Category: MLB

There were plenty of baserunners to go around for both sides in Las Vegas on Saturday night, with the Colorado Rockies and Athletics combining for 19 hits. While the Rockies had their chances, another rough outing from Kyle Freeland didn’t help the cause, and they were never able to stay ahead of the A’s.

The Rockies losing streak grows to three games as they drop the series.

Freeland falls behind early again, but rebounds

The first inning has not been kind to Freeland on the season.

Coming into tonight’s game, he carried a 9.00 ERA with 11 runs and 13 hits surrendered in 11 first innings pitched. He’s only been worse in third innings (11.45 ERA, 14 runs, 24 hits).

That trend continued with another rough game start for K-Free. He secured the first out against Colby Thomas leading off, forcing him to a grounder. After a Nick Kurtz single and a Shea Langeliers double, Freeland got a strikeout for out number two. With those two outs and runners on second and third, Freeland allowed a two-run single to Jacob Wilson to give the Athletics an early lead.

Things got better from there — for a bit, anyway — as Freeland settled in over the next couple innings. Aside from a double in the second inning, Freeland worked through the second and third with relative ease. He notched another strikeout in the second and logged a 1-2-3 third.

Rockies claw back in and a slew of triples bounce Estes

For their part, the Rockies offense chipped away at the A’s leads. After a quiet first and second inning, the Rockies initially broke through in the third with a Brett Sullivan solo home run to right field, cutting the lead to 2-1.

TJ Rumfield doubled to second to lead off the fourth inning. He was brought home a few batters later on a Troy Johnston single. Johnston was thrown out trying to stretch it into a two-bagger, but got the job done and tied the game at 2-2.

That tie wouldn’t last long. In the bottom of the inning, Henry Bolte singled, and a Zack Gelof dinger put the Athletics back ahead, 4-2.

The rollercoaster, or maybe seesaw, continued with the Rockies bats getting to work in the fifth inning. Kyle Karros got his first career triple to start the momentum. Sullivan scored him on a fly ball to right to bring the Rockies within a run. Another triple from Sterlin Thompson would chase Estes, with José Suarez coming in to relieve him.

Before being called up and given the start in tonight’s game, Estes was 2-6 in 12 starts with a 5.95 for the Las Vegas Aviators in triple-A. Getting the start in familiar surroundings at the Aviators’ home, Estes made it 4.1 innings giving up five hits, four runs (including the homer to Sullivan), and four strikeouts.

By the end of the inning, the Rockies took a 5-4 lead after Thompson made it home on a passed ball and an Edouard Julien double scored Rumfield.

Things get rocky for the Rockies in the sixth

Freeland’s up and down night continued. After a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth, Freeland would again let the lead slip away in the sixth inning. Freeland gave up a single to Alika Wiliams that brought Gelof home from second to tie things up again at 5-5.

Following that, Freeland was pulled for Jaden Hill. Freeland’s day ended after 5.2 innings, giving up a whopping 10 hits and six runs, with four strikeouts. His ERA jumped up to 7.98 after this start. Manager Warren Schaeffer noted that he “thought Kyle battled well tonight. Kyle was throwing the ball very well; the pen is a little light at the moment. He did a great job taking it to 95 pitches.”

Of those 95, he relied primarily on his four-seam fastball throughout, but leaned heavily on his cutter for his third time through the order. The A’s were able to get their bats on his cutter, though, with four of their 10 hits against Freeland coming off of that pitch.

Hill, who was so reliable to start the year, would unfortunately log another off night. On a 1-1 count with two outs, Hill surrendered a double to Tyler Soderstrom that gave the A’s a 6-5 lead on a Williams run. Hill intentionally walked Kurtz, walked Langeliers to load the bases, and hit Carlos Cortes with a pitch to move a runner home and extend the lead to 7-5.

Steady as she goes

Despite lots of early lead changes, the runs dried up in the later innings. The Rockies needed a couple pitchers to make it through the bottom of the seventh. Seth Halvorsen replaced Hill to start the inning, getting the first two outs but allowing Gelof to board second on a fielding error. After Williams walked and Gelof stole third, the Rockies looked to Juan Mejia to get the final out. That he did, as Soderstrom grounded to the mound. Neither side mustered much of anything in the eighth.

The Rockies went out with a dud. They only managed one hit from the fifth inning on and were blanked in the ninth when Elvis Alvarado entered to close things out for the A’s. Alvarado struck Karros out on four pitches, mixing sliders and a sinker, ultimately getting him out on the former. Sullivan battled for a good at-bat, but met the same fate, striking out after 10 pitches. Thompson grounded out towards first to put the game to bed.

Schaeffer pointed to “sloppy baseball” being the reason for tonight’s loss. He noted that the team “had the chance to get out of innings, chance to win the game. But sloppy baseball prevented that from happening.”

Up Next

The Sin City series comes to a close with a Sunday afternoon matchup. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. MDT at Las Vegas Ballpark.

Tomoyuki Sugano (6-4, 4.08 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Rockies, while the Athletics will turn to Jeffrey Springs (3-6, 4.68 ERA).

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For anyone whose perspective is “Expect the Worst” as a Cleveland sports fan, tonight must have come as no surprise as Jose Ramirez fractured his left hamate.

