August 2025

There were 1,614 posts published in August 2025 (this is page 89 of 162).

Padres place pitcher Michael King on IL with knee inflammation before scheduled start vs. Dodgers on Friday

One day before the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers face off in a National League West weekend showdown series, the Padres put pitcher Michael King on the 15-day injured list with left knee inflammation. King was scheduled to start Friday’s opener at Dodger Stadium. 

King, 30, has the best ERA among San Diego’s starting pitchers at 2.81 with 65 strikeouts in 57 2/3 innings. However, he’s been limited to 11 starts and just returned to the active roster Aug. 9 after a previous IL stint due to shoulder inflammation that sidelined him since May 18. 

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The Padres go into Friday’s matchup with a one-game lead over the Dodgers for first place in the NL West. They took the top spot in the division for the first time since April 25 after the Dodgers lost to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday, while San Diego defeated the San Francisco Giants.

King has not faced the Dodgers this year. But in his first season with the Padres, he compiled a 3.10 ERA and 2-0 record with 23 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings. 

San Diego hasn’t announced a starter in King’s place for Friday. Yet the team called Randy Vásquez up from Triple-A El Paso after he made a start on Sunday night, so pitching on Friday would line up with his regular rotation schedule. 

Vásquez wasn’t particularly impressive in that outing, allowing 5 runs, 5 hits and 3 walks in 3 innings. He was sent down to the minors following the MLB trade deadline so the Padres could activate new acquisition Nestor Cortes. Prior to his demotion, Vásquez made 22 starts, logging a 3.93 ERA and 3-5 record with 55 strikeouts in 107 2/3 innings.

Dylan Cease (5-10, 4.52 ERA) is scheduled to start Saturday, followed by Yu Darvish (2-3, 5.61) on Sunday. Blake Snell (2-1, 2.67) is the Dodgers’ scheduled starter for Saturday with Tyler Glasnow (1-1, 3.08) going on Sunday. Clayton Kershaw (6-2, 3.14) will start for the Dodgers on Friday. 

The Dodgers and Padres will play another three-game series next weekend at Petco Park in San Diego.

Padres place pitcher Michael King on IL with knee inflammation before scheduled start vs. Dodgers on Friday

One day before the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers face off in a National League West weekend showdown series, the Padres put pitcher Michael King on the 15-day injured list with left knee inflammation. King was scheduled to start Friday’s opener at Dodger Stadium. 

King, 30, has the best ERA among San Diego’s starting pitchers at 2.81 with 65 strikeouts in 57 2/3 innings. However, he’s been limited to 11 starts and just returned to the active roster Aug. 9 after a previous IL stint due to shoulder inflammation that sidelined him since May 18. 

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The Padres go into Friday’s matchup with a one-game lead over the Dodgers for first place in the NL West. They took the top spot in the division for the first time since April 25 after the Dodgers lost to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday, while San Diego defeated the San Francisco Giants.

King has not faced the Dodgers this year. But in his first season with the Padres, he compiled a 3.10 ERA and 2-0 record with 23 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings. 

San Diego hasn’t announced a starter in King’s place for Friday. Yet the team called Randy Vásquez up from Triple-A El Paso after he made a start on Sunday night, so pitching on Friday would line up with his regular rotation schedule. 

Vásquez wasn’t particularly impressive in that outing, allowing 5 runs, 5 hits and 3 walks in 3 innings. He was sent down to the minors following the MLB trade deadline so the Padres could activate new acquisition Nestor Cortes. Prior to his demotion, Vásquez made 22 starts, logging a 3.93 ERA and 3-5 record with 55 strikeouts in 107 2/3 innings.

Dylan Cease (5-10, 4.52 ERA) is scheduled to start Saturday, followed by Yu Darvish (2-3, 5.61) on Sunday. Blake Snell (2-1, 2.67) is the Dodgers’ scheduled starter for Saturday with Tyler Glasnow (1-1, 3.08) going on Sunday. Clayton Kershaw (6-2, 3.14) will start for the Dodgers on Friday. 

The Dodgers and Padres will play another three-game series next weekend at Petco Park in San Diego.

NL East-leading Phillies going with a 6-man rotation when Aaron Nola returns on Sunday

WASHINGTON (AP) — Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Thursday that he will utilize a six-man rotation beginning this weekend when Aaron Nola returns from the injured list.

