Sports
Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani strives to continue stellar pitching in clash vs. Marlins
Apr 22, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) pitches during the first inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images The Los Angeles Dodgers are tightening Shohei Ohtani’s pitching schedule as the right-hander prepares to take the mound Tuesday night against the visiting Miami Marlins.
The outing means that Ohtani (2-0, 0.38 ERA) will pitch on five days of rest for just the third time in 19 career starts for the Dodgers. He has pitched on at least six days’ rest in each of his four starts this season.
“We talked to Shohei, (and) he feels good about going on Tuesday,” said Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts, who will move right-hander Tyler Glasnow back a day after he threw eight shutout innings last Thursday in a 3-0 victory over San Francisco.
Ohtani is 1-0 with an 0.69 ERA in two career starts against the Marlins but has not pitched against them as a member of the Dodgers.
Ohtani has allowed just one earned run over 24 innings this season. But his increased focus on pitching had come at a cost before a recent offensive surge.
He was batting .240 before collecting three hits in each of his last two games. His RBI double in the ninth inning on Monday set the stage for Kyle Tucker’s game-winning, two-run single as the Dodgers rallied for a 5-4 victory over Miami in the series opener.
Even with his star’s recent success at the plate, Roberts will use Ohtani only as a pitcher on Tuesday. It will be the second time this season Ohtani will pitch and not hit in the same game.
“Hopefully he doesn’t put too much weight into it,” Roberts said about an ongoing debate that Ohtani should focus on a single discipline during his pitching days. “I don’t talk to him too much about it, to be quite honest. But he is well aware of what’s being said about him.”
The Marlins will send right-hander Janson Junk (1-2, 3.67 ERA) to the mound on Tuesday in the middle contest of the three-game series.
Junk is coming off his best outing of the season when he gave up one hit over five scoreless innings in a 4-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday.
Marlins manager Clayton McCullough pulled Junk from the outing after just 56 pitches as the Cardinals were set to go through the lineup for a third time.
“Being a competitor, I’m frustrated, but overall, as a team, where we were, where we are, it’s like, ‘All right, I’m OK with getting a win,'” said Junk, who has never faced the Dodgers.
“At the end of the day, that’s the only thing that’s important to me.”
The Dodgers rallied for the victory on Monday against Marlins right-handed closer Pete Fairbanks, who departed in the ninth inning with numbness in his right hand. He was charged with three runs in one-third of an inning, took the loss, and reportedly is day-to-day because of the issue.
The Marlins activated infielder/outfielder Christopher Morel from the injured list. He did not play in the series opener.
Morel, who signed with Miami as a free agent in the offseason, suffered an oblique injury during batting practice before the opening game of the season.
“I just have to focus on the present, forget what happened,” Morel said through an interpreter. “Past is the past. Just continue helping the team any way we can and just focus on winning games.”
Morel is expected to see most of his playing time at first base, a position he did not play until this spring.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Walk-filled third inning helps Pirates beat Reds, snap 4-game skid
Cincinnati Reds second baseman Matt McLain (9) tags out Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Esmerlyn Valdez (55) on his way to second in the third inning between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Saturday, August 1, 2026. Pittsburgh starter Braxton Ashcraft threw five solid innings and Jake Mangum had two hits and a run to lift the visiting Pirates to a 4-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.
Ashcraft (11-4) allowed one run on two hits with one walk and five strikeouts before a 106-minute weather delay preceded the bottom of the sixth inning.
Bryan Reynolds, Esmerlyn Valdez, Nick Gonzales and Henry Davis finished with an RBI apiece for the Pirates, who snapped a four-game losing streak.
Gregory Soto pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his 14th save. Three Pittsburgh pitchers combined to hold Cincinnati to three hits. The Pirates recorded six hits.
Pittsburgh took a 3-0 lead in the third despite collecting only one hit. Davis drew a leadoff walk from starter Andrew Abbott (5-7), then Mangum singled and Brandon Lowe coaxed a walk to load the bases. Reynolds and Valdez drew consecutive bases-loaded walks to make it 2-0.
Gonzales followed with a fielder’s choice to plate Brandon Lowe and give the Pirates a three-run lead. As a steady rain fell throughout the inning, the grounds crew briefly tended to the mound.
Cincinnati got on the board in the fifth when Jose Trevino opened the frame with an opposite-field homer to right.
The Pirates extended their advantage to 4-1 in the sixth when Davis feathered an RBI single into shallow center, just beyond the reach of a diving TJ Friedl.
The Reds, who were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, threatened in the fourth. Sal Stewart was hit by a pitch before being forced out at second on JJ Bleday’s fielder’s choice. Nathaniel Lowe singled to center and, after Noelvi Marte popped out, Bleday advanced to third when no one covered second on Ashcraft’s pickoff attempt. But Eugenio Suarez struck out to end the inning.
