Fullback scores hat-trick as New Zealand win 47-17 in Wellington
New coach Dave Rennie has back-to-back wins in his first matches
Will Jordan grabbed a hat-trick of tries including a record 50th for New Zealand as the All Blacks thrashed Italy 47-17 in the Nations Championship Test.
Jordan touched down once in the first half and twice in three minutes after half-time at Wellington Regional Stadium to eclipse Doug Howlett’s record against the outclassed Italians.
Continue reading...Updates from the Wallabies’ second match of the tournament
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Australia in gold, France in blue, round two of the Nations Championship is under way…
Anthem time in Brisbane, which means an always welcome rendition of La Marseillaise. Advance Australia Fair pales by comparison, but the duration of the song allows plenty of close-ups of the Wallabies’ excellent First Nations jersey, worn to coincide with NAIDOC Week here in Australia.
Continue reading...With content-stacking and spoiler-avoiding, a fan with the right subscriptions can expect to enjoy 13 uninterrupted hours on the sofa on Saturday
Start practising those excuses. For England fans, this Saturday is one of those that demands serious thought, by which I mean how to wheedle out of prior engagements and family obligations. No fewer than four of the national teams are in action, and to catch all the matches will require time, dedication and some nifty work with a TV recorder. How else can you expect to navigate the problem of the rugby team’s Fiji fixture kicking off only 20 minutes before the men’s T20 against India?
With some judicious content-stacking and spoiler-avoiding, however, a fan with the right subscriptions can expect to enjoy 13 uninterrupted hours on the sofa – starting with the morning session of the women’s Test and climaxing with a late-night footballing knockout against Norway. Nor is England the only game in town: there are three other home nations rugby matches to be watched, a Wimbledon women’s singles final, and the Tour de France.
Continue reading...Heatwaves have long been part of the Tour but temperatures now are pushing the riders to limit of human endurance
The Tour de France and the heat of the midday sun are old bedfellows, going back long before an era when the biggest catastrophe of the Tour’s opening week was a major fault in the Visma team bus’s air conditioning. Flip back 50 years to my favourite Tour read, the late Geoffrey Nicholson’s The Great Bike Race, and we find the doyen of cycling writers discussing a Tour that began in baking conditions in the Vendée, and continued through the canicule in central France and Normandy.
“The heatwave,” wrote Nicholson, “is becoming a serious worry.” He describes the late Raymond “Pou-Pou” Poulidor as “an old sweat” – pun alert – “in legionnaire matters”, who was “careful to limit himself to two litres of water on a stage … it is part of the collective wisdom of the peloton that too much water leads to depression and fatigue.” Tell that to the Tour men of 2026 as they glug down one bidon after another.
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The Colorado Rockies spent most of Friday night creating chances without cashing them in.
They finally broke through in the ninth.
Kyle Karros delivered a go-ahead, two-run single, Cole Carrigg added a sacrifice fly, and Juan Mejia needed one pitch in the bottom of the ninth to strand the bases loaded and secure a 4-3 win over the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park.
Colorado improved to 39-57. San Francisco fell to 39-55.
The Rockies loaded the bases with nobody out in both the sixth and ninth innings. They came away empty in the sixth, but scored three times in the ninth before nearly giving the lead back.
Tanner Gordon allowed one run on eight hits over five innings. He walked one, struck out one and threw 81 pitches, 54 for strikes.
It was not a dominant outing. Gordon generated only three whiffs on 35 swings, and his velocity was down across the arsenal. His four-seam fastball averaged 90.7 mph, more than two mph below his season average.
The movement was better. Each of Gordon’s five pitches showed more induced vertical movement than its season norm.
He also used a balanced mix. Gordon threw 20 changeups, 19 sinkers, 19 sliders, 19 four-seamers and four curveballs. Against right-handed hitters, the four-seamer remained his primary pitch at 36%.
Rafael Devers opened the second inning by lifting a 79.7 mph curveball over the right-field wall for his 19th home run and a 1-0 Giants lead.
Gordon then worked through several threats with help from the defense.
In the third, Luis Arraez singled and Casey Schmitt reached on an infield hit. An Ezequiel Tovar throwing error moved both runners into scoring position, and the Rockies intentionally walked Devers to load the bases.
Gordon recovered to get Willy Adames to fly out to Tyler Freeman in right.
The Giants threatened again in the fourth. Drew Gilbert doubled and Drew Cavanaugh singled, putting runners at the corners with two outs.
Heliot Ramos then lined a 103.6 mph ball toward first, but TJ Rumfield made the catch to end the inning.
Cole Carrigg made the biggest defensive play of Gordon’s final inning.
Arraez opened the fifth with a single before Schmitt drove a fly ball deep to center. Carrigg made the catch, got behind the ball and threw Arraez out at second. The Giants challenged, but the call stood.
Devers followed with a 109 mph single to right, but Gordon retired Adames on a groundout to finish five innings with the game tied.
Robbie Ray allowed one run on four hits across five innings. He walked six, struck out four and threw 100 pitches, 53 for strikes.
Ray was effective despite inconsistent command. He threw first-pitch strikes to 12 of 23 hitters and put only 35% of his pitches in the zone.
Colorado hit eight of its 13 balls in play against Ray at 95 mph or harder, but most of that contact did not lead to runs.
Ray also continued to de-emphasize his four-seam fastball. He threw it only 15% of the time, compared with a 37% season rate. His sinker led the mix at 33%, followed by the knuckle curve and slider at 20% each.
