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Before Ricky Bottalico was a Phillies voice, 1996 All-Star Game gave him a mic originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Thirty years ago, the All-Star Game returned to South Philadelphia for the first time since the bicentennial.

1996 featured a much different sports world.

The Cowboys had just won a Super Bowl, their last one since. Michael Jordan, in his first full season back from baseball, had just led the Bulls to a 72-10 season and another NBA title. The Summer Olympics were headed for Atlanta.

The Eagles drafted Brian Dawkins, then the 76ers drafted Allen Iverson.

And Philadelphia was still thawing out from a winter it would not forget.

The “Blizzard of ’96” buried the city and surrounding area in nearly 31 inches of snow in January. By July, the snow was gone, but the eventual 67-95 Phillies still looked stuck in it.

They were buried in the National League East, three years removed from the 1993 World Series run and still searching for direction. The Braves had moved from the NL West into the Phillies’ division before the strike-shortened 1994 season, changing the shape of the East.

As part of that realignment, Philadelphia was given the 1996 All-Star Game.

The mighty Braves arrived as reigning World Series champions.

The lowly Phillies arrived with one All-Star.

Ricky Bottalico.

“That’s the biggest thing that everybody takes out of it,” Bottalico said. “It was a Phillies team that, let’s face it, we struggled, and to not have more than one All-Star was, it wasn’t embarrassing, but it was just one of those things where, like, we’re the home team. We got one All-Star.”

For Bottalico, now a longtime NBC Sports Philadelphia analyst and 97.5 The Fanatic host, that week was not some clean, glossy baseball memory.

It was strange. It was loud. It was hot. It was packed with Hall of Famers.

And again, he was the only one wearing Phillies red pinstripes.

Ironically, that spotlight also meant Bottalico spent the week wearing six or seven microphones while hosting one of baseball’s signature shows.

“I was actually hosting This Week in Baseball,” Bottalico said. “I was miced up like you would not believe.”

This Week in Baseball, which returned this year, had been legendary broadcaster Mel Allen’s show from its start in 1977 until Allen’s death in June 1996, less than a month before the All-Star Game. For a generation of baseball fans, it was part of the Saturday routine.

Bottalico was one of those kids.

“When I was a little kid, there were two shows on before the national game of the week,” Bottalico said. “And then, right before the game, they always had This Week in Baseball. So every Saturday, if I didn’t have a game, I was sitting down watching it.”

The TV side was not random, either. Not looking back.

Bottalico sat in front of another legend, Harry Kalas, and former pitcher Larry Andersen, still the Phillies’ radio color commentator, on team flights. Kalas saw something before Bottalico did.

“Harry used to tell me, ‘You’re gonna get into the media after you’re done,’” Bottalico said. “And I’d be like, ‘I don’t know, Harry, we’ll see.’”

Kalas had his reason.

“You got the voice for it,” Bottalico remembered him saying.

In 1996, that future had not arrived yet. Bottalico was still the Phillies’ closer, still trying to make sense of being the only player from the home team in the home All-Star Game.

That hit him inside the clubhouse, where his home-park locker had been moved.

“I walked into the clubhouse, and the first people I see in the clubhouse are all the Braves playing cards in our locker room,” Bottalico said. “I’m like, this is wild. I mean, this is nuts.”

He knew what waited after the break.

“It didn’t feel the same because you knew that in a couple days you’re going to hate these guys again,” Bottalico said.

The Home Run Derby did not make the job feel any easier.

Barry Bonds beat Mark McGwire in the final. Bottalico had a front-row view as TWIB’s wired-up host.

“It was wild,” Bottalico said. “You gotta understand, it was hot too, I remember. And it was like one of those things where these guys were just hitting monstrous home runs.”

Watching that much power up close was not exactly comforting.

“It was absolutely the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen,” Bottalico said. “Just to watch those guys take batting practice, it was almost like, I don’t want to watch this. I gotta pitch to these guys in a couple weeks.”

The names around him look different now than they did then.

Pedro Martinez. Future wrestling-mate Barry Bonds. Mark McGwire. Cal Ripken Jr. Ozzie Smith, playing in his final All-Star Game.

“At the time, it probably wasn’t as special because I was there,” Bottalico said. “I was already in the big leagues. But you realize how awesome that was.”

