Athletics @ Texas Rangers

Tuesday, September 1, 2026, 7:05 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)

The Shed

LHP MacKenzie Gore vs. LHP Brady Basso

Go Rangers!

Today marks the start of the final month of the 2026 regular-season. The Athletics went 8-20 in August, ending the month tied with the Los Angeles Angels for the worst record in the American League. To make matters worse, the team’s pitching staff surrendered 174 runs—the most in Major League Baseball over that stretch.

After concluding their recent homestand with a three-game sweep at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles—three games in which the A’s had a chance to win— the Green and Gold dropped their fourth straight game in yesterday’s road-trip opener against the Texas Rangers. Vintage Jacob DeGrom held the A’s to one hit over seven innings as Texas controlled the game from the first pitch.

Roster Moves

As a result, the A’s need to win tonight to avoid the possibility of suffering another series sweep in tomorrow’s finale. Before the game, the team received some roster reinforcements as teams are allowed to carry 28 players in September.

We have made the following roster moves. pic.twitter.com/HiTG4xsmX9

— Athletics (@Athletics) September 1, 2026

It is good to see Denzel Clarke back in the majors following an extended injury absence that deprived him of the opportunity to improve offensively through everyday at-bats. Clarke is the better defender, but his replacement Henry Bolte, has proven to be more durable and the better hitter. It is up to Clarke to make the most of the playing time he receives over the final few weeks of the season.

The same applies to Yunior Tur, who needs to make the most of his third big-league opportunity this season. His 32.79 ERA cannot possibly go up any higher. As for Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, hopefully he returns next season with a cup in place to protect his private parts.

Game Preview

Right-hander J.T. Ginn, who has thrown a career-high number of innings this season, was initially scheduled to start for the A’s. However, the team is giving him a few extra days of rest between starts to manage his workload.

In his place, the team will go with a bullpen game, starting with Brady Basso. The 28-year-old left hander enters his 21st appearance and fourth opener start with a 0-1 record, a 4.50 ERA and 22 strikeouts over 28 innings pitched. Basso pitched twice against the Orioles, rebounding with a scoreless inning Sunday after taking the loss Friday night when he allowed Baltimore to score two runs in the top of the 10th inning.

The left-hander will likely pitch the first one or two innings before giving way to the rest of the team’s bullpen. Can the A’s league-worst bullpen somehow keep the team in the game, or will manager Mark Kotsay’s decision to use a bullpen game fail miserably?

Here’s how the A’s lineup looks for this evening’s matchup:

welcome back denz 🤩 pic.twitter.com/gQDgdVxOu9

— Athletics (@Athletics) September 1, 2026

Denzel Clarke immediately returns to center field, with Henry Bolte serving as the designated hitter to give his legs a rest. The Athletics need catcher Jonah Heim to contribute offensively and serve as a steady presence behind the plate, especially when it comes to keeping the pitching staff under control.

A better defensive setup would be to move Bolte to left field, with Zack Gelof at third base and Max Muncy on the bench. However, the A’s seem intent on continuing to give starts to Muncy and first baseman Tommy White, two hackers at the plate and liabilities in the field.

The A’s offense will face Rangers left-hander MacKenzie Gore. The 27-year-old enters his 29th start of the season with a 7-10 record, a 4.40 ERA and 165 strikeouts over 149 1/3 innings. In his last outing against the Chicago White Sox, Gore took the loss after allowing four runs on eight hits over 3 2/3 innings.

Gore is plenty familiar with A’s hitters, as tonight will be his fourth start against the Green and Gold this season. He went 1-1 in his first three starts, allowing no more than three runs each time. With the Rangers pushing to overtake the Houston Astros for the division title, they will look to Gore to deliver a second straight quality start against the struggling, injury-depleted Athletics.

And Texas’ starting lineup:

The final month has arrived. #AllForTX

🎟️ https://t.co/K5mbqMk9Vepic.twitter.com/rkRFNlkOhc

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) September 1, 2026

Time to snap this losing streak and restore some positive vibes. Let’s go, A’s!

Follow the Game:
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Baseball in September is the perfect time to get healthy, return to action and get some swings in before the October playoff push. On Tuesday, Sept. 1, the Los Angeles Dodgers returned multiple players to the active roster who have been battling lingering injuries.

Catchers Will Smith and Dalton Rushing were activated, the team announced. Smith missed nearly the previous three months with an inflamed disc in his neck. He was batting .249/.338/.382 before the injury.

Rushing returns after missing practically the last month of baseball with a slight ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) tear in his right elbow.

