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Mets' comeback falls short in Sunday's 3-2 loss at Royals

The first half of the Mets' 2025 season is in the books. New York lost Sunday's finale at the Kansas City Royals, 3-2, after a ninth-inning comeback fell short and the home team walked it off. The Mets enter the 2025 MLB All-Star break with a series win, however, after Friday's 8-3 comeback and Saturday's 3-1 triumph.

Takeaways

  1. At 55-42, the Mets have won seven of their past 11 games. As of this article's publishing, they are tied alongside the Philadelphia Phillies, who entered Sunday afternoon's game at the San Diego Padres with a 54-41 record. (Note: Philly has since beaten San Diego, 2-1, and taken a half-game lead in the NL East.) Despite the loss to the Royals (47-50), New York has won three of its past four series. Ultimately, it has a chance to keep the ball rolling Friday when the second half starts with a three-game set at the Cincinnati Reds.
  2. Clay Holmes gave the Mets a chance but got no support. Holmes (8-4, 3.31 ERA) was the tough-luck no-decision pitcher after the right-hander allowed two runs on five hits while striking out two and walking one in five innings. He threw 50 strikes on 81 pitches. His only scoring came via John Rave's RBI double down the right-field line with runners on second and third. It was a groundball that just stayed fair before trickling into the corner.
  3. Overall,Sean Manaea showed some serious signs of life in his season debut. He relieved Holmes for the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings, striking out seven and scattering five hits in 3.1 IP. Manaea threw 44 strikes on 65 pitches -- the highlight was him striking out the side in the seventh. Unfortunately for Manaea, the ninth saw him allow back-to-back one-out singles -- capped by Nick Loftin's game-winning knock that drove home Tyler Tolbert. The Mets, though, need Manaea to be a key cog in the rotation for the stretch run. The bottom line is that he provided real promise throughout his first outing back from injury.
  4. Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricio and Tyrone Taylor notched multi-hit games with two knocks apiece. Among them, Mauricio's leadoff double in the ninth inning set the table for a Jeff McNeil triple that broke the Mets' scoring drought before Jared Young's one-out sacrifice fly to center field brought McNeil home and tied the game in the bottom half of the inning. Mauricio is slashing .237/.311/.409 with four home runs and six RBI in 29 games since his June 3 promotion from Triple-A Syracuse.

Who's the MVP?

Loftin, who got the best of Manaea in the game's biggest spot.

Highlights

What's next

After Tuesday's All-Star Game, the second half of the Mets' season starts Friday at 7:10 p.m. on SNY with New York's three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field.

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Francisco Alvarez homers, doubles twice at Triple-A, putting himself 'in a position' to rejoin Mets

Another day, another home run for Francisco Alvarez.

The Mets' young catcher continued to hit the ball hard at Triple-A Syracuse on Sunday with three extra-base hits as he makes the case to rejoin the big league club after the All-Star Break.

Alvarez socked a home run for the third straight game, giving him six for the month of July, after he smacked two on Saturday afternoon.

In Alvarez's first at-bat on the afternoon with two down in the bottom of the first, he got a 2-2 curveball over the middle of the plate from Andrew Painter (the Phillies' No. 1 prospect and No. 9 in baseball per MLB Pipeline) and smacked it – 108.2 mph off the bat – into the left-center gap for a double.

With a runner on first and nobody out in the fourth, Alvarez was again in a 2-2 count against Paitner. This time, the 22-year-old right-hander went with a fastball, but the 98 mph offering at the top of the zone was clobbered for a 402-foot homer to center (109.6 mph).

In his final time up in a driving rain, Alvarez worked a count full against righty Devin Sweet and got a 77 mph changeup over the plate and roped it 100.6 mph for a double to left.

He came around to score on Joey Meneses' double to right before the umpires halted play. The game would end there with Alvarez going 3-for-3 with eight total bases, two RBI, and two runs scored.

In the 16 games since he was sent down in late June, the 23-year-old has 16 hits in 57 at-bats (.281) with three doubles, eight home runs, 18 RBI for a 1.114 OPS.

