One mistake dooms Zack Wheeler as the bats come up small behind him originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Zack Wheeler threw 93 pitches Tuesday night.

Ninety-two of them were really good.

One wasn’t. And that made all the difference.

Wheeler and the Phillies suffered a 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the rain at Citizens Bank Park.

The ending was a little ugly for the Phils. They had runners at second and third with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but the Dodgers pulled off a game-ending double play as the Phillies ran themselves out of the inning.

It was the first loss with Wheeler on the mound since June 9 when the Phillies were beaten, 3-2, in Toronto. Wheeler allowed just one run over six innings in that game, but didn’t get much run support.

Tuesday night’s game was similar. The Phillies, who have the majors’ worst on-base percentage at .303, had just five hits entering the ninth inning. They scored a run with two outs in the bottom of the first inning, but nothing the rest of the way. Dodgers lefty Justin Wrobleski had a lot to do with that. Exactly a week after striking out five in two innings of work in the All-Star Game, he returned to the CBP mound and allowed just five hits and a run over 6 1/3 innings. He walked just one and struck seven.

Wheeler was just as good as Wrobleski. He gave up just five hits over seven walk-free innings. He struck out nine.

Ultimately, Wheeler was done in by one pitch, a first-pitch cutter to lefty-swinging Max Muncy in the top of the fourth inning. The pitch was slightly elevated, out and over the plate, and Muncy pounded it 421 feet to center for a two-run home run. Andy Pages, who had singled to lead off the inning, was on first base.

Wheeler had struck out Muncy on a full-count cutter in the second inning. In the fourth, Muncy appeared to be looking for the pitch.

After the Muncy home run, Wheeler retired 11 of the next 12 batters he faced to keep the game close, but the Phillies’ bats did not respond.

Wheeler has a 2.08 ERA in his last nine starts. For the season, his ERA stands at 2.16.

One night after struggling mightily in the field, shortstop Trea Turner made three nice plays in the field, one charging the ball, one going to his left and one going to his right.

The Phils and Dodgers, playoff opponents last October, have split the first two games of the series. Aaron Nola (3-7, 5.68) faces lefty Eric Lauer (4-5, 4.81) in the series finale Wednesday night.

(More coming…)

Mets lineup

A.J. Ewing – LF
Juan Soto – DH
Bo Bichette – 3B
Francisco Lindor – SS
Carson Benge – RF
Luis Robert – CF
Jared Young – 1B
Marcus Semien – 2B
Luis Torrens – C

Zac Thornton – LHP

Brewers lineup

Jackson Chourio – LF
Brice Turang – 2B
William Contreras – DH
Andrew Vaughn – 1B
Garrett Mitchell – CF
Gary Sanchez – C
Luis Lara – RF
Cooper Pratt – SS
Joey Ortiz – 3B

Brandon Sproat – RHP

Broadcast info

First pitch: 7:40 PM EDT
TV: SNY
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2

Here’s the Twins’ lineup:

Today's starters

📺 https://t.co/7owDbqKlDapic.twitter.com/3BGfP7jpAK

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) July 21, 2026

Here’s the Guardians’ lineup:

Let’s go, Guardians!

Game #101.

With 2 wins in the last 7 playoffs seem a long lost hope. I would like some runs. Note the plural form of the word.

We went through a nice stretch where we scored 39 runs in 6 games, just a few days ago. Could we please do that again?

There has been a little change to the lineup. Lukes is at the top, followed by Vlad and Clement. I’m not a fan of Clement leading off, so this is better for me. I’m happy to see Jonatan Clase getting some playing time.

This could be one of the last starts for Kevin Gausman in a Jays jersey. He would be a prime trade candidate. I’d try to arrange a trade for him, if I were a buyer at the deadline.

Score Jays Score

We’ve had a lot of injuries this season, but I’m almost sure none of our players have had the injury the A’s are posting for Joshua Kuroda-Grauer.

