Category: Sports News

One of the magical things about writing about baseball for a living is that, against all odds, every game seems to have its own story. 162 times a year the San Francisco Giants play someone, plus a few dozen more times in the spring and, on a few blue moon occasions, a handful of times after the regular season. And almost every time, a story somehow emerges. In great games and awful ones, through promising seasons and lost ones, baseball almost always delivers.

You’ve heard of scorigami. Well, this is a phenomenon I refer to as storygami.

And sometimes it fails. Sometimes they just lose in such bland fashion, in the midst of such a bland season, that I find myself itching to just clean the toilet so I can procrastinate writing about what happened.

That happened on Tuesday, as the Giants lost 8-2 to the Milwaukee Brewers in a game that was far more one-sided than the one-sided score suggests. The Giants just … lost. As you’ve come to expect them to do. As they’ve proven themselves far too capable of over the past few months.

Perhaps the story was that it was a doomed day for the Giants. It began, after all, with the news that Casey Schmitt has a torn meniscus, and will almost certainly miss the rest of the season. It continued with the sadness that Trevor McDonald will undergo Tommy John surgery, and will almost certainly miss the entirety of next season. It peaked with the revelation that Harrison Bader suffered an injury setback after the second serious scooter crash of his big league career. And then it nestled into bed with a long, lifeless, feckless, dreamless, hopeless, joyless loss.

Which I suppose we now have to talk about.

The Giants have a tendency to lose games in the first inning. Their pitchers are 18th in the Majors in first-inning ERA, while their batters are 25th in first-inning OPS. This tends to create three common outcomes in the first inning: the Giants set the tone for a loss; the Giants narrowly avoid disaster, suggesting that this is their lucky day and they have a trick up their sleeves; and the Giants narrowly avoid disaster, suggesting that this is their lucky day and they have a trick up their sleeves, only to point their finger and laugh at you for buying that nonsense.

This game was the third. It started in dubious fashion, when Landen Roupp gave up a ground ball to the first batter he faced, Brice Turang, but then failed to cover first base in time, resulting in a leadoff single. Jackson Chourio was next and settled for a more traditional single, putting two runners on with no outs.

But thanks to a pair of ground balls — one of which resulted in two outs — Roupp escaped the inning unscathed. And in the bottom half of the inning, after the Giants quickly had two outs recorded against them, Heliot Ramos hit a pop up in the infield that resulted in the most glorious and artful of pop up dances, before ultimately falling behind first baseman Andrew Vaughn, gifting Ramos a single. After Rafael Devers scorched a single of his own, the Giants had a pair of runners on base … and were so close to capitalizing on the Brewers’ gift.

This is where the game transitioned from the second of those aforementioned possible outcomes to the third. The Giants had escaped disaster, gotten lucky, and pulled a rabbit out of their hats, and you thought maybe they actually were going to play a decent game … and then Jung Hoo Lee struck out and it all came crashing back to reality.

From there, it was one disaster after another, but in deeply uninteresting terms. Following the Devers single, the Giants would turn the lineup over twice before registering another hit, when Willy Adames knocked a single in the seventh inning. By that point, the game was already over, due to a series of two-out flubs and self-made failures. In the third inning, it was a leadoff walk that Roupp issued that scored, after a two-out single. That gave the Brewers a run to get their engines started, and the next inning they would really take off.

It started off calmly enough, with Roupp retiring the first two batters of the fourth inning. But he would never retire the third. He walked a batter, gave up a stolen base, hit a batter, allowed an RBI single, gave up another stolen base, and walked another batter. And with that, his night was over, with just 3.2 innings in the books.

The two-out thunder cared not for the shift from Roupp to JT Brubaker, as Turang roped a two-run single on the very first pitch that Brubaker threw, cashing in a pair of inherited runners and pushing the score to 4-0.

A few innings later, Brubaker would, like Roupp before him, begin to leak oil with two outs. In the seventh, he quickly retired two batters, then gave up back-to-back singles. Tony Vitello, who currently has a misdemeanor charge for what he did to Keaton Winn’s right arm and a felony charge for his crimes against Matt Gage’s left arm, mercilessly pulled the plug at a season-high 57 pitches for Brubaker.

But the eyebrow-raising arm usage was only just beginning. In came Jason Foley, a perfectly acceptable choice for the situation, even though he promptly gave up a triple to score both of the runners he inherited from Brubaker before quickly ending the inning.

That seemed likely to be it for Foley, given a host of things I’ll get to in a minute, but no, he came back out for the eighth. No big issue there: he’d thrown just four pitches in the seventh.

Foley gave up a one-out double in the eighth, and then a single, and then a run-scoring fielder’s choice. The score was now 8-0, but hey … at least there were two outs. Except, as we’ve already learned, that’s where the Giants really failed to execute.

With a runner on second and two runs already in, Vitello opted to keep his righty on the mound. William Contreras mounted a six-pitch battle, which resulted in an infield single. And still Vitello kept Foley in. Christian Yelich took four straight balls from a pitcher who was clearly losing it. And still Vitello kept Foley in. Finally, after a five-pitch battle, Foley retired Vaughn, and ended the inning.

It’s here where I remind you that Foley made his season debut 11 days ago, after missing a season and a half with a major shoulder surgery. It’s also where I remind you that he had his rehab assignment shut down and restarted because his body was not reacting well to simulating a Major League workload in the Minors and his shoulder was barking. And it’s where I make sure you’re aware that this was just his fourth outing since returning from said major shoulder surgery that he was struggling to recover from.

He threw 29 pitches in the inning. It was his 215th career game, and at no point in those prior 214 games had he ever thrown 29 pitches in a single inning. The 33 pitches he threw across the two frames was the third-most he’d thrown in a Major League game, and the most in more than four years.

Here’s hoping he doesn’t suffer the same fate that Gage did. But even a blessed and lucky outcome can’t excuse the process that led to him alone on that dirt island.

Anyway, you made it this far in this article, so here, have a treat. Bryce Eldridge did something cool.

Shohei Ohtani hit the night’s first home run. Max Muncy belted the one with the most historical significance.

