Category: MLB

The Cubs released right-hander Jeff Brigham. Brigham was signed to a minor league deal in the offseason but was injured in Spring Training and never actually pitched for Iowa or any other minor league team.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were locked in a cave by the Louisville Bats (Reds), 20-5. Yikes.

Jordan Wicks started and took the loss. Wick gave up eight runs on eight hits over 3+ innings. However, only four of the eight runs were earned. Still, it was Wicks’ own error that opened the floodgates to four of the five runs scored in the third. Wicks walked three and struck out just one.

Shortstop Ben Cowles went 2 for 2 with a double, a walk and a sacrifice fly. He scored twice and had two total RBI.

Third baseman James Triantos was 2 for 4 with a double and one run scored.

Left fielder Justin Dean went 2 for 3 with a double and he was hit by a pitch. Dean had two RBI.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies split a doubleheader with the Montgomery Biscuits (Rays), losing game one 10-6 and winning game two 10-8. Although the doubleheader was played in Montgomery, the Smokies were the home team in game two.

Connor Schultz started game one, gave up two runs in the second and five in the third and took the loss. The final line on Schultz was seven runs, six earned, on five hits over 2.1 innings. Schultz walked four and struck out three.

Catcher Owen Ayers continues to tear up the Southern League. In game one, he went 4 for 4 with three doubles and three runs batted in.

Yenrri Rojas started game two, pitched two innings and allowed two runs on four hits. He walked one and struck out one.

Erian Rodriguez threw the next 2.1 innings and gave up four runs on four hits. Still, that was good enough for the win. Rodriguez struck out three, hit two batters and walked two.

Vince Reilly pitched the final 2.2 innings and collected the save. Reilly allowed two runs on four hits. He struck out three and didn’t walk anyone.

Left fielder Edgar Alvarez tied the game 5-5 in the third inning with a two-run home run, his seventh. Alvarez was 1 for 4.

DH Owen Ayers didn’t slow down much in game two. In the first inning, he hit an RBI single. In the bottom of the sixth, he hit a two-run home run, giving the Smokies two insurance runs that they would end up needing. It was Ayers’ 17th home run this year and 11th for the Smokies. He finished game two going 2 for 4.

After a slow May when Ayers hit .191, albeit with six home runs, in his first full month in Double-A, Ayers is hitting .586/.657/1.138 over eight games in June. He has seven doubles and three home runs in those eight games.

Shortstop Karson Simas went 2 for 3 with a sacrifice fly. He scored one run and had three RBI.

Second baseman Hayden Cantrelle was 2 for 3 with two steals. He scored one run.

First baseman Cameron Sisneros went 2 for 3 with an RBI double in the third inning. He scored twice.

A two-run single for Simas.

The Edgar Alvarez home run.

And here’s Ayers going deep for the 17th time this year already.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs fired the Peoria Chiefs (Cardinals), 5-3. This lowers the Cubs magic number for a first-half division title down to three.

Tonight’s game started two hours and 19 minutes late because of rain, so it was played as a seven-inning affair.

Eli Jerzembeck allowed two runs in the top of the first to put South Bend down early. He finished with giving up two runs on four hits over two innings. He walked two and struck out four.

Kevin Valdez threw the final five innings, allowing just one run on three hits. Valdez walked no one and struck out eight batters, which tied his career-high.

Center fielder Josiah Hartshorn tied the game in the third inning with a two-run home run, his tenth overall and fifth with South Bend. Hartshorn was 1 for 2 with a walk and a sacrifice fly to give him three total RBI.

DH Kane Kepley went 1 for 3 with a triple and a walk. He scored twice.

Shortstop Ty Southisene was 1 for 2 with a walk and a hit by pitch. He also stole two bases and scored one run.

Hartshorn’s home run.

Here’s Kepley’s triple, Hartshorn’s sac fly and a two-run double by Jose Escobar. Escobar was 1 for 3.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans swatted the Augusta GreenJackets (Braves), 5-2. The win snapped an eight-game Pelicans losing streak.

Braylon Myers made only his second start of the season and pitched three scoreless innings. Myers allowed just one hit and issued three walks. He struck out four.

Hayden Frank tossed the next four innings and got the win after surrendering just one run on three hits. The one run came on a seventh inning solo home run. Frank walked two and struck out one.

Right fielder Eli Lovich was 2 for 3 with a walk and one run scored.

Highlights.

ACL Cubs

Off day.

Kodai Senga could be back on the mound as soon as Thursday after a minor injury setback.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Senga “felt good” after playing catch Tuesday, which is an encouraging update in the wake of his scratching from a minor league rehab assignment at Double-A Binghamton on Tuesday due to ulnar nerve irritation in his right arm.

“He was supposed to play catch [again] today, I haven’t heard anything,” Mendoza said before the Mets’ 9-2 loss to the Cardinals at Citi Field on Wednesday night. “We’ll see how he goes after he plays catch today. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s pitching in a game tomorrow or the next day.”

The right-handed starter is in the midst of his recovery from lumbar spine inflammation.

Landing on the 15-day injured list April 28 (retroactive to April 27), Senga returned to New York and played catch off the mound before the Mets opened the series against the Cardinals.

He cited increased mechanical work and practice as the reasoning for his irritation, calling it “minor” and even straying away from labeling it as an injury.

“I got some treatment and the treatment effects were a little bit greater than I anticipated,” he said through a translator. “It became a little bit more loose, so that caused the nerve sensations. It’s not like it’s inflamed, I wouldn’t say this is an injury. Going back to what I said earlier, continuing to strive for those mechanics, striving for health and getting back to the field I don’t think is too far.”

