Here’s the Blue Jays’ lineup:
Here’s the Guardians’ lineup:
Let’s go, Guardians!
BLUE JAYS AT GUARDIANS: Cantillo vs. Cease, discussion
Braves vs. Nationals (and Giants) series recap: Holding steady and getting ready for Philadelphia
Well, if the Atlanta Braves wanted to enter the huge weekend series in Philadelphia on a serious roll, they’ll have to just settle for a slight roll instead. The Braves came into this week having won seven straight games but the streak came to a screeching halt at the hands of some unlikely opposition.
Well, maybe it was likely considering how the season series has gone against one team and how the other team usually tends to win their games but needless to say, the Braves won’t be scorching-hot heading into their big four-game series against Philadelphia. They did finally show some reasons to be optimistic about being able to get a positive result this weekend and let’s look into this week’s first three games to figure out why that is the case:
Monday, August 31
Giants 7, Braves 3
Well, there wasn’t too much positive to take away from this game. The San Francisco Giants are in the midst of what’s shaping up to be their worst season since 2017 and yet, they’ll be leaving the 2026 season with fond memories of smacking the Braves around. This made it five out of six wins for the Giants against the Braves in 2026 and it had all the hallmarks of a 2026 Braves/Giants game.
Rafael Devers home run? Check. Bryce Elder getting beat up by the Giants once again? Check, again. San Francisco essentially setting the tone for the entire contest? One more time, check. Devers essentially picked up where he left off against the Braves earlier on this season by hitting his fourth homer in sixth games against Atlanta to make it 1-0 in the first and while the Braves actually got out to a 2-1 lead, Elder was unable to keep the dam from bursting against San Francisco.
Jonah Cox frustratingly bunted in a run to tie the game in the fifth inning and then San Francisco capitalized on the Braves squandering a bases loaded opportunity with two out in the bottom of the fifth by immediately jumping on Elder in the sixth. Osleivis Basabe hit his fourth dinger of the season to lead off the sixth and by the time the smoke had cleared in the sixth, Bryce Elder and Dylan Lee were responsible for the Giants having a four-run inning. Jonah Cox then proved that he could hurt the Braves with the long ball as well, as his ninth inning dinger (also his fourth of the season) made it a 7-3 game and Atlanta was unable to respond after the breakout inning for the Giants.
Tuesday, September 1
Nationals 9, Braves 5
Well, if there’s one team that you usually don’t want to end up in a slugfest with, it’s the Nationals. That’s especially been the case for the Braves lately, as they’ve had some real struggles to put together some sustained offense away from Truist Park. The good news is that Atlanta did put five runs on the board in this one, which was the most that they’d scored in a single game away from Truist Park (or a neutral site) since July 24. On top of Atlanta scoring five, Ha-Seong Kim picked up three hits in this one! This was Kim’s first multi-hit game since September 17 of last season and needless to say, the Braves would gladly use any type of real production that they can get from Kim down the stretch.
The bad news is that this was another rough day for the pitching staff, as the 2026 Nats fired off one final salvo at the Braves in a season that’s been very productive for them at the plate. AJ Smith-Shawver was only able to get through four innings in this one and by the time he left, it was a 5-2 game in favor of Washington.
The Nats then pulled away against the debuting Blake Burkhalter and reliever Brent Suter, as Burkhalter surrendered a sacrifice fly to Brady House and then Suter got knocked around for three runs (including an error) in order to make it a 8-2 ballgame at the time. The three-run flurry that Atlanta delivered in the eighth inning was encouraging considering how tough it’s been for Atlanta to put crooked numbers up in any given inning on the road lately, but it was simply a case of putting lipstick on a pig as the Nationals rolled to a 9-5 win.
Wednesday, September 2
Braves 9, Nationals 0
It took a while but we finally got to see the Braves really hammer an opposing team for once — and on the road, no less! Things remained scoreless in this one until the sixth inning, as Grant Holmes looked very sharp in a rain-shortened outing and then the rest of the bullpen picked up the baton and ran with it in dominating fashion for the rest of the way. Atlanta only gave up two hits in this contest and it was definitely nice to see Elieser Hernández continue to come up big in yet another strong multi-inning appearance.
The pitching staff’s strong performance bought Atlanta enough time to finally start doing some real damage away from home. The sixth inning started with Ronald Acuña Jr. getting on with a single and then stealing his 20th base of 2026 but it only got more exciting from there. Riley Cornelio intentionally walked Michael Harris II in order to try to get Sean Murphy with two outs. That ended up being a mistake, as Murphy crushed one for a three-run shot that broke the deadlock.
History was then made in the seventh, as Ronald Acuña Jr. finally cracked his 200th career home run in order to push Atlanta into comfortable position at 6-0. Acuña is now the fastest player to join the career 200-200 Club and hopefully he’ll be able to keep the homers coming now that he’s finally moved past that particular milestone.
