The Yankees salvaged the final game of a four-game series against the Boston Red Sox on Sunday night by winning 7-2.

Here are the takeaways...

-Trent Grisham and Jazz Chisholm Jr. each had themselves a day, finishing a combined 4-for-6 with four home runs and six RBI. Chisholm got New York started with a two-run shot in the second inning before Grisham joined in with a solo bomb in the third.

Grisham added another homer to lead off the sixth inning to put the Yanks up 5-0 after Jose Caballero had a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Chisholm hit his second of the night in the bottom of the eighth to make it 7-2.

The home runs gave Grisham and Chisholm 25 and 24 home runs, respectively, on the season -- good for second and tied for third on the team, behind Aaron Judge (40).

-Carlos Rodon earned the victory, improving to 14-7 on the season with 5.2 innings pitched, allowing just one hit and two earned runs while striking out three and walking five. It was a crucial bounce-back performance for the Yankees' rotation. 

Still, Rodon's 24 walks since the All-Star break are the most by any MLB pitcher during that span.

-Sunday's win marked the Yankees first against Boston this season, as the team had previously lost eight consecutive games to the Red Sox to begin the season, being outscored 48-22 over that stretch. The Yankees entered this series with a disappointing 1-8 record against Boston in 2025.

-In a notable lineup decision, Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe was removed from the starting lineup, with manager Aaron Boone citing his 1-for-28 slump and league-leading 17 errors as factors in the decision. Caballero started at shortstop in Volpe's place.

-Boston managed only five hits in the loss, with their lone offensive highlight coming in the sixth inning when Nathaniel Lowe delivered a two-run single to center field, scoring Alex Bregman and Romy González. Dustin May took the loss for Boston, falling to 7-10 after allowing five earned runs on five hits over 4.1 innings.

Game MVP: Trent Grisham and Jazz Chisholm Jr.

They both get the honor after hitting two home runs each.

Highlights

Trent Grisham deep into the night! pic.twitter.com/SF8HyhEiyQ

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) August 24, 2025

Trent Grisham has liftoff again! pic.twitter.com/UgJdPojWa3

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) August 25, 2025

Jazz for the second time! pic.twitter.com/ghGnDqNHRG

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) August 25, 2025

What's next

The Yankees continue their homestand with a three-game series against the Washington Nationals starting on Monday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

RHP Cam Schlittler (1-2, 3.22 ERA) goes up against RHP Brad Lord (4-6, 3.46 ERA).

The Mets were slow to promote Nolan McLean -- too slow it appears, judging by his two outstanding starts in the big leagues. They need to change that conservative approach as it applies to their two other top pitching prospects, Brandon Sproat and Jonah Tong, in their pursuit of a postseason spot. 

And it appears they may be ready to do just that -- perhaps quickly, as the week ahead figures to be pivotal. 

At least there are indications the Mets are thinking more aggressively, perhaps realizing their trio of electric young pitchers, Sproat, Tong, and McLean, could help provide a much-needed re-set for the major league staff.  

On Sunday they had an opener start for Triple-A Syracuse rather than Sproat so the 24-year old right-hander would get a taste of coming out of the bullpen. It’s a way of preparing him for the possibility of the role as a bulk reliever for the Mets in the weeks ahead, something they will need if their starters continue to have problems going deep into games. 

That it didn’t go well for Sproat on Sunday, as he gave up seven runs -- five earned -- in 3 2/3 innings, shouldn’t deter the Mets from continuing to let him get a feel for the new role. He’s pitched with enough dominance at Triple-A over the last two months to make the case he’s as ready as McLean for the big leagues. 

Whether he has McLean’s poise and presence remains to be seen. But there is no doubt Sproat has the high-ceiling stuff to succeed anywhere. 

“He’s not as naturally confident as McLean,” one Mets’ person said of Sproat Sunday. “It took him longer to make the transition to Triple-A because he lost his confidence and started shying away from contact. But he’s come a long way this season in the way he attacks hitters and commands all of his pitches. When he’s on, he’s very impressive.”

And then there’s Tong, whose eye-popping success since his recent promotion to Triple-A is apparently forcing the Mets’ brass to re-think the possibility of using him in the big leagues this season, as reported Saturday by the New York Post.

And why not? Tong on Saturday not only pitched six scoreless innings, while racking up eight strikeouts, but got a whopping 21 swings-and-misses while throwing 88 pitches, as his fastball topped out at 97.6 mph. 

