Oct 27, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace (22) defends Atlanta Hawks guard Keaton Wallace (2) during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
The roster for the Hawks in 2026-27 continues to take shape even as the Jonathan Kuminga saga drags on. This week has brought us the news that two players from last year’s team won’t be back — the two having signed contracts with two different teams in Israel.
First, former two-way player Jacob Toppin didn’t quite have the big summer league performance he was looking for in a return to live basketball for the first time in months after a labrum injury ended his 2025-26 season. He’s now decided to sign with the basketball division of Hapoel Tel Aviv:
The team plays in the largest city of Israel in the Israeli Basketball Premier League. Their crosstown rival in the same league also made a recent move for a Hawk.
Keaton Wallace just yesterday was reported to sign a deal with Maccabi Tel Aviv:
Wallace was on a two-way deal with the Hawks in 2024-25, but he earned a full contract ahead of last season. He appeared in 53 games for the team last season, although for a total of just 536 minutes.
PHILADELPHIA,PA - MARCH 3 : Carmelo Anthony #7 of the New York Knicks drives to the basket against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center on March 3, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Over the past few weeks, both the point guard and shooting guard Mt. Rushmore have sparked a lot of great conversation and insight. Shifting our attention to the small forwards, I expect this rendition of the mountain to do the same.
For the Knicks, the three-spot is not just another position. It is a goldmine of pure scorers, gritty enforcers, and players who seamlessly match New York City’s energy. The top two spots on this rock were quite simple to chisel in. They are franchise legends, making significant impacts on their era of basketball. Spots three and four, on the other hand, provided a bit more of a challenge.
Let’s head back to the mountain and get this all settled.
Carmelo Anthony
Okay haters, let’s get the counterargument out of the way. Yes, his overall playoff resume during his Knicks tenure is far from perfect. But Carmelo Anthony took New York basketball out of the dungeon and made it matter again. After years of inhabiting the NBA’s desert, one of basketball’s greatest scorers willingly took on the pressure of Madison Square Garden to get the Knicks back to relevance.
A complete offensive force, Anthony possessed the physical strength to punish smaller defenders in the post and combined it with a soft shooting touch from the perimeter. He was the focal point of 2012-2013’s 54-win season, capturing the scoring title by scoring 28.7 points per game. Whether it was his 62-point explosion or the clutch threes on Easter Sunday, Melo delivered moments that defined a generation of Knicks basketball. Earning seven All-Star selections as a Knick, he sits at seventh on the franchise’s all-time scoring list despite only playing six and a half seasons in New York. There is no denying that Carmelo Anthony’s face belongs on the mountain.
If we are talking about peak performance, Bernard King might have had the highest ceiling of any Knicks player. Before a devastating knee injury changed his career trajectory, King was arguably the most unstoppable player in the NBA not named Magic Johnson or Larry Bird.
An expert of the mid-range and one-person fast break, King completely overwhelmed defenders with speed, power, and an unblockable release. Capturing the 1984-85 scoring title, he averaged a mind-boggling 32.9 points per game. On Christmas Day against the Nets, he dropped 60 points, the highest single-game total on Christmas. During the 1984 playoffs, King put the team on his back, averaging close to 35 points per contest against the Pistons and Celtics.
No one has scored more points on Christmas than Bernard King!
To put it simply, one cannot tell the story of the New York Knicks without showing Bernard King the love he deserves. Like Melo, King is a total lock to make our Mt. Rushmore.
Bill Bradley
You cannot carve an accurate mountain without honoring the figures that helped bring home the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Starting at small forward for both the 1970 and 1973 championship teams, Bill Bradley was the epitome of a team-first basketball player. A perfect contrast to the isolation play of Anthony and King, Bradley was not flashy or the primary offensive engine. Instead, he was an incredibly intelligent, unselfish player capable of executing Red Holzman’s system perfectly. Understanding spacing better than most, he moved without the ball flawlessly. He consistently hit open jump shots, serving as the perfect connector alongside Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, and Earl Monroe.
Not possessing the scoring titles, Bradley is still a two-time champion and Hall of Famer whose number 24 hangs in the Garden rafters. That is enough to put him as the third face on our small forward Mt. Rushmore.
Latrell Sprewell
With the first three spots of the mountain inhabited by Melo, King, and Bradley, spot number four needed a specific brand of energy to round out the group. Latrell Sprewell provided that exact energy.
The 1999 NBA Finals run is sacred ground for Knicks fans. New York was an eighth seed with absolutely no business competing for a title. Yet, Sprewell put the franchise on his back and willed the Knicks forward. Not just a productive player, he was a cultural phenomenon, perfectly capturing the gritty, underdog mentality of the city. When the offense completely shut off in the postseason, Spree served as the engine keeping the team alive. Completely carrying the offensive load against the Spurs in the ’99 Finals, Sprewell thrived under pressure and made fans in the Garden roar like no other.
He was the ultimate wildcard. For that, he takes our final spot.
The Snubs
Before we officially close the book on this debate, we have to give a shoutout to the players that missed the cut. Though they fell on the wrong end of the selection, we cannot ignore how much these players meant and continue to mean to the franchise.
Fully understanding the recency bias, leaving OG Anunoby off the mountain hurts. The definitive perimeter of our championship team, we also do not win the title without him dismantling the opposition’s best wing every game. Of course, his “Hand of God” tip-in sits as one of the greatest moments in NBA history. However, when comparing his relatively short tenure to the massive footprint left by Sprewell in the late 90s, Spree edges him slightly, for now.
Then there is Anthony Mason. Mase served as the heart, soul, and muscle of Knicks basketball in the 90s. Playing point-forward, he was completely ahead of his time. But because he split so much of his time playing power forward, it felt right to leave him off the pure small forward list.
Finally, we need to show respect to Larry Johnson and RJ Barrett. Providing unmatched leadership, LJ gave us the legendary 4-point play. On the other hand, RJ was the polarizing prodigy that helped rebuild New York’s broken culture and serve as the bridge to the current championship era.
Okay, so the rock is set. The official New York Knicks Small Forward Mt. Rushmore features Carmelo Anthony, Bernard King, Bill Bradley, and Latrell Sprewell. We get two of the greatest scorers in franchise history, the historic glue guy of the 70s championships, and the chaotic energy of the 1999 Finals run.
Now, it’s your turn. Where did I go wrong? Who did I disrespect? Am I completely out of my mind for leaving Anunoby off after this title run? Let me know who makes you mountain below.
The Dodgers did not need an ace. They had one in Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was an absolute master last fall as he was leading Los Angeles to its second straight World Series title. The Dodgers also have a two-time Cy Young Award winner in Blake Snell coming back from the injured list soon, followed by another All-Star in Tyler Glasnow.
Yamamoto threw two complete games last October, the first pitcher to do that in a postseason since Curt Schilling in 2001, then he came out of the bullpen in Game 7 of the World Series and got the last eight outs. He was the Series MVP. With Snell expected back next week and Glasnow on schedule for a late August return, the Dodgers will have depth. Shohei Ohtani has stepped away from pitching for now, but is expected back on the mound at some point this season.
So, Tarik Skubal is not filling the role of team savior. He's insurance against three arms that have to come back right. The Los Angeles rotation, despite the laments about injuries, already led the majors in ERA without the two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner.
More than 60 trades went through from the middle of July to Aug. 3. A few, like the Skubal deal, made a good team even better. A few of these moves will decide whether a team plays in October at all. Those are arguably worth more, and they are also the ones most likely to blow up.
Here are five big impact trades, sorted by how much they are likely to matter once the season gets shorter:
In June, the Red Sox looked ready to have a fire sale. Then they won 23 of 26 games, and Craig Breslow started spending prospects. He sent three of Boston's top five prospects to Baltimore to get a catcher that can help the Red Sox in October.
He needed to. Carlos Narvaez and Connor Wong combined for a .615 OPS behind the plate this season. Rutschman is a three-time All-Star who switch-hits, frames and calls a solid game. He is 28 and under club control through next season, so it's not a rental.
Where this could blow up on Breslow and Boston is with Rutschman's health. He arrived at Fenway Tuesday on the injured list with left wrist inflammation, and his injury history was the biggest worry executives had about him at the deadline. The Red Sox went into Wednesday night's games 61-51 and four games ahead of Cleveland for the last wild card spot. They will be playing in October if Rutschman is.
