Category: Baseball

In the first 15 innings of their series with the San Francisco Giants, the Seattle Mariners had only three hits and hadn’t scored a single run. Then a man dressed as a short-spined raccoon beat four people dressed in salmon costumes during the seventh-inning stretch, and everything fell apart for the Giants in a 4-3 extra-inning loss.

The unexpected raccoon victory inspired the Mariners to a three-run rally in the 7th inning, which started when Logan Webb hit Randy Arozarena with a pitch with one out. It was only the Mariners’ third base runner of the game and their second hit batsman. Webb proceeded to issue his first walk of the game to Josh Naylor, on four pitches, before 22-year-old Cole Young hit a three-run homer to tie the game.

Yes the announcer says “unexplicably” in that clip.

Should the Mariners be allowed to start a second baseman named Cole and a shortstop named Colt? Not if I was the commissioner, but until there’s some common sense in the league office, the home run stands. Webb was pulled one batter later when Luis Arraez committed an error, then Sam Hentges got out of the inning with one pitch when Daniel Susac threw out Luke Raley as he tried to steal second.

Why is there a hunched-over raccoon running during a baseball game? First, you have to understand that the Mariners have a race between four different varieties of salmon during the 7th inning of home games. According to the official Salmon Run page, “four unsuspecting salmon, infused with the caffeinated chemicals of a spilled triple-shot espresso, grew to monstrous size to fulfill their destiny – race for the delight of baseball fans in the Pacific Northwest.”

The biggest salmon is named King, the Sockeye is a grunge salmon who wears flannel and loves Alice In Chains, the Silver salmon is a tech nerd, and Humpy wears an inner tube and usually loses the race.

Then there’s “Jimothy,” a new addition to the race thanks to a video of a young raccoon with an unnaturally short spine went viral this week. The original videographer named the raccoon, and he entered his first Salmon Run Saturday night, much to the dismay of Webb and the Giants.

Things were looking promising before Jimothy showed up. The Giants got home runs from Rafael Devers and Willy Adames in the 6th inning, with Devers’ opposite-field blast confusing everyone on the field, including the umpiring crew, who didn’t realize the ball was pretty clearly a fair ball. Thankfully, some Giants fans in left field began signaling for an official review, and Devers followed suit.

Adames followed two batters later with his own opposite-field shot off Mariners starter Bryan Woo (6 IP, 6H, 3R, 2ER, 7K, 2BB) to make it 3-0. It was Adames second homer in two games and gave the Mariners an upstream battle to catch up.

The Giants offense clocked out after the Adames homer. Their only base runners afterward came on a Heliot Ramos infield single that should have been ruled an error, a free courtesy runner, and an intentional walk to Casey Schmitt so winning pitcher Jose Ferrer (3-1) could strike out Devers in the 10th, his third whiff of the game.

Dylan Smith (0-2) was the hard-luck loser in the 10th inning after a pretty decent performance from the Giants bullpen. Keaton Winn rescued Hentges in the 8th after Seattle got runners on first and third, hitting Arozarena again along the way. Erik Miller struck out two in a perfect 9th.

But with defensive replacement Victor Robles on second, who scored the winning run without getting an official at-bat, Colt Emerson bunted him to third. After a walk to J.P. Crawford, Rodriguez rebounded from an 0-for-4 start with two strikeouts by delivering a deep fly to left field that walked off the Giants.

It was Rodriguez’s first game back from the injured list, but he decided to wait until the most painful moment possible to get his first RBI.

The Giants scored their first run thanks to some sloppy Mariners defense. Drew Gilbert grounded a leadoff single into right field, then Luis Arraez hit one in nearly the same place, only to have Young throw the ball away. Somehow, this was also ruled a hit, and now Arraez’s batting title will have an asterisk.

Bryce Eldridge singled to center on a play where Gilbert was going to be held at third before Raley bobbled the ball, giving the Giants their first run and depriving the rookie of an RBI. They couldn’t capitalize further when Schmitt popped out and Devers swung through a 98 MPH fastball.

The Giants broke their three-game win streak, which ties for their longest of the season. Three games! It’s the first time in franchise history that they’ve played 98 games without putting four wins together in a row, going 0-for-6 in their attempts at extending a three-game win streak. This also means that they will become, at the very least, the first Giants team to go 101 games without a four-game winning streak as well.

The raccoon shook the Giants because they recognized themselves in Jimothy. They’re a desperate, malformed beast of a team, a squad that’s constantly sniffing around in dumpsters, trying to scrounge up a way to save their season. Once, they had Kung Fu Panda. Now, the Giants are simply trash pandas.

The Athletics took on the Washington Nationals in the second game of this three-game interleague series at West Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park. This game was a complete reversal of Friday night’s opener, as the A’s scored early and often en route to a 15–1 victory that had to feel good for a club that had been struggling. Unlike his last start, J.T. Ginn protected an early lead, turning in the best performance by an Athletics starter in quite some time.

A’s Offense On Fire Early

Ginn set the tone for the rest of the game by striking out the side in his first inning of work.

The hosts took the lead in the bottom of the first. Shortstop Jacob Wilson did not waste any time, launching a home run on Nationals’ starter Zack Littell’s first pitch of the game. His fifth long ball of the season and second career leadoff home run, gave the A’s an early 1–0 lead.

Left fielder Tyler Soderstrom singled to left. With one out, right fielder Carlos Cortes doubled to center, scoring Soderstrom from first. Third baseman Joshua Kuroda-Grauer followed by doubling down the right-field line, bringing home the A’s third run of the inning.

Designated hitter Jonah Heim kept the party going by lining an RBI single to center, scoring Kuroda-Grauer from second. Center fielder Lawrence Butler capped off the inning by grounding into an RBI fielder’s choice, beating the relay throw and allowing Donovan Walton to score the A’s fifth run of the frame.