When his name was called and the roar came down, Bottalico removed his cap, as most players do, and flashed a small message tucked under the bill.

“Hi Gram.”

His family was at Veterans Stadium. His fiancée’s family was there, too. His grandmother was not in attendance.

“She was the only one that couldn’t make it down because she was older,” Bottalico said. “I just wanted her to see that.”

The introductions came with a soundtrack only Philadelphia could provide. Joe Carter was booed for his ’93 heroics over the Phillies. Ozzie Smith received a massive ovation. Bottalico knew his would be different, too.

It was deafening.

Some Phillies teammates watched it from the seats. Shortstop Kevin Stocker was there, the only game he ever attended as a player, he said.

“I know Mickey Morandini was there, too,” Bottalico said. “Quite a few guys that were actually there and that had to be strange for them. I mean, they’re watching a game that they’re normally involved in.

“It was nice to have teammates that were there.”

Once the game started, another oddity waited.

Ripken had broken his nose during team pictures after White Sox reliever Roberto Hernandez slipped and hit him with an elbow. In Iron Man fashion, Ripken still started.

Bottalico faced him in the fifth inning, fully aware of what he did not want to do.

“I definitely would have pitched him differently if it was regular season,” Bottalico said. “My whole theory was, I don’t want to be the goat that hits him here.”

The thought made sense. Ripken’s consecutive-games streak had already passed Lou Gehrig’s record.

“The guy’s playing with a broken nose, for crying out loud,” Bottalico said.

Bottalico got Ripken to pop out. He also struck out Ivan Rodriguez in a scoreless fifth.

His entrance is the part he still hears, though.

The Vet had a high wall near the bullpen that dipped lower as pitchers came toward first base. As Bottalico came in, he could see the crowd rise section by section.

“It was like a wave,” Bottalico said. “That got pretty loud.”

Someone in the bullpen, Bottalico believes it may have been Al Leiter, told him to take it in.

“I remember just kind of taking it in as I was jogging in,” Bottalico said. “It was pretty cool.”

That was Bottalico’s moment.

The night’s postcard belonged to the local kid.

Mike Piazza, the Norristown native and Dodgers catcher, turned Veterans Stadium into his stage. He caught a ceremonial first pitch from Mike Schmidt, his childhood hero, then hit a mammoth upper-deck homer and added an RBI double in the National League’s 6-0 win. The NL would not win the All-Star Game again until 2010.

Bottalico knew Piazza, another future teammate, had his own local pull that week.

“There were a lot of questions about it, because I was obviously in Philly, and he was the other one that had a connection to Philly,” Bottalico said. “It was definitely public knowledge.”

The homer stuck with him.

“That ball in the All-Star Game, he hit that, like, four rows deep, and it was more towards [left] center field in the upper deck,” Bottalico said. “This was monstrous.”

Piazza was asked afterward if he could have dreamed up that kind of homecoming.

“I don’t know about living it,” Piazza said on NBC’s postgame broadcast, “but I definitely dreamt it.”

One seat in Bottalico’s section came with its own coincidental souvenir.

“My uncle, in the seats that I got them, actually got a Mike Piazza foul ball,” Bottalico said.

Wild.

Nearly three decades later, Citizens Bank Park is finally getting its first All-Star Game. Bottalico still cannot quite believe it took this long.

“I think that’s amazing,” Bottalico said. “It is something.”

There is another difference this time.

The 1996 Phillies had one All-Star. This year’s team has six.

Bottalico’s pregame routine looks different now. The warmup comes with an IFB in an NBC Sports Philadelphia office, not a baseball in a bullpen.

But in some ways, that week foreshadowed the second act Harry Kalas once predicted for him.

The baseball part still matters most.

“For me,” Ricky Bo said, “it’s something that I was the sole representative for the Phillies.”

After a somewhat surprising (and surprisingly emphatic) win against the Doyers last night in their house thanks in large measure to Tim Tawa busting out, it seemed honestly pretty unlikely to me that we’d knock them off again, especially with Yoshinobu Yamamoto taking the mound for them and Brandon Pfaadt going for us. Don’t get me wrong, it has seemed like Pfaadt definitely worked some things out during his brief time in Reno, but his two very good starts since he’s been back have been against the Giants and the Padres, neither of whom are exactly poster children for “fierce and difficult competition” at this point in the season. The Dodgers, on the other hand, sport the best record in baseball, and Yamamoto has definitely earned his spot on the All-Star Game roster for the National League this year. So. My expectations were not high, is what I’m saying.