In addition to their catcher tandem, the Dodgers also saw LHP Justin Wrobleski jump back into the fold after inflammation in his left forearm. He's 11-5 through 21 games played (20 starts) and has a 3.56 ERA and a 1.1 WHIP in 126.1 innings pitched. He's struck out 100 batters this season and given up 19 homers and 28 walks.

Infielder Alex Freeland was also added to the active roster in his third stint with the team, where he's put up slash stats of .231/.309/.313 with three homers and 19 RBI in 72 games with the Dodgers.

In order to make room for their returns, the Dodgers opted outfielder Alek Thomas to Triple-A Oklahoma City and designated catcher Ben Rortvedt to assignment.

The Dodgers have a home game on Tuesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals. First pitch begins at 7:10 p.m. PT on Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium. Los Angeles has the best record in the National League West division at 82-55.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will Smith, Dalton Rushing activated off IL for Los Angeles Dodgers

Compelling arguments can be made in favor of John Fisher of the Athletics, or Bruce Sherman of the Miami Marlins or Bob Nutting of the Pittsburgh Pirates for being the worst owners in Major League Baseball.

But Arte Moreno is in A League of his Own.

Moreno, who has agreed to sell the Los Angeles Angels to Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke, did something unfathomable during his 23-plus years as the Angels' owner.

The club had Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout on the roster for six seasons. During that stretch from 2018 through 2023, they failed to post a winning record.

In brief defense of Moreno, injuries limited Trout to 36 games during the 2021 season and to 82 games during the 2023 season. Now here’s the indictment:

In 2018, Ohtani was the AL Rookie of the Year, Trout was runner-up for AL MVP and the Angels went 80-82.

In 2019, Trout was the AL MVP, Ohtani was one of the Angels' top producers and the team went 72-90

A season shortened in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic resembled seasons past, with the Angels going 26-34.

Angels sale: MLB-record $4 billion sale was long time coming for aimless LA Angels

In 2021, Ohtani was the AL MVP, Trout was an All-Star and the Angels went 77-85.

In 2022, Ohtani was the runner-up for AL MVP, Trout finished 8^th in the MVP voting and the Angels went 73-89.

In 2023, Ohtani was the AL MVP, Trout was an All-Star and the Angels went 73-89.

The Angels, who at 53-85 through Sunday were tied for the second-worst record in the majors, will finish with their 11^th consecutive losing straight season.

Being the worst is expensive

Not all of the failures under Moreno should be measured simply by wins and losses. Buying a team from the Walt Disney Company and gradually turning it into a Mickey Mouse club involves front office bungles.

For example, the Angels overpaid Albert Pujols, the slugger-turned-slug, when in 2012 they signed him to a 10-year, $240 million contract, posting a 1.4 WAR or lower from 2016 until his final year with the Angels in 2021. He would go on to play the next season and a half with the Dodgers than Cardinals.

Then the Angels overpaid Anthony Rendon before the 2020 season by signing him to a seven-year, $245 million. Over the past seven seasons, he's spent more time sidelined with injuries than in the lineup.

But the club's biggest failure was not trading Trout when he still could command young talent the Angels needed to rebuild their roster. Instead he's become novelty, a chance for fans a chance to cheer one of the best future Hall of Famer to play for a consistent loser.

Again, if you’re inclined to blame general managers or the manager, the common denominator is Moreno.

A winner and a loser?

Among long-suffering Angels fans, Moreno might rank as the worst owner in the MLB. There's no denying that after buying the the team from the Walt Disney Company in 2003, he gradually turned the club into a Mickey Mouse outfit of a different kind.

Yet it’s unlikely MLB owners will mock him.

Moreno paid $184 million for the Angels. Now he’s expected to get $4 billion, the most ever paid for an MLB team.

That’s more than 20 times Moreno’s original investment, and it makes him a financial winner even though his team is an on-field loser.

Moreno is in A League of His Own.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Arte Moreno sells Angels as MLB’s gold-standard owner failure | Opinion

Texts lit up my phone this morning from friends who had wasted most of their lives rooting for the Angels: Arte Moreno finally was selling the team.

“First order of business: it’s the Anacrime Angels,” Nelson Rodriguez cracked before sending a meme of Stringer Bell in “The Wire” wearing an old-school California Angels cap and saying, “I want you to put the word out there that we back up.”

“This news honestly made my year,” texted Anaheim City Councilmember Natalie Rubalcava, who graduated a year ahead of me from Anaheim High and whose daughter works at my wife’s restaurant. “Excited to leave the controversy and negativity behind and look forward to a new era of Anaheim baseball.”