Speaking before the Mets took on the Royals in Kansas City, manager Carlos Mendoza said he's been getting good reports on the young catcher, praising his work ethic and how positive he has been since arriving in Syracuse.

"Willingness to listen to the feedback in some of the things, where it is defensively or offensively," Mendoza said, adding that he's speaking with the Triple-A manager Dick Scott and the minor league coordinators, "and everything has been phenomenal."

"He's doing everything we're asking him to do," the skipper continued. "He continues to put himself in a position like, 'hey, I'm here.'"

Mendoza, who said he's been watching all of Alvarez's at-bats, said the Mets "want him to do damage."

"Be ready for the fastball, make some good swing decisions, and when he's getting pitches to hit, not missing them. And that's what we're seeing," he said. "We're seeing him pull the ball, we're seeing him go the other way, we're seeing him go dead center. And that's a sign of a good hitter when he's feeling and going well.

"It's not necessary that you have to pull the ball or you have to go the other way. No, you hit the ball where it's pitched."

Mendoza said that when Alvarez is at his best he's capable of doing all that. "Watching the films, he's driving the ball to all fields," he added.

On the defensive side of things, the manager said there has been "a lot of improvement, as well."

"The receiving, the blocking, we know the throwing has been there," he said. "Again, a lot of good things happening from Alvy."

When asked if Alvarez could be back right after the break, when the Mets open up a three-game set with the Cincinnati Reds on Friday at Citi Field, Mendoza said he would have to talk with president of baseball operations David Stearns.

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Sanchez pitches a gem to send Phillies to All-Star break on top of NL East

Sanchez pitches a gem to send Phillies to All-Star break on top of NL East originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

SAN DIEGO — Phillies pitcher Christopher Sanchez going out and pitching a gem against the San Diego Padres was about as surprising as the weather being 72 and sunny at Petco Park to begin the game. Both are so expected and neither failed in producing as Sanchez kept his magical season rolling with 7.1 strong innings of work in a 2-1, series finale win for the Phillies.

Sanchez has now allowed just 14 earned runs over his past 10 starts, amounting to 65.2 innings for a 1.92 ERA during that time. He finishes the pre All-Star break at 8-2 with a 2.50 ERA.

While Major League Baseball disrespected Sanchez with an All-Star snub, the Padres showed the lefthander the ultimate respect in the first inning when after Fernando Tatis Jr. led off with a single to right, they had Luis Arraez bunt Tatis Jr. over to second. That’s saying something, as Arraez is a lifetime .318 hitter. Sanchez did struggle through the inning with a pair of walks but got out of the jam by striking out Jose Iglesias with a nasty changeup on his 19th pitch of the frame.  

“All the experience that we’ve gotten and how we’re working out and the preparation we do before games I think is what’s put us in this spot,” said Sanchez. “We’ve been able to perform better in those spots, too. Staying healthy, having those numbers and most important is helping the team win. That’s the most important thing right now.”

A microcosm of the game came about in the eighth inning with the score tied, 1-1. The Phillies sent up their two, three and four hitters (Trea Turner, Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos) against Padres’ left handed reliever, and All-Star, Adrian Morejon. The Padres sent their same part of the lineup against the Phils in the bottom of the inning.

After Turner lined out to center, Harper doubled down the leftfield line. David Morgan replaced Morejon and Castellanos struck out on a 3-2 pitch way out of the strike zone. J.T. Realmuto then laced a double to left-center to knock in Harper and take a 2-1 lead.

Sanchez returned in the eighth to face Luis Arraez, whom he got on a liner to first to end his day. Orion Kerkering then came in and allowed a single to Manny Machado, threw a wild pitch to allow him to second before walking Xander Bogaerts. Kerkering recovered nicely by getting both Jackson Merrill and Jose Iglesias to fly out to center.

It was a very small battle among many of late for the Phillies, who struggled mightily in times just like that one, particularly on this six-game road trip. But the Phillies won it and it helped them finish the road trip with their second win in six games, putting them a half-game ahead of the Mets in the East.