But, on a warm summer night at Chavez Ravine on Tuesday, it was the Seattle Mariners who best took advantage of the hitter-friendly conditions, racking up five home runs of their own in a 7-6 win over the Dodgers.

A first-pitch temperature of just 77 degrees belied the sultry feel that surrounded Tuesday’s slugfest, when the ball was carrying from the start behind a light breeze to straightaway center.

At first, the Dodgers capitalized, with Ohtani opening the scoring with a leadoff home run in the first that snapped a nine-game long-ball drought.

After the Mariners ambushed Justin Wrobleski with three home runs over the next three innings, the Dodgers stormed back in front on Muncy’s solo shot in the fifth –– one that tied him with Eric Karros for the most home runs in Dodger Stadium history.

Up 5-4 at that point, however, the Dodgers failed to hold on.

Wrobleski gave up a career-high fourth home run in the sixth, when Dominic Canzone took him deep to straightaway center field at the end of his six-inning, five-run start.

Then, Canzone came back up in the eighth and delivered the decisive blow against reliever Alex Vesia, uncorking a two-run drive to break the 5-5 tie.

In addition to getting outslugged, the Dodgers were also less clinical in situational opportunities.

They had the bases loaded with no outs in the third, but only scored once on a Freddie Freeman double-play.

They sent eight batters to the plate in a two-run fourth inning, but also left the bases loaded after Kyle Tucker stopped at third on an RBI single from Ohtani –– despite third base coach Dino Ebel trying to wave him home to plate another run.

Then came a failed rally in the ninth, when Dalton Rushing led off with an infield single and Ohtani laced a double in the gap that the Mariners outfield couldn’t cleanly handle –– allowing Rushing to score and Ohtani to reach third with no outs.

Max Muncy later walked and stole second without a throw, putting the tying and winning runs in scoring position. But Mookie Betts grounded out to finish the night with yet another wasted chance.

What it means

The five home runs the Dodgers allowed on Tuesday tied the most they’ve given up this season. And the four that Wrobleski yielded left the young left-hander looking particularly flummoxed, as he was charged with his most runs in a start since May 22.

The first blast off Wrobleski was simple enough: A first-pitch fastball that Raleigh was on time for.

The other were more frustrating: All of them coming in two-strike counts, and two of them on fastballs above the strike zone.

“We didn’t do the greatest job of kind of adjusting to their game plan, and they got me,” Wrobleski said.

“Clearly their plan was to get on the fastball, or get on stuff that was up in the zone,” Roberts echoed. “He didn’t change eye levels enough, and so that’s why he gave up a lot of slug … They were hitting the ball out of the ballpark. So that’s kind of the tale of the run prevention tonight.”

Who’s hot

Since hitting his last home run at Dodger Stadium on May 31, Muncy had had 59 chances to tie Karros’ record during the team’s last three homestands.

A first-half-closing slump prevented it from happening then.

But a second-half-opening surge helped it happen now.

After hitting three home runs on the team’s post-All-Star-break road trip, Muncy finally matched Karros’ all-time Chavez Ravine mark of 130 career long balls by jumping on a hanging slider from Castillo in the fifth.

Muncy now has 21 homers this season, trailing only Shohei Ohtani for most on the team.

While Muncy had to wait a while for his record-tying blast, he reached Karros’ milestone far quicker than the former first baseman did.

Where Karros needed 798 games and 2,879 at-bats to get to 130 career Dodger Stadium homers, Muncy did it in just 516 games and 1,648 at-bats.

With up to 2 ½ more seasons remaining on his contract, Muncy will have plenty of time to distance himself on the leaderboard (assuming Ohtani doesn’t catch him first).

Who’s not

Those worrying that Ohtani’s knee injury was finally beginning to impact his swing.

That had become a question after the two-way star slumped during the team’s road trip, in which he went just 7-for-38 with no home runs.

But then, seemingly refreshed by Monday’s off day, Ohtani rediscovered his swing with a 3-for-4 performance, following up his leadoff blast with an intentional walk in the third, his RBI single in the fourth, and a double in the ninth that nearly keyed a game-saving rally.

“Tonight,” Roberts said, “he looked like himself.”

That didn’t mean, however, that Ohtani’s knee is back to 100%. Instead, the two-way star revealed after the game that he is also battling a bicep issue, one that has become another factor in his continued absence from pitching.

Up next

The Dodgers will look to bounce back on Wednesday, when Eric Lauer (5-5, 4.83 ERA) will face right-hander Emerson Hancock (6-4, 3.16 ERA).

Baseball is a cruel game. Last night (well, probably two nights ago by the time you’re reading this), Ceddanne Rafaela played hero with a grand slam that drove in all the Red Sox runs.

Tonight, he swung at a pitch that might have been outside state lines with the tying runs on base to cap off an extremely lamentable eighth inning.

Three batters earlier, Romy Gonzalez grounded into this double play, which while not quite as infuriating, proved every bit as costly.

Outside of those two at bats, four of the first five Red Sox batters reached base in the inning. It was exactly the frame where a team like the A’s, who had lost 24 of 30 entering tonight, should’ve blown the game, and it was exactly the frame where the Red Sox, winners of 23 of 27 entering tonight, should’ve won the game.

Instead, the offense reverted to pumpkin form, and the group that couldn’t buy a big hit to save their life over the first two and a half months of the season resurfaced. They went just 1-9 with runners in scoring position, wasted six walks (not a single one of them scored), hit into three double plays, and only had one run on the board going into the ninth inning in a park that wants to be minor league Coors Field.

Adding to the frustration, it also kind of felt like a game the Sox might have won if Curtis Mead was in there batting second instead of sidelined with a broken wrist. That spot in the lineup ended up having an average leverage index of 1.54, and Romy Gonzalez went hitless from it. There’s no way to know exactly how this game would’ve panned out if Mead was in there, but I would’ve liked to have seen it.

There’s also a second guess to be had from Chad Tracy tonight, who let Jake Bennett go out for the seventh inning. Ultimately, this resulted in Brain Serven hitting his first major league home run in four years, which turned a manageable 1-0 deficit into a 3-0 hole, and set the stage for the irritating squandering that ensued in the top of the eighth.

