Category: MLB

If you purchased a ticket to this game months ago, my condolences. Red Sox vs. Yankees is supposed to resemble a clash of titans, but instead, the Red Sox have been such an embarrassment they’ve fallen through the cellar floor and might as well be in a different hemisphere than New York (15.5 games back and the season’s not even halfway over yet).

You’ll get no Aaron Judge, no Roman Anthony, and probably no competitive game if it goes anything like the first few starts for Cam Schlittler against the Red Sox. It’s too bad too because normally a four game set between these two teams at this point in the calendar would be box office material and generate major fireworks. But now the biggest piece of drama is if the Red Sox will fail as badly as they did the last time the Yankees were here, which was such a disastrous, listless effort it got Alex Cora and most of the coaching staff fired a few days later in Baltimore.

If you’re looking for a shred of positivity (not that this team deserves any), Connelly Early will get a chance to back up his effectively wild outing last time on the bump in Seattle. It would also be a nice little revenge game personally for Early, who lost both the Game 3 Wild Card series to the Yankees last fall and his start at Fenway against them in April.

In any case, volcanos are much less interesting when they’re dormant; so please bring the rivalry back soon baseball gods. I miss it!

⚾️ First Pitch: 7:10pm — Fenway Park, Boston, MA

📺 TV: NESN

📻 Radio: WEEI

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Baseball and manga fans are about to be united in the City of Angels.

On Thursday, July 2, the Los Angeles Dodgers are hosting their second “One Piece” night at Dodger Stadium.

For the uninitiated, “One Piece” is a popular Japanese manga turned anime turned live-action Netflix series has been around since summer ’97 and follows a young pirate named Monkey D. Luffy who has the ability to expand like rubber once he’s consumed a magical Devil Fruit.

Last summer, the defending World Series champion put on a “One Piece” night with a giveaway where fans were gifted straw hats and Monkey D. Luffy promo cards — where he’s at bat wearing a Dodgers jersey and taking a swing at a straw hat — that are now being flipped on the re-sale market for anywhere from $1,000 to $19,000 depending on the card’s grading.

This time around, the first 40,000 fans will be given straw hats and an exclusive, limited edition “One Piece” trading card. Photo ops, activations, and a post-game “One Piece” drone show are being offered as well.

In early June, The Post wrote “the Dodgers have already unveiled a redesigned hat featuring a chin strap…Fans have begun discussing resale values online despite the organization not yet confirming a card giveaway.”

If you’d like to be there, last-minute tickets are still available for the high-demand game (where Shohei Ohtani’s Dodgers will be taking on Manny Machado’s San Diego Padres by the way).

At the time of publication, the lowest price we could find on seats was $289 including fees on SeatGeek.

Field-level seats start at $634 including fees.

Make sure to use promo code NYPOST10 for $10 off purchases over $250 at checkout (Editor’s Note: this discount is only valid for users’ first purchase on SeatGeek).

Other notable giveaways this season include a Freddie Freeman bobblehead (July 6), Shohei Ohtani bobblehead (July 8) and 2025 World Series mystery rings (July 28).

For more information, our team has everything you need to know and more about the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 2026 “One Piece” giveaway night below.

What do tickets cost for “One Piece” night at Dodger Stadium?

A complete breakdown of all the best prices on tickets by section at Dodger Stadium for “One Piece” night are listed here.

Dodger Stadium sections	Ticket prices start at
Upper Deck	$289(including fees)
100 Level	$294(including fees)
Lower Level	$312(including fees)
Field Level	$634(including fees)

What are the other Dodgers giveaways in 2026?

