Category: Baseball

Gerrit Cole had the magic words, or look, to convince Aaron Boone to leave him in the game during a mound visit in the seventh inning Friday night. 

But that is just about where his sorcery ran out. 

With the tying run on first and no outs, Cole remained in the game to face Max Muncy and on his season-high 103rd pitch of the night left a slider over the heart of the plate that ended up in the second deck in right field. 

Muncy’s two-run shot off Cole flipped the game and dealt the Yankees a crushing 2-1 loss to the Dodgers in front of a sold-out crowd of 46,450 in The Bronx, snapping the four-game winning streak with which they finished the first half. 

“Obviously in hindsight, I probably should have grabbed him there,” Boone said. “That’s on me. … I said, ‘You got one more in you?’ [He said], ‘Yeah.’ Sometimes you got to take it out of their hands.” 

The Yankees (54-43), continuing life without Aaron Judge for the foreseeable future after his reimaging during the All-Star break did not show enough healing to allow him to start baseball activities, could not provide enough run support to make Cole’s only mistake of the night sting less. They mustered just one run against Roki Sasaki and the Dodgers bullpen, coming in the fourth inning when Jasson Domínguez scored on a passed ball. 

They had a chance to tie it in the eighth inning, but Trent Grisham was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first base on Ben Rice’s double with an aggressive send from third-base coach Luis Rojas. Grisham did not immediately bust it from first base, which came back to cost him as the Dodgers (62-36) made the relay from center fielder Andy Pages to shortstop Mookie Betts, who backed up an overthrow to second base and made a throw on the run to catcher Dalton Rushing. 

“You’ve got to push the envelope a little bit with one out,” Boone said. “I thought it was a decisive decision where he was probably holding him but read the throw properly. … You’d hate to leave that run on the table with the guy running off-balance. He made a play. But I don’t have an issue with the send.” 

With the Red Sox sweeping a doubleheader against the Rays on Friday, the Yankees had a chance to pick up a game and a half in the division, but settled for just a half-game, now trailing the Rays by 2 ¹/₂ games for first place. 

Cole had been dominant for six shutout innings before issuing his first walk of the night to Betts to lead off the seventh. Boone had lefty Brent Headrick ready in the bullpen, but after a brief chat with Cole on the mound, decided to leave him in against the left-handed hitting Muncy. 

Cole quickly got ahead 0-2 and then thought he had strike three on a slider that appeared to clip the top corner of the zone, but was called a ball and Austin Wells did not use the Yankees’ remaining challenge. 

“My mindset is I can always make another pitch,” said Cole, who struck out eight. “It’s just one more pitch. You can figure out how to make one more.” 

Three pitches later, though, another slider caught too much of the plate and Muncy clobbered it 416 feet to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 Dodgers lead. 

“I looked at the pitch, it’s not where I wanted it,” Cole said. “But I looked at the swing, it was pretty excellent. It just stinks.” 

In the Dodgers’ first trip to Yankee Stadium since winning the World Series here in 2024 — Cole, of course, was on the mound for the fateful Game 5 in his last start before undergoing Tommy John surgery — they threw three lefty relievers after Sasaki lit up the radar gun for 5 ²/₃ innings. 

In the fourth inning, Domínguez laced a double to the gap, took third on the play as Pages bobbled the ball on the warning track and then scored on Sasaki’s forkball that got past Rushing for the 1-0 lead. 

But that was all they could get. 

“[Sasaki] has got offspeed pitches with some good depth to them and velo separation when he’s got a 100-plus mile an hour fastball in his back pocket,” Rice said. “He was getting some early contact, getting some miss, just keeping us off-balance.”

The title says it all.

Sometimes a break does the body good. And that’s exactly what the Atlanta Braves have shown in their series opener against the Texas Rangers in a 15-1 win.

Starting off with a Drake Baldwin single to bring in Dominic Smith, the Braves didn’t let up from the bottom of the second inning.

