SEATTLE — Emerson Hancock and the Mariners bullpen extended Seattle’s scoreless streak to 24 innings and Mitch Garver hit a two-run homer in a 4-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday.
Hancock (6-4) gave up two hits and two walks while striking out five over seven innings.
He followed Logan Gilbert on Saturday to became Seattle’s first starting pitchers with consecutive outings of seven shutout innings since Bryan Woo and Bryce Miller 2024. Over the weekend, the Hancock and Gilbert duo combined for 14 1/3 innings, no runs, three hits and 12 strikeouts.
Gabe Speier and Andrés Muñoz each threw an inning of relief for Seattle.
Toronto was shut out in consecutive games for the first time this season and has now won just two of its last 10 to drop six games under .500.
Hancock had a rough stretch in June after a stellar start to the season, not lasting more than six innings since June 1. On Sunday, after Ernie Clement’s single in the second, Hancock retired 11 batters in a row.
Blue Jays starter Trey Yesavage (4-4) struck out seven over six innings, but allowed three runs including two from Garver’s homer to left field in the fourth.
Cal Raleigh brought in a run with a sacrifice fly in the third, and Josh Naylor added an RBI single in the eighth.
Up next
Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman (4-3, 3.34 ERA) is scheduled to start the opener of a three-game series at San Francisco on Monday. The Mariners have yet to announce a starter for their upcoming series at Miami on Tuesday.
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Eury Pérez was pulled after pitching seven perfect innings Sunday against the Athletics, and the Miami Marlins quickly lost their bid for a combined no-hitter.
Marlins reliever Lake Bachar replaced Pérez to start the eighth and issued a leadoff walk to Lawrence Butler as fans booed. That was the first baserunner for the A’s, and Joshua Kuroda-Grauer then dunked a pop-fly single into shallow right field for their first hit.
Carlos Cortes followed with an RBI double, Max Muncy walked and Jonah Heim launched a grand slam that shaved Miami’s lead to 8-5.
Brian Serven singled to chase Bachar, who didn’t retire any of the six batters he faced.
The 23-year-old Pérez, who has never tossed a complete game in his major league career, set down all 21 hitters he faced with eight strikeouts. He threw 92 pitches, 56 for strikes, before Miami manager Clayton McCullough went to his bullpen.
It was the most pitches Pérez has thrown in three starts since returning from the injured list June 24. He had been sidelined since late May because of a bizarre leg injury sustained while he was stretching in the dugout.
Pérez was initially expected to miss about two months with a high-grade strain of his right gracilis — a long, thin muscle on the inside of the thigh. He exited a May 27 outing in Toronto after throwing four shutout innings because his right hamstring spasmed while he was doing lateral lunges on the bench to limber up for the fifth. He was in such pain he needed assistance from a teammate to descend the steps into the clubhouse.
The 6-foot-8 Pérez induced six flyouts Sunday, only one of which made it to the warning track. He entered 4-6 with a 4.21 ERA in 14 starts this year and was facing the A’s for the first time since his rookie season of 2023.
The last big league pitcher to throw a perfect game was Domingo Germán for the New York Yankees against the A’s on July 28, 2023.
There has never been a combined perfect game in major league history.
The Marlins have not had a perfect game in the 33-year history of the franchise.
Sean Newcomb picked up the save to salvage the series. | (Ken Blaze-Imagn Images)
The Sox needed length from Erick Fedde today, and he delivered. The Sox needed a lot of big outs from their bullpen, and it delivered. The Sox needed their defense to buckle up and make plays when it counted, and they did. If it felt like they rather deserved to lose last Thursday and Friday’s heartbreakers, today’s 7-6 squeaker of a win over the Cleveland Guardians felt like a game they squarely deserved to have, despite a number of miscues that nearly cost them the series.
It could have barely been possible for this series to be any closer. Three of the four games were decided by a single run, with yesterday’s two-run margin being the exception. It feels likelier by the day that it’ll continue to be a season-long dynamic. The next time the two teams meet, on August 7 in Chicago, it feels more likely than not the two teams won’t be much farther apart in the standings than their current one-game margin.
Though a bizarre start-and-stop series of rain delays seemed to significantly impede Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee’s warmup routine, Fedde’s usage as a bulk reliever today meant that his planned entrance to the game was more or less unaffected by Cleveland’s warning track. Drainage issues before the game led to an additional delay of nearly an hour after the rest of the field seemed to have recovered from the afternoon’s heavy rain.
With first pitch announced as coming at 1:30 p.m. CT, Bibee re-started his pregame throwing routine only to shut it down again for an additional hour. He never found a groove once the game started, lasting just four innings and departing with six earned runs on his line, the third time this year he’s been tagged for at least that many.
It didn’t take long for the Sox to jump on him, with Kyle Teel’s opposite-field blast giving the Pale Hose a 2-0 lead within three batters of the game’s belated start.
