Category: MLB

Friday Night was a mini redemption tour of sorts.  Jose Altuve was stuck in the midst of a 0-12 slump, with visible frustrations boiling over prior to launching a decisive 3 run shot in the 6th inning.     

One week ago, teammate Tatsuya Imai had been rocked in Kansas City failing to survive even a single inning of work.  Fast forward things, Imai would strike out six Guardians throughout the course of two innings, and before it was all said and done, he’d register 11 K’s along with zero walks in a comeback 9-3 victory over Cleveland.      The win represents the 9th for the month of June, and the 3rd in a row for a Houston squad gaining more and more momentum.  For Altuve and Imai, it’s a chance to exhale and celebrate.    

The Astros would actually start off the scoring.  In the bottom of the first, Cleveland would gift the first run of the evening.  After Isaac Paredes singled to right field, Christian Walker would score on a throwing error by Kahlil Watson.    

However, in the bottom of the third, Imai would run into trouble.  Travis Bazzana would start off things with a stand up double.   Brayan Rocchio would bring him home with his 33rd double of the season and then he’d come around to score on the strength of Rhys Hoskins home run to left field.  All told, Cleveland would post three runs, but that was all.   

Jeremy Pena would respond in the fourth with a line drive solo shot, the Astros 100th home run of the season.  That cut the deficit to 3-2.  The Astros would next do damage in the bottom of the six off reliever Matt Festa.  Festa would allow 3 hits in just 2/3’s of work after replacing starter Tanner Bibee.  Pena would go yard again the next time up.    He now has 6 home runs on the season.   Altuve would pick up an RBI double in the 7th, finishing the night with 4 RBIs in total.     

In the bottom of the 8th, Cam Smith would come around and score after leading off the inning with a walk thanks to an extra base hit from Jake Meyers who’s fresh off his 30th birthday.   Meyers would be brought home by a Pena single.  Pena would finish with 3 hits on the night.   

After a pair of solid innings of relief from Steven Okert, Mike Burrows would come out of the pen to close the door in the 9th in his first relief appearance of the season.   

Odds & Ends:

Lance McCullers threw 25 pitches of live b.p. on Friday Night as he continues his rehab.   

Yanier Diaz would catch Imai for the first time in his young career.

Yordan Alvarez has now reached base safely in 25 straight contests.   

Tomorrow, Spencer Arrighetti will take the mound for the Astros searching for his 8th win.  First pitch @ 6:15 CDT. 

The Texas Rangers scored nine runs while the San Diego Padres scored seven runs.

When the Rangers and Padres took the field for the first inning in tonight’s game, there were just two umpires on the field as the rest were delayed by travel issues. That’s pretty strange. It was also the least weird thing about the first inning.

On Jacob deGrom’s 38th birthday, the veteran frustratingly allowed a two-out, RBI single in the first inning — because he is a 2026 Texas Ranger, after all — but that was merely the start of a bad beginning. deGrom loaded up the bases without getting that final out of the first frame before San Diego first baseman Ty France parked a 1-0 pitch over the fence in right field for a two-out grand slam to put the Padres up 5-0.

That was the fourth first inning home run that the Rangers have allowed in four games during this current homestand. The Rangers have allowed 14 first inning runs during this stretch and now sport an unfathomable 7.56 ERA in the first inning this season.

You couldn’t even really say “here we go again” because again implies tonight’s start was the norm and even these Rangers sometimes keep their bad starts to just a run or two. This wasn’t “again,” this was a full-on disaster.

Texas’ best starter of the season allowed five runs — all with two outs — before the lineup was even allowed to trudge up to the plate in a stretch where the team has been worn down by first inning woes in a season that has been defined by them. Happy birthday!

So, yeah. Game over, right? The Rangers allowed three runs in the homestand opener earlier this week against the Minnesota Twins. They lost. They allowed two runs in the first inning on Tuesday to Minnesota and lost by ten runs. They allowed four runs in the first inning in the finale against Minnesota and were swept.

Five runs? Might as well pencil in the tally in the loss column.

Except by the time the first inning ended, and the rest of the umpire crew had weaved through Arlington traffic to take the field, it was 6-5 Rangers.

Unlike any of those games against Minnesota, and unlike most of the games otherwise, the Rangers came storming back. It didn’t even take the John Blake peckaway theory. They didn’t methodically score a run here and a run there before overcoming San Diego in the end. They did it all immediately.

Here’s a fun fact: The Padres came into tonight’s game dead last in baseball in runs scored. The Rangers came into tonight’s game ahead of only the Red Sox and Padres in runs scored as baseball’s 28th best run producer. The Shed is notoriously one of the most difficult places to score runs where people play baseball.

So these two teams combined to score 11 runs in the first inning.

The Rangers got their six runs thanks to five hits with RISP in the first inning. It felt like the Rangers hadn’t had five hits with RISP in the whole of June. There had been many instances this season where even one first inning run allowed felt like enough to derail Texas. It was shocking to see them score six runs after allowing five.

Following that weird first inning, a more usual baseball game unfolded. The Padres tied the game in the fourth on another France home run, but luckily that came with no one on base. The Rangers countered immediately again with Wyatt Langford doubling in Josh Jung to put Texas back up 7-6.

The Rangers extended their lead to 8-6 in the sixth via an Ezequiel Duran RBI single. That came a half inning after deGrom’s night concluded, surely one of the stranger outings of his career. The birthday boy eventually finished six innings and allowed six runs on six hits and three walks with nine strikeouts in 106 pitches. He also got a win!

The Padres scored again in the top of the eighth to pull to within a run but just like every other inning that San Diego scored in, the Rangers returned serve with Langford again giving Texas a two run cushion with a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth.

After another 1.1 innings of scoreless ball from Jacob Latz, following 1.2 innings from Jakob Junis, the Rangers had a very weird, very Jac(k)ob-filled victory.

Player of the Game: Langford let the way with three hits, including the RBI double and the big insurance run with is fifth home run of the year. The Rangers have been needing Langford, and especially extra base hits from Langford, in the worst kind of way this season so getting a couple from him tonight made all the difference.

Up Next: The Rangers and Padres will play the second game of this series with RHP Nathan Eovaldi expected to make the start for Texas opposite RHP Walker Buehler for San Diego.

The Saturday afternoon first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 3:05 pm CDT and you can catch the telecast on the Rangers Sports Network.

As it seems we do every couple of weeks, here’s a rundown of affiliate standings, before we dive into Friday’s games.

