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A lot of attention will be paid on Monday to the Major League Baseball trade deadline, with comes at 3 p.m. PT. But the Dodgers also have a game on Monday, opening a road trip against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

It’s a battle of southpaws in the opener, with Justin Wrobleski going for the Dodgers and Matthew Boyd on the mound for the home team.

Monday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Cubs
• Ballpark: Wrigley Field, Chicago
• Start time: 5:05 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Nobody gets off the mat like the Houston Astros.

On July 19, the Astros looked to be dead in the water. Swept at home by the Baltimore Orioles, losers of 7 of 9 and 7 games under .500, it looked the magic had finally run out on Houston.

Wrong.

Picking themselves up by the bootstraps yet again, the now first-place Houston Astros (58-55) continue to score runs late and took down the Texas Rangers (55-57) 7-3 at Daikin Park, completing the 3-game sweep and winning the season series 9-4 and winning the Silver Boot for the 10th consecutive season.

Houston has now won 6 straight and 11 of their last 12 games.

The Astros got on the board first this afternoon in the bottom of the third when Jose Altuve hit a comebacker off the foot of Rangers starter Kumar Rocker. Rocker looked like he hackey-sacked the ball off his foot. Yordan Alvarez would score on the play and give Houston a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the 4th, Jeremy Pena drilled his 13th HR of the season, a 2-run shot to left that drove in Cam Smith to give the Astros a 3-0 lead.

In the top of the 5th, the Rangers would get within a run. Evan Carter would single to right to drive in Brandon Nimmo, although Carter would be cut down by Christian Vazquez trying to advance to 2nd after the throw home. That would prove to be a big out as the next batter, Ezequiel Duran, singled to left to score Jake Burger. Carter could have potentially scored the tying run on that play if he had safely reached 2nd the play before. The score would be 3-2 Astros as the top of the 5th ended.

Peter Lambert again gave the Astros a solid performance. He went 5.2 IP allowing just 2 runs on 3 hits, 2 walks and 8 strikeouts. Lambert threw 46 of his 83 pitches for strikes, including 16 swings and misses.

In the top of the 7th, the Rangers would tie the game at 3 when Brandon Nimmo led off the inning by hitting his 11th HR of the season off Astros reliever Steven Okert.

After the HR, Okert allowed a single by Jake Burger, who was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Evan Carter. Joe Espada made the call to go to Bryan Abreu (W, 3-3) to slam the door with a runner on 2nd and 1 out.

Abreu would strike out 2 of the next 3 batters to end the inning with no further damage. The final out was a called third strike on pinch hitter Nicky Lopez on a pitch that appeared to be slightly low, but the Rangers were out of ABS challenges. Furious over the strikeout call, both Rangers manager Skip Schumaker and hitting coach Justin Viele got ejected for arguing the called third strike.

In the bottom of the 7th, the Astros would respond, and take control of the game.

Christian Walker led off the bottom of the 7th with his 22nd double of the season off Rangers reliever Tyler Alexander, who had just entered the game. Taylor Trammell (1×2, 2BB, HBP, phenomenal catch in deep CF) followed with a walk. After Jose Altuve bounced into a fielder’s choice that forced Walker at 3rd, Cole Winn would replace Alexander on the mound for Texas.

Cam Smith greeted Winn with an RBI single to score Trammell to give the Astros a 4-3 lead. After a walk to Nick Allen, LaMonte Wade Jr. would pinch-hit for Christian Vazquez and deliver an RBI single to drive in Altuve and increase the lead to 5-3. Following a Jeremy Pena strikeout, it was Yordan time.

The front-running MVP candidate laced a 2-run double to right, scoring Smith and Allen. Alvarez’ 24th double of the season gave the Astros a 7-3 lead. Alvarez finished the game 4×5 with a run and 2 RBI. He is now batting .330 and has a 1.092 OPS. He leads the majors with 35 HR and leads the AL with 84 RBI.

Bryan King (0.2 IP, H, K) would start the top of the 8th before eventually giving way to AJ Blubaugh (S,1). Blubaugh pitched the final 1.1 innings without allowing a baserunner and struck out 1 for his first career save.

The Astros are 3 games over .500 for the first time since April 4, when they were 6-3. It matches their high water mark for the season.

The Astros lead the AL West by 2.5 games.

Tomorrow, Houston begins a 3-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Probable Starters:

Monday: Cristian Javier (1-1, 7.17) vs. Shane Bieber (2-2, 5.74)
Tuesday: Hayden Wesneski (1-0, 4.76) vs. Trey Yesavage (5-5, 3.73)
Wednesday: Hunter Brown (3-1, 3.42) vs. Dylan Cease (7-5, 2.41)

Gavin Williams took the mound against the Arizona Diamondbacks, looking to continue his dominate season. The forecast called for heavy rain, off and on, throughout the game which proved to be the case. As the rain came and went, it ultimately poured during the sixth resulting the game being put into delay and the tarp being pulled. Not before making a complete mess of the infield and warning track.

Gavin Williams had an absolutely stunning performance. The Guardians ace was perfect going into the sixth. Tim Tawa showed bunt on the first pitch in the sixth which drew umbrage from Patrick Bailey and an annoyed shrug from Brayan Rocchio.

