Category: MLB

Tristan Peters. Colson Montgomery. Miguel Vargas. Edgar Quero. Braden Montgomery. Sam Antonacci. What do they all have in common? They’ve recorded walk-off RBIs for the Chicago White Sox this season. And Jacob Gonzalez has added his name to this elusive list in today’s 2-1 win!

Naturally, after scoring 22 runs on Friday night, we were due for a pitcher’s duel. Our ace against their ace, with neither earning a decision.

Davis Martin found early trouble in the second inning, but it was only for mere moments. With runners on second and third with only one out, Martin notched a strikeout looking and a strikeout swinging to escape unscathed.

On the flip side, the Sox offense wasn’t making any more noise against K.C.’s Michael Wacha, either. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Vargas lined a single off Nick Loftin’s glove at third. Expecting a bigger deflection and a slower baseball entering left field, the always-hustling Vargas kept his wheels turning toward second base. Nick Collins provided an exceptional throw, and second baseman Michael Massey’s glove caught Vargas’ fingertips right before they reached the bag.

After giving up a one-out double to Bobby Witt Jr. in the sixth inning, Martin’s afternoon was over. At only 87 pitches, Martin tossed 5 1/3 innings, giving up four hits, striking out three and walking just one batter. Sean Newcomb relieved Martin, successfully stranding Bobby at second.

It took until the seventh inning for either offense to break through. Massey beat out an infield single that Gonzalez couldn’t corral from Chase Meidroth. Tyler Tolbert pinch-ran for Massey and immediately stole second and third base during Salvador Pérez’s at-bat, who fortunately struck out in the process for the first out of the inning. Newcomb then made a brilliant defensive play on a Loftin safety squeeze, gloving the dribbler and flipping it to Drew Romo to nab the speedy Tolbert at home:

Unfortunately, a walk from Newcomb loaded the bases, and the Royals found a way to scratch across a run with two outs. (Even that score was made better by poor execution from K.C.) Carter Jensen extended his MLB-leading hit streak to 18 games when he lasered a pitch to short right field to score Starling Marte from third, but Braden Montgomery fielded it quickly and threw home to Romo. Loftin, for some reason taking an aggressive turn toward home even with Witt on deck, was gunned down by Romo at third.

Fortunately, the Royals lead didn’t last long. In the home half of the seventh, Andrew Benintendi notched a leadoff single. Will Venable turned on the hit-and-run with Chase Meidroth at the plate, who lined one past a diving Massey and pinch-runner Luisangel Acuña made his way to third base. Immediately following, Braden Montgomery jumped on the first pitch he saw which resulted into a fielder’s choice at second and a run across the plate.

Facing the heart of the order in the eighth, Grant Taylor sat the best the Royals had to offer down 1-2-3 on only nine pitches.

Tying his season-high of 105 pitches, Michael Wacha was once again brilliant against the Sox. At 7 2/3 innings, Wacha struck out seven, gave up his only walk to Miguel Vargas in the eighth and gave up just the lone run. Daniel Lynch successfully stranded runners on first and second to maintain Wacha’s stat line and stamp out the White Sox rally.

Taylor stayed on for the ninth and needed just 10 pitches for a second consecutive 1-2-3 inning.

All roads led to the bottom of the ninth inning, with the game still knotted 1-1. Colson Montgomery, with an inside-out swing, grooved the baseball to shallow left-center field, and Chase Meidroth followed suit with a single of his own. Braden Montgomery laid down the most perfect bunt single to load the bases with nobody out in the ninth.

The Royals were forced to bring in the infield and go with five infielders. But Junior Perez, pinch-hitting for Tristan Peters, could not take advantage of any of that free green grass in the outfield and struck out looking. With the same defensive alignment in place for Gonzalez, he went oppo, past a diving Witt, for the Sox’s seventh walk-off of the season!

The Good Guys are 17-9 in one-run ballgames this season, have 21 comeback wins and have won 10 straight series at home! At the official halfway point to the season, the Sox sit atop the AL Central by 1 1/2 games, at 43-38.

