Worldwide Sports News

The Cardinals are sending one of their top prospects to the big leagues for the final stretch.

St. Louis is calling up outfielder Joshua Baez, the team’s No. 3 prospect and No. 59 overall on MLB Pipeline, to help with their postseason push.

Manager Oliver Marmol told reporters that Baez, 23, will be in the starting lineup for Saturday’s game against the Cubs for his MLB debut.

“He’s on his way,” Marmol said, according to MLB.com. “He’ll be in the lineup tomorrow.”

Baez has had a successful season for Triple-A Memphis, posting a slash line of .256/.328/.573 with 34 home runs and 90 RBIs in 103 games.

Since being drafted by the Cardinals in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft, Baez has had varying levels of success in the minor leagues, having rather underwhelming offensive seasons until breaking out last year with High-A Peoria and Double-A Springfield.

“There’s an edge to it,” Marmol added. “There’s a confidence to it, and he has a work ethic that’s fun to watch, too. He knows how to get after it. He wants to win, and it’s fun to inject that into this clubhouse because we have a lot of guys that are that way.”

Despite showing impressive levels of power, there has been concern about Baez’s plate discipline, as he’s racked up over 100 strikeouts in four of his six minor league seasons.

The Cardinals, however, believe that Baez is improving and can be a useful bat for them for the remainder of the season.

“There’s a hitter in there, too,” Cardinals assistant general manager of player development and performance Rob Cerfolio said. “His goal the last couple months has been to hit .300 in the second half, and he doesn’t really need to swing for power.

“Power is just part of what he does.”

While the National League Central division title might be out of reach for the Cardinals — as the Brewers lead them by 14 games — they are in a battle for the wild card, sitting just 3½ games behind the Phillies for the final spot.

Yesterday our own Jeremy Nielsen described the Yankee offense no-showing like they were itching to just get on the plane and start their road trip already. Tonight felt like the bats somehow never left the tarmac, because aside from Trent Grisham poking one out of the stands there just wasn’t anything to show for their at-bats. The Yankees wasted another solid pitching performance and allowed a starter on the other side that has been struggling to cut right through them in a 3-1 loss to Toronto.

Shane Bieber was on the mound for the Blue Jays, and he entered this game with a gaudy 5.48 ERA — naturally, that was of little consequence to this lineup. Bieber sat down the Yankees in order in the first inning, picking up strikeouts from Grisham and Spencer Jones, and worked around a one-out Jazz Chisholm Jr. single in the second. The third brought the first real instance of a pulse, Austin Wells leading off with a walk before getting forced out at second. Grisham stepped up and provided a single that should’ve made it a rally, but George Lombard Jr. was caught in the middle of trying to go for third and didn’t get back to second in time, instead winding up in a rundown. A Ben Rice groundout ended the disappointing frame.

The fourth brought more opportunities to squander, as Jones led off with a double and advanced to third on a flyout from Luis García Jr. (Jones was briefly called out on the tag up, but a challenge overturned that call as he was clearly never tagged despite the throw beating him). Still, two more fly outs were all the Yankees managed, and the first one was too shallow for Jones to test with another tag up. It wasn’t until the sixth inning that the Yankees finally caught a break, Grisham crushing a middle-middle fastball out to right field to get them on the scoreboard.

Now holding the lead, the Yankees looked to break open the dam but couldn’t get anything else going in the inning. Rice flew out harmlessly and Jones grounded one out to first. García stepped up to the plate and took a low strike call that apparently drew a comment from Aaron Boone, because home plate umpire Vic Carapazza turned to instigate things with the manager and ultimately ejected him. Even then it wasn’t the classic fiery Boone tirade that drew it, as he almost looked surprised that things escalated to an ejection that quickly and went out onto the field briefly to get his money’s worth.

On the other side of the ball, Gerrit Cole had been pitching a solid game. He got a double play ball to erase a one-out walk he issued in the first, and then worked around a jam with runners on second and third with one out in the second by striking out Kazuma Okamoto and getting a groundout from Jesús Sánchez. The third and fourth innings were both breezes for Cole, sitting the Blue Jays down in order, and an Okamoto single in the fifth went nowhere either.

The bottom of the sixth proved to be a different story. Just as quickly as the Yankees got their lead it vanished, Brett Bateman leading off with a single and ceding his place to Nathan Lukes on a forceout. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled to put runners on first and second with one out, and then Cole induced a groundout to third that had double play potential. Ryan McMahon stepped on third for the force and then fired over to first, but García’s glove flew off his hand trying to scoop the throw. Fumbling around for the ball, he fired it back to third trying to get the lead runner but Lombard was the closest man to the bag and he still wasn’t anywhere close enough to catch it. Instead, the ball bounded for foul territory and Guerrero was able to score, tying the game up. The next batter, Alejandro Kirk, brought home the dagger lacing an RBI double out to left to put the Blue Jays ahead 2-1.

