Category: MLB

On one of the most beautiful Chicago afternoons of the entire summer — upper 70s, low humidity, light wind blowing in — the Cubs offense got going, led by another multi-hit game from Nico Hoerner and a home run by Alex Bregman.

Those two were joined by multiple teammates in a 12-hit, six-walk offense in crushing the visiting Twins 10-1, winning the series.

After Imanaga had an easy first inning, the Cubs bats got right to work. Seiya Suzuki lined a double to left with one out in the bottom of the first and one out later, Bregman gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead [VIDEO].

That was Bregman’s 10th of the year and third in his last five games. At last, his bat appears to have come alive. About those first-inning runs, from BCB’s JohnW53:

The Cubs have scored in the first inning of four consecutive games, beginning last Sunday at Cincinnati: two, one, five and two runs, for a total of 10. They had scored 35 runs in the first innings of their previous 95 games.

The Cubs put another one on the board in the second. Pedro Ramirez, DH’ing for the second straight day, bounced a double into the seats in left. Carson Kelly singled him in [VIDEO].

The Cubs then blew the game open in the third. With one out, Michael Busch singled and Bregman and Ian Happ drew walks to load the bases.

Nico Hoerner hit what should have been an RBI single but… oops! [VIDEO].

Twins center fielder Luke Keaschall just waved at the ball as it went by and it wound up a bases-clearing triple.

Hoerner scored on this single by Ramirez to make it 7-0 [VIDEO].

Ramirez has been really impressive as the DH the last two days — 4-for-7 with two doubles and a walk. I’d really like to see him get more playing time — somewhere.

About all those runs in the first three innings, from John:

The Cubs have scored 12 runs — five, then seven — in the first three innings yesterday and today. They had averaged 1.49 in the first three of their previous 97 games.

The Cubs ran Twins starter Zebby Matthews out of the game in the top of the fourth. Pete Crow-Armstrong, who had a rough 0-for-5 Saturday, led off with a single. Seiya Suzuki walked and Busch’s single scored PCA [VIDEO].

That brought up Bregman [VIDEO].

It was ruled a fielder’s choice and error on Twins third baseman Brooks Lee. The FC allowed Bregman to reach and the error scored Suzuki from second to make it 9-0. Personally, I think I’d have ruled that a hit.

Anyway, that got Matthews out of the game. Happ hit into a double play, but Nico singled in Busch to make it 10-0 [VIDEO].

That was basically the end of the Cubs offense for the day, but it was certainly more than enough. They did load the bases again in the eighth, but could not score.

In the meantime, Imanaga had one of his better outings of the year, holding the Twins to six hits over seven innings, with one walk and four strikeouts [VIDEO].

Here’s more on Imanaga’s outing [VIDEO].

And more from John:

Shōta Imanaga’s start was the Cubs’ first of 7.0 innings in 40 games, since Ben Brown did it on May 30.

It was their eighth of the season, half of them by Imanaga. Brown, Edward Cabrera, Colin Rea and Jameson Taillon each did it once.

All pitched exactly 7.0. Imanaga also had the only other scoreless outing of the eight, at home against the Diamondbacks on May 2.

Imanaga also had some help from his defense — check out this nice running grab by PCA to end the sixth [VIDEO].

I was going to close the complaint department today, but I’m opening it for Phil Maton, making his first appearance since being activated from the IL July 11.

He was not good. He allowed a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases with one out, and a sac fly gave the Twins their only run of the day. It was to the point that Craig Counsell got Ryan Rolison up in the pen, which I am sure he did not want to do. And it might have been worse if not for this great diving stab by Bregman to end the inning [VIDEO].

Drew Pomeranz was given the ninth, and who knows? That might be his swan song as a Cub, as it’s possible he might be let go when just-acquired Aaron Civale is activated. Pomeranz finished things up with just a one-out walk. Here’s the final out [VIDEO].

Last note on all the runs from John:

This was the 11th game of the season in which the Cubs scored at least 10 runs. They began the day tied with the Angels, Astros and Yankees for fourth most. The Dodgers and Nationals both had 14; the Pirates, 12. The Nationals had lost once; the Angels and Astros, twice. The Cubs and others were undefeated. The combined average of the 29 other teams was seven double-digit games.

The Cubs had 22 such games last year, after having had 12 in 2024 and 24 in 2023.

So the Cubs took care of business by taking two of three. Meanwhile, the Mets beat the Phillies so the Cubs lead them by 1.5 games for the top wild card spot. And the Brewers got a three-run walkoff homer from William Contreras to sweep the Marlins, so the Cubs still are six games out of first place in the NL Central.

The Detroit Tigers come to Wrigley Field to open a three-game series Monday evening. Jameson Taillon will be activated from the injured list to start this game, and Jack Flaherty goes for Detroit. Game time is 7:05 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

The MLB trade deadline is two weeks away, meaning it's nearly time for teams on the playoff bubble to make a move or two to push them into contention.

The list of buyers at this year's deadline is certainly interesting. You have the usual suspects such as the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves. You have some surprise contenders such as the Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins.

The Boston Red Sox find themselves in a different camp, though. Entering the season with high expectations, the Red Sox failed to live up to them during the first half, owning a 37-47 record heading into July. Such a lowly winning percentage had fans believing the team would be sellers at the deadline.

However, with their 6-1 victory over the first-place Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, July 19, the Red Sox not only swept one of their biggest competitors in a four-game series, but they extended their winning streak to 13 straight, bumping them up to 50-48.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto tilted his head to the side as he met catcher Dalton Rushing halfway between the mound and the plate.

