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Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Cincinnati Reds, July 30, 2026, 7:10 p.m. ET

The Pittsburgh Pirates are hoping to snap their two-game losing streak as they take on the Cincinnati Reds in the first of a four-game set in Cincinnati.

The Pirates are doing something a bit unorthodox going into the matchup: handing the ball to Johan Ramirez for the first start of his career. Ramirez has appeared in 208 MLB games across seven seasons but has never been given the ball to start a game. This indicates that the Pirates are going to have a bullpen day today, which could be an interesting strategy going into a long series.

Today’s game will mark the fourth time Ramirez has pitched against the Reds this season. He gave up no hits and no runs back in March, but gave up a run on May 2. He pitched two scoreless innings against the Reds on June 27. Look for him to go about two innings or so in tonight’s contest before handing the ball off to someone else.

Rhett Lowder is getting the ball for the Reds. He last pitched on July 24 against the St. Louis Cardinals, pitching five innings, giving up a hit and two earned runs in a 4-2 victory. Lowder has not won a game since April 20, so he will look to snap out of the funk he’s been in for most of the year.

Lowder pitched against the Pirates back on May 2, giving up five hits and eight earned runs in a 17-7 loss at PNC Park. If the Pirates can chase him out early once again, Pittsburgh should start the series off on the right foot.

Location: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH

Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet Pittsburgh

Pitching Matchup: Yohan Ramirez (6-3, 3.21 ERA) vs. Rhett Lowder (3-7, 5.61 ERA)

BD community, this is your gameday thread for today. Chime off in the comments section below.

CHICAGO — In the aftermath of a crushing 12-inning loss to the White Sox on Wednesday night, the Yankees took solace in the fact that they would be able to take the field again in just over 12 hours, with a chance to win the series and change the vibes.

Instead, there was only more pain.

For the second straight day, the Yankees got walked off on, this time coming on Fernando Cruz’s four-pitch walk to Tristan Peters with the bases loaded in the 11th inning, punching them in the face with a 2-1 loss to the White Sox on Thursday afternoon.

On a day when they went 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base, the Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 10th before Angel Chivilli — in his second inning of work — blew it in the bottom of the frame.

Cruz came in to bail him out of that inning, but after the Yankees could not score in the top of the 11th, the White Sox won it in painstaking fashion, with David Bednar seemingly unavailable for the second straight day, after having pitched on four of the last six days.

The Yankees fell to 1-8 in extra innings this season.

Cruz started the 11th by intentionally walking Munetaka Murakami and then striking out Miguel Vargas. Sam Antonacci followed with a hard ground ball to first base that Ben Rice dove for and knocked down, but the ball came out of his glove, wiping out any chance of recording an out, loading the bases.

Cruz then fell behind 3-0 to Colson Montgomery before coming back to strike him out. But he did the same to Peters and could not escape.

In relief of Ryan Weathers, who delivered seven shutout innings, Brent Headrick threw a scoreless eighth inning before Chivilli had a 1-2-3 ninth. Then, after Grisham — who entered the day in a 3-for-45 slump — singled up the middle to score the automatic runner in the top of the 10th, Chivilli returned to the mound to start the bottom of the 10th.

Chivilli spiked a changeup past catcher Ali Sánchez to move the automatic runner to third before striking out the leadoff man. But then Andrew Benintendi, a ghost of Yankees trade deadlines past, lined a single up the middle to tie the game 1-1.

After Edgar Quero — who delivered the walk-off single Wednesday night against Ryan Yarbrough — followed with a single, manager Aaron Boone called on Cruz, who generated a double play to escape the jam and extend the game.

It was another miserable offensive day for the Yankees, and even when they did get on base, bad things happened.

Jasson Domínguez led off the sixth inning with what should have been a triple to the right-field corner, but as he raced for third base and beat the throw easily, he slid past the bag, allowing Montgomery to tag him out.

An inning later, Jazz Chisholm Jr. was picked off first base with two outs by lefty Sean Newcomb, trying to steal second with Austin Wells at the plate.

Chisholm later left the game in the 11th with what looked to be a right leg injury, two innings after he pulled up on a groundout and was hobbling the rest of the way.

You could be forgiven if you were thinking, as you were watching Thursday’s 4-2, 10-inning Cubs win over the Cardinals, “Didn’t we see this game yesterday?”

Tightly fought game? Check.

Extra innings? Check.

