Category: MLB

The Tigers were unable to pull off another win against the Twins as they lost game two 6-4.

Today’s game started with some questions. After a brief delay due to potential impending weather, it was determined the game should go ahead and start. The starters for the game were slated to be Framber Valdez for the Tigers and Mike Paredes as the start of a bullpen day for the Twins. The Tigers were hoping to ride their win from Tuesday, but what they weren’t anticipating was bringing the weather delay from Tuesday’s game with them as well.

Things got started in the first. Byron Buxton got a one-out walk, but then Brooks Lee grounded into a double play, and even as the inning was winding down the Jumbotron was advising fans to seek shelter immediately. As soon as Framber had gone through the side, the tarp was out on the field and the game was in a delay. An hour later, the game was back on and the Tigers went 1-2-3 in the home half.

Despite his lengthy downtime, Valdez was back out for the second, and with two outs, he gave up a home run to Royce Lewis. He got the final out of the inning, but the Twins were on the board first. Spencer Torkelson took a two-out walk in the home half, but he was the only baserunner for the inning and the Tigers weren’t able to bring him home.

Ryan Kreidler got a leadoff walk in the top of the third. Alex Jackson singled behind him. Both runners advanced a bag on a groundout from Austin Martin. Byron Buxton then hit into a fielder’s choice, where Kreidler was tagged out sliding into home. Props to Kreidler, who slammed into Dillon Dingler pretty hard at the plate and immediately checked on him as soon as he got to his feet. You don’t see that a lot in on-field play. Buxton stole second, then Brooks Lee walked. Thankfully after a mound visit, Valdez got back in the zone and got the final out of the inning. In the home half, Kevin McGonigle took a two-out walk, then Gleyber Torres hit a ball deep into the outfield that Byron Buxton narrowly missed catching on a diving play. It was an RBI double, bringing McGonigle home to tie up the game. Kerry Carpenter was hit by a pitch, taking a free walk, but no additional runs scored.

The Twins managed one baserunner in the fourth with Luke Keaschall getting a two-out single, but they weren’t able to bring him home. In the bottom of the inning the Twins dipped into their bullpen for Taylor Rogers and he got three outs in a row.

Alex Jackson was hit by a pitch to start the fifth. Then Austin Martin was hit by a pitch. This was followed by Byron Buxton hitting a three-run homer. So pretty much the worst-case scenario to start the inning. Brooks Lee singled, but then a double play and a pop-out ended the inning. The damage was done, though, and the Twins were up 5-1. Andrew Morris was the next pitcher in for the Twins’ bullpen day gave up a leadoff single to Zach McKinstry, with an assist from Keaschall who is new to playing first and couldn’t keep his foot on the bag. With one out, Morris was called for a balk, putting McKinstry into scoring position. McGonigle worked a walk. Torres then singled, loading up the bases. A Carpenter single brought two runs in. Two outs followed to end the inning, but the Tigers were now within one.

Brenan Hanifee was in from the Tigers’ pen for the sixth. Valdez had clearly started to falter in the fifth, so this didn’t come as a surprise. His final line for the game was 5,0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 HR on 75 pitches. With two outs a pinch-hitting Kody Clemens doubled. Hanifee did get out of the jam, though. Travis Adams was the new Twins pitcher in the home half, and he got the Tigers out in order.

Ty Madden replaced Hanifee and gave up a leadoff walk to Martin. Buxton then singled. A Brooks Lee groundout eliminated Buxton and moved Martin to third. That was it for Madden, after the second out, and he was replaced by Drew Sommers. A Josh Bell single scored Martin. Royce Lewis walked to load the bases, then a wild pitch allowed Lee to score. By the time S0mmers got the final out, the Twins were up 6-3. In the bottom of the seventh with one out, McGonigle got another walk. Torres then singled. Anthony Banda came in from the Twins’ pen and he got the final two outs of the inning.

With one out in the eighth, S0mmers was replaced by Beau Brieske. A comebacker deflected off of Brieske, allowing Jackson to get safely to first for a single. Austin Martin then singled. A double play off the bat of Buxton was a huge lifesave for the Tigers, getting them out of the inning without any extra runs scored. Brieske owes Kevin McGonigle a big hug for getting that double play turned. Riley Greene took a leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning. With a lot of effort from Buxton in the field, the Tigers were out of the inning with Greene left stranded.

Brooks Lee got a leadoff walk in the top of the ninth, followed by a single to Orlando Arcia. Brieske got really lucky with a double play, followed by a flyout to end the inning. The Tigers were down to their last chance to make something happen. Yoendrys Gómez came in for the Twins and gave up a single to Wenceel Perez. With one out, Torres walked. Matt Vierling hit a deeeeep flyout to center that was snagged by Buxton. For a hot second it looked like it could be something but it died short of the wall. Dingler singled, bringing Perez home. Alas, Greene struck out to end the game. Better luck and less rain tomorrow, Tigers!

Final: Twins 6, Tigers 4

It sometimes shocks me how quickly the “vibe” around a baseball team can change. Just two weeks ago, the Diamondbacks finished off a road sweep of the Giants in a solid, all-around effort. That win put the team a season-best seven games over .500 heading to Seattle. Since that game, they’ve gone 3-9 and haven’t won a series since then. The offense has completely disintegrated, averaging just three runs a game, hitting a miserly .205, and averaging just one homer a game. If you combine that disintegration with an ugly downturn in the pitching, it’s not that surprising to see the team’s fortunes fall all the way to just one game over .500 on the season.

