AKRON, OHIO - AUGUST 10, 2025: Juaron Watts-Brown #10 of the Chesapeake Baysox throws a pitch during the second inning against the Akron RubberDucks at Canal Park on August 10, 2025 in Akron, Ohio. (Photo by George Kubas/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
One bad inning sunk the Tides in this one. The top of the third inning saw the Bulls send 11 batters to the plate and score all six of their runs for the game off of five hits (including a two-run homer), two walks, and a hit by pitch. All six of the runs were charged to starter Trace Bright, but two of them came in after José Espada came on to try to quiet things down.
Anthony Nunez had a nice night. He tossed two shutout innings and struck out four. Josh Walker and Kyle Nicolas combined for a scoreless seventh inning as well.
Norfolk’ lineup outhit Durham’s 7-to-4, but they lacked much pop. Heston Kjerstad went 1-for-4 with their lone extra-base hit, a double, and three strikeouts. A rehabbing Dylan Beavers made his first appearance at Triple-A, going 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. José Barrero collected three hits, a run, and an RBI. Bryan Ramos had a hit, two walks, and two RBI.
The second game of the double header was a sloppy one for Norfolk. Their pitchers issued nine walks, and the defense made a pair of errors behind them. That meant that only three of the five runs allowed were earned by the pitching staff.
Yaqui Rivera started and gave up two runs on five walks and five strikeouts over 2.1 innings. Dietrich Enns followed and gave up three runs (only one earned) on a hit, two walks, and three strikeouts in his 2.2 frames. Andrew Magno and Cameron Weston worked one shutout inning apiece.
The first five hitters in the Tides lineup had one hit each, going 5-for-17 with three walks and four strikeouts as a group. The final four hitters went a combined 0-for-9 with two walks and two strikeouts. Kjerstad had one of those hits and drove in two of the team’s runs with a fifth-inning single. Jud Fabian had the other RBI on a sac fly. Beavers did not play in the night cap.
This was a standout performance for Baysox starter Juaron Watts-Brown, even though he was saddled with the loss. Over six innings the righty allowed just one run on five hits (one home run), one walk, and eight strikeouts. Cohen Achen came on for the seventh and would allow one unearned run due to an error by Anderson De Los Santos at third base. Juan Rojas was charged with a run in the ninth inning after walking the lead-off hitter, which came around to score after he was pulled in favor of Alex Pham.
Both of Chesapeake’s runs scored on solo homers in the ninth inning. Ethan Anderson hit his 14th of the year, and Aron Estrada smacked his 12th to bring the home team within one run. But there were few chances to score other than that. The team had only three at-bats with runners in scoring position and left a measly four runners stranded.
High-A: Frederick Keys 2, Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals) 0
The Keys came out swinging, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning, which would prove to be all they would need to earn the win. RJ Austin led off with a single and quickly scored on an Ike Irish double. A wild pitch moved Irish to third base, and he then scored on a Victor Figueroa sac fly. The Keys would have just three more hits and zero runs for the remainder of the game.
Luckily, the Frederick pitching staff was on top of its game. Caden Hunter set the tone with five shutout innings in which he allowed one run, three walks, and eight strikeouts to lower his season ERA to 2.11. Richard Guasch worked a perfect sixth inning. And it was Riley Cooper to close out the final three innings, striking out five in the process.
There were some positives in the latest Delmarva loss. For example, Jaiden Lo Re had two hits, a walk, an RBI, and a stolen base. The 19-year-old has a .918 OPS since being promoted to Low-A. Braylon Whitaker had a three-hit game. Raylin Ramos hit his fourth home run of the season.
On the pitching side of things, starter Christian Rodriguez looked good. Over seven innings he gave up two runs on seven hits, two walks, and two strikeouts. Kenny Leiner had a tougher day, coughing up four runs and only recording two outs. Zac Lampton did get the final out of the eighth inning, but not before allowing one of his inherited runners to score on a single.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - MAY 10: Heliot Ramos #17 of the San Francisco Giants rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning during the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Sunday, May 10, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Kavin Mistry/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The San Francisco Giants have had their fair share of bad injury news this year, but on Wednesday they got some good news on that front: Heliot Ramos is nearing a return. The Giants All-Star outfielder, who has been sidelined since mid-May, should be wearing a Giants jersey again soon.
Prior to Wednesday’s walk-off win over the Athletics, Giants manager Tony Vitello said that Ramos could potentially return this weekend, when the Giants host the Atlanta Braves. Ramos started a rehab assignment with AAA Sacramento on June 17, and has appeared in five games for the River Cats, hitting 6-19 with a home run, three walks, and seven strikeouts.
While Ramos’ return will be a welcome sight for the Giants, no one’s entirely sure how the Giants will make the roster work once he’s back. In Ramos’ absence, Casey Schmitt has moved from the infield to left field, where he’s been essentially an everyday player. Schmitt has been one of the team’s best hitters, and leads the Giants in home runs, so it’s not like they can move him out of the lineup to facilitate Ramos.
One possible solution was hinted at during Tuesday’s AAA game, when Ramos played right field for the first time since 2024. With Harrison Bader still sidelined, and neither Drew Gilbert nor Jonah Cox running away with the center field role, could the Giants shift Jung Hoo Lee back to the middle of the grass, and play Ramos in right field, while keeping Schmitt in left field? That’s certainly the best offensive arrangement the team can come up with, though the defensive arrangement is more befitting an October haunted house than an October baseball dream.
Of course, if Luis Arráez’s recent injury lingers, that could temporarily solve the problem, with Schmitt moving to second base, and Ramos slotting in at left field once more. We’ll just have to wait and see.
What time do the Giants play today?
The Giants conclude their series with the Athletics this afternoon at 12:45 p.m. PT.
It feels SOOOO good to put Dansby Swanson’s name first on the Cub Tracks page! Tuesday night, he had a two-run home run and an RBI double, followed by a three-run homer and a grand slam in Game 1 Wednesday afternoon. In his last five games (through Game 1 of the doubleheader), Swanson is 8-for-18 with four homers, 14 RBI and only two strikeouts. Here’s hoping that Swanson has found some magic in that bat.
In Tuesday’s game, PCA hit his 17th HR, extending his on-base streak to 24 games and his hitting streak to 11.
Michael Busch’s two-run home run Wednesday increased his team-leading RBI to 44.
I don’t want to gripe and worry about injuries at this moment — that’s done below. The Cubs have won eight of their last 11 games, so I’m just going to enjoy this mini-offensive resurgence.
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Wednesday’s Game 1 stories (Game 2 will be in the next Cub Tracks):
Josh Davis (Clutch Points): Cubs LHP returns to mound for 1st time since setback. “Chicago Cubs left-handed pitcher Justin Steele started throwing activities on Monday for the first time since his UCL injury setback.”
Matt Sullivan (Just Baseball): Why Would the Chicago Cubs Trade Seiya Suzuki? “The right fielder is a top offensive weapon for the Cubs, so why even think of moving him to a different team?”
Tyler Courtney (LastWordOnSports.com): Should the Cubs Move to a Six-Man Rotation in 2026? “A Chicago Cubs’ six-man rotation continues to be a common discussion as the 2026 season progresses.” (This was before Brown and Cabrera went on IL, but an interesting topic nevertheless.)
Lemon Henry “Blind Lemon” Jefferson was an American blues and gospel singer-songwriter and musician. He was one of the most popular and successful blues singers of the 1920s and has been called the “Father of the Texas blues”.
Due mainly to his high-pitched voice and the originality of his guitar playing, Jefferson’s performances were distinctive. His recordings sold well, but he was not a strong influence on younger blues singers of his generation, who could not imitate him as easily as they could other commercially successful artists. Later blues and rock and roll musicians, however, did attempt to imitate both his songs and his musical style.