But you know what? I was completely wrong! Hooray! It didn’t look great to start, as Yamamoto made very short work of the top of our lineup in the first, sitting down Ketel Marte, Geraldo Perdomo, and Corbin Carroll, with only ten pitches thrown. But Pfaadt came out for the bottom of the first, and only needed five pitches to retire Shohei Ohtani, Andy Pages, and Freddie Freeman. Not too shabby.

And it pretty much continued that way through five innings—Brandon Pfaadt outpitching and outperforming the 2025 World Series MVP. Our hitters started hanging longer and more patient at bats on Yamamoto, the Dodgers hitters failed to do so with Pfaadt. Tim Tawa got the Diamondbacks’ first hit with two outs in the second with a fly ball single to center. Sadly, however, he was immediately picked off first base before Yamamoto had to throw another pitch, which was embarrassing. It broke the seal, though, at least, and we started driving Yamamoto’s pitch count up from there, with James McCann reaching on the Max Muncy throwing error with one out in the top of the third and Tommy Troy drawing a six-pitch walk. Nothing more came of that, sadly, as Marte popped out to third, and Perdomo flew out to left after a long at bat, but we made Yamamoto throw 25 pitches in the inning. Pfaadt, on the other hand, cruised through the second and third innings, retiring the Dodgers in order as he completed his first run through their lineup with only 27 pitched needed to record his first nine outs.

The Diamondbacks drew first blood as well in the top of the fourth, after Gabriel Moreno drew a six-pitch walk with one out and then got to third on a Max Kepler grounder that snuck through the right side of the infield and into right field for a single. Tim Tawa then hit a grounder to third that Max Muncy frankly made an amazing play on, but Moreno was running on contact and Muncy’s only play was to throw to first, where he just nabbed Tawa while Gabi crossed the plate for the first run of the game. 1-0 DBACKS

Pfaadt got himself into some trouble in the bottom half of the inning, as Ohtani lined a single to left and Andy Pages hit a ground ball that got between Perdomo and Nolan Arenado for another single. Freddie Freeman then hit a slow roller to Perdomo, and while he and Marte tried to turn two, they were only able to get the force on Pages at second, putting runners on the corners with only one out. But where early 2026 Brandon Pfaadt would have started nibbling and melted down to give up a big inning, July Pfaadt buckled down, induced Mookie Betts to pop out to second and then got Muncy to ground out to put up another zero and preserve the lead.

Both pitchers seemed to regain their composure a little bit in the fifth, with both Yamamoto and Pfaadt retiring their respective sides in order. Tommy Troy fouled a pitch off his knee in the top of the frame, and then had to leave the game (with Jorge Barrosa taking his place) in the bottom when he plowed into the wall in center field making a play on a long fly ball by Teoscar Hernandez. So that wasn’t great, but no damage was done, score-wise, at least.

And then the sixth inning happened.

Yamamoto came out to start the sixth with his pitch count sitting at 76 pitches thrown. He promptly walked Perdomo on four pitches, which was nice, and then struck out Carroll on four pitches, which was less nice. Moreno singled to right, advancing Gerry to third, and a Max Kepler sacrifice fly to deep center allowed Perdomo to score the second run of the ballgame. That brought Tawa to the plate again, and Tawa bounced a ball up the third base line for a double that, despite third base coach JR House putting up the stop sign, scored Gabi from third.

You can’t see it in the clip, but what I think I loved most about this play was that not only did Gabi run through the stop sign, he almost bowled over House himself as he was turning the corner around third and heading home. So that was kind of hilarious. Dave Roberts, meanwhile, apparently really wanted Yamamoto to get through the sixth inning, because he had him intentionally walk Nolan Arenado to get to James McCann, who one might have supposed would be the easier out. This turned out not to be the case, however, as McCann hammered the second pitch he saw in the at bat up and out and over the wall in left for a three-run dinger:

Barrosa flew out to left, at long last, for the third out of the inning, but we’d secured Brandon Pfaadt’s lead. 6-0 DBACKS