It’s unclear if Jose will get surgery or wait for the situation to heal, but somewhere between 4-8 weeks is the recovery time and a hitter’s power can be sapped for a while afterwards. Jose was on his way to a 60-steal season and looking to take the franchise lead in home runs, so, even though his numbers looked pedestrian compared to his career norms, this is about as big a blow as the Guardians can sustain, short of a season-ending injury to Ramirez (God-forbid).

From the looks of Columbus’ lineup activities, Gabriel Arias will be called up and probably take Jose’s place as the primary third baseman (spelled occasionally by Daniel Schneemann). The good news is that Arias should be a great defensive replacement. The bad news is that no one is Jose Ramirez offensively and Arias is very likely to be at least a 30 wRC+ drop from Jose’s expected output. On the positive side, the next 4-8 weeks should finally put a bow on the Arias experience for the Guardians; he will either hit enough to be a league average hitter or they can DFA him when Jose returns.

Chase DeLauter was also removed after crashing into a wall with what was described as a rib confusion. CJ Kayfus being removed from the Columbus game late makes me suspect this may end up being an IL stint. Hopefully, just a 15-day variety, but that’s definitely a blow. I see folks asking for George Valera or Kahlil Watson. I would have chosen Valera, myself, but Kayfus’s September from last year should not be forgotten where he put up a 126 wRC+. He can take a walk and he’s got some pop. Let him handle left field for a while and see what he’s got, I suppose, is the mindset.

I am sure that we are not far from a Watson debut or a Valera return engagement. Watson and Kayfus have some similar red flags as hitters, so I can’t argue too much there. I do think Valera has shown more signs of consistent plate discipline and power than Kayfus, but his defense looked borderline unplayable in most recent instances. I think it’s Kayfus for a bit and then if he isn’t showing much and DeLauter needs more time, we will see Valera before the All-Star break. But, hopefully, we will not be missing Chase that long.

Angel Martinez also has a foot bruise and is day-to-day. “Oh, what a night!” As the Four Seasons once said. Only in a much more somber tone from me.

The way this team responds to losing the leader of their team and future Hall of Famer will define the 2026 season. If they can find a way to pull together and win baseball games at a .500 level in his absence, that should be a great confidence builder for this group. If not, well… they will have some ground to make up in August and September and they have done that before.

I hope everyone remembers to go and vote Jose to the All-Star game. He deserves the selection and it will be a way for us to show our appreciation to a player whose absence we are about to feel keenly, even if the team is able to step up during his recovery.

The A’s came out on top for the fourth straight night in Las Vegas, beating the Colorado Rockies 7-5. The win put the A’s back at .500, secured the series win and gives the Athletics a chance at a sweep tomorrow afternoon. And thanks to losses from a pair of division rivals in the Mariners and Rangers, the A’s rose in the AL West to sole possession of second place and just a game back of first place.

The A’s got to work quickly against Colorado starting pitcher Kyle Freeland. A first inning single and walk put two on for the recently returned Jacob Wilson, and he came through with a two-out, two-run single to give the Green & Gold a quick lead:

The Rockies would soon get one of those runs back against A’s starter Joey Estes, who was making his first big league start in over a full calendar year. After a solid start with two uneventful innings Colorado catcher Brett Sullivan came to the plate to lead off the top of the third and got ahold of a hanging breaking ball in the middle of the zone for a solo home run to put the Rockies on the board. Estes bounced back to retire the next three batters in a row but gave up another run in the fourth that tied this game up at two-all.

With Freeland still in the game the A’s offense needed to get back to work. Rookie center fielder Henry Bolte began the bottom of the fourth with a leadoff single. Zack Gelof, playing right field tonight, was next up to the plate and he got ahold of his own misplaced pitch, launching a two-run home run to retake the lead for the A’s:

That blast was #9 on the year for Gelof and it also extended his hitting streak to 17 games, currently tops in MLB.

But Estes couldn’t supply the much-needed shutdown inning. The Rockies rallied for three runs in the top of the fifth, with two charged to Estes and another charged to his replacement left-hander Jose Suarez. Once again the A’s would have to ask their offense to bail them out.

It took them a couple innings but they did some serious damage in the bottom of the sixth. First, with a runner on second and two outs the A’s needed a base hit and Alika Williams delivered one, tying this game back up at 5 with a bloop RBI single to center:

Williams would finish the night 3-for-3 with that RBI and a run scored. That hit also chased Kyle Freeland from this contest and we were now into a below-average Rockies bullpen. Mark Kotsay decided to counter the pitching change with a swap of his own, pinch-hitting Tyler Soderstrom for Colby Thomas. His decision worked to perfection as Sodey came through with a go-ahead RBI double:

Things continued to unravel from there for the Rockies. An intentional walk was followed by an unintentional one, loading the bases for the A’s but still with two outs. Again Kotsay turned to his bench, this time going with the lefty in Carlos Cortes in place of switch-hitter Jonah Heim. And again it worked out, but with some help via a hit by pitch that brought home the Athletics’ seventh run of the evening. The A’s now had a two-run lead with nine outs to go. Could the bullpen hold for a second straight night?