Baldwin would also come back in the bottom of the fourth to feature the play of the night. A three-run homer to drive in Jim Jarvis and Brewer Hicklen would put the Braves up by five runs.

Jarvis knocked in a hit of his own by doubling in the bottom of the fifth to drive in Smith to give the Braves a 7-0 lead. The two took turns driving in another run on the board with a Baldwin single to bring Jarvis in for the eighth run (8-0).

Michael Harris put on a show soon after in the bottom of the seventh, where he hit an RBI double to bring in Baldwin, Ozzie Albies, and Matt Olson for an 11-0 lead.

The Rangers avoided a shutout by getting a run in the top of the eighth inning after a single from Rangers’ Nicky Lopez to drive in Cam Cauley for the team’s first and only run of the night.

Sealing the deal was an RBI single to drive in Hicklen and Jorge Mateo for the final two runs to cap off a run-heavy win where the bats were wide awake.

And for Chris Sale, it comes as no surprise that he pitched through seven innings and only allowed two hits, no earned runs and six strikeouts in his outing. And with the run production on his side, it’s safe to say that both sides did their job well to finish with a win.

The Texas Rangers scored one run but the Atlanta Braves scored 15 runs.

When the probables were released and it showed that the Rangers would be facing Chris Sale to open the second half, while countering with Cal Quantrill, the best you could hope for was that they would do what they had been doing through the final weeks of the first half.

Sure, it was kind of embarrassing that Quantrill was all that the Rangers could muster after taking nearly a full turn of the rotation’s worth of days off, but they’d been MacGyvering games into wins on their way to topping their division. Why not tonight too?

Instead, the smoke dissipated and the mirrors shattered. You won’t find many more thorough ass beatings than this game. Sale has dominated the Rangers to a near George Kirby-ian clip throughout his career and he was never really challenged in this one. Heck, at just 89 pitches, Sale probably only exited after seven innings because they game had already gotten so out of hand.

The Rangers collected two hits total off Sale. They got their lone run of the night when the game was already 12-0 in the top of the eighth. The Braves, meanwhile, after two outs to start the game, had already collected six hits off Quantrill in the next nine at-bats.

Remarkably, the Braves only scored two runs during that barrage but they were far from done. By the time Quantrill’s day finished, he had allowed six runs on 11 hits in just four innings of work. Quantrill provided some much-needed innings in spot starts while ramping up from long relief duties following Jack Leiter’s ankle surgery, but he was probably due for a dud.

After Quantrill exited, the Braves added on another nine runs off the Texas bullpen. It took until Ben Peoples’ one batter outing to end the seventh for a Rangers hurler to make it through an appearance unscathed. He was the only one to do so out of five pitchers. For the final inning, the Rangers turned to Kyle Higashioka to be one of those pitchers. He allowed a home run to the first batter he faced and a couple more runs for good measure.

For a good while now, due to injuries and roster deficiencies, it hasn’t seemed like the Rangers were putting a team with much big league quality on the field each night. That’s why it’s been kind of funny to see them atop the AL West. They’d been getting away with it with some wins over the last month or so.

They did not get away with it tonight.

Player of the Game: So despite not exactly kicking down the door in the minors this year, Emiliano Teodo finally made his MLB debut tonight. On one hand, that’s cool for Teodo. On the other, he’s now sporting an 10.80 big league ERA and has been cursed to remember this particular game for the rest of his life.

Up Next: Good news! The All-Star break ends and the second half of the season begins with a brief two-game series with the Atlanta Braves. In the series opener, LHP MacKenzie Gore will take the bump for Texas opposite RHP Owen Murphy for Atlanta.

The Saturday afternoon first pitch from Truist Park is scheduled for 3:10 pm CDT and you can catch it wherever you get your Rangers Sports Network which has become increasingly difficult to discern.

NEW YORK — Gerrit Cole talked Aaron Boone into letting him face one batter in the seventh inning Friday night.

Max Muncy said thank you very much.

