Category: MLB

Day 4 of the search for an Aaron Judge injury diagnosis involved more waiting and question marks, but one potentially concerning revelation.

The specialist that the Yankees were waiting on as of late Thursday afternoon to review Judge’s second round of tests was Dr. Gregory Pearl, who focuses on “complex vascular procedures and thoracic outlet syndrome management in high-performance athletes,” according to his practice’s website.

It is possible that this second opinion was just to rule out a worst-case scenario like thoracic outlet syndrome — which is found more often in pitchers but typically requires surgery — though the Yankees remained in a holding pattern with the three-time American League MVP until they knew exactly what they were dealing with.

“I promise you, when we know, we’re going to give it to you,” manager Aaron Boone said Thursday after a 2-1 win over the Guardians at Yankee Stadium. “I wanted to walk in here and give you something so bad. I want [a diagnosis] too.”

“I checked in the middle of the game, I ran in and asked and we’re waiting on the specialist to weigh in. That’s where we’re at. … It’s a lot of smart people in a specialized area, and guys several states away. Just got to be patient.”

The injury concern has loomed over the Yankees all week.

Judge, who was experiencing shoulder soreness that was affecting his swing, got initial testing on Monday that the team said showed a bone bruise near his right rib cage.

He saw the Yankees’ team doctor on Tuesday and had his imaging reviewed by Pearl, a specialist based in Texas, on Wednesday, which led to more testing Wednesday night (another MRI) and Thursday morning (CT scan and X-ray).

Given all of that, the real question seems to be how much time Judge will miss rather than whether he goes on the injured list, though as of Thursday, the Yankees insisted they did not yet know the answer to either.

“I just think it’s a complicated spot and there’s some edema [swelling] that complicates how they look at it,” Boone said. “I’m obviously not a doctor, I don’t know how it all works, but there’s a lot of people involved trying to make sure we get the right diagnosis.”

Former Met Jeff McNeil is the most recent example of a position player who had thoracic outlet syndrome. He underwent surgery in October but was ready in time for spring training with the A’s.

Other cases include former Rays catcher Mike Zunino, who underwent surgery in July of 2022 and missed the rest of the season, and former Angels first baseman Jared Walsh, who had surgery in August of 2022 and also missed the rest of the year.

Losing one of the best players in baseball for any period of time would hurt the Yankees, especially given how they have played while Judge has been injured in other seasons, but whether that is a short-term problem or something more severe remains to be seen.

“It kind of sucks not having a three-time MVP in your lineup,” Jazz Chisholm Jr. said. “But at the same time, we all know we can’t use it as an excuse. We’re all baseball players and we got to go out there and win a game.”

Thursday notes…

• STREAKING THE WRONG WAY: The Cubs have lost eight consecutive games at home. This is their 17th streak of at least eight straight losses at home since 1901. The most recent was a team-record 13 games July 27-Aug. 22, 2021. That eclipsed the 12 in a row to start the 1994 season, which had topped the 11 games July 25-Aug. 22, 1902. They have had two streaks of 10 games and three streaks of nine, two of them in 2006 and 2021. This is their ninth of eight. The most recent to end at eight was Aug. 6-20, 2010. The seven before then all were between 1938 and 1974. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• HISTORY, THE WRONG WAY: With their losses in the last the three games, the Cubs have fallen below .500 — since Opening Day of 2021, the first full season after the pandemic: 435 wins and 437 losses. They were: 71-91 in 2021 (20 games below .500); 74-88 in 2022 (14 below, total of -34); 83-79 in 2023 (4 above, total of -30); 83-79 in 2024 (4 above, total of -26); 92-70 in 2025 (22 above, total of -4); 32-30 in 2026 (2 above, total of -2). In 2015-20, the Cubs were 140 games above .500, with 505 wins, 365 losses and 1 tie, for a percentage of .580. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• STREAKING PCA: Pete Crow-Armstrong is on an eight-game hitting streak in which he is batting .343/.410/.600 (12-for-35) with three doubles, two home runs, five RBI and six runs scored.
• TODAY IN CUBS HISTORY: Fergie Jenkins throws a three-hit shutout, striking out six, and the Cubs thrash the Braves 11-0 in Atlanta. Joe Pepitone goes 4-for-6 with a home run and three RBI. It happened 55 years ago today, Friday, June 4, 1971.

Cubs lineup:

Athletics lineup:

Shōta Imanaga, LHP vs. J.T. Ginn, RHP

Didn’t we just do this Tuesday? Shōta Imanaga’s last three starts have been just awful. He’s allowed 21 hits and five walks (1.660 WHIP) in 15.2 innings, with 20 (!) earned runs (11.49 ERA) and eight home runs. He was striking out a lot of guys earlier in the season (28 percent K rate over his first nine starts) but that has plunged to just 13.7 percent over those last three starts, suggesting… I dunno, velocity drop? Injury? Both?

In any case, it’s not good.

His only career start vs. the A’s was Sept. 16, 2024 at Wrigley Field. He allowed two runs in seven innings (a two-run homer by Brent Rooker) and struck out 11.

