Category: MLB

The Yankees came to Washington, DC after a series split with the Rays to match wits with a young and hungry Nationals team. The Nats are young, exude talent, and score tons of runs. They also give up lots of runs, particularly in the late innings. The Bombers saw both sides of the DC dichotomy tonight, watching a pair of talented hitters tear their hard-earned 2-1 lead to ribbons in just two pitches. But in the ninth, a pair of thunderous blasts from Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Austin Wells flipped the script a second time, and brought the Bombers to victory, 5-3.

After a two-hour rain delay pushed first pitch to just after 8:45pm ET, the Yankees began their offensive effort from the man who propelled them to the aforementioned Trop split: All-Star and soon-to-be Home Run Derby participant Ben Rice. Rice cracked a fastball from opener Carson Palmquist just past the leap of left fielder Dylan Crews and into the Yankee bullpen to give New York an early advantage. If Benny Barrels grabs one more dinger in this series, he’ll have 30 homers before the All-Star Break. What a season he is putting together.

The Yankees got two more runners aboard in the first, including on a single from Paul Goldschmidt that ended his 0-f0r-34 slide, but Palmquist worked around the jam to hold New York to the lone run.

Because this is a Ryan Weathers start, silliness was immediately afoot. In the second inning, two misplays in the infield forced him to essentially get five outs — a task he managed to accomplish without allowing a run, much to his credit.

One of those misplays came from Amed Rosario, who is burning up the goodwill he accrued early in the year. You just can’t be the lefty specialist who gets called upon to hit leadoff against the lefty opener with a 7 ERA and then go 0-for-2 with two strikeouts against him. To then boot a ball and make your pitcher’s job tougher is just a really tough look.

Weathers escaped that bind, but ran into further issues in the third thanks to the All-Star James Wood. Wood slammed a changeup 112 mph for a double, advanced to third on a base hit, then scored on a double play—another well-executed pitch by Weathers spurred the twin killing and subdued Washington’s rally. The Bombers jumped back ahead the following half-inning, making the deed all the more impactful.

Palmquist did his job and more, taking care of the first three innings for manager Blake Butera—then ceded to the veteran righty Zack Littell. Catcher Keibert Ruiz did Littell a solid by throwing out Cody Bellinger on a steal attempt. That meant that Jasson Domínguez’s ensuing home run was just a solo shot, but hey! A power display from the Martian is always welcome! His fifth home run of the year sailed 408 feet to right center field, over one of the deepest parts of Nationals Park.

Much to our chagrin, it was once again Amed Rosario time in the bottom of the fourth. An entirely routine ground ball to third base turned into a triple thanks to a complete lawn dart uncorked by Rosario—which eluded Paul Goldschmidt and skipped into a gulf of foul territory along the right field wall. Mercifully, Andrés Chaparro was subsequently erased in a rundown between third and home; and Weathers struck out Luis Garcia Jr. to retire the side. Once again, give Weathers credit for playing with the poor hands he was repeatedly dealt. But seriously, these kinds of mistakes from Rosario cannot continue to happen. (Ryan McMahon unsurprisingly took over afterward.)

Weathers beautifully worked a peaceful fifth inning, retiring the side in order and finishing with a strikeout of Curtis Mead. It sure would be nice if he could receive some more substantial run support than just the two solo shots the Bombers could muster. It probably wouldn’t have prevented Aaron Boone from making the call to Fernando Cruz when Weathers allowed two hits to put runners on the corners in the sixth.

For once though, Ryan caught a break when C.J. Abrams slipped rounding third and failed to score the tying run. Cruz cashed in that favor by striking out Daylen Lile and familiar face Jorbit Vivas to once again send a frustrated Washington offense packing. Weathers deservedly remained in line for the win thanks to Fernando’s continued success in leverage spots; as Michael Kay noted, he has stranded 30 of 35 inherited runners this year, the most in MLB.

But baseball does not like its starting pitchers, dear reader. The Yankees’ lead turned into a deficit in a matter of two pitches in the home seventh. A moment after the YES broadcast flashed a chyron showing the dramatic gulf in ERA between the Yankees’ and Nationals’ bullpen, Keibert Ruiz took Tim Hill deep with a drive down the left field line, just inside the foul-pole for a game-tying home run.

Then Wood seized upon Hill’s very next pitch, thrashing it on a line to the right-center stands for his 26th round-tripper and a 3-2 Washington lead. The second-best lineup against southpaws in the league finally showed up after the seventh-inning stretch.

The whole sequence reminded of that one Yankees-Twins game from 2021 in which Aroldis Chapman gave up a pair of homers to turn a win into a loss in record time—but at the very least the Yanks had multiple opportunities to get back in the game tonight.

The eighth inning was a dud, though. Ben Rice hit a sharp ground ball to first with a runner on, but Garcia made a nice stab to turn it into a double play. Butera brought in former Yankee prospect Clayton Beeter after an infield hit from Trent Grisham, and Beeter successfully struck out Goldschmidt to get the rickety Nats bullpen three outs away from victory.

Another pitcher who debuted with the Yankees was tabbed to pitch the ninth: lefty Matt Krook. Few people, including the sickos who read this site, likely remember Krook’s MLB debut, in which he let up five runs in under two innings as part of a blowout loss to the Red Sox in 2023. They’re more likely to remember the big swing he surrendered tonight. Domínguez lit the fire, putting the tying run aboard with a single and passing the baton to Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Jazz took a first pitch sweeper low, then watched a sinker pass by for strike one. Krook then returned to the breaking ball on 1-1, and Chisholm uncoiled, ripping it to the second deck in right field. Turnabout is fair play—the Yankees were back on top.

But New York wasn’t done. Austin Wells, who notably ended his homer drought yesterday in St. Petersburg, turned it into a streak by clobbering a ball from Justin Lawrence into the night for a critical insurance run.

Three David Bednar outs and multiple Blake Butera thousand-yard stares later, the Yamkees were 5-3 winners just a shade before midnight. What a win for the Bombers. As I said in the game thread earlier tonight, the Nats are pure entertainment value; sometimes to their benefit, but often to their detriment as well.

Tomorrow’s contest is a mid-afternoon affair in the nation’s capital. Cam Schlittler will take the mound following an eight-inning masterpiece at the Trop, facing veteran Miles Mikolas. First pitch is due at 4:05pm ET on YES.

Box Score

The Yankees had a late lead and the bullpen coughed it up, but Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s go-ahead homer in the ninth pushed New York to a 5-3 win over the Nationals on Friday night in Washington, D.C. 