The Dodgers’ right-hander had just finished a complete game with a cutter on the outside corner for a strikeout. His understated reaction before clasping hands with Rushing seemed to simply say, I guess I did that.

“For Yoshi to come back and do what he did and to perform the way he did,” manager Dave Roberts said, “that’s why he’s our ace.”

Yamamoto’s third career complete game was the highlight of the Dodgers’ 8-2 win over the New York Yankees in Game 1 of a doubleheader on Sunday. It was his first complete game since Game 2 of the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Read more:Shaikin: Shohei Ohtani's knee troubles creating a major pitching dilemma for Dodgers

With a bullpen game scheduled for the evening half of a doubleheader Sunday, the Dodgers were counting on Yamamoto to pitch deep into Game 1 and let as many relievers as possible rest up.

Mission accomplished.

“When I was going into the game early on, I was not thinking about that today we have a doubleheader,” Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “I was just focusing on my own job. And then on a day like this, to be able to perform like this, that was a good thing.”

Yamamoto was so efficient that he only needed 102 pitches to complete nine innings. He gave up four hits and struck out seven.

He got all the way through the Yankees’ lineup the first time without allowing a baserunner. And in those nine at-bats, he only threw one first-pitch ball.

“It just seemed like he was dictating counts all day long,” Roberts said, “versus trying to be too fine, getting behind.”

To lead off the fourth inning, Yamamoto surrendered a solo homer to Trent Grisham. But then he was back to cruising, retiring 12 of the next 13 batters.

“He had a good seventh, and it just felt like he could finish his game,” Roberts said. “Thinking about where his pitch count was at, the stress, where that was at, and also knowing that we’ve got another game in a few hours.”

Yamamoto would have navigated through the eighth without giving up another run if center fielder Andy Pages hadn’t lost Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s leadoff fly ball in the sun for a double. Chisholm later scored on a single from Anthony Volpe.

Read more:Dodgers beat Yankees, but Shohei Ohtani's return to pitching remains unclear

Yamamoto’s consistency has steadied the Dodgers’ rotation, while it’s had to navigate injuries to veteran starters Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and most recently Shohei Ohtani. Yamamoto leads the team with 119⅔ innings. And his performance Sunday brought his ERA to 2.78.

“In one game, it’s great,” Roberts said. “But the exponential effect that it has on everybody else, it is huge, and it’s hard to really nail down how valuable that is.

“If you have a guy that not only puts you in a position to win a game, but also saves a lot of arms, that goes hand-in-hand with the top end of the rotation guy.”

Yamamoto said he’s reflected on his season so far, but when asked about his affect on the pitching staff already this year, he pushed the conversation forward.

“The most important part of the season is coming up,” he said. “So I’d like to do my best.”

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Despite playing 11 innings on Saturday, Baltimore optioned reliever Cam Sanders and recalled third catcher Sam Huff. Samuel Basallo started today’s game behind the dish, but Huff’s presence indicated that Adley Rutschman was likely unavailable.

Huff was thrust into action in the second inning when Samuel Basallo left the game with right shoulder discomfort. The change could have thrown off Brandon Young and the Orioles, but the starter put the team on his back. Young tossed seven strong innings, and the Orioles won their seventh straight game with a 5-2 result in Houston.

The Orioles struck first in the top of the third inning. Jackson Holliday worked a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Gunnar Henderson lined a ball 106 MPH into left field for a run-scoring base hit. Taylor Ward popped out, but Dylan Beavers smoked a ball with Henderson in motion to place runners on the corners with one out.

Pete Alonso took three straight balls, and Beavers broke for second on the fourth pitch of the at bat. The throw beat Beavers, but the home plate umpire initially called the pitch ball four. After throwing through, Houston catcher Yainer Diaz tapped his helmet. ABS revealed that the pitch was actually a strike, and Beavers was ruled out at second base. Craig Albernaz came out for a chat but failed to sway the umpires. Alonso eventually made his way to first when Houston starter Hunter Brown threw another pitch outside of the strike zone.

Beavers running was a bit of surprise, but nobody expected Alonso to break for second. With Huff at the dish, the Polar Bear got a big lead. Alonso took off, and Diaz threw through once again. This time Alonso beat the throw, and Henderson dashed home for the second run of the inning. Huff eventually struck out to end the frame.

Young was tremendous, but he failed to deliver a shutdown inning in the third. Jose Altuve lined a one-out double to left, and Yordan Alvarez drove him in with a double of his own. Young, to his credit, retired Isaac Paredes and LaMonte Wade Jr. to escape with the lead still intact.

Both teams went scoreless in the fourth, but Baltimore put some distance between the two teams in the fifth. Taylor Ward took a one-out and walk, and Pete Alonso took a 95-MPH sinker to the stomach with two outs. Brown had been wild all day, but Alonso appeared miffed after the pitch. The slugger took his free base, and Huff worked Baltimore’s sixth walk of the game to load the bases.

The Astros left Brown in to face Leody Taveras, and Taveras jumped on a first pitch changeup outside of the zone. Taveras went with the pitch and punched an opposite field single to score Ward and Alonso. The Astros summoned left-hander Bryan King to face Colton Cowser, and Cowser bounced out to end the inning at 4-1.

Young posted another zero, and Houston left King in to face Coby Mayo in the sixth. Mayo took advantage of the matchup with a solo shot to right-center field. The blast provided a nice insurance run for Young and the Orioles.

The Texas native allowed a two-out single in the seventh, but Cowser made a nice running catch to end the frame. Young left the game with 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB and 7 K.

