Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today's games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Today's edition is brought to you by David Adler.
This one's going to feel a little weird, we're not going to lie. Tarik Skubal on the mound in Detroit, pitching against the Tigers?
The grand homecoming is tonight, so we're getting ready for the strange sight of Skubal in a Dodgers uniform, facing his old team for the first time. Los Angeles opens its three-game series against the Tigers with Skubal on the mound (6:40 p.m. ET, MLB Network / MLB.TV).
The last time we saw Skubal pitching at Comerica Park, just before the Trade Deadline, he was busy dealing a gem. Skubal notched his 1,000th career strikeout and soaked in a standing ovation from Tigers fans in what proved to be his final start for Detroit. When the Tigers lost that game in dramatic fashion, it all but guaranteed they were going to deal their ace.
Three days later, it happened, and now the back-to-back Cy Young winner is facing the team that drafted him in 2018 as a member of a Dodgers superteam looking for a threepeat. L.A. sits in first place in the NL West and is one of two teams in the Majors with 80 wins along with the Brewers. The Tigers, who fought to stay in the American League playoff race even after trading Skubal away, have fallen to eight games back in the AL Central and 5 1/2 games out of a Wild Card spot.
Now they get Skubal coming off his best game yet as a Dodger. Skubal struck out 11 against the Pirates on Sunday to pick up his first win with his new team.
Here's a glimpse of what the Tigers are saying about facing Skubal tonight:
Manager A.J. Hinch: "Obviously, it's pretty weird to think about facing someone who was just in our clubhouse, and that's the nature of the Trade Deadline. You know you can multiply it, because anything around Tarik is pretty extreme."
Slugger Spencer Torkelson: "He's a Cy Young for a reason, but you want to play the best, and he's the best. So I think the guys are looking forward to the opportunity to face him. Obviously, [I] love him, great friend, but in between the lines, we're trying to beat each other."
But you'll just have to read the story to find out their thoughts on Skubal taking the clubhouse espresso machine with him.
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RIVALRY RENEWED WITH PLAYOFFS ON THE LINE |
This is the best kind of Red Sox-Yankees series. Both teams in playoff contention, late in the season, with a lot on the line.
The two rivals face off in a high-stakes four-game series starting tonight at Yankee Stadium (7:15 p.m. ET, Apple TV). The Bronx Bombers and Boston are both in Wild Card position, and both within striking distance of the first-place Rays in the AL East.
So this series has big playoff ramifications. The Yankees hold the top AL Wild Card spot at 75-58, but the Sox are only two games behind them in the second spot at 73-60.
Our Yankees and Red Sox beat reporters, Bryan Hoch and Ian Browne, preview this weekend's series here.
Their breakdown includes:
- How the narrative for both teams has changed since they last met at Fenway Park in June
- How the big Trade Deadline additions for both teams have fared, headlined by Adley Rutschman for Boston and Luis García Jr. for New York
- The current status of injured stars on both sides, including Aaron Judge, Max Fried, Garrett Crochet and Roman Anthony
- How each team is playing of late
- The Sox and Yanks' chances of catching the Rays to win the division
Be sure to tune into the series opener tonight -- AL Cy Young favorite Cam Schlittler is on the mound for the Yankees.
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THE AZZURRI TAKE OVER DUNEDIN |
Speaking of espresso … have you heard about Giaconino and Giacomo?
Michael Clair has a fun feature out today on what might be the first all-Italian battery in Minor League history. That would be catcher Giaconino Lasaracina and pitcher Giacomo Taschin -- who are teammates, roommates and fellow Italians in the Blue Jays organization.
Taschin hails from Rovigo, a city in northeast Italy about an hour from Venice. Lasaracina was born in Venezuela but is of Italian heritage. Both players played in Italy's Serie A baseball league, and for the Italian national team, before they joined the Blue Jays.
Funnily enough, Taschin and Lasaracina had never met before they arrived in Dunedin, Fla., to play Single-A ball together. Now they hope they can make it to the Major Leagues together, too.
"I have a guy I can speak Italian with, even when we’re in the game," Taschin told Clair. "If I need some advice, we can speak Italian without problems. He’s a great guy and we talk a lot, even outside of baseball."
And Lasaracina joked that: "We know that nobody speaks Italian, so I can tell him a couple words in Italian."
There's a lot more in Clair's story about Taschin and Lasaracina's journey through pro baseball, and what players like them mean to the Italy national baseball program -- especially after the fun-loving, espresso-shot-taking Team Italy made it all the way to the semifinals at the World Baseball Classic. So check out the full feature.
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Besides Skubal vs. the Tigers and the Red Sox vs. the Yankees, here are three more games to watch this weekend -- one for each day.
Tonight: Rangers at Brewers (7:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)
Logan Henderson throws one of the funkiest pitches in baseball: a rare high-spin changeup that moves a ton and completely disrupts hitters' timing. Changeups are normally low-spin pitches, which is what gives them their classic "tumbling" movement. But not Henderson's -- and it might even be a Brewers thing. We talked to Milwaukee's star rookie about his weird pitch. See our breakdown here >>
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Tomorrow: Astros at Mets (4:10 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)
Nolan McLean looks like he's found it. He has a 1.97 ERA over his last 10 starts, which has vaulted him right back to where he was at the start of the season: in the NL Rookie of the Year conversation. With a bunch of nasty pitches in his arsenal, we want to see how McLean attacks Astros MVP candidate and Triple Crown threat Yordan Alvarez.
Sunday: Padres at Rays (1:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)
While the Yankees and Red Sox are battling it out with each other, the No. 1 team in the AL East will have its hands full against an NL playoff contender. The Rays' Interleague series finale against the Padres will pit Drew Rasmussen, who's been arguably their best pitcher (2.95 ERA, 143 strikeouts) against former Cy Young winner Robbie Ray, one of the Padres' big additions at the Trade Deadline (3.21 ERA, 122 K's).
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250 FOR 250: BEST BLOOPERS |
We wrap up the penultimate week of the 250 for 250 series with a lighthearted exercise: ranking the top 10 bloopers in MLB history.
We've got managers in disguise. Players blowing baseballs foul. Balls doinking off outfielders' heads. And, of course, Manny being Manny.
A lot of the 250 for 250 rankings are all about great players making great plays. But that's not nearly all of what makes baseball so much fun. When you watch these 10 clips, you won't be able to help but laugh.
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