Category: MLB

The Twins jumped out to an early lead against Mike Burrows in the 1st inning. Two walks and a single set up Victor Caratini with the bases loaded, who earned a painful RBI after he was hit by the pitch, scoring Trevor Larnach. Ryan Kreidler tacked on a 2-run single, giving Joe Ryan and company a 3 run lead and good vibes all around.

Ryan maneuvered around some base runners in the first 3 innings, but ran into serious trouble in the 4th. Three straight singles put the Astros on the board, then back to back 2-out walks loaded the bases for Yordan Alvarez. The result was somewhat predictable, a game warping grand slam putting the Astros up 6-3. That homer, his 26th, puts Alvarez into a tie with Hunter Goodman for the American League lead. It is also his 7th career grand slam, the most of any Astros player.

That 6th run 4th inning was all the Astros needed, and all they got today in terms of runs. Ryan exited after that, with the Twins bullpen doing a good job of keeping them in the game at least. In the 5th, Josh Bell doubled a run in, scoring Kody Clemens. Unfortunately, that’s all the Twins lineup could manage, getting no base runners in the final 4 innings of the game.

Rubber match tomorrow, same time and location, it’ll be Taj Bradley vs. Tatsuya Imai.

Studs:

Kody Clemens: 2-4, 2 R

Ryan Kreidler: 1-4, 2 RBI

Josh Bell: 1-4, 2B, RBI

Eric Orze: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER/R, 3 K

Duds:

Joe Ryan: 4 IP, 6 H, 6 ER/R, 3 BB, 5 K, Grand Salami.

Welcome back to BCB After Dark: the hippest hangout for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in out of the heat. There’s lot of cool in here. There’s no cover charge. We still have a few tables available. The hostess will seat you now. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

Last night, I asked you who was the current best reliever in the injury-plagued Cubs bullpen. About 40 percent of you pick Ryan Rolison, which is either pretty impressive or pretty sad, considering that he was in waivers hell this past winter. This past off-season, Rolison was a member of the Rockies, Braves, White Sox and Cubs. Come to think of it, it’s pretty impressive what Rolison has done and it’s pretty sad that the Cubs don’t have Daniel Palencia or some other truly great reliever at the moment.

On Tuesday nights, I don’t do any movie stuff. But I can always find time for jazz. You can skip ahead if you want.

Tonight we are honored to feature saxophonist Kenny Garrett and his Quintet in Amsterdam in February of 2020. So just before the pandemic shut the world down. Garrett is joined by Corcoran Holt on bass, Vernell Brown Jr. on piano, Rudy Bird is the percussionist and the drummer is Samuel Laviso.

This is “Sing a Song of Song.”

Welcome back to everyone who skips the music.

As noted yesterday, the Cubs bullpen has been held together with scotch tape and string this year. Closer Daniel Palencia has hit the injured list twice. Joining him on the 15-day injured list are Ethan Roberts (forearm), Phil Maton (knee) and Hoby Milner (appendix). The 60-day IL is even more crowded with Hunter Harvey (triceps), Porter Hodge (Tommy John) and Riley Martin (left flexor strain). Hodge is definitely out for the year and Harvey and Martin haven’t even made the first steps towards returning yet. Then there is Shelby Miller, whom the Cubs signed coming off of Tommy John surgery and they knew was highly unlikely to pitch this season. So Miller doesn’t count.

My point is, for all the concentration on the injuries to the starting rotation, the bullpen has been banged up just as badly. As an aside, I think Craig Counsell has accomplished an almost impossible task of keeping this team not just in the hunt, but a strong favorite to make the playoffs despite all the injuries to the pitching staff. Counsell has earned his salary this year.

So while the Cubs are almost certain to try to add another starting pitcher by the trade deadline, they’re also likely to add to the bullpen. The best reliever likely to be on the market is someone Cubs fans are already familiar with: Red Sox left-hander Aroldis Chapman.

I don’t need to remind you of the almost superhuman heroics that Chapman performed throughout the 2016 playoffs and World Series. Manager Joe Maddon rode him like a rented mule (because, metaphorically, he was a magnificent rented mule) in the World Series and it was clear that by Game 7, Chapman was out of gas. He gave up that home run to Rajai Davis that none of us will forget. In fairness to him, Davis hit a good pitch. But Chapman stayed in the game and gutted out the ninth inning, despite clearly being exhausted. Whether it was luck, fate or Chapman’s willpower, he got through the ninth inning. The Cubs won it in the tenth and Aroldis Chapman is the only pitcher in the history of the Cubs to have a Game 7 win.

That was ten years ago. Now Chapman is ten years older at 38. His fastball doesn’t average 100 miles per hour anymore. The four-seamer is “only” 97 these days. However, when Chapman was last a Cub, he was mostly a fastball/slider pitcher. These days, Chapman has added a sinker, which comes in at 98 and which has become his primary and best pitch. He throws it even more than his four-seamer. He still has the slider, but that is now a third offering. His changeup is now his fourth pitch. After several years of being just a decent relief pitcher, Chapman is back to being elite.

This year with the Red Sox, Chapman has made 26 appearances for 24.1 innings. He’s 0-3 with a 2.19 ERA and has converted 16 of 18 save appearances. Chapman has struck out 32 batters and walked 12. That’s a K% of 30.2 and a BB% of 11.3. Opposing hitters are batting an anemic .204 off of him.

So it’s clear that Chapman would be a big upgrade to the bullpen. What would it take for the Cubs to acquire him from the Red Sox? Chapman is a free agent at the end of the year and the good news is that the days of giving up a Top 100 prospect like Gleyber Torres for a two-month rental of a reliever are likely over. So not Jaxon Wiggins, Josiah Hartshorn, Owen Ayers or anyone like that. Probably not Matt Shaw either, unless the Red Sox want to toss in Sonny Gray. (And probably not even then, since the Cubs kind of need Shaw this year.) But I do think it would probably cost two good prospects, one of which would have to be a top ten Cubs prospect. So getting Chapman would hurt. However, one reason a team builds up a good farm system is to trade some of it away for current major leaguers.

Then there is the other elephant in the room, which is something the Cubs dealt with back in 2016: Chapman’s 2015 arrest and 30 game suspension for domestic violence. The criminal charges against Chapman for that incident were dropped, but domestic violence advocates will tell you that is common no matter what the circumstances.

