India have been accused of ‘bullying’ after a controversial decision to overturn a wide in the final over saw them defeat Japan in a men’s T20 international on Tuesday.
San Diego’s magic number falls to two as Padres turn to rivals in final road trip
The San Diego Padres are here to stay. They only need one more win (and one Arizona Diamondbacks loss) to clinch the postseason on Tuesday night versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Friars throttled the Miami Marlins, sweeping the away team and outscoring them 22-11 in the series sweep.
The Friars got an incredible performance from Walker Buehler. The starter went 6 2/3 innings and was nearly perfect through the first six. The trouble came in the seventh when Buehler surrendered a three-run shot to Javier Sanoja. Thankfully, San Diego’s offense has been rolling lately. The lineup has scored a ridiculous 80 runs in their last 11 games, for an average of 7.3 runs per game. They’ll need that to continue to clinch versus the Dodgers.
Taking the mound
Brock Stewart (LAD) v. Michael King (SD)
It seems like L.A. is pitching a bullpen game tonight. Stewart was announced as the starter for the Dodgers, but will likely only cover the first 1-2 innings as an opener. The right-hander owns a 2.55 ERA across 24 2/3 innings pitched this season. It’s been tougher lately though, with Stewart surrendering three runs in his last seven appearances.
It seems likely that Justin Wrobleski will appear to cover the middle innings. He had a phenomenal start to the season, but has struggled since with a 4.40 ERA in his last 15 games and a dismal 7.62 ERA in his last 23 2/3 innings. Wrobleski hasn’t faced San Diego this season.
King has been the Padres’ ace this season. He’s stepped up in a major way after an injury-plagued 2025 campaign. The right-hander owns a 3.03 ERA with a 1.16 WHIP through 181 innings pitched. He’s been even better down the stretch, with a 2.73 ERA in his last 15 starts (89.0 IP) and a 2.01 ERA in his last seven (44.2 IP).
Not only that, but King has pitched quite well versus Los Angeles this season. The righty has surrendered six runs across 17 1/3 innings pitched against the Dodgers. Most of that damage came on June 28, with King surrendering four runs in 4 1/3 innings. In his other two starts, King pitched a seven-inning shutout and a six innings of two-run ball.
Batter up!
Jake Cronenworth has been more than due lately. He’s batting .229 on the season with a dismal .637 OPS. That said, he plays above-average defense all around the diamond and has been quite the utility player for San Diego. He became so much more than that on Sunday afternoon, putting together his first multihomer game of the season. Cronenworth is currently on a 10-game hitting streak and has batted .464/.516/.786 in his last seven games.
- Fernando Tatis Jr., 2B
- Dustin Harris, RF
- Manny Machado, DH
- Ty France, 1B
- Jackson Merrill, CF
- Xander Bogaerts, SS
- Jake Cronenworth, 3B
- Samad Taylor, LF
- Freddy Fermin, C
Machado has been DH-ing quite a bit lately. It’s possible that his hand is injured and the Padres are making sure their star third baseman will be ready come playoffs. He’s actively winced multiple times at the plate since seeming to injure it during San Diego’s recent road trip.
Relief corps
With Buehler pitching six pristine innings before collapsing in the seventh, only three relievers needed to be used. Kyle Hart got the final out of the seventh before Bradgley Rodriguez came in. He pitched a scoreless eighth and Mason Miller started warming up with the score at 5-3. That changed quickly when Cronenworth knocked in his second homer of the day, but Miller still came out to finish the game.
With the off day on Monday, the Padres will have their whole ‘pen available for their series opener in L.A. That said, those who will be readily available are Griffin Canning, Kyle Hart, Yuki Matsui, Adrian Morejon, David Morgan, Wandy Peralta and Randy Vásquez. King shouldn’t have too many troubles, but the Friars have options if their ace struggles.
Washington Nationals vs Detroit Tigers Game Thread
Last night was not a competitive performance from the Nats. The offense did not show up and the pitching put them in a hole. Hopefully the boys can get back to playing like they have the past couple weeks. With only five games to go, this season is almost over. Why not finish strong.
Blake Butera is making a couple alterations to his lineup. The struggling Abi Ortiz is out of the lineup in favor of Andres Chaparro. Yohandy Morales plays DH, which means the outfield consists of Daylen Lile, Dylan Crews and James Wood. CJ Abrams will shift to second base as well. Keibert Ruiz will do the catching tonight. Riley Cornelio will open for Jackson Kent.
