Category: Sports News

The Orioles picked up some momentum last weekend with a series win over the first-place Rays. The good vibes evaporated when the Birds lost three straight to New York, but Baltimore can right the ship today with another series victory over Tampa Bay.

Brandon Young (9-3, 3.52 ERA) will take the mound for the Orioles. Young lasted only four innings in his last outing against Tampa. He’ll look to keep the ball in the park this evening after surrendering three homers last week.

The Rays will counter with left-handed starter Shane McClanahan (9-6, 3.25 ERA). McLanahan failed to complete four innings last week against Baltimore, and the Orioles will look to build on that success tonight.

Jackson Holliday will bat leadoff and play second base. He’ll be followed by designated hitter Pete Alonso and first baseman Coby Mayo. Right fielder Tyler O’Neill will bat cleanup, and Gunnar Henderson will slide down to fifth against the lefty.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand will bat sixth and handle the hot corner. Left fielder Christian Franklin, center fielder Leody Taveras, and catcher Carlos Narváez will complete the lineup. Look for Colton Cowser and Dylan Beavers to be available as pinch-hitters after McClanahan leaves the game.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Orioles need wins to keep up in the wild card chase. Tonight would mark another step in the right direction.

Orioles lineup

1. J Holliday (L) 2B
2. P Alonso (R) DH
3. C Mayo (R) 1B
4. T O’Neill (R) RF
5. G Henderson (L) SS
6. C Encarnacion-Strand (R) 3B
7. C Franklin (R) LF
8. L Taveras (S) CF
9. C Narváez (R) C

Starter: RHP Brandon Young

TONIGHT’S GAME: The first-place Houston Astros (65-64), who own a slim 1.0-game lead in the AL West over the Rangers, will play the middle game of their huge three-game weekend series against the A’s (49-80) tonight at Daikin Park.

RHP Hunter Brown (3-3, 3.67 ERA) will get the start tonight for the Astros opposite the A’s and LHP Jacob Lopez (5-4, 5.22 ERA).

DIESEL POWER: RHP Hunter Brown will make his 14th start of the season and his 11th since returning from a lengthy stint on the IL with a right shoulder strain. The 2025 All-Star has started to round into form over his last five starts, going 2-2 with a 3.14 ERA (10ER/28.2IP) with 29 strikeouts, a .186 opponent average (19×102) and a 1.08 WHIP.

THE TURNAROUND: After a slow start to the season, the Astros are 45-33 since May 22, which is the second-best record in the AL in that span. On that date, the Astros were 20-31, 11 games under, which is their low water mark for the season.

THAT’S OFFENSIVE: Among AL teams, the Astros rank first in slugging (.411), first in total bases (1779), third in home runs (170), third in runs scored (587), and third in OPS (.728). In the Majors, the Astros rank fourth in homers, trailing only the Nationals (183), Yankees (176) and White Sox (171).

PLAYERS’ WEEKEND: It’s MLB Players’ Weekend, which provides MLB players the opportunity to showcase the people, passions and causes that make them who they are on and off the field. After originally taking place from 2017-19 and then re-imagined in 2024, this sixth edition of Players’ Weekend brings personal stories and self-expression to life through custom bats and cleats, and a wide breadth of storytelling across MLB platforms.

THE DOG DAYS: The Astros will hold two Dog Days, tonight and tomorrow at Daikin Park. On both days, the first 500 dogs to enter the park will receive an exclusive Astros Dog Toy. There will also be fun activities for dogs to participate in and will be dog-related vendors in attendance in Hall of Fame Alley.

VS. THE A’S: This is the third of four series between the Astros and A’s this season, with Houston going 4-3 in their seven games. After this series, the two clubs will match up for a four-game series in Sacramento to end the regular season from Sept. 24-27.

MVP-CALIBER:Yordan Alvarez holds the lead in all AL Triple Crown categories, ranking first in average (.321), first in HR (36) and first in RBI (90). Additionally, he leads MLB in OPS (1.052), OBP (.434), SLG (.618), and TB (283). In the AL, he ranks first in XBH (64), second in hits (147), walks (87), and runs (85), and tied for third in doubles (28)…

YOR-GONE!: DH Yordan Alvarez (36 HR) is just one homer shy of matching his career high in homers, which was 37, hit in 2022.