The Nationals failed to take advantage of their first scoring chance in the second inning. Ginn worked out of a two on, two out jam.

The A’s scored another run against Littell in the bottom of that inning. The team loaded the bases with one out before Kuroda-Grauer hustled down the line and beat the relay throw on a potential double play, allowing Wilson to score the A’s sixth run of the game on the RBI fielders-choice. The “Green and Gold” had a chance to score more, however Heim popped out with the bases loaded.

JKG doing it all!

In the fourth inning, Kuroda-Grauer made an incredible diving catch in shallow left field to rob Nationals’ shortstop CJ Abrams of a base hit. That stellar catch, as well as his nice play the next inning, helped Ginn complete six scoreless, hitless innings on just 77 pitches.

Sodey Pop

In the bottom of the sixth, facing Littell, Soderstrom hit his second home run in as many games. His 16th long ball of the season was a two-run, two-out shot to right-center field, increasing the Athletics lead to 8-0.

Ginn Dominant Again

Ginn’s no-hit bid ended with one out in the seventh inning. After allowing Keibert Ruiz to single for the visitors’ first hit of the night, A’s manager Mark Kotsay removed Ginn. He brought in left-handed reliever Hogan Harris, who got the final two outs of that inning.

Ginn gave the A’s the quality start the team needed, allowing just one hit and three walks over 6 1/3 innings. He struck out seven and induced eight groundouts and two fly-outs.

The Floodgates Opened

In the bottom of the seventh. A’s right fielder Carlos Cortes welcomed Nationals’ reliever Max Kranick to the game by crushing his seventh home run of the season, a solo shot to left field.

Walton and Butler walked and then first baseman Jeff McNeil delivered a two-out RBI single, increasing the hosts’ lead to double digits. Wilson made it two consecutive RBI singles, his hit bringing Butler home to put the Athletics up 11-0.

The A’s were not done scoring against the Nationals’ beleaguered bullpen. Facing left-hander Carson Palmquist, Shea Langeliers ripped a bases-clearing double to right field that missed being a grand slam by just inches. Washington’s right fielder James Wood lost that fly ball,which would have ended the inning, but instead allowed three more runs to score.

In the eighth inning, Athletics’ reliever Mark Leiter Jr. escaped a bases-loaded, two-out jam unscathed, keeping the Nationals off the scoreboard.

In the bottom of that inning, Wood robbed Butler of a home run against position player-turned-pitcher Jorbit Vivas. The A’s did manage one run against Vivas, as McNeil lined a two-out RBI single for his third hit of the evening.

Shutout Over

The Nationals finally scored in the ninth. Vivas hit a sacrifice fly against A’s reliever Luis Medina, but that was all Washington could muster as Medina shut the door, securing his team’s blowout victory and setting up a rubber match tomorrow afternoon.

The winner-take-all series finale will feature a matchup between two left-handers. Jacob Lopez will start for the Athletics, looking to capitalize on his second chance in the team’s starting rotation. He will be opposed by Nationals’ southpaw Foster Griffin, who has impressed in his return to the majors after he spent time rediscovering his form in Japan’s professional baseball league.

“There is nothing I can do to make it better. Just wait.” That’s Julio Rodríguez explaining why his concussion was more difficult for him than prior injuries.

Julio’s a player that thrives on being at the center of things, always hustling, always giving the game everything he has. So when Nolan Schanuel’s errant throw hit him in the back of the head on July 2nd, it wasn’t surprising to see him notice the ball ricocheting into the outfield, jump up from his slide into second, and sprint into third to seize the extra base. When it quickly became apparent that he wasn’t OK, it would lead to two weeks of waiting. “That’s the most difficult thing because I’m somebody that if I hit the IL, I know I’m going to do whatever I can to get whatever it is better. But that—. I just wait and be patient until the time comes.”

Tonight was his first game back since being activated off the Injured List, and it was a tough one to walk into. San Francisco’s starter, Logan Webb, has consistently been one of MLB’s best pitchers for half a decade now. And boy did he show it through his first six innings.

The Mariners bats were utterly unable to get anything going against Webb and his sweeper-forward kitchen-sink approach. His first inning would be one of his longest, at all of 13 pitches, sending J.P. Crawford, Julio, and Dominic Canzone down in order. Through four innings, the Mariners had collected just a single hit, a single off the bat of Cole Young. When Julio led off the next inning, he struck out for the second time, this time on three pitches. If he wanted to contribute, he was going to have to wait.

Tonight demanded even more patience out of him because he wasn’t in the field. Trying to ease him back into things, the team had him DH tonight, and might tomorrow as well, depending on how he recovers. “I definitely had to adjust to DHing,” he said, adding that was trying his best to stay engaged with the game. But it can’t have been easy watching the Giants score a run when his replacement in centerfield, Luke Raley, bobbled a ball. All Julio could do was watch. And wait.

That was one of three runs allowed by Bryan Woo, who was otherwise excellent. The other two came off home runs: a squeaker into that tiny pocket between the left field foul pole and the visitors’ bullpen and a more convincing dinger off what Woo thinks was nevertheless a good pitch. Each of those runs feeling a little fluky means that Woo pitched better than his line suggests. His success was no doubt in part because his sinker was working tonight, which has often been the difference between his good outings and bad ones this season. He even collected his 500th career strikeout along the way tonight.