Elly De La Cruz lined a rocket to center to open the eighth, but Mangum chased it down and made a leaping catch.
Abbott allowed three runs on three hits while matching a season high with five walks over five innings. He struck out one.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Braves acquire Royals OF Lane Thomas, LHP Bailey Falter
Jul 29, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Kansas City Royals center fielder Lane Thomas (15) hits a single against the Minnesota Twins in the ninth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images The Atlanta Braves added depth on the offensive and pitching sides on Saturday night, acquiring outfielder Lane Thomas and left-hander Bailey Falter from the Kansas City Royals.
In exchange for Thomas and Falter, Atlanta is sending right-hander Lucas Braun and left-hander Carter Holton to Kansas City. According to MLB Pipeline, Braun is the Braves’ No. 8 prospect. Thomas started Saturday’s road game in center field against the host Colorado Rockies, then was lifted in the fourth inning.
Thomas, 30, signed a one-year, $5.25 million deal in the offseason with the Royals and moved into an every-day role when center fielder Kyle Isbel went on the injured list on June 10. From that date through July 20, Thomas hit .262 with seven home runs, 12 doubles, 17 runs and 20 RBIs. For the season, he is hitting .232 with 10 home runs and 37 RBIs in 97 games.
An eight-year veteran, Thomas was a fifth-round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2014 MLB Draft and debuted with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017. He also played for the Washington Nationals and Cleveland Guardians before joining the Royals and is a .240 hitter with 86 homers and 291 RBIs over 696 games.
Falter, 29, has only pitched in five games (two starts) this season, going 0-2 with a 13.97 ERA while spending time on the injured list with left elbow inflammation. A fifth-round pick of the Philadelphia Phillies in 2015, Falter is 25-32 with a 4.77 ERA in 119 games (85 starts) with the Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates and Royals over six seasons.
Braun, who turns 25 later this month, was selected in the sixth round by the Braves in 2023 and reached Double-A Columbus in his first full minor-league season in 2024. In 19 games (17 starts) for Columbus and Triple-A Gwinnett this year, Braun went 8-6 with a 3.53 ERA, 82 strikeouts and 27 walks in 94 1/3 innings. Over his minor league career, he is 24-18 with a 3.43 ERA in 77 games (73 starts), posting 421 strikeouts and 113 walks in 414 2/3 innings.
Holton, 23, was a second-round pick of the Braves in 2024 and is 2-2 with a 4.32 ERA in 10 games (eight starts) this season between Augusta in the Carolina League and the Florida Complex League. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2024 and missed the entire 2025 season.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Dallas' Jonathan Sirois (9 saves) comes up big in draw vs. Galaxy
Aug 1, 2026; Carson, California, USA; FC Dallas forward Petar Musa (9) kicks the ball into the face of LA Galaxy midfielder Justin Haak (15) during the first half at Dignity Health Sports Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-Imagn Images Jonathan Sirois made nine saves to help FC Dallas preserve a 0-0 draw against the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday night at Carson, Calif.
It was only Dallas’ fifth clean sheet, and the first of the season for the 25-year-old Canadian, who returned to the net last weekend when new acquisition Daniel had to depart with a hamstring injury.
Sirois’ performance helped Dallas (7-5-6, 27 points) improve to 2-2-1 five matches into a stretch of nine consecutive away league fixtures during the latest phase of an ongoing construction project at its home stadium.
J.T. Marcinkowski made four stops to keep his second clean sheet and a third for the Galaxy (5-7-7, 22 points), who are winless in their last five.
Los Angeles led 18-16 in shots and 9-4 in efforts on target, but missed a chance to go above the playoff line had it been able to find a goal and earn a third home win of the season.
Sirois’ best moment in the first half came on saves of John Nelson and Marco Reus in the 37th and 38th minutes before Harbor Miller followed with another attempt that missed high of the frame.
He was even busier after the break.
He denied Joseph Paintsil in the 58th minute with a lunging stop to his left, and substitute Kyogo Furuhashi 10 minutes later with a comfortable save from the Galaxy newcomer’s first real involvement in the game.
Then came the dying stages, when the Galaxy finally showed some desperation but could not solve Sirois.
In the 90th minute, he arched back to push Jakob Glesnes’ arcing header over the crossbar for arguably his finest stop of the match.
Just a moment later in second-half stoppage time, he intervened on what may have been an intended cross by Paintsil from the right side of the penalty area, nonetheless providing an important pair of sure hands for the visitors.
After that, he easily handled another effort from Nelson that came in at a catchable height, and punched away Reus’ free-kick service on what was the final kick of the game.
–Field Level Media
Walk-filled third inning helps Pirates beat Reds, snap 4-game skid
Braves acquire Royals OF Lane Thomas, LHP Bailey Falter
