A six-team swap was needed to pull off a sign-and-trade that landed Khris Middleton a three-year, $17.6 million contract with the Wizards.
The maneuvering involved the Pistons, Grizzlies, Clippers, Bucks, Mavericks and Wizards, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported.
For Middleton, a member of the Mavericks before the trade, the Wizards sent former Nets star D’Angelo Russell, a 2029 second-round pick, a 2032 second-round swap and a 2033 second-rounder to the Grizzlies.
The Mavericks also included a 2033 second-round pick to Washington.
Khris Middleton of the Dallas Mavericks plays against the Charlotte Hornets during their game at Spectrum Center. Getty Images
The deal also called for the Pistons to trade Caris LeVert and a pair of second-rounders to Milwaukee for Taurean Prince and Gary Harris, and, according to ESPN, the deal creates a trade exception and cap savings for the Pistons.
Trades that were previously worked out are now also part of Tuesday’s deal, which includes the Pistons trading Marcus Sasser to the Mavs, Isaiah Stewart to the Grizzlies, and a protected 2028 second-rounder to the Clippers.
The Clippers are sending John Collins to the Pistons and sending cash to the Bucks.
The Grizzlies are trading Santi Aldama and the draft rights to Tarik Biberovic to the Mavericks and a pair of draft picks to the Pistons.
The very convoluted deal ultimately helps bring Middleton back to Washington, where he played parts of the last two seasons.
D’Angelo Russell of the Dallas Mavericks handles the ball during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on November 16, 2025 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. NBAE via Getty Images
He originally ended up with the Wizards after he was traded at the 2025 deadline by the Bucks.
The 34-year-old averaged 10.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game during the 2025-26 season.
HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 05: Quinten Post #21 of the Golden State Warriors shoots a free throw in the second half against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on March 05, 2026 in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Quinten Post’s tenure as a member of the Golden State Warriors has officially come to an end. On Tuesday, a few minutes before the deadline for the team to make a decision, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Golden State had chosen not to match the offer sheet that the Memphis Grizzlies had extended to the 26-year old Dutch big man. And with that, Post departs the Bay Area and joins a Grizzlies squad that is rebuilding after trading away Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Desmond Bane.
The Warriors had extended the qualifying offer to Post this offseason, which made him a restricted free agent. As a result, other teams could only offer Post a multi-year deal, and the Warriors had the right to match any offer sheet he signed.
Memphis gave Post a three-year, $30-million, but they did so in a cheeky manner to discourage the Warriors from matching. Only the first of the three years is guaranteed (at just $9 million), and some of the $30 million is tied to highly unlikely incentives. However, incentives in contracts count towards the apron, making it more difficult for the Dubs to match. With the team nearing their spending limit, still waiting on LeBron James, and already reuniting with Al Horford and Kristaps Porziņģis, it seemed very unlikely that they would match Memphis’ offer. And indeed, they didn’t.
Post, who was taken with the No. 52 pick in the 2024 draft, departs after appearing in 109 games for the Warriors (with 49 starts), plus 12 playoff games. According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, it’s the first time since 2020 that a restricted free agent received an offer sheet of at least $5 million and it wasn’t matched by his original team.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - DECEMBER 18: Sandro Mamukelashvili #54 of the Toronto Raptors reacts after a game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum on December 18, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) | Getty Images
More affectionately known as Mamu, the Georgian big man, who spent four seasons in Milwaukee and San Antonio to begin his career, had a breakout season with the Raptors where he received Sixth Man of the Year votes.
The Lakers, who officially announced Mamu’s signing on Tuesday night, are banking on this being the beginning of something bigger and not a flash in the pan.
While the Lakers sported a high-powered offense last season, one look they did not have was a two-big lineup. With LeBron James and Rui Hachimura often manning the forward position and with no viable stretch big men in the rotation, it wasn’t even an option for the team to go to.
With Mamu, that will change. The big man is a unique player, not the perimeter-based wing type like Rui or LeBron while also not being a traditional center. He’s a big who can step in at center to play a five-out style or alongside another big to give the Lakers a look and lineup they did not have.
The Raptors being an untraditional team meant that last season, he played a lion’s share of his minutes at the center position. Still, in 112 minutes alongside Jakob Poeltl last season, the Raptors had a +6.6 net rating.
Mamu’s skillset is one that also has a track record of succeeding alongside Luka Dončić, another key factor in any free agent signing. For years in Dallas, Luka and Maxi Kleber worked well off of one another and there’s plenty of reason to believe Mamu and Luka can have similar success.
Having a big man who can pick and pop will give the Lakers’ offense another dynamic it lacked last season. As a spot-up shooter, Mamu finished at 1.17 points per possession last season for the Raptors, according to the NBA’s tracking data. For reference, that falls right between Austin Reaves (1.24) and Luka (1.13). Similarly, on catch-and-shoot threes, Mamu shot 38.9% on 283 attempts last season, a mark that lands just above Luka’s 38.7%.
No big on the Lakers’ roster could even offer the possibility of being a reliable threat from range last season for the Lakers, which can open up things offensively. On top of bringing back Austin this summer to pair again with Luka, the Lakers added two more guards who can get to the rim in Collin Sexton and Quentin Grimes.
Having a big in Mamu who can space the floor and potentially pull centers away from the rim will have cascading positive effects on the team’s offense.
All of this relies on the Lakers being right in their hope that Mamu can build on what he did in Toronto last season. There are underlying numbers, though, that suggest it’s sustainable.
Mamu’s 3-point percentage of 38.9% was the second-best mark of his career, but only just ahead of his career percentage of 36.6%. Similarly, he also shot 37.3% in 2024-25.
The same can be said about his overall field goal percentage, too, where he’s a 49.4% shooter overall but saw his 2025-26 percentage (52.3%) increase from his 2024-25 percentage (50.2%) with both being above that average.
The Raptors were also just a better team with Mamu on the floor. Toronto had a +5.3 net rating with him on and a +0.8 net rating when he sat.
While Mamu had a career-best season in 2025-26, it did not come out of nowhere. Instead, it was a steady build over multiple seasons that saw him take advantage of the most minutes he’s played in his career.
The Lakers are hoping that a big contract and a big role mean even bigger production from him in Los Angeles.
Tuesday's game between the Mets and Royals will be one to forget if you're in New York's bullpen.
Before the Mets' rollercoaster 16-12 loss, they had never lost a home game when scoring 11 or more runs. Their 12 runs scored is also tied for the franchise record for the most runs scored in a loss, period.
And those marks fell on the Mets bullpen.
After two straight games in Atlanta that required a lot of pitchers, interim manager Andy Green was short on the pitching side Tuesday. It didn't help that he had to deploy a bullpen game in their series-opener with Kansas City. Despite that, the Mets pushed on.