It turned out to be a good thing, too, as it turned out that Pfaadt didn’t have a whole lot left in the tank. He’d gotten through five innings of Dodgers with only 59 pitches thrown, but the wheels came off for him in the bottom of the sixth. Tommy Edman led off the inning with a line-drive double to right, and after recording a one-pitch out to Ohtani, Brandon surrendered three straight singles to Pages, Freeman, and Betts. Edman and Pages scored, and Pfaadt’s night was abruptly over, as Torey Lovullo pulled him for Brandyn Garcia, who was making his second relief appearance in as many days. Garcia did the business, though, striking out Max Muncy looking and getting Kyle Tucker to line out to Perdomo for the third out. 6-2 DBACKS

Landon Knack, activated today from the 60-day injured list to give Los Angeles some length after they used nearly their entire bullpen last night, came on for the top of the seventh, and promptly gave back one of the runs by loading the bases with one out. He hit Perdomo with a pitch, then walked Carroll and Perdomo. Max Kepler flew out to right, allowing Perdomo to tag from third and score. 7-2 DBACKS

Kevin Ginkel pitched a clean bottom of the seventh for us, and Knack came out for the eighth and was greeted by back-to-back solo home runs from Nolan Arenado and James McCann, who went deep for the second time in the game.

So that was fun. 9-2 DBACKS

And that accounts for our final score, as Juan Morillo put up a zero in the eighth and Philip Abner, recently recalled from Reno, put up a zero of his own in the bottom of the ninth.

Win Probability Added, courtesy of FanGraphs

BINGO!: Brandon Pfaadt (5 1/3 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, +19% WPA)
Bango: Tim Tawa (5 AB, 3 H, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 2B, 1 K, +13% WPA), James McCann (4 AB, 2 H, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR, 1 K, +12% WPA), Max Kepler (3 AB, 1 H, 2 RBI, 1 K, +10% WPA)
Bongo: Ketel Marte (5 AB, 0 H, 0 R, 2 K, -9% WPA)

This was kind of an interesting WPA sheet, and frankly an interesting game for the offense, as all of the meaningful offensive production came from the bottom six players in the lineup. Go figure. And Tawa, for the second game in a row, was the WPA leader for the offense—+13% today, and a whopping +23% yesterday. It’s certainly a small sample size, but I begin to wonder if, when he was called back up from Reno this last time, Timmy reached out to Christian Walker and arranged to sublet Dodger Stadium from the hand-downs historical owner of that ballpark. Could be.

Anyway, we had a lovely and lively Gameday Thread tonight, with 315 comments at time of writing. Comment of the Game, by popular acclaim and because they are certainly not wrong, goes to Webb Gemz for this observation regarding our new heir apparent at first base:

Of course, given the propensity of fans a Chavez Latrine to bat beach balls around in the stands, that could also be an explanation for the phenomenon. We’ll have to see if Timmy continues to see pitches that way once we’re back at Chase. Here’s hoping, though.

And I did not expect to be typing this sentence, but stop by with your brooms in hand tomorrow as we go for the sweep against the Doyers tomorrow in the last game of our last series before the All Star Break! Mitch Bratt takes the mound for us, replacing the apparently destined-for-the-IL Zac Gallen, while Emmet Sheehan goes for the Evil Floral Delivery Conglomerate. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10pm AZ time. Hope to see you, because if we don’t, that can only mean that you are simply the worst kind of Frankfurter (i dunno, blame Trappkory)!

As always, thanks for reading, and as always, go Diamondbacks!

Members of the Los Angeles Dodgers are expected to visit the White House to be honored for winning the World Series in 2025.

President Donald Trump will greet the Dodgers on July 23. 

Los Angeles secured back-to-back titles after beating the Toronto Blue Jays in a thrilling Game 7. The Dodgers also won the title in 2024, knocking off the New York Yankees in five games.

The Dodgers also captured the Fall Classic in 2020, which was the franchise's first championship since 1988.

The Dodgers visited the White House in April 2025 to celebrate the 2024 World Series. Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw were among the players that attended.

The team will make the trip to Washington, D.C. on an off day between series against the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets. It's in the midst of a demanding stretch of games for the Dodgers, playing nine games in 10 days.

Betts told the California Post on July 11 that he wasn't expected to appear at the White House. Betts plans on skipping the festivities and claimed the decision wasn’t political. He stated that he wanted to spend the day with his family, which includes his newborn daughter.

Kiké Hernández is also not expected to make the trip. He is currently on a minor league rehab assignment.

