Category: Baseball

There’s no such thing as too much pitching. Pitchers inevitably get hurt. Relievers go on cold stretches. Starters tire down the stretch. The baseball season is a war of attrition, and pitchers are the main casualties. There’s a reason why teams hand out minor league deals to every pitcher with a pulse during Spring Training. For the Red Sox, one of those pitchers was Tyron Guerrero.

Coming into the season, Guerrero had last appeared in the Majors in 2019 when he posted an ERA over six with the Miami Marlins. Since then, he’s spent time in Japan, Mexico, and the minors. His numbers didn’t jump off the page in any of those stops, but if you watch him pitch for about three pitches, you’ll know why he was given a chance back in the States — he’s huge, and he throws really, really hard.

Guerrero’s sinker averages 99.9 miles per hour. Among pitchers with at least 150 pitches thrown (an arbitrary threshold to include Guerrero), that ranks 5th in all of baseball, behind names such as Jacob Misiorowski and Mason Miller. When you figure in his 7.1 feet of extension, the perceived velocity is 101.3 mph, 3rd among 507 qualifiers. That isn’t enough to make someone stick in a major league bullpen, but it’s enough to give them a chance.

Guerrero has taken that opportunity and run with it. He allowed 4 earned runs over his first 3 appearances, ballooning his ERA to 9.82. Since then, he’s been lights out, allowing just 1 earned run over his last 9 appearances (7.2 innings). He’s struck out almost 40% of the hitters he’s faced this season and walked just one (2.1%). Last time he was in the majors, he walked over 16% of hitters while striking out 19.9%. In Japan in 2025, he walked 8.5% and struck out 21%. We’re dealing with a small sample this season, but the improvement is clear. The question is: is it for real, or is it small sample luck?

With so few appearances under his belt, it’s hard to say if Guerrero is for real, although there are some encouraging signs. The biggest of which is that he’s in the zone. His sinker’s zone rate is over 60%, the highest mark of his career. I don’t have his rates from overseas, but I’d be willing to bet the current mark is above those marks as well. His slider – his most used secondary pitch – is also above 50%. Those two pitches have posted well above average strike rates, helping him limit the walks.

Each pitch also provides whiffs. The sinker’s swinging strike rate is over 15%, while the slider’s is almost 20%. At 100 mph with movement, that mark feels sustainable. The slider, as long as it’s near the zone, should also continue to return whiffs as hitters gear up for the fastball. Seriously, how do you hit this?

That’s really all there is to the arsenal. Throw one million miles per hour and dare people to hit it. Every now and then, pull the string and drop in a slider. It’s a formula that’s worked for a long time and will continue to work as long as Guerrero is in or around the zone.

That’s all fairly uninteresting, but the Red Sox do have an interesting choice to make with Guerrero. Given his age (35) and contract, he’ll likely never hit free agency (barring a significant chance to the CBA). According to Spotrac, the righty is still pre-arbitration, meaning he has several years of team control before he hits free agency.

As I mentioned in the open, contenders always need bullpen help. Adding strikeouts to a bullpen is always an attractive proposition. Guerrero, with his premium velocity, might become a name that teams are circling ahead of this year’s deadline. But, should the Red Sox trade him? Dan Secatore described the tightrope the Red Sox need to walk at this year’s deadline yesterday. The pitching is excellent, the offense is not, but they’re not that far off from competing in a top-heavy American League. Despite a disastrous season, they’re poised to turn things around in 2027 and compete again with a few shrewd moves to bolster the lineup. Adding prospects, either to flip for other pieces or to develop into major leaguers, is never a bad idea.

At the same time, the Red Sox have not developed relief pitchers over the past several years. Aroldis Chapman and Garrett Whitlock have been staples at the back of the bullpen for a few seasons now, but Chapman is all but certain to be traded. Justin Slaten has excellent stuff, but he’s struggled with injuries and hasn’t been dominant for a long stretch. Outside of those finds, the Red Sox haven’t had any late-inning arms to rely on. With that in mind, do you hold onto Guerrero and trust him to continue his dominance, slotting into the seventh or eighth inning for 2026, or trade him now while there is some value to be had? I lean towards the former, but could see the argument either way.

Don’t look now, but the Detroit Tigers have gotten hot again, having won four in a row after beating the New York Yankees at Comerica Park on Monday night, 5-3. Framber Valdez held the visitors to just one run over six innings while Riley Greene and Kevin McGonigle led the offense to victory.

The Motor City Kitties have a chance to clinch their fourth series win against a division-leading team on Tuesday night with right-hander Casey Mize on the mound. The 29-year-old is coming off a quality start against the Houston Astros, which saw him surrender three runs on six hits (one home run) and a walk while striking out three to earn his fourth loss of the 2026 campaign.

Opposite him is left-hander Carlos Rodón, whose season was stunted by offseason elbow surgery and then tightness in his right hamstring during spring training that delayed his debut. Since finally making his first start on May 10, the 33-year-old has produced mixed results — his first two starts were rough, but he followed that up with three games of sub-1 ERA before regressing a bit over his last two outings.

Take a look below at how the two match up on Tuesday.

