ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves acquired outfielder Lane Thomas and minor league left-hander Bailey Falter from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for two minor league pitchers on Saturday.
Thomas, 30, is slashing .230/.325/.392 in 96 games with the Royals this year. He has played mostly center field in Kansas City, but will move over to left field in Atlanta and likely platoon with Mike Yastrzemski. Thomas is a career .288 hitter against left-handed pitching.
“The plan is not the exact same role he had in Kansas City, where he was playing every day in center,” Braves President of Baseball Operations Alex Anthopoulos said. “His strength is hitting left-handers. Great in the clubhouse, and just excited to add him and make our team stronger.”
Thomas’ best season came in 2023 with Washington when he had 28 home runs and 86 RBIs. He will join the Braves on Tuesday for the first of a three-game series against Miami.
Falter will report to Triple-A Gwinnett, according to Anthopoulos. He has spent the majority of this season with Triple-A Omaha, pitching just 9 2/3 innings with the Royals.
The Braves sent RHP Lucas Braun and LHP Carter Holton to the Royals. Braun was a 2023 sixth-round draft pick by the Braves and reached Triple-A Gwinnett, where he was 5-2 with a 3.92 ERA this season. Holton was a 2024 second-rounder who made six starts for Single-A Augusta this season.
On the move: Pitcher Luis Castillo is heading to the South Side. | Photo by Nicole Vasquez/MLB Photos via Getty Images
On Saturday evening, Jeff Passan broke the news that the White Sox (58-52) have acquired starting pitcher Luis Castillo from the Mariners (54-58). In exchange, Seattle received reliever Seranthony Domínguez, Triple-A outfielder Nolan Jones and Double-A catcher Boston Smith.
Castillo, 33, is set to join the starting rotation on the South Side. In 2026, Castillo has posted a 5.06 ERA and a 4.57 FIP in 99 2/3 innings. It has been a down year for Castillo, who has only accumulated 0.6 fWAR this season, and a staggeringly bad -0.7 bWAR. Overall, Castillo has put together an impressive career, posting a 3.65 ERA, a 3.78 FIP, and 27.0 fWAR across 10 seasons. The righthander is a three-time All-Star who finished fifth in the American League Cy Young race in 2023.
Castillo’s numbers have declined significantly since last year (3.54 ERA, 3.88 FIP, 2.6 fWAR in 180 2/3 innings). This decline is noticeable, and the White Sox are aware that they are not acquiring the type of player that Castillo previously was. Castillo’s fastball still has plenty of legs (95.3 mph on average, 64th percentile, slightly up from 2025). However, the effectiveness of his breaking balls has declined sharply. Castillo’s primary breaking ball and his second-most common pitch is his slider, which held opposing hitters to a measly .271 wOBA in 2025. By contrast, in 2026, batters have a .352 wOBA against it, a sizable increase. Repairing that slider is probably task No. 1 with regard to getting Castillo closer to his 2017-25 self.
Castillo is being paid $24.15 million in 2026, and he is under team control through 2027, when he will earn the same salary. Most likely, Castillo will become a free agent at the end of the 2027 season. If Castillo pitches 180 innings in 2027, an option for 2028 will vest, and he will earn $25 million, but the White Sox would likely steer away from allowing that option to vest.
Domínguez, 31, is the only active major leaguer going to the Mariners in this trade. Domínguez has posted a 3.99 ERA and a 4.64 FIP in 38 1/3 innings as a reliever on the South Side this year. Prior to this season, the White Sox signed him to a two-year, $20 million contract. Entering the season, Domínguez was expected to be the team’s closer, or at least a high-leverage reliever, but he has not lived up to those expectations.
Jones, 28, has posted a .247/.336/.396 (95 wRC+) slash line with 2.7 fWAR across four MLB seasons. Despite signing a $2 million contract before the season, Jones has played all of 2026 in Triple-A, where his slash line has been .257/.362/.445 (107 wRC+). Jones was quite good in 2023, when he accumulated an impressive total of 3.8 fWAR, but beyond that he has not accomplished much worth speaking of at the MLB level.
Smith, 23, is a potentially spicy prospect who has been tearing it up this season. On paper, Smith is the hardest piece to lose among the players leaving the White Sox organization. Across 78 games (eight with Single-A Kannapolis, 48 with High-A Winston-Salem, and 22 with Double-A Birmingham), Smith has slashed .291/.448/.589, as pitchers have not had many answers for him. The White Sox have had trouble at the catcher position all season, and Smith is a backstop who has been raking left and right. Prior to the trade, Smith had earned the No. 15 spot on MLB Pipeline’s White Sox prospect rankings. The White Sox traded Curtis Mead for Smith in March, and Smith was hardly on anyone’s radar at that point. However, given his timeline, he was very unlikely to contribute in the majors this season.
Ultimately, Domínguez did not lock down a primary setup or closer role in the White Sox bullpen, and Jones is not looking like a long-term solution in the majors. As a result, this trade boils down to an exchange of a potentially spicy prospect in Smith for a veteran pitcher slightly past his prime who carries a sizable contract through 2027. If Castillo’s numbers get closer to how they were from 2017-25, this trade will be perfectly fine. The key issue is whether Castillo still has enough baseball left to be a significant piece of a playoff contender.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 01: Ceddanne Rafaela #3 of the Boston Red Sox reacts after hitting a solo home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning at Dodger Stadium on August 01, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Recap
On the third pitch of the game, Ceddanne Rafaela homered and the Sox were off and running. Yippee! 1-0.
Then in the second, Payton Tolle gave up a homer that scored two. Ouch! He then proceeded to load the bases. Yikes! It was a nerve-wracking inning, though a ball that would have likely scored two runs ended up landing just foul, bouncing right over the line in front of Wilyer Abreu. The old July luck was clearly still with the Sox because Tolle managed to get out of the inning with only those two early runs. It felt like an August miracle. Dodgers 2-1.
Rafaela repeated with another homer to left field in the third inning, tying it up, 2-2.
