Category: Baseball

The Dodgers have their first sweep of the second half, as they took care of business against the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday with a 4-2 victory.

The early game jitters flared up again for Eric Lauer, as he left two men on in the top of the first inning. He was one out away from a perfect second inning, but he walked the speedy Tyler Tolbert before Josh Rojas drove him home with a single to right field.

Mookie Betts erased the Kansas City lead by smashing his second home run in as many games, tying the score at 1. It’s the first time Betts has hit home runs in consecutive games since doing so from June 24-27.

Lauer began the third inning by striking out Bobby Witt Jr., but a wild throw from Mookie Betts allowed Jac Caglianone to reach second. The error proved costly as Salvador Pérez attacked the first pitch he saw and drove home Caglianone on a single to give the Royals the lead again.

As quick as the Royals were to strike back, the Dodgers answered back against Lynch in the bottom of the third inning. Miguel Rojas put the tying run on base with a double before Shohei Ohtani took Lynch the other way for a go-ahead, two-run home run, giving the Dodgers the lead and knocking the southpaw out of the game.

The Dodgers wasted a leadoff single from Betts in the bottom of the fourth, but Hunter Feduccia helped pad the lead with a solo home run against Mason Black in the bottom of the fifth inning. It was just the third career home run for Feduccia, and his first hit in a Dodger uniform.

After allowing three consecutive baserunners in the top of the third inning, Lauer kept the Royals at bay the rest of the way. He retired 10 consecutive hitters until he allowed a two-out walk to Isaac Collins in the top of the sixth inning. He ended his night by striking out Josh Rojas to begin the top of the seventh inning while tossing a season-high 112 pitches, the first time his pitch count reached triple digits this year. After allowing six runs in his most previous start, Lauer allowed just two runs while striking out six, the most in any start as a Dodger.

Landon Knack nearly let the lead slip, as he allowed a pair of two-out singles, but he got Luke Maile to ground out to first to get out of trouble. Knack ended up getting the final eight outs in relief of Lauer, giving him the third save of his career.

Mookie Betts added a walk to his two hits in the bottom of the sixth inning, and he finished the three-game set with a batting average at .545 while smashing two home runs and driving in three.

The Dodgers still hold onto a 7 1/2 game lead over the San Diego Padres for the NL West lead, and with the Milwaukee Brewers having been swept by San Diego, the Dodgers are now just one game back for the best record in baseball.

Game particulars

• Home runs— Mookie Betts (15), Shohei Ohtani (27), Hunter Feduccia (3)
• WP— Eric Lauer (7-6): 6 1/3 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs (1 earned run), 2 walks, 6 strikeouts
• LP— Daniel Lynch IV (4-4): 2 1/3 IP, 3 hits, 3 earned runs, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts
• SV— Landon Knack (1): 2 2/3 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts

Up next

The Dodgers continue their homestand on Thursday as they begin a four-game set against the Milwaukee Brewers (7:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Roki Sasaki faces Shane Drohan.

Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman fell directly into the Kansas City Royals dugout in the top of the eighth inning trying to catch a foul popup, and left the game after the defensive inning.

Royals left fielder Isaac Collins lofted a pop up into foul territory on the first base side, and Freeman tracked it the whole way. He reached to try to catch the ball, but was right at the opening in the dugout with no railing, and tumbled directly down the steps. He did not catch the ball.

Amazingly, Freeman remained in the game, but only to finish the inning on defense.

In the bottom of the eighth, Freeman was set to lead off, but was pinch-hit for by Tommy Edman, as Freeman retreated to the clubhouse for treatment. Kiké Hernández took over at first base in the ninth inning.

Spencer Jones described himself as a “chill bird.”

In his first stint in The Bronx, though, he acted differently than that description.

“First time around, you try so hard to do a lot of things,” the outfielder said Wednesday. “For me, I’m a chill bird, I just need to relax and allow myself to do as I do, and not force anything.”

When he returned July 26, Jones was determined to be himself. The results have followed.

The latest example came in the Yankees’ come-from-behind 10-5 win over the Mariners at the Stadium. Jones had a pair of doubles and three RBIs as the Yankees won for the fourth time in five games.

Jones has been particularly effective with runners in scoring position, posting a .981 OPS in such situations spanning 46 plate appearances. He has a simple approach with men on base.

“I think something that I learned when I was young, that I’ve always liked, was that when there’s runners on base there’s really no pressure on you at the plate. It’s more so on the pitcher on the mound,” Jones said. “That’s kind of the way I’ve always framed it and just recognize that the guys are going to try to get you out, they’re going to put stuff over the plate. As long as you do your job and don’t go chasing, you’ll get a pitch to hit.”

Jones’ recent emergence — he had a big day in Saturday’s win over the Braves and ace Chris Sale, driving in two runs — has been significant as the injury-ravaged Yankees search for offense. He had one of the biggest hits Wednesday, a two-run double that cut a three-run deficit to one in the third inning. Two innings later, he pulled the Yankees even with another double.

“I feel like he has had some adjustability. You start with obviously his size and strength and speed, and real natural power. He touches it on the barrel, it’s getting hit hard,” manager Aaron Boone said.

“But I feel like he’s done a good job of having professional at-bats every day. He understands some of his strengths and weaknesses. He has been pretty good at having a plan going up there, and knowing what that pitcher’s strengths and weaknesses are and then making a plan for that. He has shown some adaptability at this level, which has been good.”