Detroit Tigers (34-44) vs. New York Yankees (46-31)

Time (ET): 6:40 p.m.
Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
SB Nation Site:Pinstripe Alley
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 79: RHP Casey Mize (2-4, 2.58 ERA) vs. LHP Carlos Rodón (3-2, 3.50 ERA)

MIZE

RODÓN

Good morning Birdland,

These Orioles are gonna make me believe in them again, aren’t they? Their 6-1 win on Monday night in Anaheim made it three in a row, and they did it in impressive fashion. Kyle Bradish tossed eight scoreless innings, Taylor Ward and Coby Mayo hit home runs, Gunnar Henderson had three hits, and it never really felt like the Angels had a shot. That final wild card spot in the AL remains just two games out of reach.

There was some bad news yesterday. Blaze Alexander had to leave the game with right knee discomfort. That sounds ominous. Jackson Holliday missed the game entirely with a groin issue. That forced Leody Taveras into action as the team’s third baseman for much of the game. He did alright, even making the very first play of the third inning after he was subbed in!

I blame myself for Alexander’s injury. You can’t just praise a player like that and expect the baseball gods to let him stay healthy for a full 24 hours after it’s posted. Never again.

The fact that Holliday was unable to play in that situation is a bit worrisome. Perhaps it happened too early in the game, and Craig Albernaz just wanted to give him a bit more time on the bench. Whether he plays today will be a big tell, especially with a righty (Ryan Johnson) on the mound for the Angels. Alexander may need an IL stint. We don’t know much about his injury right now.

A roster move that already happened was that the team selected Chadwick Tromp and added him to the active roster. Michael Siani was DFA’d to make room. Tromp gives the Orioles three catchers on the roster, alongside Samuel Basallo and Sam Huff. Adley Rutschman will be on the concussion IL for at least a few more days. Hopefully the addition of Tromp is not an indication that Rutschman could still be a ways away.

Links

‘Who wants to play third?’: Desperate O’s put career outfielder Taveras at hot corner | MLB.com
This was fun! It would have been less fun if he made a crucial error. But that didn’t happen. Maybe Taveras will get more involved in infield drills moving forward.

What’s evolved with four Orioles | Roch Kubatko
The Orioles that take the field right now look quite different from the team we expected back in February. Injuries have been to blame to some degree. Underperformance is another factor. And in some cases, it’s because guys have actually made the case for more playing time. Few expected Alexander and Brandon Young to make such an impact in 2026.

With the Orioles or in his backyard, Blaze Alexander never lost his childhood joy from baseball | The Baltimore Banner
It wasn’t just me that gave Alexander some love on Tuesday. We all must be mean to him now so that the universe is balanced and his knee heals quickly. That’s how these things work, right?

Orioles Select Chadwick Tromp | MLB Trade Rumors
In case you missed it, Tromp is back with Baltimore. How much will he play? Hopefully not much, but clearly the Orioles felt like they wanted more flexibility in the catcher’s role for the next few days while Rutschman recovers.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Jorge Mateo turns 31 today. The speedster was a waiver claim that turned into an extremely useful utility player for the Orioles from 2021 through ’25. His best season was 2022 when he became the Orioles everyday shortstop, led the league in stolen bases, and played terrific defense.
• Mark Hendrickson is 52 years old. The 6-foot-9 lefty spent parts of nine seasons with the Orioles from 2009 through 2011 to wrapped up his decade in MLB.
• The late Lorencito Fernández (b. 1939, d. 2020) was born on this day. His only MLB experience came in a 24-game stint with the Orioles in 1968.

This day in O’s history

1954 – The Orioles and Red Sox set a new AL record by playing a game that takes four hours and 58 minutes to complete. They also tie a major league record by combining to use 42 players in that game. The Orioles win the 17-inning affair 8-7.

1964 – O’s catcher Charley Lau ties a major league record by having two pinch hits in the same inning as the Orioles score seven runs in the eighth inning to beat the Yankees 9-8.

1973 – Orioles pitcher Jesse Jefferson throws 10 innings and allows one run in his major league debut, beating the Red Sox 2-1.

A week before Christmas, St. Louis and Dustin May agreed on a 1 year bounce back opportunity for the once highly touted right-hander. After a myriad of injuries that plagued his early 20’s and a freak esophageal tear that nearly cost May his life, he appears to be unlocking his big talent in the gateway to the west. The Cardinals entered 2026 hoping for health and consistency from May in the middle of their rotation, and after his first 2 starts, it looked like a potential flop.

Since April 10th, Dustin May has a 2.54 ERA and a 2.68 FIP across 74.1 IP. Striking out 23.5% of batters, limiting hitters to a .206 BAA, and a 0.98 WHIP. Over that time, May ranks 9th in ERA, 7th in FIP, 26th in K%, 14th in BAA, and 9th in WHIP. Really, really impressive stuff over that time.

The swing and miss in May’s profile is still improving, and some of the quality of contact numbers are still a little inflated from his truly disastrous first couple of starts of the season. The other element to note for Dustin May is that he has raised his arm angle 12 degrees from last year!

So, with this success, the Cardinals now find themselves in one of those good problems. What do they do? They can make the obvious decision to trade him and recoup assets that will help continue the rebuild, they can try to agree to an extension before the deadline and keep the good times rolling as he nears 30 years old, or they can ride it out through the season, and when he inevitably declines the mutual option, the Cardinals can provide a qualifying offer likely in the 23-24 million dollar range.

