MLB News
To sweep or not to sweep. Unfortunately, the Atlanta Braves are not in a favorable position to ask this question. But, they’ve shown they can turn things around under pressure at any given time… let’s see if tonight can be one of those times.
First pitch is set for 8:40 p.m. EDT.
Game Notes
The Texas Rangers have released first baseman Blaine Crim, per the MLB transactions page. This drops the 40 man roster down to 39.
Crim, 29, was the Rangers’ 19th round pick in 2019. He was added to the 40 man roster in early 2025 so that he could come up to the majors when Jake Burger was sent to AAA for a reset. He was hitless in 11 at bats, with a .000/.154/.000 line due to a walk and an HBP, before being optioned to AAA Round Rock.
Crim was designated for assignment at the trade deadline in 2025 and was claimed by the Colorado Rockies. He got a little bit of playing time with Colorado late in 2025, putting up a .241/.295/.556 slash line in 61 plate appearances. Colorado sent him to AAA at the start of the 2026 season, and then designated him for assignment in mid-May. The Rangers claimed him and sent him to AAA Round Rock, where he has put up a .263/.345/.461 slash line in 87 plate appearances.
Usually when a player is released like this, it is because they have an offer to play overseas. Crim most likely is headed to Korea, or possibly Japan, where he will be able to make more money than he will playing in the minors here.
Atlanta Braves (48-30) at San Diego Padres (41-37), June 24, 2026, 5:40 p.m. PST
Watch: Padres.TV
Location: Petco Park – San Diego, Calif.
Listen: 97.3 The Fan
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Shohei Ohtani faces Joe Ryan as the Dodgers look to sweep the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday.
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Matthew Liberatore will try to turnaround his season Wednesday night as the St. Louis Cardinals play game 3 of their 4 game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Matthew will be opposed by Mitch Britt who gets the start for the Diamondbacks. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45pm central time at Busch Stadium and the TV broadcast will be available on Cardinals.tv.
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The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves. The D-backs’ 40-man roster is at 40.
If we do not get a “Bratt Summer” headline for the recap tonight, I will want to know why. Mitch will be making his major-league debut, having come over from Texas in the Merrill Kelly deal at the deadline last year. His numbers in Reno have been pretty impressive: a 2.84 ERA over 11 starts and 44.1 innings is close to the PCL best. However, you’ll see he has only averaged four frames per start, which is why he has only one W. Bratt also came back off the IL recently, and has only one outing under his belt there. He allowed two runs over four innings, and threw 48 pitches, so I’d not expect much more than about sixty from him tonight.
Drake goes back to the minors, having not thrown a pitch during his brief stay. Probably inevitable, given the tight nature of last night’s contest, which didn’t really offer an opportunity for the B-bullpen. Though I note it did get Paul Sewald’s ERA (4.03) almost exactly in line with his FIP (4.00), so we got all that pesky regression out of the way without it costing a win. 🙂 It’s the first time since May 13th his ERA has been higher than his FIP, the gap being as high as 0.80 as recently as June 15th. Last night’s wobbly outing also jacked Sewald’s BABIP for the season by 52 points, though at .185, it feels there may be some more regression to come there.
Finally, Carlos Santana never made it back off the injured list, the team opting to DFA him rather than require a 40-man roster move to make room for him. After seventeen years in the majors, it’s quite possible that may be the end for Santana. He is currently third for games played by an active player, with 2,212. That trails just Freddie Freeman (2,256) and Andrew McCutchen (2,299), so it has certainly been quite the career for Carlos. He’s only three degrees of separation from Bob Feller, whose career started ninety years ago. Santana > Jim Thome > Harold Baines > Minnie Monoso > Bob Feller. If this is it, may your retirement be enjoyable, Carlos.
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The Dodgers open a weekend series against the San Diego Padres on Friday at Petco Park. Roki Sasaki starts for the Dodgers, with right-hander Randy Vásquez on the mound for the Padres.
After these two teams met in San Diego from May 18-20, the Dodgers led the Padres by a game and a half. Entering Wednesday the gap between first and second place in the National League West is nine games.
Friday’s game will be exclusively televised by Apple TV, with Wayne Randazzo and Dontrelle Willis on the call along with reporter Heidi Watney.
The lineup isn’t the only place where Walt Weiss and the Atlanta Braves are now throwing throwing things at the wall and trying to figure out what sticks during this rough patch. The rotation has been the heart of the issue, as even when the Braves do score runs, their starters have gotten hit too hard on a somewhat regular basis while struggling in recent times.
As such, there’s also room in the rotation after JR Ritchie got sent down to Triple-A earlier today. As such, Reynaldo López will now be getting another chance in the rotation. Mark Bowman of MLB.com reported the news on social media.
