Category: Baseball

A game and a series that started so promising, ended up in an emotional loss for the Milwaukee Brewers as they fall to their rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 4-3 in 10 innings on Sunday afternoon.

Brandon Woodruff was the big positive. In his second start since coming back from the IL, Woodruff shoved once again, allowing just one hit over 5.2 scoreless innings. He was efficient and filled up the strike zone as he usually does. Woodruff ended the day with six strikeouts on his line and protecting a one-run lead.

That one run lead was provided by Gary Sanchez, who took a 1-1 fastball from lefty Ryan Rolison and tattooed it into the second deck in left field. It was Sanchez’s eighth home run of the season.

However, that was all the Brewers offense could really muster off Rolison and then old friend Bryse Wilson, who shut down the Crew’s offense over his 4.1 IP.

The Brewers did have a number of opportunities, though. Runners at the corners in the 3rd with one out, both Chourio and Turang strike out. In the 4th, Andrew Vaughn gets a leadoff triple, no one can even muster a sac fly to bring him home. Runners on first in the 6th, 7th, and 8th, no advancement. In the 9th, the Brewers had runners on 1st and 2nd with one out, a base hit can walk it off, and both Cooper Pratt and Joey Ortiz strike out.

“I think sometimes guy maybe try to do too much, and that’s where we try to preach ‘take what the game gives you and go back to taking pitches and handing it to the next guy'” offense and strategy coordinator Jason Lane said.

Meanwhile the Crew used up their top bullpen arms in those earlier leverage innings. Aaron Ashby spiked a curveball with a runner on 3rd to allow the Cubs to tie the game in the 7th. But then Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill got the jobs done in the 8th and 9th. But with few leverage arms left, the Brewers turned to Joel Kuhnel in the 10th.

Kuhnel was able to get the first two batters out at the bottom of the Cubs order. Then he just lost the strike zone. They intentionally walked Pete Crow-Armstrong, then Kuhnel hits Bregman, then walks Michael Busch to bring in a run. Then Seiya Suzuki rips a single to left to score two more and put the Cubs up 4-1.

The Brewers put together some big chances in the 10th. Christian Yelich singled home Ortiz, then Chourio walked and Turang singled, loading the bases for pinch-hitter Garrett Mitchell. Mitchell worked a walk and the Brewers were within a run, down 4-3, with the bases loaded and nobody out.

That’s exactly when it all went sideways. Jake Bauers, after seeing Mitchell get walked, swung at the first pitch and hit a shallow pop fly into left field that was nowhere near deep enough to score a run. Then Gary Sanchez, who homered in the 2nd, grounded into a tailor-made 5-4-3 double play to end the game.

Milwaukee was 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base. Woodruff pitched well enough to win. The bullpen did well enough to win through nine innings. The offense just couldn’t give them enough.

The Brewers missed way too many opportunities to put this game away when they should have and that leaves them on the short end of this series where they had their top three arms in the rotation going. The lead over the Cubs sits at 5.5 games now and the Brewers will look to turn the page to the Reds series.

Not a good day at the ballpark as the Athletics fell to the Angels 4-1 in Anaheim in the series opener.

More to come…

The Mariners finally broke through their three-run cap to score five runs in a game, but a bullpen meltdown in the eighth meant the Mariners took a loss anyway in the season finale against the Guardians, 6-5. The loss means the Mariners fall out of first place in the AL West, meaning Mariners fans don’t even have “at least we’re in first place!” as a comforting balm in the face of one of the toughest losses of the season so far.

The five-run inning will be what undid the Mariners on the scoreboard, but the offense had multiple opportunities to put this game out of reach and failed to capitalize. The Mariners left 14 runners on base today, ranging from the standard – a J.P. Crawford leadoff single stranded in the first, a one-out Cal Raleigh walk stranded in the fifth – to the truly excruciating: back-to-back singles stranded in the fourth; an inning-ending double play in the eighth stranding Julio at third. It seems counterintuitive to fault the offense on a day when they scored more runs than they have in the past two weeks, but had the offense converted a few more of these opportunities earlier, the situation in the eighth might have played out very differently.

The Mariners did score three off Guardians starter Gavin Williams, in their usual fashion of scoring early but not delivering the kill shot. They small-balled around a run in the second off a pair of singles from their catching tandem, Cal Raleigh (DHing today) and Mitch Garver, and then got another two runs in the third: Julio Rodríguez took a one-out walk and scored on a Josh Naylor double, and then Naylor scored on what should have been a routine Randy Arozarena groundout, mishandled by Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio. A particularly frustrating footnote is the Guardians played shoddy infield defense all day, but ultimately the Mariners weren’t able to capitalize enough on those mistakes; this inning ended without further damage, despite a Cal Raleigh walk, as neither of the Mariners’ young infielders were able to cash in on that traffic on the bases; Colt Emerson had a particularly rough at-bat, seeing just one pitch in the zone but striking out anyway.

This game was a particularly brutal shake for Emerson Hancock, who was solid today, navigating around trouble and helping himself out with some defensive plays that gave Bryan Woo, the Mariners’ best fielding pitcher, a run for his money.

Hancock didn’t have the most swing-and-miss stuff against the lefty-heavy Guardians lineup, but he was able to efficiently navigate around minimal traffic all day. The Guardians were able to scrape a run off him in the fifth thanks to some bad-BABIP-luck weakly-hit singles, but Hancock managed to wiggle out of a bases-loaded no-outs situation, allowing just one run on a sacrifice fly.

Not only did Hancock limit the damage in the fifth, but fighting through that inning meant he was able to come back out for the sixth and get another two outs for his bullpen before walking Cooper Ingle. With the Mariners clinging to a three-run lead, Dan Wilson opted to bring in Eduard Bazardo, who immediately gave up a double to pinch-hitter Daniel Schneemann on a sinker located dead red. Bazardo didn’t have great command today, spraying the ball around against pinch-hitter Patrick Bailey and going to a full count, but was able to quell the threat by getting Bailey to chase after a nasty biting sweeper.

