Category: Sports News

Elmer Rodriguez had his best start as a big leaguer and the Yankees offense erupted late in their 9-3 win over the Astros on Wednesday night. 

The Yankees outhit Houston 13-4 and were 5-for-15 with RISP. 

The Rays won earlier in the evening, so the Yankees remain 3.5 games behind for the AL East while the Red Sox's loss puts them 2.5 games back for the top wild card spot. 

Here are the takeaways...

-Rodriguez made his return to the Yankees on Wednesday and his defense betrayed him in the first. Trent Grisham misplayed a ball from Jose Altuve that would have been the third out; instead, Isaac Paredes scored from first base on the double.

Rodriguez settled in until the fourth when Daulton Varsho launched a solo shot to tie the game at 2-2. Despite that, Rodriguez pitched into the seventh before being pulled after walking Altuve to lead off the inning.

Paul Blackburn came in and allowed a hit and a walk, with Altuve coming around to score, but limited the damage by striking out the final two batters with the bases loaded. 

Rodriguez tossed 88 pitches (57 strikes) across six-plus innings, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks while striking out six. 

-A day after the bullpen stumbled, Wednesday was back to normal for the Yankees relievers. The combination of Blackburn, the newly recalled Michael Fulmer, and Tim Hill got the final nine outs without allowing a run.

-The Yankees offense would get that run back, snapping their streak of scoreless first innings when Ben Rice smashed a solo shot off of Peter Lambert to knot things at 1-1. After a throwing error by Christian Walker put runners on second and third with one out, George Lombard Jr. had a productive out, pushing Luis Garcia Jr. across with a ground out to first base. 

Grisham pushed across the team's third run on a double play ball, but the offense finally broke out in the seventh. They scored four runs, with Cody Bellinger coming through with a two-run double to give New York the lead. Spencer Jones drove in a run with a single and Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s double rounded out the scoring.

Garcia put an exclamation point on the scoring with a two-run shot in the eighth. The first baseman went 3-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored. 

Game MVP: Cody Bellinger

Bellinger's two-run double gave the Yankees the lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Highlights

The Astros score first after Trent Grisham is unable to make the play in center pic.twitter.com/RZ5MmuvH4W

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) August 26, 2026

Ben Rice ties the game with his 35th home run of the year! 🍚 pic.twitter.com/6E3UvjaHDC

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) August 26, 2026

Clutch pitching by Paul Blackburn to keep it tied 🔥 pic.twitter.com/TO6new0mgB

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) August 27, 2026

CODY BELLINGER PUTS THE YANKEES BACK IN FRONT! pic.twitter.com/W8b7oHDfH0

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) August 27, 2026

Spencer Jones brings home another run! pic.twitter.com/Em0ifzBFIy

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) August 27, 2026

What's next

The Yankees and Astros complete their three-game series on Thursday evening. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.

Gerrit Cole (7-6, 3.11 ERA) will take the mound against Hayden Wesneski (3-1, 4.23 ERA). 

Royals 0 Blue Jays 3

I don’t like bullpen days, but teams are very successful on bullpen days. And the Jays have been especially successful on bullpen days.

I don’t like them because we go through so many pitchers. It messes up the pen for the next few days. Today we used seven pitchers. Seven:

• Spencer Miles pitched the first two innings, giving up two hits with one strikeout. He had a bit of a tough start to it, I was worried he wouldn’t get out of the first for a bit there, but he was just terrific.
• Brendon Little got the first two outs of the third inning, giving out two walks, one intentional (I was ok with it, considering it was Bobby Witt and a single and a strikeout.
• Chad Dallas came in with 2 out and bases loaded and got Sal Perez to strikeout. He would pitch 2.1 more innings, without giving up a base runner, and getting 4 strikeouts. Amazing job.
• Mason Fluharty came in with one out in the sixth. He got out of that inning, and got the first out of the seventh.
• Paul Sewald came in with one out and got a fly out and a line out.
• Tyler Rogers started the eighth. He got the first two outs, but gave up a single and a second singled that went right thru Vlad’s legs. 102 mph, so there wasn’t much time for reaction. I remember doing a physics problem in high school about Bobby Hull (yes I’m old) shooting at 100 mph, if the goalie had a reaction time of .5 of a second how far out would Hull have to be for the goalie to move before the puck went by him. It was slightly beyond the blue line. But athletes have better reaction times than that.
• Louis Varland came in with the tying run at the plate and got Jac Caglianone to ground out. In the ninth, he got two outs, then gave up a double and a single, before striking out Isaac Collins to end the game. No stress.