Next out of the ‘pen was Scott Barlow. He pitched a scoreless seventh with just a meaningless walk allowed. Fellow righty Mark Leiter Jr. followed him for the eighth and tip-toed around a runner making it to second to post a zero himself. With a two run lead it was now up to Elvis Alvarado to close this one out against the 7-8-9 batters in Colorado’s lineup. With a 1-2-3 inning he sealed the deal, finishing off the Rockies for the win and securing his second save of the year.

Another solid win, if not perfectly well-rounded. Estes looked good in his first two innings but quickly fell apart. On the bright side he at least managed to provide 4 1/3 innings, saving the bullpen from a heavy lift tonight. The offense came through with 11 hits with only one of those leaving the yard. Gelof’s hit streak continues, the A’s are back to .500 and we’re right back on the Mariners’ heels in the AL West.

The series wraps up tomorrow afternoon for the series finale. Lefty Jeffrey Springs, who was originally scheduled to start tonight’s contest, will instead get the ball for the last game of the series. He’ll be hoping to bounce back from a tough stretch in what’ll he his 15th start of the year for the A’s. He’ll be opposed by Rockies right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano, who has been a solid if unspectacular member of a subpar Colorado starting rotation this season.

The best, most positive bright spot of this game and this series is that it happened late at night on the West Coast, in between a packed World Cup slate, and during Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Ideally the absolute minimum amount of people were exposed to the completely lifeless version of the Rays that June has wrought.

Rays couldn’t make the key defensive plays needed to win. They couldn’t come up with any clutch hits or even weak hits with runners in scoring position. Rays pitched well enough but not well enough. Angels on the other side did all of those things.

And isn’t that the true biggest level of agony: the Angels?! The freaking Angels? The Martin Prince of baseball teams are bully balling their way to shoving the Rays into a locker? Oh, that does it!

Let me make this relatively quick and painless for those lucky enough not to have watched.

Griffin Jax continued to be sharp in a starting role. 5 innings, 5 hits, no walks, and 5 Ks. The only run he gave up, and the reason for the L on his ledger, is a very sharp grounder directly to Taylor Walls which Walls could not handle and hopped wickedly off of him into the outfield. A fairly harsh error, but also a ball I know Walls would say he needed to make, especially with 2 outs to preserve the shutout.

Rays bullpen was less sharp, but Cash wisely chose not to chase the late trailing game (1 run seems like 10 right now) and used the strugglers and returners. Garrett Cleavinger continued to be ineffective, but at least it was quick. 3 batters, 1 K, 2 hits, and 1 out recorded. Recently returned Craig Kimbrel was very wild and got tagged for MORE 2 out offense from the Halos.

Later on, Cash got more of the low leverage struggle bus involved and Cole Sulser gave up a 2 run dinger to Jose Siri. The Angels would feast some more off of Sulser, who also could not finish a full inning, leaving with just 2 outs recorded 5 hits and 1 walk and 4 ER given up.

On the offensive side of things, there was nothing to really write home (or in recap) about. Yandy Diaz extended his on base streak to 26 games and the Rays didn’t get no-hit. The went 0-7 with RISP and left 6 on base, but there never really was a serious threat of scoring. This yard sale whiff from Caminero pretty much sums up the Rays June:

With a Yankees thrilling win and Tampa Bay’s humiliating loss tonight, the Rays sink to 2nd place for the first time since May 8th.

Oh, I just thought of more good news: June only has 30 days.

It was a huge win for the Guardians as they regained first place in the AL Central standings and continue to destroy the Tigers season. Winning this game against Skubal was great not only in the standings but it also had to demoralize the Tigers players. A 2 run HR from Schneemann was all we needed today after a great start from Cantillo where he didn’t walk a single batter, which is absolutely massive for him. I know there has been some panic over the bullpen, but I feel really good about all 3 of Holderman, Gaddis, and Smith right now. I think they’re gonna be just fine, especially when we get the likes of Aleman, Espino, and Walters settled in.

Now for the bad news…José Ramírez fractured his hamate bone and will be out for 4-6 weeks. Gabriel Arias was scratched from the AAA lineup so I think it’s probably fair to assume he will get the bulk of the ABs at 3B, which I am ok with. Chase DeLauter and Angel Martinez were also both removed from the game due to injury, but neither injury appears particularly serious. Martinez had x-rays on his foot and they came back negative, thankfully. DeLauter left the game with a right ribcage bruise, let’s hope he doesn’t miss too much time with that.

We are really going to see what this team is made of over the next month and a half. They will look to sweep the Tigers tomorrow at 1:40 pm ET. It will be Gavin Williams vs Casey Mize.

Any hopes the Texas Longhorns had of contending in the College World Series took a massive blow on Saturday at Charles Schwab Field in a 7-1 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs as right-hander Joey Volchko delivered the best outing of his career, striking out a career-high 15 batters in a complete game for the first Bulldogs win in Omaha since 2008.

Volchko took control early by striking out the first three batters he faced and never faltered, pouring in strikes early in the count and missing bats with the glove-side run on his four-seam fastball and electric slider. Of the 114 pitches thrown by the Stanford transfer, 84 went for strikes as Texas only managed four hits, two by sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez, who scored the only run for the Horns in the fifth inning. Volchko’s ability to fill up the strike zone resulted in Texas only drawing one walk.

