Sports Al Dente

The Baltimore Orioles sent left-handed pitcher Trevor Rogers to the minors on Thursday, just under a month after they traded for him from Miami.

Rogers was moved to Triple-A Norfolk along with right-hander Colin Selby and infielder Livan Soto. The Orioles called up right-hander Matt Bowman and brought left-hander Nick Vespi back from Norfolk.

“Just kind of where we are bullpen-wise,” manager Brandon Hyde said before Thursday night’s game against Houston. “We want Trevor to stay ready.”

The Orioles were a game behind the New York Yankees in the AL East going into the game with the Astros.

The team’s pitching has struggled with injuries to the starting rotation, and the bullpen has been inconsistent. Baltimore lost two out of three games to the Mets in New York, both losses coming from home runs in the ninth inning.

Corbin Burnes was starting for the Orioles on Thursday, with rookie Cade Povich and Albert Suárez also in the rotation. The team hasn’t announced a starter for Sunday yet, but Dean Kremer could be an option with four days’ rest. Cole Irvin returned from the minors to start against the Mets on Wednesday.

No. 2 starter Grayson Rodriguez and trade deadline addition Zach Eflin are on the injured list. Hyde mentioned that Eflin is expected to return when his IL stint ends early next month.

The Orioles traded prospects Kyle Stowers and Connor Norby to Miami for Rogers. Since joining Baltimore, Rogers is 0-2 with a 7.11 ERA.

The Orioles also designated left-hander Bruce Zimmermann for assignment.

J.J. Picollo was in the Royals’ dugout hours before a game against the Angels this week, discussing what has been one of the most impressive turnarounds in major league history. The chat shifted to Picollo’s wife, Nicole, and the Royals’ general manager pointed to the upper deck down the third-base line.

“She likes to sit up there,” he said with a smile. “She enjoys being among the fans.” Is she just pretending to be interested up there, so far from the action?

“Oh no,” Picollo said. “It’s not like she’s bringing a book. She’s very into it.” That seems to be the case for many people in Kansas City these days.

The Royals, who set a franchise record with 106 losses last season, had a day off Thursday while they are in the playoff race. With only 35 games left in the regular season, they were 2 1/2 games behind the Guardians in the AL Central and three games behind the Yankees for the best record in the American League.

Equally important, they were three games ahead of the Red Sox for the last wild-card spot.

It’s been a remarkable turnaround for an organization that shone brightly in 2014 and ’15, winning back-to-back AL pennants and their first World Series title in 30 years, but then quickly declined.

The Royals have not had a winning season in eight years, losing at least 100 games in three of the past six seasons, and were considered a joke just last year.

But as shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., the new face of the team, puts it: “The boys are playin’ some ball.”

“Once you get past Aug. 1, it’s hard not to check the standings,” Picollo admitted. “I try not to look at other scores until we get a win because if we win, we’re not losing any ground, and that’s how we have to think.

But yes, as soon as our game ended yesterday, I checked the Twins game to see them tied and lose it. So, that’s natural. And that’s exciting.” Picollo didn’t spend a lot to build a successful team. In fact, he didn’t even need a big loan.

The players who have helped Kansas City reach heights not seen in nearly a decade were either already on the team last year and just needed more time to improve, or were free-agent signings and trades that showed Picollo’s baseball knowledge.

Take the rotation, for example. Cole Ragans, who ranks fifth in the majors with 183 strikeouts in 152 1/3 innings, was acquired in a trade with the Rangers last season.

Seth Lugo, who is tied for the big league lead with 14 wins, signed a relatively small three-year, $45 million free-agent contract. Michael Wacha, who signed a similar two-year, $32 million deal, has a 10-6 record with a 3.33 ERA.

Brady Singer has bounced back from a tough 2023 season, and Michael Lorenzen has a 1.99 ERA in four starts since being traded last month.

The bullpen has been completely revamped, too. John Schreiber and Kris Bubic have been standout performers in relief, while Lucas Erceg has given up only four hits and no runs, with 14 strikeouts in 10 1/3 innings since the Royals acquired him in a trade with Milwaukee.

Picollo has also been successful in strengthening the lineup. The trade for Paul DeJong from the White Sox didn’t make big news, but he’s hitting .286 with three homers and eight RBIs in 14 games with Kansas City.

