The Chicago Cubs might have further word on Yu Darvish after the Japanese ace said he felt soreness in his troubled triceps tendon following a minor league rehab start. Darvish hasn’t pitched in the majors since May 20 because of right triceps tendinitis. He threw five sharp innings for Class A South Bend on Monday Nate Hairston Jersey , and was set to rejoin the Cubs during their series at Dodger Stadium.
”In the triceps there’s likeliness to get more fatigue there, especially if there’s a long gap between innings,” he said through a translator. ”That’s when I feel fatigue there. Not necessarily pain, but I can’t for sure say there is nothing going on in the tricep zone.”
NIMMO NEEDED
The Mets take a seven-game skid into their game against Pittsburgh, but at least they may get their most productive hitter back. Brandon Nimmo has a sore right pinkie after getting hit by a pitch Sunday, but an MRI showed no broken bones and he is day to day. He didn’t start Monday but entered as a pinch-runner in the eighth inning and stayed in the game to play left field. The Mets have also lost 14 of 15 at home and are 13-25 at Citi Field this season.
ACES ALONG I-95
Aces Luis Severino and Jake Arrieta square off as the Yankees continue a series in Philadelphia. Severino (11-2, 2.24) has never faced the Phillies, and Arrieta (5-5 Pierre Desir Jersey , 3.42) is 3-1, 3.83 in seven career starts vs. New York. The Yankees won the series opener Monday in their first appearance at Citizens Bank Park since beating the Phillies in the 2009 World Series. The Yankees improved to 14-14 against the Phillies, leaving the Los Angeles Dodgers as the only team they have a losing record (6-7) against in the regular season.
ON THE SKIDS
Carlos Martinez has lost three straight decisions entering a tough test against Corey Kluber and the Indians. Martinez (3-4, 3.24) hasn’t won since May 2, and St. Louis has dropped his past five starts, a span in which he has a 7.06 ERA. Kluber (11-3, 2.10) pitched seven innings of one-hit ball in a 12-0 victory over the White Sox in his previous outing.
COLLEGES
Oregon State and Arkansas begin the College World Series, a day after the opener in their best-of-three matchup was rained out in Omaha. Luke Heimlich (16-2) starts for Oregon State against the Razorbacks’ Blaine Knight (13-0).
A two-time Pac-12 pitcher of the year Josh Ferguson Jersey , Heimlich was not picked in this month’s Major League Baseball draft. He wasn’t with the team at last year’s College World Series after it was revealed he had pleaded guilty to molesting a young relative when he was 15. He served two years’ probation and went through a treatment program, but later denied wrongdoing in interviews with Sports Illustrated and The New York Times.
WASHINGTON — A pair of old friends will reconnect when the Boston Red Sox visit the Washington Nationals on Monday night.
Former teammates Rick Porcello (9-2, 3.60) of the Red Sox and Max Scherzer (10-4, 2.04) square off for the first time in the opener of a three-game series.
Porcello and Scherzer spent five seasons together with the Detroit Tigers, reaching the 2012 World Series before losing to the San Francisco Giants.
Since leaving Detroit, Porcello won the 2016 American League Cy Young Award and Scherzer is making a strong case for his third straight National League Cy Young. Both have been aware this matchup was coming.
“Looking forward to it. We’ve been texting back and forth,” Porcello told the Boston Globe. “We’ve had a good time with it and I’m sure we’ll both get a kick about going against each other once the game starts.”
Scherzer is looking for his first win since June 5, though he’s pitched well enough to win each of his past four starts Clayton Geathers Jersey , allowing two earned runs or less in each outing. The Nationals are 1-3 in those starts and were shut out in each loss.
“I think everybody’s been punched in the face before of not having success,” Scherzer told The Washington Post after his last start, a 1-0 loss to the Marlins. “This is the big leagues; they are going to keep coming down your throat and keep attacking you.”
Scherzer, Washington’s only dependable starter of late, is 4-4 with a 6.05 ERA in 10 starts versus Boston.
Porcello allowed four runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings last time out in a no-decision against the Angels.
He’s 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in his lone start against Washington, an eight-inning effort in April of 2015.
The Nationals (42-40) squandered an early 3-0 lead in Philadelphia on Sunday and fell 4-3 in 13 innings on Andrew Knapp’s pinch-hit walk-off home run as Washington dropped a second straight weekend series to their division rivals.
Washington managed only four hits in eight innings against the Philadelphia bullpen in the finale.
“Offensively, we’ve got to do more,” outfielder Adam Eaton told The Post. “That’s plain and simple. We score early and then we can’t coast. We can’t take our foot off the accelerator. We got to keep going.”
The Nationals are now 6-15 in their past 21 games and fell six games behind Atlanta in the NL East.
In each of their last nine losses Jabaal Sheard Jersey , they’ve scored three or fewer runs.
“We’ve got to start striking out less,” manager Dave Martinez told MASN, “putting the balls in play, driving in runs when we have the ability to drive in runs.”
Boston (56-29) finished a three-game series against the Yankees on a forgettable note Sunday night, getting routed 11-1 behind starter David Price as New York blasted six home runs, including three by Aaron Hicks.
Price allowed eight runs on nine hits in 3 1/3 innings.
The Red Sox dropped two of three and travel south percentage points behind the Yankees in the AL East.