All Dodgers giveaway home game dates, opponents, freebies and links to buy tickets can be found here:

Los Angeles Dodgers 2026 giveaway dates
Rockies vs. DodgersFreddie Freeman “18th Inning Walk-Off” Bobblehead Monday, July 6 7:10 p.m.
Rockies vs. DodgersShohei Ohtani “Greatest Game” Bobblehead Part 2 Wednesday, July 8 7:10 p.m. *for first 54,000 fans
Diamondbacks vs. DodgersSon Heung-min Bobblehead Saturday, July 11 6:10 p.m.
Mariners vs. Dodgers2025 World Series Mystery Rings Tuesday, July 28 7:10 p.m.
Mariners vs. DodgersEdwin Díaz Bobblehead Wednesday, July 29 7:10 pm.
Red Sox vs. DodgersKyle Tucker Bobblehead Friday, July 31 7:10 p.m.
Royals vs. DodgersMax Muncy “Game 7 Home Run” Bobblehead Monday, Aug. 10 7:10 p.m.
Brewers vs. DodgersClayton Kershaw Bobblehead Friday, Aug. 14 7:10 p.m.
Brewers vs. DodgersReggie Smith “Legends of Dodger Baseball” Bobblehead Saturday, Aug. 15 4:15 p.m.
Pirates vs. DodgersShohei Ohtani “Starter Series” Bobblehead Saturday, Aug. 22 6:10 p.m.
Nationals vs. DodgersYoshinobu Yamamoto “Starter Series” Bobblehead Saturday, Sept. 5 6:10 p.m.

According to MLB.com, Giveaways are limited to 40,000 units, unless otherwise noted. Only one giveaway item, per person, per valid ticket upon entering the stadium.

Los Angeles Dodgers full 2026 home schedule

Fans that plan on seeing Ohtani, Freeman, Mookie and the squad regardless of whether or not there are giveaways can catch the 2024 and ’25 World Series champs at home all spring and summer long.

Want to be there?

Tickets for all 2026 Los Angeles Dodgers home games at Dodger Stadium from June all the way through September can be grabbed here.

2026 Dodger Stadium special events

At the time of publication, there are 16 Chavez Ravine special event nights scheduled this spring and summer. You’ll find everything you need to know about each of them below.

2026 Dodger Stadium special events
Padres vs. DodgersDrone Show Friday, July 3 7:10 p.m.
Padres vs. DodgersFireworks Show Saturday, July 4 7:10 p.m.
Rockies vs. DodgersHawaiian Shirt Night Tuesday, July 7 7:10 p.m.
Diamondbacks vs. DodgersBlack Heritage Night Friday, July 10 7:10 p.m.
Mariners vs. DodgersGuatemalan Heritage Night Thursday, July 30 7:10 p.m.
Royals vs. DodgersSalvadoran Heritage Night Tuesday, Aug. 11 7:10 p.m.
Brewers vs. DodgersKorean Heritage Night Thursday, Aug. 13 7:10 p.m.
Nationals vs. DodgersUnion Night Saturday, Sept. 5 6:10 p.m.
Reds vs. DodgersFirst Responders Night Monday, Sept. 7 6:10 p.m.
Reds vs. DodgersDía de Los Dodgers Tuesday, Sept. 8 7:10 p.m.
Reds vs. DodgersNurses Night Wednesday, Sept. 9 7:10 p.m.

Huge 2026 Los Angeles concerts

Hoping to catch a concert or three this year, too?

You’re in the right place.

Our team tracked down just five of the most exciting shows headed to the City of Angels these next few months.

• Mamamoo (Aug. 25)

• BTS (Sept. 1-2, 5-6)

• Le Sserafim (Sept. 16)

• aespa (Oct. 3)

• KATSEYE (Nov. 21-22)

Don’t forget KCON is coming to the Crypto.com Arena from Aug. 14-16, too. We’ll see ya there.

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Why you should trust ‘Post Wanted’ by the New York Post

This article was written by Matt Levy, New York Post live events reporter. Levy stays up-to-date on all the latest tour announcements from your favorite musical artists and comedians, as well as Broadway openings, sporting events and more live shows – and finds great ticket prices online. Since he started his tenure at the Post in 2022, Levy has reviewed a Bruce Springsteen concert and interviewed Melissa Villaseñor of SNL fame, to name a few. Please note that deals can expire, and all prices are subject to change.