Consider this, since the April 10th marker, these are some of the other names expected to be available at this year’s trade deadline (minus Skubal, who will obviously be the top trade chip). I find FIP to be a more enlightening stat to help guide these types of conversations because you can say, “This is what player X does in a neutral environment.” Dustin May might be the 2nd most valuable rental arm available at the deadline, and when contenders are desperate for pitching reinforcements at the deadline, that will greatly improve the Cardinals’ chances at a really good return.

The next option could be to extend the big right-hander. The Cardinals might be tempted to offer a Sonny Gray-type deal for Dustin May at 3 yrs 75 million. That would minimize the long-term risk for the Cardinals and allow May to stay somewhere he’s healthy, happy, and contributing. I would be skeptical that May would settle for such a deal if his representation convinces him he could get over 100 million on the open market, assuming he maintains health and production through the conclusion of the season. The other element to consider here, is that if May IS traded midseason then he is not eligible for a qualifying offer and to be a high octane starting pitcher under the age of 30 with no draft pick compensation attached to him, he might be one of the top 2nd tier pitchers on the market this offseason outside of Skubal and that would land him a really nice payday and some fierce leage wide competetion for his services. He may look at all of those elements as a business decision and whats best for his family, and you can’t argue against that, and testing the open market.

Speaking of the qualifying offer, if the Cardinals can maintain their foothold in the WC standings come August 3rd, it wouldnt be out of the question for St. Louis to hold May and try to make a run with him at the top of the rotation, leading the way. Now, before you scoff at the notion of simply offering him a QO at season’s end. Consider these names to have been drafted using the comp pick over the last 8 years.

2025

Patrick Forbes (AZ) 50 FV

Caden Bodine (BAL) 50 FV

Wehiwa Aloy (BAL) 55 FV

Brady Ebel (MIL) 50 FV

2024

Kyle DeBarge (MIN) 50 FV

2023

none

2022

Sterlin Thompson (COL) 40 FV

Sal Stewart (CIN) 50 FV

2021

Jay Allen II (CIN) 50 FV

2020

none

2019

Brennan Malone (AZ) 55 FV

Drey Jameson (AZ) 50 FV

2018

Shane McClanahan (TB) 55 FV

Nick Schnell (TB) 50 FV

Jackson Kowar (KC) 55 FV

Daniel Lynch IV (KC) 50 FV

Ethan Hankins (CLE) 50 FV

The Cardinals would have the ability to draft a really high upside player still in the range of the recouped comp pick. It’s easy to blow off the idea of a comp pick when it’s framed as “a random draft pick.” It might change a few tunes when you start seeing the names McClanahan and Stewart. Those being the best case scenerios, sure. But, simply having the opportunity to bring in another 1st round quality prospect in whats expected to be a really strong draft in 2027 isn’t insignificant. If the Cardinals were to trade May, acquiring teams would have to at minimum surpass the value of a comp pick player. The Cardinals would also give themselves at least a fighting chance for a playoff spot when most of us assumed this was a 75-win team at best coming into the season, and still recoup assets as they try to capitalize on a surprise playoff bid.

Ultimately, Chaim Bloom is going to have a very difficult decision on his hands as to what he should do with a valuable asset like May by August 3rd, and the decision between now and then might fluctuate 7 or 8 different times as the ebbs and flows of a season remain a continuously fluid day-to-day evaluation.

(stats and graphs courtesy of Baseball Savant and Fangraphs, and FV values from MLB Pipeline)

-Thanks for reading

Today’s subject is in kind of an unusual spot as regards his prospect status. Bloss actually debuted two years ago, and as he turns 25 today (Happy Birthday, Jake) he’s on the fringes of what’s typically considered prospect eligibility. He’s also coming back from Tommy John surgery, which has eaten up the last 14 months for him when he would normally have been breaking into the MLB rotation. All that means the excitement about him is a little muted for a former top 100 prospect on the cusp of the majors. We ranked him as the system’s #6 prospect coming into the season, and he’s undoubtedly a key part of the organization’s medium term hopes, but right at this minute the buzz is lacking. He’s back at AAA as of last week, though, and given the state of the back of the Jays’ rotation he might become a factor of the big league club soon if he looks up to the challenge.

His rehab outing Statcast data offers some immediate intrigue. Last time we saw Bloss for a full season, in 2024, his four seamer sat 92-95 and touched 96. It’s a small sample size, with only 95 heaters tracked (we only have public StatCast data for his three appearances with A Dunedin and one with AAA Buffalo), but since coming back he’s sitting 95.8mph and regularly cresting 97. His hardest single pitch in 2024 was equivalent to his average in 2026, and he hasn’t thrown a pitch classified as a four seamer this season as slow as his average from the earlier year. There were hints before he went down with the elbow injury last year that he was taking a step forward with his velocity, but what we’re seeing right now is a big leap. The pitch was already considered to be above average in spite of middling velocity because Bloss gets great extension and generates a lot of backspin and vertical carry. That’s all preserved, so if he maintains most of the velocity gain as he gets fully stretched out his fastball has improved from solid to an easy plus pitch.

