Category: MLB

Dodginga motor vehicle successfully: Randy Arozarena, 0.07 WPA

Regina George in Act 3: Bryan Woo, -0.23 WPA

Game Thread Comment of the Day

Thank you for the theme music to the upcoming recap, OldPeculiar.

The Dodgers are now on a winning streak at home, as they defeated the Seattle Mariners 6-2 at Dodger Stadium on Thursday.

Roki Sasaki managed to avoid trouble after allowing a one-out baserunner by completing a scoreless first inning on 20 pitches. Bryan Woo was one strike away from completing a scoreless first inning on 21 pitches, but Mookie Betts delivered a two-strike, two-run double to give the Dodgers a third consecutive first inning lead over Seattle.

The Dodgers would struggle to get anything going against Woo over the next two innings, but a one-out walk to Kyle Tucker ignited a rally in the bottom of the fourth inning. Teoscar Hernández reached on an infield single, and Dalton Rushing added his biggest swing of the series with a three-run home run into the Seattle bullpen, giving the Dodgers their largest lead against the Mariners at five runs.

The Mariners were able to get to Sasaki in the top of the sixth inning, as Cole Young led off with a triple before Randy Arozarena drove him in on a double. After a four-pitch walk to Dominic Canzone, Julio Rodriguez lined out to Max Muncy on the first pitch he saw for a crucial first out. Josh Naylor singled to left field to load the bases and bring up the potential tying run in the form of Cal Raleigh.

Sasaki allowed a five-pitch walk to Raleigh to bring home Arozarena to cut his night after 5 1/3 innings. Although he allowed the two runs in the sixth inning, the 24-year-old right-hander has continued to show improvements on the mound, as his seven strikeouts against Seattle were the most he had in a home start since his 10-strikeout gem against the Angels on June 5. His season ERA now sits at 4.64, as he has allowed just three earned runs over his last three starts. Jack Dreyer managed to strike out pinch-hitter Rob Refsnyder before getting a groundout of Weston Wilson to get out of the bases-loaded jam unscathed.

The Dodgers added some insurance against reliever Alex Hoppe in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Teoscar Hernández socked his first home run since July 3 against his old team to bring the lead back to four runs.

After two quick outs from Dreyer in the top of the seventh inning, Edgardo Henriquez let Seattle rattle with two consecutive baserunners. Henriquez won an eight pitch battle against Julio Rodríguez, getting him to ground out to leave both men on.

Tanner Scott almost let things slip away, as he allowed two walks in the top of the eighth inning, but he managed to get rookie Colt Emerson to fly out and maintain the Dodgers’ four-run lead. The Dodgers left the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning, but Edwin Díaz secured his second consecutive save since returning from the injured list.

Andy Pages had another multi-hit game against Seattle, as he finished 2-4 with a pair of singles and collecting multiple hits in consecutive games for the first time since July 10-11 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Freddie Freeman brought his hitting streak to nine games as he singled against Cole Wilcox in the bottom of the eighth inning. Freeman is now hitting .459 (17-37) over his last nine games.

Kiké Hernández returned to the starting lineup for the first time since May 26, finishing 0-3 and having his season average drop to .429.

Game particulars

• Home runs— Dalton Rushing (12), Teoscar Hernández (9)
• WP—Roki Sasaki (5-5): 5 1/3 IP, 5 hits, 2 earned runs, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
• LP—Bryan Woo (7-8): 5 IP, 5 hits, 5 earned runs, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts

Up next

The Dodgers cap off their homestand with a three-game weekend series against the Boston Red Sox beginning Friday (7:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Ranger Suarez goes for Boston, while the Dodgers have yet to announce Friday’s starter.

The Athletics closed out this four-game series against the Boston Red Sox on a warm summer night in West Sacramento. It was déjà vu all over again for the A’s, as they carried a late lead only to watch another reliever blow the save in a 5-4 loss that prevented them from salvaging a series split.

A’s Strike First

The Athletics’ struggles with runners in scoring position showed up immediately. Facing Red Sox starter Sonny Gray, designated hitter Jacob Wilson lined a one-out double in the bottom of the first, only to be stranded at second as the next two hitters grounded out.

A’s right fielder Carlos Cortes drew a leadoff walk in the third inning. He advanced to second on a groundout and then moved to third on Red Sox’ shortstop Andruw Monasterio’s fielding error. Unlike last night, Wilson came through with a runner on third and fewer than two outs, lining an RBI single to center to put the A’s up 1-0.

The hosts had a chance to score more, but Gray escaped without further damage by getting left fielder Tyler Soderstrom to ground into an inning-ending double play. Through three innings, the A’s were 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position, wasting opportunities to do more damage against Boston’s starter.

A’s Add On

Seeking to extend the A’s lead, catcher Jonah Heim led off the bottom of the fourth with his 11th double of the season. He scored the A’s second run on center fielder Lawrence Butler’s one-out RBI double to right. Jeff McNeil followed with a single, advancing Butler to third.

With two outs, shortstop Donovan Walton came through, grounding an RBI single to right that brought Butler home and extended the A’s lead to 3-0. Once again the A’s had a chance to add to their lead, but Gray got Wilson to pop out, stranding the bases loaded.

Red Sox Tie Things Up

A’s starter Mason Barnett got off to a good start, throwing four scoreless innings. However, he unraveled in the fifth inning.

The Red Sox scored their first run of the game on Monasterio’s RBI single against Barnett. The visitors were not done, tying the game at 3-3 on Rafaela’s two-run double down the left-field line that got past a diving White at third base. Barnett kept the game tied by retiring Wilyer Abreu to end the inning.

The A’s starter had been pitching well until that inning, which was likely due to it being his deepest outing in a major league game this season. He allowed three runs on four hits over five innings, striking out six in an outing that was going well until his fifth and final inning of work.