But with the Mariners unable to get anything going against Webb, Woo left the game with the team trailing 3-0. Webb was starting to look like he might pitch a Maddux, but in the seventh, his command suddenly seemed to escape him. He hit Randy Arozarena (Randy’s preferred method of reaching base since he doesn’t have to do anything), then walked Josh Naylor on four pitches. With two on, Cole Young, owner of the Mariners’ only hit, stepped into the box. Young earned his earlier hit, being attacked exclusively on the outer half, and so taking one of Webb’s best changeups the other way. So it was even more impressive to see him adjust in this at-bat, when Webb started attacking him inside. Attributing his success to having a simple mindset, Young took a pitch on the inside and cranked it to the pull side to tie the game at three.

The entire stadium came back to life. It suddenly felt like the Mariners’ game to win. They’d just have to wait longer than you’d have liked, as the offense couldn’t cash in any further over the next two innings.

The bullpen certainly did their part. Gabe Speier was lights out, riding his recently increased velocity to get the Giants way out in front of his slider. Eduard Bazardo allowed a baserunner on a hit that probably should have been scored an error. And Andrés Muñoz put together his most dominant performance in weeks: a three-pitch strikeout, an 0-2 easy ground ball, and a three-pitch strikeout. In the tenth, Jose A. Ferrer needed a little more help from his defense, but Colt Emerson made a sparkling play, requiring the combination of range, quickness, and arm strength that I’d sort of forgotten shortstops could have.

Leading off the bottom of the 10th, Colt followed up his great play with a perfectly placed bunt to move Víctor Robles, the Manfred Man at second base, to third. That’s the benefit of being on the field and in the lineup. You never have to wait that long for another opportunity to contribute.

J.P. Crawford then walked to bring Julio back to the plate. On a night where he never touched first base, struck out twice, and had to spend the Giants’ halves of the innings watching from the dugout, it was finally his time. “Just wait and be patient until the time comes.” This time, it didn’t take long, punishing the second pitch of the at-bat deep enough to left field to let Robles stride home at less than full speed.

And that patience gets Julio tonight’s Sun Hat Award. He joked that he was trying to protect himself in the celebration, “I was kind of like ah-ah” raising his arms over his head. “But that’s OK. We’re all good.”

After a thrilling ninth-inning comeback for the win on Friday night, the Tigers had their first crack at a series win against the Angels somewhere in the greater Los Angeles area. The drama was racheted-down considerably on Saturday night, though, with a convincing 7-0 win, ensuring a series victory.

Making his fourteenth start for the Tigers this year was Tarik Skubal. He’s had some short starts recently; his previous two starts only saw him complete five innings each. (Somewhere up there, Mickey Lolich shed a single tear.) He’d been more hittable in those starts, too — but let’s not forget, he underwent surgery on his throwing elbow earlier this season and the fact that he’s 100 percent now is something of a medical miracle.

Facing the Tigers was Grayson Rodriguez, who’s having a rough season, his first for the Angels after one full season in Baltimore, back in 2024. A variety of elbow and lat injuries kept him on the shelf for the entirety of the 2025 season and the start of 2026. But, after returning, he had back trouble that sat him down for almost a month. It’s been a tough go for him since being a highly-touted prospect drafted in 2018.

Kevin McGonigle hit a hustle-double which Mike Trout couldn’t quite corral to lead off the game. Dillon Dingler got hit for the second consecutive at-bat, dating back to Friday night, to put the first two runners on. Colt Keith followed with a sharp single to centre to score McGonigle and put runners at the corners. After Riley Greene struck out, Spencer Torkelson cracked a long, loud home run to left-centre to put the Tigers up 4-0 early.

Even the outs were hard-hit balls for the Tigers: Matt Vierling lined-out to left for the third out in the first, and it was 107.4 mph (172.8 km/h, 48.0 m/s) off the bat.

The baserunners kept coming in the second, as James Outman and McGonigle both singled to lead off. Dingler got hit again — yes, his third consecutive hit-by-pitch — and the bases were loaded. Keith hit a deep fly ball to Trout in centre, Outman scored, everyone else moved up a base, and it was 5-0. Greene’s deep line drive, also to centre, scored McGonigle for another run.

With two out in the fourth, Dingler did not get hit by a pitch: he doubled to the left-centrefield wall! Keith then hit a very, very high chopper that gave him enough time to get to first as Dingler took third. Alas, Greene followed with a deep flyout and that ended the inning.

Meanwhile, Skubal was far less nibbly than he’d been in those previous starts in which he only got 15 outs each — he was going right at hitters and getting groundouts on far fewer pitches. Through four innings he’d only thrown 54 pitches (36 for strikes), in giving up three harmless singles, no walks, and striking out seven.

Torkelson got a hold of another one to lead off the fifth, blasting a second long home run to centre, his eighteenth of the season, for a 7-0 lead.

A pair of singles sandwiched around a popout to start the bottom of the sixth marked the first time Skubal had allowed a runner to second base. But then Vaughn Grissom hit a grounder to shortstop for, as they say, a “tailor-made” double play to end the inning. Skubal mowed through the Angels in the seventh and his evening was done: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K, 60 strikes out of 87 pitches. His changeup was lethal and he did a good job stuffing a mix of sinkers and fourseamers inside to right-handers. That’s a part of his game that’s been inconsistent at times since his return. (I love to see complete games, but it was a seven-run game, I mean, come on, now.)

Jacob Waguespack took over for Skubal to start the eighth, and a single and a walk put two runners on with one out. A foul popup to Torkelson was the second out, but a walk to Trout loaded the bases and AJ Hinch had seen enough. Kyle Finnegan was brought in, and on the second pitch Grissom launched a long fly ball to centre; Outman raced back to make a fine running catch look easy-peasy.

Keith hit his fourth single of the night in the ninth. Good for him!

Brenan Hanifee took over for the ninth, and he gave up a harmless single amongst the three quick outs he got. You can shove all those exciting, dramatic wins in a sack, buster! Give me a nice, easy, never-in-doubt victory any darn day of the week. The series finale starts just after 4:00 pm EDT on Sunday afternoon.