Anyways, Austin Riley cashed in a bases-loaded opportunity in the eighth with a liner to left that brought home two to make it 8-0 and then Sean Murphy padded his stats with an RBI single off of José Tena, who is not a pitcher. This one ended 9-0 and it was sure nice to see the Braves bring the lumber away from Cobb County, for once.
Atlanta also got a bit of good news shortly after their win on Wednesday as the Diamondbacks held on to a 1-0 win over the Phillies, which ensured that the Braves will be heading into Philadelphia with a four-game lead. Hopefully we’ll see the Braves play with some confidence in that series — Atlanta has been the top dog in the NL East all season and now’s as good of a time as ever to really confirm it and to do so in their closest pursuer’s own stadium would be huge.
In the mean time, the only real takeaways from these three games is that we can at least have some hope that the offense may have brought the bats with them on this road trip. It had been far too long since we’d seen the Braves actually do some real damage at the plate on the road and that’s going to have to continue going forward since Atlanta will be playing more games away from Truist Park this month than in their humble abode in Cobb County. While there’s also a bit of a concern that this could just be a case of the Braves beating up on a Nationals pitching staff that’s been vulnerable all season, I don’t think anybody would complain if Atlanta took that confidence from this series in Washington and carried it over to the big one in Philadelphia.
Also, how about Ha-Seong Kim? It almost feels as if a switch has turned on for the guy with the way that he’s ben productive over the past week. Kim now has six hits in his past six games, which is wild considering that he had five hits in just 31 games before then. At the risk of sounding like Chip Caray, getting a productive Ha-Seong Kim back would almost be like picking up a player after the trade deadline. As well as Mauricio Dubón has played all season, this team was designed for Ha-Seong Kim to play a crucial role. If he can step up for the rest of the way then that just makes this Braves lineup tougher to deal with going forward.
Now, it’s time for Atlanta to enjoy an off-day before the biggest series of the season gets underway. Atlanta’s going to have four pitchers that they’re confident in starting for them in Philadelphia, with Chris Sale, Martín Pérez, Tyler Mahle and Bryce Elder going for them in that order. The pitching has proven that they can keep any given lineup quiet on any given day. The offense is finally beginning to show some real signs of life away from home. There’s nothing left but to take care of business and hopefully we’ll see the Braves make it happen once it’s all said and done on Monday evening.
The Kawhi Leonard Clippers punishment and how it impacts the Sixers
Nearly a year to the day that Pablo Torre published his first episode reporting on the Kawhi Leonard cap circumvention saga with a company called Aspiration, the league has finally doled out punishment to both Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Clippers certainly came away worse for wear than the All-NBA forward they signed back in 2019. Per Shams Charania of ESPN, they were stripped of five first round draft picks, given a $30 million dollar fine to governor Steve Ballmer, as well as suspensions for Ballmer and executives Lawrence Frank and Gillian Zucker. Leonard was hit with a measly $700,000 dollar fine while Dennis Robertson, his uncle and former agent, was banned by the NBA from all business dealings.
So here’s how these different punishments will affect the Sixers, because there are several ways they could. Obviously, the Clippers owe the Sixers a first-round swap in 2029, the year Charania reported the Clippers will begin to be stripped of draft picks.
The good news is that won’t be impacted by this punishment. Zach Lowe of The Ringer reported that the 2029 first rounder that will be stripped from the Clippers will be the Indiana Pacers’ first rounder owed to them from the trade that sent Ivica Zubac to Indiana. After Lowe’s report, both Derek Bodner of PHLY and Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice confirmed that the Sixers’ pick swap will remain intact.
The Sixers remain in control of the pick swap, but it hasn’t gotten any easier to project how valuable that will be. With the new lottery rules in place, it feels impossible to predict so far out. The Clippers are a team that hasn’t really tanked since Ballmer bought them, and they certainly won’t be incentivized to without control of any of their picks.
Still, they were a team that wasn’t able to get out of the Play-In tournament, and now it seems they’ll officially be replacing Leonard with Brandon Ingram. The Toronto Raptors re-acquired Leonard in a trade early in the offseason, but the league put that deal on hold until the cap circumvention investigation was completed. Now that it has without Leonard’s contract being voided or suspended, there’s nothing stopping his return to Toronto. In the statement he released to Charania, Leonard expressed his desire to move forward with a clean slate in Toronto.
So as we preview the Eastern Conference, it’s time to finally sharpie Leonard into that Raptors roster. He presents just as many, if not more injury concerns for getting through the playoffs as this Sixers roster does. But a 46-win team swapping out Ingram for Leonard certainly won’t be getting worse.
How Kawhi Leonard escaped NBA’s hammer in Clippers scandal
The Clippers received one of the harshest punishments in NBA history.
Kawhi Leonard did not.
Despite being found in violation of the same salary-cap rules, he escaped with comparatively little damage.