His sinker appears to have made the same gains, going from 93.3mph to 95.0. He’s spinning both fastballs harder by about 80rpm, which has preserved their total movement in spite of the velocity bump (slower pitches break more because they have more time to accelerate in whatever direction their spin is taking them before reaching the plate).

He also seems to have made changes to his secondaries. His changeup has gotten harder, but by only 1.3mph (87.2 up to 88.5mph), and he’s actually gotten better at killing the spin on the pitch, reducing the rotation by 100rpm. The result is that it has more drop and a bigger velocity gap off the fastball. The slider, like the fastballs, has picked up about 2mph and about 100rpm, breaking harder to cover the same distance in less time. His curveball, interestingly, hasn’t seen the same gains in spin rate but is now almost 2.5mph harder, leading to less glove side break and a slightly more up and down shape.

There have been the hiccoughs with command that you’d expect from a guy coming back from surgery, and he’s still only partially stretched out. Bloss probably won’t be ready for the majors for a few weeks yet. The leap his stuff has taken during his rehab creates reason to be excited for him when he arrives, though.

MLB.com | Brian Murphy and Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru: With Phase 1 of the All-Star Game voting process concluding on Thursday, several Yankees have a good chance of moving on to Phase 2. Ben Rice is the second-most-voted first baseman behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and should advance. The same can be said about Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge (who won’t be able to play), who are fourth and first, respectively. Jazz Chisholm Jr. is fourth with 419,777 votes, and the second-ranked second baseman, Ezequiel Durán, has 531,182. As a reminder, the top two vote-getters in every position advance to the next phase, along with the top six outfielders.

NJ Advance Media | Randy Miller: The Yankees added right-hander Yerry de los Santos to their active roster on Monday. He was one of the hottest arms in Scranton, working 8.1 scoreless innings in seven June games. He occupies Elmer Rodríguez’s roster spot after he was sent down following his start on Sunday. De los Santos has a 1.69 ERA in 5.1 MLB innings this year and a 3.41 mark in Triple-A across 31.2 frames.

ESPN Press Room | Courtney Clawson: Former Yankees pitcher Jim Abbott, who tossed a no-hitter in pinstripes on September 4, 1993, will be honored in the 2026 edition of the ESPY Awards to be held in New York on July 15th. He will receive the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the ceremony. Abbott went on to have a highly successful career in MLB despite being born without a right hand.

The Braves offense was lifeless against Michael King and the San Diego bullpen on Monday night, losing 1-0 to drop their second game in a row.

It was more of the same for Grant Holmes, who labored through 4 2/3 innings. He hung a slider to struggling Manny Machado in the fourth inning that was rocketed over the center field wall for San Diego’s lone early run. Holmes issued five walks and struck out four, including back-to-back walks in the fifth that prompted Walt Weiss to remove him from the game. Credit to Weiss and Didier Fuentes, who entered the game and promptly struck out Gavin Sheets to keep the deficit at 1-0.

Holmes ought be in the bullpen. I’m just not sure what other options the Braves have given the current state of things.

The Braves had the leadoff runner on a handful of innings against King and Co., but they were unable to get a run across despite numerous opportunities. There was a hack-at-everything approach on Monday night, which obviously did not work. They also hit a half-dozen rockets at center fielder Jackson Merrill, who caught them all.

The series will continue tomorrow night from Petco Park with JR Ritchie hoping to right the ship after a rough start against the Giants last week. Ritchie will be opposed by To Be Announced, a daunting opponent. First pitch will be half an hour earlier at 9:40 p.m. ET and will be carried by BravesVision.

Two pitches after Jake McCarthy’s walk-up Led Zeppelin song rang through the speakers at Coors Field, the Rockies outfielder drilled a triple down the third base line to empty the formerly loaded bases and walk-off the Red Sox on Monday night.

The hit erased the embarassing baserunning blunders in the eighth inning and the nine strikeouts at the hands of Boston rookie Jake Bennett in the first six innings to give Colorado an unbelievable win.

Ryan Feltner kept it close by throwing a quality start and only surrendering two runs in six innings, Brennan Bernardino threw a scoreless seventh and Victor Vodnik earned the win with two scoreless innings to close out the game.

The last hit of the game was McCarthy’s only hit of the night, and he made it count.

“Jake is awesome. He’s the best. He gets on base. He uses his legs, he’s never out of it,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “You want him at the plate at all times. He can get on base with bunts. He doesn’t strike out. I could go on and on about Jake.”

Eight hits in a row to end it

If someone asked you if it’s possible to have eight hits in a row over two innings, you might not think it can be done. But the Rockies proved it can be and used the rally to pull off a remarkable win.

The Rockies offense, absent for seven innings, finaly showed up in the eighth inning when a Colorado strung together four straight singles in a rally that should have at least put the Rockies on the board, if not tied the game. Instead, the Rockies managed the unthinkable — not scoring.

With runners on first and second with one out, third base coach Andy González sent Edouard Julien home on a Willi Castro shallow single, only to see Julien thrown out by what felt like a mile. Tyler Freeman tried to bail the Rockies out with his third single of the night, only to have Castro get caught between second and third when Mickey Moniak wiselyy stopped at third.

Schaeffer, who went 2-for-3 on pinch hitters getting hits in the eighth, didn’t question his coaching staff, instead crediting a great throw from center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela and admitting the Rockies runners need to have their heads up better in those situations.