Cionel Perez was the opener with Kodai Senga allowing four runs in his three innings of work. The Mets' offense blitzed the Royals' pitching staff and overcame Senga's performance, grabbing a 9-4 lead heading into the fifth inning. That's when Austin Warren took the mound and allowed five earned runs on four hits and one walk without recording an out.
"It was a tough day for us. No other way around it," Green said of the pitching staff after the loss. "Perez got us off to a good start. [AJ] Minter had a really good inning in there. [Huascar Brazoban] came in and did some decent stuff. Everything else just was a tough day. Austin Warren’s been somebody we’ve relied on all year long; he’s been very very good for us. It wasn’t his day today."
Green explained that they hoped Warren would pitch a few innings, but since he didn't they had to use recently-acquired RHP Matt Seelinger in the seventh with the score tied at 9-9. Seelinger, a 31-year career minor leaguer, was making his major league debut and allowed seven runs in the frame, essentially putting the game out of reach.
"As a group, have a ton of confidence in Austin Warren. He had a night that was really tough. We looked at it pretty confidently, he would give us a couple of innings tonight. It didn’t turn into that," Green said. "It was at that point we knew we had to put Seellinger in a tough debut spot you prefer not to. We believe in Austin, we’ll continue to believe in him. He’s been great for us all year. That’s where we tripped up a little bit. And that happens."
"We were light today, I knew I needed to cover some innings," Warren said of his performance. "Doesn’t change the way I go about my business. Just didn’t work out. Bad outing."
Warren has been great for the Mets this season, but his last two outings have been subpar. On July 4 against the Braves, he allowed four runs in two innings of work. And after giving up five on Tuesday, Warren has now allowed nine runs in the last two times on the mound (2.0+IP), which equals what he allowed the entire season leading up to that (33.0 IP). Warren chalks it up to missing his spots, but doesn't want to make excuses, just find a way to get the job done.
With the Mets playing five days in a row before the All-Star break, New York needs Warren and the rest of the pitching staff to pick up the slack or more games like Tuesday will happen.
The road back is underway. Munetaka Murakami made his return to the field Tuesday, starting a rehab assignment with the Charlotte Knights. | Charlotte Knights/ Instagram
Charlotte Knights 8, Nashville Sounds 2 Munetaka Murakami kicked off his Charlotte (47-41) rehab with a single in his first trip, putting two on with nobody out. That set up a first-inning run, courtesy of a Ryan Galanie fly out and a Caden Connor sac fly. Mune stuck around for five innings at first, finishing 1-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts. Galanie blew the game open in the second with a grand slam, Knights up 5-1. Nolan Jones chipped in with a two-run double in the sixth, and Andy Weber kept the line moving with an RBI knock in the seventh. The pitching held up, too. Tanner McDougal, fresh off the IL, tossed one inning with a walk and two punchouts.
Columbus Clingstones 4, Birmingham Barons 3 The Barons (31-51) looked ready to steal one late, but the Clingstones had the final word. Alec Briley launched a first-inning solo homer to put Birmingham ahead, but starter Lucas Gordon surrendered a game-tying blast on just his fourth pitch and another solo shot in the fifth that gave Columbus the lead. Dylan Campbell answered with a solo homer in the sixth to knot things up, and the Barons appeared to have the winning run when Samuel Zavala drew a leadoff walk in the ninth and raced home on T.J. McCants’ clutch RBI double. But the lead disappeared just as quickly, as Jonathan Clark allowed the tying run before the Clingstones walked it off with a game-winning single in the bottom of the frame.
Asheville Tourists 11, Winston-Salem Dash 3 The Dash (47-35) got on the board first thanks to George Wolkow’s two-out RBI double in the opening frame, plating Ryan Burrowes, who had singled. But then came rehabbing Shane Smith, who promptly served up three runs in the second. His line: 2 2/3 innings, three runs, three hits, two walks, but hey, six strikeouts, so not a total wash. The bats had a few more tallies in them, one on a Burrowes solo blast in the fifth and a Wolkow bomb in the eighth, but the bullpen? Woof. Seven earned over 5 1/3 innings. That’s a mess.
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 6, Delmarva Shorebirds 2 Kannapolis (41-41) got things rolling in the second, slapping three runs on the board thanks to Jurdrick Profar and Efren Teran coming through with RBI singles. The Shorebirds made it interesting, tagging Ballers starter Truman Pauley for two tallies in the third, but the Ballers answered in the fifth with Stiven Flores plating Nick McLain, who had doubled. At 4-2, Kanny wasn’t done, squeezing two more in the eighth on a wild pitch and a McLain sac fly. The bullpen shut the door, holding the Birds scoreless for the last five-plus.
ACL White Sox 9, ACL Mariners 8 (7 innings) The ACL White Sox (14-34) jumped out early, thanks to Osniel Castillo launching a two-run bomb in the third. Then, Jose Mendoza and Landon Hodge smacked back-to-back doubles in the fourth for another run. In the fifth, the wheels fell off as Sox pitching surrendered five runs, handing the Mariners a 5-3 lead. Yordani Soto tried to spark a rally with a solo shot in the bottom half, but the Mariners punched right back with three more in the sixth. The Sox, undeterred, broke through with a five-run haymaker in their half of the sixth with doubles from D’Angelo Tejada and Hodge, and RBI knocks from Alejandro Cruz and Soto, the works. That 9-8 edge held, with Felix Doroteo sweating through a single and a walk in the seventh but getting it done for the win.
DSL Blue Jays 5, DSL White Sox 3 (7 innings) The DSL White Sox (10-17) had chances all afternoon but couldn’t deliver the clutch hit, stranding plenty of traffic and going just 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Felix Lebron did his part, driving in two runs with an RBI double in the second and an RBI single in the fourth after Orlando Patiño’s one-out triple. The Dodgers built a 5-2 cushion before the Sox pushed across an unearned run in the seventh, but the late rally fizzled, leaving too many missed opportunities.
ACL Dodgers 4, ACL White Sox 1 (July 6 — 7 innings) The ACL Sox mustered just two singles and five baserunners through the entire contest. The Dodgers practically begged for trouble with three errors, but the Sox bats couldn’t take advantage of a single one. Dodger arms mowed down the first 13 Sox hitters before D’Angelo Tejada finally reached on a throwing error in the fifth. Marcelo Ácala and Jefrank Silva managed the only hits. On the mound, Fidel Montero was nails, tossing five shutout innings, allowing five hits, a walk, and three strikeouts.
