Is it spring training yet? No — but the championship season is upon us, a finer thing still.

THE MORNING HORSEHIDE HERALD

"Every Score Set Down, No Deed Unsung"

~ Being a Faithful Daily Chronicle of the National Pastime ~

Volume I · No. 34 · Tuesday, the Eleventh of August, Two Thousand and Twenty-Six

Reporting 10 contests from the day prior.

The Game of the Day

EIGHT RUNS IN THE EIGHTH AND THE WHOLE LEDGER TURNS OVER: TAMPA MEN 10, WHITE ELEPHANTS 6

Trailing by four with six outs left to spend, the American's finest club sends ten men to the plate in a single frame — Caminero's four-and-thirtieth circuit the thunderclap, Walls and Aranda the fine print — and a seventh consecutive victory is carried off from a night that had held a steal of home against them

Through seven innings the finest club in the American League had been made to look a very ordinary one. The White Elephants had pilfered a run in the boldest style the game allows — Tyler Soderstrom, having doubled home Jeff McNeil in the first, straightaway stole home while the Tampa men watched in disbelief — and Zack Gelof, restored from the sick list only that afternoon, celebrated his health with a homer in the fifth and a run-scoring double in a four-run seventh. At two runs against six, the arithmetic sat heavily against Tampa Bay.

Then came the eighth, and the eighth was a massacre. Junior Caminero opened the account with a three-run blow to left center — his four-and-thirtieth of the season, one shy of Alvarez of Houston atop the American's column — and the procession scarcely paused for breath thereafter: Chandler Simpson, he of the league's three-and-thirty stolen bases, singled home a run; Taylor Walls singled home two more; Yandy Díaz, whose sixteenth homer had opened the game's scoring seven innings prior, lifted a sacrifice fly; and Jonathan Aranda singled home the eighth tally of the frame. Ten men to the plate, eight runs across, and the unhappy Suarez — charged with four of them while recording but a single out — left holding both the blown save and the defeat. Roycroft, himself roughed for three in the seventh, was forgiven everything by the ledger and handed the victory.

The Gulf Coast club thus runs its streak to seven straight, stands two-and-seventy wins against six-and-forty defeats — the American's best account by six full games over New York — and shows no inclination whatever toward moderation. The Elephants, who had played a spirited game and even received an errorless-streak-keeper's double from Jacob Wilson, were left to reflect that against this opponent, seven good innings is presently two short of the requirement.

News Around the League

A WEEK'S HINDSIGHT UPON THE GREAT DEALINGS, AND THE CATCHER PRIZE REPORTS THIS VERY DAY

The wires, having caught their breath, devote a long column to the executives' own reckoning of the season's frenzied Trade Deadline, now one week gone — a market whose principal fruits are already on display nightly (the Cy Young man Skubal's first Dodger Stadium turn is chronicled upon the card below). And the last great prize comes off the shelf this very day: Boston is set to activate Adley Rutschman, the thrice-an-All-Star catcher obtained at the Deadline, in time for tonight's engagement at Toronto. The Crimson Hose, thrice beaten running, will not pretend the reinforcement arrives too soon.

THE INFIRMARY WARD SWELLS: WILLIAMS AND EOVALDI TO THE SHELF, TAILLON CARRIES HIS DEBUT OFF EARLY

A grim morning for the medical men. The Mets have placed their ninth-inning keeper Devin Williams upon the fifteen-day list with a strain of the right shoulder — the vacancy that handed Senga his first save, as the card below relates — and Texas has shelved Nathan Eovaldi, he of the ten victories, with inflammation of the right elbow. In Toronto, Jameson Taillon departed his Blue Jays debut after four one-hit innings with discomfort of the forearm, the club awaiting the examiners' verdict.

The ward offers brighter beds as well: Byron Buxton has taken batting practice upon the field and run the bases for the first time since his hip complaint, eyeing a weekend return to Minnesota's service, and Atlanta's Spencer Strider and Hurston Waldrep have both been cleared to begin throwing once more.

THE NINTH-INNING MARKET CHURNS: KIMBREL MADE OFFICIAL IN KANSAS CITY, SEWALD CAST OFF IN THE DESERT

The Kimbrel intelligence these pages carried yesterday is now a matter of record: Kansas City has formally activated Craig Kimbrel, nine times an All-Star, to its relief corps. Arizona, meanwhile, has conducted a wholesale rearrangement of its own late innings — designating Paul Sewald for assignment despite his four-and-twenty saves, among the National's leaders in that column, and signing the free agent Zack Littell, who repaid the ink on his contract the very same night with four and two-thirds scoreless innings and a victory (see the card below). The ninth inning, the Herald observes, is a profession of no tenure whatever.

