Category: MLB

Of all the key Yankees currently on the injured list, Max Fried has a chance to be the first one back. 

The left-hander took a significant step in making that happen Friday night when he started a rehab assignment with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre — throwing 52 pitches across three innings while giving up two runs and no walks with three strikeouts — just over two months removed from landing on the IL with a left elbow bone bruise. 

If he recovers from Friday’s game without issue, Fried is expected to make at least one more rehab start Wednesday before the Yankees will discuss whether he is ready to rejoin the rotation, though he would not be fully built up at that point. 

“Obviously, tonight’s another important step for him,” manager Aaron Boone said before the Yankees fell to the Dodgers 2-1 to begin the season’s second half. 

Fried presumably would get to around 60 pitches in his next start, making it possible he could return to the big leagues after that on a pitch count around 70 and finish off his buildup from there. 

In the meantime, the Yankees will need to fill his rotation spot Tuesday against the Pirates, though Boone said they had not yet decided whether they would do so by calling up a fifth starter (à la Elmer Rodríguez) or throwing a bullpen game, like they did against the Rays before the All-Star break. 

The Yankees have already used three of Rodríguez’s five minor league options this season, so they need to be deliberate in when they use the final two the rest of the season. 

“It could be similar to what we did in Tampa with having the extra reliever, but we got to see how these handful of games unfold and then we’ll make a call as to what we need that second game against the Pirates,” Boone said. 

Fellow lefty Carlos Rodón (left elbow inflammation) threw about 10 pitches off the bullpen mound Friday as he continued his throwing progression after being shut down for about a week. 

Clarke Schmidt is set to face hitters in a simulated inning Saturday for the first time in his rehab from Tommy John surgery. 

“Itching, man,” Schmidt said Friday. “It’s been a little bit over a year now, just hit the year mark [July 11], so really excited to start somewhat getting close to competing.” 

Giancarlo Stanton (right calf strain) has started his running progression outside, Boone said, but remains without a timetable for a return. 

Boone said the Yankees were monitoring the air quality in The Bronx on Friday, due to the smoke from the Canadian wildfires, but it was clear for most of the game before getting slightly hazy in the late innings.

After a lovely vacation, many of us believe we will return to our jobs reinvigorated, with a fresh heart and a renewed passion for our professions.

Personally, I find the return to the office to be a definitive, draining reminder of how much I wish I never had to work another day in my life. How if I won the lottery or bought NVIDIA in my 401(k) account 6 years ago, I’d spend most of my days volunteering at an animal shelter (and DEFINITELY not adopt another animal) before going to watch the Mariners game at my local brewery. 

(Well. Maybe not that last part.)

It seems like the Mariners would agree with me, as they returned from the All-Star Break looking limp and lifeless, losing listlessly to the Giants 7-0.

Off the bat, it seemed like the San Francisco Season of Humiliation was bound to continue, as the Giants blew through their two ABS challenges just four outs into the game on poorly-advised challenges from left fielder Kasey Schmidt and catcher Andrew Kavanaugh.

Bryce Miller also started hot, touching 97 in the first inning and recorded four straight strikeouts in the first/second innings. He showed some Nestorocity on his strikeout of Rafiel Dever with a little hesi in his windup.

There were a few great almost-hits in the early part of the game for Seattle. Cal nuked one that was loud enough that I woke up my cats, but fell just foul, and Luke Raley hit one right to the top of the wall in center field, but it took until the bottom of the fourth for the Mariners to earn the first of their two hits for the night off the bat of Josh Naylor.

My cats had the right idea, as the first four innings of this game were capital-S Sleepy. Unfortunately, the wake-up call for this snoozer did not come from the bats of the Mariners. Miller left a splitter too far up in the zone to Bruce Elderidge, and he was punished for the mistake to the tune of a 2-run homer. 

The Mariners swiftly responded with some small-ball to manufacture some outs. After Raley hit a leadoff single, a poorly-executed sacrifice bunt by Robles saw him out at second. Robles soon followed suit, getting thrown out at second on a poorly-executed stolen base attempt. 

Miller saw his chance at a quality start slip away after he plunked Drew Gibert with one on and two out in the fifth inning. Miller ended with a José Ferrer walked Andrew Kavanaugh before Louis Arroz did what Arroz does best – use annoying bat-to-ball skills to ruin pitcher’s lives. 

A funky deflection off the glove of Ferrer saved the Mariners from another couple of runs, leaving the game at 3-0, but it didn’t take long for the Giants to reclaim what was rightfully theirs. 

Nick Davila brought shame upon our name in the seventh inning, loading the bases and allowing William Adams to hit a coffin-nail grand slam that put the game out of reach.

One of the few bright spots from this game was Cole Wilcox coming in for mop-up duty and absolutely cleaning up, hitting 98.2 on the gun and earning himself a couple of strikeouts. 

The Mariners put up almost no fight in this game whatsoever. At no point did it feel like the offense was on the verge of threatening the show signs of life. The defense had as many errors as the lineup had hits. The post-vacation sluggishness comes for us all, it seems.

Ah, well. At least it’s baseball.

SEATTLE — If a reset was what the Giants were looking for, they couldn’t have asked for more than the way they began the second half Friday against the Mariners.

Jung Hoo Lee led a parade of a dozen hits, Bryce Eldridge and Willy Adames provided the power and Landen Roupp mowed through seven shutout innings for a convincing 7-0 win.

“It looked like we’ve been playing the last four days,” quipped Eldridge, who opened the scoring with a two-run shot in the fifth. “In all seriousness, I think the break was good for us.”

For the sixth time this season, San Francisco won its third game in a row.

Now, for the real test of whether or not this is just a mirage: Can they extend it to four for the first time all year?

It’s hard not to like their chances if they can repeat performances like Friday’s.

“We played really well tonight, but we only get one win for it,” manager Tony Vitello said. “Tomorrow is a new battle. … The challenge is on for the coaching staff, too, but for the players to bring the attitude they brought today, of a 66-game season, make it a fresh start.”

Logan Webb gets the ball Saturday, and Roupp gave him a good starting point with his second straight stellar showing.

He walked three and only struck out two but didn’t yield a hit until the fourth, surrendering only two all game. He traded swings and misses for a boatload of weak contact and some solid defense behind him.

After allowing only one run in eight innings in his last start before the break, Roupp lowered his ERA to 3.98 after it had climbed to a season-worst 4.55 two starts ago.

“I think if you look at his whole body of work, he’s been great for us all year long,” Vitello said. “It’s just been a couple outings where the pitch count gets high on him because he’s not in the zone. Ironically tonight, one more walk than strikeout … but the rest of the time was just pounding the zone.”

Now two innings shy of his previous career high (106 ⅔), the Giants skipped Roupp’s last turn through the rotation before the break. The 11-day layoff seems to have only helped.

“Yes and no,” Roupp said. “I felt a little sluggish today, just with so many days off in between. … I don’t really like to take breaks. It kind of just messes with my momentum.”

For once, it was the Giants who benefited from some sloppy play, with Seattle committing a pair of errors that led to Lee widening the Giants’ lead to 3-0 in the sixth.

Lee reached on a fielder’s choice after Heliot Ramos singled to lead off the inning, but made it to second when shortstop Colt Emerson threw into foul ground trying to turn two.

