Category: Sports News

Jefferson Rojas continues to impress in his new organization.

The Mets' new No. 1 prospect had himself a day at the plate on Tuesday night with Double-A Binghamton. The infielder went 3-for-5, including a home run, his first with the Mets organization.

After getting the scoring started with a first-inning solo shot, Rojas hit back-to-back RBI doubles in his next two at-bats. 

In six games since arriving in Binghamton, Rojas is 7-for-23 with three-hit games in two of his last three games. 

Billy Amick, another new Mets prospect, went 2-for-5 with a walk, an RBI and three runs scored. In his eight games since being traded to the Mets organization, Amick is 10-for-29 with five home runs. 

Jefferson Rojas tonight for Double-A Binghamton:

3-5, HR, 3 RBI, 2 2B

Rojas was acquired from the Cubs in the deal that sent Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor to Chicago

Rojas is @PSLtoFlushing's top-ranked prospect in the Mets' system pic.twitter.com/9ZOXs1BOfD

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) August 12, 2026

Up with the Triple-A club, Jonah Tong made his latest start and was very effective. 

The right-hander allowed a run on four hits and three walks while striking out six batters in his four-plus innings of work (94 pitches/53 strikes). He worked around a leadoff double in the first inning but was victimized by the home run ball in the second, allowing a solo shot to Bennett Hostetler on a changeup down in the zone. He allowed a double immediately after, but worked around it. Tong also worked around two walks in the third inning. 

Tong's fourth inning was his "easiest" inning, getting the first two batters out before Maximo Acosta was thrown out trying to stretch his single into a double. 

Syracuse's defense failed Tong in the fifth. Ronny Mauricio's fielding error allowed the leadoff runner to reach before a throwing error by Andy Ibanez at third put two runners on with no outs. Tong walked the next batter to load the bases before he was pulled.

Austin Warren came on to strike out the next three batters to end the threat and put a bow on Tong's night. 

Tuesday was a good start for Tong, who is looking to make his way back to the big leagues. Mets interim manager Andy Green talked about Tong's progress this season and what he needs to show to warrant a call-up.

If the right-hander continues to show progress as he did on this night, he may force the Mets' hand. 

A nice little break for the bullpen yesterday. The early surge from the offense meant that Torey Lovullo did not need to push Michael Soroka further than necessary, and was able to hand the ball off to Zack Littell for the rest of the game without worrying. It helped that the Rockies were being very aggressive, and the double-plays behind him were also very helpful. In the end, Zack needed only 45 pitches to record 14 outs. That’s among the most economical long relief outings in franchise history. Here’s the list of all those over two innings, but less than ten pitches per inning. You have to go back to Mike Koplove (25 pitches for 8 outs) in 2005 to find a lower P/IP ratio.

The limited pitch count does also mean Littell won’t need as much recovery time. With an off-day guaranteed on Thursday, he should probably be good to go again, when we start the road-trip on Friday, which goes through Atlanta and Boston. That’s going to be a tough one, and it’ll be nice to everyone in our bullpen fully rested and available for action. Towards that end, it’d help if Mitch Bratt can deliver the same kind of performance tonight he did last time out: seven innings of one-hit, shutout ball against the Padres at Chase Field last Wednesday. The Rockies should be slightly easier – OPS+ of 94, compared to 95 for San Diego – so, fingers crossed.

Lars Nootbaar back to the top of the order. So far, he hasn’t exactly been the offensive force we expected: 3-for-2o, though does have more walks (5) than strikeouts (3). Him and Max Kepler seem almost to be involved in a race to the bottom, attempting to make Arizona fans look forward to the return of Lourdes Gurriel Jr. The $42 million Lourdes signed for, covering the 2024-26 season isn’t looking like a great investment. With one-quarter of a season left, he’s been just a total of 1.9 (bWAR or fWAR, it doesn’t matter). Looks like paying Gurriel $5 million at the end of the year to go away, is going to be close to a no-brainer.

After a rough start to the series yesterday, the Brewers are looking to bounce back in game two against the Padres. They will try to do that behind Kyle Harrison tonight.

The revolving door of the bullpen continued moving as they made another roster move before today’s game. Bryse Wilson is back on the roster just three days after being designated for assignment and one day after electing free agency. He signed a one-year contract and is back on the active roster for tonight’s game. To clear a space for him, Lyon Richardson was designated for assignment. Also, Drew Rom was selected off waivers by the Athletics.

