Category: Baseball

The Dodgers’ starting pitcher had no problems on Saturday afternoon.

It was the bulk guy who followed him who ran into issues.

In a 6-4 loss to the Houston Astros at Dodger Stadium, Shohei Ohtani showed more encouraging signs as a pitcher, throwing two scoreless innings that included a double play in the first and a strikeout of the side in the second.

But, in a reminder of the still-tenuous pitching depth the Dodgers have relied on for much of this first half, long man Justin Wrobleski came back down to earth in a five-run, 4 ⅔-inning outing thereafter, sending the team to a defeat that clinched a series loss to the Astros.

“It's a good club over there,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Now we got to find a way to circle up, regroup and salvage this series.”

In the big picture, this weekend has offered hope for the Dodgers’ long-term pitching plans.

On Friday, manager Dave Roberts said injured $136.5-million right-hander Tyler Glasnow is on track to return from his shoulder problem during next week’s road trip.

Before Saturday’s game, injured $182-million left-hander Blake Snell threw his second live batting practice of the week, striking out four of the eight hitters he faced in what is expected to be his final simulated session before going on a minor-league rehab assignment. Both he and injured reliever Blake Treinen, who also threw an inning of live batting practice Saturday, are lined up to be activated from the IL “at some point in time shortly after the All-Star break,” per Roberts.

Then there was Ohtani, who despite once again being limited to a short workload in his fourth pitching start of the season, was also once again dominant in a 31-pitch display.

Shohei strikes out the side! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/wrmHrDX1n6

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 5, 2025

After Isaac Paredes singled to lead off the game, Ohtani broke Cam Smith’s bat on a 96-mph fastball for a double-play grounder to second. In the second inning, Ohtani fanned Christian Walker with a slider, then Victor Caratini and Yainer Díaz on a pair of big-breaking sweepers — all while also touching 101 mph on the radar gun.

“I think the stuff continues to get better, the command, the feel for making pitches,” Roberts said of Ohtani, who also celebrated his 31st birthday Saturday. “Really impressed how he's continuing to get better and better each time out."

In his six total innings this year, Ohtani has given up just one run, one walk and four hits while striking out six batters.

And though it remains unclear exactly when he’ll be fully stretched out in his return from a second career Tommy John surgery — Roberts called it “feasible” to eventually get him up to five or six innings if needed — the Dodgers are inching steadily closer to having the rotation they envisioned this year: One with Ohtani, Snell and Glasnow joining likely All-Star Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a star-studded quartet the club has spent lavishly the last two offseasons to build.

“We can see a little squint of light,” Roberts said. “It's taken a little longer than we've all expected or hoped for, as far as getting our guys together. So we haven't gotten there yet. But we're hopeful and excited.”

In the short term, however, the Astros have put a dent in the optimism the club had clung to among its stable of young pitching depth.

Read more:Hernández: Dodgers must aggressively pursue pitchers before the trade deadline

After Ben Casparius was knocked around in a historic blowout on Friday night, Wrobleski suffered a similar fate against Houston’s surging lineup. Upon entering the game at the start of the third, he quickly blew an early 2-0 Dodgers lead, giving up a leadoff single to Cooper Hummel and back-to-back two-strike doubles to Mauricio Dubón (who fouled off fastball after fastball before whacking a full-count heater the other way) and Zack Short (who got three-straight off-speed pitches, pulling the last one down the third-base line to score two runs).

Miguel Rojas, tapped to play third base Saturday in place of the recently injured Max Muncy, made matters worse by misfiring on a tough throw to first on a soft ground ball from Smith with one out, allowing a run to score. Then Walker, an unlikely Dodgers killer over his career, lined a two-out single to right to make it a four-run inning and a 4-2 Astros lead.

“I just think my mechanics were a touch off there those first couple innings,” Wrobleski said. “It was just kind of a matter of finding them, getting back into a rhythm, getting ahead in counts, which overall, didn't do a great job of today.”

Wrobleski, who had a 2.73 ERA in an impressive June before Saturday’s regression, did eventually settle down, but not before Díaz homered at the start of the third to put the Astros up there.