A promising rally was quickly erased and the Rockies remained behind, 2-0, entering the ninth inning. After Vodnik put up a goose egg, the Rockies didn’t let their mistakes change their never-say-die attitude.

“I don’t ever think they are out of it. I don’t care what happens the inning before. These guys fight until the end,” Schaeffer said. “You always know there is going to be fight in the next inning. You just know it’s coming, even if in the eighth, the base running was a little deflating, but we keep going. They are professionals.”

With four hits in a row, which doubled the amount before the eighth inning, the Rockies picked right back up where the left off. After combining to go 0-for-6 going into the ninth, TJ Rumfield and Hunter Goodman led of the ninth with back-to-back singles.

Cole Carrigg then came to the plate and attempted to bunt the runners over. Instead, his bunt was too good and his speed too fast for Boston, as the bunt turned into a base-loading single. Then came McCarthy for the cooler-dumping three-bagger.

“That was incredible. Eight straight hits to end the ball game there against two world-class pitchers — [Garrett] Whitlock and [Aroldis] Champman,” Shaeffer said. “They don’t quite. We’ve been saying it all year. We fight until the end and tonight we got rewarded for it. Hats off to all of them.

“Goodman tough night at the plate and then a big knock. Rumfield tough night at the plate and then a big knock. It doesn’t effect them. They just keep going,” Schaeffer continued. “Carrigg huge bunt, Jake obviously the big one. Eddie [Julien], Mick [Moniak] good to see him back off the bench. Just good stuff for the last two innings. It was awesome.”

Feltner’s performance sets table for win

Feltner’s night started out rough, got so much better, and ended on a tough note again. When Feltner walked two Red Sox in the first inning, it seemed like a bad sign. He was able to bounce back, however, with help from a double play and was able to escape the inning without any damage.

In the second, Caleb Durbin doubled and Masataka Yoshida walked to put runners on first and second with one out, but Feltner’s luck continued as he was able to again get out of the inning without allowing Boston to cross the plate.

Then Feltner found his groove. From the last two outs in the third to the first two outs in the sixth, Feltner retired 13 straight Red Sox, tying a career-high number from last season. He only notched two strikeouts, but forced seven ground outs to make the innings fly by scoreless.

“When you start off the game and you don’t really have what you want and it doesn’t feel right, it can go one of two ways: you can completely shut down and be done, or you can keep going and fighting and get through it for your team and save the bullpen. He did more than that,” Schaeffer said of his starter. “He was outstanding through six innings to only give up the two runs in the sixth. He settled in, started pounding the strike zone. It was great.”

But with two outs in the sixth, things went south for Feltner. Wilyer Abreu reached on an swinging bunt and Willson Contreras doubled to put the Red Sox up 1-0. Feltner then walked Jarren Duran before giving up an RBI single to Durbin. It could have been worse, but Yoshida ended the inning by lining out.

In six innings, Feltner gave up two runs on four hits with four walks and two strikeouts. He only needed 59 pitches to get through the first five innings, but then used up 34 in the sixth to end his night.

Other notes

• Moniak returned to the lineup after missing a month due to an ankle injury and singled on the first pitch he saw in his only at-bat, a pinch hit appearance in the eighth inning.
• The Rockies issued six walks to the Red Sox, while drawing none of their own.
• Colorado out-hit Boston 12-5.
• Every Rockie in the starting lineup got a hit except for Ezequiel Tovar.
• Vodnik issued leadoff walks in both the eighth and ninth innings, but was saved by a double play and three ground outs.
• The win marked the Rockies third walk-off win of the season, after winning their first on May 29th.

Up next

The Rockies and Red Sox will be back in action on Tuesday night. Sean Sullivan (0-1, 10.29 ERA) will be on the mound for the Rockies, making his third career start. Veteran righty and three-time All-Star Sonny Gray (8-1, 3.12 ERA) will get the start for Boston.

First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. MDT.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

In a game full of emotions, poor bullpen management, and too-close-for-comfort scores, the White Sox pulled one from the Guardians as my favorite scrappy rookie, Sam Antonacci, walked it off in the bottom of the ninth for a 6-5 win. Grab your Tums and strap in for this winning recap.

Things started really well for the Good Guys, denting the scoreboard in the second inning with a two-out rally: Chase Meidroth singled, and Braden Montgomery followed up with a double that sent Meidroth racing home.

And the Sox didn’t stop. Luisangel Acuña started the bottom of the third with a single and distracted Gavin Williams quite a bit by stealing second and taunting Cleveland. Sam Antonacci battled, earning himself a nine-pitch walk after Cleveland lost an ABS challenge. Miguel Vargas singled, and Acuña was waved home but called out. The White Sox challenged the tag and a blocking interference, but lost.

I sat and pondered if I knew anything about baseball after that call, because it was a clear block. Alas. Thankfully, Andrew Benintendi knocked Antonacci in, making it 2-0.

Kay continued to keep Cleveland off the board, but as his tank was emptying in the sixth, he gave up his second walk of the game with two outs, prompting the bullpen to get Grant Taylor warmed up. Kay dug deep for a career-high 101 pitches, but also got the much-needed, inning-ending punch out of Gabriel Arias. Kay tied his career high with his eighth K, and Arias was on his way to a platinum sombrero.

