Category: MLB

The Athletics and Colorado Rockies met in the series finale of their three-game interleague series on a scorching afternoon in Las Vegas. The Rockies avoided the sweep, defeating the A’s 23-9 in an absurd game that served as a fitting cap to the A’s eventful week in their future home.

Rockies Capitalize off A’s Mistake

The Rockies struck right away against A’s starting pitcher Jeffrey Springs. With one out in the first inning, A’s third baseman Max Muncy made a throwing error, allowing the Rockies hitter to reach second base. Springs retired the next batter before Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman hit his 19th home run of the season, a two-out, two-run shot to center field.

A’s Offense Active Early

A’s center fielder Lawrence Butler led off the bottom of the first with a single against Rockies pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano. Nick Kurtz drew a four-pitch walk, advancing Butler to second. Then, left fielder Tyler Soderstrom hit his 19th double of the season, a line drive to right field that scored Butler and cut the A’s deficit in half.

Right fielder Carlos Cortes came up and kept the line rolling, lining a two-run single to right field to give the A’s a 3-2 lead. Sugano did not retire the first four batters he faced, immediately blowing his team’s lead.

heating up 🔥#VoteAthletics | https://t.co/SBezYOtGtGpic.twitter.com/bzwx5xcHWT

— Athletics (@Athletics) June 14, 2026

With one out, A’s catcher Jonah Heim singled to right, moving Cortes from first to third. Muncy hit a sacrifice fly, knocking Cortes in for the host’s fourth run of the first.

Colorado Back in Front

The Rockies opened the second inning with two straight singles, making it first and third with nobody out. Athletics second baseman Zack Gelof made a diving stop and strong throw to retire Colorado left fielder Troy Johnston, but the visitors’ third run scored on that RBI groundout.

A couple batters later, the Rockies re-took the lead. Springs gave up Willi Castro’s fourth home run of the season, a two-run blast just over the left field wall. Allowing five runs, including two home runs, over the first two innings was not the start Springs and the Athletics were looking for this afternoon.

Kurtz Comes Through

A’s shortstop Alika Williams singled to start the second inning, giving him six hits in his past six at-bats. Kurtz tied the game with an RBI double to the left-center gap, bringing Williams home from first base.

Kurtzy ties it 👏#VoteAthletics | https://t.co/SBezYOtGtGpic.twitter.com/8DYc0vY2Ov

— Athletics (@Athletics) June 14, 2026

Springs Struggles Continue

Both pitchers tossed 1-2-3 third innings, keeping the game tied at five. In the fourth, the Rockies jumped back in front. Center fielder Cole Carrigg hit an infield single and then third baseman Kyle Karros crushed an RBI double, putting the visitors up one.

Colorado was not done tagging Springs. Johnston hit his third home run of the season, a two-run shot to extend his team’s lead to three. The A’s starter allowed a career-high eight runs over four innings of work, though two were unearned. Starting the fly-ball, home run–prone pitcher a second time in this hitter-friendly ballpark proved costly, as Springs gave up three more home runs in his latest losing effort.

A’s Get One Back

Down three, the A’s offense went right to work. In the bottom of the fourth, first baseman Jeff McNeil walked, followed by Williams’ second single of the game. Kurtz’s RBI groundout scored McNeil for the A’s sixth run of the game.

Rockies Offense on Fire

Right-hander Luis Medina entered out of the A’s bullpen to pitch the fifth inning. With one out, Goodman hit his second home run of the game, a solo shot to left field to restore his team’s three-run cushion. The Rockies scored their tenth run on Karros’ RBI single. The inning snowballed from there as the visitors scored four more runs, taking advantage of poor pitching from Medina and shaky A’s outfield defense. The Rockies’14th run scored when Butler dropped a catchable fly ball in center field that should have been the third out of the inning.

Endless Scoring

In the A’s fifth, Gelof doubled on a popup that was not caught, extending his hitting streak to 18 games. Muncy hit his third home run of the season, a two-run, two-out home run to bring his team a bit closer.

Zack Gelof extends his MLB-best hitting streak to 18 games 👏 pic.twitter.com/qhH8I0nKup

— Athletics on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) June 14, 2026

Max Muncy starts the comeback attempt as he goes deep for his first home run since coming off the IL!

🎙️ @KenKorachRadio#MLB#Baseball#LasVegas#Athletics#MaxMuncypic.twitter.com/AgxmZAe4si

— A's Cast (@athleticscast24) June 14, 2026

The next inning, left-handed reliever Brady Basso pitched the A’s second scoreless inning of the game. In the bottom of the sixth, the Rockies brought in right-handed reliever Blas Castaño, who pitched a scoreless inning.

The Rockies hit-parade continued in the seventh. They scored four runs off Basso, with one coming when Cortes became the second A’s outfielder to lose a fly ball in the sun.

Soderstrom responded to the visitors four-spot by hitting his 12th home run of the season, a 462 foot solo shot to center. A few batters later, Gelof tried scoring from first on Heim’s double but he was thrown out at the plate.

ATH – Tyler Soderstrom Solo HR (12)

📏 462 ft | 💨 108.2 mph | 📐 22°
⚾️ 94.1 mph sinker (COL – RHP Blas Castaño)
🏟️ Out in 30/30 parks 💣

COL (18) @ ATH (9)
🔻 7th#Athleticspic.twitter.com/h3tK4z3EKi

— MLB Home Runs (@MLBHRs_) June 14, 2026

History!