The bunt was unsuccessful and Tawa hit a swinging single to break up the perfect game and the no hitter. Ildemaro Vargas grounded into a force out and advanced to second on a throwing error by Rocchio. Gavin got a strikeout for the second out. Corbin Carroll drew a walk on a wild pitch that advanced Vargas to third. At this point the game delay was officially called and the tarp was rolled out. However, as the grounds crew was trying to cover the infield, the benches cleared at home plate. Third base coach Rouglas Odor was clearly incensed and it took Augie, another coach, and Perdomo from the Diamondbacks to get Odor to even start walking towards the dugout. After the grounds crew plead their case for the crowd to disperse, it did seem like cooler heads prevailed as the game entered a lengthy delay.

With the delay, Gavin’s day ended earlier than planned. Gavin went 5.2 innings of scoreless baseball. He allowed one hit and one walk, both in the sixth inning, and struck out 10 batters. Gavin joined Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale as the only pitchers in MLB history to go five consecutive games of 10 or more strikeouts and 1 or fewer walks per outing according to Tom Hamilton.

Before the delay hit, the Guards offense was on a roll. Patrick Bailey started the scoring with a lead off solo home run in the bottom of the third.

Petey Halpin followed up Patty’s HR with a single that fell in right and then reached second on a successful stolen base attempt. Steven Kwan drew a walk as the rain first started falling on the players. With one out and runners on first and second, Chase DeLauter hit a RBI single to center.

In the bottom of the fifth Steven Kwan drew a lead off walk. José Ramírez hit a single to right. Chase DeLauter knocked in his third RBI on the game with a two-RBI double to right scoring Kwan and José.

Travis Bazzana drew a walk, still no outs in the inning. Then Bazz and CDL executed a successful double steal with the ball getting away from the third baseman.

Kyle Manzardo made the effort worth it with a RBI single to score CDL.

Playing resumed at 4:50PM with Hunter Gaddis on the mound, runners on the corners, and two outs. Gaddis allowed a walk before retiring the side. Craig Yoho made his Guardians debut after being traded from the Brewers yesterday morning. Yoho got two quick outs, but hit Nolan Arenado to walk a batter. Tim Tawa struck out swinging to retire the side.

Matt Festa was brought on in the top of the eighth with Angel Martínez replacing CDL in right. Festa got two outs, but gave up a walk and a single. With tomorrow being an off day, Vogt pulled Festa for Cade Smith to get the final out. Cade came on in the ninth to close it out. He got the first out then walked the next two. A fielding error by Rocchio allowed Tim Tawa to load them up on a fielder’s choice. Cade struck out the next batter for the second out of the inning and a ground out to first retired the side. The Guardians completed a two hit shutout across five pitchers to seal the Sunday victory.

With this win the Guardians are back above .500 heading into the off day before the New York Mets roll into town.

What started as an overcast afternoon ended as a rain-soaked disaster, as the Orioles dropped their rubber match to the Phillies with an 8-0 loss in six innings.

Starter Kyle Bradish looked sharp to begin the game but showed clear adverse effects from the worsening weather. Bradish breezed through the Phillies in the 1st on 10 pitches, punctuating the frame by striking out Kyle Schwarber on a fastball and fanning Bryce Harper on a dive bomb curveball.

The 29-year-old right-hander worked another 1-2-3 inning in the 2nd, but it didn’t inspire the same levels of confidence. After a weak fly out by Alec Bohm to start the inning, Bradish gave up louder fly balls to Brandon Marsh and J.T. Realmuto, but both died in front of the outfield walls and found their way into Oriole gloves.

As a drizzle turned into a downpour in the 3rd, Bradish was the one most affected by the increasingly damp conditions at Camden Yards. Bryson Stott led off the inning with a lineout to center on a sinker that caught a bit too much of the outer half of the plate. The Orioles’ starter was clearly struggling to throw his best pitches as thick raindrops dotted the field, and it showed as he left another sinker over the plate to Justin Crawford, who doubled into the left field corner. It only got worse against No.9 hitter Bryan De La Cruz, as a Bradish curveball hung over the plate and the Phillies OF blasted it over the CF fence to give Philadelphia a 2-0 lead.

Bradish would get the final two outs of the inning by picking off Trea Turner and getting another strikeout of Harper. That’d be all we’d see from Bradish Sunday, as the skies continued to open up, sending the game into a two-hour rain delay.

Things went from bad to worse when the O’s finally returned from the rain delay. The much-delayed bottom of the 3rd saw Baltimore waste their best scoring of the afternoon. After a Jake Rogers one-out walk, Dylan Beavers singled off lefty reliever Kyle Backhaus to give Baltimore its first runner in scoring position. The runner moved up to second and third after Backhaus threw a pitch behind Pete Alonso, giving the Polar Bear a chance to tie the game with a hit.

Instead, Alonso tried to inside-out a sinker into right field, only for it to end up in Harper’s glove at first. Gunnar Henderson then sent a 2-1 sweeper for a ride to right, only for the fly ball to land safely in De La Cruz’s glove.

Anthony Nunez would take over for Bradish in the 4th, and despite the briefly drier conditions, Nunez also struggled with his control. He gave up a back-to-back singles to Bohm and Marsh before walking Realmuto to load the bases. A second consecutive walk forced across the Phillies’ third run, before Crawford poked a ball to second base for an RBI groundout.

Trailing 4-0, Josh Walker took over in the 5th and made one mistake to perennial All-Star Harper. After getting ahead 1-2, Walker tried to double up on his slider, but left the breaking ball over the plate and allowed Harper to launch a solo shot to right-center.

