HOUSTON, WE HAVE A MIZE

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Apollo 13 had an oxygen tank explode, sending them whirling through space, and it was only through the extraordinary skill of Tom Hanks that they even survived.

The Padres’ exploding oxygen tank is the pitcher they got at the trade deadline for one of their top prospects: Casey Mize.

To say Mize has been an exploding oxygen tank since he came to the Padres would be an understatement. In six starts as a Padre, Mize has a 6.67 ERA. He came over from Detroit with a 2.70 ERA.

He was supposed to be a key piece in getting the Padres into the playoffs. Instead, his ERA has blown up and sent the Padres spinning off into space.

So the Padres need a Tom Hanks to step up and make sure they don’t lose gimbal lock, or whatever it was Tom Hanks was fighting to save on Apollo 13.

WHO’S GONNA BE TOM HANKS, PADRES?!

For sure, it’s not just the exploding oxygen tank.

Several other key failures are taking the Padres down, and they’re 3-7 in their last 10 games in a tight Wild Card race. That can’t happen.

In the immortal words of the Mission Control chief:

“Give me an update from the position of status. What on the spacecraft is working?”

And in the other immortal words of Ron Howard’s brother:

“I’ll get back to you.”

Because I don’t know if anything is really working right now.

You see, Ron Howard’s brother would have liked to have said Fernando Tatis Jr. But Tatis can’t bat more than once every nine at-bats, so that’s not going to fix the problem.

Apollo 13 made it back to Earth safely thanks to Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon pulling together as a team.

Can the Padres find their Tom, Bill and Kevin?

Despite the exploding oxygen tank, the Padres are only a half-game behind Arizona for the final Wild Card spot, so it’s still game on.

BUT…

The next three games are against the Yankees.

So that’s basically like having an oxygen tank explode and then having to fight some TIE fighters and a Star Destroyer on the way to the moon.

Wrong movie?

Whatever.

Will the Padres step up? Let’s see.

AROUND SPORTS

The U.S. Open rolls on: Carlos Alcaraz recovered after dropping the opening set Wednesday and advanced in four. Aryna Sabalenka beat Polina Iatcenko 6-1, 6-1, while Jessica Pegula beat Sofia Kenin 6-3, 6-1. Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe also advanced.

The NFL is almost back: The Raiders named Kirk Cousins their starting quarterback to open the 2026 season, with No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza beginning his career as the backup.

And now back to Mission Control in San Diego.

Somebody find Tom Hanks.

If it’s sports and it’s Jacked Up, we cover it.