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In a year of anniversarial festivity across the United States, a less rounded celebration will make its annual occurrence in just a month and change. The 105th anniversary of the first radio broadcast of a baseball game will occur on August 5th. That initial voyage on the airwaves was appropriately undertaken by MLB’s most ancient seafarers, the Pittsburgh Pirates, taking on their intrastate rivals in Philadelphia.

That 1921 afternoon at Forbes Field was broadcast on KDKA, the first licensed radio station in the United States. Harold Arlin, holding a converted telephone in a box seat converted to little more than the sort of station basketball broadcasters tend to utilize courtside, made history just three miles from where the Seattle Mariners took on those same Pirates today at PNC Park. Still broadcast on KDKA over a century later, fans heard, saw, and otherwise were treated to a 5-1 Pirates win that swept aside their maritime counterparts in a broadcast that Seattle’s television crew struggled to capture due to numerous technical difficulties.

It was for the best. And, with a tinny quality likely reminiscent of Arlin’s original broadcast, Aaron Goldsmith and Angie Mentink made the most of the limitations for one of their best duo shows of the year. It was just as well, because the club’s offensive performance was not so much Transatlantic as Goldsmith’s accent drifted for a delightful moment, but subaquatic.

The Mariners stretched their three-or-fewer runs scored streak to two full weeks on Thursday, though not without some fight. Against Pittsburgh rookie righty Bubba Chandler who sits 98-99 on his heater, the 23 year old worked around five hits, three walks, and a lot of hard contact to stymie Seattle repeatedly. A bases-loaded opportunity came for Seattle in the fourth frame, with Julio Rodríguez singling and seeing the bases loaded behind him by a Josh Naylor hit and, following a dicey stolen base attempt that Julio managed to make work, a Luke Raley walk.

Cole Young rapped a 100 mph heater nearly exactly as hard right back into the left center gap, only to see it swallowed up by a slick sliding catch from Jake Mangum.

Though Seattle had chipped away at the lead built by Pittsburgh’s set of homers off otherwise-sharp Bryce Miller, the 3-1 lead would have been enough even before Alex Hoppe once again fluffed the final total, concluding at a tasteful-but-rigid 5-1.

Most of the day, as has been a common refrain, Seattle could not produce with runners in scoring position. An eternal complaint nearly every season for all 30 teams, it is actually accurate in many ways to highlight the M’s shortcomings w/RISP this year. They entered the day with the third-worst batting average (.226) and fourth-fewest RBI (212) with runners in scoring position. The RBI are descriptive of circumstance here, not intended predictively, but merely to highlight that the M’s have around 30 fewer runs than the average club does to this point generated in RISP situations. That’s not the whole story, of course, as the M’s actually have a 10th-best in MLB wRC+ of 105 w/RISP, and a middle-of-the-pack .315 weighted on-base average (wOBA). If you’re putting two-and-two together there, the M’s walk lots with runners on, but their .254 BABIP is worst in MLB, compounded by having the fourth-fewest total RISP opportunities of any club.

1-10 on the day in their RISPportunities, Seattle loaded the bags again with two outs in the top of the 6th, this time for Colt Emerson against lefty reliever Evan Sisk. Emerson emulated the dream of every Little League Coach and baseball fan reared on 70s and 80s slap and dash baseball. He took the ball right back up the middle, blistering a low line drive on a single hop, at 104 mph just for good measure.

Obviously, an easy out. The ball was hit at almost the exact same just-oppo trajectory as Young’s lineout, in fact. And that is at least part of the issue.

Seattle spent the past two games pulling the ball less than any other club in MLB in that time, and spent all afternoon continuing that trend. Sprayed contact can commonly drop or catch defenses out of position, but it is physically impossible to hit a ball as authoritatively the other way as it is to pull it. That’s why home runs are pulled far more than not, and home runs are better than singles, and way better than outs. It’s crucial to highlight here that Seattle isn’t purely to blame for this. Pittsburgh’s pitching staff threw 40 of the 41 hardest pitches of the game, all from 98.4 to 101.4 mph, including 13 pitches over 100 mph, 12 of which were by the starting pitcher Chandler.

