Category: Baseball

It literally pains me to write this, because the idea of flushing an MVP season from Yordan is a sin, yet here we are.

Where we are is literally with the finish line in sight. Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski, and Bennett Sousa are all about to return and provide much needed reinforcements to a beleaguered Astros pitching staff. Despite that, it really may be too late.

By nature, I am an optimist. I’m someone who sees problems as challenges and opportunities, not roadblocks. The bigger the problem, the more the challenge, the more reward in solving it. The 2026 Astros are a very challenging problem, one that seems will require more than one season to solve.

For the returning support that those three pitchers can give, none of them can be compared with Hunter Brown. Brown is the legitimate ace of the staff. He finished top 3 in Cy Young voting last season, doing all he could to carry the load on a team that was ravaged by injury, much as the 2024 team was and the 2026 team is.

Right now, Brown is not Brown. Without Hunter Brown acting as the true ace he is, there is not enough pitching the Astros can acquire at the deadline to make up for it. They don’t have the means. I’m not sure any team does.

Without Brown as their ace, the Astros lack the needed pitching to drive wins through the dogs days of summer, and certainly lack the mound power to drive wins in a postseason.

The biggest impediment to the Astros having any kind of sustained winning streak all season has been the starting pitching, it’s propensity to blow up on a moment’s notice, leaving the Astros is huge early holes that even the greatest offenses of all time couldn’t sustain.

It’s why the Astros PR team calls it “The Slow Turnaround”, the Astros incredibly relentless but painfully slow climb back towards .500, because they never had a 9 game win streak or a 14-2 run, it was an elongated series of taking 2 out of 3 steadily for almost 4 weeks. With each passing series, they got 1 game closer to .500.

Just one game. Each time. Slow. Methodical. Grinding.

The injuries are once again much to bear. The offense can’t afford to not have prime Jeremy Pena at the top of the lineup every day wreaking havoc. It cannot afford for Christian Walker to revert to first half 2025 Christian Walker. It cannot afford to finish a full season of Jose Altuve hitting like August/September 2025 Jose Altuve.

Most of all, what the Houston Astros cannot afford is a broken Hunter Brown. That may just be what they have right now.

Brown hasn’t looked right since returning from a Grade 2 shoulder strain. In his second start back (6/22), he needed 85 pitches to get through 3 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays. He allowed 7 runs, 6 earned against Tampa Bay 7/4 where he allowed 4 walks and 2 homers. He followed that with a 5 walk performance against the Rangers (7/10), one in which he allowed 3 runs in 6 innings and a homer. Today, Brown couldn’t escape the 5th, allowing 4 runs and walking 6.

Over his last 3 starts, Brown has pitched 14.2 innings. In that time, he has allowed 13 ER, 13 hits, 15 walks, 3 homers, with only 11 strikeouts.

Brown entered play today averaging 5.6 BB/9, a rate that would easily be a career high (his career rate 3.2). That number will rise after today.

He entered today with a career worst 1.77 K/BB ratio, another number that will get worse today. That rate is 3.1 for his career, and was 3.61 last season.

His 1.39 WHIP this season is a far cry from his 1.03 WHIP last season, let alone his 1.22 career number.

These numbers would be less concerning if Brown was in the process of a turnaround where he had pitched better of late. “Of late” is when he’s struggled the most.

This is no way is to say that Brown can’t or won’t turn things around. It is very much a referendum on whether he can do it beginning with his next start and then dominate the rest of the season in 2025 fashion. That is the part that seems highly unlikely.

Without a true ace atop the rotation, the Astros are essentially dead in the water. They will not stomach the costs to acquire such a pitcher at the deadline, nor should they. It’s throwing good money after bad. There is still no performance guarantee on Brown, on the returning Blanco and Wesneski, and certainly not on Tatsuya Imai and Mike Burrows.

Baseball analytics are about risk assessment and management. There is entirely too much risk in the Astros pitching portfolio, and it can’t be a recommended buy anymore for this season.

It brings us to the most unenviable point in the road, the point where Jim Crane must admit (for one year at least) that this team doesn’t have a real chance at making the postseason.

Therefore it’s time to sell. They should not have a full scale fire sale. They should not sell cheap. Considering that so few teams will be sellers, returns should be strong.

However, it is that time. They can sell off various parts (bullpen arms, veterans entering FA for ‘27 or ‘28) to re-load the minor league system, and then re-tool in the offseason via trades and free agency to give the team it’s best chance to contend again (presuming we have a 2027 season).

The bottom line is: it’s the end of the road for 2026.

As Sammy Hagar once sang: Dream another dream, this dream is over.

Following the team's 8-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opening game of today's doubleheader, Yankees manager Aaron Boone spoke to the media about the team's recent struggles at the plate.

"Obviously, we have to be able to do more," said Boone. "We've been saying that a lot over these last few weeks."

Boone took the time to recognize how the team's hitters have responded in the absence of team captain and superstar slugger Aaron Judge, who has been sidelined since the beginning of June.

"I feel like we have good players, in some cases young players that have to keep getting better. Of the six weeks Judge has been down, I feel like the first two to three weeks, we were getting it done [offensively]. But then we went through a stretch of 15-20 games where we were not scoring enough, not pressuring enough, and we have to find a way, especially going up against good teams with good pitching [such as the Dodgers]."

The skipper was then asked about second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., and the impact he can bring to the lineup when he's at his best.

Boone reflected on his lefty infielder's season at the dish thus far, remarking that "He's had some big swings and some clutch at-bats. He's one of those guys we expect a lot of."

"He hasn't gone on that hot streak this year yet, got off to a slow start in April, and it's been up and down for the last few months. But he can change the game in a lot of different ways offensively, so we have got to get him there."

