Category: MLB

Night owls (and West Coast Red Sox fans), assemble. It’s the second game of a West Coast swing for the Red Sox, who are looking to build on a strong performance on Friday night. I, admittedly, was asleep for most of it, but will be trying to stay awake until my recapping duties are fulfilled tonight. With a win, the Red Sox would get back to 12 games under 0.500, and as the saying goes, “a team that is 12 games under in June is a real threat to get hot” or something. I don’t know, it’s a West Coast trip, let’s get weird.

Connelly Early vs. Emerson Hancock. 10:10 PM EST first pitch on NESN and WEEI.

Lineups

Last night was nearly a marquee win for the Orioles team. Instead, it was just another disappointing loss. The team has no choice but to flush the defeat and try to get back on the right track tonight. It won’t be an easy matchup.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto has thrown 16.1 innings over his last two starts and allowed two earned runs, three hits, no walks, and 11 strikeouts. He was an out away from no hitting the Orioles last September before they stormed back for an improbable win.

Trevor Rogers may finally be finding his footing. He’s got a 3.12 ERA this month, and has not allowed more than three runs in each of his last three starts. The Orioles need him to rediscover his 2025 form with a quickness.

Adley Rutschman was placed on the seven-day concussion IL just before the game. Michael Siani, a 26-year-old outfielder that has spent parts of the last four seasons in the majors, was called up in his place. Siani stole 20 bases on 23 attempts for the Cardinals in 2024. The catching role will be filled by Samuel Basallo and Sam Huff for the next week or so.

Get a cup of coffee or your favorite caffeinated beverage, East Coasters. Another evening of late-night baseball awaits us!

Orioles lineup

1. Taylor Ward, LF
2. Gunnar Henderson, DH
3. Pete Alonso, 1B
4. Samuel Basallo, C
5. Leody Tavares, RF
6. Colton Cowser, CF
7. Coby Mayo, 3B
8. Jackson Holliday, 2B
9. Blaze Alexander, SS

LHP Trevor Rogers (3-7, 5.86 ERA)

Dodgers lineup

1. Shohei Ohtani, DH
2. Andy Pages, CF
3. Freddie Freeman, 1B
4. Mookie Betts, SS
5. Miguel Rojas, 2B
6. Tommy Edman, 3B
7. Kyle Tucker, RF
8. Alex Call, LF
9. Dalton Rushing, C

RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (7-4, 2.52 ERA)

Roster moves

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves. The D-backs’ 40-man roster is at 40.

• Recalled from Triple-A Reno: LHP Philip Abner + INF/OF Tim Tawa
• Placed on the 10-day injured list: INF/OF Jordan Lawlar (strained right hamstring)
• Placed on the 15-day injured list: RHP Michael Soroka (strained left glute)

Yeah, as feared, last night’s game proved to be another one of those dreaded “Pyrrhic victories,” costing the team both Lawlar and Soroka. However, the fact we can use the latter’s spot for a starting pitcher for the next few days is probably not a bad thing, given the team went through seven relievers last night. Effectively, they have a ten-man bullpen right now. Out of there this evening, the team should have rested versions of Juan Morillo, Abner, and Yilber Diaz, who was called up yesterday but didn’t appear so is not yet on the chart above. So, our relievers aren’t in too bad shape, providing Zac Gallen is able to get through a reasonable number of innings.

He hasn’t been terrible in that department, at least. While his last six appearances have resulted in an Gallen ERA of 5.79, they have all seen Zac go between five and six innings. He has been badly bitten by the long-ball bug of late. Over his first seven outings, he allowed only two home-runs over a total of 32.1 innings of work. Since then though, the eight starts have led to eleven home-runs in 43.1 innings. Over that time-frame, starting on May 7th only the Cubs Shota Imanaga (14) has given up more bombs in the majors, coming into play today. The Twins have hit an above-average number of HR, so keeping them in the park tonight will be key for Zac.

Finally, looks like the team has decided on a starter for tomorrow, and in a surprising move, it looks like is not going to Brandon Pfaadt. Instead, the team will be turning to a rookie, Jose Cabrera, who has only three appearances over the Double-A level. Maybe there will be some Jose Fernandez like lighting in that bottle, but we’ll talk more about him tomorrow, I would imagine.

