Category: Baseball

Iowa Cubs pitcher Connor Noland was activated off the Development List.

Second baseman Dom Krupinski was promoted from the ACL Cubs to low-A Myrtle Beach.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were tied to the tracks by the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Yankees), 9-5.

Edward Cabrera started this game on a rehab assignment. Cabrera only threw 1.2 innings and 43 pitches. He was charged with three runs on two hits and two walks, although two of the runs scored in the second inning after he was relieved by Ty Blach. Cabrera struck out three. He struggled with control as only 26 of his 43 pitches were strikes. However, his velocity was consistently between 94 and 98 miles per hour.

First baseman Jonathonn Long went 3 for 5 with a double and one run scored.

Center fielder Brett Bateman was 2 for 5.

Catcher Owen Ayers went 1 for 2 with two walks and an RBI.

Right fielder Kevin Alcántara extended his on-base streak to 39 games by going 1 for 4. He drove in one and scored one run.

A strikeout for Cabrera.

RBI single for Ayers.

The Jaguar’s RBI single.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies let the Pensacola Blue Wahoos (Marlins) be the one that got away, 5-4.

Luis Martinez-Gomez started and gave the Smokies a solid six innings, giving up three runs on five hits. All three runs scored on the two home runs he allowed. Martinez-Gomez walked two and struck out five.

The loss went to Kenyi Perez, who pitched the seventh inning and surrendered two runs on two hits. Perez struck out two and did not walk anyone, but he did hit one batter that came around to scored.

Center fielder Alex Ramírez hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning, his 13th on the year. Ramírez was 3 for 5 with a double and the home run. He also stole a base.

Third baseman Jefferson Rojas went 1 for 2 with a double and two walks. He scored two runs.

RBI single for left fielder Carter Trice, who went 1 for 4 with a walk.

The Ramírez home run.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs impressed the Lake County Captains (Guardians), 15-7.

Kohl Franklin started this game on a rehab assignment and gave up one run on three hits over 1.2 innings. Franklin walked three and struck out one.

Nate Williams relieved Franklin and got the win because Franklin didn’t go five. Williams allowed one run on two hits over 2.1 innings. Williams walked three and struck out three.

South Bend scored nine runs in the top of the second inning, sending 13 batters to the plate. The Cubs hit three home runs in the second. The first one was a three-run home run by center fielder Kane Kepley. It was Kepley’s seventh home run on the season. Kepley went 1 for 4 with two walks, a hit-by-pitch, the home run and his 50th steal of the season. He scored twice.

Later in the second, right fielder Kade Snell hit a two-run home run, his sixth of the year and third in two nights. Snell went 1 for 6.

Shortstop Angel Cepeda then went back-to-back with Snell. It was Cepeda’s third South Bend home run and fourth overall. Cepeda was 2 for 4 with two walks and a stolen base. He scored twice in the second inning.

Third baseman Matt Halbach hit the Cubs’ fourth home run of the game in the sixth inning with the bases empty. It was Halbach’s eighth home run. Halbach went 1 for 4 with two walks.

Second baseman Ty Southisene was 3 for 4 with three walks. Southisene scored twice and drove in two.

Left fielder Jose Escobar doubled twice in a 3 for 6 game. He scored one run and had three runs batted in.

DH Logan Poteet was 2 for 5 with a double and a walk. He scored twice and had one RBI.

First baseman Josiah Hartshorn went 1 for 6 with a two-rum double and a walk. I mention this because the switch-hitter hit the double left-handed off a lefty. Hartshorn scored twice

Here are the highlights of the nine-run second.

Halbach’s home run.

Hartshorn’s left-on-left double.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans were hunted down by the Charleston RiverDogs (Rays), 13-1.

David Avita started and took the loss. Avita pitched three innings and surrendered five runs on seven hits. Avita struck out one, walked one and hit one batter.

The only Pelicans run came in the fourth inning when right fielder Eli Lovich singled home shortstop Alexis Hernandez. Both players were 1 for 4.

Third baseman Corey Nunez is off to a great start to his pro career. Tonight he was 2 for 4 with a double.

Dodgers reliever Will Klein has been battling command problems for a few weeks now.

On Friday night against the Red Sox, it led to a frightening scene in the third inning at Dodger Stadium.

In an at-bat against Willson Contreras, the hard-throwing Klein lost control of two elevated 95 mph fastballs. The first one buzzed Contreras’ tower. The second drilled him straight in the back of the helmet.

As gasps echoed around the Chavez Ravine crowd, Contreras bent over at the plate and seemed dazed by the hit-by-pitch.

The veteran slugger did stay on his feet as coaches and trainers ran out to check on him.

Initially, he even stayed in the game, too, walking down to first base for the rest of the inning.

But in the bottom half of the frame, he was replaced at first base, making an early exit for further evaluation in the clubhouse.

