The Pohlad family, owners of the Minnesota Twins, have decided not to sell the American League franchise but instead will add partners.

Joe Pohlad, the team’s executive chair, issued a statement on the topic Wednesday.

“For more than four decades, our family has had the privilege of owning the Minnesota Twins. This franchise has become part of our family story, as it has for our employees, our players, this community, and Twins fans everywhere.

“Over the past several months, we explored a wide range of potential investment and ownership opportunities. Our focus throughout has been on what’s best for the long-term future of the Twins. We have been fully open to all possibilities.

“After a detailed and robust process, our family will remain the principal owner of the Minnesota Twins. To strengthen the club in a rapidly evolving sports landscape — one that demands strong partnerships, fresh ideas, and long-term vision — we are in the process of adding two significant limited partnership groups, each of whom will bring a wealth of experience and share our family values.”

Family patriarch Carl Pohlad bought the Twins in 1984 for $44 million from Calvin Griffith. Joe Pohlad is the grandson of Carl, who died in 2009.

Major League Baseball must approve any potential additions or changes to the ownership group. The team statement said once that process is done, the Pohlads and the team will have more to say about additional partners.

After the franchise traded 11 players before the July 31 deadline, fans had started to question the team’s future. Pohlad tried to calm fears in the statement.

“We see and hear the passion from our partners, the community, and Twins fans. That passion inspires us,” he said. “This ownership group is committed to building a winning team and culture for this region, one that Twins fans are proud to cheer for.”

The Twins are 56-63 on the season, 12 games out of the lead in the AL Central and 7.5 games out of the final AL wild card.

Under the Pohlad’s ownership, the Twins won the World Series im 1987 and 1991 and qualified for the postseason 10 additional times, never advancing to another World Series.

–Field Level Media

The Athletics don’t always resemble a team that is 14 games below .500 and in the basement of a division.

The A’s will look to win for the 13th time in 19 games when they finish a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night at West Sacramento, Calif.

The Athletics and Rays split the first two games of the series. Tampa Bay prevailed 7-4 on Monday before the A’s won 6-0 on Tuesday.

Left-hander Jacob Lopez tossed seven shutout innings to raise his scoreless streak to 24 innings and Lawrence Butler, Colby Thomas and Tyler Soderstrom were the hitting heroes for the last-place team in the American League West.

Butler and Thomas each had two hits and two RBIs and Soderstrom had two hits and scored twice.

The multi-hit outing was the first for Butler since he swatted two homers against the Atlanta Braves on July 8. He was just 11-for-87 (.126) since then entering Tuesday’s contest.

“We’ve been playing some good baseball,” Butler said. “I’ve been feeling I can do better and I showed up and it feels good. It was a great team win and everybody contributed.”

Thomas is receiving playing time with fellow outfielder Denzel Clarke (adductor) sidelined.

Thomas batted .291 with 18 homers and 74 RBIs in 82 games at Triple-A Las Vegas. The 24-year-old increased his average to .200 with Tuesday’s outing. He has one homer and seven RBI in 40 big league at-bats.

“It is the same game,” Thomas said. “It’s a little more sped up, everybody is throwing a little harder and the location is a little better. But once you get settled in, everything else slows down and you can get back to playing your game.”

The Rays mustered just four hits on Tuesday and were blanked for the 11th time this season. Tampa Bay has lost 16 of its last 22 games.

Tampa Bay plans to give recently acquired catcher Nick Fortes a lot of playing time the rest of the season. But the former Miami Marlins backstop is just 2-for-22 in eight games with the Rays.

Fortes was 0-for-3 Tuesday and dropped a pop-up that allowed a run to score. In truth, third baseman Junior Caminero should have called Fortes off.

Fortes is happy to be with the Rays, whom he rooted for while growing up in DeLand, north of Orlando.

“I love this team,” Fortes told reporters. “I’ve been watching them my whole life. It’s super surreal.”

Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen (9-5, 2.66 ERA) will seek his third straight scoreless effort when he takes the mound on Wednesday. He also didn’t walk anyone in the two outings.

Rasmussen received a no-decision while blanking the Seattle Mariners on four hits over six innings last Friday. In his previous start, the first-time All-Star also allowed four hits while beating the Los Angeles Dodgers with 5 1/3 scoreless innings on Aug. 2.

Rasmussen, 30, lasted just three innings in a no-decision against the visiting Athletics on June 30. He allowed four runs and five hits.