“In the last at-bats for both those guys (Machado and Bogaerts) it looked like they were seeing him pretty good,” said Thomson of removing Sanchez after 86 pitches. “I just decided to go to Kerk.

“I’m just so proud of (Sanchez) from where he started and where he’s at right now. Not just stuff, but command, poise and composure. He gets through the first inning there. When we first had him he’s not getting through that first inning, it might affect the rest of his innings. Now he’s learned to slow the game down, able to handle adversity, keep grinding and keep pitching.”

Catcher J.T. Realmuto played a huge part in the team climbing to 55-41 on the season. In the bottom of the seventh he threw an absolute dart to Trea Turner to get Tatis Jr. on a steal attempt to end the inning. Then in the eighth, his double scored Harper from second for the game-winning run. Realmuto finished the day 2-for-4 and is now 11 for his last 25 at the plate.

“I thought I had a chance at him,” Realmuto downplayed his throw. “I knew it would take a quick throw.”

It did and it was. As for his turnaround at the plate, it’s not all that complicated.

“Just trying to get good pitches and put the barrel on the ball,” he said. “Simplify my approach and just do less really. That’s what it comes down to.”

As the music blared in the clubhouse and families waited outside of it so that this mini vacation can begin for them, Thomson had just one rule for his club. “I just think everybody needs a break right now,” he said. “I just think we’ve been grinding. There haven’t been many games where you felt really comfortable. Everything’s been a close game, whether we’re down, we’re up. I think everybody just needs a little break. The only thing I tell them is to move around a little bit. Pitchers play catch, some of the guys I know are going to do bullpens. Just move around a little bit. Just don’t lay around for four days and get stiff.”

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Red Sox select Oklahoma pitcher with No. 15 pick in MLB Draft

Red Sox select Oklahoma pitcher with No. 15 pick in MLB Draft originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Red Sox added a promising pitching prospect to their pipeline with their first-round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft.

With the 15th overall pick, the Red Sox selected Oklahoma right-hander Kyson Witherspoon.

“Kyson is a guy we valued highly entering the draft, and we believe he is one of the top college arms in the class,” Red Sox director of amateur scouting Devin Pearson said in a statement. “We think he fits in nicely with our development strengths and has the right makeup to pitch at Fenway park. We couldn’t be more excited to welcome him to Red Sox Nation.”

Witherspoon, 20, was ranked seventh on Baseball America’s draft board and 10th on MLB Pipeline’s board. The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder reaches 99 mph with his fastball and also boasts three above-average secondary pitches: a slider, cutter, and curveball:

Last season for the Sooners, Witherspoon posted a 10-4 record with a 2.65 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 124 strikeouts, and 23 walks in 16 starts (95 innings). He is the first pitcher selected by the Red Sox in the first round since Tanner Houck (2017).

Boston selected another college pitcher, Tennessee righty Marcus Phillips, with its No. 33 pick. The club has two more picks on Day 1 of the draft: Nos. 75 and 87.

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Yankees muster two hits in 4-1 loss to Cubs

The Yankees dropped their final game before the All-Star break, losing to the Chicago Cubs by a score of 4-1 on Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

Here are the takeaways...

-There wasn't a lot to like out of New York's offense on Sunday as it got just two hits from the lineup. One of those hits was a home run by Giancarlo Stanton which tied the game at 1-1 in the second, but after that the Yankees were completely shut down by Shota Imanaga who went seven innings.

The only other hit on the day by the Bombers came from Austin Wells who singled to lead off the sixth. He was quickly erased on a double play by Paul Goldschmidt.

-Chicago took a 1-0 lead in the first inning against Will Warren on a Michael Busch leadoff home run. The Cubs kept the pressure on Warren and got the next two batters on, but the right-hander got Pete Crow-Armstrong to flyout before Carson Kelly ended the inning with a double play.

Warren had to deal with more traffic in the second and fourth, but managed to get out of each inning unscathed. He went back out for the sixth and Kelly got even with a leadoff double. After a groundout to advance the runner to third, Warren's day was done.