“It’s given me a lot of life to be able to come here every day and compete with these guys,” he said. “They’ve had their culture all year and they’ve been doing well, but for me it just makes coming to the ballpark a lot more fun.”

No one seems to be having more fun than Witt, the 24-year-old star who is having an amazing year just months after signing an 11-year deal worth $288.7 million to be the cornerstone of the franchise.

Witt leads the majors with a .352 batting average, which is almost 20 points higher than the Yankees’ Aaron Judge. He has already hit 25 home runs and stolen 25 bases. Advanced stats show he is not only one of the best defenders in baseball but also its fastest player.

His fWAR, a measure of a player’s value compared to a replacement-level player at the same position, suggests Witt is on track for the best season by a shortstop since Honus Wagner more than a hundred years ago.

“Man, he has tremendous ceiling,” said Angels manager Ron Washington. “He’s got everything it takes to be a superstar.” The Royals seem ready for a playoff push, though it will be tough.

Their next 20 games, starting Friday night against the Phillies, are against teams that currently hold playoff spots. Except for three games against second-place Minnesota, all are against teams that lead their divisions.

But the Royals are ready for the challenge, as few expected them to be in this position, chasing a postseason spot with six weeks left in the season.

“We’re certainly aware and have been aware of the stretch coming up,” Picollo said. “The big thing was to take care of business before this stretch. And we have. It’s still going to be tough, but maybe we’re in a little better position to hold our ground.

And really, that’s part of what we’ve been saying all year: Take it day by day. This stretch requires taking it day by day, because there will be ups and downs. Those are good teams. “If we can keep that mindset,” Picollo said, “we’ll be in a good spot.”

Amid growing speculation about a possible managerial change, Scott Servais found out he was no longer the manager of the Seattle Mariners from a news alert on television, not from his bosses.

This was an awkward mistake by the Mariners on Thursday. It added to a series of errors over the past two months, during which the team fell from being a strong contender for the division title to being on the edge of playoff contention in the American League.

“In what has been one of my least favorite days in my professional life, the worst part of it was the fact that Scott and hitting coach Jarret DeHart found out about this over the crawl of a news channel,” Mariners executive vice president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said. “That, it crushes me and I know it hurts them a great deal.”

Servais was dismissed during his ninth season managing the Mariners, after the team lost a 10-game lead in the AL West and now has only five weeks left in the regular season to try to recover.

The Mariners have appointed former Seattle catcher Dan Wilson as the new manager. Wilson will manage the team for the rest of the season, not just as an interim.

“It has been a very difficult two-month stretch, a particularly tough 10 days, but trying to do what we can do with a team that is telling us we need to do something a little different than what we have,” Dipoto said.

The decision to let go of 57-year-old Servais followed a poor 1-8 road trip that dropped the Mariners to 64-64 after they were 13 games over .500 in mid-June.

On Thursday, the Mariners were five games behind Houston in the AL West and 7 1/2 games back in the wild-card standings. Their play since June 18, when they led the division by 10 games, has not shown any signs of improvement for a possible turnaround in the remaining weeks of the season.

“Where we were in the middle of June and where we are today, it’s hard to believe actually how quickly it all dissolved for us and the way our team has played,” Dipoto said.

Servais joined the Mariners before the 2016 season, coming in alongside Dipoto. During his time with Seattle, Servais had a record of 680-642. He went through a major rebuild that made the Mariners competitive, but not good enough.

He was the second-longest-serving manager in franchise history, after Lou Piniella.

Servais released a statement late Thursday through the team, expressing his gratitude to the players, ownership, and fans for his time with the Mariners.

“To the city of Seattle, you embraced my family and me and we are forever grateful for your support. As this chapter closes, I leave with pride in what we’ve accomplished together and excitement for what the future holds,” Servais said.

This season, the Mariners have struggled with a lack of offense, which has been especially frustrating since their pitching staff has been among the best in baseball for most of the season.

Seattle’s pitching ranks first in baseball in ERA, WHIP, and batting average against. Meanwhile, the Mariners are 30th in batting average, 29th in slugging, and have the most strikeouts in the league. The team has scored two runs or fewer in 48 of their 128 games this season and is 6-42 in those games.

The stretch of poor performance since mid-June is what led to the change in manager. On June 19, the Mariners were 44-31 and had a 10-game lead in their division. However, they have gone 20-33 since then, including a 7-15 record against teams like Detroit, Pittsburgh, Miami, and the Los Angeles Angels, all of which have losing records.