Overall, Rasmussen is 2-0 with a 2.81 ERA in four appearances (three starts) against the A’s. Shea Langeliers (1-for-4) has homered against Rasmussen.

Right-hander J.T. Ginn (2-4, 4.39) starts for the A’s. He lost his last two starts.

Last Friday, he struck out a career-high nine in a loss to the Baltimore Orioles. He allowed three runs and three hits over five innings.

Ginn, 26, had a stellar relief appearance against the Rays on June 30 as he struck out five and retired all 11 batters he faced in 3 2/3 innings. He also pitched two hitless innings of relief against Tampa Bay last season in his major league debut.

–Field Level Media

Shohei Ohtani makes his much-anticipated return to the mound at Angel Stadium on Wednesday night when the Los Angeles Dodgers try to salvage the finale of their three-game Freeway Series with the Los Angeles Angels.

It will mark the first time Ohtani (0-0, 2.37 ERA) will pitch against his former team. The last time the right-hander took the mound at the Big A was on Aug. 23, 2023 when he departed in the second inning in a game against the Cincinnati Reds with a torn UCL that would require Tommy John surgery.

By then Ohtani was well on his way to his second unanimous American League MVP award with the Angels, compiling a 10-5 record and 3.14 ERA with 167 strikeouts in 132 innings to go along with a .304 batting average, 44 home runs, 95 RBIs and 20 stolen bases.

Ohtani then signed a 10-year, $700 million free agent contract with the rival Dodgers on Dec. 11, 2023 and won this third MVP Award while leading his new team to a World Series title in 2024.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the plan is for Ohtani to go four innings as he slowly builds up his pitch count in his return from surgery. Ohtani has thrown 19 innings with 25 strikeouts so far and comes off an Aug. 6 outing against St. Louis that saw him allow one run on two hits while striking out eight in four innings of a 5-3 loss to the Cardinals.

The contest also will mark the first time that Ohtani will face former teammate and three-time MVP Mike Trout on the mound since the championship game of the 2023 World Baseball Classic in Miami, Fla. Ohtani struck out Trout swinging on a 3-2 pitch to end the game in spectacular fashion and give Japan a 3-2 win over the United States.

All that nostalgia, though, means very little to a Dodgers team that has seen its nine-game lead in the National League West evaporate in a little over a month.

The Dodgers, losers of 20 of their last 32 games, enter Wednesday night’s contest tied with the San Diego Padres for first-place in the National League West with matching 68-52 records.

“Now it’s a new season,” Roberts said. “You look at the standings … we’ve just got to play better baseball and find ways to win games.”

Right-hander Kyle Hendricks (6-8, 4.63 ERA), who is 3-3 with a 5.53 ERA in eight career starts against the Dodgers, will start for the Angels.

The Angels have won a team record-tying six games in a row over the Dodgers, including a wild 7-6 10-inning walk-off victory on Tuesday.

Jo Adell chopped a single over third baseman Max Muncy to drive in Taylor Ward with the winning run. It marked the ninth walk-off win of the season for the Angels.

“I was just trying to put something in play, kind of shorten up and see what happens,” Adell said after getting a Gatorade shower. “Got a good bounce, and that’s part of it is kind of playing the game. I’m excited for it.”

Ohtani, who hit into a triple play in the sixth inning, had given the Dodgers a 6-5 lead in the ninth with a towering home run down the right-field line off Kenley Jansen. It was Ohtani’s 43rd homer of the season, breaking a tie with Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber for the National League lead, and extended his home run streak to four games.

However, Dodger reliever Alex Vesia couldn’t hold the lead in the bottom of the ninth as Nolan Schanuel drove in Luis Rengifo, who had led off with a single, with a sacrifice fly to tie it. Vesia also walked three batters (one intentionally) in the inning.

“It’s on me. I’ve got to be better,” Vesia said. “Got flush this one, and got another game tomorrow.”

-Field Level Media

Pete Alonso made New York Mets history on Tuesday night when he became the franchise’s all-time home run leader.

In the process, he might have helped the Mets snap out of an extended tailspin.

The Mets will look to earn their first series win in more than two weeks on Wednesday when they host the Atlanta Braves in the middle contest of a three-game set.

Left-hander David Peterson (7-5, 2.98 ERA) is slated to start for the Mets against Braves right-hander Carlos Carrasco (2-2, 6.18).

Alonso homered twice on his milestone night Tuesday, helping the Mets earn a 13-5 win over the Braves.