That deficit proved insurmountable for the Dodgers. They made it 5-4 when Rojas homered in the fourth (he also had an RBI single in the second inning, and drew a walk in the fifth) but stranded a string of opportunities down the stretch, finishing the day one-for-five with runners in scoring position and with nine men left on base.

The biggest blunder came in the seventh. Having already homered in the first inning, Mookie Betts flashed another encouraging sign in the seventh, lacing a line drive that got all the way to the wall after left fielder Cooper Hummel came up empty on an over-aggressive diving attempt. As Hummel recovered the ball, however, Betts made an ill-advised decision of his own, trying to stretch a double into a triple as Hummel retrieved the ball and threw to the cutoff man.

The relay beat Betts to third in plenty of time. Afterward, Betts acknowledged he made a bad read after seeing the ball thrown to the shortstop.

“When I was running, I was like, if he throws it and I see it not going toward third base — because it was more toward shortstop — that’s why I just kept going,” Betts said. “So a misread for sure.”

From there, the Dodgers fizzled, stranding two runners in the eighth and another in the ninth against Astros closer Josh Hader.

“I think that we gave ourselves an opportunity to get back in the game, to win the game,” Roberts said, “and just couldn't cash in.”

In time, a healthier Dodgers pitching staff could render such mistakes mute. But on Saturday, they led to the team’s first series defeat in almost a month, and another day of waiting on their full stable of arms to be fully available again.

“We gotta finish [the season] healthy,” Betts said. “We’ve only been healthy for like a week. So we’ll see.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Carlos Mendoza continues to mix and match with the Mets’ lineup. 

Brandon Nimmo has been red-hot since being bumped to the leadoff spot, but facing Yankees left-hander Carlos Rodon on Saturday afternoon, the skipper decided to turn back to Starling Marte. 

Mendy explained his thought-process pregame. 

“This is a guy that has been in this league for a very long time,” he said. “He’s been in that position before facing a left-hander today, we just felt like it was a pretty good day to put him back up top there.”

Well, Marte immediately made the decision pay off. 

Leading off the bottom of the first, the veteran dropped a double into the left-center gap, and after a sacrifice bunt and two walks he was able to trot home on Brandon Nimmo’s second grand slam in the last four days. 

The double was the 1,600th hit of Marte’s career. 

An inning later he would strike again -- this time taking advantage of a Jazz Chisholm Jr. throwing error on what should’ve been a routine groundout, lining an RBI single over left fielder Jasson Dominguez’s head.

Marte was robbed of an infield hit on a great play by Oswald Peraza in the fifth before being lifted for a pinch hitter a few innings later -- he finished the day 2-for-3 with a single, double, and his 20th RBI of the season. 

In a small sample size, he’s now hitting an even .500 with a 1.483 OPS out of the leadoff spot. 

“I like the combination of him and [Francisco] Lindor,” Mendoza emphasized. “This is a guy that can impact the baseball, he puts the ball in play, he can put pressure on the defense with the way he runs the bases -- there’s a lot of like with him in that spot and I’m glad it paid off today.”

The Mets will turn to right-hander Chris Devenski to open Sunday's Subway Series finale.

It'll be interesting to see how much the Mets lean on Devenski, who hasn't pitched more than two innings in an appearance this season.

The right-hander has posted a 3.60 ERA and 0.80 WHIP across his four big-league outings.

Lefty Brandon Waddell, who was recalled from Syracuse this week, will likely serve as the bulk reliever behind Devenski.

Waddell has pitched well during his brief stints in the majors this season, recording a 2.55 ERA and striking out 12 across 17.2 innings of work.

The Mets will need as strong a pitching performance as they can get facing off with Yankees ace Max Fried (10-2, 2.13 ERA) as they look for their fifth consecutive victory.

Down on the farm, Francisco Alvarez went yard once again.

Alvarez wasted no time on Saturday against the Worcester Red Sox, hitting a two-run blast in the first inning to give Syracuse a 2-0 lead. The home run travelled 348 feet to right field -- an opposite field pop by Alvarez whose power has resurfaced since getting demoted to Triple-A in late June.

