Good morning. The Dodgers are 87-57 and playing their best baseball of the season, and the biggest thing that happened Monday night had nothing to do with the score. Down the freeway, Nick Pivetta pitched for the first time since April and the Padres stayed within half a game of a playoff spot. The Rams practice in Woodland Hills today and get on a plane to Australia tonight, with Aaron Donald still undecided. And in Las Vegas, Dan Mullen brought his dog to the podium. Let’s get into it.
🚨 HEADLINES
⚾ ‘Most likely no.’ Ohtani says he is likely finished pitching this season and will focus on hitting — Fredo Cervantes at Dodger Stadium.
🏈 Wheels up tonight. The Rams finish preparations at home; Donald’s status for Melbourne is still open — The Sporting Tribune at Rams Village.
⚾ Five months later. Nick Pivetta returned and the Padres held on 3-2 — Fernando Ramirez at Petco Park.
🏈 A dog and a pineapple. Steve Carp on the Rebels’ response in Honolulu — Steve Carp at the Fertitta Football Complex.
🏈 Two minutes, then he hangs up. John Spytek on what Klint Kubiak is like to work for — Muhammed Asif in Las Vegas.
🏈 The middle of it all. Mykell Mathieu on why the linebackers may decide how good this Rams defense gets — Mykell Mathieu at Rams Village.
See what else is trending at The Sporting Tribune.
📋 SCOREBOARD — MONDAY
⚾ MLB: Dodgers 6, Reds 3 · Padres 3, Nationals 2 · Red Sox 5, Angels 2
⚾ THE DODGERS DON’T NEED HIM TO PITCH
Fredo Cervantes asked the question everyone in the building wanted answered: is Ohtani still working toward pitching this season?
“Most likely no,” Ohtani said. “I’m going to be focusing on hitting moving forward.”
Then he was asked how close he is to 100 percent. “During the season it’s hard to really feel one hundred percent at any time in the season,” he said. “I wouldn’t say I’m there. The concerns are the arm and knee.”
He called the decision disappointing, and then framed it the way he frames everything. “I think what I was more focused on was to make sure that the pitching wouldn’t cost the most worst scenario, which was for me not to be able to play at all.”
Cervantes’s argument is the right one: there is no reason to force this. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is a frontline October starter. Tarik Skubal was added at the deadline. Blake Snell has two Cy Youngs and is rounding into form. Tyler Glasnow is there when healthy. The Dodgers do not need Shohei Ohtani to throw another pitch in 2026. They need him standing in the batter’s box in October, and he entered Monday hitting .277 with 30 home runs and 80 RBIs in 134 games.
Monday was also Emmet Sheehan’s night. Called up from Oklahoma City after Bobby Miller was optioned, he tied his career high with 10 strikeouts — 5.2 innings, three hits, one earned run, two walks, 82 pitches, 18 whiffs. He had been sent down Aug. 2 with a 5.29 ERA. He came back looking like a postseason weapon.
And Teoscar Hernández hit the ball that decided it, a three-run shot off Brandon Williamson in the sixth, his 13th of the year. Ohtani went 0-for-3 with a walk in his return after missing four games. The Dodgers went 4-0 without him. Make of that what you will — his words, more or less.
GO DEEPER
› Fredo Cervantes: Shohei Ohtani likely done pitching this season, will focus on hitting (The Sporting Tribune)
🏈 ONE MORE PRACTICE, THEN AUSTRALIA
San Francisco has been in Melbourne for nearly a week. The Rams are still in Woodland Hills, with one more workout Tuesday before flying out that night — and the biggest question travels with them.
Aaron Donald said Monday was a recovery day with a cardio workout, and that he would be back on the practice field Tuesday. He has been taking 11-on-11 reps since coming out of retirement, and he sounds surprised by how it has gone.
“It’s better than what I thought it would be, honestly. Things are clicking a little faster,” Donald said. “I’m feeling good, knocking the rust off. I thought I’d be a lot more rusty than I was, but taking it day by day.”
He would not commit to playing Thursday. Neither would his coordinator.
“Everything’s day-by-day,” Chris Shula said. “We’re ready for him if he does, ready for him if he doesn’t. We’ll have a plan for however many plays he feels like he can go and we’ll go from there.”
Donald’s own framing was that he does not have to carry it alone — not with Myles Garrett, Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske and Poona Ford around him. “I don’t have to worry about playing 70, 60 snaps when you have a group like this.”
On offense, Puka Nacua said he feels great after the psoas injury that limited him, and that the continuity is showing up in the details — Davante Adams teaching daily, Matthew Stafford telling receivers exactly where to be. “I think there’s an understanding that the goal wasn’t completed last year,” Nacua said. “There’s only one team that gets to walk away from the season happy.”
