Category: MLB

Mariners 1, Angels 0

Cookies in coffee: Bryce Miller, +0.43

Cookies in milk: Josh Naylor, -0.29

Game Thread Comment of the Day

Chris MacFarland has officially been the Nashville Predators' general manager for one month, and needless to say, he has been rapidly changing the look of this roster. 

From his first day on the job, he made one thing clear: he wanted to reshape the roster to address areas of need. He has done that, but there is still more work to be done. However, before we look at what else could be done, let's look at what moves he has already made in his short time as GM.

MacFarland's First Month on the Job:

• June 5th: Hired Rob Blake as executive vice president of hockey operations.
• June 16th: Traded Magnus Chrona & 2 picks to the Colorado Avalanche for Ross Colton & Isak Posch.
• June 24th: Traded Fyodor Svechkov & Zach L'Heureux to the Avalanche in exchange for Jack Drury, Chase Bradley and a 3rd round pick in 2029.
• June 26th: Traded 2 second-round picks to the Carolina Hurricanes for a 1st-round pick.
• June 27th: Traded Massimo Rizzo & a 5th round pick to the New York Rangers for Adam Edstrom.
• June 29th: Traded a 3rd round pick in 2029 to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Nils Höglander.
• July 1st: Traded a 2nd round pick in 2027 and a 3rd round pick in 2028 to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Mavrik Bourque & Ilya Lyubushkin
• July 1st: Signed Alex Kerfoot to a two-year, $7 million contract.
• July 1st: Re-signed Drury to a five-year, $22 million contract. 

Needless to say, MacFarland has been one of the most active GMs in the last month, if not the most active. There are going to be more moves given that they have an abundance of forwards. Now the question remains, who will he move next? 

The Tigers, with largely their pitching staff to thank, ended their winning streak with a 10-4 loss to the Texas Rangers.

After an unexpectedly great series against the Yankees, it seemed like they might have an opportunity to test the theory that they perform best against teams over .500. They headed to Arlington to take on the Texas Rangers. To hopefully lead them to another (much-needed) victory, they had Framber Valdez on the mound. The Rangers, meanwhile, were leaning on Nathan Eovaldi.

The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the first. In the home half, Josh Jung got a one-out single, followed by a single to Ezequiel Duran. Two outs followed, though, to get the Tigers out of the jam.

It was another three-up, three-down outing for the Tigers, so I guess those early-inning home run sprees are looking a little less likely for this game. With one out in the bottom of the inning, Elias Diaz hit a solo home run to put the Rangers on the board first. Alejandro Osuno singled, then Nicky Lopez singled as well. Justin Foscue worked a walk to load the bases. Valdez wasn’t looking great, missing the zone on many of his pitches and just not showing the sharp stuff we see on his better outings. He emphasized this by walking in a run when he gave up a free base to Jung. Duran then hit a sac fly to score Lopez. Valdez finally got the last out of the inning, but the Rangers had a 3-0 lead after two.

The Tigers didn’t do much to help themselves in the third, totally unable to get anything off of Eovaldi and going down in order again. Cam Cauley got a one-out single in the bottom of the inning but was quickly eliminated by a force out off the bat of Diaz. The final out came with no runs scored, which was badly needed by Valdez and the Tigers.

Kevin McGonigle became the first Tigers baserunner of the game with a leadoff walk in the top of the fourth. Three outs in a row followed. Lopes singled to start the home half of the inning. With one out, Jung doubled, bringing another run in. Duran then singled, bringing the Rangers up to 5-0. The Tigers got the next two outs, but they had quite the hill to climb if they were going to keep their streak alive.

They started to chip away with a leadoff home run from Colt Keith to get the fifth underway. With one out, McKinstry singled. Then, after the second out of the inning, Hao-Yu Lee hit the second home run of the inning to put the Tigers right back in the game.

McGongile and Dillon Dingler got back-to-back singles, but a final out ended the inning with no additional runs scored. In the bottom of the inning, Valdez had a badly needed 1-2-3 inning, with a lot of thanks to his teammates, including this insane nab by McKinstry.

Riley Greene got the sixth underway with a leadoff double. That was it for Eovaldi (did not think he would be the first starter to get pulled today, let’s be honest), and was replaced by old friend Tyler Alexander. With one out, Torkelson singled, then one out later, a pinch-hitting Ben Malgeri walked to load the bases. The bases were loaded, and the Rangers went back to their bullpen to get Peyton Gray, who came in to get the final out of the inning. In the bottom of the inning, Valdez was also done, being replaced by Beau Brieske. The final line of the game for Framber was 5.0 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HR on 87 pitches. It was a pretty bad outing for him overall, but he did right the ship towards the end. With one out in the home half, a pinch-hitting Josh Smith homered. Two outs followed, but at the end of six, the Rangers were up 6-0.

