Category: MLB

The Cubs acquired left-hander Antoine Kelly in a trade with the Dodgers for cash. Kelly was assigned to Triple-A Iowa.

The Cubs claimed right-hander Eduarniel Núñez off waivers from the Orioles. They assigned him to rookie ball Mesa, where I presume he’ll work in the pitch lab and not pitch. Núñez was in the Cubs system from 2017 to 2024.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs shattered the Louisville Bats (Reds), 10-2.

Iowa got four good innings out of starter Doug Nikhazy, who gave up two hits but no runs. Nikhazy walked two and struck out two.

Because Nikhazy didn’t go five innings, the win went to reliever Christian Roa. Roa pitched 1.1 innings of relief and surrendered no runs and just one hit. He did not walk anyone and struck out two.

The I-Cubs jumped all over Bats starter Darren McCaughan. Third baseman BJ Murray hit a two-run home run in the first inning, his seventh on the season. Murray was 2 for 5 with a double and the homer.

In the fourth inning, catcher Christian Bethencort extended the I-Cubs lead with a three-run home run. It was Bethencourt’s fifth of the season. He finished the game 1 for 5.

One inning later, in the fifth, left fielder James Triantos clubbed a two-run home run, also his fifth. Triantos was also 1 for 5.

The fourth and final I-Cubs home run came in the seventh inning off the bat of first baseman Jonathon Long with the bases empty. It was his fourth home run this year. Long went 1 for 4 with a walk and he scored twice.

Shortstop Ben Cowles went 3 for 5 with a double and a run scored.

Second baseman Owen Miller was 2 for 5 with an RBI double in the first inning and an RBI single in the seventh. Miller also scored on Murray’s home run.

Owen Miller’s RBI double.

They measured Murray’s blast at 458 feet.

Don’t have a distance on Bethencourt’s home run. It must have broken Statcast.

Triantos’ home run “only” went 360 feet, but it was oppo taco so he gets extra credit for that.

Finally, Jonathon Long’s home run was 426 feet.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies got burnt by the Montgomery Biscuits (Rays), 6-5.

Grant Kipp allowed four runs on four hits over the first four innings. All four runs came on two home runs—a solo home run and a three run home run. Kipp struck out four, hit one batter and walked one.

The loss went to Marino Santy, who gave up two runs on four hits over two innings. Santy struck out two and walked no one.

DH Owen Ayers was named Southern League Player of the Week and he celebrated by hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning. It was Ayers’ tenth home run and third in four games. Ayers went 2 for 4 with a double and the home run.

Left fielder Carter Trice hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning, also his tenth on the campaign. Trice went 2 for 4.

Shortstop Karson Simas doubled twice in a 2 for 4 night. He scored twice.

Catcher Ariel Armas was 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI single.

Ayers’ home run.

Trice tied the game up 4-4 with his blast.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs demoted the Peoria Chiefs (Cardinals), 6-3. The win reduced South Bend’s magic number for clinching a first-half title down to four with eight games to play.

Starter Nazier Mulé gave up two home runs over 4.1 innings, but they were both solo home runs and those were the only two runs he allowed. Mulé allowed four hits. He walked just one and and struck out six. He did hit one batter.

Jackson Brockett threw the next 1.2 innings, permitted no runs on just one hit, and got the win. Brockett struck out three and walked no one.

Alfredo Romero went the rest of the way for the three-inning save. Romero allowed one run on three hits. He struck out five and walked two.

Left fielder Cole Mathis connected for a solo home run in the second inning. It was Mathis’ tenth home run this year and third with South Bend. Mathis went 1 for 4.

DH Kane Kepley was a perfect 2 for 2 with three walks and a three-run home run later in the second. Kepley also stole a base.

Catcher Justin Stransky went 2 for 2 with two walks and two steals. He scored once.

Center fielder Josiah Hartshorn was 2 for 5 with a double. Hartshorn scored one run.

The Mathis home run.

The Kepley home run was his third of the year.

RBI single for Matt Halbach, who went 1 for 5. But you can see that Hartshorn moves pretty well for a big guy here.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans got stung by the Augusta GreenJackets (Braves), 5-2.

David Bracho gave the Pelicans a good start, allowing just one run on two hits over four innings. Bracho struck out six and hit one batter and walked one.

Daniel Avita went the next four innings and gave up five hits, but no runs. Avita walked two and struck out seven.

Jhon Rosario entered the game in the top of the ninth, looking for the save with the Birds clinging to a 2-1 lead. But Rosario got rocked for four runs on five hits in the one inning he pitched. He neither walked nor struck anyone out.

Left fielder Gueri Lubo tied the game 1-1 with a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh. It was Lubo’s fourth home run overall and third with Myrtle Beach. Lubo was 1 for 4.

Catcher Logan Poteet singled home right fielder Eli Lovich in the bottom of the eighth to give the Pelicans the lead. Poteet was 2 for 4 and Lovice went 1 for 3 with a double and a walk.

Highlights.

ACL Cubs

Beat the White Sox 5-4.

If it was a title fight, it would’ve been stopped early.  A TKO.  The Astros were soundly defeated by the Angels in Anaheim by the score of 10-1.   

Kai-Wei Teng, who back in March boasted a 2 1/3 scoreless outing in Anaheim, couldn’t get out of his own way on Tuesday night, imploding.  The final damage after two innings was 52 pitches, multiple walks, a pair of hit batters and seven runs allowed.

The first pair of runs were unearned, without even the benefit of a single hit.  It would take until the second inning for all of the runs to be earned, and there were unfortunately five of them.   

It was a complete reversal for Kai-Wei Teng and now there’s a legitimate question as to whether or not he’ll remain in the permanent starting rotation going forward.  The final stat line for Teng was 4 innings, 7 hits allowed with 5 earned runs, 3 walks and 5 strikeouts.    

Teng’s counterpart Walbert Urena would go 5 innings in a 107-pitch victorious effort, despite allowing 5 walks.  The last time Teng registered a win was on May 23rd at Wrigley.    

The Astros had plenty of chances throughout the night, including the opening inning when Alvarez and Paredes each drew walks, but Jose Altuve struck out, which is becoming a troubling trend.   Since returning from the IL, Jose has registered only two hits.        

The 10-1 loss drops the Astros to 31-38 for the season.   For context, it took until July 9th last year for Houston to suffer their 38th defeat.     