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The Red Sox later announced that Contreras had been removed for “precautionary reasons.”

Klein, a World Series hero for the Dodgers last year who has also battled command problems throughout his career, seemed remorseful about his misfire, walking slowly off the mound with a shake of his head. Dodgers catcher Eliezer Alfonzo also gave Contreras an apologetic tap as he walked up the base line. Contreras received an ovation from the stands as he reached first base.

That pitch would be the last of the night for Klein, who gave up three runs (two earned) in 1 ⅓ innings during the Dodgers’ planned bullpen game.

The right-hander has now allowed runs in six-straight appearances, and has issued multiple free bases (through either walks or hit batters) in four of his last five. His season ERA has climbed from 1.78 on June 2 to 3.89 following Friday’s outing.

The Texas Rangers scored two runs but the Houston Astros scored eleven runs.

I didn’t catch this one because Major League Baseball loves nothing more than gatekeeping its product but I hear the Rangers lost the game tonight. Seems like it didn’t go well at all.

That’s pretty unfortunate for a few reasons. First of all, the Rangers losing the game tonight means they’ve lost three games in a row and are now back at .500. Because they lost tonight, they are now no longer in first place in the American League West by a half game.

Also, because they lost tonight to the Astros, they have lost the season series to Houston which means they have lost the tiebreaker to the new AL West leaders and, more importantly, they’ve once again lost the Silver Boot.

Maybe next year.

Player of the Game: Joc Pederson homered to get the Rangers on the board. Unfortunately it was 6-0 at that point and it only got much worse from there.

Up Next: The Rangers will try to return to above .500 baseball and reclaim the top spot in the division tomorrow. Texas will turn to RHP Jacob deGrom opposite RHP Ronel Blanco for Houston.

The Saturday evening first pitch from Daikin Park is scheduled for 6:10 pm CDT and the game will be back on the Rangers Sports Network.

Mike Elias has made his first move ahead of the trade deadline. The Orioles are trading Dean Kremer to the Twins. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal broke the news of the trade. Another reporter at The Athletic, Dan Hayes, wrote that the return for the Orioles is 18-year-old outfield prospect Jhomnardo Reyes.

Selling off a player right after a dramatic win kind of sucks. The Orioles are one and a half games out of a dang wild card spot and this is how Elias responds. Not only is the first move a sell, it’s selling to one of the teams that is ahead of the Orioles in the wild card standings. That’s the immediate reaction.

On the other hand, Kremer has a 6.50 ERA across his seven starts this year. He is giving up home runs like they are going out of style. He’s been consistent across the past three seasons before that, posting ERAs of 4.12, 4.10, and 4.19. If he finishes the season with that kind of ERA, the Orioles may end up regretting the immediate aftermath of this trade. If he doesn’t, then Elias has moved on from a pitcher at a good time and done well to get a player in the process.

This is a subtraction not just from the rotation for the rest of this season but for next season as well. Kremer has one season remaining before becoming a free agent. He’s making $5.75 million this year and figures to get at least a modest increase on that next year. That’s not even a third of what Chris Bassitt is making this season. Bassitt has started his rehab assignment; he’s probably the rest-of-season replacement for Kremer in the rotation, although that may take a start or two before he’s built back up and can take that spot. It won’t be good if Bassitt pitches like pre-back surgery Bassitt.

Reyes is an 18-year-old from the Dominican Republic who signed with the Twins for a bonus of $322,500 in January 2025. He made his US minor league debut this season with the Florida Complex League Twins affiliate and came away with a pretty darn good .296/.406/.541 batting line in 49 games, including seven home runs. He has since played in a small handful of games for Low-A Fort Myers. Presumably, the Orioles will assign him to their affiliate at that level, Delmarva.

At the time of the trade, Reyes checked in at #24 on the Twins prospect list on MLB Pipeline. That could be something of an out of date ranking. The FanGraphs Twins list, which only posted in mid-June, had Reyes as the #10 guy in the Twins system, in the same prospect tier as several Orioles guys including Enrique Bradfield Jr. and Joseph Dzierwa.

I know you’re going to have hard time believing this, but it appears that Reyes is a big lefty-batting guy with major power potential and questions about whether he’s going to strike out too much to ever reach that potential. For what it’s worth, he’s got a 22.9% strikeout rate across 216 plate appearances this season. If he keeps it there, he will probably be okay. Tougher pitchers await at every level.

FanGraphs likened Reyes to a late-first round high school pick. That’s a good get for the price of Kremer, though again, if Kremer turns the ship around and his replacement in the Orioles rotation stinks, that’s not going to be a good one for Elias. In the meantime, the Manny Machado trade tree has another branch. Kremer had been around in the Orioles organization ever since that deal eight years ago, putting up 6.1 bWAR across parts of seven seasons.

