ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Dodgers reliever Brock Stewart went on the injured list Tuesday with right shoulder inflammation, sidelining Los Angeles' most significant addition from their quiet trade deadline.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said he doesn't wish he had done more to improve his slumping club through trade, expressing confidence that the defending World Series champions will get it together in time for October.
“First we have to qualify for October,” Friedman said at Angel Stadium. “If we’re fortunate enough to do that, I think we will have arguably our most talented pitching staff that we’ve ever had, with some really good pitchers left off.”
Stewart will undergo more testing Wednesday, and the Dodgers aren't sure how long he will be out. He struggled in his appearances with the Dodgers this month after returning to the club from Minnesota at the deadline.
Los Angeles is also playing without key relievers Tanner Scott, Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol, Michael Kopech and Kirby Yates.
Kopech, Scott and Yates are all expected to return by the end of August, but nothing is certain in another year of overwhelming injuries to the Dodgers' pitching staff. Los Angeles overcame those injuries last year to win it all, largely by relying heavily on its bullpen while several starters were out.
The Dodgers' starting rotation is largely healthy now, with Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow rejoining the group and Roki Sasaki on the way. Instead, the Dodgers' bullpen is struggling to stay afloat — particularly while high-leverage veteran Blake Treinen is struggling.
The Dodgers also announced that former All-Star starter Tony Gonsolin had an internal brace procedure that typically requires eight to 10 months of recovery time. Gonsolin made only seven starts this season in his return from Tommy John surgery in 2023.
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Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Brock Stewart throws during the eight inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — Syrian authorities warned civilians to leave a contested area in the northern city of Aleppo on Thursday and opened a corridor for them to evacuate for a second day as clashes continued between government and Kurdish forces.
The government of Aleppo province gave residents until 1 p.m. local time to evacuate in coordination with the army. State news agency SANA, citing the army, said the military would begin “targeted operations” against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid half an hour after that deadline.
The military later issued a series of maps with the areas under evacuation order.
An Associated Press journalist at the scene heard sporadic sounds of shelling as civilians streamed out of the area Thursday morning. As of Wednesday, more than 46,000 people had been displaced across the province, according to Aleppo’s Directorate of Social Affairs and Labor.
Mohammad Ali, operations director with the Syrian Civil Defense in Aleppo, said some 11,000 more fled Thursday.
“There’s a large percentage of them with difficult medical issues, elderly people, women, and children,” he said.
The SDF has said that at least eight civilians were killed in the Kurdish-majority neighborhoods, while government officials reported at least five civilians and one soldier have been killed in the surrounding government-controlled areas in the fighting that broke out Tuesday. Dozens more on both sides have been wounded.
Each side has accused the other of deliberately targeting civilian neighborhoods and infrastructure.
St. Ephrem Syrian Orthodox Church in Aleppo city was hosting about 100 people who had fled the fighting. Parishioners had donated mattresses, blankets and food, priest Adai Maher said.
“As soon as the problems started and we heard the sounds (of clashes), we opened our church as a shelter for people who are fleeing their homes," he said.
Among them was Georgette Lulu, who said her family is planning to travel to the city of Hasakeh in SDF-controlled northeast Syria when the security situation allows.
“There was a lot of bombing and loud noises and a shell landed next to our house,” she said. “I’ve been through these circumstances a lot so I don’t get frightened, but my niece was really afraid so we had to come to the church.”
Hassan Nader, a representative of the Ministry of Social Affairs in Aleppo said about 4,000 were staying in shelters in the city while tens of thousands had gone to other areas of the province, and the ministry was working with NGOs to supply them with food, medicine and other necessities.
The clashes come amid an impasse in political negotiations between the central state and the SDF.
The leadership in Damascus under interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa signed a deal in March with the SDF, which controls much of the northeast, for it to merge with the Syrian army by the end of 2025. There have been disagreements on how it would happen. In April, scores of SDF fighters left Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh as part of the deal.
Officials from the central government and SDF met again on Sunday in Damascus, but government officials said that no tangible progress had been made.
Some of the factions that make up the new Syrian army, formed after the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a rebel offensive in December 2024, were previously Turkey-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
In the city of Qamishli in the Kurdish-controlled northeast, thousands of protesters gathered Thursday, chanting in support of the SDF and against the government offensive.
The SDF has for years been the main U.S. partner in Syria in fighting against the Islamic State group, but Turkey considers the SDF a terrorist organization because of its association with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a long-running insurgency in Turkey. A peace process is now underway.
Despite the long-running U.S. support for the SDF, the Trump administration in the U.S. has also developed close ties with al-Sharaa’s government and has pushed the Kurds to implement the March deal.
A U.S. State Department official said in a statement Thursday that the U.S. “is closely monitoring the situation” and urged “restraint on all sides.” It said U.S. envoy Tom Barrack is trying to facilitate dialogue between the two sides.
“All parties should focus on how to build a peaceful, stable Syria that protects and serves the interests of all Syrians, rather than pushing the country back into a cycle of violence,” the statement said.
Turkey’s Ministry of National Defense said Thursday that the “operation is being carried out entirely by the Syrian Army” while Turkey is “closely monitoring.”
“Syria’s security is our security,” the statement said, adding that “Turkey will provide the necessary support should Syria request it.”
The United Nations has expressed concern at the violence.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters Wednesday that Secretary General Antonio Guterres “is alarmed by reports of civilian deaths and injuries following hostilities in Aleppo.”
“We call on all actors to immediately de-escalate, exercise maximum restraint, and take all measures to prevent further harm to civilians” and to “promptly resume negotiations in order to fully implement the 10 March agreement,” he said.
Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara contributed to this report. Sewell reported from Beirut.
Demonstrators chant slogans in support of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) during a protest in Qamishli, northeastern Syria, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Hogir Al Abdo)
Residents flee the Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh neighborhoods after clashes broke out on Tuesday between Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters in a contested area of the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
Syrian government soldiers sit on their armoured personnel carrier (APC) following clashes with Kurdish fighters in a contested area of the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
A car burns during clashes between Kurdish fighters and Syrian government forces in a contested area of the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
An aerial view shows Syrian residents in vehicles, queueing to flee from Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh neighborhoods after clashes broke out on Tuesday between Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters in a contested area of the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