Tim Herrin replaced starter Gavin Williams for the Guardians, which prompted a Randal Grichuk pinch-hitting appearance. It would prove to be a great call by Will Venable, as Grichuk homered, again, against a lefty. That would be it for the frame, but the White Sox were now up, 3-0. Taylor, who entered the game for the seventh, struggled with his command early. He gave up a leadoff walk to Steven Kwan, a hit to Daniel Schneemann, and a wild pitch that would advance both. Another walk loaded the bases, and trouble surfaced when Kahlil Watson singled, sending two runners home. Ryhs Hoskins sent a ball up the middle to tie the ballgame and prompted a the hook for Taylor. Bryan Hudson ended the inning with a strikeout, but the lead was long gone.

Braden Montgomery led off the seventh with a double. With a broken bat, Antonacci snuck a hit past first base, sending Montgomery home to regain the lead. Antonacci promptly stole second, and then third on a wild pitch. Unfortunately, Miguel Vargas struck out to end the inning.

With the Sox still up, 4-3, Seranthony Domínguez came in for the ninth and promptly walked the leadoff batter. A stolen base and wild pitch got Travis Bazzana to third, putting the tying run 90 feet away with nobody out. Patrick Bailey singled, tying the game and giving Domínguez yet another blown save.

But it got worse, as Brayan Rocchio doubled to put ducks on the pond, and Domínguez lucked into a strikeout before being booed and yanked off the mound. A shallow fly ball to center would send the runner home after a successful challenge from the Guardians, putting them up, 5-4. But, with a runner on third and two outs, Arias waved at a third strike for his fifth K of the game.

Braden Montgomery started a ninth-inning rally with one out by picking up a walk, and Tristan Peters made up for an awful throw in the previous frame with a stand-up double that shouldn’t have even been a hit. After a strikeout by pinch-hitter Jacob Gonzalez, the White Sox were down to their last out, one batter away from dropping two games behind Cleveland in the AL Central.

But we had a guy there, my favorite guy, Antonacci, who stepped up and smacked a first-pitch fastball at his eyes for a single past matador-shortstop Brayan Rocchio, sending both runners home. The Guardians challenged the tag play with on Peters for the winning run, but the call was upheld — SAFE!

The Good Guys stormed the field, ripping Antonacci’s jersey off and baptizing him in Gatorade after his first career walk-off, as he took it all in while wearing the best shit-eating grin I’ve seen in my life.

The White Sox and Guardians are back to being tied for first place, with the White Sox technically ahead by .04 percentage points.

The Tartan effect made its way to Miami — and provided one of the more unforgettable nights in the history of typically moribund loanDepot Park.

With Scotland gearing up to take on mighty Brazil in a World Cup Group C match on Wednesday, June 24 at Hard Rock Stadium, its spirited, soggy and fun-loving Tartan Army continued a takeover of Major League Baseball stadiums, turning one of the most nondescript nights on the calendar — Rangers-Marlins on a Monday night — into a spectacle.

How big a spectacle? Well, the Marlins have played five Monday games this season, and averaged 8,404 fans. Yet on Monday, June 22, with Scottish fans needing to kill a couple nights before the big Brazil match, 20,008 kilt-wearing, lager-swilling, chant-crazy fans made the ballpark thump.

They were treated to a great game, the Rangers and Marlins going back and forth before the Rangers' two-run eighth-inning rally proved decisive for a 4-3 victory.

Record: 39-39. Pace: 81-81. Change on 2025: -1.

I suppose we should have predicted a one-run game here, and it may not be the last in the series. Coming in, the D-backs and Cardinals were first and equal second (with the Dodgers) for the most one run games in the National League. Arizona were 13-12, and St. Louis 13-10. Both those numbers now tick up a point in the appropriate direction. The D-backs’ recent string of futility with runners in scoring position continued. While they pulled back from three runs down to close within one, they were unable to get the big when they needed it. The runs scored on a solo home-run by Tommy Troy, and a groundout by ex-Cardinal Nolan Arenado, but Arizona went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

I would not have bet on a one-run game three batters into the bottom of the first, however. With a possible bullpen game looming on the horizon, the last thing the Diamondbacks needed was a short outing from Merrill Kelly. It looked like one could be on the Cards (pun very much intended), as Kelly allowed back-to-back singles, followed by a walk, to load the bases before getting around to retiring a home hitter. However, disaster was averted in two pitches, as Jordan Walker (5th in the NL for homers coming in), lined out to Geraldo Perdomo and the next pitch saw Lars Nootbaar (1st in the NL for name that’s most fun to say) hit into a double-play.

Unfortunately, that basically used up all Arizona’s luck points for the evening. That much was spectacularly clear in the third inning, after Ketel Marte singled to lead things off. Perdomo then hit into what was a potential double-play, but Masyn Winn’s screaming throw to first skidded past the first baseman. Geraldo then tried to take second, but appears to have been blown over by the shockwave from Wynn’s throw (above). That’s the only way to explain him eating dirt, on his way to the old 4-6-3-6-2 double-play, where both of the outs were made at second-base. After that, it really didn’t feel like it was going to be the D-backs’ night.

