Category: Baseball

The San Francisco Giants continue this three-game series against the Washington Nationals tonight from Oracle Park.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Adrian Houser, who enters tonight’s game with a 5.49 ERA, 5.27 FIP, with 40 strikeouts to 24 walks in 60.2 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 12-9 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, in which he allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks in four and a third innings.

He’ll be facing off against Nationals left-hander Andrew Alvarez, who enters tonight’s game with a 3.54 ERA, 3.11 FIP, with 22 strikeouts to six walks in 20.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Nationals’ 4-1 loss to the Miami Marlins last Wednesday, in which he allowed one run on four hits with five strikeouts and a walk in four and two thirds innings.

Game #68

Who: San Francisco Giants (27-40) vs. Washington Nationals (34-33)

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California

When: 6:45 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

Just when the Nats looked dead in the water, they came back in the 9th with Daylen Lile and CJ Abrams delivering the big hits. Now they will look to carry that momentum into this game where they have a chance to claim another series win. The late night Nats are back in action folks.

Blake Butera is going lefty heavy against Giants starter Adrian Houser, who performs significantly worse against lefties. That means Curtis Mead will be on the bench for Jorbit Vivas. Jose Tena will also get the start at DH. The only true right handed hitter in the lineup today is Jacob Young, who replaces Dylan Crews in center. Drew Millas will get the nod over Keibert Ruiz behind the dish. Andrew Alvarez will be on the mound tonight.

The Giants are making a couple changes at the bottom of their order. Jonah Cox will be in center field over Drew Gilbert. Daniel Susac will do the catching tonight as well. Otherwise it is the same lineup as the one Tony Vitello rolled out yesterday. As mentioned before, veteran Adrian Houser will be on the bump.

Game Info:

Stadium: Oracle Park

Time: 9:45 PM EST

TV: Nationals.TV

Radio: 106.7 The Fan

Last night was an uplifting win for the Nats, who made a 9th inning comeback for the first time this year. Now they will look to wrap up another series win on the west coast. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!

Freddie Freeman singled in the seventh inning on Tuesday night at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, giving him 2,500 career hits, the 102nd player in MLB history to reach that milestone.

No. 2,500 for Freeman was hit off Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Brandan Bidois, and RBI single that brought home the Dodgers’ 10th run of a very long inning.

Freeman, who doubled earlier in the game off Paul Skenes, has been hot of late, hitting .357/.429/.686 with six home runs and five doubles over his last 18 games.

This milestone comes almost three years after Freeman collected his 2,000th hit, an RBI double off Houston Astros right-hander Ryan Montero on June 25, 2023 at Dodger Stadium. With the Dodgers, Freeman also hit his 300th career home run (on May 18, 2023 in St. Louis), his 400th double (July 28, 2022 in Denver), and his 500th double (August 6, 2024 at home against the Philadelphia Phillies), the 10th-youngest player to reach the latter milestone.

Freeman is the active MLB leader in career hits, doubles (563), runs scored (1,414), RBI (1,358), extra-base hits (974), and total bases (4,262).

Since signing with the Dodgers in 2022, Freeman has 796 hits, second in the majors during that span, behind only Luis Arráez. Of the 102 players with at least 2,500 career hits, only seven have collected their 2,500th hit while playing for the Dodgers. Freeman is the first to do so since Manny Ramírez on April 10, 2010.

In Freeman’s career, 1,305 of his 2,500 hits (52.3 percent) have come on the road. He has 1,794 hits against right-handed pitchers, and 706 hits against left-handers.

Freeman now has 89 career hits against the Pirates, and has 39 career hits in 38 career games at PNC Park.

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Houston Astros (31-37) continue a six-game road trip with the second game of a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels tonight at Angel Stadium (25-42).

RHP Kai-Wei Teng (3-4, 3.06 ERA) will be on the mound for the Astros, opposite RHP Walbert Ureña (3-4, 2.68 ERA) and the Halos. The Astros have won 11 of their last 17 games.

