Category: Baseball

PHILADELPHIA — When Brandon Marsh jogged back to left field at Citizens Bank Park in the second inning of this past Monday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he wasn’t just met with applause for his home run the inning before.

Fans greeted him with a vinyl banner reading "Marsh To The Polls," with several supporters sporting beards to match his own.

It marked the official start of the Phillies' final campaign push to send Marsh to the Midsummer Classic at The Bank on July 14, something he told USA TODAY Sports before the game he wasn’t letting himself think too much about.

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That doesn’t mean the All‑Star Game isn’t on his mind.

"I'd be lying if I said I haven't thought about the All-Star Game," Marsh said. "But I try my best not to and enjoy the present."

Marsh's rise from a platoon outfielder to one of the Phillies' most consistent bats is one of this season’s great storylines.

The whole city is behind MARSHY! ⭐

🗳️ https://t.co/cdVTjmanhFpic.twitter.com/aEmeQlfZRN

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 29, 2026

He opened the year hitting .295 in April — a far cry from the .095 he posted through his first 17 games last season — and strung together a 13‑game hit streak from April 28 to May 12. He followed his strong month of April with a .333 average in May. That dipped only slightly to .315 in June.

Factor in that he’s tracking toward his first All‑Star nod, and the arc becomes even more impressive.

“It’s been a different season for sure, having to adjust with the body and having to adjust with playing every day,” Marsh said. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Just enjoying the ride.”

To reach this point — where he’s sitting among MLB’s top 10 leaders in batting average — Marsh has ridden out his share of turbulence. Dealt from the Los Angeles Angels at the 2022 trade deadline for top catching prospect Logan O’Hoppe, Marsh was seen as an everyday outfielder for both the present and the future. But he sat against lefties to lose starting opportunities and has mustered only two total hits across the last two postseasons, so the potential never fully materialized until now.

His path, once that of the Angels’ former No. 1 prospect, simply developed on a slower burn. It took time, and now the moment has arrived. Inside the Phillies clubhouse, his 2026 breakout hasn’t surprised anyone.

It's a 3-hit night for Brandon Marsh 👏

🗳️ https://t.co/cdVTjmanhFpic.twitter.com/q9hxVC84mQ

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 14, 2026

"He’s always been a good player," Phillies shortstop Trea Turner told USA TODAY Sports in May. "... Other people are starting to recognize him and deserve to do so."

Marsh said his breakout season stems more from a different approach and finding consistency, both with his pregame routine and playing time, than from any physical changes he made in the offseason.

To build his pregame consistency as an everyday player, Marsh has zeroed in on how veterans like Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Turner attack their work and how “stubborn” they are about sticking to their routines. He also mentioned he’s trying to keep his own routine simple, hoping that simplicity creates steady production. 

"May not be true, but if you think that way, I feel like it’ll help," Marsh said.

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Marsh finally got that consistent, everyday run when Don Mattingly took over as interim manager on April 28 after the Phillies’ 9-19 start under Rob Thomson. Since then, he’s hit .329, forcing Mattingly’s hand by penciling his name into the lineup every day, including some games at cleanup. 

"It’s definitely helped just with staying in the flow of the game" Marsh said of the consistency he’s received from Mattingly. "Because pinch hitting is one of the hardest things to do in this game. It’s harder than playing every single day. … So there's something to the consistency that Donnie's been giving me and I'm super thankful."

Mattingly said he’s always believed Marsh had a good swing, and even conceded after the Phillies’ April 30 win over the Giants that when he was the manager of the Miami Marlins, the Marlins tried multiple times to trade for Marsh. 

"He’s always been, for me, a good hitter. Been able to see this guy really young and probably just building confidence over time," Mattingly said in May when asked by USA TODAY Sports what he’s seen from Marsh. "Better game planner now (too), it sounds like. Knows what he wants to do with every guy (he’s facing)."

BRANDON MARSH HOMERS FOR THE THIRD DAY IN A ROW!

🗳️ https://t.co/cdVTjmanhFpic.twitter.com/njUInYKqrg

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 7, 2026

One contributing reason to Marsh’s platoon role under Thomson was his inability to hit against left-handed pitching. He’d either come off the bench as a defensive change late in the game once the opposing team’s left-handed starter was removed, or not play at all. 

Last season, Marsh hit .197 against left-handed pitching. He’s hitting .259 against southpaws this season. 

"You always knew he had it just by looking at his numbers based off right-handed pitching," Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott said. "Now he’s getting his chance and probably one of the best hitters in the league. It’s been really fun to watch him."

In just the last week, Marsh has delivered in big moments. In the Phillies’ dramatic 14-9 come-from-behind win over the Washington Nationals on June 23, Marsh crushed a game-tying, two-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. 

BIG TIME BIG DAWG

🗳️ https://t.co/cdVTjmanhFpic.twitter.com/TDumesAxch

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 24, 2026

Through the Phillies' first 88 games, Marsh leads the team with a .315 batting average and 97 hits while he’s third in home runs, only trailing Schwarber and Harper, who have combined for 50 home runs themselves. 

Marsh’s .315 batting average is good for the seventh-best among MLB hitters. He’s already surpassed his RBI total from last season, as he has driven in 46 runs thus far in the first half. 

"He’s always asking questions, always wanting to get better. He’s putting it together," Harper said to USA TODAY Sports in May. "But he’s also taking his hits, (which) I think that’s huge also. He hits the ball both ways from left-center to right-center."

Former Phillies shortstop and manager Larry Bowa believes a big part of Marsh’s success at the plate comes from not being as hard on himself as he used to be.

"Sometimes he used to worry about his previous at bat, what he did or didn’t do. He’s finding a way now, whether you get a hit or whether you make an out, it’s a different at bat," Bowa told USA TODAY Sports. “Once you get into that mindset, the game’s never going to be easy, but you can relax a little bit."

Marsh agreed with Bowa and pushed it further. He said he’s made it a point this season not to sulk or dwell on past at‑bats, something that he’s struggled with in the past, especially once he came up to The Show after his success in the minors in the Angels’ organization. 

"Learning how to honestly laugh at yourself a little bit without making a fool out of yourself,” Marsh said. “But (also) don’t be so hard on yourself because it’s already such a hard thing. It’s a game of almost impossible odds stacked against you as a hitter … Just have to know you’re going to fail."

He goes into the Phillies’ upcoming nine-game road trip to close out the first half of the season with 18 hits and 12 RBIs in his last 15 games to go along with six home runs, three of which came in the Pirates series. 