Two-run Cubs lead heading to the bottom of the 10th? Check.

This time, Jacob Webb and Aaron Civale held the line on the Cardinals, retiring three in order to preserve the win. By posting the save — the second of his career, the other one coming with the Cubs last year — Civale became the 13th different Cub to record a save in 2026. That’s a franchise record, breaking the mark set in 2021 and matched last year.

Caught your breath yet?

Let’s rewind to the beginning of this tense game.

Javier Assad, starting on his 29th birthday, gave up a run to the Cardinals in the second inning on a pair of walks and an RBI single by Bryan Torres.

But the Cubs matched that tally in the fourth on some alert baserunning by Alex Bregman. Bregman doubled with one out, and then Ian Happ came to the plate [VIDEO].

As you can see on the clip, Cardinals right fielder Lars Nootbaar just casually runs after he makes the catch, as if it’s the third out of the inning, which it wasn’t. Bregman had taken off for third and when Nootbaar finally realized that and threw in, his throw got away and Bregman scored. Really good job of baserunning there.

That’s where the score stayed until the seventh. Assad was lifted with one out in the fifth, having struck out six [VIDEO].

Ryan Rolison threw the rest of the fifth without incident and also threw a scoreless sixth, helped out by this really nice play by Michael Conforto in right [VIDEO].

Conforto did not hesitate after the single by Blaze Jordan and made an accurate throw to Dansby Swanson to end the inning. Nice tag by Dansby, too.

The Cubs took the lead in the seventh. With one out, Swanson walked and stole second — his 15th without being caught this year. Then he advanced to third on a wild pitch one out later, as Seiya Suzuki walked.

Michael Busch then singled in Swanson [VIDEO].

That lead did not last long, though, as with one out in the bottom of the seventh JJ Wetherholt homered off Caleb Thielbar to tie the game 2-2.

The Cubs got the leadoff hitter on in the eighth when Nico Hoerner singled, but one out later Carson Kelly hit into an inning-ending double play. About that hit, Nico’s third of the game, from BCB’s JohnW53:

This was Nico Hoerner’s third game since the break for the All=Star Game with at least three hits, and his seventh with at least two, in 13 games played.

With his 3 for 5 game, Hoerner is batting .426 since the break: 23 for 54. His batting average at the break was .223. Now it is .257.

The Cardinals also got their leadoff man on in the bottom of the eighth when Ivan Herrera singled. But Gavin Hollowell retired the next three Cardinals in order.

In the ninth, the Cubs had a chance when Pete Crow-Armstrong hit this sinking liner to left, but he was robbed of a hit by Torres [VIDEO].

Webb, who’s been so reliable lately, allowed a one-out single in the bottom of the ninth but retired the next two Cardinals to send the game to the 10th.

Suzuki was the placed runner for the Cubs. A ground out moved him to third, and Suzuki scored easily on this double by Bregman [VIDEO].

Happ followed with this RBI double to give the Cubs a 4-2 lead [VIDEO].

So, here we are. Same situation as Wednesday night, a two-run Cubs lead going to the bottom of the 10th. This time, Craig Counsell left Webb in to start the inning and he gave up a sharp line drive to Alec Burleson, but PCA made this nice grab [VIDEO].

That brought in Civale, who got another fly ball to PCA for the second out.

Then Civale struck out Nootbaar on this nasty curveball to end the game [VIDEO].

Here are the other 12 Cubs who have recorded saves this year:

Webb: 5
Trent Thornton, Daniel Palencia: 3
Thielbar, Jordan Wicks: 2
Rolison, Hollowell, Assad, Colin Rea, Hoby Milner, Ben Brown, Corbin Martin: 1

Yes, the Cubs miss Palencia and yes, it would be nice to have a lockdown closer but as long as the job gets done, what does it matter who does it?

The Cubs thus wrap a very successful 5-2 road trip. They creep to within 5.5 games of the idle Brewers for the NL Central lead and now lead the Phillies and Diamondbacks, tied at 57-52, by five games in the wild card race.

The team will certainly have a happy short flight back to Chicago this evening and then begin a three-game series against the Yankees Friday afternoon in Wrigley Field. Shōta Imanaga will start for the Cubs and Will Warren will go for the Yankees. Game time is 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network (and MLB Network outside the Cubs and Yankees market territories).