Houston would finally get on the board with two outs in the 7th inning thanks to an RBI pinch hit single by Brice Matthews, but it was too little, too late.   The Angels would pad their lead with 3 additional runs in the 8th.    

Odds and Ends:   

Peter Lambert will close out the rubber match of the series.   He’ll be opposed by left hander Reid Detmers, who has 88 k’s on the season thus far.   

Yordan Alvarez has now reached base safely in 17 straight games.   

Nolan Schanuel and Sebastian Rivero each left Tuesday’s contest with various injuries for the Angels.     

The Astros haven’t dropped a series in Anaheim since 2020.  

The Chicago White Sox entered their Tuesday matchup against the Atlanta Braves with a 34-31 record.

Not bad, but they needed someone to give them a spark, an extra push as they are in a battle with the Cleveland Guardians for the top spot in the AL Central.

On Tuesday, an unlikely hero emerged. His name is Braden Montgomery.

The White Sox called up the 23-year-old outfielder from their Triple-A affiliate, the Charlotte Knights, just in time to face the Atlanta Braves, the best team in MLB, record-wise.

Montgomery proved that he’s ready for the show. In his major league debut, Montgomery had himself a game to remember. He registered two hits in five at-bats, and accounted for three RBIs. But his moment of glory came when the lights were brightest — Chicago down a run, 5-4, in the 10th inning.

Andrew Benintendi was on base when Montgomery came to the plate. He delivered, in walk-off fashion, smashing a homer 343 feet into left field. With his two-run home run, Montgomery became the fifth player ever to hit a walk-off homer in his MLB debut.

BRADEN MONTGOMERY HITS A WALK-OFF HOMER IN HIS MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT! pic.twitter.com/ifxPs2t57F

— MLB (@MLB) June 10, 2026

“Just how we drew it up,” Montgomery said as he was all smiles, relishing and celebrating his historic debut. “That was … I still don’t know what to say. That was unreal.”

He was speechless, at least that’s how he described the feeling when he got the hit.

“I had no clue,” Montgomery said. “I hit it and I thought that it would at least get over his head so I was excited that at least we didn’t lose. That was, yeah, that left me speechless.”

As he rounded the bases and made it back home, he was embraced by his teammates and met with a Gatorade bath.

“That was just surreal,” Montgomery said. “I mean, I couldn’t even hear anything. Obviously I was told the crowd was pretty loud.”

Montgomery saw the pitch coming.

“It was a change up,” he said. “A pretty good swing on it and the rest is history.”

Wow.

What an incredible game from the South Siders, who never gave up regardless of how many times their safety squeeze failed to score a run, or how many home runs Matt Olson hit against them (two, by the way). This game had everything: solid pitching, drama, home runs, extra innings, an extended hit streak, and a rookie debut for the ages.

The White Sox (35-31) defeated the best team in MLB, stealing an extra-inning W against the Braves (45-22), 6-5. Braden Montgomery went 2-for-4 in his debut and checked many firsts off the list: first hit, RBI, home run, and walk-off. On top of that, Miguel Vargas flashed his power yet again, Chase Meidroth extended his hit streak from nine to 10, and the South Siders went 4-for-12 (.300) with runners in scoring position. Could have done without the bunts, however.

Because of course, the Good Guys went with their trusty opener, as Brandon Eisert was slated to man the first inning, but he only threw strikes roughly half of the time (11 of 21 pitches), gave up two runs, and forced Erick Fedde to enter the game in the first anyway. Eisert was somehow able to strike out Ronald Acuña Jr. after falling behind in the count, 3-0, to start the game, but a base hit from Michael Harris III began the madness before the lefty ceded a two-run bomb to Matt Olson, making it 2-0, Atlanta. Before Fedde came in, Eisert recorded one more out before putting another pair of runners on base, but Fedde thankfully struck out Austin Riley to end the threat.

Fedde made it through the second (mostly) unscathed, not without hitting Ronald Acuña and instigating some Acuña on Acuña crime, as Ronald was thrown out attempting to steal, tagged out by his brother Luisangel to end the inning — later confirmed by review. Unfortunately, Ronald later left the game with hamstring tightness, and hopefully it’s not a serious injury that sends him to the IL.

And listen, it’s not a Fedde outing without him giving up at least one homer, so of course Matt Olson mashed his second of the game; a solo shot to left to extend the Atlanta lead to three, 3-0. Fedde dug the hole deeper on his own, surrendering the fourth run for the Braves on what should have been an inning-ending double play. He was unable to catch the ball for the final out, so it rolled to the dugout, and the Braves scored a run, 4-0. Despite being responsible for one of his two runs allowed with the error, only one was earned on the six hits he relinquished while striking out four.

On the offensive front, it took a few innings for the bats to get heated up, and they did bunt themselves out of some scoring situations, but they never counted themselves out and eventually found ways to score and tie the game at four. With two outs in the third, Sam Antonacci kept the inning alive by drawing a walk, just for Miguel Vargas to blast his 16th home run of the season to cut the lead in half, 4-2.

The Good Guys grabbed another back in the bottom of the fourth, beginning with Jacob Gonzalez ripping a base hit to right, and Meidroth getting hit by a pitch to put a runner in scoring position for Montgomery’s second at-bat. It’s possible many rookies would fold in this situation, but Montgomery isn’t just any rookie. He waited back and went with a hanging, middle-outside fastball to drive a 107 mph single out to left for his first MLB career base hit, killing two birds with one stone by also knocking in his first RBI, bringing the Sox within one, 4-3.

Now, let’s talk about that bunting again. Sure, have the Good Guys succeeded in small ball in some situations this year? Yes. Does that mean they should do it every single chance they get? No! Not once, but twice, the South Siders batted and ran themselves out of innings by attempting to execute a safety squeeze. Completely killing the rally after Montgomery’s RBI, Luisangel bunted with Meidroth on third, but it didn’t go far enough, so the catcher was able to tag Meidroth with several steps to spare.

Just a couple of innings later, the Sox once again had runners on the corners with one out, and Drew Romo laid a bunt down towards the first base side, but since Olson was already charging in, he had Grichuk dead to rights, ending with him getting tagged out in a rundown. Antonacci ended up driving a ball out to right in hopes of tying the game, but Derek Hill was thrown out at the plate, later confirmed by review. A much better situation would have been potentially not sending Hill and handing bases loaded over to Miguel Vargas — you know, the guy that hit a line drive home run just a couple of at-bats ago — but hindsight is always 20/20.