Both the Yankees and Nationals entered Friday as the top two teams in home runs in all of MLB. And after the start of the series opener was delayed by approximately two hours due to a storm, both teams brought the thunder.

Two early Yankees jacks were undone when Tim Hill served up back-to-back homers to Keibert Ruiz and James Wood to give the Nats the lead. But that's when Chisholm came to the rescue, launching a two-run shot off of southpaw Matt Krook to give New York the lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Here are the takeaways....

-Ben Rice got the Yankees scoring started early with his 29th home run of the season to give New York a 1-0 lead in the first. The blast was his seventh in his last 10 games and is now one behind Yordan Alvarez -- who homered Friday as well -- for the AL lead. 

With the game tied in the fourth, Jasson Dominguez went deep to give the Yankees back the lead. 

-On the mound, Ryan Weathers was very effective for much of the game. The southpaw allowed one run through the first five innings, but pitched into trouble in the sixth. After a one-out double by CJ Abrams, Jacob Young singled, but the Nationals shortstop slipped on third and had to retreat when he was destined to tie the game. 

That knocked Weathers out of the game as Fernando Cruz was called on to get out of the jam. Cruz struck out a pinch-hitting Daylen Lile and Jorbit Vivas -- also pinch-hitting -- to strike out swinging to put a bow on Weathers' night.

Weathers allowed one run on six hits while striking out six batters. 

-After the Nationals took the lead, the Yankees had a chance to tie in the eighth. After Trent Grisham's infield single with two outs, he reached second on a wild pitch while Paul Goldschmidt was at the plate. The veteran right-hander struck out to end the threat.

Overall, the Yankees were 0-for-6 with RISP and left eight on base.

-David Bednar allowed just one baserunner (a hit batter), but was otherwise perfect, getting the final six outs. 

-Amed Rosario had a tough time in the field on Friday. Starting at third base, Rosario made two errors, one throwing and one of the fielding variety. While it didn't cost the Yankees any runs, it costWeatherspitches that he could have used to go deeper into this game.

Manager Aaron Boone pinch-hit for Rosario with Ryan McMahon in the fifth. Rosario finished 0-for-2 with two strikeouts.

-Goldschmidt singled in the first, snapping his career-worst 0-for-34 hitless streak. He finished 2-for-5.

Game MVP: Jazz Chisholm Jr.

The go-ahead blast turned around what would have been a tough loss.

Highlights

Ben Rice goes the other way for his 29th home run! pic.twitter.com/FE9oeWpXK6

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 11, 2026

Crushed by Jasson Domínguez! pic.twitter.com/eX6OwNoKSe

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 11, 2026

WE GOT THE JAZZ.

JAZZ CHISHOLM JR. HOMERS IN THE 9TH INNING AND THE YANKEES LEAD! pic.twitter.com/igfBG0JJm3

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 11, 2026

ALL TOO WELLS.

Austin Wells homers again! pic.twitter.com/NR4bXvqmmt

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 11, 2026

What's Next

The Yankees play against Washington again tomorrow, with first pitch on Saturday set for 4:05 p.m.

The expected pitching matchup is Yankees RHP Cam Schlitter (9-5, 2.01 ERA) for New York and RHP Miles Mikolas (3-7, 5.78 ERA) for the Nationals.

Well, it wouldn’t be a Braves game in St. Louis without a rain delay, now would it? It seems like this is a regular occasion whenever these two teams lock horns in baseball battle — especially whenever the games take place in the shadow of the Arch.

Anyways, the game is now stuck in the top of the fourth inning with the score still at 0-0. Stay tuned right here for more updates, y’all.

UPDATE [9:32 p.m. ET]: Hoo boy.

UPDATE [10:00 p.m. ET]: Yeah, I think this might be it for tonight.

UPDATE [10:25 p.m. ET]: Well, the rain has stopped, so that’s the good news. Now we’ll see if they can salvage this so we can get #BaseballAfterDark or if they’ll try to finish this tomorrow.

UPDATE [10:38 p.m. ET]: The tarp’s off the field. #BaseballAfterDark it is, apparently!

UPDATE [10:55 p.m. ET]: Looks like folks are going to need a pot of coffe.

UPDATE [11:22 p.m. ET]: Well, the field is apparently back in laying shape. This thing really might get finished. We’ll see, though.

UPDATE [11:30 p.m. ET]: We got a restart time! 11:45 p.m. ET. Let’s get weird, folks.

UPDATE [11:47 p.m. ET]: Ozzie Albies just struck out on a 1-2 pitch, we’re back underway. There’s still more rain set to hit the St. Louis area (according to local forecasts) so this could come down to who’s ahead after the fifth inning. We’ll see what happens! Join us in the game thread!

When Jacob Gonzalez was removed from his game at Triple-A Charlotte on Friday — in a rather brusque manner, pulled off the field in the middle of a seven-run third inning for the Nashville Sounds — it seemed clear that a trade was in the offing.

Two hours later, word came through that the White Sox had swapped Gonzalez to the Pirates in exchange for the 34th pick in Saturday’s draft, which is Pittsburgh’s Competitive Balance pick for 2026. Also included in the trade is a swap of lefty relievers, with the White Sox shipping Brandon Eisert east for Triple-A hurler Jaden Woods.

Rumors are flying that the White Sox intend to select prep slugger Landon Thome, son of Hall-of-Famer Jim Thome. The signing bonus slot value for No. 34 is $2,897,400, which can’t be too far from the price it will take for Thome to eschew his commitment to Florida State University and begin his professional career with the White Sox.

The opportunity comes at a cost, as Gonzalez had broken out in a big way at Triple-A Charlotte this season. Chicago’s first-rounder in 2023 found a power stroke and offensive game that had largely eluded him in the first two seasons of his career, slashing .317/.419/.669 with 19 homers (tied for fifth in all of Triple-A, this despite playing in 28 games fewer than the league leader) and appearing at every position on the infield.

Gonzalez improbably forced his way up to Chicago with his preposterous slugging, but once there his offense sagged. Still, his 93 OPS+ was not far off of league average, and he managed 0.4 WAR in 30 games — basically the value of an average major-leaguer.

Eisert had a solid if underwhelming rookie season with the White Sox in 2025, pitching to a 4.39 ERA but appearing in 72 games to lead all Chicago pitchers. His 2026 has been fairly catastrophic, forcing the White Sox to yo-yo him between the big club and Charlotte; he ends his White Sox tenure with a 5.93 ERA over 25 games in 2026. His departure from the White Sox active roster will necessitate a call-up from Charlotte, to be announced by the team tomorrow.

