Category: MLB

Baseball is a funny sport sometimes. There aren’t very many sports or opportunities in life where you can get embarrassed and then come back less than 24 hours later to face the exact same team and completely flip the script and result of the two contests. Thankfully, baseball isn’t most sports and that’s exactly what the D-Backs were able to accomplish on Wednesday night, taking a shutout performance all the way into the top of the ninth while absolutely teeing off on San Diego pitching throughout the night. The victory not only gave the D-Backs some extra padding in their Wild Card lead, but also put them that much closer to securing the season series against the Friar’s – an important tiebreak consideration as we enter the last quarter of the season and sprint towards the playoffs.

The starting rotation has been a weakness for the team throughout the season – led by disappointing results from Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen. That disappointment and weakness has opened the opportunity for a pair of rookies to make their case for a rotation spot in Mitch Bratt and Kohl Drake, two of the three players the Rangers exchanged in the Merrill Kelly trade last season. The two rookies have had an uneven introduction to the big leagues in their first eight combined starts, but Bratt’s sixth career start was a huge step forward, giving the youngster his first big league win. I don’t want to overstate the performance. It’s always impressive when a rookie is able to complete seven innings of scoreless baseball, regardless of the relative weakness of the opposing offense. But it’s also not as if Bratt had pinpoint command of all of his pitches, throwing slightly more than half of his 92 pitches on the night for a strike.I think it’s more accurate to describe the outing as effectively wild rather than wildly effective. Regardless, limiting the Padres to just three walks is an important developmental milestone for the young lefty whose walk rate has skyrocketed since making his debut and will be a closely watched development moving forward.

Of course, with the way the Arizona offense was cooking tonight, an effective position player could have likely earned a win on the mound. It was exactly the kind of balanced offensive attack that Torey Lovullo often preaches with valuable contributions coming from nearly every player in the lineup as seven out of nine of the starters got at least one hit or more. Even better, it didn’t overly rely on a single method for scoring, but featured sacrifice flies, home runs, and timely hits with runners in scoring position. They got the party started in the third with a sacrifice fly from Gabriel Moreno scoring Corbin Carroll who had walked, stolen second, and moved to third already. Tim Tawa added another run on a two-out blast off a lifeless splitter, but it wasn’t until the fourth that the party really started. After James McCann led off the inning with a harmless flyout, his teammates started a hit parade with five straight knocks and then a run-scoring walk with the bases loaded to run the advantage all the way out to five runs and knock Casey Mize – the brand new pitching acquisition from the Tigers – out of the game. Sadly for the Padres, a pitching change to Kyle Hart did little to slow down the onslaught with a Tawa sacrifice fly and two-run double from Ildemaro Vargas ending the loop on the shiny new pitching toy the team acquired earlier this week.

Tonight some friends of mine are marking one year of dating with a celebration at our regular karaoke night where everyone was encouraged to write a love note and put it in a “love box” to be read from in between songs at karaoke – where everyone is, of course, encouraged to sing love songs. I did not get to go to this celebration, because instead I was watching the Mariners play the Tigers, which was definitely not a lovefest. Instead, the game devolved into the Mariners’ first brawl of the season, while also evolving to a 4-2 Mariners win. I don’t have room for 69 Love Songs, but I do have room for nine innings’ worth of love songs.

(I originally thought I’d use only songs from the Magnetic Fields’ 1999 triple album 69 Love Songs for this recap, but honestly? A lot of those songs that would be thematically appropriate for this game are, unfortunately, filler. So we improvise.)

Love Is Strange

Appropriately enough on Jimothy Night, honoring our local PNW cryptid, tonight’s game was weird. Bryan Woo gave up as many hits as he did hit by pitches (3), which is also how many HBP he had in the entire 2024 season. But Woo also went seven shutout innings, furthering his extreme home-road splits, thanks to the Tigers’ uber-aggressive approach, and was cruising with a low pitch count for most of the game, outside of one inning where the Tigers definitely should have scored and then just…didn’t, thanks to some incredible outfield defense from [checks notes] the Mariners corner infielders? The benches also cleared in this game, although appropriately enough for these two teams no punches were thrown, making it more of an energetic on-field discussion. So yeah. Weird game. Jimothy approves.

Autumn Love

As the sun sets on summer and turns to autumn, it feels like so too is the sun setting on the Mariners’ chances in the division. The vibes today were not great following an 8-0 drubbing by the Tigers last night which many were calling “the worst loss of the season (so far)”. And for the first few innings, it felt like the Mariners were going to continue their offensive somnambulism into this game. It might have been a bullpen game for the Tigers, but Drew Anderson looked plenty capable of putting the Mariners down early, despite some pressure from the new guys in the bottom of the third, as Brendan Donovan and Taylor Ward checked in with back-to-back groundball base hits, unfortunately quickly erased by an inning-ending GIDP from the normally-steady Cole Young. The only other Mariner who got anything off Anderson was Julio Rodríguez, who worked a 1-2 count into a walk to lead off the second (before getting erased on a first-pitch swing GIDP from Josh Naylor) and in the fourth, beat out a two-out infield hit (probably an error) against Colt Keith. That was enough for AJ Hinch, who yanked lefty Tyler Holton out of the ‘pen to face Naylor, who popped out to end the inning. Sometimes love isn’t enough, and this autumn love definitely wasn’t feeling like enough.

