Category: Baseball

This afternoon’s ballgame marks the halfway point of the 2026 season: Game 81. Coming off a performance the Chicago White Sox haven’t seen since 1970, we also haven’t seen such an exciting and winning franchise on the South Side for five years, though at times it feels like it’s been five decades (2005 and 1983 exempt, of course).

Heading into Game 2, it was a quick, “thank you, next” for David Sandlin, who was demoted to Charlotte today. Tyler Schweitzer was recalled and will take up innings out of the bullpen, lining Noah Schultz up for his return start for Chicago next week in Baltimore.

Staying on the mound, Davis Martin (leading the American League with nine wins, if pitcher wins is a stat you still enjoy) had a much needed bounce-back performance his last time on the bump. He tossed a quality start through six innings and only allowed one run against the Detroit Tigers. He last saw these Royals back on April 10, going seven innings and allowing just two runs, but the Sox wound up losing that game. Martin looks for a similar performance but a different result this afternoon.

As for the Royals, Michael Wacha will be the opposing starting pitcher. The 34-year-old in his 14th MLB season leads the American League with 101 innings pitched, and in the interest of Sox fans, has been an early name for a potential trade deadline acquisition. Last pitching against the Good Guys back on April 11, Wacha was nearly untouchable; he went eight shutout innings and only allowed four hits.

Sticking with the same lineup as last night and hoping for just a fraction of their 22-run outburst, the Sox only make a switch at catcher, swapping in Drew Romo for Kyle Teel.

Bobby Witt Jr. transitions back to shortstop after playing as the designated hitter last night.

CHSN is producing an 80s show for today’s 3:10 p.m. CT game while ESPN 1000 as your usual radio coverage.

The Yankees suffered their third straight loss to the Red Sox, 4-1, on Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park.

Here are some takeaways...

-- Gerrit Cole's career-long struggles against the Sox continued in this one. The right-hander came into the day with a 6.53 ERA against the division rival and they jumped him right out of the gate, as a pair of homers and a Willson Contreras two-run double gave them a 4-0 lead in the first three innings.  

-- One of those homers came off the bat of 2B Anthony Seigler, it was the first off the bat of the 27-year-old former Yankee prospect who was playing in his 10th career game.

-- Cole put together his first clean frame in the fourth, then worked around a hit in the fifth. He gave up another knock in the sixth before turning things over to Bent Headrick, who escaped a jam to close his line with just the four runs allowed on seven hits and a walk over 5.1 innings. 

-- Unfortunately for Cole and the Yanks, it was much of the same for their struggling offense. After managing just one hit on Friday, Jake Bennett held them without a hit for the first five innings in this one, before Max Schuemann lifted his first homer of the season to dead-center.  

-- New York was able to bring the tying run to the plate after back-to-back singles from Amed Rosario and Cody Bellinger leading off the top of the seventh, but Bennett and a relieving Justin Slaten struck out the next three batters in order to strand the pair and end the threat.  

-- Both teams combined to throw just 11 pitches in a six-up, six-down eighth inning. 

-- Ben Rice was blown away by a 100 mph Aroldis Chapman fastball leading off the ninth, snapping a stretch of eight consecutive groundouts. The slugging infielder finished the day 0-for-4 and now has just four hits in his last 25 at-bats over his last seven games. 

-- Bellinger worked a terrific 11-pitch at-bat with two outs to keep this one alive, but Jasson Dominguez popped out on the very next pitch to close out the third consecutive loss. New York managed just three hits and three walks, and they've scored just five runs over the first three games of this series. 

-- Game time was 2:22, just one minute longer than Friday's contest (2:21).

Game MVP: Jake Bennett

The righty kept the struggling Yanks offense in check across 6.1 strong innings

What's next

The Yanks look to get things going in the series finale on Sunday Night Baseball. 

Carlos Rodon faces off with former Yankee Sonny Gray in the nationally televised matchup. 

Well, it’s time for Royals baseball. Again.