On offense, well, all the offense was a fourth inning home run by Nathan Lukes, with George Springer (single) and Jesús Sánchez (single) on base. Nathan wanted out forgiveness for yesterday and he got it. 390 feet to right center.

We only had 6 hits and 1 walk, but it was enough. Sánchez had two hits. Kirk, Okamoto (with a walk), Clement and Giménez had 0 fors.

Jays of the Day: Lukes (0.21 WPA), Dallas (0.21) and Sánchez (0.12). Let’s give honourable mention to Varland.

Other Award: Okamoto (-0.10).

Lukes didn’t seem to want the water poured on him after the game.

Tomorrow we have game three with the Royals. It is another 7:00 Eastern game. Noah Cameron (8-8, 4.02) takes time away from building the Ark. Spencer Arrighetti (7-6, 4.73) starts for the Jays. I think we should call him Pirate Spaghetti.

Kansas City had only a few opportunities to score and did not manage to cash in on any of them while the Blue Jays got one ball over the wall. It was enough to get a 3-0 victory and tie the series. The Royals 9-game win streak is at an end.

The Toronto bullpen took over tonight due to Shane Bieber’s move to the IL. They seemed to have the Royals’ number no matter which arm ran out there. The only real threat Kansas City could muster in the early part of the game was in the third when Tyler Tobert led off with a single followed by a Carter Jensen walk to get some runners set up for Bobby Witt. A double steal moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd, which allowed the Blue Jays an open base to intentionally walk Witt and load the bases. Was it a mistake to steal and take the bat out of Bobby’s hands? Possibly. Jac Caglianone and Salvador Perez both struck out to strand all three.

Toronto was not putting tons of pressure on Randy Dobnak either. He had one base runner per inning until the fourth when the Jays managed to land the first blow of the game. George Springer leadoff with a single up the middle, which was followed by a broken bat bloop from Jesus Sanchez. Dobnak got an out and looked like he might get out of the situation, but Nathan Lukes got ahold of one and drove a 3-run homer to right. It was the second and final time they had runners in scoring position for the night, so it was a solid night of Royals pitching. A little bad luck plus a misplaced changeup did them in.

Dobnak managed to stay in there for the quality start finishing with a line of 6IP, 6H, BB, 5K, 3ER. He continues to give the Royals solid outings and has been a fantastic pickup on the cheap.

In the 8th inning, Carter Jensen finally got KC a hit after 16 consecutive batters failed to reach base after the bases loaded situation in the 3rd. If you are mad at me for a relatively light word count on this writeup, that is why. Bobby kept the two-out rally going and moved Jensen to third with a hard shot that took a weird hop right past Vlad Gurrero Jr. That brought in Louis Varland for a four out save. He has been one of the best relievers in baseball this season racking up almost 70 innings already with a sparkling ERA and peripherals to match. He retired Cags on one pitch to end the threat and then would return to try and finish the job in the 9th.

Meanwhile, Mason Black had a clean 7th after taking over for Dobnak and stayed in there for the 8th, which was another perfect inning. It was the first time Black entered the game and did not give up a run since June 7th!

Varland took care of Sal and Vinnie to start the ninth and bring the game down to the last out. Nick Loftin had other ideas. He hit a ball to the right center gap to get the Royals another scoring opportunity. John Rave almost scored him by singling up the middle, but Andres Giminez cut it off before it could get into center setting up first and third and bringing the tying run to the plate in the form of Isaac Collins. That is where it ended with Collins striking out to bring an end to the game and the win streak.

The Royals and Blue Jays will decide the series in Canada tomorrow when Noah Cameron takes on Spencer Arrighetti.

The Red Sox took care of business by securing the series win in Miami Tuesday night. As a result, Boston kept Adley Rutschman and Willson Contreras off their feet Wednesday night as the Marlins, still in the NL Wild Card race, salvaged the finale with a 4-0 final. While the four errors on the night are mildly concerning after a few straight games of them, that should get cleaned up. The focus shifts to big weekend plans in New York. 

Here’s three takeaways from Wednesday night’s loss. 