Kyle Harrison makes his second start since returning from the IL tonight. This is his second start against the Padres this season. He pitched five shutout innings on May 14, allowing just five hits and striking out seven. Harrison is coming off another five-inning start last Wednesday, where he struck out 10 and allowed only one hit and one walk. He finished that start with eight straight strikeouts, but cramps prevented him from continuing that one.

For the Padres, Walker Buehler makes the start. He has a 5.07 ERA and 4.37 FIP over 23 starts and 108 1/3 innings this season, along with 95 strikeouts compared to 45 walks. In his last start against the Diamondbacks, he pitched just four innings and allowed one run and struck out three. The Brewers missed him the first time they played the Padres, and last faced him in 2024 when he was with the Dodgers. In three previous career starts, he has a 2.93 ERA and a .211 batting average allowed over 15 1/3 innings.

With the Brewers still hurting on the left side of the infield, they are going with a less traditional lineup for today’s game. Brice Turang will make his first start at shortstop since 2023 tonight. Meanwhile, Jihwan Bae will play second base and bat ninth in his first Brewers start. Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell, and Jake Bauers are batting second through fourth. William Contreras and Christian Yelich move up to fifth and sixth in the lineup, and Luis Lara and David Hamilton round out the lineup. Joey Ortiz gets another day of rest, but was available if needed yesterday.

First pitch is at 8:40 p.m. It will be on Brewers.TV and the Brewers Radio Network.

UPDATE: Manager Pat Murphy provided an update on Cooper Pratt before the game. He’s making solid progress with his hamstring injury and is expected back in late August.

In Game 1, the Colorado Rockies found themselves on the wrong end of a 9-0 Arizona Diamondbacks thrashing.

Tonight, they will look to even the score.

Starting for the Rockies is Tomoyuki Sugano (菅野 智之). This will be his 21st start for the Rockies in 2026.

The righty has a 4.51 ERA in 107.2 IP. He’s struck out 61, walked 26, and given up 22 home runs. Sugano has a 1.26 WHIP. 

Taking the mound for the Dbacks will be LHP Mitch Bratt.

Currently, he has an ERA of 3.90 in 27.2 IP. He’s struck out 21 while giving up 18 walks and four home runs with a 1.52 WHIP.

And now to the details.

First Pitch: 7:40 pm MDT

TV: Rockies TV

Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)

Lineups:

For the visiting Rockies:

And the home Diamondbacks:

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Milwaukee Brewers (74-45) at San Diego Padres (63-57), August 11, 2026, 6:40 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Petco Park – San Diego, Calif.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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Texas Rangers @ Anaheim Angels

Tuesday, August 11, 2026, 8:38 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)

Angel Stadium

LHP Cody Bradford vs. RHP Ryan Johnson

Go Rangers!

The Pittsburgh Pirates caused a bit of a stir Tuesday night when they lifted starter Paul Skenes after just 65 pitches.

It marked the fifth-shortest outing of Skenes' career by pitch count.

The Pirates' ace, who has been battling to find his Cy Young form in the second half of the season, exited after five innings with the Pirates down 2-0 to the Miami Marlins.

Skenes gave up a home run to Esteury Ruiz in the bottom of the third inning, then his fifth inning unraveled a bit when he hit Ruiz with a pitch. Ruiz would score the next batter, racing around from first to score thanks to shortstop Jacob Gonzalez's throwing error.

Skenes' last pitch of the night was nearly a home run, with Bryan Reynolds coming up with the robbery to end the inning and keep the score 2-0.

Bryan Reynolds with ANOTHER home run robbery this year

What a catch pic.twitter.com/VyU3ga4Upc

— Platinum Key (@PlatinumKey13) August 12, 2026

But Skenes did not come back out for the sixth inning, yielding to Yohan Ramirez.

The Pirates have not provided any public updates on if Skenes' removal was injury related. Codify Baseball noted that Skenes' top pitch Tuesday night maxed out at 96.5 mph.

Paul Skenes' postgame comments

When asked if he was surprised he was pulled after 65 pitches, Skenes said "not really."

"If I were the manager I'd probably do it too," Skenes said. "He walked me through everything and it all made sense.

"Wish I could have gone more but, you know, it kind of is what it is."

Skenes' postgame scrum can be seen below:

POSTGAME: Paul Skenes on tonight's 2-0 shutout loss to the Marlins.

