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Two Phillies Offensive Trends to Mention

SEATTLE, WA - AUGUST 24: Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Brandon Marsh (16) strikes out in the top of the fourth inning during the MLB game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Seattle Mariners on August 24, 2026 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Phillies’ offense has largely sat as one of the worst in the sport, ranking 28th in wRC+, 23rd in on-base percentage, and 23rd in raw OPS. It’s probably about as bad as an offense can be while the team is on track to make the postseason.

There was supposed to be a switch that flipped. The Phillies had a meeting in late July to try to fix their approach issues.

It started producing results quickly. Through the first 21 games in August, the offense looked transformed overnight. They had the highest walk rate in the sport at 12.0%, a full tick above the next highest team in the Brewers. They struck out only 14.7% of the time with newly acquired Luis Arraez and a sudden Justin Crawford bump. There wasn’t a ton of thump in the lineup but they ranked 15th in ISO which is enough given what else they were doing.

There were some obvious reasons to believe the trend wouldn’t continue. Of the seven different teams they played over that 21 game span, only one of them rank above 15th in ERA and only one of them had a top half of the league walk rate. They were inevitably going to work a few more walks but it still seemed like something could click.

In the next 21 games, which include a 13-walk performance against a Washington Nationals bullpen game, their walk rate dropped to 8.6% (and if you take that game away, it drops to 7.3%) and they have the worst offense in the sport. Both trends are small but the latter one is a bit closer to where the team was before for the previous 4 full months.

The last time a team that finished in the bottom 10 in wRC+ to make the World Series was the 2014 Kansas City Royals, who finished 21st. The biggest question for the Phillies heading into the playoffs is if it’s possible to make a deep postseason run with one of the worst offenses in the sport. The answer is probably no.

Brandon Marsh

One of the tougher calls that Don Mattingly is going to have to make is what to do in left field over the next few weeks. Since July 1, no qualified hitter in baseball has a worse wRC+ than Brandon Marsh and the gap isn’t close. He’s hitting just .179 with a .489 OPS and has been worth -1.5 fWAR in that span. He’s a mess.

There have been a few contributing issues that have brought Marsh to this point but if we just want to focus on the recent struggles, he is actually putting the ball in play a bit. Given his career trend to run a strikeout rate in the high 20s or low 30s, an 18.4% K% since the start of August sounds amazing but his average exit velocity is down to 88.2 mph with a 38% hard hit rate.

Compare that to 2025, where he was still getting platooned but put together a nice season overall with a .785 OPS that played a solid left field. His average exit velocity was nearly 3 mph harder and a hard hit rate that was over eight percent higher. He needs to hit the ball hard to do damage.

As John Kruk said it on the broadcast last night, Brandon Marsh looks like a guy who is swinging not to miss and not swinging to do damage. That just doesn’t work for him.

The Phillies have two alternatives and neither seems amazing. They could give Bryan De La Cruz more starts but he’s just 5 for 21 in August while mostly getting favorable matchups.

The other option is sliding Justin Crawford to left field for Derek Hill to play center. It would boost the outfield defense but Derek Hill has a .656 OPS against right-handed pitchers this year in a very limited sample size. Their best bet might just be to hope Marsh figures something out.

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LeBron James' childhood friend, HS teammate promoted to Cavaliers GM

A high school teammate and childhood friend of LeBron James is now an NBA general manager.

Brandon Weems has been promoted to general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers after rising through the organization's front office over the past decade, according to multiplereports on Friday, Sept. 18. He'd been an assistant general manager for the franchise since 2022.

Weems played basketball with James at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio. James' agent, Rich Paul, described Weems as "basically like LeBron's brother" during a podcast appearance as James was deciding on a new team this offseason. His presence in Cleveland was seen as a positive recruiting tool for the Cavaliers.

In an odd twist, Weems is replacing one of the men who helped persuade James to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers in July over the Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors and others. Weems is filling the vacancy left by Mike Gansey, who is now the 76ers' president of basketball operations.

Weems, 40, played college basketball at Walsh University in Ohio and then had jobs for the men's basketball programs at Oakland University, Drexel and Kentucky, where he worked under John Calipari. Weems began working for the Cavaliers as a scout in 2015, according to the Akron Beacon-Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LeBron James' childhood friend, HS teammate promoted to Cavaliers GM

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Steph Curry reveals Li-Ning sneaker release date, his future with Warriors

Steph Curry reveals Li-Ning sneaker release date, his future with Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Steph Curry announced he has a new signature shoe on the way. He also used the occasion to make his intentions with the Warriors unmistakably clear.

Curry told CNBC on Thursday that his signature shoe with Li-Ning, the Chinese footwear company he signed a reported 10-year, $400 million contract with after 13 years with Under Armour, will debut early next year. He called the split with Under Armour “mutual” and said he holds no regrets about how it played out, adding that Li-Ning ultimately won him over because “the product reigned supreme.”

Until his own shoe releases, Curry said he will wear Li-Ning models designed by Warriors teammate Jimmy Butler and Hall of Fame guard Dwyane Wade, both of whom also represent the brand.

The bigger news for the Warriors’ audience came when the conversation turned to his own future. Entering his 18th NBA season with his contract set to expire in 2027, Curry made it clear he has no interest in testing free agency or walking away from the franchise that drafted him.