Woods was promoted from Double-A to Triple-A in June, buoyed by a 3.16 ERA over 17 games. He’s continued to tame his prior wildness while at Triple-A, but the more advanced bats at that level have thus far found the lefty much more hittable, as his WHIP has jumped to 1.655 over his 10 games. At just 24, there is still a lot of potential in Woods, but he is unlikely to be a significant factor, or at least one contributing on the South Side soon, in 2026.

Thome is currently ranked at No. 33 on Keith Law’s draft board for the Athletic and No. 34 on the MLB Pipeline board, and is the second-ranked player in Illinois. He’s a shortstop but his MLB draft slot lists him as a 2B/3B — third base was where his father broke in to the bigs. Baseball America placed Thome on its All-America Second Team (the third time he’d been honored as a BA All-American).

The Burr Ridge native attended Nazareth Academy, where he was a teammate of Chicago’s second pick last draft (albeit in the second round), Jaden Fauske. Thome hit .533 with eight homers, 35 RBIs, 49 steals and had a 1.676 OPS during his senior year with the Roadrunners.

You can read the dek, can’t you? If you can’t, well, an unfortunate series of events led to the Twins falling behind, and they just didn’t get the hits you’d hope for later. Inning-by-inning notes:

1: A scoreless first inning, but 24 pitches for Zebulon Matthews. He averages just a tick above six innings pitched per start, and the Twins have the highest bullpen ERA in baseball, so we’ll be watching this. Not closely or anything, we have bigger worries in life, just kinda watching it. Yes I am using the royal “we.” I’m the king of you.

Trevor Larnach with a leadoff double. In his first AB for the Twins since May 18th, Ryan Jeffers hits it to RF and Larnach moves up; another flyout by Kody Clemens scores Trevor. Nice small ball, kinda sorta. Josh Bell doubles and nothing comes of it except he gets to adopt a puppy after the game, doubles get you that. Twins 1-0

2: Now 42 for Zebby. Per Wiki, Matthews attended Smoky Mountain high school, so named because of the number of students who hotbox in the school’s parking lot.

Nothing going for the Twins either. I guess a bunch of the Twins HOFers are at the ballpark tonight, so there must be a ceremony of some sort this weekend. Get to a game if you can and bring a Sharpie, and see which intimate body part you can get Kent Hrbek to sign.

3: A two-out, four-pitch walk to the Angels’ fastest runner, Zach Neto. Maybe pitchers do this for a challenge, either that or it’s a prop bet. Neto doesn’t go anywhere, and his name makes me think of actor Jared Leto. Did you know that Jared Leto has a band, 30 Seconds to Mars, which is a terrible band name but they’ve sold 15 million albums? I didn’t know, either. See the things we learn together?

Luke Keaschall is HBP, and Larnach GIDPs. Ryan Jeffers BB. Clemens F7. I Zzz.

4: Funtimes with Zebby. A leadoff homer, a double, a runner advancing to third on a groundout, and a balk to score the runner. Since the balk rule is intended to prevent pitchers from using fakeouts to catch runners off base, and almost nobody steals home anymore, should a lone runner on third get to advance because of a balk? Seems odd. Anways, we losing now.

Bert Blylevn was scheduled to appear on the radio in the third inning, and finally shows up here with two outs, and sounds like his HOF dinner consisted of Turkey (Wild) with all the stuffing (ice cubes). Halos 2-1

5: A leadoff single for Wayne Meckler, and a bunt played badly by Royce Lewis, everybody’s safe. A duck fart to right loads ‘em up with no outs. I think Bert is jinxing Zebby. Nolan Schanuel singles, bases still loaded, nobody still out. Flyout to right RBI; then a 1-4-3. This could have been much worse; Bert could have jinxed it more by being even drunker (allegedly).

Tristan Grey with the leadoff single, but nothing comes of it. Grayson Rodriguez came into this game with an ERA of 8.06 and the Twins are making it a better ERA. I need more coffee. Angels Angels of Anaheim 4-1

6: Zebby still in there at 84 pitches; 10 pitches later, there’s a leadoff walk. Adell hits into the DP, then Oswald Peraza singles. Then Wade Meckler singled to right, sending Peraza to third; Meckler saw that second was uncovered and tried for two. The Twins nailed him. So Zebby escaped unharmed, wild!

Another double for Bell! He gets two puppies, or can trade those up for one iguana. A one-out infield hit by Lewis puts runners on the corners and chases starter Rodriguez. Samy Natera, one of their three good relievers, enters. RBI double by Brooks Lee! Austin Martin hits it deep enough to short to score the run. That’s all here, but at least the Twins didn’t waste their opportunities. Gene Autrys 4-3

7: Derek Shelton’s Magical Arm Barn brings in Andrew Morris; he gives up the leadoff single. Nothing else!

One-out Larnach facing a lefty takes a five-pitch walk. Radio says that one section has their shirts off and is chanting “let’s go, Trevor!” So that works. Ryan Jeffers doubles; RISP with one out. And… Clemens pops one straight up. Home run in a grain silo. Two outs. Bell hits it hard, but arcs it high, and that’s a flyout.

8: Morris gets a 1-2-3. All credit to the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District, because I was outdoors at dusk during this half-inning and didn’t get bit once. Usually, if there’s five people outside at dusk and I’m among them, I’m the only one who gets gnawed. The beasties love my blood content. No comment why.

Sam Bachman pitching for Them. Lee takes the one-out walk, nothing else good happens.

9: Travis Adams pitching for Twins. When a fly ball is hit to Trevor Larnach, radio guy Kris Atteberry says “Travis is all over it.” Those “Tr” names can be confusing.

The Twins have two walk-offs this year, can they make it three? It’s Kirby Yates, their best reliever. With one out, Trevor/Travis hits a double into the gap. 3-2 groundout by Jeffers; that gives Clemens the chance to make up for his popup in the seventh. He smacks one over 1B Nolan Schanuel’s head… and Schanuel jumps. Twins lose.

Studs of the game: Bell, Larnach, Lee, two doubles apiece. Morris and Adams, 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 K. Duds: Clemens, I guess, even though ill-timed popups do happen (and often are pitches a guy just missed). So scratch that; Duds go to Bert for Boozed Jinxing (allegedly), and the lone-guy-on-third Balk Rule.