The Dodgers put right-handed reliever Blake Treinen on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation before Saturday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles.

Treinen was the winning pitcher in the Dodgers’ 6-5 walk-off victory Friday, after retiring the side in order in the top of the ninth. It was not immediately clear, when the Dodgers announced the move a little over an hour before the game, when or how Treinen sustained the injury.

Treinen has a 3.52 ERA after bouncing back from a rocky 2025.

Read more:Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani announces birth of second child

In a corresponding move, the Dodgers recalled right-hander Chayce McDermott. The 27-year-old has only thrown one major-league inning this season, when he limited the Angels to one hit in a scoreless frame.

The Dodgers acquired McDermott from the Orioles in mid-April, after Baltimore designated him for assignment. He’s been a frequent short-term call-up and taxi squad member since.

The Dodgers have more bullpen help coming. They hope to reinstate right-hander Brock Stewart (left foot bone spur) from the injured list Monday, manager Dave Roberts said. And right-hander Evan Phillips (Tommy John surgery) is expected to return in early July.

Read more:Dodgers' walk-off stuns Orioles as Dalton Rushing helps cap wild comeback

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

After taking until the seventh inning to record their first hit last night, the Mariners will look to bounce back today. They’ll pin their hopes on Emerson Hancock, who’s looking to bounce back himself. His last start was his roughest of the year so far, surrendering nine hits and six runs to just three whiffs over four innings in Washington. That continues a downward trend since the gem he spun on the night the Mariners retired Randy Johnson’s number. Since that 14-strikeout performance, Hancock has struck out 29 and walked 11 over seven outings.

He’ll have the luxury of facing off against a Red Sox team tonight that’s cobbled together just an 89 wRC+. If he can’t get right tonight, the team’s going to have some real thinking to do about how he can adjust back to the adjustments the league has clearly made to him. One adjustment he’s made so far is to take a little more control of the game by putting a pitchcom controller on his glove. Manager Dan Wilson said Hancock will probably have it again tonight, though he cautioned that when guys get it, “sometimes it’s a little more than they bargained for.”

On the other side, the Red Sox will bring out another lefty, which has been Mariner kryptonite so far this season. Fortunately, tonight’s flavor is Connelly Early, whose 4.53 xERA compares pretty unfavorably to last night’s starter, Ranger Suarez’s, 3.35. The Mariners can expect to see a lot of fastballs and the lefties in particular will see a lot of sinkers, which has not gone great for them this season.

If the Mariners can get into the bullpen, Luke Raley might be available off the bench after what Dan called “a major step forward” from Raley’s battle with a cold.

Lineups

It’s unclear whether this weekend’s Ref-erendum is real or just fan wishcasting. But he gets another chance tonight after going 0-4 with a strikeout last night. He, Mitch Garver, and Connor Joe will be the righty platoon bats tonight and Víctor Robles will sit, at least to start.

What even is a normal Red Sox lineup these days? Something approximating this, I guess.

Game Info

First pitch: 7:10 PDT
TV: Mariners TV, with Goldy and Angie in the booth and Hyphen on the sidelines, presumably getting a little less of a hard time about his Aussies than he did last night
Radio: Old reliable

The A’s can make it two in a row tonight. Will they?

It’s J.T. Ginn on the mound tonight.

Here’s how the club lines up this evening:

And the Angels:

Let’s go A’s!

Follow the Game:
Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA

Listen:
Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, KVMX 92.1/105.5, A’s Cast

The Houston Astros announced today that they reached an agreement to trade P Jayden Murray to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for minor league 1B Cameron Sisneros.

Murray, 29, posted a 7.43 ERA (11ER/13.1IP) in eight appearances with the Astros this season, along with a 1.17 ERA (2ER/15.1IP) in 14 games with Triple A Sugar Land. He made his Major League debut with the Astros in 2025 and has pitched in 17 games (one start) for the club over the last two seasons, posting a 4.68 ERA (13ER/25IP) in his Major League career. The Astros selected Murray in the 23rd round of the 2019 MLB First-Year Player Draft from Utah Tech University. He was designated for assignment on June 16.