Casey Mize and Robbie Ray to the Padres
Nobody has more riding on the deadline boost than San Diego. The Padres went into Wednesday night's games 59-55, one game back of Arizona, which is in the third wild card spot. Two weeks ago, the assumption was that the Padres would sell. The rest of baseball hungrily scouted their closer, Mason Miller.
The rotation was the problem all season. Padres starters carried a 4.66 ERA, fourth worst in the majors, and Michael King and Walker Buehler were the only regular starters left standing. The club was throwing three bullpen games per week.
A.J. Preller went out and fixed things in a day.
Mize left Detroit with a 2.70 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP in 16 starts and fewer than two walks per nine. Ray, the 2021 AL Cy Young winner, is 10-6 with a 3.08 ERA in 122⅔ innings. Despite a scare this week, Nick Pivetta is on track to return in late August. Joe Musgrove has not pitched at all this season after Tommy John surgery.
If the Padres reach October, it was the trade deadline that did it. If they don't, Preller emptied what was left of the farm system for nothing.
Liam Hicks to the Rays
Three teams in the same division had the same problem. The Red Sox, Yankees and Rays needed catching at the deadline. Boston paid a high ransom, the Yankees struck out completely and the Rays found the fix without breaking the bank.
Tampa Bay catchers had hit .267/.320/.381 with 38 RBI all year. Hicks came over from Miami with 62 all by himself. He hit .282 with 14 home runs and had a .795 OPS in 101 games for the Marlins. He is one of the six best hitting catchers in baseball. He has struck out 39 times.
He hit a grand slam in his first game as a Ray, the first by anyone in the organization this season. He also caught 7⅓ scoreless innings from the bullpen in an 11-inning win.
The cost was Brayden Taylor, Jacob Kisting and Adrian Santana, the Rays' 16th, 22nd and 23rd prospects. No one from the top 10. Hicks comes with four and a half more years of club control.
Luke Weaver, Camilo Doval, Kirby Yates and Lake Bachar to the Pirates
The risk was obvious. Pittsburgh is 57-58, three and a half games back of Arizona, and lost Mitch Keller for the season to a teres major injury on deadline day.
The Pirates made four separate deals over three days and replaced an entire bullpen that ranked in the bottom half of baseball and had blown 19 saves. In a short series, a manager rides his best two or three arms almost every night.
Weaver is the one who makes this matter. He went 2-1 with a 1.84 ERA in 42 appearances for the Mets, holding hitters to a .162 average with a 0.82 WHIP, and he saved four games with a 1.76 ERA for the Yankees in the 2024 postseason. The other three are bets on what they used to be. Doval led the National League in saves in 2023, but struggled with the Yankees. Yates is 39 and carries a 3.95 ERA and Bachar is at 3.84.
Ben Cherrington spent on a team that has to climb over three clubs to matter, and he bought volume rather than certainty. If Pittsburgh gets there, it was a smart buy.
Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes and Ryan Zeferjahn to the Cubs
Chicago was one of seven clubs linked to Skubal before the deadline. When it was obvious that Skubal wasn't heading to the Northside, Jed Hoyer bought three arms, including two starters. Neither is a sure thing.
Gausman is 5-10 with a 4.38 ERA in 23 starts. The underlying numbers are slightly better with an expected ERA of 3.95 and a FIP of 3.50, all well below his ERA. They line up with his 2025 numbers and that is what the Cubs are betting on. He starts Friday in Kansas City.
Holmes fractured his fibula on May 15 and has not pitched since. The 2.39 ERA attached to his name comes from nine starts that ended three months ago. The Cubs will see what they are getting Saturday.
Zeferjahn, the reliever, is actually the sure thing here. He strikes out 13 hitters per nine innings and threw a scoreless inning in his debut.
PITTSBURGH, PA - APRIL 11: Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Egor Chinakhov (59) looks on during the second period in the NHL game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals on April 11, 2026, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. (Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
We continue our look at some over/unders for the 2026-27 Pittsburgh Penguins, and today we turn our attention to their secondary players. The players on that list include: Egor Chinakhov, Rickard Rakell, Tommy Novak, Elmer Soderblom and Samuel Girard. They are not new players, they are not among the Penguins’ youngest players, they are not quite depth players, and they are not the Penguins’ top core players. But they are still players that should be expected to play a significant role and produce this season.
Here is a quick look at the other over/unders we have looked at so far:
Let’s get into today’s players and potential numbers.
Egor Chinakhov: Over/under 28.5 goals
There were a lot of big (and surprising) developments for the 2025-26 Penguins, and one of the most significant was the in-season acquisition of Egor Chinakhov from the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was not only his acquisition that made a difference, it was also the way that he arrived and immediately started to reach his full potential as a player, both with and without the puck. He was one of their best and most impactful players in the second half of the season, and looked like the player Columbus had always hoped he could be.
He finished the season with a career-high 21 goals and 42 total points between the two teams, including 18 goals and 36 total points in his 43 games with the Penguins.
Those numbers with the Penguins come out to a 34-goal, 68-point pace over 82 games.
That is first-line production, and when you add in how improved he was defensively he looked like a potential star.
The question is what is he going to do over a full-season?
Was that performance with the Penguins a sign of what he can, and will, be? Or was it simply a hot streak where everything clicked for a talented, but still inconsistent player for a brief period of time?
I think the answer to that question resides somewhere in the middle.
He’s clearly better than he showed in Columbus, and very likely needed a fresh start and a different environment with different voices leading him to start reaching that potential.
But I also don’t know if I expect him to spend a full season shooting over 17 percent. His shot is objectively great, but there might be some regression that comes there. I could see a situation unfolding where he might be the same player, or perhaps even improve, while not scoring goals at the exact same pace as he did a year ago with the Penguins.
With that said, 28.5 seems like a good target line. It’s still very good. It’s still very productive. But it might just be a little bit of a slower pace.
Rickard Rakell: Over/under 30.5 goals
I feel like Rickard Rakell’s time with the Penguins has been a little underappreciated. He had one down year in 2023-24, but other than that has scored like a top-line player and owns what has become a pretty team-friendly contract under the rising salary cap.
He’s good. He is one of the few positive things that can be associated with the Ron Hextall era.
He also showed this past season he can be pretty versatile and held his own at center when the Penguins needed it.
In his four seasons with the Penguins his 82-game goal paces have been 28, 17.5, 35 and 32.8. That’s pretty good, and it’s not hard to spot the outlier. His past two seasons have been outstanding from an offensive perspective, and especially as a finisher.
He is going to be 33 years old this season, so there is a chance he starts to slow down, but after scoring at a 32-goal pace in back-to-back seasons I am not sure he is going to just suddenly fall off the map.
The big thing that might limit him is the potential for injury as he has missed at least 10 games in two of the past four years. But if he stays healthy? Thirty goals should definitely be on the table.
Tommy Novak: Over/under 15 minutes of ice-time per game
At this point we have a pretty good idea of what Novak is as a player. He’s a very capable middle-six forward that can play a variety of roles up and down the lineup, and is probably going to score you between 15-20 goals and 40-45 points.
He is talented, but a little inconsistent.
He has obvious skill, but sometimes it leaves you wanting more.
He is a good player, but there is a very obvious ceiling on what he is.
The Penguins also seem to really like him, as evidence by the fact he just a received a three-year contract extension.
For his over/under I am focussing more on role and usage than production, and I am wondering if he takes on a bigger role than before.
For his career he has averaged 13:45 of ice-time per game.
With the Penguins, that number has gone up a little to 14:15 per game.
But over the last two months of the 2025-26 season, and into the playoffs, his ice-time started to reach levels it has never reached at any point of his career, topping 16 minutes per game.
Prior to those two months to close out the 2025-26 season, he only had three other months in his NHL career where he averaged more than 15 minutes per game, and one of those months came in a month where he played just five games.
With Evgeni Malkin now looking like more of a winger than a center, and with Ben Kindel still only being 19 years old, I wonder if we see Novak take on a more traditional second-line center role from the start of the season and get a slight boost in his ice-time.