COTG to Kirilofffan19 for explaining to us where The Fish Stripes (a former SB website) went and Nagurski for having a day.

Thanks to everybody who joined in! I know I’ve been kinda absent from GTs these last two years; it’s not because I don’t enjoy you folks, I just write alot for a hobby site and I’m usually writing at night. I’m with ya in spirit.

Tomorrow’s game is at 2:10, and features Their Ryan (Johnson) versus Our Ryan (Joseph Philip). Catch y’all next time!

In an otherwise listless night at the plate for the Mets in their 6-2 loss to the Red Sox on Friday night at Citi Field, Brett Baty kept it rolling, going 3-for-4 with a solo homer.

His big night at the dish extended his hitting streak to 10 games.

Baty shed light on the work behind the scenes, which has led to this offensive surge in his postgame news conference.

"I've been working a lot on approach and game planning beforehand... high velo machine work."

When asked about his mentality in the batter's box, Baty gave himself well-earned credit, responding that he is "up there hunting instead of being passive."

"He's turning into a dog out there," Mets interim manager Andy Green said of Baty. "He may take a bad swing, but it's not affecting his next swing."

"I'm really encouraged by the steps he's taken," the skipper concluded.

Brett Baty goes deep pic.twitter.com/HzZHafPKC3

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) July 11, 2026

Dodgers utility player Kiké Hernández confirmed Friday what he posted as a comment on Instagram: he won’t be going to the White House on July 23, when President Trump will honor the team for its 2025 World Series championship.

Instead, Hernández (strained left oblique) is scheduled to be on a minor-league rehab assignment.

“It’s going to be hard to be in two cities at the same time,” Hernández said. “If I was active, I probably wouldn’t have gone anyways.”

Why?

“I’d rather take a day off than do team activities,” he said.

Last year, Hernández expressed his support for immigrants in Los Angeles on social media amid ICE raids authorized by the Trump administration.

The White House visit will be on a day off in the middle of a nine-game East Coast trip.

Read more:Plaschke: Are the Dodgers tone deaf? White House visit is an insult to their fans

“I’m sure a lot of guys are going to participate and be there, and this is an individual choice,” Roberts said. “But I do expect a lot of our guys to be there.”

Scheduling conflicts when the Dodgers played the Nationals in Washington on April 3-5 pushed back the trip.

“This took a long time to get both sides together, and, honestly, like I’ve always said, my company line, my personal line is I hope that we get this invitation every year,” Dodgers manager Roberts said. “Because that’s the goal: to win a championship, to get this invitation to the White House. And I’m not a politician, and I’m doing something that teams have done for decades. And so that’s where I stand, really. I’m a baseball coach. That’s what I do.”

Back in 2019, Roberts suggested that he might not accept an invitation to the White House with Trump in office. But he did attend last year when the Dodgers celebrated their 2024 title.

Roberts said the Dodgers found out earlier this week that the White House visit had been scheduled.

Read more:Dodgers scheduled to visit White House in late July to celebrate 2025 World Series win

“There was a lot of unknown,” Roberts said. “It’s an off day, and then how could we work this out logistically?”

That set off “a lot of phone calls, texts, and communication internally.”

Hernández’s injury rehab has moved along more quickly than Roberts initially expected. He landed on the injury list in late May after playing in just two games following offseason surgery on his left elbow.

“He looks normal,” Roberts said last weekend. “I’m not saying miraculous, but I’m really in disbelief how well he responded, given the injury.”

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Red Sox didn’t arrive at Citi Field until 5:05 PM for a 7:15 scheduled first pitch—close enough to the wire that the game had to be pushed back to 7:50. Somehow that’s going to end up as a positive for this team? Because once Sonny Gray settled in and Anthony Siegler’s ball clanked off the left field foul pole, this game was effectively over. Who needs to get to the ballpark five hours early?

Gray went six innings, gave up five hits, one earned run, walked one, struck out three. Not his most electric outing—but he held a Mets lineup at bay long enough for the offense to take over, which is all you need from your starter on a short-turnaround travel night like this. The one earned run was forgivable. Everything else was exactly what this team needed. This is why he’s so valuable to the 2026 Boston Red Sox, such a workhorse.

Holding onto a tenuous 2-1 lead in the 7th, the Siegler two-run shot off the foul pole felt just lovely—a breath of fresh air that this game was more solidly in hand. After that, the Mets were playing for…who knows. Wilyer Abreu punctuated things in the ninth with a two-run shot of his own, because why not make your way towards the All-Star break with the bats alive? If only he could remember how to demolish righties too?

Brett Baty took Greg Weissert deep for a solo shot with two outs in the ninth to make it 6-2, which is about as cosmetic as a run gets. Put it in the footnotes.

Seven wins in a row. 15-5 in their last 20. They might actually be doing this.

Studs

Anthony Siegler (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 K)

The two-run homer off the foul pole was the kind of swing that changes the whole complexion of a game. One moment it’s anybody’s contest, the next it’s clearly Boston’s night. Siegler has been exactly what this lineup needed when he’s right, and tonight he was very right. The Apple TV broadcast (who weren’t completely terrible tonight) said Siegler is like a shot of caffeine for this team. He’s not wrong!

Also fun fact; only the second Navajo player ever in the MLB—only behind Jacoby Ellsbury!

Wilyer Abreu (3-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K)

The ninth-inning exclamation point. Wilyer had been a little quiet lately so seeing the long ball from him tonight is a good sign heading into the break. Two runs driven in and a homer to close out the scoring. Easy yes from me. Also how about his arm keeping a runner from tagging from third in the eighth? Those are unseen moments that make a difference.

Sonny Gray (6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K)

Not a masterpiece, didn’t need to be. The Red Sox were navigating a travel saga before the game even started and Gray went out there and gave them six solid innings anyway. You would think that he didn’t fly ahead of the team to prep, things could go wonky. Not a chance for Sonny. Workmanlike and effective, and on a night like tonight, that’s the whole ask.

Duds

Romy Gonzalez (0-for-5, 4 K)

A golden sombrero on a night when the offense was otherwise humming is bad enough. But Romy also had a scorching line drive come off of the bat of Juan Soto in the eighth that was VERY EASILY going to be foul before it deflected off his glove and became a fair ball. The Mets didn’t bring anyone home that frame, which is the only reason we’re not having a much longer conversation here. Rough night.