Listen, I’m not going to get into much about yesterday’s game. But I will say this: this isn’t rock bottom. Two teams–the Giants and the Rockies–still have worse records than the Royals while the Angels, who just made a front office change, have the same 34-49 record. Only Colorado (-91) has a worse run differential and the Royals (-70).

Despite being outscored 35-3 the past two days, things could always get worse.

Alright, enough about that. Time to flip the page. The Royals still have two games left against the White Sox this series. They could still win the series!

Hey, want more positivity? The last time the White Sox scored at least 20 runs in a game was on June 20, 2006, so a little over twenty years ago. The opponent: the St. Louis Cardinals.

Guess who won the World Series that season? THAT’S RIGHT, THE ST. LOUIS CARDINALS. Connect the dots, people!

Time for the lineups:

Michael Wacha takes the mound. pic.twitter.com/Z9Q8vjYDeB

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) June 27, 2026

Kansas City sends out to the mound this afternoon it’s best starting pitcher of the year–and best trade chip? Another conversation for a different time. But yes, Michael Wacha looks to staunch the bleeding and prevent Tyler Tolbert from pitching a third consecutive day.

Lineup looks fine. Hey, Bobby Witt Jr. is back in the field! He bats second while returning to short. John Rave gets the call in right today. He supplants Josh Rojas in the lineup. Carter Jensen leads off as the DH while Salvador Perez moves from first to behind the dish.

They’ll face White Sox starting pitcher Davis Martin, a righty making his 16th start of the season. He’s tied for the league lead in wins with nine while holding a good-looking 3.18 ERA and an even more sparkling FIP, 2.93. In his last outing, Davis received no decision despite giving up just one earned over six in Detroit. The Yankees roughed him up before that, torching him for nine earned runs, including three homers, in just over three innings.

The Royals should emulate the Yankees and do that.

Saturday baseball on deck pic.twitter.com/WBouTrf9mm

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) June 27, 2026

Pretty similar look to the lineup that tied a franchise record for runs in a game with 22 except Drew Romo is behind the plate over Kyle Teel.

Methinks the White Sox will score fewer than 22 today, but then again, I thought things couldn’t get worse after Thursday morning’s shellacking. Silly me.

After making the pitching work behind Reynaldo Lopez Friday for a win in Lopez’ return to the rotation, the Braves will hope for a successful more traditional start from Bryce Elder on Saturday night. Elder has been pretty rough of late and Logan Webb is on the mound for the Giants, so this isn’t the most confidence-inducing game on paper.

The strikeouts have ticked down ever so slightly, but the real change for Elder in the month of June, as compared to his previous two successful months has been the fly ball to homer rate. As such, his xFIP has remained in the range of 4, while his ERA and FIP have skyrocketed. Pitching at Oracle Park may play into Elder’s favor with this, being the second least-favorable park for hitting homers in MLB. With Webb on the mound, the Braves may need Elder to keep the Giants to only a few runs to stay in this game.

Logan Webb is having his worst season in a while though, with a 3.51 xFIP over 83.1 innings this year. The walks have remained quite low for Webb, but his ground ball rate and strikeouts are both at career-low numbers since his breakout, which explains the xFIP slightly above his normal lofty standards. Webb remains a five-pitch pitcher, throwing his sinker the most, along with his changeup and sweeper, with a four-seamer and cutter to supplement the sinker. All of his non-sweeper pitches are biased towards the “drop” side of vertical movement, even with his four-seamer lacking ideal “rise”. Webb is a tough pitcher and the Braves’ offense hasn’t exactly been humming lately. We’ll likely have to hope for some sequencing luck and maybe a homer or two, as Webb is tough to slug off of, especially at Oracle. It would be really helpful for Drake Baldwin to show back up as an offensive force with his reverse splits against the tough lefty Webb.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Saturday, June 27, 9:05 p.m. EDT