HIT PAREDES: 3B Isaac Paredes has gone 11 straight games without a strikeout, taking 45 plate appearances in those contests. He’s also hit safely in 10 of his last 13 games (since Aug. 7), while batting .375 (18×48) with five doubles, one home run, eight RBI, and a .986 OPS in that span.

AUGUST HEROES: 2B Jose Altuve is having a strong month, hitting .339 (20×59) with a .403 OBP and an .861 OPS in 17 games this month. Also, RF Cam Smith is hitting .296 (16×54) with four homers, 10 RBI and an .884 OPS in 17 games in August.

PEÑA SIDELINED: The Astros have been without SS Jeremy Peña the last two games due to a right hand contusion, suffered on a HBP on Wednesday. The Astros have been a different team with Peña in the lineup this season, going 43-33 in his 76 starts.

STREAK SNAPPED: 1B Christian Walker had his run of errorless games come to an end last night at an incredible 121 consecutive games. Prior to last night, he was the only qualified infielder in the Majors without an error on the season.

THE CLOSER: LHP Josh Hader has made 500 career appearances and is the 11th active pitcher to reach that milestone. Hader has been stellar since returning from injury in June, going 4-1 with a 0.87 ERA (3ER/31IP), 41 strikeouts, a .123 opponent average (13×106) and a 0.77 WHIP, while converting all 18 of his save chances in 32 appearances.

MY BOY BLU!: RHP A.J. Blubaugh has taken a commanding Major League lead in innings pitched as a reliever with 78.0, far ahead of second-place LHP Aaron Ashby (68.2IP). The Astros have not had a reliever lead the Majors in innings pitched since RHP Doug Jones (111.2IP) in 1992.

DOWN ON THE FARM: Several of the Astros minor league clubs are having success this season:

• Triple A Sugar Land: In the second half, the Space Cowboys (34-15) are in first in the PCL East Division.

• Class A Fayetteville: For the second half, the Woodpeckers are in first place in the South Atlantic League North Division with a 30-20 (.600) record.

• Rookie Level FCL Astros: The Astros won the Florida Complex League championship, finishing with a 42-11 (.792) record in the regular season.

• Rookie Level DSL Astros: The DSL Astros Orange finished with a 33-20 record and advanced to the DSL playoffs, going 1-1 so far in their current three-game series vs. the DSL Padres.

TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY: 1988 – Rookie C Craig Biggio hits his first Major League homer, a go-ahead solo shot in the 10th inning, in the Astros 9-7 win in 10 innings at Wrigley Field. The homer comes off future HOFer RHP Goose Gossage in what was Biggio’s 33rd MLB game. The future HOFer Biggio would go on to hit 291 career HR, which ranks third in club history.

Game Info

Game Date/Time:  Saturday, August 21, 6:10 p.m. CT

Location:  Daikin Park, Houston, TX

TV: Space City Home Network

Radio: KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; ESPN Radio (National); TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)

LOS ANGELES — Dodgers All-Star center fielder Andy Pages is expected out for about a month after suffering a fracture of his left hand on Friday night courtesy of a 100-mph fastball. He was placed on the injured list on Saturday, with Alek Thomas recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City to fill some time in center field.

Thomas starts in center field and bats eighth on Saturday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates in his Dodgers debut, wearing uniform number nine.

The Dodgers acquired the 26-year-old Thomas from the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 12 for minor league outfielder Jose Requena. With Oklahoma City, Thomas was hitting .296/.362/.493 with a 108 wRC+, seven home runs, 17 doubles, and three doubles in 55 games.

Before he was designated for assignment in May, Thomas this season hit .181/.222/.340 with a 50 wRC+ in 28 games and 100 plate appearances for Arizona.

In 431 career games and 381 starts over five major league seasons, Thomas in center field has totaled 13 Outs Above Average and six Defensive Runs Saved.

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, August 22, 2026, 7:15 p.m. ET

The Pittsburgh Pirates are back on the national stage, the Pirates take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second match of a three-game set.

Getting the ball for the Pirates is Jared Jones, who is making his 15th start of the season. He pitched earlier this season against the Dodgers on June 10 at PNC Park, going four innings and giving up three hits and two earned runs as the Buccos won 9-8. He has struggled as of late, losing each of his last four starts, including his last appearance on August 15 against the Boston Red Sox. Jones pitched five innings, giving up four hits and one earned run in a 4-0 loss at home.