McGonigle hit a little dribbler of a single right down the third base line. Doesn’t matter how you do it as long as you get on base. With one out, Kerry Carpenter walked. With two on, the Rangers went back to their bullpen for Robby Ahlstrom. Unfortunately, the Tigers weren’t able to convert their baserunners and left two stranded at the end of the inning. With two outs in the home half, the Tigers returned to the pen to get Drew Sommers to face a pinch-hitting leftie, Evan Carter. Naturally, Carter singled. Diaz then walked (he should have been out, but a check swing that should have been ruled a strike wasn’t). Osuna hit a perfectly placed single in between the infielders to score Carter. Sommers attempted to behead Lopez a couple of times with very high and inside pitches. The at-bat was a long one that Lopes eventually won with a comebacker that Sommers let bounce off his glove and scored another run. Then Lopez stole second. A Josh Smith single scored yet another run and Sommers was done. He had come in to get the final out of the inning and instead allowed three runs to score, which I don’t think is the ideal outcome you want to see from your bullpen. Kenley Jansen replaced him and gave up a walk to Jung, but finally induced the last out of the inning.

Cole Winn was the new Rangers reliever, and that is a spectacular name for a Texas baseball player. With one out, McKinstry doubled, then a Malgeri single brought McKinstry home. The Tigers had to settle for just the one run, but it proved they weren’t counting themselves out yet. Kyle Finnegan came on for the Tigers in the home half. Carter struck again in the eighth with a two-out solo homer. Diaz then doubled. Osuna singled with no one to cover first but Finnegan, and Torkelson wasn’t quite able to get the ball over to his pitcher in time for the out. The Tigers finally got out of the inning, but they had a lot of ground to cover if they were going to make a comeback in the ninth.

Gavin Collyer came in for the ninth and gave up a leadoff double to Dingler. He would be the only baserunner for the inning as the Tigers went down in order after that to end the inning and the game with an unfortunate loss. Thanks to the World Cup, they would get an off day on Friday to recoup before concluding the series over the holiday weekend.

Final: Rangers 10, Tigers 4

The Texas Rangers scored ten runs while the Detroit Tigers scored four runs.

With one out in the bottom of the fourth in tonight’s game, the Rangers collected their first hit with RISP on the night despite several lengthy rallies in the early innings. Fret not, though, that RBI single by Ezequiel Duran scored Texas’ fifth run of the game. Previously they had scored via a Elias Diaz solo home run, a bases loaded walk, a sac fly, and a Josh Jung RBI double following a Nicky Lopez single.

The Rangers had eight hits before they had one with runners in scoring position. It was a humorous twist to the kinds of nights where Texas experienced frustrating missed opportunities that fed into disappointing losses.

Of course, the bizarre sequencing was only humorous because they found other ways to score against a floundering Framber Valdez. For a while, it didn’t seem like they’d need too many runs at all anyway.

Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi was cruising along with a ton of strikeouts and swings and misses as he hadn’t allowed a hit to Detroit through the first four innings while Texas built a comfortable lead. However, in the top of the fifth, the first hit by a Tiger came via a solo home run from Colt Keith on a 0-2 pitch way above the zone.

Eovaldi seemed to be rattled by Keith reaching up and yanking one out as, following the first out of the inning, four of the next five batters reached via a hit, including a two-run home run by No. 9 hitter Hao-Yu Lee. Suddenly a comfortable game was transformed into a close 5-3 contest and Detroit had the tying run on base with Eovaldi sputtering.

Eovaldi was able to get the final out of the inning to end the threat but after a double to lead off the top of the sixth, the veteran exited having tossed just five innings despite most of those being dominant. Eovaldi ended up striking out nine in those five innings but in a rare instance of running out of gas, the bullpen was tasked with getting through the remaining four innings.

The bats eventually made that job a little easier as Josh Smith pinch hit for Justin Foscue and hit his first home run of the season, a solo shot in the bottom of the sixth. An inning later, Texas suddenly got all those RISP hits that eluded them a few hours prior as six consecutive Rangers reached base with two outs and Alejandro Osuna, Lopez, and Smith each produced an RBI single to turn the game into a blowout.

In the bottom of the eighth, Evan Carter hit his seventh home run of the year, a solo shot that gave Texas double digits for their final run of the evening.

Meanwhile, a quintet of Tyler Alexander (.2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K), Peyton Gray (.2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K), Robby Ahlstrom (.2 IP, 1K), Cole Winn (1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 K), and Gavin Collyer (1 IP, 1 H, 1 K) teamed up to work through those final four innings as they kept the Tigers from threatening while the bats caught fire in the late innings.

With this game in the books, the Rangers completed their 15 games in 15 days stretch that began with a loss to Minnesota all the way back on June 18. Overall, the Rangers went 10-5 during that stretch and clawed their way atop the AL West even with a brutal schedule.

Player of the Game: There were plenty of candidates from the lineup tonight with 17 hits between them. However, Jung did good work in the No. 2 hole with a double, a run, two walks, and two RBIs. The Texas third baseman was robbed of what was likely a second double which would have put him on base in each of his plate appearances on the night.

Up Next: The Rangers have a rare Friday off with Australia playing Egypt in the Round of 32 at “Dallas Stadium” next door tomorrow. This series will resume on Saturday with RHP Kumar Rocker set to pitch for Texas against RHP Jack Flaherty for Detroit.

The July 4 first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 3:05 pm CDT and will be aired on the Rangers Sports Network.

It’s been a tough season for the Mariners with position player injuries, and things got worse on Thursday night against the Angels, with Julio Rodríguez departing the game in the third inning and Victor Robles in the fifth.

