Sports
Nobody Wants To Play the San Diego Padres in the MLB Playoffs
One hundred games into a 162-game season, the San Diego Padres were 50-50. They were getting ready to burp away another year of the primes of Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado, not to mention the outlier season of Jurickson Profar’s career.
On Saturday night, they blanked Arizona 5-0 in Phoenix to improve to 43-18 since falling to .500 on a July evening in Cleveland. They did so with half the starting lineup taking a night off and a fill-in starter from Triple-A El Paso, Randy Vasquez, allowing just one hit to a Diamondbacks team desperate for a win.
“There’s no question this club, regardless of who we put out there, is going to compete,” said first-year manager Mike Shildt.
What a 180-degree turn from last year, when San Diego folded at the first sign of adversity and consistently failed to win the close ones. Bob Melvin managed one of the game’s most star-studded rosters to an 82-80 record and missed the playoffs in what was likely the most disappointing season in the history of a franchise that knows a lot about disappointing seasons.
This is not one of those seasons, which is why you might want to lay a few pennies on the Padres if you’re looking for a cheap value pick in the National League.
Lots of “smart” money will be wagered on the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. But Los Angeles’ pitching staff is thinner than a runway model, and Philadelphia has been a sub-.500 team in the last 65 games.
Which brings us back to why San Diego is your NL sleeper. Not only is it playing the best ball of any of the contenders since mid-July, it also might have the fewest weaknesses of any of the playoff teams.
They might not have starting pitching as good as the Phillies, but Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Dylan Cease and Michael King are a solid rotation. Cease has more strikeouts than anyone not named Tarik Skubal or Chris Sale, while Darvish and Musgrove are finally healthy after missing long chunks of the season. King was a revelation, pitching to a 2.95 earned run average in 31 starts during his first full year in an MLB rotation.
The Padres can match bullpens with anyone. Even with his September slump, Robert Suarez notched 36 saves and nine wins. Tanner Scott and Jason Adam are excellent set-up men, while Jeremiah Estrada and Adrian Morejon could close for many MLB teams.
Offensively, San Diego has somehow gotten better after trading Juan Soto, an act of prestidigitation that might allow general manager A.J. Preller to keep his job after last year’s flop.
Its lineup has more depth from top to bottom, illustrated by 17 homers from No. 9 hitter Kyle Higashioka. It leads MLB in batting average and is top 10 in on-base, slugging percentage and runs. It also boasts less swing-and-miss than any lineup in the bigs, posting the fewest strikeouts.
Think that doesn’t mean anything? Want to look at one of the hidden reasons why Houston has been good for a decade? It also doesn’t strike out a lot. Despite the baseball nerds’ insistence that strikeouts don’t mean anything, whiffing gives a team one less chance to make an opponent handle the ball.
Remember Mookie Wilson’s grounder that skirted through Bill Buckner’s legs in 1986? Doesn’t happen if Wilson doesn’t make contact. Putting a ball in play always trumps swinging from your tuckus and missing by a foot.
That described the Padres’ 2023.
It won’t describe their 2024 playoff run.
Sports
Hunter Brown in control, Astros down White Sox for 5th straight
Jul 25, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Houston Astros pitcher Hunter Brown (58) throws the ball against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images Hunter Brown allowed two hits over seven shutout innings and Isaac Paredes drove in three runs to lead the Houston Astros to a 4-1 win over the host Chicago White Sox on Saturday night.
Jeremy Pena was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and Paredes 2-for 4 for the Astros, who have won five straight, including the first two of the three-game weekend series.
The White Sox, who managed five hits, have lost three of their last four.
They threatened in the eighth with runners on second and third and two out, but reliever Bennett Sousa replaced Bryan Abreu and got pinch hitter Randall Grichuk on a pop up to first.
After Colson Montgomery’s RBI single in the ninth, Josh Hader came in to get the last two outs for his 12th save.
Brown (2-1) finished strong, setting down 12 consecutive batters from the fourth through seventh innings. The right-hander did not walk a batter and struck out seven as he fired 60 strikes in 90 pitches.
Chicago starter Sean Burke (7-5) surrendered three runs (two earned) on four hits in six innings with a walk and 10 strikeouts.
It was a 0-0 pitcher’s duel through five with Burke also retiring 12 in a row, from the second through the fifth, but heading for trouble.
The streak was broken when Burke hit Cam Smith leading off the sixth. Pena’s single and a walk to Yordan Alvarez loaded the bases. Paredes then grounded a single to right that got past right fielder Braden Montgomery for an error that also allowed Alvarez to score, for a 3-0 Houston lead, and Paredes to reach third.