In the Dodgers’ 2-1 win over the Yankees, Muncy delivered the most important swing of the night after Boone made the most consequential decision of the night, with the Yankees manager leaving Cole in only to watch Muncy take him deep for a go-ahead two-run home run that landed in the second deck.

Before that pivotal at-bat, Cole’s leadoff walk to Mookie Betts had dragged Boone out of the dugout.

Muncy, the left-handed slugger, was due up next. Brent Headrick, a Yankees lefty with a 1.58 ERA this year, was warming in the bullpen.

However, after a brief conversation on the mound, Cole convinced Boone to keep him in the game. Having already pitched six scoreless innings to that point, the former Cy Young winner then even got Muncy in an 0-2 hole. 

But once Muncy worked the count even, Cole threw a slider that hung over the middle of the plate.

Muncy didn’t miss it, launching his 18th home run of the year — and first since June 29 — on a no-doubt trajectory of 416 feet.

Just like that, the Dodgers had erased a 1-0 deficit, backing up an impressive 5 ⅔-inning, one-unearned-run start from Roki Sasaki.

And then in the eighth, they denied the Yankees their best chance to rally, throwing out a runner at the plate on an impressive relay play between Andy Pages, Betts and Dalton Rushing.

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What it means

After getting swept going into the All-Star break, the Dodgers kicked off the second half with a marquee win in this 2024 World Series rematch.

They continue to hold the best record in the majors (62-36) and improved to 31-23 against opponents with winning records.

Who’s hot

Sasaki embraced the Yankee Stadium spotlight, not only by turning in a strong start but doing so with an extremely encouraging uptick in stuff.

In the first, the right-hander punctuated a 1-2-3 inning with a tantalizing strikeout of Paul Goldschmidt, getting ahead with fastballs of 101.8 and 101.7 mph (the hardest of his MLB career) before putting him away with a slider in the dirt.

From there, Sasaki remained on the attack, throwing 21 fastballs at 100+ mph (he only had 14 previously as a starter in his MLB career) and averaging over 100 with the pitch for his first time in an MLB start.

Sasaki’s only blemish came in the fourth, when he got little help from his defense. Pages dropped the ball on the transfer after fielding a two-out Jasson Domínguez double, allowing Domínguez to take third. Then Rushing whiffed on a forkball behind the plate, resulting in a passed ball that scored a run.

Outside of that, Sasaki was nearly flawless. He allowed only five hits. He walked only one batter. He struck out five while finding the zone on 58 of 94 pitches. 

His ERA might still be 4.98. But never before had he looked so dominant as an MLB starter.

Who’s not

This was going to be the Dodgers’ defense, especially after the blunders from Pages and Rushing in the fourth led to Sasaki’s lone run.

But in the eighth, the previously scuffling unit redeemed itself, preserving the lead with one of its best plays of the season.

Following a one-out walk to Trent Grisham, reliever Alex Vesia gave up a double to Ben Rice that banged off the top of the wall in right-center. Immediately, Grisham got the wave home from his third base coach. But behind him, the Dodgers whipped the ball back in just quickly enough to mow him down at the plate.

The relay started with a strong, albeit slightly off-target, throw from Pages, forcing Betts to adjust from his cutoff position. Betts then also fired off-line to Rushing, forcing him to reach across his body to secure the ball, before sprawling back across the plate to apply the tag.

Nonetheless, Rushing got there a split-second before Grisham slid across the dish, with the call being confirmed after the Yankees challenged.

Up next

The Dodgers and Yankees continue this series Saturday, when Emmet Sheehan (4-6, 4.81 ERA) will face Yankees left-hander Ryan Weathers (3-7, 4.15 ERA).

The Dodgers (62-36) opened the second half of the season with a hard-fought 2-1 win over the Yankees (54-43) at Yankee Stadium Friday night.

Roki Sasaki impressed with one of his best starts of the year. Sasaki limited a potent Yankees lineup to just five hits and one walk while striking out five batters. The only run surrendered on his watch was of the unearned variety.