The Horns went 1-for-9 (.111) with runners on and 1-for-5 (.200) with runners in scoring position as only one player in the starting lineup, junior first baseman Ashton Larson, avoided a strikeout. Larson went 0-for-3.

As Volchko worked ahead in count, Texas responded by trying to attack the first pitch, a strategy that worked as poorly as attempting to get deep in at bats. After junior right fielder Aiden Robbins worked a full count against Volchko to start the game before striking out, the Horns didn’t get to a three-ball count again until pinch-hitter Josh Livingston in the eighth inning.

The Bulldogs took advantage of early mistakes by the Longhorns as sophomore left-hander Dylan Volantis struggled with his command in the first inning, walking the first batter he faced before giving up a line-drive home run off the foul pole in left field by center fielder Rylan Lujo.

Even as Volantis became more effective, it backfired when junior catcher Carson Tinney airmailed a soft throw on a swinging strikeout that allowed Georgia to put a runner on first with one out after Lujo’s homer. A soft single through the right side of the Texas infield increased the pressure on Volantis, who was able to record the second out before hitting a batter and giving up two unearned runs when Tinney made another mistake on a swinging strikeout, missing his throw to first instead of trying to get the runner out at home.

So the Bulldogs took command of the game after the first inning with the benefit of only one hit as Tinney committed his third and fourth errors of the season in an uncharacteristically shaky performance.

Volantis wasn’t always able to work in the zone over the ensuing innings, hitting two more batters, even though he didn’t allow another hit until the seventh when he gave up an RBI double and a two-run single when Georgia scored three unearned runs thanks to an error by junior third baseman Casey Borba.

If the game wasn’t already out of reach for Texas before the seventh, it certainly was afterwards as the top four batters in the lineup combined to go 0-for-15 with 11 strikeouts, including four by redshirt senior second baseman Temo Becerra.

The Horns also saw junior designated hitter Ethan Mendoza depart in the eighth inning with an injury after hitting a single up the middle.

With the season on the line, Texas faces Alabama on Monday at 1 p.m. Central in an elimination game. The Tide lost to the Sooners 9-0 in the early game on Saturday.

Joey Volchko made College World Series history on Saturday, June 13, in Georgia's 7-1 win over Texas, delivering a masterful performance while being virtually untouchable.

The 6-foot-4 starter finished his first-career complete game with a career-high 15 strikeouts against the Longhorns, holding their lineup to one unearned run on four hits and a walk. He needed 114 pitches in the complete game, and dominated hitters with virtually untouchable cutter and sweeper combination.

REQUIRED READING: Georgia vs Texas baseball score: Joey Volchko masterclass leads to Bulldogs win

Complete Game ✅

First CWS win in 18 years ✅#GoDawgspic.twitter.com/aAL1Sg0K8i

— Georgia Baseball (@BaseballUGA) June 14, 2026

Volchko's start led the way for Georgia's first College World Series win in over 18 years, and his 15 strikeouts were the most by any pitcher in program history in Omaha, Nebraska.

Volchko, the No. 73-ranked prospect of the 2026 MLB Draft by MLB Pipeline, has struggled with command at times in 2026, entering June 13's game with 45 walks in 86 1/3 innings pitched. But his strike-throwing was on point against Texas, walking one hitter while throwing 84 of his 114 pitches for strikes.

He lowered his ERA by nearly 0.40 points, as his average reduced from 4.07 to 3.68 after the career performance. The first-year transfer from Stanford flashed overpowering stuff all night against the Longhorns, touching 96 mph on his cutter while mixing in devastating sweepers and curveballs that kept Texas off balance.

The Bulldogs got out to an early 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning against Texas ace Dylan Volantis, a first-team All-SEC pick this season, due to multiple errors from the Longhorns defense. From there, it was a pitchers' duel between Volchko and Volantis, the latter of whom allowed seven runs, only two of which were earned.

Should Georgia reach the national championship series, Volchko would be fresh enough to make another start, which at that point would come with huge expectations after the imposing showing.

Here's what to know of Volchko after his powerful win against Texas in the College World Series:

Joey Volchko stats

Volchko had his career-best start against Texas in the College World Series on June 13, tossing a complete game with no earned runs. Here's his final line against the Longhorns, along with his season stats:

• vs. Texas: One run (unearned) on four hits with one walk and 15 strikeouts across nine innings. Threw 84 of 114 pitches for strikes.
• 2026 season: 11-2 record with a 3.68 ERA and 119 strikeouts in 95 1.3 innings pitched.

Joey Volchko MLB draft projection

Volchko is MLB Pipeline's No. 73-ranked prospect for the 2026 MLB Draft. MLB Pipeline notes his potential as a front-line MLB starter, although only if he can blend his power with more finesse.

Clearly, he showed it against Texas.

"He has a durable 6-foot-4 frame, athleticism and a quick arm that could help him fit in the front half of a rotation if he can find some finesse to go with his power," MLB Pipeline writes.