Although Tolle struggled early, he settled down after that rough second inning, at one point striking out four in a row across the fourth and fifth innings. He finished with 9 H, 2 ER, 2 BB and 7K, not his best game by any means, but pretty darn impressive anyway, with how he turned things around. It looked like it would be a short outing, but he ground it out, didn’t have any further issues, and turned it over to the bullpen after six full innings. The bullpen was spot-on, giving the offense (other than Rafaela) a chance to show up.
By the bottom of the sixth inning, the Dodgers had out-hit the Sox 9-2. The Sox held there until a ground-rule double by Andruw Monasterio in the eighth. He was followed by Jarren Duran who bunted to put men on the corners. Connor Wong then grounded into a double play – but the good kind, the kind that allows the runner to score from third. Hooray for small ball! Sox took the lead 3-2.
It held there as the Sox won their eighth consecutive series. Everybody showed up. Great win.
Studs
Ceddanne Rafaela
Two carbon-copy home runs early? Nuff ‘Cedd.
Defense
With special mention to Wilyer Abreu, who was particularly busy in right field. His night was highlighted by two put-outs at second when the runners either overlooked or challenged his arm.
The defense was tight and smooth, with two sweet double plays. Connor Wong had a successful ABS challenge that resulted in a ninth-inning strikeout of the dangerous Max Muncy. Everyone was on point.
Bullpen
You couldn’t ask for more. Justin Slaten got the Dodgers 1-2-3 in the seventh, on just 8 pitches. He continues his run of excellence. Tyron Guerrero pitched an inning and did his job, giving up just one hit. Aroldis Chapman came on for the save and it was glorious.
Duds? Not really.
Masataka Yoshida didn’t have a hit, and as DH, he wasn’t involved in any defensive magic (as some other hitless players were). But my complaints are few; these things happen.
Play of the Game
Should it be Rafaela’s first or second homer? Take your pick, I’ll go with #2. Two beautiful swings and a typically smiley post-game interview. Love it.
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - JULY 28: Josh Rojas #40 of the Kansas City Royals slides into third base on a single by teammate Lane Thomas #15 in the sixth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field on July 28, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins defeated the Royals 3-2. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Well the Braves made their first of likely a handful of notable trades this trade deadline, trading two fringey pitching prospects for Lane Thomas and Bailey Falter from the Royals. Thomas will fit the role of a platoon outfielder and pinch hitter who can hit lefty pitching well and be a plus baserunner as needed. He should have a fairly concrete, if limited role. Falter is a more interesting case, as he has at times been a serviceable fifth starter at the major league level. What makes Falter so interesting to me is that he has what should be a really premium fastball, even sitting in the low 90s, with over 18 inches of induced vertical break and 97th percentile extension coming from the left side. The problem for him has been that he hasn’t been able to develop a remotely respectable second pitch, let alone a third or fourth pitch. That said, that fastball is one heck of a starting point and is the type of pitch that could make him an interesting option out of the bullpen very easily, especially if the Braves can work with him to find any sort of second pitch that can work at the major league level.
It’s over. The Dodgers just stole it all again, three months early but right on time, their third consecutive championship cemented when they traded for the Detroit Tigers’ Tarik Skubal, the two-time defending American League Cy Young Award winner and quite simply the best pitcher in baseball.
Everybody wanted him. The Dodgers were the only team with enough assets to get him. Of course they were. They always are.
And in return, they surely will win a third consecutive championship against a withering and overmatched group of pretenders that could add Skubal only in their dreams.
He cost the Dodgers top prospects Zyhir Hope, River Ryan and Brady Smith. So? The Dodgers have tons of them.
He could be a free agent this winter and may cost $400 million to retain. So? The Dodgers have that much in their couch cushions.
The Dodgers’ injury-scarred rotation needed a stud starting pitcher like Skubal and, as this column noted last month, there was no excuse for baseball’s wealthiest and smartest team not to grab him.
So the Dodgers grabbed him. Of course they did. They are rushing full bore toward that three-peat and, to the delight of the most appreciative fans in baseball, nothing is going to get in their way.
The rest of baseball will hate them for this. They don’t care. Critics will say this is yet another example of how they are ruining the game. They could give a rip.
A move like this — the insanely rich getting insanely richer — could be cited this winter as a reason for the game shutting down over a labor dispute. Not their problem.
With a sore Shohei Ohtani looking increasingly doubtful for a meaningful October on the mound, with Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow still sidelined because of injuries, Skubal can slide into the No. 2 spot in a rotation that, if everyone gets healthy, could wind up being the best in baseball history.
Tarik Skubal was a two-time Cy Young winner for the Detroit Tigers. (Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
There are still questions, even for a team that has all the answers.
Skubal is a tremendous postseason pitcher, with a 2.04 ERA in six starts, but will his surgically repaired left elbow survive through his third postseason?
After pushing 200 innings the last two seasons, he underwent a newfangled minimally invasive procedure on May 6 to remove a loose body from his elbow. Recovery time for a similar surgery performed the old-fashioned way is two to three months, but he was back on the mound in a game just a month later.
Will this new operation hold up? Time will tell, but the Dodgers will be holding their breath.
After Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Skubal, the Dodgers have another potentially big question. What do they do about Ohtani?
He’s got a balky knee, and now a painful biceps, and the Dodgers have kept him off the mound for a moment, but what happens in October?
By acquiring Skubal, the Dodgers can afford to pull Ohtani out of the rotation altogether and allow him to focus on hitting, which has taken a bit of a hit with the pitching issues. But would he accept such a move, which might feel like a demotion? Ohtani always has put winning first, but he also began the season openly acknowledging his quest for a Cy Young Award. So there’s that.
Rounding out the rotation, the Dodgers still will need some good fortune to round out the rotation.
Tarik Skubal returned to the mound in June after surgery to address an elbow issue. (Jason Miller / Getty Images)
They say Snell and Glasnow are both on the verge of returning from what has essentially been season-long injuries. But they’ll both be 33 in October, so believe only what you see.
Roki Sasaki has been tremendous since the All-Star break — that new glove has been a giant success — but he’s still never started a postseason game. And for all his surprise greatness this summer, Justin Wrobleski also has yet to start a postseason game.
It all could get interesting. But it shouldn’t be suspenseful.
Skubal solves all mysteries. Skubal ends all arguments. Skubal saves the summer.