In Spite of Ourselves

The Tigers had a good chance to break this game open in the fourth against Bryan Woo, but then…just…didn’t score. It started with Gleyber Torres, leading off the inning, knocking what looked like a sure double off the right field wall, but Dominic Canzone played the ball perfectly on the wall and then uncorked an absolute laser of a throw to keep Torres at first. I apologize Dom, I did not know you Had It Like That.

That limiting of the extra base would prove to be important because Dillon Dingler followed that up with a hit; however, Torres violated the spirit of the Gentleman’s Agreement that governs Randy Arozarena’s third base play and attempted to take third, forcing Randy to do an Effort and throw out Torres at third. That allowed Dingler to second, and then things got a little trickier when Woo grazed Riley Greene with a slider in an 0-2 count, aka the most Unintentional Hit By Pitch Ever (or at least since the third inning, when Woo hit rookie Max Clark with a pitch in a 2-2 count, and Clark dropped his elbow guard into a sinker). Trying to get back into it, Woo sent over a first-pitch sinker on the plate to Colt Keith and Arozarena, not known for sparkling outfield defense, showed that he was still pretty ticked off at the Tigers disrespecting his defense. Only Randy himself gets to do that.

A very pumped-up Bryan Woo then came back to strike out Spencer Torkelson to end the inning, because we cannot be wasting a night when the MLB video recap for this game has not one but two Randy defense highlights. In spite of themselves, the Mariners went into the back half of this game still knotted at 0-0, sitting on a rainbow.

You Oughta Know (Better than that)

Sometimes hate is just the flip side of love, as Alanis knows, and now Julio. The Mariners finally got on the board in the sixth inning of this game against Tigers reliever Brenan Hanifee, who has the unlucky distinction of having taken Tarik Skubal’s roster spot after he was dealt to the Tigers. Hanifee was brought in to face Randy Arozarena with two outs, replacing lefty Tyler Holton who did not allow a hit over two innings, and Randy promptly greeted him with a double. Then, and this is the part I think AJ Hinch should go to jail for, Hinch instructed Hanifee to intentionally walk Dominic Canzone to get to Julio Rodríguez for a right-on-right battle. Julio…did not take kindly to that.

Julio saw that sinker on the plate, decided he liked it, and crushed it oppo to give the Mariners a 3-0 lead. Next time Hanifee will know.

The First Ever Time I Saw Your Face (I swung at your first pitch)

First pitch swings were kind of a theme on the night. Bryan Woo had six outs on first-pitch swings from the Tigers tonight. He completed seven innings on just 91 pitches, and the majority of the traffic he faced was self-inflicted (HBPs and a walk). After putting down the threat in the fourth, he had to navigate around a hit by pitch in the fifth and a walk in the sixth (with again, some solid outfield defense from Canzone on a diving catch) before allowing his third and final hit of the day in the seventh: a solid line-drive single from Clark, the rookie. Catcher Eduardo Valencia ran it to a full count, but Woo was able to get out of it with a well-timed GIDP, and he was pumped.

Kiss With A Fist

With the Mariners up 3-0 and Woo having turned in seven strong and a rested bullpen after yesterday’s blowout loss, it felt like this game could be put to bed. Right? Wrong. Gabe Speier came in to work the eighth and got his first two outs before Riley Greene came up. Historians will argue about what happened next. I would say, Speier didn’t have great command tonight and was trying to pitch Greene inside and missing. AJ Hinch would say (ideally from his jail cell) that Speier was intentionally trying to hit Greene after Cal Raleigh had taken 95 to the ribs in the previous inning from reliever Enmanuel De Jesus who – and this part might be important – was only walking 5% of batters at Triple-A this year. Either way, feelings were hurt, and maybe also ribs and thighs, and the benches cleared, and at the end of it Gabe Speier was ejected – he walked off with no argument – and so was Dan Wilson, who had quite a bit more to say about it. We’ll find out if there are any knock-on effects from this tomorrow. Here’s a link to the non-brawl if you wanna see it.

Love You So Bad

The bad news here is that Eduard Bazardo had to come in for Speier, and because this is how things have been going for Bazardo lately, he immediately gave up a two-run bomb to Dillon Dingler to make this game a much closer 3-2. I love you Eduard, even when you’re so, so bad. But please try being good again.

Thirteen (home runs by the end of the season for Colt?)

Colt Emerson might look like he is thirteen years old and as tall as one blueberry, but he has a love of the bright lights. He picked a great time for his eighth (!) home run of the year, a loud, answer-back shot off De Jesus to pad the lead back out to 4-2. Eight home runs already? They grow up so fast!

(Andrés Muñoz) Is Still The One

Staked to a two-run lead now, Andrés Muñoz came in and obliterated his slate of Tigers hitters, striking out Colt Keith on a nasty changeup, Spencer Torkelson on the slider, and then getting a little help from a nice play from Cole Young (contributing in the field if not at the plate tonight) for a game-ending groundout. It was about as dominant as we’ve seen Muñoz in a while, and a very satisfying end to a weird game. I have to say, I loved it.