A’s moves:
– Joshua Kuroda-Grauer placed on 10-day IL following surgery for a ruptured testicle
– Mark Leiter Jr. placed on 15-day IL with right hip impingement
– RHP Hayden Juenger and INF Max Muncy recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas

— Martín Gallegos (@MartinJGallegos) July 21, 2026

A couple of All-Stars on the mound on Tuesday night in Philadelphia.

Today's #Dodgers starting lineup for Game 2 in Philly: pic.twitter.com/A6rRaTQ4NN

— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) July 21, 2026

Tuesday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Phillies
• Ballpark: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia
• Start time: 3:40 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA, TBS
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

San Diego Padres (49-51) at Atlanta Braves (58-41), July 21, 2026, 4:15 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Truist Park – Atlanta, GA

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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Buehler on the bump. pic.twitter.com/2b79gDkYcU

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 21, 2026

4️⃣0️⃣ on the mound!#BravesCountrypic.twitter.com/vBUdXTBwK7

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 21, 2026

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Just a year after the San Diego Padres traded for Mason Miller during the 2025 MLB Trade Deadline, he could be on the move again.

ESPN baseball insider Jeff Passan made an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” and said Miller is “definitely available,” but added that the asking price will be steep.

“Now does that mean A.J. Preller, who is one of the most prolific traders of all executives in baseball, is going to flip him? Just a year after acquiring him for Leo De Vries, who’s one of the best prospects in baseball,” Passan said. “Not necessarily.”

The news that Miller might be on the move comes four days after it was reported the Padres are open to moving him, and also a day after MLB Insider Bob Nightengale suggested the Padres move him as a way to fix their depleted farm system.

Passan went on to say that the Padres’ need for “Major League-ready starting pitching” could be what moves Miller.

The Padres’ starting rotation this season has been plagued by injuries and poor performances by veteran pitchers.

The team was expecting Joe Musgrove to rejoin the starting rotation after missing all of last season due to Tommy John Surgery. During a spring training game this year, he had a setback by hurting his elbow and has yet to throw.

Nick Pivetta has only made four starts this season due to a flexor strain. His injury comes a year after he had career-bests in ERA (2.87) and strikeouts (190) in 31 starts.

Before the year began, San Diego also found out they would be without Yu Darvish, who had Tommy John Surgery in the offseason.

San Diego’s starting rotation has also featured veteran pitchers Walker Buehler, Griffin Canning, and Germán Márquez, who are competing on one-year, prove-it deals. All three of them hold an ERA above 5.00

The future isn’t looking too bright either for San Diego, as their farm system ranks dead last in all of baseball.

“If you’re a team like the Seattle Mariners that has a deep rotation already in Ryan Sloan and Kade Anderson,” Passan said. “Two of the best pitching prospects in baseball on the cusp of being ready for the big leagues, it’s something you have to consider.”

Passan went on to list the Yankees as another potential trade partner, by creating a package that includes David Bednar, Tim Hill, Brent Headrick and relief pitcher Fernando Cruz.

The Padres and Yankees have a history of making trades together in the past, notably in 2023 when San Diego swapped Juan Soto and Trent Grisham for Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Randy Vasquez, Jhony Brito and Kyle Higashioka.

Trading Miller could be the best avenue for the Padres to fix their depleted farm system that needs pitching, as he is considered one of the best closers in baseball, having a 0.89 ERA with 75 strikeouts in 39 games this season.

The Red Sox 14-game winning streak didn’t end tonight, but it was put on pause thanks to Mother Nature. Here’s the announcement of split double header tomorrow at 1:35pm and 7:10pm straight from the team:

The #RedSox-Orioles game scheduled for tonight, July 21, has been postponed due to significant rainfall and thunderstorms in the Fenway area expected to continue throughout the evening.

Tonight’s game has been rescheduled as the 1st game of a split doubleheader on July 22, at… pic.twitter.com/JJZ8ZJ15E9

— Red Sox (@RedSox) July 21, 2026

With this arrangement, the Red Sox could tie and break their all-time franchise winning streak of 15 straight games in the same day. It may also once again alter their starting pitching plans as they could start Ranger Suarez and Jake Bennett in these two games, especially with an off day on Thursday meaning they wouldn’t need to start either of them on short rest the next time their slot in the rotation comes around.