Elmer Soderblom: Over/under 10.5 goals
Soderblom was another younger, mid-20s player that the Penguins rolled the dice on. Just as was the case with players like Chinakhov and Novak (and some of this past offseason’s additions), Soderblom was a player that posted strong rate and per-minute stats with his previous team, but never really had a chance to show what he could do with a consistent role.
After joining the Penguins he scored five goals with 10 total points in 20 games, while still posting great underlying numbers.
While his raw box score numbers for his career do not jump off the page, he has still averaged 12 goals per 82 games.
He has obvious skill and tremendous size, and I think there is still some untapped potential in him as a player. He also might get a bigger role than he ever had with the Detroit Red Wings. All of that, combined with a new 84-game season, could put him in a position to reach double-digit goals in a full season for the first time in his career.
Samuel Girard: Over/under plus-6.5 rating
Sam Girard did not have a consistently great debut with the Penguins, but I am not giving up on him still having some sort of positive impact for the Penguins.
He is still only 28 years old, has a track record of success in the NHL, and for as much as he struggled at times with the Penguins he still finished as a plus-5 after coming over in a trade from the Colorado Avalanche.
He has been a plus-6 or better in four of his NHL seasons, including this past season.
(Photo by UPI/Bettmann Archive/Getty Images) | Getty Images
NBA history spans 80 seasons, and as CelticsBlog readers well know, the Boston Celtics have won a league-high 18 championships. This month, we are recapping each of those title years.
Elite Three-Peat
The Boston Celtics reached an elite milestone by winning the NBA Finals in 1961, adding to their 1959 and 1960 banners. They became just the second franchise to collect a trio of consecutive titles. The first was the Minneapolis Lakers from 1952 to 1954.
Since then, the Chicago Bulls won three straight championships from 1991 to 1993, and a second time, 1996 to 1998, and the Los Angeles Lakers won from 2000 to 2002. No team has won more than three straight years except the Celtics, who went for eight in a row. as we know.
<p>Bill Russell received many MVP trophies in his career. Here’s one with congratulations from NBA president Maurice Podoloff. (Photo by Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)</p>
The MVP
A large factor in Boston’s success, literally, was 6-foot-10 center Bill Russell, who in five seasons changed the Celtics from a pretty good team to a dynasty with four titles. Russell was awarded Most Valuable Player of the 1960-61 season in a vote by players, which was the process then. Oddly, Russell was chosen to only second team All-NBA, behind Wilt Chamberlain, but that vote was by sportswriters. (Insert pondering-face emoji.)
This was Russell’s second MVP (1957-58 was the first). He would win five in his career because of his defense, rebounding, passing and intellect. To this day, he is universally known as the best defensive player of all time. In fact, as calculated by basketball-reference.com, he has the highest Regular Season Defensive Win Share, the highest Playoff DWS and the highest Total DWS of anyone who’s ever played in the NBA or ABA. By far.
Unfortunately, the Defensive Player of the Year award was created more than a decade after Russell retired.
The regular season
In 1960-61, NBA conventional wisdom was that the Celtics had gotten too good for the rest of the league. The results supported that theory, as both the regular season and postseason were nearly drama-free for the two-time defending champs.
The season began with an adjusted schedule, going from 75 games per team to 79. The Celtics’ final record was 57-22, which was 11 games ahead of the Eastern second-place Philadelphia Warriors and six games better than the West-leading St. Louis Hawks. Boston was third in scoring at 119.4 points per game while allowing a league-low 114.1. The Celtics also easily won the season series against all of the other teams, the only one close being St. Louis (6-4).
The blueprint to success
The rest of the league had to be wondering when they would ever beat Boston again. But as the saying goes, there were levels to this, and head coach and general manager Red Auerbach knew it.
First, the Celtics were fortunate that free agency was not yet a factor in building a roster. There were no expiring contracts that would allow players to change teams at will.
Succession plans were vital, as well. Careers were generally shorter in the early NBA than today, first because players stayed in college for four years, and later because their bodies wore down more quickly than today’s athletes. Modern training methods and medical treatments were still in the future, and travel was done on commercial airlines, trains and even buses, not in the comfort of private jets we see today. Scheduling quirks such as three games in three nights — with load management not yet invented — also had an adverse effect.
In Boston, MVP Russell and leading scorer Tommy Heinsohn were both entering their prime at age 26. Star guards Bob Cousy (age 32) and Bill Sharman (34), were aging but still highly effective, and Red Auerbach had developed supremely talented shooter Sam Jones (27) and defensive ace K.C. Jones (28) to step into their roles and not miss a beat when the time came.
Hard-nosed rebounder and defender Jim Loscutoff had turned 30, but 6-6 forward Tom Sanders from NYU was the eighth pick in the 1960 Draft. The man known as Satch would soon be ready to succeed the legendary “Loscy.”
By all indications, Auerbach had all that figured out before the rest of the league caught on, and the proof was in the results.
Eastern playoffs
The postseason was as stress-free as the regular season. The Celtics had a first-round bye while the Syracuse Nationals swept the Philadelphia Warriors, 3-0. Wilt Chamberlain averaged 37 points and 23 rebounds for naught, and Boston would not have to contend with him.
The Celtics handled Syracuse with ease, 4-1, with a 19-point average margin of victory. They won Game 1 at home by 13 points, lost game 2 away by 17, then finished off the series with three straight routs. Russell was the leading rebounder in each contest and topped the Celtics in all three main stat categories: 20.6 points, 31 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game. It’s a shame that blocked shots weren’t tracked until well after Russell’s career ended.
NBA Finals
Not even the St. Louis Hawks could slow down the Celtics juggernaut in 1961. Meeting for the fourth time in five years, the Hawks had twice taken Boston to seven games. Not this time. Celtics in five.
Game 1 in Boston went to the home team, 129-95, and they also won Game 2 on the parquet, 116-108. After the Hawks squeaked out a four-point win at home, the Celtics seized control by winning Game 4, 119-104. Back in Boston, Russell dominated Game 5 with an MVP performance of 30 points and 38 boards. The Celtics took the lead with a 37-23 third quarter, then held the Hawks at arm’s length to claim Banner #4.
Turning point
Bob Pettit dropped 40 points in the Hawks’ must-win Game 4, yet the Celtics ran away in the second half to win by 15.
It was over when…
Pettit and Cliff Hagan combined to average nearly 58 points per game, but Boston more than offset that with six players averaging between 12 and 22 points. Boston also demolished the Hawks in total rebounds, 369-304, thanks mostly to Russell’s 28.8 per game.
Tommy Heinsohn again led Boston in Finals scoring, averaging 22.0 points per game.
Bill Sharman retired after this season, and a few years later began a successful coaching career. He led the Utah Stars to the 1971 championship of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The very next year, he coached the LA Lakers to their first ever NBA championship. His assistant coach was K.C. Jones.
After playing them in the NBA Finals four times in five years, the Celtics and Hawks did not meet again in the playoffs until 1972, when Atlanta had moved to the Eastern Conference. Boston is now 11-2 in playoff series vs. the Hawks. 1958 remains the only championship year in Hawks’ history.
Notable changes elsewhere
1961 brought a few major changes across the NBA that would make a significant impact.
The Lakers moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles.
Oscar Robertson (who won Rookie of the Year) was drafted No. 1 overall by the Cincinnati Royals, and Jerry West was selected no. 2 by the Lakers. Both would dominate statistically, be named to double-digit All-NBA teams and All-Star Games, win one championship, and when their careers ended would be widely considered the two best guards in NBA history. Both also had numerous playoff battles with the Celtics (spoiler alert: all unsuccessful).
Lenny Wilkens also entered the league as the sixth overall pick by the Hawks, becoming a nine-time All-Star. He went on to coach the Seattle SuperSonics to the 1979 crown, and his 1,332 coaching wins ranks third all-time. He’s been inducted into the Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach. Wilkens would’ve been a perfect fit for the Auerbach Celtics.
Banner Years continues tomorrow with a review of the 1961-62 season and the road to winning Banner #5.
The Storm Chasers evened the series up by knocking around the Hens bullpen on Wednesday.
Dylan File got the start, and he had perhaps his best start of the year for the Hens. He fired six innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts. Omaha got to him for a run in the top of the first, but otherwise they rarely even threatened.