It's been 13 days since Kodai Senga last took the mound for the Mets, but what the right-hander did Friday night against the Marlins was commendable considering what was against him.

Not only was Senga, who has been used out of the bullpen of late, down for two weeks, but he found out he was starting just hours before the 7:10 p.m. first pitch. The Mets scratched Freddy Peralta from his originally scheduled start as negotiations heated up ahead of the trade deadline.

It actually worked out for Senga, as he pitched four scoreless innings before running out of gas in the fifth of the Mets' 5-2 loss to the Marlins. He allowed three earned runs -- two coming after he was pulled -- on two hits and two walks while striking out four.

"He was phenomenal today for a guy who hasn’t been out there for 13-14 days. You can’t ask for anything more," interim manager Andy Green said after the game. "That was an impressive four innings. If I’m handling that right, that’s the end of his night and he feels really good about himself."

"To be honest, there was some fear - I hope it's gonna go okay," Senga said of his outing after being down for so long via an interpreter. "Despite that, I was able to go out there, not be too tense or anything, and go out there and pitch."

The first four innings from Friday's start had shades of Senga's monstrous rookie season. He leaned on the fastball that topped out at 98 mph, filled up the strikezone and trusted his signature forkball. But in the fifth, he walked the first two batters he faced with a wild pitch mixed in there, before Green came out to talk with Senga. 

Green said Senga wanted to keep going and even Senga's teammates encouraged him. 

"It was his game, he was pitching extremely well," Francisco Lindor said. "And knowing Andy, he's going to make the pitchers go as far as they can. I just wanted Senga to stay in the game mentally as well."

Unfortunately, Senga could not get out of the jam. Jakob Marsee drove in a run with a double, chasing Senga.

"Thought I still have a job to do on the mound," Senga said of wanting to stay in. "Hope to strive to be a pitcher that can finish off those types of innings."  

"Baseball’s cruel sometimes. He should be celebrated today for what he did for us," Green said. "But when you leave with three earned runs, the line doesn’t show what you did for your team. He was great."

Senga's outing was encouraging for the Mets. Perhaps it can kickstart a resurgence for the right-hander who has been relegated to the bullpen. 

The trade deadline will likely see some openings in the Mets rotation; Peralta and potentially ClayHolmes may not be on the team after Aug. 3, and Senga may be asked to start more often than not to finish up the 2026 season. Green didn't go as far as to say Senga will start again, but the Mets skipper believes Senga will be seen plenty down the stretch. 

"He’s going to get an opportunity to pitch meaningful innings for us," Green said. "What he did today was show the guy we’ve known is still in there. That was really impressive after 13 days off.

"All that I'm able to do and can do is go out and perform," Senga said. "Hopefully, today becomes kind of a trigger to performing well in the future, but that's all I can do. That's what I'm focused on."

If Kodai Senga had pitched like this all season, the Mets would have one more enticing trade chip.

Then again, if Senga had pitched like this all season, the Mets probably would not be collecting all their trade chips to off-load.

Informed just hours before first pitch that he would be on the mound in place of the scratched Freddy Peralta, Senga reminded everyone he is still on the team while showing off some of the best stuff he has possessed all year.

In his first outing in nearly two weeks Friday night, he dominated for four innings before fading, arguably the most potent the right-hander has looked since his season-opening quality start against the Cardinals back on March 31.

“I think he was phenomenal today for a guy who hasn’t been out there for [13] days,” interim manager Andy Green said after the 5-2 loss to the Marlins. “You can’t ask for anything more.”

Of course, the uptick in stuff arrived long after Mets season unofficially ended. And it ultimately did not matter in a game in which his stat line was skewed upon leaving. Not that the results matter much, with the 33,064 fans at Citi Field more entertained by the superhero renderings on the scoreboard than the action on the field.

The Mets will not have Peralta after Monday. They probably will not have Clay Holmes, either.

Sean Manaea, Nolan McLean, Christian Scott and Zac Thornton are near certainties to remain. Jonah Tong and Tobias Myers are on the 40-man roster with Triple-A Syracuse, and perhaps prospects Jack Wenninger or Jonathan Santucci could pitch their way to relevance.

There will be intrigue to see whether a rotation spot will be reserved for Senga, who will pitch “meaningful innings for us the rest of the way,” Green said, though he stopped short of guaranteeing those innings would come as a starter.

Senga, who on Friday pitched four innings with three runs allowed on two hits and two walks with four strikeouts, lost his job following a June 23 start against the Cubs — after which his ERA was 10.08 — and was shifted to the bullpen, where he has been as invisible as his ghost forkball.

But as long as Senga is showing flashes of the All-Star he was in 2023, there will be reason to give him chances to prove the talent still can be extracted. Add in the fact Senga is due $15 million next season, and the Mets might be incentivized in August and September to learn if they can count on competence from him next year.

