Category: Baseball

PHILADELPHIA — They were baby steps, but given the way the Yankees have been pitching of late, they seemed like sizable leaps from the lineup.

Austin Wells, one of the worst hitters in the major leagues all season even after recent signs of life, clobbered a home run to tie the game.

Cody Bellinger, trying to fully bust his way out of an extended slump, roped an RBI single for the lead before leaving the game in the eighth inning with a left hamstring injury that could land him on the injured list.

And then Jasson Domínguez, hoping to prove he can still be part of the solution to withstanding Aaron Judge’s absence, delivered some insurance by crushing a home run from the right side.

It was still only three runs, scored across three innings, but they were provided by some key bats and complemented the club’s latest strong pitching effort — this time from Ryan Weathers and three relievers — as the Yankees beat the Phillies 3-1 on Saturday night at a sold-out Citizens Bank Park.

An otherwise positive night ended with concern for Bellinger, who came out of the game in the bottom of the eighth after his hamstring grabbed while he was legging out a double in the top of the frame.

There was some fear that the All-Star might have to join Judge and Giancarlo Stanton on the injured list, but that was dependent on how he woke up Sunday with tests to follow.

“It sucks,” Bellinger said. “I hate going down. It’s no fun being on the IL. See how I wake up [Sunday] and hopefully it’s nothing serious.”

Despite the injuries and an offense that is still not scoring enough, the Yankees (59-45) won for the ninth time in their last 12 games, but remained two games back of the Rays (who also won again) for the AL East lead.

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“The pitching’s held us in these games,” Wells said. “They’ve been on their stuff for us and given us a really good chance offensively. We’re not scoring a ton of runs right now, but they’re keeping us in every game and giving us a chance.”

On Saturday, it was Weathers who turned in a strong outing (despite a rocky start and some traffic throughout) as he held the Phillies (56-49) to just one run across 5 ²/₃ innings — the only run the Yankees have allowed over this three-game winning streak.

The left-hander, who once again de-emphasized his four-seam fastball, scattered six hits and one walk but struck out seven before giving way to the bullpen — with Angel Chivilli, Paul Blackburn and David Bednar all throwing up zeroes, Bednar for his 20th straight scoreless appearance.

“The bullpen’s been phenomenal,” Weathers said. “As starters, just keep our team in the game, we know we have a really good bullpen right now and they came in and closed it out tonight.”

Coming into the night, Wells was batting just .163 with a .524 OPS across 70 games, but he had quietly been better of late — both in results and at-bat quality — hitting .286 with a .995 OPS and two home runs over his last eight games.

There is nothing he can do over the next week to convince the Yankees they should not still acquire a catcher before the trade deadline, but his recent play has at least offered some encouragement in an otherwise miserable offensive season.

Wells added to that mini hot streak by crushing a sinker from right-hander Brian Keller — the Yankees’ 39th-round pick in 2016 who was making his MLB debut — 430 feet the other way to left-center field for a solo shot in the third inning that tied the game 1-1.

While the hamstring injury threatens to stall his progress, Bellinger, after going 2-for-4, is batting 16-for-43 (.372) over his last 12 games — the same number of hits he had in 24 games before that.

One of those hits was an RBI single in the sixth inning that scored Wells for the 2-1 lead.

In the seventh, Domínguez demolished a 420-foot blast off lefty José Alvarado — his second of the season from the right side of the plate — to put the Yankees ahead 3-1.

“This season I feel much better,” Domínguez said while turning around to knock on his wooden locker, “against lefties.”

The Yankees may need to find some more wood to knock on in hopes of Bellinger’s injury not being serious, but either way, they will have to find a way to get their offense clicking more consistently.

“Did enough offensively and we got to keep moving the needle though as a group offensively,” manager Aaron Boone said. “The biggest thing that’s kept us in there is the run prevention side.”

When the Phillies struggle on offense as a collective, there is usually a simple recipe for it:

1. The stars slump
2. Everyone starts pressing and swinging at bad pitches
3. There are bad swing decisions

Wash, rinse, repeat.

The offense is in the middle of one of those stretches right now where everyone is trying to do too much, swinging at bad pitches, trying to hit a seven run home run and now, we have a four game losing streak.

And tonight, they even struck first! Trea Turner gets hit by a pitch, Kyle Schwarber doubles, newly shorn Bryce Harper hits a sacrifice fly and all of a sudden, there is a 1-0 Phillies lead and a runner on third base. Little did we know that that was the only run that would be scored on the evening.

On the mound, Tim Mayza was the opener and did a fine job over two shutout innings, giving way to Brian Keller in his major league debut. Keller did give up a home run to Austin Wells, but for the most part, did just fine in keeping the Yankees off the board, only allowing a single run over three innings. Clearly, the coaching staff did not want Keller out there too long, instead opting to go to the bullpen in the sixth inning instead.

In that inning, Kyle Backhus walked the first hitter he faced before getting the next two on strikeouts, giving way to Seth Johnson. Johnson looked like a decent candidate to break out as a reliever, but it just has not come to fruition. He gave up back to back hits to allow Wells to score and give the Yankees the lead.