The Tigers are adding two exciting left handed rookies to this lineup. Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark are both in there tonight. Clark will play center, while McGonigle plays third base. Both Dillon Dingler and Riley Greene are on the bench tonight. Swingman Drew Anderson will get the start for Detroit tonight.
Join the conversation!
Sign up for a user account and get:
- Fewer ads
- Create community posts
- Comment on articles, community posts
- Rec comments, community posts
- New, improved notifications system!
Game Info:
Stadium: Comerica Park
Time: 6:40 PM EST
TV: Nationals.TV
Radio: 106.7 The Fan
Hopefully the Nats can put up more of a fight in this one. They had been playing some solid baseball. We are getting very close to the end of the season and I do not have many more game threads to write for a while. I will miss this! Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats.
5 Canucks Players To Watch In 2026 Pre-Season Game 2 Against The Flames
After falling on Saturday, the Vancouver Canucks return to action on Tuesday for Game 2 of the 2026 pre-season against the Calgary Flames. Vancouver will be travelling to Calgary, with game time scheduled for 6:00 pm PT. Here are five players to watch on Tuesday.
Arshdeep Bains
Where Arshdeep Bains plays this year will be an intriguing storyline to follow. The 25-year-old is most likely headed for the AHL, but would need to clear waivers to be assigned to the Abbotsford Canucks. Projected to play on a line with Aatu Räty and Matt Stienburg, Bains needs to stand out on Tuesday if he wants a shot at making the NHL roster.
Kevin Lankinen
Tuesday will be Kevin Lankinen's first start of the campaign. The 31-year-old did not have the strongest training camp, but it will be easier to judge his performance against an opposing NHL team. With Thatcher Demko's status still unknown, the Canucks will likely lean heavily on Lankinen again this year, as he is currently the team's projected night-one starter.
Victor Mancini
Victor Mancini is another player currently on the bubble to make the NHL team. The 24-year-old struggled on Saturday against the Seattle Kraken and is currently in a battle for the seventh defender slot. Mancini is expected to get plenty of ice time on Tuesday and will need to show he can be reliable in his own zone against NHL competition.
Aatu Räty
Tuesday is a big night for Räty as it will be his final game of the 2026 pre-season. Due to the new CBA rules, the 23-year-old will be ineligible to play any more games, as he has already hit his maximum of two. Projected to start the season as Vancouver's fourth-line center, Räty needs to show he can contribute at both ends of the ice.
Canucks Projected Lineup For Game 2 Of The 2026 Pre-Season Versus The Calgary FlamesThe Vancouver Canucks battle the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night. Brooks Rogowski
One prospect to keep an eye on Tuesday is Brooks Rogowski. The 2026 second-round pick had a decent training camp and is now ready to show what he can do against NHL competition. Listed at 6'7", 235 lbs, it shouldn't be hard to tell when Rogowski hits the ice during his pre-season debut.
Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.
Latest From THN’s Vancouver Canucks Site:
How A New Rule Is Impacting The Canucks' 2026 Pre-Season Lineups
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
Payton Tolle makes his final start before the postseason
Chad Tracy told us not to look very much into the order of the rotation this week, but it’s hard not to note that Payton Tolle is starting tonight exactly one week before the Wild Card series begins, and Sonny Gray and Ranger Suarez are set to go tomorrow and Thursday. That feels like a Game 1, Game 2, and Game 3 setup for New York, but again, we’ll still have to wait a few more days for official word.
Regardless of how the Sox choose to stack the deck, this will be Tolle’s final tune up before the showdown against the Yankees, so how he looks here will be even more important than the result of this game for the Red Sox.
On the contrary, this game means everything to Cleveland. Despite entering the night three games behind the Red Sox, they’re currently leading the AL Central by a game over the Chicago White Sox, and if the season ended today, they’d actually get a bye and wouldn’t even have to play in the Wild Card round.
To help them maintain control of that bye, they have their ace Parker Messick on the mound, who enters the evening with a 2.57 ERA and 186 strike outs on the season.
Switching gears to the Red Sox lineup, the biggest note is that Roman Anthony is again in left field and Jarren Duran starts the night on the bench. This is becoming the theme against left handed starts, which is obviously noteworthy for next week because Carlos Rodon and Max Fried are both left handed.
⚾️ First Pitch: 6:45pm — Fenway Park. Boston, MA
📺 TV: NESN
📻 Radio: WEEI
Join us in the game thread below!
