A date has been set for pitcher Tarik Skubal’s home debut as a Dodger.
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced what the pitching rotation will look like for the upcoming week, with Skubal taking the mound on Monday, Aug. 10 and Blake Snell returning to the rotation to start on Tuesday, Aug. 11.
Los Angeles traded away outfielder Zyhir Hope and a pair of right-handed pitchers — River Ryan and Brady Smith — for Skubal.
The Hayward, California, native has not pitched in a regular-season game at Dodger Stadium. He has pitched in a Dodger uniform already, producing six strikeouts while allowing four hits, two earned runs and a home run in six innings pitched against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Aug. 4.
Tarik Skubal stats
Skubal has compiled a 7-6 overall record in 17 starts this season. He's struck out 122 batters in 102.2 innings pitched.
How long will Tarik Skubal be a Dodger?
Skubal will have the opportunity to become a free agent after making $32 million this season.
“I would love to play my whole career in Detroit,” Skubal said on the "Pardon My Take" podcast. “Hopefully those negotiations can pick back up in (November) once the playoffs are done.”
It's officially another season, another prospects ranking for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In years past, this has been a bit easier of an exercise, as there used to be a more clear-cut line between prospects with NHL upside and longshots. However, because of the work that general manager and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas and his staff have put in during the last several years, the line is blurring a whole lot more - and there is a substantially higher volume of talent in the system.
This time around, making a top-20 list was challenging. So, a few criteria were put into place: To make our list, prospects must be under the age of 26 and have played less than 50 NHL games. This excludes names such as Ben Kindel, Filip Hallander, Oliver Okuliar, and Alexander Alexeyev.
At No. 17, we put a spotlight on playmaking center Zam Plante, as his year-to-year growth has continued to raise his floor and ceiling. For No. 16, we look between the pipes, where a still-valuable goaltender is entering a critical season in his development.
For some, seeing the 24-year-old Blomqvist this low on our list might come as a bit of a surprise. And, really, this is not so much Blomqvist's doing as it is a case of several guys simply surpassing him in terms of NHL potential and intrigue.
That said, the product of Uusikaarlepyy, Finland is at a crossroads in his development, and this season may just determine his future with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
With the emergence of fellow young netminder Sergei Murashov - currently the organization's best bet as its next franchise goaltender - someone else has, likely, surpassed Blomqvist on the depth chart despite some legitimate promise he has shown throughout his professional career up to this point. But that doesn't mean things are over for Blomqvist or that the Penguins no longer see him as part of their future.
In fact, Dubas has mentioned Blomqvist on several occasions, including in his end-of-season press conference when he suggested that either him or Murashov would have an opportunity to seize one of the two NHL roster spots for the 2026-27 season - with the other belonging to the recently re-signed Arturs Silovs. He is very much still in the mix, and for good reason.
After dealing with an injury in the latter part of the 2024-25 AHL regular season and yet another during training camp last season, Blomqvist's luck hasn't exactly been top-notch. But his performance has earned him the opportunity to remain in the NHL conversation. In 26 AHL appearances in a 1B role alongside Murashov in 2025-26, he was 16-5-4 with a .913 save percentage and 2.40 goals-against average, which were comparable numbers to Murashov's .919 and 2.20, respectively.
In addition, his first career NHL stint - which occurred at the beginning of the 2024-25 season when injuries paved the way for him to debut - showed some promise, as he had a .913 save percentage in his first seven NHL appearances before a disaster showing against the Dallas Stars sent him back to the AHL for a bit. His second stint that same year did not go as well, and he was eventually sent back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS), where he was injured shortly after.
Blomqvist is an athletic, well-positioned goaltender when he is on. The strengths in his game are his quickness post-to-post, his tracking, his rebound control, and his reads. Those should continue to be strengths as he, hopefully, progresses even further in his development this season, which will likely be as the 1A in WBS to Taylor Gauthier's 1B, assuming Murashov shows well in camp.
He did not appear in any Calder Cup playoff games for the WBS Penguins last season, as Murashov played in all 15. But if there's one glaring degree of separation between Murashov and Blomqvist, it's the "big-game" reputation.
In the previous two postseason appearances for WBS, Blomqvist was the goaltender of record, and he posted sub-.895 save percentages in both years within a short, three-game sample size. In order to take the next step in his development, he has to show that he can come up big in the biggest games and in the biggest moments, akin to what Silovs and Murashov have already shown.
Given that he will turn 25 this season - and with two promising young goaltenders ahead of him on the depth chart - this season is the most important of Blomqvist's career to date. Assuming it's the other two in the NHL, he not only needs to assert himself as first in line for a call-up, but he needs to assert himself as a valuable piece of the future with his performance this season.
Winnipeg hockey fans will have an opportunity to get up close and personal with the Stanley Cup on Monday.
Winnipeg product and newly-crowned Stanley Cup champion Seth Jarvis will bring hockey's most famous trophy to the Tuxedo Community Centre on Aug. 10 for a public meet-and-greet from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Photo by James Guillory/USA Today
The community centre announced details of Jarvis' appearance Friday evening, inviting fans to attend the free event at 368 Southport Blvd.
“Come on down and help us congratulate Seth Jarvis as he brings the Stanley Cup home,” the community centre wrote in its announcement.
The event is open to all ages, with attendees encouraged to bring cameras for an opportunity to see Jarvis and the Stanley Cup up close. The community centre noted that Jarvis will only be on site for the two-hour window.
Monday's celebration will cap off a memorable year for the 24-year-old, who helped the Carolina Hurricanes capture the second Stanley Cup in franchise history in June.
Jarvis finished the regular season with 32 goals and 66 points in 71 games, leading Carolina in goals for the first time in his NHL career. It was also his third consecutive 30-goal season.
He then played an important role in Carolina's run through the postseason, which culminated in a six-game Stanley Cup Final victory over the Vegas Golden Knights.