After a rough outing, Will Warren blamed his emotions more than his pitches. 

The Yankees starting pitcher was victimized by three home runs, each coming off a different pitch, but his outing might be most remembered for a ball that found grass rather than seats. 

In the second inning, Seattle’s Brendan Donovan lofted a high fly into shallow center. Trent Grisham’s first instinct was to jog in — he later acknowledged he got a bad read on the ball — before realizing the fly ball should be his. 

The epiphany came too late, and George Lombard Jr.’s helpless lunge with his back to the plate was unsuccessful. The ball dropped for a gift double, and TV cameras caught Warren yelling in frustration. 

“You got to be able to control your emotions,” Warren said after the 10-5 win over the Mariners in The Bronx. “I don’t think I did a very good job of that tonight, and that’s probably why I got ran out of there in the fifth.” 

The second-inning misplay would not haunt him — Warren eventually induced a double play from Taylor Ward — but there were several other pitches that might. 

Five batters into the game, the Yankees were down 3-0 because Randy Arozarena turned a sweeper that was not even in the strike zone into a two-run home run to right field — “Wow,” said manager Aaron Boone, who couldn’t believe Arozarena hooked the homer rather than sliced it into foul territory — and Julio Rodríguez redirected a four-seamer over the right field wall. 

In the third, Dominic Canzone demolished a changeup to right — the 397-foot drive was no porch job — and the Mariners added another in the fifth when Fernando Cruz could not strand a runner Warren left on base. 

“Overall, just behind in the count,” Warren said after he was charged with five runs in four-plus innings on six hits and four walks, “and they made me pay.” 

At this point, Boone doesn’t have any plans to test Luis García Jr.’s defensive flexibility in a game. But Boone left the door open for that to happen at some point — whether it’s later in 2026 or beyond. 

García, whom the Yankees acquired ahead of the trade deadline, played second base — and struggled doing so — with the Nationals before switching to first base full-time this year. But with a logjam at first base with Ben Rice, and second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. stumbling and a free agent in the offseason, García taking grounders at other positions, as he did before Tuesday’s game, could become a more common scene. 

“Yeah, we’ll see,” Boone said when asked about García playing another position. “Kinda had him making sure he works out there all the time, and you watch him and I feel like he’s got real natural actions to me. … Just watching him work and move and things like that, I feel like he could.” 

Boone brought up García’s defensive versatility unprompted before the game, when asked about García fitting into the clubhouse and adding value at first base. 

“I feel like there’s more in there for him defensively,” Boone said of the 26-year-old, who has played 508 games at second base, 70 at shortstop and 101 at first base throughout his career entering play Wednesday. García had a minus-seven Outs Above Average at second base, according to Baseball Savant, and a minus-17 Defensive Runs Saved last season, according to FanGraphs — capturing the risk involved with any potential position switch. 

But Boone and infield coach Dan Fiorito have been impressed by García’s arm, and Fiorito added that García can slow the game down when balls are hit at him and has good hands. 

“We’ll kinda wait and see where everything kind of transitions,” Fiorito told The Post. “I mean, you saw García out here [Tuesday] taking ground balls at second and third, and that’s something that we’ll do with all first basemen — just kinda like working around the infield, doing it for their athleticism standpoints. We’ll see what kind of things open up for us as the year progresses.” 

Kervin Castro, who was placed on the 15-day injured list Tuesday with right elbow neuritis, could return this season, Boone said, although he might cut it close. 

The righty, who had been quietly effective in the bullpen (one run in 6 ⅓ innings), went down in late May with an injury that Boone said was similar and wound up sidelined for five weeks. There are six and a half weeks left in the season. 

Clarke Schmidt, who felt forearm cramping during a live batting practice Aug. 4, still has not returned to a mound. 

Schmidt, whom the Yankees have said has seen a doctor who believed the issue was just cramps rather than something more serious, has been throwing but on flat ground. 

“I know the last couple of days have gotten better each day throwing,” Boone said of Schmidt, who is hoping to return as a bullpen option this season after 2025 Tommy John surgery. 

Giancarlo Stanton (calf strain) ran the bases for a second straight day and appeared to come through OK. His next step, and if and when he would begin a rehab assignment, remains unclear.

Clippers 15, Storm Chasers 7

It was a massive game for the Clippers offense lead by number one prospect Ralphy Velazquez. He went 3-5 with 2 HRs and is officially starting to kick the door down. Will they call him up? Ralphy wasn’t the only Clipper to hit multiple HRs in this game. Guardians legend David Fry went 3-4 with two HRs and 6 RBIs, his AAA OPS is up to 1.209. Kody Huff went 2-5 with a HR of his own, and we also saw multi hit games from Cooper Ingle and Kyle Manzardo. All together the Clippers scored 15 runs on 15 hits with 9 walks to just 5 strikeouts. That’s a pretty great game offensively if you ask me.

Connor Brogdon, Trevor Stephan, and Daniel Espino all had scoreless innings in relief.

RubberDucks 4, Curve 3

The RubberDucks totaled just 4 hits tonight, but that can work when 3/4 of them were home runs. Ryan Cesarini homered yet again, along with Bennett Thompson and Dean Curley, who seems to be figuring it out at AA after a slow start.

Ryan Degges had another great start for the Ducks. He threw 4.1 scoreless innings while striking out 5 and walking 3. His ERA on the RubberDucks is still at 0.00.