DSL White Sox 7, DSL Twins 3 (July 6 — 7 innings) The DSL White Sox got all their business done early, hanging a seven-spot by the end of the fourth. They got on the board in the first on a little chaos with a leadoff single, stolen base, wild pitch, and dropped third strike. The second inning was more of the same with two walks, a couple of singles, Sox up 3-0. The Twins tried to make it interesting with two unearned runs in the third, but the Sox just shrugged and piled on three more in the bottom half. Ronald Cordoza ripped a two-run triple, and Orlando Patiño lofted a sac fly. Hector Hernandez added the exclamation point with a solo shot in the fourth. Yordany Marte got the start, three innings, just the two unearned, with one walk and three punchouts. Job done.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JULY 7: Payton Tolle #70 of the Boston Red Sox pitches during the second inning against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on July 7, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Well, well, well, what do we have here? Is that a competent baseball team I see?
9-2 in their last eleven games. A young flamethrower bouncing back from a bad outing with six shut out innings. Solid defense, every single person in the lineup reaching base at least once, and a big win on the road against a White Sox team who entered the evening 24-6 in their last 30 home games. Who the hell is this team and where have they been all year?
In what very much felt like a make or break road trip regarding trade deadline decisions for the 2026 season, the Red So have started it 4-0 and continue to climb back into the Wild Card hunt. Not only that, but tonight they did it largely behind Payton Tolle shutting down a spunky White Sox lineup, which in the grand scheme of things is the gift that keeps on giving.
Retiring 15 of the last 16 hitters he faced, Tolle cruised once he was handed a 3-0 lead in the second inning. In doing so, he displayed a pair of characteristic you want to see if you’re looking for a future ace. One, he bounced back from a terrible outing against the Nationals (great pitchers rarely have two stinkers in a row), and two, he seemed to get stronger the deeper he worked within this game. The second item is something that’s not only encouraging to see in general, but especially awesome from Tolle who has shown signs of running out of gas in some of his outings this year. Tonight, the tank looked full even as he reached his finish line.
In a series opener that felt like it was just asking to be about a former Red Sox farmhand they traded away, it instead was about the dominant performance of a guy they kept.
Ceddanne Rafaela: Like Monasterio, Rafaela had a pair of hits, and also like Monasterio, he hit a home run in the second inning. This time, it was a two-run shot that gave Boston a 3-0 lead.
Danny Coulombe: There was one brief moment where it felt like the Red Sox might blow this game, and it came in the bottom of the seventh shortly after the bullpen door swung open for Coulombe. He walked the first batter he faced (always a good sign), and allowed the tying run to come to the plate with nobody out. While he did get Kyle Teel for the first out of the inning, Justin Slaten had to clean up his mess.
Failing to land a knockout punch earlier: If we’re going to nitpick, and we have to in the duds section on a night like this, the Red Sox had baserunners in every single one of the first six innings. They also left the bases loaded in the opening frame. If they were able to cash in just a couple more runs while Tolle was dealing, they would have been able to stay away from Slaten and Whitlock in what turned into an 8-1 blowout, leaving them in an even better position going into the final tow games of the series.
The umpiring crew: Home plate umpire Charlie Ramos lost his first five ABS challenges, many on strikes where the ball was almost completely in the zone, and he didn’t even have the most memorable performance from an umpire this evening. Instead, that award goes to:
Play of the game:
Third base umpire Nestor Ceja, who made this amusing pair of calls on Contreras’ ninth inning double down the left field line.
At least it was entertaining and fun, which certainly were the themes of the night for Red Sox fans. Jake Bennett goes tomorrow to try and keep the party bus rolling.
Jul 7, 2026; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays right fielder Victor Mesa Jr. (25) reacts after defeating the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
Coming off three consecutive losses, the Tampa Bay Rays were needing to bounce back against the Yankees on Tuesday night and they did just that behind a stellar performance by Ian Seymour and production from the bottom of the lineup.
Having dropped game one of the four game set on Monday night, the Rays sent southpaw Ian Seymour to the bump looking to even the series. He answered the bell and struck out a career-high 12 batters while allowing three runs over 5.1 innings of work. The three runs came on one swing of the bat. In total he faced 21 batters and struck out more than half. He scattered five hits and walked only one. He earned his 6th win of the season to move to 6-1.
The Rays staked Seymour to an early lead scoring two runs in the bottom of the second inning. He quickly surrendered that lead the following half inning when he allowed a two-out, three run homer to Ben Rice who went 3-4 on the day.
Before and after that one swing, he was solid. Five of the first six outs were via the strikeout. He then punched out a pair in the fourth and the side in the fifth. He was sharp and the Rays offense returned the favor and countered the Yankees three run third with a four run fourth.
With one out, Walls singled to right. Palacios followed with a RBI double to the gap in right-center to tie the game. Then, Feduccia got into one and sent his second homer of the year over the wall in right-center to give the Rays a 5-3 lead. Yandy followed with a homer of his own and with the back to back blasts, the Rays had opened a 6-3 lead.
The six runs were all the Rays would need. After Seymour departed, Kelly, Booser, Cleavinger, and Baker combined to record the final 11 outs. Kelly allowed the only other run of the game in the 6th inning to cut the lead to 6-4. The pen struck out five more Yankee batters and helped the Yankees make history in doing so. With 17 Ks on back-to back nights, they became the first team in history to accomplish such a feat.
While striking out 34 batters over the first 18 innings, the Rays staff has walked only 2.
On a night where the Aranda and Caminero were quiet, combining to go 0-7 with a walk, the bottom of the lineup did its job. Mesa Jr., Walls, Palacios, and Feduccia combined to go6-12 with four RBIs and a pair of homers (Feduccia and Mesa Jr.).
The Rays will look to guarantee a split with a win tomorrow and will send Shane McClanahan to the bump opposite Gerrit Cole. With the win, the Rays moved back to four games up in the standings with a five-game cushion in the loss column.
There's been much to speculate about the next destination for LeBron James.
James decided to not allow the Los Angeles Lakers a bidding chance for him and informed the team that he would be moving on to a new organization in free agency.
There have been a handful of teams that are considered in the running for James.
Many of which have their own storyline and reasoning for a potential James signing, but for a team like the Warriors, they could finally pair James with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.
According to ESPN's Anthony Slater, the Warriors are keeping a roster spot open for James but they don't think he'd choose to play in the Bay Area.
"On the James front, Warriors sources continue to express a low level of optimism that James will ultimately pick them as his next team," Slater wrote. "They intend to keep roster space open for James until he ultimately declares his choice."
ESPN's Shams Charania said on "Straight Shooter" with Stephen A. Smith that he doesn't think the Warriors are at the top of James' list, rather "on the periphery," unless they were able to make a package deal for Anthony Davis. It should also be noted that Charania and Smith reported that both James and Green will "hang out this week" amid the 22-time All-Star's decision-making process.
So what about the other teams that could possibly lure James into a contract for a season or two? Charania said it's really boiled down to a top three hierarchy of: Heat, 76ers and Cavaliers.
Here's the latest on the "contenders only" free agency sweepstakes for James:
LeBron James potential landing spots
Here's the latest on the top-three contenders that James could sign with.
