Category: Baseball

With heat indexes in triple digits, the St. Louis Cardinals wrapped up their weekend series against the Cincinnati Reds Sunday. Kyle Leahy was a trooper and not only gave the Cardinals a quality start, but also set a career-high for strikeouts. However, the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen would once again become an issue late.

The St. Louis Cardinal s were first to score in a back-and-forth affair Sunday afternoon. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Alec Burleson led off with a double. Masyn Winn singled which gave the Cardinals runners at first and third with no outs. José Fermín gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly to left. Unfortunately, that’s the only run the Cardinals would get in the 2nd inning as Nelson Velázquez lined out to center and Pedro Pagés fouled out to the catcher.

The St. Louis lead wouldn’t last long as Elly De La Cruz caught up with an 88 mph Kyle Leahy slider and launched it 410 feet for a homer tying the game at 1-1 in the top of the 3rd inning.

The Cardinals would seize the lead again in the bottom of the 3rd inning when Iván Herrera met an 81 mph sweeper and gave it a 411 foot ride giving St. Louis a 2-1 lead.

The Cincinnati Reds matched the Cardinals again in the top of the 5th inning when Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a 91 mph four-seam fastball just far enough for a game-tying 387-foot home run locking the game at 2-2. That would be the last damage that Kyle Leahy would allow as he completed 6 strong innings striking out a career-high 9 batter while allowing just 6 hits and walking only 1.

With the game tied 2-2, the St. Louis bullpen entered the equation. Luis Gastelum did a solid job of keeping the Reds quiet in the top of the 7th inning. The Cardinals would threaten (sort of) in the bottom of the 7th inning when Lars Nootbaar would reach with a leadoff walk. Blaze Jordan flied out to deep center for the first out followed by Bryan Torres grounding out which moved Nootbaar into scoring position at second, but JJ Wetherholt was unable to make anything other than a groundout to first happen which ended the Cardinals scoring opportunity.

Ryne Stanek was the next St. Louis bullpen representative in the top of the 8th inning. He set the Reds down 1-2-3 which was a pleasant development. In the bottom of the 8th inning, the Cardinals would try to mount a two-out rally which started when Alec Burleson ripped a ball down the right field line which glanced off of Nathaniel Lowe’s glove. Masyn Winn moved Burleson into scoring position when he singled up the middle. That left the Cardinals 8th inning fate in the hands of José Fermín. He ended up reaching base to load the bases when the Cardinals successfully challenged catcher’s interference. Unfortunately, Lars Nootbaar flied out to left field to end the bottom of the 8th inning. The Cardinals RISP woes continue.

George Soriano entered the game in the top of the 9th inning as the TV dudes said Riley O’Brien was under the weather. All he needed to do to give St. Louis a walk-off opportunity was to keep the Reds off the board and he was successful as he only allowed an infield single to Marte.

Would the St. Louis Cardinals offense rise up and shock the world by scoring a run for a walk-off winner? Blaze Jordan weakly grounded out to first to lead off the bottom of the 9th inning off of Reds reliever Brock Burkes who made odd barking sounds after each pitch which was distracting. Jimmy Crooks was the next bat with an opportunity for hero status. He unfortunately struck out, but the Cardinals still had JJ Wetherholt with a chance to end the game in a great way. He did the opposite with a strikeout sending the game to extra innings.

The top of the 10th inning was Matt Svanson’s responsibility for the Cardinals. Tyler Stephenson was the Reds free runner at second base. It only took 2 pitches before he was standing at third as Jimmy Crooks allowed a passed ball to the backstop which the official scorer may have called a wild pitch, but this one’s on Crooks. He easily scored on a single by Sal Stewart to right field giving the Reds a 3-2 lead. Elly De La Cruz followed that with a single of his own giving Cincinnati runners at first and second with nobody out. Arroyo then laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt moving runners up to second and third with just one out. Manager Oli Marmol then turned to Justin Bruihl for a lefty-on-lefty matchup against JJ Bleday. Could Bruihl be a hero and hold the Reds to just one extra innings run? Spoiler Alert: NOPE. He struck out Bleday for the second out which was crucial. The Cardinals then intentionally walked Suarez to load the bases setting up a force at any base. That brought up Lowe who already had two hits on the day. He sadly added another single to that effort which scored two more Reds giving Cincinnati a 5-2 10th inning lead.

We had heard about the bad reputation of the Reds bullpen. Could the Cardinals do anything against them? Well, Jordan Walker nearly injured himself tripping over first base on a ground out with free runner JJ Wetherholt at second base. Iván Herrera did manage a single into left moving JJ over to third which brought up Alec Burleson as the potential tying run. He looped a ball over short for a single scoring Wetherholt and bringing up the potential winning run to the plate in the form of Masyn Winn. Nathan Church smartly took Burleson’s place at first as the tying run pinch-runner. Masyn sadly struck out which brought up José Fermín as the Cardinals final hope with two outs. He flew out to left to end the game and give the Reds the series victory. BUMMER.

The St. Louis Cardinals begin a crucial 4-game series versus their arch rivals the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium Monday night. According to MLB.com, the Cubs will start LHP David Peterson. The Cardinals starter is to be determined. First pitch set for 6:45pm Monday night at Busch Stadium with the TV broadcast available through Cardinals.tv.

The Orioles tied the game in the 9th, had a golden opportunity to win the game in the 10th, but ultimately fell to the Braves 3-2 in 11 innings.

Things truly felt like they lived and died on the outcome of a pivotal 10th inning. After Tyler Wells worked out of a two-on, nobody-out jam in the top of the 10th, Baltimore went to the bottom of the inning looking to walk off the Braves for the second game in a row.

With Manfred Man Sam Huff on second, Dylan Beavers started the inning with a walk that saw Huff move to third on a wild pitch. Atlanta then chose to walk Pete Alonso to load the bases for Gunnar Henderson. The Orioles’ star SS only needed a fly ball to win the game, but instead lined into a double play at first. That put everything on Taylor Ward’s shoulders, but he could only pop up the ball behind first to send things to the 11th.

In the 11th, Austin Riley led off the top of the inning with a double to left that scored Atlanta’s Manfred Man Jorge Mateo. With the Braves up 3-2 in the bottom of the 11th, Coby Mayo opened the inning with a strikeout and Tyler O’Neill followed up with a groundout. Leody Taveras walked to keep the game alive and Atlanta chose to intentionally walk Jackson Holliday to face Huff. The O’s third-string catcher stung a ball to third, but Riley easily converted it into the final out to sink the O’s.

Baltimore came into the 9th down 2-1, looking to get the best of Braves’ All-Star closer Raisel Iglesias. The normally pinpoint Iglesias quickly fell behind 3-0 against Christian Encarnacion-Strand, fought back to 3-2, but ultimately walked the Orioles’ leadoff hitter. Tyler O’Neill then came to the plate representing the winning run, got ahead 2-0, but ended up striking out on a changeup low and in.

Then things really got crazy. With Coby Mayo pinch-running for CES, Leody Taveras grounded a would-be double play ball to Ozzie Albies at second. Instead, Albies did his best Bill Buckner impression, allowing the grounder to go through his legs and Mayo to go third with one out. Albies would somewhat redeem himself against Jackson Holliday, as the Orioles 2B sent a sharp grounder to his Braves counterpart that Albies snagged and fired to first for the second out.

The sharp defensive play possibly prevented the winning run in Taveras from scoring, but allowed Mayo to come home and tie the game at two. Jeremiah Jackson then had a chance for the O’s second 9th-inning walkoff in a row, but instead grounded out to send the game to extras.

The rally in the 9th was set up by a majestic home run from Pete Alonso in the 8th. With the O’s down 2-0 and one out, lefty reliever Dylan Lee hung a slider to Alonso, who blasted it 419 feet into the left field bleachers for his 22nd homer of the season. After the offense had struggled to deliver all game, the Alonso blast breathed belief back into Camden Yards.

The Orioles found themselves in that early hole thanks to a less-than-sharp Shane Baz and a suspect defensive performance behind their starter. Baz came into Sunday’s outing having not issued a walk in two consecutive starts, but that same level of command was absent against the Braves. Despite a leadoff single by Drake Baldin, the right-hander was able to work a scoreless first after Ozzie Albies lined into an unassisted double play at first and Matt Olson struck out on a 3-2 knuckle curve.

The Orioles’ defense let their starter down in the 2nd as the Braves got on the board first. Clean-up hitter Michael Harris II led off the inning with a single to center that skipped off the heel of Colton Cowser’s glove, allowing the Braves’ CF to move to second. Mauricio Dubón then lifted a fly out to center that allowed Harris to move to third with one out. With the Orioles’ infield drawn in, Dominic Smith slashed a single past Christian Encarnacion-Strand at the hot corner, bringing home Harris and giving Atlanta a 1-0 lead.