Captains 4, Dragons 2

Welbyn Francisca juuust missed another home run tonight, he hit a line drive single that hit off the top of the wall and was limited to just a single. He went 2-4 and is now hitting .282 with a .932 OPS in High A. He just turned 20 years old a couple months ago so I don’t think they’ll do it, but I’d love to see him get a taste of AA this season. Jose Pirela welcome to High-A! He went 2-2 with a HR, a triple, and 2 walks. There’s a lot of swing and miss in his profile but he’s a tooled up kid with some real power potential, I hope he is able to figure it out.

Aidan Major made his High-A debut and allowed two runs in 4 innings pitched while striking out 4.

Howlers 1, Pelicans 3

The Howlers kept this from being an affiliate sweep tonight. They recorded just two total hits as a team.

Will Hynes had one of his better starts so far this season. He allowed just one earned run while striking out two batters in his 4 innings pitched. His ERA is down to 8.49 since being promoted to Hill City.

Well Tyler Mahle is two starts into his Braves’ tenure, but those two starts have been two of the best starts by a Brave not names Chris Sale this season, going 6.0 innings with strong strikeout numbers in each. There is one thing that definitely jumps out on his profile that the Braves may have changed and that is dramatically reducing his cutter usage, in favor of his four-seamer and splitter. It is also possible that they dropped his arm angle, but that is less clear from the season-long trends for him. If that can actually unlock a better version of Mahle, who has always had middle-of-the-rotation talent, that would be a huge win for the Braves and a huge feather in Jeremy Hefner’s cap.

Braves News

As much angst as there has been about Atlanta’s ABS savvy, often justifiably so, the Braves have been quite good on the defensive side of ABS.

Tyler Mahle twirled another gem, as the Braves secured another series win against the Mets, stretching the division lead to a massive 9.5 games in mid-August and 1.0 game behind Milwaukee for the #1 seed in the NL.

MLB News

Rays’ Yandy Diaz reached the threshold to secure his vesting option and a salary bump in the final year of his contract, as the Rays have the best record in baseball.

The Red Sox sent one of their top prospects, Harold Rivas to the Orioles as a player to be named later in the Adley Rutschman trade.

The Tigers placed Riley Greene on the IL with a hamstring strain.

Cubs Phil Maton is hitting the IL with a partially torn patellar tendon, but may be able to return this season.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs deconsecrated the St. Paul Saints (Twins), 7-6.

Braxton Garrett made his Cubs’ debut in this game and he had some major issues throwing strikes. Garrett only allowed one run on one hit over two innings, but he walked six batters while striking out just one. Only 29 of Garrett’s 62 pitches were strikes.

Hoby Milner pitched one inning on a rehab assignment. In the fifth inning, Milner gave up no runs, but did surrender one hit and allowed one run. He did not strike anyone out.

Connor Noland got the win in relief. Noland allowed three runs on seven hits over 3.2 innings. He struck out three and did not walk anyone.

Noland got in trouble in the ninth inning, giving up two runs and leaving runners on first and third with two outs when he was replaced by Tyler Ferguson. Ferguson threw one pitch, got a ground out to first base and collected the save.

The I-Cubs were held scoreless for the first five innings until right fielder Kevin Alcántara hit a two-run home run, his 19th on the year. (Or 20th if you count the one at Wrigley.) The Jaguar was 2 for 4 with a double and the home run.

Iowa took the lead for good with a five-run seventh inning, highlighted by a two-run home run by first baseman BJ Murray. It was Murray’s 14th this year. He went 1 for 5.

Left fielder Jordan Nwogu was 2 for 3 with a walk. He scored once and drove in two.

Second baseman Owen Miller went 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored.

The first Jaguar in orbit is Kevin Alcántara.

Big two-run single for Nwogu.

Murray’s home run tonight may not have landed in a cornfield, but it counts the same.

Justin Dean robs the Twins’ top prospect of extra bases.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies caged the Rocket City Trash Pandas (Angels), 7-1.

Connor Schultz started and took the win after allowing just one run on five hits over five innings. Schultz walked one and struck out one.

Shelby Miller pitched the sixth inning on a rehab appearance and struck out the side in order on 14 pitches.

DH Alex Ramírez hit a two-run double in the seventh inning. Ramírez went 2 for 5 and scored one run.

First baseman Miguel Useche doubled twice in a 2 for 5 night. He scored once and drove in one.

Catcher Ariel Armas went 3 for 4 with an RBI single in the sixth inning.

Second baseman Drew Bowser was 2 for 4 with an RBI single.

Left fielder Carter Trice bangs into the wall, but hangs on to the catch.

The Ramírez two-run double.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs were driven mad by the Great Lakes Loons (Dodgers), 11-3. The start of this game was delayed by 88 minutes.

Braylon Myers threw the first 2.1 innings and took the loss after he was charged with three runs on three hits. Myers walked three and struck out one.

Shortstop Angel Cepeda was 1 for 3 with a walk and two steals. He was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the eighth inning for one RBI.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans quieted the Hill City Howlers (Guardians), 3-1.

Jubrayker Salaya made his Low-A debut and pitched three innings. He allowed one unearned run on one hit. He struck out two and walked one.

Next up, Victor Zarraga threw three scoreless innings and got the win. Zarraga allowed just one baserunner, a hit batter, but then erased him in a double play so he faced the minimum. Zarraga struck out two.