• Triple-A Charlotte has won 12 of 16, now placing them second in the International League North, five games back of Rochester. While a first-half title is a long shot, the Knights are now looking like a first-division team able to make some noise in the second half.

• Double-A Birmingham will have to push all of its resources into second-half play, as they now sit 26-41 and buried in last place in the Southern League North and 5 1/2 games worse than the seventh-best club in the eight-team SL.

• At 38-29, High-A Winston-Salem has the best record in the system but the misfortune of being in a Sally South topped by a juggernaut, the 47-18 Bowling Green Hot Rods. The good news, however, is if that the Hot Rods stay hot and win the second half, the Dash staying close would get them cracking into the playoffs with a second half, second-place finish.
• Low-A Kannapolis is 33-34, still just in fifth place in a tough Carolina League South. But they can take some solace in not being in the basement — where the Cannon Ballers started the year.
• The ACL White Sox have been a disaster from the jump, now sitting at 11-24 and ahead of only the Dodgers in the 15-team ACL.
• Things are early in the DSL, but at 5-9 the White Sox sit in a tie for fifth in the seven-team DSL Southwest.

Charlotte Knights 10, Buffalo Bisons 5
Old friends highlighted the Knights’ victory over the Bisons. Kyle Teel played like a man on a mission to reclaim his spot on the White Sox roster, going 5-for-6 with three runs and two RBIs. MLB’s Scott Merkin reported that Teel is apparently much closer to the majors than we think, playing all nine innings both Friday and Saturday before a re-evaluation for his immediate future. It sounds as if he could be back in Chicago in time for the Cleveland series next week.

Rikku Nishida is also eager to reunite with the parent club after his short and not-so-sweet taste in the big leagues. The multi-position thread had a strong performance, too, driving in two runs and scoring two of his own off just two hits. Backing Charlotte on the mound was Jonathan Cannon, who managed to show glimpses of his old self. His eight-hit, three-run start isn’t Cy Young-worthy, but it got the job done. Classic Cannon. And finally, towards the end of the night, Peyton Pallette reminded everyone why he should’ve been protected from the Rule 5 draft, twirling two shutout innings and striking out a pair to keep the Knights comfortably ahead of the Bisons.

While Ben Peoples didn’t exhibit perfection, his closing inning allowed Charlotte to come away with a healthy win.

Pensacola Blue Wahoos 9, Birmingham Barons 2
Pensacola blew the Barons out of the water largely due to Birmingham’s inability to hit or throw. Bham tallied 10 strikeouts and just six hits through the night. They waited till the eighth to load the bases and allow Anthony DePino to hit into a fielder’s choice that notched their first run of the night. Colby Shelton continued being a standout for the Barons by posting his fifth jack, in the ninth, to keep the Barons from being completely decimated:

Aside from the final two innings, however, the crew failed to get on base and convert their baserunners into scorers.

On the pitching front, things were quite ugly. Connor McCullough’s formidable 3.99 ERA took a hit after giving up four runs off six hits in five. The bullpen didn’t play hero in this one, either: Jarold Rosado and Mark McLaughlin combined for eight hits and five runs in the sixth through eighth, handing Pensacola a cushy lead. At this point, it may be time to start sending arms down to High-A.

Greensboro Grasshoppers 7, Winston-Salem Dash 3
The Dash suffered from a case of nonexistent bats. Max Banks encountered his second welcome-to-Winston-Salem outing, giving up five runs and a home run in four frames. The adjustment from Low-A to High-A has proven bumpy for the rookie.

Banks’ position player counterparts didn’t offer much help, either. Kyle Lodise slammed a leadoff homer in the first, but everyone else’s bats failed to get the memo and stayed stagnant through the seventh. Perhaps pinch-hitting for Lodise in the fifth, before he got a third at-bat as the only hitter with a run thus far, was a poor decision. Boston Smith, everyone’s favorite catcher in the Sox organization, launched his 11th home run of the year, in the eighth, to try and get some momentum going after Greensboro had made it a 7-1 game. But by then, there was no turning things around for a crew that was 1-for-9 in scoring position and left nine on base.

Fayetteville Woodpeckers 10, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 8
There’s no nice way to spin this: Kanny’s late collapse was a demoralizing way for the Low-A affiliate to fall back below .500 after fighting so hard to revive its season. The ferocious top of the lineup (Jaden Fauske, Matthew Boughton, Derek Cerda) each had a multi-hit game and were responsible for six of Kannapolis’ eight hits. A three-run first and two-run fifth were supported by Truman Pauley holding the Woodpeckers to two runs through the fifth. Kanny was also a base-running machine, stealing four free bases to keep the runs coming.

But the game suddenly got out of hand in the seventh. Ryan Schiefer started the seventh with the CBs up, 8-3, but allowed the first three Woodpeckers to reach base. He only managed to get one out before departing, closing the lead to three. Marco Barrios fared similarly. He gave up a two-run bomb before the seventh and a leadoff homer in the eighth before he was kindly shown the door. Landen Payne continued the misery, blowing the game in the eighth by handing Fayetteville another home run in what turned out to be one of the worst meltdowns by Kanny this year.

ROOKIE LEAGUES

ACL White Sox 9, ACL Dodgers 8 (7 innings)
The battle for Worst in the ACL turned out to be a whiplash of a game. The Complex Sox put up two runs in the first with much help from a fielding error and Jose Mendoza’s hit-by-pitch, and then a four-spot in the second thanks to Landon Hodge’s grand slam. Confidence didn’t remain high for long, though. The ACL Dodgers located their pride struck back in the third with a run and in the fourth with their own four-run tear. Kendry Garcia and Cesar Nunez shared the blame for the Sox’s blown lead, resetting the game at 6-5, Sox. Fortunately, the Good Guys got their mojo back before it was too late. Marcelo Acala, who finished with three walks, three stolen bases and three runs, led the sixth-inning charge to pad the lead just enough to fend the Dodgers off.

DSL Giants Orange 9, DSL White Sox 2 (7 innings)
Another game, another loss for the DSL White Sox, as they fell to 5-9 with a 9-2 loss to one of their many nemeses, the DSL Giants Orange. Somehow the Sox could not manage to have a bases-l0aded walk to right fielder Orlando Patino hold up, as the game was off the rails at 6-1 by the end of the second inning. It was four walks and four hits over seven innings for the White Sox, and in the DSL that sort of production rarely holds up. Patino had half of the team’s walks, while Diego Natera (pinch-hitting when the game was out of reach) came off of the bench for half of his club’s hits (one a triple, the other a single-stolen base). Very young righty Franchel Crisostomo got the start but only saw two outs: One in the first inning in the process of giving up three earned before getting yanked, the other in the second when he came back out and had the same results. Crisostomo holds an 18.75 ERA over three starts in the young season. Reliever Alexander De Los Santos helped hold S.F. short of 10 runs with a brilliant three innings, giving up one (unearned) run on two hits.