Blewett Does Not Blow it

Right-handed reliever Scott Blewett pitched the sixth inning, making his A’s debut in a tie game. His first appearance with the team did not start well, as two straight singles and a sacrifice bunt set Boston up to take the lead for the first time this evening. Blewett kept the game tied, as the Red Sox failed to take advantage of that golden opportunity.

Butler Comes Through Again

Butler led off the bottom of the sixth with his second double of the night off Gray. He tagged up and advanced to third on McNeil’s flyout before scoring the go-ahead run on Cortes’ sacrifice fly.

Blewett kept the A’s in the lead, throwing a second straight scoreless inning of relief. Unfortunately, the A’s bullpen could not keep things going.

Familiar Fate

Right-hander Luis Medina, whose daughter threw out the first pitch before the game, blew his fourth save of the season. Abreu and Willson Contreras hit back-t0-back home runs in the eighth inning to put the Red Sox ahead 5-4, turning the game on its head.

The A’s continued to hurt themselves by swinging at first pitches. The latest example came in the bottom of the eighth inning, when White grounded into a first-pitch double play, instantly erasing speedster Henry Bolte from the bases.

Up one, the Red Sox brought in closer Aroldis Chapman for the save opportunity. With one out, pinch-hitter Alika Williams just missed a game-tying home run, settling for a double off the wall. Chapman recovered, striking out pinch-hitter Colby Thomas and Nick Kurtz to save Boston’s 5-4 victory, wrapping up their seventh straight series victory and sending the Athletics to their tenth straight series loss.

Series Wrap-up

This four-game series perfectly encapsulated the A’s 2026 season. The “Green and Gold” had a chance to complete the sweep, but their leaky bullpen and inability to deliver with runners in scoring position cost them three games of the series, dropping the team’s home record to an awful 24-31.

With the trade deadline looming on Monday, something has to change. There is too much dead weight on this roster, from Thomas to the inconsistent bullpen to manager Mark Kotsay, who has yet to lead the Athletics to a winning season since replacing Bob Melvin in 2022.

The A’s will continue this homestand this weekend with a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers. Friday’s pitching matchup features left-hander Jeffrey Springs against right-hander Casey Mize. The A’s will look to return the favor after the Tigers swept all three games between the teams in Detroit before the All-Star break.

According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Twins have acquired left-handed reliever AJ Minter from the New York Mets. The Twins are sending prospects Billy Amick and Bruin Agbayani in return.

Minter, 32, has spent plenty of time on the injured list the past few seasons, but has been relatively healthy of late, posting a 2.35 ERA/4.02 FIP in 23 innings so far this year. His strikeout rate is lower than ideal at just 21.7% but he’s also walked only two batters all season, leading to an elite 2.2% walk rate. He uses his cutter and fastball almost exclusively, but will mix in an occasional changeup against righties and sinker against lefties just to keep hitters off balance. Minter is owed around $3.5M for the rest of 2026 and will be a free agent after the season.

Minter will essentially step into the role vacated by Anthony Banda’s season ending injury: a high leverage lefty who will be occasionally asked for more. Minter is still a clear tier below Yoendrys Gomez and Andrew Morris, but gives them another solid, if unspectacular, relief option at the end of games. While that may seem underwhelming, it’s important to remember that the Twins have been forced to turn to waiver wire pickup Jack Anderson in high leverage spots multiple times in the past week.

Between Minter, the acquisition of Tommy Nance a few weeks ago, and major strides forward from Travis Adams and Kody Funderburk in July, the Twins finally have the makings of a real, Major League-caliber bullpen. I would still expect them to be active on the pitching market to shore things up. That could mean another reliever, but I still think a starter is necessary for this team to make a real run at the postseason. Especially if, as expected, Connor Prielipp will have to pitch out of the bullpen over the final few weeks of the season since he flew past his career high in innings a few weeks ago.

Amick and Agbayani are the prospects heading to New York. Amick is ranked as the Twins’ 21st prospect by MLB Pipeline while Agbayani is 29th. Neither are ranked in the post-draft top 50 prospects from FanGraphs, with their prospect group having serious questions about both players’ ability to make contact. Our own Aidan O’Brien has Amick at 29 and Agbayani at 32 in his July Top Prospects ranking.

Amick, 23, was the Twins’ second round pick back in 2024. Amick was a prolific college hitter but concerns about his swing path and lack of hit tool have proven to be correct. At AA Wichita, he has hit .217/.338/.482 with 23 home runs and a rough 28.5% strikeout rate. Without other tools to make up for it (like say, Emmanuel Rodriguez) it’s tough to see a scenario where Amick makes enough contact to be a valuable contributor. But he was drafted highly for a reason and the Mets clearly saw things they liked.

Agbayani, 19, was drafted in the 6th round in 2025. Son of former Big Leaguer Benny Agbayani, the Twins took a swing on him last year thanks to his advanced hit tool and approach at the plate. Unfortunately, injuries have kept him to just 15 total games since being drafted. Agbayani is a bigger name than some Complex League-level wildcard prospects that get tossed into trades, but he should probably be viewed equivalently at this point in his career.

Welcome to the team, AJ!

The Mets have traded left-handed reliever A.J. Minter to the Twins for a pair of prospects: infielder Billy Amick and fellow infielder Bruin Agbayani. The latter is the son of Mets cult hero Benny Agbayani.

Signed to a two-year, $22 million deal ahead of the 2025 season, Minter suffered a lat injury early in his first season with the Mets that cost him the remainder of the year. But he made it back to the major league mound this year, and in total, he threw 34.0 innings in his time with the Mets with a 2.12 ERA and a 3.35 FIP.