Sisneros, 25, has split the 2026 season with Double A Knoxville and High A South Bend, batting a combined .265 (44×166) with eight doubles, six home runs, 37 RBI and an .840 OPS (.419 OBP/.422 SLG). He has appeared in 145 games through parts of three seasons in the Cubs system (2024-26), batting .266 (130×489) with 23 doubles, 16 home runs, 95 RBI and an .816 OPS (.401 OBP/.415 SLG). Defensively at the minor league level, Cisneros has made 103 appearances at first base, while also making seven appearances in left field. The Cubs selected Sisneros in the 14th round of the 2024 MLB First-Year Player Draft from East Tennessee State University.

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Colorado Rockies, June 20, 2026, 9:10 p.m. ET

The Pittsburgh Pirates are in Denver for the second game of a weekend series against the Colorado Rockies.

The Pirates hope to stop a skid of six straight games in which the team has lost when Paul Skenes takes the mound. Skenes has not won a game since March 12, when the Rockies visited PNC Park in Pittsburgh last month. Skenes pitched eight innings of shutout ball, giving up just two hits and striking out 10 batters. Since then, Skenes has not been able to match that level of magic, dropping his next three and four of his next six starts.

There was some promise in his most recent appearance against the Miami Marlins on June 14, when he pitched six innings, giving up just two runs and striking out 10 batters. The Marlins chased him for two runs in the second inning, and Pittsburgh’s offense wasn’t enough to get anything back.

The Pirates will face off against Japanese pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano, who is having one of the better seasons amongst Colorado starting pitchers. Sugano is 7-4 in 14 starts this season. The 36-year-old pitched five innings and gave up six earned runs against the Athletics on June 14, but the Rockies offense came to play. Colorado’s 23 runs mark the most a team has scored in a game this season.

There’s a good chance the Rockies won’t have that kind of run support with Skenes on the mound tonight.

Location: Coors Field, Denver, CO

Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet Pittsburgh

Pitching Matchup: Paul Skenes (6-6, 2.85 ERA) vs. Tomoyuki Sugano (7-4, 4.79 ERA)

BD community, chime off in the comments section below.

It’s roster move time, and ahead of Sunday’s series finale against the Reds, the Yankees have announced a couple of important ones with more on the way. We already covered here the movements on the pitching staff with Jake Bird going down to make room for Elmer Rodríguez, but there will be a change behind the plate as well — a timely one with recent rumors to corroborate the established expectation that the Yankees will look to the trade market to improve their catching situation.

J.C. Escarra heads back to Triple-A to make room for the impending return of Austin Wells. The Yankees’ primary backstopper, Wells was placed on the IL at the beginning of the month with what the team described as cervical headaches. While that diagnosis didn’t leave much room for speculation as to the date of his return, evidently, it didn’t turn out to be a significant issue, with him coming back to the fold in only a couple of weeks.

The decision to keep Ali Sánchez over Escarra is a rather simple one due to handedness, retaining one righty catcher instead of two left-handed hitters. On paper, Escarra might have more potential regardless of which side of the plate he hits from, but when there’s not much of a difference in terms of the quality defense that he and Sánchez provide, Escarra’s 37 OPS+ in 31 games proved to be decidedly subpar. And remember, just before Wells went on the IL, the team oh-so-briefly demoted Escarra in favor of Sánchez; Escarra only remained due to Wells’ injury.

Wells should theoretically return to get the bulk of playing time, but given his struggles this year and the fact that Sánchez has recorded at least one hit in each of his last three games, he has enough of a spark to perhaps gain some extra opportunities. It’s not as if Wells was doing much to cement his place as this team’s primary option, but the hope is that this time off allows him to regain at least some of the form that allowed him to be a stable if unspectacular option across the last two seasons. The .533 OPS Wells was running (50 OPS+) is an unsustainable figure even for the most aggressive of glove-first backstoppers.

The St. Louis Cardinals felt like a team with nothing to lose when the 2026 season began, but an unexpectedly strong start has now vaulted them into a time where there suddenly seems to be greater expectations of what they can achieve. How they deal with this will tell us a lot about what kind of team we really have this year.

As I write this, the St. Louis Cardinals are enjoying an off-day in Kansas City (thanks, World Cup) with a record of 40 wins and 34 losses sitting in 2nd place 5 1/2 games behind the NL Central Division-leading Milwaukee Brewers. Keep in mind they have this record even though they are currently on a 3-game losing streak. Someone in the community mentioned yesterday that the St. Louis Cardinals now are only 1 game better than the St. Louis Cardinals of last season which is true, but I think most of us agree that this year’s team is on a much better trajectory than last year.