The 33-year-old had made three rehab starts — one at Single-A St. Lucie and two at Triple-A Syracuse — before he was scratched. Over those three starts, Senga posted a 5.25 ERA and allowed at least two runs in each outing.

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Not only did he walk or hit a batter in every appearance, but Senga was also unable to make it past the fourth inning in the first two starts.

RHP Jonathan Pintaro was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse, while RHP Joey Gerber was returned following Tuesday night’s game.

Pintaro pitched three innings, giving up one hit — a home run to Alec Burleson — while striking out two in Wednesday’s loss.

Mendoza said the changed starting pitching rotation of Austin Warren on Wednesday and Christian Scott on Thursday was nothing more than getting hurlers like Nolan McLean an extra day.

While Scott was initially slated to start Wednesday, Mendoza said the plan was “something that we discussed over the weekend.”

“It got out that Scotty was pitching today, but they knew the plan, the Cardinals knew the plan that we were going bullpen game today, Scotty tomorrow and then Noah,” Mendoza said. “Just kind of giving those guys an extra day this early on the stretch that we’re about to go here with 22, 23 days.

“We thought it was best coming off an off-day on Monday.”

Infielder Ronny Mauricio, who is currently on the injured list recovering from a fractured right thumb, has resumed baseball activities.

“He’s now on that phase where he’s doing a lot of the baseball stuff,” Mendoza said.

This was a game that was initially defined by excellent pitching, but the bats came alive for Colorado in the final two innings, resulting in a 3-2 walk-off victory over the Chicago Cubs.

The Rockies have secured the series victory and improved to 26-42 on the season, thanks largely in part to a strong start on the mound and some late-game heroics from the rookies.

Lorenzen rebounds nicely

After a string of rough starts, Michael Lorenzen delivered exactly the type of start he needed to, not just for himself but for the Rockies in general.

Lorenzen’s night started simply as he enjoyed a quick 1-2-3 top of the first inning with a pair of strikeouts. The second inning was more of the same, as he got a couple of quick outs and a strikeout. The third inning then featured another two strikeouts as part of another 1-2-3 inning. Perfect through three, it was the second straight start for Lorenzen in which he had five strikeouts through the first three innings.

His luck ran out in the top of the fourth inning when Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a towering ball to center field that kicked off the wall for a triple. Moisés Ballesteros grounded a ball to first base to score PCA to give the Cubs an early 1-0 lead.

However, unlike previous outings, Lorenzen didn’t let things spiral out of control. He got Michael Busch to ground out, issued a walk to Alex Bregman, and then struck out Ian Happ to end the inning.

The Cubs threatened in the fifth inning with a one-out double from Nico Hoerner and a two-out walk to Dansby Swanson. PCA then stepped up to the plate but thanks to the height of Kyle Karros at third base, was robbed of a hit on a line drive that would have scored another run if Karros had not leaped to make the grab.

Feeling good at 84 pitches, Lorenzen didn’t come out for the sixth. He went five innings, allowing just one run on two hits with two walks and a season-high seven strikeouts. What aided his success was being able to get ahead of the Cubs’ hitters. He threw a first-pitch strike about 65% of the time while also avoiding barrels. The balls the Cubs put in play had an average exit velocity of 77.1 mph.

Hopefully, the success of this outing will give Lorenzen the much-needed confidence moving forward to turn things around on the mound.

Shota shuts things down

While Lorezen was dealing for the Rockies, Shota Imanaga was matching him for the Cubs.

The Rockies first threatened in the first inning after TJ Rumfield threw out a single and Hunter Goodman drew a walk with two outs. However, Imanaga escaped the jam with a strikeout of Ezequiel Tovar.

He then struck out the side in the second inning, while also allowing a two-out walk to Braxton Fulford. A 1-2-3 third inning was then followed by a lead-off single for Goodman and three quick outs. The fifth inning also followed suit as the Rockeis went down in order.

Imanaga allowed just two hits over five innings with seven strikeouts and two walks. The Rockies took some length at-bats and made him work as he threw 90 pitches. However, Imanaga did what he often does best and threw a lot of strikes and limited hard-hit balls.

In fact, there was only one hard-hit ball through the first five innings of the game for either team, the first time that happened in MLB this season.

Welcome back, Jeff Criswell

After Lorenzen departed, the bullpen continued to give the Rockies offense a chance to win. Brennan Bernardnio fired a scoreless sixth inning, followed by a clean seventh by Juan Mejia.

But the highlight of the night for the pen was the big-league return of Jeff Criswell.

After a long recovery from Tommy John surgery, Criswell finally stood on a major league mound as he took the ball for the eighth inning. The first batter he faced was Swanson, and he blew a fastball by him for a strikeout. He then got PCA to line a ball to right field for the second out of the inning.

But nothing comes easy.

Carson Kelly, who had entered the game in the sixth inning, drew a walk, followed by a soft-hit single by Busch. Bregman stepped up to the plate and, after a lengthy battle, popped the ball up to first base to end the inning. After nearly 18 months, Criswell managed to keep the game close in an awesome moment and was reaching about 96 mph with his fastball.

Keep on threatening

The Rockies continued to threaten the Cubs’ bullpen in the sixth inning after a pair of two-out singles from Goodman and Tovar. However, the Rockies couldn’t get a run when Cole Carrigg popped out to the catcher after launching a long foul ball to left field.

Shut down again in the seventh, the Rockies finally broke through in the bottom of the eighth inning after the hot-hitting Edouard Julien collected a pinch-hit single with one out. Perhaps frustrated by an earlier strikeout, Rumfield stepped up to the plate and swung at a first-pitch changeup from Jacob Webb and tucked it into the right field seats. The two-run homer was the first go-ahead home run in the eighth inning or later, allowing the rookie first baseman to give the Rockies a 2-1 lead.