Jefferson had an intricate and fast style of guitar playing and a particularly high-pitched voice. He was a founder of the Texas blues sound and an important influence on other blues singers and guitarists, including Lead Belly and Lightnin’ Hopkins.
Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series.
ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - JUNE 24: Taylor Walls #6 of the Tampa Bay Rays slides into second base before Michael Massey #19 of the Kansas City Royals can make the tag after hitting a double in the fourth inning of a game at Tropicana Field on June 24, 2026 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Jaylon Thompson of the Kansas City Star talked about how Jac Caglianone’s error on Wednesday night turned out to be rather costly.
On Wednesday, the Royals got behind early. A costly error and some well-timed execution doomed the Royals in a 5-3 loss. In the third inning, the Rays scored two runs on an ill-advised throwing error from Royals first baseman Jac Caglianone.
Wednesday marked the 5th straight game that Bobby Witt Jr. was sitting out, here is Brian Murphy’s update
Witt was not in the club’s starting lineup for Wednesday’s 5-3 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field, marking the fifth straight game he has been on the bench since suffering a Grade 1 MCL sprain during Thursday’s win over the Cardinals.
Witt has gone through on-field drills while wearing a knee brace before each of the team’s first three games against the Rays and said Wednesday that his knee has “been better every day.” He also said that he would be available off the bench if needed, but he ultimately did not play.
“We have to understand what the brace is going to do and how he feels,” Quatraro said Wednesday. “That communication with Bobby is paramount.”
Speaking of injured Royals, Kris Bubic made his first rehab assignment appearance last night in Omaha, here is what Jared Greenspan had to say.
Royals left-hander Kris Bubic resumed his rehab assignment with a 1-2-3 first inning for Triple-A Omaha on Wednesday night.
Bubic needed just eight pitches to retire the side in order against Triple-A Columbus. He mixed in four pitches and topped out at 92.7 mph with his four-seam fastball.
Bubic first landed on the IL on May 18 (retroactive to May 15) after experiencing left elbow soreness following his May 14 start against the White Sox. Though Bubic expected his IL stint to be a short one, he suffered a setback following his first rehab start on June 9 when he experienced shoulder soreness.
David Shields has struck out 10 batters in each of his last two starts; here is what Anne Rogers said about the Royals prospect.
Kendry Chourio, the club’s No. 2 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 74 overall, is just 18 years old and made his debut with High-A Quad Cities last week. His promotion reunited him with David Shields, who is 19 years old and the Royals’ No. 4 prospect.
Together, Chourio and Shields are two of just nine pitchers in their age-19 season or younger to reach High-A or better this year.
Shields has spent the entire season with Quad Cities, making 13 starts and pitching to a 4.03 ERA, which ranked fifth in the Midwest League entering Tuesday’s series opener. After posting a 2.38 ERA with Single-A Columbia last year and being named the Royals’ Paul Splittorff Pitcher of the Year, the lefty was eager to take the next step in High-A and face the challenges that have come with it.
The MLB trade deadline is coming up; here is the risks Mike Gillespie at Royals Keep says the Royals shouldn’t take.
With the Cole Ragans news from the other day, Kevin O’Brien of Royals Keep thinks the deadline plan is clearer.
Dansby Swanson has had a really tough year, however he did just drive in 15 runs against the Mets.
The Phillies keep snatching victory from the Nationals at the very last moment, Derek Hill (remember his homer off Strahm as a White Sox player?) this time did the damage.
The Paul Goldschmidt renaissance continues, this time against Tarik Skubal.
The Royals have lost in some rather sucky ways this year, but the Angels walk-off against Baltimore yesterday might’ve taken the cake.
Dodgers Mookie Betts hit his 300th career homer yesterday
The 2026 NBA Draft ended last night, here is all the picks
Your song of the day I Want To Know What Love Is by Foreigner
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JUNE 14: Hunter Goodman #15 of the Colorado Rockies watches the flight of his two-run home run in the first inning during a regular season game against the Athletics at Las Vegas Ballpark on June 14, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Colorado Rockies are known for playing their home games in the most notoriously hitter-friendly environment in Major League Baseball, Coors Field. Despite the introduction of the humidor in 2002 reducing the number of home runs hit there, Coors Field has sat atop park factors leaderboards since its opening in 1995.
This season, however, the Rockies are doing something they have never done before in the entire history of the franchise: Scoring just as many runs on the road as they do at home.
In 40 home games, the Rockies have scored 181 runs.
In 41 away games, they’ve scored 187 runs.
In every previous season of their existence, the Colorado Rockies scored many more runs at home than on the road. They have never come particularly close to breaking even. In 2009, the Rockies scored 75 more runs at home than they did on the road, which is the only non-shortened season where that number was less than 95.
Let’s put this another way.
The only season in Rockies history that they scored less than a full run more per game at home versus away was the aforementioned 2009. That year, they managed a measly 0.93 more runs per game at home.
Halfway through the 2026 season, the Rockies are scoring 0.01 fewer runs per game at home than they are on the road. That’s essentially dead even.
The Rockies are scoring the third most road runs per game but, it hasn’t come with the expected relationship to runs at hitter-friendly Coors Field. What’s accounting for this difference is a bit hard to pin down. On the surface, Rockies hitters appear to still be producing better at home with a triple slash of .265/.334/.423 compared to .242/.313/.398 on the road.
The shape of that production, however, is composed differently. At Coors the Rockies are hitting more doubles and triples but significantly fewer home runs (39) than they are when on the road (47). Unlike overall runs scored, this road homer dominance is not entirely unprecedented since the 2006 Rockies ended the season with seven more homers on the road than they had at home.
No hitter has contributed more to these strange splits than Hunter Goodman. Coming into Wednesday’s game Goodman had hit .198/.279/.405 at Coors compared to .282/.340/.604 elsewhere, good for a 96 point swing in his wRC+ between the two. Among the teams other regulars, both TJ Rumfield and Troy Johnston are also hitting a bit better on the road, but no one comes close to matching Goodman’s splits.
Conclusions
Ultimately, what folks will want to know is why has this happened so far and is it likely continue? Sadly, the best answers to those questions I’ve been able to come up with are an unconvincing “luck” and a non-committal “probably not.”
It’s not as if Coors Field has suddenly turned into a pitcher’s park. The Rockies are still allowing more runs at home (6.07) than they are on the road (5.27). Taking a look at Baseball Savant’s Park Factors leaderboards for specifically 2026 shows that Coors Field has been slightly overtaken by the Athletics Sutter Health Park, but it is still near enough to the top that the sample size of a half season isn’t enough to draw real conclusions from.
Part of the answer can be attributed to the Rockies having gotten the opportunity to play three away games in the open air minor league Las Vegas Ballpark. If we removed all three of the Las Vegas games, the Rockies road scoring would no longer slightly outpace their home scoring, but it would still be by far the smallest gap in franchise history at only 0.471 more runs per game scored at home.
At the time of writing this, I have not found a convincing answer as to what, if anything, has changed to cause this shift. Unless Warren Schaeffer reveals some heretofore unknown road batting preparation method new to 2026, changes to the way the ball is moving are discovered, or (knock on wood) some new gambling scandal is uncovered, all previous precedent indicates that these home/road splits will not continue into the second half.
If they do, this will almost certainly go down as the most abnormal offensive season in Rockies history.
In a reversal of the first game of the series on Tuesday, the Bees (LAA) walloped the Isotopes.
What began as a close one run game for the first six innings descended into a blowout with a seven run implosion during Luke Adams’ second inning of work in the sixth. That poor outing overshadowed four shutout innings from Tanner Gordon in his first rehab start since being sidelined with a hip injury at the end of May.
