Category: Baseball

Suarez struggles as Phillies drop series finale against Angels originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Starting pitching – far and away the Phillies’ biggest strength this season – was anything but in the club’s first series following the All-Star break.

Ranger Suarez was the latest starter to falter on Sunday.

Suarez didn’t make it out of the fifth inning, allowing six earned runs on eight hits. He walked four batters and hit another with a pitch. Suarez surrendered five runs in the second inning, putting the Phillies in an early hole that they couldn’t climb out of in an 8-2 loss.

The Phillies dropped two of three to the Angels, their third straight series loss. Kyle Schwarber’s grand slam on Saturday prevented them from being swept. They’ve lost six of their last nine games and their lead in the NL East is down to a half game after the Mets defeated the Reds on Sunday afternoon.

Suarez labored throughout a steamy afternoon in South Philadelphia. He needed 100 pitches to get through four and one-third innings. His season ERA increased by more than a half run, from 2.15 to 2.66.

“My command was awful today,” Suarez said through a team interpreter. “I didn’t have any control of any of my pitches and that’s the main reason we lost today.”

Suarez says he feels fine physically and declined to use Sunday’s 41-minute rain delay or the layoff over the break as excuses. It was simply a matter of command.

“The pitches weren’t there,” Suarez said. “My curveball wasn’t there, my changeup wasn’t there. I was leaving sinkers up in the middle of the zone. I don’t think it had anything to do with the extra days of rest.”

“Basically it was his command,” manager Rob Thomson said of Suarez’s struggles. “Couldn’t find his changeup. Not a whole lot of swing and miss, which is unusual for him.”

Suarez, Jesus Luzardo and Taijuan Walker combined for a 9.00 ERA in the last three games, allowing 13 earned runs in 13 innings. None of them made it through the fifth inning.

Suarez surrendered four straight singles with one out in the second inning. After a Lamonte Wade Jr. flyout, Suarez walked Mike Trout with the bases loaded on a borderline ball four call to force in a run. Taylor Ward followed with a bases-clearing double that gave the Angels a 5-0 lead.

It was a huge series for Ward, who is one of the more popular names on the trade market. He went 5-for-12 with three doubles, two home runs and eight RBI.

The Phillies could use a righthanded bat like Ward in their outfield. But will he be available if the Angels are in playoff contention? Los Angeles is four games out of the final wild card spot in the American League with the trade deadline 11 days away.

The Phillies offense never got on track, managing just one extra base hit – a solo home run by Otto Kemp.

“It felt good,” Kemp said of his first career homer at Citizens Bank Park. “I wish it would have been a little bit more meaningful but it felt good.”

It was a mixed bag for Kemp, who figures to get the bulk of the playing time at third base with Alec Bohm on the IL with a fractured rib. Kemp went 2-for-4 with a single in addition to his home run. But he also committed a pair of errors.  

“I just got to get my head behind the baseball a little bit and slow it down,” Kemp said of his fielding miscues. “We’ll get there, we’ll get back in the saddle.”

The Phillies continue their stretch of 21 straight interleague games following the All-Star break with a three-game series against the Red Sox beginning Monday at Citizens Bank Park.  

Zack Wheeler takes the ball in Monday’s series opener then Cristopher Sanchez goes on Tuesday. Thomson elected to give his two best starting pitchers some extra rest coming out of the break.  

Mets first baseman Pete Alonsois day-to-day with a right hand contusion, manager Carlos Mendoza explained before Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Reds. Alonso was 1-for-5 with a first-inning single in Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Reds and was originally omitted from Sunday's lineup. He eventually replaced starter Mark Vientos at first base off the bench in the top of the seventh inning and had one plate appearance, an eighth-inning strikeout, en route to Sunday's 3-2 win.

"He's dealing with a right-hand contusion, kind of like on the base of the thumb area -- felt it the first couple of at-bats yesterday, we took some X-rays and they were negative," Mendoza said of Alonso before Sunday's game.

"So, he's day-to-day. He's getting treatment. He said he's a lot better this morning. So, yeah, he's getting treatment right now and then we'll see if we've got a player at some point today."

After Sunday's game, Alonso updated his situation.

"Yesterday was kind of like managing it and managing the swelling and everything and today, obviously, didn't start the game, so it was precautionary," Alonso said, "and, yeah, I think the hand's in a really good spot, especially with swelling and pain management. I got to a point where I felt like I could go and help the team, and I was happy to get out there. Again, I'm happy that I was physically able to do so."

Before Sunday's game, Mendoza explained Alonso's precautionary status.

"When you're dealing with a hand injury, we thought it was best to get ahead of ourselves here, because it can linger, you know?" Mendoza said. "So, having the conversation with him, with the trainers, we thought it was just best, 'Hey, let's see how you feel today' -- which he's feeling a lot better, getting treatment. But if you keep pushing this type of injury, it could affect him. So, trying to get ahead of ourselves and hopefully he's a player for us."

Alonso, who was indeed a player after sitting the first six innings, is slashing .275/.370/.502 with 21 home runs and 77 RBI through 100 games.

"When this stuff happens, you have to go through a checklist," Alonso said after Sunday's game. "We have squishy balls. It's like, 'OK, how does the swing feel hitting those? How does it feel, hitting the regular balls off the tee?' Same thing with flips, same thing with arm. And then I didn't hit off the regular machine today with baseballs -- I hit with the squishy balls just to decrease the vibration of impact. But swing felt good today. It felt normal with my ABs, so that's a huge W. And didn't reaggravate it, which is another huge W. So, looking forward again to how it feels tomorrow."

Alonso enters this week's three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels, which starts with Monday's 7:10 p.m. opener on SNY, after extending his franchise-record 354 consecutive games played.

"I really don't care about the streak," he said after Sunday's game. "I just want to be out there and play every day, as long as I'm able to. That's just who I am. If I'm able to play, I'm going to strap it on and go do it. So, I was really happy that my body allowed me to get out there today and I just want to keep being able to do that."

Here's what happened Saturday in Mets Land, in case you missed it...

---

• The Mets lost Saturday's game against the Cincinnati Reds, 5-2. New York's defeat was "disappointing" but Brandon Nimmo, among others, is confident in a turnaround.
• The game dampened a festive afternoon at Citi Field where the Mets retiredDavid Wright's No. 5 jersey. Before the ceremony and action, Wright opened up on his honor and "special" relationship with the fans.
• Beyond Citi Field, Francisco Alvarezawaits his return to the majors and The Mets Poddiscussed Carson Benge's prospect rise.

As we were all reminded earlier this season when the Mets seemingly had an abundance of starting pitching, you can never -- EVER, EVER, EVER -- have enough rotation inventory. These things tend to work themselves out, many times in ways that mean more work for David Stearns and his peers running the various baseball operations departments across the majors. 

Which brings us to Zac Gallen, once an ace-level starter who is now struggling in a down year that also happens to be a contract year. The Arizona righty has an attractive pedigree -- three top-10 finishes in the NL Cy Young voting, including third in 2023. But this season hasn’t been as sparkling as a free-agent-to-be would like. 

If the Diamondbacks -- who have so many attractive players on expiring contracts that they may have the biggest impact on what kind of trade deadline we see -- make Gallen available, should New York try for him? 

Let’s peek at the pros and cons of the Mets potentially making a deal for Gallen. 