Baltimore turned to Rico Garcia in the eighth, and the reliever briefly made things interesting. Altuve smacked a leadoff homer to the Crawford Boxes to trim the lead to three. Garcia retired Alvarez, but Paredes managed a swinging bunt to Garcia’s right. The righty fielded the ball but threw wide of first base. The throwing error allowed Paredes to reach scoring position, but he never crossed the plate. Garcia struck out Wade Jr. and generated a grounder from Diaz to end the threat.

Grant Wolfram picked up his first save of the season with a clean ninth inning.

The Orioles moved to 49-51 with the win. The Birds will carry some momentum up north but will face the only team hotter than them. Boston won its 13th straight game today. Shane Baz will face rookie Payton Tolle tomorrow at 7:10.

Young pitched seven strong innings and made an impressive kick save in the first. Mayo finished 2-for-4 with a home run, and Wolfram recorded his first career save. Huff finished 0-for-3 with three strikeouts, but he took a walk and caught a good game from the starter. Let us know your pick for the Most Birdland Player of the game in the comments below.

Following his team's 6-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, Mets interim manager Andy Green took the time to praise the two stars who shone brightest Sunday afternoon, Nolan McLean and Francisco Lindor.

McLean looked like an ace in the win. He pitched six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits, two walks, and striking out 10 batters.

When asked what makes McLean so dominant at his best, Green pointed to the different ways the right-hander can generate outs.

"With him, he can win with fastballs up, can win with spin down, can win east and west. When he fills up the strike zone, it's a lot of fun."

The interim manager also took the time to recognize the Mets' burgeoning youth movement, which is represented in the starting rotation by a trio of emerging farm system products in McLean, Christian Scott, and Zach Thornton. 

"The challenge of our organization is on those three guys [McLean, Scott, and Thornton] moving up the ladder in the rotation. McLean needs to separate himself to be the No. 1, Scott is moving up the ladder too. Thornton is trying to show he's a back-end starter, but should want to move up the rotation as well."

10 strikeouts ✅
Six shutout innings ✅

What a day for Nolan McLean 😤 pic.twitter.com/JH0J12cv00

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) July 19, 2026

Meanwhile, Lindor had a big day of his own. The shortstop reached base in each of his five plate appearances. He recorded three hits, going a triple shy of the cycle while collecting his 1,700th career hit in the process.

"We know who he is," Green said of his switch-hitting cleanup hitter. "He has a long track record of being really good. It's good to see him enjoy playing baseball and lead us to a win."

Lindor passed along the praise, stating "it starts with the hitting coach helping me."

Responding to the recent criticism of his performance since returning from injury, Lindor took accountability and vowed to keep today's positive momentum rolling in the games to come.

"I have to play to a higher standard. I have to play the level I expect myself to be at. I'm putting in the work."

The Kansas City Royals were looking to complete a sweep at home against the San Diego Padres out of the All-Star Break, however, timely hitting and the long ball doomed the Royals as the Padres beat them 19-2.

Things were looking good for the Royals out of the gate, Noah Cameron got a scoreless first inning, and Jac Caglianone absolutely crushed a solo shot in the bottom of the 1st. A 114 mph, 432 foot shot to right field, for the 16th on the season for Cags.

Unfortunately, things quickly went for south for Cameron and the Royals immediately after. The Padres hit two straight singles with one out, then loaded the bases with a walk. Fernando Tatis Jr. smacked a two-run single, Jackson Merrill singled in a run of his own and Manny Machado hit a sac fly making it 4-1.

San Diego tacked on two more in the 3rd, with a two-out RBI double and single, making it 6-1. The Royals did get one back in the bottom half of the inning, when Isaac Collins hit a double, scoring Cags.

Merrill led off the 4th with a homer, making it 7-2. The Royals did load the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the inning, but Carter Jensen struck out and Nick Loftin hit into a double play.

After that, it was just San Diego piling on. Tatis homered off Matt Strahm in the 6th, making it 8-2. Beck Way looked good, but was burned badly with a Tyler Tolbert error, scoring one. Lucas Erceg came in and promptly gave up a grand slam to Ty France, because of course. It was 13-2 after 8 innings.

Tolbert pitched the 9th, and it didn’t go any better. Merrill homered again, this time a 2-run shot. France homered again, making it 16-2. A bases loaded hit batter and two-run single, made it 19-2. Ending the nightmare.

Uh, nothing really positive to speak on, other than Cags crushed a homer, and finished the day 2-4. The Royals are 40-60, 100 games in. They open a three-game series tomorrow, at home against the Giants. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. CT. Michael Wacha is expected to start.

All hands are on deck for the Yankees as they look to salvage the finale of a three-game set in the Bronx against the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers. With Ryan Weathers being pushed back until Monday (likely to save some bullets), the Yankees are promoting Elmer Rodríguez as tonight’s 27th man to eat some innings the nightcap as part of a trio of roster moves.

Rodríguez has made four starts at the major-league level this year, pitching to a 4.76 ERA (90 ERA+) and 5.16 FIP in 17 innings. Last we saw him, he was used as a four-inning spot starter to push the rotation back a day on June 21 against the Reds, where he did well until falling apart in the fifth. Now, he’ll face the Dodgers as the bulk guy at some point behind Ryan Yarbrough. LA will deploy a Bullpen Game in response.

Since being sent back down, ERC has allowed four runs in 15.1 innings as he awaited his next opportunity, one that is now staring him in the face against the back-to-back defending champions on national television. And while this is most likely a one-day promotion out of necessity to keep everyone on schedule, there’s a chance that Rodríguez stays after this.