Two innings later, Bibee fell victim to Tristan Peters’ burgeoning power surge. The Sox center fielder scooped a low cutter out to the pull side for his fifth longball of the year. Since his first roundtripper on May 17, Peters is slugging better than .550, and his 15 doubles in that span are tops in the AL. He went 2-for-4 on the afternoon.
Bibee couldn’t get his other fastball by Sox lefties, either. Just an inning later, Colson Montgomery broke the game open with his team-best 23rd homer of the season, driving in Andrew Benintendi and giving the Sox a 6-0 lead with a 110 mph laser on an outside fastball. Montgomery joined Peters as Sox hitters with multi-hit efforts today.
Miguel Vargas had the final big day in the Sox lineup, reaching base four times thanks to three walks. He scored two of the team’s seven runs.
The offensive surge didn’t make this any less tense of a game than its predecessors. After those nail-biters to open this series, the Sox bullpen was in bad need of a respite, and they got one — sort of. When Sox opener Chris Murphy failed to make it through the first inning, forcing Fedde into the game earlier than expected, the veteran righthander nonetheless got them through the sixth with a lead somehow intact. A breathtakingly clutch multi-inning outing from Sean Newcomb dragged the White Sox across the finish line without having to entrust a one-run lead to one of their more erratic relievers.
The “somehow intact” comes courtesy of the Sox defense, which had an uncharacteristically hard time this afternoon even accounting for the difficult field conditions. The tone was set early on when left fielder Sam Antonacci slipped on the outfield grass in pursuit of Cleveland leadoff hitter Steven Kwan’s shallow fly ball, allowing a baserunner that would come around to score. A few hitters later, freshly-minted All-Star Miguel Vargas’s failure to wrangle a soft ground ball — on an admittedly tough play — kept Cleveland’s inning alive long enough to plate another run.
Even as the Sox offense continued to pile on runs, the defense gave them right back. Fedde’s solid performance was nearly undone when Colson Montgomery’s double-play-turned-error was instantly punished with a game-tying moonshot from Gabriel Arías:
After eight precarious innings of navigating shoddy defense and a combination of timely and untimely hitting, the only question was who would take the ball in the ninth. Today gave us confirmation of just how far Seranthony Domínguez has fallen down the closer depth chart, as Newcomb was allowed to take the hill again in the ninth inning, with Jordan Hicks waiting in the wings if things got hairy. It seemed little thought was given to putting the game in Newcomb’s hands.
After a frazzling eighth-inning appearance, Newcomb was nails in the ninth inning, aggressively hitting his spots and taking just nine pitches to retire the side with two strikeouts and guarantee the White Sox sole possession of first place entering the first half’s home stretch.
Brutal losses on Thursday and Friday could have been crushing to a young and inexperienced team with no prior history of being in a high-pressure playoff race. Instead, the lack of quit we’ve seen all season showed that it still has life. Wins and losses count the same all year round, but from a psychological standpoint, leaving Cleveland with a split and their position in first place intact should be a massive boost to a continuously-growing belief that this Cinderella first half by the Chisox hasn’t been a simple mirage.
Steve Stone said it best in the top of the ninth inning: Both of these teams are going to be quite happy for tomorrow’s off-day. The Sox have a short flight home tonight to enter the final six games of the first half, and they’ll be back on the field Tuesday against the Red Sox. It’ll be an intriguing battle of rookie lefties at Rate Field, with Noah Schultz set to square off against Payton Tolle at 6:40 p.m. CT. We’ll see you there!
Miami Marlins right-hander Eury Perez was perfect for seven innings on Sunday, June 5.
But his bid for MLB's first perfect game in more than three years was stopped by his own manager.
Perez was lifted after seven flawless innings and eight strikeouts against the Athletics, with Marlins skipper Clayton McCullough removing him after 92 pitches. The seven innings tied a season-high for the electric 23-year-old, who was making just his third start since returning from a thigh injury.
Perez had Tommy John elbow surgery before the start of the 2024 season that kept him out of action for all of that season and half of 2025.
Fans in Sacramento responded to Perez's removal by chanting "shame" and pointing at the Marlins dugout as the eighth inning started.
A's fans continue to yell "SHAME! SHAME!" towards the Marlins dugout ever since Eury Pérez was pulled with a perfect game through 7 IP.
Reliever Lake Bachar gave up the perfect game, no-hitter and shutout in a three-batter span by walking Lawrence Butler, allowing a single to Joshua Kuroda-Grauer and then giving up an RBI double to Carlos Cortes. After a walk to Max Muncy, Bachar allowed a grand slam to Jonah Heim, which prompted celebration and more "shame" chants by A's fans.
Domingo Germán of the New York Yankees threw MLB's most recent perfect game on June 28, 2023. That also came against the Athletics.
HOUSTON, TX - JULY 05: Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Mason Englert (59) gets relieved from the mound in the bottom of the sixth inning during the MLB game between the Tampa Bay Rays and Houston Astros on July 5, 2026 at Daikin Park in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Tampa Bay Rays came into Sunday’s game against the Houston Astros riding a nine-game homer streak. That streak came to an end on a day of a shutout loss, when the lucky breaks did not go the Rays’ way.