The Mariners were able to get that run right back, again capitalizing on Guardians mistakes. With former Mariner Shawn Armstrong on in the sixth, Robles reached on a bunt, then stole second and third, realizing Armstrong wasn’t paying any attention to him. Julio then brought Robles home on a weakly-hit ball that didn’t leave the infield, again poorly handled by Travis Bazzana at second, who had an absolutely brutal series defensively. But again, the Mariners weren’t able to extend the lead against lefty Tim Herrin, who came in for Armstrong and immediately hit Naylor with a pitch; Arozarena went after the second pitch he saw and pounded it on the ground to the Guardians’ one sure-handed infielder, Gabriel Arias at third, for the inning-ender.

That lack of adding on would loom large in the eighth, after the Mariners squandered yet another opportunity in the seventh against former Mariner Matt Festa. Again, the Mariners had two runners on, and again, they failed to convert that traffic into runs, with Arozarena hitting into an inning-ending double play. Gabe Speier was able to knock the Guardians down in the bottom of the seventh, but that left the eighth.

With the bottom of the lineup coming up and Muñoz as “the ninth inning guy” per Dan Wilson, the Mariners sent in Michael Rucker. On the one hand, Wilson’s options were limited: Bazardo and Speier had already pitched, José Ferrer was down after pitching the last two nights, Nick Davila has poor splits against lefties, and the six-man rotation has already shorted the pen an arm, leaving Rucker and lefty Josh Simpson, recently returned from Tacoma. Both of them would pitch in this inning. Neither would pitch well.

If you’ve been a Mariners fan a while, you already know how this went. I don’t need to describe each agonizing detail, and you probably don’t want to read it. There’s no value to be extracted from examining why each of these pitchers failed. It was a late-innings spring training game, but played in late June instead. If you’re really dead-set on imagining it, here’s a visual representation:

By the end of the inning, the Guardians led, 6-4. The Mariners would claw one of those runs back in the ninth against Guardians closer Cade Smith – Cole and Colt teaming up for back-to-back singles, a weak ray of sunshine on a dark day, and Robles again making Bazzana reconsider life at the keystone – but it almost felt even more insulting to lose by one run, especially coming in on Bazzana’s umpteenth fielding miscue of the series, like pointing up the fact that even spotted shoddy infield defense, the Mariners still couldn’t overcome their fatal flaws of non-clutch-hitting and bullpen implosion.

Losing a game that’s winnable is always frustrating, but with the way the team has been playing lately, today’s game feels like salt in the wound. Breaking out of the prison of three-or-fewer runs scored only to lose feels not so much like a finger on the monkey paw curling down, but the Mariners taking the monkey paw and beating fans over the head with it – the latest not-fun entry in the captain’s log of what has been, so far, an almost wholly unenjoyable season.

Gavin Williams had to work a bit extra this outing, throwing 103 pitches in 5.0 innings. He allowed 3R/2ER on six hits and three walks, striking out six batters. The unearned run for Gavin came in the top of the third. A throwing error by Brayan Rocchio allowed Josh Naylor to score. Shawn Armstrong only worked 0.2 innings, giving up a run on two hits before Vogt went to Tim Herrin. Herrin pitched a full inning of work, only giving up one hit. Matt Festa earned the win, improving to 2-1 on the season. He worked 1.1 innings, allowing only three base runners via two base hits and one walk. Cade Smith earned the save, but not without some struggles. Cade allowed two hits and only struck out one. A throwing error from Travis Bazzana to Rhys Hoskins scored a runner from third, accounting for Cade’s unearned run.

The Guards offense woke up in the bottom of the fifth. Gabriel Arias, Austin Hedges, and Steven Kwan all hit singles to load the bases. Kwan’s single was called an out, but Cleveland won the challenge earning Kwan another successful bunt single. Travis Bazzana hit a sac fly with no outs and bases loaded to Julio Rodríguez, scoring Gabriel Arias from third.

The Guardians remained down until the bottom of the eighth when the offense put up a five spot. Brayan Rocchio led off with a single. Cooper Ingle drew a walk and Daniel Schneemann singled on a ground to center to score Rocchio.

Patrick Bailey hit a perfect sac bunt that moved both runners with Steven Kwan loading the bases in the next AB via a walk. The Mariners opted for a pitching change to face Travis Bazzana. Bazz popped out for the second out of the inning. Chase DeLauter hit a 2-RBI single to tie it up for the Guardians.

Rhys Hoskins doubled to left field, with the ball falling just fair. Chase DeLauter, with an aggressive send, was on the heels of Steven Kwan to score the go-ahead and insurance runs.

Is the offense back? Were the only pieces we needed a load-bearing Kahlil Watson and Chase DeLauter’s return to turn things around? The Texas Rangers will be in town for a three game series starting tomorrow. Here’s to hoping the team can keep this momentum into the next few series and keep in the fight for first in the AL Central.

The Mets dropped their second one-run game against the Phillies this weekend, losing 5-4 to drop the series against their division rivals. In a game Gary Cohen aptly called “excruciating”, the Mets went 2-16 with runners in scoring position, leaving 14 men on base, in the loss.

The beginning of the game had a much different tone than that, however, especially the first four innings. Jesus Luzardo, who got the ball for the Phillies, looked great over the first four frames, allowing four base runners (with the first one coming in the third inning), and the Mets had trouble keeping the Phillies bats silent.

The Mets operated with a quasi-bullpen game, with lefty Cionel Pérez opening the game against the lefty heavy top of the Phillies lineup. He was excellent, striking out two, before handing the ball to the first of their two bulk relievers behind him in Tobias Myers. Myers had an iffy outing, throwing two zeroes in the second and fourth but also getting hit around in the third, surrendering three runs in that inning.

Trailing 3-0 after four, the Mets handed the ball to the second of their two bulk relievers, Kodai Senga. He started off strong, sitting the Phillies down in order. The Mets finally got on the board in the fifth, when Carson Benge lined a Luzardo sinker to left field to drive home Tyrone Taylor, making it 3-1.

Senga worked himself into a jam in the sixth, walking Alec Bohm and allowing a double to Brandon Marsh, setting up second and third with no outs. He worked himself out of a man made jam of his own creation, striking out J.T. Realmuto, getting Bryson Stott to ground out to a drawn in Brett Baty, and getting Juan Soto home run stealer Derek Hill to go down swinging to end the frame still down 3-1.