As for the return, Amick has hit .217/.338/.482 with 23 home runs in his age-23 season in Double-A this year. He was drafted by the Twins in the second round in 2024, and he’s logged significant innings at first and third base.

Agbayani has spent his age-19 season this year in Single-A, and he’s hit .268/.412/.342 in 51 plate appearances. He’s logged innings at second base, third base, and shortstop.

The Mets made what could be the first of several bullpen trades Thursday as they sent A.J. Minter to the Twins for a pair of prospects.

As confirmed by The Post’s Jon Heyman, the Mets received Minnesota prospects Billy Amick and Bruin Agbayani — the son of former Met Benny Agbayani — in exchange for the talented lefty.

Amick and Agbayani are the No. 21 and No. 29 ranked prospects in the Twins system, according to MLB.com.

Former Mets manager Bobby Valentine told Heyman: “I like him a lot. He is a ballplayer. Left-handed hitter. Can run and has power.”

Valentine managed Benny both with the Amazin’s and Chiba Lotte.

Minter, 32, put together an impressive Mets tenure, as he finished with a 2.12 ERA in 36 appearances for the club dating back to last year.

He was always a strong candidate to be traded, though, given his strong performance and the team’s poor record this season — and that came to fruition following the team’s 4-2 win over the Marlins at Citi Field.

Agbayani, an infielder, was a sixth-round draft selection last year and has spent this season in Single-A ball. He has slashed .268/.412/.342 at that level this year.

His father, Benny, is known for his clutch playoff contributions for the Mets, including a memorable walk-off home run during the 2000 playoffs against the Giants.

Amick was a second-round pick in 2024 and also plays in the infield. He has spent this season with Double-A Wichita and has 23 home runs there.

The Mets previously traded pitcher David Peterson in June, with relievers Luke Weaver and Brooks Raley widely expected to follow Minter out the door.

The Red Sox had to overcome some obstacles in order to secure their series victory over the Sacramento Athletics at Sutter Health Park on Thursday.

It’s safe to say some of them were self-inflicted, though we’ll talk about that later…

Boston didn’t play cleanly — the defense added two more errors to its series total of six, the offense put together some truly putrid plate appearances that included several early-count pop flys to opposite field, and on several occasions the whole group failed to take advantage of mistakes made on the other side of the diamond — but got the job done thanks to a pair of clutch home runs from Wilyer Abreu and Willson Contreras.

It’s not about how it looks. It’s about getting the job done, and that’s exactly what they did.

STUDS

Contreras: If you hit the game-winning home run, you make this list. If you hit the game-winning home run while playing tremendous defense, reaching base three times, and stop yourself from killing one of your teammates, you also make this list.

Abreu: The Red Sox need this young man to get going, and while he has a long way to go before we can say that he’s back on the right track, this was one hell of a way to start!

DUDS

Jarren Duran: How many times are we going to do this?

Duran added yet another temper tantrum to his growing list on Thursday, shouting in the direction of both Willson Contreras and third base coach Chad Epperson for failing to tag up on a lazy fly ball that landed in the glove of Athletics outfielder Tyler Soderstrom. WEEI’s Will Flemming then spilled the beans that the ill-tempered outfielder slammed a tablet in the dugout and continued his tirade until taking the field for the bottom half of the inning.

It’s one thing to try and climb into the stands at Kauffman Stadium, or to have someone removed at Progressive Field, or to flip somebody off at Target Field, but this?

I just can’t accept this.

I’ve been critical of the guy for a long time, and that certainly isn’t going to change any time soon, but what does need to change is the perception of these common occurrences. Duran just doesn’t seem to be a very good person, and has used his well-known mental health struggles as an excuse for his piss-poor behavior while totally ignoring how that behavior impacts others.

Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy refuted what we all saw after the game, saying that his left fielder was actually “cursing himself” for not getting the run — which completely crosses the line of backing your player and falls into the category of enablement.

If that’s not just as much of an issue as the behavior itself, it’s pretty damn close.

Duran, as he’s always one to do, also skirted taking responsibility by calling the incident “nothing” before saying that it was “within the team” and “had nothing to do” with members of the media — all but shutting down further questioning right then and there.

Gross.

I don’t necessarily know where the needed change is going to come from, which is super disappointing because watching this team should be an absolute blast and is instead really frustrating. I find myself just kind of bummed out by the way they choose to approach things.

For lack of a better phrase, it’s icky.

If they’ve proven anything, this will die out with time and become just an example to look back upon for the next time that he acts like an asshole.

Inspiring stuff.

“DURAN IS BEING AN A-HOLE” OF THE GAME

If you want to see the incident, you can click here.

The Mets are trading A.J. Minter, who excelled for New York this season as part of their main left-handed relief tandem at the end of games.

According to SNY's Chelsea Janes, Minter will be dealt to the Minnesota Twins. The Mets will receive prospects Bruin Agbayani and Billy Amick in the trade. 

Agbayani, the Twins' No. 29 prospect according to MLB Pipeline and the son of former Met Benny Agbayani, was selected in the sixth round of the 2025 draft. He's spent his whole minor league career in Low-A, where he's played at shortstop and second base. This season, he's slashed .266/.412/.341 with an OPS of .753 in 10 games. However, his season has been marred by an injury he sustained in May. 

Amick is the Twins' No. 21 prospect and has played at third and first. He was drafted in the second round of the 2024 draft out of Tennessee. In 86 games this season with the Twins' Double-A affiliate, Amick is slashing .217/.338/.482 with an OPS of 820 to go along with his 23 home runs.  

Minter, who signed with the Mets ahead of the 2025 season, missed most of last year due to a serious lat injury that required surgery. 

His return to the mound has been great for the Mets, pitching to a 2.35 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP across 23 appearances this season. 