Houston wasted no time accepting two unexpected gifts in the bottom of the first. Ben Williamson could not field Jose Altuve’s ground ball, and Hunter Feduccia’s throw sailed into center field on Altuve’s stolen base attempt, allowing the Astros’ second baseman to race all the way to third with only one out.
That usually ends with a run crossing the plate. Instead, Rays’ starter Mason Englert had other ideas.
After striking out Yordan Alvarez, Englert watched Isaac Paredes lift a harmless fly ball to shallow right, then froze Christian Walker with another strikeout to escape the inning unscathed. It was an impressive bit of damage control that could have easily unraveled after two defensive mistakes.
The Rays had survived their own sloppy start. Now they just needed to take advantage of it.
They almost did an inning later.
Chandler Simpson lined a single into center, promptly stole second, and put pressure on Houston’s defense with his legs. Victor Mesa Jr. followed with a walk, putting two aboard with two outs, but the Rays never found the swing to bring them home. Richie Palacios bounced into a force play, quietly ending the promising inning.
This would become a familiar theme.
Englert continued matching Houston pitch for pitch through the middle innings, getting plenty of help from a defense that settled down after its rocky opening.
Taylor Trammell provided one of the afternoon’s defensive highlights with a leaping grab in center to rob Jonathan Aranda in the third, helping preserve the scoreless tie.
Then came the bottom of the fourth.
Good hitters punish mistakes, and Englert left a fastball near the center of the plate for Christian Walker. Walker launched a solo homer into right field to finally break the deadlock, turning what had been a well-pitched chess match into a game where every remaining opportunity carried a little extra weight.
To Englert’s credit, that was about the only real mistake.
The right-hander regrouped immediately, retiring the next three hitters and keeping the deficit at just one. That mattered because Tampa Bay kept giving itself chances to answer.
The fifth inning may have been the most frustrating of them all.
Williamson ripped a leadoff single and swiped second, putting the tying run in scoring position with nobody out. Victor Mesa Jr. struck out, but Palacios moved Williamson to third with a productive ground ball.
Ninety feet away. Two outs. One well-placed ball ties the game.
Instead, Hunter Feduccia lined one directly at Christian Walker at first base, and another rally disappeared before it ever really got started.
If that wasn’t enough, the sixth somehow found another way to sting.
Aranda hit a single, bringing Junior Caminero to the plate. Orioles pitcher Peter Lambert then threw a wild pitch, advancing Aranda to second. Another wild pitch advanced Aranda to third with one out after Steven Okert entered the Houston bullpen. The tying run stood just 90 feet away again.
Caminero popped out to shortstop, and then Ryan Vilade, pinch-hitting for Cedric Mullins, lifted a fly ball to right that settled comfortably into Cam Smith’s glove.
Three innings with runners reaching third base and zero runs to show for it through six. Baseball has a cruel sense of timing, and the Astros wasted little time reminding everyone.
Leading off the bottom of the sixth, Paredes turned on a pitch and drove it into the left-center field seats for his 12th homer of the season. Just like that, a one-run game became a two-run deficit that felt like a mountain to climb.
Empieza el show mexicano 🇲🇽💪 Isaac Paredes con cuadrangular por todo el izquierdo. pic.twitter.com/jbmbEqHJ7F
The Rays still had six outs left, but they never seriously threatened again.
Jonny DeLuca singled as a pinch hitter in the eighth, but Houston got him out on a force play. Josh Hader entered for the ninth and issued a leadoff walk to Junior Caminero, briefly bringing the tying run to the plate. It felt like one last opening.
It wasn’t.
Ryan Vilade struck out, Chandler Simpson lined out, and Williamson followed with another strikeout to end it.
There were positives buried in the loss. Englert battled through 5.2 innings despite surrendering the two solo homers, and the bullpen kept the Astros from adding on. The pitching staff also piled up 12 strikeouts against one of the American League’s more dangerous lineups.
But this game belonged to the opportunities that slipped away.
The Rays will be back at it tomorrow to open their seven-game homestand heading into the All-Star break. Griffin Jax is scheduled to take the mound against the Yankees with first pitch at 6:40 pm ET.
Jul 5, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Trey Yesavage (39) throws against the Seattle Mariners during the fifth inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images
Blue Jays 0 Mariners 4
So…..for the second game in a row, we didn’t score. Today, three hits, one extra base hit (Vlad’s double), with singles from Nathan Lukes and Ernie Clement. And we had two walks.
Surprisingly, only six strikeouts, but a lot of soft contact. We had one hard hit ball, Vlad’s double at 114.7. Luis Urías (101.7) and Ernie Clement (100.4) were the only other Jays with balls hit at 100. Both ground outs.
Trey Yesavage wasn’t as sharp as he usually is, but still had a quality start. Six innings, three hits, three runs, two earned, two walks and seven strikeouts. A pretty good line. The Mariners didn’t seem to be going after his breaking stuff, and they did have two home runs, if that is a bad Trey start, we have an excellent starter there.