While the Isotopes lineup wasn’t able to get across many runs in the end they did manage to work the count quite a bit against the Bee’s pitching staff. Each of Adael Amador and Sterlin Thompson (No. 13 PuRP) earned two walks and Jordan Beck (on a rehab assignment) drew another three. The problem was a lack of contact as the entire order only managed four singles while doubling that number of strikeouts.
A second rough outing in a row from Jackson Cox (No. 16 PuRP) let the Sea Dogs (BOS) jump out to a lead in the fourth inning that the Yard Goats were never able to come back from.
Cox, in his third start at Double-A, struck out five over his first three scoreless innings. In the fourth he hit the first batter he faced, walked the next, tossed a wild pitch to let the runners advance, and then proceeded to allow four hits and another walk before being pulled having only recorded a single out in the inning. Cox would be followed up by Cade Denton and Michael Prosecky (No. 25 PuRP) combining for three and a third innings of five-run ball. Eventually Carlos Torres would come in to finish out the final two and a third innings without allowing a run but enough damage had already been done by that point.
At the plate Andy Perez, Dyan Jorge, and GJ Hill collected two hits apiece. Otherwise the most notable performance was from the catcher, Bryant Betancourt, who reached base three times including on a single that drove in Roc Riggio (No. 14 PuRP) in the fifth.
A back and forth affair where both Spokane and the Dust Devils (LAA) would not stop answering lead changes with runs of their own.
It took Spokane five pitchers to make it through the full nine innings and the only one who had a scoreless outing was Justin Loer who tossed a single frame. Yujanyer Herrera (No. 22 PuRP) started off the game going three innings and allowing four runs (3 earned) with four strikeouts but did so on 64 pitches and was pulled before facing a batter in the fourth.
The Spokane bats, however, were a different story. The lineup combined for ten hits and nine walks which was enough to mean they did not have to come back out for the bottom of the ninth. Jack O’Dowd continued to do nothing but impress in High-A by reaching base three times and coming around to score twice. Robert Calaz (No. 6 PuRP) and Tevin Tucker both drew three walk. Unlike every other level of the farm system on Wednesday, the Indians were able to capitalize on all those baserunners thanks to home runs from each of Tommy Hopfe, Ethan Hedges (No. 29 PuRP), and Kelvin Hidalgo.
While the Grizzlies scored the first and final runs of the game they were unable to keep pace with the Storm (SDP) in the interim.
On the mound Luke Hansel and Bryson Van Sickle combined with nearly identical lines to pitch the full game for Fresno. They each went four innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits while striking out four. The only real difference between the two performances was efficiency as Van Sickle finished his four innings with thirteen fewer pitches than Hansel.
The Grizzlies lineup had a fair share of baserunners, scattering nine hits and three walks almost evenly throughout the order. They failed, however, to provide much in the way of thump to drive those runners in. Tanner Thach’s double to lead of the second inning was the only extra base hit of the night for Fresno.
A forgettable day for the DSL Rockies who allowed at least one run in every inning other than the fourth and had committed three errors by the third. The best pitching performance belongs to Francisco Perez who took over in the third and threw three innings while only allowing two runs, one earned, on just two hits.
At the plate the DSL Rockies were able to work six walks, but failed to drive any of those baserunners in. The only player with multiple hits was Hector Barroso who was three for three, including a double, with a walk. All told, a game to take some lessons from and move on.
A really lovely little piece from Eli Whitney chronicling Jimmy Herget and Brennan Bernadino’s paths to Colorado. The two started in the Reds minor league system together where they were roomates for a while and have apparently kept in touch since. A quick and free read that is incredibly wholesome. My personal favorite quote from Bernadino in the piece: “I’m just trying to be the left-handed Jimmy”.
Just as Renee Dechart did for Purple Row last week, Mario Delgado Genzor dissects whether it would be the right move for the organization to entertain trading Hunter Goodman. The piece leaves no stone unturned in it’s dissection of the topic ranging from what type of player Goodman has been, the Rockies history of poor catchers, the state of the organization as a whole, and what other catchers would be available to buyers at the deadline. A wonderfully thorough piece that is worth every Rockies fan reading while we await the flurry of moves coming at the end of July.
Patrick Saunders talks with Hunter Goodman about the changes he’s seen in the big league club since his callup in 2023. Goodman, and Warren Schaeffer, detail how the tone has shifted from one where people “were just happy to be here” to where “Now, it feels like we can beat anybody, any night.”. The piece gives a real sense of how Goodman has been integral to the step forward the club has made this year.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JUNE 24: Kahlil Watson #31 of the Cleveland Guardians hits an RBI during the tenth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on June 24, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After a rare blown save by closer Cade Smith, the Guardians somehow rallied back and beat the White Sox 4-3 in extras. Kahlil Watson is establishing himself fast now that he has his first pitch and home run under his belt. His single in the top of the tenth solidified the victory for Cleveland.
Quincy takes a look at Kody Huff and the potential for the catcher-turned-infielder to make an impact on the Cleveland squad.
MLB rightfully names Braylon Doughty as the hottest pitching prospect in the Cleveland organization. Readers of Covering the Corner know his name well, having voted him Cleveland’s No. 6 overall prospect in this past off season’s series.
A familiar name is making an impact in early Cy Young voting. Rookie pitching phenom Parker Messick has caught the attention of the “Panel of MLB Experts.”
Andrew Walters has been shut down due to elbow inflammation, though all reports indicate that his MRI came back clean.
Guardians shut down Walters b/c of inflammation. He underwent an MRI that came back clean. IL stint allows him to build back up when ready. Hasn't pitched since June 10. https://t.co/Z3rh9izTDe
A familiar, and very much missed, face is still gracing the leaderboards. Despite having not played for almost two weeks, José Ramírez is still leading all qualified MLB third baseman in outs above average with his teammate Daniel Schneemann holding down #3.
The story of this game was the performance from Logan Allen. It’s been an up and down season for him but he was brilliant in this game. He tossed 6 shutout innings, striking out 9 without allowing a single walk. His ERA is down to 4.66 on the season. Franco Aleman continues to put up video game numbers, after another scoreless outing with 2 strikeouts. His ERA is down to 0.35 on the season.
The Clippers offense was held to just 3 runs despite having 11 hits. CJ Kayfus went 2-4 with a walk and an RBI single, Bo Naylor went 2-5 with two hard hit singles. Joe Lampe also continued his hot stretch, he went 2-4 and is now hitting .400 with a 1.108 OPS since being promoted to AAA.
Juan Benjamin went 2-4 with a HR, Wuilfredo Antunez also homered, and Luke Hill went 1-4 with a double. Jose Devers also went 1-4 with a HR.
It’s been a tough transition to AA for Rafe Schlesinger. He allowed five runs on Wednesday in just four innings pitched while walking more batters than he struck out. His ERA since being promoted to AA is now up to 9.49. I am confident he will rebound once he makes some adjustments.
Aaron Walton went 1-4 with a walk and his 13th HR of the season. He is hitting .270 with a .905 OPS on the season. Jace LaViolette raised his average up to .240 with a 2-4 performance with a walk. He has been much better after a rough first couple weeks of his pro career. Nolan Schubart went 1-3 with two walks and has his OPS up to .884.
Jacob Zibin had an up and down High-A debut. He allowed four runs in 4.1 innings pitched, but he also struck out 8 batters, which is very impressive. I really like seeing him miss bats at this level already, and am excited to see how he finishes his season out. Donovan Zsak lowered his ERA to 3.09 after tossing two scoreless innings of relief with 3 strikeouts.
While I am certainly not out on the young man, I can’t think of a more disappointing Guardians prospect than Joey Oakie this season. I really thought he was going to take a leap into a top 100 type prospect and we have seen the complete opposite. After another rough start where he gave up five runs in 4.2 innings pitched, his ERA is up to 6.75. The stuff is too good for him to perform this badly, they gotta figure this out.