It’s not easy to pull this caliber of stuff in the air, but it does hurt your chances of scoring in bunches. And for Seattle, whose roster is especially home run dependent particularly without Brendan Donovan and Dominic Canzone in the lineup, it’s not great to be in a spot of such power outage.

The final threat came in the top of the 7th, with an all-too-familiar frustration. Cal, Naylor, and Randy Arozarena walked off Sisk and old friend Yohan Ramírez, setting the stage for another relief appearance by flamethrowing southpaw Mason Montgomery. Pushed to a key moment in the game with a lefty on the hill, Dan Wilson went to Rob Refsnyder to relieve Luke Raley. Montgomery is a more ferocious lefty than Sisk, who Raley had been allowed to face earlier and managed a single, but it’s hard not to manage more than utter rage and frustration to see the 35 year old trot out in any capacity at this point. In Refsnyder’s line of work, you typically only get one good pitch to hit, and to his credit he attacked it, unleashing on a 1-1 curveball over the heart of the plate after waving over the same pitch in the dirt at 1-0.

He fouled it off, stomping in frustration with some manner of precognition for what was to come. A 100 mph ball high on the heater merely reset his eyeline for pitch five, the breaking ball at the bottom of the zone, flied lazily to left to quell the final threat. Crowd noise buzzed around the edges of the broadcast. Fuzziness around the edges from millions of games across a century of this sport. The Mariners once again share the same record as the cumulative achievement of all of baseball’s history: .500.

Here are the lineups for the series finale in Washington. Let’s discuss.

For the Phillies:

Here we go now#RingTheBellpic.twitter.com/kXpOk80RzD

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 25, 2026

For the Nationals:

me as a detective: that's a lineup

→ https://t.co/iUBDqlACVspic.twitter.com/sSGypjvZzY

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 25, 2026

After Wednesday night in Minnesota, the Dodgers have played 81 games, expecatly half of their 2026 regular season schedule. They are 52-29, and it doesn’t take a math whiz to realize they are on pace for 104 wins.

Here’s a glance at the first half of the schedule and how it compares to what’s left over the final three-plus months.

Interleague winds down

The Dodgers’ previous 12 games were all against American League teams. They’ve fared pretty well in interleague play thus far, going 20-10, the best record in MLB. But after 30 interleague games in the first half, only 18 such games remain, the first three of which are in a minor league ballpark:

• June 29-July 1 at A’s in West Sacramento
• July 17-19 at New York Yankees
• July 28-30 vs. Seattle Mariners
• July 31-August 2 vs. Boston Red Sox
• August 10-12 vs. Kansas City Royals
• August 28-30 at Detroit Tigers

Getting used to the Padres

The Dodgers played 24 games against the National League West thus far, and have 28 games remaining. The difference here is they’ve played the San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Colorado Rockies twice each so far, but they’ve only played the San Diego Padres once.

They open the second half of the schedule in San Diego for three games, then one weekend later host the Padres for four games. The two also play in the final week of the season at Dodger Stadium, giving this year’s schedule the odd quirk of the Dodgers playing the Padres all six games at Petco Park before playing any of the seven at Dodger Stadium.

un-Red emails

The only National League team the Dodgers haven’t yet played in 2026 is the Cincinnati Reds, and that won’t get rectified until the final month of the season. The entirety of their season series will be played over 11 days, with three games in Los Angeles from September 7-9 followed by four games at Great American Ball Park from September 14-17.

The Dodgers played a dozen games against the NL Central in the first half, with 20 remaining. The other slight difference in halves is that the Dodgers will play four games against the Brewers at home from August 13-16 after playing three games in Milwaukee in the first half.

Other things are pretty much even. The Dodgers played 15 games against the NL East thus far, and will play 15 more against that division the rest of the way. They’ve played 40 games at home and 41 road contests to date, and will flip that for the final 81 games.

