The Mets are recalling second baseman Luisangel Acuña from Triple-A Syracuse, according to a report Sunday by Jon Heyman.
New York’s potential move comes as MLB rosters expand to 28 players Monday.
Acuña, 23, has been with Syracuse since the Mets optioned him to Triple-A Aug. 18.
He most recently played for Syracuse in Saturday’s 2-0 win over the Yankees‘ Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, posting a 1-for-4 game with a ninth-inning double.
In 28 games for Syracuse this season, Acuña is slashing .303/.347/.395 with 10 RBI.
He has a .239/.295/.283 slash line and seven RBI in his 79 games with the Mets this year.
Dodgers pinch-hitter Will Smith celebrates after hitting a walk-off home run in the ninth inning of a 5-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium on Sunday afternoon. (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Even before they blew a late-game, three-run lead.
As a clearly frustrated Dave Roberts put it ahead of first pitch, the team needed to “not get embarrassed” in the face of a potential three-game sweep by the Arizona Diamondbacks, and play with a level of “pride” that had been missing the previous two nights in this unexpectedly challenging weekend series.
“Whatever it is, we’ve got to do it right now,” the manager said. “We’ve got to win today. We’ve got to play better baseball. … There’s more in there. There just is.”
In the 5-4, walk-off win over the Diamondbacks that followed, his team finally delivered despite self-inflicted adversity.
After letting the Diamondbacks (68-70) get back into the game, and nearly squandering Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s seven-inning gem, the Dodgers prevailed on Will Smith’s pinch-hit, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth, moving two games up in the National League West standings after the San Diego Padres’ rubber-match loss to the Minnesota Twins earlier in the day.
The win should have been simpler.
Yamamoto gave up just one run and tied his career-high with 10 strikeouts without conceding a single walk. The Dodgers’ lineup, meanwhile, wore down Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt with competitive early at-bats. They scored twice in the first after leadoff hits from Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts, plus an RBI double from Freddie Freeman, and again in the fourth and fifth when Miguel Rojas and Andy Pages each delivered full-count singles to score a run.
“I thought today there was a lot of fight,” Roberts said. “Today was a good sign. I was pleased with today.”
Tanner Scott, however, almost wasted the good vibes.
In the eighth, he gave up a pair of two-out singles before Corbin Carroll took him deep for a tying three-run blast. The long ball was the ninth Scott has surrendered this year, compared to the 11 total he had yielded over the past three seasons. It came on the kind of misplaced, center-cut fastball that has plagued him repeatedly, leaving the $72-million offseason acquisition to be booed on his way off the mound as his ERA rose to 4.44.
“You never want to see the ball leave the park, especially in that situation,” Scott said. “It’s super frustrating.”
Dodgers reliever Tanner Scott pitches in the eighth inning Sunday. (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Yet, at what felt like another inflection point in the season, the Dodgers responded.
And, in an unexpected turn, it was Smith who saved the day.
After leading the NL batting race for much of the season, the veteran catcher had been mired in a deep slump. He was batting .147 in August. He had hit only two home runs in his previous 28 games.
Behind the scenes, though, coaches continued to praise his work. When pressed on his struggles, Smith pointed to mechanical flaws he was trying to iron out.
“I always say the game honors you, and Will has been going through it,” Roberts said. “But he’s been working his tail off. And today he reaped some benefit.”
Indeed, his reward came in the form of a 420-foot, stinging missile of a walk-off homer — driving the second pitch he saw into the left-field pavilion.
“We needed it. We needed a win in this series,” said Smith, who has four career pinch-hit, walk-off homers — the second most in MLB history.
“The first two [games of this series] got away,” Smith added. “Had the early lead [today]. Yoshi pitched really well, gave us a great start. Unfortunately, they got back in it, tied it up. But yeah, we were able to come up on top. … Every win going forward is going to be huge.”
Dodgers catcher Will Smith celebrates after hitting a walk-off home run in the ninth inning Sunday.
Freddie Freeman, left, and Alex Call, center, and other Dodgers players celebrate with Will Smith, right, as he crosses home plate.
Will Smith, left, celebrates with Alex Call, right, and his Dodgers teammates. Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times
Granted, any feeling of progress from the Dodgers (78-59) will remain tempered for now.