It would be nice for Shōta to get back there.

J.T. Ginn has been the A’s best starter this year since he joined their rotation in mid-April. In 10 starts since then: 2.56 ERA, 1.139 WHIP, has allowed more than two runs just once in that 10-start span.

One thing he’s had a bit of trouble with is walks — his 24 walks among 213 batters faced as a starter this year is an 11.3 percent walk rate, which is kind of high. So maybe the Cubs can, for once, be patient?

Ginn has never faced the Cubs and only two Cubs (Alex Bregman, 1-for-2 and Carson Kelly, 0-for-2) have ever seen him.

One potentially good thing: Ginn is right-handed, the first RH starter the Cubs have seen in this series. They are 25-21 vs. RH starters this year, just 7-9 vs. LH starters.

Here is the weather forecast for the area around Wrigley Field.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network.

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Athletics site Athletics Nation. If you do go there to interact with A’s fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.

You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

The vibes couldn’t have been higher for the White Sox in May, which sets the stage for Chris Getz to do almost anything he wants without upsetting fans. The crew went 18-10 and came out of the month with a positive run differential for the first time since last July, when Chicago went on a heater and came the closest to posting a winning month since May 2023. Everything was sunny for the South Siders, but let’s take a deeper look at the common threads that underlie this team’s performance.

One team’s benchwarmers are another team’s starters

Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to player swaps. I hate to hand it to Getsz (in reality, the majority of the credit should go to the scouting and baseball operations departments), but the trades and free agent signings he cooked up during the last two trade deadlines and offseasons are turning out to be some of the smartest moves made to this day.

Giving up Michael Kopech for anyone but a proven major leaguer initially seemed ludicrous, but Miguel Vargas’ breakout campaign is proving the trade’s early critics wrong. Vargas recorded a hearty .250/.356/.510 slash line, seven home runs, 19 RBIs, and 14 walks in 100 at-bats. Although his productivity wasn’t as high as Munetaka Murakami’s, his reliability in the lineup came up clutch to tip the scales in Chicago’s favor multiple times. His latest two-run blast punctured the wounded Tigers and made a poignant statement that the Sox will do more than play spoiler in the AL Central.

Similarly, former Banana baller Tristan Peters has quickly quelled worries about the outfield. His exceptional .293/.354/.415 slash line and stellar glove have prevented losses and saved several games that a 1.6 WAR doesn’t adequately reflect, but at least his 2.91 range factor in nine innings comes close. Drafted by the Brewers in 2021, Peters only played four games last year with the Rays, one of which was his MLB debut. The Sox paid cash for Peters in December, representing the only offseason move made by the Sox until the Murakami signing. Now, he’s a staple in the Sox’s outfield platoon.

Not every trade is a success, but it’s nice to see that the Sox are finally benefiting from some of these seemingly one-sided exchanges. These guys don’t need to become MVPs to provide value and be difference makers.

Talent dispersion outweighs concentration in small markets

For a team whose payroll wouldn’t meet MLB’s proposed $171.2 million salary floor, the Sox are serving as the poster child for why salary caps and floors won’t immediately solve MLB’s economic disparities. 

Although there’s no denying that Murakami was the most underrated free agent signing by the Sox or any smaller market MLB team this season, Murakami’s co-stars deserve a hand clap. In May, the Sox ranked fifth in runs (141), first in home runs (42), third in RBIs (141), seventh in batting average and on-base percentage (.252 and .328, respectively), and fifth in slugging percentage (.435). Murakami ranked in the top 10 in only two of those six categories. This proves that although he may be most often in the national spotlight, he isn’t the only one pulling the cart.

The same goes for pitching. Davis Martin may be a top-five contender for the AL Cy Young after publishing a 4-0 record, 2.05 ERA, 38 punchouts, and .188 batting average allowed in May, but this rotation and bullpen don’t rely on just one guy. Bryan Hudson, Grant Taylor, Sean Newcomb, and Anthony Kay combined for a sub-1.70 ERA and 77 strikeouts in nearly 78 innings in May. On most teams, those numbers would make them a major storyline.

To survive a trade deadline that is expected to be a seller’s market, with the CBA renewal negotiations going as expected, and to stay within playoff contention, everyone on the Sox needs to pull their weight. 

Summary Metrics

Trade Confidence (How many players traded for are making valuable contributions to the organization?): 30%

Average Innings Watched (Average number of innings fans have patience for): 9…? Wait, yes, that’s right

Rebuild Index (1 is full rebuild, 5 is sustaining current pace, 10 is aggressively pursuing a World Series): 6

MILWAUKEE — Gary Pettis must be so confused.

Since he arrived two days ago, the Giants have looked nothing like a team that was floundering so badly it needed to bring in a new third-base coach just two months into the season.

They’ve strung together two complete, generally clean efforts in a row — an accomplishment for a team that hasn’t won more than three consecutive games all year.

And it has come against no slouch.