Ninth-inning drama

Unfortunately, the parallels of the game continued as Happ launched a solo home run on the second pitch of the ninth off Antonio Senzatela to tie the game 2-2. Senzatela rebounded nicely to escape the inning without further damage, leaving it up to the offense to look for some magic once again.

Facing Daniel Palencia, Troy Johnston managed to draw a leadoff walk. The Rockies then turned to a left-handed pinch hitter in Brett Sullivan. Sullivan attempted to bunt twice but failed and continued to battle to line a base hit into right field on the ninth pitch of the at-bat.

With runners on the corners, Sterlin Thompson was called upon to pinch hit. He fouled off the first pitch at 101.3 mph. Down 0-1 and with the infield playing in, Thompson roped a 100.4 mph fastball through the right-side hole for a base hit to drive in Johnston and secure the 3-2 walk-off victory.

He became just the fourth Rockies rookie to ever have a pinch-hit walk-off hit, the first since Ben Paulsen in 2015.

The Rockies ended up out-hitting the Cubs 9-5 while striking out 11 times and drawing just three walks. They went just 1-for-3 with runners in scoring position, but that ended up being all that they needed.

Up next

The Rockies and Cubs conclude the series with an afternoon affair. Ryan Feltner (2-1, 4.22 ERA) takes the mound for the Rockies, looking to continue his string of strong starts. Edward Cabrera (3-3, 4.99 ERA) will do the pitching for the Cubs in his second start since coming off the injured list on June 5.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 pm MDT.

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Rockies 3, Cubs 2

Graphics via FanGraphs.

Yo ho ho!: TJ Rumfield, +0.44 WPA

It’s not what you want: Jacob Webb, -0.45 WPA

Game Thread Comment of the Day

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The Texas Rangers scored six runs while the Kansas City Royals scored four runs in ten innings.

Remember the second game of the season when the Rangers literally dropped the ball multiple times in Philadelphia and turned what looked like an easy victory into an extra innings game that they eventually did hold on to win? It might be difficult to recall because it was all the way back in March.

I bring that game up because it was, remarkably, the only other time that the Rangers played extra innings this season before tonight’s game. But getting from entering the game adverse to free baseball to the final score was an adventure in and of itself, to say the least.

Here’s just a smattering of the obscene things that happened in this one:

Designated hitter Joc Pederson left the game after injuring himself drawing walk.

Tonight’s Kansas City starting pitcher Seth Lugo was forced to leave tonight’s game after 3.1 innings because he took a 106 MPH comebacker directly off his forehead off the bat of former teammate Brandon Nimmo.

The Rangers lost a replay on a play at the plate in a game that went to extras that the players involved (including Kansas City catcher Sal Perez) seemed pretty certain would go Texas’ way all because maybe there wasn’t a single camera angle that showed anything useful.

The Royals scored a run apiece in two separate innings that materialized via hits that all came after there were two outs. The Rangers probably haven’t accomplished that twice all season.

Both teams struggled with runners on base ultimately. The Rangers went 3-for-10 with RISP and left 14 runners on base, including several wasted bases loaded opportunities. The Royals, meanwhile, went 4-for-13 with RISP and left 13 on base.

The teams combined to use 13 pitchers with five from Texas and a whopping eight from Kansas City after Lugo was forced to exit.

The go-ahead run was scored when Elias Diaz doubled in Texas’ Manfred Man despite him only being in the game because tonight’s starting catcher Kyle Higashioka was lifted for a pinch runner. Texas’ insurance run scored via a bases loaded walk. The Royals then loaded the bases in their half of the tenth with zero outs but then borrowed a page from the Rangers and didn’t score.

Anyway, like back on March 28, despite some hellish baseball the Rangers won. They’re now 2-0 in extra innings games.

Player of the Game: Former Royal and No. 9 hitter Nicky Lopez doubled, singled in a run, drew a tenth inning walk, and was hit by a pitch to ignite another bases loaded opportunity in which the Rangers scored the tying run in the eighth.

Up Next: The Rangers and Royals finish off this series in a matinee affair tomorrow afternoon with RHP Kumar Rocker set to pitch in the finale for Texas opposite RHP Michael Wacha for KC.

Thursday’s finale matchup from Kauffman Stadium is scheduled for 1:10 pm CDT and you can catch it on the Rangers Sports Network.

3 ties, 4 lead changes, 24 hits, 13 pitchers, and a partridge in a pear tree. This game had it all, except for a Royals win that is. Texas pulled out a 6-4 extra inning affair on a wild night of baseball.

The first three innings only had three major events before the game really shifted. In the 2nd inning Jac Caglianone doubled to left field and then came home on a bloop single from Isaac Collins. There was also a fun double steal of Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnnie Pasquantino that got Witt a tie for the major league lead in stolen bases. Finally, there was an injury to Joc Pederson on ball 4. I do not know how to explain tweaking something on ball four, but he managed it and Jake Buger took over DHing duties later in the game. Then in the 4th inning the Royals plan for the day shifted rather drastically when Seth Lugo took a Brandon Nimmo 106.6 mph line drive off of his head. See video below. It was very scary in real time.