Which Dodgers will not visit White House?

• Mookie Betts
• Kiké Hernández

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dodgers' White House visit: Mookie Betts among players not expected to go to DC

A Montgomery, Texas native, Shane Sdao attended Lake Creek High School in Montgomery, a school that opened in 2018 due to overcrowding at the city’s primary school, Montgomery High School. The left-hander helped turn the school’s fledgling baseball program into a winner. In their first year of existence, the Lions went 7-7 on the season. In 2021 and 2022, the two years that Sdao lettered and pitched for the varsity team, they went 20-12-1 and 23-6, respectively, advancing to the Texas Region III-5A quarterfinals both times. In both years, the left-hander was named to the First All-District Team, the Second All-Greater Houston Team, and was the Texas District 5A All-State honorable mention pitch in his senior year.

Despite the accolades, Sdao was far from a draft follow. The left-hander garnered very little attention from scouts and evaluators due to his relatively uninspiring repertoire and advanced age. The southpaw already had a commitment to Texas A&M in place, and after no MLB teams called his name in the 2022 MLB Draft, Sdao attended the College Station institution.

The left-hander appeared in 22 games in his freshman season with the Aggies, starting two games and coming out of the bullpen for the remaining 20. In total, the 19-year-old posted a 4.78 ERA in 43.1 innings, allowing 54 hits, walking 15, and striking out 46. He was used in a similar manner in his sophomore season, starting 5 games and coming out of the bullpen for the remaining 15. Sdao was better in virtually every regard, posting a 2.96 ERA in 48.2 innings, allowing 42 hits, walking 9, and striking out 55. The Aggies made it to the 2024 College World Series finals, losing to the University of Tennessee, but they did so without the left-hander, who injured his elbow starting against the University of Oregon in the Super Regionals.

Sdao’s injury turned out to be the worst-case scenario: a UCL tear that required Tommy John surgery to fix. The left-hander redshirted in 2025, missing the entire season. Despite being injured, Sdao received numerous financially lucrative bonus offers from multiple MLB teams who were looking to float a deal with him while he recovered from surgery. He ended up rejecting those offers and decided to return to Texas A&M in 2026.

The results were not exactly there for Sdao in his redshirt junior season. More important than anything else, he was able to take the mound and his stuff was more or less where it was before the Tommy John surgery, but the results were ugly. Appearing in 17 games, starting 13 of them, Sdao posted a 7.03 ERA in 71.2 innings, allowing 98 hits, walking 20, and striking out 83. In particular, the longball was a problem; he allowed 16 home runs over the course of the season.

The 22-year-old Sdao stands 6’3”, 185-pounds. He throws from a three-quarters arm slot, extending off the mound well and incorporating a high leg kick and a long arm action through the back. He is a strike thrower, and keeps hitters off-balance with a deep repertoire that includes a four-seam fastball, slider, curveball, cutter, and changeup. At present, none of his pitchers are better than average offerings, but as he continues recovering from Tommy John surgery, his fastball and slider stand to improve the most.

His fastball sits in the low-to-mid-90s, and in the past the left-hander has been able to ramp it up and hit the high-90s with the pitch. Even before the ligament surgery that kept him off the field in 2025, Sdao lacked consistency with the pitch and its velocity often fluctuated, more often settling into the lower end of that velocity band and rarely exceeding 95 MPH. The pitch lacks the power to be a true strikeout offering, generating below-average whiff rates, but Sdao still has had success with the pitch thanks to his ability to command it and its rising action; in the past, it has been measured possessing 2300 RPM, an average-to-above-average spin rate for a fastball.

The left-hander’s slider is his main secondary pitch, and he uses it against left-handed and right-handed batters alike. A sweeping slider in the low-80s, the pitch has a bit less horizontal movement than most sweeping sliders, but Sdao has become skilled at dropping his arm angle a bit when throwing it, telegraphing the pitch but at the same time giving it the illusion of having more lateral movement than it actually does.

Against right-handed batters, Sdao utilizes a mid-80s changeup, but the pitch has been supplanted in usefulness by an upper-70s curveball and an upper-80s cutter that he recently added to his repertoire.