The Pelicans divided the nine innings equally between three pitchers, and Julio Valdez got the three-inning save. Valdez gave up no runs on just one hit. He struck out two and walked one.

Right fielder Eli Lovich was 1 for 2 with a walk and a run scored.

Center fielder Ethan Conrad was 1 for 4 with a double.

Highlights:

At first, Wednesday emerged as an instance of Trent Grisham struggling in center field — despite the public support of Aaron Boone one day prior, despite the Yankees having another option in Spencer Jones who could play there and a dip at the plate not helping his case.

But by the end of the night, when the Yankees’ 10-5 win concluded, Grisham’s best offensive game in months made that — and his rough season at the plate at large with a $22 million contract — an afterthought.

Grisham crushed two homers, collected three hits and drove in four runs, delivering his second multihomer game of the season and ninth of his career.

He has collected multiple hits in three consecutive games, which tied his career best. And Grisham has gone 8-for-14 over his last four games, capturing one of his best stretches of the season as he attempts to fix a brutal start. 

“I don’t think he gets swung emotionally very much by highs and lows,” Boone said. “The reality is he’s putting together a lot of good at-bats right now for us, and we know that’s what he’s capable of — of setting the tone for us.” 

Grisham admitted that he wanted a better read on the ball off Brendan Donovan’s bat at the start of the second inning, which had an exit velocity of 70 mph and an expected batting average of .170, according to Baseball Savant. The shallow fly ball into center field started with Grisham slowly jogging in.

Shortstop George Lombard Jr. ended up wildly attempting to dive for it, tumbling to the ground as Donovan sprinted into second with a double. 

“It felt like the ball was up there long enough that a play could’ve been made if everyone got the right jump on it,” said Boone, who added that he still needed to watch the replay to see Grisham’s read. 

But the Yankees escaped the inning unscathed, and with two outs in the fifth inning, Grisham crushed a first-pitch sinker 364 feet to right field.

He drove in Lombard with a double in the seventh before adding his 15th homer of the season in the eighth, giving him three in the last four games. 

“Earlier in my career, I’ve gotten really high and really low, really emotional,” Grisham said. “What I’ve seen in the better players across the league usually just kinda stay even-keeled. … So I just try to emulate that as much as I can.” 

By the time the Yankees’ game ended Aug. 2, Grisham’s average had dipped to .211, the lowest it’d been since early June. His career season in 2025 kept fading.

But even with his power down one season after a career-best 34 homers, Grisham, at least for this 10-day stretch has started to ease some of those concerns.

“Hitting the ball in the seats and the gap,” Boone said, “I’ll sign up for that.”

WASHINGTON – Alex Bregman is more locked in than any hitter in the major leagues. The Chicago Cubs are as close to the Milwaukee Brewers as they’ve been in nearly three months.

And with three balls rocketing off Bregman’s bat Wednesday, Aug. 12, he and the Cubs served notice that their alliance is starting to turn lethal.

The two-time World Series champion and MVP runner-up crossed another item off his career to-do list, posting his first three-homer game as the Cubs withstood a stiff challenge from the Washington Nationals but burst the dam in the middle innings for a 12-6 victory.

The Cubs signed Bregman to a five-year, $140 million contract not only for his production but also his reputation as a human victory cigar, his mere presence uplifting teammates in a manner rare among ballplayers.

Yet after an epic run with the Houston Astros and a culture-shifting year spent in Boston, Bregman and the Cubs have proved a symbiotic relationship, grinders helping grinders.

This week, that came in the form of Bregman and major league development assistant Ben Martin poring over more than a decade of videos at 1 in the morning after the club arrived in Washington.

The video dated as far back as Bregman’s 2016 stint at Class AA Corpus Christi in the Astros’ system, and the duo used KinaTrax motion-capture data to chart changes in his swing.

The homework paid off: Bregman had two hits and a homer in the Cubs’ series-opening win Tuesday.

A night later came the booms.

His three-run homer off reliever Jake Bird in the fifth inning lifted Chicago to a 4-1 lead and after the Nationals tied it in the bottom half, his two-run blast off Yovanny Cruz an inning later pushed Chicago’s lead to 9-4, ensuring a lower-leverage game for the Cubs' bullpen.

For good measure, he piled on with a two-run shot in the eighth off veteran right-hander Trevor Williams, capping a perfect night: 3-for-3, three homers, two walks and an undeniable status that he’s been the game’s hottest hitter for three weeks running.

Since July 27, Bregman leads all major league hitters with 26 hits in 16 games. He’s slashing .394/.460/.788 in that span, with six home runs.

For reference: It took him 69 games spanning 10 weeks to hit his first six home runs of the season. Not that the Cubs really doubted the three-time All-Star and 2019 AL MVP runner-up.

Nor did Bregman.

“No. I knew,” Bregman said about tamping down any worries and retaining his confidence that, eventually, he’d break out. “But just gotta keep going. Gotta figure out what’s going on and address it. I feel like the last month or so has been a step in the right direction.

“But really, the last two days have been a real step in the right direction.”

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Padres fans and fans across the country.

Adrian Morejon is one of the longest tenured players on the roster for the San Diego Padres. The left-hander was signed in as an International Free Agent in 2016 and made his debut with the team in 2019. Morejon was initially being used as a starter but poor performances as a starter and injuries pushed him to the bullpen where he has blossomed into one of the most dominant relievers in MLB. The only bullpen arm who might be more dominant than Morejon is his teammate and current San Diego closer, Mason Miller. Morejon might not be the most dominant overall reliever in the game, but there is little argument that he is is the most dominant left-handed releiver in the game.

