Category: Baseball

Game Summary

Jordan Lawlar made his return from injury and left his mark all over this game as the Diamondbacks had yet another comeback win. The team had plenty of heavy lifting to do in this one after Eduardo Rodriguez couldn’t find the zone early and ended up not getting out of the third inning, but, just like E-Rod has picked up this team start after start, his teammates were up to the task and returned the favor to E-Rod tonight.

To start with, Eduardo Rodriguez line doesn’t look that bad. My dad text me halfway through the game asking if E-Rod was hurt because it didn’t seem obvious from the box score why he would’ve been pulled. Well, when you throw 40 pitches in the first inning (without somehow allowing any runs to score) and then being at 85 pitches 2 outs into the third inning, you get pulled no matter what the box score looks like. Eduardo’s command was really poor on the night, but at least he was just missing outside the zone and not serving up meatballs in the zone. When the Reds did make contact, with the lone exception of the homer he gave up to Marte, it was pretty soft and harmless.

The bullpen, called upon early and looking to need at least 6.1 innings if they were going to win, answered the bell and then some. Five relievers combined to allow only 2 hits and no runs the rest of the night. They also walked 4 batters, but the Diamondback defense delivered some awesome plays to keep the team in the game, most notably a catch from Lawlar as he ran face-first into the centerfield wall and a vintage Arenado game-saving play on grounder down the third baseline in the 8th. You can see both below:

The offense was quiet for much of the night, and, as Jim kept reminding us after every blown opportunity, they continued to fail with Runners in Scoring Position. The Diamondbacks finished 2/12 with RISP tonight and left 12 LOBsters on the table, but no one is talking about that tonight because they got a couple big hits when it mattered late and it appeared that they dusted off their sprinting shoes and put some pressure on the Reds by stealing 5 bases on the night (a season high per Apple TV). On a night when Ketel and Corbin went 2/9 with a couple Ks and 0 runs or RBI, Jordan Lawlar led the way with 2 hits, 2 SB, 2 RBI on a 2-out knock in the 9th, and he scored the tying run after stealing his way to scoring position in the 6th. Welcome back, Jordan!

Win Probability and Box Score

Outside the Box Score

• E-Rod was off to a wobbly start, walking the first 2 batters he faced. The first pitch to the third hitter was ruled a ball but E-Rod challenged the pitch in a rare pitcher challenge and got a called strike. Unfortunately, that didn’t really speed up the at bat as Sal Stewart ended up battling for a 10-pitch AB and really boosted E-Rod’s pitch count. All told, E-Rod walked the bases the loaded and had a full count on the first 4 batters he faced, but didn’t allow any runs by inducing 3 pop-ups. It took 40 pitches for him to get out of the first inning.
• Ketel Marte led off the third inning with a double off the wall in left field that I thought for sure was going to just be a little drink single just over the third baseman. Ketel really dug out a low pitch with a flick of his wrists and blasted it over the left fielder. Impressive how strong Ketel is.
• Gabi Moreno came up with runners at first and second and bounced to second base and the Reds infielder made a poor decision trying to get Corbin out at second. Corbin was ruled out initially but the D-backs challenged and got the call overturned thanks to Corbin’s speed and hustle.
• Man, a lot happening in this third inning! Arenado hit a sac fly with the bases loaded and no outs. The relay from the outfielder hit the cutoff man who pivoted and threw to second base where Gabi was trying to advance to and he looked to be dead to rights, but Gabi made an incredible swim move to avoid the tag!
• Jordan Lawlar made an oopsie in his return to the field tonight when he fielded a single in shallow center and tried to get the runner going to third. The runner would’ve been safe easily anyway, but the throw hopped short of Arenado and ended up bouncing off his glove and into the dugout which resulted in a free run for Cincy.
• Jordan Lawlar made a fantastic grab in the fourth inning to turn a double into an out. He ran full tilt to the warning track and reached up above his head to make the catch just before he faceplanted into the wall with his arms still above his head. The collision knocked his cap off and forced him to the ground, but he got up with a smile on his face and the ball still in his glove. Great play.
• Jordan Lawlar reached base on a HBP in the 6th, then stole 2nd easily (no small feat on a fastball right down the middle) and scored the tying run at the time on a Groover single up the middle. Finally, some speed and youth making an impact.
• Nolan Arenado snared a hot shot short hop with the go ahead run at second in the 7th inning, making a nice play to retire the side. Arenado’s bat has been up-and-down, but his glove has been wonderful all year long.
• The Rattle did its job in the top of the 8th. With 2 outs, Lawlar singled and Groover and Waldy walked to load the bases for Ketel and he went down looking on 3 pitches, with the last pitch being a called ball overturned to a strike upon Challenge.
• Geraldo Perdomo made a very smart play in the bottom of the 8th when he got a chopper deep in the hole between 2nd and 3rd. With a speedy runner on first and another hustling out the batter’s box, Domo didn’t even think about trying to get the lead runner and went straight to first to barely get the 2nd out of the inning. That play set up an intentional walk before Ginkel could go after the right-handed hitting McLain. Ginkel got McLain to hit a grounder but it was well-placed right down the third base line. Unfortunately for him, Nolan Arenado mans the hot corner for us and he made a vintage Arenado play, reaching a ball on the foul side of third base and throwing back across his body where Ildermaro made an equally impressive stretch to keep the game tied.
• Apple TV broadcast had a good note late in the broadcast: 4 stolen bases tonight by the Diamondbacks is a season high. Then, on cue, Gabi Moreno got our 5th steal of the night.
• Terry Francona made an odd managerial decision in the 9th inning. With 2 outs and a base open to walk Ildemaro Vargas and face Geraldo Perdomo. Domo worked a long AB, but it nearly worked out for Francona and the Reds when Gerry lifted a ball into medium depth left field. Fortunately the left fielder made a bad read and ended up clanking the ball off his glove to allow the go-ahead run to score. Then Jordan Lawlar broke the game open with a 2-run single right behind that.