Minter is set for free agency after this season. 

With the MLB Trade Deadline now less than 72 hours away from slamming shut and his time with the Mets likely coming to an end, reliever Brooks Raley recorded five outs and was the winning pitcher in New York’s 4-2 victory over the Miami Marlins on Thursday night.

Interim manager Andy Green thought Raley getting the win was “fitting and special” for the veteran left-hander in his fourth season with the club.

“Happy to see him get a win,” Green said. “Obviously, the next three days we don’t know what Brooks’ destination might be. And you want to see good people who have given a lot to this organization have good moments.”

With a trade before the 6 p.m. deadline on Aug. 3 likely, the 38-year-old acknowledged that his time in Queens is coming to a close.

“This organization has been great to me,” Raley said. “Hopefully we get back out there for another one the next couple of days. 

“But it’s just the reality of it. Enjoyed my time here and thankful for the guys.”

Raley said that it was in the dugout when he had the realization that Thursday could be his final outing with the Mets.

“As I sat on the bench, I said, I have a lot of good moments here, and this place has been great to me and my family,” he said. “Enjoyed wearing the blue and orange.”

Raley signed with the Mets ahead of the 2023 season and had a fine year, pitching to a 2.80 ERA in 66 games. Tommy John surgery robbed him of all but 38 appearances over the next two seasons, and he now will be a trade commodity with a 2.01 ERA over 44 games this year.

The lefty said he felt like he “developed a lot” during his time in New York.

“I felt like I knew who I was as a player when I came over from Tampa, and this organization kinda embraced me,” Raley said. “Met a lot of great players, great teammates, navigated a big market and all you [media] guys. Special place to play, for sure.”

The veteran acknowledged that the team “came up short” in meeting their expectations the past two seasons and “a lot of guys feel responsible for that, myself included.”

“You take it day by day, who knows what the next couple days hold,” he said. “This [locker room] has done a good job just staying where our feet are and trying to play it day-by-day. We really played some good baseball lately, so that’s been encouraging.

“A lot of young players are doing what we thought they [would]. Nolan [McLean] going out there and doing what he does and Christian Scott kind of blossoming into what he was supposed to be. It’s fun to watch.”

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs got run over by the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Yankees), 11-0.

I don’t know why anyone wants the highlights of this one, but starter Jordan Wicks got the loss atter allowing five runs on six hits over five innings. However, only two of the runs Wicks allowed were earned. Wicks walked two and struck out one.

Iowa had six hits, all singles. Right fielder Greg Jones was 2 for 3.

Catcher Owen Ayers was 1 for 3 with a walk and he went two-for-two throwing out runners trying to steal.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies got speared by the Pensacola Blue Wahoos (Marlins), 5-1.

The Smokies got a really good start from Brody McCullough, but he was a victim of non-support and got the loss. McCullough allowed just one run on two hits over five innings. The one run came on a home run in the fourth inning. McCullough walked one and struck out five.

Third baseman Jefferson Rojas went 2 for 4 with a double. He scored the only Smokies run in the eighth inning on a passed ball.

Catcher Miguel Useche was 2 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs sank the Lake County Captains (Guardians), 11-8.

Nazier Mulé pitched the first 3.1 innings and allowed three runs on four hits. But Mulé did strike out a career-high eight while walking only one, although he did also hit a batter.

Brayden Spears did not pitch well, but he got the win anyways. Spears gave up three runs on three hits over three innings. Spears gave up two two-run home runs, with one of the runs being charged to Mulé. Spears walked two and struck out five.

Ethan Bell struck out the side in order in the ninth for the save.

Center fielder Kade Snell homered twice tonight by the third inning. The first came with the bases empty in the second and the second one was a two-run home run in the third. Snell went 2 for 5 and now has five home runs on the year.

Catcher Logan Poteet also went deep twice. The first one came back-to-back with Snell in the second inning. The second one was a solo shot in the eighth. Poteet now has 18 home runs this year and four with South Bend. Poteet went 2 for 4 with a walk.

Third baseman Matt Halbach hit a solo home run in the fifth inning, his seventh on the season. Halbach went 2 for 5 and drove in two.

First baseman Josiah Hartshorn didn’t homer, but he hit a two-run triple in the sixth inning and a two-run double in the seventh. Hartshorn went 2 for 5 with a walk and the four RBI. He scored one run.

Second baseman Ty Southisene, starting for the first time since he went on the injured list in late June, was 3 for 6 and scored once.

Left fielder Jose Escobar went 2 for 4 and was hit by a pitch. He scored on Snell’s second home run.

DH Kane Kepley went 1 for 3 with three walks and a stolen base. Kepley scored two runs.

Right fielder Geri Lubo went 2 for 5 with a steal.

Everyone in the lineup had at least one hit.

Snell’s first home run. [VIDEO]

Poteet goes back-to-back [VIDEO]

Snell’s second home run went farther. [VIDEO]

Hartshorn’s two-run triple just missed leaving the yard. [VIDEO]

Halbach’s home run.

Hartshorn’s double.

Logan Poteet goes really deep for his second blast.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans lost to the Charleston RiverDogs (Rays), 9-6.

The Pelicans wasted a great start from Braylon Myers, who pitched five scoreless. Myers scattered five hits, all singles. He struck out eight and walked no one.

David Bracho threw a scoreless sixth inning, but then he got hammered for five runs in the seventh and took the loss. Three of those runs came on a home run. Bracho’s final line was five runs on three hits and two walks over two innings. Bracho walked two and struck out four.

Jordan Henriquez gave up a grand slam in the eighth to put this game out of reach.

Jose Silva homered with the bases empty in the second inning. It was Silva’s second Pelicans home run and fourth overall. Silva was a perfect 2 for 2 with two walks. He scored twice.