In the bottom of the first inning, Rodríguez reached on a walk from Angels starter Walbert Ureña. Dominic Canzone then grounded into what looked like it would be a routine 3-4-3 double play, but Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel’s throw hit Julio in the back of the helmet instead. Rodríguez smartly kept running, sliding into third with a smile and celebration, but shortly after was seen doubled over in pain. He stayed in after a visit from the training staff, long enough for Ureña to hit Randy Arozarena with a pitch, but the inning ended shortly after when Josh Naylor grounded into an inning-ending double play on the second pitch of his at-bat.

Rodríguez played the defensive top half of the next inning but then disappeared from the dugout during the bottom of the second, and when the third inning rolled around Victor Robles came out in his place to play center field.

The team has yet to announce anything regarding Rodríguez’s status but it’s likely he wasn’t able to clear concussion protocol after being struck squarely by Schanuel’s throw. Luckily, Schanuel’s arm ranks in the 11th percentile for arm strength, so fingers crossed it looked – and sounded – worse than it was. This story will be updated as more is learned about the extent of Rodríguez’s injury.

Arozarena wasn’t the only Mariners player Angels starter Ureña hit with a pitch in his outing, this time doing more damage: he struck Victor Robles with a 98 mph sinker on the forearm, causing the outfielder to double over in obvious pain. Robles stayed in for the rest of the inning (which was only one out) and played the defensive half of the fourth inning, but was replaced in the batting order in the fifth inning by Weston Wilson, as Luke Raley moved into center field with Wilson – a utility player who has spent more time on the infield dirt – taking over in right. We will update this story as we learn more about Robles’s injury. Stay tuned to see if Buddy Kennedy gets to take some reps in center by the end of the night.

POSTGAME UPDATES, 9:50 PM:

Dan Wilson says that Julio Rodríguez is indeed in concussion protocol; he will be re-evaluated tomorrow. X-rays on Victor Robles’s forearm/wrist were negative; he’s also day-to-day. This post will be updated with the latest information available tomorrow.

Second baseman Hayden Cantrelle was promoted to Triple-A Iowa from Double-A Knoxville.

Shortstop Alex Madera was promoted to Knoxville from High-A South Bend.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs egged the Toledo Mud Hens (Tigers), 6-4.

Andrew Wentz started and was touched for three runs on three hits over 3.2 innings. The real issue is that Wentz walked five while striking out three.

Antoine Kelly relieved Corbin Martin with runners on the corners and no outs. He retired the first two batters he faced without allowing the run from third to score, but an infield single off shortstop Scott Kingery’s glove allowed a run to score. But Kelly went on to pitch two innings with no runs of his own and got the win. He gave up two hits. Kelly walked one and struck out one.

Eduarniel Núñez threw the final two innings and got the save. Núnez surrendered no runs on one hit and no walks. He struck out three.

Left fielder Jonathon Long is heating up. In the eighth inning, he tacked on an insurance run with a 419-foot home run, his eighth of the season. Long went 2 for 5 with the double and the home run. He scored twice.

Center fielder Brett Bateman had a double and a triple in a 2 for 5 night.

Second baseman Owen Miller was a perfect 3 for 3 with two walks. He drove in two runs and scored once.

First baseman BJ Murray went 3 for 5 and scored twice.

Here’s the second of Miller’s two RBI singles.

Jonny Long’s long one.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies picked the Columbus Clingstones (Braves) clean, 1-0.

Three Smokies pitchers combined on a six-hit shutout. Starter Nick Dean allowed four hits and walked one over six innings. He struck out seven.

Erian Rodriguez threw the seventh and eighth innings. He gave up two hit and walked one while striking out three.

Evan Taylor pitched the top of the ninth and got the win. Taylor walked two batters after two were out, but gave up no hits and got out of it. Taylor struck out two.

The game was still scoreless heading to the bottom of the ninth. Right fielder Alex Ramírez came to the plate with one out and the bases loaded and singled home pinch runner Alex Madera with the winning run. Ramírez was 1 for 4.

Second baseman Drew Bowser singled to lead off the bottom of the ninth in his first game in Double-A. Bowser was 1 for 3.

The Smokies won despite only getting four hits.

Here’s the walk-off single by Ramírez.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs were caught hibernating by the Beloit Sky Carp (Marlins), 13-5.

Starter Nazier Mulé gave up four runs on five hits over just three innings. Mulé walked three, hit one batter and struck out four.

Jackson Brockett pitched the next 3.2 innings and took the loss after he was hit for four runs on three hits. One of the four runs was unearned. Brockett struck out four and walked three.

Third baseman Matt Halbach was 2 for 3 with a walk. He scored once and drove home two.

Left fielder Jose Escobar was 2 for 5 and scored one run.

Right fielder Josiah Hartshorn went 0 for 2 with three walks. He scored once.

Here are highlights from a four-run top of the third.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans boiled the Hickory Crawdads (Rangers), 5-2.

Pierce Coppola allowed two runs on four hits over the first four innings. Coppola struck out six, walked two and hit one batter.

Edwardo Melendez pitched the next 3.2 inning, did not allow a run or a hit and got the win. Melendez did walk two while striking out four.

Jordan Henriquez got the save. He pitched 1.1 innings, giving up no runs on one hit. Henriquez struck out one and walked no one.

Right fielder Eli Lovich was the hero of the game, going 3 for 3 with a double and a walk. He also stole a base. Lovich scored twice.

Shortstop Derniche Valdez went 2 for 4 with an RBI triple in the sixth inning. Valdez also scored after the triple on a wild pitch.