There are times watching a pitcher perform that a big inning seemingly comes out of nowhere. That was not the case tonight for Ryne Nelson. The Marlins quickly identified that Nelson did not have command of most of his arsenal, attacking early and often, creating a lot of hard contact while Nelson struggled to generate much swing and miss. Thankfully, early in the game that hard contact turned into outs with some excellent defense behind Nelson – one of the few highlights for the D-Backs all night. Of course, that kind of luck couldn’t hold forever, and the dam broke in the fourth. Nelson allowed a leadoff single to Heriberto Hernandez, but responded with a couple quick outs to put himself on the precipice of escaping again. Owen Caissie had other ideas though as he blasted the first pitch he saw into the first row of the right field bleachers for a 3-0 lead. It clearly bothered Nelson as he followed the blast with a single, a hit batter (his second of the night), an RBI single, and then a big three-run no-doubter to last year’s breakout star Kyle Stowers. When the dust settled, the Marlins had firmly taken control of the game with a six-run frame and knocked Nelson out of the game.

I don’t want to imply the D-Backs offense was completely lifeless. They may have been shutout, but they created a few scoring opportunities for themselves with six hits and four walks, but they never found a way to cash in, stranding 10 runners and going a woeful 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. There were two different innings when the team had a runner at third with less than two outs – the second time including a bases loaded situation – but were unable to score. It’s useless to direct blame at a single player or even a single part of the team for this current swoon. There’s very little that’s going correctly for the team right now and it’s incumbent on Torey Lovullo and the team’s leaders to find ways to change the dynamic before everything starts to spiral out of their control. That change has to start tomorrow with Merrill Kelly finding some way to keep a rocking Miami offense (18 runs on 25 hits in the series) down and avoid the sweep.

Royals pitcher Seth Lugo left Wednesday’s game against the Rangers after taking a line drive off the head from his former Mets teammate, Brandon Nimmo.

Nimmo ran to first, but then immediately ran to check on Lugo.

The pitcher joked he would rather have him hit a home run next time.

The 85-mph pitch, which resulted in the line drive, happened in the top of the fourth inning with the Royals leading the Rangers 1-0.

There was already a large lump forming on Lugo’s forehead as he walked off the field.

Three innings after the incident, the Royals posted to X that “Lugo is doing well and will go through the appropriate protocol and testing.”

Lugo was playing well before being taken out, having thrown 3 1/3 scoreless innings with 29 strikes on 44 pitches.

Royals reliever Mason Black came into the game after Lugo’s exit and gave up two runs — one charged to Lugo when Nimmo scored — before getting out of the inning.

Lugo has started in 13 games this season and has a 3.91 ERA, 1.0 WAR and 64 strikeouts, and earned a no-decision Wednesday night

Nimmo and Lugo were drafted together by the Mets in 2011, and both made their first appearances in the 2016 season.

They shared the clubhouse for seven years together before Lugo moved to the Padres for the 2023 season.

Nimmo was traded to the Rangers for veteran second baseman Marcus Semien this offseason.

Well, look who’s sitting atop the American League Central.

Behind six gritty innings from Davis Martin, another electric performance from Braden Montgomery, and a lockdown bullpen, the White Sox knocked off the mighty Braves. The win pushed the Sox into first place, and if you’re keeping score at home, that’s consecutive nights of making one of baseball’s best teams look decidedly mortal.

Martin came out firing. The righthander needed just 13 pitches to carve through the first inning, striking out two along the way. Atlanta kept threatening throughout the evening, but every time the Braves put runners aboard, Martin found another escape hatch.

The second inning was his biggest tightrope act. Mauricio Dubón singled, Austin Riley wore a pitch, and Mike Yastrzemski’s infield hit loaded the bases with one out. Martin responded by punching out Jorge Mateo and getting Austin Wynns to line out harmlessly.

The Braves put runners at the corners in the third and got a two-out double from Mateo in the fourth, but Martin kept slamming the door. By the time he finished six scoreless innings, he’d scattered six hits, struck out six, and generated 13 whiffs while repeatedly winning the biggest moments of the game. Unfortunately, the Sox were denied a shutout line thanks to some seventh-inning misfortune.

The South Side offense finally broke through against old friend Chris Sale in the fourth. Montgomery continued his remarkable first week in the majors by leading off the inning with a double into left. Derek Hill followed with a sharp RBI single to center, bringing home the rookie and giving the Sox a 1-0 lead.

The Sox weren’t finished. Jacob Gonzalez moved Hill to third with a ground out, and Luisangel Acuña cashed him in on a ground ball that made it 2-0.

That would be all Chicago could squeeze out of the veteran southpaw, who was vintage Chris Sale for much of the night. The former White Sox ace struck out six and repeatedly escaped trouble despite Chicago forcing him to work. The Good Guys managed just one hit in 10 opportunities with runners in scoring position, but on this night, two runs proved enough.

Sean Newcomb inherited the lead in the seventh and immediately ran into trouble when Mateo singled to open the frame. After two outs, a Miguel Vargas fielding error down the line allowed Mateo to score, cutting the lead to 2-1 and saddling Newcomb with the lone run, albeit unearned, against the pitching staff.

The Sox had a golden opportunity to answer in the bottom half. Acuña singled and advanced all the way to second after an error, but a bizarre sequence followed: Tristan Peters’ bunt attempt popped out, and a successful challenge overturned an out call on Acuña’s steal of third. But Chase Meidroth’s grounder resulted in Acuña being tagged out at home, and Andrew Benintendi struck out to end the threat.

No matter.

Seranthony Domínguez handled the eighth with a clean 1-2-3 inning, and Bryan Hudson took the ball for the ninth.

Hudson retired Mateo, walked pinch-hitter Eli White, then got Michael Harris II to pop out. One final out remained. Ozzie Albies lifted a pop-up into shallow right-center, where Meidroth ranged out and made the grab to seal it.

Ballgame.

The White Sox are in first place.

And Braden Montgomery? The kid followed up his storybook debut by collecting two more doubles and scoring a run. Safe to say the curtain call wasn’t a one-night thing.

First place. Against the Braves. On back-to-back nights.

Not a bad way to spend a Wednesday.

We’re all acutely aware this is the third series loss of the season, but it is unfortunately the first one where the Braves have dropped the first two games. The fact that it took until June 10th to happen… I’m holding onto that really tight with both hands.