The Royals hit eight doubles in last night’s game to dominate the Cardinals; they added five more tonight en route to another victory. This time, they won 6-5 over their cross-state rivals.

Seth Lugo made his return from the 7-day concussion IL tonight, and it didn’t start great. He walked Iván Herrera with one out, then gave up a double to Alec Burleson. He was fortunate that two well-struck flyballs resulted in only a sacrifice fly, but he threw a lot of balls in the inning.

He had a 1-2-3 second, but gave up another run in the third thanks to a leadoff walk, a passed ball, and a Herrera single. Fortunately, Burleson hit a grounder to Jac Caglianone, who calmly stepped on first and threw a strike down to second to initiate the rundown that resulted in an inning-ending double play. Lugo ended the night with a quality start, allowing only the two runs in six innings. Of concern would be that he gave up three walks without earning a single strikeout. He did field a comebacker from JJ Wetherholt and calmly made the routine throw to first, so at least it doesn’t appear the Gold Glover will field his position scared after taking that liner off the dome last time out.

The Royals stranded John Rave’s leadoff double in the third inning. They got another leadoff double in the fourth from tonight’s two-hole hitter, Lane Thomas. Caglianone was up and just trying to make sure he moved the runner over, but squeaked a single through the second base spot as the Cardinals had him shifted to pull. He advanced to second on a groundout by Salvador Perez. Then Michael Massey, also just doing his best to make sure he put his bat on the ball, flipped a single into center to tie the game. Nick Loftin struck out, but John Rave took a tough walk to put runners at first and second with two outs for Isaac Collins. Collins has been a disappointment for many Royals fans this year, but he didn’t disappoint this time with an opposite-field double to bring both runners home.

The Royals tacked one on in the fifth when Jac decided to show his oppo-taco from last night was no fluke.

They scored their final run in the sixth. Loftin walked to lead off the inning, Rave popped up a bunt, and Collins ripped a double into the right-center gap. With runners at second and third and Tolbert at the plate, the Royals put the squeeze play on. He put a couple of good bunts down, but both went foul. So he had to swing away and ended up with a sac fly to deep center instead.

John “Gas Can” Schreiber pitched a clean seventh, and Daniel “Danny Drips” Lynch IV pitched a clean eighth with a little help from his defense.

Some of you might not remember, but ESPN used to do a fan vote for the best web gem. They’d post two web gems to social media and let fans vote which was the best. Whichever one won would be one of the options the next day. This play from 2015 won the vote so many times that ESPN eventually quietly just picked two brand new gems for fans to vote on.

So, yeah, the Royals were invoking some good memories tonight.

Unfortunately, not everything that happened late in the game was positive. Matt Strahm-boli was given the ninth in a non-save situation. He ended up allowing three runs, with an honorable mention to Alex Lange-xiety. He allowed the tying run to reach the plate before Matt Quatraro was forced to summon Alex Lange to save the game. That also means Strahm has given up 10 runs in his last 6.2 innings. It’s amazing the Royals can win any games with both he and Lucas Erceg still looking completely unpitchable. Tyler Tolbert made another slick defensive play to finish the game.

A couple more highlights:

• John Rave finished the night 1-for-2 with a double and two walks; his season OPS is now 2.167.
• For the second straight night, every Royal in the starting lineup had a positive offensive contribution. Tyler Tolbert is the only one who didn’t reach, but he had the sacrifice fly.
• This is the first time all year the Royals have won three straight games by 4+ runs.
• The Royals’ infield featured exactly ZERO of their opening day starters. You’d have been right to question how good the defense might look, but it was terrific and needed to be because Royals’ pitchers only managed a single strikeout all night.
• Rex Hudler joined the booth for a bit in the middle, and that was when the Royals did all their run-scoring. He suggested it was because he was helping to call the game. Makes you wonder if the Royals would have won more this season had they allowed him to broadcast more games.

The Royals have now guaranteed a season series tie with the Cardinals. They’ll have a chance to go for the series sweep and season series victory on Sunday afternoon. They won’t play tomorrow because of the World Cup game happening across the parking lot.

The Royals are nowhere near the playoff hunt, still. They’d need to win something like 20 in a row to get back in it, but you can’t win 20 in a row without first winning 3 in a row. Maybe they can take the next step on Sunday when Stephen Kolek (2.68 ERA, 12.1% K-BB%) faces off against the Cardinals’ Dustin May (3.75 ERA, 16.4% K-BB%) at 1:10 Kauffman time.

Michael McGreevy did not have his best game Friday night in Kansas City. His outing started decent, but the latter innings not so much. Unfortunately, the St. Louis Cardinals offense didn’t accomplish much either as the Royals were too much for them again. You wouldn’t know that Kansas City has the sixth worst record in MLB so far this season based on how they’ve played St. Louis so far. The Cardinals would prove they never quit, though.

The St. Louis Cardinals have had the healthy habit of scoring early this season and Friday night was no exception. In the top of the 1st inning, Iván Herrera drew a one-out walk. Alec Burleson then ripped a double to right as Herrera advanced to third. Jordan Walker had a great team at-bat managing to lift a sacrifice fly to right field scoring Herrera giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.

St. Louis would add to their lead in the top of the 3rd inning when Nathan Church drew a leadoff walk and then advanced to second on a passed ball charged to Jensen (on a ball in the strike zone, no less). After JJ Wetherholt failed to advance Church when he flew out to left field, Iván Herrera came thru with an inside-out swing that drove a single to right field easily scoring Church and doubling the Cardinals lead to 2-0 which would stand until the bottom of the 4th.

About that bottom of the 4th inning…this is where a well-pitched game by Michael McGreevy would begin to come apart. Suddenly, the Kansas City Royals began hitting everything hard and often. Lane Thomas led off with a double and then scored on a double by Jac Caglianone cutting the Cardinals lead in half 2-1. McGreevy was able to get Perez to ground out which advanced Caglianone to third. Michael Massey followed that with a single to center scoring Caglianone and then advanced to second on a throwing error by Nathan Church as the game was then tied 2-2. Michael was able to get the second out as Loftin lined out to center, but Collins crushed a two-out double over Lars Nootbaar’s head in left scoring both Rave and Massey giving the Royals a 4-2 advantage.