Third baseman Yahil Melendez was a perfect 1 for 1 with three walks and a stolen base. Melendez scored one run.

Here’s Valdez’s triple and Melendez’s single.

ACL Cubs

Beating the Reds, 4-1 in the sixth.

There must be a glitch in the Matrix because for the second time this week, Carter Jensen hit a leadoff home run to get his team up early, only for the Royals to fall to the Rays. This time Tampa won 5-2.

Let’s take a look at that Carter jack, though, shall we?

That was off of Ian Seymour who nearly masterminded a combined no-hitter against the Royals last week. Not this time. Unfortunately, he allowed 2 other hits the entire game while striking out 8. Isaac Collins added a solo shot in the bottom of the seventh off of reliever Cam Booser. It was so unimportant to the outcome that the Royals didn’t even bother to post a video of it, so I have nothing to show you.

Stephen Kolek had a 9-pitch, 1-2-3 first inning. But with two outs in the second, things began to unravel. Chandler Simpson was standing at first when Taylor Walls hit a rocket to right field that clanked off of Kameron Misner’s glove for a double. The way the booth told the story, Misner had almost no shot at the ball and it was amazing that he managed to get a glove on it. However, Baseball Savant gave the ball an expected batting average of only .390. And I’d argue any MLB outfielder who gets his glove on a ball should bring it in, but Simpson scored and Misner escaped without an error.

Richie Palacios popped it up into left, but it dropped in no-man ’s-land to score another run. Then Hunter Feduccia gave Misner another chance, and Misner dropped that one, too! That one had only a .170 expected batting average, despite being a home run in 14/30 parks, and Feduccia was credited with a triple. Yandy Díaz walked, and then Jonathan Aranda hit a grounder to the right side that deflected off of Jac Caglianone’s glove. For a moment it looked like the Royals were going to give up a third hit off of a player’s glove. Fortunately for all involved, Michael Massey barehanded the deflection and managed to get it to Stephen Kolek, who was smartly still attempting to cover the bag, and blessedly ended the inning.

As the Royals were batting in the bottom of the second, Matt Quatraro was seen to go out and speak to the home plate umpire while Randy Dobnak warmed up in the bullpen. The broadcast booth theorized Kolek was hurt. There was never an official announcement, but for the second straight start, Kolek was unable to pitch into the third inning and looked awful doing it. It seems likely he’s injured. He was probably injured during his last start, too, but the team hoped it would magically vanish while he was on parental leave.

It’s possible Kolek wasn’t hurt, and that throwing 42 pitches in the second inning was simply more than the Royals were willing to let him throw before getting him out of the game. But I don’t think KC has earned the benefit of the doubt with how they’ve handled injuries this season.

Lane Thomas had a two-out double in the first, Jac Caglianone had a groundball single to the right side in the sixth, and Carter Jensen added an infield single in the eighth to round out all of the Royals’ hitting for the night. Only when Bobby Witt Jr. reached on an error and stole second in the third inning did the Royals ever have a runner standing on second, and he was erased on a Jac groundout. They never had one standing on third.

Speaking of Jac, I saw him berating himself after a groundout in the bottom of the eighth. Combine that with the recent slump and I’m worried about him all over again just a week after I thought I wouldn’t need to worry about him for a good long while and had been praising his good body language even when he didn’t necessarily get a hit.

The Royals have tomorrow off thanks to the World Cup. They’ll start a three-game set with the Phillies on Saturday, the fourth of July. With Kyle Schwarber, Brandon Marsh, and Bryce Harper leading the way, I expect there to be plenty of fireworks even before the game ends. See you then.

In a close game, the White Sox battled late, but sloppy baserunning, poor pitching, and a walk-off home run from Brayan Rocchio gave the Guardians the win. The White Sox fell 6-5 in the first of four games in Cleveland, one neither team necessarily deserved to win.

A few singles and a lot of bad baserunning could best describe the first inning. Sam Antonacci started the game with a base hit but was caught stealing. For the Guardians, Travis Bazzana and Chase DeLauter had back-to-back singles in the bottom half, but DeLauter was caught trying to steal second. Davis Martin’s command was abysmal at best, issuing a walk as well, but he did record all three outs, including a double-play ball that came right back to him to end the frame.

The White Sox caught two breaks in the second. Andrew Benintendi singled and easily got to second on a wild pitch, and Colson Montgomery reached second on a fielding error by left fielder Cooper Ingle. With those miscues, though, came more baserunning gaffes when Benintendi was called out for running out of the baseline. Despite three runners making it on base, no runs would come in. Martin had a much-needed 1-2-3 bottom of the inning to hold off the Guardians.

The Guardians took the lead in the bottom of the third thanks to a double from Patrick Bailey, a wild pitch, and a double from Bazzana that plated Bailey. With two outs, Martin gave up a four-pitch walk to put runners in the corners and walked Kahill Watson to load the bases. Another four-pitch walk forced in a run to make it 2-0 before escaping the bases-loaded jam with a ground out.

With two on, the White Sox squandered a chance to score in the fourth. Martin continued to struggle, giving up back-to-back singles and a walk to load the bases with just one out. Will Venable pulled Martin, and Chris Murphy stepped in. Miguel Vargas snagged the second out in foul territory, and Braden Montgomery made a sliding catch for the third out to prevent any further damage.