The Dodgers are the most championship-driven and fan-devoted team in all of sports. They will do whatever it takes, however it takes, whenever it takes, to win.
DENVER, COLORADO - AUGUST 1: Hunter Goodman #15 of the Colorado Rockies celebrates with Kyle Karros #12 and TJ Rumfield #7 after his three-run home run in the third inning against the Kansas City Royals at Coors Field on August 1, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Colorado Rockies snagged victory number 43 on Friday night with a 3-1 win over the Kansas City Royals, already matching their win total from the entirety of the 2025 season. As he’s done time and again, Tomoyuki Sugano (菅野 智之) pitched a gem and stymied the opposing team to kick off a series.
That performance set the stage for the Rockies and starter Ryan Feltner to start the month of August by locking up a series win. On Colorado Day, the team did just that and helped celebrate the state’s 150th birthday with a dozen runs scored in front of the home crowd.
“Welcome to Colorful Colorado”
Unfortunately, it was an unwelcome start for the Rockies through the early innings.
On a sunny Saturday night at Coors Field, Feltner was a little shaky out of the gate. As he has in recent games, the right-hander struggled with his command, sailing several balls well outside of the zone. He walked leadoff hitter Carter Jensen on five pitches, including a couple of very ugly sliders that slipped way down low. Feltner then fell to a 3-2 count against then-cernter fielder Lane Thomas, featuring a pair of fastballs high above the zone, before giving up a single.
With two on and no outs, hard-hitter Jac Caglianone stepped to the plate. Cole Carrigg, making his first MLB start at shortstop, helped the cause by turning a double play on a grounder up the middle. Feltner and the Rockies were able to work out of the jam unscathed.
The Rockies weren’t able to get out ahead after capitalizing, going down in order in both the first and second innings.
The Royals, on the other hand, struck first in the top of the second and piled on in the third. Isaac Collins tripled to start the second inning and was brought home after Michael Massey got under a Feltner changeup for a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead.
In the third, Tyler Tolbert started Kansas City off with a double. That hard-hitting Caglianone mentioned earlier? He did just that, blasting his 18th homer of the year with two outs on the board. Salvador Perez stayed on Feltner with a homer of his own to make things 4-0.
Kansas City wouldn’t be the only side scoring in the third inning. The Rockies stormed back in a big way.
Royals starter Luinder Avila had kept the Rockies hitless through the first two innings. Things turned quickly and he was chased before the inning came to a close as the Rockies batted around the order.
Willi Castro got the party started by drawing a walk, followed by a Tyler Freeman single. A mound visit couldn’t settle Avila down. He lost his command and walked Brenton Doyle on five pitches to load the bases. After a Jake McCarthy strikeout, Kyle Karros doubled to cut Kansas City’s lead in half at 4-2.
TJ Rumfield then singled to keep the scoring going. With Rumfield and Karros on, who else but Hunter Goodman hit a bomb to left field to give the Rockies their first lead of the night at 6-4. Goodman donned the purple jacket for his 32nd dinger of the year. With that, he broke his own franchise record for home runs by a catcher (31 in 2025).
Avila stayed in to get the second out before walking Carrigg. His day came to a quick and merciful end there. He finished with 2.2 innings pitched, giving up those six earned runs on four hits with three walks to two strikeouts. Easton McGee entered and gave up a single to Castro (oh hey again!) to put runners on first and third, before getting a fly out to escape the inning.
Flying away like a Lark Bunting
Like the state bird of Colorado, a few Royals players flew away from the game and the Rockies continued to fly away with the lead in the middle innings.
It was a tumultuous stretch for the Kansas City. The third inning saw a pitching change after a quick collapse. The fourth saw a roster change after one of those wonky mid-game trades.
Thomas, who started in center and singled in the first, was pulled from the game and made his rounds in the dugout giving hugs and handshakes to his teammates. It was later confirmed that Thomas was dealt to the Atlanta Braves.
The Rockies continued to extend the lead, one run at a time. In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Rockies were able to get more traffic on the basepaths. A McCarthy double followed by a Rumfield single added another run. Then, in the fifth, Castro knocked a solo shot out to the Rocky Mountain forestry by the bullpens to make it an 8-4 game.
Feltner finished his day after working through the sixth. Despite his early struggles, he found a way to bounce back and settle in through the rest of the game, along with some much-needed run support from the offense. He allowed additional runners in scoring position but kept them from crossing home.
Feltner primarily used his four-seam fastball (30%), slider (21%), and changeup (20%). After the game, Feltner pointed to his comfort with the changeup growing as the game went on, helping him through big moments. As was the case last start, he didn’t generate any whiffs with his four-seamer (zero whiffs on 12 swings), but the pitch carried him through his second and third trips through the order. His day ended after six innings pitched, giving up eight hits and four runs with three strikeouts and a walk.
The vibes are (Rocky Mountain) High
Everything was coming up Rockies the rest of the way through.
The bullpen contributed a pair of clean innings, with Victor Vodnik giving up no runs on a hit with a strikeout in the seventh and Juan Mejia posting the same line in the eighth. The Rockies made defensive adjustments as well, bringing Ezequiel Tovar into the game at shortstop and moving Carrigg out to right field.
Goodman wasn’t done, blasting another dinger to left field in the seventh inning for his sixth multi-homer game of the season for a 9-4 Rockies lead.
Lucas Erceg entered in relief for the Royals in the eighth inning and found himself in trouble. Erceg had given up runs in four of his last five appearances and that trend continued. RBI from Rumfield, Goodman (again), and Moniak extended the lead to 12-4.
Jimmy Herget entered to close out the game but couldn’t put the Royals down quietly. He gave up a home run to John Rave, the first batter he faced, on a sweeper up in the zone. Herget then gave up a triple to Jensen who scored next on a groundout from Starling Marte. Luckily, an eight-run cushion gave Herget some wiggle room and the Rockies closed things out for a 12-6 win.
Hey Siri, play “Rocky Mountain Way”
As is customary to hear blaring over the Coors Field speakers to conclude a home win, Joe Walsh’s “Rocky Mountain Way” caps off a night where lots went right.
