Category: Baseball

Some years ago, I learned that Canada has a fast food chain known as New York Fries. I am from New York, and I do not know of any particular connection between that fair city (state? I assume it’s named for the city?) and fries. I have always been somewhat baffled by this. Sort of like how the Blue Jays were baffled by Cristopher Sánchez tonight.

The game started when Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner struck out and grounded out respectively. Turner wasn’t sent down on a force out, but rather on a tag, as an errant throw pulled Vladimir Guerrero Jr. off the bag. Bryce Harper made it to first when Toronto left fielder Yohendrick Piñango misjudged a fly’s trajectory just enough, with the ball bouncing off his glove for an error. Harper would’ve had more than one base, but he missed the bag as he rounded first, and had to turn back. Everyone was just a little off, a tad confused, like I was when I discovered that Canadian Smarties aren’t the same as American Smarties (they’re like M&Ms, but with a slightly thicker shell. Highly recommended, if you can find them). The bottom of the first, happily, was quite ordinary, as Sánchez handled the Jays with his usual efficiency.

The fireworks in the top of the second were of a more favorable sort. With two outs, Bryson Stott worked a double, and Adolis García sent a slider soaring swiftly into the SkyDome seats (Disclaimer: I am aware it is now the Rogers Center. For the sake of alliteration, I choose to ignore this). The third inning saw the Phillies load the bases without a hit: two walks and a hit by pitch. They got their first hit of the inning via Alec Bohm, who sent one through the gap on the left side of the infield to score one. Realmuto sent his pitch right up the middle to score another. Stott’s patience at the plate must make him frustrating for any pitcher; even more so when the bases are loaded for the third consecutive batter. Stott walked, and the Phillies had more baserunners in the inning than Saskatchewan has lentils (Saskatchewan is a leading producer of lentils). The Jays put Phillies out at home on the next two balls in play, and the Phillies ended the inning up 5-0, having thoroughly tortured the passerine pitcher.

The Jays put their first runner on via Myles Straw double to lead off the third, advanced him via groundout, then scored him via another. That was a good development for the Jays; but it was not accompanied by more. Cristopher Sánchez continued to stymie the Jays, who lost their hitting coach when he objected to a call a little too vociferously.

Corbin departed after the fourth, with Simeon Woods Richardson, winner of the prestigious “Pitcher With A Name That Absolutely Sounds Like A Character from Jeeves and Wooster” award five years running, putting the Phillies down in order. No doubt the Drones Club will be buzzing about that.

They’ll buzz even more about Ernie Clement’s solo shot against Sánchez in the bottom fifth, which narrowed the Philadelphia lead to three. It seemed like it would get narrower. Piñango lead off the bottom sixth by reaching third on a ball that bounced off the wall, and then slipped away from García. The slightest mistake would score him. But Sánchez decided to reassert his dominance with a three consecutive strikeouts. He celebrated like a man who had redeemed himself from the pits of defeat. It would be tough to describe the performance that had led up to that redemption as a failure, even if it was technically beneath the lofty standard he’s set for himself in 2026. But everyone needs a struggle to overcome, so that their work may have meaning, and when you’re as ludicrously effective as Sánchez is, you have to adopt a really loose definition of struggle.

If you’re a batter facing him, though, you get to go with the normal definition. Clement made it to base by singling against Sánchez in the seventh, and Straw walked, but no runs scored, because Sánchez is not particularly fazed by mortal concerns like “baserunners”. Afterwards, he took his 10 strikeouts back to the dugout and called it a day.

Brad Keller took over in the eighth. Like Sánchez in the prior inning, he allowed two baserunners, via walk and single, and like Sánchez, he did not grant them the luxury of a trip home. But turnabout is fair play, and Tommy Nance, coming in for the Jays in relief for the ninth, mirrored the accomplishment: Justin Crawford and Schwarber singled, but both were stranded.

The Phillies turned to Jhoan Duran to finish it. It was not one of his best performances; he didn’t record a single strikeout. But after all of the Ks produced tonight by Sánchez, he might’ve just wanted to give Phillies fans a change of pace. He allowed a double, but put the other three Jays he saw down on ground outs. That was the game.

The Phillies are 36-30. The series against the Blue Jays continues Tuesday at 7:07.

A whisker. An eyelash. The tiniest antenna on the tiniest fly. That’s the margin of difference that cost the Orioles their best chance to beat the Mariners in tonight’s series opener. A potential O’s comeback bid was ruined by an ABS-overturned call — and later, some baserunning stupidity — as the Birds fell to Seattle, 6-3.