AN ALL-STAR SWING!

🗳️ https://t.co/cdVTjmanhFpic.twitter.com/NyPuzazDQv

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) July 1, 2026

For all the success at the plate this season thus far, Marsh said it’s made him appreciate the work that it took to get here "a lot more."

"It makes me respect the guys that show up and step in the box or toe the rubber every single day. I now know how physically taxing it can be, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. I love everything that comes with it," Marsh said. 

Marsh ranked third among NL outfielders in Phase 1 of All‑Star voting with 668,191 votes, trailing only the Dodgers’ Andy Pages (800,496) and the Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr. (693,472).

He’ll find out Saturday whether he’s been elected a starter for Dave Roberts’ NL squad. Starter or not, Marsh has more than earned the right to be considered for the Midsummer Classic, even if he’s too modest to say so himself.

“As a kid growing up, it's what everyone wants to be a part of, other than winning a World Series. Getting an All Star nod is pretty freakin cool,” Marsh said. “Hopefully this year I get to check it off of a bucket list. … It would mean the world, especially here in Philly playing for Philly.

“I'm getting chills right now thinking about it."

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: From platoon to starter: How Brandon Marsh is having All-Star season with Phillies

Happy Fourth of July! Or: Happy 43rd anniversary of Dave Righetti no-hitting the Red Sox at the old Yankee Stadium during another disgustingly hot day! And thank you to Rags for always giving us memories of that highlight every time Independence Day comes around.

There probably won’t be similar no-hit theatrics today, as the Yankees had to reach into the Triple-A cupboard to tap Brendan Beck for his second career appearance today with Carlos Rodón hitting the IL. On the bright side, Beck at least won’t have the pressure of snapping a losing streak, as the Yanks thankfully already did that last night by beating the Twins, 5-2. The seven-game skid is no more! So how about making it two wins in a row?

Today on the site, Nick will consider the rebuilding (but new-look) Rockies as a potential trade partner, Madison will run through the Rivalry Roundup, Jeff will celebrate what would have been the 88th birthday of our recently-departed dear friend John Sterling, and Josh will muse on how sports make us feel, particularly when our preferred team is playing such an ugly brand of baseball that it’s not even entertaining in a gallows humor-esque fashion.

Today’s Matchup:

New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins

Time: 1:35 p.m. EST

TV: YES Network, Twins.TV

Venue: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY

Questions/Prompts:

1. How long do you think rookie Brendan Beck will pitch today? (The Yankees have confirmed that he will start.)

2. Do you have any fun July 4th barbecue plans?

MLB Trade Rumors | Darragh McDonald: By now you’ve heard that the team took another IL hit yesterday, with lefty Carlos Rodón will spend some time away from the team with elbow inflammation. The worst-case was avoided because his UCL his still intact, but this remains tough news. Although it doesn’t seem at this time that the Yankees are overly concerned, every missed game by the projected starters means someone not quite as good has to take over. The word is that Brendan Beck will come up for his second cameo of the season and get the start.

In other news on injured pitchers named Carlos, the Yankees formally announced Triple-A righty Carlos Lagrange’s injury. He has a “capsular sprain of the right shoulder” and won’t throw for six weeks. This is just us speculating now, but best guess is that in the most ideal scenario, he plays a big-league role when rosters expand in September. But we’ll see; shoulder woes can be very tricky and the safest course of action is probably to expect nothing beyond very faint hopes.

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: Cody Bellinger was an essential part of the three-headed dragon in the Yankee lineup to start the year, turning the team into an offensive force behind Ben Rice and Aaron Judge. However, as the Captain has gone down, Bellinger’s production has also trended downward, managing just a .357 OPS over the past two weeks. His comments to the Daily News, roughly summed up as “it f*****g sucks”, which, agreed, does seem to point to an overall frustration within the clubhouse that the team can’t seem to turn things around. The do get the Twins at home this weekend though, and a big series from Bellinger would go a long way to starting a run that doesn’t “f*****g suck”.

NJ.com | Bob Klapisch: Without Aaron Judge it really does feel like the Yankees are looking around the room at each other waiting for someone else to grab the ball and run with it. With Cam Schlittler looking so vulnerable against the Tigers this week, maybe that guy is going to be Gerrit Cole. The veteran has had an up-and-down run as he’s returned from Tommy John surgery, but the respect he commands in the clubhouse and the track record he’s put up in MLB might just make him the pseudo-Captain it seems the team might need. Cole went last night against Minnesota; hopefully the comment section of this post will receive that positively.

FanGraphs | Jay Jaffe: Alright, let’s end with something positive. FanGraphs has some tweaks to their teamwide-defense models, and a quick way to see if a model is valid is to see who the best are in a given metric. Here, the Dodgers and Cubs find themselves at the top of the table, and that makes sense to me. Fortunately, FanGraphs also ranks the Yankees as one of the top ten defenses in the game, which is not something you might guess based on the eye test of the team. Finally, something goes a little bit right.

As the legendary football coach Bear Bryant once said, “Defense wins championships,” and without it, the Milwaukee Brewers don’t take game one against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Crew takes care of business in an 11-inning affair by a score of 7-4.

Often known for his defensive abilities, Garrett Mitchell used his bat to sneak one over the center field wall to give the Brewers an early 2-0 lead. An inning later, Jake Bauers added another run to their tally with a base hit to right field to make it 3-0. It was nearly 4-0 before Lourdes Gurriel Jr. took away another home run from Mitchell, holding the game at bay.

Later in the bottom half of the third, the Diamondbacks found themselves with bases loaded, two outs, and down to their final strike of the inning; with a chance to cut into the Brewers’ lead, Nolan Arenado ripped a double into left field to clear the bases, tying the game at 3-3, putting an end to Kyle Harrison’s night as well.

The Brewers’ starting rotation has seen a slight decrease in productivity, specifically from their top two arms over their last couple of outings. Tonight, it was Harrison who struggled, not making it out of the third inning. He completed his evening with 2.2 innings pitched, striking out three, while allowing three runs to score on five hits and a walk. His main issue outside of the runs scoring was his pitch count, as he threw 72 pitches on the night.

Brewers quickly responded on offense by forcing the Diamondbacks to pull their starting pitcher after 3.1 innings. In Jose Cabrera’s third career start, he allowed three runs, three walks, and six hits while striking out three batters. It’s his second start in a row allowing multiple runs to score and his first time not making it into the fifth inning.

