Worldwide Sports News

The Los Angeles Dodgers will have to regroup after seeing their talented roster lose another key player to injury.

Center fielder Andy Pages suffered a left hand fracture after he took a 100.2 mph sinker, thrown by Pittsburgh Pirates right-handed pitcher Bubba Chandler in the third inning Friday night, to his hand.

Manager Dave Roberts announced after the Dodgers’ 5-4 win against the Pirates on Aug. 21 that Pages' injury was "not season-ending," but he expects the first-time All-Star to be out 4-5 weeks.

Pages is considered the team’s top defensive player, leading the team in Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and outfield assists.

Offensively, Pages has produced 80 RBI, 21 home runs and 72 runs this season.

The Dodgers will have to explore options that will not only help the team defensively but also provide another solid bat in the lineup.

CHICAGO — Luis Robert Jr.’s visit to his old stomping ground undoubtedly will be remembered as a highlight of his season.

Saturday night, the veteran outfielder blasted two homers against his former team to help the Mets beat the White Sox 10-5.

Robert heard boos from the home crowd after hitting both homers.

“It feels good to hit homers against any team at home,” Robert said through an interpreter. “But I will say it felt good to hit the home runs here, just because it was a stadium I played so many games over my career.”

Robert, who spent seven seasons with the White Sox, hit a two-run homer in the third that gave the Mets a 4-1 lead. He also delivered a solo blast in the seventh.

Overall, the Mets hit five homers.

“[Friday] it felt a little weird here and a little strange,” Robert said. “Today, it was pretty normal.”

Francisco Alvarezsnapped an 0-for-14 with a single in his first at-bat, but his frustration level has mounted lately in inverse proportion to his OPS.

The Mets catcher had an outburst on Friday after a strikeout, returning to the dugout and snapping his bat in half. Alvarez finished 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

“The frustration was from [Friday], because it only matters the day we played,” Alvarez said before the game. “What happened before is in the past. It’s more about the day.”

Alvarez began play 8-for-52 (.154) in August with an anemic .536 OPS. He had strikeouts in 25 of those at-bats.

“He’s incredibly passionate — he wants to be great for the team,” interim manager Andy Green said of Alvarez’s emotional display. “He wants to be great because he puts a lot of work in.”

Green said Alvarez’s issue simply hasn’t just been chasing pitches outside the strike zone.

“I think chase usually shows up after you have missed your pitch,” Green said. “He’s had some pitches to hit but he hasn’t necessarily squared up. When that happens he’s found himself outside of the strike zone.”

Mark Vientos, who began a minor league rehab assignment as the DH on Friday for Double-A Binghamton, will see action at first base and third base before returning to the Mets, according to Green. Vientos is rehabbing a right-hand fracture that has kept him sidelined since July 10.

Jo Adell has been everything the Guardians were hoping for and more. His mammoth 3 run HR tonight completely changed the game. He also singled and scored in the 6th inning from a Patrick Bailey single, so he was involved in all four of the Guardians runs tonight. He is now slashing .243/.323/.526 in 16 games as a Guardian. If we are able to get back into this playoff race, Jo Adell will be a huge part of it.

It’s also noteworthy that we have seen Angel Genao start two games in a row at SS, considering the season that Brayan Rocchio has had. Rocchio has had a rought stretch offensively as of late, but he has still been one of the best SS defenders in the MLB this season. As long as Rocchio is healthy I imagine he will be in the lineup tomorrow.

The Guardians will go for the sweep tomorrow at 3:10 pm ET. It will be Foster Griffin vs Tomoyuki Sugano.

On paper, anyway, Michael Soroka was the better starting pitcher than Reds starter Rhett Lowder. Especially after the beatdown we put on Cincinnati last night, it seemed like pretty good odds that we’re stomp the Reds again. Sadly, however, that was not the case. Soroka sucked tonight, Lowder was good until he wasn’t so much, but by then the Diamondback were already in a hole that, despite some sporadic efforts by the offense, we couldn’t climb our way out of. Especially because the hole kept getting deeper.