With neither team scoring through nine innings on Thursday afternoon, the White Sox lineup had a little more juice in extra innings to outlast the Yankees in a 2-1 walk-off win. The decisive plate appearance was a bases-loaded free pass from Tristan Peters against a clearly gassed Fernando Cruz. In a game in which neither team hit well, it was fitting that the winning run would score without a bat being swung.

Wasted opportunities in the first are not something a team normally dwells on for too long, but in this matchup, both clubs had reasons to lament not opening the scoring right from the get-go. Sean Burke saw the first two hitters reach safely with a catcher’s interference and a walk, only for the Yankees offense to go 0-for-3 with a runner in scoring position. In Ryan Weathers’ turn, the left-hander had a dose of luck as Colson Montgomery swung at a middle-middle 3-0 fastball but couldn’t square it, rolling over to second with runners at second and third.

The lament stems from a lack of scoring on both sides that lasted until the ninth inning. Assessing the big picture, one cannot praise Weathers enough for the job he did today. Despite needing 27 pitches to complete that tumultuous first, Weathers recalibrated to complete seven scoreless innings efficiently. Perhaps not as overpowering as Burke with four strikeouts to Burke’s eventual 10, Weathers succeeded by relentlessly keeping the ball on the ground, recording over half of his 21 outs on the ground. The value of this lengthy outing for a tired bullpen in the middle of 13 games on 13 days is immense and could very well mean an extra win or two when all is said and done.

On the other side, having created his own mess in the first, Burke went on to dominate the Yankees with an outing even more impressive than his win at Yankee Stadium—at one point, the right-hander had a stretch of nine strikeouts in 11 at-bats.

Still, the Yankees manufactured run-scoring chances, only to squander them, one in particular in excruciating fashion.

The only Yankee batter to record a hit and not be struck out by Burke, Spencer Jones got that two-out single in the fourth and put himself in scoring position by stealing a bag—Jazz Chisholm Jr. didn’t get a pitch to drive him in, but earned the walk for two on and two out ahead of Anthony Volpe. Probably seeking a fastball, Volpe looked through two breaking balls in the zone for the punchout on just three pitches, a letdown at-bat if there ever was one. Then in the sixth, Jasson Domínguez hit what was by all accounts a leadoff triple but was tagged out sliding through the bag in pretty inconsequential fashion—the frustrating thing is that the way Domínguez slid, he didn’t have a prayer at keeping contact with the bag.

A traditional silver lining of so many strikeouts induced by Burke is that an elevated pitch count led the White Sox to pull the plug after six innings on 91 pitches. While more aggressive in his managerial style, Aaron Boone left Weathers to return for the seventh inning despite being over 90 pitches as well, seeing his trust rewarded with a 1-2-3 inning. Boone even came out for a talk with two outs and a pitch count over 100 but backed his starter to end the frame.

For the Yankees offense, while Burke left the game, their propensity to waste opportunities remained intact; the seventh inning ended with Chisholm picked off at first, and in the eighth, Domínguez and Paul Goldschmidt stranded a pair after Trent Grisham and Ben Rice reached base safely. It seems Weathers was the only one who got the memo about the bullpen needing rest. You can’t win if you don’t score, and extras are inevitable if no one does.

The tenth inning nearly carried on the theme of previous ones, with Ali Sánchez originally grounding into a double play on a failed bunt following a leadoff walk. However, the Yankees challenged the call, and he was safe at first. Grisham then broke through with an RBI single for the game’s first run. New York aimed for more than one with their best hitter up, but Rice and Domínguez lifted uneventful fly outs.

You know what they say about one run just holding serve hitting first in extras. Angel Chivilli did his best, but not only couldn’t he strand that runner at second in the 10th, but he left the game with two on and just one out.

Luckily for him and the Yankees, Fernando Cruz put out the fire by inducing a double play, begging the question of why he wasn’t out there to start the inning if he had any chance of pitching in this game—certainly it would’ve been the preferred choice over pushing Chivilli for a second inning. Then again, as the game goes, you accept more and more compromises.

On a concerning note, it looked like Chisholm felt something on a groundout in the ninth. He stayed in there until an intentional walk in the 11th that led to Boone pinch-running for him with José Caballero, who stole second. Unfortunately, Volpe stranded two base runners with the Yankees putting up a zero in the frame, setting the stage for a walk-off loss.