The top of the fifth was all about doubles. Tristan Peters started the frame with a double, but Jacob Gonzalez missed the memo with a liner to center. Antonacci sent Peters home via a double to put a run on the board, and Vargas followed up with a double as well. Kyle Teel sent the two runners home with, you guessed it — a double! The fun ended after Colson Montgomery went down swinging, but the Good Guys ended the top half with a 3-2 lead. The Guardians sent two balls into foul territory that were caught, making the bottom half quick and painless.

The doubles didn’t stop in the fifth as Chicago added to its lead in the sixth. Braden Montgomery decided to join in this time with a two-bagger. Then Chase Meidroth padded the lead with his seventh home run of the season, making it 5-2, and that was the end for Guardian’s starter Slade Cecconi. Gonzalez landed a single off new pitcher Daniel Espino, but was left on base after back-to-back strikeouts.

Gabriel Arias singled to start the bottom of the sixth, and Sean Newcomb, who replaced Murphy, gave up back-to-back walks to load the bases. DeLauter grounded out, but the throw home wasn’t in time, giving Arias the safe call and closing the gap 5-3. Newcomb neutralized the threat by striking out pinch-hitter Rhys Hoskins.

David Fry made it a one-run game in the bottom of the seventh with a solo shot. Both teams came up empty-handed in the eighth, and the White Sox went down in order in the top of the ninth. Drama ensued in the bottom of the ninth as Grant Taylor issued a four-pitch walk, putting the tying run on base to start the frame. With just one out, Brayan Rocchio sent Guardians fans home happy with a walk-off two-run homer.

“Faith, Balls, and Patience.”

“Hit him with a sandwich.”

Two immortal phrases tweeted by the god of the right field foul pole, Brayan Hommy Rocchio.

The path to tonight’s 6-5 walk-off win over the White Sox was a winding one. The Guardians started the game by failing to score with runners on first and third and no outs through a pick off and a line drive double-play. It was dumber than it sounds there. Slade Cecconi delivered four shutout innings, however (despite another Cooper Ingle error in left field as he desparately tries to learn a brand new position at the major league level and hit enough to make the experiment worthwhile). This allowed the Guardians to take the lead in the bottom of the third on a Travis Bazzana RBI double scoring Patrick Bailey

and then a Brayan Rocchio bases-loaded walk. Great game for Bazzana who went 2-3 with 2 walks, and it was needed.

Unfortunately, Cecconi ran out of gas on an extremely hot night in the fifth. He surrended four doubles and each was hard hit, and three runs, before getting out of the inning down 3-2. Having thrown 93 pitches, Cecconi was clearly done as the temperature neared 5,000 degrees. Clear to everyone except manager Stephen Vogt who explained after the game “We had to get 100 pitches from Slade with where our bullpen was.” No. That’s the dumbest thing I have ever heard. If your pitcher is done, you figure things out. As the bullpen proceeded to do! Scoreless one and 2/3rds from Daniel Espino, one and 1/3rd from Sean Armstrong (with no help from Gabriel Arias but yes help from Steven Kwan and Rhys Hopkins) and one from Tim Herrin (good time for 2024 Herrin to show up, imho). But, not before Vogt had sent Cecconi out for the sixth and he had given up two more runs because, again, he was obviously done in the fifth. Stupid move by Vogt. Absolutely inexcusable.

However, the Guardians were not done. Arias did something for once and singled to open the sixth, Bailey popped out, Kwan walked, Bazzana walked and DeLauter grounded out to score Arias. All this against Sean Newcomb who dominated the lineup in Chicago last week. Hoskins then pinch-hit for Manzardo and predictably struck out to end the inning. But Manzardo must never face a lefty with where our bullpen was. Or something.

Bottom of the 7th seemed quiet against a second lefty reliever… but then David Fry pinch hit for Cooper Ingle (I approve) and hit a homer!

The bottom of the ninth featured Rhys Hoskins redeeming himself with a leadoff walk (sensibly pinch-run for by Daniel Schneemann) then a really good at-bat from Kahlil Watson who ended up seeing seven pitches and flying out to center. That was apparently enough pitches for Rocchio to perform his magic on Grant Taylor and send the home fans happy.

Yet, I still hope Vogt is doing some serious self-reflection. Rote doesn’t make right. Gotta adjust to what you see in front of you. Or let playoff Rocchio fix it for you, I guess! I’ll take it.

I yelled so loud in our kitchen doing dishes that my wife thought I cut my finger off with a knife.

The Atlanta Braves had a solid game yesterday and were looking to make it two in a row as they took on the Cardinals behind Hurston Waldrep making his return as a starter.

This was the third of six games the Braves would face the Cardinals and will face them again shortly for another three games right before the all-star break. Last season the Braves won both series against the Cardinals. The Braves have a .625 winning percentage against the Cardinals since 2019 which is their fifth best winning percentage against a NL team in that span. The Braves also have a .714 winning percentage against the NL Central this season. The only team with a better winning percentage against the NLC are the Brewers.

The first inning did not go great for Hurston Waldrep, and it started to look like doom and gloom again. Waldrep showing he is a viable option in the rotation would be a huge boon for the ravaged Braves rotation. The first batter Waldrep faced he surrendered a singled and then followed that up with a HBP. He was able to get a groundout, but then Jordan Walker took him deep to left field to score three. Waldrep was able to largely settle down in the first. He gave up another single but was able to end the top of the first without anymore damage.

