Two teams headed in opposite directions
The Dodgers went 1-5 on the road and have now lost three straight series. Two hours south, the Padres are 14-9 since the break and just took a series from Houston. Both are home tonight.
Good morning! Southern California baseball is a study in contrasts this morning. The Dodgers limped home from a 1-5 trip having lost eight of nine and three straight series. The Padres are playing their best baseball of the year and sit one game out of the last NL Wild Card spot. The Angels, sellers at the deadline, open a series with Texas. All three are home tonight — the full slate is below. Elsewhere, the Aces closed a brutal road trip with their worst loss of the season, and the Sparks came up just short at Crypto. Let’s get into it.
🚨 HEADLINES
⚾ Cold in the desert. The Dodgers dropped a third straight series, falling 4-2 in Arizona to close a 1-5 trip — Fredo Cervantes at Chase Field.
⚾ Padres keep rolling. Fernando Tatis Jr.’s three-run shot powered a 7-2 win and a series victory over Houston — James Newell at Petco Park.
🏀 Rough finish. A shorthanded Aces team lost 111-71 in Brooklyn, their worst defeat of the season — Derek Hegna at Barclays Center.
🏀 Rally comes up short. The Sparks’ fourth-quarter push wasn’t enough against Golden State, 84-78 — Rey Moralde at Crypto.com Arena.
🏈 Camp notes. Njoku praised Herbert, O’Leary talked defense and Eboigbe eyed a bigger role at The Bolt — Fredo Cervantes at Chargers camp.
⚽ First points. San Diego FC beat Club Tijuana 1-0 for its first Leagues Cup points — Angel Rodriguez at Snapdragon Stadium.
🏈 Mendoza’s turn. The Raiders’ top pick finally got his opportunity on a run-heavy day in Henderson — Derek Hegna in Henderson.
See what else is trending at The Sporting Tribune.
📋 SCOREBOARD — SUNDAY
⚾ MLB: Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 2 · Padres 7, Astros 2· Marlins 12, Angels 3
🏀 WNBA: Liberty 111, Aces 71 · Valkyries 84, Sparks 78
⚽ MLS: San Diego FC 1, Club Tijuana 0
⚽ NWSL: Angel City 2, Seattle Reign 2
⚾ THE DODGERS COME HOME LOOKING FOR ANSWERS
The Dodgers came to Phoenix hoping to salvage something. They left with seven runs scored across three games and their third consecutive series loss — the first time that’s happened all season. Sunday’s 4-2 defeat capped a 1-5 road trip and dropped them to 70-48, still atop the National League but suddenly looking very ordinary.
Justin Wrobleski didn’t help, lasting just 3⅓ innings — his shortest start of the year — and surrendering a Ketel Marte two-run homer in the first. That’s nine home runs allowed over his last three starts. The bullpen was excellent, throwing 4⅔ scoreless behind him. The offense simply couldn’t answer. Eduardo Rodríguez has been a problem all year for Los Angeles, and Sunday he held them to two runs over seven; he now owns a 1.88 ERA in four starts against the Dodgers this season. Andy Pages doubled home a run in the third — his 76th RBI — and Kyle Tucker tripled home Freddie Freeman in the sixth. That was it. Eight losses in their last nine. Now comes a seven-game homestand, beginning tonight against Kansas City, that could not be better timed.
GO DEEPER
› Fredo Cervantes: Dodgers drop third straight series with loss to D-Backs (The Sporting Tribune)
› Arash Markazi: Tarik Skubal makes the Dodgers better but not unbeatable (The Sporting Tribune)
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⚾ THIS IS THE PADRES TEAM THEY’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT
Sunday’s 7-2 win over Houston was, by manager Craig Stammen’s own accounting, the best version of what San Diego has been building toward: “We’ve played a lot of games here lately that resembled that. That was probably the best version of that.” The Padres are 62-57, 14-9 since the All-Star break, and have won four of their last seven series.