One of Jarvis' biggest moments came in Game 2 of the Final. With Carolina facing the possibility of falling behind 2-0 in the series, Jarvis scored a power-play goal 3:56 into overtime to give the Hurricanes a 4-3 victory and even the series.
For Jarvis, the moment had a particularly fitting connection to Winnipeg.
Earlier in the series, he reflected on growing up shooting pucks in his driveway and imagining himself scoring Stanley Cup-winning goals.
“I might be undefeated,” Jarvis joked of those childhood Cup scenarios. “I might never have lost a Cup in my mind. But this is a little more real now, and way more exciting.”
Less than two weeks later, the Hurricanes defeated Vegas 3-0 in Game 6 to capture the Stanley Cup.
Jarvis was one of several Manitobans featured prominently in the Final. Winnipeg's Mark Stone and Brett Howden and Brandon's Keegan Kolesar suited up for Vegas, while former Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers won the Cup alongside Jarvis with Carolina.
CLEVELAND, OH - AUGUST 04: Cleveland Guardians left fielder Angel Martinez (1) doubles to drive in a run during the third inning of the Major League Baseball interleague game between the New York Mets and Cleveland Guardians on August 4, 2026, at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Well, well, well. You’re welcome, by the way. (Hopefully this doesn’t jinx what was maybe a season-altering win). I was lucky enough to be at today’s game in-person, and I got to witness a really funny game, start to finish.
Let’s start with the first inning. The White Sox had Noah Schultz going for them (bad this year). For once, it looked as if the Guardians were poised to take advantage of a lopsided pitching matchup. Kwan singled to start the game, but then DeLauter struck out. Jose got to a 1-2 count, but managed to shake off two balls, pushing the count full. He then ripped a ball up the middle for a single, moving Kwan to third. Adell got to 2-2, but then got hit by a Schultz fastball. The White Sox pitching coach came out to talk to Schultz while Vogt was looking at Adell. Bases loaded, one out. Angel Martinez up. First pitch whiffed on. Second pitch… smoked to left, driving in two Guardians runs early.
Then, in a truly bizarre series of events, White Sox manager Will Venable went out to chat with his starter. Unfortunately for him, he apparently hadn’t realized that his pitching coach had been out to the mound already that inning. Oops! MLB rules dictate that you can only visit the mound twice in an inning, with the second mound visit necessitating a pitching change. Oops! Big whoop at home plate with Vogt getting after the HP ump. To make this even funnier, the White Sox didn’t have anyone warming when this happened. So, the game was delayed for a good 5 minutes while they got their bulk reliever up and moving. By the way, the White Sox used 7 relievers last night in a 13-inning classic against the Red Sox. Oops!
Anyway, the inning ended without a fuss, as White Sox reliever David Sandlin put down the next to Guardians rather quickly.
All quiet until the bottom of the 2nd, when Messick gave up a solo homer to Sox rookie Braden Montgomery. 2-1 Guardians.
Quiet, again, until the 5th. Through this point, Messick was more-or-less making quick work of the White Sox lineup. 54 pitches through 4. Only giving up 2 hits. So, the Guardians had the top of the order up in the 5th. Still against David Sandlin, by the way. Kwan led off the inning with a groundout, but each of the next three Guardians reached base (single, walk, HBP). Martinez up, again. He swung at the first pitch he saw and deposited it roughly 422’ into the right field seats. 6-1 Guardians.
Hoskins singled right after, and then Rocchio lined out. But, Hedges came up clutch, driving in Hoskins with an RBI-single. 7-1 Guardians.
Perhaps the funniest event of the night came in the 6th. Which, for what it’s worth, is saying a lot, given what had already transpired.
Kwan led off the 6th inning, still against David Sandlin. Got to 2-2, but then fouled off two decent pitches. Then, on the 7th (a curveball right down broadway), he hit that pitch right off the foul pole in RF, breaking a 324-AB homerless streak.
Messick gave up a solo homer in the bottom of that inning to Murakami, but did not surrender any further runs for the rest of his outing.
His final line: 7 IP, 4H, 2ER, 1BB, 8K. Both runs came off solo homers. His ERA stayed at 2.57.
Franco Aleman came on for the 8th, and got into some trouble. Single, K, K, walk. At this point, he was already nearly at 20 pitches. Antonacci (pinch-hitting for lefty specialist Randal Grichuk), hit a ball fairly well to left (which had me fooled), but was caught near the track.
Aleman came out again for the 9th. K, lineout. But, then, 3 straight singles. Up to 39 pitches at this point, and the White Sox had momentum, the bases loaded, and their leadoff hitter up to bat. Luckily, Aleman struck him out on 5 pitches.
While the Mets, who won again on Friday night, have begun to hit their stride during this four-game winning streak, especially offensively, it’s the team’s rookies and young players that are leading the way.
Yes, Marcus Semien had the big blast against the Pittsburgh Pirates with a three-run shot, his second in as many games, but A.J. Ewing and Carson Benge, who had to leave in the fourth inning with wrist soreness, combined for five hits, which was half the team’s total.
Defensively, Ewing and Benge also each made spectacular plays in the outfield as the Mets and their fans have grown accustomed to seeing. In fact, Benge’s web gem was too good as his sliding catch at the wall in left field resulted in him jamming his wrist, which caused the soreness that took him out of the game.
“He sacrificed his body and that’s all you can ask for from your outfielders,” Semien said.
Interim manager Andy Green said after the game that Benge’s X-rays were negative and that the team will see how he feels on Saturday. Hopefully it’s nothing major so the red-hot rookie can be back out there helping to lead the charge as he has the entirety of New York’s win streak.
Over the last four games, Benge is 7-for-17 with two home runs, a triple, five RBI, six runs scored and a stolen base. Looking back even further, the youngster is slashing .304/.362/.470 in his last 30 games and has looked totally comfortable wherever the Mets put him in the outfield.
As for Ewing, he went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and a steal on Friday night atop the lineup and is 6-for-16 with three doubles during the team’s four-game win streak.