From there, the Nyquil had fully set in for the Yankees. Facing Toronto’s bullpen they got just a lone baserunner in their final three innings, a McMahon single with two outs in the seventh that went nowhere. Paul Blackburn relieved Cole for the seventh inning and stranded a pair of runners, but Bradley Hanner served up a solo shot to Kirk in the eighth to add an insurance run.

Two days after a 10-run outburst the Yankee offense is back to sleepwalking through games, having scored just a single run over their last 18 innings. The Red Sox and Rays both already lost today so no ground was lost there at least, but Tampa nearly rallied to come back from down four in the ninth and only lost by one. It sure would feel nice if the Yankees showed they could rally more than once a week at the rate they’re going.

Tomorrow will be a chance to get this series back on track, with Cam Schlittler going up against a to be determined starter for the Jays. First pitch is scheduled for 3:07 p.m. EST.

Box Score.

It is Friday night.

Chris Bassitt returned from the injured list with 5.1 decent innings, Gunnar Henderson was dropped to the #5 spot in the order and responded by coming a classic “triple shy of the cycle” over a four-hit game where he drove in two runs and scored two runs, Dylan Beavers had two hits off the bench, and the Orioles beat the Rays by a 6-5 score. (Don’t think about the ninth inning. It’s the GIF Party!)

As of right now, the Orioles are one game back of a wild card spot in the American League. This is subject to change based on the Texas result in Sacramento.

YOU KNOW WHAT MUST BE DONE.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are getting reinforcements to the starting rotation sooner rather than later.

On Friday, Tyler Glasnow made his second rehab start for the Oklahoma City Comets. While he didn’t reach four innings, he retired 11-of-13 batters he faced.

The right-hander tossed 3.2 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and issued two walks in a dominant 67-pitch performance. He posted a 41% whiff rate and 34% CSW, a sign that he is as locked in as ever.

Glasnow made improvements from his first rehab outing at Triple-A, which consisted of 2.2 innings of one-run baseball. In total, the right-hander has completed three rehab outings, one with the Ontario Tower Buzzers and two for OKC.

This is exciting news for the Dodgers pitching staff, who have missed Glasnow as well as Shohei Ohtani in the rotation. Ohtani also made huge progress Friday as he threw his first bullpen season in nearly a month.

But Glasnow is evidently closer to being fully ramped up.

The 32-year-old landed on the injured list with lower back spasms in May, an unfortunate recurring issue throughout the All-Star’s career. Since then, the Dodgers have taken a cautious approach to Glasnow’s return.

Glasnow’s tenure with the Dodgers has been headlined by a slew of injuries, which he’s dealt with in every season since he was traded to LA in December 2023. He missed the 2024 postseason because of a right elbow sprain, though he tossed a career-high 134 innings that year.

In 2025, Glasnow missed over two months of the season because of right shoulder inflammation. He returned in July and played a key role for the Dodgers in the playoffs.

The 2026 season has also featured injury for Glasnow, but it appears he will be back in the rotation soon. The right-hander will likely make at least one more rehab start before the Dodgers activate him off the injured list.

Glasnow has posted a 2.72 ERA with 49 strikeouts across 39.2 innings pitched (seven starts) for the Dodgers this season. Based on how he was pitching Friday night, Glasnow looks to be heating up at the perfect time before October.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

TORONTO — The place that served as the Yankees’ house of horrors last year delivered a nightmare of a throwback inning Friday night. 

And thanks to another quiet offensive night, it was enough to sink them in another loss. 

What should have been an inning-ending double play to preserve a one-run lead in the sixth inning turned into a comedy of errors — somewhere, Benny Hill’s “Yakety Sax” must have been playing — tying the game and extending the inning so the Blue Jays could take the lead on the way to a 3-1 win over the Yankees at a sold-out Rogers Centre. 

Continuing to operate with a razor-thin margin for error because their offense has been doing next to nothing on most nights, the Yankees (68-54) once again got quality pitching from Gerrit Cole but were let down by their defense and baserunning while remaining 6 ¹/₂ games back of the Rays in the AL East. 