Kyle Karros recorded Colorado’s first hit in the third, extending his on-base streak to 18 games. Jake McCarthy advanced from first to third, but Carrigg struck out to leave runners at the corners.
Hunter Goodman walked to begin the fourth but was caught stealing. Rumfield followed with a 102.7 mph single before Freeman grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Colorado tied the game with two outs in the fifth.
Tovar lined his 17th double of the season to left at 105.1 mph. McCarthy then drove a 2-0 sinker into right field for his 18th double, scoring Tovar.
It was McCarthy’s 52nd RBI and Colorado’s first hit in four chances with runners in scoring position.
Colorado forced Ray from the game in the sixth.
Carrigg, Goodman and Rumfield drew consecutive walks to load the bases with nobody out. San Francisco brought in Dylan Smith.
Smith escaped on 15 pitches.
Freeman popped out on the infield-fly rule, Willi Castro struck out and Mickey Moniak grounded out.
Brennan Bernardino kept the game tied in the bottom half. He walked Bryce Eldridge, then got Jung Hoo Lee to line out before Gilbert grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.
The Rockies missed another opportunity in the seventh. Karros singled with two outs, but Sam Hentges struck out Carrigg to end the inning.
Jimmy Herget retired the first two hitters in the seventh before San Francisco started another rally.
Arraez singled and stole second. Schmitt walked, and a passed ball charged to Goodman moved Arraez to third.
Devers then drove a 91.3 mph sinker through the right side at 106.8 mph, scoring Arraez and giving San Francisco a 2-1 lead.
Antonio Senzatela worked a clean eighth inning, striking out Eldridge before retiring Lee and Gilbert on ground balls.
The Rockies entered Friday ranked third in MLB with an .837 OPS in the ninth inning.
Their late offense showed up again.
Moniak opened the ninth with a single against Caleb Kilian. Troy Johnston pinch-hit for Tovar and drew a walk.
McCarthy then executed an obvious bunt situation perfectly. He pulled the bat back on the first two pitches, then placed a bunt down the third-base line and beat it out for a single.
That loaded the bases with nobody out.
Karros followed with the decisive hit. He fought through a six-pitch at-bat and punched a broken-bat single through the middle, scoring Moniak and Johnston for a 3-2 lead.
San Francisco replaced Kilian with Erik Miller.
Carrigg initially showed bunt, worked the count to 3-1 and then lifted a fly ball to left. McCarthy scored easily, extending the lead to 4-2.
Goodman added a single before Edouard Julien grounded into a forceout and Freeman struck out looking.
Jordan Romano entered for the bottom of the ninth with a two-run lead but could not finish the game.
He walked Cavanaugh before Eric Haase entered as a pinch-runner. Grant McCray grounded into a forceout, then stole second. Romano walked Arraez, putting two runners aboard with one out.
Schmitt then hit a 102.7 mph sinking liner to center. Carrigg charged and made a diving attempt, but replay showed the ball barely touched the ground before rolling into his glove.
The call was overturned, but not without some weirdness. Schmitt was credited with a single, and the runners were placed at third, second and first.
Devers followed with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring McCray and cutting the lead to 4-3.
Romano then walked Adames to reload the bases.
Warren Schaeffer brought in Mejia with two outs.
Mejia threw one pitch. Eldridge grounded to Julien at second, who threw to Johnston at first to end the game.
Colorado finished 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position. San Francisco went 3-for-8.
Each team recorded one two-out RBI. McCarthy drove in Colorado’s run in the fifth, while Devers delivered San Francisco’s go-ahead single in the seventh.
The Rockies stranded 11 runners. The Giants left 12 aboard. Colorado drew seven walks and struck out nine times. San Francisco walked six times and struck out three.
Karros led the Rockies by going 3-for-5 with two RBI. His third hit drove in the winning runs.
McCarthy went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, one RBI and two runs. He tied the game in the fifth and loaded the bases in the ninth with his bunt single.
Rumfield reached in all four plate appearances, going 2-for-2 with two walks. He also made a key defensive play on Ramos’ liner in the fourth.
Carrigg went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts, but he contributed several important defensive plays and drove in Colorado’s final run with a sacrifice fly.
Devers accounted for all three Giants runs. He finished 3-for-3 with a home run, an RBI single, a sacrifice fly, a walk and three RBI.
Senzatela earned the win with a scoreless eighth inning, improving to 9-1 with a 3.00 ERA.
Kilian took the loss after allowing three runs without recording an out in the ninth. He fell to 2-5 with a 4.74 ERA.
Mejia earned his fourth save.
The Rockies and Giants continue their series Saturday afternoon at Oracle Park.
Colorado will send left-hander Kyle Freeland to the mound. Freeland enters at 2-7 with a 7.46 ERA and 70 strikeouts.
San Francisco will counter with right-hander Tyler Mahle, who is 1-8 with a 5.70 ERA and 69 strikeouts.
First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. MDT.
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This. THIS is what a complete Rays win feels like.
Taking advantage of opponent’s mistakes, crisp baserunning and a defensive clinic. That is the brand of Rays baseball that has been both the most successful and entertaining this season.
But before we delve into tonight’s on-field action, for the first time since the 2023 Wild Card Series, Tropicana Field’s upper deck was open to fans, and it was quite the treat.