The additions of Randy Arozarena and Justin Turner before the trade deadline did not give Seattle the offensive boost they were hoping for, and injuries to Julio Rodríguez and J.P. Crawford have hurt their chances of turning things around.

Dan Wilson, who is 55 years old, will start as the new manager on Friday night when the Mariners begin a series against the San Francisco Giants.

Wilson has worked in various roles for the team, including as a fill-in manager for the Triple-A affiliate and as an analyst for the team’s broadcasts. For the past seven years, he has been a special assistant for player development within the team’s baseball operations.

Wilson is the 21st manager in the franchise’s history and the 18th full-time manager.

“We can’t know a person better than we know Dan Wilson, and I believe in both his baseball and who he is as a person,” Dipoto said. “I think that will resonate very well with our players.”

Servais will be remembered in Seattle as the manager who ended the longest playoff drought in baseball history when the Mariners made the playoffs in 2022. He led the team to a wild-card berth, and the Mariners won the wild-card series against Toronto before losing to Houston in the ALDS.

This was Servais’s first managerial position; before joining the Mariners, he worked in the front office for the Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Angels.

Patrick Corbin pitched six innings to earn his 100th career win, and Juan Yepez hit a three-run home run as the Washington Nationals defeated the Colorado Rockies 8-3 on Thursday to win the series.

Luis Garcia Jr. and Jose Tena each had two hits for the Nationals, who have now won three of their last four games.

In his sixth attempt for his milestone win, Corbin (3-12) gave up one run on four hits. He walked one batter and struck out a season-high eight in one of his best performances of the season.

“I’ve been wanting it for a little bit now. It’s taken a little bit,” Corbin said. “You try to go out there every fifth day and give it your best and hope the team wins. Whether you get the win in the column or not, those things happen, so you just try to do your best.”

Corbin had a 14-7 record with a 3.25 ERA for Washington in 2019 and was the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the World Series. Since then, the 35-year-old left-hander has a 30-69 record with a 5.64 ERA as he approaches the end of a six-year, $140 million contract.

“Congratulations to him and his family,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “What I can say about Patrick is, the guy competes. He goes out there every five days, takes the ball, will give us 110 pitches if we ask him to. He’s been awesome.”

Brenton Doyle and Jacob Stallings hit home runs for the Rockies.

Colorado right-hander Cal Quantrill (8-9), making his second start after missing a turn due to a sore forearm, allowed two runs on two hits over five innings.

“It wasn’t like they hit him hard at all,” manager Bud Black said. “Corbin outpitched him and then we couldn’t keep it close out of the bullpen.”

Black managed his 1,160th game, passing Clint Hurdle for the most games managed in Rockies history. Hurdle leads Black in wins, 534-523.

Washington took a 2-0 lead in the third inning. Joey Gallo walked to start the inning and advanced to third on Alex Call’s one-out single. After Call stole second base, James Wood hit a two-out, two-run single to center.

Aaron Judge hit his major-league-leading 48th home run, and Gerrit Cole allowed just one hit in six innings to become the fourth active pitcher to reach 150 career wins as the New York Yankees defeated the Cleveland Guardians 6-0 on Thursday.

Judge homered for the third consecutive game and is on track to finish with 61 home runs, just two years after hitting 62 to break Roger Maris’ single-season American League record. He has homered six times in his last seven games, seven times in his last 10 games, and 13 times in his last 23 games.

“I guess we’re on the pace portion of the season,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Look, anything’s possible with him. I think he just wants to be great every day and help us win. So nothing would surprise me.”

Judge hit 49 home runs in his first 128 games in 2022 and is the only Yankee to have at least 48 home runs through that point in multiple seasons. He joins Sammy Sosa (1998, 1999, 2001) and Mark McGwire (1998, 1999) as the third player in baseball history with at least 48 home runs through 128 games in multiple seasons.

He also has 44 home runs in his last 90 games since April 27, when he batted .197 in the first month. Two years ago, Judge hit just one home run in his first 13 games.

“If it comes with a ring and a lot of fun in the playoffs, then definitely that’d be cool,” Judge said about the possibility of reaching 60 home runs for the second time.

