Good morning! On Sunday, Fredo Cervantes wrote from Dodger Stadium that the Dodgers were assembling something terrifying. Four days later he filed from Atlanta on a blister, a walk-off and a number that ought to worry Los Angeles more than either. The Angels were swept in Anaheim after leading in all three games. The Padres at least salvaged one behind five scoreless from Randy Vasquez. And tonight the preseason ends in both of our football markets, with cuts to follow. Let’s get into it.
🚨 HEADLINES
⚾ Sasaki to the IL. A blister on his throwing hand ended his night in the fourth; Eric Lauer likely takes his turn — Fredo Cervantes at Truist Park.
⚾ Swept. The Angels led in all three games against Cleveland and lost all three — Jack Haslett at Angel Stadium.
⚾ One salvaged. Jackson Merrill’s two extra-base hits and five scoreless from Vasquez gave San Diego a 3-0 win — Eric Evelhoch at Petco Park.
⚕️ Angels reshuffle. Campero to the IL with a hamstring strain; Teodosio and Trevor Martin recalled — Jack Haslett at Angel Stadium.
🏈 Week 0. USC opens Saturday against San Jose State, and believes in itself — Holdenn Graff at the Bloom Performance Center.
🏀 Topping out. The Sparks’ new El Segundo facility hit a construction milestone — Rey Moralde in El Segundo.
See what else is trending at The Sporting Tribune.
📋 SCOREBOARD — WEDNESDAY
⚾ MLB: Braves 6, Dodgers 5 · Guardians 4, Angels 3 · Padres 3, Pirates 0
⚽ NWSL: Courage 2, Angel City 0
⚾ A BLISTER, A WALK-OFF, AND A NUMBER
Roki Sasaki left Wednesday’s start with one out in the fourth, already at 66 pitches, with a blister on the middle finger of his throwing hand. He is headed to the injured list. Dave Roberts said Eric Lauer will likely take his next turn.
That is the story, and it lands five days after this newsletter carried Fredo Cervantes’s column arguing that the Dodgers were building a rotation the rest of baseball should lose sleep over. Glasnow is back. Ohtani is building up. Sasaki is out. The math keeps moving.
The game was its own kind of cruel. Tommy Edman did nearly all the damage — 2-for-4, a two-run homer, three RBI, two runs scored. Mookie Betts singled in a run in the seventh and Edman drew a bases-loaded walk to tie it 5-5, and then the Dodgers had the bases loaded with nobody out. Kyle Tucker lined out. Alek Thomas grounded into a double play.
They loaded them again in the eighth. Max Muncy saw seven straight fastballs in a nine-pitch at-bat and then waved at a splitter. Los Angeles left 11 men on base.
In the ninth, Tanner Scott got two outs, gave up a single to Lane Thomas, walked Austin Riley, and then Ha-Seong Kim — hitting .066 on the season — lined a full-count single to end it, 6-5. It was the second consecutive night Scott surrendered the winning run. “Just move on to the next day and put this one behind me,” he said.
Atlanta has the series. The Dodgers are 80-53. And the number Cervantes put in the middle of his story is the one that should travel: since the All-Star break, Los Angeles is 6-15 against teams above .500.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto goes this afternoon to avoid the sweep.
GO DEEPER
› Fredo Cervantes: Sasaki heads to IL after Dodgers’ walk-off loss in Atlanta (The Sporting Tribune)
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⚾ THREE GAMES, THREE LEADS, THREE LOSSES
Cleveland came to Anaheim and left with a sweep, and the pattern did not vary: the Angels held a lead in every game and did not hold one at the end of any. Monday it was 4-2. Tuesday they gave away 5-0 and then 6-5 in a 10-inning loss. Wednesday it was 4-3.
The roster churned around it. Gustavo Campero went on the 10-day injured list with a hamstring strain five games into his first stint of the season, having left Tuesday’s game early. With Wade Meckler still in concussion protocol after being hit in the head in Houston on Aug. 20 — he was due for a rehab start at Single-A Rancho Cucamonga — the Angels recalled Bryce Teodosio from Triple-A Salt Lake, where he hit .271 with a .782 OPS in 60 games. Kurt Suzuki said Teodosio got the call over higher-rated prospects for his outfield defense, which frees the Angels to use Mike Trout at designated hitter.
Right-hander Trevor Martin, claimed off waivers from Tampa Bay this month, came up with him. Suzuki said Martin throws five pitches and can go multiple innings — length the bullpen badly needs. Blake Weiman, the losing pitcher Tuesday, was optioned to Salt Lake.
Philadelphia comes to Anaheim on Friday.
GO DEEPER
› Jack Haslett: Angels let another lead slip away in series sweep to Guardians (The Sporting Tribune)
› Jack Haslett: Angels roster recap — Teodosio and Martin coming up, Campero to IL (The Sporting Tribune)
🍔 THE DEALS BOARD
Active today across Southern California — brought to you by Ike’s Sandwiches, home of the world famous Arash Markazi sandwich, which has fried chicken, purple slaw, wasabi mayo, honey mustard, and cheddar on a Dutch Crunch roll. Just ask for the 500 at any Ike’s location. Three straight Dodgers road games have kept most of the board dark.