Pirates move on from reliever acquired at trade deadline
In a surprising move in the last week of the season, the Pirates are cutting ties with one of their mid-season acquisitions.
The Pirates activated reliever Kirby Yates off the 15-day injured list on Tuesday and designated right-hander Camilo Doval for assignment.
Doval was acquired from the New York Yankees two days before the trade deadline. He pitched in some high-leverage situations during his two months in black and gold.
It wasn’t a failure of a tenure, but not a good one either. In 20 games, Doval posted a 3.79 ERA but a 1.74 WHIP over 19 innings of baseball.
He struck out 23, but walked 13 batters and dealt with consistent control issues that plagued him in New York.
Doval has one year of club control remaining, and comes as a slight surprise that the Pirates moved on from him. Pittsburgh traded Double-A catcher/first baseman Omar Alfonzo to the Yankees for Doval, who ranks 28th in New York’s farm system, per MLB Pipeline.
It’s a sign the Pirates were willing to non-tender Doval later in the offseason, but moved past him faster than many expected.
He led the National League in saves (39) with the Giants in 2023, but has never regained the dominant form he found years ago in San Francisco.
The Pirates host the St. Louis Cardinals for the final home series of the year beginning Tuesday at 6:40 p.m.
Gabe Perreault ‘Not Focused’ on Contract Extension As He Enters Final Year Of Rookie Deal
With the NHL’s new CBA changes eliminating eight-year contracts, making seven-year contracts the longest a player can re-sign with his own team, along with the salary cap increase, we saw multiple young players sign multi-year contract extensions before they were set to hit restricted free agency.
Notably absent from that group of young players was Gabe Perreault, who is set to become a restricted free agent next offseason and did not sign a contract extension with the New York Rangers.
Perreault seems to be comfortable playing the final season of his rookie deal without an extension in place.
“I’m not focused on that at all,” Perreault said about whether or not he’s still thinking about a future contract extension. “I’ll kind of let my agent handle that, and we’re just going to focus on day-by-day and having a big year. It'll take care of itself.”
When asked about contract negotiations between the Blueshirts brass and Perreault’s camp, Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury declined to go into details.
After starting the 2025-26 campaign with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League, Perreault burst onto the NHL scene in December, staying with the Rangers for the remainder of the season.
In 49 games, the 21-year-old forward recorded 12 goals, 15 assists, and 27 points while averaging 15:59 minutes.
Over the course of the season, it was evident that Perreault continued to build confidence, which allowed him to make more of an offensive impact.
“I think my game progressed a lot during the year,” Perreault said. “The details, getting more confident, making more plays, kind of knowing when to make a play, I kind of think I grew a lot in that. I grew in the details of my game defensively too and on the forecheck. Those were the big things I focused on.”
By the end of the season, the 2024 first-round pick was putting his high hockey IQ and playmaking skills on display, eventually stepping into a top-six role.
Through observing the progression of Perreault from behind the bench, Mike Sullivan feels that the game was able to slow down for him as he grew more accustomed to the NHL game.
“I think the biggest thing for Gabe was the adjustment to the speed and the pace of the NHL game and the size and strength of the players,” Sullivan said. “I think he’s adjusted to the pace of the game and I think the game has slowed down in his brain, which is one of the challenges every young player has to overcome. When they are trying to make the NHL.”
A large portion of Perreault’s success came when he played on a line with Alexis Lafrenière and Mika Zibanejad.
Last season, that line outscored opponents 14-10 at five-on-five while they had a 48.57 percent expected goal rate according to Natural Stat Trick.
Through the first few days of training camp, Sullivan has reassembled the Perreault-Zibanejad-Lafrenière line with the hopes they can emulate their previous triumph.
“I think we're all kind of smart players. We kind of think the game pretty similarly, and I think we kind of bring something a little bit different to the line,” Perreault said. “At the same time, there are similarities, and I think we clicked well. Those guys are easy to play with for me, so it went really well at the end of the year, and hopefully we can keep it going.”
Entering a contract year, it’s critical that Perreault continues to progress his game and take a big leap in his first full NHL season with the goal of earning a long-term extension and becoming a cornerstone piece for the Rangers.
“Our expectation is that he’s going to build on the season he had last year,” Sullivan said. “Our expectation is that he will build on that (last season) and grow.”
