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MLB News & Moments: Tarik Skubal makes home debut

The Dodgers avoid disaster.

Pablo Figueroa
MLB Morning News 8 Hours Ago

Stay updated on everything baseball with our morning MLB News & Moments articles. We’ve got you covered to keep you in the know.

Today’s Headlines

 

Home Cooking

Making his first home start wearing Dodger blue, Tarik Skubal was again far from his best self. The lefty was tormented by fellow southpaw Jack Caglianone, who singled a run home in the first and then clobbered a two-run homer in the third, as the Royals took an unexpected 3-0 lead. However, Skubal made sure his AL Central familiarity was not a problem henceforth, retiring six in a row before getting out of a two-runner jam by striking out Caglianone. This ended Skubal’s night with an unremarkable line of three runs and two walks allowed over five innings, with six strikeouts. Faced with the possibility of a loss, LA’s offense found some of the power they have missed through August, collecting five doubles as part of a 10-hit effort. The Dodgers flipped the script with a 5-3 lead, but a Kyle Isbel homer pulled the Royals back even in the seventh, as the home crowd grew restless one more time. Fortunately for LA, a manufactured run in the seventh, which included a Shohei Ohtani steal and a Freddie Freeman RBI single, would provide the winning margin in this 6-5 win. Closer Edwin Díaz bounced back from his horrible series in Arizona to earn his sixth save, tossing a perfect inning to close out the game. With a marquee matchup against the Brewers looming for later this week, the Dodgers need to maximize this favorable series versus KC.

Action Jackson

Rookie Logan Henderson was reportedly the reason Milwaukee was not able to trade for Tarik Skubal, as the front office refused to include him in the final deal. Having won six of his last seven starts, Henderson entered on a high note against the Padres, and the offense gave him an early 2-0 lead to work. While the Friars chipped away with a Ty France solo homer, Henderson regained control and at one point retired 13 straight Padres, but his offense was not able to add more runs against Casey Mize, who was solid in his second start for San Diego. While Henderson looked in command, he tired in the seventh and allowed a single and a two-run homer from Jackson Merrill, who turned the deficit into a late lead, as San Diego’s elite bullpen closed the 3-2 win. Merrill is now slugging .744 in August, with four homers.

Imperfect Masterpiece

Andrew Painter has had a rough first taste of MLB, to put it mildly. After winning on his debut way back on March 31, Painter went 15 games (13 of them, starts) without recording another W, as his ERA rose as high as 7.06 at one point. For a day, the 23-year-old reminded the Philly faithful as to why he was regarded as a top prospect, earning the second win of his career with a strange but effective performance. The righty held St. Louis hitless through 5.1 innings, albeit with three walks, as the Phillies opened a commanding 3-0 lead. Painter would allow a couple of runs to close his night with two hits, two runs, three walks, and six Ks on his ledger. Philadelphia provided additional run support to open the lead back to 6-2, but their bullpen almost gave it back, as the Cardinals turned things into a one-run game. Jonathan Bowlan decided to end the madness and tossed a perfect ninth for his first career save, as the Phils prevailed 6-5. This 11-run effort was achieved with no homers, as both teams combined for seven doubles and went 8-for-22 with runners in scoring position.

Man of the Woods

Despite their best efforts to be out of it, the Toronto Blue Jays are pretty much technically still in the playoff race, although that has mostly to do with the AL’s lack of good teams. However, if they really want to make a push, a stretch of twelve games against the league’s top three teams has placed the challenge for Toronto in legendary mode, as their margin of error has shrunk to a minimum. Toronto passed its first test in improbable fashion, beating the Red Sox despite facing Sonny Gray and seeing their starter leave the game after only four frames, as Jameson Taillon suffered an injury. The game’s heroes came from unlikely sources, as recently-activated reliever Simeon Woods-Richardson tossed three quality innings to earn the win, while rookie Charles McAdoo took Gray deep for the first run of the game. The only run allowed by Woods-Richardson came on a truly bizarre episode, described below, while Tyler Rogers and Louis Varland closed it out for a 2-1 Blue Jays win. In a season where almost everything has gone wrong, this could mark a breaking point for Toronto.

 

Playing Spoiler

After finally making the move to switch managers in a lost season, the Mets have actually improved significantly, and now have the possibility of becoming a very interesting spoiler during August and September. New York moved to 19-20 under interim manager Andy Green, beating Atlanta on the road after a quick start and enough pitching. The Mets jumped to a 5-0 lead in the first behind a two-out Brett Baty grand slam, and while their hurlers almost gave it all away on a number of occasions, they managed to hold on for a nice 8-5 win. Francisco Lindor added a solo homer as part of a three-hit day, while Kodai Senga earned his first career save following the news that closer Devin Williams is on the IL. Alas, Senga failed to get the souvenir ball to always remember this moment.