“Obviously, it continues to be a challenge for us [offensively],” said manager Aaron Boone, who was ejected in the top of the sixth for arguing balls and strikes rather mildly from the dugout. “This is another night where we made decent contact and we were having some of the right at-bats. But at the end of the day, we got to push runs across when we get opportunities because that’s where we’ve struggled. We got to make it happen.” 

The sequence that ruined Cole’s start and the Yankees’ night started harmlessly enough. They led 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth with one out and runners on first and second when George Springer hit a chopper to third base. Ryan McMahon fielded it, stepped on third and threw across the diamond trying to complete the double play. But his throw was a one-hopper to Luis García Jr., who tried to backhand the scoop, only for his glove to fly off in the process. 

“Springer’s moving pretty good, felt like I had to throw it as soon as I stepped on the bag,” McMahon said. “Just didn’t get enough on it to get it all the way over there.” 

García then made matters worse by picking up the ball, spinning and firing to third base, where shortstop George Lombard Jr. was in the general vicinity (McMahon had trailed toward home after throwing to first) but not in a position to handle García’s wild throw. Lombard then collided with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. while trying to chase after the loose ball to no avail as Guerrero raced home to tie the game. 

“Unfortunately, it didn’t work out the way we wanted,” García said. 

“Once he got his back to the play, I think he just got overly aggressive throwing to third,” Boone said. “Should’ve obviously held it.” 

With the extra out, Alejandro Kirk drilled a double that scored Springer to put the Blue Jays ahead 2-1. Cole, who became frustrated during Guerrero’s at-bat when he lost track of how many disengagements he had left and could not get clarification quickly enough from the umps, lamented leaving a first-pitch slider down the middle to Kirk (who later added a solo shot in the eighth inning off Bradley Hanner in his MLB debut). 

Trent Grisham snapped the Yankees’ 14-inning scoreless streak by leading off the top of the sixth inning with a solo shot off Shane Bieber for the 1-0 lead. 

But that was the only offense they could muster, now having scored just one run over their last 18 innings since Wednesday’s 10-run outburst. It marked the ninth time in their last 14 games that the Yankees have scored two runs or fewer, wasting another strong pitching performance from Cole, who allowed just two runs (one earned) across six innings. 

The Yankees’ baserunning miscue came in the third inning from Lombard, who took what Boone described as an “overly aggressive” turn around second base on Grisham’s single to right field and was caught in a pickle for the second out. 

An inning later, Spencer Jones led off with a hustle double but was eventually stranded at third, adding to the offensive frustration. 

Cole insisted that the bats’ extended malaise was not adding extra stress on the pitchers, though common sense would say otherwise. 

“We’re having a good time pitching and playing close games,” Cole said. “Certainly we want to blow guys out and secure as many wins as possible, but at the same time, we’re throwing the ball well, we’re playing good defense and we’re hanging in a lot of games, giving ourselves a chance to win.”

Any game that invokes optimism for the 2027 Mets rather than dismay regarding the 2026 version is a good game for the franchise. 

On Friday night, Robert Stock looked like a nice piece rather than a novelty. Each reliever behind him, including closer Kodai Senga, made a case that he belongs on next year’s Opening Day roster.

Jared Young continued to make the most of his playing time and strengthened his argument for that time to remain next year. 

It all added up to a nicely played, 4-1 comeback victory over the Nationals in front of 30,660 at Citi Field, where the Mets (54-69) offered the only thing they have left to offer this season: hope for the future. 

It began with Stock, a 36-year-old whose age is looking more like a quirk than a drawback. A journeyman who has pitched just about everywhere from indy ball to South Korea to Mexico; who was signed for a second time by the Mets as a late-career flier and then required surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome this spring; and who is as well-versed in pitching technology and language as anyone in the game, Stock is not a regular case of a kid trying to make an impression late in a lost season. 

That impression was darkened in his previous outing, an eight-run blowup in Pittsburgh. On Friday, a pitcher and person known for bouncing back bounced back. 

“It’s really good stuff,” interim manager Andy Green said of Stock, who allowed one unearned run and struck out five in 4 ¹/₃ innings. “So if he gets in the zone, he has quite a bit of success.” 

He was in and out of the zone, walking three but typically relying on his movement to escape potential jams. Washington only scored in the third when Francisco Lindor did not stay down on a sharp ground ball from Abimelec Ortiz that skipped into the outfield to put runners on the corners, which led to a Brady House RBI single. 

Otherwise, Stock was unblemished, in part because Nate Lavender entered with two on and one out in the fifth and escaped. Behind the rookie lefty, Jonathan Pintaro (two scoreless innings and his first major league win), Daniel Duarte (a clean eighth) and ultimately Senga (second save) held down the Nationals. 