Let’s set the scene. It was the bottom of the seventh inning and the Orioles trailed, 5-2, but they were primed to rally their way back into the game. Against recklessly wild reliever Matt Brash, the O’s had already scored one run on a wild pitch, and they’d loaded the bases with just one out for Pete Alonso. One good swing could cut the Orioles’ deficit further. One great swing could give the Orioles the lead for themselves.

Brash had no command. He’d already thrown two pitches near the head of Taylor Ward, the second of which plunked him. He’d walked Gunnar Henderson. And he proceeded to fall behind Alonso 3-0, putting the O’s slugger in control of the at-bat. You couldn’t ask for a better run-scoring situation. Even the Orioles couldn’t blow this, right?

Yeah, uh…funny story. Alonso inexplicably hacked at a 3-0 pitch (which might have been in the strike zone, but that’s not the point, Pete) and fouled it off, then swung through a fastball for strike two. Then came the pivotal 3-2 pitch, a heater up. Alonso held off, plate ump Gabe Morales called ball four, and the O’s appeared to have a run-scoring, bases-loaded walk.

But: hold everything. Catcher Jhonny Pereda tapped his helmet for a challenge. As the ABS graphic popped up on the scoreboard, the Camden Yards crowd watched in horror as the teensiest, weensiest sliver of the animated ball, no bigger than Abraham Lincoln’s eye on the head of a penny, clipped the very top of the strike zone. The call was reversed. A bases-loaded walk had become a rally-crushing strikeout. Alonso, who had already made his way to first base, crumpled to his knees in disbelief.

Brutal. Just brutal. I’m as big a fan of anyone as the ABS system, but boy did it haunt the Orioles there. I guess you could argue that the pitch was too close to take, but it sure looked like a ball to me in real time, and to Alonso too. With the air totally deflated from the stadium, the O’s didn’t score, as Colton Cowser grounded out to leave ‘em loaded. The Mariners, against all odds, maintained their three-run lead.

Sadly, that wasn’t the only tremendously stupid way in which the Orioles squandered a late-inning rally. The very next inning — now down 6-2 after the M’s scored against Albert Suárez in the eighth — the O’s again had something cooking against reliever Eduard Bazardo. They began the inning with a single and a Jackson Holliday walk, and with one out, Blaze Alexander scorched an RBI single to left to make it a 6-3 game. Once again, the Orioles brought the tying run to the plate, and pinch-hitter Samuel Basallo strolled up to bat, bringing the Camden Yards crowd back to life.

On a 2-1 pitch, Basallo connected for a deep shot to center. He dropped the bat, certain he’d just delivered a game-tying homer. He had not. Julio Rodríguez tracked it down in front of the warning track. Still, the ball was plenty deep enough for Holliday to tag up from third base. As Holliday headed to the plate, Alexander foolishly tried to tag from first and advance to second. Rodríguez delivered an on-target throw and Ryan Bliss slapped the tag on Alexander. Double play, horrible baserunning, but hey, at least the O’s got one run out of it. …Right?

Yeah, uh…funny story about that, too. The Mariners requested a challenge, claiming that Alexander was tagged out before Holliday crossed home plate. And lo and behold, the replay proved them right. The run was wiped off the board, the would-be sac fly was just an inning-ending double play, and the Orioles, as Willy Wonka would say, get nothing. You lose. Good day, sir.

And lose they did, as the O’s went quietly in the ninth against struggling Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz, who entered the day only nine for 14 in save opportunities but had no problem against a demoralized Birds team. A 6-3 loss went into the books as truly one of the dumbest of the year.

Other dumb things happened, too. Fill-in starter Trey Gibson, called up from Triple-A Norfolk earlier in the day when Chris Bassitt landed on the injured list, held the Mariners lineup in check for four scoreless innings, but they started to hit him hard in the fifth. They smacked three singles and a sac fly to tie the game at one (after the O’s had taken a 1-0 lead in the third on a sac fly of their own).

With two on and two out, manager Craig Albernaz made a fateful pitching change. Taking out Gibson wasn’t the problem; the rookie didn’t seem to be fooling hitters and hadn’t struck out anyone all game. But Albernaz’s choice to replace him was a head-scratcher. He went with Anthony Nunez, who has a 7.98 ERA since the start of May and has suffered several recent blowups in high-leverage situations. This is the guy you’re going to trust in a critical spot, in a tie game, with multiple runners on base, against the heart of the M’s lineup? How about Andrew Kittredge? Tyler Wells? I’d even accept Rico Garcia, even if it was only the fifth inning.

Nunez wasn’t the guy to go to, and he immediately showed why, walking Rodríguez to load the bases and then serving up a backbreaking grand slam to Josh Naylor. On one swing, the Mariners took a 5-1 lead. Sigh.