Pros

The Mets' rotation might be at its peak right now with Sean Manaea, Kodai Senga and Frankie Montas back from injuries. And even with those guys missing significant time, the Mets had the fourth-best rotation ERA (3.38) in baseball going into the All-Star break. But it’s a lesson in the fragility of pitching in that, while that trio has come off the injured list, Griffin Canning, Tylor Megill and Paul Blackburn have gone on it. 

Plus, Mets starters have a 5.16 ERA since June 13, the second-worst mark over that span. 

Adding a starter of Gallen’s caliber would alleviate some concerns going forward, especially if there are more health issues looming. Only four teams get fewer innings per start than the Mets, and an extra, talented arm could help. Clay Holmes’ workload likely will need to be managed going forward, and the Mets have sought a six-man contingent in the past, in part to help Senga. 

And pumping a Cy Young-level starter through the Mets' pitching program seems intriguing, no? 

Gallen, who turns 30 on Aug. 3, does not have great numbers this year -- more on that in the category below -- but he recently had back-to-back wins over the Giants and Padres, in which he allowed one earned run in 13 innings while allowing only 10 hits, walking one and striking out 19. In May, he overwhelmed the Mets in consecutive starts, giving up two runs and four hits in 13 innings.

That’s more like his old self.

And that is really, really good. In 2022, he went 12-4 with a 2.54 ERA and led MLB by allowing just 5.9 hits per nine innings. The next season, when he was third in the NL Cy Young vote, Gallen was 17-9 with a 3.47 ERA, throwing 210 innings. He also won two playoff games in Arizona’s run to a National League pennant. He was 14-6 with a 3.65 ERA last year.

Going into this season, Gallen was on the cusp of a massive free-agent payday. He’s got a second half and -- if he plays for a team that gets into the playoffs -- an October to take advantage. That kind of carrot could make him an important deadline pickup.

Cons

At the break, Gallen, who was born in New Jersey and went to high school outside Philadelphia, was 7-10 with a 5.40 ERA in 20 starts. He’s already given up 21 home runs, one shy of his career worst, and his HR/9 (1.6) would be the worst of his career over a full season. His K/9 and hits per nine are at career-worst levels, too, and his BB/9 would be his worst since 2021.

He’s given up some loud contact -- he’s already allowed six homers on his knuckle-curve, the most in a single season. That pitch is generally the one he throws second-most to his four-seamer. There are bloated slugging percentages against some of his secondary offerings, including his slider and cutter, though the expected slug numbers against those are lower. And, Gallen has received good surface results despite loud contact in past seasons.

As always, beware of market inflation. Adding a big-name starter is a great way for a team to get its fanbase torqued up for October, and there’s always a league-wide need for pitching. So other contenders will be prowling around Gallen, despite his eh season. That could mean he’ll be prospect pricey, even in a down season.

Speaking of prospects, we’ve heard so much about the near-ready arms in the Mets' system. Does one of those provide the necessary rotation depth? Perhaps. There’s less big-league resume in that option, but it also doesn’t hurt the farm.

Verdict

Gallen is used to being part of intriguing trades – he went from the Cardinals to the Marlins with Sandy Alcantara in the five-player deal for Marcell Ozuna before the 2018 season, and Miami swapped him to Arizona for Jazz Chisholm Jr. at the 2019 deadline.

Does it happen again now? Maybe. Arizona went into the break just 5.5 games out of a playoff spot. While they may sell, a lot of their players are the ones who took them to the Fall Classic not long ago. Do they believe a surge is coming? The trade market can’t wait to find out.

Taking a swing this big for pitching doesn’t exactly match Stearns’ track record since he took over the Mets' baseball operations. Stearns has added lesser names -- some of whom, obviously, have soared. This one might be worth doing, especially with all the workload uncertainty in the Mets' rotation. Depth, something the Mets have preached throughout this season, has already been an enormous factor in their year.

And, if Arizona really wheels and deals, should the Mets attempt a major haul and try to add third baseman Eugenio Suarez to power up the lineup beyond the so-called “Fab Four?” The prospect huggers won’t like it, but maybe a shiny trophy would distract them.

Overshadowed by Schwarber, Harper doing damage against Angels originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Bryce Harper has been a lot of things in his career. 

Number one pick.
Rookie of the Year.
All-Star.
MVP.
NLCS MVP. 

One thing Harper typically hasn’t been is overshadowed. But that’s been the case this weekend at Citizens Bank Park. 

Harper has three home runs in the first two games of this series against the Angels. 

But Kyle Schwarber, fresh off his All-Star Game heroics, has been the headliner. Schwarber homered on his first swing of Friday’s series opener and provided a game-changing grand slam on Saturday. 

Meanwhile Harper has quietly gone about his business — a .500 batting average and 11 extra base hits (four home runs and seven doubles) in his last six games. His season numbers are on the rise. He’s hitting .272 with 13 home runs, 41 RBI and a .881 OPS.

“Just got to keep it rolling,” Harper said following Saturday’s 9-5 win. “Just hitting the pitches over the zone and letting the ones that aren’t go by. Doing damage on any pitches in the zone that I can. Just trying to simplify and stay right there.”

Schwarber appreciates the protection that Harper is providing for him in the lineup. 

“He’s having great quality at-bats right now,” Schwarber said. “When that guy steps to the plate you just always feel like he’s going to do something dangerous, special, whatever it is. The way he’s swinging the bat right now, that’s prime Bryce. And when you can get on base ahead of him or if I don’t do a job, if I’m hitting in front of him, you have all the confidence in the world that he’s going to get it done.”

Harper has repeatedly referred to himself as one of the best players in baseball during this hot streak. 

He gets no argument from his manager.

“He is one of the best players in the game,” Rob Thomson said Sunday morning. “So he’s telling the truth.” 

Castellanos chipping in

Nick Castellanos’ contributions to Saturday’s victory were lost in the shuffle. He made a sliding catch with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth inning to bail Taijuan Walker out of further trouble.

What was a 3-1 Angels lead at the time could have easily been 5-1 or 6-1 if Castellanos fails to make that play.

He also went 2-for-5 at the plate and collected his 900th career RBI on a first-inning single. Castellanos is just the 15th active player to reach the 900 RBI milestone.

“900 RBI is nothing to laugh at,” Thomson said. “It’s really impressive. It’s a really good career.”

Castellanos is hitting .273 with a .751 OPS in 97 games this season. His 101 hits are second on the team behind Trea Turner. His 52 RBI trail only Kyle Schwarber.

“Nick, as we all know, is a little bit streaky,” Thomson said. “But when he gets hot, he gets really hot. And when he’s using right center field as his target, he’s really good. I think he’s done a much better job this year controlling the strike zone.” 

Giants' late comeback attempt falls short as Blue Jays cap off series sweep originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

• BOX SCORE

The unofficial second half of the 2025 MLB season has not been kind to the Giants thus far.

After losing consecutive games against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers before the MLB All-Star break, San Francisco kicked off its stretch run with a frustrating series north of the border against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Giants dropped the first two games of the three-game series on Friday and Saturday, then sent left-handed pitcher Robbie Ray (L, 4 1/3 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 5 BB, 3 K) to the mound on Sunday as San Francisco looked to avoid a series sweep.