That contrast has become the biggest question following the league’s salary-cap circumvention ruling, which cost Los Angeles five first-round picks and hit owner Steve Ballmer with a $30 million penalty. Ballmer, Lawrence Frank and Gillian Zucker were also suspended.
Leonard owes $700,000 in restitution. He wasn’t suspended. More importantly, his contract survived.
The NBA’s collective bargaining agreement and the findings of its yearlong investigation help explain how Leonard landed so softly.
The league hired Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to investigate how the Clippers helped generate lucrative off-court opportunities for their star.
Under Article XIII of the CBA, players can be fined, forced to return improper benefits or have their contracts voided for circumvention. The provision allowing suspensions of up to one year, however, specifically applies to team personnel.
So Leonard avoiding suspension isn’t the biggest surprise.
The real escape was keeping his contract.
And that may come down to what investigators could — and could not — prove Leonard personally knew.
Wachtell found Leonard violated the CBA through Dennis Robertson, his uncle and former business representative, who repeatedly pushed Clippers officials to create outside income opportunities for Leonard.
Leonard was hardly unaware of the money.
He signed lucrative endorsement deals generated through those efforts and personally requested changes to the cash and equity structure of his proposed Aspiration agreement.
But the investigation draws an important line between knowing the deals existed and knowing how the Clippers were making them happen.
Wachtell did not find that Leonard personally knew the Clippers were directing business toward companies in exchange for benefits flowing back to him. It also stopped short of concluding Leonard understood that those arrangements amounted to salary cap circumvention.
That gap proved extremely valuable.
Robertson made the demands. Clippers executives worked to satisfy them. Leonard received the benefits.
But Robertson’s position between Leonard and the organization made it considerably harder to establish how much of the machinery Leonard himself understood.
In effect, Robertson became a buffer — and now, whether intentionally or not, something resembling a fall guy.
The report does not say Leonard deliberately used his uncle that way. But Robertson is the person whose conduct established Leonard’s violation while simultaneously providing Leonard separation from the conduct investigators considered most serious.
The assignment of blame drives that point home.
Wachtell identified Ballmer, Zucker and Frank — not Leonard — as the three people “most responsible” for the violations. Robertson, whom Leonard fired in June, has since been banned from NBA business dealings.
Leonard therefore emerged in an unusual position: Investigators determined that his representative broke the rules on his behalf and that Leonard received the resulting benefits, yet they stopped short of finding that Leonard knowingly participated in the Clippers’ method of circumventing the cap.
That distinction appears to have saved him from much worse.
It doesn’t mean Leonard was cleared. He wasn’t.
It means the evidence created enough separation between Leonard and the mechanics of the scheme that the NBA chose not to impose the most severe player-specific remedy available to it.
Robertson may not have been Leonard’s intentional fall guy, but he became an effective buffer.
The Clippers took the full force of the punishment. Leonard kept his contract, avoided suspension and largely walked away with the damage contained.
Clippers' punishment forces forfeiture of first-round draft picks. What's left?
The NBA issued stiff penalties for the Los Angeles Clippers, team owner Steve Ballmer and their former star forward Kawhi Leonard on Wednesday, Sept. 2, after an 11-month investigation found they violated salary cap circumvention rules.
The league levied fines of $30 million for the Clippers and $700,000 fine for Leonard, who denied any knowledge of wrongdoing but said he will accept the penalties.
Additionally, the NBA suspended Ballmer from all league activities for the next year; team president of business operations Gillian Zucker for one year without pay; and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank for six months without pay.
"I am deeply disappointed by the flagrant violations of our rules and by the Clippers’ institutional and leadership failures that led to this misconduct," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in statement. "The severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations."
The Clippers denied the league's findings, calling it "a biased investigation" and said they would challenge the findings and punishments.
Here's what the Clippers' draft pick situation looks like for the foreseeable future.
Clippers first-round picks
The Clippers will forfeit five first-round draft picks in the coming years.
Which draft picks did Clippers lose?
The Clippers lost their first-round picks in 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032 and 2033.
Can the Clippers draft in 2027?
Technically, yes, via a pick swap. The Oklahoma City Thunder have the right to swap with the Clippers if LA's draft position, based on record and lottery results, is more favorable than either OKC's slot or Denver's pick, which is top-five protected.
Lorenzo Reyes contributed reporting.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Clippers' punishment forces forfeiture of first-round draft picks. What's left?
Game Thread: Junior’s race for the home run title!
Go Rays!
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Jays @ Guardians Game Thread
Game two with the Guardians. It almost has to be better than game one.
The Jays are saying that Jameson Taillon will start Friday’s game against the Royals
Looking at that picture, I used to think I’d like to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but it interests me less now. And I’m not crossing that border for three more years. But I think there are other things I need to see before that particular Hall of Fame.