He then scored when second baseman Cole Young couldn’t handle a ground ball off the bat of Arraez.

Playing a key role in it all: Catcher Drew Cavanaugh, who reached base all three times he came to the plate and used his body to obstruct Young’s path to the grounder while going to second.

Lee (3-for-4), Cavanaugh (2-for-2), Ramos (2-for-5) and Casey Schmitt (2-for-5) all contributed multiple hits.

Maybe the most encouraging sign came from Adames, who blew the game wide open with San Francisco’s eighth grand slam of the year. The struggling shortstop had been 0-for-3 when he came up with the bases loaded in the seventh.

He lined an 0-1 slider over the wall in right-center, going with the pitch, to widen the lead to 7-0.

“It can’t just be Willy and [Matt Chapman] and [Rafael] Devers,” Eldridge said. “But when those guys are at their best, we’ve shown what the offense is capable of. This team’s unstoppable. … I even thought during batting practice, [Adames] looked good, he looked fresh.”

The marine layer had kept a couple of deep drives in the ballpark, with Schmitt and Seattle’s Luke Raley sending fly ball outs to the center field wall, but Eldridge’s power was the first to prove impervious. Eldridge caught a splitter on the outside corner off the end of his bat but still gave it enough oomph to sneak it over the wall — and out of the reach of leaping center fielder Victor Robles.

Eldridge’s ninth home run of the season produced the first runs for either team, opening a 2-0 lead in favor of the Giants in the top of the fifth. That, it turned out, would have been enough.

What it means

It’s now been more than a week since the Giants’ last loss, the longest they have gone all season without the number in the loss column going up.

Who’s hot

Of all the Giants, Vitello believed few needed the All-Star break more than Lee.

It’s one reason why the skipper framed it as a positive when he had to break the news to the third-year outfielder that his breakout first half didn’t merit his first career All-Star selection.

Lee looked freshly rested while rattling off a pair of line drive singles in his first two at-bats. His only piece of contact that wasn’t hard-hit was a broken-bat single for his third hit of the night. He reached base for a fourth time when he was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for Adames.

It was Lee’s 30th multihit effort of the season, trailing only Luis Arraez and Schmitt, but only his second since June 24. In 17 games before the break, Lee had been hitting .164 (10-for-61), with only one walk and three extra-base hits, resulting in a .404 OPS.

Who’s not

For a team looking for a fresh start in the second half, its biggest star didn’t get the message. 

The only Giant kept off the bases in the 12-hit performance was Devers, who struck out three times while going 0-for-5. Devers went down swinging on three pitches in his first at-bat, then swung through another fastball at the letters for strike three his next time up.

Devers briefly raised his OPS over .800 for the first time all season in the Giants’ last series before the break, but the hitless performance sent it back down to .789.

Up next

Fresh off a restful few days representing the Giants at the All-Star Game in Philadelphia, Webb makes his first start of the second half against Seattle right-hander and Bay Area native Bryan Woo.

First pitch is scheduled for 5:08 p.m. PT, with Fox carrying the game nationally.

With 10 days since his last start, Webb will try to begin the second half on a better note than the way he went into the break, surrendering 12 runs over his final two starts.

The “Second Half” of the 2026 MLB season began tonight for the Athletics against the Washington Nationals at Sutter Health Park in West Sac. After finishing the first half on a nine-game losing streak, the team hopes to get off on the right foot against the Nats.

Gage Jump made the start for the A’s, his tenth of the season, against Cade Cavalli for the Nationals. Jump kept the Nationals bats at bay until the top of the third when a walk a single and two doubles, gave the Nats a 3-0 lead, all with 2 outs.

In the top of the fourth, harry Ford walked and Jacob Young hit a ground rule double, scoring Ford. That was it for Jump, who left after 3 2/3 innings having given up four earned runs on four hits and two walks.  He struck out eight Nationals. José Suarez entered the game and got the final out of the inning.

Jacob Wilson singled to lead off the bottom of the fourth. Tyler Soderstrom followed that with a 415 ft. homer to straight away center field.  That cut the Nats lead to 4-2.

The Nationals got those two runs back in the top of the fifth when Suarez gave up a monster two-run homer to Andrés Chaparro. That was all for Suarez, who was replaced by Justin Sterner with two outs. Harry Ford followed with his own 2-run homer to bring the score to 8-2.

With the score now 10-2, A’s reliever Yunior Tur made his Major League debut. Henry Bolte misplayed his second ball of the inning allowing two more runs to score. CJ Abrams hit a ball to deep centerfield that turned Bolte around and it fell for a double, scoring Chaparro for the 13^th run of the night. Abrams scored on a Daylen Liles single. Tur struck out two but not before the Nationals scored six runs in the inning.

After the A’s went quietly in their half of the sixth, The Nationals picked up where they left off in the previous inning, giving up an RBI double and a two-run homer to bring the score to 18-2 with no outs. It was this seventh inning that things got so out of hand that the A’s announcers turned to talking about what pro wrestler they would be if they could.  The conversation went downhill from there. Nuff said.

Brady Basso entered the game to pitch the eighth and tossed a 1-2-3 inning with two K’s. In the bottom of the eighth, Tommy White got his first major league hit, a double to center field. He was stranded at second when the inning ended.

Carlos Cortes moved from right field to pitch the ninth. He gave up five runs on four hits and a walk.  Headed to the bottom of the ninth, the Nationals led 23-2. Shea Langeliers greeted a position player on the mound for the Nats with a homer to deep left field. After two consecutive hits, the As scored one more.  The final score was 23-4, not the start of the second half the team or its loyal fans were hoping for.

The Cubs have officially signed the following draft picks:

1st round—RHP Cade Townsend

3rd round—RHP Carson Jasa

4th round—RHP Dylan Marionneaux

7th round—LHP Cole Tryba

10th round—RHP Luke Alwood

Catcher Owen Ayers was promoted from Double-A Knoxville to Triple-A Iowa.

Right-hander Jace Beck was also promoted to Iowa from Knoxville.

Right-hander Kevin Valdez was promoted to Knoxville from High-A South Bend

Catcher Miguel Useche also went from South Bend to Knoxville.

Smokies right-hander Yenrri Rojas was transferred to the development list.

Iowa Cubs right-hander Liam Hendricks, right-hander Kyle Wright, left-hander Aaron Bummer and catcher Eric Yang have all been released.

Right-hander Jake Woodford has elected to become a free agent.

If I missed anyone, I apologize. I know there are a lot of announcements on amateur free agents, but none of those have been made official yet.

Mesa won at least.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were edged by the Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals), 10-9.

Jaxon Wiggins started this game and ran into a lot of trouble in the third inning, giving up five runs. The final line on Wiggins was five runs on two hits and five walks over 2.2 innings. Wiggins struck out three.

Iowa fought back and took the lead with a four-run fourth and a two-run fifth, but the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead. Corbin Martin ended up getting the loss after giving up a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth. Martin’s final line was one run on three hits over 1.1 innings. The run was unearned, but it was his own throwing error that caused it to be unearned, so he has no one to blame but himself. Martin walked two, one intentionally, and struck out one.

Iowa had 12 hits and ten walks in this game, but all 12 of the hits were singles.

Center fielder Brett Bateman was 2 for 6 with three RBI and one run scored.

Third baseman Owen Miller was 2 for 5 with two RBI.