In the fourth, Brett Callahan got the Hens starter with a leadoff single. He took third on a Justice Bigbie ground out, and Callahan went on to steal third base. Cal Stevenson walked, and Andrew Navigato came through with a sacrifice fly to tie things up.
The Hens never really put together a good scoring opportunity again. Tyler Mattison gave up a two-run homer in the eighth as the Storm Chasers took the lead. Corey Julks doubled with one-out in the bottom half but was stranded. Nick Sandlin coughed up a solo shot in the ninth and then another run to make it 5-1 Omaha.
Stevenson: 2-2, 2B, 2 BB
File: 6.0 IP, ER, 5 H, BB, 6 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:05 p.m. ET start on Thursday.
This was a wild one. The Curve blew up Hayden Minton in the fourth and scored seven runs total. The SeaWolves then turned it on and roared back to win.
Minton wasn’t getting much swing and miss, but he cruised through three innings before things quickly unraveled in the fourth. He gave up a two-run homer, and then a parade of hits, along with a Stephen Hrustich error, led to three more runs. Minton left after issuing a walk and Yosber Sanchez took over in a deep jam. He immediately gave up a run scoring double to right field. The relay from Zyhir Hope to Max Burt home to Thayron Liranzo cut down a second runner at the plate, but one more single made it 7-0 before the inning finally ended.
Sanchez wiggled his way out of trouble in the fifth after hitting a batter and giving up a one-out walk, and then the offense came alive in the bottom half.
Hrustrich started them off with a single and Burt doubled. Seth Stephenson grounded one to third and Hrustich scored as Altoona made an error on the play. Peyton Graham singled in Burt, and Stephenson scored on a Josue Briceño ground out.
In the sixth, Andrew Jenkins and E.J. Exposito led off with singles and Hrustich walked to load the bases. A new reliever took over and walked Burt to force in a run, and Stephenson ripped a two-run double to left. Suddenly it was a 7-6 game and Briceño later tied things up with a sacrifice fly.
In the seventh, Jenkins tripled and scored on an Exposito ground ball. In the eighth, Graham led off with a single and rode home on Briceño’s sixth home run of the season. That made it 10-7, giving the SeaWolves a little cushion.
Johan Simon held this all together with two strong innings of relief in the sixth and seventh, striking out four. Tyler Owens handled the final two innings to earn the save.
Jenkins: 3-5, 2 R, 3B
Graham: 2-5, R, RBI, 2 K
Stephenson: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B
Briceño: 1-4, R, 4 RBI, K
Minton: 3.1 IP, 6 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 2 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. ET start on Thursday at UPMC Park.
West Michigan Whitecaps 11, Fort Wayne TinCaps 1 (box)
Ben Jacobs put together a great outing, and five different Whitecaps homered in this one as they crushed Fort Wayne on Wednesday.
Jacobs fired 5.2 innings of one run ball in this one. He allowed just three hits and a walk, striking out five. The lefty threw 59 of 81 pitches for strikes, and had both the breaking stuff and his changeup working throughout his day.
Ben Jacobs with his longest outing of the season. 5.2IP 3H 1ER 1BB 5K 81 pitches, 59 for strikes.
Did a good job using his curve, fastball and change. Here's 4th and 5th strikeouts. pic.twitter.com/3wUG5VjLMZ
He quickly had a nice lead to work with. Bryce Rainer was the second batter of the game and he torched his 10th home run to center field for a quick 1-0 lead. Jackson Strong followed with his 10th home run, another solo shot, and it was 2-0.
Juan Hernandez bashed a three-run shot in the second with Luke Shliger and Samuel Gil on board. 5-0 Whitecaps.
In the top of the third, the TinCaps walked three straight hitters to start the inning. Cristian Santana lifted a sacrifice fly to make it 6-0, and that was just the beginning of Santana’s night. Jacobs allowed a run in the bottom of the third to make it 6-1.
Rainer doubled to open the fourth inning but was stranded. However, in the fifth they were right back at it. Gil singled with one out and Santana launched a two-run shot to right field. 8-1 Whitecaps.
Shliger led off the seventh with a solo shot of his own. Two batters later, Santana came up again and crushed a solo shot to center field for his second of the game. 10-1 Whitecaps. He would add a third homer in the top of the ninth to complete one heck of a game. That made seven home runs on the night for the Whitecaps, which is a franchise record.
Coming Up Next: First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Dunedin Blue Jays 11, Lakeland Flying Tigers 0 (Gm1)(F/7)(box)
Game 1 was pretty uneventful for the Flygers after they were rained out on Tuesday. Brant Hurter made a rehab appearance, but otherwise the offense was quiet and the Blue Jays won easily.
Hurter got knocked around for three runs in his first rehab appearances after spending two months on the IL with lumbar back issues. Xiomer Guacache took over with just one out in the first and gave up two runs of his own as well. Caleb Leys then surrendered three runs in 2.2 innings of work. Bryce Alewine gave up three more in the seventh.
Carson Rucker had two hits, and Roberto Campos managed one as his rehab continues. Enough said about this one.
Rucker: 2-2, BB
Hurter (L, 0-1): 0.1 IP, 3 ER, H, BB, K
Lakeland Flying Tigers 6, Dunedin Blue Jays 3 (box)
Paul Wilson was wild in this one and gave up three early runs, but the Flying Tigers offense decided that was enough and stormed back to take Game 2.
Jesus Pinto kicked off the offense with a one-out triple in the bottom of the second. Anibal Salas singled him in and then rode home on Zach MacDonald’s 18th home run of the season.
So they had a 3-0 lead, but Wilson, after two decent innings of work, walked the first three batters he faced in the top of third. Luke Hoskins took over, but allowed all three inherited runners to score, tying the game.
The Flying Tigers roared right back. Salas led off the bottom of the fourth with a double, and MacDonald stepped to the dish and smashed his second homer of the game for a 5-3 lead. That one left the bat at 111.7 mph.
Zach MacDonald crushes another 2-run homer to left center. This one was 111.7 off the bat and traveled 412 feet. It’s his 2nd of the night, making him the first Tigers minor leaguer this year to reach 20 home runs on the season. @AaronArnstein on the call. pic.twitter.com/nYQnpZGzeC
In the bottom of the sixth, Pinto and Salas singled to start the inning, and MacDonald walked. A wild pitch scored Pinto, but that was all they’d get.
Grayson Grinsell helped the cause with three scoreless innings with five strikeouts, though he walked three. Donye Evans took over after a leadoff single in the seventh, and he shut the door to earn his second save.
MacDonald: 2-2, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR, BB
Salas: 3-3, 2 R, RBI, 2B
Pinto: 2-3, 2 R, 3B
Wilson: 2.0 IP, 3 ER, 0 H, 6 BB, 3 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:30 p.m. ET start on Thursday.
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 05: George Lombard Jr. #96 of the New York Yankees walks back to the dugout after fielding the ball for an out to end the top of the first inning during the game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, August 5, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Yankees dropped a dud performance to close out their series with St. Louis, losing 3-1 in a game where they had several chances but continued to be ineffective with their bats. Will Warren had an adventure in the fifth that saw him give up three runs all with two outs, but overall his outing wasn’t bad and not the biggest reason the team lost. The lineup just needs to pull their own weight at some point, especially with the Trade Deadline passed and no more outside reinforcements on the horizon. Yes, the team is hoping to get Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Giancarlo Stanton back at some point, but there’s still a long stretch of time that this offense will have to manage without any of them.
One other improvement that the Yankees made beside trading for a pair of bats over the course of the deadline was calling up their top prospect, George Lombard Jr. One of the best prospects in all of baseball, Lombard made his MLB debut on Tuesday and launched a solo homer for his first career MLB hit in his second at-bat. It proved to be a valuable insurance run as the offense only produced two runs overall that night, and with the team similarly offensively-challenged on Wednesday Lombard had a chance to add to his early accolades. In the bottom of the eighth following two quick outs, New York worked a pair of walks to bring Lombard up to the plate as the go-ahead run. It was probably unfair to think it, but I couldn’t help but feel the thoughts “signature moment” creep into my head. If the kid managed to convert there, there was no doubt that the Stadium would’ve exploded.