However, an uncharacteristic outing from the consistently solid Ray and a disastrous sixth inning ultimately proved to be too much for the Giants’ offense to overcome.

The Giants got the scoring started in the top of the first inning on Heliot Ramos’ RBI single that scored Jung Hoo Lee from second base and gave San Francisco an early 1-0 lead.

Ramos gets the scoring started 👏 pic.twitter.com/FehVROTHXA

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) July 20, 2025

Toronto then responded with a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. solo home run in the bottom of the first to tie the game before Bo Bichette extended the Blue Jays’ lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the third with a two-run double over the head of Ramos, who appeared to misplay the ball, in left field.

Early tee time for Vladdy 💥 #PLAKATApic.twitter.com/d3fNORphET

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 20, 2025

Bo Bichette gets the ball to drop and brings in two runs. ✌️ pic.twitter.com/k7FypC57uY

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) July 20, 2025

Trailing 3-1 in the top of the fifth inning, Giants backup catcher Andrew Knizner roped an RBI single to center field that scored Matt Chapman and trimmed San Francisco’s deficit to one run.

Unfortunately for the Giants, the bottom half of the inning proved to be the difference in the game.

Ray surrendered a solo home run to George Springer to lead off the inning, before Bichette doubled with one out. Spencer Bivens then replaced Ray and surrendered an RBI single to Alejandro Kirk, extending Toronto’s lead to 5-2.

Four adds MORE! #SpringerDingerpic.twitter.com/rBLTqF8G4k

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 20, 2025

Addison Barger followed with a booming two-run homer that gave Toronto a 7-2 lead.

TWO-RUN BARGER BLAST! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/txWk7vPxHJ

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) July 20, 2025

Down by five, the Giants then staged a comeback attempt in the top of the sixth, kickstarted by Chapman’s two-run home run that trimmed the deficit to 7-4 with two outs. Dominic Smith then doubled and Brett Wisely singled him home to cut Toronto’s lead to two, before Lee singled to center two batters later and scored Wisely from second to trim the Blue Jays’ lead to 7-6.

The Giants inched closer with a four-run sixth 👀 pic.twitter.com/VL1EDRh8N3

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) July 20, 2025

Toronto tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth after Springer doubled with two outs and scored on Guerrero Jr.’s RBI single to left field, extending the Blue Jays’ lead to 8-6.

The Giants’ offense went down quietly over the final three frames to cap off their fifth consecutive loss.

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

Giants' late comeback attempt falls short as Blue Jays cap off series sweep originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

• BOX SCORE

The unofficial second half of the 2025 MLB season has not been kind to the Giants thus far.

After losing consecutive games against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers before the All-Star break, San Francisco kicked off its stretch run with a frustrating series north of the border against the Toronto Blue Jays.

After dropping the first two games of the three-game series on Friday and Saturday, the Giants sent left-handed pitcher Robbie Ray (L, 4 1/3 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 5 BB, 3 K) to the mound on Sunday as San Francisco looked to avoid a series sweep.

However, an uncharacteristic outing from the consistently solid Ray and a disastrous sixth inning, ultimately proved to be too much for the Giants’ offense to overcome.

The Giants got the scoring started in the top of the first inning on Heliot Ramos’ RBI single that scored Jung Hoo Lee from second base and gave San Francisco an early 1-0 lead.

Ramos gets the scoring started 👏 pic.twitter.com/FehVROTHXA

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) July 20, 2025

Toronto then responded with a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. solo home run in the bottom of the first to tie the game before Bo Bichette extended the Blue Jays’ lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the third with a two-run double over the head of Ramos, who appeared to misplay the ball, in left field.

Early tee time for Vladdy 💥 #PLAKATApic.twitter.com/d3fNORphET

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 20, 2025

Bo Bichette gets the ball to drop and brings in two runs. ✌️ pic.twitter.com/k7FypC57uY

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) July 20, 2025

Trailing 3-1 in the top of the fifth inning, Giants backup catcher Andrew Knizner roped an RBI single to center field that scored Matt Chapman and trimmed San Francisco’s deficit to one run.

Unfortunately for the Giants, the bottom half of the inning proved to be the difference in the game.

Ray surrendered a solo home run to George Springer to lead off the inning, before Bichette doubled with one out. Spencer Bivens then replaced Ray and surrendered an RBI single to Alejandro Kirk, extending Toronto’s lead to 5-2.

Four adds MORE! #SpringerDingerpic.twitter.com/rBLTqF8G4k

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 20, 2025

Addison Barger followed with a booming two-run homer that gave Toronto a 7-2 lead.

TWO-RUN BARGER BLAST! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/txWk7vPxHJ

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) July 20, 2025

Down by five, the Giants then staged a comeback attempt in the top of the sixth, kickstarted by Chapman’s two-run home run that trimmed the deficit to 7-4 with two outs. Dominic Smith then doubled and Brett Wisely singled him home to cut Toronto’s lead to two, before Lee singled to center two batters later and scored Wisely from second to trim the Blue Jays’ lead to 7-6.

The Giants inched closer with a four-run sixth 👀 pic.twitter.com/VL1EDRh8N3

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) July 20, 2025

Toronto tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth after Springer doubled with two outs and scored on Guerrero Jr.’s RBI single to left field, extending the Blue Jays’ lead to 8-6.

The Giants’ offense went down quietly over the final three frames to cap off their fifth consecutive loss.

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

Keith Meister is worried. The 63-year-old orthopedic surgeon feels as if he’s screaming into a void, his expert opinion falling on deaf ears.

Meister, whose slight Southern twang sweeps into conversation through his 20-plus-year career in the Lone Star State as the Texas Rangers’ team physician, is a leading voice in baseball’s pitching-injury epidemic. Meister wants the sport to err on the side of caution and create change to save pitchers’ arms. The trend, Meister says, stems from the industry-wide push to increase speed, spin and break at all costs.

While MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Assn. bicker about what’s causing the problem and how to solve it, the doctor provides his perspective. He just wants the 17-year-old high schooler, the 23-year-old college pitcher, and the 32-year-old MLB veteran to stop showing up at his office.

“It’s not going to change at the lower levels until it changes at the highest level,” Meister said in a phone interview. “I don't see a motivation within Major League Baseball to change anything that would enhance the level of safety.”

Read more:Four major questions the Dodgers face in the second half of the season

MLB asked Meister to sit on a committee examining the growth in pitcher injuries about 18 months ago, he said. Meister says the committee never met. (MLB did not respond to a request for comment about the committee.)

Injury is among the biggest risks for youth pitchers looking for the all-too-sought-after faster fastball. Their quest to emulate their heroes, such as hard-throwing veteran starters and stars Justin Verlander and Jacob deGrom, has caused them to need the same surgeries as the pros.

Trickling down, it's the teenager, the budding pitching prospect desperate to land his Division I scholarship, who is hurt the most. MLB teams wave around multimillion-dollar signing bonuses for the MLB Draft. Those same pitchers hurt their elbows after pushing their abilities to the extreme, calling into action surgeons such as Meister.

“It’s an even bigger problem than it appears,” said David Vaught, a baseball historian, author and history professor at Texas A&M. “This goes back into high school or before that, this notion that you throw as hard as possible. … It's so embedded, embedded in the baseball society.”

Tommy John surgery saves careers. But as pitchers across baseball push for higher velocity, more hurlers are going under the knife — for a first time, a second time and in some instances, a third or fourth procedure.

MLB pitching velocity steadily rose from 2008 to 2023, with average fastball velocity going from 91.9 mph to 94.2. According to Meister, the total number of elbow ligament surgeries in professional baseball in 2023 was greater than in the 1990s altogether. A 2015 study revealed 56.8% of Tommy John surgeries are for athletes in the 15- to 19-year-old age range.

“It's like the soldiers on the front lines — they come into the tent with bullet wounds,” Meister said. “You take the bullets out, you patch them back up and you send them back out there to get shot up again.”

MLB released a report on pitcher injuries in December 2024. The much-anticipated study concluded that increased pitching velocity, “optimizing stuff” — which MLB defines as movement characteristics of pitches (spin, vertical movement and horizontal movement) — and pitchers using maximum effort were the “most significant” causes of the increase in arm injuries.

Meister was interviewed for the report. He knew all that years ago. He was yelling from the proverbial rooftop as MLB took more than a year (the league commissioned the study in 2023) to conclude what the doctor considered basic knowledge.

“Nothing there that hadn't been talked about before, and no suggestion for what needs to be changed,” Meister said to The Times Wednesday.

Read more:Hernández: Secret to Yoshinobu Yamamoto's 2025 success? His hero-like effort in NLDS Game 5

Although pitching development labs such as Driveline Baseball and Tread Athletics provide fresh ideas, Meister said he does not entirely blame them for the epidemic.

It’s basic economics. There’s a demand for throwing harder and the industry is filling the void.

However, Meister sees the dramatic increase in velocity for youth pitchers, such as a 10-mph boost in velocity within six months, as dangerous.

“That's called child abuse,” Meister said. “The body can't accommodate. It just can't. It's like taking a Corolla and dropping a Ferrari engine in it and saying, ‘Go ahead and drive that car, take it on the track, put the gas pedal to the metal and ask for that car to hold itself together.’ It's impossible.”

---

On the other end of the arm-injury epidemic is the player lying on his back, humming along to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” as an air-cast-like device engulfs his arm, pressurizing the forearm and elbow.

The noise of the giant arm sleeve fills the room of Beimel Elite Athletics, a baseball training lab based in Torrance — owned by former MLB pitcher Joe Beimel. It generates Darth Vader-like noises, compressing up and down with a Krissshhhh Hhhwoooo… Krissshhhh Hhhwoooo.

Greg Dukeman, a Beimel Elite Athletics pitching coach whose 6-foot-8 frame towers over everyone in the facility, quipped that the elbow of the pitcher undergoing treatment was “barking.”

For professional and youth players alike, this technology, along with red-light therapy — a non-intrusive light treatment that increases cellular processes to heal tissue — and periodic ice baths, is just one example of how Beimel attempts to treat athletes as they tax their bodies, hoping to heal micro-tears in the arm without surgical intervention.

With little to no research publicly available on how high-velocity-and-movement training methods are hurting or — albeit highly unlikely — helping pitchers’ elbows and shoulders, Meister said, it’s often free rein with little — if any — guardrails.

Josh Mitchell, director of player development at Beimel’s Torrance lab, said that’s not exactly the case in their baseball performance program. Beimel will only work with youth athletes who are ready to take the next step, he said.

“You got the 9- and 10-year-olds, they're not ready yet,” Mitchell said. “The 13- and 14-year-olds, before they graduate out of the youth and into our elite program, we'll introduce the [velocity] training because they're going to get it way more in that next phase.”

Beimel uses motion capture to provide pitching feedback, and uses health technology that coincides with its athletes having to self-report daily to track overexertion and determine how best to use their bodies.

Their goal is to provide as much support to their athletes as possible, using their facilities as a gym, baseball lab and pseudo health clinic.

Mitchell knows the pleasure and pain of modern-day pitching development. The Ridgway, Pa., native’s professional career was waning at the Single-A level before the Minnesota Twins acquired him in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft.

The Twins, Mitchell said, embraced the cutting-edge technique of pitching velocity, seeing improvements across the board as he reached the Double-A level for the first time in his career in 2021. But Mitchell, whose bushy beard and joking personality complement a perpetually smiling visage, turned serious when explaining the end of his career.

“I'm gonna do what I know is gonna help me get bigger, stronger, faster,” said Mitchell, who jumped from throwing around 90 miles per hour to reaching as high as 98 mph on the radar gun. “And I did — to my arm's expense, though.”

Mitchell underwent two Tommy John surgeries in less than a year and a half.

Mitchell became the wounded soldier that Meister so passionately recounted. Now, partially because of advanced training methods, youth athletes are more likely to visit that proverbial medic's tent.

“There's a saying around [young] baseball players that if you're not throwing like, over 80 miles per hour and you're not risking Tommy John, you're not throwing hard enough,” said Daniel Acevedo, an orthopedic surgeon based in Thousand Oaks, Calif., who mostly sees youth-level athletes.

---

In MLB’s report, an independent pitching development coach, who was unnamed, blamed “baseball society” for creating a velocity obsession. That velocity obsession has become a career route, an industry, a success story for baseball development companies across the country.

Driveline focuses on the never-ending “how” of baseball development. How can the pitcher throw harder, with more break, or spin? And it’s not just the pitchers. How can the hitter change his swing pattern to hit the ball farther and faster? Since then, baseball players from across levels have flocked to Driveline’s facilities and those like it to learn how to improve and level up.

“Maybe five or six years ago, if you throw 90-plus, you have a shot to play beyond college,” said Dylan Gargas, Arizona pitching coordinator for Driveline Baseball. “Now that barrier to entry just keeps getting higher and higher because guys throw harder.”

MLB players have even ditched their clubs midseason in hopes to unlock something to improve their pitching repertoire. Boston Red Sox right-handed pitcher Walker Buehler left the Dodgers last season to test himself at the Cressey Sports Performance training center near Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., before returning to eventually pitch the final out of the 2024 World Series.

Driveline is not alone.

Ben Brewster, co-founder of Tread Athletics, another baseball development company based in North Carolina, said high-school-aged players have been attracted to his performance facility because they see the results that MLB players and teammates achieve after continued training sessions.

Tread Athletics claims to have a role in more than 250 combined MLB draft picks or free agent signings, and says it has helped more than 1,000 high school players earn college opportunities.

Kansas City Royals left-hander Cole Ragans achieved a 4.4-mph increase from 2022 to 2023, the largest in MLB that year. With the velocity increase after his work at Tread Athletics, Ragans went from a league-average relief pitcher to a postseason ace in less than a year.

So what makes Ragans’ development different from that of a teenage prospect reaching out to Tread Athletics?

“Ragans still could go from 92-94 miles per hour to 96 to 101,” Brewster said. “He still has room, but relatively speaking, he was a lot closer to his potential than, like, a random 15-year-old kid throwing 73 miles per hour.”

Meister knows Ragans well. When the southpaw was a member of the Rangers’ organization, the orthopedic surgeon performed Tommy John surgery on Ragans twice. (Ragans has also battled a rotator cuff strain this season and has been out since early June.)

“These velocities and these spin rates are very worrisome,” Meister said. “And we see that in, in and of itself, just in looking at how long these Tommy John procedures last.”

Throwing hard is not an overnight experience. Brewster shared a stern warning for the pitching development process, using weightlifting as an example. He said weightlifters can try to squat 500 pounds daily without days off, or attempt to squat 500 pounds with their knees caving in and buckling because of terrible form. There’s no 100% safe way to lift 500 pounds, just like there is no fail-safe way of throwing 100 mph. There’s always risk. It’s all in the form. Lifting is a science, and so is pitching — finding the safest way to train to increase velocity without injury.

“The responsible way to squat 500 pounds would be going up in weight over time, having great form and monitoring to make sure you’re not going too heavy, too soon,” Brewster said. “When it comes to pitching, you can manage workload. You can make sure that mechanically, they don't have any glaring red flags.”

Brewster added that Tread, as of July, is actively creating its own data sets to explore how UCLs are affected by training methods, and how to use load management to skirt potential injuries.

Read more:Freddie Freeman MLB Network documentary showcases storied career, and his vulnerability

MLB admitted to a “lack [of] comprehensive data to examine injury trends for amateur players” in its December report. It points to a lack of college data as well, where most Division I programs use such technology.

The Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Center based in Birmingham, Ala. — founded by James Andrews, the former orthopedic surgeon to the stars — provided in-house data within MLB’s report, showing that the amount of UCL surgeries conducted for high school pitchers in their clinic has risen to as high as 60% of the total since 2015, while remaining above 40% overall through 2023.

Meister said baseball development companies may look great on the periphery — sending youth players to top colleges and the professional ranks — but it’s worth noting what they aren’t sharing publicly.

“What they don't show you is that [youth athletes] are walking into our offices, three or six months or nine months later.”

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.

Tommy John surgery was never supposed to go this far.

It was once a cross-your-fingers-and-pray fix for a career-ending injury. Now, MLB teams cycle through as many as 40-plus pitchers a year, knowing that surgery is a phone call away.

Just ask John himself, a left-hander who never threw all that hard, only reaching the mid-80s on his sinking fastball. The soft-throwing lefty was having his best year as a Dodgers starting pitcher in 1974.

He didn’t have the strikeout acumen of teammate Andy Messersmith, or the ace makeup of future Hall of Famer Don Sutton. But what John did have was consistency. John consistently pitched late into games, and sent opposing hitters back to the dugout without reaching first base.

Read more:Pitching injuries continue to be an issue in MLB. How it's impacting pitchers at all levels

“The game of baseball is 27 outs,” said John, now 82. “It wasn’t about throwing hard. It’s, how do I get you out?”

He was the first to go under the knife. The first to lead pitchers through a dangerous cycle of throwing as hard as possible, knowing the safeguard is surgery.

“I threw one pitch and boom, the ligament exploded,” John said.

John’s arm injury left a sensation akin to what an amputee feels after losing a limb. In 1978, he told Sports Illustrated, “It felt as if I had left my arm someplace else.” He didn’t feel pain. He felt loss. His left arm was his career. It was the direct cause for his toeing the Dodger Stadium mound in the first place. Then, John went on to pitch another 15 years in MLB.

It’s the same loss that Hall of Fame Dodgers left-hander Sandy Koufax felt when he retired at age 30 after numerous arm injuries, which could have likely been fixed if current elbow and shoulder surgeries had existed in 1966.

It’s the same loss that Texas Rangers team physician Keith Meister sees walking daily into his office.

Today, Meister can view MRI scans of elbow tears and can tell pitchers where and how they hold the baseball. The tear patterns are emblematic of the pitches being thrown in the first place. The solution — Tommy John surgery, a once-revolutionary elbow operation — replaces a torn or partially damaged ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow with a tendon from somewhere else in the body. The operation is no quick fix. It requires a 13- to 14-month recovery period, although Meister said some pitchers may require just 12 months — and some up to 18.

Meister, who is currently tallying data and researching the issue, wants to be part of the change. Midway through an October phone interview, he bluntly stopped in his tracks and asked a question.

“What is the average length of a major-league career for a major-league pitcher?” he said.

Meister explained that the average career for an MLB pitcher is just 2.6 years. Along with numerous other interviewees, he compared the epidemic to another sport’s longevity problem: the National Football League running back.

“People say to me, ‘Well, that sounds like a running back in football,’” Meister said. “Think about potentially the money that gets saved with not having to even get to arbitration, as long as organizations feel like they can just recycle and, you know, next man up, right?”

Financial ramifications play close to home between pitchers and running backs as well. Lower durability and impact have led to decreasing running-back salaries. If pitchers continue to have shorter careers, as Meister puts it, MLB franchises might be happy to cycle through minimum-salary pitchers instead of shelling out large salaries for players who remain on the injured list rather than in the bullpen.

The Dodgers and the Tampa Bay Rays have shuffled through pitchers at league extremes over the last five years. In the modern era — since 1901 — only the Rays and Dodgers have used more than 38 pitchers in a season three times each. Tampa used 40-plus pitchers each year from 2021 to 2023.

Last year, the Dodgers used 40 pitchers. Only the Miami Marlins tasked more with 45.

The Dodgers have already used 35 pitchers this season, second-most in baseball. The Rays tallied just 30 in 2024 and have dispatched just 23 on the mound so far this season. What gives?

Meister says the Rays may have changed their pitcher philosophy. Early proponents of sweepers and other high-movement pitches, the Rays now rank near the bottom of the league (29th with just 284 thrown) in sweeper usage entering Saturday's action, according to Baseball Savant. Two years ago, the Rays threw the seventh most.

Tampa is rising to the top of MLB in two-seam fastball usage, Meister said, a pitch he says creates potentially much less stress on the elbow. Their starting pitchers are second in baseball in the number of innings, and they’ve used just six starting pitchers all season.

“It’s equated to endurance for their pitchers, because you know why? They're healthy, they're able to pitch, they're able to post and they're able to go deeper into games,” Meister said. “Maybe teams will see this and they'll be like, ‘Wait a minute, look what these guys won with. Look how they won. We don't need to do all this crap anymore.’”

The Dodgers, on the other hand, rank ninth in sweeper usage (1,280 thrown through Friday) and have used 16 starting pitchers (14 in traditional starting roles). Meanwhile, their starting pitchers have compiled the fewest innings in MLB. Rob Hill, the Dodgers’ director of pitching, began his career at Driveline Baseball. The Dodgers hired him in 2020. Since then, the franchise has churned out top pitching prospect after top pitching prospect, many of whom throw devastating sweepers and change-ups.

Read more:Hernández: Secret to Yoshinobu Yamamoto's 2025 success? His hero-like effort in NLDS Game 5

As of Saturday, the Dodgers have 10 pitchers on the injured list, six of whom underwent an elbow or shoulder operation — and since 2021, the team leads MLB in injury list stints for pitchers.

“There are only probably two teams in baseball that can just sit there and say, ‘Well, if I get 15 to 20 starts out of my starting pitchers, it doesn't matter, because I'll replace them with somebody else I can buy,’” Meister said. “That’s the Yankees and the Dodgers.”

He continued: “Everybody else, they've got to figure out, wait a minute, this isn't working, and we need to preserve our commodity, our pitchers.”

Outside of organizational strategy changes, like the Rays have made, Meister has expressed rule changes to MLB. He’s suggested rethinking how the foul ball works or toying with the pitch clock to give a slightly longer break to pitchers. He said pitchers don’t get a break on the field the same way hitters do in the batter’s box.

“Part of the problem here is that a hitter has an ability to step out of the box and take a timeout,” Meister said. “He has to go cover a foul ball and run over to first base and run back to the mound. He should have an opportunity take a break and take a blow.”

Meister hopes to discuss reintroducing “tack” — a banned sticky substance that helps a pitcher’s grip on the ball — to the rulebook, something that pitchers such as Max Scherzer and Tyler Glasnow have called a factor in injuries. Meister has fellow leading experts on his side too.

“Myself and Dr. [Neal] ElAttrache are very good friends, and we talk at length about this,” said Meister.

Meister explained that the lack of stickiness on the baseball causes pitchers to squeeze the ball as hard as possible. The “death grip on the ball,” Meister said, causes the muscles on the inner side of the elbow to contract in the arm and then extend when the ball is released. The extension of the inner elbow muscles is called an eccentric load, which can create injury patterns.

The harder the grip, the more violent the eccentric load becomes when a sweeper pitch, for example, is thrown, he said.

“Just let guys use a little bit of pine tar on their fingertips,” Meister said, adding that the pitchers already have to adjust to an inconsistent baseball, one that changes from season to season. “Not, put it on the baseball, not glob the baseball with it, but put a little pine tar on their fingertips and give them a little better adherence to the baseball.”

According to the New Yorker, MLB is exploring heavier or larger baseballs to slow pitchers’ arm movements, potentially reducing strain on the UCL during maximum-effort pitches.

Read more:Four major questions the Dodgers face in the second half of the season

Meister, however, said there does not seem to be a sense of urgency to fix the game, with a years-long process to make any fixes.

In short, Meister is ready to try anything.

For a man who has made a career off baseball players nervously sitting in his office waiting room, awaiting news that could alter their careers forever, Meister wants MLB to help him stop players from ever scheduling that first appointment.

“To me, it’s not about the surgery any more as much as it is, what can we do to prevent, and what can we do to alter, the approach that the game now takes?” Meister said.

“It’s very, very dangerous.”

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.

Nine months after his death, Fernando Valenzuela stands immortalized in a new mural on the loge‑level wall at Dodger Stadium — a vibrant fusion of art and legacy unveiled Saturday.

Painted by Mexican American artist Robert Vargas, the mural shows Valenzuela tipping his cap to the sky in a Dodgers Mexican‑heritage jersey — featuring a green sleeve, red sleeve, white center — alongside two striking images of Valenzuela in his pitching stance. Vargas said the mural is meant to symbolize unity within the Latino community.

“I felt it very important to show that the Latino community has a place within these walls and has had a place within these walls,” Vargas said.

He wanted to reflect Valenzuela’s spirit that still lives in the hearts of many fans and feature the man behind the player.

For 34.

Prior to tonight’s game, the Dodgers unveiled a mural dedicated to Fernando Valenzuela in the Left Field Loge Terrace. His family and former teammates also joined the unveiling. pic.twitter.com/Kn4W1yze9L

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 20, 2025

“What he did in the community, is what resonates so much more for me than just the player — but the man, the person that he was,” Vargas said.

Valenzuela played for the Dodgers from 1980 to 1990. He grew up in Etchohuaquila, a small town in Mexico, and took Major League Baseball by storm in 1981, earning rookie of the year and Cy Young honors. Latino fans who previously felt little connection to the Dodgers were thrilled to see one of their own winning, sparking Fernandomania. Valenzuela wore No. 34 and it remains a popular jersey worn by fans at Dodger Stadium.

Claudio Campo choked up as he gazed at the tribute. Traveling from Phoenix with his son to celebrate the boy's 11th birthday, Campo shared memories of a player whose greatness felt deeply personal. Valenzuela's nickname, "El Toro," are inked on Campo's left arm.

“He was a staple for the people that didn't have anything and then where he came from showed that anything is possible if you go ahead and revive what you are,” Claudio said.

Read more:Plaschke: Fernando Valenzuela was the man who connected L.A. to the Dodgers

Fans holding Valenzuela bobbleheads given away by the Dodgers took their pictures in front of the new mural Saturday night.

Longtime fan Dulce Gonzalez held back emotion as she showed off her shirt with the name “Valenzuela” written across it, describing the reason she started watching baseball.

“He was the first Latino player I could truly connect with and be proud of,” she said.

For Gonzalez, Valenzuela’s story resonated because he came from the same roots, offering representation she had longed for.

“We are a melting pot of races here, people love baseball from all races, but because I am Latina, I feel a little bit more connected," she said.

Read more:Dodgers star Fernando Valenzuela, who changed MLB by sparking Fernandomania, dies at 63

Her son, Nicolas, dressed in a red and green Dodgers Mexican-heritage jersey, said Valenzuela helped heal some wounds after Mexican American families were displaced from their homes in Chavez Ravine shortly before Dodger Stadium was built on the same land.

“He really opened the city up to the Dodgers after a long difficult entry and he really represented triumph over adversity,” Nicolas said.

Read more:Everybody wants to have a hero | 'Fernandomania @ 40' Ep. 1

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Dodgers' recently slumping offense was better Saturday night.

But for a team that has struggled to gain traction and string together wins for almost a month, even a seven-run, 10-hit performance wasn’t quite enough.

In an 8-7 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Dodgers put a badly-needed crooked number on the board early, scoring four runs in the bottom of the third to answer the Brewers' four-run rally in the top half of the inning.

The Dodgers manufactured another run in the sixth, keeping the game close on a night Emmet Sheehan struggled in a season-worst start and the bullpen yielded three costly runs late. They even hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth, trimming what had become a three-run deficit back to one.

Read more:Dave Roberts gives Mookie Betts a day off as season-long slump continues

But every time it seemed like they were truly ready to break out, like their long-slumbering lineup was about to roar back to life, the Dodgers still came up ever-frustratingly short.

And no sequence epitomized those headaches like the end of the third.

After a Shohei Ohtani two-run homer, a Teoscar Hernández RBI double and a run-scoring wild pitch from Brewers starter Freddy Peralta, the Dodgers had the go-ahead run at third with no outs. They were 90 feet away from flipping the momentum entirely, and completing the kind of ruthless offensive onslaught that has evaded their $400-million roster for the last several weeks.

But then, in an immediate return to their uninspired form of late, the lineup went missing, squandering the opportunity with three quick outs — moments before the Brewers retook a lead their premium pitching staff wouldn’t again relinquish.

“I thought it was good, seeing some life,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Unfortunately, we still came up short.”

So goes life for the Dodgers (58-41) these days, when even a largely productive day at the plate couldn’t prevent another series defeat to the Brewers or a ninth overall loss in their last 11 games.

Saturday could have been a more profound breakthrough. A game of not just incremental progress, but a total offensive turnaround.

Ohtani had a three-RBI day, starting with his towering 448-foot opposite-field blast, his 33rd this season. Hernández’s double was one of the best swings he has taken in the last couple months, a line drive into the right-center field gap that one-hopped off the wall. Tommy Edman broke an 0-for-29 skid with a sixth-inning single and eighth-inning home run. Miguel Rojas, one of the few who has impressed during the Dodgers’ recent struggles, followed Edman’s solo blast with one of his own in the next at-bat, completing a two-hit night that also included a walk.

“Tonight was probably the best offensive performance we've had in a while,” Roberts said. “Just good at-bats, some slug in there, some walks, and against a really good pitcher in Freddy Peralta.”

But every time the Dodgers put the Brewers (58-40) on the ropes, they failed to land the necessary knockout blow.

“It's one of those days we had some good at-bats,” Hernández said. “But we didn't execute what needed to be executed … and we lost the game.”

In a game they needed their lineup to pick up the slack left by a lackluster pitching performance, they repeatedly ran out of rope.

On the verge of taking the lead in the third, the Dodgers instead watched Andy Pages take a called third strike (which he reacted angrily to, despite the pitch being well in the zone), Michael Conforto ground out against a drawn-in infield on a first-pitch fastball and Edman hit a can of corn to left to retire the side.

And to make matters worse, the 4-4 tie was broken in the next inning, when Isaac Collins hit a leadoff home run over the short wall in right field to chase Sheehan from the game.

“Tonight was one of those nights where the offense showed life, and just on the pitching side, we just didn't do a good job,” Roberts added.

It wouldn’t be the last time the offense failed to bail out the pitching.

Trailing by two in the sixth, the Dodgers threatened again. Edman and Rojas both singled, setting up Ohtani for an RBI knock in left field. But then Will Smith grounded out to second to retire the side.

The final tease came in the eighth, after the Brewers opened up an 8-5 lead.

Edman lifted his home run to the left-field bullpen. Rojas went deep on a similar trajectory.

That brought up Ohtani, representing the potential tying run. But he watched a soaring fly ball die at the warning track in center.

Close, but not enough. Too little, once again coming frustratingly too late.

The bats, of course, were not the Dodgers’ primary problem Saturday.

Sheehan saw his recently promising return from Tommy John surgery derailed in a five-run, three-plus inning outing. During the Brewers' four-run third, he missed wildly with an array of breaking pitches, and gave up three hits on sliders that Roberts said lacked enough depth.

The defense wasn’t sharp either. Hernández and Pages failed to cut off balls in the gaps at various points, leading to extra bases for the Brewers. Hernández — who has looked limited defensively ever since returning from an adductor injury in May — also was slow getting to the short right-field wall on Collins’ home run, where he might have had a play on the front-row line drive.

Still, the lack of consistently timely offense remains the most confounding issue for the Dodgers.

Read more:‘As lucky as we could be.’ Dodgers’ Max Muncy already recovering better than expected

That was the case even before the game, when Roberts gave Mookie Betts — the most glaring underperformer among Dodgers hitters this season — a day off just two games into the second half in hopes it would allow him to clear his mind and work on his swing.

It felt just as prescient in the aftermath of yet another defeat, with the team still searching for a winning formula amid its most disappointing stretch of the year.

“I think that's how it's been the whole season,” Hernández said. “Sometimes the pitching is there and the offense is not there. Sometimes the offense is there, the pitching is not there. We're just going to continue to keep pushing, keep working hard, keep putting things together and just trying to, when the pitchers do their job, trying to do our jobs and just win games."

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Yankees were once down by five runs, but Trent Grisham's ninth-inning grand slam completed the team's come-from-behind win over the Braves, 12-9, in Atlanta on Saturday night.

New York was down 5-0 in the fifth before the team chipped away and tied the game at 8-8 entering the ninth. Paul Goldschmidt led off with a double before Aaron Judge was intentionally walked with one out. Giancarlo Stanton worked a walk to load the bases before Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a rocket at third baseman Nacho Alvarez Jr. for the second out. That set up Grisham, who took a 1-1 slider over the middle of the plate from Raisel Iglesias over the right field wall for the lead.

The Yankees (54-44) with the win, remain 3.0 games behind the Blue Jays -- who won earlier in the day -- for first place in the AL East.

Here are the takeaways...

-After the bullpen game went wrong on Friday, Will Warren was called upon to give the Yankees a quality start. The young right-hander was solid in his first start out of the All-Star break, but the third-inning homer to Michael Harris III allowed the Braves to take a 1-0 lead. Harris entered the game with the second-worst wRC+ (48) and fourth-worst SLG (.316) among qualified hitters this year.

Despite the solo shot, Warren was really good for 3.2 innings but it would unravel quickly in the fourth. Six straight Braves reached base with two outs, which included a three-run shot from Ozzie Albies -- the second straight game he's hit a three-run bomb off the Yankees. Warren just couldn't get the final out as the Braves worked walks and ended the youngster's night with an infield single that was a result of Warren not covering first base, allowing another run to score.

Warren threw 41 pitches in the fourth and his night was done after throwing 78 pitches (47 strikes) through 3.2 innings, allowing five runs on five hits and three walks while striking out five batters.

-Albies wasn't done, though. In the fifth, Albies hit a two-run single with two outs. The hit was set up by a wild pitch from Scott Effross, and a curious decision to pitch to the left-handed Albies with a base open.

Unfortunately, the Yankees' bullpen just couldn't keep the Braves from scoring. Jonathan Loaisiga, after giving up one run in his first inning of work, allowed the Braves to load the bases with one out in his second frame. Luke Weaver came on and got out of the inning without allowing another run to score and keeping the score 8-7.

Weaver was clutch, pitching 1.2 scoreless innings to get the ball to Devin Williams in the ninth with the lead. Williams, however, wasn't dominant, allowing the Braves to score a run on a hit and a walk, but he eventually locked down the win.

-On the other side, the Braves started their bulk pitcher out of the bullpen Joey Wentz. Wentz, making his first start since 2023, kept the Yankees at bay with just two hits and one walk allowed in four innings.

However, the Yankees would finally get on the board in the fifth against the Braves' bullpen. After a leadoff double fromGrisham, Anthony Volpe launched a two-run shot 420 feet over the left-field wall. It was his 11th homer of the season and his first home run since July 5. It wouldn't be his only one, though. Volpe launched a 411-foot solo shot to tie the game at 8-8 in the eighth.

Volpe finished 2-for-4 and had his first career multi-homer game.

The Yankees sent 10 batters to the plate in the sixth and scored four runs to cut the Braves' lead to 7-6. The Yankees scratched runs across once they loaded the bases with no outs, thanks to the small ball, with the only hit coming from aChisholm single. The big moment came when Matt Olson had a fielding error that would have at least gotten one out.

Cody Bellinger would add another run with his solo shot in the seventh. The outfielder went 2-for-4.

Game MVP: Trent Grisham

Volpe was great, and Weaver is an unsung hero, but Grisham's grand slam kept the Yankees from falling four games back of the Jays. His 17 homers ties a career high.

Highlights

Anthony Volpe with a two-run blast to get the Yankees on the board pic.twitter.com/hkphVMNv5B

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) July 20, 2025

Jazz Chisholm Jr. with an RBI single! pic.twitter.com/iyVOB6rrbv

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) July 20, 2025

ANTHONY VOLPE TIES THE GAME WITH HIS SECOND HOME RUN OF THE NIGHT! pic.twitter.com/SIxZnUGlby

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) July 20, 2025

TRENT GRISHAM HITS A GO-AHEAD GRAND SLAM IN THE 9TH!!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/G9IrvNzwKF

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) July 20, 2025

What's next

The Yankees and Braves finish up their weekend series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1:35 p.m.

Marcus Stroman (1-1, 6.66 ERA) will go up against Grant Holmes (4-8, 3.77 ERA).

If you’re searching for the sunny side of things out of Mets Land on Saturday, well, the David Wright ceremony was delightful, Brooks Raley pitched for the first time since April 2024 and was very sharp, and the Mets at least put a jolt into the ninth inning, though only of the “What if?” variety.

Beyond that, though, the 5-2 loss to the Reds was mostly filled with unpleasant reminders of Mets weaknesses, also known as fodder for David Stearns’ trade deadline to-do list.

Mets starter Clay Holmes got only 16 outs, which means their beleaguered bullpen had another long workday. The relievers excelled, throwing 3.2 scoreless innings, but the recurring theme of them having to get bushels of outs every day isn’t sustainable. The Mets need shutdown relief help. Perhaps some in the rotation, too.

And they were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base – it’s the 10th time they’ve left 11 or more on this season, the sixth-most in the majors. Maybe they need an offensive jolt, too.

Then there were sloppy moments – a bum pickoff throw by Luis Torrens that led to a Reds run, a poor relay to second by Ronny Mauricio that kept a Reds rally alive. Talk about bad fundies.

Brandon Nimmo, who played with Wright, admitted it was a bummer not to play crisply on a day Wright, whom he counts as one of his mentors, was honored.

“Definitely disappointing to lose on his day,” said Nimmo, who added that it didn’t make the ceremony any less special. Nimmo admitted to “trying to hold back tears” himself.

“You could see how much the fans appreciate everything he did,” Nimmo said.

Trouble was, once the game started and the Mets squandered an early 2-0 lead, those fans, a sellout crowd of 42,605, turned their attention to the Mets' shortcomings. They got restless as the Mets left runners on. They booed occasionally, too.

The Mets are now 55-44, but back on June 12, their record stood at 45-24. Their under-the-radar pitching finds were being widely celebrated and they were counted as one of the best teams in baseball. They are 10-20 since, the lower rungs of the bullpen are a revolving door and they still haven’t fixed the hitting with RISP – they ranked 27th in MLB at .230 following the loss.

Nimmo said there’s daily urgency, along with the knowledge that losses like Saturday have to be let go, too.

“The guys that were here last year know that we made the playoffs by one game, so one game can decide whether we get into the playoffs or whether we don’t,” Nimmo said. “Every day there’s an urgency to try and win and try and come through.”

And, to be fair, the Mets looked like there was urgency in the ninth. They put the first two runners on and Juan Soto hit a deep drive to right that had fans buzzing. It looked like enough to be a huge highlight on a big Mets day – SNY cameras caught Wright with a huge grin, leaning out to watch the ball’s flight. But Soto’s shot curved foul. He then struck out on a check swing and their attempt at a rally ultimately fizzled.

“Obviously, Juan came within feet of tying the game,” Nimmo said. “Thought he had a really quality at-bat. If we keep putting pressure on, it’ll come. It’ll happen. We just have to keep putting pressure on and believing in ourselves.”

And getting more length from their starters. Holmes acknowledged, “If I could finish the sixth, that would put the team in a much better position to win that game.” Carlos Mendoza said Holmes had given the Mets a chance, but the Reds had made him work very hard on a day his sweeper was not effective.

Raley was terrific – he struck out Elly De La Cruz and TJ Friedl in his spotless inning. “Pretty good,” Mendoza said. “Typical Brooks Raley. It was good to see him back out there.”

Raley should help the pen. The Mets need more than just his return, though.

And, even on a nice day in Mets history, there were plenty of reminders of that.

It was another disappointing game out of the Mets' offense, even on David Wright's number retirement ceremony, on Saturday afternoon, as New York lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 5-2.

Just as they did on Friday night, the Mets got the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning, but for the second straight game, they were unable to get the big hit, with Juan Soto striking out and Pete Alonso flying out to end the game.

Overall, New York went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and after getting out to a 2-0 lead, the offense went dark just as it did on Friday night.

But despite the lack of production, the Mets still have confidence that they can turn things around.

"Obviously, we’d like to put up a few more runs on the board," Brandon Nimmo said. "We’ve had streaks in both games where we put a lot of pressure on, just not able to get the big hit right now, but we’ve had a few guys come through… but there’s some really, really quality at-bats."

Nimmo himself went 1-for-4 in the leadoff spot -- one of seven hits on the night. The big boppers in the lineup? Brett Baty and Luis Torrens, who each had two hits out of the No. 8 and 9 spots in the order.

Nevertheless, New York made it interesting in the ninth inning, especially after Soto hit a ball five feet foul that would've been a game-tying home run had it stayed fair. Soto ended up striking out, his third of the game, and Alonso flew out to deep left field to give the Mets their second loss out of the All-Star break.

"If we keep putting pressure on, it’ll come, it’ll happen," Nimmo said. "We just have to keep putting the pressure on and keep believing in ourselves."

Saturday's loss hurts even more with the festivities of Wright's number retirement coming right before.

It was a special moment as the organization honored its former captain, who enjoyed a wonderful career in the orange and blue.

"Special day, obviously," manager Carlos Mendoza said. "I was a fan right there, I had tears in my eyes. It’s just incredible, you know, the whole thing. And then just watching David enjoying it with his family and his teammates, coaches, managers, the fanbase, yeah, it was just special there."

Nimmo, one of the few current members of the team who played with Wright before his retirement, was particularly saddened that they couldn't come away with a win on the former third baseman's day, and spoke about what Wright meant to him as a teammate and a mentor.

"(I) was always trying to be like him, coming up and, so, definitely disappointing to lose on his day, but it made it no less special," Nimmo said. "That ceremony beforehand, I think, was amazing – not just for him, but for the fanbase to share it with him. I was over there trying to hold back tears because it just was such a special moment and you could see how much the fans appreciate everything that he did and leaving his heart out onto the field.

"To be able to have that relationship in this game with the fans is something special and should definitely be treasured and celebrated. (The loss) did not take away from his day at all."

In Wright's speech before the game, Nimmo was shouted out as a player that Wright would want his son to play like. Nimmo called that moment "surreal" and continued his praise for the former captain.

"(Wright) was the guy that you wanted to be like. He would probably laugh at this, but the MLB game that I played when I was younger had him on the cover. He was it and to be able to, when I got in this organization, to even talk with him and pick his brain.

"And then he was so kind to me and had dinners with me and set things up for my family and I and passed wisdom onto me, and I just was so thankful for him. So for him to express that he’d like his son to play like me, that’s surreal to me. It’s full-circle and it’s the biggest compliment I could receive."

As for the loss, which puts New York just 11 games over .500 and 1.5 GB of the Philadelphia Phillies for the NL East lead, the Mets know they can't afford to keep giving away games as they look to make the playoffs for the second straight season.

"There is a sense of being able to flush today and move on to tomorrow that you have to have in baseball in order to succeed for a long time and I think we got a lot of guys that are very good at that here," Nimmo said. "But there’s a sense of urgency every day because the guys that have been here and the guys that were here last year know we made the playoffs by one game. So one game can decide whether we get into the playoffs or whether we don’t."