The Dodgers are handing the ball to Tarik Skubal for just the fourth time as a member of the team. He was acquired by the Dodgers from the Detroit Tigers in a blockbuster deal ahead of the trade deadline earlier this month. Skubal has struggled since arriving in Los Angeles, losing two of his three starts, including his latest appearance against the Milwaukee Brewers on August 16. He went six innings, giving up seven hits and one earned run in a 6-2 loss against the best team in the National League.

Location: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA

Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, FOX

Pitching Matchup: Jared Jones (2-5, 4.78 ERA) vs. Tarik Skubal (7-7, 2.85 ERA)

BD community, this is your gameday thread for today’s game. Chime off in the comments section below.

Mets Lineup

1. A.J. Ewing – CF
2. Francisco Lindor – SS
3. Bo Bichette – 3B
4. Carson Benge – RF
5. Jared Young – 1B
6. Luis Robert – LF
7. Brett Baty – DH
8. Marcus Semien – 2B
9. Francisco Alvarez – C

SP: Christian Scott – RHP

White Sox Lineup

1. Sam Antonacci – LF
2. Munetaka Murakami – 1B
3. Miguel Vargas – 3B
4. Andrew Benintendi – DH
5. Braden Montgomery – RF
6. Colson Montgomery – SS
7. Chase Meidroth – 2B
8. Tristan Peters – CF
9. Drew Romo – C

SP: Luis Castillo – RHP

Broadcast info

First pitch: 7:10pm EDT
TV: SNY
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2

Still looking for win #50. The A’s have another shot at it today after dropping the series opener to the Houston Astros last night.

Jacob Lopez is getting the ball to start today’s game. He’s done well in his second chance in the starting rotation so far. In six post-All Star Break starts he’s sporting a 2.48 ERA with a much stronger K?BB ratio. He went six full innings last time out, allowing just two runs on five hits against the Rangers.

Here’s the A’s lineup today:

As for Houston, they have right-hander Hunter Brown on the bump for them this evening. He’s taken a step back from his dominant performance last year but he’s still a tough pitcher to go up against. The A’s need to take advantage of every opportunity they have against him tonight.

And the Houston starting nine:

Can the A’s snap this losing streak? It’s about time. Let’s go A’s!

Follow the Game:
Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA

Listen:
Athletics -Talk 650 KSTE, A’s Cast

Anaheim Angels @ Texas Rangers

Saturday, August 22, 2026, 6:05 PM CDT (KRLD 1080 / Rangers Sports Network)

The Shed

RHP Ryan Johnson vs. LHP Cody Bradford

Go Rangers!

It’s really something to see a true one-of-one. The first time it really stuck, it really happened to me, was Usain Bolt in 2008 in Beijing. With all due respect to what Michael Phelps did in those Olympics, there’s something primal about the 100m dash, something we’ve been doing as a species since Urk bragged to Gru he could get to that rock over there first. It was quite something for 14-year-old Joshua to see the seven fastest men in the world three steps behind this freak — and I say that with the utmost admiration.

Of course Bolt did that two more times in those Games, then broke his own record at the World Championships in Berlin a year later—still the fastest time ever recorded—and then in London, and just for good measure took home the gold in the 100m and 200m in Rio in 2016. The greatest sprinter of all time and a 100th-percentile outcome for what the human body can be. Bolt went out with a whimper though, pulling up lame in the 4x100m relay final at the 2017 World Championships. A hamstring injury mid-race spelled the end of one of sports’ great, fiery comets.

You almost never get to go out on your own terms, especially in athletics. Eventually, your body—the thing that earned you a living, the thing that elevated you over pretty much the entire global population—lets you down. Giancarlo Stanton is also a true one-of-one. You could make a compelling argument that nobody in the history of baseball has boasted his raw power. Perhaps nobody in the sport has ever had so many home runs where the defenders simply didn’t move upon contact:

And of course, like A-Rod in 2009, there’s a very good chance the Yankees don’t even make the World Series in ‘24 if Stanton doesn’t hammer the ball like he can. Cleveland in particular had no answer whatsoever to the ALCS MVP, who showered Guardians pitching with four clutch homers. He had a 1.048 OPS that postseason and likely walks away with 18 career playoff homers and a .926 OPS in 202 plate appearances.

