Category: MLB

Weekday matinees are dumb. I get that it was partially a necessity today because of the rainout yesterday and it’s always used for a getaway game, but it was also pre-scheduled and it never looks right at Yankee Stadium. That’s not an excuse for what happened today, or why the Yankees always seem to be worse in these situations, but it went the way it did.

Mitch Keller flummoxed an offense that’s still struggling with runners in scoring position for five innings, slightly outdueling a visually dominant Gerrit Cole, who gave up a pair of homers despite 11 strikeouts in 7 innings. A massive three-run homer in the seventh by Ben Rice should’ve been enough to rally the troops, but the offense was dormant after that as Fernando Cruz had a rough 10th inning in a 5-3 loss to open the day.

Cole got things started for the Yanks with a clean, 1-2-3 first inning, while Keller responded with one of his own. The pair matched each other in the second, as well, with the only baserunner for either team being a one-out single by Jasson Domínguez. It was definitely Cole, however, who stood out through three, striking out six of the first nine he faced.

The Yankees tried to get something going off Keller in the third. Austin Wells got beaned with one out, Trent Grisham jumped ahead 3-0 before hitting a lineout a few pitches later, and Rice seemed to have blooped a two-out single before a tremendous diving catch by Bryan Reynolds robbed him.

Cole sat down the Buccos in order in the fourth without the need for a web gem. Spencer Jones and Cody Bellinger led off the bottom half with walks against a suddenly erratic Keller, but the next three hitters—Domínguez, Jazz Chishom Jr., and José Caballero—put together some rough at-bats to strand them. Their misdeeds were quickly punished.

The Pirates had absolutely nothing through 14 batters, with eight of them going down on strikes. After a controversial call saved Cole’s perfect game against Ryan O’Hearn, it was immediately ended by a Nick Gonzales single. But before we could say “aw shucks,” the former Cy Young Award winner grooved a 1-1 changeup to Jacob Gonzalez into the Short Porch to make it 2-0 Pirates in the fifth.

Wells reached for the second time with a one-out single in the bottom half to flip the lineup, and Grisham ripped a single up the middle to quickly put the pressure back on Keller, but despite his longstanding struggles against lefties this season, the former All-Star grit his teeth to win a six-pitch battle with Rice and retire Jones to escape unscathed again.

Cole went back to work in the sixth and gave up a one-out single to Jake Mangum before a bizarre balk occurred due to a pitch clock malfunction that the 35-year-old didn’t react to positively. He rebounded to get the next two out. Carmen Mlodzinski relieved Keller after a residential five-and-dive and worked around a four-pitch walk to Domínguez, but not without more theatrics.

Caballero’s pitch clock antics again came up with two out when he was hit with a pitch clock violation for not engaging on time, but he pretty clearly did. You worry sometimes that Caballero’s annoying schtick with this would eventually cause umpires to misapply the rules out of frustration, and that happened there. Somehow, the only one who was sent to the showers was hitting coach James Rowson.

Cole finished his outing after seven innings, coughing up an opposite-field homer to Gonzales to make it 3-0 during it, but despite being in line for the loss when he departed, he looked pretty damn close to vintage Gerrit Cole with 11 strikeouts and no walks. In a day like this, with a diminished Max Fried going tonight, the Yankees needed length, and they got it; the home runs just bit him badly.

Mlodzinski tried to get through the seventh as well, but Pirates manager Don Kelly’s decision to stick with him went badly. Ryan McMahon blooped a ground-rule double to left, Wells walked with help from Pittsburgh’s ABS hesitancy, and the stage was set with one out for Rice, who walloped a 3-1 cutter down the pipe for his 30th home run to tie it. As mentioned on the broadcast, he’s just the fifth Yankees’ draft pick to hit 30 bombs in a season.

With new life, the Yankees went to Brent Headrick for the eighth, and he looked as nasty as ever with a trio of strikeouts. There’s a Matt Blake revelation every year, and he certainly is one with an ERA of 1.40 in 51.1 innings. Mlodzinski got the first two out in the bottom of the eighth before Mason Montgomery retired McMahon to send it to the ninth.

Brandon Lowe led off the ninth with a rocket single off David Bednar that went under the glove of McMahon at third, but he made up for it with a catch against the tarp a few pitches later. Things got sticky with two on, two out, and 3-2 on Gonzales, but Rice made an outstanding diving stop on a tremendous piece of hitting by Gonzales to save a run and get it to the bottom of the ninth.

Montgomery stayed on to face 9-1-2 in the ninth, getting a groundout out of the pinch-hitting Paul Goldschmidt before walking Grisham. His triple-digit velocity overwhelmed Rice and the pinch-hitting Amed Rosario to send it to extras, where Fernando Cruz emerged to begin Manfred ball.

It didn’t go well for him. A flyout got the go-ahead run to third before he walked a pinch-hitting Marcell Ozuna. At this point, he just lost control. After spamming splitters to Ozuna, he tried mixing some other pitches to get the next few hitters but had no idea where they were going. Two great pieces of hitting on pitches that wandered up by Jared Triolo and Mangum drove in two runs. A five-pitch walk to Lowe chased Cruz after his worst outing in a good bit.

Kervin Castro made his second appearance as a Yankee and nicely weaseled his way out of Cruz’s jam with two strikeouts, but the damage was done. Gregory Soto locked down the ninth with a 1-2-3 inning to secure the win for Pittsburgh.

The Yankees will look for the series victory with returning ace Max Fried on a pitch limit. The lefty will square off against fireballer Bubba Chandler at 7:05pm tonight on YES.

Box Score

Would he get his own song?

