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Pittsburgh Pirates vs. St. Louis Cardinals, August 30, 2026, 2:15 p.m. ET

The Pittsburgh Pirates are finishing their three-game set and nine-game road trip, they take on the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium in the Sunday matinee matchup.

The Pirates are giving the ball to Braxton Ashcraft, who has been remarkable as of late. He last pitched on August 24 against the San Diego Padres, going six innings and giving up four hits and one earned run. He did not factor in the decision as the game went to extra innings, but he has not given up more than one earned run in each of his last three starts.

The Cardinals are turning to Matthew Liberatore, who has struggled in his last four starts. Liberatore has picked up a loss in each of the last four contests, including his last appearance on August 25 against the Baltimore Orioles at home. Liberatore pitched four innings, giving up eight hits and eight earned runs in the team’s 13-1 loss.

This is a good opportunity for the Pirates to take advantage and strike early so that they can force the Cardinals to go to their bullpen, which is taxed after a long series.

Location: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO

Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet Pittsburgh

Pitching Matchup: Braxton Ashcraft (13-5, 3.59 ERA) vs. Matthew Liberatore (5-12, 5.44 ERA)

BD community, this is your gameday thread for today’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Chime off in the comments section below.

The last game of the three game series with the Mariners. Another win would be nice.

Yesterday’s celebration for Buck Martinez was great and getting a win after didn’t suck either.

I’m busy till game time so getting the thread together early. I don’t have the lineups yet, but it is Max Scherzer vs. Logan Gilbert.

Gilbert is 3-1 with a 3.03 ERA in his last five starts. Max? He’s 0-3 with a 4.62 ERA in his last five starts. So it looks like we are the underdogs. Max only threw 5.2 innings in his last two starts. He’s gotta go deeper into today’s game. Our bullpen has worked hard lately (really all season).

But our offense is looking some better the last couple of games.

This is a pretty good stat:

Are we really sure he can’t start everyday? Has someone asked him? This five man rotation thing might be getting in the way of a terrific season.

Go Jays Go

The Kansas City Royals are unbelievable right now; they have won 13 of their last 15 games and winning a lot of games they typically lose.

For example, the first two games of this series, before Carter Jensen hit the 2-run homer in the 9th on Friday, didn’t it feel like a walk off 2-run homer was coming? Because we have seen the movie so many times in Cleveland before. Or yesterday when they were down 2-0 and didn’t have much going on offensively in the first half of the game? I’m not complaining though! Just pleasantly surprised. Let’s keep this thing going for as long as possible!

Seth Lugo starts today, he’s been shaky lately, but his last start he clawed through 5 innings of 1 run ball in Toronto, stranding plenty of runners. Hopefully we get the 2024 Seth Lugo today.

Here are the Royals starters behind him today.

The Guardians are still in control of the final wild card spot, 1 game ahead of the Orioles, with their 68-68 record, they are 6.5 games in front of the Royals. The Guardians also sit just 4.5 games behind the White Sox in the division.

The Guardians are starting lefty Parker Messick today. Messick is a 25-year-old, he is in his first full year in the majors, second overall. He has solid numbers, posting a 2.50 ERA in 155 innings this season, with 156 strikeouts. The Royals have never faced him before. Quick scouting report on Messick, 6-pitch mix, fastball, changeup, sinker, curveball, cutter and a slider. Mainly fastball/changeup. Not overpowering stuff, sits at 94 on average. His fastball run value this year is 25, which is really really good, hitters are just hitting .153 against it this season.

Here are the Guardians starters for today.

The Royals are 16-10 in the month of August, with this being their final game of the month, it is their first winning month of the season. They are 24-16 since the All-Star Break. They are 5-4 versus Cleveland this year, and 3-2 against them on the road. The Royals are 4-1 on this road trip as well.

First pitch today is set for 12:40 p.m. CT. The game can be watched on Royals.TV.

Texas Rangers @ Milwaukee Brewers

Sunday, August 30, 2026, 1:10 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)

American Family Field

RHP Kumar Rocker vs. RHP Dustin May

Go Rangers!

If nothing else, the Yankees have maintained the status quo after splitting the doubleheader on Saturday. Playing at home, though, the expectation was always to gain ground on the Red Sox, and to do that, they’ll need to win again on Sunday. Perhaps more importantly, the season series is on the line, as is potential home-field advantage in a Wild Card Series matchup. If the Yankees and Red Sox end 2026 with the same record, then head-to-head record will be the tiebreaker, and they are in a dead heat. So this may determine whether it’s a playoff showdown at Fenway or Yankee Stadium.

