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Go Rays!
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Here’s the Padres lineup:
Here’s the Guardians lineup:
Let’s go, Guardians!
Despite losing the series to the Cubs, the Nats ended things on a high note thanks to a Cade Cavalli masterclass. He helped secure a winning home stand and the bats continued to thrive. Now the Nats head to New York to face a last place Mets team. However, the Mets have been playing a bit better lately.
The Nats have quite the interesting lineup today. Jose Tena has played the outfield late in games, but today he will be in left field to start. Jacob Young will be in center and Daylen Lile will move over to right. Brady House will be the DH, while Jorbit Vivas plays third and Nasim Nunez is at second. Andrew Alvarez looks to build off of back to back impressive outings.
Juan Soto is out of the lineup for the Mets, but we will be seeing Francisco Lindor. The Mets shortstop missed a couple months this season. In a disappointing season, the young duo of Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing has been a bright spot for this team. Journeyman Robert Stock will be on the mound tonight.
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Game Info:
Stadium: Citi Field
Time: 7:10 PM EST
TV: Nationals.TV
Radio: 106.7 The Fan
The Nats had a great performance yesterday and they will look to build off that in the road trip. Hopefully Alvarez can give the Nats something even close to as good as what they got from Cavalli. The offense led by Abi Ortiz will also look to stay hot. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!
Probable pitchers: RHP Chris Basssitt (4-4, 5.27 ERA, 37 Ks) vs. LHP Steven Matz (5-4, 5.46 ERA, 48 Ks)
Where to watch: MASN/MASN+
The Orioles had an opportunity in the immediate wake of yet another trade deadline sell-off. With series against bottom-feeder Angels and fellow Wildcard hopefuls in the Rangers and Twins, the O’s had a chance to really make up ground in their quest for a playoff spot. Instead, Baltimore went 3-6 in those series and now stare down an AL East gauntlet.
Tonight starts a four-game set against the American League-leading Rays, and the first of nine straight games against the Rays and Yankees. The good news for Birdland is that Baltimore remains only two games out of the final AL Wild Card spot. That bad news is they’ll now have to try to make up ground against a Rays team who enters on a nine-game winning streak.
The Rays will look to extending that winning streak by forcing the O’s to face their biggest weakness: a mediocre left-handed starter. Baltimore ranks 25th in team OPS and 29th in average vs. LH starting pitchers. Coby Mayo and Christian Encarnacion-Strand are lefty mashers, but the rest of the lineup has been league average or worse against southpaw starters.
The O’s were able to get after Rays’ starter Steven Matz when he visited Camden Yards in May. The journeyman left-hander only lasted three-innings that day, giving up seven hits, six runs and a majestic two-run blast off the bat of Gunnar Henderson. Matz was significantly better in an earlier may start vs. Orioles in Tropicana Field, limiting the Baltimore bats to three hits and one run over four innings in a 5-3 Rays win.
The Trop has at times been a house of horrors for the Orioles, and a sight of the O’s best victories at other times. Across this season and last season, the O’s are 3-7 in St. Petersburg, having been outscored 27-64 across those 10 games. In 2023 and 2024, however, the O’s went 10-3 in Tropicana Field en route to two playoff appearances. If the 2026 Orioles want to somehow make it back to the postseason, they’ll need to start winning in Western Florida again.
Chris Bassitt makes his first start in black and orange since landing on the IL with a back injury on June 8th. He hasn’t faced the Rays this season, but has a career 3.67 ERA with a .238 batting average against in Tropicana Field.
As a reminder, today’s game is on AppleTV.
Yesterday afternoon was disappointing, but taking three of four from the Red Sox still counts as a statement by a team that’s playing surprisingly well since the deadline.
The Yankees will test whether this run can amount to anything. The Jays draw Gerrit Cole today, Cam Schlittler tomorrow, and Ryan Weathers on Sunday. That’s about as tough of a pitching series matchup as it gets. But hey, we have Paul Sewald now, so there.
We got little bits of news today. Anthony Santander is apparently hitting off a tee. That’s good for him, but I’m operating under the assumption that he’s effectively medically retired until we get proof otherwise.
As mentioned, Paul Sewald is active tonight. He’s posted a really good K:BB ratio this year (44:9 in 39 innings), but 12 home runs have blown up his ERA. Hopefully either luck or a new coaching staff gets him past that issue. Lazaro Estrada goes down for the corresponding move. Due to a new rule this year, because he’s been optioned five times now this season he’d have to be DFA’d if he’s brought back and sent down again. It’s not a big thing, as he hasn’t been good this year, but it just adds one more wrinkle to an already complicated Jays pitching situation.
