Category: MLB

Despite a rain delay of over an hour, the game started off so well for the Royals. Bobby Witt Jr. took a one-out walk, Vinnie Pasquantino hit an RBI double, then Jac Caglianone drove him in with his own double. The Royals wouldn’t score again until a weak groundout in the ninth brought home Caglianone again in a 5-3 loss.

As you might imagine, Michael Wacha didn’t have one of his stronger starts of the season. But what you also need to realize is that this game featured two Royals errors and three wild pitches. The Royals played really crappy defense. On the other side, Byron Buxton was everywhere in centerfield until he crashed into the wall to rob Carter Jensen of extra bases. Austin Martin in right field gunned down two runners at home with assists from catcher Alex Jackson making excellent tags.

Of the five runs, four were earned, but the Royals’ lack of speed in the corners led to at least three different hits, and two of the wild pitches took a runner from second all the way home. Again, let’s not pretend it was only the defense. Wacha threw fewer than 10 pitches in a 1-2-3 fifth but gave up a home run and then back-t0-back double to surrender the lead before the poor defense helped put the game out of reach.

Austin Martin will be the story from the Twins’ side. In the top of the fourth, Caglianone took a one-out walk, advanced to second on an Isaac Collins single, and then Michael Massey crushed one on the ground into right. I was yelling at my TV, begging them not to send Caglianone home, but home he went on a no-signal from third-base coach Vance Wilson. Martin had everything lined up for him, and, despite Caglianone making it closer than I had dreamed possible, he was clearly out. That is at least the second time this season a runner has been thrown at home when he probably shouldn’t have gone but didn’t get a signal from his third base coach. That certainly won’t quiet the calls for coaches’ heads to roll from the Royals faithful.

Isaac Collins led off the seventh with a walk of his own, then advanced to second when Zebby Matthews disengaged from the mound for a third time without recording a pickoff. This time, the hard-hit ball into right was off the bat of Kyle Isbel, and Martin had to move laterally a bit to field it. Vance Wilson actually signalled to Collins he should head home, and that seemed more reasonable to me, but he was thrown out by even more than Cags.

Those of us who recall the 2014-2015 Royals remember that running on guys and hoping they make a mistake can be a terrific gamble, but it absolutely didn’t pay off tonight, despite how Mickey Mouse the Twins’ defense looked in the first series these two teams played. You can blame the runners – both of whom chose to slide feet-first instead of using a head-first slide to give them an opportunity to swim around the tag. You could absolutely blame the coaches, too, and I wouldn’t argue with you either way. But there’s also an element of the other team being good at their jobs that’s involved here, too.

There were certainly some bright spots in this one. Steven Cruz pitched 1.1 scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts. Beck Way made his big league debut and struck out a pair of his own, including the first batter he faced, in a scoreless eighth inning. The Royals can use any help they can get from their bullpen.

Michael Massey continued his hot hitting with a pair of hard singles on the night. Vinnie only went 1-for-3, but he tattooed a lineout in the sixth inning. Jac went 2-for-3 with a walk, and his only out was a similarly smoked lineout in the sixth.

At this point, moral victories mean even less than they did earlier this year when you hoped they’d might lead to better play before things got out of hand. Things are out of hand. The season is lost until and unless the Royals have the kind of ridiculous winning stretch that simply doesn’t feel possible with this club, which was built to be solidly above-average with a high floor. The floor fell out, and they don’t have the top-end potential to make up for it. But I’ll take all the bright spots I can get that tell me that they might be able to find some guys to help them do better next year.

Anyway, tomorrow’s game is an afternoon match; it will start at 1:10 Central. Luinder Avila (4.44 ERA) will face off against Joe Ryan (3.20 ERA). We’ll just have to hope KC can hammer Ryan for the third straight time.

As ridiculous as it sounds, figuring out a punny name to properly capture the Giants recent power surge was a bit of a pressing matter for announcers Hunter Pence and David Flemming after Matt Chapman lifted a grand slam in the 4th inning off Cubs starter Edward Cabrera. The opportunity was too good to pass up. Baseball had become fun again. The improbable occasion had to be christened.

Pence, ever the wordsmith, stumbled over the syllables as he proposed the blocky Slam Cancisco.

Flemming, ever the editor, simplified it to a much more sensible, if unimaginative, Slam Francisco. 

They’re both wrong.

Considering how many of these four-run, four-baggers the Giants have packed into such a short period of time, the proper nickname is obviously Slam Slamcislamco. 

Say that six times fast — one for each blast. The Giants are the seventh team in MLB history to hit six grand slams in a span of 18 games (including the 2020 Slam Diego Padres). Chapman’s shot that landed in the basket over the ivy was the team’s third of the road trip and broke a 5-5 tie with the Angels for the Major League lead. 

Turns out this odd beast of a line-up was just getting started.

Three batters later Casey Schmitt rocketed  a flat 3-2 change-up 411 feet to left-center. A no-doubter that at the time felt a little superfluous at 8-0, but would prove to not reach be half of the run total of what the team would eventually score in their 18-3 blowout at Wrigley. 

San Francisco hitters just kept feeding the bleacher creatures. They peppered seven total homers in all, the most for any team in a single game all season, and the most for a Giants order since April 2023 — a 12-3 win also played in Chicago, just on the Southside. 

Willy Adames followed up his 427-foot, 2-run shot in the 1st with another off sidewinder, Hoby Milner, in the 6th.

A couple of beats passed before Chapman capped the 7-run frame by demolishing a hanging curveball from reliever Ethan Roberts into the NUTRL sign floating above the left field seats. The 3-run homer earned him his sixth, seventh, and eighth RBIs on the day, tying a San Francisco-era single game record most recently matched by Wilmer Flores’s 3-HR performance against the Athletics in early 2025.

