Category: Baseball

Knock knock, rise and shine, let’s get moving and grooving.

The Mariners are back from their horrible, dreamless slumber, with only a groggy recollection of the night before, and an instinct — call it hangxiety — that it’s best to get up before any memory can sneak through their pounding head. Thankfully, their first appointment has it even worse this morning. Long before the Mariners ended their evening by rattling off grievances with the state of Florida, the Giants were shirtless, pissing outdoors, and singing Morgan Wallen to the downward-glancing eyes of the clothed. We might find it within ourselves to forgive the Mariners, their flaws subtle, inward, universal. The Giants are just assholes.

Speaking of which, Landen Roupp is on the mound tonight. He’s been excellent this year, though a step forward (or to the side) on the mound won’t be what we remember about his season. Facing Roupp is Bryce Miller. He’s been the Mariners best pitcher this year, with a 26% K-BB and 3.12 FIP in 10 outings. After five days off, this turn in the rotation could have gone to anyone, and I’m taking note that it’s Miller who gets the first nod.

The Mariners lineup is just as they left it. All-Star Randy Arozarena is batting second. Former All-Star Cal Raleigh is batting fourth. J.P. Crawford is batting first and playing third; Colt Emerson is batting last and playing short. Luke Raley AND Dominic Canzone are in the lineup. No, Julio Rodríguez is not here tonight. Neither is Brendan Donovan.

Lineups

Game Info

First Pitch: 7:10 p.m.

TV: Mariners.TV and KING-5

Radio: Ol’ Reliable

News

Justin Hollander met the with the media today to give some injury updates.

• Julio worked out on the field today but is not playing. The plan is for him to return to the lineup tomorrow.
• Brendan Donovan’s rehab assignment continues in Tacoma.
• Rob Refsnyder will join Donovan in Tacoma tomorrow for a rehab assignment of his own.

The San Francisco Giants begin a three-game road series against the Seattle Mariners tonight.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Landen Roupp, who enters tonight’s game with a 4.27 ERA, 3.28 FIP, with 104 strikeouts to 42 walks in 97 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 10-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on July 6th, in which he allowed one run on three hits with five strikeouts and two walks in eight innings.

He’ll be facing off against Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller, who enters tonight’s game with a 2.18 ERA, 3.12 FIP, with 65 strikeouts to nine walks in 57.2 innings pitched. His last start was in the Mariners’ 8-4 loss to the Miami Marlins on July 9th, in which he allowed six runs (four earned) on nine hits with three strikeouts and four walks in five innings.

Game #97

Who: San Francisco Giants (41-55) vs. Seattle Mariners (48-49)

Where: T-Mobile Park, Seattle, Washington

When: 7:10 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

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

Detroit Tigers (44-51) vs. Los Angeles Angels (38-59)

Time/Place: 9:38 p.m., Comerica Park
SB Nation Site: N/A
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Troy Melton (5-1, 1.82 ERA) vs. LHP Reid Detmers (3-6, 4.39 ERA)

It feels so good to be able to say we have real meaningful baseball games to play again. The St. Louis Cardinals begin their post-All Star Game schedule in Arizona Friday night. The Diamondbacks will give Merrill Kelly the ball. MLB.com says Michael McGreevy will start for the Cardinals. First pitch is scheduled for 8:40pm central time and the game will be available on Cardinals.tv.

Max Fried's first rehab outing is in the books. The Yankees' left-handed pitcher, who went on the 15-day injured list in mid-May due to a left elbow bone bruise, started his assignment Friday for New York's Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders against the Worcester Red Sox and went three innings.

He allowed two runs on five hits, one of which was a home run, while striking out three and throwing 52 pitches with 32 strikes.

"Most important -- was able to get all my pitches in and came out feeling good," Fried said. "So, when you come for a rehab and your first live-game action in a while, I think those are the most important things."

Max Fried racks up three strikeouts across three innings in his first rehab outing!@Yankees | @swbrailriderspic.twitter.com/dXXtTDD4j2

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) July 18, 2026

The first inning was a shaky one for Fried, who allowed three singles in the opening frame, starting with Nick Sogard's leadoff knock and soon followed by Andrew Knizner's two-out grounder up the middle that second baseman Marco Luciano did not corral and scored Sogard from third base.

"Just trying to get the feel of a game setting again," Fried said. "I have a lot of live BPs, so trying to throw the ball over the plate, not walk guys, force action -- and they were ready, ready to come out of the break."

Fried rebounded with a 1-2-3 second inning, including a leadoff strikeout of Allan Castro.

"Was looking at it -- 25 pitches after the first inning -- wanted to try to make it through three, hopefully four," Fried said. "But when you get put behind the eight ball like that, you just try to go out there, get a quick inning. It was nice to do that. I was able to get my three full innings, 50 pitches and, like I said, feeling good. So, that's the most important thing."