Judge hit his latest home run on a 2-1 changeup from Cleveland starter Gavin Williams (2-6), sending it to the right-field seats. The 360-foot drive marked the fourth time this season Judge has homered in three straight games and the 14th time in his career.

“What a wonderful experience to have him on my team and be around him,” Cole said.

Cole (5-2) allowed a single to Steven Kwan on his second pitch and struggled with command at times. He tied a career worst by issuing five walks, struck out two, and got eight outs on the ground, including a double play by rookie Jhonkensy Noel to end the sixth inning.

Cole reached 150 career wins in his 311th start, joining Justin Verlander (260), Max Scherzer (216), and Clayton Kershaw (212) as the only active pitchers with this milestone.

“I grew up when they were important and widely viewed as important by everybody I would say,” Cole said. “To me it’s one of the stats that everybody has a hand in. So it’s really about your teammates and how often you take the field and play well together.”

The Yankees scored four runs in the fifth inning after Judge received his 16th intentional walk of the season. After seeing two sliders well outside the strike zone from Nick Sandlin, Judge took his ninth intentional walk in 18 games this month, which loaded the bases.

Austin Wells then hit a sacrifice fly, and Giancarlo Stanton followed with a three-run homer that just cleared the center-field fence. It was the 10th time this season that Judge and Stanton homered in the same game and the 41st time in the regular season.

Tim Hill, Luke Weaver, and Michael Tonkin combined for three innings of perfect pitching, helping the Yankees achieve their 10th shutout of the season.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this was the first time in team history that the Yankees allowed a hit to the first batter but no more hits for the rest of the game.

Williams gave up three runs and four hits in 4 1/3 innings and became the 231st different pitcher to allow a home run to Judge. “You can’t make bad pitches to them,” Williams said. “They hit your mistakes.”

Cleveland lost for the fifth time in six games. The Guardians scored once and had five hits in the final two games of the series after scoring six runs in the 12th inning for a 9-5 win on Tuesday.

“It was just a tough week,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “We had a tough road trip offensively.” The Guardians were one-hit for the second time this season and shut out for the 13th time.

José Ramírez drew two of his three walks against Cole and stole his 30th base, becoming the first Guardian with multiple 30-30 seasons.

Miguel Amaya hit his first career grand slam and drove in a personal-best five runs, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 10-2 win over the Detroit Tigers on Thursday to win the three-game series.

Justin Steele (4-5) struck out a season-high 10 batters in seven innings, helping the Cubs secure an easy victory as they try to catch up in the race for the National League’s third wild card. They are 11-7 in August.

Amaya made a big impact from the ninth spot in the batting order, giving the Cubs a 4-0 lead in the second inning with his home run to left field against reliever Kenta Maeda (2-6). He also added an RBI single in the seventh, although he was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.

“It feels amazing,” he said. “It’s something that I dream of as a kid. To make it happen now feels really good, especially for the team. We’ve been having some ups and downs, but we won the series.”

Amaya had three hits and raised his average by nine points to .221. Since July 12, he has been batting .300 with four home runs, thanks to a midseason change to his stance. He removed a leg kick to improve his timing and make better contact with the ball.

“What comes first — the confidence or the adjustment,” manager Craig Counsell said. “I think he’s got both going right now. He’s swinging at good pitches. When he gets a pitch to hit, he’s doing some damage with it.

He has the power to do this. This is not, like, fluke stuff. He hits the ball hard and he’s getting some results from it, some good feedback from it.”

Cody Bellinger doubled and scored in the third inning. He also singled in a run in the fourth to make it 6-0.

Steele gave up two runs and four hits, throwing 94 pitches without issuing a walk, helping the Cubs improve to 25-15 in interleague play.

Detroit’s Spencer Torkelson hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning. Maeda allowed six runs and nine hits in five innings, and the Tigers lost two of three games to Chicago after winning six of their previous seven.

Rookie Victor Scott II had a career-high three hits and scored the run that broke the scoreless tie in the seventh inning, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 3-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday.

“Three hits is awesome, but a win is even better,” Scott said. “We’re all locked in.”

Masyn Winn and Alec Burleson each contributed two hits to the nine-hit effort for St. Louis.

The Cardinals won the last two games of the series after losing seven of their previous nine games. This was St. Louis’s seventh shutout win of the season.

