Dodgers catcher Will Smith has a hairline fracture in his right hand and is doubtful to return before the end of the regular season, according to manager Dave Roberts.

The Dodgers are “hopeful” Smith will be available for the postseason, but whether he will be ready for the very start of the playoffs — which likely will be Sept. 30 — remains “up in the air,” Roberts said.

Smith, the three-time All-Star catcher who led the National League in batting average in the first half of the season before slumping through August, first got hurt when a foul ball hit his dangling throwing hand behind the plate on Sept. 3 in Pittsburgh.

Read more:Shaikin: Clayton Kershaw was always at the heart of the Dodgers' franchise revival

After missing the Dodgers’ next five games, he returned to the starting lineup on Sept. 9 against the Colorado Rockies, and doubled in his first at-bat. However, the 30-year-old was a late scratch from the lineup the next day after his hand swelled up, and was placed on the injured list last weekend in San Francisco.

Initially, both an X-ray and an MRI on Smith’s hand came back clean, which is why the Dodgers allowed him to return to action as soon as they did. But his injury lingered and the Dodgers sent him back for another MRI at the end of this past week.

This time, the scan showed what both Roberts and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman described as a “small” fracture.

"It sounds like from the doctors that it's so small and in such a small part of the hand that it didn't show up initially but did on the subsequent [scan],” Friedman said. “They seem to say [that] is common. I haven't seen it, but I also haven't seen a broken bone in that area very often. It makes sense why it was slow to rebound. I'm glad we have clarity on it. We're going to do everything we can to strengthen and heal and get it back.”

To this point, the Dodgers have managed without Smith, who was batting .296 with 17 home runs and 61 RBIs. In the 14 games he has missed since getting hurt, the team is 8-6 and averaging more than five runs per game.

A big reason why: The emergence of journeyman replacement Ben Rortvedt, a minor-league addition at the trade deadline who has come to the majors and produced capably as a fill-in for Smith and backup catcher Dalton Rushing (who missed 10 days this month after fouling a ball off his leg).

After joining the team as a career .186 hitter in four MLB seasons, Rortvedt has batted .294 in 13 games with the Dodgers with two doubles and two sacrifice bunts. Dodgers pitchers also have a 2.74 ERA with him behind the plate.

Even with Rushing healthy again, Roberts said Rortvedt will likely get the “lion’s share” of playing time in Smith’s absence.

“The way he's helped lead our pitching staff has been awesome,” Friedman said. “He really has that servant leadership mentality behind the plate, which has really ingratiated himself with a lot of our pitchers.”

Still, to be at top form, the Dodgers need Smith in the middle of the batting order.

Friedman said the team will keep giving treatment to his hand until “he gets to a point where he doesn't have symptoms, we'll re-X-ray.”

“We're optimistic that it's going to heal quickly, but we're at the mercy of how quickly that happens,” Friedman said. “We don't really know, but we're optimistic it'll be pretty fast.”

Read more:Clayton Kershaw delivers another 'perfect' L.A. moment as Dodgers clinch playoff berth

Graterol not expected back

It’s not much of a surprise at this point, but the Dodgers are not expecting reliever Brusdar Graterol to return this season.

Graterol has not pitched this year after an offseason shoulder surgery, and his recovery “hasn't gone as smoothly as he would like, as we would like,” Friedman said.

“It's been hard to kind of ramp up the volume that he would need to get back. My expectation is he will not be back this year."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Phillies waste early lead, fall 4-3 to Diamondbacks originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

PHOENIX  – Rob Thomson has said in the past that he is a constant scoreboard watcher for out-of-town games.

He probably didn’t like what he saw Saturday. Not only did his Phillies drop a 4-3 decision to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field, the Milwaukee Brewers won their game with the St. Louis Cardinals and pulled three games ahead of the Phillies for the top seed in the National League.

The Phillies pulled out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Harrison Bader walked on four pitches to start off the game and sprinted home on a double by Kyle Schwarber off Arizona starter Zac Gallen. Schwarber moved to third on a groundout by Bryce Harper then score on J.T. Realmuto’s sacrifice fly to deep center.

Arizona tied the game 2-2 with solo runs in the first and third off Nola, but he was given the lead back in the fourth when Alec Bohm homered to center for a 3-2 lead.

“I think I’m just getting through the ball better, not cutting my swing off and just kind of the way I feel. Just feels getting through the ball better,” said Bohm. “For a little while there I was just kind of stuck. Just keep building on the consistency of it. Today when I swung I put the ball in play which is more on par for what I do. When I’m good, when I decide to swing at a pitch, and make the right decision, the ball is getting put in play.”

