Category: MLB

José Alvarado’s 2026 season had already been messy. There were positives to hope for as the season goes on, there was generally some brutal BABIP and situational luck that helped inflate his ERA. Even with that, there is only so much you can argue for someone who entered tonight’s game with an ERA over six.

Then tonight’s bottom of the sixth inning happened. It took him 35 pitches because he had to face seven hitters. Three of them ended with walks to first base and with two outs, Noelvi Marte caught an inside cutter right off the left field chalk that put tonight’s game completely out of reach.

It seemed like a sure thing to pick up Alvarado’s nine-million-dollar club option after 2025, even with his PEDs suspension that derailed a promising season. It was not going to be easy to find left handers at a similar rate, especially since they moved on from Matt Strahm later in the winter.

Through 32.0 innings, Alvarado now carries a 7.04 ERA and no matter what happens over the next month, finding a left handed reliever has become a major need at the upcoming trade deadline.

Tanner Banks made his first appearance with the Phillies since being recalled, following Alan Rangel in a one-run game in the fourth. Edwin Arroyo immediately greeted Banks with a triple past Gabriel Rincones jr (that should’ve been a single).

After a TJ Friedl failed bunt attempt, three of the Reds’ top-of-the-lineup hitters stepped to the batter’s box. Elly De La Cruz smoked a slider to right field to make it 5-2. Sal Stewart muscled a fastball to right field that just barely got out of Great American Ballpark for his second home run of the night. To cap the inning off, JJ Bleday smoked a hanging slider to make it 7-2, sending Banks to the showers after recording just a single out in a preplanned bullpen game.

So besides that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?

The Phillies put together really good at bats against Chase Burns all night, drawing six walks, scoring three runs, and making him throw 106 pitches just to get through five innings. Gabriel Rincones Jr is starting to look the part of being a semi-productive strong platoon side corner bat. He is probably not an outfielder but he did smoke a double to center field off Burns and eventually scored on a Justin Crawford triple. Kyle Schwarber pulled a Chris Paul and hit home run number 32 in the ninth inning that made me change the score on the title.

Speaking of Justin Crawford, his two hits tonight have raised his OPS to .666. It’s a funny number.

This was also a game to see how some relievers would do. Max Lazar was called up yesterday and pitched a solid 1.1 innings of work, looking like the same AAAA pitcher he’s always been. Throw more splitters.

Brad Keller pitched for the Phillies for the first time since June 13, the outing where he gave up three runs against the Brewers that nearly cost the Phillies a game. It was a productive mop-up inning as a tune-up. He should probably just slot in as Mattingly’s most trusted non-closer leverage arm.

Final thoughts: The ESPN broadcast was a mess. Adam Ottavino seems like a sharp guy with some potential, he knows how to talk about the modern game and can explain difficult concepts well but still needs refinement because he hasn’t been doing this for a while.

Karl Ravech, we know what Karl Ravech is. David Ross would not stop talking and didn’t exactly say much of substance either. It was very Ben Davis-like, which is not a comparison you want to receive (as a broadcaster, Ross was a way better catcher).

Five days after he was released, the Cubs have signed outfielder Chas McCormick and assigned him to Triple-A Iowa. If you want to know what that’s about, McCormick invoked his opt-out at the beginning of the month, became a free agent, and then re-signed with the Cubs after he didn’t get a better offer from another team.

Outfielder Ethan Conrad was promoted from the ACL Cubs to Low-A Myrtle Beach. He did not play tonight.

Outfielder Derik Alcantara was also promoted to Myrtle Beach from Mesa.

Left-hander Doug Nikhazy went sent to the ACL Cubs from Triple-A Iowa.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cub deconsecrated the St. Paul Saints (Twins), 3-1.

Andrew Wentz started and got the win after he allowed just one run on three hits over 5.2 innings. Wentz struck out seven and walked two.

Phil Maton entered the game on a rehab assignment to start the seventh inning, faced five batters and retired all five of them. Maton struck out three of the five.

Vince Reilly pitched the final 1.1 innings and got the save. He only allowed one baserunner, a two-out walk in the ninth. Reilly did not strike anyone out.

All three Iowa runs came on a home run by catcher Christian Bethancourt in the second inning. It was Bethancourt’s ninth home run this year. He was 1 for 3.

Third baseman Owen Miller doubled three times today in a 3 for 4 afternoon.

Second baseman James Triantos was 2 for 4 with one run scored.

Center fielder Chas McCormick went 1 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base. He scored on the Bethancourt home run.

Bethancourt’s home run.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies pried open the Biloxi Shuckers (Brewers), 9-6.

Brooks Caple got the win with a quality start of six innings and three runs. Caple allowed the three runs on three hits and two walks. He struck out six.

Luke Little pitched a clean ninth inning for the save, retiring the side in order. Little struck out one.

Catcher Owen Ayers hit a two-run home run in the third inning. It was Ayers’ 22nd home run on the year and 16th with Knoxville. Ayers went 2 for 5 with four overall RBI.

Left fielder Carter Trice tacked on an insurance run with a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh. Trice now has 11 home runs this season. Trice was a perfect 2 for 2 with two walks. He scored twice.

Second baseman Alex Madera was 2 for 4. He scored once and had one run batted in.

Ayers’ home run.

Highlights of a six-run sixth inning.

Trice with the solo shot off the batter’s eye.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs were harvested by the Cedar Rapids Kernels (Twins), 3-2.

Nazier Mulé gave the Cubs a solid start, giving up just one run on one hit over four innings. Mulé struck out two and walked two.

Eli Jerzembeck gave up a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth and took the loss. Jerzembeck’s final line was two runs on two hits over one inning. He walked one and struck out one.

South Bend managed just three hits. Third baseman Matt Halbach doubled home shortstop Christian Olivo in the third inning. Halbach was 1 for 4. Olivo was 0 for 2 with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning for the other run.