Not to be out done by the veterans, Schmitt claimed his pair of homers with a 9-iron shot off of position player Carson Kelly — a pitch after recent call-up Jonah Cox had done the same.   

Over the past week, the Giants’ offense has posted hit totals of 25, 20, and 19, and run totals of 19, 12, and 18 — and they’ve won those three games too! Call it trying to make up for lost time, blowing off steam — whatever is happening, it’s excessive and over-the-top and pretty dang fun to watch.

Many were skeptical of the 20-run outburst in Colorado and were then vindicated by the early returns in Milwaukee, and yet here we are on the following weekend back to stuffing ourselves on loaded taters. It’s obviously not sustainable — but it feels slightly less ridiculous than it did back in Colorado. 

I wrote last week how it wasn’t the offense that worried me, it was the pitching. The game following the 20-run win, the San Francisco arms gave up 16 runs to the Brewers. A poor ability to challenge hitters and attack the zone allowed the tying run to come to the plate in the 9th in a game the Giants once led 12-3 thanks to a Eric Haase grand slam.  

But the bullpen did end up holding on in that one. The night before, Logan Webb took a no-hitter into the 7th inning in a 1-0 win. And today, the all-around pitching performance didn’t want coaches and fans to pull at their eye sockets in exasperation. 

That’s not to say the arms were perfect. Pitching with a lead for his entire outing, Robbie Ray was as inefficient as ever. He walked 5 hitters and only struck out 4 while needing nearly 100 pitches to do it. He did, however, allow just two inconsequential singles and managed to get through that pesky fifth frame for the first time since May 8th, logging his 14th and 15th outs of the game on his 97th and final offering. 

Back in May, the relationship between Giants line-up and Giants starter was completely flipped. The toothless offense had handed Ray losses in five starts in which he allowed 3 earned runs or fewer. Now they’ve hit grand slams in each of his last three games, it’s just the veteran hadn’t managed to hang around the mound long enough to qualify for a statistical win until Friday’s scoreless outing. 

Bullpen reinforcement in Carson Seymour may have been still jet-lagged from the last-minute red-eye from Sacramento, and was far from “lights-out” in his 2026 debut, but the right-hander managed to relieve the beleaguered pen with three innings of work.

A double play ball, closing out frames — these are small feats compared to what the offense did today, but its those types of in-game victories that the pitchers need a lot more of if this team wants to really make strides getting back to .500.

The Athletics began a pivotal three-game series at the surging Houston Astros, who are closing in on them in the American League West. The Astros jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, winning the series-opener between these division rivals 5-1. The A’s appeared to carry over the effects of yesterday’s ninth-inning collapse, struggling to capitalize on their limited scoring opportunities.

Astros Strike First

Astros starting pitcher Peter Lambert worked a scoreless first inning, though A’s catcher Shea Langeliers and first baseman Nick Kurtz each hit balls hard to left field that were tracked down by Yordan Alvarez.

Houston took the lead in the bottom of the first inning against A’s starting pitcher Jack Perkins, who made his first start of the season. Astros’ designated hitter Isaac Paredes launched his ninth home run of the season, a three-run shot to left center field that gave hosts an early 3-0 advantage.

A’s Waste Golden Opportunity

The Athletics attempted to respond the next inning. With one out, left fielder Tyler Soderstrom walked and then center fielder Henry Bolte and third baseman Zack Gelof hit soft singles to load the bases. Lambert escaped the jam unscathed, striking out Jeff McNeil and Darell Hernaiz to keep the momentum on Houston’s side. McNeil started the season strong, validating the A’s offseason trade for him. However, he has since fallen into a significant slump, and the team needs him to turn things around sooner rather than later.

That was a big chance for the Athletics to get back in this game, but the bottom of their lineup let them down. Thankfully, Perkins pitched better in the second inning, retiring the side after opening the frame with back-to-back strikeouts.

Astros Add On

The Astros extended their lead in the third inning. Alvarez singled with one out and later scored on Christian Walker’s triple to right field, another line drive misplayed by A’s right fielder Carlos Cortes. Of the 84 players with at least 10 attempts in right field, Cortes ranks last with -5 outs above average. His poor defense has hurt the A’s on multiple occasions this week, a trend that must be corrected if they want to remain in the division race.

Walker crossed the plate moments later on Paredes’ sacrifice fly, giving the Astros a 5-0 lead through four innings.

Bolte was the lone bright spot for the A’s offense in the game’s early goings, recording singles in his first two at-bats. The rest of the lineup, meanwhile, was stifled by Lambert, who held the A’s scoreless through five innings.

A’s manager Mark Kotsay removed Perkins after he issued a leadoff walk in the fifth. The right-hander allowed five runs on five hits while walking two and striking out six over four innings. Right-hander Mason Barnett replaced him and set the next three Astros hitters down in order.

A’s Won’t be Shut Out

The Athletics finally got to Lambert in the sixth inning. With one out, Brent Rooker hit his ninth home run of the season, a solo blast to left field. Soderstrom drew a walk, and Bolte followed with his third hit of the game, a double that advanced Soderstrom to third base.

A’s Fail to Inch Closer

That was all she wrote for Lambert. Astros’ right-hander Enyel De Los Santos replaced him with runners on second and third and one out. As they had earlier in the game, the A’s failed to capitalize with runners in scoring position and less than two outs. De Los Santos retired Gelof and McNeil to escape the jam and preserve his team’s four-run lead. If the A’s scored during those two prime scoring opportunities, this game could have been tied or much-closer.

As the A’s offense went quietly the rest of the night against Astros’ relievers, Barnett kept the Astros from further increasing their lead. He worked four scoreless innings in long relief, striking out seven while allowing just one hit. Not only did Barnett pitch well, but by finishing the game, he ensured that everyone else in the Athletics’ bullpen will be fresh to pitch tomorrow and/or Sunday.