Final line: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, BB, 4 K

Pulled after 65 pitches, third fewest of his season. pic.twitter.com/OX1F4s1afs

— Tyler Boronski (@TylerBoronski) August 12, 2026

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pirates pull Paul Skenes from start vs. Marlins after just 65 pitches

Okay, last night was tough to swallow. You don’t expect to blow a 6-2 lead with just a few outs to go, but that’s just how this season has gone for the A’s. A bit fitting in a way. Starting strong, before fading late. Hopefully that doesn’t follow this club into next year as well.

The series continues tonight and the A’s have a chance to make things right with a win this evening. At-72 the A’s are only better than one other team in the American League: the Los Angeles Angels. The playoffs aren’t happening but the goal the rest of the season should be to finish above them. Who knows. Maybe the Mariners collapse and third place is a possibility in September.

Taking the ball for the home team will be youngster Mason Barnett. The right-hander is making his third start since seemingly rejoining the rotation. He had a terrific first start against the Red Sox last week but got tagged for five runs his last time out against the Reds. Most of the damage from those two teams came later in the game so keep an eye on how Barnett is faring after the first time or two through the Rays’ batting order.

Here’s how the Athletics’ lineup stacks up tonight for the middle contest against our AL East foe:

Jeff McNeil is back atop the lineup for the second straight day. No Soderstrom in the starting nine as he gets a full day off, with Zack Gelof taking his place in left field and batting second. Shortstop Jacob Wilson is back in the three hole followed again by Carlos Cortes, who will be the DH this evening after handling the outfield last night.

The back half of the lineup is also fairly similar to last night’s except infielder Tommy White returns to the lineup and playing third base this evening. The highly-rated prospect has encountered his first slump at the plate in his big league career, with just four hits in his last 27 at bats. Mark Kotsay gave him a day off yesterday and now he’s batting ninth so hopefully an extra day of rest and hitting in a low-pressure spot in the lineup can help spark him in the batter’s box. We’ll be seeing plenty more of White with Nick Kurtz’s injury.

Tampa Bay meanwhile has Nick Martinez getting the start for them this evening. An offseason acquisition for Tampa, Martinez has been an absolute steal for the Rays. In 22 starts the 26-year-old has a career-best 2.65 ERA, good for fourth in the American League. Signed to a one-year contract, Martinez is likely to get some down-ballot Cy Young votes thanks to his work with the Rays and is looking at a fairly sizable contract this coming winter. Possible A’s target if the wallets open up?

And Tampa’s lineup:

The same top of the order but a much different looking backend of the lineup. Hopefully that throws of their good juju from last night.

Let’s get back to our winning ways and play some spoiler. Let’s go A’s!

Follow the Game:
Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA

Listen:
Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, KVMX 92.1/105.5, A’s Cast

With the blink of an eye, years go by so fast covering high school athletes. It seems like only yesterday Jake Bauers was a senior at Marina High collecting 48 hits with a .571 batting average. Thirteen years later, Bauers has a beard, tattoos and is in his seventh major league season as the first baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers.

The last time I saw him was the Division 1 championship game at Dodger Stadium. His team lost 1-0 to Harvard-Westlake and Jack Flaherty at Dodger Stadium.

Fast-forward to Tuesday afternoon. He’s in the visiting clubhouse at Petco Park preparing to face the San Diego Padres, the team that drafted him in the seventh round in 2017. He’s as levelheaded and as comfortable as he was living in Huntington Beach. He has 21 home runs this season. Not bad for someone who didn’t get to play varsity baseball until his junior season.

Wearing No. 11 on her cheek at Marina games was his girlfriend, Lauren Carr, now his wife and mother of his two children.

“Same one,” he said of his biggest fan.

Not playing varsity until junior year is now considered a little unusual for top players, but Bauers said it’s nothing to think deeply about.

“We had a good team,” he said. “Maybe it was frustrating at the time. In hindsight, it doesn’t really matter. If you’re a good player, you’ll keep playing.”

The Brewers can call themselves the best team with the most Southern California natives. Trevor Megill, a high school teammate of Bauers, joins Joey Ortiz (Garden Grove Pacifica), Brice Turang (Corona Santiago), Garrett Mitchell (Orange Lutheran) and Christian Yelich (Westlake) as the SoCal group.

“We got a lot of guys from Southern California,” Turang said. “It’s cool. A lot of guys played against each other in high school.”

The Brewers also drafted in the last two years the Ebel brothers from Corona, Brady and Trey, so when they make visits to Dodger Stadium, it’s a big deal.

“Crazy,” Turang said of the Southern California players getting asked for tickets.

