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Probable pitchers: RHP Shane Baz (4-9, 4.05 ERA, 105 Ks) vs. RHP Reynaldo López (4-3, 3.95 ERA, 60 Ks)

Where to watch: MASN/MASN+

Through two games against the NL East-leading Braves, we’ve gotten two thrillers that have felt an awful lot like playoff games. This afternoon, the Orioles will try to take the rubber match and move a step closer to a playoff spot.

Both Games 1 and 2 vs. Atlanta were one-run games that the Orioles had every chance to win. On Friday, Taylor Ward failed to capitalize on a bases-loaded, two-outs-in-the-9th opportunity, and defensive miscues ultimately cost the O’s in extras. Last night, Dylan Beavers did what Ward couldn’t, delivering a walk-off single to right to tie the series at one game apiece.

Baltimore badly wants to be playing baseball in October, but their lackluster first three months mean every game from here on out is a meaningful game. The O’s currently sit three games under .500 but only 2.5 games back from the final AL Wild Card spot. And while 2.5 games seems like a surmountable distance to overcome, Baltimore is one of five teams that are five games or less from that Wild Card spot.

The congested American League means simply playing good baseball isn’t enough; the Orioles are 12-6 in July but only two games closer to a playoff spot than they were at the beginning of the month. And so, while every game can’t be seen as a must-win, every series certainly is from here until October.

Looking to secure that series win for the O’s is right-hander Shane Baz. The 27-year-old hasn’t been quite as dominant lately as the likes of Trevor Rogers, Kyle Bradish and Brandon Young, but still consistently gives the Orioles a chance to win every time he toes the rubber. Over his last nine starts, Baz owns a 3.54 ERA, a .260 batting average against and is averaging just under six innings per start.

Starting pitching has been the Orioles’ calling card through the first two games against Atlanta, with Rogers and Young combining for 13.1 IP, 10 H, 3 ER, 2 BB and 12 Ks across Games 1 and 2. Baz will look to continue that trend of dominance as he makes his first-ever start vs. Atlanta. Of the Braves’ normal starters, the right-hander has only faced Mauricio Dubón and Joey Bart, with the pair going 2-for-12 with no homers.

Taking the ball for Atlanta is former All-Star Reynaldo López. The 32-year-0ld right-hander struggled in his last outing, giving up nine hits and five runs over 4.1 innings in a loss to the Padres. He did, however, dominate the Orioles the last time he pitched at Camden Yards. Back in 2024, López tossed six scoreless innings in Baltimore, while striking out eight, in a 6-3 Braves’ victory.

Orioles lineup

1. Dylan Beavers (L) LF
2. Pete Alonso (R) 1B
3. Gunnar Henderson (L) SS
4. Taylor Ward (R) DH
5. Christian Encarnacion-Strand (R) 3B
6. Colton Cowser (L) CF
7. Leody Taveras (S) RF
8. Jackson Holliday (L) 2B
9. Chadwick Tromp (R) C

Braves lineup

1. Drake Baldwin (L) C
2. Ozzie Albies (S) 2B
3. Matt Olson (L) 1B
4. Michael Harris II (L) CF
5. Mauricio Dubón (R) LF
6. Dominic Smith (L) DH
7. Austin Riley (R) 3B
8. Mike Yastrzemski (L) RF
9. Jim Jarvis (L) SS

After a huge win yesterday, the Nats are looking for a series win against a Wild Card competitor in the D-Backs. They will have to do it without a huge piece of their lineup, with Curtis Mead in Boston now. However, they do get an infusion of power with Brady House back in the fold.

With Mead gone, Brady House will be the third baseman in this one and he will hit 5th. Andres Chaparro is in the 2 spot at DH and Dylan Crews is hitting third, playing left field. Luis Garcia Jr. is back in the lineup, but in the 8 spot with a lefty on the mound. Harry Ford will get the nod behind the plate to close out this series. Miles Mikolas will get the start with no opener in front of him.

The D-Backs haven’t made any trades but they have made some changes to the lineup. Adrian Del Castillo, Max Kepler and Tyler Locklear are in the starting lineup in this contest. Gabriel Moreno will be back behind the plate as well. Another soft tossing rookie in Kohl Drake will be on the mound.