In fact, it started to feel, at least to me, like it might be a foregone conclusion before we’d even gotten our offense involved. Elly De La Cruz lined a very hard-hit double into the right field corner to lead off the game, and one out later was driven home by a very hard-hit JJ Bleday grounder that got past Tim Tawa at first and rolled into the right field corner for another double. That was the only damage at first, it that was the start of the hole. 1-0 Cincinnati

Soroka managed to put up a zero in the second, though in some respects it was an even harder inning for him, and one that inspired even less confidence. There was a two-out hit-by-pitch. Then there was a ten-pitch at bat by the guy in the Red’s nine hole that ended in a walk. Soroka had thrown 18 pitches in the first, and he needed 22 more to get through the second, and he really looked like he had no idea where his pitches were going to land once he let them go.

The third inning was another bad one, as Sal Stewart blooped a single just behind second base to lead off the frame. JJ Bleday struck again, seeing six pitches before sending the seventh out to that notch in the wall just to the right of straightaway center field for an RBI triple. A fly ball to center scored him, and after an eight-pitch walk, Soroka finally got the final two outs. Two more runs in, though, and 27 more pitches thrown, putting him at 67 for the night. 3-0 Cincinnati

The top of the fourth sucked even more, thanks to a seven-pitch walk to kick things off, and then two one-out singles, the second of which brought another run home. That earned Soroka the hook with 84 pitches thrown total, and ten outs recorded. Zack Littell came out with his mop, and surrendered a sac fly and two walks as he worked to get the Reds back out onto the field. 6-0 Cincinnati

So, yeah. That’s the margin of victory right there. Meanwhile, we’d only managed a leadoff Lars Nootbaar double and a Tim Tawa bloop single against Lowder, who cruised easily through his first three innings of work. We managed to get to him a bit with two outs in the bottom of the fourth, thanks to Nolan Arenado sending his 21st home run of the year just over the left field fence. 6-1 Cincy

Didn’t really matter, though, as Littell gave the run back on a two-out De La Cruz to right in the top of the fifth. 7-1 Cincy

Andf so it proceeded from there. Ildemaro scored off a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fifth, thanks to some hits behind him, to close the gap to 7-2, but Littell gave the run back in the top of the sixth on a solo shot that completed JJ Bleday’s cycle and made it 8-2. Arenado reached on catcher’s interference to leadoff the bottom of the sixth, and crossed the plate again thanks to a Tim Tawa homer over the fence in left center, making things 8-4, but Littell gave back both runs in the top of the seventh to bring it to 10-4.

About this time, folks started dropping into the Gameday Thread to excoriate Torey Lovullo for having given up the game when we were only down by six and leaving Littell in there, etc, etc, and while I suppose I can sort of see the argument if I squint, the sad fact is that, even with the offense we were able to muster in the later innings, we still didn’t manage to score enough runs to surpass that initial 6-0 deficit that Soroka’s work created. Torey did pull Littell for Dennis Santana to start the eighth, though, and aside from giving up a leadoff solo home run to Matt McLain to bring things to 11-4, he did his job. We got another run off of the Reds’ bullpen in the bottom half, thanks to a couple of walks and a two-out Ryan Waldschmidt RBI single, but that simply gave us the last scoring in the game. 11-5 Cincinnati

Loss Probability Added, courtesy of Fangraphs

Paragons: None
Antihero:Zack Littell (3 2/3 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 HR, 2 BB, 1 K, -12% WPA)
Reprobate: Michael Soroka (3 1/3 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, -24% WPA)

Tonight’s GDT was a ghost town for the vast majority of the game, for good or ill, with us eventually limping to 153 comments at time of writing. I certainly hope that the folks who didn’t drop by found something better and more pleasant to do with their time. To be honest, I would likely have gone off to prune some thornbushes or practice body-blocking some cacti or perhaps exfoliating with a belt sander had I not been contractually obligated to sit through the whole nine innings. But I’m a professional, damnit. Precious few comments turned Sedona Red, but there is one hands-down winner that appeared from onedotfove at a point in the game where a turnaround still seemed like it might be possible:

Hope is always the better choice, so thank you for that. On the upside, Cabriel Moreno did manage to extend his hitting strreak with a one-out double in the bottom of the ninth, so while the huge comeback didn’t happen, there was a positive or two.