With his appearance today in the final game of the series against the Milwaukee Brewers at Petco Park, Morejon has a record of 9-2 with a 2.76 ERA. He pitched the 10th and 11th innings and was not perfect, but he was good enough to hold the team with the best record in baseball in the Brewers to two hits and an unearned run with two walks and four strikeouts. He now has 80 strikeouts over 65.1 innings and has appeared in 56 games this season for San Diego. Morejon was not as dominant as the Friar Faithful have come to expect, but that is understandable when you look at the fact that the Padres just finished a stretch of 26 games in 27 days, the last 16 of which came after the lone day off.

Morejon has been one of the primary contributors in the San Diego bullpen in recent years. He has become more prominent over the last two years as the setup man for the Padres. Morejon typically comes into games in the eighth inning of a game with a three-run lead or less. On most nights he mows down opposing hitters and then hands the game over to Miller who has recorded 30 saves on the season. Opponents know their opportunities will be limited over the final innings of the game once Morejon takes the mound.

It is important to note he is not married to the eighth inning role even though that is where he comes into most games. When Jason Adam is healthy, Morejon has come into the games in the seventh or even the sixth innings depending on where the matchups benefit the Padres. More recently Morejon has become the Shohei Ohtani specialist when San Diego plays the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Morejon’s days in San Diego may finally be coming to an end after he has spent a decade in the system. He will be a free agent at the end of the year and because of his performance and status in MLB, he could cash-in with a massive free-agent contract. It was for this reason that rumors about a possible Morejon trade could have been an option at the MLB Trade Deadline. All 29 MLB teams could use Morejon in some way in their ‘pen and many would make him their closer. The left-hander was not traded and made it clear prior to the deadline he did not want to be traded. In fact, he told members of the media who were assembled in the locker room that he would like to look at the possibility of remaining with the Padres beyond this season.

Every fan likes to play general manager, so Gaslamp Ball is giving respondents the opportunity to do just that with the Gaslamp Ball Reacts Survey poll question this week. Do you think the Padres should extend Morejon? That’s it. Just a simple “Yes” or “No.” Results will be posted later in the week.

Brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.

ATLANTA — Tobias Myers went from a valued arm for the Mets early this season to far removed from the major league mix as the season nears the home stretch.

The right-hander, who was demoted in June, has pitched to an 8.24 ERA over his past eight appearances for Triple-A Syracuse, most recently utilized as a starter.

Myers began the season as a swingman for the Mets after arriving with Freddy Peralta in a trade with the Brewers last winter.

“He has the kind of stuff and has demonstrated the kind of stuff that gets people out in the big leagues,” interim manager Andy Green said before the Mets’ 6-3 loss to the Braves on Wednesday at Truist Field. “It hasn’t been showing in Triple-A right now. He has the capacity to change that. He’s got great work ethic. He’s just got to demonstrate it. If he does, I fully expect to see him.”

Myers’ dip in velocity has been the most significant issue, according to Green.

“The most recent outing he was sitting around 90 [mph],” Green said. “He’s been successful in the big leagues, there was an outing last year he went 3 ¹/₃ [innings], he was up to 98 and was sitting at 96. He has bullied hitters with his fastball and then the split plays off it. That is not happening right now. That belongs to him, and our pitching group is there to help him. But he’s got the opportunity to change that and he’s somebody we do believe in and want back here.”

Cristian Pache spent most of the season at Syracuse wondering if he would get an opportunity with the Mets. The veteran is now receiving that opportunity as the team’s fifth outfielder following the trade that sent Tyrone Taylor to the Cubs.

“I will keep working to play,” Pache said. “I want to do more for the team.”

Pache has primarily served as a late-inning defensive replacement in games Brett Baty has started in the outfield.

“The elite defense, the baserunning, kind of fits that role for us if we need that,” Green said. “Those are the skill sets we value with him and there’s not a lot of starts [for him] with the other guys in the outfield.”

Francisco Alvarez’s .838 OPS for August entering play wasn’t unnoticed by Green.

“I think [his at-bats] have just been really competitive, every one of them, for the most part,” Green said. “The power is there. The hits are there. He’s starting to drive in runs as well. Alvy’s ceiling is still astronomically high. He has the capacity to do so much in this game and to see a lot of it come out and see his OPS continue to march northward, it’s fun to see.”

The Mets fell to 18-21 against NL East opponents this season. They will continue their division slate with three games against the Nationals beginning Friday at Citi Field.

If you don’t know about the psychologist Erik Erikson, in addition to having a pleasing name to say, he was a pretty cool guy who studied identity formation (with specific cultural contexts, way before anyone was doing that), describing eight distinct life stages, each guided by an existential question. The 2026 Mariners have been making me think about a lot of existential questions, like why baseball hurt so much?, and none so many as tonight, when they dangled the possibility of a slump-busting win only to fall in the late innings at Yankee Stadium in particularly grueling fashion.