A RELIEF ACE BY REINVENTION: THE SOUTH SIDERS' HICKS REMADE IN MIDSEASON

The wires examine a quiet marvel on Chicago's South Side, where Jordan Hicks has emerged — by way of a deliberate midseason overhaul of his craft — as something very like an ace of the relief corps. The timing could scarcely be better: the White Sox sit atop the American's Central, three and a half games to the good, and pennant arithmetic in September is chiefly a matter of who owns the late innings.

THE ALMANAC: OCTOBER'S TIMETABLE IS PUBLISHED, AND THE CORN AWAITS

The league has published its postseason schedule, and the connoisseur may now pencil October into the family calendar with dates attached. Nearer at hand, the minor leaguers take the Field of Dreams stage in the Iowa corn this very evening — St. Paul's men and the Cubs' farmhands the participants — as a prelude to Thursday, when the Twins and Phillies play the Field of Dreams game proper at Dyersville. The regular campaign's final day, the almanac desk notes for the record, falls upon the twenty-seventh of September.

The Rest of the Card

A FOURTH OUT FOR BOSTON, BUT THE BUFFALO EXPRESS DELIVERS FOR TORONTO: MAPLE LEAF NINE 2, CRIMSON HOSE 1

The oddity of the night: Boston's lone tally arrived in the seventh by way of the seldom-seen fourth-out rule, the umpires reviewing Rafaela's sacrifice double play and ruling that Seigler's run should stand — a technicality the rulebook scholars will be dining out on for a week. Toronto's answer was manpower fresh off the Buffalo train: Charles McAdoo, recalled only yesterday, struck his second major-league homer in the fifth, Giménez singled home Springer in the sixth, and Simeon Woods Richardson, likewise just summoned, spun one and two-thirds hitless innings for the victory after Taillon's early exit (see the infirmary column). Varland sealed his five-and-twentieth save, and Gray — the American's leader with fourteen victories — absorbed but his third defeat.

FIVE IN THE FIRST AND BATY WITH THE BASES FULL: FLUSHING NINE 8, TOMAHAWK NINE 5

The Mets settled the principal business before Atlanta had batted: five runs in the opening frame, crowned by Brett Baty's grand slam, his eighth circuit of the year. Lindor added his eleventh in the third and a sacrifice-fly run in the ninth for good measure, and when the Tomahawk nine had clawed within three, the final flourish belonged to Kodai Senga — pressed into the ninth by Williams' infirmity and rewarded with the first save of his major-league life. Duarte took his first victory in relief; Elder bore the defeat; and Atlanta's lead in the National's East is trimmed to seven and a half games over Philadelphia.

KREMER RETURNS TO VEX HIS OLD EMPLOYERS WITH SEVEN ONE-HIT INNINGS: TWIN CITIES NINE 9, BIRDS 5

Dean Kremer, lately of Baltimore and now in Minnesota flannels, gave his former club the unfriendliest of welcomes: one hit and one run across seven innings, seven strikeouts, and no sentiment whatever. His fellows supplied the margin in a five-run seventh — Jeffers singling home two before Josh Bell's three-run sixteenth — and Austin Martin had opened the account with his third homer. The Birds' late flurry, Coby Mayo driving home three of their five, arrived well after the verdict was in; Rogers took the loss, and the Twins have won two running.

PAINTER CARRIES A NO-HITTER INTO THE SIXTH: QUAKERS 6, REDBIRDS 5

The young Andrew Painter held St. Louis hitless into the sixth inning and finished with two hits and six strikeouts across five and a third — a work of art with an anxious postscript, for the Redbirds struck thrice in the eighth, Burleson driving home three of their five runs on the night. Philadelphia's cushion, built on Sosa's three runs driven in and Schwarber's run-scoring double, held by a single tally, and Bowlan recorded the first save of his major-league account. The Quakers, at four-and-sixty wins, keep their seat at the National's wild-card table.