Miami Heat
A reunion in Miami would be one heck of a storyline. Once upon a time James promised Heat fans championship rings by famously uttering the words "not two, not three, not four, not five ... not six." He got them two with Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and company, now he could join a new 'big three' with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo and himself.
"There’s a draw with Miami. Pat Riley is a draw, Spoelstra is a draw," Charania said. "I have gotten any feel that there’s still tension between LeBron and Pat Riley that would detour him from that. I think Bam and Giannis are big draws for him too. He played team USA for Bam and has a lot of respect for Bam. Giannis would want LeBron in Miami from my understanding as well. No state taxes…. In January, you think about Miami and, it’s Miami! If you have a team that is basically neck and neck but one of them is based in Miami, with no state taxes.”
Smith reported that "a lot of executives" believe Miami is the best destination for James.
Philadelphia 76ers
The Sixers have picked up steam in the running for James, Charania said.
"Philadelphia was not in the picture," he said. "When the Sixers got Jaylen Brown I did some research ... he (LeBron) is taking their pitch very seriously."
They would be able to create a lineup featuring Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, James and Brown.
Cleveland Cavaliers
What could be better than a Hollywood ending? A return home to where it all began. Many want it to be the perfect storybook ending to a legendary career. The Cavs do.
Charania said that the organization is making James their No.1-priority and their superstar Donovan Mitchell is on board with that.
Some are speculating that it could very well be. Signs are there. That's what ESPN's Brian Windhorst said.
"Yes, absolutely, he knows what he's going to do," Windhorst said. "If you ask me, 'Are the vibes pointing towards Cleveland?' Yeah, the vibes are pointing towards Cleveland, but it's just vibes."
Consider this, he's celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the 2016 championship with Kevin Love, J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, Matthew Dellavedova, Tristan Thompson and Channing Frye.
He's spending some offseason time there, which has fans on social media putting it all together after reuniting with his high school teammates from St. Vincent-St. Mary's High School in Akron. He was also with Cavs general manager Brandon Weems, but it could all just be coincidence.
Noah Schultz gave up four in his second start back from the IL, with no run support to show for it either way. | (Getty Images)
The White Sox (47-43) took one on the chin to open the six-game homestand with the Red Sox (41-48), getting outhit, 11-4, and blown out, 8-1. Only two batters actually got a hit for the Good Guys, with Sam Antonacci snagging three hits, and Kyle Teel driving in the sole run for the South Siders. The Italians at least represented themselves all right on Italian Heritage Night at the park. The only real good news coming out of this game is that the Twins also beat the Guardians, so the one-game lead in the AL Central still holds up.
Noah Schultz got off to a rocky start, immediately getting into a bases-loaded jam in the first that set the tone for the ballgame. The lefty needed 33 pitches to get through it, but he was able to regain control and survive the bases-loaded jam, but that didn’t stave off the chaos for the remainder of his outing. The main problem for Schultz in this five-inning, 92-pitch outing, however, was that he continuously worked into deep counts that ran up his pitch count, on top of the two home runs and three walks. Noah allowed four runs on seven hits while striking out three, two of them by our old friend Romy Gonzalez.
Not only were the Red Sox jumping all over him, but Schultz wasn’t getting as many whiffs, averaging just a 20% called-strike-plus-whiff rate (CSW). His sinker was thrown 25% of the time tonight, and also drew the highest CSW (26%) of all his pitches. Schultz’s ERA has now increased slightly to 6.00, but he’s still extremely young and can continue to work on his command issues with more experience. In his defense, you can’t exactly win a game without the offense scoring any runs, so he wasn’t the only one at fault there.
The first frame for Schultz nearly spun out of control. Both Anthony Seigler and Ceddanne Rafaela reached on a pair of bloop hits to lead off the game: one that dropped in no man’s land, shallow center field, and the other was a strange swinging bunt situation that ended up in the Bermuda triangle between Schultz, Miguel Vargas at first, and Chase Meidroth at second. Willson Contreras walked to load the bases, adding a fresh layer of stress to the situation, but thankfully, Schultz buckled down and struck out Romy Gonzalez before inducing a line out to end the inning.
Schultz began the second frame on a high note after striking out Jarren Duran, but things quickly snowballed from there. On the very next batter, Andruw Monasterio took Schultz deep to left to give Boston their first run of the game. Connor Wong then caught Colson Montgomery playing back and decided to drop a bunt that ended up (generously) being ruled a base hit. Schultz forced a fly out, but then allowed his second homer of the inning to give the Red Sox another couple of runs, 3-0.
With the help of Teel, Schultz worked through the third without issue, cutting Contreras’ time on the basepaths short after his leadoff hit, getting thrown out at second to end the inning. That would be the first of two that Teel caught stealing on the night, as he made another great throw in the fifth to catch Wilyer Abreu. That momentum didn’t hold through the fourth, however, as chaos ensued to give another run to the Red Sox. A double, wild pitch, walk, and a squeeze bunt all happened in consecutive order, with Wong getting his second bunt down to tally an RBI, 4-0.
Truly a wild sequence of events:
On the other end of the ball, Payton Tolle was having a much easier time with the South Side offense than Schultz had with the Red Sox. Tolle worked through six shutout innings and gave up just two hits, one walk, and struck out six. He walked Miguel Vargas to lead off the game, and Antonacci was really the only player who showed up for the White Sox offense with two hits off Tolle and three on the day. The Good Guys were getting carved up by his fastball and cutter, averaging a 34% and a 31% CSW for his outing and racking up 15 swings and misses; for reference, Schultz had eight in comparison.
Until the seventh frame, the Good Guys only mustered two hits — both from Antonacci. The White Sox loaded the bases in the seventh to get a bit of a rally going, with Meidroth drawing a walk to lead off the inning, and Antonacci followed that up by snagging his third hit of the day. Finally, someone not named Sam got a hit, as Junior Perez singled to load the bases for Teel. In another timeline, Kyle blasts a game-tying grand slam against his former team, but instead we get an RBI ground out and back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat, 4-1.
The bullpen was solid through the eighth once they replaced Schultz, with three relievers combining for just one hit. That is, until the ninth, when the Red Sox ended up breaking the game open, but not without the help of the umpiring crew. Seranthony Domínguez took over in the sixth, and though it was a little dicey to start the inning, with a deep fly to left and two batters reaching base, he made it through unscathed by striking out both Anthony Seigler and Ceddanne Rafaela to end the scoring threat for Boston. In the seventh, Jordan Hicks looked as good as ever, striking out two of the three batters he faced for a clean frame, handing the final two over to Brandon Eisert in an attempt to maintain the three-run deficit so as not to make things worse.