In his third game with the Birds, first baseman Jan Luis Reyes went 2 for 4 with a double and a triple. Those were Reyes’ first two hits in Low-A. Reyes drove in two and scored one run.

In his first professional game, third baseman and 14th-round pick Corey Nunez was 2 for 3 with a walk. Nunez scored twice and drove in one.

Center fielder Ethan Conrad went 1 for 5 with a two-run double.

Nunez singled on his first professional pitch.

Full highlights.

As the Mets look to their future, the starting rotation is the best place to begin.

By 6 p.m. Monday, the roster is likely going to look very different. A number of veterans are expected to be shipped out for prospects — the product of this disastrous season in Queens. Already, reliever A.J. Minter is on the move, headed to the Twins for a pair of prospects.

But the young guys on the mound are going to be the same. Nolan McLean, Christian Scott and Zac Thornton — three bright spots in this bleak season — have given fans a reason to think that maybe tomorrow won’t be as dark as today.

McLean kept the good vibes of the trio going Thursday, registering his eighth straight start of at least six innings, and the rookie has held the opposition to two earned runs or less in seven of those starts.

“[McLean and Scott] are guys that are proving they can handle staring down the best pitchers in the National League East and compete with them, and going toe to toe with them,” interim manager Andy Green said of McLean, who allowed six hits and struck out six over 6 ¹/₃ innings of work. “Zac’s off to a great start, he’s doing some impressive things. I think it’s what you want from development, to see those guys show up here, handle it, believe they can win and go out and do it, really do it, and continue to repeat [those performances].”

Luis Robert Jr., one of many Mets who may be gone come Monday, drove in two runs with an eighth-inning single as the Mets won for the fourth time in five games, 4-2 over the Marlins in front of 25,774 at Citi Field.

McLean’s effort wasn’t enough to earn his eighth victory of the season — the late Mets rally made a winner out of Brooks Raley, who delivered 1 ²/₃ innings of scoreless relief — but it continued his upward trend. At this point, with the season well beyond saving, the youngsters producing is almost as important as wins, and they have each other to lean on.

“It matters more inside the clubhouse than it does out there on the field, the way we’re hanging out,” McLean said of the trio. “We don’t even really talk about baseball. We’re kind of messing around with each other. That’s what makes it fun.”

The three youngsters have been the Mets’ best starters of late.

Thornton has pitched to a 2.43 ERA in five starts and has won consecutive decisions. Scott, coming off Tommy John surgery, has a 2.99 ERA in 15 outings and is eighth in baseball in strikeout percent at 28.8.

Then there is McLean, so impressive after an August call-up a year ago. He began the year well, then hit a rough patch. He had a 6.10 ERA in May. He’s been a different pitcher over the last two months. His walks are down and his strikeouts are up.

“His numbers are really good, when you compare them against the best pitchers in baseball,” Green said.

McLean made only two mistakes Thursday, and was punished for both of them.

A flat changeup wound up in the seats down the right field line in the fourth, Kyle Stowers’ 15th homer of the season.

In the seventh, McLean grooved a 3-0 fastball, and Jakob Marsee pulled the Marlins even at 2-2.

“I thought he showed too much emotion after the first out in the seventh inning,” Green said. “He was fired up to be back out there for the seventh. Three straight balls and then he paid the price. I know that is going to leave the right kind of sour taste in his mouth going forward. But, really overall an impressive outing.”

Thursday night was the start of a four game series against the Marlins ahead of the trade deadline when the Mets were almost certain to lose a significant chunk of their current roster. Eury Pérez was getting the start for the Marlins, while Nolan McLean, in the midst of an incredible run of starts, was pitching for the Mets. The game was delayed by weather for a little over an hour, with passing showers coming through at the most inopportune moment.

It was a quiet start to the night for both sides. The Mets and Marlins traded zeroes, with both McLean and Pérez looking good. They both encountered a little bit of traffic, with McLean issuing two walks in the first inning and Pérez walking Francisco Alvarez in the third inning. But the first three innings were relatively quiet.

In the fourth inning, the first run was put on the board, courtesy of a line drive home run from Kyle Stowers to leadoff the inning. There was no one on so it was just the single run, but the Mets were behind, not uncommon for the 2026 Mets. McLean settled down after that, but it was still a hole the Mets needed to climb out of. It took until the bottom of the fifth for the Mets to even get a hit off of Pérez, thanks to a Marcus Semien single. He then stole second to put a runner in scoring position with two outs, but the Mets were unable to get another hit off of Perez in the inning and Semien was stranded.

The bottom of the sixth was when the Mets offense finally sprung to life. Alvarez led off with another walk, and he got a head start on an A.J. Ewing groundball to get to second before a potential double play could be turned. Alvarez was then driven in by a Francisco Lindor single to tie the game. A Bo Bichette single put runners on the corners with just one out. A Carson Benge pop fly for the second out made it look like Pérez might escape with just the one run, but Graham Pauley misplayed a ball hit by Luis Robert Jr. which allowed Lindor to score and put the Mets ahead. The Mets didn’t drive in any more runs but they had come back and taken the (small) lead.

They didn’t have the lead for long, though. After getting a strikeout to start the seventh, McLean gave up a solo home run to Jakob Marsee on a 3-0 count to tie the game. He gave up a single to Pauley to end his night, being pulled in favor of Brooks Raley. McLean went 6.1 innings, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out six. Esteury Ruiz replaced Pauley as a pinch runner and got to second on a passed ball, but Joe Mack hit a line drive right to Bo Bichette who was able to double off Ruiz at second for an inning ending double play, with the game now tied at the seventh inning stretch.