Kansas City would add another run off in the bottom of the 5th inning when Jac Caglianone would show off his opposite field power hitting a McGreevy 92 mph four-seam fastball 404 feet into the fountains in left field making it 5-2 Royals. Manager Oli Marmol would remove McGreevy from the game after he completed the bottom of the 5th inning. His stat line for the night was 5 innings pitched getting tagged for 8 hits, 5 earned runs while striking out 2 and walking 1.

George Soriano was the Cardinals answer for the bottom of the 6th inning and he almost immediately ran into trouble, but it could have been worse. He walked Loftin to lead off the inning and then went on to prove that walks almost always come back to hurt you as Collins doubled to right over Jordan Walker as Loftin was held up at third which proved to be smart as he would score on a deep sacrifice fly to center by Tyler Tolbert as Kansas City started to pull away leading 6-2 after 6 innings.

Matt Svanson was solid taking care of the Kansas City Royals bottom of the 7th inning setting the heart of their order down 1-2-3 with 2 pop-outs to short and a groundout to first. He also did a fine job of managing the 8th inning for St. Louis, too. A nice defensive play by Blaze Jordan didn’t hurt his cause. JJ Wetherholt also made an incredible play on a ball that ricocheted off of Svanson’s leg throwing out Collins nearly from his back.

If you’re wondering why I haven’t mentioned much about the St. Louis Cardinals offense, it’s because there isn’t much to talk about through the first 8 innings. They would have their chances, but couldn’t seem to string hits together. They almost did in the top of the 4th inning when Jordan Walker singled, but he was picked off of first by Seth Lugo right before Lars Nootbaar singled. In the top of the 5th inning, Nathan Church hit a two-out triple, but he was stranded when JJ Wetherholt’s sharp ground ball up the middle was nabbed by the pitcher. In the top of the 6th inning, Herrera drew a leadoff walk, but two groundouts and a flyout made that lead to nothing. The Cardinals didn’t even have any baserunners in the 7th or 8th innings.

The Cardinals did prove that they do not quit in the 9th inning. Jordan Walker managed a single, but was forced out at 2nd when Lars Nootbaar hit into a fielder’s choice. Lars would score, though, when Masyn Winn doubled to left making it 6-3 Royals. After Nelson Velazquez walked, Blaze Jordan came up as the tying run which led to Kansas City taking reliever Matt Strom out of the game. Jordan would face Alex Lange and would manage a two-out single to right which scored both runners after they had advanced on a wild pitch making it a real game at 6-5 Royals. Bryan Torres was brought in as a pinch-runner for Jordan as Jose Fermin came to the plate as the potential go-ahead run. He unfortunately grounded out in a fielder’s choice to end the game.

The St. Louis Cardinals will return to Kauffman Stadium Sunday after a day off thanks to World Cup activities in Kansas City on Saturday. The Cardinals will ask Dustin May to be the best version of Dustin May as he gets the start Sunday afternoon. He’ll be up against RHP Stephen Kolek who’s 4-1 on the season for the Royals. First pitch scheduled for 1:10pm central time and the game broadcast will be available on Cardinals.tv.

Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor and center fielder Tyrone Taylor started their respective rehab assignments with Friday's Double-A game between the Binghamton Rumble Ponies and New Hampshire Fisher Cats, and they wasted no time in making an impact while batting first and second.

In Binghamton's 5-2 win over New Hampshire, Lindor (left calf strain) and Taylor (right hip flexor strain) posted a combined 3-for-7 line with Lindor's leadoff single up the middle and Taylor's first-inning knock to center field starting the game strong.

Taylor's fifth-inning solo shot to center field was the rehabbing duo's biggest highlight with Taylor giving the Rumble Ponies a 3-1 lead over the Toronto Blue Jays' Double-A affiliate.

TYRONE TAYLOR SOLO HOME RUN!

It's the third at-bat of his first rehab assignment game🫡 pic.twitter.com/XjnbIua7Xp

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) June 20, 2026

"I feel good," said Taylor, whom the Mets placed on the 10-day injured list May 26. "Extremely thankful for all the work that I've put in with the PTs and athletic trainers, strength coaches with the Mets. Happy to be back on the field and thankful to be back out there."

Between Taylor's first-inning single and fifth-inning homer was his third-inning flyout to right field. He exited the game entering the sixth inning while Lindor left before the start of the seventh.

"The results were cool, man," Taylor said. "I haven't had as many at-bats recently. So, to feel like I wasn't too far behind some fastballs there was nice. But, really, I'm just thankful that my leg feels good and take it day by day."

Tyrone Taylor gets a base hit in his first at-bat💪 pic.twitter.com/M36YbCshoN

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) June 19, 2026

Lindor's 1-for-4 night included a second-inning flyout to center field, a fifth-inning strikeout on a foul tip and sixth-inning flyout to right field.

"I felt really good," Lindor said. "I was excited. It's been a minute since I'm on the field and I felt like, overall, it went really good. To be able to be on my feet, move around, react to certain balls, react to certain pitches and then be able to swing a bat, it felt good."

Lindor has been on the Mets' 10-day injured list since April 23.

Francisco Lindor singles on his first swing for Binghamton! pic.twitter.com/uo0AWApwj9

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) June 19, 2026

"You try to play the game as hard as you can, no matter what the circumstances are," Lindor said, "because, at the end of the day, there's guys that are trying to make it the big leagues here. So, try to avoid not going through the motions, making sure I go as hard as I can but understanding that it's my first game back. So, I try to go ... as close as I can to 100 (percent) and then, as the game went on, I started to ramp up a little bit and trusting your legs."

Does Lindor know what is next for him as he progresses through his rehab assignment?

"I don't," Lindor said. "I'm going to recover right now, go home, see my kids, see my wife and then tomorrow we'll figure out what I've got next."

Francisco Lindor makes the play at second base to end the inning pic.twitter.com/6AJMcJ1Yu5

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) June 20, 2026

MIAMI — A ballclub is only as good as its bullpen, so it should come as no surprise, then, what a difficulty it has been for the Giants to build any semblance of momentum this season.

Just when they seemed to be on the verge of winning their fourth game in a row for the first time all year, they were sent right back to the starting line. Again.

“Obviously we want to win every game we play,” said Landen Roupp, who had them in position to do just that with six innings of two-run ball Friday night. “To not get over that four win [threshold], especially when we’ve been there multiple times this year and just not been able to win the fourth…”

This time, the tailspin in a 4-3 loss to the Marlins started as soon as Roupp left the game.