Munetaka Murakami got the intentional walk to open the 11th, Cruz punched out Miguel Vargas, and then Sam Antonacci loaded the bases with just one out with an infield single smothered by Rice. Cruz wasn’t about to go down without a fight, though, bouncing back in a 3-0 count to strike out Montgomery with the bases loaded. Against Tristan Peters, he also went down 3-0 in the count, and you can’t play with fire like that for so long without getting burned. Peters exercised the patience that Montgomery didn’t have, earning the walk to win the game.

It’s an extremely rare sequence of back-to-back matinees away from home against different teams in the same city, as the Yankees head north in the streets of Chicago ready to face the Cubs on Friday at 2:20pm at Wrigley Field. The pitching matchup of Will Warren against Shota Imanaga presents its challenges for New York, which will bring in an exhausted pitching staff and a lineup that currently looks dead on arrival. Any Trade Deadline or minor-league reinforcements can’t come soon enough.

Box Score

The nature of the current MLB playoff beast is set to play out this weekend in Cincinnati as the Reds play host to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Between the vast parity underneath the top 3 or 4 teams in the sport and Rob Manfred’s Superexpanded Megaplayoff format, the above-.500 Pirates roll into town likely buyers ahead of next week’s trade deadline and sit just 2.0 games back of a Wild Card spot in the standings.

They come to Cincinnati 55-54 for a 4-game series. By series end, they could sit a game worse in the loss column than the Reds themselves, who could, in theory, surge to 54-57 by the end of Sunday opposite a 55-58 Pirates club.

That would obviously require a sweep at home by the Reds, but that’s how close the margins are right now. The Reds, as things stand today, look to be clear sellers, but they could just as easily flip those standings on their respective heads with a monster performance at home against their rowdy NL Central rivals.

To get to that dream scenario, the Reds are going to need a lot more from Rhett Lowder than they’ve gotten of late. Last week’s outing against the St. Louis Cardinals (2.0 ER in 5.0 IP) was certainly a step in the right direction after he was shelled in his previous start on the road in Denver, and something of that ilk would likely suffice tonight provided that the meager Cincinnati offense can get off the mat and, y’know, actually do something more than they did in their last series against Cleveland.

Matt McLain is back. Edwin Arroyo is out. The Reds are up against an opener in a bullpen game – a righty at that – so they’re rolling out what can only be described as their best* lineup to get things started.

First pitch is set for 7:10 PM ET. Here’s how the Reds will line up to start:

The Yankees fell to the White Sox by a score of 2-1 in 11 innings on Thursday afternoon, as Chicago earned a four-game series split. 

Here are the key takeaways...

-- For the second straight day, the Yanks and White Sox went to extras. After a hit-by-pitch and a fielder's choice gave the Yankees runners at the corners and one out in the 10th, Trent Grisham came through with an RBI single to center to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. 

Angel Chivilli, after also pitching the ninth, couldn't hold things down, throwing a wild pitch before Andrew Benintendi came through with an RBI hit up the middle.

Later in the inning, Fernando Cruz was able to get the grounder he needed for a double-play to keep the game alive. 

--In the 11th, Anthony Volpe grounded out with a couple of runners in scoring position as the Yanks failed to score. The White Sox loaded the bases with one out in the bottom half, and Cruz ended up walking Tristan Peters with two outs to end the game.

-- White Sox starter Sean Burke kept the Yankees hitters guessing, racking up eight strikeouts through his first 10 recorded outs. Spencer Jones finally recorded the Yankees' first hit of the afternoon with a two-out single to right in the fourth inning. The Yankees ended up with a couple of runners on in that inning, but Volpe went down looking on a curveball for Burke’s 10th strikeout of the game. 

Burke went 6.0 shutout innings, allowing just three hits while striking out 10 and walking two.

-- Ryan Weathers didn't have the same proclivity for the strikeout, but he was just as effective as Burke. The lefty kept the ball on the ground to the tune of 11 groundouts, and he held the White Sox scoreless through 7.0 innings.

Weathers allowed just three hits while striking out four and walking three. He lowered his season ERA to 3.99 and helped save the Yankees bullpen on a day when they really needed it. 

-- Jasson Dominguez committed a huge mental mistake in the top of the sixth. With the game still scoreless, Dominguez attempted to stretch a leadoff double into a triple, and while that was risky enough, he overslid the third base bag by a long shot, taking a runner out of prime scoring position. 

Jazz Chisholm Jr. then committed a mistake of his own in the seventh, as he was picked off first base to end the frame.