TROUT'S TWENTIETH IS THE WHOLE OF THE SERAPHS' EVENING: ARLINGTON MEN 4, SERAPHS 1, IN TEN INNINGS

MacKenzie Gore, in his first start since welcoming a daughter into the world — and hours after his rotation-mate Eovaldi went to the shelf — struck out nine Angels across five and a third innings, conceding only Mike Trout's twentieth homer in the first. The game sat level at one until the tenth, when Nimmo singled home the go-ahead run and Jake Burger singled home two more; Gray took the victory to stand six-and-none, and Latz sealed his three-and-twentieth save. Texas thus draws within half a game of Houston in the American's West, while the Seraphs remain the division's rearmost tenant.

ARENADO CLEARS THE BASES BEFORE AN OUT IS RECORDED: SNAKES 9, MILE HIGH NINE 0

Nolan Arenado greeted his old mountain acquaintances with a grand slam in a four-run first — his eighteenth circuit — and Arizona piled on three more in the second by Carroll's four-and-twentieth double, a wild pitch, and Marte's single. The pitching told the quieter story: Soroka, back from the sick list, handed the game to Zack Littell, signed as a free agent only the day before, who threw four and two-thirds scoreless innings for the victory while Colorado managed five hits in sum. The Snakes have won two straight and sit level with Philadelphia at the National's wild-card table.

MERRILL MAKES IT THREE MORNINGS RUNNING: MISSION NINE 3, BREW CREW 2

Jackson Merrill struck his third homer in as many games — a two-run, go-ahead blow in the seventh, his nineteenth of the year — to overturn the two-run homer Yelich had struck in the second, the veteran answering his demotion in the batting order in the most eloquent style available. Ty France's seventeenth had kept San Diego within reach, Matsui took the decision, and Miller sealed his thirtieth save to stand alone atop the National's column. The Mission nine have won three straight; the Brew Crew, at four-and-seventy wins, remain owners of the game's finest ledger even in defeat.

DOWN TO A FINAL STRIKE, THEN THREE IN THE TENTH: 'STROS 6, BAY NINE 3, IN TEN INNINGS

San Francisco led by Jung Hoo Lee's ninth homer and Drew Gilbert's fifth, and had the visitors down to their final strike in the ninth — whereupon Cam Smith, whose sixteenth circuit had kept Houston breathing in the seventh, singled home the levelling run. In the tenth the 'Stros collected the whole account: Peña singled home the lead and Paredes doubled home two behind him, while Hader threw two hitless innings for the victory. Houston thereby preserves its half-game hold on the American's West, Texas breathing on its collar.

SKUBAL TAKES THE HOME HILL, MUNCY CLEARS THE BASES, AND THE BOYS IN BLUE EXHALE: DODGERS 6, ROYAL BLUES 5

Before one-and-fifty thousand at Chavez Ravine, Tarik Skubal made his first home start in Los Angeles flannels — five innings, three runs, six strikeouts, and an honest confession of nerves to the wires afterward. The evening's melodrama outlasted him: Caglianone struck his one-and-twentieth homer among three runs driven in for Kansas City, Muncy's bases-clearing double turned the game in a three-run sixth, Isbel levelled it with a two-run blow in the seventh, and Freeman singled home Ohtani — his second such delivery of the night — for the decisive run in the bottom half, accepting an out at second base as the price. Dreyer took the victory, Díaz the sixth save, and the champions, lately two-and-eight across their last ten, return home to find their division lead steadied at seven and a half games.

Ten contests decorate this Tuesday's card, and the desk commends the following to the connoisseur: at seven minutes past seven, Boston calls at Toronto with the catcher Rutschman's debut expected on the bill and Cease, he of the 2.28 figure, engaged for the Torontos; at 7:45 the Quakers open the evening in St. Louis behind Sánchez and his fifteen victories, the National's most, against Pallante and his twelve; at forty minutes past nine the Brew Crew visit the Mission nine with Harrison, nine-and-two, opposing Buehler, while the Tampa men — eight straight in their sights — send Martinez and his 2.65 against the Elephants; and at ten past ten Kansas City closes the night in Los Angeles once more. The sentimentalist is reminded that Thursday brings the Twins and Phillies to the Iowa corn at Dyersville for the Field of Dreams game, the minor leaguers rehearsing the stage this very evening. Until the next dispatch, keep your scorecards near and your enthusiasms nearer.

~ THE HERALD ~

The Herald Acknowledges Its Debts