The Rockies offense exploded tonight, with key contributions across the batting order. Eight Rockies logged hits, including five players with a multi-hit game (McCarthy, Karros, Rumfield, Goodman, and Castro). Of note, Goodman went 4-for-5 with five RBI and two runs scored on his two homers. Rumfield went 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs, and Karros chipped in with two RBI of his own.
Skipper Warren Schaeffer gave a nod to Goodman’s bounce back after a small hitting slump: “He’s just such a good hitter. When he stays within himself and is confident, he’s just tough to beat.”
On Castro, Schaeffer pointed to his versatility and strong plate presence: “Willi’s a huge part of our team. His at-bats have been good. Another big homer tonight. He’s been great, not just hitting homers, but moving the line, taking his walks, playing good defense for us everywhere on the diamond.”
The Royals finished their night going 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position, compared to 6-for-15 for Colorado. The Rockies were able to cash in on their chances and extend a big lead. That cushion helped Feltner settle in and battle back for a win. Schaeffer noted that he thought Feltner “showed a ton of guts tonight. Early in the game, he got hit pretty hard. He could’ve folded, but he didn’t. He gave us six strong innings and got the win. You can go one of two ways there and he chose to keep going.”
Despite a rocky start, the Rockies came together on all sides of the ball for a fantastic team win — number 44 on the season.
Up Next
The Rockies and Royals finish out their three-game series with a Sunday afternoon matchup before the Tampa Bay Rays come to Coors Field to close out the homestand.
Southpaw Kyle Freeland will take the mound for Colorado, bringing a 2-10 record and a 7.34 ERA into the contest across his 19 starts. Kansas City is set to start right-hander Seth Lugo, entering with a 4-6 record and a 4.22 ERA across 22 starts.
The Yankees missed out on trade target LHP Tarik Skubal after the Detroit Tigers sent him to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night, per multiple reports.
Skubal could've provide a significant boost for New York’s starting staff that's been without top arms Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, and Carlos Rodon at different points this season. Instead, the 29-year-old is on his way to the Dodgers who were viewed as the frontrunners to land the ace.
The lefty missed a couple of months with an injury of his own earlier this year, but has quickly settled back in as one of the more reliable arms in the game since returning.
Skubal is coming off back-to-back American League Cy Young winning campaigns in which he finished with an ERA under 2.40 and struck out 225+ batters across 31 starts each year. He's set to become a free agent at the end of this year.
Right up until the trade, the Yankees were seriously involved in trade talks with Detroit even as they heard the Tigers’ initial price which involved two major leaguers, including a current starting pitcher, and two minor leaguers.
In return, the Tigers are receiving prospects outfielder Zyhir Hope and right-handers River Ryan and Brady Smith from the Dodgers.
Braden Holcomb blasted a 461 foot bomb in his first professional at-bat, after being drafted last month. | (David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Nashville Sounds 6, Charlotte Knights 3 Lefthander Tyler Gilbert allowed five runs in the bottom of the first, and the Knights (58-49) couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole, falling to the Sounds (58-49), 6-3. Gilbert loaded the bases up after four batters and things snowballed from there. The bats chipped away and drove in two to answer back in the second thanks to a Riley Unroe two-run bomb, and were then silent until Unroe blasted his second homer of the night to make it 6-3, but since no one else could get it done, they took the L on the chin.
Leaving nine runners on base, the Good Guys went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and struck out 12 times along the way. Unroe accounted for all three runs batted in, and the lone other extra-base hit came from Rikuu Nishida, but without a rally, there wasn’t much hope for the win.
The Knights rolled with a bullpen game, using six more pitchers after Gilbert blew up the game in the first, but outside of one more run surrendered from Tyler Davis, everyone was efficient at preventing base runners. Not a great day to be named “Tyler,” apparently.
Runners-Up Tyler Davis (RHRP): 1 IP, 2 H, R, BB Mario Camilletti (3B): 0-for-4, 3 K
Chattanooga Lookouts 4, Birmingham Barons 1 The Lookouts (49-52) carried a no-hitter through seven, and remained dominant through the game to put the Barons (40-61) away with just one hit, 4-1. Miraculously, Birmingham was able to score a run to tie the game at one in the bottom of the first thanks to a walk and a hit batter, driving in the run on an RBI ground out from Dylan Campbell. The lone hit for the Barons came from Jose Colmenares to lead off the bottom of the eighth, but B-ham followed that up with three straight outs.
Only two pitchers tossed for the Good Guys tonight, with Gabe Davis taking the first three and finishing the day with the loss as the Lookouts scored their first three runs against him. Recently-demoted lefthander Shane Murphy took over for the final six frames, and though he gave up one more in the ninth he was otherwise sharp with just one run on three hits with a walk and six Ks. Not much more to say about this one, time to hit the showers and try again tomorrow.
MVP Jose Colmenares (2B): 1-for-3, BB, K, only hit of the game
Cold Cat Gabe Davis (RHSP): 3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 BB, K, HR, Balk, LOSS (0-5)
Runners-Up Ryan Burrowes (SS): 0-for-4, 2 K Samuel Zavala (CF): 0-for-4, K
Winston-Salem Dash 6, Brooklyn Cyclones 3 Winston-Salem (56-45) is starting August off with its third win of the series, beating the Cyclones (41-58), 6-3. Righthander Drew McDaniel made his 18th start of the season and was solid through four with two runs on five hits, striking out three in the process. Max Banks ended up earning the win, however, after two innings with a run scored, but Winston-Salem was able to take the lead first.
The Dash bats mashed for 11 hits, with three for extra-bases: a double from George Wolkow, and home runs from both Calvin Harris and Ely Brown. Not only was Brown solid at the plate, but he robbed a homer to keep the game tied up at three, allowing the Dash to stay in the game. Harris recorded four RBIs in the process, two on the homer and another two on a base hit in the top of the ninth to extend the lead and close out the game.
