Following a disappointing series loss to the New York Yankees that concluded with another bullpen meltdown, the Pittsburgh Pirates return home to begin a stretch of games that could define their aggressiveness at the trade deadline.

The Pirates are 53-50 and entered Thursday just a half-game back of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the final wild card in the National League.

Arizona comes to PNC Park on Monday, but first a three-game weekend series against the Cubs sets the table for Yinzerpalooza Weekend.

Pittsburgh is 4.5 back of Chicago, which holds the top wild card in the NL, but 

The Bucs took two of three from the Cubs at Wrigley Field in mid-April, nearly sweeping the series before the bullpen gave the lead up (a sign of what was to come), and split a four-game set in mid-May. 

The teams haven’t played each other in two months and have both been defined by their offense during that stretch.

A year after finishing bottom five in nearly every offensive category, the Pirates are first in hits per game (9.1), tied for first in batting average (.261), second in on-base percentage (.339), second in runs scored (5.3), third in slugging (.424), and third in OPS (.763). 

Shockingly, the Pirates have hit more home runs (132) than the Cubs (128) after totaling only 117 last season, dead last in baseball.

The Pirates have won 27 games at PNC Park in 2026 (27-24), while the Cubs have the same win total away from Wrigley Field (27-23). 

The Bucs are 17-12 against the NL Central in 2026 after only winning 19 games against the four teams last season (19-33). 

On paper, the Pirates have the upper hand with the starting pitching matchups, including two All-Stars.

Jared Jones will oppose Matthew Boyd on Friday night. Paul Skenes takes the hill on Saturday against Shota Imanaga, a lefty who has notoriously dominated the Pirates. Braxton Ashcraft will go to the mound in the finale against former Pirate Jameson Taillon.

The Pirates have been bad against left-handed starting pitchers and are tied for the third-fewest wins against southpaws.

Don Kelly’s lefty-heavy lineup is 9-20 against left-handed starters, tied with the Marlins (9-16) and just better than the Royals (8-21) and Mets (7-20) for the poorest performances in all of baseball.

It’s something the Pirates must improve upon moving forward if they’re going to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2015.

The bullpen remains a mess and hasn’t been positively addressed all year, longing for the trading deadline on August 3 to fix all the problems. 

A losing streak could change the Pirates’ level of aggressiveness a week and a half from now, benefiting the rest of the division.

Pittsburgh is battling Arizona, Miami, Washington, and St. Louis for the final wild card, but does have a chance to chase down Chicago for a bigger prize.

The Pirates’ top three starters are pitching, and it’s pivotal that the Bucs win the series to gain ground on the Cubs and continue their success in the NL Central.

Is Mason Miller on the trade block? That’s the question teams around Major League Baseball want answered.

The San Diego Padres reliever is the best closer in baseball, sporting a 0.86 ERA with 78 strikeouts across 41.2 innings pitched this season. Miller has accrued a 2.1 bWAR in 2026, but his success has been overshadowed by the struggles of his team.

The Padres are three games below .500 and 15 games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West. With the trade deadline quickly approaching, president of baseball operations A.J. Preller will have to decide whether to keep or part ways with their closer.

Robert Murray of Fansided reports the Padres are unlikely to trade Miller.

However, that doesn’t mean Preller won’t listen to interested teams. The Padres essentially gutted their farm system to acquire the coveted Miller from the Athletics last summer, so the offer would need to be enticing enough for Preller to deal the 27-year-old just a year later.

The Padres sent their No. 1 prospect Leo De Vries to the Athletics in addition to three other minor league players.

In Murray’s words, the Padres would “need to be blown away” in order to trade Miller.

Despite the rollercoaster season, San Diego is only 3.5 games shy of the final Wild Card spot. So, there’s a chance the Padres reach the playoffs. It’ll be up to Preller whether he wants to roll the dice, but as always, San Diego is expected to be active at the deadline.

What remains a mystery is the route the front office will choose to go this summer — buying or selling.

Had it all the way – what a completely normal and resounding series win for your Atlanta Braves. Win number 60 and taking three out of four from the Padres at home… Per the game notes, the Padres have beaten the Braves more than any other team since the beginning of last year (10-3), so this feels particularly sweet.

Chris Sale did his job, and the math checks out to me that four home runs are greater than one. The Braves loved the longball in this come-from-behind win at Truist Park this afternoon. 