Francisco Alvarez doubled to lead off the sixth off of Chase Stugart. Stugart got a pinch hitting Jared Young on strikes, but did not get a pinch hitting A.J. Ewing out. The rookie blasted a hanger of a sweeper 382 ft. into the bullpen, making it a 3-3 game. Ewing crushed it, hitting it 104 mph. Ewing exited the game with a 123 wRC+, which is a wonderful silver lining in this mostly lost campaign, especially considering he is only 21 years old.

A.J. Ewing digression aside, lets get back to the sixth inning, because it did not end there. Brett Baty followed up the two run home run with a walk, and Luis Torrens singled to make it first and third, with still only one out. Carson Benge hit a soft liner up the middle that ricocheted off the pitcher’s glove, allowing Baty to scamper home on a fielder’s choice, making it 4-3 Mets.

The good vibes would end there, really. Justin Crawford led off with a single in the seventh, and Kyle Schwarber would soon after hit his 30th home run of the season to make it 5-4 Phillies, the eventual final score. Kodai Senga would stay in the rest of the game and genuinely pitch well, but that no-good, terrible pitch to Schwarber was one mistake too many.

The Mets offense did not roll over and die, but instead could not find the big hit after Ewing delivered one in the sixth. They got two runners on with two outs in the seventh but stranded them on a Baty ground out. They loaded the bases with one out on three walks against Orion Kerkering, but a Ronny Maruicio pop out and a Francisco Alvarez strike out ended the threat. They got a base runner against closer Jhoan Duran as well, but the two-out walk would be in vein.

The Mets, who at 35-49 are facing a season fading into obscurity, are 1-8 over their last nine games, which is, in my humble opinion, not what you want. (The one win, however, was the game I attended, moving my personal record to 2-0. Season tickets please @Mets!)

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: 29% WPA
Big Mets loser: Ronny Maruicio -24% WPA
Mets pitchers: -37% WPA
Mets hitters: -13% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: A.J. Ewing’s two run home run in the fourth, +27.0% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Kyle Schwarber’s two run home run in the seventh, -37.8% WPA

No matter what you thought the Cubs would do this year, you absolutely did not have the following on your Cubs Bingo card:

“Jordan Wicks is going to post his first save of the year against the Brewers, in Milwaukee, coming into the game in the 10th inning with the bases loaded and nobody out.”

Who writes these scripts, anyway?

And yet, that is exactly what happened in a tension-filled contest. The Cubs did win 4-3 in 10 innings, taking the series and an important game from their division rivals.

Well. If you’ve settled down a bit from all the drama, let’s begin at the beginning.

With the Cubs rotation in shambles, this was scheduled to be a bullpen game. Ryan Rolison, who was the opener one other time this year, got those honors. And he got to two out in the second inning with no trouble, but… Craig Counsell might have left him in one batter too long. Gary Sanchez homered off Rolison with two out in the second to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead. Rolison finished off the inning without further incident.

The Cubs, as they had done in the other two games of this series, had trouble with the Brewers starter, Brandon Woodruff gave the Cubs just one hit and two walks into the sixth, the hit a double in the third by Miguel Amaya.

Bryse Wilson, who wasn’t even in the Cubs organization until four days ago and who last pitched 10 days ago, two innings for the Phillies, was spectacularly good in relief of Rolison. He threw 4.1 innings, allowed four hits and no runs, didn’t walk anyone and struck out four. So between Rolison and Wilson, they threw 6.1 innings, allowed six hits and one run, didn’t walk anyone and struck out six – that’d be a pretty good outing from any starting pitcher.

Wilson got helped out by this nice grab by Pete Crow-Armstrong [VIDEO].

This is how good Wilson was in relief:

Welcome to the Cubs, Bryse Wilson! One more note on Wilson, from BCB’s JohnW53:

Bryse Wilson is the 23rd player to make his debut as a Cub this season — 17 pitchers, 6 position players.

That raises the all-time count since 1876, first season of the National League, to 2,300, the most by any team.

The Cardinals are second, with 2,250. They began play in 1882. The Braves, the only other active team that began in 1876, have used 2,184, which is sixth most.

So the game went to the seventh with the Cubs still down just 1-0. With one out, Ian Happ walked and Nico Hoerner singled him to third – just the Cubs’ second hit.

With Matt Shaw at the plate, Aaron Ashby uncorked a wild pitch, scoring Happ to tie the game [VIDEO].

Shaw walked, putting runners on first and third with one out, but pinch-hitter Pedro Ramirez struck out and Dansby Swanson flied out, ending the inning.

No further runs crossed the plate in the seventh, eighth or ninth. Oddly, Justin Dean was sent up to bat for Matt Shaw in the top of the ninth. He struck out. Here’s why that change was made:

The Cubs got good relief work from Caleb Thielbar, Tyler Ferguson (despite a throwing error with a runner on first on a pickoff attempt) and Jacob Webb. With the potential winning run on second and two out in the bottom of the ninth, Webb struck out Joey Ortiz to send it to extras [VIDEO].

All the leverage relievers have now been used by both teams, so the Brewers had to use Joel Kuhnel in the 10th. Dean was the placed runner. He went to third on a ground out. Swanson struck out, and then the Cubs rallied. Ball one was thrown to PCA, who was then intentionally passed. PCA stole second without a throw, taking away a force play and putting two runners in scoring position. Alex Bregman was hit by a pitch, loading the bases.

Kuhnel then walked Michael Busch, giving the Cubs a 2-1 lead [VIDEO].

The bases are still loaded, and Seiya Suzuki came through with a two-run single [VIDEO].

A three-run lead in an extra inning should usually be enough for the visiting team. But remember when I said that all the leverage relievers had been used?

That meant Ethan Roberts was on for the Cubs. He’s been pretty good much of this season, but not on Friday against these same Brewers. Joey Ortiz was the placed runner for Milwaukee, and he scored on a single by Christian Yelich to make it 4-2. Then Jackson Chourio walked and Brice Turang singled, loading the bases.

That’s when Wicks came into the game. You were not filled with confidence at this move, but it was the only move Counsell had. Wicks walked Garrett Mitchell to make it 4-3. Wicks looked completely nerve-wracked on the mound, just as he had much of this season.