“Shame this didn’t happen when [Shohei] Ohtani was an Angel,” the Mountain shared on a group text thread of childhood friends who call each other by long-standing nicknames — I’m the Consigliere.

Read more:Shaikin: 'A big day for Anaheim.' Angels get a fresh start with Stan Kroenke, and much more

“I get invited to the games but hell no,” replied the Butcher, who’s been a fan since the days of Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan in the 1970s.

“I’ll finally go back” to a game in person, my cousin Plas added. “A Trumper [Latino] what could’ve gone wrong …” he wrote, referencing Moreno, before asking if Kurt Suzuki was still manager because “that’s how little I’ve kept up with the team.”

Those are the texts I can print in a family newspaper.

Moreno is selling to Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke, whose company also owns perennial contenders in the NBA (Denver Nuggets), NHL (Colorado Avalanche) and England’s Premier League (Arsenal). Sources told my colleagues that the price was $4 billion, which would be a baseball record and speaks to the Halos’ untapped potential.

Major League Baseball still needs to approve the deal, but I guarantee that Commissioner Rob Manfred and the 29 other team owners are reacting with the silly swaying dance that Dodgers players do every time they get on base.

“The Moreno Family has been honored to steward the Angels for 23 years,” the soon-to-be-ex-Angels owner said in a statement.

You stewarded nada, Arte: You destroyed.

You started with so much hope and ended up with fans like my friends shooting venom at you like pissed-off cobras. There’s a reason why you’ll leave as one of the most loathed owners in baseball history. Your underperforming reign makes the McCourts of Dodgers infamy seem as amazing and beloved as the O’Malleys.

The Tucson native, who made his billions in the billboard industry, bought the Angels from Disney in 2003, the year after they won their sole World Series championship. At a festive press conference, Moreno handed a sombrero to then-skipper Mike Scioscia to wear, then announced that the first order of business was to cut beer prices.

The new owner quickly signed the best players in baseball — slugger Vladimir Guerrero and pitcher Bartolo Colón. Moreno walked Angel Stadium during games to ask fans what they wanted, what they needed, what they dreamed of. That first decade, he made the Angels what they never had been for a prolonged period: winners.

Fans packed the stands — more than 3 million each year from 2003 to 2019, the third-longest streak in baseball. Anaheimers donned Halos jerseys and hats like never before. More incredibly, Moreno was at the cusp of the impossible: convincing a generation of Latino baseball fans in Orange County to side with the Halos instead of the Dodgers.

But there were always signs that something was off.

Moreno renamed the team the Los Angeles Angels two years after he bought them, a ridiculous moniker that made them a national punchline. The renaming also cost Anaheim millions of dollars in legal fees after the city unsuccessfully sued to force Moreno to keep my hometown in the team’s name.

Moreno openly talked about moving the Angels to a city that would build him a new stadium. He also fell into the terrible habit of signing conservative-leaning, past-their-prime ballplayers like Josh Hamilton, Albert Pujols and Anthony Rendon to massive contracts that weighed down the team for years, like one of Angel Stadium’s legendary cinnamon rolls.

Die-hards like my pals trudged on, buoyed by generational talent Mike Trout and the occasional flash-in-the-pan prospect. But even they were turned off by the last three years.

Read more:Arellano: Anaheim, it's time to tell the Angels and Arte Moreno adiós already

Former Anaheim mayor Harry Sidhu pleaded guilty in 2023 to federal tax evasion charges stemming from accusations that he solicited an illegal $1-million campaign donation for an attempted sale of city-owned Angel Stadium to a Moreno-led company.

That same year, the Halos let Ohtani — who was on his way to a second most valuable player award and already had established himself as one of the most talented baseball players ever — walk away as a free agent while gaining nothing in return.

This season kicked off with Moreno telling the Orange County Register about a survey supposedly revealing that winning wasn’t “a top priority” for Angels fans. The Angels hadn’t made the playoffs in 11 years, hadn’t finished with a winning record since 2015, had landed in last place in their division for the last two years — and that’s what he offered as a speck of hope? No wonder the team is on pace to lose 100 games for the first time in franchise history. No wonder disgusted fans have protested both inside and outside Angel Stadium all summer.

At the only game I went to this year — a sparsely attended afternoon snoozer against the Chicago White Sox — I found the stadium more beat-up than ever: peeling paint, beat-up seats, tinny PA system. For about $25 each, my friends and I bought tickets behind the first-base dugout that would have cost hundreds of dollars at Dodger Stadium.

