. I have tennis 11-1 tomorrow, but a quick shower and I’ll likely make it for the first pitch, perhaps with a beer in my hand. Starters tomorrow: Shane Bieber (3-2, 5.11) and Jesús Luzardo (10-5, 3.36). The Jays will be going for the sweep.

Robert Stock's impressive return to the majors was a bright spot for the Mets and the right-hander, so much so that it earned him another turn in the rotation.

That turn came Saturday in Pittsburgh, and it was the opposite result for the 36-year-old.  

Stock struggled with command and the Pirates put an eight-spot on the right-hander in the first four innings of the Mets' eventual 9-0 loss. The combination of poor command and a pinch of bad luck got the better of Stock, and it cost the Mets any chance at extending their four-game winning streak.

"Found himself behind in the count frequently," interim manager Andy Green said of Stock's performance after the game. "And by the fourth inning, he was out of gas. Had trouble commanding the baseball at that point in time. Forced us into a game that you’re in a bad spot in."

Stock's day was over relatively early. The Pirates scored three runs in the first inning, which was helped by a misplay in the infield. With a runner on second and one out, Bryan Reynolds hit a soft grounder to Francisco Lindor. The shortstop, ranging to his right, scooped the ball up and looked to throw it to third base to try and get the lead runner. However, Bo Bichette was out of position and didn't get back in time, allowing both runners to be safe.

That play ultimately resulted in three runs being scored after a hit by pitch, an RBI groundout and a two-run double. 

"I experienced some bad luck early in it. That can be overcome by striking people out," Stock said. "By the fourth inning, I look up the board just feeling my velo go down and my arm get tired."

Stock's sinker, his go-to pitch on Saturday, was hitting 96.8 mph, according to Baseball Savant. By the fourth, it was down to 92.7 mph, and that turned the game. Entering the fourth, the Mets were down 4-0, but Stock seemingly settled down, but things took a turn for the worse as Stock walked batters and the Pirates teed off on his pitches, scoring four in the inning and putting the game out of reach.

Stock said it wasn't the number of pitches he threw -- he tossed 80 on Saturday, the most he's thrown in his major league career -- but the pitches per minute. 

"I need to be more resilient to getting fatigued to not lose the count," Stock explained. "Two things: if I execute pitches better early in the game, I won’t have to deal with the fatigue, and even if you do get fatigued, which is going to happen, you still need to fill up the zone."

After walking no batters in his five innings back on Aug. 2 against the Marlins, Stock walked five in his three-plus frames. 

That elevated pitch count and the deficit forced Green to punt on Saturday's game. Xzavion Curry pushed through three innings and catcher Luis Torrens was called on to pitch two more to save the bullpen for Sunday's series finale. 

"That was the worst part of tonight," Stock said of the Mets having to go to the bullpen early. "When I got fatigued, I didn’t battle through it. I gave into it. That’s on me." 

Green was asked after the game whether Stock will make another start, and the skipper said it was too early to make that decision. But Green said this start doesn't define the kind of pitcher Stock is.

"It’s a rough outing. Happens to pitchers all across the game all the time," Green said. "He has talent. He earned the right for that second start. He pitched really well his first time out. We’ll make a determination on where we go from here. But, no, this most surely doesn’t define him."

"Any time you’re playing in the major leagues, it’s exactly where you want to be," Stock said of his experience with the big league club. "Makes you want to work harder to stay. The older you get, and the more times you do poorly, the deeper the hole you dig yourself. You just know you have to be resilient and be even better next time." 

It was set up to be a solid pitching matchup, with Astros SP Peter Lambert (entered game with 3.06 ERA) and Padres SP Michael King (entered game with 3.45 ERA) taking the mound today. Those two held up their end of the deal for a terrific matchup today at Petco Park.

The Astros offense, however, did not.

Houston’s bats were held to just 5 hits while striking out 11 times in a game they were able to muster only 2 runs, as the fell to the Padres in San Diego 3-1.

Houston scored it’s first run on a solo HR by Taylor Trammell in the 2nd. Trammell’s 7th HR of the season tied the game at 1 after San Diego scratched a run against Lambert (L, 8-6) in the bottom of the 1st. It was the only run King (W, 7-8) would allow.

Two walks in the first inning sandwiching a hit let to a sacrifice fly by Jackson Merrill to score Fernando Tatis Jr. in the first to give the Padres the lead. Trammell’s solo HR answered that run to tie the game at 1.

In the bottom of the 3rd, Merrill would get Lambert again, this time for a solo HR. Merrill’s 17th homer of the season made it 2-1 Padres.

In the bottom of the 4th, Gavin Sheets would lead off with a swinging bunt for a single. Two groundouts would advance him to 3rd. Tatis would then hit a grounder to short that should have ended the inning, but an error by Jeremy Pena allowed Tatis to reach and Sheets to score to make it a 3-1 Padres lead.