CEDDANNE ALMOST MADE THIS HAPPEN

While the defensive chaos of this play should not be celebrated, how on earth did Rafaela almost make this a remarkable play at the plate? 

Watch here. 

SONNY STILL SOLID
Sonny Gray took the mound in search of his 17th win of the season. He pitched well, he just didn’t have the (or any) necessary run support required to get there. 

Gray surrendered just two earned runs on seven hits while striking out five Marlins in five innings. That’s more than good enough to win, but ultimately (and no harm in doing so) the Red Sox punted to get revved up for the weekend in The Bronx. 

BE READY FOR THE BRONX

The Red Sox will trot out Patrick Sandoval, Jake Bennett and Ranger Suarez against the Yankees, who pushed Cam Schiltler back to throw against Boston. The Red Sox are still TBD for the nightcap of Saturday’s doubleheader. 

Starting Wednesday, the Red Sox trailed the Yankees by just 1 1/2 games for the top Wild Card spot. This weekend’s four-game set should go a long way in determining who could eventually host a potential first-round rematch entering October.

Mike Breen might have been a little too starstruck when he was in the Mets locker room during the halcyon days of 1986.

Breen, the avid Mets fan and Knicks play-by-play announcer on MSG Network, joined the SNY booth in the middle innings of Wednesday’s game against the Brewers and told the tale of how Keith Hernandez made him nervous.

Breen explained on the broadcast that he was working with WNBC radio during the ’86 playoff run. And even though Hernandez was known as a great quote and a favorite of the media, Breen was still, as an early career journalist, intimidated.

“I called you Mr. Hernandez, which I realize was a mistake at the time,” Breen told Hernandez and Gary Cohen, who shared a few laughs over the retelling.

“I tried to ask a question, and you wouldn’t answer the question, but the writers were glad because they didn’t want the radio reporters there,” Breen continued. “I couldn’t tell you how intimidated I was, first off, because I was standing in front of Keith Hernandez. … You were a great quote back then, writers loved you. But I was 25, probably looked 17, and I was scared.”

Breen also revealed during the Mets’ World Series Game 6 against the Red Sox, he was also in the Red Sox radio booth as most of the Shea Stadium press areas were swarmed with members of the media.

As Mookie Wilson’s grounder went through Bill Buckner’s legs in the bottom of the 10th inning, Breen said he “lost any professional conduct” and the Sox announcers were “not happy” as he jumped up and down.

Breen, who called the Knicks’ 2026 NBA Finals run for ESPN, said that Wednesday, when he got to sit on the SNY pregame show before sitting in the TV booth for a few innings.

“I can’t believe I’m sitting here. I’m like a kid in a candy store,” Breen said. “You guys have no idea how fun this has been for me tonight. I got to meet Sean Manaea, who I’m such a big fan of. I got to meet Zac Thornton, who I’m so impressed with. This is a big deal — I was on the field!”

Mets third baseman Bo Bichette exited Wednesday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers in the top of the fifth inning with a left foot contusion, the team announced.

Bichette, New York's No. 3 hitter, was 0-for-1 with a walk at the plate before getting replaced by Christopher Morel in the lineup. Morel entered the game playing left field while Brett Baty moved from LF to 3B.

After the game, interim manager Andy Green spoke about Bichette's health:

"I think [he’s] fine. He’s got a contusion on his ankle from the foul ball. X-rays were negative," he said. "We’ll see where he’s at when he wakes up in the morning, you never really know how it is until the next day but we’re hoping he’s fine."

Roki Sasaki exited the fourth inning of his start against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday, Aug. 26 with Los Angeles Dodgers training staff attending to a blister on his right middle finger as he walked off the mound.

Sasaki was having a solid outing as he gave up just one earned run through his first three innings of work, but things started to unravel in the fourth inning. Ozzie Albies got on board with a leadoff walk and immediately stole second. He then moved over to third on a single from Mike Yastrzemski before scoring on a sac fly from Austin Riley. On the next at-bat, Sasaki left a second-pitch slider over the outer part of the plate for Sean Murphy, who lined it into center field for a double.

With runners on third and second and just one out, trainers went out to the mound with pitching coach Mark Prior to take a look at Sasaki before ultimately deciding to pull the 24-year-old right-hander from the game.