“There’s a good vibe and energy in that clubhouse right now, in how they’re attacking every day,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. “All you can do is stay present and take it one pitch at a time. This was a solid win for sure.

That’s a good baseball team across the way. They’ve been playing good baseball, so to take that series is important.”

The Brewers, who lead the Central Division, had won six straight games before losing two in a row to the second-place Cardinals, who are still 10 games behind Milwaukee.

“That’s a team with nothing to lose,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.

Milwaukee managed just three hits, with only one after the first inning. After William Contreras, their third batter, singled, the Brewers did not get another hit until the ninth inning with one out.

Andrew Kittridge (2-4) earned the win with one inning of work. Ryan Helsley pitched the ninth inning to earn his major league-leading 39th save in 42 chances.

Nick Mears (1-5) allowed all three runs on three hits and a walk while recording only two outs in the Cardinals’ three-run seventh inning.

“That wasn’t very good,” Murphy said.

The Cardinals loaded the bases with three singles and one out. Willson Contreras drew a walk on a 3-2 fastball after being down 0-2 in the count, scoring Scott for the game’s first run.

General manager Perry Minasian has agreed to a two-year contract extension with the Los Angeles Angels that will keep him with the team through 2026.

Minasian made the deal with the Angels on Thursday, even as the team is finishing what is likely to be their fourth straight losing season since he started. He joined the Angels in 2021 on a four-year contract as a new general manager.

“Over the last four years, Perry and his baseball operations staff have begun to lay the foundation for a bright future of Angels baseball,” said owner Arte Moreno in a statement.

“We have been impressed by the steps Perry has taken to bring young and exciting talent to our major league team while also improving our player development process. We believe this extension will allow him to continue building sustainable success for the Angels and bring a championship for our fans.”

The Angels want to keep Minasian to maintain stability for a team that has had eight consecutive losing seasons and nine straight years without making the playoffs, the longest current droughts in the majors. The Angels are currently on track for their lowest winning percentage since 1994.

Minasian, who started as a batboy and clubhouse attendant for the Texas Rangers, worked his way up through scouting in Toronto and the front office in Atlanta, gaining experience under Alex Anthopoulos.

The 44-year-old Minasian had never interviewed for a GM role before getting the position with the Angels, who had fired Billy Eppler in late 2020 after his fifth straight losing season.

“I am incredibly thankful to Arte and Carole Moreno for their continued trust and support,” Minasian said in a statement.

Minasian is the fourth general manager hired by Moreno since 2007 who had no prior experience in a top job, except for Jerry Dipoto’s brief time as an interim general manager.

The Cincinnati Reds signed veteran first baseman Dominic Smith on Thursday, right before their game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Smith was in the starting lineup and batting seventh for the start of a four-game series.

He had been released by the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday after hitting .237 with six home runs in 83 games.

Smith, 29, has a .247 batting average and 64 home runs over eight seasons with the New York Mets (2017-22), Washington (2023), and Boston (2024). He was the Mets’ first-round draft pick in 2013.

The Reds put outfielder Jake Fraley on the 10-day injured list due to a right knee sprain. They also designated right-hander Brooks Kriske, who was pitching at Triple-A Louisville, for assignment.

Gerrit Cole earned his 150th career win but also received his second pitch clock violation in five weeks.

Cole was penalized by plate umpire Derek Thomas for taking too long during warmups before the second inning in the New York Yankees’ 6-0 victory over Cleveland. He talked briefly but animated with Thomas before manager Aaron Boone joined the conversation.

Rookie Jhonkensy Noel, who was not in the batter’s box when the violation occurred, was given an automatic ball and walked on three pitches.

The penalty didn’t affect Cole, who allowed just one hit in six innings and reached 150 career wins, becoming the fourth active pitcher to do so.

The violation happened after Austin Wells struck out for the last out of the first inning.

“Usually when the catcher makes the last out, there’s some extra time before the next inning starts,” Boone explained. “Wells got out there a bit ahead of time, but it seemed like we were penalized for trying to speed things up. It felt a bit overly strict.”

Cole had a similar violation on July 19 against Tampa Bay. In that game, he didn’t complete his final warm-up pitch until there were 20 seconds left on the pitch clock, and he got into a heated exchange with umpire Quinn Wolcott before pitching six innings.

“We tried to speed up the game, and it didn’t quite work out,” Cole said. “The call was correct according to the rules.”