The year Covid hit, I had planned to go to Kansas City, to watch the Jays play there and to see the Negro League Baseball Hall of Fame. That’s higher up on the list. And I’d like to visit Nashville one day. And there are some places in Texas I’d like to visit.
Go Jays Go
Ronald Acuña Jr. makes MLB history as fastest to join 200-200 club
WASHINGTON — Bat met ball in the top of the seventh inning, the latter flying out of the ballpark at 104 mph and soon, Ronald Acuña Jr. was flapping his arms and getting saluted in return by Atlanta Braves coaches and teammates, having witnessed another superlative from their now 28-year-old superstar.
“It’s freakish talent,” says Braves manager Walt Weiss. “And so he's capable of doing unbelievable things.”
In this case, on a rainy Wednesday, Sept 2 at Nationals Park, Acuña became the quickest player to reach 200 stolen bases and 200 homers, hitting the mark in just 904 career games, 25 sooner than Alfonso Soriano.
For a guy who debuted at 20 to reach a “fastest to” plateau at 28 seems momentarily incongruous. Yet that simply speaks to the adversity Acuña has faced after the sheen of his instant stardom wore off.
A pair of torn ACLs, one on each leg, essentially robbed him of two seasons, including the Braves’ run to the 2021 World Series championship. This season, a hamstring strain sent him twice to the injured list, and Weiss saw fit to bench him to “slow the game down” when he struggled returning from his second IL stint.
Those struggles seemed far away Wednesday.
Acuña singled, swiped second - his 20th steal in 29 tries this year - and scored in the sixth inning. An inning later, he clobbered a first-pitch 95 mph sinker up in the zone from Nationals reliever Max Kranick 379 feet into the Nationals bullpen for a 6-0 lead.
Two hundred to pair with his 225 steals.
In this era of liberal stolen-base rules, Acuña tops several superlative lists. But this one might be most significant - it implies longevity while also speaking to his precocious talent.
“I know how much I worked to be here, with my teammates, and I also, for me, wanted to be in that list with Alfonso Soriano and the superstars,” Acuña said after the Braves completed the rain-delayed 9-0 victory, increasing their NL East lead to four games over the Phillies ahead of their four-game weekend series in Philadelphia.
“Injuries are part of the game, though. So I need to keep continuing working hard, play hard, no matter what happened, help my team win a lot of games, so (we) make the playoffs this year.”
The 200th career home run for Ronald Acuña Jr. 👏 pic.twitter.com/yyEGxT2be7
— MLB (@MLB) September 2, 2026
Acuña won’t be in the hunt for his second NL MVP award this season. Limited to 86 games, he’s posted a .243 average and .761 OPS, with 14 homers.
That’s OK. The Braves have taken control of the NL East without his very best. Now, they can really use his game-breaking ability as the stakes get higher.
“I love, I love, playing against Philly,“ says Acuña. “This weekend, it's like a playoff game, so let's see what happens in Philadelphia.”
Perhaps something spectacular, once again, from the Braves’ superstar whose career is gaining ever-richer context.
“Yeah, anytime you're first, or even top 50 on any list in this game, it's amazing,” says Weiss. “You think about the history of this game, and the people who played it, but, yeah, we know Ronald's talent, man.“
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ronald Acuña Jr. makes MLB history as fastest to join 200-200 club
9/2 Gamethread: Giants @ Pirates
The San Francisco Giants continue this three-game road series against the Pittsburgh Pirates this afternoon.
Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Landen Roupp, who enters today’s game with a 4.25 ERA, 3.74 FIP, with 133 strikeouts to 66 walks in 139.2 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 6-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks last Thursday, in which he allowed one run on four hits with three strikeouts and two walks in five innings.
He’ll be facing off against Pirates right-hander Bubba Chandler, who enters today’s game with a 4.26 ERA, 4.09 FIP, with 117 strikeouts to 68 walks in 131 innings pitched. His last start was in the Pirates’ 3-0 loss to the San Diego Padres last Wednesday, in which he allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits with three strikeouts and two walks in five and two thirds innings.
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Game #140
Who: San Francisco Giants (57-82) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (68-71)
Where: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
When: 3:40 p.m. PT
Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area
National broadcast: n/a
Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM
I see a red door: Diamondbacks 1, Phillies 0
The final game of a lengthy road trip is always a tricky proposition. Having already secured a winning record on their nine-game western swing, it was easy to envision the Phillies going through the motions in anticipation of boarding their flight back to Philadelphia.
Sure enough, the offense was silent against a bullpen game by the Diamondbacks. But it almost didn’t matter because rookie starting pitcher Andrew Painter delivered a gem, pitching seven shutout innings. Unfortunately, one mistake by reliever Jonathan Bowlan was enough to send the Phillies to a 1-0 loss.
Since his return from the minors, the first inning has given Painter some trouble. But after allowing a single to start the game, Painter got the next three hitters in the frame out…and pretty much just about every other hitter he faced after that.
