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BALTIMORE — Aaron Judge is set to take the next step in his comeback from a fractured rib that’s already kept him out for nearly three months.

Aaron Boone said Tuesday that Judge will be “introduced to his hitting progression this week.” Judge, according to the manager, has been doing “swing-related stuff” in the pool in recent days.

“He’s progressing,’’ Boone said. “It’s all part of the process. Hopefully it goes well. The fact that he’s responded in this first week of added intensity, as far as being allowed to do some things upper-body-wise — playing catch, running — it’s all part of his buildup.”

Judge had been limited to lower-body and light resistance training before playing catch last week for the first time since hitting the IL.

Boone wasn’t sure exactly when Judge would start swinging, but it’s a sign that he at least hasn’t suffered any setbacks.

There remains no timeline for Judge’s return.

Cody Bellinger’s return from a strained left hamstring to a lineup that has collapsed without him and Judge — as well as Giancarlo Stanton — is more imminent.

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The outfielder was at Camden Yards Tuesday and said he will play a minor league rehab game with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Thursday.

He anticipated needing more than just the one game before a return to the Yankees lineup, but didn’t rule out getting back to the majors.

He’s well aware of the lineup’s struggles without their big bats.

“I’ve wanted to get back for a while,’’ Bellinger said. “But you always want to be realistic. You want to come back and stay.”

As for Stanton, out since April with multiple calf strains, Boone said he was “towards the end of his running program. The intensity has picked up. He’s responded well.”

But it’s Judge’s absence that has hurt the most, as the Yankees entered Tuesday with the third-worst OPS and third-fewest runs scored since he’s been out.

George Lombard Jr. continues to impress with his glove and bat.

He had a pair of singles in a 3-1 win Tuesday and made a strong throw from deep in the hole to get Christian Encarnacion-Strand in the fourth.

The Yankees lost two challenges by the top of the fourth, as Heliot Ramos challenged a call in the first on a clear strike and Spencer Jones missed on a pitch to end the top of the fourth.

“Those weren’t good ones,’’ Boone said.

But the manager noted Austin Wells’ challenge from behind the plate on a Jackson Holliday strikeout in the second “might have [been] the best challenge of the season.”

It ended a bases-loaded threat.

Clarke Schmidt pitched off a mound Tuesday as he progresses in his comeback from Tommy John surgery, while Luis Gil ended his rehab assignment and is now at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Both right-handers are potential options to join the bullpen down the stretch.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. was back in the lineup after sitting against a right-hander Sunday in Toronto.

Boone said he considered putting José Caballero in the lineup again after Caballero sparked the offense in a victory against the Blue Jays.

BALTIMORE — Max Fried made just five starts after his return from a left elbow bone bruise before hitting the injured list again Monday with what Aaron Boone called “low-level inflammation as a result of the bone bruise.”

But because the Yankees believe they caught the recurrence of the injury early, they feel confident the left-hander won’t miss nearly as much time as they prepare for the stretch run.

“I was told it was good news and this gives us the best chance to have him healthy the rest of the way,” Boone said before Tuesday’s game at Camden Yards.

Before Fried was placed on the 15-day IL Monday, the Yankees said they were considering having Fried make his scheduled start Wednesday.

Instead, an MRI exam showed inflammation and pitching coach Matt Blake said the organization decided to “err on the side of caution.”

And Boone added it’s “possible” Fried is back in the rotation by the end of the month, when he’s eligible to come off the IL.

He played catch again Tuesday in New York and depending on how the elbow responds, the Yankees will decide how to move forward. Fried could potentially throw off a mound in the coming days.

With Fried sidelined, Carlos Rodón returned Tuesday from his IL stint that was caused by elbow inflammation and Will Warren is set to start Wednesday.

But the Yankees still need to determine why the injury popped up again.

“Any injury can be a precursor for another injury,” Blake said. “I don’t think anyone is shocked this cropped up again. Obviously, we didn’t want it to and we’ll try to mitigate it with workload and delivery management.”

Blake called it “a little frustrating it got to this point,” but added that since he wasn’t forced out of a game — like he was with the initial injury — Fried won’t be out long.

Dr. Spencer Stein, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at NYU Langone, said the recurrence wasn’t unusual and the Yankees’ optimism could indicate a lack of severity of the injury.

When Fried suffered the injury in May, he was immediately shut down from throwing for weeks. That’s not the case this time around.