With the rain once again falling thick and fast, Albert Suárez took over in the 6th. The long reliever tried to battle the elements and loss, as the Phillies piled on three more runs. Realmuto led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a Bryson Stott walk. Crawford then singled to load the bases in front of De La Cruz, who picked up his third RBI with a sac fly to center.

All-Stars Turner and Schwarber would put the final nails in the Orioles’ coffin. Turner reached on an infield single to short to move Crawford to third before Schwarber lifted another sac fly to left to put Philly up 8-0. Suárez would get Bohm to ground out to finally end the inning, and it was the last baseball we’d see Sunday. The grounds crew would bring out the tarp before the bottom of the 6th started and MLB would call the game half an hour late.

The loss combined with Cleveland’s win Sunday dropped the Orioles to 2.5 games behind the Guardians for the final Wild Card spot. The Mariners, Rangers and Twins all sit ahead of the O’s heading into Monday’s trade deadline, with only Texas scheduled to play tomorrow. Mike Elias and the front office now have just under 24-hours to figure out if the Orioles will be buyers or sellers at the deadline.

The San Francisco Giants are a team to watch over the next 24 hours to see which of their players they will send off before the trade deadline approaches.

The MLB trade deadline is 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT) on Aug. 3, so teams are scrambling to make calls and solidify deals that can improve their roster – whether on the field or in the payroll department.

With their 47-64 record, the Giants are strongly believed to be sellers at the deadline. However, the players they consider to be up for grabs haave changed over the weeks leading up to the target date.

A handful of names have been tossed around including Luis Arraez, Jung Hoo Lee, Heliot Ramos, Rafael Devers, Robbie Ray, Landon Roup and Willy Adames.

Here's the latest updates on the Giants trade rumor mill and what's being said about each player:

The Brewers started their west coast road trip by being shut out by the Giants, 3-0. They ended the road trip with the same result — shut out 3-0, this time by the Angels. Jacob Misiorowski was his usual dominant self, but one mistake hurt his day. Meanwhile, Walbert Ureña kept the Brewers in check and bolstered his strong rookie season.

Both pitchers started out dealing. Ureña started his day by striking out the Brewers in order on 10 pitches. Misiorowski responded by striking out the side as well, also on 10 pitches. It was an early show of what we would see for most of the day.

In the second, Ureña issued a leadoff walk to William Contreras, but nothing else in a scoreless second. As for Misiorowski, he had his one bad inning of the day. Vaughn Grissom led off the inning with a single. Two batters later, Wade Meckler hit a cutter out to right center for a two-run home run. It was the second straight cutter that hMisorowski threw in the same spot. He recovered and retired the next two batters, but the Angels had a 2-0 lead.

In the third, the Brewers had one of there best chances to score, but also partially ran their way out of it. David Hamilton drew a one-out walk, then immediately tried to steal second. While he had a good jump, catcher Tyler Heineman’s throw was perfectly located to shortstop Zack Neto, who was able to catch and swipe tag Hamilton on the leg for the out.

That would end up being a major out for the Angels. The Brewers got two more baserunners from a Brice Turang singled and Jackson Chourio walk, but Garrett Mitchell grounded out to end the inning.

After giving up that run in the second inning, Misiorowski settled in and became his usual dominant self. He did not allow another baserunner until the seventh inning, when he walked Jo Adell with two outs. He finished that inning and that was the end of his day. He pitched seven innings, allowing two runs on two hits and a walk. He struck out 10 in the game and needed just 83 pitches to do it. It was his tenth double-digit strikeout game of the season, which is a team record.

On the other side, Ureña bent a little more, but did not break in his start. He allowed a single to Cooper Pratt in the fifth, then another single to Chourio in the sixth. That was it for Ureña. He finished the day with six scoreless innings pitched, three hits and three walks allowed with seven strikeouts.

After Ureña left the game, Jake Bauers drew a leadoff walk off of Luke Murphy in the seventh. After Andrew Vaughn had a hard hit lineout that went right to Denzer Guzman at third, Bauers was caught off of first base. Luis Lara flew out to end the inning.

Sam Bachman came in to start the eighth inning for the Angels. After Pratt grounded out to start the inning, Hamilton drew a four-pitch walk. Then, on the first pitch to Turang, a passed ball let Hamilton reach second. At the same time, Bachman called for the trainers with an arm issue. He was pulled from the game for Ryan Zeferjahn. He finished up a strikeout of Turang, then Chourio singled to put runners at the corners. Mitchell had a chance to get the Brewers on the board and maybe tie or take the lead, but struck out to end the inning.

DL Hall came in to pitch the eighth inning, making his first appearance since returning from the IL. It was not a sharp return for him. He started the inning by walking Guzman, but responded with a strikeout of pinch-hitter Jose Siri. Heineman then grounded out but moved Guzman up to second. After that, a wild pitch from Hall let Guzman reach third, and Neto singled to bring in Guzman and make it a 3-0 game. Hall allowed another single to Mike Trout after that, but Nolan Schanuel grounded out to end the inning.

Zeferjahn came back out to finish the game in the ninth. Bauers hit a one-out single to keep some hope going, but strikeouts of Vaughn and Lara (who was victim of a bad strike three call but had no challenges left) ended the game.

The Brewers had their chances, as they had 10 baserunners (five hits, five walks) compared to the Angels’ six (four hits, two walks). Unfortunately, the Brewers did not take advantage of their scoring chances. Two baserunners were erased (one caught stealing, one pickoff) and a double play ended another potential scoring chance. As a team, they went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base.