Baz would avoid any further damage in the 2nd after Austin Riley grounded into a double play, but you could tell early on that the 27-year-old wasn’t operating at the peak of his powers. The right-hander would work around another Baldwin single to post a scoreless 3rd, but through three innings he’d thrown 51 pitches and gone to a full count on five of the first 11 batters he faced.

That lack of command came back to bite Baltimore and Baz in the 4th. Olson led off the inning with a double off the right-field scoreboard after a Baz knuckle curve caught a little too much of the plate. Harris then won a seven-pitch battle with a productive groundout to first to move Olson to third. Dubón almost brought home Atlanta’s second run on a grounder to short, but Gunnar Henderson looked the runner back before firing to first for the second out.

That brought up Smith, who delivered yet again. The Braves DH lifted a fly ball to shallow left that, off the bat, looked very catchable. However, a false first step from Dylan Beavers forced him to attempt a sliding catch and the sinking fly ball bounced just under his glove for an RBI single. Baz would end the frame with a walk of Riley and a punch out of Mike Yastrzemski to leave the deficit at two runs.

After a 32-pitch 4th inning, Baz came back out for the 5th, sitting at 83 pitches. He’d get a quick ground out from Jim Jarvis, but after Baldwin reached again via walk, Craig Albernaz decided Baz’s afternoon was done. With a final line of 4.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R (1 ER), 2 BB and 2 Ks, it was the first start of the 27-year-old’s time with the Orioles where he failed to complete at least 4.2 innings.

Early in the game, the Orioles consistently failed to capitalize on the few scoring opportunities they had against starter Reynaldo López and the Braves bullpen. In the first, Pete Alonso reached on a worm-burning single through the right side and moved to third on a bloop two-out single by Taylor Ward. That brought up the scorching-hot Encarnacion-Strand, who only managed to lift a weak fly ball to right to strand both runners.

An inning later, No. 9 hitter Chadwick Tromp came up with one out, Colton Cowser at second and Jackson Holliday at first. However, instead of keeping the rally going, Tromp rolled a ball to short for a rally-killing 6-4-3 double play.

Baltimore would have another opportunity to put runs on the board in the 4th, but again it went by the wayside. Taylor Ward led off the inning with a well-placed single to center for his second hit of the afternoon. CES and Cowser couldn’t do anything to advance the leadoff base runner, with Encarnacion-Strand again flying out to right and Cowser going down on strikes. Leody Taveras almost ended the inning with a strikeout, but strike three skipped past Baldwin and allowed Taveras to reach. Holliday immediately wasted the opportunity, though, popping to left on a first-pitch curveball.

Until the 9th inning rally, the only unit that could truly hold their heads high was the Orioles bullpen. Left-hander Josh Walker relieved Baz in the fifth against Albies and proceeded to shut down the Braves’ 2 through 7 hitters to keep the game within reach.

Anthony Nunez took over in the 7th and, despite issuing two walks, picked up two massive strikeouts to post another scoreless inning. Albert Suárez entered in the top of the 8th for his first appearance since July 8th. In both the 8th and 9th, Suárez worked around a one-out walk to keep the Braves at bay and set the stage for the Orioles’ comeback.

In a game where (according to FanGraphs) the Atlanta Braves had a 7.4 percent chance of winning in the bottom of the tenth inning, Atlanta somehow ended up victorious after Austin Riley’s go-ahead RBI double in the 11th inning held up and brought us to the final score of 3-2.

Early on, this one was a pitchers’ duel, where runs were very difficult to come by and it was tough sledding for the hitters on both sides while the starters were out there. Fortunately, the Braves were able to scratch a couple of runs across the plate in the first few innings of this one while Reynaldo López and the defense were busy putting in work to keep Baltimore quiet.

The first run scored in this game was another reminder of just how important defense is in big league baseball and this time, it was the Braves who were the beneficiaries of a defensive gaffe. Michael Harirs II led off the second with a single that ended up turning into a trip to second base after Colton Cowser booted the ball while fielding the ball in the outfield. Mauricio Dubón moved Harris over to third with a flyout and then Dominic Smith shot one past Christian Encarnacion-Strand at third base for an RBI single that plated the first run of the game for Atlanta.

The lead stuck in the second inning after Reynaldo López was able to escape a mini-jam in the second inning by getting an inning-ending double play. Jim Jarvis fielded the grounder and helped to turn the double play, which was really nice to see as Walt Weiss’s faith in his rookie shortstop paid off with this particular defensive play.

Once the fourth inning rolled around, it was still 1-0 Braves and fortunately, they were able to add a tiny bit of breathing room during this frame. Matt Olson led off the fourth with a double and while the next two batters went down in order, Dominic Smith was once again in line to make a big moment happen. This time, Smith hit a shallow liner to left that Dylan Beavers nearly made a diving catch on. Beavers trapped it instead of making the catch and Olson was able to saunter home from third base to make it a 2-0 game.

For Reynaldo López, the two RBI singles from Dominic Smith ended up being plenty of run support as López was able to keep Baltimore quiet while he was out there. López finished his day with 5.2 innings pitched and just five hits and one walk allowed with six strikeouts as well. Most importantly, López didn’t give up any runs while he was out there as he kept the recently-potent Orioles lineup guessing and chasing instead of doing any type of real damage while he was out there. This was certainly a bounce-back effort for Reynaldo López following two rough starts in his most recent outings.

Once it was turned over to the bullpen, Dylan Dodd was able to get four outs by dusting off the bottom of the sixth inning and covering the seventh inning without incident. Dylan Lee got the ball for the eighth inning and there was an incident that he had to deal with, as he hung a slider to Pete Alonso and all anybody could do about that was watch it fly as Alonso crushed it into the seats in left field for a solo shot that made it a 2-1 game. Fortunately, that was the only blemish for Lee as he retired the next two batters in order and the Braves left the eighth inning with the one-run lead intact.

The Braves were unable to add on in their half of the ninth inning, so that meant that it was once again on Raisel Iglesias to finish off a game. This time he had zero room for error with the one-run lead and unfortunately, we ended up getting one of those Iglesias outings where the leadoff runner gets on and trouble awaits. Iggy walked CES to get the inning started and could’ve had at least another out after he got Leody Taveras to hit a grounder directly to Ozzie Albies. Somehow, Ozzie let the ball go right through his legs and that made it runners on the corners instead of two out.

Jackson Holliday then picked up a productive out (thanks to an impressive play from Ozzie, go figure) to plate the pinch-running Coby Mayo to tie the game at two runs apiece. While Iglesias was able to avoid any further trouble, it was certainly frustrating to see that sequence of events push this one into extra innings.

Once we got to extra innings, the tenth was a frustrating one as well but one that somehow saw the Braves escape with the game still tied. After Atlanta did nothing in their half of the tenth, the Braves found themselves in a bases-loaded, nobody out situation after Danny Young walked a trying-to-bunt Dylan Beavers and then they intentionally put Pete Alonso on.

Walt Weiss was forced to break out the five-infielder situation by bringing Mauricio Dubón onto the right side of the dirt but as it turned out, all he needed was Matt Olson at first base. Gunnar Henderson hit a liner that went right into Olson’s glove and then Olson scampered to first base to step on the bag and beat Pete Alonso by a hair for an astonishing double play. Tyler Kinley then entered the game for the final out and got Taylor Ward to pop out in shallow right to miraculously escape the tenth.

After Baltimore somehow wasted a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation in extra innings, the baseball gods duly rewarded Atlanta as Austin Riley doubled home the pinch-running Jorge Mateo to put Atlanta back in front. The double was especially impressive as Riley legged it out and ended up at second thanks to the extra hustle. The Braves were unable to add on so it was once again time to hold on to a one-run lead for the win.

Kinley went back out there for the 11th inning and while Kinley was able to sit down the first two batters in order, he walked Leody Taveras. This prompted another gutsy managerial decision from Walt Weiss, who intentionally walked Jackson Holliday in order to force the O’s to use Sam Huff, who has a wRC+ of -11 across 13 games and 33 plate appearances so far this season. Weiss played the statistical matchup and it paid off, as Huff hit a ground ball to Austin Riley who fielded it cleanly and hurled it to Matt Olson at first base in order to finish off what turned out to be an astonishingly improbable victory for the Braves.

That’s now three series wins in a row for the Braves to start the second half of this season and this was the most dramatic one so far — and that’s including the stressful Padres series as well. The Braves have simply been finding ways to win lately and this was the wildest way that they’ve figured out to win recently (and probably all season). Atlanta will now travel to New York to face the Mets and the confidence oughta be sky-high as Atlanta gets on the plane following this wacky victory.

If Sunday was Freddy Peralta’s final act with the Mets, it fairly represented his disappointing Queens tenure: a short and ineffective performance.

But another player imported from Milwaukee by president of baseball operations David Stearns left the larger imprint on the day.

That would be Tyrone Taylor, whose go-ahead homer in the sixth inning helped the Mets avoid a series sweep with an 8-3 victory over the Dodgers at Citi Field.

Peralta, who figures to depart ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline — he still could receive another start for the Mets next weekend — was facing a vaunted lineup.