Initially, Fried said the injury was caused by “hyperextending” and “the banging of the two bones” around the elbow.

The Yankees hoped some mechanical adjustments might help avoid the issue arising again.

Since it hasn’t, Blake said he was unsure if Fried would have to deal with some kind of discomfort in the area the rest of the season.

“I don’t know,’’ Blake said. “It’s something we have to be aware of and try to stay ahead of. He felt good throwing his side [session] the other day [but] there was too much question about if he went out there [Wednesday], would he make it worse?”

As long as Fried is out, it means the Yankees remain without all five of their top starters at the same time, with Ryan Weathers and Warren remaining in the rotation for now.

The plan is still for Fried — as well as Rodón, Gerrit Cole and Cam Schlittler — to be able to go in the playoffs.

But so far, the Yankees haven’t been able to keep their potentially fearsome rotation together.

Fernando Tatis Jr. added to his career highlights during the San Diego Padres’ game against the New York Mets on Tuesday, Aug. 18.

Tatis denied Francisco Lindor a grand slam in the bottom of the second inning while the Padres had a 1-0 lead.

Tatis jumped up and caught the ball just before it could go over the fence in right field. He stared down toward the infield after making the catch while Padres pitcher Robbie Ray celebrated from the mound with a look of shock as the inning came to an end.

In addition to defensive prowess, Tatis excelled at the plate in the Padres' 5-2 win over the Mets, hitting two home runs.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. robs grand slam from Mets' Francisco Lindor

The Dodgers and Rockies keep things going at Coors Field.

Tuesday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Rockies
• Ballpark: Coors Field, Denver
• Start time: 5:40 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Three people were arrested and one man was charged with punching a fan at Wrigley Field during Monday’s game between the Cubs and White Sox — but none of them were involved in the viral eighth- inning brawl that happened at the same game. 

Police arrested and charged 41-year-old David Cregan with felony cocaine possession and misdemeanor battery after he allegedly “sucker punched” a 26-year-old man near a Wrigley Field bathroom, court records viewed by the Chicago Tribune indicated. 

Cook County prosecutors stated police discovered the drug on him during a search following his arrest, prompting Judge John Hock to ask, per The Tribune, “He was at the Cubs game with 25 grams of cocaine?”

He has been ordered to stay away from the alleged victim and Wrigley Field after he was released pending trial. 

Chicago police also told the outlet that two other people were arrested – a 29-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman – on Monday night.

Both face misdemeanor trespassing charges. 

The arrests took place on the same night as a massive brawl occurred in the Wrigley bleachers that made the rounds on social media and showed a violent confrontation that included one man in a blue Cubs jersey being brutally beaten by one fan in a grey, sleeveless undershirt. 

The brawl in the friendly confines of Wrigley shocked many and Cubs’ star Pete Crow-Armstrong called it “unfortunate and somewhat nauseating.”

CBS Chicago reported that extra security will be in place for Tuesday’s game when the crosstown rivals meet again after the Cubs’ 7-5 win on Sunday.

“The safety of our fans is always a top priority,” the Cubs said in a statement on Tuesday. “We work closely with our public safety partners to respond to incidents at the ballpark and appreciate their partnership in addressing the situation last night.”

BALTIMORE — Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s season took another wrong turn Tuesday night.

With runners on first and second and one out in the bottom of the second of a 3-1 win at Camden Yards, Carlos Rodón got Christian Franklin to hit a seemingly routine ground ball toward Chisholm at second.

But second base umpire Ryan Additon appeared to block Chisholm’s view of the ball momentarily and the second baseman couldn’t handle the grounder.

Instead of a potential inning-ending double play, everyone was safe.

With the bases loaded, Chisholm was visibly upset with Additon, complaining that he didn’t get out of the way in time.

“That was a tough play for Jazz, being screened by the umpire,’’ Rodón said. 

No one else argued with Additon about the play, and Rodón made it a moot point by stranding all three runners with a strikeout of ex-Yankee prospect Carlos Narváez and then Jackson Holliday, preserving a one-run lead.  

It’s been an overall ugly season for Chisholm, who has struggled on both sides of the ball as he heads towards free agency.

After two weeks with Triple-A Oklahoma City, Emmet Sheehan is back with the Dodgers on his first day eligible to return after 15 days on optional assignment to the minors.

He replaces Edwin Díaz, who was placed on the 15-day injured list with neck inflammation.