A’s Hope to Have More Success Tomorrow

This was an uninspiring performance by the Athletics to open this series. Aside from Bolte and Barnett, there were not many positives to take away from this game.

The A’s will try to bounce back and even up the series tomorrow afternoon. Right-hander Kade Morris will make his first MLB start for the “Green and Gold”. He will be opposed by Astros’ right-hander Tatsuya Imai, who has been pitching better as he gets more acclimated to competing in MLB. In his second-to-last start, he pitched the first six innings of the Astros combined no-hitter.

First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m., see you all there!

Kyle Leahy’s finish was better than his start and the St. Louis Cardinals bats were more than enough to overcome the Cincinnati Reds Friday night at Busch Stadium with an honorable mention going to the Reds bullpen for a big assist during the latter half of the game.

Trying to explain what happened in both halves of the 1st inning is similar to describing the plot of a very twisted soap opera. Let’s start with the Reds top half of the 1st. The game began with what looked like Kyle Leahy trying to improve Cincinnati’s barrel rate. Blake Dunn led off the game with a solid single to center. Bleday followed that with a lineout to Jordan Walker in right. Kyle Leahy then walked Spencer Steer giving Cincinnati runners at first and second with just one out. Sal Stewart cracked a double to center scoring both Dunn and Steer giving the Reds a 2-0 lead. Cincinnati wasn’t done yet. Eugenio Suarez singled to left scoring Steward making it 3-0 Reds.

The St. Louis bottom of the 1st inning was almost as lively as Lars Nootbaar celebrated his return to the lineup by beating out a ball to shortstop and advanced to 2nd on an errant throw. Ivan Herrera grounded into a fielder’s choice where Lars made the unfortunate decision to try and reach third making the first out of the inning there. That did not kill the Cardinals rally, though, as Alec Burleson drilled a single to right with Herrera advancing to third. After Jordan Walker struck out, Herrera scored when Bryan Torres was called safe at first on an error by Sal Stewart who review confirmed came off of the base for what would have been the last out of the inning giving the Cardinals their first run of the game making it 3-1 Reds. Reds manager Terry Francona got tossed out of the game after arguing with the umpires after their challenge failed. Alec Burleson then scored on a wild pitch by starter Brady Singer allowing the Cardinals to creep closer at 3-2 Reds. Nolan Gorman struck out to end the Cardinals 1st.

Kyle Leahy would settle down after the extremely shaky 1st inning giving the Cardinals 4 innings allowing 5 hits, 3 earned runs while striking out only 1 and walking 2. Hunter Dobbins would come in from the pen to handle the Reds for the rest of the game and I’m not even kidding about that. He would even get the win, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The Cardinals would tie the game in the bottom of the 3rd inning when Alec Burleson delivered a 387 foot Burly bomb into the bullpen in right field making it 3-3.

The next bit of excitement would happen in the Cardinals bottom of the 5th when Ivan Herrera walked followed by Alec Burleson hitting into a fielder’s choice. He would move up to second base when he was caught leaning by relief pitcher Brock Burke, but Burke’s throw went flying into right field. Whoops. Jordan Walker made the Reds pay by smoking a double over the center fielder’s head scoring Burleson and giving St. Louis its first lead of the night at 4-3.

I was one of many looking forward to the energy Lars Nootbaar would bring as he returned from injury to the St. Louis Cardinals lineup and he did not disappoint. After Victor Scott II reached on an infield single, Lars put a charge 99 mph four-seam fastball doubling to center and easily scoring Victor all the way from first increasing the Cardinals lead to 5-3. He would then score on a single by Herrera to right making it 6-3 St. Louis. NOOT!

St. Louis would break the game wide open after Herrera’s RBI single with several assists by Cincinnati Reds blunders. Alec Burleson walked which led to a pitching change where Luis Mey would come in and give the “Tarps Off” crew plenty to chant about in right field. After Jordan Walker barely missed crushing a home run flying out to left, Mey made sure that wouldn’t matter as he walked everyone but the ushers in Busch Stadium. Torres walked. Masyn Winn was hit in the back of his left shoulder blade with the bases loaded making it 7-3 Cardinals. Jose Fermin reached on an infield single scoring Burleson then Jimmy Crooks walked and then (stop me if you’ve heard this before) Victor Scott II walked. By the time Mey was taken out of the game, it was 10-3 Cardinals which would end up being the final score. Thank you for that 30-minute half-inning, Reds bullpen.

The St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds will play the second game of the weekend series Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium that will hopefully be as fun for the Cardinals as the first one. For the Cardinals, it’s Matthew Liberatore on the mound as he’ll take on Reds starter Nick Lodolo. First pitch is scheduled for 1:15pm and the TV broadcast will be available on Cardinals.tv.

The Yankees have gotten almost nothing offensively from the catching position, with Austin Wells in a season-long slump and J.C. Escarra yet to prove he can hit in the majors.

After another hitless night from Wells in a 5-3 loss to Boston, and with the Red Sox scheduled to start lefties the next two games, Escarra was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after the game and Ali Sánchez will be called up from SWB, a source confirmed. 

The righty-hitting Sánchez is not expected to be a long-term solution, but carrying two catchers that hit from the left side — and not well — hasn’t worked.

Sánchez, 29, has played 50 games in the majors after coming up through the Mets system.

Prior to the game, general manager Brian Cashman didn’t rule out Ben Rice potentially being used at the position later in the season, once Giancarlo Stanton returns from his calf strain.

Asked if Rice — another lefty hitter — could catch, with Stanton at DH and Paul Goldschmidt at first, Cashman said, “It’s a fair question.”