Today’s roster move: Here

Thursday notes…

• STEP RIGHT UP AND SWEEP THE METS: The Cubs’ last sweep of the Mets at Citi Field was three games in 2022. They also won three in 2019. They captured four in a row May 31-June 3, 2018. The current series is their second of four games since then. They split in 2024. Before 2018, the Cubs swept four when visiting the Mets only three times: June 15-17, 1962, at the Polo Grounds, and Aug. 6-8, 1965, and Aug. 2-5, 1991, at Shea Stadium. In 1969 and 1970, the Cubs won the first three games of series, then lost the fourth. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• SIX-RUN STREAKING: The Cubs have scored at least six runs in six consecutive games. Their last such streak to reach six games was more than 26 years ago, on April 22-28, 2000. It ended the next day with a 7-4, 10-inning loss. Their last such streak of more than six games was eight, on April 16-26, 1970. They had had eight three times before, in 1920, 1925 and 1930. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• MORE ON RUN SCORING: In their last six games, the Cubs have scored 59 runs (six, eight, 16, nine, 10 and 10), eight more than in any previous six games this season: 51, April 12-18 (seven, seven, 10, 11, 12 and four). Their six-game record is 81 runs, in 1930. They had a high of 64 in 2024, 61 in 2019 and 60 in 2018. Their most runs in seven games is 87, in 1930. They scored 73 in 1961 and 2024, 69 in 2019, and 63 in 1954 and 2004. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• DANSBY ON FIRE: Dansby Swanson is on a six-game hitting streak in which he is batting .478/.519/1.174 (11-for-23) with two doubles, a triple, four home runs, 18 (!) RBI, eight runs scored and only two strikeouts.

Neither team had posted a lineup as of the time this preview posted. Please check BCB social media for tonight’s lineups.

Matthew Boyd, LHP vs. Freddy Peralta, RHP

Matthew Boyd returns tonight from his second IL stint.

The first was due to a bicep issue. After his return then, he had one okay start, one bad one and another that was pretty good, before he injured his knee playing with his kids.

He made two rehab starts at Iowa and then had a setback. His most recent rehab start, last Saturday at South Bend, was better. He threw only 59 pitches in that one, and only 80 in the previous one for Iowa. So I wouldn’t expect him to go more than five innings tonight.

Boyd did not face the Mets when they were at Wrigley Field earlier this year. The last time he faced them was Sept. 24, 2025 at Wrigley Field, where he allowed them two runs in 5.1 innings. I think we’d take that.

Remember when Freddy Peralta was the guy many thought the Cubs could trade for to save their rotation this year?

Well, Peralta’s likely going to be available in a few weeks but is he a savior? Let’s see, he has a 4.83 ERA and 1.389 WHIP and has allowed 12 home runs in 85.2 innings. Yep, he’d fit right in with this group in Chicago!

Sigh. Actually, Peralta was doing reasonably well until he was left in to take a 10-run pounding in 2.2 innings from the Phillies in his last start. That alone raised his season ERA almost a full run (3.90 to 4.83).

Well, okay. Let the Cubs hit him hard tonight and then they can trade for him and turn him around. That works every time, right. Right?

Peralta allowed the Cubs three runs in 5.2 innings April 18 at Wrigley Field. That included a homer by Ian Happ.

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

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network.

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

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Kendall George, the Dodgers’ No. 13 overall prospect, suffered one of the strangest injuries in recent memory last month.

George (the Dodgers’ No. 36 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft) scored a run during a May 26 game with the Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate Tulsa Drillers. While heading back to the dugout, he had to dodge a bat dog who was running onto the field. This caused George to suffer a leg injury that he was visibly frustrated about.

The Dodgers suspended their bat-dog program as a result of George’s injury. While this has been upsetting for fans, it likely was the right call because dogs running around the field became detrimental to top prospects.

George, who’s hitting .328 with an .801 OPS and 26 stolen bases in 44 games this season, was placed on the seven-day injured list one day later because he suffered a left patellar tendon injury from dodging the dog. It took him about a month to return to the field, as he made his return on June 24 for the Dodgers’ Single-A affiliate, the Ontario Tower Buzzers.