Eventually, they were able to strike with runners in scoring position. It took nine pitches, but Vargas drew a walk to leadoff the seventh, and Andrew Benintendi poked a base hit to right, allowing Miguel to advance to third. Jacob Gonzalez came through in the clutch and scored Vargas for his fifth run batted in this season, 4-4.

It’s good news that the White Sox bullpen was on point today, as the Braves didn’t score after the third until the ghost runner was in effect in the 10th. Tyler Gilbert completed the sixth for Fedde, and the seventh and eighth were clean as both Tyler Davis and Seranthony Domínguez did not give up a hit. The ninth was also solid with Grant Taylor navigating the inning with one hit given up, but keeping the game tied for the Good Guys into the bottom of the ninth. Naturally, the bats could not ignite, and to extra innings we went.

Now responsible for the ghost runner in the 10th, Grant Taylor gave up a leadoff base hit to Mauricio Dubón that allowed Atlanta to take the lead back, 5-4. Taylor was able to work through the jam even with the added pressure with the help of some much-needed defense, and the Braves’ rally ended with one run while the damage could have been way worse. On a ground ball to third from Austin Riley, Miguel Vargas made a heads-up play by throwing Dubón out at the plate, and Mike Yastrzemski flew out to give the South Siders a chance to tie or win the game.

With Benintendi starting at second in the bottom of the 10th, Gonzalez came close to tying the game with a ball down the left-field line, but it was ruled foul, and he struck out. Benintendi advanced to third on a ground out from Meidroth, bringing the White Sox down to their final out with Montgomery up to bat. The ending of this game felt magical, not only because of the drama, but because you could tell he felt confident being in this position. The moment was no match for the rookie, who checked off his first career home run and walk-off, blasting a two-run shot to the opposite field to win the game. The emotion from him, his family, the fans, hell, from me in my living room! It’s a moment that Braden, or any of us, will not be forgetting for quite some time.

Ball. Game.

He was the number two prospect for a reason, folks. It’s been one game, but the fact that he can rise to the moment against the best team in baseball might just be a glimpse into how special a player Montgomery can be. The homer also secured the second win of the season for Taylor, also giving some credit where it is due.

As Tuesday’s games come to a close, the White Sox will head into Wednesday just a half-game behind the Cleveland Guardians, who lost to the New York Yankees, allowing the Good Guys to snag a full game. I don’t think I’ve ever been happy about a Yankees win, but I will take it. And it also brings me joy to know that the Guardians are probably super annoyed upon seeing the glorious Montgomery bomb. Despite being without their best hitter and having to piecemeal the starting rotation and bullpen, they continue to fight and find ways to win, and if they can keep it up, a division title doesn’t sound so crazy after all.

The Atlanta Braves suffered another blow on the injury front, and yet again, Ronald Acuña Jr. is the subject. Acuña exited Tuesday night in the fourth inning after limping on his way to first base. 

The club later reported that he exited the contest with hamstring tightness. Best case scenario for Atlanta is that he is considered day-to-day; however, this is the same hamstring he strained earlier this season.

The bad news doesn’t end there, as the Braves went on to suffer an extra-inning loss to the Chicago White Sox, 6-5.

More Braves News:

Hurston Waldrep is set to make a rehab start for the Columbus Clingstones on Thursday. He made two appearances in the Florida Complex League last week. 

Despite two losses in the Braves’ system, Monday brought exciting games from a couple of prospects. More in the minor league recap. 

MLB News:

The Chicago Cubs placed starter Jameson Taillon on the 15-day injured list with a left hamstring strain. He is expected to be sidelined beyond the All-Star break. 

Los Angeles Angels right-hander Jack Kochanowicz has been diagnosed with a UCL tear and will require Tommy John surgery. He will miss the remainder of the season and half of 2027.

MLB Trade Rumors estimated that this year’s Qualifying Offer will come in at $23.1M. The official number will be released around October. 

From the Feed:

Here is how MLB’s proposed salary cap compares to other professional sports.

Tyler Flowers discusses the ABS system and how it is affecting catchers around the league.

Byron Buxton kicked the game off with a homer, his 19th of the year, to put the Twins up 1-0. Taj Bradley had a really rough start again, as Dillon Dingler tied the game in the bottom of the first with a solo homer of his own. Then, in the 2nd, Riley Greene hit a solo shot to make it 2-1, Detroit.

Josh Bell tied the game at 2 with a solo blast in the top of the 3rd inning, and that’s home run number 200 for his career. But, a lead-off walk from Taj scored on Greene’s sacrifice fly in the bottom half, putting the Tigers back on top.

After both teams took a pass on scoring in the 4th, Brooks Lee and Kody Clemens hit solo home runs in the 5th to give the Twins a 5-4 lead. It would be the last lead the Twins would get tonight, as Kerry Carpenter’s two run shot in the bottom of that inning would put the Tigers up for good. A 3-run homer by Dingler in the 6th off of a Taylor Rogers down-and-in sweeper would let us all go to bed early, pretty much.

In the 7th, the Twins had Royce Lewis at the plate with the bases loaded, representing the tying run, but he flew out to the warning track in left. That was the Twins last gasp, and the Tigers tacked on 2 more in the 7th, giving us our 10-4 final score.

Studs:

Brooks Lee: 2-4, HR, BB

Josh Bell: 2-5, HR

Royce Lewis: 2-4, 2B

Buxton and Clemens: Hit a homer, you get a stud, it’s my rule.

Duds:

Taj Bradley: 4.1, 7 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 3 HR

Victor Caratini: 0-5, K

Tristan Gray: 0-4, 3 K

The bullpen except for Cody Laweryson: 2.2 IP, 5 ER

Few things are more satisfying for the Colorado Rockies than trouncing the Chicago Cubs, and tonight, they got to bask in the glow of the Cubs flying the L as the Rockies hit their way to a 7-3 win.

Tomoyuki Sugano (菅野 智之) gave the Rockies five good innings with the bullpen sealing the deal and putting the Rockies back in the win column.

Their Cubs have lost 21 of their last 28 games.

The Rockies offense comes alive

The Rockies got off to a quick start in the bottom of the first when Hunter Goodman hit a two-run homer (18) to score TJ Rumfield, and the Rockies had a nice 2-0 lead.

Not be be outdone, Ezequiel Tovar added a homer (5) of his own in the second inning.

And while Edouard Julien didn’t hit a home run, he did contribute an RBI to give the Rockies a 4-0 lead.

By the time the second inning ended, the Rockies had a 5-0 lead.