“I want to be a lifer with Golden State,” Curry said.

He also confirmed something Warriors fans had assumed for months without ever hearing him say it outright: he actively tried to recruit LeBron James to join Golden State this summer, before James ultimately signed with the Philadelphia 76ers. Curry didn’t shy away from admitting it.

“If anybody didn’t try, I think they’d be a fool,” Curry said, adding that seeing a player of James’ stature get to choose his own next chapter was good for the league as a whole.

The comments cap a summer that saw the Warriors strike out on every major star target, including James, while Draymond Green opted out of his own contract in part to help create the flexibility for exactly this kind of pursuit.

Curry’s own extension talks remain pending, but Thursday’s comments leave little ambiguity about which side of the negotiation he is approaching from — one that wants to finish his career and build whatever comes next in the Bay Area.

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The Bounce: Winning an MVP is better than a title? Tracy McGrady thinks so

The Bounce Newsletter  | This is The Athletic’s daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox.

Good morning! It’s been a busier week around the NBA than I expected. I accidentally started a basketball book club on X (formerly Twitter). Let’s get to it

T-Mac’s Take

McGrady would rather have an MVP than a title

No really!

In a recent episode of his “Cousins” podcast alongside NBA legend Vince Carter, Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady said he would rather have an MVP than a championship. (He does not have either. No shade. I don’t either!) In his explanation, McGrady said the championship is for the collective, the MVP award is for the individual and nobody remembers the 10th or 11th man on a winning team.

In the days since the clip hit social media, former NBA champions like Iman Shumpert have taken issue with T-Mac’s comments.

It’s so easy to say what we would do in someone else’s shoes. But we have no clue what it took for real. I’m of the belief that a person’s view of winning is often impacted by how they view their own legacy, and T-Mac sometimes feels like a legend without a true legacy.These convos never go well for him.

The discussion of whether winning a championship matters versus winning MVP is an interesting one, because I don’t think they’re the same thing. I agree with Shump.

Ring chasing is the point. I refuse to believe there is a player who doesn’t care about their chances of winning, especially not when they’re in the prime of their careers. Shumpert’s reaction to McGrady’s comment brings to mind something Zach (yep, the Zach who usually writes this newsletter) has mentioned to me in the past: Have we reached a point where winning it all is actually underrated?

Though not a one-to-one comparison, as recently as 2025, Hall of Famer Allen Iverson has said he doesn’t regret not winning. Iverson looks at his own impact on the game and the way he changed his life through basketball as more important than a chip.

So while the rest of us might easily say winning changes everything, these guys have the benefit, the delusion maybe, of looking back on their younger selves a bit kinder and reducing the value of winning. (You also need that delusion to even reach the levels they did. The challenge is in the margins of just playing the game.)

In another viral clip, McGrady said that if you replaced Kobe Bryant with him on the three-peat Lakers, he would’ve had a similar impact. T-Mac averaged 29.4 points in the playoffs from 2000 to 2003; the Lakers three-peated in 2000, 2001 and 2002.

McGrady’s postseason scoring average during those years was tied with Shaquille O’Neal for second, behind only Iverson (30.9). Kobe ranked fourth (26.5).

These convos do make me empathize with T-Mac, though. His body betrayed him, he didn’t have talented teams in Orlando and his coach was Doc Rivers, who routinely gets clowned for choking in big moments aside from the 2008 ring many say he lucked into.

(There’s another world where we can acknowledge there are just too many podcasts and too many takes, thus creating a need to ignore facts, stretch opinions and be unnecessarily harsh.)

The last 24

🏀 Numbers game. Which current NBA players deserve to have their jersey numbers retired? Jason Jones has the list.

🏀 Into the vacuum. Ownership turnover in the NBA has only increased the power of the commissioner, Jason Lloyd writes.

🏀 Mental matters. DeMar DeRozan is nearing the end of his playing career, but he has big plans to continue his advocacy for mental health.

🏀 Eastern promises. The Knicks are the defending champs, but the Eastern Conference has a deep bench of contenders this season.

BOG thoughts

Three takeaways from NBA meeting

In case you missed it, the NBA held its Board of Governors meetings earlier this week. An editor asked my opinion about it all, and I didn’t realize I had thoughts until I did.

Here are my takeaways now that the dust has settled a little:

On the Portland Trail Blazers’ arena dispute: I found it interesting that NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he “would see it as a failure” if the Trail Blazers left Portland. Silver also said he hoped both sides could “lower the temperature” in the negotiations. But it feels like the NBA and other professional sports teams across the country are ignoring the general public’s lack of appetite for financing a sports team’s new state-of-the-art arena.

Silver admitted to wanting to be more “NFL-like” with every fan believing their team can win it. I guess that’s fine. People either love or hate parity. But something I think the NBA should also look at is how the NFL is so popular. The NFL knows its audience and leans into its established culture. The NBA can be having a good day, and the NFL will bust in like the Kool-Aid Man. Gotta figure out how to fight back.

Everybody’s ready to move on from the Clippers investigation and subsequent punishments. Silver addressed Clippers owner Steve Ballmer’s statement accepting the punishment doled out by the league and said he’d spoken to Kawhi Leonard, who is officially with Toronto again. They’re all ready to move on. Understandably so. But people are definitely going to be talking about this for a good while longer. This was huge! It will be interesting to see fan reaction in L.A. at the start of the season.