But at the same time, he has slogged enough in recent weeks that maybe the opponent didn’t matter.

He unloaded 93 pitches over four innings and allowed three runs (one unearned) on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

It was Peralta’s fourth start in his last five in which he failed to complete five innings.

Did he consider that he may have pitched his final game for the Mets?

“I know it probably is,” Peralta said. “But I have to keep focus and keep giving the best of myself and if it happens, it happens. I am just thankful and grateful to be a part of this organization. I know so far I have let them down. I haven’t done what I am supposed to do, but I am grateful to be here.”

Outings such as Sunday’s might be acceptable from a fifth starter.

But the Mets acquired Peralta last winter as their purported ace and have watched him pitch to a 4.99 ERA as he prepares to enter free agency.

First, there is the likelihood that Peralta will finish this season pitching in a playoff race and hoping the fresh start returns him to the form he displayed in emerging as a Brewers ace.

“I know I can be way better than this,” Peralta said. “I still believe in myself. I am born to be a winner, not a loser, and I think I have a lot in me, a lot to show, and I know I can make it change because I still have time to make it change, to make it better.”

The Mets, who are 4-5 since the All-Star break, will receive another stiff dose of competition with the Braves arriving Monday.

The Mets finished 1-5 against the Dodgers this season.

The Mets lineup rallied late in the team’s second game since losing Juan Soto to a calf strain that figures to keep him sidelined for most of the remaining schedule.

Taylor, mostly a weapon against lefties, delivered a three-run homer against right-hander Evan Phillips that resurrected the Mets following Peralta’s blah outing.

The Mets piled on in the seventh, with Marcus Semien’s three-run blast providing insurance.

A.J. Ewing’s bloop double leading off the first and Francisco Lindor’s ensuing single against Emmet Sheehan gave the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Peralta’s trouble in the third started with a leadoff double by Eliezer Alfonzo.

He struck out Shohei Ohtani on a 96 mph high heater, but walked Andy Pages before Freddie Freeman smashed an RBI double to tie it 1-1.

Max Muncy’s RBI groundout gave the Dodgers the lead.

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Jared Young’s fielding error at first base led to the Dodgers scoring an unearned run in the fourth.

Peralta never broke to cover first base on the Kyle Tucker grounder, only adding to the sloppiness.

Alfonzo’s RBI groundout put the Mets in a 3-1 hole. Peralta’s day was complete.

“I thought there were a lot of foul balls,” interim manager Andy Green said of Peralta’s outing. “I thought there was great compete today and just the at-bats dragged on and on and it ends up less pitch efficient than we are hoping for and I know he is hoping for.”

In the sixth, Carson Benge and Luis Robert Jr. each walked before Taylor put the Mets ahead with his eighth homer this season.

Ewing walked in the seventh and scored on a passed ball, extending the Mets lead to 5-3. Before the inning was complete, Marcus Semien delivered a three-run homer.

“It’s not easy to not think about [the trade deadline],” Peralta said. “But at the end of the day, it’s a business and I have to understand that.”

In the game thread intro today, I relayed the story of Randy Poffo the baseball prospect turning into Randy “Macho Man” Savage the iconic professional wrestler. In a game this afternoon that the Minnesota Twins absolutely needed to have in the win column, they indeed proved to be “Cream of the Crop!” over the Unattributed Athletics.

In an immediate reversal of recent trends, the Twins got off to a rousing start in this one. After a nice 1-2-3 first inning from SP Connor Prielipp (filling in for an ailing Joe Ryan), Austin Martin doubled to lead off B1 and was brought home on a Royce Lewis fielder’s choice. After Royce swiped the second bag, Kody Clemens shot a ball into the RCF gap and barreled for third base. Not only did he make it, but the throw got away from A’s third baseman Tommy White (the error was charged to SS Alika Williams) and went out of play, allowing Kody to trot home with the Little League homer! 3-0 MN.

A wild sequence kept the runs coming in B2: with the bases loaded (Alex Jackson single, Brooks Lee walk, Martin walk), Byron Buxton rocketed a ball to SS—which was caught and Lee doubled off 2B. Well, until MN manager Derek Shelton made the earmuff gesture and the corporate umpires in NYC decided the call was safe. Before the first pitch to Ryan Jeffers was thrown, A’s P Luis Morales balk-balk-balked and the resulting base paths merry-go-round led to a run (and an A’s batting coach ejection). Now given the chance to swing away, Jeffers did just that—lining a single that scored Lee & Martin. 6-0 MN.

By B4, the Franchise Formerly Known as Oakland looked defeated—another Twins run (Ryan Kreidler) coming in on a throwing error from C Jonah Heim on a steal-of-third attempt. 7-0 MN.

Okay, maybe not—A’s slugger Nick Kurtz did clobber a Cole Sands T6 offering just out of CF Luke Keaschall’s reach and into the bullpen. Fortunately, Prielipp’s final line of 5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K was a god-send on short notice. 7-3 MN.

Back to the inept A’s in B6. After a Kreidler ground-rule double and a steal of 3B, LF Tyler Soderstrom looked to record an easy out on Martin’s lazy fly—until the sphere clanked off the leather and sent Kreidler home & Austin into 3B. 8-3 MN.

Alas, even the apathetic A’s were not bad enough to make it easy pickings for the Twins’ bullpen. In T7, the A’s juiced the bases off Sands and then Tommy Nance immediately walked in a run. Two more green-&-yellow denizens would come around on a fielder’s choice and a sac fly. In fact, the final out would need to be recorded on a diving catch from RF Clemens. 8-6 MN.

How often do a see it: a guy ends the inning with a nice defensive play and bangs a triple batting second the subsequent half-frame. That was Klobberin’ Kody in B7—coming around to score on a Keaschall sac fly. 9-6 MN.

MOAR RUNZ in B8: Lee single—Kreidler double—Jeffers single. In fact, 13 hits in all for our beloved boys of (a very hot) summer. 11-6 MN.

After Kody Funderburk dominated T8 and Travis Adams wobbled through the 9th (allowing two runs), the Twins finally, mercifully—for those sweltering in the seats—recorded the victory.

Your Final: Minnesota Twins 11, Athletics 8.

The Chicago White Sox won today—but both the Detroit Tigers & Cleveland Guardians lost. Meaning: the Twins are still very much alive & kicking in the AL Central!

Zach’s Zealot

• The fill-ins: Prielipp recovered from a blister issue to spot-start for Ryan admirably, while Jackson made his Twins debut at first base and even recorded a nice scoop to turn a double play!

Zach’s Zombie

• The heat (again): temperatures threatening triple digits in the Twin Cities. Hopefully all the Target Field rooters made it out of this one alive and back to A/C of some kind.

Egg-cellent Elocution

• gintzermusing on changing MN weather patterns and how Target Field now seems to run hot-or-cold but not the comfortable range in between.

Who’s Got Next

• A home off day Monday is followed by the Bobby Witt-less Kansas City Royals coming to town for three clashes (Tues. night, Wed. night, Thurs. afternoon).

The Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place on Sunday afternoon and included San Francisco Giants' Jeff Kent, Atlanta Braves' Andruw Jones and Carlos Beltran, who entered Cooperstown as a member of the Mets.

Despite similar numbers with New York as he had with the Kansas City Royals, who he broke into the league with, Beltran chose to don a Mets cap in the Hall of Fame after spending seven seasons in Queens because of what the city and organization meant to him, not only as a player, but in life once his playing days were over.

"It means a lot when I think about my career and I think about the choices that I had," Beltran said in a video conference on Sunday. "I remember going through the process of the choices, I had the Royals, I had the Mets and I had no logo and I felt that I wanted to be identified with an organization. And even though with the Royals and the Mets I had similar numbers, I felt that I was able to grow the most with the Mets, in every experience that I had there. The good ones, the bad ones, the controversies, whatever. That was the organization that I felt where I became the best version of myself, plus being able to work with them in the front office when Billy [Eppler] was the GM and now with David [Stearns] and [assistant GM] Eduardo [Brizuela].

"They also have invested in me so I felt that I wanted to wear their cap. I feel proud to be a Met and even though sometimes for people to hear that and be like ‘What are you talking about? What is so proud to be a Met?’ But yes I’m proud. I’m proud because I leave very good moments there, but I also leave incredible challenges. But I was able to go through all of them and I grew as a person so I’m very happy to represent the New York Mets at Cooperstown."

In 839 games with the Mets, Beltran slashed .280/.369/.500 with 149 home runs, 559 RBI, 100 stolen bases and a 31.1 WAR -- the highest WAR he had with any of the seven clubs he played for in his career. 

Following his playing career, the outfielder also had and continues to have a life within baseball, currently serving as a special assistant to Stearns. For a brief moment in 2019, Beltran was also named the manager of the Mets, although he and the club mutually agreed to part ways shortly after the announcement due to his connection with the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal that took place in 2017.