The St. Louis Cardinals are beginning to feel like a team that has a real chance to compete for a wild card spot instead of a rebuilding club whose focus would be on player development. Instead of Chaim Bloom trading only for prospects as we get closer to the trade deadline, many (including yours truly) are hoping he’ll aggressively try to add pitching (both starters and relievers) to the roster to give the 2026 Cardinals a legitimate chance at the post-season. I have to ask if our “greater expectations” are real and I think the answer is complicated.

As of right now, the St. Louis Cardinals sit in the top Wild Card spot in the National League. Admittedly, the top 5 teams in the Wild Card race are only separated by 1 game as of today, but still that’s quite an achievement for an overachieving team. An article from The Sporting News shared by Yahoo Sports says that the upcoming trade deadline “is especially tough for Chaim Bloom”. Does he buy or sell? This is where I think that many of us whose expectations are now greater need a bit of a reality check. Will the St. Louis Cardinals go for a frontline starter? I cannot see any scenario where that happens. Teams that trade the most prolific starters will want the best prospects and there’s no way that Chaim Bloom makes that happen unless he’s trading from a position with a glut of talent such as the numerous talented Cardinals catchers. I do believe that Chaim Bloom will try to bolster the Cardinals pitching depth, but I don’t think any of us should expect to be buying Tarik Skubal jerseys.

The expectation growth for the St. Louis Cardinals is also happening at the player level. While most of us would have been thrilled at simply a solid season for Jordan Walker has become the question of whether he’ll be an all-star game starter. JJ Wetherholt has gone from establishing himself on the Major League roster to a frontrunner for rookie of the year currently projecting between a stunning 6 or 7 WAR. Rest of season models show Alec Burleson exceeding his career-best 21 home runs total.

The new questions for the St. Louis Cardinals will be how does this roster respond when there are now expectations of winning instead of just competing during a rebuild. What does President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom do at the trade deadline to make the current team better without mortgaging the future by giving up top prospects? I think if you took a poll, a majority of the Cardinals fanbase would have been thrilled to have these be the issues that St. Louis would be dealing with more than 70 games into the season.

Here are my updated expectations for this 2026 St. Louis Cardinals club chronologically for the rest of this season. I believe you will see Chaim Bloom add pitchers to the St. Louis Cardinals, but not top-of-the-rotation level arms. I think the pitchers that will help the St. Louis Cardinals the remainder of this season will come from Memphis. I fully expect that we’ll see Chaim trade Dustin May, Lars Nootbaar, JoJo Romero and one of the catchers in our farm system. I think that we’ll see Joshua Báez make his Major League debut after those trades happen especially if he continues to reduce his strikeouts and bad ball chase rate. I will also predict that this St. Louis Cardinals club will grab a wild card spot and make the post-season. Many things need to go right and the Cardinals need to avoid major injuries, but I now believe this is a club that can compete even as the ongoing rebuild happens. Before the season, I was one of the few that predicted a winning season for St. Louis. I’ll admit that I’ll be a little disappointed now if that doesn’t get them into the playoffs and that’s certainly a different expectation than I had 4 months ago.

MIAMI — There is no shortage of competition for the ugliest, most bumbling display of baseball the Giants have put on in this disastrous start of a season.

We might have a new front-runner.

Sure, the scoreboard may have only read 6-3 in favor of the Marlins on Saturday. The Giants even pounded out 10 hits, including five for extra bases, to Miami’s six.

But consider this: A bases-loaded walk that was the third of the inning. Three hit batsmen in three-plus innings from their starter, plus another from the reliever who took over for him. A cascade of errors, in the field and on the basepaths.

“It’s tougher to play defense, it’s tougher swing the bat when you don’t attack the strike zone,” manager Tony Vitello said. “It just gets everything out of whack. … You’re not going to win too many games when you give up that many free bases, whether it’s walks or hit by pitch — whatever it might be.”

And, to boot, all that before the Giants had even batted for a fifth time.

“Just piss poor overall from me,” said starter Trevor McDonald, who was responsible for the three first-inning walks, three hit batters and five runs (three earned) in his shortest start of the season.