Chris Sale’s rocky second inning was not entirely on his shoulders. A Gavin Sheets single, a Freddy Fermin single, and Jake Cronenworth HBP had the bases loaded with two outs. Mauricio Dubón’s misplay in left field would loom large when Sale walked Fernando Tatis Jr. to give the Padres their first run. He had Luis Rengifo down 0-2, but Rengifo’s single to right drove in two to make it 3-0. 

Sale settled in nicely after that, and the offense had their marching orders.

The Padres, weirdly half-committed to their last-minute plan to use an opener, sent out reliever Kyle Hart to start the game. He only needed five pitches to throw up a zero and looked like he was in great shape to continue mowing down Braves hitters. But the Padres gave the ball to planned starting pitcher Griffin Canning to start the second. And for that, we thank them. 

The good for Canning – he lasted two more innings than the last time he faced the Braves a month ago. Other than immediately giving up a tank to Michael Harris II to lead off the second, he even had a stretch of retiring six Braves. 

But that streak came to an end in the bottom of the fourth, courtesy of Ozzie Albies. His solo homer chipped away at the Padres lead to make it 3-2. 

After a Matt Olson popup, a Harris II single and Dubón reaching on catcher’s interference set the table for a sorely-missed sight: a big Dominic Smith moment. An absolute bomb to the Chophouse gave the Braves the 5-3 lead. 

And so the score would stay for a bit. Chris Sale racked up double-digit strikeouts, ending his day with eleven. He surrendered five hits and walked one in his six innings of work. Dylan Dodd replaced him and threw a perfect inning with one strikeout.

Catching for three straight days didn’t phase Drake Baldwin. The reigning NL Player of the Week is an absolute freak (complimentary), golfing a home run in the seventh to make it 6-3 Braves. Spoiler alert: this would be a much more important homer than it seemed in the moment!

Do you get deja vu? Because it became two straight games where the Braves offense tacked on some insurance runs that felt like “nice to haves” before every single one ended up being crucial. Things went from comfortable to concerning in the top of the eighth when Tyler Kinley gave up a two-run homer to the hot-hitting Ty France to make it a one-run game. Danny Young entered and got Gavin Sheets to fly out to center to end the frame. 

The Braves wouldn’t get any more breathing room in the bottom of the eighth with Harris II, Dubón, and Riley going down quickly. 

Raisel Iglesias, just like last night, was tasked with getting three outs to seal a win for the Braves. He started solidly facing two pinch-hitters at the bottom of the Padres order, striking out Sung-Mun Song and getting Jackson Merrill to fly out to left. “A one-run game is dramatic enough, Iggy,” I said. “But it could be spicier,” he seemed to reply. Consecutive singles from nine-hole hitter Jake Cronenworth and Tatis Jr. built up the familiar dread and brought Luis Rengifo to the plate. Rengifo had been a menace this series AND had a homer off Iggy last night. Cool cool cool.

One changeup for a swinging strike. A second changeup, fouled off. And finally, a four-seam fastball for strike three. Raise your arms up to the sky and/or unclench, lunchtime crowd. Braves win another close one, 6-5.

Happy flight! Old friend Pete Alonso and his Orioles await the Braves as they begin a three-game set in Baltimore starting tomorrow night. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers already have enough Shohei Ohtani injury concerns, as the two-way superstar is currently not pitching because of lingering left knee irritation.

These concerns took another form during the Dodgers’ 9-5 win against the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.

A video of Ohtani jumping out of the Dodgers’ dugout moments after the win has surfaced on social media. In the video, Los Angeles outfielder Alex Call is seen jumping next to Ohtani, and Call’s left cleat spikes Ohtani’s right elbow while both are hurdling over the dugout barrier.

Ohtani jerked his arm away before grabbing it, clearly in pain. He walked away for a few moments, seemingly trying to collect himself and shaking out his arm, before turning back around to the Dodgers’ handshake line.

It appears that Ohtani is now fine, as there hasn’t been any reports or indications that the incident created an actual injury.

But Call needs to be more careful with his body awareness, as the Dodgers can’t afford their best player and baseball’s biggest star to miss any more time because of an errant cleat slicing his arm.

The most recent update regarding Ohtani’s knee is that he had a bullpen before Wednesday’s game, marking the first time Ohtani had thrown off a mound in exactly two weeks.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts noted that Ohtani’s doing so was a, “big sign”, but there’s still no timeline for when he might return to the mound in an actual game.

Ohtani has said he believes the irritation stems from putting too much pressure on his front landing leg when throwing, while Roberts has also described it as “wear and tear” from Ohtani being a full-time two-way player this season.