Sam Hentges, taking over in relief to begin the seventh inning, hit Estuary Ruiz to put the speedy pinch-hitter on base to lead off and allowed the second batter of the inning to reach, too.

Hentges had Ruiz down 0-2 and went too high and tight with a heater trying to put him away. He wasn’t able to complete the play when Javier Sanoja, the No. 9 hitter, dropped down a bunt.

“The ball [to Ruiz] was literally this far away from being over the plate,” manager Tony Vitello lamented. “It wouldn’t have been a strike, but he’s on top of the plate and it hits his elbow.

“We thought there was a possibility of [Sanoja] bunting, so we were yelling from the dugout. Sam moves around pretty well for a big guy, but I don’t know there was much we could do with that one.”

Rather than protecting the one-run lead handed over by Roupp, Hentges allowed both runners to score, flipping the score in favor of Miami. Leadoff man Liam Hicks laced a single through the right side of the infield and Owen Cassie, a triple away from the cycle, sent a deep sac fly to left.

The runs proved to be decisive in the Giants’ seventh loss in 30 games when leading after six innings.It was the fifth time this season they have had a chance to win a fourth in a row, falling to 0-5 in those contests.

“You’d like to go on a roll,” Vitello said. “I think it’d be good for maybe three, and then three, and then three. Maybe if there was more of that, we’d be in a happier place and not even worrying about it. But it’ll happen at some point with this group.”

Roupp had put the Giants in position to build on Wednesday’s doubleheader sweep with a bounceback performance. He surrendered a solo home run to Cassie in the first inning but only allowed one more run the rest of the way while completing six innings.

Their bats didn’t necessarily hold up their end of the bargain.

Traffic was no trouble for either team, as Roupp allowed runners to reach in all six of his innings and the Giants put six men on in the first three innings against a bullpen game from the Marlins.

Bryce Eldridge was one of only two Giants hitters not to reach base, snapping his 22-game streak that had been the longest by a San Francisco rookie since Buster Posey. The other was Luis Arraez as the top two spots of their batting order combined to go 0-for-9.

Daniel Susac came a few feet shy of a grand slam that would have been his first career home run, but he settled for a long sacrifice fly that ended up as the only run the Giants were able to cash in from their early opportunities.

Rafael Devers led off the sixth with a no-doubt home run to the upper deck in right field — his 11th of the season — and it again looked like the Giants were in business when Jung Hoo Lee followed with a double.

Casey Schmitt singled home Lee with one out to briefly put the Giants on top, 3-2, but the inning was over as quickly as it started, leaving two more runners stranded on the corners.

“I mean, we almost had four runs on one swing,” Vitello said. “It doesn’t guarantee a victory … but I do think it simplifies things for us, but you’ve got to combine defense with that and pitching as well. We’d like to win some games when we score three, or maybe even two.”

What it means

Vitello has circled four runs as a magic number of sorts — the Giants are 24-7 when reaching that threshold — but couldn’t get there despite no shortage of chances.

In the end, they needed more cushion for a bullpen that has been one of the seven worst in the majors since the end of April, with a 4.94 ERA. 

They fell to 7-37 in an MLB-leading 44 times being held to three runs or fewer.

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Who’s hot

Willy Adames collected his 1,000th career hit with a single to lead off the second inning, coming around to score on Susac’s sac fly.

The milestone came in Adames’ first at-bat since slugging his 12th and 13th home runs of the season in San Francisco’s doubleheader sweep of the Braves on Wednesday.

Ten of those home runs have come since May 18, second only to Juan Soto (11) for the most in the majors in that span. Yet, Adames admitted after Wednesday’s games that his swing “hasn’t been feeling the best” and that he was “trying to get more consistent.”

Adames had been 1-for-31 dating back to his last home run before homering twice Wednesday.

Who’s not

Roupp was 5-1 with a 2.55 ERA through his first six starts.

Since then, the Giants had lost all eight of his starts before Friday’s game, with Roupp allowing four or more runs five times to raise his season ERA to 4.24.

It was a different story this time around as Roupp pitched around traffic in every inning but left after six leading 3-2, having struck out seven, one away from matching his season-high.

He was more efficient than he had been of late, landing his sinker for strikes and generating swings and misses with his changeup, which even took him by surprise.

“When I looked up there in the fourth inning and saw only 65 pitches, I was kind of shocked,” Roupp said. “It’s been a while since I’ve been able to do that. I think I was just competing and getting down the mound better today — moving better.”

He was in line to earn his first win since the last time he faced the Marlins, on April 26, when he limited them to two runs over 7 ⅔ innings in his longest start of the season.

“I kind of found out early on that they were hunting the curveball, so I just went away from that,” Roupp said. “[The sinker] has been a lot better, even my last three starts. But definitely tonight I was locating on both sides of the plate and getting ground balls instead of pop flies.”

Up next

Trevor McDonald, originally scheduled to start the series opener, will get the ball Saturday in Game 2, with first pitch set for 4:10 p.m. ET. It could be his last chance to prove worthy of holding onto his rotation spot with Tyler Mahle set to return from a hamstring strain Wednesday.

Cam Schlittler entered play on Friday with the fourth best bWAR among all pitchers in the sport prior to his scheduled start against the Cincinnati Reds in the series opener in Yankee Stadium. Safe to say, the burgeoning New York Yankees ace is going to find himself higher on that list come Saturday morning.

Schlittler hit the first batter of the game before settling in, and settle in he did. He fanned 13 Reds hitters across 6.0 IP – yeah, 13 of the 18 outs he recorded came via strikeout – and allowed nary a run as the Yankees eventually blasted their way to a 5-0 victory. He needed just 96 pitches to get that work done, scattering 4 hits and walking none while piling up his baker’s dozen of fans.

Jazz Chisholm, Jr. socked a solo homer off Reds starter Rhett Lowder to begin the damage, while Ben Rice later added a tattooed 433 foot homer off Lowder in the Bottom of the 2nd that put this game on complete ice with Schlittler on cruise control. That latter one was of the 3-run variety, which was quite unfortunate, but even a solo job would’ve been enough to bury the Reds on the night.

To Lowder’s credit, he settled down shortly thereafter and managed to clear 5.1 IP with just the 4 ER allowed, finding a way to fan 5 against a trio of walks. It was far from his best outing, obviously, but at least he is gradually beginning to command the corners of the strike zone far better than he did to begin the season even if, yes, he is still leaving way too many over the plate.