Alonso’s first homer, which was the 253rd of his career and broke a tie atop the all-time New York list with Darryl Strawberry, sparked a much-needed offensive outburst by the Mets. New York ended a seven-game losing streak while improving to 2-8 this month and 19-31 since June 13.

The 13 runs were the most for the Mets since June 8, when they also beat the Colorado Rockies 13-5. New York also tied a season-high Tuesday with six homers. Francisco Alvarez went deep twice while Brandon Nimmo and Brett Baty each hit a round-tripper.

The Mets’ top four batters — Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, Nimmo and Alonso — finished a combined 7-for-18.

“It’s kind of rare for everybody to go into a slump all together, especially Juan, Pete, myself and Lindor,” Nimmo said. “And I said, well, I hope something really rare happens and we all get hot together as well. And so tonight was an amazing example of that and it was really fun to watch.

“Not every game’s going to be like that, but you enjoy the ones that are.”

The loss continued a frustrating second half in a trying season for the Braves, who mounted a four-run rally in the fourth inning to briefly tie the game at 5-5.

The Braves have given up five runs or more 16 times in 24 games since the All-Star break — a span in which they are 9-15, the second-worst mark in the National League ahead of only the San Francisco Giants.

Atlanta, which lost when scoring at least five runs for just the third time in the second half, is 51-68 and likely to finish under .500 for the first time since 2017 — the last time the Braves missed the playoffs.

“I want to win, first and foremost,” said starter Spencer Strider, who tied a career-high by allowing eight runs over four innings. “I don’t care what our record is. There are people that put a lot of effort into the outcome of our games, in here and all over the place. So I think that matters and I think it’s important to keep that perspective, that regardless of when our season ends, that every game we play is a representation of who we are.”

Peterson took the loss in his most recent start Aug. 6, when he allowed four runs over six innings as the Mets fell to the Cleveland Guardians, 4-1. Carrasco didn’t factor into the decision last Thursday after giving up six runs over 5 2/3 innings in the Braves’ 8-6 win over the Miami Marlins.

Peterson is 3-5 with a 5.15 ERA in 12 career games (11 starts) against the Braves. Carrasco, who played for the Mets from 2021 through 2023, made his lone appearance against New York on Sept. 7, when he tossed 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief for Cleveland in a 9-4 victory.

-Field Level Media

After the Houston Astros welcomed back Cristian Javier to their starting rotation on Monday following a 15-month absence due to Tommy John surgery, All-Star closer Josh Hader took his place on the 15-day injured list with left shoulder discomfort.

Astros manager Joe Espada was non-committal when asked who would replace Hader at the back end of the bullpen. Right-hander Bryan Abreu seems the logical choice given his role setting up Hader, but Espada remains open to utilizing multiple options.

It’s uncertain how that may shake out on Wednesday when the Astros host the Boston Red Sox in the rubber match of their three-game series.

“For me, and I was talking to the relievers about this, for Josh Hader to be how successful he’s been, he needs guys to give him the ball with the lead,” Espada said. “All these guys have set him up to be the closer that he is. Not to take anything away from Josh. Josh is probably the best. But you need guys to help him get to that point, and these guys are capable of doing that. What you guys saw (Monday) with us piecing it together, we’re going to have to do more of that.

“I told them to be ready to go, and they’ve been ready to go the whole entire season. We have the weapons to do it.”

Right-hander Hunter Brown (9-5, 2.51 ERA) is scheduled to start the series finale for the Astros, one day after the team dropped a 14-1 decision.

Brown did not factor into the decision of a 5-3 road victory over the New York Yankees on Friday after allowing two runs on four hits and one walk with five strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings. He remained winless over his last six starts and is 0-2 with a 4.73 ERA during that stretch.

Among American League pitchers, Brown ranks first in hits per nine innings (6.21), second in opponent OPS (.571), and third in ERA and strikeouts (160).

Brown is 1-0 with a 2.19 ERA in two career starts against the Red Sox. He did not factor into the decision of a 2-1 road loss on Aug. 1 after surrendering one run on four hits and one walk with six strikeouts over seven innings.

Right-hander Walker Buehler (7-6, 5.40) has the starting assignment for Boston on Wednesday.

Buehler twirled six shutout innings in a 10-2 road win over the San Diego Padres on Friday, allowing four hits and two walks while recording four strikeouts.

He is 2-0 with a 3.27 ERA over his last six starts. Before that stretch. Buehler had dropped five of six decisions while recording a 9.29 ERA.

