Athletics star Nick Kurtz is a respectful opponent.
The rookie first baseman and reigning back-to-back AL Player of the Week gave a gift to Houston Astros outfielder Cooper Hummel after he, a position player, served up what became Kurtz’s historic fourth and final home run in the A’s 15-3 win at Daikin Park on Friday.
Kurtz sent Hummel, a known autograph collector, a bat featuring his signature and a warmhearted message, as shared Tuesday by MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart.
“Thanks for throwing a strike!” Kurtz humorously wrote.
Astros outfielder Cooper Hummel, who pitched Friday and gave up Nick Kurtz’s fourth homer of the game, got an autographed bat from Kurtz. Hummel has an extensive autograph collection. pic.twitter.com/gQIxp4qV45
It was a 77-mph slider inside from Hummel that Kurtz sent 383 feet to left field in the ninth inning. The moment helped Kurtz become the 20th player in MLB history to hit four homers in one game and the first in A’s franchise history.
Kurtz’s three other homers came on an 82-mph curve off Ryan Gusto, an 81-mph splitter off Nick Hernandez and a 97-mph four-seam fastball off Kaleb Ort, and his other two hits — which rounded out his perfect 6-for-6 day — were on a 93-mph sinker and a 94-mph sinker.
He ended the game having driven in eight runs with a total of 19 bases.
“It’s hard to think about this day being, you know, kind of real,” Kurtz told Chris Caray and Dallas Braden on “A’s Cast” following the win. “Still feels like a dream. So it’s just, it’s pretty remarkable. I’m kind of speechless. I don’t really know what to say.”
Hummel, while on the wrong side of the matter, at least can say he helped Kurtz make MLB history.
Athletics star Nick Kurtz is a respectful opponent.
The rookie first baseman and reigning back-to-back AL Player of the Week gave a gift to Houston Astros outfielder Cooper Hummel after he, a position player, served up what became Kurtz’s historic fourth and final home run in the A’s 15-3 win at Daikin Park on Friday.
Kurtz sent Hummel, a known autograph collector, a bat featuring his signature and a warmhearted message, as shared Tuesday by MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart.
“Thanks for throwing a strike!” Kurtz humorously wrote.
Astros outfielder Cooper Hummel, who pitched Friday and gave up Nick Kurtz’s fourth homer of the game, got an autographed bat from Kurtz. Hummel has an extensive autograph collection. pic.twitter.com/gQIxp4qV45
It was a 77-mph slider inside from Hummel that Kurtz sent 383 feet to left field in the ninth inning. The moment helped Kurtz become the 20th player in MLB history to hit four homers in one game and the first in A’s franchise history.
Kurtz’s three other homers came on an 82-mph curve off Ryan Gusto, an 81-mph splitter off Nick Hernandez and a 97-mph four-seam fastball off Kaleb Ort, and his other two hits — which rounded out his perfect 6-for-6 day — were on a 93-mph sinker and a 94-mph sinker.
He ended the game having driven in eight runs with a total of 19 bases.
“It’s hard to think about this day being, you know, kind of real,” Kurtz told Chris Caray and Dallas Braden on “A’s Cast” following the win. “Still feels like a dream. So it’s just, it’s pretty remarkable. I’m kind of speechless. I don’t really know what to say.”
Hummel, while on the wrong side of the matter, at least can say he helped Kurtz make MLB history.
As the Phillies president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski has plenty on his plate. Every day he makes decisions, both large and small, that impact the fortunes of the franchise. His job is as close to a 365-day vocation as one can have. But for the most part, the only times of year that measurably affect the fans’ collective heart rate is after the World Series, which is open season for free agency, and now, the final week of July, leading up to the MLB trade deadline.
Dombrowski has made some solid moves, both in trades and in free agency, during his tenure in Philadelphia. But his best moves have come during the relative quiet of the offseason, when the results of each transaction aren’t on display later that week. He has added Jose Alvarado from Tampa Bay, Edmundo Sosa from St. Louis, and this past offseason, Jesus Luzardo from Miami, all of whom have been integral in the team’s success since their arrivals.
Comparatively, Dombrowski’s deadline deals lack the impact of those he has made in the winter. It could be the market, or a proclivity to hold onto prospects a bit too tight, or unforeseen factors, but he has yet to make a “lightning bolt” trade, one that immediately energizes and lifts a team to another level.