The argument against Tracy would go like this: Bennett’s had a tendency to hit a wall when he gets beyond 75 pitches all year, and his velocity went from a very impressive 96 mph early to several ticks off that later in the game.

At the same time though, I get where Tracy’s coming from. He used the high leverage part of the pen yesterday and didn’t want to use them again in a game the Sox were trailing, and he also doesn’t really have any other great options. All this underscores why the Sox need to have more bullpen depth on their shopping at the trade deadline. There’s such a drop off between the Chapman / Whitlock / Slaten / Guerrero part of the pen and everything else. They need something to bridge the gap.

Three Studs

Let’s give all of these to the right buttons Tracy pushed. Specifically, all three pinch hitters / defensive subs who nearly dragged the Red Sox back into the game.

Masataka Yoshida: Pinch-hit to lead off the eighth with a single.

Anthony Seigler: Followed up Yoshida’s pinch-hit single with a pinch-hit walk. He also put this charge into the ball to end the game, nearly tying things up.

Connor Wong: Hit a two-run bomb in the ninth to get the Red Sox within one after coming into the game defensively.

Three Duds

Ceddanne Rafaela: See the at bat in the eighth inning.

Romy Gonzalez: Went hitless, including the costly double play in the eighth.

Ryan Watson: Another guy who is here because of something that happened in the eighth inning. In his case, he coughed up a run that turned out to be the game winner after Wong’s shot in the ninth.

Looking Ahead:

The Red Sox will send Patrick Sandoval to the mound for the third game of this series tomorrow against Jacob Lopez, and it feels like a pretty important one given how cold the bats have looked at times in recent days. With the Dodgers lurking on the schedule this weekend, you’d like to grab enough wins on the front part of this road trip to prevent any potential damage there from exploding into an ugly overall trip to California.

Weird things happen when the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres get together, and tonight’s game was one of many such occasions in the history of this rivalry. The first of two in San Diego had it all. Terrible defense, many different pitchers, chair interference, multiple ejections from the Padres’ bench—including manager Craig Stammen—and finally a walk-off loss after more than three hours.

“We all kept going,” manager Warren Schaeffer assessed after the game. “Back and forth ballgame, really good big-league ballgame in terms of back-and-forth. Some big offensive moments. Two big at-bats for [Ezequiel Tovar] today. Big homer from [Mickey Moniak], Willi [Castro] — a couple of good walks from Willi, and Cole [Carrigg] just moving the line.

“Scoring 7 runs on the road, that’s pretty good,” he continued. “[We] scored against their bullpen a little bit, it’s a really good bullpen. But then on the other side of the ball, we had four errors. Errors and walks, walks and errors. You’re not going to win in the big leagues if you walk guys, especially late in the game and then you make errors in big moments.”

Not Very Loren-Zen

Right-handed starter Michael Lorenzen was the first of many pitchers utilized by the Rockies in tonight’s… let’s call it “interesting” affair against the Padres. Lorenzen, despite a string of solid starts in recent memory, was looking to rebound after getting hammered hard by the Washington Nationals his last time out.

Instead, Lorenzen gave up a lot of contact in an inefficient start. He threw 93 pitches in just four innings while also giving up eight hits with a walk and only two strikeouts.

Yet somehow Lorenzen gave up relatively minimal damage despite the contact. In the second inning he walked a batter with two outs before giving up two singles and a double to score two runs. A third run could have scored on the second single—one of Fernando Tatis Jr’s five base hits—but a well timed throw home from Jake McCarthy in right field ended the inning.

Lorenzen came out for the fifth inning but gave up another single to Tatis Jr. When another runner reached via a fielding error by Edouard Julien at second base, Lorenzen’s night ended. Juan Mejia allowed a single out of the bullpen that allowed another run to score before ending the inning via a double play.

“I thought Mike battled and competed,” Schaeffer said. “[He was] inefficient and (got) behind in counts. [His] pitch count rose quickly tonight. They fouled balls off — a lot of foul balls — but he battled. He got us into the fifth inning.”

Bullpen vs Defense

The Rockies utilized five relievers in this first of two games against the Padres with mixed results. After Mejia helped the Rockies escape the fifth with only one run scoring and recorded the first out of the sixth, he completely lost the strike zone and walked back-to-back batters. None of the balls in Xander Bogaerts’ at-bat were particularly close to the strike zone.

Mejia was then lifted for Antonio Senzatela—who needs to start rebuilding some of his trade value—who gave up back-to-back singles and a run to score. He then induced a double play, but the game was tied and this began an exhausting back-and-forth that would last the rest of the game.

When the Rockies pulled ahead in the top of the seventh, the Padres followed suit in the bottom. Lefty Brennan Bernardino saw his streak of now 20 straight appearances without allowing an earned run continue, but he allowed an inherited runner to score after Senzatela gave up a walk and a single to start the inning. A fielding error by Willi Castro would allow another run to score and the game was tied once more.

The Rockies again took the lead in the eighth only to end the inning with a tie. Victor Vodnik gave up a leadoff single to Fernando Tatis Jr to start the inning, and a fielding error by McCarthy on a Manny Machado line drive saw him score from first base. Machado was caught on an ill-advised attempt to steal third base but once again the damage was done.

In the bottom of the ninth inning it came down to the embattled Jimmy Herget to try and get the game to extra innings.

Herget entered tonight’s game in a truly miserable slump. In his last four appearances he had given up ten earned runs on nine hits—three of which were home runs—and walked five batters with just three strikeouts. A leadoff single by Jackson Merrill was a bad sign. An even worse sign was yet another error—the Rockies’ fourth of the game—when Hunter Goodman threw the ball into center field while Merrill attempted to steal second. Merrill advanced to third instead. Herget then gave up back-to-back walks before a sacrifice fly brought in the game winning run to cap off a very long and very odd ballgame.

Schaeffer was asked about the compounding errors after the game.

“I think they’re all separate. I think they’re each individual moments in time,” he said. “These guys are professionals, they’re big-league ballplayers and they know how to turn the page. It’s not like a Little League team where you’ve got to bring them all together and say ‘Let’s go. Let’s stop making errors.’ It was just a bad night defensively, that’s all. We’ll turn the page and we’ll be good again tomorrow.”