Bauers, 30, certainly hasn’t lost his passion for fun. He was playing two Brewers in a video game before heading out to the field.

He said people change as they get older.

“Years of experiences, you gain perspective if you’re willing to look at yourself,” he said.

Turang was asked what high school kids today need to do to succeed in their journey to major league baseball.

“You have to practice every day. This doesn’t come easily,” he said.

Sign up for the L.A. Times SoCal high school sports newsletter to get scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

It’s definitely been a frustrating road trip for the Orioles. They’ve had two series against wildcard contenders to stake their place in the playoff hunt, but the same flaws keep appearing. The offense just isn’t there, and the bullpen is wildly erratic.

After dropping two of three to the Rangers last series, the Orioles got handled in Game 1 against the Twins, especially painful fashion by one of their former own, Dean Kremer, who held them to one run over seven innings, not even a week after being dealt at the Trade Deadline.

Orioles will try to get it going again with right0hander Brandon Young on the mound. With an 8-3 record and 3.43 ERA, the righty has unexpectedly been one of their most consistent starters, although his last two times out were not his best: he allowed four earned runs against the Phillies on July 31, and threw just 4 ⅔ innings last week in a loss to Los Angeles.

Facing Young is certified big guy Bailey Ober, who at 6’6” is more commanding than his 7-3 record and 4.45 ERA. Ober faced the Orioles once this season, allowing three runs in four innings back in April.

Orioles lineup

1. Gunnar Henderson SS
2. Pete Alonso 1B
3. Jackson Holliday 2B
4. Tyler O’Neill RF
5. Christian Encarnacion-Strand 3B
6. Coby Mayo DH
7. Christian Franklin CF
8. Jeremiah Jackson LF
9. Yohel Pozo C

Twins lineup

1. Trevor Larnach LF
2. Ryan Jeffers C
3. Josh Bell DH
4. Kody Clemens 2B
5. Royce Lewis 1B
6. Brooks Lee 3B
7. Luke Keaschall CF
8. Alan Roden RF
9. Kaelen Culpepper SS

What was thought to be a normal Sunday of friendly summer softball turned into the shock of a lifetime for so many in Central Park.

Angry Orchard, a hard cider brand based in Walden, NY, approached Nick Swisher on Sunday to help bring some life to the Sons of Pitches, a rec softball team in New York City that appeared to have lost all hope of securing a victory.

They were set to face the Fattened Calves, one of the most dominant teams in the league, and had little idea how to break their 14-game losing streak. However, once the Angry Orchard team announced that Nick would be joining the Sons of Pitches, it was game on.

“I think it’s such a cool idea that Angry Orchard is not only investing in the winners, but also the underdogs,” Swisher said at the event. “Everybody gets frustrated, but there is always some fun to be found in frustration!”

It was unforgettable to witness the amazement on the faces of almost every player and spectator at North Meadow Ballfield #9. Crowds gathered around the area to watch the former Yankees first baseman take to the plate and crush a couple of home runs into the blaring sun.

Luckily for Swisher, the heat was giving the chunky ball a bit more height than initially expected.

“I learned to play this game through fun,” Swisher said. “If I’m going to go out there, I’m going to do it my way. I’m going to smile and have the best time ever because I know I’ve put the work in the back half. I know I’m prepared to go out and play. When I go out and play, my excitement is infectious.”

Since joining the Pinstripes after getting traded from the White Sox, Swisher contributed to the Yankees’ success both on and off the field. He takes pride in bringing a glowingly positive mentality to the clubhouse while also serving as a leader both at the plate and in the infield.

Despite Alex Rodriguez missing the first month of the 2009 regular season, Swisher stepped up and carried the Yankees’ offense through. At the end of April, Swisher had a 1.144 OPS with a .744 slugging percentage. He also adapted to play right field while Xavier Nady missed the remainder of the season with an elbow injury. As the Yankees continued to generate success and overcame injury challenges, Swisher made his mark as one of the most memorable 2009 World Series Champions. He finished the season batting .249 with 29 home runs and 82 RBIs.

As part of their campaign, Angry Orchard scoured the nation to find one of the worst rec softball teams in America that never stopped showing up and giving their all on the field. They recruited Swisher to participate as an Angry Orchard Super Sub and give the Sons of Pitches a much-needed morale boost.

Swisher ultimately helped the Sons of Pitches gloriously secure their victory, celebrating with cheers and several pours of Angry Orchard. It was an incredible day that helped shift the perspectives of so many players and inspire some tenacity to defy expectations and keep a positive attitude.