“The talent is through the roof,” Semien said about the pair of rookies. “I know the organization knew that. A.J. started the year in I think Double-A, so it’s exciting for him to come up here and produce right away because you don’t always see that. But those guys have been a spark in our lineup for sure.”
On the pitching side, after Sean Manaea turned in a great performance on Tuesday to kick off this streak, Christian Scott, Nolan McLean and Zac Thornton have all followed suit and have shown varying degrees of dominance.
On Friday, it was Thornton who probably turned in the best outing of them all after he went five scoreless innings with a rain delay in between.
“I felt really good despite that delay. Still felt the same,” the left-hander said.
Thornton, who rebounded nicely after a difficult start his last time out, needed just 63 pitches to get through those five innings and likely would’ve pitched deeper into the game had it not been for the delay, which caused him to use some of his bullets while trying to stay warm.
He now has a 2.52 ERA in seven starts and is the latest Met rookie to prove his worth.
“I think this is awesome,” Thornton said of the win streak and how the team is playing right now. “We got a ton of energy, a ton of grit and energy in this clubhouse, guys that are hungry for it, guys that are hungry to win. We’re playing for each other so it’s awesome to see.”
New York still has a long way to go in the standings and will need nothing short of a miracle to make the playoffs, but after such a letdown of a season, the rookies are not only helping the team win, but giving fans a reason to be invested once again.
"Four wins in a row. Anytime you win four in a row, there’s definitely good vibes," Semien said. "I think the way we’re winning, with the offense, is a good sign. You think about kinda the grind the offense had been on in the first half and the way we’re winning games is definitely gonna bring good vibes."
Aug 7, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Payton Tolle (70) pitches against the Athletics during the first inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images
Eric Canha/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Payton Tolle struck out a career-high 14 in six innings, Wilyer Abreu drove in three runs, and the Boston Red Sox won their ninth game in a row with a 13-1 rout of the Athletics on Friday night.
The Red Sox are just the seventh team since 1920 to win 27 or more in a 30-game span, and the only team to begin their run under .500.
Tolle (7-6) was the first Red Sox pitcher to fan 14 since Chris Sale on May 8, 2019. He was perfect through four innings, and allowed one run on two hits.
Jarren Duran’s two-run homer over the Green Monster in left field opened the scoring and sparked Boston’s five-run second inning. Jake Rogers had an RBI double, and Abreu added a two-run double.
Abreu’s 380-foot double to right would have been a homer in every MLB ballpark except for Fenway Park, per Statcast.
Three more came across in the fourth off the bats of Andruw Monasterio, Abreu, and Masataka Yoshida. Yoshida and Caleb Durbin each added one more to get the Red Sox into double-digit scoring for the second consecutive game.
Jack Perkins (2-8) gave up five runs on five hits in three innings. He struck out three and walked three.
Tyler Soderstrom’s leadoff homer in the fifth ended Tolle’s no-hit bid.
Up next
Athletics LHP Gage Jump (4-7, 4.59 ERA) gets the start opposite Red Sox LHP Jake Bennett (7-4, 2.90) in the middle game of the series.
A staggeringly bad gaffe by manager Will Venable (center) saw him remove Noah Schultz (left) from Friday’s loss just 23 pitches in, hamstringing his bullpen and baffling catcher Edgar Quero (right). | (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Those who believe managers don’t win or lose games, players do, clip and save this recap.
In a move we would have thought cordoned off in the Terry Bevington Hall of Shame, manager Will Venable triggered a puzzling chain of circumstances that saw starting pitcher Noah Schultz bounced from his Friday night start after just one out, 23 pitches — and no fault of his own:
Just one batter after pitching coach Zach Bove had trotted out to the mound to settle Schultz down after hitting Jo Adell with a pitch, Venable did same after Schultz surrendered a two-run single to soft-swinging Angel Martínez.
Oops.
While perhaps not on par with Bevington calling to the bullpen without having gotten a reliever up warming, Venable’s boner resulted, by rule, in Schultz being forced to leave the game. Given the gaffe, it had the effect of an injury substitution, in that just-recalled reliever David Sandlin was sprinting to get warm and enter the game, as no White Sox hurler was up in the pen with the game just 23 pitches old.
At another point in the game, or in another circumstance, perhaps Venable’s boo-boo would not have crushed so hard. But in the fumes of a sweep in Boston, with last night’s loss wiping out the bullpen (seven of the team’s eight relievers were used, covering 8 ⅓ innings), it could not possibly have been timed more poorly.
But was this loss all on Venable? Of course not, the players still have to play the game, even if they landed in Chicago at 5 a.m. and grabbed only snatches of sleep before suiting back up on Friday.
Usually when a team puts up eight runs or more in a game and wins by a hefty margin, it’s due to the whole team contributing. There are the rare occasions where a player takes over a game by himself, but that’s usually reserved for the Shohei Ohtani’s of the world. Unfortunately the White Sox were on the tail end of one of the most rare and sad butt-whooping’s a team can have: They got spanked by a nobody.
No disrespect to Martínez, but he’s hit .228 over 861 at-bats in his short career. He is not a player teams ever game plan for or fear — but that might change after what Martínez did to the White Sox on Friday night.
Of course, it all started in the first inning, when the Cleveland Guardians loaded the bases before Schultz could even get two outs. After a first strike, Schultz decided to try to slip a cutter by Martínez ,right down the middle. Even a player who can’t hit .230 can do something with that ,and his two-run single put the Guardians up, 2-0.
For the next few innings, the game was pretty boring if we’re being honest with ourselves. Unfortunately, the game was also clearly too boring for Sandlin who after being rushed in for Schultz had sat down 12-of-14 Guards to restore order to the contest. That is, until he loaded that bases in the fifth inning for … Martínez. Surely he couldn’t do it again, right?
Wrong.