All are potential pieces of the Mets staff next year. 

“Pretty much all we want to do is we want to go out there and compete,” said Pintaro, another former indy baller who is trying to find a niche as a multi-inning weapon out of the bullpen. “Just do everything we can to show the world that we deserve this chance and that we have a great opportunity here just to compete and help our teammates do everything they can to get the wins.” 

The Mets’ offense consisted of rallies in the sixth and seventh, the former including a Lindor homer that atoned for his error and an RBI knock from Carson Benge, and the latter featuring Young teeing off on former Yankee Jake Bird and Bo Bichette adding an RBI single. 

Barring something unforeseen, Lindor, Benge and Bichette will be members of the 2027 Mets. 

Increasingly, Young is building a case that he belongs within this offensive group, too. 

A complementary piece who has held his own at first base and consistently hit righty pitching, Young is under team control and only playing better with added playing time, now slashing .319/.396/.495 over his past 30 games. 

“He knows what he’s good at and he stays consistent with it,” Green said of Young, who has gone from the KBO to a legitimate Mets silver lining.

Game Summary

Full recap to post later this evening. For now, hit the comments and enjoy the W!

Win Probability and Box Score

Outside the Box Score

• Ketel Marte came up with Corbin on 3rd and 1 out in the first. He couldn’t cash in the runner but it wasn’t any fault of Marte’s since he smoked a liner at 103mph but the Atlanta shortstop was able to dive catch the ball on the fly, holding Corbin at third.
• Ketel allowed the Braves leadoff hitter to reach on a well-placed grounder between 2nd and 1st. Ketel was able to get to it but when he tried to throw while still in full run from shallow right, he dropped the ball from his hand. Official ruling was a single, though it probably could’ve been ruled an error. Marte later left the game with knee pain likely caused by that play.
• Brandon Pfaadt’s first inning was pretty dominant. 2 grounders that had exit velocities under 75mph and 2 strikeouts on pitches out of the zone. Great start!
• The D-backs were making solid contact against Sale early, even if the box score wasn’t showing it. Through the first 3 innings, 6/9 batted balls were classified as Hard Hit (>95mph). 5 of those were above 100mph. 
• Ronald Acuña hit a groundball right at Nolan Arenado at third in his second AB of the game and Nado made a surprising bobble. The grounder wasn’t hit particularly hard, but as Nolan brought the ball up off the ground with his glove, the ball popped up out of his glove. Nado kept his wits though and calmly found the ball, grabbed it out of the air fired across the diamond to complete to put out.
• Ryan Waldschmidt followed up that questionable play from Arenado with an absolutely stellar play in left field. Matt Olson served a line drive toward the left field corner but Waldy made a great break on it and caught the ball in full sprint and full extension before tumbling to the earth. Huge play to save extra bases, especially when the next hitter got a single that likely would’ve scored Olson.
• Domo looking a lot closer to his old self tonight after getting a double and single on a liner hugging the third base line in the 3rd and a single hugging the first base line in the 6th.
• Ildemaro reached with an infield single on a little cue shot that rolled 75 feet. He then immediately stole second base which allowed him to advance to third on a sacrifice bunt by Tawa (not a great bunt but it did the job). Perfect small ball execution; runner at third with less than 2 outs and a ball hadn’t even been hit past third base.
• Ryan Waldschmidt gave himself a chance to get Arizona’s first hit with RISP with 2 outs in the 7th, but the Braves center fielder made a great read on Waldy’s shallow humpback liner to center and made the catch at knee level in a full sprint as he ran in. So close.
• Ildemaro made a fantastic leaping grab of a Matt Olson liner to rob him of a hit to lead off the 7th. Vargie reached full extension and still just got enough glove on the ball to snow-cone it. Even more impressive might’ve been the body control to keep the grip on the ball has his feet came back to the dirt. Awesome play!
• Stepping up to the plate 3/3 in the 8th, Geraldo Perdomo dropped a surprise bunt perfectly hugging the third base line for a leadoff single.

Comment of the Game

A lighter GameDay Thread tonight, likely due to the earlier start time, only getting a total of 215 comments at time of publishing. There seemed to be quite a bit of rec rationing going on early (hat tip to Sighborg) but Timmy Tawa’s late insurance run dinger loosened the recs and kilnborn earned COTG:

Coming Up

The Diamondbacks face the Braves for the second game of this 3-game set tomorrow evening with a 4:15pm first pitch Arizona time and televised on FOX. Grant Holmes (7-4, 3.47 ERA) is the probable starter for the ATL and our favorite hologram, Eduardo Rodriguez (11-4, 2.70 ERA) will get the ball for the good guys.