Second baseman James Triantos was 2 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.

DH Owen Ayers didn’t slow down in Triple-A. Ayers was 3 for 4 with a walk and a stolen base in his I-Cubs debut.

Nice defense from Bateman.

Bateman two-run single.

The title says it all.

Ayers’ third hit.

Martin took the loss in the ninth, but he got out of trouble in the eighth on this nifty double play.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies were burnt by the Montgomery Biscuits (Rays), 5-1.

Luis Martinez-Gomez was activated off the injured list and pitched the first four innings. Martinez-Gomez allowed one run on two hits, with one of those hits being a solo home run in the fourth. He walked two, hit one batter and struck out one.

Evan Taylor pitched the next two innings and got the loss after allowing one run on two hits. Taylor struck out one and walked no one.

The Smokies managed just three hits tonight. DH Andy Garriola was 1 for 2 with a sac fly. Right fielder Alex Ramírez went 1 for 4 with a double and he scored on the sac fly.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs were caged by the Peoria Chiefs (Cardinals), 9-3.

Starter Ethan Flanagan pitched 3.1 innings and surrendered two runs on two hits. The two hits were a triple and a home run though. Flanagan struck out five and walked no one.

Luis Rujano had a rough go of it and took the loss. Rujano got rocked for five runs on three hits and two walks over just one-third of an inning. He struck out one.

First baseman Josiah Hartshorn was 2 for 3 with a walk. He had an RBI single in the third inning and later scored in that frame.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans got blasted by the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (White Sox), 9-1.

Emilio Ramos started and got the loss after he was tagged for three runs on four hits over just two innings. Ramos walked three and struck out one.

Just four hits, all singles, for the Pelicans. Left fielder Ethan Conrad was 1 for 3 with a walk.

Alexis Hernández was also 1 for 3 with a walk. He scored once.

ACL Cubs

Beat the Reds, 11-6.

Second baseman Ezequiel Pena hit his first professional home run.

Yet again in a game between these two teams, the Dodgers were perfect when they needed to be, and yet again the Yankees were not. 

The difference in Friday’s series opener — the first time the pair matched up in The Bronx since a 2024 World Series that Aaron Boone’s group will forever regret — may have been a standout defensive play by the Dodgers and a base-running play by the Yankees that was not good enough. 

In a game the Dodgers were leading 2-1 — which would be the final score — Ben Rice clubbed a double off the wall in right-center in the eighth inning. With one out, Trent Grisham did not fully take off from first base until it was clear the ball was landing. 

It looked as if he slowed up a touch going from second to third, which Grisham denied. If he was surprised third base coach Luis Rojas waved him home — an aggressive send, if understandable considering the Yankees’ offensive struggles — he denied it. 

What he did acknowledge was being “conscious” of his hamstring, which he strained in June and caused him to miss three weeks into July. 

Regardless, Grisham said he “picked up” Rojas great, rounded third base and was beaten to the plate because the defense behind him was excellent.

Andy Pages, who boasts among the best outfield arms in the game, threw hard but inaccurately, forcing Mookie Betts to sprint from shallow center field toward where he began the play at shortstop. Betts caught the ball on the run and quickly relayed home while running toward third base.

Catcher Dalton Rushing backhanded up the first-base line and quickly moved his arm across his body and threw his glove down, hitting Grisham’s cleat as Grisham tried to sneak his foot across. 

“It was bang-bang,” said Grisham, but yet again, the Dodgers were just a little bit better. 

If Rojas held up Grisham, the Yankees would have had runners on second and third with one out and No. 3 hitter Paul Goldschmidt due up to face lefty Alex Vesia (although the Dodgers likely would have walked the lefty killer and set up Cody Bellinger with the bases loaded). 

“I thought Luis actually did a good job in reading the throw that it was going over the second baseman’s head, and Mookie was kind of on the run to have to go make the play,” Boone said, “and made a pretty good throw on the run. 

“So, don’t have an issue with taking the shot there.”

Game Summary

Full recap to follow shortly. Feel free to vent in the comments in the meantime!

Loss Probability and Box Score

Outside the Box Score

• Ketel Marte got credited with a tough error to start things rolling for the Cards in the first. At first, it looked like Ketel just got gobbled up and let an easy grounder roll through his feet. Upon reviewing replay, Merrill deflected the ball as it came up the middle and Ketel got a little crossed up.
• Gabi really helped Merrill out with the bases loaded and 1 out in the first by challenging a called Ball 4 and turning it into a Strike 3. Unfortunately, the Cardinals got an RBI single immediately following.
• Tim Tawa made an excellent diving catch on a sinking line drive into center field to end the first inning and keep the Cardinals lead at 2-0. 
• Bob made a sarcastic comment after the Cardinals made an out on the first pitch of the game that Merrill was on pace for a 27 pitch ballgame. In reality, it took him 27 more pitches just to get out of the first inning.
• Max Kepler dropped a surprise bunt for a base hit in the second to put runners at first and second with no outs and it was a beaut, perfectly parallel with the third baseline. 
• Kepler did another excellent job of situational hitting with Gabi at second and nobody out in the 4th when he yanked a grounder toward second, ensuring Gabi would make it to third with less than 2 outs. Lourdes undid that good deed by weakly grounding out to shortstop. Arenado made a good effort at shooting a single through the hole between short and third to score Gabi, but Masyn Winn made an excellent diving stop and throw (aided at least a little by the glacial foot speed of Arenado) to get the third out of the inning.
• Taylor Clarke was fairly unfortunate in that he got 2 groundballs with a runner at first in the 6th inning, but both were hit too slowly for the D-backs defense to turn a double play. Then Clarke gave up a a hard grounder that nearly snuck through the middle but Ketel made an elite diving play to keep the ball on the infield and shoveled it to Domo for the third out.
• Lourdes Gurriel was frozen watching a middle-middle fastball go by to strike him out and end the 6th inning. No one on so wasn’t a rally killer or anything, but a very disappointing pitch to let go by. Suppose that’s what happens when you’re slumping though, swing at pitches you shouldn’t and watch pitches you shouldn’t.
• I thought it was a mistake watching Ildemaro turn second and head to third on his triple in the 7th, but he kept chugging and the relay throw was nowhere close. Awesome hustle and happy I was wrong.
• Wild pitch by Morillo in the 8th led to a Cardinals run. Gabi got beat by a pitch in the dirt that just skidded along the ground instead of bouncing up, allowing runners to advance to second and third. Later in the at bat, the hitter hit a line drive to Kepler resulting in a run scoring sac fly.
• Corbin’s game tying homer was a line drive that was just above the fence and hit off the right field foul pole netting!
• Sewald’s night started to unravel right off the rip when he misplayed a grounder back up the box leading off the ninth. He stuck his glove out and was just under it, allowing the ball to deflect and die in the middle of the infield and resulting in an infield single. 

Comment of the Game

The GameDay Thread was well attended with a final tally of 312 comments at time of publishing. Not many Sedona Red comments, but Mike Mono earns tonight’s honor with the most recs for this:

Coming Up

The Diamondbacks face the Cardinals for the second game of this 3-game set tomorrow afternoon with a 1:10pm first pitch Arizona time. Right-hander Dustin May (5-6, 4.55 ERA) is listed as the probable starter for The Lou and Brandon Pfaadt (3-1, 4.70 ERA) will get the ball for the good guys.