Tyler Rogers pitched a quick seventh (just six pitchers). Mason Fluharty had a very long eighth inning, 32 pitches. Allowing three hits, one earned, with two strikeouts.
Other than that, Ernie Clement’s had an throwing error at short. Vlad made a couple of nice defensive plays. Lukes made a nice catch in right.
But, all in all, I should have slept through this one as well.
No Jays of the Day.
Other Award: Yesavage (-0.12 WPA), Lukes (-0.10) and Okamoto (-0.09)
Tomorrow the Jays travel a few hours south, to start a series with the San Francisco Giants (one of those places I’d like to go see a game, but won’t for the next few years). Kevin Gausman (4-7, 4.19) goes against Landen Roupp (5-8, 4.55). Maybe the Jays could, you know, score. It is a late start, 9:45 Eastern
DENVER — It took until the last game of the series at Coors Field this weekend before a lead changed hands, almost unheard of in the mile-high ballpark that practically births chaos.
In the end, it didn’t go in the Giants’ favor.
The Giants’ Rafael Devers watches one of his two home runs Sunday against the host Rockies. AP Photo/David Zalubowski
Kyle Karros jacked a mammoth three-run homer in the eighth inning that flipped a two-run Giants advantage into a 7-6 defeat, sending them to their second series loss in as many tries against the lowly Rockies, one of two National League teams below them in the standings.
Against the two teams on either side of them in the NL West, the Giants went 2-4 and dropped both series on this road trip against Colorado and the Diamondbacks.
“It’s pretty bittersweet,” manager Tony Vitello said. “Because you could flip the script pretty much with just one game. It didn’t start off very well. We had a game in there we didn’t play good baseball at all. … We had some things to celebrate with the All-Star [selections], guys have spoken up and said good words.
“But ultimately, unfortunately that scoreboard dictates a lot in your life when you’re doing this.”
The Giants slugged four home runs, including two from Rafael Devers to claim the team lead with 18, but Karros got the last laugh.
The go-ahead blast landed 471 feet away, at the very top of the left field bleachers, and marked only the second time Colorado scored against the Giants’ bullpen over the final two games of the series.
It came against Dylan Smith, the seventh reliever summoned the past two days by Vitello and the first who wasn’t able to get the job done. Smith had a 1.69 ERA in 12 previous appearances.
He struck out the Rockies’ biggest threat, Hunter Goodman, to begin the eighth and got two strikes on the next batter, T.J. Rumfield. But the rookie went the opposite way to sneak a double down the left field line, and nothing went right from then on.
Smith hit Troy Johnston with his next pitch and fell behind 3-1 to Karros. He attacked him high and inside, and Karros was waiting for it.
Before Smith, the Giants’ bullpen had limited the Rockies to just one run over seven innings the past two games. But the dam burst, souring the flight back to San Francisco.
“You kind of feel like six [runs] can get it done,” Vitello said.
In addition to Devers’ second multi-homer game of the season, Casey Schmitt slugged his 17th and Drew Gilbert added one among his four hits to match a career high, finishing a triple away from the cycle.
Devers’ second homer reached the third deck, a 463-foot blast that was the second longest of his career.
“That’s probably the furthest ball I’ve ever seen hit,” Schmitt admired.
The power show from Devers and Schmitt made them the first pair of Giants teammates with at least 17 home runs in their first 90 games since Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent in 2000.
“I didn’t know about that,” Schmitt said. “But that’s cool to know that’s a thing. … I’m not really trying to go out there and hit homers. I’m just trying to hit line drives, and if I catch it, I catch it.”
Schmitt wasn’t the only one to get ahold of one, but it was all for naught once things went south in the bottom of the eighth. The loss was the Giants’ seventh in 41 games when leading after seven innings.
The Giants’ Drew Gilbert (0) celebrates his home run Sunday against the Rockies. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
What it means
The Giants lost for the 10th time in Tyler Mahle’s 14 starts.
While it was Smith who took the loss, Mahle didn’t do them any favors by failing to complete five innings for the second straight start and surrendering four runs on eight hits.
Who’s hot
Vitello didn’t like the way Gilbert handled himself the last time he was in the Giants’ starting lineup, four games ago, in Tuesday’s loss to the Diamondbacks.
The manager thought his former star at the University of Tennessee allowed his pop-out in the ninth inning of a 5-4 loss Monday night affect his play the following day.
So, he sat him down.
“This is a game of many, many reps,” Vitello said then. “The best guys can separate them and be ready for the next pitch.”
In his return to the starting lineup Sunday, Gilbert made a statement. He was ready for the next pitch. He sent the fourth one he saw soaring into the bullpen beyond right field.
He didn’t stop there, finishing 4-for-4 in the second four-hit game of his career.
“He just really gets charged up,” Vitello said after the game. “It’s a matter of managing that, being aggressive and intense but also being under control. I think the home run came because with two strikes, he was under control and just shortened up a little bit.”