Luis De La Cruz went 2-4 with a 2 run HR and an RBI single. Cannon Peebles went 1-3 with a walk and an RBI triple.
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 24: Blaze Alexander #23 of the Baltimore Orioles reacts during the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on June 24, 2026 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Hello, friends.
The west coast road trip of disappointment is finally over. At times, it seemed like it could have been something better than it was. If only the Orioles had scored more than six runs in three games against the Mariners. If only they hadn’t blown the series opener against the Dodgers. If only they hadn’t laid an egg against Ryan Johnson. And then, added to the pile freshly yesterday, if only they hadn’t… I don’t even know how to describe that. Check out Tyler Young’s recap of the game for more of the not-so-lovely totals.
These guys ain’t got it. They can trick you a little bit for a few days at a time at most, and because of the general state of the American League they haven’t yet faced a crisis point in the standings stemming from not having it. But we’re now past the halfway point of the season and it’s clear that this is what they are. There is not some other, better thing waiting inside to break out.
The Orioles are everything bad that they inflict upon us in more than half of their games. Perhaps there is nothing more representative than the play in the tenth inning where the Angels tied the game, where Keegan Akin was slow to cover first base and therefore did not catch what would have otherwise been an easy toss to end the game, and this error let the go-ahead run get all the way to third base. That runner promptly scored on a bad-luck (for the Orioles) chopper where only catcher Samuel Basallo could field it and he tried to tag the runner because Akin wasn’t moving for home.
He was not able to do this and they lost. Maybe he should have tried to throw to first instead. I don’t know. After the game, Basallo took the blame for this decision:
In a lot of ways, the specifics don’t matter as much as the fact that there’s always something stupid that finds a way to happen. That is just how the 2026 Orioles do it. I don’t understand why or how they do it. They just do. If you didn’t know any better, you might think that they never practice anything, routine or otherwise, to do with fielding baseballs.
They could have built something after winning two of three against the Dodgers. They could have! They just can’t do it because the players aren’t good enough. Mike Elias did not put together a roster with the horses to do this thing. He apparently thought the relief corps he assembled could get him through the season. What’s happened is a couple of guys were good in April and/or May and nobody else was, and now the good ones are collapsing too, as in the case of Rico Garcia’s contribution to yesterday’s loss. They wasted a game where Basallo hit two home runs for the first time in his career. It could have felt good.
The fact that the game unraveled in the hands of the bullpen does make the decision to lift yesterday’s starter, Trey Gibson, after only 66 pitches, something worth second-guessing. This was not a desperation move. Gibson could have gone for longer. He wasn’t struggling at the end; he’d given up runs in the first inning and then was doing better.
There was, of course, a logic to it. The bullpen had been lightly used in recent days and, with an off day tomorrow, spreading the work around was important because if guys get rusty and stink for that reason, that’s not good either. Gibson dodged the third time through the order penalty and things were lined up so five guys could get an inning. This failed on the first guy: Grant Wolfram couldn’t get an inning. Tyler Wells saved his bacon, then Yennier Cano couldn’t get an inning. Garcia got an inning but gave up three runs in the process.
On the other hand, if Gibson had pitched six innings instead, the Orioles probably still would have turned to Garcia in either the eighth or the ninth inning and would have been just as vulnerable to getting wrecked by June Garcia. They don’t have any good choices because they haven’t given themselves any good choices.
We all get a day off from them today. That’s nice. I need one after watching that Wednesday game squandered in the most frustrating fashion possible. Do you have anything fun planned on this off night? I’ll likely try to take a bite out of one of my nerdy pursuits, logging some time in a JRPG called Trails of Cold Steel.
Updates on Jackson Holliday and Adley Rutschman (Baltimore Baseball) It’s far down the list of things to complain about after everything else that happened yesterday, but the Orioles not having Holliday available for four straight games and not just putting him on the injured list so the team ends up short-handed is silly and counterproductive. One visible manifestation of this was Leody Taveras having to play third base mid-gae a couple of days ago.
Cedric Mullins is elevating and… oh no. (FanGraphs) The .199/.286/.305 for Mullins this year is sad to see. Apparently, he’s currently in position to set a record for highest fly-ball percentage by a batter ever recorded.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
The most recent Orioles victory on this day came in 2023. That year’s team beat the Mariners, 3-2, to raise their record to 47-29. That’s pretty good! Kyle Bradish tossed seven innings with two runs allowed and the Orioles only gave up three hits all game. Only two players who appeared in that game for the O’s remain on the 40-man roster: Bradish and Gunnar Henderson.
There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2008-11 outfielder Luke Scott, 2000-01 pitcher Ryan Kohlmeier, and 1977 pitcher Dick Drago.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: five-star Air Force general Henry Arnold (1886), author George Orwell (1903), singer-songwriter Carly Simon (1943), baskeball Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo (1966), and actress Mckenna Grace (2006).
On this day in history…
In 1876, Lt. Col. Custer led his men of the 7th Cavalry Regiment into an ambush by a force of three native tribes that had him outnumbered more than 10-1. The Battle of the Little Bighorn was one of the last battles that saw the army battle native tribes; despite the victory in the battle, the Great Sioux War came to a close before long and the tribes could not withstand a reinforced army.
In 1947, The Diary of a Young Girl, secretly written by Anne Frank, was published posthumously.
In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, beginning the Korean War. There was an armistice after close to three years of fighting, though the two Koreas have never concluded a peace treaty so the war has technically never ended.
In 1978, the rainbow flag waved at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade, the first time that was used to represent gay pride. Tomorrow night is Pride Night at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on June 25. Have a safe Thursday.
CINCINNATI, OHIO - JULY 16: Elly De La Cruz #44 of the Cincinnati Reds speaks with William Contreras #24 of the Milwaukee Brewers during a baseball game at Great American Ball Park on July 16, 2023 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Jeff Dean/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Note: All stats/records as of the morning of June 24
Though it sort of feels like their first game was not that long ago, the Milwaukee Brewers have played 78 games and are nearing the mathematical halfway point in the season. I thought it would be a good time to reassess the division, to see how things are going elsewhere, and to check on the Brewers’ outlook the rest of the way.
The National League Central got off to quite a start in 2026; as recently as June 4, all five teams were over .500. Compare that to the entire American League, which has just five teams above .500 total. But as the season has gone on, the back of the NL Central has slowed a bit, while the Brewers — who were not, I will remind you, generally regarded as preseason favorites — have opened up a cautiously comfortable lead at the top.
Let’s take a look at the other four teams to see how things are going and how we might expect the rest of the season to play out. We’ll go in reverse standings order.
Cincinnati Reds
Record: 37-41 (5th) Paul’s preseason record prediction: 85-77 (3rd) Best position player so far: Elly De La Cruz Best pitcher so far: Chase Burns
The Reds got off to a hot start. On May 1, they were 20-12 and led the division. But the next day, they started a seven-game losing streak which dropped them all the way to last place in the division, and they’ve hovered around .500 ever since. They’re just 7-13 in June, which coincided with the loss of De La Cruz, who didn’t play between May 31 and June 23 because of a hamstring strain.
De La Cruz has ascended to star status after tantalizing but inconsistent play during his first three seasons. He has career highs in all three slash-line categories, and he’s seen an uptick in power that could get him to his first 30/30 season despite missing most of June. His defense, which was excellent in 2024 but took a step back in 2025, has also seemingly rebounded.
Rookie Sal Stewart carried the offense over the first month. Through April 25, he was hitting .303/.398/.626 with nine home runs, 29 RBIs, and seven stolen bases in just 27 games. But he has cooled considerably since then: in his last 51 games, Stewart is hitting just .216/.305/.351 with five homers.