Lars Nootbaar grew up in Southern California, playing for USC and attending games at Dodger Stadium. His mother is from Japan, so he played with Shohei Ohtani on Team Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

In Japan, fans come up with a song for each player and sing it happily and relentlessly. Nootbaar played in the major leagues, not in the Japanese league, so he was not sure he would get a song until he came up to bat.

“I don’t know how everybody in the stadium knew how to do it,” the St. Louis Cardinals outfielder said Wednesday at Angel Stadium. “Everybody was chanting it. It was pretty awesome.”

In Japan, baseball games are nine innings of songs and chants, drums and noise sticks. No excessively caffeinated in-game hosts. No scolding video commands to make some noise. The joyful sounds are organic, and they come from the fans.

Nootbaar attended Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s last game in Japan and absolutely raved about the energy in the stadium. Does he believe that kind of fan experience would translate to an American ballpark?

“I don’t see why not,” Nootbaar said. “It would probably have to start small, but it would be cool to integrate that.”

We’re starting small, and soon. A minor league team plans to launch in Irvine next year, and the entrepreneur behind it is pitching it as a way to provide fans with a taste of Asian baseball.

“We’re going to really lean into some of the innovation in fan experience that you’ve seen in Korea and Japan,” said Paul Freedman, co-founder of Innovation Baseball Partners.

“We’ll be the first, to our knowledge, to bring that as the fan experience of an American baseball team.”

The team would play in the Pioneer League, the independent league in which Freedman and his partners previously launched teams in Oakland and Long Beach. In Oakland, the ballpark is a pop-up. In Long Beach, the team plays at 70-year-old Blair Field.

Irvine hits the sweet spot: a glistening new community ballpark in as targeted a demographic as an Asian-themed team could want. In Irvine, which has about 320,000 residents, 44% of the population is Asian.

The defending champions of Korea’s league last year held spring training in Irvine. More Koreans live there than in any city in the United States besides New York or Los Angeles.

Read more:Shaikin: For Korea's baseball champions, it's time for spring training. In Irvine

Asian food will be available at the games, as will hot dogs.

On Tuesday, the Irvine City Council is scheduled to consider a five-year contract with Innovation Baseball Partners, under which the team could sell naming rights to the Great Park stadium and would split the revenue with the city 50-50. The agreement also provides a framework for potential expansion of the stadium from 1,300 to 3,000 seats.

Don Wakamatsu, who runs baseball operations for Freedman’s teams, was the first Asian-American manager in major league history and managed Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki with the Seattle Mariners.

Ichiro won’t be playing in Irvine — the Pioneer League limits players to no more than two years of professional experience — but Wakamatsu plans to tap into his network to ensure the team has an Asian manager or coach and a nucleus of Asian players.

Wakamatsu described Freedman’s model of minor league teams as “somewhere between conventional baseball and the Savannah Bananas” and believes the Asian style could take hold in Irvine.

“If we can truly capture some of that excitement and fan interaction,” Wakamatsu said, “I think we’ll get a deeper connection with the players.”

To help launch the Irvine team, Freedman tapped two Korean-Americans: Martin Kim, a onetime interpreter to former Dodgers pitcher Hyun-jin Ryu and international business development executive with the Dodgers and Major League Baseball; and Yugina Yun, an Orange County-raised sports executive that said she “begged” to join the team as its operations director.

“The element that we’d really like to bring forth is the idea that fans in the stands can impact a team,” Yun said. “We want them to feel like they’re a part of the culture from the ground up.

Read more:Shaikin: Why USC baseball plays its home games in Orange County this season

“We’re not manufacturing the experience. They are.”

If you watched the World Baseball Classic, or for that matter the World Cup, you don’t have to be sold on this. On the night before the World Cup final, Argentinian fans took over Times Square, singing and chanting and waving banners.

A sign outside this year’s WBC finals in Miami listed 16 “permissible instruments” (bongos, cowbells and tambourines welcome) and eight “prohibited instruments” (no airhorns, please). In Tijuana, where Dodgers icon Justin Turner is playing this season, airhorns buzz constantly, and games feature skits between innings.

“I think there is a lot of attention to how different cultures have taken America’s pastime and created experiences around it that are different than we have here,” Freedman said. “We’re excited to bring some of that back home.”

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Pirates fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

We’re trying something a little different with the Reacts posts in an effort to get as much interaction as possible, so we’re posting the question in The Feed and in a story, but the idea is still the same!

We covered the rumors on Oneil Cruz earlier, with the Pirates reportedly taking offers on the talented outfielder who is currently on the injured list. Supposedly, the Bucs are listening. We’ll see if anything comes of it, but as usual, we want to know your thoughts. Should the Pirates trade Oneil Cruz?

When we ran a similar poll at the beginning of the season, a majority of voters said yes. It’ll be interesting to see if anything has changed.

Thanks for voting. We’ll be back soon with the results.

Not like the Braves could really do worse against Michael King…

It’s been a bit of a whirlwind for Austin Riley — he was hitting sixth or seventh for a long while, but then moved up to cleanup against a southpaw on Monday, and stayed there against Walker Buehler on Tuesday. With a right-hander on the mound in Michael King, he’s dropping to fifth. Mike Yastrzemski starts again at DH, as the Braves implicitly vote that a righty-hitting Brewer Hicklen is currently more palatable than a lefty-swinging Dominic Smith, even against a righty. One funny part of all this is that Mauricio Dubon drops to seventh for the first time in nearly two months of play. So, this will be the 82nd different lineup the Braves will have used in 101 games.

As for the Padres, it’s a familiar cast of characters for Martin Perez to tackle. Jase Bowen hasn’t played much at all (50 PAs so far) and gives them another righty bat, albeit one that hasn’t hit in those 50 PAs.