Chisholm later grounded out on a check swing in the ninth, but he came up limping after pulling up about midway down the first base line. Chisholm came back out to play second base in the bottom of the ninth, but he was later removed as a pinch-runner in the 11th inning. 

-- Brent Headrick pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Yankees. The lefty continues to be one of the most valuable members of the Yankees bullpen, lowering his season ERA to 1.30.

Game MVP

Burke, who was dominant through six shutout innings

Highlights

Trent Grisham's second hit of the day gives the Yankees the lead in the 10th! pic.twitter.com/fSnnHCYlfs

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) July 30, 2026

What's next

The Yankees stay in Chicago for a weekend series against the Cubs.

Will Warren will face Shota Imanaga on Friday afternoon at 2:20 p.m.

Thursday’s afternoon game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs can be described with two words: missed opportunities. Runners in scoring position not realized would be a problem for both the Cardianls and Cubs. Andre Pallante kept the Cubs relatively quiet, but would he get enough offensive support for a win? So many questions.

The St. Louis Cardinals were the first to score Thursday in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Lars Nootbaar and Masyn Winn drew one-out walks. That brought up Bryan Torres who singled to left scoring Nootbaar and giving the Cardinals an early 1-0 lead. That run would unfortunately be all St. Louis could manage in the bottom of the 2nd as Blaze Jordan and Nathan Church left runners in scoring position.

The Chicago Cubs tied the game in the top of the 4th inning when Alex Bregman slammed a one-out double. He would score when Lars Nootbaar forgot there was only one out when Ian Happ flew out to right allowing Bregman to score. File this under mistakes the St. Louis Cardinals cannot afford to make, but stuff happens and that tied the game at 1-1.

Both the Cardinals and Cubs would have opportunities to score in the middle innings, but no results until the top of the 7th inning when Dansby Swanson drew a one-out walk. That would end Andre Pallante’s day. By the way, if you didn’t see Masyn Winn’s play in the top of the 7th inning on a ball to deep short, it might be his best play of the year so far.

George Soriano would enter the game and be greeted by Swanson stealing second base. After Pete Crow-Armstrong struck out (a moment all of Cardinals Nation enjoys), Suzuki walked followed by a two-out single by Michael Busch scoring Swanson and giving the Cubs a brief 2-1 lead. Very brief.

JJ Wetherholt made sure the Cubs lead did not last long as he turned on a 77 mph sweeper in the bottom of the 7th inning tying the game at 2-2. We’re glad you’re gonna be a Cardinal for many years to come, JJ.

Ryne Stanek and Riley O’Brien were able to keep the Cubs from taking the lead in the top of the 8th and 9th innings. Could St. Louis walk it off like they did late Wednesday night? Blaze Jordan was first up in the bottom of the 9th, but he grounded out to second for the first out. Next up, José Fermín ripped a ball down the third base line which Bregman was unable to handle giving the Cardinals the winning run at first base. The reason the game was tied, JJ Wetherholt, was next facing Cubs reliever Webb. He grounded into a fielder’s choice as Hoerner forced Fermín at second. With two outs, it was Jordan Walker’s turn. He BARELY missed an 84-mph slider flying out to deep left field sending the Cardinals and Cubs to extra innings again.

In a bit of Deja vu, it was Luis Gastelum taking the mound for the Cardinals in the top of the 10th inning giving up 2 runs. Suzuki was the Cubs free runner at second base. To start the inning, Michael Busch grounded out to first which advanced Suzuki to third with just one out. Alex Bregman then lined a double down the right field line scoring Suzuki giving Chicago a 3-2 10th inning lead. Gastelum then had to deal with the fact that St. Louis Cardinals arch-nemesis Ian Happ was up and he promptly doubled scoring Bregman upping the Cubs advantage to 4-2. That’s all they would get, but is that all they would need?

Jordan Walker was the Cardinals free runner in the bottom of the 10th inning as Alec Burleson was the first St. Louis chance to strike back. He worked the count full against Webb before lining out to PCA in center who acted like the play was much harder than it actually was for the first out. Manager Oli Marmol sent Jimmy Crooks up as a pinch-hitter for Pedro Pagés which prompted the Cubs to remove Webb and bring in Aaron Civale. All Crooks could manage was a weak flyball to PCA which meant the Cardinals fate was up to Lars Nootbaar. He managed to work the count full before he struck out to end the game. Hard to deal with the reality of the Cubs taking 3 out of 4 from the Cardinals at Busch, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

The St. Louis Cardinals will get out their passports and visit Canada to take on the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend. The Cardinals will send Kyle Leahy to the mound while the Blue Jays will start All-Star Dylan Cease. First pitch is scheduled for 6:07pm central time and the game TV broadcast will be available on Cardinals.tv.