The Rockies showed no mercy. A’s reliever Scott Barlow gave up a single and then walked two to load the bases. Castro came up and hit his second home run of the game, a 444-foot grand slam, to make it 22-9 and set a new Rockies franchise record for runs scored in a game.

With the score completely out of hand, the Athletics put position player Carlos Cortes on the mound. Cortes kept the circus going by allowing the first batter he faced to homer, pushing the Rockies’ lead to 23-9. Cortes recorded the final five outs, finishing with a better pitching line than any of the A’s’ actual pitchers who appeared in the game.

It was only fitting that the A’s pitching staff saved their worst performance of the season for the Vegas finale. As the saying goes, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, and the team will be more than happy to leave this one behind.

Tomorrow, the Athletics start a new series against the Pittsburgh Pirates at their other temporary home. Right-hander J.T. Ginn, who is 4-3 with a 3.15 ERA, will take the mound at West Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park. He will be opposed by Pirates right-hander Jared Jones, who will make his fourth MLB start since returning from UCL surgery.

First off, we’re not going to waste too much time with pleasantries here. That’s because we’ve got to talk about the rain-shortened White Sox series. Do I necessarily want to talk about that series (or either one of these series)? Absolutely not but at the same time (to paraphrase a crazy person), these games must be documented so I will do a quick hit on those before we get more in-depth with the Mets series. Here we go!

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Tuesday, June 9

White Sox 6, Braves 5

This one was fun until it wasn’t! Atlanta had a four-run lead early on that slowly got whittled away due to a couple of factors: Grant Holmes continuing to struggle with going through lineups more than once and Carlos Carrasco being asked to cover high-leverage innings in a situation where the bullpen aparently needed some more rest. Things stayed 4-4 through the first nine, which is when Mauricio Dubón seemingly added to his Braves lore with an RBI single that gave the Atlanta the edge heading into the bottom of the tenth inning. Instead, that simply set the stage for the debuting Braden Montgomery to cap off a great night at the plate with a home run off of Raisel Iglesias to win the game. This was Raisel Iglesias’ first home run surrendered since July 19, 2025. Insane.

Atlanta also lost Ronald Acuña Jr. to his second Grade 1 hamstring strain in as many months. Just an awful night all around.

Wednesday, June 10

White Sox 2, Braves 1

Chris Sale made it into the sixth inning with just two runs allowed on six hits and a walk. He also struck out six batters. On a normal night, that would’ve been enough to keep the Braves in it. Instead, Atlanta had no answers for Davis Martin and the rest of the Chicago pitching staff and only avoided a shutout due to the White Sox gifting Atlanta a run via a throwing error from Miguel Vargas. Despite collecting their fair share of hits, Atlanta was unable to deliver the big hits at the right time and so the Braves ended up suffering a rare series loss.

Atlanta would have to take that loss with them to New York without getting a chance to salvage the series, as rain ended up causing a postponement until August.

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Friday, June 12

Mets 7, Braves 5

Spencer Strider got the ball in this one and it was nothing but bad news while he was out there. Strider ended up being responsible for all seven runs that the Mets scored in this one — including two homers from Bo Bichette (who annoyingly picked this weekend to suddenly start showing real signs of life at the plate) and a dinger from Juan Soto. Soto’s homer came in back-to-back fashion following Bichette’s homer in the first inning and then the second Bichette dinger was a grand slam.

The seventh run that was charged to Strider came after Strider had exited the game in the fourth with a leadoff walk and JR Ritchie was on the mound. By then, his velocity was down to 88-mph and the Braves decided that this was the time to take him out of the game. Strider went on the IL by the next morning and Atlanta now had to deal with two core members of the team going on the IL in the same week.

Fortunately, the Braves did show signs of life as they attempted to make a comeback against Nolan McLean and the rest of New York’s pitching staff. Atlanta was down 7-2 after four innings but a fifth-inning dinger from Matt Olson and RBI singles from Ozzie Albies and Eli White brought the Braves back into it. The tying run came up to the plate in the ninth inning in the forms of Michael Harris II and Matt Olson but Devin Williams struck both of them out to complete a four-out save and ca off another frustrating night on the road for the Braves this week.

Saturday, June 13

Braves 3, Mets 1

Thank goodness for Eli White! The reserve outfielder for the Braves has made a habit out of providing some solid production when he’s called upon and Saturday was one of his finest moments, yet. White picked up three hits in this one, including an RBI double in the second inning and a solo homer in the fourth inning — both off of Mets starter Sean Manaea.

Those ended up being the only two runs Manaea would give up through six innings of work as it was tough sledding for everybody else not named Eli White. Fortunately, Martín Pérez was able to keep pace with Manaea as he pitched into the sixth inning and only gave up one run. Atlanta’s bullpen was once again up to the task of making a slender lead hold up and they were aided in that task in the eighth inning when Michael Harris II popped one out for a solo shot that gave the Braves some breathing room.

Raisel Iglesias’ first appearance since that bummer in Chicago nearly saw him give up his second homer in as many appearances. This time, it would’ve been a bit more understandable since Juan Soto was the one bringing the pain but as it turned out, it was ruled via crew chief review that Soto’s long ball wasn’t a homer according to the ground rules of Citi Field. Despite Soto doing his best to legally relay what pitch was coming from Iglesias while at second base, his sign-stealing efforts went in vain as Iglesias left Soto stranded and a double play ball got the Braves back in the win column.

Sunday, June 14

Mets 8, Braves 1

So, this game started with the Braves coming away with only one run (via sacrifice fly, no less) from a bases-loaded, nobody out situation in the top of the first inning. The bottom of the first inning saw Bryce Elder give up four runs and Mike Yastrzemski committed a bizarre error where he doinked a throw off the pole that holds up the foul netting while trying to hit the cutoff man near third base. That’s how the game started!