Runners-Up Ely Brown (CF): 2-for-4, R, RBI, K, SB, HR Nick McLain (LF): 2-for-4, R, BB, Kyle Lodise (SS): 2-for-5, RBI, 2 K Jack Young (RHRP): 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, K, Hold Jake Curtis (RHRP): 2 IP, 0 H, K, Save
Cold Cat Kaleb Freeman (1B): 0-for-3, K
Runner-Up Wes Kath (DH): 0-for-3, BB, 2 K
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 8, Salem RidgeYaks 5 Despite leaving 12 on base, the Cannon Ballers (51-50) outhit the RidgeYaks (43-57), 11-10, while the pitching staff held Salem to four earned with 10 strikeouts in their 8-5 win. Righthander Nick Pinto tossed three scoreless innings to set the tone, and two relief innings from Ryan Schiefer secured his fourth win of the season.
Kannapolis had baserunners flowing all game, taking eight walks on top of their 11 hits, and Stiven Flores reached all four times with a double, single and two walks while also driving in two of the eight runs. Two Cannon Ballers made their professional debuts — Grayson Fitzwater and Braden Holcomb — and both were key offensive players in Saturday’s win, making a statement right off the bat. Fitzwater was selected as the 375th overall pick (13th Round) of this year’s draft and drove in two, with two-out RBIs in the sixth that extended the Kanny lead to five.
Like the pick before him, Holcomb was selected as 345th overall (12th Round), and blasted a 461 foot home run in his very first professional at-bat to give the Ballers an early two-run lead in the second. How can you not be romantic about baseball?
— Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (@Kcannonballers) August 2, 2026
MVP Stiven Flores (C): 2-for-2, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2B
Runners-Up Braden Holcomb (DH): 1-for-3, R, RBI, 2 BB, HR in first pro AB Grayson Fitzwater (1B): 1-for-4, 2 RBI, BB, 2 K Efren Teran (2B): 1-for-3, R, RBI, 2B, SF Nick Pinto (LHSP): 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 K Ryan Shiefer (RHRP): 2 IP, H, 2 K, HB, WIN (4-1)
Cold Cat Andrew Berg (RHRP): 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, BB, K
Runners-Up Kendry Garcia (RHRP:): 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 5 BB, 2 K Alexander Albertus (3B): 0-for-4, R, BB, SB, GIDP, E
DSL Pirates 6, DSL White Sox 4 (Completion of July 31 game) Down early, 4-1, when the rains came on Friday, action picked back up on Saturday to resume the game. The Sox gave up additional runs in the third and fifth while attempting to make a comeback, but weren’t able to claw all the way there, losing to the Pirates, 6-4. The Good Guys scored one each in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, even outhitting their opponents, 8-4, while going 5-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
The pitching wasn’t much better today, either. Only one of the four tossed a scoreless frame, and Franchel Crisotomo could hardly find the strike zone, walking five batters with a couple of wild pitches despite striking out four. On the other end of the ball, both Sox players that posted two-hit games accounted for the only two extra-base hits, with Samuel Luis mashing a double and Hector Hernandez blasting his second homer of the year for the final run of the game.
DSL Pirates 7, DSL White Sox 4 (August 1 game) The second game between these two teams was fairly similar, with the Pirates getting the edge a second time around. Both teams mashed 10 hits apiece, but the Pirates went 6-for-15 with runners in scoring position while the Sox were just 2-for-9. Right off the bat the Pirates scored two off of righthander Yordany Marte, who lasted two-thirds of an inning before Christopher Romero finished the job and tossed another clean inning on top of that.
It was 19-year-old righthander Jhoriel De La Rosa as the long reliever in today’s battle, going four innings but allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits with three Ks. But the bats couldn’t come all the way back, as the Sox tied it up at two after the third but the Pirates overpowered them. Three Sox players racked up at least two hits, but Felix Lebron was the standout with two hits, a run scored, and two RBIs from a homer in the second inning.
Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal reacts to the final out against the Royals during the seventh inning of a July 24 game. (Paul Sancya / Associated Press)
The Dodgers didn’t need to add an impact starter to their rotation. But on Saturday, the team already considered the favorite to win the World Series got a lot better.
The Dodgers are acquiring reigning Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal from the Tigers for three prospects, outfielder Zyhir Hope and right-handed pitchers River Ryan and Brady Smith, a person familiar with the negotiations who was not authorized to speak publicly confirmed.
“There just aren’t that many star-level players in the game,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said earlier this week. “Any time one is available, we’re always going to participate in those conversations. We’ve shown to be very aggressive in the past.”
The Dodgers’ aggressive move on Saturday landed them the most sought-after player two days before the trade deadline.
Skubal has followed up his 2025 Cy Young season with a 2.79 ERA in 16 starts, despite undergoing an operation to remove a loose body from his elbow in early May.
Since a speedy recovery from the minimally invasive NanoNeedle procedure, he’s done enough in nine starts (2.87 ERA), pitching into the seventh inning in each of his last three, to assuage concerns about his health.
The 29-year-old Skubal is set to hit free agency after this season, so the Tigers — who are 53-58 and 2½ games out of the last American League wild-card spot — faced the likelihood of losing him in free agency for no return.
The Dodgers entered trade-deadline season in an enviable position, without an “acute need,” as Friedman put it, and were able to sit back and watch how the market developed. Rather than follow the playbook of last year, when the Dodgers supported their roster with moves around the periphery, they took a big swing.
Over the past eight months, the Dodgers have added the best free agent reliever (Edwin Díaz), the highest profile free-agent hitter (Kyle Tucker), and the most coveted trade candidate to a team that’s won back-to-back World Series titles.
The Dodgers managed to land Skubal, perhaps the only available player who could elevate their star-studded roster, without parting with any major-league players.
The Dodgers’ rotation is progressing toward health, with Blake Snell (arthroscopic elbow surgery) set to make one more minor-league rehab start before being activated and Tyler Glasnow (back spasms) on the cusp of starting a rehab assignment.
Two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani, however, hasn’t pitched in almost a month, while managing a left knee ailment. Though the Dodgers have continued to insist they’re confident Ohtani will return to the mound, his timeline has proved unpredictable since he received an Orthovisc injection over the All-Star break to lubricate the joint.
With Skubal joining the ranks, the Dodgers have the best postseason rotation in baseball, with a safety net in case of injury.
As a bonus, they don’t have to worry about facing Skubal in the playoffs in their quest for a three-peat.