Looking at tonight’s overall issue for the Crew, it was clear: baserunning blunders followed by the inability to hit in the clutch. Overall on the night, the Crew stranded 12 runners on base, while going 3-for-18 at the plate with runners in scoring position.

The Bottom of the ninth inning is where we saw the leather on full display for the Brew Crew, saving the game in the long run. During the first at-bat of the inning with Trevor Megill on the mound, Max Kepler was robbed of extra bases with a nice leaping grab from Mitchell. Tommy Troy experienced frustration in his second at-bat as Joey Ortiz dove and caught a line drive that could’ve turned into extra bases as well.

Extra innings bit the Brewers in the rear earlier this week in their homestand finale against the Cubs as they stranded the tying and winning run on base. Those woes continued into tonight’s 10th inning, as Bauers struckout and Mitchell and Blake Perkins ended the inning with a ground out each.

With all the high-leverage arms used up entering the bottom of the 10th inning, Grant Anderson was on the mound to push it to the 11th inning. He intentionally walked Corbin Carroll before forcing Gabriel Moreno into a double play. Gurriel Jr. then popped out to Cooper Pratt, extending the ballgame another inning.

Late-night happy hour woke up the bats in the top of the 11th inning as a swinging bunt from Chourio forced a throwing error made by Ryan Thompson to allow the runners to score, giving the Brewers their first lead since the third inning. Brice Turang then cleared the bases with a two-RBI base hit to extend their lead to 7-3.

The Diamondbacks would only muster one run across the plate in the bottom of the 11th inning, allowing the Brewers to lock in their seventh extra-innings win on the season, improving to 54-32 overall on the season.

Game Summary

Full recap to post shortly. In the meantime, feel free to vent in the comments! Or go to bed.

Loss Probability and Box Score

Outside the Box Score

• Jose Cabrera led off the game with a 4 pitch walk of Christian Yelich with none of the pitches all that close. He then threw strikes in 8 of his next 11 pitches to retire the side without the leadoff walk advancing a base. Nice job by the young fella!
• Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is still playing effective defense out there. Like Gimli, he’s dangerous over short distances as he showed a great jump and tracking of the ball through a feet first slide to reach a sinking line drive in left field in the second inning.
• The Brewers 2-run home run in the second inning had go to crew chief review to confirm it was indeed a roundtripper. A fan at the edge of the home run porch in centerfield appeared to reach over the wall, but it wasn’t conclusive where the ball made contact with the fan so the call of home run on field stood and the D-backs were down 2-0.
• Jose Cabrera got an error on a poor throw on a pickoff attempt at first, making Vargas reach too far toward the sliding runner. The carom off Vargas’ outstretched glove resulted in a free 90 feet and a runner in scoring position for the Brewers with 1 out. Cabrera cleaned up his own mess though by getting a ꓘ (after falling behind 3-0 in the count!) and an easy fly out to end the inning.
• Lourdes Gurriel made another golden play in the outfield to save his young pitcher in the third. With 2 on and 1 run already in, Lourdes tracked a deep fly ball into the left field bleachers, timed his jump perfectly, and reached over the wall to make the catch and record a huge out! Definitely needed that play right there to take a 6-0 game and keep it at 3-0 instead!
• Ketel showed some nice hustle to get an infield single in the 3rd (though it would’ve been an incredible play if the Brewers were able to complete the 4-3 putout). That was followed by a strange at bat where Perdomo ended up striking out swinging on a ball way below the zone that would’ve been Ball 4. Fortunately Carroll and Gabi both singled (through Gabi Lane, of course!) and got the Diamondbacks on the board.
• Nolan Arenado’s bases loaded double in the third looked like a grand slam off the bat to me, but it hit off the base of the wall in left and had to settle for a game-tying, 2-run 2-bagger and it chased the Milwaukee starter from the game.
• Gerry Domo threw his name into the Play of the Game contender list with a superb defensive play to bail his team out of a jam in the 4th. With runners at 2nd and 3rd and 1 out, the infield came in and a ground ball was hit right at Gerry who was able to tag the runner going to 3rd and then throw to first to get the speedy Jackson Chourio to keep a run off the board!
• After the Diamondbacks had an inning-ending double play all but wrapped up to end the fifth inning, tomfoolery struck! A sharp ground ball right to Ildemaro at first started things into motion and Vargas stepped on first before executing short rundown and throw to Domo who was closing in on the runner going to second. Thinking he was a dead duck, he stopped and waited for the inevitable tag from Domo, but when Domo slapped the tag on, the ball squirted out of his glove and resulted in the runner advancing to second. Fortunately, Jonny Lasagna did the business and struck out the next batter to pick up his defense and get out of the inning. Another note from the play that didn’t get the replay love of the No Tag was Arenado’s perfect execution of a pickle, then a pickle-gone-wrong. When Gerry advances to make the tag, Arenado assumes the spot at second base but as soon as the play was botched and the ball went rolling toward right field, Arenado didn’t hesitate and started running to third as he knew that there was no one there covering. Excellent fundamental execution by the Master.
• After reaching first with a strong leadoff walk in the 7th, Tommy Troy took big leads to bait the lefty pitcher into throwing over a couple times. Once he got the move down, Troy bolted and stole second base easily to get himself into scoring position for Gerry and Corbin. Unfortunately, they did nothing with the opportunity.
• Brandyn Garcia got into a little trouble to start the 8th. After the first 2 runners reached, the pinch-hitter chopped it toward the hole between first and second and Vargas made a great stab to field the ball and throw to second for one out but Garcia was slow to cover first so they couldn’t complete the double play. The next batter bunted with the runner on third, but the bunt was too close to Gabi who pounced on it and threw to third to catch the retreating runner for the out. Awesome defense again for the Diamondbacks!
• The defense gets another shout out to start the 9th. A relatively routine grounder to second nearly turned into a 3 Stooges sketch. First Ildemaro started toward the grounder, realized he wouldn’t make the play so tried to turn back to 1st but instead just looked like he was running in quicksand and fell to the ground on his face. With all that happening in front of him, Ketel booted the ball. Fortunately, the carom was only a few feet away and he jumped on it and fired a missile to Paul Sewald, who seemed to be the only one able to do his job without error on this play. The ball reached Sewald’s glove right as his foot touched first base and right before Yelich’s foot touched the bag. A real blood pumping start to the 9th!
• Tommy Troy’s lineout in the 9th was the result of an outstanding diving play by the Brewers replacement third baseman. Unfortunate.
• Ketel Marte got a 2 out single to provide a glimmer of hope, then stole second base without the Brewers closer throwing a pitch! He got such a huge jump, by the time Megill turned around and tried to throw to second, Ketel had already reached second. Too bad Domo weakly grounded out to end the threat and send the game to extras.