In the ninth, Eisert walked two batters but needed just one more out. He had Contreras down to his final strike on a full count, until Contreras ripped a line drive down the left field line that the umpire originally called foul … before changing his mind mid-play to call it fair, which allowed two runs to score. Personally, I don’t understand how Will Venable didn’t make a way bigger deal out of this situation. Once a fielder sees the foul called, they ease up because they think the play is over. Apparently, the play was not reviewable for an unknown reason. This will likely make me lose sleep tonight, and it’s not like the bats did anything at all to help themselves, but that is just an unacceptable sequence of events that led to four Boston insurance runs.
To throw salt in the wound, Romy Gonzalez ripped almost an identical ball down the right-field line, also causing a slightly delayed fair call to drive in the seventh run for the Red Sox. Finally, Venable called it a day for Eisert, but Trevor Richards came in for the garbage time and walked Caleb Durbin before giving up a base hit to Duran for the eighth and final run.
It didn’t really matter up to that point, but the White Sox went down in order in the bottom of the ninth, finally putting us all out of our misery. You’re not going to win them all, of course, but the bats snoozed through this one after an off-day. The Good Guys will aim to bounce back tomorrow with Davis Martin on the mound, and hopefully the South Siders (and umps!) get a good night of rest and get ready for the next one.
MESA, AZ - MARCH 21: Josiah Hartshorn #22 of the Chicago Cubs bats during the game between the San Diego Padres and the Chicago Cubs at Sloan Park on Saturday, March 21, 2026 in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo by Aryanna Frank/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Two Smokies got honored today. Catcher Owen Ayers was named Southern League Player of the Month for June. Over the past month, Ayers hit .451/.554/.824 with 13 doubles and seven home runs. Ayers led the league in average, hits, doubles, home runs, walks, total bases, on-base percentage and slugging. He was second in runs scored with 23 and fourth in the Southern League for June with 21 RBI.
Smokies right-hander Jace Beck was similarly named Southern League Pitcher of the Month. Over five appearances and three starts, Beck went 2-0 with an 0.47 ERA. Over 19 innings, Beck struck out 36 and walked nine. He also allowed just nine hits and a .138 average.
Left-hander Pierce Coppola was promoted to High-A South Bend from Low-A Myrtle Beach.
Jordan Wicks started and took the loss after he got rocked for seven runs, six earned, on six hits over three innings. Wicks struggled with control as he walked four and hit one.
Paul Campbell and Jayden Murray both had three scoreless innings of relief.
Left fielder BJ Murray hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth, his 12th on the season. Murray was 1 for 5.
Right fielder Brett Bateman was a perfect 4 for 4 with a walk. He scored twice.
Catcher Moisés Ballesteros doubled twice in a 2 for 5 game. He scored one run.
Starter Connor Schultz gave up two solo home runs, but otherwise kept the Shuckers in check and got the win. Schultz’s final line was three runs on five hits over five innings. He struck out six and walked no one.
Tyler Ras pitched two innings, allowed no runs on one hit, and got the save. Ras walked one and struck out one.
Third baseman Jefferson Rojas hit a solo home run in the fifth inning, his 14th on the year. Rojas was 2 for 4 with the home run, a double and a walk. Rojas also stole a base and scored twice.
Right fielder Alex Ramírez connected for a three-run home run in the sixth inning. That was his tenth on the campaign. Ramírez was 2 for 5 with the home run. In the eighth inning, Ramírez singled, stole second, stole third and after Rojas walked, stole home as part of a double steal.
Second baseman Drew Bowser singled home a run in the sixth inning and then scored on Ramírez’s home run. Bowser went 2 for 4.
Left fielder Carter Trice went 2 for 5 with a double and a steal. He scored once.
Solid start for Mason McGwire, who allowed just one run on three hits over four innings. McGwire struck out three and walked one.
Adam Stone pitched the eighth and ninth innings, didn’t allow a run and got the win. Stone gave up two hits. He walked two and struck out two.
After South Bend scored twice in the top of the tenth, Grayson Moore retired the side in order in the bottom of the tenth for the save. He struck out one.
South Bend had already taken a one-run lead when automatic runner Justin Stransky scored on an error, but first baseman Josiah Hartshorn added an insurance run with a solo home run later in the tenth. It was Hartshorn’s 15th home run and tenth with South Bend. He was 2 for 5 with a walk. Hartshorn scored twice and drove in two.
Hartshorn had been in a mini-slump the past week after tearing up the minors to start his career. Today was a good night to get back on track.
Left fielder Jose Escobar stayed hot, going 2 for 6 with a double. He scored one run.
Third baseman Matt Halbach went 2 for 4 with a double and a walk. Halbach had one RBI and one run scored.
Right fielder Miguel Useche went 2 for 5 with an RBI.
Here’s the play that scored Stransky. Good job getting picked off!
David Bracho pitched the first 3.1 innings and surrendered five runs on three hits. Bracho walked three and struck out six.
Edwardo Melendez pitched the final three innings and got the win. He was in line for the loss after he allowed a two-run home run in the top of the tenth, but the Pelicans struck back with the grand slam. Melendez’s final line was two runs, one earned, on four hits over three innings. Melendez struck out three and walked on.
Shortstop Valdez sent the home fans home happy when he hit a grand slam in the bottom of the tenth. It was Valdez’s sixth home run this season. Valdez went 4 for 6 with five RBI. He also stole two bases and scored twice.
Earlier in the sixth inning, catcher Jose Silva hit a solo home run. It was Silva’s first home run with the Pelicans and third overall. Silva went 1 for 3 with two walks.
Second baseman Alexis Hernández was 3 for 6 with a double and a steal. He scored once.
Right fielder Eli Lovich went 1 for 3 with a triple, a walk, a hit by pitch and a sacrifice fly. He scored two runs and drove in three.
Ethan Conrad is in right field and is 2 for 3 so far.
Yesterday, Kohl Franklin pitched four scoreless innings for the ACL Cubs in his season debut. Franklin had Tommy John surgery early in 2024, right after making his Iowa debut. He missed the rest of 2024 and made one appearance in 2025 where he had a setback in his recovery. A recovery by Franklin would be a big boost to the Cubs farm system.
The Pittsburgh Penguins had a member of their front office poached by another team on Tuesday.
Vukie Mpofu, who served as the Penguins' director of hockey operations and legal affairs for the past three seasons, left the organization to be an assistant general manager of the Nashville Predators.
He will work alongside Predators general manager Chris MacFarland and help with everything, including salary cap compliance, contract negotiations, scouting, and player acquisitions.
Welcome to Smashville, Vukie! 👋
We've hired Vukie Mpofu as Assistant General Manager.
“We are very pleased that Vukie has elected to join the Predators hockey operations staff as Assistant General Manager,” Predators GM Chris MacFarland said in a statement.