Comment of the Game

The GameDay Thread was definitely light early on tonight, but with the early start, Apple TV broadcast, and US World Cup match going on, I understand completely. As the game stayed close late, the comment count kept growing and finished with a final tally of 296 comments at time of publishing. COTG tonight goes to Sigborg for his highly rec’d comment about recs.

Coming Up

The Diamondbacks face the Reds for the second game of this 3-game set tomorrow afternoon with a 1:10pm first pitch Arizona time. Righthander Rhett Lowder (3-3, 5.01 ERA) will take the mound for Cincinnati and Michael Soroka (8-3, 3.28 ERA) takes the ball for the good guys. Hopefully Soroka is his normal self and can give the team 6-7 innings so the bullpen and get a breather.

It was always going to be a tall task facing burgeoning Yankee killer Trey Yesavage, so it certainly does not help when your own starter coughs up three runs in the first inning and two more in the second. Ryan Weathers simply did not have it today, and the Blue Jays rained the extra-base hits off his two-strike pitches. Particularly alarming has been the rate at which balls are flying out of the yard, the two he served up today giving him 15 on the year — fifth-most in the majors. All in all, not an auspicious start to an important series in Toronto, the Yankees eventually falling, 8-5.

The moment Ernie Clement reached on an infield dribbler with one out in the first, you wondered if it would be one of those days in Toronto. Indeed, two batters later, Alejandro Kirk lined an RBI double into the left-center gap. He’s one of many of the Blue Jays’ Yankee killers to make his presence felt on the day, playing in his first game since April 3rd after suffering a broken thumb. Weathers got to 0-2 on the next batter Kazuma Okamoto, but a 2-2 slider that caught a little too much plate was deposited into the fifth deck in left for a two-run tank. It must have been frustrating for two pitches on the corner down and in to get slugged like that, but that’s baseball.

Weathers’ fortunes only worsened from there. He got two quick ground outs to open the second, but barely grazed Andrés Giménez’s arm guard with a first pitch sinker, and again you had this ominous feeling of inevitability. Weathers got to 2-2 against George Springer, but grooved a changeup right down the middle that Springer gleefully hit over the bullpen in left to make it 5-0. Springer entered the game batting .204 with an 80 wRC+ and -0.3 fWAR, but true to form he never misses an opportunity to kill the Yankees.

I suppose it stings even more to suffer a clunker from your starter on a day that Yesavage actually looked mortal against the Yankees. He has suffered with command after the start of his season was delayed a month by a shoulder impingement, and he issued six free passes on the night. However, the Yankees could not immediately take advantage, their only hit through the first four innings a Jazz Chisholm Jr. single to lead off the second. In fact, that second inning would prove a golden opportunity to score early. Yesavage walked José Caballero and Ryan McMahon to load the bases with one out. However, J.C. Escarra had a miserable AB striking out on three pitches and Trent Grisham popped out to leave all three ducks on the pond.

In the fifth, Escarra led off with a double to the wall in left-center, which if you can believe it was the first hit by a Yankees catcher since May 30th, snapping an 0-for-29 skid. A Grisham grounder moved Escarra to third and Ben Rice walked to put runners on the corners with one out for Paul Goldschmidt. He drove in his 29th run of the year with a sac fly to the opposite field on an 0-2 fastball. Cody Bellinger kept up the momentum, jumping on an elevated first pitch splitter and lining it just over the wall in right for a two-run homer, his tenth of the year, to cut the deficit to 5-3.

Though Weathers looked like he might settle down with a scoreless third and fourth and maybe give the Yankees some length, a walk of Springer in the fifth convinced Boone to pull his starter from the game for Jake Bird. Unfortunately, he continues to allow hits at an alarming rate, giving up an RBI double to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. followed by an RBI single to Kirk, both on sinkers in the zone, as the Blue Jays reestablished a four-run cushion.

That wrapped up Weathers’ final line at six runs on five hits and a walk with two strikeouts in 4.1 innings. He is now the only Yankees starter with an ERA north of four at 4.36. This is the fourth time in the last five starts that he has given up at least five runs, his home run per nine rate creeping up toward two. It’s notable that he was seen warming on Wednesday with Aaron Boone confirming after the game that he was in play as a reliever with the bullpen overworked, perhaps foreshadowing a future move to the ‘pen once Max Fried returns from his elbow injury.

The Yankees hitters certainly cannot be faulted for their effort, and they continued to chip away in the middle innings. Spencer Jones drew his second walk of the contest to lead off the sixth and Caballero doubled him to third on a 1-0 hanging slider. That spelled the end of Yesavage’s night, John Schneider calling on the lefty Mason Fluharty out of the ‘pen. A soft grounder by pinch-hitter Amed Rosario allowed Caballero to advance to second but put two outs on the board.

That gave Grisham the opportunity to come through in the clutch as he lined a 2-2 sweeper up the middle for a two-run single to again reduce the deficit to two runs, 7-5. The bad news is that Grisham appeared to stumble and pull up a little lame rounding first and advancing to second on the throw home, and he immediately left the game with what was later described as right hamstring tightness, Max Schuemann replacing him in the outfield.

