The Morning Horsehide Herald — the Eighth of August, Two Thousand and Twenty-Six

The Game of the Day

THE GREAT STREAK PERISHES IN THE BRONX, TEN INNINGS IN THE DYING: HIGHLANDERS 3, ATLANTAS 2

Mahle and Fried — the latter facing the club of his youth — trade nine strikeouts for seven across seven scoreless frames, Riley and Olson strike late circuits to put Atlanta two to the good, and New York steals both runs back in the ninth before McMahon's sacrifice fly in the tenth ends the visitors' run at eight straight

Rain held the Bronx hostage near two hours Friday evening, and when the tarpaulin at last came off, the two-and-forty thousand who had waited were paid in full. What followed was seven innings of the oldest argument in baseball, conducted by two craftsmen at the height of their powers: Tyler Mahle gave Atlanta six innings of three-hit ball with nine strikeouts, while Max Fried, facing the Atlanta club that raised him, answered with six and a third of the same vintage, three hits, seven struck out, and not a run between them as the evening wore toward its crisis.

The Braves drew first blood in the eighth, Austin Riley lifting his fourteenth circuit over the left-field wall, and doubled the wager in the ninth when Matt Olson lined his three-and-thirtieth into center — a blow that lifts him into a three-way tenancy atop the National's home-run column with Colorado's Goodman and Philadelphia's Schwarber. Two runs to the good, three outs wanted, Iglesias on the hill: the ledger favored Atlanta. Whereupon Austin Wells doubled home Lombard Jr., and Ben Rice — he of the four-and-seventy runs batted in — singled home Wells, and the account stood level at two. In the tenth, Kinley walked two men around the gift runner, and Ryan McMahon flied to Acuña in right just deep enough: Luis García Jr. crossed, the verdict read 3 and 2, and Bednar collected the decision.

So dies the eight-game winning streak that had carried Atlanta to seventy victories — though the Braves' grip on the National's East remains a comfortable eight and a half games, for Philadelphia lost as well. For New York the profit is nearer at hand: the Highlanders hold the American's first wild-card chair at five-and-sixty wins, a bare half-game ahead of surging Boston, and the wires pronounce the whole affair a fair audition of October baseball. On this evidence, the autumn will want for nothing.

News Around the League

THE EXILED ACE SPEAKS OF HOME: SKUBAL, NEW-MINTED IN DODGER FLANNELS, WOULD RETURN TO DETROIT

The ink is scarcely dry on the deadline's grandest transaction and already the sequel is being drafted. Tarik Skubal, the two-time Cy Young left-hander whom Detroit dispatched to Los Angeles at Monday's deadline, took to a podcast Friday and spoke as plainly as a man in a new uniform may: "I would love to play my whole career in Detroit. I would love to." His contract expires with the season, free agency awaits in November, and the great man allowed that negotiations with his old employers might resume once the last out of October is recorded. The Herald observes, without editorial cruelty, that his new club has misplaced seven games running — the particulars of the latest are itemized upon the card below — and that the trade which convulsed the baseball world on Monday may yet prove a three-month lease.

THE SOUTH SIDE RINGS FOR REINFORCEMENTS: SMITH AND McDOUGAL SUMMONED FROM CHARLOTTE, THE WIRES REPORT

Chicago's American League club, its relief corps ground thin by Thursday's thirteen-inning marathon at Fenway and Friday's five-batter start — young Noah Schultz was excused after a third of an inning and two visits from the bench, a defeat itemized below — is turning to its future ahead of schedule. The club is summoning Hagen Smith, its foremost pitching prospect and first-round selection of 2024, together with right-hander Tanner McDougal, from Triple-A Charlotte, by the report of MLB.com's man Merkin; the club had not yet confirmed the news at press time. Both will work from the bullpen for the stretch run, their rotation apprenticeships deferred until spring. "It's power stuff on both sides," says the general manager Getz, whose club has now dropped four straight and seen its Central lead pared to two games — the thinnest it has been in many weeks, with Minnesota and Cleveland both massed at the gate.