Sandlin saw Schultz’s cutter down the middle bring in two runs for Cleveland in the first and wanted to see if it was a fluke or not. So the righty decided to throw one of his own, just to see which cutter down the middle was better. All fans in attendance found out pretty quickly that Schultz’s was superior, as Martínez, tonight’s Angel of Death, took the pitch 422 feet to right-center field. The bat flip that ensued was cool, and the sassing of Sox catcher Edgar Quero probably turned on the most yahoo of Wahoos fans, but the game being unofficially ended in the fifth inning was not:
When the dust settled from the seams getting knocked off the baseball, Martínez had just two hits on the night — but they were two big ones, as he brought six runs home all by himself. Both teams struck for a run in the sixth, but the game was already over at that point.
While the loss is just one loss, with Minnesota and Cleveland (obviously) also winning, this seems much bigger than that. We may be in the early stages of August, but if the White Sox fail to answer the call this weekend, the alarm bells may be going off sooner rather than later.
MVP Braden Montgomery: 2-for-3, BB, R, RBI, K
Runners-Up Trevor Richards: 2 ⅓ IP Erick Fedde: IP, K Munetaka Murakami: 1-for-4, HR, R, RBI Luisangel Acuña: 2-for-4, K
Cold Cat Will Venable: Little League managerial error that wasted Noah Schultz and put needless wear on his pen
Runners-Up Noah Schultz: ⅓ IP, 3 H, 2 ER, K, HB, LOSS (3-9) Colson Montgomery: 0-for-4, 3 K Chase Meidroth: 1-for-5, 2 K Brenton Doyle: 0-for-4, K
Aug 7, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Kevin Gausman (12) delivers a pitch against the Kansas City Royals during the first inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images
Denny Medley/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Kevin Gausman provided exactly what the Cubs hoped for when they acquired him from the Blue Jays last weekend, pitching seven sharp innings in his Chicago debut in a 6-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.
The 35-year-old right-hander gave up an RBI single to Isaac Collins in the first inning and Carter Jensen’s homer in the fifth, but he otherwise held Kansas City in check. Gausman (6-10) retired 12 of 13 at one point and ended up allowing two runs on four hits and a walk.
Caleb Thielbar allowed a pair of runs in the eighth for the Cubs before Trent Thornton escaped the jam, getting Nick Loftin to fly out with the tying run on first base. Jacob Webb breezed through the ninth for his seventh save.
The Cubs gave Gausman the support he needed in the second, when Seiya Suzuki followed Pete Crow-Armstrong’s RBI single with a two-run single of his own. Chicago wound up plating four runs off Daniel Lynch IV (4-3), who had pitched out of the bullpen all season but was getting the start for a Kansas City rotation waylaid by injuries.
Lynch only lasted 1 2/3 innings, striking out two and walking two, before Royals manager Matt Quatraro went to his bullpen.
Alex Bregman added an RBI single in the seventh for Chicago. Pedro Ramirez went deep in the eighth.
Gausman won his final start for Toronto last Saturday, allowing just one run while pitching into the sixth inning against St. Louis. But he had otherwise struggled the past few weeks, going 1-5 with a 5.17 ERA in his final seven starts for the Blue Jays.
Up next
RHP Clay Holmes (4-4, 2.39 ERA) makes his Cubs debut Saturday night following his trade from the Mets. It also will be his first start since May 15, when he fractured his right fibula on a sharp liner by the Yankees’ Spencer Jones.
RHP Seth Lugo (4-7, 4.41) tries to bounce back from a dismal start against the Rockies when he takes the mound for Kansas City.
The hip-hop icon was "unable to make" the Chicago White Sox's postgame concert planned on Friday, Aug. 7 due to "unexpected travel issues." That resulted in the concert's cancellation, the White Sox said.
Jun 24, 2024; Omaha, NE, USA; Texas A&M Aggies left fielder Caden Sorrell (13) doubles in a run against the Tennessee Volunteers during the eighth inning at Charles Schwab Field Omaha. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
Iowa right-hander Tyler Schlaffer and catcher Daniel Campos were placed on the development list to make room for the returning Antoine Kelly and Kevin Alcántara.
Starter Kohl Franklin, who is still working his way back from elbow surgery, went three innings and gave up three runs on just two hits. However, two of the three runs were unearned. Franklin walked two and struck out three. It was Franklin’s first appearance for Iowa since 2024.
Paul Campbell pitched the next three innings without allowing a run and got the win. Campbell gave up just one hit. He walked two and struck out four.
DH Chas McCormick hit a solo home run in the fourth inning, his tenth on the season. McCormick went 2 for 4 with a walk and two runs scored.
Catcher Owen Ayers was 2 for 4 with a walk. He scored twice and drove home one.
Second baseman Owen Miller went 2 for 5 with an RBI.
Shortstop Ben Cowles was 2 for 4 with a stolen base. He drove in two.
Left fielder Jordan Nwogu’s first Iowa hit was a two-run single. He was 1 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.
Luis Martinez-Gomez started and took the loss after getting knocked around for six runs on five hits over 4.2 innings. Two of the six runs were unearned. Two of the five hits were home runs. Martinez-Gomez struck out five and walked three. He also hit one batter.
Knoxville managed just three hits, but one of them was a solo home run in the ninth inning by second baseman Drew Bowser. It was Bowser’s third Smokies home run and eighth overall. He was 1 for 3 with a walk.
DH Miguel Useche went 1 for 2 with a double and two walks. Useche scored one run.
Starter Alfredo Romero turned in a good outing, giving up just two runs on four hits over five innings. Romero struck out four and walked two.
The wheels came off in the sixth inning when Romero was relieved by Eli Jerzembeck. Jerzembeck, who took the loss, pitched just two-thirds of an inning and he surrendered four runs on two hits and three walks. He struck out just one.
South Bend managed just four hits, all singles. First baseman Josiah Hartshorn was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Myrtle Beach Pelicans
The Myrtle Beach Pelicans split a doubleheader with the Columbia Fireflies (Royals), losing game one 6-5 and winning the nightcap 14-3.
David Avitia started game one and gave up four runs on five hits over three innings. He struck out five and walked two.
Sam Mettert walked the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the seventh and then allowed a walk-off sacrifice fly. The final line on Mettert was one run on one hit and three walks over 1.1 innings. He struck out one.