His final line: 5.1 innings, six hits, three walks, two earned runs, one strikeout on 88 pitches (52 strikes).

-Replacing Warren was Ian Hamilton who immediately surrendered a two-run shot to Dansby Swanson that broke the tie and gave Chicago a 3-1 lead.

-The Cubs scored again in the seventh, this time off Tim Hill after Seiya Suzuki doubled and Crow-Armstrong singled him home. They had 10 hits.

Game MVP: Shota Imanaga

After allowing a game-tying home run in the second, Imanaga found his groove and took apart New York's lineup over seven innings.

Highlights

What's next

After the All-Star break, the Yankees begin the second half of their season on Friday night when they take on the Atlanta Braves at 7:15 p.m.

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Mets' Carlos Mendoza updates statuses of José Butto, Max Kranick

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza updated the statuses of right-handed pitchers José Butto and Max Kranick before Sunday's game at the Kansas City Royals.

New York placed Butto (illness) on the 15-day injured list July 4, retroactive to July 1. He goes to Port St. Lucie, Fla., and pitches Tuesday, Mendoza explained.

"He is going to Port St. Lucie," Mendoza said. "I think he's going to pitch in a game on Tuesday. And then we'll see where we're at, how he recovers after that outing, and see if he's available on Friday or if he needs another one or two. But the good thing is that he's going to be pitching in games on Tuesday."

After Tuesday's MLB All-Star Game in Atlanta, the second half of the Mets' 2025 season starts Friday at 7:10 p.m. on SNY with a three-game road series against the Cincinnati Reds.

Butto, 27, has allowed 14 runs (12 earned) on 35 hits (two home runs) while striking out 39 and walking 20 in 43.2 IP this season.

The 27-year-old Kranick, meanwhile, has been on the 15-day injured list since June 19 (retroactive to June 16) with a strained right elbow. Tommy John surgery "could be" a possibility, Mendoza added.

"Nothing yet," Mendoza said of Kranick. "He went and saw Dr. (Keith) Meister on Thursday, so he's still looking, waiting for opinions from the doctors to see what's the next step here."

Kranick has allowed 15 runs on 34 hits (five home runs) while striking out 25 and walking five in 37 IP this season.

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Nationals take SS Eli Willits, son of ex-MLBer Reggie, with No. 1 pick in draft

Nationals take SS Eli Willits, son of ex-MLBer Reggie, with No. 1 pick in draft originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Washington Nationals selected Oklahoma high school shortstop Eli Willits on Sunday night with the No. 1 pick in Major League Baseball’s amateur draft in a selection seen by some as a surprise.

The 17-year-old Willits is the youngest player ever taken No. 1 overall. He’s the son of ex-big leaguer Reggie Willits, who played six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels and also coached with the New York Yankees.

Willits, from Fort Cobb-Broxton High School, is a switch-hitter who is expected to develop a power swing.

“I feel like I have good hitability and I’m going to take that to the next level,” Willits said when asked about his strengths. “And I feel like my power is up and coming, but I needed to get into an organization like the Nationals that can help develop that and take that to the next level.

The draft came one week after the Nationals fired longtime general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez. The timing of the moves added more uncertainty to a draft that might be one of the most unpredictable in recent years, including the choice of the No. 1 pick.

The Los Angeles Angels added another surprise with the No. 2 pick by selecting UC-Santa Barbara right-hander Tyler Bremner. Seattle followed by taking LSU lefty Kade Anderson.

The Colorado Rockies picked shortstop Ethan Holliday at No. 4, landing the son of longtime Rockies star Matt Holliday. Ethan, from Stillwater, Oklahoma, was a candidate to go first overall, just like brother Jackson Holliday with did with Baltimore in 2022. They would have been the first brothers to be drafted with the first overall pick.

Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred was greeted with boos by fans at the draft held at the Roxy Theater at The Battery, adjacent to the Braves’ Truist Park two days before MLB’s All-Star Game. Manfred noted the Braves chose eventual Hall of Famer Chipper Jones with the No. 1 overall pick and said this draft is “a chance for a team to make a franchise-altering selection like the Braves made in 1990.”