The gathering on the Truist Park mound kept growing. At first, Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki was visited by pitching coach Mark Prior and catcher Hunter Feduccia, with the help of interpreter Will Ireton. Then, Prior summoned head athletic trainer Thomas Albert. Then, they called out manager Dave Roberts, who eventually made the pitching change.

The group had been examining the middle finger on Sasaki’s right hand. And the Dodgers later announced Sasaki had exited their 6-5 loss to the Braves in the fourth inning with a blister on that finger.

That might explain why Sasaki, who was charged with four runs and six hits in 3 ⅓ innings, didn’t look as sharp Wednesday against the Braves as he had been in the rest of his impressive second-half stretch. Sasaki entered the day with a 2.19 ERA in six starts since the All-Star break.

His efficiency Wednesday wavered, and he exited after 66 pitches. After Sasaki gave up a solo home run to Matt Olson in the first inning, the outing began to devolve in the fourth.

Read more:Mark Walter's company TWG Global defends Dodgers financing and Lakers sale

Sasaki walked Ozzie Albies to open the inning. Then he surrendered a single to Mike Yastrzemski, a sacrifice fly to Austin Riley and a double to Sean Murphy. Then Prior came out to check on him.

Right-handed reliever Edgardo Henriquez replaced Sasaki, inheriting two baserunners. Both scored when Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernández overran Drake Baldwin’s deep fly ball down the line, for a go-ahead double.

The Dodgers (80-53) never led again. Though they tied the score in the seventh, they squandered a bases-loaded opportunity the next inning. And in the ninth, closer Tanner Scott, the fifth Dodgers reliever to take the mound, surrendered a walk-off single to pinch-hitter Ha-Seong Kim.

Regardless of whether the blister will affect Sasaki’s next start, the 24-year-old right-hander is in an interesting position about a month away from the playoffs.

Barring an unexpected extended absence, Sasaki will remain an important part of the Dodgers’ rotation in the final month of the season. But as things stand in that starting group, there doesn’t appear to be room for him in the postseason rotation.

While the Dodgers have carried a six-man rotation for much of the regular season, it’s down to five since the Dodgers put left-hander Justin Wrobleski on the IL a week and a half ago and later moved lefty Eric Lauer to the bullpen in a multi-inning role. But in the playoffs, they only need four starters.

The next four days will provide a preview, with right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Thursday in the series finale against the Braves), left-hander Tarik Skubal (making his Detroit return Friday), lefty Blake Snell (Saturday), and likely some combination of two-way star Shohei Ohtani and/or Tyler Glasnow (Sunday) all lined up.

That fourth and final playoff rotation spot will be the one to follow as the season winds down.

Ohtani is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Friday in Detroit, Roberts said, after which the Dodgers will finalize his schedule for the rest of the weekend.

“Right now, I don’t think anyone knows how any day looks until he throws that bullpen on Friday,” Roberts said before the game Wednesday.

Ohtani returning to pitching Sunday is still in play, Roberts confirmed. And Glasnow is also lined up for Sunday.

When Ohtani returns to the mound, it will be in a super-opener role, as he continues to build up. And if he and Glasnow piggyback on Sunday, it’ll be a preview of a possible postseason setup.

If Ohtani is able to build up to a full starter’s load — pitching Sunday rather than Tuesday would give him the chance to make up to five starts before the end of the regular season — the Dodgers could have a more difficult decision at the back end of their rotation.

Read more:How two decades of friendship have shaped Freddie Freeman and Jason Heyward

So, with five pitchers already penciled in for four postseason rotation spots, Sasaki is in line to pitch out of the bullpen in the postseason, along with Wrobleski, a 2026 All-Star who is expected to take on a relief role as soon as he returns from the injured list.

Exactly what that will look like for Sasaki is unclear. And because the Dodgers need him in the rotation down the stretch, even late-September games aren’t guaranteed to provide hints.

Last postseason, Sasaki served as the Dodgers’ closer, a role he could thrive in again. But this year, as Edwin Díaz has struggled in the 16 appearances he’s made between IL stints, Scott has stayed healthy, unlike last year, and earned Roberts’ trust in save situations.

Before sorting out all of that, Sasaki has to get through this blister issue.

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

A remarkable 24 hours for Michael Fulmer culminated with a clean eighth inning in Wednesday’s 9-3 win over the Astros in The Bronx.