Once fans were able to put butt to seat, there was a pregame ceremony that celebrated the five Rays All-Stars, complete with them receiving their All-Star jersey; Junior Caminero, Yandy Diaz, Drew Rasmussen, Brian Baker, and Nick Martinez. Martinez, added to the roster after Red Sox pitcher Ranger Suarez landed on the injured list, had plans to visit Walt Disney World with his family before getting the nod that he was Philadelphia bound.
Martinez kept consistent with what he’s done the entire first half, going 5.1 innings allowing two earned runs, and striking out and walking one apiece.
Defensively, tonight’s contest from One Trop Drive started with a spectacular diving play from Richie Palacios on the first play of the game, and a nifty grab by Taylor Walls the play after.
In the bottom of the third inning, the offense clicked.
A Caminero double just past the third base bag and a Chandler Simpson single up the middle later, and it’s 1-0 Rays.
Then Tampa Bay started to flex some muscle. Palacios homered to lead off the fourth inning to bring the score to 2-1 Rays.
In the bottom of the fifth, things got peculiar.
Left fielder Randy Arozarena, returning to Tropicana Field for the first time after being traded to the Mariners in 2024, is nursing a tight hamstring sustained in the series prior against the Marlins.
On a foul ball from Cedric Mullins near the left field line, Arozarena went after it, and pulled up about 20 feet away from the ball, with the ball landing about a body’s length away from his outstretched glove.
From the naked eye, it appeared if he kept running at the same speed during the chase, he would catch the ball for a crucial out in the ballgame.
The very next pitch, a hanging slider, was deposited into the right field seats by Mullins to put the Rays up 3-1, and two batters later, Victor Mesa Jr. decided to get in on the fun, as he left the yard with a solo shot.
In the bottom of the seventh, Tampa Bay went for the dagger.
Jonathan Aranda singled to left, and ‘La Maxima’ did what ‘La Maxima’ does, and that’s have a flare for the dramatic. A two-run shot all but puts the start of Longo Legacy Weekend to bed.
Chandler Simpson continued to swing a hot bat, having had another multi-hit game tonight, and in the seventh had about the most Simpson-esque trip around the bases that he can have.
He singled, advanced to second base on a Mesa Jr. single, advances to third on a disengagement violation for the pitcher stepping off the rubber three times, and scores on a sacrifice fly from Walls.
Kevin Kelly secures the last six outs, and the Tampa Bay Rays win by a score of 7-2.
Let’s start with an image. It’s the only image you need, really:
Within the span of three batters, in a tie game, Michael Harris II hit a ball at over 105 mph, whose combination of velocity and angle yields a hit just about 60 percent of the time, and would’ve been a homer in 26 of MLB’s 30 ballparks. That ball was caught at the wall. Then, pinch-hitter Jimmy Crooks hit a ball over 102 mph, whose combination of velocity and angle yields a hit just about 60 percent of the time, and would’ve been a homer in 24 of MLB’s 30 ballparks. That one was not caught at the wall and ended up being a game-winning homer.
As I’ve been thinking for over a month now, “this is why the Braves built this cushion.” But the existence of the cushion itself doesn’t feel particularly comforting when stuff like this happens. Combine it with the Braves’ steadfast desire to give the guys they consider the “good relievers” as much rest as possible, and, well, we stayed up until about 1:30 am ET for this, guys.
This game was a Chris Sale start, once upon a time. Sale had a poor outing in his last start, and came out firing, striking out five in three frames before the rain cut his night short. There was a little bit of a hiccup with a double and a walk in the third, but Ivan Herrera did nothing of use with a hanging first-pitch slider.
This game was also a Kyle Leahy start, once upon a time. Leahy retired the first eight Braves he faced, gave up a single to Jim Jarvis, and then was bailed out on a snag of a Michael Harris II liner by JJ Wetherholt, who signed a big extension today.
Then, we all sat through a nearly three-hour rain delay as Mother Nature turned Busch Stadium into Busch Lake.
When play resumed, it was kind of a battle of who was less sleepy. Mike Yastrzemski barreled a double with one out in the fifth, and then scored on a hard grounder from Austin Riley back up the middle. That was the only run the Braves ended up scoring… though they could have had more if Wetherholt didn’t snag another liner for the third out of that inning. In the sixth, Drake Baldwin nearly popped a two-run homer, but the ball was just foul.
Victor Mederos threw two shutdown innings after the rain, but Didier Fuentes gave up the lead: a one-out walk, a slow, seeing-eye single on a pitch that was basically in the “waste” area, and then a hard-hit liner the other way by Jordan Walker. Fuentes and the defense escaped the frame with the tie intact, and Tyler Kinley had a leadoff walk erased on a double play in the seventh.
That’s how we got to the eighth, and the image above. Harris didn’t homer, Danny Young came in (not Dylan Lee) and saw Jimmy Crooks deposit a sweeper into the stands, and that was pretty much that.
For an added little pinch of “seriously you already made me stay up past 1 am for this?” Baldwin hit another deep drive off closer Riley O’Brien. That one wasn’t quite a barrel, but it did travel 402 feet, and would’ve been a homer in 12 parks. Just, you know, not Busch Swamp. The game ended shortly thereafter.
The entire NL East lost today, so the division lead remains at three. That’s why they have this cushion, right? Right?
The Dodgers suffered a deflating 9-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium on Friday to start their final series before the All-Star break.
But if there was a silver lining to the Dodgers’ rough performance, it was that superstar Shohei Ohtani looked fine at designated hitter after being scratched from his scheduled start because of irritation in his left knee.
Ohtani, who will not participate in next week’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia, hit a leadoff home run off Diamondbacks starter Eduardo Rodriguez.