Billboards along Southern California freeways have broadcast the Angels’ desperate attempts to draw in fans via pathetic promotions. Fireworks every Saturday. A bobblehead giveaway of light-hitting shortstop Zach Neto, who never has made an All-Star team. A “yard sale” that sounds like a giant casting off of crappy memorabilia a week away from the trash can.

I never cared for the Angels, but I always wanted them to do well. Any success they achieved rubbed off on my hometown, as it did during that magical 2002 run.

I also wanted Moreno, the first Latino to own a major professional sports team, to succeed, so his fellow Trump supporters might know that our kind can excel at the highest echelons of American society, if only we get the chance.

But for the last few years, I cheered each time the Angels lost. I wanted them to tank, to forever seal Moreno’s legacy as a loser. To serve as a warning to all professional sports owners that they can abuse a host city and its fan base for only so long before people revolt by just not caring.

Good luck to Kroenke as he tries to resuscitate a franchise deader than a stump in the Petrified Forest.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

First Pitch: 6:40 PM CDT

TV: Twins.TV

Radio: TIBN, WCCO 830, The Wolf 102.9 FM, Audacy App, LosTwins.com

Know thine enemy:Bless You Boys

Andrew Morris gets the start, presumably in an opener role, so expect just a couple innings from him tonight if all goes to plan. He’s looking to turn the page after an August where he posted a 6.94 ERA. His mound opponent will be 2nd year righty Troy Melton whose 1.86 ERA would be the best mark in MLB, if he had the innings to qualify.

The lineup will need more of that spark they found last night the rest of the way if they want to get that last wild card spot.

Here’s the Blue Jays’ lineup:

It's time for the September sprint 😤 #BlueJays50pic.twitter.com/Ehdsqc0VtP

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) September 1, 2026

Here’s the Guardians’ lineup:

Canada is here. The entire country.#GuardsBallpic.twitter.com/O0neU1QuOl

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) September 1, 2026

Let’s go, Guardians!

I hate teams who start their weekday games early. Oh well, I guess it means we will win earlier too.

Anyway, game one of three with the Guardians. Wins are important. Not that we should throw in the towel if we lose tonight. We aren’t going to run the table from here, so don’t get too upset if there is a loss. Yeah, I know, the thread will be a terrible thing if we lose. You would think that if you were a baseball fan, you’d be used to losses by now. They have 162 games. Teams are going to lose some of them.

We have a bullpen day with Spencer Myles opening. Arrighetti will likely be the bulk guy. Beyond that, expect to see every pitcher we have.

Sean Keys doesn’t make the roster on his first day back. Neither does Josh Smith.

Go Jays Go.

The Mariners lost another crushing game last night but today is a new month and roster expansions have given us a shiny new toy: hulking outfielder Lazaro Montes, he of the light tower power and megawatt smile and infectious happy personality. They’re calling it the biggest vibes transfusion since Geo Suárez stepped onto that plane last season.

A note: today the SB Nation app officially launched! As a personal favor to me, please download it – even if you don’t want to keep it – and try out the game chat feature. I think it will make everything move more smoothly here on the site (and I want bragging rights over the other baseball site managers that we have the highest number of downloads).

Lineups:

Laz batting seventh at at DH in his MLB debut at Fenway Park. No matter how this game goes, what a fun day for him and I’m excited for him.

Lazaro Montes is all set to make his MLB debut! #TridentsUppic.twitter.com/8NCF7YPE67

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) September 1, 2026

1st of the month ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/OeEZX4ibyK

— Red Sox (@RedSox) September 1, 2026

News:

No real news but it is important to me you have seen both of these clips which reveal not so much about Laz but about the people around him. First the clubhouse callup news, where you can see how genuinely happy everyone is for him and especially the special bond he has with Michael Arroyo, who hopefully we’ll get a chance to see here soon as well.

A moment Laz will never forget 💙 pic.twitter.com/Xhgaf1ZDQu

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) September 1, 2026

Also make sure you watch the phone call Laz has with his parents where he does approximately 5% of the talking despite it being his big news to share.

What it’s all about 🥹 pic.twitter.com/TZ6bkTbZlN

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) September 1, 2026

Injury News:

Sure. Okay.

Brendan Donovan going through another on-field workout with the Mariners medical staff here at Fenway Park. He still has to pass specific concussion protocols before he can be activated. No timeline for that.