The White Sox will end their six-game homestand and look for the series sweep tomorrow at 1:10 p.m. CT on CHSN and ESPN 1000.

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The Houston Astros are calling up pitching prospect Miguel Ullola, according to a report from Chandler Rome of The Athletic.

Ullola, 24, is ranked as the Astros #11 prospect per MLB.com. Ullola was converted to a reliever this season in an effort to help him with his command issues and be someone the team could potentially call up to help the big league club this season.

This season, Ullola is 1-4 with a 5.48 ERA for Triple-A Sugar Land, along with a 1.55 WHIP. In 47.2 IP, he has walked 35 and struck out 64.

Since moving to the bullpen May 30, he has allowed only 3 runs in 10 appearances ( a 3 run HR) over 10 IP. He’s allowed 8 hits, 6 walks, and struck out 16.

Rome believes that Kai-Wei Teng, who admitted to some arm fatigue after today’s game, is a likely candidate to be sent down. Rome asserted that Teng was seen in manager Joe Espada’s office after the game, indicating he may have been getting informed he was being optioned.

John Mozeliak is in Anaheim for one clear-cut reason: to set the foundation for the Angels to get back on track.

At his introductory news conference at Angel Stadium on Saturday, the team’s new baseball operations consultant and interim general manager laid out his vision for success — while acknowledging recent woes — alongside Molly Jolly, one day after the first-year Angels president relieved general manager Perry Minasian of his duties amid his sixth straight losing season.

“Obviously, [the Angels] lacked consistency in terms of when you think about winning, right? Because that’s the proxy,” Mozeliak said. “There’s a lot of things we can use to determine if the organization is healthy or not. … Where Molly and I are connecting on this is like, we understand wins and losses matter, but how do you get to a place where that becomes consistent?

“Look at the best clubs in baseball [and] what you admire; whether they’re large-market or small-market, they have a philosophy, they have direction, and they stick to it, right? … That’s ultimately what we need to do here, and that’s hopefully something I can help bring to them.”

Mozeliak spent 18 seasons (2008-25) as general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, a tenure consisting of 10 playoff appearances and a World Series victory in 2011.

The 57-year-old intends to “audit” the Angels in this new role alongside Jolly, with plans to hire a general manager by the time Mozeliak’s contract is up “sometime in December.”

Read more:Angels fire general manager Perry Minasian, appoint John Mozeliak as interim GM

“I brought on board John Mozeliak to assist me in preparing a baseball operation strategy as well as guide me in the search for a new general manager,” Jolly said, mentioning that her decision to fire Minasian and bring in Mozeliak had brewed for weeks.

“I did this because John has a proven track record of building and maintaining winning baseball cultures, and my goal is to bring that here to the Angels.”

Mozeliak didn’t rule himself out as the long-term answer at general manager and was emphatic about not speaking in absolutes. However, the longtime executive said he’d rather help Jolly “bridge the gap” during the Angels’ transformative period before anything else.

The Angels have plenty of gaps entering Saturday’s matchup with the Athletics. The Angels are tied for last in the American League with a 34-49 record while on the road to a 12th consecutive finish out of the playoffs.

And all of that is before mentioning the “sell the team” chants that flood the right-field upper deck at Angel Stadium at each home game as ex-Angel Shohei Ohtani thrives with the Dodgers.

Mozeliak understands that the Angels have lacked direction in recent seasons. He asked for patience in rebuilding the team alongside Jolly.

“I knew coming in, this isn’t going to be something where Molly and I had a light switch and everything just starts working perfectly,” Mozeliak said. “It’s not going to work that way. … I would ask for some patience. We need a little time to sort of work through this … when we come out on the other end of this tunnel, we hope to be in a very successful place.”

Read more:As critters and losses pile up, Angels fans call for owner Arte Moreno to sell team

Jolly said of Angels fans’ discontent, “I know what’s happening. I see it, I hear it. Fans have a right to have their voices be heard. Didn’t influence the decision that I wanted to make, but we all want to win. Our owner wants to win. I do. The fans deserve that, and that’s what we’re going to work toward.”