Casey Schmitt slugged his 13th home run of the season on the first pitch from Brewers starter Coleman Crow and the Giants kept on hitting enough to survive a subpar start from Adrian Houser against his former team, knocking off the NL Central leaders Thursday afternoon for the second straight game, 12-9, to claim a split of the four-game set.

Catcher Eric Haase, another former Brewer, added a cherry on top of the win with a grand slam to straightaway center before an out had been recorded in the seventh.

Drew Gilbert even got redemption for the catch he missed at the wall earlier in the series, leaping for a spectacular home run robbery of Andrew Vaughn for the final out of the eighth.

Perhaps the only knocks were a throw in the dirt from Willy Adames that Rafael Devers wasn’t able to scoop and the pitching staff’s ongoing affinity for issuing bases on balls — three in 4 ⅓ innings from Houser, whose day was over after serving up a two-run shot to Jackson Chourio, plus five more from the bullpen for 28 total over the course of the series.

“Not that the pitchers didn’t do some good things,” manager Tony Vitello said. “But you’re not going to win games when you have eight walks. You’re just not.”

Vitello was forced to turn to his closer, despite leading by five runs, after Wilkin Ramos failed to record an out and walked home a run in the ninth. Representing the tying run, David Hamilton sent a fastball from Caleb Killian to the warning track in center field but it just stayed in the park for a far more stressful final out than there should have been.

San Francisco led 3-0 after bringing nine men to the plate in the top of the first and added on with back-to-back doubles from Adames and Jung Hoo Lee that began another three-run rally in the third. That, it turned out, was merely an appetizer for a six-run seventh inning in which 11 batters came to the plate.

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It made for plenty of activity for Ron Wotus in his final game as the interim third-base coach.

When the Giants take the field Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field, Pettis will be standing in the box, hoping to get as many opportunities to wave runners home.

What it means

The Giants haven’t enjoyed many games like these, let alone strung them together.

Logan Webb was hopeful his seven shutout innings in Wednesday’s 1-0 win would set the tone for the Giants to begin to flip the script. It didn’t translate to the next man up in the rotation, but maybe it was the start of something positive nonetheless.

“The blueprint is there,” Vitello said.

Who’s hot

Jung Hoo Lee singled three times, doubled and scored three runs, extending his hitting streak to a career-long 12 games. Over the course of the stretch — the longest active streak in the majors and the longest by a Giant since Dominic Smith’s 15-gamer last year — Lee is batting a remarkable 24-for-45, including five multi-hit efforts in seven games since returning from the IL.

Lee’s 19 hits in seven games since returning from the IL are the most any Giants hitter has had in a seven-game span since Bill Terry in 1932.

Bryce Eldridge also extended his on-base streak to 11 games with an RBI single to drive in Luis Arraez in the first, then worked a walk and scored in the third and lined another single to right field on the sixth pitch of his third trip to the plate. 

Schmitt, meanwhile, set a career high for home runs in the 63rd game of the season and is making a strong case to represent the Giants at the All-Star Game next month.

Who’s not

Just about everyone has gotten in on the good times the past two games.

Except for Rafael Devers.

The first baseman is back in the slump that he appeared to have broken out of in May, when he slashed .306/.356/.593 with 14 doubles, tying a franchise record for the most in one month.

Since the calendar flipped to June, Devers had been 0-for-16 with eight strikeouts until he lifted a double off the right-field wall in the top of the ninth.

Still, Devers was already responsible for one of the Giants’ hardest-hit balls of the game — a 107 mph line drive that went straight into the back of third baseman Luis Rengifo’s glove.

Up next

The Giants will play their second and third matinees in a row to begin a three-game series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, then face a quick turnaround following a 5:30 p.m. start on “Sunday Night Baseball” before beginning a homestand the next evening.

Robbie Ray will seek to complete at least five innings for the first time since May 8 when he takes the mound in the series opener Friday with first pitch set for 11:20 a.m. PT.

Today’s first pitch was fairly representative of how most of today’s game ended up going. Brewers starter Coleman Crow threw a 90.7 mph sinker up and in to Casey Schmitt, who leads the Giants in home runs. Schmitt tagged it for his thirteenth of the year, and all of a sudden the Brewers were already behind just one pitch into the game.

Crow quickly got two outs, but also allowed singles to Luis Arraez and Jung Hoo Lee. Bryce Eldridge came up with two on and two out and singled into center field for the Giants’ second run of the inning. Matt Chapman then took a strike, fouled off three pitches, and ripped a line drive into left field. Lee scored, Eldridge made it around to third, and Chapman ended up on second with a double.

For a moment, it looked like the Giants were going to add to their lead again after Crow walked the next batter, Eric Haase, on four pitches that were all low and away. Luckily, nine-hitter Drew Gilbert grounded out to end the inning.

Crow would make it through the second inning unscathed, but allowed two runs on four hits and a walk in the third. He was eventually pulled with only one out in the frame and the bases loaded. DL Hall came in to try to get out of the jam and limited the Giants to a sacrifice fly.