In 12 games against Colorado, Gilbert is batting .480 (12-for-25) with seven extra-base hits, including four of his seven career home runs — a 1.656 OPS.
In 97 career games against any other team, he has 49 hits in 248 at-bats (a .197 average), with only 17 going for extra bases, resulting in a .513 OPS.
Vitello left him in against left-handed reliever Brennan Bernardino in the sixth, too, and Gilbert ripped a two-strike fastball up the middle for his first hit in 24 tries this season without the platoon advantage. It was his third career hit in 42 at-bats against left-handed pitching.
“For him to get his first hit off a left-handed pitcher, in particular a guy throwing sidearm,” Vitello said, “it spoke a lot to where his focus is at.”
Who’s not
Mahle’s outing couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start.
He was called for a pitch-clock violation before he had thrown a pitch, putting him in a 1-0 hole against Jake McCarthy, and the speedy outfielder laced a triple on the first pitch he saw.
It mirrored the way his last start began, serving up a home run to the leadoff man, and the rest played out in about the same underwhelming fashion.
Since tossing 5 ⅔ shutout innings in his return to the rotation, Mahle hasn’t made it through the fifth in either of his ensuing starts. He has surrendered eight runs (seven earned) over 8 ⅔ innings between the two starts, raising his season ERA to 5.70.
“I still feel good with where I’m at,” Mahle said. “It doesn’t look good on the box score, but I felt like I battled, felt like I made some good pitches and started to settle in. That’s life.”
Mahle was solely responsible for the one unearned run on his line, too, making a questionable decision to attempt a pickoff at first base with two strikes, two outs and a runner at third. He airmailed the throw past Devers, allowing the second run of the first inning to score.
Up next
The Giants return home and continue a stretch of 13 straight games leading into the All-Star break. They host Tyler Rogers and the Blue Jays for three games beginning Monday, which will feature another familiar face on the mound: Kevin Gausman (4-7, 4.19 ERA).
Landen Roupp (5-8, 4.55) gets the ball for San Francisco in the series opener. First pitch: 6:45 p.m. PT.
Jul 5, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Emerson Hancock (26) throws against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images
Huascar Brazoban has been terrific for the Mets this season.
Brazoban came into Sunday afternoon having allowed just one run over his last nine appearances, but the right-hander endured as rough an outing he’s had all year.
After the Mets tacked on five runs against old friend Carlos Carrasco in the top of the ninth, interim manager Andy Green called upon the big man to wrap up the final three outs.
Brazoban ended up being pulled after recording just one, though.
He allowed the first four Braves to reach on three singles and a walk before striking out Jorge Mateo on three pitches for the first out of the inning.
His own throwing error on a pickoff attempt at first also brought in a run.
Brazoban then gave up a grand slam to slugging Atlanta catcher Drake Baldwin, cutting the big lead all the way down to just two runs and bringing his day to an end.
Five of the six batters he faced reached, and he allowed five runs.
“It was just one of those days,” Green said.
Devin Williams came on and made it even more interesting as the winning run made it’s way into scoring position, but the closer was able to barely hang on for the victory.
The blowup saw Brazoban’s ERA rise from 1.94 to 3.00 on the year.
“He’s been unbelievable all year,” Green said. “The ERA is 3.00 even after what just happened, that just shows you how good he’s been all year for us, just wasn’t his day.”
Jul 5, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers celebrates after hitting a two run home run in the seventh inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
This three-game series between the Brewers and Diamondbacks was… something. The first two games featured some sloppiness, some bad luck, and some late (Midwestern) nights. After the teams split the first two games, Brandon Sproat and newly minted All-Star Eduardo Rodríguez took to the mound today to determine the series. The All-Star looked like an All-Star, and the other one didn’t, but Milwaukee gritted their teeth, had some good luck, and got a big hit from an All-Star snub to lead them to victory.
Brice Turang led off with a single for the Brewers, his seventh hit of the series after picking up three on Friday and three more on Saturday. But Jackson Chourio struck out chasing a high fastball from Rodríguez, Christian Yelich popped out to short, and Andrew Vaughn flew out down the right-field line.
In the bottom of the first, Sproat started by getting a groundout from Ketel Marte, but the next batter, Geraldo Perdomo, worked to a full count before lining a double into the left-field gap for a one-out double. Corbin Carroll, up next, also picked up a double, this one on a fly ball down the right-field line. Perdomo scored to make it 1-0, and Carroll, one of the league’s fastest players, stood on second base with one out. Sproat then walked Gabriel Moreno, and he was up against the ropes early; through four batters, he’d given up two hits, a run, and a walk, and gone to a full count on three out of four batters, inflating his pitch count. Sproat was able to retire the next batter, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., on a swinging bunt, which advanced the runners to second and third, but Ildemaro Vargas gave Sproat a break and grounded out to second on the first pitch he saw to end the inning. It took 28 pitches, but Sproat was out of the inning with only one run allowed.