The southpaw, pitching with a 5-2 lead, started the third inning by retiring Sogard on a flyout until Nate Eaton's solo shot on a 2-1 pitch ended Fried's streak of consecutive outs at five batters.

"A slider -- a pitch I don't really throw a ton, but wanted to try a bunch of different things today and see how it works, and I guess that one didn't," Fried said.

Mickey Gasper subsequently singled on a groundball to shortstop George Lombard Jr. before Fried bounced back with back-to-back groundouts to end the frame and the outing overall.

Fried, last pitched May 13 in the Yankees' 7-0 loss at the Baltimore Orioles, topped out around 95 mph.

"First time back, being around there, throwing a good amount of fastballs, having good command, yeah -- like I said, the most important thing was being able to hit my pitch limit and then come out feeling good," Fried said.

What is next for Fried?

"That's going to be the team's call," Fried said. "I'll just go wherever they want me to for the next one and, yeah, it's more about whatever the team needs -- if they want me to come and keep building up and have another outing, then great. And whenever they feel like I'm ready to go to help the team, I'll be there."

Through 10 games for New York this season, Fried is 4-3 with a 3.21 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in 61.2 IP.

"As a competitor, it sucks because I wish that I was out there," Fried said. "But obviously I wasn't able to -- I wasn't able to stay healthy enough to go out there and help the guys out. But we're a confident group. You're not going to play your best baseball the whole year, all 162. It's been not as consistent as we've wanted it to, but I think we're pretty motivated coming out of the break to play some of our best baseball and especially when it matters most."

As a first-year Yankee during the 2025 campaign, Fried went 19-5 with a 2.86 ERA in 32 starts.

There’s one element of modern baseball Mookie Betts doesn’t like.

While Betts generally agrees with baseball’s current state — citing the inclusion of the pitch clock, enlarged bases, and the automated ball-strike system (ABS) — Betts wants to eliminate position players pitching in games.

“Once position players come in (to pitch), just call the game,” Betts told Sports Illustrated during the All-Star break. “That’s pretty much it. Once you’re down 10 and the position player comes in, just call it a day.”

Position players toeing the mound has increased in recent seasons. The phenomenon happened just three times in 2008. In 2019, the occurrence leapt to 90, before reaching an all-time peak of 132 in 2022.

MLB updated its rules on position players pitching ahead of the 2023 season, only allowing it in extra innings, if the team is trailing by eight or more runs at any point, or if the team is winning by 10 or more runs in the ninth inning.

Previously, position players could pitch at any time if one team was up by six runs or more.

Position players pitched 131 times in 2025 after shrinking for a couple of years following the rule change.

At the halfway point of the 2026 season, there have been 83 appearances by position players on the mound by 39 different players.

Colorado catcher Brett Sullivan leads the pack with six innings in five appearances.

“It’s a lose-lose,” Betts added. “You get a hit, you’re supposed to. But it’s so hard to get a hit. It’s so hard to get that hit.

“And then if you get out, ‘ah, you got out by a position player.’ I’d rather just go home at that point.”

We have gotten some time to decompress and get away from Nationals baseball, but now we are back. The Nats head out west to play the Athletics in Sacramento. With two strong lineups and a small ballpark, there could be some fireworks on display this weekend. 

The big news in today’s lineup is that Harry Ford is going to make his Nats debut. The 23 year old will be catching and batting 6th. With a lefty on the mound, Andres Chaparro will get the nod at first over Luis Garcia. James Wood will DH, which means the outfield will consist of Daylen Lile, Jacob Young and Dylan Crews. Cade Cavalli will get the start as the Nats kick off the second half.

Despite super star first baseman Nick Kurtz being out injured, the A’s lineup is still fierce. Jacob Wilson, Shea Langeliers and Tyler Soderstrom are a fearsome trio in the middle of the lineup. Former LSU star Tommy White is also making his debut tonight which will be interesting to watch. Another LSU standout, Gage Jump will be on the mound tonight.

Game Info:

Stadium: Sutter Health Park

Time: 9:40 PM EST

TV: Nationals.TV

Radio: 106.7 The Fan

The Nats will look to get back to .500 as we start the second half. With the A’s and Rockies to start things off, this could be an opportunity for the Nats. However, there are no easy games in the MLB, especially for a team with the weaknesses that the Nats have. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!

Roster moves

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves. The D-backs’ 40-man roster is at 39.