Joey Cantillo v. Paul Skenes was never going to be the most fair of pitching battles, but Cleveland did not help themselves at all. Multiple outs in the basepath, poor defensive efforts, and an inability to capitalize with runners in scoring position left Cantillo with the loss.

Joey pitched well enough and was holding his own in the first five innings. Cantillo pitched into the sixth inning, giving up four earned runs on seven hits and three walks. Cantillo struck out seven batters. In the sixth inning, Pittsburgh only had a 2-1 lead, but back to back doubles with no outs forced Vogt to got to Franco Aleman. Aleman gave up two hits and a walk, allowing an inherited run and an earned run to score.

Hunter Gaddis had a solid outing. His only blemish was a walk. Will Dion pitched the eighth and ninth, allowing two runs on two hits and striking out four.

The offense was, in a word, lackluster and looked like there was a chance to get to Skenes early on. In the bottom of the third Gabriel Arias hit a single. Petey Halpin and Steven Kwan hit back-to-back one out singles with Arias scoring on Kwan’s perfect bunt.

A strike-em-out, throw-em-out play with Bazzana at the plate retired the side as Kwan attempted to steal second base. In the bottom of the fourth, Chase DeLauter got on base via a walk and went first to third on Brayan Rocchio’s single to center. Kyle Manzardo flied out to center and resulted in a double play as Chase DeLauter was thrown out at home. Once again a Cleveland runner did not slide into home. While it makes some sense that someone with CDL’s injury history wouldn’t readily slide into a base, it is still frustrating that it happened in back-to-back games.

The Twins come to town for a four game series starting tomorrow. It will be a righty face off as Joe Ryan takes the mound for Minnesota and Tanner Bibee gets the start for Cleveland. First pitch is at 6:40 PM.

The Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 6-1 on Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park. 

Here are some takeaways...

-- The Mets were held to just one run on three hits by Jesus Luzardo and the Phillies bullpen on Saturday afternoon, but they were able to break out against Alan Rangel and company in Sunday's game -- scoring five times over the first two innings, then tacking on late to pull out the commanding victory. 

-- Three of those early runs came off the bat of Francisco Lindor, who had been struggled on both sides of the ball since returning from the IL. Lindor demolished a 420 foot two-run homer to the second-deck in right his first time up then ripped an RBI single with the bases loaded in the second. 

He reached base all five times he stepped into the batter's box, finished a triple shy of the cycle, and picked up his 1,700th career hit. 

-- Luis Torrens took advantage of his start behind the plate, as he was also in the middle of things offensively. The veteran ripped an RBI double his first time up, sparked a sixth inning rally with a leadoff single, and also drew a six-pitch walk to prolong the top of the seventh. 

Torrens has hits in five of his last seven games, hitting .273 with three RBI and a .724 OPS over that span. 

-- Bo Bichette had two hits and a walk, A.J. Ewing also had a pair of knocks, Juan Soto reached three times with a pair of singles and a walk, and Tyrone Taylor stayed hot with a walk and opposite-field double off the bench. 

-- On the mound, right-hander Nolan McLean took very kindly to the big run support. He struck out two batters in a perfect bottom of the first, then shook off a hard-hit comebacker to the lower-leg, using a 6-4-3 double play to work his way out of a one out jam in the bottom of the second. 

McLean kicked it into cruise control from there, retiring the next 12 hitters he faced in order before a two-out double and walk gave him a little bit of a sweat. The righty, however, was able to freeze Bryce Harper with a nasty sinker on the inner-half of the zone to end his day on a high note.  

He allowed just two hits and two walks while striking out 10 across six scoreless innings. 

-- A.J. Minter had a bit of a scare working behind McLean, as he allowed the Phillies to break up the shutout with a solo homer and then they strung together a couple of hits in the seventh, but an Edmundo Sosa double play ball helped him escape without further damage. 

-- Huascar Brazoban struck out two in a scoreless eighth, Cionel Perez put the finishing touches on in the ninth. 

-- New York could've done even more damage on the scoreboard if they didn't go an ugly 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position on the afternoon, leaving 15 men on base in total. 

Game MVP: Francisco Lindor

Lindor put together a much-needed big day at the plate, spearheading the offense. 

Highlights

Francisco Lindor hits a two-run homer to the second deck! 💣 pic.twitter.com/4VGph9ktzj

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 19, 2026

Luis Torrens drives home Brett Baty with an RBI double! pic.twitter.com/lO5NaGzgLj

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 19, 2026

Francisco Lindor has driven in three runs in the first two innings 💪 pic.twitter.com/xZZHkvra1u

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 19, 2026

A 6-4-3 double play to end the inning! pic.twitter.com/cZ7nc3p9xU

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 19, 2026

Four strikeouts in three innings for Nolan McLean 🔥 pic.twitter.com/GkUAobdYD4

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 19, 2026

"Gosh, can this man spin it!"

Nolan McLean has retired 10 in a row! pic.twitter.com/6UQxCFIBoC

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 19, 2026

Francisco Lindor has been on base five times today!

He's a triple away from the cycle 👀 pic.twitter.com/Q7gGXWoXnB

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 19, 2026

What's next

The Mets head to Milwaukee to open a three-game set with the Brewers on Monday night. 

Freddy Peralta faces his old team against young ace Jacob Misiorowski.

The Boston Red Sox just swept the Tampa Bay Rays—the team that entered this series leading the AL East. It’s their fourth consecutive series sweep. Thirteen wins in a row. 50-48 and rising. Holy crap. I can’t keep saying things that show my disbelief at this happening, in the best way possible.

OK, onto the game itself.