It got worse for Elder as he was eventually chased from the game in the start of the fifth inning after he gave up back-to-back home runs to start that frame. New York hadn’t hit back-to-back homers since Opening Day and now they had done it twice in three days and against the Braves, no less! Anyways, New York added two more runs off of Anthony Molina in the eighth inning and the Braves were spent after they wasted that golden opportunity to get after Freddy Peralta in the first inning and this ended up turning into one of those games where Atlanta just seemed ready to get on the plane and forget about all of this.

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Folks, this was just one of those weeks. Considering how well everything has been going for Atlanta this season, they were honestly beyond due for one of those miserable type of weeks where barely anything seemed to go right. It’s a long season and this tends to happen to even the best teams but that won’t stop me from sitting here and complaining about it!

One of the best closers in baseball gets walked off by a guy making his big league debut. They wasted a decent Chris Sale start. They lost their star outfielder to the same exact injury that knocked him down a month ago. Due to storms in Chicago, they didn’t get into New York until right before sunrise. They lost one of their starters to what is looking more and more like a serious injury. The New York Knicks won the NBA Championship (well, that’s a personal one for me). Bryce Elder looked more like 2024-25 Elder than 2023 Elder. Michael Harris II even had a home run robbery fall out of his glove and go over the fence! This was far and away the worst week of the season for the Atlanta Braves where Murphy’s Law appeared to be in full effect for each of the five games that they played.

Yet, there’s still some solace that the Braves can hold on to during this inevitable rough patch. Atlanta’s still 21 games over .500 and they’re still eight games ahead of the Phillies when it comes to the NL East race. Was this a very annoying and nasty week of baseball for the Atlanta games? Yes. Is it concerning to see both Ronald Acuña Jr. and Spencer Strider continue to deal with persistent injuries? Absolutely. Is it clear that this rotation needs some help that should (hopefully) come around the Trade Deadline? Definitely. This team has their problems (which were clearly on display this week) but the standings are the standings and right now, the Braves still have some breathing room to deal with things.

With all of that being said, it will truly be a sight for sore eyes once Drake Baldwin gets back into the lineup and it’ll even be better to see this team playing at home after this absolute nightmare of a road trip. The players and coaching staff will likely flush this one in the toilet and focus on getting things back on track with their next homestand but for now, it’s totally fine to sulk about what we saw this week. It was something nasty!

SAN FRANCISCO — The Cubs had what appeared to be a good game plan against the Giants. With the top of their lineup being mostly left-handed, Craig Counsell decided to use Ryan Rolison as an opener, then follow with scheduled starter Colin Rea.

The Giants countered by leading off Matt Chapman. But Rolison disposed of Chapman and the next three left-handed hitters the Giants put at the plate.

Fun fact about Rolison’s opener outing from BCB’s JohnW53:

Ryan Rolison’s start was the 151st by a Cub since 1901 that lasted 1.1 innings.

It was the first in which the pitcher gave up no runs.

Four gave up one: Alex Hardy, in 1903; Bud Tinning, 1933; Johnny Schmitz, 1942; and Bob Chipman, Aug. 17, 1944. Rolison’s was the 92nd since then.

Colin Rea then matched Giants starter Logan Webb through the fourth inning. Once again, here was a game where the Cubs bats mostly disappeared. They had two runners on with one out in the first, but Ian Happ hit into an inning-ending double play. The only other Cubs baserunner through the fourth was Pete Crow-Armstrong, who singled with two out in the fourth, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. But Alex Bregman hit this sinking liner to left that Casey Schmitt caught to end the inning [VIDEO].

Rea got in trouble in the fifth with the game still scoreless and really, he did what he was supposed to do. Jung Hoo Lee dumped a little popup behind third base that no one could catch. After a sacrifice bunt, Drew Gilbert hit another uncatchable popup that scored the first run of the game [VIDEO].

That’s two hits on very weak contact. Look at the exit velo on Lee’s hit:

The exit velo on Gilbert’s double was a little better, 83.7 miles per hour, but still most balls hit like that are caught. It just landed in no-man’s land.

Then Chapman smashed a ball over the center-field wall for a two-run homer and, well, the game was pretty much over at that point, because the Cubs couldn’t do much with Webb.

Rea did load the bases after Chapman’s homer on two walks and a hit batsman, but got out of it with a fielder’s choice. At 3-0 maybe there was a chance? Rea stayed in the game through the first batter of the seventh, Chapman again. He walked Chapman. Hoby Milner entered, the Giants produced another successful sac bunt, and then Bryce Eldridge singled in the Giants’ fourth run. It might have been worse, but pinch-runner Jonah Cox forgot how many outs there were when Rafael Devers popped up foul to Bregman, who easily doubled Cox off first to end the inning.

The Cubs finally got on the board against Webb in the eighth. With one out, Dansby Swanson hit a ball up the middle that looked like a routine ground out, until it hit second base and went for a single. One out later, this happened [VIDEO].

Hey, if the Giants can bloop hits into runs, why not the Cubs? Bregman’s hit landed behind first base for a single, with Swanson trying for third base. Devers’ throw got away and Swanson scored to make it 4-1. Bregman took second on the throw, and with Michael Busch up and Webb tiring (105 pitches), it’s a bit surprising Tony Vitello didn’t bring in a lefty to pitch to Busch.