Nola is lined up for the series finale Sunday at Washington. The 32-year-old right-hander is coming back from a right ankle sprain.

Left-hander Ranger Suárez takes the mound on Monday against the Mariners. The NL East leaders also have ace right-hander Zack Wheeler, lefties Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo, and right-hander Taijuan Walker.

Thomson said he isn’t sure how long he is going to use the six-man rotation.

“Once for sure and then we’ve got some other ideas how to attack this thing as we move forward,” he said.

Philadelphia starters lead the majors with 687 1/3 innings pitched. Sánchez is up to 150 2/3 innings, and Wheeler is at 144 2/3.

“Just getting some of these guys some extra rest cause we’ve been grinding on them pretty hard all year,” Thomson said before the opener of a four-game set against the Nationals. “The one downside to it is you’ve got to take somebody out of your bullpen, so you’re a little short there but we’ll just have to figure it out.”

Nola hasn’t pitched in the majors since May 14. He posted a 2.19 ERA in three rehab starts with Triple-A Lehigh Valley while striking out 17 batters in 12 1/3 innings.

Dodgers have tumbled out of first place, but their season starts this weekend against NL West-leading Padres

The Dodgers’ seven month spring training is officially over.

Los Angeles’ 2025 season, for all intents and purposes, begins Friday night. The surging San Diego Padres — suddenly one game up in the National League West for the first time since April 23 — are in town for what should be another memorable notch in a rivalry that’s blossomed into baseball’s best. The defending champs, meanwhile, are reeling, licking their wounds from an embarrassing series sweep in Anaheim. It was the first time in Freeway Series history that the Angels went 6-0 against their northern foes in a season.

Hailed, hated and hyped over the winter as a team for the ages, these Dodgers have fallen short of those lofty expectations, so far. The most expensive roster in MLB history, a roster that was framed as a referendum of sorts on the state of money in baseball, has been an oft-injured, underperforming husk of itself.

Panic feels premature, but concern feels warranted.

Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández, cornerstones of last year’s championship team, have been middling offensively. Betts appears to have turned something of a corner, but still has just 12 homers on the year. Hernández, who re-signed in Los Angeles on a three-year deal over the winter, has a .644 OPS since June 1. Freddie Freeman has also been mediocre over the past two months after a scintillating April and May. Max Muncy has rebounded from a horrible start, but injuries have made this a very disjointed season for the keen-eyed third baseman.

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The only Dodger hitters performing at or above expectations are outfielder Andy Pages, catcher Will Smith and, obviously, Shohei Ohtani. Any concerns about Ohtani losing a step at the dish after returning to the mound have been resoundingly put to sleep; he has 18 home runs since his first pitching outing of the year on June 17.

Ohtani, remarkably, has also been the team’s most impactful starting pitcher of late. He threw 4 1/3 innings against the Angels on Wednesday, his longest outing of the season. Earlier in the season, there was skepticism whether Ohtani The Pitcher would be utilized come October. Now, he looks like a Game 1 starter.

And even though the Dodgers are getting healthier on the mound — Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell are both back — the rotation’s injury woes are a huge reason for the club being in second place in the NL West. Ninety-six MLB pitchers have thrown at least 100 innings this season; just one, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, is a Los Angeles Dodger. The bullpen, too, has been a bit of a revolving door. Underperformance from offseason signings Blake Treinen, Kirby Yates and Tanner Scott hasn’t helped. That overall lack of pitching continuity, though it may not be a problem moving forward, has been a barrier all season long.

Throughout the year, the Dodgers’ organizational philosophy has, understandably, prioritized the long game. It’s parade or bust. Nobody in a position of power at Chavez Ravine is, or has ever been, hellbent on crafting a regular-season juggernaut. The club was passive about Ohtani’s pitching rehab timeline. They continue to employ a decidedly conservative approach to bullpen usage and workload. A surprisingly quiet trade deadline only reaffirmed this “trust the process” mentality. Every decision, every transaction is geared toward putting the club in the best possible position when the real season starts.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing. But it’s a huge reason why the Dodgers are here.

