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Four Big Questions with Astros Broadcaster Geoff Blum
After the disappointment of last night and dropping yet another contest on Peacock in front of a nationwide viewing audience, I decided to call the one man in Houston who could bolster all of collective spirits. That man is Geoff Blum, the 3-time Emmy Award Winner from Space City Home Network. Geoff joins us exclusively at The Crawfish Boxes.
Q: 125 games are in the books. What’s your overall assessment of things?
A: The Astros are in good position. They’re sitting atop the A.L. West. One thing I’ve learned about watching this team and this organization and being around the guys in the clubhouse, is they do not panic. It’s easy on the outside to point to a series or a specific game but when you are playing 162 games, you put things into a greater context. There’s still plenty of time to either secure the top spot or lose it, but I’ve learned over the years not to panic with these guys.
Q: With Hunter, there was that stretch where we issued a series of walks. Do you sense that something is going on with his mechanics, or is it focus?
A: I do think it’s a little bit of the mechanics. When guys come back from injury, the body just isn’t the same which is true of anybody, it can be a position player or a pitcher. Your body reacts and there’s a recovery process. Hunter Brown is hyper competitive, and he’ll go out there and find a way to do it.
Q: So, you’re not concerned at all with Hunter Brown down the stretch?
A: The velocity is there. Some of his pitches last night were amazing. It’s just a matter of him dialing it in consistently.
Q: Where would the Astros be without Peter Lambert?
A: Without Peter Lambert, the Astros are not sitting in first place. He’s become the anchor of the rotation. He’s become consistent even with his quiet and humble demeanor. I appreciate his workmanship, his consistency and all that he’s done this season.
Game Thread: Liam Hicks Appreciation Thread
Go Rays!
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Could Moritz Seider Be the Red Wings' First 99 Overall Player in EA NHL Series?
On Monday, exciting news dropped ahead of the release of the newest entry in the EA Sports NHL series, with NHL 27 set to arrive in early September.
The new game brings back several fan-favorite elements, including the return of GM Connected franchise mode, along with more detailed, customized arena presentations across all 32 NHL teams, meaning Little Caesars Arena will finally look and feel more like the true home of the Detroit Red Wings.
The bigger headline, though, is that the NHL series is borrowing a concept from other EA Sports franchises like Madden and EA FC. NHL 27 is introducing a 99 Club, reserved for the handful of players considered the very best in the sport, distinguished by a perfect 99 overall rating.
EA announced the first member of that club on Monday with Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who becomes the first player in the history of the NHL video game series to carry a 99 overall.
Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features.
For the first time in EA SPORTS NHL history, there is a 99 Club. 🏆
— EA SPORTS NHL (@EASPORTSNHL) August 17, 2026
And there could only be one first member.
Welcome to the Club, @cmcdavid97
Pre-order #NHL27 Deluxe Edition to play 7 Days Early on September 4th ➡️ https://t.co/RA3sJZHGhVpic.twitter.com/oG99czDYTH
The news kicked off plenty of speculation, including who might become the first player in Red Wings history to crack the 99 Club. The most obvious candidates are two players expected to be pillars of the franchise for years to come with defenseman Moritz Seider and winger Lucas Raymond.
Both have drawn increasing attention from fans this offseason, with Seider earning wide praise for his continued development and Raymond, still just 24, producing at a near point-per-game pace.
Seider looks like the more obvious pick of the two as he was recently ranked the ninth-best defenseman in the league by NHL Network, and if his trajectory continues, the German blueliner could eventually take over the Red Wings' captaincy and become the face of the franchise, both in Detroit and potentially as the club's first-ever 99 Club member in the game.
Detroit won't be short on honorable mentions down the line, either. Prospects like Emmitt Finnie, Trey Augustine, Nate Danielson, Max Plante and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard could all develop into future candidates as the organization builds around its next wave of talent.
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Rubin Colwill’s last-gasp free-kick earns Cardiff dramatic point against Wrexham
Rubin Colwill scored a ferocious equaliser with almost the final kick of the match to earn Cardiff a 1-1 Championship draw with Wrexham.
Wrexham appeared to have the Welsh derby bragging rights sewn up as the contest ticked into the eighth minute of added time at Cardiff City Stadium.