Winning a baseball game automatically requires you to score runs, but I should correct myself and say run(s)—after all, the Yankees showed us on Friday night that even one can be enough if your pitching is flawless. Speaking of one, that’s how many runs the Yankees scored in their first 20 innings of this series before exploding in the second half of yesterday’s doubleheader.

The common thread for the overwhelming majority of those 20 innings in which the Yankees’ offense’s sole productive action was a Paul Goldschmidt solo shot was their continued struggles against left-handed pitchers as of late—held in check by Patrick Sandoval and Jake Bennett, the former of whom one can’t even claim is having a good season in the first place; he recently returned from a two-year absence due to injury. Sure, we could also point to the scoring they did off the since-demoted Raymond Burgos, but he came in for mop-up duty, well outside the circle of trust for high-leverage spots in the Red Sox bullpen. L

Now, given that the Red Sox have approximately 27 left-handed starters in their five-man rotation, we’ll get to see another one of them this Sunday in Ranger Suárez. The former Phillie has delivered exactly what the Sox thought they were getting when they inked him to a lucrative long-term deal this offseason—of all Boston’s starters having productive campaigns, it was only Suárez who represented them in the All-Star Game this past July.

Even considering Saturday’s blowout win, this has been a series of very little slugging for the Yankees, with three extra-base hits in as many games, including just one in 17 innings of hitting last night. One of the keys to success for Suárez, particularly this season, has been his ability to limit slugging, considering he tends to run a high BABIP, once again over .300. Across 23 starts with the Red Sox, Suárez has allowed a .340 SLG, in line for a career low as a qualified starter. There were some concerns about his move to Fenway Park, the land of doubles, but the veteran lefty has been able to navigate that reasonably well, although we should note his 2.67 ERA is significantly better than at home, over 4.00.

The Yankees will once again try to find success with a righty-heavy lineup against the southpaw, though that has remained hard to come by. Of note, Ben Rice is getting the day off while fellow lefty Luis García Jr. mans the DH spot with Paul Goldschmidt at first. Also, George Lombard Jr. will be on the bench following his injury scare last night; José Caballero will play shortstop.

How to watch

Location: Yankee Stadium – Bronx, NY

First pitch: 1:35 pm ET

TV/Streaming: YES, NESN

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 – NYY | WEEI 93.7, WCCM 1490 AM (SP), WESX 1230 AM (SP) – BOS

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The Yankees made another roster move on Sunday, adding a potential weapon to the bullpen.

Luis Gil was called back up to the majors after completing his rehab assignment with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in a new role. He started his recovery journey in the bullpen earlier this month with the Hudson Valley Renegades, where he allowed two hits and recorded two strikeouts over three innings pitched, then gave the Yankees enough confidence for his return to the lineup after closing out August in Scranton with a 1.23 WHIP through five games.

Yerry de los Santos was sent down to Scranton with hopes to give the Yankees more flexibility after burning through a few of their arms this weekend. During his appearance in the series finale against Houston, Santos gave up a home run and recorded a strikeout in the seventh inning that sealed the loss for the Yankees. He attempted redemption in his two appearances during the doubleheader against the Red Sox, allowing a hit and striking out two on Saturday.

Despite initially starting the year as an option for the rotation, the short stretch of time remaining in the regular season forced Gil to transition into a relief role in order to aid a depleted Yankees bullpen. With the news of both Fernando Cruz and Ryan Weathers joining the IL in the same week, they’ll need all the help they can get to propel the final postseason push.

Injuries have indeed been a plague that has infectiously impacted several stars throughout this roster, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, or at the end of the regular season in this case. With Gil joining the roster, the Yankees will have as fresh a bullpen as they can stock ahead of a series finale with Boston that carries hefty postseason implications for whoever can take it. If both the Yankees and Red Sox hypothetically finished the regular season with the same record, the winner of Sunday’s game would secure home-field advantage in the Wild Card series.

Aaron Boone will surely be happy with today’s decision to call him up if Gil can get through an inning or two unscathed in his debut. He’ll offer a much-needed boost to the bullpen for the Yankees’ upcoming West Coast road trip, beginning with the Angels in Los Angeles on Tuesday before taking on the Padres later next week.