Of course, that moment did not come to be. Ryne Stanek managed to overwhelm the 21-year-old rookie with a pair of fastballs up and got him to expand the zone, striking him out to end the threat and the last real opportunity the Yankees had to tie the game up. Ben Rice walked in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate with two outs, but Ali Sánchez got caught looking at strike three to end it. That the Yankees’ hopes are riding on Lombard being one of the sparkplugs to an offense that has so desperately craved one is definitely unfair to him, but his debut showed that he’s clearly got the talent. His play on the field has been tremendous, his defense already looking like a veteran as scouts predicted he’d shine there. But what can we realistically expect from his bat, and what can we dare to hope for?
Projections are never quite kind to rookies debuting midseason, as they simply don’t have a lot to work off of and expect the rigors of facing MLB pitchers for the first time to be a fitting challenge. Lombard is no exception in that category, with Steamer giving him an 87 wRC+ in 39 games played to close out the year, estimating him to display a modest walk rate but otherwise struggle to make much contact. Examining his trends from the minor leagues show that Lombard has always taken a step back initially on promoting to a new level, needing a month or so to find his footing before getting into a groove and displaying his normal level of excellence. That also doesn’t bode well considering there’s only two months left in the regular season.
Lombard is riding one of his biggest hot streaks into this first foray of the major leagues, though. He owned a 30-game on-base streak down in the minors prior to his promotion, and has collected a hit in each of his first two games here in New York. He’s displayed his power already, and he seems like a natural at short turning some clutch double plays in his short stay already. I don’t think anyone is expecting him to explode onto the scene and carry the offense on his back, but if he can stay on the track that he’s found since returning from a brief IL stint earlier this year there’s potential for him to be the third or fourth most valuable bat on the team down the stretch, a significant piece of the puzzle. I think he’ll surpass that 87 wRC+ estimate with relative ease, and perhaps push into the above-average production right away that would really turn things around for this lineup.
We’ve got an off-day ahead of us while the Yankees await their next opponent, but we’ve still got some things going on around here. Andrés starts our day off with a look at how Ryan Weathers has adjusted his pitch repertoire to cut down on his unseemly home run rate, and Sam will have the Rivalry Roundup as both the Rays and Red Sox unfortunately continue to stack wins. Jonathan relives the career of Ron Davis and his emergence as a key Yankees reliever defining the setup man role, while Scott looks at the suddenly stacked RailRiders roster as they get an injection with the trio of Anthony Volpe, Jasson Domínguez, and Max Schuemann arriving and focuses on the potential for Volpe to learn second base while down there.
Jordan Cox handed No 3 position due to Bethell injury
Root’s first assignment back as captain is at Headingley
Life after Ben Stokes begins with a reshuffle of England’s Test squad. Ollie Pope, Dan Lawrence and Sam Cook have all earned recalls for the start of the three-match series against Pakistan, while Jordan Cox also returns and will bat at No 3 after Jacob Bethell was ruled out of the series through injury.
Joe Root’s first assignment back as permanent Test captain gets underway at Headingley on 19 August and a 16-strong squad means plenty of options at his disposal. Without a genuine all-rounder post-Stokes, the big question will be whittling this number down to give Root a balanced XI.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JULY 29: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees looks on during a game against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on July 29, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
SNY | Ben Krimmel: Aaron Judge has been cleared to resume light activity, the first positive update since he landed on the IL on May 31st. The first step has been some upper-body resistance work in the weight room, and Judge was also seen running and stretching on the field before Wednesday’s game. While acknowledging his broken rib is still ailing him, the Yankee captain expressed urgency to return, noting he’s “running out of days” before the end of the season and affirming he’ll return before then. Manager Aaron Boone also provided an update on right-hander Clarke Schmidt, who’s progressing in his recovery from Tommy John surgery. He recently tossed a live batting practice (which was cut short by cramps) and could be nearing a rehab assignment.
The Athletic | Tyler Kepner: ($) Two new Yankees, George Lombard Jr. and Heliot Ramos, debuted Tuesday. They took different paths to the Bronx, with Lombard a long-touted internal prospect and Ramos a fifth-year player acquired from the Giants at the deadline, but both reveled in their new home. The 21-year-old Lombard was stoic. “I have pretty good relations with a lot of people here, so it’s not like a completely new environment,” he said. “When I first get here, everybody’s coming up to say, ‘What’s up, congrats,’ all the guys telling me to enjoy this moment, it only happens once.” Lombard indeed made the most of his moment, homering and starring in the field in a memorable 2-0 victory. Ramos, who grew up in Puerto Rico rooting for the likes of Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter, admitted to shaking with excitement upon learning of the trade, trumpeting the “high bar” set by his new organization.
ESPN: The ESPN team debates the Yankees’ trade deadline, in which the team added some thump to their lineup but failed to address top needs behind the plate and in the bullpen. Jeff Passan and Buster Olney agree they remain “squarely in the mix” in a crowded AL picture while Jorge Castillo and Bradford Doolittle lament their inability to secure a right-handed catcher. Ultimately, the consensus is that the Yankees’ fortunes will likely hinge on the return of their captain, alongside Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger.
Baseball America: An update of Baseball America’s venerable top 100 prospect list after a flurry of moves at the deadline. Lombard leads the pack for the Yankees, coming in at number 15 after slotting at 46 before the season. Next is Dax Kilby, the team’s first-rounder last year, at 37 (up from 61 pre-season). Carlos Lagrange, the fireballer who debuted at 93 this spring, ranks 79th. And Elmer Rodríguez, who’s started four games in the big leagues this year, slides back from 58 to 83.
Defector | Chris Thompson: From enemy territory, a begrudging celebration of Lombard’s debut from a self-described Yankee hater. Thompson gives a blow-by-blow of his well-worn anti-Yankee armor being pierced Tuesday night, beginning with a charming pregame interview with Lombard’s parents and ending with his solo homer in the fifth, which the writer conceded caused him to hoot and holler in joy.
July is annual moving month in the NBA, 31 days of recruitment and negotiations, with many deals discussed and a few consummated. Except for the Warriors, who approached July 2026 with barely a whisper and nothing close to a roar.
It is profoundly disappointing. To their credit, though, they indicated 46 days earlier that this could be the case.
General manager Mike Dunleavy put Dub Nation on alert on May 15. Golden State’s offseason priority, he said, was to curb its maddening habit of self-destructive turnovers. To be less reckless. Smarter with the basketball.
“The top priority is to take care of the ball, limit turnovers,” Dunleavy said on the afternoon it was announced that Steve Kerr would be returning as head coach.
“And then after that, we’ll try and get better in every which way.”
As if that alone would be enough for the Warriors to make a full recovery from a 37-45 season that ended with an NBA play-in tournament dud. It was difficult to believe such a soft vision would suffice under CEO Joe Lacob, whose ambition is unlimited. Dunleavy surely was underplaying his hand. They would bait hooks, chase stars and peer under stones to improve the roster.
Wouldn’t the Warriors respond to such a disappointing season by scouring the trade market? Even if it meant parting with some future draft capital. While window-shopping around the league, however, Dunleavy & Co. quickly discovered potential trade partners were unimpressed with the available options on the roster.
The bulk of the roster consists mostly of replaceable talent. The Warriors needed a couple younger but established veterans to support the aging core. They needed, one would think, to address the acute shortage of elite athleticism.
“In the grand scheme of things, not a lot about the roster,” Dunleavy said of last season. “This just isn’t about the roster, frankly. I don’t think we came up short because of the talent on the roster. It was injuries and things we could control.”
Injuries brought an abrupt halt to the momentum generated while winning nine of 12 as the calendar flipped to 2026. Jimmy Butler III sustained a season-ending torn right ACL on Jan 19. Stephen Curry was sidelined 11 days later with runner’s knee. Moses Moody missed the final 10 games after sustaining a torn patellar tendon on March 23.
Golden State opened the 2025-26 NBA season with two elite talents, Curry and Butler, on its roster. The surrounding talent was, on its own, barely competitive. The Warriors were 12-26 – 11th in the Western Conference standings – after Butler went down. They were 9-18 without Curry and 3-7 over the final 10 games without Moody. Kerr spent the second half of the season coaching a bottom-five NBA roster, getting sporadic appearances from Kristaps Porziņģis and rare glimpses of Al Horford.