Continue reading...Orioles vs. Rays discussion
The Orioles will play the fourth and final game of the series tonight in Tampa Bay. Wrap-around weekend series are rare these days. So are four-game sweeps of first place teams. Baltimore can’t control its schedule, but it can dictate the results on the field tonight.
The O’s won a pair of one-run games before thumping the Rays 10-2 on Sunday. They’ll look to finish the job this evening against Shane McClanahan (9-6, 3.09 ERA).
Tyler O’Neill will play right field and bat leadoff against the lefty. He’ll be followed by designated hitter Pete Alonso and second baseman Jackson Holliday. Coby Mayo will bat cleanup and play first base.
Gunnar Henderson will look to ride a recent hot streak from the five hole. Christian Encarnacion-Strand will handle the hot corner, and Jeremiah Jackson will play left field. Christian Franklin will play center field and bat ninth. Carlos Narváez will hit eighth and catch Brandon Young.
Young (9-3, 3.33 ERA) is looking for his 10th win of the season. The majority of Baltimore’s high-leverage relievers should be available following yesterday’s blowout win.
Orioles lineup
- T O’Neill (R) RF
- P Alonso (R) DH
- J Holliday (L) 2B
- C Mayo (R) 1B
- G Henderson (L) SS
- C Encarnacion-Strand (R) 3B
- J Jackson (R) LF
- C Narváez (R) C
- C Franklin (R) CF
Starter: RHP Brandon Young (9-3, 3.33 ERA)
Gamethread 8/17: Marlins at Phillies
Here are the lineups. For the Phillies:
For the Marlins:
Let’s talk about it.
Za’Darius Smith free agency update: Could spurn Browns for former coach
Uh, oh. Here we go again, perhaps.
Sunday afternoon, we covered a report that former Cleveland Browns DE Za’Darius Smith was expected to rejoin the team after a visit to Berea. Smith seemed a bit confused by that report, as he commented on social media that he had another workout lined up with another team before deleting that comment.
DE Jared Verse talked on Monday about the potential addition of Smith and getting to pick the veteran’s brain.
Previously, the Browns brought in another former defensive end, Jadeveon Clowney, and seemed interested in signing him before the former first overall pick returned to the Houston Texans instead.
Could things be repeating themselves, this time with a bit of Kevin Stefanski revenge added to it?
Stefanski was fired in Cleveland following the 2025 season and quickly hired as the Atlanta Falcons head coach during the cycle that brought Todd Monken in to coach the Browns. According to Mary Kay Cabot, who had the initial report that Smith would sign back in Ohio, the team thought they had a deal done:
As noted, Smith could help fill a big need for the Falcons and rejoin Stefanski instead of rejoining Cleveland, where he played for Stefanski for almost two years before being traded.
In his 11 years in the NFL, Smith compiled 343 tackles, 176 QB hits, 87 tackles for loss, and 70.5 sacks.
Do you want Smith to return to the Browns? Would his joining Stefanski instead of Cleveland bother you even more than Clowney choosing the Texans?
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Buss family reportedly to sell remaining shares of Lakers to new owners
It's truly the end of an era.
The Buss family has agreed to sell its remaining 17.8% of the Lakers to the team's incoming owners, Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, a story broken by ESPN’s Shams Charania and since confirmed by multiple sources.
When the Buss family first sold its majority stake to Mark Walter last year, the family retained that 17.8%, enough for Jeanie Buss to remain on as Governor for the next five years, something written into the sales agreement. Now, without the ownership stake required by the league, Buss will no longer serve that role. Most likely, Iger will fill that role, he has been the face of the new ownership, although it could be Kushner.
There are six Buss family members in the trust — Jeanie Buss, Jim Buss, Johnny Buss, Janie Buss, Joey Buss, and Jesse Buss (all children of the late owner Jerry Buss) — and four of them had to vote to ask for this. The other five Buss family members approached Jeanie, asking to sell the remaining stake, reports Yaron Weitzman (who wrote a book on the Lakers). The family released this statement to ESPN.
"We have decided as a family to sell the remaining Buss Family Trust shares to the Bob Iger group as part of the ongoing transaction. We love the Lakers, Laker fans and will continue to support Los Angeles; but it is time to use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can."
This is the real end of an era. Jerry Buss bought the Lakers — along with the Fabulous Forum, where the team played through the Showtime era, as well as the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL — in 1979. Jerry Buss was an innovative owner who realized long before others that the league was selling an entertainment product. That led to innovations like a dance team, the Laker Girls, as well as in-arena music during the games and breaks, and much more.