Each game in a 162 game season counts the same, except for when they don’t. With the season series against the Yankees split at six games a piece, today’s game determines the tiebreaker. There’s still a month to go, but we’re barreling towards a rematch of last season’s Wild Card matchup, and home field could come down to the tiebreak. With a win today, the Red Sox would be two games behind the Yankees, but the tiebreak makes it more like one and a half. With a loss, they’d fall four games back and need the Yankees to stumble in the last month to steal home field for a potential playoff series.

It’s Ranger Suarez for the Red Sox, who hasn’t been great since returning from the injured list, but he’s been known to step up in big games. The Yankees will throw Will Warren, who has a 4.39 ERA on the season and a 4.32 over his last five starts. He’s has a 9.00 career ERA against the Red Sox in four starts, including a 5.2 inning, 5 earned run appearance back in June.

Additionally, Roman Anthony and Trevor Story are back from injuries. Mickey Gasper and Anthony Seigler were optioned to make room for the two. Shoutout to both of them for their contributions over the last month. Especially Bryant University Alum Mickey Gasper. Some of the countries finest writers and baseball players come out of Bryant. Anthony will lead off as the designated hitter, while Story is starting at shortstop and hitting 8th.

1:35 PM first pitch on NESN.

Lineups

Milwaukee has already won the first two games of this weekend’s series against the Texas Rangers, so they’ll go for the sweep today as Dustin May takes on Kumar Rocker.

May, acquired at the start of the month from the Cardinals, went six-plus innings and allowed no more than two earned runs in each of his first two starts. His third start, a 7-5 loss to the Mariners in which he allowed all seven runs in the first two innings, went less smoothly. So did May’s fourth start, which he was removed from after taking a 106 mph comebacker off his back after just one pitch. Overall, he’s 1-1 with a 5.87 ERA and 1.37 WHIP over 15 1/3 innings in his first four outings as a Brewer.

The question with May is his command. If he’s able to hit his spots early and establish the outer corners of the strike zone, he should bounce back and put up a line closer to his first two outings. If he struggles with his command, can’t establish the zone, and because of that can’t generate swings and misses (he had just two on 66 pitches against Seattle), there’s a chance it ends up looking more like his third start.

Pitching for Texas is Kumar Rocker, the third overall pick in 2022, who hasn’t quite lived up to that billing in his first professional season. With that being said, his path to the big leagues was somewhat expedited — he missed almost the entire 2023 season due to Tommy John surgery, then made his major league debut in September of the following year. Rocker never made more than six appearances at any one minor league level before reaching the majors, and this is his first year with more than 65 innings pitched as a big leaguer.

All that is to say that Rocker is a talented, still-young (26) pitcher who’s probably better than his numbers suggest, although those numbers haven’t been great so far: 4.41 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 8.31 K/9, 3.62 BB/9.

One more stat that might be relevant regarding Rocker: he’s struggled pretty badly against teams that rank in the top 10 in pitches seen per plate appearance. In eight starts this season against those teams — two against the Tigers and one each against the Reds, Dodgers, Cubs, Guardians, Diamondbacks, and Orioles — Rocker has allowed 24 earned runs in 33 innings, good for a 6.55 ERA. The Brewers rank second in baseball in pitches seen per plate appearance.

Today’s lineup looks a little different. Brice Turang in the leadoff spot isn’t anything new, but he’s followed by Garrett Mitchell and Jake Bauers. With William Contreras out of today’s lineup, Jackson Chourio will hit cleanup. Rounding out the bottom half of the lineup are Christian Yelich, Gary Sánchez, David Hamilton, and Joey Ortiz. With Hamilton at third and Bauers at first, Andrew Vaughn will sit for the third straight game against the right-handed Rocker, while Luis Lara and Cooper Pratt will also get the day off,

As usual, you can catch today’s game on Brewers. TV, WTMJ 620, or the Brewers Radio Network. First pitch for today’s series finale is set for 1:10 p.m.

The Mets look for a series win as they face the Houston Astros at Citi Field at 3:10 p.m. on NBC and Peacock.

Here's what to know about the game and how to watch...