Crow’s final line reflects how rough of an outing this was for him: 2 1/3 innings pitched, 9 hits, 6 earned runs, two walks. He had looked good through his first three appearances, but the Giants jumped on him early and often. Even during a 1-2-3 second inning, Rafael Devers hit a 107 mph liner that Luis Rengifo made a ridiculous diving play on to take away a base hit.

I still believe Crow can eventually become an effective part of Milwaukee’s pitching staff, but he’s a rookie who doesn’t throw particularly hard. Eldridge’s RBI single, an Adames double that almost cleared the outfield fence, and a Jung Hoo Lee RBI double were all on 87-88 mph cutters. His fastball, which he also gave up a couple big hits on, was sitting at 91-92 mph. As he learns how to navigate major-league hitters, outings like this are bound to happen. With that being said, one rough start isn’t an immediate red flag, especially if he follows it up with a few more strong performances.

On the offensive end, the Brewers got a run back in the first thanks to a Chourio walk, a Turang single (initially ruled an error on Adames), and a Contreras sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the fifth, Chourio followed a Christian Yelich double with a two-run home run that cut the deficit to three.

Since Crow exited so early, the Brewers were forced to lean heavily on their bullpen. Unfortunately, the story of the game quickly shifted from Crow’s struggles to a series of injuries among Milwaukee’s relievers.

Hall pitched 2 1/3 one-hit innings, but ended up leaving the game with a trainer. After throwing an 0-1 sweeper to Gilbert, Contreras — the catcher — saw something he didn’t like. He immediately called time out and went out to check on his pitcher. Brewers manager Pat Murphy, a couple pitching coaches, and the trainer all came out and, after conferring with Hall, took the ball from him.

Grant Anderson came on in relief, getting out of the fifth and pitching a scoreless sixth inning. In the top of the seventh, he allowed two straight singles, and the second was a comebacker off the bat of Eldridge that got Anderson on his right forearm. He looked to be in serious pain, doubling over immediately and remaining on the ground while talking to the training staff. Eventually, he got up — still clearly shaken up — and walked off the field with a trainer.

After a few warmup pitches, Jake Woodford quickly allowed a single to Chapman, loading the bases for former Brewer Eric Haase. Haase took the first pitch for a ball, then launched a grand slam 406 feet to pad the Giants’ lead even further. Before escaping the inning, Woodford gave up four more singles and two runs to bring the score to Giants 12, Brewers 3.

Milwaukee quickly got a couple runs back in the bottom of the seventh after Yelich led off with a single and Chourio again brought him home with his second two-run homer of the day. Andrew Vaughn almost added two more runs, but Gilbert robbed him of a home run.

Milwaukee would keep chipping away in the eighth courtesy of David Hamilton, who homered into the Brewers’ bullpen for his second of the season.

San Francisco brought in reliever Wilkin Ramos for the ninth to try and close it out. Ramos, pitching in his second career game after making his major league debut in the series opener, started the inning by allowing singles to Chourio and Gary Sánchez. Both Joey Ortiz and Blake Perkins worked the count full before walking, and the walk to Perkins brought home Chourio from third.

With the bases loaded and the tying run in the on-deck circle, Giants manager Tony Vitello didn’t want Ramos facing Vaughn. He turned to Caleb Kilian, who struck Vaughn out on a foul tip before getting Frelick to ground into an RBI force out at second.

Even down to their last out, the Brewers still weren’t done. With the score now 12-8 and runners on the corners, Rengifo floated a soft liner into left field to score Ortiz from third and keep the inning alive.

That brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Hamilton, who had already homered in the previous inning. After taking ball one, he got a sinker he could handle and drove it deep to right-center field. For a moment, it looked like it might have had the legs to get over the center field fence. Instead, the ball died on the warning track, just a few feet short of a game-tying three-run homer.

After today’s loss, the Brewers settled for a split in their four-game series with the Giants and have now dropped two straight games. They’ll head out west tonight for a six-game road trip against the Rockies and Athletics before their next scheduled off day. First pitch for tomorrow’s series opener in Colorado is set for 7:40 p.m.

The New York Yankees still do not have a firm diagnosis regarding franchise player Aaron Judge. But the circle of medical specialists aiming to get him right continues to grow.

The Yankees confirmed to news media after their Thursday, June 4 game that tests on Judge's rib and shoulder will be reviewed by Dallas-based vascular specialist Gregory Pearl, who specializes in "thoracic outlet syndrome management in high-performance athletes," according to his website.

Judge was initially diagnosed with a bone bruise near his right rib cage, which multiple tests have confirmed. Yet he was sent for more testing Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, and after the Yankees defeated the Cleveland Guardians 2-1, the club confirmed to reporters that test results will be viewed by Pearl, the thoracic outlet syndrome specialist.

It's an unsettling development for Judge, as TOS has significantly impacted or ended careers, such as former World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg. It also ended the 2025 season of Cy Young Award hopeful Zack Wheeler, who underwent surgery to remove a rib in September.