I can’t tell you how you should feel about that. I strongly believe that domestic violence is a serious issue that needs to have more serious consequences. I can tell you that I didn’t feel good cheering for Chapman in 2016, even though I obviously wanted him to succeed. But if you don’t want Chapman on the Cubs because of that, I don’t blame you. I might even agree with you.

However, I also believe in second chances and redemption when it is warranted. I believe people can change. Has Chapman earned a second chance? I can’t say I’ve followed his career closely enough to say one way or the other. I do know that there hasn’t been another domestic violence incident in the last decade speaks to Chapman having changed. Except that we have to put a “that we know about” qualifier in there.

So tonight’s question is “Should the Cubs try to trade for Aroldis Chapman?”

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There’s a baseball saying you may have heard: “you can’t walk off the island.” While it generally pertains to MLB’s international free agency system in reference to the Caribbean, the Braves lived their own version of it tonight in a 5-3 loss to the Cardinals: maybe some teams can walk their way to a win, but it’s probably not these Braves.

The game itself, well, you’ve seen it before. Maybe not all together, but enough similar snippets throughout this dreadful month, and in past years, that you get the idea. The Braves give up homers, don’t hit homers, and do enough to make it interesting but not actually enough to win. The kicker in all this is that the Braves sent seven to the plate in the eighth inning, at one point loading the bases and putting the tying run on second. The only run they actually scored in that inning? It came on a wild pitch. That’s how the month has gone, that’s how this game went, and the Braves will probably want to figure out something on the offensive end before too long, or it won’t matter whether they walk or run or don’t run or whether any islands are involved.

Matthew Liberatore has not had a good season, and has had an awful June. He had a good start in this one, but I wonder how much of that was just the Braves being ill-suited for what he brought (or didn’t bring) to the table. Liberatore had four walks and a hit-by-pitch in five innings, but he struck out nine. The Braves got the leadoff man on in every inning from the second through the sixth, but only scored one — and that came thanks to a steal, a wild pitch, and a sacrifice fly.

It seemed for a bit that Liberatore’s issues might do him in: he walked two to start the second. But then, he struck out the side. The killer was Austin Riley striking out on a hanging slider with one out, but Joey Bart also took two strikes to end the frame. In the third, Matt Olson took two hittable fastballs to fall behind 0-2 before a strike three whiff on a hanging curve. I won’t go over every PA, but you get the idea. Liberatore wasn’t exactly filling up the zone, but the Braves seemed utterly baffled on when to swing or not swing — kinda-sorta seeming like they wanted to draw walks if he wasn’t going to throw strikes, but not actually really battling or anything to get the walks or anything else, either.

On the flip side, Martin Perez had a bad pachinko day, and eh. I can’t really beat anyone up about it, because this is what you get when you start Perez, so you either have to do something to overcome the bad pachinko or you can just accept it’ll be a loss when it happens. Perez managed just one strikeout through three scoreless, gave up a game-tying homer on a down-the-middle 3-2 cutter to Nelson Velazquez, and then a three-run homer to Nathan Church later in the inning. He finished with a 1/3 K/BB ratio in five innings, which was pretty much ballgame, because the Braves have hit multiple homers just four times in June, and they sure as hell weren’t going to clear a deficit without them given their lineup. James Karichak had a leadoff walk turn into a run the nearly same way the Braves scored their first — walk, steal, wild pitch, sac fly. Dylan Dodd, Ian Hamilton, and Raisel Iglesias (getting some work in) held down the fort the rest of the way, but to no avail.

The Braves plated a second run in the seventh with a two-out rally: a walk (what else?), Drake Baldwin’s o-fer-snapping bloop single (his first hit in about two weeks), and a midrange liner by Ozzie Albies. Matt Olson had a chance to do something cool, but he fouled off the two strikes he got, and hit a 2-2 pitch running in on him weakly for a groundout.

Then came the eighth. Mauricio Dubon had a solid single. Mike Yastrzemski had an infield single to the left of the third baseman. Austin Riley then had the most emblematic PA: he took a pitch down the middle that probably should’ve been a three-run game-tying homer, later swung at a pitch that bounced, and struck out on another fastball down the middle that probably also should’ve been a game-tying three-run homer. If you’re not going to swing at a first-pitch fastball because you might not be able to hit it (as evinced by the strikeout pitch), I’m not sure you should be playing. And if you’re sitting there taking a first-pitch fastball, as the Braves have done repeatedly in June, the offensive approach might need to be seriously reshuffled in the coming days. The Braves then deployed Rowdy Tellez and Dominic Smith as consecutive pinch-hitters: both walked, with a wild pitch to Tellez scoring the third Braves run. Baldwin battled, but ultimately, he couldn’t actually hook a fastball on the low-and-inside corner anywhere useful, and hit it weakly to second.

Olson finally unloaded on a hittable sinker in the ninth for a one-out double, but the other three batters in the frame hit exceedingly weak groundouts. The first two were on very crushable pitches, so yeah, there’s a lot of work to do teamwide here to get back to the “swing early and hit it real hard” stuff they were doing in April and May. Until that happens, this result will be fairly common, whether they manage to walk a bunch or not.

The division lead is down to 2.5 games. The series continues tomorrow.

TORONTO — Nolan McLean’s continued development is among the few compelling reasons to watch the Mets these days.

In what has been an inconsistent season for the rookie right-hander, nights like Tuesday offer a reminder of McLean’s elite stuff and the promise of his name in Cy Young award conversations as his career progresses.

McLean limited walks and Toronto’s solid contact on this night, carrying the Mets to a 3-0 victory at Rogers Centre.

In a second sharp performance in his last three, McLean fired six shutout innings, allowing five hits and two walks, and striking out seven. McLean’s bullpen handled the rest, securing the Mets only their second victory in 11 games.

“I am just trying to get better every time I go out there and find new things that work or old things that I kind of went away from that I should stick by,” McLean said. “It always goes back to landing offspeed [pitches]. That is just a big key for me. Anytime I can do that and keep guys off my fastball, that is really good.”

Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens each homered to give the Mets offensive highlights on a night Kevin Gausman was nearly as tough as McLean, allowing only one run over six innings.

McLean, whose ERA dropped to 3.78, rebounded from a shaky outing against the Cubs last week in which he allowed two homers and six earned runs. This latest performance was his third in June with one earned run or less allowed and at least six innings pitched.

