Month: August 2026

NFC East
— Cowboys
Dallas hasn’t been in an NFC title game since 1995.
QB Dak Prescott is 85-60-1 as a starter, 2-5 in playoff games.
Last three years, Cowboys are 11-6-1 ATS in divisional games.

— Giants
John Harbaugh was 193-124 coaching the Ravens, 13-11 in playoff games.
QB Jaxson Dart was 4-8 as a starter in his rookie season.
Last three years, Giants are 9-14 ATS as a road underdog.

— Eagles
Eagles have won two Super Bowls in the last nine years.
Sirianni is 65-30 as a head coach, 6-4 in playoff games.
QB Jalen Hurts is 63-29 as a starter, 6-4 in playoff games.

— Commanders
Washington has made the playoffs twice in last ten years.
QB Jayden Daniels is 16-11 as a starter, 2-1 in playoffs.
Dan Quinn is 65-62 as a head coach, 5-3 in playoff games.

NFC North
— Bears
Last year was Chicago’s first winning season since 2018.
QB Caleb Williams is 171-9 as a starter, 1-1 in the playoffs.
Last three years, Bears are 8-3-1 ATS as an underdog.

— Lions
Last four years, Detroit is 45-23 in the regular season.
QB Jared Goff is 94-65-1 as a starter, 4-5 in playoff games.
Last three years, Lions are 13-3 ATS as a road favorite.

— Packers
Green Bay has made the playoffs 14 of the last 17 years.
Since 2014, Packers are 0-4 in the NFC title game.
QB Jordan Love is 28-23-1 as a starter, 1-3 in playoff games.

— Vikings
O’Connell is 43-27 as a head coach, 0-2 in playoff games.
QB Kyler Murray was 38-49-1 as a starter in Arizona, 0-1 in playoff games.
Last four years, Vikings are 11-5-4 ATS as a road favorite.

— Famous birthdays, August 8th:
Connie Stevens, 88
Jose Cruz, 79
Donnie Most, 73
Bruce Matthews, 65
Howard Cross, 59

Rashard Lewis, 47
Craig Breslow, 46
Danilo Gallinari, 38
Yandy Diaz, 35
Cameron Payne, 32

NFC South
— Falcons
Stefanski was 46-58 as coach in Cleveland, 1-2 in playoff games.
QB Tua Tagovailoa was 44-33 as a starter in Miami, 0-1 in playoff games.
Last three years, Falcons are 6-13 ATS as a home favorite.

— Panthers
Carolina has had 8 straight losing seasons (made playoffs at 8-9 LY)
Canales is 13-22 as a head coach, 0-1 in playoff games.
QB Bryce Young is 14-31 as a starter, 0-1 in playoff games.

— Saints
New Orleans has missed the playoffs five years in a row.
QB Tyler Shough was 5-4 as a starter in his rookie year.
Last four years, Saints are 5-12 ATS as a home underdog.

— Buccaneers
Tampa Bay has made the playoffs five of the last six years.
QB Baker Mayfield is 60-65 as a starter, 2-3 in playoff games.
Todd Bowles is 64-77 as a head coach, 1-3 in playoff games.

NFC West
— Cardinals
Arizona has made the playoffs once in the last ten years.
QB Jacoby Brissett is 20-45 as a starter; when does rookie QB Beck start?
Last four years, Cardinals are 7-17 ATS in divisional games.

— Rams
Rams have made the playoffs seven of the last nine years.
QB Matthew Stafford is 127-124-1 as a starter, 53-31 with the Rams.
Sean McVay is 102-63 as a head coach, 10-6 in playoff games.

— 49ers
49ers made the playoffs five of the last seven years.
Since 1997, 49ers are 0-5 in NFC title games.
Kyle Shanahan is 91-72 as a head coach, 9-5 in playoff games.

— Seahawks
Seattle made playoffs 10 of last 14 years, winning two Super Bowls.
QB Sam Darnold is 52-42 as a starter, 3-1 in playoff games.
Mike Macdonald is 24-10 in two years as head coach, 3-0 in playoff games.