He didn’t. And Busch hit the ball hard off Webb, only to have Lee make this spectacular catch [VIDEO].

If Lee misses that ball, Bregman scores easily and Busch might have wound up on third. That could have started a Cubs comeback. But it did not.

Webb is the first starter to go eight innings against the Cubs this year. The last was Hunter Greene, who threw a complete-game shutout against the Cubs Sept. 18, 2025 in Cincinnati. His opponent that night? Colin Rea. Figures, right?

The Giants scored a fifth run, off Ethan Roberts in the eighth, and yet another bloop figured into the scoring. This one was a routine infield popup by Schmitt that dropped untouched among three Cubs infielders. It probably should have been Carson Kelly’s play, but he didn’t see it. Eventually, Schmitt scored to make it 5-1.

Caleb Kilian, who the Cubs let go at the end of 2025, finished things up uneventfully. You know, Kilian was a failure as a starter with the Cubs but he could always throw hard — including in Spring Training 2025, when he was touching 98 before he was injured and missed most of the year. He might very well have made the Cubs Opening Day bullpen in ‘25 if not for the injury. They should have given him another shot this year.

What are you gonna do? Sometimes baseballs fall in for the other guy and not for you, and sometimes you run into a really good pitcher like Logan Webb. Tip o’ the cap to Webb.

The Cubs split the six games on the road trip, which wouldn’t have been a terrible result except for all the losing that preceded it. They’re still in reasonable position with 90 gams remaining. Now start winning the games at Wrigley Field, where a six-game homestand begins Monday with a three-game series against the Rockies. So far, in nine games vs. the Rockies and Giants, teams the Cubs really should have dominated, they’re 4-5. Do better, Cubs.

Shōta Imanaga will start the series opener against the Rox Monday evening. He’ll be opposed by Michael Lorenzen, in a rematch of last Wednesday’s game at Coors Field. Game time Monday is 7:05 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

If ever there was a day to dream on a New York team, even a team as underwhelming as the 2026 Mets, this was it.

The atmosphere at Citi Field on Sunday was far from electric, yet the carryover from the Knicks’ emotionally-charged championship on Saturday night did seem to create good vibes at the ballpark, with seemingly as many fans wearing basketball jerseys as Mets’ jerseys, and manager Carlos Mendoza opening his pre-game news conference by noting the crazed reaction around New York City was a reminder of what it means to play in New York.

“I’ve had those conversations with some of our players,” Mendoza said. “It tells you how special it can be here.”

And then the Mets went out and played one of their best games of the season, whipping the big, bad Atlanta Braves and making it look routine, scoring early and rolling to an 8-1 win that gave them a 2-1 series victory as well.

If you’d been watching only basketball for the last three months, you’d have a hard time squaring the way the Mets played this weekend with their still-ugly 32-39 record. After all, even after the loss the Braves have the best record in baseball at 46-25, yet in this first meeting of the season between the teams the Mets outplayed them.

“It’s good to see the guys playing well against a very good team, Mendoza said afterward. “Overall it was a good series.”

It’s baseball, of course, and over 162 games there are ebbs and flows that make season records seem deceiving for virtually every team, and right now the Braves have some key injuries that have perhaps contributed to them going 2-4 over their last six games.

As for the Mets, they are certainly more dangerous lately, scoring runs in bunches in ways they didn’t earlier in the season, in part because Bo Bichette has finally joined the part to support Juan Soto, and in part because A.J. Ewing and Carson Benge continue to add youthful energy and production as well.

On Sunday it was Ewing taking the starring role, going 3-for-5 with a key double that fueled a four-run rally in the first inning and later a solo home run in the fourth that helped knock out Braves starter Bryce Elder, who has been having an outstanding season.

“Man, he’s impressive,” Mendoza said. “He controls the strike zone, uses the whole field. He’s like Carson [Benge]. He’s a mature guy, learning at the big league level.”

It hasn’t all been easy for the kid. After his fast start, pitchers learned quickly that Ewing has an exceptional eye at the plate and very good plate discipline, they’ve attacked him more in the strike zone, leading to some empty nights.

But his ability to work counts and hit the ball where it’s pitched makes it seem likely he’ll be a difference-maker offensively as he gains experience. It’s the reason Keith Hernandez raves about both Ewing and Benge on TV, recently saying of them, “The Mets have two golden nuggets.”

With that in mind you can find hope if you’re looking for it with these Mets. Since their disastrous April they’ve had more good moments than bad, going 22-18 over their last 40 games, and 10-6 over their last 16.

And over these last 16 games they’ve averaged five runs a game, a huge improvement over their early-season woes. Yet they also remain maddeningly inconsistent, which is why it’s hard to put too much stock into any small sample of games.

This 3-3 homestand was a glaring example. In two losses to the St. Louis Cardinals and one to the Braves, they scored 0, 2, and 1 runs. In the three wins they scored 5, 7, and 8 runs.

Again, that’s baseball, to some degree. Yet it’s the inconsistency that’s working against them. The Mets buried themselves so deeply that they’re going to need at least a couple of notable winning streaks to be considered anything resembling genuine contenders, and because of those no-show nights at the plate, they’ve offered no evidence they can overcome those tendencies.

In truth, they’re playing just well enough to be something of a tease. That is, there are more reasons to believe they’re not good enough to make a run than to buy in, but for many fans who watch as much with their hearts as their heads, it’s hard not to say, hey, if they can win two of three against the Braves, why can’t they win 10 of 12 or something like that.