Mets Notes

• Thornton has been excellent for the Mets this season, pitching to a 2.88 ERA in 10 big league starts
• Juan Soto went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in his return to the lineup on Saturday
• Jared Young's .779 OPS is the second highest among all Mets players, trailing only Soto

Today's Lineups

What channel is NBC?

Check your TV or streaming provider's website or channel finder to find your local listings.

How can I watch Mets vs. Astros online?

In order to stream the game you will need to have NBC as part of your TV package (cable or streaming), or you will need a subscription to Peacock. This will allow fans to watch the Mets on their computer, tablet, or via the Peacock app. 

San Diego Padres (72-64) at Tampa Bay Rays (81-54), August 30, 2026, 10:40 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Tropicana Field – St. Petersburg, Fla.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.

• Don’t troll in your comments; create conversation rather than destroying it
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Alright, folks! The Braves are going for a second sweep in a row in order to keep things going in the right direction heading into September. Can Tyler Mahle continue getting it done on the mound, himself? Will the Rockies continue nipping at Atlanta’s heels during this series? It’s time to figure it all out, y’all! Thanks for joining us in the game thread and hopefully we’ll be talking about some sweeping action later on this afternoon!

• Preview
• Lineups

Break out those scrambled eggs and mimosas, because we’ve got brunch baseball on deck this Sunday morning!

The Colorado Rockies (52-84) are in a tough spot as they try to avoid being swept at the hands of the Atlanta Braves (81-55), a team looking for back-to-back sweeps after taking three against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the series prior.

Mason Adams is back on the mound for Colorado, following a no-decision in a solid MLB debut. In that start, Adams went 4.0 innings, giving up three hits and one run on a homer as the Rockies went on to win 3-1 over the Washington Nationals. Adams found success hitting the zone with a four-seam fastball (32%) and a sinker (21.3%), while also mixing in a curveball (18.7%) as the main pitches in his arsenal. The Rockies and Braves were locked into a low-scoring battle last night, so another sharp performance from Adams could give them hope, although that ask comes against a stronger opponent in Atlanta.

Tyler Mahle gets the start for the Braves, currently sitting at 5-10 through 22 starts with a 4.41 ERA. Mahle has settled in as the season progresses, picking up two wins in his last three starts. He’s given up two or fewer runs in his last four starts. In his last game, a 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers, Mahle went 5.0 innings, gave up six hits but allowed just one run, and logged four strikeouts.

The Rockies have slumped mightily in August and have two games to end the month on a high note. First off, they’ll need to steal one from Atlanta.

First Pitch: 11:35 a.m. MT

TV: Rockies.TV

Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)

Atlanta Braves SBN Site:Battery Power

Lineups:

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Sunday notes…

• SPLITTING THE DIFFERENCE: This is the 22nd of the Cubs’ 45 series in which they have split the first two games. There was no third game after one series. The Cubs were 9-11 in third games of the others, including 6-6 after losing, then winning. At home, they are 2-5 overall and 1-4 after winning, then losing. The lone win was vs. the Twins on July 19. They have lost to the Yankees and Tigers since then. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• LIGHTING UP: Tonight’s game will be the first of five in a row under the lights at Wrigley Field. The Cubs have played five straight night games at home, without a road trip in between, three times before: June 4-8, 2017 (3-2): won vs. Cardinals; won, won and lost vs. Marlins; lost vs. Rockies; Sept. 15-20, 2020 (3-2): won twice vs. Guardians; after day off, won, lost and lost vs. Twins; April 18-22, 2022 (1-4): won, lost and lost vs. Rays; lost twice vs. Pirates. So this will be the first time the Cubs have played five in a row in two series vs. National League opponents. Before 2017, the longest such streak had been four games, Sept. 12-15, 2005 (1-3): lost, won and lost vs. Reds; lost vs. Cardinals. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• LIKE NIGHT AND DAY: The Cubs are 46-29 in night games this season. They finished 49-38 last year.
• They are 18-12 at home under the lights this year. They wound up 21-11 a year ago. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• RUNS ON THE BOARD: The Cubs scored in six of the eight innings in which they batted yesterday. They had done that twice before this season. They also scored in six of nine twice. Their four innings with three runs each were the most of the same “crooked number” they have scored in any game this season. They scored two runs three times in three games. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• TODAY IN CUBS HISTORY: In a crazy game at Wrigley, the Cubs go down 6-1 to the Dodgers in the top of the third. They tie it up with a five-run third, two of the runs scoring on wild pitches by Tommy John. The game goes to extras tied 8-8, and the Cubs walk it off 9-8 on a home run by Jim Hickman in the 11th. It happened 54 years ago today, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 1972.