The Dodgers are back home ever so briefly, with a single-series homestand this weekend against the Angels at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Back in Anaheim from May 15-17, the Dodgers had their way with the Angels in a three-game sweep, outscoring the Halos 31-3. The Angels come to Los Angeles having lost 29 of their last 43 games, and are 11-21 on the road this season.

Roki Sasaki starts the series opener for the Dodgers.

Friday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Angels
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA, KTTV channel 11 (Angels broadcast)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Sometimes you eat the road, and sometimes the road eats you. I’m not totally sure how relevant that is to today’s Orioles-Red Sox game, but what I mean is, this was a total inversion of Wednesday’s lopsided, 8-1 loss. As the O’s unsuccessful starter that night, Chris Bassitt, said after the game, “When your starter goes three innings and gives up three runs, that’s pretty much a recipe for disaster, so this one’s on me.” Today, however, Orioles starter Trevor Rogers looked just fine, thanks, and it was a recipe for a win.

An easy win, at that. Boston starter Brayan Bello has had a curiously bimodal 2026 season: when he starts games, he has a 9.68 ERA, but he’s under 1.00 when he comes in after an opener. Well, the Sox played with fate, and Bello got rocked in the first inning, to the tune of six runs. It wasn’t much of a nailbiter after that.

It started with the leadoff pitch, which leadoff hitter Taylor Ward did something predictable to—he doubled—and a Bello cutter hit Gunnar Henderson on the foot. Adley Rutschman singled to the gap, and Ward made it 1-0. Then, oh no!, Pete Alonso hit into a double play. I confess I thought the rally was over.

I was very wrong. Samuel Basallo took a very grown-up walk. Leody Taveras singled through the infield and Gunnar scored. 2-0, Birds. Still not done: Colton Cowser walked to load the bases for Coby Mayo. Bello threw him a bunch of sweepers—one too many: Cowser skied a ball three-fourths of the way off The Monster, and all the little Orioles came home.

Baltimore had one more trick up their sleeve, still with two outs: Jackson Holliday walked, and leadoff man Taylor Ward came back to the plate, and singled up the middle, his second hit of the inning. 6-0, Orioles, after one.

Then, an improbable lull—or, a streak, I guess, if you’re in the Brayan Bello fan club. I can’t say many of us on this blog are. The 27-year-old recovered after that disastrous first inning to retire ten Orioles in a row. It was a gutsy effort to get some length for his team, give him that. At one point in the fifth, Brian Roberts, from the booth, said, “You might think this was a 0-0 game considering how these guys have been pitching since [the first inning].” Ohhh, Classic Roberts. (I have no idea if Brian Roberts is a jinx.) Right then, Pete Alonso singled to left, after which Sam Basallo torched a ball, 112.4 mph to right field. Surprising to me, this was the hardest-hit ball of Basallo’s young career. The Polar Bear chugged home to make it 7-0. Basallo, on third base after a groundout, came home and scored when Cowser hit a deep sac fly. 8-0, Orioles.

An 8-0 score tells you that things were going pretty well for Trevor Rogers. The Orioles lefty, who’d struggled in his first ten outings this season but may be turning a corner, had himself an easy shutout through five innings, in fact a no-hitter until into the fifth. His control was pinpoint, and his fastball had movement!

The only sour note was it looked, if we’re being honest, that he seemed to lose gas after that. He allowed three straight singles in the sixth inning, plus his first run of the game, and he couldn’t close out that frame against the Red Sox. Instead, manager Craig Albernaz lifted Rogers for Yennier Cano, who got one out and called it a day. Still, overall, progress for Trevor Rogers, who’d had an era of nearly eight on the season: one run in 5 2/3 innings will do. As MASN pointed out, Rogers now has five-inning-shutout starts in back-to-back appearances.

Not much suspense after that. Andrew Kittredge had a five-outing scoreless streak entering this one, but he served up a home run to Willson Contreras. There are worse things one can do. The veteran righty kept it suspense-free after that.

Any team can look great or terrible on any given day. Yesterday was the Orioles’ turn to be cannon fodder; today they were … the cannon? Either way, this team been stacking more of the good days instead of the bad days. Let’s see if it continues north of the border against Toronto.

Who is your Most Birdland Player of the game? Trevor Rogers, with a stabilizing outing of 5 2/3 and one run? Coby Mayo, with a three-run double? Taylor Ward with a casual 3-for-5 day, including a double?

Not only are the days of Shohei Ohtani struggling with the bat in 2026 gone, but his overall production makes you question if that was ever an actual period of this season in the first place. Ohtani has particularly enjoyed this series against the Diamondbacks—recording multi-hit performances in each of the first three games, dominating in the leadoff spot, and on the mound on Wednesday—and why wouldn’t he? It’s hard to tell what is more impressive: that Ohtani has a slugging percentage above .700 in 21 games at Chase Field or that it is one of six ballparks in which he has a slugging percentage that high with at least 13 games. Now, the Dodgers will have to wrap up this series without their star hitter as Will Smith gets a day off from catching and moves to the DH spot with Dalton Rushing behind the plate.