Seth was obviously pulled and the bullpen was called on with one out in the third. Mason Black was first up. I think we should all give him some grace for having to warm up and jump in with no warning like that. He struggled for the first few batters. Wyatt Langford was first up and singled off of Bobby Witt’s glove while he leaped to try and snag it. That moved Nimmo to second as well. Then Eziquiel Duran was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Evan Carter was also walked to score the first run for Texas on the night. It was looking like Black might blow up and the Royals would be in a lot of trouble. Then he found the zone managed to strike out Kyle Higashioka to get the second out and keep them loaded. Next up was Royal killer Nicky Lopez, who has been raking against his former club. His streak continued with a single to right scoring Langford from third to take the lead, but it also ended the inning because Duran followed him and was gunned down by Jac. Texas challenged saying Salvador Perez did not get the tag on him. It was upheld and you can watch below to see why.

The Rangers exited the top of the 4th with a 2-1 lead. It could have been worse and there was still a lot of game left and what a game it was.

Kansas City took a couple of innings to tie things back up. After two strikeouts to start the 5th, Vinnie walked to start something up. Then Starling Marte advanced him with a single through the right side. That is when Jac Caglianone decided he was not done causing problems for Texas after last night’s theatrics. He willed a seeing-eye single just past the diving Nicky Lopez at second base. It was not traveling very fast so Pasquantino made it home easily to tie the game. After ending the 5th having given up 2 runs, that would be the end of Mackenzie Gore’s night was over after throwing 87 pitches. He was replaced by Peyton Gray who the Royals got to in the 6th. Collins led of the 6th with a double to the left field corner and was brought home on a Lane Thomas single. Collins got a bad read off the bat. It looked like the throw might have got him but the Rangers cut it off and KC took a 3-2 lead.

Texas responded to that immediately when Jake Burger took his second plate appearance to lead off the 7th after replacing the injured Pederson. By this time Black had given way to Stephen Cruz who escaped a messy 6th and Matt Strahm was on for the seventh. His first offering to Burger was a very high slider that was lifted over the left field wall to tie the game at 3 runs apiece. In the bottom of the 7th the Royals started off with two groundouts to set up another 2-out rally. Caglianone grabbed his 3rd hit of the night with a single. Then Nick Loftin brought him home on what was ruled a triple and sure looked like an error to me. Either was the one run lead was back, Royals 4 and Rangers 3.

Lucas Erceg was given the 8th. He has been struggling and it was nice to see him strike out Duran to start the inning. Unfortunately, that was the only good part of his outing. After walk, walk, HBP loaded the bases, Erceg was pulled and Daniel Lynch IV came on to try and put out the fire. Jake Burger was next up and Lynch got him to fly out to center. It was deep enough to score Evan Carter and tie the game 4-4. The Royals had now surrendered three separate leads on the night. Lynch then walked Corey Seage to re-load the bases before getting Josh Jung to lineout to right and end the threat.

Old friend Jakob Junis took over in the 8th for the Rangers and he plunked Lane Thoms to begin the inning and was pinch run for by Tyler Tolbert. Tolbert stole second but came off the bag with his hand before the leg got to the base and he was called out on replay. Witt and Garcia went down too and we headed to the 9th still tied.

Matt Quatraro went John Shreiber out for the 9th, the sixth bullpen arm of the night. He took care of business one two three. Junis returned for 9th in the bottom half and followed suit. It was the calmest inning of the night with no baserunners to be seen. It would be decided in extras with the Royals needing to end it sooner rather than later. They came into the game with a rested bullpen but the early exit from Lugo meant they were down to Alex Lange and Beck Way.

Lange would take the 10th and start the inning with a fly ball to center. Then the third former Royal of the night would sting them. Elias Diaz who played for Kansas City just 21 days ago hit the ball hard to the right and Cags misplayed it into a double allowing the Rangers to take the lead for the second time on the night. This was followed by a walk to Nicky Lopez and a Jake Burger infield single. Alex was in some trouble with the bases loaded. He struck out Seager with a beautiful sinker to get the second out and bring up Josh Jung. Lange got ahead 0-2 before throwing four consecutive balls and walking in an insurance run, Royals down 6-4. Nimmo hit a scary liner to center that was tracked down by Tolbert and get him out of the jam.

Last chance for the Royals would come against Jacob Latz, the 13th pitcher of the night. Jac took the first pitch up the middle for his fourth hit of the game, another single. Starling Marte was the zombie runner and had to hold on the hit, so he only made it to third. Kameron Misner came in to pinch run for Caglianone and make his Royals debut after being called up this afternoon. Nick Loftin decided that the bases should be loaded in the bottom of the 10th too by taking a walk and bringing Collins up. Ball three was challenged by Diaz though it was a ball, so Texas lost its extra inning challenge too. Isaac battled but was struck out watching a 98 mph fastball at the knees. This is back to the top of the lineup though that meant Tolbert who took over for Lane Thomas after he had been hit by a pitch in the arm earlier. Tolbert hit it straight to third. Step on third throw to first, double play ends the game.

It was a tough loss. It was also a thrilling game. Back at it in about 15 hours to see who will win this series.

The Mets confirmed after Wednesday's loss to the St. Louis Cardinals that Kodai Senga will return to the mound on Thursday for Double-A Binghamton.

Senga is now set to continue his rehab assignment that had been derailed after he was scratched from his start on Tuesday with ulnar nerve irritation.

The news is not surprising, as Senga "felt good" after playing catch on Tuesday and Wednesday with manager Carlos Mendoza saying pregame that he "wouldn’t be surprised if [Senga] was pitching in a game tomorrow or the next day.” 

New York hopes Senga's brief setback doesn't prevent the right-hander from returning to the team once his rehab assignment is over, and that Senga can get back on track in the minors after a bumpy start to the season, which saw lumbar spine inflammation force him onto the IL.

Senga is 0-4 and has a 9.00 ERA in five starts in 2026 and his rehab numbers haven't been great either, pitching to a 5.25 ERA in three starts between Double-A and Triple-A.