The game felt like it was over at that point. It wasn’t, exactly. The Orioles had plenty of chances to come back. But as we’ve seen, they all went horribly wrong.

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Houston Astros (30-37) begin a six-game road trip with the first game of a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels (25-41) tonight at Angel Stadium.

The May AL Pitcher of the Month, Spencer Arrighetti (7-1, 1.94) will be on the mound for the Astros, opposite RHP Grayson Rodriguez (2-2, 9.50) and the Halos. The Astros have won 10 of their last 16 games.

HOT SPAGHETTI: Tonight’s Astros starter RHP Spencer Arrighetti made his season debut on April 15 and has since gone 7-1 with a 1.94 ERA (11ER/51IP) and a .184 opponent average while allowing one-or-fewer earned runs in seven of his nine starts. Among AL pitchers with 50+ innings pitched, he’s posted the lowest opponent average, while ranking second in ERA and tied for third in wins.

PITCHER OF THE MONTH: RHP Spencer Arrighetti was named the AL Pitcher of the Month for May after going 4-1 with a 0.93 ERA (3ER/29IP) and a .165 opponent average (16×97) in five starts in the month. In May, he posted the lowest ERA and opponent average among AL starters, while ranking tied for third in wins.

ROAD TRIP: Tonight is the first game of six game road trip for the Astros. The Astros will face the Angels for a three-game series before traveling to Kansas City to face the Royals for another three-game series. The Astros are 14-18 on the road this season but went 7-3 on their last road trip.

THE LAST 22: Since May 15, the Astros are 13-9 thanks in large part to their pitching, which has produced a 3.54 ERA (77ER/196IP) and a .194 opponent average, which ranks second in the Majors in that span. Their bullpen has been even better in those last 22 games, working to a 2.77 ERA (23ER/74.2IP) and posting a league-best .160 opponent average.

MAKING THE PLAYS: The Astros have committed the fewest errors in the AL (25) and have posted the best fielding percentage (.989) in the AL, topping the Royals (.989) by a few percentage points. Among all Major League teams, only the Padres (20) and Dodgers (22) have committed fewer errors than the Astros.

VS. THE HALOS: The Astros and Angels will face off for the second time this season.. The last time was on Opening Weekend at Daikin Park, where the two teams split the four-game series.

The Astros went 8-5 against the Angels last season, including a 4-2 record at Angel Stadium. The Astros own a 140-90 all-time record against the Angels, including a 6646 record at Angel Stadium.

TODAY’S ROSTER MOVES: The Astros placed IF Nick Allen on the 10-day IL due to a left hamstring strain. To take his place on the active roster, the Astros recalled IF Shay Whitcomb from Triple A Sugar Land.

ON THE LEADERBOARD: DH Yordan Alvarez leads the Majors in OPS (1.080), SLG (.650) and total bases (154) and leads the AL in home runs (22) and RBI (48).

Also in the AL, he ranks tied for first in extra-base hits (35), second in batting average (.316), second in OBP (.431), second in hits (75), fourth in runs (45), and tied for fourth in walks (44).

KEYSTONE FLIGHTS: 2B Jose Altuve hit the 260th home run of his career on Saturday and his 240th while playing the second base position, surpassing 2B Lou Whitaker for the 10th-most home runs by a second baseman in MLB history. Per Elias, Altuve now immediately trails 2B Ian Kinsler (246) and 2B Joe Gordon (246) on that all-time list.

YOR-GONE!: DH Yordan Alvarez hit his 192nd career regular season home run on Saturday, which moved him into sixth in Astros history in home runs, surpassing 3B Alex Bregman.

EVERYDAY OKERT: LHP Steven Okert worked 1.0 scoreless innings yesterday, giving him 31 appearances this season, which ranks tied for sixth in the Majors. Since May 3, he’s recorded a 1.69 ERA (3ER/16IP) with 17 strikeouts, four walks, a 0.69 WHIP and a .130 opponent batting average.

AL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: OF Yordan Alvarez has been named the AL Player of the Week for the week of June 1-7. For the week, he batted .476 (10×21) with 6 runs, 1 double, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 5 walks and a 1.386 OPS. This marked his second AL Player of the Week award this season, also won for the week March 30-April 5.

DOWN ON THE FARM:RHP Javier Perez was named the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week for the week of June 1-7. Perez made one start for Single A Fayetteville on June 5, where he allowed two hits and struck out 10 in seven scoreless innings against Columbia. This season, Perez has posted a 2.82 ERA (17ER/54.1IP) with 64 strikeouts, a 0.83 WHIP and a .181 opponent batting average in 10 appearances .

TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY: 1990 – In a pitcher’s duel in the Dome, OF Glenn Wilson walks off the Reds with a 3-run HR in the 11th inning off closer Randy Myers for a 3-1 victory. Astros starter Mike Scott goes all 10.0 innings, tallying 10 K’s along the way to earn the win. Reds starter Tom Browning hurled 9.0 scoreless frames.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Monday, June 8, 8:38 p.m. CT

Location: Angels Stadium, Anaheim, CA

TV: Space City Home Network, SCHN2 (Spanish)

Streaming: SCHN+

Radio: KTRH 740 AM, KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)

Mariners 6, Orioles 3

Happy Andrés Muñoz: Josh Naylor, .33 WPA

Sad Andrés Muñoz: Patrick Wisdom, -.10 WPA

Game thread comment of the day:

I can hear this comment

Side quest: What kind of music does each Mariner reliever make? For some reason I feel like Cooper Criswell makes Noah Kahan-style folk music.

It’s another week here at BCB After Dark: the coolest club for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Thanks for stopping by. We always like to see a friendly face. There’s no cover charge tonight. We still have a few good tables available. The hostess will seat you now. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

Last week I asked you which Cubs player was most deserving an All-Star nod. The vote had a pretty clear winner as Ben Brown received 45 percent of the vote. Nico Hoerner was in second place with 21 percent. Pete Crow-Armstrong got 16 percent of the vote and I suspect he’d get a lot more votes had I conducted the poll today.

Here’s the part where we listen to jazz and talk movies. You’re free to skip that if you want. You won’t hurt my feelings.

Tonight we’re finishing up our tribute to the late, great Sonny Rollins, who passed away last month at the age of 95. Here is Rollins in 1975 playing the Duke Ellington tune “In a Sentimental Mood” along with pianist McCoy Tyner. There’s also an introduction from Chick Corea.

This is mostly pure Rollins and just his saxophone feeling the mood.

Helvetica (2007), directed by Gary Hustwit, is a documentary about the font that I’m currently using to write this essay, although what font you’re actually reading this in probably something else. The film does a great job at showing us how something that is so ubiquitous in our lives that we don’t even generally notice it has the capability to change the way we perceive things. It does less well trying to explain the context of Helvetica and the esoteric debates that graphic designers are so passionate about. 

Helvetica was a new sans serif typeface created in 1957 by Swiss graphic designers searching for a new font in line with the ideas of postwar modernism. Originally called Neue Haas Grotesk, the name was changed to “Helvetica,” a play on the Latin name “Helvetia” for Switzerland, to make it more marketable around the world. Helvetica was simple, clean and bold, which marked it as different than the fonts commonly used in design at the time. It made a statement.

Helvetica was quickly adopted by advertisers. The way the designers interviewed in the film explain it, the fancy typefaces used before Helvetica were harder to read and could blend into the background. They also came across as more of a polite request to the viewer. Helvetica, in contrast, was bold and bright. Rather than a request, Helvetica was more definitive and came across as a command. Helvetica was authoritative. Because it was quickly adopted by governments and big corporations for its legibility, it became associated with status and power. 

Hustwit interviews a lot of graphic designers and it seems like all of them have something to say about Helvetica. Some of them love it for its clean, powerful modernism. They love it because it is a blank slate that can serve so many different purposes. But as one designer points out, there’s a difference between being “legible” and having something to say, and according to some, Helvetica’s simplicity doesn’t say much. Others criticize it for being “fascist,” calling it a symbol of authority and a killer of creativity, which is why governments and corporations love it so much. Still more point out that anything that becomes as commonplace as Helvetica is will become boring and conformist over time. 

Hustwit intercuts these interviews with designers with a steady stream of signs, logos and advertising that use Helvetica. He really makes you notice something that may have passed over hundreds of times before.

Where Helvetica falls down, just a bit, is where it throws us into a passionate argument without really giving us the context to fully understand it. If you’ve ever come across a group of graphic designers angrily arguing about font choices on social media, you know the feeling. It’s kind of fun to watch them get all worked up, but you don’t quite understand why they’re so angry. One of the designers admits he spends most of his day thinking about fonts and typography, but he doesn’t really explain why to those of us who don’t. Which makes it harder to understand his passion for Helvetica.

Still, it’s an interesting watch, especially in the way is both shows and tells how Helvetica took over the world. It’s also illuminating in the way it shows that a mere font, something that most of us don’t even notice, can manipulate how we think and how we behave. 

Here’s the trailer for Helvetica. There’s no dialogue, but this will give you a good sense of how the font is everywhere.

Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.