MY WAY OR THE KAI-WEI: RHP Kai-Wei Teng has split his season between the bullpen (13g) and rotation (6 starts), posting a 3.06 ERA (16ER/47IP), a .204 opponent average, and a 1.17 WHIP.

Teng is new to the Astros organization, as he was acquired from San Francisco on Jan. 29, 2026 in exchange for minor league catching prospect Jancel Villarroel. A native of Taiwan, Teng is the second Taiwanese-born player to appear with the Astros in their history, joining RHP Chia Jen-Lo, who made 19 relief appearances with the Astros in 2013.

ROAD TRIP: Tonight is the second game of six game road trip for the Astros. The Astros are facing the Angels for a three-game series before traveling to Kansas City to face the Royals for another three-game series.

The Astros are 15-18 on the road this season and went 7-3 on their last road trip.

THE LAST 23: Since May 15, the Astros are 14-9 thanks in large part to their pitching, which has produced a 3.54 ERA (81ER/206IP) and a .195 opponent average, which ranks second in the Majors in that span. Their bullpen has been even better in those last 23 games, working to a 2.75 ERA (24ER/78.2IP) and posting a league-best .165 opponent average.

MAKING THE PLAYS: The Astros have committed the fewest errors in the AL (25) and have posted the best fielding percentage (.989) in the AL, topping the Royals (.988).

Among all Major League teams, only the Padres (20) and Dodgers (22) have committed fewer errors than the Astros.

IN THE CLUTCH: C Christian Vázquez is batting .423 (11×26) with 10 runs, four doubles, 14 RBI and a 1.077 OPS (.500 OBP / .577 SLG) with runners in scoring position this season. In the AL, he ranks tied for fourth in batting average, sixth in OPS and sixth in on-base percentage with runners in scoring position (min. 25 PA).

TODAY’S ROSTER MOVE: The Astros placed IF/OF LaMonte Wade Jr. on the 10-day IL due to a right hamstring strain. To take his place on the active roster, the Astros recalled OF Joey Loperfido from Triple A Sugar Land.

VS. THE HALOS: The Astros and Angels are facing each other for the second time this season.. The last time was on Opening Weekend at Daikin Park, where the two teams split the four-game series.

The Astros went 8-5 against the Angels last season, including a 4-2 record at Angel Stadium. The Astros own a 141-90 all-time record against the Angels, including a 67-46 record at Angel Stadium.

ON THE LEADERBOARD: DH Yordan Alvarez leads the Majors in OPS (1.066), and total bases (154) and leads the AL in home runs (22). Also in the AL, he ranks tied for first in RBI (48), tied for first in extra-base hits (35), second in OBP (.427), second in SLG (.639), tied for second in hits (75), third in batting average (.311), fourth in runs (46), and fourth in walks (45).

ON THE MEND: C Yainer Diaz will begin a rehab assignment with Triple A Sugar Land.

RHP Cristian Javier had his rehab assignment transferred to Triple A Sugar Land, where he will start tonight.

AL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Yesterday, OF Yordan Alvarez was named the AL Player of the Week for the week of June 1-7.

For the week, he batted .476 (10×21) with 6 runs, 1 double, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 5 walks and a 1.386 OPS. This marked his second AL Player of the Week award this season, also won for the week March 30-April 5.

HIT PAREDES: IF Isaac Paredes is one double away from recording his 100th career double. He is looking to become just the 4th Mexican-born player in MLB history with 500 career hits, 100 doubles and 100 home runs, joining IF Vinny Castilla, IF Jorge Orta and IF Aurelio Rodríguez.

WALKER, TEXAS HAMMER: 1B Christian Walker ranks tied for first in the AL in RBI with teammate DH Yordan Alvarez (48).

Walker also ranks fourth in the AL in total bases (125), tied for fourth in extra-base hits (29), fourth in total bases (125), tied for seventh in home runs (16) and 10th in SLG (.500).

In the field, Walker has not committed an error in 66 games.

TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY: 2019 – DH Yordan Alvarez went 1×3 with a 2-run home run to center field in the 4th inning. At the time of his debut, he became the seventh Astro in club history to homer in his Major League debut. Alvarez went on to win 2019 AL Rookie of the Year honors.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Tuesday, June 9, 8:38 p.m. CT

Location: Angel Stadium, Anaheim, CA

TV: Space City Home Network

Radio: KTRH 740 AM, KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)

How will these two teams follow up last night’s homer barrage? We’re about to find out as the A’s take on the Brewers for the second of three tonight in Las Vegas, looking to right the ship and get back in the win column on a hot spring evening in a Triple-A ballpark. The A’s have fallen to 31-35 and now sit 3 1/2 back of the Mariners in the AL West and they’ve fallen out of a Wild Card spot. Time to get out groove back, and quickly.

The starter tonight will be right-hander J.T. Ginn, who’s getting the call for his 12th start of the season. The 27-year-old continues to be on an absolute roll in what is shaping up to be his breakout year. In his past six starts he’s allowed just six runs spanning 36 1/3 frames. Overall on the year he has a 2.74 ERA but an even better 2.45 as a starting pitcher. Can Ginn, a groundball specialist, keep the ball in the park tonight? Tonight is a difficult test for any pitcher but if anyone can post a good line tonight in the hot desert weather it’s Ginn.

Here’s how the Athletics will line up for tonight’s contest:

No Brent Rooker tonight as he heads to the bench. With a lefty on the opposing mound manager Mark Kotsay is filling tonight’s lineup with lots of right-handed hitters, starting with right fielder/leadoff man Colby Thomas. He’ll be followed by Nick Kurtz, Shea Langeliers (tonight’s DH), Tyler Soderstrom and the recently-activated Max Muncy, who gets the second straight start at the hot corner tonight after going just 1-for-5 in his first game back.

The bottom half of the lineup is all right-handed hitters. With Langeliers DH’ing tonight it’ll be Jonah Heim behind the plate catching Ginn and the bullpen this evening. Henry Bolte seems to be your everyday center fielder at this point so no surprise to see him in there behind Heim. And then Zack Gelof gets the second straight nod at second base again, keeping left-hander Jeff McNeil on the bench. Alika Williams brings up the rear manning shortstop and batting ninth.

That starting nine will be facing Brewers lefty Robert Glasser. The 27-year-old has been one of the Brewers’ top pitching prospects in recent years but had Tommy John surgery in June 2024 that had kept him on the shelf for a year-plus. He’s finally healthy and in the Brewers’ rotation but has only made three starts, allowing seven runs in 13 1/3 innings of work so far. He is coming off a five-inning, one-run performance last time out against the Giants but they’ve struggled offensively all year, the A’s have bigger bats and we’re playing in a minor league park. Those three things aren’t exactly favoring a low-scoring performance tonight for Gasser.

And Milwaukee’s lineup for tonight’s contest:

More or less the same lineup as last night, and after that performance why change things up if your Brewers skipper Pat Murphy? We do have two small changes at the bottom where Sal Frelick gets into the starting nine over Andrew Vaugh, and then we’ll also see David Hamilton take over at shortstop for Joey Ortiz.

Will the Las Vegas heat cause another homer galore tonight? Will J.T. Ginn be able to keep the ball in the ballpark? How many long balls get hit tonight? And most importantly, can the Athletics bounce back and get a win? Let’s go A’s!

Follow the Game:
Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA

Listen:
Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, A’s Cast

Ah, jeez. The frustrations continue for Ronald Acuña Jr. and his wheels, as he had to exit Tuesday’s game against the Chicago White Sox with an apparent lower leg injury.

With one out in the top of the fourth inning, Acuña hit a ground ball deep to the left side of the infield. Chicago third baseman Miguel Vargas’ throw bounced to first and just barely beat Acuña but that happened after Acuña started to limp once he got close to first base. Acuña appeared visibly frustrated as he was taking off his batting gloves and limped off the field and into the visitors’ clubhouse. Acuña was replaced by Eli White in the outfield.