Chris Sale’s outing was reminiscent of his last one versus Toronto: soft hits, navigating traffic, and the bats doing very little to bail him out. The White Sox made him work; he threw 103 pitches in his 5.2 innings of two-run ball. He was still reaching back to fire that fastball 98 mph on his very last pitch (which unfortunately came in and hit Jacob Gonzalez), because Christopher Allen Sale is a madman. 

Sale put up zeroes the first three innings and ran into trouble in the fourth. I, for one, am ready to be done seeing Braden Montgomery. Defensively, he was at the scene of the crime of every Braves ball caught at the warning track. Offensively, he laced a leadoff double to start the fourth inning and would come home to score immediately on a Derek Hill single. The White Sox would tack on another one with an RBI groundout to make it 2-0 White Sox. That would be all the damage, but it was enough to sink the Braves. Alas, the insurmountable two runs.

Sale was outdueled by Davis Martin, who spun six scoreless innings with six hits and six strikeouts. The Braves had the bases loaded with one out in the second after a Dom Smith lineout, a Mauricio Dubón single, an Austin Riley hit by pitch, and a Mike Yastrzemski single. But it wasn’t to be – a Jorge Mateo strikeout and Austin Wynns lineout would end the inning. There were a ton of hard-hit balls the whole game, but nearly every single one managed to find a Sox glove to end a rally or strand a pair of runners. 

Didier Fuentes came out to get the last out in the bottom of the sixth, which was quickly taken care of by a Wynns pickoff. 

It was probably a relief for both the Braves and those watching at home to see Davis Martin out of the same in the seventh. Instead, old friend Sean Newcomb was tasked with holding down his former team. Jorge Mateo, with no such sentimentality, led off the inning with a single. Wynns hit one on the screws but right to Chase Meidroth, followed by Michael Harris II striking out swinging at a slurve. But Ozzie Albies gave the Braves a sign of life with a hit that had the ball skittering past the third baseman Miguel Vargas to cut the lead in half, 2-1. Matt Olson worked a walk, but Dom popped out to end the inning.

Luisangel Acuña was doing Acuña things to the Braves, wreaking havoc with a single, advancement to second, and stolen base, with a Tristan Peters bunt pop out in the middle of all of it. But he’d be out at home on a fielder’s choice play by Riley. Andrew Benintendi came in to pinch-hit, Walt Weiss countered with Dylan Lee, and Lee got him on three pitches. 

The Braves had nothing going against Seranthony Domínguez in the eighth, with Dubon, Riiley, and Yaz going down in order. 

Braves debut alert – #00 James Karinchak entered in the eighth to make his first big league appearance since 2023 with Cleveland. Other than a double to Montgomery (who else?), he threw 19 pitches (12 for strikes) to get a Vargas flyout, Edgar Quero lineout, and Hill strikeout. How we feeling, Karinchak Collective?

Eli White (pinch-hitting for Wynns) worked a one-out walk off of reliever Bryan Hudson in the ninth, but no late magic for Atlanta in this one. Final score: 2-1, White Sox. It’ll be the same time and same channel for the Braves tomorrow as they look to salvage the series finale.

Phillies 7 Blue Jays 4

That was bad in a lot of ways.

Might as well get the congratulations out of the way first, Max Scherzer got his 3500th strikeout, just the 11th pitcher to get to that number. He’s at 3503 now. Number 10 in the list is Walter ‘Big Train’ Johnson at 3509. But I really don’t care if Max passes him. It very much appears that Max has aged out of being a useful MLB pitcher.

Max threw 3.1 innings, allowed 5 hits (with 2 home runs ), 5 earned, 3 walks with the 4 strikeouts.

When Shane is ready to come back, I’d likely hand Max his gold watch.

And the offense did very little. There are a couple of moments I’d like to mention. In the third inning, with two out, George Springer walked on five pitches (it could have been four, he swung at one off the plate) and then Vladimir Guerrero walked on four pitches. Next up Ernie Clement, who, one would imagine, would have seen the two at bats before him and thought ‘maybe I should take a strike’. Nope swung at the first pitch, that was outside and almost bounced. And he swung at the second pitch, but it was a strike. And then he swung at the third pitch, which was a little further outside than the first.

I know that Ernie is like that (though he did walk later in the game), but we were down by four. I mean, I can see going up and thinking ‘I’m likely to get a first pitch fastball down the middle’ and then sit on that, cause the pitcher doesn’t want to walk the bases loaded. But anything else, he should have kept the bat on his shoulder.

Sorry Ernie, you are having a great year, but that could have been our chance to get in the game.

And in the fifth, we had runners on first and second (Myles Straw and Nathan Lukes hit singles) with one out. A pitch was bounced, Straw got a bit of a jump off second, but the ball bounced off the catcher and up the third base line. Straw saw he’d be out and went back to second, but Lukes saw Straw take the couple of steps and headed to second. He didn’t see Straw retreat and Lukes was an easy out, ending the inning.

You gotta be watching the guy ahead of you.

We did get some runs:

• One in the sixth: With one out, Clement (now he walks) and Kazuma Okamoto walked. Yohendrick Piñango, in a tough spot against a lefty, struck out. But Brandon Valenzuela singled. Clement ran through the stop sign at third and scored. If he had been thrown out, I’d have benched him. We were down six and would have had the bases loaded. Unfortunately Andrés Giménez flied out to end the inning.
• Three in the seventh: Phillies reliever Chase Shugart had all sorts of trouble with the strike zone. Straw singled. Lukes (on four pitches) walked. Springer (on four pitches) walked. Vlad (on five pitches, one right dead center) walked in a run. Ernie Clement, who had the bad at bat earlier, took a strike and then hit a deep fly to the opposite field, unfortunately caught at the wall, for a sac fly. Okamoto hit another sac fly (Springer was just safe). Piñango ground out to end the inning.