Game Info:

Stadium: Nationals Park

Time: 1:35 PM EST

TV: Nationals.TV

Radio: 106.7 The Fan

This will be a different looking Nats team with Mead gone, but the show must go on. Brady House will slide in, and the best offense in baseball will look to keep rolling. We cannot forget how important this game still is. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!

One month has passed since a pair of powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela on June 24th. More than 5,500 are dead and 16,700 injured. The billions of dollars of damage have left thousands homeless.

Five players on the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders are from Venezuela. Infielder Oswaldo Cabrera hails us from Guarenas. Pitcher Kervin Castro is from Maracay. Catcher Edinson Duran is from San Juan de los Marros. Outfielder Kenedy Corona is from Maracaibo. Catcher Abraham Gutierrez is from the capital, Caracas.

Thankfully, all of the players’ families are safe. Still, they know friends of friends who were affected and feel the pain of the devastation to hit their homeland.

“Obviously sad for everything that happened and the situation they are living in Venezuela,” Cabrera said. “I’m glad that all my close family are here in the USA and the family I have there — my aunt, uncle, cousins — they are all safe. But obviously, they are my people in Venezuela. My heart still breaks for all the things that happened there. It’s still my family because all Venezuelans, we are family.”

On the day the quakes hit, Cabrera was in the major leagues with the Yankees. When he learned the news, he immediately contacted his RailRiders teammates to make sure their families were OK.

“Everybody texted and communicated with each other,” he said. “We knew that everyone was safe, our close family. Of all the bad things, that’s a good thing, that all our families here are safe.”

Seeing pictures and videos of the aftermath has been difficult, Cabrera said. There is a helpless feeling of being here and not being able to help directly.

Baseball, though, allows him to take his mind off things for a few hours.

“It’s really hard because there isn’t anything you can do physically. That’s the tough part of this situation,” Cabrera said. “You want to be involved and help people there. You want to support them in the right way. Anything we can do – a foundation, charity, money, whatever. But everything that happened, you feel like you want to be there with them. 

“The second day after everything happened, I deleted all my social media because everything I saw, in my mind I wanted to be there. It’s tough.”

When Krista Lutzick, community relations manager for the RailRiders, saw what happened, she knew she wanted to do something to help. Corona reached out to her about doing a donation drive. So she got together with the players and they put together a list of essential items they thought could help get those impacted back on the road to recovery.

“We’re doing our small part to help those who have been impacted,” Lutzick said. “Just seeing the pictures and videos of the devastation, it’s gut-wrenching. I feel so horrible and I can’t even imagine how our Venezuelan players feel. Especially since they have friends and family who have seen this in person. It’s a shame and I’m really thankful I get the opportunity to help and try to get the community involved.” 

Fans and community partners have responded. Throughout the RailRiders’ current homestand, the team has received donations such as cases and pallets of water; cleaning supplies like sanitary wipes; nonperishable food items and snacks such as crackers; diapers; baby formula; flashlights; batteries; first aid kits; and new or gently used clean clothing.

“I’ve seen video and pictures now and I didn’t think about it in the beginning, but the animals there have been impacted, too,” Lutzick said. “So we’ll gladly take cat food and dog food as well.

“Anything and everything helps those impacted in Venezuela. We’re thousands and thousands of miles away, but we can make an impact here in NEPA with our players and our community.”

Even though the drive ends Sunday, Lutzick said donations will still be accepted until Friday. She is in the process of finalizing details to have the items shipped to an organization in Miami that will forward it to Venezuela. Rather than donate cash, she has been telling people who are out of the area to go on Amazon, purchase something, and have it shipped to PNC Field.

Cabrera has been overwhelmed by the response.

“It’s been beautiful to see the support and everybody trying to do their part and do something good for the situation,” he said. “It’s beautiful to see how everybody cares and that means a lot for us.”

It won’t stop with the donation drive. Both Cabrera and Lutzick said plans are in the works for other things such as a memorabilia auction that will help raise money for Venezuela and the relief effort.

After the current home series against the Syracuse Mets wraps up Sunday, the RailRiders hit the road next week for a six-game series against the Iowa Cubs beginning Tuesday. It marks just the third time in franchise history — and first time since 1990 — that Scranton/Wilkes-Barre will play in Iowa. They were the Red Barons and a Philadelphia Phillies affiliate the last time they did, with a team featuring names like Mickey Morandini, Jason Grimsley, and retired-number honoree Greg Legg.