Sonny Gray wasn’t sharp—four walks will do that—but he was effective, grinding through jams all afternoon. It’s what the guy who’s stepped up to be the ace in lieu of Garrett Crochet has just done effortlessly all season. Truest workhorse on this staff. The Rays went 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position, which certainly helped. When that’s what’s happening, the walks start to feel a lot less worrying. Gray’s only blemish was a Victor Mesa Jr. inside-the-park homer in the second, a strange play where Ceddanne Rafaela lost control of the ball in center and then bobbled it, and Mesa Jr. kept running and scored easily. Everything else? Held.

The Sox answered in the second—Caleb Durbin single, steals second and grabs third on the throwing error, coming home on an Andruw Monasterio double (he’s been on fire with XBHs lately!) Then, this incredible squad blew this open in the third in the most chaotic way imaginable. Jahmai Jones walked to lead off. Rafaela flied out. Abreu got hit by a pitch. Willson Contreras worked a walk including a pitch the Rays immediately challenged via AB for the third ball—it was correctly inside, the challenge failed—and suddenly the bases were loaded with one out. Hunter Feduccia let a Caleb Durbin swing and a miss get by him and Jones sprinted home. Durbin then grounded one to Junior Caminero, who threw it into the back of Abreu coming home to tack on another run. Romy Gonzalez grounded out sharply to drive home one more. Three runs, zero hits, two unearned. The Rays gave them three, and the way this Red Sox team is playing, they will capitalize and hang onto every mistake you make.

Then in the fifth, Contreras put it away. A gorgeous two-run shot into the bullpen in right-center, and the whole park was exuberant. The Rays felt done.

Weissert, Morán, and Watson combined for three clean (enough) innings to close it out. Shane McClanahan—in his first season back from the injury that wiped out just about all of his 2025, a season that started, by the way, with him going down against the Red Sox—didn’t have it. He’s looked more beatable than he had in two years before the injury. The Sox took full advantage.

Again. Thirteen wins in a row. Four series sweeps in a row. Against the team leading the division. Six games back of the division lead, as of publish before the second part of the Yankees double header. Four games back of the Pinstripes themselves. The numbers are real. It still doesn’t feel real.

Studs

Sonny Gray (6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K)

Four walks and it still felt not necessarily controlled, but not too far along the struggle bus. The Rays had runners on all day and came up empty, except for one weird play. Gray has a way of making the pitch he needs when he needs it most, and today that showed. One run in six innings against the first-place team in your division is a win. If this is what “meh” Sonny Gray is, that’s fine by me.

Willson Contreras (1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB)

Bowser is locked in and continues to be one of the emotional and physical heartbeats of this roster. The fifth-inning shot was a thing of beauty—right-center, into the bullpen, a majestic shot. That’s the kind of swing that ends a baseball game.

Jahmai Jones (1-for-3, BB, 1 R)

Started again at DH and got on base twice in a game the Sox only had six hits total. For a guy who arrived this week for essentially nothing, he’s fit into this lineup like he belongs. Walked twice, scored, and played it like he’s been here all summer. I don’t know if this is akin to Quinten Berry a la 2013, but so far, so good in a small sample size.

Duds

Jarren Duran (0-for-3, 1 BB)

Has gone quiet at the plate over this series. Not a big deal when the team is winning 13 straight, but worth keeping an eye on as the schedule gets tougher. At least he keeps fielding fly balls. Cause that’s all he’s doing right now (go find an insult for me, bud).

Connor Wong (0-for-3, 2 K)

Two strikeouts, nothing to show for it at the plate. The offense didn’t need much today, but is Wong showing enough to keep his second catcher status beyond this season? Who’s to say.

Play of the Game

The entire bottom of the third. Rays lose both ABS challenges in the third inning—Mesa’s called strikeout confirmed in the top, Contreras’s walk with a pitch upheld in the bottom. Passed ball scores a run. Caminero throws it into the runner scoring. Three runs without a hit. The Sox didn’t earn that inning—the Rays handed it to them—but you have to actually score those runs, and this team has not wasted a single opportunity in 13 games.

PHILADELPHIA – Outside the walls of the visitor’s clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park, Francisco Lindor’s name is pinging around the baseball-verse, which is always eager for pinging names in the weeks before the MLB trade deadline. This year, the deadline is Aug. 3 at 6:00 p.m.

The Mets have told teams he is not untouchable in their deadline sale, and superstars on teams that aren’t rebuilding are usually untouchable.

So what gives?

The answer from multiple Mets decision-makers over the last week or so has been the same: After two bad seasons that suggest major roster renovations are necessary, they are doing their due diligence by listening. They will not pay another team to take him like they have done with burdensome contracts in the past. But they might be able to envision a 2027 team without him.

Still, on the pages of social media and in the text messages of executives, the obvious questions are percolating: Is Francisco Lindor not a part of the Mets’ solution? He is having a bad year, sure. But is he a problem somehow? Is there really a world in which the Mets would be better without him?

“It doesn’t bother me when it’s coming from outside sources. When it’s more inside, that would bother me. But that’s not happening,” Lindor said Sunday morning, a few hours before he finished a triple shy of the cycle and notched his 1,700th career hit. “I try to stay away from it. I try not to read it or really talk about it. It’s just unnecessary distraction. But I am human. I have a family and they all talk and they all hear it. But since it’s not happening in here, it’s ok."

In here, as the British Open enthralls a few teammates Sunday morning, Lindor sings with coffee as he pulls on his warm-up shirt. In here, coaches hurry up to show him something on the iPad – get a little more upright, here’s what this guy’s stuff looks like.

In here, it’s Juan Soto’s name pinging around the clubhouse briefly, as Lindor calls out to him when Juan Soto arrives at his locker. In Spanish, Lindor says hello, asks how he’s doing, and Soto returns the greeting. This is news around the Mets these days – somehow, for legitimate reason.