 

By The Numbers

 

11 With a solo blast in the first inning against the Rangers, Mike Trout reached 20 homers in 2026. This is the 11th time in his career with at least 20 long balls, which is the highest total for the Angels franchise and the fourth-most among active players.

16 Playing in only his ninth game of the season, and the fifth at Rogers Centre, rookie Charles McAdoo became the 16th Blue Jay to hit a homer at home on the season. Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. has yet to join the list.

71 In one of the season’s most uneven matchups, the 71-win Tampa Bay Rays visited the 71-loss Athletics. For a large chunk of the contest, the A’s held court, and even opened a 6-2 lead heading into the eighth. Alas, their bullpen did what they usually do, blowing the game with a disastrous 8-run inning that showed why there is a 25-game gap between these teams.

 

 

Best Moments From Yesterday

 

Fourth Out Rule (?!?!)

It is often said that there is always a chance to see something you’ve never seen before whenever you go to the ballpark, but what happens when something that not even the umpires have seen takes place? In the top of the seventh at Toronto, with the Jays clinging to a 2-0 lead, the Red Sox had runners on the corners and one out, with Ceddanne Rafaela at the plate, looking to break through. Rafaela hit a lazy fly ball to center, and as the ball was caught, it seems that everyone forgot how to baseball at the same time. Both runners started moving as if it was the third out, while Toronto alertly tried to double up the runner at first as they figured out what was happening. However, Anthony Seigler did scamper to home plate and “scored”, creating all sorts of chaos for the umpires, as this strange play became a bit too hard to rule. Following a lengthy delay, a call to New York determined that the run would indeed count, as the runner from third was called safe on a timing play. This was later explained as a fourth out rule, as Toronto failed to appeal properly and follow a correct sequence to get the out, even as the runner did not properly tag on the fly out. This play shall live on forever, if only for the umpire’s strange explanation and the way he said “we’re calling New York”.

A Bird? A Plane? No, it’s Alec

Alec Burleson had a nice game at the plate last night, going 2-for-4 with three RBI, as he reached 81 for the season to mark a new career high. However, his biggest contribution may have come on defense. With the game just getting started, Luis Arraez had two men on base and hit one of his patented line drives, only for Burleson to close out the inning with a spectacular double play. Bryce Harper stood on first and properly froze on the line drive, but the first baseman was not content with one out, and dove completely parallel to the ground to tag Harper before he returned to safety. While the call was initally ruled safe, a quick review corrected this mistake, as it was clear the Burleson’s effort got Harper on the arm, adding this play to his career highlight reel.

Bunt Failed Successfully

In the bottom of the seventh of the quite eventful Boston-Toronto affair, Brandon Valenzuela reached on an error with no outs, setting up an obvious bunt situation. As the Jays led 2-1 following the weird rules snafu, any kind of insurance run would be extremely valuable, as Nathan Lukes squared up to sacrifice himself. Lukes got a tight fastball and bunted awkwardly, making contact as the ball sailed behind the plate. Catcher Connor Wong, possibly trying to make an impression now that Adley Rutschman is near, displayed legendary reflexes to drop his mask, track the ball, and make a spectacular diving catch. Of course, no good deed goes unpunished, and Valenzuela took advantage of this unnatural position and managed to advance to second on the play, making the sacrifice work in the end. Wong would be redeemed, though, as the runner was ultimately stranded.

 

Injuries and Other Moves

 

⚾The Rangers have placed starter Nathan Eovaldi on the 15-day IL with right elbow inflammation. The move is retroactive to August 9, and this injury could explain Eovaldi’s reduced velocity in his last start. While his results in 2026 have been uneven, his absence could represent an important setback for Texas, who is still alive in the AL playoff picture. The franchise expects Eovaldi to return after this short stint, but his status will be worth monitoring.

⚾ The Mets placed closer Devin Williams on the 15-day IL with a right shoulder strain. The latest malaise for Williams adds to a long list of issues for the erstwhile star, as he has struggled mightily in his first season in Queens. While New York is hoping for a brief stint on the sidelines, they will probably be cautious with Williams, who is signed for two more years. In his absence, the Mets will probably abstain from naming a single closer, as they have plenty of late-game arms to close. 

⚾ Boston’s Adley Rutschman is set to be activated from the IL, having completed a brief rehab assignment at AAA. The Red Sox announced that he will make his team debut playing catcher today at Toronto, and he should represent a significant upgrade for a position that ranks among the weakest in baseball. 

Articles You Should Read

 

A Big Weekend for Strikeout Feats — Jay Jaffe, Fangraphs

Why Lefty Batters are Dominating in 2026 — Anthony Castrovince, MLB.com

 

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Pablo Figueroa

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Pablo Figueroa is a Baseball Writer here at Pitcher List, with experience as a writer since 2013. He lives in Aguascalientes, Mexico - proud home of Los Rieleros. When he´s not thinking about baseball , he's a husband, owns two dogs, watches random episodes of The Sopranos , plays padel, and works on his day job to pay the bills.

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