Beltran, who was the only player explicitly named in MLB's official investigative report, spoke at the time about his part in that controversy and why he decided to step down before managing a single game in New York, saying there was no world in which MLB would allow him to manage after various other people of the Astros' coaching staff were suspended due to their part in the scandal.

However, after more than six years from the controversy and New York once again in need of a manager, Beltran's name has come up as a potential candidate to lead the Mets. Earlier this month, Beltran said he's flattered by the mere mention of his name as a managerial candidate, and he noted he did discuss the role with the Mets, but he didn't believe stepping in as interim manager was the right move for him at the time. 

"The respect that I have for Carlos Mendoza when Carlos was part of the Mets is super [high]," Beltran said. "Carlos is a great human being. I love being around him. I told him that one of the reasons why I wanted to be close to him was because I wanted to be around him as much as I could with the experiences of dealing with the situations in the clubhouse, the players. 

"Baseball for me is a passion, no doubt about that and yes I had conversations with a few people in the organization and I don’t know I just didn’t feel it was the right thing for me to do. And I have to tell you, having the opportunity to manage, I will say, that that’s probably on my bucket list, but now I work as an advisor to the organization and I love the work that I do because it gives me the opportunity to be around the people that are making the decisions and it allows me to give my perspective on situations, players, strategies or whatever comes when it’s related to winning. 

"Yes I understand that my name has been mentioned about being a manager and all that and I’m proud of that. It’s kind of like when your name comes out and they say ‘hey man you have a chance to be in the Hall of Fame’. Just the fact that people thought that I could become Hall of Fame, I take that very positively and just the thought that people can think that I can manage a major league ball club, I also take that very positively, but at the same time, I don’t know, I gotta think deeply about what my next step is gonna be."

On this, the day of Carlos Beltrán’s Hall of Fame induction, the Mets pulled together some offensive production, defensive plays, and quality relief pitching to come up with a win against the Dodgers and avoid the season sweep with a final score Mets 8, Dodgers 3.

The day started less optimistically, when Freddy Peralta gave up a double right away at the top of the first inning to Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani reached third when Freddie Freeman grounded out to Brett Baty at second base. However, it took Peralta eleven pitches to get there, and seven pitches to walk Max Muncy, one batter later. By the time Mookie Betts lined out to end the top of the first, Peralta’s pitch count was 25.

At the bottom of the first, A.J. Ewing tapped a double into center field that Andy Pages couldn’t quite get his glove on. Francisco Lindor followed him with an RBI single into center field, allowing Ewing to easily score. Bo Bichette hit a grounder into left field for a single, but the next three batters could not make anything happen. The first inning ended with Lindor and Bichette stranded, but the score was Mets 1, Dodgers 0.

When Peralta came back out for the second inning, he was able to work a 1-2-3 inning thanks to a beautiful play by Taylor to Baty to throw out Teoscar Hernández at second base. Despite the replays showing that Hernández was likely safe, the Dodgers did not challenge, and the top of the inning was over. Taylor led off the bottom of the second inning by being hit by a pitch but was stranded on first base.

The third inning was rough for Peralta as his pitch count ballooned again. Eliezer Alfonzo led off with a ground-rule double that stayed fair when it bounced off the foul line in right field and into the crowd. Pages walked, and after seven pitches, Freeman smacked an RBI double to left field, allowing Alfonzo to score and Pages to reach third base. Max Muncy grounded out, but Pages scored and Freeman moved to third. Mookie Betts flied out to end the suffering, but the Dodgers had taken the lead, 2-1. At the bottom of the third inning, Benge drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the third, but then Jorge Polanco flied out to end the inning and, you guessed it, strand Benge on first.

At the top of the fourth inning, Edman bounced a single off Alfonso Márquez’s knee. Márquez was the first base umpire today. When Kyle Tucker tapped a ball to first base, Jared Young missed the grab initially, and when he recovered, Peralta was not covering first base for the subsequent throw. As a result of this series of events, Tucker reached first on the fielder’s choice, and Edman reached second on Young’s error. Hernández capitalized on the situation with an opposite-field single to load the bases with no outs. Alfonzo grounded out to first when Baty threw to Young. However, Young dropped the ball on the transfer, eliminating any chance of a play at second. On the same play, Edman came home to score and increase the Dodgers’ lead, and the runners moved up to second and third. During the next at-bat, Pages flied out, but that was the end of Peralta’s outing, after four innings and the score Dodgers 3, Mets 1.

Baty walked and was stranded in the bottom of the fourth inning, but after a very quiet fifth inning, the Mets offense woke up at the bottom of the sixth inning. Benge and Luis Robert, Jr. (pinch-hitting for Jared Young) walked to start things off. Taylor came up and belted a three-run homer in to left field to put the Mets ahead. Baty grounded out and Luis Torrens struck out, but the score was now Mets 4, Dodgers 3, and there was hope in the Mets’ heart again.

After Cionel Pérez worked two excellent innings, Brooks Raley came in for the top of the seventh, and retired all the batters in order. Ewing walked to lead off the bottom of the seventh, and reached second base after Freddie Freeman lost his glove tagging Lindor out at first. Bichette dribbled an infield hit down the third base line, and Ewing beat out the throw to reach third. During Benge’s at-bat, a passed ball by Dalton Rushing allowed Ewing to score. Jorge Polanco walked after that. Marcus Semien had replaced Baty at second base in the shuffle when Robert replaced Young, and he clobbered a soaring three-run home run that flew over left field. After Taylor grounded out to end the seventh inning, the score now stood at Mets 8, Dodgers 3.

Luke Weaver still came out for the eighth inning, presumably to get some work, but his outing was not as smooth as most have been for him. Weaver gave up lead-off single to Freeman. Semien was able to smother it, but when he came up, it seemed like he might have tweaked his neck or shoulder. He did stay in the game, though. With two outs, Edman knocked a single into right field to bring up Tucker, and Weaver hit him with a pitch to load the bases. Fortunately, Hernández grounded out when Weaver was able to grab the softly-hit ball and get it to Baty at first base, ending the scoring threat from the Dodgers in the eighth inning.

At the top of the ninth, Devin Williams replaced Weaver. Rushing led off for the Dodgers and tapped a cue ball down to left field that Bichette could not grab. However, after that Alex Call pinch-hit for Ohtani and struck out. Williams struck out the final two batters and the game ended as the Mets won, 8-3.

The Mets will face the Braves tomorrow in the start of a new series. Zac Thornton will start for the Mets and face off against Martin Pérez for the Braves. First pitch is at 7:10 PM ET.

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Win Probability Added

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What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Tyrone Tayler, +43% WPA
Big Mets loser: Freddy Peralta, -17% WPA
Mets pitchers: +1% WPA
Mets hitters: +49% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Tyrone Taylor’s 3-run home run, +41.8% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Freddie Freeman’s RBI double, -17.2% WPA

Dodgers reliever Will Klein had just induced the Mets’ Marcus Semien to whiff on a high heater. In a 1-1 count, Klein, who had struggled with command, went back to the fastball, knowing he could throw it for a strike.

What Klein wanted to be an outside pitch drifted in, and Semien connected for a three-run home run that sent the Dodgers to an 8-3 loss Sunday at Citi Field.

“Gave him a fastball, and he’s ready for it, and put it out there,” Klein said. “When you’re ahead and you’re dictating things, that’s a pop up, or they have to think about other stuff when I’m throwing off-speed in the zone. But I haven’t been, and so it’s really easy just throwing a fastball there, even if it’s in a spot that should be harder to hit, if you’re behind and the guy is a good hitter, it’s a lot easier for them to make that commitment and put a barrel to it.”

Despite failing to pull off the sweep, the Dodgers went 6-3 on their East Coast swing and won series against the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Mets.

Read more:Swanson: Hall of Famer Joe Torre passionate about going to bat for kids at risk of family violence

“It’s great,” manager Dave Roberts said Saturday night. “It seems like we’ve been on the road a long time, but the travel has been nice as far as staying in this time zone. We’re finding ways to win. So that’s the main thing. That’s the object of the game.”

The Dodgers’ All-Stars, as well as Roberts and his coaching staff, left for Philadelphia two weeks ago. The rest of the team met them in New York for three games against the Yankees. Then they traveled to Philadelphia for a three-game set, took a detour to Washington to visit the White House before returning to New York.

“It’s been a long road trip — especially for the guys who went to Philly for the All-Star Game,” right fielder Kyle Tucker said. “Being able to come out of the break and play some really good teams and put together really competitive at-bats and great innings from our pitching staff is huge. Some of the guys are kind of grinding in terms of how long they’ve been away from L.A. It’s kind of part of it. You’ve got to come out and play regardless and they’ve done a great job of that.”

Even so, the Dodgers (67-39) played cleaner baseball on this extended road trip — a couple baserunning mistakes aside — than they did in the homestand before the break.

Maybe the Dodgers just needed time off to reset.

“I thought we played really good baseball all road trip,” Freddie Freeman said. “I am looking forward to going home.”