As the manager said, a lot of good things despite a loss that dropped them to 92-63.

“It was nice to see Schwarber get a couple of hits, the double to left-center was a good sign,” said Thomson. “Bohm is swinging the bat well, Stott had a couple base hits, great at-bat in the ninth. Lot of good things today.”

But the Diamondbacks got to Nola in the sixth when, with one out, Blaze Alexander doubled off the wall in centerfield and scored a batter later when James McCann doubled to right-center. Tanner Banks relieved Nola and struck out pinch-hitter Tim Tawa, but Ildemaro Vargas blooped a single just over the head of shortstop Bryson Stott and Arizona grabbed a 4-3 lead.

An error by third baseman Alexander on a ball hit by Otto Kemp and a walk to Bryson Stott by Gallen gave the Phillies two men on with two out in the seventh, but Harrison Bader grounded into a fielder’s choice to end that threat.

The Phillies got a pair of runners on again in the eighth when Kyle Schwarber led off with a single but was forced at second on a great play by Geraldo Perdomo who dove and snagged a Bryce Harper grounder to force Schwarber at second. Harper advanced to third on a single to right by Realmuto, but Brandon Marsh struck out looking and Bohm flew out softly to center.

Should the Phillies need a fourth starter in the playoffs Nola helped himself on Saturday, if there is indeed a competition for that spot between him and Walker Buehler. Nola went 5 1/3 innings and gave up seven hits, four earned runs, a pair of walks and struck out 4 while throwing 55 of his 84 pitches for strikes.

“I could have been a little more aggressive, a lot better than last outing,” said Nola. “Body feels good. I’m 100 percent finally. I feel great. My arm feels good, so overall I feel really good. They’ve got a pretty good lineup. They’re scrappy, hit the ball both ways.”

“I thought he was pretty good,” said Thomson. “Encouraging. I thought his fastball command was good, 93, 94. Landed his curveball early in counts and behind in counts, so that was a good sign. Yeah, 65 percent strikes, got some whiffs. It was good.

“Today was really encouraging to me just because his fastball command, velocity was up and he held it for most of the game. I’m not sure if there’s not some fatigue setting in, just because he hasn’t had a full season. Sometimes that’s good. Really, with the amount of starts he’s had he’s still kind of building back. I don’t know whether there’s some fatigue setting in but I liked where he was at today.”

Gallen, the Bishop Eustace product, kept his hot pitching streak alive by picking up the win as he improved to 13-14 on the season. In his last 10 starts, he is 6-2 with a 2.82 ERA after giving up three earned runs in seven innings to the Phillies.

“His secondary pitch was really good,” said Thomson. “The changeup to lefties, the curveball to righties and lefties. Really good.”

Bryce Eldridge's first MLB hit highlights unforgettable night for his family originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

LOS ANGELES — On Saturday night, Bryce Eldridge picked up his first MLB hit by smoking a fastball from former All-Star Tyler Glasnow off the wall in left field. The milestone came at Dodger Stadium in front of a sellout crowd, and it cleared the bases. 

Bryce Eldridge's first MLB hit 🙌 pic.twitter.com/wLprJqHUER

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 21, 2025

It was a big moment. It was not, however, enough to make him the star of the family group chat. 

Eldridge’s mom, Beth, was at Dodger Stadium with her twin sister and other son to watch as the 20-year-old made his fourth start in the big leagues. In the top of the fifth, with Eldridge on deck, Beth caught a foul ball that Matt Chapman hit behind the first base dugout.

“She said someone was trying to wrestle her for it and she kind of whacked their hand out of the way,” the rookie first baseman said, smiling. “She’s feisty. She gets what she wants.”

Eldridge’s family members stood and cheered wildly after his three-run double in the first, which got him on the board in the big leagues. They did it again after Beth wrestled away that foul ball. 

On the rest of this night, there wasn’t much for anyone affiliated with the Giants to celebrate. 

The lineup let Glasnow off the hook after the Eldridge double, scoring once more in the inning but failing to take advantage of his rising pitch count. He ended up going five, and the Dodgers clawed their way back and then took the lead with four homers, ultimately winning 7-5.  

This has become the norm for the Giants, who never imagined their bullpen looking like this. They can’t hold late leads. They also can’t hold big early leads. For the third time in eight days, the lineup scored four early runs but then shut it down. The Giants have lost all three games. 