In total, we had eight hits and seven walks. Straw had 3 hits. Vlad and Springer each had a hit and two walk. . Lukes a hit and a walk. Piñango and Charles McAdoo were the only starters not to reach base.

With Scherzer coming out early, we used a bunch of relievers, thankfully tomorrow is an off day.

• Mason Fluharty got the last two outs of the fourth, but gave up another run.
• Tommy Nance pitched the fifth, giving up just a hit.
• Jeff Hoffman pitched the sixth, with just a walk and a strikeout.
• Braydon Fisher started the seventh, but gave up a couple of hits, a walk and run, while getting just one out.
• Spencer Miles finished the seventh and pitched the eighth, without giving up a baserunner, with 2 strikeouts.
• Tyler Rogers pitched the ninth. He made a couple of nice defensive plays. On a comebacker he looked the runner at second back to the bag and then threw to first and, on the last out, it was a roller down the first base line, and

Jay of the Day: No one, the high mark was Springer (0.05).

The Other Award: Max (-0.24) and Clement (-0.08).

Tomorrow is an off-day. I can use it.

Over the course of his long, illustrious career, future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer has had many dominant performances against the Phillies.

Tonight was not one of them.

The Phillies victimized the 41-year-old Scherzer in his first start back from the injured list, teeing off for five runs and two home runs off of their old nemesis while Jesús Luzardo delivered 5.2 strong innings and the Phillies bullpen avoided disaster to deliver a series win in Toronto with a 7-4 victory in the finale.

How many times do we have to teach you this lesson old man?

Bryce Harper opened the scoring in the first, taking the first pitch he saw from Scherzer to deep left field, and it kept on carrying right over the head of Blue Jays left fielder Yohendrick Piñango for Harper’s 15th homer of the year.

Scherzer needed 47 total pitches to get through the first two innings. Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner then led off the third inning with back-to-back singles before Harper grounded out to put runners on the corners with one out. Brandon Marsh then popped up to shortstop, putting the scoring threat in jeopardy, but Alec Bohm blasted a hanging slider from Scherzer into left for a three-run home run to push the lead to 4-0.

Bryson Stott then drew a five pitch walk and stole second, but J.T. Realmuto grounded out to end the inning. Scherzer was already at 75 pitches through three and the knockout blow would come in the fourth. That inning started with an Adolis Garcia strikeout before Justin Crawford singled on an infield hit to third base that chased Scherzer from the game. Mason Fluharty entered in relief and Schwarber greeted him with a two-run homer, his MLB leading 24th home run of the season, and gave the Phillies a 6-0 lead.

Road sweet Road

Jesús Luzardo entered tonight with a drastic split in his home/away ERA, with a 1.54 ERA in six road starts and a 7.34 ERA in seven starts at Citizens Bank Park. That trend continued as he went 5.2 and allowed one run on four hits and four walks with eight strikeouts. Luzardo looked to be headed for trouble in the third following back-to-back two-out walks, but a mound meeting with pitching coach Caleb Cotham and catcher J.T. Realmuto seemed to do the trick, as Luzardo then struck out Ernie Clement on three pitches.

He couldn’t quite finish his strong outing though, as Luzardo again walked two in the sixth, this time with one out, and then allowed a two out single to Brandon Valenzuela to get the Blue Jays on the board and end the night for the Phillies lefty after 96 pitches. Jonathan Bowlan replaced Luzardo and quickly retired Andrés Giménez to end the sixth. Stott meanwhile singled in Harper in the top of the seventh to get the run back that Luzardo surrendered.

Too close for comfort

Chase Shugart was then tasked with giving the Phillies leverage relievers some much needed time off with a 7-1 lead, but he couldn’t get the job done. Shugart allowed a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh before issuing three straight walks, forcing a run in and cutting the lead to 7-2. Clement followed with a sacrifice fly, finally getting the first out but bringing in yet another run. Brad Keller was called upon to clean up Shugart’s mess and he allowed another sacrifice fly, this time to Kazuma Okamoto that cut the lead to 7-4 before getting a groundout to end the inning. To add injury to insult, Adolis Garcia was injured making the throw on Okamoto’s sac fly and had to be replaced by Steward Berroa.

José Alvarado pitched around a two out single to throw a scoreless eighth, but the three-run lead once again led to Jhoan Duran entering for a save situation, making his 17th appearance in 33 games since returning from the injured list and fifth in a back-to-back over that span. He erased a leadoff single with a double play off the bat of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. but surrendered a two-out single to Ernie Clement. An ABS-assisted strikeout of Okamoto ended the game and gave the Phillies the lead, but Duran added 10 more pitches to his recent workload.

Friday’s Matchup

The Phillies will head to Milwaukee to face Jacob Misiorowski (7-2, 1.50) on Friday night. Andrew Painter (1-7, 6.21) will once again search for consistency on the mound for Philadelphia. First pitch is scheduled for 7:40 pm.

The bullpen has largely been a strength of the Mets this season, but it was a weak spot Wednesday night.

Allowing at least seven runs to the Cardinals for the second straight game — as well as the 18th time overall this season — the Mets relievers struggled to contain St. Louis in a 9-2 loss that was exacerbated by another meek team performance at the plate.

In front of a sparse crowd at Citi Field, the four Mets pitchers who took the mound combined to give up 11 hits, four walks and three home runs in the Mets’ third loss in their past four games.

“Obviously, the last two nights, not the way you want it,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said following the loss. “It starts on the mound with starting pitching. We haven’t done that the past couple of nights. And then you get in a hole and then offensively, it’s going to be a challenge. We need starters. We need the offense. We need to play defense. We need to play consistent games.”

It took the Cardinals until the third inning to break through in the series opener Tuesday, but the visitors wasted no time Wednesday.

As a result, the Mets, who continue to ride these periodic bullpen games, trailed 4-0 by the third inning for the second game in a row.

Austin Warren required an early mound visit after giving up a run four batters into the game.

Finishing with two earned runs, two walks and one strikeout on 33 pitches through the first inning, Warren had the Mets chasing the game from the get-go before another night of cold bats ensured the team was never able to recover.