Either way, tomorrow promises to be a very busy day at Fenway. Let’s hope it’s also a historical one!

The Milwaukee Brewers have surged not only to the top of the NL Central standings, but they now sit atop MLB’s standings with the best record in all of baseball. Their four game winning streak post-All Star Break has helped the surge and they will look to make it a five game streak tonight.

The Brewers did offer some injury updates ahead of tonight’s game. David Hamilton is starting a rehab assignment with Triple-A Nashville and will play five innings tonight. Kyle Harrison has a 4-up live BP scheduled for Saturday and will start a rehab assignment on July 31st. DL Hall will move his rehab to Nashville and throw two innings tomorrow. Brandon Lockridge will also soon be on his way to join Triple-A and will travel there tomorrow to start his rehab assignment.

Joel Kuhnel is throwing his first bullpen session today. Sal Frelick, who had been placed on the IL with shoulder soreness underwent an arthrogram today to establish a diagnosis and a timeline to return to play.

For the game tonight, another starting pitcher will be facing his old team. This time it’s Brandon Sproat, who was acquired from the Mets in the Freddy Peralta trade over the offseason. Sproat has a 5.16 ERA on the year, which is right around where Peralta has been this season as well. His mound opponent tonight will be left-hander Zac Thornton, who is making just his fourth career start in the majors. Thornton has a 2.60 ERA.

Because it’s a left-hander, the Brewers are going to have some extra right-handed hitters in the lineup. Christian Yelich gets the night off, which allows William Contreras to slide into the DH spot, batting third. That means of course that Gary Sanchez is behind the plate tonight for Sproat. Jackson Chourio will lead off, followed by Brice Turang. Garrett Mitchell mans centerfield while Luis Lara is in right field, batting seventh. Cooper Pratt and Joey Ortiz hold down the left side of the infield and the bottom of the order.

The Mets will continue to roll out their underperforming, high-priced lineup that includes Juan Soto, Bo Bichette, Francisco Lindor, Luis Robert, and Marcus Semien. Young rookies AJ Ewing and Carson Benge are mixed throughout New York’s lineup as well.

With a win tonight, the Brewers can secure a series victory over the Mets and keep the momentum rolling even further.

Let's roll

📺: https://t.co/eycfmE2vgm
📻: WTMJ

→ https://t.co/mvGXoRMTFSpic.twitter.com/ylq7Rdcbbs

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 21, 2026

⚾️ #LGMpic.twitter.com/0OkTs8m7EE

— New York Mets (@Mets) July 21, 2026

Tuesday notes…

• SIX RUNS DOESN’T WIN: The Cubs’ loss last night was just their second of the season in which they scored exactly six runs. They have won nine. In all games with at least six runs scored, they are 39-5. When they have allowed at least six runs, they are 8-21, including 0-4 when yielding eight, as they did last night. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• HOMERS WITHOUT WINNING: The Cubs lost despite hitting three home runs. They are 9-4 when they have hit at least three and 10-8 when they have allowed at least three. Last night’s loss was their first when they both hit and allowed at least three. They had won four previous such games. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• MILESTONE: The seventh run scored by the Tigers last night was the 100,000th surrendered by the Cubs in their 22,517 regular-season games since 1876. They became the second team to reach six digits in runs allowed. The Phillies are at 102,961, in 21,911 games since 1883. The Cubs have scored the most runs, 103,731. The Giants are second, with 101,570. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, PCA?: Pete Crow-Armstrong, last seven games: .077/.250/.115 (2-for-26) with 11 strikeouts (though also six walks).

Cubs lineup:

Got some baseball to play tonight.

Watch the game live on @WatchMarquee. pic.twitter.com/27IiG4nwLQ

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 21, 2026

Tigers lineup:

back at it in Chicago

⚾️ 8:05 PM ET
📺 @WatchDSN
📻 @971theticketxyt
🏟️ Wrigley Field pic.twitter.com/3AvyXxdexD

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) July 21, 2026

David Peterson, LHP vs. Framber Valdez, LHP

David Peterson has made two starts with the Cubs in which he’s thrown at least five innings and allowed no more than two runs.