This defeat was their seventh in eight games since they briefly moved into a tie for the National League’s third Wild Card spot. They can be eliminated from the postseason as soon as Monday, which would make the final week at Oracle Park 100 percent about looking toward the future. 

Eldridge will be a huge part of it, and he should make his debut at first base in the coming days. As a DH, he has shown the power that made him one of the game’s top prospects shortly after the Giants took him in the first round of the 2023 MLB Draft. 

While Michael Conforto bungled his route in left, the ball was hit hard enough the other way that it would have been a homer in eight ballparks. At Chase Field earlier this week, Eldridge hit two similar balls. He also lined out to deep right on Thursday. 

That first homer is only a matter of time, and Eldridge is hopeful he gets it Sunday at Dodger Stadium. 

“This is one of the places I grew up dreaming of playing in,” he said. “In this environment and this time of year. It’s pretty cool.”

Eldridge felt some nerves last Monday at Chase Field. In the three starts since, there has been nothing but a drive to contribute. He excelled with runners in scoring position in the minors and picked up his first three RBI on Saturday. 

“I think I hit my best when there’s people in scoring position,” he said. “I was just confident in that moment that I was going to score a run and I’m just glad I got the job done. That’s what we’re here to do.”

The milestone came on his mom and aunt Alison’s birthday. It was a night the family will never forget, for a lot of reasons. 

“I wouldn’t want it any other way than in a big spot here off a guy who has had a lot of success in this league, on my mom and my aunt’s birthday,” Eldridge said. “It was pretty cool.”

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What we learned as Giants blow another early lead in deflating loss vs. Dodgers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

LOS ANGELES — There are few things better for a lineup than striking gold right away. You give your pitcher a nice early lead, you put the other starter in a hole, you get the other bullpen going right away, etc. etc. It’s what teams talk about every day when they have their hitters’ meetings. Be aggressive and get a big early lead. It’s the dream. 

Unless you’re the San Francisco Giants. 

For the third time in eight games, the lineup scored four runs in the first inning. The Giants have somehow lost all three games. 

This time, it was Bryce Eldridge who came up big. The organization’s top prospect in a decade cleared the bases with a three-run double in the top of the first and picked up his first MLB hit. But the Giants let Tyler Glasnow off the hook in the 43-pitch inning, and by the time the offense got back on the board, they trailed. 

Since moving into a tie for a Wild Card spot, the Giants have dropped seven of eight. They’re 1-4 on this road trip and will attempt to avoid a four-game sweep on Sunday behind rookie Trevor McDonald. They can’t be eliminated on the final day of an awful trip, but that could come as soon as Monday. 

First Of Many

Eldridge scorched a couple of balls in Phoenix and hit a liner to right on Thursday night, but he still was looking for a batting average when he walked to the plate with the bases loaded in the first inning. 

On a 2-1 count, he extended his arms and smoked a fastball the other way and off the base of the wall in left. It was the third ball that Eldridge has hit this week that would have been a homer in at least a half-dozen big league parks but the one he was playing in. He later struck out, grounded out to second and drew a walk. 

Bryce Eldridge's first MLB hit 🙌 pic.twitter.com/wLprJqHUER

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 21, 2025

The Roller Coaster

It’s hard to know what to make of Kai-Wei Teng’s audition for a big league job. The right-hander entered the night with a 6.41 ERA, but he has been elite when it comes to hard-hit percentage, expected statistics and strikeout rate. Saturday’s start at Dodger Stadium was another head scratcher. 

Teng allowed just one hit and struck out six. He was also so wild, particularly in the third inning, that manager Bob Melvin pulled him after 74 pitches. In the third, Teng struck out Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, walked Mookie Betts, and hit Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernandez. On his final pitch of the night, he got a popup from Tommy Edman, leaving the bases loaded. 

Teng left his eighth appearance of the year with a 6.37 ERA but also a 3.82 FIP. In 29 2/3 innings, he has 39 strikeouts but also 17 walks and seven hit batters. There seems to be a good big leaguer in there somewhere if the Giants can just figure out why some of the misses are so big.

The Shohei Problem

About 21 months ago, the Giants hosted Ohtani at Oracle Park and agreed to his ask of a heavily-deferred $700 million contract. He instead chose the Dodgers, and he has spent the last two seasons absolutely demolishing the team that hoped to build a future around him.

Ohtani went deep in the sixth, giving the Dodgers a fourth homer and extending their lead. It was his sixth homer against the Giants this season and 10th in 25 rivalry games since signing with the Dodgers.

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