But Golden State, it must be said, spent the first three months dancing on the edge of mediocrity – before the injuries struck. The Warriors were 25-19, eighth in the West, before Butler left the lineup. A play-in tournament team.
Which is why the front office took measures to improve the roster, most notably a tepid effort to recruit LeBron James.
“Do we need to get better roster-wise? I think so,” the GM acknowledged in May. “But we didn’t get to a point where we played a team where the roster is better than ours. For that reason, we were more focused on the stuff that we can control.
“We’ll always look to be better, talent-wise, roster-wise, all that. But . . . the discussions weren’t really about that. It was more with the team that we have. How can we be better? And what are the things we need to do to build on for long-term success?”
Dub Nation had been warned. The priority was internal development rather than external additions. Do not expect gifts in July.
And none came.
The Warriors were instead content to bring back Porziņģis and Horford, hoping their bodies allow them to suit up for 50-60 games each. They brought back De’Anthony Melton, hoping his first healthy summer in three years can launch him toward 70 games, which also is a reasonable goal for Curry. They brought back Gary Payton II because he has a unique set of skills and is great for the culture.
The only new face with a chance to immediately improve the roster is forward Yaxel Lendeborg. He brings the spirit of a veteran, but it’s best to remember that he is a rookie.
The Warriors anticipate evaluating the first half of the season while awaiting the midseason returns of Butler and Moody. Meanwhile, Dunleavy & Co. still have some latitude with the roster. But it’s hard to fathom striking gold in August or September.
Dub Nation had been warned that 2026-27 was lining up as a “gap year.” The offseason focus would be on internal development rather than external additions. Do not expect gifts in July. None came.
Austerity always is disappointing, as it lays a welcome mat for ennui.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - AUGUST 05: Mitch Bratt #60 of the Arizona Diamondbacks delivers a pitch in the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Chase Field on August 05, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Baseball is a funny sport sometimes. There aren’t very many sports or opportunities in life where you can get embarrassed and then come back less than 24 hours later to face the exact same team and completely flip the script and result of the two contests. Thankfully, baseball isn’t most sports and that’s exactly what the D-Backs were able to accomplish on Wednesday night, taking a shutout performance all the way into the top of the ninth while absolutely teeing off on San Diego pitching throughout the night. The victory not only gave the D-Backs some extra padding in their Wild Card lead, but also put them that much closer to securing the season series against the Friar’s – an important tiebreak consideration as we enter the last quarter of the season and sprint towards the playoffs.
The starting rotation has been a weakness for the team throughout the season – led by disappointing results from Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen. That disappointment and weakness has opened the opportunity for a pair of rookies to make their case for a rotation spot in Mitch Bratt and Kohl Drake, two of the three players the Rangers exchanged in the Merrill Kelly trade last season. The two rookies have had an uneven introduction to the big leagues in their first eight combined starts, but Bratt’s sixth career start was a huge step forward, giving the youngster his first big league win. I don’t want to overstate the performance. It’s always impressive when a rookie is able to complete seven innings of scoreless baseball, regardless of the relative weakness of the opposing offense. But it’s also not as if Bratt had pinpoint command of all of his pitches, throwing slightly more than half of his 92 pitches on the night for a strike.I think it’s more accurate to describe the outing as effectively wild rather than wildly effective. Regardless, limiting the Padres to just three walks is an important developmental milestone for the young lefty whose walk rate has skyrocketed since making his debut and will be a closely watched development moving forward.
Of course, with the way the Arizona offense was cooking tonight, an effective position player could have likely earned a win on the mound. It was exactly the kind of balanced offensive attack that Torey Lovullo often preaches with valuable contributions coming from nearly every player in the lineup as seven out of nine of the starters got at least one hit or more. Even better, it didn’t overly rely on a single method for scoring, but featured sacrifice flies, home runs, and timely hits with runners in scoring position. They got the party started in the third with a sacrifice fly from Gabriel Moreno scoring Corbin Carroll who had walked, stolen second, and moved to third already. Tim Tawa added another run on a two-out blast off a lifeless splitter, but it wasn’t until the fourth that the party really started. After James McCann led off the inning with a harmless flyout, his teammates started a hit parade with five straight knocks and then a run-scoring walk with the bases loaded to run the advantage all the way out to five runs and knock Casey Mize – the brand new pitching acquisition from the Tigers – out of the game. Sadly for the Padres, a pitching change to Kyle Hart did little to slow down the onslaught with a Tawa sacrifice fly and two-run double from Ildemaro Vargas ending the loop on the shiny new pitching toy the team acquired earlier this week.
Aug 5, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh (29) is hit by a pitch during the seventh inning against the Detroit Tigers at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Tonight some friends of mine are marking one year of dating with a celebration at our regular karaoke night where everyone was encouraged to write a love note and put it in a “love box” to be read from in between songs at karaoke – where everyone is, of course, encouraged to sing love songs. I did not get to go to this celebration, because instead I was watching the Mariners play the Tigers, which was definitely not a lovefest. Instead, the game devolved into the Mariners’ first brawl of the season, while also evolving to a 4-2 Mariners win. I don’t have room for 69 Love Songs, but I do have room for nine innings’ worth of love songs.
(I originally thought I’d use only songs from the Magnetic Fields’ 1999 triple album 69 Love Songs for this recap, but honestly? A lot of those songs that would be thematically appropriate for this game are, unfortunately, filler. So we improvise.)
Appropriately enough on Jimothy Night, honoring our local PNW cryptid, tonight’s game was weird. Bryan Woo gave up as many hits as he did hit by pitches (3), which is also how many HBP he had in the entire 2024 season. But Woo also went seven shutout innings, furthering his extreme home-road splits, thanks to the Tigers’ uber-aggressive approach, and was cruising with a low pitch count for most of the game, outside of one inning where the Tigers definitely should have scored and then just…didn’t, thanks to some incredible outfield defense from [checks notes] the Mariners corner infielders? The benches also cleared in this game, although appropriately enough for these two teams no punches were thrown, making it more of an energetic on-field discussion. So yeah. Weird game. Jimothy approves.
As the sun sets on summer and turns to autumn, it feels like so too is the sun setting on the Mariners’ chances in the division. The vibes today were not great following an 8-0 drubbing by the Tigers last night which many were calling “the worst loss of the season (so far)”. And for the first few innings, it felt like the Mariners were going to continue their offensive somnambulism into this game. It might have been a bullpen game for the Tigers, but Drew Anderson looked plenty capable of putting the Mariners down early, despite some pressure from the new guys in the bottom of the third, as Brendan Donovan and Taylor Ward checked in with back-to-back groundball base hits, unfortunately quickly erased by an inning-ending GIDP from the normally-steady Cole Young. The only other Mariner who got anything off Anderson was Julio Rodríguez, who worked a 1-2 count into a walk to lead off the second (before getting erased on a first-pitch swing GIDP from Josh Naylor) and in the fourth, beat out a two-out infield hit (probably an error) against Colt Keith. That was enough for AJ Hinch, who yanked lefty Tyler Holton out of the ‘pen to face Naylor, who popped out to end the inning. Sometimes love isn’t enough, and this autumn love definitely wasn’t feeling like enough.
The Tigers had a good chance to break this game open in the fourth against Bryan Woo, but then…just…didn’t score. It started with Gleyber Torres, leading off the inning, knocking what looked like a sure double off the right field wall, but Dominic Canzone played the ball perfectly on the wall and then uncorked an absolute laser of a throw to keep Torres at first. I apologize Dom, I did not know you Had It Like That.
That limiting of the extra base would prove to be important because Dillon Dingler followed that up with a hit; however, Torres violated the spirit of the Gentleman’s Agreement that governs Randy Arozarena’s third base play and attempted to take third, forcing Randy to do an Effort and throw out Torres at third. That allowed Dingler to second, and then things got a little trickier when Woo grazed Riley Greene with a slider in an 0-2 count, aka the most Unintentional Hit By Pitch Ever (or at least since the third inning, when Woo hit rookie Max Clark with a pitch in a 2-2 count, and Clark dropped his elbow guard into a sinker). Trying to get back into it, Woo sent over a first-pitch sinker on the plate to Colt Keith and Arozarena, not known for sparkling outfield defense, showed that he was still pretty ticked off at the Tigers disrespecting his defense. Only Randy himself gets to do that.