And as ever, you almost never get to go out on your own terms. Giancarlo Stanton was last on an MLB field on April 24th, and a couple calf strains later—most recently this week—his 2026 season is likely over. With labor unrest on the horizon, and just one guaranteed year left on his massive contract, you wouldn’t be in the wrong to assume Stanton’s career is effectively over. Yes, the Yankees may keep him around because it’s just one year, the Marlins are kicking in some cash, there’s probably insurance on the contract, maybe he plays a bit next year and is on one of his now-legendary heaters … but the news coming down yesterday felt like a coup de grâce.

For all his power and all his talent, Stanton always felt a little out of place — perhaps partially because of that one-of-a-kind power tool. His 13-year, $325 million contract was always real money but also always seen as “someone else’s problem,” with few in the industry thinking the Marlins, particularly the Jeffrey Loria Marlins, were going to keep him through the length of the deal. When he came to the Yankees as the reigning NL MVP after the glorious ride that was 2017, it felt like a near-coronation that the Baby Bombers were going to run the table in the AL for the foreseeable future.

Instead, he had a strong season even as the promised Twin Terrors of he and Aaron Judge didn’t quite take off in the way we thought. From there on, we were penciling in IL time every year. Even as Stanton slugged through Octobers, he was always great but not always on the field. The last two seasons have been particularly challenging, if Big G doesn’t play again this year that’ll be a combined 101 appearances since the start of 2025. He’s been quite productive in those 101 games, two full wins which is quite something for an all-stick, no legs DH. Playing in just 31 percent of team games, as ever, is the catch.

If this is the end for Stanton, not only do we close a chapter of Yankee history; nearly a decade with MVP-caliber bats ostensibly in the middle of the order, but we likely see the end of what was an outside shot at the Hall of Fame. So much of Stanton’s case was going to be how close he could get to 500 home runs. He sits at 456 at press time, if he wants to hang around the league I’m sure some team will sign him on the cheap — he’ll get every penny of that $325 mil no matter what the Yankees decide to do — and try and capitalize on the chase.

Stanton will also be 37 next Opening Day, with a persistent problem in his lower half. At the start of the year he had two skills, hit the ball hard and jog softly around the bases. We don’t know if that skillset has been reduced to just a single one. Remember, the initial calf injury popped up when he was simply moving to second base on a walk.

Maybe this World Series homer sums up Stanton’s time in the Bronx. It was huge! It was important! It came in one of the most crushing losses in recent club history.

If this is it, thanks for everything Giancarlo. We will likely never see pop like yours again.

Patrick Sandoval has not been good. But here’s a fun little tidbit from our own Jake Roy:

In other words, tonight’s game represents a great opportunity for Sandoval to bounceback.

Offensively, tonight’s game represents another opportunity for Nick Sogard and Andruw Monasterio to show that don’t deserve to get bumped from the lineup when Trevor Story returns. Sogard will get plenty of at-bats in the leadoff spot.

First pitch is at 7:10 PM and this one’s on FOX.

Left-hander Andrew Sears is reportedly on his way to Detroit. The Tigers 11th ranked prospect on our preseason rankings, Sears has shown out in two Triple-A appearances since being promoted from Double-A Erie back on August 11. The X account Dr. Degenerate, apparently the burner account for someone with good sources, reported on Saturday that Sears is being promoted to Detroit. That account has nailed several recent promotions in the Tigers’ system. The report has been circulated by both Emily Waldon as well as the MiLB Central official account on X, and Chris McCosky of the Detroit News confirmed that Sears is with the team in Kansas City and will be used as a bulk reliever in Sunday’s bullpen game.

The 23-year-old Sears, he’ll turn 24 on August 30, was the Tigers 10th round pick in the 2023 draft out of Connecticut. That makes him the first pitching prospect drafted by Scott Harris to reach Detroit, and another later round success story to go with Brett Callahan. Sears received a $167,500 bonus to sign, just barely over the base bonus of $150,000.