— Adam Jude (@A_Jude) September 1, 2026

Game information:

Game time: 3:45 PT

TV: Mariners dot TV (Goldsmith/Hyphen)

Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports (Hill Jr./Mentink)

Go Rays!

The image was indelible: Los Angeles Dodgersowner Mark Walter draping a No. 17 jersey around Shohei Ohtani's shoulders, welcoming the biggest baseball star on the globe to blue heaven with a $700 million contract that stipulated Ohtani will stay so long as Walter, the CEO of Guggenheim Partners, controlled the team.

The future seemed limitless.

And it absolutely was: Ohtani led the Dodgers to consecutive World Series titles, generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for the ballclub and made L.A. a destination for every major free agent, international or otherwise. Walter, meanwhile, parlayed his riches into a 2025 purchase of the Lakers, making him the bona fide king of Southland sports.

The Los Angeles Angels? On the day Ohtani joined forces with Walter, Ohtani's old team was merely an afterthought. They had little interest, Ohtani confirmed, in retaining him on the same deal he presented the Dodgers. The teams' stations in life seemed to only grow further apart, the distance on I-5 hardly symbolizing the gulf between Arte Moreno's flailing franchise and Walter's jewel.

Yet part of the beauty of sports is its impermanence.

Nothing lasts forever, an unfortunate concept when pondering an aging superstar or a championship core deteriorating. It can also work the other way, and stunned, giddy, relieved Angels fans found this out Tuesday, Sept. 1 when Moreno agreed to sell the club for $4 billion.

To the most successful and prosperous and solidly entrenched owner in Los Angeles. And that's no longer Mark Walter.

No, that guy, now, is Stan Kroenke, who brought football back to L.A., engineered a world-class stadium and then delivered a Lombardi Trophy to the Los Angeles Rams for the first time in their bifurcated history. It is no longer Walter, whose hurried sale of the Lakers 11 months after he bought them was a Tiger Woods-crashes-into-the-fire-hydrant moment that portended more trouble.

It has come in the form of a federal investigation into over $21 billion in loans not disclosed to state insurance regulators that were made by two Delaware insurers Walter owns. Don't fret for him too much: Walter made $2.5 billion on his $10 billion purchase of the Lakers in less than a year.

But suddenly, the man whose reserves seemed bottomless, his reach limitless, faced major questions about liquidity, legality and the very future of his sports holdings. No, club president Stan Kasten has insisted, the Dodgers are not for sale.

Yet that bright blue sky no longer seems a shade of Dodger blue, does it?

Meanwhile, Moreno moved in the stealth fashion that defined his surprise takeover of the Angels for a mere $184 million 23 years ago. Sure, he had the team on the market four years ago but pulled it off in 2023. The prices weren't right.

But with the San Diego Padres having sold down the freeway for $3.9 billion, a bar was set. A lockout was looming - and perhaps Moreno's selling now is a tell that owners aren't totally bullish on getting a salary cap from the rubble of baseball's looming nuclear winter.

Enter Kroenke, whose franchises have won championships in the NFL, NHL (the Colorado Avalanche, twice) and NBA (the Nuggets' first title in their 60-year history, in 2023.). And he's never had to liquidate.

As if to twist the knife, Kroenke's Arsenal won its first Premier League championship in 22 years. Meanwhile, Walter and Dodgers partner Todd Boehly are reportedly looking to sell their shares in Chelsea - to investment firm Clearlake Capital, whose managing partner, Jose E. Feliciano, just bought the Padres.

(If you subscribe to the theory that sports are just proxy wars for the obscenely wealthy, the previous paragraph could be your mission statement).

One former Angels player, told of the sale, did not hesitate to note how positive this will be for the club. Athletes win, but it's also about systemic structures, and executive function, all of which lacked badly under Moreno.

That's never been a problem for Walter, either, as baseball ops chief Andrew Friedman has built a monster with his money. They're both the betting and pragmatic choice to win a third consecutive World Series this autumn.

Around that time, the Rams - behind their Myles Garret-Aaron Donald-backed defensive line - could be taking control of the NFC West. The Angels should be hiring a new general manager. Kroenke's blueprint will be taking shape in Anaheim.

That still makes them light years away from another parade down Disneyland's Main Street. But such a notion seemed impossible a day earlier.

The same could be said for Walter standing on shaky ground, until the day he sold the Lakers. Now, there is doubt where once there was invincibility. There are no such worries with Kroenke, who for now, looks like the angel of SoCal sports.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stan Kroenke will run Rams and Angels. And Mark Walter no longer runs LA | Opinion