Meanwhile, the offense was generating some traffic against Weathers, but couldn’t push anything across. In the sixth, they got runners on the corners with Bryan de la Cruz and J.T. Realmuto each singling, but facing Angel Chivilli, Bryson Stott popped out into foul territory to end the threat. The Yankees tacked on another in the seventh on a Jasson Dominguez home run and that was basically that.

The offense is just slumping so badly right now and everyone is trying to swing their way out of it. The Yankees have been pitching well prior to this series and have carried it over into Philadelphia, but still, there should be better at bats coming from this lineup. They’ll try and salvage a game tomorrow night on Sunday Night Baseball with Cristopher Sanchez on the mound, so we’ll see.

The Yankees' pitching staff kept the vaunted Phillies lineup at bay for the second game in a row as they defeated Philadelphia, 3-1, on Saturday night.

Both teams had seven hits, but the Phillies were 0-for-7 with eight left on base.

In the first two games of this weekend series, the Yankees staff has allowed just one run.

Here are the takeaways...

-- The Phillies made Ryan Weathers work early. Trea Turner led off the game by getting hit by a pitch before Kyle Schwarber doubled to put runners on second and third and no outs. Bryce Harper drove in the game's first run with a sac fly, but Weathers worked out of further trouble, getting a ground out and a strikeout. 

Weathers would work out of trouble a few times, getting strikeouts when needed and taking advantage of over-aggressive Phillies hitters.

Weathers pitched into the sixth inning, getting the first two outs and was on the verge of completing the inning, getting Bryan De La Cruz to hit a soft grounder toward the first base side, but Weathers was caught in between going for the ball and covering the base, and De La Cruz made it on safely. That spelled the end of Weathers' night as Aaron Boone went to his bullpen. 

Angel Chivilli was the first out and gave up a single to J.T. Realmuto, but Cody Bellinger covered a lot of ground to get a Bryson Stott flyout in foul territory to end the threat and put a bow on Weathers' night. 

Weathers allowed one run on six hits and one walk while striking out seven across 5.2 innings (97 pitches/66 strikes). 

-- The Yankees lineup struggled yet again. They were shut down by former Yankee Tim Mayza for two innings before giving way to Brian Keller, making his major league debut. But Austin Wells got to the young right-hander, taking him deep to tie the game at 1-1. The blast went 430 feet and Wells took Keller the opposite way for his seventh homer of the season.

New York would finally take the lead in the sixth. Bellinger hit a two-out single to score Wells from second, who led off with a walk. The single was set up when Turner could not come up with a behind-the-shoulder catch in shallow left field on a bloop by Paul Goldschmidt. It would have ended the inning.

-- Jasson Dominguez would tack on in the seventh, taking Jose Alvarado deep to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead. Dominguez hit it 420 feet from the right side.

-- Paul Blackburn pitched two shutout innings after Chivilli, allowing just one baserunner (walk), to lower his ERA to 1.93 on the season. And David Bednar pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to lock down his 20th save of the season.

-- Bellinger finished 2-for-4, but was pulled in the eighth inning after stretching out a single into a double. It looked as if Bellinger came up lame going from first to second base. 

Game MVP: Yankees pitching staff

The combination of Weathers, Chivilli, Blackburn and Bednar kept the Phillies off balance

Highlights

Solo homer for Austin Wells! pic.twitter.com/HGrhNNZ1sE

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 25, 2026

Austin Wells scores off of a Cody Bellinger RBI singlepic.twitter.com/oV5wofBOs2

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 25, 2026

Jasson Domínguez homers to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead! pic.twitter.com/qBrxIn8G6z

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 25, 2026

What's next

The Yankees and Phillies wrap up their weekend series Sunday night. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.

Will Warren (7-4, 4.00 ERA) will take the mound against Cristopher Sanchez (12-4, 2.71 ERA). 

PHILADELPHIA — Already without Aaron Judge, the Yankees may be down another key outfielder, as Cody Bellinger left Saturday’s 3-1 win over the Phillies with left hamstring tightness.

Bellinger suffered the injury running to second base on his two-out double in the top of the eighth.

After sliding into second and appearing hobbled, Bellinger waved off the trainers and remained in the game.

But he was replaced in left field by Max Schuemann in the bottom of the inning and will likely undergo tests Sunday — with an IL stint not ruled out.

“I felt something rounding first and it got tight and thought it was smart to get out [of the game],’’ Bellinger said. “We’ll see how I feel [Sunday].”

Bellinger added, “I really don’t think it’s anything too serious.”

Still, Aaron Boone noted the possibility they could lose Bellinger for an extended stretch and acknowledged he was “alarmed” by it.

“It looks like it could be something,’’ the manager said.

The left fielder spent time on the IL in 2021 due to left hamstring tightness while with the Dodgers, missing 10 games.

Schuemann would likely be in the lineup Sunday against Philadelphia lefty Cristopher Sánchez.

After that, Boone said, “We’ll do what we have to do [and] piece it together … [Bellinger] is a huge member of the team. He’s a tremendous all-around player. I hope it’s on the minor side.”

If Bellinger has to sit out, it comes at an inopportune time for the Yankees.

He’s hit better over his last dozen games after slumping at the plate for most of the past month.