Top Scoring Griffins Scorer Included In Latest Red Wings Roster Trim
The Detroit Red Wings have already completed one-fourth of their preseason schedule, and by the end of Tuesday evening, they'll be halfway through.
Following their 1-0 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday evening, the Red Wings will be back on the ice 24 hours later against the Pittsburgh Penguins. And before their second exhibition contest, they've moved closer to finalizing their roster for the upcoming 2026-27 NHL campaign.
Multiple Detroit players hit the waiver wire, including John Leonard, who was the leading scorer for the American Hockey League affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins last season.
Among the other names waived by the Red Wings are forwards Dominik Shine, Sheldon Dries, Cameron Butler, and defensemen William Lagesson and Jacob Bryson.
Waivers: 9/22/26@PuckPediahttps://t.co/SEwCuzihn1pic.twitter.com/EIk19tjZc2
— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) September 22, 2026
Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features.
Leonard originally joined the Red Wings on a one-year, $775,000 contract last summer after spending the previous season with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. He later made his Detroit debut in December after leading the AHL with 19 goals through his first 20 games.
He finished the season with two goals and two assists in 11 NHL appearances while leading Grand Rapids with 32 goals and 21 assists in 46 games.
He also added a goal and four assists in eight Calder Cup Playoff games. Following the season, he was given a one-year extension worth $850,000.
Shine, a Michigan native, has spent his entire professional career with the Griffins and was named their captain prior to last season. He made his NHL debut with nine appearances in 2024-25 before scoring three goals in 18 games with Detroit last season.
He also recorded 21 goals in 40 games for Grand Rapids and was Detroit's 2026 Bill Masterton Trophy nominee.
Michigan Native Dominik Shine Nominated For 2026 Masterton Trophy The Detroit chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association has officially nominated forward Dominik Shine as the club's 2026 nominee for the Bill Masterton Trophy.Having played at Western Michigan, Dries went undrafted but has NHL experience with the Colorado Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks. He signed with Detroit in 2024 and scored 23 goals and 45 points in 57 games for Grand Rapids last season. The Red Wings re-signed him to a two-year, two-way deal in February.
Butler also went undrafted and has one NHL game with Columbus, along with time in the Minnesota Wild organization. He signed a one-year, two-way deal with Detroit this offseason.
Lagesson, drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in 2014, has 107 NHL games under his belt, including seven with Detroit in 2024-25. He added three goals and 18 assists in 61 games with Grand Rapids last season.
Bryson, a 2017 pick of the Buffalo Sabres, split last season between the Sabres and Winnipeg Jets before signing a one-year, $850,000 deal with Detroit. He has six goals and 45 assists in 304 NHL games.
Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites!
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
NBA division rivals make a deal. Who the Hawks, Hornets traded
NBA training camps are just days from opening up, but that didn’t stop a minor deal from being completed — and one between division rivals.
The Charlotte Hornets are shipping forward Dorian Finney-Smith to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for guards Buddy Hield and Ryan Nembhard, a person with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed Tuesday, Sept. 22 to USA TODAY Sports.
The person spoke under the condition of anonymity because the trade had not been publicly announced.
Finney-Smith, 33, had been known as a 3-and-D perimeter option, but he posted career lows in points (3.3 per game), rebounds (2.5), field goal percentage (33.3%) and 3-point percentage (27%) across 37 games last season for the Houston Rockets.
The Hornets had only acquired Finney-Smith in July, in a trade for cash considerations.
In exchange, Charlotte, which also plays in the Southeast Division, is getting another two players to boost its recent emphasis on shooting.
Hield, 33, is a career 39.5% 3-point shooter, but could not crack the rotation in Atlanta after the Hawks acquired him in the February deal that also brought Jonathan Kuminga to Atlanta and sent center Kristaps Porziņģis to the Golden State Warriors.
Nembhard, the younger brother of Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard, was forced into a starting job at point guard for the Dallas Mavericks while star Kyrie Irving was recovering from his torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Nembhard was an undrafted rookie last season but shot 35.6% from beyond the arc. He averaged 6.6 points per game. He had similarly just been acquired in a July trade that sent 2024 No. 1 overall selection Zaccharie Risacher to the Mavericks.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA division rivals make a deal. Who the Hawks, Hornets traded
Detroit Pistons enlist DAZN as streaming platform partner
I know we are all rejoicing that we never have to listen to the awful ambient crowd noise interstitial during commercial breaks that was a key, heinous feature of the FanDuel Sports Network app. That is dead in a ditch. But what is taking its place? For those with access to free over-the-air TV, the Pistons previously announced a partnership with Detroit TV 20 and other regional affiliates throughout Michigan. Today, they announced their new streaming platform provider — DAZN.