Thankfully, Ohtani’s recovery timeline doesn’t appear to also factor in the arm abrasion he might’ve suffered from Call’s cleat on Wednesday.

PARODY PARODY PARODY

This weekend, I’ll be recording a live episode of my Star Trek podcast, Trek Marry Kill, at San Diego Comic-Con as part of the official convention (come say hi!*), but it wasn’t the only panel I submitted for consideration. I figured that since sports fans are as fanatical as comic book and pop culture fans that it’d be okay to sprinkle a little sports into the mix, and there are plenty of weirdos out there like me who dances between these worlds with ease; but folks, would it surprise you to learn that none of my San Francisco Giants panels were accepted? So, for your reading pleasure, here are San Francisco Giants-themed panels rejected by Comic-Con.

Willie Mays: The World’s First Superhero

It’s been said that Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game was invented solely for the great Willie Mays, and when you look at all of his highlights he seems as close to human beings have come to seeing Superman in real life. He was so famous that they even made a comic book of the story of his life! Baseball blogger Bryan Murphy from SB Nation’s McCovey Chronicles is joined by Superman director James Gunn and baseball legend Barry Bonds to discuss his legacy.

What if it’s all a simulation? Yes, even that.

The 2026 San Francisco Giants will go down as one of the worst teams in franchise history and has an outside shot of having one of the worst seasons in professional sports due to a combination of on-field incompetence and off-field statements, but is this misery they seem keen to inflict on a quasi-captive audience (their devoted fans) evidence of Simulation Theory? Is this season proof that Giants fans live in The Matrix or have stumbled into The Amazing Digital Circus? Come test the bounds of reality with baseball blogger Bryan Murphy from SB Nation’s McCovey Chronicles along with actors Keanu Reeves (The Matrix, Destination Wedding) and Michael McKean (Spinal Tap, the episode of Star Trek: Voyager where he plays a clown that tortures people caught in his simulation).

Posters: The Last Generation

Back in the late 1900s, Bay Area baseball fans could collect two iconic wall posters: THE BASH BROTHERS, featuring disgraced sluggers Mark McGwire & Jose Canseco and PACIFIC SOCK EXCHANGE, featuring the problematic duo of Kevin Mitchell & Will Clark. Baseball blogger Bryan Murphy from SB Nation’s McCovey Chronicles is joined by Giants fan Lars Ulrich (Spinal Tap II: The End Continues) and A’s fan Andy Samberg (Zootopia 2) to decide which was the better poster and why it’s been tough to follow in either’s footsteps.

Baseball Movies That Suck

Whether it’s Robert De Niro stalking a star player or Austin Butler playing a washed up star, the San Francisco Giants have really gotten a raw deal when it comes to on-screen portrayals, despite being one of the winningest franchises in pro sports and home to legends like Willie Mays, Barry Bonds, and Buster Posey. Is that because Hollywood is run by Dodgers fans or is it because they’re a franchise that’s inherently un-cinematic?Baseball blogger Bryan Murphy from SB Nation’s McCovey Chronicles is joined by New York Times film critic Manohla Dargisto dissect and analyze this troubling issue.

Captain Sisko’s All-Star Team

Back in 1998, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine produced the episode “Take Me Out to the Holosuite,” where Captain Sisko put together a crew of Niners to take on some surly Vulcans in a baseball game on the holosuite and, thanks to the fandom of episode writer Ronald D. Moore, wore a San Francisco Giants hat.

If Captain Sisko could’ve used holographic players from 2026, who would he have chosen? Baseball blogger Bryan Murphy from SB Nation’s McCovey Chronicles is joined by ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith to discuss and decide.

So, your favorite franchise has been run into the ground. Now what?

If there’s one thing Star Wars fans and baseball fans have in common, it’s complaining about the consequences of their favorite franchise’s poor leadership. By simply swapping out some proper nouns, Solo: A Star Wars Story can be easily compared to doing what the San Francisco Giants did this winter in hiring a college coach with no major league experience to manage their world-famous team into the ground(?). Baseball blogger Bryan Murphy from SB Nation’s McCovey Chronicles hosts a panel featuring Alex and Mollie Damon from YouTube’s Star Wars Explained, Mike Trout of MLB’s Los Angeles Angels, Kevin Feige of Marvel Studios, and Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors.

Now, I’m sure these were all rejected for not being in tune with Comic-Con International’s goals, but I’m sure there’s a Padres component to this. Petco Park is right around the corner from the convention center. They’re a very big deal, and the Giants are a rival. Maybe I could’ve tightened up some of the descriptions or under-promised the Q ratings of the various panelists, but there you have it. What could have been, for comics and sports geeks alike.