“It’s been fun seeing him bounce back from a tougher stretch,” interim manager Andy Green said, referring to McLean’s bumpy May. “Last game a little was made about a couple of home runs that skewed the line, but he’s just mixing his pitches incredibly well and he’s got different ways to end at-bats. He was competitive all day. He was in the zone all day. That from start to finish was as clean and dominant as he’s been all year.”

The Mets (36-50) can get a series victory — something they have not accomplished since beating the Braves two of three games in mid-June — when Freddy Peralta gets the ball on Wednesday.

McLean escaped trouble in the fourth after surrendering a two-out double to Daulton Varsho and walking Luis Urías by retiring Yohendrick Piñango. Bo Bichette handled the tough short hop at third base and threw out Piñango.

Alvarez’s homer leading off the fifth gave the Mets a 1-0 lead. It was the ninth homer of the season for Alvarez and his fourth in nine games. Alvarez jumped on a 1-2 four-seam fastball from Gausman and cleared the center field fence.

McLean allowed an infield single to George Springer in the fifth before getting the final two outs. In the sixth he walked Ernie Clement before striking out Varsho and retiring Urías to conclude the inning and his outing, at 91 pitches.

“I thought it was the best overall command of [the curveball] he’s had in some time,” Green said. “There weren’t many, at all, bad misses with it and that is a pitch he can tug from time to time and get it in on the feet of left-handed batters or way away from righties where it’s not tempting. He kept it near the plate almost the entire day, so it was really well done.”

Torrens homered in the seventh to extend the Mets lead to 2-0. Torrens jumped on a 2-2 cutter from lefty Mason Fluharty and cleared the right field fence for his second homer this season. Torrens’ other homer came on June 5 in San Diego.

Brett Baty’s sacrifice fly in the ninth scored A.J. Ewing, who singled leading off and reached second on an errant pickoff throw, giving the Mets their final run.

Brooks Raley, Luke Weaver and Devin Williams combined to roll through the final three innings scoreless. Weaver extended his scoreless innings streak to 24 over his last 22 appearances.

Mets 3 Blue Jays 0

Not only did we lose…..we were boring losing.

It is hard to stay interested in a game where we only six hits (five singles and a double), spread out across the nine innings. Nolan McLean was very good in the starting role for the Mets, but we should have been able to get something off

Luis Urías had two hits, and really seemed to be the one batter that was doing well. Varsho had our only extra base hit, a double (he also almost beat out an infield hit in the ninth). Springer, Kirk and Pinango had the other singles.

Beyond that…..Bo Bichette had an amazing day defensively at third base. We had him miscast as a shortstop (at least by his play today. He is a +2 OAA at third this year, and a -2 at short. I never thought he had the range for short, but he definitely had the arm for third. At least today. With the bat, he was 1 for 4.

Other than that, Kevin Gausman, after two poor starts, was excellent. 6 innings, 5 hits, 1 earned, 2 walks and 7 strikeouts. The run against was a Francisco Alvarez fifth inning home run.

The Mets got another home run off Mason Fluharty by Luis Torrens.

And one more in the ninth. Tommy Nance gave up a single to A.J. Ewing (JR and Bobby’s brother who didn’t make it into the show). An error by Sean Keys on a pick off, moved him to second. A ground out moved him to third. And a sac fly scored him.

Jay of the Day: Gausman (0.18 WPA, he really was terrific).

Other Awards: Lukes (-0.12, for an 0 for 4, k), Keys (-0.11, plus the error, 0 for 4, 2 k), Gimenez (-0.10, 0 for 3, k and a rather poor bunt single attempt) and Fluharty (-0.09).

Tomorrow we have a day game. 3:00 Eastern. It is bullpen day for the Jays, Braydon Fisher will be the opener. Freddy Peralta (5-6, 4.53) starts for the Mets.

The Yankees cannot afford for a Spencer Jones home run robbery to be foiled. 

They cannot afford for Cam Schlittler to struggle to any degree, much less this degree. 

Given their sudden offensive ineptitude and that Tarik Skubal was the opposing starter, the Yankees defense and pitching needed to flirt with perfection to give them a chance. The flirtation was over within minutes. 

A rough first inning put the Yankees in a four-run hole, which felt more like a four-run canyon, in what would become a 9-3 smacking by the Tigers in front of 37,211 frustrated, booing fans in The Bronx on Tuesday. 

“We’re not scoring. That’s the name of the game,” said manager Aaron Boone, whose Yankees (48-37) have dropped a season-high six straight games, are doing nothing right, hitting particularly wrong and hearing from the crowd after each mistake. 

Never in the Yankees’ century-plus of baseball had they been held to three or fewer hits in four straight games before their four games from Friday through Monday. 

They managed to snap that streak Tuesday — only because of a couple of garbage-time knocks in the ninth doubled their output to four hits. 

They finished with one hit in six innings against Skubal, who upstaged Schlittler (four innings, six runs on four homers) in a matchup that was far more appealing on paper than on the field. 

“It’s difficult, but all we can do is show up tomorrow and get to work,” said Anthony Volpe, 2-for-21 (.095) in his past seven games. “Everyone’s pissed.” 

Ben Rice cranked a home run in the bottom of the first, but the next 13 Yankees were retired by Skubal, who sure looked like the prize of the trade deadline. 

But then again, Detroit’s Casey Mize (seven scoreless, one-hit innings) looked like a Cy Young candidate Monday. Just like Boston’s Sonny Gray (7 ¹/₃ scoreless, one-hit innings) looked like a superstar Sunday. Just like Boston’s Jake Bennett (6 ¹/₃ one-run, three-hit innings) looked like a revelation Saturday. Just like Boston’s Payton Tolle (seven scoreless, one-hit innings) looked like the AL Rookie of the Year on Friday. 

A team that does not have Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Trent Grisham and Ryan McMahon has fallen into a funk whose depth, at least when measured in hits, had never been seen before in franchise history. 

“Right now it’s kind of like the whole team is kind of going through something all at once,” said Rice, whose homer halted a five-game hitless skid. 

Paul Goldschmidt is 0-for-16 in his past five games. Cody Bellinger took a seat against Skubal amid a 2-for-27 (.074) stretch. José Caballero, who also botched a potential double-play ball that immediately preceded a three-run homer in the sixth, is 1-for-17 (.059) in his past five games. 

No one has stepped up at any part of the lineup for a team that has scored just 15 runs in six games and has not scored more than four in a contest since June 19. 

“We got some guys missing that are key, but the people we got are very capable,” said Boone, whose Yankees are ending June swooning. “And we need to start getting some of our offensive mojo back.” 