So, assuming you have a paid Peacock account, I hope you can join us for the rubber match tomorrow as we try to win the series against these pesky Reds. Andrew Abbott goes for them, Mitch Bratt goes for us, first pitch is scheduled for 1:15pm AZ time, and JustRonn will be your guest recapper. Come and keep him company if you can, and root us on as we try for a needed series win.

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

After the Mets' 10-5 win over the White Sox on Saturday night, interim manager Andy Green and the players broke down the 16-hit, five-HR performance...

It was so nice, he had to do it twice

Playing against his former team for the first time this weekend, Luis Robert Jr. made his presence felt on Saturday night. The outfielder blasted two of the team's five home runs, recording his first multi-homer game with New York, and said it was rewarding to do it in a place he played for six seasons.

"You know it feels good to hit home runs against any team to be honest with you," Robert said via an interpreter. "But I will say it did feel good to hit the home runs here just because it was a stadium that I played so many games in, especially my whole career."

Green said he was "really happy" to see Robert have a performance like he did, adding that "he deserves" it after working his way back from a long injury and rough season.

"Luis, I mean, the oppo home run is just so special from him," Green said. "Hardly anybody in baseball hits a ball that hard the other way the way he does that so well. And then obviously he turned on the last one and crushed it, so those are great swings."

He added: "He's just having great at-bats, he's put in a lot of work. He's been grinding really hard. It's fun to see somebody have success that works that hard."

Robert has only played in 51 games this year, as he was placed on the IL on April 27 and didn't return until July 20. Since coming back, the 29-year-old has struggled, but hopes Saturday's game will help get him back on track for the rest of the year.

"I feel good, I feel a lot better compared to where I was in the beginning when I first came back," Robert said. "But I think now, it’s just you got to continue to work, you got to continue to try to be as consistent as possible. I think that’s going to be the key for the rest of the season."

Carson Benge feeling 'pretty good' 

Right fielder Carson Benge had a brief scare in the bottom of the third inning, as he crashed hard into the chain link fence and the ball popped out of his glove and over the wall for a HR.

The 23-year-old toughed it out to stay in the game and made up for it later in the fifth inning, launching a towering solo home run to go up 5-3. He finished 3-for-5 on the night and joked that getting the win helps make up for the collision.

"Pretty good, pretty good. After a win, that always makes it feel better," Benge said.

He added on the play: "I saw it hit, I didn't get the best read on it, can't always be perfect. Went back on it fast toward the wall. And then kind of caught it in my glove, and then it popped out as I hit that fence."

"First thing, I checked my glove and I saw it wasn't in there, so I was kind of mad at that. After the adrenaline kind of wore off there quickly, I knew I was OK."

Benge then explained why he wanted to keep playing after getting checked out by the trainers, and was proud he could get the run back for the team with the homer.

"I like playing the game," Benge said. "I don't want to be taken out for anything unless it's anything too serious. Being able to get back in there and kind of take away the one I let up is good."

Christian Scott hoping 'to learn from' tough outing

Scott had a tough outing Saturday night, allowing four runs on five hits over just 4.2 IP. His night ended after loading the bases in the fifth inning with two outs, and wishes he could have some of those at-bats back.

"Just didn’t really have it today,” Scott said. "Especially with the offspeed stuff, didn’t really locate the zone well. Thought the bullpen did a really good job coming in there and cleaning it up and obviously going the rest of the game. Thought the offense played really well.

"Just put us in a tough spot, especially after getting a lot of runs early. Wish I had a couple of those at-bats back. Bullpen did a great job, good to get the win."

Overall, Scott threw 94 pitches against Chicago and said he'll be able to use it as a learning experience, especially the fifth inning.

"Obviously hit a guy first pitch and then walk a guy, obviously want those at-bats back," Scott said. "Just had to battle after that. Didn't think I was locating my sweeper very well or my cutter very well. Something to learn from for sure, just grind it out."

While the Braves are perhaps not quite yet in a precarious position, they have put themselves in a position to be in a precarious position with their play over the last two weeks or so, facing down the barrel of another game against the Brewers and then a series against the Dodgers. Their division lead is down to 3.0 games and they have a 6.5 game cushion in the wild-card that is still strong, but no longer feels insurmountable. With six games remaining against the Phillies, the division title very much still hangs in the balance of these last 5 weeks of the season. While this team has found ways to win games, sometimes convincingly for stretches this season, the roster has never really had the feel of a dominant team after all of the pitching injuries early on and the continuing underperformance of their offensive talent. It would be a real shame for this team to squander what was such a commanding division lead to land in or even outside of the wild-card. If this season ends without a division title and/or some quality postseason performances, it could spur some serious changes this offseason.