Final score: Tigers 7, Angels 0

Here’s a delightful stat for you

Observations and Observances

• Other than Grayson Rodriguez, there has been one major-leaguer with either the first or last name of Grayson: former Tiger Grayson Greiner. Remember him? I do, sort-of. I remembered that he was tall and couldn’t hit very well.
• Colt Keith has had an interesting trip around the infield. In his rookie year he appeared 0 times at first base, 133 times at second base, 0 times at third base, and 14 times at DH; let’s call that 0/133/0/14. Last year it was 18/26/37/52, and this year it’s 7/0/46/30.
• The Angels play in a stadium called Angel Stadium. That’s nice.
• On this day in 1995, the Soufrière Hills volcano on Montserrat started erupting, and the ash and pyroclastic flows from it have essentially made the southern half of the island uninhabitable to this day. It still occasionally erupts.

SEATTLE — It has been a season-long struggle for the Giants to build any kind of momentum, usually thwarted just as things get good by subpar pitching or poor defense.

Once again, it was the same culprits that kept them from extending a three-game winning streak to four. The Giants got home runs from Rafael Devers and Willy Adames and six shutout innings from Logan Webb but still fell to 0-6 when going for their fourth win in a row.

The second hit Webb surrendered was a three-run home run that tied the game in the seventh, and after the Giants weren’t able to push across their automatic runner in extra innings, Julio Rodriguez sent them to a 4-3 walkoff loss with a sacrifice fly off Dylan Smith in the 10th.

Smith took the loss, the Giants’ 10th when leading after six innings, despite not yielding a hit. But Webb shouldered the blame.

“I’m the d–khead who messed that up,” Webb said. “That should’ve been our fourth win today. It’s a momentum killer. It just sucks.”

The Giants led 3-0 when Webb served up the game-tying homer to Cole Young, and almost on cue, Luis Arraez flubbed a grounder from the next batter for only his fifth error, which proved inconsequential in the outcome but was tinged with symbolism.

As soon as one thing goes wrong, the entire system fails.

And now, the Giants are back to zero, or at least that’s where their win streak stands.

“Everybody looks at one pitch … but you can’t undo any of it,” manager Tony Vitello said. “It was a really good game. It’s a difficult loss to swallow and it makes for a great challenge tomorrow.”

When Webb took the mound to begin the seventh, he seemed poised to take it to the finish line. He had yielded just one hit, faced two batters over the minimum and thrown only 70 pitches.

Things began to unravel as soon as a 3-2 changeup ran inside and clipped Randy Arozarena, his second hit batsman of the game after he had him down 0-2. Webb walked the next batter, Josh Naylor, and Young made him pay for the free base runners.

“That’s unacceptable,” Webb said. “You get a guy 0-2 … that’s something I try to preach with the younger guys is to be in attack mode, especially if you’re winning. I was just trying to do too much and I ended up hitting him. Then a four-pitch walk the next at-bat. It’s not OK.”

Webb keeled over as he watched a sweeper at Young’s knees sail 405 feet into the right field seats. He had to settle for a no-decision and one of the more disappointing quality starts of his career, finishing 6 ⅓ innings with three earned runs on only two hits.

“I called it away and it just kind of backed up,” Webb said of the fateful slider, a pitch batters had whiffed at four of the previous seven times they offered at it. “It was a weird shape compared to all the ones I threw today. …

“I thought the team played great today. This one’s on me.”

It had been the pitcher’s duel as advertised through five innings with Bryan Woo, a Bay Area native, largely taking care of business against his hometown team.

The only run on either starter’s line until that point had been unearned, when Drew Gilbert got a late send from third-base coach Gary Pettis after center fielder Luke Raley mishandled the second of two singles from Bryce Eldridge, opening a 1-0 lead in the third.

A day after providing all the offense the Giants would need with his ninth homer of the season, Eldridge was the only Giant to record multiple hits and drew a walk to reach for a third time.

Adames and Devers teamed up to extend the Giants’ lead to 3-0 with a pair of solo shots in the sixth. Devers became the first Giant to 20 home runs, sneaking his just over the 331’ sign down the left field line to lead off the inning. Adames went the opposite way for his 17th — and second in as many games — lining a misplaced sinker over the right-field wall.

The home runs gave Webb some cushion to work with.

But only an inning later, it was gone, and so was Webb.

What it means

Webb was the first to blame himself for the loss, but Vitello noted that it’s difficult to win a game with three runs, which was all the Giants mustered against Woo and the Mariners bullpen.

Besides the two solo home runs, Eldridge’s single in the third with Gilbert at second was their only hit in seven chances with a runner in scoring position, stranding eight men on base.

“To me, that magic number is four [runs],” Vitello said. “We need to hunt everyday. Came up a little bit short on four, and maybe that’s the difference in nine innings for today’s game.”

While it may not have grabbed headlines, AJ Smith-Shawver’s outing for AAA warrants some attention. He looked good over 73 pitches, striking out 5 and walking 1 in 4.1 scoreless frames.

Given the state of the Braves’ rotation, grasping at a shortened AAA start of a former top prospect who didn’t have the time to fully establish himself at the major league level prior to injury seems warranted. That said, he was on his way to potentially establishing himself as a major league starter, despite rough mechanical consistency and command. Given that Atlanta essentially has one trustworthy starter, we could easily see Smith-Shawver in Atlanta sooner rather than later. It’s encouraging to see him pitching well on the farm as he works his way back from injury. I hope he has found some consistency in his recover, while maintaining the stuff (particularly that glorious turbocharged splitter that he was throwing potentially by accident before his injury).

Braves News

You can continue to track the signing status of the Braves’ draft picks, as we still await a number of signings.