The Braves had a crazy bottom of the first. Last month being down three runs would have seemed like the game was already over for the Braves, but that was not the case. Dustin May, the Cardinals starting pitcher, has a 5.68 ERA in his 12.2 innings against the Braves before this start. He loaded the bases right away via a single from Baldwin followed by walks to Albies and Olson. Harris struck out, but then Dubón continued his clutch streak by knocking in Baldwin with a line drive single to make the score 1-3. What followed was one of the craziest plays we have seen in awhile. Dominic Smith smoked a ball that hit Dustin May in what looked like his angle and it ricocheted perfectly down the right field line to clear the bases for the Braves to take the lead.

Believe it or not, Austin Riley got in on the fun and hit a single to move Smith to third and then Yastrzemski hit a sacrifice fly to make the score 5-3. Jim Jarvis, the ninth hitter, then singled which prompted May to be pulled from the game and replaced with Justin Bruihl who was able to get Drake Baldwin to groundout to end the inning.

Waldrep then looked like the dominant starter we hoped he would be. He sat down the next seven batters he faced picking up three strikeouts along the way. In the first inning Waldrep pitched twenty pitches. In the next two innings he pitched a combined nineteen. Waldrep did not give up another baserunner until he surrendered a single in the fourth inning to Winn, but he sat down the other three hitters that inning as well. In the fifth inning he a single to Crooks but then he was able to get a fly out and a double play. He came back out for the sixth and after a groundout and walk to Jordan walker he was pulled. All-in-all Waldrep pitched 5.1 innings where he surrendered three earned runs (all in the first inning), five hits, one walk, and accumulated four strikeouts. He was replaced by Tyler Kinley.

Let’s catch up on the offensive side with the Braves. During the following innings after their five run first, they were unable to score anymore runs while Waldrep was in the game. They were sat down in order in the second and third innings, but then in the fourth Yastrzemski was able to get some offense going with a single, and after a Jarvis groundout that moved him to second, Baldwin was hit by a pitch. This led to a pitching changed where Ryan Fernandez came in. This did the trick for the Cardinals because both Albies and Olson were retired. In the fifth the Braves had the minimum runners when Dubón singled but Smith grounded into a doubled play.

The sixth inning is where Tyler Kinley took over for Waldrep and was able to force a double play to end the top of the sixth. Gordon Graceffo came in to pitch for the Cardinals and retired the side in the sixth.

The seventh is where the wheels fell off. Tyler Kinley stayed in the game. He gave up a single to Winn followed by a two run shot by Nathan Church to tie the game. After a walk, he was replaced by Dylan Lee who is having an elite season. However, tonight was not Lee’s night. José Fermín came in to pinch hit and singled to put two on. JJ Wetherholt then had a single of his own to give the Cardinals a one run lead. The damage did not end there with yet another single to make the score 5-7. Lee finally got an out via fielder’s choice, but then he was replaced by Ian Hamilton who promptly gave up a single and a double to make the score 9-5. A grounder was then hit and it looked like Matt Olson gunned down Walker at home, but upon review he was safe to make it 10-5. Finally, Church hit into a double play to end the atrocious top of the inning.

Jojo Romero came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and was able to get Baldwin to groundout and and strikeout Albies. Matt Olson then flied out to end the inning.

Ian Hamilton stayed in the game to eighth as a white flag, and gave up a single to the first hitter. Hamilton then got the force out at second thanks to Jim Jarvin. As a sign of how terrible this game is, the sure handed Matt Olson had an error to put runners on the corners with one out. Fortunately, the next play was a double play to end the top of the eighth.

Michael Harris came up to bat in the eighth and was able to get on via a single to the left side. George Soriano then came in to pitch to Dubón who was able to turn an 0-2 count into a walk. Dominic Smith then flied out on a full count. Riley then grounded into a force out. Yastrzemski also grounded out to end the inning.

James Karinchak came in to mop up in the ninth inning, and the first batter he faced, Alec Burleson hit a HR. Walker flied out but then Nootbar followed that up with a single, and Winn walked on four pitches. After a nine pitch at-bat he finally got a groundout to first followed by a pop up on the first pitch to end the ninth.

Jim Jarvis came up to bat in the ninth with the Braves being down by six. Matt Svanson was the pitcher for the Cardinals. Jarvis had a good at-bat forcing nine pitches but ultimately struck out. Baldwin then came to the plate and also struck out. Albies popped out to end the game.

In a game where the Braves needed some hope, their greatest strength let them down. Going into the seventh inning the Braves had a two run lead. Their bullpen had the best ERA in MLB by almost half a run, but the bullpen ended up surrendering eight earned runs. You can’t win games like that.

The Braves will face the Mets at home tomorrow at home at 7:15 EDT in hopes to get back on track.

The St. Louis Cardinals entered Thursday nights game versus the Atlanta Braves hoping to win the series. By the time it was done, the hope was to keep Dustin May from leaving in an ambulance. They would ultimately succeed, though, as their bats would erupt for one of the Cardinals best rallies of the season late in the game to make manager Oli Marmol’s birthday extra special.