“What he did today,” Green said, “showed that the guy we’ve known is in there is still in there.”

Friday, he was better than competent. He retired the first seven Marlins batters he faced, needed just four pitches to get through the fourth inning and had the forkball working early, Xavier Edwards swinging over the top of strike three in the first inning.

After four innings in which he allowed just one base runner, Senga ran out of steam in the fifth. He walked a pair and gave up a double to Jakob Marsee that scored the first run of the game.

Xzavion Curry, called up earlier in the day, entered and surrendered a couple of RBI singles that marred Senga’s line.

Perhaps this is the first step toward Senga proving himself all over again. Perhaps this is another step forward that will be followed by a step back, as has been too often the case with Senga.

“All that I’m able to do and can do is go out and perform,” Senga said through interpreter Hiro Fujiwara. “Hopefully today becomes a trigger to performing well in the future.”

For six-and-a-half innings tonight, this game felt like a hopeless loss. Brandon Young had a little bad luck and made a few bad pitches, which put the Orioles in a hole. And Phillies starter Andrew Painter rebounded from his terrible rookie season so far to look like the top prospect he once was. With the Orioles down 4-2 going into the bottom of the seventh, the energy felt bad. Until it didn’t.

Painter exited after six innings, which was just what the Orioles needed. He was replaced by Orion Kerkering. Kerkering was greeted by a Jackson Holliday single, his first hit after hitting the ball hard earlier in the game. After a Coby Mayo strikeout, Colton Cowser worked a great walk. The tying run was on base, and Craig Albernaz went to Christian Encarnacion-Strand to bat in place of catcher Yohel Pozo.

It was a total no-brainer to PH for Pozo, but Kerkering has been lights-out against righties this year so it was a tall order for Encarnacion-Strand. Kerkering had held righties to a .154 batting average this year and hadn’t allowed a hit to a righty in 17 games. The last righty to get a hit off Kerkering was Randul Grichuk back June 7th. Encarnacion-Strand changed that.

On a 2-2 pitch, Encarnacion-Strand launched a ball to the right-center gap. Holliday scored easily. It seemed like Cowser would stop at third, but third base coach Buck Britton furiously waved him home. Cowser slid in ahead of the tag! Tie game!

After Dylan Beavers struck out, Kerkering hit Pete Alonso to again put two runners on. The problem was that the next guy up was Gunnar Henderson. I hate thinking that, but that’s where we are. The Phillies changed pitchers, bringing in lefty Time Mayza to face him. But this time, Gunnar came through.

When Henderson swung through a 2-0 pitch that wasn’t near the strike zone, my heart sank. He didn’t miss the next pitch. He turned on an inside sinker and lined a ball to the left-center gap. Both runners scored and Henderson landed on third base with a triple. He emotionally pounded on the ground in celebration and the Orioles were up, 6-4.

From there, Albernaz turned to Yennier Cano and Tyler Wells out of the bullpen. They did not waste any time. Cano, celebrating his new contract, retired the side in order. And Wells needed just 10 pitches for a 1-2-3 ninth to seal the win. What a win!

Before all the excitement of the seventh inning, the Orioles offense was unable to solve Andrew Painter. Painter had been the Phillies’ top prospect coming into the season, but was demoted to Triple-A after 14 games and a 7.06 ERA. He righted the ship some in the minors and tonight looked much more like the prospect people thought he was.

It got off to a pretty good start for the offense, actually. In the first, Dylan Beavers doubled and came in to score on Alonso’s 23rd home run of the year. The opposite-field shot made it into the first row of the Eutaw Street seats and tied the game at two. But after that, Painter put it together. He retired the next three batters after Alonso and had a 1-2-3 second. He worked around a Cowser walk in the third inning.

Beavers and Alonso tried to make something happen in the fourth with a walk and a single, but Henderson struck out, and neither Taylor Ward nor Leody Taveras could get on base. The Henderson strikeout kicked off a streak of 10 batters retired for Painter. He walked Ward with one out in the sixth, but Taveras hit into a double play.

Finally, after six innings, Painter exited. That’s when the magic began.

As for Young, he wasn’t as successful tonight as he has been for most of this year. But he didn’t look too bad, honestly. He had a little bad luck and made a few bad pitches, and that was enough to do him in.

The very first batter of the game, Trea Turner hit a weak ground ball up the third base side. It died in front of Coby Mayo, who didn’t have a play. Turner hit it at all of 70.7 mph. Young followed that by walking Kyle Schwarber, then Bryce Harper hit a soft liner that fell into left field. Turner scored on the play.

Alec Bohm finally made the first out, a fly ball that moved Schwarber over to third base. One ground out to second later and the score was 2-0. JT Realmuto struck out, but it was a long inning for Young. The Phillies didn’t hit him hard, but he threw 24 pitches and left with the Orioles down by two.