Go Jays Go!
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Pete Alonso is doing something Friday night that he’s never done before.
Leading off in a big league ball game.
The former Mets slugger will hit at the top of the Orioles’ lineup when they bat against the Rays in Tampa Bay.
Alonso told MLB.com’s Jake Rill that his leadoff-less stretch goes back even further than that, saying it’s the first time he’s ever come to the plate to kick off a game.
“First time for everything. Why not?” he said, per Rill.
“I’m not saying me and him are the same guy, but I’m like [Kyle] Schwarber-adjacent, you know? … I can be the right-handed Schwarber, I guess. Why not?”
Like Schwarber, Alonso, who has rebounded after a slow start in Baltimore, is about as far from the prototypical No. 1 hitter as it can get.
The burly 6-foot-3, 245-pound home run hitter has registered a 25.3 mph sprint speed this season, ranking in the bottom 8 percent of major leaguers.
Stolen bases are barely a part of his game, having swiped just 23 bags in his eight-year career, although he’s already matched a career high with five this season.
Perhaps more fitting for the leadoff spot is Alonso’s .353 on-base percentage, which is comfortably above the MLB average and the kind of mark teams look for atop the lineup.
Through the first half of the season, Alonso hit third or fourth in every game he started for Baltimore.
Shortly after the All-Star break, Alonso started appearing in the two-hole, a spot he became familiar with for a time in Queens.
Alonso spent the vast majority of his time in a Mets uniform in the cleanup spot.
Heading into the game, Alonso is hitting .259/.353/.480 with 26 home runs and 77 RBIs for the Orioles, who signed him to a five-year, $155 million free agent deal over the offseason.
That contract looked ugly early on in 2026, with Alonso hitting .198 with just four home runs over the first month-plus before turning his season around when the calendar flipped to May.
Time/Place: 6:40 p.m., Comerica Park
SB Nation Site:South Side Sox
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Jackson Jobe (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Sean Newcomb (1-3, 2.66 ERA)
| Player | G | IP | K% | BB% | GB% | FIP | fWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jobe | 1 | 5.0 | 25.0 | 6.3 | 63.6 | 2.08 | 0.2 |
| Newcomb | 44 | 64.1 | 22.8 | 8.7 | 46.2 | 2.97 | 1.4 |
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So the D-backs have dropped out of a wild-card spot, for the first time in a while. They didn’t play yesterday, but the Phillies’ victory allowed them to sneak a half-game ahead of us. I think the last time that happened was after play on July 20th, when the team was part of the NL gridlock. Just one game covered five teams, separating 6th and 10th place in the standings. The Diamondbacks have played pretty well since then, going 13-9. The main problem is, the Padres have played even better, with a 16-6 record that’s the best in the league. The bad news, as far as this particular series is concerned, is that the Braves have also been hot, with a 15-7 mark.
I do wonder whether the team was perhaps burned by rolling out the back of their rotation against the Rockies. Not that Mitch Bratt, in particular, pitched particularly badly, but it’s always a tightrope figuring out when you should play the weaker cards in your hand. For instance, presuming you and your opponent’s starters are equal in ability, you could “throw” the first game by pitching your #5 against their #1, but then have an edge in the next two games (your #1 vs their #2, and your #2 against their #3). I guess platoon tendencies are also something which could factor into these decision. Atlanta are 7th by OPS vs. RHP, but a few slots lower (10th) vs. LHP.
What would you regard as a decent result for these series against the Braves and Red Sox? Obviously, it’s on the road, and that makes things tougher. Both teams are also comfortably above .500, and we know how the team has struggled there. However, they’ve performed better of late: things like the Dodgers’ sweep definitely helped. They are now 24-31 against opponents at .500 or better, which is right in the middle, ranked 15th, and basically at MLB average (25-31). The bad news? [Yes, more!] The opponents this week are both top five. So what are you wanting to see from these six games? Here’s a poll, and as always, explain yourself in the comments.
Ahead of Friday's series opener with the Blue Jays in Toronto, Yankees manager Aaron Boone gave a few injury updates on a trio of players...
Cody Bellinger has been on the IL since late July with a hamstring strain, but it seems the All-Star outfielder could be nearing a start in the minors.
Boone said that if all goes well with Bellinger as he continues his baseball activity, he could go on a rehab assignment sometime next week. Bellinger was doing some outfield work, namely catching flyballs in left field, hours before first pitch on Friday.
He was diagnosed with a Grade 2 hamstring strain, so the initial timeline had Bellinger down for 4-6 weeks. If Bellinger gets into a rehab game next week, he would be in line with that assessment and could be activated before the end of the month. Boone did project that Bellinger would be back beforeGiancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge, so his recovery is one to look out for as the Yankees hope to get back the outfielder's production.