MLB Pipeline also gives Volchko a 60-grade fastball and a 60-grade slider, although his splitter, curveball and command were graded at 40, which is below average. Overall, he's a 50-grade prospect, according to the prospect evaluators.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joey Volchko dominates in Georgia's College World Series win vs. Texas

As we nervously await the diagnosis on what appeared to be a pretty grim injury to Spencer Strider’s throwing arm, the Braves scraped a win in Flushing with their fifth starter and missing two of their most productive bats. While there is some pitching depth returning from injury, in the form of Hurston Waldrep, AJ Smith-Shawver, and Spencer Schwellenbach, none of those can be taken for granted. This team is in a great spot in the standings and is getting significant offensive firepower back, but they have a real need to add pitching and likely another viable bat at the deadline. With the exploding farm system

Braves News

Spencer Strider hit the IL with right elbow inflammation, as he is undergoing diagnostic examination. Anthony Molina took his place on the roster.

Eli White provided the Braves’ offense on a Saturday when 2 runs is all they needed to beat the Mets, with some great pitching (although Michael Harris provided a bonus third run.

MLB News

Perennial AL MVP candidate Jose Ramirez is hitting the IL with a hamate bone fracture, one that is notorious for being difficult for hitters to recover from.

Tigers’ superstar Tarik Skubal made his return from injury in Cleveland, in a game that was not his best, but completed his incredibly quick recovery from having loose bodies removed from his throwing elbow.

Yankees swapped one injured outfielder in Trent Grisham for a recovered one in Jasson Dominguez.

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 Diamondbacks bullpen may be getting reinforcements shortly, in the long-absent shape of A.J. Puk, who last pitched for the team on April 17 last year. He has been on rehab assignments in the minors, and has made five appearances there since May 23. However, I use the word “may”, since Nick Piecoro reported yesterday that Puk was experiencing shoulder discomfort as a result of those outings, and will undergo an MRI. So his return is now at least a few weeks off. I’m just glad that when we posed this week’s question, “when he’s healthy” was affixed to the end. Anyway, the topic was whether or not Puk should take over from Sewald immediately. Here are the results.

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That’s quite a resounding show of support for Sewald. To his credit, Paul has been almost perfect in the role, with just one blown save in sixteen opportunities, and a 2.30 ERA there. Of course, there are the four losses and a 5.87 ERA over his ten appearances in non-save situations. But closers tend to be measured largely by how they close, and it’s hard to argue against Sewald there. It’s very much a “Ride or die” mentality there: as long as you don’t blow saves, nobody is too bothered what happens. My concerns, personally, are more whether Sewald can be as effective going forward, because the peripherals aren’t great, and suggest he may be over-performing.

He goes into this Cincinnati series with 15 saves, a number exceeded by only a handful of pitchers this season. But among the 190 relievers with 20+ IP in 2026, his ERA is very much middle of the pack, at #91. His xERA (using exit velocity, launch angle, and sprint speed to model what a player’s ERA “should” be) isn’t bad, coming in 26th at 2.63. But his FIP (Fielding Independent ERA) of 3.88 is 111th and his xFIP of 4.26 is 129th. The main reason for concern is, far more balls in play are becoming outs than you’d expect. His BABIP is .148 – about half league average, and the third lowest of those 190 pitchers.

It does help that he’s not allowing a lot of line drives, which tend to be the engine room which powers BABIP. At 12.3%, Sewald owns the 15th-lowest rate. In addition to doing a good job of limiting hard contact and barrels, he has been successful in getting pitchers to chase, particularly with his sweeper to right-handers. They are 6-for-39 with 12 strikeouts and a feeble .457 OPS against Paul. Considering his low cost – just $1.5 million for the year – he has been a bargain, and has likely already been worth more than that. You just have to look at struggles around the league of far more high-priced closers, to understand why I doubt we’ll see changes in Arizona anytime soon.

Noah Cameron had a rough start, the bullpen couldn’t hold it together, and finally, the defense let the Royals down. In a game where the Astros scored seven of their runs via home run, they finally defeated the Royals with a groundball hit right to Bobby Witt Jr. that the Royals failed to convert into a double play. The final score was 8-7 in favor of the bad guys.

As described in the game discussion post earlier, Noah Cameron has been one of the best pitchers over the last month. You’d be forgiven, however, if you didn’t believe it from watching him tonight. On the one hand, he pitched three hitless, walkless innings to start the game. But he gave up a two-run home run in the fourth and another in the fifth. He gave up two more hits after that and got pulled for John “Gas Can” Schreiber.

The first inning went poorly for the Royals, who went down in order on only eight pitches. But starting in the second, they began to make some noise. Jac Caglianone took a one-out walk and went to third on a Salvador Perez groundout. Michael Massey came through with an RBI single, and the Royals had their first lead.

In the bottom of the third, Kameron Misner led off with an infield single. Carter Jensen grounded into a fielder’s choice, but Bobby Witt Jr. managed to flick a ball off the end of his bat into right field. Vinnie Pasquantino came through with an RBI single. That sent Bobby to third, where he was able to score on a passed ball a few pitches later. A 3-0 lead with Cameron on the mound felt pretty secure, but that’s when the first two-run bomb came. Lane Thomas smacked a solo shot into the fountains the next inning, and all seemed well again. But that’s when the second of the two-run bombs came against Cameron.

The Royals failed to score in the fifth, so the Astros decided to take the lead in the sixth as the wind picked up and the clouds loomed even more. Brice Matthews belted a solo home run off of ol’ Gas Can. Schreiber otherwise did yeoman’s work, striking out 3 in his 1.2 innings of relief.