WNBA future

Part 2 of our Q&A with Annie Costabile

After an extended break for the FIBA Women’s World Cup, the final stretch of the WNBA season is underway, with the regular season ending later next week.

I discussed awards races and more with The Athletic’s women’s basketball writer Annie Costabile earlier this week, but our conversation was so good (and so long!) that I didn’t want to leave anything on the cutting room floor.

So here’s Part II (and check out the rest of Annie’s recent work):

With a new CBA in place for a full season, can fans expect teams to fully upgrade their standards/resources by next season?

Annie: Teams have until 2028 to meet the facility standards requirement, and some will push it until then. The Liberty, for example, are in the building phase, but structural framing doesn’t appear to have been started based on a walk-by of the Greenpoint site.

The teams with the biggest resource issues, like the Chicago Sky, Los Angeles Sparks and Dallas Wings are all set to have facilities open by the 2027 season. The Liberty have some flexibility because, even though their Greenpoint location looks like it may not be ready by the start of next season, they still have been leaders in the league in terms of overall resources/operational standards.

What WNBA teams need a drastic overhaul for next season? And in what ways?

Annie: The Sparks, the Sky, the Phoenix Mercury and the Connecticut Sun. I think for the Sparks and the Sky, they have to answer the question of whether or not the vision they had is the vision they want to keep. We’ve seen in L.A. they’ve already fired and hired a new general manager before the season even ended. They could look to continue that overhaul and fire coach Lynne Roberts. The Sky have to confront similar questions of whether or not GM Jeff Pagliocca and coach Tyler Marsh are capable of getting them back to playoff contention. I think what’s slightly different there is the degree of injury the Sky dealt with and what they looked like prior to Rickea Jackson’s ACL injury.

The Sun are obviously relocating to Houston, so that comes with natural change. Then we have the Mercury, and their overhaul, I think, really comes down to the roster. Is Alyssa Thomas still the franchise player? They should not have fallen from championship contention to outside of the playoffs because of one player (they lost Satou Sabally in free agency.) I don’t see a coaching change happening there.

With the women’s college hoops season approaching, I’d like to shift our attention to next season’s highly anticipated 2027 draft class that includes players like JuJu Watkins, Madison Booker and MiLaysia Fulwiley. Who’s a sleeper to watch who could boost their draft stock?

Annie: My mind immediately went to South Carolina forward/center Ashlyn Watkins. I still remember watching her win the McDonald’s All-American dunk contest in 2022 and being in awe of her length and athleticism. She rejoined Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks in June after taking a year off from basketball. If she comes back with an improved shot coupled with her defensive prowess, specifically when it comes to defending at the rim, I think she could end up going in the top half of the first round.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

NBA, WNBA, NBA Highlights, The Bounce

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Astros Prospect Report: September 17th

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JULY 25: Lucas Spence #28 of the Houston Astros bats in a game against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on July 25, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Matt Dirksen/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Another day of minor league baseball is in the books. See the results below. Check out the previous day’s recap here.

AAA: Sugar Land Space Cowboys (72-74) lost 7-5 (BOX SCORE)

Sugar Land got on the board in the first inning on a Schiavone RBI double. Mayer got the start but ran into some trouble in the 2nd inning allowing 5 runs. He ended up going 4 innings and allowing 6 runs, 5 earned. Sugar Land got a run back on a Ferreras RBI groundout and another in the 5th on a Matthews sac fly. The offense picked up 2 runs in 7th as they cut the lead to one. Munoz allowed a run in the 9th and the offense was quiet the rest of the way as Sugar Land fell 7-5.

Note: Teng has a 2.70 ERA in Triple-A.

AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (62-76) SEASON OVER
A+: Asheville Tourists (43-87) SEASON OVER
A: Fayetteville Woodpeckers – CAROLINA LEAGUE CHAMPS

Today’s minor league starters:

SL: Ryan Weiss – 7:05 CT

CC: SEASON OVER

AV: SEASON OVER

FV: SEASON OVER

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Adem Bona’s foot injury exposes the Sixers’ potential fatal flaw this season

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 28: Joel Embiid #21 and Adem Bona #30 of the Philadelphia 76ers watch a replay on the scoreboard during the second half against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena on October 28, 2025 in Washington, DC. 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. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) | Getty Images

With less than two weeks to go until training camp begins, the vibes around the Sixers are still largely immaculate for the time being. However, Thursday’s news that Adem Bona suffered a foot sprain was a reminder of what might prove to be their Achilles’ heel.

Liberty Ballers’ Paul Hudrick reported that Bona suffered the injury during the FIBA World Cup qualifiers and that he’s expected to return to on-court workouts within the first two weeks of training camp. For now, it doesn’t appear to be any major cause for alarm. But if Bona does miss the start of the season for whatever reason, it’ll put the Sixers’ frontcourt depth to the test early on.

Joel Embiid has not exactly been the textbook definition of health throughout his decade-long NBA career. Although he said in the spring that he was feeling better about his oft-injured knee moving forward, he isn’t going to suddenly start playing 82 games. If nothing else, he figures to continue missing at least one game in back-to-back sets and buying strategic rest at other points throughout the regular season.