*-Oh, to be clear: the Trek Marry Kill panel is the only real part of this parody post.

Winning streaks bring a life of their own to a clubhouse, each day presenting another opportunity to extend the joy and methodically build a feeling of invincibility.

Inevitably the streak ends and everyone sighs, reflects and returns to work. The Boston Red Sox lost the second game of a doubleheader Wednesday to end a win streak that tied an 80-year-old club record when it reached 15 in the opener.

Boston interim manager Chad Tracy stepped into the clubhouse to say a few words afterward but saw veteran players Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray speaking to the team and allowed them the moment.

“We just won 15 games in a row, and I think all of us knew it was going to end at some point,” Tracy said.

Call it the “Tracy Turnaround” redux.

Read more:Arellano: Go visit Trump's White House, Dodgers — but stand up for L.A. while you're there

Tracy had never managed, coached or played at the major league level before replacing Alex Cora on April 25, but he was well-versed in experiencing the glorious ride of a winning streak and its abrupt end. His father, Jim Tracy, managed the Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies from 2001-2012.

Like his son, Jim Tracy was given an interim manager title when he replaced Clint Hurdle in May 2009 after Colorado’s poor start. It took only a few weeks before the Rockies won 11 games in a row, 17 of 18 and finished 74-42 to make the playoffs.

This year’s Red Sox can only hope their U-turn under Chad Tracy mirrors his dad’s. Boston was 32-46 before winning 20 of 23, including the 15-game win streak.

No surprise that father and son discussed the similarities. Chad was a double-A first baseman with the Texas Rangers in 2009 and closely followed his dad’s fortunes.

“I remember the [Rockies’] run,” Chad said. “You know, we talk very basically about just, he’s excited [about the Red Sox]. He’s a baseball fan. He’s watching constantly, and he’s fired up for it. So, like, we haven’t done a whole lot of comparing to that, but he’s just — he’s a Boston Red Sox fan.”

Read more:Ex-Dodger Alex Cora's wild roller-coaster departure from the Red Sox explained

Jim was rewarded by becoming the second interim manager in MLB history to win the Manager of the Year award. Chad could be in the running to be the third, especially if the Red Sox make the playoffs.

They already are only the sixth father-son combo to manage in the major leagues, following Bob and Aaron Boone, George and Dick Sisler, Bob and Joel Skinner, Buddy and David Bell, and Felipe Alou and Luis Rojas.

The achievement isn’t lost on Jim Tracy, who became so emotional upon learning his son was named interim Red Sox manager he pulled his car to the side of the road. He attended Chad’s first game, a victory over the Baltimore Orioles, on the top step of the dugout.

“One thing that jumped out at me,” Jim Tracy said, “was that when he was presented to the media, his body language in the dugout…. he was not overwhelmed or fazed with anything that was going on. He was ready to do whatever was asked of him.”

Read more:ESPN six-episode podcast to examine Shohei Ohtani-Ippei Mizuhara gambling scandal

That Chad replaced Cora, who led the Red Sox to the 2018 World Series title in his first season, elicited mixed feelings. Cora played with the Dodgers from 1998-2004, including four seasons under Jim.

“It’s a wonderful day, but in some respects, it’s bittersweet,” Jim said the day of Chad’s managerial debut. “I’m proud of [Chad], but the Tracy family loves and respects Alex Cora.

“You have to go back with some special years I had in Los Angeles and Alex was very much a part of that. Bittersweet is the right word because Alex was so good to my son and took such good care of him. But it was reciprocated.”

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Can any other National League team actually compete with the Dodgers and prevent them from winning a third straight pennant?

That’s what California Post baseball writers Dylan Hernandez and Jack Harris are debating on the latest episode of the Dodgers Post podcast, after the Dodgers continued their march toward a World Series three-peat with a series win over the Phillies this week.

The Phillies, of course, are supposed to be among the Dodgers’ stiffest competition in the NL this year, along with the Brewers, Braves, Cubs and others.

But after the Dodgers took two of three games at Citizens Bank Park this week, Dylan and Jack discuss whether there is any team in the league that poses a serious threat to the club’s World Series aspirations.

Later, the two also discuss Kyle Tucker’s ongoing slump, the latest updates on Shohei Ohtani’s knee injury and Dalton Rushing’s progress while serving as starting catcher in Will Smith’s absence.