Happy Sunday, folks. For the first time in quite some time, a Red Sox series comes down to the final game after they split the first two with the Toronto Blue Jays. Ranger Suarez returns from a brief stint on the injured list and will take on Kevin Gausman. Toronto ranks 29th in wRC+ against left-handed pitchers, giving Suarez a potentially soft landing spot in his first start since July 5th. The Red Sox are familiar with Gausman, though they missed him in the first two series against the Blue Jays.

Curtis Mead is not active for the game after being acquired last night in exchange for Connelly Early. The Nationals are at home this weekend, so he’ll likely join the team for the plane ride to Sacramento after the game. It’s a 1:35 pm start time on NESN and WEEI.

Lineups

Alright, folks! We got a good ol’ fashioned Sunday afternoon rubber match on our hands, as our Atlanta Braves will try to snatch a series win on the road agianst the Baltimore Orioles. Will Reynaldo López bounce back after a couple of poor outings? Can the Braves make something happen against SHane Baz? It’s time to find out!

• Preview
• Lineups

The Milwaukee Brewers and Colorado Rockies will meet one more time for the rubber match of this weekend series and bring an end to the longest homestand of the season.

Prior to today’s game, the Brewers made a transaction, recalling reliever Garrett Stallings from Triple-A Nashville. To make room, Lance McCullers Jr was designated for assignment. McCullers struggled to put away the Rockies with a six a run lead in the 9th inning of last night’s game and his pitch metrics did not look strong. Barely more than a week after acquiring McCullers, his Brewers tenure is over after two outings.

Kyle Harrison is also continuing to progress in his recovery from forearm tightness. He’s slated to head out on a rehab assignment this next week and should be back shortly after that.

On the mound today, it is a matchup of polar opposites: Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle Freeland. Misiorowski is in his first full season in the majors, has a 1.57 ERA and a 10-4 record. Freeland is a veteran, who is struggling to a 7.28 ERA and a 2-9 record.

Freeland is also a left-hander, which means the Brewers are stacking their lineup with as many righties as possible. Christian Yelich and Garrett Mitchell have the day off. Brice Turang and Jake Bauers are the only left-handed hitting regulars in the lineup. Jackson Chourio, Turang, and Andrew Vaughn make up the top of the order. William Contreras, Bauers, and Gary Sanchez form the middle of the order with Bauers again out in right field. Contreras will be the DH today while Sanchez is behind the plate for Misiorowski. Luis Lara is in center, Cooper Pratt is at short, and Joey Ortiz is at third base to round out the bottom of the lineup.

The Rockies, meanwhile, are stacking as many lefties as they can against the flamethrowing Misiorowski. Jake McCarthy, Mickey Moniak, and Hunter Goodman form the top of the order for Colorado. TJ Rumfield, Kyle Karros, and Cole Carrigg make up the middle of the lineup. Then Willi Castro, Troy Johnston, and Edouard Julien round out the bottom of the order in support of Freeland.

It’s Jacob Misiorowski bump day in Milwaukee, and that has generally meant good things for the Brewers. They are 10-3 in Misiorowski’s last 13 starts. First pitch is at 1:10 p.m.

Mets lineup

A.J. Ewing – CF
Francisco Lindor – SS
Bo Bichette – 3B
Carson Benge – RF
Jorge Polanco – DH
Jared Young – 1B
Tyrone Taylor – LF
Brett Baty – 2B
Luis Torrens – C

SP: Freddy Peralta – RHP

Dodgers lineup

Shohei Ohtani – DH
Andy Pages – CF
Freddie Freeman – 1B
Max Muncy – 3B
Mookie Betts – SS
Tommy Edman – 2B
Kyle Tucker – RF
Teoscar Hernandez – LF
Eliezer Alfonzo – C

SP: Emmet Sheehan – RHP

Broadcast info

First pitch: 1:40 PM EDT
TV: SNY
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2

Chicago Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, July 26, 2026, 1:40 p.m. ET

The Pittsburgh Pirates are finishing off a three-game series against the NL Central rival Chicago Cubs at PNC Park.

The Pirates are tossing the ball to All-Star Braxton Ashcraft, who is making his second start of the second half of the season. Ashcraft struggled in his last start against the New York Yankees pitching. Only three innings, giving up nine hits and seven runs in an 8-5 loss at Yankee Stadium. Ashcraft hopes to bounce back now that he’s pitching at home, where he is better.