Mozeliak acknowledged he’d already forgotten some names of Angels personnel he was introduced to Saturday. But he also said that first-year manager Kurt Suzuki and the rest of the coaching staff’s jobs are secure through the season.

“I met with most of them this morning, and I told them they’re all fine for this year,” Mozeliak said. “There’s nothing they have to worry about. We’re not making any coaching changes right now. I really just need to get to know them, right?”

Mozeliak spoke to Suzuki on Saturday and said that he and his staff are “very impressive.”

Across the board, Mozeliak — who hasn’t yet met owner Arte Moreno since moving into this role — is focused on knowing who the Angels are at this point, with an “aggressive timeline” looming in the background.

With that said, Mozeliak shared that he isn’t “overly concerned” with the Aug. 3 trade deadline, nor is he worried about the MLB draft, which starts July 11.

“My philosophy on the draft is to let the scouting director and his team do their jobs,” Mozeliak said. “The only real input I’m going to have is … understanding their process … and then if there are some financial decisions that are being banked into who we pick and why.”

Jolly brought in Mozeliak to help the Angels hire their fourth full-time general manager since 2012.

And while many might believe not much will change as long as Moreno remains the owner, Jolly said she has “autonomy” to assess the Angels’ baseball operations and is “confident in my authority and scope within the organization.”

Those invested in the Angels will believe it when they see it.

“When I think about the Angels right now, I just look at it as a very opportunistic time here,” Mozeliak said. “New leadership on the business side; we’re going to put a great team on the baseball side.

“But it’s going to be a place that I hope, in a couple years, we’re all proud of.”

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Against the White Sox this afternoon, the Royals lost their fourth straight game, this one a 2-1 comedy of errors in which the Royals failed to bunt home a run, had a runner thrown out at third after scoring their lone run, had an infielder trip on second base, and had an infielder leave after being nailed by a throw from his pitcher in a rather sensitive area.

Your 2026 Kansas City Royals, everyone.

This loss, which drops the Royals to 34-50, was no fault whatsoever of starting pitcher Michael Wacha. Wacha continues his solid tenure with the Royals, pitching into the eighth as he surpassed 100 pitches. In the end, he recorded 7-and-2/3 innings allowing six hits and just one walk while striking out seven. The White Sox scored just a single run against him. He left with a runner on second, but Daniel Lynch IV (more on him in a minute) recorded the final out of the inning. Wacha recorded a no-decision.

The bad times for the Royals started in the top of the second. With one out, Michael Massey singled before Salvador Perez banged one down the line that unfortunately hopped the wall for a ground-rule double. With one out and runners on second and third, John Rave struck out looking. With two outs and runners on second and third, Nick Loftin, whose day would become much, much worse, struck out swinging.

In the sixth, the Royals threatened again when Bobby Witt Jr., playing in the field for the first time for about a week, doubled with one out. But Jac Caglianone popped out and, get ready for this, Lane Thomas struck out swinging.

The following inning, the Royals had their best scoring chance yet. Massey singled. Relief pitcher Tyler Tolbert subbed in as a pinch runner and promptly stole second. Tolbert stole third as Salvy struck out. Then Starling Marte walked.

One out, runners on the corners. Surely Loftin will drive home Tolbert.

Well, Loftin bunted, and his bunt went directly to Chicago’s pitcher, lefty Sean Newcomb, who fielded it and then flipped the ball from his glove to the catcher, Drew Romo. Tolbert didn’t have a chance.

Still, the inning continued. Isaac Collins walked to load the bases with two outs and to turn over the lineup. Carter Jensen extended his hitting streak with a sharply hit ball to right to score Marte. Royals lead, 1-0, with Bobby Witt Jr. coming up–

Oh, wait, no. The video above hilariously cuts off, but Loftin, for some reason, took a wiiiiide turn around third. Romo fired it to the White Sox third baseman, Miguel Vargas, who tagged Loftin for the out, ending the threat.

Sometimes all you can do is laugh.