Scoreboard Watching

Full scoreboard thread to follow but feel free to update in the comments.

For a team like the Chicago White Sox looking to wrap up their division over the remaining weeks, winning the few series left against divisional opponents is crucial. Last week, the White Sox took care of the Cleveland Guardians and this week, they have a big test on the road against the Detroit Tigers.

With just 2 ½ games separating the two teams coming into this series, anything less than a series win would put Chicago in a really tight spot. Although the series is far from over, the White Sox got off to a great start with a massive 9-5 win over the Detroit Tigers.

It was your normal intradivisional game, with both teams trading blows left and right, all night. The White Sox landed the first punch in the very first inning when Sam Antonacci was driven in by Braden Montgomery after the first two batters of the night were hit by pitches.

Sean Newcomb did his job as an opener, as he allowed just one base runner over his first five batters faced. Unfortunately the Tigers landed a few punches of their own shortly thereafter.

The “Gritty Tigs” awoke from slumber off of José Urquidy, with a two-out, two-strike homer in the second and a two-out double in the third inning that had the White Sox reeling. It wasn’t the finest work from Urquidy, but his role was to eat innings, and with 52 pitches with three runs of damage he could very well see long relief work into September.

Fortunately, as they have all season, the White Sox refused to wave the white flag, tagging Detroit for two runs in the first seven pitches of the fifth inning, as a Tristan Peters two-run homer evened it up. Chicago fattened its lead from there, thanks to a Munetaka Murakami homer

and a Braden Montgomery triple:

For as much as Braden has struggled during the season, batting just .238 on the year coming into this game, he’s played a major role in multiple big wins this year. It was his fourth game in his short stint in the South Side this year driving in three or more runs. If he keeps it up, he may be the most popular Montgomery on the team before too long.

It looked like the White Sox landed a knockout punch in the sixth inning when Miguel Vargas clubbed a two-run homer, but much like Tyson Fury against Deontay Wilder, the Tigers found a way to rise off the canvas and show a little life.

They say “Mets gonna Mets” but apparently that saying still has some legs on former players, too, as Huascar Brazobán had another tough night. Although he only gave up two runs to Urquidy’s three, Brazobán also only made it through just 1 ⅓ innings, allowing the Tigers to make it a three-run game before Grant Taylor found a way to work out of the jam Brazobán left him.

Fortunately, Vargas showed off his power bat one more time, and the four-run lead was too much for the Tigers to make up, no matter how “gritty” they may be. With the win, the White Sox now have a 3 1/2-game lead over the Tigers, four over the Twins and five on Cleveland. Just as important, the White Sox now hold the lead in the season series against the Tigers, four games to three. Should these teams finish the season tied atop the standings, that tiebreaker would loom large.

With tonight’s game being the fourth in 16 straight days of games, a win without using too much of the bullpen is a massive help. If they can keep these good vibes rolling and leave this tough stretch with any type of lead atop the division, the White Sox will have a huge advantage over the rest of the division.

MVP
Miguel Vargas: 4-for-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, two impressive pop-up catches

Runners-Up
Braden Montgomery: 3-for-5, 3 RBI
Tristan Peters: 3-for-5, 2 BBs, R

Cold Cat
José Urquidy: 3 2/3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 K

Runners-Up
Colson Montgomery: 0-for-5, 2 K
Drew Romo: 0-for-4, BB
Huascar Brazobán: 1 1/3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER

The Mets were held to one baserunner through five but they broke out late in their 4-1 win over the Nationals.

Francisco Lindor had another tough day in the field which helped Washington get on the board first, but he made up for it when he tied the game in the sixth with a solo home run. That was the team’s first hit of the day but they tacked on another run that inning with Carson Benge’s RBI single to drive in Bo Bichette who reached base after striking out on a wild pitch.

The Mets scored two more in the seventh when Jared Young hit a solo home run of his own. After another wild pitch moved Luis Torrens into scoring position, Bichette added a RBI single off old friend Max Kranick to make it 4-1 Metsies.

Robert Stock got the start for the Mets and was much better than his last start against Pittsburgh but he failed to make it through five. He was lifted after pitching 4.1 innings and allowing just one unearned run. Nate Lavender entered with runners on first and second and one out, but was able to finish off the inning without any damage.