The Dodgers committed nine errors over their last five games before the All-Star break, and it looked as if the shaky defense spilled into the second half. The defense finally came together to make a spectacular relay play to maintain a one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth.

Sasaki used all three of his pitches to induce swings and misses all night from the Yankees batters. His fastball reached more than 100-mph with location, and his nasty splitter was nearly unhittable.

Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernandez collected consecutive two-out singles against Cole in the second inning. Dalton Rushing wasn’t able to take advantage, striking out against Cole to strand both runners.

In the third, Andy Pages also managed a two-out single off Cole. Freddie Freeman struck out on a slider to strand another runner.

A Ryan McMahon double and walk to Trent Grisham in the bottom of the third were erased after Ben Rice grounded into a timely double play.

Poor defense reared his ugly ahead again in the bottom of the fourth for the Dodgers. A bobbling fielding error by Pages in center field allowed Jasson Domínguez to reach third base on what should have been contained to a double. Then a passed ball by Rushing allowed the first run of the game to score, giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead.

Jack Dreyer got the job done in relief of Sasaki when he struck out Domínguez with two runners on base in the bottom of the sixth.

Cole was cruising through the game, but it was also the first time he ventured into the 100-plus pitch mark since returning from injury.

The turning point in the game came when Max Muncy crushed a no-doubt two-run home run against Cole to flip the script and give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.

Ben Rice hit a booming double to the center field gap with an out in the bottom of the eighth. Mookie Betts made a spectacular throw home to Dalton to tag out the sliding Grisham. It was a fantastic relay all around. Pages recovered the ball, hit deep to the gap. Betts skillfully snatched the relay throw to send it across his body to home plate. Dalton also made an incredible grab on the other side of the plate. He brought the ball back around to tag Grisham and preserve the one-run lead.

It was a satisfying way for the defense to make amends for the earlier miscue which led to the unearned New York run.

Tanner Scott shut down the Yankees in order in the ninth to pick up the save and help the Dodgers start off the second half with a win.

Friday particulars

Home runs: Max Muncy (18)

WP — Jack Dreyer (4-1): 1 1/3 IP, 2 strikeouts

LP — Gerrit Cole (3-5): 6 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts (103 pitches)

Sv — Tanner Scott (14): 1 IP, 1 strikeout

Up next

The Dodgers and Yankees battle again on Saturday when Emmet Sheehan (4-6, 4.81 ERA, 1.24 WHIP) takes on Ryan Weathers (3-7, 4.15 ERA, 1.24 WHIP) at (5:08 p.m. PT, Fox).

Dodgers All-Star third baseman Max Muncy didn’t get a break this week, traveling to Philadelphia to compete in the Midsummer Classic. But even without the extra rest, he put a charge into his go-ahead swing Friday.

The Dodgers struggled against veteran Yankees starter Gerrit Cole — until he hung a slider to Muncy in the seventh inning. Muncy launched it for a two-run blast to carry the Dodgers to a 2-1 victory.

“Anytime you can find a way to win a game when Gerrit Cole’s pitching, it’s a good thing,” manager Dave Roberts said.

Between the come-from-behind win, a strong showing from Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki and a defensive turnaround, the Dodgers (62-36) came out of the All-Star break on a positive note.

It was clear early on that Sasaki, who didn’t give up an earned run in 5 ⅔ innings, had something a little extra.

Pitching at Yankee Stadium for the first time, he punctuated a clean first inning by getting ahead of Paul Goldschmidt with 101.8- and 101.7-mph fastballs, en route to a five-pitch strikeout.

“I got a big smile on my face when I saw 102,” Roberts said.

It was the first time Sasaki topped 101 mph in a regular-season game, according to Statcast. He threw 21 pitches at 100 mph or harder, the most of any Dodger since pitch tracking began in 2008. Sasaki pointed to the rest he got over the All-Star break and a delivery tweak for his increase in velocity.