And then, some magic happened. Wicks got Jake Bauers to pop to short left for the first out.

Sanchez, who had started the scoring with his second-inning homer, was the next hitter. I was thinking, “If only Wicks could get him to hit the ball on the ground, he’s a good double-play candidate.”

And that… is exactly what happened [VIDEO].

You can see in the reaction by the Cubs fans there, and in the Cubs dugout, how big, how important this win was. It showed, I believe, that the Cubs are just as good as the Brewers, even with all the pitching injuries, even when having to use random pitchers picked up off the waiver wire. I am going to say this right here, right now, and you can believe me or don’t, but if the Cubs can somehow go on a run and win the NL Central, that run begins right here, right now, with this win in Milwaukee on June 28, 2026.

The Cubs’ series win here is an excellent accomplishment. It continues their good run – now 12-4 in their last 16 games – and moves them to within 5.5 games of first place. They’re now 23-21 on the road and return to Wrigley Field Monday to begin a six-game homestand. If you’re not optimistic now… well, jump on the bandwagon with me, won’t you?

Here are postgame comments from Wicks [VIDEO].

The Cubs will open a three-game series against the San Diego Padres Monday evening at Wrigley Field. Shōta Imanaga will start the series opener for the Cubs. At this writing the Padres do not have a starter listed for Monday. Game time is 7:05 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

Kodai Senga threw relatively well in his first career relief appearance Sunday, aside from one bad pitch. 

The right-hander did well to save the bullpen and keep the Mets in a three-run ballgame.

Senga cruised his way through the top of the Phillies’ order in his first inning of work, including a four-pitch strikeout of Kyle Schwarber on a nasty slider out of the zone.  

He found himself in immediate trouble after giving up a walk and a double leading off the sixth, but was able to dance his way out of danger with help from two more strikeouts. 

The Mets rallied to jump in front for the first time in the ballgame in the bottom-half, and Andy Green decided to stick with Senga with the top of Philly’s order coming back up.

Green revealed postgame that the majority of New York's top arms were unavailable. 

This time the Phillies' big bats were able to get to him, as the Met-killer Schwarber jumped all over a 1-2 fastball in the heart of the zone following three straight forkballs, crushing it over the right-center fence. 

"Where we were at that point in the game and the count, it didn’t have to be a fastball," Senga said via a translator. "If I was going to go fastball since we were ahead, preferably it would’ve been higher, so there's a lot of think about."

Senga recovered nicely, retiring six of the next seven batters he faced to close the day. 

The Mets had plenty of chances to pick him up as well, but couldn’t deliver the big hit needed, sending him home with the loss for the sixth consecutive outing. 

It wasn’t all negative this time around for Senga, though, as he held the dangerous lineup to just the two runs on four hits and a walk while striking out four over five innings.

He leaned heavily on his signature ghost-fork, using it to generate six of his 11 whiffs. 

“I thought he was really good today,” Green said. “There was aggression in everything he threw.

“He used his forkball more, it's an elite weapon and we saw good hitters take bad swings at it -- that’s always been an elite weapon, it was good to see him use it in pivotal situations and we encourage him to continue to do it.”

Senga handled a starters workload, but his role moving forward still remains to be seen. 

He knows at the end of the day, it comes down to the results. 

"It's just up to me" he said.  "If I can compete and be in the zone unlike my previous outing where strikes were strikes and balls were clearly balls, that’s not going to play, then I don’t deserve a spot in the rotation -- on the flip side, if I am able to compete I do feel I deserve a spot."

Notes on the Mets after Sunday's 5-4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies...

A.J. Ewing feeling good at the plate

Ewing wasn't in the lineup with Philadelphia starting left-hander Jesus Luzardo, but was ready when his name was called upon to pinch-hit with one down in the sixth inning. Facing righty Chase Shugart, Ewing took a 0-1 sweeper and smacked it for a 382-foot game-tying two-run shot.

“Everybody in the lineup card has a role to play that day, whether they're in the starting nine or you're on the bench,” Ewing said. “And just staying prepared, staying into the game, the full nine innings.”

Ewing, who added a single in his three at-bats, said that being aggressive in counts is when he feels most comfortable at the plate.

"I feel like when I'm at my best, my at-bats end with one or two swings,” he said. “And I've been feeling more like myself recently."

In his last 14 games, Ewing has 16 hits in 47 at-bats (.340) with a 1.043 OPS as he has seven extra-base knocks and 12 RBI. And Sunday's homer, his third in that span and set up the Mets grabbing a lead after a CarsonBenge groundout later that same inning, was his first career pinch-hit hit.

“You just treat it like every other at-bat,” he said. “You’re getting prepared for it during the game a little bit, too.”

He added that the communication on that is “great” from the coaching staff in terms of who he might be facing and that gave him a “good idea” about when he might be entering.

Unfortunately, the lead was short-lived and, in the end, it was the Mets’ 15th one-run loss on the season, the most in the National League.

“That’s just baseball, it’s hard,” Ewing said of losing the lead after coming back from three down. “You just gotta show up tomorrow, we got three more in Toronto.” 

RISP anything but crisp

Getting on base wasn’t the issue on Sunday, as the Mets had nine hits and eight walks. But the nine men in the starting lineup and three who came off the bench combined to go 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position and left 14 runners stranded.

Perhaps the most crucial and, for Mets fans, most painful instance came in the home half of the eighth when Orion Kerkering issued three walks to load the bases with one out, throwing eight straight out of the zone to do so. But Ronny Mauricio popped out on a 1-0 count and Francisco Alvarez went down swinging after getting ahead 1-0.

“I saw just misses,” interim manager Andy Green said about what he saw on the day.

“Saw a bunch of guys taking aggressive passes and just missing pitches,” Green continued. “Obviously, there's a whole ton of times we could have hopped back in front, that was a huge swing from AJ to do that for us off the bench; that's impressive. We just didn't bring guys home today.”

When asked if there were times when they asked hitters to be more patient,   Green said there were “certain situations” when the Mets had the “take sign” on for players in the game.

“It's not every situation,” the interim skipper said. “There's times where you want aggression on pitches that you should be able to hit and handle. So, different points in time of the game state today, there were takes on for guys, and then at different points in time, they were turned loose.  And we weren’t able to get it just right today.”