The first three rounds were scheduled for Sunday night, with the remainder of the draft to follow on Monday.

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Nationals take SS Eli Willits, son of ex-MLBer Reggie, with No. 1 pick in draft

Nationals take SS Eli Willits, son of ex-MLBer Reggie, with No. 1 pick in draft originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Washington Nationals selected Oklahoma high school shortstop Eli Willits on Sunday night with the No. 1 pick in Major League Baseball’s amateur draft in a selection seen by some as a surprise.

The 17-year-old Willits is the youngest player ever taken No. 1 overall. He’s the son of ex-big leaguer Reggie Willits, who played six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels and also coached with the New York Yankees.

Willits, from Fort Cobb-Broxton High School, is a switch-hitter who is expected to develop a power swing.

“I feel like I have good hitability and I’m going to take that to the next level,” Willits said when asked about his strengths. “And I feel like my power is up and coming, but I needed to get into an organization like the Nationals that can help develop that and take that to the next level.

The draft came one week after the Nationals fired longtime general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez. The timing of the moves added more uncertainty to a draft that might be one of the most unpredictable in recent years, including the choice of the No. 1 pick.

The Los Angeles Angels added another surprise with the No. 2 pick by selecting UC-Santa Barbara right-hander Tyler Bremner. Seattle followed by taking LSU lefty Kade Anderson.

The Colorado Rockies picked shortstop Ethan Holliday at No. 4, landing the son of longtime Rockies star Matt Holliday. Ethan, from Stillwater, Oklahoma, was a candidate to go first overall, just like brother Jackson Holliday with did with Baltimore in 2022. They would have been the first brothers to be drafted with the first overall pick.

Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred was greeted with boos by fans at the draft held at the Roxy Theater at The Battery, adjacent to the Braves’ Truist Park two days before MLB’s All-Star Game. Manfred noted the Braves chose eventual Hall of Famer Chipper Jones with the No. 1 overall pick and said this draft is “a chance for a team to make a franchise-altering selection like the Braves made in 1990.”

The first three rounds were scheduled for Sunday night, with the remainder of the draft to follow on Monday.

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Yankees' Luis Gil impressive in first rehab start, strikes out six in 3.1 innings for Double-A

Yankees starter Luis Gil made his first rehab start on Sunday with Double-A Somerset and had an impressive outing.

The right-hander went 3.1 innings and allowed a run on two hits and a walk while striking out six. He threw 50 pitches (36 strikes) which was his pitch-count.

It was the first time Gil was back on the mound after suffering a right lat strain in spring training which landed him on the 60-day IL to begin the season.

Before New York's rubber game against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, manager Aaron Boone told reporters that the organization definitely wants Gil to have at least a few rehab starts before he returns to the majors, although a final number of pitches thrown for his next start is not yet set.

"It'll probably be a more conservative build," Boone said about Gil.

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Giants' quiet offensive day vs. Dodgers perfectly sums up first-half struggles

Giants' quiet offensive day vs. Dodgers perfectly sums up first-half struggles originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — Bob Melvin is generally quick to answer questions, but when he was asked Sunday afternoon to sum up the first half, he paused for four seconds and took a deep breath.

“We’d like to have a few more wins,” Melvin said. “But we put ourselves in a position to have a good second half and get to the postseason.”

If the 2025 MLB postseason started Monday, the Giants would be watching from home. They went 52-45 in the first half, which is better than most expected, but still has them third in the NL West, a half-game behind the San Diego Padres and six behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants are currently half a game out of the final NL Wild Card spot. 

Of those 52 wins, there have been some stunners. On this homestand, Patrick Bailey hit a walk-off inside-the-park homer, the ninth walk-off at Oracle Park this season. When Luis Matos shocked the Dodgers with a two-run blast in the ninth Sunday, the Giants were poised for a 10th. 