Against the Mets (44-62) on Sunday, the first couple innings didn’t look promising. After Shohei Ohtani led with a double and Max Muncy drew a two-out walk, both were left stranded.

The Mets took the lead in the first when Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan gave up a lead-off double to A.J. Ewing before Francisco Lindor sent a low changeup into shallow right field for an RBI single.

The Dodgers’ three-up, three-down second inning ended when Teoscar Hernández tried to stretch a single into a double and ran into an out. Then, Sheehan hit Tyrone Taylor with a pitch to start the bottom half of the inning.

Sheehan retired the next three batters as the Dodgers started to take control. They pulled into the lead with a two-run third inning, powered by doubles from Eliéezer Alfonzo — his second double in as many appearances — and Freddie Freeman.

The Dodgers manufactured another run the next inning with a pair of singles, an error by Mets first baseman Jared Young, and a run-scoring double play.

Sheehan gave up one run and three hits, striking out five over five innings.

As the Dodgers bullpen took over in the sixth, however, the game slipped away. Jack Dreyer walked two batters and recorded just one out in the sixth inning before Roberts replaced him with Evan Phillips.

In a 1-1 count, Phillips threw a sinker on the inside edge of the strike zone, and Taylor lifted it into the left-field stands for a go-ahead three-run homer. Phillips, who last week talked about rewiring his rehab mindset, has already surrendered four home runs in just seven outings.

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“I think some of it was probably just me really trusting him,” Roberts said. “And I really do trust him. But there’s some work, some rust that needs to be kind of dusted off. So I think right now I’m going to kind of give him different looks and get his feet kind of under him and get some traction.”

A run-scoring passed ball from Dalton Rushing and Semien’s three-run blast in the seventh ultimately sealed the win for the Mets.

Klein, who issued two walks and gave up a single before the homer, said he’s been working to recapture the feeling of driving down the mound, as opposed to getting stuck over the rubber.

“It turned back into, ‘Please just throw a strike,’ instead of when I was going really well, it’s just, ‘I’m going to challenge you right here, and you’re not going to get it.’” Klein said. “So I think I just need to do a better job getting back to that and finding where I was a month ago.”

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

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

NEW YORK — The Dodgers will get closer Edwin Díaz back this week, with the $69 million offseason signing set to be activated from the injured list on Wednesday.

But in an 8-3 loss to the Mets on Sunday, their bullpen encountered problems well before the ninth inning.

In both the sixth and seventh innings, relievers Evan Phillips and Will Klein allowed three-run home runs to a scuffling Mets offense, turning what had been an early Dodgers’ lead into a one-sided rout.

The result underscored one growing question the Dodgers could face ahead of MLB’s Aug. 3 trade deadline.

Even with Díaz set to return — after having a procedure to remove loose bodies from his elbow in April — the rest of the bullpen remains an area that might benefit from a potential upgrade.

“I think that they’ve got to start getting back to getting ahead,” manager Dave Roberts said. “For what we’re trying to do, it’s just got to be better.”

Before the game, Roberts spoke highly of his relief corps, saying his “trust tree” of late-game options is “as big … as we’ve had in quite some time.”

But lately, the team’s right-handed options, in particular, haven’t looked as sharp as earlier in the year.

And on Sunday, it was two of them who suffered the afternoon’s biggest stumbles, in a defeat that denied the Dodgers the chance for a series sweep at Citi Field.

After lefty Jack Dreyer walked two batters in the sixth, Phillips entered the game and promptly gave up the decisive blow: a three-run homer to Tyrone Taylor that flipped a 3-1 Dodgers lead into a 4-3 deficit.

An inning later, Klein fared even worse against the top of the Mets lineup. A leadoff walk, infield single and passed ball led to one run. Then, after another walk with two outs in the inning, pinch-hitter Marcus Semien went deep for a back-breaking three-run shot –– taking advantage of a 2-0 count by timing up a fastball at the top of the zone.

“When you’re ahead and you’re dictating things, that’s a pop-up, or they have to think about their stuff when I’m throwing off-speed in the zone,” Klein said. “But I haven’t been, so … if you’re behind and the guy is a good hitter, it’s a lot easier for them to make that commitment and put a barrel to it.”

The implosion wasted a five-inning, one-run start from Emmet Sheehan (who wasn’t very efficient but managed to limit damage).

It also raised at least one more question mark for the front office to ponder entering deadline week.

What it means

While the Dodgers’ bullpen has been a strength for most of the season, entering Sunday with the eighth-best ERA in the majors at 3.79, their loss to the Mets was a reminder that it’s not an infallible group, either — especially from the right side.

Phillips has looked rusty in his return from Tommy John surgery and will be shifted to lower-leverage spots moving forward as he looks to regain his old lockdown form.

“I really do trust him, but there’s some work, some rust that needs to be kind of dusted off,” Roberts said. “So I think right now, I’m going to kind of give him different looks and get his feet kind of under him and get some traction.”

Klein has suffered a stark regression after a strong start this season. He has allowed runs in four straight outings while battling renewed command problems. His ERA is up to 6.00 since June 4, after posting a 1.78 mark previously.

“It turned back into, ‘Please just throw a strike,’ instead of when I was going really well, it’s just, ‘I’m going to challenge you right here, and you’re not going to get it,'” Klein said. “I just need to do a better job getting back to that and finding where I was a month ago.” 

Even Edgardo Henriquez, the Dodgers’ most consistent right-hander this year, has begun battling command problems again over the last month.

“I like what these guys have done, as far as the body of work,” Roberts said. “But the reality is that Klein is trying to find his way again. Evan, I think I’ve got to give him some different situations. So I think that’s where it’s at.”

The team’s only other active right-hander at the moment is Brock Stewart — a veteran who, “when he’s upright, is pretty good,” Roberts said Sunday, but has also battled a lengthy history of injuries.

And though the Dodgers are expecting right-handed reinforcements beyond Díaz over the rest of the season –– Ben Casparius started a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City this week, and Blake Treinen is also progressing in his recovery from elbow inflammation –– there are enough uncertainties to make the unit a possible area of need at the deadline. 

Who’s hot

At the start of this season, Freddie Freeman set a .300 batting average as one of his primary goals for 2026.

After going 2-for-4 on Sunday, he has finally reached that mark for the first time this year.

Freeman helped the Dodgers build their early lead, hitting an RBI double in the second inning that helped key a two-run rally. He followed that up with a single in the eighth, giving him a fourth consecutive game with multiple hits.

That was enough to push Freeman’s average to .301 by the end of the day. That’s nearly a 30-point improvement from a month ago, with the former MVP having hit .373 since June 21.

Who’s not

The Dodgers, Roberts said recently, knew Phillips’ return from Tommy John would not be seamless.

But the results to this point have been even more discouraging than feared, despite the right-hander’s raw stuff actually playing up.

Compared to his injury-shortened 2025 campaign, when his fastball averaged only 95.4 mph, Phillips’ velocity has been improved in his seven outings back from surgery this year, averaging almost 97 mph while getting increased swing-and-miss.

However, his command has looked rusty, and mistakes have been punished.

Granted, the home run he allowed Sunday wasn’t exactly a bad pitch: a 96 mph sinker in a 1-1 count down on the inside corner.

But Taylor was nonetheless on it, hooking his go-ahead blast inside the foul pole to help the Mets avoid a sweep.

“Physically, I feel great,” Phillips said. “If anything, it’s just trying to stay on top of the scouting and matchup side of things and understand what I’m trying to do in certain spots. But I feel really really close to being pretty dang good.”

Up next

The Dodgers are off Monday before beginning a six-game homestand Tuesday, when they will host the Mariners for a three-game set.

Jameson Taillon was a solid if unspectacular member of the Cubs rotation the last two years.

This year, though, the long ball got him, and then a hamstring injury kept him out about six weeks. Since his return he’s made two starts and they’ve both been, well, terrible. Sunday’s game at Pittsburgh was yet another example of Taillon giving up way too many home runs, three of them, including a grand slam by Ryan O’Hearn.

The Cubs did make a pretty good comeback attempt, but it fell a run short in an 8-7 loss to the Pirates.

Let’s rewind to the beginning of this one.

No one scored in the first, and that wasn’t because Jamo was fooling anyone. Brandon Lowe — who’s just feasted on Cubs pitching all year — singled with one out.

Then this happened [VIDEO].

Lowe took off for third, apparently convinced that Bryan Reynolds’ ball was going to fall for a double. But Michael Conforto made a nice catch and, with Lowe standing on third, had an easy inning-ending double play. A note on the double play from BCB’s JohnW53:

The first-inning double play by Michael Conforto to Michael Busch was the Cubs’ first this season started by a right fielder making a catch. The previous one was started by Willi Castro at home against the Brewers on Aug. 19 of last year.

Their first this year started by a left fielder was by Ian Happ on Friday.

They have not had one this year started on a catch by a center fielder. They had three last year, in March and July by Pete Crow-Armstrong, then by Kevin Alcántara on Sept. 7 at home against the Nationals.