According to Erikson, the first stage of life – infancy – is marked by the psychological crisis of trust vs. mistrust. The world is big and scary and unfamiliar, and it’s unclear as to what can be trusted. That’s a battle Mariners fans have been going back and forth on with this 2026 team, who have been seemingly unable to string together nine innings of cohesive baseball, let alone a winning streak. But lately the Mariners have been so bad it’s almost felt comforting. Familiar. Consistent, even if it’s terrible. So it wasn’t thrilling so much as it was frightening when they posted a three-run first inning against Yankees starter Will Warren. With one out, Cole Young hit an oppo ground ball single with one out. Is it time to start beating the “put Cole Young back at leadoff” drum a little more loudly? Randy Arozarena continued his homer-hitting ways, lacing a sweeper off the plate just over the right field wall for a two-run homer. With two outs, Julio Rodríguez added on with a solo homer of his own. Three runs! In the first inning! The Mariners fan mind cannot comprehend.

But for those of us torn between trust and mistrust, and heavily on the side of mistrust, it’s hard not to see another example of the Mariners not fully jumping on a pitcher early. It only took three pitches to make those two outs between the home runs, both outs pounded into the ground. Probably nothing to worry about, right? Right?

Maybe a little something to worry about, because Bryce Miller gave back one of those runs right away in the bottom of the inning. Toddlerhood, per Erikson, is marked by a struggle for autonomy – asserting likes and dislikes as a way to mark oneself as an independent entity in the world. Freed from the confines of the piggyback, these last starts down the stretch have been Bryce Miller’s opportunity to prove he deserves to stand as an autonomous unit. But today Miller’s repertoire essentially shrunk to two, maybe three pitches, as he went all fastball/sinker supplemented with the splitter. Miller didn’t throw his cutter a single time today, explaining he doesn’t like that pitch against this lineup, and he threw just two sweepers and one slider.

“I wish I would’ve thrown a few more curveballs,” he said postgame, but noted the primary thing he needed to do was execute his pitches better, especially at pivot points.

“I couldn’t execute,” he said. “I couldn’t make the pitches when I needed to. All the runs they scored on me were with two outs…I gotta execute with two outs and two strikes.”

Things got worse in the third, despite Canzone chipping in another solo homer to give the Mariners that run back. But the Yankees seemed ready for what Miller wanted to do in the third, starting with a leadoff double from Austin Wells, who dropped the head of the bat on a fastball in his lefty loop zone for a hard-hit two-bagger. It looked like Bryce might escape the inning without letting the run score, but he opted to go six straight splitters to Ben Rice, who refused to chase them, issuing a two-out walk (bad Bryce!). Miller then got into a long battle with Spencer Jones, feeding him almost nothing but fastballs (and one splitter) but unable to miss Jones’s bat. Finally, on the eighth pitch of the at-bat Miller left a 96.6 mph fastball middle-low for a two-run double that drew the Yankees within a run. The psychological crisis of toddlerhood, according to Erickson, is the tension between a desire for autonomy and shame/doubt. The psychological crisis for me watching this game is the tension between me truly, deeply believing Bryce Miller is a good pitcher, and the doubt tonight’s performance engendered.

The Mariners offense had opportunities in this game, which is the frustrating part of tonight’s loss for me. In the second, a leadoff “double” (flyball that dunked into no-man’s land) for Brendan Donovan, followed by a walk to Cal Raleigh, ultimately went nowhere after a Colt Emerson strikeout and a Taylor Ward GIDP. After Canzone’s homer in the third, Julio and Cal Raleigh worked back-to-back walks, only for Donovan to hit an inning-ending groundout. A leadoff single in the fourth from Raleigh was stranded with another Emerson strikeout and back-to-back groundouts from Ward and Young, Ward’s on a first-pitch swing.

The backbreaker for me was the fifth inning. Randy Arozarena led off with a 12-pitch walk – the longest plate appearance of his career – that bounced Warren from the game. With Fernando Cruz in, Dominic Canzone popped out on the second pitch he saw, for the second time that game making a quick out following a strong plate appearance by Randy. Julio Rodríguez then walked, and Josh Naylor singled up the middle to bring in a run and give the Mariners some breathing room, but more importantly, keep the line moving with just one out. But then a pair of Yankees fans stormed the field, causing a delay, and Aaron Boone yanked Cruz to replace him with lefty Tim Hill, and once again, Brendan Donovan went after the second pitch he saw for an inning-ending GIDP. Per Erickson, the existential question of early childhood (3-6 years) has to do with the safety of exploring the larger world: is it okay for me to do, move, and act? I would prefer the Mariners hitters ask themselves these questions when standing in the box considering their swing choices.

As expected, the Yankees went on to tie it up in the fifth against Miller. With Miller’s repertoire limited, the Yankees were clearly looking for the sinker or fastball early in counts. Austin Wells swung hard at a first-pitch sinker for a flyout, followed by George Lombard Junior doing the same on a four-seamer, flying out to Canzone. Finally, Trent Grisham was able to get one of those early-swing flyballs over the wall, jumping on a first-pitch sinker for a Yankee Stadium special (364 feet, .130 xBA), to bring the Yankees within a run once again. Ben Rice followed that with a double on one of the two sweepers Miller threw tonight, and then Spencer Jones again ambushed a first-pitch fastball for a back-to-back double, tying the game.

The Mariners had a chance to go ahead in the sixth. Cal Raleigh led off with another walk, and as frustrating as this game was, Cal Raleigh showing some better discipline at the plate is a good sign, she said, lacing up her clown shoes securely. But Colt Emerson struck out, and despite Taylor Ward reaching on a fielding error that should have been a GIDP, Young and Arozarena went on to make back-to-back two-pitch weak contact outs to quell that threat.