Interestingly, Ohtani hasn’t had the best of luck against today’s Diamondbacks starter, Ryne Nelson, but a different Dodger has: Mookie Betts. In fact, out of all five Dodgers with at least a dozen at-bats against Nelson, Betts is the only one with worthwhile numbers, batting .357 with a home run. Struggling massively in 2026, Mookie will accept any advantage he can get against a pitcher who has a 2.72 ERA in 39.2 innings against the Dodgers.

More importantly, though, is the opportunity to give Dalton Rushing any plate appearances this team can. Rushing has done all that it could be asked of him and then some, but playing time is scarce even if Smith hasn’t matched his usual standards this year.

Thursday’s game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Diamondbacks
• Ballpark: Chase Field, Phoenix
• Start time: 6:40 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Bello demoted to Triple-A Worcester after latest abysmal start originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Red Sox have made their decision with struggling starter Brayan Bello.

Bello, whose woes continued in Thursday’s 8-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, was sent down to Triple-A Worcester after his start, per WBZ’s Dan Roche. He allowed eight earned runs, six of them in the first inning.

After the game, Bello didn’t respond well when asked about a potential demotion.

“I’m not thinking about that. I’m thinking about making my adjustments in the big leagues,” he said through translator Carlos Villoria Benítez. “I have a big league contract. That doesn’t mean that the bosses will not take that into consideration, but I’m a big leaguer. I’m a big league starting pitcher, and I’ll make my adjustments here.”

Bello has a 10.35 ERA as a starter this season (16.88 in the first inning). Oddly enough, entering the game in the second inning after an opener seemed to solve his issues. The 27-year-old has a 0.71 ERA in four games out of the bullpen (two earned runs in 25.1 innings).

Despite that trend, Bello defiantly shut down talks about shifting to a relief role.

“Just stop talking about bullpen and starting games,” Bello said. “I’ve always been a starter. And when I’ve been successful as a starter, nobody has questioned whether I have to be in the bullpen or starting games.

“Just stop that talk because I’m just having a bad season. That’s it. It’s not whether I’m a starter or I’m a reliever. I’m just having a bad season. But I know I can turn it around. I always have. And I think I will.”

Bello will have to make his adjustments in Worcester, and there’s no guarantee he’ll have a spot in the starting rotation when he returns to the majors. If and when Garrett Crochet returns from his shoulder and lat injuries, the projected rotation will consist of him, Ranger Suarez, Sonny Gray, Payton Tolle, and Connelly Early.

Wade will wear number 31 and is active for tonight’s game.

The Houston Astros announced that they have signed OF LaMonte Wade Jr. to a Major League contract. Wade will be active for tonight’s series finale against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Wade, 32, was most recently in the Chicago White Sox system, playing at their Triple-A affiliate, the Charlotte Knights. In Charlotte, Wade was batting .250 with a .420 OBP and .861 OPS. The left-handed hitter has experience playing both corner outfield spots as well as 1B.

Across 7 major league seasons, Wade Jr. is a lifetime .236 hitter, with a .341 OBP and .731 OPS across 1,617 AB. He last played in the majors in 2025, splitting time between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Angels.

Wade exercised an opt-out clause on Monday to secure his release with the White Sox in hopes of catching on with another team with a better path to the majors.

Astros Add Price, DFA Salazar

The team announced it was recalling C Collin Price from Triple-A Sugar Land. Price, 26, is a righthanded hitting C/1B. Price was hitting .235 with a .360 OBP and an .836 OPS for the Space Cowboys this season, with 10 HR and 26 RBI over 166 AB.

Last season, Price batted .235 with a .323 OBP and .757 OPS, with 18 HR and 60 RBI over 392 AB.

Price will replace Cesar Salazar on the active roster. Salazar was designated for assignment.

Astros Make OF Moves

Houston announced it was reinstating OF Joey Loperfido from the IL and optioned him to Triple-A Sugar Land.

The Astros also optioned OF Zach Cole to Triple-A Sugar Land.

OF Rhylan Thomas was designated for assignment.

Braves shortstop Ha-Seong Kim is back out of the lineup for Thursday night’s series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays after a one-hit, one-RBI performance in Wednesday’s 7-3 win.

It’ll be the fifth time in the last seven games Kim has been out of the lineup. While Atlanta has largely ridden Jorge Mateo’s heat wave as Kim continues to struggle to generate momentum after his delayed start to the season, it’ll be Mauricio Dubon this time, starting at short and hitting second in the lineup.

While Toronto is using a left-handed opener in Mason Fluharty (3-0, 3.97 ERA), it’s expected that righty Chad Dallas (4.50 ERA over 36 innings at Triple-A Buffalo this season), called up ahead of Thursday’s game, will be the bulk pitcher for his major league debut.

Due to this expectation, the Braves aren’t taking the opener bait and will start Dominic Smith as designated hitter (sixth in lineup) and Mike Yastrzemski in left (eighth).

Ronald Acuña Jr. is back in right after a DH day and Sandy León is catching and will hit ninth, preventing new addition Austin Wynns from starting after he was acquired via trade and selected to the major league roster earlier in the day.