Sears made his full season pro debut in 2024 at the Low-A Lakeland level, where his strikeout rate was good and he was rarely hit hard, but had some control issues. Those were resolved by 2025, and the southpaw continued to rack up good strikeout numbers and prevent home runs while throwing a lot more strikes for High-A West Michigan. Left-handers often thrive in A-ball and then struggle as more advanced hitters get used to seeing more southpaws against them, but Sears didn’t miss a beat moving into the upper levels. He closed out the season with a nice run over six starts at Double-A Erie. The hope this year was that Sears would refine his changeup and overall command a bit more, reach Triple-A and become available in the second half of this season to help the major league club.

Ultimately, this all came to pass, but it was a wild ride for Sears this year. He had a bone spur fracture in his throwing elbow to begin the season, and spent a few months recovering and rehabbing, returning to Erie in mid-June. He made nine starts for the SeaWolves, compiling a 2.57 ERA/3.44 FIP combination, with a 24.3 percent strikeout rate and a 7.6 percent walk rate. In two starts for the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens, Sears has been a strikeout machine, punching out 41.2 percent of hitters he’s faced. His walk rate has ticked up to 11.8 percent, but he also hasn’t allowed a home run.

We’ve pegged Sears for two seasons now as the next lefty swingman for the Tigers. He can start, but he makes plenty of sense as a long reliever and spot starter who also works out of the bullpen. His deception, built on a bit of funky, crossfire delivery and a quick arm from a low slot, makes him tricky to deal with, and his stuff has routinely played up compared to the raw stuff metrics. The big task this season was to refine his changeup and get to using the offspeed more often to take pressure off his good sinker-slider combination, and he appears to be dialing that in now.

His bread and butter is still that sinker-slider combination. Sears has sat 94.3 mph with the sinker in Toledo with slightly above average extension to the plate, and a low (5.4 feet) release point. He made an adjustment this summer, moving from the third base side of the rubber to the middle, and that seemed to unlock better command of both pitches, and a better angle in to right-handers which has been giving them trouble. Sears has gotten a monstrous 42.4 percent whiff rate on the sinker in Toledo, and while that’s not going to hold up, it does speak to the combination of deception, angle, and movement he gets on the pitch and how much trouble hitters have had getting bat on the ball. His sweeping slider averages 83 mph with a tricky mix of horizontal movement and depth. He has a 30.8 percent whiff rate on the pitch in Toledo.

Sears 88.2 mph changeup has been the real point of development this season, and while he doesn’t use it a ton, he’s shown a lot more confidence in it recently, giving him another weapon to handle right-handed hitters. He’s only thrown 17 of them in his two Triple-A starts, but he’s gotten a 55.6 percent whiff rate, so the pitch does have potential. It’s worth remembering that Sears hasn’t really faced a whole lot of high end Triple-A prospects in those two outings. Major league hitters will illustrate where adjustments need to be made.

Sears works quickly, and while he’s actually quite a cool customer on the mound, his fast pace, twitchy pre-pitch routine, and general strike throwing aggressiveness give him a bit of a psycho aspect on the mound. He often looks like he’s breathing fire, quickly getting back on the rubber after each pitch and staring in well before the hitter gets back in the box. He’s a fun guy to watch, especially when he’s really rolling.

Despite using the sinker so much, Sears isn’t actually a big ground ball pitcher. His contact is generally spread pretty evenly between fly balls and grounders, but he’s good enough at messing with hitters’ timing that a lot of balls in play in the air are pop-ups and lazy fly balls. We’ll see if he can bring that same success to the Show. He will switch to the riding fourseamer for whiffs above the zone, but he’s generally working the edges in and out with the sinker and sweeping the slider as bait across the bottom of the zone to lefties, and back-footing right-handers.

The Tigers have missed Brant Hurter this season, and Sears presents a similar set of skills, even if he manages contact without the high ground ball rate. This is a good opportunity for him to get some finishing school work with Chris Fetter, Robin Lund, and Juan Nieves, and Sears has the mentality to hold up to some rookie struggles if that’s how it goes. Still, he’s been extremely sharp in recent weeks and this promotion was foreseeable as a result. If he can keep it going he should do well.

The St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies will tangle again Saturday night as it’s Quinn Mathews starting for the Cardinals in place of Andre Pallante who was sent to the injured list. The Phillies will send RHP Andrew Painter to the mound. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05pm central time with the game broadcast available via Cardinals.tv.