We’ll have more on the situation as it develops but for now, it’s once again time to cross our fingers and hope that this isn’t on the more severe side of injuries for the star outfielder. We’ll see what happens.

UPDATE [9:54 p.m. ET]: The Braves have reported that Acuña is dealing with “left hamstring tightness” and yes, that’s the same hamstring that he strained just over a month ago. Hopefully this is more of the “day-to-day” variety and not anything more serious than that.

UPDATE [Post-game]: Walt Weiss spoke with the media following Tuesday’s game and informed the media that they believe that Acuña’s latest hamstring injury “isn’t as bad as the one that landed him on the IL” and that he’s currently day-to-day. Nonetheless, he’s getting an MRI so we aren’t out of the woods just yet.

While the attention of many sports fans might have been turned to Madison Square Garden and the NBA Finals on Monday night, about 2,500 miles away, there was a rather bizarre baseball game taking place.

The Brewers visited the Athletics at Las Vegas Ballpark, marking the first time the A’s have played in Vegas since their move there was announced.

Milwaukee came away with a 15-14 victory in 12 innings. The 29 combined runs scored broke the MLB season high of 25 set in the Giants’ 19-6 win over the Rockies on May 31. The Brewers outhit the A’s by a small margin, 18-16.

As expected for a minor league park, the ball was flying out of Las Vegas Ballpark on Monday as the two clubs combined for 11 homers.

The Athletics were responsible for seven, and four just between Nick Kurtz and Tyler Soderstrom.

Andrew Vaughn, who homered for Milwaukee, led the team with four RBIs. Three other Brewers, Brice Turang, William Contreras, and Jake Bauers, had three RBIs apiece. Tyler Soderstrom matched Vaughn and led his own squad with four RBIs alongside two home runs.

On the other side, the Brewers and A’s each used seven pitchers in contest, and the staffs threw a total of 441 pitches, a season high.

The starters, Kyle Harrison for the Brewers and Jeffrey Springs for the Athletics, allowed a combined 13 runs. It was the longest game thus far this season, taking four hours and 14 minutes.

After heading into extras tied 10-10, each team scored four runs in the tenth inning to keep things tied 14-14. The 11th inning saw no runs scored, but in the top of the 12th, automatic runner Christian Yelich scored the deciding run when A’s second baseman Jeff McNeil threw wide to home on a grounder by Turang.

The Central Division-leading Brewers have been slugging the past few days, having scored seven or more runs in their last five games.

The A’s are expected to move into their new ballpark in Las Vegas for the start of the 2028 season.

Cincinnati Reds (31-34) at San Diego Padres (34-31), June 9, 2026, 6:40 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Petco Park – San Diego, Calif.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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Last night, the Brewers and Athletics opened the Las Vegas series with a high-powered extra-inning classic, in which the Brewers came out on top 15-14. That was just the first game of the series, and we could see more of the same tonight.

There will be a lot of pressure on tonight’s starter, Robert Gasser. After the Brewers used most of their bullpen yesterday, Gasser may be asked to eat some innings to get through this one. He made a step forward in his last start, limiting the Giants to a solo home run in five innings. Unfortunately, he took a tough-luck loss as the Brewers were shut out in that game. He should get some additional run support tonight, but will also be facing an Athletics lineup that scored 14 runs and hit seven home runs last night. So far this season, Gasser has allowed seven earned runs in 13 1/3 innings over three starts, striking out 12 and walking seven. The longest start he has made in the majors this season is five innings, and his pitch count has maxed at 89 pitches.

For the Athletics, J.T. Ginn will start tonight. He’s been their best starter this season, anchoring a rotation that has been hit with injuries. In 14 games (11 starts), he has a 2.74 ERA and 4.08 FIP. Ginn has allowed two or fewer runs in each of his last six starts, and nine of his 11 starts overall. He also has pitched through the eighth inning twice this season. That being said, we saw that no pitcher is safe in this ballpark from last night’s game. This will be Ginn’s third career appearance against the Brewers. Last season, he allowed three runs in 4 2/3 innings on April 18. He struck out seven and walked two in that start in Milwaukee, which the Brewers won 5-3.