The tough batted ball luck that has plagued the Brewers throughout this series reared its head in the second inning. Jake Bauers and Garrett Mitchell hit line drives of 111 and 107 mph on the second and third pitches of the inning, but they were both hit right at outfielders for outs. Gary Sánchez was next, and he did a good job working the count but got under one and flew out to left field to end the inning.
Confidence in Sproat continued to waver when he walked Tim Tawa to start the second inning. After a strikeout of Pavin Smith, Tawa stole second, but Tommy Troy struck out, too, and a Marte ground ball to Vaughn — who made a nice play — ended the inning. Sproat needed another 21 pitches and was already up to 49 through two innings, but the score remained 1-0.
David Hamilton began the third with a lineout to shortstop, and Joey Ortiz grounded out weakly to second. That made eight straight since Turang led off the game with a single, but on his second at-bat, he grounded out weakly to Tawa at first base. Nine straight for Rodríguez, despite just one strikeout and some decent contact.
Perdomo reached to start the third when Hamilton couldn’t handle a hard ground ball. It would’ve been a tough play, and Perdomo was given an infield hit, but Hamilton maybe should’ve been able to make the play. With Carroll batting, Perdomo stole second base to give Arizona a runner in scoring position with nobody out for the middle of the order. Sproat, though, came back to strike out Carroll and Moreno before walking Gurriel Jr. after working to a full count. With two outs and runners on first and second, Vargas again grounded out with two on to end the inning.
Chourio got a ground ball through the infield to give Milwaukee their first hit since the first at-bat of the game. Yelich tried to sneak a bunt in; he didn’t get a hit, but he did advance Chourio. But Vaughn struck out looking (at a pitch that should’ve been a ball, which he did not challenge), and Bauers flew out to right, and the Brewers remained without a run through four.
Sproat started the bottom of the fourth with 73 pitches already on his ledger. Tawa, leading off the inning, fell behind 0-2 quickly but fouled off three more pitches and took two more balls before tapping a grounder down the first-base line that Sproat flipped to Vaughn for the first out. Smith followed with a single into right, and Troy got a hold of one, but it was caught on the fringe of the warning track by Mitchell for the second out. Marte lined a two-out single to put runners on the corners, but after a visit from Chris Hook, Perdomo flew out to left to end the inning.
Mitchell struck out to start the fifth, and Sánchez and Hamilton followed with groundouts. Through five, the extent of the Brewers’ offense was two singles.
Sproat was finished after four. He’d allowed just one run, but each of his four innings was a real struggle; he’d given up five hits and walked three, and it took him 92 pitches to record 12 outs. He was replaced in the fifth by Grant Anderson, who pitched two scoreless innings in Milwaukee’s win on Friday night. He made quick work of the middle of the Arizona order: Carroll popped out, Moreno grounded out, and Gurriel Jr. flew out.
To paint the struggle with command for Sproat today, here are all of his first pitches today. He was just 8-for-20 in first-pitch strikes.
Ortiz and Turang both hit into outs to start the sixth. Chourio tried to spark something with two outs and hit a ball high off the wall in center field for a double — unfortunate that it wasn’t a homer, as it went 109 mph and 423 feet, and would’ve been out in all but one other ballpark. Three pitches later, Yelich flew out to left, and the inning was over.
Yesterday, Garrett Mitchell hit a 421-foot double that would have been a go-ahead homer. Milwaukee didn't score.
Today, Jackson Chourio hit a 423-foot double that would have been a game-tying homer. Milwaukee didn't score.
Vargas tried to bunt for a hit to start the bottom of the inning, but Hamilton was ready and threw him out. Tawa grounded out, too, on a nice play by Ortiz. After five up and five down, Anderson’s day was done as Pat Murphy called for the recently recalled Drew Rom to face the lefty Smith. That move worked, as Rom — with the help of a successful challenge from Sánchez — struck out Smith looking.
Rodríguez kept going in the seventh, but Vaughn led off with a base hit. Sal Frelick came in for Vaughn as a pinch-runner, but it turned out the Brewers didn’t need a pinch-runner: Frelick got to jog around the bases when Bauers got a hold of one and got it up a little higher than his 111-mph drive in the second inning. Bauers’ 16th home run of the season made it 2-1 Milwaukee and ended Rodríguez’s day on a sour note.
Kevin Ginkel was the choice to relieve Rodríguez. He struck out Mitchell to start things out, but Sánchez lined one into the left-field corner for a one-out double. Hamilton hit a line drive into right that was caught; Sánchez was able to advance to third, which allowed him to score easily when Ortiz snuck a grounder into right field. Sánchez probably wouldn’t have been able to score without advancing on Hamilton’s fly ball, so good baserunning by the big fella. Ortiz was thrown out trying to steal second, but Milwaukee had flipped a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead.