Sheehan was in the Dodgers starting rotation since opening day, but had an up-and-down 18 weeks, with a 5.29 ERA and 3.97 xERA in 20 starts, with 108 strikeouts and 30 walks in 95 1/3 innings, averaging under five innings per start. He was optioned to Triple-A on August 3, one day after allowing a season-high three home runs in a loss to the Boston Red Sox, the second time in three starts he allowed at least five runs.

With Oklahoma City, Sheehan made two starts, the first a planned short outing in which he allowed two runs and recorded two outs in the opening frame. Last Wednesday against Albuquerque, Sheehan struck out eight in 5 2/3 scoreless innings, his longest start since going 6 1/3 innings on June 1 against the Diamondbacks in Arizona.

Pitching out of the bullpen seems the best chance for Sheehan to make an impact in the postseason, as the Dodgers rotation currently has Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Blake Snell, and expect to have Tyler Glasnow back next week, with Shohei Ohtani working his way back to the mound, possibly in September. This gives Sheehan more of a runway to curve out a relief role, unlike last year when he was an integral part of a six-man rotation the last few months down the stretch before abruptly switching to relief in October, when he allowed seven runs in 7 1/3 innings in his six postseason appearances.

The Dodgers on Tuesday placed closer Edwin Díaz back on the injured list with neck inflammation after a disastrous three weeks back on the active roster. He’s headed back to Los Angeles, manager Dave Roberts told reporters Tuesday at Coors Field.

Per Jack Harris at the California Post, the Dodgers want to rule out any issues in Díaza’s lat/trap area in his Wednesday doctor visit.

Emmet Sheehan was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City to take Díaz’s roster spot.

Díaz missed three months after surgery to remove loose bodies from his right elbow, and was activated on July 29. He allowed runs in six of his nine appearances since returning, giving up 11 runs on 16 hits, five walks, and two hit batters in only 7 2/3 innings, with nine strikeouts, and has blown three saves in the Dodgers’ last 11 games.

After two shaky outings at home against the Milwaukee Brewers last Thursday and Friday, Díaz was unavailable the rest of the weekend while working on mechanics.

“The strength department and the pitching side of things, he’s kind of detected some things I think we could clean up, so that’s encouraging,” Roberts said on Saturday. “We started that process today. Hopefully with a couple days off to kind of work through that, we’ll see an even better version going forward.”

Díaz’s first appearance after the tweaks suggested otherwise. Entering with an 11-2 lead in the ninth inning on Monday, the lowest leverage one might find for such an appearance, Díaz allowed a double and three singles, and hit a batter, allowing three more runs to the Rockies.

The double Díaz allowed, to Zac Veen, was on a 93-mph four-seam fastball, the third-slowest fastball thrown this season by Díaz, who has averaged 96.3 mph on the pitch this season. That was the penultimate pitch of the game.

On the season, Díaz allowed 18 runs over 13 2/3 innings in his 16 appearances, with 19 strikeouts and 10 walks. If Díaz doesn’t pitch in another game this season, his 11.85 ERA would be the third-worst in Dodgers history by a pitcher with at least 10 appearances that season, behind only a 41-year-old Orel Hershiser in 2000 and Scott Elbert in 2008. Díaz’s 2.561 WHIP would be the worst in a season by any Dodgers pitcher with at least 10 games.

Did you enjoy that series win over the Astros? Yes? Good, because you’re going to need to call on those happy memories as the Mariners face the playoff-bound Brewers. Jake already laid out for you how tough this series is going to be in the series preview, which you should revisit if you haven’t.

Lineups:

News:

No Taylor Ward in today’s lineup, but per Tim Booth, he worked out pregame and says he’s close to being ready to rejoin the lineup, and is available as an option off the bench tonight. Stuart Fairchild is with the team as a member of the taxi squad just in case, as Victor Robles continues to deal with a sore shoulder.

Victor Robles, who missed Sunday’s game with right shoulder soreness, is back in the Mariners’ lineup tonight.

Game information:

Game time: 4:40 PT

TV: Mariners TV with Rich Waltz and Ryan Rowland-Smith

Radio: Seattle Sports 710 AM, with Gary Hill Jr. and Shannon Drayer

The White Sox are looking to rebound on the North Side after a heartbreaking, walk-off loss to the Cubs in extra innings Monday. With a chance to even the series tonight, they are turning to a (fairly) exhausted bullpen to handle Tuesday’s game, with lefthander Bryan Hudson getting the ball first for the seventh time this season.

