Category: Sports News

Good morning, LSB.

The Rangers lost another one last night, 8-3 to the A’s.

Shawn McFarland writes about the Rangers’ no good very bad record against the AL West this season, specifically on the road.

Jake Burger’s clutch homer wasn’t enough to “stop the bleeding.”

Kevin Sherrington writes this latest skid is the final sign that the Rangers have maxed out at “average.”

On the plus side Josh Jung finally appears to be progressing toward a return.

The Rangers’ top 30 prospects list has been shuffled around post-draft.

Corey Seager is among MLB dot com’s list of struggling stars looking to rebound down the stretch.

And Bobby Witt (Senior) is the latest guest on Evan Grant’s Rangers podcast.

That’s all for this morning. The Rangers take on the mighty A’s again tonight at 8:40.

Have a good weekend!

Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 6, Gwinnett Stripers (ATL) 2

Weird fact alert: every run in this game scored on a two-run homer.

Luis De León pitched a fine game for Norfolk, allowing two runs in five innings. The damage was done by old friend Maverick Handley, who is playing for Gwinnett. He hit a two-run home run in the second inning. De León allowed six runs and a walk. He struck out seven.

Down 2-0 in the third, Heston Kjerstad connected for his 11th homer of the year. Enrique Bradfield, who had walked, scored on the hit. The scored remained tied until the bottom of the eighth when the Tides scored four more. Kjerstad singled, then Creed Willems homered. Luis Vázquez capped off the scoring with his sixth home run. Ryan Noda (double) scored on the play.

Kjerstad and Jud Fabian both had two-hit games. Bradfield had a double to go along with his walk.

Box Score

Double-A: Chesapeake Baysox 5, Reading Fightin’ Phils 2

Anthony Eyanson started for the Baysox and picked up his second win since joining the organization. The good news is that he allowed two runs on four hits over 5.1 innings and he struck out seven. The less good news is that he walked four batters. He kept the Phils scoreless until the fifth, when a walk, a double, and a single drove in both runs.

The offense scored exactly once in five different innings. Three of the runs came via homer from Aron Estrada, Thomas Sosa, and Dom Keegan. Anderson De Los Santos drove in a run on a ground out, and the last run of the game scored on an error. Frederick Bencosme walked, stole second, and scored on a throwing error. Wehiwa Aloy was not involved in any scoring. He went 1-for-5 and struck out four times.

Box Score

High-A: Frederick Keys 5, Bowling Green Hot Rods (TBR) 2

Kyson Witherspoon made his second start for the Keys and impressively struck out nine batters in five innings. Overall he allowed two runs in five innings. He gave up two runs on four hits and walked only two. That’s a nice improvement from his five batters walked in his team debut.

Ethan Anderson, who usually plays for Chesapeake, made his first rehab start after going on the IL on July 7th. He started off with a bang, hitting a two-run home run in the first inning. He finished the game with four hits and three RBI. Maybe just send him back to Double-A. He seems healed.

Braylon Whitaker hit his first home run for Frederick in his eighth game after being promoted from Delmarva. Also recently promoted, DJ Layton had two hits and scored two runs as the leadoff batter.

Box Score

Low-A: Salem RidgeYaks (BOS) 9, Delmarva Shorebirds 3

Harrison Kreiling pitched just 1.2 innings and managed to give up four runs on three hits and four walks. All four runs came in the second inning (as did all four walks). The Taylor Ward trade return has not made a good impression over two games. Connor Gehr allowed the other five runs over four innings of relief.

Ty Head, 2026 second round pick, had two hits at leadoff. First round pick Eric Booth, Jr had one hit and three walks; he scored two of the team’s three runs. Jaiden Lo Re also singled and walked thrice. Jhomnardo Reyes went 1-for-5 but got thrown out on the basepaths on his one hit.

Box Score

Today’s Schedule

• Norfolk vs Gwinnett, 6:35. Starter: Cade Povich
• Chesapeake @ Reading, 6:45. Starter: JT Quinn
• Frederick vs Bowling Green, 6:00. Starter: TBD
• Delmarva vs Salem, 7:05. Starter: Esteban Mejia

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts loosely mapped out Shohei Ohtani’s return to pitching after an encouraging bullpen session Friday, Aug. 14.