Bellinger was slashing .259/.350/.420 with an OPS of .770 to go along with his 11 home runs and 53 RBI across 102 games this season.
Carlos Rodon made his second rehab start on Thursday, and it was successful.
The southpaw struck out seven batters across 4.1 scoreless innings with Double-A Somerset. Boone said Rodon looked good in his rehab, but was not ready to declare what Rodon's next step will be.
Rodon could make another rehab start or could be activated next week to get him stretched out in the majors. If the latter is the direction the Yankees go, Boone has already said Rodon could be part of a piggyback situation. Rodon's schedule coincides with Will Warren, so those two could be the pitchers in that situation if it comes to that.
Angel Chivilli, the right-hander who was pitching well out of the Yankees bullpen recently before being optioned, was placed on the IL by Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday.
Boone confirmed the designation and said that Chivilli is suffering from "some posterior elbow stuff going on" and that a doctor will check out the pitcher soon.
In 15 appearances with the big league club, Chivilli pitched to a 3.78 ERA. He had not allowed an earned run the entire month of July (12.2 IP), but was tagged for six runs against the Cardinals back on Aug. 3.
Chivilli was optioned after the game due to the 24-year-old tossing 37 pitches in that outing.
The Yankees did sign a reliever to a minor league contract on Friday, penning Justin Topa and assigning him to Triple-A.
Topa, 35, made 23 appearances for the Twins this season and pitched to an 8.05 ERA and a 2.00 WHIP.
⚾️ First Pitch: 6:40pm – PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA
📺 TV: NESN
📻 Radio: WEEI
The Detroit Tigers were still very much in the thick of the AL Central race when they traded away ace and notable bad guy Tarik Skubal. Was he the problem with Detroit? Since his departure the Tigers have been on a tear, while the Los Angeles Dodgers have put up stinker after stinker.
What looked like it would be a semi-important series at a distance a few weeks ago has turned into likely the biggest series to date for the Chicago White Sox. With Detroit gaining three games on the White Sox in just the last 10 games, there are now just 2 ½ games separating these two teams atop the division.
In the first game of this crucial series, the Tigers are sending out Jackson Jobe to start. The third overall pick in 2021 has just come back from Tommy John surgery. In his first start of the season, on August 8, he threw five innings while allowing just one hit. The Tigers beat the Giants in that game, earning him the win.
Jobe has a five-pitch arsenal but relies heavily on the fastball and slider, with almost two-thirds of his pitches being one of the two. It’s tough to really have much of a read on him, as he has only started 11 games in his young career. With that being said, his 3.57 ERA in 13 appearances is certainly impressive.
The White Sox will throw out a pitcher much more experienced in Sean Newcomb. A mainstay in MLB since 2017, Newcomb sports a 2.66 ERA in 44 appearances this season. It would appear that Newcomb is nothing more than an opener tonight, so the main goal for him will be to try to get out of the first two or three innings unscathed.
Newcomb doesn’t generate a lot of swings and misses, but he does limit hard-hit balls. In a ballpark as pitcher-friendly as Comerica, the Tigers will certainly have to play small-ball if they want to get to him early. Unfortunately, Newcomb is susceptible to the bat of Javier Báez, who is hitting .500 against Newcomb in 14 career at-bats.
The White Sox will have to be careful in this series as the Tigers have the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals on deck after this weekend. If Chicago slips up and loses the series, or even get swept, the Tigers could quickly take control of the divisional race.
On the bright side, with the rest of the division struggling to do much since the All-Star break, a series win for the White Sox would make their divisional lead that much more secure. Who knows, maybe there’s even a sweep in store.
Here are the starting lineups:
First pitch is at 5:40 p.m. CDT. The game will be televised on CHSN and can be heard on ESPN Chicago 1000. Drop your predictions and thoughts down below!
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SP: Robert Stock – RHP
SP: Andrew Alvarez – LHP
First pitch: 7:10 PM EDT
TV: WPIX
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2
Now be honest. You were thinking “Here we go again” after the Cubs didn’t have a hit through the first four innings — just like Thursday in Washington. And this was true even though the Cardinals didn’t have a hit through five, thanks to Clay Holmes mowing down St. Louis hitters.
Fortunately, all’s well that ended well. Holmes, Ryan Rolison, Ryan Zeferjahn and Jacob Webb combined to three-hit the visiting Cardinals and a Seiya Suzuki three-run homer was all the Cubs needed to start the homestand on a winning note, 3-0 over the Cardinals in front of a festive full house of 40,374.