Mets owner Steve Cohenpublicly acknowledged this month that Lindor and Soto did not click in their first year together, and few clubhouse relationships inspire comments from owners. But while no one around the Mets denies there has been tension, teammates, coaches, and other staffers all describe the public understanding of the situation as overblown.

Soto denied any beef or issues when the Athletic asked him last week. In the same story, Lindor acknowledged their relationship has room to grow.

Whatever the reality in their minds, these hellos and handshakes – which wouldn’t be noteworthy among teammates were it not for the teammates in question – are the reality observed by reporters in the clubhouse before games and the dynamic visible in the dugout during them.

Opportunities for scrutiny have been scarcer than normal this year because both Lindor and Soto suffered injuries that meant they have not played together much since the start of spring training. Soto missed several weeks with a strained calf. Lindor missed most of spring training with a broken hamate bone, then missed most of the first three months of the season with a calf strain of his own.

The 32-year-old played in at least 152 games each season from 2022 to 2025. But the unprecedented pileup of injuries, plus the Mets' collapse in the second half of last year, mean Lindor has not been the same smiley superstar in more than a full baseball year– long enough for skeptics to wonder if the troubles are temporary or temporal.

Lindor is a reliable slow-starter. So the fact that he entered Sunday hitting .176 with a .596 OPS in his first 18 games back from the injured list is not particularly concerning.

The concerning part about Lindor’s start – the part you could use as evidence to argue something deeper is amiss – is his defense. He made three uncharacteristic errors in three games entering Sunday’s finale against the Phillies. He admitted Sunday he doesn’t understand it, either.

“It’s almost like, written down: I know every year, if I work as hard as I can, I’ll make 9 to 13 errors. In a really bad year, maybe 14. In a really good year, maybe 8,” Lindor said, and indeed, he has made between 9 to 14 errors in every season he has played.

“There have been a couple of times where it has been mental mistakes. But I’ve forgotten outs before. I’ve made mental mistakes before. This is not the first time that I’ve done that,” Lindor said. “Its such a small sample size right now, that’s what I’m not liking. If I make 13 errors in 150, 160 games, ok. But six errors in 43 games? Essentially this is April for me. That’s not good.”

Lindor and bench coach Kai Correa spent several minutes working in front of the dugout before the game, using the machine to fire hard ground balls from short distance, noticing footwork, picking on the details. They then spent several more minutes chatting as Lindor lounged on the grass, engaged in a lengthy conversation that looked a little bit like therapy.

As much as the errors have confounded Lindor, Correa has a theory about the sudden error issue.

“It’s the lack of continuous play: He didn’t have a traditional offseason because of [elbow surgery]. He didn’t have a traditional spring training because of the hamate. He didn’t have a traditional start to the season because of the calf,” Correa said. “So he just hasn’t played consecutive innings. People don’t realize defense in baseball is so reactionary…spring training traditionally acclimates you to that.”

Correa said much of Lindor’s defensive work lately has tried to provide a variety of plays and less predictability, with the goal of giving Lindor more chances to react.

“When you’re confused what to do, sometimes you can be a little late or a little snatchy and make a move with like, question mark body language as opposed to exclamation point body language,” Correa said. “Question-mark body language usually leads to a miss: It’s a missed catch. It’s a dropped ball. It’s a thrown-away ball. Exclamation mark body language, you’re certain of the move, so even if you don’t make the right one, you have higher odds of it working.”

Whether in public narrative or internal reality – and most likely, a little of both – Lindor also seems a in-between when it comes to exactly where he fits in a Mets clubhouse that includes Soto and not Brandon Nimmo, Pete Alonso, and Jeff McNeil. Is he the anchor now, or is Soto? Is he the heart of the next great Mets team or is he part of the reason so many of the last few have been so mediocre? Could he somehow be both?

In the first five years of his Mets tenure, only two shortstops in baseball had a higher wRC+ (Corey Seager and Bobby Witt Jr.,) Only Seager, Witt Jr., and Trea Turner maintained a higher OPS. From 2021 to 2025, only three players in baseball accumulated more fWAR than he did: Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, and Soto. None of those players seem to find themselves in such strange legacy limbo.

 “People are entitled to their own opinions, and I respect it. They have their own perspective, their own lens from their life. At some point or other we all judge sometimes, for better or worse,” Lindor said. “Do I agree with things everybody says? No. Am I gonna be liked by everybody? No. That’s something I’ve learned in New York. You start to understand that you’re not gonna be liked by everybody. You can’t be a people pleaser. You have to think, I have a job. I have to get it done.”

For now, and for the remaining six-plus years of his $341 million dollar extension, Lindor’s job is shortstop for the Mets. For most of the last five years, he has done that job at an All-Star level.

Cohen told the New York Post he is glad to have two superstars like Lindor and Soto on his roster and that he does not see either going anywhere. People familiar with the Mets’ thinking say the return for Lindor would have to be substantial. Plus, trading a contract as big as Lindor’s, when he has the right to veto any deal, is no small feat – the kind of deal a team pulls off only when it is desperate to move a player.

Certainly, the Mets are not desperate to move Lindor. But the clearest representation of Lindor’s complicated Mets circumstances is how many people seem willing to consider that they should be.

“Do I get frustrated at times? Of course. Some people eventually get tired of he-said, she-said type stuff and go different routes. Some people get tired of playing the game and retire,” Lindor said. 

“Every water will go back to its natural level. I’m just blessed to be doing it. I’ll continue to be me. I’m Francisco Lindor wherever I go.”

While the All-Star break may not have been much of a break for first-time All-Star Drake Baldwin, the Braves catcher has certainly come out of the break refreshed.

Baldwin finished off a stellar first series back from the break with a career-high five hits — two more than he had ever had in a game — in Atlanta’s 8-5 win over the Texas Rangers at Truist Park Sunday afternoon which clinched a series victory.