— Phillies 7, Nationals 3
Phillies hit seven doubles in the first three innings.
Cristopher Sanchez is the first 15-game winner this year.
Luis Arraez is 5-for-13 with four RBI in his first three games with Philly.

— Cubs 3, Blue Jays 2 (11)
Pete Crow-Armstrong stole third, scored walk-off run when throw went into LF.
Alex Bregman hit a two-run homer for the Cubs.
Cubs have a 5.5-game lead for the NL’s #1 Wild Card slot.

— Mets 13, Guardians 6
Mets had 18 hits; they swept this three-game series.
Foster Griffin allowed five runs in four IP in his Cleveland debut.
57-59 Guardians are half a game out of the last Wild Card spot.

Guardians have played 17 games this year starting all lefty/switch-hitters; they’re the only major league team that has done that this year.

— Brewers 5, Pirates 2
Dustin May gave up two runs in 6 IP in his Milwaukee debut.
Jackson Chourio/Gary Sanchez homered for the Brewers.
Pirates lost seven of their last ten games.

— Tigers 11, Mariners 0
Dillon Dingler homered for the third game in a row.
Detroit has scored 8+ runs in seven of their last eight games.
Mariners were shut out for the 11th time, tied for most in MLB.

— Angels 4, Orioles 1
Zach Neto hit a three-run homer in the first inning.
Four Angel relievers got the last 13 outs, allowing one hit.
56-59 Orioles are a game out of the last Wild Card spot.

— Red Sox 12, White Sox 11 (13)
Caleb Durbin had the walk-off single for Boston.
Boston has won 8 in a row, 31 of its last 36 games.
Luis Castillo allowed five runs in 4 IP in his White Sox debut. 

— Famous birthdays, August 7th:
Fred Brown, 78
Wayne Knight, 71
Joe Cocozzo, 56
Charlize Theron, 51
DeMar DeRozan, 37

Tommy Kahnle, 37
Mike Trout, 35
Josh Smith, 29
Kyler Murray, 29
Jalen Hurts, 28

— Modern baseball; Cardinals’ 1B Alec Burleson hit three home runs Monday, then didn’t start in Tuesday’s game. He doesn’t platoon; this made no sense.

— Pirates P Paul Skenes has a 6.26 ERA in his last eight starts.

— There are reports that part of the reason the Red Sox traded IF Marcelo Meyer was that there was personal tension between Meyer and OF Roman Anthony.

— Panthers 33, Cardinals 30
Rookie QB Haynes King ran for the winning TD as time expired.
Rookie QB Carson Beck was 15-19/188 passing for Arizona.
Lot of offense; total yardage was 425 for Arizona, 378 for Carolina.

— There are 10 NFL teams who have head coaches this season.

— Last three years, Tennessee Titans are 1-7 ATS as a favorite.

— Last four years, Indianapolis Colts are 8-4 ATS as a home favorite.

— Jacksonville Jaguars were +13 in turnovers last year, part of why they were 6-3 in games decides by 8 or fewer points. 

— Last three years, Houston Texans are 11-16 ATS as a favorite.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
AL: Rays, White Sox, Astros. Wild Cards: Bronx, Red Sox, Rangers
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Arizona

— Nationals 10, Phillies 4 (11)
CJ Abrams hit a two-run triple in the 11th inning.
P Miles Mikolas then knocked in a run with a safety squeeze bunt.
Phillies have a one-game lead for the last Wild Card slot.

— Orioles 5, Angels 2
Trevor Rogers allow three hits in 6+ IP.
Tyler O’Neill/Coby Mayo hit back/back home runs.
Baltimore is 17-10 in its last 27 games; they’re half-game out of the last Wild Card slot.

— Red Sox 4, White Sox 0
Wilyer Abreu homered for the fourth time in three games.
Sonny Gray gave up 3 hits in 6 IP; he is 14-2, 2.78 this season.
Boston has won 7 in a row, 30 of its last 35 games.