Let’s examine the best, and the worst, deadline moves during Dombrowski’s time with the Phillies:
Dombrowski’s Best Deadline Deals
Phillies acquire OF Brandon Marsh from Angels for C Logan O’Hoppe. This can be characterized as a win for both the Phillies and the Halos. Adding Marsh, a young outfielder with decent power, speed and defensive ability, is something the team needs now, and will certainly need for the years ahead. Meanwhile O’Hoppe has been solid, if not spectacular, at the plate (20 HR last year, 18 already this year), but his defense behind the dish needs some serious work.
Phillies acquire RP David Robertson from Cubs for SP Ben Brown. The Phillies didn’t get too much for their investment the first time they picked up Robertson in 2019. He signed a two-year deal that netted the team just two weeks of Robertson’s services before he needed Tommy John surgery, costing him the balance of his contract. The second time was a charm: pitching to a 2.70 ERA in 22 games down the stretch in 2022, and a 1.17 in eight postseason games during the Phillies’ World Series run.
Phillies acquire RP Tanner Banks from the White Sox for UT William Bergolla. Banks was added for bullpen depth at last year’s deadline, but is slowly being nudged into higher-leverage situations, both due to his effectiveness and the team’s lack of depth in relief. In 68 games in red pinstripes, he has a 3.44 ERA and just about a strikeout per inning. The White Sox are still waiting for the 20-year-old Bergolla to develop as a hitter. He is currently in double-A.
Honorable Mention: Carlos Estevez from the Angels for minor-league pitchers George Klassen and Samuel Aldegheri. Estevez was strong for the Phillies down the stretch last year, pitching to a 2.57 ERA with six saves in 20 outings, but many remember the grand slam he allowed to the Mets’ Francisco Lindor in the NLDS. (Has that landed yet?)
Dombrowski’s Worst Deadline Deals
Phillies acquire OF Austin Hays from the Orioles for OF Cristian Pache and RP Seranthony Dominguez. Hays’ two-month run in Philadelphia was forgettable. He suffered a kidney infection that caused him to miss two weeks, and hit .256 with two home runs in 22 games. Pache won’t be missed, but this team sure could use Dominguez right about now.
Phillies trade RP Gregory Soto to the Orioles for pitchers Seth Johnson and Moises Chace. Speaking for relievers sent to the Orioles! This trade could be graded higher as Chace develops as a back of the rotation starter, and Johnson is trying to find his footing at the big-league level as a reliever. Soto didn’t set the world on fire in Baltimore – like Dominguez, he’s already been traded again – but the Phillies could use an extra lefty in the ‘pen.
Phillies acquire infielder Rodolfo Castro from the Pirates for SP Bailey Falter. This may not resonate with fans, but would you take a 5th starter with a 3.73 ERA right now? Falter is pitching pretty well the past couple seasons. In fact, he has 15 wins over the past two seasons – same as Aaron Nola – and a better WHIP over that span than Ranger Suarez. Meanwhile, Castro went 3-for-30 following the trade, and hasn’t sniffed the big leagues since.
The Giants soon could trade from an area of strength.
San Francisco is “fielding calls” on back-end relief pitchers ahead of MLB’s 3 p.m. PT trade deadline on Thursday, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported in his latest column.
The Giants’ bullpen, led by All-Star Randy Rodriguez, Tyler Rogers, Camilo Doval, Ryan Walker and now-injured Erik Miller, was the team’s biggest strength in the first half of the 2025 MLB season, even as it dealt with inconsistencies with the closer role.
It’s unclear who San Francisco is most likely to move, but perhaps Doval, the Giants’ current flame-throwing closer who has struggled at times in that role over the past two seasons, could be viewed as expendable while still holding value as a trade asset.
In 46 appearances (45 2/3 innings pitched) this season, Doval has a 3.15 ERA with 47 strikeouts, 24 walks and four blown saves.
The big Mets left-hander found himself in immediate trouble, as the Padres struck first with a two-out Jackson Merrill RBI single in the bottom of the first, and then suddenly they were threatening again in the second.
Former Met Jose Iglesias led off the inning with a hustle double, and after advancing to third on a groundout, he was erased trying to score on a safety squeeze bunt on a terrific glove flip feed home from Manaea.
He found himself in complete control from that point on, though, setting down the next 12 San Diego hitters in order as he cruised his way through five terrific innings of work.
Manaea signaled towards Carlos Mendoza in the dugout that he had one more inning in him after striking out the final two batters in the fifth, but the skipper decided otherwise with him still working on a pitch count.
He had reached a new season-high of 86 pitches at that point.