Ohtani threw 35 pitches during the session, according to Roberts.

"He used his entire mix (of pitches)," Roberts told the media. "He felt encouraged."

Ohtani, 32, hasn't pitched in a game since July 3 because of inflammation in his left knee.

Roberts said Ohtani will go through one or two more bullpen sessions, followed by live pitching sessions, during which Ohtani will throw to actual hitters. Roberts said he couldn’t see Ohtani doing any fewer than two live sessions before he returns.

"And then I would see him in a major league game," Roberts said.

Roberts indicated he had talked to Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior Friday about the situation.

"He's confident in talking to Shohei, just also watching the 'pen," Roberts said. "So I'm pretty confident that if we stay the course, he'll throw a 'pen in a couple, two, three, four, five days. And then if we get out of that, I think we'll be out of the woods."

Ohtani’s official return to big league pitching would involve his pitching an inning to open games.

The Dodgers previously said they expected Ohtani to pitch again this season but had provided no timeline.

Ohtani had been brilliant on the mound before the knee issue surfaced in June. He’s 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA in 85 2/3 innings pitched.

He was averaging about six innings per outing.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shohei Ohtani's Dodgers pitching return looks more likely. Here's why

Long gone are the days in which fans rub their hands together and coo: Oooo the Rockies.

In this hopefully alternate historical timeline these 2026 Giants have dragged us into, there are no gimme games, no such thing as a breezy series. The cheap balm San Francisco has applied to their burns in recent years is the fact they aren’t as bad as Colorado. They were never last in the NL West, never completely decked-out on the damp cellar floor — just a couple steps up the basement stairs where you might get a little bit better air circulation, touched by a bit more light from the crack at the bottom of the door. They’ve generally dominated the bruised, purple-and-black visitors when they’ve come to town — a home series seen as a relished opportunity for the team to feel big and strong for once by beating up on someone worse off. 

But that thin and meaningless separation between the two teams is at risk of disappearing completely. They’ve been scratching-and-clawing at each other in a cartoon-y ball of dust and limbs all season. Going into Friday’s match-up, Colorado and San Francisco were 5-5 in head-to-head match-ups, with both teams solidly holding down the fourth and fifth spots in the division, both boasting records within the five worst in all of baseball.

Now, after Friday’s 5-2 loss, the Rockies are now just a game behind the Giants…who are 23.5 games out of first place and 14.5 games behind the third place Diamondbacks. 

No one cares. Let’s get into it.

Ostensibly disadvantaged as the visiting team, the timing was just right for the Rockies to roll into town, catching the Giants on one of their worst runs in a terrible year. They’ve dropped four straight series, against the Padres, Rangers, Tigers, and Astros, since September 30th. After Friday’s loss, they’re 4-10, victims of a trio of shutouts as well as winless in four one-run games.  

The answer to the how isn’t hard to discern. While the pitching has been suspect at times, the offense has been the main culprit. Obvious personnel departures in Luis Arraez and Heliot Ramos before the trade deadline have left holes. Casey Schmitt’s injury on the 28th took another right-handed threat out of the line-up. Replacements have been brought in. Osleives Basabe has shown some pop, Victor Bericoto is back, Drew Gilbert has been relatively solid — but these mild points of praise are barely worth mentioning considering the lack-of-club the club has shown over the past couple weeks. 

Some numbers:

Since July 30th, the Giants are slashing  .201/ .267/ .324 with a 66 wRC+. Their .264 wOBA is tied for worst in the Majors. Their flyball rate is the second highest in MLB span (49%) but their home-run to flyball ratio is one of the lowest (8.4%). According to Fangraphs’, their 28.5% Hard-%, measuring rates of ideal contact, is the lowest in the National League. 

Bryce Eldridge punched another impressive drive over the center field wall to briefly tie the game in the 4th. It was another no-doubter, off lefty Kyle Freeland too, but proved to be an outlier spike in a game of ground balls rolled into the teeth of the defense.

The Rockies turned three double plays (two on the infield). Freeland struck out only two batters but earned 13 groundouts and surrendered just 4 hits. He needed 95 pitches to throw 8 complete. Throwing with the devil’s hand certainly helped facilitate the dominance. Southpaws have bedeviled Giants hitters all year, their 85 wRC+ is third lowest in the Majors.