In the 9th the Padres would send their closer Mason Miller (S, 29) to the mound. Miller has established himself as one of the best closers in the game thanks to his 100+MPH heat.

Christian Walker would lead off the 9th and be hit by a 101.6 MPH fastball on the hand. He would stay in the game, and then advance to 2nd on a wild pitch. Daulton Varsho grounded out, advancing Walker to 3rd with 1 out. Cam Smith would go down looking at a slider for the second out.

Yainer Diaz then poked a single to left to score Walker to close the gap to 3-2. LaMonte Wade Jr. would then pinch hit for Jake Meyers, but he would ground to 3rd to end the game.

News & Notes:

Cristian Javier will get the start Sunday for the Astros in the series finale.

Yordan Alvarez entered play today leading MLB in AVG and HR. He leads the AL in RBI. No player has led MLB in all 3 categories since Mickey Mantle in 1956.

According to reports, the Astros are seeking a right handed outfield bat. Austin Hays, Rob Refsnyder and Jorge Soler are considered candidates, according to Chandler Rome.

Mike Burrows threw 55 pitches in three innings at the Astros complex today. He is scheduled to make a rehab start for Triple-A Sugar Land next week according to Rome.

The Texas Rangers scored five runs while the Baltimore Orioles scored one run.

If you enjoyed last night’s win for the Rangers over the Orioles, the teams were ready tonight to pretty much put on an encore performance before Corey Seager brought the house down.

The Orioles got their run on one of those patented first inning solo home runs that Jacob deGrom has decided to make his signature move in 2026. I don’t know if you know this but when a team trails in a baseball game, their chances of winning goes down.

The Rangers had more trouble in the first inning over the season’s first few months than they have had of late, but being down early was both familiar and usually a bad omen.

But like last night, after trailing 1-0, the Rangers were next to score when in the bottom of the second they plated a couple on ground balls to shortstop where Texas essentially stole a few runs by being aggressive versus the arm and defensive acumen of Gunnar Henderson.

Sloppy defense allowed Ezequiel Duran to reach third base on an errant pickoff attempt following a single and then Duran scored on a fielder’s choice ground ball off the bat of Evan Carter where Henderson couldn’t gun down Duran despite the infield being drawn in.

Carter took second base on a Kyle Bradish wild pitch and then scored on a weakly hit grounder off the bat of Jake Burger that Bradish attempted to take a stab at barehanded which potentially made Henderson unable to field it. Though the ball squirted away from Henderson by only few feet, Carter just kept running and scored on the throw giving Texas a couple of runs on a couple of fairly routine ground balls.

Meanwhile, deGrom settled in after the first inning home run and ended up tossing five innings with just the one run allowed on three hits and a walk. deGrom struck out nine and left after throwing 88 pitches.

The Rangers likely would have preferred it if deGrom had lasted another inning or two after Jacob Latz pitched two innings last night, but Peyton Gray and Chase Silseth followed deGrom and combined to throw three shutout innings.

It seemed as though Gray and Silseth had saved Latz from another extended outing but he wasn’t needed at all as Corey Seager hit a two-out, three-run blast in the bottom of the eighth for all the insurance that Texas could need.

Cal Quantrill got the ninth instead and the Rangers closed things out with a win to push them back above .500. Also, the Houston Astros lost so the Rangers are only a half game back in the American League West.

Player of the Game: The pitching was great. Austin Wynns had an impressive ten-pitch at-bat and two of Texas’ six hits. But…

Welcome back, Mr. World Series MVP.

Up Next: The Rangers close out this series eyeing a sweep with Kumar Rocker expected to make the start for Texas against LHP Cade Povich for Baltimore.

The Sunday afternoon first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 1:35 pm CDT and will be aired back on the Rangers Sports Network.

Box Score

Early on in this one, it looked like the Brewers might get blown out. Brewer starter Robert Gasser was teetering on the edge, while after a rough start the Twins’ Taj Bradley was locked in. But the Brewers scratched and clawed their way back into this one, and behind a big night from Brice Turang and a fantastic 4 1/3 innings from their bullpen, Milwaukee took a late lead and finished off a comeback victory.

After Austin Martin lined out to left on the first pitch of the game, Ryan Jeffers lined a ball down the right-field line, but a fortunate bounce went right to Jake Bauers who held him to a single. Gasser came back with a nice strikeout of Royce Lewis, but Josh Bell—who, based on the last two days, is the greatest baseball player of all time—battled from 0-2 and flicked a two-out single into left to put runners on the corners with two out. Gasser, though, got Kody Clemens to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

Turang then got the Brewers off to a good start by sending a fly ball bouncing off the wall in right field for a leadoff double. Jackson Chourio drew a five-pitch walk, and Bauers lined a single into right—Turang, who had to pause to ensure it wouldn’t be caught, moved up to third, and the first three Brewers were all on base.