Looking at the bullpen situation, it is not good going into tonight’s game. Here is a breakdown of the bullpen usage:

• Chad Patrick: Pitched one inning last night, threw eight pitches. Also pitched on Sunday, pitched 1 2/3 innings and threw 21 pitches.
• Grant Anderson: Pitched 2 2/3 innings last night, threw 28 pitches.
• Aaron Ashby: Pitched 1 2/3 innings last night, threw 36 pitches.
• Joel Kuhnel: Pitched 1 2/3 innings last night, threw 20 pitches.
• Drew Rom: Pitched 1 1/3 innings last night, threw 25 pitches.
• Abner Uribe: Pitched 1 1/3 innings last night, threw 15 pitches.
• Trevor Megill: Last pitched on Friday, but was unavailable last night due to “discomfort”. Before tonight’s game, Todd Rosiak reported that he’s been dealing with a right side/oblique injury, but will be available tonight if playing catch goes well.

As for the Athletics, they recalled Joey Estes and optioned Kade Morris before today’s game, giving them a reinforcement for their bullpen. They also have Elvis Alvarado and Mason Barnett fresh, as both did not pitch last night. On the other side, Hogan Harris, Mark Leiter Jr., and Justin Sterner have all pitched in two consecutive games.

While the Brewers did not make any major-league roster moves before today’s game, they did provide some updates on the different rehabbing players on the injured list.

• Brandon Woodruff has been assigned to the Rookie ACL Brewers to begin his rehab assignment. He will throw four innings and 60-65 pitches in their game tonight.
• Quinn Priester will continue his rehab assignment on June 13 with the same team. He is scheduled to throw five innings and 70-75 pitches.
• Jared Koenig will continue his rehab assignment with Triple-A Nashville. He could return in about a week.
• Brandon Lockridge will be sent on a rehab assignment soon.
• Logan Henderson is now projected to return in early July from his back injury.
• DL Hall is projected for a late July return from his left pec strain.
• Brian Fitzpatrick is seeking another opinion on his UCL sprain, and his return date is still TBD.

One additional note from the minor leagues; Jake Woodford is back in the organization on a minor-league contract. He has been assigned to Nashville.

The top five in the lineup remain unchanged from yesterday, but a couple of players who were on the bench are back in the lineup. Sal Frelick is back in right field and batting seventh, while David Hamilton is at shortstop and batting ninth. Despite going 4-for-6 and finishing a triple short of the cycle yesterday, Andrew Vaughn will start this game on the bench.

First pitch tonight is at 9:05 p.m. It will be on Brewers.TV locally and available on MLB Network outside the Brewers’ broadcast area. It will also be on the Brewers Radio Network.

Paul Skenes is “just a boy” at heart. 

The Pirates ace and one of the biggest names in Major League Baseball was driving on Perry Highway in Wexford, Pa., a suburb north of Pittsburgh, when he saw the lights on at a little baseball field and made the night of the kids who make up Ingomar Franklin Park Little League. 

Skenes watched practice on a park bench before the kids and parents took notice of the baseball superstar, before he ended up spending more than two hours with the local little leaguers, signing autographs, posing for pictures and playing catch with them.

An Ingomar Little League coach and member of the board of directors, Eddie Dubis, told MLB.com that the kids were “totally starstruck, in awe of what happened.” 

Photos and videos circulated of Skenes online smiling with players and playing catch, even seeming to be giving advice while throwing the ball with one player under the lights at the ballpark. 

“He just said he loves baseball, he’s a baseball nut, he loves everything about the game, and he remembers being that age, and how special Little League baseball was to him when he was that age,” Dubis said.

Skenes impromptu stop spread like wildfire and his girlfriend, and influencer, Olivia Dunne, posted about it on social media. 

“Remembering your MLB bf is just a boy bc wdym he saw a little league team practicing while driving home and pulled over to show me and play catch with them,” Dunne captioned a TikTok post that featured screenshots of a FaceTime at the Little League park. 