In the top of the second, Conforto drew a one-out walk and one out later went to second on a single by Pedro Ramirez. Dansby Swanson’s single scored Conforto to make it 1-0 Cubs [VIDEO].

Nice “swim move” slide there by Conforto, incidentally.

A note on Ramirez’s hit from John:

Pedro Ramirez’s second-inning single made today’s game the Cubs’ 4,788th in a row on the road with a hit, tying the Pirates’ National League record. The Cubs last were hitless on the road Sept. 9, 1965, when Sandy Koufax pitched a perfect game against them at Dodger Stadium.

The Yankees hold the big league record of 5,366 and counting, since Sept. 20, 1958.

That lead did not last long. Esmerlyn Valdez took Taillon deep leading off the bottom of the second to tie the game. O’Hearn walked and one out later, Shawn Ross, playing in just his second MLB game, got his first MLB hit and home run, a two-run blast. I don’t usually show these for Cubs opponents but holy hell look how that ball was demolished [VIDEO].

So it’s 3-1 Cubs and Taillon got hit hard again in the third. With one out, Lowe singled, Reynolds doubled and Valdez walked to load the bases, and O’Hearn unloaded them with his slam. Now it’s 7-1 and that’s three home runs in three innings off Taillon in this game. To save a bit of bullpen work Craig Counsell had Taillon work the fourth, and the Pirates didn’t score.

So since Taillon’s return from the IL, that makes two starts, 8.1 innings pitched, 11 hits and four walks allowed (1.800 WHIP), 11 earned runs (11.88 ERA) and five home runs allowed. All told, Taillon has served up 25 home run balls this year in just 76 innings. Only Jeffrey Springs of the A’s has given up more homers and he’s thrown 26.2 more innings than Taillon. And, the Cubs have now lost seven of Taillon’s last eight starts — and the one they won, which was the last time they played in PNC Park, the game was tied when Taillon left after five innings and he’d given up two homers in that one. Over those eight starts: 7.82 ERA in 35.2 innings, 1.626 WHIP, 13 (!) home runs allowed.

This just can’t continue. Give Javier Assad that rotation spot until the Cubs can pull off a trade for a starting pitcher. Taillon’s next start would come up against the Yankees at Wrigley Field and do you want him facing Ben Rice, Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and the rest of the Yankees? I sure don’t, and I hope the Cubs brass doesn’t either.

That’s it for my TED Talk, now back to this game.

The Cubs did mount a decent comeback attempt and didn’t wait too long. In the top of the fourth, Nico Hoerner led off with a single and stopped at third on a double by Conforto.

Carson Kelly’s ground out scored Nico [VIDEO].

Conforto took third on that play and scored on a single by Ramirez [VIDEO].

Pete Crow-Armstrong followed with this RBI triple [VIDEO].

That was a productive inning and the Cubs trailed by only three, with five innings to go. They’ve made big comebacks in PNC Park before. Could they do it again?

Well, you know the answer to that, but they did make a good attempt. Ryan Rolison got touched up for a run in the fifth and that turned out to be a very important run indeed for the Pirates.

The Cubs couldn’t do anything in the sixth or seventh, but made it 8-5 in the eighth. Busch led off with a double and went to third on a single by Ian Happ. That continued Happ’s PNC Park record on-base streak, now at 44 games.

Nico singled in Busch to bring the Cubs back within three [VIDEO].

Aaron Civale threw two scoreless innings of relief, the sixth and seventh, and Trent Thornton made his first appearance since he was hit on the foot last Monday at Wrigley Field. He looked 100 percent to me and retired the Pirates scoreless in the eighth after a leadoff single.

That left the Cubs still down three as they entered the ninth to face Mason Montgomery, who throws 100 miles per hour. Swanson led off with a single and after PCA struck out, Seiya Suzuki launched his 18th home run of the year [VIDEO].

Well. Back to within one, and there’s only one out. Unfortunately, Busch grounded out and Happ struck out to end the game.

The Cubs actually did quite well in this game with RISP, going 5-for-11. They scored seven runs, which most times will win you the game. The Cubs are 33-4 this year when scoring at least seven runs, and three of the four losses were when scoring exactly seven (this is the other such loss). This one’s on Jamo, and no, I am not recommending a DFA. Maybe he’s not 100 percent from the hamstring, maybe there’s something else nagging at him. Get him back on the IL and, as I said above, let Assad make that next start (probably Friday). Or who knows, maybe the Cubs can make a deal for a starter before then.

In any case, winning series on the road is still good, and the Cubs will take it. The Brewers are well on their way to crushing the Rockies at the time of this recap posting, so the Cubs will drop back to seven games behind in the NL Central. The Phillies, who trailed the Cubs by 3.5 games for the top wild card spot beginning today’s action, will play the Yankees tonight in NBC’s featured Sunday Night Baseball game.

The Cubs move on to St. Louis, where they will open a four-game set against the Cardinals Monday. David Peterson will start for the Cubs. At this writing the Cardinals do not have a starter listed for Monday’s series opener, but presuming they stay on rotation, it should be Hunter Dobbins, who threw six scoreless innings against the Angels last Wednesday. Game time Monday is 6:45 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

Framber Valdez was mediocre at best once again on Sunday. Despite not swinging the bats well in this series, the Tigers did fight back and take a lead into the late innings, but once again their makeshift bullpen couldn’t lock it down. The Royals came back on a two-run homer by Michael Massey in the eighth, and held on to split this four game set with a 5-4 victory over the Tigers.

With the Tigers in their home whites, with this strange D logo on their caps, once again we got the shaky version of Framber Valdez to start this one off. Fortunately he bent in this one, but never came completely unglued. He gave up a solo shot to Lane Thomas to start the game on a 3-2 sinker that was up on the outer edge. The misses were non-competitive. Nick Loftin singled, and Valdez hit Salvador Perez. Jac Caglianone grounded into a force of Perez, and Valdez bounced back to punch ouf Starling Marte with a good curveball, but he was still struggling to find the handle.

Chris Fetter came out for a chat and AJ Hinch had Brenan Hanifee warming in the bullpen. Tyler Tolbert was next, and the Tigers got just what they needed least when the outfielder grounded one to Hao-Yu Lee at second and the rookie clanged it off the heel of his glove. Loftin scored, and this game was teetering on the brink of disaster already, but Luke Maile flew out to Kerry Carpenter in right to end the inning with the Royals up 2-0.

Luinder Avila was on the bump for the Royals, and the 24-year-old right-hander’s numbers were pretty miserable coming into this one. He clearly has the stuff to succeed with a high 90’s heater and good breaking stuff, but his control is a work in progress and his walk rate is a somewhat grisly 12.8 percent. Colt Keith popped out to lead things off, and Kevin McGonigle and Gleyber Torres flew out to left to end the first.

Valdez bounced back with three quick ground ball outs in the second, starting to get his pitch count a little back in order.

Riley Greene grounded out to start the bottom of the second. Dillon Dingler walked, but Carpenter flew out. Spencer Torkelson worked a lengthy AB and drew a walk as well, but James Outman struck out on a 98 mph sinker up to send us to the third.

Sal Perez grounded a first pitch curveball down the third base line to open the third inning. Colt Keith made a nice diving stop, popped up, and fired a strike to Torkelson for the first out. A nice play, aided by the fact that Perez runs like he’s wading through a pool of molasses. Caglianone worked a full count, but he bit on a sweeping curveball down and away to strike out. Valdez was feeling the curveball now, and Marte chopped a bender to McGonigle for the third out. Valdez was at 50 pitches, but at least had righted the ship after the wildness and Lee’s error in the first.

Lee and Keith grounded out to start the bottom of the third, while McGonigle flicked a single into left field. At this point, Dan Dickerson and Andy Dirks were interviewing Mark “the Bird” Fidrych’s widow. Fidrych’s grandson also threw out the first pitch in tribute to the right-hander’s amazing rookie season 50 years ago. Meanwhile, Avila’s early velocity was starting to creep down to 95-96 mph, but it didn’t help Torres, who flew out to end the inning.

Isaac Collins was up first in the fourth, and Valdez got him out in front with a changeup and popped him up. Tolbert battled through a lengthy at-bat and Valdez missed with a 3-2 curveball and walked him. Another long at-bat against Luke Maile ended with a sinker that was pulled down the left field line. Tolbert was off and running of course, and cruised all the way around from first to score as Maile cruised into second base. Valdez just could not spot anything with enough consistency to set anyone up, and he was behind in counts again and again. Very frustrating outing to watch. Andrew Velasquez struck out, but Valdez’s pitch count was approaching 80 pitches as he walked Thomas on six pitches.

While I attempted not to break any household items in frustration, Fetter came out once again to try and give Valdez a moment to pull it together. It was just one long at-bat after another with Valdez looking lost and wasting a lot of non-competitive pitches. His 82nd pitch was a good curveball down and in and Loften struck out to end the inning without further damage, but Valdez wasn’t likely to make it through the fifth inning at this point, and the Tigers were down 3-0 and once again struggling with a mediocre starter with good stuff and mediocre command.