“It’s something I’ll defer to down the line,” Cashman said. “Rice has been fantastic and is certainly capable of going behind the plate. We’ll kick it around down the line. It’s not something that’s on the radar now.”

Rice started 26 games at catcher last season, but now that he’s emerged as one of the top hitters in the majors, the Yankees have been more reluctant to use him anywhere but at first base and DH. And with Goldschmidt hitting well, Rice has been a regular at DH.

Putting him behind the plate could take a toll on Rice, who they need to produce even more now with Judge out.

Instead, the Yankees will add Sánchez.

Wells is 1-for-18 with no extra-base hits, two walks and six strikeouts since his three-hit game May 26 and was booed after a seventh-inning strikeout.

Cashman ruled out looking for an upgrade outside the organization for third base as well, for now.

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Ryan McMahon, at third base, has hit better of late, 11-for-38 with four extra-base hits in his last 11 starts.

“Hopefully they saved all their bullets for now,” Cashman said of the players he has at catcher and third base. “They’re more than capable. They’re good players and we do believe in them. … Hopefully the best is yet to come from those positions.”

But he wouldn’t rule out making changes there if necessary.

“I’m always open-minded to ways of trying to figure things out,” Cashman said.

Since the Yankees say they expect Judge back at some point this season, Cashman added he doesn’t think the injury will impact his actions prior to the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

“We’ve got to hold down the fort,” Cashman said.

Trent Grisham has started to heat up at the plate.

He homered Friday and is 18-for-52 (.346) with six extra-base hits in his last nine games. … Goldschmidt had a nine-game hitting streak snapped.

The Padres, in the midst of a skid, have been dealt a big blow to their outfield.

Manager Craig Stammen revealed Friday that Ramon Laureano could be sidelined for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery for a torn labrum in his right hip.

Laureano’s hip has caused him problems in the past five seasons, but he has usually been able to play through it.

During the Padres’ series in Washington last weekend, Laureano informed the team that his condition had worsened, and he opted for surgery on Friday.

Laureano’s performance at the plate has seemingly been impacted by his hip.

In mid-April, he was batting .292 with a .921 OPS. When placed on the injured list on Tuesday, his numbers had dipped significantly to a .203 average with a .660 OPS.

Should San Diego make a deep playoff run, it’s possible we haven’t seen the last of Laureano this season.

Stammen stated that the typical timeline for return is “that four-to-five month range.”

For the Padres to really make an impact this year, it is critical that their superstars make up for Laureano’s absence. Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr. have all underperformed thus far this season, though they’ve looked better lately.

Entering Friday, the Padres have scored the fewest runs in the major leagues.

They’ve lost nine of their last 10 entering the weekend series with the Mets, and their loss in Philadelphia on Thursday took them out of the playoff picture for the first time since April.

The Texas Rangers scored three runs while the Cleveland Guardians scored two runs.

The Rangers had us in the first half, not gonna lie.

In what was shaping up to be a familiar game that you’ve seen a dozen times at The Shed this year, the Rangers found the switch to flip and came through with a crooked number inning that just happened to be the exact digit that was as many as they needed to find the win column tonight in the series opener against Cleveland.

After a day off yesterday, Texas returned home and greeted us like an old friend as the Guardians took a 1-0 lead three pitches into the game when former No. 1 overall pick Travis Bazzana took former two-time first round pick and 2022 No. 3 overall selection Kumar Rocker deep.

With the first inning blues playing once more, Texas was in a hole before they’d even stepped up to the plate. That started to seem like the least of their problems as they came to bat in the fourth inning without a hit. By that point, it was 2-0 Guardians when World Series-winning legend Austin Hedges singled in Steven Kwan with two outs in the top of the fourth.

Cleveland reached to lead off an inning in four of the first five frames but Rocker prevented the big inning throughout his start. One of the key moments in the game came with the Guardians already up 2-0 when Bazzana tripled to lead off the fifth. Rocker buckled down and prevented Bazzana from scoring to keep it close.

Overall Rocker went five innings on 94 pitches where he allowed two runs on six hits and a walk with five strikeouts.

Meanwhile, Cleveland starter Parker Messick would make it to two outs in the bottom of the fourth before Josh Jung singled for Texas’ first hit of the night. The Rangers would be held off the board until a few innings later when catcher Kyle Higashioka smacked a solo home run to give Texas some hope as the Cleveland lead was halved.

With the looming threat of a shutout off the table, returning lineup reinforcement Wyatt Langford doubled to put the tying run in scoring position. Also returning was Corey Seager and he followed Langford not just with an RBI hit to tie the game but with a two-run dong that suddenly gave the Rangers a lead as the game exited the middle innings.

Despite the fact that the Rangers snoozed through the first half of the game, they held the lead and turned things over to their bullpen. A combination of Peyton Gray, Jalen Beeks, and Jacob Latz tossed the final four innings with Latz collecting a six-out save that proved a bit laborious.

The trio of relievers struck out six and held Cleveland to just a ninth inning Hedges single that had us sweating a little before Latz finished off the comeback victory on his 35th pitch of the night.

Player of the Game: Seager had been chained to the longest, most dreadful slump of his big league career before hitting the IL with back issues. After missing over half of May, Seager returned and immediately made an impact with his go-ahead and eventual game-winning two-run home run that put Texas up by the eventual 3-2 final score.

Welcome back, Corey!

Up Next: The Rangers and Guardians hit the national airwaves with RHP Jack Leiter expected to pitch for Texas opposite RHP Tanner Bibee for Cleveland.

The Saturday evening first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 6:35 pm CDT and you can watch the game on FOX.

There’s a baseball cliche when a pitcher has an OK night but still takes the L: “He just made the one mistake, and it got punished.” It’s tempting to tag that to Bryan Woo in tonight’s 7-3 loss to the Tigers, but I’m not so sure it’s true.