Of the prospects the Dodgers gave up, Ryan is the closest to the majors. The 27-year-old would have already been under consideration for a call-up this year if it weren’t for a recurring hamstring injury. Ryan — the No. 2 ranked pitcher in the Dodgers’ system, according to MLB Pipeline — has a 4.63 ERA in eight triple-A starts this year. The Dodgers acquired him from the Padres in 2022 for first baseman/outfielder Matt Beaty.
Hope, whom the Dodgers acquired from the Cubs along with left-handed prospect Jackson Ferris for infielder Michael Busch and reliever Yency Almonte two years ago, is the No. 25 prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline. In a farm system flush with outfield talent, he’s the Dodgers’ fourth-highest ranked outfield prospect, behind Josue De Paula (No. 4), Mike Sirota (No. 11) and Eduardo Quintero (No.19).
Smith, who the Dodgers recently promoted to High A, is ranked as the No. 17 prospect in the Dodgers’ system. The Dodgers selected him in the third round of the 2023 MLB draft.
DETROIT, MI - JULY 29: Tarik Skubal #29 of the Detroit Tigers, right, is hugged by manager A.J. Hinch #14 after being pulled from the game against the Baltimore Orioles during the seventh inning at Comerica Park on July 29, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Jeff Passan of ESPN announced at 11:31 p.m. ET that the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Detroit Tigers were finalizing a trade for two-time AL Cy Young award winner, Tarik Skubal. The Tigers ace is bound for free agency at season’s end, and with the Tigers still a few games and numerous teams away from a playoff spot, Scott Harris and Jeff Greenberg decided it was time to cash in their ace for prospects. The deal has not been confirmed by either team as of this writing.
In return the Tigers will receive a very good outfield prospect in 21-year-old left-handed hitter Zyhir Hope, triple digit right-handed pitcher River Ryan, and a fairly good right-handed pitching prospect in 21-year-old Brady Smith. Hope is a top 100 prospect who generally draws 55 FV grades, while Ryan was once a top shelf starting pitching prospect with great stuff, but had Tommy John surgery in August 2024, and while his stuff appears fully intact, and it is excellent power stuff, he’s dealt with some minor injuries this season.
The Dodgers are acquiring Tarik Skubal from the Tigers in exchange for OF Zyhir Hope (LAD No. 6), RHP River Ryan (LAD No. 9) and RHP Brady Smith (LAD No. 27), per @JeffPassan.
The Tigers don’t really seem interested in pulling the plug on the 2026 season, and were expected to get a major league ready starter as part of the return for Skubal. That didn’t happen exactly, but on June 28, Ryan suffered his second hamstring injury of the season. He’s expected to return sometime in August or early September, but those injuries are often tricky, so we’ll see.
We’ll also have to see if the Tigers have more deals in mind or not. Either way, this is a good return for Tarik Skubal. Hope and Ryan are both very talented, and Smith’s stock has been rising rapidly this season. The Tigers farm system gets a pretty major upgrade here after graduating Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark this season.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are acquiring Tarik Skubal for outfielder Zyhir Hope, right-hander River Ryan and right-hander Brady Smith, sources tell ESPN.
DETROIT, MI - JULY 29: Tarik Skubal #29 of the Detroit Tigers takes off his cap after recording his 1,000th strikeout during the first inning of a game against the Baltimore Orioles at Comerica Park on July 29, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Dodgers’ quest for the first threepeat in Major League Baseball in a quarter-century saw them shop in the high end during the free agent market. Now they’ve acquired the best player available at the trade deadline, getting two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, permultiplereports.
Heading to Detroit are pitcher River Ryan, on the 40-man roster but currently on the injured list in Triple-A, plus top-100 prospect Zyhir Hope and High-A pitcher Brady Smith, per Jeff Passan at ESPN.
Skubal this season has a 2.79 ERA and 2.98 xERA in 16 starts, with 116 strikeouts against only 14 walks in 96 2/3 innings. He missed six weeks after arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow, and just had a 2.03 ERA with 41 strikeouts against six walks in five July starts.
Skubal last pitched on Wednesday for the Tigers, putting him in line to start at some point during the Dodgers’ series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, which runs from Monday to Wednesday.
Skubal famously won his salary arbitration case and is making $32 million this season, before entering free agency this winter. If the deal is finalized on Sunday, the Dodgers would be on the hook for roughly $9.8 million for the rest of the season.
Tarik Skubal, winner of the past two American League Cy Young Awards and one of the finest pitchers in the rich history of the Detroit Tigers, is being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, a baseball official familiar with the deal confirmed to USA TODAY Sports, ending an epic tenure in the Motor City while giving a significant boost to the Dodgers' World Series three-peat chances.
The baseball official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal is not yet official.
Going to Detroit are outfielder Zyhir Hope and right-handed pitchers River Ryan and Brady Smith.
And now, Major League Baseball’s super team has an otherworldly rotation: Skubal will join forces with 2025 World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, All-Star lefty Justin Wrobleski, former All-Star Tyler Glasnow and, oh, if he’s up to it, Shohei Ohtani.
Skubal, 29, will become a free agent after this season and is expected to command a record-setting salary for a pitcher, an asking price the Tigers likely would not be willing to meet. He's already set a record for an arbitration-eligible pitcher with a $32 million salary this season, and now the Dodgers will be responsible for the last $9 million for the remainder of the season.
But oh, what a potential payoff: After missing 45 days due to elbow surgery, Skubal has roared back to top form, posting a 1.95 ERA and 50 strikeouts to six walks over a half-dozen starts. It's a level of efficiency approaching his past two seasons, when Skubal posted a 2.30 ERA over 62 starts, struck out 10.9 batters per nine innings and won a pair of Cy Youngs, the latter in unanimous fashion.
The Dodgers now have an excellent shot at retaining Skubal, though they know he could just be a rental. Yet he also comes with a proven postseason record, leading the Tigers to an improbable 2024 stretch drive that resulted in a wild-card berth and upset of the Houston Astros in the wild card series. Skubal tossed six shutout innings to beat the Astros, and has a 2.04 ERA – with 56 strikeouts in 39⅔ innings – the past two postseasons.
For the Tigers, an all-in season has tacitly ended with the trade of Skubal. They signed left-hander Framber Valdez during the offseason, knowing he'd be a more affordable long-term option than Skubal. Yet for 2026, the Tigers would have both of them.