This is a significant loss for the Penguins' front office, as Mpofu handled the salary cap situation and player contract negotiations. Dubas hired Mpofu from the Los Angeles Kings in 2023, shortly after he arrived in Pittsburgh.
It remains to be seen if Dubas hires anyone to replace Mpofu.
HOUSTON, TEXAS - JULY 03: Nick Allen #20 of the Houston Astros bats in the fifth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Daikin Park on July 03, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Houston Astros (46-48) didn’t get the start they hoped for from Tatsuya Imai, but they got a terrific performance from 6 relievers as they took the second game of this series 6-3 over the Washington Nationals (47-46) at Nationals Park.
Imai only lasted 3.2 IP, impacted by a cut on the ring fighter of his pitching hand that impacted his ability to grip the baseball and execute pitches. At one point in the second inning, a trainer had to come to the mound to put a cold towel on his hand to try to help him get him get a proper grip on the ball, as his velocity dropped during the inning but it rebounded to normal level after the trainer came out.
The cut impacted his execution, and his pitch count racked up as a result, throwing 84 pitches in his 3.2 innings. Imai was charged with 2 ER, 4H, 3BB, and 3K.
Steven Okert (W, 2-1) was called on to finish the fourth, as he has essentially become the team’s stopper, and the pitcher manager Joe Espada is most comfortable going to when he brings in someone to get out of a jam, particularly when the Astros have a lead. Okert went 1.1 IP scoreless allowing 1 hit and striking out 3.
As Enyel De Los Santos, Bryan King, Bryan Abreu, Alimber Santa and Josh Hader (S, 10) held the Nationals potent offense in check, it was the Astros bottom of the order that did the majority of the damage for Houston this evening.
A second inning sac fly from Nick Allen drove in the Astros first run to tie the game at 1 in the top of the 2nd.
Allen then ripped a 2-run single in the 4th to give the Astros a 3-2 lead, driving in Christian Walker and Zach Dezenzo. A Christian Vazquez sac fly drove in Brice Matthews to make it a 4-2 game.
In the 6th, Vazquez struck again with an RBI single to score Dezenzo, and increase the lead to 5-2.
An 8th inning solo HR from Jose Altuve pushed the lead to 6-2.
The Nationals got 1 run in the 9th before Josh Hader was summoned to close the game out.
Tomorrow the Astros will send Spencer Arrighetti (7-4, 3.81 ERA) to the mound looking to win their 7th series in their last 8 against Washington lefty Foster Griffin (9-2, 2.87 ERA).
As if a matchup of two last-place teams on a crummy night in Queens wasn’t enough, the Mets had perhaps their sloppiest, ugliest loss of the season against the miserable Royals, 16-12, in a wild game to open a homestand at Citi Field on Tuesday night.
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After opening a five-run lead in the fourth, the Mets gave up a dozen straight runs before getting back on the scoreboard.
It came on a night that saw the Royals hand the Mets a three-run Little League homer in the bottom of the first, thanks to three throwing errors on one play.
That proved to be just an appetizer for a bizarre night, and it still couldn’t propel the Mets to a victory, as their ragtag pitching staff was no match for the Royals.
The Mets, short in the bullpen after taxing their pitching staff in back-to-back wins in Atlanta the previous two games, were forced to pitch Kodai Senga on three days’ rest for the first time in his career and then saw Austin Warren fail to retire a batter in the fifth.
That led to Long Island’s Matt Seelinger making his MLB debut in a tie game after a decade in the minors.
Interim manager Andy Green acknowledged the rough condition of the staff and said the team was “forced to make some of those triage decisions along the way.”
A truer statement probably couldn’t be made about this Mets season — until Green followed by saying the game “turned into kind of a perfect storm.”
Reliever Matt Seelinger reacts after giving up a two-run home run to Nick Loftin (12) during the seventh inning of the Mets’ 16-12 loss to the Royals on July 7, 2026 at Citi Field. Robert Sabo for NY Post
The aftermath included the Mets falling to 200-2 in franchise history when scoring 12 or more runs, as they wasted a breakout offensive night from A.J. Ewing and a three-run homer by Juan Soto, his 20th of the season.
It began to fall apart when Senga allowed two runs in the second and a pair more in the fourth.
After Soto gave them a five-run lead in the bottom of the inning, Austin Warren entered to start the fifth and allowed all six batters he faced to reach base — and five of them to score, as Kansas City tied the game 9-9.
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Warren called his outing “terrible” and noted his poor location.
Instead of the right-hander eating innings, he forced Huascar Brazobán into the game earlier than planned, which left Seelinger to make his MLB debut in a tie game, and the right-hander allowed seven runs.
The Westbury native immediately ran into trouble, as he walked Lane Thomas on four pitches and then gave up an RBI double to Salvador Perez.
Austin Warren reacts dejectedly during the fifth inning of the Mets’ loss to the Royals. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Nick Loftin tagged Seelinger for a two-run shot later in the inning.
He survived and pitched a scoreless eighth, but it didn’t matter.
Coming off back-to-back close wins in Atlanta, the Mets returned to Queens, where they’d lost six of seven in their last homestand.
Looking to win a third straight game for the first time since their four-game winning streak at the end of May, the Mets instead suffered another brutal defeat.
“The season presents these challenges,’’ Green said before the game of the team’s depleted bullpen.
He couldn’t have foreseen this one coming, though.
Mets left fielder Juan Soto hits a three-run home run during the fourth inning. Robert Sabo for NY Post
And it doesn’t figure to get much better anytime soon for a Mets team that is already staggering to the All-Star break with seemingly no answers on the horizon.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 07: Tyler Tolbert #2 of the Kansas City Royals smiles at first base after his seventh inning infield base hit against the New York Mets at Citi Field on July 07, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Do you like offense? I hope you like offense. One day after scoring 15 runs against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Kansas City Royals topped that by scoring even more in a 16-12 win over the New York Mets.
So much happened tonight that it would be a very long and very boring blog if I recounted what happened inning by inning. Instead, we’ll approach this in a series of vignettes, accompanied by video highlights.
The United States Men’s National Soccer Team proved yesterday that highly skilled, trained, and motivated athletes can and do screw up bigtime even when they really shouldn’t. Before any of the run-scoring shenanigans, the Royals channeled their inner USMNT and completely botched some defense.
In the above play, Seth Lugo made a throwing error to first base. Then, Jac Caglianone made a throwing error to…somewhere. Finally, Nick Loftin made a throwing error to home plate. It was truly a travesty of a play. But thankfully, it wasn’t all.
Tyler Tolbert takes over
Two days ago, Tyler Tolbert got a hit. His next time up, he got another yet. Yesterday, Tolbert got a hit. Then he got a hit. Then he got a hit. Then he got a hit. Then he got a hit.
Today, Tolbert stepped up to the plate in the second inning. He got another hit, a home run, for his eighth consecutive hit.