Halbach’s double.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans killed the Fredericksburg Nationals in committee, 11-8.

Luis Martinez-Gomez started this game on a rehab assignment and just dominated. Martinez-Gomez pitched six scoreless innings and allowed just one hit as he got the win. He struck out seven and walked just one. He did hit one batter.

Third baseman Derniche Valdez homered for the second-straight night. His seventh home run of the year was a solo home run in the second inning. Valdez went 2 for 4 with a walk. He scored twice and had two overall runs batted in.

In the third inning, catcher Ivan Cespedes homered with the bases empty. It was Cespedes’ first Low-A home run and sixth overall this year. Cespedes went 1 for 3 with two walks.

Finally, first baseman Jairo Diaz connected for a two-run home run in the seventh, his second on the season. Diaz went 1 for 3 with two walks. He scored twice and had three overall RBI.

The Pelicans scored 11 runs on just five hits. It helped that three of the hits were home runs and that they drew 13 walks and were hit by three pitches.

Martinez-Gomez highlights.

The Cespedes home run.

Jairo Diaz adds on insurance runs.

ACL Cubs

Off day.

You don’t get to say this that often with the Nats, but that was a nice, easy, comfortable win. The offense was firing on all cylinders, and Foster Griffin threw another gem. A night after Blake Butera complained about all the walks, the Nats pitching staff did not issue a free pass all night.

On the other side of things, the offense was grinding out at bats all night long and worked 10 walks, while striking out just three times. Even when the Nats were not scoring in the first couple of innings, it only felt like a matter of time before they broke through.

That is exactly what happened in the middle innings, with the Nats scoring all 8 of their runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings. They had three straight multi-run innings, and put the game out of reach in a hurry. It started with the Nats walking two times to start the third, and then cashing in on those free passes. CJ Abrams hit a sac fly, then Daylen Lile smashed an RBI double off the wall.

However, the 4th inning is when this offense really started going into a feeding frenzy. They made two quick outs before just wearing out Spencer Arrighetti. Keibert Ruiz got a two out knock, before they pitched around James Word. The Astros must not have gotten the memo that Luis Garcia Jr. is the hottest hitter in baseball. He punished them by destroying a 3-run bomb to right.

Garcia reached the 20 home run mark for the first time in his career at just the 87 game mark. He has hit an insane 15 home runs in his last 30 games and has a 1.219 OPS in that time. I did not think Garcia had anything like this in him, and I am certainly not alone in that sentiment. He has always had some sneaky pop and good bat to ball skills, but the power is not very sneaky these days.

In the 5th inning, CJ Abrams also reached the 20 home run milestone. He has hit 20 before, but this ties a career high for him. Abrams has inevitably slowed down a little bit since an insane April, but he has still been highly productive. This was a very good series at the plate for him. In 6 games in July, Abrams already has 3 walks, which is a good sign because he only had 4 all of June.

Abrams seems to be locking in again in these last few games. The approach has been better, and he is getting on base much more consistently. CJ’s second half struggles have been well documented, but with this new coaching staff, I have faith that CJ will have at least a solid second half. He is off to a great start in July after a mediocre June.

We have only talked about the offense so far, but arguably the biggest story of the night was Foster Griffin. The Nationals left hander threw 7 innings of one run ball while striking out 9. He got a career high 22 whiffs, including 9 on his cutter. Despite only throwing in the low-90’s, Griffin is not just a smoke and mirrors guy. He has legit swing and miss stuff.

As he got deeper into the game, he showed that off. His 7th inning was absolutely brilliant. His first strikeout of the inning came on a beautiful changeup that he pulled the string on. Griffin finished off his night by getting Brice Matthews to chase a curve in the dirt.

Griffin has such a deep bag of pitches, and all of them work so well together. For the season, he has a 2.77 ERA in 110.1 innings. Griffin has just smashed all the expectations anyone may have set for him when he signed from Japan for $5.5 million. He has been a legitimate ace for this team and should be an All-Star.

Overall, this was a great night for the Nats. The offense was clicking, Griffin was outstanding and the bullpen did not make things overly tense. Just a nice, easy win. While the 12-11 wins are fun, your heart can only take so many of those. This was just a comfortable, relaxing win.

Hey, what do you think is the worst thing that could have happened entering Wednesday’s matchup between the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox?

Willson Contreras getting injured?

Yep, thought so.

The Red Sox were able to push their winning streak to a season-high-tying five games with a 5-0 victory at Guaranteed Rate Field, they just happened to also lose one of the best hitters in the American League. If it’s not one thing with this team, it’s another — and this one might be the most detrimental based on the timing and potential severity. Anthony Seigler, who has been superb in the leadoff spot, also suffered an injury and was immediately replaced, so it wasn’t all that great a night at the ballpark despite some pretty decent storylines unfolding.

Boston updated that both injuries were “contusions” during the middle of the game, but we all know this song and dance…

STUDS

Jake Bennett: I’ve had reservations about how long he can keep this pace, but the rookie shut me up for five more days as he tossed seven shutdown innings against one of the best offenses in baseball. If you’re going to play good defense, there are few pitchers you’d rather toe the rubber.

Tsung-Che Cheng: I love this freakin’ guy.

Cheng finished with two runs batted in while continuing to play stellar shortstop.

DUDS

Kyle Teel: I don’t think this guy is very good behind the plate…

Teel, of “Garrett Crochet trade” and “Big Three” fame, did more running around than you would hope out of a guy whose primary job is to be still in one spot, allowing two wild pitches to fly by him while corralling one and accidentally injuring an opponent. I’ve certainly seen better nights, as he also never found his way on base.

“OH BOY, HERE WE GO” OF THE GAME

Contreras and Seigler all but simultaneously suffered injuries that forced their respective removals from the contest, with the former fouling one off the top of his foot and the latter getting kneed directly in the shoulder while trying to score on a passed ball.

NOT GREAT, BOB!

