The cavalry is coming for the Dodgers
The Dodgers have spent a week losing games but Dave Roberts delivered some good news on Wednesday: Blake Snell starts next week, Tyler Glasnow is close, and Shohei Ohtani is still on track to pitch.
Good morning! For a team that just traded for the best pitcher in baseball, the Dodgers have spent an awful lot of August talking about the arms they’re missing. That changed Wednesday in Chicago. Elsewhere, the Sparks are rebuilding on the fly after trading Kelsey Plum, Puka Nacua made a move that has nothing to do with football and everything to do with his next contract, and the Raiders are starting to look like a team a week into camp. Let’s get into it.
🚨 HEADLINES
⚾ Reinforcements. Snell starts next week, Glasnow is building up and Ohtani remains on track to pitch — Arash Markazi at Wrigley Field.
🏈 Follow the money. Puka Nacua hired the agency behind the record Smith-Njigba and Zay Flowers deals — Muhammed Asif in Los Angeles.
🏀 Life after Plum. The Sparks snapped their skid in Portland and now face the Sky on the road — Rey Moralde in Chicago.
🏈 Taking shape. A week into camp, the evolution of the Raiders is becoming apparent — Derek Hegna in Henderson.
🏀 Wilson again. A’ja Wilson earned her third Western Conference Player of the Week award of the season — Arion Armeniakos in Las Vegas.
⚾ Machado’s night. Four RBIs and a 16-hit outburst carried San Diego past Arizona, 9-4 — Eric Evelhoch at Chase Field.
🏈 Catching eyes in Oxnard. Jaishawn Barham and Jaydon Blue are building momentum at Cowboys camp — Sebastian Sanchez in Oxnard.
See what else is trending at The Sporting Tribune.
📋 SCOREBOARD — TUESDAY
⚾ MLB: Padres 10, Diamondbacks 4 · Cubs 7, Dodgers 6 · Orioles 5, Angels 2
🏀 WNBA: Sky 95, Sparks 88
⚾ GOOD NEWS, FINALLY, FOR THE DODGERS
Blake Snell came through his latest outing without a setback and is expected to slot into the rotation next week — “He’ll start next week,” Roberts said, pending how Snell feels the day after. Tyler Glasnow is close behind, coming out of his most recent rehab outing feeling good and set to throw roughly three innings next time before stretching to four.
The bigger picture involves Shohei Ohtani, who remains on track to return to the mound, though Roberts made clear the club isn’t forcing him into a traditional starter’s load. “I certainly see him as a starter,” Roberts said. “But how much he could give us and then have somebody behind him, we don’t know yet… Whether it’s one inning, two innings, three innings, I’m not too concerned about the timeline.” Behind the plate, Will Smith is taking swings in the cage but hasn’t faced live pitching and has no timetable. Dalton Rushing is a tougher story — shut down from throwing four to six weeks with a slight UCL tear, with the club hoping to keep his bat viable. Roberts put his odds of catching again this season as “very small. I hope I’m wrong.” Until then it’s Ben Rortvedt and Hunter Feduccia, and Roberts is fine with that: “We just want those guys to lock in on the run-prevention side.”
GO DEEPER
› Arash Markazi: Dodgers expect Snell to start next week with Glasnow and Ohtani returning to the mound later this season (The Sporting Tribune)
› Arash Markazi: Rortvedt could be the Dodgers’ most important trade deadline addition (The Sporting Tribune)
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🏀 THE SPARKS TURN THE PAGE
Kelsey Plum was traded Saturday night. By Sunday the Sparks had finally snapped their long losing streak with a win in Portland, and now the reset begins in earnest. Los Angeles (11-17) faces the Sky in Chicago on the front end of a back-to-back that continues Thursday in Minnesota — a brutal turn for a team already stretched thin. Dearica Hamby and Nneka Ogwumike carried the load in Portland, with Erica Wheeler and a scorching Ariel Atkins in the backcourt. New acquisition Monique Akoa Makani is expected to debut, and her perimeter defense is badly needed. The Sky are banged up themselves — no Skylar Diggins, no Rickea Jackson, no Azurá Stevens, with Sydney Taylor questionable after hurting her groin. Los Angeles sits five games back of the No. 8 seed. The postseason math is unforgiving, but with two first-round picks in hand, the longer view is getting clearer.
GO DEEPER
› Rey Moralde: Sparks face Sky in first game of back-to-back on the road (The Sporting Tribune)
🏈 A WEEK IN, THE RAIDERS ARE STARTING TO LOOK LIKE SOMETHING
Seven days into camp, the shape of Klint Kubiak’s Raiders is coming into focus. The pads are on, the physicality has ramped up, and the competition that defined the opening days is beginning to sort itself out. Maxx Crosby is back on the field and setting the tone in the room — reflecting this week on advice from Rich Bisaccia that stuck with him: don’t wait to lead. Kirk Cousins answered criticism of sluggish practice footage by ripping off full-speed sprints Sunday. Brock Bowers remains the alpha in a camp full of position battles, and Fernando Mendoza’s arrival continues to generate its own weather. There’s a long way to go before Sept. 13 against Miami. But a team that has cycled through five head coaches in six years is at least starting to look like it knows what it wants to be.
GO DEEPER
› Derek Hegna: The evolution of the Raiders becoming apparent as training camp hits week-long mark (The Sporting Tribune)
› Muhammed Asif: Raiders’ Maxx Crosby recalls Rich Bisaccia advice — ‘Don’t wait to lead’ (The Sporting Tribune)
📺 WATCHLIST — THURSDAY, AUGUST 6
⚾ MLB. Angels at Orioles— ABTV — 9:30 a.m. PT
🏀 WNBA: Aces at Fever — Prime Video — 4:00 p.m. PT
⚾ MLB. Padres at Diamondbacks — Padres TV — 5:40 p.m. PT
🏀 WNBA: Sparks at Lynx — Prime Video — 6:00 p.m. PT
⚾ MLS. SDFC at America — Apple TV — 7:00 p.m. PT
🎟️ GOING TO A GAME?
Get-in prices across Southern California, Las Vegas and Hawaii — brought to you by TickPick, the no-hidden-fee ticket marketplace.
⚾ MLB. Padres at Diamondbacks — Chase Field — $22
🌴 TST TRIVIA
Kelsey Plum was traded out of Los Angeles last Saturday. Which team did she join — and how many points did she score off the bench in her debut?
Answer at the bottom.
🎧 THE SPORTING TRIBUNE TODAY
Today’s episode covers the Dodgers’ injury news out of Wrigley and what a healthy rotation would actually look like, the Sparks’ reset after the Kelsey Plum trade, and a Raiders camp that’s finally taking shape in Henderson. Hear it on the radio across Southern California, Las Vegas and Hawaii via Westwood One Sports, The Bet Las Vegas, Hawaii Sports Radio Network and KIRN in Los Angeles.
› Listen to the latest episode
Trivia answer: The Phoenix Mercury — Plum scored 20 points off the bench in her debut, helping beat the Sky in Chicago.
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