“He does a really good job of taking care of himself,” Roberts said of Ohtani. “Obviously, we’ve curtailed the running, and so he’s doing everything he can to help us on the offensive side. And again, it wasn’t great tonight on the run prevention, but it was the right thing for all of us, and so I think we feel good about that going forward.
“But yeah, it’s really impressive what he continues to do offensively.”
Read more:Kiké Hernández on why he'll miss Dodgers' White House visit
The Diamondbacks took advantage of the Dodgers’ bullpen game — and three defensive errors.
Right-hander Kyle Hurt opened and surrendered two runs on three hits through 1⅔ innings.
Arizona’s Ketel Marte and Geraldo Perdomo opened the game with base hits. Corbin Carroll grounded into a forceout at second, moving Marte to third, before Gabriel Moreno singled on a liner to right that scored Marte. Carroll then scored on an errant throw to third from Kyle Tucker that went into the Dodgers’ dugout.
After Ohtani hit his 21st homer of the season, Andy Pages hit a tying 419-foot blast to left-center for his 17th homer.
But that was all the Dodgers (61-34) would score against Rodriguez, who gave up seven hits and struck out five over six innings to improve to 8-3.
“He’s had a heck of a year,” Roberts said of Rodriguez. “I think he’s an All-Star. Last couple years it’s been a grind for him, health, but man, when this guy’s healthy, the ball’s moving all over the place; he’s a big-league pitcher, he misses barrels. And yeah, we caught a couple barrels early, hit a couple homers, but he settled in nicely. And then once he got a lead, he was just really putting it to us.”
Arizona’s bullpen then held the Dodgers to just two hits — both coming in the ninth inning off Drey Jameson.
Will Klein (3-4) took the loss after surrendering one run through 1⅔ innings.
“I just wanted to see how he was because we’ve pushed him a little bit,” Roberts said about pulling Klein. “And I just wanted to make sure, in talking to him man to man, just how he felt going back out there for another inning because we pushed him a little bit. He’s done a nice job.”
After Brock Stewart gave up a two-run home run to Tim Tawa in the fourth, Arizona (47-47) tacked on two more runs in the fifth after the Dodgers’ second error.
Stewart walked Perdomo to start the inning. Then, Carroll grounded into a fielder’s choice in front of the plate and reached first safely, with an errant throw by Rushing allowing Perdomo to reach third. Moreno grounded out to third to drive in Perdomo. A balk by Edgardo Henriquez followed by a wild pitch allowed Carroll to score.
“It has been sloppy two of the last three games,” Roberts said of the errors. “Don’t know the reason for it. Obviously, it never feels good to not convert outs. So yeah, I think that it’s one of those things that we got to get better at.”
Read more:Shohei Ohtani scratched from pitching start, won't travel to All-Star Game
Arizona extended its lead in the sixth after Tawa hit an RBI single to left and Perdomo drove in a run on a groundout to first. Tawa ended his three-hit, four-RBI performance with a run-scoring single in the eighth.
Reliever Alex Vesia threw a scoreless ninth inning for his fifth consecutive scoreless outing to cap a night the Dodgers probably would like to forget.
“It’s not really a wild card; it’s a bullpen game,” Hurt said. “We’re all going to go out there and do our part; we got a job. Tonight, you know, there was a couple walks, some hits. It just wasn’t a good day for us. ... We’ll be better.”
Roberts said the Dodgers might bring up another arm to finish the series.
“We’re going to have that conversation,” he said.
Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The D-backs (47-47) pulled away late, securing a 9-3 victory over the Dodgers (61-34) Friday night at Dodger Stadium. After Arizona’s early advantage was erased by back-to-back home runs from Shohei Ohtani and Andy Pages in the first, Tim Tawa’s fourth-inning home run put the D-backs ahead for good.
Sloppy play and three costly errors proved too much to overcome for the Dodgers offense. The offense only mustered three at-bats with runners in scoring position, going 0-for-3 with six runners stranded.
The D-backs opened up the game with back-to-back 0-2 singles against Kyle Hurt. Gabriel Moreno got the D-backs on the board first with a RBI base hit to right field. A throwing error by Tucker allowed a second run to come in to make it 2-0, Snakes.
Shohei Ohtani was scratched from his final start of the season prior to first pitch due to continued inflammation in his left knee. He remained in the lineup, and his bad knee didn’t prevent him from crushing a leadoff home run to cut Arizona’s lead down to one.
All-Star Andy Pages tied the game at two runs apiece with a huge 419-foot solo blast on a Rodriguez sinker.
Will Klein was the next arm out of the Dodgers bullpen, and he stranded Corbin Carroll at second base in the third to preserve the tie.
The D-backs took back the lead in the fourth, and never looked back, after Tim Tawa took a Brock Stewart four seamer for a ride.
Arizona continued to cash checks written by the Dodgers defense. A botched throw from Dalton Rushing in the fifth was the fifth Dodgers error in the last three games. A scoring groundout increased the D-backs lead to three runs.
A wild pitch by pitcher Edgardo Henriquez brought in a second run for the D-backs in the inning to make it 6-2.
More sloppy play helped the D-backs put the D-backs another two runs ahead in the sixth. They scored twice in each of the fourth through sixth innings. Freeman held on to a grounder hit back to him by Geraldo Perdomo and allowed an eighth run to come in.
Tawa singled in another run for the D-backs in the top of the eighth against Evan Phillips to make it 9-2.