Braves News

The Braves lost another to the Brewers, as the offense continues to flounder.

MLB News

Dodgers’ Tyler Glasnow is expected to make his return from injury on Tuesday against the Braves, as he threw 77 pitches in his final rehab outing.

Andy Pages is expected to miss around a month for the Dodgers, after fracturing his hand via a Bubba Chandler fastball.

One of baseball’s top pitching prospects, Kade Anderson made his debut for the Mariners in what was a mixed performance overall.

Brandon Woodruff is trying to return to pitching for the Brewers this season, after previously expecting to be out for the year.

JJ Bleday, in the middle of perhaps the best season of his career, was prime trade bait at the Aug. 3 deadline.

The Reds opted to hang onto him, and that decision definitely paid off for them on Saturday night.

The 28-year-old left fielder hit for the cycle in just six innings on Saturday to lead the Cincinnati Reds to an 11-5 blowout win over the Diamondbacks in Arizona.

For Bleday, who struck out three times in Friday’s 9-0 loss and entered the game hitting .217, it was much needed. The 28-year-old was the fourth overall pick in the 2019 draft, but it has taken awhile to gain traction.

“Things haven’t been going that well for me as of late, so I’m just trying to persevere,” Bleday said. “This organization has really welcomed me and my family, and they’ve been giving me opportunities.”

Bleday, batting third, kicked things off in the first inning with a double to drive in star shortstop Elly De La Cruz, who led off the game with a double.

He came back to the plate in the third inning and tripled to bring home rookie phenom Sal Stewart, meaning the hardest piece of the cycle was already complete. Bleday then came home on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Stephenson — himself a retention at the trade deadline with a contract expiring at the end of the year.

Now batting with one out in the fourth and De La Cruz and Stewart aboard, Bleday grounded a single through the right side to load the bases.

Clearly unsatisfied with his three hits and two RBIs in what was at that point was already a blowout, Bleday sent the first pitch of the sixth inning for a solo home run that barely scraped over the wall in right to complete the eighth cycle in franchise history and fourth in the MLB this season.

“I just thought, keep doing what I’ve been doing the first three at-bats and I was able to put a good swing on it,” the Reds left fielder said after hitting the line drive homer to right on the first pitch.

Though Bleday has been one of the Reds’ top sluggers this season, he found his career hanging in the balance just eight months ago, when the AL West bottom-feeding A’s declined to tender him a contract in the offseason.

Cincinnati took a chance on a one-year, $1.4 million deal, a contract that he has more than lived up to.

Elly De La Cruz nearly joined Bleday in the history books on Saturday, too.

De La Cruz, who went 4-for-6, finished a triple shy of his second career cycle — and it wouldn’t have been too much a surprise if the speedster, who has 29 three-baggers over his four-year career, completed the task. If it happened, the duo would have been the first teammates in MLB history to hit for the cycle in the same game.

He ended his night with a solo home run, double and two singles.

The sixth-inning homer was Bleday’s 21st of the season, second on the team behind Stewart. He leads the Reds in walks and is third in RBIs despite playing the first month of the season in Triple-A.

Much of Bleday’s impact has been for naught, though, as the Reds find themselves last in the division and far out of even a wild card spot. Cincinnati has struggled with rotation injuries and has been, apart from the trio at the top of the lineup, in the dumps on offense.

— with AP

Today was the much-anticipated debut of Mariners pitching prospect Kade Anderson, but it was a more familiar face who stole the show. Randy Arozarena bookeneded the game with a pair of homers, peppering in a dramatic home run robbery and a clutch infield single, to deliver the Mariners an improbable 5-4 win, meanwhile racking up one of the highest WPAs I’ve ever seen for a position player in a single game: 1.08. It’s not Brandon Crawford’s seven-hit game from 2016, but it’s gotta be up there. Arozarena, in his free agency year, is having his best season by wRC+ as a big-league regular: 138 before today’s game is factored in. He’s been the most valuable Mariner in 2026 offensively, and has contributed to more than his fair share of wins while the rest of the team has struggled through injury and doldrums. He’s also been the author of more than his fair share of miscues, some outfield defense that at times looks indifferent, and an occasional inattention (like missing the team photo) that makes you wonder what planet Randy is living on.