— Rays 4, Rockies 0
Tampa Bay swept a series for the 11th time this season.
Nick Martinez got 17 outs; he is 11-3, 2.55 this season.
Tyler Wells got four outs in relief, all strikeouts.

— Cubs 7, Dodgers 6
Pete Crow-Armstrong homered twice, had four RBI.
Shohei Ohtani homered twice, had three RBI.
Dodgers have lost their last six games.

— Blue Jays 5, Astros 4 (10)
Ernie Clement hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning.
Houston led this game 3-0 after five innings.
Astros still lead Texas by 1.5 games atop the AL West.

— Mets 6, Guardians 5 (10)
Mets tied game in 9th inning on a Cleveland error.
Bo Bichette knocked in winning run in the 10th inning.
Angel Genao went 4-for-5, in his first MLB game.

— Braves 4, Marlins 1
Bryce Elder allowed one hit in seven IP.
Drake Baldwin went 2-for-4 with two RBI
Atlanta has won seven in row, leads NL East by 8.5 games. 

— Famous birthdays, August 6th:
Jerry Golsteyn, 72
Stephanie Kramer, 70
Dale Ellis, 66
David Robinson, 61

Vera Farmiga, 53
Seneca Wallace, 46
Hunter Greene, 27
Jared Jones, 25

NFL trends……..
— Last three years, Dallas is 11-6-1 ATS vs NFC East opponents.

— Chiefs are 0-5 ATS in their last five visits to Denver.

— Lions are 13-4 ATS in last 17 games as a road favorite.

— Last two years, Eagles were 6-0 ATS as an underdog.

— Under Dan Quinn, Washington is 8-3 ATS as a home favorite.

— Last two years, Chargers are 10-1-1 ATS vs AFC Went opponents.

— Last two years, Raiders are 11-17 ATS as an underdog.

— Buffalo covered its last five games against the Jets.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
AL: Rays, White Sox, Astros. Wild Cards: Bronx, Red Sox, Tex/Clev
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Arizona

There were some familiar faces in unfamiliar places Tuesday, the first night after the trade deadline:

— Phillies 5, Nationals 0
Luis Arraez was 2-4 with two RBI in his Phillies debut.
Jesus Luzardo allowed four hits in eight IP.
Washington star James Wood (oblique) went on the IL.

— Cubs 5, Dodgers 1
Tarik Skubal gave up two runs in 6 IP (85 PT) in his Dodger debut.
Dansby Swanson/Nico Hoerner homered for the Cubs.
Javier Assad got 17 outs, allowed only four hits.

— Rays 9, Rockies 7 (11)
Freddy Peralta gave up 7 runs in 3.2 IP (71 IP) in his Tampa Bay debut.
Liam Hicks hit a grand slam in his Tampa Bay debut.
Colorado had bases loaded one out in bottom of 10th, but didn’t score.

— Red Sox 14, White Sox 2
Wilyer Abreu homered twice, Caleb Durbin hit a grand slam.
Red Sox have won six in a row, are 24-3 in their last 27 games.
Boston ended this one early, scoring six runs in the first inning.

— Rangers 5, Giants 4
Ezequiel Duran drove in four runs, had a walk-off double.
Corey Seager was 3-for-4, scored twice.
Texas is one game out of last Wild Card slot, 2.5 games out of AL West lead.

— Orioles 3, Angels 1
Cade Povich pitched six scoreless IP in his first start since May 7th.
Pete Alonso hit a two-run aingle.
Tyler O’Neill hit his third pinch-hit home run this year.

— Mets 6, Guardians 2
9th-place hitter Luis Torrens hit a three-run homer in the second inning.
Sean Manaea got the win, despite allowing 12 baserunners in six IP.
Cleveland is 57-57, three games out of first in AL Central.