Bradley got ahead of the next batter, William Contreras, 0-2, but a curveball got away and he hit Contreras to bring in the game’s first run. Garrett Mitchell was next, and he hit a soft line drive right back to Bradley who snagged it for the first out—fortunately all the Brewer baserunners retreated quickly to their bases to avoid a double play. Andrew Vaughn struck out and Christian Yelich grounded out up the middle, and the Brewers were only able to muster one run—on a hit-by-pitch—after loading the bases with nobody out.

After the letdown in the bottom of the first, Luke Keaschall came out and led off the second with a ground-rule double just beyond the reach of Mitchell in the right-field gap. Gasser got ahead of the next batter, Kaelen Culpepper, but hit him in the left knee with a 1-2 pitch to put two runners on with nobody out. Brooks Lee hit a ball that looked destined for a double and at least one run, but Chourio covered a ton of ground and made a falling catch going straight toward the left corner, a truly excellent catch for the first out.

One pitch later, Ryan Kreidler popped out to Vaughn for the second out, but Gasser was again bitten by questionable control when he hit Martin with an 0-1 slider. With the bases loaded, Gasser looked tentative as he fell behind Jeffers 2-0. He worked it back even but after a couple of foul balls on 2-2, Jeffers took two balls in off the plate to draw an RBI walk. Gasser continued to yank the fastball too far inside against Lewis, who took three balls before Gasser found the zone. On 3-1, Lewis hit one to nearly the same spot that Lee had, but just a little further out of Chourio’s reach and over his head. Two runs scored and Minnesota was up 3-1. Bell grounded out to end the inning, but Gasser was off to a rough start on a night when the Brewers really needed length.

Bradley then came out with an emphatic shutdown inning, as he struck out Cooper Pratt, Joey Ortiz, and Turang. Gasser got Clemens to ground out on the first pitch of the third, but as if the Twins weren’t getting enough hits when crushing the ball, Keaschall followed with a bloop single to left. Keaschall appeared to get picked off with Culpepper at the plate, but Gasser was called for a balk on the play and Keaschall was awarded second. Keaschall, though, got a bit greedy, tried to steal third on the next pitch, and was thrown out by Contreras on what was as perfect a throw as you will ever see. Culpepper walked on the next pitch, but Lee popped out to Turang and the Twins were held scoreless in the third.

Chourio and Bauers became Bradley’s fourth and fifth straight strikeout victims to start the bottom of the third, and a Contreras fly out meant another quick, ineffective inning. In the top of the fourth, it was surprising to see David Hamilton in the field at third base in place of Ortiz (Sophia Minnaert later reported that Ortiz was removed with neck tightness). Kreidler led off with a solid single, but Martin followed by bouncing into a double play, started nicely by Pratt who had to deal with a tricky hop. With two outs and the bases empty, Jeffers struck out, and Gasser had a badly needed three-batter inning.

Mitchell led off the bottom of the fourth by hitting a hard line drive (107 mph) to center, but it was right to Kreidler for the first out. Vaughn’s line drive a couple pitches later did find the outfield grass, and the Brewers finally ended Bradley’s streak of ten straight batters retired. Yelich was next, and he got jammed on a ground ball but the Twins, with a big shift on Yelich, weren’t able to get him on a close play at first base. Pratt had a really nice at-bat with some really nice takes, but on the eighth pitch he flew out to center for the second out. Hamilton, in his first plate appearance of the night, also saw eight pitches and drew a walk to load the bases for the top of the order.

After a visit from his pitching coach, Bradley threw a 99 mph fastball on the inside corner that Turang was ready for. The Brewer second baseman dropped it into right field for a two-out, two RBI single that tied the game at three. Chourio grounded out on the first pitch he saw, but the game was back even, and crucially Bradley, who cruised through ten batters after his shaky start, had to throw 30 pitches and was up to 84 through four innings.

It was now up to Gasser to keep the momentum on the Brewers’ side. Lewis started the inning by hitting an 0-2 changeup out of the zone for a groundball single up the middle. Bell followed with a flyout to center, but with Clemens at the plate Lewis stole second base to put a runner in scoring position with one out. Gasser struck out Clemens for the second out, and with the right-handed Keaschall coming up and Gasser at 94 pitches, Pat Murphy opted for Chad Patrick to finish the inning off. He did so with a fly ball to right, and the book was closed on Gasser, who struggled a bit but managed to limit the damage to three runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Bradley was back in form in the fifth and got Bauers, Contreras, and Mitchell in order. In the top of the sixth, a first-pitch sinker from Patrick got away and hit Culpepper up near the shoulder, the second time he was hit by a pitch in the game. Lee just missed a two-run homer when he hit one to the warning track in right, but Bauers tracked it down for the first out. Trevor Larnach came on as a pinch-hitter for Kreidler, but he popped out harmlessly for the second out, and Patrick was out of the inning when Martin also popped out.