The Cubs got on the board in the third after Sugano loaded the bases with one out, and Alex Bregman hit a sacrifice fly. However, Sugano managed to limit the damage, and the Rockies left the field with a 5-1 lead.

In the third inning, the Rockies scoring continued, starting with a Goodman lead-off walk, a Troy Johnston double, and a Kyle Karros walk. After that, Julien singled to make the score 7-1.

taco’s anyone?

Things settled down after that.

However, it would be negligent not to show you Cole Carrigg’s first MLB hit, a triple.

Welcome to The Show, Cole!

He was the first Rockies to have a triple and a walk in his major-league debut.

“Just pure joy, and it couldn’t have been a better hit for a young player like that,” Warren Schaeffer said. “That was vintage Cole Carrigg.”

After Carrigg’s triple and Kyle Karros ground out, Cubs starting pitcher Colin Rea was removed from the game. He finished the evening with 4.2 IP, allowing seven runs (earned) on seven hits. He walked through and struck out two.

The Cubs offense made an appearance in the sixth inning as Michael Busch hit a home run (7) followed by a Bregman single.

And that was it for Sugano. Seth Halvorsen finished the inning, allowing one run to score, but he got the job done with the Rockies leading 7-3.

And then, there was no more scoring.

The Rockies finished the game seven runs (all earned) on 12 hits. They walked six times and struck out four. (You read that correctly: more BBs than Ks.)

Willi Castro had three hits, but did not score while Julien went 2-for-4 with three RBI.

Schaeffer noted that Tovar is taking better at-bats, and he pointed to Goodman’s walks as well.

He also praised Castro: “It seems like he always finds his way on base.”

Tomoyuki Sugano does Tomoyuki Sugano things

In a starting rotation wracked by injuries and underperformance, Sugano has been a mainstay, and tonight’s game was no different until the sixth inning when a Busch home run followed by a Bregman single chased him from the game. It was his fifth start of giving up no more than three runs.

Even though that was the 12th home run he was surrendered, Sugano yet this year to give up a multi-run homer.

His final line was 5.0 IP, allowing three runs (earned) on six hits. He struck out three and walked two on 93 pitches. Sugano has a 4.08 ERA.

For those keeping score at home, he relied primarily on his four-seamer (34%) followed by his slider (19%) and splitter (16%).

“Maybe some abnormally deep counts, but he made pitches when he had to,” Schaeffer said. “I thought he battled without getting ahead like he normally gets ahead.”

After the game, Sugano said, “It’s been a while since I last pitched at Coors, but I was able to keep my pitches down.”

He added, “I definitely felt like they were taking the splitter down.” But he was able to compensate with his four-seamer. He also noted that his slider was “moving really well.”

He gave the Rockies a chance to win.

The bullpen finishes the job

A well-rested bullpen picked up where Sugano left off.

Halvorsen entered the game in relief of Sugano and got the job done after walking the first batter he faced. His final line was 1.0 IP with one walk, one strike out, and no runs. Halvorsen has a 2.35 ERA.

The seventh went to Brennan Bernardino as the left-handed part of the Cubs order came to the plate, but he handled them with ease, retiring the side on 11 pitches. He currently has a 4.44 ERA.

Antonio Senzatela entered the game in the eighth inning He allowed one hit but no runs, striking out one and walking one. He has a 1.93 ERA.

For the ninth inning, Schaeffer turned to Jaden Hill who allowed a lead-off hit, but then shut the Cubs down. He currently has a 5.01 ERA.

Up next

Tomorrow night, the Rockies will meet the Cubs in Game 2 with first pitch at 6:40 pm. Shonta Imanaga will pitch for the Cubs while Michael Lorenzen toes the rubber for the Rockies.

See you then.

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Storms moving through southeastern Michigan delayed the start of the opener of a three-game home series against the visiting Minnesota Twins, who’d swept the Tigers in a frustrating four-game series in April. Well, the Tigers got a fair amount of revenge on Tuesday night as homers flew fast and furious over various fences for both teams, with the home team prevailing by a 10-4 score. Apparently all that needed to happen was a flip of the calendar to June. Who knew?!

Troy Melton made his fourth start of the season for the Tigers, and he’d been sensational so far. His previous outing, an eight-inning, four-hit, tw0-run victory against the Rays, built on a seven-inning start against the White Sox. By this trend he should be going about thirteen innings per start by the All-Star Break, and no, I’m not a mathematician, thank you.

Facing the Tigers tonight was Taj Bradley, who started off this season with a great stretch of starts but has run into trouble recently. In his previous two starts he didn’t finish the fifth, giving up four runs each time. But he was very successful against Detroit in a start on April 7 during that four-game sweep, striking out ten in 6 1/3 innings.

Byron Buxton turned Melton’s first pitch of the night around and deposited it into the visitors’ bullpen for a 1-0 lead. Dillon Dingler didn’t like that too much, so he took a middle-middle curveball just inside the left-field foul pole for a solo home run to tie the score at one in the bottom of the first.

In the second Melton got into enough hot water with one out to make a Jacuzzi envious: a hit-batsman followed by a couple of singles loaded ‘em up with Twins. Chris Fetter paid Melton a visit, mumbled some secret, ancient incantation and gently waved his arms; Melton then struck out the next two batters, including the aforementioned Buxton, to get out of trouble.

Riley Greene saw what Dingler pulled off, and did exactly the same thing to lead off the bottom of the second with an up-and-away fastball to put the Tigers up 2-1. Josh Bell returned the favour by smashing a line-drive home run to straightaway centre in the third to re-tie the score. The balls seemed to be flying out of the park; the warmer, humid weather was partly to blame, I’d imagine.

Starting in the second and carrying into the third, Bradley’s control seemed to elude him; the first pitch of the bottom of the third soared over the home-plate umpire. Kevin McGonigle walked to lead off the inning, and Dingler followed with a single to put runners at the corners; with one out Greene hit a liner to left that was deep enough to score McGonigle and put the Tigers up 3-2.

(When I was a kid, Global TV had this half-hour nightly sports-highlights show called Sportsline, and it was great for someone like me that didn’t have cable. On that show, Jim Tatti used to sardonically refer to a sacrifice fly as “the most exciting way to score a run” or something along those lines. I think about that line a lot.)

The Tigers got runners on second and third with one out in the fourth via a walk, a single and a wild pitch in the dirt. But Gleyber Torres struck out and McGonigle ripped a line drive right at the shortstop, and that was that.