While David Peterson replaced Warren and pitched for the majority of the game (3 ²/₃ innings), the 6-foot-6 hurler was not at his sharpest either. With two outs and two strikes on Masyn Winn in the third inning, Peterson ultimately fumbled the leading count with three straight balls and walked him.

On the very next pitch, Nelson Velázquez blasted a 92.4 mph sinker right over the plate for a two-run homer.

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“It’s hard to describe, [Peterson is] a good pitcher and we’ve seen flashes, especially coming out of a bullpen,” Mendoza said. “I think it’s just outings where whether it’s a walk, whether it’s pitch selection, not executing, and today was one of those. I look at him as a guy that we’re going to need to get big outs for us, and I’m confident in Peterson even though it’s been hard for him. Continue to trust him and continue to work with him.”

The Mets managed to load the bases in the bottom of the third, largely thanks to Brett Baty’s leadoff single and stolen base. Cardinals pitcher Andre Pallante then hit Luis Torrens and walked Juan Soto.

Jared Young, however, grounded out to end the inning and strand all three.

While Peterson wasn’t trusted enough to make it to the end of the fifth, finishing with seven hits, six earned runs, two walks, two homers and one wild pitch, the Mets got a couple of scoreless innings out of Cionel Pérez and Jonathan Pintaro before the latter gave up a home run to Alec Burleson in the ninth inning.

Despite being requested by the media, Peterson left the clubhouse before reporters entered the locker room.

When Francisco Alvarez was asked if he’s sensed any frustrations from Peterson over what has been a rough start to the season, the Mets catcher denied the notion.

“No, no, Petey is a strong-minded person,” Alvarez said through a translator. “There have been points in his career where he’s had tough stretches, but he always finds a way to get out of there. I know as long as he continues to work, he’ll get out of it and by the end of the season, he’ll have the numbers that he wants to have.”

It may have started on time and finished without interruption, but Wednesday night’s game was rain-delayed in spirit for the Mariners. They could never really get the engine to start for their offense as they dropped the third game of their series in Baltimore, 7-2.

Orioles starter Brandon Young cruised as the Mariners struggled to get the ball in the air. He induced 12 ground-ball outs — a recipe for success against a Mariners team that leads baseball in percentage of runs scored via the home run. At one point, he set down 12 consecutive hitters. When all was said and done, Young worked seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball, striking out five and walking two.

Both offenses struggled to get much of anything going through the first half of the evening. The biggest threat of the early-going came in the third, when George Kirby pulled off quite the escape act. After the Orioles loaded the bases with nobody out to begin the inning, Kirby was able to force a shallow fly ball and strike out a pair to leave all three base runners stranded and keep the score 0-0.

After five innings, the game was scoreless. As it turns out, that was as long as Kirby could hold off the Orioles. To lead off the bottom of the sixth, Pete Alonso drove a 97 mph four-seamer over the wall in right-center to open up the scoring.

The O’s saw the crack in the armor, and they took advantage. Following the Alonso dinger, Colton Cowser drew a four-pitch walk and promptly stole second on the first pitch of the next plate appearance. Leody Taveras, who was briefly a Mariner in 2025, drove him in with an RBI double into the gap, making the score 2-0.

For a moment, it looked as though Kirby might stop the bleeding there; he was able to strike out both Jackson Holliday and Tyler O’Neill to get the first two outs of the inning. However, Blaze Alexander brought in Taveras with a ground-rule double, extending the lead to 3-0. Since the Mariners are dealing with a taxed bullpen, Kirby finished out of the sixth anyway. He’d end the night at 104 pitches, just shy of his career-high at 106.

When all was said and done, Kirby finished with a line that probably doesn’t accurately represent his performance. His velocity was up all evening, topping out at 99 mph with both the sinker and four-seamer, and he struck out 10 Orioles hitters. He also notched a quality start, going six innings and allowing three earned runs, but was given no breathing room by his offense. Eventually, the floodgates opened.

Down several runs, Domingo González was brought in to pitch in relief in the seventh, having been recalled from Triple-A Tacoma earlier today. He allowed a single and walked a pair of hitters before surrendering a grand slam to Holliday, breaking the game wide open.

If there’s a silver lining to this one, González was allowed to eat the final innings, giving the rest of the bullpen a much-needed breather. The Mariners also avoided a shutout by scratching across a couple of runs in the eighth with the result no longer in much doubt.

A series win is still on the table for the Mariners as they close out the four-game set against the Orioles tomorrow with a 4:05 p.m. PDT first pitch. As a quick programming note, tomorrow’s game is available exclusively on ESPN and will not be broadcast on Mariners.TV, so plan accordingly.

The Mets were routed for a second straight night by the St. Louis Cardinals, losing 9-2 on Wednesday night at Citi Field.

The Cardinals have outscored the Mets 16-2 in the two games to start this six-game homestand.

Here are the takeaways...

-The Mets’ offense continues to be woefully inconsistent. After a strong series in San Diego seemed to give them some momentum, they’ve managed only eight hits in two games against the Cardinals, including three on Wednesday night.  The Mets did manage to get runners into scoring position six times tonight, but went 0-for-6 in those situations.  

-The only real good news offensively for the Mets was Francisco Alvarez’s two-run home run in the third inning, cutting the Cardinals’ lead to 7-2. It was Alvarez’s second game back from the IL after his remarkably fast recovery from meniscus surgery on his right knee. After catching on Tuesday, Alvarez was in the lineup as the DH tonight, as the Mets want to both ease him back into action as well as give Luis Torrens the playing time behind the plate he has earned.

-It was also notable that A.J. Ewing walked ahead of Alvarez’s home run, making it a two-run shot. The rookie continues to show remarkable plate discipline in working counts and laying off tough pitches.  