Avila started spotting his stuff more as he worked into his outing. Riley Greene grounded out to start the bottom of the fourth. Dillon Dingler lined a single the opposite way for the Tigers second hit of the game, but Carpenter was out in front of a curveball and wanded a solid fly ball to Thomas in center for the second out. Spencer Torkelson drew a four pitch walk, and that brought Outman to the dish. He rolled over a slider to first base and we were on to the fifth inning with the score still 3-0 Royals.

Ben Malgeri made a nice catch on a liner from Perez to open the fifth. That was a surprise, as it meant that Carpenter was out of the game. He’s been dealing with a foot issue that was apparently flaring up. Caglianone grounded out to Torkelson for the second out. Marte pulled a ground ball single through the left side, and Ty Madden was warming in the pen. Fittingly, yet another seven pitch at-bat, this time from Collins, led to a ground out to Keith to mercifully end the left-hander’s day.

Hao-Yu Lee got a curveball and smoked it to center field for a leadoff double and finally the Tigers had a little something started. The lineup turned over and Avila walked Colt Keith. The Royals started warming up their pen, and the Tigers needed to pounce. Kevin McGonigle got one off the label and flicked a single into center field, but Lee was held up at third by Billy Boyer on a bad decision as he was going to score and center fielder Thomas was already throwing it in to third base. Lee actually had to slide to a stop down the third base line and retreat. So, the bases were loaded with no outs, but the Tigers really needed to come through.

Gleyber Torres worked a full count, but swung at a ball four sinker in and fouled it off. A high fastball was also fouled off that would’ve been ball four. Avila lost the handle on a slider and threw it high, dropping it just into the zone for a swinging strike three. That was it for Avila as lefty Matt Strahm came on looking to shut down Riley Greene and escape the bases loaded jam.

Greene worked a full count and then fouled off a pair of sinkers. Strahm came in with a sinker and Greene slapped a little spinner toward second base. Tolbert at shortstop and Velasquez at second converged on the ball together and flinched away from each other. The would-be double play ball bounded between them into center field, plating Lee and Keith. Greene didn’t stop running and slid into second just ahead of the tag as Thomas threw the ball in from center field.

Dillon Dingler got a 1-2 fastball away and lined a single back up the middle and that extra 90 feet paid off as McGonigle and Greene scored. Just like that the Tigers had brought it back and now held a 4-3 lead.

Ben Malgeri battled through a long at-bat, but bit on a two-strike changeup and struck out. That left it to Torkelson, who flew out to center field, but the Tigers had a slender lead to work with. Now, the question was how to navigate four innings with this bullpen.

Ty Madden walked Carter Jensen to start his outing, which was less than ideal. Massey flew out to Malgeri, and Velasquez had to offer at a 2-2 slider on the outer edge and flew out to Greene, holding Jensen at first base. Madden was throwing everything but the kitchen sink up there, and got Thomas to ground out to Lee to end the inning as lefty Drew Sommers warmed up in the pen.

Former closer Lucas Erceg took over for KC in the sixth. Outman lined a single to right to greet him. Lee chopped a grounder to Velasquez at shortstop after he’d moved there with Massey taking over second base and Tolbert out of the game. They got Outman, but Lee beat out the double play turn, so it was one-out with Lee at first for Colt Keith. Keith got into an 0-2 count and lined a sharp one-hopper up the middle, but Velasquez was there and they turned a snappy double play to end the inning. On to the seventh. 4-3 Tigers.

Madden popped up Loftin to start the inning. The right-hander was dumping in splitters, curveballs, sliders, and cutters to go with his two fastball types. Perez bit on a 2-2 slider and struck out, and that was a nice outing from Madden. He avoided any telltale fastballs and junk balled the Royals very effectively. With two outs and a lefty coming up in Caglianone, Hinch turned to Sommers to wrap up the seventh. The big fella blew the dangerous slugger away with 95 mph above the zone.

Right-hander Nate Pearson, who prospect watchers will remember from his days as a triple digit top 100 prospect for the Blue Jays, took over for the Royals in the bottom half. He was acquired just a few days ago, and suffice it to say his career has not panned out as hoped after a long stretch of injury plagued years, though he still hits 98-99 mph pretty regularly. He walked Kevin McGonigle to open the inning but Torres quickly grounded into a double play. Greene lined one sharply the opposite way, but Loftin made a leaping grab to send us to the eighth inning.

Zack McKinstry entered the game in right field for Malgeri, while Sommers popped up Marte to Lee to open the inning. Collins managed to fist a two-strike sinker for a bloop single to right field. Sommers fired a 96 mph dart on the outer edge for strike three to Jensen, but disaster was lurking. The lefty got ahead of Massey with good sinkers up and in, but in a 1-2 count Dingler called a slider down and away but it was left in the middle of the zone down and Massey launched it to right for a two-run shot and a 5-4 Royals lead. Sommers got Velasquez, but now the Tigers had six outs to come back.

John Schreiber took over for the Royals and got Dingler to ground out to start the bottom of the eighth. McKinstry drew a walk, and Torkelson lined a sharp single to left field to Collins. McKinstry tried to go first to third, but Collins threw him out at third. The Tigers challenged the close play, but they were unsuccessful. Outman flew out to center and we were on to the ninth.

Brenan Hanifee took over for the Tigers in the top half of the ninth. Thomas grounded out, and Loftin took a good sinker on the edge for strike three. He walked Sal Perez, getting cute with breaking stuff after getting ahead quickly with the sinker. That brought Caglianone up, but he grounded out and it was last call for the Tigers.

RHP Steven Cruz entered looking to save this one for the Royals. He nearly took Lee’s head off with a 99 mph sinker in a 1-2 count. Lee hit the deck, just escaping in time, and took a moment to collect himself. He then took a pair of fastballs for balls and drew a leadoff walk. Great at-bat from the rookie once again. Colt Keith fought off a cutter and dumped it into shallow center field. Thomas froze and couldn’t get there while Velasquez slid and had the ball in his glove, but it rattled loose and the Tigers were in business with runners on first and second and no outs. However, McGonigle popped out to left field and Cruz dialed up 101 to jam Torres for a first pitch foul. Torres took a cutter at the bottom of the zone for strike two and flailed at a cutter away to strike out. He just doesn’t look right since returning from the oblique strain.

So, it was up to Riley Greene. Cruz just jammed him repeatedly with mid to high 90’s cutters. Greene fell behind 1-2 and then fouled one off his leg. He needed a minute after that one. Greene fouled off 99-100 mph away twice, and then a cutter over the middle. One more cutter down and in drew the whiff, and the Royals had managed a split after losing the first two of this series.

That’s tough in a series in which the Tigers really needed to keep their winning ways going. They’re 6-4 out of the All-Star break, but these were very winnable games and the Royals pitching staff was running on fumes coming into this series. Another disappointing start from Framber Valdez started this one off, and the bullpen’s yearlong struggles to hold close games continued as Massey got to Sommers for a game changing homer in the top of the eighth. That was the 17th game in which the Tigers have blown a lead in the seventh inning or later.

There’s no rest on tap either. The Orioles come to town for three starting on Monday night, and then the Tigers will be off Thursday as they head out west for three against the Athletics before the trade deadline on Monday, August 3.

After blowing a three-run lead in the 5th inning, the Royals trailed 4-3 heading to the 8th. Michael Massey delivered, with a left on left, go-ahead two-run homer into the right field seats, putting the Royals up 5-4. They would hold that lead and earn a split in the Motor City.

The Royals immediately jumped on Framber Valdez, with Lane Thomas smacking his 10th homer of the year to start the game, just over the right field wall.

Nick Loftin singled, Salvador Perez was hit by a pitch, two on, nobody out. Jac Caglianone hit into a fielder’s choice, Starling Marte struck out. Isaac Collins worked a clutch walk to load the bases, right in front of Tyler Tolbert reaching via a fielding error. Luke Maile lined out to right to end the 1st, with the Royals up 2-0.

The Royals tacked on another run in the 4th inning, when Maile doubled down the left field line, scoring Tolbert. 3-0 Royals lead.

Luinder Avila was really good the first 4 innings but quickly struggled in the 5th. A leadoff double, walk and single loaded the bases for Detroit with nobody out. Avila struck out Gleyber Torres to end his day. Matt Strahm came in with one out, Riley Greene softly grounded one up the middle, Andrew Velazquez and Tolbert both went to get it, but it went between them, driving in two. Dillon Dingler followed up driving in two with a single, making it 4-3 Tigers after 5.

Lucas Erceg worked a scoreless 6th, Nate Pearson made his Royals debut, throwing a scoreless 7th. In the top of the 8th, Collins blooped a single to right field, Michael Massey, who pinch hit in the 6th, on a 1-2 pitch with two outs, smacked a go-ahead two right shot into the right field seats, giving the Royals a 5-4 advantage. It was Massey’s 8th homer on the season.