I tried to warn you all…

Game Summary

The Cardinals coming off a doubleheader sweep at the hands of these same Milwaukee Brewers, and an overall 4-game losing streak faced yet another left-hander tonight in Kyle Harrison. He was not particularly sharp, giving up booming doubles to Jordan and Burleson that resulted in RBI along with a solo HR to Jose Fermin.

On the other side of the ledger, birthday boy (26) Michael McGreevy was very sharp. Arguably among one of the best games he has pitched as a big leaguer. Alec Burleson helped that along with a late 2-run HR to extend the lead to 5-0. The Brewers break thru against Gastelum for a single rally, but the Cards win 5-1.

Pre-game notes

• Harrison for the Brewers (a lefty) and a well-rested Michael McGreevy start tonight on the bump.
• A right leaning line-up tonight features Winn leading off (JJW gets a day), followed by Herrera (DH), Walker, Velazquez (LF), Burleson, Fermin (2b), Jordan (3b) and Nootbaar (CF).
• Interesting to take such a sub-optimal defense alignment to try and squeeze out a little offense with a pitch-to-contact pitcher.
• O’Brien, Soriano and Gastelum will be hot tonight in the bullpen. Unknown about Stanek. Graceffo, Svanson and Bruihl likely hands off. Romero likely in the prefer not to use category (16 pitches yesterday), but probably not hands off.

The first innings

In the first, Yelich singled, Bauers walked, and Mitchell got an infield hit but McGreevy worked around the early threat. Winn opens with a double, Ivan advances him and Walker drives him in with a double. Burleson defeats the “can’t hit lefties” narrative with an RBI double for an early 2-0 lead.

In the second Pratt singles, but Pages throws him out attempting to steal. Ortiz K’s. Jones K’s. The Cardinals go quietly in the bottom of two. That bottom of the line-up is not fear inspiring.

In the third, Yelich K’s. Chourio K’s. What is going on here? Bauers grounds out. In the bottom half, Winn lines out. So does Herrera. Walker gets on via E-4 on a 115 mph B.B. Cardinals have had five balls struck over 100 mph, so Harrison isn’t fooling many people. NV grounds out.

The middle innings

In the fourth, Contreras flies out. Mitchell grounds out. Lara K’s. McGreevy has now set down eight batters in a row. In the bottom, Burly grounds out, proving he can’t hit lefties. Fermin hits a homerun to extend the lead to 3-0. Jordan lines out. Nootbaar grounds out.

In the fifth, Pratt lines out. Ortiz grounds out. Jones pops out. Now eleven in a row. But the seventh inning looms. In the bottom half, Harrison is out and Anderson is in to pitch for the Brewers. Pages K’s. Winn grounds out. Herrera pops out.

In the sixth, Yelich grounds out. Chourio flies out and Bauers grounds out. That makes fourteen in a row set down by McGreevy. McGreevy seems intent to take the bullpen out of a seventh inning meltdown by pitching it himself. In the bottom half, Jordan leads off with an infield hit. NV K’s. Koenig now in for Anderson to face Burleson. Burleson greets him with a 2-run HR. 109 mph, 443 feet. Who says he can’t hit lefties? Fermin lines out. Jordan with an infield hit, breaking a long hitless streak. Nootbaar grounds out. Maybe he needs lessons from Burly on how to hit lefties.

Romero in for the eighth. Issues the obligatory first batter up against the lefty Yelich. I hate walks. But he gets the next three to keep the drama low. Cardinals go quietly in the bottom.

ROB in for the ninth. Other than a two out single to Pratt, no drama here either. Cardinals win 5-1.

The decisive and bitter end

McGreevy back out for the seventh at 83 pitches, working to protect a 5-0 lead. In ways, it feels like the Brewers have the Cardinals right where they want them. Out front but relying on their bullpen. Contreras flies out. Mitchell ends the streak at 15 in a row with a double. Lara singled, ending McGreevy’s night. Gastelum in his MLB debut. First and third, one out. A SacFly breaks the rookie in. A double puts two more runners in scoring position, but a comebacker ends the threat. In the bottom half, Stallings in. Pages K’s again. Winn K’s. Herrera K’s. 5-1 going into the 8th.

Romero comes in for the 8th. He has the lefty lane and naturally complicates it with a first batter walk. I hate walks! Chourio and Bauers strike out to rectify the situation and Contreras grounds out to end the top of the 8th. Walker, Church and Burleson go out quietly in the bottom of the 8th.

ROB on to pitch the ninth. A two-out single by Pratt is the only complication and the Cardinals win 5-1.

Post-Game Notes

• Check out Today on the Farm – Wednesday 7.8 for updates on MiLB action.
• The Cardinals close out the Brewers series tomorrow, a night game.
• After watching, my view that the Brewers have pretty much outclassed the Cardinals in every aspect of the game. The Cardinals do some things well, but the Brewers do those things better. The Cardinals do some things not so well and the Brewers appear to have no such infirmities. Maybe a lack of power that will limit them come playoff time, but that is quibbling.

Box Score

The Milwaukee Brewers dropped their first game since Saturday tonight, as the Cardinals put together a string of extra-base hits and the Brewers had no response in a 5-1 loss.

The Brewers threatened against Michael McGreevy right away in the first, as Christian Yelich singled, Jake Bauers walked, and Garrett Mitchell hit an infield single to load the bases with two outs for Luis Lara in his second career game. Lara grounded out to third, though, as McGreevy escaped with no runs on the board.

St. Louis then greeted Kyle Harrison rudely, as Masyn Winn, Jordan Walker, and Alec Burleson all doubled to put the Cards up 2-0 after one. Winn’s double was an odd misplay by the defense-first right fielder Lara, who took a ball off the face as he battled the sun.

Cooper Pratt started the second with a single but was caught stealing, and Joey Ortiz and Greg Jones both struck out to allow McGreevy to get through a much cleaner second inning.