It had been three games since the catcher last went deep. In fact, Alvarez hit a homer in three straight games, the final two games against Rochester and the opener of the series on the road against Worcester.

Saturday's long ball was Alvarez's first home run hit at home inside NBT Bank Stadium.

Francisco Alvarez hits another home run for Triple-A Syracuse! pic.twitter.com/r4BU5PHkBD

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) July 5, 2025

Jesse Winker was also in the lineup, on rehab assignment from a right oblique strain he suffered in May.

It was his first game with Triple-A, previously playing one game for High-A Brooklyn and two games with Double-A Binghamton, going 3-for-7 with a home run, double, five RBI, three walks and two runs scored.

However, on Saturday, Winker finished 0-for-4 with a strikeout as the designated hitter. He was batting second, in between Alvarez and Luisangel Acuña who went 1-for-3 with a walk and run scored in the leadoff spot.

The Mets were beating up on the Yankees and Citi Field felt like a party, with a 12-6 score and three outs to go. In the span of four days they’ve managed to change the vibe dramatically, from the embarrassment of that lopsided sweep in Pittsburgh to once again looking like a team headed for October. 

And yet here came Edwin Diaz, six-run lead or not, because for all the good the Mets have done, their starting rotation is still decimated by injury, leaving them without an obvious starter for the final game of this series on Sunday. 

So manager Carlos Mendoza wasn’t taking any chances. 

Or as he put it, “I wasn’t going to mess around.”

It was absolutely the right move, considering the Mets came into this second installment of the Subway Series with the odds stacked against them because of the pitching matchups.

And here they were with a chance to steal not one, but both of the first two games. No reason to tempt fate by trying to save Diaz for a save opportunity on Sunday that, again, seems highly unlikely. 

Hey, at this point anything is possible, especially the way the Yankees are playing, now having lost six straight games as their pitching continues to falter, this time not the bullpen but in the name of starter Carlos Rodón. 

And the Mets, well, they’re hot again and their stars are playing like stars, with Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonsocombining for three home runs and nine RBI to run away from the Yankees on Sunday. 

It’s been that way since Nimmo hit the grand slam in the second game of the doubleheader against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday, the first step toward stopping the bleeding of that 3-14 stretch they endured.

It’s the only way it was going to happen. It’s the way they’re built, the main reason their payroll exceeds $300 million. 

Yes, the Mets have shown a collective toughness again, to be sure, but more than anything this four-game winning streak has been driven by the big boys in the lineup, with Nimmo, Alonso, Francisco Lindor, and Juan Soto.

And never mind that Soto thought it was a good idea to bunt in the first inning on Saturday after the first two hitters reached base. You could hear the collective groan from the fans in the ballpark, one day after Soto had hit that electrifying home run in the first inning to change the nature of Friday’s game.

But when you’re going well in baseball, things tend to go your way. And so while Soto’s sac bunt only served to get Alonso walked semi-intentionally, it paid off when Nimmo hit his second grand slam in four days. 

Even Mendoza couldn’t hide a chuckle when asked about Soto’s bunt.

“It’s part of the show,” he said. “I definitely want him swinging the bat. But I trust these guys with their decision-making.”

Then he smiled again, knowing there really was no defending the decision.

“Hey, it worked out for the best.”

Nimmo and Alonso took care of that. Alonso went deep twice, accounting for five runs and raising his home run total to 20 and his career total to 246, drawing him to within six of Darryl Strawberry’s club record. 

Soto had a quiet day, sac bunt and all, but he was the star on Friday and continues to look locked in at the plate.

Finally, Lindor has come alive again lately as well, and was in the middle of all the scoring on Saturday, with two hits, two walks, a stolen base and four runs scored. 

The Big Four. They’re a little bit like the Los Angeles Dodgers in that way, dependent on the top of the lineup if they’re going deep into October. 

It’s the way it is. The young kids haven’t delivered to this point on their potential, and even with Jesse Winker back soon and a pick-up of some kind at the trading deadline, it’s possible not a lot will change this season. 

A lot could and likely will change on the pitching side. Help could be on the way in the next several days in the form of their top two starters, Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea each expected to make a start at least by next weekend, going into the All-Star break. 