And who knows, maybe they can. Even in the one loss against the Braves on Saturday, Sean Manaea offered reason to believe he can be a dependable starter again. Then, on Sunday, Freddy Peralta bounced back from his worst start of the season to hold down the Braves over five full innings.

Peralta’s inability to pitch efficiently and go deep into games remains a problem, and right now the Mets really don’t have anyone they can point to as a No. 1 starter, as Nolan McLean struggles to command his high-ceiling arsenal, which is another reason it will be hard for this team to go on a roll.

Yet the bullpen is pitching at a high level right now, with the fourth-best ERA in MLB, and it is deep enough to be a weapon in games where the starters at least get the Mets into the middle innings, as was the case on Sunday.

What’s it all mean? Well, the Knicks were down 29 in Game 4 and you know how that turned out. Simply put, they had a championship grit that wouldn’t be denied.

To this point, no one would dare say that about these Mets. Far from it.

Still, if sports is about believing "it’s not over ‘til it’s over", well, this was a day at Citi Field - a day when beating the Braves looked shockingly easy - to believe the best is still ahead for from this ever-exasperating team in Queens.

The Cincinnati Reds played the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday afternoon in Great American Ball Park in the rubber match of the series. By now, you’ll be able to recite how the game went.

Cincinnati got an effective, albeit inefficient outing from their starting pitcher. Their offense was mostly inept, but gave just enough combined with the grind from the starter to turn the game over to the bullpen while still very, very much in the game – even, one would say in a vacuum, in the driver’s seat.

The bullpen, though, is overmatched and overworked. Pair that with the inefficiencies from the starter, and they became overextended, too. The lead evaporated quickly on a mistake pitch that was punished, and the offense retreated back to its silence until the allotment of outs allowed had elapsed.

The Reds lost, 5-3. They’ve lost this game dozens of times already this year, particularly concentrated within the last six weeks. It’s the kind of predictability in these scenarios that’s become as frustrating as the final scores themselves.

It was off Tejay Antone and Zach Maxwell that the big hits came, two arms that – for many different reasons – weren’t really in the plans for late and close situations when the season began. That’s how the mop has flopped, though, and Cincinnati’s front office hasn’t been able to augment the bullpen in a meaningful way since so many other arms went by the wayside.

(Starter turned bullpen rescue guy Chase Petty was presumably unavailable today after having to perform said task twice already this week.)

The end result is a fifth straight lost series for the Reds, who fell to 33-37 on the season – the first time they’ve been 4 games under .500 all year. On top of that, the next five weeks of baseball that will take them to the All Star break don’t look any fun at all, meaning they’ve already exhausted their opportunity to build up some games, some momentum before taking on many of baseball’s Big Boys in the coming weeks.

It’s bleak in Cincinnati right now. The Reds are too predictable, to incapable to really change that course at the moment.

Rockies 23, Athletics 9

Graphics via FanGraphs.

Putting it all together: Kyle Karros, +0.28 WPA

Pitching at elevation is hard: Jeffrey Springs, -0.62 WPA

Comment of the Game

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Sunday night baseball! For (I think) the first time since NBC took over Sunday Night Baseball, the Red Sox are in the slate spot to finish the week. They’ll throw Connelly Early, and face off with old friend Nathan Eovaldi. I don’t know about you guys, but he’s always been the one who got away for me. Pitching isn’t really a concern on this iteration of the Red Sox, but there’s something I love about Eovaldi and wish he spent more time in Boston.

The Tartan Army is also descending on Fenway Park, which should make for a lively environment.

The Tartan Army March to Fenway Stadium begins 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 pic.twitter.com/Mux1qObtdN

— Helen (@hjmcd20) June 14, 2026

First pitch at 7:20 PM EST on NBC, Peacock, and WEEI.

Lineups

Sunday Night Baseball! pic.twitter.com/S1tJL2TSyK

— Red Sox (@RedSox) June 14, 2026

Finale in Boston. #AllForTXpic.twitter.com/v5d7xYuBLf

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) June 14, 2026

Texas Rangers @ Boston Red Sox

Sunday, June 14, 2026, 6:20 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / NBC)

Fenway Park

RHP Nathan Eovaldi vs. LHP Connelly Early

Go Rangers!

The Mets and Freddy Peralta had a wonderful day at the ballpark, continuing the good vibes for orange and blue New York teams this weekend (congratulations to the Knicks!!!!), beating the Braves 8-1 to take the weekend series against their division rivals.

The first inning was a rocky one for Peralta, which is not suggested in his five inning, one run box score performance. He loaded the bases with one out, before surrendering a sacrifice fly to Old Friend Dom Smith. That one run would be the only run for the Braves.

The Mets struck back right away, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first. Carson Benge walked to lead off the inning, and Bo Bichette singled to put two on with no outs. After Juan Soto inexplicably attempted and failed to bunt for a hit, giving the Braves a free out, Jared Young hit an RBI single to tie the game at one. A.J. Ewing hit a well stuck double into the left field corner. Mike Yastrzemski threw the ball in and it hit the pole that holds up the protective screen, allowing Ewing to get to third and Young to score from first. Brett Baty singled him home, putting a four spot on Bryce Elder to make it 4-1 after one.

The next three innings were very ho hum, with both teams putting up zeros in the second, third and fourth innings. The Mets added two more in the fifth, when Ewing and Marcus Semien hit back to back home runs, chasing Elder from the game. The Mets added two more insurance runs in the eighth, both on a Juan Soto single.