“He was [asking for one more], but we still have an idea pitch count-wise,” Mendoza said. “We’re still kind of on that buildup with him and he reached that mark, but the good news is for him to be asking for one more, that tells you he’s feeling good, but we’re not there yet.
“He was a lot better with the way the ball was coming out -- he looked really good.”
Manaea finished the night allowing just one earned run for the fourth consecutive outing since making his return from the injured list on three hits while not issuing a free pass and striking out four batters.
It’s still a very small sample size, but he’s now at a stellar 2.08 ERA and 0.87 WHIP.
Still, the Mets are going to need him to get back to being the big-inning arm he was last season.
While he's still wrapping up his build-up, he feels just about back to 100 percent.
The Mets had to do a lot of shuffling in their outfield on Tuesday against the Padres and Luisangel Acuña was actually a part of the mix.
After Juan Sotoleft the game with a foot contusion, Tyrone Taylor came in to play center with Jeff McNeil sliding to right field. But when the Mets had the bases loaded in the fifth, manager Carlos Mendoza pinch-hit for Taylor, calling on Starling Marte. Marte got the team's only run in their 7-1 loss with a sac fly, but stayed on to play right field.
In the eighth inning, Acuña came in as a defensive replacement for Marte. It's only the second time he's played the outfield in a major league game in his career, both coming this season, but he showed he's pretty capable out there when Xander Bogaerts hit a liner to center field. Acuña got a good jump and trekked all the way from right center to make a face-first dive to catch the ball.
Luisangel Acuña makes the diving catch in center field.
"Good to see," Mendoza said of the sliding play. "Got tested right away, gets a really good jump and made a diving play. Good to see.
The Mets skipper was asked if he just wanted to give Acuña a rep in the outfield or whether Marte needed a blow, and Mendoza said it was a combination of both.
"Marte is fine, but coming off - after three innings of defense and where we were at in the game, maybe give Acuña an inning and see what it looks like," he said. "And at the same time trying to protect Marte a little bit."
Marte (knee bruise) just returned from the IL last week, so it makes sense Mendoza would make sure his veteran slugger didn't overdo it, especially with the score out of hand in the later innings. But allowing Acuña to show what he could do in the outfield may also have another effect.
Acuña has been named in potential trade talks with the Chicago White Sox for Luis Robert Jr. -- with some reports calling the Mets the frontrunner to acquire the outfielder. Perhaps the rep was to show the White Sox that Acuña can play the outfield in a big league game to increase his value.
Aside from the, now, two appearances in the outfield in MLB, Acuña has plenty of reps in the minors. The Mets began letting him play in the outfield 31 times in 2024 and four times this year -- not to mention four games when he was in the Texas Rangers system. Although Acuña is an infielder by trade, the logjam of Mark Vientos, Brett Baty and Jeff McNeil forced the Mets to try to get Acuña another position under his belt.
In limited playing time, Acuña is slashing .239/.295/.283 with a .578 OPS but has speed -- 12 steals -- and defensive versatility, playing second, third and shortstop along with the outfield this year.
With the 2025 MLB trade deadline set for Thursday at 6 p.m., we'll see if the added versatility is to the White Sox -- or another team's -- liking.
The Mets were defeated by the San Diego Padres 7-1 on Tuesday night at Petco Park.
Here are some takeaways...
- San Diego jumped on Sean Manaea for a first-inning run, and then threatened for more in the second. Former Met Jose Iglesias led off the inning with a double and advanced to third on a groundout, but he was erased trying to score on a squeeze play by a beautiful glove flip from Manaea.
The big southpaw was able to find his groove from there, setting the next 12 Padres down in order. He indicated to Carlos Mendoza that he wanted one more inning coming off the mound in the bottom of the fifth, but the manager quickly shut that idea down.
Manaea was able to get up to 86 pitches on the night and closed his book with a final line of one run on three hits, just one walk, and four punchouts. He now has a 2.08 ERA and has allowed just one earned run in each of his four outings since returning from the injured list.
- The Mets' offense suffered a big blow in the middle of this one, as Juan Soto was forced to leave the game after fouling a ball off his foot during his second at-bat in the fourth. He finished that plate appearance with a groundout to second, but was replaced during the next half inning with a foot contusion.
Tyrone Taylor entered the game in center and Jeff McNeil slid over to right field.
- Taylor ended up playing just that half inning, as he was pulled for a pinch-hitter with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth. Starling Marte lifted a game-tying sacrifice fly, and then entered the game in right, making just his second rightfield appearance of the season.