The Mets bullpen as a whole is what allowed the offense to come back and take the lead. Lavender, Jonathan Pintaro, Daniel Duarte, and Kodai Senga were all very good in this revamped bullpen. Pinarto picked up his first major league win and Senga picked up his second save of the season although he did allow two baserunners in the ninth. The Mets have now won seven of their last ten ballgames as they look for positives during a lost season.

SB Nation GameThreads

Amazin’ Avenue
Federal Baseball

Box scores

MLB.com
ESPN

Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Francisco Lindor, +16% WPA
Big Mets loser: AJ Ewing, -10% WPA
Mets pitchers: +34% WPA
Mets hitters: +16% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Francisco Lindor home run, +20.1% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Brady House RBI single, -7.8% WPA

The Dodgers  (73-49) look to bounce back and even the series against the Brewers after a stunning 5-4 collapse in the ninth inning during Thursday night’s opener. 

Yoshi Yamamoto (11-7, 2.65 ERA, 0.89 WHIP) takes the ball for the Dodgers.

Robert Gasser (3-4, 4.57 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) starts for Milwaukee.

Lineups

Friday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Brewers
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Start time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

There couldn’t have been a worse start to a series after coming off a high from the last one.

…Well, I guess there could always be worse.

The Atlanta Braves fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a 2-0 shutout to open their series on Friday night.

The first run was kicked off by Arizona’s Geraldo Perdomo on a Gabriel Moreno RBI at the top of the first inning. And the second was a homer hit by Tim Tawa in the top of the ninth to cap off the night.

Chris Sale pitched through his usual six innings, but gave up five hits and one earned run with a total of nine strikeouts. Besides the first run, Sale did a solid job at holding the rest of the offense off. Plus, it wasn’t his fault the Braves’ offense was quiet throughout the night.

It wasn’t until Tyler Kinley came in for Dylan Dodd that the next run would be scored beyond the fence.

Same story, different team. Not the best way to start, especially against a team that’s putting up similar results through the eye test.

But that’s why there’s always tomorrow.

Until then, rest well, Braves Country. We’ll return to gear up for tomorrow in hopes of turning things around.

Gerrit Cole was a tough assignment, but the pitching staff was more than up for the challenge of winning the pitching duel and the offence took advantage of their opportunities and did just enough.

There was bad news, though. Vladimir Guerrero jr. left the game after being kicked in the side of the head sliding into third. We haven’t recieved an update on his condition yet, but he looked shaken in the dugout after the play and went into the tunnel for concussion tests. Hopefully it’s minor, but they may be without their star first baseman for a little while.

Shane Bieber was very good today. He wasn’t missing many bats, but he kept the Yankees’ hitters off him for the most part and worked efficiently. He also got some sold defence behind him and benefited from mistakes like George Lombard jr. inexplicably rounding second advancing on a line single straight to Nathan Lukes and getting caught in a rundown at third.

The Yankees got their first chance in the fourth, when Spencer Jones doubled to centre field and advanced on a fly out to put a man on third with one out. Bieber got a pop out and a fly out to escape, though. He cruised through the fifth, picking up a his third and fourth strikeouts. He finally slipped in the sixth, though, catching too much of the plate with a fastball that Trent Grisham chipped just over the fence into the Yankees’ bullpen in right. He retired the next three batters to get through the inning. It was an excellent start, and it was justice that the Jays were able to take him off the hook for the loss.

The Jays could do nothing with Gerrit Cole. They manufactured one chance in the second. Alejandro Kirk worked a walk and Andres Gimenez lined a double into the right field corner. Kirk was only able to make it to third, though, and Cole struck Kazuma Okamoto out and got a ground out from Jesus Sanchez to end the inning. Cole then set the next seven Jays in order before a one out Okamoto single in the fifth. That was stranded.

Finally, the offence woke up in the sixth with the help of a bizarrer play. Brett Bateman hit a ground ball single to open the bottom of the sixth. After Nathan Lukes grounded into a fielder’s choice, Vladimir Guerrero jr. hit a ground ball single to advance Lukes to second and give the Jays their first runner in scoring position since the second. George Springer grounded to third. Ryan McMahon stepped on the bag and threw over to first for what would have been a double play except that the throw was a bit off and popped the glove off Luis Garcia jr.‘s hand. Vlad went for third and Garcia made the ill advised decision to throw it back across the diamond. McMahon, running back to the bag to try to catch it, had to jump to try to avoid a sliding Vlad and ended up kicking him in the side of the head and sprawling. Vlad had the presence of mind to get up and go home, but looked shaken in the dugout after the play. That tied the game at one. One pitch later, Alejandro Kirk lined a ball to the left field wall for a double that plated Springer to put Toronto in front 2-1.