The Mets bullpen had a strong showing, putting together as Cionel Perez, Daniel Durate, AJ Minter, and Huascar Brazoban combined for four hitless innings, allowing two base runners in that span (two walks). Overall, the Mets put together a very nice series against the division-leading Braves, as they stay in shouting distance of a Wild Card spot, miraculously.

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Win Probability Added

Big Mets winner: A.J. Ewing, +22% WPA
Big Mets loser: No one 🙂
Mets pitchers: +34% WPA
Mets hitters: +16% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: A.J. Ewing’s two run double in the first, +16.3% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Matt Olson single to load the bases in the first, -7.5% WPA.

It is time. The Milwaukee Brewers are promoting shortstop prospect Cooper Pratt to the major leagues. Pratt signed an 8 year contract extension with the Brewers worth north of $50MM back in April. Now, at long last, he will arrive in Milwaukee.

Pratt was removed from the Nashville Sounds game on Sunday in the 6th inning and, as Spencer Michaelis first reported, was giving hugs to his teammates in the dugout, a sure sign that a promotion was imminent. MLB’s Adam McCalvy later confirmed that Pratt was officially getting the call.

Here’s the sequence in video form pic.twitter.com/RAymPt3Ga7

— Spencer Michaelis (@smichaelis234) June 14, 2026

Cooper Pratt was hitting .241 with six doubles, four triples, six homers, 17 stolen bases, and a .735 OPS on the season in Nashville. He started off slow, but has been much better over the last several weeks.

Pratt brings gold glove-level defense at shortstop and is likely going to be playing at shortstop quite regularly for the Brewers going forward.

A corresponding move has not yet been announced, but it has been speculated that it will have something to do with Luis Rengifo. Ken Rosenthal reported a few weeks ago that June 15th was a date to circle because it’s the first day teams can trade free agents in the first year of their deals. Perhaps the Brewers have a trade lined up for Rengifo, we shall see. Also a DFA isn’t out of the question for him.

Rengifo also had the trainer check on him twice during Sunday’s game, once for his wrist after an awkward fall and once after fouling a ball off his shin. An IL stint could also be a possibility.

David Hamilton has been solid of late and Joey Ortiz is still a strong defender. Ortiz could slide into more of a utility role and has played third base in the past.

The Brewers are off on Monday, so that would mean Pratt’s debut is slated to come on Tuesday night against the Cleveland Guardians.

SAN FRANCISCO — Two bloops, a bunt and a blast from Matt Chapman produced more runs in the fifth inning Sunday afternoon than the Giants had scored in their previous two games.

That was all the Giants needed behind Logan Webb, who continued to dazzle in his fourth start back from a bout with bursitis in his push-off knee, to beat the Cubs, 5-1.

Webb has allowed two earned runs over 27 ⅓ innings since returning from the injured list and none to the Cubs on Sunday over eight innings, scattering seven hits and striking out seven.

“Even if it doesn’t go well with a hitter, he makes it fun by seeing how he’s going to respond,” manager Tony Vitello said. “Because I think one of the areas where he might be a little undervalued is just how dang good he is when something goes wrong.”

Vitello leaned on that quality in Webb when he went to the mound with two outs in the eighth inning. An error allowed the Cubs to get on the board and left two runners on base with Webb’s pitch count climbing over 100.

It turned into a quick visit: Webb remained in the game.

“Willy [Adames] was basically ready to grab me by the jersey saying, ‘Let this guy do his thing,’” Vitello said.

Webb was more convicted in his answer than when Vitello asked him about coming out after eight innings, at 99 pitches, in his previous start. That time, Vitello opted to hand the game over to Keaton Winn, who allowed three runs in a 4-3 loss.

“You could tell right away: He didn’t put his arm out or anything. You could kind of see in his face that he was going to ask me,” Webb said. “I probably said some cuss words, but in the end, I said ‘I’m good.’ All the guys behind me were going, ‘Eff yeah, let’s go’ and Tony walked off the mound.”

Moments after the mound visit, Webb’s mouth was agape with both arms raised in the air.

Vitello’s decision to stick with Webb almost immediately backfired when the very next batter, Michael Busch, lined his 106th pitch of the afternoon into the right field corner. It appeared destined to drive in two more runs.

“It was almost a terrible decision,” Webb joked.

But Jung Hoo Lee gave chase and tracked down the ball before crashing into the wall, leaving Webb amazed and the 40,000-plus on hand chanting Lee’s name.

“I just knew that Webby wanted to finish that inning bad,” Lee said through a team interpreter. “I wanted to really help out. … I just really wanted to [make] the catch for Webby.”

The catch preserved the lead that Lee helped build in the fifth.

After having his 18-game hit streak broken Friday, Lee was back in the hit column with a 2-for-4 effort, including a broken-bat bloop single to begin the fifth. Daniel Susac bunted him over to second, where he was in position to score when Drew Gilbert, the No. 9 hitter, found more open territory with a shallow flare down the left field line.

That was enough to open a 1-0 lead, and Chapman quickly made it 3-0 with a line drive over the center field wall for his seventh homer of the season — and sixth this month.

Looking the part of a leadoff hitter, Chapman drew his first of two walks and scored his second run of the game on a single from Bryce Eldridge in the seventh to make it 4-0.

It was Chapman’s first time hitting leadoff in three seasons with the Giants and only the third time he had batted first in 1,221 games at the big-league level.

Vitello had tried Luis Arraez in the top spot with Eldridge batting second the past two days but shifted each player down a slot with Chapman occupying the top of the order.

Something about this configuration worked: It produced more than one run for the first time since Wednesday. The Giants had been held to one run in their two losses to begin the series.