The Tigers were unable to pull off another win against the Twins as they lost game two 6-4.

Today’s game started with some questions. After a brief delay due to potential impending weather, it was determined the game should go ahead and start. The starters for the game were slated to be Framber Valdez for the Tigers and Mike Paredes as the start of a bullpen day for the Twins. The Tigers were hoping to ride their win from Tuesday, but what they weren’t anticipating was bringing the weather delay from Tuesday’s game with them as well.

Things got started in the first. Byron Buxton got a one-out walk, but then Brooks Lee grounded into a double play, and even as the inning was winding down the Jumbotron was advising fans to seek shelter immediately. As soon as Framber had gone through the side, the tarp was out on the field and the game was in a delay. An hour later, the game was back on and the Tigers went 1-2-3 in the home half.

Despite his lengthy downtime, Valdez was back out for the second, and with two outs, he gave up a home run to Royce Lewis. He got the final out of the inning, but the Twins were on the board first. Spencer Torkelson took a two-out walk in the home half, but he was the only baserunner for the inning and the Tigers weren’t able to bring him home.

Ryan Kreidler got a leadoff walk in the top of the third. Alex Jackson singled behind him. Both runners advanced a bag on a groundout from Austin Martin. Byron Buxton then hit into a fielder’s choice, where Kreidler was tagged out sliding into home. Props to Kreidler, who slammed into Dillon Dingler pretty hard at the plate and immediately checked on him as soon as he got to his feet. You don’t see that a lot in on-field play. Buxton stole second, then Brooks Lee walked. Thankfully after a mound visit, Valdez got back in the zone and got the final out of the inning. In the home half, Kevin McGonigle took a two-out walk, then Gleyber Torres hit a ball deep into the outfield that Byron Buxton narrowly missed catching on a diving play. It was an RBI double, bringing McGonigle home to tie up the game. Kerry Carpenter was hit by a pitch, taking a free walk, but no additional runs scored.

The Twins managed one baserunner in the fourth with Luke Keaschall getting a two-out single, but they weren’t able to bring him home. In the bottom of the inning the Twins dipped into their bullpen for Taylor Rogers and he got three outs in a row.

Alex Jackson was hit by a pitch to start the fifth. Then Austin Martin was hit by a pitch. This was followed by Byron Buxton hitting a three-run homer. So pretty much the worst-case scenario to start the inning. Brooks Lee singled, but then a double play and a pop-out ended the inning. The damage was done, though, and the Twins were up 5-1. Andrew Morris was the next pitcher in for the Twins’ bullpen day gave up a leadoff single to Zach McKinstry, with an assist from Keaschall who is new to playing first and couldn’t keep his foot on the bag. With one out, Morris was called for a balk, putting McKinstry into scoring position. McGonigle worked a walk. Torres then singled, loading up the bases. A Carpenter single brought two runs in. Two outs followed to end the inning, but the Tigers were now within one.

Brenan Hanifee was in from the Tigers’ pen for the sixth. Valdez had clearly started to falter in the fifth, so this didn’t come as a surprise. His final line for the game was 5,0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 HR on 75 pitches. With two outs a pinch-hitting Kody Clemens doubled. Hanifee did get out of the jam, though. Travis Adams was the new Twins pitcher in the home half, and he got the Tigers out in order.

Ty Madden replaced Hanifee and gave up a leadoff walk to Martin. Buxton then singled. A Brooks Lee groundout eliminated Buxton and moved Martin to third. That was it for Madden, after the second out, and he was replaced by Drew Sommers. A Josh Bell single scored Martin. Royce Lewis walked to load the bases, then a wild pitch allowed Lee to score. By the time S0mmers got the final out, the Twins were up 6-3. In the bottom of the seventh with one out, McGonigle got another walk. Torres then singled. Anthony Banda came in from the Twins’ pen and he got the final two outs of the inning.

With one out in the eighth, S0mmers was replaced by Beau Brieske. A comebacker deflected off of Brieske, allowing Jackson to get safely to first for a single. Austin Martin then singled. A double play off the bat of Buxton was a huge lifesave for the Tigers, getting them out of the inning without any extra runs scored. Brieske owes Kevin McGonigle a big hug for getting that double play turned. Riley Greene took a leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning. With a lot of effort from Buxton in the field, the Tigers were out of the inning with Greene left stranded.

Brooks Lee got a leadoff walk in the top of the ninth, followed by a single to Orlando Arcia. Brieske got really lucky with a double play, followed by a flyout to end the inning. The Tigers were down to their last chance to make something happen. Yoendrys Gómez came in for the Twins and gave up a single to Wenceel Perez. With one out, Torres walked. Matt Vierling hit a deeeeep flyout to center that was snagged by Buxton. For a hot second it looked like it could be something but it died short of the wall. Dingler singled, bringing Perez home. Alas, Greene struck out to end the game. Better luck and less rain tomorrow, Tigers!

Final: Twins 6, Tigers 4

It sometimes shocks me how quickly the “vibe” around a baseball team can change. Just two weeks ago, the Diamondbacks finished off a road sweep of the Giants in a solid, all-around effort. That win put the team a season-best seven games over .500 heading to Seattle. Since that game, they’ve gone 3-9 and haven’t won a series since then. The offense has completely disintegrated, averaging just three runs a game, hitting a miserly .205, and averaging just one homer a game. If you combine that disintegration with an ugly downturn in the pitching, it’s not that surprising to see the team’s fortunes fall all the way to just one game over .500 on the season.