Bellinger entered Saturday with just five extra-base hits, all doubles, in his previous 30 games.

His OPS over that span was .535 after posting an .860 OPS in his first 71 games.

Prior to the injury Saturday, he had an RBI single and then the double in the win.

“I felt good from Washington on,’’ Bellinger said of the final series heading into the All-Star break. “The cold stretch there was way longer than I wanted it to be.”

And Bellinger has continued to be superb in left field.

“He’s been so good out there,’’ Boone said before the game. “I’ve leaned more on leaving him there on days instead of moving him to center or right. His left field [play] is so stellar.”

The Yankees offense has taken a serious downturn in recent weeks, with the indefinite loss of Judge due to a fractured rib taking a toll.

While Bellinger hasn’t maintained his torrid early pace at the plate, his presence in the middle of the lineup is still crucial.

I figure our chances are good to take two out of three from the Washington Nationals in the nation’s capital this weekend, but as I thought when I read over the series preview for this one, I figured this was the one we were most likely to drop. It was a matchup of soft-tossing lefties, with Mitch Bratt going for us in only his fourth Major League start, while Foster Griffin, who has clearly emerged as the ace of the Nationals’ staff this season and who pitched a scoreless inning for the National League in the All-Star Game the other week, was going for them. Sad to say, it went pretty much as I expected.

Bratt, who hadn’t gotten through five innings in his first three starts, was looking good early for us, even as the team around him wasn’t helping him out so much. He pitched around a one-out walk in the first to put up a zero in a 13 pitch inning, and then he put up another zero in the second despite having two strikes called as balls (and not challenged by James McCann, who was behind the dish for us this afternoon) to put the leadoff man on base with a “walk”, followed by Ketel Marte botching an easy double-play grounder with one out that would have ended the inning but instead went for an error. At that point, Bratt should have been out of the inning, but instead, he had runners on first and second with only one out. Much to the young man’s credit, he didn’t get visibly upset or rattled, but instead got back to work and recorded the last two outs efficiently enough that, despite the mishaps around him, he only needed 17 pitches total to close out the inning. This put him at 30 pitches through two, with no runs allowed, which was a very good sign.

Meanwhile, our newly reshuffled top of the lineup—Corbin Carroll batting first, Gabriel Moreno in the three spot, Ketel Marte batting cleanup for the first time in his career—couldn’t do anything against Griffin in their first time through. Our first baserunner was Nolan Arenado, who drew a four pitch walk with two outs in the second, and who was advanced to second by our first hit, a Tim Tawa ground ball single to left. James McCann, batting eighth, couldn’t do anything with it, though, so the game remained scoreless through two.

We finally drew first blood in the top of the third. Paul Waldschmidt beat out an infield single on the ninth pitch of a very good and patient at bat. Griffin then hit Carroll in the ribs with a pitch to put runners on first and second. Perdomo laid down a perfect bunt to advance the runners into scoring position with one out, and then Moreno blooped a single into center that drove in both Waldschmidt and Carroll:

Sadly, as you can see at the end of the clip above, Gabi tried to stretch his single into a double as the throw from center came to the plate, but Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz immediately threw to second and Gabi was out by a mile. Ketel Marte then flew out to right to end things there, but what the heck, we had a lead! 2-0 D-BACKS

The lead was very short-lived, though, as it turned out, as Mitch Bratt came out for the bottom of the third to start his second time through the Nationals’ batting order, and it…. didn’t go great. He struck out James Wood on four pitches to start things off, but then surrendered either walks or base hits to the next seven batters in the Nationals’ lineup. The exact sequence was walk-double-double-walk-single-triple-walk, with four Nationals crossing the plate. Bratt did pick off CJ Abrams as he tried to steal third, thanks in large measure to a great play by Nolan Arenado on the back end, which was nifty, but he wound up getting through the entire Nationals lineup a second time in that inning, finally getting Kelbert Ruiz to pop out to shallow center for the final out. 4-2 Washington

Bratt then surrendered a leadoff single to James Wood to lead off the bottom of the fourth, but that was promptly erased by a quick double play, and a pop-up on the infield for the third out in a good 10-pitch inning for the kid. He did surrender a leadoff home run to CJ Abrams to start the bottom of the fifth, and then gave up a one-out single to Washington center fielder Jacob Young that led to Young then stealing both second and third before young Mitch managed to record the final out and, for the first time in his major league career, completing five innings of work. 5-2 Washington

Meanwhile, after those two runs we’d scored in the third, we didn’t even have another baserunner off Griffin until Ildemaro Vargas led off the top of the seventh with a line single to left. He was promptly erased by a Nolan Arenado one-pitch double play groundout, but Tim Tawa followed that dismal performance with a double to left, and then James McCann singled to right to drive him in. That finally chased Griffin from the game—he had thrown 108 pitches at that point—and it was bullpens all the way home.

Happily, our bullpen put up zeros, with two innings of scoreless ball byu bullpen newcomer and guy I’d honestly never heard of Gerardo Carrillo, and one perfectly clean inning from Taylor Clarke. Sadly, their much-maligned bullpen did the same, retiring the last seven Diamondbacks hitters in order to secure the win for the Nationals.