Harrison worked his own 1-2-3 inning, including a catch on another adventure for Lara in right field — the rookie got twisted around as he (once again) battled the sun, making the catch and falling into the wall. Still, a nice bounce-back frame for the lefty (and for Lara after his first-inning mishap).

McGreevy worked a clean inning against the top of Milwaukee’s order in the third, while Harrison worked around an error by the second baseman Jones in the bottom of the inning. Lara added another defensive highlight, this time robbing Iván Herrera of a hit on a diving catch (see the second video above).

After yet another 1-2-3 inning for McGreevy in the top of the fourth, the Cards tacked on another run against Harrison with a solo homer by José Fermín, his fourth of the season, to make it 3-0.

McGreevy continued to mow down the Brewer lineup with another 1-2-3 inning in the fifth, though this one came with a heart-stopping 103-mph liner back at McGreevy off the bat of Pratt, though the righty was able to knock it down and prevent a scary moment.

Harrison was pulled after four innings in what was another short start for the 24-year-old pitcher. He threw just 70 pitches, allowing three runs on four hits (all extra-base hits) and no walks, striking out two.

Grant Anderson took the fifth and worked a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout, and the Brewers went down in order in the sixth, pushing McGreevy to 14 consecutive hitters set down — the last hitter to reach safely was Pratt on his leadoff single in the second.

Anderson stayed in for the bottom of the sixth, allowing a leadoff single to Walker before striking out Nelson Velázquez. Jared Koenig then entered to replace Anderson, promptly allowing a stolen base by Walker before Burleson crushed a two-run homer to right, stretching St. Louis’ lead to 5-0 through six frames.

After William Contreras flew out to start the seventh, Milwaukee finally had a baserunner reach in the form of Mitchell, who doubled into the right-center gap. Lara followed with a single to left, putting runners at the corners and marking the end of McGreevy’s day. He was replaced by Luis Gastelum, making his MLB debut, and Gastelum allowed a Pratt sac fly and an Ortiz double, but pinch-hitter Andrew Vaughn grounded out to end the inning with the deficit still at 5-1.

In an odd move, Vaughn, who replaced the second baseman Jones, stayed in the game to play third base, with Ortiz moving over to second base. Note: Vaughn has played third base before, but just 14 career innings, almost all of which came in 2021 (10 innings). It’s unknown if Brice Turang was unavailable to play for a specific reason or if Pat Murphy just wanted to give him a full day off. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more postgame.

UPDATE: It was, in fact, just a day off for Turang. In other injury news, though, Harrison has reportedly been dealing with elbow soreness, which led to his early exit tonight. He doesn’t seem concerned, though, and indicated it’s a “good time for the All-Star break.”

Garrett Stallings, who made his debut with a scoreless inning against the Reds last week, entered in the seventh and proceeded to work two perfect innings, striking out three.

Offensively, the Brewers didn’t do much of anything in the final two innings, as Yelich drew a leadoff walk in the eighth and Pratt had a two-out single in the ninth, but nobody else reached base, giving the Cardinals a 5-1 win and snapping Milwaukee’s seven-game win streak against the Cardinals and four-game overall win streak.

Harrison, Anderson, and Koenig each had at least one earned run allowed in the loss, while Stallings was the star with two perfect innings to close things out. Mitchell and Pratt each had a pair of hits, while Lara, Ortiz, and Yelich added a hit each, with Mitchell and Ortiz each hitting a double for Milwaukee’s only extra-base hits.

The Brewers will look to bounce back in Thursday’s series finale, as Logan Henderson makes his return to the mound for Milwaukee opposite Andre Pallante for St. Louis. First pitch in that one is once again set for 6:45 p.m.

We’ve seen a lot of long, frustrating losses this season. Last night’s 16-12 offensive barrage was unique even for the 2026 Mets. Following that monstrosity of a baseball game, tonight’s affair was blissfully, mercifully fairly normal in comparison. It was a fairly low-scoring evening until a sudden offensive barrage in the eighth inning, and the Mets came away with a 6-2 victory.

The Mets got the scoring started early against Royals opener Steven Cruz, as A.J. Ewing followed his four-hit barrage last night with another homer to lead off the game for the Amazins. It was Ewing’s seventh major league home run—and his first in the leadoff spot—and it quickly gave the Mets a 1-0 lead. That would prove to be the only run the bats would bring home for quite a while, as bulkman Randy Dobnak came on in the second and would go on to shut the Mets down for 5.2 scoreless innings. They came close in the bottom of third when Francisco Lindor socked a ball to deep right field with runners on first and second with two outs, but Tyler Tolbert made a terrific leaping catch against the wall to end the inning.

Thankfully for the Mets, Christian Scott was able to maintain that one-run lead during his start tonight. While Scott has overall had a pretty solid 2026, going deep into games has been an issue for him—as mentioned by Gary Cohen on the broadcast, he had not made it through five innings in any of the past three starts. Tonight, he managed to make it through five scoreless innings, giving up just three hits and one walk while striking out five. The most meaningful threat against him came in the top of the second when he surrendered a two-out walk and single, respectively, before inducing a pop fly to second base from the previously unstoppable Tolbert. All told, it was an encouraging outing from one of the few bright spots in the team’s starting rotation.

Unfortunately, the Mets quickly surrendered the lead when Scott exited the game. Tobias Myers was just recalled from the minors today, and he came on for the top of the sixth. He gave up a one-out double to Jac Caglianone, and after a groundout to third brought him within one out of getting out of the inning, Salvador Perez lined a 3-2 pitch to left field to bring the tying run home. Thus, Scott would receive a no-decision despite his solid start, and we were square even once more.