The Royals came back with a vengeance in the bottom of the sixth. Salvy singled to center and Massey doubled him to third. Thomas took a walk to load the bases for hometown-hero-in-waiting Misner. Unfortunately, we’re all still waiting because he popped up a 3-2 pitch that may have been ball 4 for the first out. But the hometown hero we already knew we had, Carter Jensen, smoked a changeup at 100.8 MPH into left center to clear the bases and give the Royals a 7-5 lead.

That’s just a really pretty swing. Going the other way against a changeup pitcher is almost always the right idea, and Carter did it perfectly.

The Royals tried to score more after Bobby hit a pop-fly double to right-center that could only advance Carter to third. Unfortunately, Isaac Collins was batting in the three hole after Vinnie Pasquantino appeared to injure his wrist – more on that in a minute – in his previous at-bat. Collins flew out to shallow left, and the Royals tried to score Jensen from third anyway. He was thrown out handily. Still, with horrible storms on the radar, all the Royals needed to do was hang on to that lead for a little while longer.

Daniel “Danny Drips” Lynch IV came in to pitch the seventh and performed a clean inning. By this point, the grounds crew had the tarp uncovered and were all standing behind it, ready to start rolling it out at a moment’s notice. The Royals went quietly in the bottom of the seventh. Royals fans were looking nervously at the tarp, hoping it would come on the field sooner or later, and we could all call it an early night with a Royals victory.

Instead, out of the bullpen came Matt Strahm-boli. If you’ve been paying attention, you knew that he’d allowed solo home runs in each of his last four appearances, five of his last six, and six of his last eight. But with a two-run lead, a solo home run couldn’t do them in. So he hit a batter before allowing Jose Altuve to go yard and re-tie the game. It wasn’t what you’d call a rainmaker, but it got the job done. Strahm managed to get the next batter out, but the rain immediately followed, and so did the tarp. Just two batters too late.

This is as good a time as any to talk about Vinnie, I guess. After he hit a pop-up in the bottom of the fifth, he immediately reacted as if something had happened to his right hand. He held it gingerly as he jogged to first, and when he got back to the dugout, he immediately went up the tunnel. The Royals later reported that it was a right hamate injury. It’s unclear whether it’s broken, but hamate injuries can be a massive problem for hitters.

Typically, even once a hitter returns from the IL, they will not have any power in their swing until the following season. Blake Mitchell had a hamate injury in Spring Training last year. He was able to come back at the beginning of May, but finished the year with only 13 extra-base hits in 60 games. For comparison, he had 37 in 111 games the year before, and he’s already got 18 in 53 games this year. It’s possible he could return to form; Corbin Carroll had a hamate injury in Spring Training this year, and he’s been just fine since returning. But I wouldn’t advise you bet on it.

The Royals can ill afford to lose Vinnie, as he was finally getting hot. It’s an arbitrary endpoint, but he was slashing .289/.379/.408/.787, good for a 116 wRC+, over his last 20 games entering tonight. If you shrink the sample, the numbers can get even higher. But now it seems like the Royals might not have the real Vinnie until sometime next year. If they were still on the fence about selling after the Rangers series, they probably shouldn’t be anymore. Considering how many potential buyers there are and how few teams know whether they should be sellers or not, perhaps the Royals could get a good deal done if they wanted to jump the market. Of course, they’d probably need to trade Michael Wacha and/or Seth Lugo because Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic have each suffered additional setbacks in their returns over the last week, and we’re awaiting the results of additional testing before we can even begin to know what their new timelines might be.

When the rain delay ended, Alex Lange-xiety came to pitch as the only reliever who had yet to appear in the series. He got the final two outs of the eighth, but the Royals did nothing in the bottom half. Lange came back out for the ninth because, yeah, everyone else had already pitched too much or in this game. Maybe Beck Way or Eli Morgan could have pitched, but they’re not exactly anyone’s top choice in a close game. Lange walked pinch-hitter Joey Loperfido to start the inning, then got Jeremy Peña on a shallow fly to left. He convinced Yordan Alvarez to pound one into the ground, but it hopped over Caglianone at first.

With runners at first and third, the Royals played the infield back, hoping for a double play ball. And that’s exactly what they got, an easy roller straight to Witt. He threw to second for the first out, but Loftin yanked the throw to first, and Caglianone couldn’t get to it. The broadcast crew wondered if Caglianone should have caught it, and I don’t know, maybe if he had been able to wait a moment longer before entering his stretch, but the guy has primarily been a right fielder for about a year now, and I think that would be a tough play for any first-baseman. It’s only because he’s a lefty that he even got close to it. I’m not going to harp on him whiffing on what was truly an awful throw by Loftin.

The Royals looked like they might tie it again in the bottom of the ninth when Bobby hit a one-out double. Collins, still batting in the three hole, smacked a liner over Peña’s head at short, but he made an amazing leap and caught it. Unfortunately, Bobby was trying to get a good break so he could score. Peña was able to lob it to second to complete the Astros’ double play and end the game. Because, of course, the Astros were able to make the far more difficult game-saving double play. When it rains, it pours.