As a result, backup center tends to be more important for the Sixers than most other teams. And even with a healthy Bona, that looked like the weakest spot of their roster heading into the season.

Bona is the spiritual successor to Paul Reed: a low-minutes chaos agent who can’t stay out of foul trouble. His athleticism and motor have endeared him to Sixers fans, but his 4.7 fouls per 36 minutes over his first two seasons? Not so much. Bona did undeniably outplay Andre Drummond for significant portions of the 2025-26 season and figured to enter this year with the inside track for the backup center job.

Ariel Hukporti, whom the Sixers signed with a portion of their bi-annual exception this offseason, is Bona’s main competition for that role. He’s far more of an unknown, as he served as the New York Knicks’ third-string center for his first two NBA seasons. The 7’0″, 246-pound Hukporti has solid size for a center, but could he hold down the fort as the primary backup if Bona misses time? The jury remains very much out on that for now.

The Sixers might not have much of a choice in the matter, though. After signing LeBron James and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, they’re only about $1.8 million below their first-apron hard cap. They won’t have enough financial wiggle room to sign anyone other than an undrafted rookie free agent until early December at the earliest. (Sorry, Kevin Love.)

Instead, Bona’s injury could force head coach Nick Nurse to tap into his mad-scientist side early on.

Nurse already tinkered with small-ball lineups featuring Dominick Barlow at the 5 last year, so he figures to revisit those. Granted, lineups featuring Barlow without any of Embiid, Bona or Andre Drummond had a net rating of minus-3.3 last season, so those might not be a panacea, either.

Dean Wade is also listed at 6’9″, so he could be another small-ball 5 option. However, he didn’t fare much better in lineups without Jarrett Allen or Evan Mobley last season in Cleveland (minus-2.1 net rating). And while LeBron-at-the-5 lineups are a fun idea in theory, that isn’t the best use of him on either end of the floor. Those lineups would also leave the Sixers woefully short on rim protection.

The Sixers do still have one open two-way spot, so they could (should?) look to fill that with another big man as additional insurance. Granted, players can only sign two-way contracts if they have fewer than four years of NBA experience, so the Sixers couldn’t sign an established veteran such as Love or Kelly Olynyk to such a deal. Their options may be fairly limited in that regard, although none of us should ever doubt president of basketball operations Mike Gansey again after what he pulled off this offseason.

If the Sixers are fully healthy, they should be in the inner circle of title contenders this year. But Bona’s foot sprain was an unwelcome reminder of their lack of depth behind the oft-injured Embiid.

Could that be their undoing, at least early in the year before they’re able to fill their 15th roster spot with a prorated minimum contract? It might largely fall on Hukporti to prove otherwise.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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Red Sox News & Links: X-rays negative on Willson Contreras hand injury

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 17: Willson Contreras #40 of the Boston Red Sox reacts after being hit by a pitch from Chase Silseth of the Texas Rangers in the eighth inning at Globe Life Field on September 17, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Breathe a sigh of relief. For now, anyway.

Willson Contreras was forced to leave last night’s game after getting hit by a pitch in the right hand. It looked pretty bad in the moment and he later said his hand went numb for about five minutes. Thankfully, post-game x-rays were negative. But, given how the Red Sox medical staff has diagnosed injuries this year, well, you know:

It was the 24th(!) time that Contreras has been hit this year and he’s had more than enough of it. “I feel like … ” Contreras said, pausing for seven seconds, “I want to say something I can’t say. Let’s leave it at that… If nobody does anything about it, I’m going to keep getting hit. That’s the way I see it. That’s it.”

Regardless of the x-rays, don’t expect to see Willson in the lineup any time soon in light of the fact that the Sox don’t really have anything to play for. (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)

Contreras wasn’t the only injury scare we had during last night’s game. Even though the Sox found themselves in a save situation, closer Aroldis Chapman did not make it into the game. Is this something to worry about?
“He’s just dealing with some lat tightness we’re going to be conservative with,” Chad Tracy said. “It’s getting better, but we’ve got to make sure it gets there. That’s why he wasn’t available tonight.” (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)

If Chapman does go down for an extended time, the Sox don’t have another all-time great closer to replace him with. But they are pretty good in the giant Cuban fireballer department in general. That’s because Johan Oviedo made his first rehab appearance last night, hitting 98.5 on the gun and striking out 4 over 2.1 innings. (Katie Morrison-O’day, MassLive)

Meanwhile, there’s another injury to keep on eye on in the lineup. “Nearly three months after Caleb Durbin first dislocated his left pinkie and more than a month after he reinjured it, the third baseman’s digit remains locked nearly at a right angle.” Durbin is unable to fully straighten the finger and it could require offseason surgery, but he’s staying on the field for now. “There really is kind of a joint understanding that we’ll get it looked at at the end of the season if we have to, because [whatever the diagnosis is], it’s not going to impact my decision to play at all,” he said. (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)

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Mariners News: Luis Castillo, Cade Cavalli, and Sandy Alcantara

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - AUGUST 28: Luis Castillo #58 of the Chicago White Sox pitches against the Minnesota Twins during the first inning of the game at Target Field August 28, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Good morning friends and happy Friday!