That’s to say nothing of the uncompetitive at-bats that ended in Matt Chapman and Rafael Devers staring at strike three, or the soft ground ball that Devers didn’t hustle down the line.

Drew Gilbert did some good with a line-drive single that drove in a run but then almost immediately negated it caught stealing second with a runner at third and one out, which Vitello said was drawn up as a safety squeeze that went awry when Eric Haase took strike two.

It was a redux of all the tropes that left the Giants 14 games below .500 after the loss.

Yet, somehow they hit a new low: Never in the San Francisco era had the Giants committed four errors and hit four opposing batters in one game.

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Even down to the positives, the little of them that there were, provided almost exclusively by Casey Schmitt, whose emergence has been one of the Giants’ few bright spots.

“I’m just going out and trying to hit line drives. If they go over, they go over. It’s not really my goal,” said Schmitt, who hadn’t homered in 11 games, his longest dry spell of the season. “I’m just staying calm, being relaxed in the box. That’s always been the big thing for me.”

Schmitt launched his team-leading 16th homer of the season and came inches away from his 17th, instead settling for an oddity of a double that set up Gilbert’s RBI single.

Center fielder Jakob Marsee came close to robbing Schmitt’s near-homer but trapped the ball against the wall, flipping it to himself. The confusion meant Jung Hoo Lee, who doubled to lead off the inning, had to play it safe and only made it to third, though he was quickly singled home by Gilbert.

“He got up there, almost made a great catch,” Schmitt said. “But on the replay you could see it hit his glove and it was coming out of his glove and off the wall.”

That got the Giants on the board, and Schmitt’s homer tied the score at 2 in the top of the fourth. Schmitt and Lee added a second round of two-baggers to make it 6-3 in the eighth.

But it had all come undone in the bottom half of the fourth as McDonald failed to record an out, Matt Gage hit a batter, walked another and served up a home run, and it required the work of a third pitcher, JT Brubaker, to get out of the inning.

“Basically, the fourth was mismanaged by everybody,” Vitello said. “It ends up being the big inning and the difference in the game. … That inning started with [McDonald] basically getting a three-hitter window and we didn’t get any of those guys out. Things obviously accumulated.”

McDonald was responsible for one of the Giants’ four errors, though he got no help from his defense. 

“When I got out and walk three and hit [three], that doesn’t help either,” McDonald said.

Devers whiffed on a ground ball to first base from the second batter of the game, leading to the Marlins’ first run after McDonald walked his third batter of the inning. 

Devers got another opportunity in the second with the bases loaded and a chance to escape the jam unscathed. He fielded it cleanly, but this time, McDonald missed the bag when he tried to tag it with his right foot, allowing the Marlins to score a second unearned run.

“I was just watching the ball from Rafi,” McDonald said, “instead of getting to the bag like I’m supposed to.”

Catcher Eric Haase allowed another runner to reach on an interference call and went 0-for-3 catching base stealers, with two of his throws so offline that they sailed into the outfield grass.

“When lack of execution occurs multiple times,” Vitello said, “all of a sudden it looks sloppy.”

What it means

The Giants, fresh off a doubleheader sweep of the MLB-best Braves, are right back to where they were when they set out on the road trip after a second straight loss to the Marlins.

Who’s hot

Besides the aggressive steal attempt that didn’t pay off, Gilbert had a nice game with two hits, including a double, to go along with his RBI single for a season-high three knocks — only his fourth multi-hit game since the end of April while he has batted .196.

Gilbert added a highlight-reel catch in center field for the final out of the fifth, tracking down a deep drive from Kyle Stowers before crashing into the wall.

“Early this year, he was so amped up he was almost raging at the plate and going so fast in the outfield, a couple times even failed to pick up the ball,” Vitello said. “I think he’s kind of finding his way and settling in and realizing he belongs here and he’s capable of doing good things for us, but he doesn’t have to be Superman.”

Who’s not

Hours after Vitello affirmed McDonald’s spot in the starting rotation, with Adrian Houser joining the bullpen ahead of Tyler Mahle’s return, he could hardly find the strike zone.

McDonald, it seemed, barely knew where his three-pitch mix was going at all.

“I think [McDonald was] kind of fighting it the last couple times out delivery-wise,” Vitello said. “Just a little bit out of sorts with his delivery. … It was going good for him and for whatever reason [he] got derailed a bit, in particular his last two times out.”