Down 1-0, Chicago came right back as, ugh, Andrew Benintendi singled to left. With one out, Chase Meidroth hit a ball up the middle. It looked to me like a double-play ball, but then Tolbert couldn’t make the play. Looked like he stumbled over second on his way to field it. Regardless, it led to runners on the corners with one out. Luisangel Acuna, who pinch-ran for Benintendi, scored on a groundout by Braden Montgomery to tie it at 1-1.

In both the eighth and ninth innings, the Royals went down in order. Professional job, hitters.

The bottom of the ninth, though, takes the cake. With runners on first and second and none out, Montgomery laid down a bunt. Lynch fielded it while running toward the third base line. He hesitated for a second before firing the ball to Loftin at third for the force out. Except…well…it was a bit of a low throw that Loftin didn’t catch. Instead, it him, uh, below the belt, if you will, and Loftin collapsed like a house of cards. Dude left the field on his own accord, but looked shaken. Deservedly so.

John Schreiber relieved Lynch. After striking out Junior Perez, Jacob Gonzalez singled home the winning run.

Sox win, 2-1, and improve their record to 43-38 with a game-and-a-half lead in the Central on the Guardians.

The third and final game of the series is tomorrow before a blessed Monday free of Royals baseball.

While the Mariners’ streak of scoring three or fewer runs didn’t end last night, they were able to pull out a win against the Guardians on their home turf. Another win would clinch the season series, so it would behoove the M’s to continue their winning ways – but maybe with some more runs this time around.

Lineups:

It’s another shaken up lineup tonight, as Dominic Canzone is rewarded with his hot hitting by being placed in the third spot. Cal Raleigh moves down to sixth, the lowest he’s batted in quite some time. Logan Gilbert is on the hill tonight, but unlike the previous plan, he will not be piggybacked, with Emerson Hancock set to start tomorrow.

Gabriel Arias gets the start at the hot corner over Daniel Schneemann, but the Guardians are running out a similar lineup to last night’s otherwise. Slade Cecconi – who Cleveland acquired in the 2024-25 offseason for one Josh Naylor – will be on the hill, and he’s coming off a stretch of four straight starts allowing two or fewer runs.

Game Info:

First Pitch: 4:10pm PDT

TV: Mariners.TV

Radio: Ol’ reliable

After a nice 6-2 victory on Friday night, the Brewers will look to secure another series win over the Cubs in the second game on Saturday night.

Left-hander Kyle Harrison gets the start for the Brewers, while the Cubs will deploy a left-hander of their own in David Peterson, who they acquired in a trade with the Mets earlier this week.

Harrison, 24, is coming off his first appearance in which the Brewers lost in more than two months, dating back to April 11 across 10 starts. He didn’t look bad in that one, as he exited with a lead against the Braves after allowing two runs on four hits and no walks with seven strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings. For the season, he’s 8-1 with a 2.50 ERA, 3.05 FIP, and 87 strikeouts over 72 innings.

Peterson, 30, spent the first seven years of his career in New York before the trade this week, meaning this will be his first non-Mets appearance. After a great season in 2024 (2.90 ERA, 101 strikeouts over 121 innings), he struggled a bit in 2025 (4.22 ERA), but he’s been even worse in 2026 (6.09 ERA over 68 innings across 16 appearances (eight starts)). His last appearance was a four-inning start against the Phillies, when he allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits and a pair of walks, striking out five in a 6-2 loss.

It’s a lefty-heavy lineup, as Jackson Chourio leads off, with Brice Turang and William Contreras to follow. Andrew Vaughn bats cleanup and Gary Sánchez slides into the five-hole as the DH. Blake Perkins, Sal Frelick, Cooper Pratt, and Joey Ortiz round things out.

First pitch in this one is at 6:10 p.m. on Brewers.TV and the Brewers Radio Network.

After a pitcher’s duel Friday night, the St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins will tangle again Saturday night. It appears that Dustin May will skip his start and Andre Pallante will be Saturday night’s starter for the Cardinals and while the Marlins say that Ryan Gusto will take the mound for Miami. First pitch is set for 6:15pm central time at Busch Stadium. The game TV broadcast will be handled by Cardinals.tv.