• Recalled from Triple-A Reno: 1B Tyler Locklear
• Placed on the 10-day injured list: OF Tommy Troy (sprained right AC joint; retro to July 12)

I trust you all enjoyed your break from the grinding drudgery of the Diamondbacks’ 2026 season. But it’s over now, and I’m coming round with my clipboard to make sure everyone is ready to get their noses back onto the grindstone for the coming 66 games. This is where fan stamina really comes into play, especially as the winter sports begin to ramp up, and offer tempting and fleeting distractions from the rigors of a 162-game baseball season. But we shall turn away from the siren calls of football, basketball and hockey, focusing our dedication on the D-backs for the next two and half months, and their battle for a post-season slot.

We begin with the arrival of the Cardinals, who currently sit one and a half games ahead of the D-backs. So if we can sweep here, we’ll overtake them: winning two of three would narrow the gap to half a game, and also (as noted earlier) clinch the season series. We did take two of three in St. Louis, trading one-run contests before Arizona scored a 9-4 win in what would turn out to be the series finale. Thursday’s game was postponed, much to Paul Sewald’s chagrin. Part of me wishes the D-backs fabricate some reason to postpone Sunday’s game – bees would do nicely – and make the Cardinals fly back here to play the make-up.

Interesting the D-backs do not appear to have used the break to shuffle their rotation. So Merrill Kelly will start the first game. He has been improved of late, picking up back-to-back wins over Milwaukee and San Diego, after going 0-5 in June. Small sample size, but particularly hopeful were his K-rate and K:BB ratios. In June, Kelly pitched 28.1 innings and struck out only 14 batters, with 11 walks. In July so far, it’s 12 IP and 12 K’s, to 5 walks. The resulting FIP of 4.52 this month still isn’t great. But it’s a damn sight better than the 7.05 figure Kelly posted last month. With Michael Soroka’s return still some way off, we need Kelly and Brandon Pfaadt to be what we know they can be.

The “Second Half” of the 2026 MLB season begins tonight for the Athletics.  They’ll pick up at home in West Sacramento against the Washington Nationals at 6:40 p.m. After finishing the first half on a nine-game losing streak, the team hopes to get off on the right foot against a Nationals team which sits in fourth place in the National League East with a 48-49 record.

There ill be two new faces in the A’s lineup tonight.  Starting at second base is newly acquired infielder Donovan Walton, a seven-year veteran who has made short stops in Seattle, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Anaheim. He’ll be batting seventh in Mark Kotsay’s lineup. Tommy White will man first base tonight for the A’s.  He’s making his MLB debut, after being called up from AAA Las Vegas (officially) today.

Taking the mound for the A’s, making his tenth start of the season is 23-year-old lefty Gage Jump. Jump is 3-4 on the season with an ERA of 3.51 in 48.2 innings of work. He’ll face off against 25-year-old righty Cade Cavalli for the Nats. Cavalli is 5-4 with a 3.83 ERA in twenty starts. He’s struck out 110 batters in 98.2 innings. 

Cavalli will face off against this lineup for the A’s who will be without Nick Kurtz and Zack Gelof who went on the Injured List (IL) before the break:

Jump will go up against this lineup for Blake Butera’s Nationals:

Follow the Game:
Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA

Listen:
Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, KVMX 92.1/105.5, A’s Cast

The Cincinnati Reds turn to righty Brady Singer for the opener of their 2026 second half. The Reds are on the road in Denver to take on the Colorado Rockies under a muggy high sky.

First pitch is set for 8:40 PM ET, and Rockies righty Gabriel Hughes will be the man firing that pitch.

Here’s how both clubs will line up to start:

The Mets were among the teams found to have exploited a loophole regarding the use of artificial intelligence for in-game decisions during the first half of the season, sources told The Post.

Major League Baseball banned the practice beginning Wednesday.

The crackdown was issued in a June 11 memo to teams but wasn’t put in place until the day before the second half of the season began following the All-Star break.

As first reported by The Athletic, MLB found that some teams were using league-issued iPads in the dugout “beyond their originally intended purpose to include recommendations regarding substitutions, pitch calling, and other in-game decisions traditionally made by players and coaches.”

The memo, from MLB executive vice president of baseball operations Morgan Sword and obtained by The Post, was sent to general managers, assistant GMs and video coordinators.

The tablets, which still will be permitted in dugouts, give teams access to league-provided Statcast information, as well as multiple video angles and data related to the automated ball-strike system.

Video accessed during the game in the dugout is only available on delay.

The custom tab allowed teams to access other programs and will no longer be accessible.

The move could impact teams that began calling pitches from the dugout, a trend that has become more widespread this season.

It will no doubt have other impacts as teams throughout the league have relied more heavily on analytics in all aspects of the game.

MLB has permitted the use of iPads in dugouts for over a decade and noted in the memo that a review earlier this year showed that teams were “compliant” with rules regarding sign stealing and electronic device usage, so no penalties were handed out.

Teams were essentially given a month to stop using AI for in-game decision-making purposes “to make any necessary adjustments.”