From the second to the sixth, the Diamondbacks had one runner reach base, and that came via Bryson Stott error in the fourth. The Diamondbacks finally recorded their second hit of the game with one out in the seventh, but Painter rebounded to get the next two batters to finish his day.
Painter’s performance was perhaps more impressive because his offense did absolutely nothing at the plate. Facing an array of relief pitchers, they managed just three hits on the day – two of them by Bryan De La Cruz, who was the only player to get as far as second base. Bryce Harper had the other hit and walked twice to extend his on-base streak to 35, but the rest of the team had a collective 0-fer at the plate.
The Diamondbacks must have been ecstatic to see Painter leave the game. Jonathan Bowlan came in for the eighth and was greeted warmly by James McCann.
And that was that.
It was a disappointing if not unexpected end to an otherwise successful road trip. They’ll fly home and have an off day on Thursday before starting a four-game series against the Braves that may very well decide which team wins the National League East. Painter won’t pitch in that series, but hopefully his veteran rotation mates can duplicate his effort.
5 Must Watch Blackhawks At 2026 Prospect Showcase
Earlier in the week, the Chicago Blackhawks announced their roster for the 2026 Prospect Showcase. This event will take place at Blackhawks Ice Arena in Chicago, and it will feature three practices, two morning skates, and two games against the St. Louis Blues prospects.
Once again, the Blackhawks are bringing an above-average amount of talent to an event like this. Not every one of Chicago's top prospects is attending, but there is enough to consider it a highly competitive group.
11 Blackhawks Will Enter 2026-27 On Expiring ContractsThe Chicago Blackhawks have 11 players on expiring contracts on their active roster heading into the 2026-27 season. Of the players showing up to this showcase, these five are the ones who will have extra attention on them for different reasons:
Sacha Boisvert - FWD
Sacha Boisvert was a first-round pick (18th overall) in the 2024 NHL Draft. Naturally, that will place excitement on him because there is a certain expectation that comes with selections like that during a rebuilding phase.
Boisvert, after finishing his NCAA career, signed with the Blackhawks at the end of last season for a handful of games. He didn't play every game after signing, but there is clear upside in his game. There is a lot more development ahead of him, but he is a player to watch out for above most at this Prospect Challenge.
Marek Vanacker - FWD
Marek Vanacker was also a first-round pick in the same draft as Boisvert. The Blackhawks made him the 27th overall pick that year. This is another forward that the Blackhawks are hoping will play a role on one of their four lines in the future, if not used in a trade. In the upcoming games against the Blues, Vanacker will make an impact on one of the top two lines.
Ryan Roobroeck - FWD
Ryan Roobroeck is the only player on this list who isn't signed. Unless he is uncuttable in camp and the preseason, he will return to Major Junior hockey in 2026-27 to play for the Guelph Storm of the OHL.
Roobroeck, a second-round pick (35th overall) in the 2026 NHL Draft, has a fresh feel to him as a prospect. Of all the players drafted by Chicago in 2026, Roobroeck will get the most attention at this event. It will be interesting to see how he is used compared to some of the older forwards in attendance.
AJ Spellacy - FWD
AJ Spellacy may not be the most skilled or flashy player of the bunch, but he has an argument for being the most "NHL-ready". Spellacy plays a hard-nosed game and is always going full steam ahead.
Spellacy's play style makes him a perfect third forward on a line to complement skill guys. He wins puck battles, hits hard, and isn't afraid to go to the front of the net. His tenacity will allow him to score goals at every level he reaches in hockey.
This is also a player with a clutch gene. When things matter the most, you can expect Spellacy to make a difference.
Adam Gajan -G
Spencer Knight is the organization's number one goalie; Arvid Soderblom is going to be the backup for another year, and Drew Commesso is waiting in the wings. Still, you can never have too much goaltending depth. Adam Gajan is going to be a part of that moving forward.
Gajan was one of the NCAA's best goaltenders last year, and he even found a way onto Team Slovakia's roster at the Winter Olympic Games in Milano Cortina. He was the third stringer in the end, but he may be the future of the position for that country.
It will be an AHL start for Gajan in his pro career, which is the case for most goaltenders in NHL history. If he gets a look in a Blackhawks uniform this year, it would only be because of multiple injuries, but that is likely not something he will experience until next year or beyond.
As far as the showcase, he is the best non-skater attending for Chicago. Jason Schaubel, the other goalie on the roster, will likely split the net with Gajan when it comes to the games. Schaubel was with the Kitchener Rangers en route to a Memorial Cup victory earlier this year.
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NBA suspends Ballmer, levies massive penatlies on LA Clippers for Kawhi Leonard chicanery
Count me among the cynics who thought that Steve Ballmer was simply too rich, too friendly with NBA commissioner Adam Silver, and had too many lawyers to face serious punishment for his team’s blatant attempts to circumvent the salary cap with a series of shady endorsement deals for Kawhi Leonard. The punishment Silver and the NBA handed down Wednesday is serious indeed.