First baseman Jan Reyes went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored.
DH Jose Silva went 1 for 2 with an RBI double and a walk. He scored twice.
— Myrtle Beach Pelicans (@Pelicanbaseball) August 7, 2026
Noah Edders pitched the first three innings of game two, allowing just one run on three hits. He did struggle with control as he walked five while striking out three.
Cubs tenth-round pick Luke Alwood made his professional debut in the fourth inning and got his first professional win. Alwood struck out the first four batters he faced before giving up a one-out double in the fifth. But he got out of that inning with another strikeout and a pop up. Alwood’s line was no runs on one hit over two innings. He struck out five.
Center fielder Caden Sorrell hit his first professional home run to lead off game two. Sorrell was 2 for 4 with a walk. He had two overall RBI and two runs scored.
Third baseman Derniche Valdez continues to smack the ball around after getting glasses about five weeks ago. Tonight he hit his eighth home run of the year with a man on later in the first inning. Valdez went 3 for 5 with three RBI and three runs scored.
DH Ivan Cespedes cranked a two-run home run in the third inning, his eighth on the year and third with the Pelicans. Cespedes was 1 for 3 and was hit by a pitch. He scored twice.
Left fielder Ethan Conrad was 2 for 4 with a walk. He scored once and drove in one.
Right fielder Eli Lovich went 3 for 5. He scored twice and had one RBI.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 7: Leody Taveras #30 of the Baltimore Orioles is tagged out at home plate by Elias Díaz #35 of the Texas Rangers during the ninth inning at Globe Life Field on August 7, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Orioles have struggled to score for Shane Baz all season. Baltimore followed that trend tonight against the Texas Rangers, but they nearly made things right in the ninth. Christian Franklin’s first Major League hit could have evened the score at two, but replay failed to overturn an out call at home plate. In the end, the Orioles dropped a winnable game to another wild card contender with a 2-1 result in Texas.
Leody Taveras started the ninth with an infield single. Coby Mayo went down swinging for the first out, but Christian Franklin picked a great time for his first Major League hit. Franklin punched a ball down the right field line, and Taveras raced all the way home. Texas right fielder Brandon Nimmo corralled the ball and hit the cutoff man. Nicky Lopez took the ball and fired home, and Taveras was ruled out at the plate.
The Orioles immediately challenged, and the replay revealed multiple questions. Rangers catcher Elias Díaz swung his arm to make the tag, but his glove did not appear to immediately make contact with Taveras. A portion of Díaz’s arm touched Taveras before he reached home plate, but the glove appeared to miss the runner. To further complicate the matter, the ball appeared to come loose as it made contact with the ground. The ball never completely escaped the mit, but it easily could have been trapped against the ground.
In the end, the replay crew in New York took the coward’s way out. The call on the field stood, and the Rangers held their 2-1 advantage. The call spoiled what should have been a special moment for Franklin. It’s a moment that he’ll always remember, but it should have been so much more.
Don’t take it from me, take it from former Oriole and MASN commentator Ben McDonald.
Meanwhile, Baz delivered the type of start Baltimore envisioned when they acquired him from Tampa Bay. Baz pitched all eight innings and took only the third complete game loss for an Oriole in the last 15 years. He finished the game with 8 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, and 9 K.
Baz had been absolutely cruising along until a hiccup broke his rhythm in the sixth. Elias Díaz managed a swinging bunt toward the right side of the infield, and Baz failed to make the play. Díaz received credit for an infield single, but the avoidable incident gave Texas some life.
Nicky Lopez advanced Díaz into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, but the small ball stopped there. Joc Pederson ambushed an elevated cutter and drove a no doubter 414 feet down the right field line. Just like that, Baz lost the shutout and the lead. The long ball marked the latest example of Baz facing some adversity on the mound and failing to immediately recover.
The Orioles found their way onto the board in the top of the second. Leody Taveras got ahead in the count before smacking a 3-1 fastball to right-center field for a double. Coby Mayo followed with a line drive up the middle, and Taveras raced home to provide Baltimore a 1-0 advantage. Both teams went on to post zeros in the third, fourth and fifth innings.
The Orioles wasted multiple opportunities to build on their early lead. The bottom of the order came through with a pair of two-out singles, and Gunnar Henderson worked a walk to load the bases for Pete Alonso in the fifth. Texas starter froze Alonso with a 2-2 splitter, and the Orioles left the bases loaded.
Tyler O’Neill worked a one-out walk in the sixth, and Dylan Beavers singled to place a runner in scoring position. Taveras struck out on three pitches, and Mayo failed to come through against lefty reliever Tyler Alexander.
Gunnar Henderson, Pete Alonso, and Jackson Holliday combined to go 0-for-11 from the top of the order.
The late call added insult to injury. Baz outdueled Eovaldi, but the offense fell flat once again. The Orioles dropped to 56-60 with the loss. They’re two games back of the final wild card spot.
Good times, bad times, you know he’d have his share. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The kid had the jitters. Look, it happens. But Aidan still believes in Kaelen Culpepper’s glove, and because of that so do I. The Brewers, who are very good at taking advantage of other teams’ mistakes, did precisely that, but it wasn’t quite enough. Inning-by-inning notes:
1: Leadoff walk for Austin Martin; he steals second, two guys strike out. Brewer 2B Brice Turang makes a nice play to turn a sure Josh Bell RBI into an infield hit only. Kody Clemens hits one deep but not deep enough.
2: Luke Keaschall walks, and rookie SS Kaelen Culpepper’s first-ever MLB at-bat is… a popup out. Nobody else feels like getting any hits, either. At least the Twins are making Brewers lefty Shane Drohan throw a lot, he’s at 41 pitches, now. The bad news there is that Milwaukee has a pretty good bullpen.
A one-out single by Christian Yelich followed by another single and a flyout. Then an easy roller goes right under 2B Royce Lewis’s glove. It is a plain-as-day error, and Yelich scores when the inning should have been over.