The Dodgers scored a run in the bottom of the ninth on a Miguel Rojas RBI double, but the game was long over.
Home runs: Shohei Ohtani (21), Andy Pages (17); Tim Tawa (2)
WP — Edguardo Rodriguez (8-3): 6 IP, 7 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts (87 pitches)
LP — Will Klein (3-4): 1 2/3 IP, 1 run, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts
Up next
Yoshinobu Yamamoto ( 9-5, 2.49 ERA, 0.88 WHIP) looks to finish up a dominant first half at (6:10 p.m., SportsNet LA). Brandon Pfaadt (2-1, 4.84 ERA, 1.34 WHIP) starts for the D-backs in the second game of the series Saturday night.
Friday night’s game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Atlanta Braves was really two completely different stories. There’s the first third of the game which featured a pitcher’s duel between Kyle Leahy for the Cardinals and Chris Sale for the Braves. The final two-thirds of the game didn’t begin until a 2-hour rain delay was over and it would end with a Cardinals victory.
It was no surprise that the Atlanta Braves Chris Sale had nasty stuff, but what will sadly probably get overlooked by many is that Kyle Leahy for the Cardinals had better results for the 3 innings he was in the game before the rain delay removed both starters. The Cardinals at least managed a scoring threat in the bottom of the 3rd inning when Blaze Jordan hit a ground rule double and JJ Wetherholt walked. Kyle Leahy only allowed one hit which was an infield single to Jim Jarvis with two outs in the top of the 3rd inning.
The second two-thirds of the game started with a 1-2 count on Ozzie Albies in the top of the 4th inning after a two-hour rain delay that included a deluge of water that was spotted pouring into the dugouts.
After the game resumed, George Soriano pitched a scoreless top of the 4th, but wasn’t so fortunate in the top of the 5th when Mike Yastrzemski ripped a one-out double down into the right field corner. Austin Riley followed that with a RBI single to center to give the Braves a 1-0 lead. Justin Bruihl was brought in to get the last 2 outs of the Braves 5th inning and he was successful and took care of Atlanta in the top of the 6th inning also.
The St. Louis Cardinals bats would finally mount a threat in the bottom of the 6th inning against Braves reliever Didier Fuentes when JJ Wetherholt would celebrate his newly-signed 8-year extension by drawing a one-out walk. Iván Herrera, the new All-Star DH, singled to move JJ up to second. Then, Jordan Walker, the Home Run Derby entrant All-Star, ripped a RBI single to right scoring Wetherholt and tying the game at 1-1. Alec Burleson’s foul out stranded Herrera and Walker on base, but at least St. Louis tied the game.
Ryne Stanek was brought into cover the top of the 7th inning. He walked Austin Riley with two outs, but otherwise kept the drama to a minimum as the game remained tied. For the Cardinals bottom half of the 7th inning, Masyn Winn walked, but was back on the bench quickly as José Fermín hit into a double play and then Blaze Jordan popped out.
JoJo Romero was given the top of the 8th inning responsibilities and Nathan Church was brought in as a defensive replacement in centerfield. The highlight of the top of the 8th was Jordan Walker catching Michael Harris II’s deep fly ball at the top of the wall that Jordan caught. The Apple TV announcer said that ball would have been a home run in 26 different ballparks, but Jordan Walker is tall so we win. The Braves were denied again.
In a 1-1 tied game, it just takes 1 swing to decide a winner and Friday night, that swing came from Jimmy Crooks who lifted an 83 mph sweeper from Braves reliever Danny Young 405 into the plants above the center field wall giving St. Louis a 2-1 lead.
The top of the 9th inning would be handed to All-Star Riley O’Brien. He struck out Matt Olson, but we all held our breath when Drake Baldwin flied out to DEEP center. Mauricio Dubón was the Braves final hope and fortunately for St. Louis Cardinals fans was no hope at all as O’Brien fanned him to end a rain-soaked Friday night of baseball.
After a long Friday night with a mega-rain delay, the St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves will play game 2 of their weekend series Saturday night. Matthew Liberatore will get the start for the Cardinals while the Atlanta Braves will send Reynaldo López to the mound. First pitch is scheduled for 6:15pm central time at Busch Stadium. TV broadcast will be handled by Cardinals.tv.
Blue Jay 5 Padres 3
A three-game win streak. A few days ago that would have seemed impossible.
We owe this one to Kazuma Okamoto, who hit a three-run home run in the fifth. In that fifth inning, Myles Straw started it with a bunt single (very nicely done Straw). Jonatan Clase flied out. Then Ernie Clement singled, Vladimir Guerrero singled (well, he rolled a ball out towards third that died in the grass, but an RBI is an RBI). Then Okamoto hit one 377 feet to left center, 107.6 mph. That homer tied Shohei Ohtani’s record for home runs for a Japanese born rookie with 22. He has some time left to break the record.
We scored one in the fourth. Vlad walked to lead off the inning. After a Okamoto strikeout, George Springer singled and Alejandro Kirk doubled. With one out and runners on second and third, we should have scored more than the one run, but Daulton Varsho ground out hard to first and Luis Urias ground out to third (not so hard).
We had nine hits and three walks, so more runs would have been nice. Clement and Straw had two hits each. Varsho and Urias had the 0 fors.
Shane Bieber had a rough start to the game. He gave up an one out walk and a Xander Bogaerts home run. Another walk and single that inning had us worried that it was going to be a long game.