The pitch you’d want to pin that canard to is the slider that Kerry Carpenter took into the seats in the bottom of the third. After all, Woo left it right in the lefty loop zone.

The thing is, though: despite being a modern lefty slugger, Carpenter isn’t really a lefty-loop-zone guy. He’s more dead red, with his power output declining in nearly perfect concentric circles the farther you get from middle-middle. If anything, he’s a little better up and out rather than down and in. So I’m declaring this pitch not a “just the one mistake” pitch from Woo, notwithstanding the result.

What’s more, I no longer hold Mariners pitchers responsible for what Kerry Carpenter does to them. Including the postseason, Carpenter has a .346 wOBA against all the other 28 clubs for his career. That’s Brandon Lowe’s career number. After today’s game, he’s at .475 against the Mariners. That’s Lou Gehrig. For whatever reason, it’s his manhandling of Seattle’s pitchers that’s propping up the Kerry Bonds nickname.

So that pitch is off the hook. How about the other 89? In one sense, they went pretty well, with seven strikeouts and no walks. And the Tigers’ ten hits benefited from some good BABIP fortune, including a ball that Julio Rodríguez let drop in front of him, which is at least an excuse to link to Ryan’s excellent piece from this morning. The rub came in Woo’s last inning. Trying to get through a full seven innings, he just had to get through the bottom of the lineup for a third time. But he couldn’t do it, leaving the game with the bases loaded on a triplet of singles, two of which were hard hits off the sinker.

I know I’m becoming sort of obsessive about this—and that Woo’s been great lately—but it gives me pause. He only used three sinkers in his first time through the order. As he ran out of tricks the third time through, he went to it more often, and the Mariners paid the price. He did get three whiffs on the 13 sinkers he threw over the course of the game, but those final ones leave an aftertaste that infects my impression of the whole performance. I don’t want to overstate the issue, and it felt worse because Eduard Bazardo allowed two of those inherited runners to score. If he’d induced a double play, I’m sure I’d have an easier time letting this go. But until Woo’s sinker comes back, I’ll still be nervous. The situation is less “one mistake pitch” and more “one mistake pitch type.”

Tonight’s Sun Hat Award goes to J.P. Crawford, his first since 2023. He was the early favorite for kicking off a string of opposite-field singles—precisely the way to get to Tigers starter Framber Valdez—that scored the Mariners a run in the first half inning. Still, I grimaced when he scored that run on an uncomfortable-looking slide into home plate and hobbled back to the dugout. No matter! His body held up enough to pull off a web gem in the second inning. I don’t know what to make of it, but it’s undeniable at this point: J.P. has been playing his ass off at shortstop since he volunteered to eventually move over to third base. 

Still, I grimaced when he was slow to get up, and not in an I’m-milking-this way. No matter! His body held up well enough for him to work a full count in his next at-bat and win the battle by getting on base a second time. Still, I grimaced when the reason he reached was that he took a pitch to the hand. Matter! He did not return to the game. Mercifully the x-rays came back negative. (The HBP was probably unintentional, but please just kick Framber out of the league already.)

The Mariners threatened a few more times: Colt Emerson hit an oppo taco, checking off another first in his young career, but with nobody aboard. And Josh Naylor laid down a cheeky little bunt, but was left stranded. Maybe the Mariners will have more luck behind Bryce Miller, unshackled from the piggyback, tomorrow.

Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy will return to the Dodgers’ lineup on Saturday for the second game of a three-game series against the Angels, manager Dave Roberts said.

Before the series opener on Friday, Roberts said Muncy was still sore from his head-on crash at first base with Arizona Diamondbacks infielder Ildemaro Vargas in the Dodgers’ 3-2 loss at Chase Field the previous night.

“He’s doing well,” Roberts said. “He got a little bruise on his nose. He’s a little sore overall, but feels good. Says he’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”

The collision in question occurred with two outs in the fifth inning when Muncy hit a grounder to Vargas up the first-base line. From there, it was a footrace to bag.

Muncy reached the base first but couldn’t avoid the oncoming Vargas.

“As I’m running down the line, I saw him in foul territory, so I got to the inside of the bag, and I thought he was going to stay on that [other] side,” Muncy told reporters in Phoenix. “It felt like neither of us knew which direction we were going to go, and then we both went the wrong direction. And yeah, bang.”

Roberts said he was uncertain whether Muncy would be available to pinch hit on Friday — he said that would be determined after Muncy tries warming up — but was confident the third baseman could be treated like any other player starting Saturday.

Muncy is also expected to play on Sunday.

The Dodgers don’t have a game on Monday. They will travel to Pittsburgh that day.

Haters and doubters take note: The Orioles are still doing this thing. It is easier to feel like they might be able to keep doing it after games like this one. The Birds rallied from a 3-1 deficit heading into the sixth inning to take the lead and blow past the Blue Jays, piling on all the way to a 13-3 blowout to start the series in Toronto. The Orioles have now won 10 of their past 14 games.

Adding to the excitement from this comeback-turned-blowout win is that the Orioles turned this thing around against a pretty good Jays starter in Trey Yesavage. Last year’s postseason revelation had an “effectively wild” kind of game against the O’s last Saturday, walking seven guys in five innings while giving up just one run. The O’s had to win that one in walkoff fashion against kiss-blower Jeff Hoffman. This time, they were able to pile it on against Yesavage. It just took them a while to do it.

The teams traded first inning runs before settling in for what looked like it might be a low-scoring affair. Adley Rutschman got the Orioles on the board with a two-out solo home run. Is he back? More on that later. The Jays knotted the score back up in the bottom of the inning, with George Springer starting things off with a double and turning that into a run after a groundout and a sacrifice fly. The quest for the shutdown inning, putting up a zero after one’s own team scores a run or runs, can sometimes be elusive.