Location: Oracle Park, San Francisco, CA

TV: BravesVision

Streaming: MLB.tv

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan

Mets Lineup

1. Carson Benge – RF
2. Juan Soto – LF
3. Bo Bichette – 3B
4. Francisco Lindor – SS
5. Jared Young – 1B
6. Mark Vientos – DH
7. A.J. Ewing – CF
8. Brett Baty – 2B
9. Francisco Alvarez – C

Christian Scott – RHP

Phillies Lineup

1. Trea Turner – SS
2. Kyle Schwarber – DH
3. Bryce Harper – 1B
4. Brandon Marsh – LF
5. Bryson Stott – 2B
6. Edmundo Sosa – 3B
7. Gabriel Rincones – RF
8. Justin Crawford – CF
9. Rafael Marchan – C

Alan Rangel – RHP

Broadcast Info

First pitch: 4:10pm EDT
TV: SNY
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App 92.3 HD2

The Seattle Mariners made a move in their shallow bullpen, optioning RHP Alex Hoppe to Triple-A Tacoma and recalling LHP Josh Simpson from the Rainiers. The move comes in front of two more games with the Cleveland Guardians, whose lineup is incredibly lefty-heavy. It’s the easiest to understand reasoning behind the move for the M’s, whose typical wariness towards using walk-prone relievers is being set aside for Simpson’s groundball-generating skills.

Simpson has managed a 2.08/3.42/4.77 ERA/FIP/DRA in 21.2 innings with Tacoma, all reasonable enough to consider for recall. Hoppe, by contrast, has had difficulty getting his ducks aligned, seeing a 2.86/4.59 FIP/DRA undermined by a 6.38 ERA in his 24.0 big league frames, due to an astoundingly unfortunate 46.2% strand rate and a .343 BABIP. It’s not all unluckiness, as Hoppe’s command has been underwhelming, but the hard-hurling righty has been tasked to mop up many unsavory moments and might not be jettisoned so quickly were Seattle not utilizing all six starters.

To that plan, today’s piggy-back will not occur as scheduled. The Mariners, per Adam Jude of the Seattle Times, don’t wish to disrupt the rhythm Logan Gilbert has been in of late, instead pushing Emerson Hancock to a solo start Sunday and George Kirby back home on Monday. While it’s not a shocker, this is another alteration to the rotation as laid out, and will be something to track within the clubhouse and on the field. Of course, lining George Kirby up against the Angels is hard to argue with.

Additionally, the club is apparently considering a “super bullpen” late in the season, making use of both LHP Kade Anderson and RHP Ryan Sloan who’ve been stellar in Double-A Arkansas and could provide multi-inning relief ahead of the club’s five or so high-leverage arms.

The second of the three-game series between the Mets and Phillies at Citi Field will be delayed due to impending weather in the area, the team announced.

New York announced a new 5:20 start.

Christian Scott (2-0, 3.10 ERA) will take the mound against the Phillies reliever Tim Mayza (2-2, 2.06 ERA). 

Scott is set to make his first start since coming off the IL with a right hip impingement. His last start saw him allow four runs on seven hits and one walk in 4.2 innings against the Cardinals back on June 11. 

 

Cincinnati Reds vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, June 27, 2026, 4:05 p.m. ET

The Pittsburgh Pirates are hoping to bounce back after a 6-4 loss against the Cincinnati Reds to start off their three-game series at PNC Park.

Luckily for the Pirates, it’s a new day, and they will place Jared Jones on the mound. Jones is making his sixth start of the year, but he is coming off his shortest start of the season on June 21 against the Colorado Rockies. He pitched three innings, giving up one hit and one earned run in Pittsburgh’s 8-6 victory at Coors Field. The Pirates will likely have a short leash again, but the goal for Jones should be to pitch five innings and keep the lead for the team.

The Reds are countering with Chase Burns, who has been one of the best pitchers in the league this season. Burns is 9-1 with a 2.00 ERA. He’s coming off a win in his last start on June 21 against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. He pitched five innings, giving up five hits and one earned run in a 4-1 victory for the Reds.