The answer: Planet Randy. It’s Randy’s planet. And like Taylor Swift, he makes the rules. Today, Randy decided to orbit himself directly in front of what looked like a surefire Cubs win, repelling Chicago and their hefty dose of fans packed into a sellout crowd at T-Mobile Park and instead delivering the Mariners a series win. It might have been Kade Anderson Bump Day, but it was Randy Arozarena Precession Day (this is a science term that my science friend says means when a planet bumps how it spins on its axis. I am assured the joke works.).

Kade Anderson was as advertised in the first inning, living around the strike zone and challenging hitters. He got his first big-league out on his first big-league pitch, tempting Pete Crow-Armstrong into making weak contact on a well-located heater for an easy pop out. He struggled a little after that with locating the curve, and got into a long battle with Alex Bregman before getting him to chase after a changeup for his first big-league strikeout:

With the warm-up act out of the way, it was time for Planet Randy to take the stage. Arozarena gave his rookie pitcher some run support right away, jumping on the first pitch he saw from lefty David Peterson and driving it into a packed T-Mobile ‘Pen: 105.3 mph and 416 feet for Randy’s 18th on the season.

The only bad thing about that homer is that Brendan Donovan, the Mariners’ best OBP threat currently, wasn’t on ahead of him, as Donovan was a late scratch after being [consults Big Book of 2026 Mariners Curses]…hmm… hit in the head by a baseball pregame in the cages. No one mentioned that when we acquired Donovan we were getting the 27th Gashlycrumb Tiny.

Randy continued to snatch the glory on Anderson’s debut day with an amazing home run robbery in the third. In a 1-0 count, nine-hole hitter righty Miguel Amaya turned on an inside fastball, looking to loop it over the short fence in left. He would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn’t for that meddling Randy:

Postgame, Randy talked about how every time he robs a home run like this, he flashes back to his viral moment robbing a home run in the WBC back in 2023. This one I think is a more impressive snag, going over the wall, but it must necessarily come second to the WBC robbery, even though he says they’re both very special to him.

Randy then followed that up by working a one-out walk in the bottom of the third, but unfortunately was left straded at third by his free-swinging linemates, as Canzone and Julio each went down swinging, Julio on three straight pitches. Please, Brendan Donovan, our OBP, it’s very sick, come back.

Meanwhile, Anderson continued to fight through his first big-league start. Nothing looked particularly easy for Anderson, although he showed flashes of brilliance as he collected five strikeouts, at times showing the exciting ability to coax ugly swings from hitters he showed in the minors, and other times struggling to land his stuff in the zone. Particularly missing today was his big curveball, which seemed to sail up. This is just a lot more spray than a typical Anderson outing. Note the high curves (blue), the inconsistent location of the changeup, and the spray on the fastball (red). (NB: a bunch of these that Statcast labeled sliders are actually curveballs; you can check back tomorrow for an updated chart when they’ve fixed the issue.)

For his part, Anderson was clear-eyed about what he did and what he wants to do better the next time.

“I felt like early on I did a good job of getting in the zone. Lost it a little bit in the middle, but there’s always going to be something to build on. I felt like I didn’t have my best stuff today, but I gave the team a chance to win. Winning in the big leagues is a lot different than in the minor leagues. In the big leagues, all that matters is winning. Doesn’t matter what the stat book is. I just want to go out there and give the team an opportunity to win.”

The Mariners helped out their rookie by adding on in the fifth. Weston Wilson, fresh off a stellar double play turn to end the top of the inning, started things off with a line-drive single. Peterson then hit Leo Rivas, who was attempting to bunt, and then Planet Randy made an appearance in the early evening sky, beating out an infield single to load the bases with no outs. The Mariners did get a run out of this, as Dominic Canzone hit into what looked to be a double play but was able to beat out a poor turn by the Cubs, but Julio then struck out chasing after a changeup away, and Naylor also couldn’t deliver in a left-on-left matchup, swinging through a sinker that should have been in his hit zone.