THE VETERAN OBSERVES HIS FIVE-AND-THIRTIETH BIRTHDAY IN THE CUSTOMARY MANNER: A HOME RUN, HIS SIXTH SUCH ANNIVERSARY BLOW

Let the almanac record that Mike Trout, born the seventh of August in the year 1990, marked the occasion Friday as he has now marked it six times: with a home run. The first-inning drive in Miami — his nineteenth of the year and the four-hundred-and-twenty-third of his life — ties the mark for birthday circuits held by Alexander Rodriguez and Mark Reynolds, and he stands alone as the first man to strike them in six separate seasons, the ledger running 2012, '13, '15, '17, '20, and now '26. "It's pretty cool," the great man offered afterward, with the economy of phrase that has ever distinguished him from this newspaper. The blow opened a 4-to-3 victory over the Marlins, reported in full upon the card below.

A SON OF WASHINGTON PITCHES WHILE HIS COUNTRY BURNS: RASMUSSEN'S SEVEN SCORELESS, AND A WORD FOR SPOKANE

The Herald sets aside its brass for a paragraph. Drew Rasmussen, the Tampa Bay right-hander raised in Washington State, took the hill in Seattle Friday while wildfire ravaged the country north of Spokane where he came of age — fires burning since the first of August that have consumed some nine hundred structures and driven seven-and-sixty thousand souls from their homes. He pitched seven scoreless innings all the same, his fourth victory without defeat since the All-Star pause, and spoke afterward not of himself: "We have friends and family who are going through a lot right now. What's going on in Spokane right now is tragic." The game's account sits upon the card below; the Herald's sympathies sit with the Inland Northwest.

THE ALMANAC LOOKS TWICE AHEAD: THE CORNFIELD ON THURSDAY, AND WILLIAMSPORT ON THE THREE-AND-TWENTIETH

Two red-letter dates for the sentimentalist. The nearer the Herald has already circled: Thursday next, the thirteenth, brings the Field of Dreams game at Dyersville, Iowa, the Twins against the Phillies among the corn. And now the almanac adds a second — on Sunday the three-and-twentieth of August, the Brewers and the Braves repair to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for the Little League Classic, where the finest record in baseball will play an exhibition of the game's first principles before an audience of children who play it for nothing. The Herald holds both fixtures to be precisely the sort of foolishness civilization exists to protect.

The Rest of the Card

FOURTEEN STRIKEOUTS FOR THE STRIPLING TOLLE, AND THE NINTH STRAIGHT FOR THE HUB NINE: BOSTON 13, MACKMEN 1

The wires reach for Clemens comparisons and the Herald will not talk them down: Payton Tolle struck out fourteen Athletics in six innings Friday, allowed two hits and not a single base on balls, and left to a Fenway ovation with the game long since decided. Boston's fifteen hits included Duran's sixteenth circuit in a five-run second; Abreu drove in three, aided by a thieving catch from Rafaela's glove in support of the cause; and Burgos closed with three hitless innings for his first save. The Hub nine has now won nine straight — seven-and-twenty of its last thirty, company kept only by a handful of clubs since 1900 — while the Mackmen, whose lone answer was Soderstrom's eighteenth homer, have lost nine straight and one-and-twenty of thirty. Symmetry can be cruel.

MARTÍNEZ EMPTIES THE BASES AND THE CENTRAL TIGHTENS TO TWO: FOREST CITY NINE 8, SOUTH SIDERS 2

Angel Martínez singled home two in the first and then, in the fifth, struck a grand slam — six runs batted in on the evening, a career's best — while Kwan added a circuit and Messick carried seven innings of four-hit, eight-strikeout ball for his ninth victory, his 2.57 figure standing third in the American. Chicago's evening was lost in the first, when Schultz was excused after five batters and a third of an inning (see the news column for the reinforcements thus summoned); Murakami's five-and-twentieth homer arrived as consolation. The South Siders have dropped four straight and their Central margin is two games; Cleveland and Minnesota share the second step.

A NO-HITTER, A CRAMP, AND A WALK-OFF FOR THE BOY WALDSCHMIDT: SNAKES 4, TROLLEY DODGERS 3

The desert staged a whole season in one evening. Merrill Kelly carried a no-hitter into the sixth before Edman's infield single spoiled it, then departed with a cramp of the right leg; Arenado's seventeenth circuit had opened the scoring; and after Pages lined his nineteenth in the eighth to put Los Angeles ahead at 3 and 2, the rookie Ryan Waldschmidt struck the second home run of his young life with a man aboard in the ninth — a walk-off, off Díaz, and the ballpark came apart. The Angelenos have now lost seven running, their West lead worn to seven and a half over these same Snakes, and their new ace Skubal (see the news column) can only watch the calendar. Ginkel took the decision.