The score remained 1-1 until the bottom of the fifth inning. Neither team threatened the other all that much in the meantime. The closest thing to excitement in the meantime came with a pair of two-out singles by the Jays in the second inning, which came to an end when Andrés Giménez was cut down trying to steal second base. Thanks for that, guys. Yesavage and Orioles starter Brandon Young were doing a decent job of cruising through the opposing lineups.

Young hit a rockier patch facing the bottom of the Jays lineup in the fifth. After third baseman Kazuma Okamoto led off the inning with a single, #9 batter Brandon Valenzuela was all over a middle-middle slider, driving the ball over the high right-center field wall to give the Jays a 3-1 lead. There’s something about getting burned by the bottom of the lineup that stings extra hard.

Perhaps a month ago, that would have been the end of it. The current version of the Orioles offense, however, still had four more innings to have their say, and they used them well, starting right away in the top of the sixth. Yesavage probably thought he had them figured out, especially after he was able to keep them off the scoreboard even while struggling with his command last weekend.

Then, almost in the blink of an eye, Jackson Holliday doubled, Gunnar Henderson walked, and Rutschman hit a game-tying double. Pinch hitter Jeremiah Jackson came off the bench and drove in Rutschman for a fourth Orioles run, and then, for good measure, Coby Mayo punctuated the whole inning with a sky-high two-run home run. Suddenly, the Orioles led, 6-3. Yesavage could not finish the sixth inning. He was tagged for six runs in 5.2 innings.

Staked to that lead, Young did not waste it, retiring the next four Jays batters he faced. That got him through to a 6.1 inning start with three runs allowed on seven hits. He did not walk a batter. Young continues to make the most of the opportunity he’s been given this season. His ERA sits at 3.47 after his nine starts.

Over the last two innings, the Orioles managed to turn it into a laugher. Four singles and an RBI groundout turned into three runs scored in the eighth off reliever Connor Seabold. Uncurable Orioles sickos will remember that Seabold was a 19th round pick by the Orioles in 2014. He did not sign. They racked up four more runs in the ninth, with Rutschman cashing in a pair of RBI after Taylor Ward and Henderson singled in front of him. The Jays needed to use a position player to pitch and get the last out of the game.

This was an impressive day for Rutschman. The Orioles catcher had four hits, coming the classic triple shy of the cycle. He was on base all five times he came to the dish, adding a walk as well. He scored four runs while driving in five. He threw out a runner. Is he back? The question comes up often. For tonight, the status is: Back. Now let’s hope he stays for a while.

Rutschman didn’t hog ALL the offense for himself. The team had 13 hits and seven of the nine guys in the starting lineup had a hit. Colton Cowser had a two-hit game, as did Jackson, coming off the bench. A better version of the 2026 Orioles than we saw in May is going to need all of these guys to do good things. This game is a good indication of what that might look like, if they are able to keep doing it.

One unfortunate subplot coming out of the game: Rookie Samuel Basallo exited the game early after taking a pair of at-bats. The team announced during the game that Basallo was dealing with right abdominal discomfort. After the game, manager Craig Albernaz called this “precautionary” and said there will be further evaluation on Saturday. I hope we don’t hear about ongoing oblique soreness. I also hope there’s not oblique soreness that we don’t hear about.

Can the Orioles make it two good games in a row against the Jays tomorrow? That would be fun. Kyle Bradish will look to keep mostly rolling in the 3:07 afternoon game. The Jays do not have a starter listed currently. The MASN broadcast indicated some kind of opener strategy may be employed.

At 31-33, the Orioles currently sit a half-game out of a playoff spot in the American League.

Blake Snell is already throwing again.

Before the Dodgers’ series opener against the Angels on Friday, Snell played catch for the first time since he underwent surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow just 2 ½ weeks ago.

“He was excited about that, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Snell’s operation was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who used a new medical device that is smaller than a traditional arthroscope.

Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers was the first known major leaguer to have loose bodies removed using the NanoNeedle Scope 2.0.

Skubal had his operation on May 6 and is set to start a minor-league rehabilitation assignment on Sunday.

Skubal could pitch in the major leagues as early as next weekend.

Skubal’s recovery won’t affect how the Dodgers manage Snell’s recovery, according to Roberts.

“I don’t know about the timeline,” Roberts said. “But it’s going to be a ways. We’re going to make sure we kind of take care of him.”

Closer Edwin Diaz, who also had loose bodies removed from his elbow in mid-April, continues to progress in his throwing program.

Roberts said Diaz has thrown on consecutive days multiple times.

“All positive with Edwin,” Roberts said.

The Yankees have optioned catcher J.C. Escarra to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the club announced after dropping Friday night's series opener to the Boston Red Sox.

Escarra has struggled mightily at the plate this year. He has just 11 hits in 62 at-bats (.177) with a .493 OPS over 22 games. 

Ali Sanchez will be called up in the corresponding move, according to multiple reports.

In 40 games at Triple-A on the year, Sanchez has posted a .227/.327/.375 slashline (.702 OPS) with six home runs and 11 RBI in 128 at-bats. He has 18 walks to 28 strikeouts.

Sanchez, who signed with New York on a minor league deal in December, has 50 games of big league experience to his name, across four seasons with five different clubs. In that time, the now 29-year-old has 22 hits in 120 at-bats (.183) with a .454 OPS.

Escarra's demotion comes as a bit of a surprise. Earlier on Friday, Brian Cashman was asked specifically about the Yanks' lack of production from the club's catchers and third baseman.