It’s a huge penalty for the Clippers, who will forfeit their first-round picks from 2029 to 2033. That’s almost as much as they gave up to get Paul George! The Clippers’ 2027 and 2028 firsts are already encumbered by trades, so they’ll lose the next five, leaving them with only the Indiana Pacers’ pick in 2029 and the Toronto Raptors’ draft picks in 2031 and 2033.
Leonard’s own punishment was only a $700K fine, so presumably the Raptors will no longer object to completing their earlier deal for The Claw, and he can move on to no-show deals with Tim Horton’s, Canada Dry, and Molson’s.
The NBA’s nearly year-long investigation “found a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations by the Clippers organization.” Those violations included:
● Affirmatively initiating off-court income opportunities between Mr. Leonard and four companies doing business with the team: Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics, and Lockton Insurance;
● Facilitating endorsement agreements between these companies and Mr. Leonard;
● Inducing the companies to enter into these agreements by offering them business from the team;
● Paying personal expenses on behalf of Mr. Leonard and his representatives; and
● Failing to report improper solicitations for off-court income opportunities made on Mr. Leonard’s behalf through his then-business manager, Dennis Robertson.
Ballmer and the Clippers had loudly proclaimed their innocence as to any wrongdoing in Leonard’s $28M endorsement deal with Aspiration, the now-defunct tree-planting/climate credits company that was a big Clippers sponsor. That deal apparently didn’t require Leonard to do anything to reap tens of millions, whether it was to post about the company or plant one single tree, and it was never announced publicly, which seems contrary to the idea of celebrity endorsements.
Journalist Pablo Torre has been all over the story since it began, also pointing out the questionable endorsement deal Leonard had with Daktronics, a scoreboard manufacturer that didn’t have any other celebrity endorsements — since they make gigantic scoreboard displays. The NBA’s investigation, conducted by the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, also found previously unreported illegal deals with Boingo Wireless and Lockton Insurance worth $18M in total.
Yes, Kawhi wasn’t doing ads for them either, and none of them was reported publicly. The three companies became paid consultants for the Clippers at the same time as they reached endorsement deals with Leonard, with two of them receiving immediate payments of $10M in “consulting fees.” Why they needed consultation with Boingo Wireless remains unexplained.
Not only did the Clippers have to forfeit five first-round picks, the same punishment given to the Minnesota Timberwolves a quarter century ago for making an illegal secret deal with Joe Smith, Ballmer and the Clippers head of business operations, Gillian Zucker, are suspended for a year. President of basketball operations Lawrence Frank was suspended for six months. Zucker and Frank’s suspensions are unpaid, but Ballmer will surely be able to find them some endorsement opportunities to make up for the lost income.
Now the Clippers are rebuilding around an uninspiring young core of Darius Garland, Brandon Ingram, and No. 5 pick Keaton Wagler, but precious little else. It’s an open question whether head coach Ty Lue will want to hang around, though he’s reportedly signed for three more seasons. The Clippers will also have to motivate themselves without the NBA’s most enthusiastic and sweatiest owner sitting courtside, relying instead on THE WALL, a Clipper-fans-only section behind one basket that honestly might have trouble filling its seats.
Who are the big winners? Adam Silver, who stood up to the richest owner in the league and came down with an old-school punishment worthy of David Stern, if not Kennesaw Mountain Landis himself. There’s Pablo Torre, who led the way on the story and was vindicated tremendously by the league’s ruling. There’s the Raptors, who get Leonard without his contract being encumbered. And there’s Leonard himself, who seems to have escaped cheaply by only drawing a $700K fine for taking what may have been tens of millionsof dollars.
Who are the losers? Steve Ballmer is the biggest one. We’d say the Clippers, but this is just one in a series of embarrassments that have defined the franchise since it moved out of Buffalo. Clippers fans don’t expect good things.
Mark Cuban, one of the most vocal Ballmer defenders, has to be considered a loser, as do Ramona Shelburne, Don Van Natta, and Baxter Holmes of ESPN, who confidently reported that the NBA had nothing on the Clippers just two weeks ago. Shelburne also hosted a softball interview with Ballmer a year ago on ESPN that was embarrassing at the time and even more so in hindsight.
The investigators called Ballmer’s statements during that interview that the Clippers “weren’t involved” in Leonard’s Aspiration deal “inaccurate (at best) with respect to Mr. Ballmer and clearly false with respect to Ms. Zucker.”
To his credit, Cuban took the L Wednesday.
Who did not take the L? The Clippers, who continue to deny any wrongdoing and threaten to sic their lawyers on the NBA.