But for now, it’s a day-to-day proposition. Two days after Justin Hagenman and Austin Warren got them through five innings, the Mets again will try to patch together a game on Sunday with names no one expected to be anywhere near their starting rotation this season. 

Lefty Brandon Waddell, a 31-year old with all of 30 innings pitched in the big leagues, is expected to get the bulk of the innings, whether as a starter or in relief of an opener, perhaps Huascar Brazoban again. 

It’s the reason Mendoza didn’t think twice about sending Diaz out there for the ninth inning on Saturday with that six-run lead. He actually got the most recent acquisition, Zach Pop, up briefly in the bottom of the eighth in case the Mets made it, say, a 10-run lead.

But no, the manager wasn’t messing with the karma. The odds are stacked higher than ever against them Sunday, with Max Fried pitching for the Yankees. So while Mendoza would never say it publicly, he’s probably perfectly fine going 2-1 in this series and getting one day closer to having his two best pitchers back on the mound. 

Until then, well, going 2-0 against the Yankees felt like a party.

In a bit of an odd moment in Saturday's game between the Yankees and Mets, Aaron Judge was struck by a baseball as he was jogging off the field after the bottom of the fifth inning.

The culprit? Anthony Volpe.

Obviously an accident, Volpe threw the ball to an unaware Judge as the team was headed back to the dugout following the inning -- customary for the Yanks to do.

Not looking, Judge got plunked near the eye and needed a bandage to cover the wound for the rest of the game.

"I didn’t know what happened initially," manager Aaron Boone said after the 12-6 loss. "I just saw kind of a what felt like something happened. So of course I was concerned. (He) had a little cut. In the end I don’t think anything too serious obviously, but initially obviously very concerned."

Judge finished the game 0-for-4 with a walk and was asked how he felt after being hit to which he responded, "good."

As for Volpe, he was clearly apologetic about the whole situation and said "yeah, obviously" when asked if he had a helpless feeling watching what was happening.

For his part, the shortstop hit a solo shot in the seventh inning off Richard Lovelady that got the Yanks closer at 7-5. Volpe finished 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.

New York has now lost six straight games as its downward spiral continues.

During the Mets’ tough stretch, they had a hard time coming up with the big knock when they needed it the most. 

That was until earlier this week when Brandon Nimmo lifted a second inning grand slam off of young Brewers starter Jacob Misiorowski to break things open and help push them to a skid-snapping Game 2 victory. 

Since then, things have turned around for this offense with Nimmo leading the way. 

The outfielder has been scorching hot and that continued on Saturday, as he launched a first inning grand slam off left-hander Carlos Rodón to get things going in what ended as their fourth consecutive win. 

It was Nimmo’s third grand slam of the season, and his second in the last four days. 

“We had some great at-bats leading up to that,” Nimmo said. “Even Juan [Soto] giving himself up there, he felt like he wanted to lay a bunt down and at the worst he was able to get guys over into scoring position -- he’ll break that out sometimes. 

“That was inspiring to me, I was like heck yeah -- and then I knew with Pete [Alonso] going up there, there was a good chance that they were going to pitch around him to get to me, so I was just trying to come up with a gameplan and get the barrel on the ball.”

ANOTHER GRAND SLAM FOR BRANDON NIMMO!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/McrnlmP2Bx

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 5, 2025

Nimmo would reach again with a single in the bottom of the fifth and stole a base but was retired in his other two plate appearances -- finishing the day 2-for-4 with four RBI and his ninth stolen base of the season.

After a slow start to the season, he’s now up to 18 homers and 52 RBI. 

He’s been particularly hot as the weather has started getting warmer -- hitting an even .300 with nine of those home runs, 22 RBI, and a .916 OPS over his last 30 games. 

“It sets the tone and takes pressure off of everyone,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s been locked in for a good stretch now -- driving the baseball with authority, controlling the strike zone, going the other way when he needs to, taking tough pitches out of the zone.

“Even the ones he’s fouling off there’s been conviction, there’s balance up there, there’s just a lot to like about his at-bats right now.”

Nimmo wishes he had some sort of magic potion behind his dramatic turnaround at the plate, but he says it’s simply the name of the game thus far this year. 

