no early games today 
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Hard to wait until 6pm for action!Comment -
Rox snapped a 12-game losing skid to LA. Rox last defeated the Dodgers on Sept. 8 of last season
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The Brewers expressed interest in Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez last summer, though talks didn’t go anywhere, Robert Murray of The Athletic reports. The left-handed Vazquez would have teamed with Brewers southpaw Josh Hader and righty Jeremy Jeffress to form a nigh-unhittable relief trio on paper, perhaps one that could have pushed the club over the top in the National League. He remains a Pirate, though, and the Vazquez-less Brewers fell to the Dodgers in a seven-game NLCS last year. Milwaukee may call its division rival again this year about Vazquez (if the Brewers haven’t already), but it’ll continue to be incredibly difficult for anyone to pry him out of Pittsburgh.
- Rehabbing Athletics lefty Jesus Luzardo threw five innings and 66 pitches at the Triple-A level Thursday. He’ll extend to six innings and 90 pitches Tuesday, according to Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. The highly touted 21-year-old prospect hasn’t gotten to debut in the majors yet because of a shoulder strain he suffered late in the spring, but the hope is he’ll burst on the scene next month to bolster the playoff-contending A’s rotation. The club needs Luzardo’s assistance, having lost ace Frankie Montas to an 80-game performance-enhancing drug suspension a week ago.
- At 6 1/2 games back of a wild-card spot, the White Sox may be closer to playoff position than expected this season. However, general manager Rick Hahn unsurprisingly isn’t going to mortgage the future for short-term pitching help prior to the deadline, Bruce Levine of 670 The Score writes. Asked Friday about adding an established starter in the next month, Hahn said: “”I wouldn’t say you can count on additions at the deadline that will be short-term fixes. Our focus going to remain long term.” Hahn admitted Chicago “would like to add controllable starting pitching,” but he quickly noted that’s a goal for every team in the game. Below-average starting pitching has prevented the White Sox from making a more serious playoff push this year. While Lucas Giolito has been tremendous, the team hasn’t gotten respectable production from any of its other starters.
- Injured Padres reliever Aaron Loup will return in “late August, early September if things go well,” manager Andy Green said Friday (via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com). It’s clear this will go down as a mostly lost season for Loup, whom the Padres signed to a one-year, $1.2MM contract entering the campaign. The 31-year-old lefty has been on the injured list since April 9 because of a forearm strain. Loup was effective in a small sample of work before then, throwing 3 1/3 scoreless innings of two-hit ball with five strikeouts against one walk.
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Sounds like the Cubs are looking at Doolittle.Comment -
Finally the underdogs barked last night nice wins by the orioles and rockies.Comment -
Cubs' Hamels headed to IL after straining oblique
CINCINNATI -- The Chicago Cubs will place veteran pitcher Cole Hamels on the injured list after he suffered a left oblique strain in the first inning of Friday's game against the Cincinnati Reds.
"It felt more like a cramp," Hamels said after the 6-3 loss. "Continued to throw the next two pitches and it still was lingering."
Hamels actually came out for the second inning, but after throwing one warm-up pitch, he immediately walked off the mound, telling Cubs manager Joe Maddon he was done.
"It was grabbing again, so I knew that's not always good and you could injure yourself a lot more by trying to play through it," Hamels said.
The 35-year-old suffered an oblique injury two years ago, so he'll let that guide him in his recovery. One thing is for sure: He won't rush back.
"I came back probably a week earlier than I should've," Hamels said of his 2017 injury. "I don't think it's going to be as bad, but I know after experiencing it once, and seeing what type of results I was continuing to put up, that's not going to be any sort of good scenario to repeat that."
Hamels is expected to have an MRI on Saturday to determine the severity of the injury.Comment -
Who's replacing HammelsComment -
No way Kershaw loses today.Comment -
Damn , I thought about taking the over in London but didn`t pull the trigger .
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The Cubs lost left-hander Cole Hamels to the injured list Friday, but there’s better news regarding fellow rotation stalwart Kyle Hendricks. The righty, who has been out two weeks because of shoulder inflammation, could return to the Cubs’ rotation as early as the upcoming week. It’s possible Hendricks will skip a rehab start and slot back into the team’s starting staff Tuesday, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. If that happens, the Cubs could get two Hendricks starts before the All-Star break. That would be a boon for NL Central-leading Chicago, whose rotation looks especially shaky at the moment without Hamels and Hendricks. Both starters have enjoyed terrific seasons thus far, with Hendricks having pitched to a 3.36 ERA/3.48 FIP and posted 7.64 K/9 against 1.63 BB/9 in 88 1/3 innings.
More on a few other injured notables…
- Rangers designated hitter/outfielder Hunter Pence will embark on a two-game minor league rehab stint beginning Monday, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. Barring setbacks, Pence will return to the Rangers on Wednesday. Pence has been out since June 17 with a right groin strain, but the stunning start the revived 36-year-old jumped out to before then earned him his fourth career All-Star nod. Thanks in no small part to Pence, who’s raking at a .294/.353/.608 clip (142 wRC+) with 15 home runs over 215 plate appearances, Texas owns a 46-37 record and a 1 1/2-game lead on the AL’s last wild-card spot.
- Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger won’t return until sometime after the All-Star break, manager Scott Servais announced Saturday (via Greg Johns of MLB.com). The Mariners had been hopeful Haniger would come back a bit before then, but the ruptured testicle he suffered June 6 will ultimately keep him out at least five weeks.
- Athletics closer Blake Treinen is on track to come off the IL on Wednesday, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com tweets. In the meantime, Treinen’s likely to pitch a rehab game Monday. The A’s placed Treinen on the shelf last Saturday with a right shoulder strain, continuing a disappointing campaign for the 30-year-old. Arguably the majors’ premier reliever in 2018, Treinen has recorded a pedestrian 4.08 ERA/4.11 FIP with 9.17 K/9, 5.35 BB/9 and a 43.2 percent groundball rate in 35 1/3 innings this season.
- Reds lefty Alex Wood has dealt with multiple setbacks in his recovery from a back injury, an issue that has stopped him from pitching in the majors this year. But he’ll make another attempt to progress toward a rehab assignment, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer relays. Wood plans to throw off flat ground Sunday, and the Reds will determine his next step thereafter. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed, hopeful that it wasn’t too big of a setback for him,” manager David Bell said of the latest setback Wood suffered earlier this week.
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Indians get beat down again, lol.Comment -
Wondering what line Vegas has O/U for NYY/Sox today... 14.5?!Comment -
Hit with the Fish today but it wasn't looking good there for a while then the Phillies bullpen happened. For all of their offseason moves the Phillies never really addressed their pitching and its why the Braves are still the best team in the NL East.Comment -
Orioles make history with 2nd straight 13-0 win
Andrew Cashner threw seven innings of three-hit ball, Renato Nunez had two of Baltimore's four home runs and the Orioles clinched their first series win since April with a 13-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Saturday.Comment -
That London game, holy smokes!!Comment -
The under over was 15.Comment -
After seeing half of the season, think its fair to say the World Champions aren't gonna repeat this yearComment -
Machado is hot.Comment -
Yankees are back. Power hitters are back. Yankees will take over the AL East.Comment -
Fourteen months after he returned from Tommy John surgery, Giants Will Smith is headed to his first All-Star Game.Comment -
The full rosters for the American League and National League All-Star teams have now been established, after today’s announcement of the pitching staffs and backup players. The starting lineups were chosen by the fan vote (under a newly-instituted format) and revealed on Thursday, with the remainder of the All-Star rosters filled out by a players’ ballot, and then choices from the league itself. As always, each team was required to have at least one All-Star representative.
Here is the full list of reserves for each league, broken down by the player vote and the league office’s picks…
AMERICAN LEAGUE
- Players’ ballot: Jose Abreu/White Sox, Mookie Betts/Red Sox, Aroldis Chapman/Yankees, Matt Chapman/Athletics, Gerrit Cole/Astros, Joey Gallo/Rangers, Lucas Giolito/White Sox, Brad Hand/Indians, Tommy La Stella/Angels, Francisco Lindor/Indians, J.D. Martinez/Red Sox, James McCann/White Sox, Austin Meadows/Rays, Charlie Morton/Rays, Jake Odorizzi/Twins, Ryan Pressly/Astros, Justin Verlander/Astros
- League selections: Shane Greene/Tigers, John Means/Orioles, Whit Merrifield/Royals, Mike Minor/Rangers, Marcus Stroman/Blue Jays, Daniel Vogelbach/Mariners
NATIONAL LEAGUE
- Players’ ballot: Josh Bell/Pirates, Walker Buehler/Dodgers, Charlie Blackmon/Rockies, Luis Castillo/Reds, David Dahl/Rockies, Jacob deGrom/Mets, Josh Hader/Brewers, Jeff McNeil/Mets, Mike Moustakas/Brewers, J.T. Realmuto/Phillies, Anthony Rendon/Nationals, Hyun-Jin Ryu/Dodgers, Max Scherzer/Nationals, Will Smith/Giants, Trevor Story/Rockies, Kirby Yates/Padres
- League selections: Sandy Alcantara/Marlins, Pete Alonso/Mets, Kris Bryant/Cubs, Paul DeJong/Cardinals, Yasmani Grandal/Brewers, Zack Greinke/Diamondbacks, Clayton Kershaw/Dodgers, Mike Soroka/Braves
As always, the All-Star choices will spark both celebration and controversy, as there simply isn’t enough roster space to acknowledge every player who is enjoying a big season. Xander Bogaerts entered the day ranked fifth among all position players in fWAR, yet the Red Sox shortstop didn’t receive an All-Star nod. Lance Lynn and Chris Sale (the second- and third-ranked pitchers by fWAR, respectively) also aren’t scheduled to be heading to Cleveland on July 9. This being said, injuries and other absences will surely create some more openings before the Midsummer Classic, so some more names will inevitably be added as replacements.Comment -
Dodgers helped me big today 10 runs at CoorsComment -
Tatis and Machado staying home over all star break?!? Check in Peavy.Comment