In his first at-bat, the Buzzers’ opponent, the Visalia Rawhide, played sounds of dogs barking, in what was a clear attempt to mock George’s freak injury. A video of this was posted to the Jomboy Media X account on Thursday morning and has since tallied over 380,000 pageviews.

The taunt worked out well for the Rawhide, as George struck out with the bases loaded to end the inning.

The opposing team was playing barking noises as Dodgers prospect Kendall George took his first at bats since injuring his knee avoiding a bat dog

George’s Ontario Tower Buzzers were facing the Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate Visalia Rawhide pic.twitter.com/5WbETmeRY0https://t.co/txGO2wgqZH

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) June 25, 2026

George went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in the game. It’s safe to assume he’ll find his stride again once the bark sounds cease.

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With just a few days until the “free agent frenzy” officially begins, the New York Rangers have not signed Braden Schneider to a contract extension. 

According to The Athletic, contract talks have been quiet between the Rangers and Schneider’s camp. 

What does this silence surrounding Schneider’s contract negotiations mean for his future in New York?

Despite messages from Schneider about wanting to stay with the Blueshirts, as well as from Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury about waiting to retain Schneider, it does not appear we are heading in that direction.

To kick off the offseason, the trade market has proven to be a sellers' market, as the Rangers have explored trade options for Schneider, according to The Athletic, and could look to capitalize on the current state of the market.

Drury, who is not looking to sit through a prolonged rebuilding process, is widely speculated to be targeting a young forward who could instantly contribute if he were to trade Schneider. 

Given the Rangers’ reluctance to commit to Schneider long term, they could sign him to a one to two-year bridge deal, but Schneider, who is coming off a two-year, $4.4 million contract, is likely seeking a long-term contract extension. 

It’s also possible the Rangers take a similar route to how they handled K’Andre Miller’s restricted free agency, in which the team agreed to a sign and trade with the Carolina Hurricanes that included a second-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, a conditional first-round pick in the 2026 or 2027 NHL Draft, and Scott Morrow.

The silence surrounding Schneider’s contract negotiations does not bode well for his chances of remaining with the Rangers into the future. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers have faced many familiar faces on the mound, but one former pitcher has yet to showcase his arsenal against them.

San Diego Padres pitcher Walker Buehler is lined up to start in Friday’s series opener versus the back-to-back World Series champions at Petco Park.

After a shaky start with the Padres, the right-hander has seemingly found his rhythm. Buehler is sporting a 3.96 ERA in his last 15 starts for the Friars.

Buehler spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Dodgers, but chose to part ways with the team in free agency during the 2024 offseason. The Dodgers reportedly offered Buehler $20 million to return to LA, but he ultimately decided on signing a $21.05 million deal with the Boston Red Sox for the 2025 campaign.

Buehler’s time with the Red Sox proved nightmarish as he posted a 5.45 ERA across 112.1 innings of work in Boston. The team chose to release Buehler and he was picked up by the Philadelphia Phillies, where he tossed 13.2 frames with a 0.66 ERA.

The lackluster performance by Buehler caused serious doubt about the right-hander’s abilities following his second Tommy John surgery. The Padres signed the 31-year-old to a minor league deal in the winter and he earned his way to the Opening Day rotation.

Padres sweep the Braves behind terrific start by Sears. Next up, the Dodgers, who just swept the Twins.

Buehler vs. Sasaki on Fri. Sasaki faces SD for the first time since Manny Machado hosted him at his home for dinner during their recruitment pitch, ahead of him choosing LA pic.twitter.com/2X6SrR28LC

— Marty Caswell (@MartyCaswell) June 25, 2026

Despite a shaky start, Buehler has remained a staple of the Padres rotation and he may very well face his former team Friday in what is poised to be an exciting matchup.