“I kind of changed the way I use my lower body,” Sasaki said. “So I’m really happy to get that velo up.”

The Yankees (54-43) scored their only run against Sasaki by taking advantage of a pair of defensive mistakes.

Read more:Dodgers expect Shohei Ohtani to pitch next week as they manage his knee ailment

With two outs in the fourth, center fielder Andy Pages bobbled Jasson Domínguez’s double in right-center field, giving him time to get to third. The next pitch, a forkball, got past catcher Dalton Rushing, and Domínguez raced home.

Pages later found some redemption with a defensive gem to end the fifth. He made a full-speed tumbling catch in the right-field gap to rob Austin Wells of an extra-base hit.

Cole held the Dodgers to just four hits in six-plus innings. Before the seventh, only one Dodgers runner reached second base, when Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernández hit back-to-back singles in the second.

Cole came back out for the seventh and walked Mookie Betts to lead off the inning. After a mound visit, he stayed in to face Muncy.

“It was a tough decision for [Yankees manager Aaron Boone],” Roberts said. “You’re thinking about going to the ‘pen, or do you let your ace go after Max and Tucker. And Max spoiled some good pitches and then got a pitch in his wheelhouse and put a good swing on it.”

Muncy fell into a two-strike count, but he kept battling. On the seventh pitch, he saw something he could drive — 416 feet at a 30-degree launch angle, to be exact.

Read more:Shaikin: With Will Smith out indefinitely, Dodgers need to trade for a catcher

“The swing felt great,” Muncy said on the Spectrum SportsNet LA broadcast. “The result was better and it gave us a chance to win.”

Dodgers relievers Jack Dreyer, Alex Vesia and Tanner Scott chipped in a combined 3⅓ scoreless innings to secure the win. The Yankees came inches away from tying the score in the eighth, but the Dodgers, shaking off their pre-All-Star break rough patch, delivered on defense.

With Trent Grisham on first after a walk, Ben Rice hit a double into the right-field gap off Vesia. Pages chased down the ball and quickly fired to shortstop Betts, who threw it home. Rushing’s sweeping tag beat Grisham to the plate.

“I think it was huge,” Betts said. “We still had a couple mishaps in this game. We’ve got to clean that up for sure. You can’t win a World Series doing what we did today. But we’ll keep working and try to clean it up.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Yankees' offense mustered just one run and spoiled Gerrit Cole's best start since returning from surgery in New York's 2-1 loss to the Dodgers on Friday night.

The Yankees picked up six hits but were 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left six on base.

Here are the takeaways...

-The first best chance the Yankees offense had against Roki Sasaki came in the third. Ryan McMahon led off with an opposite-field ground-rule double. Austin Wells struck out swinging before Trent Grisham walked. Ben Rice grounded into an inning-ending double play to end the threat.

The Yankees would finally break through on some bad fundies by the Dodgers. Jasson Domínguez hit a two-out double, but Andy Pages bobbled the ball in center, allowing Domínguez to go to third. With Jazz Chisholm Jr. up, Sasaski threw a forkball that Dalton Rushing could not handle, and the pitch went to the backstop, allowing Dominguez to score.

-In the sixth, the Yankees chased Sasaki after Rice and Cody Bellinger singled to put a runner in scoring position with two outs for Domínguez. Going up against a southpaw, Dominguez struck out looking. 

Down 2-1 in the eighth, Rice lined a double in right-center field with Grisham trying to score from first, but a great relay by the Dodgers got the Yankees outfielder at home. After Paul Goldschmidt was intentionally walked, Bellinger flew out. 

-Cole was masterful, even when the Dodgers peppered him with singles in the early innings. The right-hander retired 10 straight as he took the mound in the seventh. Mookie Betts drew a six-pitch walk to lead off and manager Aaron Boone came out. He spoke to Cole and instead of pulling his starter, he let him face Max Muncy, but the left-handed hitting slugger took Cole deep, smashing a 90 mph slider over the heart of the plate 416 feet into the left field seats. 