Baldwin homered twice in the game and finished the series 10-for-14 (.714) with three homers and eight RBIs. He capped it off with the five-hit game for a Braves catcher since Johnny Estrada in 2004.

While Baldwin only had two RBIs in the series finale, Austin Riley picked up the slack in that regard with a breakthrough game at the plate, homering in his first two at-bats and giving the Braves some seventh-inning insurance with a two-run single up the middle.

It was his second multi-homer game of the season, with the first coming over three months ago on April 17. Riley’s four RBIs tied a season high and were nearly as many as the five RBIs he had in all of June.

In the early going of Sunday’s rubber match, the Braves seemed poised to potentially cruise but squandered the chance by scoring just a single run in each of the first four innings.

Michael Harris II made it 1-0 in the first, bringing home Baldwin after his leadoff single. Riley followed with solo homers in the second and fourth, sandwiched around Baldwin’s first homer in the third.

The Braves weren’t especially fooled by Rangers veteran starter Nathan Eovaldi, who was tagged for four runs on six hits (three homers) over four innings.

Those single-run innings seemed like they were going to loom large when Braves starter Grant Holmes ran into trouble in the fifth. After he coasted with relative ease through four scoreless innings, the Rangers put two runners on base with one out in the fifth.

Wyatt Langford got Texas on the board with an RBI double, Josh Jung brought in another with a sacrifice fly and Jake Burger cut the Braves’ lead to 4-3 with a two-out RBI single. But Holmes induced a groundout to third to strand the tying and go-ahead runs on base, finishing a five-inning outing with three runs allowed on seven hits, striking out and walking two apiece while improving to 6-4 on the season.

After their first two scoreless innings of the game in the fifth and sixth, the Braves broke through with three more in the seventh on Riley’s two-run single and an RBI double by Brewer Hicklen.

Baldwin capped off his career day with his second homer in the ninth.

All of that insurance provided a critical cushion when the Rangers tallied a run against Dylan Lee in the eighth on Kyle Higashioka’s RBI double and another off Raisel Iglesias in the ninth on a Wyatt Langford leadoff homer.

Iglesias bounced back, though, to retire the next three batters and finish the game off with minimal incident or stress, clinching the series and improving the Braves to 57-41 on the season.

They stay at home to begin next week without an off day, opening a four-game series against the Padres at Truist on Monday night.

The Texas Rangers scored five runs but the Atlanta Braves scored eight runs.

In the like 120 degree Cumberland, Georgia heat that had to have made the Rangers glad to play half their games at The Shed, Texas experienced a death by a thousand bombs before their own porous defense took the finishing blow.

Nathan Eovaldi was on the mound for the finale. Eovaldi had been dealing with a sickness or something which pushed him to Sunday. Who knows, maybe he has the Taco Bell poop lettuce bug. His start today was certainly analogous to explosive diarrhea.

The Braves scored a manufactured run in the first inning. They scored a run in the second inning on a solo home run. They scored a run in the third inning on a solo home run. They scored a run in the fourth inning on a solo home run. Eovaldi didn’t return for the fifth inning.

In some ways Eovaldi’s start felt like a later years Colby Lewis outing but Colby Lewis would have pitched seven innings anyway and the Rangers would have already scored ten runs.

By the end of the fourth inning, Braves All-Star catcher Drake Baldwin had three hits, a home run, a stolen base, two runs scored, and his 84th RBI against the Rangers this weekend. He also singled in the sixth. In the eighth, he homered again.

Meanwhile, it was Texas that came through with a crooked number when they scored three in the top of the fifth off of slider one trick pony Grant Holmes. Unfortunately, that extended rally died with the tying run on second base. An inning later, two runners in scoring position were stranded and then the rallies of consequence pretty much dried up against the back of the Atlanta bullpen.

Hopes were put to rest after Texas failed to tie the game when the defense abandoned them in the bottom of the seventh. The Braves put three runs on the board after the Rangers botched a rundown and made questionable decisions in the infield. During that rally, Austin Riley collected his third hit of the day, including two of Atlanta’s four home runs and four RBIs overall.

The Rangers did finally score that fourth run after it didn’t matter much anymore. Immediately afterward, Baldwin hit his second home run.

Overall, winning one of three games against the Braves at their home ballpark probably should have been the expectation. The Rangers should be pretty thankful for that one win as they allowed 29 runs in three games over the weekend.

Player of the Game: Probably Drake Baldwin. Wyatt Langford did go 3-for-5 with two runs scored, two RBIs, and a home run for Texas’ fifth and final run, though

Up Next: The Rangers open a series against the Chicago White Sox which would have seemed like a nice respite on the schedule coming into the season except that the White Sox are now leading the American League Central as the rising underdog success story of the season.

RHP Jacob deGrom is expected to make his first start of the second half opposite RHP Erick Fedde for Chicago.

The Monday evening first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 7:05 pm CDT and you can catch it on the Rangers Sports Network.

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

After the Los Angeles Dodgers got to Cam Schlittler and the New York Yankees' pitching staff for eight runs in this afternoon's matinee, they're -116 road favorites for the nightcap on Sunday Night Baseball.

It looks like both teams will rely heavily on their bullpens, which favors Los Angeles in the game and in our Dodgers vs. Yankees predictions.

Get ready for the Dodgers to break out the brooms under the prime-time lights with our MLB picks on Sunday, July 19.

Who will win Dodgers vs Yankees tonight: Dodgers (-116)

With Sunday's original starters, Emmet Sheehan and Ryan Weathers, now scheduled to pitch in their teams' respective games on Monday, the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees will likely be turning to their bullpens early and often on Sunday Night Baseball.

This immediately favors the Dodgers. For one, Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a complete game earlier in the day, so L.A. didn't have to burn a single relief arm in the 8-2 win. By comparison, the normally sturdy Cam Schlittler couldn't get out of the fifth inning, and the Yankees used four relievers in the losing effort.