A solid enough offensive effort

The Rockies put up a fight on the road in San Diego, but it wasn’t enough to make up for terrible defense and pitching struggles.

Castro kicked off a four-run third inning for the Rockies with his 11th home run of the season. He needs just one more to tie his career high of 12, set in 2024 when he was an All-Star for the Minnesota Twins.

A bizarre blooping, bouncing double from Julien kept the inning going, and a single by McCarthy helped the Rockies capitalize on the opportunity. Mickey Moniak then walloped his 17th home run of the season to cap off the frame.

Moniak went 2-for-5 with three RBIs, but also struck out three times against Padres pitching in front of his hometown crowd.

Also playing in front of friends and family—which we were reminded of constantly—was rookie Cole Carrigg. Carrigg had a strong night at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a run and no strikeouts.

On the other hand, it was a difficult evening for Goodman and TJ Rumfield. The duo combined for seven strikeouts while going 0-for-10 at the plate.

The Rockies scored twice more in the seventh inning thanks to doubles with runners on by Tovar and Moniak, then once more in the eighth when Tovar drew a bases loaded walk.

However, they went down flailing against the truly artful filth of Padres closer Mason Miller.

Coming Up Next

Rookie righty Gabriel Hughes will take the mound for tomorrow’s second game of this miniature series. The Padres have not announced their starting pitcher yet. First pitch is scheduled for 2:10 PM MDT.

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The Twins have a very clear direction heading into next week’s trade deadline.

General manager Jeremy Zoll made sure of that on Tuesday. 

Zoll told reporters in no uncertain terms that the Twins would be buyers ahead of the MLB trade deadline on Monday, with Minnesota sitting a half-game back of the Guardians for the final American League wild-card spot.

The Twins GM also made it clear what area of need the front office would be focused on. 

“We’re going to use this next week to do everything we can to find ways to improve the club, continue to execute on that goal and make it a reality,” Zoll said, according to the Star Tribune. “We’re going to focus on finding ways to improve the bullpen and that’ll be a clear focus.”

“We’re going to focus on finding to continue to improve the bullpen and that’ll be a clear focus,” Zoll later said, according to MLB.com. “Beyond that, we’re going to be open to a variety of creative paths and you never know what might come about. This year in particular feels like the market is taking longer to fully take shape as teams have really used last week, this past weekend and, in some cases, these next few days to finalize their path.”

The Twins are 54-54 after they pulled off a comeback 3-2 win over the Royals on Tuesday with six days to go until the deadline. 

Zoll reminded folks that the ballclub’s goal since spring training had been to “play meaningful games in September.”

“We’re really excited about how the team has played over this last stretch,” he said. Tuesday. “We’re really encouraged about that. In turn, we’re going to use this next stretch, this next week, to do everything we can to find ways to improve the club and continue to execute on that goal and make it a reality.”

The decision to be buyers at the deadline means that pieces that teams may have been interested in off the Twins roster may not be available, such as pitcher Joe Ryan

Catcher Ryan Jeffers would have certainly fit that bill as a pending free agent, but Zoll indicated that there wasn’t much interest in trading Jeffers before the deadline. 

“In terms of individual speculation, I don’t think it’s particularly productive to work through all that,” he said. “But what I’ll say is on Ryan specifically, he’s had an awesome year. We’re really excited about where he’s at, and looking forward to doing everything we can to keep the group together and put us in the best spot to keep pushing ahead.”

The Twins will continue their three-game series with the Royals on Wednesday. 

Dominic Canzone’s go-ahead home run in the eighth spoiled a Tuesday night of leaderboard climbing for Max Muncy and Shohei Ohtani as the Mariners beat the Dodgers 7-6 in the first game at Dodger Stadium since before the All-Star break on July 12.

With one out, Julio Rodríguez on first and the score tied at five, Canzone got all of Alex Vesia’s 82-mph slider, sending it 414 feet to center to help lift Seattle to its first win over the Dodgers in five years and first in Los Angeles since June 28, 2009.

“I mean it’s a pitch that’s had different results,” Vesia said. “Obviously it’s not the best pitch. I would have liked to have it more outside or more down. Kind of just flush it and on to the next one. Clearly need to be better in that situation. I felt like my stuff was good after that.”

Added manager Dave Roberts: “Alex made a really bad pitch, [an] 0-1 slider that was middle-middle, and they were hitting the ball out of the ballpark. So, that’s kind of the tale of the run prevention tonight.”

The Dodgers (67-40), with some much-needed help from dubious Mariners fielding, did have Ohtani on third and Muncy on second as the tying and game-winning runs in the ninth. But Seattle reliever Andrés Muñoz survived, putting an end to the thrilling opener of this three-game series.

Seattle won the offensive slugfest with 10 hits and five home runs to the home team’s 13 hits and two homers.

Read more:Shaikin: The Dodgers' three-peat chance may never come again. Trade accordingly

Canzone led the Mariners with two homers — his first, a solo shot, went 433 feet to center in the sixth — while Rodríguez, Cal Raleigh and Rob Refsnyder all hit one apiece.

Mariners right-handed starter Luis Castillo struggled and surrendered five runs, 11 hits and a pair of homers through five innings. But Dodgers lefty Justin Wrobleski, coming off six innings of one-run ball in last Tuesday’s win in Philadelphia, wasn’t his best either. He surrendered five runs and four homers through six innings.

“They obviously had a good approach against me,” Wrobleski said. “We didn’t do the greatest job of kind of adjusting to their game plan. And yeah, they got me. That’s part of the game. … It’s definitely not a thing that I want to have happen again, but again, it’s a learning experience.”

“Going back and looking at it, I still threw the ball pretty well,” Wrobleski added. “I mean, I know that sounds crazy considering the number and the line … but at the end of the day … I didn’t do a great job of adjusting.”

Muncy and Ohtani, though, still had nights to remember.