Jarren Duran (0-for-4, 1 K)

A quiet one for the Angry Lizard. Credit where it’s due—he did successfully challenge a strikeout call and turn it into a walk in the 9th, which is smart baseball. The bat just wasn’t there tonight.

Connor Wong (0-for-3, 1 BB, 2 K)

He stole second in the fourth and was thrown out trying to score as the initial safe call had to be overturned on challenge—so we’ll give him that. The walk is something. But two strikeouts, a flyout to left to end the night with the bases loaded, and no RBI earns him a spot down here.

Play of the Game

Siegler’s home run off the foul pole. He’s such a firecracker.

The Mets fell to the Red Sox 6-2 in the opener of this weekend series at Citi Field. The game was close for much of the evening, but despite racking up ten hits, the Mets failed to string any hits together and never led in the game.

Despite the Red Sox being the more sleep deprived of the two clubs, this game got off to an inauspicious start for the Mets defensively when Juan Soto dropped a ball in left field to lead off the game, allowing Anthony Seigler to reach second base safely. A bunt by Ceddanne Rafaela advanced Siegler to third and then Nolan McLean issued a walk to Wilyer Abreu to put runners at the corners with one out. McLean bounced back to strike out Romy González, but then Masataka Yoshida lined a double down the left field line that turned out to be difficult for Soto to get to, as it hit off the bottom of the rolled up tarp in foul territory and was deadened there, forcing Soto to run all the way in to grab it. By the time he did so, both runners had scored, giving the Red Sox an early 2-0 lead before McLean retired Caleb Durbin on a groundout to end the inning.

Sonny Gray responded to being given the lead by putting up a 1-2-3 first inning and McLean settled in nicely, holding the Red Sox to just the two unearned runs in six innings of work, striking out seven batters in total and walking two. Meanwhile, the Mets had multiple opportunities to even the score and failed to do so. The Mets had the chance to take advantage of a fielding miscue like the Red Sox did in the bottom of the second with two outs when Wilyer Abreu took a poor route on a Jared Young deep fly ball to right field that fell for a double. But Francisco Alvarez grounded out to end the inning.

In the third, Baty rapped a single to lead things off and stole second base. Zack Short followed with a walk. A.J. Ewing hit a grounder to second and the Red Sox were able to get the out at second, but were unable to double up the speedy Ewing, putting runners at the corners with one out. Juan Soto then hit a sacrifice fly to plate Baty for the Mets’ first run, cutting the Red Sox lead in half. On the play, cutoff man Caleb Durbin threw it wildly to second trying to get the trail runner Ewing, who advanced to third on the errant throw, but he was stranded there when Francisco Lindor flew out to left to end the inning.

The top of the fourth inning featured a pair of consequential replay challenges. With two outs, Nolan McLean hit Connor Wong with a pitch. Wong was called out trying to steal second because the umpire judged that he came off the bag, but that call was overturned on replay review. The next batter Tsung-Che Cheng singled and Carson Benge unleashed a strike to the plate. Wong was initially ruled safe at home, but this time the Mets challenged and he was revealed to be out on replay review, keeping the Mets’ deficit to just a run. Benge continued his strong inning by singling to lead off the bottom of the frame and stealing second, but he was stranded there with the tying run as the Mets to this point in the game went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

Nolan McLean navigated his way through a jam in the top of the fifth, allowing a leadoff single to Seigler. Ceddane Rafaela then hit a grounder to short, but the Mets were unable to turn two on the play and settled for the out at second. Wilyer Abreu then doubled to advance Rafaela to third, but McLean bounced back to strike out González and induce an inning-ending grounder off the bat of Yoshida. The Mets had baserunners in the next two innings, but again failed to score off Gray.

McLean then made way for A.J. Minter, off whom the Red Sox secured some insurance runs in the form of a Tsung-Che Cheng single and a two-run homer tucked right next to the left field foul pole by Anthony Seigler, who served as a spark plug for the fatigued Red Sox. The Red Sox turned to fireballer Tyron Guerrero in the bottom of the seventh and he allowed a leadoff single up the middle to Jared Young, but Young was erased on a double play by Francisco Alvarez. Brett Baty then laced a two-out single, but the big hit once again eluded the Mets as Tyrone Taylor, pinch hitting for Zack Short, grounded out to end the inning.

Kodai Senga, continuing to acclimate to life as a reliever, pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning complete with a strikeout. Garrett Whitlock came in to pitch the bottom of the 8th for the Red Sox and was greeted rudely by A.J. Ewing, who lined one off his foot for a single. Juan Soto then hit a stinger down the first base line that was ruled fair—even fooling Soto for a moment, meaning he was only able to get to first—because the umpire claimed the ball graced the first baseman Romy González’s glove as he jumped to try to field it. Ewing advanced to third on the play. Francisco Lindor and Carson Benge then hit consecutive shallow fly balls not deep enough to score Ewing from third. Jorge Polanco then also flew out to shallow center for good measure to end the inning and another fruitless rally.

The Red Sox piled on further when Wilyer Abreu hit a two-run homer of Cionel Pérez in the top of the ninth. Pérez loaded the bases after that, necessitating the use of Xzavion Curry to get the final out of the inning. Greg Weissert closed things out for the Red Sox, giving up a two-out solo home run to Brett Baty—his first home run since May 18—but still able to breathe easy given the cushion he had to work with.

Despite the Red Sox landing in New York not too long before the game’s scheduled start, they still managed to beat the Mets handily and it was the Mets who looked like they had spent all day on a plane.

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Juan Soto, +9% WPA
Big Mets loser: A.J. Minter, -18% WPA
Mets pitchers: -13%
Mets hitters: -37%
Teh aw3s0mest play: Juan Soto’s single in the eighth inning, +12% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Masataka Yoshida’s RBI double in the first inning, -18.3% WPA

Somehow, an incredible offseason for Jay Johnson and the Tigers just got even better. With many of the belief that Lucas Nawrocki was Major League bound and a pipedream for LSU, he dropped massive news less than 24 hours before the draft kicks off.

Nawrocki is highly ranked by all publications. As far as draft rankings, ESPN has him at #91 overall, while MLB.com has him at #153. Prep Baseball Report ranks him at #46 among graduating seniors across the country and #7 in the the state of Texas.

Most of the praise that he’s garnered has largely been as a LHP, but he can also play OF/1B. Prep Baseball ranks him as the #1 OF in Texas, #11 in the country. He burst on to the scene at the MLB Combine thanks to multiple 109 mph exit velocities with a wooden bat.