On Tuesday night, Fulmer was at LaGuardia Airport, waiting through a layover and ready to travel to Worcester to meet up with the Yankees’ Triple-A team.

He had just signed with the Yankees, who all of a sudden had holes to fill in their injury-riddled bullpen.

And before he got on his connecting flight, the Yankees called him and told him to leave the airport and come join the big league team in New York, rather than head to the minors.

It’s the latest stop on what seems like a never-ending tour around the league for Fulmer — one that he’d like to now result in a more permanent home.

“Just trying to figure out what teams want,” Fulmer said. “This will be my seventh organization in the last two years, unfortunately. I’ve been around the whole country just trying to find a place to stick.”

Fulmer, the 2016 Rookie of the Year and 2017 All-Star with the Tigers, has already been released by the Giants and Angels this season.

Mets fans will remember him as a former top prospect whom the team memorably traded to the Tigers in exchange for Yoenis Céspedes at the 2015 deadline.

Céspedes helped carry the Mets to the World Series that year, while Fulmer turned into a solid starter for the Tigers.

“Being a visiting player, you’re playing the Yankees — everybody dreams of it, everybody dreams to play in Yankee Stadium,” Fulmer said. “It’s good to be on this side of it.”

But after undergoing his second Tommy John surgery, which forced him to miss the entire 2024 season, he has been unable to stick anywhere the past two years.

He made three appearances with the Angels this year, tossing 3 ²/₃ scoreless innings. He’s recorded a 2.93 ERA across 43 innings in Triple-A this year.

“I’m excited to get him here,” Boone said. “Obviously, it’s a guy that’s got a lot of experience, had a lot of success in the big leagues, has been through a lot on the injury front. … He’s a guy that’s had a good season and is throwing the ball well and hopefully he can come here and grab a role. There’s opportunity there.”

That opportunity, and some promising results this year despite being released, has Fulmer staving off retirement thoughts.

“I told [my wife] I couldn’t live with myself feeling this healthy and throwing the ball this well, to give up quite yet,” Fulmer said. “Hope it’s an opportunity for something in the long run.”

Michael Fulmer was at LaGuardia Airport on Tuesday night, waiting through a layover and ready to travel to Worcester to meet up with the Yankees’ Triple-A team. 

Before he got on his connecting flight, the Yankees called him and told him to leave the airport and come join the big league team in New York, rather than head to the minors. 

It’s the latest stop on what seems like a never-ending tour around the league for Fulmer — one that he’d like to now result in a more permanent home. 

“Just trying to figure out what teams want,” Fulmer said before the game against the Astros on Wednesday night in The Bronx. “This will be my seventh organization in the last two years, unfortunately. I’ve been around the whole country just trying to find a place to stick.” 

The Yankees placed Fernando Cruz on the injured list Wednesday with right elbow discomfort amid a few rough outings for their previously reliable reliever. It created an opening for Fulmer to immediately be activated and have a bullpen role in which he can potentially make this more than a short-term destination. 

Fulmer, the 2016 Rookie of the Year and an All-Star in 2017 with the Tigers, has already been released by the Giants and Angels this season. Mets fans will remember him as a former top prospect whom the team memorably dealt to the Tigers in exchange for Yoenis Cespedes at the 2015 trade deadline. Cespedes helped carry the Mets to the World Series that year, while Fulmer turned into a solid starter for the Tigers. 

“Being a visiting player, you’re playing the Yankees — everybody dreams of it, everybody dreams to play in Yankee Stadium,” Fulmer said. “It’s good to be on this side of it.”

But after undergoing his second Tommy John surgery, which forced him to miss the entire 2024 season, he has been unable to stick anywhere the past two years. He made three appearances with the Angels this year, tossing 3 ²/₃ scoreless innings. He’s recorded a 2.93 ERA across 43 innings in Triple-A this year. 

“I’m excited to get him here,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Obviously, it’s a guy that’s got a lot of experience, had a lot of success in the big leagues, has been through a lot on the injury front. … He’s a guy that’s had a good season and is throwing the ball well and hopefully he can come here and grab a role. There’s opportunity there.”

That opportunity, and some promising results this year despite being released, have Fulmer staving off retirement thoughts. 

“I told [my wife] I couldn’t live with myself feeling this healthy and throwing the ball this well to give up quite yet,” Fulmer said. “Hope it’s an opportunity for something in the long run.”