The cold hard truth is that only October matters. The MLB season is a marathon of survival followed by a sprint of utter chaos. Everybody in Dodgerland — coaches, players, execs — knows this. If the Dodgers stumble into a wild-card spot, catch fire in the playoffs and lift another trophy, nobody will rue a sluggish summer or lack of a division crown. Last year’s team had similar moments of worry — remember this triple play — and look how that turned out.

And yet, the math has gotten uncomfortable, the Padres unavoidable. On July 3, San Diego was nine games adrift, tied with the San Francisco Giants in third place. Their odds to win the division, according to FanGraphs, were at 0.6%. The Dodgers, meanwhile, sat comfortably at 98.2%. That figure has since dwindled to 61.8. If the schneid continues and the Dodgers are forced to settle for a wild card, that won’t singlehandedly doom their season, but it will push them into an extra round of particularly volatile postseason baseball.

Perhaps the Dodgers, with the stakes elevated and the light flicked on, rise to the occasion this weekend. That, given the talent and experience on the roster, would shock absolutely no one. It remains far too early to call this team a disaster or even a disappointment.

And yet, this 2025 Dodgers season has undeniably not gone to plan. Depending on how things go this weekend, the train could fly even further off the tracks.

Let’s talk again Monday.

Dodgers have tumbled out of first place, but their season starts this weekend against NL West-leading Padres

The Dodgers’ seven month spring training is officially over.

Los Angeles’ 2025 season, for all intents and purposes, begins Friday night. The surging San Diego Padres — suddenly one game up in the National League West for the first time since April 23 — are in town for what should be another memorable notch in a rivalry that’s blossomed into baseball’s best. The defending champs, meanwhile, are reeling, licking their wounds from an embarrassing series sweep in Anaheim. It was the first time in Freeway Series history that the Angels went 6-0 against their northern foes in a season.

Hailed, hated and hyped over the winter as a team for the ages, these Dodgers have fallen short of those lofty expectations, so far. The most expensive roster in MLB history, a roster that was framed as a referendum of sorts on the state of money in baseball, has been an oft-injured, underperforming husk of itself.

Panic feels premature, but concern feels warranted.

Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández, cornerstones of last year’s championship team, have been middling offensively. Betts appears to have turned something of a corner, but still has just 12 homers on the year. Hernández, who re-signed in Los Angeles on a three-year deal over the winter, has a .644 OPS since June 1. Freddie Freeman has also been mediocre over the past two months after a scintillating April and May. Max Muncy has rebounded from a horrible start, but injuries have made this a very disjointed season for the keen-eyed third baseman.

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The only Dodger hitters performing at or above expectations are outfielder Andy Pages, catcher Will Smith and, obviously, Shohei Ohtani. Any concerns about Ohtani losing a step at the dish after returning to the mound have been resoundingly put to sleep; he has 18 home runs since his first pitching outing of the year on June 17.

Ohtani, remarkably, has also been the team’s most impactful starting pitcher of late. He threw 4 1/3 innings against the Angels on Wednesday, his longest outing of the season. Earlier in the season, there was skepticism whether Ohtani The Pitcher would be utilized come October. Now, he looks like a Game 1 starter.

And even though the Dodgers are getting healthier on the mound — Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell are both back — the rotation’s injury woes are a huge reason for the club being in second place in the NL West. Ninety-six MLB pitchers have thrown at least 100 innings this season; just one, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, is a Los Angeles Dodger. The bullpen, too, has been a bit of a revolving door. Underperformance from offseason signings Blake Treinen, Kirby Yates and Tanner Scott hasn’t helped. That overall lack of pitching continuity, though it may not be a problem moving forward, has been a barrier all season long.

Throughout the year, the Dodgers’ organizational philosophy has, understandably, prioritized the long game. It’s parade or bust. Nobody in a position of power at Chavez Ravine is, or has ever been, hellbent on crafting a regular-season juggernaut. The club was passive about Ohtani’s pitching rehab timeline. They continue to employ a decidedly conservative approach to bullpen usage and workload. A surprisingly quiet trade deadline only reaffirmed this “trust the process” mentality. Every decision, every transaction is geared toward putting the club in the best possible position when the real season starts.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing. But it’s a huge reason why the Dodgers are here.