Nawrocki helped Aledo win the Texas 5A State Championship and was also named as 2026 Texas Co-Player of the Year. He hit .421 with an OPS of 1.236, including 9 HRs and 15 2Bs.

While he very likely could contribute both from the mound and the batter’s box, he’s believed to be a future MLB reliever. At 5’11 197 lbs, teams have had a hard time imagining him as a starting pitcher in the big leagues, but that does not mean that he can’t eventually become a stud in LSU’s weekend rotation in his career.

The lefty deploys a 95 mph fastball, paired with a 3200 rpm slider that MLB.com believed could have been the best slider in the entire draft. He also throws a changeup that could become an affective third pitch in the coming years. All of this comes from a 3/4 arm slot, which is incredibly tough for left-handed hitters.

With how stacked the Tigers seem to be in the field for 2027, Nawrocki’s immediate path to make an impact will likely be on the mound. As of now, LSU’s only confirmed LHPs include Cooper Williams, Danny Lachenmayer, and Ethan Plog. One of the other two players that have announced their intentions to withdraw from the draft and head to school is Braxton Beaty, also a LHP. Santiago Garcia is considered a heavy draft risk.

The MLB Draft begins at noon central tomorrow. Johnson and co. will be tuned in closely to see who else will fill out their roster for next season, but they’re already off to a fantastic start.

With the White Sox coming into this game on a three-game losing streak and the Athletics coming to town, it was crucial to end the first half on a high note. Chicago’s bats had been silent and their pitching had been problematic for quite some time but that was all remedied against the Athletics.

In a 14-1 mauling to open the series, the South Siders dominated in every aspect of the game — and no player more so than Tristan Peters, who hit for the seventh cycle in White Sox history as part of a 4-for-4 night.

As luck would have it, the only team that has struggled more than the White Sox to score runs lately has been the Athletics. With struggling slugger Nick Kurtz out of the lineup, starter Sean Burke had no excuse not to go out and dominate. It was clear from the jump that he’d do exactly that, as he made Shea Langeliers and Tyler Soderstrom look more lost than Jack Shephard in 2004. Burke felt it was so nice that he had to do it twice, again sitting down two of the Athletics’ best batters in the third inning as well.

It took the White Sox a little bit of time to find their bats, which is to be expected for a team that had scored just two runs over the past three games, but they absolutely took over in the fifth inning. The first five batters reached base safely, as the Good Guys were able to tack on four runs and never look back. It was clear they were the much better team, and again looked like a club that currently sits as the second seed in the American League.

For a moment in the sixth inning it looked like it wouldn’t be all sunshine and rainbows on Mexican Heritage Night, when the first two Athletics batters reached base. Instead, Burke got Jeff McNeil to ground into a double play as he was able to neutralize the lone Athletics threat before it ever truly materialized. While a Tyler Soderstrom homer in the seventh inning dampened a near-flawless night for the ascending Burke, he shut down the Athletics immediately after. Burke was dominant on the night as he struck out nine batters over seven innings, taking his strikeout total to 20 over his last two starts.

Although the scoreboard made it look like this game was still close, everybody in the ballpark knew it was only a matter of time before things were broken wide open. With that being said, nobody knew that it would become a blowout so quickly.

Tristan Peters launched a two-run homer in the seventh, and you could almost hear the collective sigh of relief from Sox fans when they realized they wouldn’t need to sweat the bullpen blowing yet another winnable game. Then in, an at-bat that brought smiles to everyone’s face, Munetaka Murakami followed up three Ks to mark his return to the team with an RBI double, scoring on Miguel Vargas’ ground-rule double that followed.

Mune’s double brought some of the loudest cheers of the night and with that, the party had officially started on the South Side.

Not to be overlooked, Tristan Peters completed his cycle in his second at-bat of the seventh inning, the first cycle for a White Sox player since José Abreu on Sept. 9, 2017. The moment Peters made it clear he was gunning for the triple, the crowd upped the ante ,with a roar. When he was ruled safe at third and secured his cycle, the crowd was so loud they would’ve taken the roof off of Rate Field if it had one:

Quite honestly, the game could’ve been called the moment Peters slid into third base, but rules are rules and unlike the AUSL, there is no mercy rule. It was a dominant performance in all aspects for a team that badly needed a win like this. While you never want to put too much on a single game, this one win may have flushed all the negative feelings of the past series down the drain and brought back the relief that’s been lacking for the first time all year.

Burke has been really good for quite some time, and now is looking like a true ace. With a bullpen that is struggling more than John Schriffen trying to make a big call without his voice cracking, it’s that much more important that he go deep into games.

As for the bats, you need to score runs to win games against anybody. You don’t always need to score 14 runs like they did Friday night, but you do need to score more than the White Sox have lately. The brightest part of the night was the fact that everyone played a role in the beatdown: Six of nine starters recorded at least one RBI and everybody came around to score at least one run.

Friday night made it abundantly clear how much the White Sox rely on good vibes and momentum to achieve success this season. This finally looks like the same team that has made fans believe this season. As crazy as it sounds, fans may again start dreaming of home playoff games. With two contests still yet to be played before a much deserved All-Star break and a better than .500 record for the first half clinched, the White Sox will look to strike while the iron is hot and capture the series, and possibly a sweep, this weekend.

After a brief delay, the Mets lost against the Boston Red Sox at Citi Field on Friday night, 6-2, the final score.

With just two games to go before the All-Star break, the team's record is now 40-55.

Here are the takeaways...

-- The Mets got off to a rough start to begin the game. Red Sox leadoff hitter Anthony Seigler reached second base on an error in left field by Juan Soto chasing down his looping fly ball towards the foul line. Mets starter Nolan McLean walked Wilyer Abreu two batters later, and with two outs, Boston DH Masataka Yoshida took advantage, roping a line drive down the left field line, which scored both Seigler and Abreu, aided by the ball getting stuck in the roll of tarp. Neither run was earned.

-- With the Mets still down 2-0, Brett Baty extended his hit streak to 10 games with a single to lead off the third. He promptly stole second base to give the Mets a runner in scoring position with nobody out in the inning. With runners on third base and first base for New York and one man out, Juan Soto delivered a sacrifice fly which scored Baty, and after a throwing error from cutoff man Caleb Durbin attempting to gun down A.J. Ewing, tagging to second from first base, the ball skittered into the outfield, allowing Ewing to move up to third base. Francisco Lindor flew out to end the inning.