Blue Jays 4 Yankees 3

Well, that will get your blood pressure up.

Bottom of the ninth, Jays up by one. Louis Varland in. Jazz Chisholm Jr. leads off with a double to the wall in center. But he strikes out Austin Wells (with Wells using the Yankees’ last challenge on the strike three pitch). A ground out got us two out (very nice pickup by Vlad on a short hop), but Chisholm went to third in there. But Louis got Trent Grisham to strikeout to end the game. Amazing job, Varland.

We got yet another great start from Dylan Cease. He had a no-hitter going until two outs in the seventh inning. But a walk and two singles scored a run and ended his day. He had five walks and 8 strikeouts. More walks than you’d like, but a terrific outing. Sportsnet says Cease had a 42 inning shutout streak on the road.

Spencer Miles got the last out of the seventh.

Tyler Rogers didn’t have a good eighth inning, giving up his first home run of the season, a two run shot, making it a one run game.

Offensively? Well, we had a lot of hits. 15. You would think you would get more than 4 runs off 15 hits.

George Springer had 3. Brett Bateman, Vlad Guerrero, Ernie Clement, and Nathan Lukes (after coming into the game late as a pinch hitter) had two each.

We scored:

• One in the first: Bateman singled to start the game. Vlad hit into a force, replacing him at first. Kirk singled. And Springer singled, with Vlad scoring. I thought it was going to be a close play at the plate, but the Yankees’ left fielder Heliot Ramos showed a terrible arm. Unfortunately, that’s where it ended, Okamoto (strikeout) and Clement (ground out) ended the inning.
• One in the fourth: Okamoto led off with a double. Clement singled him to third (on a bunt single). After a Daz Cameron strikeout, Charles McAdoo singled home Oka. But again, that is were it ended. Straw popped out, Bateman walked and Vlad ground out.
• One in the fifth: Kirk led off with a walk. Springer singled. Two outs later, Nathan Lukes singled home Kirk.
• One in the eighth: Lukes started the inning with a home run. Later Myles Straw would walk and Vlad singled, but we couldn’t score more than a run in any inning.

We had two on and no outs in the third inning, but a Kirk double play and a Springer ground out ended that.

In the sixth, Straw led off with a double. Bateman bunted him to third (I hated that bunt, we were up 3-0, try to run up the score), Vlad popped up (terrific catch by Jazz Chisholm chasing it out to right field) and Kirk ground out.

In the seventh, Springer started it with a single. But Okamoto popped out and they tried a hit and run with Clement up. Unfortunately, Ernie lined it into the right fielder’s glove. There was no chance for Springer to come back.

The second inning was the only inning we didn’t get a base runner.

Jays of the Day: Cease (0.23 WPA), Varland (0.20), Lukes (0.12) and Springer (0.10). Let’s give one to Miles for the 2 pitches he used to get out of the seventh.

No one got the ‘Other Award’, Rogers and Cameron had the low marks at -0.08.

Tomorrow we have a 1:30 start time. José Soriano (1-0, 2.76 for the Jays in 3 starts) vs. Carlos Rodón (4-2, 3.22 in 10 starts).

Let’s win the series.

And enjoy your evening. My evening is going to be spent barbecuing steaks and pouring drinks. I told my wife about your well wishes.

The cruelty of the game of baseball was on full display on Saturday afternoon in the Bronx. The day began with the news that Giancarlo Stanton had injured his left calf, likely ending his season. Were that the only bad injury news of the day, the Yankees’ 4-3 loss to the Blue Jays would have just been a particularly annoying contest in which the Yankees stranded the tying run 90 feet away. Oh, well, I guess Toronto got an extra helping of magic dust in their morning protein.

But it was not, in fact, the only bad injury news of the day. Ryan Weathers, who had been absolutely on fire in the second half, departed in the fourth inning with left forearm discomfort. We can only hope he avoids the worst-case scenario as the Bombers get ready for the season-series rubber match with the Jays tomorrow.

Toronto set the tone with three singles in the first inning—the latter of which scored a run courtesy of George Springer. But Trent Grisham gave the Yankees a great opportunity to quickly equalize and finally end that pernicious streak of games without scoring in the first inning. Grisham walked to lead off the effort against Dylan Cease, stole second, then took third on a groundout to give his teammates two good cracks at driving him in. Unfortunately, Heliot Ramos and Luis García Jr. both struck out, and the streak of first-inning futility grew to 21 consecutive games.