Comment of the Game

The GameDay Thread was well attended, though maybe less than you’d expect for an 11 inning slog of a game. The GDT reached a final tally of 371 comments at time of publishing with COTG going to kiln born and Snake_Bitten for the appreciation of Gabi and his well worn path to right field:

Coming Up

The Diamondbacks face the Brew Crew for the second game of this 3-game set tomorrow evening with a 6:40pm first pitch Arizona time. The veteran right-hander Brandon Woodruff (2-1, 2.59 ERA) is listed as the probable starter for Milwaukee and Merrill Kelly (5-8, 5.84 ERA) will get the ball for the good guys on Independence Day.

Tonight’s game began with a raucous ceremonial first pitch from head coach Mauricio Pochettino and the U.S. Men’s National Team. Canada would own the rest of the night.

The first inning was the canary in the coal mine, as J.P. Crawford biffed yet another throw from the hot corner in the top half, and in the bottom half, Randy Arozarena blew both ABS challenges in just the Mariners’ second at-bat of the game. The saving grace was Luis Castillo, who looked like he might have another great night, hitting 97.8 in a strikeout of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and seeming to surprise himself with a little extra movement on his slider early on.

But the wheels came off in the third inning. The bottom of the Blue Jays’ order got things started with a leadoff single from rookie Sean Keys, who scored on an atypically well-struck double from Andrés Giménez (who I will always hate). I thought the Mariners might be alright when sentient red ass John Schneider demonstrated his strategic genius with a sac bunt in the third inning. Alas, Vladito got the ball in the air enough to get over the infielders to score a second run. Things were really stacking up when Kazuma Okamoto reached as well. But the damage was limited to those two runs when Colt Emerson came up with what I think was his first potentially game-saving play to get the Mariners out of it. Even if it wasn’t his first and didn’t end up saving the game, it was good enough to get him his first career Sun Hat Award in tonight’s weak field.

Two runs, yet I said the wheels came off? Well, yeah. This was one of those games that never felt as close as the score suggested. Luis Castillo, despite only giving up two runs on five hits while walking just one, was not his prime self. He gave up 12 hard-hit balls out of 21 balls in play and only induced with eight whiffs. The velocity mostly held, but the battery was too tempted by that apparent movement on the slider, which did not hold.

On the other side, Dylan Cease sliced, diced, and spiced the Mariners, eventually putting the whole offense on ice. He was still pumping 98 to strike out Colt Emerson in the sixth, and that wasn’t even his best pitch. He was moving all over the zone, with his four-seamer up, his changeup and curveball down, his sinker and changeup arm side, and his slider glove side. I know we’ve all been frustrated by the Mariners offense, but this was genuinely a master class. Cease’s seven innings felt hopeless. An inside-out swing from J.P. that dribbled down the line was the only real threat. Seattle had a better showing against Jeff Hoffman and Louis Varland in relief, but more of the noble-effort variety. Víctor Robles drew a hard-won walk, and Emerson and Crawford worked full counts against Hoffman. Dominic Canzone took Louis Varland’s 99 mph to school. (A single counts as taking a pitcher to school tonight.)

On the one hand, it’s not the biggest deal in the world for the Mariners to lose a game where the Jays threw their Cy Young candidate and the Mariners had their starter who’s struggled the most this year. On the other hand, the Mariners have scored one run since Tuesday.

The Cubs released outfielder Chas McCormick.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs cracked the eggs of the Toledo Mud Hens (Tigers), 5-4. The win was the 1,500th in manager Marty Pevey’s career.

Ty Blach started and got the win. Blach pitched five innings and gave up three runs on six hits. Blach walked four and struck out six.

Luis Peralta came on to get the save in the ninth and he gave up a solo home run to the first batter he faced. Then after one out, he hit a batter. But the final two batters went out meekly and Peralta got the save. He struck out two.

DH BJ Murray came a double shy of the cycle as he was 3 for 4 with a walk, a triple and a solo home run in the fourth inning. It was Murray’s 11th home run of the year. He had two total RBI and he scored twice.

Left fielder Brett Bateman went 2 for 4 with a walk and a steal. He added a needed insurance run in the top of the ninth with an RBI single.

Center fielder James Triantos was 2 for 4 with an RBI single in the sixth inning.

Murray’s home run. Murray leads the International League in batting average at .336 and is second in OBP at .433. He’s seventh in slugging.

Running out of words for BJ Murray! His homer gives us the lead🚀 pic.twitter.com/Z3Jety30mR

— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) July 4, 2026

Triantos’s single.

Triantos gives the I-Cubs the lead! pic.twitter.com/0lOurccR1e

— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) July 4, 2026

Bateman’s insurance RBI.

Bateman singles home a run! pic.twitter.com/c9cVjJAq04

— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) July 4, 2026

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies were extinguished by the Columbus Clingstones (Braves), 9-1.

Starter Dawson Netz allowed just two runs on four hits over five innings, but that was enough to give him the loss. Netz struck out four and walked no one.

First baseman Ariel Armas tripled in a run with one out in the bottom of the ninth to break up the shutout. Armas was 1 for 4.

Catcher Owen Ayers went 2 for 3 with a double and a walk.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs were losing 1-0 after one inning when the game was suspended because of rain. They’ll try to finish the game tomorrow.

Jaxon Wiggins pitched the first inning of this game on a rehab assignment.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans cracked open the Hickory Crawdads (Astros), 4-2.

Starter Daniel Avita gave the Birds five scoreless innings, allowing just four hits. He struck out four, walked one and hit one batter as he picked up the win.

Hayden Frank threw the next three innings and gave up one run on one hit and one walk. He struck out five.

Sam Mettert pitched the ninth inning and collected the save. He did give up one run one one hit and one walk. He did not strike anyone out.

Three of the Pelicans runs came on a home run by center fielder Alexey Lumpuy in the third inning. It was Lumpuy’s fifth home run on the year. He was 1 for 3 with a walk.

Shortstop Alexis Hernandez was 3 for 4 with an RBI double in the fifth inning. Hernadez also scored a run and stole a base.

Highlights.

Make that two wins in a row!