I promised you nine love songs and unlike the Mariners, I’d never short you, so here’s one last song and a request for the Mariners for the rest of the season, however it might go. (Mind where you open that for some spicy language.)

PHOENIX — Casey Mize was offered plenty of excuses for the worst outing of his career Wednesday night in his San Diego Padres debut.

There was the disruption of his life after being traded from Detroit to San Diego.

There were the goodbyes from his old Tigers teammates and introductions to new Padres teammates.

There was making his first National League start at Chase Field in Arizona with the high altitude and dry air.

Mize heard all of the alibis, and batted away every single one of them.

“Pretty tough time to have the worst start of my career, you know?’’ Mize said after the Padres’ 10-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. “Kind of put us in a really tough spot and (without) a chance to win.’’

Everything was going OK the first couple of innings, but the Diamondbacks scored two runs in the third inning, including a Tim Tawa home run, and in the fourth, everything unraveled. Mize gave up five consecutive hits, a walk, and departed with the bases loaded. When the inning mercifully ended, the Diamondbacks had scored six more runs.

“Obviously, throughout the outing, I could definitely tell that I was just off, not being able to execute,’’ Mize said. “I knew it was going to be a bit of a grind, and then it obviously snowballed on me there.’’

Mize’s final line: 3.1 innings, 9 hits, 8 runs, 8 earned runs, 3 walks, 1 strikeout.

It was the most runs Mize has ever permitted in 103 career starts.

“So frustrated by that,’’ Mize said. “It seems like I just couldn’t execute a plan, falling behind in the counts, things were kind of elevated, and even when I got some good counts, I just couldn’t get below the zone, so they got a barrel on the ball.

“I was looking for that swing and miss.’’

Mize got only two of them the entire night, throwing 77 pitches, just 47 for strikes.

On an encouraging afternoon of Yankees injury developments — most notably Aaron Judge getting cleared for some light activities — the club also received positive news concerning Clarke Schmidt. 

Schmidt, who had to cut short a live batting practice Tuesday because of what he believed and hoped was cramping in his forearm, was informed it indeed “seems like” it was cramping, Aaron Boone said. 

“Clarke we feel like is probably good to go,” the manager said before Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to the Cardinals in The Bronx. “He got a lot of treatment [Tuesday]. The doc didn’t seem overly concerned.” 

The Yankees at least felt a level of concern when Schmidt, who is beginning to build up following 2025 Tommy John surgery, felt the discomfort, which prompted him to throw two “innings” rather than three. 

The next step for Schmidt, who was not expected to throw Wednesday, will be to play catch Thursday “and then hopefully do his side [session] at some point this weekend,” Boone said. 

Without further hiccups, Schmidt could graduate soon into a rehab assignment. 

Considering general manager Brian Cashman did not upgrade the bullpen at the trade deadline in part because he felt the club would have internal reinforcements, Schmidt’s eventual return to the staff has grown in importance. 

Cody Bellinger, who is a week and a half into what is expected to be a four-to-six-week absence with a hamstring strain, took on-field batting practice for the first time since suffering the injury July 25. 

“That was a big step,” said Bellinger, who added that he has been feeling well but lacks a clear return timetable. 

Bellinger has been running — though not at full speed — in a straight line and has several more hurdles to clear before he is ready for activation or a rehab assignment. 

Heliot Ramos (1-for-3 with a second-inning double) picked up his first hit as a Yankee. 

Kervin Castro, Tim Hill and Paul Blackburn combined for 3 ²/₃ scoreless innings. 

The bullpen has pitched to a majors-best 2.56 ERA in the past 55 games, holding opponents to a .200 batting average. 

The best Yankees hitter in the past four weeks: Austin Wells. 

Since July 9, the catcher has posted a .931 OPS with four home runs in 18 games. The Yankees did not add another catcher at the deadline partly because of the prices and partly because of Wells’ uptick. 

“I do feel like over the last few weeks, there’s been some steady improvement,” Boone said before Wells went 1-for-2, “and hopefully moving forward, more in line with the presence I feel like he could be, especially at the bottom of the order. I feel like he’s getting closer to that version.”

Someone is going to be sent to the bullpen, and Will Warren didn’t help his cause to avoid that fate Wednesday night. 

When Carlos Rodón returns, it’s going to be either Warren or Ryan Weathers. 

With the way Weathers has pitched of late, it is hard to see the Yankees demoting him. 

Warren was coming off a terrific outing in a win over the Cubs, but after a strong start Wednesday, he struggled to go deep in the 3-1 loss to the Cardinals at the Stadium.

The right-hander was able to record only one out in the sixth after giving up four hits and three runs in the previous frame. 

“There’s definitely a lot of uncertainty. I think it’s a good thing we have all these arms,” Warren said. “At the end of the day, my job is to take the ball every time I get it. Whenever that is, I’m going to go out there and try to execute.” 

Warren did finish with five strikeouts, but he tired late, yielding five of his seven hits in the fifth and sixth innings. With Yankees hitters continuing to slump, he didn’t have much wiggle room and paid for that shaky fifth. He was close to getting out of the jam after coming back from a 3-1 count to strike out César Prieto for the second out.