In 2026, as mentioned, Sdao had a problem with home runs, but in general, he had some major issues keeping the ball down. As compared to his prior two seasons with the Aggies, where he averaged a 41.7% groundball rate, 20.9% line drive rate, and a 37.5% flyball rate, the left-hander had a 31.7% groundball rate, 24.3% line drive rate, and a 43.9% flyball rate in 2026.

The Dodgers’ 9-2 loss to the Diamondbacks on Saturday wasn’t enough to prevent them from going into the All-Star break with the best record in the majors — that much is ensured. But the uninspired all-around performance sealed a series loss on the final weekend of the season’s first half.

“It was a clunker,” manager Dave Roberts said. “The last three out of five [or] four out of five games, it just hasn’t been clean baseball. So when you give teams free bases, extra outs, it’s hard to win a game, regardless of opponent. ... We’ve got to find a way to win a game [Sunday] to feel somewhat better about going into the break.”

The Dodgers (61-35) put little pressure on the Diamondbacks pitching staff. And Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto wrapped up his first-half campaign with his highest-scoring start of the season; he surrendered six runs in six innings.

“He still had a really, really, really good first half,” Roberts said.

Over the All-Star break, Yamamoto (2.85 ERA) will get the week to rest. Before the game Saturday, oberts confirmed Yamamoto, an All-Star for the second consecutive year, will not pitch in the game.

The timing of his start Saturday, three days before the Midsummer Classic, suggested as much. Shohei Ohtani is scheduled to have his left knee drained coming out of the All-Star break and will not travel to Philadelphia. So Justin Wrobleski, who was added to the National League roster Saturday, is the only Dodger set to pitch in the All-Star Game.

Yamamoto held the Diamondbacks (48-47) to one run through the first five innings. But his final inning quickly unraveled. It started with a leadoff walk and peaked with a three-run home run from James McCann.

The Dodgers finally rallied for two runs in the sixth and then fell quiet again. The Diamondbacks then scored three runs against Landon Knack in his three-inning season debut coming off the injured list.

Read more:Dodgers pitcher Justin Wrobleski added to National League roster for All-Star Game

Yamamoto’s uncharacteristic sixth inning ended his streak of quality starts at five, including two that lasted eight innings or more. He leads the team with 110⅔ innings pitched.

“Overall, there’s good outings,” Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “And also physically, condition-wise, it’s been good. And I hope that I can carry this into the second half.”

Yamamoto’s workload, along with Wrobleski’s emergence, has helped the Dodgers weather injuries to pitchers who were expected to be major contributors.

In a promising sign for closer Edwin Díaz’s recovery timeline, he started a rehab assignment with single-A Ontario on Saturday. Díaz made just seven appearances for the Dodgers before undergoing an operation to remove loose bodies from his right elbow in late April.

“He’s been throwing pretty effortlessly, free, maybe a week after he started throwing,” pitching coach Mark Prior said.

He estimated that Díaz would return in about three to four weeks if his progression goes smoothly.

Blake Snell — who also had loose bodies removed from his pitching elbow, undergoing a NanoNeedle Scope procedure on May 19 — threw two simulated innings to batters Saturday.

Snell is scheduled to begin a minor-league rehab assignment next weekend, Roberts said. Prior believes Snell will need at least four to five outings, likening it to a spring training buildup.

“The goal would be to get him fully built up to 90ish pitches before he comes back,” Prior said.

Tyler Glasnow, who had been sidelined for more than two months with a lingering back injury, threw a bullpen session Friday.

“It was like 95, 96 [mph] in his ‘pen, but he does that rolling out of bed when he’s healthy,” Prior said. “But it’s a good sign.”

Glasnow has had plenty of back and forth in his rehab, however. Twice he started playing catch only to be shut down when back spasms returned.

“The schedule is starting to move with a little bit more consistency than it had been,” Prior said. “So he’s in a good spot.”

Glasnow is scheduled for another bullpen session on Monday.

Read more:Dodgers' top MLB draft pick Bo Lowrance eager to emulate Freddie Freeman, Corey Seager

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The All-Star break all of a sudden looks more and more like something the Dodgers need, as they suffered a second blowout loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in as many nights, 9-2 on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.

Simply losing consecutive games has been rare for the Dodgers, as this marked just their second two-game losing streak in the last two months. But to lose consecutively in blowout fashion is even more rare, as they followed up Friday’s 9-3 loss with a defeat by seven runs on Saturday.