Brooks Lee hit a slider for the fifth solo home run of the game to knot the score at threes. On the next pitch Kody Clemens hit his own solo home run to put the Twins up 4-3.

The slugfest continued in the bottom of the fifth: Dingler doubled to lead off, and Kerry Carpenter hit a non-solo home run to right to put Detroit up 5-4.

After Greene smoked a 112-mph line drive that was caught by Buxton, Bradley and his multiple splitters-to-the-backstop departed. Melton did the same after five innings, and his final line was pretty weird: 5 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 HR, 0 BB, 5 K.

Brenan Hanifee was brought in for the sixth and it wasn’t great: with one out a fly ball was misplayed by both Carpenter and Matt Vierling. The next batter got plunked, and that was the end of Hanifee, who was replaced by Drew Anderson. He threw a great full-count changeup to strike out Tristan Gray for the second out, bringing the dangerous Buxton up — who also struck out on a changeup. That was one gutsy performance by Anderson there.

Zach McKinstry hit a one-out triple to right-centre on the ninth pitch of his sixth-inning at-bat. Torres was plunked to put two runners on, and Dingler stepped to the plate with two outs and he didn’t miss an inside sweeper from Taylor Rogers.

He needed a triple for the cycle at that point, but I think we’re all satisfied with his result. That was his fourth hit of the night, and the Tigers were up 8-4.

Tyler Holton came into the game after Anderson walked a batter to start the seventh, and his outing didn’t turn out so hot either: Clemens struck out, but a single and yet another hit-batter loaded the bases. Holton handed this hot mess off to Kyle Finnegan, who struck out Victor Caratini for the second out. Royce Lewis lifted a fly ball to left and Greene caught it at the wall — on a night on which balls were flying out of the yard everywhere.

The Tigers started the bottom of the seventh with a pair of walks. With two out McKinstry walked to load the bases, and Torres’ grounder to the left side went right past two infielders to score a pair of runs and put the Tigers up 10-4 there, good buddy.

Enmanuel De Jesus, who was last seen finishing up a game in Tampa in which he went four innings, pitched the ninth, which was pleasantly boring, as ninth innings in such games should be.

Final score: Tigers 10, Twins 4

Numbers and Things

• Riley Greene leads the Tigers with an OPS of .844 (.305 batting, .396 on-base, .448 slugging). That’s an OPS+ of 136, or 36% above league average.
• The interesting thing about that is that he’s nowhere close to the team lead in home runs: he has six, but Dillon Dingler had 14 coming into tonight (and added another pair, as you well know). Greene’s 16 doubles certainly helped his cause.
• Johann Galle was born on this day in 1812; he was the first person to identify the planet Neptune, after a suggestion about where to look was given by fellow astronomer Urbain Le Verrier. That’s nice, but have you seen Venus and Jupiter in the western sky after sunset lately? Holy moly, are they close to each other!

The Dbacks dropped the series opener in Miami on Tuesday 10-6 as the Arizona pitching was unable to keep any momentum this whole game long. The Dbacks offense would score, and then the pitching would immediately cough the lead right back up. The offense would come back, and then the pitching would give the lead right back.

Zac Gallen started the game for the Dbacks and he looked very much just ok. Certainly not the player the Dbacks spent 20 million dollars on this offseason, and certainly not a player who is raising his stock and betting on himself to get a big contract. He was just ok going 5.1 innings allowing 4 ER and getting just 3 strikeouts. Despite just the 3 strikeouts, the one positive from this outing was Gallen was able to get 14 swings and misses which is a good sign. However, his struggles to put guys away with 2 strikes persisted as he would dance around the corners of the zone hoping for chase and the Miami hitters much like every other team were simply not fooled.

The Dbacks offense tonight was much improved with Ketel Marte, Carroll, Gabi, and Perdomo going a combined 7-15 with 6 RBI. These are the guys that this team needs going and it is kind of a shame that when you got this kind of production from this core tonight, you still weren’t able to come away with a win. Carroll hit a big home run in the first inning to put the Dbacks on the board that went 400 feet and hit off of the upper deck. Gabi also launched a long ball going 417 feet, a really encouraging sign after the team really needed him to step up into the 3 hole. Perdomo looks much like the move down in the order has gotten him back on track as he was able to look much more like the Perdomo we all know working 3 walks and getting 2 hits. Just great at bats all game long from him, a really encouraging sign. It is also worth noting that Ketel responded to the drama in a big way tonight going 3-5 with 3 RBI as he continues to prove to everyone that he is a leader of this offense and of this team.

Unfortunately even after all of this offense, the bullpen was also not able to maintain any of the momentum. Taylor Clarke came in in relief of Gallen and immediately allowed his inherited runner plus 2 more to score. A guy that usually can spot the ball almost anywhere and had only walked 5 guys all season proceeded to walk the 9 hole batter for the top of the order. Hopefully this is just another weird 1 off like he had in the Dodgers series to start the season and he locks it back in and goes on another run. Garcia also had an uncharacteristic clunker as he gave up some contact on some fastballs that just caught way too much of the center of the zone giving up the lead again to a 7-6 ballgame. Torey brought in Ginkel in the middle of the inning to try and get out of it, and Ginkel proceeded to give up a single and a double allowing Garcia’s runs to score and for the Marlins to blow open the game for a final time in the 8^th inning. A rare clunker for these guys and hopefully a strange blip on the radar for a couple of guys who have been really solid lately.

The Dbacks will look to get back on track tomorrow and even the series by sending Ryne Nelson to the mound. Getting Meyer out of the way the rest of the Marlins starters for the rest of the series look to be gettable, but this pitching needs to rebound in a big way and maintain momentum.

Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. left Tuesday’s game against the Chicago White Sox due to left hamstring tightness, the Braves said.

The five-time All-Star and former NL MVP exited in the fourth inning after appearing to suffer an injury while attempting to make it safe to first base.

Atlanta led 4-2 at the time of his injury but lost 6-5 in extra innings. The White Sox won on a walk-off home run from call-up Braden Montgomery, who was making his MLB debut.

Ronald Acuña Jr. is exiting the game after suffering an injury running to first base pic.twitter.com/iJfDcF1BCV

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 10, 2026

Braves manager Walt Weiss addressed the Acuña injury with reporters after the tough loss. He indicated the Braves think they lucked out with their star’s injury, saying Acuña's previous hamstring injury earlier this year (suffered on May 2 against the Colorado Rockies) was worse.