That would turn out to be costly, because Anderson couldn’t dodge the Cubs offense after that. He started the sixth by giving up a double to Pete Crow-Armstrong, serving him a fastball middle-middle that thankfully stayed in the park. Even more thankfully, the Mariners defense again came to his rescue after that, catching PCA off second in a double play neatly turned by Wilson – Naylor – Young. But with two outs and the momentum seemingly on the Mariners’ side, Anderson left a first-pitch changeup right on the plate for Alex Bregman to destroy for a game-tying home run. Maybe, and I’m just spitballing here, but maybe Mariners fans could stop booing Bregman every time he comes to town. He’s a tiny angry creature fueled by spite and haters being his waiters and eats your boos like power-ups.

Dan Wilson gave Anderson another chance to get out of it and end his outing with some hope, but once again, Anderson didn’t execute a first-pitch slider that Michael Busch tattooed into center for a go-ahead homer. Welcome to the big leagues, kid. Wilson caught a lot of flack, both in-house and nationally (the curse of a national broadcast), for the decision to leave Anderson in. Wilson explained that the goal was to get Anderson up around 80-85 pitches, and once he had the two outs, the hope was he’d be able to finish off the inning, noting they still liked how he was throwing the ball, despite the leadoff double to PCA. Anderson’s unflappable demeanor and mound presence also swayed Wilson to keep Anderson – no stranger to pitching in big moments at the College World Series – in the game.

“I think he takes a lot of positives away from today,” said Wilson. “For a debut, it was just so impressive the way he handled it all, and the poise he showed.”

For Anderson, trying to get through the sixth was important to him to try to contribute to a team win – after all, solo homers aren’t supposed to kill you.

“Every out matters,” said Anderson. “The wins matter, and to be able to save the bullpen every chance you get matters, and every out matters. I’m really grateful that I got to go on through the sixth. It could have gone better, but at the end of the day, we got the win, and that’s all that matters.”

“The team was counting on me for a big game today. These games matter, especially as the season is getting shorter and shorter. I understood that going in. Obviously, it’s a big day for me, but it’s an even bigger day for this organization.”

Carlos Vargas, making his first appearance after missing all season on the IL, came in to try to stop the bleeding and instead gave up another run, partially not his fault (BABIP’d by a chip shot weakly hit double by Nico Hoerner) and partially his fault (a slider at the top of the zone for a ground-rule RBI double). To be nice to Vargas: he did open the seventh with a leadoff walk (bad Vargas!) but retired his next three hitters with two strikeouts to close up the inning tidily. Vargas sprayed the sinker around pretty badly but was able to land some pretty good sliders and placed a few well-located cutters; he’ll get a lot of heat because of giving up the extra run in the sixth and, you know, because he’s Carlos Vargas, but overall this was a solid first outing for someone who hasn’t pitched all year. The circumstances he made it under are not his fault.

With the Mariners scuffling against Peterson and unable to score against old friend Trent Thornton, it seemed like the writing was on the wall in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. Credit Weston Wilson, who didn’t hear no bell, for lacing a double off a pretty terrible pitch from Jacob Webb into the happy gap of right-center. Wilson is another one who has been a bit of a lightning rod for fan angst, but he quietly had a great game despite being told he was going to play about ten minutes before the game started, with a pair of really nice double play turns, the leadoff single that led to a run in the fifth, and this last-gasp double. Webb then made a crucial error, hitting Leo Rivas with a pitch (for the second time in the game! Please, our boy just got over a terrible case of vertigo, stop hitting him!), which flipped the lineup around to [studies sky] oh will you look at that. Planet Randy in the 9th house. Astrological forecast says: 100% chance of game-winning dingers.

I saw this happen live with my own eyes and I still can’t believe this happened.

“He put a really good swing on it,” said Dan Wilson. “Didn’t roll over on it, didn’t try to do too much, just drove that ball to center field, stayed on it and stayed through it. And good things happen when you take that approach.”

“I think if Randy were playing hockey, he’d get a plus-four,” said Wilson, a rare little window into Planet Dan, if we’re being honest.

Postgame Ryan Divish asked Randy if he thought PCA had a chance to pay the favor back and rob the homer. “Haha, no,” said Randy, and gathered his keys and wallet and left the room. Sui generis Randy, fully and only himself, subject only to his own gravitational force but somehow also able to alter the vector of a game.