A very pumped-up Bryan Woo then came back to strike out Spencer Torkelson to end the inning, because we cannot be wasting a night when the MLB video recap for this game has not one but two Randy defense highlights. In spite of themselves, the Mariners went into the back half of this game still knotted at 0-0, sitting on a rainbow.
Sometimes hate is just the flip side of love, as Alanis knows, and now Julio. The Mariners finally got on the board in the sixth inning of this game against Tigers reliever Brenan Hanifee, who has the unlucky distinction of having taken Tarik Skubal’s roster spot after he was dealt to the Tigers. Hanifee was brought in to face Randy Arozarena with two outs, replacing lefty Tyler Holton who did not allow a hit over two innings, and Randy promptly greeted him with a double. Then, and this is the part I think AJ Hinch should go to jail for, Hinch instructed Hanifee to intentionally walk Dominic Canzone to get to Julio Rodríguez for a right-on-right battle. Julio…did not take kindly to that.
Julio saw that sinker on the plate, decided he liked it, and crushed it oppo to give the Mariners a 3-0 lead. Next time Hanifee will know.
First pitch swings were kind of a theme on the night. Bryan Woo had six outs on first-pitch swings from the Tigers tonight. He completed seven innings on just 91 pitches, and the majority of the traffic he faced was self-inflicted (HBPs and a walk). After putting down the threat in the fourth, he had to navigate around a hit by pitch in the fifth and a walk in the sixth (with again, some solid outfield defense from Canzone on a diving catch) before allowing his third and final hit of the day in the seventh: a solid line-drive single from Clark, the rookie. Catcher Eduardo Valencia ran it to a full count, but Woo was able to get out of it with a well-timed GIDP, and he was pumped.
With the Mariners up 3-0 and Woo having turned in seven strong and a rested bullpen after yesterday’s blowout loss, it felt like this game could be put to bed. Right? Wrong. Gabe Speier came in to work the eighth and got his first two outs before Riley Greene came up. Historians will argue about what happened next. I would say, Speier didn’t have great command tonight and was trying to pitch Greene inside and missing. AJ Hinch would say (ideally from his jail cell) that Speier was intentionally trying to hit Greene after Cal Raleigh had taken 95 to the ribs in the previous inning from reliever Enmanuel De Jesus who – and this part might be important – was only walking 5% of batters at Triple-A this year. Either way, feelings were hurt, and maybe also ribs and thighs, and the benches cleared, and at the end of it Gabe Speier was ejected – he walked off with no argument – and so was Dan Wilson, who had quite a bit more to say about it. We’ll find out if there are any knock-on effects from this tomorrow. Here’s a link to the non-brawl if you wanna see it.
The bad news here is that Eduard Bazardo had to come in for Speier, and because this is how things have been going for Bazardo lately, he immediately gave up a two-run bomb to Dillon Dingler to make this game a much closer 3-2. I love you Eduard, even when you’re so, so bad. But please try being good again.
Thirteen (home runs by the end of the season for Colt?)
Colt Emerson might look like he is thirteen years old and as tall as one blueberry, but he has a love of the bright lights. He picked a great time for his eighth (!) home run of the year, a loud, answer-back shot off De Jesus to pad the lead back out to 4-2. Eight home runs already? They grow up so fast!
Staked to a two-run lead now, Andrés Muñoz came in and obliterated his slate of Tigers hitters, striking out Colt Keith on a nasty changeup, Spencer Torkelson on the slider, and then getting a little help from a nice play from Cole Young (contributing in the field if not at the plate tonight) for a game-ending groundout. It was about as dominant as we’ve seen Muñoz in a while, and a very satisfying end to a weird game. I have to say, I loved it.
I promised you nine love songs and unlike the Mariners, I’d never short you, so here’s one last song and a request for the Mariners for the rest of the season, however it might go. (Mind where you open that for some spicy language.)
There were the goodbyes from his old Tigers teammates and introductions to new Padres teammates.
There was making his first National League start at Chase Field in Arizona with the high altitude and dry air.
Mize heard all of the alibis, and batted away every single one of them.
“Pretty tough time to have the worst start of my career, you know?’’ Mize said after the Padres’ 10-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. “Kind of put us in a really tough spot and (without) a chance to win.’’
Everything was going OK the first couple of innings, but the Diamondbacks scored two runs in the third inning, including a Tim Tawa home run, and in the fourth, everything unraveled. Mize gave up five consecutive hits, a walk, and departed with the bases loaded. When the inning mercifully ended, the Diamondbacks had scored six more runs.
“Obviously, throughout the outing, I could definitely tell that I was just off, not being able to execute,’’ Mize said. “I knew it was going to be a bit of a grind, and then it obviously snowballed on me there.’’
It was the most runs Mize has ever permitted in 103 career starts.
“So frustrated by that,’’ Mize said. “It seems like I just couldn’t execute a plan, falling behind in the counts, things were kind of elevated, and even when I got some good counts, I just couldn’t get below the zone, so they got a barrel on the ball.
“I was looking for that swing and miss.’’
Mize got only two of them the entire night, throwing 77 pitches, just 47 for strikes.
It’s hardly what the Padres envisioned when they acquired Mize just before the expiration of the trade deadline Monday, to help rescue them in this wild-card race. This is a guy who yielded a 2.70 ERA with 85 strikeouts and 18 walks in 16 starts, yielding one or no runs in nine of the starts. He had the fifth-lowest ERA among all American League pitchers who made at least 15 starts, with the fourth-lowest opponent’s OPS (.569).
He looked nothing like that guy this night.
“Probably the 11 days off from pitching, being out of his routine, traveling, all that kind of stuff,’’ Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “A lot going on. New team. … And Arizona’s not the easiest place to pitch, either.’’
Sorry, but Mize didn’t want to hear it.
He took full accountability.
“I’m not going to make any excuses, man,’’ said Mize, who threw just two bullpen sessions in the last 11 days. “I need to pitch better. We need to win. Pretty frustrating for me.’’
The Padres (59-56), who also picked up San Francisco Giants starter Robbie Ray at the trade deadline, now trail the Diamondbacks by two games in the wild-card race, but insist they’re not worried. Stammen says they have battled back all year, so there’s no reason to believe they won’t continue to be resilient.
There are still 47 games remaining, and Mize and Ray are expected to make at least 16 starts.
“I know once he gets back into his five-day routine,’’ Stammen said, “he’ll be back to normal and the guy that we traded for. I know the next time will be better.’’
Mize knows it, too.
And, just in case he needed a little confidence boost, it just so happens that his best friend in baseball landed in Phoenix on Wednesday night, and they made plans to get together at his Scottsdale home for lunch.
Two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, who was traded two days before Mize, landed with his Dodgers teammates Wednesday night from Chicago. They’ll have an off-day Thursday before their three-game weekend series against the Diamondbacks.
“It’s going to be so nice to see him again,’’ Mize said, “just to catch up. Really, I can’t wait.’’
In this week's Closer Report, the Pirates get a significant boost to the bullpen at the trade deadline. Bryan Baker takes the MLB lead in saves. And the Twins added a veteran with closing experience in Jeff Hoffman. All that and more as we review the last week in saves with an updated closer rankings.
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Mason Miller - San Diego Padres
Jhoan Duran - Philadelphia Phillies
Cade Smith - Cleveland Guardians
Louis Varland - Toronto Blue Jays
Bryan Baker - Tampa Bay Rays
Josh Hader - Houston Astros
After plenty of speculation, Miller remains in San Diego following the trade deadline. The team opted to hold the game's top closer along with setup man Adrian Morejon, instead adding to the rotation for a potential playoff push. Miller was charged with his first blown save of the season on Saturday, allowing an inherited runner to score while striking out three over 1 2/3 innings before falling in line for a win.
After giving up three runs in an outing last week, Duran bounced back with two clean frames this week, striking out two to pick up his 25th save against the Nationals on Monday. The Phillies added left-hander Brooks Raley and righty Caleb Kilian as middle relief depth at Monday's deadline.