Ohtani kick-started the scoring with his 10th leadoff homer of the season, which was also the 34th of his nine-year MLB career and 28th with the Dodgers. The 432-footer to center tied the two-way superstar with Davey Lopes for the second-most leadoff homers in franchise history. Mookie Betts is first on the list with 32.

“Tonight, he looked like himself,” Roberts said of Ohtani, who remains off the mound. “I do think that the road trip was exhausting for everyone. I do think that with the day off, he came in fresh and looked more like himself.”

Muncy, meanwhile, launched a home run 430 feet to right in the fifth to tie Eric Karros for the most homers in Dodger Stadium history with 130. Muncy, who has spent the past nine years with L.A. after spending his first two seasons in Oakland, could be standing alone by the end of the Dodgers’ current six-game homestand.

Read more:Dusty Baker's peers expect him to become the first Black manager in the Hall of Fame

Injury updates

Kiké Hernández was activated Tuesday after being out since May 26 with a grade 3 oblique strain. Alex Freeland was optioned to triple-A Oklahoma City in a corresponding move.

“All you can do is take it one day at a time,” Hernández said. “And the best way that you can take things one day at a time is focusing on what you can do today to get better. And that’s what I did … literally going one day at a time and trying to be the best rehabber I could … the best teammate that I could. … It’s been a really long time. … So, I feel pretty good, and happy to see what I can do out on the field.”

Hernández had already made his season debut late — on May 25 — because of his recovery from offseason elbow surgery. Now, the 34-year-old utilityman is grateful to be back and eager to build on his four-for-four start over two games.

“A lot of nervousness,” Hernández said about playing again, mentioning that he had a panic attack when first learning of his worse-than-expected diagnosis. “I feel pretty good. … I feel like everything is in a pretty good spot right now. Trying to keep my 1.000 batting average going and be the best hitter in the league.

“[I’m] just happy to be back with the boys.”

Read more:Dodgers Dugout: A look at the Dodgers' previous trade deadline deals

Edwin Díaz will be the next to return.

The right-handed closer is scheduled to be activated Wednesday — fittingly, when 40,000 fans will receive an Díaz bobblehead — after missing three months because of right elbow surgery.

“He’s checked all his boxes,” Roberts said. “So getting him back in the mix is going to be fun for all of us as well.”

Meanwhile, Will Smith is starting baseball activities “pain-free” after sitting on the injured list since June 5 with a neck injury, Roberts added, and Tyler Glasnow will throw a live session Wednesday after being out since May with a back problem.

Ohtani’s status as a pitcher, however, remains murky. Roberts mentioned an undesirable ramp-up period being in play for Ohtani, as it has been over a month since he last pitched due to irritation in his left knee.

Ohtani himself clarified the origins of his knee problem and shared an estimate of where it’s at strength-wise.

“The discomfort was caused initially by the pitching,” Ohtani said. “So, it’s something I have to work around. In terms of running, I’m not exactly at 100% capacity. When I know it’s not, then it’s always a little harder to be aggressive on the basepath.”

Ohtani and Roberts both said that the Dodgers haven’t reached a point of considering shutting down No. 17 as a pitcher — but never say never.

“Everything that I’ve heard, that’s not the option,” Roberts said. “I guess anything’s possible, but for me, it’s highly unlikely.”

Added Ohtani: “The knee is where it is in terms of, for it to heal is the most important priority. I don’t think the team has really come to a place exactly where, do I pitch through it or not. That’s still really up in the air.”

But that’s not all. Ohtani shared that his biceps is bothering him, too.

“My biceps not 100%,” Ohtani added. “Just [a] similar issue with the knee. Do we consider pushing this? It is still July. So, I think the conversation would be a little different if we’re in August or September.”

“We are getting closer to that,” Roberts said. “You know, he’s a starting pitcher, and then, when you start missing three, four, five weeks of that build-up, then you’ve got to kind of start up again.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Box Score

After being limited to just three hits in a shutout loss last night, Milwaukee bounced back in a big way. Starting pitcher Logan Henderson was terrific, Jackson Chourio and William Contreras each had multi-hit games, Luis Lara had three RBIs, and all nine starters recorded at least one hit as the Brewers cruised to an 8-2 win over the San Francisco Giants.

It only took the Brewers two batters to put a runner in scoring position, as Brice Turang and Jackson Chourio opened the game with back-to-back singles off Giants starter Landen Roupp. William Contreras grounded into a force at second, putting runners on the corners for Christian Yelich, who hit into an inning-ending double play. Henderson matched Roupp in the bottom of the first, working around a pair of singles to keep San Francisco off the board. Both starters had even smoother second innings, retiring the side in order.

Roupp allowed the game’s first run in the top of the third thanks to an extremely Brewers rally: Cooper Pratt drew a walk, David Hamilton laid down a sacrifice bunt, Turang hit a grounder that moved Hamilton to third, and Chourio drove in Pratt with a two-out single.

Milwaukee wasn’t satisfied with just one run, adding three more in the fourth with a two-out rally. Roupp lost the strike zone against the bottom of the Brewers’ order, beginning with a five-pitch walk to Luis Lara. After Lara stole second, Roupp hit Garrett Mitchell to put runners on first and second. That brought up Pratt, who chased a curveball at least a foot off the plate on a 2-2 count, but managed to flare it into shallow right-center for an RBI single.

Lara scored to make it 2-0, Mitchell advanced to third, and Pratt promptly stole second to put two more runners in scoring position. David Hamilton then drew a four-pitch walk, none of which were particularly close to the strike zone. At this point, Giants manager Tony Vitello had seen enough, pulling Roupp in favor of JT Brubaker. Brubaker’s first pitch was lined back up the middle by Turang for a two-run single, scoring Mitchell and Pratt to make it 4-0.

Chourio couldn’t keep the rally going, grounding into a force out to end the inning, but the Brewers had built a lead they were never in danger of giving away thanks to another dominant performance from their pitching staff. Henderson finished with 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while walking two and striking out seven. He’s been consistently good as a major leaguer, but this was his best start since returning from the injured list more than a month ago — and arguably his best outing of the season.