As you might recall, the Yankees went into the All-Star break without a conventional fifth starter. They used a successful bullpen game in the finale of the four-game set in Tampa last week, but Aaron Boone wasn’t willing to tip his hand about when the Yankees would need a fifth starter next weekend. Due to the lack of offdays after this upcoming Thursday and the restrictions on minor league call-ups in a season, you might see Rodríguez stay up until Max Fried or Carlos Rodón is ready to return.

This move alone would be noteworthy, but the Yankees are also swapping the back of their bullpen. Jake Bird, fresh off a disastrous eighth inning which saw him give up five earned runs, is being optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. His Yankees tenure has been an abject disaster over the past 12 months, as his ERA ballooned to 5.93 in 30.1 innings after Sunday’s bludgeoning.

Replacing Bird will be Kervin Castro, a longtime minor league journeyman who’s been in four organizations and thrown 27.2 major league innings, including two for the Yankees earlier this year in a loss to Milwaukee. He’s been a rock down in Triple-A, pitching to a sub-2 ERA across 55 games and 73 innings over the last two seasons after being a 2023 MiLB Rule 5 pick. He fits the bill as a Quad-A pitcher, but the Yankees will need a fresh body for tonight after using Bird, Angel Chivilli, Tim Hill, and Camilo Doval in the first leg of this doubleheader.

One might wonder why Castro came up instead of more trusted relievers Yerry De los Santos or Yovanny Cruz, but the simple answer might be the minor-league option rule. De los Santos has already been optioned three times, while Cruz has been optioned twice. Five times is the absolute maximum in a season before a player has to be exposed to waivers, so the Yankees might not want to burn one for a one-day promotion as part of a doubleheader.

After a pre-All Star Break push and a nice victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday night, the Minnesota Twins looked to take the series and continue their upward trajectory. Alas, that ascent was abandoned with a tough defeat on Saturday followed by this laugher loss today.

The small Ursidaes made noise right away in B1, ambushing Twins SP Zebby Matthews with a Seiya Suzuki double and an Alex Bregman blast over the LCF bricks. 2-0 CHI.

Right back on the attack in B2, a Pedro Ramirez bloop ground-rule double in the LF corner immediately came around to score on a bleeder single up the middle for Carson Kelly. 3-0 CHI.

If you are starting to sense a pattern here, it continued in B3. After the Cubs loaded the bases with one out, Luke Keaschall tried to corral a Nico Hoerner single—and instead missed the sphere entirely and let it roll to the ivy while the three CHI baserunners made a lot of left turns. Ramirez also singled to bring home Hoerner. 7-0 CHI.

Three more runs for the Cubbies in B4 as Matthews was now firmly in “save the bullpen for the upcoming Guardians series” mop-up mode. 10-0 CHI.

With Twins’ bats utterly silent off Chicago starter Shota Imanaga, the only drama in Wrigleyville was whether a position player would be put to use on the pitcher’s mound.

The Twins would find the scoreboard in T8 when an Austin Martin single came around to score on a Royce Lewis sacrifice fly. 10-1 CHI.

Ultimately no position players would paw the rubber for MN, with Travis Adams, Kody Funderburk, & Woo-Suk Go pushing the mop and bucket to the finish line.

Your Final: Chicago Cubs 10, Minnesota Twins 1.

Quite literally one step forward and two steps back on the South Side this weekend.

Zach’s Zealot

• Audra Martin: Reporting from the Wrigley Field scoreboard. That was cool!

Zach’s Zombie

• Matthews: 3 IP, 9 H, 10 R, 8 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. A clunker in every way for Zebby. Never gave the team a reasonable chance to compete in this game.

Egg-cellent Elocution

• Imakesandwichesforaliving only needed three characters to nail the sentiment about this contest.

Who’s Got Next

• Buckle up, Twins Territory—we’ve got four in Cleveland (Mon. night, Tues. night, Wed. night, Thurs. afternoon) that could tip the buy/sell scale for 2026.

The Mets won their first road series since early June by taking the rubber game against the Phillies today: Mets 6, Phillies 1. The offense had 14 hits and seven walks, and Nolan McLean only allowed two hits and two walks as he shut out the Phillies for six innings.

At the top of the first inning, Bo Bichette worked a two-out walk after 11 pitches to bring up Francisco Lindor, who smacked a two-run home run into right field. Carson Benge then tapped a ground ball to Alec Bohm, who couldn’t get his glove on it properly, allowing Benge to reach first base for a single. Jared Young was then hit by a pitch that caught him right under his arm to continue the inning. Marcus Semien was up next and struck out for the third out. Meanwhile, McLean started strong by working a 1-2-3 inning while facing the top of the Phillies lineup in the bottom of the first inning, keeping the score Mets 2, Phillies 0.

After Brett Baty lined a single into right field to lead off the second inning, Luis Torrens rolled an RBI double down the left-field foul line. It barely stayed fair, but Baty slid into home to score easily. Juan Soto walked after a nine-pitch at-bat, and Bichette tapped a fly ball into center field to load the bases. Lindor lined an RBI single into right field to score Torrens and keep the bases loaded. Benge dumped a sac fly into right field to Gabriel Rincones, Jr., who paused to flip his sunglasses down before catching the ball. Despite the smooth move, Rincones could not get the ball home before Soto scored an additional run. Young lined out to first base to end the top of inning, but not before the Mets had increased their lead to 5-0.

After Brandon Marsh grounded out, Alec Bohm reached first base safely by rolling to touch the base before Young tagged him. However, the ball came back and hit McLean on the shin before any of that happened. Fortunately he was able to stay in the game and continued to pitch after being checked by the trainer, but walked Bryson Stott immediately after. However, J.T. Realmuto followed that by grounding into a double play, which ended the second inning.