-- Mets right fielder Carson Benge saved a run in the fourth inning, keeping the score 2-1 for Boston by gunning Red Sox catcher Connor Wong at home plate, who tried to score from second base on a broken-bat single by Tsung-Che Cheng. Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez did an excellent job applying the tag. Benge led off the bottom half of the inning with a ground ball base hit, and with one out, he stole second base, an eventful frame for the rookie.

-- McLean stranded runners on second and third with one out, battling back by striking out Romy Gonzalez and forcing Yoshida into a groundout to end the top of the fifth. For the bottom of the fifth, key member of the 1986 World Series-winning Mets squad Mookie Wilson joined the Apple TV booth to talk about his legendary career in Queens, and he took the time to praise the "energy" he's seen from Benge and Ewing during their head-turning rookie seasons thus far.

-- McLean completed six innings for the fifth straight start. Relieved by A.J. Minter in the seventh, McLean was excellent tonight, striking out seven batters while allowing just five hits and zero earned runs.

-- The Mets notched their third leadoff single of the game thanks to Lindor, but Baty grounded into a double play to neutralize the early threat, and Jorge Polanco grounded out to end the sixth inning. Red Sox right-handed starter Sonny Gray kept the Mets bats at bay all game long. Gray, arguably snubbed of an AL All-Star selection, pitched to the tune of six full innings tonight, allowing just one earned run on five hits while striking out three.

-- Minter allowed an infield single (via bunt) to Cheng before Seigler snuck a two-run home run just inside the left field foul pole and just over the wall, increasing the Mets' deficit to three runs. The inning ended with New York down 4-1 after Minter worked through some more trouble.

-- Kodai Senga handled the eighth inning for the Mets, and the righty retired the side in order with two flyouts and a strikeout.

-- Ewing reached base to lead off the bottom half of the eighth with a comebacker off the foot of Red Sox right-handed reliever Garrett Whitlock. Soto scorched a liner off the glove of Boston's first baseman, a single which moved Ewing to third base with nobody out, the team's first hit with a man on base in the game. Three straight shallow fly balls couldn't bring Ewing home on a sacrifice, and the inning ended with the score still 4-1.

-- Abreu detonated in the ninth, putting the game out of reach with a two-run shot off of left-handed reliever Cionel Perez. In the ninth, Baty stayed red-hot with a solo shot, his third hit of the night, but the game ended as a 6-2 loss for the Mets one out later.

Game MVP: Nolan McLean

McLean's strong start wasn't rewarded with run support, but the young starter continues to eat innings to alleviate the pressure on a struggling Mets bullpen.

Highlights

A.J. Ewing leaps to make the catch at the wall! pic.twitter.com/htTb99MN60

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 11, 2026

Juan Soto's sacrifice fly brings home Brett Baty

A.J. Ewing advances to second and then to third on an error pic.twitter.com/KdqvLss6P3

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 11, 2026

After review, Carson Benge throws out Connor Wong at home! pic.twitter.com/6C7G4b1pEZ

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 11, 2026

"I love these young kids. They have an energy... it reminds me, when we came up, that we were changing the culture a little bit"

Mookie Wilson talks about the Mets' young players as A.J. Ewing gets a base hit pic.twitter.com/XptFZJGbtR

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) July 11, 2026

Nolan McLean goes six or more innings for a fifth consecutive start tonight pic.twitter.com/Mb839Xs1PL

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) July 11, 2026

Brett Baty's third hit of the night is a solo homer pic.twitter.com/8Sn091Pxd6

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 11, 2026

What's next

The Mets play their second game of this home series against the Red Sox tomorrow afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 4:10 p.m.

For the Mets, Freddy Peralta (4.68 ERA, 1.42 WHIP in 100 innings) will toe the slab.

The Red Sox starting pitcher is yet to be determined.

The Texas Rangers scored seven runs while the Houston Astros scored three runs.

Two first inning runs, a 3-0 lead into the sixth inning, and Cal Quantrill of all people cruising through six strong innings. All of those positives made it seem like the Rangers were in for an easy evening. Nothing is coming easy but the Rangers are earning victories nonetheless.

Right now, reliable leverage arms are running thin for Texas and with Houston starter Hunter Brown keeping the score close, the Astros evened the game immediately after Quantrill exited. Chris Martin was once again called upon to try to show that he hasn’t aged himself out of being a trusted member of the bullpen. It went basically the same as every other appearance has gone for him this season.

Like last night, the Rangers were in danger of blowing it against a team below them in the American League West standings. Instead, they again turned to the weapon they’ve been missing for chunks of this season with Wyatt Langford coming through with a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth to give Texas a 4-3 lead.

Three batters later, it was 7-3 as Jake Burger hit a three-run blast to allow us to not have to sweat whomever would pitch the ninth with Jacob Latz unavailable.

That pitcher would be Tyler Alexander and his scoreless ninth finished off the series-opening win for Texas as they climb back into the hunt for the Silver Boot.

Player of the Game: While Langford’s eventual winner was cathartic, and Burger’s blast was a relief, the Rangers likely don’t make it to that point without Quantrill providing six innings of one-run ball to out-duel Brown.

With Jack Leiter on the shelf, the Rangers needed someone to step up and, after ramping up over his last few appearances, Quantrill is now fully making starts that are providing length and quality. In his four outings since joining the rotation, Quantrill has allowed four runs in 17 innings.

Up Next: The Rangers and Astros are back at it tomorrow with RHP Kumar Rocker set to make his final start of the first half for Texas opposite RHP Peter Lambert for Houston.

The Saturday evening first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 6:05 pm CDT and you can catch it on the Rangers Sports Network.

Coming into Friday Night, the Astros needed just two wins to capture their 10th consecutive Silver Boot Series from the Rangers.    They still need two wins.    Rangers 7 Astros 3.      

On this night, Wyatt Langford would be the hero, albeit late.   In the 8th, Langford would deposit the second pitch offered by reliever Bryan King into the left field seats, breaking a deadlocked 3-3 affair.    Jake Burger would follow that up with his 16th blast of the season and just like that, King would allow 4 runs in a dreadful showing.     

Aside from King’s errant outing, the focus lies front and center on Hunter Brown.    In short, Brown isn’t right.    The evidence continues to mount, from a 23-pitch opening inning to the issuing of lead off walks time and time again.   The “ace” who was once dominant is now struggling with mechanics and attacking the zone.   At one point in the fourth inning, Brown would scrap the wind up completely and actually deliver from the stretch to multiple batters.    It would mark Brown’s fifth start since returning from a shoulder strain and now the question is “if” the mound dominance which placed him third in last year’s Cy Young Award voting will ever return this season full throttle.      Brown’s final stat line would read:       6 IP, 4H 3 ER 5 BB and 4 K’s.   