The cold hard truth is that only October matters. The MLB season is a marathon of survival followed by a sprint of utter chaos. Everybody in Dodgerland — coaches, players, execs — knows this. If the Dodgers stumble into a wild-card spot, catch fire in the playoffs and lift another trophy, nobody will rue a sluggish summer or lack of a division crown. Last year’s team had similar moments of worry — remember this triple play — and look how that turned out.

And yet, the math has gotten uncomfortable, the Padres unavoidable. On July 3, San Diego was nine games adrift, tied with the San Francisco Giants in third place. Their odds to win the division, according to FanGraphs, were at 0.6%. The Dodgers, meanwhile, sat comfortably at 98.2%. That figure has since dwindled to 61.8. If the schneid continues and the Dodgers are forced to settle for a wild card, that won’t singlehandedly doom their season, but it will push them into an extra round of particularly volatile postseason baseball.

Perhaps the Dodgers, with the stakes elevated and the light flicked on, rise to the occasion this weekend. That, given the talent and experience on the roster, would shock absolutely no one. It remains far too early to call this team a disaster or even a disappointment.

And yet, this 2025 Dodgers season has undeniably not gone to plan. Depending on how things go this weekend, the train could fly even further off the tracks.

Let’s talk again Monday.

Cubs place catcher Miguel Amaya on the 10-day IL and bring up Owen Caissie from Triple-A Iowa

TORONTO (AP) The Chicago Cubs placed catcher Miguel Amaya on the 10-day injured list on Thursday and brought up top prospect Owen Caissie from Triple-A Iowa.

Amaya sprained his left ankle in the eighth inning of Wednesday night’s 4-1 victory over the Blue Jays. His foot landed awkwardly at the front of first base on an infield single, and he was carted off the field.

The 26-year-old Amaya was just reinstated from the IL on Tuesday after he had been sidelined since May 25 because of a left oblique strain. He is batting .281 with four homers and 25 RBIs in 28 games this season.

“He’s disappointed,” manager Craig Counsell said of Amaya. “You spend two months on an injury, get back involved with a team that’s got a chance to accomplish some fun things, and you get one day and it’s over again.”

Caissie made his major league debut in a 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays, batting fifth while serving as the designated hitter. The 23-year-old Caissie was born in Burlington, Ontario, just outside of Toronto.

Caissie arrived at the stadium about 90 minutes before game time. He went 0 for 4 with a ninth-inning strikeout.

He nearly picked up a hit in his first at-bat in the second, but Davis Schneider made an outstanding catch on the rookie’s liner to left.

“It’s a welcome-to-the-league moment, I guess,” Caissie said.

Caissie is the first Canadian player to make his debut in Canada since Josh Naylor for San Diego on May 24, 2019.

“It was surreal,” Caissie said of debuting so close to home. “I’m just super thankful that the Cubs could make my debut happen in front of the Canadian people that I cherish so much.”

Caissie’s parents were among a large group of family and friends who attended the game.

“It means everything,” an emotional Caissie said of having his parents at his debut. “They supported me a lot. They just sacrificed pretty much everything for me. They did so much.”

Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd, who was drafted by the Blue Jays in 2013, also made his big league debut in Toronto.

“I can’t imagine the whirlwind that this day was for him,” Boyd said. “He handled himself like a pro.”

Caissie is batting .289 with 22 homers and 52 RBIs in 93 games with Iowa this season. He has been particularly good in August, hitting .393 (11 for 28) with two homers and five RBIs.

“I don’t know that this is going to be a big role for Owen, but I think we’re kind of just looking at where we’re going in this schedule, and just being a little more flexible in terms of whether we need to get guys some rest, get the guys to get the innings off,” Counsell said.

Caissie was selected by San Diego in the second round of the 2020 amateur draft. He was traded to Chicago in the Yu Darvish deal in December 2020.

Tomoyuki Sugano earns 10th victory as Orioles outlast Mariners 5-3 after long rain delay

BALTIMORE (AP) Rookie Tomoyuki Sugano earned his 10th victory by working 5 1/3 sharp innings before a lengthy rain delay, and the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Seattle Mariners 5-3 on Thursday.

Julio Rodríguez homered for Seattle, which has dropped consecutive games since winning eight in a row. The Mariners (67-55) fell 1 1/2 games behind AL West-leading Houston.

Catcher Cal Raleigh, who leads the majors with 45 home runs, was out of Seattle’s starting lineup for only the fifth time this season. He walked as pinch-hitter in the ninth.