The good news is the St. Louis Cardinals bats woke up and started Thursday night’s game with a bang early. In the top of the 1st inning, JJ Wetherholt led off with a single followed by Iván Herrera (you guessed it) being hit by yet another pitch. Two batters later, Jordan Walker launched an 83 mph splitter 396 feet over the left field wall for a 3-run blast giving the Cardinals a 3-0 lead with many family and friends in the stands at Truist Park watching.

Whatever joy the St. Louis Cardinals and the fanbase felt after the top of the 1st inning would be short-lived. The bottom of the 1st inning was nothing short of disastrous for the Cardinals on so many levels. The trouble started when Dustin May gave up a leadoff single to Drake Baldwin followed by back-to-back walks to Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson. May was able to get Michael Harris II to strike out looking, but then the wheels would come off. Mauricio Dubon singled which scored Baldwin reducing the Cardinals lead to 3-1. Dominic Smith then rifled a line drive off of Dustin May’s ankle as the ball ricocheted off of him into right field. By the time JJ Wetherholt tracked it down, 3 runs had scored as the Braves took the lead 4-3. Dustin May was down on his knees on the field for several minutes. After being examined by the trainer, manager Oli Marmol decided to let May continue. Austin Riley followed that decision up with an infield single to third that Blaze Jordan was unable to handle as Smith advanced to third. He scored on the next play when Mike Yastremski hit a deep sacrifice fly to center field giving Atlanta a 5-3 lead. After Jarvis singled to right, Dustin May limped off of the field and Justin Bruihl came into the game to finish out the depressing 1st inning. The official word after being examined in the clubhouse is that Dustin May suffered a right ankle contusion.

Justin Bruihl did a solid job of keeping St. Louis in the game as he finished the 1st inning that Dustin May couldn’t and continued into the bottom of the 4th inning before running out of gas after throwing 40 pitches. He surrendered the game to Ryan Fernandez who entered with runners on 1st and 2nd with just 1 out. He fortunately was able to get out of the inning without allowing Atlanta to increase their lead. He would carry St. Louis through the 5th inning while Gordon Graceffo would take care of the bottom of the 6th. The St. Louis bullpen’s unplanned start would hold the Braves scoreless into the 7th which would be vital.

Every potential Cardinals rally through the middle innings could be summed up with a single and then a double play to kill the momentum. But, that narrative changed in the top of the 7th inning when the Cardinals bullpen keeping the Braves close would pay off big time. The phrase “all you need is a bloop and a blast” would prove true again. Masyn Winn would provide the bloop single (he had 3 hits in the game) followed by Nathan Church unloading the blast – a two-run homer off an 86 mph slider over the right field wall tying the game at 5-5.

The Cardinals did not take their foot off the gas after Church tied the game. Jordan Walker drew a walk and then pinch-hitter Jose Fermin singled. JJ Wetherholt went up to the plate with directions to bunt both runners over. After two very insufficient bunt attempts, JJ swung away and it’s a good thing he did as he slapped a single into short right-center scoring Walker and giving St. Louis a 6-5 lead.

Iván Herrera kept the train rolling with a single of his own driving in Fermin upping the Cardinals lead to 7-5 with Wetherholt smartly going first to third. After Alec Burleson grounded into a fielder’s choice where JJ Wetherholt made a smart play on the base paths forcing the Braves into a rundown where they would eventually only get one out leaving runners at 2nd and 3rd with one out. Jordan Walker would strike fear into the Braves infield who were forced to play in by crushing a 95 mph sinker into left field giving St. Louis an 8-5 lead and they still weren’t done.

Lars Nootbaar ripped a double into right field scoring Alec Burleson adding yet another tally for St. Louis giving the Cardinals an amazing 9-5 lead. But wait, there’s more. Masyn Winn grounded out to first, but the throw by Baldwin which beat Jordan Walker to home, but he pulled off the slide of the year as he pulled back his left arm and did a swim move with his right to duck around the tag and score the Cardinals 10th run of the game. Incredible.

After the Cardinals more than batted around and the Braves went through 3 relief pitchers, it was 10-5 Cardinals. Hello momentum. It’s nice to see you in our corner again. After that inspiring offensive eruption, there were still 3 innings to survive and Oli Marmol chose JoJo Romero to handle the bottom of the 7th inning. He kept the Braves in check. JoJo would start, but not finish the 8th inning as George Soriano carried the baton for the rest of the bottom of the 8th inning. He inherited a runner from JoJo and walked the first batter he faced, but was able to get Smith to fly out for the first out on a brave 3-2 changeup. He then got Austin Riley to ground out to third for what could have been a double play, but Fermin’s throw to first was awful and pulled Burleson off the bag. It wouldn’t matter, though, as Mike Yastremski grounded out to Masyn Winn for the final out of the Brave’s 8th.

Alec Burleson would add an exclamation point to the Cardinals offensive volcano Thursday night as he launched one of the highest home runs I’ve seen in a long time as it’s horizontal distance was 395 feet and the vertical distance had to be similar. That gave the Cardinals their final 11-5 lead they would end the game with.

Matt Svanson was the Cardinals 9th inning answer to close out the Atlanta Braves to make the series win official. He did the job fine, thank you very much. If the St. Louis Cardinals season becomes one that eventually results in a playoff appearance, remember this game. The Cardinals could easily have rolled over after Dustin May’s early exit. The bullpen locking down the Braves for 8 innings and the Cardinals bats waking up could be a turnaround moment. We can only hope.