Presented by DK Mason Roofing pic.twitter.com/rNxTIcXxRu

— Myrtle Beach Pelicans (@Pelicanbaseball) July 4, 2026

ACL Cubs

Lost to the Diamondbacks, 10-7.

The Athletics opened a three-game interleague series against the Miami Marlins on Friday night in West Sacramento. They could not overcome a 6-0 first inning deficit, allowing five home runs in a 12-5 loss.

Perkins’ Horrible Start

The A’s got off to a bad start, as the Marlins scored six runs in the first inning against A’s starting pitcher Jack Perkins. The first three batters of the game singled to load the bases. Perkins then walked Marlins’ second baseman Xavier Edwards to bring home the first run of the game. A second run scored on Athletics’ catcher Shea Langeliers sixth passed ball of the season.

The Marlins were not done. Left fielder Heriberto Hernandez hit his ninth home run of the season, a three-run shot to center. With two outs, center fielder Jakob Marsee slugged his fifth home run of the season, a solo shot to right field.

In the bottom of the first, the A’s put two runners on via singles from first baseman Nick Kurtz and right fielder Lawrence Butler, but Miami’s starter Tyler Phillips escaped the one-out, two-on jam unscathed.

The Marlins added the extra point in the second, courtesy of Edwards’ sacrifice fly.

Big Amish!

Perkins pitched a scoreless third inning, striking out the side. The A’s offense responded in the bottom of that inning. Shortstop Alika Williams led off with a double and scored on first baseman Nick Kurtz’s 20th home run of the season, a 457-foot shot to center field.

Nick Kurtz goes 457 feet OVER the batter's eye 😳 pic.twitter.com/LiISFAfwzy

— Athletics on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) July 4, 2026

A’s left-handed reliever Jose Suarez replaced Perkins with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth inning. Perkins allowed seven runs on seven hits and four walks in 3 2/3 innings pitched, but he recorded eight strikeouts, showcasing his appealing stuff. Suarez stranded the bases loaded by getting Marlins’ right fielder Griffin Conine to hit a line drive to Kurtz, who made a nice run-saving catch.

A’s Comeback Continues

In the last of the fourth, the Athletics loaded the bases with zero outs. Joshua Kuroda-Grauer and Carlos Cortes singled before Phillips walked Henry Bolte. Jeff McNeil hit a bases-clearing double to the left-center gap, trimming the A’s deficit to two runs.

go Jeff go! pic.twitter.com/mUabJ1eOFk

— Athletics (@Athletics) July 4, 2026

Key Turning Point

A few batters later, Miami replaced Phillips with right-handed reliever Michael Petersen. Phillips allowed five runs on seven hits in 3 1/3 innings. Langeliers exited the game with a left thumb injury. Peterson retired pinch-hitter Jonah Heim and then Colby Thomas to end the bases-loaded threat and persevere Miami’s lead.

After striking out with the bases loaded and two outs, Thomas responded with a diving catch in left field, helping Suarez pitch a scoreless fifth inning.

Colby Thomas gets down and dirty 😈 pic.twitter.com/ZCG5lJVj1g

— Athletics on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) July 4, 2026

Marlins Re-Take Momentum

In the fifth, Cortes and Bolte hit two straight singles with one out against Marlins reliever Tyler Zuber. The rally ended there as the A’s failed to capitalize on a runners-in-scoring-position opportunity for the second consecutive inning.

Trying to halt the A’s comeback, the Marlins increased their lead in the sixth inning. Facing A’s reliever Justin Sterner, first baseman Kyle Stowers hit a solo home run to right field, his ninth of the season.

Stowers was not done punishing A’s pitchers. He collected his fourth hit and second home run of the game with one out in the eighth inning, connecting off Athletics’ reliever Mason Barnett to extend Miami’s lead to 10-5. Marlins’ designated hitter Owen Caissie made it 12-5 with a two-run home run off Barnett in the ninth, his 11th of the season.

The Marlins bullpen held the A’s scoreless over the final three innings after the visitors hit three more home runs, securing the series-opening victory. The Athletics will try to even the series tomorrow night behind starter Aaron Civale, who is seeking his first victory since returning from the injured list. The Marlins will counter with right-hander Sandy Alcantara, who is 9-4 with a 4.20 ERA in 18 starts this season.

Blue Jays 2 Mariners 0

The bad news? We only scored 2 runs, which is pretty normal.

The good news? They didn’t score 2 runs.

We got both our runs in the third inning. Sean Keys started it with a single. Andrés Giménez doubled him home. John had Nathan Lukes bunt Giménez to third. IN THE THIRD INNING. When he was already in scoring position. Nathan Lukes, the one guy in the lineup who has been hitting (well, not the one guy, but hyperbola works when ranting). Vlad Guerrero singled Andrés home (he would have scored from second too). Kazuma Okamoto singled, but Daulton Varsho lined out and Alejandro Kirk ground out.

We only had six hits on the day (four of them in the third inning). Sean Keys had two hits. Lukes, Varsho, Kirk, and Ernie Clement had 0 fors.

It wasn’t a great offensive showing. Luis Castillo pitched a very good game.

Dylan Cease pitched a better game. Seven innings, just three hits, one walk and nine strikeouts.

He was helped out by Randy Arozarena, who, in the second at bat of the game, challenged two pitches and was wrong on both. He used both their challenges in one at bat. And they were easily strikes. That was a turning point in the game.

Jeff Hoffman pitched the eighth, allowing a walk, while getting two strikeouts. He was great. That’s hold #9 for Jeff.

And Louis Varland, giving up just a single, got the save (18th). He was helped by a very nice play by Vlad at first. He knocked knocked down a hard hit ground ball, picked it up and beat Arozarena to the bag for the first out.

Jays of the Day: Clease (0.40 WPA) and Giménez (0.13). And let’s give Honourable Mention to Hoffman and Varland.

No one got the ‘Other Award’. Kirk had the low mark, -0.08. But then, he did a great job with Cease and the relievers.

Tomorrow it is a 4:00 Eastern start time. Shane Bieber (0-0, 6.00) vs. Logan Gilbert (6-5, 3.42).

It was very nice to give most of the bullpen the day off (after yesterday’s day off). Hoffman threw 24 pitches and Varland 16.

Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing tapped Shohei Ohtani from behind with his glove, as he passed the two-way superstar putting on his hitting guards at the entrance to the dugout.

By the time of that brief exchange in the fourth inning, the battery was already looking, if not completely dominant, at least more in sync Friday, setting up their team for a 4-3 win against the Padres highlighted by Teoscar Hernández‘s grand slam in the seventh.