In two Triple-A starts he’s pitched 11 2/3 scoreless innings with 17 strikeouts and 39 swings-and-misses. The K’s are impressive enough but the crazy-high total of whiffs is what had baseball people I spoke to believing that Tong could have immediate success if promoted. 

“If I see 21 swings-and-misses, and I have a need, I’m absolutely giving him a shot,” a former GM told me Sunday. “Otherwise you’re not doing right by your ballclub. 

“He has a unique delivery, the way he comes over the top, and that may be creating deception to go with his plus stuff. It gives him a better chance of having immediate success in the big leagues against guys who haven’t seen him. He could be the type of lightning-in-a-bottle guy who can have a big impact for a team chasing a postseason spot.”

A scout who saw Tong multiple times in Double-A added: “I’ve seen him dominate hitters at the top of the strike zone with his fastball and at the bottom with his offspeed stuff. He has weapons and he has deception. I wouldn’t be afraid to throw him in there against big-league hitters.”

Suddenly, then, the Mets have a slew of possibilities to improve their pitching staff, including Tylor Megill, who has pitched nine scoreless innings in rehab outings and could be back soon as well. 

So how would the Mets find places for the new faces?

They DFA’d Paul Blackburn to make room for McLean, and Frankie Montas’ season-ending elbow injury opened another spot, filled for now by the call-up of reliever Huascar Brazoban.

Because they’re six games into a stretch of 16 straight without an off-day, they’ve indicated they will add a sixth starter at some point soon to give their five-man rotation an extra day of rest. Senga, in particular, rarely starts on four days rest, but is scheduled to do so Monday against the Philadelphia Phillies. 

It seems highly unlikely the Mets would have him make a second start on regular rest, which would be Saturday at home against the Miami Marlins. So that could well be the day they use the extra starter, either Megill, Sproat, or Tong. 

Beyond that, however, much could depend on how both Senga and Sean Manaea pitch over the next two days. They have been the primary short-start culprits lately, which has created a sense the Mets would be better off with a couple of bulk relievers than all of the one-inning guys they have now.

In addition, if Manaea continues to lose velocity after a few innings, which could be the result of the loose bodies in his elbow, the Mets could also be served well to designate someone to piggyback and limit Manaea to 3-4 innings.

Clay Holmes seems to have gotten a second wind in that regard in his last two starts, but his innings-total remains enough of a concern that the Mets could need a similar set-up for him in the weeks ahead. 

It’s why David Stearns is likely mulling multiple pitching scenarios for the days and weeks ahead. 

If he wants to go bold and utilize both Sproat and Tong at some point, it could mean optioning Reed Garrett to the minors and DFA’ing Ryne Stanek. 

That shouldn’t be a deterrent at this point. If anything, Stearns should be emboldened enough by McLean’s success to get creative and give his pitching staff a makeover. The sooner the better.

Dave Roberts sought the best of both worlds from his slumping Dodgers offense Sunday.

More competitive at-bats, a more disciplined two-strike approach, and a renewed team-first mindset at the plate on the one hand.

But also, amid a two-month funk that dropped them to second place in the National League West, to not abandon the slugging prowess that makes them who they are.

“I want my cake, and [to] eat it as well,” the Dodgers manager quipped.

“I’d be shocked,” he added, “if we don’t see a different offensive output from here forward, starting today.”

Read more:News Analysis: The Dodgers have an outfield problem. But do they have the options to fix it?

Indeed, everything the Dodgers were missing in their first two games against the San Diego Padres this weekend — when they combined for just two runs and five hits to relinquish their place atop the division standings — came roaring suddenly back when the club needed it most.

In a sweep-evading 8-2 win over the Padres at Petco Park on Sunday, the Dodgers got back to working better at-bats, manufacturing consistent baserunners, then pouncing on mistakes with their lineup’s trademark pop.

The biggest swings came in a five-run seventh inning, when Dalton Rushing broke a 2-2 tie with a three-run home run to right and Freddie Freeman hit his second long ball of the day to put the score out of reach.

But all along, they displayed the progress Roberts had promised in his pregame address with reporters; following up two of their worst offensive displays of the season, with a nine-hit, four-walk, eight -run outburst that drew them back into a first-place tie with the Padres (74-57).

In their losses on Friday and Saturday, the Dodgers’ problems had been simple. They didn’t adjust to a Padres pitching staff that attacked them carefully. They didn’t grind with two strikes, or shorten up their swings, or do enough little things to unlock their long-scuffling offense (which led the majors in scoring through June, but had ranked 24th in the two months since).

“We haven’t really been in-sync,” Roberts said. “It’s been disjointed a lot, as far as the offense.”