Secondly, the Dodgers have fewer miles on their bullpen arms than any team in baseball other than the Mariners. The 3.76 ERA is a little high, especially compared to the Yankees (3.07), but potential starter Elmer Rodriguez has struggled at the big-league level (4.76 ERA, 5.86 expected ERA, 5.29 K/9, 5.82 BB/9), which offers the Dodgers enough of an early opportunity to gain the advantage.

While I am tempted to take the Dodgers on the -1.5 run line at +138, bullpen games can get weird, and with the moneyline sitting at a more than reasonable -113 for L.A., I'll go with the straight-up victory.

If the moneyline hits -125, I'd pivot to the run line or just skip trying to predict the winner.

COVERS INTEL:Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman hit right-handed pitching about as well as anyone, ranking 10th and 11th, respectively in wRC+ this season, which underscores the early advantage against an unseasoned rookie arm like Rodriguez.

Dodgers vs Yankees Over/Under pick: Under 9.5 (-131)

While bullpen arms are often nutty, these are two of the better relief corps in MLB this season.

And even though the Yankees used four arms to the Dodgers' zero, they saved their most high-leverage options, like Brent Headrick, David Bednar, and Fernando Cruz.

With the postponement on Saturday, the Dodgers are particularly well-rested, as they didn't have to lean too heavily on the pen in Friday's 2-1 win. Closer Tanner Scott earned the save, but needed only 11 pitches to do it.

I expect a couple of early runs, but that's about it. Will Klein will serve as the Dodgers' opener, and he's been very good, boasting a 2.41 ERA in 37 1/3 innings.

Considering the Yankees' continued struggles to put crooked numbers on the board with Aaron Judge sidelined, I like the Under 9.5, and would take the Under 8.5 at plus money if available.

Dodgers vs Yankees weather

Dodgers vs Yankees odds

• Moneyline: Los Angeles -113 | New York +108
• Run line: Los Angeles -1.5 (+138) | New York +1.5 (-144)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (-127) | Under 8.5 (+122)

Dodgers vs Yankees trend

The New York Yankees have hit the Team Total Under in 18 of their last 25 games (+10.20 Units / 33% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Dodgers vs. Yankees.

How to watch Dodgers vs Yankees and game info

Dodgers vs Yankees latest injuries

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

For nine innings Sunday afternoon, the Yankees saw the kind of at-bats they have been hoping to put together more regularly of late.

The problem was that they were only happening when the Dodgers were in the batter’s box.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto dominated a feeble Yankees lineup in a complete game while the Dodgers made Cam Schlittler labor, knocking him out of the game by the fifth inning before the wheels fully came off in an 8-2 loss in the first game of a doubleheader in The Bronx.

The Yankees could barely touch Yamamoto, their only real damage against him coming on Trent Grisham’s home run to lead off the fourth inning.

That represented their first of only four hits against the Dodgers ace, who needed just 102 pitches to go the distance.

“Obviously we got to be able to do more — we’ve been saying that a lot here the last few weeks,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We got to do a better job of having those heavy at-bats as a group. That’s where we’ve struggled here these last few weeks.”

After winning four straight games to close out the first half, the Yankees (54-44) have opened the second half looking more like the team that went through a 4-14 rut in late June and early July.

Most notably, that includes the offense reverting to a rough watch, lacking much in the way of punch or depth that not even a healthy Aaron Judge would fully fix.

“I don’t know if [feeling] weight’s the right word, I think just a little pissed off,” Ryan McMahon said. “We know we got the guys to get this thing going, so it’s just about doing it.”

The Dodgers (63-36), meanwhile, consistently put up tough at-bats against Schlittler.

Typically fairly efficient, Schlittler threw 98 pitches across 4 ¹/₃ innings while giving up three runs.

He struck out eight and did not walk a batter, but the Dodgers worked plenty of long at-bats — fueled by fouling off 27 pitches — to drive his pitch count up and get to the Yankees bullpen early in the doubleheader.

It was still just a 3-1 game entering the eighth inning, when the Dodgers broke it open against Jake Bird (who was optioned to Triple-A after the game) and Camilo Doval, thanks in part to the Yankees losing their second ball in the sun of the day.

Both came off the bat of Max Muncy, this one a foul pop up that fell near McMahon, who did not know where the ball was.

Instead of being the second out of the inning, Muncy eventually drew a walk, the first of seven straight Dodgers to reach before the actual second out was recorded on a sacrifice fly that made it 8-1.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

If the Yankees had been able to muster more than just Grisham’s home run against Yamamoto to that point, Boone likely would have been using his better relievers in the late innings.

Instead, it was just another abysmal performance from a lineup that has largely been scuffling for nearly a month outside of Ben Rice and Grisham — especially against opposing starters.

In 19 games since June 25, the Yankees have scored just 30 runs (28 earned) in 106 innings against starting pitchers — good for a 2.38 ERA — while hitting just .158.

Their work against an awful Nationals bullpen in the final series before the All-Star break has saved this stretch from being even more miserable.

Among the top concerns is that the tough, grind-it-out at-bats they want to be known for have gone mostly missing.

There have also been more general struggles from central pieces of the lineup, particularly Cody Bellinger, who went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in Game 1.

Entering the nightcap, since hitting his last home run on June 17, he was batting just .172 with a .460 OPS over his last 25 games.

“Game’s tough,” McMahon said. “But this is our job and this is what we’re supposed to be really good at doing. So we got to find something, we got to get something going. I think one good kick in the right direction can get us firing.”