Do we know why the NBA is biased against the Clippers? We’re sure the Clippers will explain, just like they’ll provide a reasonable explanation for team sponsors secretly giving millions of dollars to the superstar to do nothing as they’re also receiving massive consulting fees from the team.
The evidence is more damning than anyone realized, and the punishment is worse than anyone expected. Maybe not all billionaires believe that they can do whatever they want, but the billionaire who owns the Clippers clearly did. For the Warriors, their richest division rival has been seriously weakened.
Ultimately, Adam Silver was Steph Curry in this investigation, and Steve Ballmer was Chris Paul.
LA Clippers fined $30m over Leonard pay scandal
The LA Clippers have been fined $30m (£22.2m) by the NBA for violating salary rules in order to funnel millions of dollars to star player Kawhi Leonard.
The fine - the largest in the league's history - comes after the NBA report said Leonard pressured the Clippers into "obtaining off-court income opportunities [and] successfully obtaining those opportunities".
The investigation was opened in September 2025 when podcast journalist Pablo Torre reported that a $28m (£20.8m) endorsement contract between Leonard and Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC could have broken league rules.
The Clippers will also have to forfeit five first-round draft picks between 2029 and 2033, while owner Steve Ballmer has been suspended from all league and team activities for 12 months for his role in matters involving Leonard's sponsorship contracts.
Two-time NBA champion Leonard has been fined $700,000 (£520,000) by the league.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he was "deeply disappointed" by the Clippers' "flagrant violations" of the rules and said the "severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations".
Clippers president of business operations Gillian Zucker has been suspended for one year without pay for providing "misleading statements to investigators".
The NBA said its month-long investigation "found a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations by the Clippers organisation, a prior offender of the salary-cap circumvention rules".
Following the ruling, Leonard, 35, said he "accepts full responsibility" for his actions and "regrets the distraction this situation has caused the fans and my family".
"I entered into my contract with the Clippers as well as the agreements in question in good faith, fully committed to fulfilling my obligations and with no knowledge of any intent on anyone's part to circumvent the salary cap," he wrote on Instagram.
The two-time NBA Finals MVP joined the Clippers in 2019 and spent seven years with the franchise before leaving this year.
The NBA said the "organisation and personnel" of the Clippers will be subject to a compliance and monitoring programme overseen by the league for five years.
Clippers to appeal against 'witch hunt' fine
The Clippers said they would appeal against the decision "through every avenue available".
"We vehemently reject the NBA's findings, which are the result of a heavily biased investigation seeking to justify a predetermined narrative rather than facts and evidence," read a Clippers statement.
"What the league told us privately differs from what it announced today publicly, and they have not held themselves close to the standard commissioner Silver set at the start of this investigation to ensure [its] fairness and accuracy."
Leonard is now expected to complete his move to Toronto Raptors, which was on hold until the investigation was completed.
Ballmer's attorney David Kelley said in a statement - released by the Clippers, according to ESPN - that suggested the team and his client has been subject of a "witch hunt" and the punishments were a "gross injustice".
"Mr Ballmer's reputation has been irreparably damaged as he now finds himself embroiled not only in this heavily biased investigation, but in civil litigation, the Aspiration bankruptcy proceeding, and more," Kelley said.
Cardinals vs Dodgers Prediction, Picks & Odds for Tonight's MLB Game
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Yoshinobu Yamamoto is on the bump tonight, so I'm riding with him as part of our Cardinals vs. Dodgers predictions.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are massive 70-cent favorites at Polymarket, and we'll be focused on the run line to squeeze out some extra value as a result.
Let’s dive into my MLB picks for Wednesday, Sept. 2.
Who will win Cardinals vs Dodgers today: Dodgers -1.5 (51%)
For help understanding probabilities, see our odds calculator.
When Yoshinobu Yamamoto is on the mound, it's tough to find an edge elsewhere. Yamamoto allowed just seven earned runs across 32 1/3 innings pitched in August (1.95 ERA), and is in a good spot against the St. Louis Cardinals, a team that owns a .176 average against him.
Yamamoto is having another fantastic season, with opponents rocking just a .213 xBA and .340 xSLG against him this year. He'll silence the bats, and with many questions surrounding who will be on the mound for the Cardinals, I'll give the benefit of the doubt to the Los Angeles Dodgers' offense.
COVERS INTEL: With the lowest walk rate of his career (5.9%), the Cardinals are going to have to earn it tonight. Expect Yamamoto to go deep against the team ranked 22nd in wRC+.Cardinals vs Dodgers Over/Under pick: Under 7.5 (47%)
The Cardinals have yet to announce their starter, but while I think the Dodgers will do enough to cover, their offense has struggled recently. The Under has covered in four of their last five games, and that trend should continue with Yamamoto on the mound tonight.
St. Louis is also one of the best Under teams in baseball, hitting at a 54.2% clip this season.