Chourio led the offense with a 2-for-3 day and one walk. Jake Bauers had a hit and a walk as well. Turang and Pratt had the other two hits for the offense, and Hamilton was hitless but walked twice.

It’s back to American Family Field now for a seven-game homestand, opening tomorrow against the Pirates. Before that game begins, the MLB trade deadline will pass at 5 p.m. tomorrow, just under 24 hours from this writing. The Brewers will be active on the market and could have a new addition or two by then.

There were eight ABS challenges made in Sunday’s 2-1 Cubs loss to the Yankees, four by the Cubs and four by the New Yorkers.

All four of the Cubs’ challenges were successful, including one in the first inning.

They could have had five successful challenges and tied the game in the bottom of the sixth. Situation: Bases loaded, two out, Nico Hoerner at the plate. The count is 3-0 and Yankees reliever Brent Headrick has had trouble throwing strikes. One more ball and the game is tied.

Nico did not challenge pitch four:

As you can see, that pitch wasn’t close. It would have forced in a run and tied the game and then maybe we’re talking about a different result. And as you can see here, Nico made an out on the next pitch (a fly to left) to end the inning.

That wasn’t the only reason the Cubs lost this game, but…

Anyway, let’s go back to the beginning. Colin Rea struck out the first five Yankees he faced and got the sixth on a ground out. Then in the third, Ryan McMahon singled and José Caballero put a ball into the left-field bleachers and the Yankees led 2-0.

That homer was Rea’s only mistake, really — otherwise he was just outstanding. He allowed just three other baserunners — a walk right after the homer, the leadoff hitter reaching in the fourth on a rare error by Nico, and a leadoff single in the seventh, after which Rea was relieved by Ryan Rolison.

Rea struck out seven [VIDEO].

And more on Rea’s outing [VIDEO].

And even more on Rea’s afternoon from BCB’s JohnW53:

This was the Cubs’ fifth quality start in their last six games, following Rea and Matthew Boyd at St. Louis, on Tuesday and Wednesday, then Shōta Imanaga and David Peterson  vs. the Yankees on Friday and Saturday.

It was the Cubs’ 37th QS and Rea’s sixth, moving him up to second behind Imanaga’s 10. Boyd has five; Edward Cabrera and Jameson Taillon, four; Ben Brown, three; Javier Assad ad Peterson, two; and Cade Horton, one.

The Cubs couldn’t do much with Gerrit Cole early, either. Pete Crow-Armstrong led off the first with a walk, which he got on a challenged strike three, overturned to ball four [VIDEO].

But PCA was stranded at first base. The Cubs didn’t have another baserunner until Seiya Suzuki doubled to lead off the fourth. He scored on this single by Michael Busch [VIDEO].

But Alex Bregman then hit into a double play and Ian Happ grounded out, and that ended that potential rally.

The Cubs had another rally in the bottom of the sixth, noted above. PCA walked and Suzuki singled, with PCA stopping at second. Two outs later Happ walked to load the bases, and then there was the Nico Hoerner at-bat already mentioned.

Rolison threw 1.2 innings without allowing a run and Aaron Civale finished off the eighth without giving the Yankees anything further. The Cubs had another chance to score in the bottom of the eighth. PCA walked again, his third of the game. Suzuki was calld out on strikes, but Busch walked, putting the potential tying run on second base. Bregman flied to center and PCA took third. At that point Craig Counsell sent Justin Dean in to run for Busch, and everyone in the ballpark knew he was going to try to steal second, which he wound up doing successfully.

With the tying run at third and lead run at second, Happ flied out to end the inning.

Civale threw a scoreless ninth, and so the Cubs had one last chance against Yankees closer David Bednar, who some past Cubs teams hit pretty well in his days with the Pirates.

With one out, Pedro Ramirez walked and stole second, again putting the tying run in scoring position. But Dansby Swanson grounded out, leaving it to pinch-hitter Michael Conforto.

Conforto’s had some heroics this year, but not on this day, as he was called out on strikes to end the game.

The Yankees aren’t a good hitting team without Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton, but they still have some good hitters, including Ben Rice and Spencer Jones, and the Cubs held them to six runs in the three games, two in each. But the Cubs offense wasn’t enough to win on Friday or Sunday, and so they drop two of three.

The Phillies defeated the Orioles Sunday, and they are in the third wild card spot, 4.5 games behind the Cubs. The Diamondbacks lost to the Guardians and are in the second wild card spot, 3.5 games back of the Cubs. For whatever it’s worth, the Angels defeated the Brewers and Jacob Misiorowski Sunday, so the Cubs remain 6.5 games behind Milwaukee.

It won’t get any easier starting Monday, as the Dodgers come to Wrigley Field for a three-game series. At this writing the Dodgers do not have a starter listed for Monday’s series opener, though it is likely going to be Justin Wrobleski. Matthew Boyd will go for the Cubs. Game time Monday is 7:05 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

And Tarik Skubal, just acquired by the Dodgers, is listed as their starter Tuesday night against Javier Assad. Should be fun times.

Paul Toboni traded Luis Garcia Jr. to the New York Yankees, and it is very clear what he was looking for in the package. The Nats got four right handed pitchers in Jack Cebert, Yovanny Cruz, Ben Grable and Jake Bird. Three of the four arms are relievers, who are either already big league ready or will be next year.