Sugano (10-5) won back-to-back starts for the first time. The 35-year-old from Japan threw 81 pitches and was pulled after the 2-hour, 18-minute delay.

Rodriguez hit reliever Rico Garcia’s fourth pitch after play resumed into the bleachers in right-center, a two-run shot to bring the Mariners within 5-2.

Dietrich Enns allowed Randy Arozarena’s one-out RBI grounder in the ninth, but retired Josh Naylor on one pitch to earn his first save since Sept. 20, 2021.

The Orioles took the lead against Logan Evans (6-5) in the fourth inning. Jordan Westburg scored on Evans’ two-out wild pitch, and Ryan Mountcastle moved from first to third on the same play when Evans couldn’t field catcher Mitch Garver’s throw. After Daniel Johnson walked, Mountcastle scored when he and Johnson executed a double steal. Johnson came around on Jeremiah Jackson’s RBI single.

Baltimore added Gunnar Henderson’s RBI double and Mountcastle’s sacrifice fly in the fifth.

Evans allowed three runs — two earned — in four innings and matched the shortest outing of his 15-start career.

Orioles reliever Keegan Akin got Naylor to ground out to second to end the seventh, stranding two runners and preserving a 5-2 lead.

Sugano is 3-0 with a 2.31 ERA in his last four starts.

Mariners RHP Luis Castillo (8-6, 3.19 ERA) starts the opener of a three-game series against the host New York Mets. Baltimore has not announced its pitching plans for Friday’s game at Houston.

NBA 2025-26 schedule is released: 20 must-watch games this season

The NBA schedule has dropped, and it has all the drama we were looking forward to: rivalries, revenge games, stars returning to face the teams they left, and plenty of high-level clashes — and a lot of them on NBC and Peacock.

Here are 20 don’t-miss games from the upcoming NBA season.

• Oct. 21: Houston Rockets at Oklahoma City Thunder. Opening night of the season and the return of the NBA to NBC for the first time in 24 years — plus the debut of the NBA on Peacock. And you couldn’t come up with a better first game as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder get their championship rings from Adam Silver and raise the first banner won in the city to the rafters. All of that in front of Kevin Durant, arguably the greatest player ever to pull a Thunder jersey over his head, but a guy who was never able to win that ring in OKC. He doesn’t seem too stressed about it, though.

• Oct. 24, Detroit Pistons at Houston Rockets. Twins Ausar Thompson (Detroit) and Amen Thompson (Houston) go head-to-head in a fun early-season contest.

• Oct. 27: Denver Nuggets at Minnesota Timberwolves. The first night of Peacock NBA Monday — where games stream exclusively on Peacock — features a showdown from two of the top teams and players in the West. Get an early look at a much deeper Nuggets squad around Nikola Jokic as they go up against Anthony Edwards and a Timberwolves team that has been to the Western Conference Finals back-to-back years.

• Oct. 31: Boston Celtics at Philadelphia 76ers. It’s the first game of the NBA Cup, the league’s in-season tournament. Tune in to see what the Cup Court looks like in Philly, and if Joel Embiid and Paul George are playing. If they are, Philly can hang with anyone.

• Nov. 1: Dallas Mavericks at Detroit Pistons. The NBA returns to Mexico City and is exporting what should be an entertaining contest featuring Cade Cunningham, Cooper Flagg and Anthony Davis. This game will be streamed on Peacock.

• Nov. 3: Milwaukee Bucks at Indiana Pacers. Myles Turner makes his return to Indiana after bolting in free agency to get the paycheck he wanted and chase a ring with Giannis Antetokounmpo. Don’t expect Pacers fans to be understanding and forgiving.

• Nov. 25: Los Angeles Clippers at Los Angeles Lakers. Lakers fans will be quick to tell you there is no rivalry with the Clippers, no battle for Los Angeles — then watch their reaction after you tell them the Clippers have been the better team and the better run franchise for the past decade. This is an NBA Cup showdown on NBC and Peacock.

• Dec. 25: San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma City Thunder. During last season’s NBA Finals, Oklahoma City players were more than happy to talk about how they felt snubbed not getting a game on Christmas Day and how they used that as motivation. The defending champs get their Christmas Day game this year, and it’s a showdown between Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren, the two seven-footers leading the NBA into the future. It’s also a showdown of San Antonio’s promising backcourt featuring De’Aaron Fox and No. 2 pick Dylan Harper against OKC’s MVP SGA.