Whether Sunday proves to be a momentum-builder — or just another flash of promise that once again fizzles — remains to be seen as they enter September.
Coming into the weekend, the Dodgers appeared to be riding high. They had won four straight games, including a three-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds. Their offense looked to be rounding a corner, finally pairing up with a strong run of pitching the way the front office envisioned when they built this supposed juggernaut in the winter.
But then, Friday and Saturday produced the kind of maddening, reality-check performances that have dogged the club repeatedly over the second half of the season.
There was listless offense at the plate both nights, amounting to one run off Arizona’s beleaguered pitching staff in 18 innings. There were fundamental miscues on the bases and on defense, lapses Roberts boiled down to a simple lack of focus.
“I wish I had an answer for you,” Rojas said of the team’s struggles to find consistency. “We’re all frustrated. Coming out of the off-day [on Thursday, we played] pretty flat the last couple days.”
It was yet another unexpected drop in the team’s roller-coaster season.
Another example of the team taking two steps forward, then one stark jump back in their efforts to try and protect first place in the division.
“There has to be a point where that has to be sharpened,” Roberts said. “And that’s where, I feel, the time is now.”
Asked before the game why his team has wavered so much, Roberts struggled to find an answer.
He alluded to a potential World Series hangover, noting “when you’re playing a long season, you’re defending champions, people are coming after you — which we know and understand — it’s just hard to keep that dialed-in focus every single night. That’s just reality.” (Rojas also mentioned that dynamic, though insisted it’s “not an excuse.”)
Roberts highlighted the lack of reliable production from veteran players, as well — coinciding with his decision Sunday to leave Teoscar Hernández on the bench, in favor of Alex Call in right field, amid a recent three-for-27 slump that has been compounded by persistently shaky defense.
“He’s an everyday guy,” Roberts said of Hernández, whom the team hopes will benefit from a “two-day reset” between Sunday’s day off and Monday’s travel day. “But I do think that where we’re at, you’ve got to perform too, to warrant being out there every single day.”
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers during the fourth inning Sunday against the Diamondbacks. (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Roberts said that thinking would apply to the rest of the lineup, too, in an aim to raise his players’ late-season urgency and steady their ever-teetering focus.
“I do think that a flip can be switched,” Roberts said. “Each day should be equally important. Every little play, pitch, should be equally important. ‘How you do anything is how you do everything,’ that kind of adage, I believe in that.”
And on Sunday, at least, his team managed to persevere.
“It’s just really focus on this last month, just go pitch to pitch … and do what we need to do, do the little things,” Smith said. “We can’t try to win the game in one pitch. All the little things add up each and every day, each and every inning. That’s how you win baseball games.”
The challenge will be replicating that formula over the season’s final month, and ensuring Sunday’s gut-check victory is not wasted on clunkers marred by self-inflicted mistakes.
“It’s going to take every little ounce of us to do what we want to do,” Rojas said. “I feel like we should be playing way better baseball than what we did the last couple days, and today we showed that we play a really quality game.”
Los Angeles Angels outfielder Taylor Ward was carted off the field on Sunday afternoon in Houston after he crashed face-first into the scoreboard wall at Daikin Park.
In the eighth inning of the Angels’ 3-0 win over the Astros, Ward went sprinting back to try and make a catch after Astros second baseman Ramon Urías hit a deep ball toward the wall. Ward ended up turning and slamming into the metal scoreboard head-first, which sent him immediately crashing back into the dirt as the ball rolled back.
Urías ended up with a double. Ward, who quickly bounced back up to his feet, turned and headed for the team’s bullpen behind him while calling for help with blood gushing out of his head. He was eventually carted off the field.
The team said later that Ward’s right eye appeared to be OK, and that there was a cut above it that needed stitches. Further specifics of his injury are not yet known, though he was taken to a local hospital via an ambulance.
“Obviously he hit the wall pretty good,” interim manager Ray Montgomery said, via The Associated Press. “He’s got a cut above his eye.”
While there are plenty of signs and varying outfield walls throughout the league, it’s the fact that there is a metal scoreboard so low to the ground in Houston that left fellow Angels outfielder Jo Adell extremely upset and calling out the Astros ballpark after the game. Adell was injured by the same wall in 2021 while playing in left field, too.