— Famous birthdays, August 5th:
Bruce Coslet, 80
Bernie Carbo, 79
Maureen McCormick, 70
Patrick Ewing, 64

Otis Thorpe, 64
Jonathan Silverman, 60
John Olerud, 58
Mark Mulder, 49

Carl Crawford, 45
Nick Martinez, 36
Braxton Garrett, 29
Anthony Edwards, 25

— Tigers 8, Mariners 0
Troy Melton allowed three hits in seven IP.
Greene, Dingler, Torres all homered for Detroit.
Tigers are 54-58, but are only two games out of last Wild Card slot.

— Braves 1B Matt Olson played in his 895th consecutive game Tuesday, tied for the 8th-longest streak in MLB history:

2,632- Cal Ripken Jr
2,130- Lou Gehrig
1,307- Everett Scott
1,207- Steve Garvey

1,152- Miguel Tejada
1,117- Billy Williams
1,103- Joe Sewell
895- Stan Musial/Matt Olson

— Colorado Rockies signed OF Mickey Moniak to a two-year, $16.5 contract extension.

— Obscure trivia: There have been 464 sets of brothers who both played in the big leagues.

— Home plate ump Andy Fletcher had a rough night in the 13-7 St Louis-New York game Monday night; teams challenged six of his pitch calls. All six calls were overturned.

— On the other hand, home plate ump Jim Wolf had a very good game in Seattle Sunday; teams challenged only two of his 151 pitch calls. None of the calls were overturned.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
AL: Rays, White Sox, Astros. Wild Cards: Bronx, Red Sox, Guardians
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Arizona

Wrapping up baseball’s trade deadline:
— Phillies acquired 2B Luis Arraez from the Giants, along with P Caleb Kilian, for a couple of young pitchers.

As a result, Phillies’ infield defense is going to be re-shuffled:
1B- Alec Bohm
2B- Luis Arraez
SS- Trea Turner
3B- Bryson Stott
RF- Bryce Harper

— Arraez has won three batting titles, has a good chance for a fourth one this year, but he has also played on a lot of different teams, for such a good hitter:

2019-22: Twins
2023-24: Marlins
2024-25: Padres
2025-26: Giants
2026: Phillies

— Red Sox traded for C Adley Rutschman, hoping to upgrade behind the plate; they gave the Orioles three of their top five prospects. Lot of people on social media, including some baseball pundits, were wowed by how much Boston paid to get Rutschman.

Rutschman is hurt right now; he hasn’t played since July 18th.

— Mets traded away 8 major leaguers, plus a minor leaguer; in return, they acquired 13 minor league prospects. Monday they added six minor leaguers to their 26-man active roster. 

— Texas P Jacob deGrom exercised the no-trade clause in his contract, wouldn’t let the Rangers trade him away from Arlington.

Someone on ESPN suggested that deGrom gets taxed less than he would if he played home games in a different state (Florida? California?), which he why he put the kibosh on the trade.

— San Diego added a pair of starting pitchers, Robbie Ray from the Giants, Casey Mize from Detroit. Ray is 10-6, 3.08 in 21 starts this year; Mize was 4-6, 2.70 in 16 starts for the Tigers.

— Pirates fortified their bullpen, adding Luke Weaver/Kirby Yates. Weird seeing the team with the #2 payroll (Mets) trading a guy to Pittsburgh at the deadline.

— Cleveland added P Foster Griffin from Washington, OF Jo Adell from the Angels, and Nathaniel Lowe from the Reds. Little surprised to see the Nationals trade Griffin away; he is having a very good season.

— Cubs worked hard to hard to upgrade their pitching; they acquired starters Clay Holmes, Braxton Garrett and reliever Ryan Zeferjahn- they also acquired OF Tyrone Taylor.

— Tampa Bay improved its catching, adding Liam Hicks; they also acquired reliever Tyler Wells, as well as starter Freddy Peralta.

Rays now have a SS named Taylor Walls, and a P named Tyler Wells.