Blake Dunn was the lone semi-bright spot on the offensive side of things, being that leadoff HBP off Schlittler and adding in a pair of hits – one a double – while also getting thrown out trying to steal. That’s all it took to be an offensive standout for this lineup on the night.

Cincinnati will send Andrew Abbott to the mound on Saturday afternoon to try to dig their way back into this series, while New York will counter with righty Will Warren. It’s a 1:35 PM ET start time, so plan your afternoon accordingly even if it doesn’t include – or specificially does not include – watching this team try to play this sport.

The Braves had not had a good time recently, especially in terms of hitting the ball. Jacob Misiorowski came into this game as the best pitcher in baseball. It seemed like a recipe for continued misery/Miz-ery. Well, I am happy to inform you that about two hours and thirty minutes after first pitch, the Braves prevailed by a score of 3-2. They did a bit of everything: they eventually wore down and punched out Misiorowski thanks to Mauricio Dubon’s two-run single, they hit a homer, Martin Perez pitched a really good game, and Eli White had a game-saving outfield assist in the ninth. Woo. Wow. Wooo!

Early on, the Miz was as advertised. Things felt unfair, even without the context of the Braves’ recent offensive struggles. After Martin Perez threw a 12-pitch, 1-2-3 first, Misiorowski sprung out of the dugout and hurled a nine-pitch frame of his own. Perez responded by striking out the side… and Misiorowski vaguely wobbled a bit.

Dominic Smith led off the bottom of the second with a bloop single, and Austin Riley took a two-strike approach in a zero-strike count and bounced a hopper through the right side to put two on with one out. Mike Yastrzemski hit a hard grounder that led to a bang-bang out at first, which brought up White. Misiorowski pumped in four fastballs, the first two at 103 and the next two at 104, White missed two of them (and fouled off one in the middle), and that was that.

Then, it was Milwaukee’s turn to kinda-sorta strike. This was, of all of them, the definite Perez pachinko inning. Blake Perkins led off the frame with a swinging bunt single. After a strikeout, Joey Ortiz turned a down-the-pipe fastball into a hard grounder up the middle. It could’ve been a double play if it were hit at an infielder, but it was not. A comebacker moved the runners up, and the Braves elected to walk Jackson Chourio so that Perez could face Brice Turang with the platoon advantage. That sorta worked, because Turang hit a down-the-middle sinker into the ground, but it also didn’t work because the ball was again hit nowhere near the Braves’ defensive alignment, and went for an infield single as it hobbled up the middle. The Brewers led, 1-0. It seemed imposing, given Misiorowski’s presence looming on the mound. (Perez got out of it as old friend William Contreras flew out on a 2-0 count.)

It was imposing, as Misiorowski faced the minimum in the third, fourth, and fifth. To his substantial credit, Perez didn’t fall apart either — the strikeouts went away but he and the defense kept the Brewers at bay. A two on, zero out situation was untangled as lefty-killer Andrew Vaughn hit a screamer right at Jorge Mateo at shortstop, giving the Braves a double play; Perez escaped he frame with a strikeout to end his outing.

And then, the stage was set for the Braves upending everything by tagging Misiorowski for a couple of runs. Mateo got things started with a weak bouncer infield single of his own. After Misiorowski once again got the better of Drake Baldwin, Ozzie Albies was able to take a first-pitch, down-the-middle 100 mph heater out to right center for a single. Matt Olson and The Miz then engaged in a legendary-feeling battle: three strikes in the zone (the third was a foul), then three balls out of the zone, then two fouls on wicked 96 mph cutters that Olson seemed to bend the laws of physics to be able to reach and fight off as they bore in on his knees, and finally, a cutter that Misiorowski mis-executed and hurled towards Olson’s shoetops, loading the bases. So, up came Dominic Smith… and not much later, he sat down. He missed one of those ogrish cutters for strike one, and eventually missed two balls (102, then 103) in the middle of the zone.

It was up to Mauricio Dubon. He came through. Misiorowski’s idea was clear: move horizontally and jam Dubon. After a ball outside, he threw a fastball in the up-and-in part of the zone, and got a foul. He darted a cutter off the plate away, and got a whiff. He came back in with a fastball in that same place as strike one, and… Dubon was ready:

There’s some world where Dubon hits this too hard, and the misery/Miz-ery continues. This is not that world. Woo. Misiorowski struck out Austin Riley to end the inning, but the damage was done.

And, finally, with a late-ish lead, it was time for the Braves’ overly-well-rested bullpen backend to get some high-leverage work. First up was Dylan Lee. A bloop single and a steal put the tying run on second, but Lee struck out Ortiz. Up next, Christian Yelich hit a deep drive into the left-field corner, but White made a nice running catch to snare it on the warning track. Rather than walk Chourio again to set up a lefty-lefty matchup, the Braves swapped Lee for Robert Suarez, who got a routine groundout to end the frame.

Abner Uribe came in for the seventh. The first Milwaukee non-Misiorowski pitch was promptly creamed into right field by Yastrzemski for a homer. Actually, it wasn’t really creamed — it was a Truist Park special cheapo homer to right, but it still counts, and gave the Braves some breathing room that they’d end up needing.

Suarez stayed in for the eighth and had some drama. There were two quick outs, but then a couple of well-struck balls that put the tying runs on base. The Brewers pinch hit with Jake Bauers to gain the platoon advantage. Suarez got ahead of Bauers with two strikes, including a silly-looking whiff on a changeup out of the zone, but then tried to get that same whiff four more times and ended up walking Bauers instead. Sal Frelick pinch hit with the bases loaded, and Suarez had a spot of trouble locating his fastball — but after pumping in two get-me-over ones to fill up the count, Frelick hit a hard comebacker on another get me over-ish heater. The ball bounced off Suarez but not very far, and the inning ended with the game still at 3-1.

The Braves got a Smith double in the eighth, but nothing else. So, it was up to Raisel Iglesias in the ninth. Fortunately, he ended up getting some help. After a groundout, Iglesias walked Yelich to bring the tying run to the dish. Chourio didn’t tie the game, but he did yank a changeup into the left-field corner to put the tying run in scoring position. Turang jumped on a first-pitch fastball from Iglesias and lined it to left, kinda in the same spot where Dubon came through earlier… and it would have tied the game, except… Eli White to the rescue! White threw a bullet to Baldwin, cutting down Chourio at the plate. The Brewers challenged because, well, why not — but the call was confirmed, with the perfect throw nudging Baldwin’s glove into Chourio’s leg ahead of his foot scraping the plate. The Brewers did, technically, now have the tying run on base with Contreras up, but Iglesias got ahead of him with a sinker and then ended the game with two changeups that Contreras could only flail at. Game over.