Vlad went into the tunnel for a concussion evaluation and was replaced by Charles McAdoo. Tyler Rogers relieved Bieber for the seventh. He allowed just a ground ball single. Paul Blackburn took over for the Yankees. He retired the first two batters before Ernie Clement and Bateman reached on back to back singles. A pop out prevented the runners from scoring.

Rogers returned to get the first out in the eighth before handing it over to Mason Fluharty, who got two soft fly outs. In the bottom half, Bradley Hanner made his MLB debut. It started well, as he struck out McAdoo and Springer, but the Alejandro Kirk welcomed him to the show with a home run to right, extending the Jays’ margin to two.

Louis Varland came in for the save. He must be tired with all the work he’s gotten in the last week, so he was in no mood to mess around. The Yankees were set down in order on four pitches.

Jays of the Day: Kirk (0.27), Bieber (0.17), Rogers (0.15)

Less so: Sanchez (-0.11)

We’ll be back tomorrow at 3:07pm ET. Cy Young frontrunner Cam Schlittler (10-6, 2.21) will take the mound for the Yankees. The Jays haven’t announced a starter. This was to have been Jameson Taillon’s third turn with the club, but he’s on the IL with forearm tightness. That leaves Simeon Woods-Richardson (2-7, 6.23) as the logical next man up.

It’s time for a new series and we’ve got two very bad teams pitted against each other: in the orange corner, the San Francisco Giants, and in the purple corner, the Colorado Rockies.

Righty Landen Roupp takes the mound for the Giants for the 24th time this year. The 27-year old is 7-11 on the season, with a 4.22 ERA, a 3.52 FIP, and 123 strikeouts to 57 walks in 123.2 innings. Roupp bounced back from a mini slump in his last start, giving up just one run in 5.1 innings against the Detroit Tigers, though he walked five batters. He has the most losses in the league, currently.

For the Rockies, it’s left-hander Kyle Freeland, who makes his 22nd start. The 33-year old is having a tough year, as he’s 3-10 with a 6.63 ERA, a 4.65 FIP, and 96 strikeouts to 26 walks in 112.2 innings. He lasted just 4.1 innings in his last start, but in the start before that he threw a complete game against the Kansas City Royals, with just one run allowe.

Enjoy the game, everyone!

Lineups

Giants

1. Jonah Cox — CF
2. Rafael Devers — DH
3. Bryce Eldridge — 1B
4. Victor Bericoto — LF
5. Jung Hoo Lee — RF
6. Oslievis Basabe — 2B
7. Buddy Kennedy — 3B
8. Andrew Knizner — C
9. Christian Koss — SS

RHP. Landen Roupp

Rockies

1. Jake McCarthy — CF
2. Mickey Moniak — LF
3. Willi Castro — 3B
4. TJ Rumfield — 1B
5. Troy Johnston — DH
6. Connor Norby — 2B
7. Zac Veen — RF
8. Ezequiel Tovar — SS
9. Brett Sullivan — C

LHP. Kyle Freeland

Game #122

Who: San Francisco Giants (50-71) vs. Colorado Rockies (48-73)

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California

When: 7:15 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

The Yankees had a late lead with Gerrit Cole dealing, but a defensive blunder allowed a two-run inning, as New York fell to the Blue Jays, 3-1, on Friday night in Toronto.

Up 1-0 in the sixth, the Jays had two runners on and one out. George Springer hit a groundball to Ryan McMahon. McMahon stepped on third for one out, but the throw to Luis Garcia Jr. at first took his glove off as he tried to scoop. Garcia tried to get Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at third base, but he threw it into left field, not noticing that no one was covering. Guerrero and George Lombard Jr. collided at third, as the ball went into the outfield, but Vlad was able to score. Alejandro Kirk followed with an RBI double to give the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead. McMahon and Garcia were given errors on the play.

It was enough for the Blue Jays as the Yankees' offense. New York left four runners on base and went 0-for-3 with RISP.

Here are the takeaways...

-Cole pitched on a tightrope early, as Toronto had runners on second and third with one out in the second inning. Cole struck out Kazuma Okamoto and got Jesus Sanchez to ground out to end the threat. 

After that defensive misplay pushed two runs across, Cole finished the inning, but that two-spot put a damper on the right-hander's night. He allowed two runs on five hits and two walks through his six innings, while striking out five. 