They kept giving themselves chances to complete the comeback, again loading the bases in the seventh on a leadoff single from Goldschmidt, a one out walk from Jazz, and a two out infield single by Caballero. Ryan McMahon put a charge into a hanging 0-1 curveball from Braydon Fisher, but Myles Straw caught it just shy of the warning track in dead center as the Yankees again stranded three.

Clement tacked on an insurance run for Toronto in the eighth, slapping an RBI double down the line in right against Fernando Cruz. Schuemann did a hell of a job to corral the ball quickly and hit the cutoff man, but Springer beat out Goldschmidt’s throw home by a finger. New York would go down in order in the ninth to seal the series opening loss, 8-5, as they went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine.

The Rogers Centre remains their personal house of horrors as they have now lost nine of their last ten games there. They will nervously await further news on Grisham’s hamstring as he’s been such a valuable contributor leading off since the start of May. They look to even the series tomorrow with Cam Schlittler on the mound to face Kevin Gausman. First pitch is scheduled for 3:07 pm EDT with the broadcast remaining on YES.

Box Score

Just like dealing with a moody teenager, you never know what you’re going to get with Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki. It seems that half the time he pitches gems, and the other half are absolute duds. Worse for the Dodgers, with Shohei Ohtani out due to knee inflammation the White Sox had a perfect opportunity to steal a win against the defending champions regardless of Roki’s performance.

Out the gate, it appeared that Sasaki would have another meltdown, as he gave up a solo home run to Andrew Benintendi in the very first inning. Rate Field was jumping and the vibes were immaculate. Unfortunately, much like a moody teenager, Sasaki immediately settled down. After the Dodgers scored two runs with nobody out in the top of the second, there were certainly some fans wary of a hard reality check in the midst of one of Chicago’s most successful stretches in years.

After Santiago Espinal singled in his two tallies, a sacrifice bunt and a hit batsman loaded the bases with one out for Andy Pages. With nowhere to put him and Freddie Freeman on deck, White Sox starter Anthony Kay attacked and struck him out, before getting Freeman to fly out to end the threat. For an inning that saw the Dodgers load the bases and bring in runs before registering a single out, limiting Los Angeles to just two was a huge win that helped keep Chicago in this game. The Dodgers remained in control for the next few innings as Sasaki settled down, but the game was still very much within reach heading into the bottom of the fifth.

Much like the skies in the Chicago area over the past two days, the floodgates opened up in the fifth and the runs came pouring in. The White Sox did it in the way they knew best, playing small ball and dooming the Dodgers to death by a thousand cuts. Four men reached base before Sasaki could record an out, and two more walks chased him from of the game. The pitching change couldn’t stop the deluge of runs, as a Chase Meidroth single and Tristan Peters triple saw the South Siders run the inning up to a seven-spot.

That number seven had a special meaning, too, as Chicago came into the game winless in their last seven against the Dodgers. They also came into the game on a seven-game home winning streak. This was far from the same team that has matched up against Los Angeles in the past, as the Sox now believe that they can win any game, a belief that has been lacking for quite some time. Sitting with a massive 8-2 lead, the White Sox did not let up.

While they didn’t add any runs, they kept the pressure on a Dodgers team that clearly just wanted the game to be over once the White Sox took their six-run lead. The White Sox kept applying pressure and worked late into counts. It was refreshing to see from a team that seemed to sleepwalk through long parts of last year, and even an offense that went to sleep at times early this year.

It’s easy for teams to dig deep and keep plugging away in a close contest, especially when trailing. It’s rare to see a team with a big lead refuse to let up. Their unwillingness to simply coast to a win that’s already well in hand speaks to the team’s mentality, which at the moment looks very similar to other overachieving teams, like the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays, who have been synonymous with success over the past few years. If they can keep this up, there is no doubt that the White Sox are the new favorites to win the AL Central.

In these types of games with sizable leads, it can get hairy quick, as seen by the San Francisco Giants recently scoring 10 runs in the last two innings to complete an improbable comeback. The Dodgers have the ability to bring themselves back into games quickly, but they were shut down by Chicago’s bullpen. Bryan Hudson, Trevor Richards and Chris Murphy went a combined four innings without allowing a single baserunner. They slammed the door in style, securing the 8-2 win.

It was another dominant performance all around from a White Sox team that has injected life into this city. They know have a chance to take the series with a win in either of the last two games before another much deserved off-day on Monday.

Ryan Weathers wasn't his sharpest, and the Yankees hitters could not come through consistently in the clutch as they fell to the Blue Jays, 8-5, on Friday night in Toronto.

New York was 2-for-10 with RISP and left nine on base. Toronto (34-36) was 4-for-7 with seven left on base.

The loss snapped the Yankees' (41-27) four-game winning streak.

Here are the takeaways...

-Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk made his return to the team on Friday after missing 62 games due to injury. He announced his return by winning an ABS challenge from behind the plate on the first pitch thrown. He then marked his return again, this time at the plate, with a two-out double that scored Ernie Clement to give the Blue Jays the early lead.

Kazuma Okamoto followed with a 423-foot blast to give Toronto a 3-0 lead. That wasn't the only longball given up by Weathers. In the second, Weathers hit a batter with two outs to bring up George Springer.The veteran slugger launched a two-run shot to extend Toronto's lead. Weathers would settle down, pitching into the fifth before he was pulled with one out and Springer on second.

Jake Bird was called on, but gave up an RBI double to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and then an RBI single to Kirk.