This feels like a game that the Nationals really need to have. They have lost 4 in a row, with the first three coming in brutal fashion. This offense has shown resiliency all season long, but has the bullpen kicked them in the teeth one too many times?

Blake Butera is going with a very lefty heavy lineup tonight. Dylan Crews is the only natural right hander in the lineup, playing in center field and hitting 5th. Jose Tena is hitting third despite a .465 OPS in his last 30 games. Luis Garcia Jr., Jorbit Vivas and Drew Millas make their first starts of the series. Nats ace Foster Griffin will be on the mound.

With Griffin on the bump, the O’s are responding by going righty heavy. Gunnar Henderson is the only natural lefty in the lineup. That means Jackson Holliday and Samuel Basallo are out of the lineup. Chadwick Tromp, who had a big moment against the Nats as a Brave, is now catching for the O’s. Brandon Young has had a nice year for the O’s, and he is on the mound.

Game Info:

Stadium: Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Time: 7:05 PM EST

TV: MASN and Nationals.TV

Radio: 106.7 The Fan

This is a huge game for the Nats, who need to stop the bleeding. They have not had many big winning streaks or big losing streaks this year. Hopefully that trend keeps up with a win tonight. They have the right man on the mound. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats.

The season series of the Battle of the Beltways is split so far, with two wins each for the Orioles and Nationals. The O’s struck the most recent blow with their 3-1 victory in last night’s series opener at Camden Yards. Now they’ll try to make it two in a row as they turn to Brandon Young, their most reliable starter.

Read that phrase again: “Brandon Young, their most reliable starter.” Entering the 2026 season, I don’t think any Orioles fans would’ve ever anticipated we’d be using those words. And yet, the second-year right-hander has been one of the most remarkable stories of an otherwise tough O’s season. Young, who was something like ninth on the rotation depth chart when the season began, is now 6-2 with a 3.07 ERA in 12 impressive starts. The Orioles have a 10-2 record when he pitches. He’s a stopper, folks.

One of Young’s few poor outings this year, though, came against these Nationals in Washington on May 17. In that game, he allowed two runs and eight baserunners in 3.2 innings even after being staked to a five-run lead, and the bullpen had to bail him out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth. He gave up a dinger to a fellow Young, Jacob Young, who is not in the lineup tonight.

The O’s are facing lefty Foster Griffin, a former first round pick who couldn’t stick in the majors initially but has made an impressive return to MLB after three years in Japan. The southpaw has a 3.15 ERA in 16 starts this season. Jackson Holliday, who was back in the lineup last night after missing time with a groin strain, returns to the bench tonight. And third catcher Chadwick Tromp, who played six games for the Orioles last season, makes his first appearance for the Birds after they reacquired him last month. He starts in place of Samuel Basallo against the southpaw.

Orioles lineup:

LF Taylor Ward
SS Gunnar Henderson
1B Pete Alonso
DH Coby Mayo
RF Tyler O’Neill
3B Blaze Alexander
CF Leody Taveras
2B Jeremiah Jackson
C Chadwick Tromp

RHP Brandon Young

Nationals lineup:

LF James Wood
1B Luis García Jr.
DH José Tena
SS CJ Abrams
CF Dylan Crews
LF Daylen Lile
3B Jorbit Vivas
2B Nasim Nuñez
C Drew Millas

LHP Foster Griffin

The Texas Rangers scored seven runs while the Toronto Blue Jays scored four runs.

I was thinking it. You were thinking it. We were all thinking it.

The Rangers hadn’t scored since the third inning last night and were facing Dylan Cease who entered the game leading the American League in strikeouts on his way to a likely All-Star nod as a first half contender for the AL Cy Young award.

Texas, meanwhile, was sending Cal Quantrill to the mound for his second start of the season. Even then, he was only starting because Jack Leiter recently had ankle surgery. Before that Quantrill had been a member of the bullpen as the long relief/mop up guy.

In fact, Quantrill hasn’t even been built up to make a traditional start so loaded with about 50 pitches today, Quantrill was tasked with potentially getting the ball to Winston Santos, who would be making his MLB debut if he entered the game.