“He’s doing what he’s supposed to do. He’s being aggressive on a play,” Adell said, via the OC Register. “At the bottom line, and I’ve talked about this before, but there should be no out-of-town metal scoreboard anywhere on the baseball field. It’s the big leagues. This s*** is ridiculous.
“A guy goes back to make a play and he’s got to worry about a metal fence. That’s crazy … I pulled an oblique on it. I hit my head. I missed a month and a half of the season. At what point is it just not acceptable anymore?”
Ward currently holds a .228 batting average with a career-high 30 home runs and 94 RBI this season, his eighth in the league with the Angels. The win on Sunday moved the Angels to 64-72, which has them in fourth in the AL West and well back in the wild-card race. They’ll wrap up the four-game series with the Astros on Monday afternoon.
Los Angeles Angels outfielder Taylor Ward was carted off the field on Sunday afternoon in Houston after he crashed face-first into the scoreboard wall at Daikin Park.
In the eighth inning of the Angels’ 3-0 win over the Astros, Ward went sprinting back to try and make a catch after Astros second baseman Ramon Urías hit a deep ball toward the wall. Ward ended up turning and slamming into the metal scoreboard head-first, which sent him immediately crashing back into the dirt as the ball rolled back.
Urías ended up with a double. Ward, who quickly bounced back up to his feet, turned and headed for the team’s bullpen behind him while calling for help with blood gushing out of his head. He was eventually carted off the field.
The team said later that Ward’s right eye appeared to be OK, and that there was a cut above it that needed stitches. Further specifics of his injury are not yet known, though he was taken to a local hospital via an ambulance.
“Obviously he hit the wall pretty good,” interim manager Ray Montgomery said, via The Associated Press. “He’s got a cut above his eye.”
While there are plenty of signs and varying outfield walls throughout the league, it’s the fact that there is a metal scoreboard so low to the ground in Houston that left fellow Angels outfielder Jo Adell extremely upset and calling out the Astros ballpark after the game. Adell was injured by the same wall in 2021 while playing in left field, too.
“He’s doing what he’s supposed to do. He’s being aggressive on a play,” Adell said, via the OC Register. “At the bottom line, and I’ve talked about this before, but there should be no out-of-town metal scoreboard anywhere on the baseball field. It’s the big leagues. This s*** is ridiculous.
“A guy goes back to make a play and he’s got to worry about a metal fence. That’s crazy … I pulled an oblique on it. I hit my head. I missed a month and a half of the season. At what point is it just not acceptable anymore?”
Ward currently holds a .228 batting average with a career-high 30 home runs and 94 RBI this season, his eighth in the league with the Angels. The win on Sunday moved the Angels to 64-72, which has them in fourth in the AL West and well back in the wild-card race. They’ll wrap up the four-game series with the Astros on Monday afternoon.
New York’s captain launched his second homer in as many days, bringing his season total to 43 through 127 games, but more importantly tied Yogi Berra on the franchise’s home run list with 358 career long balls.
“The most important thing’s trying to get a win, especially when you can finish off a series sweep right there, so not getting that kind of stings,” Judge said, referencing the Yankees (76-61) squandering a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning against the White Sox (49-88) and snapping New York’s win streak at seven games. “But you get a chance to tie one of the greatest — if not the greatest — Yankee in homers is pretty special.
“The way Yogi played the game, what he meant to the pinstripes — you knew how much it meant, being a New York Yankee, to him. I feel the same way. I’m honored to wear this jersey. So, it’s pretty cool to be on that list with him.”
Judge trails Joe DiMaggio (361), Lou Gehrig (493), Mickey Mantle (536) and Babe Ruth (659).
“It’s the company he belongs in,” Boone said. “When he came into the dugout, I yelled ‘Yogi’ out to him. He’s certainly earned his way into those rarified-air names with the career he’s put together so far.”
The Yankees selected Judge with the 2013 MLB Draft’s No. 32 overall pick in the first round. His MLB debut was Aug. 13, 2016, and spent time around veterans who told him of Berra’s firsthand influence.