Vitello and president of baseball operations Buster Posey set four runs as a reasonable target. The Giants are 22-7 when scoring that many and 7-36 when failing to reach that mark.

“A lot of those days where we’ve done that, it’s been 7-8-9 getting on base or driving the ball,” Vitello said. “Jung Hoo’s going to compete for a batting title, so to have him down there is interesting, but it benefited us.”

What it means

Rather than opt for a traditional leadoff hitter, Vitello has tried to use the top spot of the lineup to maximize the number of at-bats for their hottest hitter.

For a while, that was Casey Schmitt, who’s found himself in a bit of a slump (5-for-34) and never quite profiled as a leadoff man with his aggressive approach.

Lately, it’s been Chapman.

Who’s hot

Dating back to May 17, Chapman is batting .344 (31-for-90). His home run was his 14th extra-base hit in that span. His two RBIs gave him 24 in 26 games, and he’s scored 19 runs.

Who’s not

The Giants are still waiting for their Big Three infielders to get hot at the same time.

As Chapman has heated up, the Giants have gotten little from Rafael Devers or Adames, who combined to go 5-for-43 (.116) over the course of the six-game homestand.

Up next

The Giants board a charter flight to Atlanta, where they have the day off Monday before beginning a six-game road trip with three against the NL East-leading Braves.

Adrian Houser, Robbie Ray and Landen Roupp are lined up to start the first series of the trip.

Yankees 8 Blue Jays 3

This one had everything, other than a Jays’ win, of course.

John Schneider got ejected. It kind of pissed me off, because the Yankees José Caballero complained for a long time about a pitch clock thing (I guess) and the umpire let him complain and complain. John comes out on a balk call, and he was ejected in record time.

The balk? Well…..I generally think that if there is a balk, all the umpires will call it. This one, only the plate umpire did. I think he felt that Jeff Hoffman started towards the plate, then turned to second. John came out for, let’s say, an explanation, but the umpire decided not to explain. Course John may not have asked nicely.

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The game? Well, it was tied going into the ninth, but Braydon Fisher didn’t ‘have it’ today. He got a strikeout, then gave up a single. Then, on a full count pitch, Uncle Ben Rice homered. After a walk and a fly out, Tommy Nance came in.

He didn’t do any better. A walk and a José Caballero home run put an end to any hope of a come back in the bottom of the inning.

Patrick Corbin wasn’t great, giving up a lot of hits (7) while not all that many runs (2) in 3.2 innings.

Spencer Miles gave up a run in his 2.2,

Mason Fluharty got the last two outs of the seventh.

Jeff Hoffman gave up a leadoff walk, had that runner steal and committed the rather weird balk, talked about above, but got two strikeouts with the runner on third to get out of the inning.

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Offensively? Well, as seemingly always is the case, we didn’t score as much as we should have.

We got:

• A run in the third: Nathan Lukes and Alejandro Kirk started the inning with singles, but Yohendrick Piñango hit into a double play. Kazuma Okamoto singled in the run.
• A run in the fourth: Ernie Clement led off with a single. After outs by Davis Schneider and Charles McAdoo, George Springer and Nathan Lukes each singled to bring around Lukes.
• In the sixth Schneider homered.

We did have 11 hits (with the one home run) so, yes, we should have scored more. Nathan Lukes, who seemed to have hit a cold spell in the last little bit had 3 hits, including a double. Having two hits were Springer, Okamoto (with a double), and Schneider (with a walk, along with the home run, bringing his average up 22 points, three more games like that and he’ll make it to the Mendoza line),

Piñango, Sánchez (with a walk) and McAdoo had 0 fors. McAdoo looked very over matched. His batting average has dropped to .167. I’m afraid, he really isn’t impressing me, but it’s just 24 PA. Sanchez is also the most worrying outfielder since Corey Patterson. Today he seemed to be trying out for the World Cup on one ball in the outfield.

Jays of the Day: Davis Schneider (0.22 WPA), Hoffman (0.17), Okamoto (0.11) and Lukes (0.09).

Other Award: Fisher (-0.42), Lips (-0.18), and McAdoo (-0.15)

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Tomorrow is an off-day. I don’t know about anyone else but I could use one. Tuesday the Jays will be in Boston, for the start of three against the Red Sox.

Following a dominant 8-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, rookie outfielder A.J. Ewing, and starting pitcher Freddy Peralta all spoke to the media.

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Ewing finding his form and earning Mendoza's trust

Ewing starred in Sunday's win, going 3-for-5 with a homer, a double, and two RBI.

It was a much needed power surge for Ewing, who bumped up his OPS today to a respectable .720 mark after going hitless in three of his last four appearances.

His manager took notice and made sure to give him his vote of confidence after the game.

"It's impressive how he's handling himself, especially after a couple of hard games," said Mendoza.

Ewing and fellow rookie outfielder Carson Benge have been in the headlines throughout the season, and though it's still only June, Mets fans are rightfully optimistic that both of these young players have a bright future in Queens ahead of them.

"He's kinda like Carson; whether it's an 0-for or going through a tough stretch, [they have] the ability to remain consistent... he's a mature guy who is learning, adjusting, and developing at the big league level," Mendoza said.

Freddy Peralta and the Mets are trending in the right direction

Mendoza also made sure to shout outPeralta, who continues to provide solid, reliable performances on the mound as the team's pitching staff continues to deal with injury issues.

"He was aggressive with that fastball, but made some good adjustments. He wasn't too predictable today."

Peralta took the win today, pitching five full innings and allowing just four hits and one earned run on 90 pitches.