One nice surprise has been outfielder JJ Bleday. A former No. 4 overall pick, Bleday had a nice season with the A’s in 2024 but took a major step back in 2025 and was non-tendered after the season. Bleday signed with Cincinnati, and he’s put together an excellent year: in 50 games, he’s slugging .530 with 13 homers, 11 doubles, and 35 RBIs. His 138 OPS+ leads the team.
On the pitching side, the headlines belong to the 23-year-old Burns. The flamethrowing right-hander was the No. 2 overall pick in 2024 and quickly climbed prospect lists. He has some of the nastiest stuff in the league, and through 15 starts and 85 innings this season, he’s pitched to a 2.00 ERA with 102 strikeouts. If not for his fellow second-year pitcher Jacob Misiorowski, Burns would perhaps be the biggest pitching story in the league this year; with Burns, Misiorowski, and Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes all under 25, this division boasts one of the best young pitching trios we’ve seen in the league for some time.
There are disappointments elsewhere on the roster. Closer Emilio Pagán got off to a rough start before going on the injured list with a hamstring problem, and the team has had trouble replacing him. He’s expected back soon, but his ERA (6.43) and FIP (5.82) were both unsightly before his IL stint. Eugenio Suárez was the team’s big free-agent acquisition, signed to a one-year, $15 million contract before the season after he hit 49 homers for the Diamondbacks and Mariners last year. This year has been awful: he’s hitting just .201/.260/.253 and has only seven home runs in 51 games. The rotation, considered a strength coming into the season, has just two players with an ERA below 4.80.
That rotation has also been missing one of the league’s most dynamic starters, Hunter Greene. Greene was an All-Star and finished eighth in Cy Young voting in 2024 before getting off to an even better start in 2025, but he missed the entire second half of last season with a groin injury before needing to undergo surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow during spring training this year. He may be nearing a return, which would be a major boost.
Threat level: Low. There’s some potential for this pitching staff; if Greene and Pagán look good upon their returns and Nick Lodolo (who pitched well against Milwaukee on Tuesday) improves, they could be a challenge to score on. But the problem lately has been offense, and unless Suárez goes on a major heater and Stewart finds his early season form, there’s not enough here.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Record: 39-40 (4th) Paul’s preseason record prediction: 78-84 (4th) Best position player so far: Bryan Reynolds Best pitcher so far: Paul Skenes
A trendy pick to do well in the division at the beginning of the season, I never bought in with the Pirates; I didn’t think they did enough to improve upon what was one of the worst offenses in the league last year, and while I thought the pitching staff had some potential, I thought they were still a ways away.
The offense has improved quite a bit more than I expected it to. Some of that is from external forces: their new second baseman, Brandon Lowe, has been excellent, and he’s been holding it down defensively at second base, which was a question. Their other acquisitions have had mixed results; Ryan O’Hearn has been okay, but Marcell Ozuna has been a disaster — he has a 65 OPS+ and -0.8 WAR in 54 games.
The biggest reasons the offense has improved came from within. One is Oneil Cruz, who was flaming hot for a stretch during the season’s first month. He’s cooled a bit, though, and strikeouts will always be a problem: Cruz is ninth in the majors with 98 strikeouts, but he’s played 10 fewer games than any of the eight players in front of him.
The biggest factor for the Bucs this season has been an old Brewer nemesis: Bryan Reynolds. I’ll admit that after the then-30-year-old Reynolds had a thoroughly unspectacular season in 2025 I wrote him off. I was wrong. Reynolds is having his best season since he finished 11th in MVP voting in 2021: through 79 games, he’s hitting .287/.401/.482 with 18 doubles, 11 homers, and 51 RBIs, and he’s on pace for his best season by WAR in years.
On the other side of the ball, Skenes has been really good… but he hasn’t quite been the “this is one of the two best pitchers in the league” guy he’d been in his first two seasons. Skenes already has four games in 2026 in which he’s given up four runs or more; he only had five such games in his first two seasons combined. Skenes’ peripheral numbers are mostly in line with previous years: his strikeout rate (30.6%) is slightly higher than it was in his unanimous Cy Young campaign last season, and his walk rate (5.1%) is the lowest of his career. The big difference has been the long ball; it’s not a huge jump, but Skenes is giving up home runs at a rate that’s a couple ticks higher than in either of his previous fantastic seasons.
Some concerns still remain. It is a question as to whether Reynolds and Lowe, who’ve been carrying the offense of late, can keep their pace, and similar questions apply to surprising role players like Spencer Horwitz. Konnor Griffin is off to a solid start as a pro, but Pittsburgh will need more from his bat if they want to make noise this season. The pitching staff is a mixed bag: Braxton Ashcraft has been good, and Carmen Mlodzinski has been a nice surprise, but Mitch Keller and Bubba Chandler, who were both being counted on to be major contributors, have been disappointing. Evan Sisk has been incredible in 34 innings in the bullpen, but Dennis Santana couldn’t hold the closer job at the beginning of the season and Gregory Soto, who has been plagued by inconsistency over his career, is now closing games. It’s gone well so far, but I would not want to rely too heavily on Soto.
Threat level: Low. I’ve been down on Pittsburgh as a short-term threat all year. The offense has been significantly better than I expected, but that’s with several guys outperforming their expectations, and I wouldn’t expect that to keep up. They’ve also sacrificed defense in order to improve the offense: at -14.4 fielding runs, they’ve got the fourth-worst defense in the league via FanGraphs.
Chicago Cubs
Record: 41-37 (3rd) Paul’s preseason record prediction: 91-71 (2nd) Best position player so far: Pete Crow-Armstrong Best pitcher so far: Ben Brown
The bad news, if you’re a Brewers fan: Pete Crow-Armstrong is, I think, better than we all gave him credit for. As of Wednesday, PCA is the MLB leader in bWAR among position players with 4.7. Despite the occasional boneheaded move, he is the best defensive outfielder in baseball by far. After a slow start that extended a months-long slump from the second half of last year, someone poured gasoline on PCA and flicked a match at him: in June, he is batting .432/.488/.946 in 18 games. That scorching stretch has bumped his season numbers up to .287/.366/.529 (a 152 OPS+) with 17 homers, four triples, and 18 stolen bases. He’s also improved his batting eye; PCA may never walk a lot, but with 30 free passes in 2026, he’s already surpassed last season’s total in fewer than half the games.
The good news, if you’re a Brewers fan: little else has gone right for the Cubs, particularly on the pitching staff. They have had horrible injury luck: as of this writing, Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton, Justin Steele, and Jameson Taillon — four fifths of what they hoped would be their rotation this season — are on the injured list, as are relievers Daniel Palencia, Riley Martin, Porter Hodge, and Hunter Harvey. Their remaining starters have struggled: Shota Imanaga, Colin Rea, and Edward Cabrera — who they traded their top prospect, Owen Caissie, for in the offseason — have a combined -1.3 bWAR. The bullpen has been similarly erratic; aside from one bright spot in Ryan Rolison, consistency has been difficult to come by.
One exception is Ben Brown, the 26-year-old righty. He started the season out of the bullpen, but the team needed starts, so he moved to the rotation in early May. In eight starts since then, Brown has a 1.70 ERA and 2.40 FIP in 42 1/3 innings.
Note: both Brown and Cabrera were also added to the injured list after this piece was written on Wednesday. Things just keep getting wore for the Cubs’ pitching staff.
The lineup has been okay, but the two highly paid guys on the left side of the infield are struggling. Dansby Swanson can’t get over the Mendoza line but is maintaining some amount of offensive utility only because he’s got 11 homers. Alex Bregman, in the first year of a five-year, $140 million contract, is having the worst offensive season of his 11-year career.