Loss Probability Added, courtesy of FanGraphs

Heroes: none
Sinister Sidekick: Nolan Arenado (3 AB, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, -10% WPA)
Villain of the Piece: Mitch Bratt (5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 5 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, -32% WPA)

In Bratt’s Defense

To be fair, I thought that Bratt actually showed a lot of fortitude, and despite the fact that, yeah, his starting performance lost the game for us, there were some good things:

• The innings he pitched well, he was very efficient (13 pitches in the first, 17 pitches in the second despite the foolery behind him, 10 pitches in the fourth);
• The way he didn’t let Marte’s error behind him mess him up or melt him down, unlike how we’ve seen certain former aces and protein drink spokespeople become unglued;
• The way that he kept grinding through that interminable bottom of the third, despite getting apparently no support from his catcher or his pitching couch (there were no mound visits recorded in that half inning, even though this 23-year-old kid was getting lit up by the best offense in baseball and allowed seven Nationals hitters in a row to reach base).

And that leads in nicely to the Gameday Thread stuff, and the Comment of the Game. It was a reasonably well-attended thread, with 231 comments at time of writing and a number that went Sedona Red. Most of the top rec-getters were various people’s hello posts, so I had to dig into the response comments to find today’s CotG, which goes to VWBeetle, with an assist from kilnborn:

I agree with this wholeheartedly—both comments, in fact. Well said.

So once more we head on into Sunday with the rubber match of a series awaiting us. Kohl Drake takes the mound for us in only his second major league start, while Veteran Presnce (TM) and innings absorber Miles Mikolas goes for Washington. Make sure you have some coffee and/or mimosas ready, as this one is full-on morning baseball, with first pitch scheduled for 10:35am AZ time. TheReal Ramona will have the recap, making this an all-Tucson recap weekend….I hope you can join us!

As always, thanks for reading, and as always, go Diamondbacks!

Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger was pulled from Saturday's game against the Phillies with what the team later called a hamstring injury.

In the eighth, Bellinger hit a bloop single that he stretched into a double. Bellinger seemingly pulled up going from first to second. Bellinger did run the bases to finish the inning, waving off the trainers in the dugout. But once the inning came to a close, the broadcast showed Bellinger walking back to the dugout gingerly and shaking his head at his manager.

Bellinger went 2-for-4 with an RBI single before being pulled.

The Yankees replaced him with Max Schuemann for the remainder of the game.

"Hammy grabbed on him going to second base," Aaron Boone said after the win. "We’ll see what we have. Obviously getting up and see what next steps are."

He added, "I don’t want to speculate too much on it. Looks like it could be something. But we’ll have a better idea getting up, and if we need to get tests and where we go from there."

Bellinger said he hopes to avoid an IL stint but won't know until tests are done.

"It just feels a little tight," Bellinger told the media, including MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. "I really don't think it's anything too serious."

Boone expects the Yankees will piece it together moving forward for however long Bellinger is down for. Boone said with left-hander Cristopher Sanchez set to pitch Sunday's series finale, Schuemann was going to be in the lineup already, so that will likely be who plays in the outfield. 

If Bellinger were to miss time, it would be a big blow to the Yankees, who are already without Aaron Judge. 

Bellinger is slashing .259/.350/.420 with an OPS of .770 to go along with his 11 home runs and 53 RBI. He's also playing Gold Glove-level defense in left field and was this year's All-Star Game MVP.

“He’s a huge member of our team and what we do. And a tremendous all-around player," Boone said of Bellinger's impact. "Hopefully, whether it’s some time or not, hopefully it’s on the minor side, but we’ll see." 

Cody Bellinger exited the game between innings after legging out a double pic.twitter.com/dOpdXv6LRm

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) July 26, 2026

PHILADELPHIA — With just over a week remaining before the trade deadline, “All’s quiet on the Western Front,” said Erich Maria Remarque — er, Aaron Boone.

The Yankees have clear needs — most notably a bat, including one at catcher, to help rejuvenate a lineup that has been mostly lifeless for over a month now — but Boone indicated that he has not had many conversations with GM Brian Cashman in the last few days as the market waits to declare itself.

“I think it’s probably just leaguewide, that calm before the storm,” Boone said Saturday before the Yankees defeated the Phillies 3-1 at Citizens Bank Park. “I would imagine conversations are going on between clubs. But again, you’re talking about still a number of clubs that probably don’t even know what they’re going to do, one way or another. So it’s still got to define itself here over the next several days. I would imagine those conversations start to heat up in the next week.

“Hopefully that allows us to do something that ultimately helps us.”

Because of the expanded postseason, entering Saturday, only six teams (the Angels, Rockies, Mets, Royals, Giants and Athletics) were more than 6 ½ games out of the last playoff spot, with a handful of others still theoretically holding out some hope that they could sneak in if they do not sell.

That has muddied the waters to an extent in terms of clear-cut buyers and sellers, as has teams deciding whether to deal players with multiple years of control — as in Padres closer Mason Miller, Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman, Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers and Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña, among others.

Either way, the Yankees will be in the market trying to improve a team that was two games back of the Rays for the AL East lead (and the best record in the American League overall).

They need help at catcher, where Austin Wells has been one of the worst hitters in the major leagues this season, at least one more high-leverage bullpen arm and potentially another right-handed-hitting bat.