“It’s just staying the course, trying to not panic and kind of trusting that things will come around -- but it’s definitely been nice to be able to help the team out,” he added.

The $765 million man laying down a bunt?

Carlos Mendoza doesn’t necessarily want to see it, but in this case it worked.

Juan Soto has been scorching hot of late, but after the first two Mets reached base against Yankees left-hander Carlos Rodón in the bottom of the first on Saturday afternoon, he elected to lay down a bunt. 

It wasn’t exactly clear whether or not he was bunting for a hit or a sacrifice, but it got the job done either way as the runners were able to advance into scoring position. 

After Pete Alonso draw the second walk of the inning to load the bases, Brandon Nimmo then stepped to the plate and crushed his second grand slam of the week to open an early 4-0 advantage. 

It was just Soto’s third sacrifice bunt of his eight-year big-league career. 

“That’s part of the show,” the skipper said. “I definitely want him swinging the bat there -- I trust a lot of these guys with decision making, he got the bunt down and we hit a grand slam after that, so we’ll take it.”

Soto went hitless over his next couple of at-bats but he was finally able to get in on the fun in the bottom of the eighth, as he cracked an RBI single off the right-center fence to put the icing on the cake.

The star outfielder is now hitting a scorching .337 with 11 homers, 23 RBI, and a 1.180 OPS over his last 30 games. 

Coming back from a right hamstring strain he sustained in the middle of June, Mets aceKodai Senga made his first rehab start on Saturday with Double-A Binghamton and pitched 3.2 innings.

Senga's outing started off great as he struck out Cole Carrigg to kick things off, but a walk, fielding error, wild pitch and another walk quickly put the right-hander in danger. He allowed a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded for the game's first run (unearned) before escaping the inning with a flyout.

After shaking off some rust in the first inning Senga went back to work in the second, but his defense let him down once again after a throwing error and passed ball put a runner on second with nobody out. Senga got his second strikeout for the first out of the frame, but soon after uncorked his second wild pitch of the outing. This time it didn't come back to haunt him as he got through the inning unscathed.

In the third, Senga recorded another strikeout before giving up the first hit he allowed despite so much traffic on the bases in the first two innings. But after a scoreless third, things began to unravel in the fourth.

The inning began with a solo shot by Zach Kokoska, followed by a single and sacrifice bunt. Another single drove in the second run of the inning and a sac bunt followed by the third single of the inning put Senga and the Rumble Ponies in a 4-0 hole.

Senga's outing was done after he was unable to get the third out, allowing another single and the fifth hit of the inning.

Overall, the 32-year-old allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out four through 3.2 innings. He threw 68 pitches (44 strikes).

Despite the tough fourth inning, it was a solid start for Senga who has a chance to return to the team next week in Kansas City, manager Carlos Mendoza said earlier on Saturday.

How Logan Webb, Robbie Ray have kept Giants afloat amid inconsistent season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

WEST SACRAMENTO – The Giants have two legitimate Cy Young Award contenders. Ironically, neither is the guy on San Francisco’s pitching staff who already owns three of them.

Two days after Robbie Ray threw another in a long line of pitching gems this season, Logan Webb kept his name in the discussion with solid outing in the Giants’ 7-2 win over the Athletics on Friday night at Sutter Health Park.

Pitching about 30 minutes from where he grew up, Webb spun 6 2/3 innings and allowed two runs and seven hits.

Like Ray did on Thursday in the series finale in Arizona, Webb was in control from the start and kept an A’s lineup that has been surprisingly good this season from putting together much of a threat.

“I told Robbie the other day, I was like ‘That looked fun and I’m going to try to do it,” Webb said. “I love watching Robbie throw so much, especially after all the stuff he had to come back from. I know he wasn’t happy with last year.

“I just enjoy it every time he’s out there, the tight pants, the grunts. He’s one of the best pitchers in baseball and it’s a pleasure to watch him throw every five days.”

Webb and Ray have a combined record of 17-9 this season and have essentially carried the Giants’ rotation on their backs while nine-time All-Star Justin Verlander searches for a way to get his season on track.