Two more runs score on a Turang double. Bring in the position players to pitch, no way the Twins score four against a lefty tonight. Former Seattle Pilots 4-0
3: Lewis tries to redeem himself with a homer and it’s not far enough. Stop trying, Royce, your error lost the Twins both the game and the season and probably the next 14 years and then the team will move to Albuquerque. Josh “Ring That” Bell does hit a homer and Ryan Jeffers WAS on base at the time, so I guess there’s a tiny chance Royce’s shame won’t last a lifetime but I doubt it.
Hey — it’s actually a 1-2-3 for Zebulon Matthews, and he’s only at 46 pitches. That’s not too bad.
Victor Caratini walks and Ryan Kreidler puts down a sweet bunt up the third base line; both runners are safe. Then Martin doubles to left, but a good relay play gets Kreidler at home. Still, way to hit a lefty, for once!
Lewis Lara singles with one out; two pitches later, the Twins are outta the inning via GIDP and Zebby’s only at 56 pitches. Baby all tied up 4-4
5: Back-to-back Lewis/Bell singles, and a perfect bunt (another one) by Klobberin’ Kody Klemens to load the bases. Kreidler his a blooper RBI that moves everybody up one. Alas, followed by a Culpepper GIDP, but a run does score. It feels like we shoulda had more there… shoulda kept bunting! Bunts are the new Moneyball, baby.
It’s all the firsts for Culpepper tonight; first AB, first homer, first GIDP, first error (that’s here). Then a David Hamilton single, then a four-pitch walk to Turang. Bases loaded, nobody out. Whatcha wanna bet they get more than two here?
Sac fly for Jake Bauers (Martin made a nice adjustment to catch it). A flyout to center, and Keaschall (wrongly) tries throwing it to third instead of to second; that allows both runners to move up, not just one.
So naturally the next play is an infield hit. Culpepper is too hesitant on the throw. Both this and the earlier botch are ruled infield hits; they should both have been ruled errors. The next batter grounds out, and “Zebby gets his fifth out of the inning” (per Kris Atteberry on radio, and he is correct). Tied 6-6
6: A two-out rally for Minnesota! Ryan Jeffers double, Lewis double RBI, Bell single RBI (have a game, Josh Bell). The lead be ours!
Now pitching is getting Weird… Zebby has to leave with an injury of some kind (blister on foot). New acquisition Tommy Nance comes in, Culpepper kinda boots another one, infield hit again. Runner advances on fielder’s choice, Nance Ks the next guy. New acquisition Tommy Nance goes out. Other new acquisition A.J. Minter enters. He had been with the Mets, does that mean he’s cursed?
Not yet, K. Twins 8-6
7: That good Brewers bullpen I mentioned way back when is in play; the first 1-2-3 inning for them so far tonight.
More newbie Twins hurlers; Jeff Hoffman (no relation to Trevor). Hoffman, of course, had been in camp with the Twins in 2023; they cut him and he was terrific for two years with the Phillies instead. He strikes out Chourio and walks Bauers. Then a fielder’s choice, walk, HBP.
Bases loaded, gulp! But a little Eddie Gurdado-style magic prevails; Luis Lara strikes out on three pitches.
8: Bryse Wilson pitching his second inning for the Brewers; he wrote “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “God Only Knows,” both of which sum up my feelings about the Twins’ chances here. For the first time tonight, a bunt backfires; Martin pops one straight to third, meaning leadoff runner Kreidler can’t advance. Nobody gets hits that would have knocked him in, anyways.
Andrew Morris in for Us. Gives up a one-out double to David Hamilton, no relation to Linda of the Terminator movies. Then a walk to put the go-ahead run at the plate… nuh-uh! A nice GIDP started by Royce, inning over.
9: 1-2-3 again for the Twins. I told you this bullpen is good.
Now it’s time for the less-good one, presenting Yoendrys Gómez here. Bauers takes a third strike; Contreras pops one up. But then Garrett Mitchell, on a 3-1 count…
…grounds meekly to second. Twims wim! (We spell it wrong on purpose sometimes.)
Studs: I mean Bell, duh, 4-4, 3 RBI. Two hits apiece for Kreidler and Lewis, even if Lewis’s +/- tonight was -3. Yoendrys the Merciless for a no-drama save.
Duds: Zebby went gone, cause his blister was no fun, Zebby was gone… pen arms still got the game won. Actually, the one dud goes to the official scorer, who gave Matthews three earned runs (when it should have been only one).
COTG goes to our spy in Milwaukee for a traditional TwinkieTown suggestion to take over at shortstop, jjam for a story about a naughtily-titled Wisconsin song, and Kirilofffan19 with “A little interesting fact: there’s only one Twins player who has hit 4 homers in 4 games in the MiLB playoffs.” I’m guessing it’s Brian Dinkelman.
Thanks to everyone who joined in on a nice summer weekend night.
Tomorrow’s game will be at 6:10, featuring superbly-named (for a pitcher) Robert Gasser against our own Taj Bradley. Catch y’all next time!
Luke Weaverwas one of the pieces dealt by the Mets at this year's trade deadline, but the right-hander wanted to stay.
Speaking with reporters ahead of the Mets' three-game series with the Pirates, he revealed that he told the organization that he "strongly" wanted to stay before he was eventually dealt.
“I was very upfront. I told them, ‘I hope you know I want to stay,’” Weaver told reporters, including The NY Post, before Friday's series opener. “I made my commitment … but I understand how this goes. It’s not my first rodeo.”
While trading other players who were on expiring contracts, like Brooks Raley and Freddy Peralta, made sense, Weaver had another year under contract after signing a two-year, $22 million deal with the Mets this past offseason.
The Mets sent Weaver to the Pirates for shortstop prospect Sammy Stafura, who is now the organization's No. 3 prospect in Joe DeMayo's latest rankings. But New York could have kept Weaver to anchor their bullpen to try and compete in 2027.
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns explained his reasoning for dealing Weaver and Huascar Brazoban, who was also under team control in 2027.