A DEBUTANT'S FIRST CIRCUIT AND A COMEBACK FROM FOUR DOWN: NORTH STARS 8, SUDS MEN 6

Milwaukee led four to nothing after two, Chourio homering, and then Minnesota climbed the whole hill: Bell's two-run circuit in the third, and in the fourth the freshly summoned Kaelen Culpepper — called up in a whirlwind, the wires attest — struck the first home run of his major-league life in his debut. Level at six, Royce Lewis doubled home the lead in the sixth and Bell singled home the eighth run, his third driven in; Matthews took the victory and Gómez his sixteenth save. The Suds men at two-and-seventy wins still keep the game's finest ledger; the North Stars, winners of two straight, sit a half-game shy of the American's wild-card line.

GAUSMAN'S FIRST BOW FOR HIS NEW EMPLOYERS IS A TRIUMPH: NORTH SIDERS 6, MISSOURIANS 4

Kevin Gausman, whose deadline week the wires describe as a whirlwind, delivered seven strong innings in his first appearance for Chicago's National League club and departed with the decision. Crow-Armstrong stole his thirtieth base — level with the National's second rank — and scored twice; Suzuki singled home two; the young Pedro Ramírez added a late circuit. Kansas City's Jensen struck his sixteenth homer and Witt Jr. drove home a run in a two-run eighth that fell short of the mark, Webb sealing it. The North Siders have won five straight and hold the National's first wild-card chair at eight-and-sixty wins; Lynch bore the defeat.

SMITH'S LATE BLOW UNDOES WHEELER ON AN OPERATIC EVENING: CANADIANS 5, PHILLIES 4

Two hours of rain, a fifteen-pitch duel the wires pronounce epic, and — the reports insist — some unparliamentary language exchanged between the great Wheeler and the visiting bench: Philadelphia's evening had everything but the verdict. Giménez opened the scoring with a circuit, Kirk drove home two by sacrifice fly, and Josh Smith's eighth-inning homer — but his second of the year — proved the decisive run when Harper's two-run ninth drew the home nine to within one before Rogers barred the door for his fourth save. Wheeler falls to ten-and-three; Estrada, the first victory of his career. The Phillies share the National's wild-card line with Arizona at two-and-sixty wins apiece.

SEMIEN'S THREE-RUN BLOW CROWNS A FIVE-RUN THIRD: FLUSHING NINE 6, ALLEGHENYS 4

New York built the whole edifice early — Benge singling home two among his pair driven in, Semien striking a three-run homer in the third, Lindor adding a fourth-inning run — and Thornton pitched five scoreless frames for the decision while Pittsburgh paid in installments, two in the seventh and two in the ninth against the relief corps. Ewing rapped three hits and stole his fifteenth base. The Flushing nine has won four straight in its spoiler's summer; the Alleghenys have lost four straight, and Mlodzinski bore the loss.

THREE SOLO ANSWERS ARE NOT WORTH ONE THREE-RUN QUESTION: CAPITAL NINE 5, REDLEGS 3

Daylen Lile put the first three runs on the board with one first-inning swing, his fifteenth circuit, and Cincinnati spent the middle innings answering in singles of a kind: solo homers from Suárez, McLain, and De La Cruz — the shortstop's twentieth — leveling the account at three. Whereupon the young catcher Harry Ford struck a two-run homer in the fourth and the arithmetic never moved again, Cavalli taking the victory and Beeter the seal. Washington thus interrupts a stretch of two wins in ten; the Redlegs' pursuit of the wild-card table pauses at four games' distance.

TWICE OVER THE WALL GOES YOUNG SMITH, AND THE WEST STAYS IN HOUSTON HANDS: HOUSTON NINE 6, FRIARS 3

Cam Smith cleared the fence in the second and again in the sixth — his fourteenth and fifteenth — while Alvarez singled home his six-and-eightieth run batted in and Walker two more besides. San Diego's rejoinder came by Merrill's triple and Tatis Jr.'s tenth homer, but Abreu held the decision and Hader closed the accounts. The Houston nine, winners of eight in ten, keep the American's West by a game and a half over Texas; the Friars slip two games shy of the National's wild-card table, whither they and Houston resume arguments this very evening.