Weathers pitched 4.1 innings (82 pitches/52 strikes), allowing six runs on five hits and one walk while striking out two. The lefty has now allowed seven home runs in his last three starts after allowing eight in his first 10 starts. He's also allowed 16 runs in those three starts. 

-The Yankees had their chances against Trey Yesavage. In the second, Yesavage walked two to load the bases with one out. J.C. Escarra struck out and Trent Grisham hit a high pop-up to second to waste the opportunity. 

Early on, it looked as if the Yankees would have another tough go against Yesavage. Entering the game, the Yankees had not driven in a run against him in their first two starts against him -- one being in the ALDS. That changed quickly in the fifth. Paul Goldschmidt drove in New York's first run of the game on a one-out sac fly to score Escarra, who had doubled, and Cody Bellinger followed with a two-run blast just over the wall in right field. 

The Yankees would chase Yesavage in the sixth after Spencer Jones led off with a walk and Jose Caballero doubled to put runners on second and third with no outs. However, Ryan McMahon struck out and Amed Rosario hit a weak grounder to the pitcher for the first two outs. Grisham came through, though, with a two-run single. Grisham made it to second on the throw home, but the veteran outfielder had to exit after seemingly coming up lame rounding first base. 

-The Yankees had the bases loaded again with two outs in the seventh, but could not capitalize after McMahon flew out to end the threat. They didn't have much going on the bases in the final two innings as they dropped the series opener.

-Escarra finished 1-for-2 with his leadoff extra-base hit in the fifth, breaking the streak of Yankees catchers not having a hit in the month of June. They were 0-for-26 up to that point. He was pulled for a pinch-hitter in the middle innings. Ali Sanchez went 0-for-1. 

-Caballero started at short instead of Anthony Volpe and went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Jones went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts but walked twice and came around to score. 

Game MVP: Alejandro Kirk

The Blue Jays backstop enjoyed a 3-for-3 night, driving in two runs.

Highlights

A 2-run hit for Trent Grisham, but he’s coming out of the game after advancing to second base on the throw home pic.twitter.com/PeizHZm3ma

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) June 13, 2026

What's next

The Yankees and Jays continue their three-game set on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is set for 3:07 PM

Cam Schlittler (7-3, 1.87 ERA) takes the mound against Kevin Gausman (4-4, 3.60 ERA).

The Chicago White Sox pounced on Roki Sasaki during a seven-run fifth inning to beat the Dodgers 8-2 in Friday night’s series opener at Rate Field.

The first four batters reached against Sasaki in the fifth inning, including a two-run double off the right field wall by old friend Miguel Vargas to give Chicago the lead. Sasaki did not walk a batter in any of his first four frames, but walked three batters in the fifth inning, including free passes on eight total pitches to his final two batters faced, the latter driving in a run. Sasaki hadn’t walked more than two batters in any of his previous eight starts.

All three bequeathed runners scored off reliever Blake Treinen, plus one of his own. Sasaki’s seven total runs allowed matched his total earned runs over his previous five starts combined.

Sasaki fell behind Andrew Benintendi and a 3-1 fastball caught a little too much of the plate for a solo shot to open the scoring. He’s done a pretty good job of cutting down on the long balls, even with the home run by Benintendi. After allowing three home runs to the Chicago Cubs on April 25, Sasaki has allowed only four home runs over his last seven starts.

He even led 2-1 before the disastrous fifth inning, and those two runs were hard to come by for the Dodgers.

Entering Friday, White Sox starter Anthony Kay ranked 95th in strikeout-minus-walk rate (7.2 percent) among the 102 major league pitchers with at least 60 innings. But on Friday the left-hander struck out a season-high seven against only one walk, including six strikeouts in the first three innings.

Kay got the Dodgers to chase more than usual, as his 18 swinging strikes on Friday were three more than any of his previous 57 appearances in his six major league seasons.

With Shohei Ohtani not starting on Friday while dealing with left knee inflammation, designated hitter duties fell to Santiago Espinal, who made his third start since returning to the roster two weeks ago. His two-run single in the second inning gave the Dodgers an early lead. It’s been a strong road trip for Espinal, who did not start any of the games in Pittsburgh but had three hits in four at-bats as a reserve against the Pirates.

White Sox pitchers retired the final 19 Dodgers batters.

Notes

• Seven runs is the most runs allowed by the Dodgers in an inning this season, surpassing the six-run seventh inning by the Angels last Sunday at Dodger Stadium. On this road trip, the Dodgers have allowed innings of seven, five, four, and three runs.
• Alex Freeland did not start Friday but played the final three innings at shortstop. That’s his natural position, though this was his first time in 76 career major league games playing at shortstop.
• Catcher Chuckie Robinson, called up Thursday with Will Smith on the injured list, took a foul ball off his left knee in the sixth inning and was tended to by a trainer, but remained behind the plate for the rest of the game.

Friday particulars

Home run: Andrew Benintendi (7)

WP — Anthony Kay (6-1): 5 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts

LP — Roki Sasaki (3-4): 4 1/3 IP, seven hits, 6 runs, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts

Up next

Yoshinobu Yamamoto takes the mound for the Dodgers on Saturday afternoon (1:10 p.m. PT; SportsNet LA, MLB Network), with right-hander Sean Burke going for the White Sox.

If you’re coming here looking for a flattering report on Shane Baz, keep looking. The Orioles starter’s command was off tonight, and MASN broadcaster Hall-of-Famer Jim Palmer was not impressed. Baz allowed six hits, three runs, and walked two, and at times it could have been worse. More tellingly, he threw 103 pitches and got through only five innings. It was tough to watch sometimes.