Hudson has been excellent as an opener when called upon, holding a 1.29 ERA across seven frames while allowing just one run on three hits and five strikeouts — with a solo homer serving as the only major blemish in those outings. Hudson has amassed a 3.14 ERA in 51 2/3 innings, alongside a 1.277 WHIP, and has given up just two home runs all season in 54 games. He tends to thrive more in low- to medium-leverage situations and has the lowest ERA (0.34) with the bases empty (26 2/3 innings), making the lefty the perfect candidate for an opener.

Without any corresponding roster moves from the Good Guys, it seems that the White Sox will roll with either Erick Fedde or José Urquidy as the long reliever options, likely hoping to get deep enough in the game — with a lead, ideally — to turn to Sean Newcomb, Huascar Brazobán, and Grant Taylor, maybe even in that order.

Since the Cubs will have a righty on the mound with Kevin Gausman making the start, the lineup looks much more solid from the South Siders tonight, especially with Colson Montgomery returning to the batting order, hitting sixth and playing shortstop. With the right-handed matchup, Sam Antonacci will slot back into leadoff, followed by Munetaka Murakami, Miguel Vargas, and our clutch king, Andrew Benintendi. Tonight would be the perfect night for the Mune and Miguel combo to blast off with a pair of homers, but I’ll take anyone stepping up to be the hero if it means we don’t have to witness the Sox lose the way they did yesterday.

Chicago White Sox Lineup

Gausman will have a whole bunch of lefties to face in the White Sox lineup, though his splits are similar against both right- and left-handed hitters. From the left side of the plate, batters are hitting .252 with a .697 OPS versus Gausman, who has a 1.28 WHIP against them. Righties are batting .262 with a .732 OPS, with essentially the same WHIP (1.27). This will be just the third start in a Cubs uniform for Gausman, who has struggled so far with a 6.17 ERA and eight runs allowed in 11 2/3 innings. With only two starts to work with, however, it’s probably best to take those numbers with a grain of salt.

Overall, Gausman holds a 4.53 ERA in 139 innings across 25 starts in 2026, though his 3.53 FIP suggests he has pitched better than that ERA would indicate. The righty isn’t necessarily a strikeout pitcher, but his 6.5% walk rate is one of his strengths to keep batters off the base paths. He still tends to get his opponents to chase pitches, and his splitter can be a weapon in his arsenal, racking up a 40.4% whiff rate.

As we know, South Side pitchers certainly need to watch out for Pete Crow-Armstrong in the leadoff spot. PCA has mashed six homers so far in August, trailing only Matt Olson, and two of those came last night — one on the very first pitch of the game and another on the very last. So far this month, PCA has slugged .636 with a 1.013 OPS and consistently comes through in clutch moments.

And that’s not to sleep on the rest of the Cubs lineup, who hold the third-highest SLG (.419) and second-most RBIs in MLB, also posting the highest WAR as a team at 28.2, 6.4 more WAR than the next team (the Los Angeles Dodgers). Seiya Suzuki is almost just as much of a threat as PCA is, and Nico Hoerner posted a four-hit night in the series opener, including the game-tying RBI base hit in the bottom of the ninth.

Chicago Cubs Lineup

For once, there are all kinds of places to tune into Game 2 of the Crosstown Classic! If you’re in the Chicago market, you can still tune in on the usual spots with CHSN and Marquee Network; however, the game will also air locally on The U and nationally on TBS. On the radio, you can catch the White Sox broadcast at ESPN Chicago AM 1000, or the Cubs on AM 670 (or 104.3 FM). First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. CT at Wrigley Field. Hopefully, this one ends with a White Sox win.

The boyz are back, baby!!!! Jac, Vinnie, Maikel, Bob, everyone’s here—on offense, as it were. Yesterday, they scored a bunch of runs. It was delightful.

Today, they will need to score a bunch of runs. The Royals are inexplicably sticking Daniel Lynch IV in the rotation. Lynch’s career splits are super obvious: as a starter, he’s got a 5.31 ERA and a .349 wOBA against. As a reliever, he’s got a 2.47 ERA and a .278 wOBA against. This year is even more lopsided, albeit with only four innings as a starter. After Lynch, they’ll have more bullpen innings than normal, and we all know how well the bullpen has pitched this year.

But that just means we’re in for a high-scoring win, right?

Athletics 8/18 lineup

Royals 8/18 lineup