The St. Louis Cardinals will travel to Wrigley Field for an All-American 4th of July weekend as they’ll challenge their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs. Andre Pallante will try to give the Cardinals another strong start. He’ll be facing LHP David Peterson. First pitch is scheduled for 3:15pm central time and the game TV broadcast will be handled by Cardinals.tv. A heads up that Saturday’s game will be on Fox while the Sunday Cards/Cubs game will be on Peacock.

On Wednesday, during their regularly scheduled bargaining session, the union representing the players (MLBPA) made its third proposal to the MLB negotiating team. The proposal doesn’t include any financial adjustments other than those that come with roster use and manipulation.

Following are the major points of the new proposal:

• Increasing the roster from 26 to 28 players for the first 15 days of the season with a maximum of 14 pitchers. Allows more time for roster decisions as well as allowing the veteran players the option of less playing time to start the season.

• Allows teams to place players on the 60-day injured list as early as the November (the tender deadline) before the season. This gives greater 40-man roster flexibility for the upcoming season and would be three months sooner than it is currently.

• Reducing the number of times a player can be optioned to the minor leagues in a season from five to three.

• Provide service time and salary to pitchers who are optioned to the minors over the All-Star break. If the pitcher records nine outs or throws 50 pitches in a game within seven days before the All-Star break, and is optioned, that player will receive major league pay and service time leading up to the fourth game after the break.

• Change the Rule 5 draft to November from December in the year that the CBA expires. This ensures players get eligibility before any possible lockout occurs.

• Allow players access to the same data the team has regarding player performance.  All teams have data that is organization based and the players currently do not have legal right to the access of that data.

• Move the trade deadline to July 21-27 from July 28-Aug. 3, and assure the deadline is two full days before any signing deadline for drafted players. Players outrighted to the minor leagues should be eligible for trades after being optioned. 

• Any players optioned in September or October will be eligible for major league pay and service time.

• An accommodation for religious observances for players who receive approval to be away from the team between one to three days.

• Playoff eligibility for players who are part of an organization, and not just on the 40-man roster, by Sept. 1.

• Teams must have a bullpen catcher with prior professional experience as their emergency third catcher, and not just an active player on the team.

• Free agents that sign within the first 10 days of the season can agree to go to the minor leagues, provided they are called up within 10 days of being optioned. An additional nine-day extension can be granted.

An ongoing process

This is the third proposal from the MLBPA to the MLB negotiating team. Their principal economic proposal, submitted May 27, was for increases in minimum salaries, an expansion of the pre-arbitration bonus pool, earlier free agency for players, and an increase to the luxury-tax threshold. 

In their second proposal, submitted last week, the union asked for a ban on prop betting for individual players to fight the harassment players endure due to gambling. It was suggested that there should be a joint effort with MLB to prohibit prop bets at sports books and with fantasy betting.

The MLB initially proposed a salary cap and floor, as well as an international draft to be held along with the domestic draft currently in place. They also want all high school players to be removed from draft eligibility and the domestic draft limited in slot money and bonuses.

In their proposal last week, MLB agreed to earlier free agency, minimum salary increases for players, and to end the qualifying offer system. They proposed restricting the salary and length of all free agency contracts.

There continues to be minimal agreement as the MLB accepted some of the initial MLBPA proposals contingent on the salary cap and salary floor system being accepted. The union, and the players they represent, continually stress that they will not accept a salary cap.

The current contract expires Dec. 1 and the owners have already stated that a lockout will come if the current contract expires without a new agreement.

Despite it feeling as though May just ended, the calendar has already flipped to July. The Rockies were able to rebound from an all around poor 8-20 May with an 11-15 record in June.

This improvement was fueled by an incredible spike in their team wide offensive output. They went from 21st in the league in runs scored for May up to 5th in June. The pitching side of the equation still leaves some room for improvement but the lineup has provided a ton of potential candidates for Rockie of the month!

• Cole Carrigg (No. 4 PuRP) made his Major League debut and immediately cemented himself as regular in the lineup with his incredible arm and 122 wRC+.
• Edouard Julien bounced back after a poor May to post an 18.8% walk rate while batting .288.
• Ryan Feltner, back from early-season injury, had a 4.00 ERA while pitching the second-most innings on the team in June.
• Hunter Goodman hit 13 home runs, good for the second-most any Rockie has ever had in a single month.
• Jake McCarthy led the team in stolen bases (3) while batting .326 over 97 plate appearances.
• Kyle Freeland set the franchise record for innings pitched and passed the one thousand career strikeouts mark while leading the team in pitching fWAR (0.7) for the month.
• Kyle Karros had the best stretch of his MLB career so far with a slash line of .357/.444/.586 while playing his usual stellar third base defense.
• TJ Rumfield continued his attempt to earn National League Rookie of the Year with five home runs and a .400 On-Base Percentage.
• Troy Johnston walked more than he stuck out and batted .319.
• Willi Castro did a little bit of everything with four home runs, two steals, a .292 average while playing six(!) different defensive positions.

From that crowded field of potential candidates, who gets your vote for the Rockies player of June?

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Dodgers are back home, through the All-Star break. Mookie Betts is back in the lineup against the Padres.

Thursday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Padres
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)