(…what? were you expecting blink-182?)

Well, Luke Keaschall led it off with a quickly-blasted homer,
Then Brooks Lee and rookie Kaelen matched his power blow for blow.
But middle letters three were in fact a misnomer,
‘Cause the Twins couldn’t win tonight in San Diego.

Now, the Padres got a tally with a shot from Jackson Merrill,
But then our starter Kremer settled with every throw.
Got a clean quintet of innings ere he even entered peril,
But the Twins couldn’t win tonight in San Diego.

There was a scare off of Minter:
A slug off a splinter
Hooked foul as we howl, and
The batter strikes out!

But the Padres got one back, and in the seventh entered Morris:
Early catcher’s interference was an omen, we know.
A string of hits, some errant throwing, and a defense staying porous
Meant the Twins couldn’t win tonight in San Diego.
No, the Twins couldn’t win;
Oh no, this game was a sin.

And Morejon, Miller,
Are always a killer;
They power, we cower;
Goodbye, ‘cause it’s all through.

Blunders and chunders: oh my!

So another painful loss as they battle for October;
Can they ever be consistent in a forward-moving flow?
There’s another game tomorrow, and I wish I wasn’t sober,
‘Cause the Twins couldn’t win tonight in San Diego.

No, the Twins couldn’t win tonight in San Diego;
No, the Twins couldn’t win tonight in San Diego;
No, the Twins couldn’t win tonight in San Diego;
No, the Twins couldn’t win tonight in San Diego;
No, the Twins couldn’t win tonight in San Diego;
No, the Twins couldn’t win tonight in San Diego;
No, the Twins couldn’t win tonight in San Diego;
Out of whack.

(a few more DUDS: Byron Buxton, Royce Lewis, Josh Bell, & Trevor Larnach — 0-4 apiece.)

(oh yeah, a Comment of the Game… it goes to Zach for Redmond reminiscences.)

(also, could’ve rhymed “October” with “Bailey Ober” — he starts tomorrow — but given the way this game went, the other rhyme seemed far more apropos.)

The White Sox (67-62) failed to build on their come-from-behind victory on Friday night, as the Mets (59-71) picked up a 10-5 victory against a pitching staff that struggled from start to finish.

Luis Castillo, 33, started on the mound for the South Siders, and things did not go as planned. In the first, A.J. Ewing led off with a single on the game’s first pitch. Castillo retired the next two batters he faced, but Ewing stole second to put himself in scoring position. That set the stage for Carson Benge, who hit a soft liner into left on a low changeup to drive in the game’s first run.

Mets starting pitcher Christian Scott, 27, did not have any trouble in the bottom of the first, but the White Sox got on the board against him in the second. With the bases empty and one out, Braden Montgomery stepped up to the plate and delivered a moonshot.

a no-doubter from Braden Montgomery! 💥 pic.twitter.com/6IXapZZKqD

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) August 22, 2026

The blast was Montgomery’s fifth of his young MLB career, and it tied the game at one.

The good vibes did not last long, as the third inning did not go smoothly for Castillo and the South Siders, to say the least. Francisco Lindor led off with a ground out, but Bo Bichette put the Mets back in front with a solo homer, and New York was not done. Benge added another single, and although Jared Young flew out, Benge stole second, and up to the plate stepped Luis Robert Jr. On a crucial 1-2 pitch, Castillo appeared to escape further damage with a called strike three. However, Robert made a risky move by using a challenge as early as the third on a borderline call. When I say borderline, I am serious, as ABS showed the pitch missed outside by less than one-tenth of an inch. Given how close that pitch was, it likely was not a great idea to challenge it. However, Robert’s decision worked out, and two pitches later, he launched a two-run homer to make the score 4-1.

Castillo proceeded to walk Brett Baty, and he allowed a single to Marcus Semien to wrap up his day. Castillo threw 80 pitches in 2 2/3 innings, and 42 of those happened in the third, which he did not manage to complete.

The White Sox put a nice rally together in the bottom of the third, when Tristan Peters launched a deep fly ball that resulted in an interesting moment. On the first pitch Peters saw, he hit a fastball to right that Benge followed to the wall. For an instant, Benge seemed to have it, but he collided with the wall, and the ball popped loose and sailed over the fence for a solo homer.