There are times watching a pitcher perform that a big inning seemingly comes out of nowhere. That was not the case tonight for Ryne Nelson. The Marlins quickly identified that Nelson did not have command of most of his arsenal, attacking early and often, creating a lot of hard contact while Nelson struggled to generate much swing and miss. Thankfully, early in the game that hard contact turned into outs with some excellent defense behind Nelson – one of the few highlights for the D-Backs all night. Of course, that kind of luck couldn’t hold forever, and the dam broke in the fourth. Nelson allowed a leadoff single to Heriberto Hernandez, but responded with a couple quick outs to put himself on the precipice of escaping again. Owen Caissie had other ideas though as he blasted the first pitch he saw into the first row of the right field bleachers for a 3-0 lead. It clearly bothered Nelson as he followed the blast with a single, a hit batter (his second of the night), an RBI single, and then a big three-run no-doubter to last year’s breakout star Kyle Stowers. When the dust settled, the Marlins had firmly taken control of the game with a six-run frame and knocked Nelson out of the game.

I don’t want to imply the D-Backs offense was completely lifeless. They may have been shutout, but they created a few scoring opportunities for themselves with six hits and four walks, but they never found a way to cash in, stranding 10 runners and going a woeful 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. There were two different innings when the team had a runner at third with less than two outs – the second time including a bases loaded situation – but were unable to score. It’s useless to direct blame at a single player or even a single part of the team for this current swoon. There’s very little that’s going correctly for the team right now and it’s incumbent on Torey Lovullo and the team’s leaders to find ways to change the dynamic before everything starts to spiral out of their control. That change has to start tomorrow with Merrill Kelly finding some way to keep a rocking Miami offense (18 runs on 25 hits in the series) down and avoid the sweep.

Royals pitcher Seth Lugo left Wednesday’s game against the Rangers after taking a line drive off the head from his former Mets teammate, Brandon Nimmo.

Nimmo ran to first, but then immediately ran to check on Lugo.

The pitcher joked he would rather have him hit a home run next time.

The 85-mph pitch, which resulted in the line drive, happened in the top of the fourth inning with the Royals leading the Rangers 1-0.

There was already a large lump forming on Lugo’s forehead as he walked off the field.

Three innings after the incident, the Royals posted to X that “Lugo is doing well and will go through the appropriate protocol and testing.”

Lugo was playing well before being taken out, having thrown 3 1/3 scoreless innings with 29 strikes on 44 pitches.

Royals reliever Mason Black came into the game after Lugo’s exit and gave up two runs — one charged to Lugo when Nimmo scored — before getting out of the inning.

Lugo has started in 13 games this season and has a 3.91 ERA, 1.0 WAR and 64 strikeouts, and earned a no-decision Wednesday night

Nimmo and Lugo were drafted together by the Mets in 2011, and both made their first appearances in the 2016 season.

They shared the clubhouse for seven years together before Lugo moved to the Padres for the 2023 season.

Nimmo was traded to the Rangers for veteran second baseman Marcus Semien this offseason.

Well, look who’s sitting atop the American League Central.

Behind six gritty innings from Davis Martin, another electric performance from Braden Montgomery, and a lockdown bullpen, the White Sox knocked off the mighty Braves. The win pushed the Sox into first place, and if you’re keeping score at home, that’s consecutive nights of making one of baseball’s best teams look decidedly mortal.

Martin came out firing. The righthander needed just 13 pitches to carve through the first inning, striking out two along the way. Atlanta kept threatening throughout the evening, but every time the Braves put runners aboard, Martin found another escape hatch.

The second inning was his biggest tightrope act. Mauricio Dubón singled, Austin Riley wore a pitch, and Mike Yastrzemski’s infield hit loaded the bases with one out. Martin responded by punching out Jorge Mateo and getting Austin Wynns to line out harmlessly.

The Braves put runners at the corners in the third and got a two-out double from Mateo in the fourth, but Martin kept slamming the door. By the time he finished six scoreless innings, he’d scattered six hits, struck out six, and generated 13 whiffs while repeatedly winning the biggest moments of the game. Unfortunately, the Sox were denied a shutout line thanks to some seventh-inning misfortune.

The South Side offense finally broke through against old friend Chris Sale in the fourth. Montgomery continued his remarkable first week in the majors by leading off the inning with a double into left. Derek Hill followed with a sharp RBI single to center, bringing home the rookie and giving the Sox a 1-0 lead.

The Sox weren’t finished. Jacob Gonzalez moved Hill to third with a ground out, and Luisangel Acuña cashed him in on a ground ball that made it 2-0.

That would be all Chicago could squeeze out of the veteran southpaw, who was vintage Chris Sale for much of the night. The former White Sox ace struck out six and repeatedly escaped trouble despite Chicago forcing him to work. The Good Guys managed just one hit in 10 opportunities with runners in scoring position, but on this night, two runs proved enough.

Sean Newcomb inherited the lead in the seventh and immediately ran into trouble when Mateo singled to open the frame. After two outs, a Miguel Vargas fielding error down the line allowed Mateo to score, cutting the lead to 2-1 and saddling Newcomb with the lone run, albeit unearned, against the pitching staff.

The Sox had a golden opportunity to answer in the bottom half. Acuña singled and advanced all the way to second after an error, but a bizarre sequence followed: Tristan Peters’ bunt attempt popped out, and a successful challenge overturned an out call on Acuña’s steal of third. But Chase Meidroth’s grounder resulted in Acuña being tagged out at home, and Andrew Benintendi struck out to end the threat.

No matter.

Seranthony Domínguez handled the eighth with a clean 1-2-3 inning, and Bryan Hudson took the ball for the ninth.

Hudson retired Mateo, walked pinch-hitter Eli White, then got Michael Harris II to pop out. One final out remained. Ozzie Albies lifted a pop-up into shallow right-center, where Meidroth ranged out and made the grab to seal it.