Instead of finding high upside fliers, or even helping the farm system, this trade was about helping the 2027 and 2028 pitching staffs. It is a very interesting trade to wrap your head around because it is not the kind of move you see too often. Usually, you do not see deals this heavily based around minor league relief arms. However, with the Nationals organizational needs, the move makes sense.

First, I want to talk a little bit about what the Yankees are getting here. As we all know, Luis Garcia Jr. is having a monster year. He leads all NL hitters in slugging percentage and has 23 homers with an .873 OPS. Garcia chases a lot, but he makes a lot of contact, and more importantly a lot of hard contact.

He should be in a first base or DH platoon of some sorts. Garcia, Ben Rice and Paul Goldschmidt will rotate between the DH and 1B spots. It is not the cleanest fit for the Yankees, but they needed all the offensive firepower they could get. Garcia should thrive in Yankees Stadium, and gives the Yankees bat to ball skills which they need.

Garcia was a long time Nat, who we saw grow up over the years. Seeing him blossom into the player and leader he has become this season was really special to watch. I know I will be rooting for Garcia in New York. It was an up and down tenure, but Garcia ended his time with the Nats on the best possible note.

Now on to the return, the “headliner” of the deal is probably Jack Cebert. I put headliner in quotes because there are three guys in here who have fairly similar value to me. Cebert is the only starting pitcher of the bunch, so he is probably the most valuable based on that.

Cebert has had a remarkable rise this season, going from a 15th round pick last year to a top 15 prospect in the Yankees system. For the season he has a 4.03 ERA with 96 strikeouts and 25 walks in 82.2 innings across two levels. He has been homer prone, but the combination of swing and miss stuff with good control is very enticing.

Right now he is on the shelf, but it is with a calf strain rather than an arm issue. Cebert has a fun three fastball attack that is very common around the league right now. He has a 4-seamer and sinker that sit around 95, as well as a cutter around 90. Cebert finishes off the arsenal with a slider.

However, the most interesting pieces of this package to me are the relievers. First, I want to talk about Yovanny Cruz who should slide into high leverage duties in the big leagues immediately. Cruz has a lot of what you want to see in a reliever. First, he has a fastball that has averaged 100 in the majors and 99.4 in AAA. Even though the shape of the fastball is not great, 100 is still 100.

His best pitch though is probably his low 90’s slider which is a true wipeout offering. He generated whiffs at a 43% clip on the pitch in the big leagues and almost 49% of the time in AAA. It just falls off the table and devastates hitters. He also throws a nice splitter to lefties.

For a guy with his stuff, Cruz also throws a lot of strikes. His walk rate was 8.8% in AAA and only 5% in his 5 big league innings. When guys make contact with the heater, it can be hit hard though. I would not be surprised if the Nats gave him a sinker.

The other reliever in the package is Ben Grable, who is not going to be MLB ready until next year. Grable has a monster fastball that sits around 96, but has a ton of life and carry at the top of the zone. It is one of those “rising” fastballs that plays above its velocity. 

Grable pairs it with a solid slider that plays well off the fastball, but the heater is the star of the show. He has also shown very good command, walking less than 7% of hitters this season. Grable was only drafted in 2025, but he has torn through High-A and AA. He should be ready sometime next year.

The last piece of the package is a curious one. Jake Bird had some solid years with the Rockies, but the 30 year old fell on hard times in New York. He has spent a lot of time in the minors since arriving there.

However, he should be a plug and play option in this Nats bullpen. He is a lower slot guy who relies on a sinker/sweeper combo. At his best, he can look nasty with pitches moving in all different directions. The raw stuff is solid, and he has the ability to rebound and be a middle reliever type again. This is more about grabbing a body in the bullpen though.

This is a very interesting trade, and not really how I expected it to go. However, it makes a lot of sense given the Nats lack of bullpen talent throughout the organization. Cruz and Grable should be core pieces of this bullpen for many years to come. Meanwhile, Cebert has the chance to be a number 4 starter if things click.

The lack of a true headliner is slightly underwhelming, but the package makes a lot of sense. We have been screaming for bullpen help, and we got it. That bullpen help came through unorthodox means. I am fairly excited about this package, and can’t wait to see Cruz throw triple digit heat the rest of this season.

What’s the best way to make an annoying series loss to the 2026 New York Mets look like ancient history? Win a four-game series against a team that was over .500 coming into the series, why don’t you? Indeed, the Atlanta Braves are now riding a bit high following a very strong bounce-back series against the Washington Nationals and their high-powered offense.

Instead, the star of this show over the course of the four games was Atlanta’s high-powered offense as they were able to do damage against a very vulnerable Washington pitching staff. Just how much damage did the Braves end up doing? Let’s get into it, folks!

Thursday, July 30

Braves 5, Nationals 4

After 3 1/2 innings, the Nationals were up 3-0 on the Braves. That is as good as it got for Washington in not just during this game but for the entire series as well. From the sixth inning onwards once the Braves were up 5-3, Atlanta was in near-complete control of this series.

The fourth inning saw Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a deep fly off of the scoreboard in the home bullpen in right-center to put the Braves on the board against Jake Irvin and for the next two innings, the offense came in waves. Mike Yastrzemski hit a big two-run dinger to tie the game in the fifth and then Atlanta ended up putting five runs on Jake Irvin’s line for the night after Ozzie Albies dropped one into the outfield for a two-RBI single that brought us to the aforementioned 5-3 scoreline. Considering the nightmares that this team has had on a near-regular basis against Jake Irvin, this was certainly lovely to witness.