As Ohtani held the Padres to three runs through six innings, the battery had a much smoother ride than the previous week.

Ohtani took his at-bat in the sixth but was replaced by pinch-hitter Miguel Rojas in the seventh after feeling something in his right biceps during his final at-bat. He told reporters the move was “precautionary” and that he felt something in the same spot a couple months ago that cleared up relatively quickly.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said postgame that Ohtani won’t be the designated hitter on Saturday.

The last time Rushing caught Ohtani, the pitcher took over pitch-calling after a disastrous second inning against the Twins last week.

“I just overthought last time,” Rushing said in a conversation with The Times on Thursday night. “I was trying to be perfect, and with a guy like that, you don’t have to be perfect. You just need to call the right pitches at the right time and allow his stuff to just beat them naturally. And that’s the plan [Friday]. Whether I call the pitch, he calls the pitch. I want to make sure we’re both convicted in what we’re throwing, and we can execute it to the best of our ability.”

On Friday, Ohtani handed back over pitch-calling duties, communicating with head shakes and nods instead of the PitchCom buttons on his arm.

Ohtani walked the first two batters he faced. But then he struck out three of the next four, escaping the jam down just 1-0, courtesy of an RBI single from Gavin Sheets.

That started a streak of 10 batters who Ohtani retired in order, fanning six of them.

“The best way that I can describe it is, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Rushing said when asked what he’d learned from following along last week. “That’s the way he pitches. ... Trust what you do, trust how good his stuff is, and just go from there.”

Ohtani’s back-to-back strikeouts to end the second inning were a good example. Against left-handed hitting Sung-Mun Song, he threw mostly four-seam fastballs and splitters, finishing off the six-pitch at-bat with a sweeper, according to Statcast.

Against right-handed hitting Rodolfo Durán, Ohtani threw mostly sinkers and sweepers, with one four-seamer mixed in out of seven pitches.

Ohtani eventually relented a second run with two outs in the fourth inning. He fell behind 0-2 in the count to Jackson Merrill, who flipped a strike call with an ABS challenge. Then Merrill hammered a fastball over the plate for a solo homer.

Ohtani successfully navigated traffic to throw a scoreless fifth, but Xander Bogaerts tagged him for an RBI double in the sixth.

Ohtani gave up seven hits for a quality start that wasn’t his cleanest but was enough for the Dodgers to win after Hernández’s blast.

The Dodgers struggled to get anything going against Padres starter Michael King. But he turned the game over to reliever Adrian Morejon with two runners on and no outs in the seventh. Two batters later, Hernández ambushed a first-pitch slider.

Hernández drifted up the first-base line as he watched the ball fly. When it landed, he launched his bat back toward the dugout, and it made it halfway there.

The home run helped dissolve any lingering worries about Rushing and Ohtani’s pairing.

Rushing has been the Dodgers’ primary catcher since June 6, when a neck injury sidelined Will Smith. The Dodgers initially expected the problem to resolve with a day or two of rest. But after stalled progress and an injection to address it, Smith is not expected to return from the injured list until after the All-Star break.

He’s at least progressing through baseball activities. Smith has resumed throwing and took swings on Thursday, Roberts said.

The Dodgers pushed back Ohtani’s start this week from Wednesday against the A’s to Friday against a division rival. The change in schedule likely means he won’t pitch in the All-Star Game.

Read more:Dodgers overcome Roki Sasaki's poor performance to rout Padres

“If you just kind of do the math it would be hard to imagine,” said Roberts, who will also manage the NL All-Star team. “But I don’t have to make that decision quite yet.”

Ohtani is lined up to pitch again next Friday against the Diamondbacks, four days before the All-Star Game. The break from pitching could also benefit his left knee, a problem that seems to have been aggravated by pitching.

“The knee feels as good as it’s felt in quite some time,” Roberts said before the game Friday, “so that’s encouraging for tonight.”

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

On another hot day in Cleveland, the game today started as a pitchers’ duel. The Big Rig and Anthony Kay got off to blazing starts, and it was Anthony Kay who would blink first. After retiring the first 6 hitters in a row to start the game, Gabriel Arias and Austin Hedges would draw back to back walks to start the 3rd inning. Kwan would sacrifice them both to 3rd with a bunt, and an RBI single from Travis Bazzana would plate the first run of the game for the Guards. That would be all they got in the inning, as David Fry would ground into a double play.

Gavin Williams would get into a little trouble in the 4th, as the White Sox would get 2 runners on with only one out. He was able to work out of it with a strikeout and a weak grounder to end the inning. The Big Rig would get into trouble again in the 5th. After back to back singles and a sacrifice, the White Sox would get both runners into scoring position with only 1 out. Gavin got a weak ground ball that was unable to score the run from 3rd for the second out of the inning. Unfortunately the Big Rig wouldn’t be able to escape this jam. As the wind began to pick up and blow debris all around the field, and after a hard fought 10 pitch battle with Miguel Vargas, it would be Vargas who would emerge victorious, clobbering a 3 run homer down the left field line. Immediately after, the umpiring crew would call for the tarp, and we would head into a weather delay.

Once we finally got back to action, both offenses would stay silent until the bottom half of the 7th inning. The Guards would get 2 runners on base with walks from Hoskins and Rocchio. Then with 2 outs, Austin Hedges would come through with an infield single on a ball in the hole between the SS and 3rd base, and Hoskins would score after the ball was booted a little bit by Colson Montgomery. Next, Steven Kwan would come to the plate with the score now 3-2. Kwan was able to get a soft liner down the left field line to drive in the tying run. That was all for the Guards in the 7th, as Bryan Hudson was able to strike out Travis Bazzana to end the inning.

👔d.#GuardsBallpic.twitter.com/qdFwQhb1VB

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) July 4, 2026

After the Guardians tied the game, both Colin Holderman and Cade Smith would throw 1-2-3 8th and 9th innings. But despite getting a runner on base in each inning, the Guards couldn’t scratch a run across, and we were headed to extras.

The Guardians would send Erik Sabrowski out for the 10th. He would strike out the first two hitters and retire the last on a flyout to right field, preserving the 3-3 tie and giving the Guards offense a chance to win if they could get the free baserunner home in the bottom half of the inning. It was Travis Bazzana to lead it off with Steven Kwan on as the free baserunner. He would single on a hard ground ball to left, but the left fielder was playing in, so Kwan could only get to 3rd. It was down to Khalil Watson, who, with the infield in, smashed a ground ball right back up the middle. For the second night in a row, the Guardians would walk off the White Sox and take back sole possession of 1st place in the Central Division!