Milwaukee added another run in the fifth after Contreras tripled and Lara brought him in with a groundout. Two innings later, Yelich and Vaughn singled back-to-back, bringing up Lara again with another chance to do some damage. Lara jumped on a splitter and smoked a line drive 389 feet into right-center field. Although it would have been a home run in a few other ballparks, right-center field at Oracle Park is famously unforgiving, so Lara had to settle for a two-run triple.

The Brewers tacked on one final insurance run in the eighth as Hamilton doubled, Turang singled, and Chourio drove Hamilton home with a groundout.

Meanwhile, Milwaukee’s bullpen kept the Giants off the board until long after the game was decided. Henderson exited with two outs and nobody on in the sixth, handing the ball to Aaron Ashby, who got Rafael Devers to ground out and end the inning. Grant Anderson gave up a two-run homer to Bryce Eldridge in the eighth, but those were the Giants’ only runs of the night. Craig Yoho pitched a scoreless seventh and Abner Uribe worked around a pair of singles to close things out in the ninth, giving the Brewers their third win in four games.

Shane Drohan will start for the Brewers tomorrow opposite Logan Webb as Milwaukee looks to secure its fourth straight series victory. First pitch in the series finale is scheduled for 2:45 p.m.

In the definition of a back-and-forth battle, the Mariners outslugged the Dodgers with a season-high five home runs in a 7-6 loss for the reigning champs. Neither team seemed capable of holding onto a lead for any meaningful period until the Mariners jumped in front in the eighth thanks to a two-run shot from Dominic Canzone, his second and Seattle’s fifth homer of the game.

As different as the seasons of the two starting pitchers in this matchup might be, for one game, they both encountered the same problem, completely allergic to the prospect of a shutdown inning. On four separate occasions, a team took the lead in the first five innings only to see its starter unable to put a zero on the board in the following half-inning.

Justin Wrobleski has thrived this season with the ability to raise his level according to the situation, but what does he do when the opposition ambushes him? The Mariners managed to score five runs off the left-hander without even having a single at-bat with a runner in scoring position against him—courtesy of not two, not three, but four home runs against a pitcher who had allowed a total of three long balls prior to this game. Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez, Rob Refsnyder, and Dominic Canzone all left the yard. While the homers hit by Rodríguez and Raleigh could be categorized as mistake pitches, the ones by Canzone and Refsnyder came on well-located fastballs at or well above the strike zone—it stands to reason that Wrobleski’s heater didn’t have the same life on it, or that the M’s guessed right on multiple occasions.

For the Dodgers’ offense against Castillo, it was an eventful game from start to finish, but one that could’ve been more dominant. The M’s veteran starter allowed a leadoff bomb to Shohei Ohtani and had to deal with trouble in some form or another for his entire outing.

Take the fourth inning, for instance: trailing 4-2, the Dodgers scored one on a Tommy Edman double and proceeded to load the bases for Ohtani. The reigning back-to-back NL MVP tied the game with an RBI single that should’ve given Los Angeles the lead. Unfortunately, Kyle Tucker committed a mental error and stayed at third despite getting the wave home from the third base coach with no discernible reason why he did so. The threat remained to add more runs and take the lead, but Andy Pages and Freddie Freeman stranded the bases loaded with a strikeout and a flyout. It wouldn’t be the only time that duo, with the best Dodger hitter with RISP and the hottest one heading into this game, would come up short.

Emboldened by Castillo’s Houdini act in the fourth, the Mariners sent him back out there for one more, only to see Max Muncy take him deep, making it 5-4 Dodgers. Muncy hit the second majestic home run of the evening for the Dodgers, both 430 ft. or longer. Once again, though, as quickly as a lead came, it went away, with yet another long ball given up by Wrobleski. Canzone, who was the sixth hitter to homer in this game, left his best for the end, tying the game at five all and then, a few innings later, hitting the go-ahead shot against Vesia.

Much like Wrobleski’s performance was a complete outlier in contrast with his form this season, Alex Vesia, who hadn’t given up a home run to a lefty hitter all year long, saw the M’s cleanup batter take him deep for the decisive hit.

Led by an Ohtani RBI extra-base hit with no outs in the ninth, the Dodgers had every chance in the world to punish Andrés Muñoz and at least tie the game. However, the Mariners closer showed the form that led him to the All-Star Game in the previous two seasons—Muñoz punched out Pages, kept Freeman from leaving the infield, and retired Mookie Betts after a walk to Muncy to strand the tying run at third and the go-ahead one as second, not even trying to prevent Muncy from stealing a base. In a way, this final inning defined the Dodgers’ game, leaving a lot of meat on the plate in a close loss.

Game particulars

• Home runs— Shohei Ohtani (23), Max Muncy (21), Cal Raleigh (11), Julio Rodríguez (16), Rob Refsnyder (4), 2 Dominic Canzone (18)
• WP—José A. Ferrer (4-a): 1 IP
• LP— Brock Stewart (0-1): 1.1 IP, 1 hit, 1 run
• SV (18) Andrés Muñoz: 1 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 1 strikeout

Up next

Having appeared in nothing but wins for the Dodgers across his eight appearances since moving to Los Angeles, Eric Lauer looks for yet another victory in a matchup against Emerson Hancock and the Mariners. If the Dodgers have Wrobleski, the M’s have Hancock as a youngster in the middle of a breakout campaign, establishing himself as an important member of the starting rotation. Same as Tuesday night, first pitch is at 7:10 p.m. (PT).

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The Houston Astros (54-55) struck out 17 times tonight against the Los Angeles Angels (42-66), and still found a way to win.

Starter Peter Lambert was solid again, as he held the Angels to 2 runs over 5 innings on 7 hits, walking 1 and striking out 6. Though he wouldn’t factor in the decision, he once again gave his team a chance to win.

Enyel De Los Santos, Bryan Abreu, Steven Okert and Josh Hader (S, 14) combined for 4 scoreless, hitless innings in which they struck out 5 without walking a batter.

In the top of the 9th, with runners on the corners and 2 outs in a 2-2 game, the Angels decided to pitch to Yordan Alvarez. It ended exactly as you thought it would.

Alvarez ripped a 2-out RBI single to drive in Nick Allen with the go-ahead run in a 3-2 victory. Josh Hader closed out the 9th on 4 pitches.