The final 8 ½ innings felt inconsequential after the top of the first, this version of the Yankees seemingly incapable of mounting threats. 

The third batter of the game, Kerry Carpenter, launched a two-out drive to deep center. Jones had a bead on it, reached the wall, jumped and used his 6-foot-7 stature to bring his glove high above the wall’s height. 

The ball landed in the glove, and Yankee Stadium cheered — before realizing that as Jones hit the wall, the ball had bounced out of his glove and into the home bullpen for a home run. Jones appeared in disbelief that he did not make the catch. 

What happened next was probably more unbelievable: 27 additional pitches from Schlittler in the frame, including homers to Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson. 

“[We are] just not playing good ball right now,” said Schlittler, whose ERA rose from 1.62 to 2.08. “It’s my job to come in here and try to stop that bleeding, and I couldn’t get that done.”

Matthew Liberatore teetered on the edge a few times, but at the end of the day gave the St. Louis Cardinals the outing they and he needed. The Cardinals offense finally came uncorked in the 4th inning to provide the runs to give St. Louis a win in Atlanta Wednesday night, but the late innings had a bit of drama.

Matthew Liberatore started the game with a solid 1st inning, but there were moments after that when he looked like he might have a repeat of recent struggles. Liberatore walked the first two batters in the bottom of the 2nd inning, but then struck out the next 3. In the bottom of the 3rd inning, he gave up a leadoff single to Jorge Mateo who stole second and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. But, instead of the wheels coming off, he struck out the dangerous Drake Baldwin. Yes, Ozzie Albies managed a sacrifice fly to Nootbaar in left to give the Braves a 1-0 lead, but Matthew struck out Matt Olson to end the Atlanta 3rd inning and minimize the damage. He would not allow any more Atlanta Braves runners in scoring position his remaining time in the game which lasted into the start of the bottom of the 6th inning. Liberatore’s stat line for the night ended up being a very impressive 5 innings only allowing 1 hit and 1 earned run while striking out 9 while walking 4.

It was the top of the 4th inning when the St. Louis Cardinals offense would come alive. It began with Nelson Velázquez who absolutely launched an 85 mph Martin Perez mistake 444 feet into the void over the center field wall tying the game at 1-1. Make sure your sound is turned up and you’ll hear the ball sound like it was shot from a cannon. BOOM!

The Cardinals were just getting started in their half of the 4th inning. Two batters later, Masyn Winn and Lars Nootbaar would single. After Blaze Jordan softly lined out to short, Nathan Church didn’t miss an 81 mph changeup and ripped it over the right field wall giving the Cardinals a 4-1 lead.

George Soriano came into the game to replace Matthew Liberatore after manager Oli Marmol took major issues with a missed check swing call from the 3rd base umpire. Soriano would pitch around the leadoff walk by Liberatore to keep the Braves off the board.

St. Louis would get a badly-needed insurance run in the top of the 6th inning when Masyn Winn walked and then stole second. He advanced to third on a wild pitch by Braves reliever James Karinchak. Blaze Jordan would then come through with a one-out sacrifice fly upping the Cardinals lead to 5-1.

George Soriano would remain in the game two outs into the bottom of the 7th inning when he gave up a walk to Mateo. JoJo Romero was brought in to finish the inning, but he allowed a single to Baldwin and then Ozzie Albies which would score Mateo reducing the Cardinals lead to 5-2.

The Cardinals would miss a chance to get that run back in the top of the 8th inning when Jose Fermin drew a one-out walk. After Masyn Winn lined out to right, Lars Nootbaar went with a pitch and hit a sharp single to left field giving St. Louis a first and third opportunity, but Blaze Jordan flew out to deep center to end the Cardinals 8th.

JoJo Romero would also be the Cardinals answer to start the bottom of the 8th inning, but he wouldn’t finish it after giving up two singles to the Braves before being taken out of the game as Austin Riley came up to the plate as the potential tying run. Ryan Fernandez, who was just activated from the IL as Ryne Stanek was placed on the paternity list, came in to face the slumping, but dangerous Riley. He would be charged with a wild pitch on his second pitch advancing both runners into scoring position at second and third. He would fortunately sneak a 95 mph four-seam fastball past Austin for the second out of the inning. The Braves then sent up pinch-hitter Rowdy Tellez to try and swing for the fences and tie the game. That didn’t happen, but Fernandez did throw another wild pitch giving the Braves a run and cutting the Cardinals lead to 5-3. Tellez would eventually walk bringing up the potential go-ahead run. Atlanta sent another pinch-hitter up in the form of Dominic Smith. Fernandez walked him, too, loading the bases. Drake Baldwin had the chance to do big damage with Fernandez being wilder than a March hare. The Cardinals fan base held its collective breath when the count reached 3-2, but after fouling off what would have been ball four, Baldwin grounded weakly out to JJ Wetherholt to end the inning. Whew.

The Cardinals could do nothing against Braves reliever Raisel Inglesias in the top of the 9th inning which meant Cardinals reliever Riley O’Brien would handle the bottom of the 9th inning with a 2-run lead. He was able to get Ozzie Albies out on a groundout to JJ Wetherholt, but Matt Olson crushed a sinker up in the zone to the center field wall for a double. That brought up Michael Harris II up to the plate as the potential tying run. He fortunately grounded out harmlessly to Masyn Winn at short as Olson advanced to third base. Mauricio Dubon was the Braves final hope, but he grounded out to short also to end the game.

The St. Louis Cardinals will take another swing at the Atlanta Braves Wednesday night as Michael McGreevy will get the start for the good guys. The Braves will send Reynaldo López to the mound for a 6:15pm central time start at Truist Park. TV broadcast available through Cardinals.tv.

The Mets are now 2-3 in the Andy Green era, after taking the second game of their three-game series with the Blue Jays, 3-0.

Both teams had their shots early in this game, but neither team could capitalize. Over his first four innings, Nolan McLean allowed four hits and a walk, but all of those happened with two outs, and none came around to score, or even make it to third base.

On the Mets’ side, their best opportunity against Kevin Gausman early came in the fourth when Juan Soto walked, Bo Bichette singled the other way, Francisco Lindor moved them along with a ground ball to the left side, putting two on with one out. But they couldn’t capitalize, and so the game remained scoreless going into the fifth.

The Mets finally broke the scoreless tie in the top of the fifth when Francisco Alvarez hit a towering shot to deep center field to put the Mets up 1-0. The Mets would put two more on base, but a Bichette fly ball ended the threat with just the one run scoring.