Cardinals vs Dodgers home run prediction: Pick (16%)
At this price, Jordan Walker is the best bet on the board tonight. Walker owns the highest xSLG (.486) of his career and has an .821 OPS against righties.
Mistakes may be few and far between from Yamamoto tonight, but if there's one guy in the Cardinals' lineup that will capitalize, it's Walker.
Dustin Saracini's 2026 Transparency Record
- ML/RL bets: 7-9, -0.99 units
- Over/Under bets: 7-8, -1.55 units
Cardinals vs Dodgers weather
It's a perfect night for baseball in Los Angeles, with temperatures of 79 degrees Fahrenheit accompanying sunny skies.
Cardinals vs Dodgers odds
- Moneyline: Cardinals 31% | Dodgers 70%
- Run line: Cardinals +1.5 (50%) | Dodgers -1.5 (51%)
- Over/Under: Over 7.5 (54%) | Under 7.5 (47%)
Cardinals vs Dodgers trend
The Dodgers are 6-0 in Yamamoto's last six starts vs. NL Central teams. Find more MLB betting trends for Cardinals vs. Dodgers.
How to watch Cardinals vs Dodgers and game info
| Location | Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA |
| Date | Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026 |
| First pitch | 10:10 p.m. ET |
| TV | Cardinals.TV, SNLA |
| Cardinals starting pitcher | TBD |
| Dodgers starting pitcher | Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12-8, 2.56 ERA) |
Cardinals vs Dodgers latest injuries
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
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Washington Nationals drop the final game of a successful home stand
In the last game of a 16 day run where they played every day, the Nats did not have any juice. They came out flat before the rain delay and that continued when play resumed. However, given the context, it was a performance I can live with in a 162 game season.
This was still a successful home stand. After leaking oil for most of August, the Nats had a solid 6-4 run at home. Things reached rock bottom after they got humbled in a 13-1 defeat against the Rockies. However, after Blake Butera called out the team’s effort, they responded. They won 3 out of 4 against the Marlins and last night’s win over the Braves was one of my favorites of the season.
Today was a different story though. Even though James Wood was back, it just felt like a punt game from the beginning. Between the pitching plan and the lack of offense, they never felt in the game. It was Wood who got the first hit of the game in the 6th inning. This was just a sleepy performance.
Brad Lord actually did his part, firing 3.1 strong innings before a lengthy rain delay. After play resumed, Riley Cornelio got out of a bases loaded jam. That could have been the spark to ignite the Nats, but they just did not have it today. On the broadcast, they said that the Nats played 39 games in 41 days. With an off day and such a dramatic win last night, coming out flat was honestly understandable.
This game was pretty uneventful outside of a couple 3-run homers for the Braves and Max Kranick getting lit up like a Christmas tree. I want to circle back to last night though. That was one of the best wins the organization has had in some time.
I put it like that because the group accomplished a lot in that win. With their 67th win of the year, the Nats exceeded their win total from 2025. Heading into the season, there was real doubt about whether that would happen following the losses of MacKenzie Gore, Jose A. Ferrer and Josh Bell.
However, they got it done with plenty of time to spare. That is due in large part to the impressive hitting infrastructure the new front office has put in place. Even in September, the Nats are still second in baseball in runs scored and have some real distance between themselves and third. The pitching development has been hit or miss, but it feels like almost every hitter in the organization has improved.
We saw that on display last night with Yohandy Morales. The 24 year old looked right at home in his MLB debut. He had three hits on the night, with his first being a home run which was an amazing moment. There are not a ton of massive names in this lineup, but everyone they bring up seems to be at least showing some promise offensively.
There have been some players who have taken massive leaps, while others are taking slow but steady strides. Some players like Curtis Mead immediately took to the new coaching and broke out right away. For others such as Luis Garcia Jr. and Andres Chaparro, it took a couple months for things to click, but when it did, the impact was loud.
Brady House is another fun example. He showed he was better than last year at the plate right away, but still needed to make big improvements. House actually had to go to the minor leagues to do that. Since being recalled, he has looked a lot better on both sides of the ball. He has a second half OPS of .755. As a whole, his OPS has gone from .574 last year to .710 this year in a nearly identical sample.
While Dylan Crews has not taken the leap most were hoping for, he also had a big moment this home stand. One thing that dogged the Nationals all year long was late inning offense. Crews finally gave the boys their first walk off all season. It was a big moment for him and the team.
Crews has slumped since that moment, which is honestly on brand for how his career has gone. However, I do think the walk off still gave him extra confidence that could be helpful down the line.
It was ugly today, but this was honestly one of my favorite home stands of the year. The team looked pretty dead coming into it, but came out with more life. This season could have gone totally off the rails, but this home stand helped the Nats stabilize.
They finally have an off day now before going on a west coast trip. The boys better bring more energy this weekend because the Dodgers are no easy challenge. It is time for the Nats to finish strong and build momentum into next season. This home stand helped that goal tremendously.