The M’s kick off their three-game set against the Rockies tonight with first pitch scheduled for 5:10pm PT. Let’s check out what else is happening around baseball.

In Mariners news…

Around the league…

  • Things haven’t been going great for Luis Castillo in Chicago, and now the White Sox are moving him to the bullpen.
  • The Nationals are reportedly closing in on a contract extension with right-hander Cade Cavalli.
  • Ken Rosenthal at The Athletic previewed the winter’s coming managerial carousel by discussing the six most vulnerable skippers around the league. ($)
  • Jarrett Seidler at Baseball Prospectus continued his ranking of the sport’s front offices by revealing Nos. 20-11. ($)
  • Despite the fierce odds against a playoff appearance for the Marlins, right-hander Sandy Alcantara still believes. Matthew Trueblood at Baseball Prospectus has more. ($)
  • This post reads like a Mad Lib.
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Yankees Rivalry Roundup: Rays win sixth straight

ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 17: (L-R) Richie Palacios #1, Taylor Walls #6, Chandler Simpson #14, and Junior Caminero #13 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrate after defeating the Athletics 10-1 at Tropicana Field on September 17, 2026 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Thursday was an off day for the Yankees, but as we progress into the final weeks of the 2026 regular season, every game matters for many teams around the Junior Circuit. Between the mediocre races in the Central and West, or the fight for the final wild card spot, there is plenty of moving that could take place before the end of the season.

Let’s take a look at what went down on Thursday.

Tampa Bay Rays (93-59) 10, Athletics (61-92) 1

On a night where they had a free half-game to take in the East, the Rays took full advantage on Thursday. Despite a quiet start on both sides, a big fourth inning fueled an easy Tampa Bay win against the A’s.

Starters Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen kept the game scoreless through three innings of play, before the Rays’ bats turned the corner in the fourth. In that inning, Chandler Simpson’s single score a pair, before a double from Richie Palacios cleared the the bases to plate three more. After the dust settled in the fourth, the Rays were up 6-0 and cruising into the middle innings.

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Rasmussen turned in a good day at the office, tossing five scoreless for the Rays, while the offense continued to plug away, led by Simpson, Palacios, Liam Hicks, and Taylor Walls, who all tallied a pair of RBIs each. They made the most of their opportunities, as they needed just seven hits to reach their double-digit run total.

The only noise the A’s made in this one came from a long Lawrence Butler home run in the sixth, though it was a only a blip in the blowout the Rays dished out. With the win, they jump to a daunting five game lead in the East.

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Other Games:

Texas Rangers (76-77) 3, Boston Red Sox (83-70) 4:

In the race in the West, the Rangers dropped a crucial one, as the Red Sox came back to win on Thursday. The Rangers went up 3-0 early on, with help from Josh Jung’s 10th homer of the season, and held that lead through six innings. After scratching a run across in the seventh, the big blow came off the bat of Trevor Story, who belted a three-run bomb to suddenly give the Sox the lead. They’d hold on to it, as they inch closer to clinching a postseason berth.

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AL Rock Fight:

Houston Astros (77-76) 6, Kansas City Royals (67-86) 2: The Astros popped back above .500 with a win over the Royals on Thursday. Of their six runs, five of them came on a quintet of solo homers, including Jeremy Peña’s 20th of the season that tied things up in the first, as well as Yordan Alvarez’s 40th bomb of the season. Meanwhile, five different Houston pitchers helped to keep this one calm, as the Royals were only able to plate a pair with just three hits

The race in the West may very well come down to the final days of the season.

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Chicago White Sox (78-75) 3, Detroit Tigers (72-81) 1: The White Sox rode the wave of a three-run bomb in the first inning, as Munetaka Murakami’s 32nd long ball of the season gave them a lead they’d never give up. The win gets them into a dead heat atop the Central alongside the Guardians, who had Thursday off.

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Elephant Rumblings: Guardians Series Preview

KANSAS CITY, MO - AUGUST 17: Athletics starting pitcher Mason Barnett (63) is relieved in the third inning during a major league baseball game on August 17, 2026, between the Athletics and the Kansas City Royals, at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.. (Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Good morning A’s fans. Happy Friday!

The Athletics entered their final road trip of the season riding high after scoring 25 runs and securing both series victories during a six-game homestand last week. The American League-best Tampa Bay Rays halted the Athletics’ momentum by sweeping them in three games for the second time in as many months.

The A’s used to be the embodiment of small-market success, but that baton has now been passed to the Rays, who have a legitimate shot at reaching the World Series this fall. If the A’s want to reclaim their crown, the team must upgrade its pitching and defense, two major weak spots that heavily contributed to the Rays’ blowout victory yesterday.

That will be an offseason focus, as it is too late in the season to expect changes. At 92 losses with nine games left, the A’s need to win at least two games to avoid a dreaded 100-loss campaign.

This weekend, the team wraps up its road slate with three games against the 78-75 Cleveland Guardians, who are in a fierce battle with the Chicago White Sox for the American League Central title. After failing to play spoiler in Tampa Bay, the Athletics will look to lower the Guardians’ hopes of a third straight playoff appearance under manager Stephen Vogt—an A’s fan-favorite during his playing days.