When asked if that meant his team needed to adopt more of a small-ball mentality, however, Roberts pushed back.

“I think it’s a fair question,” he said. “But I couldn’t disagree more.”

After all, his team is still stocked full of All-Stars, MVPs and future Hall of Famers. At their core, they are a team built to bludgeon opponents — not slap singles and drop down sacrifice bunts.

“Slugging is still a part of it,” he said. “I definitely don’t want guys to hit like I did.”

Read more:Dodgers lose to Padres in two-hit flop and fall out of first place: 'We got to do more'

Around the margins, though, there were ways they could better position themselves to do that. Such as trying to work better counts, stay alive with two strikes when needed, and striking a better balance between patience and aggression.

“When you can kind of play, knowing you have people around you, where your goal is just to win — versus, my goal is just to be good myself individually, that’s pressure,” he said. “But when you feel like [you are doing] whatever little thing I can do to help a team, an offensive unit, that’s freeing. So that was some of the conversations that I’ve had with the guys, trying to relay that message.”

The change started in the first inning, with the Dodgers putting Padres starter Nick Pivetta under immediate stress.

Shohei Ohtani drew a five-pitch leadoff walk. Mookie Betts shortened up his swing on an 0-and-2 slider to line a single up the middle. Freddie Freeman loaded the bases by grinding out a full-count free pass.

It was a string of small victories that provided cleanup hitter Teoscar Hernández the perfect chance to slug.

Hernández tried to, getting a fastball over the plate in a 3-and-1 count and launching a deep flyball that seemed destined to be a grand slam. The drive, however, hung up just enough for Ramón Laureano to rob it at the wall.

The sacrifice fly brought in the Dodgers’ only run of the inning — giving them a 1-0 lead that would soon be erased on Elias Díaz’s two-run homer in the third off Yoshinobu Yamamoto (the only runs he gave up in a six-inning start).

But it set the tone for a flurry of offense that would follow later in the afternoon, when a weekend of non-existent offense finally started to turn.

In the sixth, Freeman hit his first home run, crushing another center-cut fastball from Pivetta to right-center for a tying blast.

Then, against Padres reliever Jeremiah Estrada in the seventh, the club put all the pieces together in a five-run rally.

Andy Pages rolled a single through the left side to lead off. Michael Conforto came up next, fouled off a full-count slider, then took a borderline fastball at the top of the zone for a stress-inducing walk.

Miguel Rojas couldn’t get a bunt down after that, eventually swinging away for a flyout to center.

But, in what was easily his best moment of a trying rookie season, Rushing delivered the decisive blow seven pitches later — fouling off his own two-strike slider before clobbering another to right for a go-ahead three-run shot.

Freeman tacked on two more insurance runs before the inning was through, landing his second long ball of the day into the Petco Porch down the right-field line. Ohtani got in on the action in the ninth, belting his 45th homer to right to put the game — and another weekend of offensive frustration — to bed.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone provided some updates prior to Sunday's series finale against the Red Sox...

Volpe benched

Jose Caballero is in the Yankees’ lineup at shortstop over Anthony Volpe for Sunday’s meeting in the Bronx. 

It’s been a rough season for the young shortstop on both sides of the ball. 

Volpe has just eight hits over his last 18 games and has struck out 18 times over that span. 

He’s also committed a league-high 16 errors is an ugly -7 Outs Above Average (fourth percentile in MLB).

Aaron Boone hinted it was a possible following Saturday’s loss, and now he makes it official.

“He’s just scuffling a little offensively over the past week,” the skipper said. “Having Caballero now he gives you that real utility presence where he can play anywhere including short, and the spark that he provides so we just felt today was a good day for that.”

Boone wouldn’t rule out Volpe sitting again for Monday’s series opener against the Nats.

“We’ll see, I haven’t made any definitive decision yet,” he said. “I just want to get through today and do everything we can to get a win tonight and we’ll see where we’re at heading into tomorrow.”

Cruz set to return

Fernando Cruz is officially set to be activated from the IL on Monday. 

Cruz has been sidelined since late June with a left oblique strain. 

He has appeared in three minor league rehab games, allowing four runs on five hits while striking out four. 

Now that he’s back, the righty should be in the mix for high-average innings. 

Prior to the injury, Cruz pitched to a 3.00 ERA across 32 appearances.

“He’s been super productive for us and a such an important part,” Boone said. “He’s just a great person and competitor -- he’s willing to take the ball in so many different areas, so I’m looking forward to getting him back.”