Then, the exact same thing happened in the second. Leadoff man Spencer Jones worked a walk, stole second without a throw, and took third on the first out. On cue, Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a lazy pop to center and Austin Wells went down swinging. Hitting against Cease is obviously the furthest thing from easy—the next four innings and change would be further proof of that fact—but they should have gotten at least one one of those runners home from third. I’m sure it gave Cecil Fielder, who stopped by the YES booth in the second inning, more data points to complain about how hitting is somehow worse now, and we didn’t need that.

The entertainment value only further degraded from there. The Yankees were listless in the third, and then the Blue Jays added to their lead with another long inning. Charles McAdoo’s RBI single made it 2-0, then while pitching to Myles Straw, Weathers tumbled awkwardly off the mound on a pitch, appearing to tweak something in the process. Wells summoned Aaron Boone and the trainer, who promptly removed Weathers from the game after a brief meeting. The prognosis which came an inning later was vague yet menacing: “left forearm discomfort.”

Bad, bad, bad sign.

Weathers had entered this game with six consecutive quality starts since the All-Star Break, with a 1.98 ERA in 36.1 innings. The Jays made him labor, grabbing eight hits and forcing a lot of high-stress throws from a guy who who is already well past his career high in innings. With Cody Bellinger set to return tomorrow and Max Fried already throwing in preparation to return, the Yankees were set to get a little healthier. Now it’s not so certain.

By the fifth inning, the hit column read a staggering 10-0 in favor of the Jays. The 10th of those hits, a seeing-eye single up the middle by Nathan Lukes, plated a third Jays run. Even with all that, Cease allowed a pair of walks in the bottom half to give the Yankees a scoring opportunity with one out. Heck, it even put the tying run at the plate. José Caballero put a good swing on a ball and lined it hard toward left field—because the baseball gods were evidently out for blood today, it was caught at shortstop and briskly turned into a double play as George Lombard Jr. was dead to rights off second. That twin killing preserved the no-hit bid.

Cease worked a 1-2-3 to complete six hitless innings and carried on into the seventh before Jazz clubbed a two-out single to finally get the Yankees off the schneid. Cease, who the Jays were never going to ask to get nine innings from with the five walks to his account, nonetheless stayed in to face Wells, who ended the shutout bid as well with a single to the rally pigeons in right center field.

Reliever Spencer Miles took over from Cease and immediately plunked Caballero, loading the bases for Grisham. Trent worked the count full, but hit a routine grounder to Guerrero at first to kill the rally. The Jays would get that run back in short order, thanks to a towering second-deck home run by Nathan Lukes. That proved a crucial insurance run given what came next.

With a runner on first, García became the first man all season to take setup man Tyler Rogers deep, clubbing a first-pitch sinker to the second deck on a line. All of a sudden that Lukes homer was the difference; we were back to a one-run affair. It hardly seemed possible given how sluggish the Yankees were to begin, but this is what the Yanks-Jays season series has been. No one team has been able to get comfortably ahead of the other.

The Yankees had to go up against the league’s best closer this season to keep their hopes alive. Louis Varland, he of the 1.24 ERA and 28 saves in 29 chances, took the hill in the ninth. Jazz greeted him with a leadoff double to the right-center gap, putting the tying run in scoring position right away. Did we dare dream in the Bronx today?

Wells struck out looking on a pinpoint outside fastball—he challenged, and I thought for sure he was right. He, and I, were wrong. Caballero then grounded to third, and it was up to Grisham, who had previously failed to come through with the bases loaded. Trent again worked the count full, and Jazz ambled to third. Any hit would do the trick, but a picture-perfect changeup from Varland dipped under the barrel and sent Yankee fans home with a tough loss.

Whichever good-luck superstition you like to practice, add it to your routine for Weathers’ sake as we await further news on his injury. One last game between these two teams this season awaits on Sunday afternoon, with the season series tied at six wins apiece. Just about all of these games with the Jays have been agonizingly close affairs—I imagine this finale will be no different. Carlos Rodón will take the ball opposite former Angel José Soriano. Same time, same channel: 1:35 pm on YES.