Everyone in this Braves lineup other than Jim Jarvis and Brewer Hicklen have faced Michael King, which makes sense given that he dominated the Braves a few starts ago. Still, no one has double-digit PAs against him other than Yastrzemski. The combined line is a .280 wOBA and .328 xwOBA in 59 PAs; if the Braves can manage something akin to that xwOBA, it may not be enough to win, but it’d probably at least feel decent.

Because Martin Perez has been around forever, a lot of Padres have a decent tally of PAs against him. Manny Machado has crushed him in 20 PAs, while both Ty France and Xander Bogaerts have been various flavors of decent in around 20 PAs each. In aggregate, we’re talking 92 PAs of .334 wOBA / .344 xwOBA with every batter in the lineup having faced him at least twice. I’m not sure that’s really predictive of an issue given that Perez is Perez, though.

Texas Rangers lineup for July 22, 2026 against the Chicago White Sox: starting pitchers are Tyler Alexander for the Rangers and Anthony Kay for the White Sox.

Texas looks to win this series against Chicago this evening. Cal Quantrill is expected to come in behind Tyler Alexander, who is the opener. Josh Jung, who left yesterday’s game due to a calf issue, says he’s fine and available, but he’s getting the day off. Wyatt Langford is at DH again.

The lineup:

Langford — DH

Foscue — 2B

Burger — 1B

Nimmo — RF

Duran — 3B

Cauley — CF

Diaz — C

Osuna — LF

Lopez — SS

7:05 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are +104 underdogs.

A very explosive seventh inning accounted for all but two of the runs today including a 2-run homer from Salvador Perez to tie George Brett’s franchise record. Kansas City scored five in that inning to complete the sweep 5-4 this afternoon.

Both the Royals and the Giants were unable to do almost anything offensively for the first two thirds of this one. In fact, through the first 5 innings Seth Lugo had faced the minimum thanks to a double play and Landen Roupp had faced one over the minimum for a total number of 31 plate appearances. Then the first run was scored without a hit in the 6th inning. Lugo walked Willy Adames to open the inning and then hit Drew Gilbert in the thigh when he squared to bunt. Not the best way to start out an inning. The nine hitter, Drew Cavanaugh, sac bunted to move those two free base runners into scoring position. Back to the top of the lineup and Luis Arraez who hit a flyout deep enough into center to score a run and move Gilbert to third. That one run was all they would get in the 6th.

Lugo gave up two more in the 7th when the offensive torpor lifted for both teams. It again started with a walk, this time to Rafael Devers. He was still at first base with two outs when Jung Hoo Lee drilled a ball into the right field corner for an RBI triple. It was followed by another hard hit ball from Willy Adames that bounced over the left field wall for a ground rule double and another score. Seth finished the day with 7IP, 3H, 2BB, 5K, 3ER. It was not a bad day though it did look like he was set up to take the loss.

Down 3-0, the Royals had Vinnie Pasquantino leading off in the 7th, which turned into the first real drama of the day. Vinnie hit a ball down the first base line into the corner for a double, but his slide into second was a bit awkward and Adames thought he had tagged him out. I don’t think he tagged him while he was off base but that did not matter since the umpire ruled he was pushed off and therefore safe. This led to some arguing from Tony Vitello who was ejected when he could not challenge the call. Next up was Salvador Perez who decided to make a little history happen. Salvy up with Pasquantino on second, he launches home run number 317 just to the right of center and tied George Brett for the most in Royals history!! It also cut the lead down, now 3-2, and there were still no outs and Landen Roupp was removed to bring in Sam Hentges.

Michael Massey was up next in the 7th and bunted, which Hentges fielded and threw wide of first allowing Massey to end up at second. After Isaac Collins grounded out, he moved to third on a Starling Marte groundball through the right side that Lee got to quickly to stop Massey from scoring. The Giants decided to bring in Keaton Winn and the Royals decided to pinch hit with Nick Loftin rather than having Josh Rojas face him. It was a good decision has Loftin singled to center and tied the game 3-3. The inning was still rolling, now first and second with one down. After another out, Starling Marte stole third which did not matter since Carter Jensen walked the bases loaded. And then to round out the inning, Lane Thomas hit a ball between second and first to score two more and give the Royals their first lead of the day. The team batted around and got five in the 7th, time for the bullpen to see if they could secure the win.

Daniel Lynch came in and threw a clean 8th to get three outs closer to victory and bring up Salvy to lead off the bottom half of the inning with a chance to break the record. He did not and instead struck out on three pitches. The Royals also came up empty in the inning, and the Royals went to the field three outs away from victory and a sweep.

Steven Cruz came on for the ninth looking for his first career save. He has been great recently giving up just one run in his last 12 outings. Cruz took care of Heliot Ramos and Devers quickly to get one out away from ending it. Then came mighty Casey, Casey Schmitt that is, to the bat. Schmitt took a 99 MPH fastball into the visitor’s bullpen to make it 5-4, but Lee popped out and that was that. The Royals got the win and the sweep, Steven Cruz has one career save, and Salvador Perez is tied with George Brett. It was a nice way to end the home stand.

Next up for the boys in blue is a road trip to Detroit, Minnesota, and Colorado. They won’t be back in Kauffman until August 4th, so Salvy is likely going to break the record on the road.

Remember when this was supposed to be a hard-fought series between the two hottest teams in baseball? It sure looks like a one-sided letdown to me.

The O’s again failed to quash Boston’s historic winning streak, which tied a franchise-best 14 games in a 6-3 Red Sox victory. Dean Kremer bombed immediately, coughing up four runs in the first, and the Sox cruised into the record books from there.