Tristan Peters goes yard! pic.twitter.com/wgyDFjKJvs

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) August 23, 2026

Drew Romo followed with a single, but Sam Antonacci struck out looking before burning an early challenge. After that, Munetaka Murakami singled, and Miguel Vargas walked to load the bases. Incredibly, that was one of four walks for Vargas, who reached base safely in all five of his plate appearances. From there, Andrew Benintendi hit a sacrifice fly to narrow the deficit to one.

The score remained 4-3 until the top of the fifth, when Benge crushed a solo homer to add an insurance run against reliever Tyler Schweitzer. Jared Young followed with a double, and although Robert grounded out, Eric Wagaman and Semien hit back-to-back RBI singles to make the score 7-3.

The White Sox got one of those runs back in the bottom of the fifth, but they missed an opportunity to get a huge inning. Romo was hit by a pitch to open the inning, and Antonacci walked. Murakami struck out, but after a wild pitch and a walk, the South Siders had the bases loaded with one out. This time, Benintendi missed out on an RBI opportunity, as he struck out. However, Braden Montgomery worked a six-pitch walk after falling behind 0-2 to drive in a run and extend the inning for Colson Montgomery. With the score 7-4, Colson crushed a 1-0 cutter over the heart of the plate deep down the right field line. This swing nearly resulted in an enormous grand slam, but Colson barely failed to keep the ball fair, so it was merely a long strike. Colson would eventually strike out looking at a sinker near the middle of the zone.

In the bottom of the sixth, once again, the White Sox picked up a run, and tell me if you have heard this before, but they could have scored more. Chase Meidroth led off with a single, and Peters drew a walk. Romo followed with a sacrifice bunt that put two in scoring position. Next up was Antonacci, who hit a high chopper to third that was placed perfectly. That resulted in an RBI infield single, and the White Sox still only had one out. Murakami struck out looking, but Vargas walked to load the bases and put the potential tying run in scoring position. Benintendi stepped up to the plate and lined the first pitch he saw to left. Initially, that liner looked like it could be trouble, but Robert tracked it down to preserve New York’s 7-5 lead.

Deadline acquisition Huascar Brazobán struck out Young to open the top of the seventh, but Robert did not make things easy on Brazobán. Robert saw a 2-2 fastball over the middle of the plate and did not miss it, as he crushed it 417 feet for his second homer of the day and his ninth of the season.

The score remained 8-5 until the top of the ninth, when the Mets put the game completely out of reach. White Sox reliever Trevor Richards pitched a scoreless eighth, but the ninth was a struggle. Young led off with a double, and although Richards retired Robert with a ground out, Luis Torrens hit a two-run blast to extend New York’s lead to five. Meanwhile, although the White Sox had a solid offensive performance with five runs on nine hits, they finished 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Ultimately, the White Sox could not keep up with New York’s bats.

The rubber match is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. CT on Sunday. The probable starters are Sean Newcomb (2.44 ERA, 3.04 FIP, 1.5 fWAR in 70 innings) and Nolan McLean (3.34 ERA, 3.61 FIP, 2.6 fWAR in 142 2/3 innings). As usual, CHSN will televise the game, and ESPN Chicago WMVP 1000 AM will have the radio coverage. We hope to see you then.

MVP
Miguel Vargas (3B): 1-for-1, 4 BB, 0.14 WPA

Runners-Up
Tristan Peters (CF): 1-for-3, HR, BB, K, 0.13 WPA
Braden Montgomery (RF): 1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, BB, K, 0.08 WPA
Drew Romo (C): 1-for-1, HBP, SAC, 0.10 WPA
Chase Meidroth (2B): 2-for-5, K, 0.02 WPA

Cold Cat
Luis Castillo (RHSP): 2 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 3 K, -0.30 WPA

Runners-Up
Colson Montgomery (SS): 0-for-5, 4 K, -0.17 WPA
Munetaka Murakami (1B): 1-for-5, 4 K, -0.13 WPA
Tyler Schweitzer (LHRP): 3 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 1 K, -0.14 WPA
Trevor Richards (RHRP): 2 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K, -0.01 WPA
Huascar Brazobán (RHRP): 1 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K, -0.06 WPA