López last pitched on this past Sunday, which is when he provided three innings of relief in what ended up being a loss for the Braves. In fact, this’ll be López’s first start since April 21, which is when he got blown up for four runs on five hits and three walks in just one inning of work against the Washington Nationals.
Ever since then, López has been serving as a reliever where he’s actually been pretty solid. Ever since moving to the ‘pen on a full-time basis, López has thrown 22 innings and produced an ERA of 3.27 (78 ERA-) and a FIP of 3.92 (96 FIP-) — numbers that aren’t spectacular but would be sorely needed for the rotation if he can translate that into starts.
Nine of López’s 13 starts saw him go further than just one inning and as.I mentioned earlier, he actually went three innings not too long ago. He’ll be on a somewhat normal cycle of rest ahead of this start and it’s clear that the Braves are hoping that he’ll be able to give them something solid against the Giants. Assuming he does well (or well enough), he’ll likely be slotting into the rotation since the Braves are in pretty dire need of rotation help at the moment. Hopefully he’ll be able to harness what he found during the 2024 season where he produced the best year of his career as a starter. Let’s see what happens with this one.
Back from a bike ride. I think I’m as ready for the MS Ride as I’m going to get, which is good as it is happening this weekend.
Today’s lineups. Ernie Clement is out with a hip issue, so new Blue Jay Luis Urias gets the start at second base.
Go Jays Go.
The Houston Astros are set for a 4 game series in Detroit starting tomorrow against the Tigers.
Currently, the Astros have listed Tatsuya Imai as their Thursday starter and Spencer Arrighetti as their Friday starter.
As for Saturday and Sunday, their starter is listed as TBD.
Could Cristian Javier be getting one of those starts?
Based on comments from manager Joe Espada, it certainly seems as though he will.
Carson Benge – LF
Francisco Lindor – SS
Bo Bichette – 3B
Mark Vientos – 1B
Marcus Semien – 2B
Francisco Alvarez – C
Eric Wagaman – DH
A.J. Ewing – CF
Brett Baty – RF
SP: Sean Manaea – LHP
Pete Crow-Armstrong – CF
Matt Shaw – LF
Seiya Suzuki – RF
Alex Bregman – 3B
Michael Busch – 1B
Nico Hoerner – 2B
Carson Kelly – C
Pedro Ramirez – DH
Dansby Swanson – SS
SP: Shota Imanaga – LHP
First pitch: 7:10 PM EDT
TV:
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2
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Time/Place: 6:40 p.m., Comerica Park
SB Nation Site: Pinstripe Alley
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: LHP Tarik Skubal (3-3, 3.02 ERA) vs. LHP Ryan Weathers (2-5, 4.13 ERA)
| Player | G | IP | K% | BB% | GB% | FIP | fWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skubal | 9 | 53.2 | 26.9 | 3.8 | 45.7 | 2.75 | 1.5 |
| Weathers | 14 | 80.2 | 27.2 | 6.7 | 43.0 | 4.33 | 0.9 |
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Go Rays!
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Playing from behind for the majority of the game, the Colorado Rockies stunned the Boston Red Sox with a late-game rally against the bullpen to secure an 8-6 victory and the series win. Contributions from top to bottom underlined yet another gutsy win for Colorado.
Coming off what was arguably his best start of the season last time out, Kyle Freeland once again found himself having to grind out a start at Coors Field.
The Red Sox came out swinging against Freeland despite him looking comfortable on the mound with his command. Nate Eaton led off the game by flying out to right field. Ceddanne Rafaela then popped up a cutter to behind first base that deflected off the glove of Willi Castro, resulting in a triple. Freeland recovered to get Wilyer Abreu to ground out to second base with the infield playing in, but then allowed an RBI double to Willson Contreras to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead.
The aggression continued in the second inning as Anthony Seigler laced a single on the first pitch and two batters later, Connor Wong launched his first home run on a first-pitch knuckle-curve to make it 3-0 Red Sox. In the fourth inning, Andrew Monasterio launched a third-pitch knuckle-curve offering to left field for a home run to extend the lead and Rafaela later delivered an RBI single for the Red Sox’s fifth run of the game. In the fifth inning, Marcelo Mayer and Seigler delivered back-to-back doubles for their sixth run of the game.
Through five innings, Freeland had thrown around 70 pitches, but Boston already had 10 hits against him. He departed after the sixth inning, having allowed six runs on 11 hits with four strikeouts and a walk. He threw just 81 pitches, 61 of which were strikes. He also generated 11 swing and misses, but the Red Sox just found plenty of success when making contact.
“The name of the game here at Coors is to hang with it when things don’t go your way,” said manager Warren Schaeffer. “‘Free’ completed like crazy. But at the end of the day, he gave us six innings, and we were still in the ball game.”