The Reds are 11-4 this season when Burns makes a start. This includes seven of the last eight games, in which he has been the winning pitcher in six of them.

Location: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA

Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet Pittsburgh

Pitching Matchup: Chase Burns (9-1, 2.00 ERA) vs. Jared Jones (1-1, 5.75 ERA)

BD community, chime off in the comments section below.

The New York Rangers have traded Adam Edström to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Massimo Rizzo and a fifth-round pick (148th overall) in the 2026 NHL Draft.

Edström broke onto the scene during the 2025-26 season, as he made the Rangers’ opening-night roster out of training camp and earned a full-time bottom-six role. 

However, after playing 51 games, Edström suffered a season-ending lower-body injury, derailing his momentum. 

Toward the first half of the 2025-26 campaign, he suffered another injury, which sidelined him for multiple months. 

“I mean it sucks,” Edström said of dealing with constant injuries. “What I was dealing with this year, I felt for a long period of time that I can push through it and take care of it after the season, but the more I played, the worse it got. It finally reached a point where the doctors and me made a decision together, it was better for us to just take care of it right away. 

“That also puts you in a bad spot, not playing at 100%, playing injured, and from there, missing a lot of time. When you get put on the sideline for that amount of time, it’s not good for your career. It’s been two frustrating years, and knock on wood, I’m hoping I can stay healthy.”

Upon his return to the lineup in March, Edström fell out of favor with head coach Mike Sullivan, losing his spot in the lineup and he was scratched for the majority of games to close out the season. 

By April, it was evident that the 25-year-old forward was in need of a fresh start. 

“We’ve had some conversations,” Edström said in April about his dialogue with Sullivan. “He's kind of told me how he looks at my season, and I got to talk to him and kind of tell him how I felt. At the end of the day, it’s his team, and he decides who plays, so all I can do is respect that…

“I feel like there are a lot of parts in my game that I can develop for sure. I can work on physicality, always skating hard, those kinds of things. It’s been a very choppy year, playing big amounts of the year not feeling well, playing injured, missing a lot of time. As I said, it’s been a tough year.”

Rizzo, the player the Rangers received in return for Edström, is a restricted free agent, and he reportedly won’t be given a qualifying offer.

The Seattle Mariners are struggling offensively. Yes, their team wRC+ is around league-average. Yes, they are finally running nearly their entire full healthy lineup out for the first time all season (save Bringo Dingo, may your groin heal in peace). But Seattle entered Saturday 25th in MLB in runs per game at 4.02, a 651 run pace. T-Mobile Park always will curtail Seattle a bit, but a season ago they concluded at 4.75 runs per game, 10th in MLB and a 766 run season. There are several culprits, but one of the most glaring is one you don’t have to wait around to see.

Of the 158 players to receive at least 250 plate appearances this year, Seattle has three of the worst hitters in baseball on the first pitch.

Josh Naylor, 329 PAs, 138 swings, .245 wOBA (147th)

J.P. Crawford, 271 PAs, 72 swings, .244 wOBA (148th)

Julio Rodríguez, 356 PAs, 116 swings, .224 wOBA (151st)

League-average for 2026 is a .389 wOBA on first pitch swings, well ahead of the .317 league-average wOBA overall. Obviously, you can’t strike out on a first pitch swing, but it’s a common strategy for hitters to maximize their outcomes. Kyle Schwarber is notorious for this, swinging 104 times out of 343 opportunities, with a staggering .759 wOBA this year. Nick Kurtz, Aaron Judge, Byron Buxton, as well as numerous other less-notable over-performers are also among the most successful ambush hitters. Quelle surprise, as a team overall, the M’s are near the cellar as well, with a .348 wOBA (28th) on 1,027 swings in 3,105 PAs. Some M’s are obviously lifting the numbers a bit, like Arozarena and his .443 wOBA (62nd) in 318 PAs and 106 swings. But it’s is a huge hole from three of the most present and frequent hitters in Seattle’s lineup.