-On the offensive side, the struggles continued. Lombard made a baserunning blunder, straying too far off second on a Trent Grisham single in the third, and the team wasted a leadoff double from Spencer Jones in the fourth. Jones was on third with one out before Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Heliot Ramos flew out to end the inning.

Grisham lined a home run (359 ft, 100.3 mph) over the right field wall for his 16th of the season. The blast put the Yankees up 1-0 in the sixth.

-The Yankees bullpen kept the Blue Jays off the board until the eighth. Bradley Hanner, making his major league debut, struck out the first two batters on the night, but Kirk launched his fifth home run of the season to give Toronto an insurance run.

-Shane Bieber held the Yankees at bay. Aside from allowing the Grisham homer, the former AL Cy Young winner allowed just four hits and one walk across six innings while striking out five.

-The Yankees had just five hits. Grisham had two with Jones, Chisholm and McMahon reaching base via the hit.  

Game MVP: Alejandro Kirk

The Blue Jays backstop drove in two of the team's three runs.

Highlights

Trent Grisham homers to give the Yankees the lead! pic.twitter.com/qjbbZPJdwG

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) August 15, 2026

What's next

The Yankees and Blue Jays play the second game of their series on Saturday. First pitch is set for 3:07 p.m.

Cam Schlittler (10-6, 2.21 ERA) will take the mound. Toronto has yet to announce a starter.

The Mets had just one hit through five innings, but woke up in the sixth inning and would go on to beat the Washington Nationals, 4-1, on Friday night.

New York has now won seven of their last 10 games.

Here are the takeaways...

-- Francisco Lindor's season-long defensive issues continued Friday night. The SS misplayed a ball up the middle in the top of the third inning, allowing CJ Abrams to score and give the Nationals an early 1-0 lead. It's Lindor's ninth error of the season in just his 65th game (he had 13 errors in 2025 over 158 games).

-- Although Lindor made up for the mistake later in the bottom of the sixth inning, crushing a breaking ball to left field for a solo home run that tied the game at 1-1. The homer off of LHP Andrew Alvarez was just his fourth from the right side of the plate this year and 12th home run overall.

New York then found a way to take the lead as Bo Bichette reached first on a strikeout-wild pitch, Luis Robert Jr. singled against Jake Bird, and Carson Benge drove in the run to go up 2-1.

-- Robert Stock took the mound for the first time since his rough start against the Pirates (eight earned runs in 3.0 IP) and put together a solid outing. He allowed one unearned run on three hits with five strikeouts and three walks over 4.1 IP and a career-high 84 pitches.

The 36-year-old started strong, leaving two Nationals stranded in the first inning and tossing a quick 1-2-3 second inning. Washington got to him in the third, scoring an unearned run on Lindor's error, but he powered through to leave two runners stranded. Stock bounced back for a four-batter fourth inning and came back out for the fifth, but was pulled after a walk and hit-by-pitch. 

-- LHP Nate Lavender cleaned up in the fifth, recording two flyouts on three pitches to keep it a 1-0 game. Jonathan Pintaro pitched a scoreless sixth inning thanks to a 4-6-3 double play with two Nats on base, and kept it going with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.

-- Jared Young gave the Mets an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh, blasting a hanging curveball 408 feet to right field to make it 3-1. The inning stayed alive after two walks and Bichette took advantage, tacking on another with an RBI single to push the lead to 4-1.

-- Pitching with a three-run lead, RHP Daniel Duarte breezed by the Nats in the eighth with a scoreless frame. Kodai Senga ran into some trouble in the ninth, allowing a single and hitting a batter, but was able to record his second career save by striking out Abimelec Ortiz on a ghost fork.

Highlights

A two-strikeout inning for Robert Stock 🙌 pic.twitter.com/aLAZNTY0AB

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 14, 2026

Robert Stock makes the play to third for the out pic.twitter.com/F4gvr9mFCR

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 14, 2026

Francisco Lindor with a swing and a drive! pic.twitter.com/5HV4cO1ZEh

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 15, 2026

Carson Benge gives the Mets the lead! pic.twitter.com/R1WwkfFKaE

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 15, 2026

Carson Benge makes the sliding catch 🔥 pic.twitter.com/U8Hk3cgc1H

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 15, 2026

Jared Young crushes a home run! pic.twitter.com/YaB4S02jbj

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 15, 2026

Bo Bichette drives in another run! pic.twitter.com/tvc20dRW6g

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 15, 2026

What's next

The Mets and Nationals continue their series on Saturday at 4:10 p.m. on SNY.

LHP Sean Manaea (4-5, 4.13 ERA) takes the mound, while the Nats have yet to announce a starting pitcher.