Chris Sale, who spent time in the same division as Toronto when with the Red Sox, is 8-5 with a 2.71 ERA in 18 career games (15 starts) against the Blue Jays. He’s faced them just twice since 2019, though, meaning a number of current Toronto players haven’t faced him.

George Springer (.267 with one double, one homer and four RBIs) accounts for 30 of the current Blue Jays’ 48 career at-bats against him. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (2-for-11, one homer, three RBIs) is the only other Blue Jay who has faced him more than three times.

Speaking of Springer, he’s back atop the lineup after getting an off day against a righty starter Wednesday night. Nathan Lukes and Yohendrick Piñango, who were in the top two spots of the lineup against Grant Holmes, fall into the sixth and ninth spots respectively against Sale.

Myles Straw also gets his first start of the series in Toronto (seventh) while Tyler Heineman gets his first start behind the dish (eighth).

I ju— I just don’t understand…

Brayan Bello made his return to the starting rotation on Thursday. If you know anything about how this season has gone for the right-hander, you won’t be surprised to learn that it led to an atrocious first inning in which the Baltimore Orioles scored six runs in what would eventually become a 8-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

STUDS

Don’t piss me off.

DUDS

Brayan Bello: It’s quite literally impossible to explain what is happening with this guy — who was the last guy to have a 0.71 ERA as a reliever and a 10.35 ERA as a starter?

Chad Tracy/Mike Brenly: Tracy had an opportunity to at least try to stop the bleeding in the first inning, as Wilyer Abreu made an impressive would-be-inning-ending throw to Caleb Durbin. The Red Sox passed up on the chance to challenge the close play at third base, with the score eventually ballooning from 2-0 to 6-0. NESN’s broadcast claims they wanted to challenge, but couldn’t make a decision in time.

“OH, HE HASN’T FIXED A THING” MOMENT OF THE GAME

One pitch.

The Orioles immediately started with a man on second base, as Taylor Ward smoked a ball over the head of Ceddanne Rafaela.

For the first time since May 17, the Philadelphia Phillies scored six runs in a game. It last came when Paul Skenes faced Zack Wheeler on a Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh as the Phillies looked to sweep the Pirates.

As the Phillies look to sweep another mediocre National League team, Wheeler once again takes the mound during a day game with an offense looking for answers.

Wheeler looked fully back, sitting 95.8 mph on his four-seam fastball over 104 pitches in his seven-inning start. Of the nine pitches he threw in the first inning, seven of them were four-seams including three that Manny Machado stared at to end the frame.

In the bottom of the first, Kyle Schwarber hit his 18th single of the year (update the Bluesky thread, Joe) and Trea Turner grounded into a fielder’s choice right after. Bryce Harper then took a changeup to shallow right field but Turner made up his mind, rounding second base as the ball was already caught and was doubled up.

Skipping to the fourth, Wheeler once again met Machado at the plate and once again offered a three-fastball sequence. Machado once again looked at the first one for a strike, looking like a hitter who wants to get a sweeper instead. He was late on the second fastball and looked at a third one right down the middle for strike three.

In the bottom half of the inning, the offense finally scratched and clawed. Bryce Harper worked a leadoff walk to start the inning, followed by Brandon Marsh taking a fastball to right field to put runners on first and second. Alec Bohm struck out looking and took a challenge with him to the dugout. Bryson Stott then beat the shift with about as soft of a RBI single that went into the outfield grass as there can be.

The offense kept it going in the following inning with Adolis García, who entered today 8 for his last 75 but has hit a few balls hard in the prior two games. He got a hanging get-me-over breaking ball and did not miss it.

After a Justin Crawford double, Schwarber walk, and Turner forceout, Padres left handed reliever Yuki Matsui made a pickoff throw to first base that wasn’t particularly close, allowing Crawford to walk home and Turner to go to third base.

After a Gavin Sheets walk to open the seventh, Wheeler and Machado met for their third and final time of the day. Once again, Wheeler started him off with a fastball for a strike that Machado didn’t look very interested in swinging at. He once again swung through a second one and the sequence was matching exactly as it did in the fourth.

Unlike the fourth inning, Machado geared up for a fastball and Wheeler threw one right down Broad Street.

In the bottom half of the seventh, the Phillies must’ve morphed into a different team during the stretch. Adrian Morejon entered the inning to try and keep the game at one. He threw two pitches in the strike zone to fall behind 2-0 and then eventually walked Crawford on five pitches. Crawford then stole second base and took third on a bad Freddy Fermin throw that went into the outfield.

After a Schwarber ground ball that forced Crawford to stay put, Trea Turner got a 2-2 fastball that he laced into right field for their fourth run of the game. He took second base and went to third after Harper hit a line drive right at Morejon’s ankle. With first and third with one out, Brandon Marsh grounded a ball to Ty France but Turner’s excellent slide beat the throw home that made it 5-2. Alec Bohm capped the inning off with a single to center field for their sixth run of the game as everyone was still wondering if they were really watching the 2026 Phillies on that diamond.