In the opener of this series on Monday, the Orioles, even in defeat, gave the Red Sox a heck of a scare. Whenever the Sox took a lead, the O’s would deliver a counterpunch, going toe-to-toe with the league’s hottest team right down to the final out. Defensive shenanigans aside, the Orioles at least made the Red Sox sweat.

But this game? Not so much. The Red Sox were in total control from the very beginning, and despite the O’s actually out-hitting them, the Birds never really felt like they had a chance.

The Red Sox took command immediately, torching Dean Kremer for four runs and five hits in the bottom of the first. The first two knocks weren’t especially well hit — a bloop into center, a slow roller to second — but Boston hitters stung the ball more as the inning went on. Willson Contreras lashed a single to left to load the bases, and a Caleb Durbin hit up the middle plated two runs.

Had Kremer been able to limit the damage at 2-0, things might’ve felt less bleak. He could not. With two outs, Jarren Duran lashed a triple into the right-field corner, bringing home another pair to make it 4-0. Because of course the guy with a .594 OPS delivered the big hit. Whatever devil magic has gotten into the Red Sox apparently isn’t going away anytime soon.

We’ve seen games this year where the Orioles fell behind early but rallied for a late comeback. This was not one of those games. Red Sox starter Jake Bennett, buoyed by his ample run support, never allowed the Birds to get particularly close. The rookie southpaw, who carried a 2.35 ERA into this game, put some traffic on the bases but mostly kept the O’s off the board.

Through the first five innings, the only runs Bennett allowed were on a gift RBI double in the third — when center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela lost a routine Tyler O’Neill fly ball in the sun, allowing Pete Alonso to score — and a solo homer by Christian Encarnacion-Strand in the fifth. In any case, the Red Sox quickly got both runs back against Kremer, first on a Duran sac fly in the third and then a Rafaela homer in the fourth.

Kremer ended up working six innings and giving up six runs. I wrote in the game thread, “If Kremer hopes to cool down the red-hot Red Sox, he’ll need to work a little further into the game than he has recently.” Perhaps I should have specified that he needs to both work further into the game and actually pitch well. My bad. But I will give him credit for saving the bullpen. The O’s needed only one reliever, Anthony Nunez, to finish the game, which leaves all of their high-leverage guys available for the nightcap of the doubleheader. Of course, that will only matter if the O’s actually have a late-inning lead to protect.

As for this game, Bennett began to tire in the sixth, giving up doubles to Coby Mayo and the scorching hot Encarnacion-Strand to make it a 6-3 game, and he departed after 5.2 innings. Normally I’d say that chasing the starter in the sixth inning is a moral victory, but the Red Sox have the best bullpen in baseball, so it wasn’t even that.

Sure enough, Boston’s lockdown relief arms shut out the Orioles the rest of the way. Justin Slaten worked 1.1 scoreless innings, Garrett Whitlock cruised through a perfect eighth, and closer Aroldis Chapman worked around a walk and a single to nail down the save in the ninth. As shortstop Tsung-Che Cheng threw out Pete Alonso for the final out, the Fenway Park crowd of 35,039 erupted, celebrating the franchise record-tying 15th consecutive win. I look forward to the Red Sox still finding a way to ruin their own season eventually.

The Sox will aim to break their record in the nightcap, scheduled for 7:10 pm. It sure would be nice if the Orioles found a way not to be on the wrong side of history.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Reds fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

With 16 homers to his credit through just 95 games played this season, Spencer Steer is well on his way to topping 20 homers in a season for the fourth consecutive season. All four of those seasons have come with the Cincinnati Reds, as did a 28 game cameo with them the season before that homer streak began.

That’s a fun way to look at some pretty consistent production from the guy. It’s also a testament to just how much time has elapsed since the last Cincinnati Reds rebuild, as Steer – who came from the Minnesota Twins in a deal that sent Tyler Mahle the other way – was one of the first big pieces of it.

That rebuild simply hasn’t worked out.

The 2025 Reds snuck into the expanded playoffs, lost both games they played, and finished the year having won just two more games than they lost – and that is the peak the Reds got from this whole large-scale rebuild. Now, they’re mired in last place again and going nowhere in 2026, and the time has come to ship off pieces that have good present value for, ideally, a handful more that look to be promising down the road.

Steer has hardly been the problem with the Reds during this time. As complementary pieces go, he’s been perfectly fine, specifically with a bat from the right-side that can crush lefties and an ability on defense to be at least passable just about everywhere they try to play him. The problem for the Reds, though, is that he’s already been plying his trade that way long enough to earn $4 million in his first arbitration year this year, and that’s only going to escalate for the two additional years of team control that he has.

So, the question is this – is now the time for the Reds to trade Steer?

As market conditions go, he’s pretty ripe for the picking right now. Teams like the Mariners, Red Sox, Yankees, and Phillies are all desperate for right-handed hitting help that can crush lefties, and Steer owns a 1.062 OPS in 96 PA against southpaws this season. You’d be hard pressed to find that who’s who of buyers interested in exactly what Steer provides at precisely the same time again, and there simply aren’t a ton of other obvious guys out there who are availble right now with the same set of abilities.

The Reds would be forfeiting the two additional years of team control by moving him, something they may well like to think is still a window for them to put together a contender. With Elly De La Cruz presumably around for those years and Hunter Greene pairing with Chase Burns atop the rotation it’s not unfathomable, but so much else about the rest of the roster needs fixing that moving a valued piece like Steer, now, might well land them multiple pieces who can help for two years and beyond.

So, what say you? Is now the time to move Steer if you’re the Reds, knowing there’s a defined market for what he provides even though the Reds have him under control through 2028?

Let us know in the poll below!

The Red Sox will not be defied by weather or competition. The wins just keep coming.