The Braves were unlucky, but also let themselves down in a tight loss to the Rangers that they easily could have won.

MLB News

The A’s traded veteran starter Aaron Civale to the Cubs for a minor league pitcher.

The O’s signed a 5 year $90 million extension with veteran starting pitcher Kyle Bradish.

The Mariners reinstated Julio Rodriguez off the concussion IL.

Will Smith is expected out for the Dodgers until at least mid-August.

Brandon Woodruff is having season-ending shoulder surgery.

The Reds finalized their extension with star pitcher Chase Burns.

What a fun way to kick off tonight’s update! With 20 of 21 players from the draft now having signed, the White Sox released footage of the 2026 draft class working out during Draft Camp in Charlotte:

With the future looking solid, let’s take our usual biweekly look at how each affiliate has started out their second halves:

• The Triple-A Charlotte Knights have started their second half slowly, at 8-12. Normally, that would be cause for rejoicing, but having just logged nearly the best first half of all the affiliates, it’s a disappointment. And through three weeks of play there is considerable parity in the International League, the Knights are stuck in the same division with current opponent the Durham Bulls, who are riding high at 14-4 and sit seven games up on Charlotte at the moment.
• The bad news is that in Double-A, the Birmingham Barons are continuing to play poorly, again with the worst record of all the full-season affiliates, at 7-13. The good news is that Southern League parity puts the Barons just four games behind in the division race. Theoretically, there is still some hope in Alabama.
• With the Winston-Salem Dash and the High-A South Atlantic League is where things get interesting. The Dash are out of the gate at 12-11, three games off of the pace. But the good news is as long as it’s the first-half champs the Bowling Green Hot Rods leading the Sally South, W-S merely needs to finish in second place to make the playoffs, and in that race it trails by just two games.
• Circumstances are similar for the Low-A Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, but the possible outcome is not so generous. The CBs are out of the gate at 13-10, good for a second-place tie. However, Astros affiliate the Hickory Crawdads have gotten off to a 17-6 start, so it’s an uphill climb for Kanny, who already are four games out of first place.
• Rookie leagues don’t play split seasons. The good news for the ACL White Sox is that they are no longer the worst of the 15-team Arizona Complex League (the A’s, 16-39); the bad news is they are just a half-game out of the basement, at 17-39.
• Our DSL White Sox warriors are hardly doing better, at 11-22 and in last place in the seven-team DSL Southwest. They are, per tradition, the seventh-worst team in the 52-member Dominican Summer League.

Charlotte Knights 7, Durham Bulls 5
The Durham Bulls were uncharacteristically bad in the first half of the season, including possibly being swept by the Knights (sorry, not checking but it was at least eight straight Charlotte wins vs. Durham to start things in 2026). But at this point, Durham remembered it was a Tampa Rays affiliate and bucked up appropriately, leading the division three weeks in.

But tonight, a four-run second inning keyed by an RBI stand-up triple from Rikuu Nishida paced yet another win for Charlotte (50-45) over Durham. This deep fly and scampering hustle from the everywhere man held up as the game-winning RBI, giving the Knights a 3-2 lead they would not relinquish:

You might even say it was the Nishida show tonight, as he added a safety squeeze in the fourth inning and pocketed three total driven in:

Michael Turner is also smelling blood in the water on the South Side, making his case for call-up with a three-hit night and gunning down 1-of-2 base-stealers on the night. Turner’s victim? Former No. 4 overall White Sox pick Nick Madrigal.

A player even more on the radar for a call-up, Shane Smith, made his second start back from injury with Charlotte, and it was not a good one. Smith surrendered three earned in 3 1/3 innings, keyed by a lack of command that saw four walks, three wild pitches and two hit batsman among his 67 pitches.

MVP
Rikuu Nishida (2B-RF): 3-for-4, 3 RBI, R, 3B, BB, SB, picked off 1B, 26.9% WPA

Runners-Up
Caden Connor (RF-LF): 3-for-4, 3 R, RBI, SB, 2 hard hits, 14.7% WPA
Everson Pereira (LF): 1-for-3, RBI, LF assist at 2B, 2 hard hits, GIDP
Michael Turner (C): 3-for-5, 2B, 1-for-2 CS, 2 hard hits
Nolan Jones (CF): 2-for-5, SB
Jason Matthews (SS): 1-for-3, RBI, 2 K, SF, 2 hard hits
Javy Guerra (RHRP): IP, 2 K, SAVE (6)

Cold Cat
Shane Smith (RHSP): 3 2/3 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 3 WP, 2 HB, 32-of-67 strikes

Runners-Up
Mario Camilletti (3B): o-for-3, R, BB, K
Wikelman González (RHRP): 1 ⅓ IP, H, 3 BB, 3 K, 17-of-36 strikes

Birmingham Barons 6, Rocket City Trash Pandas 4
The Barons (33-56) never trailed in this one, but toyed with the Pandas until a four-spot right after the seventh-inning stretch broke a 2-2 tie and put the game away. And if any White Sox affiliate this season would play a mundane game on offense (four hits) but manage six runs. Wins by any means necessary will need to be Bham’s motto until it packs up the locker room for good in September.

Wherefore came the six runs? One came on an early Jacob Burke solo shot, but the decider in the seventh came courtesy of two hit-by-pitches and a walk, followed by Samuel Zavala’s grand slam:

The other major highlight came in the form of Juan Carela’s start. His first effort for Bham (and seventh of the season, after TJS) was subpar, but the righty was electric in this one. At this point, he appears to have picked up right where he left off two years ago with the Barons, and still just 24, has a bright future in the Sox org ahead of him.