José Alvarado entered the ninth to try and protect their four-run lead but things got a little hairy quickly. He walked France and then allowed a two run homer off a two-strike sinker that caught too much of the plate.

After a Xander Bogaerts groundout to short and a Miguel Andujar flyout to center, Jase Bowen replaced Freddy Fermin to try and give the Padres one more base runner to put the tying run at the plate. With a 2-2 count and the game on the line, Bowen chased a cutter for strike three.

The Phillies played the Padres six times in less than two weeks and won all of them. They did not see Michael King or Nick Pivetta but they also never allowed the Padres to use Mason Miller. Every advantage counts when these teams cannot muster consistent offense.

It’s very hard to go from relying on the consistent presence of a three-time MVP in your lineup every day to going cold turkey without him, but with Aaron Judge sidelined for the time being with some sort of rib issue, the Yankees’ offense has had to make do without him.

They didn’t get the starts they hoped for out of Cam Schlittler or Gerrit Cole to start the series, and that put them behind the eight-ball as the offense struggled for the most part. They needed somebody to step up and get the big hit as the game entered the late innings tied on Thursday, not wanting to suffer a home sweep against the AL Central-leading Guardians.

Well, sometimes that big hit comes from an unlikely source. Ryan McMahon came through late, as he’s done a couple times already this season, plating Jazz Chisholm Jr. on a single through the right side in the seventh to give the Yankees a lead they wouldn’t relinquish in a 2-1 win. Carlos Rodón tossed a quality start, and the bullpen held things down from there.

Rodón started things off with a pair of quick, efficient strikeouts of David Fry and José Ramírez before falling behind 3-0 on Rhys Hoskins. After homering last night, Hoskins got a bit aggressive and got under a 3-0 fastball for an inning-ending flyout. Trent Grisham led off the bottom half with a bloop single, but was stranded on second base.

Cleveland got its first baserunner with two outs in the second on a walk to Stuart Fairchild, but Rodón worked around it before tossing another 1-2-3 inning in the third. Cecconi retired eight in a row after Grisham’s leadoff single before the Yankees’ center fielder ripped a double to left field with two out in the third, but Ben Rice flied out to end the inning.

J-Ram continued to kill the Yankees in the fourth with a leadoff single and stolen base, jumpstarting a rally that would open the scoring. It could’ve been worse, as Rodón was one pitch from walking the bases loaded after walking Hoskins and getting to 3-2 on Travis Bazzana, but he still did surrender a run on a seeing-eye RBI single by Fairchild with two out.

The Yanks punched back in the bottom half, but left meat on the bone. Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger led off the inning with a pair of singles before an expertly timed double steal put two in scoring position with nobody out. A long sac fly by Jazz Chisholm Jr. tied the game, but Bellinger badly overslid third base trying to tag and go to third and get around an off-line throw by Steven Kwan.

Both Cecconi and Rodón threw perfect fifth innings and mirrored each other in the sixth. Rodón once again walked Hoskins, but worked through it. Cecconi walked Rice and erased him with a 5-4-3 double play. That did it for Rodón, who had his third consecutive strong outing with six one-run innings while displaying better command for the most part. After subpar outings by Cole and Schlittler this series, it was good to see a winning effort from him.

Brent Headrick came on for his 30th appearance of the season, making him the seventh reliever in baseball to hit that mark. Who would’ve thought? After getting two quick outs, he inexplicably walked Austin Hedges on five pitches. In his career, Hedges has walked 10 times in 57 plate appearances against the Yankees, a walk rate nearly three times higher than his career average of 6.4 percent. With the inning extended, Brayan Rocchio nearly snuck one out over the porch, but Max Schuemann made the grab at the wall to send us to the seventh-inning stretch.

Codi Heuer replaced Cecconi and got into trouble after walking Chisholm with one out. Despite plenty of chances to steal, Chisholm waited to run until Caballero flew out, leaving it up to Ryan McMahon. A stolen base and wild pitch put the go-ahead run on third, and McMahon finally found a hole with a grounder through the right side for an RBI single to make it 2-1 Yankees.

Fernando Cruz, who also made his 30th appearance, got the eighth against the top of the Guardians’ order. Facing a trio of Yankee tormentors, he bounced back after falling behind the pinch-hitting Kyle Manzardo before getting weak pop-outs out of Ramírez and Hoskins for another strong inning.

It would be David Bednar who would come out for his first save opportunity since Memorial Day, facing 4-5-6 in the Guardians’ order. Bazzana chopped one back to the pitcher for the first out, Angel Martínez rolled over an 0-2 splitter for the second out, and the pinch-hitting Chase DeLauter did the same to end the ballgame, securing Bednar’s 13th save of the season.

The Rivalry is renewed this weekend for the first time since Alex Cora was fired in late April, as the Red Sox come to town for a three-game set, beginning tomorrow at 7:05 pm on YES. It’s Ryan Weathers against former Yankee Sonny Gray.

Box Score