Since beating the Athletics with 6 ⅔ innings of one-run ball in his third start May 16 to lower his ERA to 2.37, McDonald is 0-5 with a 6.75 ERA, including 15 walks and seven HBPs.

He has walked three batters in each of his last four times taking the mound.

McDonald agreed that there was “something small” about his “posture” that was off Saturday but said it was only something pitching coach Justin Meccage pointed out around the third inning.

“I’ve got to figure it out,” McDonald said. “And I will.”

Up next

Logan Webb will look to pick up where he left off the last time he took the mound in the series finale against Ryan Gusto, with first pitch set for 10:40 a.m. PT Sunday.

The Giants’ ace has looked more like himself since returning from the injured list, allowing one earned run over his past three starts, spanning 25 innings.

PHILADELPHIA — The version of Marcus Semien the Mets received over the season’s first two months wasn’t very good.

An almost automatic out in the lineup deep into May, the veteran second baseman was the embodiment of underperformance for a disappointing team.

Lately, there has been a Semien resurgence. Ahead of Saturday’s 15-3 loss to the Phillies, he owned a .750 OPS for June (which included four homers) and had played a significant role in the Mets winning eight of 14 games.

“Every time I show up to the ballpark it’s, ‘How can I grind out my at-bats and help us win?’” Semien said before going 0-for-4 in the loss.

Semien, who arrived last winter in the trade that sent Brandon Nimmo to Texas, began the day with a .225/.283/.362 slash line — disappointing numbers for the 35-year-old former All-Star. But since late May, his OPS has jumped from .569 to .644 for a team desperately trying to remain relevant.

“I have been happy with my routine,” Semien said. “It’s become consistent as I have worked with [hitting coach] Troy Snitker in the cage. When you are new somewhere, it takes you a little while to kind of nail that stuff down. I feel for guys who move from organization to organization every year because it’s like you are creatures of habit and sometimes you do too much, too many different things, instead of focusing on something that gets you prepared for the game.”

The most problematic of Semien’s underlying metrics might be his bat speed of 68.7 mph that ranks in MLB’s 10th percentile. Even so, most of his troubles have occurred against breaking balls: He had a .150 batting average against that pitch as play began, with 31 strikeouts.

“At the end of the day, I think the ability to hit velocity and make contact with velocity … you hit a 98 mph fastball to left field, it should go regardless of the bat speed,” Semien said. “That has kind of been the way to attack it.”

Semien’s latest big hit was the two-run triple he delivered Thursday that provided the Mets insurance in their 6-4 victory over the Phillies. It was a second straight win for the Mets in what has been a seesaw season. They began the day 13 ½ games behind the Braves in the National League East. The Mets were five games behind in the race for the NL’s third wild-card spot.

“We dug ourselves a little hole, but we’re getting some good players back,” Semien said. “We want to focus on the present and do everything we can and to win a series here and get some reinforcements and get on a roll.”

The No. 1 “reinforcement” is Francisco Lindor, who could be within days of rejoining the team following a two-month absence to rehab a right calf strain. The timeline is less clear on players such as Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr., both of whom have been sidelined since April.

“We are hoping all those guys who have been banged up come back and stay healthy,” Semien said. “We have got a lot of talent in this organization, a lot of talent on the high end. Some of the guys are starting to swing the bat well and if we bring that into the second half with some of the guys coming back, the sky is the limit.”

The Texas Rangers scored four runs while the San Diego Padres scored six runs in ten innings.

Miracles are real but be careful what you wish for. The Rangers didn’t allow a home run in the first inning for the first time during this entire homestand. Better yet, they didn’t even allow a run altogether in the first inning.

In fact, today’s starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore made it all the way until the top of the third inning before allowing a run. Ultimately, that was the only run that Gore allowed in his six innings of work.

Even though the Rangers scored nine runs yesterday in a show of defiance from the notion that they fold after trailing early in games, today they didn’t score until the bottom of the sixth when Wyatt Langford doubled in a run to tie the game. An inning later, Jake Burger broke the tie with a two-run home run to put Texas up 3-1.

A two run lead in a 3-1 game heading into the eighth inning seemed like smooth sailing to a victory but the Rangers can’t use Jacob Latz for a multiple inning save every day so Cole Winn was tasked to be today’s setup man.