— Additional reporting by Joel Sherman

Shohei Ohtani was back in the lineup for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, July 17.

He served as the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter to open the series on the road against the New York Yankees in a rematch of the 2024 World Series.

Ohtani was pulled from a scheduled start on the mound before the MLB All-Star break due to inflammation and irritation in his left knee. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters that Ohtani did have lubricant injected into his knee but did not have it drained. The injection is expected to provide Ohtani with relief in his knee.

He was the league's leading vote-getter but withdrew from the MLB All-Star Game due to the discomfort in the knee, which impacted his pitching mechanics.

If you recall, prior to the All-Star break the Orioles had just climbed a hurdle they’d failed to yet surpass: a four-game win streak. Now, they’re a bit battered and bruised, what with late-inning relievers Ryan Helsley and Keegan Akin on the shelf, and hottest-hitter-of-late Blaze Alexander sidelined, sadly, with a fractured hand, thanks to KC’s wayward Lucas Erceg.

Tonight, the Birds fly the coop for three games against the Houston Astros. Game 1 is tonight, with right hander Dean Kremer (1-2, 4.09 ERA) facing off against righty Peter Lambert (8-5, 3.14 ERA)

Lambert is only in the Houston rotation due to a surfeit of starter injuries, but the fifth-year journeyman, who’d owned a career 6.28 ERA to date, has been a nice surprise for the Astros. He’s done a good job of limiting contact, with an excellent .204 opposing average against. The righty has a really extensive eight-pitch mix that is primarily fastball and changeup-driven. Back in April, Lambert threw 4.1 innings and allowed two runs.

As for the Orioles’ Kremer, this will be just his start of the year, due, first to his not making the team out of spring training, and then an injured quad. It’s nice to have him back, under the circumstances. In four starts so far, he’s allowed 12 runs in 22 innings. He’s leaning heavily on a pitch that’s new for him, a splitter. So far, so good: hitters are batting just .176 against it. Against these Astros, Kremer has pitched well, although the fearsome Yordan Alvarez has reached base against him in six of 10 PAs, and Jose Altuve is 9-for-20.

Orioles lineup

1. Gunnar Henderson SS
2. Adley Rutschman C
3. Taylor Ward LF
4. Pete Alonso 1B
5. Samuel Basallo DH
6. Dylan Beavers RF
7. Colton Cowser CF
8. Coby Mayo 3B
9. Jackson Holliday 2B

Astros lineup

1. Jeremy Peña SS
2. Yordan Alvarez DH
3. Isaac Paredes 3B
4. Christian Walker 1B
5. José Altuve 2B
6. LaMonte Wade Jr. LF
7. Cam Smith RF
8. Lucas Spence CF
9. Christian Vázquez C

This game got smoked out.

Friday’s matchup between the Pirates and Guardians was postponed because of air quality concerns stemming from wildfire smoke coming from Canada, Cleveland announced.

“We have to do what’s best and what’s smart for both teams and for the fans,” Guardians skipper Stephen Vogt told reporters, according to The Athletic.

In place of Friday’s game, a split doubleheader is scheduled at Progressive Field on Saturday, with the start times being 1:10 p.m. and 7:10 p.m. Eastern.

According to the Guardians’ statement, fans attending the doubleheader must clear the stadium in between games.

“If fans are unable to attend the makeup game on July 18, they will be able to make an exchange based on how their tickets were purchased,” the Guardians stated. “Exchanges must be made no later than July 18 at 1:00 p.m. ET. Please note that exchanges cannot be made in the MLB Ballpark app.”

Gavin Williams, who was slated to start for the Guardians on Friday, will pitch Game 1 on Saturday, with Cleveland calling up Logan Allen from Triple-A Columbus to start Game 2.

As of Friday afternoon, Cleveland’s Air Quality Index (AQI) registered at 244, which is labeled as “very unhealthy” and health risks are “increased for everyone,” according to AirNow.

A healthy AQI typically ranges between 0 and 50.

Cleveland, along with the surrounding areas of northeast Ohio, has been experiencing smoky and hazy skies for the past two days, though conditions are expected to improve by Saturday afternoon, according to Fox 8.

MLB is also assessing the air quality of several other games Friday night, and the commissioner’s office has the authority to cancel or postpone games based on the AQI, The Athletic reported.

Friday’s game isn’t the first to be affected by the smoky conditions, with the Mets’ 4-1 win over the Phillies on Thursday getting pushed up one hour to try to avoid the weather as much as possible.

The earlier start time did not do much to thwart the conditions, however, as the smoke eventually engulfed Citizens Bank Park midway through the game.

“My eyes were burning and itching a little bit,’’ Mets infielder Brett Baty said following the game. “[Carson] Benge said it felt like you were sitting by a campfire.

“It was fun … but it didn’t feel great playing ball with it.”