But it was also a win, and that’s because the Padres’ Griffin Canning is just sort of hittable. This was something the O’s knew when he was an Angel, and even with a different uniform on, it remains true. O’s hitters racked up six runs on him in the first two innings, with home runs by Samuel Basallo and Gunnar Henderson—his 100th in just 567 games, coming on a three-hit day—leading the way.

Shane Baz was imperfect today, but he kept it together. He allowed a run in the first inning that felt unlucky, even if the rest didn’t. Fernando Tatis Jr. had reached on an error, a ball that just sort of rolled past Coby Mayo’s glove, and advanced to third on a pair of ground balls. Then, Baz hung a knuckle curve to Gavin Sheets, who roped a run-scoring double into right. 1-0, Padres.

The Orioles got it right back, and more. Taylor Ward walked, because, yes, and Gunnar singled to put him on third. Adley drove Ward home with a sac fly. Gunnar got thrown out trying to steal second after getting a terrible jump. But Canning helpfully lost control of his fastball, walked Alonso (after nearly beaning him), and then Samuel Basallo got hold of this. 3-1, Birds.

Baz hit Ty France on the elbow to start the second, then walked Will Wagner on four pitches well outside the zone. Freddy Fermin flew out to deep center for the first out, but the top of the order, Tatis Jr., got a juicy sinker and drove it up the middle. 3-2.

The Orioles pushed the lead back up to two with a Cowser walk, a Tyler O’Neill single off a high fastball, and a Jackson Holliday sac fly. 4-2 Orioles. Gunnar reached base on a swinging bunt, and Adley walked to load the bases. Another rally? Pete Alonso nearly hit a grand salami, but it went just wide of the foul pole. But rejoice, there would still be runs. Alonso drove a ball just wide of Manny Machado’s glove. They called it a hit, but back in his 2013 Gold Glove season with Baltimore, Manny was not making plays like that—or not not making plays like that. Two runs scored, and whatever that drive was, it was 6-2 O’s.

The sky turned orange in the fourth inning. (This has been your Cormac McCarthy game recap.) Baz pitched a good top of the inning, and then, in the bottom, with two outs and a 3-1 count, his counterpart Canning tried and failed to sneak a fastball by Gunnar Henderson. Instead, Gunnar hit a scorching line drive that carried onto the flag court, the 24-year-old’s 100th career home run. This was his 567th game, making him the fourth-fastest Oriole to 100, behind only Anthony Santander (526), Trey Mancini (539) and Boog Powell (566).

We turned to the top of the fifth, and Baz, instead of stabilizing, seemed to lose gas. He allowed a leadoff double to Manny Machado, who’s still hitting .174 on the season. Gavin Sheets’ single up the middle gave him a second RBI on the night, and made it 7-3. But Baz benefitted from an impressive double play kickstarted by Jackson Holliday and completed by Gunnar, firing a rocket to first base.

That was it for Baz, who covered five laborious innings in 103 pitches. No doubt, he looked out of sorts today. Hard to explain what was the matter with his command. Considering, I guess, the results could have been much worse.

The Birds put men on base in both the seventh and eighth innings, but failed to score in either. In the former, the Birds loaded the bases, but San Diego skipper Craig Stamet brought in righty David Morgan expressly to face Coby Mayo, and, it worked. He struck out. In the eighth, Cowser and Tyler O’Neill got aboard in consecutive fashion—O’Neill with his second hit of the game! But that rally was interrupted by a caught stealing of Cowser.

This game rolled to an unsuspenseful conclusion, because the Orioles bullpen was good today. Anthony Nunez had the sixth, and he whiffed two with a fastball that looked to have impressive zip on it. Keegan Akin pitched the seventh, and though he gave up Machado’s second double of the day, he escaped further damage. Yennier Cano was perfect in the eighth. Andrew Kittredge pitched a breezy ninth.

One of my favorite moments in the broadcast came, off the field, while MASN treasure Kevin Brown mused about how San Diego had “unjustly” lost its NFL team, the Chargers. His booth partner Jim Palmer came back with, “How do you feel about the [Baltimore] Colts moving in the middle of the night?” Brown deadpanned: “A real display of courage.” 😂

Hey, winning is nice. Brown summed it up at one point: “The Orioles are just playing a much more attractive brand of baseball over the last few weeks.” Jim Palmer agreed: “Little ball when you need it, they’re third [in MLB] in home runs [since May 8], and the starting pitching’s been much better.” True, and despite a wayward Shane Baz, the Birds are back on track! Let’s keep up the momentum tomorrow.

So who was your Most Birdland Oriole today? Shane Baz, because we include starters by custom in these things? Samuel Basallo, who hit a two-run homer to break open the game in the first inning? Gunnar Henderson, 3-for-3 with a walk and his 100th home run? Pete Alonso, who hit a two-run single and walked three times?

Ah yes, the once in a blue moon offensive firepower game that makes us want deliriously to believe again! We’re at that point in the torture cycle of this 2026 season. Still, I’ll take an entertaining game of baseball any day over the dreck we’ve seen lately by this Boston Red Sox squad.

The top of the first inning felt too ominous with Wyatt Langford singling home Joc Pederson to give the Rangers an early 1-0 lead.

Somehow, that’s all the push the Rangers would muster in this one. And it wouldn’t take long for the Sox to respond!

A Wilyer sac fly (credits to Chad Epperson for an aggressive send of Rafaela) and a Contreras bomb gave Boston the lead and they frankly didn’t look back. Four runs poured on in the fifth, and four more between the eighth and ninth and this game was done and dusted.