Cole's night ended with a loud womp. He allowed two runs on just four hits and one walk, and struck out eight batters through six-plus innings. He threw a season-high 103 pitches.

It was Cole's best start since returning from elbow surgery, but he left on the long side of this one.  

-In relief of Cole, Brent Headrick got the Dodgers 1-2-3 to finish the seventh before giving way to Fernando Cruz in the eighth. Tommy Edman led off with a double but Cruz bounced back, getting Ohtani to pop out and striking out Pages. Freddie Freeman flew out to center to come up empty in the inning. 

Paul Blackburn allowed a walk in a scoreless ninth inning to give the Yankees a chance in the bottom of the frame. Dominguez (lineout), Chisholm (strikeout) and Jose Caballero (flyout) went down in order to end the game. 

Game MVP: Max Muncy

Muncy's two-run blast put the Dodgers ahead for good.

What's next

The Yankees and Dodgers continue their three-game set on Saturday evening. First pitch is set for 8:08 p.m., weather permitting.

Ryan Weathers (3-7, 4.15 ERA) will take the mound. The Dodgers will send Emmett Sheehan (4-6, 4.81 ERA) to the bump.

This game was a tease.

Each time the Rays made a little headway on offense, they quickly gave it back on defense. Well, let me be clearer: Mason Englert, the Rays starter, promptly gave it back, because when the other team is hitting dingers it’s not the fielders who are letting us down.

The Rays started the game taking advantage of Edward Rivera’s poor control. In the first inning, the first two Rays batters made outs but Junior Caminero singled, and then both Vilade and Mullins walked. There was a moment of hope when DeLuca drove a 2-2 single, an impressive clutch hit, that scored two runs.

But alas.

Englert got the start, and he gave up a double to Rafaela and then a home run to Abreu and before we even had time to think “ooh a lead,” the game was tied. And then Contreras hit a home run and the score was 3-2. Even the next batter smoked a ball, but Williamson was able to make a great play to turn it into an out.

That’s OK though, because in the top of the third inning, our man Junior tied it up with this shot (111.6 mph by the way):

But the tie didn’t last long; in the next inning the Red Sox hit another home run to retake the lead, and then an inning later they scored again on a long double. At the end of four innings the Rays were down 5-3.

And that’s where it stayed. I guess the good news was that the Rays bullpen – Kimbrel, Sulser and Booser — all pitched scoreless innings, which would have put the Rays in a position to come back had they actually gotten on base. But after Junior’s home run the Rays could muster only two singles, one of which was erased on a double play.

All in all, a disappointing and low energy performance today.

Knock knock, rise and shine, let’s get moving and grooving.

The Mariners are back from their horrible, dreamless slumber, with only a groggy recollection of the night before, and an instinct — call it hangxiety — that it’s best to get up before any memory can sneak through their pounding head. Thankfully, their first appointment has it even worse this morning. Long before the Mariners ended their evening by rattling off grievances with the state of Florida, the Giants were shirtless, pissing outdoors, and singing Morgan Wallen to the downward-glancing eyes of the clothed. We might find it within ourselves to forgive the Mariners, their flaws subtle, inward, universal. The Giants are just assholes.

Speaking of which, Landen Roupp is on the mound tonight. He’s been excellent this year, though a step forward (or to the side) on the mound won’t be what we remember about his season. Facing Roupp is Bryce Miller. He’s been the Mariners best pitcher this year, with a 26% K-BB and 3.12 FIP in 10 outings. After five days off, this turn in the rotation could have gone to anyone, and I’m taking note that it’s Miller who gets the first nod.

The Mariners lineup is just as they left it. All-Star Randy Arozarena is batting second. Former All-Star Cal Raleigh is batting fourth. J.P. Crawford is batting first and playing third; Colt Emerson is batting last and playing short. Luke Raley AND Dominic Canzone are in the lineup. No, Julio Rodríguez is not here tonight. Neither is Brendan Donovan.