With two outs at the top of the fourth, Bichette lined a single into right field, and Lindor drew a walk, but Benge grounded out to end the Mets’ opportunity to pad their lead even more. During the bottom of the fourth, the seventh pitch of Marsh’s at-bat was called a foul ball, despite the fact that he never touched the ball with his bat. It did not matter one pitch later, when he grounded out to end the inning, but it was still annoying as the play was not reviewable. Regardless, the score remained Mets 5, Phillies 0 at the end of the fourth inning.

Tyrone Taylor came in to pinch-hit for Young at the top of the fifth, and smacked a ball into right field. It seemed like Rincones was going to catch it until he bonked himself on the fence, allowing Taylor to reach second base. But after Semien struck out for the third time in a row, Taylor attempted to steal third base and was caught after he overslid. Baty grounded out to Harper to end the Mets’ fifth-inning bid there. McLean retired the side in order yet again at the bottom of the fifth inning and kept the score 5-0 to move into the sixth.

Torrens started the sixth with an opposite-field single, and A.J. Ewing got his first hit of the day on an infield hit for a single. Soto drove an RBI single up the middle into center field for his first hit of the game, and Ewing made it to third base easily. With no outs yet, and runners at both corners, the Phillies made a pitching change from Tim Mayza to Max Lazar to face Bichette. Bichette grounded into a force out at second, but a miscommunication by the Phillies seemed to prevent the double play, and Bichette made it to first base safely. Unfortunately, Ewing remained at third base, so no runs scored despite the opportunity. Lindor drew another walk to load the bases, still with only one out. However, Benge struck out and Taylor grounded out to leave the bases loaded with no additional runs scored.

Having only thrown 73 pitches, McLean came back out for the sixth inning. After striking out the first two batters, he allowed a double to Trea Turner, only the second hit he had allowed all day. He allowed his second walk, to Kyle Schwarber, right after that. McLean got out of trouble by striking out Harper, though, and ended an excellent outing with the score Mets 6, Phillies 0.

Torrens drew a two-out walk, and Ewings dribbled a single into right field that allowed Torrens to slide into third base. Seth Johnson replaced Lazar to face Soto, who flied out to end the top of the seventh. A.J. Minter came out to replace McLean for the bottom of the seventh, and after retiring Marsh, allowed a home run to Bohm that soared into left field. Bryson Stott then hit a blooper into right field for a single, and Realmuto smacked a ground ball into right field for another single, the third hit in a row with one out. Edmundo Sosa came out to pinch-hit for Rincones and grounded into a double play to end the seventh inning and minimize the damage: Mets 6, Phillies 1.

Lindor whacked a double into center field in the eighth inning, and Benge worked a four-pitch walk to follow him. Taylor walked as well, and the bases were loaded with one out again. Semien struck out again to earn the golden sombrero. He was also the only Mets hitter to play the full game and not get a hit (Young also did not get a hit but only had one chance at the plate). Afterwards, Baty grounded out to again strand the runners with no additional runs. Huascar Brazobán replaced Minter at the bottom of the eighth inning and walked Turner after 11 pitches. However, he struck out Schwarber and Harper after that to end the inning.

Jhoan Duran came out for the ninth inning for the Phillies, as he had not had much work for several days. With two outs, Soto lined a single into center field, but was left there when Bichette grounded out. Cionel Pérez pitched the ninth inning for the Mets. Marsh smacked a line drive into right field for a leadoff single and trotted along to second base on a wild pitch by Pérez. Nevertheless, Pérez shut down the rest of the Phillies’ hitters and the game ended with a win for the Mets.

The Mets travel to Milwaukee to face the Brewers tomorrow at 7:40 PM ET. Freddy Peralta will face his old team for the Mets, and Jacob Misiorowski will pitch for the Brewers.

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What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Francisco Lindor, +24% WPA
Big Mets loser: Marcus Semien, -6% WPA
Mets pitchers: +21% WPA
Mets hitters: +29% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Francisco Lindor’s 2-run home run in the first inning, +18.1 % WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Marcus Semien called out on strikes to end first inning and strand runners, -3.3% WPA

PHILADELPHIA — In different circumstances this would have been the kind of pitching performance that left the Mets convinced the top of their playoff rotation will be just fine.

That might still be the case, just not this year.

Nolan McLean dominated a formidable Phillies lineup Sunday afternoon.

It was just the latest strong performance for the rookie — and maybe his best this season — in leading the Mets to a 6-1 victory at Citizens Bank Park.

The right-hander struck out 10 over six shutout innings, allowing only two hits and two walks.

The Mets won the series rubber game, giving them a shred of momentum to open the post-All-Star break.

But the reality is, the Mets are 16 games below .500.

McLean had a sixth straight start of pitching at least six innings, the longest such streak this season by a Mets pitcher.

Along the way his ERA dropped to 3.34 — the lowest it has been since May 19.

McLean, who threw 93 pitches, said reliance on his sinker has fueled his success.

“I try to use it as much as possible because I just want to go deeper into games,” he said. “Getting whiffs is great and all, but it’s really hard to get a ton of whiffs and go deep into games. You have got to have soft contact somewhere in there and I think the sinker is going to be a pitch for me that is going to get a lot of that.”

Other than a choppy stretch that began in mid-May and lasted about a month, McLean has been exactly what the Mets have wanted.

“It’s a lot like a lot of rookie seasons for really good pitchers,” interim manager Andy Green said. “He’s shown flashes of greatness and then he’s had to labor through other parts of the season. But for us I don’t think there’s any way to look at it other than really positive. The stuff is really good.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND METS STATS

“We want him to pitch at the top of the rotation, so the challenge is always going to be out in front of him to continue to move up and get better. But I think when you are talking about rookies sitting in the three-and-change ERA range it’s impressive and we still think you can be more impressive.”