So yeah, despite winning the first two games of this series against a fell .500 straddler club, the deck felt stacked against the Rangers.

Baseball is a funny sport, though.

Instead of giving us the expected, Quantrill tossed four shutout innings and the Rangers knocked Cease out of the game the next half inning as, even though he struck out ten, he allowed four runs on four hits and five walks. The Ranger lineup worked hard to get Cease out early as it took him 107 pitches to collect 14 outs.

Like the other two games in this series, the Rangers scored in the first inning. This time it was via a two-out RBI single from Jake Burger as Cease had committed a real pitching sin by allowing a couple of two-out walks. The real satisfying inning came in Cease’s last, as in the top of the fifth, the Rangers put up a crooked number for a five-run frame – all with two outs – that included the rarest 2026 Rangers unicorn of them all: a two-out, bases loaded hit.

Again like the previous games in this series, the Rangers needed that outburst as immediately after Quantrill left, the Jays scored a couple in the bottom of the fifth and then two more an inning later. Sandwiched between those two rallies, Corey Seager hit a solo home run to help extend Texas’ lead for a bullpen that had to piece together most of the innings today and likely with Jacob Latz unavailable from the outset.

The star in that regard was Peyton Gray. After Robby Ahlstrom and Joe Ross has each allowed a couple of runs following Quantrill, Gray came in and tossed 2.1 scoreless innings with four strikeouts to quiet down the Jays and help finish off the win with Tyler Alexander grabbing the save with a scoreless ninth.

It was a victory that seemed unlikely from the outset. No real starting pitcher. No Wyatt Langford in the lineup. No Latz to save the day. Ultimately though, it was no worries and no problem as Texas locked up a series win ahead of tomorrow’s finale.

I was thinking it. You were thinking it. We were all thinking it. Everyone except for the Rangers apparently.

Player of the Game: Burger lead the way with three hits, including two RBI hits for the first two runs of the game. Alejandro Osuna had a couple of hits, including the RBI hit with the bases loaded. Elias Diaz continues to make an impact and delivered the biggest blow with a two-out, two-run double following Osuna’s hit.

But it’s hard to ignore the efforts from Quantrill and Gray today. Quantrill kept putting up zeroes early to allow the Rangers to work over Cease and then when the Blue Jays started to battle back in the middle innings, it was Gray that shut them down.

Up Next: The Rangers go for a four-game sweep (or are we calling that a mop now?) of the Blue Jays with a noontime getaway game featuring RHP Kumar Rocker making the start for Texas opposite RHP Shane Bieber for Toronto.

The Sunday finale first pitch from Rogers Centre is scheduled for 12:37 pm CDT and will be aired on the Rangers Sports Network.

Ha-Seong Kim is getting a third straight start at shortstop and batting ninth, as he continues to set a torridly awful pace for value and production this season. Drake Baldwin is catching and batting cleanup and the Braves really need him to find his swing again, as he has struggled since returning from injury. That last of the lineup is pretty bleak as Mauricio Dubon has been the best of those batters by a wide margin this season. Good luck against Logan Webb today.

UPDATE: The Giants have published their lineup.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Saturday, June 27, 9:05 p.m. EDT

Location: Oracle Park, San Francisco, CA

TV: BravesVision

Streaming: MLB.tv

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan

The Colorado Rockies kicked off their road trip with yet more hijinks late in the game. Entering the game down 7-0, the Rockies proceeded to score eight unanswered runs to take the lead against the Minnesota Twins only to lose in extra innings due to sloppy play. Now the Rockies will look to win their first game of the series against the Twins, hopefully without the drama, but who are we kidding? The Rockies are surprisingly one of the best teams in the league when it comes to late game offense.

Making the start for the Rockies is Michael Lorenzen, who now has three straight starts of five or more innings. His last time out, Lorenzen went 5.1 innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates, but gave up four earned runs on seven hits with a home run. He struck out five batters.