McLean, rocking just a mustache after trimming the beard off of his Van Dyke, had his best start of the season thus far. He tossed six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and two walks, while striking out seven. After a rough ending to is last start, this was a great bounce back performance for the Mets’ ace in waiting.

Luis Torrens lined an outside pitch to the opposite field, landing just over the right field wall to put the Mets up 2-0. From that point, the bullpen cruised, with Brooks Raley and Luke Weaver each throwing scoreless innings. For Weaver, it was his 24th consecutive scoreless inning; he has now not allowed a run to score in two months.

The Mets added a run in the top of the ninth when A.J. Ewing singled, advanced to second on a bad pick-off attempt, a runner-advancing ground out, and a sacrifice fly.

Devin Williams came in for the ninth and, after winning a challenge on a close play at first base, closed the game out while allowing one baserunner.

It was overall a crisp game for the Mets, which saw good at-bats from Brett Baty, some solid defensive play from Bichette at third, and good pitching across the entire game.

The rubber game of the series is tomorrow at Rogers Centre, with Freddy Peralta going for the Mets and the ol’ workhorse “TBD” starting for the Jays.

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Box scores

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Nolan McLean, +37.0% WPA
Big Mets loser: Jared Young and A.J. Ewing, -9.0% WPA
Mets pitchers: +58.0% WPA
Mets hitters: – 8.0% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Francisco Alvarez’s home run, +14.2% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Ernie Clament’s sixth inning walk, -4.4% WPA

The Yankees lost their sixth straight, 9-3 to the Tigers. I have to get that in the first graf (writer-speak for “paragraph”) or my ‘tors (blogtalk for “editors”) get grumpy with me. With that out of the way, let’s travel to the land of metaphor!

Do you all know what the Franklin Expedition was? In the mid-19th century, England was obsessed with finding the Northwest Passage, a sailing route through treacherous ice fields in the Arctic Ocean. Such a pathway would significantly reduce the time it took to ship goods from colonial outposts in India and China, and provide the Royal Navy with a major force multiplier as the Empire enforced its rule, in the face of Russian and German opposition.

The two most technologically advanced ships that the world’s great superpower could build, the Terror and the Erebus, were designed specifically to make their way through the globe’s most dangerous waters. They were captained by the seniormost officers in the fleet and crewed by some of the best engineers, navigators, and scientists who could be found in the Empire upon which the sun didn’t set.

It was a bold display of human advancement, the Apollo program of the era. The ships got trapped in the ice for a full year and everyone involved in the Expedition, some 129 men, died. Many turned to cannibalism as they entered their final, fevered days. Man proposed, and God disposed.

Cam Schlittler is a miracle of technology. He was drafted in the seventh round and was barely touching 90 in Double-A two years ago. He pretty routinely gets up to 100 mph, throws three fastballs with command over all of them. If the voting were held today, he would in all likelihood win the AL Cy Young. He’s not the Apollo program or the first real mapping of a mostly-uninhabitable zone that preceded the colonization of a nation, but he is perhaps the ur-example in the American League of what can happen in the pitching labs and bullpens and tablets of MLB facilities. Young, controllable aces are the opium and spice of the current baseball world, and the Yankees seem to have one.

(Cash)man proposed, (baseball) God disposed.

Cam didn’t get frozen in the ice, rather, he got nuked:

Four home runs, three within four batters in the first inning. An ERA a half-run higher than it was at the start of the game, and now sits above 2.00 on the year. Cam didn’t lose the Cy Young today–we have half a season yet to go–but the worst outing of his young career came on a beautiful Tuesday night in the Bronx.

There’s not a lot else to say about this one. There were no late-inning heroics like Sunday night against Boston. Ben Rice did end an 0-for-18 skid with his first home run in nine days:

Outside of that, it was what you would probably expect from Tarik Skubal pitching against what is at best the Yankee C lineup. That was the only hit the two-time Cy Young winner would allow, striking out nine in six-plus innings of work. The other Yankees runs came on a double play, and a bloop to right field from Jasson Domínguez, which suits a team that has hit 0.093 over the last five games. At least it was a fun bloop:

I hope Cam doesn’t feel too badly, because Ryan Yarbrough somehow gave up a three-run shot in the sixth that really put the game out of reach and the ball left James Outman’s bat at just 92.1 mph. THAT should make you mad.

I’m probably just grumpy because of the game and the fact I haven’t eaten yet but I hate that Dillon Dingler’s chest protector says “DING”. Same caveat but I think my increasing dislike of Spencer Jones is a little more valid, at least he only struck out twice tonight.

I’m not one for yelling at players or turning garbage cans over when things are like this. The Yankees are playing terrible baseball and they know they are. Cam Schlittler didn’t intend to give up four home runs to a fourth-place team tonight. If there’s one saving grace to all this, it’s that the stakes of a baseball season are much lower than that of an attempt to cross the Northwest Passage in a bomb vessel. To be perhaps even more optimistic, the Yankees aren’t stuck in ice; instead, they seem far more adrift, and that feels more fixable to me. After all, they got four hits today the for first time in 1,937 games, so I think they’re figuring this out.

They get a chance to salvage something out of this crappy series tomorrow and perhaps avoid a seventh consecutive loss with Will Warren going in the finale against Troy Melton. 1:35pm Eastern is your start time; wish me a Happy Canada Day because I am also tasked with writing that one up.

Box Score

Right-hander Liam Hendriks joins the Triple-A Iowa Cubs from Mesa.

Left-hander Aaron Bummer also joins Triple-A Iowa from Mesa.

Third baseman Drew Bowser goes from High-A South Bend to Double-A Knoxville. In case you’ve forgotten, Bowser was a high school teammate of Pete Crow-Armstrong.

Catcher Logan Poteet was promoted to South Bend from Low-A Myrtle Beach.

Catcher/first baseman Michael Carico also joins South Bend from Myrtle Beach.

Shortstop Jose Silva goes from the ACL Cubs to Low-A Myrtle Beach.

Shortstop Ezequiel Pena goes from Myrtle Beach to the ACL Cubs.

Catcher Ivan Cespedes goes from the ACL Cubs to Myrtle Beach.

Catcher Henniel Alcala goes from Myrtle Beach to the ACL Cubs.

Right-hander Aiden Moffat goes from Myrtle Beach to the ACL Cubs.