Myers got out of that inning and managed to toss a scoreless top of the seventh. Brooks Raley then came on and contributed a scoreless inning of his own. The Mets’ bats, meanwhile, continued to look hapless following the leadoff homer. Reliever Alex Lange came on for the eighth inning and quickly recorded the first two outs, and it looked like it was going to be yet another scoreless frame. Then Lindor lined a single to the outfield to break up a lengthy hitless stretch. Carson Benge followed that with a walk, and then Jorge Polanco hit a dribbler to first base and made it safely when Caglionone made an errant toss to the pitcher covering the bag. That loaded the bases for Jared Young, though Lange got him to two strikes and was one pitch away from getting out of the inning. His 2-2 pitch, however, nicked Young in the elbow, and that brought home the go-ahead run. The Mets then further capitalized on the Royals’ misfortunes when Brett Baty lined a single to center to bring two more runs home and put Young on third base. Lange then made his exit in favor of Jose Cuas, and his very first pitch sailed to the backstop to bring another run home and move Baty to second. Francisco Alvarez then blooped yet another single to left, bringing home the fifth run of the inning. Ewing followed that with a double, and Juan Soto was then intentionally walked to make it eight straight baserunners reaching base following the first two outs. Bo Bichette struck out to finally end it.

The suddenly comfortably 6-1 lead allowed Andy Green to rest his high-leverage relievers, and he instead turned to new arrival Xzavion Curry to close things out. It would have been quite a 2026 Mets thing for him to quickly allow the Royals back into the game and make things suddenly dramatic in the worst possible way. And indeed, after retiring the first two batters, Curry did surrender a walk and a double to bring home a run and make it 6-2. Thankfully, that was all the drama we were gonna get, as he struck out Bobby Witt Jr. to end it and give the Mets the victory. Now they will go for the series victory tomorrow afternoon.

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Christian Scott, +28% WPA
Big Mets loser: Juan Soto and Bo Bichette, -6% WPA
Mets pitchers: +38% WPA
Mets hitters: +12% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Jared Young RBI hit-by-pitch in the eighth, +25.0% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Salvador Perez RBI single in the sixth, -14.9% WPA

The Royals could not continue the offensive explosion of the last two games for another day. We saw baseball style scoring rather than football on Wednesday, at least until right at the end. New York scored 5 runs in the 8th inning to take this one 6-2.

New York got off to a fast start. Steven Cruz grooved a 2-0 pitch to leadoff hitter AJ Ewing and he drove it over the wall a little right of center. It was not an ideal start for Cruz as the opener, but he struck out two and got out of his inning with only one run of damage done.

Christian Scott made the start for New York and he had a solid night. In the first, Bobby Witt got an infield single without really having any threat from there. His second frame he walked Nick Loftin and then Isaac Collins singled to move Loftin to third and create the only jam of the night for Scott. He got out of it. Then he went on to three easy innings. He could not go deep in the game, however, due to those first two innings taking 49 pitches. It took 8 pitches to strike out Lane Thomas in the first and 7 a piece on the walk and single in the second. So, Scott looked very good and also left after five innings.

That mattered because the Mets bullpen was pretty taxed, so taxed that they had pulled up two arms from the minors in moves earlier today. One of those called up, Tobias Myers, came in for the 6th and 7th. Jac Caglianone lined a 113 MPH ball off the wall in right center for a double in the 6th and then moved to third on Lane’s groundout to third that pulled Bichette into foul territory and opened up the bag for Cags to take. Salvador Perez battled Myers until he got the 9th pitch of the at bat for a single to bring in Caglianone and tie the game up 1-1.

I want to apologize for throwing some shade toward Randy Dobnak in the game discussion writeup. He took over for Cruz in the second and then went 5 2/3 innings as the bulk guy. He had some help from the defense. In particular, he got in a bit of trouble in the 3rd inning. With 2 outs, Juan Soto did what he does and took a walk. Bo Bichette followed that up with a single to center and brought Francisco Lindor up with two runners on. He hit the ball well to right field, but Tyler Tolbert made a running catch at the wall that I wanted to embed here for you and MLB Film Room has it linked wrong, sorry.

Regardless, a few hard-hit balls and one near miss was all Dobnak really gave the Mets. He finished with a line of 5 2/3 IP, 3H, 3BB, 2K, 0ER before Matt Strahm came in to finish the 7th on a strike out call that Ewing wanted to challenge. The Mets has lost both challenges already, and if they had not, he would have lost that one. We were now into a bullpen battle.

Lane Thomas doubled off of Brooks Raley in the 8th to give the Royals a chance at a lead. It was not to be and it started to shuffle some players around. Starling Marte pinch hit for Michael Massey with two outs and ended the inning. He moved to right field where Tolbert had been, and Tolbert took over second base. Alex Lange came in for the 8th with Soto, Bichette, and Lindor coming up. Now he is fireman rather than traditional closer? Lange made quick work of the first two before Lindor singled to right and Carson Benge worked a walk in a long plate appearance. Jorge Polance came up for just the second NY attempt with a runner in scoring position. He hit a roller to Jac at first in a weird spot that made it hard for Lange to cover first. That led to an awkward and late flip to first and loaded up the bases for Jared Young who Alex hit with a pitch on the elbow to give the lead back to the Mets. Brett Baty quickly extended the Mets new lead with a single to the right center gap, 4-1 and Jose Cuas was brought in to try and end this long two out rally.

Cuas’ first pitch was WAY outside to add yet another run to ledger and the inning just would not end. Franciso Alvarez singled to left and scored Baty. Ewing followed that with a double and Soto was intentionally walked so that the bases were loaded yet again.

Xzavion Curry came in for the Mets in the 9th, his debut for them and for 2026. He has a track record that said the Royals had a shot a big comeback. Similar to the disaster 8th for the Royals, the Mets got two outs right away and looked comfortable. Josh Rojas came on to pinch hit with no one on and two down and worked a walk. Carter Jensen doubled to drive him in and make it look like the comeback could be on. But Bobby struck out and the game was over.

This series will be decided starting at noon central tomorrow. Then one more series to the All-Star Break and Jac Caglianone’s home run derby debut.

The Mets found a way to break a 1-1 tie in the eighth inning and beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-2.