But after that first inning, Bieber was better (not great, but better). He came out of the game after a two-out single in the fourth. Mason Fluharty got the third out of the inning. Bieber finished with six hits, three walks, four strikeouts and two earned in his 4.2 innings.
Chad Dallas, Jeff Hoffman, Tyler Rogers all pitched a scoreless inning. Louis Varland got the first two out and then gave up three straight singles, just to test our blood pressure (and push his ERA above 1). But, with the tying run on base, he got Xander Bogaerts to ground out to third. Okamoto had a busy day on defense too. Save #19 for Varland. Varland threw 26 pitches getting that save.
Jays of the Day: Okamoto (0.24 WPA), Kirk (0.15), and Clement (0.10).
Other Award: Varsho (-0.12) and Urias (0.11).
Tomorrow we have another late start, 8:40 Eastern. Trey Yesavage (4-4, 3.31) vs. Walker Buehler (5-5, 5.07).
Other news: Canadian Tristan Peters hit for the cycle for the White Sox. And he was miced up. Just the second Canadian ever to hit for the cycle.
The highlight dunk was proof that Adou Thiero is just fine. Thiero delivered a breakaway windmill dunk in the second quarter Friday that brought cheers from the fans, a moment in which the second-year Lakers forward displayed his athleticism.
Thiero’s confidence seemed to grow from that point on, his play for the Lakers during their Las Vegas Summer League opener at the Thomas & Mack Center a sign of his development.
He ran the floor and caught a lob for a dunk. He sprinted back on defense and blocked a shot. He finished the third quarter with a last-second shot off the backboard, a basket that gave the Lakers an 86-66 lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Thiero came back in the game in the fourth quarter and threw down another lob dunk.
Thiero completed his night with 20 points during the Lakers’ 96-84 win.
Read more:Lakers' Adou Thiero hoping to learn and lead with Cameron Carr this summer
He played an all-around game, collecting four rebounds, three steals and two blocks with zero turnovers in 30 minutes. He was seven for 12 from the field. He missed all five of his three-pointers, but Thiero finished the game plus-13.
Thiero played after missing the Lakers’ final game at the California Classic in San Francisco because of a right wrist injury.
First-round pick Cameron Carr also played against the Thunder after being limited by a bothersome toenail during the California Classic finale. Carr had another solid game with 18 points on seven-for-13 shooting.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Iowa left-hander Josh Fleming was moved to the development list.
Right-hander Ryan Jensen was promoted to Double-A Knoxville from the ACL Cubs.
The Iowa Cubs cast out the St. Paul Saints (Twins), 7-4.
Jaxon Wiggins was activated off the injured list and made his first appearance in Iowa since early April. He very much struggled with control in the first inning, when he allowed three runs on two hits and two walks. But He settled down after that and finished with three runs on three hits and three walks over 2.2 innings. Wiggins struck out four. His four-seam fastball averaged 96.1 mph and hit 98 mph once.
Zac Leigh relieved Wiggins in the third and got the win after going 1.1 innings with no runs and one hit. He struck out two and walked no one.
Grant Kipp then threw three innings and gave up just one run on one hit and one walk. He also hit one batter. Kipp struck out one.
Eduarniel Nuñez threw the final two innings for the save. Nuñez retired all six batters in order, striking out four of them.
Catcher Christian Bethancourt went 3 for 4 with a double. He drove in two and scored once.
Center fielder Brett Bateman was 2 for 4 with a walk and a stolen base. Bateman had an RBI bunt single in Iowa’s four-run second inning. He also scored on an Owen Miller single in the sixth.
Right fielder Owen Miller was 2 for 5 with the RBI and a run scored.
Bethancourt’s RBI double.
Bateman beats out a squeeze bunt for an RBI single.
Wiggins with a strikeout.
The Knoxville Smokies pried open the Biloxi Shuckers (Brewers), 7-3.
Dawson Netz started and kept the Shuckers to three runs on four hits over five innings. Netz struck out five and walked no one, but he did hit one batter.
Erian Rodriguez had some major control issues, but he didn’t allow a run and ended up with the win. Rodriguez gave up no runs on one hit over 1.1 innings. He struck out just one and walked five—so he had more walks than outs recorded.
Evan Taylor cleaned up Rodriguez’s mess in the seventh and then went on to finish the game and collect the save. Taylor allowed no runs on one hit over 2.2 innings. He struck out three and walked no one.
Catcher Owen Ayers was 3 for 5 with three RBI. He also scored once.
DH Alex Ramírez went 2 for 4 with a walk and a stolen base. He scored two runs.
Left fielder Andy Garriola was 2 for 3 with a double and a walk.
This is one way for Evan Taylor to get out of a jam.
Two-run single for Ayers.
The South Bend Cubs canned the Cedar Rapids Kernels (Twins), 18-8.
Pierce Coppola’s Midwest League debut could have gone better. Coppola gave up six runs on four hits and four walks over three innings. One of those hits was a grand slam in the third inning. Coppola struck out two.
Ethan Flanagan pitched the final four frames of this game and allowed no runs on two hits, earning him the win. Flanagan struck out seven and walked one.
South Bend banged out 15 hits Cedar Rapids and scored seven runs in the third inning and five in the ninth.
Third baseman Matt Halbach went 3 for 6 with a double and a stolen base. He scored three times and had two RBI.
DH Josiah Hartshorn was 2 for 5 with a triple and a walk. Hartshorn drove in two and scored one run.
Catcher Logan Poteet doubled twice in a 2 for 5 night. He had three RBI and two runs scored.