McNeil eventually shifted back to right when Luisangel Acuña entered in place of Marte to play center.
- Opting not to have Manaea at least start the sixth backfired on the Mets quickly, as the bullpen imploded. Jose Buttó struggled in both the sixth and seventh innings, retiring just four of the 11 batters he faced to allow five runs on two walks and five hits.
Two of those came on a 404-foot homer off the bat of Manny Machado that Chris Devenski allowed.
- The Mets' bats went down very quietly against the top-ranked Padres bullpen. Jeremiah Estrada, Wandy Peralta, Adrian Morejon, Ron Marinaccio,and Yuki Matsui combined to allow just two baserunners across the final five innings of the ballgame.
- Mark Vientos had two of New York's four knocks on the night, extending his hitting streak to eight games.
Game MVP: Manny Machado
Machado continued his recent heater with a dagger three-run shot to cap off the seventh.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. was removed from the game against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night with tightness in his right Achilles tendon after chasing down a ball in right field in the sixth inning.
Acuña walked off the field before a trainer followed him into the locker room.
Acuña has 15 home runs this season, 26 RBIs and is batting .309. He had two homers on Monday night and went 2 for 4.
The five-time All-Star and former Most Valuable Player missed most of last season with a left torn ACL.
Mets star Juan Soto is day-to-day after leaving Tuesday’s game against the Padres with a foot contusion.
The outfielder fouled a ball off the top of his left foot during his at-bat in the top of the fourth.
He remained down for several minutes in significant discomfort.
After a conversation with Carlos Mendoza and trainers, Soto was able to stay in to complete his at-bat.
He ended up being robbed of a hit on a diving stop by Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth, and appeared to be jogging with a limp down the line.
Tyrone Taylor replaced him when the Mets took the field in the next half inning.
"It was a tough moment," Soto said. "When I swung the last moment, I tried to run and tried to push off and couldn't do it, we'll just take our time and see how it goes, but at the end we decided not to keep pushing on it."
Luckily for Soto and the Mets, initial X-rays came back negative, though they'll see how he feels tomorrow.
"He's pretty sore, but we took X-rays and they came back negative, so that's good news," the skipper said. "We'll see where we're at tomorrow to see if he's going to be available for the lineup or even a player for us at some point in the game."
As of right now, Mendoza says the team isn't planning on getting any further imaging.
Once they are able to get the swelling down, Soto doesn't expect it to linger much.
"I think we're going to be good," he said.
Juan Soto was visited by the Mets' athletic trainers after fouling a ball off his leg.
James Outman rounds third to score the go-ahead run in the ninth inning. (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)
For the first half of July, the Dodgers’ slumping offense struggled to simply create consistent scoring chances.
In recent weeks, the problem has been more about capitalizing upon them.
Down the stretch in a 5-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday however, the team finally found a few clutch late-game hits.
Will Smith and Freddie Freeman hit consecutive two-out RBI singles in the seventh inning, erasing the two-run deficit Tyler Glasnow had left behind in a disappointing four-plus-innings, four-run start.
Then, Smith came through again in the ninth, lacing a go-ahead, two-out RBI double off the wall in left that scored pinch-runner James Outman all the way from first base.
It was the Dodgers’ 37th come-from-behind win this season; and, given how July has gone so far for the team, one of their biggest of late to clinch a series win in Cincinnati.
“It's huge to get the series win tonight,” Smith said. “We needed a big hit right there. Got it and fought back. A little momentum for tomorrow."
And, the Dodgers (63-45) hope, moving forward into the final stretch of the season.
Amid the Dodgers’ many issues at the plate this month, hitting with runners in scoring position had grown as one of the most glaring weaknesses. Entering play Tuesday, the team was hitting just .242 in such situations in July, ranking in the bottom half of the majors for the month. Wasted chances were a defining theme of the team’s series loss in Boston over the weekend, punctuated by a Sunday defeat in which they went one-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 men on base.
Early in Tuesday’s game, the problem persisted. After a two-run home run from Tommy Edman — who was back in the lineup despite a flare-up of his ankle injury over the weekend — in the second inning, the Dodgers left runners stranded in scoring position in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
In two of those failed rallies, strikeouts from Shohei Ohtani proved costly, part of an 0-for-5 night in which he struck out five times.
“I think he just got into swing mode,” manager Dave Roberts said. “When he's best, he's getting the baseball up, and he's using the big part of the field … But tonight, just one of those nights that he just couldn't help himself from swinging.”