New York took advantage of Kansas City's mistakes in the bottom of the eighth, rattling off five runs with two outs. Jorge Polanco somehow reached first safely to load the bases and Jared Young was hit by a pitch to drive in the go-ahead run. With the inning extended, Brett Baty gave the team some breathing room with a two-run single, a wild pitch scored a run, and Francisco Alvarez drove in another.

Here are the takeaways...

-- After recording his first career four-hit game in Tuesday's wild loss, A.J. Ewing smashed his first career leadoff home run off of Steven Cruz to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.

He's the fifth different Met to hit a leadoff homer this season, joining Francisco Lindor, Bo Bichette, Juan Soto, and Carson Benge. The last time five Mets hit a leadoff home run in a season came in 1962.

-- Christian Scott had one of his best outings of the season by tossing five scoreless innings, lowering his season ERA to 3.17.

The young right-hander needed 49 pitches to get through the first two innings scoreless, but was able to settle down for two quicker frames in the third and fourth innings (25 pitches combined). Scott kept it going with a 1-2-3 fifth inning, but that would be all after reaching 90 pitches. Overall, he allowed three hits, struck out five, and walked one.

-- Lindor nearly had a huge hit in the bottom of the third inning with two runners on base, but Tuesday's star Tyler Tolbert made a leaping catch at the wall in right field for the third out.

-- Tobias Myers, who was recalled from Triple-A earlier Wednesday, replaced Scott on the mound in the sixth inning. Although it didn't go as he'd like, as he allowed a one-out double to Jac Caglianone and an RBI-single to Salvador Perez that tied the game at 1-1.

Myers returned to pitch the seventh inning and escaped some trouble, including a leadoff double, to keep the game knotted up. In total, he allowed one run on three hits over 2.0 IP with one strikeout and one walk.

-- The Mets bats struggled against Royals bulk reliever Randy Dobnak, getting just three hits (two by Benge) against him over 5.2 innings into the bottom of the seventh. Francisco Alvarez walked with two outs, ending Dobnak's day, but was left stranded as Ewing struck out looking on a questionable call and couldn't challenge since they had none remaining.

-- Xzavion Curry made his team debut in the ninth with a five-run lead, allowing one run on a double with a walk.

Game MVP: Christian Scott

Scott silenced the Royals' bats after they put up 19 hits and 16 runs on Tuesday night.

Highlights

A.J. Ewing's first career leadoff homer! pic.twitter.com/wXNkUgz8Va

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 8, 2026

Christian Scott is fired up after striking out Carter Jensen to end the top of the 5th inning pic.twitter.com/tw0hBxHjOz

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 9, 2026

Jared Young gets hit with the bases loaded and the Mets lead 2-1! pic.twitter.com/Q0MTRF4A1u

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 9, 2026

A two-run double for Brett Baty extends the Mets' lead to 4-1! pic.twitter.com/DkW8vfIX3U

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 9, 2026

Jose Cuas' first pitch is a wild one and the Mets' score their fourth run of the 8th inning! pic.twitter.com/A2dHR7uJt1

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 9, 2026

The two-out rally continues!

5 runs in the 8th inning after this RBI single from Francisco Alvarez! pic.twitter.com/9zl6q7BHe6

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 9, 2026

What's next

The Mets wrap up their three-game series on Thursday against the Royals at 1:10 p.m. on SNY.

Sean Manaea (1-4, 4.76 ERA) will take the mound opposed by Michael Wacha (5-6, 3.45 ERA).

The Athletics squared off with the Detroit Tigers in the middle game of this three-game series between these two historic American League franchises. The Tigers scored early and never looked back, winning 6-1 to take the series and leave the A’s sitting ten games under .500.

Tigers Strike First

Tigers’ starter Troy Melton needed only eight pitches to retire the side in the first inning. Meanwhile, A’s starter Jeffrey Springs got off to a rocky start. Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler reached second base on an infield single coupled with A’s third baseman Zack Gelof’s throwing error. Springs then walked two straight hitters to load the bases with only one out.

Left fielder Riley Greene’s RBI single brought home the Tigers first run of the game. Springs retired the next two batters to limit the damage, although he needed 34 pitches to get through that high-stress first inning.

A’s Waste Chance to Respond

In the second inning, A’s right fielder Lawrence Butler hit a two-out double. He advanced to third on second baseman Joshua Kuroda-Grauer’s infield single. Alas, the visitors wasted their first scoring opportunity as Melton struck out Carlos Cortes to end the inning.

Tigers Roar

In the bottom of the second inning, Jeff McNeil took over at first base for Nick Kurtz, who left the game due to illness. That marks two straight days the team has had a player exit the game early, suggesting an illness may be spreading through the A’s clubhouse.

The Tigers extended their lead that inning. Backup catcher Jake Rogers, pinch-hitting for injured starter Dingler, hit his second home run of the season, a two-out, two-run shot to left-center field.

A’s Catch a Break

The A’s scored their lone run in the fourth inning. With one out, Tyler Soderstrom doubled. He scored on Tigers’ shortstop Zach McKinstry’s throwing error. For the second consecutive time, Kuroda-Grauer’s infield single advanced a base runner 90 feet before Cortes struck out to end an A’s rally. The shine has worn off from Cortes, who now looks like the player that failed to break through with the New York Mets earlier in his career.

Springs: Batting Practice Pitcher!

After throwing two straight scoreless innings to keep the A’s deficit at two, the Tigers got to Springs in the fifth inning. Back-to-back singles set up runners at the corners with one out. Springs promptly served up his second home run of the night. First baseman Spencer Torkelson hit his 15th of the season, a three-run shot to left field, making it a 6-1 ballgame.

A’s manager Mark Kotsay finally removed Springs, replacing him with right-handed reliever Justin Sterner, who got the final two outs of that inning. Springs struggled again, allowing six runs on six hits plus four walks in 4 1/3 innings.