Baseball is back. More importantly, the St. Louis Cardinals are back. After the excitement of the Home Run Derby was enough to last us until Friday, it was good to see the full team back in action. The layoff did not hurt the offense early in the first game of a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks as the Cardinals took the lead in the first and, after a back and forth affair, scraped together their 51st win of the season.

Cardinals beat Diamondbacks 5-4

Ivan Herrera got things started against Merrill Kelly, reaching on a Ketel Marte error before moving up on an Alec Burleson single. Jordan Walker fell behind 0-2 in his first at-bat out of the break, but battled back and worked a walk to load the bases with one out. Lars Nootbaar took an ABS called third strike before Masyn Winn clutched up with a two-run single for an early lead. Michael McGreevy tossed a donut in the bottom of the first inning, retiring the side in order while flashing 94mph on the radar gun.

In the second, Jose Fermin looked to keep the lineup moving with a leadoff single but a foreshadowing pickoff took the wind out of the lineup. Kelly worked around a two-out walk to JJ Wetherholt before a nine-pitch at-bat ended in a strikeout of Herrera. When Arizona stepped to the plate in the bottom of the inning, it was almost immediate chaos. Catcher Gabriel Moreno tomahawked an 0-2 single then moved up on a bunt single from Max Kepler. With no outs, Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s bunt attempt confused Jimmy Crooks behind the plate and the passed ball allowed a free 90 feet.

Gurriel made the mistake hurt right away, driving in Moreno with a long sac fly that allowed Kepler to move up to third. McGreevy kept his composure and was able to wiggle out of the inning with no further damage. He was able to get Nolan Arenado to strikeout with a runner in scoring position (shocker… JK Nolan) and completed his first Houdini Act with a harmless grounder to second.

The offense did nothing in the top of the third in support of McGreevy and the one-run lead disappeared quickly in the home half. Because why not, Tim Tawa hit a 381 foot homer on a 2-1 changeup to bring the score back even before getting the next three in order going into the middle innings. Another 1-2-3 inning for Kelly began the fourth and more wizardry by McGreevy and Winn was needed to keep the score tied.

Moreno hammered a double off the center field wall to begin the home half of the fourth and moved up to third with a groundout. Gurriel Jr. found himself up again just needing a sac fly, but this time he grounded out to third and Fermin kept Moreno stuck at third. Luckily for the Cardinals (sorry again Nolan), Arenado came up with a runner on third on the other team and Winn made an unreal play in the 5-6 hole and sent the game to the fifth.

With one-out in the fifth, the $112.5 million second baseman JJ Wetherholt put the Redbirds back on top with a 402 foot bomb to right field for his 14th homer of the year. The Cardinals were unable to do any further damage against Kelly, but the long at-bats caused his pitch count to hit 87 through five innings of work.

The Cardinals got their opportunity for some insurance against the Diamondbacks bullpen in the sixth inning, but Arizona got their revenge. Jordan Walker legged out an infield single and was limping after the play, but a force out got him off the bases quickly. Winn drew a walk and broke up a double play ball from Nathan Church to give the Cardinals runners on the corners and two outs. Jose Fermin smoked a grounder right up the middle, but Ketel Marte made up for his earlier error with a stellar sliding play to get the out at second and end the threat.

Defense continued to be the trend in the seventh inning. The D’Backs used a double play to end the top half and the bottom of the inning had the Cardinals on the ropes again. McGreevy got Arenado to strike out (again) for his fifth punchout of the game, but Ildemaro Vargas tripled to on the last pitch of McGreevy’s 6.1 inning quality start. Oli Marmol went to George Soriano in relief and Winn did his thing at short again. He made a nice backhand play on a grounder to keep the runner at third before Soriano’s Bugs Bunny changeup got Marte swinging to keep the score 3-2 going into the eighth.

In the eighth, the Cardinals finally got their insurance run but it turned out to be much more important than that. Alec Burleson led off the inning with a walk and moved up on a one-out Nootbaar single, putting Winn at the plate with the opportunity to cash in a big run. Winn did just that, smoking a sac fly to drive in Burly for his third RBI and gave the Cardinals a 4-2 and Luis Gastelum coming in for the bottom of the inning.

JoJo Romero recovering from an appendectomy led to Gastelum getting the call thanks to his own filthy changeup against lefties, but it was his offspeed offering that came back to bite him. An ABS walk started the inning and as leadoff walks tend to do, scored on a line drive Corbin Carroll homer off of the foul pole. No further damage was done but the Cardinals once again would have to fight back after blowing a lead.

Clutch performer Jose Fermin did his best to get things started in the ninth and he reached on a bobbled comebacker by Arizona closer Paul Sewald. Crooks followed up with a four pitch walk to bring the top of the order up with plenty of chances to do some damage. With two strikes, the unflappable rookie JJ Wetherholt lined a 101mph single to center, but it was hit so hard that Fermin had to hold at third, loading the bases with nobody out.

After chasing two nasty sliders out of the zone, Sewald went back to the pitch and hung it enough over the middle of the plate to allow Ivan Herrera to hit a sac fly to center and drive in the go-ahead run. D’Backs manager Torey Lovullo had seen enough from his closer at that point and likely wanted to save him for later in the series so he went to the bullpen again. Lefty Brandyn Garcia took on Burleson to start his outing and the pitcher won the matchup with a strikeout before getting Walker to groundout and keep the score 5-4 heading into the ninth.

All-Star Riley O’Brien took the mound in the ninth and was unable to move past the command issues he saw at the end of the first half. He issued a leadoff walk to Arenado and was not really close on any of his offerings. Despite his inability to find the zone, Vargas fouled off a bunt on the first pitch of his at-bat before Arizona committed their own TOOTBLAN that overshadowed Fermin from earlier. Pinch runner Jorge Barrosa was picked off, which is really the only thing a running specialist cannot do when trailing in the ninth. Vargas then hit a harmless flyout before O’Brien gave up a double to, again why not, Tim Tawa with two outs.

The pick off proved to be massive for the Cardinals as the lineup moved to Ketel Marte at the top of the order. With the tying run on second, O’Brien got ahead 0-2 of the dangerous switch-hitter before Marte laid off a couple pitches. With a 2-2 count, O’Brien was apparently close enough to the strike zone for a called third strike to end the game. Marte did not challenge the pitch and it appears he may have had a fair chance at another offering.

In the win, Luis Gastelum picked up his first major league victory and Michael McGreevy dropped his ERA to a stellar 2.91. The save was O’Brien’s 25th of the season and with the Brewers beating the Marlins, the Cardinals are now back in Wild Card position.

The series continues tomorrow with a 3:10 game and Dustin May on the mound.

The Tigers avoided a shutout in their first game back after the break with a 2-1 win over the Angels, scoring both their runs in the ninth inning.

Welcome back from the break, everyone! Hopefully the Tigers are feeling refreshed and rested after their downtime, because we’re starting the second half on the West Coast. Perhaps it’s us, the viewers, who need to be well-rested in that case, because we have some late games coming down the pipeline. In our first game back, the Tigers are taking on the Angels and as we have recently observed, they actually do worse against struggling teams, so this could be a rough weekend. To open the series, the Tigers had Troy Melton on the mound up against Reid Detmers for the Angels.