The Dodgers have lost by six or more runs only eight times this season — they’ve won 22 such games, for comparison — and never consecutively before now. The only other similar streak came from May 9-12, when the Dodgers lost four straight games by five, five, six, and four runs.

For a while, this looked more like a typical game, especially for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who entered the sixth inning having allowed only one run, with the Dodgers trailing 1-0. But Arizona tacked on five runs in the frame, punctuated by a three-run home run by catcher James McCann.

Six runs allowed is a season high for Yamamoto, who will head to Philadelphia for All-Star festivities but will not pitch in the game. His four walks matched a season high.

Landon Knack, called up to eat innings after Friday’s bullpen game, soaked up the last three innings and allowed three runs of his own, including another home run by McCann.

Saturday particulars

Home runs: James McCann 2 (2); Nolan Arenado (12)

WP — Brandon Pfaadt (3-1): 5 1/3 IP, 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 strikeouts

LP — Yoshinobu Yamamoto (9-6): 6 IP, 5 hits, 6 runs, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts

Up next

One more game remains before the All-Star break, with Emmet Sheehan starting on the mound on Sunday (1:10 p.m., SportsNet LA), with Mitch Bratt expected to pitch for the Diamondbacks.

The Braves put together a fascinating day 1 of the draft, taking AJ Gracia with their first pick and some intriguing upside plays with the rest of their picks. I am a big fan of the approach they took, taking an intriguing combination of floor and ceiling with the ninth pick in Gracia, for reportedly well underslot money. They then took a tooled up outfielder from an unorthodox background with their Prospect Promotion Incentive from Drake Baldwin’s NL ROY in Carter Beck, also generating more bonus pool savings. They then went big in the second and third rounds on huge upside overslot prep pitchers in Kaiden McCarthy and Jensen Hirschkorn, with a less highly rated prep arm, Cole Dennis in the fourth round. I love taking advantage of the extra pick by spreading the money around. Gracia was a nice pick for what he brings to the table offensively. Given the talent-pool at the ninth pick being less exciting than in some drafts, I think it is a savvy move to pick up reportedly large savings with a still-exciting player and use that money later in the strength of the draft class — prep pitching depth.

Braves News

Our prospect team has excellent write-ups of all 5 of the Braves’ picks in an exciting Day 1 of the draft. See them here for AJ Gracia, Carter Beck, Kaiden McCarthy, Jensen Hirschkorn, and Cole Dennis.

Mike Yastrzemski hit the IL and Owen Murphy returned to Atlanta in a flurry of roster moves.

Matt Olson broke Dale Murphy’s franchise consecutive games played record.

Back on the field, the Braves had a rough night, losing 4-1 to the Cardinals.

MLB News

One of this past offseason’s biggest free agents, Zac Gallen will likely hit the IL with elbow inflammation.

Orioles’ closer Ryan Helsley is expected to avoid UCL surgery, for now at least.

Day 1 of the MLB Draft was completed, with 135 picks in our tracker.

The A’s are placing their star bat Nick Kurtz on the 10-day IL with a thumb strain.

After three seasons with the Virginia Tech Hokies, junior pitcher Brett Renfrow declared for the 2026 MLB Draft earlier this year. On Saturday, Renfrow’s dreams were realized when the Minnesota Twins selected him with the No. 74 overall pick in the second round.

Renfrow played high school baseball at Charles J. Colgan Sr. High School in Manassas, Virginia. Renfrow made history upon arriving in Blacksburg, becoming the first freshman in school history to start on opening day. He would start 15 games in 2024, going 6-4 with a 4.92 ERA with 78 strikeouts in 75 innings pitched.

𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙖 👏@BrettRenfrow has been selected during the 𝟐𝐧𝐝 round (CB-B) by the #Twins at 𝐍𝐨. 𝟕𝟒 overall#ProHokies 🦃⚾️ pic.twitter.com/qtRwvdgQ8F

— Virginia Tech Baseball (@HokiesBaseball) July 11, 2026

In 2025, Renfrow started 15 games, going 3-7 with a 3.89 ERA over 74 innings. He struck out 84 batters while walking only 34. This past season, he started 15 games and finished with a 5-4 record and a 4.64 ERA. In 73.2 innings pitched, Renfrow struck out 88 batters and walked 25.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Renfrow is a strikeout pitcher. Here are some scouting reports on the Hokie right-hander.