It seems that no matter where he pitches, he is prone to giving up the long ball. Springs has given up more home runs over his last 15 starts than any pitcher in A’s history. With an ERA north of 6.00, it may be time for the A’s to consider moving Springs to the bullpen.

If they do not view him as a part of their plans moving forward, a trade could be another option. However, it is unclear whether the Athletics have a better internal replacement should they decide to make that switch before his next start, which would come after the All-Star break. As it stands, the A’s are using an MLB high 4.2 pitchers per game, a reflection of how many short outings they have recently received from their starting pitchers.

If the A’s want to contend for a playoff spot, they need more young, hard-throwing pitchers like Melton, not soft-tossing veterans such as Springs and fellow starter Aaron Civale. At this point, it might do the club good to bring in new pitching coaches and see if fresh voices in the pitchers’ ears can help this team’s talented young arms improve.

Melton’s Dominance Continues

Melton’s outing ended after he walked Soderstrom with one out in the sixth inning. The young right-hander fared much better, allowing just one unearned run on four hits over 5 1/3 innings. He walked only one while striking out nine, and his overpowering stuff was on full display all evening.

A’s Late Offensive Rallies Die

Right-hander Keider Montero entered out of the Tigers’ bullpen. He walked A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson before retiring the next two batters on groundouts. The visitors stranded two more runners in scoring position, wasting another scoring opportunity.

In the seventh, the A’s failed to cash in with runners in scoring position for a second straight inning. Meanwhile, A’s relievers Mason Barnett and Jose Suarez kept the score unchanged, combining to pitch the final three innings of the game.

Kuroda-Grauer was arguably the A’s lone offensive bright spot. He added his third hit in the ninth inning, giving him his third three-hit game in just eight MLB appearances. Unfortunately, the rest of the A’s lineup contributed next to nothing in a game where the visitors once again had to play from behind. The “Green and Gold” finished the night 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base.

The free-falling Athletics will look to avoid a second consecutive sweep tomorrow afternoon. The pitching matchup features Jack Perkins taking on longtime A’s nemesis Framber Valdez. The former Houston Astros’ standout has not fared as well in his first year with Detroit.

The rubber game of Dodgers vs Rockies is upon us. What late-game weirdness is in store for us tonight?

Wednesday game info

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

The Orioles entered this homestand in need of a series win to keep their slim playoff chances afloat. Baltimore dropped the opener on Tuesday, and the team continued to spiral out of contention tonight.

Pete Alonso gave the Orioles an early two-run lead, but Dean Kremer allowed three home runs in the fifth inning. Chicago struck for five more in the seventh, and Baltimore’s rally fell short in a 9-7 defeat.

Kremer made his first mistake in the top of the third inning. The righty threw Pete Crow-Armstrong three consecutive splitters in the same location. Crow-Armstrong went swing and a miss for strike one, swing and a miss for strike two, swing and a solo home run for a 1-0 lead.

Baltimore’s offense showed some life in the fourth inning. Blaze Alexander and Jackson Holliday put runners on the corners with a pair of singles. Gunnar Henderson bounced into a double play, but the twin killing still allowed the tying run to score.

Kremer posted a zero in the fourth with some help from a caught stealing by Adley Rutschman, and Alonso gave the Birds the lead with a two-run blast in the bottom half. Unfortunately, Kremer failed to deliver the shutdown inning.

Michael Conforto launched the first pitch of the inning over the fence in right field, and Carson Kelly obliterated the second pitch of the frame to tie the game at three. Conforto ambushed a first-pitch fastball that was north of the strike zone, but Kremer grooved a cutter to Kelly.

Kremer retired Dansby Swanson for the first out, but Crow-Armstrong stepped in for his second blast of the game. The All Star gave the Cubs the lead with a solo shot to center, and the Orioles never recovered.

Holliday led off the bottom half with an opposite-field single, but Henderson grounded into his second double play of the evening. Rico Garcia entered and posted a zero in the sixth, but Chicago broke the game open in the seventh.

Garcia retired Conforto before allowing a single and a walk. Craig Albernaz summoned Grant Wolfram to face Crow-Armstrong, and Wolfram struggled to find the strike zone. The lefty walked PCA to load the bases and surrendered a sacrifice fly to Alex Bregman.

Wolfram came within one strike of ending the inning with the game still in reach, but he lost Michael Bush to reload the bases. The Cubs scored their sixth run of the game on a wild pitch by Wolfram, and Seiya Suzuki put the game out of reach with a three-run blast.

The Orioles did their best to battle back. Tyler O’Neill hit a pinch-hit home run to start the seventh, and the Orioles used three singles to manufacture their fifth run of the game. Alonso stepped up with two outs and runners on the corners, but the Polar Bear flew out to center.

Albert Suárez tossed a scoreless eighth, and Baltimore continued to claw their way back in the eighth inning. Coby Mayo launched a ball to the second deck in left field, and O’Neill followed with his second home run of the game.

Holliday hit a ball off the top of the wall for his fourth hit of the game, and Henderson lined a ball up the middle at 103.6 MPH. Henderson nearly broke through for his first hit of the game, but Swanson made a diving catch to rob Baltimore’s shortstop and keep the lead at two.

Tyler Wells tossed a scoreless ninth, but Baltimore’s two, three and four hitters went quietly in the bottom of the ninth. Rutschman, Ward and Alonso all grounded out to prevent the tying run from ever reaching the plate.

The Orioles would have killed for seven runs in several of their recent losses, but they were done in by an 8-0 run tonight. Holliday finished 4-for-4, O’Neill tallied 40% of his home runs this season, and Mayo showed off his power against lefties. Both Ward and Dylan Beavers notched multi-hit games, but the pitching let the team down.

Baltimore fell to 42-51. The O’s will look to avoid the sweep tomorrow with Trevor Rogers on the mound.

The San Francisco Giants have a lot to consider at this juncture of the MLB season.