For once as well, the lineup made every opposing pitcher look weak in some way, shape or form. Jack Leiter was overthrowing and overextending and instead of an aggressive approach where they wouldn’t stretch him out, they let Leiter keep it up. Two walks, eight hits, and 103 pitches for the righty in just five frames is an approach the offense should take more often! Let guys who are making mistakes of their own keep making them. Cal Quantrill and Luis Curvelo were also no match, neither coming out unscathed.

Revel in this win tonight, it’s deGrom vs Suarez tomorrow!

Studs

Ceddanne Rafaela (3-for-5, 3 RBI, 3 runs scored)

Wilyer Abreu (3-for-4, 3 RBI, 3 runs scored)

Willson Contreras (3-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 runs scored)

I’m going to lump these three guys together here because this was the crux of the offense on Friday night. After making terrible history with the 1-2-3 guys in Tampa Bay, the 2-3-4 hitters came through and then some in the Fenway greens!

Sonny Gray (6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 7 Ks)

If you stopped watching in the first inning of this one, you probably saw a very different Sonny Gray than the latter five frames he pitched. After he settled in on the mound, he was absolutely lights out.

Duds

The bottom half of the lineup

For as great as the top of the order was, the bottom of the order scrapped together two combined hits, one of you consider Duran in the middle of the order. Not saying everyone needs to contribute, just a quiet part of the lineup tonight.

Play of the Game

Honestly, every homer belongs here. I love seeing some power out of these guys.

Box Score

We’ve gotten used to the idea that when Jacob Misiorowski pitches, you might see something you’ve never seen before.

Tonight, I saw one of the greatest games ever pitched.

Misiorowski, who’d never pitched in the eighth inning before, threw a complete game shutout. He did it on just 95 pitches. He struck out 15 batters. He threw the fastest pitch ever tracked by a starting pitcher. He faced the minimum. He was one hit away from a perfect game. And he did it against a good team.

It would be fair to say that Misiorowski came out hot. He started Kyle Schwarber with five fastballs that were at least 103.4 mph, and the fifth one, which struck Schwarber out, was 104.5. That’s a new career high for Misiorowski, who breaks his own record for fastest pitch ever recorded by a starting pitcher every time he sets a new career high. Misiorowski then blew away Trea Turner, and got Bryce Harper on three pitches—two of which were fastballs over 104.

The Brewer offense opened against an opener, the lefty Tanner Banks. Christian Yelich drew a leadoff walk, but Banks came back with strikeouts of Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang. William Contreras came through with two outs, though, and lined a double over the head of right fielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. which scored Yelich from first base. Jake Bauers drew a two-out walk to bring Andrew Vaughn to the plate against the lefty, but he flew out to right to end the inning. The Brewers were on the board early, though, and handed a 1-0 lead over to the Human Flamethrower. (I’m trying it out.)

The Phillies were just as helpless in the second. Brandon Marsh struck out on three pitches. Alec Bohm fouled off two pitches before being the first Philly to put a ball in play, a harmless groundout to shortstop. Bryson Stott struck out looking on an 0-2 curveball that was overturned after a Contreras challenge. Nine pitches, nine strikes, two more strikeouts.

Milwaukee manufactured a second run in the bottom of the second inning against the Phillies’ bulk pitcher for the evening, Andrew Painter. Garrett Mitchell led off with a ground ball up the middle—Bryson Stott was able to reach it, but he was running in the wrong direction and his throw wasn’t quite in time to beat Mitchell to the bag. A David Hamilton bunt didn’t go for a hit but it did move Mitchell to second, and a Joey Ortiz groundout moved him to third. With Yelich at the plate, a Painter slider got away from catcher J.T. Realmuto, and Mitchell scored from third. Yelich grounded out to end the inning, but Milwaukee was up 2-0.

Rincones Jr. led off the third in the unenviable position of having to face Jacob Misiorowski in his first career plate appearance. He struck out on three pitches. Realmuto got a ball and fouled off a 1-2 pitch, but he struck out too. So did Justin Crawford. Misiorowski had struck out eight of the first nine batters, in utterly dominant fashion.

Chourio hit a line drive on the first pitch of the bottom of the third but hit it right at Bohm at third base, so he was the first out. Turang grounded out to first for the second out, and Contreras flew out to shallow left to end the inning.

Schwarber made the first solid contact of the game for the Phillies when he jumped on the first pitch of the fourth and lined a single into center field. But Misiorowski struck out Turner and got Harper to ground into a double play, so he’d still faced the minimum through four. Vaughn picked up a one-out walk in the bottom of the inning, and Mitchell reached when Turner couldn’t handle a ground ball. The Brewers couldn’t capitalize on the error, though, when Hamilton and Ortiz struck out.

Miz struck out his 10th batter on just the 13th Philadelphia batter of the game when Marsh struck out swinging to start the fifth. Bohm popped up to Turang for the second out, and Stott hit a fly ball a bit deeper but Bauers had plenty of room to make the catch in right field. Minimum through five for Misiorowski.

With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Turang sliced a double down the left-field line. With Contreras batting, Turang stole third, and a pitch later, Contreras walked. On the first pitch after a visit from the pitching coach, Bauers lined a ball into left that looked like it would hit the wall for a double, but it just cleared the wall and landed in the Milwaukee bullpen for a three-run homer. After a Vaughn walk, Mitchell lined out to end the inning, but Bauers’ shot extended the Brewers’ lead to 5-0.

Miz struck out Rincones Jr. for a second time to start the sixth. Realmuto hit a solid line drive to right but Bauers caught it for the second out, and Crawford struck out again. 12 strikeouts and the minimum number of batters faced through six.