Travis Adams relieved Bradley in the bottom of the sixth and struck out Vaughn, Yelich, and Pratt in order. The Brewers turned to Abner Uribe in the seventh for the heart of the Twins’ order; he got a groundout from Jeffers and struck out Lewis, though with two outs Bell battled for a fantastic nine-pitch walk. His work was for naught, though, as Clemens grounded out to end the inning.

New pitcher Kody Funderburk, a lefty, got things started in the bottom of the seventh with a strikeout of Hamilton. Turang picked up his third hit of the game with a one-out single to center, giving the Brewers a baserunner for the first time since they’d tied the game in the fourth inning. After Chourio struck out on a hittable 2-2 fastball, Turang stole second with Bauers up (aided by a poor throw from Jeffers) but it didn’t matter when a strikeout ended the inning.

Keaschall lost a challenge on Aaron Ashby’s first pitch of the game in the top of the eighth, and one pitch later he grounded out to short. Culpepper struck out on a very close called strike three (it was a strike, but barely), and Lee struck out swinging in what was an encouragingly dominant inning for Ashby.

Against righty Jeff Hoffman, Contreras snuck a shallow fly ball in between Clemens and Keaschall in shallow center field for a leadoff single in the bottom of the eighth, and he was replaced by pinch-runner Brandon Lockridge. With Mitchell at the plate, Lockridge immediately paid off that decision and stole second base to give the Brewers their best scoring opportunity in four innings. Mitchell made the first out without advancing the runner when he hit a fly ball to shallow center, but on the next pitch, Vaughn pounded a single through the right side of the infield and Lockridge raced home ahead of the throw from Martin. The Brewers took a 4-3 lead. Vaughn, who’d moved up to second on Martin’s throw home, advanced to third on a Yelich groundout, but was stranded there when Pratt struck out.

Trevor Megill had to settle for a one-run lead in the ninth, and the Brewers made some further defensive adjustments, putting Luis Lara in right field and moving Bauers into Vaughn’s place at first. Trevor Larnach gave the Brewers a big scare on Megill’s second pitch, when he got a hold of a hanging curveball, but he didn’t quite get it on the sweet spot and Lara caught it on the warning track. Megill needed only two more pitches—four in total—to get Alan Roden to pop out in foul territory and Jeffers to fly out to center.

It was far from pretty and the offense was still sputtering, but the Brewers pulled this one out, giving themselves a chance to win the series behind Jacob Misiorowski on Sunday (and, on a day when the Cubs lost, restored their division lead to 5.5 games). Turang was the clear offensive star tonight: he went 3-for-4 with a run and two RBI, which came on the huge two-out game-tying hit in the fourth, and the Brewers’ only hit with his leadoff double. Vaughn also had a big night and the clutch hit that ended up winning the game.

Gasser was far from his best, but he managed to keep the Brewers in the game after escaping his near-disastrous second inning and settling down a bit after that. The bullpen was excellent: Patrick, Uribe, Ashby (who picked up his 13th win), and Megill combined for 4 1/3 innings of hitless ball, allowing only two baserunners via a Uribe walk and Patrick’s HBP.

The series wraps up tomorrow with Miz on the mound against the Twins’ Connor Prielipp, a Tomah, Wisconsin native. We’ll be here at 1:10 p.m.

It took seven innings, but the Tigers ended up with a blowout and a shutout against the Giants with an 8-0 win on Saturday.

After dropping the first game in their series against the Giants, the Tigers were looking to pull even on Saturday evening. They would have the newly activated Jackson Jobe on the mound. Jobe hasn’t pitched in about 14 months, so the Tigers would likely have a short leash on him depending on how well he was doing, but it’s nice to see him back and healthy. The Giants were leaning on Landen Roupp to get the job done on their end.

The Tigers quickly went 1-2-3 to open the first. In the home half we got the best-case scenario for Jobe, as he also got a 1-2-3 inning.

In the second, Colt Keith got a one-out walk. Spencer Torkelson then singled. This was followed by a Max Clark single to load the bases with only one out. Unfortunately, despite the incredible opportunity to take an early lead, the next two batters were out in order leaving all three batters stranded. In the home half, Jobe had another three-up, three-down inning, but he owed a big thanks to Max Clark for the third out, with a stellar catch that sent Clark right into the outfield wall.