If you’re a fan of boxing, you might already be familiar with DAZN, but the upstart sports provider has been slowly building out its portfolio for the past few years. The Pistons join other NBA teams, including the Timberwolves, Pacers, Cavaliers, Spurs, and Hornets, who have teamed with DAZN to provide a streaming platform alternative for the true cord-cutters among us.
DAZN will provide monthly an annual streaming options to watch the Pistons during the 2026-27 NBA season. Subscribers will be able to watch live and on-demand, and have access to additional pre- and post-game content.
There are monthly and annual plans. The cheapest monthly plan is $19.99 per month, while the cheapest annual plan is $119.99. Subscribers could upgrade to expanded plans of $24.99 per month and $139.99 per year, respectively, and enjoy a one-time discount at the Pistons team store, have access to alternative streams, and stream the game on more devices at once.
If Lakers’ Big 3 is great, they could become elite
For the Lakers to be great next season, one thing needs to happen.
The Lakers’ Big 3 needs to be dominant.
Luka Doncic needs to play MVP-level basketball. Austin Reaves needs to be a borderline All-Star. And Walker Kessler needs to transform into an All-Defensive player.
If those things happen, the Lakers could be fringe contenders.
The biggest wild card?
The 25-year-old Kessler only played five games last season after suffering a torn labrum in his left shoulder that required season-ending surgery. We don’t really know what he’s capable of yet considering he has only played three seasons for the struggling Jazz.
For the Lakers to be among the elite NBA teams, Kessler needs to be a screen-setting, rim-running big who helps get Doncic and Reaves open on offense, in addition to being a defensive beast down low.
He needs to be the type of player who Rudy Gobert is for the Timberwolves or Chet Holmgren is for the Thunder.
If he blossoms into that, the Lakers could have one of the top Big 3s in the NBA.
Kessler has already shown that he’s one of the top rebounders and rim patrollers in the league. According to NBA.com, he contested 7.5 shots per game at the rim in 2024-2025, which tied him for the fifth most in the NBA.
Now he’s more mature and motivated considering he’s playing for the 17-time championship Lakers instead of a team that hasn’t made the playoffs the last four years. And he’s playing alongside a top-four player instead of being on a roster that hasn’t had an All-Star the last three years.
Not to mention, the Lakers mortgaged their future on him (giving up two unprotected first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps in a sign-and-trade with the Jazz), which means they don’t have a tradable first-round draft pick for the next seven years.
So, Kessler needs to be the perfect complement to Doncic and Reaves. He needs to round out the Big 3. Or this all wildly falls apart.
As for the pairing of Doncic and Reaves? There aren’t many questions there. Those two stunned at the top of last season (when LeBron James was sidelined because of sciatica), carrying the Lakers to a 15-4 record.
And then the magic happened again last March when James was sidelined for three games because of various ailments, permanently silencing any glimmers of doubt that remained about that pairing.
Over that period, the Lakers sailed past the Pacers, Knicks and Timberwolves, prompting questions over whether the Lakers were better without James, who’s one of the greatest players of all time.
After seeing the fluidity and ease in which Doncic and Reaves ran the offense together, James returned to the Lakers as the team’s third offensive option, a role he hadn’t played previously in his 23-season career.
As for Doncic, he’s now the head of the snake after James left for the 76ers in free agency this offseason.
Doncic chose Reaves and Kessler to be his running mates. That means something. Reaves and Kessler know it.
Reaves penned the richest contract for a player who went undrafted this summer (four years, $180 million). And Kessler is well aware that the Lakers laid their cards on the table for him with cash (four years, $130 million) and assets, prompting him to say he’d run through a wall for them.
The Lakers’ competition is going to be steep this season.
The Western Conference alone is filled with great Big 3s, including the Thunder (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Holmgren), Spurs (Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle) and Nuggets (Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon).
Not to mention, those guys all have experience playing together.
The Thunder won the championship in 2025. The Spurs reached the Finals last season. And the Nuggets’ core won a title in 2023.
The Lakers still have to figure things out.
Kessler needs to prove himself. The three of them need to develop chemistry.
But if those things happen, the Lakers could knock on the championship door soon.