Ortiz reached with one out in the bottom of the sixth—the official scorer gave Turner his second error of the night, both of which could’ve gone either way—and after a Yelich fly out, Ortiz stole second. That mattered when Chourio lined an RBI single into center field and gave the Brewers a 6-0 lead.

Misiorowski got his career-high 13th strikeout to start the seventh inning after a Contreras challenge. Turner grounded out for the second out. Harper grounded out too, and Miz was through seven innings while facing the minimum. And he’d thrown only 75 pitches.

Right-hander Chase Shugart was the new pitcher for the Phillies in the seventh. He quickly got Contreras and Bauers, and with two outs the Brewers went to pinch-hitter Sal Frelick in place of Vaughn. Frelick got jammed but snuck a pop fly over the glove of Stott for a two-out single, but Mitchell flew out to left to end the inning.

Marsh flew out on the first pitch of the eighth, which certainly didn’t hurt Misiorowski’s efficency. Bohm grounded out to first for the second out—on a pitch that was at 102.5 mph, in the eighth inning! Misiorowski struck out Stott for the third out, and he was through eight innings, had faced the minimum, and had 14 strikeouts. Words are beginning to fail.

Lefty Tim Mayza was in for the Phillies in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Ortiz lined a double into the left-field gap. After a Yelich strikeout, Chourio made good contact but flew out to center. The lead stayed at six.

Rincones Jr. helped Miz’s “Maddux” bid (a colloquial term for a shutout on less than 100 pitches) by grounding out to first on the first pitch of the inning. Realmuto grounded out to Hamilton at third. Miz started Crawford with a 103.7 mph fastball—in the ninth inning—and three pitches later blew him away with a 103.1 mph fastball.

Schwarber’s single was the only thing standing between Misiorowski and a perfect game. His 15 strikeouts were three more than his previous career high. He was still throwing over 103 at the end of the game. A guy who struggled with command as a minor leaguer didn’t get into a three-ball count all night. This was a truly legendary start, very possibly the greatest in the history of the franchise.

Offensively, Ortiz was the only player with more than one hit but Milwaukee did a goo job of picking up timely hits. Contreras, Turang, and Ortiz hit doubles in the game, while the big hit was Bauers’ three-run homer in the fifth.

What a night. The Brewers continue the series tomorrow, when Shane Drohan takes the mound against Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola. First pitch is at 6:10 p.m.

Jacob Misiorowski pitched the game of his life, allowing one hit and facing the minimum in his first career complete game shutout as the Milwaukee Brewers (42-25) embarrassed the Philadelphia Phillies (37-32) to the tune of a 6-0 drubbing in the opening game of the weekend series at American Family Field.

Misiorowski faced 27 hitters, allowing one single to Kyle Schwarber in the fourth inning that was erased two batters later as Bryce Harper grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Don Mattingly tried to be creative in turning things around for his struggling rookie starter, Andrew Painter, by opening the game with lefty, Tanner Banks, to allow Painter to avoid dangerous lefties, Christian Yelich and Brice Turang, on the first go-round. Banks allowed a leadoff walk to Yelich and struck out the next two batters before William Contreras doubled home Yelich for the game’s first run.

Painter took the bulk of the game from there, going five innings, and his struggles continued as he allowed five runs on five hits and three walks, culminating with a three-run home run by Jake Bauers in the bottom of the fifth.

In all honestly, it didn’t matter how well the Phillies pitched tonight. No one was matching Misiorowski’s performance.

“The Miz” set a major league record for the fastest pitch thrown by a starting pitcher, set a career high in strikeouts, and became the first pitcher since Gary Waslewski in 1969 to one-hit the Phillies and face the minimum in a complete game shutout. He was the first starter to strike out 15 Phillies since Max Scherzer in 2018.

Misiorowski improved to 8-2 with a 1.34 ERA and a 0.74 WHIP to entrench himself in the historically competitive race for the National League Cy Young Award along with Cristopher Sanchez and Shohei Ohtani, to name a few.

Aaron Nola is slated to face Shane Drohan in the middle game of the series tomorrow night.

The Miz has somehow unlocked an even higher level of dominance.

Jacob Misiorowski, the Milwaukee Brewers' nearly untouchable fireballing right-hander, tossed the first complete game and shutout of his career, needing just 95 pitches to toss a one-hitter and strike out 15 against the Philadelphia Phillies Friday, June 12 at American Family Field.

Only a Kyle Schwarber single in the fourth inning separated Misiorowski from perfection. And Schwarber was erased one batter later on a Bryce Harper double play ball.

Yep, he faced the minimum 27 batters in the Brewers' 6-0 victory and along the way, Misiorowski tossed a 104.5 mph pitch to strike out Schwarber in the first, the hardest pitch by a starting pitcher since pitch tracking began in 2008. It was his first time pitching beyond the seventh inning in 28 career starts.

And pitching on the one-year anniversary of his major league debut, he made it look easy: Not only did Misiorowski not walk a batter, he did not face a three-ball count all game.

And his 15 strikeouts were the most by a pitcher in a shutout of less than 100 pitches, breaking Detroit Tiger lefty Tarik Skubal's record of 13. Seventy-four of his 95 pitches were strikes.

Misiorowski said it felt like he was "floating" in a postgame interview with the Brewers TV broadcast. He certainly maintained his stuff, given he hit 104.5 mph on the first batter of the game and 103 mph on his last pitch − a fastball he blew by Justin Crawford to finish his gem.