• Dec. 25: Dallas Mavericks at Golden State Warriors. It’s a passing of the torch game on Christmas — Stephen Curry and his generation are nearing the end of their run, and he faces No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg (as well as former No. 1 pick Anthony Davis). How much do Stephen Curry and Draymond Green have left in the tank? Those Warriors players always seem to save their best for the brightest spotlights, as does Jimmy Butler.

• Jan. 2: Atlanta Hawks at New York Knicks. Trae Young loves to play the villain and saves his best games for Madison Square Garden, where he was once Public Enemy No. 1, and he would like to regain that crown.

• Jan. 16: Minnesota Timberwolves at Houston Rockets. More than just two of the top teams in the West facing off, this will be the first time in the season that Anthony Edwards will have the chance to go head-to-head and take down his idol, Kevin Durant.

• Jan. 19: Oklahoma City Thunder at Cleveland Cavaliers. The highlight of the quadruple header on NBC and Peacock on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, this very well could be a Finals preview (the Thunder and Cavaliers were the No. 1 seeds in each conference last season and are expected to repeat that feat this season). Shai Gilgeous-Alexander facing Donovan Mitchell is always going to be entertaining.

• Jan. 20, the San Antonio Spurs at the Houston Rockets. This is going to be one of the big rivalries in the NBA for a few seasons and we get to see Kevin Durant, Amen Thompson and the Rockets’ deep roster try to attack a defense led by Victor Wembanyama (the preseason favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year). Also, it’s a chance to check in on No. 2 pick Dylan Harper and how he is progressing in San Antonio.

• Jan. 28, Atlanta Hawks at Boston Celtics. Kristaps Porzingis, who helped the Celtics win a ring in 2024 but was often injured in his time with the team, returns to Boston with an Atlanta Hawks team that is deep and a threat in the East — if KP can stay healthy and provide the rim protection and floor spacing they need next to Trae Young.

• Jan. 28: Los Angeles Lakers at Cleveland Cavaliers. Trade rumors swirled around all summer with questions about LeBron’s future in L.A. and how he might put Cleveland over the top one more time for a title. While that trade could not come together (and will not at this year’s trade deadline for salary cap reasons), the rumors will continue to fly as LeBron returns to his old stomping grounds. This game is as much about the drama off the court as it is about the game itself.

• Feb. 22: Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers will unveil a Pat Riley statue outside Crypto.com Arena before a showdown on NBC’s Sunday Night Basketball showcase. LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Jaylen Brown will look to add to the NBA’s greatest historic rivalry.

• Feb. 24: New York Knicks at Cleveland Cavaliers. This is the third showdown of the season between the two Eastern Conference favorites heading into the season — this could be a statement game. You can catch it on NBC and Peacock as part of Coast 2 Coast Tuesdays.

• March 9, Denver Nuggets at Oklahoma City Thunder. A game that is part of the Peacock NBA Monday season (with the games streaming every Monday exclusively on Peacock), we get the last two MVPs — the Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic — facing off. This also could well be a Western Conference Finals preview.

• April 5: Los Angeles Lakers at Dallas Mavericks. Any time Luka Doncic returns to Dallas, it’s worth watching — in this case on Sunday Night Basketball on NBC and Peacock — but this game also comes amid an offseason of rumors about LeBron potentially wanting to play in Dallas with former teammates Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis. This game is also a chance to check in on Cooper Flagg and see how the Duke standout has progressed in his rookie season.

• April 5: Houston Rockets at Golden State Warriors. Just a couple of weeks before the playoffs start, can Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler get revenge for their playoff exit a season ago? This game is part of a doubleheader on Sunday Night Basketball on NBC and Peacock.

Yankees at Cardinals: 5 things to watch and series predictions | Aug. 15-17

Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Yankees hit the road to take on the St. Louis Cardinals in a three-game series starting on Friday…

Preview

Will Giancarlo Stanton play right field on the road?

Stanton has been the Yankees’ hottest hitter for weeks now, and it’s helped New York’s offense while Aaron Judge was on the IL and relegated to DH duties when he returned. 