“Hopefully, they saved all their bullets for now, right?” Cashman said of the group consisting of Escarra, Austin Wells (.169 average, .544 OPS, 57 wRC+ in 46 games entering Friday), and Ryan McMahon (.205 average, .608 OPS, 71 wRC+ in 56 games) in response to Aaron Judge landing on the IL.

“They’re more than capable, they’re good players, we do believe in them,” the GM continued. “It’ll be great if they started ramping all that up and joining the party, too. And they have at times. They are really good, and it’s a grind, but it’s a long season, too. So hopefully, the best is yet to come from those positions.”

The adage goes, absence makes the heart grow fonder. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I’ll tell you this: I don’t know if your heart can grow fonder of Mauricio Dubon, but if such a thing is even possible, then said fondness has probably grown quite a bit this week. The Braves’ nigh-indispensable Swiss army knife had himself another huge game, bashing a game-tying homer and then poking a go-ahead hit as the Braves welcomed the resurgent Pirates to Atlanta with a 6-3 unmanning.

Martin Perez got the start in this game for Atlanta, and as I’ve said before, Perez starts are, well, basically pachinko. Perez Pachinko has a certain ring to it. The Braves’ broadcast team described Perez as a tactician, and that may well be true in terms of sequence — but, fundamentally, Perez lacks the stuff and command to really “get away with” much, so much of what happens while he’s pitching feels awfully random to me. This game was a pretty great case in point, I think.

Perez started the game with a 1-2-3 frame — an ABS-overturn-assisted (thanks, Sandy Leon!) strikeout, and two weak grounders. Then he had another 1-2-3 frame, with another weak grounder, ABS overturn, and a weak liner to right. So far, so fortunate.

Perez began the third with a leadoff walk. Jared Triolo caught up to a high, 88 mph sinker and hit it hard into the gap for a double. Henry Davis got an 0-2 hanging changeup and barreled it to center; the ball had weird spin and was caught by Michael Harris II on a pivot-then-dive, resulting in a sacrifice fly. Both of those bits of hard contact weren’t really on pitches unique to what Perez was throwing in this game; the Pirates’ hitters just happened to put better swings on them than their counterparts in the first two innings. Nick Gonzales then followed with a weak grounder, but this one was too weak, and another run scored. Then there was another a walk, a weak flyout on a pitch down the middle, and old compadre Marcell Ozuna blooped a ball into center to plate the frame’s third run. Perez ended the inning with a strikeout of Oneil Cruz where he didn’t throw a single pitch anywhere near the zone.

Basically, I think you get the idea. Sometimes, what Perez does works. Sometimes, it doesn’t. It feels directly like pachinko to me. (If you have no idea what that is, go look up Peggle. Perez, pachinko. Perez, Peggle. It works. Sometimes Ode to Joy even plays.

The funny thing is, after that, Perez’ results went back to how they were during the first two innings. The fourth was groundout, weak flyout, Leon-assisted strikeout on a pitch not close to the zone. The fifth was weak flyout, weak groundout, and another strikeout (this time of Brandon Lowe) in another sequence where Perez didn’t throw anything near the zone at all. So, Perez’ final line: five innings, five strikeouts, two walks. It was a good outing, let’s be very clear — Perez just keeps doing pachinko, and it’s working.

So, the Braves had a three-run deficit to overcome against Mitch Keller and the Pirates. No problem. Am I the only one that thinks of, “This isn’t even [our] final form” whenever a team takes a lead against the Braves this year? (Well, I’m probably not after you’ve been memetically exposed to this thought provided you actually read recaps and don’t just scroll to the comments…) The Braves first lulled Keller and the Pirates into a false sense of complacency, as Dubon hit a routine grounder to third after Matt Olson blooped a single and Ozzie Albies walked. Then they struck, with Ronald Acuña Jr. hitting a weak RBI flare after Austin Riley walked and Mike Yastrzemski got grazed on the foot with a pitch. The Pirates then had their good pachinko inning, so the Braves trailed 3-1 heading into the bottom of the third…

…and it was Dubon delivery time. Albies drew another walk with one out, Dubon fouled off some pitches (including a low one and a high one nowhere near the zone), and then Keller did pretty much the paragon of all hang jobs on a curve and… bam. Tie game.

In case you haven’t been paying attention, that’s three dingers in three games for Dubon. Fondness up, if there’s anywhere else for it to go, as noted.

The Braves were quiet in the fourth, but Keller and his defense kind of hit a wall (or, more accurately, a tank or spike trap or Scud missile or something) in the fifth. Harris mashed the first pitch he saw in the inning for a single. Olson got a down-Broadway sinker and did the same. Albies nearly homered on a hanging changeup, but it was caught at the fence. Up came Dubon. He missed a couple of meaty pitches, then got a fastball at the top of the zone, and slashed it to right to break the tie. The ball actually got past the right fielder, but Olson couldn’t score because his player used dexterity as a dump stat, I guess. (Or, more accurately, because he had to hold up in case the liner was caught. Reader’s choice.) Dominic Smith followed with a sac fly, and then Riley barreled a ball off the bricks in right to make it 6-3. That was it for Keller, who ended up with a pretty ghastly 4 2/3 with a 4/3 K/BB ratio, a hit by pitch, and a homer allowed. The Braves got one more walk in the inning, but nothing else.

And really, no one got anything else for the rest of the game. Braves relievers (Didier Fuentes, Dylan Lee, Robert Suarez) threw perfect frames in the sixth, seventh, and eighth, creating a weird situation where the pitching and defense were perfecto-ing the Pirates other than the adverse pachinko results in the third. Braves bats did almost nothing either — Acuña had a single but was thrown out trying to steal in the sixth — until the eighth.