But the Matos blast was San Francisco’s only notable offensive moment in a 5-2 loss on Sunday that fit in with much of the first half, and especially June and July. The Giants rank 24th in the league in OPS and 21st in runs. Even with Rafael Devers in the fold, this is a lineup that was a disappointment in the first half and didn’t adequately back one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. 

On Sunday, All-Star Robbie Ray allowed two runs over six innings to give the Giants a chance for a series win, but they managed just three hits through eight. After Matos took Tanner Scott deep, they failed to score the automatic runner from second in the 10th and 11th innings. 

There was some bad luck involved — James Outman chased down Devers’ liner to the track in the 10th — but the day was also filled with unproductive at-bats against Yoshinobu Yamamoto and a mediocre Dodgers bullpen. Before the Devers at-bat, Patrick Bailey failed to get a bunt down and then flew out softly to center. Afterward, Willy Adames grounded out to third. 

Adames has been the team’s most dangerous hitter over the past month, but he finished the first half with a .680 OPS. The only Giant who heads into the break with an OPS above .800 is Devers, who did most of that lifting in Boston. He was at .905 before the trade but is at .656 in orange and black.

Matt Chapman had a solid first half and is on pace for a four-win season. Heliot Ramos has slumped in recent weeks, but he should generally be happy, too. His 117 wRC+ puts him right behind Chapman as the only Giants hitters who have been comfortably above league-average. 

Mike Yastrzemski (.723 OPS), Jung Hoo Lee (.720) and Wilmer Flores (.696) all had their moments in the first half, but the overall numbers don’t stand out. Bailey’s flyout in extras gave him a .203 average at the break. Opening Day second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald played his way back to Triple-A, and Matos did so poorly against lefties before Sunday’s blast that a planned platoon of him and Yastrzemski was scrapped. 

Melvin looks at all of those names and sees a solid everyday lineup on paper. He mostly stuck with the same group against the Dodgers, but the Giants managed just eight hits over the final two games of the series. Melvin said afterward that he still has plenty of faith. 

“We’re going to be better offensively. I believe that,” he said. “We have some guys that are coming around a little bit, we have some guys that will come around a little bit more. We have some guys in the middle of the lineup that are going to do more damage. I do think our offense is going to be better in the second half.”

The team’s decision-makers see a group that should benefit from the four days off. Devers has been playing through groin and back tightness and Chapman had just one extra-base hit in eight games after rushing back from a hand injury. Others might simply need a couple of days on the lake to clear their heads, but it’s dangerous to just assume that the second half will bring fresh luck. The Giants were remarkably healthy throughout the first half, with Chapman being the only one of the team’s marquee hitters to miss real time. 

That was an area where the Giants benefitted from plenty of good fortune. In extra innings Sunday, there was nothing but bad luck. 

After the near-miss from Devers, the Dodgers took the lead on a pair of bloops and an infield single. There wasn’t much the Giants could complain about, though. For most of three hours at Oracle Park, they did very little to put themselves in position to win the game. It was the kind of day they have gotten used to, even while generally having a good first half. 

“You pick yourself up,” Melvin said. “And you move on.”

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Start of Sunday's Mets-Royals game delayed due to rain

Sunday's series finale between the Mets and Kansas City Royals will begin in a rain delay.

The new start time is 2:50 p.m.

It's the second game of the series to be delayed due to weather after the series opener began after a lengthy rain delay as well.

Clay Holmes is scheduled to start and Sean Manaea is set to make his season debut out of the bullpen in the final game before the All-Star break.

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Bello tosses gem, Rafaela homers again as Sox win 10th straight

Bello tosses gem, Rafaela homers again as Sox win 10th straight originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Red Sox are the hottest team in baseball heading into the MLB All-Star break.

With help from right-hander Brayan Bello, the Red Sox completed a four-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday and extended their win streak to 10. Coming off his first career complete game, Bello gave the Fenway Faithful an encore with just one run allowed over 6.1 innings pitched in Boston’s 4-1 win.

Red Sox fans showed their appreciation for Bello’s recent dominance with a standing ovation as he walked off the mound.