A big part of that is Stanton’s ability to play right field. Of course, it’s not too much to ask of Stanton to man right in Yankee Stadium, but now that the team is on the road, how will the Yankees utilize their slugger?  The Yankees are much better when Stanton and Judge are in the lineup but if Judge isn’t ready, will Aaron Boone risk having Stanton play in the outfield?

The Aaron Judge of it all

Judge continues to scuffle since returning from the IL. In eight games since getting back in the lineup, Judge is 5-for-25 with eight strikeouts and just one extra-base hit. Granted that one hit was a home run back on Aug. 12, so perhaps the issues with the flexor strain haven’t completely sapped his power.  It’s something to monitor as the Yankees hit the road, but even more pressing is whether he can get back on the field.

The Yankees need Judge to play right field because he’s a good fielder and, as previously stated, allows Stanton to play DH and give them that dual-threat. Boone said there’s a possibility Judge can play in the outfield in St. Louis, but we’ll see if that’s the case when the series starts on Friday.

Can Max Fried find his mojo again?

Fried has not been the same since the blister on his throwing hand popped up before the All-Star break. The left-hander has made four starts since the Midsummer Classic and he has been inconsistent, pitching to a 1-2 record while allowing 14 runs across 22 innings. 

New York Yankees starting pitcher Max Fried (54) reacts after he is charged with a throwing error and gives up the lead to the Texas Rangers during the second inning at Globe Life Field. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

In his last start, Fried allowed four runs on eight hits over just five innings against the Astros in what would be a series-clinching win for Houston last Sunday. The start before that, he allowed four runs over five innings, again, to the Rangers. 

If the Yankees are going to make the postseason, they’ll need their best pitcher to pitch at his best and he’ll need to be when he takes the mound on Saturday. Fried is scheduled to pitch against Sonny Gray (11-5, 4.06 ERA), so runs could be hard to come by, especially if the Yankees lineup is going to remain inconsistent.

With the way Carlos Rodon and Will Warren have been pitching of late, Fried returning to peak form for the stretch run could be exactly what the Yankees need to clinch a wild card spot or better. 

Will Paul Goldschmidt land on IL?

Following the Yankees’ loss to the Twins on Wednesday, it was revealed that Goldschmidt is dealing with a knee sprain and could be placed on the IL. Now, the veteran first baseman believes he avoided the worst and some time off is all he’ll need to avoid being placed on the IL but the Yankees still have a decision to make.

If Goldschmidt is unable to at least be a pinch-hitter like he wasn’t on Wednesday, the options for first base are limited. Ben Rice has become Goldschmidt’s backup, and while Cody Bellinger is also capable, the bench is down too many bodies who hit right-handed, including Austin Slater and Amed Rosario. Rosario could be activated this weekend, and could be Goldschmidt’s replacement if the Yankees decide to put him on the IL but that still leaves the Yankees without a viable right-handed bat. 

It’s a situation to monitor when the series starts on Friday.

Lineup/Bullpen changes

As the race to make a postseason spot continues, Boone has begun to favor certain hitters over others. Trent Grisham is having a career year and that has taken playing time away from Jasson Dominguez. Austin Wells‘ slump that has lasted all summer has made Rice the No. 1 catcher at the moment. There’s no reason that Boone will revert to using Wells and Dominguez in the starting lineup this weekend but if Rice or Grisham start to slump, it could happen.

And then there’s the bullpen. Ryan Yarbrough and Fernando Cruz had rehab outings with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Thursday evening, and if both come out of it feeling healthy, they could be in play to return to the team soon. 

Predictions

Who will the MVP of the series be?

Aaron Judge 

This will be the series Judge finally awakens offensively. He needed to get his first home run out of the way, and now that he has, he can get back to what he does best.

Which Yankees pitcher will have the best start?

Max Fried

It’s hard to bet against Fried, it’s even tougher to bet that Fried will have three consecutive bad starts.

Which Cardinals player will be a thorn in the Yankees’ side?

Willson Contreras

The veteran right-hander seems to hit home runs in bunches and after missing a game due to being hit in the foot by a pitch, he should be fully rested.

NBA 2025-26 broadcast schedule, how to watch: NBC, Peacock, Prime Video join ESPN, ABC for weekly broadcasts

The NBA announced its full 2025-26 regular-season schedule on Thursday, including opening night, Thanksgiving Eve, Christmas Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day matchups. 