Bryce Miller managed to make it through the sixth, almost getting into some more two-out trouble when Ryan McMahon narrowly missed a homer on a splitter at the bottom of the zone; he was thrown out trying to stretch for a double thanks to a nails throw by Canzone in right. But the Mariners weren’t able to carry that momentum forward in the top of the seventh; Josh Naylor took a two-out walk but was picked off for the third out of the inning, surprised by Paul Blackburn. The Mariners took seven walks tonight, and scored just one of them. Late childhood and adolescence, says Erikson, is the age of looking around and assessing oneself against one’s peers: do I have what it takes to make it in the world? What is my identity? This late in the season, it feels like the Mariners still lack an identity.

The Yankees finally went ahead in this in the bottom of the seventh, making some more hard, loud contact off Gabe Speier. George Lombard Jr. singled, then scored on a Trent Grisham double. “That’s a double, and that’s the Yankee lead” crowed Karl Ravech on ESPN, and it felt like he said “and that’s the ballgame,” and that’s also how it felt, a feeling only intensified when Ben Rice added on with a hard-hit single up the middle Colt Emerson couldn’t handle to score another run. After an intentional walk to righty Heliot Ramos, Speier was supposed to get lefty Jazz Chisholm, but walked in a run instead to put the game even further out of reach. We’re up to the stage of early adulthood, marked by romantic/interpersonal relationships in Erikson’s schema, so I’m going to hold your hand while I tell you that Cole Young was removed prior to this inning with “dizziness.” Cole Young has been the emotionally loadbearing One Good Thing about this cursed season, so this one feels like an extra little kick in the throat from the baseball gods.

From here on, the game went about as you expect. The deficit got bigger, with Nick Davila giving up a second homer to Grisham, making it 10-5. The Mariners failed to add on. The announcers, both national and local, turned to different topics of conversation other than the game.

Middle adulthood, says Erickson, is driven by the existential question “can I make my life count?” (It always comes back to Mary Oliver, you know this by now.) There is something about a baseball season – spanning seasons, all the life events that can happen between March and October, easily markable gateposts – that inspires one to think about mortality. And there is something about the Mariners, in particular, that inspires one to think about how one is counting out the days of one’s life, or what it says about us to tie ourselves to this continually underperforming, disappointing, frustrating baseball franchise. I’m not there yet chronologically, but hoping I can mentally, at least, get to Erickson’s final stage of identity development sometime before the end of this season: ego integrity vs. despair, the answer to the question “was it okay to be me a Mariners fan?”

A platoon pairing with a homer apiece, Austin Riley ending the night a triple short of the cycle, a reminder not to run on Ronald Acuña Jr., and much more. 

It was an eventful 6-3 Braves win. I’ve got your AA apology forms right here.

Mets starter Zac Thornton had only given up three home runs coming into tonight’s series finale, and the fourth came rocketing off the bat of Lane Thomas in the second inning to get the scoring started. Thomas belatedly acknowledged the bullpen as he rounded the bases, but hey, it was his first homer as a Brave. He gets a pass this once.

The Braves tacked on another run in the bottom of the third courtesy of Ronald Acuña Jr. After his leadoff walk, he advanced to third on a Drake Baldwin single and came home to score after Matt Olson hit into a double play. Ronald drove in another in the fifth after an Austin Riley double and a Sean Murphy single, but was thrown out at second. It was a little payback from the Mets after Jared Young, in the top of the same inning, forgot the golden rule: don’t run on Ronald.

All in all, this was three (3) more runs of support for Tyler Mahle than he received in his Braves debut versus the Yankees last Friday. 

Mahle’s home debut started inauspiciously – a nine-pitch at-bat led to a leadoff single in the first for A.J. Ewing. But he rebounded to set down the next three Mets in order. 

He built upon his impressive debut with yet another six strong innings of work. He likely could have gone deeper if he didn’t have so many full counts to various Metropolitans. The lone blemish on his final line was a leadoff homer to catcher Luis Torrens in the sixth, but otherwise he scattered four total hits and struck out seven on 93 pitches. 

Mahle departed with the Braves leading 3-1. Dylan Dodd took over for the Braves in the seventh and gave up a solo homer to Luis Robert Jr. to make it 3-2. 

But the Braves would get those two runs back and then some. 

Platoon perfection was achieved with Mike Yastrzemski coming off the bench to lead off the bottom of the seventh to face Dedniel Núñez. Yaz saw a ball high before sending the second pitch 102 mph to right center.

Austin Riley, already with a single and a double on the evening, wanted in on the action and crushed a slider a whopping 438 feet to left center field. Back-to-back dingers are the most fun way to get two runs back, change my mind. 

Núñez struck out Murphy but allowed a double to Ronald before being lifted. Jefry Yan of the exuberant strikeout celly immediately allowed an RBI single to Baldwin to make it 6-2 Braves. Yan got Olson swinging, but kept it demure on the mound given the score. Ozzie Albies’ lineout ended the frame.

Dodd turned the ball over to his fellow Dylan, and Lee worked a scoreless eighth inning with nothing of note besides the two-out walk to Ewing.

Once again, we find ourselves with a comfortable four-run lead. Once again, we see Raisel Iglesias enter in the top of the ninth in a non-save situation. Once again, we are all a little more clenched than we thought we’d be.