🍔 Jack in the Box — free Jumbo Jack with a large drink. Dodgers pitchers struck out exactly seven in Atlanta, which is exactly the bar. Code GODODGERS26, app or in-store.
🥤 Mountain Dew — free 20-oz Baja Blast. Six home runs cleared 420 feet Wednesday, led by Hunter Goodman at 435 and Kaelen Culpepper at 428. Wallet pass at OTC Network stores.
⭐ Carl’s Jr. — free Famous Star with Cheese with a large drink, code RAMS7146, listed through today after the Rams recorded an interception in their last game. The Rams play tonight, so a fresh code may replace it by Friday.
Dark today: Panda Express, ampm, Sunright, El Portal, Con Azúcar and Habit Burger all need a Dodgers home game — the next one is Sept. 1 against St. Louis. Firehouse Subs’ Monday-to-Wednesday window closed. The McDonald’s Angels deal needed a win.
⚾ SAN DIEGO GETS ONE BACK
After a 12-inning loss and a 1-0 loss, the Padres avoided the sweep with a 3-0 win Wednesday. Randy Vasquez allowed one hit over five scoreless innings and the bullpen worked around trouble the rest of the way. Jackson Merrill had two extra-base hits, including an RBI triple.
It was the first time in three days the offense converted anything — San Diego had gone 1-for-20 with runners in scoring position across the first two games of the series, with Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Merrill and Xander Bogaerts a combined 2-for-31.
Pittsburgh still took the series two games to one, which is not what a team clinging to the last National League wild card wants to say about a homestand.
GO DEEPER
› Eric Evelhoch: Merrill makes chances count, Padres pitchers survive choppy water in win over Pirates (The Sporting Tribune)
🏈 THE LAST NIGHT TO MAKE A TEAM
Two preseason finales tonight, one in each of our football markets, and then the part nobody enjoys.
At Allegiant Stadium, the Raiders host San Francisco at 5 p.m. with a roster question they did not have two weeks ago. Derek Hegna has written about the opportunity in front of the bubble players; Steve Carp has written about the competition to be the running back behind Ashton Jeanty, which became considerably more consequential after Jeanty left practice Sunday unable to put weight on his right leg.
At SoFi, the Rams face the Chargers at 7 p.m. — BZZR carries it, with The Sporting Tribune’s live postgame show to follow. For several dozen men in both buildings, this is the last tape they will produce before the 53-man deadline.
GO DEEPER
› Derek Hegna: Opportunity presenting itself for Raiders with final preseason game on deck (The Sporting Tribune)
› Steve Carp: Raiders have spirited competition to find No. 2 RB behind No. 2 (The Sporting Tribune)
⚡ QUICK HITS
🏈 Week 0 in Los Angeles. USC opens the season Saturday against San Jose State — Holdenn Graff at USC.
🏀 A home of their own. The Sparks held a topping-out ceremony at their El Segundo facility — Rey Moralde in El Segundo.
⚽ Streak over. Angel City’s four-match unbeaten run ended in a 2-0 loss at the North Carolina Courage, both goals from Ashley Sanchez, whose second was a league record-setting 15th of the season — The Sporting Tribune in North Carolina.
📺 WATCHLIST — THURSDAY, AUGUST 27
⚾ MLB: Dodgers at Braves — Truist Park — 4:15 p.m. — FS1 (Yamamoto, avoiding the sweep)
🏈 NFL Preseason: 49ers at Raiders — Allegiant Stadium — 5:00 p.m. — ESPN
🏈 NFL Preseason: Rams at Chargers — SoFi Stadium — 7:00 p.m. — NFL Network
Coming up: Roster cuts follow tonight’s finales. The Sporting Tribune Today premieres Monday on SportsGrid, weekdays at 7 and 11 a.m. ET.
🎟️ GOING TO A GAME?
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🏈 49ers at Raiders — Allegiant Stadium — $45
🏈 Rams at Chargers — SoFi Stadium — $7
🏈 San Jose State at USC — Coliseum (Saturday) — $11
🏈 Memphis at UNLV — Allegiant Stadium (Saturday) — $40
🌴 TST TRIVIA
Ha-Seong Kim’s full-count single walked off the Dodgers on Wednesday night. What was he hitting on the season when he came to the plate?
Answer at the bottom.
🎧 THE SPORTING TRIBUNE TODAY
Today’s episode: The death of the Pri Bowl, Roki Sasaki to the injured list and what a blister does to a rotation that looked untouchable a week ago; the Angels swept at home after leading all three games; San Diego salvaging one behind Randy Vasquez; and two preseason finales tonight in Las Vegas and Inglewood with cuts to follow. Hear it on the radio across Southern California, Las Vegas and Hawai’i via Westwood One Sports, The Bet Las Vegas, Hawaii Sports Radio Network and KIRN in Los Angeles.
› Listen to the latest episode
Trivia answer: .066.
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