The final out of Miz's masterpiece 🥹 pic.twitter.com/FjPyQalcd4

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) June 13, 2026

"There was no chance," says Misiorowski, "I was going to throw something other than a heater there."

It capped a night the crowd of 40,205, with the roof open on a gorgeous night in Milwaukee, urged him along, giving him a standing ovation when he emerged from the dugout for the ninth inning. The Phillies stood little chance.

"That was as good as it gets," says Brewers manager Pat Murphy. "With all those All-Stars and great players they have over there, incredible, incredible performance. Efficient.

“Amazing young man. Really is. He just goes out and lets it eat."

It was the Brewers' first complete game since Brandon Woodruff went the distance in September 2023. And it figures to be the first of many for Misiorowski.

The 6-foot-7, 24-year-old continues to defy convention − that his body can't sustain such prolonged hard throwing, that he can't be pitch-efficient while striking out so many guys.

But all that's a little easier when you simply don't let anyone on base.

The Texas Rangers scored one run but the Boston Red Sox scored ten runs.

The Rangers collected three hits in their first four at-bats against tonight’s Boston starter Sonny Gray but because they’re now, paradoxically, a pop-less small ball team with slow baserunners, all three hits were singles and all three were required to score their first inning run that put them up 1-0.

If you didn’t watch the game or check the score or read the headline of this post or read the introductory sentence, yes, that was the only run that Texas scored on the night. In fact, the Rangers didn’t even have another hit until the top of the sixth and just three more total after the flurry to begin the game. By the time they got that fourth hit, it was 6-1 Boston.

It was 2-1 Boston after the first inning so that Texas lead didn’t even last very long. In fact, it was 2-1 Boston after their first hit of the game. Because they hit a home run.

Technically it wasn’t a two-run home run because Boston’s first run scored in part because the Rangers were poor at virtually every aspect of the sport tonight. In this instance Jack Leiter walked the leadoff hitter and, following a force out, Ceddanne Rafaela reached third base on a throwing error on a stolen base attempt and scored on a sac fly like 220 feet down the left field line.

The score remained 2-1 until the bottom of the fifth inning when the Red Sox decided to pepper the Green Monster with bullets to further inflate Leiter’s ever-expanding ERA. By the end of the frame, Boston had scored four runs following three consecutive doubles and a two-base throwing error by Josh Jung.

Leading the way with three RBIs tonight was Wilyer Abreu (tied with Rafaela) who would be make Shohei Ohtani look like Justin Foscue if he were allowed to play the Rangers every night. The Red Sox scored three more in the eighth. The Nos. 2-4 hitters for Boston had nine hits and eight RBIs between them.

Anyway the Rangers are back below .500.

Player of the Game: It’s quaint comparatively but Wyatt Langford had two whole hits and drove in a run tonight!

Up Next: The Rangers will look to rebound with RHP Jacob deGrom on the mound against LHP Ranger Suarez for Boston.

Saturday’s first pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 3:10 pm CDT and will be aired on the Rangers Sports Network.

Tonight has not gone well for the Atlanta Braves as they’re currently in a deep hole against the New York Mets in the opening game of this weekend series. They could be dealing with some more injury woes to their core players as Spencer Strider exited tonight’s game with trainer George Poulis following a concerning velocity drop.

Strider’s fastball was down to around 88-mph — a significant drop from his usual velocity of 95-mph so far this season. Following a disastrous three innings of work (including six runs given up on two dingers hit by Bo Bichette and one from Juan Soto), his efforts on the mound prompted a mound visit from both Walt Weiss and George Poulis and a visibly-frustrated Strider agreed to leave the game due to the issues that he was dealing with.

Hopefully it’s nothing serious but at the same time, it’s tough to not be alarmed when you consider what was going on with his velocity once he was making his exit. We’ll update this post with any new developments so stay tuned.

UPDATE [10:16 p.m. ET]: The Braves are calling it “right arm soreness” for Strider as the cause for his exit. It’s vague but that’s also not the type of catch-all that you want to see. Let’s continue to hope for the best.

As farfetched as a trade to the Yankees might be, Aroldis Chapman created a stir this week when he told ESPN Deportes that he would want an apology from general manager Brian Cashman before potentially being dealt to The Bronx.

Boone on Friday said he did not agree with the idea that the organization owed the Red Sox closer an apology for how his Yankees tenure ended in 2022.

Chapman, who struggled and lost his closer job that season, missed a mandatory workout ahead of the ALDS for what Boone said at the time was an unacceptable excuse. Cashman fined him for the absence, and the Yankees ultimately left him off the roster.

“At the end of the day, he wasn’t at the workout,” Boone said. “I made the decision, based on a lot of things and thought, to leave him off because I thought that was the right thing to do at the time. Chappy apologized, and really, it’s water under the bridge for me.

“I love Chappy. I have a really good relationship with him to this day. But the ending of the ’22 season was what it was. He wasn’t there, and I made the decision that I didn’t think it was best for him to come back at that point. He maintained that he was throwing and would be ready as the playoffs unfolded that year. But ultimately, I made that decision.”

It is Friday night.

The Orioles have beaten the Padres, 7-3. Gunnar Henderson reached base four times, with three hits – including his 14th homer. It was his 100th homer of his career, making him the fourth-fastest Oriole to reach 100 homers with the franchise. Tyler O’Neill had a pair of hits (really!), and Shane Baz survived five innings despite not looking like he would for a while there, with four Orioles relievers combining to keep San Diego from scoring after that. The team won their third straight game as they took this series opener.

YOU KNOW WHAT MUST BE DONE.