In the top of the first, Dillon Dingler got a two-out single, but the Tigers weren’t able to convert the baserunner. The bottom of the first was rough on Melton. Zach Neto opened the inning with a single, then with one out, Nolan Schanuel walked. Jorge Soler walked behind him. Melton was throwing with heat, but his command wasn’t where it needed to be. Josh Lowe grounded out with the bases loaded to score the first run of the game. Melton did get out of the jam, but he used 27 pitches to get through the first inning. That said, the results could have been much worse given the jam he pitched out of.

The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the second. In the bottom of the inning, Vaughn Grissom took a leadoff walk. Then he finally got his first strikeout of the game, hopefully that might get his head back in the zone. Melton did indeed have better luck in this inning, getting the next three outs in order.

With two outs in the third, Matt Vierling singled, but the Tigers left him stranded. In the bottom half, Mike Trout got things going with a leadoff double. Schanuel walked. Melton once again pitched out of the jam, though, getting the next three outs in a row.

It was a case of deja vu in the fourth as Riley Greene hit a two-out double. But as with the previous instances of the Tigers getting a man on base, the team left him stranded. Grissom hit a leadoff single into left to start the home half. Logan O’Hoppe, with one out, grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Ben Malegeri got a one-out double in the fifth. But yet more RISPy business as the Tigers failed to capitalize on the baserunner. Neto kicked off the home half with a leadoff single that caused Zach McKinstry to literally slip on his butt stopping the ball, turning the fielding into a Buster Keaton routine that resulted in no outs. Mike Trout struck out, then Neto got caught in a rundown before getting tagged out.

The Tigers went out in order in the top of the sixth, but more importantly, Dan Petry got to put the glove he’s been keeping in the booth to use as he actually caught a wild foul. With two outs in the home half, Melton’s day was done, and Keider Montero came in to get the final out. Melton’s final line was 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 9 K on 94 pitches. If not for the command issues and the walks, it would have been a really strong start. As it was, only giving up a single run was great. He’s got some work to do, but the raw potential is definitely there. He really turned things around in the later innings, so decidedly not worried about Melton.

Ryan Zeferjahn came in out of the Angels’ bullpen in the seventh, and he got the Tigers out in order. And, hey, Tigers, I don’t know if you considered it, but getting a single run at some point would be both cool and helpful. Montero got the Angels out in order in the bottom of the inning.

Sam Bachman was the new Angels pitcher for the eighth inning. Vierling got a two-out single. With McGonigle on a 3-2 count, Vierling stole second. The Angels challenged the safe call at second. By some miracle, the call actually stood (it looked very likely he was out, but not a certainty). It ended up not mattering because McGonigle struck out. Montero continued working in the bottom of the inning and just made the Red Sox look silly, going down in order. So good.

Kirby Yates came in for the ninth, and the Tigers were down to their last chance to make something happen. Dingler was hit by a pitch to start the inning. James Outman came in to pinch-run for Dingler. With one out, Outman stole second. Riley Greene walked. With two outs, Hao-Yu Lee came in to be the hero, hitting a double to score two runs.

Samy Natera Jr. came in and got the final out of the inning. In the home half, Montero was back on the mound, and hit Jorge Soler, putting the leadoff man aboard. Jose Siri singled after showing bunt multiple times. The second out of the inning led to a challenge, though it was a really great play between McGonigle and Torkelson. The call on the field was upheld for the second out. Montero kept it together despite the threat of two runners in scoring position and got the final out of the inning. The Tigers managed to sneak a win out of their first game back from the break.

Final: Tigers 2, Angels 1

The Milwaukee Brewers got their second half started with a thrilling pitcher’s duel walk-off victory over the Miami Marlins 2-1.

Most of the scoring was done in the fifth inning on a pair of solo shots. Griffin Conine took Logan Henderson deep to right-center to give the Marlins a 1-0 lead. The Brewers then answered back in the bottom half of the 5th with a solo shot to left from Joey Ortiz off Sandy Alcantara.

There was essentially nothing else going on offensively for either team before or after that. Until the 9th inning, when the Brewers started to mount their rally. Joey Ortiz got things started with a two out single against Marlins closer Pete Fairbanks. He then stole second base, Christian Yelich drew a walk and put two runners on for Jackson Chourio.

Chourio ended up striking out looking on a pitch that was outside the zone, but even with two ABS challenges remaining, Chourio did not challenge. So this game went to extra innings.

Craig Yoho was handed the 10th inning and went three up, three down in a scoreless frame, even though he started with a runner on second. Yoho has continued to pitch well. That set the Brewers up perfectly for the bottom of the 10th with the heart of the order due up. Brice Turang and Jake Bauers punched out. They couldn’t put a ball in play, until Garrett Mitchell stepped up to the plate.

With two outs, Mitchell drove a single through the middle and Jackson Chourio was waved home. The throw from Jakob Marsee was up the first base line and the Brewers were able to walk off the Marlins 2-1.

That wasn’t the only heroic effort from Mitchell on the night. He made two incredible running, leaping catches deep in the gaps to rob the Marlins of extra bases and taking the lead late in the game.

And immediately after those catches was when Mitchell came up clutch at the plate.

“I kind of told myself the inning before, ’if I get up here, I’m going to end this game’ That’s just my internal thought process, so when I went up there I just kind of went up there free and trying to be aggressive.” Garrett Mitchell said.

Logan Henderson went five strong innings in this game. The athletic trainer checked on him in the 5th as he was dealing with a forearm cramp. He shooed the trainers away and was able to finish the inning, but was removed after that inning with just 73 pitches.

“He started messing with his arm and he said he threw a cutter and his forearm cramped. Well with his injury history, we weren’t going to take any chances. he said he wanted to continue but we wouldn’t want to take any chances” Murphy said.

The bullpen threw five shutout innings behind Henderson. Chad Patrick, Aaron Ashby, Abner Uribe, Trevor Megill, and Craig Yoho each covered one inning apiece, with Yoho ultimately getting the win in the 10th for his first career MLB victory.

Also in this game, Sal Frelick exited in the fourth inning with right shoulder soreness. Murphy said postgame that they will get some imaging done, but “I suspect he won’t be able to go anytime soon”. So it sounds like an IL stint could be coming for Frelick. Frelick suffered the injury on a throw in from the outfield the inning before.

The Brewers have reached 60 wins in just 97 games played, the quickest time to reach 60 wins in franchise history. They are the second team in baseball to reach 60 wins this year, behind, of course, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Shane Drohan and Max Meyer will duel things out on Saturday afternoon as the series against the Marlins continues.

Gabriel Hughes gave the Colorado Rockies a start they could win with Friday night.

The offense did not do enough with it, and the bullpen could not keep the game close once he left.

Hughes allowed two runs across 5.1 innings, but Colorado managed only six hits and no walks in a 7-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Coors Field.

The Rockies fell to 39-60. Cincinnati improved to 44-52.

Colorado tied the game in the fifth and remained even into the sixth. The Reds then hit consecutive home runs against Jimmy Herget and scored in each of the final four innings.

Meanwhile, Brady Singer retired the first 12 Rockies and never allowed the offense to build sustained pressure.

Hughes continues to look like a big-league pitcher

Gabriel Hughes gave up a leadoff single to Elly De La Cruz and an RBI double to Sal Stewart before recording an out, but the inning did not get away from him.

