relief Page 1 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Cowboys make $500K donation to assist with Texas flooding
The Dallas Cowboys are donating $500,000 to the Salvation Army to assist in recovery from the flooding that has devastated the Texas Hill Country, the team announced Sunday.,The Houston Texans said Saturday they also were donating that same amount.,As of 11:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, state officials had ...

Houston Texans donate $500K to help flood victims
The Houston Texans announced a $500,000 commitment Saturday to support those affected by the deadly floods in the Texas Hill Country.,As of noon ET on Saturday, rescuers were still searching for more than two dozen children from a girls' camp after a devastating flood killed at least 27 people.,A wa...

This may upset Rob Manfred, but starting pitchers are not ever going to be what they used to be
It’s easy to say that MLB gets too caught up in its past and tries too hard to be the game it once was. A major part of baseball’s charm is its connection to its past. While the other sports don’t look anything like they did even 20 or 30 years ago, baseball doesn’t ever move too far from what it’s ...

This is part of Clayton Kershaw's legacy, too
Clayton Kershaw is the best pitcher of the 21st century. This much isn’t really in dispute. A career 2.48 ERA and 2.82 FIP over 16 years is unimpeachable. There’s three Cy Youngs to go with it, and an MVP in 2014 when he had a 1.77 ERA and a 0.857 WHIP, which is beyond stupid. He probably should hav...

Julio Rodriguez refuses to make any outs
Baseball fans can lose track of the Mariners, all tucked away down there, pretty easily. They’re on late at night, and they don’t come with any of the glamor of some of the other West Coast teams. Though they entered this season as one of the more promising units after last year’s exploits, a pretty...

The Baltimore Orioles are on the highwire
One of the bigger stories of MLB so far this season is the unrelenting and pretty comedic dominance of the AL East. The last-place team, the Toronto Blue Jays, have the exact same record as the first-place team in the AL Central, the Minnesota Twins. Every team is at least three games over .500. The...

Craig Kimbrel joins 7 other relievers with 400 saves
Phillies reliever Craig Kimbrel is the second MLB closer this season — and eighth all-time — to reach the 400-save mark. He closed out Philadelphia’s 6-4 win over the Atlanta Braves....

Great news — Rob Manfred has more ideas on how to 'fix' the game
Major League Baseball has certainly gotten its plaudits for the rule changes for the 2023 season, mostly because it’s sped up the game to well under three hours. Strikeouts and walks are still about where they’ve always been, but more grounders are getting through (strangely from right-handed hitter...

MLB cares more about middle relievers — and money — than the fans
No one comes up with a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist quite like MLB. It’s their specialty....

Rob Manfred’s dumb ghost runner is here to stay
The start of the World Series always means that whichever ghoul is the commissioner of MLB is going to emerge from the damp and dark dwelling in which he inhabits. That’s the rule for every league of course, so it’s not to single out baseball. A Super Bowl, a Stanley Cup Final, the NBA Finals always...

Get good players, win good prizes
It obviously seems way too simple to distill the NLCS that kicks off tonight between the Phillies and Padres as two teams that just traded for or signed a bunch of good players. It’s a damning statement on where MLB is at the moment that this seems such a radical fucking idea. It’s the easiest thing...

If you need something to complain about, complain about MLB relievers
Having no love for the Dodgers (I was threatened with far too many stabbings in the Dodger Stadium upper deck at an impressionable age to get over it), I certainly am gleaning at least a modicum of joy over their fans’ wailing about seeing a 111-win team eat it at the first hurdle in the postseason....

With offense winning titles in other sports, playoff baseball is still about pitching
The Dodgers, Braves, and Yankees combined to win 311 regular season games over the course of the regular season, but the playoffs have been a beautiful disaster so far. Mid-’90s alternative rock references notwithstanding, all three clubs received first-round byes, and only New York isn’t on the bri...

Don’t be in such a rush to show your genius
When you come at the Houston Astros, you’d best not miss. ...

The ruthless efficiency of Sandy Alcantara
As the baseball season draws to a close today, one of the rites of this time is to look at numbers that pop off the screen. For most of the last month, that’s been Aaron Judge. Whether it’s the number of homers he hits — or more often, it’s simply the gap from him to the second-place homer total, wh...

The most uncomfortable at-bat ever
I join many others in giving MLB hitters a hard time. The need to lift and drive has added an untenable amount of strikeouts to the game, and it can be frustrating watching guys simply pound contact right into a gaggle of fielders shifted over. But we also try to defend them as best we can, given th...

Craig Kimbrel pitching his way off of Dodgers’ postseason roster
Craig Kimbrel needs to be left off the Dodgers’ postseason roster....

Front offices are bitching about the pitcher limit, which probably means it’ll work
I get caught in the trap as much as anyone, but I’m an impulsive guy. Baseball isn’t like other sports, where you can change one rule, any rule, and see the effects on Opening Day. In baseball, everything takes some time to have an effect....

Front offices are bitching about the pitcher limit, which probably means it’ll work
I get caught in the trap as much as anyone, but I’m an impulsive guy. Baseball isn’t like other sports, where you can change one rule, any rule, and see the effects on Opening Day. In baseball, everything takes some time to have an effect....

Still awaiting major blockbuster before MLB trade deadline
By the time you read this, the MLB trade deadline might have been set aflame. So far the only big name to pack his bags for a new home is Frankie Montas, who will be a Yankee the next time he puts on a hat for his job. He’ll fit in nicely as a No. 2 behind Gerrit Cole or No. 3 behind Nestor Cortes i...