Detroit Tigers (46-52) vs. Los Angeles Angels (38-61)

Time/Place: 4:07 p.m., Angel Stadium
SB Nation Site: N/A
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Casey Mize (4-6, 2.79 ERA) vs. RHP Ryan Johnson (1-4, 6.75 ERA)

It’s Sunday once more, and you know what that means — it’s time for our weekly social media roundup! This past week, we reached the halfway point of the regular season, the 2026 All-Star Break, and well, do we have a lot in store. Between the amateur draft, the Home Run Derby, and the Midsummer Classic itself, we have quite a bit to cover, so without further ado, let’s get started!

Yanks in Philly

Those interested in historical linguistics (or, alternatively, read this blog back during the COVID shutdown) will know that the term Yankee was, once upon a time, a pejorative term used by the British for the colonials. And so, with this year’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia for the country’s 250th birthday, well, it should come as no surprise that the Bronx Bombers stole the show.

First, we’ve got the Baby Bombers at the Futures Game.

Soon after, the major leaguers — Cody Bellinger, Ben Rice, and Cody Schlittler — arrived in Philly, where they began by participating in Media Day tomfoolery.

Monday night saw Ben Rice and his father tackle the Home Run Derby, and while he didn’t exactly excel in the competition, he did have the time of his life.

Then came the game itself, where Bellinger and Rice combined to drive in three of the four runs scored in the entire game, with Belli going home with the All-Star Game MVP.

And, of course, once the week was over, the players took to Instagram to share their experience.

Of course, the active players weren’t the only ones in Philadelphia.

Draft Day

Last weekend, we welcomed another draft class into the Yankees family. While not the first round pick, the biggest story was, of course, Luke Pettitte, the son of Yankees legendary southpaw Andy. Naturally, both he and his family were ecstatic at the news.

He wasn’t the only member of the Yankees family to get good news, though. CC Sabathia’s son was also drafted, in this case by the Milwaukee Brewers.

My son was drafted to the league tonight!!! So proud of you Carsten 🙏🏾 #LegaCCy

So excited to see Carsten drafted to the Milwaukee Brewers – a team, city, and community that welcomed me with open arms from day one and has a special place in my heart 🙌🏾 The work starts now. Only the beginning!!!

And of course, let’s not forget the players drafted who aren’t related to Yankees royalty.

Looking Backwards

As always, the first half’s end sees a lot of players post photos from the first half to their Instagram. I particularly encourage you to look at every single pic that Max Scheumann posted.

Questions of the Day

With nothing going on Wednesday and Thursday, we got a couple more Questions of the Day.

In the first game of Sunday’s day-night doubleheader at Yankee Stadium, Yankees ace Cam Schlittler and Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto matched wits on the mound. Schlittler ended his outing dejected and frustrated by a Los Angeles lineup which took no give-up at-bats all afternoon. Yamamoto ended his outing on the mound, tossing a complete game for the Dodgers in an 8-2 slog in the Bronx. Despite New York’s offensive futility, the game remained close until a five-run top of the eighth inning for the back-to-back champs put it on ice. Much like in the 2024 World Series which wrapped up in a tidy five games, Los Angeles simply outclassed the Yankees this afternoon.

This contest kicked off with one of the more rousing opening frames you could draw up. Schlittler faced down the top of the Dodger order and blew them away with his signature heat. Shohei Ohtani, Andy Pages, and Freddie Freeman all went down by way of the K. Cam picked up six swings and misses in that first inning alone.

This Dodger lineup will make you work, though. That’s what they did to Schlittler increasingly as the game went on. Their effort began in earnest in the second, as they fouled off tons of pitches to jack up his pitch count over 40 after two innings. A sun-aided double from Max Muncy exacerbated matters, but Anthony Volpe offset the misplay by making a beautiful leaping catch up the middle to take a single from Kyle Tucker.

Yamamoto countered Schlittler with an eight-pitch bottom of the inning to help set the tone for the afternoon. He then needed just nine pitches to retire the Yankees in order. His efficiency is what makes him particularly dangerous. It doesn’t just deflate your lineup; it forces Schlittler to get right back on the mound with far shorter breaks.

The Dodgers saw 50 pitches in their first time through the order—which must have felt like 80 pitches by the time Ohtani came back up in the third. He was looking for revenge after the first-inning strikeout, and had Tommy Edman at first base to work with. Schlittler mislocated a cutter low and in, and Ohtani unleashed, driving the ball at 111 mph through the right-center gap. Edman raced home from first to score the opening run of the game.

Another long battle with Andy Pages set up an opportunity for the Yankees’ World Series nightmare, Freddie Freeman. Freeman was on a power kick during that Fall Classic; here, he did the other thing he does best. On two strikes, he shortened up and shuttlecocked an obnoxiously perfect little looper into left center field, scoring Ohtani for a 2-0 Dodger lead.

The bottom of the Bombers’ order provided as much resistance to Yamamoto as a wet napkin in the third, compelling Cam to take the mound in short order once more. Schlittler bounced back to grab three more strikeouts in the fourth, but as he walked off the mound you knew he had one full inning left, maximum.

The game flow reminded me of the game flow I’ve seen in some of the ugly football games I’ve commentated—in which one team goes three-and-out every drive while the other team runs twenty plays and chews up a whole quarter worth of clock when they get the ball. It’s almost irrelevant how much they score; as long as they score at all, the game is lost.

Well, the hope for a baseball team lies in the fact that no matter what, they’ll get nine chances to make something happen. At any point, someone can come up with a big hit. That’s exactly what Trent Grisham did, leading off the bottom of the fourth by grabbing the Yankees’ first hit and first run on one swing. His big blast into the second deck in right field got New York and their anxious fans right back in the game.

Los Angeles, however, wasted little time getting that run back against the increasingly frustrated Schlittler. You don’t often see a pitcher react with more anguish after hitting a batter than the batter himself, but Cam hunched over in frustration after plunking Edman in the fifth. A grounder from Ohtani advanced Edman to second, and he scored on a broken-bat looping double which settled along the right field line.