Cubs lineup:

Reds lineup:

Shōta Imanaga, LHP vs. Chase Burns, RHP

As you know, Shōta Imanaga really struggled in his last start last Sunday in Seattle, throwing 72 pitches and allowing five hits and two walks in just two innings. Fortunately, Craig Counsell got him out of there and the Cubs won the game.

Imanaga had a 2.67 ERA and 1.099 WHIP in 12 starts prior to that, covering 67.1 innings, including 10 strikeouts against the White Sox Aug. 17 at Wrigley Field. So let’s hope last Sunday was a one-off and he’ll be hack to that tonight.

Chase Burns was the Reds’ No. 1 pick (second overall) in 2024 out of Wake Forest, and he’s been Cincinnati’s best starter all year. He’s been a bit shakier recently, allowing five runs in two of his last four starts.

He has not faced the Cubs this year. His only career appearance against them was 1.1 scoreless innings of relief Sept. 20, 2025 in Cincinnati.

Burns throws hard. Cubs hitters often have trouble with guys like this. Hopefully today is better.

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

Today’s game is on NBC (full national broadcast, no blackouts), also streaming on Peacock. Announcers: Jason Benetti, Anthony Rizzo and Jeff Brantley.

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

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Reds site Red Reporter. If you do go there to interact with Reds 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.

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My Astros vs. Mets predictions and MLB picks for Sunday, Aug. 30 are looking back the Mets at a fair price today.

After a 6-2 New York win on Saturday, the Mets can keep that momentum rolling behind Zac Thornton. 

Who will win Astros vs Mets today: Mets moneyline (55%)

For help understanding probabilities, see our odds calculator.

There's minimal data on Houston Astros 24-year-old right-hander Ethan Pecko, as he only has eight full innings in the bigs under his belt. In those two outings, he's allowed a combined seven runs on eight hits.

Opposing hitters own a .410 OBP and near .900 OPS in those games. The New York Mets bats would love nothing more than to feast on a young arm trying to find his footing.

On the other side, the Mets will send out Zac Thornton, who has been pretty serviceable, posting a 2.83 ERA and 1.14 WHIP while allowing a barrel rate below 6% to opposing hitters at home this season. 

Neither offense has been seeing the ball too well, which is why leaning with the more established arm is the play in this spot. Play to 58%.

COVERS INTEL: Over his last 30 hitters faced at home, Thornton owns just a 2.38 xERA, 2.03 xFIP, and 4.3% barrel rate.

Astros vs Mets Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (47%)

The Mets should be able to put up some runs against Pecko, but with how well Thornton has been pitching, runs look to be at a premium this afternoon.

Both lineups own a wRC+ under 81, a wOBA under .266, and an OPS below .680 over their last 12 games. Neither is making a lot of hard contact or barreling the ball up.

Asking these two cold offenses to produce 9+ runs feels like a lot. Play to 50%.

Astros vs Mets home run prediction: Luis Robert (17%)

Despite being put on waivers, Luis Robert has been crushing the baseball. In his last 30 plate appearances against right-handed pitching, he owns a .304 BA, .739 SLG, 1.172 OPS, and 22% barrel rate.

Pecko has only faced 19 left-handed hitters so far this season, but those hitters have a .579 SLG and 1.019 OPS.

If Robert wants to show his worth to the rest of the league, he needs to continue to mash.

Backup option if he does not play: Jeremy Pena (13%)

Jeremy Pena has easily been the hottest bat on the Astros lineup, posting a .600 SLG, .350 IOS, and 16.7% barrel rate. He is the second-best long ball look in this matchup.

Astros vs Mets weather

Chance of scattered showers. Otherwise, edge to the offenses on a warm day with winds blowing out at 11 mph.

Astros vs Mets odds

• Moneyline: Astros 47% | Mets 54%
• Run line: Astros +1.5 (64%) | Mets -1.5 (36%)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (55%) | Under 8.5 (46%)

Astros vs Mets trend

The Mets have hit the moneyline in 14 of their last 23 games (+6.30 Units / 25% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Astros vs. Mets.

How to watch Astros vs Mets and game info

Astros vs Mets latest injuries

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