JJ Bleday moved Stewart to third with a flyout. Hughes then struck out Spencer Steer and froze Eugenio Suárez with a called third strike to strand the runner.

Hughes retired eight straight hitters beginning with those final three outs of the first inning.

Cincinnati continued creating traffic, but Hughes repeatedly worked through it. Tyler Freeman threw Stewart out at third base to end the third inning after Bleday singled sharply to right.

Hughes stranded Suárez following a one-out double in the fourth, then picked De La Cruz off first to finish the fifth.

He opened the sixth by striking out Stewart with an 84.5 mph sweeper below the zone. Hughes walked Bleday on his 82nd and final pitch before the Rockies went to the bullpen.

Hughes finished with 5.1 innings, five hits, two earned runs, two walks and six strikeouts. The second run charged to him scored after he left.

The pitch mix supported the line. Hughes used six pitches, led by 41 four-seam fastballs. The pitch averaged 92.3 mph, topped out at 94.6 and produced 12 called strikes and three whiffs.

He paired it with a slider and sweeper in the mid-80s and a curveball that averaged 78.7 mph. The separation gave hitters three distinct velocity bands to cover, while his breaking pitches accounted for five of the six strikeouts.

The arsenal worked because Hughes attacked the zone. He threw 63% of his pitches for strikes, put 59% in the zone and delivered first-pitch strikes to 15 of the 21 hitters he faced.

Cincinnati hit seven balls hard, but Hughes paired eight whiffs with 16 called strikes and did not allow a home run. More importantly, he continued showing that traffic does not have to become a big inning. He looked like a big leaguer.

“There is a lot to love with how he carries himself,” manager Warren Schaeffer said postgame. “It is a really difficult environment when you first get to the big leagues, and you are making your first two starts after putting in a lot of time in the minor leagues. So for him to show the confidence out there on the mound is a big deal.”

Singer keeps the Rockies quiet

Brady Singer controlled the game with a sinker-slider combination that accounted for 81 of his 96 pitches.

The sinker averaged 91.7 mph, while the slider sat at 82.4. That separation kept Colorado from settling into one speed, and the slider generated 11 whiffs on 26 swings.

Singer finished seven innings with four hits, two runs, no walks and six strikeouts. He generated 17 whiffs and posted a 31% called-strike-plus-whiff rate.

Colorado put 20 balls in play against him, but 11 were grounders and the average exit velocity was 85.2 mph.

TJ Rumfield finally broke up the no-hit bid with a bloop single to begin the fifth.

Kyle Karros followed with a grounder that could have become a double play, but De La Cruz’s throw pulled Stewart off first. Karros ran hard and remained aboard.

Willi Castro then singled to right, moving Karros to third, and Troy Johnston tied the game with a sacrifice fly. De La Cruz later mishandled Freeman’s grounder, but Ezequiel Tovar grounded into a forceout to end the inning.

Colorado had tied the game, but it never forced Singer away from his preferred plan.

The sixth inning changes the game

The Rockies turned to Jimmy Herget after Hughes walked Bleday.

The game changed almost immediately.

Steer drove a 90.6 mph sinker 404 feet to left for a two-run homer. Suárez followed by sending an 80.3 mph sweeper over the left-field wall, turning a 1-1 tie into a 4-1 deficit.

Herget retired the next two hitters, but the Reds had created the separation Singer needed.

Cincinnati added another run in the seventh after Tovar’s throwing error put Ke’Bryan Hayes on second. De La Cruz followed with an infield single off Victor Vodnik, and Stewart drove Hayes home with a sacrifice fly.

The run was unearned, but it widened a game Colorado was already struggling to chase.

Castro supplied the Rockies’ best answer in the bottom half. He lifted an 83.1 mph slider 382 feet to left for his eighth home run, cutting the deficit to 5-2.

The next two Rockies grounded out.

Colorado creates chances but does not finish them

The Rockies produced scattered opportunities after Singer’s early dominance, but none developed into a full rally.

Jake McCarthy singled to begin the sixth and stole second after Mickey Moniak flew out. Hunter Goodman struck out, and Rumfield flew out to leave McCarthy stranded.

Colorado threatened again against Brock Burke in the eighth. McCarthy reached on a hit-by-pitch, and Cole Carrigg lined a pinch-hit single to center.

Carrigg then made a nifty slide to avoid the force at second on Goodman’s grounder, leaving runners at second and third with two outs rather than ending the inning with a double play.

Rumfield flew out to right.

The Rockies finished 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, recorded no two-out RBI and did not draw a walk.

Cincinnati kept adding runs.

Steer opened the eighth with an inside-the-park home run after his drive kicked away from McCarthy in deep right-center. Freeman retrieved the ball, but Tovar’s relay came home on an in-between hop that Goodman could not handle.

De La Cruz added a 434-foot solo home run against Jeff Criswell in the ninth.

Johnston doubled with two outs in the bottom half, but Freeman grounded out to end the game.

Final notes

Castro led the Rockies by going 2-for-4 with a home run and one RBI. He was Colorado’s only player with multiple hits.

McCarthy went 1-for-3, was hit by a pitch and stole his 16th base. Carrigg singled in his only plate appearance and remained in the game in center field.

Goodman finished 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

The Rockies recorded six hits, struck out eight times and stranded six runners.

Steer drove in three runs and homered twice, including the inside-the-park homer. De La Cruz went 4-for-5 with two runs and his 16th home run.

Singer earned the win and improved to 4-9. Hughes fell to 0-1 despite delivering another encouraging start.

The offense was flat, and the bullpen allowed a close game to become a comfortable Cincinnati win. Still, Hughes gave the Rockies something meaningful to carry forward.

His arsenal had enough shape and velocity separation. He attacked the strike zone. He missed bats and managed traffic.

The result was disappointing.

The start was not.

Up next

The Rockies and Reds continue their series Saturday afternoon at Coors Field.

Cincinnati will start right-hander Chase Lowder, who enters at 3-6 with a 4.91 ERA and 59 strikeouts.

Colorado is expected to start right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano, but the Rockies had not officially announced their starter.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. MDT. The game will be available on Rockies.TV and Reds.TV.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks! 

We’re into the second half of the season now, folks (not numerically, just post All-Star break), a stretch where a bunch of contending teams are going to go head-to-head in an attempt to separate the wheat from the chaff.

So which one are the Orioles?

More chaff than wheat … but only for the first seven innings! The Orioles were playing catch-up the whole game, with Houston building a 1-0, then 2-1 lead off O’s starter Dean Kremer as the Birds were kept in check by Houston righty Peter Lambert over six one-run innings in which he struck out 10. But, just like a (hopeful) late season playoff run, they stormed ahead with two runs in the top of the eighth. Adley Rutschman hit a ground-rule double deep to the right corner off reliever Bryan King, and Taylor Ward homered (his seventh) into the stands to put Baltimore up 3-2, their first lead of the game.

And, despite a depleted bullpen asked to cover five innings, that lead held. Anthony Nunez covered two innings, Grant Wolfram was messy but didn’t blow it, and new guy Cam Sanders, acquired in a cash trade from Pittsburgh on Monday, pitched a critical inning of his own, entering in the seventh with the bases loaded and one out before whiffing Isaac Paredes and getting Christian Walker to pop out. Andrew Kittredge was steady in the eighth, and Tyler Wells held on in a crazy ninth.