Washington did get a run back in the seventh inning when Luis García Jr. added an RBI triple to what was a big three-hit night at the plate for him (that probably earned him a trip to the Bronx to wear pinstripes for the rest of the season) but outside of that, Washington was unable to do any big damage against the bullpen as Danny Young, Victor Mederos, Dylan Lee and Raisel Iglesias brought the series-opening win on home for Atlanta on Andruw Jones Hall-of-Fame Bobblehead Night.

Friday, July 31

Braves 6, Nationals 2

From the words “Play Ball,” this was all Braves. Matt Olson smacked one out in the first inning for a solo shot to get Atlanta going and then Jim Jarvis came through and plated Mauricio Dubón with a liner up the middle to make it 2-0. CJ Abrams made it a one-run game in the fourth inning with a solo homer of his own but that was as close as Washington got after the Braves broke out for four runs in the sixth inning. The big shot in that frame was Michael Harris II hitting a laser directly into the Chop House for a three-run dinger that gave the Braves some valuable breathing room.

While this was going on, Bryce Elder did an admirable job when it came to keeping the Nationals quiet. He did have his moments but he was able to avert disaster for the monster part and he largely frustrated Washington while he was on the mound. The only runs that Washington were able to push across the plate were of the solo home run variety and once Andrés Chaparro hit the second homer of the night for the Nats in the ninth inning off of Elieser Hernández, it was too little and too late for the Nats and the Braves essentially cruised to victory in this one.

Saturday, August 1

Braves 8, Nationals 3

The big story in this game was that Martín Pérez was thrust into starting duty just 90 minutes before the game after it became clear that the IL-bound Reynaldo López wouldn’t be able to go due to some knee inflammation. Despite not having much time to prepare, that didn’t stop Pérez from being ready. Sure enough, Pérez ended up delivering his best start of the season where he carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Brady House broke it up with a single but Pérez finished the inning in order to make it seven shutout innings with just that one hit allowed and six strikeouts. This was an absolutely incredible performance from Pérez when you consider the circumstances and the opposition.

Meanwhile, this was another case of Atlanta simply jumping on the Nationals early on and continuing to smother them. Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson went back-to-back for homers in the first inning to get things going against Miles Mikolas and then Drake Baldwin made it 3-0 with an RBI single in the third. Dominic Smith had himself a big moment in the fourth as he led off that frame with a homer and at that point, the Braves were cruising.

The cruise turned into a nice little saunter across the beach in the seventh inning which is when Washington’s bullpen and suspect defense combined for a disastrous inning for the Nationals. The first two runs that the Braves scored came without them swinging the bat to do it — a bases-loaded walk for Dominic Smith made it 5-0 and then Eddy Yean’s first pitch upon entering the game was a wild pitch with the bases loaded that made it 6-0.

Austin Riley then hit one into the gap in left center that Jacob Young nearly made a diving catch on. Instead, he failed to keep it in his glove and two runs scored and we were in laugher territory at 8-0. Washington scored three in the eighth but that was nowhere near enough to keep up with the Braves who clinched the series win with this one.

Sunday, August 2

Braves 4, Nationals 2

Washington got to experience a lead in this series for the first time in what felt like ages for them, as Andrés Chaparro earned an RBI the hard way by taking a curveball to the head from JR Ritchie and then a sacrifice fly from James Wood put Washington up 2-1 in the fourth inning. Again, that’s as good as it got for the Nats as the Braves took control of the game starting from the bottom of the fourth inning.

Matt Olson led that fourth inning off with a game-tying solo shot and then some more poor defense from CJ Abrams (who put on a defensive disasterclass over the course of these four games) helped push the Braves in front in the fifth inning. You know it was bad when even the BravesVision commentary duo of Brandon Gaudin and C.J. Nitkowski were openly talking about how it’s probably time to move Abrams to second base. Between this and the Mets TV crew expressing concern for Connor Thomas when he was wearing a nasty beatdown in New York, it’s been a week of empathy for NL East commentary crews.

Anyways, a sacrifice fly from Mike Yastrzemski in the seventh inning brought us to the final score of 4-2 and that was ensured thanks to the bullpen once again coming into the game and throwing up zeroes. Dylan Dodd, Didier Fuentes, Dylan Lee and Raisel Iglesias each picked up the baton and ran with it and once they crossed the finish line, the Braves had a broom in their hands and swept the Nationals out of town.

Now that’s more like it! The Braves essentially put Washington into selling mode on their own with their dominance in this series. The bats were able to do some real damage in this series, with Mike Yastrzemski in particular having a lot of success against Washington’s lineup during the three gamers where he played. Ronald Acuña Jr. also announced his return to Cobb County with a pair of dingers over the course of this series and the usual suspects like Matt Olson, Michael Harris II, and even Dominic Smith coming up big over the course of the series. The lineup appears to be clicking again (weak Nationals pitching staff or not) and that’s encouraging to see as we head into the crucial month of August.

Also, a lot of credit has to be given to the pitching staff for coming up huge as well. This is a Nationals offense that leads baseball in runs scored by a very comfortable margin and only trails the Dodgers by two points for the team lead in wRC+ heading into Sunday’s action. Atlanta held Washington to fewer than five runs in each of the four games, which has been a very tough task for nearly any pitching staff that’s come up against this lineup this season. The only thing I can compare this to is when the Yankees swept the Nationals in D.C. with a 5-3 win, a 4-2 win and then a 5-3 capper.