Both pitchers have respectable ERAs. Ray has a solid 2.68 ERA while Webb’s mark rose slightly to 2.61 after Saturday’s game when he pitched in front of several friends and family at a park he had made only one previous appearance at, and that was while he was in the minor leagues.

Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes (2.03 ERA, 0.919 WHIP) is the obvious front-runner for the NL Cy Young. As long as they continue to pitch how they have so far this season, Webb and Ray should have a case to be among the finalists.

At the very least both Ray and Webb should be voted into the 2025 MLB All-Star game, along with one or two of the Giants’ relievers. Webb’s 120 1/3 innings pitched are tops in the National League while Ray’s 107 innings are fourth-most in the NL.

“We both see how good this team can be and we both want to contribute,” Ray told NBC Sports Bay Area. “We’re both competitors and we both want to give our best effort every single time we go out. Watching the other guy kind of gives you that drive, that edge. When he goes out and has a great outing you want to come up behind him and do the same.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a competition or anything. It’s more of just feeding off each other, feeding off the energy.”

Webb had a lot of energy behind him at Sutter Health Park. There were several of his family and friends in the stands, and the right-hander was cheered loudly throughout the night.

“You could feel the interest in him being on the mound,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “Every time he came into the dugout there were a lot of people cheering for him., which typically you don’t hear (on the road). He throws a Logan Webb game. It’s pretty typical of what he’s done all year.”

Webb welcomed the once-in-a-lifetime moment and embraced it the same way he’s been embracing feeding off Ray’s pitching.

“It was really cool,” Webb said of the ovations he was greeted with. “I heard it the minute I walked out there, people yelling at me. It was a blast. I love being here and happy I was able to get the win here.”

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The Mets put on a power show at Citi Field on Saturday, hitting three home runs, two by Pete Alonso and a grand slam by Brandon Nimmo to rout the Yankees, 12-6, and win a second straight Subway Series game. 

As a result, the Mets assured themselves of winning this three-game series and have now won three of the five Subway Series games this season.

It was also their fourth straight win overall and the Yankees’ sixth straight loss.

Here are the takeaways...

- For the second time in this four-game winning streak, Nimmo ignited the Mets’ offense with a grand slam as he took Carlos Rodón deep in the first inning for an early 4-0 lead. 

- The Mets tacked on runs from there, thanks mostly to Alonso’s two home runs. He hit a two-run opposite-field shot in the fifth inning, giving the Mets a 7-2 lead, and then essentially put the game on ice with a three-run shot to left off reliever Jayvien Sandridge who was making his MLB debut.

The two home runs give Alonso 20 for the season and 246 for his career, six behind Darryl Strawberry’s club record of 252.

- Frankie Montas gave the Mets a solid start and actually pitched better than his final line showed, thanks mostly to a couple of soft-contact hits in the sixth inning that cost him two runs. He wound up going 5.2 innings, giving up four runs on five hits, no walks, and two strikeouts. Montas gave up solo home runs to Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Austin Wells. 

The right-hander was leading 7-2 after five innings before giving up two in the sixth, thanks in part to a bloop single by Trent Grisham and a well-placed fly-ball double to left-center by Cody Bellinger. 

All in all, it was a much better start than last time out in Pittsburgh where he gave up five first-inning runs. In the days afterward, Montas said he believed he was ambushed early that day because he was tipping pitches. His performance on Saturday made the case that he may have been right.

- With the Mets’ bullpen thinned out by injury and illness, they got four outs from Richard Lovelady and Chris Devenski, which got them to the eighth inning and Ryne Stanek. 

Devenski got a very important out in the seventh inning. With two runners on, two outs, the Mets leading 7-5, and Aaron Judge on deck, Devenski fooled Trent Grisham with a change-up and got a weak comebacker to escape the inning. 

Stanek was shaky but got through the eighth, allowing one run, and even with a six-run lead manager Carlos Mendoza brought in Edwin Diaz to close it out.

- On the Yankees’ side, it was a very disappointing start for Rodón. He came in with a 2.95 ERA, having a strong first half, but fell behind early on Saturday thanks to a first-inning grand slam by Nimmo and wound up giving up seven runs in five innings, including another home run to Alonso and a ton of hard-hit balls. 