Several people who said they were there commented on Dunne’s post, praising Skenes for making their kids’ night and sharing photos. 

“He took a picture with my two boys there last night and they said it was the greatest night of their life,” one person wrote, “it was SO sweet that he stopped by!!!” 

“This is my kids’ league – this meant so much to so many people tonight,” another wrote. “Can’t even tell you how many of our friends are posting pics of their kids looking like it’s Christmas morning. What a good human.”

Skenes is scheduled to pitch on Tuesday night against the defending World Series champion Dodgers.

After being swept at Coors Field by the Milwaukee Brewers, the Colorado Rockies (24-42) will look to get back in the win column as they welcome the Chicago Cubs (34-32) for a three-game stand.

But first — in case you were offline this afternoon — the Rockies promoted Cole Carrigg (No. 4 PuRP) today, and he’ll be starting tonight in center field. Watch this:

Very, very cool.

In his first MLB game, Carrigg (and the other Rockies) will be facing Cubs starter Colin Rea. This will be his 14th start for the Cubs in 2026.

The righty has a 4.59 ERA in 62.2 IP. He’s struck out 52, walked 22, and given up nine home runs. Rea has a 1.35 WHIP. 

Taking the mound for the Rockies will be RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (菅野 智之).

Currently, he has an ERA of 3.98 in 63.1 IP. He’s struck out 36 while giving up 18 walks and 11 home runs with a 1.26 WHIP.

And now to the details.

First Pitch: 6:40 pm MDT

TV: Rockies TV

Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)

SB Nation site:Bleed Cubbie Blue

Lineups:

For the visiting Cubs:

And the home Rockies:

Here’s one last Cole Carrigg mix to get everyone ready for the game tonight:

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Spencer Jones finally got a hold of one.

The Yankees prospect launched his first career home run against the Guardians on Tuesday night, a 443-foot bomb to straightaway center off of Cleveland starter Slade Cecconi.

After taking a ball on the first pitch of his first at-bat of the game, Cecconi threw an 87.2 mph cutter that was right over the heart of the plate. Jones did not miss, taking Cecconi deep and giving the Yankees an early 2-0 lead. 

SPENCER JONES' FIRST MLB HOME RUN! pic.twitter.com/cjAdaBoWOp

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) June 9, 2026

Jones' prodigious power has made him a fan-favorite among Yankees prospects, but it hasn't yet translated to the major league level.

In his first cup of coffee with the Yankees in early May, Jones was 4-for-24 and two RBI across 10 games. All four hits were singles, and Jones was eventually optioned back to Triple-A.

With Aaron Judge landing on the IL, and Jasson Dominguez still rehabbing, Jones was called up and has looked much better at the plate. Entering Tuesday's game, Jones was 3-for-8 with a double, his first career extra-base hit, with an RBI in three games. 

In the minors, Jones launched 35 bombs in 2025 between Double-A and Triple-A and had 13 longballs with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 43 games this season.

The Atlanta Braves will be facing the White Sox who will be using Brandon Eisert who is supposed to be followed by former Atlanta Braves pitcher Erick Fedde. Don’t remember Fedde? He would probably like it to stay that way. Those 23.1 innings were some of the worst of his career when he posted a 8.10 ERA. Eisert has been great for the White Sox in a small sample of 14.0 innings this season with a 3.21 ERA, 2.97 FIP, 1,214 WHIP and fifteen strikeouts to five walks.

The Braves come to Chicago after a 5-1 homestand where they swept the Pirates and went 2-1 against the reigning AL champ Blue Jays. Grant Holmes has been streaky at best this season, but has largely gotten the job done and looks to quiet a surprisingly good White Sox offense that is fourth in HRs and seventh in runs per game.