Boston rolled out to a 4-0 lead after the first inning and rode that momentum to a 6-3 victory over the Orioles in the opening game of the doubleheader. Jake Bennett did enough to win and the offense set the tempo with the fast first-inning start. 

Here’s three takeaways from Wednesday afternoon’s win. 

CALEB DURBIN STAYS RED HOT

Durbin already made his mark on the series with Monday’s game-winning solo home run to clinch the 14th straight win. He started a multi-hit performance Wednesday with a two-run single that kickstarted the scoring. 

With the recent media support from ownership, Boston’s third baseman continues his remarkable season turnaround with a real offensive presence in the lineup. Durbin has hit .298 with nine homers and a .894 OPS since June 1. 

BENNETT STAYS SOLID
All things considered, the young left-hander gave the Red Sox another impactful start.

Getting the ball for the second straight doubleheader opener, Bennett entered after 13 innings of scoreless work in his previous two starts. The lefty allowed three runs in 5 ⅔ innings against the Orioles and left with the lead. The bullpen held it down from there, earning him the win. Bennett holds a 2.58 ERA through his first 10 MLB starts. 

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? 

The Red Sox have lost just two games since June 25. The remarkable run completely turned the narrative of one of the most rollercoaster seasons in recent memory. Now, Boston turned back the clock 80 years to join an elite company with the 1946 team featuring Ted Williams and other legends.

A win tonight would put the 2026 Red Sox in a remarkable class of their own.

With a first-inning blitz and yet another effective pitching performance, the Boston Red Sox tied an 80-year-old franchise record for most consecutive wins.

The Red Sox won their 15th consecutive game Wednesday, July 22, scoring four first-inning runs and easily suppressing the Baltimore Orioles in a 6-3 victory in Game 1 of the teams' day-night doubleheader.

Now, the 1946 Red Sox have company - at least for a few hours.

They set the franchise record for consecutive wins with a team centered around Ted Williams, who returned from three years of service during World War II to win the American League MVP, hitting 38 home runs and leading the major leagues in seven significant offensive categories.

These Red Sox don't have such a future Hall of Fame luminary. But they have shown the gumption to overcome a miserable start and start exploiting a less-than-mediocre AL.

"This incredible magic carpet ride continues!"

The @RedSox win 15 IN A ROW! pic.twitter.com/1Q4bOAwF7O

— MLB (@MLB) July 22, 2026

Wednesday, they rapped four consecutive hits in their first five batters, including a two-run single from Caleb Durbin, who'd provided their 14th consecutive victory July 20 with an eighth-inning home run. That was more than enough for rookie left-hander Jake Bennett, who improved to 6-3 with a 2.58 ERA with 5 2/3 innings of three-run ball.

Red Sox pitchers have posted a 2.05 ERA in their 15-game winning streak.

When will the Red Sox try for 16 straight wins?

Boston won't have long to ruminate on its franchise-tying streak. The Red Sox and Orioles play the second game of their day-night doubleheader at 7:10 ET Wednesday, offering an immediate chance for a record-breaking 16th win in a row. The Red Sox named Eduardo Rivera their starting pitcher, while the Orioles will start ace Kyle Bradish. Lefty Ranger Suarez is feeling under the weather.

Where does the Red Sox's streak rank?

Boston's 15-game run ranks tied for fifth since 2000, equaling the 2000 Atlanta Braves and 2001 Seattle Mariners. They still have plenty of work remaining to equal Cleveland's record 22-game streak in 2017. The Red Sox do, however, own the second-longest streak for a team that was at least 11 games under .500 when it began.

The 1916 New York Giants won 17 consecutive games after a 2-13 start.

What is the Red Sox's record?

Their 15th straight win gives Boston a 52-48 record, a practically literal turnaround from the 37-48 mark before it began. At the moment, they are six games behind Tampa Bay in the AL East and have a two-game lead for the final AL wild-card berth.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Boston Red Sox tie 80-year-old record with 15th consecutive win

The St. Louis Cardinals will wrap up what has up until today been a massively disappointing road trip as they take on the lowly Angels (who have won the first 2 games) in a Wednesday afternoon contest. The Cardinals will send Hunter Dobbins to the mound while the Angels are giving Reid Detmers the start. First pitch is scheduled for 3:07pm central time in Angel Stadium. TV broadcast available thru Cardinals.tv.

The MLB trade deadline is right around the corner. With a myriad of superstars available in trade talks, there's sure to be tons of phone calls made between managers looking at every angle at which they might be able to acquire someone capable of leading them on a World Series run.

However, trades go both ways. A great player will require an equally great payout of prospects. So, while your team may be in a position to make a move for a serious superstar like Tarik Skubal or Mason Miller or Byron Buxton, they are going to need a great farm system to make it work. And frankly, not every team has that.

The most well-run organizations in the league have both star players to either trade away or go on a run with, plus a fantastic farm to fill the big league lineup once the other stars have either left or retired. Teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers might be buying every superstar known to man at exorbitant prices, but they have also done a remarkable job at producing homegrown talent like Andy Pages, Dalton Rushing, and top prospect Josue De Paula. That's just one of the reasons why they're on top year in, year out.

Here are our rankings of the best farm systems in Major League Baseball.

Power Ranking MLB farm systems

*Top prospects listed per mlb.com

30) New York Mets

Top 5 prospects:

• RHP Jonah Tong
• 1B/OF Ryan Clifford
• 3B/1B Jacob Reimer
• RHP Jack Wenninger
• SS/2B Mitch Voit

When your top prospect, the only player in your farm system listed in MLB's Top 100, looks like a shadow of his former self, that's never a good sign. Coming into the season, the Mets' system leaned heavily on the strength of its top pitchers, but both Tong and Wenninger have struggled in 2026.