As a result, Rodon’s ERA jumped to 3.30. With Saturday’s news that Clarke Schmidt will likely need Tommy John surgery, Rodón looms as crucial to the Yankees' hopes in the second half. 

- The Yankees hit three solo home runs, by Chisholm, Wells, and Anthony Volpe.

Game MVP: Pete Alonso

Nimmo’s grand slam set the tone but with the Yankees chipping away at the early lead, Alonso’s home runs proved decisive, accounting for five runs. 

With five RBI, Alonso has 73 for the season, tied for third in the majors, pending other action on Saturday. 

Highlights

Starling Marte's 1,600th-career hit is a leadoff double! pic.twitter.com/Bv2Q3ahPr2

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 5, 2025

ANOTHER GRAND SLAM FOR BRANDON NIMMO!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/McrnlmP2Bx

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 5, 2025

Starling Marte rips an RBI single to bring home Tyrone Taylor! 💪 pic.twitter.com/miB5l5BIe8

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 5, 2025

Juan Soto reaches up to make the catch in front of the wall! pic.twitter.com/1rn0IkWuUv

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 5, 2025

PETE ALONSO GOES THE OTHER WAY FOR A TWO-RUN SHOT! pic.twitter.com/T9X1eP3Q88

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 5, 2025

RONNY SPARKS THE RALLY.

Ronny Mauricio stretches a ground ball up the middle into a double and Francisco Lindor brings him home ⚡ pic.twitter.com/rJDOSD1BRx

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) July 5, 2025

FORGET THAT!

PETE ALONSO'S SECOND HOME RUN OF THE DAY! pic.twitter.com/IDtYkb5kQ9

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 5, 2025

Juan Soto rockets a single off the wall and brings home Francisco Lindor with the Mets' 12th run! pic.twitter.com/eFKTM99rXs

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 5, 2025

What's next

The crosstown rivals will play their Subway Series finale on Sunday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 1:40 p.m. on SNY.

The Mets have yet to announce their starter, while ace Max Fried (10-2, 2.13 ERA) is slated to take the mound for the Yanks.

The Yankees have signed veteran infielder Jeimer Candelario to a minor-league deal, the team's Triple-A affiliate has announced.

Candelario was released by the Cincinnati Reds on June 29 after a rough season that included a lumbar spine strain that forced him on the IL. In 22 games, the 32-year-old slashed .113/.198/.213 with two home runs and 10 RBI.

However, the switch-hitter is just one year removed from hitting 20 homers in 112 games for Cincinnati and is a career .237 hitter with 110 home runs and a .726 OPS.

Candelario's best seasons came when he played for the Detroit Tigers from 2017-2022, but he's also played for the Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals.

Mostly a third baseman in his career, Candelario has also played first base.

He will report to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and will act as infield depth for New York.

What we learned as Willy Adames' big night powers Giants' win over Athletics originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

WEST SACRAMENTO – What a difference a day makes.

Twenty-four hours after Justin Verlander absorbed another loss and received very little help on the offensive side during the Giants most lopsided loss of the season, San Francisco flipped the script on both ends and beat the Athletics 7-2 on Saturday to even the series with their former Bay Bridge rivals.

Logan Webb led the charge with another yeoman work effort on the mound while pitching about 30 minutes away from where he grew up. The right-hander scattered seven hits and two runs over 6 2/3 mostly solid innings, striking out six and walking three to get his third win in his last seven starts.

For the third consecutive day, manager Bob Melvin didn’t have to reach too deep into his bullpen.

That’s nothing new when Webb starts.

Randy Rodriguez replaced Webb and retired one batter. Tyler Rogers set down three, and Spencer Bivens worked the ninth to complete the game.

The Giants also showed signs of breaking out of their collective offensive funk in third baseman Matt Chapman’s return from the Injured List.

Heliot Ramos hit his 14^th home run of the season, Willy Adames had three hits and drove in four runs and Brett Wisely added a pair of hits ad two RBIs. Rafel Devers reached base four times.