The drama began with a Bo Bichette homer to lead off the inning. Then followed a Carson Benge double and a Luis Robert Jr. walk. The tying run, Jared Young, came to the plate with no outs. Somewhere in the dugout, Mahle began to wonder if the price for every good start of his was a meltdown for Iggy. It had only happened once, but it sure looked like it might be happening again.

But our closer, dear reader, remembered who he was: an All-Star. And he needed all of seven (7) pitches to get Jared Young to ground out, Francisco Alvarez to pop out, and Marcus Semien to ground out to end it. Deep breaths!

The Braves take the rubber match and the series with tonight’s final score of 6-3. But almost more importantly: the Braves ABS score vs. (soon-to-be retiring) umpire Andy Fletcher was 4-1 (Ronald winning one in the first, and Sean getting three correct before a failed Hail Mary in the ninth). There’s a lot to like about how the Braves are playing lately: clutch hitting, good pitching, contributions from our new guys, and if we can finally get good at ABS? Watch out, league.

The Braves are back in action on Friday with the Arizona Diamondbacks coming to town. Chris Sale will get the ball starting at 7:15 pm ET.

Man, it feels good to score runs.

The Yankees have gone 18-10 in the last month, but you wouldn’t guess it by looking at the lineup. They’ve been carried by great pitching, and they got that from their bullpen tonight, but not the starter. At least they followed my perpetual advice — score 10 runs and worry about the rest later. They did exactly that, putting up double digits in tonight’s 10-5 win.

We do need to talk about the start. I do not think that Will Warren is long for this rotation. Ryan Weathers has already impressed enough on his own, but another lackluster outing tonight makes the decision between the two of them ever easier. Two home runs in the first inning had the Yankees down 3-0 before they took a swing in anger, and yes, Trent Grisham needs to make this play, but Warren didn’t do himself any favors after.

George Lombard Jr. is an outstanding defender. He should not be the one responsible for that ball; that is Grish’s all the way but the Yankee center fielder couldn’t get into second gear, and the leadoff hitter was on board. Warren was visibly unimpressed by the effort, and did manage to pick up Grisham by getting out of the inning, but trouble continued from there.

Warren surrendered a third homer in the third inning, immediately after the Yankees had managed to scratch out a run and make the game a little closer. He was yanked after walking the first batter of the fifth inning. Four-plus innings, five earned runs — Randy Arozarena, who hit one of those first-inning bombs, came around to score after the free pass — and four walks against three strikeouts. He had no out pitch to lean on, nothing to offer when he really needed a whiff.

This is the fourth time in the last 10 starts that he has been charged with at least five earned runs. He is the fifth starter in this rotation, but even fifth starters have to be a little more reliable than that. That this happens at a time when the Yankee lineup actually woke up a little bit today makes everything worse. When Carlos Rodón returns I doubt we will see Warren start another game this year, barring further injuries to the roster.

Fortunately the Yankees were able to touch Mariners’ starter Bryce Miller, with Ryan McMahon driving a double in the second to open the scoring, even as he was thrown out at third to end the frame:

Funny enough, Mac would get hosed down at second in the sixth inning, after bouncing a ball off the wall in right. McMahon’s actually hit somewhat respectably over the last six weeks or so but we may need to talk about his baserunning.

Meanwhile, Spencer Jones continued to hit the ball well, driving in a trio with two doubles:

I think Jones is always going to struggle to find consistency, at least until he finds some way to shorten up his swing. With tonight’s effort he’s back over 100 wRC+, after the two doubles and being dotted on the jersey in the team’s big seventh inning. I do not enjoy the aesthetic of his game, but if he hits like this, you take it.

And to his credit, Trent Grisham made up for that centerfield snafu, with perhaps the two biggest hits of the game. One to get the Yankees within one:

And one to put them ahead:

Ben Rice followed up with a single of his own to give the Yankees lucky number seven, and three batters later Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked with the bases loaded, the fourth big PA by a Yankee lefty against the lefty reliever. That Jazz was able to take his walk after Heliot Ramos was IBB’d purely to get the lefty-lefty matchup must have felt even better for the onetime-slugger who has struggled all year.

Brett Headrick continued his dominance with his 52nd scoreless outing of the year, dominating the Mariners in the eighth for the second straight night. Headrick has thrown 24 pitches in this series, getting six outs, and beginning to feel a little like prime Dellin Betances, from the south side. Grisham added his third extra-base hit of the day, allowing the team to say “**** the closer”:

The Yankees have now won four of their last five series, even though I know it doesn’t quite feel like it. This was the first game in two weeks that it seemed they were in control of, clawing back right away after being down early, and the whole lineup contributing to pull ahead.

Another 10 runs might be a bit too much to ask tomorrow in the series finale, but games get a lot easier to win if you get on base and hit a bunch of doubles and homers. We wrap this series up with a day game, 1:35pm Eastern first pitch from Max Fried against Logan Gilbert for Seattle.

Box Score

Yankees 10, Mariners 5

The joy and wonder of childhood: Randy Arozarena, .13 WPA

Diaper blowouts: Gabe Speier, -.36 WPA

Game thread comment of the day:

Feels a little cheating/low effort to make a gif the GTCOTD, but, well, it certainly mirrors the effort this team has put forth lately.

Michael Arroyo Threat Level:

SCIOSCIA