LEADING OFF: Yanks' Cole, Rays' Glasnow tabbed for Game 5
A look at what's happening around the majors today:___WINNER-TAKE-ALLYankees ace Gerrit Cole and towering Tampa Bay righty Tyler Glasnow will both pitch on short rest in the deciding Game 5 of their AL Division Series. Cole earned the victory in Game 1 despite allowing two home runs, and heโll appear on three daysโ rest after throwing 97 pitches. The 6-foot-8 Glasnow will be pitching on two daysโ rest after striking out 10 in Game 2. โI havenโt really talked about innings or anything like that,โ Glasnow said after New York won 5-1 Thursday to force Game 5. The Rays are trying to advance to the ALCS for the first time since 2008, when they made it to their only World Series.
LEADING OFF: Ailing players heal up, Yanks back in Cleveland
Minnesota has a couple of ailing hitters in third baseman Josh Donaldson (right calf) and center fielder Byron Buxton (mild concussion symptoms). Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said Buxton is improving and the team hopes heโll be ready for the postseason opener. Brett Phillips exited Sundayโs game with right hamstring tightness, and fellow outfielder Manuel Margot (sore foot) was scratched from the lineup. Acuรฑa was scratched Sunday with renewed irritation in his left wrist. Because of the reworked schedule caused by the virus outbreak, the Yankees didnโt play in Cleveland this year.
Dodgers' Betts unseats Yankees' Judge for MLB's top jersey
NEW YORK โ Dodgers star Mookie Betts supplanted Yankees slugger Aaron Judge on Friday for baseball's top-selling jersey in his first year on the West Coast. 50 is the first Dodgers uniform to top the list since MLB began releasing sales rankings in 2010. Betts is in the running to become the second player, after Frank Robinson, to win MVPs in both leagues. Judge slotted second ahead of Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper, who is in the second season of a $330 million, 13-year deal. The Chicago Cubs (Javier Baez, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant) and Yankees (Judge, Cole, Giancarlo Stanton) were the only other teams with three players in the top 20.
LEADING OFF: Giants-Padres slated to resume after COVID PPDs
Games set for Friday and Saturday night were called off to allow time for more testing and contact tracing. Major League Baseball has made no announcement about Sunday's game, although so far this season, no team has resumed its season so swiftly following a positive test. The two-time Gold Glover was hitting .232 with 10 home runs with 25 RBIs in 37 games this year. He batted only .120 (3 for 25) with 17 strikeouts and one walk his last eight games. The Aโs could use a combination of recently acquired Tommy La Stella, rookie Vimael Machin and Chad Pinder at third base.
LEADING OFF: Virus, Gulf Coast storm force sked shuffling
The Washington Nationals play the New York Mets during the third inning of a baseball game at Citi Field Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020, in New York. Michael Conforto and the Mets will start making up the misses this week. The Astros, meanwhile, have reshuffled their series against Mike Trout and the Angels because of Tropical Storm Laura. Chatwood is lined up to start the game at Detroit and Quintana will begin his return in the bullpen. Their weekend series at Citi Field was wiped out when two members of the Mets organization tested positive for the virus.