The season will tip off with the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder playing the new-look Houston Rockets on Oct. 21. What should be a full season of LeBron James and Luka Dončić playing together with the Los Angeles Lakers will also begin against the Golden State Warriors later that night.

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However, with the new season also comes an eagerly anticipated new media rights package in which the NBA has moved on to new TV partners, returning to NBC after a 22-year absence while also adding Prime Video as a streaming outlet. 

With two new streaming platforms in NBC’s Peacock and Amazon’s Prime Video joining the broadcast schedule, the NBA will eventually have national telecasts on every day of the week beginning in January. 

Here is how each TV partner’s NBA schedule will break down during the week:

NBC’s coverage will begin with the aforementioned Oct. 21 regular-season opener with Rockets-Thunder, followed by Warriors-Lakers. From there on, NBC and Peacock will have broadcasts every subsequent Tuesday with “Coast 2 Coast Tuesday” through April 7.

NBC will also broadcast an NBA Cup group play doubleheader on Nov. 25 with the 76ers hosting the Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Clippers visiting the Lakers.

Peacock will have its own telecast on Monday nights in “Peacock NBA Monday” beginning Oct. 27 with the Detroit Pistons hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers at 7 p.m. ET. That schedule will continue each Monday through April 6. 

And on Sunday nights after the NFL season, NBC and Peacock will broadcast “Sunday Night Basketball.” The first Sunday telecast will be Feb. 1 before taking a two-week break for Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8, with the NBA All-Star Game and the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics on Feb. 15. NBC’s Sunday night NBA coverage will resume Feb. 22.

ESPN and ABC’s NBA schedule will remain as it was during the previous TV rights package. ESPN will televise games on Wednesday and Friday nights, while ABC will broadcast the NBA on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons. 

ESPN’s coverage begins Oct. 22 with the Cavaliers visiting the New York Knicks at 7 p.m. ET, followed by the Dallas Mavericks and No. 1 Cooper Flagg hosting the San Antonio Spurs with this year’s No. 2 selection, Dylan Harper and the 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year, Victor Wembanyama, at 9:30 p.m. ET.

That week, the network will also broadcast a doubleheader on Thursday with a Thunder-Indiana Pacers matchup at 7:30 p.m. ET followed by the Denver Nuggets and Nikola Jokić visiting the Warriors at 10 p.m. ET.

Additionally, ESPN will televise a Thanksgiving Eve triple-header on Nov. 26. Coverage begins with the Boston Celtics hosting the Pistons at 5 p.m. ET, followed by the Minnesota Timberwolves visiting the Thunder at 7:30 p.m. ET and the Warriors hosting the Rockets at 10 p.m. ET.

ABC’s Saturday NBA broadcasts (“NBA Primetime Saturday on ABC”) will begin with a Jan. 24 triple-header featuring the Knicks at the Philadelphia 76ers at 3 p.m. ET, Warriors-Timberwolves at 5:30 p.m. ET and Lakers-Mavericks at 8:30 p.m. ET. Broadcasts will air each subsequent Saturday through March 14. 

ABC’s Sunday NBA telecasts (“NBA Sunday Showcase on ABC”) tip off on Feb. 8 with Knicks-Celtics at 12:30 p.m. ET. Those will continue each Sunday afternoon with doubleheaders for three consecutive weeks until a single broadcast on March 15.

Prime Video begins its NBA coverage with an Oct. 24 doubleheader featuring Knicks-Celtics at 7:30 p.m. ET and Timberwolves-Lakers at 10 p.m. ET. 

The streaming channel then begins its NBA Cup tournament coverage with doubleheaders for the group play and knockout rounds beginning on Oct. 31 with Celtics-76ers at 7 p.m. ET and Lakers-Grizzlies at 10 p.m. ET. Prime Video will stream NBA Cup doubleheaders each following Friday through Nov. 28 before breaking out of its Friday schedule to other days of the week.

NBA Cup quarterfinal matchups will stream on Dec. 9 and 10, followed by semifinals on Dec. 13 and the 2025 championship on Dec. 16. 

The tournament’s other group play games will be divided among ESPN, NBC and NBA League Pass,