“Like I’ve been saying, we’ve been playing well. And we’re going to go as far as we can if we pitch,” Cora said after the win. “And the kid (Bello), today, that was electric. He’s grown so much in the last three years.”

Bello has looked like a true frontline starter since the calendar flipped to June. Over his last seven outings, the 26-year-old boasts a 2.61 ERA with six quality starts. He enters the break with a career-best 3.14 ERA on the season.

The Red Sox also got a boost Sunday from the scorching Ceddanne Rafaela. The electrifying outfielder, whose walk-off homer secured Boston’s eighth straight win, hit a clutch two-run shot in the sixth inning.

Suddenly, the Red Sox are only 3.5 games back in the American League East standings and in possession of the second wild-card spot. At 53-45, they will enter the All-Star break with as many wins as the New York Yankees.

Veteran closer Aroldis Chapman, who fittingly struck out the side to close out Sunday’s victory, will be the only Red Sox player on the AL All-Star roster for Tuesday’s game. Garrett Crochet and Alex Bregman also received All-Star nods, but neither will suit up for the Midsummer Classic.

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Athletics select left-handed pitcher Jamie Arnold at No. 11 in 2025 MLB Draft

Athletics select left-handed pitcher Jamie Arnold at No. 11 in 2025 MLB Draft originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Athletics selected a pitcher in the first round for the first time since 2016 in the 2025 MLB Draft on Sunday, choosing Florida State left-hander Jamie Arnold at No. 11 overall.

After finding successful position players with 2024 first-round pick Nick Kurtz and 2023 first-rounder Jacob Wilson, the A’s certainly hope they’ve struck gold in Arnold, who completed an excellent sophomore season last spring and finished third among all Division I pitchers in strikeouts.

As a junior this season, Arnold is 8-2 with a 2.98 ERA across 15 starts with 119 strikeouts to 27 walks and a 1.063 WHIP.

Arnold’s MLB.com draft profile describes the 21-year-old as having a “rangy body and a loose, whippy arm,” with a fastball that sits in the 94-95 mph range and an ability to hit 97. His breaking ball forced a 41-percent miss rate in 2024, and he has drawn comparisons to nine-time MLB All-Star Chris Sale.

The last time the A’s drafted a first-round pitcher was in 2016, when they took right-hander Daulton Jefferies at No. 37. They selected left-hander A.J. Puk at No. 6 overall the year before that.

The A’s have one pick remaining in the 2025 draft at No. 48.

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Giants select Tennessee infielder Gavin Kilen with No. 13 pick in 2025 MLB Draft

Giants select Tennessee infielder Gavin Kilen with No. 13 pick in 2025 MLB Draft originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Buster Posey appears to have added an impact bat with his first draft selection as the Giants’ president of baseball operations.

San Francisco selected Tennessee infielder Gavin Kilen with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft on Sunday afternoon.

Kilen shone at the plate last season, hitting .357 with a 1.112 OPS in 53 games for the Tennessee Volunteers.

After being touted as one of the best high-school hitting prospects in the 2022 class, Kilen’s insistence on attending Louisville University led to him falling all the way till the 13th round, where he was selected by the Boston Red Sox. Kilen never signed with Boston and spent the following two seasons with the Cardinals, spending his freshman year at second base before moving to shortstop as a sophomore.

Kilen then transferred to Tennessee for his junior season, helping lead the Volunteers to an impressive 48-17 record before falling to the Arkansas Razorbacks in the Fayetteville Super Regional.

At 5-foot-11, 187 pounds, Killen is known for his exceptional contact hitting skills, boasting a 60 hit grade on the 20-80 scale, per MLB.com.

While the Giants have the left side of their infield solidifed with Matt Chapman and Willy Adames, there isn’t a standout player blocking Kilen’s path toward securing the second-base job with the big-league club somewhere down the line.