Threat level: Medium-low. The offense is still potent, the defense is still good, and PCA looks like an MVP candidate, but the pitching just isn’t coming together. Boyd might be back soon, but Steele may miss the whole season, and Horton won’t pitch until 2027. Taillon could be back in the second half, but he was leading the league in home runs allowed when he went out. Palencia’s status is iffy. There are just too many injuries.
St. Louis Cardinals
Record: 42-35 (2nd) Paul’s preseason record prediction: 74-88 (5th) Best position player so far: J.J. Wetherholt Best pitcher so far: Michael McGreevy
This team is the biggest surprise here, maybe in the whole league. The Cardinals were expected to be bad — they traded away Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado, and Brendan Donovan, their most accomplished players, before the season. But in a very Brewers-y twist, they’ve improved over last season’s 78-84 team, at least thus far.
A lot of that has to do with rookie JJ Wetherholt, who came into the season as a consensus top-five prospect. Wetherholt has played some of the best infield defense in the National League, and he’s more than carried his weight offensively, too. Through 73 games, he was hitting .267/.366/.421 (125 OPS+) with 12 homers and eight stolen bases in eight tries; as of Wednesday, he ranked only behind Crow-Armstrong and the Dodgers’ Andy Pages in bWAR among NL position players.
The other big reason is the resurgence of Jordan Walker. His story is well-known: he, like Wetherholt, was a mega-prospect. But he was called up when he was really young — he played 117 big-league games in his age-21 season in 2023 — and while he hit pretty well, the Cardinals couldn’t find a defensive home for him. Over the next two years, his offense disappeared, and he had to go back to the minors on various occasions. But he was still only 23 years old at the start of the 2026 season, so maybe we shouldn’t have been surprised when he finally started to deliver on his prodigious offensive talent. As of Wednesday, Walker was leading the NL in RBIs, with a .290/.343/.523 (143 OPS+) batting line and 18 homers.
I still have concerns. The pitching staff has only two above-average starters, one of whom — Andre Pallante — had -1.2 bWAR in 2025. The other, McGreevy, had barely thrown 100 big leagues innings prior to this season, and he’s got a FIP that’s more than a run higher than his ERA. The bullpen isn’t good; of the seven Cardinal pitchers with double-digit relief appearances, only two have an ERA+ better than 102.
The most notable crack in the St. Louis façade is in their run differential, which sat at just plus-four coming into play Wednesday. That’s worse than the Cubs and Pirates and gives them an “expected” win-loss record of 39-38, three games worse than their actual record.
Threat level: Low. The Cardinals should be praised for what they’ve done this season, and they’ve already exceeded my expectations, but they’ve done that with basically perfect scenarios from Wetherholt and Walker. The pitching staff, an expected weakness, has been middle of the pack and I see no reason to think it will improve, if it doesn’t regress. If the Cardinals hang around .500 for the rest of the season, it’d be a positive outcome for them; to ask for more than that is probably asking too much of this young, inexperienced group.
Milwaukee’s Outlook
The Brewers have put themselves in a great position not because they’re lucky but because they are good. Even with a healthy pitching staff, I never thought the Cubs were quite on Milwaukee’s level and given how the Brewers have surprised everyone by seemingly improving again, they’ve built a cushion in this division that I don’t see any of the other teams being able to overcome.
There is still a lot of season left, but the Brewers are the class of this division, and the numbers bear it out: Milwaukee’s +122 run differential, the second-best mark in baseball behind the Dodgers, is almost 100 runs better than second place in the division (the Cubs at +31). Chicago is still the biggest threat, but I still expect Milwaukee to cruise to another division title.
The Detroit Tigers failed to secure a series win against the New York Yankees on Wednesday night, falling short in a 4-2 defeat that saw Tarik Skubal earn his fourth loss of the season. The offense did him no favors, going just 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and leaving nine on base, but Skubal’s three home runs surrendered did nothing to further the cause either.
Next up for the Motor City Kitties are the Houston Astros, who arrive in town on Thursday for a four-game weekend series to wrap up the current homestand at Comerica Park. The ‘Stros have collected four straight series wins after recently beating the Toronto Blue Jays on the road — including one against Detroit at Daikin Park last week, two games to one.
Opening things up for the Tigers is right-hander Troy Melton, who has been a steady presence in the rotation but has yet to crack the zero fWAR mark in just under 32 innings of work. While statistically he is dead even with the average replacement player, he still has a perfect 4-0 record and a sub-3 ERA — much more than any of the other starters can claim.
The 25-year-old recorded his third quality start in five tries last time out against the Chicago White Sox, who he shut down with six one-run innings, allowing just a solo home run along with three walks while striking out five and hitting a batter. He earned the win in a 4-1 victory for the good guys.
Going up against him is fellow righty Tatsuya Imai, who has struggled a bit in his first season on this side of the Pacific. The 28-year-old from Japan did manage to notch a quality start in his last outing against the Cleveland Guardians, tossing six frames of three-run ball on six hits (one home run) and zero walks while striking out a season high 11 batters for his fourth victory of 2026 in a 9-3 triumph.
Both starters are facing each other for the first time this season. Here is a look at how they match up on Thursday night.
Detroit Tigers (34-46) vs. Houston Astros (39-43)
Time (ET): 6:40 p.m. Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan SB Nation Site:The Crawfish Boxes Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Game 81: RHP Troy Melton (4-0, 2.56 ERA) vs. RHP Tatsuya Imai (4-3, 6.15 ERA)
Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders:L, 6-8 at Indianapolis Indians
LF Duke Ellis 1-4, BB, K, SB 2B-SS-2B Marco Luciano 0-4, BB, K, throwing error — some weird defensive notes afoot, though not as funny as Travis d’Arnaud and Asdrubal Cabrera with the Mets a few years ago DH Yanquiel Fernández 1-4, RBI, SF CF Garrett Martin 2-5, 2B, HR, 5 RBI — the dingers and ribbies will continue until morale improves, regardless of level (his third in four games at Triple-A and 24th in 66 games combined between Double-A, 435 feet); also a great catch! SS-3B-SS Tyler Hardman 1-4, K, HBP, throwing error 1B Ernesto Martinez Jr. 1-4, BB, K C Payton Henry 2-5, K 3B-2B-2B Cole Gabrielson 0-3, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 fielding errors and a throwing error — made errors at both positions, and then a third (this was his first carer pro game in the infield); anyway, Scranton made five errors, whoops RF Kenedy Corona 2-3, BB, RBI, K
Adam Kloffenstein 4 IP, 3 H, 5 R (2 ER), 4 BB, 2 K, HR, HBP Dylan Coleman 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K Rafael Montero 0.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 0 K (loss) Jake Bird 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K Eric Reyzelman 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Double-A Somerset Patriots:W, 10-2 at New Hampshire Fisher Cats
LF Jackson Castillo 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI — his and Cobb’s two-run doubles helped Patriots build 4-0 lead early DH Jace Avina 1-5, RBI, 2 K CF DJ Gladney 0-5, 4 K RF Nicholas Torres 1-4, 2 K, SB, HBP 3B Coby Morales 2-4, HR, BB, 2 RBI, 2 K, CS C Miguel Palma 1-4, BB, RBI, K 1B Josh Moylan 2-4, 2B, HR, BB, 2 RBI, K — first Double-A homer SS Owen Cobb 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 K 2B Connor McGinnis 2-4, 2B, K
Xavier Rivas 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 6 K (win) Harrison Cohen 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K Matt Keating 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K Michael Arias 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K Hayden Merda 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 0 K Chase Chaney 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