Anyway, the Royals get to try to avoid the sweep tomorrow. A phrase we’ve had to speak or type far too many times this year. Spencer Arighetti (2.21 ERA, 9.1% K-BB%) will go for Houston. Stephen Kolek (3.14 ERA, 12.2% K-BB%) will take the ball for KC. The game is scheduled for 1:10 Kauffman time, if you care to keep watching.

Entering the Men’s College World Series, Georgia’s offense was the story for the Bulldogs. Led by Golden Spikes finalist Daniel Jackson, the Bulldogs were among the team leaders in several offensive categories this season, and led the nation with a whopping 174 home runs.

And while that offense showed up Saturday night against Texas, scoring 7 runs in a 7-1 win, the big story in Omaha was the outing from starting pitcher Joey Volchko.

The right-hander went the distance for Georgia, allowing four hits and one unearned run, while striking out 15 in a dominant performance.

And the most impressive stat of the night from Volchko? He walked just one batter, and that came in the ninth inning on his 105th pitch of the night. 

Volchko showed impressive command throughout the night, particularly with his breaking stuff. He features a slider with bite, and he consistently used that early in the count to get ahead of hitters, but he also came back to it to finish hitters off late in the count. You can see that on this cutup from early in the game:

But to close things out, he came back to the fastball on his final pitch of the night, a 96-mph heater to freeze cleanup hitter Temo Becerra.

It matched the 96-mph he showed on his first fastball of the game. 

“Honestly, things kinda slowed down for me, I was able to compete and execute pitches,” said Volchko after the win.

He also pointed to his slider.

“Yeah, slider, command to both sides was pretty good,” said Volchko to ESPN when asked what what pitches he had working against Texas. 

Here’s another look at that slider, for his tenth strikeout of the night:

The real command Volchko showed came during that interview, as Tre Phelps and company draped the righty with Sour Power Candy Belts as he spoke with ESPN. 

It was also his first career complete game.

Georgia will take on Oklahoma on Monday night, while Texas will square off with Alabama in an elimination game on Monday afternoon.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs got bitten by the Louisville Bats (Reds), 4-3.

It was a bullpen game for Iowa tonight as Ty Blach started, pitched two innings and retired all six batters he faced. Blach struck out two.

Vince Velazquez went the next four innings and allowed two runs on three hits. Mostly he gave up two runs on a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth. Velazquez walked two and struck out five.

Luis Peralta pitched the bottom of the seventh inning, surrendered two runs on three hits and took the loss. Peralta walked one and struck out two.

Right fielder Kevin Alcántara was 2 for 4 with a two-run double in the sixth inning. Alcántara doubled twice.

First baseman Jonathon Long was 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored.

Alcántara takes away a double.

The Jaguar’s two-run double.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies greased the Montgomery Biscuits (Rays), 12-5. The win and the Lookouts loss moved the Smokies into a tie for first place in the Southern League North Division.

Starter Tyler Schlaffer pitched two innings and gave up three runs on four hits. Schlaffer walked two and struck out three.

Frankie Scalzo Jr. didn’t allow a run over the next three innings and got the win. Scalzo gave up three hits. He struck out one and walked no one.

Jackson Kirkpatrick pitched the next two innings and struck out all six batters he faced swinging.

Third baseman Jefferson Rojas hit a three-run home run in the third inning, his tenth on the season. Rojas went 3 for 5 and scored twice.

Right fielder Alex Ramírez was 3 for 5 with a double and two steals. He drove in two and scored twice.

Second baseman Hayden Cantrelle went 3 for 5. He scored once and had one run batted in.

Catcher Owen Ayers was 2 for 4 with a double and a walk. Ayers scored twice.

Shortstop Karson Simas went 2 for 6 with a double and a run scored.

Left fielder Carter Trice was 2 for 4 with a walk and a steal. Trice had one RBI and one run scored.

First baseman Cameron Sisneros was 2 for 3 with a sacrifice fly. He drove home two runs total.

Rojas’ home run and Ramírez’s single powered a six-run third inning.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs hosed down the Peoria Chiefs (Cardinals), 6-4. The win clinches the first-half Midwest League West Division title.

Koen Moreno pitched the first five innings and gave up two runs on two solo home runs and five total hits. Moreno struck out three and walked no one, but he did hit one batter.

Jackson Brockett pitched the final four innings and got the save. Brockett allowed two runs on three hits, all of which came in the top of the ninth inning. He didn’t allow a baserunner over his first three innings. Brockett struck out five and walked no one.

First baseman Josiah Hartshorn hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning, his seventh in 17 games with South Bend and 13th overall. Hartshorn was 1 for 4.

Later in the first inning, Left fielder Jose Escobar hit a two-run home run. It was Escobar’s first South Bend home run and his third overall. Escobar was a perfect 3 for 3 with a double, the home run and a walk. He drove in three runs total.

Catcher Justin Stransky capped off a five-run first inning by going back-to-back with Escobar for his third home run of the year. Stransky went 1 for 3 with a walk.

Third baseman Matt Halbach went 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.

Harsthorn’s home run.

All three first inning home runs, including Hartshorn’s.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans bogeyed against the Augusta GreenJackets (Braves), 4-3.