Winn hasn’t had much success in that role, or any other this season, and he immediately coughed up the lead albeit with some poor defense behind him and an assist from Tyler Alexander as well. Luckily the Rangers left the inning with the game tied 3-3 but all that really did was make Mason Miller a looming adversary toward victory.

Latz did eventually pitch a scoreless ninth on 13 pitches but the Rangers couldn’t manage a walk-off in the bottom of the inning which meant they played extra innings for just the third time this season.

Having used their Latz bullet, in the tenth the Rangers had Joe Ross and the Padres had Miller so, uh, you can pretty much guess how that went. Ross walked the first hitter who was trying to give himself up with a bunt and then Manny Machado followed with a three-run home run, driving in his fifth of San Diego’s six runs.

The Rangers scored their free Manfred Man off Miller but lost their fourth game in five tries on this homestand. It was also their first extra inning loss of the year in three instances. No first inning disasters for Texas today. They saved ’em for the first and only inning of extras.

Player of the Game: It’s funny. Had the Rangers won 3-1 after Burger’s home run, I probably would have said Burger deserves the nod. But the Rangers lost so I’ll say Gore’s six innings of one-run ball after starting in place of Nathan Eovaldi seems more appropriate here.

Up Next: The Rangers and Padres will close out the series tomorrow with neither team yet knowing who will make the start.

The Sunday afternoon first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 1:35 pm CDT and you can watch it on the Rangers Sports Network.

Box Score

Despite two-hit games from William Contreras and Cooper Pratt and another quality start from Kyle Harrison (6 1/3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K), the Brewers dropped their second straight game to the Atlanta Braves — this time on a walk-off home run by Ozzie Albies.

As expected, today’s game turned into a pitchers’ duel between Harrison and Braves starter Chris Sale. Sale allowed only two hits through the first five innings — singles by Contreras and Blake Perkins. Harrison was perfect through four innings, striking out six in the process, but Albies led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run.

After getting two quick outs, Harrison then allowed another hit when Eli White hit a slow grounder to third. Joey Ortiz fielded it cleanly but took his time getting rid of the ball, allowing the speedy White to just barely beat the throw to first. The next batter, Joey Bart, flied out to deep center field to end the inning with the score 1-0, Atlanta.

Luckily, the Brewers got that run back almost immediately. Joey Ortiz started the top of the sixth by striking out, but Jackson Chourio ripped a single into right field to give the Brewers a baserunner. Brice Turang then hit a grounder to Albies at second that should have been at least one out, but Chourio was running on the pitch and Albies couldn’t field it cleanly. He flipped it to second, but it was too late to get Chourio, so Turang reached safely on the fielders’ choice.

That gave the Brewers runners on first and second with one out for William Contreras, who singled into right field to load the bases. Chourio may have been able to score on the play, but with Eli White charging the ball in right field, third base coach Matt Erickson elected to hold him at third.

The decision paid off one batter later. Gary Sánchez lifted a sacrifice fly to right field that was just deep enough to bring Chourio home and tie the game at one run apiece.

Next up was Andrew Vaughn, who swung at a low slider from Sale and hit a soft, looping line drive into no man’s land in center field. Neither Albies nor center fielder Michael Harris II were able to get there in time, so the ball dropped harmlessly onto the grass to give the Brewers a 2-1 lead.

Vaughn’s RBI single came on Sale’s 101st pitch, which would also be his last of the night. Right-hander Didier Fuentes entered in relief and struck out Jake Bauers, pinch-hitting for Perkins, on a foul tip to end the frame.

After a 1-2-3 sixth inning for Harrison, the bottom of the Brewers’ order started another rally in the top of the seventh. Garrett Mitchell lined out to start the inning, but Cooper Pratt singled into right for his fifth hit in the last four games. With Pratt on first, Ortiz perfectly executed a hit-and-run, poking a ground-ball single through the right side as Albies covered the bag.

With Pratt on third, Ortiz at first, and still only one out, Chourio smoked a one-hopper right at third baseman Austin Riley. Riley made a nice play to pick the ball, but instead of coming up throwing to second he threw to first to retire Chourio. Pratt scored without a throw to give the Brewers an insurance run.