Lineups

Game Info

First Pitch: 7:10 p.m.

TV: Mariners.TV and KING-5

Radio: Ol’ Reliable

News

Justin Hollander met the with the media today to give some injury updates.

• Julio worked out on the field today but is not playing. The plan is for him to return to the lineup tomorrow.
• Brendan Donovan’s rehab assignment continues in Tacoma.
• Rob Refsnyder will join Donovan in Tacoma tomorrow for a rehab assignment of his own.

The San Francisco Giants begin a three-game road series against the Seattle Mariners tonight.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Landen Roupp, who enters tonight’s game with a 4.27 ERA, 3.28 FIP, with 104 strikeouts to 42 walks in 97 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 10-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on July 6th, in which he allowed one run on three hits with five strikeouts and two walks in eight innings.

He’ll be facing off against Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller, who enters tonight’s game with a 2.18 ERA, 3.12 FIP, with 65 strikeouts to nine walks in 57.2 innings pitched. His last start was in the Mariners’ 8-4 loss to the Miami Marlins on July 9th, in which he allowed six runs (four earned) on nine hits with three strikeouts and four walks in five innings.

Game #97

Who: San Francisco Giants (41-55) vs. Seattle Mariners (48-49)

Where: T-Mobile Park, Seattle, Washington

When: 7:10 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

Detroit Tigers (44-51) vs. Los Angeles Angels (38-59)

Time/Place: 9:38 p.m., Comerica Park
SB Nation Site: N/A
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Troy Melton (5-1, 1.82 ERA) vs. LHP Reid Detmers (3-6, 4.39 ERA)

It feels so good to be able to say we have real meaningful baseball games to play again. The St. Louis Cardinals begin their post-All Star Game schedule in Arizona Friday night. The Diamondbacks will give Merrill Kelly the ball. MLB.com says Michael McGreevy will start for the Cardinals. First pitch is scheduled for 8:40pm central time and the game will be available on Cardinals.tv.

Max Fried's first rehab outing is in the books. The Yankees' left-handed pitcher, who went on the 15-day injured list in mid-May due to a left elbow bone bruise, started his assignment Friday for New York's Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders against the Worcester Red Sox and went three innings.

He allowed two runs on five hits, one of which was a home run, while striking out three and throwing 52 pitches with 32 strikes.

"Most important -- was able to get all my pitches in and came out feeling good," Fried said. "So, when you come for a rehab and your first live-game action in a while, I think those are the most important things."

Max Fried racks up three strikeouts across three innings in his first rehab outing!@Yankees | @swbrailriderspic.twitter.com/dXXtTDD4j2

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) July 18, 2026

The first inning was a shaky one for Fried, who allowed three singles in the opening frame, starting with Nick Sogard's leadoff knock and soon followed by Andrew Knizner's two-out grounder up the middle that second baseman Marco Luciano did not corral and scored Sogard from third base.

"Just trying to get the feel of a game setting again," Fried said. "I have a lot of live BPs, so trying to throw the ball over the plate, not walk guys, force action -- and they were ready, ready to come out of the break."

Fried rebounded with a 1-2-3 second inning, including a leadoff strikeout of Allan Castro.

"Was looking at it -- 25 pitches after the first inning -- wanted to try to make it through three, hopefully four," Fried said. "But when you get put behind the eight ball like that, you just try to go out there, get a quick inning. It was nice to do that. I was able to get my three full innings, 50 pitches and, like I said, feeling good. So, that's the most important thing."

The southpaw, pitching with a 5-2 lead, started the third inning by retiring Sogard on a flyout until Nate Eaton's solo shot on a 2-1 pitch ended Fried's streak of consecutive outs at five batters.

"A slider -- a pitch I don't really throw a ton, but wanted to try a bunch of different things today and see how it works, and I guess that one didn't," Fried said.