The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the third. In the bottom of the inning, Drew Cavanaugh got a one-out walk, making him the first Giants’ baserunner of the game. Jobe got the next two outs to get out of the jam.

With one out in the top of the fourth, Colt Keith walked. Two outs followed, though, and the Tigers once again left a baserunner stranded. In the home half, Willy Adames got a one-out single. Rafael Devers then hit into a double play to end the inning.

The fifth was another three-up, three-down inning for the Tigers. But Jobe returned the favor in the home half, getting the side out in order. That appeared to be the handshake inning for Jobe as he got back to the dugout, so his final line was 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K on 71 pitches. We knew he would likely only be in a short time, but sorry to see they didn’t give him another inning. He was doing really well. But better safe than sorry.

In the sixth Gleyber Torres and Dillon Dingler got back-to-back walks. Then with one out, Keith walked as well and that was all she wrote for Roupp, who was replaced by Keaton Winn. Spencer Torkelson then walked, driving in the first run of the game. Once again, though, the Tigers left the bases loaded to end the inning. At least this time they did get one run in. Tyler Holton was the new Tigers’ pitcher in the bottom of the inning, and he got the side out in order.

Trent Harris came in from the Giants’ bullpen to make his MLB debut in the seventh. He gave up a ground-rule double because the ball got stuck in the outfield fence, but McKinstry definitely thought it was an inside-the-park home run. Kevin McGonigle hit an RBI single, that got him to second because the outfielder threw home and McKinstry made his way around home for the second time in the inning.

A Torres groundout pushed McGonigle to third. Dingler then laced an RBI double right down the left field foul line.

And that was it for Harris. Not the dream debut he probably imagined, sadly. Reiver Sanmartin entered the game and gave up a single to Riley Greene, pushing Dingler to third. A pinch-hitting Eduardo Valencia doubled, bringing in two more runs.

The Tigers weren’t done yet, though, as Max Clark got a two-out triple to score Valencia. Baez then singled to score Clark. They really needed to thank some of the most sloppy fielding I’ve witnessed all season, but who cares how you score the runs at the end of the day. The Giants went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning.

Carson Seymour was the new pitcher in the eighth and he got the Tigers out in order. Ty Madden came in for the Tigers in the home half. With two outs, Eddys Leonard singled. The Giants left him stranded, though, with a final out to end the inning.

Riley Greene took a leadoff walk in the ninth and Ben Malgeri came in to run for him. A wild pitch advanced Malgeri to second, then Torkelson walked. Another wild pitch bumped Malgeri over to third. Max Clark then hit into a force out that should have been a double play, but the ball overthrew first and Clark was safe. Malgeri scored. Baez then singled. McKinstry walked and the bases were loaded. No additional runs scored, but the Tigers should have secured their lead. In the home half, the Giants were out in order to end the game and tie the series up at one game apiece.

Final: Tigers 8, Giants 0

Jac Caglianone was the first Royal to get 12 or more total bases in a game since Lorenzo Cain had his three-home run game against the Yankees on May 10, 2016 and the Royals won 6-3. It was also the first time a Royal had hit four extra-base hits in a game since Kendrys Morales’ three-home run, one triple game on September 20, 2015 against the Tigers. All four balls were hit at 104.9 MPH or harder; he had the two hardest-hit balls in the game on either team, both over 111 MPH. Funnily enough, only two were considered “barreled” having the wrong launch angle to be considered nearly perfectly hit. It didn’t matter.

Let’s talk about the pitching really quick so we can celebrate Jac’s terrific night some more. Seth Lugo’s control was much better tonight, he only walked 1 and struck out 5 while allowing 3 runs in 6 innings for a definitional quality start, his fourth out of his last five. John Schreiber got the seventh and worked around a pair of two-out walks to escape with what was then a one-run lead intact. He also struck out a pair. Steven Cruz got the eighth because it was the middle of the Cubs’ order and worked around a two-out double for a scoreless inning including a strikeout. Nate Pearson got his first opportunity at a save since joining the Royals and worked around a leadoff double to get the job done. He even struck out Pete Crow-Armstrong to finish things, his second of the inning.

Jac Caglianone got things started early and impressively, giving the Royals a first inning lead:

That was Jac’s longest home run so far this year at 448 feet. In the bottom of the second, Michael Massey led off with a single and John Rave walked to put runners at first and second with no outs. Nick Loftin sacrifice bunted, which is a ridiculous thing to do in the second inning, but it ended up paying off when Josh Rojas singled both runners home.

In the bottom of the third, Bobby Witt Jr. reached base on an infield single to Alex Bregman right before Jac Caglianone ripped a sweeper down into the right field corner for an RBI double. Clay Holmes finally had a scoreless fourth, but by then the Royals had thoroughly ruined is Cubs debut and Colin Rea came in to pitch the remainder of the game.