With that, Weiss said that Acuña won’t be placed on the injured list and his status remains “day-to-day."

Ronald Acuña will not be placed on the injured list at this time. He’s day-to-day for now. Walt Weiss also added that they don’t think it’s “as bad as the last one” (referring to his hamstring injury earlier this year)

— Wiley Ballard (@wileyballard_) June 10, 2026

The Braves have the best record in baseball at 45-22. Acuña has contributed to their success, hitting .254/.373/.798. He has 49 hits, 22 RBIs and seven home runs so far through the 2026 season. Through nine seasons with the Braves, he’s compiled 193 home runs and is nearing his 1,000th hit with 962 total. His career splits are .287/.383/.901.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY Sports: Ronald Acuna injury updates, what we know after exit

Rockies 7, Cubs 3

Leverage index and box score

Graphics via FanGraphs.

He’s still Good, man: Hunter Goodman, +0.15 WPA

Rea’d out: Colin Rea, -0.32 WPA 

Game thread comment of the day

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5,000 light years from Birdland
But I’m still preachin’ the Trident
Long-gone, uptight years from Birdland
And I’m still watchin’ it with ’em

Years from the land of the Bird
And I am still feelin’ dispirit
5,000 light years from Birdland
But I know we still hear it

Goms named it
Goms made it
Goms heard it
Then played it
Well-stated! 
Birdland-
It happened down in Birdland

Oh!

The Mariners needed Logan Gilbert to go deep on Tuesday. The team is down a reliever because they ditched the ham sandwich for a six-man rotation, for reasons I do and don’t agree with. But regardless, it means they’re short in the bullpen for a bit. After leaning on the leverage arms the last few games, this would have been the time for Gilbert to snap out of his funk, go deep in the game, secure a Mariners win, and help reset things for the week ahead.

That seemed unlikely early. Gilbert threw 31 pitches in the first inning. He loaded the bases, but allowed just one run on a sac fly (which could have been much worse without a great catch from Julio). He threw 27 pitches in the second inning. He put a couple runners on but escaped without a run (thanks to a great throw from Cole Young). This felt like a disaster in the making.

And from there, Gilbert was perfect. He set down the side in order the third, fourth, and fifth innings. I began writing in this very recap that Gilbert’s day ended after five at 96 pitches, then whoa, he stepped out of the dugout for the sixth. He got Pete Alonso to line out on a first pitch slider. He worked a full count against Colton Cowser but dropped a slider on the black for strike three. Then he got Leody Tavares to ground out to first, racing to cover the bag, stomping down for the final out. Six innings, five strikeouts, three hits, two walks, one run. This was roughly the vibe by the end.

I don’t even really know what to say about Gilbert at this point. His FIP still begins with a 4. So many of his outings this year have looked like Tuesday. Well, he’s typically dominated early and struggled late. But every game there’s a handful of batters he can’t quite sit down or even simply move on from, throwing full-count pitch after pitch after pitch. It’s just weird. The arsenal metrics suggest Gilbert should have some resistance to these specific issues. Like, his stuff is sharp, hard, diverse, and deceptive. He got Alonso to whiff so bad he threw his bat into the stands, giving us one of the all-time Brad Adam in-game interviews with Craig from Richland. (Craig kept the bat despite cash offers from Orioles fans! Nice. An all-time Logan Gilbert trophy, in the hands of a Mariners fan.) So I don’t know. I think there’s something to be said for Gilbert tonight. I gave up on this one. He didn’t.

It’s a good thing he didn’t, because the Mariners won 6-5 in extras in what turned out to be a ridiculous, sloppy, fever-dream of a game that the Mariners had no business winning in Birdland.

In the middle of that hub
I remember one ball club

Where we went to try and sweep
Down on Eu-taw street

Some ornithology nerds
That they named it for a Bird

Where Ayala swooped and swirled
And League made me want to hurl

Adam Jones was sent there
To the distance we stared

Birdland – I’m singin’ Birdland
Birdland – Ol’ swingin’ Birdland

The lineup the Mariners together tonight was… uh… not the plan from Spring Training. They’re dealing with a rash of injuries at the moment, and so it’s been the, “We need some guys to step up” time of the season. And step up they, ultimately, kinda, in a way, did.

Randy Arozarena led off the third inning with a line drive single, and Rob Refsnyder followed with one of his own. Mitch Garver fell behind quickly, but laid off a few great pitches out of the zone. Trevor Rogers came back in with a fastball, and Garver was ready, giving us the latest Mitch Garver Exasperated Bat Drop.

This was huge to give the Mariners a 3-1 lead. Again, Gilbert was clearly not long for this game, and they were going to need some runs to survive a shallow bullpen. After the homer, the vibes were roughly here:

Once Gilbert miraculously cleared six with the game still 3-1, the lineup did well to scratch across some cushion. Victor Robles beat out a squibber with two outs, and Julio rocketed another single through the infield. That brought up Arozarena, who picked up a third-straight, two-out single, scoring Robles on a close play the plate.

Unfortunately, the Orioles would get that run right back. An error by Cole Young, a single, and a double play put a runner on third. Alex Hoppe brought him home with a spiked pitch to the backstop. 4-2. The walls of Birdland were closing in.

Jose Ferrer got the ball in the ninth. He threw 42 pitches.

Ferrer quickly got ahead of Tavares leading off. But Tavares battled, working the count back to 2-2. Ferrer threw him a fastball way outside for ball three. Tavares thinking it was ball four started toward first and began to derobe, unbuckling his elbow guard. He tried to play it off cool once he realized, slowly returning to the box. But he’d forgotten about the pitch timer, and when it expired, the umpire called him out. Vibe check:

Still, this is Birdland. Coby Mayo immediately homered to make it 4-3. Jeremiah Jackson singled, and Tyler O’Neill nearly ended the game with a barrel to right. But it landed short and skipped over the wall, crucially, for a ground rule double.

Samuel Basallo then hit a ball just three feet. Ferrer went charging after it down the first base line. He grabbed it and made a desperate, tumbling throw for home that was neither accurate nor on time, scoring the tying run. He probably should have thrown to first.

Ferrer walked Taylor Ward to load the bases. Again, there was still just one out in the ninth inning of a tie game. Gunnar Henderson pounded a one hopper to third. Patrick Wisdom, playing in, leaped high to snag it and made a strong throw home to get the lead runner.

Up stepped Pete Alonso. Ferrer threw him six sinkers to work the count full. He went to the sinker again. It caught the center of the plate and Alonso rocketed a grounder up the middle. Right there was Bliss, who snagged it and raced to the bag to get the runner by a step. The Mariners, somehow, survived.