Elementary, my dear Watson.#GuardsBall | #GuardiWWWinspic.twitter.com/NTcfZwCaXb

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) July 4, 2026

The Guards look to clinch a win in the 4 game series Saturday night at 7:10. It’ll be Parker Messick on the mound for the Guardians up against Sean Burke for the White Sox.

Teoscar Hernández capitalized off an error and launched a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning to lead the Dodgers (58-31) to a 4-3 comeback win over the Padres (43-44) Friday night at Dodger Stadium. The dramatic blast was Hernandez’s eighth home run of the season, erasing a 3-0 deficit and securing the win.

It was an uncharacteristic shaky start for Shohei Ohtani on the mound. A four-pitch walk to Tatis Jr. started the game for Ohtani who missed the strike zone with his first six pitches of the game. Another walk to Jake Cronenworth immediately gave the Padres the opportunity to get on the board quickly.

The Padres, once again, scored early. Gavin Sheets smacked a high sweeper to right field for a RBI single. Ohtani ended up striking out three in the first inning, but the Padres took an early 1-0 lead.

Ohtani and Dalton Rushing settled down nicely and had collected seven strikeouts through the first three innings.

Michael King was perfect through three innings, using his sinker and changeup to fool batters.

Jackson Merrill took advantage of an overturned strike call and homered against Ohtani with two outs in the fourth to make it 2-0 Padres.

Freddie Freeman’s two-out single in the bottom of the fourth was the first hit the Dodgers mustered off King. The Dodgers got nothing to show for it after Mookie Betts flied out to end the inning and erase the base runner.

Max Muncy snagged a Machado grounder at third to get the final out in the fifth after the Padres had runners at the corners with two outs.

The Dodgers got the tying run to the plate against King in the bottom of the sixth, but Freeman grounded out to end the inning and strand another two base runners.

Kyle Hurt took over for Ohtani in the seventh, and a double play helped the reliever escape without allowing a run. Ohtani wasn’t involved in the decision with a line of: 6 IP, 3 R, 7 H, 2 BB, 9 K (110 pitches).

The Dodgers adjusted at the plate against King and got their first two men aboard in the bottom of the seventh to chase the Padres ace from the game. Things unraveled for the Friars after they took out King. Adrian Morejon, who had been lights out coming into the game, got ambushed by the Dodgers offense.

Coming off a four-hit game, Tucker looked to get that big hit the Dodgers needed all night. Betts walked, and Muncy singled. The Dodgers got a lucky break when Tucker reached safely on a bumbling error by Cronenworth which ended up to be very costly.

Hernández brought the early 4th of July fireworks to Chavez Ravine with a monstrous grand slam to give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead. It was the first home run for Hernandez since returning to action after missing a month with a hamstring injury.

TEOSCAR GRAND SLAM! pic.twitter.com/IiL6ziPJ36

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 4, 2026

Edgardo Henriquez pitched a 1-2-3 eighth to keep it a one-run game. Henriquez has been a key part of this Dodgers bullpen that has been particularly effective of late. Opposing hitters had a .154 batting average against him in June.

Dave Roberts gave Tanner Scott the ball in the top of the ninth. Tanner struck out Samad Taylor, Miguel Andujar, and Tatis Jr. to slam the door on the Padres who have now lost seven straight.

Friday particulars

Home runs: Jackson Merrill (10); Teoscar Hernandez (8)

WP — Kyle Hurt (3-1): 1 IP, 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 strikeout

LP — Adrian Morejon (6-2): 1 IP, 2 hits, 2 runs, 2, walks, no strikeouts

S — Tanner Scott (12): Struck out the side in the top of the 9th

Up next

Fireworks are sure to explode during the third of four games between the NL West rivals on 4th of July (7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA), with Yoshinobu Yamamoto (8-5, 2.67 ERA, 0.89 WHIP) on the mound for the Dodgers and Griffin Canning (1-5, 7.09 ERA, 1.66 WHIP) for the Padres.

Blue Jays 2, Mariners 0

Christmas Beef Wellington: Víctor Robles, +0.11 WPA
American attempts at poutine: Colt Emerson, -0.21 WPA

Game Thread Comment of the Day

Recap

On a huge sports day—a near-upset that would have made FIFA history between Argentina and Cape Verde, Novak Djokovic tying a record at Wimbledon, the Cardinals clobbering the rival Cubs 17-1, Tour de France regulations put in place due to extreme heat, Taylor Swift’s wedding—this late-night match-up between the lowly Red Sox and Angels falls somewhere like the 18^th most important sports story today.

Besides all that, it’s the start of the holiday weekend. But for all the night owls who tuned in, it was a thoroughly enjoyable game!

Jake Bennett proved he belongs and Romy González showed he’s back. Bennett quickly got out to a confident start, with a 1-2-3 first inning; he repeated that feat in each frame through the fourth, not allowing a hit until the fifth and never giving up a walk. I was surprised that Chad Tracy brought him out for the eighth, not because he was struggling—he most definitely wasn’t—but because he’d never gone that deep in a game before. Sure enough, he was a little gassed and began to falter, giving up a home run, a single, a wild pitch, then another single. Two runs scored in the inning but this wasn’t indicative of his night.

In the ninth, Aroldis Chapman broke Hoyt Wilhelm’s record for most strikeouts by a reliever—not a closer, but all relievers.

As for the offense, the Sox hitters were as confident as their pitchers, with nearly everyone getting at least one hit. Rafaela, Abreu, Contreras, Durbin, and Duran were on the basepaths multiple times. Though Duran didn’t have a hit, he had a nice sac fly, laid down a sacrifice bunt, and advanced on a fielding error.

Fire up the grill, get the drinks on ice, and stay cool over the weekend; the Sox are doing their part to give us something to celebrate.

Studs

Aroldis Chapman

Chapman went into the record books for most strikeouts by a reliever, besting Hoyt Wilhelm with #1,364. He even grinned for the occasion. Nice work.

Jake Bennett

He held the Angels hitless until the fifth. With a lot of first-pitch strikes, soft contact, and short at-bats, he cruised through seven. Good for him, good for us, good for the bullpen. His final line doesn’t quite do justice to how good he looked out there tonight. 7.2 IP, 5H, 2R, 6K, 1 BB.