It also serves to set the record straight a bit after the Braves did keep the Nationals quiet in their last trip to Cobb County, only for that to be a bitterly disappointing series for Atlanta’s offense. This time, the bats came up huge over the course of these four games. Combine this nice run of form from Atlanta since the All-Star break with the Phillies falling back closer to the rest of the NL East pack and things are now feeling very good as far as the divisional race goes.

Whether or not this team has what it takes to make a deep run in October for the first time since 2021 will likely require some more trade deadline activity that’s also similar to what happened in 2021. Alex Anthopoulos has already bolstered the outfield depth with the addition of Lane Thomas from Kansas City and I think at this point, we’re all waiting on a starting pitcher (or two). As well as Atlanta’s rotation fared during this season against that imposing Nationals lineup, a lot of the overall success had to with the bullpen once again coming up huge.

Grant Holmes went 4.2 innings and gave up three runs. Bryce Elder essentially walked a tightrope for six innings against this lineup. Martín Pérez came up huge but he only did so on 90 minutes notice because Reynaldo López is now on the IL. J.R. Ritchie only went four innings, himself. The rotation absolutely needs to be addressed once the deadline comes and goes — otherwise, you’d have a safe bet on your hands when it comes to predicting that this season’s ride could end due to a starter not named Chris Sale getting lit up and the bullpen not having enough energy to pick up the slack once October comes around. Things are going well, sure, but they could potentially be better with some additions. We’ll see what happens tomorrow!

LOS ANGELES — New Dodgers pitcher Tarik Skubal will be his Dodgers debut on Tuesday at Wrigley Field in the middle game of a road series against the Chicago Cubs.

The Dodgers on Sunday finalized their trade for Skubal, winner of the last two American League Cy Young Awards with the Detroit Tigers. Pitcher River Ryan plus minor leaguers Zyhir Hope and Brady Smith were sent to the Tigers in the deal.

Skubal last pitched for Detroit last Wednesday, throwing 92 pitches in 6 2/3 innings against the Baltimore Orioles at Comerica Park. On the season Skubal has a 2.79 ERA in 16 starts, with 116 strikeouts and 14 walks. He’ll be on five days rest on Tuesday against the Cubs, in what will be his first career start at Wrigley Field.

“Tarik will slot in for us on Tuesday,” Dodgers president of baseball operations said on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. “Eric Lauer has been unbelievable for us, and he’s kind of sliding into more a bullpen role right now.”

Lauer was acquired via trade from the Blue Jays on May 17 after getting designated for assignment by Toronto. The veteran left-hander has appeared in nine games for the Dodgers — eight starts and one bulk relief appearance following an opener — and has done everything that was asked of him and then some. Lauer has a 2.96 ERA and 4.06 xERA with the Dodgers, who have won all nine of his appearances, with 30 strikeouts and 13 walks in 51 2/3 innings.

Justin Wrobleski will start Monday and Roki Sasaki on Wednesday against the Cubs, sandwiching Skubal. The Dodgers also have Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Emmet Sheehan in the rotation, and Blake Snell is expected to be activated after one more rehab start on Tuesday for Triple-A Oklahoma City. Those six starters, before considering the eventual returns of Tyler Glasnow — who starts a rehab assignment this week — and Shohei Ohtani — who will play catch when the Dodgers are in Chicago — make for a crowded rotation, which is why Lauer has been floated as a candidate to be traded before Monday’s 3 p.m. PT deadline, perhaps somewhere where he might get a chance to start.

“Obviously as we get guys back, we’ll figure it out. The world changes day by day. We hope we have those problems,” Friedman said. “We’re still having a number of conversations on a number of different fronts. We’re always trying to balance, keeping one eye on the present and one on the future. A lot of different conversations on a lot of different fronts. How likely is tough to say, but we’ll continue to work through tomorrow.”

Skubal, who was in West Sacramento with the Tigers to play the A’s this weekend, wasn’t in the Dodgers clubhouse during media availability before Sunday’s game, but he’s expected to join the team at Dodger Stadium at some point on Sunday, then head to Chicago with the team on Sunday night.

“Obviously that was the only team he knew, a lot of great memories,” manager Dave Roberts said of Skubal’s time with the Tigers. “But he’s excited to be a part of this.”

The Yankees started their deadline dealing on Saturday sending off Camilo Doval to the Pirates, but that was an ancillary move to what their plans were. This team was always going to be buying, and it was only a question of who they would target and how many pieces they would get. Now the first domino has fallen, as they’ve swung a deal with the Washington Nationals to get infielder Luis García Jr.

García is having his best offensive season to date in his age-26 season, and he’s been one of the best hitters across the National League. He leads the NL in slugging percentage with a .560 mark, and owns a 134 wRC+ in 104 games with 23 home runs clubbed. García doesn’t take many free passes, only sporting a 4.3 percent walk rate, but he hits at a high enough clip to still get on base decently well.

In breaking the news, ESPN’s Jeff Passan is also reporting that the Yankees have sent a package of four prospects over to the Nationals for García, and MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand is reporting that said package consists of pitchers Ben Grable (an undrafted free agent who recently appeared in the Futures Game), Yovanny Cruz (signed this past November as a minor-league free agent) Jack Cebert (a 2025 15th-round pick), and Jake Bird (a Trade Deadline bust from 2025). That’s not a lot of prospect capital spent to improve an offense that has felt incredibly lackluster without their captain Aaron Judge present.