This is not some longstanding issue, either. A year ago, all three players were right there with Arozarena as above-average ambushers. Per Baseball Savant, the cliff of poor production has been precipitous thus far this year.

Not a single barrel for Julio on first pitches, and a 31.9% hard hit rate for Naylor, on pitches ostensibly meant to be receiving a hitter-friendly hack. If we’re wondering where the missing power has been for Naylor this year, ta da!

Moreover, this issue has been prolific. Naylor is tied for 14th-most swings on first pitches, while Julio is 45th. Crawford’s numbers are poor, but his first pitch swings not as frequent by rate (26.6%) as Naylor (41.9% of first pitches) or even Rodríguez (32.6%). And as we can see from their 2025 numbers, it’s not just average performance they’re losing out on. First pitches were where all three players generated MUCH of their offensive production a year ago. All three hit the ball harder, drove in runs and generated scoring opportunities, and blew open big innings with this aggression.

There’s still time to turn things around, and not a crystal-clear explanation as to why these numbers have sunk so prodigiously. But at least for the next few weeks, it might be nice to see some of Seattle’s key hitters take a pitch.

The Giants have played 81 games, marking the official halfway point of their 2026 schedule. Before I highlight some of the truly lowlights of this what’s-shaping-up-to-be historically awful season, let’s first contextualize their 33-48 record and then do that fun thing where we double all the current stats to “project” end of season results.

To start, this is a top 10 worst first half of a season in the history of the Giants. Not just the San Francisco era, but New York, too.

That’s very impressive. Buster Posey is on his way to the Hall of Fame and is one of the most famous Giants in living memory, and yet he will go down as having grounded the franchise into one of the most destructive shoals ever encountered. So, let’s give Buster credit for doing something that most would’ve assumed only a total amateur with zero experience could’ve done. That he’s done it a whole year into the job, too, shouldn’t be dismissed. Whatever he learned last year led him to the decisions that have begat a total disaster this year.

That the Giants are still off the pace of the franchise’s sole 100-loss team doesn’t appear to be a fluke of luck (double their wins and they might go 66-96!). This is (probably) where senior advisor Bobby Evans comes in. He was running the team during their 98-loss season, so we can be sure he’s providing the input that keeps the team clear of triple digit losses. Hold on to him, Buster!

But it’s not all mockingly great news. The Giants do, as anticipated, have one of their best lineups in the 21st century.

Kinda.

Sorta.

The team’s 102 wRC+ through the first half of the season (.255/.309/.418) is ranked 8th just looking at Giants offenses since 2000. This is a fun list, too:

I don’t know what it means that the 8th worst record aligns with the 8th-best offense of the century, so I have to assume it’s just a coincidence. Remarkably, it looks as though that Buster has managed to recreate the lineup of the Giants team that is of a kind with at least two teams from his era:

2026: .255/.309/.418, 6.5 BB%, 20.7 K%, 321 runs scored (642 “projected”)

2009: .257/.309/.389, 6.5 BB%, 19.1 K%, 657 runs scored
2014: .255/.311/.388, 7.0 BB%, 20.5 K%, 665 runs scored

There are obviously some notable differences between these teams (way better defense in 2009 & 2014) and the hitting and pitching environments have changed quite a lot (for example, the 2014 team’s 3.50 ERA was 10th-best but with all the advanced metrics just 9.4 fWAR in value — 26th!) but it seems pretty clear that the objective is to literally take the franchise back to the championship era. Most nostalgia lovers can be criticized for falling in love with a misremembered past, but credit to Buster Posey for sticking to actual facts.

If you just double some of the counting stats, though, these Giants, while projected to have one of the higher team home run totals of the century (172 — 11th out of 27). Their projected runs scored (642) would be 21st, though. But 1,422 hits? Humm baby, that’d be good enough for 12th! Then again, they’re also on pace for 396 walks (25th) and just 52 stolen bases (24th). Hmm, but their on-pace-for 316 doubles? That’d be the most by a Giants team this century.