-The Mets couldn’t do much with Cardinals’ righthander Andre Pallante, who gave up only three hits over six innings, including the Alvarez home run. Pallante has been solid for the Cards, pitching to a 3.88 ERA, but he has a statistical quirk, with a 9.00 ERA in the first inning this season, tied for the highest of all qualified starters. However, the Mets couldn’t take advantage, going 1-2-3 in the first inning.  

-Rookie right-hander Jonathan Pintaro had a strong outing for the Mets, pitching three innings in relief, allowing only one hit and one run, a home run by Alec Burleson.  

-David Peterson’s run of dominance out of the bullpen as a bulk reliever came to an end as the lefty gave up six runs in 3.2 innings, including a three-run home run to Jordan Walker that blew the game open.  

-Coming into tonight, Peterson had a 1.88 ERA in six appearances as a reliever, spanning 24 innings, compared to a 7.56 ERA in seven starts. He also had a whopping 1.950 WHIP as a starter. But this relief outing didn't follow this trend. Peterson never looked sharp, giving up seven hits and two walks, and on the home run to Walker, his 1-1 fastball was left hanging agonizingly over the plate.  For the season, Peterson now has a 5.75 ERA.  

-The Mets used an opener tonight, using reliever Austin Warren to start the game. Warren couldn’t command his signature slider/sweeper, which he throws on nearly 50 percent of his pitches, and gave up two walks and two hits, which led to two first-inning runs for the Cardinals.  

Game MVP: Jordan Walker

Jordan Walker delivered the biggest hit for the Cardinals, a three-run home run in the fourth inning that made the score 7-0 at the time.  

After failing to live up to huge expectations for a few years, Walker appears to be emerging into a star slugger.  

The home run was Walker's 17th of the season. He’s also hitting .304 with a .929 OPS.  

Highlights

Francisco Alvarez's first homer back from the IL!

His 5th homer of the season! pic.twitter.com/QJtOrJGZU5

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 11, 2026

What's next

The Mets look to salvage a game in this series as they host the Cardinals on Thursday afternoon.

Christian Scott (2-0, 2.50 ERA) will take the mound against Hunter Dobbins.

PITTSBURGH –– First, the Pirates robbed Shohei Ohtani of a sure-fire home run.

Then, they turned around and stole the whole game.

At the start of the seventh inning Wednesday night, the Dodgers had a five-run lead, Ohtani on the mound and a series-clinching win all but secured at PNC Park.

By the end of the eighth, the script had turned upside down on them, with the Pirates storming back –– then holding on –– for a 9-8 win that marked one of the most painful results of the Dodgers’ season.

“This one stung because I thought we were playing good baseball,” manager Dave Roberts said. “We have no business losing that game.”

The collapse began with Ohtani, who was pulled from a start mid-inning for the first time all year.

After six strong frames of one-run ball –– and a near two-run homer as a batter in the third that was brought back on a leaping effort from Pirates right fielder Bryan Reynolds –– Ohtani issued a leadoff walk to begin the seventh, then couldn’t get to a swinging bunt in front of the mound that put two runners aboard with no outs.

The two-way star nearly pulled off an escape act from there, striking out his next two batters while nursing a 6-1 lead Ryan Ward had given him with a grand slam an inning earlier.

Alas, after falling behind 3-0 to Brandon Lowe in an at-bat that featured a couple missed ABS challenge opportunities, Ohtani fired a fastball that was ambushed for a two-run double down the line.

“After the [first] two hitters, the two outs felt pretty good,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “It was just a mis-execution on that 3-0 pitch.”

That ended Ohtani’s night, pushing his ERA over 1.00 for the first time all season (granted, his 1.06 mark is still best in the majors among pitchers with 60 innings).

Meanwhile, it would only be the beginning of the Dodgers’ meltdown, as their once-stout bullpen suffered an increasingly familiar late-game implosion.

Lowe came around to score against Alex Vesia, after a hard-hit ground ball got past Max Muncy at third base.

Then in the eighth, Kyle Hurt became the night’s biggest culprit, walking his first two batters before giving up a three-run, go-ahead blast to Pirates youngster Tyler Callihan on a hanging first-pitch changeup.

The homer marked the second big fly of the night for Callihan, who had recorded his first career big-league blast on a solo blast against Ohtani in the fourth inning that left the stadium over the right-field seats.

It would also be the first of two balls the Pirates (35-33) sent out of the yard in the eighth, with Spencer Horwitz making it a five-run rally with a two-run shot off Jack Dreyer later in the frame.

“When you give free passes, it sort of builds momentum for the other team,” Roberts said. “It takes one hit for them to score a run instead of a couple hits to build an inning. I think right now we’re doing a little self-inflicted damage.”

Down 9-6 at that point, Ohtani got the Dodgers back within one with a two-run homer in the ninth, ensuring he wouldn’t have a second long ball robbed by driving his 12th of the year deep to center.

However, it was too little, too late, with the Dodgers (43-25) losing for just the fourth time this year when leading after seven innings.

“I know there have been some others that stung a little bit,” Roberts said. “[But of] recently, this one doesn’t feel good.”

What it means

While the Dodgers are still 19-7 since May 13, they are also only 6-5 in their last 11 games. And four times in that span, poor bullpen pitching has been to blame.

There were the two losses charged to Tanner Scott against the Phillies and Dbacks a couple weeks ago. There was Sunday’s all-around blunder against the Angels this past weekend. And now, with Wednesday’s defeat representing the team’s biggest collapse yet, the concern level is starting to rise with the Dodgers’ relief corps –– a unit that only last month set a franchise record with a 38-inning scoreless streak, but is now struggling to avoid walks and limit damage.

“Hitting is hard,” Roberts said. “[But] When you give away free bases, it just makes it a little easier. That’s something we’ve got to get back to attacking the strike zone.”

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Who’s hot

It was not Ohtani’s best night, but he was still the Dodgers’ best player.

Technically, he turned in a quality start of 6 ⅔ innings and three earned runs (his fourth run was unearned, as it came on Muncy’s error).