But the next batter, JJ Wetherholt, doubled in two runs with a drive over Trent Grisham’s head in center field. Iván Herrera followed with another booming run-scoring double to center. 

“I think there was a lot of good,” Warren said. “Obviously, I could’ve made a different pitch decision there to Wetherholt, possibly get out of that inning unscathed. It is what it is. I try to get as many outs as possible and keep us in the game. Overall, I think it was solid.” 

Warren was coming off a shaky July, in which he pitched to a 5.47 ERA. But he did close it out well, tossing 6 ²/₃ innings of shutout ball against the Cubs. 

Weathers, meanwhile, has allowed just one earned run over his past 20 ¹/₃ innings. He is getting stronger as the year gets deeper. Warren cannot say the same thing. 

Rodón is getting closer to returning. The left-hander last appeared for the Yankees on June 28 and has been dealing with left elbow inflammation.

He is scheduled to begin a rehabilitation assignment Saturday with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. 

Following the Mets' win over the Guardians on Wednesday, interim manager Andy Green and the players met with the media to discuss a number of topics...

Jefry Yan's electric stuff and celebration

Following the trade deadline, the Mets' bullpen was remade.

One of the new arms added was Jefry Yan. The 29-year-old southpaw throws in the triple digits, but is just as known for his strikeout celebrations as his 100 mph pitches. And Wednesday, Yan made his major league debut, coming into the sixth inning with the Mets up 4-3. 

Yan struck out the first batter he faced, dropping a slider on a 1-2 count to get Angel Martinez looking. 

"I went out there to attack him," Yan said of his first strikeout. "I was attacking and attacking and once I had him on two strikes, I threw that slider, and If I freeze him, which is exactly what I did, I celebrated accordingly."

Accordingly is right.

His teammates loved to see it; the Cleveland fans...not so much. But Yan doesn't think much about how others perceive him or his celebration, he is going to stay true to himself. 

"I don't think about [the fans booing]. They can do whatever they want. They’re paying their tickets," Yan said. "If they want to yell at me, boo at me, they can do whatever they want; I’m in my zone. I’m going to enjoy my game any way that I want to."

"He’s got electric stuff too. The celebration’s one thing, but he’s also coming in throwing 100," Christian Scott said of Yan. "That’s a big weapon for us out of the left side. Super hyped, super pumped for him."

The Guardians did get to Yan, though. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out. Yan recovered, striking out Chase LeLauter and getting Jo Adell to ground out to help preserve the Mets' lead.

"I was really excited, I was also a little nervous," Yan said of his debut. "I wanted to get in and out of there right away but got into a little trouble, but I was able to dig deep and get out of that inning. I was very excited and very grateful for that opportunity."

"It’s real stuff. You think about the road traveled to get to that mound today and it’s really worth telling that story," Green said. "It’s really impressive. To get out of a bases-loaded jam, get your first punchout, I’m excited for him. He deserved that day."

Jefry Yan's first MLB stirkeout!

And an ELECTRIC celebration! pic.twitter.com/jMaFxMSwg2

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 6, 2026

Devin dealing with arm fatigue

With the Mets up 6-5 in the 10th, Green did not deploy Devin Williams to lock down the save. Although the Mets closer was shown on the SNY broadcast in the bullpen, Green used Daniel Duarte, who squirmed around the ghost runner to lock down his first save of the season.

Green was immediately asked about Williams' status following the win and the interim skipper gave a short update on the right-hander. 

"He’s fine. A little bit of arm fatigue. He played catch today, felt better. Took the cautious route, gave him another day," Green explained. "Fully expect him to be available tomorrow."

Williams last pitched Sunday, Aug. 2 against the Marlins. He allowed a run on two hits in his one inning of work. 

The Mets play their series finale with the Guardians on Thursday afternoon. If there's a save opportunity, we'll know whether Williams truly needed just an extra day.

In his first season with the Mets, Williams has pitched to a 4.30 ERA and converted 16 saves across 41 appearances. 

It’s Wednesday here at BCB After Dark: the coolest spot for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in out of the heat. It’s nice and cool in here. We’re all in a good mood. We’re glad for you to join the merriment. There’s no cover charge. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

Last night I asked you if you thought that Ryan Zeferjahn would get the most saves for the Cubs through the end of the season. Fully 69 percent of you were impressed enough with the Cubs’ new reliever with the atomic sweeper to say yes.

On Wednesday nights, I usually play some music and talk about movies for a while. But in case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been writing a lot of articles for the site over the past week. I’m also battling some mild stomach discomfort and 108 degree temperatures. (Outside. Not body temperature.) So I think I’m going to beg off the movie stuff tonight. You’re free to talk about any movies or TV shows you want in the comments. If you want to talk about the new Zendaya/Tom Holland/Jon Bernthal blockbuster and make sure we don’t know which film you’re talking about, you can. If you want to talk about whether Zendaya and Tom Holland are the Lunts of our time, you can. But I’m not going to prompt you.

But I think I can find some music for you in the meantime.