MVP
Juan Carela (RHSP): 4 2/3 IP, 5 H, ER, BB, 4 K, 20.1% WPA, 51-of-74 strikes, E

Runners-Up
Samuel Zavala (LF): 1-for-2, R, HR, 4 RBI, BB, 24.1% WPA
Dylan Campbell (RF): 1-for-2, R, RBI, BB, HBP, 16.9% WPA
Boston Smith (DH): 0-for-1, R, 3 BB
Jarold Rosado (RHRP): 1 1/3 IP, 2 H, R, WIN (4-3), BLOWN SAVE (2), E

Cold Cat
Jonathan Clark (RHRP): 2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, BB, K, HR

Runners-Up
Alec Briley (3B): 0-for-4, 2 K
Caleb Bonemer (SS): 0-for-4, K
Anthony DePino (1B): 1-for-4, R, 2 K
Grant Magill (C): 0-for-3, 2 K
Liam Paddack (LHRP): IP, 2 H, 3 BB, K

Bowling Green Hot Rods 11, Winston-Salem Dash 3
This was a blowout, and it was over early for the Dash (50-39), but as is the norm don’t you dare blame James Taussig. Somehow, Taussig boasted the biggest WPA in the game, with a 2-for-3 night including a home run.

On the flip side, time may be running short in the White Sox career of Tommy Vail. The SSS darling, at 27, has been getting annihilated over this past month in Winston-Salem. The southpaw’s 2024 was exquisite, his 2025 pretty OK, and this 2026 is for laying down and avoiding.

MVP
James Taussig (1B): 2-for-3, R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, BB, K, 13.4% WPA

Runners-Up
Ryan Burrowes (2B): 2-for-5, 2B, 3 K
Arxy Hernández (1B): 1-for-3, 2B, BB, GIDP
Madison Jeffrey (RHRP): 1 1/3 IP, H, K, 11-of-14 strikes

Cold Cat
Tommy Vail (LHSP): 2 2/3 IP, 6 H, 6 R/5 ER, BB, 5 K, LOSS (0-1), WP, BALK

Runners-Up
Kyle Lodise (SS): 1-for-5, 3 K
Jeral Perez (3B): 1-for-5, 2B, 2 R, 3 K, E
George Wolkow (RF): 1-for-4, 3 K
Ely Brown (CF): 1-for-4, K
Ben Hartl (C): 0-for-3, BB, 2 K, 0-for-2 CS
Eddie Park (LF): 0-for-4
Drew Conover (RHRP): 2/3 IP, ER, BB, 3 K, HR, HB, 11-of-27 strikes
Jake Peppers (RHRP): 1 1/3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 K
Jake Bockenstedt (RHRP): IP, 2 H, ER, K

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 6, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 2
In a game that wasn’t even as close as the final score indicated (Myrtle Beach scored two garbage runs in the ninth, and Kanny led the entire way), the Cannon Ballers (46-43) struck early and pounded nails in the coffin with three runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Doing almost all of the pounding for Kannapolis was Derek Cerda, who was 3-for-3 with five RBIs; his teammates managed one hit and zero RBIs without him.

In a two-run effort, you’d imagine the pitching to be on point for the CBs, and on point it was. Alexander Martinez got the start and threw four scoreless, including five Ks.

MVP
Derek Cerda (RF): 3-for-3, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 15.3% WPA

Runners-Up
Alexander Martinez (RHSP): 4 IP, 2 H, BB, 5 K, pickoff at 2B, 34-of-48 strikes, 16.3% WPA
Billy Carlson (SS): 0-for-1, 2 R, 3 BB, 2 SB
Choyce Diffey (RHRP): 2 IP, 2 K, WIN (2-1)
Daniel Wright (RHRP): IP, K, HOLD (2), 8-of-10 strikes

Cold Cat
Adrian Gil (1B): 0-for-3, 3 K

Runners-Up
Jaden Fauske (LF): 0-for-3, R, K, HBP, SB
Javier Mogollón (DH): 0-for-3, BB, 2 K, SB
Alexander Albertus (3B): 0-for-4, K
Steven Lancia (C): 0-for-4, 2 K, 1-for-1 CS
Nathan Archer (LF): 0-for-3, K
Jordan Morales (LHRP): 1 2/3, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 K, HOLD (5)

ACL White Sox 6, ACL Padres 3 (7 innings)
Here’s something you don’t see every day: five errors in a game. OK, maybe five errors isn’t SUPER rare, but how about five errors in a game, and none of them leading to runs. It was just such an odd circumstance that helped the Complex Sox (17-39) to a decisive win over the 31-25 Padres. The White Sox conveyed nearly a run per inning via small-ball, as there was just one double sprinkled among eight hits and a whopping six stolen bases that included Osneil Castillo swiping home on a double steal. Drew Thorpe, of the TJS and emergency appendectomy Thorpes, pitched his first pro game in more than two seasons, acquitting himself nicely with two innings of one-hit, three-K ball. Welcome back, Drew!

With a return to the majors on the horizon, Luis Robert Jr. showed that he's ready to be back playing with the Mets.

The slugger blasted a two-run home run in the fourth inning of his rehab game with Triple-A Syracuse on Saturday night, launching a 1-1 pitch deep over the left field wall to go up 6-2.

Syracuse would go on to win the game over the Buffalo Bisons, 15-2, as MJ Melendez homered twice and Jonah Tong allowed two runs over 5.0 IP. 

Robert played eight innings in center field, getting pinch-hit for in the bottom of the eighth inning, and finished 2-for-5 with two RBI, two runs scored, and two strikeouts. It was his first home run in Triple-A over five games, and the second HR overall since his rehab assignment (eight games) started back on June 30.

Mets interim manager Andy Greensaid earlier Saturday that Robert has been looking "better and better" and could return to the club when they travel to Milwaukee for a three-game series against the Brewers on Monday.