For eight and two thirds innings AND two strikes of this nine inning game, the Twins looked lifeless, dead, and outclassed by a much inferior Royals squad. To the point that I had a recap completely written and ready to post as soon as the score went final. But Kody Clemens had other plans.

Unfortunately, we need to start with the first 99.9% of this game.

Mere hours after being shut out by ex-Twin and bad pitcher Randy Dobnak, they somehow did even worse against Noah Cameron today. Cameron came into this game with a 4.93 ERA, fifth worst among pitchers with at least 100 innings this season. So naturally he no-hit the Twins through six, went eight scoreless overall and simply breezed through the lineup all afternoon. Also of note: Cameron is a lefty, so this outcome was preordained by whatever left-handed witch the Pohlad family insulted a decade ago. 

Minnesota’s offense made some serious strides from June 1 through the All-Star break, but have been completely lifeless since then. They’ve only scored more than five runs twice, and those came in games where the Guardians and Athletics committed three and four errors, respectively. If you eliminate those slop-fests, the Twins are averaging two runs per game since the All-Star Break. Two!!

In that same stretch, they are also 29th in home runs, 28th in SLG, 25th in batting average, 24th in OBP, 28th in xwOBA, 27th in wRC+, and 30th in barrel rate. They’re making soft contact over and over again, which does make sense when you look at regulars like Brooks Lee, Luke Keaschall, Ryan Kreidler, and Austin Martin. The difference is now hits aren’t falling like they used to.

Which makes it even more baffling that the Twins opted to bring up yet another non-factor bat when Buxton went on the IL. They could have turned to Walker Jenkins, the consensus Top 5 prospect who has hit well at AAA all season. Kaelen Culpepper and Emmanuel Rodriguez are still working themselves back from injuries, but starting them every other day could bring some juice to a lineup that desperately needs it. Instead, Derek Shelton has run out two different lineups this week that involve journeyman minor league catcher Alex Jackson starting at first base. 

But we’ll complain about that next week. Kody Clemens wasn’t happy about my negativity and did something about it.

Despite the offensive ineptitude on display all day, the Twins rallied with two outs in the ninth inning. Lucas Erceg was the Royals’ closer to begin the season, but his lack of commend lost him the role before April ended. That wildness was on very much on display today.

Erceg hit Ryan Jeffers, gave up a soft two-strike single to Royce Lewis, and walked Josh Bell after getting ahead of him 0-2. Lefty Matt Strahm then came in to finish the game against Kody Clemens and also got up 0-2 on the Twins’ left-handed hitter. And then on the third pitch of the AB, Clemens made sure the rest of that game didn’t matter. Take it away, Cory Provus.

How about one more angle for good measure?

After all that, the Twins secured another series victory, are back at .500, and Kody Clemens goes home a hero of epic proportions. In fact, he did something only 33 other players in MLB history have done: hit an ultimate grand slam. 

On to Seattle!

STUDS

• Somehow, some way, Kody Clemens: WALK OFF GRAND SLAM

DUDS

• If this was any other game, literally every other hitter 
• But it’s not. NO DUDS TWINS WIN!!

Despite a gem spun by Noah Cameron, the Royals lost today, 4-3. The Minnesota Twins won on a walk-off Grand Slam by Kody Clemens off Matt Strahm. It is the ninth time this season that the Royals have lost via walk-off, and the second time the bullpen has allowed a walk-off Grand Slam.

Before the bottom of the ninth, the game had been mostly free of drama, thanks in large part to Cameron, making his first start since July 19 when the Royals fell to the Padres, 19-2.

Hey, that begs the question, which is worse? Losing a game like that day, when the Royals never had a chance, or losing a game like today, when the Royals had the Twins down to their last strike three different times? Asking for a friend, obvs.

Back to Cameron. He’s had quite the road trip. His last outing against Detroit, he entered in the second inning and never gave up the ball. While the Royals—get ready for this—lost that day, Cameron grooved to the tune of two hits, three walks, eight strikeouts, and zero runs across seven innings pitched.