Meanwhile, on the mound, Glasnow faltered in the sweltering summer heat, giving up two home runs on elevated sliders in the fourth inning before leaving the game with the bases loaded and no outs in the fifth; lucky that only one of the runners he left behind came around to score.
“I felt good early,” said Glasnow, who saw a string of three strong starts since returning from the injured list snapped by his four-plus-innings, four-run start. “Just kind of lost the feel towards the end. Not quite sure what it was. I just wasn’t executing in the zone."
Down 4-2 at that point, the Dodgers faced a predicament that had so often proved fatal during their scuffles in recent weeks: A multirun deficit, against the heart of the opposing team’s bullpen.
This time, however, the lineup found late life.
Michael Conforto got the seventh-inning rally started, drawing a walk as a pinch-hitter. That was followed by a bloop single from Mookie Betts, who reached base three times to continue his subtle turnaround since moving to the leadoff spot.
Ohtani struck out behind him, finishing the night ranked tied for fourth in the majors with 129 punchouts this year (including 17 in his last 38 at-bats).
But then, Smith — the National League batting leader with a .325 average — dumped a single into left and Freeman then tied the score with an RBI single the same direction, giving him his first three-hit game (two of which were opposite-field line drives; a good sign for his long-ailing swing) in more than a month.
“That’s vintage Freddie,” Roberts said. “I think he’s been working on trying to find a cue, working hard. And tonight he looked really good.”
The score remained tied into the ninth, thanks largely to 1 ⅓ scoreless innings from former Reds closer Alexis Díaz, who was booed by the Cincinnati fans in his first trip back to the ballpark since being dealt to the Dodgers earlier this season.
“I expected something different,” Díaz, a 2023 All-Star with the Reds who fell out of favor after a brutal start to this season, said in Spanish. “For those years I was here, I pitched really well and I was liked during that time. So to see that, it surprised me a lot. But I stayed calm and with the relaxed mindset and confidence that I was going to do my job."
As a result, the Dodgers had the chance to take the lead in the ninth.
Conforto again battled his way on base with a 10-pitch walk, before Smith lined a double off the wall in left that allowed Outman to fly around the bases for the eventual winning run.
“It's hard to go through the list of quality at-bats right there,” Roberts said. “But yeah, Michael. Obviously the Will at-bat. Freddie. Just on and on. I think that we really put together some good at-bats, found a way to win a ball game.”
Max Fried pitched into the seventh inning and the Yankees used the other team's mistakes to their advantage for a change as they held on to beat the Rays, 7-5, on Tuesday night in the Bronx.
The win improves the Yankees' record against the AL East to 12-18. The win, coupled with the Blue Jays being swept in their doubleheader with the Orioles, has cut Toronto's lead for the division to four games.
Here are the takeaways...
- The defense betrayed Fried early in this one. After Yandy Diaz led off with a single, Jonathan Aranda hit a groundball up the middle to Anthony Volpe, but the young shortstop flipped the ball too far for Jazz Chisholm Jr. to field, allowing the runners to reach safely. The error would come back to haunt the Yankees as Jonny DeLuca hit a two-out triple to score both runs and put New York in a 2-0 hole. Volpe would make up for it later.
The extra pitches didn't help Fried, who did not have his usual command. While Tampa wouldn't score too many runs on the southpaw -- an Aranda leadoff homer in the third the only blemish -- Fried labored through the first four innings but settled down once the Yankees grabbed the lead. The left-hander retired 14 straight after the Aranda homer and gave the Yankees some necessary length. He pitched into the seventh, but after getting the first two outs, Fried walked Fortes and Aaron Boone came out, but the southpaw said he wanted the next batter and the Yankees skipper obliged. However, Taylor Walls hit a run-scoring double to cut the Yankees' lead to 6-4. That was it for Fried.
Fried tossed a career-high 111 pitches (69 strikes) across 6.2 innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on four hits, two walks and striking out nine batters.
- A day after the offense scored just two runs on six hits, it looked like it was going to be more of the same on Tuesday. Despite working walks and getting traffic on the basepaths, the Yankees just couldn't get the big hit against youngster Joe Boyle. In the third, the Yankees had runners on the corners with two outs when Cody Bellinger launched a missile over the right field wall to knot things up at 3-3.