Box Score

Logan Henderson put together another great outing against one of the best offenses in baseball as the Brewers held the Braves to a single run for the second straight game. Small ball and Rake Bauers provided enough run support for Milwaukee to move to a league-leading 81-49.

Although he would eventually settle in, Henderson didn’t start the game on a positive note, walking Braves leadoff man Drake Baldwin to immediately put a runner on base. He bounced back to strike out Ronald Acuña Jr. on four pitches and quickly got Matt Olson down 1-2 in the count, but Olson turned on a changeup below the zone and smoked it into right field for a single. Just three pitches later, Michael Harris II sent another changeup down the left-field line, scoring Baldwin and bringing Olson around to third.

With still only one out, runners on second and third, and Ozzie Albies coming to the plate, things briefly looked like they might get out of hand in a way that would have been largely uncharacteristic of Henderson. However, they didn’t. Henderson buckled down, retiring both Albies (on a pop-up to third base) and Mauricio Dubón (on a lineout to right field) to end the inning without allowing another run to score.

Jackson Chourio started the bottom of the first by working a walk off Braves starter Martín Pérez, but Pérez quickly struck out Brice Turang and got William Contreras to hit a soft pop-up that Olson ran down in foul territory. With two outs, Jake Bauers kept the inning alive, working a walk after an 11-pitch at-bat, but Andrew Vaughn also popped out to end the inning with the Brewers unable to answer.

While Milwaukee wasn’t able to break through in the first or second inning, they got on the board in the third. Pérez started the inning by getting Cooper Pratt to hit a soft grounder right back to him, but couldn’t field it, giving the Brewers a leadoff runner. Chourio couldn’t make solid contact either, hitting another weak grounder to Baldwin, who came out from behind the plate to throw him out at first. A second groundout from Turang advanced Pratt to third for Contreras, who grounded a single — the Brewers’ first hit of the inning — into left field to tie the game at one run apiece.

Up next was Jake Bauers, who somehow worked an even longer at-bat against Pérez this time in what’s probably the current front-runner for the Brewers’ best at-bat of the year. After working the count to 2-2, Bauers proceeded to foul off seven straight pitches, a stretch that included literally every pitch Pérez throws — sinker, four-seamer, curveball, changeup, and cutter. On the 12th pitch of the at-bat, Pérez went back to the four-seamer, and Bauers was finally sitting on something:

When Pérez exited the game after the fourth inning, he had thrown 97 pitches. 23 of those, or almost exactly a quarter of Pérez’s pitches in a nearly-100 pitch outing, were thrown to Jake Bauers. An incredible performance for Bauers, the Brewers’ OPS and home run leader, who both delivered the eventual winning run and was a massive part of getting Pérez out of the game early.

Bauers’ 23rd homer of the year made it 3-1, which was a lead that the Brewers wouldn’t relinquish, although they added an insurance run in the fourth with a Joey Ortiz double, a Luis Lara single, and a sac fly from Pratt. That run would be extraneous thanks to the dominance of the Brewers’ pitching staff, who held the Braves’ offense — which ranks close to the top of the league in most major offensive categories — to just five hits.

Henderson continues to look like a future star, bouncing back from that slightly nerve-wracking first inning to throw six steady innings of one-run ball and exit to resounding applause from the home crowd. He allowed just three more hits after the first and struck out four on the way to his eighth win of the season. Chad Patrick worked around a walk in a scoreless seventh and DL Hall struck out two in a 1-2-3 eighth. With Trevor Megill having pitched the previous two games, Aaron Ashby came in for a save opportunity and didn’t get off to a great start, allowing Albies and Dubón to single.

With two on and nobody out, Braves manager Walt Weiss opted to pinch-hit the right-handed Lane Thomas in favor of the left-handed Mike Yaztremski, but Ashby got him to fly out to left field for a huge first out. Neither runner tagged up and the next batter — Austin Riley — grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.

One final thing worth mentioning that Contreras appears to be breaking out of his slump in a big way, notching two hits: the RBI single and a double off the wall in left field. He now has six hits in two games this series.

Tomorrow’s series finale is set for much later than today’s, with first pitch scheduled for 6:10 p,m. Shane Drohan will go for the Brewers opposite righty Tyler Mahle of the Braves.