After the first inning, Young allowed just three more hits. That sounds good, except two of those hits were home runs. Trea Turner took him deep in the third inning, then JT Realmuto hit one with two outs in the sixth. That was Young’s final batter. In between the two home runs, he walked one, gave up a single, and retired 11. Pretty good! But not good enough. His final pitching line: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 5 K.

After Young exited the game, the bullpen was outstanding. Josh Walker replaced him and finished the sixth inning. He started the seventh and got one out, then gave up a single. That was the last hit the Phillies got. Anthony Nunez came in and sandwiched two outs around a Schwarber walk. That was enough for him to get the win. Cano and Wells slammed the door after the Orioles took the lead and that was all she wrote.

Orioles win, 6-4! They are still two games below .500 but are just 1.5 games out of the last Wild Card spot. Some mediocre team is gonna be in the last spot when the season ends. Why not the Orioles?

Who was your Most Birdland Player for tonight? Tell us in the comments! Was it Christian Encarnacion-Strand for his game-tying double? Or maybe Gunnar Henderson, who had the game-winning RBI? Maybe a relief pitcher?

Nick Martinez is in line to be one of the finalists for the AL Cy Young award this season. So far this year, he’s done a great job at limiting hard hits and walks, making him a tough pitcher to attack. But that was before the White Sox made Friday night look like a Home Run Derby on their way to a convincing 6-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

The fireworks started early on — and they started out of nowhere, too. After getting two quick outs in just six pitches, Martinez’s next pitch was launched 433 feet by Miguel Vargas as John Schriffen was giddier than a kid on the first day of summer vacation:

While it was just a solo shot, and just a 1-0 lead against the AL’s best, it clearly set the tone for what would be a great night for the South Siders.

After Erick Fedde set the Rays down in order, Andrew Benintendi continued blasting for the White Sox. After falling behind in the count early, a “Benny Bomb” to right doubled the lead and clearly had Martinez questioning himself.

As great of a start as it was for the White Sox, the Rays still had a chance to get right back into the game in the bottom of the second. A Cedric Mullins leadoff double put the White Sox in a hole, but once again Fedde came through in the clutch and got out of the inning unscathed.

As the third rolled around, so did Munetaka Murakami’s wish to be invited to the fireworks show. He got the green light on a 3-1 count and made the most out of it, as he crushed a two-run bomb to double the lead yet again. While that was the only action offensively in that inning, the damage was done to Martinez’s confidence. By that point, the Rays starter had already allowed more runs in just two-plus innings than he had in any other game this season.

Junior Caminero tried to will his team back into the game by joining the bomb squad himself in the fourth inning. But even though his home run landed more than 450 feet away, it still only counted as one run, leaving the Rays in a hole that would soon get even deeper.

It looked like the game might return back to normal over the next two innings before Colson Montgomery launched a 425-foot home run that all but confirmed that the air indoors at Tropicana Field was much lighter than the swampy humidity outside the park. The shot ballooned the lead to five and the Rays looked completely out of it.

While the Rays offense was sputtering for most of the night, it’s hard to blame them when the White Sox were looking like Josh Hamilton in the 2008 Home Run Derby. It gets to a point for any team that the writing is on the wall and the offense usually lays down. Chicago deserves a lot of credit for keeping their foot on the gas in a night that was clearly going their way early.

After the offense has slowed to a crawl for most of the last seven games, the sudden power surge was a very welcome sign for Chicago fans. As we get deeper into the season, each win feels just a little bigger than the last, and more pressure is put on the trailing teams in the AL Central.

It’s always important to temper expectations on the season after just one game, but man, is that getting harder and harder to do with every win. October baseball, anyone?

MVP
Munetaka Murakami: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI

Runners-Up
Erick Fedde: 5 IP, 4 H, ER, 6 K, WIN (6-6)
Andrew Benintendi: 2-for-3, R, RBI, BB

Cold Cat
Braden Montgomery: 0-for-4

Runners-Up
Chase Meidroth: 0-for-3, HBP
Tristan Peters: 0-for-4

Cardinals 1 Blue Jays 3

A very nice win.

Dylan Cease maybe wasn’t as good as he’s been in his last couple of starts, but he was still very good. 6 inning, just 3 hits, 3 walks with 7 strikeouts, and 1 run against. A pretty good month for Cease, 5 starts, 36 innings, 4 earned runs, a 1.00 ERA. Oh and 46 strikeouts.

But he didn’t get the win today.

Spencer Miles threw a scoreless inning, with 1 hit and 2 walks.

Jeff Hoffman got the win, with a scoreless inning, no baserunners, 2 strikeouts.

And Louis Varland gave up a single in the ninth, picked up his 24th save.