Of course, Aaron Judge’s uncertain timeline for a return from a right rib fracture looms over all of it, as the Yankees came into Saturday just 22-22 since he last played a game.

The offense has suffered mightily without him, but Boone — like Cashman had earlier this month — insisted that Judge’s status would not impact how aggressive the Yankees would be in pursuing help ahead of the Aug. 3 deadline.

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“I don’t think so, because I think we all expect him back,” Boone said of Judge, who has still not been cleared for baseball activities — at which point he may still need another month to get back.

The Yankees have somewhat treaded water without the back-to-back AL MVP, though, thanks in large part to their pitching — a rotation headlined by Cam Schlittler, Gerrit Cole and now a healthy Max Fried, the kind of group that could give teams problems in October.

But the offense will have to pick up its weight to make sure those pitching efforts do not go to waste, putting the pressure on Cashman to get them some help in the way of bats.

After last year’s deadline — when the Yankees’ haul included David Bednar, Camilo Doval, Jake Bird, Ryan McMahon, José Caballero and Austin Slater — Boone felt better about that team than any other in his tenure, even though it eventually crashed out in the ALDS.

“It feels like maybe the needs are a little bit different going into this deadline,” Boone said. “But at the end of the day, I don’t think anybody knows what you’re going to be able to do. You’re trying to make your club better. Maybe you line up with someone that you’re able to hammer a strength or sometimes you’re able to plug a hole.

“Whatever it may be, it’s hard to predict what those things are. But I know our guys have done all their due diligence. Hopefully something lines up that we get through this and whatever happens, you look forward to getting past it and knowing what you’re going to be the rest of the way.”

One of baseball’s bright young stars could receive significant interest ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

But that doesn’t mean he will be on the move.

The Nationals will listen to offers on two-time All-Star shortstop CJ Abrams, even though they are not actively shopping him nor have they decided if they will trade him, The Athletic reported Saturday.

Sources told the outlet that Abrams, 25, would be the most valuable player on the market if Washington decides to dump him.

The Nationals hold a 53-52 record and are two games back of a wild-card spot in the National League, so they’re still in the playoff hunt.

A big reason for that is Abrams, who is putting it together this year in what has been a career season.

Through 100 games, Abrams has a .293 average, 25 home runs, 79 RBIs and a .921 OPS, all of which are career highs.

The Post’s Jon Heyman reported in June that Abrams could draw significant interest if he became available in a trade.

A rival suggested Abrams made sense for the Yankees, but the Bronx Bombers have a strong belief in top shortstop prospect George Lombard Jr. and are reluctant to trade him.

The Brewers, who did not pull the trigger on a trade for Abrams in the offseason, could be willing to swing a deal for him in the next week, The Athletic reported.

Abrams was one of the key pieces the Nationals acquired when they dealt Juan Soto and Josh Bell to the Padres in 2022.

If the Nationals were to trade Abrams, James Wood would be the only one left at the MLB level still with Washington from the Soto trade.

Pitcher Jarlin Susana, who also arrived in the package, has yet to pitch above Double-A and has been out with an injury this season.

Abrams isn’t the only shortstop that could be moved, as the Red Sox have interest in the Angels’ Zach Neto, The Athletic reported this week.

The Mets’ Francisco Lindor has been the subject of trade rumors in recent weeks as the Amazin’s slide well out of contention, though president of baseball operations David Stearns did not suggest the veteran would be dealt at the deadline.

“I’m not going to rule out or in any specific player on anything,” Stearns said Friday. “I don’t think that’s wise for me to do. What I will say is, we’ve got a group of young players and we’ve got some potential Hall of Famers, future Hall of Famers, that we view as our core. We expect them to be our core.” 

PHILADELPHIA — José Caballero didn’t see eye to eye with the umpires again Saturday night.

This time, the disagreement came on defense, as Caballero initially appeared to make a leaping catch of a Bryson Stott line drive with one out and runners on first and second in the bottom of the fourth of a 3-1 win over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

But Caballero dropped the Stott liner and headed to second base to tag Bryan De La Cruz, who had gone back to second.

Instead of being rewarded with a double play to end the inning, second base umpire Brennan Miller — of “savages in the box” fame — ruled that Caballero intentionally dropped the ball and the play was over, with only Stott retired and runners still on first and second.

“I was very surprised,’’ Caballero said of the call. “They really think highly of me: I can catch the ball, drop the ball and catch the bounce in one motion.”

Ryan Weathers ended up getting Derek Hill looking to end the inning to preserve a 1-1 tie.

The controversy came after Caballero found himself on the wrong side of MLB’s pitch clock rules.

He’s been able to disrupt pitchers with his routine in the batter’s box, often not engaging with the pitcher until the final second before a violation would be called.

But that changed Wednesday, when Caballero was alert in advance of the 8-second cutoff — and was still called for a violation because he spent the final few seconds before the 8-second mark in the box but looking down.

MLB decided to crack down on his tactics beginning Wednesday, as they began restricting hitters from attempting “to deceive a pitcher into beginning their windup or coming to the set position.”

Caballero and Aaron Boone said they spoke with MLB to no avail.