Since simplifying his approach, Lorenzen has been performing much better on the mound. His ERA for the season is down to 7.11 and he has a solid body of work against the Twins. In seven appearances he holds an ERA of just 2.86 with 23 strikeouts over 28.1 innings.

The starting pitcher for the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul is right-handed rookie Mike Paredes, who made his debut earlier this season. Paredes holds a 4.05 ERA over five appearances, three of which were starts, entering today’s game with 11 strikeouts in 20 innings.

His last time out, Paredes worked five innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks while giving up two earned runs on six hits and three walks with one strikeout. The 25-year-old has a four pitch arsenal consisting of a four-seam fastball that averages 93 MPH, a changeup, a sweeper, and a cutter.

First Pitch: 5:10 p.m. MDT

TV: Rockies.TV

Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM KOA Rockies Radio Network; KNRV 1150 AM (Spanish)

Twins SB Nation Site:Twinkie Town

Lineups:

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BOSTON — There’s a fine line between being a great pitcher and one that’s … not so great.

Gerrit Cole is finding that out in his comeback from Tommy John surgery and Saturday, he showed a little bit of both.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, by the time the former Cy Young winner got back to his old self, he’d put the team in too big a hole to overcome.

But despite a second straight shaky outing in a 4-1 loss to the Red Sox, Cole said he was encouraged by how he felt over his final three innings compared to his rough first 2 ¹/₃ innings.

“I got more aggressive as the game went on,’’ Cole said.

The difference, according to Cole and Aaron Boone, was that after trying to be too careful in the early going and seeing his command suffer, Cole went on the attack more in the latter part of his outing.

The results backed that up.

He gave up solo homers to Masataka Yoshida and Anthony Seigler, both from the left side, in the first two innings.

And after giving up singles to Yoshida and Ceddanne Rafaela to open the third, Cole then allowed a booming two-run double to Willson Contreras.

Cole righted himself after that, retiring nine of the next 11 batters.

The turnaround didn’t help the Yankees avoid a third straight loss, but as Austin Wells said, it may have given Cole some momentum heading into his next outing.

“I tried to free myself up,’’ Cole said. “The command sometimes isn’t there. You have to go after it then and not care as much about where the pitch is going.”

Not every pitcher can do that without disastrous results.

As much as the Yankees and their slumping offense can ill afford shaky starts from their ace, the team is looking for Cole to round into peak form as the season moves along and not necessarily in June, seven starts post-elbow surgery.

Cole allowed four runs in 5 ¹/₃ innings to the Red Sox and has given up nine runs in 9 ²/₃ innings in his last two outings.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

Perhaps Boston wasn’t the place to call on Cole for dominance, since Fenway has been his Kryptonite for much of his career.

Of any ballpark in which he’s made more than three starts, Cole has the worst ERA (5.52), WHIP (1.409) and opposing OPS (.864) with the Green Monster behind him.

Saturday was more of the same.

The homer to Yoshida to lead off the bottom of the first, the home run to Seigler and the double to Contreras were all on four-seam fastballs, which Cole threw less than usual Saturday.

He responded after the Contreras double by whiffing the next two batters and gave up just a pair of singles the rest of the way.

“Coming off surgery, he’s slowly starting to unlock and feel like himself again,’’ Wells said. “He started to free himself up again after trying to be too perfect. He’s been carrying that a little bit. He was able to break free the last couple of innings, just go out and pitch and not worry too much about results. That freed him up and gave him some good momentum going forward.”

First Pitch: 6:10 pm CDT
TV: Twins.TV
Radio: TIBN / WCCO 830 / The Wolf 102.9 FM / Audacy

One night after what many are already calling the dumbest game of all time, Target Field is playing host to the Battle of the Mikes. Mike check, one-two, one-two. Heh. Hilarious.

For the Twins, it’s Mike Paredes, who has five major-league games under his belt and has somehow accidentally become a starting pitcher. Throwing roughly 60 or so pitches as a quasi-opener, Paredes went five innings his last time out — regular starter numbers — and has yet to give up more than three earned runs in a game, holding opponents to either one or two in all but a single start against the Kansas City Royals. Today, he has his best chance so far to look like a real real major-league arm.