New York would take the lead in the fourth after Jasson Dominguez led off the inning with a single, stole second and advanced to third on a flyout. Volpe brought him home by singling up the middle to put the Yankees up 4-3. Volpe and Austin Wells -- who reached on an error-- pulled off the double steal and catcher Nick Fortes -- who the Rays traded for from the Marlins this week -- threw it into left field, allowing Volpe to score.
After a Ben Rice walk, Paul Goldschmidt got in on the action with an RBI single.
- The Yankees wouldn't get much going offensively until the eighth, when Volpe launched his 15th homer of the season 452 feet into the Yankee bullpen. It was the longest home run of Volpe's career and gave New York a much-needed insurance run. The Yankees had just six hits in this game and Volpe and Dominguez had four of them.
- The Yankees' bullpen, which is short because the team has played so many consecutive days, was tasked with getting the final seven outs. After Jonathan Loaisiga got the final out of the seventh, he came back out for the eighth and allowed back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. Loaisiga would get Chrostpher Morel to ground into a double play before Chandler Simpson popped out to end the threat.
Devin Williams had a shaky ninth inning. Josh Lowe hit a lead-off triple and Jose Caballero walked. Tristan Gray grounded into a force out, pushing across Lowe from third. Taylor Walls also grounded into a force out before Diaz reached on a throwing error by Volpe, the shortstop's league-leading 15th of the season. Volpe shorted the throw to Goldschmidt that the first baseman couldn't scoop up. But Williams got Aranda to strike out with the tying runs on base to complete the save.
Game MVP: Max Fried
Again, Fried gave the Yankees the length they needed and showed why he is their ace this season.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza provided a handful of injury updates prior to Tuesday night's game against the Padres…
Jesse Winker hasn’t resumed activities
Winker has been stretching and doing exercises, but he still hasn't resumed baseball activities.
The lefty hitting DH/OF, of course, has been sidelined due to ongoing back discomfort.
Mendoza said that he isn't close to taking that next step in his road to recovery, but the team still expects he'll be able to return before the end of the season.
"That's what the trainers are telling us, we just have to wait," the skipper noted.
Winker was making his return from an IL stint when he felt the tightness during an AB against the Orioles.
He's been sidelined for about three weeks now and doesn't appear close to a return.
Prior to his absence, he had eight extra-base hits and a .709 OPS through just 26 appearances.
Drew Smith down in PSL
We haven't heard much about Smith since he re-signed with the club this offseason.
The righty has been slowly progressing his way back after undergoing season-ending surgery last June.
He's currently down at the team's facility in Port St. Lucie, going through his bullpen progression.
Even if he's unable to make his way back, his new pact does have a team option for next season.
The 31-year-old has a 3.48 ERA and 1.27 WHIP across 191 career appearances.
Aug 13, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Paul Blackburn (58) pitches against the Oakland Athletics during the first inning at Citi Field. / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Blackburn to make another rehab appearance
Paul Blackburn won't be rejoining the Mets just yet.
Mendoza revealed that the team has decided to give him one more rehab appearance, Saturday in Syracuse.
The right-hander looked good during his most recent outing at the same level.
He earned the win as he stretched out to 87 pitches and allowed just one run on five hits and a walk while striking out six batters across 6.1 innings of work.
That brought his ERA to an impressive 1.59 over his two appearances down in Triple-A.
The Mets have been stretching him out as a starter, but it remains to be seen exactly what his role will be when he eventually makes his return to the big league level.
With off days in the schedule, the team won't require a sixth starter until the middle of August.
Tylor Megill getting close to facing hitters
Megill has been working his way back from an elbow sprain, but he appears to be closing on the next step.
The right-hander will throw another two-inning up-and-down bullpen session on Wednesday
Depending on how he recovers from that, Mendoza says he could progress to facing live batters afterwards.
Since Megill was moved to the 60-day IL on July 8, he isn't eligible to be activated until mid-August.
He was in the midst of another up-and-down season prior to the injury, pitching to a 3.95 ERA and 1.36 WHIP over 14 starts.
It looks like the Yankees are about to receive a huge boost to their starting rotation.
Youngster Luis Gil was terrific across 4.1 innings of work as he made his likely final rehab appearance with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday night.
Gil needed 19 pitches to get through the opening frame against the Nashville Sounds, but he picked off a baserunner and added his first punchout with a nasty slider in the dirt.
He hit a man in the top of the second but quickly settled back into a groove, striking out the next four batters he faced before issuing a two-out walk in the third, which was also quickly erased.
The righty continued cruising from there, as he picked up a pair of three-pitch strikeouts in the fourth to help him work around a one-out single lined right back up the middle.