Right-hander Vince Velazquez has elected free agency. He did that earlier this season and ended up re-signing with the Cubs. We’ll see what happens this time.

There’s a nice surprise in the ACL Cubs box score.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs roasted the Toledo Mud Hens (Tigers), 3-1.

A quality start for Will Sanders, who got the win after allowing just one run on two hits over six innings. He struck out five and walked no one.

Jayden Murray pitched the seventh and eighth inning and retired all six hitters. He struck out one of them.

Luis Peralta came on in the ninth for the save and made it scary by giving up singles to two of the first three batters. But with two on and one out, he retired the next to batters to end the game and claim the save. Peralta struck out two.

Catcher Moisés Ballesteros tied the game 1-1 in the third inning with an RBI single. Ballesteros went 1 for 2 with two walks.

Third baseman Owen Miller got a “Little League” home run as he rounded the bases with a triple and an error in the fourth inning. Miller was 1 for 4.

Second baseman James Triantos doubled twice in a 2 for 4 game.

Mo Baller’s RBI single.

Miller rounds the bases.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies pulped the Columbus Clingstones (Braves), 12-3. Knoxville is off to a 6-1 start to the second half of the season after winning the first half.

Connor Schultz gave up two runs in the first inning, which included a solo home run. After that, the Clingstones got pretty much nothing. retiring the last 13 batters he faced. Schultz’s final line was two runs on two hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out two as he got his first win of the season.

Right fielder Alex Ramírez tied the game up 2-2 in the bottom of the first with a two-run home run, his ninth blase of the year. Ramírez also made it 4-2 with a two-run single in the third, giving him four RBI on the night. Ramírez was 2 for 5.

In the fourth inning, second baseman Hayden Cantrelle connected with the bases empty for his first home run of 2026. Cantrelle went 1 for 3 with a walk and two runs scored.

Center fielder Andy Garriola chipped in a solo home run in the seventh inning. It was Garriola’s 16th home run this season. He was 2 for 4.

Shortstop Jefferson Rojas went 3 for 5 with two steals. Rojas scored three runs and drove in one.

Catcher Owen Ayers was 1 for 3 with a double and a walk. He scored one run and had one RBI.

The Ramírez home run.

Cantrelle’s first home run was not a cheapie.

I wouldn’t say home runs are routine for Garriola, but they’re not uncommon either.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs got bombed by the Beloit Sky Carp (Marlins), 4-0.

Jostin Florentino started and took the loss after surrendering three runs on two hits over five innings. All three runs came on a home run in the third inning. Florentino struck out six and walked two.

South Bend managed just five hits. Center fielder Kane Kepley was 2 for 4 with two doubles.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans got pinched by the Hickory Crawdads (Rangers), 6-3.

Starter Emilio Ramos only allowed one hit. Unfortunately, that that one hit was a three-run home run in the top of the first inning. The final line on Ramos was three runs on one hit and four walks over three innings. He struck out three.

Jhon Rosario pitched the final three innings and did not allow a run. He gave up just one hit and he walked one while striking out one.

The Pelicans managed just two hits. Second baseman Alexis Hernandez went 1 for 4 with an RBI single in the eighth inning.

ACL Cubs

Lost to the Dodgers, 7-1.

Ethan Conrad made his professional debut in this game as the DH. He was 2 for 3.

The Mets evened up the series against the Toronto Blue Jays with a shutout victory on Tuesday night, winning by a score of 3-0.

Here are the key takeaways...

-- For a second straight night in Toronto, offense came at a premium as the Mets and Blue Jays entered the fifth inning in a scoreless draw. Both pitchers, Nolan McLean and Kevin Gausman, were at the top of their game but did have to pitch out of some trouble early on. 

For McLean, that came in the second and fourth innings when the Blue Jays twice began two-out rallies to put runners in scoring position. Each time, though, the rookie escaped by getting the final out of the inning to keep Toronto off the board.

-- On the other side, after retiring the first seven batters he faced, Gausman allowed a one-out double to Brett Baty in the third and then got lucky with two consecutive lineouts that had exit velocities above 100 mph. 

-- New York had another chance to score in the fourth inning when Juan Soto walked to lead off the frame before Bo Bichette singled to right field for his first hit of the series against his former team. Francisco Lindor followed with a groundout to first base that advanced the runners to second and third, but Jared Young and A.J. Ewing both struck out against Gausman to end the threat as the Mets’ RISP issues continued.

-- To get around those problems, Francisco Alvarez, the designated hitter, led off the fifth with a solo bomb to finally get New York on the board and give the team its first lead of the series. Later in the inning with two outs, Carson Benge singled in front of a walk to Soto for another chance with RISP, but Bichette lined out.

-- Staked to a lead, McLean went out for the bottom of the fifth and worked around an infield single for a shutdown inning. In the sixth, he did the same thing, this time maneuvering past a one-out walk. The right-hander’s night was done after six terrific innings in which he allowed no runs on five and two walks while striking out seven. He threw 91 pitches (63 strikes). 

McLean’s outing was much needed, with it coming on the heels of allowing six earned runs last time out against the Chicago Cubs. 

-- Still nursing a 1-0 lead in the seventh inning, Luis Torrens doubled it immediately with a solo shot of his own against lefty reliever Mason Fluharty. The home run was the catcher’s second of the season and meant the Mets’ catching duo provided all of the game's offense up until that point with two swings.

-- After Brooks Raley pitched a scoreless seventh inning as the first reliever out of the bullpen, Luke Weaver retired the side in order in the eighth to extend his scoreless streak to 24 consecutive innings. He’s now three innings away from tying Mark Guthrie’s franchise-record 27 consecutive scoreless innings by a relief pitcher, which he did in 2002.

-- New York tacked on a run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Baty, and despite scoring three runs, it still managed to go 0-for-7 with RISP. The Mets are 0-for-16 in those situations this series and have scored four runs over the two games so far.

-- Devin Williams got his 12th save of the season after closing things out in the ninth inning.

Game MVP: Nolan McLean

McLean got back on track with a sizzling start and held his opponent scoreless for the second time in his last three starts. He lowered his ERA to 3.78 and is 5-5 on the season.