Virginia Tech righty Brett Renfrow gets taken at 74 by the Twins.

Sits 94 with three above-average pitches. Starter build. Improved his strike-throwing this season. Ranked 78 on the Over-Slot board.

PROFILE👇pic.twitter.com/KBVO4wEv7P

— Over-Slot Baseball (@OverSlot_) July 11, 2026

CBB.74 MIN

RHP Brett Renfrow (@HokiesBaseball)
R-R, 6-3/220

Reliable starter. 4-pitch mix wiht FB up to 97. Three years of consistent ACC production.@PGCollegeBallpic.twitter.com/VgkRDCttyi

— Perfect Game Draft (@PG_Draft) July 11, 2026

Congratulations to Brett Renfrow. We’ll continue to follow along and let you guys know if any more Hokies are selected in the MLB draft this weekend.

Seventeen walks, eleven issued by the Jays, against just seven strikeouts. Really, on both sides, some of the worst pitching you’ll see in a major league game. Five Jays pitchers played, and all but Spencer Miles gave up a run.

On the positive side, the offence actually showed up. They managed seven runs on eight hits and six walks of their own, including home runs by Jonatan Clase and Vladimir Guerrero jr. It’s a little late for moral victories, but Vlad going into the All Star break having broken out of his months long slump would be a little good news.

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The Jays offense took an inning to figure Walker Buehler out, recording just a Vladimir Guerrero jr. chopper for an infield single in the first. In the second, though, they pounced. Kazuma Okamoto and Daulton Varsho walked. Alejandro Kirk lined a double that plated one run, and Andres Gimenez grounded out to force a second across. That left one on for Jonatan Clase, who homered on a fly ball to right to put the Jays in front 4-2.

Trey Yesavage could not find the plate at all. 12 of his first 13 pitches were balls, loading the bases with none out in the first. He got a pop out, but then walked in a run. A sac fly added a second before he was able to get out of the inning. Staked to a lead in the second, he struck out Luis Campusano before issuing his fifth walk of the game. Then a ground out and two more walks loaded the bases, and a Manny Machado line drive single tied it at four. That was the end of a start that never really got off the ground. Adam Macko took over, but before he could complete his first at bat Machado was caught in a rundown between first and second for the third out.

The Jays could manage only a Kirk single off reliever Matt Waldron in the top of the third. Macko allowed the Padres to break the tie in the bottom half, on a hit, a line single, a stolen base and a two RBI single, putting them back on top 6-4.

Waldron walked Clase in the fourth, but the Jays couldn’t do anything with it. Braydon fisher got the first two batters in his half, but yet another walk and a pair of single plated one more for San Diego. Both teams were quiet in the fifth, with Waldron pitching a 1-2-3 inning and Mason Fluharty working around a single.

In the sixth, Yuki Matsui walked Clase and hit Nathan Lukes, setting the table for a three run Vladimir Guerrero jr. home run to left, tieing the game at seven. It was short lived, as Ty France took Fluharty deep off the Western Metal Supply Co. building for a solo home run in the home half.

Bradgley Rodriguez and Spencer Miles each sat the opposing side down in order in the seventh. Luis Urias, hitting for Gimenez, singled to lead off the eighth but Adrian Morejon struck out Clase and got a double play from Clement. Jackson Merrill singled and appeared to steal second in the bottom half, but was called out. The call survived a replay, but I have to say he looked safe and it wasn’t particularly close. The Jays were happy to take it, of course. Miles took advantage to get out of the inning, although he issued two more walks in the process.

Nathan Lukes managed a single of Mason Miller in the ninth, which is more than almost anyone has this season. Myles Straw pinch ran and stole second while Guerrero struck out. George Springer lined a ball hard 390 feet to dead centre, but Merrill made the catch at the track to prevent the comeback from coming to fruition. Miller struck Okamoto out to end the game.

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Jays of the Day: Guerrero (0.17), Kirk (0.14), Clase (0.16)

Less so: Yesavage (-0.39), Macko (-0.14), Fluharty (-0.11), Springer (-0.25), Okamoto (-0.16)

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Tomorrow’s the last one before the All Star break. Kevin Gausman (4-8, 4.32) will try to right the ship after a rough finish to his first half, while the Padres will start German Marquez (4-2, 5.02), who’s having a rough season of his own. We’ll get it started at 4:10pm ET.