Kaleb Wing started this game and took the loss after he allowed three runs over 2.1 innings. The runs came on one hit, four walks and a hit batter. Wing struck out three.

Center fielder Alexey Lumpuy hit a solo home run in the fifth inning, his second on the season. Lumpuy was 2 for 5.

Shortstop Alexis Hernandez went 2 for 4 with a double and a walk. He scored once.

Lumpuy’s home run.

ACL Cubs

Lost to the Angels, 11-10.

The Philadelphia Phillies were very excited to be facing anyone not named Jacob Misiorowski tonight, and they sure showed it. After being limited to one hit on Friday, the Phillies offense exploded for 17 hits and nine runs against the Brewers staff on Saturday night.

It started in the second inning when Edmundo Sosa went deep off Shane Drohan to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. They would add two more in the 4th on a pair of hits by Bryson Stott and JT Realmuto to go up 3-0.

The Brewers would answer back in the bottom half though when Garrett Mitchell crushed his fourth home run of the season to dead center to get two runs right back. The Crew would then tie things up in the 5th when Jackson Chourio hit his first of two home runs on the night.

But then the momentum shifted right back to the Phillies. After giving up a single to Brandon Marsh, Pat Murphy opts to call in Chad Patrick from the bullpen. Patrick, who struggled in his last time out in Las Vegas, struggled again. He allowed five straight hits, including a 3-run-homer to JT Realmuto, five runs came in to score, and the Phillies were all of a sudden up 8-3.

However, that was not quite the knockout blow because the Brewers did battle back. They’ve proven they’re not out of any game, no matter how many runs they may be down. Jackson Chourio supplied a two-run blast in the 7th, his second homer of the game. It’s also his fourth career multi-HR game.

“He’s getting it. Be careful, it’s early but he’s getting it.” Pat Murphy said “Now his ball-strike is getting elite, that’s what happens when you wait for a strike.”

Then in the 8th, after the Phillies added another run on an RBI single from Marsh, the Brewers rallied once again, sending eight men to the plate. It got started with a Garrett Mitchell single, followed by a Sal Frelick walk and a Gary Sanchez infield single. A wild pitch during pinch-hitter Andrew Vaughn’s at-bat brought Mitchell home before Vaughn ended up getting the base on balls.

Christian Yelich brought home another on a sacrifice fly, then Jackson Chourio ripped an RBI single to left. Pinch-runner Luis Rengifo blew through the stop sign from Matt Erickson and ended up just beating the tag at home plate to make it a 9-8 ballgame.

However, Brice Turang struck out and William Contreras popped out to first with two runners on to finish the inning and end the threat.

The Phillies brought out their closer Jhoan Duran for the 9th and he set the Brewers down in order to seal the loss for the Crew.

It’ll be a very strong pitching matchup for the rubber match tomorrow with Kyle Harrison on the mound for the Crew and the Phillies will have their ace Cristopher Sanchez.

“We’ll try to help Miz’s case out a little bit” Pat Murphy said.

A night after being stuck with the pointy end of one of the finest pitching performances in modern memory, the Philadelphia Phillies (38-32) recorded a season-high 17 hits and held on for dear life in a 9-8 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers (42-26) on Saturday night.

The Phillies opened the scoring against Brewers’ lefty, Shane Drohan, in the second inning with a two-out solo shot by Edmundo Sosa, his fourth of the season.

They tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning on an RBI double by Bryson Stott and an RBI single by Brandon Marsh.

The Brewers clawed back with a two-run home run by Garrett Mitchell in the bottom of the inning and a solo homer by Jackson Chourio in the fifth.

The offense put up a five spot in the sixth, sending nine men to the plate with six straight hits to open the inning, punctuated by a mammoth three-run home run by JT Realmuto.

The entire starting lineup reached base with Bryce Harper being the sole member without a hit.

Two nightmare innings by Jose Alvarado and Brad Keller brought the five-run lead down to one and a crucial insurance run in the top of the eighth, brought by a two-out walk by Harper and back-to-back singles by Alec Bohm and Marsh, proved to be the decisive factor.

Jhoan Duran picked up his 18th save of the season with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to shut the door.

The rubber match will be tomorrow afternoon as Cristopher Sanchez battles fellow standout lefty, Kyle Harrison.

On Saturday, TCU baseball picked up a commitment from Mississippi State sophomore outfielder James Nunnallee, who slashed .241/.359/.370 with 13 hits, four doubles, one home run and five RBIs in 53 at-bats during his lone season with the Bulldogs. Nunnallee made 29 appearances and 10 starts in 2026, scoring 11 runs, drawing seven walks and stealing two bases. As a freshman, Nunnallee played at Virginia, where he appeared in 48 games with 40 starts and hit .296 with 12 doubles and 26 RBIs. His 10.9 strikeout rate was best in the ACC.

Nunnallee could earn immediate playing in the TCU outfield, as the Horned Frogs could lose both Chase Brunson and Sawyer Strosnider to the 2026 MLB Draft. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder from San Diego bats left-handed and throws right-handed. He played his high school baseball at Lightridge in Virginia, where he was named a Class 5 Region D Player of the Year and the Washington Post’s 2024 All-Met Team. He hit .474 as a senior and was the No. 7 overall player in the state before signing with the Cavaliers.