With the day's poor showing, the Mets are now batting .238 (ninth-lowest in baseball) with a .678 OPS (fourth-lowest) and 216 RBI (lowest) with RISP.

Francisco Lindor not an option

Green had four options on his bench today and used three of them. Lindor was the lone man left out of action, and Green said he was unavailable.

“He was tempting,” the manager said about the opportunities when he could have used Lindor off the bench, but “he had the day entirely.”

Lindor played in the first two games of the series, the first time he’s done back-to-back games since he was activated from the IL on Wednesday, after several weeks out due to a calf strain.

Lindor had two hits (a triple) with two RBI and a walk in his seven at-bats of the series.

It took the Astros’ offense 7 innings to get into gear, but they were able to hit the gas when they needed to.

The Houston Astros (42-44) climbed out of a 3-0 hole early to come back and defeat the Detroit Tigers (35-49) 7-5 in 10 innings today at Comerica Park.

It is the the 5th straight series win for Houston, a season high. With the win, the Astros climb within 2 games of .500 since April 10 (they were 6-8). Houston is now only 1 game out in the AL West behind Texans and 0.5 GB of Seattle for the 3rd Wild Card spot in the AL.

The game did not start off the way the Astros had expected, especially with staff ace Hunter Brown on the mound.

In the bottom of the 2nd, a leadoff single by Kerry Carpenter was followed by a 2-run HR by Zach McKinstry (3) to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

The Astros, among the leaders for fewest errors this season, giftwrapped a run for Detroit in the 3rd. With Kevin McGonigle on 2nd base with two outs, Riley Greene hit a ball to second base that Raynel Delgado couldn’t handle. The error allowed McGonigle to score and gave Detroit a 3-0 lead.

In the top of the 7th, Delgado would atone for his fifth inning gaffe. After Jake Meyers reached and advanced to 2nd on an error by Tigers 1B Colt Keith with two out, Delgado smashed his first career HR 409 feet to right to draw the Astros within 1 at 3-2.

In the top of the 8th, the Astros would tie it on Isaac Paredes’ 11th HR of the season, a solo shot 402 feet to left to make it a 3-3 ball game.

Things got dicey for Houston in the 9th as closer John Hader (W, 2-0) struggled with his command. After striking out Hao-Yu Lee for the first out, he walked Ben Malgeri. After retiring Matt Vierling on a fly ball to left, Hader then walked both McGonigle and Jahmai Jones before closing the inning by striking out Greene to leave the bases loaded.

In the 10th, with Jeremy Pena as the ghost runner, Tigers reliever Kenley Jansen (L, 1-4) walked Yordan Alvarez on 4 pitches that weren’t close. Isaac Paredes would follow with his 3rd hit of the game, an RBI single to drive in Pena and give the Astros their first lead of the game at 4-3.

Christian Walker would then put the game out of reach with his 19th HR of the season, a 3-run bomb to give Houston a 7-3 lead.

Walker’s 56 RBI now tie Yordan Alvarez for the team lead.

In the bottom of the 10th, Enyel De Los Santos would allow a 2-run HR to Spencer Torkelson (13), but that was as close as the Tigers would get as the Astros won 7-5 and took 3 of 4 in Detroit.

The Astros now come home for a 6-game homestand starting with 3 against the Minnesota Twins.

Pitching Probables:

Mon: Peter Lambert (6-4, 3.28 ERA) vs. Zebby Matthews (3-5, 4.56 ERA)

Tue: Mike Burrows (3-8, 5.48 ERA) vs. Joe Ryan (5-4, 3.18 ERA)

Wed: Tatsuya Imai (5-3, 5.36) vs. Taj Bradley (6-3, 3.98 ERA)

A chance to win a game.

A chance to win a series.

A chance to seize momentum under interim manager Andy Green, and a chance to begin a streak that might rescue a team that is hurtling toward the trade deadline.

All of those chances were wasted on an afternoon in which wasted chances became the theme.

The Mets mounted threat after threat and could not capitalize, continually letting Phillies pitchers slip out of jams in what became a 5-4 disappointment at Citi Field in front of 38,770, who were lively in moments of hope and furious in the more numerous moments of despair.

The Mets (35-49) lost another game — that’s eight of nine — and another series — that’s four straight — and have not been instantly transformed under a new manager.

They continue to find different ways to lose, Sunday going 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position to ruin their chances of stealing the game and the series.

And yes, it would have been a steal. They played without Francisco Lindor, who is being eased back into an everyday role following a two-month absence with a calf strain and a brief rehab assignment.

The lineup without him featured cleanup hitter Eric Wagaman and Nos. 6-9, who entered with OPS marks of .644 (Mark Vientos), .530 (Tyrone Taylor), .586 (Brett Baty) and .569 (Luis Torrens).

In several key moments, Green left Lindor’s bat on the bench, apparently determined to give the shortstop a full day off.

With their starting pitchers depleted and no fifth option to give the ball, they cobbled together a bullpen game without the unit’s best arms because Devin Williams, Luke Weaver and Huascar Brazobán had pitched on three of four days.

So Kodai Senga (four innings, two runs) was forced to provide some length as a reliever and was burned in the seventh, when he was asked to face the top of the order and served up a towering, two-run homer to Kyle Schwarber that became the difference.

Still, the Mets had a chance — many of them, in fact. Their last good one arrived in the eighth, when they loaded the bases with one out against Orion Kerkering.

But Ronny Mauricio popped out and Francisco Alvarez swung through high heat, hearing loud boos on his walk back to the dugout.

Between Mauricio, Alvarez and Baty, it was not a good day for the one-time Baby Mets. An inning prior, they put runners on second and third with two outs, but Baty grounded back to José Alvarado to kill the rally.

The game ended just as it started. For five innings against Jesús Luzardo, the Mets put runners on base and could not cash in.

They had runners on the corners without an out in the fourth only to strike out three straight times, Vientos hearing loud boos in whiffing to end the inning.

In the fifth, Carson Benge poked a left-on-left, first-pitch RBI single against Luzardo and cut the deficit to 3-1, but they proceeded to load the bases so Bo Bichette could strike out and Wagaman could fly out.