Ballgame.

The White Sox are in first place.

And Braden Montgomery? The kid followed up his storybook debut by collecting two more doubles and scoring a run. Safe to say the curtain call wasn’t a one-night thing.

First place. Against the Braves. On back-to-back nights.

Not a bad way to spend a Wednesday.

We’re all acutely aware this is the third series loss of the season, but it is unfortunately the first one where the Braves have dropped the first two games. The fact that it took until June 10th to happen… I’m holding onto that really tight with both hands.

Chris Sale’s outing was reminiscent of his last one versus Toronto: soft hits, navigating traffic, and the bats doing very little to bail him out. The White Sox made him work; he threw 103 pitches in his 5.2 innings of two-run ball. He was still reaching back to fire that fastball 98 mph on his very last pitch (which unfortunately came in and hit Jacob Gonzalez), because Christopher Allen Sale is a madman. 

Sale put up zeroes the first three innings and ran into trouble in the fourth. I, for one, am ready to be done seeing Braden Montgomery. Defensively, he was at the scene of the crime of every Braves ball caught at the warning track. Offensively, he laced a leadoff double to start the fourth inning and would come home to score immediately on a Derek Hill single. The White Sox would tack on another one with an RBI groundout to make it 2-0 White Sox. That would be all the damage, but it was enough to sink the Braves. Alas, the insurmountable two runs.

Sale was outdueled by Davis Martin, who spun six scoreless innings with six hits and six strikeouts. The Braves had the bases loaded with one out in the second after a Dom Smith lineout, a Mauricio Dubón single, an Austin Riley hit by pitch, and a Mike Yastrzemski single. But it wasn’t to be – a Jorge Mateo strikeout and Austin Wynns lineout would end the inning. There were a ton of hard-hit balls the whole game, but nearly every single one managed to find a Sox glove to end a rally or strand a pair of runners. 

Didier Fuentes came out to get the last out in the bottom of the sixth, which was quickly taken care of by a Wynns pickoff. 

It was probably a relief for both the Braves and those watching at home to see Davis Martin out of the same in the seventh. Instead, old friend Sean Newcomb was tasked with holding down his former team. Jorge Mateo, with no such sentimentality, led off the inning with a single. Wynns hit one on the screws but right to Chase Meidroth, followed by Michael Harris II striking out swinging at a slurve. But Ozzie Albies gave the Braves a sign of life with a hit that had the ball skittering past the third baseman Miguel Vargas to cut the lead in half, 2-1. Matt Olson worked a walk, but Dom popped out to end the inning.

Luisangel Acuña was doing Acuña things to the Braves, wreaking havoc with a single, advancement to second, and stolen base, with a Tristan Peters bunt pop out in the middle of all of it. But he’d be out at home on a fielder’s choice play by Riley. Andrew Benintendi came in to pinch-hit, Walt Weiss countered with Dylan Lee, and Lee got him on three pitches. 

The Braves had nothing going against Seranthony Domínguez in the eighth, with Dubon, Riiley, and Yaz going down in order. 

Braves debut alert – #00 James Karinchak entered in the eighth to make his first big league appearance since 2023 with Cleveland. Other than a double to Montgomery (who else?), he threw 19 pitches (12 for strikes) to get a Vargas flyout, Edgar Quero lineout, and Hill strikeout. How we feeling, Karinchak Collective?

Eli White (pinch-hitting for Wynns) worked a one-out walk off of reliever Bryan Hudson in the ninth, but no late magic for Atlanta in this one. Final score: 2-1, White Sox. It’ll be the same time and same channel for the Braves tomorrow as they look to salvage the series finale.

Phillies 7 Blue Jays 4

That was bad in a lot of ways.

Might as well get the congratulations out of the way first, Max Scherzer got his 3500th strikeout, just the 11th pitcher to get to that number. He’s at 3503 now. Number 10 in the list is Walter ‘Big Train’ Johnson at 3509. But I really don’t care if Max passes him. It very much appears that Max has aged out of being a useful MLB pitcher.

Max threw 3.1 innings, allowed 5 hits (with 2 home runs ), 5 earned, 3 walks with the 4 strikeouts.

When Shane is ready to come back, I’d likely hand Max his gold watch.

And the offense did very little. There are a couple of moments I’d like to mention. In the third inning, with two out, George Springer walked on five pitches (it could have been four, he swung at one off the plate) and then Vladimir Guerrero walked on four pitches. Next up Ernie Clement, who, one would imagine, would have seen the two at bats before him and thought ‘maybe I should take a strike’. Nope swung at the first pitch, that was outside and almost bounced. And he swung at the second pitch, but it was a strike. And then he swung at the third pitch, which was a little further outside than the first.

I know that Ernie is like that (though he did walk later in the game), but we were down by four. I mean, I can see going up and thinking ‘I’m likely to get a first pitch fastball down the middle’ and then sit on that, cause the pitcher doesn’t want to walk the bases loaded. But anything else, he should have kept the bat on his shoulder.

Sorry Ernie, you are having a great year, but that could have been our chance to get in the game.

And in the fifth, we had runners on first and second (Myles Straw and Nathan Lukes hit singles) with one out. A pitch was bounced, Straw got a bit of a jump off second, but the ball bounced off the catcher and up the third base line. Straw saw he’d be out and went back to second, but Lukes saw Straw take the couple of steps and headed to second. He didn’t see Straw retreat and Lukes was an easy out, ending the inning.

You gotta be watching the guy ahead of you.