That frame was just kind of weird. The Braves made two outs, and the home plate umpire rung Acuña up on a horrendous call that was quickly challenged and reverted… except the Pirates had walked off the field. So, they all had to return, only for Acuña to draw a walk two pitches later. Then, Harris struck out on three pitches… except the third pitch was a curve as horrendous as the overturned call to Acuña, bounced, hit the catcher in the knee, and allowed Harris to reach. Olson ended up striking out, but still, weird.

So, the Pirates had one more chance to make the Braves walk the plank, and they actually got the tying run up at the plate with none out (to make sure the folks that picked Iglesias got an extra point in our WPA game, I guess). The first batter got a strange pitch clock-violation-aided walk, except that the actual violation was Raisel Iglesias tripping during his delivery and not a real delay. Ozuna then lined an 0-2 pitch to left. So, up came Oneil Cruz, and then he went down on a changeup after seven pitches. Up next was pinch hitter Ryan O’Hearn, and he tried to pull an outside changeup… which he did, right to Albies, who flipped to Dubon (who else, tonight?) as part of a game-ending 4-6-3 double play. Woo.

This game had eight ABS challenges, six of which resulted in overturns, three of which were engendered by Leon. Acuña, Harris, Olson, and of course, Dubon, each had multiple hits.

The series continues tomorrow with an afternoon contest featuring Spencer Strider and Braxton Ashcraft.

Orioles A Lot Blue. Jays A little.

That was less than fun.

Everything that mattered happened in the bottom of the fifth and the top of the sixth.

The Jays scored two in the top of the fifth. With two out George Springer reached on catcher interference, yet again. They are going to name catcher interference after him. Then Brandon Valenzuela homered. It was 3-1 Jays and all was good in the world.

Then, in the top of the sixth. Trey Yesavage, who had been great, other than a first inning home run, had a blow up inning. It seemed to come out of nowhere. It went:

• Double.
• Strikeout.
• Walk.
• Double (tie game).
• Strikeout.
• Single.
• Home run. 6-3.

And that was the game for Yesavage and the Jays really. It just snowballed so quickly. Everything was hit hard, or he got the strikeout.

Other than that. Conner Seabold gave up 3 more runs in the 8th. And Yariel Rodriguez gave up 4 more in the ninth.

Add into the fun, Daulton Varsho left the game with wrist discomfort.

We did have 8 hits, but no walks.

And there were dumb moments. Andrés Giménez was caught stealing, with two out and two on in the second. He is a good percentage stealer, but this wasn’t the time. And Jesús Sánchez was thrown out trying to turn a single into a double with two out in the sixth. Generally, with two outs, I’m ok with someone getting thrown out trying to get into scoring position. But, we were down by three, and he was out by 10-15 feet. It wasn’t close. And replays showed the first base coach telling him to stop at first. If it was a closer game, and if it was close at second, I’d say fine. In this case, just bad baseball.

We did get to see Tyler Heineman pitch, but just one pitch getting pop out to second.

Jays of the Day: Valenzuela (0.15 WPA) and Springer (0.10).

Other Award: Yesavage (-0.46).

Tomorrow we have a bullpen day. 3:00 PM start. Kyle Bradish (3-6, 3.44).

While they’ve already played a handful of games without him, Friday night’s game against the Red Sox marked the first one for the Yankees since Aaron Judge was placed on the injured list with a fractured rib. Let’s just say the early returns on the lineup without him weren’t glowing.

It won’t go down as the worst performance from the offense this season, as they did put up three runs on eight hits, and there were moments where they threatened. However at a time when people are concerned about what the Yankees will do for the next four to six weeks, it didn’t exactly provide reassurance.

Former Yankee Sonny Gray was on the mound for the Red Sox, and he managed to hold the Yankees to just three runs despite the Yankees scattering eight hits. Meanwhile, Ryan Weathers wasn’t able to match the “bend but don’t break” performance. He allowed five runs on seven hits and a walk, including two home runs.

In general, it wasn’t the most sparkling performance in any aspect, as the Yankees fell to the Red Sox 5-3 on Friday night.

Despite how the game played out in general, the Judge-less offense got off to a solid enough start in the first. Ben Rice took former Yankee Sonny Gray in the Bombers’ second at-bat of the game, opening the scoring. That just ended up being the high point of the night.

However, the Red Sox then struck for the next couple runs to take control of the game. After a couple singles, Weathers did himself some unnecessary damage by walking the bases loaded. He then induced a ground out, but there was only play for Anthony Volpe to make, which allowed the tying run to score. The next at-bat, Willson Contreras hit a little soft grounder that Weathers’ throw to first on was off and possibly late, allowing another run to score.

Weathers was hit decently hard all day, and would go on to allow a couple home runs in the fourth and fifth innings. The one in the fourth was a monster shot from Andruw Monasterio, before Contreras added a two-run blast in the fifth.

The Yankees had got one run back in the fourth when Spencer Jones picked up an RBI double for his second hit of the day. Then in the fifth, Trent Grisham got in on the home run game by hitting a solo homer to keep the Yankees hanging around.

However, hanging around was all they did. In the ninth, another former Yankee in Aroldis Chapman took the mound and did give the Bombers a glimmer of hope. He walked two of the first three batters he faced in the ninth, and both on four pitches. With the winning run suddenly at the plate, it looked somewhat like some of the most irritating outings he used to have in pinstripes. However, he eventually got a hold of things and got out of the jam, leaving both Yankees’ runners on base.

If there are any positives to take from this game, Jones had the afformentioned two hits. Plus, Grisham’s homer helps makes his stats look a bit better after his slow start to the year. Besides that, there was not a lot to write home about.

With the Yankees looking to draw even, the rivalry series will continue tomorrow night, with a game scheduled to start at 7:35 pm ET. Will Warren is expected to go opposite Ranger Suarez in that one.

Box Score