His opponent is a certified Real Major-League Arm, with 12 seasons of big-league experience and a consistent presence in the league since 2015. Lorenzen, possibly the highest-profile non-Ohtani two-way hopeful, has almost 150 big-league at-bats and has put together 1.6 career bWAR from hitting, playing the occasional outfield for the late-teens Cincinnati Reds, and bopping 7 career homers. Now, with his hitting days behind him, he’s posting a -.1.2 bWAR for the Rockies, with a 2-9 record, 7.11 ERA, and obscene 13.4 H/9 in 17 games this year.

The Twins ended last night tied with the New York Yankees for the team runs lead in the American League (404), and have been reaping the rewards of post-demotion Royce Lewis (.296/.346/.521, four doubles, four homers, 9 RBI, four steals since his recall.) They remain 4.5 back at 39-44, which is somehow still good for a game and a half out of the Wild Card. The 32-50 Colorado Rockies should be an easy punching bag, and a much-needed one in the wake of the Los Angeles Dodgers, but Minnesota will need to keep the pressure on if they want a potential bounceback sweep.

They failed to keep the pressure on last night, and it almost cost them. We’ll see if they can make the adjustment this evening.

GO TWINS GO!

Back in August, I began a series here at Pinstripe Alley where I was going to put together an All-Star Yankee team of players who were born in a given month. Since then, we as a staff have started doing daily posts for the year 2026, highlighting a Yankee from history whose birthday happens to land on that day. As we near the end of this month, what better way to put a cap on a month’s worth of birthday posts then by using the all-month teams as a way to look back on who we covered? And maybe some we didn’t cover who shared a birthday with someone else?

With that in mind, here are my choices for the All-June Birthday Yankee Team. (I took making this particular team personal, as today is actually your truly’s birthday.)

Pitcher: Andy Pettitte (June 15th birthday post)

Eddie Lopat, Jack Chesbro, and Will Warren would add onto a pretty solid starting rotation for the June team, but there’s only one I could pick to be the ace. Pettitte won’t be the only “Core Four” member on this particular team, and he’s definitely the choice to be the starter.

Catcher: Bill Dickey (June 6th birthday post)

Catcher is a loaded enough position for June that we’re going to put another one in at DH, Considering that Dickey has an argument to be the catcher for an all-time overall Yankees’ team, he definitely warrants a place in this one.

First Base: Lou Gehrig (June 19th birthday post)

“The Iron Horse” is one of the greatest players in the history of baseball, and a beloved icon in the Bronx. It won’t hold up through every position, but this is a hell of a start for the June team.

Second Base: Gene Michael (June 2nd birthday post)

His tenure in the Yankees’ front office is far better than his playing career, but we’ll give “Stick” the nod at second base as a rare player-GM.

Shortstop: Derek Jeter (June 26th birthday post)

Another “Core Four” member will make up a strong core for this June team. It obviously doesn’t mean all that much, but young me always thought it was cool that my birthday was right after Jeter’s.

Third Base: Wade Boggs

We didn’t get to profile Boggs as he shares a birthday with Pettitte, who got the nod as our birthday boy on the 15th. However, he was an important part of the 1996 World Series winners, and him riding the police horse is one of the most famous images of that championship.

Left Field: Hensley Meulens (June 23rd birthday post)

“Bam Bam” never quite lived up to the prospect status that he had coming up, but he has parlayed his career into a long one in the coaching ranks.

Center Field: Max Scheumann

There’s not a ton of obvious options for a third outfielder for the June team, so we’ll put the current Yankees’ utility man there.

Right Field: Hideki Matsui (June 12th birthday post)

Who doesn’t love the 2009 World Series MVP? “Godzilla” was a very good and dependable Yankee for years after an all-time great career over in Japan.

Designated Hitter: Thurman Munson (June 7th birthday post)

Here’s the aforementioned other catcher that we’re working into the team. Munson was the captain and the heart and soul of the Yankees’ late 1970s teams until his tragic and untimely passing.

That’s my lineup for June, but what would you do? Let us know in the comments!