Tonight we have bassist and vocalist Esperanza Spalding playing “I Can’t Help It” at the North Sea Jazz Festival in 2011. Joining Spalding are Leala Cyr (backing vocals); Sara Caswell (violin); Olivia de Prato (viola); Jody Redhage (cello); Leonardo Genovese (piano); Richie Barshay (drums).

Welcome back to everyone who skips the music.

Tonight I’m going to ask you what was the best Trade Deadline acquisition in Cubs’ history? Certainly time will tell on the players the Cubs got on Monday, but here are some of the most historic Trade Deadline pickups in Cubs history.

Here are some possibilities.

1945—Pitcher Hank Bowory

I wasn’t going to include Bowory because I’d be surprised if any of you remember him, but the Cubs got Bowory from the Yankees on July 27, 1945 for cash. Bowory went 11-2 with a 2.13 ERA as the Cubs won their last pennant until 2016. If manager Charlie Grimm hadn’t tried to pitch him three times in three games over four days in the World Series, the Cubs’ might have beaten the Tigers.

1984—Pitcher Rick Sutcliffe, catcher Ron Hassey and pitcher George Frazier for outfielders Mell Hall, Joe Carter and pitcher Don Schulte.

This is the one that many of you remember. Sutcliffe went 16-1 with a 2.69 ERA the rest of the way as the Cubs made the postseason for the first time since 1945. Sutcliffe won the Cy Young Award. Hassey hit .333/.405/.515 as Jody Davis’ backup. Frazier became a punching bag for Cubs fans in ‘85 and ‘86, but he was a decent but unspectacular middle reliever in 1984.

2003—Third baseman Aramis Ramírez and outfielder Kenny Lofton for José Hernandez and Bobby Hill.

This one is big because Ramírez wasn’t just a rental, although Lofton was. Ramírez became a fan favorite for the Cubs for nine seasons and hit .259/.314/.491 with 15 home runs the rest of the way in 2003. Lofton, who should be in the Hall of Fame, hit .327/.381/.471 the rest of the way and filled in center field for the injured Corey Patterson. I don’t need to tell you how this season ended, but the Cubs came extremely close to winning the pennant in 2003.

2008—Pitcher Rich Harden and pitcher Chad Gaudin for Sean Gallagher, Matt Murton, Eric Patterson and Josh Donaldson.

I almost didn’t include this one because the Cubs gave up Donaldson, who honestly was the third piece in this deal at the time and nobody thought much about him. But Harden was excellent in ‘08 as the Cubs went to the postseason in back-to-back years for the first time since 1906 to 1908. Harden went 5-1 with a 1.77 ERA in 12 starts. Gaudin kind of laid an egg with the Cubs and the entire team sputtered out when they got swept by the Dodgers in the NL Division Series. Harden started and lost game three.

2016—Pitcher Aroldis Chapman for infielder Gleyber Torres, outfielder Billy McKinney and pitcher Adam Warren.

You can argue this is the move that put the Cubs over the top in 2016 and won their first title in 108 years. Chapman went 1-1 with 16 saves and a 1.01 ERA the rest of the way. He also pitched his heart out in the playoffs as manager Joe Maddon ran him out to the mound like a rented mule. He did give up that home run to Rajai Davis in Game 7, but man, he gutted through the ninth inning despite obviously being gassed. He kept the score tied until the rains came and the Cubs could win it all in the 10th.

So what was the greatest deadline trade in Cubs’ history?

Thank you for stopping by tonight. We’re sorry we opened so late, but we had an issue in the kitchen. Please get home safely. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow night for more BCB After Dark.

The middle game of a three-game series with the Mariners in the Emerald City featured plenty of plunkings, a couple of ejections, and a crucial, late-innings home run in a 4-2 Seattle win.

The, uh, “revamped” Tigers rotation has a couple of new faces in it, and one of those belongs to Drew Anderson. After working as a starter in South Korea last season, the right-hander has done a little of everything for the Tigers this year: started a couple of times, saved a couple of games, and been brought into games anywhere between the fourth and the tenth inning. But now he’s been put into the starting rotation, and the plan is to have him gradually stretch out his start-lengths, so he wasn’t going to go starter distance in this one.

Bryan Woo got the nod for the M’s, and his home/away splits are truly astounding. Now, the stadium over there in Seattle is, and always has been, quite the pitcher’s paradise, but get this: at home this year he has an ERA of 2.20, and elsewhere it’s 6.71. At home, hitters are batting .167 with a .463 OPS; away, they’re batting .300 with an .819 OPS. That’s bananas, and the Tigers had their work cut out for them.

Detroit got its first baserunner in the top of the third when Max Clark got clipped by an inside sinker to lead off, which wouldn’t be the only such occurrene on this evening. With one out he advanced to second on a groundout, but with two outs Kevin McGonigle flew out harmlessly to left to strand Clark.

The bottom of the third saw the Mariners get back-to-back singles to lead off. Anderson handled it, getting a flyout and a ground-ball double play — the second consecutive inning that ended on a double-play grounder — and he was through three innings on only 33 pitches.

Gleyber Torres led off an eventful fourth inning with a single to right, and he tried to advance to third on a Dillon Dingler single to left. He slid into third feet-first and actually beat the throw, but his momentum carried him off the bag and he was tagged out. Riley Greene followed by getting hit as well, putting two runners on for Colt Keith who had a three-run home run taken away from him by a leaping Randy Arozarena.