On offense, 9 hits and 4 walks, but we didn’t score until the sixth. Vladimir Guerrero led off with a double off the center field wall, roughly two feet too low for a home run. 112.4 mph. The hardest hit ball of the game

Kazuma Okamoto followed with his own double down the left field line, tying the game at one.

Then, in the eighth, we got two more. With one out, George Springer walked and Daulton Varsho each walked. Ernie Clement, also walked, after swinging at a ball that was a long way inside. But then he didn’t swing at the next one that was low and outside. Bases loaded.

John decided to pinch hit Luis Urías for Davis Schneider and Luis single two home. Unfortunately, Brandon Valenzuela hit into a double play to end the inning.

We also loaded the bases in the seventh, with one out on singles from Brandon Valenzuela and Andrés Giménez had singles. And Myles Straw took a pitch off the elbow. No padding. I was surprised that he stayed in the game. I hope he’s ok tomorrow. But Vlad hit into a double play.

We also had two runners on in the third and fifth innings, but didn’t score.

There was some rough defensive moments too. Especially from Ernie Clement, who made a couple of misplays on ground balls. Vlad had a very good day with the glove.

Jays of the Day: On the pitching side: Cease (0.18 WPA), Hoffman (0.11) and Miles (0.09). And an honourable mention to Varland (0.07). Hitting side: Urías (0.18), Straw (0.09) and Okamoto (0.09).

Other Award: Vlad (-0.18, mostly on the double play ball).

Tomorrow we have a 3:00 Eastern start time. Lefty Quinn Mathews making his first MLB appearance vs. Kevin Gausman (4-10, 4.51) making likely his last start for the Blue Jays.

The Mets fell to the Fish by a score of 5-2 which evened up the series against Miami. Kodai Senga got the start instead of Freddy Peralta who was scratched ahead of Monday’s trade deadline.

Senga was actually very good through four innings allowing just one hit and no walks. Unfortunately it all fell apart in the fifth when issued back-to-back walks to start the inning. Jakob Marsee followed with a double to put the Marlins on the board with their first run of the game. Senga was then lifted in favor of Xzavion Curry who didn’t exactly limit the damage. Two singles brought home two more runs and Miami held a 4-0 lead when the inning ended. That also closed the book on Senga’s night who was charged with three of those runs. It’s a shame because it was a positive step forward for the righty until the fifth, and perhaps he tired a bit towards the end of his outing.

After the Mets put a run on the board in the bottom of the inning thanks to a Marlins error and an A.J. Ewing RBI single, Curry gave the run right back the following inning on a Kyle Stowers home run.

Francisco Lindor countered with a solo shot of his own in the seventh but that was as close as the Mets would get. The offense wasn’t necessarily shut down by Miami’s pitchers. They had their chances they just couldn’t capitalize on them. Luis Robert Jr. especially had a rough night. He struck out with runners on second and third and two-out in the fourth and grounded into a double play in the eighth when they needed baserunners. One night after being the hero he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. As the great Frank Sinatra once said ‘That’s life.”

Nothing else of any importance happened in this game but its what is happening away from the field that is far more important for this organization right now. Get me some trades, and some photos of Spider-man!

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Carson Benge, +10% WPA
Big Mets loser: Bo Bichette, -14% WPA
Mets pitchers: -19% WPA
Mets hitters: -31% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: A.J. Ewing RBI single in fifth, +6.6% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Jakob Marsee’s RBI double in fifth, -17% WPA

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

The countdown to the MLB Trade Deadline is on, as July is hours away from ending and 6pm ET on Monday, August 3rd will be here before we know it. It’s been no secret that the Yankees are looking for another catcher to join the fold since their situation behind the plate has been a disaster in 2026.

Starter Austin Wells has been a colossal disappointment and both J.C. Escarra and Ali Sánchez have hit like backups. Wells remains an excellent defender, but that’s not enough when your hitting this poorly. All told, they’ve combined to bat .183/.262/.287 with 8 homers in 387 plate appearances — the fewer than all other teams except for the Red Sox, Angels, and Rays. Their .549 OPS beats only the White Sox, and their weighted wRC+ of 55 is third-worst, topping only the Phillies and those aforementioned Pale Hose. No matter how you slice it, they’ve been lousy.

When we ran our Reacts survey last week, 74 percent of Yankees fans unsurprisingly said that catcher was their greatest need (though it’s certainly not the only one). So for this week’s edition, I put forth some options that have been discussed as possible targets: Ryan Jeffers of the Twins, Hunter Goodman of the Rockies, and Tyler Stephenson of the Reds. I wanted to know who fans thought the Yankees would get — not necssarily who their preference was of the three.

The results of the poll are below:

Clear as mud, eh?