Those first five innings went by quickly, in little over an hour, because both Holmes and Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore were retiring batter after batter. Holmes, in fact, started getting his signature ground ball outs after a few fly balls in the first and second. At one point he retired seven straight Cardinals via the ground ball.
The Cubs ended any thought of a Cardinals no-no with Nico Hoerner’s single with one out in the fifth. Nico stole second, but Carson Kelly and Ian Happ struck out to send the game to the sixth.
Holmes retired the first 16 Cardinals, but with one out in the sixth any thought of a no-hit or perfect game bid was over when José Fermin singled to right. Holmes retired the next two Cardinals in order to take a one-hitter into the seventh.
Before that, though, the Cubs scored the only runs of the game. Tyrone Taylor led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk and stole second. Taylor then took third on a single by Dansby Swanson, and Swanson also swiped a base, his 17th, putting runners on second and third. Pete Crow-Armstrong popped up, though, leaving those runners in scoring position with one out. The Cardinals removed Liberatore for George Soriano.
That’s when Suzuki launched a pitch into the bleachers [VIDEO].
More on Suzuki’s blast from BCB’s J0hnW53:
Seiya Suzuki’s tie-breaking homer was the Cubs’ 25th with two on base, most by any team. Nationals and Yankees have 22, and Mariners 20. The combined average of the 29 other teams is just 16. Suzuki’s was the Cubs’ 156th of the year, so their 25 with two on is 16 percent, about one of every six.
The Cubs did attempt to score more runs in that inning. Alex Bregman followed the homer with a walk and Michael Busch singled, but Hoerner hit into an inning-ending double play.
Holmes retired the first two hitters in the seventh and Craig Counsell left him in to try to finish the inning, but he walked Jordan Walker. Holmes then left to a loud ovation. Here’s more on Holmes’ outing [VIDEO].
And more on his pitch selection — that sinker was really working [VIDEO].
Still more on Holmes’ day from John:
Clay Holmes’ start was just the 22nd by a Cubs starter since 1901 of at least 6.2 innings pitched, with no runs, no more than one hit and no more than one walk.
Kyle Hendricks had been the last to do it, on June 10, 2023, at San Francisco: 8.0 IP, one hit, one walk.
The last at home had been Marcus Stroman, on May 29, 2023, vs. the Rays: a complete game with one hit and one walk.
Holmes’ was the 12th at home and second vs. the Cardinals. The first was 67 years ago, on April 21, 1959, by Glen Hobbie: a one-hit, one-walk complete game.
Frank Hiller did it at St. Louis on June 28, 1951: another one-hit, one-walk complete game.
Jake Arrieta and Ted Lilly did it twice, so Holmes is the 20th different Cub to achieve the feat.
Ryan Rolison relieved Holmes and did retire the only hitter he faced, Nathan Church, though it took 11 pitches and a bunch of foul balls.
Ryan Zeferjahn threw the eighth and struggled a bit with command (27 pitches, 17 strikes), but he did finally strike out JJ Wetherholt with two runners on base to end the inning [VIDEO].
The Cubs got a couple of runners on in the bottom of the eighth but could not score, and so it was left to Jacob Webb to nail things down. Webb allowed a leadoff single and then Swanson and Bregman combined on this amazing force play [VIDEO].
This is a perfect example of how good the Cubs defense is — and not only the great stop by Swanson, but the situational awareness by Bregman to know that Nico was not going to be in position to take the throw and so he had to cover second. Great stuff here.
Speaking of Nico, he made this nice grab for the final out [VIDEO].
Great pitching, solid defense and timely hitting — those are the hallmarks of the 2026 Cubs, and all combined Friday to make a satisfying win over the Cardinals.
Here’s Carson Kelly with some postgame comments about Holmes [VIDEO].
The Cubs move to within 3.5 games of the Brewers in the NL Central, pending the Brewers game against the Dodgers later this evening at Dodger Stadium (9:10 p.m. CT). The Cubs will go for the series win Saturday afternoon (weather permitting!) at Wrigley Field. Matthew Boyd will start for the Cubs and Michael McGreevy will go for the Cardinals. Game time is 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are hosting the red-hot Boston Red Sox for a three-game set this weekend at PNC Park.