Tolbert wasn’t finished. In the top of the fourth inning, he collected his ninth consecutive hit, an opposite field single. In the top of the fifth inning, Tolbert notched his 10th consecutive hit, an infield single. Things were reaching ridiculous heights. In the top of the sixth inning, Tolbert notched yet another consecutive hit, another infield single. It was his 11th straight hit.
Tyler Tolbert has a hit in 11 consecutive plate appearances 🤯
But Tolbert wasn’t finished. In the top of the seventh inning, Tolbert notched his 12th consecutive hit, tied for the most all time in MLB history. Like, ever.
While Tolbert wouldn’t be able to get a 13th consecutive hit, he matched the record—first set by Johnny Kling in 1902 and then Pinky Higgins in 1938, Walt Dropo in 1952, and Jose Miranda in 2024.
My first title for this recap was not exactly kind, as a poor start by Seth Lugo put the Royals in a colossal hole. And yet, they persisted. After the Mets scored three in the bottom of the first inning, the Royals scored a pair on the aforementioned Tolbert home run. After the Mets scored two more of their own in the bottom of the second, the Royals scored another pair in the top of the fourth on the above Lane Thomas hit.
And after the Mets scored another quartet of runs in the bottom of that very inning to put them up 9-4, the Royals tied it up in the fifth with a five-run frame that included doubles by Jac Caglianone, Isaac Collins, and Michael Massey.
Royals pitching was very bad, and on most nights it would have done Kansas City in. Lugo gave up six earned runs, let alone the other three that were partially due to the Errortastrophe from earlier, of which he contributed. John Schreiber gave up two more. And Matt Strahm gave up one of his own, punctuating a thoroughly disappointing year for the returning Royal.
But gosh darn it, it didn’t matter. With the game knotted at nine-all, Kansas City hung another seven runs on the Mets. A Salvy double. A Nick Loftin homer. Another Thomas double. Walks and more walks. It was a bloodbath, with poor Matt Seelinger wearing the whole inning on his own.
What a game. Anything can happen in nine innings, after all. And for Tolbert, maybe another nine and change.
Jul 7, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets center fielder A.J. Ewing (9) scores a run on a throwing error by Kansas City Royals pitcher Seth Lugo (67) during the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Never in franchise history had the Mets scored 12 runs in a home game and lost. Well, there’s a first time for everything. And this 16-12 loss to the Royals at Citi Field had a lot of events never seen before. I attempt to describe them in the roughly 2,500 words below, but quite frankly, this was a baseball game that defies description.
Serving as the opener ahead of Kodai Senga, Cionel Pérez wriggled his way out of a jam in the first to keep the Royals off the board. With one out, Bobby Witt Jr. continued to climb the American League leaderboard in hits by lacing a single to right. Lane Thomas followed with a single and Pérez balked to advance the runners to second and third still with only one out. But he got a big strikeout of Salvador Perez and induced a fly ball out from Jac Caglianone to escape the inning unscathed.
It looked like Seth Lugo would manage to pull off a similar Houdini act in the bottom of the frame, but what transpired instead is what I can only describe as the Metsiest play ever perpetrated by a non-Mets team. A.J. Ewing led off the inning with a single and Lugo bounced back to strike out Juan Soto on a pitch Soto challenged, but was confirmed to be strike three. Bo Bichette then waited nicely on an offering from Lugo and threaded it up the middle for a base hit. Francisco Lindor struck out looking and then Carson Benge hit a slow roller toward the mound, but a heartbeat later, rather than the inning being over, Benge was crossing home plate with the Mets up 3-0—a Little League home run thanks to three separate throwing errors by the Royals. Lugo scooped up the ball and threw it wildly to first base. Then, first baseman Jac Caglianone scrambled after the ball in foul territory down the first base line, picked it up, and flung it into no man’s land somewhere in foul territory between third base and home plate. He was likely trying to throw the ball home, but it didn’t even end up in the same zip code. Once again scrambling in foul territory, third baseman Nick Loftin made a second attempt at throwing home for a play at the plate and also missed the mark, as Carson Benge completed his full trip around the bases to give the Mets a three-run lead. Again, I assure you I am describing a series of events that happened to the opposition rather than the Mets this time. Indeed, it is the first time in franchise history an opposing team has made three errors on a single play against the Mets. And my words don’t do it justice; you should really just watch the highlight for this one, trust me. For full effect, play circus music in the background as you watch it.
Anyway, unfortunately for the Mets, their laughing was relatively short-lived as Kodai Senga came in to begin the second inning and—after recording the second out of the inning on a successful version of a play nearly identical to the one Lugo failed to make that caused the first domino to fall in the first—gave up a single to Michael Massey and a two-run homer to Tyler Tolbert to bring the Royals back within a run in a hurry. But the Mets reclaimed their three-run advantage in the bottom of the frame. With one out, Brett Baty lined a ball into the gap in left-center for a double. He was erased on a fielder’s choice when Luis Torrens hit a grounder to third and Baty ended up caught in a rundown between second and third, eventually tagged out as he hit the dirt. A.J. Ewing followed with an absolute no doubter of a monster shot into the upper deck in right field—the furthest I’ve ever seen him hit a ball as a big leaguer—to give the Mets a 5-2 lead.
Senga rebounded to put up a zero in the third and Lugo did the same, working around a walk and a stolen base by Carson Benge. But Senga lost the strike zone in the fourth and it came back to bite him, allowing the Royals to once more cut the lead to one run. The inning could have been much worse, but in contrast to Royals earlier and in contrast to their usual modus operandi, the Mets helped Senga out some defensively. The walk Senga issued to lead off the inning was erased on a pickoff (which the Mets had to challenge to get awarded). Senga then walked Michael Massey and gave up a single to Tyler Tolbert, who simply cannot be retired right now. That was Tolbert’s ninth consecutive hit, which is a new Royals club record. Senga then struck out Carter Jenson for the second out, but wanted no part of Bobby Witt Jr. and issued a semi-intentional walk to him to load the bases. He then very much unintentionally got behind in the count to Lane Thomas and Thomas socked a two-run double off the wall in left field that could have easily cleared the bases if not for Royals third base coach Vance Wilson (Mets legend) very conservatively putting a stop sign up. Senga kept a tenuous hold on the lead when Juan Soto made a nice diving catch on a sinking Sal Perez liner to end the inning.