The Rockies showed some life in the third inning as they chipped away at the deficit and made it a 3-2 game heading into the fourth inning. Kyle Karros got on board thanks to a throwing error to kick things off. Castro then grounded into a fielder’s choice force out to replace Karros at first. Tyler Freeman then chipped in a single to put men on first and second, setting up Rumfield’s RBI double to get the Rockies on the board.
Hunter Goodman then drew a walk to load the bases with one out to allow Cole Carrigg an opportunity to swing the game in the Rockies’ favor. Carrigg connected on a 90 mph sinker on the outside corner, shooting a line drive to right field that turned into a funky play. Abreu was in the perfect position to make the catch, but the ball just popped out of his glove. Freeman scored on what was deemed a sacrifice fly for Carrigg, but Goodman was thrown out at second. Unfortunately, the Rockies couldn’t add on as Jake McCarthy grounded out to end the inning.
Colorado responded to Boston’s two runs in the top of the fourth by stringing together three straight singles in the bottom half of the inning from Karros, Castro, and Freeman, who collected the RBI. However, the Rockies couldn’t figure out much else against Ranger Suarez. The lefty delivered another excellent outing against the Rockies and at Coors Field as he retired the final seven batters in order after Freeman’s single.
The Rockies chipped away early and managed seven hits against him, but he collected nine strikeouts against just one walk while registering 13 swing and misses. He threw 68 of his 102 pitches for strikes, utilizing his command to keep the Rockies’ lineup off balance and limit them to softly hit singles.
Once Suarez left the game, the Rockies rejoiced as the hard-throwing right-handed reliever Tyron Guerrero entered the game in the seventh inning.
After getting Castro to strike out, Guerrero plunked Freeman with a pitch and then got Rumfield to fly out. The Rockies then got a gift when Mayer botched a ground ball from Goodman that would have ended the inning, putting two on base. Carrigg and McCarthy both delivered RBI singles to make it a 6-5 game.
Troy Johnston was then called upon to pinch-hit, which prompted Boston to bring in the lefty Danny Coulombe to face him. On a 90 mph sinker left over the middle of the plate, Johnston shot the ball back up the middle for a single to score Carrigg and tie the game 6-6. With a chance to take the lead, Tovar grounded out to end the inning.
The Rockies kept up the attack mentality in the bottom of the eighth against reliever Justin Slaten. Three pitches into the inning, Mickey Moniak had a pinch-hit single and advanced to third on a single from Castro that deflected off the second baseman. Freeman then dropped a bunt that allowed Moniak to score the go-ahead run as the Red Sox only had a play at first base.
Rumfield followed with a single to put runners on the corners, followed by a lineout from Goodman for the second out of the inning. Facing yet another big scoring opportunity, Carrigg laced a ball into the right field gap for a hustle double to drive in his third RBI of the game and give the Rockies the 8-6 lead.
Having scored just three runs on seven hits through the first six innings, the Rockies had five runs on seven hits in the seventh and eighth innings. They ended up with 14 hits in total, while striking out 11 times against one walk. Four hitters ended up with two hits, while Castro had three.
After not working for a few days, the Rockies turned to Antonio Senzatela in the seventh inning with the 6-3 deficit. Senzatela ended up being exactly who they needed as he blazed through two perfect innings on 33 pitches, striking out two, en route to collecting his eighth win of the season.
Jimmy Herget then delivered a perfect ninth to seal the series victory and his second save of the year.
The Rockies are off on Thursday as they kick off a new road trip on Friday. Their first stop will be in the Twin Cities as they face off against the Minnesota Twins. Tomoyuki Sugano (8-4, 4.31 ERA) will make the start for the Rockies, while Minnesota will send out Taj Bradley (6-3, 4.11 ERA).
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The loss last night was absolutely devastating, but at this point, the boys are almost used to it. They have bounced back from demoralizing bullpen meltdowns before, and they will try to do it again tonight. We will also see a new arm for the first time in this one.
After being scratched last night, CJ Abrams is good to go in this one. He will be playing shortstop and hitting cleanup. That will move Nasim Nunez to second and Jorbit Vivas to third. Curtis Mead will get the night off after striking out 4 times yesterday. Daylen Lile, Jose Tena and Drew Millas will also be in the lineup. Funky lefty Carson Palmquist will make his Nats debut and he will open for Miles Mikolas.
Unlike Abrams, Kyle Schwarber is not back in the Phillies lineup after missing last night. Alec Bohm will actually move to first base and Bryce Harper will be the DH. Edmundo Sosa will move to third. It is a similar cast of characters as last night for the Phillies. Aaron Nola has had a rough season yet again, and the veteran will take the ball tonight.
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Game Info:
Stadium: Nationals Park
Time: 6:45 PM EST
TV: Nationals.TV
Radio: 106.7 The Fan
Yet again, the Nats have to bounce back from a demoralizing loss. They have shown they are a resilient team, but it would be nice if they did not have to come back from all these gut wrenching bullpen meltdowns. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!