Harrison returned for the seventh inning and retired the first batter he faced, Matt Olson, but then allowed a single to Ozzie Albies and a double to Michael Harris II. With Harrison at 85 pitches and the tying run in scoring position, Brewers manager Pat Murphy turned to Abner Uribe to escape the jam. Uribe induced groundouts from both Austin Riley and Dominic Smith to end the inning, but Albies scored on Riley’s grounder to cut Milwaukee’s lead back down to a run.

Heading into the bottom of the ninth, neither team had scored again. Trevor Megill retired the Braves in order in the bottom of the eighth, and the Brewers were held scoreless in the top of the ninth despite another single and a steal from Pratt. Uribe and Megill had both already pitched, so Aaron Ashby came in for the save.

Ashby struck out Drake Baldwin for the first out of the inning, but Matt Olson followed with a soft fly ball single into right-center field to bring the winning run to the plate in the form of Albies. Albies, who had already homered off Harrison earlier in the game, fouled off two pitches before laying off a curveball in the dirt.

Ashby’s fourth pitch was hardly a mistake — a 98 mph sinker right on the outer edge of the plate — but Albies managed to get the barrel on it, lofting a high fly ball down the right-field line. The ball left his bat at just 94.4 mph, too soft to even qualify as a “hard-hit ball” per Statcast. But with the foul pole at Truist Park sitting only 325 feet from home plate, it cleared the fence for a walk-off two-run homer.

In Murphy’s words, Albies’ second home run of the afternoon was essentially a “bloop hit.” Still, the Brewers had opportunities of their own to take advantage of the short porch in right and couldn’t capitalize. Sometimes, that’s baseball.

Robert Gasser will get the ball tomorrow, facing off against Bryce Elder (5-4, 3.15 ERA) as Milwaukee looks to avoid the sweep. First pitch is scheduled for 12:35 p.m.

Austin Wells is expected to be back with the Yankees on Sunday after being sidelined for the past two weeks with cervical headaches. 

Aaron Boone said Saturday that Wells would “likely” be in the lineup in The Bronx for their series finale against the Reds after appearing in three minor league rehab games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. 

After the Yankees lost 10-2 to Cincinnati on Saturday with Ali Sánchez behind the plate, the Yankees optioned J.C. Escarra to SWB — leaving the righty-swinging Sánchez on the roster for now. 

Just getting Wells back, though, doesn’t necessarily solve the Yankees’ season-long issues behind the plate. 

Even when healthy, Wells has slumped badly offensively. 

Of the 241 players with at least 160 plate appearances entering Saturday, only three had a lower OPS than Wells’ .533. 

He has been working on his approach while with SWB and the Yankees are hoping for improved results.

But Wells’ former teammate, Jose Trevino, said even when he’s not hitting, Wells is vital to the Yankees’ success. 

“I had a conversation with him in ’24 toward the beginning of the season about the value of him and his presence,” said Trevino, now with the Reds. 

“He’s gonna be there,” Trevino said. “He’s gonna bounce back. I have no doubt. He’s gonna hit a homer, make a defensive play or call a good game.” 

That presence, Trevino said, has played a significant role in how well the Yankees have pitched as a whole. 

“Look at what their starters are doing, the staff,” Trevino said. “At the beginning of the year, all those zeroes on the board, who calls those pitches? They have a great staff, but he’s the guy coordinating all that. I think some people overlook that. He’s a very important part of that team and they need him.” 

With Wells out, Escarra has also struggled at the plate and the journeyman Sánchez picked up his fifth hit in three games Saturday, but isn’t the answer back there, either. 

But the duo helped the Yankees continue to perform well overall, especially on the mound. 

Prior to Wells being sidelined, the Yankees had a 3.30 ERA, fourth in the majors. 

Since Wells has been out, it was 3.27, good for second in the majors. 

Still, the Yankees are high on Wells’ ability to frame pitches — even in the ABS era — and some metrics have Wells among the best in the league. 

“That stuff is so valuable,’’ Trevino said. 

Asked whether all he’s asked to do on defense might take away from his offense, Trevino said, “That’s the nature of the beast. You’re in charge of the [pitching] staff.” 

The Yankees know Wells is capable of more power with his lefty swing. 

In the three games with SWB, Wells went hitless twice, but also hit a pair of homers.