SEVEN SCORELESS FROM RASMUSSEN AND THE BEST LEDGER IN THE AMERICAN GROWS FINER: SUNSHINE NINE 2, SEATTLE NINE 1

The pitching is chronicled in the news column, where it belongs to a larger story; the scoring was brief. DeLuca and Aranda struck solo circuits in the second and third — the latter's fifteenth — and Tampa Bay defended the pair thereafter, Baker recording his three-and-thirtieth save, the American's best figure, though not before Julio Rodríguez lined his eighteenth homer in the ninth to spoil the shutout. Gilbert bore a hard-luck defeat. The Sunshine nine has won four straight and holds the American's finest record at nine-and-sixty wins, its East margin four and a half games.

DEVERS GREETS HIS OLD LEAGUE-MATES RUDELY AND THE FOG REJOICES: BAY NINE 5, MOTOR CITY NINE 2

On a sixty-degree August evening of the sort San Francisco alone can furnish, Rafael Devers struck a two-run homer in the first — his four-and-twentieth — Lee singled home two more, and Adames added his nineteenth circuit for good measure. Houser supplied five workmanlike innings for the victory and Smith the seal; Montero took the defeat. Detroit, whose runs came by Dingler and McKinstry, remains three and a half games off the American's Central pace and two shy of the wild-card line; the Bay nine plays out its season with occasional flourishes such as this.

PEDERSON'S BLOW AND A NINTH-INNING RELAY KEEP TEXAS LEVEL AND CLIMBING: LONE STAR NINE 2, BALTIMORES 1

Baltimore led by Mayo's second-inning single until the sixth, when Joc Pederson turned the entire evening with one swing — a two-run homer, his one-and-twentieth. The wires garland two further deeds: Eovaldi's escape from a bases-loaded corner by strikeout, and a ninth-inning relay that cut down the tying effort at the last. Alexander took the decision and Latz the save. The Lone Star nine has won three straight, stands level at eight-and-fifty wins apiece, and holds the American's final wild-card chair; the Baltimores fall two games shy of that table.

HERRERA'S CIRCUIT AND WINN'S LEATHER SUFFICE BY A WHISKER: MOUND CITY NINE 3, ROCKIES 2

A tidy, old-fashioned article of baseball: two St. Louis sacrifice flies in the second, Iván Herrera's thirteenth homer in the third, and thereafter a defense of the one-run margin conducted chiefly by Masyn Winn, whose glove-work the wires salute and who stole two bases besides. Leahy continued his good run of work for the victory and O'Brien affixed his eight-and-twentieth save, sharing the National's best figure with San Diego's Miller. Colorado's two runs arrived by Johnston's pair of groundouts — thrift itself — and Feltner bore the loss. The Mound City nine draws level at eight-and-fifty wins.

THE BIRTHDAY BLOW AND SCHANUEL'S ANSWER CARRY THE EVENING: HALOS 4, GULF STREAM NINE 3

Trout's anniversary circuit — see the news column for its place in the almanac — opened the scoring, and after Miami crept ahead by Stowers's two runs driven in, the seventh inning turned on an error: Trout reached upon the pitcher's own bobble, and Nolan Schanuel promptly homered behind him for the lead. Jiménez singled home a Miami run in the ninth to make the final anxious before Fermin closed it, Anderson taking the decision. The Halos have won two straight in a season that has offered them few such luxuries; the Gulf Stream nine has dropped four running.

The almanac again grants the full fifteen this Saturday, and the bill of fare is uncommonly rich. The Bronx offers the day's crown jewel at five past three: Sale and his 2.08 figure against Cole, Atlanta seeking a new streak where the old one died. Boston entertains the Mackmen at ten past four and will apply for ten straight behind Bennett; Burns, whose thirteen-and-one ledger is the National's marvel, takes the hill in the capital at forty-five past six; deGrom receives the Baltimores in Arlington at a quarter past seven; and in the desert at ten past eight, Yamamoto is charged with arresting the Angelenos' seven-game slide against Pfaadt and the Snakes. Until the morrow's dispatch, keep your scorecards near and your enthusiasms nearer.

~ THE HERALD ~