High-A Hudson Valley Renegades:L, 6-7 (10) at Bowling Green Hot Rods
3B Kaeden Kent 3-5, K, CS SS Core Jackson 2-5 C Eric Genther 1-4, BB, K, catcher interference error 1B Kyle West 3-5, BB, RBI, K LF Wilson Rodriguez 2-5, HR, 3 RBI, picked off — two-run homer tied it in the second and two-run single gave HV a 6-4 lead, but it did not hold DH Roderick Arias 2-5, 2B, 3 K 2B Enmanuel Tejeda 0-5, GIDP CF Camden Troyer 0-3, BB, K RF Robbie Burnett 0-4, K
Luis Serna 6 IP, 6 H, 5 R (4 ER), 1 BB, 9 K, balk Tanner Bauman 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K Bryce Warrecker 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 1 K, HBP, WP — uncorked wild pitch to let Hot Rods tie it in eighth Andrew Landry 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 2 K (loss) — allowed walk-off knock to Nathan Flewelling
DH Brando Mayea 3-6, K, SB — single to begin game was the first of 15 knocks for Tampa SS Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek 0-4, BB, 2 K, HBP 3B Hans Montero 1-4, HR, BB, 2 RBI, SF — 410-foot blast in the eighth CF Willy Montero 3-5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 K, SB — two-run shot in the first went 108 mph off the bat (distance not captured, but it went deep to left-center) LF JoJo Jackson 3-5, 2B, 3B, RBI, CS — has hit .442 in his last 13 games 1B David McCann 0-4, BB, 3 K 2B Luis Escudero 3-4, 2B, HR, BB, 2 RBI, K, 2 SB — went yard in the second, along with Lara C Ediel Rivera 1-4, BB, RBI, K — RBI hit made it 7-0 in the fifth RF Gabriel Lara 1-4, HR, BB, RBI, 2 K
Thatcher Hurd 4.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 10 K — 15 swings and misses as well, easily his best pro start yet (out of eight this year post-Tommy John surgery) Jose M. Rodriguez 2.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 2 K, HR (win) Pedro Rodriguez 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K Josh Tiedemann 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 1 K, WP
Dominican Summer League Bombers:L, 1-12 (7) vs. DSL Mets Orange — Bombers held to two hits, they probably wish they had just been off too
SS Mani Cedeno 0-2, BB, 2 K, SB 3B Adam Feliz 0-0 DH Alessandro Rodriguez 0-2, RBI, K, SF 2B Carlos Bello 0-3, 2 K RF David Carrera 0-2 RF Sebastian Pinto 0-0, HBP 3B Germayhoni Beltre 0-3, GIDP C Poly Ojeda 0-1, 2 BB, K, throwing error, passed ball, picked off 1B Stalen Ramirez 0-1, BB, K, CS LF Eddison Charles 0-2, K, GIDP CF Alfiery Matos 2-2, SB — hey, someone had to get the hits! (two singles)
Jun 22, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner (7) and Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12) stand in the on deck circle prior to the first inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
The Athletic’s Trade Target big board 1.0 is out and it features 50 names of players who all have varying degrees of possibility to be moved this upcoming deadline. ($)
PORT ST. LUCIE, FL - MARCH 19: Mitch Voit #55 of the New York Mets smiles in the dugout prior to the game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Mets at Clover Park on Thursday, March 19, 2026 in Port St. Lucie, Florida. (Photo by Scott Audette/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Syracuse went down 3-0 in the second inning, and that score held until the seventh. A rehabbing Tyrone Taylor drove in a run with a single to make it 3-1. The Mets took the lead in the eighth, on the back of a Grae Kessinger ground out and a Ronny Maruicio two run single. Yonny Hernandez made it 5-3 with a single in the ninth, which ended up being an important insurance run. Ben Simon surrendered a home run in the ninth, but held on for the two inning save.
SS Ronny Mauricio: 2-5, 2 RBI
REHAB ALERT: CF Tyrone Taylor: 1-4, RBI, K
LF Nick Morabito: 2-5, R, 2 K, 2 SB (25, 26)
1B Ryan Clifford: 0-5, 2 K
RF Cristian Pache: 1-5, R, K
3B Yonny Hernández: 3-4, R, 2B, RBI, BB
DH Ben Rortvedt: 0-3, BB, K
PR-DH Ji Hwan Bae: 0-1, R
2B Grae Kessinger: 0-3, RBI, BB, K
C Hayden Senger: 0-3, R, BB, K
RHP Jack Weisenburger: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 1 K
LHP Felipe De La Cruz: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
RHP Adbert Alzolay: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
RHP Ofreidy Gómez: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (1-0)
RHP Ben Simon: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, S (1)
Both teams plated a run in the first, and Binghamton took a short lived lead with a run in the third. That lead did not make it out of the inning, as Erie put three on the board to make it 4-2. Matt Rudick homered and Nick Roselli grounded out to tie it in the sixth, but two runs in both the seventh and eighth put the game away for Erie.
C Chris Suero: 0-2, 2 K
C Vincent Perozo: 0-3, K
CF Jose Ramos: 1-4, R, BB, K, SB (6)
DH Nick Lorusso: 1-3, R, 2B, BB
1B JT Schwartz: 2-4, 2 RBI, K
RF Matt Rudick: 1-4, R, HR (1), RBI
SS Wyatt Young: 1-3, R, BB, 2 SB (14, 15)
LF Jaylen Palmer: 0-3, BB
2B Nick Lucky: 0-2, 2 BB, K
3B Nick Roselli: 0-4, RBI, E (1)
LHP Jonathan Santucci: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 WP
LHP Gabriel Rodriguez: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
RHP Garrett Stratton: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, L (0-1)
RHP Carlos Guzman: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
A blowout! Brooklyn was powered by a six run fourth, and a pair of three run innings in the sixth and seventh.
It was one of those games where the offensive contributions are too much to mention individually. The team amassed 17 hits, with every member of the lineup notching one. The first six batters all had multi-hit games, with Yonatan Henriquez pacing the team with four. They also hit three home runs (John Bay, Trace Willhoite, and JT Benson). It was an overall excellent game.
As one would expect with a 12-8 final, this game was up and down. The Mets went up 1-0 in the third, and Fort Myers took the lead with a two spot in the bottom of the frame. The Mets came back in the fourth to drop four in the fourth, two on a Simon Juan double and two on a Jeremy Rodriguez single, making it 5-2.
The Mighty Mussels tied the game in the fifth, and ran with it from there. They scored one in the sixth, one in the seventh and five in the eighth, which put it away. The Mets scored in the sixth and eighth as well, but simply could not keep up the pace.
It may not seem like it this year but one of baseball’s greatest rivalries is renewed tonight in Boston when the Yankees (48–31) and Red Sox (32-46) open a weekend series. New York sits atop the American League East while Boston is mired in the cellar.
You might think the Sox at Fenway helps level the playing field, but Boston has been a terrible home team this season with a record of just 12-25 while the Yankees have been dominant even on the road with 26 wins in 42 games. To date this season, it really has not mattered where they have played as these teams have played five times this season with New York winning four of the five and all three at Fenway.
Last night, the Yankees wrapped up their series in Detroit with a 4–2 win taking the final two games of the three-game series. Paul Goldschmidt homered twice to pace the Bronx Bombers against Tarik Skubal. The Sox dropped two of three to the Rockies earlier this week including 8-6 last night. Five of the eight runs that crossed the plate for Colorado were unearned. It's been that kind of season for the Red Sox. New York is a pedestrian 6–4 over their last 10 games but as mentioned do remain atop the division. The Red Sox, meanwhile, have dropped three of their last four and are 3–7 over their last ten games.
Tonight’s pitching matchup features two arms coming off strong outings in their most recent trips to the bump. The Yankees send the favorite to win the Cy Young, Cam Schlittler (8–3, 1.71 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 109 K) to face the Sox. Schlittler struck out 13 Reds over six shutout innings of four-hit ball last Friday. Boston counters with Connelly Early (6–5, 3.64 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 79 K). The lefty allowed one run on two hits while striking out seven over six innings Saturday in Seattle.