Those dreams were dashed when Skubal required surgery to remove loose bodies in his elbow. Though an innovative surgical technique reduced his time on the sidelines, the Tigers lost 16 of 18 games during a grim stretch of May, creating a situation that manager A.J. Hinch termed "playing Game 7 every night" in an effort to get back in the race.
And for a minute, they responded, winning 15 of 20 games from June 29 to July 24, the last game in that stretch a dominant Skubal start against Kansas City.
That brought them within five games of the AL Central lead and within 2½ games of a wild-card spot with eight games remaining before the trade deadline.
But they dropped the final two games of their series against the last-place Royals and then two of three to Baltimore, the last loss including a blown 7-0 lead, almost all of it coming after Skubal handed a 7-1 lead to the bullpen.
Skubal is eligible for free agency at the conclusion of the 2026 season and will be one the most sought-after player on the market. Turning 30 this offseason, Skubal is likely to break Yoshinobu Yamamoto's $325 million record contract for a pitcher.
Tarik Skubal played college baseball for the Seattle University Redhawks, earning Freshman All-American honors in 2015 before undergoing Tommy John surgery during his sophomore year in 2016.
Despite missing the 2017 season while recovering, he was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 29th round of the 2017 MLB Draft but chose to return to school. He was ultimately selected by the Detroit Tigers in the ninth round (255th overall) of the 2018 MLB draft and signed for a $350,000 bonus.
Even in a year in which they didn’t have any big trade deadline needs, and signaled a willingness to make only marginal midseason moves in pursuit of a third consecutive World Series title, the two-time defending champions went out and made the biggest splash of the deadline season anyway.
Two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, welcome to Los Angeles.
Tarik Skubal was traded to the Dodgers after winning two Cy Young Awards with the Tigers. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
In a blockbuster deal with the Tigers on Saturday, the Dodgers acquired Skubal, according to multiple sources and as the Post’s Jon Heyman first reported, in exchange for a trio of prospects: outfielder Zyhir Hope, right-handed pitcher River Ryan and right-handed pitcher Brady Smith.
Just like that, the Dodgers will add yet another superstar talent to their world-beating roster.
Now, an already probable World Series in 2026 feels that much more inevitable.
The Dodgers, of course, didn’t need Skubal before MLB’s Monday trade deadline, not after expressing confidence in recent weeks that their already talented, but currently banged-up, starting rotation would be healthy come the stretch run of the season.
On the other hand, the Dodgers don’t sit out sweepstakes for “needle-moving” players.
And for this year’s deadline, no one moved the needle for their championship odds more than Skubal — who will be a free agent after this season but has also been arguably the best pitcher in the sport over the last three years.
Skubal might be a short-term rental in the Dodgers’ quest for a third consecutive World Series crown. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
A 29-year-old left-hander from Northern California, Skubal long ago emerged as the best player likely to be moved at the deadline.
The Tigers considered trading him this offseason, as it became clear he would likely end up somewhere else as a potential record-setting free agent this winter.
However, they held onto him then in hopes of competing again in 2026, following back-to-back postseason trips spearheaded by his back-to-back Cy Young campaigns.
Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters
Instead, the Tigers’ season went off the rails quickly, with the club going 22-38 through the end of May. Skubal was out for much of that stretch, after undergoing a procedure to have a loose body removed from his elbow on May 6.
A brief uptick in form — the Tigers went 28-16 from June 1 to July 24 — was followed by another poorly timed skid this past week, cementing the Tigers’ status as a seller ahead of Monday’s trade deadline.
Thus, Skubal became the top target on the market, thanks to another strong season in which he is 7-5 with a 2.79 ERA this year (including a 2.87 mark since coming off the injured list).
The Dodgers will send back three prospects in their trade package, which is headlined by Hope –– the No. 4 ranked player in their pipeline, according to Baseball America, and No. 55 overall prospect in the sport.
A 21-year-old former 11th-round draft pick whom the Dodgers acquired from the Cubs before the 2024 season, Hope has impressed over his minor-league career with a .281 average, 48 home runs and .862 OPS.
However, in what will be seen as a win within the Dodgers’ front office, he is behind three other outfielders in the club’s farm system: Josue De Paula (the No. 4 prospect in the sport), Mike Sirota (No. 14) and Eduardo Quintero (No. 18).
The Dodgers managed to keep all of them.
Another surprise in the final deal: Neither Justin Wrobleski nor Emmet Sheehan, two current members of the Dodgers’ MLB rotation, was required to complete the trade.
Instead, the Dodgers are sending back Ryan, who is a hard-throwing right-hander with a deep pitch mix, but has made just four MLB appearances as he closes in on his 28th birthday because of repeated injuries (including Tommy John surgery in 2024, and an ongoing hamstring issue this year that has currently sidelined him in triple-A); and Smith, a raw 21-year-old right-hander in high-A whom the club drafted in the third round in 2023, but who also has a 4.72 ERA in his minor-league career.
Per Baseball America, Ryan was the team’s No. 13 prospect, while Smith was outside the Top 30.
That means, Skubal will now join a Dodgers starting pitching group that –– when fully healthy –– also features a reigning World Series MVP in Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a fellow two-time Cy Young Award winner in Blake Snell, a former All-Star in Tyler Glasnow, a current All-Star in Wrobleski, a gifted (albeit recently struggling) right-hander in Sheehan, a 24-year-old phenom in Roki Sasaki … and, oh yeah, four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani.
Rarely, if ever, in the history of baseball has so much talent been amassed on one staff.
The health of that unit still is a big if, of course.
Snell has almost completed a rehab assignment after undergoing his own elbow procedure earlier this year to remove bone chips. Glasnow is set to begin a rehab stint next week as he works his way back from a back spasms issue. And Ohtani has not made a pitching start in nearly a month because of an ongoing knee issue, which has not prevented him from hitting but has kept him shut down from throwing for more than a week.
The Dodgers had expressed confidence in getting each of them back for the stretch run of the season. But their current absences had added uncertainty to their postseason pitching plans.
Not anymore.