Mickey Gasper subsequently singled on a groundball to shortstop George Lombard Jr. before Fried bounced back with back-to-back groundouts to end the frame and the outing overall.

Fried, last pitched May 13 in the Yankees' 7-0 loss at the Baltimore Orioles, topped out around 95 mph.

"First time back, being around there, throwing a good amount of fastballs, having good command, yeah -- like I said, the most important thing was being able to hit my pitch limit and then come out feeling good," Fried said.

What is next for Fried?

"That's going to be the team's call," Fried said. "I'll just go wherever they want me to for the next one and, yeah, it's more about whatever the team needs -- if they want me to come and keep building up and have another outing, then great. And whenever they feel like I'm ready to go to help the team, I'll be there."

Through 10 games for New York this season, Fried is 4-3 with a 3.21 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in 61.2 IP.

"As a competitor, it sucks because I wish that I was out there," Fried said. "But obviously I wasn't able to -- I wasn't able to stay healthy enough to go out there and help the guys out. But we're a confident group. You're not going to play your best baseball the whole year, all 162. It's been not as consistent as we've wanted it to, but I think we're pretty motivated coming out of the break to play some of our best baseball and especially when it matters most."

As a first-year Yankee during the 2025 campaign, Fried went 19-5 with a 2.86 ERA in 32 starts.

There’s one element of modern baseball Mookie Betts doesn’t like.

While Betts generally agrees with baseball’s current state — citing the inclusion of the pitch clock, enlarged bases, and the automated ball-strike system (ABS) — Betts wants to eliminate position players pitching in games.

“Once position players come in (to pitch), just call the game,” Betts told Sports Illustrated during the All-Star break. “That’s pretty much it. Once you’re down 10 and the position player comes in, just call it a day.”

Position players toeing the mound has increased in recent seasons. The phenomenon happened just three times in 2008. In 2019, the occurrence leapt to 90, before reaching an all-time peak of 132 in 2022.

MLB updated its rules on position players pitching ahead of the 2023 season, only allowing it in extra innings, if the team is trailing by eight or more runs at any point, or if the team is winning by 10 or more runs in the ninth inning.

Previously, position players could pitch at any time if one team was up by six runs or more.

Position players pitched 131 times in 2025 after shrinking for a couple of years following the rule change.

At the halfway point of the 2026 season, there have been 83 appearances by position players on the mound by 39 different players.

Colorado catcher Brett Sullivan leads the pack with six innings in five appearances.

“It’s a lose-lose,” Betts added. “You get a hit, you’re supposed to. But it’s so hard to get a hit. It’s so hard to get that hit.

“And then if you get out, ‘ah, you got out by a position player.’ I’d rather just go home at that point.”

We have gotten some time to decompress and get away from Nationals baseball, but now we are back. The Nats head out west to play the Athletics in Sacramento. With two strong lineups and a small ballpark, there could be some fireworks on display this weekend. 

The big news in today’s lineup is that Harry Ford is going to make his Nats debut. The 23 year old will be catching and batting 6th. With a lefty on the mound, Andres Chaparro will get the nod at first over Luis Garcia. James Wood will DH, which means the outfield will consist of Daylen Lile, Jacob Young and Dylan Crews. Cade Cavalli will get the start as the Nats kick off the second half.

Despite super star first baseman Nick Kurtz being out injured, the A’s lineup is still fierce. Jacob Wilson, Shea Langeliers and Tyler Soderstrom are a fearsome trio in the middle of the lineup. Former LSU star Tommy White is also making his debut tonight which will be interesting to watch. Another LSU standout, Gage Jump will be on the mound tonight.

Game Info:

Stadium: Sutter Health Park

Time: 9:40 PM EST

TV: Nationals.TV

Radio: 106.7 The Fan

The Nats will look to get back to .500 as we start the second half. With the A’s and Rockies to start things off, this could be an opportunity for the Nats. However, there are no easy games in the MLB, especially for a team with the weaknesses that the Nats have. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!