Jac Caglianone added a double off the top of the left field wall in the bottom of the fifth but couldn’t score. As noted, Lugo gave up three runs over the course of the game, so we entered the bottom of the seventh with the Royals clinging to a 4-3 lead despite an inning from the leaky bullpen. Carter Jensen got a leadoff walk and Jac Caglianone came through again.

The bullpen ultimately didn’t allow any runs, but it sure felt a lot better in the eighth and ninth with those insurance runs protecting the lead. Jac hit a sinker, a sweeper, a changeup, and a cutter in his four at-bats. Both his home runs were to center, the doubles were down either line. There were just absolutely no answers for the Cubs.

Let’s not ignore Bobby Witt Jr’s ridiculous defensive play in all the Jac hype, though:

When Bobby and Jac are both going good, you almost don’t need anyone else in the lineup. The wins and losses don’t matter at this point in the season, but wins are always more fun and watching the young studs do impressive things only makes it better.

The Royals will try to win the series tomorrow afternoon. Randy Dobnak (1.16 ERA, 5.16 SIERA) will face off against Matthew Boyd (3.49 ERA, 4.09 SIERA). The game, as ever, will be aired on Royals.TV. It would be pretty fun if the Royals could take 2 out of 3 from the Cubs after Chicago went hard into the deadline and the Royals seemed to sleep in.

John Flaherty is enjoying a second life that does not include much baseball. 

“Flash” had been a part of Yankees fans’ summers for decades, a catcher with the team from 2003-05 before trading in his mitt for a microphone and beginning a 20-year run as an analyst on YES Network. 

That run ended this year, Flaherty’s contract not renewed after the 2025 season. The network stuck with David Cone, Paul O’Neill and Joe Girardi as its three main analysts. 

“I wouldn’t say it was a surprise,” Flaherty said while wearing the pinstripes Saturday, when he was back in The Bronx for Old-Timers’ Day. “It was definitely something that I think I saw coming. 

“It’s been an adjustment.” 

An adjustment that took a little while to sink in. But once he accepted that he did not have a big league season to cover and could choose how he spent his time, “It was fantastic.” 

The 58-year-old Flaherty was drafted in 1988, debuted in 1992 and played in 14 major league seasons before transitioning immediately to TV work that completely occupied him during baseball season. 

“This is my first major league season in 38 years where I haven’t been part of a schedule, so it’s been great,” said Flaherty, who had just returned from a trip to Italy. 

No, he is not watching baseball every day, even if he will check in on scores every once in a while. Flaherty, who grew up in West Nyack, did not rule out a return to a studio or booth one day if an opportunity arises, but he called having a summer to himself “pretty nice.” 

“You don’t think about it while you’re in the grind,” said Flaherty, who added he is consistently honored to be a part of Old-Timers’ Day and pal around with legends and former teammates. 

“It was a great run at YES,” Flaherty said, “but I’m enjoying this next chapter.”

Giancarlo Stanton is progressing and “doing quite well,” according to manager Aaron Boone, who hinted but did not state that Stanton has reached a significant stage of his rehab. 

Stanton, who jogged in the outfield Friday as he builds up following a pair of calf strains, has “started the introduction to some bases,” Boone said Saturday. 

Running the bases is often the final hurdle to clear before a rehab assignment (or simply an activation, if Stanton holds form and skips time in the minor leagues). Stanton had been running the bases in June, when he was nearing a return from the original calf strain and suffered another. 

Asked to clarify whether Stanton had run the bases, Boone reiterated that he “introed it in a light way [Friday].” 

Boone has been consistently vague regarding developments concerning Stanton (and Aaron Judge) and did not want to shed further light on Stanton’s status. 

“He’ll be there when we get him there,” Boone said before the 5-4 win over the Braves in The Bronx. 

Stanton has been sidelined since April 24 for an injury that no one imagined would cost at least 3 ¹/₂ months. 

Asked if Stanton is closer to returning in a week or in a month, Boone said, “I don’t know.” 

“I’m not going to get in the predicting game of it,” Boone added of Stanton, who faced live pitching for the first time this week since suffering the second calf strain. “We expect him back, and I would say he’s doing quite well, but ‘at what percent [he is running],’ they’ll tell me when it’s time.” 

Gerrit Cole (seven innings, two runs on six hits with no walks and nine strikeouts) was excellent and consistently around the zone, 60 of his 82 pitches going for strikes. For his uptick, he credited better fastball command. 

In the only inning that he struggled, he also showed resilience. To begin the fifth, Mauricio Dubón (double), Mike Yastrzemski (double), Austin Riley (single) and Jim Jarvis (single) rapped off four consecutive hits that plated a pair of runs and gave the Braves a narrow and brief lead. 