Something we are not used to seeing from the 2026 Mets: they once again punched back immediately against old friend Seth Lugo in his first time facing his former team. Jared Young singled to lead off the inning and then with one out, Luis Torrens singled. A.J. Ewing then singled for his third hit and RBI before the game had even reached its halfway mark. Juan Soto then launched a three-run shot to dead center to stretch the Mets’ lead to five runs. But the Mets saw that lead shrink once again in the top of the fifth, as it became clear that this was going to be one of those games where no lead was safe. Austin Warren was the next pitcher up for the Mets and things did not go well for him, to put it kindly. Jac Caglianone doubled to lead off the inning and then Warren hit Nick Loftin with a pitch to put two men on. Isaac Collins and Michael Massey then hit back-to-back doubles to make the score 9-7. Tyler Tolbert then continued his streak to notch his tenth straight hit—this one an infield single on which he beat Bo Bichette’s spinning throw to first. He promptly stole second base to put the tying run in scoring position. Austin Warren then walked Carter Jensen, marking the sixth straight Royal to reach base, still with nobody out. Warren was pulled from the game having failed to retire a batter, leaving Huascar Brazobán with a huge mess to clean up and a skinny two-run lead to protect.
Bobby Witt Jr. greeted Brazobán with a sharp grounder to short that ate up Francisco Lindor, costing the Mets a potential double play, but Lindor did manage to get the out at second. A run scored on the play to bring the Royals within a run still with runners at the corners and only one out. The Mets were fortunate to record the second out on a caught stealing which required replay review to adjudicate. But Sal Perez blooped a single to shallow center to tie the game at nine runs apiece. Brazobán finally struck out Caglianone, who you may recall led off the inning with a double, to mercifully end the inning. Again, this was the top of the fifth. I’ve written a full length recap already. But there’s still four innings of baseball to be played.
Lugo, who hadn’t thrown a pitch in 30 minutes, came back out for the bottom of the fifth with his team having evened the score and struck out Carson Benge for the first out. In his first game with the Mets in nearly three months, Jorge Polanco made a bid to give the Mets the lead again, launching a ball to the second deck down the right field line, but replay review revealed the long fly was just foul, so Polanco, having already completed his trip around the bases, had to return to the batter’s box and ultimately settled for a walk instead. That ended Seth Lugo’s night and he made way for Daniel Lynch IV, who was the beneficiary of a nice sliding catch by Lane Thomas in center to retire Jared Young. With two outs, Brett Baty also made a bid to give the Mets the lead, but Tolbert caught his towering fly ball right in front of the wall to keep the game knotted at nine runs apiece.
Brazobán immediately found himself in another pickle in the top of the sixth because nothing about this game could be normal. Nick Loftin doubled to lead things off and then Collins walked. Michael Massey then struck out for the first out. Tyler Torbert then hit a bouncer to third and—you guessed it—he beat it out for his eleventh straight hit because Bo Bichette was unable to come up with the short hop and whiffed trying to swipe at it and by the time the ball got to Francisco Lindor backing it up, it was too late. With the bases loaded, Carter Jensen hit another ball toward third on which Bichette did field the short hop and threw home for the force out. Bobby Witt Jr. then hit a liner back to the mound that Brazobán managed to stick his glove up and snag to somehow keep the Royals off the board.
Daniel Lynch IV and John Schreiber combined for a scoreless bottom of the sixth for the Royals, working around a walk and stolen base by A.J. Ewing (he was initially called out but then ruled safe upon replay review). With the game still tied in the top of the seventh, the Mets called upon local kid Matt Seelinger to make his big league debut in front of “half of Long Island,” as he put it before the game. Unfortunately, a cult hero’s performance was not to be for the 31-year-old. Likely with butterflies in his stomach, he walked Lane Thomas on four pitches to lead things off. Salvador Perez then doubled in Thomas to give the Royals the lead for the first time all evening. Seelinger struck out Caglianone for the first out, but then gave up a two-run homer to Nick Lofton to extend the Royals’ newfound lead to 12-9. Seelinger then walked two more batters and who came striding into the batter’s box but Tyler Tolbert with a chance to make baseball history. He hit yet another slow roller—this time toward short—and he beat it out again to secure his place in the record books. He became just the fifth player in baseball history to record twelve straight hits and three of the five he logged in this contest were infield hits.
Things continued to get worse for Seelinger, who issued another walk with the bases loaded to force in a run. It seemed like he got exactly what he needed when Bobby Witt Jr. hit a grounder to short that seemed destined to end the inning, but the Mets were only able to record the out at second, as Witt beat the throw to first base by a whisker. That whisker was the difference between a game that still felt within reach, especially given all that had already transpired, and the Royals blowing the doors off. With no one warming behind him in a shorthanded bullpen, poor Matt Seelinger had to wear it. And wear it he did. Lane Thomas doubled to plate two more runs for the Royals before the inning finally came to an end. All told, Kansas City scored 12 unanswered runs after trailing 9-4 and in the worst game of his major league career, Seth Lugo got a no-decision. Seven of those runs came against Seelinger in the seventh—a big league debut he will surely never forget for all the wrong reasons.
The Mets clawed back two runs in the bottom of the seventh to give both teams double-digit run totals. Carson Benge walked with one out and hearing chants of “Pete Alonso!” by the exasperated (and let’s be honest, probably drunk) crowd, Jorge Polanco laced a double to drive in Benge. Jared Young then singled to advance Polanco to third and John Schreiber made way for Beck Way (pun intended). Brett Baty launched yet another ball to the warning track for a sacrifice fly to score Polanco, which made the score 16-11 if you are still keeping track.
Not down by enough runs to use a position player to pitch, the Mets’ choices at this point were a.) send Matt Seelinger out for another inning or b.) use A.J. Minter, which would have likely necessitated the use of one of Luke Weaver, Devin Williams, or Brooks Raley for a third straight day. The Mets chose option a and with an assist from A.J. Ewing, who leapt up against the wall to rob Michael Massey of an extra base hit to end the inning, Seelinger posted a redemptive clean frame. Ewing continued to have quite the game, blooping a single off familiar foe Matt Strahm to lead off the eighth for his first career four-hit game. Strahm retired the next two batters he faced, but then walked Francisco Lindor and gave up a single to Carson Benge to bring the Mets within four.
A.J. Minter threw a 1-2-3 top of the ninth, which is only notable because a.) a 1-2-3 inning was about as rare as the Hope Diamond in this ballgame and b.) one of those outs was Tyler Tolbert, whose streak came to an end at 12 straight hits—tying, but not breaking, the major league record. Lucas Erceg responded with a 1-2-3 inning of his own to seal the victory for the Royals in what was a rather anticlimactic ending to an otherwise rollercoaster ride of a game. I feel like I ran a marathon, but all I did was recap a baseball game…an extremely bizarre baseball game.
Big Mets winner: A.J. Ewing, +39% WPA Big Mets loser: Matt Seelinger, -49% WPA Mets pitchers: -97% WPA Mets hitters: +47% WPA Teh aw3s0mest play: Carson Benge’s Little League home run in the first, +25.4% WPA Teh sux0rest play: Matt Seelinger gives up a go-ahead RBI double to Salvador Perez in the seventh, -21.1% WPA