John Schreiber worked the 8th, walking a batter with one out, he then allowed a single to left, the runner tried to get to third, but Collins threw him out for the second out. A flyout to center ended the inning.

Steven Cruz was called upon to get the save, a leadoff walk and bloop single put the Royals in trouble. Cruz got Kevin McGonigle to pop out and struck out Torres on three pitches. The game came down to him and Greene. Cruz won the lengthy battle, striking out Greene.

The Royals played 7 one-run games in Detroit, and 6-straight in general. They are 45-62 on the season. They are off tomorrow, Tuesday night, Seth Lugo takes the mound in Minnesota against the Twins.

The Dodgers were 12 outs away from sweeping the New York Mets, but the bullpen allowed seven unanswered runs as the team ended their nine-game road trip on a whimper.

Both pitchers put multiple men on base while throwing over 20 pitches in the first inning, but it was the Mets taking the first lead with a Francisco Lindor single against Emmet Sheehan to plate A.J. Ewing.

The Dodgers would go down quietly in the second inning against Freddy Peralta, but a double from Eliézer Alfonzo and a walk to Andy Pages set the table for an RBI double from Freddie Freeman in the top of the third inning to tie the game at 1. It was Freeman’s 574th career double, now tying him with Bobby Abreu and Charlie Gehringer for 24th all time. A groundout from Max Muncy plated Pages and gave the Dodgers a one-run lead.

The Dodgers kept putting the pressure on Peralta as Tommy Edman led off the fourth inning with a single, and an error from Jared Young at first helped Kyle Tucker reach base. Teoscar Hernández singled to right to load the bases, and Alfonzo collected his second career RBI on a groundout to extend the lead to two. Peralta would retire the next two in order to get out of the jam, but by then, his pitch count was already at 93 over four full innings.

After allowing three straight hits in the first inning, Emmet Sheehan was dialed in against New York as he did not allow a hit after the Bo Bichette single. Sheehan allowed just one run on Sunday after allowing six runs against the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday, and it was the first time he allowed one run over five innings since June 28 against the San Diego Padres.

Once Sheehan departed, the Mets began to feast as they took a pair of walks against Jack Dreyer to put the tying run on base. Dreyer could only get one out before Evan Phillips took over, and Tyrone Taylor turned the game around with a thunderous three-run home run to give the Mets their first hit since the first and their first lead since the first.

The Mets continued to pour it on in the seventh inning as they got one run on a wild pitch from Will Klein to bring home Lindor. Klein allowed a two-out walk to Jorge Polanco to put two on with two outs, and Marcus Semien cashed them in with a three-run home run to extend the Met lead to five.

Freddie Freeman added a single in the top of the eighth inning against Luke Weaver, giving him his fourth consecutive multi-hit game. The Dodgers would eventually load the bases with two outs, but Teoscar Hernández failed to cut the deficit as he grounded out back to Weaver to get the Mets out of trouble.

Charlie Barnes made his first big league appearance since July 1, tossing a scoreless eighth inning and striking out two.

While the Dodgers couldn’t complete the season sweep of the Mets, they finish with a 5-1 record, giving them a winning record against New York for the first time since 2024. With the Milwaukee Brewers taking two of three from the Colorado Rockies, the Dodgers still possess a half game lead over the Brewers for the best record in baseball.

Game particulars

• Home runs— Tyrone Taylor (8), Marcus Semien (11)
• WP— Cionel Pérez (4-3): 2 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts
• LP— Evan Phillips (0-2): 2/3 IP, 1 hit, 1 earned run, 0 walks, 1 strikeout

Up next

The Dodgers are off on Monday as they head home to begin a three-game series with the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday (7:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Both teams have yet to announce their starters.

The Mets used the long ball to come away with an 8-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field.

Here are the key takeaways...

-- Stay hot, Tyrone Taylor! With two runners on in the bottom of the sixth, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts turned to right-hander Evan Phillips, but the move didn’t work out, as Taylor drove a fastball over the wall in left for a three-run shot, putting the Mets up 4-3.

Taylor now has five home runs in the month of July alone.

--The Mets scored some insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh inning thanks to some small ball and some not-so-small-ball, with A.J. Ewing at the heart of it. Ewing walked, moved to second on a ground out, advanced to third on a single, and then came in to score on a Dalton Rushing passed ball behind the plate. 

Later in the inning, Marcus Semien, who entered as a defensive sub, blasted a three-run shot of his own, helping the the Mets blow things up at 8-3.

--It was another slog of a start for Freddy Peralta in what could potentially be his last start in a Mets uniform. The right-hander went just 4.0 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits with three strikeouts and two walks. 

It seemed like Peralta had traffic on the basepaths and dealt with long at-bats from the Dodgers all afternoon, pushing his pitch count up to 93 (57 strikes) by the end of his outing. 

Peralta could potentially make another start before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, but there’s also a chance he gets moved prior to that next start. 

--The Mets played more shaky defense in the top of the fourth inning. A grounder to first couldn’t be handled by Jared Young, who was charged with an error, but Peralta also didn’t get over to cover first base, and there was a chance the Mets could have still recorded an out there if he had.

The Dodgers added their third run of the game in that inning, which was also Peralta’s last.

--Ewing snapped an 0-for-9 skid in the first inning, blooping a double in front of Andy Pages. Ewing then came around to score when Francisco Lindor poked an RBI single to right. He reached base three times on the afternoon, including a pair of walks, and played solid defense in center field.

Dodgers starter Emmett Sheehan gave up that early run, but was solid after that. The righty went 5.0 innings and allowed one run, and the only three hits he allowed were the first three batters of the afternoon. He struck out five and walked two.

-- Tip of the cap to the Mets relievers in this one. Cionel Perez, Brooks Raley, Luke Weaver, and Devin Williams combined to go five scoreless innings. Weaver also made a spectacular defensive play to get the out at first base in a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning.

Game MVP

Taylor, who gave the Mets the lead in the sixth inning, and they never looked back

Highlights 

Francisco Lindor flips one into right field to put the Mets on the board first! pic.twitter.com/R8ahAR6HNN

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 26, 2026

Tyrone Taylor throws out Teoscar Hernández at second base! pic.twitter.com/iPgQFUQ1iH

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 26, 2026

YOU BETTER CALL TYRONE!

A GO-AHEAD THREE-RUN HOMER FOR TYRONE TAYLOR! pic.twitter.com/KD1MZEegye

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 26, 2026

Marcus Semien with a towering three-run homer! 💣 pic.twitter.com/95aj1JcQIt

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 26, 2026

WHAT A PLAY BY LUKE WEAVER pic.twitter.com/SjBul5Mpg9

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 26, 2026

Next up

The Mets stay home for a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves, starting on Monday night at 7:10 p.m. on SNY.

Zac Thornton will face fellow lefty Martin Perez.

Blue Jays 1 Red Sox 6

If the Jays aren’t going to put an effort into the game, I’m not going to effort into the headline.

That was far less fun than yesterday.

Kevin Gausman was pretty good, really. Some weak contact that fell in, but not much hit hard. He went 6 innings allowing 5 hits, 3 earned, just 1 walk and 6 strikeouts. He didn’t allow an extra base hit. It goes as a quality start, but the bats didn’t help him out at all. It is kind of sad that the team didn’t score for him in what might be his last start with the team. But then they never seem to score for him

And we didn’t do much on offense, 9 hits, but only 1 double for extra base hits. They were 0 for 6 with RISP, until Andrés Giménez finally singled in a run in the ninth. 1 for 8 in all.

The hits came from Giménez (3), Kirk and Springer (2 each) and Varsho and Clement (1 each).

Lukes (leading off against a lefty, which I didn’t understand), Vlad, Okamoto and Scheider/Piñango (sharing) had 0 for 4s.

Ranger Suarez was good for 4 innings in his first start back from the IL. And four relievers pitched the last 5 innings, giving up just the run in the ninth.

Jays pen had a rough time too. Braydon Fisher (on his birthday) gave up 2 hits and a walk, while getting 1 out. Brendon Little gave up two more hits, while getting the last two outs, adding up to 3 runs in the inning. Adam Macko gave up two hits in the 8th but no runs. One of the ‘hits’ was a ground ball to Vlad, several feet from first base, but instead of covering first, Macko ran to where Vlad and the ball were. It didn’t cost anything, but it was bad baseball.

No Jays of the Day. Giménez had the high mark at 0.06 WPA and made a couple of nice plays on defense, so let’s give him an honourable mention.

Other Award: Okamoto (-0.12), Varsho (-0.10) and Lukes (-0.09, though it isn’t his fault he was at the top of the other against a lefty, but then he didn’t hit the right-handed relievers either).

It was just one of those lifeless games from the Jays offense. I guess teams always look lifeless when they don’t hit, but there wasn’t a lot of great at bats.

Tomorrow the Jays will be in Washington to take on the Ex-Expos (I’m still bitter). The Jays are listing TBA for the starting pitcher for the full series. I guess we are likely to see Max Scherzer at some point.