Caballero and Boone both said they did not believe the bizarre call Saturday was related to the infielder’s recent issues with the umps.

“I don’t think so,’’ Boone said. “I think he just missed the call.”

Giancarlo Stanton (right calf strain) is still in the midst of a running progression — not yet on the bases — but like Judge, remains without a timeline for a return. … Carlos Rodón threw a two-up (simulating two innings) bullpen session Saturday as he works back from left elbow inflammation. If he recovers well from it, the Yankees are hoping he can advance to facing hitters next week.

“I know he ran, everything went well [Friday],” Boone said of Stanton. “But not to the end game yet.”

With the Phillies using lefty opener Tim Mayza, Amed Rosario led off Saturday’s game for the Yankees.

But the veteran right-handed batter has been in a rough stretch of late — not unlike many of his teammates.

He was replaced by Ryan McMahon as soon as Mayza left the game.

Red Sox trade Connelly Early for infielder Curtis Mead: Report originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Red Sox have made their first big move of the summer.

Boston traded left-handed pitcher Connelly Early to the Washington Nationals on Saturday night, receiving infielder Curtis Mead in return.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan broke the news.

Early has been on the injured list since July 1 due to elbow inflammation but is nearing a return to the mound. The 24-year-old made his MLB debut late last season with the Red Sox, and he ended up starting Game 3 of the Wild Card Series in Yankee Stadium.

Mead, 25, has primarily played at third base but has also played at second and first base.

The right-handed hitter is batting .256 with an .856 OPS this season, with 17 doubles and 17 home runs. In his career with the Rays, White Sox and Nationals, he’s a .245 hitter with a .710 OPS.

A native of Australia, Mead first entered professional baseball in the Phillies organization but was traded to the Rays for Cristopher Sanchez in 2019. The Rays traded Mead to the White Sox last year ahead of the deadline. The White Sox, though, designated Mead for assignment in March, eventually working out a trade that sent him to the Nationals.

The deal involves two controllable assets, as Early will be under team control until 2032 and Mead won’t reach free agency until 2031.

The deal for Craig Breslow was seemingly one made with a hope to bolster the offense, while giving up a piece of what has been an excellent and deep pitching staff. The rapid rise of rookie Jake Bennett (6-3, 2.58 ERA) along with the presence of fellow lefties Ranger Suarez, Payton Tolle and injured ace Garrett Crochet likely made the front office comfortable in dealing away Early.

The move came hours after the Red Sox mustered just one hit against Dylan Cease in a loss at Fenway Park, Boston’s fifth time being shut out this season. With Caleb Durbin turning his season around, Mead’s most obvious fit with Boston may be at second base, which has been a revolving door for the Red Sox this season. Marcelo Mayer started 39 games at second before moving to shortstop and subsequently hitting the IL. Veteran Isian Kiner-Filefa is also on the IL. Anthony Seigler has filled in admirably over the past month, but the trade signals the front office’s lack of belief that the 27-year-old with limited MLB experience can sustain his success.

All of Boston’s second basemen have combined for a .640 OPS this season, the fifth-worst mark in the majors.

The move certainly comes with risk, as Early has shown plenty of promise in his 21 big league appearances. Since debuting last September, Early has gone 8-7 with a 3.24 ERA and a 1.225 WHIP.

Despite Saturday’s loss, the Red Sox remained in the second wild card spot by the end of the day, a half-game up on the Guardians, who have a two-game cushion over the Twins in the third spot. Breslow is expected to continue to work to bolster the offense with a little more than a week remaining before the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

PHILADELPHIA — Like the Ghost of Trade Deadlines Past, Camilo Doval remains in the Yankee bullpen.

While David Bednar has performed well — and been excellent of late — in the closer role, the other late-game reliever the Yankees picked up a year ago still hasn’t found a role in which he’s had any success with the Yankees.

So far, the Yankees haven’t given up on the hard-throwing right-hander, as they have appeared to with Jake Bird, another bust of the 2025 deadline.

Still, Doval entered Saturday’s 3-1 win over the Phillies having not pitched a scoreless inning in a Yankee victory since June 14.

He’s fallen behind just about everyone in the bullpen, from high-leverage relievers like Bednar and Fernando Cruz to lefties Tim Hill and Brent Headrick, as well as Paul Blackburn and even Angel Chivilli, who has shown promise lately.

After giving up 10 runs — four earned — in three appearances to start the month, the right-hander has tossed two scoreless outings, but still walked four in 2 ⅓ innings.

Aaron Boone, before Saturday’s game, said he wasn’t ready to write off Doval just yet.

“I’m hoping he works his way back into a significant role,’’ Boone said. “We cast off people all the time during a long major league season and the reality is, things change and they can change in a hurry sometimes.”

It’s been nearly a year, though, since Doval arrived from the Giants before last year’s deadline, where he was having a solid bounceback season after an ugly 2024.

But since arriving in The Bronx, Doval has seen his WHIP jump from 1.261 in four-plus seasons with the Giants to 1.473 as a Yankee.

Not only has he given up more base runners, he’s also allowed more homers and struck out fewer batters.

He hasn’t gotten meaningful outs in a win in over a month.