Highlights

Nolan McLean gets 5 strikeouts through 3 innings🔥 pic.twitter.com/o3FSCMoOnz

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 30, 2026

Francisco Alvarez home run gives the Mets the lead! pic.twitter.com/3ZfXVeI2IC

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 1, 2026

Luis Torrens hits his second home run of the season! pic.twitter.com/Yjm0hLzFdo

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 1, 2026

A sacrifice fly for Brett Baty to send A.J. Ewing home! pic.twitter.com/F8VocL1e4W

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 1, 2026

What's next

The Mets finish their series with the Blue Jays in Toronto on Wednesday afternoon, with first pitch set for 3:07 p.m. on SNY.

RHP Freddy Peralta (5-6, 4.53 ERA) goes up against LHP Patrick Corbin (2-4, 5.09 ERA).

The Tigers took the second game of the series against the Yankees 9-3 with thanks to a dazzling start from Tarik Skubal.

Start spreading the news… the Tigers were back in the Bronx for game two of their series against the Yankees, hoping to clinch the series win nice and early. It was going to be a pitchers’ duel for the ages though, with Cam Schlittler on the mound for the Yankees, up against Tarik Skubal for the Tigers. They would be hoping to carry through their hot bats from Monday night.

Those hot bats certainly came to play. With two outs in the first, Kerry Carpenter homered to center. It really looked like Spencer Jones had nabbed it over the wall, but it bounced out of his glove for a home run.

Riley Greene wasted absolutely no time getting in on things, like his way of saying, “I missed out on all the fun yesterday, it’s my turn.”

Colt Keith singled. Then, a very lengthy at-bat from Spencer Torkelson ended with a Tork Bomb to left, and it seemed very likely that Schlittler–who hadn’t given up more than one run in the first before this game–would not be long for his start. He got the final out of the inning, but it took him 36 pitches to get through a single inning.

In the home half, the Yankees retaliated with a two-out home run by Ben Rice.

The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the second, but the Yankees did the same in the home half of the inning, so perhaps both pitchers were evening out after their first inning faux pas.

Or, perhaps not. Dingler singled to start the third, and then with one out, Greene hit another home run. Schlittler did get the final two outs, but the Tigers were up 6-0.

Skubal was looking good in the bottom of the inning, going through the lineup in order.

In the fourth, James Outman took a two-out walk, but the Tigers weren’t able to convert the baserunner. In the bottom of the inning, Tarik Skubal was showing precisely why he has two Cy Young awards, tunneling pitches that went from 100mph to 81 back-to-back and making Ben Rice look a little silly after getting that first-inning home run. Just looking really good. He went through the side in order.

Dingler opened the fifth with a leadoff double and that was it for Schlittler. Ryan Yarbrough came on to replace him. Yarbrough got the rest of the side out in order, leaving Dingler stranded. Skubal once again got the Yankees 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fifth.

The Tigers were right back on their game in the top of the sixth with a leadoff single from Torkelson. McKinstry reached safely on a throwing error from Jose Caballero, which allowed McKinstry and Torkelson to advance to scoring position. Outman then came in and hit a home run to score three. Three outs followed, but the Tigers were doing pretty well.

Max Schuemann was hit by a pitch to start the home half. Ali Sanchez then singled, bumping Schuemann to third. Paul Goldschmidt hit into a double play, but Schuemann scored as well. Skubal got the final out of the inning, and all things considered, one extra run isn’t the end of the world. Don’t make me regret writing that, Tigers.

Yovanny Cruz came in for the Yankees in the seventh, and got the side out in order. Skubal’s day was done after six innings, going 6.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB 9 K, 1 HR on 87 pitches (a note on the 1 ER – the second run was charged as an error to McKinstry well after the fact, so the run wasn’t credited to Skubal). A nice night from him overall, truly. Jacob Waguespack came in from the Tigers’ bullpen to replace him. With one out, Jasson Dominguez singled. Anthony Volpe then grounded into a force out, eliminating Dominguez. Waguespack got the final two outs of the inning and no runs scored.

The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth. In the home half, Waguespack got the side out in order.

Jake Bird was the Yankees pitcher for the ninth and gave up a leadoff single to Hao-Yu Lee, then Kevin McGonigle singled right behind him. A popout and a double play ended the inning. Tyler Holton was out of the bullpen to hang onto the Tigers’ lead. Amed Rosario got a one-out walk. With two outs, Rosario advanced to second on defensive indifference. Dominguez then singled to score Rosario, with a little help from an ugly failed catch attempt by Carpenter. Anthony Volpe singled, pushing Dominguez to third. Holton finally got out of the inning with just the one run scored, and the Tigers officially won the game and the series, with one more to play tomorrow afternoon.

Final: Tigers 9, Yankees 3

Cam Schlittler was tagged for four home runs and the Yankees bats continued their week-long slump in their 9-3 loss to the Tigers on Tuesday night.

The Yankees have lost six in a row and end June with a 12-14 record. 

Here are the takeaways...

-Schlittler had a rocky start. After getting the first two outs quickly, Kerry Carpenter hit a ball deep into right-center field. Spencer Jones timed it perfectly and had the ball in his glove, but the ball dislodged over the wall when he hit the wall to give the Tigers the lead. Riley Greene followed up with a no-doubt 424-foot bomb into the second deck in right field. 

Two batters later, Spencer Torkelson took Schlittler deep (405 feet) over the left field wall to give the Tigers a 4-0 lead. It took Schlittler 36 pitches to get out of the first inning.

Greene would get Schlittler again in the third, with a two-run shot. Schlittler would pitch into the fifth and, after allowing a leadoff double to Dillon Dingler, manager Aaron Boone pulled his young star. 

Schlittler allowed six runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out five batters across four-plus innings. 

It's the first start this season that Schlittler has allowed more than one home run. He allowed six in his first 17 starts. It's also a career high in earned runs (6).

-Ryan Yarbrough was the first man out of the pen for the Yankees. After getting out of Schlittler's trouble in the fifth, the defense betrayed him. Jose Caballero, starting at second with Jazz Chisholm Jr. out after Monday's collision with Jasson Dominguez, threw a would-be double play into left field. James Outman followed with a three-run shot, putting Detroit up 9-1. 

-In his first game after being recalled, Yovanny Cruz struck out three in his two perfect innings of work. Jake Bird worked in and out of trouble in his one inning of work.

-Going up against Tarik Skubal down four runs is difficult, but Ben Rice got the Yankees on the board with a two-out solo shot in the first. The only other run the Yankees would get off of Skubal would be in the sixth. After Max Schuemann was hit by a pitch to lead off, Ali Sanchez hit a grounder to Zach McKinstry, but the shortstop whiffed on the groundball, putting runners at the corners with no outs. Paul Goldschmidt hit into a double play, but Schuemann scored. 