“Didn’t get to see him too much — he was definitely around, over at big-league camp — but he was a special individual,” Judge said. “A lot of the veteran guys talked highly of him, as far as some of their favorite memories coming to spring training, was having the chance to talk to him during camp, just hear some of his stories, hear them say he just always had a smile on his face, was fun to be around.
“So, I didn’t get to have a lot of time with him, but he’s one of the greatest Yankees, one of the greatest players to play this game. So, it was pretty cool.”
Berra died Sept. 22, 2015. He was 90.
His decorated career as a player with the Yankees (1946-63) and Mets (1965) saw him total 18 All-Star selections, 10 World Series rings, three American League MVPs. The Yankees retired his No. 8, and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame’s 1972 class.
“He was a fantastic baseball player,” Judge said. “Ten World Series, that’s pretty impressive — that’s what we’re all chasing. Like I said, to be on a list with him, tie him — I think our statures are a little different, but it’s pretty cool.”
Judge, 33, is carving his own path.
“He’s as good as we’ve seen in this generation,” Boone said of Judge, who is a seven-time All-Star, two-time MVP and the AL’s single-season home run record holder, among other accolades.
CLEVELAND — Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz had their paid leaves extended indefinitely on Sunday as Major League Baseball continues an investigation to gauge their possible involvement in gambling during games.
Clase and Ortiz were initially set to sidelined until at least Aug. 31. MLB and the players’ union said in a news release they have agreed to extend the nondisciplinary paid leave “until further notice.”
The Guardians are not commenting until the investigation is completed.
It’s possible the pitchers will be out at least until the end of the regular season, which concludes Sept. 28. The Guardians recently cleared out their lockers, a sign Clase and Ortiz were unlikely to return in the final month.
Ortiz, who was acquired by Cleveland in an offseason trade from Pittsburgh, was placed on paid leave on July 3, the same day he was scheduled to start against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
MLB reportedly was looking into to whether Ortiz was influencing prop bets in games he pitched. His leave was supposed to end on July 17 but was later extended.
The 26-year-old Ortiz was 4-9 with a 4.36 ERA in 16 starts before his ban.
One of baseball’s top closers, Clase joined Ortiz on the sideline July 28 when MLB announced it had broadened its query to include the three-time All-Star.
Clase’s departure came just before the trade deadline. The Guardians were expected to receive numerous offers for the right-hander, who led the AL with 47 saves last season.
Clase had 24 saves and was 5-3 with a 3.23 ERA this season.
Cleveland has managed to hang around in the wild-card race despite losing Clase. Cade Smith has assumed the closer duties.
The inquiry into the actions of the Cleveland pitchers comes after MLB suspended five players for gambling in June 2024, including a lifetime ban for San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano.
CHICAGO — New York Yankees star Aaron Judge hit his 358th career homer in the first inning of Sunday’s game against the White Sox, moving into a tie with Yogi Berra for fifth in franchise history.
Judge drove an 0-2 cutter from Martín Pérez deep to center for a one-out solo drive. Judge’s 43rd homer of the season had a 112.6 mph exit velocity and traveled 426 feet.
He batted again in the third and doubled off the wall in center. He scampered home on Cody Bellinger’s double to right.
The 33-year-old Judge also connected for a solo homer in New York’s 11-inning victory at Chicago on Saturday night. The two-time AL MVP and seven-time All-Star was batting .218 (17 for 78) with five homers and 11 RBIs in August coming into the day.
Hall of Famers Babe Ruth (659 homers), Mickey Mantle (536), Lou Gehrig (493) and Joe DiMaggio (361) are on top of the Yankees’ career homers list. Judge’s drive produced the first change in the franchise’s top five since Aug. 7, 1957.
Judge was activated from the 10-day injured list on Aug. 5 after being sidelined by a flexor strain in his right elbow. He has been serving as the team’s designated hitter, but he could return to the outfield at some point this season.
“We’ve got to get him right, obviously,” manager Carlos Mendoza said following the 5-1 loss, with Miami taking three of four in the series. “I’m pretty sure we’re going to have some discussion about what’s next for him, but our job is to get him right. But it’s been a struggle, and again, we’ll see what’s next for him.”