Right-hander Mason Barnett will return from Triple-A Las Vegas to start tonight, while Cleveland will counter with opener Daniel Espino. Left-hander Jacob Lopez and right-hander Jack Perkins will make the Athletics final two road starts of 2026, while the team’s offense will look to scratch runs across against Guardians right-handers Tanner Bibee and Gavin Williams.

What are you hoping to see from the Athletics in Cleveland? Which players should the A’s further evaluate and who should sit on the bench over these final nine games?

A’s Coverage:

MLB News and Interest:

Best of X:

Not good optics. Will the team turn things around before moving to Las Vegas, or will the losing stretch follow them to “Sin City”?

Yesterday’s game was not the first time sloppy defense and walks have resulted in an A’s loss this season. Both are areas that can be coached. The fact that these problems continue to happen suggests that manager Mark Kotsay and his coaching staff are struggling to teach these players how to play error-free baseball.

Athletics’ Las Vegas stadium feature update: The organization is fully embracing the casino culture synonymous with the city.

Do you think it’s fair to compare A’s players to legends of the game’s past? If so, share your best comparisons for the current members of the Green and Gold in the comments.




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Diamondbacks lose further ground on off day

DENVER, CO - SEPTEMBER 14: Fernando Tatis Jr. #23 of the San Diego Padres bats during the game between the San Diego Padres and the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on Monday, September 14, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Casey Paul/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images

Diamondbacks News

(San Diego Union-Tribune) Padres rout Rockies, add to lead in playoff race

The Padres came down from the mountains with the margin they need after winning on Thursday by a large margin.

With a 9-2 victory over the Rockies, the Padres increased their lead in the race for the final National League playoff spot to four games with nine games remaining in the regular season.

That lowered the Padres’ “magic number” to six, meaning any combination of Padres wins and Diamondbacks losses that add up to six assures the Padres a postseason berth.

(Purple Row) Second-inning disaster sinks Rockies in 9-2 loss to Padres

The Padres’ offensive aggressiveness claimed another Rockies victim in Tanner Gordon. After a pedestrian top of the first inning in which he allowed a couple of singles and had a couple of strikeouts, Gordon had a 1-0 lead to work with heading into the second inning.

Then the wheels fell off.

(SI.com) Diamondbacks Stare Down Dangerous Yankees as Playoff Hopes Dwindle

The Arizona Diamondbacks are running out of time.

This weekend, Arizona will play its final three-game set of the regular season in front of the Chase Field home crowd.

It’s likely to be packed, with the 88-64 New York Yankees coming to town, and a 25-year celebration of the Diamondbacks’ World Series victory over those same Yankees.

(Burn City Sports) D-backs CEO Derrick Hall addresses roof leaks at Chase Field

A roof leak during a storm may sound like a minor inconvenience, but in Phoenix, where a retractable roof is supposed to be one of the building’s defining features, it becomes another uncomfortable reminder of Chase Field’s aging infrastructure. This is also hardly a new problem. Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall acknowledged the roof has leaked before, saying he first witnessed an issue during a monsoon roughly 20 years ago. The roof is only the latest concern surrounding the stadium, which has also dealt with unresolved HVAC problems, a roof motor that reportedly has not functioned properly for years, and piping issues on the upper level.

MLB News

(CBS Sports) Mets’ Jared Young carted off field after colliding with Nolan McLean during play at first base

Mets first baseman Jared Young “avoided the scariest outcomes” after a terrifying collision with pitcher Nolan McLean during the top of the sixth inning during the Phillies-Mets bout at Citi Field on Thursday night, manager Andy Green told reporters after the game.

A weak grounder to first base off the bat of Justin Crawford brought Young and McLean together and a bit of miscommunication caused a really ugly and scary collision. While both fielders scrambled for the ball, McLean’s knee appeared to strike Young’s head, sending the first baseman to the ground.

(ESPN) Dodgers clinch fifth straight NL West title, 13th in 14 years

The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched their fifth consecutive National League West title and 13th in the past 14 seasons with an 8-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday afternoon.

“It’s a big deal,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I think that a lot of people think that it’s just a rite of passage, [but] it’s not easy. So it’s something that we’re all really proud of, but really understand that’s not the end goal.”

(Yahoo! Sports) Dodgers exec Andrew Friedman expects Shohei Ohtani to return from IL in the regular season: ‘He’s progressing well’

“He’s doing well,” Friedman said, via Jack Harris of the California Post. “He’s progressing well.”

When asked if Ohtani would be back in time to join the Dodgers in the playoffs, Friedman pointed to the two-way player returning even sooner: “I expect him back in the regular season,” he said.

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A look at remaining schedules for the Cubs and their Wild Card competition

As you know, the Cubs hold the tiebreaker over the three teams closest to them in the Wild Card race, the Phillies, Diamondbacks and Padres.

This is extremely important because the Cubs are now tied with the Phillies entering Friday’s action after the Phillies beat the Mets Thursday, and lead the Padres by one game, as San Diego also won on Thursday.

The Cubs lead the Diamondbacks by five games and thus the magic number for the Cubs clinching a Wild Card berth is four.

The magic number for the Cubs to clinch the first wild card over the Phillies is 9. But for the Phillies to surpass the Cubs, their number is 10, due to the tiebreaker.

Tankathon has the Phillies with the toughest strength of remaining schedule of the four clubs (third). The Padres are ninth, Cubs 14th, and Diamondbacks 16th, with nine games remaining for all four teams.