"Hope so, certainly hope he’s back in the mix by then," Green said. 

Prior to going on the injured list on April 30, Robert was hitting just .224 with two home runs and eight RBI over 24 games.

Luis Robert Jr. with a two-run blast for Triple-A Syracuse pic.twitter.com/WRBvoTS83K

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) July 19, 2026

Mariners 4, Giants 3

Jimmy Eat World attending tonight’s game: Cole Young, +0.38 WPA
The fact that Cole Young was born two years after “The Middle” was released: Josh Naylor, -0.13 WPA

Game Thread Comment of the Day

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs made the Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals) blue, 5-4 in ten innings.

Jordan Wicks turned in a very good start, allowing just one run on two hits over five innings. Wicks walked two and struck out six.

Paul Campbell bailed out the I-Cubs after Antoine Kelly loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. Campbell got the final out of that inning, pitched a scoreless ninth and then got the win after Iowa scored four runs in the top of the tenth and Campbell only allowed three in the bottom of the inning. The final line on Campbell was three runs, two earned, on three hits over 2.1 innings. He struck out four and walked no one.

First baseman Jonathan Long had an RBI single in the tenth. He was 3 for 5.

Long later scored in the tenth on a two-run double by DH Moisés Ballesteros. Ballesteros was 1 for 4.

Left fielder Chas McCormick went 1 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base. He also scored two runs.

A great catch by Brett Bateman in center. Bateman was 1 for 4 with a walk and an RBI.

Mo Baller’s big double.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies were fried by the Montgomery Biscuits (Rays), 2-1.

Starter Brooks Caple gave the Smokies four scoreless innings, permitting just two hits. Caple struck out six and walked one.

Tyler Santana came on to pitch the bottom of the ninth with the score tied 1-1. He loaded the bases with two outs on two singles and an intentional walk. Santana then got a strikeout for the first out, but a sac fly to center field ended the game.

The Smokies managed just two hits. One of those hits was an RBI double by third baseman Jefferson Rojas in the fifth inning. Rojas had both Smokies hits, going 2 for 4.

The Smokies did draw six walks and were hit by a pitch once.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs fired the Peoria Chiefs (Cardinals), 10-4.

Starter Alfredo Romero gave South Bend four scoreless innings on just three hits. He walked one and struck out four.

Adam Stone then pitched the fifth inning and retired the side in order. But for some reason, the official scorer gave the win to Cole Reynolds, who surrendered four runs on five hits over 2.2 innings. All four of the runs scored in the eighth inning. Reynolds struck out two, walked one and hit one batter.

Ethan Bell stranded two runners in the eighth and then retired the side in order in the ninth. He retired all four batters he faced, striking out two of them, while picking up the save.

Second baseman Michael Hallquist hit a two-run home run in the fourth, his second on the season. Hallquist was 2 for 3 with a sac fly, giving him three total RBI. He scored twice.

Right fielder Christian Olivo went 2 for 5 with an RBI double in the sixth and a two-run triple in the ninth. He scored one run.

Third baseman Matt Halbach went 2 for 4 and scored once.

Catcher Logan Poteet was 2 for 4 with a double. He scored two runs.

Halquist’s home run.

Olivo’s triple was a bit of a gift.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans were knocked over by the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (White Sox), 6-2.

Braylon Myers turned in a good start, but got the loss anyways. Myers gave up just one run on two hits over four innings. Myers struck out three, walked one and hit one batter.

DH Alexey Lumpuy went 1 for 3 with a double and he was hit by a pitch. He scored in the top of the ninth when the Pelicans plated both of their runs and three of their five hits.

Here’s shortstop Derniche Valdez singling home Lumpuy. Valdez went 1 for 4.

ACL Cubs

Lost to the Diamondbacks, 7-3.

The pain hasn’t gone away. It may be somewhat dulled, but it remains.

The Dodgers returning to The Bronx this weekend — their first trip here since clinching the 2024 World Series at the Stadium — is a reminder of what could have been.

“The disappointment of getting to the end and playing for it all and coming up short, that’s one of those things that leaves a scar,” manager Aaron Boone said before the Yankees’ game against the Dodgers on Saturday was rained out and will be made up on Sunday as a split doubleheader. “You want to be in a position to be in a World Series and play for it all. We had that opportunity and came up short. So there’s pain and disappointment that comes with that, and it’s part of our baseball journey.”

That World Series only went five games but was evenly played, with the Yankees blowing leads in Game 1 and Game 5.

The Yankees were up 5-0 in the clincher, but a series of errors and misplays enabled the Dodgers to rally for the crown in the Yankees’ first trip to the Fall Classic since winning it all in 2009.

The Dodgers entered this series as owners of the best record in baseball despite a number of major injuries to the likes of Edwin Díaz, Tyler Glasnow, Will Smith and Blake Snell.

They remain the heavy favorites to not only reach the World Series again but win it for the third consecutive year.

The Yankees have plenty of their own maladies, most notably Aaron Judge’s fractured right rib.

Regardless, this could end up being a World Series preview.

“Any time we play the Dodgers, whether it’s here, whether it’s in [Los Angeles], it’s always big. It always feels big,” Boone said. “There are a lot of eyeballs on it, obviously. These are the kinds of series that I think are good for the 162-[game season]. You have the grind of the 162; you have those different series that feel a little bigger. This is one of those.”

PHILADELPHIA — As someone with no-trade protection in his contract, Bo Bichette controls whether he will remain with the Mets beyond Aug. 3.

Bichette has indicated he’s in no hurry to leave.

And yet, the third baseman stopped short Saturday of saying he would block any trade proposal that involves him.

“That hasn’t been brought to my attention right now, so I don’t have an answer,” Bichette said before the Mets lost to the Phillies 6-1 at Citizens Bank Park.