His homer in the ninth, meanwhile, continued his recent tear at the plate, leaving him just one point back of the Washington Nationals’ James Wood for the best OPS in the National League at .940.

If only Reynolds hadn’t robbed him earlier in the evening, on an acrobatic catch that saw him lean halfway over the short wall in left field, it might have been enough to salvage the game.

“I thought it was gonna be a homer,” Ohtani said. “But the left fielder made a fantastic catch. Gotta tip my cap on that one.”

Who’s not

Hurt had started this season promisingly, giving up just one run in his first 15 outings after returning from a 2024 Tommy John surgery and being called up from triple-A in mid-April.

The last several weeks, however, have been a nightmare for the 28-year-old and once highly-touted prospect.

In his last seven appearances, the right-hander has given up nine home runs, issued five walks, and seen his ERA balloon from 0.60 to 4.22 on the season.

On Wednesday, he bemoaned his lack of command, noting he “fell behind every single hitter” and “didn’t throw one first-pitch strike” outside of the changeup that Callihan walloped for the go-ahead homer.

“Just didn’t execute,” Hurt said. “I had some guys, 3-2, I didn’t execute there either. Just missing a little bit, let a few go, sped up a little bit. There’s always tomorrow, so just ready to get back at it.”

He isn’t alone, either. Over the last two weeks, he is one of a whopping six Dodgers relievers with an ERA over 4.90.

Up next

The Dodgers will try to take the rubber match of this three-game series on Thursday, when Justin Wrobleski (7-2, 2.62 ERA) faces Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller (5-3, 4.81 ERA).

For the second time in as many nights, the Mets found themselves in an early hole against the Cardinals and went on to lose. As had been the case in their loss in the series opener, the game never felt competitive, and it ended with St. Louis winning 9-2.

The fact that the Mets spared themselves the embarrassment of getting shut out in back-to-back games doesn’t really serve as consolation. The team is now 29-38 on the season, and the relative excitement about them taking two of three games from the Padres over the weekend has already been squashed.

The Mets chose to go with an opener-plus-David Peterson approach in this one, and it didn’t go well. Austin Warren served as the opener, and he was somewhat fortunate to give up just two runs in his one inning of work. He gave up two hits, walked two, and only struck out one. It could’ve easily been worse.

Peterson made Warren’s outing look effective, as the Cardinals tattooed him for six runs in three-and-two-thirds innings. They got him for seven hits, and he walked two, struck out just one, threw a wild pitch, and gave up a pair of home runs.

It probably didn’t matter in the end, but the Mets had their best shot at making it a ballgame shortly after Peterson gave up his first two runs of the night, both of which scored in the top of the third. Trailing 4-0, the Mets had runners on first and second with two outs and Juan Soto at the plate. A home run would’ve made things interesting, but Cardinals starter Andre Pallante—who was pitching to get Soto out—wound up walking the bases loaded instead. And Jared Young, who represented the tying run as he came to the plate, grounded out softly to end the inning.

Peterson gave up his next three runs in the top of the fourth. Trailing 7-0 in the bottom of that inning, the Mets finally got on the board when Francisco Alvarez hit a two-run home run. Peterson gave up his sixth and final run of his brief outing in the top of the fifth, and the Mets’ bats went silent from there. Cardinals pitchers retired sixteen batters in a row, nearly finishing the game without allowing a single Mets baserunner up until a hit-by-pitch with two outs in the ninth broke that streak. The fact that they retired seventeen of the final eighteen Mets hitters they faced still served as a reminder that these Mets don’t do comebacks.

If you’re looking for some relatively positive stuff to take out of the game, Cionel Perez threw one-and-one-third scoreless innings in relief of Peterson. And Jonathan Pintaro, who got called up earlier in the day, went three innings and gave up just one run in the top of the ninth. He has a 1.35 ERA in his limited major league time this year, and it’d be fun to see more of him if he weren’t seemingly destined to return to Syracuse as part of the Mets’ ongoing bullpen churn.

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: none
Big Mets loser: David Peterson, -19% WPA
Mets pitchers: -35% WPA
Mets hitters: -15% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Jared Young hits a double in the second inning, +6.6% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Nelson Velásquez hits a two-run home run in the top of the third, -15.2% WPA

The Dodgers had a five-run lead in the sixth inning on Wednesday, but the Pirates rattled across eight runs against the Dodger bullpen as they stole the middle match 9-8.

The Dodgers ensured Pittsburgh’s starter Jared Jones wouldn’t face the minimum over his first three innings as Alex Freeland worked a two-out walk to bring up Shohei Ohtani in the top of the third. Ohtani sent a ball to deep left field that would’ve given him his third home run over his last four starts, but Bryan Reynolds made a leaping catch over the short wall to keep the game scoreless.

Freddie Freeman laced career hit no. 2,501 with a one-out double down the left field line to end the short no-hit bid for Jones. It was also career double no. 564, placing him one shy of 2026 Hall of Fame inductee Carlos Beltrán for 28th on the all-time list. Max Muncy had two hits with runner in scoring position on Tuesday, and he made it three hits with a double down the right field line to plate Freeman and give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. Kyle Tucker collected his third RBI in as many games with a single up the middle to make it a two-run lead.

Ohtani was one out away from keeping the Pirates silent over four full innings, but Tyler Callihan launched his first big league home run over the right field bleachers and into the Allegheny River to trim the lead to a run. Jake Mangum doubled to put the tying run in scoring position, but Ohtani bounced back with a strikeout of Jared Triolo to end the two-out threat.

After going down in order against Carmen Mlodzinski in the top of the fifth, the Dodgers put the first two men on with a single from Andy Pages and a walk to Freeman. Muncy worked a walk to load the bases, and after Mlodzinski struck out Tucker for the second out, Ryan Ward launched his first career grand slam to break the game wide open and give the Dodgers a five-run lead.