Oh, yes. There’s that other start he made where he got pounded for 10 runs in 3.2 innings, the worst start of his career.

I’ll just figure that was the aberration and Peterson can continue to put up good outings.

This is Peterson’s first-ever start against the Tigers, and only two current Tigers have ever seen him. Perhaps that will be to his advantage.

There was some controversy over Framber Valdez last year when it was said he intentionally threw at his catcher because he thought the catcher had crossed him up. That delayed his free agent signing a while but eventually he signed a multi-year deal with the Tigers.

The results have been “meh.”

He’s made 19 starts with a 4.10 ERA and his K rate is down from last year, as is his average fastball velocity. His last start against the Cubs was June 29, 2025 in Houston and he threw six shutout innings. Thus most current Cubs have not seen him much, a combined 4-for-32 with 12 strikeouts.

Here is the weather forecast for the area around Wrigley Field.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network.

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Tigers site Bless You Boys. If you do go there to interact with Tigers fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.

You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Diamondbacks fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

The first half for the D-backs was definitely a mix of the good, the bad and the ugly. Focusing purely on the first of these, the positive side of performances came from players both expected and surprising. But who was the team’s MVP? That’s what this week’s poll is designed to determine. I’ll leave the exact definition of “MVP” entirely up to you to decide. Factors you may – or may not – decide to include in your assessment include things such as playing time, production, salary, intangible contributions and expectations. Here’s a quick run down of the five candidates…

Corbin Carroll

Despite a late slump at the plate. Carroll still finished the first half with the highest OPS of any Diamondback (min 50 plate-appearances). His 42 extra-base hits also led the team, and he was responsible for almost half of all Arizona’s triples before the break: Carroll = 10, everyone else combined = 11. He set the all-time franchise mark for three-baggers, passing Stephen Drew’s career total of 52, in almost eight hundred fewer PAs. Carroll started 93 games in the first half, most on the team.

Gabriel Moreno

What’s impressive about Moreno’s season is no just that he ranks close to the top of the club by both bWAR and fWAR. It’s that he is doing so, despite missing three weeks and sixteen games with a strained left oblique. He has been incandescent at the plate. Over the two months (and almost 200 PA) leading up to the All-Star break, Moreno had a slash of .341/.434/.479 for an OPS of .913. He also had more walks (27) than strikeouts (25) in that time. All that, plus managing the pitching staff and making ABS challenges too.

Geraldo Perdomo

Expecting Perdomo to live up to his MVP-caliber season of 2025, was probably optimistic. But after a slow start – through his first 20 games he was hitting below the Uecker Line, with an OPS in the five hundreds – Perdomo has got things back on track. His plate-discipline remains as stellar as ever, with his 59 walks leading the team, and compared to only 49 strikeouts. He continues to be well-rated by the defensive metrics: Fangraphs Def currently has Geraldo at +11.3, sixth-best in the majors.

Eduardo Rodriguez

Expectations for Rodriguez were low, despite his high salary. After all, in both 2024 and 2025, his ERA was above five. But this year has been a revelation. His 2.29 ERA for the first half was the lowest by a qualifying Arizona pitcher since 2009, when Dan Haren had a 2.01 ERA. That and Randy Johnson’s 1.80 in 2000 are the only better first halves in franchise history. It led to an unexpected, yet entirely merited, first appearance in the All-Star Game for Rodriguez, now in his eleventh season.

Paul Sewald

A closer is measured, above everything else, by his ability to close games. And there, Sewald had a first half which was basically unprecedented in team history. Over the 96 games up to the break, he had 22 saves and just one blown save. No other D-backs pitcher has had even fifteen saves through 96 games, without blowing multiple save opportunities. The last with 22 saves? That was Fernando Rodney in 2017 – and he had five blown saves. Regardless of struggles elsewhere, Sewald has got it done.

Poll below, feel free to explain your choice in the comments, or provide a write-in vote for a candidate not listed here!