Left fielder Jose Escobar was 2 for 5 with a double, a walk and a stolen base. Escobar scored two runs and batted in one.
Shortstop Angel Cepeda went 2 for 5 with a walk. He scored one run and had two RBI.
Finally, right fielder Miguel Useche was 2 for 4 with a walk. He scored three times and drove in one.
Highlights from the seven-run third, including Hartshorn’s triple.
RBI doubles in the seventh for Poteet and second baseman Christian Olivo, who was 1 for 5.
The Myrtle Beach Pelicans had their habitat re-zoned for oil drilling by the Fredericksburg Nationals, 9-7.
Starter Braylon Myers allowed four runs on four hits over four innings. Myers walked four and struck out three.
Hayden Frank tossed the next three innings, allowed three runs on five hits, and took the loss. One of Frank’s three runs was unearned. Frank struck out two and walked no one.
Third baseman Ludwing Espinoza hit his first Pelicans home run with a man on in the third inning. Espinoza was 1 for 5.
Shortstop Derniche Valdez was 2 for 5 with a double and two runs scored.
First baseman Edward Vargas was 2 for 3 with a double and a walk. He had an RBI single in the fourth inning and also scored once.
Losing to the Diamondbacks, 13-4 in the eighth.
The Yankees came to Washington, DC after a series split with the Rays to match wits with a young and hungry Nationals team. The Nats are young, exude talent, and score tons of runs. They also give up lots of runs, particularly in the late innings. The Bombers saw both sides of the DC dichotomy tonight, watching a pair of talented hitters tear their hard-earned 2-1 lead to ribbons in just two pitches. But in the ninth, a pair of thunderous blasts from Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Austin Wells flipped the script a second time, and brought the Bombers to victory, 5-3.
After a two-hour rain delay pushed first pitch to just after 8:45pm ET, the Yankees began their offensive effort from the man who propelled them to the aforementioned Trop split: All-Star and soon-to-be Home Run Derby participant Ben Rice. Rice cracked a fastball from opener Carson Palmquist just past the leap of left fielder Dylan Crews and into the Yankee bullpen to give New York an early advantage. If Benny Barrels grabs one more dinger in this series, he’ll have 30 homers before the All-Star Break. What a season he is putting together.
The Yankees got two more runners aboard in the first, including on a single from Paul Goldschmidt that ended his 0-f0r-34 slide, but Palmquist worked around the jam to hold New York to the lone run.
Because this is a Ryan Weathers start, silliness was immediately afoot. In the second inning, two misplays in the infield forced him to essentially get five outs — a task he managed to accomplish without allowing a run, much to his credit.
One of those misplays came from Amed Rosario, who is burning up the goodwill he accrued early in the year. You just can’t be the lefty specialist who gets called upon to hit leadoff against the lefty opener with a 7 ERA and then go 0-for-2 with two strikeouts against him. To then boot a ball and make your pitcher’s job tougher is just a really tough look.
Weathers escaped that bind, but ran into further issues in the third thanks to the All-Star James Wood. Wood slammed a changeup 112 mph for a double, advanced to third on a base hit, then scored on a double play—another well-executed pitch by Weathers spurred the twin killing and subdued Washington’s rally. The Bombers jumped back ahead the following half-inning, making the deed all the more impactful.
Palmquist did his job and more, taking care of the first three innings for manager Blake Butera—then ceded to the veteran righty Zack Littell. Catcher Keibert Ruiz did Littell a solid by throwing out Cody Bellinger on a steal attempt. That meant that Jasson Domínguez’s ensuing home run was just a solo shot, but hey! A power display from the Martian is always welcome! His fifth home run of the year sailed 408 feet to right center field, over one of the deepest parts of Nationals Park.
Much to our chagrin, it was once again Amed Rosario time in the bottom of the fourth. An entirely routine ground ball to third base turned into a triple thanks to a complete lawn dart uncorked by Rosario—which eluded Paul Goldschmidt and skipped into a gulf of foul territory along the right field wall. Mercifully, Andrés Chaparro was subsequently erased in a rundown between third and home; and Weathers struck out Luis Garcia Jr. to retire the side. Once again, give Weathers credit for playing with the poor hands he was repeatedly dealt. But seriously, these kinds of mistakes from Rosario cannot continue to happen. (Ryan McMahon unsurprisingly took over afterward.)
Weathers beautifully worked a peaceful fifth inning, retiring the side in order and finishing with a strikeout of Curtis Mead. It sure would be nice if he could receive some more substantial run support than just the two solo shots the Bombers could muster. It probably wouldn’t have prevented Aaron Boone from making the call to Fernando Cruz when Weathers allowed two hits to put runners on the corners in the sixth.
For once though, Ryan caught a break when C.J. Abrams slipped rounding third and failed to score the tying run. Cruz cashed in that favor by striking out Daylen Lile and familiar face Jorbit Vivas to once again send a frustrated Washington offense packing. Weathers deservedly remained in line for the win thanks to Fernando’s continued success in leverage spots; as Michael Kay noted, he has stranded 30 of 35 inherited runners this year, the most in MLB.
But baseball does not like its starting pitchers, dear reader. The Yankees’ lead turned into a deficit in a matter of two pitches in the home seventh. A moment after the YES broadcast flashed a chyron showing the dramatic gulf in ERA between the Yankees’ and Nationals’ bullpen, Keibert Ruiz took Tim Hill deep with a drive down the left field line, just inside the foul-pole for a game-tying home run.