Here are the remaining schedules for all four Wild Card contenders. Home games in boldface.

Cubs, 9 games (3 home, 6 road)

at Reds (3), Marlins (3), at Red Sox (3)

The Reds are in disarray at this point, having lost eight of their last 10. The Marlins are just 31-44 on the road, though they did just take two of three from the D-backs in Phoenix.

The interesting series is the last one, as both the Cubs and Red Sox will be jockeying for postseason positioning.

Phillies, 9 games (6 home, 3 road)

at Mets (3), Brewers (3), Rays (3)

The Phillies do get to finish their season with a six-game homestand — but with both series against the teams with the best records in their respective leagues.

So hopefully the Brewers do the Cubs a solid and beat up on the Phillies. And Cubs fans will have to hold their noses and root for the Mets this weekend.

Padres, 9 games (6 home, 3 road)

Marlins (3), at Dodgers (3), Diamondbacks (3)

As noted, the Marlins did win a series in Arizona, and they will be facing the Padres on the road just before heading to Wrigley.

Diamondbacks, 9 games (3 home, 6 road)

Yankees (3), at Rockies (3), at Padres (3)

The D-backs play a pair of teams, one in a postseason spot and fighting for one. In between they face one team way out of it. The D-backs and Padres have split their first 10 games this year, and the teams also have split at each other’s parks, 2-2 in San Diego and 3-3 in Arizona.

If Arizona is eliminated before that final weekend (or even if they aren’t), they could help out the Cubs by defeating the Padres.

Fasten your seat belts!

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Charles Davalan records an RBI, but Tulsa gets knocked out

SPRINGFIELD, MO - SEPTEMBER 15: Charles Davalan #25 of the Tulsa Drillers looks on prior to the game between the Tulsa Drillers and the Springfield Cardinals at Hammons Field on Tuesday, September 15, 2026 in Springfield, Missouri. (Photo by Shanna Stafford/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)

With a suspended meeting in Triple-A and Tulsa losing a winner-take-all matchup, it was an eventful day despite a low number of games in the Dodgers’ minor league system.

Player of the Day

In a game where hits were incredibly difficult to find for the Drillers, recently promoted outfielder Charles Davalan recorded one of his team’s RBI in a 6-4 loss.

Elected the Midwest League MVP for his efforts in High-A with the Loons, Davalan ends the year positively, even with Tulsa failing in its final objective.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Both offenses were rolling through the first four before the rain put a stop to this game. Austin Galthier left the yard with a two-run shot, and twice hitting with runners in scoring position, first baseman and cleanup hitter Matt Gorski drove in a run with an out.

While the Chihuahuas had already gone to the bullpen in the fourth inning, Charlie Barnes was the only Comets pitcher to appear in this one before its suspension. The left-hander was averaging nearly 20 pitches per inning and running into all kinds of trouble.

It’ll be Hyeseong Kim coming to bat in the top of the fifth when the game resumes later today. Kim is one of only two Comet hitters yet to reach safely in this game.

Double-A Tulsa

For a team that was nearly outhit four to one by their opponent, the Drillers did about as decent a job at staying competitive as they could’ve hoped: eventually losing 6-4 to the Cardinals and saying goodbye to the postseason, dropping the Division Series in three.

Cardinal starter Liam Doyle refused to let the Drillers put the ball in play, allowing five walks but striking out eight in 3.2 innings and ultimately only letting across one earned run.

Despite their hitting struggles, the Drillers managed to take a 3-2 lead in the seventh thanks to an Elijah Hainline sacrifice fly. However, relievers Christian Suarez and Jacob Kmatz both allowed multiple runs in the eighth and ninth to quickly surrender control of the game to the Cards.

Not only did Tulsa finish the game without a homer while the Cardinals had three, but they didn’t even record an extra-base hit, limited by three strikeout games from Mike Sirota and Jake Gelof.

Partially responsible for the game being so close, starter Christian Zazueta had a productive performance, allowing just a pair of runs in five innings, both of them solo shots. Zazueta recorded seven of his 15 outs via strikeout as he was inducing whiffs at will, ultimately undone by his team’s lack of run support.

High-A Great Lakes

The Great Lakes Loons were eliminated by the Dayton Dragons in the Division Series, losing it two games to one.

Class-A Ontario

The Ontario Tower Buzzers were swept by the Lake Elsinore Storm in the Division Series.

Transactions

The Dodgers optioned Bobby Miller back to Triple-A and called up Landon Knack.

Thursday’s scores

  • Springfield 6, Tulsa 4
  • El Paso 5, Oklahoma City 5 – suspended game will resume today

Friday’s schedule

  • 4:05 p.m. PT: OKC and El Paso resume yesterday’s suspended game tied 5-5 in the top of the first inning
  • The regularly scheduled Friday matchup between OKC (Christian Romero) and El Paso (Jhony Brito) will start after the end of the first game. It’ll be a seven-inning affair.