Tong specifically saw his ERA jump to a massive 5.83 across 71 innings in Triple-A this year, while his strikeout rate has decreased and his walk rate has increased. Wenninger, meanwhile, has been better at keeping runs off the board, but lacks putaway material, seeing his strikeout rate drop to under 9.0 per nine innings in Triple-A. Neither of them is moving in the right direction, which makes it hard to trust this team's system in the immediate future.

29) Houston Astros

Top 5 prospects:

• OF Kevin Alvarez
• 3B/SS Xavier Neyens
• OF Ethan Frey
• C Walker Janek
• RHP Bryce Mayer

While Alvarez and Neyens are two of the best prospects the Astros have had in years, the Astros still don't boast a very impressive farm system. They have a good influx of hitters at a wide variety of positions, but very few of them seem to be standout bats, capable of being All-Star players at the major league level. Couple that with lackluster pitching prospects, and the Astros remain near the bottom of the rankings yet again.

28) Los Angeles Angels

Top 5 prospects:

• RHP Tyler Bremmer
• OF Nelson Rada
• LHP Johnny Slawinski
• RHP George Klassen
• C/3B Gabriel Davalillo

The Angels are certainly taking a smarter approach with their farm system as of late, giving their players a little more time to develop rather than just speedrunning them to the majors as fast as possible. However, despite their improved management on that front, they still remain one of the thinnest systems in MLB, boasting only one Top 100 prospect and very few promising hitters.

27) San Diego Padres

Top 5 prospects:

• C Ethan Salas
• LHP Kruz Schoolcraft
• RHP Miguel Mendez
• LHP Kash Mayfield
• SS Jorge Quintana

The Padres have one — ONE! — standout performer in their farm system. With their decision last year to trade away Leo De Vries to the Athletics, the team gave away what little depth it had in exchange for potentially trading Mason Miller at this year's deadline.

The Padres' farm system is also filled with players who are far too old for where they are playing in the minors. While the presence of Salas keeps this team from being last place, it wouldn't be far-fetched to say this is all-around the worst farm in MLB.

26) Arizona Diamondbacks

Top 5 prospects:

• OF Ryan Wladschmidt
• SS Kayson Cunningham
• OF Slade Caldwell
• 2B/3B Demetrio Crisantes
• 2B JD Dix

While the Diamondbacks' system certainly looks better than it did a year ago, it still isn't where it needs to be. Now, that could change soon, and the D-Backs could be the biggest riser on this list by the end of the season, but that relies a little too heavily on the continued development of lower-tier prospects like Carlos Virahonda, Daniel Egan, and Druw Jones. If they continue their current trajectories, the Diamondbacks could certainly be in business.

25) Kansas City Royals

Top 5 prospects:

• RHP Kendry Chourio
• SS/3B Josh Hammond
• C Blake Mitchell
• LHP David Shields
• OF/2B Sean Gamble

While the Royals have tremendous pitching depth in their system, boasting several options who will likely blossom into capable MLB starters, their hitting depth remains questionable, specifically in the outfield. Sean Gamble looks poised to operate more as an infielder, and the best prospect the team has in the outfield appears to be Asbel Gonzalez and he's still years away from joining the big league club.

24) Chicago Cubs

Top 5 prospects:

• SS Jefferson Rojas
• OF/1B Josiah Hartshorn
• RHP Jaxon Wiggins
• OF Ethan Conrad
• OF Kane Kepley

The Cubs might have one of the top-ten regiments of hitters in their minor league system, but they lack pitching depth. Even their best arms are mostly slated to be relievers, making their options at starter very thin for the foreseeable future. Although Jaxon Wiggins looks like a capable arm, he has had serious struggles with injuries throughout his career, making his future as an innings-eater seem dim.

23) Texas Rangers

Top 5 prospects:

• SS/3B Sebastian Walcott
• RHP Caden Scarborough
• RHP AJ Russell
• RHP Jose Corniell
• RHP Winston Santos

While Sebastian Walcott remains one of the most promising prospects in the league, even after his elbow injury forced him to miss a good chunk of the 2026 season, the Rangers' system lacks substantial depth. That said, the incredible potential of Walcott, Scarborough, and guys like Santos and Josh Owens makes the top-heavy system look good enough to avoid the bottom-five.

22) Baltimore Orioles

Top 5 prospects:

• OF Nate George
• OF/1B Ike Irish
• LHP Joseph Dzierwa
• LHP Luis De León
• RHP Trey Gibson

Given how many great bats have come out of the Orioles' system in recent years, it's nice to see depth in their pitching prospects. Trey Gibson, Luis De Leon, JT Quinn, Boston Bateman, Nestor German, and Juaron Watts-Brown all appear to be valuable arms that will contribute to the big league club.

The hitting side certainly lacks some depth, though, and of the hitters they hope to provide pop in the majors, guys like Jud Fabian, Enrique Bradfield Jr., Vance Honeycutt, and Griff O’Ferrall have all struggled to carry their weight offensively this season.

21) Atlanta Braves

Top 5 prospects:

• LHP Cam Caminiti
• OF Eric Hartman
• 2B/SS Tate Southisene
• SS Alex Lodise
• RHP Owen Murphy

Eric Hartman was selected in the last round of the MLB draft. Now look at him. He's a stud. That's the kind of win that great organizations like the Atlanta Braves get. At the start of the year, this organization probably would've ranked near or at the bottom. While they certainly haven't climbed into that upper echelon of farm systems just yet, they have created some excitement about their pipeline. Now, if they can just add a little more depth.

20) Cincinnati Reds

Top 5 prospects:

• C Alfredo Duno
• SS Steele Hall
• SS/2B Edwin Arroyo
• SS/3B Tyson Lewis
• OF Héctor Rodríguez

Alfredo Duno is a monster. He has remarkable power and plate discipline, but his ability to stay as a catcher long-term is still in question. In general, the Reds' farm system has tons of hitting to love moving forward, but their lack of pitching depth keeps them this low.