Boone said Saturday the team had tried to get Doval in “positions where it’s the best chance to be successful and hope from there things snowball because there’s a lot of things to like there.”

Other than throwing hard, Doval hasn’t come as advertised with the Yankees, who have seen other relievers emerge in his place.

But the fact Doval can hit triple digits and has the ability to strike people out continues to tantalize the Yankees — and perhaps it will persuade another team to buy low on him at the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

As of now, though, it’s hard to imagine his stock being any lower.

“Guys as talented as Camilo, there are stories every year of guys flipping the script over the course of a year,’’ Boone said. “We hope to do that with Camilo.”

PHILADELPHIA — Aaron Judge continues to feel better in his recovery from a right rib fracture, just not good enough for significant progress. 

Ten days after undergoing imaging on his right rib stress fracture that showed healing but not to the extent that allowed him to be cleared for baseball activities, the Yankees captain remains in a holding pattern while waiting on more healing. 

“I know the last couple days, in my conversations with him before I came on the trip, he felt quite a bit better and was encouraged with how he was feeling,” manager Aaron Boone said Saturday at Citizens Bank Park, before the Yankees defeated the Phillies 3-1. “I know he’s been rehabbing at home, I think he’s coming down here maybe [Sunday]. We’re just in that still letting-it-heal mode to the end.” 

It has now been almost two months since Judge played in a game — May 31 — and the Yankees entered Saturday 22-22 without him.

The Yankees continue to say they expect him back at some point this season, but a timeline for that to actually happen is impossible to know until he is cleared for baseball activities — which won’t be done until another round of imaging shows more healing. 

In the meantime, the Yankees offense has been a shell of itself without the back-to-back AL MVP. 

Since June 1 — the day after Judge played his last game — the Yankees’ four runs per game were the fifth lowest in the majors.

Their 89 wRC+ (weighted runs created, where 100 is league average) was the third-worst.

Their .680 OPS was the fourth-worst, their .223 batting average the second-worst and their .286 on-base percentage the worst.

Their 26 percent strikeout rate was also the worst, and their 7.7 percent walk rate the sixth-worst. 

The Nats needed to win this game in order to stay in the hunt, and that is exactly what they did. In their most important game in years, the Nats held their nerve and battled to a 5-3 win. It was not a perfect performance by any means, but they did enough to get a curly W, which is all that matters.

For the first couple innings, the Nats offense picked up where they left off last night. They looked listless against the soft tossing Mitch Bratt. That made the D-Backs two run third inning even more worrisome. Foster Griffin was shaky early on, having to escape some jams. He could not quite wiggle out of the third inning though. Griffin allowed a 2-run single to one of the games most underrated players in Gabriel Moreno.

However, as this team has done all season long, the Nats responded. They began to figure out Bratt as they faced him a second time. After a Curtis Mead walk and Andres Chaparro double, the boys were in business. CJ Abrams came up with yet another huge hit, doubling in the gap to tie the game.

Abrams made a bone-headed mistake afterwards though, immediately getting picked off. However, the Nats restarted the rally with a walk and a hit. That brought up Daylen Lile, who has not been great with runners in scoring position this season. This time the 23 year old came through, hitting a triple, something he has become famous for. That gave the Nats a 4-2 lead.

It took a while for Lile to get his first triple, but once he did, they are starting to come in bunches again. He now has five triples on the season, after hitting 11 last year as a rookie. Lile has been somewhat disappointing this year, but he is still holding his own for the most part, and is still very young at 23. He has also made some massive leaps on the defensive side of the ball. I am still a big believer in Lile despite a bit of a sophomore slump.

One player who is not having a slump by any definition of the term is CJ Abrams. The Nats shortstop is having a career year, and is only picking things up in the second half. He went 3 for 4 today, finishing a triple shy of the cycle. His solo homer in the 5th made the game 5-2. The Nats did not score after that despite threatening. However, those five runs would be enough today.

Abrams is just having a monster year. He is hitting .293 with a .921 OPS to go along with 25 homers and a Major League leading 79 RBI’s. The speedy shortstop also has 17 steals to go along with that power production. Abrams has been the best offensive shortstop in baseball this season, and it is not particularly close. The Alien has been out of this world in 2026.

As we have discussed, the second half has been a bit of a bugaboo for Abrams the past couple years. However, he has come back from the All-Star Break firing on all cylinders. In his last six games, Abrams is 14 for 25 with 5 homers. You can do the math on the batting average, but all I know is that it is pretty good.

Besides Abrams, the biggest story of the game was the pitching. With trade rumors swirling around him and Abrams, Foster Griffin got the start today. This was not the sharpest we have seen Griffin, but he still went 6.2 innings, allowing three runs. If this is the last, or one of the last starts we see Foster Griffin make in a Nats uniform, all I can say is thank you Foster. He has been such a breath of fresh air and a joy to watch.

Griffin delivering a quality start was not much of a surprise. However, what followed him was a little surprising. Eddy Yean and Clayton Beeter were absolutely fantastic coming out of the bullpen. The duo went 2.1 innings without allowing a baserunner. They shut things down in a drama free manner, which is a pleasant sight for all Nats fans.

