Monday, August 10

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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.

Remember Moonlight Graham from “Field of Dreams”? He’s the player who made it to the big leagues for exactly one game with the New York Giants back in 1905, but never got to bat. 

In the movie, Graham is recruited by Ray Kinsella (aka, Kevin Costner) to play ball on his makeshift field in Dyersville, Iowa. There, Moonlight finally gets his at-bat … and even a compliment from Shoeless Joe Jackson, who calls out to him as he walks off the field for the last time: “Hey, rookie! You were good.”

Well, here’s a cool story: With the Phillies and Twins set to play in the 2026 MLB at Field of Dreams Game this Thursday in Dyersville (7:30 p.m. ET on Netflix), the Phils paid tribute to the 1989 classic by giving four of their own alumni their own “Moonlight” moment. 

In a special pregame ceremony before yesterday’s series finale against the Orioles at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies brought out four former players who reached the Major Leagues but never got into a game: pitchers Jeff Singer and Tim Lahey, catcher Tim Gradoville and infielder Will Toffey.

The four Moonlight Graham-esque Phils were each presented with a special-edition Field of Dreams Phillies uniform before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.  

“Obviously, making it to the Major Leagues is one of the hardest things to do in sports,” Toffey said. “The fact that we all were able to have a short glimpse of what it’s like in the Major Leagues, a day like today really just kind of affirms your career.”

Singer — who’s from Northeast Philadelphia — and Toffey were members of the 2022 Phillies. Lahey was on the 2008 Phillies (who eventually won the World Series), and Gradoville was on the 2006 Phillies. 

For more info on Thursday’s MLB at Field of Dreams Game, see our FAQ here >> 

 

GAMES OF THE NIGHT

We’ve got Skubal’s Dodger Stadium debut and more on tap tonight. Check out these three games: 

Red Sox at Blue Jays (7:07 p.m. ET, MLB.TV) 

The Red Sox just lost their first series since the start of July, but they have a chance to start the next one on the right foot with Cy Young contender Sonny Gray on the mound (14-2, 2.78 ERA, 106 strikeouts). Boston also has reinforcements coming — most notably marquee Trade Deadline acquisition Adley Rutschman, who’s expected to make his Sox debut at some point in this series. 

Brewers at Padres (9:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV) 

The Padres have won 12 of their last 16 games, and their stars are starting to show up— Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill and Manny Machado are all raking. But now they have to face the MLB-best Brewers, who are a season-high 30 games over .500 at 74-44. If there’s one thing going in the Friars’ favor, though, it’s that they don’t have to face Jacob Misiorowski in this series, since the Miz pitched yesterday.  

Royals at Dodgers (10:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network / MLB.TV) 

Tarik Skubal makes his first home start for the Dodgers, who need a big game from their new ace. The reigning champs have lost eight of their last nine games entering tonight’s homestand opener. In a funny twist of fate, since Los Angeles traded for Skubal from the Tigers, the Dodgers are 1-6 … and the Tigers are 5-2. You can’t predict baseball. 

52-YEAR-OLD ICHIRO STILL HITS DINGERS

One thing never changes: Ichiro rakes. Ichiro will rake forever.

The Mariners legend is 52 years old now — and he can still blast dingers. Ichiro was the headliner of Seattle’s Alumni Home Run Derbyover the weekend, and he put on a show for the fans. 

With throwback “I-chi-ro!” chants booming around T-Mobile Park, Ichiro smacked six home runs. Again, this is 52-year-old Ichiro we’re talking about. And these are real, full-size, MLB-stadium homers.

But we’d expect nothing less from the Hall of Famer, who still lives and breathes baseball 24-7-365.

“I’m doing this all year,” Ichiro said after the Mariners Derby. “There’s never a time where there’s an offseason. It’s pretty much an everyday thing where I’m doing baseball, so it’s kind of an all-year thing for me.”

Ichiro “only” hit 117 home runs during his Major League career, out of his 3,089 total hits. But his batting practice displays were legendary, when he would knock homer after homer. The lore of Ichiro was always that he could leave the yard whenever he wanted. Ichiro himself even once said that if he were allowed to hit .220, instead of his usual .300-plus, he could probably hit 40 homers. We believe it. 

2026 POSTSEASON SCHEDULE RELEASED

The MLB postseason schedule is out. We have everything you need to know right here, but here are a few quick details: 

When does the postseason begin?

The action gets underway on Tuesday, Sept. 29, with Game 1 of each of the four best-of-three Wild Card Series, presented by AbbVie. Each Game 2 is scheduled for Sept. 30, while each Game 3 (if necessary) would be played on Oct. 1.

When does the Division Series start and end?

All four Division Series, presented by Booking.com, start on Saturday, Oct. 3. If one or two NLDS Game 5s are necessary, those would be played Oct. 9. If one or two ALDS Game 5s are necessary, those would be played Oct. 10.

When does the League Championship Series start and end?

The best-of-seven League Championship Series round will begin with Game 1 of the NLCS on Sunday, Oct. 11. The ALCS will get underway the following day on Oct. 12. Game 7 of the NLCS, if necessary, would be played on Oct. 19. Game 7 of the ALCS would be Oct. 20.

When does the World Series start and end?

Game 1 of the World Series, presented by Capital One, is set for Friday, Oct. 23. If a winner-take-all Game 7 is needed to decide the 2026 World Series champion, that game would be played on Halloween night (Saturday, Oct. 31).

See the full schedule at MLB.com/Postseason.   

TO GEORGE, FROM AARON

OK, it might not be Messi bathing Yamal, but this photo we saw making the rounds on social media this weekend is pretty good: 

That on the left is Yankees phenom George Lombard Jr., who’s off to quite the hot start to his Major League career, posing next to his now-teammate Aaron Judge at the 2018 Home Run Derby. 

Lombard is at the ripe old age of 21 now, so the top shortstop prospect would’ve just turned 13 when that photo was taken. 

Also in the pic is George’s younger brother Jacob, who just started his own pro career in the Marlins organization. The Lombard Bros. debuted on the same day — George in the Majors, Jacob in the Minors — and they both hit home runs.

The Lombards were at the 2018 Derby because their dad, George Sr., was coaching for the Dodgers at the time and was on the National League’s All-Star Game staff under Dave Roberts.

Judge has even signed the photo “To George and Jacob.” Little did he know he’d be on the same team as George eight years later. 

 

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