Today, he topped that performance. It certainly helped getting ahead of the count so often—in fact, Cameron threw first-pitch strikes to 20 of the 22 batters he faced. When he finally left the game, he had tossed a career-high eight innings while allowing just one hit (a measly single in the seventh) while walking two and striking out seven.

Combine his last two outings, both on the road against divisional foes: 15 innings pitched, three hits, five walks, 15 strikeouts, zero runs.

The Royals lost both games.

Jac Caglianone started the scoring when he hit one to Mars. Actually, it hit the American flag blowing in right field. Caglianone’s 17th home run of the season, which also scored John Rave, traveled 438 feet while being hit 113.7 MPH.

It sounded divine.

The Royals padded their lead two innings later in the fifth when Carter Jensen scored on a heads-up play. With two outs and Jensen on first, Rave doubled for the second time. Clemens, the right fielder, tried to nab Rave at second, but the ball scooted away. Jensen, whose forward momentum hadn’t ceased, raced home ahead of an off-line throw. 3-0, Royals.

Really, that was it. Or: it should’ve been it. Cameron cruised while limiting baserunners. The Royals added some runners, but none crossed home. The way Cameron looked on the mound, it didn’t seem to matter.

And it didn’t matter until Cameron left the mound.

Enter: The Kansas City Royals Bullpen. 2026 motto: No Lead is Safe.

Lucas Erceg came in first and retired the first two batters he faced on a strikeout and soft liner. Ho-hum. Then he hit Ryan Jeffers before getting two strikes on Royce Lewis. Lewis, naturally, singled. Josh Bell followed. Again, Erceg had him down to the last strike. Then he threw four straight balls to walk him. Bases loaded.

Matt Quatraro graced us with his presence then when he walked to the mound to pull Erceg for…wait a minute, that can’t be right…Matt Strahm???

Raise your hand if you knew the Royals were toast at that point. I don’t care who Minnesota had coming up, things were not going to end well for the Royals. Since Kansas City is so far out of it as this ugly downward spiral continues, the whole situation humored me more than anything.

Strahm got Clemens down 0-2 before all but laying it up on a tee.

For the second time in three days, the Twins walked off the Royals. Minnesota improved to 55-55 while this Royals dropped to 46-64.

On to Denver.

Since the Jays aren’t going to make any trade news until I walk into the theater, let’s look back.

On this day 11 years ago:

The Blue Jays traded Daniel Norris, Matt Boyd, and Jairo Labourt to the Tigers in exchange for David Price.

At the time of the trade, the Jays were 52-51, tied for second place and six games behind the Yankees.

The Jays went 41-18 the rest of the way, finished first in the AL East, and, well, you know the rest.

Price went 9-1 in 11 starts for the Jays (it’s remarkable he received 10 decisions in 11 starts), posting a 2.30 ERA. However, he struggled in the playoffs.

He was also a great presence in the clubhouse—cheering on the team when he wasn’t pitching, enjoying Rogers Centre popcorn, and clearly savoring the moment. Alex Anthopoulos praised his ‘clubhouse presence,’ calling him the best teammate he had seen.

In the off-season, Price signed with the Red Sox. While it was disappointing to see him go, given his $217 million, seven-year contract, it was likely bestthe Jays didn’t match it. He had four inconsistent seasons in Boston, clashed with the media (primarily Dennis Eckersley, which I consider a plus), and dealt with injuries. Over those four seasons, he went 46-24 with a 3.84 ERA.

In February 2020, Price was traded to the Dodgers alongside Mookie Betts. He sat out the 2020 season, but in 2021 he pitched in 39 games (starting 11) with a 4.03 ERA. This year, he has made 26 relief appearances with a 3.08 ERA, and he’s mentioned considering retirement after the season.

What about the players the Jays traded away?

• Boyd turned out to be the best player the Tigers received in the trade. After joining Detroit, he pitched eight seasons for them, going 42-65 with a 4.92 ERA in 162 games. He’s also pitched for the Mariners, Guardians and now, the Cubs. He’s 6-1, 3.41 in 12 starts with the Cubs this year.
• Norris pitched parts of 8 seasons with the Tigers. He had an 20-33 record and a 4.52 ERA in 153 games, 79 starts. Since then he’s pitched for the Brewers, Cubs, Tigers and Guardians and retired after the 2023 season
• Labourt appeared in six games for the Tigers in 2017—that comprised his entire MLB career.

In the end, we were pretty happy with the trade:

And history proved us right.