19) Toronto Blue Jays

Top 5 prospects:

• SS JoJo Parker
• SS Arjun Nimmala
• RHP Nolan Perry
• LHP Johnny King
• LHP Ricky Tiedemann

This may not last long, as reports indicate that the Blue Jays are willing to move some of their top guys, particularly Arjun Nimmala, at this year's deadline. Until that happens, though, the Blue Jays are chock full of promising offensive talent and steady pitching for their future. They don't have many standout performers, but several solid options have them near the middle of our rankings.

18) Philadelphia Phillies

Top 5 prospects:

• SS Aidan Miller
• RHP Gage Wood
• OF Francisco Renteria
• 2B Aroon Escobar
• OF Dante Nori

Though this farm system certainly lacks in hitting depth, they make up for it with an incredible heap of right-handed pitchers, including Moises Chace, Matthew Fisher, Cody Bowker, and Ramon Marquez, among others. Of course, that won't matter if the big league club can't score runs. As great as someone like Aroon Escobar is at the plate, he struggles to play second base, which could end up moving him to a power position and stifling the offensive potential of this farm.

17) Athletics

Top 5 prospects:

• SS Leo De Vries
• LHP Jamie Arnold
• LHP Wei-En Lin
• RHP Braden Nett
• SS Johenssy Colome

The A's certainly have some of the best prospects in baseball, but that's about it. The guys at the top are studs with Johenssy Colome, Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, and Edgar Montero all offering signs of immense potential even if some of their moments in 2025 have been equally disappointing. The shining star of this group is undoubtedly Leo De Vries though. He's having a remarkable 2026 and is a huge reason the A's rank this high.

16) Colorado Rockies

Top 5 prospects:

• SS Ethan Holliday
• 1B/OF Charlie Condon
• OF/2B Roldy Brito
• OF Jared Thomas
• OF Robert Calaz

The Rockies' farm system might be one of the most polarizing in the league. On one hand, you have a myriad of talented hitters who were high draft picks. On the other hand, they don't have much experience between them. Guys like Ethan Holliday, Charlie Condon, and Roldy Brito have all the tools to develop into stars, but we haven't seen enough of them yet to make a great prediction. Regardless, placing the Rockies in the 20's or even toward the bottom of the rankings is not uncommon.

15) Pittsburgh Pirates

Top 5 prospects:

• RHP Seth Hernandez
• OF/1B Edward Florentino
• LHP Hunter Barco
• OF Jhostynxon Garcia
• 2B Termarr Johnson

Between Paul Skenes, Bubba Chandler, Seth Hernandez, Reinold Navarro, and Antwone Kelly, the Pirates are going to have an absolutely loaded rotation with remarkable strikeout potential. That is, if they can hold on to all of their guys until everyone is ready. The Pirates have some very good, very promising options, but far too many of their top prospects are still years away from the majors.

14) San Francisco Giants

Top 5 prospects:

• SS Josuar González
• SS Luis Hernández
• SS Jhonny Level
• SS/2B Gavin Kilen
• OF Dakota Jordan

Every time you take a look at the Giants' top prospects, they're taking another leap up the top 100. They are good. Really good. And there's a good chunk of them. However, the same can't be said for their pitching. Most of their top pitchers are still years from joining the team.

13) Tampa Bay Rays

Top 5 prospects:

• OF Theo Gillen
• C Nathan Flewelling
• C Caden Bodine
• RHP Brody Hopkins
• OF Jacob Melton

The Rays have everything they could possibly want from their farm system. They've been able to develop prospects with solid consistency and have always had great talent to call up. However, they fall just short of the top-ten because ironically, many of their top prospects are not ready to be called up just yet.

The Rays are a small-market team, meaning any chance they have to call prospects up to improve their ball club, they will take. But the fact of the matter is that this year, the team is more likely to trade for a piece at the deadline rather than call up a talent from Triple-A to give them an extra push. In two years, this will be the best farm system in baseball bar none.

12) Boston Red Sox

Top 5 prospects:

• SS Franklin Arias
• RHP Anthony Eyanson
• OF Justin Gonzales
• RHP Kyson Witherspoon
• RHP Juan Valera

The top-five listed above does not encapsulate just how deep the Red Sox are at pitcher. The team only recently saw Payton Tolle and Connelly Early move to the big league level, but between them and the names above, the Red Sox have a lot of homegrown pitchers to pick and choose from.

The biggest issue with the Red Sox farm system is undoubtedly swing-and-miss power. Though most of their hitting prospects outside of Arias can smack towering home runs, many of them struggle to make consistently good contact.

11) Detroit Tigers

Top 5 prospects:

• OF Max Clark
• SS Bryce Rainer
• C/1B Josue Briceño
• 2B/3B Max Anderson
• C/1B Thayron Liranzo

Many people look at the Tigers' farm system and think, "They can't stay healthy.' However, when they are healthy, this is one of the best pools in MLB. While the team lacks a serious top pitching prospect, the high-end hitting makes the Tigers one of the most enviable farm systems in the league.

10) New York Yankees

Top 5 prospects:

• INF George Lombard Jr.
• SS Dax Kilby
• RHP Elmer Rodríguez
• RHP Carlos Lagrange
• RHP Ben Hess

The depth among position players is certainly thin within the Yankees' organization, but with the two highest-ranked prospects being position players, the team has enough time to develop more position players, particularly outfielders, to fill the team once the current core starts dissolving. Given how consistent the Yankees are at either generating talent or trading for talent, the current lack of depth isn't too concerning.