Honestly, the complicating factor in this survey is probably the larger MLB-wide discussion around the Twins’ deadline plans. They entered 2026 with low expectations but have played well to stay in the hunt for both the AL Central and a Wild Card spot. July has been their best month yet at 14-9, and with a new Pohlad brother in charge anyway (not to mention a new baseball operations head and manager), there’s motivation to win the fans back after a lackluster couple years of follow-up to the excitement of 2023.

What does all that mean? Well, Jeffers might not actually be available if the Twins are buying (as they say), so while I think that he would have been the most logical answer less than a week ago, I can see that changing responses as this present week progressed. Jeffers could still move in a trade for major-league pieces, but those are far less common and hard to envision coming to pass. He got the slight plurality in this survey at 33 percent, but not by much.

Along those lines, ultramod2 offered Stephenson (26 percent) up as the most likely, if not only because the others were further long shots. Goodman’s a masher, but Colorado finding the package they want for him is doubtful.

SacredLegend went with ther “Other” option, which actually matched Stephenson at 26 percent. His suggestions of Arizona’s Gabriel Moreno, Miami’s Liam Hicks, and St. Louis’ Iván Herrera had some fair rebuttals from TheNeutralMatt though. That leaves Hicks, and while the Fish are notoriously cheap, he is a pre-arbitration player making very little until after 2027 (under the current CBA anyway).

Doc123 also went with the “Other” option, and I think their suggestion might be the most plausible from the suggestions in the thread: erstwhile Rangers All-Star catcher Jonah Heim, who began the year backing up Drake Baldwin in Atlanta and then landed on the A’s in a roster shuffle.

Those A’s have little reason to keep him on his one-year deal, so while he’s no great shakes (97 wRC+), he can hit from the right side and that figure is still way higher than what they’re getting from Wells and company.

Ouch. Tough break!

These survey results are sponsored by FanDuel.

Heading into the All Star break, the Philadelphia Phillies (57-53) were 11 games over .500, firmly in wild card positioning, and a game and a half back from Atlanta Braves for the division lead. After tonight’s 6-4 defeat at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles (54-56), they’ve gone 3-10 since the break, now eight games back from the Braves and on the outside looking in at the wild card.

Fresh off his call-up from AAA, Andrew Painter gave his team a chance to win by allowing just a two-run homer by Pete Alonso across six innings.

The offense seemed to have done their part as well, with an RBI-single by Bryce Harper and RBI-ground out by Brandon Marsh in the first inning and solo homers by Trea Turner (16) and JT Realmuto (8) in the third and the sixth.

But the wheels came off in the bottom of the seventh as Orion Kerkering and Tim Mayza allowed the Orioles to bat around, with Kerkering surrendering a game-typing double to Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Mayza allowing a two-RBI triple by Gunnar Henderson, all runs charged to Kerkering.

Phillies’ hitters went down in order in the eighth and ninth against Yennier Cano and Tyler Wells.

Harper’s RBI single was their lone hit with runners in scoring position, as they finished 1-7. Trea Turner had half of the Phillies’ six hits.

Cristopher Sanchez will be tasked with applying the tourniquet tomorrow night against Shane Baz.

Blake Snell doesn’t really use his ring or pinky fingers to manipulate his throws when he pitches.

So, even as he had felt numbness in the digits the last couple years, he didn’t really think much of it.

“I couldn’t feel these fingers,” he said Friday, pointing to the outer two extremities on his left throwing hand. “They were kind of numb, but I don’t need them, so I didn’t really care.”

At least, that’s how Snell felt before he underwent a surgical procedure earlier this year to remove bone chips from his elbow.

Now, he realizes just how compromised his arm had been by the issue –– from his elbow, to his shoulder, all the way down to the tips of his hand.

“It’s the best I’ve felt in three years by far,” the Dodgers’ ace declared, now two months removed from his surgery and on the verge of returning to the team’s starting rotation. “Shoulder feels great. Elbow feels great. Body feels great. I’ve been able to rest, heal.”

Snell has one last box to check before he rejoins the Dodgers.

After a promising performance in his third minor-league rehab start on Wednesday (four scoreless innings with single-A Ontario with nine strikeouts), the two-time Cy Young winner is scheduled to complete his recovery process in a five-inning outing with triple-A Oklahoma City next Tuesday.

There was a thought Snell could be ready to be activated by next week. But earlier this season, his elbow flared up on him after an initial rehab assignment –– as part of his recovery from offseason shoulder pain –– was cut one start short. 

Thus, “I’m not going to argue it,” Snell quipped. “I did last time and I got hurt. So, yeah, I’m going to shut up.”

Instead, Snell is hopeful his improved health will do the talking once he is back on a major-league mound.

Now free of the physical limitations he battled last year, when his ailing shoulder sidelined him for much of the regular season and gradually diminished his initially dominant form in the playoffs, the $182 million signing believes he’s primed for a strong run down the stretch.