But with a pair of runners on base and the game perhaps in the balance, Cole used a biting slider to strike out Drake Baldwin, got Ronald Acuña Jr. to fly out and then needed just three pitches — the third a 98.8 mph fastball — to strike out Matt Olson, whom Cole has owned in his career. That strikeout was the 1,000th of Cole’s Yankees tenure. 

“It was really cool to do it today,” Cole said of 1,000. “Today [being Old-Timers’ Day], plus the win, at home — it’s kind of how you draw it up, I guess. 

“When I think about it, I just feel really blessed.” 

Despite a lefty in Chris Sale on the mound for Atlanta and a righty in Grant Holmes expected to start Sunday, Boone started Austin Wells, who went 1-for-2 with a double, against the southpaw. 

“I like him with Gerrit,” Boone said of Wells, who entered having caught Cole 10 times this season, Cole sporting a 2.88 ERA in those games. 

In the lone game Ali Sánchez caught Cole, Cole allowed five earned runs in 4 ¹/₃ innings. 

In his first rehab start with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Carlos Rodón allowed three runs on three hits and two walks while striking out four in 2 ²/₃ innings. He threw 48 pitches (29 strikes). 

The lefty, recovering from elbow inflammation, is expected to only need one or two outings in the minors before he is activated.

Robert Stock could not duplicate his impressive first start, allowing eight runs as the Mets dropped the second game of their series with the Pirates, 9-0, on Saturday night in Pittsburgh.

The loss snapped the Mets' four-game winning streak.

Here are the takeaways...

-Stock immediately pitched into trouble in the first inning. A double, an infield single, which would have been a forceout if Bo Bichette covered third when Francisco Lindor picked it in the hole, and a hit batsman had the Pirates in business with the bases loaded and one out. Stock got Nick Gonzales to hit a dribbler down the first base line, but the groundout pushed across the game's first run. Ronny Simon followed up by hitting an opposite-field double just fair down the left field line to score two more.

Stock would avoid another big inning -- allowing one run in the third -- but pitched into trouble again in the fourth. The Pirates pushed across another run after back-to-back hits to start the inning. Stock then walked back-to-back hitters to load the bases with no outs. Stock then threw a wild pitch way out of the zone, allowing the Pirates to get another run. 

A walk and a double plated two more, knocking Stock out of the game.

After tossing 70 pitches in five one-run innings in his last start, Stock tossed 80 pitches (52 strikes) in three-plus innings. He allowed eight runs on nine hits and five walks while striking out four. 

-On the other side, Bubba Chandler was the opposite of Stock, pitching six scoreless innings. He allowed three hits and one walk while striking out five batters. He lowered his ERA to 4.26.

Mets hitters mustered just three hits, all singles (Francisco Lindor, Luis Robert Jr., Francisco Alvarez). 

-With the Mets down eight runs in the fourth, interim manager Andy Green decided to take Lindor and Bo Bichette out of the game. Brett Baty, starting in right field, moved to third while newly acquired infielder Gabriel Arias came in to play shortstop. Cristian Pache came in to play right field. 

-Xzavion Curry came out in relief of Stock and pitched three scoreless innings, allowing a hit and four walks while striking out four. 

Catcher Luis Torrens was arguably the Mets' best pitcher on this night. He allowed a solo homer to Brandon Lowe to lead off the seventh, but then allowed one more hit in his two innings of work. 

Game MVP: Bubba Chandler

Chandler didn't need much, but he shut down the Mets.

What's next

The Mets and Pirates complete their three-game series on Sunday afternoon, with first pitch set for 1:35 p.m.

Sean Manaea (3-5, 4.33 ERA) will take the mound against Jared Jones (2-3, 4.02 ERA). 

With “OZZIE 13” spelled out across the pinwheels in center field, the number “13” shaded into the infield dirt right at the shortstop position, and chairs in front of the White Sox dugout down the third base line, the stage was set for Ozzie Guillén’s number retirement ceremony.

Chuck Garfien opened the ceremony, welcoming former teammates and players managed under Ozzie to grab the remaining open chairs while saving the final introduction for Ozzie and his wife, Ibis Cárdenas.

From a sold-out stadium filled with Sox fans in the stands to Sox legends loitering the field to active players in the dugout watching on, it wasn’t all White Sox taking in the ceremony:

A highlight reel played on the center field scoreboard, detailing Ozzie’s best moments as a player and a manager, including a nice montage of the, let’s just say, fiery passion, we all loved to see from Ozzie.

A.J. Pierzynski and Paul Konerko took the microphone, sharing stories and reminiscing about their 2005 World Championship season.