No complaints about the Eldridge homer — it just would’ve been a whole lot nicer if there was a runner, or two or three, on base when it happened. Damage with ducks on the pond, that’s been a huge ask and huge problem throughout this rough patch. Over these last 14 games, the Giants are 13-for-94 with runners in scoring position. That’s a .138 average with a .191 slugging — which includes Rafael Devers’s excuse-me RBI double in the 9th that found the outfield through the gaping hole between third base and the man charged with protecting it. That non-needle moving extra basehit was their first, and only knock, with a runner in scoring position all night. That lack of production has been the rule over the past 14 games. The Giants have managed just one hit, or have been held hitless with RISP, or did not even earn an opportunity to hit with a RISP in 11 of their past 14 games. 

This isn’t on the babes either, those wide-eyed call-ups that populate the bottom of the order. While on paper it appears as though the line-up falls off a cliff after the clean-up spot, that weak and inexperienced half aren’t to blame. They’ve done a nice job of setting the table. Jonah Cox, (who actually hit lead-off yesterday) tripled before Devers punched him in. Again, glad it happened, but cheap penance for previous, and future, sins. The number-2 slugger had an opportunity to uncork an influential swing with runners on the corners in the 3rd, after Christian Koss doubled and the Rockies gifted Cox a base on a missed catch, but rolled into an inning-ending double-play.  And immediately after his double in the 9th, which pulled the Giants within three of Colorado’s five runs, Devers ran himself off the bases when he misread center fielder Cole Carrigg’s diving catch. What was inches from another RBI hit, and would’ve brought the tying run to the plate with nobody out, turned into a nice defensive snare and another self-inflicted, bubble-bursting two-fer against the Giants.

Devers is 2-for-11 with RISP since July 30th; Willy Adames is 1-for-14; Eldridge, 1-for-10; Lee, 1-for-9. The ones we want getting opportunities to hit with consequence just aren’t connecting. And when they do…somehow things go horribly wrong.

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With another full big league schedule, my MLB player props analysis has found real value on the mound and at the dish. 

I'll start things off with AL Cy Young favorite Cam Schlittler, followed by Jacob Misiorowski, who is set to face the Los Angeles Dodgers. The red-hot Pete Alonso closes out today's best props. 

Read more in my MLB picks for Saturday, Aug. 15. 

Best MLB player props today

Cam Schlittler Under 1.5 earned runs (-108)

Cam Schlittler continues to strengthen his AL Cy Young case. The right-hander owns a stellar 1.76 FIP across his last five appearances while allowing just 1.93 BB/9 and 0.64 HR/9. 

The New York Yankees right-hander has cashed the Under in earned runs surrendered in three of his last four appearances, limiting the powerful Atlanta Braves to just one earned run in his most recent start. 

Tonight, he'll face the struggling Toronto Blue Jays, who have an 85 wRC+ over the last week. Expect another gem from Schlittler. 

I'll play this pick up to -130. 

• Time: 3:07 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: YES, Sportsnet

Jacob Misiorowski Under 1.5 earned runs (-105)

Jacob Misiorowski has a real task ahead of him tonight against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the ace will be up for the challenge. Misiorowski sports a 1.30 xERA over his last four outings and has struck out a mind-boggling 15.14 hitters per nine innings. 

This is a great time for him to face the Dodgers, who carry an 88 wRC+ over their previous seven games into this contest. Misiorowski has also cashed the Under in two of his last four starts, and he has been dominant on the road, compiling a 2.02 FIP. 

The youngster will keep the Dodgers lineup under wraps.

Play this pick up to -130. 

• Time: 7:15 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: FOX

Pete Alonso Over 1.5 total bases (+131)

Pete Alonso is arguably the hottest hitter in the sport right now. The Baltimore Orioles slugger has a .522 average and .435 ISO over his last six games, also going deep three times during that span. Alonso has posted a ridiculous 73.7% hard-hit rate and 26.3% barrel rate. 

He's cashed the Over in total bases in three straight games, finishing with two hits apiece in back-to-back contests. Tonight's matchup is favorable, too. Alonso faces Tampa Bay Rays starter Ian Seymour, who has allowed a 45.5% hard-hit rate over the last month. 