Through five innings, Benge’s knock was the only hit in nine plate appearances with runners in scoring position.

Frustration turned to elation in the sixth, when Luzardo exited and Chase Shugart entered.

After an Alvarez double, A.J. Ewing pinch hit for Taylor against the righty, sat on a breaking ball and smoked a two-run shot 382 feet to right field for his fourth homer of the season and first career pinch-hit dinger.

The kids were not done in the inning. ]

After Baty walked and Torrens singled, Benge won a battle against another lefty, Kyle Backhus. Benge crushed a pitch that deflected off Backhus’ glove and went for a fielder’s choice that drove in Baty, pushing the Mets ahead 4-3.

But after Senga faced Schwarber, those at-bats from the young outfielders became wasted, too.

Despite carrying an expensive payroll, the New York Mets have been the most disappointing team in baseball, languishing in last place in the National League East. On Sunday, they showed exactly why they’re such a bad team as they continually let the Phillies off to hook. The Phillies offense did just enough – including yet another home run by Kyle Schwarber – to escape Citi Field with a 5-4 win.

The Mets utilized a bullpen game, but the Phillies couldn’t take advantage early, going scoreless in the first two innings. In the third, they broke through against Tobias Myers. Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber had one out singles and then pulled off a double steal, allowing Bryce Harper to break the scoreless tie with a sacrifice fly.

Alec Bohm followed with a double to make it 2-0, and then Brandon Marsh hit an RBI single to put the Phillies up by 3.

Jesus Luzardo made the start for the Phillies, and was in control for the most part for the first four innings. In the fifth, he ran into trouble when the Mets started the frame with a walk and a single. With one out, Carson Benge singled to cut the lead to 3-1. Despite walking Juan Soto, Luzardo got the next two batters to limit the damage.

The Phillies wasted a second-and-third, nobody out situation in the sixth, and that proved costly the following inning. Luzardo was over 90 pitches, so manager Don Mattingly had to turn to his bullpen. It took Chase Shugart three batters to blow the lead thanks to a game-tying home run by A.J. Ewing.

After another walk and single, Shugart was pulled for Kyle Backhus. Benge put the Mets in front 4-3 thanks to an RBI fielder’s choice, but Backhus got Bo Bichette to fly out and end the inning.

In the seventh, the Phillies went back on front in a familiar fashion: A Kyle Schwarber home run. Justin Crawford led off the inning with a single and after Turner predictably came up small, Schwarber hit his 30th of the year to make it a 5-4 game.

The next two innings, the Phillies’ bullpen tried its best to hand the game to the Mets, but the Mets refused to take it. Jose Alvarado started the seventh with two strikeouts, but then hit a batter and committed a throwing error to put runners on second and third. But Brett Baty grounded out and the Mets came up empty.

In the eighth, Orion Kerkering walked the bases loaded with one out. With the bases loaded, and Kerkering having thrown nine straight balls out of the strike zone, Mets third baseman Ronny Mauricio inexplicably swung in a 1-0 count and popped it up. Francisco Alvarez followed and swung at two balls out of the zone to end the inning.

Jhoan Duran also had some control issues, but once again, the Mets helped him out by swinging at numerous pitches out of the strike zone. When Luis Torrens hit a fly ball to right, the win was secured.

The Phillies have had their share of problems at Citi Field in recent years. But the Mets are in such a bad way, that despite the Phillies seemingly trying their best to lose, they still managed to escape with a series win.

The Royals rallied early in a back-and-forth game, to beat the White Sox 5-4. It ends a 4-game losing streak and a 6-game losing streak to the White Sox.

Lane Thomas led off the game with a single and stole second. He went to third on Bobby Witt Jr.’s deep flyout to center. Carter Jensen drove him in with an RBI single, to extend his hit streak to 19 games.

The White Sox immediately answered in the bottom of the inning, a leadoff walk was followed by Miguel Vargas blasting a 2-run shot into the left center bleachers. Avila worked around a single and walk thereafter.

In the top of the 2nd, Isaac Collins was hit by a pitch to start the inning, Tyler Tolbert reached via an error, and the Royals had 1st and 2nd with nobody down. Kameron Misner flew out to right, letting Collins get to third. Thomas singled him home to tie the game. Tolbert scored on a Jr. sac fly after getting to third on a wild pitch.

Again though, the White Sox answered right back. After two quick outs, a single, double and a 2-run broken bat single put the home team up 4-3.

The Royals tied the game in the top of the third behind Starling Marte turning back the clock. Marte led off with a single and stole second base, his first on the season and the 362nd of his career. He scored on Collins bloop double to right.

In the top of the 4th, Jr. walked on 4 pitches and scored on Jensen’s double down the right field line. 5-4 Royals, and that was all that they needed.

Avila finished the day, going 4 innings, allowing 6 hits, 4 runs, walking 3 and striking out 4. Steven Cruz, who was the winning pitcher, threw a 1-2-3 5th inning. Beck Way, Lucas Erceg and Matt Strahm each got scoreless innings to get it to the 9th inning.

Alex Lange got the 9th, he got 3 groundouts to end the game but made a nice play after taking a hard grounder off the foot. It’s Lange’s 7th save on the season.

The Royals finish the road trip 3-4, they are 35-50 on the season now. They are off tomorrow, before starting a 3-game series on Tuesday against Tampa Bay.

The story of the Detroit Tigers disastrous 2026 season can be told via the injury list and the bullpen’s inability to hold leads with any consistency. The latter has been on display all season, despite no major injuries to core pieces, and they blew it again with a little help from a bad defensive play. The Astros rallied back against Tyler Holton and Kyle Finnegan, and then mauled Kenley Jansen in the top of the 10th inning to win the game and take the series three games to one.

Jack Flaherty returned from the injured list in this one, bumping Enmanuel de Jesus, who has been pitching really well for two months, down to Triple-A Toledo. Flaherty looked reinvigorated by his time off, and put together a fine outing as his teammates battled one of the tougher starting pitchers in the game in RHP Hunter Brown. As has been the case so often, the Tigers won the battle of the starting pitchers only to watch the game fall apart in the late innings.