Ben Rice continues to pace the Yankees’ attack. He leads the team with a .286 average, 22 HR, and 53 RBI. Paul Goldschmidt has been white hot recently, going 14‑for‑41 with five home runs over his last 10 games. Boston’s most productive bat has been Willson Contreras, hitting .280 with 16 HR and 46 RBI this season. Ceddanne Rafaela is swinging a hot bat with at least one hit in seven of his last eight and 10 of his last 12 games.
Let's dive into tonight’s matchup and find a sweat or two.
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Game Details and How to Watch: Yankees vs. Red Sox
Date: Thursday, June 25, 2026
Time: 7:10PM EST
Site: Fenway Park
City: Boston, MA
Network/Streaming: MLB.TV, YES, NESN
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The Latest Odds: Yankees vs. Red Sox
The latest odds as of Thursday courtesy of DraftKings:
Moneyline: New York Yankees (-176), Boston Red Sox (+145)
Spread: Yankees -1.5 (-104), Red Sox +1.5 (-115)
Total: 7.5 runs
Starting Pitchers and their Stats: Yankees vs. Red Sox for June 25
Red Sox: Connelly Early Season Totals: 81.2 IP, 6-5, 3.64 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 79K, 31 BB
Who’s Hot? Who’s Not! Yankees vs. Red Sox
Jasson Dominguez homered yesterday and has hit safely in 5 of his last 6 games (7-23)
Jose Caballero was 1-10 in the series against Detroit
Ben Rice was 2-13 in the series against the Tigers
Ben Rice has struck out 4 times in 4 career ABs against Connelly Early
Speaking of strikeouts, Boston hitters have K’d 18 times in 63 career ABs against Cam Schlittler
Jarren Duran is hitless in his last 16 ABs and 1-26 over his last 7 games
Ceddanne Rafaela is hitting .313 in June (25-80)
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Top Betting Trends & Insights: Yankees vs. Red Sox
The Red Sox are 31-47 on the Run Line this season
The Yankees are 39-40 on the Run Line this season
The OVER has cashed 34 times in games involving the Red Sox this season (34-41-3)
The OVER has cashed 35 times in games involving the Yankees this season (35-40-4)
Expert picks & predictions: Yankees vs. Red Sox
Rotoworld Bet Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for tonight’s game between the Red Sox and the Yankees:
Moneyline: Rotoworld Bet is recommending a play on the Yankees on the Moneyline.
Spread: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Yankees on the Run Line.
Total: Rotoworld Bet is staying away from a play on the Game Total of 7.5.
Yankees Team Total: Rotoworld Bet is recommending a play on the Yankees Team Total OVER 4.5 Total Runs.
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Major League Baseball has reached the halfway point of its season – actual, not symbolic, with the All-Star Game not tipping off until July 14 in Philadelphia. But come Thursday, June 24, more teams than not will have played 81 games, and it’s all downhill until this baby wraps up Sept. 27.
Weird year, right? The league is filled with lots of bad teams who really aren’t out of it, leaving observers to ponder if any team is actually any good. Perhaps the hot summer months will bring clarity.
Or perhaps we’ll wonder why MLB will insist on a lockout for competitive balance when everyone is mid.
Either way, now’s a fine time to look at the many eye-opening paces that teams and players alike have set. Perhaps some of them will even hold up.
But for now, the math’s easy, so here’s seven numbers that catch our eye should they hold up come Game 162:
10: American League teams below .500
Yeah, that’s two-thirds of the league under water. #IfTheSeasonEndedToday (and it doesn’t), the Toronto Blue Jays would claim a wild card spot with a losing record.
What gives?
Well, it’s easy enough to look at the interleague records and realize 12 of 15 teams have losing records against the National League. The Angels (9-18) and Twins (9-17) are the worst of the bunch, while only the Mariners (12-11) and Rangers (16-14) are above .500.
Bo Bichette (Blue Jays to Mets) and Alex Bregman (Red Sox to Cubs) hopped leagues, and while they haven’t lit up the scoreboard with their new clubs, their losses are palpable for the teams they left. Tarik Skubal remains in the AL, for now, and while he missed five weeks and his team has floundered, the Tigers are still alive.
Which brings us to our next point: Everyone’s in it.
25: Teams within six games of a playoff berth
Put it this way: It’s a lot easier to list the clubs who aren’t a fortuitous week away from getting into playoff position. That would be the Angels and Red Sox in the AL and Mets, Giants and Rockies in the NL.
Don’t think that automatically means those teams will be sellers, though. The Angels are just 6½ games out of a playoff spot and the Mets 8. Still, though, you wonder how many teams will truly believe, come Aug. 3, that They Are Good.
Will the floating mass of contenders break up a bit by then? That’s typically how it goes, but don’t discount anything in this season of the meager.
0: Teams on pace to lose 100 games
OK, now for some good news: Nobody’s objectively terrible.
The Colorado Rockies lost 119 games a year ago and they’re once again at the bottom of the league, but the new regime has them at 32-49 and on pace to go 64-98. Progress!
218: Strikeouts for Cam Schlittler
That would be the most for a Yankee not named Gerrit Cole since 2018, when Luis Severino punched out 220. In his first full season, Schlittler has pitched like an ace practically every start, more than holding it down while Cole and lefty Carlos Rodón were on the comeback trail.
While Cole has had moments of dominance in his return from Tommy John surgery, it’s hard to imagine anyone unseating Schlittler as the club’s bona fide, Game 1 playoff starter. Presuming Max Fried returns without incident from his elbow malady, the Yankees have a potentially daunting quartet of playoff starters.
9: Hits per nine innings given up by Freddy Peralta
Pardon the esoterica, but it’s hard to pinpoint one number for all that’s befallen the Mets this season. So let’s go with this one, simply because it appeared baseball ops president David Stearns stole Peralta at the end of the winter from the Milwaukee Brewers, a bona fide ace ready to lend stability to a star-studded team that needed pitching.
Yeah, about that.
Peralta has been getting thoroughly peppered, giving up 41% more hits than last season, when he won 17 games, posted a 2.70 ERA and finished fifth in Cy Young voting.
That ERA has swelled to 4.83, his K rate has shriveled from 10.4 to 8.7 per nine innings and Stearns, it seems, is experiencing the business end of Brewers devil magic he was so good at brewing up in Milwaukee.
Now, it’s doubtful Peralta can help the Mets get back into contention, unclear how much trade value he’ll have come August and curious what his market will look like when he finally hits free agency this winter.
220: Home runs for the Chicago White Sox
Yep, guess who’s second to the Bronx Bombers in home runs? These White Sox of Colson Montgomery and Munetaka Murakami, who lead the team with 20 longballs each. Those two are tied fourth in the AL, a remarkable feat for Murakami, since the Japanese rookie hasn’t played since May 29 due to a hamstring injury.
They are, somewhat stunningly, in first place in the AL Central just two seasons after losing a record 121 games. It’s a startling display of resolve for both team and individuals, most notably Miguel Vargas, who has 17 homers and has doggedly continued his rise since getting traded to the sad-sack ’24 Sox.
If they actually reach that 220-homer mark, that’ll tie the 2003 White Sox for fourth-most bombs in franchise history.
Credit where it’s due. The Nationals’ entirely new regime signed virtually no free agents, traded former All-Star MacKenzie Gore to Texas and ran it back with a group that went 71-91 in consecutive seasons.
Yet it’s all working: The 33-year-old manager, a resurgent Aussie, and All-Star talents like James Wood and CJ Abrams stepping to the fore have made what seemed like a bottom-up rebuild look less laborious and much more fun. Should they go out and get a bullpen if they hover in playoff position?
Can't hurt. Consider that they were on pace for 84 wins until lightning struck in the ninth inning on consecutive nights.