Nashville was finally able to strike against Gil in the fifth, though, as catcher Jorge Alfaro took an 0-2 slider on the outside corner the other way for a leadoff solo homer.
He retired the next batter on one pitch, but was pulled after an error put another man on -- right-hander Zach Messinger entered and was able to escape without any further damage on his line.
Gil's book closed with one run allowed on three hits and a walk while striking out seven over 4.1 innings.
After a shaky first outing in Triple-A, this was certainly the effort the Yanks were hoping for.
Aaron Boone said Tuesday that if everything comes back okay afterwards, the 27-year-old is lined up to make his highly anticipated season debut on Sunday afternoon against the Miami Marlins.
Gil, of course, has been sidelined since spring training with a right lat strain.
The last time he was on the big-league mound, he was finishing off a Rookie of the Year campaign in which he pitched to a 3.50 ERA and 1.19 WHIP with 171 strikeouts over 29 outings.
CHICAGO – There was no way the Phillies were going to let dejá vu visit Tuesday night at Rate Field. No way the hitters were going to allow it to happen and, more importantly, pitcher Jesús Luzardo.
Put those two together and it equaled out to a 6-3 win for the Phillies over the White Sox.
Last Wednesday against the Boston Red Sox, the offense gave Luzardo a 5-0 lead after four innings. But in the top of the fifth, Luzardo gave up a double, walked four and allowed a grand slam in what eventually was a 9-8 loss in 11 innings for the Phillies.
Against Chicago, the Phillies lit up White Sox starter Jonathan Cannon for six runs in the first three innings and Luzardo rid the demons of a week ago as the club improved to 61-46 on the season.
After starting the season so well, Luzardo cooled off mightily. There was talk of tipping pitches, which seemed to be corrected quickly. The real issue that has been plaguing him of late is the inability to find comfort pitching out of the stretch when runners are on base. So his lone bullpen session leading up to Tuesday’s start comprised of all pitches out of the stretch.
When he got into a little bit of trouble in the first inning, pitching coach Caleb Cotham made a visit to the mound to make sure Luzardo was finding his comfort. It worked as he got out of what turned into a bases loaded, two out jam. It helped centerfielder Brandon Marsh, who doubled and homered in the game, make a fabulous sliding catching running full speed towards right and held the runners.
“I was kicking myself last week because I could have gone into the windup and I wanted to and I second guessed it and it didn’t work out,” Luzardo said. “Today I felt like I kind of had an understanding. He wasn’t going to steal. I was aware of the situation, and I just felt more comfortable out of the windup in that role.”
Once that scare was avoided, the bats took over and Luzardo pretty much cruised through his seven innings of work, in which he allowed just two hits and no earned runs.
After a Nick Castellanos walk and a Marsh double, Max Kepler and Otto Kemp each hit sacrifice flies to score them. In the third, the Phillies got two-run home runs from Kyle Schwarber, his 37th of the year, and one from Marsh to make it 6-0. Chicago scored three in the ninth off seldom-used Daniel Robert for the final score.
The story of the night, though, was Luzardo and the hope that he’s back to finding the groove that made him so special early in the season. His performance Tuesday night delivered, even though his velocity was a bit down.
“I think a little bit of both,” said Rob Thomson on if Luzardo was tired or just throwing with less speed in order to find his spots easier. “He was really focused on pitching and not throwing. But I think everybody’s velocity was down a little bit tonight. I don’t know if it was humidity or what. It was hot out there. He could have gone out for another inning, but I wanted him to go out on a good note. I wanted to keep his pitch count under control so it all worked out.”
It did, and Marsh also had a huge role in the win with superior defense and two of the team’s six extra-base hits.
“Maybe I’m just taking advantage of the pitches I’m getting a little bit more,” said Marsh, who is now hitting .258. “Try not to miss as much of the ones over the plate that I’m looking for and not foul them off. Today was a good one and we can build off of it into tomorrow.”
SAN FRANCISCO – Win or lose, there typically is one constant in the clubhouse after a Giants game: The starting pitcher talks. That wasn’t the case Tuesday night at Oracle Park after the Giants’ 3-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, despite Justin Verlander having one of his better outings this season.
Verlander made one costly mistake in five innings, leaving a fastball over the heart of the plate to the last batter in the Pirates’ lineup, Liover Peguero, who turned on it for a solo shot to tie the game at one run apiece in the fifth inning. The 42-year-old had seven strikeouts in five innings and only walked one batter, allowing one earned run and six hits, yet never finding himself in real trouble. But Verlander was gone by the time media members made their way to the clubhouse following manager Bob Melvin’s press conference.