“[My mechanics now are] way better,” he said, while mimicking his release in front of his locker. “I can release the ball out here now.”

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The 33-year-old is hopeful that will allow him to rediscover the best version of himself, and no longer force him to compensate for his aching shoulder pain. Or, for that matter, his lingering finger numbness, which he said was caused by the loose bodies in his elbow pressing up against a nerve.

“Once they came out,” he said of his bone chips, which were removed using the revolutionary NanoNeedle surgical procedure, “I was like, ‘Wow, I can feel my fingers.’”

More importantly, he added, “my shoulder pain went completely away,” as well.

So far in his rehab stint, Snell has been pleased with his ability to get swing-and-miss with his fastball at the top of the strike zone, tunnel a steadily improving curveball off of it to put hitters away, and maintain more consistency with his trademark changeup and slider.

“I just have way more range [of motion],” he said. “I’m finally getting out there again [with my extension].”

Now, it sets up a closing act for this season that will be similar to last year –– when Snell returned from his shoulder injury in August, posted a 2.41 ERA in his final nine regular starts, then threw three playoff gems (seven innings, two runs in the wild card round, six scoreless innings in the division series, and eight scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts in the National League Championship Series) before battling shoulder pain again in the World Series.

The only difference now, he noted with a grin: “I’m healthy.”

For a Dodgers team banking on improved rotation health to carry it to a third-straight World Series, it could prove to be a massive development.

The Dodgers (69-40) look to secure their 70th win of the season when they open a three-game series against the Red Sox (57-51) Friday night at Dodger Stadium. 

Edgardo Henriquez (4-1, 2.79 ERA, 1.05 WHIP) starts for the Dodgers as opener in a bullpen game.

Ranger Suárez (4-3, 3.02 ERA, 1.15 WHIP) toes the rubber for the Red Sox.

Lineups

Friday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Red Sox
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Start time: 7:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

The Mets didn't have much going offensively Friday night, falling to the Miami Marlins, 5-2.

Here are the takeaways...

-- Getting the start after the team scratched Freddy Peralta with the trade deadline three days away, Kodai Senga made his first appearance in 13 days and looked good for four innings before falling apart in the fifth.

The right-hander retired the first six Marlins he faced with three strikeouts, including back-to-back Ks to end the second inning. He let up a one-out double in the third inning, but battled through and found a way to keep the shutout going through the fourth inning. 

Senga then hit a wall in the fifth, walking two straight and letting up an RBI double to Jakob Marsee that ended his night. He finished after four-plus innings (49 pitches), allowing three runs on two hits with four strikeouts and the two walks.

-- Francisco Lindor became the Mets first baserunner in the bottom of the fourth inning with a walk, but got caught in a weird rundown on Bo Bichette's grounder to short after overrunning second base. Carson Benge then recorded the team's first hit on a double, although he and Bichette were left stranded as Luis Robert struck out looking to end the scoring chance.

-- Xzavion Curry replaced Senga on the mound in the fifth with runners on second and third base, and allowed a two-run single to Joe Mack as Miami went up 3-0. Curry let up another run on Xavier Edwards' single to make it a 4-0 game, but got some help from Francisco Alvarez catching Edwards stealing second for the third out.

The right-hander ended up tossing 5.0 innings in relief, allowing two runs on six hits with two strikeouts.

-- A.J. Ewing took advantage of two runners on base and put the Mets on the board in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out RBI single, as the Mets trailed, 4-1. Lindor then kept it going and loaded the bases with a single, but Bichette popped up to end the inning. New York finished the game with seven runners left on base, going 2-for-6 with RISP.

-- Miami's Kyle Stowers (in the top of the sixth off Curry) and Lindor (in the bottom of the seventh off Calvin Faucher) traded solo home runs to keep it a three-run game, 5-2.

Game MVP: Marlins pitching

Five different Miami pitchers held New York to seven hits and just two runs. Janson Junk allowed one run on three hits over 5.0 IP and Pete Fairbanks got the save.

Highlights

Three strikeouts in two innings for Kodai Senga! 👻 pic.twitter.com/AEUkUilVkk

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 31, 2026

A.J. Ewing gets the Mets on the board pic.twitter.com/8nSYDbES8g

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 1, 2026

Francisco Lindor homers on the ninth pitch of the at-bat!

It's his 150th home run as a Met! pic.twitter.com/nLhAbLlCTU

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 1, 2026

A.J. Ewing runs a LONG way to make the sprawling catch! pic.twitter.com/Iw1o7LWKcp

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 1, 2026

What's next

The Mets and Marlins continue their series on Saturday at 4:10 p.m. on SNY.

Zac Thornton (2-1, 2.43 ERA) will face Tyler Phillips (2-5, 3.52 ERA).