Follow along with us in the comments. First pitch is at 7:40 EDT

Lineup

Preview

Looking to move on from a disappointing series loss in Philadelphia, the White Sox (34-31) return to Chicago for a tough six-game home stand against both the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers — two of the top three teams in MLB. First up is Atlanta (45-21), which has been a standout since the beginning of the season, and trails only the Dodgers with a +116 run differential while riding a three-game win streak into Chi-Town. The Braves are 8-2 compared to the White Sox’s 6-4 in their last 10 games, while the Good Guys are also ranked ninth in baseball and are the only team in the AL Central division with a positive run differential (+8). Some may scoff at the eight runs, but this is unheard of a year ago, maybe even two months ago, so in my eyes, we should be doing kick flips in our living rooms for this kind of turnaround.

The White Sox are still missing several key pieces on the roster, with Munetaka Murakami, Kyle Teel, Noah Schultz, and more remaining on the IL as the team works to get back to full strength. Thankfully, several players have stepped up in their absences, and the prospects who have joined the big-league squad throughout the season have found ways to contribute, whether at the plate or on defense. The newest addition to the South Siders is outfielder Braden Montgomery, who has met or exceeded expectations at every level he’s played at thus far in his professional career, finally earning the call-up to the majors. Braden was one of the highlights of the Garrett Crochet trade with the Boston Red Sox in 2024, along with Chase Meidroth, Kyle Teel, and Wikelman González, and was ranked second among White Sox prospects and 21st in all of baseball.

Also in today’s roster moves, Chicago is calling up left-handed pitcher Joe Rock while sending both Rikuu Nishida and righthander David Sandlin back to Charlotte. Austin Hays was seemingly on his way to rehabbing his injury, but has since been moved to the 60-day IL, leading Chris Getz to finally make some strides in actually holding a fully competent outfield.

Montgomery will make his debut batting sixth and playing right field, joining rookies Sam Antonacci and Tristan Peters to round out the White Sox outfield. While Colson Montgomery will be getting an extra rest day for some lingering back tightness, the Sox still have plenty of power within the lineup as both Peters and Andrew Benintendi have posted a .750 and .613 slugging percentage, respectively, over the last two weeks. And let’s not forget about Miguel Vargas, who is currently leading all third basemen in home runs (15), RBIs (41), and runs scored (47), trailing only Junior Caminero in OPS at .859.

Lefthander Brandon Eisert will be the opener for Erick Fedde, who is coming off a solid five-inning, two-hit start against the Twins; however, the Braves will be a much bigger challenge for the righthander. Fedde holds a 4.94 ERA across 12 outings this season (58 1/3 innings), though his 6.11 FIP paints a more honest picture, and unfortunately, he does not strike out many batters despite walking them at a 9.4% walk rate. The first four Atlanta batters alone are concerning, as Fedde is tied for seventh in MLB with 2.00 home runs per nine innings (HR/9) with 13 homers allowed this season, and Matt Olson is batting third while also tied for sixth in home runs with 17 — tied for second in the National League.

Working against the South Side offense is righthander Grant Holmes, who has been a staple for the Braves’ rotation this season, posting a 3.86 ERA across 12 starts and 63 innings. Even with a better ERA and strikeout rate than Fedde, Holmes has posted similar stats in other categories, including a 10% walk rate and a weaker 5.11 FIP.

The first pitch is at 6:40 p.m. CT on the South Side, and it will be a warm, humid evening with temperatures around 85º. Tune in to the usual locations at CHSN for the TV broadcast, and ESPN Chicago AM 1000 for the radio crew. Time for a W on Braden Montgomery Night!

A few pieces of good news, y’all. First, Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia and Jac Caglianone are back in the lineup for the first time in a hot minute. That’s good! Those are the three best hitters in the lineup.

The other good news? Salvador Perez is down hitting fifth. It could be better; he could be hitting sixth or seventh. But he’s hitting fifth, and the further down he and his .250-something on base percentage can go, the better. I mentioned this on the Royals Rundown podcast the other day, but the Royals are a better offense without his bat in the lineup, unfortunately.

Of course, that probably means he’s going to whack a home run, maybe two, to spite me. Bring it on, Salvy. Bring it on.

Royals lineup

Rangers lineup