Then Wood seized upon Hill’s very next pitch, thrashing it on a line to the right-center stands for his 26th round-tripper and a 3-2 Washington lead. The second-best lineup against southpaws in the league finally showed up after the seventh-inning stretch.
The whole sequence reminded of that one Yankees-Twins game from 2021 in which Aroldis Chapman gave up a pair of homers to turn a win into a loss in record time—but at the very least the Yanks had multiple opportunities to get back in the game tonight.
The eighth inning was a dud, though. Ben Rice hit a sharp ground ball to first with a runner on, but Garcia made a nice stab to turn it into a double play. Butera brought in former Yankee prospect Clayton Beeter after an infield hit from Trent Grisham, and Beeter successfully struck out Goldschmidt to get the rickety Nats bullpen three outs away from victory.
Another pitcher who debuted with the Yankees was tabbed to pitch the ninth: lefty Matt Krook. Few people, including the sickos who read this site, likely remember Krook’s MLB debut, in which he let up five runs in under two innings as part of a blowout loss to the Red Sox in 2023. They’re more likely to remember the big swing he surrendered tonight. Domínguez lit the fire, putting the tying run aboard with a single and passing the baton to Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Jazz took a first pitch sweeper low, then watched a sinker pass by for strike one. Krook then returned to the breaking ball on 1-1, and Chisholm uncoiled, ripping it to the second deck in right field. Turnabout is fair play—the Yankees were back on top.
But New York wasn’t done. Austin Wells, who notably ended his homer drought yesterday in St. Petersburg, turned it into a streak by clobbering a ball from Justin Lawrence into the night for a critical insurance run.
Three David Bednar outs and multiple Blake Butera thousand-yard stares later, the Yamkees were 5-3 winners just a shade before midnight. What a win for the Bombers. As I said in the game thread earlier tonight, the Nats are pure entertainment value; sometimes to their benefit, but often to their detriment as well.
Tomorrow’s contest is a mid-afternoon affair in the nation’s capital. Cam Schlittler will take the mound following an eight-inning masterpiece at the Trop, facing veteran Miles Mikolas. First pitch is due at 4:05pm ET on YES.
The Yankees had a late lead and the bullpen coughed it up, but Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s go-ahead homer in the ninth pushed New York to a 5-3 win over the Nationals on Friday night in Washington, D.C.
Both the Yankees and Nationals entered Friday as the top two teams in home runs in all of MLB. And after the start of the series opener was delayed by approximately two hours due to a storm, both teams brought the thunder.
Two early Yankees jacks were undone when Tim Hill served up back-to-back homers to Keibert Ruiz and James Wood to give the Nats the lead. But that's when Chisholm came to the rescue, launching a two-run shot off of southpaw Matt Krook to give New York the lead they wouldn't relinquish.
-Ben Rice got the Yankees scoring started early with his 29th home run of the season to give New York a 1-0 lead in the first. The blast was his seventh in his last 10 games and is now one behind Yordan Alvarez -- who homered Friday as well -- for the AL lead.
With the game tied in the fourth, Jasson Dominguez went deep to give the Yankees back the lead.
-On the mound, Ryan Weathers was very effective for much of the game. The southpaw allowed one run through the first five innings, but pitched into trouble in the sixth. After a one-out double by CJ Abrams, Jacob Young singled, but the Nationals shortstop slipped on third and had to retreat when he was destined to tie the game.
That knocked Weathers out of the game as Fernando Cruz was called on to get out of the jam. Cruz struck out a pinch-hitting Daylen Lile and Jorbit Vivas -- also pinch-hitting -- to strike out swinging to put a bow on Weathers' night.
Weathers allowed one run on six hits while striking out six batters.
-After the Nationals took the lead, the Yankees had a chance to tie in the eighth. After Trent Grisham's infield single with two outs, he reached second on a wild pitch while Paul Goldschmidt was at the plate. The veteran right-hander struck out to end the threat.
Overall, the Yankees were 0-for-6 with RISP and left eight on base.
-David Bednar allowed just one baserunner (a hit batter), but was otherwise perfect, getting the final six outs.
-Amed Rosario had a tough time in the field on Friday. Starting at third base, Rosario made two errors, one throwing and one of the fielding variety. While it didn't cost the Yankees any runs, it costWeatherspitches that he could have used to go deeper into this game.
Manager Aaron Boone pinch-hit for Rosario with Ryan McMahon in the fifth. Rosario finished 0-for-2 with two strikeouts.
-Goldschmidt singled in the first, snapping his career-worst 0-for-34 hitless streak. He finished 2-for-5.
The go-ahead blast turned around what would have been a tough loss.
Ben Rice goes the other way for his 29th home run! pic.twitter.com/FE9oeWpXK6
— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 11, 2026
Crushed by Jasson Domínguez! pic.twitter.com/eX6OwNoKSe
— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 11, 2026
WE GOT THE JAZZ.
— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 11, 2026
JAZZ CHISHOLM JR. HOMERS IN THE 9TH INNING AND THE YANKEES LEAD! pic.twitter.com/igfBG0JJm3
ALL TOO WELLS.
— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 11, 2026
Austin Wells homers again! pic.twitter.com/NR4bXvqmmt
The Yankees play against Washington again tomorrow, with first pitch on Saturday set for 4:05 p.m.
The expected pitching matchup is Yankees RHP Cam Schlitter (9-5, 2.01 ERA) for New York and RHP Miles Mikolas (3-7, 5.78 ERA) for the Nationals.