They also analyze the team’s plans for the upcoming trade deadline, and why — as of now — the Dodgers still seem unlikely to make any splashy acquisitions.

Then, as always, they open up the mailbag and answer questions from the audience, including whether the team would have been better off re-signing Cody Bellinger this winter.

Finally, they wrap up by reviewing their predictions from last week, making new ones for the Dodgers’ upcoming series against the Mets and quizzing each other with trivia.

All that and more on the latest episode of the Dodgers Post podcast. Subscribe on YouTube or follow along on Apple and Spotify.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

Game #103.

Some runs would be nice. Some defense too.

The Jays made another move, picking up outfielder Rudy Martin off waivers from the Orioles. The Orioles had just picked him up in trade from the Royals and DFAed him, which I imagine we’ll be doing soon enough.

He is a 30-year-old left-handed hitting outfielder who hasn’t played in the majors yet. In Triple-A he has hit .284/..414/.441 with 8 homers, 33 walks and 41 strikeouts in 244 plate appearance. I don’t know that we need another lefty hitting outfielder, but if we have a roster spot, why not?

We have a post up about the roster moves.

A bit of a change to the batting order:

Score please.

Go Rays!

The Yankees’ offense still feels stuck in first gear but fortunately their bullpen has transformed into one of the most shutdown units in the sport, which alongside stellar starting pitching has led to three wins in their last four. One of the biggest factors in the bullpen’s turnaround in form has been the performances of Brent Headrick, who earns his second nod on Sequence of the Week.

We join Headrick with two outs in the top of the seventh in Monday’s series opener against the Pirates. The bases are empty, but Pittsburgh’s most dangerous hitter is stepping to the plate. Rookie outfielder Esmerlyn Valdez has done nothing but rake since getting called up amid the Bucs’ rash of injuries, leading MLB with a 242 wRC+ since June 19th and seven home runs in eight games leading into the doubleheader. He represents the Pirates’ biggest threat as the Yankees attempt to protect their 8-5 lead.

Valdez has done the majority of his damage against the heater, but that doesn’t deter Headrick, who fearlessly attacks with a first-pitch four-seamer as if daring Valdez to beat his best with his own best.

Valdez doesn’t bite on this low four-seamer, only to watch it clip the bottom ledge of the zone for a called strike one as the pitch does not drop as much over its course toward home as one might expect. It’s such a valuable pitch to earn the strike one call as it now forces Valdez to respect any pitch that starts aimed at the bottom of the zone, thus opening up limitless opportunity for chase and whiff with secondaries below the zone.

That is exactly Headrick’s thinking, as he follows the heater up with a splitter below the zone looking for a chase.

This is a really impressive take from Valdez. The four-seamer exits Headrick’s hand out of a similar tunnel as the pitch that was just called a low strike, only to drop off the table about halfway toward home. Valdez reads it well as it bounces in the dirt beyond home for ball one.

Perhaps sensing that Valdez will not be easily tempted into chase below the zone, Headrick returns to the four-seamer.

It’s amazing how many whiffs Headrick gets on four-seamers just like this one. This pitch seems like a cookie at just 94 mph and pretty much down the middle. However, we see time and again how Headrick’s four-seamer almost explodes on the hitter, resulting in late swings beneath the pitch. That’s because Headrick gets elite extension and induced vertical break on the pitch, turning it into an invisiball of sorts as it plays up well above its velocity.

That whiff underneath the four-seamer is just the reinforcement Headrick needs to throw another one, he and Austin Wells looking to climb the ladder with the pitch.

This is the definition of a perfect four-seamer, dotted on the corner up and away with elite riding life. Once again, Valdez whiffs underneath, unable to adjust his swing path to a fastball that flies truer than many hitters are used to seeing.

Here’s the full sequence:

Headrick has been at the heart of the Yankees’ bullpen renaissance that has seen some unlikely heroes step up including Paul Blackburn and Angel Chivilli as well as a rediscovery of shutdown form from David Bednar. Those four relievers have allowed just six earned runs in their last combined 95.1 innings. Headrick in particular has quietly become one of the best relievers in MLB this year, placing in the top-ten in ERA (1.40), FIP (2.19), and fWAR (1.5). He has not allowed a run in 43 of his 51 appearances, which is the most in the majors, even more than the Padres’ historically good closer Mason Miller.

If the relief corps can keep up this level of performance combined with a starting rotation that just got Max Fried back with Carlos Rodón’s own return from injury looming on the horizon, this becomes a tough pitching staff to score against from top to bottom.