Spencer Torkelson then, anticlimactically, struck out.

After a two-out infield single in the bottom of the fourth, Anderson’s day was done and Tyler Holton was brought in to face fellow lefty Josh Naylor. Holton got Naylor to pop out to shortstop and the inning was done. The book also closed on Anderson: 3 2/3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, 28 of 42 pitches for strikes. The plan was for Anderson to throw about 45 pitches, and I’m no mathematician but 42 is right around 45.

With two out in the fifth Woo hit his third batter of the night, nicking Zack McKinstry’s toe (which was confirmed on review), but McGonigle fouled-out to third for the final out. In the sixth with Dingler on first and two out, Keith again hit a ball hard — at 108 mph — but it was directly at the right fielder for the third out, and the game remained scoreless.

Holton carried on into the bottom of the sixth, and with two out his day was done; he retired all six batters he faced. Brenan Hanifee was summoned as his replacement, and the game did not remain scoreless for long: Arozarena double, intentional walk, three-run home run by Julio Rodríguez, whoopsie-daisy. That was it for Hanifee, as Drew Sommers was brought in to limit the damage, which he did by striking out Naylor.

With one out in the seventh Clark singled to centre, but was erased on a double-play grounder by Eduardo Valencia. That was the end of Woo’s night: seven shutout innings, three singles sprinkled here-and-there. Exactly what you expect from him in his home park.

Enmanuel De Jesus took over the pitching duties in the bottom of the seventh, and he started off by plunking Cal Raleigh in the gut, which certainly got the home team’s attention despite it clearly being unintentional.

If you’ve been counting, and the players certainly had, at this point the Mariners had hit three Tigers batters against one that the Tigers had hit. So with two out in the top of the eighth — the first two batters being rookies, natch — the first pitch from Gabe Speier to Torres was extremely inside, near his belt buckle. The second pitch made contact with Torres, the benches emptied, the bullpens emptied, much yelling and milling-about ensued, and both Speier and Seattle manager Dan Wilson were shown the door by the umpiring crew.

Eduard Bazardo was brought in to replace the ejected Speier; the first batter he faced was Dingler, and Dingler made the Mariners pay for their transgressions with a long two-run home run to narrow the score to 3-2.

De Jesus carried on into the bottom of the eighth and gave up a leadoff solo home run to Colt Emerson to push the score to 4-2. So much for momentum.

Andrés Muñoz, the Seattle closer with lights-out stuff, was brought in for the ninth: he got a pair of strikeouts and a groundout, and that was that.

Final score: Mariners 4, Tigers 2

Numbers and Observances

• Coming into tonight’s game, Colt Keith has had quite a post-All-Star Game run: 48 plate appearances, 19-for-43 (.442) with four doubles and two triples, for an OPS of 1.107. Pretty unlucky tonight, though.
• That may not quite be sustainable, though: his batting average on balls in play (BABip), normally around .290 for hitters, is a ludicrous .500. (That means he’s been very lucky.)
• A certain ex-Tigers right-handed pitcher gave up eight runs in 3 1/3 innings for the Padres tonight.
• On this day in 1888, Bertha Benz drove from Mannheim to Pforzheim, in southwestern Germany. Those two cities are about 100 km (60 mi) apart, which means that this was the first long-distance trip taken in an automobile. She took her two teenage sons with her, and they spent the whole time telling her to change the radio station, despite radio not having been invented yet.

Mariners 4, Tigers 2

Good night kisses: Julio Rodríguez, .40 WPA; Bryan Woo, .38 WPA

Morning breath: Cole Young, -.14 WPA; Eduard Bazardo, -.08 WPA

Game thread comment of the day:

(answer: like, so sick.)

Well, outside of a rough stretch in June and an underwhelming trade deadline, this Braves team has been cruising in 2026 and has the second best record in baseball. They still probably need some bats to step up (Austin Riley, Sean Murphy, and Ronald Acuna, looking at you) and the emergence of at least one real playoff starter from the prospects and/or Tyler Mahle to be considered true postseason threats outside of variance, but they are getting the job done quite well in the regular season. Getting the bye and being able to set the pitching up would be huge for this roster, enabling the Braves to line up Chris Sale twice in the NLDS. They have stiff competition in the Brewers and Dodgers though, so that will be a tight race to watch for the rest of the year.

Braves News

We took a deep dive into the Braves’ Q2 financial report, including insight into BravesVision revenue.

Bryce Elder got the job done through 7.0 innings and the Braves won their seventh straight, this one in comfortable 4-1 fashion.

MLB News

The Reds are placing star pitcher Hunter Greene on the IL with right elbow soreness, never a good thing to hear about a pitcher.

The Blue Jays are placing Trey Yesavage on the IL with knee discomfort and are awaiting MRI results.

Mariners’ Luke Raley is expected to miss the rest of the season with a forearm strain.

This is a different Yankees lineup and look, with George Lombard Jr. flourishing early, Spencer Jones given a runway and Luis García Jr. and Heliot Ramos working themselves into the mix with their new club. 