Actually, that’d be the most doubles by a Giants team in the history of the franchise. I’m serious! I can’t believe it, either. The 314 doubles hit by the 2004 team is currently #1 in the entire history of the Giants. The 2026 Giants have already hit 158, so they’re on pace to set a new mark. And if that feels a little off to you, that’s because the Giants used to hit way more triples back in the 1800s and early 1900s. That franchise leaderboard is replete with teams from that pre-war era. The 1911 team leads the franchise with 103 triples (just 41 home runs). The 1893 team is second (101 triples — 61 home runs).

If we round up Jung Hoo Lee’s 297 plate appearances a bit, then the team is also on pace to have six hitters with at least 600 plate appearances. That’s NEVER happened in the entire history of the Giants franchise. And even if Luis Arraez were to be traded, let’s say, five times is still rare (2000, 1973, 1962, 1954, 1951, 1935 — and multiple times it has happened four times). Some other positives and curios.

Casey Schmitt

He’s on pace for 30 doubles and 32 home runs in 618 plate appearances. Just 167 Giants have hit that mark in the history of the franchise and, yeah, there’s a lot of Bonds (Bobby & Barry), Willie Mays, Will Clark, etc. on there, but if you limit it to the 21st century (the Oracle Park era), just 45 Giants make the cut.

Schmitt is on pace to match 2003 Marquis Grissom in plate appearances, but with those “projected” power numbers, he ascends to some rarified air (for the Giants, anyway). He’d eclipse Willy Adames’s 30 home run mark from last season to rank 8th on the season home run total list in the Oracle Park era.

He has 85 hits through 81 games and if that pace holds (no reason to believe it will — but just in case…) a 170-hit season would tie Buster Posey’s 2014 total. Now, here’s the kicker. Buster Posey was 27 in 2014. Schmitt would be just the fourth Giant under 30 to record that many hits. Just for fun:

5. Casey Schmitt (27), 2026 — 170 (projected)
4. Buster Posey (27), 2014 — 170
3. Buster Posey (28), 2015 — 177
2. Buster Posey (25), 2012 — 178
1. Pablo Sandoval (22), 2009 — 189

Matt Duffy just missed the cut with 169 hits in 2015 at the age of 24, but that’s it. There have been 95 seasons of Giants Baseball where a player under 30 had at least 170 hits and most of them occurred before 1930. But even since 1930, the Giants’ offensive strengths coming from young players is confined to the pre-Will Clark era, with just 11 players under 30 to record at least that many hits since 1989.

So, if it happens, it will be very cool, and historically significant. But no matter the final result, 2026 being Schmitt’s breakout season is already the story.

Jung Hoo Lee

He’s on pace for 182 hits which would put him into the same company as the group I mentioned for Casey Schmitt. The story of his 2026 is also that it’s his breakout season. If his 38-doubles pace holds, he’d match 1993 Barry Bonds, 1989 Willy Clark, 1958 Orlando Cepeda, and 1941 Johnny Rucker

He’s also on pace for just 54 strikeouts, which only 90 Giants who were under 30 with 600 plate appearances have done in franchise history. Drop the age filter and we’re still talking just 144 Giants, none of whom played in the 1980s and 1990s. In the Oracle Park era, it’s happened just four times:

4. Buster Posey, 2015 — 52 K
3. Omar Vizquel, 2006 — 51 K
2. Barry Bonds, 2002 — 47 K
1. Barry Bonds, 2004 — 41 K

I deem this absurd! And hope it happens.

Luis Arraez

It’s a shame he’s likely to be traded, because he’s on pace to have a lot of hits in his age-29 season which puts him in the same group I placed JHL and Schmitt in, but with just 13 strikeouts through the first half, his “on pace for” total of 26 would put him on a list of Giants that hasn’t welcomed anyone new in over 70 years: have fewer than 30 strikeouts in a season. The last time was 1955 when Don Mueller struck out just 12 times in 640 plate appearances. Again, a shame he won’t end the season on the Giants.