So was shortstop Willy Adames, who provided one of the Giants’ two hits and their only run with a solo shot of his own, continuing his scorching-hot month at the plate.
That left Heliot Ramos to face the music, answering every question on a night where he made his second blunder on the base paths in the last three games. Mental mistakes are catching up to Ramos in the outfield and on the bases, and the 2024 MLB All-Star didn’t mince words with where his head is at right now.
“All that I have in my mind is that I don’t want to mess up,” Ramos said at his locker. “And I think that’s a wrong thought. … I just feel like I have been messing up a lot and I’m in my head. I just have to let it go and get better every day.”
His latest gaffe didn’t take long to be highlighted in front of 38,000 fans that seemed to simultaneously groan together in the bottom of the first inning. Ramos led the inning off with a walk and stole second base, earning some bragging rights off catcher Joey Bart, a former Giants teammate he came through the minor leagues with. A few batters later, Ramos found himself in no-man’s land at second base.
Matt Chapman’s light-tower pop up that landed in front of the pitcher’s mound on the third-base side was called for an infield fly. The problem is, Ramos appeared to be confused by the rule. Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes saw Ramos lurking too far off the bag and threw a strike to second baseman Nick Gonzales, who tagged Ramos out to end the inning.
It has been an absolutely brutal last couple of days for Heliot Ramos on the bases. pic.twitter.com/7eaLeAPGYh
— Justice delos Santos (@justdelossantos) July 30, 2025
“He just lost track of the rule,” Melvin said after the game. “He saw them call the infield fly rule. Just lost track of what he needed to do.”
“Just a mental error,” Ramos explained. “Trying to do too much, overthinking. I messed up. That’s the only thing I can say about it. It’s been happening a lot. I’m just trying to get better, do better every day, every time. Trying to work on it, even on my defense. It hasn’t been the best.
“I don’t want to mess it up. I don’t know what to do. All I’m doing is working every day, trying to fix everything.”
In another odd turn of events, Ramos was tagged out by New York Mets third baseman Ronny Mauricio two days prior to end the inning on a groundball hit to third base. Ramos also recently cost the Giants the game to end a three-game series where they were swept by the Toronto Blue Jays when he misjudged a fly ball in left field. The many miscalculations have been happening far longer than the past few games this season.
Ramos went 0-for-2 with two walks and a stolen base, extending his on-base streak to 13 games. The other parts of his game have been a fight between his ears.
As a breath of fresh air where Ramos could have been full of excuses, he admitted a lack of confidence that is hurting him outside of the batter’s box.
“It’s just a mental battle,” Ramos says. “When I started the season, I felt like I’m the best. I’m the best out there, I’m doing great on defense. … And then when you have a couple of errors, because they do happen, but whenever they’re back-to-back they get in my head. I feel like I’ve cost us the game. It just feels like, ‘Damn, I have to get better.’
“I just have to get better and put that pressure on myself.”
When Adames was struggling – both with his bat and his glove – a day off proved to be exactly what he needed. Giving Ramos a mental reset isn’t an option Melvin is turning to right now.
The Giants clearly need Ramos’ bat in the lineup. They just can’t have him hurting the team so severely elsewhere. He’s one of their top hitters, and putting him at DH also isn’t in the plan because of players like Rafael Devers and Wilmer Flores.
With one game to go before Thursday’s MLB trade deadline, Ramos will be in the lineup for Wednesday’s matinee game to end a six-game homestand.
“It’s hard to do for a guy that tries as hard as he does,” Melvin said when asked if he considered pulling Ramos after the mistake. “It’s not like he doesn’t care. It’s not like he doesn’t hustle. It’s not like he’s not going out there unprepared and working. We’re not swinging the bat very well and he’s one of our biggest bats, so there’s a little catch-22 with that.
“He’s going to play tomorrow and we have an off day after that.”
The Giants have lost five consecutive games, including seven in a row at home. They’ve dropped 11 of their last 13 and are back down to .500 for the first time since the second game of the season. Since acquiring a superstar in Devers, they quite literally have been the worst team in baseball.
Reasons for their tumble down the standings extend far beyond Ramos’ many glaring problems in the outfield and on the bases. At least he faced the music and took accountability, knowing words only mean so much if issues aren’t quickly corrected.