“Ultimately the returns that we were able to get, we thought made sense and were in the best interest of the organization, recognizing that at this time of year you are able to get really good talent back for relief pitching,” he said.
Weaver was also asked about the Mets’ struggles this season ahead of Friday's game, and in typical Weaver fashion, gave a thoughtful response.
“There’s a lot of changes that were made, a lot of new people that were brought in, a lot of new faces,” he said. “I don’t think necessarily it was a bad thing, but I think people underestimate change and how much you have got to adapt in a short period of time.
“A lot of great teams we have seen in the past have a lot of chemistry, a lot of deep-rooted connection that has happened over time. It’s not always like that, but there’s a lot of those history book teams that have that, and I think it gets taken for granted how much that needed to happen, and it was happening. It has just got to link together on the field.”
In 42 appearances for the Mets, Weaver pitched to a 1.84 ERA and was arguably the top reliever available.
Weaver, despite being traded Monday, made his first appearance with Pittsburgh against his former team on Friday. With the Pirates down 6-2 in the eighth, the right-hander allowed a hit and a walk but pitched a scoreless inning.
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI - AUGUST 7: Iván Herrera #48 is congratulated by Jimmy Crooks #8 of the St. Louis Cardinals after hitting a solo home run against the Colorado Rockies in the third inning at Busch Stadium on August 7, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Joe Puetz/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Kyle Leahy has slowly established himself this season as one of the more reliable St. Louis Cardinals starters in this development year. He turned into something of a strikeout machine Friday night, but also gave up a ton of leadoff hits. How would that affect the end result? The answer is Leahy’s strikeouts and a bomb off of Herrera’s bat would be enough to put one in the win column for St. Louis.
The Rockies were the first to score in the top of the 2nd inning when TJ Rumfield led off with a single to center. Castro also singled which advanced Rumfield to third giving Colorado runners at first and third with nobody out. The Rockies would only get one run out of this RISP opportunity two batters later when Johnston grounded out to short giving Colorado a 1-0 lead.
The Rockies lead would not stand for long. The St. Louis Cardinals played some great small ball baseball in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Jimmy Crooks reached on an infield hit followed by a double by Masyn Winn giving St. Louis runners at 2nd and 3rd with no one out. Unlike the Rockies, the Cardinals would score both runners in scoring position with consecutive sacrifice flies from Nathan Church and Bryan Torres. Good basic baseball gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead after two innings.
St. Louis would add to their lead in the bottom of the 3rd inning when Iván Herrera turned on a 79 mph curveball and launched it into the left field seats 379 feet away increasing the Cardinals advantage to 3-1.
Colorado would peck away at the St. Louis lead in the top of the 4th inning when Runfield would leadoff with another single followed by a double from Willi Castro. Two batters later, Johnston would again drive in a run with a groundout reducing the Cardinals lead to 3-2.
Kyle Leahy’s start lasted 5 innings as he allowed 8 hits, but just 2 earned runs with 8 strikeouts and no walks. A solid with some spectacular strikeout moments kind of start.
Justin Bruihl handled the top of the 6th inning shutting the Rockies down 1-2-3. The Cardinals missed a prime scoring opportunity in the bottom of the 6th when they loaded the bases with no hits. Masyn Winn drew a one-out walk and then stole second. Nathan Church walked and two batters later pinch-hitter Blaze Jordan was hit in the back knee by a pitch which loaded the bases for JJ Wetherholt. All JJ could muster was a weak pop-out to third base to end the Cardinals 6th with no runs to show for a long inning. Bummer.
Newcomer Caleb Ferguson pitched around a one-out single by Beck in the top of the 7th inning to help maintain the slim Cardinals one-run lead. The Cardinals offered up some of the most pathetic swings in the bottom of the 7th inning. Alec Burleson struck out on a 92 mph four-seam heater that he was somehow way late on. After Iván Herrera’s impressive home run at-bat earlier, he had two completely lost looking swings that looked like he second-guessed himself halfway through the swing. That meant the Cardinals would have to survive the final two innings with just a one-run lead.
Caleb Ferguson would get the Cardinals one out into the top of the 8th inning when Ryne Stanek would enter the fray. The first batter he faced was Goodman who got robbed by Masyn Winn who dove to his left to grab what looked like a certain single and then rifled a throw to Burleson at first for the second out of the inning. Winn would also catch the last out of the inning when Stanek got Castro to pop-out. I would love to see Masyn develop into more of an offensive weapon, but I think he’s a part of the new St. Louis Cardinals core just for his glove alone.
Due to the fact that the Cardinals bats sucked were silent after Herrera’s home run, St. Louis entered the top of the 9th inning with a measly one-run lead that was in the hands of Riley O’Brien. He decided handing out a leadoff walk to Tovar would be the appropriate way to add some drama to Friday night’s contest. Fortunately, one of O’Brien’s sinkers would leave Kyle Karros bat and end in a double play greatly lessening the Rockies threat. He coaxed a weak grounder off the bat of Beck to wrap up a tight Cardinals victory.
It’s game 2 of the St. Louis Cardinals 3-game series hosting the Colorado Rockies Saturday night. Matthew Liberatore will start for the Cardinals while the Rockies will give the ball to Kyle Freeland. First pitch is scheduled for 6:15pm central time and the game broadcast will be available through Cardinals.tv.
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - AUGUST 7: Jefry Yan #84 of the New York Mets reacts after tagging out Jared Triolo #19 of the Pittsburgh Pirates at home plate in the seventh inning during the game at PNC Park on August 7, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Mets defeated the Pirates 6-4 in this series opener at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Zac Thornton delivered five scoreless innings, helped out by strong defense behind him and the Mets tagged Carmen Mlodzinski for four runs in the third, punctuated by a Macrus Semien three-run homer. Devin Williams was shaky, but held on to polish off the victory.