Now, the team boasts the ultimate insurance policy, bringing aboard another bona fide supertsar in Skubal who, over the last three seasons, ranks second in the majors in ERA (2.40), third in strikeout rate (31.2%), third in batting average against (.201), fifth in innings pitched (484, even with the time he missed this year), and first in Fangraphs’ version of WAR (15.5).
All along, the industry figured the Dodgers would lead the race to land him.
And once he became available, they didn’t miss the mark –– again.
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers during a 3-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox at Dodger Stadium on Saturday night.
Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s start Saturday would have been dominant if it weren’t for Red Sox center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela.
Rafaela’s pair of home runs accounted for most of Boston’s damage against Yamamoto in the Dodgers’ 3-2 loss. Yamamoto held the Red Sox to three runs and four hits through eight innings.
The Dodgers dropped the series to the Red Sox, needing a win Sunday to avoid a sweep.
Shortly after the loss, the Dodgers finalized a deal to acquire two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal in a trade with the Detroit Tigers.
Rafaela jumped all over the first pitch he saw from Yamamoto in the first inning, a splitter, according to Statcast, that drifted up and in. He drove it into the left-field stands.
Two innings later, Yamamoto held off Rafaela for longer. But Rafaela battled back from a 0-2 count. On the fourth pitch of the at-bat, Yamamoto turned to his splitter for the first time, barely clipping the inside edge of the strike zone. Rafaela turned on it and sent a towering solo homer three rows deep in left-center field.
It was the second multi-homer game of Rafaela’s career.
It wasn’t until Yamamoto’s third time through the order that he finally set down Rafaela, who had the Red Sox’s only hits at that point.
Yamamoto went with a first-pitch fastball up and in. Rafaela was a little late to it but still made hard contact, sending the opposite-field fly out to the warning track.
In the eighth, Yamamoto gave up a leadoff ground-rule double to Andruw Monasterio. He made it to third on Jarren Duran’s push-bunt single and scored the go-ahead run when Connor Wong grounded into a double play.
The Dodgers got a boost early from Teoscar Hernández on a two-run home run in the second inning. But they failed to score again after leaving seven runners stranded.
Bullpen shuffle
Before the game, the Dodgers put reliever Will Klein on the 15-day injured list with discomfort in his right elbow.
Klein had a 2.29 ERA one week into July. But over his last six appearances, he has surrendered 13 runs, including eight earned runs (11.37 ERA).
“We’re still trying to dig into it,” Roberts said Friday after Klein gave up three runs (one earned run) to the Red Sox in 1⅓ innings. “I thought there were some good fastball throws in there tonight, but the secondary stuff, that’s kind of what’s getting him. The sweeper is not a strike, he’s not getting chase from it. The curveball has a different shape to it than it did last year. So I don’t know if it’s an arm thing, a mechanics thing, but that’s something we’re trying to dig in on.”
Klein is the second right-handed reliever the Dodgers have put on the IL in as many days, joining Brock Stewart. And MRI scan Saturday showed tendinitis in Stewart’s right shoulder.
He felt some discomfort in his shoulder, the same one he had surgically cleaned up in September, since last Saturday in New York, Stewart said. But until then, it hadn’t bothered him all season, minor-league rehab stints included.
“It’s almost embarrassing,” said Stewart, who began the season on the IL while recovering from shoulder surgery and had another IL stint when he aggravated a bone spur in his left foot. “I’d like to think that I do everything in my power to stay healthy and help out. I know I’m proud of the work I put in each day, and that’s all I can really control. Other than that, I can’t really control how my arm reacts. Just frustrating, especially after last year having it cleaned up.”
The Dodgers also designated left-hander Cole Irvin for assignment on Saturday. Irvin covered six innings and yielded six runs in the Dodgers’ pseudo-bullpen game Saturday, his first major-league appearance since 2024.
To replace Irvin and Klein, the Dodgers recalled right-handed relievers Kyle Hurt and Wyatt Mills.
LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 01: Yoshinobu Yamamoto #18 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates during the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, August 1, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Nicole Vasquez/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched eight strong innings, but the Dodgers offense didn’t support him, falling to the Boston Red Sox 3-2 on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.
Yamamoto, who leads MLB averaging 6.68 innings per start, completed eight innings for the fourth time this season, tying Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara for the major league lead. Yamamoto struck out three and walked one, needing only 96 pitches to complete his eight frames. But he left trailing.
Ceddanne Rafaela, who homered in a three-hit game on Friday night, got the scoring started on Saturday with a solo home run with one out in the first inning, just three pitches into the game. He hit another solo shot in the third inning.
Those were the only hits off Yamamoto until the eighth inning, when Andruw Monasterio hit a leadoff ground rule double then scored two ground balls later.
Teoscar Hernández went out to right field for a two-run shot in the second inning for his second home run in three days, after hitting two home runs in his previous 28 games before that.
Hernández fouled a ball off his left foot in the fourth inning, and crumpled to the ground. After a long visit by manager Dave Roberts and assistant athletic director Yosuke Nakajima, Hernández remained in the game and singled, though he limped to first base.
Two batters later, Miguel Rojas fouled a ball off his left ankle and also dropped to the ground. Rojas stayed in after the obligatory visit by Roberts and Nakajima, and struck out. Both Rojas and Hernández remained in the game on defense in the top of the fifth inning. Rojas played three more innings before he was replaced at shortstop by Mookie Betts in the eighth inning.
Freddie Freeman had three more hits, his fifth three-hit game in his last nine contests, Dating back to July 21, Freeman has 22 hits in his last 39 at-bats, and his career batting average, through 9,830 career plate appearances, is up to .30009385. Freeman’s 21 hits over his last nine games are the most by a Dodger since Shohei Ohtani had 25 hits in his superhuman stretch in September 2024.
The Dodgers only had one hit in three innings off the Red Sox bullpen, and Aroldis Chapman retired all three batters he faced to close out the game in the ninth.
Saturday particulars
Home runs: Teoscar Hernández (10); Ceddanne Rafaela 2 (14)
The homestand concludes with a nationally televised affair on Sunday evening (4:20 p.m.; NBC, Peacock), with Emmet Sheehan on the mound against yet another Red Sox lefty, Jake Bennett.