— Famous birthdays, August 4th:
Billy Bob Thornton, 71
Barack Obama, 65
Roger Clemens, 64
BJ Surhoff, 62

Clyde Simmons, 62
Abigail Spencer, 45
Brady Singer, 30
Henry Bolte, 23

— Cardinals 13, Bronx 7
Alec Burleson hit three home runs, had six RBI.
St Louis blew a 6-0 lead, then scored seven runs in the 8th inning.
New York’s bullpen gave up nine runs in six innings.

— Pirates 4, Brewers 3
Brewers are 1-6 vs Pittsburgh, 18-5 vs the rest of the NL Central.
Spencer Horwitz hit a three-run double for the Pirates.
Pittsburgh is three games out of the last Wild Card slot.

— Rays 13, Rockies 9
Junior Caminero hit two home runs, scored three times.
Rays had scored a total of 12 runs in their previous eight games.
Tampa Bay leads the AL East by 3.5 games.

— Phillies 6, Nationals 3
Trailing 3-0, Derek Hill hit a grand slam in the 7th inning.
Bryce Harper hit a two-run homer in the 8th inning.
Washington 1B Abimelec Ortiz hit his first major league HR.

— Cubs 10, Dodgers 5
Cubs hit four home runs; they led 6-3 in third inning.
Justin Wrobleski gave up seven runs in 4.1 IP.
Dodgers have lost four games in a row.

— Giants 5, Rangers 1
Jung Hoo Lee hit two home runs, had three RBI.
Logan Webb allowed five hits in six shutout IP.
Rangers have lost six games in a row.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
AL: Rays, White Sox, Astros. Wild Cards: Bronx, Red Sox, Guardians
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Arizona

Baseball’s trade deadline is Monday at 6pm; it’ll be interesting to see who gets traded where…….

— Cubs acquired P Kevin Gausman from Toronto, for two minor leaguers. This year, Gausman is 5-10, 4.38 in 23 starts; he might make his first start for the Cubs Thursday against the Blue Jays, in a makeup game from an earlier rainout.

— Mets traded P Freddy Peralta to Tampa Bay, for three minor leaguers. This year, Peralta was 5-9, 4.99 in 22 starts for the Mets. Hopefully, Tampa Bay’s infielders will play better defense in his starts than the Mets did.

— Bronx acquired 2B/1B Luis Garcia Jr from Washington, in exchange for four right-handed pitchers. This year, Garcia has hit 23 homers, has 76 RBI and a league-best .560 slugging %age.

— Atlanta Braves acquired P Tyler Mahle from San Francisco, in exchange for a minor league pitcher. This year, Mahle is 3-9, 5.13 in 18 starts, but he’s on a better team now.

— Astros 7, Rangers 3
Yordan Alvarez went 4-for-5, with two RBI
Astros scored four runs in the bottom of the 7th.
Houston leads the AL West by 2.5 games.
Rangers are 55-57, have lost five games in a row.

— Mariners 7, Twins 6
Colt Emerson had a walk-off single for Seattle.
Seattle led 6-0 in the 8th inning, blew the lead, then won at the end.
George Kirby threw seven shutout IP for the Mariners.

— AL West standings:
Astros 58-55
Rangers 55-57, 2.5 GB
Mariners 55-58, 3 GB
A’s 45-67, 12.5 GB
Angels 43-69, 14.5 GB

— Famous birthdays, August 3rd:
Martin Sheen, 86
Lance Alworth, 86
Todd Christensen, 70
Mike Gminski, 67
Mackey Sasser, 64

Kevin Elster, 62
Michael Ealy, 53
Troy Glaus, 50
Tom Brady, 49
Todd Gurley, 32

Dante Fowler, 32
Zac Gallen, 31
Derwin James, 30
Alec Bohm, 30
Luis Robert, 29

— There is an NFL game on TV Thursday night; Panthers-Cardinals from Canton, OH at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

— Guardians 5, Diamondbacks 0
Gavin Williams gave up one hit in 5.2 IP, striking out 10 guys.
Diamondbacks didn’t get a hit until the sixth inning.
Arizona had bases loaded in 6th/9th innings, but didn’t score.