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates: Andre Pallante vs. Jared Jones
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, September 22, 2026, 6:40 p.m. ET
The Pittsburgh Pirates are starting a three-game set inside PNC Park against the St. Louis Cardinals.
On the mound for the Cardinals is Andre Pallante (12-7, 3.70 ERA), who is coming off one of the worst starts of the season in his last appearance against the San Francisco Giants on September 15. Pallante only went 5 innings, giving up eight hits and six earned runs in a 10-3 defeat at Busch Stadium. The 6 earned runs marked the highest total of Pallante’s season, which has included 27 starts.
This is Pallante’s second appearance against the Pirates this season. He pitched against them on April 29 at PNC Park, going six innings and giving up five hits and one run in a 5-4 victory for the Redbirds.
Jared Jones (4-6, 4.17 ERA) is getting the ball for the Pirates in what could be the final start of the season for him. In Jones’s last start on September 16 against the Milwaukee Brewers, he went five innings, giving up seven hits and three earned runs in a 5-4 loss at PNC Park. However, the loss was credited to Carmen Mlodzinski, who surrendered two runs in the seventh inning.
Location: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA
Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet Pittsburgh
Pitching Matchup: Andre Pallante (12-7, 3.70 ERA) vs. Jared Jones (4-6, 4.17 ERA)
BD community, this is your game thread against the San Francisco Giants. Chime off in the comments section below.
Atlanta reportedly to trade Buddy Hield, Ryan Nembhard to Charlotte for Dorian Finney-Smith
A Buddy Hield for Dorian Finney-Smith trade — in a variety of variations — had been simmering on the NBA back burner all summer. It appears it has finally fully cooked.
The Atlanta Hawks have agreed to trade Buddy Hield, Ryan Nembhard and cash to the Charlotte Hornets for Dorian Finney-Smith, a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN and confirmed by other reports.
The Hawks have been trying to get off Hield's salary — $9.7 million this season, a $10.1 million player option for next season — all summer, as well as deal with a roster crunch of too many standard contracts. This two-for-one trade, plus the waiving of Devin Carter, solves all of that.
Atlanta also gets to take a flier on Finney-Smith. The 33-year-old played just 37 games last season for the Rockets due to ankle surgery, and put up career-low numbers in the games when he did get on the court (which is why the Rockets spent three second-round picks in a salary dump trade with Charlotte earlier this summer). If he bounces back, this is a plus for the Hawks because every team could use more quality 3&D wings. As for the financial end, Finney-Smith will make $13.3 million this season and has two years, $26.7 million on the books after that, but none of that future salary is guaranteed. If they choose, Atlanta can walk away from Finney-Smith after this season.
Charlotte adds Hield, 33, who played in 51 games last season between Golden State and Atlanta, and averaged 7.6 points per game while shooting 34.9% from 3-point range (the lowest percentage of his career). Charlotte now heads into training camp with a roster crunch of its own and essentially has one spot to give between Hield, Nembhard, Pat Connaughton and Tidjane Salaün. Nembhard, who showed promise as a rookie with Dallas last season, might be the guy to go with because of his future potential.
Don't be surprised to see another trade from Charlotte to deal with that crunch.
A milestone night for Zack Wheeler as Phillies move to doorstep of postseason
A milestone night for Zack Wheeler as Phillies move to doorstep of postseason originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
A start that couldn’t have begun any better ended in a most frustrating way for Zack Wheeler on Tuesday night.
The veteran right-hander set a club record by opening the game with seven consecutive strikeouts – including the 2,000th of his career — only to walk off the mound a victim of the oldest adage in baseball.
It’s a game of inches.
Ultimately, Wheeler was a happy man. His Phillies rallied for three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-4, and lower their magic number for clinching a postseason berth to two.
In what was likely his final start of the regular season, Wheeler struck out 11 batters in 5 2/3 innings but couldn’t hold a 3-0 lead as the Brewers reached him for a single run in the fourth and two in the sixth.
Garrett Mitchell scored the Brewers’ run in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly. He initially reached base on a soft pop up that clanged off back-pedaling third baseman Bryson Stott’s glove and was ruled a hit.
Both of the runs in the sixth came with two outs after catcher J.T. Realmuto narrowly missed gunning down David Hamilton as he reached third base on the front end of a double steal.