As everything around the league changed and evolved, the Buss family ownership of the Lakers did not — and the team thrived under their ownership. The team won 11 championships under 46 years of Buss ownership, appeared in many more NBA Finals, and evolved into an iconic brand, the biggest one in the sport.
They did that because of all the stars who came through under their watch: Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, up through LeBron James.
After all that stability, the Lakers have now been sold twice in 14 months. First to Mark Walter, who also owns the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, as Walter is staring down a federal and SEC investigation into potential fraud tied to insurance companies in his holdings — as well as the sports teams he owns and their valuations — he reportedly needed to pay down debt. Selling the Lakers may have been how he got that cash.
One thing to watch out for: Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka recently got a contract extension and isn't going anywhere soon, but Jeanie Buss was his friend and protector within the organization. With her gone, his safety net is gone.
Cincinnati Reds vs. St. Louis Cardinals – Rhett Lowder vs. Andre Pallante
The Cincinnati Reds lost to the St. Louis Cardinals earlier on Monday, and surprisingly it was not due to the work of lefty Kent Emanuel.
The 34 year old journeyman was effectively plucked out of independent league ball to make this start, as the Reds got him, sent him to AAA Louisville to start once, and then rolled him out there today. He more than rewarded them by lasting 5.0 IP and allowing just 2 ER, and instead it was (once again) the putrid Cincinnati offense that backed him by scoring just a lone run in a 2-1 loss.
That means the Reds have scored 1, 1, 4, 0, 1, 9 (!), 0, 4, 1, 2, 3 runs in their last 10 contests. Good luck winning with that!
It’ll be Rhett Lowder who’ll next try to get the opponent to score -1 runs so the Reds can try to win zero to negative one, as he’ll start the evening half of Monday’s doubleheader against the Birds. Veteran Andre Pallante will start for St. Louis, with first pitch set for 6:40 PM ET.
Here’s how the Reds will line up to start Game 2 of the day:
Igor Shesterkin Still Considered Among NHL’s Top Goaltenders Despite Rangers’ Struggles
Despite the New York Rangers’ struggles over the past two seasons, Igor Shesterkin is still widely considered to be one of the premier goaltenders in the NHL.
Shesterkin ranked No. 3 on NHL Network’s top 10 goalies list heading into the 2026-27 season.
The only two goaltenders to be ranked ahead of Shesterkin are Andrei Vasilevskiy and Connor Hellebuyck.
The other goaltenders on this list include Ilya Sorokin, Jeremy Swayman, Logan Thompson, Jake Oettinger, Dan Vldar, Jesper Wallstedt, and Jakub Dobeš.
This past season, the 31-year-old goaltender recorded a 25-19-6 record, a .912 save percentage, and a 2.50 goals against average.
“I could play way better, for sure,” Shesterkin said of his 2025-26 performance. “I was a little bit shocked when I checked my numbers. I was a little bit upset about it, but still it was top-four, top-five (in save percentage). I cannot say that’s pretty good, but still.”
During the 2024-25 season, Shesterkin signed an eight-year, $92 million contract extension with the Rangers, making him the highest paid goalie in the NHL, which still stands today.
‘Should have been us’: Disaster reopens Poms’ wounds in ‘bitter’ Ashes truth – UK View
As Australia’s shock nine-wicket loss to Bangladesh in the first Test in Darwin reverberates around the cricket world, the reaction hasn’t been what you might expect.
Yankees to activate Carlos Rodón Tuesday night against Orioles
The Yankees announced today that Carlos Rodón will make his return from the injured list tomorrow night. Out since June 28th with left elbow inflammation, the left-hander will start in the first game of this week’s three-game set with the Orioles.
Rodón made two rehab starts in the lead-up to his return, looking particularly sharp in his most recent outing, striking out seven and allowing two hits in 4.1 shutout innings for Somerset on August 13th. He was limited to 58 pitches in that start, so expect him to be on a fairly restrictive pitch count tomorrow night.