Since his 2024 World Series heroics, the right-hander has yet to feature in the postseason. If president of baseball operations A.J. Preller orchestrates multiple trades at the deadline, there’s a chance the Padres make a deep playoff run with Buehler in the rotation.

As Dodgers’ opponents learned in October 2024, the right-hander shines when the lights are brightest.

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SAN FRANCISCO — For a baseball team that can’t seem to do anything right between the lines, you’d think the Giants would try to ace their image off the field.

And yet, their putrid play isn’t even the organization’s primary problem.

The public relations disasterclass that started almost two weeks ago when the franchise failed to get in front of a Pride Night fiasco that has escalated into a federal investigation and put the club in the crosshairs of a national political debate only continued Thursday.

Once again, a top club official was put in front of the press and took one big swing and a miss.

Two days after Buster Posey embarrassed himself by coming unprepared to address either of the biggest issues facing the team — Rafael Devers showing up his manager and his players’ objections to one of the team’s most important promotional nights — the president of baseball operations canceled his scheduled interview on the team’s flagship radio network, KNBR.

It was supposed to be Posey’s turn to appear on the weekly “Executive Show,” but instead it was CEO Larry Baer who came on with hosts John Dickinson and Dieter Kurtenbach.

Apparently even the friendliest possible setting was too scary for the team’s top baseball executive.

Dickinson introduced Posey’s replacement by telling listeners that the team’s top business-side executive had “some things [he] wants to address about Pride Night.” That much alone was dubious, given that Baer was not made available despite repeated requests by reporters following the uncomfortable session with Posey in which he would only answer “baseball questions.”

Despite apparently preparing a statement, Baer said about as little as Posey did two days prior and took no questions on the controversy. That, according to a source familiar, was a result of the restrictions put on the interview by team officials, who told the hosts in a meeting over Zoom the night before that Baer would be pinch-hitting and no follow-ups on the topic would be permitted.

Baer said he wanted to “speak from the heart” but offered the same mealy mouthed platitudes present in the organization’s lone, nameless statement after Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker wrote Bible verses on the Pride Night hats that featured a rainbow Giants logo.

A fourth pitcher, Sam Hentges, opted to wear the Giants’ black and orange cap.

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“I know we’ve heard from many fans, and I know there are deep feelings about the events of Pride Night this year. We know it, we’ve heard, we’re listening,” Baer said.

“Just come context here: It’s a North Star here to create an experience in our ballpark for all fans, at Candlestick and Oracle Park, an experience that’s welcoming to all fans. That has not changed. … You know, look, yes, we’ve learned a lot in the last 11 days. Yes, we could have handled things better this year, for sure. We’re absolutely committed to continuing conversations with the LGBTQ+ community going forward. That’s where we are as an organization. … I just wanted to deliver that message to the fans and move on. Let’s talk about some other things.”

The pitchers’ actions were initially reprimanded by MLB for violating the uniform code, leading the Department of Justice to launch an investigation into the league over religious discrimination.

Commisioner Rob Manfred placed blame directly on the organization for the “inadequate” communication to its players, and given what we’ve seen from their public posturing, should it be any surprise that it’s apparently just as much of a mess behind closed doors?

But nobody, even the franchise’s supposed leaders, is willing to address any of that.

Even when posed with the line of questioning they prefer, the team’s top decision-makers don’t seem capable of coming up with adequate answers. Posey called his news conference despite having not even spoken to Devers, largely deflecting those inquiries to manager Tony Vitello.

Baer, asked about the team’s problematic bullpen, noted how unfortunate it was that they had lost last year’s All-Star closer, Randy Rodriguez, to elbow surgery — a development that took place last September, before Posey opted not to commit more than $2 million to any reliever.

The bullpen came up the last time Posey appeared on the KNBR airwaves. Asked about his lack of investment in the group over the offseason, he used a strawman to deflect criticism. He seemed to suggest his choices were committing $69 million to Edwin Diaz or nothing at all.

The inability to articulate a vision can be traced back to Posey’s first day on the job, when he suggested his plan to return the team to relevance was to focus on “making memories.”