The Rays' bullpen is also vulnerable, posting a 5.53 FIP over the last week while giving up a 42% hard-hit rate. Alonso will keep it rolling. 

Play this pick down to +100. 

• Time: 6:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Rays.TV, MASN

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Orioles fans and fans across the country.

The question of whether Gunnar Henderson will ever be good for the Orioles again is a subject of near-daily debate in Birdland. Each poor at-bat or misfire in the field is fresh fodder for contemplation about how bad things have gone for the previously-superstar player. Many minds have already been made up.

In this week’s poll, I asked our readers whether you think Gunnar will manage to be a good player for the team again or not. We had a total of 271 votes come in and these were the results:

That’s not an exact 50/50 split, but it’s probably as close to even as any question I might have come up with. A slight majority are feeling glum about Henderson ever getting back to something they could call good. It’s tough to look at his season this year and feel positive.

There are those who think he just won’t manage to be good at all. Others think he’s sunk into some kind of situation where he needs a change of scenery. There are a number of ways it could never work out. Or, he could just go back to being the guy we saw two years ago.

The Orioles themselves sure seem to be hoping for the “sudden improvement” outcome. Their treatment of Henderson this year has something similar with the common conception of an ostrich burying its head in the sand. They don’t have much choice other than to wait for him to be good.

The wait stretches on uncomfortably. Henderson hasn’t had a really good month at the plate since last July. Close to half of Orioles fans still want to believe. As pessimistic as I generally am about the Orioles, I remain a believer in Henderson. Perhaps, like the Orioles, I don’t have any choice either. Maybe he’ll give more people a reason to believe between now and season’s end.

This week’s poll is sponsored by FanDuel.

The Atlanta Braves suffered a shutout during Friday’s series opener, dropping game one with the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-0. It’s a tale as old as time; Chris Sale turns in a terrific start, yet the offense is unable to provide run support. Sale went six innings, allowing just one run on five hits. He recorded nine strikeouts. 

Unfortunately, the Braves’ bats were extremely quiet and the team tallied just three hits on the night. The Braves fell to 73-49 but aim to get back in the win column this evening.

More Braves News:

Alumni Weekend is taking place at Truist Park, and several Braves legends were in attendance for Friday’s pregame ceremony. 

Davis Polo had a seven strikeout night for the Augusta GreenJackets on Thursday. More in the minor league recap. 

MLB News:

The Milwaukee Brewers placed right-hander Abner Uribe on the 15-day injured list with a flexor strain. The move is retroactive to August 11.

The Seattle Mariners placed shortstop Colt Emerson on the10-day injured list with left wrist tendon inflammation. 

Athletics reliever Justin Sterner underwent season-ending knee surgery. He is already on the 15-day IL and will be transferred to the 60-day when the A’s need a roster spot.

The Chicago White Sox have placed righty Davis Martin on the 15-day IL with a blister on his middle finger. 

The San Francisco Giants will host the 2028 All-Star Game at Oracle Park.

LOS ANGELES — Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani has increased his throwing progression over the last week, and on Friday threw a bullpen session at Dodger Stadium three or so hours ahead of the team’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

It was the first bullpen session for Ohtani since July 22 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Jack Harris at the California Post has more, including video of the bullpen session.

Ohtani last pitched in a game on July 3 in San Diego, and has been sidelined since with left knee inflammation. Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic has more on the bullpen session:

The Dodgers have not put a firm timeline on Ohtani’s return, which is complicated somewhat by his continued presence as the team’s designated hitter. But Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said he still believes Ohtani could return and pitch in a big-league game before the end of the regular season.

“A lot of it, we just need to take our time and see if he comes in feeling good tomorrow, and then OK, what’s the next step?” Gomes told The Athletic following Ohtani’s bullpen session. “A lot of it is just how he’s bouncing back, and do we think it’s prudent to keep progressing?”

After Friday night’s game, manager Dave Roberts said he was pleased with Ohtani’s 35-pitch bullpen session, and laid out a timeline for a possible return to pitching. Ohtani will need to throw at least one more bullpen session, maybe two, then face hitters in a simulated game at least twice before he would return to the Dodgers.