It took until the bottom of the eighth for the stalemate to be broken. After two outs to start the inning, Bo Bichette doubled to give a sign of life for the Mets offense. Carson Benge singled to put runners on the corners, then Benge stole second to put two runners in scoring position, and Luis Robert Jr. cashed in on both, hitting a two-run double to put the Mets ahead. The Marlins escaped the inning with Robert still on second, but they were running out of time to come back. 

Other than a belabored leadoff plate appearance in which Heriberto Hernández (eventually) drew a walk, Devin Williams got through the inning clean and collected the save. The Mets won the opening game of the four game set, and look forward to a mystery on the mound tomorrow. It’s Freddy Peralta’s turn in the rotation, but given the likelihood of his being traded before the trade deadline on Monday, there’s no definite decision on whether or not he’ll actually make that start. Janson Junk will start for the Marlins, that much is clear at least.

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Luis Robert Jr., +44% WPA
Big Mets loser: A.J. Ewing, -12% WPA
Mets pitchers: +23% WPA
Mets hitters: +27% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Luis Robert Jr.’s eighth inning two-run double, +32.8% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Jakob Marsee’s seventh inning home run, -20.8% WPA

The Mets got six solid innings from Nolan McLean and, after being held to just one hit through five innings, got a two-RBI single from Luis Robert Jr. with two down in the eighth to grab a 4-2 win over the Miami Marlins on Thursday night at Citi Field.

McLean had his fastball and curveball working, getting five whiffs on 12 swings on the heater. He was also his own best friend, fielding his position very well as he lowered his ERA to 3.29 on the season.

Marlins right-hander Eury Pérez retired the first eight Mets batters he faced before issuing a walk and didn’t allow a hit until there were two down in the fifth, but a two-run sixth did him in. A two-out rally with three straight hits off Michael Petersen in the eighth was the difference. 

Here are the takeaways...

- McLean’s night got off on the wrong foot with a four-pitch walk, but he avoided damage despite issuing a second walk with a strikeout on a big 99 mph fastball. The righty added two more strikeouts, looking on a tight curveball and swinging on a heater, before erasing a check-swing single with his third pickoff of the season. After a two-out hit and an error on a pickoff attempt, McLean picked up his fourth strikeout of the night on another good curveball.

The righty got stung to start the fourth as Kyle Stowers got a hanging changeup and lined it into the seats in the right-field corner (112.8 mph off the bat, 368 feet).

McLean got the next nine of the next ten batters to get through six frames on 85 pitches, surrendering a two-out hit in the fifth. 

But he couldn’t protect the lead and failed to get through seven. After adding his sixth strikeout, McLean fell behind 3-0 to Jakob Marsee and the Marlins outfielder cranked a letter-high 95 mph heater just over the wall in right to tie the game. After a Graham Pauley single to right, McLean gave way to Brooks Raley, who got around a passed ball with a 5-6 lineout inning-ending double-play.

McLean's final line: 6.1 innings, two runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts on 99 pitches (64 strikes).

- Francisco Alvarez was the Mets’ first base runner with two outs in the third, and walked on four pitches to leadoff the sixth. He got to second when he took off for second on a groundout to second. The catcher ended the night 0-for-1 with two walks.

- Francisco Lindor went down swinging at a slider in each of his first two at-bats against Pérez, but tied the game in the sixth with a single into right that scored Alvarez from second as he got a great jump. He finished 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.

- Bo Bichette, hitless his first two times up, snapped an 0-for-10 stretch with a single up the middle with Lindor in motion to cover the corners. He grounded an 0-2 pitch down the first base line for a two-out double in the eighth. He finished 2-for-4.

- Robert put the Mets ahead when his slow roller to third skipped under the glove of Pauley with two down in the sixth. He put the Mets ahead for good in the eighth, driving a 1-2 pitch past a diving Pauley for a two-run single. He finished 1-for-4.

- Carson Benge, rung up on a half-swing at a changeup below the zone and caught looking at a 99 mph heater against Pérez, popped out with runners on the corners with one out in the sixth. He battled and drove a single to left with two down in the eighth to set up Robert's big swing to finish 1-for-4.

- Raley stayed on for the eighth and worked around a leadoff single for his longest outing of the year at 1.2 innings. Devin Williams issued a leadoff walk to bring the tying run to the plate, but got back-to-back strikeouts and a pop-up to second to close the door.

- Marcus Semien grabbed the Mets’ first hit of the night, turning on a 99 mph fastball through the left side of the infield. He swiped second but was stranded there. He finished 1-for-3.

- Brett Baty was 0-for-3 with a couple of popouts and a strikeout swinging with two men on to end the sixth. Tyrone Taylor struck out looking as a pinch-hitter for Baty to end the eighth.

- Jorge Polanco, 4-for-41 since coming off the IL, hit a solid shot to right his first time up, but was right at Griffin Conine. He went 0-for-3, including coming up short on the first chance with a runner in scoring position. 

- A.J. Ewing finished hitless in four times up, going down swinging twice on heaters.

- The game began after a 66-minute delay due to inclement weather.

Highlights

Nolan McLean dials it up to 99 mph to get the K to end the top of the first pic.twitter.com/o3iTohUex3

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 31, 2026

A pair of strikeouts for Nolan McLean in the 2nd inning pic.twitter.com/UIYAu94ZDF

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 31, 2026

TIE GAME!

Francisco Lindor drives in Francisco Alvarez from second base with an RBI single! pic.twitter.com/bpztZG9Wr6

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 31, 2026

LUIS ROBERT JR.!

He comes through with a big two-run single to give the Mets a 4-2 lead in the 8th pic.twitter.com/R31BVlQEcr

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 31, 2026

The Mets take the lead!