Surely, nobody will forget this saga anytime soon.

Even if they would prefer to, as Baer put it, talk about some other things.

Texas Rangers lineup for June 25, 2026 against the Toronto Blue Jays: starting pitchers are MacKenzie Gore for the Rangers and Kevin Gausman for the Jays.

Corey Seager is back! And the Rangers are in Toronto, where unpleasant things often happen for the team. But we’re going to think positive about this four game series.

The lineup:

Pederson — DH

Langford — CF

Seager — SS

Nimmo — RF

Burger — 1B

Duran — 3B

Osuna — LF

Higashioka — C

Lopez — 2B

6:07 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are +120 underdogs.

The Texas Rangers have activated shortstop Corey Seager from the injured list, the team announced this afternoon. To make room for Seager on the active roster, the Rangers have placed infielder Cody Freeman on the 15 day injured list with a herniated disc. In addition, the Rangers formally announced the release of first baseman Blaine Crim. The 40 man roster currently stands at 39.

Seager has not had an ideal first half of the 2026 season. He got off to a slow start and was slashing just .179/.286/.353 when he went on the injured list in mid-May due to back issues. He was activated in early June but only played five games before going on the 7 day concussion injured list after a collision at home plate against the Kansas City Royals on June 11. Hopefully, Seager will hit the ground hitting like Corey Seager.

Coincidentally, Seager’s former double play partner, Marcus Semien, was just placed on the injured list by the New York Mets earlier today.

Freeman was initially called up at the beginning of June when Sam Haggerty went on the bereavement list. He was sent down just a couple of days later when Seager was activated from his first i.l. stint, then came back up on June 13 when Evan Carter went on the i.l. Freeman started three straight games when he was brought up the second time, but from June 16 through yesterday had only appeared in three games, all coming off the bench in late game situations. For the year, he has slashed .235/.278/.235. He will now been sidelined for a while.

We wrote last evening about the release of Crim, which came across the MLB transactions page yesterday. Crim is reportedly going to be joining a team in Korea.

UPDATE — I originally posted this saying that Freeman had been optioned to AAA Round Rock. This is because when I saw Seager had been activated and then saw Freeman’s name on the transaction, I just assumed that he was optioned and didn’t read carefully enough. I apologize for the mistake. It has been a hectic few weeks for me, and I haven’t been as focused as I should be.

The Rays were oh so close.

Just two outs away from a combined no-hitter, Craig Kimbrel, the once-dominant closer who was waived by the Mets last month, gave up a two-run homer to the Royals’ Carter Jansen to break up the no-hit bid in the Rays’ 13-2 win.

It was nearly the second no-hitter in MLB this season after three Astros combined to no-hit the Rangers on May 25, meaning the last single pitcher to throw a no-hitter was Blake Snell in August 2024.

It also would’ve been the Rays first no-hitter since 2010, when Matt Garza no-hit the Tigers on 120 pitches.

Casey Legumina started the game for the Rays, tossing 1 1/3 innings while throwing just 14 pitches. It was his first scoreless outing in three appearances.

Ian Seymour entered for bulk innings and tossed seven scoreless frames, with his lone blemish coming on a sixth-inning walk issued to Starling Marte.

Seymour also struck out a season-high seven batters in the win, and lowered his ERA from 4.98 to 4.32.

Kimbrel received the ball for the ninth inning and issued a leadoff walk to Marte before Jensen’s two-run blast.

Kimbrel remained in the game after the homer and retired both Royals batters to seal the deal.

While the Rays pitching stole headlines by nearly finishing the no-hitter, their offensive production was stellar, with 13 runs on 15 hits.

The Rays blasted four homers, with three coming by Junior Caminero, who continues to anchor the team’s lineup at just 22 years old.

The Rays salvaged a four-game series split with the Royals with the win, and are 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the AL East pending the Bronx Bombers’ game in Boston on Thursday night.

The 45-33 Rays host the 41-39 Diamondbacks in an interleague showdown Friday night.