The Opener

1. Pete Alonso holds the record for most home runs in Mets’ franchise history after hitting No. 253 Tuesday night. You could say, if you are Gary Cohen who absolutely saw this moment coming and gave some thought to how to commemorate the occasion, “the polar bear on his own private iceberg!”
2. The best-team-in-baseball Milwaukee Brewers took on Paul Skenes in the midst of a sophomore season that essentially replicated and will now build on his Rookie of the Year campaign. And in that clash of small-market titans, the Brewers emerged victorious. Skenes gave up four runs and lasted just four innings, his worst performance since … last time he faced the Brewers.
3. Shohei Ohtani and his agent Nez Balelo of CAA are being sued in Hawaii by a real estate investor and broker. The plaintiffs are alleging that Balelo got them essentially kicked off a luxury housing development project where Ohtani has purchased an offseason home. I won’t speak to the merits of this particular lawsuit, but I do feel like maybe Ohtani should have gone with a different agent.

The Dodgers and the day after tomorrow

by Zach Crizer

It’s not a fun time for Dodgers baseball.

The defending World Series champions and looming titans of the present era are 15-20 since July 1, and now sit in a tie with San Diego atop the NL West. A certain friend of the newsletter (his oft-changing social handle currently rhymes with bagel) who roots for L.A. came to a realization this week: “I think I hate watching the Dodgers now.” It was mostly in jest, I think, but it reflects the mood around baseball’s presumptive best team.

And that was before the multi-step face plant loss Tuesday night that dropped them into that divisional tie. When the Padres come to town Friday, they will have the chance to leave with control of the division.

Slipping into the churn of the postseason picture, battling injuries and slumps, facing a challenge from a division rival, that’s all part of the rigor of defending their coveted throne in the sport. The 2025 Dodgers are giving their fans heartburn not just by falling short of sky-high expectations, but by betraying a vulnerability that’s startling even if it proves fleeting.

They’re showing flashes of what it might look like if and when the Dodgers are no longer The Dodgers.

Last night against the Angels, the Dodgers …