Flaherty came out throwing darts. He struck out Jeremy Peña and Christian Walker in the first, walking Yordan Alvarez, which is rarely a terrible idea, before wrapping up a scoreless first.

Brown tunneled a good low fastball after a changeup down and away on the same line to lock up Kevin McGonigle. That opened the bottom of the first. Colt Keith, in the two spot and playing first base with Spencer Torkelson on the bench, sliced a double the opposite way but he was stranded. Flaherty punched out Joey Loperfido and Yainer Diaz in a quick top of the second. Kerry Carpenter singled to open the bottom half, and then Zach McKinstry timed up a good Brown heater and blasted it to right field for a two-run homer.

Matt Vierling came up with a two-out knock later in the inning, and then stole second base. It went for naught, as McGonigle flew out to center field.

So Flaherty had a 2-0 lead, and he ran with it. Jake Meyers led off the third with a double, and that produced a stressful inning when he was wild pitched to third. However, Flaherty dug in and rather than shying away from contact, he came right after Raynel Delgado and Jeremy Peña, collecting swinging strike threes. He climbed the ladder against Yordan Alvarez and the Astros masher lifted a pop-up to Riley Greene in left, ending the threat.

A leadoff single from Isaac Paredes opened the fourth. A Walker grounder forced Paredes at second, but Loperfido walked for a one-out jam. Flaherty had the answer again, as Diaz lifted a fly out to right field. Trammell challenged a 3-2 pitch and correctly drew a walk, but the Tigers’ right-hander whiffed Meyers to again turn the Astros away.

The Tigers got another leadoff single from Carpenter in the bottom of the fourth, but again that didn’t go anywhere. Flaherty whiffed Peña, and then froze Yordan Alvarez in the top of the fifth to wrap up a strong outing.

His final line was 5.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 3 BB, 9 K.

In the bottom of the fifth, Kevin McGonigle drew a one-out walk. He took second on a Colt Keith grounder to the second baseman, Delgado. Riley Greene tested Delgado with a harder ground ball, and he booted it, allowing McGonigle to score from second for a 3-0 lead. That’s pretty good work against Hunter Brown, but it would still take another inning to get him out of the game.

Flaherty was out of the game, and Tyler Holton tossed a 1-2-3 sixth, getting Paredes, Walker, and then Cam Smith, who pinch-hit for Loperfido.

The Tigers got a two-out walk to Hao-Yu Lee, hey take your walks, buddy, in the bottom of the sixth. James Outman got down in the count, and so Lee opted to try and steal second. He was ruled safe, but a challenge showed he was just out by a hair. On to the seventh. Still 3-0 Tigers.

Holton got Diaz to open the seventh, and then Brice Matthews pinch-hit for Trammell and flew out. Unfortunately, the Tigers then Tiger’d. Colt Keith is ostensibly the club’s backup first baseman, but he never gets any reps there and that bit them on an errant throw from McGonigle after a Jake Meyers grounder. Keith tried to keep his foot on the base as he stretched all the way out, and he just flat out missed the throw. Meyers took second, and so there was a bit of two-out trouble. It quickly bit them, as the rookie Delgado climbed the ladder for a first pitch sweeper above the zone and cranked it to right for a two-run shot. That was the first home run of his career. 3-2 Tigers.

Not good. Obviously that’s on Colt Keith to a degree, but it’s really on McGonigle for the throw. They weren’t getting Meyers on that throw either way. Even so, every bit of adversity seems to crack Tigers relievers’ heads open, with disaster often following. Kyle Finnegan took over and gave up a single to Peña. He dug in and got a ground ball to end the inning from Alvarez. The Tigers have handled him extremely well in this series at least.

So, rather than see the Astros weaker relievers, they got Bryan Abreu in the bottom of the seventh. Outman opened the frame with a line drive single, and then Matt Vierling dropped a sacrifice bnnt to move him to second. Abreu wanted nothing to do with McGonigle, and walked him, but Colt Keith, seeking redemption, found none as he flew out to left field. Manager Joe Espada called on lefty Steven Okert to handle Riley Greene, and he did, getting the Tigers’ left fielder to pop out, stranding two.

So, a one-run game, two innings to go, what could go wrong? Obviously the Tigers have been atrocious in one-run games in the late innings, so the fear was, “everything.”

Those fears were immediately realized, when Finnegan missed with a splitter and then a slider against Isaac Paredes. He fired a heater right down the middle, and Paredes launched it to left to tie the game 3-3.

As has been the case all season, this bullpen remains a huge weakness. ERA doesn’t matter in relief work. Holding leads matters, and the Tigers’ bullpen has failed as much as any group in baseball this year.

Finnegan followed that up by walking Walker. He locked up Cam Smith with a fastball for the first out of the inning, but he was a long way from getting back into the dugout. Diaz got in a 3-2 count and chased two pitches out of the zone to bail Finnegan out. He fouled the first one off and whiffed on the second. With two outs, that left it to Matthews, but he took strike three in the upper corner after Dingler correctly challenged a ball call to get the Tigers out of the inning.

Bryan King took over for Okert in the bottom of the eighth. Dingler grounded out, but Spencer Torkelson pinch-hit for Carpenter and ripped a single to left. That was quickly erased by a chopper right to second base from McKinstry that became an inning ending double play ball.

Torkelson stayed in the game as the designated hitter, so it was still Keith at first with Kenley Jansen taking over. Meyers greeted the future Hall of Famer with a laser to McGonigle. The Tigers’ third baseman was in looking for a bunt and made a nice snare. Delgado lifted a weak fly ball to right for the second out. That brought up Peña, with Alvarez looming. The ideal was to get Peña, keep Yordan out of this, and then walk them off. Peña whiffed on two cutters, then fouled off two. Jansen pulled a perfect slider out of his bag of tricks, and Peña struck out swinging.

That brought Josh Hader, Astros closer, to the mound. The task would not be easy for the back half of the Tigers’ lineup, and Hao-Yu Lee chased an 0-2 slider and struck out. Still needed a little more patience from the 23-year-old rookie. AJ Hinch pinch-hit Ben Malgeri in for James Outman against the lefty.