After the double steal, William Contreras smacked a soft liner to center field to score two runs and tie the game. Contreras’ hit, on a first-pitch sinker that was in and off the plate, came off the bat at just 83 mph and sailed inches beyond the lunge of shortstop Trea Turner. The next batter, Jake Bauers, stroked an 80-mph ground-ball single just out of Turner’s range, ending Wheeler’s night at 101 pitches.
Wheeler could conceivably start the season finale Sunday against Tampa Bay. But if the Phillies wrap up a postseason berth before then, he would be held out of the start and saved for the postseason opener next Tuesday. If that ends up being the case, Wheeler will finish the regular season with a 3.06 ERA in 27 starts, not bad for a guy who missed the final six weeks of the 2025 season with a blood clot in his right shoulder and surgical procedure to remove a rib.
The Phillies’ bats came alive with three two-out runs in the eighth inning. Bryson Stott broke the tie with a single up the middle and a second run scored on an errant throw. Brandon Marsh then doubled home the third run, capping a three-RBI night. He belted a two-run homer in the second inning. It was his first homer since August 13, a span of 80 at-bats.
Jhoan Duran allowed a run in the ninth before closing it out.
Wheeler’s seven straight strikeouts to open the game broke the team record of six, set by Brandon Duckworth on August 5, 2001 against the Dodgers.
More coming…
Chicago Cubs vs. Miami Marlins preview, Tuesday 9/22, 6:40 CT
Alex Bregman update: Here
Tuesday notes…
- STACKING WINS: The Cubs have won three consecutive series for the first time since July 7-19 and four of five for the first time since Aug. 3-19. They are 26-23-3 in all series this year, including 12-11-2 at home. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
- BEATING THE GOOD TEAMS: The Cubs are 41-34 against teams that had a winning record going into games. At home, they are 25-14. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
- FOUR IS THE NUMBER OF THE COUNTING: The Cubs have scored at least four runs in their last four games and in eight of their last 10. They have scored a total of 61 runs, an average of 6.10. For the season, their average is 5.35. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
- PCA WATCH: Pete Crow-Armstrong needs five home runs to reach 50, a milestone reached only by two Cubs: Sammy Sosa, four times (66, 64, 63 and 50), and Hack Wilson, once (56). PCA homered five times in six games June 15-23, three times in overlapping spans Aug. 15-23 and four times in overlapping spans Aug. 24-30. He hit six in five games Aug. 29-Sept. 3. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
- RUN WATCH: With their nine runs scored Sunday, the Cubs are at 835 runs scored for the season with six games remaining. Cubs teams have scored more runs than that just twice in a season since 1930: 847 in 1935 and 855 in 2008, so this year’s Cubs need just 21 runs over the six remaining games to become the second-highest scoring Cubs club in the Modern Era.
Cubs lineup:
Marlins lineup:
Shōta Imanaga, LHP vs. Janson Junk, RHP
This year is a tale of five Shōtas:
First nine starts: 2.32 ERA, 0.902 WHIP, only 5 HR in 54.1 innings
Next seven starts: 7.41 ERA, 1.274 WHIP, 15 (!) HR in 37.2 innings
Next seven starts: 1.77 ERA, 1.180 WHIP, only 5 HR in 40.2 innings
Next four starts: 7.13 ERA, 1.528 WHIP, 8 (!) HR in 17.2 (!) innings
Next three starts: 2.00 ERA, 0.778 WHIP, only 1 HR in 18 innings
Three of those guys are Cy Young candidates. The other two are DFA candidates. Which one will we get tonight?
The good news, perhaps, is that one of the most recent three starts was Sept. 4 against the Marlins in Miami, where he held them to three hits and one run, with no home runs. Just do that again, Shōta.
Janson Junk was Imanaga’s opponent in that Sept. 4 game and he held the Cubs to three hits and one run in five innings. The Cubs won the game off the Marlins bullpen.
Since then Junk has not gone past the third inning in two starts, one vs. the Mets (who scored eight runs off him) and one vs. the Diamondbacks, who he held to just one run. It appears he’s on a pitch limit of about 75 or so, as he hasn’t thrown more than that in about a month. So the patient Cubs should try to wait him out with walks and get him out early.
Here is the weather forecast for the area around Wrigley Field.
Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network.
Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit the Marlins site Fish On First. If you do go there to interact with Marlins 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.
Join the conversation!
Sign up for a user account and get:
- Fewer ads
- Create community posts
- Comment on articles, community posts
- Rec comments, community posts
- New, improved notifications system!