Arozarena took the lead right back in the 10th. With the Manfred Man on second, he poked a slider way out of the zone to right. It looked like a fly out off the bat, but it just carried and carried and carried the Mariners to a 6-4 lead. It can’t be state enough: What a season he’s having.

Nick Davila got the 10th with a 6-4 lead and the Manfred Man. It didn’t start well. Hoppe hit Blaze Alexander with the first pitch of the inning to bring the winning run to the plate. Tavares followed with a hard grounder through the right side to make the game 6-5 with nobody out.

Davila got Mayo to pop up to Bliss, who made a tremendous diving effort near the foul line for the first out. Jackson then hit a chopper to third. Wisdom, again playing in, cut the ball off perfectly with a backhand ranging toward the third base line. He contorted his body to get off a quick throw, which was right on target to Garver, who slapped down the tag to deny the tying run.

Davila ended it with a strikeout.

Not today, Birdland.

Curs-ed lair 
Who even cares
– where?
Down in Birdland

Junior’s swing
Home run king
– there
Down in Birdland

Ju-li-o
Climbed the wall
– Where?
Down in Birdland

Félix is ours
That was lame
– where?
Down in Birdland

Ju-li-o
Climbed that wall
– Again…?
Down in Birdland

Two and oh
Two to go
– there
Down in Birdland yeah

Aroldis Chapman was warming up in the top of the ninth inning with the Red Sox down a run just in case he was needed for the bottom half of the frame; but with the way this offense has performed all season, that felt like ownership drawing up World Series parade routes for the fall, just in in case.

Unsurprisingly, the Red Sox went down like church mice for the final three outs to fall to:

• 11 games under .500 for the first time since 2020
• 0-27 on the season when trailing by three runs or more at any point in the game
• 0-35 when trailing after eight innings

Perhaps the most surprising stat to go along with that last bullet is that the Red Sox actually lead all of baseball in runs scored in the ninth inning in 2026 with 40. They just never score when they actually need the runs to tie the game or take the lead. Yes, the offense is bad, but it’s specifically abysmal when the game is on the line in a way that’s all but mathematically impossible.

Tonight was just another verse in the same rancid, repeating song that is the 2026 Red Sox season. The twist on this particular stanza is that the bottom third of the lineup actually performed pretty well while the top six guys when 2-24 with zero walks.

Nowhere was this more evident than in the bottom of the eighth inning when right after a Marcelo Mayer double cut a 4-1 Rays lead to 4-3. In this moment, the first three guys of the inning reached, the top of the order was coming up, and the Rays still had six outs to negotiate before the end of the game. How did the top six guys in the Sox lineup handle the opportunity? They went 0-6 and blew a golden opportunity to avoid all three deadly bullet points above.

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ve never seen a team quite like this one. It’s not just that they’re the worse offense in baseball in high leverage situations (batting .214 with a .609 OPS), it’s that they’re 11th in baseball in medium leverage spots to go along with that. For instance, they actually have a higher OPS than the Yankees in medium leverage spots, but are almost 200 points behind them in high leverage situations.

One of the reasons this season feels like such a joyless slog is because there’s never any nights where they randomly come through in a big spot and mix in a comeback win amid the flood of loses and other deficiencies. Those are the beautiful breaths of fresh at the surface that keep you coming back in a season where you’re otherwise drowning. Even most bad teams with bad lineups find a way to sprinkle them in every once in a while, but not this group.

I keep thinking this has to change somewhat just by random chance, but maybe I’m just an idiot. (On a related note, I’ll be going to Boston to catch the games this weekend.)

Three Studs

Marcelo Mayer: One nice thing about tonight is that there’s more signs Marcelo Mayer’s new toe tap might be paying dividends. Not only did he follow up yesterday’s home run with a big eighth inning double, but he also had a nice at bat in the third inning with a runner in scoring position where despite making an out, he got the ball in play with 107mph exit velocity.

Caleb Durbin: 1-3 at the plate, and he also flashed some leather with this wonderful double play in the field in the first inning, which felt really important in the moment:

Isiah Kiner-Falefa: The only man in the Red Sox lineup with a multi-hit game, which is pretty much an automatic ticket into the stud section of the game wrap in 2026.

Five Duds

Ceddanne Rafaela: 0-4 with the lowest WPA in the lineup tonight.

Willson Contreras: 0-4 with the second lowest WPA.

Masataka Yoshida: 0-4 with the third lowest WPA (and boy has he looked awful over the last month).

Mickey Gasper: 0-4 with the fourth lowest WPA.

Together, these four went 0-16 and had a -0.58 WPA.

NESN: They didn’t get back in time from commercial to show the first pitch of the bottom of the third inning. Under no circumstance can this be allowed to slide!

The Cleveland Guardians fell to the New York Yankees, again, tonight. Dropping game two in this series gives New York the series win and puts the Guardians five games above .500.

Slade Cecconi had a strong outing and is looking like he is hitting a groove. Cecconi went 5.0 innings, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks. He struck out two batters.

The Guardians scored 2 runs on 10 hits and 4 walks. Both runs came in the bottom of the third inning.

With two quick outs to start the inning, José Ramírez hit a single to center, then reached second on his 24th stolen base of the season. Chase DeLuter singled to center, scoring José from second. Kyle Manzardo drew a walk and Rhys Hoskins was hit by pitch to load them up. Angel Martínez singled to Paul Goldschmidt at first base who made a diving catch. Goldschmidt lobbed the ball to the pitcher with just enough arch that Angel was able to slide into first and beat out the tag.

In the top of the fourth, Travis Bazzana made a great sliding catch to end the inning.

The Guards bullpen did their best to hold it down, all things considering. Colin Holderman walked a batter in his inning of work. Tim Herrin gave up a run in his second inning of work, a solo shot to Jazz Chisolm Jr. He fell to 0-2 on the season, recording the loss. The home run was the only hit he allowed. Matt Festa finished the eighth inning, allowing only one other hit. Shawn Armstrong closed the game, keeping the Yankees at bay, but the damage was already done

This team is going through a funk that seems like it could be easily fixed with a couple of pieces or strategic moves. Tonight they left 13 runners on base and were 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. While the hot start to this season is providing the buffer they need for these sorts of slumps, something needs to improve soon or the White Sox will be taking ahold of first place in the AL Central before we know it.