The home run from Callihan was the only dent on Ohtani’s outing over his first six innings of work. The two-way superstar pitched into the seventh inning for the first time since May 13, but the decision proved costly as the Pirates put the first two men on with nobody out. Ohtani managed to strike out two in a row, but Brandon Lowe brought home two on a double down the right field line to cut the lead in half.

After 102 pitches over 6 2/3 innings, Ohtani was pulled after allowing a season-high three earned runs. Despite the runs given up, his ERA now sits at 1.06, still ranking best in baseball for any starting pitcher with at least 65 innings on the year.

Alex Vesia came in relief of Ohtani, and he got Bryan Reynolds to roll one to third, but the Muncy had the ball roll under his glove allowing Lowe to score to make it a two-run lead. With Ryan O’Hearn representing the tying run, Vesia got him to roll one right back to him to get out of the inning with the lead intact.

Kyle Hurt came in relief for the bottom of the eighth and immediately put the first two men on base with nobody out. Tyler Callihan, who had the home run against Ohtani in the bottom of the fourth, crushed a go-ahead three-run home run as the Pirates took their first lead of the night.

Hurt could only get one out before he was relieved by Jack Dreyer to face the left-handed hitting Horwitz. Horwitz jumped on an 0-1 fastball down the middle, sending it out to give the Pirates a five-run eighth inning and a three-run lead. Just one day after the Dodgers sent 15 men to the plate in the top of the seventh inning, the Pirates bat around against Hurt and Dreyer.

Shohei Ohtani made sure the Dodgers didn’t go down without a fight with a two-run home run against Gregory Soto in the top of the ninth, making up for the robbery from Reynolds in the third. The comeback attempt was too little and too late, as the Pirates stole the middle match from the Dodgers to snap their four-game losing streak. The Dodgers division lead now sits at 7 1/2 games after the San Diego Padres walked off the Cincinnati Reds.

Game particulars

• Home runs— Tyler Callihan, 2 (2), Spencer Horwitz (9); Ryan Ward (3), Shohei Ohtani (12)
• WP— Evan Sisk (1-0): 1/3 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout
• LP— Kyle Hurt (1-1): 1/3 IP, 3 hits, 4 earned runs, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts
• SV— Gregory Soto (9): 1 IP, 2 hits, 2 earned runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout

Up next

The Dodgers will look to take the series in Pittsburgh on Thursday (3:40 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA) before heading to Chicago for a three-game set with the White Sox over the weekend. Justin Wrobleski faces Mitch Keller.

The St. Louis Cardinals are really enjoying their tour of New York. The Redbird bats were ready for action and Andre Pallante was pretty sharp as the Cardinals easily beat the Mets for their 6th straight victory.

The St. Louis Cardinals did not hesitate to let the New York Mets know they would be scoring often as JJ Wetherholt led off the game with a single to center. Ivan Herrera was not hit by a pitch, believe it or not, but did end up on base with a walk giving St. Louis runners on first and second with no outs. Alec Burleson grounded out to the right side moving Wetherholt and Herrera into scoring position. Jordan Walker then smoked a single to left-center scoring JJ from third giving St. Louis a 1-0 lead.

Herrera didn’t get a good jump off of second making sure the ball wasn’t caught and was held at third. Lars Nootbaar then drew a walk to load the bases. The Cardinals got their second run of the inning when Masyn Winn grounded into a fielder’s choice, but avoided the double play as St. Louis ended up leading 2-0 after the top half of the 1st inning.

The Cardinals would strike again in the top of the 3rd inning after Masyn Winn drew a 2-out walk which brought up Nelson Velázquez with a chance to show why we like it when he’s in the lineup as he turned a 92 mph sinker into a souvenir in the left field seats 413 feet away giving St. Louis a commanding 4-0 lead.

The biggest jolt of the night would follow one inning later in the Cardinals 4th as JJ Wetherholt reached on an infield single that ricocheted off of the pitcher. Ivan Herrera then walked again giving St. Louis two men on base for Jordan Walker who helped the Mets understand that you don’t groove a 92 mph four-seam fastball down the middle to the 2026 version of Jordan Walker. 401 feet later, the Cardinals had a 7-0 lead. BOOM!

It wasn’t all sunshine and roses for Andre Pallante. He pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the 3rd inning without allowing the Mets to score, but wasn’t as fortunate in the bottom of the 4th as AJ Ewing walked and then Francisco Alvarez put a charge into an 85 mph Pallante slider that didn’t slide enough as it traveled 368 feet to right hitting just above the home run line in left cutting the Cardinals lead down to 7-2. When all was said and done by Andre, he gave the Cardinals a solid full 6 innings allowing just 3 hits and 2 earned runs while striking out 5 and walking 2. Not bad at all.

The St. Louis Cardinals continued to live up to their relentless offensive reputation as they immediately grabbed another run back in the top of the 5th inning as Masyn Winn singled followed by a flyout from Velasquez and a fielder’s choice groundout by Nathan Church. With Winn on second, Jose Fermin singled him in upping the St. Louis lead to 8-2.

Matt Svanson was the Cardinals relief arm for the 7th inning. He did what you want to see happen when you have a big lead. He came in throwing strikes and had all three outs after throwing only 6 pitches. Efficient! Matt also took care of the 8th inning for St. Louis while only throwing 7 more! JoJo Romero was giving bottom of the 9th duties Wednesday night and the Mets did nothing to foil him. I could have just said the Mets did nothing which would also have been accurate. (unless you consider Magaman getting hit on the toe as doing something)

How did the Cardinals end up with 9 runs instead of just 8? That was Alec Burleson extending his hitting streak to 10 games with an 89 mph cutter that he turned into a 408 foot home run into the right field stands. BOOM (again)!

The St. Louis Cardinals will continue their joyride in New York Wednesday afternoon as Hunter Dobbins will get the start for the Redbirds. The New York Mets will hope Christian Scott can pull off a miracle as he will take the mound for the metros. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10pm central time and the broadcast will be available on Cardinals.tv.