---

Let’s talk pitching

• Their “on pace for” mark of 700 earned runs allowed would land the 2026 team into the top 10 most runs allowed in franchise history, pushing the 1995 squad (699 runs) down one notch. They’d slot in just behind 2008 (701). If they wind up with a team ERA of 4.40 ERA (where it stands now), that’d be 12th-worst in franchise history, ahead of teams like 1997, 1984, 2018, 2008, and 2005, but behind 1947, 2017, 1970, 1895, 1896, 1930, 2006, 2020, 1999, 1996, and 1995.
• The Giants are on pace for 870 innings from their starting rotation. Now, not to be misleading, they got just 837 innings from the starting staff last season.
• They’re on pace for just 30 saves, which hasn’t happened since 1992.
• On pace for 1,274 strikeouts, though, which would be the 11th-best in franchise history.
• On the other hand, 616 walks, which would be the 8th-worst in franchise history. They walked 652 in 2007 and 623 in 2000, so it would be the 3rd-worst result of the Oracle Park era.

---

This was a simple doubling exercise just to see if there was much fun in taking the team as is and imagining the future. If you want to be more scientific, you can always go to players’ FanGraphs pages and see the rest of the season projections to get perhaps a more realistic look at where they’ll land. For example, just doubling Logan Webb’s numbers gives him 26 starts, 166.2 IP, and a 3.36 ERA with a 3.8 fWAR, but if you look at, say, ZiPS, he’s projected to make 15 more starts (28), wind up with 178.1 IP, a 3.14 ERA, and 4.3 fWAR. Half a win better, and something proved by the eye test as he’s looked simply dominant and like his old self since coming off the IL.

So, the Giants could do better overall the rest of the way. They’ve been slightly better here in June, after all… then again, with the trade deadline looming and the dog days of summer on the horizon, is it reasonable to expect improvement on what has been a bad team for three months? Eh, why not? If you’ve read this far, it means you’re a fan who never stops hoping.

Another day of minor league baseball is in the books. See the results below. Check out the previous day’s recap here.

AAA: Sugar Land Space Cowboys (35-43) lost 8-1 (BOX SCORE)

McPherson started for Sugar Land and allowed 2 runs in the first inning only retiring two batters before being pulled. The offense got on the board in the third inning on a Brooks sac fly. The Sugar Land pen struggled allowing another 6 runs as El Paso extended their lead. The offense had their troubles too as they were unable to score again and fell 8-1.

Note: Biggio has a .859 OPS this season.

• Cavan Biggio, 1B: 1-for-3, 2 BB
• Trenton Brooks, LF: 0-for-3, RBI
• Tommy Sacco, SS: 2-for-3, 2B
• Riley Unroe, 2B: 1-for-4, R

• Brandon McPherson, RHP: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
• Trey McLoughlin, RHP: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
• Michael Knorr, RHP: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• Sam Carlson, RHP: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• Tom Cosgrove, LHP: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
• Roddery Munoz, RHP: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
• J.P. France, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
• Jose Fleury, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

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AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (33-40) lost 3-0 (BOX SCORE)

Hicks started for the Hooks and went 4.1 innings allowing 2 runs with 3 strikeouts. The bullpen allowed one run but the Hooks’ offense had a rough night collecting just 2 hits as they were shutout in the 3-0 loss.

Note: Encarnacion has 33 stolen bases this season.

• Max Holy, SS: 1-for-3
• Yamal Encarnacion, 2B: 1-for-3, SB

• James Hicks, RHP: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
• Railin Perez, RHP: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• Jack Dashwood, LHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
• Ramsey David, RHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• Jose Guedez, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

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A+: Asheville Tourists (20-52) won 7-4 (BOX SCORE)

Smith started for Asheville and was solid allowing 2 runs over 4.2 innings while striking out 6 batters. Asheville got on the board in the 5th inning on a Daudet RBI single. The Drive took a 4-1 lead in the 6th but Asheville got one run back in the 8th on a Powell solo home run. In the 9th, Asheville got a run on a bases loaded hit by pitch to Garcia and with 2 outs and the bases loaded, Thomas connected on a 3 run double to give Asheville the lead. Powell added an RBI single to extend the lead. Frias was solid in relief tossing 3 scoreless innings as he closed out the 7-4 win.