The Atlanta Braves started a series against the Chicago White Sox after a 5-1 run at home where they took two of three from the reigning AL champ Blue Jays and swept the Pirates who at the time had scored the fourth most runs in MLB.

This matchup was going to be fun because it featured the Acuña brothers playing each other. Unfortunately, that fun was short lived.

Grant Holmes has struggled the second time through the order all season long and was hoping to avoid that tonight, although he was going against a red hot offense that is fourth in MLB in HRs.

Brandon Eisert was the scheduled opener for the White Sox, and has actually had a decent season thus far, but the Braves jumped on him quick. After an Acuña strikeout Harris singled in his return to the starting lineup and Matt Olson followed that with his eighteenth HR of the season to put the Braves up by two.

Albies then singled and Dubón walked to have two runners on with one out. Eisert then got Dominic Smith to fly out on a ball that went three-hundred feet, and then he was replaced by former Braves pitcher Erick Fedde who got Riley to strikeout.

Grant Holmes started off the first inning almost perfect like he seems to always do by producing two fly outs and and a ground out. The Braves then showed of possibly getting some insurance in the second when Acuña reached via HBP with two outs, but then he was caught stealing to end the second inning.

In the second, Holmes gave up a single, but that was the only damage done picking up two strikeouts along the way. In the third for the Braves Harris smoked a liner, but it was caught, but Matt Olson then launched a HR again to make it 3-0 for his nineteenth HR of the season. Albies then doubled and then we saw a somewhat rare catcher interference call that sent Dubón to first. What followed was a weird play where Smith should have hit into a double play, but the pitcher, Fedde, straight up missed a perfect throw and that allowed Albies to score to make it 4-0. Riley then singled, but the scoring ended with a Yastrzemski strikeout.

As stated earlier, Grant Holmes has struggled the second time through the order all season with hitters having an OPS north of 1.000 against him the second time they face him. That did not stop tonight. After getting two outs to the bottom of the order in the third inning, Antonacci who hits first in the order, walked. Vargas then followed that with a two run shot to make the game 4-2. Holmes was able to settle down and get the third out via fly out.

In the fourth is where the bad news hits Braves Nation. After Wynns flied out Acuña appears to have majorly injured his leg running out a grounder.

After the injury delay Harris hit a single and Olson almost hit his third HR of the night, but the ball was caught right at the yellow line on the wall.

The bottom of the fourth is where Holmes fell apart. Again, he is still facing batters for the second time in the game in this inning. He gave up a single, a HBP, then a single to Braden Montgomery for his first career RBI. After a line out and a fielder’s choice to put runners on the corners he walked backup catcher Drew Romo to load the bases. Luckily Dylan Dodd is having the best season of his career and came in and got the out. Holmes finished the night with three earned runs on four hits, two walks, and a HBP on 3.2 innings while picking up two strikeouts.

The Braves were sat down in order in the fifth, but Dodd continued to do well. Outside of a walk, he was able to sit the other three hitters down, to include Vargas who homered in his last at-bat.

It looked like the Braves may score again in the sixth, but it did not happen. After an all too common Riley strikeout, Yastrzemski singled. Then, believe it or not, a catcher got a hit when Wynns singled as well. Unfortunately, in a base running blunder Yastrzemski was thrown out at home when Eli White hit the ball to first baseman Jacob Gonzalez who made the wise decision to throw home for the out. Fedde was then replaced by Tyler Gilbert who got Harris to ground out.

Dodd stayed in the game to pitch the sixth. He got Montgomery to strikeout, but then walked Grichuk which prompted Weiss to replace him with Carlos Carrasco. This move seemed odd considering the close game, and the Braves having the lead, but in a situation where your starter only went 3.2 innings you have to get creative. Carlos Carrasco gave up a single to the first batter he faced, but then settled down forced a fielders choice for the second and and then with the help of Eli White making an epic throw to home plate, he got the third out to end the inning.

Matt Olson led off the seventh inning and walked on a failed ABS challenge by Gilbert. Albies then had his third hit of the night with a single. Tyler Davis then came in for Gilbert and got Dubón to pop up. The White Sox then got redemption on Dominic Smith and forced him into a double play that was actually executed this time to end the top of the seventh.

In a rare questionable move, Walt Weiss left Carlos Carrasco in the game to pitch the seventh with the heart of the order set to bat. He then walked Vargas and then gave up a single to Benintendi to put runners on the corners with no outs. Gonzalez then singled to tie the game with zero outs. Carrasco then was somehow able to get out of the jam by inducing a double play and then a line out.

In the eighth inning Riley walked, then Yastrzemski flied and Mateo pinch hit for Wynns. Unfortunately, Riley got “caught stealing” via pick off, and then Mateo flied out. Sandy León came in to catch and Robert Suarez came in to pitch for the first time since Friday. He was able to retire the side with ease.

In the ninth Eli White flied out, but Harris was able to reach via single. Matt Olson just missed again with a ball that flied three-hundred-thirty feet to RF, and Albies struck out. The Braves at this point have missed insurance runs by mere feet twice to this point.

In the ninth ABS showed its usefulness. In was originally called a ball that would have been a leadoff walk, the call was overturned for a strikeout for Iglesias who relieved Saurez. Vargas and Benintendi were both sat down via ground out and fly out respectively, and it was time for extra innings.

The tenth started out great for the Braves. Albies was the runner on second and Dubón came up clutch yet again and scored Albies with a single on the very first pitch he saw after squaring up like he was going to bunt. Dubón was also able to move to second on the throw home, which worked out great because when Dominic Smith hit another grounder it was not a double play and Dubón moved to third. Unfortunately, for the second time this game a runner was thrown out at home on a grounder that was not a force out when Riley hit a grounder to third and Vargas got Dubón at home. Yastrzemski then flew out to third to put the end to what looked like would be a great inning.

Raisel Iglesias stayed in the game to pitch the tenth making it only the second time this season he pitched more than one inning. He was able to strike out the first batter he saw and then induce a ground out right off the bat, but the ground out moved the runner to third. Braden Montgomery, who made his debut tonight, then hit a walk-off home run to end the game.

The Braves had one of their saddest games of the season this evening. Not only did they lose in extras, but they were 0-8 with RISP if you don’t count the ghost runner and potentially lost Acuña to injury. Matt Olson was a few feet shy twice of hitting a HR to make the outcome much different. Hopefully the Braves can rebound tomorrow when former White Sox ace Chris Sale takes the mound for the Braves.