And what a game it was. The Braves haven’t had it easy, and tonight wasn’t either, but they came away with a win. Chris Sale gets the ball tomorrow. We’ll see what happens.

Rockies 4, Pirates 3

Leverage index & box score

Graphics via FanGraphs.

Arghhh!: Mason Montgomery, -0.52 WPA

Dealin’ Freeland: Kyle Freeland, +0.31 WPA

PHraxton Fulford (H/T EmersonCR): Braxton Fulford, +0.51 WPA

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Despite having the tying runner on base twice in the top of the ninth inning, the Milwaukee Brewers came up short in the series opener against the Atlanta Braves, losing 3-2. The loss is Jacob Misiorowski’s first since April 19th against the Miami Marlins.

Tonight was one of those frustrating games for the Brewers, in which, in every inning except the first and second, they had a runner on base. Overall on the night, the offense left 11 runners on base. On the flip side, Misiorowski wasn’t as strikeout-heavy as he normally was, striking out just seven batters. Honestly, if it wasn’t for one poorly located pitch, the Brewers squeaked out a 2-1 victory.

The Brewers offense was able to crack the scoring column in the top of the third inning with an RBI single off the bat of Brice Turang to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead. That would be it in terms of offensive production for the rest of the game until the Brewers got something cooking in the top of the eighth inning.

Huge credit goes out to Martín Pérez, who historically has never been able to find an answer to success against the Brewers. Tonight, he found that answer for the first time in his career as Pérez threw six innings, allowing just one run on six hits, two walks, and he struck out five batters.

Clinging onto a 1-0 lead, Misiorowski ran into trouble against the tough lineup that is the Braves. A pair of singles from Jorge Mateo and Ozzie Albies, followed by a walk from Dominic Smith, loaded the bases for the Braves. Then, Mauricio Dubón hit a single into left field to drive in two runners to give the Braves a 2-1 lead.

Abner Uribe replaced Misiorowski on the mound to begin the bottom of the seventh inning, and on the first pitch of his appearance, he gave up a no-doubt solo home run to Mike Yastrzemski to push the Braves’ lead to 3-1.

Arguably one of the more back-bending parts of the game for the Brewers came in the top of the eighth inning. Andrew Vaughn was able to get some sort of offensive production started with two outs before Jake Bauers followed with a pinch-hit walk. Sal Frelick pinch-hit for Cooper Pratt and worked a full count before hitting a groundball up the middle that got snagged by Braves pitcher Robert Suarez to end the inning, stranding the tying runner on base.

Perhaps the other part in this game that shows that baseball is a game of inches happened at the top of the ninth inning. Christian Yelich drew a one-out walk before Chourio ripped a first-pitch double down the left field line to put two runners in scoring position with one out. Much like earlier in the game, Turang came through, driving in a run before Chourio was thrown out at the plate after a nice throw from Eli White. Then, Contreras went 1-2-3 in his at-bat to end the ballgame, handing the Brewers their second straight loss.

Already, tonight’s game is going to be one that you look back on and wish you had, especially because this series doesn’t get any better for the offense. Chris Sale will be on the bump for the Braves, and he will enter tomorrow’s game with a 2.30 ERA on the season with 92 strikeouts. Being handed the ball for the Brewers will be Kyle Harrison, who has a 2.47 ERA and 80 strikeouts on the season.

The Brewers will seek to even up the series tomorrow afternoon, with the first pitch coming at 3:10 p.m.

On Friday night, it was the Reds. 

Next month, it may be the National League All-Stars that Cam Schlittler is starting against. 

The Yankees’ budding ace turned in a downright dominant outing Friday, striking out a career-high 13 across six shutout innings on the way to a 5-0 win over the Reds in The Bronx. 

Lowering his ERA to 1.71 — the lowest by a Yankee through his first 16 starts of a season since Whitey Ford in 1964 — Schlittler added another highlight to his crowded résumé to start the All-Star Game for the American League. His biggest opponent Friday was his pitch count, as he needed 96 pitches to get through the sixth or else he might have kept going. 

“He was feeling it tonight,” manager Aaron Boone said. 

The Reds (35-39), who entered the night with the second-highest strikeout rate (24.5 percent) of any team, fell right into Schlittler’s hands as he became the first Yankee to record 13 strikeouts since Max Fried last September. The right-hander scattered just four hits (one of them a dropped fly ball by Jasson Domínguez in right field) while walking none as the Yankees (46-28) won for the 10th time in their last 13 games. 

In the process, the 25-year-old Schlittler became the youngest pitcher in Yankees history to record 13 strikeouts and no walks in a game, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs. 

“It’s been kind of tough the last couple starts, just been a grind, especially pitching in New York,” Schlittler said. “I haven’t done an excellent job over the past month or so pitching here. So it’s important to go out there and have a dominant start.” 

Schlittler has spent the past few weeks working on his mechanics, getting down the mound without opening up his frame, and it finally clicked Friday. With a four-seam fastball that averaged 98 mph, a sinker that averaged 98.1 mph and a cutter that averaged 95.6 mph, his heat kept the Reds guessing all night long as he racked up 18 whiffs. 

“We always expect to watch him go out and do something special, so it wasn’t very surprising,” said Ben Rice, who provided most of the offense with a three-run shot in the second inning. 

Schlittler, who was not all that interested in thinking about a potential All-Star Game start next month in Philadelphia, at least acknowledged a social media post from Knicks star and freshly crowned NBA champion Josh Hart, who wrote, “Schlittly is the Cy Young winner hands down.” 

“That’s a good thing to hear, Josh is a great guy,” said Schlittler, who has gotten to know Hart. “I’m pumped for him and the city of New York, just being able to finish that off. It’s great to have his support.” 

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

Jazz Chisholm Jr. led off the second inning with a home run and Rice capped it off with his 21st blast of the season to make it 4-0, giving Schlittler all the support he needed before Anthony Volpe added an RBI single in the eighth. 

Jake Bird, Brent Headrick and David Bednar each threw a scoreless inning of relief to finish off the shutout. 

Entering Friday, Schlittler’s regular-season career high was nine strikeouts. He surpassed that by fanning Eugenio Suárez on a 99 mph sinker to end the fourth inning, when he struck out the side. 

His overall career high was the 12 strikeouts he had in the AL wild-card series against his hometown Red Sox last October. But he beat that mark by the fifth inning, blowing a 98 mph heater past JJ Bleday for a three-pitch strikeout. 