And yet this is the same Yankees problem: a lineup lacking a pulse without the heart of the team. 

Hours after Aaron Judge declared he would return at some point this season, the batting order he left behind played as if it wanted to convey to the captain that he better hurry up. 

A problem that recently has been partially disguised by excellent pitching and Lombard bursting on the scene had nowhere to hide Wednesday, when the Yankees were silenced 3-1 by the Cardinals in a slog of a game marked by frequent pauses of play and virtually no excitement while the home team was at bat. 

The 37,425 on hand in The Bronx waited through a 68-minute rain delay before the game started, then groaned as Yankee Stadium lights continually turned off in the early innings, then ran for cover during a brief sixth-inning downpour, then checked their phones as a Cardinals pitcher slipped on a slick mound in the seventh, prompting the grounds crew to hustle over and rake the dirt. 

The few left by the end were not rewarded for their patience as the Yankees (64-51) dropped the series, fell 4 ¹/₂ games back of the Rays and slipped to a single game clear of the Red Sox for the top wild-card spot. 

“I thought [Cardinals starter Andre] Pallante was good, but we gotta get it done,” manager Aaron Boone said after his group finished with four hits, none of which arrived with runners in scoring position (0-for-10), and looked as if most of its at-bats came with the lights out. “We got to come through in those situations.” 

The Yankees have scored more than five runs in four of their past 43 games, a startling drought regardless of personnel, spanning a stretch in which they are averaging 3.3 runs per game. The entire stretch has come without Judge, whose fractured rib has threatened to derail the team’s season, though Wednesday he began some light activities. 

Hollow bats give the pitching staff and defense little margin for error, and Will Warren and arguably Trent Grisham in center field were not perfect. 

Warren rolled through four innings before encountering trouble in the game-deciding fifth. With runners on the corners and two outs, young standout JJ Wetherholt put a good swing on a sweeper — “Hindsight, probably throw a different pitch,” Warren bemoaned — that became a high drive to center field. 

“Off the bat I thought I had a pretty good chance at it,” Grisham said. “As I was going back, it just kind of kept going.” 

Grisham got turned around on the play, then decided to play the ball off the wall. The ball did not hit the wall, short-hopping it and going for a two-run double, which was followed by another double for the only three runs St. Louis would need. 

The Yankees had many opportunities in the middle and late innings and wasted them. There was an inning-ending double play from Austin Wells; a near breakthrough in which three walks and a hit by pitch scored one run before Ryan McMahon struck out with the bases loaded; García stranding two with a groundout; and an otherwise exuberant Lombard swinging through Ryne Stanek heat with two runners on board. 

Lombard (1-for-4 with a few standout defensive plays again) continues to entertain and inspire hope, but when virtually anyone else was at the plate, the Yankees looked hopeless. 

The night’s leadoff hitter, Grisham (0-for-5), is 8-for-71 (.113) in his past 20 games. 

Spencer Jones (0-for-4), who had shown enough to keep his big league spot while Jasson Domínguez was optioned, has gone 0-for-15 in his past four games. 

Chisholm (0-for-2 with two walks) is 1-for-17 in his past five games. 

Asked what was missing in the threats that did not quite become rallies, Grisham summed it up well: “Hits.”

After a rain delay that prevented the start of the game for an hour and then multiple lights failures causing brief stoppages, the Yankees looked like they were mostly still waiting for the game to start, even after it did.

On the mound, Will Warren was coming of a scoreless outing against the Cubs in his last start, and while he wasn’t awful in this one, he wasn’t great. In his 5.1 innings, he allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk. All of the runs off him came in a frustrating sequence, where he couldn’t get out of a jam despite having two outs.

That being said, the reason for the defeat fell much more on the Yankees’ offense. While they did have their chances, recording eight walks on the night, as a team the Yankees combined for just four hits, none of which came with runners on. While Tuesday night provided a glimmer of hope, the Yankees still only managed two in that game, and they followed that up with just one in this one.

A rainy, dreary game proved to be just that for the Yankees, as they fell to the Cardinals 3-1 on Wednesday night.

The teams traded zeroes for a while, but the Cardinals eventually broke through against Warren in the fifth. Blaze Jordan and Jimmy Crooks got Warren for singles to put two on, but Warren was on the verge of escaping the inning after Austin Wells successfully challenged a ball four into a strike three. However, JJ Weatherholt and Iván Herrera got Warren for a pair of two-out doubles, scoring three runs for St. Louis.

The Yankees didn’t do much against Cardinals starter Andre Pallante, but they finally got something going in the sixth inning. Ben Rice started things off with a walk and ended up on third after a wild pitch/catcher throwing error gifted him two bases. Luis García Jr. then knocked Pallante out after drawing a walk following an 11-pitch battle. George Soriano came in and hit Heliot Ramos with a pitch loading the bases. Over the next two plate appearances, the Yankees didn’t do a ton of swinging as Soriano continued to struggle to find the zone. In two consecutive full count situations, the Cardinals’ catcher Herrera challenged a pitch initially called a ball. The first one — to Spencer Jones — was overturned into a strike, but the second — to Jazz Chisholm Jr. — was indeed a ball, walking in a run to get the Yankees on the board. However, the Yankees couldn’t capitalize further with the bases left loaded.