Roberts said the team is willing to have Ohtani start even if he’s only able to pitch an inning at first, much like his gradual ramp up in his return last June.

“You start to think about who the guys that he essentially would open for, and that sort of shortens the list,” Roberts said of Ohtani. “For Shohei, knowing that any inning is additive is important, and it was a formula that worked.”

Because Ohtani is a two-way player he doesn’t count against the active roster limit of 13 pitchers, so any outs he secures on the mound are outs the bullpen wouldn’t have to cover, which lessens their workload at no extra roster cost. The Dodgers have sorely missed those Ohtani innings since he last pitched, on July 3, and the bullpen’s performance has worsened.

“We’ve missed [Ohtani], but also he was built up to six, seven innings, so you have a guy that’s additive innings and you’re getting zero, and have gotten for the last six, seven weeks,” Roberts said. “Then you have the guys we feel we have to give them their rest, to do what they’re used to doing. You know, there’s a cost to doing business sometimes.”

The San Francisco Giants have 40 games remaining. In all likelihood, they’re going to lose most of those games. They’ve been a bad team all year, and then they went and traded a significant chunk of their talent at the deadline (as they should have, I might add). As such, the Giants have gone a meek 3-7 since trading Luis Arráez, Robbie Ray, Heliot Ramos, Tyler Mahle, Erik Miller, and Caleb Kilian, despite seven of those games being at home.

That ain’t gonna change.

Over the next 40 games, the Giants are likely to pitch poorly, hit poorly, and defend poorly. They might even find a few more ways to embarrass themselves beyond the standard being bad at baseball stuff.

Yet during Friday’s feckless loss to the equally miserable Colorado Rockies, there was a moment that got me thinking. It came a few seconds after Bryce Eldridge absolutely annihilated a baseball — off a lefty, no less — for one of the most mesmerizing home runs of the season. Here, let’s watch it together.

After that home run, I checked in on the Giants chatter on Bluesky, and I saw a common refrain. Different users were posting different iterations of the same thought: this is why I’ll keep watching the Giants this year.

Eldridge mashing dingers and (hopefully) further developing into a face of the franchise is one of the main reasons to watch the Giants, but it’s not the only one.

There will be milestones, such as on Friday, when Trent Harris recorded his first career strikeout; likely later today we’ll see Turner Hill make his MLB debut. It will be the 10th MLB debut this season for a Giants player, and almost surely not the last.

There will be battles for future roles. Can Hill, Jonah Cox, or Drew Gilbert make a clear case to be the starting center fielder next year? Can Victor Bericoto (or perhaps Parks Harber, Bo Davidson, or Scott Bandura) emerge as the everyday left fielder? Will Blade Tidwell or Carson Whisenhunt, who have cemented their spots as starters in 2026, cement those same roles for 2027? Can anyone pitch in relief?

There will be fun moments and highlight plays and, above all else, some final games for Mike Krukow to broadcast.

So what — if anything — is keeping you watching?

Good morning Birdland,

That win felt pretty good! The 6-5 victory over the division-leading Rays, paired with losses by the Tigers, Twins, and Rangers moved the O’s to within just one game of the final wild card spot in the American League.

Craig Albernaz deployed a new-look lineup that included Pete Alonso in the lead-off spot, followed by Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo, while Gunnar Henderson was pushed down to the five hole. It was unconventional, but it’s hard to argue with the results. Alonso had two hits, Tyler O’Neill reached based three times as the clean-up hitter, and Henderson led the offense with a 4-for-4 game that included a double, a home run, and two runs scored. His OPS is now .705, the highest it has been since July 4th.

The other headline from this game was the return of Chris Bassitt from the IL. The veteran looked pretty good, battling through 5.1 innings while giving up two runs on five hits, three walks, and three strikeouts. That’s the sort of performance the O’s need out of the fifth spot in the rotation, and it’s what they weren’t getting from Dean Kremer prior to his trade to the Twins.

The only real negative from the game was the ninth inning. That’s when Yennier Cano got knocked around and was unable to even finish the frame. He entered with a four-run lead and left after allowing three runs and putting the tying run on second base. Cam Sanders came on to save the day, and he did so with one pitch that Ryan Vilade hit to left field for the final out of the game.