Ashcraft’s ERA is 3.68 at PNC Park and 4.21 away from home, so perhaps a chance to play in front of the home fans for the first time since July 11 will do him some good.

The Cubs are giving the start to former Pirates top prospect Jameson Taillon, who pitched in Pittsburgh from 2016-19. Taillon was injured for just over a month but returned after the All-Star Break for the Cubs. He pitched 4.1 innings giving up five hits and four runs in an 8-6 loss to the Detroit Tigers.

This is Tyone’s third start against the Pirates so far this season. He pitched six innings on April 12 at Wrigley Field and also pitched five innings at PNC Park against the Pirates on May 26.

Location: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA

Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet Pittsburgh

Pitching Matchup: Jameson Taillon (2-5, 5.38 ERA) vs. Braxton Ashcraft (9-4, 3.95 ERA)

BD community, chime off in the comments section below.

The A’s may have dropped yesterday’s contest but thanks to their win on Friday night they have a chance to secure their first series win since almost two months. Will they be able to finish off the Twins and escape Minnesota with a pair of wins?

Before we get to the game, we got some bad news to deliver. It looks like the A’s may be without their All-Star catcher for the rest of the year as Shea Langeliers landed on the IL this morning with a torn meniscus in his right knee:

It’s yet another blow in the health department for an A’s squad that has been ravaged by injuries the past couple of months. After being relatively healthy for the first couple weeks of the year the A’s have had to weather a massive storm of injuries that have helped sink their postseason chances this year, and now our best player is the latest to land on the shelf.

If Langeliers really is done for the year then that likely takes him off the trade market, with an offseason move more likely. For the A’s the rest of the year though they’ll have to try to stay respectable without their best player for the last two months of the year. It’s expected that Jonah Heim will take up regular catching duties the rest of the way, with the just-recalled veteran Brian Serven serving as his backup. A potential audition for a starting role next year, perhaps? Heim’s in there behind home plate today.

Anyway, we got a game this morning. The Athletics will send left-hander Jeffrey Springs to the bump looking to secure the series win. The 33-year-old has had a rough season to date but he managed to put up a solid performance in his first start after the All-Star Break. This could be one of his final starts for the Green & Gold before the trade deadline so a big outing today could boost the prospect cost to acquire his services the rest of the way.

Here’s the Athletics’ lineup this morning:

As expected it’s Jonah Heim behind the plate catching Springs this morning. He’s hitting in the heart of the lineup, batting third behind Jacob Wilson (today’s DH) and first baseman Nick Kurtz, who is only in his second game since returning from the IL. Tyler Soderstrom is behind him in the batting order hitting cleanup.

And then it’s mostly rookies in the rest of the lineup outside veteran infielder Jeff McNeil, today’s second baseman. Now is the time of the year for these young guys to make a claim to a spot on next year’s roster. Will someone like Tommy White or Colby Thomas make an impression over the final couple months?

That lineup will be facing their own left-hander in Twins rookie lefty Connor Prielipp. The 25-year-old isn’t considered a big-time prospect for the Twins but he’s held his own in his first taste of the big leagues, outside of a few meltdown performances that has skewed his ERA, which stands at an even 5.00 through his first 13 starts. He was actually just activated off the injured list this morning from a blister on his pitching hand. Which version of Prielipp will show up against the A’s today?

And Minnesota’s starting nine:

A series win? Almost forgot what those were. Let’s go A’s!

Follow the Game:
Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA

Listen:
Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, A’s Cast

Hunter Greene couldn’t keep the St. Louis Cardinals offense in check on Saturday and the Cincinnati Reds offense was completely befuddled by righty Andre Pallante in the Reds 7-0 loss. That means the Sunday rubber match will determine who gets to claim victory in this particular NL Central series.

The Reds have won each of their series so far on this 9-game, 3-city road trip to begin their season’s second half, and a win today would send them back to Cincinnati with a 6-3 overall run on it. Where that leaves them in terms of positioning remains to be seen with the August 3rd trade deadline looming, but as of right now they sit just 48-55 and 6 full games out of the final NL Wild Card spot.

Andrew Abbott will toe the rubber for the Reds in the Sunday matinee opposite Cardinals starter Kyle Leahy, with first pitch slated for 2:15 PM ET.

Here’s how both clubs will line up to begin things: