Category: Baseball

Freddy Peralta had another rough outing and the Mets bats went down meekly outside some late homers in a 9-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday afternoon.

New York starters had a 5.46 ERA during June, which saw them go 10-17 in the month, and it was more of the same on the first day of July as Peralta couldn't make it back-to-back good outings and was dinged for five runs on seven hits while managing just 12 outs.

The Blue Jays' (41-46) trio of Braydon Fisher (one inning), Spencer Miles (three innings), and Patrick Corbin (five innings) tallied 11 strikeouts and limited the Mets (36-51) to five hits, with three coming in the final two innings.

Here are the takeaways...

-  Peralta got out of the first inning, only allowing one run, but needed 28 pitches. The trouble began fast, as he lost a nine-pitch battle with Nathan Lukes getting an infield hit to deep short and left a 2-0 curveball over the plate that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. laced (112.2 mph off the bat) for a double to left, before Kazuma Okamoto grabbed an RBI infield hit. He left the bases loaded, getting Ernie Clement swinging on a fastball, his fastest pitch of the season at 98.8 mph.

After a bounce-back second, with two more strikeouts coming on good breaking balls, Peralta couldn’t escape danger in the third as, with runners on first and second and two out, Clement took a good Peralta 99 mph fastball to right for an RBI double over the head of Carson Benge, who was playing on the shallow side. Sean Keys then smacked a 96 mph fastball on the outside corner the opposite way for a 349-foot three-run shot as the ball just kept on carrying for the Long Island native’s first big league homer.

After throwing 77 pitches to get nine outs, he got his first 1-2-3 frame on 14 pitches, closing his account: five runs on seven hits and three walks with four strikeouts in his four innings of work. 

- Benge was robbed of a double down the line when Guerrero made a diving stop on the game’s second pitch. Benge got his revenge, doubling past Guerrero with two down in the third. 

Benge put the Mets on the board with a two-out, two-run home run off Corbin in the eighth. He got a 91 mph fastball on the outer-half of the plate and smashed it 406 feet (103.8 mph) to left-center for his 10th long ball of the year.

- Francisco Lindor clobbered a letter-high sinker for a 408-foot solo shot off Corbin with one down in the ninth, his fourth of the year. He finished 1-for-3, going down looking at a back-door slider to end the first and working a walk in the fourth.

- Juan Soto flied out to the wall in deep right-center, but it went for a 388-foot out his first time up. He hit a weak dribbler down the first base line to strand a runner at second in the Mets’ first RBI chance of the game. Soto was 0-for-4 with a strikeout swinging.

- Bo Bichette was 0-for-2 with a four-pitch walk and a strikeout looking.

- A.J. Ewing went 0-for-3, including striking out swinging at a breaking ball and having a hit robbed from him as Guerrero made a leaping grab on a liner.

- Francisco Alvarez went hitless in four at-bats, as he struck out looking at a low-and-away 99 mph sinker, struck out swinging at a high 97 mph heater, and struck out swinging at a soft cutter below the zone.

- Jared Young, the lone Canadian Met in the lineup on Canada Day, was hitless in three at-bats with a pair of strikeouts looking.

- Brett Baty went 1-for-3 with a strikeout swinging and a single on a first-pitch fastball in the eighth.

- Tyrone Taylor, making his second start off the IL, dropped a hit down the right field line his second time up, but Lukes made a fantastic throw to second and nailed Taylor at the bag to end the fifth. He finished 1-for-3, but made a pair of great plays in the outfield, including a diving grab on a sinking liner for the second out of the ninth.

- Ronny Mauricio struck out swinging in the ninth after entering to play defense the previous half inning for Bichette.

- Joey Gerber was first out of the bullpen and worked a clean fifth and got the first man in the sixth before he exited with an apparent hand injury. Cionel Perez entered and got back-to-back strikeouts to end the sixth.

After walking Guerror, Okamoto ripped a ball into the right-center gap and was digging for second, but Ewing played the bounce off the wall perfectly and made a perfect throw to nail him at second. Back-to-back singles saw Toronto tack on another run, and with two men on base, Myles Straw got a hanging Perez breaking pitch and drilled it 397 feet over the wall in left. Perez allowed a fifth-straight hit, but Taylor made a great throw from left and nailed Clement, with Baty making a fine tag for a second outfield assist of the inning.

A.J. Minter got all four batters he faced with a strikeout.

Highlights

A.J. Ewing makes a BEAUTIFUL throw to gun down Kazuma Okamoto at second base! pic.twitter.com/6LmYIxAaIr

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 1, 2026

The second outfield assist of the inning for the Mets, as Tyrone Taylor throws out Ernie Clement pic.twitter.com/6nMK3ZzunJ

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 1, 2026

Carson Benge gets the Mets on the board with his 10th home run of the year pic.twitter.com/87Ex1UufHA

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 1, 2026

What a catch by Tyrone Taylor! pic.twitter.com/3KRMpiZI9Z

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 1, 2026

Francisco Lindor hits the facing of the second deck for his first right-handed home run of the year pic.twitter.com/pVna4cCh2p

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 1, 2026

What's next

The Mets head down to Atlanta for a four-game set beginning on Friday night at 7:15 p.m. 

Christian Scott, Sean Manaea, Nolan McLean, and Peralta are the expected starters. The Braves have yet to announce their pitching plans.

Turner, Marsh, Bohm lead the offense as Phillies beat up on Pittsburgh's Cy Young winner originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

It was 96 degrees when Zack Wheeler threw his first pitch Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park.

Like the old song says: Hot town, summer in the city.

Or maybe it should be: Hot team, summer in the city.

Fresh off 18 wins in June – second-most in the big leagues – the Phillies opened the month of July with a 10-6 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Phillies, now a season-high 11 games over .500, took it to defending National League Cy Young winner Paul Skenes, lighting him up for a career-high eight runs in four innings.

Wheeler, a two-time runner-up in the Cy Young voting, labored through his most difficult start of the season. His stuff was good, as evidenced by his 10 strikeouts, but his command was unusually poor as he threw 104 pitches before exiting with two outs in the fifth. He gave up nine hits, eight singles and a solo homer, over 4 2/3 innings. It was his shortest outing since June 16, 2024 when he lasted just 4 1/3 and gave up eight runs in a loss at Baltimore. After that, Wheeler reeled off 53 straight starts of five innings or more, entering Wednesday night.

Wheeler came into the game with an ERA of 2.03. He exited with an ERA of 2.36, still exceptional for a man coming off surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. Wheeler has made 13 starts since returning from the injured list. The Phils are 11-2 in those games.

The right-hander picked the right night to be off his game. The Phillies scored 153 runs in June, second-most in the majors. They kept piling up runs on the first night of July. They scored five times against Skenes in the second, added another one in the third and two more in the fourth.

Skenes has had his problems with the Phillies. They tagged him for five runs in a 6-0 win in Pittsburgh on May 17. A season after leading the majors with a 1.97 ERA, he is 6-8 with a 3.62 ERA. Amazingly, the Pirates are winless in his last nine starts.

Surging Trea Turner continued to swing a potent bat for the Phillies. He lashed a three-run homer on a hanging breaking ball against Skenes in the second inning. Turner is hitting .350 (21 for 60) over his last 14 games.

Brandon Marsh continued his trek to the All-Star Game with a solo homer, his 15^th, in the third inning against Skenes.

Bryce Harper added a two-run double against Skenes in the fourth. Harper has driven in at least a run in seven straight games and has overtaken Kyle Schwarber for the team lead with 56 RBI.

Alec Bohm capped the scoring with a two-run homer against reliever Dennis Santana in the ninth.

Before that, the Pirates had made it a two-run game in the seventh. Orion Kerkering did an excellent job quieting things down before Jhoan Duran closed it out.

On the way to the win, Bohm and Harper both made terrific defensive plays behind Kerkering.

The Phils have won two of the first three in the series, which wraps up Thursday afternoon with Alan Rangel scheduled to pitch against Jared Jones.

More coming…

The fresh arm express continued for the Dodgers on Wednesday, as they optioned Tuesday call-up Wyatt Mills for Charlie Barnes to get recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Barnes has been starting in Triple-A, with a 3.67 ERA in six starts, with 27 strikeouts and 11 walks in 27 innings. He last pitched last Thursday, which makes him perfectly rested for what figures to otherwise be a bullpen game for the Dodgers in their series finale against the A’s, after the rotation was shuffled to move Shohei Ohtani from Wednesday in West Sacramento to Friday at home against the San Diego Padres.

Barnes, claimed off waivers by the Dodgers from the Cubs on May 9, has pitched two games in relief for the Dodgers this season with a pair of scoreless innings against the Angels in May in Anaheim.

Mills was called up just Tuesday, and pitched a scoreless ninth inning with three strikeout at the end of a blowout win over the A’s.

The Colorado Rockies are calling up one of their top pitching prospects in Gabriel Hughes (no. 12 PuRP) this evening, according to a report by Rockies MLB.com beat writer Thomas Harding. The move has since been confirmed by the Rockies organization.

Hughes, 24, was selected 10th overall in the first round of the 2022 MLB draft out of Gonzaga University. The right-handed pitcher made it as far as Double-A Hartford in his first two professional seasons, but missed the entirety of the 2024 regular season after needing Tommy John surgery.

After returning to baseball activities for the 2024 edition of the Arizona Fall League, Hughes started 2025 with the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats. With Hartford he posted a 3.29 ERA with 35 strikeouts over nine starts and 41 innings of work. He was promoted mid-season to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes, where he held his own in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League with a 5.11 ERA and 48 strikeouts over 14 starts and 61.2 innings.

Hughes started the 2026 season back with Triple-A Albuquerque, where he dazzled in his first two starts with a combined three earned runs allowed and 14 strikeouts over 10.1 innings. However, he was unable to make it through five innings in any of his next three starts. He finished April with a five inning, eight strikeout start against the El Paso Chihuahuas, but also with an 8.64 ERA.

The Rockies organization placed Hughes on the injured list with side and shoulder discomfort on April 30th, causing him to miss most of May. After two rehab starts with the High-A Spokane Indians, he returned to the Isotopes and has been utterly dominant.

Over Hughes’ last five starts and 21.2 innings of work, he has not allowed a single earned run while allowing just six hits and eight walks. During that stretch he has struck out 26 batters.

Hughes will wear no. 43 and is expected to make his Major League debut out of the bullpen rather than the rotation. He will be the eighth rookie to make his debut with the Rockies this season.

In a corresponding roster move, right-handed pitcher John Brebbia has been designated for assignment.

Brebbia, 36, spent spring training with the Rockies and signed a second minor league contract with the team earlier this season. He made three appearances out of the bullpen in late June, the first two of which were scoreless. In his third appearance, he gave up five earned runs on five hits—including two home runs—in 1.1 innings against the Miami Marlins.

The Rockies’ 40-man roster currently sits at 39.

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Rosters were announced on Wednesday for the All-Star Futures Game, featuring top prospects from all around the league in a showcase game as part of All-Star Week. The Detroit Tigers’ representative will be catching prospect Thayron Liranzo, currently working at the Double-A level. He’ll be behind the plate for part of the Sunday, July 12 contest at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The game will be broadcast at noon E.T. on NBC.

The sole selection of Liranzo was a little bit of a surprise. The All-Star Futures Game tends to draw on prospects that haven’t reached the Triple-A level yet. So it was expected that neither Max Clark or Max Anderson would be selected for the midseason battle of top prospects. On the other hand, the lack of Bryce Rainer is an oversight. The young shortstop is scorching hot with 8 homers, 10 stolen bases, and a .394 on-base percentage for the West Michigan Whitecaps, and generally draws 55 FV grades from national prospect rankings. Instead, Liranzo will be the Tigers only representative.

The switch-hitting, 22-year-old catcher—he’ll turn 23 in a week’s time— has really come on strong in his second season with the Erie SeaWolves. Most of that development has come behind the plate, so he’s not exactly lighting it up offensively, but right now that defensive progress is more important anyway. Liranzo has nine homers and a .337 on-base percentage in 44 games this season. He’s still walking a ton, holding a 16.3 percent walk rate in the Eastern League. Of course, while he’s starting to trim the strikeouts, he’s still holding a 28.6 K-rate as well.

It took Dillon Dingler three tries to really break out of Double-A, so there’s still plenty of time for Liranzo, and his defensive improvements now have him looking like much more of a lock to catch at the major league level, even if he’s still tracking like a backup who plays some first base, and gets looks at DH and as a pinch-hitter to access his raw power.

The Dominican born catcher was the key piece of the trade that sent Jack Flaherty to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the 2024 trade deadline. With Trey Sweeney largely flaming out, Liranzo is both the key piece, and potentially the only piece acquired in that deadline selloff that looks like it could work out very well for the Tigers. Of course, Sweeney already contributed by helping get the Tigers into the playoffs that year with Javier Báez down for surgery on his hip. It’s been bleak since for Sweeney, and he’s out for the year after shoulder surgery.

Liranzo doesn’t chase out of the zone much, but his pretty grooved swing as a left-handed hitter says he’ll always whiff quite a bit. The key is to keep taking walks and doing damage while continuing to develop well as a defender. Things are well on track now in that regard. He’s earned the nod to the Futures Game, and it’s a really fun event where the younger talent in the game get to play together and against each other while enjoying the All-Star Week’s other festivities. Congratulations to Thayron on his selection.

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Philadelphia Phillies, July 1, 2026, 6:40 p.m. ET

The Pittsburgh Pirates are looking to end their disastrous run of Paul Skenes starts as he takes the mound for the Buccos in Game 3 of their four-game set in the City of Brotherly Love.

The Pirates have dropped their last eight games in which Skenes pitched. During that stretch, Skenes is 0-5.

In his last start against the Cincinnati Reds on June 26, he pitched five innings, giving up six hits and four earned runs in a 6-4 loss to their division rival. The game that began this streak came back on May 17 against the Philadelphia Phillies. Skenes pitched five innings, giving up six hits and five earned runs in a 6-0 shutout loss against Philly at home.

Meanwhile, the Phillies will turn to Zach Wheeler, who is enjoying another stellar season and could be on route to his third consecutive All-Star appearance. In his last start against the New York Mets, he pitched seven innings, giving up four hits and one earned run in a 2-1 victory at Citi Field. He also pitched against the Pirates earlier in the year, pitching seven innings of shutout ball in that 6-0 win on May 17 at PNC Park.

Perhaps Skenes and the Pirates can turn things around against the Phillies.

Location: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA

Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet Pittsburgh

Pitching Matchup: Paul Skenes (6-7, 3.10 ERA) vs. Zack Wheeler (8-1, 2.03 ERA)

BD community, chime off in the comments section below.

The San Diego Padres would like to forget about Wednesday afternoon.

The Padres got run out of Wrigley Field by the Chicago Cubs 23-2, a blowout so lopsided that San Diego handed the ball to catcher Rodolfo Duran for the final two innings rather than burn another arm.

It capped a three-game sweep by the Cubs and sent the Padres to Los Angles for a four-game series against the Dodgers on the sourest of notes.

The box score looks like a video game. Eight home runs, 23 RBI, 17 hits. The Cubs went 8-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left just two on base all day. It was more like batting practice for Chicago, especially Dansby Swanson.

GRAND SLAM
THIRD HOMER OF THE GAME

DANSBY SWANSON IS 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/z88J0AC6vQ

— MLB (@MLB) July 1, 2026

The shortstop hit three home runs and drove in eight runs. Michael Conforto added two home runs and four RBI. In all, the Cubs had eight homers out of 17 total hits.

Padres' starter Walker Buehler gave up nine runs and three home runs in four innings. Kyle Hart came out of the bullpen and gave up six runs, five earned, on three hits - all home runs - over two innings. Duran gave up eight earned runs on seven hits, including two home runs.

San Diego avoided a shutout on Sung-Mun Song's first MLB home run and a Samad Taylor triple, which could have been an in-the-park home run if not for the ball getting stuck in the ivy and stopping the play.

The Padres head into a National League West series against their rival Dodgers having lost five straight and sitting at 43-42.

Michael Busch makes it TWENTY-THREE runs for the @Cubs 🤯 pic.twitter.com/rpnhzZzaw4

— MLB (@MLB) July 1, 2026

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Padres pummeled by Cubs 23-3 in an embarrassing series finale

With the Mets’ 2026 season having gone completely off the rails, the owner of the team is standing by his president of baseball operations. Steve Cohen was a guest on a podcast, and while being interviewed, he offered up a variety of responses that offered support to Stearns just a few days after the organization fired manager Carlos Mendoza.

In supporting Stearns, Cohen highlighted the need for the organization to be able to commit to a long-term plan and mentioned that it would be tough to attract people to the club if he were to fire someone like Stearns for short-term plans. He also made a point that Stearns was in charge when the Mets made it to the National League Championship Series in 2024.

Stearns is in the third season of a five-year, $50 million contract as the team’s head of baseball ops. The Mets are 208-202 thus far in the regular season under his leadership.

Here are the lineups. For the Phillies:

Wheeler Wednesday#RingTheBellpic.twitter.com/peKKPdgGv8

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) July 1, 2026

For the Pirates:

87/162.

📺: @SNPittsburgh
📷: @937TheFanpic.twitter.com/mOSLI9sM5Z

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 1, 2026

Let’s talk about it.

After the 4th inning brawl last night, there was only one team up for the fight the rest of the series. That team was the Washington Nationals, who totally outclassed the Red Sox following that dust up. At one point, the Nats were out scoring the Sox 18-0 post brawl before the Red Sox got a couple runs in garbage time.

Since Willson Contreras charged the mound last night:

Nationals 18
Red Sox 0

— Grant Paulsen (@GrantPaulsen) July 1, 2026

It is unusual to have such a clear turning point in a three game regular season series, but that is exactly what happened here. At the time of the Contreras vs Cavalli fight, the Red Sox were winning 1-0. However, the Nats ended up taking control of that contest and dominated from start to finish in this one.

As they tend to do, the Nats offense set the tone early. Against young Red Sox ace Payton Tolle, a pair of right handed bats got to him. Curtis Mead started the fun with a triple in the gap. After that, we got a homer from an unlikely character.

Today felt like a pretty important game for Andres Chaparro. With a batting average well below .200 and no homers, the heat was turning up on the 27 year old first baseman. He responded in a big way, destroying a Tolle heater and sending it over the Green Monster.

Andrés Chaparro opens the scoring for the @Nationals with a 2-run blast 💥 pic.twitter.com/icIVESN2ZF

— MLB (@MLB) July 1, 2026

The Nats had a chance to make that first inning a monstrous frame, but ended up having to settle for two. However, they kept the pressure on Tolle all afternoon. Even in the innings where they did not score, the offense was really making Tolle work. On a hot day in Boston, the big lefty began to fade. 

A big turning point in the game actually came in the bottom of the third. The Red Sox had a rally going against opener Brad Lord. With runners on first and third, Blake Butera wisely pulled his opener and went to Andrew Alvarez, the bulk man. Alvarez rewarded his manager right away, inducing a double play on the first pitch he threw.

That set up the 4th inning where the Nats really began to run away with it. If the Andres Chaparro home run was surprising, Nasim Nunez going yard was a stunner. Nunez has provided value on the bases and in the field, and has even been hitting better lately. However, he did not have a home run all year despite playing most of the games. He changed that in a big way though, clubbing a first pitch fastball over the monster.

Nasim Nuñez hits his first home run of the season in his 281st plate appearance! pic.twitter.com/480uIXTiXs

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 1, 2026

Tolle really began to labor after that, giving up a hit and walking a pair. After that his day was done. Even with a new pitcher on the mound, the Nats went right back to work. They made it a massive inning thanks to knocks by Luis Garcia Jr. and Jacob Young to stretch the lead to 7-0.

From there it was real smooth sailing for the Nats. Andrew Alvarez was sitting down Red Sox hitters with his sharp breaking balls, while the Nats offensive machine kept humming. They had good at bats all game long, and eventually had another homer, this time from a usual suspect in James Wood.

This was one of the more emotional series wins of the year. It further reinforced the idea that the Nats are back after the Phillies disaster. Turning the tides of the series after that brawl was also a great thing to see. That fight seemed to bring the team together and lock them in.

Tomorrow the boys have a much deserved off day, but it is back to business after that. They will face off against the Pirates on July 4th weekend in what should be an exciting series. The Nats and Pirates are right next to each other in the standings, so that series should be hotly contested. I can’t wait to see what unfolds, but this was one heck of a series win for the Nats.

Despite having just four hits and being shut out through the first eight innings, the Yankees had multiple chances to come away with a win late in Wednesday’s game against the Detroit Tigers. 

But in a continuance of what’s been a week to forget for the Yankees, they couldn’t push a run through when they needed it most, falling 6-2 in 11 innings in their seventh straight loss. 

After scoring a couple of runs to tie the game at 2-2 in the ninth, the Yankees had Anthony Volpe thrown out trying to steal second base for a pivotal second out. In the 10th, New York had a runner at third with one out (the game-winning run), but Oswaldo Cabrera and Ali Sanchez both went down swinging.

In the 11th, Camilo Doval had two outs with a runner on third, but he followed an intentional walk with two more walks, and things snowballed from there.

“Tough one… had chances in the ninth and certainly in the 10th to put it away and weren’t able to do it,” manager Aaron Boone said after the game. “Then we get two outs and man on third there (in the 11th) and ahead 0-2 with (Hao-Yu) Lee and can’t get back in the zone.

“Obviously, a tough one going into the off day, but we’ve got to get over it and start playing better baseball.”

The Yankees also committed a pair of errors (Sanchez and Austin Wells), and Jose Caballero missed the cutoff man on throws from the outfield on multiple occasions. 

Jazz Chisholm Jr., back in the lineup after colliding with Jasson Dominguez on Monday, made an impact with a couple of hits and a couple of steals while also scoring the tying run in the ninth inning on a wild pitch. He says the club still believes in itself, but they need to clean things up.

“I feel like we’ve just got to lock in, do all the small stuff,” he said. “We make a lot of mistakes and I feel like we beat ourselves.”

Chisholm later added: “We know that we’re a good team, we know that we have a lot of bumps in the road right now and have a lot of people down, but at the end of the day, we still believe in ourselves and believe in our teammates… we’ve just got to be better and focus more.”

After being swept by the Red Sox in a four-game series, the Yankees followed up with three more losses to Detroit.

They’ll host Minnesota on Friday on the other side of an off day, and Boone knows his club needs to play better.

“It’s been a terrible week for us, there’s no way of sugarcoating it,” said the skipper. “We’re capable of way more, obviously. Look, you’re going to have stretches where it’s tough, where you’re missing some guys, but this was a really difficult week for us offensively, and coupled with not playing clean enough and taking care of the ball well enough, that’s what you get. You get an awful weak. 

“Hopefully we regroup on this off day and start playing better baseball this weekend.”

Mets reliever Joey Gerber exited Wednesday’s 9-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays with a blister on his right finger, interim manager Andy Green confirmed after the game.

In his first inning of work, Gerber worked around a leadoff walk for an 11-pitch fifth, and after getting the first man of the sixth on five pitches, the trainer was called upon.

This isn't the first time Gerber has dealt with the blister on that finger. He landed on the injured list in April due to the blister and, when it flared up again in June, he was forced out of a game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Entering Wednesday's game, Gerber had pitched six innings on the year over four outings, allowing one run on five hits and a walk with eight strikeouts.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers go for the sweep of the Athletics on Wednesday night in Sacramento.

Having won seven of their last eight games, L.A. is the favorite (-163) in the betting market.

That being said, my Dodgers vs. A’s predictions and MLB picks for Wednesday, July 1, think there’s value with the A’s (+152) given their starting pitching advantage.

Who will win Dodgers vs A's today: Athletics (+152)

The Los Angeles Dodgers have opted to push back Shohei Ohtani’s start to Friday, leaving them in a precarious pitching situation for today’s series finale.

Charlie Barnes is expected to get the start, and neither his 6.14 xERA across 43 career Big League innings nor his 1.59 WHIP at Triple-A inspire confidence. The bullpen behind him has a below-average 4.12 SIERA in the last 14 days.

J.T. Ginn (3.93 xERA) gives the Athletics a starting pitching advantage. With L.A. having already wrapped up the series, I’ll back the A’s at home up to +145.

Dodgers vs A's Over/Under pick: Over 10.5 (-128)

Both of the first two games of this series went Over the total, moving the Athletics to 26-15-2 O/U at home.

Barnes has an unseemly 75 Stuff+ that would rank 289th out of 290 pitchers to have started a game in the MLB. The A’s rank ninth in wRC+ (102) against southpaws and should inflict damage.

The Dodgers’ lineup is fully operational with Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman back healthy and Mookie Betts resembling his former self (202 wRC+ since June 19).

There’s reason to expect supple offensive output from both teams at Sutter Health Park (110 Park Factor).

Dodgers vs A's weather

Dodgers vs A's odds

• Moneyline: Los Angeles -160 | Athletics +156
• Run line: Los Angeles -1.5 (+100) | Athletics +1.5 (-102)
• Over/Under: Over 10.5 (-122) | Under 10.5 (-109)

Dodgers vs A's trend

The Atheltics are 12-5 in J.T. Ginn’s last 17 starts. Find more MLB betting trends for Dodgers vs. A's.

How to watch Dodgers vs A's and game info

Dodgers vs A's latest injuries

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

For a moment, we had hope. The Yankees came back in the bottom of the ninth inning, showing exactly the kind of fight and fire that has been so absent over the last week. They closed a two-run deficit in genuinely exciting fashion. Then the floor fell out from under them, they lost their seventh straight, and suffered their second straight sweep. Tigers 6, Yankees 2 is your final in 11 innings.

Let’s start with Will Warren, and you can tell that he came in with a defined gameplan. The Tigers are a dead-red fastball hitting team, and his career-high 29 percent changeup usage was deliberate in getting Detroit hitters out in front of the plate. For the most part it worked, with 15 whiffs leading to seven strikeouts in 5.1 innings pitched. Warren is not your ace, on net you take that kind of start. It was Warren’s best start since May 31st, even if he never really seems to be driving the game in the way that certain other pitchers can just take over.

We have a couple easy takes here, stuff that’s in the dirt or on the toe, but that cluster down and just off the plate against righties should be an interesting watch in Warren’s next start. His changeup has been far better than his slider so far this season — indeed the offspeed is the only pitch besides Will’s four-seam that has a positive run value — and he’s using it just nine percent of the time. The pitches obviously have different uses but you wonder about him using today as a lesson and incorporating it into his repertoire more.

He got touched up by Kevin McGonigle for the rookie’s seventh homer of the season, and got into some trouble in the sixth allowing multiple Tigers to reach. Riley Greene brought in a second run with a sac fly ending Warren’s day, but the bullpen managed to limit damage the rest of the day. He doesn’t inspire me or make me think “dang, Warren’s on the hill, we got this,” but it was perfectly representative of a decent MLB pitcher today. The problem for most of the game was the Yankee B- lineup was about as bad today as the C lineup was yesterday.

They didn’t get their third hit until the eighth inning, a single from pinch-hitter Spencer Jones — the IV must have done its job. José Caballero followed with a single of his own to put multiple men on for the first time all game. Oswaldo Cabrera’s sac bunt was the right call, bringing Ben Rice to the plate with one out and two men in scoring position… only to go down swinging. Jasson Domínguez lined a ball to center to end the inning.

Things did pick up in the ninth, at least. Take it away, Amed Rosario:

After that, Jazz Chisholm Jr. scored a run all by himself. Beating out an infield single, Jazz stole second and third on consecutive pitches. A pitch bounced in front of the plate gave Chisholm the chance to scamper home and we were all tied up.

Anthony Volpe had an infield single of his own, before being tossed out trying to steal second, Spencer Jones flew out, and off to extra innings we went. Fernando Cruz managed to navigate the top of the tenth, surviving his own terrifying wild pitch to get the Yankees in the position to walk it off. Caballero’s sac bunt got Manfred Man Spencer Jones into scoring position, but neither Cabrera nor Ali Sánchez, batting after Detroit intentionally put Ben Rice on, could cash.

Enter Camilo Doval, and the Tigers put up four runs despite making two outs immediately. I don’t want to go into details because I thoroughly, thoroughly detest so many things about the person Doval is on a baseball diamond, but it involved a multitude of walks issued. I’m sure he is a pleasant dining companion and he uses his left and right turn signals but I would like him to not be on this team anymore. Sánchez added a throwing error for good measure, the team’s second of the day and 69474th of the last week.

The Yankees do not play a baseball game tomorrow, but I am somewhat convinced they will still find a way to lose. The Minnesota Twins come to town on Friday, and while that’s usually a salve for whatever ills the club, the way the team is playing right now it’s hard to get excited even about New York’s personal punching bag. First pitch of a new series comes at 7:05 p.m. Eastern Friday night.

Box Score

After a pair of home-run-saturated wins to start a three-game series in the Bronx, the Tigers looked to complete the sweep on a swelteringly-hot Wednesday afternoon. It took a couple of extra innings, and the drama was a little too much to bear at times, but the Tigers managed to pull off the sweep, winning 6-2 in 11 innings.

Troy Melton made his seventh start of the year for the Tigers. His previous two outings went six innings and saw him give up a single run each time. His previous start, at home against the Astros, saw him retire the first sixteen batters in a row before eight-hole hitter Taylor Trammell hit a solo home run. The one before that, against the White Sox, was almost as good: he surrendered a solo home run to the first batter he saw, and gave up no more hits (although he did walk three).

Facing the Tigers was righty Will Warren, who was making his seventeenth start of the year. He’s been good overall, in his second full season in the major leagues; he led the American League last year in games started with 33, and finshed eighth in Rookie of the Year voting. He got roughed-up in his last start in Fenway Park, though, and quite a few of his recent starts have seen him exit before the fifth inning. He definitely walks more batters than Yankee fans would like to see, and that’ll help shorten an outing.

Dillon Dingler, naturally, got on base with a double with one out in the top of the first. He advanced to third on a Kerry Carpenter groundout, but Riley Greene struck out to end the inning. Similarly, Melton gave up a leadoff single to Ben Rice, but he was stranded on first as the third out was made.

In the top of the third, Kevin McGonigle found a fastball he liked, and smacked it a long way over the bullpen in right-centrefield for a 1-0 Tiger lead.

Meanwhile, Melton kept rolling: he gave up a two-out double to Jazz Chisolm Jr. in the fourth, then struck out the next three batters he faced.

The Tigers added to their lead in the sixth: Dingler led off with a single, then took third on a Carpenter single, who himself skooched up to second when the outfielder’s throw sailed over the cutoff man. Greene hit a sacrifice fly to the wall in left field, scoring Dingler to make it 2-0.

Carpenter smartly advanced to third, seeing that Cody Bellinger in left field had caught the ball rather flat-footed and wouldn’t be able to get a good throw to third base. After Colt Keith struck out, Spencer Torkelson walked, but Zach McKinstry hit a sharp comebacker to the mound and the third out was recorded at first base.

After two quick outs in the bottom of the sixth, Tigers pitching coach Chris Fetter paid Melton a visit on the mound to discuss how to pitch to Bellinger. Whatever they talked about seemed to work, as Bellinger struck out on a 1-2 cutter, and that officially made three straight starts that Melton had made it through six innings with two or fewer hits, and one or no runs surrendered. Seeing as how he was cruising, and his pitch count was at a comfortable 81 he didn’t get the ol’ handshake, meaning he’d come out to start the seventh.

After Melton got one out in the seventh, he was told his job was done for the day, and Drew Sommers was brought in to face the lefty Chisolm, and he struck him out on a drop-down sidearm slider. (Remember years ago when pitchers would occasionally drop down sidearm to give a different look? They don’t seem to do that much anymore.) Anyway, Melton’s final line was 6 1/3 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts, and holy moly, that is lovely. Sommers coaxed a grounder to short for the final out of the seventh, and the Tigers were six outs away from a sweep… theoretically.

Drew “The Other One” Anderson came on for the eighth and he got into, and out of, a jam. A pair of singles and a sacrifice bunt (more on this in a minute) put runners on second and third with one out. But Anderson got Rice to strike out on three pitches — the final one swinging a 99-mph heater right down the middle — and then Jasson Dominguez followed with a screaming line drive to centre… which was caught by James “The Third” Outman.

Now, about bunts… some people love ‘em. Some people hate ‘em. My opinion is that their use should be extremely limited: by a home team in extra innings in a tie game with a runner on second (more on this in a minute), and maybe in a first-and-second, no-out situation. But that’s it, other than trying to bunt for a base hit. The revised Run Expectancy Matrix suggests that the latter case, on average, decreases expected run scoring — but you also have to take into account who’s at bat, who’s behind him, the game situation, and so on.

In the top of the ninth the Tigers went 1-2-3 against two different pitchers, so we’d go to the end with a two-run lead, a narrow margin in the Bronx Bandbox. Too narrow, as we shall see.

Anderson carried on into the ninth and gave up a one-out solo home run to Amed Rosario to make it a 2-1 game. Chisolm reached first on a ground ball that clanked off Torkelson’s glove, and he stole second on the first pitch. He stole third on the next pitch — pay attention, Drew! — and the infield drew in tight. Anderson yanked a changeup into the dirt, the wild pitch scored Chisolm, and the score was tied. Anthony Volpe hit a comebacker that Anderson couldn’t handle for an infield single, and he tried to steal second but came off the bag and McKinstry kept the glove on him. A popup to third base was the final out of the inning, and we’d go to extras.

With one out in the top of the tenth, McKinstry — who was on second — took third on a very wild pitch. Jake Rogers struck out for the second out, bringing up McGonigle… who flew out to right.

Keider Montero came in for the bottom of the tenth as he begins a stint in the bullpen, and Spencer Jones started the inning on second base. The Yankees came a-buntin’, and Jones advanced to third with one out. That pulled the outfielders in comically shallow, and Oswaldo Cabrera struck out for the second out. Rice was up next and he was intentionally walked so Montero could face Ali Sanchez, who he struck out to send the game into the eleventh.

Camilo Duval, armed with a 103-mph fastball, was brought in to pitch the bottom of the eleventh. McGonigle started the inning on second, and he moved up to third on a Dingler groundout to second. Matt Vierling followed with a grounder to a drawn-in shortstop for the second out, and Greene was intentionally walked to bring up Hao-Yu Lee with runners on the corners. Greene moved up to second uncontested, and Lee walked on a wild slider to load the bases for Torkelson. The count went full, and Torkelson held off on a low sinker for the bases-loaded walk and a 3-2 lead. McKinstry was up next, and he poked a single into right; Greene and Lee scored, and after a wild throw by the Yankee catcher to second to try to nab McKinstry at second, Torkelson scored as well for a 6-2 lead.

Montero carried on into the bottom of the eleventh and slammed the door with a 1-2-3 inning, and that completed the sweep. Huge performance from Keider Montero. That was nice, wasn’t it?

Final score: Tigers 6, Yankees 2

Notes and Celebrations

• In case you missed it, Will Vest was placed on the Injured List with the dreaded “elbow inflammation.” Could this be the explanation behind his shaky performance so far this season, and especially lately? The Tigers are confident that it’s not a ligament issue, though, which is good news.
• Jake Rogers hit 21 home runs in 2023. That isn’t news, of course, but given his struggles at the plate in recent years, that just seems like a long time ago, doesn’t it?
• When looking up information about Will Warren, I saw there was a pitcher in the Negro National League from 1945-47 named Warren Peace. No word on whether or not he was into extremely long books.
• Happy Canada Day, everyone! On this day in 1867, after some people here asked the UK politely if they could run things themselves, the UK said, “Sure, why not? But we want you to keep the current king or queen on your coins. Could you do that for us?” We agreed to that, and a country was born.