Schlittler’s night actually got off to an inauspicious start, when his first pitch was a sinker that ran in and hit Blake Dunn. But by the time he walked off the mound for the final time, he received a standing ovation from the crowd of 42,420 for his efforts. 

“I think it would be pretty cool to see him out there pitching in the All-Star Game,” Chisholm said, “knowing he’s one of the best pitchers in the world.”

It was a game of ones, as one outstanding pitching performance and one inning’s worth of scoring helped the Yankees easily handle the Reds in a 5-0 win at home, their first shutout win this month. If you went out searching for a worst-case-scenario matchup for an offense against a specific starter, it’d be a massive challenge to find one that would rival Cam Schlittler against the Reds. Cincinnati entered play tonight with the worst offensive numbers in baseball against pitches of 95 mph or higher: a .194 batting average and .305 slugging percentage—credit to the YES broadcast for displaying this in the fourth inning when Schlittler had already recorded seven of his eventual 13 punchouts, topping his dozen from the AL Wild Card Series clincher against Boston last October.

For a team that hits high velocity so poorly, facing a starter with not one, not two, but three separate high-velocity offerings, allowing him to basically shelve anything offspeed is a nightmare. The biggest question in anyone’s mind, watching Schlittler mow down the Reds inning after inning, was how long he’d last, considering he was racking up the strikeouts quite early. It was a giveaway for a high pitch count, but that, all things considered, it was never felt as high as his number of K’s would indicate.

Although the opponent allowed Schlittler to shelve a curve he already hardly uses, there were some interesting adjustments within those three primary pitches. Schlittler more than doubled his sinker usage from a 19-percent season average to 43 percent against the Reds, utilizing it as the primary offering against both lefties and righties, and then the four-seamer as the main complement against lefties and the cutter versus the righties. Through six scoreless innings, the right-hander tossed a virtually stress-free 96 pitches to earn an amazing 13 strikeouts with no walks, keeping the Reds 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and with a sense that a potential rally was always very far away.

Schlittler moved one K behind Toronto’s Dylan Cease for the AL lead in strikeouts at 109, and only Jacob Misiorowski has a lower ERA than Schlittler’s 1.71 among the 62 qualified MLB starters. The man is a marvel.

With Schlittler dominating in the manner in which he did, the Yankees didn’t need a whole lot of offense to take what would at least feel like a commanding lead. They did it in a manner that might be all too common for them, but not something that Rhett Lowder has experienced often, if ever, in his young major-league career.

The Reds starter came into this game having allowed three homers across 77.2 innings in his career as a big leaguer. In one inning, Lowder nearly doubled that mark, giving up first a solo shot to Jazz Chisholm Jr. and then a three-run bomb to Ben Rice, both in the bottom of the second inning. Rice’s homer would turn out to be the Yankees’ only hit with a runner in scoring position until the eighth, when Chisholm earned a walk, stole second, and came around to score on an Anthony Volpe RBI single.

While Schlittler was amazing and the offense did its part to give him a healthy lead early, it also stopped scoring after that second inning, thus putting at least some pressure on the bullpen to finish things off. A four-run lead may be comforting, but it is only a four-run lead. Luckily, Jake Bird, Brent Headrick, and David Bednar were all on their game, each pitching in with a scoreless frame. They might not have had the same zip on their fastball as Schlittler, but it was more than enough to overpower the struggling Reds.

The Yankees have their fourth consecutive series win in their crosshairs tomorrow afternoon, as they send righty Will Warren out to face southpaw Andrew Abbott. First pitch is at 1:35pm ET on YES.

Box Score

The Dodgers (48-27) host the Orioles (35-41) for a three-game series over Father’s Day Weekend at Dodger Stadium. 

Roki Sasaki (3-4, 4.76 ERA, 1.33 WHIP) takes the mound for the Dodgers in the series opener Friday night. 

Rookie Trey Gibson (1-2, 5.91 ERA, 1.59 WHIP) makes his first career start against the Dodgers.

Lineups

Friday game info

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

Even though this was a June game between two teams separated by over nine games in the standings, there was no lack of drama or fireworks in a gritty Detroit Tigers win over the Chicago White Sox. It felt like a division-rivalry showdown for the first time in a while — and the Tigers had the last laugh.

The fireworks started early when Randal Grichuk, who came into the game with a .364 average against Tarik Skubal, paid tribute to Snoop Dogg when he smashed a home run 420 feet to put the White Sox on the board. Not to be out done, Matt Vierling took advantage of a fastball a little too much in the zone, hitting it over the fence for a two-run homer as the third Detroit batter in the bottom of the first inning.

For the next few innings, it was your average White Sox gritty affair. Both teams had plenty of chances, but some nice defensive plays and missed opportunities kept the Tigers ahead until the top of the fifth inning. In the fifth, there were fireworks.

With runners on the corners, Tristan Peters brought in a run on what was originally called a double play on a badly-missed call by first bace umpire Stu Scheurwater. Scheurwater’s gaffe was reversed, and at some point over the next few batters, things got chippy. While the White Sox couldn’t take advantage and grab the lead, they clearly got under the skin of Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal. After striking out Colson Montgomery, Skubal and Mike Vasil had more than a few words for each other as Skubal walked to the dugout. While it was impossible to read their lips, I’m sure they weren’t congratulating each other on their solid seasons so far.

The cameras tried to catch some more fire between the two pitchers, but there were no more pleasantries exchanged between the two sides in the sixth inning. With that being said, the cameras caught a different explosion in the form of Junior Perez’s first big league homer, as he gave the South Siders the lead once again. Tigers manager AJ Hinch had seen enough out of Skubal and he departed in the middle of the sixth. This time, Skubal didn’t have any more fiery words for Vasil as he hung his head leaving toward the dugout, in line for the loss in his first start in Detroit since his IL stint.

Unfortunately, Chicago’s good vibes didn’t last long. The Tigers took back the lead in what resembled a sparkler more than a firework when a bloop single dropped just before Peters could get under it in the bottom of the sixth. With the runners going on contact with two outs, two runs came around to flip the lead back in favor of the Tigers.

The White Sox continued to scratch and claw their way through the game, but unfortunately, they ran out of firepower once Skubal departed. After the southpaw was pulled, the Tigers bullpen allowed just one hit and struck out four over the last 11 batters they faced.

While the loss is certainly disappointing, it was a solid showing against one of the best pitchers in baseball. With much more “gettable” pitchers on deck for Detroit, there is still a good chance the South Siders can take this series.