Buehler is 1-1 with a 3.72 ERA over four career starts against Houston. He did not factor into the decision of a 7-3 win over the Astros on Aug. 2 after allowing three runs on nine hits and three walks over 4 1/3 innings.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora started Abraham Toro at first base for the second time in the series on Tuesday, but is likely to start Romy Gonzalez at first in the series finale. Cora cited the balance the switch-hitting Toro and right-handed Gonzalez can offer his offensive attack.

“We’re going to mix and match,” Cora said. “Romy will probably play first (Wednesday). Try to keep the balance of the lineup. When teams have three lefties in the bullpen, it’s smart to keep Ref (Rob Refsnyder) and Romy on the bench if we’re going to be aggressive pinch-hitting. Having Abe swing the bat well is going to help us.”

–Field Level Media

The Toronto Blue Jays have experienced some problems in their bid to win a series recently, and they will be out to change that Wednesday night against the visiting Chicago Cubs.

The Blue Jays secured a 5-1 victory over the Cubs in the opener of a three-game series on Tuesday.

Toronto has lost three of its past four series, with a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies last week serving as the exception.

The Cubs continued to struggle. They are 1-3 on their six-game road trip and 2-5 in their last seven contests overall.

The Cubs had their chances on Tuesday but went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners.

The Blue Jays have been able to wriggle out of tight situations in their past two games. They salvaged the finale of their series with the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4 on Sunday. In that game the Dodgers hit 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 16 runners.

Ernie Clement belted a three-run home run for Toronto in the fourth inning on Tuesday. To show how things are breaking for the Blue Jays, he missed a bunt sign before launching a first-pitch hanging slider over the wall in left field.

“You’re living right when you’re doing that,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “I’m glad he missed the sign.”

“If you’re going to do that and miss a sign, you had better hit a homer or they’re going to be pretty (angry) at you,” Clement said.

Clement has homered in three consecutive games, including the winner in the ninth inning on Sunday. It is the second time in his career he has homered in three straight games and the first time he has hit four in five games. Over his past 19 games, he is batting .329 (27-for-82) with five homers and 13 RBIs.

“That was the game, to me, is that they got the big hit and we did not,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “The optimism is that we have good hitters, and we have scored a lot of runs this year, and they’ve done a lot of damage this year.”

The Blue Jays are scheduled to start right-hander Kevin Gausman (8-8, 3.58 ERA) on Wednesday. He will be facing the Cubs for the first time since 2022, and he is 3-3 with a 6.10 ERA in seven career games (six starts) against them.

Chicago right-hander Cade Horton (6-3, 3.18) is slated to face Toronto for the first time.

While Toronto used five relievers after Jose Berrios was lifted after 5 1/3 scoreless innings, the Cubs used only two pitchers, which should help the bullpen for the rest of the series.

Javier Assad allowed four runs in four innings in his first start of the season. He had been out since spring training with a strained left oblique. Ben Brown completed the final four innings.

Second baseman Andres Gimenez returned to the Toronto lineup from the injured list (sprained ankle) and was 1-for-3 with a walk.

The Cubs plan to have three catchers on the roster after Miguel Amaya returned from the injured list (strained left oblique). He joins Carson Kelly and former Blue Jay Reese McGuire in the catching trio.

Utility player Jon Berti was designated for assignment.

“Catching is a position that we didn’t want to have to start anew with if something happened,” Counsell said. “Reese has done good with this opportunity.”

The Cubs optioned former Blue Jays reliever Nate Pearson to Triple-A Iowa.

–Field Level Media

The New York Yankees are spending the past few days praising the willingness of Giancarlo Stanton to play right field until Aaron Judge is able to return to the mix.

The Yankees also are enjoying Stanton’s hot streak at the plate. The slugger is coming off his first four-hit performance in nearly two years heading into Wednesday when New York attempts to finish off a three-game sweep of the visiting Minnesota Twins.

The Yankees are 4-2 in their past six contests following a five-game losing streak.

In Tuesday’s 9-1 rout, Stanton went 4-for-5 for his first four-hit game since Aug. 24, 2023.

The Yankees collected 11 hits and 11 walks to get on the verge of their first series sweep since beating the Seattle Mariners July 8-10 during their five-game winning streak.

“I feel good,” Stanton said. “Putting together good at-bats, the timing’s there.”

Stanton homered, doubled and had two singles, including a two-run base hit. He ended his third game in right field while Judge fully recovers from an elbow injury with a .300 average and is 8-for-13 in his past four contests.