The fit on the field will be interesting to see as the Yankees have acquired a bat that plays predominantly on the right side of the infield. García has played 93 games at first base this year, where the team already has Ben Rice and Paul Goldschmidt working in a platoon, and played 129 games at second base last season where Jazz Chisholm Jr. currently sits. No matter what, in the short term, there’s a clear void at DH with Giancarlo Stanton still out and no obvious return date in sight.

We’ll have plenty more over the next few hours as the trade details emerge and we get a picture of where he’ll fit in with New York, but the Yankees have undoubtedly added some life back into their lineup when they’ve desperately needed it.

Anthony Kay dealt, the White Sox offense punished Tampa Bay pitching mistakes, and Chicago felt control of this game virtually from start to finish, culminating in a 9-1 victory for the South Siders that keeps them three games ahead of the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central entering the post-deadline stretch.

It was a career day for Kay, by virtually any measure. He completed a career-high 6 1/3 innings, blanking the American League leaders while scattering seven hits and flashing some leather to boot, helping himself out of a couple of tough jams with acute defensive chops. He faced a career-high 27 hitters and didn’t issue a free pass until the very last one, coming an eyelash away from going without a walk or a hit batsman for the first time this season. These are the kinds of games scouts envisioned when the Mets made him a first round pick out of UConn a decade ago.

The lefty’s typically scattershot command was as locked in this afternoon as we’ve ever seen it. Kay threw 60 of his 89 pitches for strikes and kept nearly every one of his sweepers, cutters and sliders in the vicinity of the plate, limiting hard contact. While he did allow nine hard-hit batted balls, all but one of them came on either a fastball or changeup, and Tampa’s inability to get good wood on anything with spin on it contributed to their stranding the bases loaded twice without a run, in the fourth and sixth innings.

Kay’s ERA now sits at a very solid 4.01 in an even 110 innings, the most he’s thrown in America since his 133 2/3 minor league innings in 2019. He averaged just more than 150 innings per season over his two years in Japan, so he’s still got a while to go before he hits anything unprecedented. Even though underlying and expected stats think Kay’s been the beneficiary of a healthy amount of good luck, one has to imagine the White Sox are feeling like their $5 million-per-year deal with Kay has been well worth the investment.

Opposite the 31-year-old lefty, Rays starter Griffin Jax had solid stuff himself, setting down eight Sox hitters on strikes without issuing a walk. But a pair of first-inning errors — one by Jax himself — led to a pair of unearned runs before most of the fans had found their seats, and the Rays trailed the entire way thereafter. Jax was otherwise quite sharp, with the only other Sox damage coming on a back foot breaking ball that caught too much of the plate and too much of Andrew Benintendi’s barrel, for his 12th homer and 57th run driven in on the season. It was still less remarkable than Benintendi’s first trip around the bases, which saw him push Colson Montgomery around the plate with some flag football moves on a bizarre stolen base attempt.

It’s already been a magical season full of magical moments, but the most unlikely thing the 2026 White Sox have done yet might be the rehabilitation of Benintendi’s standing with the fanbase. His OPS since being unknowingly helmet-taped by Sam Antonacci in early May is now north of .840, and despite being fully DH-bound he’s producing more than enough runs to justify a roster spot. He may not look rejuvenated in the traditional sense, but three-and-a-half years into his tenure on the South Side, Benintendi has a clear of a place on the team as he’s ever had.

Benintendi struck first against Jax, but the offensive star of the show for the victors was Everson Pereira, who entered the lineup as a late replacement for the scratched Braden Montgomery and responded with a homer, a double and four runs driven in. It’s been somewhat of a revenge tour for Pereira against the team that traded him last winter, as he previously homered twice against his former squad when they met in Chicago last April.

Pereira’s sixth-inning double brought the Sox lead to 5-0, and when Grant Taylor slammed the door upon entering the game for Kay with one on and one out in the seventh, the candle felt all but extinguished for Tampa Bay. Matching two-run blasts from Pereira and Miguel Vargas in the ninth inning simply salted it away. It also made for Vargas’s 50th extra-base hit of the season, matching his total from 2025 in nearly a hundred fewer trips to the plate.

On the back end, Duncan Davitt failed to find similar success to Pereira against his former organization, allowing Ben Williamson to take him deep on the first pitch of the ninth inning to get Tampa Bay on the board and earning himself a ticket back to Charlotte after the game. Those Rays fans who stayed to the end were rewarded no further, though, with a 9-1 Sox victory etched into the books. This despite an 11-9 advantage in the hit column to the home side, who hadn’t lost a series at Tropicana Field in over two months.

The Good Guys are off tomorrow, taking a flight to Boston for a three-gamer with the surging Red Sox before returning home for a critical series against the Guardians next weekend. Starters have yet to be announced, but with Monday off and Erick Fedde officially shifting to the bullpen, our Sox should be able to send out Davis Martin, Sean Burke, and Luis Castillo in more or less whatever order they wish. They appear to set to see some combination of Sonny Gray, Ranger Suárez, and Payton Tolle, if Boston’s recent rotation holds. First pitch from Fenway Park is on Tuesday at 6:10 p.m. CT, and we’ll see you there!

MVP
Anthony Kay: 6 1/3 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

Runners-Up
Everson Pereira: 2-for-4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI
Chase Meidroth: 2-for-3, BB, 2 R

Cold Cat
Drew Romo: 0-for-4, 3 K

Runners-Up
Munetaka Murakami: 1-for-5
Sam Antonacci: 0-for-5