Francisco Lindor’s two-run homer in the first inning got his team started.

The Mets assembled a two-out rally, with Bo Bichette drawing a walk against Alan Rangel before Lindor connected for his sixth homer this season.

Luis Torrens’ RBI double in the second, following Brett Baty’s leadoff single, extended the Mets lead to 3-0.

The Mets loaded the bases later in the inning and received an RBI single from Lindor and Carson Benge’s sacrifice fly for a 5-0 lead.

Juan Soto delivered an RBI single in the sixth that buried the Phillies in a 6-0 hole.

Torrens and A.J. Ewing each singled in the inning.

Alec Bohm homered against A.J. Minter in the seventh to give the Phillies their only run.

About the only drama McLean faced was in the sixth, when Trea Turner doubled against him for the Phillies’ second hit and Kyle Schwarber walked.

But McLean finished his afternoon strong by catching Bryce Harper looking on a 97 mph sinker.

“[McLean] threw strikes with every single pitch he had,” Lindor said. “He showed how good he is against a really good lineup.”

The double-digit strikeout game was the third of McLean’s career and second this season — his last was on April 21 against Minnesota.

“They have got such good hitters,” McLean said. “You still have got to go right after them and get ahead and baseball is so momentum-related when it comes to count control, so just getting that first strike and trying to beat them to two strikes before you get to two balls is everything.”

It literally pains me to write this, because the idea of flushing an MVP season from Yordan is a sin, yet here we are.

Where we are is literally with the finish line in sight. Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski, and Bennett Sousa are all about to return and provide much needed reinforcements to a beleaguered Astros pitching staff. Despite that, it really may be too late.

By nature, I am an optimist. I’m someone who sees problems as challenges and opportunities, not roadblocks. The bigger the problem, the more the challenge, the more reward in solving it. The 2026 Astros are a very challenging problem, one that seems will require more than one season to solve.

For the returning support that those three pitchers can give, none of them can be compared with Hunter Brown. Brown is the legitimate ace of the staff. He finished top 3 in Cy Young voting last season, doing all he could to carry the load on a team that was ravaged by injury, much as the 2024 team was and the 2026 team is.

Right now, Brown is not Brown. Without Hunter Brown acting as the true ace he is, there is not enough pitching the Astros can acquire at the deadline to make up for it. They don’t have the means. I’m not sure any team does.

Without Brown as their ace, the Astros lack the needed pitching to drive wins through the dogs days of summer, and certainly lack the mound power to drive wins in a postseason.

The biggest impediment to the Astros having any kind of sustained winning streak all season has been the starting pitching, it’s propensity to blow up on a moment’s notice, leaving the Astros is huge early holes that even the greatest offenses of all time couldn’t sustain.

It’s why the Astros PR team calls it “The Slow Turnaround”, the Astros incredibly relentless but painfully slow climb back towards .500, because they never had a 9 game win streak or a 14-2 run, it was an elongated series of taking 2 out of 3 steadily for almost 4 weeks. With each passing series, they got 1 game closer to .500.

Just one game. Each time. Slow. Methodical. Grinding.

The injuries are once again much to bear. The offense can’t afford to not have prime Jeremy Pena at the top of the lineup every day wreaking havoc. It cannot afford for Christian Walker to revert to first half 2025 Christian Walker. It cannot afford to finish a full season of Jose Altuve hitting like August/September 2025 Jose Altuve.

Most of all, what the Houston Astros cannot afford is a broken Hunter Brown. That may just be what they have right now.

Brown hasn’t looked right since returning from a Grade 2 shoulder strain. In his second start back (6/22), he needed 85 pitches to get through 3 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays. He allowed 7 runs, 6 earned against Tampa Bay 7/4 where he allowed 4 walks and 2 homers. He followed that with a 5 walk performance against the Rangers (7/10), one in which he allowed 3 runs in 6 innings and a homer. Today, Brown couldn’t escape the 5th, allowing 4 runs and walking 6.

Over his last 3 starts, Brown has pitched 14.2 innings. In that time, he has allowed 13 ER, 13 hits, 15 walks, 3 homers, with only 11 strikeouts.

Brown entered play today averaging 5.6 BB/9, a rate that would easily be a career high (his career rate 3.2). That number will rise after today.

He entered today with a career worst 1.77 K/BB ratio, another number that will get worse today. That rate is 3.1 for his career, and was 3.61 last season.

His 1.39 WHIP this season is a far cry from his 1.03 WHIP last season, let alone his 1.22 career number.

These numbers would be less concerning if Brown was in the process of a turnaround where he had pitched better of late. “Of late” is when he’s struggled the most.

This is no way is to say that Brown can’t or won’t turn things around. It is very much a referendum on whether he can do it beginning with his next start and then dominate the rest of the season in 2025 fashion. That is the part that seems highly unlikely.

Without a true ace atop the rotation, the Astros are essentially dead in the water. They will not stomach the costs to acquire such a pitcher at the deadline, nor should they. It’s throwing good money after bad. There is still no performance guarantee on Brown, on the returning Blanco and Wesneski, and certainly not on Tatsuya Imai and Mike Burrows.

Baseball analytics are about risk assessment and management. There is entirely too much risk in the Astros pitching portfolio, and it can’t be a recommended buy anymore for this season.

It brings us to the most unenviable point in the road, the point where Jim Crane must admit (for one year at least) that this team doesn’t have a real chance at making the postseason.