Against all odds, the Orioles find themselves within reach of a wild card spot heading into the final 40 games of the season. Given how poor this team has played at times, that is a minor miracle. It’s also a reflection of just how bad the AL is this season.

A win today, along with some helpful results elsewhere, would mean the O’s are tied for that final wild card spot by day’s end. Kyle Bradish will be on the mound, and we should probably expect a repeat (or similar) of the lineup that Albernaz used on Friday to face the left-handed Ian Seymour. First pitch is 6:10.

Links

Welcome to the Tampa Bay Orioles: ‘We just got Orioles 2.0 over here’ | The Baltimore Banner
Many of the Rays absolute best players are home grown, but they have certainly done a nice job of filling in some of their key roles on their roster with a few faces that are familiar to the Camden Yards faithful. That feels like something the front office in Baltimore should think about for a while.

The new ‘right-handed Schwarber’? Alonso hits leadoff for 1st time | Orioles.com
The Orioles lineup has been stagnant for far too long. They were well past due on a shake up. Is batting Pete Alonso at lead off weird? Absolutely. It’s also worth trying to see if it’s any better than what they have been running out there for most of the season.

This, that and the other | Roch Kubatko
Plenty of notes about tonight’s Rays starter, Seymour, as well as some quote from Albernaz about the lineup construction.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Jacob Webb turns 33 today. He was a solid reliever for the Orioles between the 2023 and ‘24 seasons, compiling a 3.09 ERA over 85 total games in those two seasons. The righty has continued to pitch well since departing, first for the Rangers in 2025 and for the Cubs this season.
• Chris Singleton is 54 years old. The outfielder spent the 2002 season in Baltimore, when he was worth 1.8 bWAR with a 90 OPS+.
• Jeff Huson turns 62. He was a utility option for the Birds during the 1995 and ‘96 seasons as part of a 12-season MLB career that saw him suit up for seven different clubs.
• Tom Dodd is 68 years old. He played in eight MLB games, all of which came with the 1986 Orioles.

This day in O’s history

1979 – Eddie Murray, normally known for his power rather than speed, steals home in the 12th inning to give the O’s and pitcher Mike Flanagan a 2-1 win over the White Sox.

1993 – The Orioles acquired third baseman Mike Pagliarulo from the Twins in exchange for pitcher Erik Schullstrom.

1996 – On their way to an 18-5 win over the Athletics, the Orioles smack five home runs and score 15 times in the final three innings of a game. Chris Hoiles leads the way with two homers while Bobby Bonilla drives in five runs.

2007 – The Orioles cough up a game-tying three-run homer to Shelley Duncan in the bottom of the ninth inning, but rebound in the 10th to score three times against Mariano Rivera for a 6-3 win.

Meet the Mets

Robert Stock and the Mets fell behind 1-0 in the third inning in last night’s series opener against the Nationals. But that would prove to be the only run the pitching staff would surrender on the night, and a pair of runs in both the sixth and seventh innings—including solo homers from Francisco Lindor and Jared Young—were enough to propel the Mets to victory.

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue, NY Post, MLB.com, Newsday, Daily News

Former Met Butch Huskey—known in part for being one of the last players to wear #42 in franchise history—passed away at the age of 54.

Despite having little to play for the rest of the way, Juan Soto and Devin Williams both expressed a desire to return to the field before the end of the year.

In news that is perhaps less exciting for Mets fan, Mark Vientos is also resuming baseball activities.

Stock is one of many relatively unproven pitchers who will have important roles on the team for the remainder of the season.

Pipeline unveiled an updated list of their top 30 Mets prospects.

Around the National League East

The Braves mustered just three hits and zero runs in a loss to the Diamondbacks last night.

The Marlins mustered just four hits and zero runs in a loss to the Reds last night (is there an echo in here?).

The Nationals announced that they will begin transitioning CJ Abrams from shortstop to second base.

Around Major League Baseball

The 2028 All-Star game will officially be held in San Francisco for the first time since 2007.

Following Thursday’s Field of Dreams game between the Phillies and Twins, the league has announced that next year’s game at the famous location in Iowa will be between the Royals and Red Sox.