The bottom of the third proved it. A lead-off single almost drilled Kelly, and the runner came around to score on a perfectly-placed infield hit with an expected batting average of just .060. That was the first of the Cardinals’ two hits with RISP tonight, and gave them a 1-0 lead. At least it was followed by another double-play, this one sweetly turned by Arenado. Speaking of whom, he got a very nice reception from the St. Louis fans when he stepped to the plate in the second inning. Perhaps a little surprising, considering how much their team is paying for him to be on the Arizona roster, this year and next. But they appear to be mostly intent on remembering the good times, like 2022 when he was 3rd in MVP voting behind some “Goldschmidt” guy.

The Cardinals added to their lead in the fourth, after a lead-off walk came home on a sacrifice fly, and a two-out RBI single followed for a 3-0 lead. That was the end of the damage against Kelly, who was able to deliver a quality start, by the bare minimum in both metrics: exactly six innings pitched, with precisely three earned runs allowed. He allowed seven hits, all of which were singles, but walked three and struck out just two of the 26 batters faced. That’s a K-rate of 5.23 per nine innings, one of the worst by any everyday pitcher in the majors this year. His K:BB ratio is 1.42, compared to 3.48 last season, and that’s surely one of the main reasons for his struggles.

The Diamondbacks were able to make something of a game of it. They got on the board on the sixth. Corbin Carroll led off with a double off the wall in right, which would have been a home-run in 21 parks. He scored anyway, on a pair of groundouts. There was no such doubt about Arizona’s second run, coming courtesy of Tommy Troy’s third home-run of the year (above) in the seventh inning. It was a no-doubter, estimated at 444 feet. That’s the third-longest by any Arizona batter this year, trailing a 448 ft Carroll shot (at Coors, so give it a *), and a 452 ft. monster by Marte in San Francisco. Not bad for a kid playing only his 25th major-league game.

That was more or less that last hoorah for Arizona. Marte singled and stole second, but a groundout by Perdomo started a run of the seven final D-backs being retired in order, ending the game with the one-run margin in favor of the Cardinals. Taylor Clarke and Johnny Lasagna kept St. Louis off the board the rest of the way. Arizona did outhit their opponents 8-7 and also prevailed 3-0 in the XBH column. But they didn’t draw a single walk and, along with the RISP failings, that was likely the difference maker here. [Wait till you see the Deserve To Win chart in the comments…] Arizona drops back to .500, at the beginning of a tough series of games leading into the All-Star break.

Click here for details, at Fangraphs.com
The Perfect Kiss: Taylor Clarke, +6%
World in Motion: Geraldo Perdomo, -22%
State of the Nation: Lourdes Gurriel, -10%

Just shy of two hundred comments, which given the early start time here in Arizona, is quite respectable. There were some very respectable comments in the GDT, but the most rec’d ones tended to rely on GIF usage, which doesn’t translate very well to screenshots. So let’s give it to ChefAZ for this uplifting bit of news, on a night when our five-game streak of winning on Mondays came to an end.

Tomorrow sees another 4:45 pm first pitch (AZ time), with team ace Eduardo Rodriguez – nope, still sounds weird – taking the mound for the D-backs. Probably our best chance of victory in the series, so fingers crossed the team gets back above .500.

DETROIT — Ali Sánchez was already scheduled to be out of commission for a few days this week, for good reason: paternity leave.

But after Monday night, the Yankees were left hoping he would not be out longer than that because of a right wrist injury.

The catcher, who has played well in limited starts since being called up earlier this month, left Monday’s 5-3 loss to the Tigers early after taking Drew Anderson’s 98 mph fastball off the right wrist, which caused him serious pain.

X-rays were negative, but Sánchez was headed for a CT scan postgame to determine if there was any damage.

“Initially, he was in a ton of pain, enough to take him out right away,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Hopefully we get clean on the CT and it’s just a day-to-day thing.”

Sánchez had doubled home the Yankees’ only run off Tigers lefty Framber Valdez, snapping the club’s 0-for-23 skid with runners in scoring position.

The right-handed hitter has been productive across 10 games, batting .316 (6-for-19) with an .802 OPS and three RBIs.

“Feel like he’s done a good job,” Boone said. “I think he’s more than held his own at the plate. Drove in our first run tonight with a really good at-bat. I thought both of his at-bats were really good and competitive and in control. That’s been good to see. Hopefully this is just a day-to-day scenario.”

With Sánchez planning to go on the paternity list any day, J.C. Escarra was already in Detroit with the Yankees on the taxi squad and would also replace him if an injured list stint is needed.

The game was delayed six minutes in the fourth inning after an infield dirt camera became exposed.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. tried to cover the camera in dirt or possibly remove it, to no avail, and the grounds crew eventually had to work on it as Gerrit Cole threw warmup pitches to stay loose.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

“That’s just part of it, I guess, 2026,” Cole said. “I still made quality pitches coming out of the back of those delays, but not easy to deal with. Did the best we could.”

Trent Grisham is trending toward a return that may be even quicker than the Yankees had initially expected.

The outfielder, who has been on the injured list since June 13 with a “moderate” right hamstring strain, was moving well in agility drills in recent days before the Yankees left town and is expected to meet them this weekend at Fenway Park, where he will ramp up to full baseball activities — running the bases, taking batting practice and shagging fly balls in the outfield — before potentially playing in rehab games next week.