For the first matchup in the series, the Pirates will hand the ball to Bubba Chandler, who was coming off arguably the best start of his career. On August 8, Chandler pitched six scoreless innings, giving up just three hits in a 9-0 victory over the New York Mets. It was his second straight victory, and he looks to bounce back from a difficult start to the season.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox are going with rookie Jake Bennett, who is making his 14th career start. Bennett debuted for the Red Sox on May 1 and has been solid throughout his time with the team. The 25-year-old from Tulsa, Oklahoma, rattled off four consecutive victories in the month of July, but he has lost two of his last three starts, including his most recent appearance against the Athletics. Bennett pitched 5.1 innings, giving up five hits and four earned runs in a 7-3 loss at Fenway Park.
Since July 1, the Red Sox are 27-9, but five of those losses have come just in the past week. The Pirates could take advantage of their cold spell if they can build off of their 13-1 victory from yesterday’s contest against the Miami Marlins.
Location: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA
Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet Pittsburgh
Pitching Matchup: Jake Bennett (7-5, 3.17 ERA) vs. Bubba Chandler (5-8, 4.26 ERA)
BD community, chime off in the comments section below for the game day thread. Enjoy!
Matthew Liberatore was his best self Friday afternoon as the St. Louis Cardinals entered the gauntlet of Wrigley Field to play the Cubs for the start of a crucial weekend series. The problem was that Cubs starter Clay Holmes was even better. The first 2/3 of the game was a scoreless and nearly hitless duel. Wheels would start to come off for the Cardinals in that last third of the game, though.
There are no offensive highlights to share with you from the first half of the game. However, there were a couple of defensive gems provided by the middle infield of the Cardinals. In the bottom of the 4th inning, Pete Crow-Armstrong was robbed by Masyn Winn. ROBBED!
The very next batter Suzuki was also denied base access, this time by future Gold Glove second baseman JJ Wetherholt. ROBBED AGAIN!
The Cubs would threaten to break through the scoring drought in the bottom of the 6th inning when Liberatore handed out a leadoff walk to Taylor. Dansby Swanson singled to center which gave Chicago runners at first and third with no outs. Matthew was able to get PCA to foul out to third for the first out, but that would be the end of Liberatore’s strong outing Friday. George Soriano was brought in to face Suzuki. During his at-bat, Swanson stole second giving the Cubs two runners in scoring position. The stolen base wouldn’t matter as Suzuki connected on an 88 mph changeup as it cleared the wall in left field traveling 390 feet and giving Chicago a 3-0 lead.
The Chicago Cubs 6th inning wasn’t over yet as Soriano followed the Suzuki homer with a walk to Alex Bregman and a single to Michael Busch still with just one out. Fortunately, JJ Wetherholt and Masyn Winn combined on a double play on a grounder from Nico Hoerner to end the inning with the damage already being done. The final stat line for Matthew Liberatore would look less impressive than the eye test where he looked extremely sharp for the first 5 innings. Matthew tossed 5 1/3 innings striking out 6 and only walking 1, but those 2 earned runs that crossed the plate along with the 1 Soriano was responsible for were a killer.
Peter Strzelecki handled the Cubs in the bottom of the 7th after the Cardinals failed to generate an offensive threat in the top of the inning. He pitched around an infield single by Carson Kelly to keep Chicago from adding to their lead. Ryan Zeferjahn was the Cubs solution for the top of the 8th inning. He struck out Masyn Winn, but Bryan Torres managed to pull a single into right field to give St. Louis a tiny bit of hope. José Fermín fought through a tough at-bat to draw a walk to give the Cardinals runners at first and second with just one out and the potential tying run coming up. César Prieto was that potential tying run, but all he could manage was a flyout to center for the second out. That brought up JJ Wetherholt who has had a solid season against Chicago pitching. Could he come up with a clutch hit? Nope. JJ struckout to end the Cardinals 8th. Wetherholt was 0-4 Friday.
Peter Strzelecki remained in the game to deal with the Cubs in the bottom of the 8th inning, too. He allowed a one-out double to Suzuki and also a two-out walk to Bregman to give Chicago runners at first and second for one more scoring chance. Fortunately, Strzelecki got Hoerner to ground out to keep St. Louis within 3 runs.
The St. Louis Cardinals top of the 9th inning would start with Iván Herrera. He would face Cubs reliever Jacob Webb who he would rip a single off of. Alec Burleson was next and he grounded into a fielder’s choice where Swanson and Bregman forced Herrera at second for the first out. It was Jordan Walker’s turn next. He quickly struck out on three pitches. Last hope for the good guys was Nathan Church. He flew out to end the game as the Cubs grabbed the victory.
It’s game 2 of the weekend series tomorrow as the St. Louis Cardinals battle the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field Saturday afternoon. Cardinals will give the ball to Michael McGreevy while the Chicago Cubs will start Matthew Boyd. First pitch is set for 1:20pm central time with the game broadcast available through Cardinals.tv.