There were mid-level expectations for the Giants at the start of the season. On paper, it seemed like the Giants could battle for a wild card berth.

The Giants won't meet those expectations.

A week before the All-Star break, San Francisco has the third-worst record in baseball at 38-54. The Giants lost 10-0 to the Toronto Blue Jays on July 8, held hitless through eight innings.

It's becoming increasingly obvious that this team won't be competitive down the stretch, which has many of the Giants faithful singing a NxWorries tune, wondering what to do and where to go from here.

It's evident that a shake-up is needed. It's simply a matter of where they start and what they can realistically do to change things in the dugout. But one thing's for sure: the Giants are sellers heading into the trade deadline.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — For the first time in three games, the Yankees did not strike out 17 times Wednesday night, so there was that.

Otherwise, their lineup remained abysmal as their deficit in the AL East grew larger.

The Yankees wasted a quality pitching effort from Gerrit Cole because the only thing they are doing consistently well of late is slumping together offensively, their latest collective dud resulting in a 3-0 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field.

In a game in which their frustration began to boil over, with Aaron Boone and bench coach Brad Ausmus both getting ejected in the sixth inning, the Yankees (50-42) lost for the 11th time in their past 13 games while dropping to five games back of the Rays (54-36) for the division lead.

“Just looking at the outcomes, it’s not where we want to be, and it’s not good enough to compete for first place right now,” Cole said.

After the Yankees had struck out 17 times in each of the first two games of this series, they whiffed just 11 times Wednesday, yet they still mustered just six hits (all singles, only three of which left the infield) as they were stifled by lefty Shane McClanahan and the Rays bullpen.

They had just one hard-hit ball all night, coming on a Ben Rice groundout.

They will try to salvage a series split Thursday afternoon, but that will be a difficult task against Rays All-Star Drew Rasmussen, who has pitched the Yankees tough (including 13 shutout innings this season) even when they are not going through a death spiral.

“You can feel it,” José Caballero said of the lineup’s struggles. “Personally, I think it’s us thinking about the bad stretch and taking it heavy on ourselves. I can speak for myself, I don’t like knowing that the last seven to 10 games, I’m doing bad. You think about it too long and it doesn’t get easier if you continue thinking about it. For me, we should just keep it simple and trust the room. We know how good we can be and we know how good we are.”

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

During the first three games of this series, the Yankees have recorded 45 strikeouts and two walks.

The Rays always pitch them tough, but this is taking that to another level of dominance.

The top four hitters in the Yankees lineup — Paul Goldschmidt, Ben Rice, Amed Rosario and Cody Bellinger — went a combined 2-for-16 on Wednesday.

Goldschmidt is now in an 0-for-34 skid after striking out three more times, giving him 10 punchouts over his past three games before he likely sits Thursday.

Bellinger went 0-for-4 and is now in an 8-for-70 (.114) slump.

“Obviously offensively now is a real struggle for us. I keep saying that,” Boone said. “It’s no secret. There’s no magic pill. … I do believe we’ll get through this, but there’s not much more to talk about. We got to go make some things happen.”

Cole allowed three runs across 6 ¹/₃ innings while throwing 97 pitches, his most since returning from Tommy John surgery.

He was hurt by the top two hitters in the Rays lineup, on a night when Yandy Díaz had four hits and Jonathan Aranda drove in all three runs.

But even a shutout wouldn’t have been enough.

The Yankees had a chance to take a lead in the second inning after back-to-back singles by Jasson Domínguez and Anthony Volpe with one out.

But Max Schuemann came up next and dropped down a safety-squeeze bunt to the pitcher, but Domínguez got a late break from third and was easily thrown out at the plate.

Austin Wells followed by popping out in foul territory, on the way to finishing the night batting .148.

McClanahan retired 10 straight batters into the sixth inning, when Caballero led off with a bunt single. But he was soon erased on a strike-’em-out, throw-’em-out double play with Goldschmidt providing the whiff.

The Yankees tried to challenge the play at second, but did so too late, which resulted in Boone and Ausmus getting tossed by home plate umpire Doug Eddings.

“I feel like sometimes you get beat up a little bit, you can have that defeated feeling,” Boone said. “We got to avoid that. This game waits for no one. It’s hard as can be. We got to get over ourselves in that.”

As Alex Weiner noted last night, the D-backs after 91 games have exactly the same 45-46 point they had after 91 games in both 2024 and 2025. Of course, in neither of the previous season did Arizona end up making the playoffs. But things the rest of the way went rather different. In 2024, the D-backs had the second-best record in the National League from this point on, going 44-27. Unfortunately, the New York Mets were almost as good, and their 45-28 mark proved sufficient to bring them into a three-way tie with the Diamondbacks on 89 wins, and that infamous double-header against the Braves which saw both side win the tie-breaker against us.

In 2025, however, the mediocrity continued. They were a mere 35-36 thereafter, on their way to eighty wins. However, the bar was considerably lower to reach the post-season. A mere 83 wins was sufficient for the Reds to make the playoffs – ironically, it was the Mets turn to lose out on the tiebreaker. The D-backs could have been involved as well. In their penultimate series, they walked off the Dodgers to move to 80-77: winning three of their last five contests would have had them finish on 83 wins as well (though they dropped the season series to the Reds anyway). But they lost all five contests, and were eliminated after Friday night’s loss in San Diego.

Which way will things break over the remainder of 2026? Only time will tell. We don’t know if the team will buy or sell, and that could well be a factor. Or maybe not. After all, Mike Hazen sold last year, but the D-backs then went on a bit of a tear to keep things interesting into the final week. Meanwhile, the 2024 team bought A.J. Puk and Josh Bell, and after 140 games were 2.5 games clear. But they played below .500 ball the rest of the way, going 10-12, and that ended up costing them. So it’s very hard to predict. But as the chart above shows, the rest of the way we can’t possibly find ourselves with the same record as 2025 and 2024 again!