Malgeri fell behind 0-2 but showed off the gritty, battling style he was known for in the Tigers’ system. He battled back to 3-2, fouling off some tough pitches, and drew a one-out walk. Vierling made a bid on a little drive in the left center field gap, but it stayed up and Matthews ran it down to make a sliding catch.

So, it was up to Kevin McGonigle. Hader got ahead of him, but didn’t really want to throw anything else in the strike zone. The rookie worked it to 3-2 and drew a walk on a heater well out of the zone. That left it to Jahmai Jones, hitting for Colt Keith, and probably just needing a single to win it. Hader missed with two fastballs to start the at-bat, and then missed again. Jones had the green light, but a fastball just off the outer edge was fouled off. Hader yanked a slider down, and he had walked the bases loaded as Riley Greene dug into the batter’s box.

Hader located a sinker for strike one, and then Greene chased a heater up. Hader missed with the next pitch, but another 97 mph sinker above the zone drew the whiff as Greene took too big a hack, and a pretty packed weekend crowd at Comerica Park groaned in misery. Greene’s batting average in high leverage counts dropped to .210 with that whiff. His career mark is .277 with a 109 wRC+ but it’s even been a struggle for him this season.

Kenley Jansen stayed in the game in the tenth, with Peña starting at second and Yordan at the plate. Jansen missed with four straight to walk Alvarez, and that was probably the plan, setting up a double play ball, though Jansen is decidedly a fly ball pitcher and hasn’t gone two innings in about a year. On the other hand, he’d only needed seven pitches in the ninth.

Isaac Paredes fell behind 0-2, but another cutter was punched into right center field for a single. Malgeri fired home too late, and it was 4-3 game, still with no one out. Things would get worse, as Christian Walker got a cut fastball right in the sweet spot in a 2-2 count and he drove it over the left field wall for a three-run shot. 7-3 Astros.

Predictable, really.

Jansen got Cam Smith to ground out, and then he departed as Jacob Waguespack took over to clean up the mess. Diaz grounded out.

Enyel de los Santos handled the bottom of the 10th. Riley Greene was at second. Dillon Dingler struck out on a slider for the first out. Torkelson pulled a 1-0 hanger just foul to left, and then whiffed on a sinker. The next pitch was a fourseamer belt high away, and the Tigers first baseman hammered a line drive the opposite way for a two-run homer. Thought we’d see a lot more of that oppo power once upon a time. 7-5 Astros.

Zack McKinstry was up next, and he missed an opportunity to challenge a 3-0 fastball up that was called a strike but was actually above the zone. It didn’t matter, as McKinstry lined the next pitch to right for a one-out single. Hao-Yu Lee bounced out, moving McKinstry to second, and so it was up to Ben Malgeri again.

A 2-2 pitch was yanked wild, moving McKinstry to third, and Santos missed with a slider to walk Malgeri after a failed Astros’ challenge.

So, it was first and third with two outs, and Matt Vierling at the dish with McGonigle looming. Vierling put a good swing on a 1-1 heater, but he flew out to the warning track in right. Ballgame.

The Tigers fall to 35-49 on the year. They’ll head to the Bronx to take on the Yankees for three games starting on Monday night.

We may be tracking toward seeing a bright blue glove back on the mound for the Atlanta Braves later this summer.

In an interview with BravesVision, Braves president of baseball operations and GM Alex Anthopolous shared that AJ Smith-Shawver will make a start in Single-A with the Augusta GreenJackets to kick off his rehab assignment.

The 23-year-old underwent Tommy John surgery last June. Per the AJC, he threw two innings in a simulated game in the Braves’ Florida training facility on Thursday. The typical 30-day rehab assignment with no setbacks would mean we see AJSS back with the Braves around August.

First pitch time for the Augusta GreenJackets versus the Salem RidgeYaks is at 7:05 pm ET on Tuesday.

After three demoralizing games in a row against the Phillies, it was back to business for the Washington Nationals. They grinded out yet another road series win, this time against the Orioles. Luis Garcia Jr. is the hottest hitter in all of baseball right now, and he carried the offense in this one. 

As mentioned, PJ Poulin also had a gutsy six out save to close this one out. After Mitchell Parker made things interesting in the 7th, Poulin came into the ball game. While Poulin does not throw hard, he kept Orioles hitters off balance with his deceptive delivery. He did a nice job keeping the ball off the barrel, something that has been a struggle for Nats relievers.

Poulin is not the most efficient pitcher ever, and tends to fall behind in counts, so it was certainly a stressful watch. However, the southpaw buckled down and got a game-ending double play after he walked a hitter. Nats fans were finally able to exhale, and the team was back over .500.

While Poulin got some huge outs, the MVP of this contest was undoubtedly Luis Garcia Jr., who is as hot as a hitter can get in this game. In his last 7 games, Garcia has a mind numbing 1.804 OPS with six home runs and a .435 average. His swing just looks so good right now, even the pitches he is fouling off. Garcia’s bat drop on his first homer was so sweet as well.

That homer gave the Nats a 5-2 lead. Garcia drove in five of the Nats six runs in this contest. Before the season, there were valid questions about whether Garcia could slug enough to be a valuable first baseman. Right now, he is answering those in a big way. For the season, Garcia now has an .850 OPS and a .543 slugging percentage. That slugging percentage is 7th in baseball, ahead of Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge. 

With James Wood and CJ Abrams being relatively cold in June, the Nats needed someone to step up and carry the load. Luis Garcia Jr. has been the guy to do that, and he is a real contender for NL player of the month. He should be a lock for NL player of the week. 

At this rate, Garcia might break his career high in homers before the start of July. Right now, he is up to 16 home runs on the season, and the most he has in a campaign is 18. This is easily the best Garcia Jr. has ever played, and it has come when the Nats needed him most.

On his second home run, it did not feel like he got all of it, but the ball just snuck over the wall. The umps could not tell right away that it was a homer, but after a quick review, they gave the home run signal and the Nats first baseman rounded the bases.

Blake Butera has talked so much about how resilient his team is that it almost feels old. However, he is 100% right about his team’s ability to get off the mat. With the bullpen meltdowns against the Phillies, and a losing streak up to 4 games, this could easily have spiraled out of control. This team pushed through, and won yet another series. Next up is a trip to Paul Toboni’s old stomping grounds in Boston for what should be a fun matchup.