As for the O’s Dean Kremer, look, this wasn’t his best start. He struggled with command all night and only lasted four innings on 83 pitches. But to his credit, he did one thing particularly well: keep the Astros from scoring bunches of runs. He allowed just two of those and gave his team a chance to write a late-inning comeback.

Kremer put his team in a one-run hole in the first inning. The O’s starter walked leadoff hitter Jeremy Peña and did what everybody said not to do before this series: he pitched to Yordan Alvarez [groan],  a man hitting nearly 90 percentage points better than the rest of his team. Kremer left a low fastball in the middle of the zone and Alvarez doubled off the center-field wall, driving in Peña. Talk about a one-man wrecking crew.

We were still in the first with no outs, and Isaac Paredes singled. But Kremer fought. He got a big-boy strikeout of cleanup hitter Christian Walker, deploying a healthy amount of sinkers. Battling against José Altuve, Kremer went to a 3-2 count before he drew a bouncing double play ball. Inning over; further damage avoided.

It never got easy for him tonight, but Kremer kept limiting the damage. In the second inning, he threw 30 pitches and walked two. But he got out of it, aided by a Rutschman-to-Holliday caught stealing. Battling, Kremer sandwiched a walk of Lucas Spence, making his MLB debut, between two strikeouts. Laborious but scoreless.

For the better part of innings, Houston’s Peter Lambert shut the Orioles down with his nasty right-to-left stuff, sort of like the mirror image of a lefty. The Orioles got their first and only run off him in the third inning, as Lambert lost his finesse and walked three. Coby Mayo figured him out first, smacking a cutter with ease into the outfield. The next two hitters made quick outs. But Adley Rutschman and Taylor Ward worked a pair of walks, looking like tough ABs the both of them. Pete Alonso came up with the bases juiced. Lambert threw him a lot of junk, but he just missed with Pitch No. 7. It was his third walk of the inning, and it tied the game, 1-1.

Still no smooth sailing for Dean Kremer, but also no collapses. The Astros made it 2-1 in the third on two hits and a sac fly. But a stronger Kremer kept the Astros at bay with a quick one-two-three fourth. Looks like he’d found his stuff! Regrettably, we’d see no more of Kremer after that. He was pulled after 83 pitches and four innings.

In the fifth, the O’s turned to Anthony Nunez, and to their defense. Catcher Christian Vázquez hit a one-handed ball over the infielders, but Jackson Holliday, dancing and prancing like a deer, made a running over-the-shoulder catch. Peña hit a warning-track shot that Colton Cowser reeled in with ease. And after Alvarez walked (his third time on base), Paredes cued a foul ball towards first that Pete Alonso made a great running catch on.

Grant Wolfram took the baton in the seventh, and frankly, he made kind of a mess. He allowed a leadoff single and two walks. But, if you have a sense of drama, you can see that all Wolfy did was tee up a great chance for Cam Sanders’ early heroics with his new team. Sanders whiffed Isaac Paredes and got Christian Walker (really ineffective tonight) to pop out. It was a big escape.

That set the stage for the O’s late heroics off a new Houston reliever, Bryan King. Not King’s night, as Adley and Ward hit back-to-back extra base hits, putting the Birds up for the first and final time.

The Orioles don’t quite have a closer right now, but Tyler Wells impersonated one just convincingly enough in the ninth inning. It got dicey, though: with one out, he allowed a single, then a flyout, then a walk. But Christian Walker couldn’t come through with two men on, swinging through a Wells fastball instead.

The Orioles were behind all game, but they came out on top tonight. The wins count all the same. And with this one, the O’s have leapfrogged Houston in the standings, with only three teams currently separating them from a wild card spot. Time to start stacking more of these!

Who was your Most Birdland Player tonight? Taylor Ward, with the go-ahead home run? Cam Sanders, who escaped a bases-loaded jam in his Orioles debut? Adley Rutschman, with a double and a caught stealing?

Durham Bulls 8, Charlotte Knights 2
Coming out of the midseason break, Charlotte looked sluggish in its 8-2 loss to Durham. The only two runs came from a two-out Bulls throwing error in the top of the first and Ryan Galanie’s RBI single in the fourth. In the end, Charlotte put more men on base with walks than hits. It also didn’t help that Jonathan Cannon took the mound to start the game. Cannon wore out his time, earning four runs, walking three, and giving up a three-run homer. Jaden Woods doubled Durham’s runs in the eighth to drive the Knights into the ground, but at least Tanner McDougal looked sharp in his one-hit, two-inning appearance as he makes a strong case to make his season debut before the trade deadline.

Rocket City Trash Pandas 5, Birmingham Barons 3
The Barons attempt to come back from a two-run deficit to overcome a well-deserved win over the Trash Pandas. Starter Lucas Gordon effectively limited the damage from his seven hits allowed, holding the Trash Pandas to two runs while striking out five. Jackson Kelley was a serviceable reinforcement, but Mathias LaCombe didn’t have the Birmingham debut he expected. LaCombe finished the seventh but not without sacrificing two runs and a walk to weigh on his Double-A stats.

Although LaCombe’s rough outing put a damper on the game, the Barons refused to be pushed around. Dylan Campbell blasted a two-run shot to bring the Barons within one run, as was Boston Smith’s solo home run in the second, but the two jacks weren’t enough to push Bham over Rocket City.

Bowling Green Hot Rods 5, Winston-Salem Dash3
Winston-Salem came out of the rain delay parched for offense. The Dash did nothing to support starter Justin Sinbaldi, who put on his best performance of the year, holding Bowling Green to one run while striking out eight in five frames. Fortunately, Jeral Perez served the Dash a tall drink of water by cranking a two-run homer in the seventh to knot the contest at two apiece. Then, Ely Brown provided Winston-Salem with an RBI single to help the Dash claim the lead. But it was short-lived.

The Dash’s 3-2 lead evaporated in the ninth almost as quickly as the White Sox suddenly became a winning team. Garrett Wright hoped to secure a save, but walking Tony Santa Maria and then allowing him to steal second put him in deep water quickly. Walking Nathan Flewelling shortly thereafter made matters worse and set up Aric McAtee allowing a walk-off bomb that ruined Winston-Salem’s comeback. Let’s blame it on the rain delay, rather than shaky bullpen pitching, shall we?

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 9, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 1
Kanny decided to go from zero to 60 in their first game of the second half, shutting out Myrtle Beach in a competition that was hardly a fair fight. In the second frame, Alexander Albertus put the CBs on the board first with an RBI single, then Jaden Fauske squeaked two runs out of a dribbler by playing musical bases after he saw Homer Bush Jr bobble the throw in. That put opened the scoreboard to more small-ball play for Kannapolis to widen their lead while Gabe Tanner worked his magic on the bump. Building on last week’s momentum, Tanner twirled another shutout, but this one was for six innings. Tanner provided more than enough for the Ballers to cruise through the game and secure their 45th win.