The Mets got on the board right away off Carmen Mlodzinski in the first. A.J. Ewing, who had a good game on both sides of the ball, led things off with a double. Francisco Lindor then truck out, but Bo Bichette singled to advance Ewing to third and then Carson Benge plated him with a single for the game’s first run. Bichette tagged up to third base on a fly out by Jared Young and the Mets threatened for a big inning when Benge stole second to put two runners in scoring position, but Macrus Semien grounded out to short to get Mlodzinski through the inning with just one run.
Zach Thornton started his evening with a 1-2-3 inning complete with a strikeout and Mlodzinski bounced back to log a 1-2-3 inning of his own in the top of the second. Thornton had a quick second inning as well, thanks to his defense, which played well behind him all evening. Thornton walked Esmerlyn Valdez to lead off the inning but then Jared Young made a nice snag on a soft liner by Spencer Horwitz to double Valdez off. At this point, it began to rain rather heavily and A.J. Ewing needed to make a diving play through the rain drops on a Nick Gonzales shallow fly ball to end the inning. We made it to a 2-1 count on Ewing to lead off the top of the third before the tarp went on the field.
After a rain delay of just under an hour, the Mets came out guns blazing. Ewing singled to get things started and then Francisco Lindor worked a walk. The Pirates then got a break when the runners took off and would have executed a double steal, but Bo Bichette flew out to left field and A.J. Ewing failed to re-touch third base after he went past the bag on the steal attempt and went to return to second on the fly ball, and thus was called out on the play. But the Mets weren’t done hitting yet. Lindor stole second base (for real this time) and Carson Benge singled to put the Mets up 2-0. Jared Young followed with a single to advance Benge to third. Marcus Semien then dealt the decisive blow: a three-run homer to cap off a four-run inning and put the Mets up 5-0.
Whether you want to call it pulchritudinous, psychotic, hellacious, or some other adjective, Carson Benge made an unbelievable diving catch up against the left field wall to rob Ronny Simon of an extra base hit in the bottom of the third. Unfortunately he jammed his wrist against the wall in the process and made an early exit from the game as a result, replaced in left field by Cristian Pache. Evan Sisk replaced Carmen Mlodzinski on the mound for the Pirates in the fourth and the Mets tacked on a run against him to extend their lead to six runs. With two outs, Ewing was hit by a pitch and promptly stole second base. Lindor then laced a single to center to drive him in.
Thornton managed to navigate around traffic on the base paths in both the fourth and fifth innings again in part thanks to his defense. He gave up a one-out single to Bryan Reyonds in the fourth and then walked Valdez, but induced a double play grounder off the bat of Spencer Horwitz to end the inning. In the fifth, Nick Gonzales led off the inning with a seeing-eye single between short and third. Ronny Simon popped out and Jared Triolo grounded into a force out at second, but Rafael Flores Jr. singled with two outs to advance Triolo to second and he scrambled to third on a wild pitch by Thornton. Jake Mangum then hit a sharp fly ball to right center that A.J. Ewing did an excellent job to track down and make the running catch to cap off Thornton’s outing of five scoreless frames.
In the sixth with two outs, Luis Torrens drew a walk and stole second base for the Mets’ fourth stolen base of the game, but nothing game of it. Dedniel Núñez came in the game in relief of Thornton and worked around a one-out ground rule double by Bryan Reynolds to pitch a scoreless inning. Meanwhile, Yohan Ramírez kept the Mets off the board over 3 1/3 scoreless innings and the Pirates were able to scratch back two runs off the Mets’ bullpen. Núñez came back out for a second inning of work in the seventh and that proved to be a bad idea, as he gave up a double to Nick Gonzales and a single to Ronny Simon to lead things off. He then made way for Jefry Yan, who allowed a single to Jared Triolo to plate the Pirates’ first run. He then walked Rafael Flores Jr. to load the bases and a sacrifice fly by Jake Mangum scored another run to cut the Mets’ lead to 6-2. Yan got Brandon Lowe to pop out for the second out and escaped the jam in thrilling fashion. He bounced a pitch that skipped away from Luis Torrens, but scampered to cover the plate and Torrens flipped it to him and Yan tagged Jared Triolo out at the plate to end the inning, emphatically slamming his hand down on the dirt in celebration, in keeping with his personality.
Daniel Duarte worked a scoreless eighth inning, navigating around a two-out single by Spencer Horwitz. The Mets then faced off against old friend Luke Weaver in the ninth, now donning Pirates black and gold. Ewing and Lindor managed to reach base against him via a single and a walk, respectively, but Weaver kept the Mets off the board. Devin Williams then entered the game in the bottom of the ninth in a non-save situation and had a rocky outing, but managed to hang on to seal the victory, assisted by another pair of fantastic defensive plays by the Mets. Ronny Simon got things started for the Pirates with a single and advanced to second on defensive indifference. Endy Rodríguez, pinch hitting for Jared Triolo, flew out to left for the first out. Jacob Gonzalez, pinch hitting for Rafael Flores Jr., launched a ball to deep right field that hit right off the top of the tall fence in right at PNC Park and caromed perfectly to Brett Baty, who threw a perfect strike to second base to nab Gonzalez trying to leg out what he likely thought was a sure extra-base hit off the bat. It was the first outfield assist of Brett Baty’s career and it was a beauty to get Williams within an out of maneuvering through the inning, though Simon did score on the play. Williams then walked Jake Mangum, who also advanced to second on defensive indifference, and Brandon Lowe singled to cut the Mets’ lead to two runs. Bryan Reynolds then came to the plate as the tying run and hit a grounder that seemed to be making its way through the hole between first and second, but Marcus Semien made a great sliding grab to his left to throw out Reyonlds and stymie the Pirates’ comeback to end the game.
Big Mets winner: Zac Thornton, +18% WPA Big Mets loser: Bo Bichette, -7% WPA Mets pitchers: +23% WPA Mets hitters: +27% WPA Teh aw3s0mest play: Marcus Semien’s three-run homer in the third, +18.2% WPA Teh sux0rest play: Jefry Yan walks the bases loaded in the seventh, -6.4% WPA