The Astros got on the board first, when Alvarez launched his major league-leading 35th HR, giving Houston a 1-0 lead.

The Angels would tie the game at 1 in the third on an RBI single by Vaughn Grissom.

Houston would get that run right back in the top of the 4th when Christian Walker hammered his 21st HR of the season, a solo shot to re-take the lead at 2-1.

In the bottom of the 5th, the Angels would tie the game again when Jorge Soler doubled in Mike Trout.

Neither team really mounted any kind of offense again until Alvarez broke the tie in the 9th.

The Astros are now 1 game under .500 for the first time since April 8, when they were 6-7. Houston is 2 games behind the Texas Rangers for the AL West division lead, and 1 GB of the Cleveland Guardians for the 3rd Wild Card spot in the AL.

Hayden Wesneski will be activated tomorrow and make the start for the Astros as they go for the series sweep.

You guys have probably heard the line ‘its hard not to be romantic about baseball’ before, and tonight was a perfect encapsulation of that very phrase. It had all the highs of the big blowout win, the heartbreak of the blown save, and then the triumph of the unsung hero coming out of nowhere in the extra innings to save the team. Nights like tonight either drive you crazy, or make you fall in love with the game that much more. No other sport can play with our emotions quite like baseball can.

The Diamondbacks offense got off to such an amazing start. Scoring consistently with team baseball throughout each of the first 4 innings. It really felt like this offense was clicking. Overall they recorded 16 hits in the 12 innings highlighted by James McCann with 4 and Nolan Arenado with 3. On the flip side, this offense also set a franchise record recording 24 outs with runners in scoring position tonight. What started out so good, quickly turned into a start reminder of the problems that have been plaguing this offense most of the season with its struggles with RISP.

Then in the 7^th inning, the offense suddenly came to a screeching halt. And the Pirates offense came jolting to life. The Pirates would erase the 6-0 lead the Dbacks had going into the 8^th inning with 3 runs in the 8^th and 3 runs in the 9^th. Unfortunately what had been a strength much of the season in the backend of the bullpen in Thompson and Sewald was a weakness tonight. Thompson simply could not get away with anything tonight giving up 4 hits and a walk in just .2 of an inning. And the leader of this bullpen, Sewald came into the game with a 3 run lead in the 9^th and proceeded to give up a base hit and back to back home runs to immediately erase the 3 run lead and tie the game. This was such a low moment for this team in such a big game. Especially with how lock down Sewald has been in save situations this season coming into the game having blown only 2 saves in 24 chances.

However fortunately for the Dbacks there was Gerardo Carillo who tonight put this team on his back and carried them back into the 3^rd wildcard spot. Carrillo, who came into today working primarily as the low leverage long man, was thrust straight into some of the most high leverage innings of the season thus far, and boy did he deliver. Carillo was able to give the team 2 innings tonight in which he allowed 0 hits and 0 runs while striking out 3 while getting his first career major league win. He threw a 6 pitch scoreless 11^th and then put up another 0 in the 12^th to keep this team alive. Carillo has always been an intriguing relief option in the upper minors given his upper 90’s fastball velocity combined with his pitch mix including a cutter, a splitter, and sinker. However tonight he also showed that he has what could arguably be the most important trait for a late inning reliever and that is he has that dog in him.

It is also worth discussing Brandon Pfaadt who tonight was dominant over 7 innings and definitely was deserving of a win. Pfaadt allowed just 7 baserunners while striking out 4 tonight and his stuff was really working. With the way his season started out, if I would have told you that he would be back in the starting rotation with an ERA of 4.00 going into August, very few people would have believed me. Especially with the contract extension that he signed, Pfaadt has definitely been one of the biggest wins thus far in the season with how he has turned things around and once again looks like the promising young frontline starting pitcher that the Dbacks were banking on.

The Dbacks will go for the series win tomorrow afternoon with Eduardo Rodriquez on the mound in what will once again be the biggest game of the season thus far for the Dbacks. A win would guarantee the Dbacks the season series split against the Pirates, and could put them two games up for the final wild card position (depending on results elsewhere). Here’s to hoping ERod can continue to carry this team tomorrow.

The White Sox (55-51) waited until the bottom of the ninth to score any runs, and ironically ended up outhitting the Yankees (61-46), but they couldn’t make the full comeback and fell just short, 3-2. Chase Meidroth saved the day from a 3-0 shutout, mashing a homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but the bats were mostly quiet and couldn’t provide run support for their pitching staff.

Giving the White Sox bullpen a bit of a reprieve from Monday night, Anthony Kay labored through 5 1/3 innings, looking sharp outside of his 29-pitch second inning. The lefty started the game on a high note by striking out the side in the top of the first — the first three of seven Ks during today’s outing — but we can’t say the same about the next frame.

Back-to-back singles from Jasson Domínguez and Trent Grisham led off the second frame and kicked off their three-run rally. Kay uncorked a wild pitch to move both runners into scoring position before Anthony Volpe lined a double off the top of the wall in right, scoring Domínguez. The southpaw worked around Jazz Chisholm Jr. with a strikeout, but Max Schuemann doubled to left to score another two runs to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead.

Kay was otherwise solid, and when a batter did reach base, he was able to work around it. The main issue, however, is that he received zero run support from the offense, which mustered only three hits while Kay was in the game. It helped that Kay gutted through five-plus innings, but without any run support, it hardly mattered.

Kay put Domínguez on for the second time to lead off the sixth, hitting his 20th batter of the season, and his 10th batter in his last nine starts. Though there was some weird communication between Tristan Peters and Braden Montgomery in right-center, Braden was able to snow cone the ball at the last second for the out.

That marked the end of the day for Kay, as righthander Jordan Hicks came in to close out the inning. Things got a little dicey after Domínguez stole second, which was confirmed after the White Sox attempted to challenge to see if his foot might have slipped off the base. Hicks intentionally walked Chisholm to avoid giving him a chance to do damage, and Aaron Boone opted to pinch-hit Spencer Jones for Schuemann, who struck out on three straight pitches to end the inning.