Note: Powell is hitting .309 this season.

• Justin Thomas, CF: 2-for-5, R, 2B, 3 RBI
• Caden Powell, RF: 3-for-4, R, HR, 2 RBI, BB
• Marcus Brown, SS: 1-for-4, R
• Alejandro Nunez, 2B: 2-for-4, R, SB
• Cesar Hernandez, LF: 1-for-3, R, 2B, SB
• Zach Daudet, 3B: 1-for-3, R, RBI, BB
• John Garcia, C: 0-for-3, R, RBI

• Parker Smith, RHP: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
• Garrett Apker, RHP: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• Francisco Frias, RHP: 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (WIN)

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A: Fayetteville Woodpeckers (37-35) won 2-1 (BOX SCORE)

The Woodpeckers got on the board in the first inning thanks to a Flores 2 run home run, his 11th home run of the season and second game in a row with a home run. Perez started for the Woodpeckers and pitched well allowing 1 run over 5 innings while striking out 7. The game went into a rain delay before the start of the 6th and was ultimately called, ending in a Perez complete game and Woodpeckers 2-1 win.

Note: Perez ha 10 BB/77 K in 67.2 innings this season.

• Xavier Neyens, SS: 0-for-1, 2 BB
• Arturo Flores, 1B: 2-for-2, R, HR, 2 RBI
• Kenni Gomez, RF: 1-for-2

• Javier Perez, RHP: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K (WIN)

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Today’s minor league starters:

SL: TBD – 7:05 CT

CC: Trey Dombroski – 7:00 CT

AV: Nolan DeVos – 5:45 CT

FV: TBD – 6:05 CT

Earlier today, the Mets re-instated Christian Scott from the 15-day injured list to make the start against the Phillies later this afternoon. In a corresponding move, the club options Zach Thornton to Triple-A.

Scott made his last start exactly 15 days ago, when he allowed four earned runs over 4 2/3 innings against the Cardinals at Citi Field. He surrendered three homers in the outing and did not factor in the decision, with the Mets eventually winning the contest to avoid a sweep. Scott, who missed all of 2025 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2024, returned earlier this year and has been one of the team’s best pitchers. He currently owns a 3.10 ERA and a 3.84 FIP, with 47 strikeouts across 40 2/3 innings.

Thornton pitched last night for the Mets and had significantly more success than he did in his major league debut. After allowing three consecutive hits and one run to begin the game, he buckled down and limited Philadelphia to just the one run and five hits over six innings. He struck out seven and walked just one batter, but did not factor in the decision. With the team needing starting pitching following Kodai Senga’s demotion and the David Peterson trade, it’s very likely we will see more of Thornton in the coming months.

Jorge Polanco appears ready to take the next step in his road back to the Mets.

The infielder will jump into Syracuse's lineup on Saturday as he begins a rehab assignment. 

It's been a long journey to recovery for Polanco, as he's faced many stops and starts along the way. 

The veteran hasn't appeared in a big-league game since April 14. 

He did get into six rehab games previously, but ended up having to shut things down and returned to New York after experiencing left ankle soreness. 

Polanco was able to resume baseball activities, but took things slow to avoid another setback. 

Now it appears he's ready to take that leap into game action as he progresses closer towards getting back into the middle of what continues to be an up-and-down Mets offense. 

Texas Rangers @ Toronto Blue Jays

Saturday, June 27, 2026, 2:07 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)

Rogers Centre

RHP Cal Quantrill vs. RHP Dylan Cease

Go Rangers!