Nacua, who has family in Australia, said his flight plan is to sleep as much as possible. Donald’s was simpler. “I just thought about playing ball, that’s it.”
GO DEEPER
› Rams finish preparations at home as Melbourne opener approaches (The Sporting Tribune)
› Mykell Mathieu: Rams’ middle linebackers could be the key to an all-time great defense (The Sporting Tribune)
› Rams bring floating football field to Melbourne ahead of historic Australia game (The Sporting Tribune)
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🍔 THE DEALS BOARD
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⚾ PIVETTA, FIVE MONTHS LATER
The Padres had not seen Nick Pivetta since April 12. Fernando Ramirez writes that he picked up roughly where he left off: five innings, 63 pitches, two hits, two strikeouts, no runs.
“It was important day, exciting day, a lot of emotion,” Pivetta said. “But you know, I was just happy to go out there and contain emotions as best I can and get five strong enough.”
Craig Stammen was less restrained. “What a performance. I think he exceeded all expectations, maybe including himself also.”
Stammen started rookie catcher Ethan Salas — one week on the roster — over Freddy Fermin because Salas had caught Pivetta’s final rehab start in El Paso. That worked too.
The offense was three men. Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill and Manny Machado went a combined 8-for-12 with three RBIs; the rest of the lineup managed one hit. Dylan Crews’s 416-foot homer in the sixth made it 3-2 and that is where it stayed.
San Diego is 76-68 and remains half a game behind Arizona for the last wild card. Casey Mize (6-9) goes tonight.
“That’s what we’re here for,” Tatis said. “Getting cleaner as a team, and obviously there are spots we need to keep improving. So now’s the time.”
GO DEEPER
› Fernando Ramirez: Nick Pivetta shines in return as Padres hold off Nationals 3-2 (The Sporting Tribune)
🐕 THE DOG AT THE PODIUM
Steve Carp went to Dan Mullen’s Monday news conference at the Fertitta Football Complex and found the UNLV coach had brought the family dog, Wells, who spent the session working the media row.
The mood was earned. UNLV is 1-1 after the 21-6 win in Honolulu, and Carp’s point is that the Rebels fixed, in one week, most of what went wrong against Memphis in the opener. Get into the end zone. Get Jet Thomas the ball. Tighten the defense. All three, checked off.
Paul Guenther’s defense held Hawai’i to six points — the fewest UNLV has allowed in a series that dates back to 1969.
“They came up with a really good scheme,” Mullen said of his staff. “The adjustments we made and our secondary did a great job matching all the different patterns they faced.”
Safety Tre Fulton had a dozen tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and a pass breakup in the end zone, and was named Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week. Defensive end Kai-El Togafau took Freshman of the Week after two sacks. Jackson Arnold ran for 89 yards and two touchdowns behind an offensive line missing center Austin Boyd, who is out Saturday and probably for the Sept. 26 trip to Akron as well.
North Texas is next, at home, coming off a 52-16 loss to Indiana. Carp’s warning is the obvious one: a 1-1 team with a new coach and a home opener is exactly the kind of trap a 1-1 team on a plane can fall into.
GO DEEPER
› Steve Carp: Rebels responded the way Mullen hoped they would (The Sporting Tribune)
› Derek Hegna: Defense finds sweet redemption, UNLV avoids 0-2 start (The Sporting Tribune)
› Paul Brecht: Hawai’i’s offense stalls in 21-6 home-opening loss to UNLV (The Sporting Tribune)
📺 WATCHLIST — TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
⚾ MLB: Angels at Red Sox — Fenway Park — 3:45 p.m. — ABTV
⚾ MLB: Nationals at Padres — Petco Park — 6:40 p.m. — Padres TV
⚾ MLB: Reds at Dodgers — Dodger Stadium — 7:10 p.m. — SNLA
Coming up: LAFC hosts the Red Bulls and San Diego FC hosts San Jose on Wednesday. The Rams open the season against San Francisco in Melbourne on Thursday. USC hosts Louisiana and UNLV travels to North Texas on Saturday; Hawai’i hosts New Mexico State. The Raiders open against Miami at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday.
🎟️ GOING TO A GAME?
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⚾ Reds at Dodgers — Dodger Stadium — $40
⚾ Nationals at Padres — Petco Park — $38
⚽ Red Bulls at LAFC — BMO Stadium (Wednesday) — $36
🌴 TST TRIVIA
UNLV held Hawai’i to six points in Honolulu on Saturday — the fewest the Rebels have ever allowed the Rainbow Warriors. How far back does that series go?
Answer at the bottom.
🎧 THE SPORTING TRIBUNE TODAY
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Today’s episode: Ohtani closes the door on pitching, Sheehan opens one, the Rams get on a plane with Aaron Donald undecided, and Nick Pivetta pitches for the first time since April.
› Listen to the latest episode
Trivia answer: 1969.
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