Yean in particular has been a revelation for this team. The hard throwing righty is starting to find his way into high leverage spots for the Nats. His power sinker and confident demeanor seem like a fit in the back of the bullpen. It does not take much to rise up the trust tree of Nats relievers, but right now Yean might be on the top of that list.

He is not scared to pound the zone with his power stuff and attack hitters. It is easier for a guy with his velocity to attack guys without fearing the consequences. Yean just has more margin for error, and he knows it. This is just a guy pitching with a ton of confidence.

This was a must win game, and the boys rose to the occasion. There were still some missed opportunities on the offensive side of the ball, but they did enough. Tomorrow, they will close out this series against the D-Backs with a huge rubber match. They will face another rookie lefty in Kohl Drake, so hopefully they can take advantage of that. With the deadline looming, every game is amplified, especially against a direct Wild Card contender like the D-Backs.

Shohei Ohtani’s throwing program has stalled, with the Dodgers star canceling a bullpen session the team had tentatively scheduled for Saturday.

“Just doesn’t feel 100%,” manager Dave Roberts said of Ohtani’s left knee. “And because I think that the last ‘pen that he had, there was a little bit of regression. So we want to make sure that that doesn’t happen again.”

It was going to be Ohtani’s second bullpen since receiving an orthovisc injection in his knee on July 12. He threw a roughly 30-pitch side session on Wednesday.

Read more:Kyle Tucker homers again, shows flashes of his past form in Dodgers' win over Mets

It’s unclear when he’ll throw off the mound next. But Roberts said he’s still optimistic that Ohtani will return to the rotation sometime in August.

“It was obviously not ideal, him throwing his last bullpen and going backwards, essentially,” Roberts said. “So obviously that’s disappointing because you throw a bullpen to continue to build up. So that was disappointing. But as far as worry, concern, we don’t have any of that.”

Roberts described a “fluid” process, with plenty of input from Ohtani, as he and Dodgers continue to navigate the knee issue. Because only pitching seems to be aggravating the injury, Ohtani will continue to play at designated hitter.

“From his words, the hitting, the running, as he has done the last couple nights, doesn’t affect him,” Roberts said. “So I can only go by what he and the training staff are telling me. So, unless I hear otherwise, that hitting compromises his health, then I’m going to keep putting him in the lineup.”

The Dodgers had initially hoped the injection and time off leading up to the All-Star break would allow him to get past the discomfort in his knee and not have to worry about managing it for the rest of the season.

Read more:Jeff Kent starting to feel like a Hall of Famer this weekend

Though Ohtani feels better than he did before the break, according to Roberts, the team wasn’t envisioning this kind of start-and-stop buildup.

The schedule does the Dodgers some favors. The off day Monday allows them to get through this coming week without filling Ohtani’s spot in the rotation. But in order to keep all their starters on a six- to seven-day rotation, they’ll have to find a replacement — whether that be a bullpen day or another starter — by the first week of August.

Starting pitcher Blake Snell (arthroscopic elbow surgery) is on track to be close to a return from the injured list by then. In his second rehab start this month, he threw 2⅔ innings (49 pitches) for triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday.

He’ll be targeting four innings in his next start, according to Roberts. When asked if he’d need another rehab outing after that, Roberts said: “Let’s just get through that next one. Get through four innings and kind of read and react from there.”

Injury updates

The Dodgers are set to welcome back utility player Kiké Hernández (strained left oblique) and closer Edwin Díaz (arthroscopic elbow surgery) from the injured list early in next week’s homestand.

Hernández is set to be activated Tuesday, as the Dodgers open a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners, Roberts said. And Díaz likely will return Wednesday, sliding back into the closer role that Tanner Scott has held in his absence.

Tyler Glasnow (back spasms) threw about 25 pitches in a one-inning live batting practice session Friday, Roberts said. He’s scheduled to throw to batters again next week.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Blue Jays 6 Red Sox 0

Dylan Cease went nine complete, giving up just one hit (with three walks and twelve strikeouts). He was just amazing, even with Dan telling us he wasn’t throwing as hard as usual.

And the offense did the job.

We got:

• Five in the third: With two out….Nathan Lukes doubled. Vlad singled him home. Kazuma Okamoto singled. And George Springer hit a home run (making up for a base running error the inning before. Springer was on second, Yohendrick Piñango lined a soft one to center, Springer, apparently, thought it would land, but Ceddanne Rafaela made the catch coming in and doubled up Springer. It wasn’t that tough of a catch).
• One in the ninth: Andrés Giménez led off with a single. An out later Lukes doubled. Then Vlad singled home one. Lucky for Vlad, it was deflected by the pitcher, or it would have been an easy out.

We had 15 hits, 14 more than the Red Sox.

Vlad and Ernie had three hits each. Lukes, Springer, Varsho, and Giménez had two each. Brandon Valenzuela and Piñango/Myles Straw (sharing is caring) had 0 fors.

Jays of the Day: Cease (0.27) and Springer (0.26) Honourable Mention to Vlad.

Other Award: Lips (-0.10).

Tomorrow is a 1:30 start time. It is great to start every game at a different time. Kevin Gausman (4-9, 4.91) will try to make up for last start. Ranger Suarez (4-3, 3.15) starts for the bad guys.