The Yankees' third run came in the ninth. After Amed Rosario walked, he scored on a Dominguez fly ball single that fell in front of a diving Karpenter in right field. 

The Yankees had four hits, the first time they eclipsed three in five games.

Game MVP: Riley Greene

Greene's two home runs accounted for three of the Tigers' nine runs.

Highlights

Spencer Jones nearly robs Kerry Carpenter at the wall, but the ball pops out of his glove for a home run pic.twitter.com/eOkW9qUovr

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) June 30, 2026

Ben Rice homers off Tarik Skubal! 🍚 pic.twitter.com/tQkzsubzGQ

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) June 30, 2026

What's next

The Yankees and Tigers wrap up their three-game set in the Bronx on Wednesday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1:35 p.m.

Will Warren (7-3, 3.75 ERA) will take the mound against Troy Melton (4-1, 2.39 ERA). 

Buoyed by another stellar outing by their ace and hopeful All Star Game starter, Cristopher Sanchez, the Philadelphia Phillies (48-38) blanked the Pittsburgh Pirates (43-43) by a score of 8-0 to even up the four-game series at the halfway point.Sanchez battled a blister on his throwing hand and still managed a no hitter into the fourth inning, going seven full allowing just three hits, two walks and striking out nine.

Sanchez lowered his ERA to an even 2.00 and became the major’s first 10-game winner of 2026.

The effort was necessary as the Phillies nursed a 2-0 lead most of the game before turning it into a laugher in the third act.

Justin Crawford started the scoring with a two-RBI single in the second inning and drove in another run with a single in the eighth for the first three-RBI game of his career.

Trea Turner also drove in three with an RBI double in the seventh and a two-run home run in the eighth, his ninth of the year.

Bryce Harper and Brandon Marsh accounted for the other two runs in the seventh with an RBI single and fielder’s choice respectively.

Jonathan Bowlan and recently recalled Lou Trivino preserved Sanchez’s shutout with a scoreless inning each in relief.

Game three of the four game set is tomorrow with Zack Wheeler slated to battle reigning NL Cy Young winner, Paul Skenes.

In Monday’s loss to the White Sox, it took Chicago until the 9th inning to score their eighth run of the game. Tonight, they only had to wait until the 3rd inning, as the Southsiders clobbered Orioles’ starter Trey Gibson en route to a 9-3 blowout of Baltimore.

After only lasting four innings last time out against the Angels, the rookie right-hander was hoping to give the O’s additional length against the White Sox. Instead, Chicago chased him after a disastrous 3rd inning. The Orioles came into the inning tied at 1-1, but former Red Sox and Yankee Andrew Benintendi started the rally off the inning with a single to right. Gibson then hung a slider to Chicago SS Colson Montgomery, who proceeded to blast it toward Eutaw Street for a two-run homer

From there, it only got worse for Gibson. He’d issue his fourth and fifth walks of the game before a Tristan Peters single loaded the bases for the Southsiders. Jacob Gonzalez then dug the O’s grave that much deeper, slashing a 1-0 fastball to left field to score two runs and give Chicago a 5-1 lead.

And while Gonzalez couldn’t clear the bases, No. 9 hitter Junior Perez was happy to oblige. On the first pitch to Perez, Gibson left another breaking ball over the plate, and the outfielder sent it 409 feet to center field for a game-breaking three-run homer.

Gibson would stick around for a couple more batters, finally getting the first out of the inning by striking catcher Kyle Teel. The righty then got Miguel Vargas to pop out before Benintendi ended his evening by working the White Sox’s sixth walk in less than three innings. Gibson exited having thrown 78 total pitches and 37 in the 3rd alone, finishing with a final line of 2.2 IP, 7 H, 8 ER, 6 BB and 5 Ks. It was the Orioles’ shortest start since Chris Bassitt only completed three innings in an 8-1 loss to the Red Sox on June 3rd.

Offensively, the Orioles looked ready to compete early, but that spark faded as fast as Gibson’s start. After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the 1st, Gunnar Henderson and Samuel Basallo helped spark a game-tying rally. Henderson led off the home 1st by singling up the middle on a changeup on the outer third of the plate. Pete Alonso then worked a two-out walk to move Gunnar to second and set the table for Basallo. The rookie catcher jumped on a first-pitch cutter, slamming a single to right-center to score Henderson and tie the game.

From there, the O’s would go 13 straight plate appearances without registering a hit. Their only base runners during that stretch would come via a Colton Cowser leadoff walk in the 3rd and a Basallo leadoff walk in the 4th. Cowser also came close to hitting a two-run homer in the 4th, only for the loud fly ball to die on the track in right-center field.

The Baltimore bats finally got back on the board in the 5th thanks to the top of the lineup. Henderson started the rally with his second double of the night, sending a one-out double ricocheting off the out-of-town scoreboard in right. Two batters later, Dylan Beavers picked up his first hit since coming off the IL, doubling under the glove of the right fielder to score Gunnar and cut the deficit to 9-2. Alonso then notched up his 59th RBI of the season, singling to right to bring home Beavers and make it 9-3.

The O’s would attempt another rally in the 6th, with Leody Taveras reaching on a leadoff single before moving to second on a one-out single by Blaze Alexander. The attempted rally would fall flat, though, as Jackson Holliday flew out to left for the second out before Gunnar weakly grounded out to second to end the inning. Basallo and Alexander would each reach on leadoff singles in the 7th and 9th, but both were left stranded.

The bullpen arms were really the only group who performed up to expectations Tuesday night, with four pitchers combining for 6.1 IP while only allowing one run. Lanky lefty Josh Walker replaced Gibson and got the final out in the 3rd on two pitches. Walker would allow Chicago’s ninth run in the 4th, giving up a two-single to Tristan Peters before Gonzalez brought him home on a double to center.

Andrew Kittredge then took over in the 5th, punching out two while working around another Benintendi base hit. The real yeoman’s work game from the ever-dependable Albert Suárez. After chewing up three innings in the loss to the Nationals Sunday, the 36-year-old gobbled up another three innings of scoreless ball Tuesday, only allowing one hit and punching out four. Rico Garcia worked a 1-2-3 9th to finish off the impressive effort by the pen.

The loss drops the O’s to nine games under .500 for the first time since September 20th of last season. Dean Kremer is expected to come off the IL tomorrow as the O’s look to avoid the sweep in an afternoon matinee.