Bichette is a long shot to be traded given he can opt out of his three-year, $126 million contract after the season.

The uncertainty of his status affects his trade value.

His offensive surge over the past six weeks has increased the likelihood he will opt out.

But Bichette said he doesn’t anticipate a decision on that front until after the season.

“I signed here because I believed in the talent here and it’s exciting to play for an organization that was trying to win,” Bichette said. “The reason I signed the contract was to have freedom for my own career, so I guess it would be too early to tell.”

Bichette entered the day with an .844 OPS over his previous 36 games dating to June 3.

It’s the kind of right-handed production that would be hard to replace next season if Bichette departed.

The Mets have plenty of pitchers that figure to move before the trade deadline, but most of the position players they might look to deal have significant dollars remaining on their contracts.

Bichette was asked if the direction the organization appears headed will factor into whether he opts out of his contract.

“I think there’s a lot of positive things here, and also some things that haven’t gone right,” he said. “Obviously, that is something everybody can see, but everything will be taken into account.”

What are the positives?

“There’s a lot of young players they have brought up, a positive outlook for the future,” Bichette said. “And then on top, the organization is still trying to win. It’s not an organization that is OK being mediocre. It’s an organization that wants to win and wants to win the World Series and that is the goal. You couple that with a lot of good young players who have a really bright future. That’s a positive thing.”

The youth movement includes rookies Nolan McLean, A.J. Ewing and Carson Benge, in addition to Christian Scott.

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No member of that group is expected to be available in trade talks.

Bichette began the day with a .253/.297/.372 slash line overall after sputtering into early June.

Bichette said he hasn’t spent much time wondering why his success didn’t arrive earlier.

“I can’t do anything about those first two months,” Bichette said. “I wish I had gotten off to the better start and who knows if the season would have gone differently not just for me, but for the team as a whole. I can’t do anything about it.”

Bichette knows firsthand that a turnaround for the Mets next season isn’t a far-fetched notion.

He was part of a Blue Jays team that finished last in the AL East in 2024 before going to the World Series last year.

“We had a lot of injuries [in ’24] and I was one of them,” Bichette said. “I don’t know if I have ever been this far out of [the playoff race] before, but we were definitely not in a good place.”

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Arizona Diamondbacks fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

The second half of the 2026 season is now under way, the D-backs having played their first two games after the break at Chase Field against the Cardinals. But if this week’s poll results are anything to go by, we should likely be hoping that the rest of the season is more successful than the first. It has certainly been a very mid team. While slightly surpassing preseason expectations from the sports books, the current projected tally of 83 wins is almost in line with the average prediction of 84 wins, from the SnakePit writers back in March. There have been ups and downs, certainly, and it’s fair to say that the wins haven’t all come from the expected places.

For example, who had Eduardo Rodriguez and Michael Soroka as the two best starting pitchers? Previous form would not exactly have suggested that. But here we are, with E-Rod coming off an All-Star appearance – and one where he pitched better than the NL starter. On the other hand, there are players who haven’t been as good as expected. Ketel Marte has underperformed his usual high standards, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has been a disaster, and I’m sure we don’t need to rehash the first-half autopsy report in regard to first base, designated hitter and center field. But in the final analysis, what did we think of the first half? Well, the SnakePit has spoken with (almost) one voice…

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Yeah, it’s kinda hard to argue with that conclusion. It hasn’t been a disaster, certainly. Second place in the NL West is nothing to be ashamed of, with the Diamondbacks ahead of both the Padres and Giants, despite both sides outspending Arizona by some margin. The team is still in the hunt for a wild-card spot, and it’s worth noting that theie remaining schedule is more favorable than the five teams currently ahead of them in that race. On the other hand, they’ve been outscored by the opposition, which suggests they are “lucky” to be above .500 at the break. If that’d change going forward, it would be helpful and much appreciated.

From the SnakePit point of view, “Meh” is very much the worst outcome, in terms of fan engagement. If this were the Mets, there would be an endless stream of articles to be written on how things can be fixed, who should be fired, etc. If this were the Dodgers, while the “race” for the division has all the dramatic tension of a state funeral procession, there would be a lot to celebrate, the bandwagon continuing to increase in size as we head towards the inevitable post-season. But this? There’s only so many times I can rehash the mediocrity of first-base, or remind people not to take statistics from Reno at face value.

Obviously, I’d prefer a 2023-style second half. Though that boat may already have sailed. I keep forgetting that D-backs team went into the break tied for the lead in the division, having been ahead by as many as four games in mid-June. Now, despite the very pleasant sweep of the Dodgers before the break, they still sit 11.5 games ahead of us – no other division leader is up by more than five games. It’s all going to be about the wild-card race for the next two and a half months, and hopefully the 2026 Arizona squad will be in that conversation until the final pitch of the regular season, on Sunday September 27th in San Diego.

Detroit Tigers (44-52) vs. Los Angeles Angels (38-60)

Time/Place: 10:07 p.m., Comerica Park
SB Nation Site: N/A
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: LHP Tarik Skubal (5-4, 3.06 ERA) vs. RHP Grayson Rodriguez (3-2, 7.55 ERA)

The All-Star Game and the MLB Draft are behind us. The Rockies drafted 21 total players over the course of two days, and have signed two undrafted free agents. You can keep track of all the action here.

Earlier this week, we asked who was the best Day 1 pick for the Rockies. It was a close race, but Georgia catcher Daniel Jackson edged out UCLA right-handed pitcher Logan Reddemann for that honor.

Meanwhile, only 21% of folks said Kentucky shortstop Tyler Bell — the Rockies’ first pick, 10th overall — was the best pick of the draft.

Do you agree with the results? Which player intrigues you the most from this draft? Let us know in the comments!

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