No saves for Smith this week. He recorded four outs in a non-save situation against the Diamondbacks on Sunday. Meanwhile, Varland picked up his 24th save on Friday against the Cardinals before giving up four runs, three unearned, to take a loss on Sunday. With Varland unavailable on Monday, Tyler Rogers stepped in for his third save. Varland bounced back on Wednesday, tossing a clean ninth inning before the Jays put him in line for a win in extra innings.
In Tampa Bay, Baker continues to roll, picking up three more saves to overtake Cade Smith for the lead in baseball. He's up to 32 with a 1.42 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, and 48 strikeouts over 44 1/3 innings. Hader has also kept it going with a perfect frame against the Rangers on Saturday for his 15th save.
▶ Tier 2
David Bednar - New York Yankees
Aroldis Chapman - Boston Red Sox
Trevor Megill - Milwaukee Brewers
Raisel Iglesias- Atlanta Braves
Jacob Latz - Texas Rangers
Andrés Muñoz - Seattle Mariners
Bednar got back on track after snapping a 24-inning scoreless streak, converting three saves with three scoreless outings, including two four-out saves. He's up to 25 with a 2.54 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and 57 strikeouts over 49 2/3 innings.
In Boston, Chapman locked down two more saves, extending his scoreless streak to 11 appearances. The 38-year-old left-hander has been a significant part of the Red Sox's success, posting 27 saves with a 1.67 ERA. The team added more left-handed depth behind Chapman, acquiring Erik Miller in a trade with the Giants that sent Marcelo Mayer to San Francisco.
Megill worked four clean innings this week, picking up his 20th save on Wednesday against the Pirates. He's been outstanding over the last few months, putting his early-season struggles behind him. Still, the Brewers added some depth, bringing in Antonio Senzatela from the Rockies.
Iglesias converted two more saves for 24 on the year with a 2.63 ERA. The team didn't add any relief depth at the deadline, but still expects Robert Suarez back in time for a playoff run.
Latz blew his first save since May 13 on Tuesday against the Giants, giving up two runs before falling in line for a win. He remains at 21 saves with a 1.94 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, and 52 strikeouts over 51 innings. Meanwhile, Muñoz made back-to-back appearances against the Twins, picking up a pair of wins. Though Sunday's win followed a blown save after he surrendered a one-run lead with a solo homer. He bounced back on Wednesday, striking out two batters for his 20th save against the Tigers.
▶ Tier 3
Riley O'Brien - St. Louis Cardinals
Edwin Diaz - Los Angeles Dodgers
Grant Taylor - Chicago White Sox
Emilio Pagán - Cincinnati Reds
Luke Weaver/Mason Montgomery - Pittsburgh Pirates
Kenley Jansen - Detroit Tigers
Devin Williams - New York Mets
O'Brien locked down his 27th save in a win against the Yankees on Wednesday. And Diaz made two appearances in non-save situations. He struck out two batters in a scoreless outing last Thursday, then gave up a solo homer while recording two outs against the Cubs on Tuesday.
Taylor didn't see any save chances this week, instead recording five outs in a non-save situation on Sunday against the Rays. Former closer Seranthony Domínguez was sent to the Mariners in a package that landed starter Luis Castillo in Chicago.
In Cincinnati, Pagán added two wins with a pair of scoreless outings against the Pirates, then converted a save on Tuesday against the Marlins. The 35-year-old right-hander has been solid since returning from the injured list on July 1, giving up two runs with a 16/2 K/BB ratio across 10 1/3 innings.
The Pirates added some reinforcements where they needed it most, picking up Weaver from the Mets at the trade deadline. The 32-year-old right-hander comes in with a 1.84 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, and 45 strikeouts over 44 innings. Pittsburgh had a significant need for a right-hander they can lean on in the late innings, as Gregory Soto and Mason Montgomery have split save chances. Weaver should figure into the saves mix, perhaps taking over as the primary option in a matchup committee.
Jansen stayed in Detroit through the deadline, picking up a save on Saturday against the A's. Meanwhile, Williams picked up a save against the Marlins on Thursday, then gave up a run in a non-save situation on Sunday. The Mets essentially have a whole new bullpen after a mass selling at the deadline. With Williams held out with arm fatigue, it was Daniel Duarte who got the 10th inning save on Wednesday against the Guardians. Interim manager Andy Green stated that Williams should be ready to go on Thursday.
▶ Tier 4
Jeff Hoffman/Yoendrys Gómez - Minnesota Twins
Pete Fairbanks - Miami Marlins
Clayton Beeter - Washington Nationals
Jordan Romano - Colorado Rockies
Jacob Webb/Ryan Zeferjahn/Caleb Thielbar - Chicago Cubs
We'll have to see how the Twins' situation plays out after the team acquired Hoffman in a trade with the Blue Jays. The 33-year-old right-hander should presumably step into at least a share of the ninth-inning role. Gómez has done an admirable job, picking up 14 saves with a 3.42 ERA, but has certainly overachieved.
Fairbanks has finally put together a solid stretch, picking up a pair of saves this week with two scoreless outings. The 32-year-old right-hander is up to 17 saves with a 6.37 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, and 47 strikeouts over 35 1/3 innings.
Beeter surrendered two runs in a non-save situation, then fell in line for a win after blowing a save on Wednesday against the Phillies. Meanwhile, Romano tossed a clean inning against the Royals on Saturday for his ninth save, then was charged with his first blown save with Colorado against the Rays on Tuesday. And Theilbar added a save for the Cubs this week. The Cubs' situation got more crowded at the deadline with Ryan Zeferjahn coming over from the Angels. Zeferjahn, Webb, and Theilbar all recorded a save for the Cubs this week.
▶ Tier 5
Brandyn Garcia/Kevin Ginkel - Arizona Diamondbacks
Alex Lange - Kansas City Royals
Andrew Kittredge/Yennier Cano - Baltimore Orioles
Hogan Harris - Athletics
Dylan Smith/Keaton Winn - San Francisco Giants
Ben Joyce - Los Angeles Angels
Garcia picked up the only save this week for the Diamondbacks, his third of the season. He appears to be the favorite in a committee since Paul Sewald was relegated to lower-leverage work. And Lange surrendered a run over two innings of work against the Rockies on Saturday.
Schmidt, who had to cut short a live batting practice Tuesday because of what he believed and hoped was cramping in his forearm, was informed it indeed “seems like” it was cramping, Aaron Boone said.
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“Clarke we feel like is probably good to go,” the manager said before Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to the Cardinals in The Bronx. “He got a lot of treatment [Tuesday]. The doc didn’t seem overly concerned.”
The Yankees at least felt a level of concern when Schmidt, who is beginning to build up following 2025 Tommy John surgery, felt the discomfort, which prompted him to throw two “innings” rather than three.
The next step for Schmidt, who was not expected to throw Wednesday, will be to play catch Thursday “and then hopefully do his side [session] at some point this weekend,” Boone said.
Clarke Schmidt got some positive news in his injury recovery. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
Without further hiccups, Schmidt could graduate soon into a rehab assignment.
Considering general manager Brian Cashman did not upgrade the bullpen at the trade deadline in part because he felt the club would have internal reinforcements, Schmidt’s eventual return to the staff has grown in importance.
Cody Bellinger, who is a week and a half into what is expected to be a four-to-six-week absence with a hamstring strain, took on-field batting practice for the first time since suffering the injury July 25.
“That was a big step,” said Bellinger, who added that he has been feeling well but lacks a clear return timetable.
Bellinger has been running — though not at full speed — in a straight line and has several more hurdles to clear before he is ready for activation or a rehab assignment.
Heliot Ramos (1-for-3 with a second-inning double) picked up his first hit as a Yankee.
Kervin Castro, Tim Hill and Paul Blackburn combined for 3 ²/₃ scoreless innings.
The bullpen has pitched to a majors-best 2.56 ERA in the past 55 games, holding opponents to a .200 batting average.
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The best Yankees hitter in the past four weeks: Austin Wells.
Since July 9, the catcher has posted a .931 OPS with four home runs in 18 games. The Yankees did not add another catcher at the deadline partly because of the prices and partly because of Wells’ uptick.
“I do feel like over the last few weeks, there’s been some steady improvement,” Boone said before Wells went 1-for-2, “and hopefully moving forward, more in line with the presence I feel like he could be, especially at the bottom of the order. I feel like he’s getting closer to that version.”
James Schiano
