LOS ANGELES (AP) — Blake Snell struck out seven of the first 10 batters he faced Tuesday night before giving up back-to-back hits in his return to the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers after being sidelined for three months with loose bodies in his left elbow.
He struck out the side on 13 pitches in the first inning Tuesday night against the Kansas City Royals and right-hander Michael Wacha.
“He's on a mission,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before the game.
After striking out Nick Loftin to open the fourth, Snell gave up back-to-back singles to Bobby Witt Jr. and Jac Caglianone. Witt scored on Salvador Perez's sacrifice fly, tying the game 1-1.
Snell allowed one more hit — a double to Tyler Tolbert in the fifth — before leaving after six innings with the game still tied. He gave up one run and three hits and struck out 10 while walking one.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner had made just one start this season, giving up four runs and six hits in three innings against Atlanta on May 9 before going on the injured list four days later.
Snell is one of three Dodgers pitchers to have had surgery for loose bodies this season. Closer Edwin Díaz had right elbow surgery in April and fellow two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal had left elbow surgery in May while with the Detroit Tigers. Both are back pitching.
For the third consecutive season, Snell is returning from an injury in the second half. The NL West-leading Dodgers are looking for him to quickly get back on track, with the team having lost eight of its last 10 going into Tuesday.
“When he's going well, he's not really thinking about his mechanics and he's got a rhythm,” Roberts said beforehand. “When he's not and he's searching, the game kind of comes to a standstill.”
Roberts can easily tell when Snell is in command on the mound.
“There’s a little swagger," the manager said. "There’s a little kind of standing a little taller.”
Snell made three rehab starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City and another for Single-A Ontario, going 0-0 with a 3.09 ERA. He struck out 19 batters for a 14.7 strikeout-per-inning rate.
The 33-year-old left-hander had a 2.35 ERA last season, his first with Los Angeles after signing a $182 million, five-year deal. He helped the Dodgers win a second straight World Series championship, with three wins and a 3.18 ERA in six postseason games, including eight scoreless innings in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets.
In other moves Tuesday, the team transferred reliever Blake Treinen to the 60-day IL. The 38-year-old right-hander has been out since June 20 while recovering from elbow inflammation. Roberts said he has not experienced a setback.
Left-hander Charlie Barnes was sent down a day after he was added, but didn't appear in the series opener against the Royals. Barnes went 0-1 with a 6.30 ERA in four appearances for the Dodgers.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Blake Snell (7) throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)
FILE - Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Blake Snell pitches during the second inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, May 9, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman, File)
Former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin defeated longtime U.S. Rep. John Larson in Connecticut’s Democratic primary Tuesday, as voters embraced generational change and a call for more urgency in the party’s fight with President Donald Trump.
Speaking to supporters after his victory, Bronin, 46, praised Larson, 78, for both his liberal politics and his 27 years of service. Yet Bronin also stressed that the nation was in crisis and that it was time for a new approach.
“If we are going to fix this mess that we are in, we need to build a Democratic Party that is bringing a whole new energy to this fight,” Bronin said to an energetic crowd in Hartford.
He said if the party won’t adapt, “then the changes are going to come from the ground up. And that’s a message the party needs to hear.”
Larson, who had faced concerns about his age and health, became the latest in a string of House members, from both major parties, to lose their seats in primaries this year.
“The goal is to shake things up in Washington D.C., and we are just getting started,” warned Bronin, who was a sophomore at Yale when Larson was first elected to Congress in 1998.
For nearly 30 years, Larson largely avoided serious Democratic opposition during his time in Congress. However, concerns about his health and age began to circulate after he abruptly stopped speaking during a speech on the House floor last year.
His office later said Larson suffered a complex partial seizure, maintaining that he was fit to seek a 15th term and was taking medication to help control the condition.
Despite his arguments that his experience was valuable to Connecticut voters and his repeated willingness to fight against Trump, Larson ultimately conceded Tuesday night after saying he was disappointed with the results.
Larson avoided directly referencing Bronin in his speech, which he delivered while surrounded by supporters in the middle of a room rather than from a podium. Instead, he implored Democrats to “come together, heal and move forward.”
With Democrats expected to hold the seat in November, the fight over who would become the Democratic nominee in the 1st District isn’t critical to the party’s effort to take back control of the House. However, it does reflect the growing willingness of younger Democrats to take on some of their party’s most stalwart figures in Washington.
After Biden’s drawn-out decision to ultimately step aside in 2024 at 81, which helped pave the way for Donald Trump’s second term in the White House, the Democratic Party’s veterans have increasingly been targeted as part of the problem.
Other candidates who ran for the congressional seat were state Rep. Jillian Gilchrist, 44, and Ruth Fortune, 38, a lawyer who immigrated to the U.S. from Haiti.
Bronin will face Republican Amy Chai, a physician, in the November general election.
Connecticut's remaining four congressional seats are held by Democrats not facing a primary challenge. Republicans will hold a primary for the state's 4th and 5th Congressional Districts.
Separately, the only statewide race on Tuesday was the Democratic primary for governor. Current Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont won his primary race against state Rep. Josh Elliott, 41, who was also running for reelection for his statehouse seat.
Lamont, 72, a wealthy former cable entrepreneur, has developed a reputation as a fiscal moderate, signing a major tax cut and paying down unfunded state pension liabilities. He has also supported access to abortion through safe harbor laws and greater protections for immigrants.
No Connecticut governor has served out three consecutive terms in modern times.
This story has been updated to correct Lamont's age to 72 instead of 71.
Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., speaks during an election night watch party Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Luke Bronin, former Hartford mayor and Democratic candidate for Connecticut's 1st congressional district, speaks during an election night watch party Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Rusty Jones)
Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., speaks while hugging his wife, Leslie Larson, right, during an election night watch party Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Luke Bronin, former Hartford mayor and Democratic candidate for Connecticut's 1st congressional district, smiles during an election night watch party Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Rusty Jones)
Luke Bronin, former Hartford mayor and Democratic candidate for Connecticut's 1st congressional district, speaks during an election night watch party Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Rusty Jones)
Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., speaks during an election night watch party Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Democratic candidate for Connecticut's First Congressional District Luke Bronin, left, speaks with a potential voter outside of Rawson School in Hartford, Conn. on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. Bronin faces incumbent Congressman John Larson in the primary.(AP Photo/Rusty Jones)