9) Miami Marlins

Top 5 prospects:

• LHP Thomas White
• LHP Robby Snelling
• SS Aiva Arquette
• RHP Karson Milbrandt
• RHP Kevin Defrank

The pitching in this system is undeniably great, with talented arms like Keyner Benitez and Grant Shepardson not even listed among their top-five prospects. However, the hitting is the biggest concern here. Many of their top hitting prospects have at least one solid to elite trait, but lack the overall hitting talent you'd want. Still, having so many hitters with high-end traits is hard to come by. At the very least, many of them will make for solid power or contact options, even if you'd prefer to have everything wrapped into one.

8) St. Louis Cardinals

Top 5 prospects:

• C Rainiel Rodriguez
• LHP Liam Doyle
• OF Joshua Báez
• RHP Jurrangelo Cijntje
• C Leo Bernal

This is where we start getting into the fantastic farm systems, and there really isn't anything too negative to say about St. Louis. They have tons of power at key positions coming up and pitchers with terrific breaking material. There are some concerns about the amount of walks doled out from guys like Xavier Cruz, Brandon Clarke, and Jacob Odle, but that's what the minors are for: to iron out those issues before they get to the bigs.

7) Minnesota Twins

Top 5 prospects:

• OF Walker Jenkins
• SS Kaelen Culpepper
• C Eduardo Tait
• OF Emmanuel Rodriguez
• LHP Dasan Hill

Much like St. Louis, this is a farm system with very few holes, but one glaring flaw. In this case, it's availability. Two of the Twins' top prospects in Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez have spent almost as much time off the field dealing with injuries as on it. Furthermore, many of the team's top pitching prospects have missed significant time this year as well.

6) Cleveland Guardians

Top 5 prospects:

• 1B/OF Ralphy Velazquez
• SS Angel Genao
• C Cooper Ingle
• RHP Braylon Doughty
• OF Jaison Chourio

The Guardians are absolutely loaded at the catcher position, and given how thin that position is at the major league level, they could utilize their plethora of backstops as trade chips to acquire game-changing talent at this year's deadline. Guys like Bo Naylor, Bennett Thompson, and Kody Huff are all MLB-caliber catchers that teams would love to get their grubby fingers on.

5) Chicago White Sox

Top 5 prospects:

• 3B/SS Caleb Bonemer
• OF Braden Montgomery
• LHP Hagen Smith
• SS Billy Carlson
• RHP Tanner McDougal

The White Sox farm system is absolutely loaded. Braden Montgomery boasted an insane .548 slugging percentage in the minors before being called up. Caleb Bonemer is sitting at .527 for the season. I could go on and on, but the power in this system speaks for itself. The pitching is also high-end with a small concern regarding the lack of innings from their top guys. Still, that is a minor, minor issue considering the upside most of their prospects bring.

4) Washington Nationals

Top 5 prospects:

• SS Eli Willits
• RHP Travis Sykora
• RHP Jarlin Susana
• INF Ronny Cruz
• INF Devin Fitz-Gerald

With so many prospects in MLB's Top 100, it's hard to find a weak spot in this system. Some of their pitchers have trouble staying healthy. Both Susana and Sykora are currently out, but they also lack significant injury histories to be concerned about. Furthermore, the amount of talent that can play shortstop in the minors is a sign that Washington would likely be comfortable trading CJ Abrams at this year's deadline. They have so many options coming up at that position that some of them, like Fitz-Gerald and Gavin Fein, are learning different positions to accommodate for how many shortstops they have. Even if several fail at the major league level, they'll have more players to choose from. They have backup plans on backup plans on backup plans. That's depth right there.

3) Seattle Mariners

Top 5 prospects:

• LHP Kade Anderson
• RHP Ryan Sloan
• OF Lazaro Montes
• 2B/OF Michael Arroyo
• OF Jonny Farmelo

The Mariners' top-ten prospects are almost certainly the best set of prospects in baseball. Beyond them, there are some questions. Still, nine or ten homegrown talents that look primed to provide considerable value at the major league level is more than basically every team in MLB can say.

2) Milwaukee Brewers

Top 5 prospects:

• SS Jesús Made
• INF Luis Peña
• SS Cooper Pratt
• OF Luis Lara
• 3B/SS/OF Jett Williams

No team matches the overall depth of the Milwaukee Brewers. Boasting the No. 1-ranked prospect as well is just icing on the cake.

Anything you could want from a farm system is available with the Brewers. You want power? Look no further than Blake Burke or Andrew Fischer. You want defensive versatility? Check out Jett Williams or Josh Adamczewski. You want great starting pitching? Logan Henderson. They have so many great prospects that their talented pitching staff options don't even crack their top-five. That's the mark of a well-run organization.

1) Los Angeles Dodgers

Top 5 prospects:

• OF Josue De Paula
• OF Mike Sirota
• OF Zyhir Hope
• OF Eduardo Quintero
• SS Emil Morales

Well, the rich get richer. The Los Angeles Dodgers not only boast two of MLB's top-11 prospects, but have more Top 100 prospects than anyone else (9). To put this in perspective, there are 31 outfielders on the MLB Top 100 prospect list currently. The Dodgers own seven of those guys. Yeah. They're loaded at every level.

The only flaw you could possibly find in the farm system is the lack of depth at positions like catcher. That said, not only have they recently graduated Dalton Rushing, but they have so many talented prospects at other positions that if they really needed another catcher, they could either trade one of their millions of top prospects or just give someone way more money than they deserve in free agency.

Yes, the Dodgers are a superteam at the MLB and MiLB levels. They will be at the top of baseball for a long, long, long time.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY Sports: Power ranking all 30 MLB farm systems ahead of the 2026 trade deadline