Therefore it’s time to sell. They should not have a full scale fire sale. They should not sell cheap. Considering that so few teams will be sellers, returns should be strong.

However, it is that time. They can sell off various parts (bullpen arms, veterans entering FA for ‘27 or ‘28) to re-load the minor league system, and then re-tool in the offseason via trades and free agency to give the team it’s best chance to contend again (presuming we have a 2027 season).

The bottom line is: it’s the end of the road for 2026.

As Sammy Hagar once sang: Dream another dream, this dream is over.

Following the team's 8-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opening game of today's doubleheader, Yankees manager Aaron Boone spoke to the media about the team's recent struggles at the plate.

"Obviously, we have to be able to do more," said Boone. "We've been saying that a lot over these last few weeks."

Boone took the time to recognize how the team's hitters have responded in the absence of team captain and superstar slugger Aaron Judge, who has been sidelined since the beginning of June.

"I feel like we have good players, in some cases young players that have to keep getting better. Of the six weeks Judge has been down, I feel like the first two to three weeks, we were getting it done [offensively]. But then we went through a stretch of 15-20 games where we were not scoring enough, not pressuring enough, and we have to find a way, especially going up against good teams with good pitching [such as the Dodgers]."

The skipper was then asked about second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., and the impact he can bring to the lineup when he's at his best.

Boone reflected on his lefty infielder's season at the dish thus far, remarking that "He's had some big swings and some clutch at-bats. He's one of those guys we expect a lot of."

"He hasn't gone on that hot streak this year yet, got off to a slow start in April, and it's been up and down for the last few months. But he can change the game in a lot of different ways offensively, so we have got to get him there."

Joey Cantillo v. Paul Skenes was never going to be the most fair of pitching battles, but Cleveland did not help themselves at all. Multiple outs in the basepath, poor defensive efforts, and an inability to capitalize with runners in scoring position left Cantillo with the loss.

Joey pitched well enough and was holding his own in the first five innings. Cantillo pitched into the sixth inning, giving up four earned runs on seven hits and three walks. Cantillo struck out seven batters. In the sixth inning, Pittsburgh only had a 2-1 lead, but back to back doubles with no outs forced Vogt to got to Franco Aleman. Aleman gave up two hits and a walk, allowing an inherited run and an earned run to score.

Hunter Gaddis had a solid outing. His only blemish was a walk. Will Dion pitched the eighth and ninth, allowing two runs on two hits and striking out four.

The offense was, in a word, lackluster and looked like there was a chance to get to Skenes early on. In the bottom of the third Gabriel Arias hit a single. Petey Halpin and Steven Kwan hit back-to-back one out singles with Arias scoring on Kwan’s perfect bunt.

A strike-em-out, throw-em-out play with Bazzana at the plate retired the side as Kwan attempted to steal second base. In the bottom of the fourth, Chase DeLauter got on base via a walk and went first to third on Brayan Rocchio’s single to center. Kyle Manzardo flied out to center and resulted in a double play as Chase DeLauter was thrown out at home. Once again a Cleveland runner did not slide into home. While it makes some sense that someone with CDL’s injury history wouldn’t readily slide into a base, it is still frustrating that it happened in back-to-back games.

The Twins come to town for a four game series starting tomorrow. It will be a righty face off as Joe Ryan takes the mound for Minnesota and Tanner Bibee gets the start for Cleveland. First pitch is at 6:40 PM.

The Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 6-1 on Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park. 

Here are some takeaways...

-- The Mets were held to just one run on three hits by Jesus Luzardo and the Phillies bullpen on Saturday afternoon, but they were able to break out against Alan Rangel and company in Sunday's game -- scoring five times over the first two innings, then tacking on late to pull out the commanding victory. 

-- Three of those early runs came off the bat of Francisco Lindor, who had been struggled on both sides of the ball since returning from the IL. Lindor demolished a 420 foot two-run homer to the second-deck in right his first time up then ripped an RBI single with the bases loaded in the second. 

He reached base all five times he stepped into the batter's box, finished a triple shy of the cycle, and picked up his 1,700th career hit. 

-- Luis Torrens took advantage of his start behind the plate, as he was also in the middle of things offensively. The veteran ripped an RBI double his first time up, sparked a sixth inning rally with a leadoff single, and also drew a six-pitch walk to prolong the top of the seventh. 

Torrens has hits in five of his last seven games, hitting .273 with three RBI and a .724 OPS over that span. 

-- Bo Bichette had two hits and a walk, A.J. Ewing also had a pair of knocks, Juan Soto reached three times with a pair of singles and a walk, and Tyrone Taylor stayed hot with a walk and opposite-field double off the bench. 

-- On the mound, right-hander Nolan McLean took very kindly to the big run support. He struck out two batters in a perfect bottom of the first, then shook off a hard-hit comebacker to the lower-leg, using a 6-4-3 double play to work his way out of a one out jam in the bottom of the second. 

McLean kicked it into cruise control from there, retiring the next 12 hitters he faced in order before a two-out double and walk gave him a little bit of a sweat. The righty, however, was able to freeze Bryce Harper with a nasty sinker on the inner-half of the zone to end his day on a high note.  

He allowed just two hits and two walks while striking out 10 across six scoreless innings. 

-- A.J. Minter had a bit of a scare working behind McLean, as he allowed the Phillies to break up the shutout with a solo homer and then they strung together a couple of hits in the seventh, but an Edmundo Sosa double play ball helped him escape without further damage. 

-- Huascar Brazoban struck out two in a scoreless eighth, Cionel Perez put the finishing touches on in the ninth. 