Luis Robert Jr.'s grounder hits off of Graham Pauley's glove and Francisco Lindor comes in to score! pic.twitter.com/GRBLMbzq3X

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 31, 2026

What's next

The four-game series continues with Friday night's 7:10 p.m. first pitch. 

As things stand, Freddy Peralta (4.99 ERA, 1.478 WHIP in 113.2 innings) is set to start for the hometeam. Righty Jason Junk (4.89 ERA, 1.357 WHIP and 73.2 innings) will climb the hill for the visitors.

Did Napoleon have a tiebreaker for Waterloo?

Just right now I notice that the Cleveland Guardians were once called the Cleveland Napoleons. I think I have a new personal most hated team. On the other hand, you can’t blame today’s team for the errors of the past. The reasoning of changing the team’s name from imperialism to native-american is maybe beyond my grisp of understanding and perhaps too American for me. But let’s not discuss that.

For every series there is good news and there is bad news. Shall we take a look?

The good news is that we won our previous series, against the Pirates. The bad news about that is that we now have a possible tiebreaker equation that not even Einstein is able to resolve. The good news about that is that on the AZSnakePit we have our contributor samath, who knows everything about tiebreakers. This is what he wrote before the final game of our series in Pittsburgh:

Thus far, the Pirates have gone 18-14 against their own division while the Diamondbacks have gone 21-11, each with 20 games left to play. Here’s the full breakdown of games left:

Pirates: 7 vs. MIL, 3 vs. CHC, 6 vs. STL, 4 vs. CIN (6 home, 14 away)

Dbacks: 3 vs. LAD, 7 vs. SDP, 4 vs. SFG, 6 vs. COL (10 home, 10 away)

So in that subset, with a clearly harder schedule, the Pirates would have to make up 3 games on the Diamondbacks. And for the tiebreaker to matter, the Diamondbacks would have to also make up at least 1 game in the 33 extradivision games each have left, where the Diamondbacks have a clearly harder schedule (I’ve sorted by current record and crossed out the common opponents for clarity):

Pirates: 3 vs. LAD, 3 vs. CWS, 3 vs. BOS, 3 vs. SDP, 3 vs. MIA, 6 vs. DET, 3 vs. NYM, 3 vs. SFG, 3 vs. KCR, 3 vs. LAA (18 home, 15 away)

Dbacks: 3 vs. ATL, 3 vs. NYY, 3 vs. CHC, 3 vs. PHI, 3 vs. BOS, 3 vs. TEX, 3 vs. CLE, 3 vs. MIA, 3 vs. HOU, 3 vs. CIN, 3 vs. KCR (18 home, 15 away)

These sort of surprising combinations of results can happen, of course — the Pirates bookended their first half by losing a series to the Mets and sweeping the Brewers, for instance — but they aren’t likely, which is why I have the Diamondbacks clearly favored in that tiebreaker.

Of course, all of this is entirely irrelevant if the Pirates win the head-to-head tiebreaker. And the Pirates are the main wildcard competitor for that third spot right now. Fangraphs puts the Diamondbacks’ current playoff odds at 38%, the seventh-highest in the NL, immediately behind the Pirates at 40%. Those numbers have each jumped by about 5% with each game this series, which is a lot for games in July.

All this to say, the next game is very, very important.

Here’s the real list:

Head-to-head

Intradivision record

Intraleague record

Post-ASG intraleague

Post-ASG + 1 game intraleague

Post-ASG + 2 games intraleague

etc.

This will always eventually resolve, because different teams play different number of interleague games at different times.

How to determine playoff tiebreakers

The good news (for thinking through this, not for the Diamondbacks) is that in the four years of this system so far, no ties have ever made it past head-to-head!

As a follow-up, I also asked ChatGPT to analyze all 11 ties in the divisional era (1969 onwards) that went to game 163’s before the modern tiebreaker rules were in effect. Out of all 11, 10 would have been resolved by head-to-head, while only the 1980 NL West tie between the Dodgers and Astros would have gone to the intradivisional record.

So yeah, this tiebreaker I analyzed extensively would only have mattered once in the last 50+ years…

Was there a tiebreaker for Napoleon in Waterloo? Of course there was not. Napoleon learned what we know in “soccer” since our early days as a European kid, like Gary Lineker once said: “…in the end the Germans always win”. We have Max Kepler on our team, so, in that regard, we had some extra good news.

The bad news: Pfaadt and Rodriguez pitched in Pittsburgh and Cleveland is fighting for the division or to get a Wild Card. We can prepare ourselves for a tough series in Ohio.

Odds are, we win this series.

Sticking to baseball matters and modern day, Cleveland had a quiet off-season. Their biggest move was probably the 7-year extension they handed out to their star third baseman Jose Ramirez. Veteran catcher Austin Hedges and reliever Kolby Allard were resigned. Only veteran reliever Jakob Junis was lost in free agency, to Texas, and to fill that gap Cleveland signed reliever Shawn Armstrong from that same team. With former Diamondback Steven Vogt at the helm for the third consecutive season, the Guardians were surely banking on another AL Central division win, with probably only the Detroit Tigers as a possible competitor. As things turned out, the Chicago White Sox put themselves in the conversation in what has been a really weird American League this year, and starting this series, the Guardians see themselves 1.5 games back in the AL Central with a 56-54 record, occupying the final spot in the Wild Card standings, 1 game ahead of the Houston Astros.

The Cleveland offence is ranked in the lower half of the MLB, fWAR wise. OPS+ puts them ahead of only the Mets, Phillies and Blue Jays in the MLB (themselves also somewhat surprisingly the weakest offences in the league). Biggest problem for Cleveland is getting runners on base, with their .230 batting average the second lowest in the MLB. Their base-on-ball numbers are pretty good, but with such a low batting average and their slugging the worst in the entire league, it is not a surprise that their RBI numbers are also the second lowest in the league. When one of your best batters is called “Austin Hedges”, 113 OPS+, you know you have a problem. Not even Jose Ramirez can escape from mediocrity this season (105 OPS+). No wonder that Cleveland is one of the teams that steals most bases: if you can hardly count on your buddies to move you over, you have got to do something to get closer to home base.