The Brewers bullpen is suffering a blow, as Abner Uribe has been placed on the injured list with a forearm flexor strain.

Pete Alonso found himself in an unlikely role yesterday, as he was batting leadoff for the first time in his major league career.

The Cardinals are calling up one of their top prospects, as outfielder Joshua Báez is getting the call to the big leagues.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Vasilis Drimalitis previewed the three-game set against the Nationals this weekend.

Joe Sokolowski compiled the past week of quotes from and about the Mets—including Lindor’s thoughts on his future with the team.

Linus Lawrence recounted some of the most memorable Friday night home games against the Nationals in recent memory.

This Date in Mets History

The Beatles played their famous Shea Stadium concert on this date in 1965.

The Yankees traveled north of the border on Friday, as they opened up a series against the Blue Jays. However, they left their bats — or whatever is left of them — back in the states. The lineup mustered just one run as they dropped the opener 3-1 to Toronto.

While the Yankees stunk up the joint yesterday, did anyone give them a helping hand in the various playoff races. Let’s check in today’s edition of the Rivalry Roundup.

Baltimore Orioles (59-63) 6, Tampa Bay Rays (74-47) 5

The Rays very nearly climbed all the way out of a four-run hole in the ninth inning, but they fell one short, stranding the potential game-tying run at second as the Orioles finished things off behind Cam Sanders, snapping Tampa Bay’s nine-game winning streak.

The two teams traded off runs in the second and third innings, with the O’s taking 1-0 and 2-1 leads, only for the game to be tied by Tampa Bay shortly after. The game stayed tied for a while after that, as Chris Bassitt put in a solid effort for Baltimore fresh off the 60-day IL, matched by a combined effort by the Rays’ bullpen.

The deadlock was broken when Dylan Beavers drove home two runs on a single in the seventh inning. Amid a deeply disappointing season, Gunnar Henderson then gave Baltimore some breathing room when he hit a two-run homer in the eighth. That seemed like it would be plenty enough, but it very nearly wasn’t.

Tampa Bay started the bottom of the ninth with two singles and a wild pitch moving two runners into scoring position. Jonathan Aranda cashed in on that opportunity, driving home two runs with a single. A walk and a pair of stolen bases then put the tying run in scoring position, but Junior Caminero managed just a run-scoring ground out. Baltimore opted to issue an intentional walk Liam Hicks, which did put the winning run on base, but the gambit worked and the O’s escaped and eked out the win. The Rays remain 6.5 games ahead of the Yankees and the O’s got to within a game of the Tigers and Rangers for the last Wild Card spot — though the Twins and Blue Jays also sit between them.

Other Games

• Pittsburgh Pirates (60-64) 8, Boston Red Sox (65-57) 4: The Pirates got to Red Sox pitching to the tune of two home runs and eight runs in total, keeping Boston from gaining ground on the Yankees. Former Yankee prospect Rafael Flores Jr. got Pittsburgh on the board in the second, and the Bucs then scored a combined six runs over the fourth and fifth to fully take control of the game. In terms of pure numbers, the Red Sox actually recorded the same number of hits as Pittsburgh with nine, but the Pirates just did far more damage with their chances.

• Chicago White Sox (63-58) 9, Detroit Tigers (60-62) 5: Miguel Vargas went 4-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI to lead the White Sox past the Tigers. Chicago took control of this game with a five-run fourth inning, which included a Munetaka Murakami homer and a two-run Braden Montgomery triple. The White Sox didn’t have a particularly sterling pitching day, they just never remotely needed one; now, they’re 3.5 games ahead of Detroit in the AL Central.

• Houston Astros (63-60) 10, Seattle Mariners (57-66) 7 – 10 innings: An absolutely wild 10th inning saw the Astros give up two runs in the top of the frame before scoring five in the bottom of it to walk off with the win. Houston led for most of the game before the M’s scored two in the eighth to tie things up and eventually send it to extras. Seattle then seemingly took control in the 10th, with a Victor Robles’ triple leading the way to them putting up two runs. However, they couldn’t hold that edge, and Christian Walker eventually sent everyone home with a three-run homer. Houston is 2.5 games ahead of Texas in the AL West, while the M’s continue to fade (six back of Houston and 3.5 behind the Wild Card).