ACL White Sox 12, ACL Reds 10 (9 innings, July 16)
Runs? Oh, there were plenty. After seven innings of the regulation Complex League play, the contest was knotted at 11. Both sides battled it out until the ninth, when the ACL White Sox walked it off on a wild pitch and a sac fly. The fireworks included solo bombs from Marcelo Ácala and Jose Mendoza, plus rehabber Adam Fogel went deep twice, driving in four. The bats even showed up in the clutch, going 6-for-17 with runners in scoring position. It wasn’t exactly a pitching clinic, but who’s complaining?

DSL Athletics 12, DSL White Sox 3 (July 16)
The DSL White Sox, allergic to scoring, struggled in this one as well. Out of 51 teams, they’re scraping along at 34th in runs, and today’s showing was more of the same: nothing doing until the fifth, when All-Star Sebastian Romero finally cracked a double and Ronald Cardozo (also an All-Star) managed to bring him home. After that, the Sox cobbled together a run on a balk, then another on a wild pitch — pure charity from the A’s arms. Otherwise, the bats were silent, with a ghastly 1-for-14 showing with runners in scoring position. On the mound, starter Roderic Ramirez got shelled, surrendering seven runs on seven hits over two innings.

ACL Guardians 7, ACL White Sox 3 (July 17)
The ACL Guardians took advantage of an unambitious ACL White Sox team. The ACL Sox traded six hits and a pair of walks for Jose Mendoza’s RBI single in the sixth. In exchange for the hard work, the pitching staff was equally effective. Opener Felix Doroteo could’ve fared better in his brief outing, but it was Fabian Ysalla’s 10 hits and five runs that served as the tipping point for the Guardians’ win. On the bats’ side, going 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and leaving seven stranded isn’t redeeming, either. Neither the lineup nor the arms put on their best show, but that’s just how it’s been this summer for the Complexers.

DSL Blue Jays Red 5, DSL White Sox 0 (July 17)
Three hits, 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, and a fielding error kept the DSL Sox off the board in Camelback Ranch. Although the DSLers didn’t have to deal with the smoke that’s blanketing the Midwest and East Coast, they couldn’t hit the ball even if it were right in front of them, based on their 13 strikeouts accumulated. Emmanuel Rodriguez accepted his third loss of the season after leaving with two runs allowed in 1 2/3 innings, although the lack of run support isn’t his fault. Franchel Crisostomo was tagged with three runs in the third, which buried the ailing White Sox. While it’s hard to find a gem in the rough, Jhoriel De La Rosa’s 3 1/3 scoreless innings deserve praise.

NEW YORK — Dave Roberts didn’t indulge the narrative.

But the clock was ticking on Roki Sasaki nonetheless.

This weekend, Blake Snell will begin a rehab assignment for the Dodgers. That means, within a month, the team will have to boot someone from its rotation to make room for his return.

Going into the All-Star break, the natural answer appeared to be Sasaki, who finished the first half of the season with a rotation-worst 5.33 ERA.

So, Roberts was asked Friday, how important would these next couple weeks be for Sasaki, as Snell gets close to making his return?

“Well, Snell is starting a rehab assignment, but I wouldn’t say he’s getting close,” Roberts said.

“Nice try,” the veteran manager then added with a sly grin.

Alas, it turned out no public pressure was needed for the 24-year-old phenom to finally turn a corner.

In the Dodgers’ 2-1 win over the Yankees on Friday night, Sasaki delivered his most promising outing as a member of the Dodgers’ rotation.

With his fastball playing up at a career-best 100.1 mph average, and his splitter coming out so deceptively that catcher Dalton Rushing joked, “I had trouble catching [it] for half the game, so that’s a pretty good sign,” Sasaki blew the Yankees’ lineup away in a 5 ⅔-inning gem that included only one unearned run.

“Very impressive,” Roberts said afterward. “Gosh, I mean, the velocity, he dialed it up.”

“That,” Rushing added, “was about as quality as we’ve seen him this year.”

Indeed, while Roberts might not have said so pregame, Sasaki desperately needed this.

A night in which he threw more 100 mph fastballs (21) than he had in the entirety of his career as an MLB starter previously (14). 

A night in which he went on the attack, put an opposing lineup on their heels and coupled his triple-digit velo (his 21 pitches of 100+ mph were also the most by any Dodgers pitcher since the league began tracking pitch speeds in 2008) with an assortment of swing-and-miss breaking stuff.

A night in which, finally, he looked every bit the part against a legitimate contending team; even if Aaron Judge remains sidelined with a rib injury.

“It’s one game, so I can’t say anything declarative,” Sasaki said in Japanese. “But it’s the lower body. I reviewed how I use that part, and I think that went well.”

This is what the Dodgers had expected to see when they signed the much-hyped Sasaki out of Japan last year. This is what they’d been waiting to see over his turbulent transition to the majors in the season and a half since.

Granted, as Sasaki noted himself, it was only one game. He has flashed potential before, only to quickly revert to inconsistent form.

Then again, in much the same way Yoshinobu Yamamoto leveled up in a Yankee Stadium start back in 2024, the Dodgers are hoping that Sasaki just did the same.

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In his postgame address with reporters, Roberts went so far as to make that comparison unprompted.

“It sort of reminded me of when Yamamoto was here a couple years ago, and that performance he put out, when the velocity and everything ticked up,” Roberts said. “It’s a good team over there, on the road, and to battle his emotions and go out there and put forth that effort that he did tonight was fun to watch. So, hopefully, he continues to build on that and keeps getting confidence.”

Sasaki’s stuff stood out from the get-go, highlighted by a tantalizing sequence against former MVP Paul Goldschmidt to punctuate a 1-2-3 first inning.

At the start of the at-bat, Sasaki pumped a 101.8 mph fastball over the plate for strike one. It was the hardest pitch he had thrown in the majors. After that, Sasaki climbed the ladder with a 101.7 heater that Goldschmidt fouled off. Three pitches later, Sasaki fanned him with a slider in the dirt.

“I got a big smile on my face when I saw 102,” said Roberts, who noted that Sasaki put in “a lot of work over the break” following his staggeringly inconsistent start to the campaign.

“I was upset I didn’t get an All-Star break,” Sasaki quipped, “so I unleashed that.”

The rest of the night, Sasaki kept on dealing, holding his 100 mph velocity while breezing through a five-hit, one-walk, five-strikeout performance.

He escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the third by inducing a double-play grounder from Ben Rice with a first-pitch splitter.

He bounced back from his lone run in the fourth, which only scored with the help of a couple defensive mistakes: Andy Pages letting a runner reach third on a double after dropping the ball in the outfield, and Rushing whiffing on a forkball for a run-scoring passed ball.

Unfazed, Sasaki continued to cruise, going blow-for-blow with former Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole before finally being removed at 94 pitches following a pair of singles in the sixth.

It only lowered his season ERA to 4.98 but encapsulated so much of the potential he has been trying to unlock.

“After that first inning … it was pretty exciting,” Roberts said. “With Roki, there’s times where he gives up a couple, then he settles down, or he’s good until he’s not. So today he was good all the way through.”

Remaining this good moving forward will be the challenge now, with Sasaki still needing to show more consistency with his delivery to cement a longer-term rotation spot.

Whether he can remains a question even Roberts couldn’t answer.

“I guess time will tell,” Roberts said. “I guess it’s in that bucket.”

But now, at least, he has given himself the perfect template to follow.

“I just go back to the conviction that he has,” Rushing said. “Watching him compete on the mound, there was a little bit of a different animal out there tonight.”