— White Sox 9, Rays 1
Anthony Kay threw 6.1 scoreless IP.
Tampa Bay still leads the AL East by 2.5 games.
White Sox lead the AL Central by 3.5 games.

— AL Central
White Sox 59.52
Guardians 57-56, 3 GB
Twins 56-57, 4 GB
Tigers 54-58, 5.5 GB
Royals 46-67, 14 GB

— Bronx 2, Cubs 1
Gerrit Cole got 17 outs, gave up four hits and a run.
Jose Caballero hit a two-run homer.
Cubs were 1-9 with runners in scoring position.

— NL Central standings:
Brewers 69-42
Cubs 63-49, 6.5 GB
Pirates 56-57, 14 GB
Cardinals 55-57, 14.5 GB
Reds 53-58, 16 GB

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
AL: Rays, White Sox, Astros. Wild Cards: Bronx, Red Sox, Guardians
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Arizona

— Saturday night, Dodgers acquired Tarik Skubal from Detroit, for three prospects:

OF Zyhir Hope
P River Ryan
P Brady Smith

Most people on the Interweb are saying the Dodgers underpaid.

— White Sox are buyers at the trade deadline; they acquired P Luis Castillo from Seattle, in exchange for a relief pitcher, a journeyman OF and a minor league catcher. 

Castillo is 33 years old; he is 3-9, 5.06 in 20 games this year, 2-5, 5.07 in 11 starts away from Seattle’s pitcher-friendly ballpark.

— Rays 1, White Sox 0
Drew Rasmussen pitched six shutout IP, struck out 10 guys.
Nick Fortes knocked in the only run, with a 5th-inning single.
Tampa Bay leads the AL East by 3.5 games.

— Marlins 6, Mets 2
Liam Hicks reached base four times, had two RBI.
Marlins have stolen 2+ bases in a game 35 times this year.
Mets honored the 1986 World Series championship team before the game.

— Red Sox 3, Dodgers 2
Ceddanne Rafaela homered his first two times up.
Peyton Tolle allowed 11 baserunners in 6 IP, but only two runs.
Red Sox are 22-4 in their last 26 games.

— Phillies 5, Orioles 0
Cristopher Sanchez threw six shutout IP, struck out 11 guys.
Sanchez threw 99 pitches; only nine were hit in fair territory, only two were hits.
Phillies lead San Diego by a game for the NL’s last Wild Card slot.

— Padres 6, Giants 5
Jake Cronenworth had a walk-off single to end the game.
Giants are 26-27 at home, 21-36 on the road.
San Diego is 19-15 against its NL West rivals.

— Rockies 12, Royals 6
Hunter Goodman homered twice, had four hits, five RBI.
Top four hitters in Colorado’s lineup went 11-20, with 8 runs scored, 10 RBI
Royals OF Lane Thomas was pulled from this game in 4th inning; he got traded to Atlanta

— Famous birthdays, August 2nd:
Joanna Cassidy, 81
Butch Patrick, 73
Perry Tuttle, 67

Cedric Ceballos, 67
Mary-Louise Parker, 62
Mike Venafro, 53

Grady Sizemore, 44
Paul DeJong, 33
Kristaps Porzingis, 31

College football knowledge
— Under Kirby Smart, Georgia Bulldogs are:
22-36-1 ATS as a home favorite.
22-16 ATS as a road favorite.

— In his career, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian is:
10-5 ATS as a home underdog.
10-20 ATS as a road underdog. 

— Last six years, Alabama is 28-10-1 ATS as a home favorite.
In his career, Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer is 7-1 ATS as an underdog.

— Since 2016, Oklahoma is 7-1 ATS as a road underdog.
Sooners lost their last four bowl games, giving up 32 ppg.