Aaron Ashby relieved Rom in the seventh, an inning late to vulture a win but in a big spot to try to get a shutdown inning. Troy picked up a cheap infield hit on a swinging bunt to start the inning, and the dangerous Marte came up as the tying run. He absolutely smoked a ball at 116.8 mph, but he hit it right at Chourio for the first out. Before Ashby threw his first pitch to Perdomo, he allowed Troy to advance to second when a pickoff throw got past Bauers. Perdomo picked up a base hit, too, though Troy, who had to pause for a moment to see if Chourio could catch it, held at third to put runners on the corners with just one out. A walk to Carroll, during which Ashby was not really anywhere near the zone, loaded the bases.
That was it for Ashby, as Murphy made the call to bring Abner Uribe into a tough situation with one out and no room for error. Uribe got the ground ball he needed, but it was hit just a little too slowly, and Moreno was able to beat out a double play, scoring Arizona’s second run in the process. Max Kepler was then called on to pinch-hit with the chance to tie the game, but Uribe struck him out to end the inning with the Brewers still leading, 3-2.
In the eighth, 33-year-old former Brewer farmhand Taylor Clarke was the new pitcher for Arizona. He got Turang to fly out to left for the first out, and Chourio followed with a pop out in foul territory. Yelich had a chance with two outs, but he flew out to left to end the inning.
Uribe continued in the bottom of the inning, but Vargas got a one-ball head start after a confusing pitch timer violation, and Uribe walked the free-swinging Arizona second baseman, just his 15th walk of the season. Tawa laid down a sac bunt to advance Vargas to second, which was followed by a long battle between Uribe and Smith. That battle ended fortunately for Milwaukee: Smith hit a hard line drive at 107.4 mph right at Turang, who tossed to Ortiz for an inning-ending double play.
Milwaukee was unable to muster anything against Arizona righty Drey Jameson in the ninth, so Trevor Megill had to do his work with a one-run lead. Troy became Megill’s first victim on a decently hit fly ball, but as the Brewers have learned, you have to hit it a lot better than “decently” to hit it out to center field in this ballpark. Marte was up next, and after nearly striking out looking on a very close 2-2 pitch, which Sánchez unsuccessfully challenged, he drew a one-out walk.
With the tying run at first, Perdomo — who already had three hits on the day — was up. But Megill got him to pop out to third base for the second out. Megill still needed to get the dangerous Carroll, but Frelick ended the game with a leaping catch on a foul ball down the right-field line.
This was a somewhat gritty win. Milwaukee’s pitching was playing with fire all day, particularly Sproat and Ashby, and the Diamondbacks had some terrible batted ball luck and got a good start out of Rodríguez. But Bauers’ big two-run homer and Ortiz’s clutch, two-out RBI single gave the Brewers enough offense, and Megill — with big assists from Anderson and Uribe — closed the door.
Milwaukee gets no break, as tomorrow they’ll be in St. Louis for the first of a four-day, five-game series that includes a rain makeup from early May. That starts a sprint to the All-Star break in which they’ll play eight games over the next seven days.
LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 4, 2026: Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) is tagged out at home plate by San Diego Padres catcher Luis Campusano after trying to score on a double by Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts in the first inning at Dodger Stadium on July 4, 2026 in Los Angeles, CA. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Emmet Sheehan faces J.P. Sears as the Dodgers look to sweep the San Diego Padres on Sunday.
CLEVELAND — Colson Montgomery hit a two-run homer and Kyle Teel and Tristan Peters added solo shots as the Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians 7-6 on Sunday to split a four-game series between the AL Central’s top teams.
The win moved the White Sox back into first place by one game.
Gabriel Arias belted a three-run homer and rookie Chase DeLauter also connected for the Guardians, who won the first two games on walk-offs.
The finale was delayed by rain and unplayable conditions on the water-logged outfield warning track.
Just before the re-scheduled start, the umpires met both managers in the outfield to inspect the track. The grounds crew then spent 30 minutes applying quick-dry mixture and grooming the track before it was deemed safe.
Down 6-3, the Guardians tied it in the fifth on Arias’ 446-foot drive off Erick Fedde (4-6) and some help from the White Sox.
DeLauter singled and Kyle Manzardo reached on Montgomery’s fielding error at shortstop. Arias followed with his fourth homer — the longest of his career.
The White Sox loaded the bases with none out in the sixth against Colin Holderman (4-2) and pushed across the go-ahead run on rookie Sam Antonacci’s fielder’s choice.
Cleveland threatened in the eighth, but Antonacci, who briefly moved from left field to second base before going back to left, ran down Kahlil’s Watson’s deep drive. Sean Newcomb earned his third save.
Montgomery belted his 23rd homer in the third to make it 6-3.
DeLauter’s first homer since May 17 tied it 2-all in the first. Travis Bazzana hit a fly to left that dropped for a double when Antonacci slipped twice. DeLauter followed with his first homer off a lefty.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Riley Greene homered, tripled and drove in four runs for the Detroit Tigers in a 6-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Sunday.
Greene sent a two-run home run to right field in the fourth inning and hit a two-run triple high into the left-field corner during a four-run fifth inning.
Casey Mize (4-5) allowed two runs on five hits in 6 2/3 innings as the Tigers won the series rubber game to finish a 5-1 road trip.
Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth for his 10th save in 14 chances.
Mize came off the best start of his major league career — seven shutout innings in a win at Yankee Stadium last Monday during which he allowed one hit and no walks with 10 strikeouts.
Greene homered off Kumar Rocker (2-7), his fourth of the trip and ninth since June 1 after a 29-game homer drought.
The Rangers’ second consecutive loss dropped them to .500 at 45-45.
Texas contributed to Detroit’s four-run outburst. Rocker didn’t cover first base on a right-side grounder hit by No. 9 batter James Outman that became an infield single. Elias Díaz was called for catcher’s interference. A wild pitch by Robby Ahlstrom scored rookie Kevin McGonigle.
Rocker, 1-7 at home this season, gave up three runs in 4 1/3 innings.
Two of Texas’ runs came on solo homers — Jake Burger in the third inning and Ezequiel Duran in the eighth. Burger was previously hitless in 15 at-bats.
Josh Jung, the Rangers’ regular third baseman, was a late scratch because of pain from fouling a ball off a kneecap on Saturday.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - JULY 05: Gabriel Arias #13 of the Cleveland Guardians celebrates his three-run home run during the fifth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field on July 05, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Three games down in what has shaped up to be a very exciting series against the Chicago White Sox, the Cleveland Guardians took the field behind Tanner Bibee in search of a series victory.
Bibee wasn’t able to go as long as he, Vogt, and the bullpen would have preferred. After a rain delay set the start time back about 30 minutes, the warning track was not draining properly and forced another delay. This was after Bibee had already taken his warm up pitches, so he had to sit and then get back out there for a start. Unfortunately the White Sox did get to him, putting up six runs in four innings of work. Bibee gave up three home runs.
Franco Aleman pitched the fifth, walking one and striking out one. Colin Holderman had a rare, bad outing. He did not record a single out and loaded the bases. Vogt turned to Erik Sabrowski to face the current division rival with no outs and bases loaded. Despite the high leverage situation, Sabrowski remained even-keeled, only allowing one of the inherited runners to score and intentionally walking one batter.
Hunter Gaddis had a clean seventh inning, striking out one and turning things over to Shawn Armstrong for the eighth. Armstrong struggled, having been used a lot this series, he got two out, but loaded the bases. Vogt had to turn the bullpen again to get out of this inning. Tim Herrin struck out the next batter and retired the side. Cade Smith pitched the ninth and did his thing. All three batters faced hit into an out.
The offense did a great job at answering each of the White Sox runs. In the bottom of the first, down two, Travis Bazzana hit a lead off double to left. Chase DeLauter slapped his first homer since May 17th to right center.
Kyle Manzardro drew a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Gabriel Arias hit a single to third and, with two outs, Daniel Schneemann hit a single to center to score Manzardo.
In the bottom of the second, while no runs were scored, it is worth highlighting some impressive base stealing efforts from Kahlil Watson. Watson hit a single to right and stole second and third base to put himself in scoring position with two outs.
Before the bottom of the fifth inning, the White Sox came back and went up three runs on Cleveland. Chase DeLauter hit a single to lead off the bottom of the fifth. Kyle Manzardo reached on a fielder’s choice that allowed DeLauter to reach second base on a fielding error. Gabriel Arias decided to be good in one at bat today and hit a towering 446 foot home run to the bleachers to tie it up again.
The White Sox pulled ahead by one run, which ultimately proved to be insurmountable by the Guardians offense. Cleveland unloaded the bullpen, unloaded the bench, but were only able to split this series with Chicago. This was a critical series in the AL Central. The Guardians find themselves still 1.0 games back from the White Sox and only three games above .500. Tomorrow is an off day for the club as they travel to Minnesota to face the Twins for three, then head to Miami to face the Marlins for three before heading into the All Star Break.
HOUSTON, TEXAS - JULY 05: Isaac Paredes #15 of the Houston Astros is congratulated by Christian Walker #8 after hitting a home run in the sixth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Daikin Park on July 05, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Tampa Bay came to Daikin Park with the best record in the American League, winners of 8 straight games.
They will leave Daikin Park still with the best record in the AL, but on a 2 game skid.
Peter Lambert (W, 7-5) went 5.2 IP scoreless, backed by Steven Okert, Bryan King and Josh Hader (S, 9) to combine for a 4 hit shutout of the Rays (52-35) 2-0.
The Astros (45-47) got solo homers from Christian Walker (20) and Isaac Paredes (12), which proved to be the only runs of the game, and all Astros pitching would need to take the series from the Rays. Houston has now won 6 of its last 7 series.
The Astros are currently 2 GB of Seattle in the AL West (pending tonight’s action) and 1GB Texas for the final Wild Card spot.
Lambert was terrific, allowing only 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 6. He threw 60 of his 90 pitches for strikes and got 5 ground ball outs.
Walker got the Astros on the board in the 4th when he took a four-seamer from Mason Englert (L, 0-2) opposite field for a solo shot.