Fernando Tatis Jr. supplied the swing — a 421-foot, 110-mph three-run shot off Cristian Javier that he stood and admired. “Amazing, beautiful,” Tatis said. “That’s what you dream of when you’re a kid.” Jackson Merrill homered for the 18th time and has scored in six straight games; since July 18 he’s tied for the most homers in baseball. Gavin Sheets ended a homerless stretch dating to June 30, and Austin Hays — signed the afternoon before — pinch hit in the eighth and hit a two-run homer. Randy Vásquez gave five innings of two-run ball and retired 10 straight to finish. After Daulton Varsho’s second-inning homer, San Diego retired 22 in a row. The bullpen was untouchable. The Padres remain one game behind Arizona for the final NL Wild Card spot, with 43 to play and Milwaukee in town tonight.
GO DEEPER
› James Newell: Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres stay hot, taking series from Astros (The Sporting Tribune)
› Jackson Merrill powers Padres past Astros, 3-2, as Michael King delivers six strong innings (The Sporting Tribune)
⚾ THE ANGELS BEGIN THE NEXT THING
The Angels sold, and they sold thoroughly. Over deadline week the club moved José Soriano to Toronto for a package fronted by MLB Pipeline’s No. 43 prospect Arjun Nimmala, sent Jo Adell to Cleveland, Ryan Zeferjahn to the Chicago Cubs, Brent Suter to Atlanta and Kirby Yates to Pittsburgh — a firesale that Jack Janes wrote sparks a new era in Anaheim.
What’s left is a young roster and a reason to watch the arms. Walbert Ureña, 22, has been the story of the second half, carrying a 2.58 ERA across 18 starts since being recalled April 19 and out-dueling NL Cy Young frontrunner Jacob Misiorowski in a 3-0 shutout of Milwaukee on Aug. 2. “Today might have been the best game he’s pitched all year,” manager Kurt Suzuki said that afternoon. Texas comes to Anaheim tonight.
GO DEEPER
› Jack Janes: Firesale deadline sparks new era of Angels baseball (The Sporting Tribune)
› Jack Janes: Ureña deals, Meckler’s homer lifts Angels over Brewers (The Sporting Tribune)
🏀 A ROAD TRIP THE ACES WILL WANT TO FORGET
Becky Hammon rested A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray in Brooklyn, and the result was ugly: a 111-71 loss, the worst of the Aces’ season. Hammon wasn’t apologizing. “The health and safety of the players come first. Where we end up, we end up… You take the L understanding that it pays dividends on the back end.”
The concern isn’t the score, it’s what it exposed. The five Aces who started managed 19 points combined. Jewell Loyd didn’t record a field goal in 19 minutes. Marine Johannès outscored the entire Las Vegas starting five by herself with 27. The bright spots came from further down the bench: rookie Ta’Niya Latson put up 20 points on 6-for-9 shooting in 24 minutes, Mai Yamamoto added 16 and a team-high six assists, and Justine Pissott chipped in 11. “It gives me options,” Hammon said. That may be the real takeaway — the depth Las Vegas has been counting on and the depth that actually produced were not the same players.
GO DEEPER
› Derek Hegna: Aces’ loss to Liberty reveals flaw that could put a dent in back-to-back hopes (The Sporting Tribune)
📺 WATCHLIST — MONDAY, AUGUST 10
⚾ MLB: Rangers at Angels — Angel Stadium — 6:38 p.m. — ABTV
⚾ MLB: Brewers at Padres — Petco Park — 6:40 p.m. — Padres TV
⚾ MLB: Royals at Dodgers — Dodger Stadium — 7:10 p.m. — SNLA
Coming up: The Dodgers open a seven-game homestand, the Padres host Milwaukee with Casey Mize on the mound, and the Rams, Chargers, Raiders and Cowboys camps continue.
🎟️ GOING TO A GAME?
Get-in prices across Southern California and Las Vegas — brought to you by TickPick, the no-hidden-fee ticket marketplace.
⚾ Rangers at Angels — Angel Stadium — $3
⚾ Brewers at Padres — Petco Park —$17
⚾ Royals at Dodgers — Dodger Stadium — $60
🌴 TST TRIVIA
The Padres sit one game behind Arizona for the final National League Wild Card spot. How many games do they have left on the schedule?
Answer at the bottom.
🎧 THE SPORTING TRIBUNE TODAY
Today’s episode looks at two Southern California baseball teams heading in opposite directions — a Dodgers offense that has gone quiet at the worst time and a Padres club finally playing to its ceiling — plus the Angels’ post-deadline reset and what the Aces learned in Brooklyn. 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: 43 games.
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