Burke then limited the damage by getting Jose Altuve on a groundout and striking out LaMonte Wade Jr. and Christian Walker.
Paredes added an RBI single in the eighth to make it 4-0.
White Sox left fielder Sam Antonnaci robbed Paredes, who was leading off the fourth, of a likely home run with a leaping catch of Paredes’ long drive by pulling the ball in just above the fence.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Robert Gasser holds Rockies in check as Brewers win
Jul 25, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Robert Gasser (54) delivers a pitch against the Colorado Rockies in the fourth inning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images Cooper Pratt homered and drove in three runs, Robert Gasser tossed six solid innings, and the host Milwaukee Brewers beat the Colorado Rockies 8-5 on Saturday night.
Luis Lara had two hits and also drove in three runs, Jake Bauers contributed two hits and scored three times and Brice Turang added two hits for Milwaukee.
The Brewers have won four of five games from Colorado this season, with the teams wrapping up the 2026 schedule Sunday.
Gasser (3-4), in his first career start against the Rockies, allowed two runs on five hits, struck out four and didn’t walk a batter.
Jake McCarthy extended his on-base streak to 19 games with a single and Kyle Karros had two hits for Colorado.
The Brewers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Bauers led off with a walk, stole second and went to third on a groundout. Lara drove him in with a sacrifice fly and Pratt hit a solo home run, his second of the season.
Colorado rallied to tie it in the fourth.
Karros led off with a single, Cole Carrigg doubled and Hunter Goodman followed with a two-run single.
Milwaukee went back in front in the bottom of the inning when Pratt drove in Bauers with a single, and then broke it open in the sixth inning.
William Contreras and Bauers started the rally with singles, chasing starter Ryan Feltner (3-5), who allowed five runs on nine hits in five-plus innings. Juan Mejia walked Garrett Mitchell to load the bases and Lara drove in two with a double to left.
Pratt’s sacrifice fly made it 6-2 and Rockies catcher Braxton Fulford’s throwing error on a pickoff attempt at third allowed Lara to come home. The Brewers tacked on a run in the eighth on Christian Yelich’s sacrifice fly.
But Colorado mounted a rally in the ninth. The Rockies loaded the bases on two walks and a fielder’s choice, and McCarthy drove in two with a single. Trevor Megill gave up an RBI single to Karros before striking out Carrigg to earn his 17th save.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Nathan Eovaldi leads Rangers to another win over Mariners
Jul 25, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (17) delivers a pitch to the Seattle Mariners during the first inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images Nathan Eovaldi pitched seven strong innings as the Texas Rangers defeated the visiting Seattle Mariners 7-1 Saturday night in Arlington, Texas. to increase their lead over the defending American League West champions to 2 1/2 games.
The top three batters in Texas’ order — Joc Pederson, Wyatt Langford and Ezequiel Duran — went a combined 8-for-13 with three doubles, a triple, three RBIs and four runs. The Rangers have won the first two games of the four-game series.
Eovaldi allowed one run on three hits — a one-out single by J.P. Crawford in the third then a two-out single by Luke Raley followed by a double to right by Crawford to score Seattle’s lone run in the fifth. The veteran right-hander walked one and struck out eight.
The Rangers scored three runs in the first inning and two more in the second against Seattle’s Bryan Woo (7-7), whose road woes continued.
In the first, Langford lined a one-out double to right field and Duran followed with a liner that eluded a diving center fielder Raley and rolled all the way to the wall for a run-scoring triple. Following a walk to Brandon Nimmo, Evan Carter doubled down the left field line to score Duran. Nicky Lopez’s groundout to short scored the third run.
Woo retired the first two batters in the second on a total of three pitchers before Pederson grounded a single to right and stole second. Langford hit a run-scoring double to left and Duran lined an RBI single to center to make it 5-0.
Woo gave up five runs on nine hits over five innings, with two walks and five strikeouts. The right-hander dropped to 1-7 in away games this season with a 6.52 ERA.
The Rangers added two runs in the seventh. Carter drew a two-out walk off Cole Wilcox, who was replaced by Nick Davila. Carter advanced to second on a balk and Lopez walked. Alejandro Osuna doubled to center, scoring both runners.
–Field Level Media
Hunter Brown in control, Astros down White Sox for 5th straight
Robert Gasser holds Rockies in check as Brewers win