As has been the case for most of his outings since coming off the IL in July, Senga struggled with his command, throwing just 43 of his 75 pitches for strikes as he went just 4.2 innings, allowing five earned runs on seven hits while striking out six and walking two.
“I think a lot of the things that we’ve seen the past couple of weeks or so where he’s having a hard time coming in the strike zone, a lot of uncompetitive pitches, ball out of the hand, and then he’s having a hard time competing in the strike zone,” Mendoza said of Senga’s issues. “We saw it today, every time he came in, they made him pay. On a slider there for a two-run homer [byAgustín Ramírez], they were aggressive, but it’s just executing and not getting ahead enough.
“When you get behind hitters, it’s hard to compete at this level.”
Senga echoed his manager’s thoughts, saying that while he feels healthy, he hasn’t been able to perform that way he’d like to.
“There’s definitely some frustration,” Senga said through an interpreter. “I’ve never experienced something like this for this extended period of time. There’s some confusion why I’m not able to perform, but at the same time, when I’m able to prepare well and able to do what I’m capable of out there, I know that I’m able to put up a good performance.”
In nine starts since coming off the IL, Senga has allowed three runs or more six times, and he’s yet to complete 6.0 innings in any of those outings.
Mendoza explained that pitching coach Jeremy Heffner and his staff have been working to try to get Senga right for quite some time now, and with rosters expanding to 28 players on Monday, perhaps there’s a chance that the Mets, who are currently utilizing a six-man rotation, could choose to handle Senga’s next turn through the rotation differently.
“We’ve been trying to fix him for quite a bit now,” Mendoza said. “Whether it’s the mechanics, he says he feels fine physically, but we’re not seeing the results.”
Santana, 39, had a .215/.316/.333 slash average for Cleveland with 10 doubles, 11 home runs and 52 RBI in 455 plate appearances this season. Yet he was in the lineup less during August as the Guardians gave more playing time to Kyle Manzardo and rookie C.J. Kayfus. Over the past month, he batted .186 with a .503 OPS in 48 PAs.
Adding Santana seems a bit curious since the Cubs are already getting strong production at first base. Michael Busch is batting .264/.343/.503 with 26 home runs and 76 RBI. At designated hitter, Seiya Suzuki has 28 doubles, 27 homers and 87 RBI to go with a .247/.325/.478 average.
Yet Santana is expected to sub in for Busch at first base when the Cubs face a left-handed pitcher, according to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. Busch is batting .195/.262/.299 versus lefties, while Santana — who is a switch-hitter — has a .235/.328/.353 average as a right-handed hitter against left-handers.
Santana’s addition might not bode well for Justin Turner, who had been playing at first base versus lefties. Turner has better numbers against left-handers, batting .271/.319/.435 and is hitting .212/.383/.315 overall. He is also likely to stick around because he’s a valued clubhouse leader. But as that .315 slugging percentage and his three home runs indicate, Turner is not providing much power.
Cubs sign pitcher Aaron Civale off waivers
Additionally, the Cubs signed pitcher Aaron Civale, bringing him across town after the Chicago White Sox placed him on waivers. While the Cubs officially announced signing Civale, the team has not confirmed adding Santana. Both players have to be on the roster by Sept. 1 to be eligible for postseason play.
Civale, 30, compiled a 5.37 ERA and 2-7 record in 13 starts for the White Sox this season while striking out 55 batters in 67 innings. Milwaukee traded him for Andrew Vaughn in June after he recorded a 4.91 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 22 innings.
For his career, Civale has a 4.18 ERA and a strikeout rate of 8.1 per nine innings. He has also pitched for the Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays in his seven MLB seasons.
Civale has never pitched as a reliever, making all 135 appearances of his career as a starter. The Cubs seemingly have a full rotation with Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton, Colin Rea and Javier Assad. But Civale could be insurance while Jameson Taillon and Michael Soroka recover from injuries. Or he could be used to give some starters a rest during September.
Porter Hodge was also called up from Triple-A Iowa, where he averaged 14.5 strikeouts per nine innings. In an earlier stint with the Cubs this season, he notched 25 strikeouts in 23 2/3 innings.
The Cubs (78-58) went into Sunday’s MLB slate trailing the Brewers by six games in the NL Central. They currently hold the league’s No. 1 wild-card playoff spot.