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What we learned as game-tying Luis Matos homer wasted in Giants' loss to Dodgers

What we learned as game-tying Luis Matos homer wasted in Giants' loss to Dodgers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — Before Sunday’s game, Giants manager Bob Melvin reminded his hitters that there was still a game to be played before their MLB All-Star break. For eight innings, it looked like the group was ready for a vacation, but Luis Matos changed all of that in the ninth.

Matos came off the bench and stunned the Los Angeles Dodgers with a two-run homer off closer Tanner Scott, tying a game that had been a snoozer for the home crowd all afternoon, but it wasn’t enough.

The Matos jolt was the only notable offensive moment in a 5-2 loss that fit in with a lot of the first half. The Giants pitched as well as anyone, but far too often the bats were silent. They went 52-45 in the first half and will head into the break six games behind the Dodgers. 

After the Matos homer, neither team scored the automatic runner in the 10th, which put Spencer Bivens in a hell of a spot. With a runner on second in the 11th, he came in to face Shohei Ohtani and the top of the Dodger lineup. Before Bivens’ warm-up music had even finished playing, the Giants put up four fingers to intentionally walk Ohtani. 

Bivens got two quick outs, but the Dodgers went back on top on Freddie Freeman’s bloop and added a second run on an infield single. Another bloop made it a three-run lead, and possibly gave Bivens the title of having pitched the unluckiest inning of the 2025 MLB season. 

The Giants had just three hits through eight, but Matt Chapman singled with one out in the ninth and Matos jumped on a hanging slider and crushed a 424 foot homer. Matos had just six hits in 48 at-bats against left-handed pitchers this season as he strolled to the plate.

The first-half finale was a matchup of two of the game’s best starters, and both did their part. Robbie Ray had a quality start, but the Giants got absolutely nothing going against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who gave up a grand slam to Casey Schmitt exactly a month ago at Dodger Stadium. 

Yamamoto allowed just three hits and cruised through seven innings. The only real threat came in the seventh, when Jung Hoo Lee hit a two-out double. Yamamoto got some revenge on Schmitt, freezing him with an inning-ending splitter at the top of the zone, but thanks to his bullpen, he didn’t pick up his ninth win of the year. 

The All-Star

Ray made his second All-Star team but won’t pitch because the Giants moved him up to appear in this series instead of Hayden Birdsong. That proved savvy, even if the lineup gave him absolutely no support.

Ray went six innings for the 13th time in the first half, allowing two runs and striking out six. Two of them came in the fourth, when Freeman doubled to get the Dodgers on the board and put two in scoring position with one out. Ray struck out Teoscar Hernandez and Andy Pages to strand the runners. 

Ray finished the first half ranked fourth in the NL in innings (119), just behind teammate Logan Webb, who leads the league at 125 2/3. He’s sixth in ERA and strikeouts. 

The Other All-Star

With the break coming up, Melvin was able to get aggressive with Randy Rodriguez, who will make his first All-Star appearance on Tuesday but otherwise has four days to mostly rest up after a spectacular first half. 

Rodriguez pitched the eighth with the Giants trailing by a couple of runs, and he easily kept it that way. Michael Conforto and Shohei Ohtani flew out, and Rodriguez capped the inning with a strikeout of Mookie Betts on a nasty slider. He finished the first half with a 0.86 ERA. 

Rodriguez has the lowest ERA among MLB pitchers who have thrown at least 35 innings this season. He’s the first Giants reliever to post an ERA under 1.00 through his first 40 appearances of a season. 

Ryan’s Return

The best long-term development this week might have been the reemergence of Ryan Walker. The former closer got a breather on the last road trip to work on some mechanical fixes, and they appear to have changed the trajectory of his season. Walker hit 99.4 mph in Saturday’s game, easily the hardest pitch of his career, and he touched 97 three times in a dominant inning Sunday. 

Walker struck out a pair and got a grounder to first while pitching the seventh and going back-to-back days. His four hardest pitches of the season have come this weekend.

Walker said he was surprised by the extra juice on Saturday, and the Giants were thrilled. They need another reliable late-innings option, and Walker is again looking like the guy who cut through the National League for six months last year. 

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