“We don’t want to rush the ending of that,” Boone said. “It is encouraging how good he is moving, how well he’s moving. So we need to continue that trajectory and hopefully he’s back sooner rather than later.”

While Boone was mum on Aaron Judge, who is three weeks into a four-to-six-week timeline for reimaging on the stress fracture in his first right rib, he said that Giancarlo Stanton could “start to get ramped up a little bit” Tuesday, a little over a week after suffering a setback with his calf strain.

The Yankees called up Yerry de los Santos on Monday to fill the empty bullpen spot vacated by Jake Bird — with Elmer Rodríguez using the roster spot Sunday for a spot start before being sent right back to Triple-A.

Boone said a few relievers were in consideration — presumably including the hard-throwing Yovanny Cruz — but de los Santos was the choice because he was “in a good spot and fits the role well.”

The righty, who had a four-pitch outing Tuesday, had not given up a run in his last seven appearances.

The Phillies offense struggled against another left-handed starting pitcher, as this time Foster Griffin of the Nationals shut down the Philadelphia lineup while a back breaking two-run homer from Curtis Mead in the seventh put the game out of reach in a 4-1 loss. Griffin flummoxed the Phillies hitters all night, racking up nine strikeouts in 7.1 innings, the longest outing of his MLB career.

Tim Mayza started the game on the mound for the Phillies as an opener in the first attempt to fill the fifth rotation spot vacated by the recently demoted Andrew Painter. He surrendered a leadoff double to James Wood before retiring Mead on a fly out that moved Wood to third. But Dylan Crews followed with a single off of Mayza to drive in the first run of the game. CJ Abrams then reached on an error by Trea Turner, his eighth of the season, before Mayza was able to end the inning with a pair of strikeouts.

It was then Alan Rangel’s opportunity to audition for that fifth spot, as he followed Mayza as the bulk pitcher. It didn’t start off too well, as he surrendered a home run to the second batter he faced in Luis Garcia Jr. to push the deficit to 2-0. Outside of that though, Rangel did just about as much as could have reasonably been asked of him. He finished five innings and allowed just that one run on five hits with no walks and five strikeouts.

The Phillies bats meanwhile could not figure out Griffin, as the lefty held them in check with seven strikeouts through the first four innings, including striking out the side in the fourth. Rafael Marchán led off the third with a single, but Turner quickly grounded into a force out before Kyle Schwarber lined out to center and Bryce Harper grounded out to first. The best scoring chance came in the fifth when Derek Hill hit a line drive to left field and just narrowly beat the throw from Crews to be safe at second with a leadoff double. He then advanced to third with one out when Bryson Stott grounded back to the pitcher. But Marchán popped out softly to shortstop on two pitches and Turner grounded out on the first pitch to third base that was deftly picked by Mead whose throw just beat Turner to the bag at first.

The sixth brought another chance for the Phillies, but yet again, they failed to break through against Griffin. Schwarber reached base on an error from second baseman Nasim Nuñez to begin the inning, but Griffin needed just six pitches to retire Harper on a fly out and Alec Bohm on a spectacular double play started by Nuñez to end the threat.

It took until the seventh, but the Phillies did finally get a run across against Griffin thanks to a Brandon Marsh solo homer to right field for his 10th home run of the season. On the night, Griffin finished with 7.1 IP, four hits, no walks, and nine strikeouts. But Marsh’s homer brought the Phillies right back into the game, cutting the then 2-0 deficit in half. The comeback attempt wouldn’t last long though, as Seth Johnson allowed the two-run shot to Mead in the bottom half of the inning to put the Phillies down three.

The Phillies went down quietly in the eighth against another lefty in Richard Lovelady before Harper led off the ninth with a single against Clayton Beeter. But before you could even get your hopes up, Alec Bohm dashed them with a quick double play on the first pitch he saw. Justin Crawford had the honor of being the game’s last out, striking out after being used as a pinch hitter for Edmundo Sosa.

Tomorrow’s matchup

Jesús Luzardo (6-4, 4.20) will look to get the Phillies back on track against Zack Littell (6-6, 5.45) of the Nationals. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45.

LOL. LMAO even. The Sox never trailed until the final run crossed the plate, having built a 2-0 win methodically over the previous eight innings. This was a Little League-ass game (complimentary enough): Against starting pitchers neither team could do much, but the Sox eventually broke through on a sixth-inning RBI double by Willson Contreras. Caleb Durbin followed with another RBI the same inning. And that was all to write home about except a great start from Jake Bennett and an appearance by old friend Brennan Bernardino.

The first danger the Sox faced was in the eighth, when Garrett Whitlock gave up four straight one-out singles and escaped by the Sox throwing out guys at home and second. Just gnarly stuff, and the spider moment from Lord of the Rings, right? That one final major roadblock? Au contraire, because Aroldis Chapman gave up four straight hits — the first three were singles, the third was a bunt, the fourth a double to clear the bases and win it — and it was over in the blink of an eye, even after a short game (it was 2:20 in real time to play the whole thing). The first seven of the eight straight hits to end it were singles. Let tonight forever be known as the game the Red Sox gave up eight straight hits to end it to fall into a lead for the fewest wins in the league… tied with the Rockies. That’s some shit!

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