-- New York could've done even more damage on the scoreboard if they didn't go an ugly 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position on the afternoon, leaving 15 men on base in total. 

Game MVP: Francisco Lindor

Lindor put together a much-needed big day at the plate, spearheading the offense. 

Highlights

Francisco Lindor hits a two-run homer to the second deck! 💣 pic.twitter.com/4VGph9ktzj

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 19, 2026

Luis Torrens drives home Brett Baty with an RBI double! pic.twitter.com/lO5NaGzgLj

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 19, 2026

Francisco Lindor has driven in three runs in the first two innings 💪 pic.twitter.com/xZZHkvra1u

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 19, 2026

A 6-4-3 double play to end the inning! pic.twitter.com/cZ7nc3p9xU

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 19, 2026

Four strikeouts in three innings for Nolan McLean 🔥 pic.twitter.com/GkUAobdYD4

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 19, 2026

"Gosh, can this man spin it!"

Nolan McLean has retired 10 in a row! pic.twitter.com/6UQxCFIBoC

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 19, 2026

Francisco Lindor has been on base five times today!

He's a triple away from the cycle 👀 pic.twitter.com/Q7gGXWoXnB

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 19, 2026

What's next

The Mets head to Milwaukee to open a three-game set with the Brewers on Monday night. 

Freddy Peralta faces his old team against young ace Jacob Misiorowski.

The Boston Red Sox just swept the Tampa Bay Rays—the team that entered this series leading the AL East. It’s their fourth consecutive series sweep. Thirteen wins in a row. 50-48 and rising. Holy crap. I can’t keep saying things that show my disbelief at this happening, in the best way possible.

OK, onto the game itself.

Sonny Gray wasn’t sharp—four walks will do that—but he was effective, grinding through jams all afternoon. It’s what the guy who’s stepped up to be the ace in lieu of Garrett Crochet has just done effortlessly all season. Truest workhorse on this staff. The Rays went 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position, which certainly helped. When that’s what’s happening, the walks start to feel a lot less worrying. Gray’s only blemish was a Victor Mesa Jr. inside-the-park homer in the second, a strange play where Ceddanne Rafaela lost control of the ball in center and then bobbled it, and Mesa Jr. kept running and scored easily. Everything else? Held.

The Sox answered in the second—Caleb Durbin single, steals second and grabs third on the throwing error, coming home on an Andruw Monasterio double (he’s been on fire with XBHs lately!) Then, this incredible squad blew this open in the third in the most chaotic way imaginable. Jahmai Jones walked to lead off. Rafaela flied out. Abreu got hit by a pitch. Willson Contreras worked a walk including a pitch the Rays immediately challenged via AB for the third ball—it was correctly inside, the challenge failed—and suddenly the bases were loaded with one out. Hunter Feduccia let a Caleb Durbin swing and a miss get by him and Jones sprinted home. Durbin then grounded one to Junior Caminero, who threw it into the back of Abreu coming home to tack on another run. Romy Gonzalez grounded out sharply to drive home one more. Three runs, zero hits, two unearned. The Rays gave them three, and the way this Red Sox team is playing, they will capitalize and hang onto every mistake you make.

Then in the fifth, Contreras put it away. A gorgeous two-run shot into the bullpen in right-center, and the whole park was exuberant. The Rays felt done.

Weissert, Morán, and Watson combined for three clean (enough) innings to close it out. Shane McClanahan—in his first season back from the injury that wiped out just about all of his 2025, a season that started, by the way, with him going down against the Red Sox—didn’t have it. He’s looked more beatable than he had in two years before the injury. The Sox took full advantage.

Again. Thirteen wins in a row. Four series sweeps in a row. Against the team leading the division. Six games back of the division lead, as of publish before the second part of the Yankees double header. Four games back of the Pinstripes themselves. The numbers are real. It still doesn’t feel real.

Studs

Sonny Gray (6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K)

Four walks and it still felt not necessarily controlled, but not too far along the struggle bus. The Rays had runners on all day and came up empty, except for one weird play. Gray has a way of making the pitch he needs when he needs it most, and today that showed. One run in six innings against the first-place team in your division is a win. If this is what “meh” Sonny Gray is, that’s fine by me.

Willson Contreras (1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB)

Bowser is locked in and continues to be one of the emotional and physical heartbeats of this roster. The fifth-inning shot was a thing of beauty—right-center, into the bullpen, a majestic shot. That’s the kind of swing that ends a baseball game.

Jahmai Jones (1-for-3, BB, 1 R)

Started again at DH and got on base twice in a game the Sox only had six hits total. For a guy who arrived this week for essentially nothing, he’s fit into this lineup like he belongs. Walked twice, scored, and played it like he’s been here all summer. I don’t know if this is akin to Quinten Berry a la 2013, but so far, so good in a small sample size.

Duds

Jarren Duran (0-for-3, 1 BB)

Has gone quiet at the plate over this series. Not a big deal when the team is winning 13 straight, but worth keeping an eye on as the schedule gets tougher. At least he keeps fielding fly balls. Cause that’s all he’s doing right now (go find an insult for me, bud).

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

Two strikeouts, nothing to show for it at the plate. The offense didn’t need much today, but is Wong showing enough to keep his second catcher status beyond this season? Who’s to say.

Play of the Game

The entire bottom of the third. Rays lose both ABS challenges in the third inning—Mesa’s called strikeout confirmed in the top, Contreras’s walk with a pitch upheld in the bottom. Passed ball scores a run. Caminero throws it into the runner scoring. Three runs without a hit. The Sox didn’t earn that inning—the Rays handed it to them—but you have to actually score those runs, and this team has not wasted a single opportunity in 13 games.