The five walks would tie a career high.

The Rangers would start the scoring, putting up a pair of runs in the first.    Brandon Nimmo’s double would score Wyatt Langford.    Josh Jung would cross home plate shortly thereafter.    

Joc Pederson would homer off Brown in the bottom of the 5th.    For Pederson, it would be the fourth time this season that he’d leave the yard against Astros pitching.    Pederson’s solo shot made it 3-0.   However, the Astros would respond.   Yordan Alvarez would finally get Houston on the board with his 200th career home run to center field in the 6th.    It would travel 455 feet and make the score 3-1.    Yainer Diaz would do one better, bringing home LaMonte Wade Jr. the next inning with his 6th HR of the year, which at the time tied things up 3-3.     That would be the score, until the 8th when the Rangers did their final damage.   

The Astros have now dropped 50 games on the season and 3 of 4 on this current road trip.   

Odds & Ends:

Jeremy Pena returned from the IL and led off the game and reached safely his first AB.       

Alvarez’s home run on Friday Night traveled the longest distance of any he’s hit this year.    He now has 7 home runs off Rangers pitching this season.    

Peter Lambert will take the hill Saturday Night with a mark of 7-5.    He’ll be opposed by Kumar Rocker, who will be seeking just his third win of the season.    First pitch is set for 6:05 CDT.

Nashville Sounds 11, Charlotte Knights 9
Everything that went wrong with the Knights’ loss to the Sounds can be traced back to Jacob Gonzalez’s exit in the third inning. Despite firing an RBI double off in the first to help give Charlotte a 2-1 boost early, he was pulled during the game, as the Sounds were stitching together a seven-run third inning. While his brief stint in the majors was underwhelming, to say the least, the idea that Gonzalez has been traded definitely makes the No. 1 overall draft pick murkier than it’s ever been.

After Gonzalez departed Shane Murphy, who hasn’t been able to find a foothold all season, gave up a grand slam to put Nashville back in the driver’s seat for the remainder of the game. Murphy couldn’t finish the third, and did more than enough damage by yielding four home runs before he was yanked. His ERA now sits at 5.99 and his WHIP at 1.44. What a wild and unfortunate turn for a guy who maintained a sub-2.00 ERA and held batters below the Mendoza Line just a season ago.

Although Ryan Galanie’s two-run bomb and Riley Unroe, Korey Lee, and Mario Camilletti’s multiple RBIs helped make up some ground, it wasn’t enough. Charlotte spoiled their own chances to beat Nashville, stranding nine on base and hitting 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

Birmingham Barons 10, Columbus Clingstones 1
Birmingham’s stars shone bright against Columbus in a victory that seemed all-too-easy. Favorites Colby Shelton and Boston Smith put five on the board with home runs in the fifth to stake their claim for game MVP. And Anthony DePino supplied his own solo shot in the seventh to push the Clingstones deeper in the hole. A few other RBIs filled in the cracks, but they were overshadowed by Bham’s own mini home run derby.

Jake Palisch rebounded from his stretch of subpar starts, looking like his 2025 self. Although control was an issue, he navigated nearly six innings while holding Columbus to a run off four hits and four walks. For the Barons, it was the best of both worlds: Palisch got the security and support needed to go back to autopilot, and his strong start will hopefully fuel his confidence and fuel better starts this season.

Winston-Salem Dash 7, Asheville Tourists 3
What seemed like a slog of a game rapidly turned into a thrilling, comeback win, as the Dash waited for eight innings to unload a fury of runs on the Tourists.

Five hits and a walk earlier in the game failed to yield any runs, but Ryan Burrowes and Jeral Perez’s leadoff walks in the ninth changed everything. An errant throw by Asheville’s Jackson Wells advanced both, putting them in scoring position with no outs. George Wolkow’s strikeout and hitting coach Adam Sinkoe’s surprising ejection slowed the momentum, but Winston-Salem resumed their comeback with another walk drawn from Kaleb Freeman. Five straight hits, including two for extra bases, and a bases-loaded double play plated seven before Asheville could realize what happened. By then, the damage was done.

For not getting any run support, Grant Umberger managed to make do. Although he was on the bump when Asheville scored all their runs, he managed to stretch his outing to 5 2/3 innings and walk off with four strikeouts. Winston-Salem continues to puzzle Umberger, but at least the 24-year-old can say he’s on a winning team.

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 6, Delmarva Shorebirds 3 (7 innings)
Kanny took the first game of their doubleheader against Delmarva thanks to Jaden Fauske and Alexander Albertus’ heavy hands (and bats). A four-run first, led by Fauske’s walk, powered the CBs through most of the game. Fauske must have been inspired by rumors that the White Sox would be trying to trade for former high school teammate Landon Thome, since Fauske made a point of standing out: He ended the night with a hit, two runs, two walks, and a stolen base. Albertus himself had a perfect evening, going 3-for-3 with two runs, two RBIs, a walk and a home run.

Stiven Flores also rose to the occasion, scoring one run and knocking off two hits. The bats played the heaviest role in Kanny’s win, while the arms rested up enough for the second game in the doubleheader.

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 2, Delmarva Shorebirds 1(7 innings)
The Ballers secured the first winning doubleheader of the season. Gabe Tanner held the Shorebirds scoreless through five frames, allowing just three hits and a walk. Marco Barrios and Choyce Differy worked together to escape a rocky sixth inning, as having the bases loaded with one out could’ve been devastating. Jesus Mendez didn’t get as lucky when he served Delmarva high hopes for a walk-off win by handing a solo home run to Junior Aybar on a silver platter, but at least he closed out the inning to earn the save.

Rookie Leagues

DSL Rangers Blue 11, DSL White Sox 9
Errors were costly for the DSL Sox. Tied at three apiece, Dionys Medina’s throwing error with one out and a runner in scoring position in the top of the fifth turned what should’ve been a scoreless inning into a 6-3 Rangers lead. A second error committed by Sebastian Romero allowed the top of the seventh to stretch out and the Rangers plenty of time to tack three additional runs on. It’s a shame, because aside from those fumbles the Sox managed to hang in the game, recording 11 hits and batting 5-for-11 with runners in scoring position. That’s probably why the DSLers are 10-18.