The Yankees desperately need offensive reinforcements, but they’ll take anything they can get right now. Rodón’s return should further deepen what’s been the best pitching staff in the league, though how the roster shakes out remains to be seen. The most obvious candidate to be bumped out of the rotation is Will Warren, who has been outpitched over the course of the summer by his mid-rotation mate Ryan Weathers. Warren would’ve been on full rest for tomorrow night, so perhaps he could be involved in a piggyback sort of setup as the Yankees try to slowly increase Rodón’s pitch count.
Rodón had a 3.30 ERA in nine starts and 46 innings before hitting the shelf in June. His season had already been abbreviated by offseason elbow surgery, his season debut not coming until May 10th in Milwaukee. Though injuries have ensured this hasn’t been the kind of campaign Rodón envisioned, he’s been effective when healthy and would give the Yankees a downright super rotation if he can pitch as he did earlier year.
Mets Notes: David Stearns on Kodai Senga's success as reliever, Jorge Polanco's outlook at first base
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns discussed several topics ahead of Monday's game against the Padres...
Senga's new role as a high-leverage reliever
Stearns spoke on Kodai Senga, who has served as the team's closer in the place of the injured Devin Williams. This August, Senga has not allowed a single run across five outings, each lasting one full inning, and has picked up the first three saves of his career in the process.
"Kodai has done a great job," said Stearns. "He's adjusted very well, and it's not just in the performance, it's also in how he's getting ready for those performances. It's not the easiest transition to make."
However, it appears that Stearns isn't yet convinced to hand Senga the closer role moving forward, both when Williams returns from injury and looking ahead to next season.
"I'm excited for [Senga] that he's doing this right now. From a future perspective, we'll [look at that] later," Stearns stated.
No expectation for Polanco to play first base
Looking ahead to 2027, Stearns was asked whether he wants to see Jorge Polanco play first base between now and the end of the season, with an eye on finding a solution at that problem position for the Mets defense.
"I don't think we need to see that," he replied. "The most important thing is getting [Polanco] on a path to be physically in a much better place in 2027 than he has been this season."
Polanco has played in just 36 of the Mets' 125 games this season, and was sidelined from April 18 to July 7 with left Achilles bursitis, as well as a wrist injury.
Pushing the limits of the young starting pitchers
Stearns has been encouraged by the strong performances of New York's trio of rookie starters: Nolan McLean, Christian Scott, and Zac Thornton.
He explained that he wants to see each of them continue to challenge themselves to push deep into ballgames ahead of the season's end.
"We don't, frankly, have innings limits or innings guides," said Stearns. "It's more about continuing to evaluate how each individual pitcher is feeling, how they're recovering, and at this point we're in a good spot with all of them.
"They're solidifying themselves as pitchers at the major-league level, and that's important for us going forward."
Stearns' approach to prospect integration and development
Finally, following a whirlwind trade deadline which saw the Mets bolster their prospect ranks with the acquisition of infielders Jefferson Rojas and Sammy Stafura (among others), Stearns outlined his vision for what a successful Mets farm system looks like.
"So much of it is making them feel welcome, putting them in the best position to succeed, and allowing their talents to speak for themselves. It's important to get to know the player and the person, trying to be patient, allowing our coaches and player development staff to get quality time with them."
Stearns is proud of the performances of Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing, who are setting the standard for what successful prospect promotion to the big leagues looks like.
"I think we have gotten development at the major-league level in terms of seeing progress from young players, and it's very encouraging for us to see them perform," Stearns concluded.
Canadiens Young Forward Ready To Break Out
The Montreal Canadiens have many promising young players. Among them is forward Zachary Bolduc, as the 23-year-old has had a nice start to his NHL career.
Bolduc has shown promise early on during his NHL career. During the 2024-25 season with the St. Louis Blues, he recorded 19 goals, 17 assists, and 36 points in 72 games. He followed that up by posting 12 goals and 30 points in 78 games during his first season with Montreal in 2025-26.
Overall, in his first two full NHL seasons, Bolduc has shown that he can provide solid secondary offensive production and grit. Yet, it would not be surprising if he takes another step forward this campaign.
Bolduc has the tools to emerge as a top-six winger, and the Canadiens have a spot to fight for on their second line. With that, it would be huge if the 2021 first-round pick sees an increase in offensive production this campaign.
It is going to be very interesting to see what kind of season Bolduc can have for the Habs in 2026-27. There is a lot to like about his game, and it would be great for Montreal if he breaks out and becomes a true top-six forward.