While all of that was happening, Gerrit Cole effectively shut down the South Siders for all six of his innings. The veteran allowed just four hits and two walks while striking out seven; the main difference between Cole’s outing and Kay’s is that the Yankees finagled three runs, while the South Siders went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base. The South Siders had their best chance in the bottom of the fourth and made Cole navigate through a bases-loaded jam with 32 pitches. Still, unfortunately, they couldn’t capitalize on a Munetaka Murakami leadoff double and a pair of walks.

Miguel Vargas had walked to put two on after the Murakami double, but Colson Montgomery flew out while Andrew Benintendi wasn’t able to beat out a slow dribbler that went to short off the end of his bat. Braden walked to load the bases up, bringing Peters up to the plate. Peters entered hitting .280 with runners in scoring position, but he couldn’t cash in, flying out to shallow left and ending the threat.

Entering the game for Hicks, Tyler Schweitzer put together three solid frames as a long reliever to eat innings while hoping the offense would eventually make the comeback. Spoiler alert: they did not, but Schweitzer allowed just one hit and walked two while striking out one, and kept the Sox in a position to close the gap and win the game. The Yankees could hardly hit the ball after the second inning, but the South Siders could not take advantage of it.

Cole was able to regain control for the fifth and sixth innings and shut the Good Guys down. New York’s bullpen ranks second in MLB with a 3.07 ERA, trailing only their rivals, the Boston Red Sox (3.02). They seemed to be cruising tonight as well, as both Angel Chivilli and Ryan Headrick earned a hold with just one hit allowed (Headrick), but no harm was done. And that’s not including the excellent defensive plays by Chisholm, who stole a pair of base hits, including taking a double away from Colson for a ground out deep into the first and second-base hole.

The first was the first batter of the game for the White Sox:

And the second was slick and extremely clutch:

That clutch play from Jazz in the eighth likely saved the game for the Yankees. Righthander David Bednar came into the game with a 24-inning consecutive scoreless streak, looking to extend it to 25 and close the game out for a shutout win. Bednar struck out Benintendi and Peters, with Peters going down looking after a called ball was overturned to a strike. Braden, who had singled and moved into scoring position, brought Chase Meidroth to the plate. Meidroth wasn’t ready to go home and ended Bednar’s scoreless streak with a two-run homer over the South Side bullpen in left field, bringing the game within one, 3-2.

Since Will Venable had already decided to pinch-hit Randal Grichuk for Sam Antonacci in the bottom of the eighth, there wasn’t much power left on the bench to pinch-hit for Romo. Everson Pereira was called upon, and though he battled through an eight-pitch at-bat, Bednar was able to strike him out on a splitter on the outside corner to end the game.

With the Cleveland Guardians defeating the Cincinnati Reds, 6-5, the White Sox remain in first place with a 1 1/2-game lead in the division. They will need the bats to step up and capitalize on situations where the other team is handing out free base runners, just like Cole did in the fourth. Either way, they couldn’t get a rally going to save their lives, so it’s time to try to brush this one off and come back tomorrow ready to take on Cam Schlittler.

White Sox MVPs
Munetaka Murakami: 1-for-4, 2B, 2 K
Braden Montgomery: 2-for-3, R, BB, K
Chase Meidroth: 1-for-4, R, 2 RBI, HR
Jordan Hicks: 2/3 IP, 0 H, IBB, 2 K
Tyler Schweitzer: 3 IP, H, 2 BB, K

White Sox Cold Cats
Sam Antonacci: 0-for-3, K
Colson Montgomery: 0-for-4, K
Tristan Peters: 0-for-4, 2 K
Anthony Kay: 5 1/3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, BB, 7 K, WP, HB, LOSS (7-5)

One night before the induction of San Francisco Giants second baseman/wheelie enthusiast Jeff Kent into the Hall of Fame, Harrison Bader had a setback in his recovery from plantar fasciitis thanks to a scooter accident. Yes, really.

This is honestly far more baffling than the traffic accident that nearly blinded San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan. A player who has missed the last two months of the baseball season with a foot problem nonetheless went for a late night scoot sesh, crashed, and exacerbated his foot issue. Harrison Bader is 32 years old.

This isn’t even the first time Bader has crashed a scooter late at night. When he was a sophomore at the University of Florida in 2014, Bader was suspended for 19 games after drunkenly crashing his scooter into a parked truck. There’s been no indication that alcohol was involved in the most recent injury, but describing the accident as happening “on Saturday night/early Sunday morning” strongly implies there may have been some revelry involved.

Of course, manager Tony Vitello doesn’t know anything, and he didn’t ask.

“He didn’t provide a lot of details to me, and [I’ll] let the medical staff and the front office sort that stuff out,” Vitello told reporters before Tuesday’s game. Way to stay on top of things, Tony V!

Bader was supposed to fly to Indianapolis to see a foot specialist on Monday, which he did, but that was spent evaluating the new injury, maybe digging broken glass and gravel out of his foot while explaining that while scooters may seem “rad,” he’s a professional athlete on a $20M contract and not an adventurous tween defying his parents. The team said he’d have an MRI Tuesday, after he goes shopping for Rollerblades and a pair of wraparound sunglasses.

It’s been a rough day for the Giants when it comes to injuries. Tuesday afternoon, the team announced that Casey Schmitt had a (likely season-ending) meniscus tear. A few hours later, they announced starter Trevor McDonald had a definitely season-ending UCL tear in his elbow, and would undergo Tommy John surgery.

It’s also been a rough week for the entire organization when it comes to scooter incidents. Saturday, R.C. Dinger, the mascot of the Sacramento River Cats, the team’s AAA affiliate, crashed into Alek Thomas while cruising along the warning track. We are nearly positive that Bader was not in the mascot costume.

What exactly is R.C. Dinger? A cat that lives in the American River and shops at that one store in Old Town Sac that sells candy out of giant barrels and somehow didn’t go out of business during a global pandemic? But we digress.

We all knew there’d be no end to the improbable, terrible disasters that would befall the 2026 Giants. But no one had “scooter accident” on their bongo card. And if anyone did, that bingo card would find away to severely cut Logan Webb’s pitching hand and end his season.