Following their anecdotes, it was the man of the hour’s time to shine on the podium.

Following his speech, Chuck Garfien, with the help of Harold Baines and on behalf of the Chicago White Sox, presented a painting of Ozzie and two plane tickets from Chicago to Tokyo.

Finally, introduced by Gene Honda, the No. 13 Guillén was unveiled, fitting perfectly between No. 11 Aparicio and No. 14 Konerko. A tearful Ozzie did the sign of the cross and moved in a slow circle, waving to every fan in the stands.

Jerry Reinsdorf, in his statement reflecting on No. 13, said “from the moment he joined this organization in Spring Training 1985, Ozzie Guillén has been one of a kind.”

From his playing career to his managing career to being a pregame and postgame analyst, when White Sox fans old and new think of the White Sox, they inevitably think of Ozzie Guillén.

If you missed it, here are Ozzie’s full remarks to fans:

Mad Max rolled right past the Big Train on Major League Baseball's all-time strikeout list. 

Scherzer recorded his 3,516th career strikeout Saturday, Aug. 8, punching out former teammate and Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber to move into 10th place all-time. 

Strikeout No. 3,516 for Max Scherzer!

He passes Walter Johnson for 10th place on the all-time Ks leaderboard 👏 pic.twitter.com/BpBRP4U4c2

— MLB (@MLB) August 8, 2026

Scherzer, 42, was making just his ninth start this season thanks to a pair of stints on the injured list. He has recorded one 300-strikeout season, in 2018 with Washington, eight 200-strikeout seasons and twice has led the major leagues in strikeouts over his 19-year career. 

Johnson, who debuted as a 19-year-old in 1907, won 417 games over a 21-year career and still leads all major leaguers with 110 career shutouts. 

Max Scherzer is now TENTH all-time in strikeouts 🙌 https://t.co/48syfVxxUMpic.twitter.com/jyuiAcy3VZ

— MLB (@MLB) August 8, 2026

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Max Scherzer passes Walter Johnson for 10th place on all-time strikeouts list

Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Dodgers look to snap their seven-game losing streak against Brandon Pfaadt and the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday.

SATURDAY GAME INFO

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks
• Stadium: Chase Field
• Time: 5:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 (Spanish)

The Red Sox are 27-4 in their last 31 games. It’s the most remarkable stretch of regular season baseball I’ve ever had the privilege to witness. So believe me when I say that I do not want to be the person talking about cyclosporiasis at the barbecue. But in light of the fact that that’s kind of my job, I do have to say: if the good times are going to end, today’s game was offered a template of how it’s going to happen.

Jake Bennett has been a huge (and completely unexpected) part of this unfathomable stretch of baseball. But he’s a relatively unheralded rookie who, just today, set a new professional career high in innings pitched. He was by no means horrible, but he didn’t have his best stuff and couldn’t make it through six innings, leaving the game as the Sox found themselves in a one-run deficit.

Justin Slaten, who replaced him, was actually one of the more well-rested arms in an otherwise depleted bullpen. But “well-rested” in this case just meant that he didn’t pitch yesterday, having thrown 17 pitches the day before. He immediately walked a hitter and allowed a double, giving the A’s a three-run lead. This, essentially, was the ballgame. The Red Sox offense, which has been magic for most of the past six weeks and was again in the first inning today, scoring two runs on the strength of three stolen bases, suddenly reverted t0 pre-streak form, stranding runners on second base in both the fourth and fifth innings and otherwise barely even threatening to wake up.

This run has been amazing and magical and will never be forgotten. Dave O’Brien absolutely nailed it when he thanked the surging Sox for saving the summer. But the bill is coming due and it’s going to paid in the currency of arms. There’s only one question that matters for the Red Sox for the rest of the regular season: can this pitching staff hang on? Today, it didn’t.

Studs

Raymond Burgos: When the hell was the last time a pitcher threw three or more innings in consecutive days? Burgos did it for the Sox this afternoon, and, thus, saved the rest of the bullpen to throw another day. He’s not long for the big league roster, but let us not forget his contribution this afternoon.

Jahmai Jones: Three hits, two doubles two runs, and two stolen bases from a guy who was DFA’d by another team a few weeks ago. This is what it means to be in the midst of a special season.

Nick Sogard: Jones wasn’t the only guy to secure two two-baggers. Take your flowers, Nick.

Duds

Jarren Duran: 0-4 with 3 Ks. So much for the “Duran might be turning things around” talk that’s been going around.

Eli White: Not the best first start he could have imagined, going 0-4 with 2 Ks.

Jake Bennett: I’m not at all mad at Jake Bennett, please don’t put in the paper that I’m mad at Jake Bennett. He’s already done more than enough for the 2026 Red Sox. He just didn’t have it today.