We did get some runs:

• One in the sixth: With one out, Clement (now he walks) and Kazuma Okamoto walked. Yohendrick Piñango, in a tough spot against a lefty, struck out. But Brandon Valenzuela singled. Clement ran through the stop sign at third and scored. If he had been thrown out, I’d have benched him. We were down six and would have had the bases loaded. Unfortunately Andrés Giménez flied out to end the inning.
• Three in the seventh: Phillies reliever Chase Shugart had all sorts of trouble with the strike zone. Straw singled. Lukes (on four pitches) walked. Springer (on four pitches) walked. Vlad (on five pitches, one right dead center) walked in a run. Ernie Clement, who had the bad at bat earlier, took a strike and then hit a deep fly to the opposite field, unfortunately caught at the wall, for a sac fly. Okamoto hit another sac fly (Springer was just safe). Piñango ground out to end the inning.

In total, we had eight hits and seven walks. Straw had 3 hits. Vlad and Springer each had a hit and two walk. . Lukes a hit and a walk. Piñango and Charles McAdoo were the only starters not to reach base.

With Scherzer coming out early, we used a bunch of relievers, thankfully tomorrow is an off day.

• Mason Fluharty got the last two outs of the fourth, but gave up another run.
• Tommy Nance pitched the fifth, giving up just a hit.
• Jeff Hoffman pitched the sixth, with just a walk and a strikeout.
• Braydon Fisher started the seventh, but gave up a couple of hits, a walk and run, while getting just one out.
• Spencer Miles finished the seventh and pitched the eighth, without giving up a baserunner, with 2 strikeouts.
• Tyler Rogers pitched the ninth. He made a couple of nice defensive plays. On a comebacker he looked the runner at second back to the bag and then threw to first and, on the last out, it was a roller down the first base line, and

Jay of the Day: No one, the high mark was Springer (0.05).

The Other Award: Max (-0.24) and Clement (-0.08).

Tomorrow is an off-day. I can use it.

Over the course of his long, illustrious career, future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer has had many dominant performances against the Phillies.

Tonight was not one of them.

The Phillies victimized the 41-year-old Scherzer in his first start back from the injured list, teeing off for five runs and two home runs off of their old nemesis while Jesús Luzardo delivered 5.2 strong innings and the Phillies bullpen avoided disaster to deliver a series win in Toronto with a 7-4 victory in the finale.

How many times do we have to teach you this lesson old man?

Bryce Harper opened the scoring in the first, taking the first pitch he saw from Scherzer to deep left field, and it kept on carrying right over the head of Blue Jays left fielder Yohendrick Piñango for Harper’s 15th homer of the year.

Scherzer needed 47 total pitches to get through the first two innings. Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner then led off the third inning with back-to-back singles before Harper grounded out to put runners on the corners with one out. Brandon Marsh then popped up to shortstop, putting the scoring threat in jeopardy, but Alec Bohm blasted a hanging slider from Scherzer into left for a three-run home run to push the lead to 4-0.

Bryson Stott then drew a five pitch walk and stole second, but J.T. Realmuto grounded out to end the inning. Scherzer was already at 75 pitches through three and the knockout blow would come in the fourth. That inning started with an Adolis Garcia strikeout before Justin Crawford singled on an infield hit to third base that chased Scherzer from the game. Mason Fluharty entered in relief and Schwarber greeted him with a two-run homer, his MLB leading 24th home run of the season, and gave the Phillies a 6-0 lead.

Road sweet Road

Jesús Luzardo entered tonight with a drastic split in his home/away ERA, with a 1.54 ERA in six road starts and a 7.34 ERA in seven starts at Citizens Bank Park. That trend continued as he went 5.2 and allowed one run on four hits and four walks with eight strikeouts. Luzardo looked to be headed for trouble in the third following back-to-back two-out walks, but a mound meeting with pitching coach Caleb Cotham and catcher J.T. Realmuto seemed to do the trick, as Luzardo then struck out Ernie Clement on three pitches.

He couldn’t quite finish his strong outing though, as Luzardo again walked two in the sixth, this time with one out, and then allowed a two out single to Brandon Valenzuela to get the Blue Jays on the board and end the night for the Phillies lefty after 96 pitches. Jonathan Bowlan replaced Luzardo and quickly retired Andrés Giménez to end the sixth. Stott meanwhile singled in Harper in the top of the seventh to get the run back that Luzardo surrendered.

Too close for comfort

Chase Shugart was then tasked with giving the Phillies leverage relievers some much needed time off with a 7-1 lead, but he couldn’t get the job done. Shugart allowed a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh before issuing three straight walks, forcing a run in and cutting the lead to 7-2. Clement followed with a sacrifice fly, finally getting the first out but bringing in yet another run. Brad Keller was called upon to clean up Shugart’s mess and he allowed another sacrifice fly, this time to Kazuma Okamoto that cut the lead to 7-4 before getting a groundout to end the inning. To add injury to insult, Adolis Garcia was injured making the throw on Okamoto’s sac fly and had to be replaced by Steward Berroa.

José Alvarado pitched around a two out single to throw a scoreless eighth, but the three-run lead once again led to Jhoan Duran entering for a save situation, making his 17th appearance in 33 games since returning from the injured list and fifth in a back-to-back over that span. He erased a leadoff single with a double play off the bat of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. but surrendered a two-out single to Ernie Clement. An ABS-assisted strikeout of Okamoto ended the game and gave the Phillies the lead, but Duran added 10 more pitches to his recent workload.

Friday’s Matchup

The Phillies will head to Milwaukee to face Jacob Misiorowski (7-2, 1.50) on Friday night. Andrew Painter (1-7, 6.21) will once again search for consistency on the mound for Philadelphia. First pitch is scheduled for 7:40 pm.