That bleeder marked the end of a supremely enervating afternoon for Cam. He brought his best stuff to bear against the back-to-back champs; they simply outwaited him, picked their spots, and cashed in on their chances. Yamamoto’s brutal efficiency only exacerbated matters, forcing him to throw more and more pitches in quick succession against an offense which had begun timing him up. It’s a testament to Schlittler’s stuff that LA only managed to coax three runs out of him with so many factors working in their favor.

Yamamoto finished the sixth inning on pace for a Maddux, with just 68 pitches and the one blip to Grisham representing the only man to reach base. Ben Rice became the second Yankee to get aboard when he doubled to lead off the bottom of the seventh, but three straight Bombers came up as the would-be tying run and were foiled in quick succession. Schuemann put up a great fight with two outs, but his line drive on the payoff pitch shot straight to Pages in center field. Yamamoto survived his first true threat

The rest of the afternoon’s proceedings were not devoid of positives. Tim Hill finished up the fifth and began the sixth on the mound for the Yankees, then Angel Chivilli turned in a truly impressive performance, striking three of the four Dodgers he faced—including Pages and Freeman consecutively to finish the top of the seventh. Could Chivilli become an X-factor for this pitching staff in the second half? Time will tell, but the Dominican youngster was remarkably sharp today.

As soon as Chivilli departed, though, it was LA’s cue to put the finishing touches on this matinée against Jake Bird and Camilo Doval. Teoscar Hernandez began the bloodshed with a ground rule double which scored one and put two in scoring position. Dalton Rushing walked, loading the bases for Edman, who worked the count full and slapped a grounder through the right side of the infield for two more insurance runs. Ohtani followed with a base hit of his own, scoring Rushing, then a sac fly from Freeman added yet another tally for five in the inning and eight in the game for Los Angeles.

New York grabbed a pity run in the eighth inning thanks to another ball getting lost in sunshine—the Sun has no rooting interest—and a Volpe base hit. McMahon was doubled up to expunge thoughts of an extended rally, and Yamamoto completed eight innings.

In the top of the ninth inning, Dave Roberts, the same guy who thought challenging a call in the All-Star Game was a cool idea, challenged the final out of the top of the ninth in a game which was now meaningless. After five minutes of nothing, the call stood. Cool. Glad we have replay review for such important purposes. It also gave Yamamoto even more time to get ready for a breezy bottom of the ninth.

The Bombers themselves had the courtesy to keep it brief, going down in order to give Yamamoto the complete game he was looking for. One hundred and two pitches of brilliance for the Dodger ace, who left no meat on the bone in a comprehensive victory for the visitors.

The Yankees will get their chance to bounce back later this evening. Enjoy the World Cup Final between Spain and Argentina in the meantime to take your mind off another stiff performance from the pinstripers, then buckle up for another dose. If you want to. NBC has the broadcast for this one starting at 7:20 pm with LA deploying a bullpen game and the Yankees using Elmer Rodríguez as either the starter or “bulk guy” for an opener.

Box Score

The Mariners close up their series against the Giants today looking to win a series to kick off the second half of the season. Logan Gilbert will take the ball for the Mariners, countered by former Mariner Robbie Ray.

Lineups:

News:

Brendan Donovan is in Tacoma’s lineup today, playing second base. Donovan is batting leadoff, followed by Rob Refsnysder, who will serve as DH today.

Today’s game information:

Game time: 1:10 PT

TV: Mariners.TV with Aaron Goldsmith and Angie Mentink

Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports with Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr.

The Dodgers are using a bullpen game in the nightcap of Sunday’s split doubleheader, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto made sure that relief corps will be highly rested. The Dodgers ace was in complete control in his complete-game 8-2 win over the New York Yankees on Sunday morning.

Yamamoto retired 21 of 23 batters faced through the first seven innings, allowing only a fourth-inning solo home run to Trent Grisham and a seventh-inning leadoff double by Ben Rice, who was stranded. He allowed a run in the eighth inning thanks to a sun double that eluded Andy Pages in center field.

With seven strikeouts and no walks, Yamamoto was economical, needing only 102 pitches. It’s his first regular season complete game with the Dodgers, though Yamamoto did famously have two complete games during last postseason.

Sunday was the eighth time this season Yamamoto has lasted at least seven frames, and the third time he’s completed eight innings. On the season, Yamamoto leads the majors in averaging 6.65 innings per start.

Things didn’t go so smoothly for Yankees right-hander Cam Schlittler, who has been either the best or second-best pitcher in the American League this season, carrying a 2.05 ERA and 3.00 xERA into Sunday. The Dodgers made the 6’6 right-hander work, extracting 98 pitches through just 4 1/3 innings, matching Schlittler’s shortest outing of the season.

The Dodgers plated three against Schlittler, with Shohei Ohtani’s RBI double and Freddie Freeman’s run-scoring single in the third inning, and Tommy Edman getting hit by a pitch in the fifth followed by an RBI double by Pages to chase Schlittler.

The Dodgers poured it on with five more runs off Jake Bird in the eighth, punctuated by a two-run double by Edman, who after his two-hit game is hitting .351/.429/.486 with a 157 wRC+ in 24 games since returning from the injured list.

Sunday particulars

Home run: Trent Grisham (11)

WP — Yoshinobu Yamamoto (10-6): 9 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 7 strikeouts

LP — Cam Schlittler (9-6): 4 1/3 IP, 6 hits, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts

Up next

There’s still another game today, and we have some time before it starts. The split doubleheader concludes with another national TV game (4:20 p.m. PT, NBC, Peacock). It’s a bullpen game for the Dodgers, which sure seems like Landon Knack will be a big part of that.