— Under coach Elko, Texas A&M is 7-17 ATS as a favorite.
Last four years, Aggies are 4-15 ATS in non-conference games.

— Last three years, Tennessee is 9-14-1 ATS in SEC games.
In his career, Josh Heupel is 25-11 ATS in non-conference games.

— Home team won/covered last six LSU-Ole Miss games.
New LSU coach/former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin brings his Tigers back to Oxford September 19th, which should be good theater.

— Under Shane Beamer, South Carolina is 16-9 ATS as a favorite.
Road team covered last eight Georgia-South Carolina games.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
AL: Rays, White Sox, Astros. Wild Cards: Bronx, Red Sox, Clev/Minn
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Arizona

— Orioles 6, Phillies 4
Baltimore scored four runs in bottom of the 7th inning.
Orioles went 15-8 in July; they’re 2.5 games out of the playoffs.
Phillies are 3-10 since the All-Star break.

— Diamondbacks 4, Guardians 1
Arizona scored four times in top of the 8th inning.
Diamondbacks are 13-5 in their last 18 games.
Cleveland lost seven of its last nine games.

— White Sox 6, Rays 1
Chicago hit four home runs off of Nick Martinez.
Erick Fedde allowed only four hits in his five IP.
Tampa Bay leads the AL East by 2.5 games.

— Marlins 5, Mets 3
Kyle Stowers homered for the second game in a row.
Joe Mack was 2-for-4, with two RBI.
Freddy Peralta was scratched; he is supposed to be traded this weekend.

— Astros 11, Rangers 2
Astros are 9-1 in last 10 games; they moved into first place in AL West
Yainer Diaz was 4-for-5, hit a homer, scored twice.
Isaac Paredes hit his 15h home run of the season.

— Red Sox 9, Dodgers 4
Ceddane Rafaela hit a two-run homer in the 7th inning.
Shohei Ohtani hit his 24th home run of the season.
Willson Contreras got hit in the head by a pitch, eventually left the game.

— Twins 5, Mariners 3
Luke Keaschall hit the go-ahead double in the 7th inning.
Twins/Cleveland are tied for AL’s last playoff spot.
Seattle has lost eight of its last ten games.

— Famous birthdays, August 1st:
Terry Kiser, 87
Greg Gross, 74
Kiki Vandeweghe, 68
Greg Bell, 64
Pat Carter, 60

Gregg Jefferies, 59
Edgerrin James, 48
Adam Jones, 41
Madison Bumgarner, 37
Austin Rivers, 34

— First round pairings for the Maui Classic basketball tournament, in November:
Clemson vs Ole Miss
BYU vs Washington
VCU vs Providence
Arizona vs Colorado State

— Seattle pitcher Bryan Woo’s home/away splits:
Home: nine starts: 6-0, 2.20
Away: 12 starts: 1-8, 6.71

— When the Mariners played in Dodger Stadium earlier this week, Julio Rodriguez was wearing earplugs. Apparently after you’ve had a concussion, loud music isn’t good for your equilibrium, and Dodger Stadium is well-known for having very loud music.

Rodriguez wasn’t wearing earplugs when the Mariners played at home Friday night.

— RBI leaders in the major leagues:
84- Sal Stewart, Cinc
83- CJ Abrams, Wash
82- Yordan Alvarez, Hous
79- Jordan Walker, StL
76- Luis Garcia, Wash

— Orioles traded P Dean Kremer to Minnesota Friday night, for OF Jhomnardo Reyes, the Twins’ #24-ranked prospect. Reyes is playing in the Class A Florida State League. Kremer was in his 7th year for Baltimore; he is 1-4, 6.50 in seven starts this year.

— Chicago White Sox, the last four years:
2023: 61-101
2024: 41-121
2025: 60-102
2026: 58-51

I think Will Venable is going to be AL Manager of the Year

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
AL: Rays, White Sox, Astros. Wild Cards: Bronx, Red Sox, Clev/Minn
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Arizona