While Ingrid Bergman would always have “Paris”, according to Humphrey Bogart, so will Cleveland always have pitching. ERA, xERA, FIP, xFIP and fWAR all put Cleveland’s starting and relief pitching in the top 10 of the MLB, pretty solid.

However, that solid pitching hasn’t been able to push the needle to more wins. Cleveland has been able to shut their opponent out just 3 times this season. Compare that to Arizona’s 5 and you’ll understand how weird that is for such a solid pitching team. They are 18-17 in one-run games, while Arizona is 20-16.

Cleveland is 5-8 since the All Star break, snapping a 5-game losing streak with a series win against the Reds right before starting this series. They were shut down 3 times in those 13 games and in 3 more games they were held to just 1 run.

What I am trying to say is, we should certainly be able to win at least one in Cleveland and the odds are pretty good that we can leave with another series win in what will be the final encounters of our longest road trip.

Matchups.

Game #1 Fri 07/31 4:10 PM MST, Mitch Bratt (ARI) vs Tanner Bibee (CLE).

• Mitch Bratt. 4 GS, 15.2 IP, 0 W-1 L, 6.32 ERA, 7.45 FIP, 1.98 WHIP, 10/11 K/BB. $325,338.
• Tanner Bibee. 22 GS, 125.0 IP, 4 W-10 L, 3.89 ERA, 4.57 FIP, 1.18 WHIP, 97/37 K/BB. $4,400,000.

As expected, Bratt struggled against the powerful offence of the Nationals in his last outing, giving up 5 runs in 5.0 innings, but he did go 5 innings.

That same Washington offence put 7 runs on the board against Tanner Bibee 2 months ago, so I would say that the Diamondbacks have a chance in this first match of the series, if Bratt can go 5 innings against Cleveland and keep the score to, say 3-4 runs. As you can see, Bibee hasn’t gotten much run support during his games and at home he has allowed 14 homeruns of his season total of 20.

Last season Bibee, this year’s Opening Day starter for Cleveland, got a no-decision against the Diamondbacks, where Arizona got 7 hits and 4 runs off him on August 19, a game the Diamondbacks would go on to win 6-5.

Good chance that this first game will end up to be the tiebreaker in this series.

Game #2 Sat 08/01 4:15 AM MST, Kohl Drake (ARI) vs Parker Messick (CLE).

• Kohl Drake. 2 GS, 9.0 IP, 0 W-0 L, 5.00 ERA, 6.33 FIP, 1.44 WHIP, 6/4 K/BB. $337,851.
• Parker Messick. 21 GS, 125.1 IP, 8 W-6 L, 2.59 ERA, 3.19 FIP, 1.04 WHIP, 122/36 K/BB. $788,400.

The Washington offence proved to be too much for Kohl Drake as well, in what was his second major league career start. He will have a chance to bounce back against a weaker MLB offence and the Diamondbacks will surely need it, because Parker Messick will be a tougher cookie to bite on than Bibee.

Last year Messick fired 6.2 innings against the Diamondbacks on August 20, keeping the Snakes limited to just 1 run despite 7 hits (Arizona woulld eventually win 3-2). What was even more impressive: it was Messick’s major league debut.

Messick pitched to a 153 ERA+ in what was left of the season and continued to solidify himself in Cleveland’s 2026 starting rotation and is de facto Cleveland’s ace right now, also earning his first All Star selection in 2026, pitching a scoreless second inning in Philadelphia.

Messick has a four-seamer, sinker and cutter, he deploys 61% of the time, reducing the importance of the relatively low velocity of his fastball. That allows him to mask his weaker curve, slider and change-up, he can then use to mix up the pitches and get batters off-balance. It works, with the chase and K-percentages all on the good side of the stats, but, most importantly, he is able to limit the hard hits.

If you think we don’t stand a chance here, well, at least take the moment to watch this young and talented pitcher.

Game #3 Sun 08/02 10:40 AM MST, Merrill Kelly (ARI) vs Gavin Williams (CLE).

• Merrill Kelly. 19 GS, 109.1 IP, 8 W-8 L, 4.86 ERA, 5.66 FIP, 1.45 WHIP, 71/42 K/BB. $18,000,000.
• Gavin Williams. 22 GS, 133.1 IP, 10 W-6 L, 3.71 ERA, 3.56 FIP, 1.07 WHIP, 168/38 K/BB. $$822,200.

Save the best for last, was what Vanessa Williams sang, and that sure seems to apply to this final matchup. Most likely this one will seal the fate of the series, my guess is that Merrill will tilt the balance towards the Diamondbacks, because he should be able to keep this weaker offence from scoring and go 6 innings, similar to what he did last year on August 24, when Kelly went 7 innings and kept Cleveland scoreless.

However, it isn’t a done deal considering the Diamondbacks will be facing Gavin Williams and his 97 mph fastball velo average. However, what makes batters tumble more is his sweeper, which currently has a .226 xwOBA and a 44.4% Whiff. Yikes. In his last 4 outings, Williams had 45 Ks in 27.0 innings, though Pittsburgh also scored 5 runs. His 11.34 K/9 is third in the entire league (behind Misiorowski and Dylan Cease, but ahead of Paul Skenes). However, like the game against Pittsburgh showed, Williams does have his games where he allows quite some runs: in 10 of his starts he gave up 3 or more runs, 5 of them with 5 or more runs. I will bank on that.