Romy González

The guy we’ve been pining for all season has arrived. He announced himself with a triple in the first inning and overall went 3-4 with 2 RBI.

Caleb Durbin

He went 1-3 with a home run, and scored another run after getting on base with a walk. He had the Defensive Play of the Game too. Nice night.

Dud

Nate Eaton

Hey, it happens. He was the only hitter to not reach base, going 0-5 with 3 K’s.

Play of the Game

In 2026, we haven’t often been able to consider several potential Plays of the Game; it’s been sparse all season long. Tonight I considered a few different candidates, including Durbin’s homer, but I’m going with Romy’s triple that put the Sox on the board in the second. Romy showed he was back, and said he’s feeling good. Here’s hoping it’s the first of many notable plays that he’ll record for the Sox for the rest of the way.

I’m also awarding a Defensive Play of the Game, which was this sweet little grab by Durbin.

Amid absolute pandemonium at Dodger Stadium on Friday night, an unexpected cause for concern arose in the home dugout.

Shortly after completing a six-inning, three-run start as a pitcher against the San Diego Padres, Shohei Ohtani was removed from the game as a hitter in the bottom of the seventh, when Miguel Rojas pinch-hit for him shortly after a go-ahead grand slam from Teoscar Hernández in the Dodgers’ come-from-behind 4-3 win.

The reason for Ohtani’s removal: Tightness in his right bicep he had felt during his final at-bat as a hitter in the game.

“Just kinda tightened up on him,” manager Dave Roberts said.

On the bright side, both Ohtani and Roberts described the superstar’s exit as a “precautionary” decision, and downplayed the potential severity of the injury.

However, Roberts said Ohtani would still be out of the lineup on Saturday, to “give him a day to fully recover, treat it up.”

“We’ll just go from there,” the skipper added.

Ohtani did not appear to be laboring physically in his two-way performance Friday, even as he grinded through an 110-pitch effort –– which included nine strikeouts, but also nine baserunners allowed (seven hits, two walks), to leave him with a 1.79 ERA on the season and a mediocre 4.38 ERA over his last four starts.

However, during his final at-bat in the bottom of the sixth, he said in Japanese that there “was something that concerned me a little with my biceps” after lifting a flyout to right field.

He said it only impacted his swing, and that he felt no problem while pitching.

Ohtani later revealed that he had dealt with similar discomfort in batting practice earlier this season, but noted “it got better relatively quickly then, so I think that will be the case again this time.”

“You know what, [that instance] was so benign, that I didn’t hear about it until tonight,” Roberts added when asked about Ohtani’s previous bicep issue. “It didn’t take him out of playing.”

Ohtani’s absence didn’t put a damper on the Dodgers’ comeback Friday, when they overcame a 3-0 deficit in the bottom of the seventh.

After six dominant innings from Padres ace Michael King to start the night, the Dodgers finally knocked him out of the game on a leadoff walk from Mookie Betts and single from Max Muncy. Then, they got a fortuitous break to load the bases against reliever Adrian Morejon, with Kyle Tucker’s would-be double-play grounder getting booted by Jake Cronenworth at second base.

Just like that, Hernández stepped up representing the go-ahead run.

And on the first pitch he saw –– a hanging slider over the plate –– the veteran slugger blasted a grand slam that unleashed perhaps the loudest reaction from the crowd all season.

Hernández chucked his bat with an emphatic flip, then rounded the bases as Chavez Ravine shook in celebration, helping the Dodgers –– even without Ohtani at the end –– extend their division lead over the Padres to 14 games.

“We believe in each other, we know what we can do, we know the players that we have, and we’re never out of the game,” Hernández said, after keying the Dodgers’ second stunning comeback against San Diego in as many nights. “That’s our mentality every day that we go into the field. It happens to keep showing every single day.”

What it means

The initial belief might be that Ohtani’s injury is nothing to worry about.

But it is yet another reminder of the toll that comes with his two-way workload.

Roberts acknowledged that fact, and even left the door open to not having Ohtani make his final pitching start before the All-Star break, which is scheduled for next Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“I do think that for us to read and react and hear what his body is telling him is really important,” Roberts said, “given the toll it takes on his body to be a two-way player.”

Still, Roberts also called Ohtani a “quick healer” who “finds a way to get back.”

And though Ohtani will get the day off on Saturday, he already felt on Friday night that he would be able to take the field if the team wanted.

“It’s not as if you can be in perfect condition every time you play,” he said.

Who’s hot

Ohtani’s injury aside, the moment of the night was Hernández’s go-ahead blast in the seventh.

The homer was Hernández’s first since returning from a month-long hamstring injury earlier this week.

It was also the best sign yet that he hasn’t lost the hot swing he’d found before going on the IL, having hit .325 with 14 RBIs in his final 24 games before getting hurt.

“It’s just a little bit of everything,” Hernández explained of his emotional reaction to Friday’s big fly, which continued with a string of high-fives and fist pumps on his way back to the dugout, plus a sunflower seed shower from teammate and mentee Andy Pages.

“I’m just trying to find the same swing that I had before I got hurt, and at the same time, just do something for the team,” Hernández added. “It happened to be a big swing.”

Who’s not

Even before his biceps injury, Friday hadn’t been Ohtani’s most convincing performance.

His pitching outing was a “quality start” only in the most literal sense of the term –– marred by a pair of leadoff walks that led to a run in the first, a home run to Jackson Merrill on a center-cut fastball in the fourth, and a two-out, run-scoring rally he yielded in the sixth that nearly put the Padres’ lead too far out of reach.

“Good outing,” Roberts called it. “But I think, again, with Shohei, the stuff that he has, he’s just got to be more efficient to get into that seventh inning. And the last few starts, he just hasn’t given himself a chance.”

Ohtani’s bat has quietly cooled off in recent days too, with his 0-for-3 performance on Friday dropping him to 2-for-16 over the last four games.

At the very least, he and catcher Dalton Rushing found better chemistry as batterymates, getting on the same page with their pitch calling (the majority of which was done by Rushing) after their glaring miscommunication in Minnesota last week.

Also, as Ohtani noted, he still “left the game in a place in which we could still hope to win.”

And even without him at the end, Hernández made sure the Dodgers did.

Up next

The Dodgers will try to clinch this four-game series, and grow their monstrous lead in the division even further, in a Fourth of July game on Saturday. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (8-5, 2.67 ERA) faces Padres right-hander Griffin Canning (1-5, 7.09 ERA).