Heliot says adiós 👋 pic.twitter.com/9n0cBmKv0O

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) July 6, 2025

Here are the takeaways from Saturday’s win:

CHAPMAN’S RETURN

Before the game Melvin insisted Chapman’s return to the lineup was advantageous in multiple ways, and the third baseman certainly made things happen Saturday.

Batting in the clean-up spot behind Rafael Devers, Chappy was hit by a pitch and scored on an Adames single in the first inning. In the third Chapman beat out an infield single then took third on Jung Hoo Lee’s single to center and scored on another Adames’ two-out hit.

Chapman reached on a fielder’s choice in the fifth, flew out to center in the sixth then drew a six-pitch walk in the ninth.

More importantly as far as Melvin is concerned, having Chapman back in the lineup adds another experienced veteran voice in the clubhouse. That, as much as his glove and bat, is exactly what the Giants at this juncture.

ADAMES SHINES IN THE 6 HOLE

Chapman’s return enabled manager Bob Melvin to juggle his lineup a little more, including dropping Adames down to No. 6 in the batting order. That’s a spot where Adames has had some of his best production this season, and he kept that roll going against the A’s.

Just when it looked like the Giants were going to waste a huge opportunity in the first inning, Adames laced a two-out, two-run single up the middle to give Webb some early run support.

Adames knocks in a pair to put the Giants on top 💪 pic.twitter.com/aeEF69bwEf

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) July 6, 2025

Adames came through with another two-out hit in the third that knocked in two more runs.

Adames, who has been San Francisco’s No. 2 hitter most of the season, has driven in 22 of his 42 RBIs while batting No. 6.

RAMOS REGAINS POWER STROKE

Ramos ended his second-longest power outage with his solo home run off Severino leading off the fifth. It was Ramos’ team-leading 18^th homer and first since June 21, a span of 13 games.

Ramos had been ill for the final two games in Arizona and was in a 5-for-34 rut before crushing Luis Severino’s first pitch in the fifth for a 416-foot home run.

The Giants slugger, who came short of a second home run when he doubled to center in the eighth. was hit by a pitch, grounded out in his other at-bats.

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If the Mets can survive the next week with a patched-together pitching staff, they might find their way back to relative stability before the All-Star break.

Here is reporting on current and possible future members of the Mets rotation. Information is from league sources.

-- If all goes well, Sean Manaea could make his season debut next Sunday in Kansas City, the day before the All-Star break.

Manaea has so far responded well to the cortisone shot intended to treat the discomfort caused by a bone fragment, or “loose body,” in his left elbow. He is scheduled to make a final rehab start on Tuesday for Triple-A Syracuse. The team will then decide whether to start him on Sunday or wait until after the break. The prediction here is that Manaea will close out the first half.

Kodai Senga is also a solid possibility to return from the IL next weekend in Kansas City.

-- The Mets are actively scouring the trade market for pitching. But they are unlikely to land an impact starter much before the trade deadline, because -- like all buying teams -- the Mets are at the mercy of the market. David Stearns could choose to get ripped off today, or he could wait until late July for prices to settle at their actual level.

-- The Mets have a better chance of trading for a reliever earlier in the month. Those can occasionally become more readily available than starters in mid-July. The Mets acquired Phil Maton last year on July 10.

-- As first reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Mets have expressed interest in starter Mitch Keller. The context for that is that the Mets have made a call on just about every potentially available starter. Nothing is close on any front.

Keller is making $15 million this season and $52.5 million from 2026-2028. Because of that hefty price tag, he is not expected to fetch a top prospect/young position player with years of club control, like Ronny Mauricio.

-- A reunion between the Mets and Luis Severino has to be considered unlikely -- but we wouldn’t call it impossible.

Severino left the Mets because the Mets -- even though they liked the player and person -- didn’t consider the three-year, $67 million contract he signed with the Athletics to be a reasonable deal for him. It made a bit more sense for the A’s, who had to overpay a free agent in order to convince him to play in their minor league ballpark in Sacramento.

But Severino has publicly complained about that ballpark, leading to an industry belief that the A’s would eat money to trade him. If the team absorbs enough of the contract, or takes on a bad contract in return, he could appeal to the Mets. Again, New York liked Severino and would gladly have retained him at a lower price point.