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Orioles-Brewers series preview: MLB’s best team comes to town

BALTIMORE, MD - SEPTEMBER 05: A general view as Sonny Gray #54 of the Boston Red Sox pitches against the Baltimore Orioles during the sixth inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 5, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The Orioles backed themselves into a corner where they probably need to win every remaining game or all but one remaining game in order to make the postseason. They responded to being in that corner by sweeping the Mets, a not very good team, in a series where the Mets fans were all continually cheering for the best Orioles player. Now they are back in Baltimore to face the team in MLB with the best record so far this season, the Milwaukee Brewers.

Milwaukee has been laying waste to just about all comers as this season goes along. Their 95-58 record is the best thing anybody has going on this year. They have already clinched their division title, and at this point they only “need” to win games to make sure they stay ahead of the Dodgers for the #1 seed in the National League. The back-to-back champions are currently at 93 wins. That one isn’t a done deal yet for the Brewers.

One part of why the Brewers have been able to do this is the absolute freak Jacob Misiorowski, a second-year starting pitcher who’s taken a big leap this year after a mixed bag rookie season a year ago. Misiorowski is averaging over 100mph on his fastball and it’s proving mostly unhittable, which is how he’s been able to drop a 1.89 ERA and 0.812 WHIP on the league. As of this writing, it seems that we will not see Misiorowski pitch in this series, though the Brewers do have a TBD for Sunday and until that turns into someone else, I guess it might be him.

The bullpen is holding up its share of the weight as well. There are six relievers, including former Oriole DL Hall, who are sitting with a 3.50 ERA or better. Hall, in fact, has a 2.17 ERA through 43 games. Closer Trevor Megill has a 0.902 WHIP in his 57.1 innings. You are doing pretty well as a closer if you are allowing fewer than one baserunner per inning pitched. It is a very good way to seal wins.

The Brewers have also scored more runs than anybody else in baseball. They have been able to do this in part because there are six decent-to-great hitters in their regular lineup, plus two guys on the bench (including former Oriole Gary Sánchez) who are doing well in their reserve opportunities. They’re getting a breakout season from first baseman Jake Bauers at age 30, another “good hitting, great defense” season from Brice Turang, and even former Oriole Joey Ortiz, who was absolutely terrible at the plate a year ago, has bounced back to decent.

These guys are helping themselves out by cashing in the scoring opportunities that they do get. Their split with runners in scoring position is nearly 60 points higher than their regular batting. This is the #1 number among all MLB teams. (The Orioles, with a .759 OPS with RISP, are in 10th.)

This is a complete team that hasn’t had much postseason success despite fairly dominant regular seasons. They have won their division five times since the 2018 season, with two wild card bids, and have advanced past the first round in which they played just twice. That gives them the edge over the Mike Elias era Orioles in two ways: They’ve actually been consistently good, and they’ve actually won a few playoff games here and there.

The Orioles are inferior to this team in basically every way and they’ve got to manage to sweep this series or at the absolute worst win two out of three. Yeah, good luck with that.

As of this writing, the Orioles are listing TBD as their starting pitchers for every game of the series. Very helpful for bloggers who are trying to say something informative about the series. It appears likely that Cade Povich will be recalled from Norfolk to start one of the games.

Game 1: Friday, 7:05pm Eastern

  • BAL starter: TBD
  • MIL starter: Dustin May – 4.49 ERA, 3.42 FIP, 1.287 WHIP in 28 games (Cardinals then Brewers)

May was a well-regarded pitching prospect so long ago that people were hoping that the Orioles would be able to pry him loose from the Dodgers in the Manny Machado trade, and disappointed when they did not manage to do so. Due to a variety of injury challenges (and one global pandemic) he hasn’t pitched a full season worth of starts in his seven-year career until this season. Dean Kremer, the pitcher the Orioles actually got, has more than doubled May’s career bWAR to date.

The 29-year-old 6’6” righty appeared to be a victim of bad luck with the Cardinals earlier this year, allowing a .322 BABIP that probably wasn’t all his fault. Since joining the Brewers, May’s BABIP luck has improved (.288) but he’s getting substantially worse results, probably because he’s now giving up home runs and other hard contact like it’s going out of style. There does exist the possibility that the Orioles will show up with a game plan that allows them to take advantage of this.

Game 2: Saturday, 7:05pm Eastern

  • BAL starter: TBD
  • MIL starter: Robert Gasser – 4.30 ERA, 4.32 FIP, 1.266 WHIP in 19 games

Gasser is in his third season with the Brewers, though he had to get Tommy John surgery just five starts into his MLB career and as a result, he’d only pitched in seven major league games before this season. He started this season out with Milwaukee’s Triple-A team and eventually was added to the MLB club, since when he’s done… fine. He has the same ERA+ as Trevor Rogers this season. That feels less bad when you’ve got a guy doing what Misiorowski has done at the top of the rotation as compared to what has happened with Orioles starting pitching.

The Statcast peripherals for Gasser are not good. He has been particularly vulnerable to giving up hard contact. He does not get many ground balls, he does not throw the ball hard, he does not get a lot of swing-and-miss and he doesn’t get batters to chase very often outside of the strike zone. Absolutely none of which means that the Orioles offense will do well against him on Saturday. Gasser is left-handed.

Game 3: Sunday, 7:20pm Eastern

  • BAL starter: TBD
  • MIL starter: TBD

Note: This game airs on Peacock and only on Peacock.

Double TBD. Sheesh. Get it together, teams.

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How do you think this series is going to go for the Orioles? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.