“It’s been impressive,” Judge said of Stanton, who homered in consecutive games for the third time this season and has eight homers in his past 18 contests. “Besides the homers and clutch hits, he’s using the whole field. Ever since he’s come back he’s been dialed in.”

The Twins are on a nine-game losing streak to the Yankees and 5-28 in the regular season in New York over their past 33 visits. After winning four of their previous five games heading into the series, the Twins have mustered four hits in the series.

On Tuesday, Austin Martin hit a leadoff single and the Twins only scored when Royce Lewis avoided a double play. After loading the bases in the first inning, Minnesota had one baserunner the rest of the way.

Minnesota also issued a season-worst 11 walks after permitting two and getting 12 strikeouts in Monday’s 6-2 loss.

“I’d say our strike throwing wasn’t too good today and it has to be significantly better,” Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said. “That’s no secret.”

Right-hander Joe Ryan (11-5, 2.79 ERA), who has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 17 starts, will get the nod on Wednesday for the Twins. He last pitched Thursday at home against Kansas City and allowed one run on four hits in five innings of a 9-4 win.

Ryan is 5-2 with a 2.55 ERA in 11 road starts this season. He is 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA in four career starts against the Yankees.

Fellow right-hander Cam Schlittler (1-2, 4.38) makes his sixth career start and first versus Minnesota. He has not allowed more than three runs each time out.

Schlittler last pitched Friday when he took a no-decision after allowing two runs on seven hits in five innings of a 5-3, 10-inning loss to the Houston Astros.

–Field Level Media

All it took for Jose Ramirez to break out of a rare slump was some home cooking.

The Cleveland Guardians third baseman set the franchise record with his 27th career multi-homer game, highlighted by the go-ahead solo shot in the eighth inning, in a 4-3 win over the visiting Miami Marlins on Tuesday.

The Guardians enjoyed a great start to a six-game homestand that continues Wednesday when Cleveland right-hander Gavin Williams (7-4, 3.17 ERA) takes on Miami right-hander Eury Perez (4-3, 3.25).

“That’s just Josey doing Josey things,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said, chuckling. “It always feels like he’s going to deliver when he’s coming up late. I’m just really happy for Josey. He’s one of the best hitters in the game, and you can’t make a mistake.”

In the previous six games, Ramirez batted .080 and did not drive in a run over 25 at-bats on a road trip against the New York Mets and Chicago White Sox.

The seven-time American League All-Star needed only four pitches against Miami to get back on track, launching a 381-foot homer off Janson Junk in the first inning. He then took Calvin Faucher deep for the game-winner on a cutter with one out in the eighth.

“At this point in my career, I don’t think I really get nervous for any reason,” Ramirez said through an interpreter. “I just look to get the right swing. It’s not an easy thing to do, but the most important thing is we got the win.”

Thanks to Ramirez’s heroics, Cleveland remained one game behind the New York Yankees for the final AL wild-card position.

The Guardians are 10-2 since July 29 while riding the hot bat of cleanup hitter Kyle Manzardo, who is batting .382 with five homers and 10 RBIs during the surge. Ramirez and Manzardo went back-to-back against Junk.

“I feel the key to our recent success is the way he’s swinging the bat, and I’m very happy for him,” Ramirez said.

Williams has only allowed four runs over his past four starts, going 2-0 with a 1.30 ERA in that span. Known as the “Big Rig,” he carries a 2-7 record and 4.91 ERA in 14 career interleague outings into his first appearance against Miami.

Perez gave up a season-high five runs in 5 1/3 innings while not figuring in the decision against the host Atlanta Braves on Thursday. He has never pitched against the Guardians, but he is a sparkling 6-0 with a 0.90 ERA in nine career interleague starts.

The Marlins have lost seven of nine games immediately after winning five in a row. Over the past nine games, the Miami pitching staff has a 6.39 ERA.

“It still comes down that you’ve got to pitch at a very high level to win,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. “It takes everyone.”

Miami rookie outfielder/designated hitter Heriberto Hernandez continues to take advantage of his playing time, hitting .333 with two home runs and seven RBIs in his past seven games. A run-scoring double in the fifth inning at Cleveland gave him a .563 average (9-for-16) in that frame this year.

Fellow rookie outfielder Jakob Marsee is raking as well with a .382 average and five stolen bases in 12 games since making his major league debut on Aug. 1.

“We told the guys in spring training that we weren’t going to worry about outside noise, we’re just going to go out there and work every day,” McCullough said. “We’re going to play the game as hard as we can and hope it’s good enough to win.”

–Field Level Media