After leaving a couple on in that inning, that became a bit of a theme for the Yankees going forward. They left more runners on in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings. Paul Goldschmidt hit one to the warning track and Ben Rice drew a walk in the ninth, but that was the extent of any rally, as the Yankees dropped the game and series.

In his second career MLB game, George Lombard Jr. didn’t do anything as notable as his homer on Tuesday, drawing a walk, but also striking out with two on to end the eighth. However, he did make a couple very nice plays in the field, including this one in the third inning.

The Yankees will get tomorrow off before welcoming the Braves to town for a weekend series. Max Fried is expected to get the ball for the Yankees against his old team, while Atlanta’s starter hasn’t been announced at time of writing.

Box score

That was unexpectedly fun, given the pitching matchup. The suddenly lukewarm Jays are 3.0 out of the third wildcard and a mere seven games below .500.

It took a while to figure Hunter Brown out. A Jesus Sanchez walk and a reached on error by Kazuma Okamoto that was promptly erased by a double play were all they managed through five innings.

Meanwhile, the Astros were onto Jameson Taillon early. Two walks and a hit loaded the bases with one out in the first. He escaped that jam, but a Jose Altuve home run in the third, followed by a pair of singles and a double, put the Astros up three. Taillon rallied to record a clean fourth, but the Jays found themselves in a hole they didn’t appear likely to climb out of.

Then, in the sixth, Myles straw broke up the no hitter with a double to left. Okamoto brought him home with a single to put Toronto on the board, and Jesus Sanche homered to tie the game at three.

Things settled there for the rest of the regulation innings. Spencer Miles had taken over and handled the fifth cleanly. He got into trouble in the sixth, giving up a leadoff single and a double, but good fielding by Nathan Lukes prevented the lead runner from scoring, and he buckled down to escape the inning with the tie still in place.

Steven Okert and Mason Fluharty exchanged hitless sevemty innings. Bryan Abreu did the same in the top of eight, while Tyler Rogers worked around a single with the help of a caught stealing by Brandon Valenzuela. Closers Josh Hader and Louis Varland each handled the ninth without trouble.

Finally, in the tenth, Ernie Clement lead off with a home run. Woth the Mandred Man on, that staked the Jays to a 5-4 lead. With the Jays leverage relievers either burnt or now playing for the Twins, Chase Lee got the call to lock it down. He got some help when Yordan Alvarez, leading off, was gunned down trying to stretch a single by Nathan Lukes. It scored the automatic runner, but gave Lee clean bases to work with. He got a pair of fly outs to end the game.

Jays of the Day: Clement (0.26), Sanchez (0.24), Lee (0.20), Varland (0.14), Rogers (0.11), Miles (0.10), and we’ll round up on Fluharty (0.09)

Less So: Taillon (-0.14), Springer (-0.11), and we’ll excuse Lukes (-0.10) for his fielding additions.

It’s off toWrigley Field tomorrow to make up a game that was rained out back in June. Dylan Cease (7-5, 2.41) will face David Peterson (6-7, 5.52). It’s a day game, as the Jays will have to hop back on the plane to get to Philly for their weekend series. First pitch is 2:10pm ET.

CLEVELAND — Jorge Polanco is trying to swing his way back to productivity.

The veteran DH took about 300 swings Wednesday before the Mets faced the Guardians at Progressive Field, according to Andy Green, leaving the interim manager cautiously optimistic that success would follow.

Polanco delivered with a 2-for-4 performance that included his second homer of the season (and first since April). The third-inning blast snapped his 0-for-26 skid.

“After putting a lot of work in it feels great,” Polanco said following the 6-5 victory in 10 innings.

Polanco began the night with a paltry .388 OPS as the poster child of president of operations David Stearns’ failed offseason overhaul.

“Sometimes the sweat equity gets you rolling again,” Green said of Polanco’s workout. “There’s a ton of ability in him. There’s a long track record. If you’re out there watching him there’s a good swing. He’s got a lot of things going for him.”

Polanco, who arrived on a two-year contract worth $40 million, has dealt with Achilles and wrist injuries that have limited him to 30 games this season.

Sammy Stafura, acquired by the Mets in a trade Monday, was named the South Atlantic League (High-A) Player of the Month for July. The shortstop led the league in homers (14), RBIs (35), slugging percentage (.926) and OPS (1.305) among other offensive categories.

The Mets traded Luke Weaver to the Pirates for the 21-year-old Stafura.

Jefry Yan became the seventh Mets player to make his major league debut this season — joining Nate Lavender, Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing, Nick Morabito, Matt Seelinger and Zac Thornton.

Brett Baty, whose previous outfield appearances this season have been in right field, got the start in left Wednesday. Green indicated such an alignment was a product of wanting to keep Benge in right field.

“When you look out at this outfield, this is one of the biggest right fields in baseball and I think we know how good Carson is in right field,” Green said. “It’s a tighter left field, obviously a very big wall. If [Baty] has confidence in that position, which he does, that turns out to be his best position, especially at this field, and it keeps from jerking Carson back and forth.”