When Peralta was asked about how he viewed his performance in the victory, he showed love to his catcher.

"I have to give credit to Luis [Torrens]... he was amazing, giving me confidence behind the plate," the righty said.

"I was feeling really good in general," Peralta continued. "I was able to use not only the changeup but also the curveball today... Obviously I was looking forward to at least throwing six [innings], but stuff happens."

Finally, with the Mets still just a handful of games out of an NL Wild Card spot, Peralta spoke on what it means to win a series against the current leaders in the NL standings, the 46-25 Atlanta Braves.

"It's huge, it tells us how good we are."

Mendoza, Peralta and the rest of the Mets will be eager to continue righting the ship before it's too late.

Tobias Myers will start the Mets' series opener against the Cincinnati Reds

Following the Mets' 8-1 thrashing of the Atlanta Braves to take two of three at home,Mendoza revealed to the media that Tobias Myers will start the team's game Monday night in Cincinnati.

"Tobias will go. I think 40 pitches, but he's going to go. We've got that pitch count in mind," said the skipper.

Myers was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse on May 30 to manage the team's bullpen depth, but also with the plan of converting him to a starting pitcher while in the minors.

Mets GM David Stearns recently remarked on how one of the biggest things the righty pitcher brings to the table is his ability to help the team "in a variety of ways".

Now, the Mets are taking full advantage of Myers' versatility, calling on him to rejoin the big league roster to kick off a six-game road trip, first with a three-game set against the Reds, then another three-game series against their bitter rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies.

SAN FRANCISCO — No moves a manager makes will be scrutinized as heavily or as frequently as the daily decisions when it comes to his bullpen.

So far, Tony Vitello has mostly skated scot-free.

He hasn’t tried to signal for a reliever despite nobody warming, a la Gabe Kapler during his first games leading the Phillies. And he hasn’t called for a reliever whose name wasn’t on the lineup card, like Kapler did in his second try at managing with the Giants.

Whatever performance issues there have been — and they have been abundant — fall less on the manager than the hand of cards he was dealt by his bosses upstairs in the front office.

As far as optics go, the first-year manager’s worst sin had been causing a little confusion during one change, leading bullpen coach Jesse Chavez to shrug both hands above his shoulders.

That is, until this week.

Keaton Winn was placed on the injured list Sunday with a strain in his right elbow, with the Giants calling up Tristan Beck to take his place in the bullpen.

Winn hadn’t appeared in a game since Vitello summoned him for a third contest in a row Monday night, surrendering three runs in the ninth of a 4-3 loss. The decision, it would appear, not only cost the Giants the game but came with more dire consequences.

After all, this isn’t college baseball, where coaches regularly ride their best pitchers until their arms fall off. This is Major League Baseball, where each arm comes with a seven-figure insurance policy and pitchers’ health is closely managed like the commodities they are.

However, it doesn’t all fall on Vitello’s shoulders. This was an organizational failure.

Winn, first and foremost, gave Vitello the green light to use him for a third game in a row, even though it was something he had never done before in the minors or as a big leaguer.

Club sources also said nobody among the coaching or medical staff relayed any concerns to Vitello about Winn’s availability that night in their daily pregame meeting.

Logan Webb, who was at 99 pitches and firing on all cylinders, didn’t demand the ball for the ninth, despite flying ahead of the club as one of the only players to avoid a 4 a.m. arrival from Chicago that morning. He would later privately express regret about not being more assertive when Vitello approached him about the ninth, another club source said.

While the Giants were optimistic that Winn would require no more than “a handful of days down, at the most,” per Vitello, the right-hander has experienced elbow problems in the past as a pro, including Tommy John surgery in 2021 and another procedure that ended his 2024 season.

It’s not hard to draw a straight line from Winn’s heavy workload and the decision to call on him for a third day in a row to the elbow discomfort that cropped up in the days since.

Any regrets from Vitello, however, had more to do with the three runs Winn surrendered in the loss than whatever possible effect the outing had on his health.

“I think more than anything we just wish we would have done anything differently to win the game,” Vitello said. “Anytime we have a guy that’s available down there, it means he’s available to go and feels good to go.”

Before every game, Vitello holds a meeting with his pitching coaches and medical staff to determine who is and isn’t available that day. Winn, in the past, has passed along when he wasn’t feeling physically up to pitch, but he didn’t raise any issues Monday, Vitello said.

One arm ruled out through the pregame process was Caleb Kilian, who had also pitched the previous two games in Chicago — but had only thrown 23 pitches between them, compared to 41 exhausted by Winn in the same games.

While Kilian became the first to be formally named the closer by Vitello on Friday, Winn had been regarded as the Giants’ closer internally up until his Monday outing, a club source said.

“At the end of the game, if we got to him, that’s who we were going to use,” Vitello said.

The decision came down to asking Winn to push his body to new limits or Webb to push his pitch count into uncomfortable territory in only his third start back from the injured list.

Vitello asked Webb: “Are you good?”

Webb responded: “It’s up to you. It’s your decision.”

A manager is only as good as the players on his roster and the information at his disposal, but part of the job also means bearing the brunt of the blame when decisions go awry.

Vitello was asked if he saw a correlation between Winn’s usage and his elbow pain.

“I think part of it is the nature of the split-finger, to be honest with you,” he said.

It’s impossible to know whether Webb would have been able to go the distance, though the smart money is on yes. Either way, Winn was put in a position he wasn’t able to handle.

Now, the Giants can only sit and wait and hope a third elbow surgery isn’t in his future.