We’re one quarter of the way through the 21st century, so there have been a lot of “best of the quarter-century” articles over the past year or so. On top of that, the recent emergence of Pete Crow-Armstrong had me thinking if the trade that brought him to Chicago ranks among the best trades in Cubs history.

So tonight, I’m asking “Which Cubs trade was the best one this century?” I have a few candidates. I guess I should have put “other” in there, but I can’t imagine any of you seriously voting for one that I didn’t list. You can mention other favorites in the comments.

The ones that I think are the candidates for best Cubs trade of the century (so far) are:

July 23, 2003: Aramis Ramírez and Kenny Lofton from the Pirates for José Hernández, Bobby Hill and Matt Bruback.

Lofton was a key member of the 2003 team down the stretch, replacing the injured Corey Patterson. He left at the end of the season as a fre agent. Ramírez, of course, became the Cubs’ starting third baseman for nine season, was a two-time All-Star with the Cubs and is now in the Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame.

Hernández played 58 games for the Pirates before they released him. Hill was the big prize prospect in this trade, but he never really established himself, playing just a year and a half in the majors before going down to the minors for good.

Bruback never made the majors.

November 23, 2003: Derrek Lee from the Marlins for Hee-Seop Choi and Mike Nannini

Lee broke Cubs fans hearts in the 2003 National League Championship Series, but he quickly became a fan favorite after his acquisition. He played seven seasons as the Cubs’ starting first baseman, made two All-Star teams and finished third in MVP voting in 2005 when he won the batting title with a .335 average along with 50 doubles and 46 home runs. Most years that’s easily good enough for the MVP, but Albert Pujols and Andruw Jones both had career years that year as well.

Choi spent one year in Miami before getting traded to the Dodgers, primarily for Paul Lo Duca. He only spent a year and a half in LA but played eight years in Korea before retiring. He never lived up to his potential, but you have to wonder how much the concussion that cost him the second half of the 2003 season player a role in that.

Nannini never made the majors.

January 6, 2012: Anthony Rizzo and Zach Cates from the Padres for Andrew Cashner and Kyung Min-Na.

I don’t think I need to tell any of you about Rizzo. He was the Cubs’ starting first baseman for eight full seasons and parts of two more. He made three All-Star Games, won four Gold Gloves and recorded the final put out of the 2016 World Series.

Cashner played five years for the Padres and in two of them, he was a pretty good starting pitcher. His first year in San Diego he pitched out of the bullpen and in the last two he struggled with injuries.

Neither Cates nor Kyung Min-Na played in the majors.

July 31, 2012: Kyle Hendricks and Christian Villanueva from the Rangers for Ryan Dempster.

Both Hendricks and Villanueva were minor leaguers when the Cubs acquired them. Hendricks was considered a low-ceiling “pitchability” guy who someone managed to get more out of less stuff than any other pitcher through terrific control and a nasty changeup. He pitched 11 seasons in Chicago, won an ERA title in 2013 and finished third in Cy Young Award balloting that year. He started Game 7 of the 2016 World Series and allowed just two runs, one earned over nine innings in that curse-breaking series.

Villanueva never made the majors with the Cubs, but he did play a season and change in the majors with San Diego before a long career in Japan and Mexico that is still ongoing.

Dempster only started 12 games in Texas and had a 5.09 ERA. The Rangers made the Wild Card that year, but lost the one-game playoff to Baltimore. Dempster played one more year in Boston (where he got a World Series ring) before retiring.

July 2 2013: Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop from the Orioles for Scott Feldman and Steve Clevenger.

Arrieta was a former top-five prospect in the Orioles system who flopped in the major leagues before getting dealt to the Cubs. He pitched on the North Side for five years before leaving in free agency. In that time, he won a Cy Young Award and threw two no-hitters. He won two games in the 2016 World Series.

Strop was a key member of the Cubs bullpen for seven years. He was mostly a setup man, but he did save 29 games in Chicago.

Feldman pitched a half-season in Baltimore. Clevenger bounced back and forth between Baltimore and Triple-A Norfolk for three seasons.

July 30, 2021: Pete Crow-Armstrong from the Mets for Javier Báez and Trevor Williams.

Crow-Armstrong had been the Mets 2020 first-round pick but only played six games before he missed the rest of 2021 with a shoulder injury. He quickly established himself as the Cubs’ top prospect. He made his major-league debut late in 2023. He won a Gold Glove and made the All-Star team in 2025. This year he leads the Cubs in both fWAR and bWAR

Báez had a very good half season with the Mets, but the rest of the team fell apart and they finished the 2021 season below .500. He then left for Detroit as a free agent where he’s struggled.

Williams pitched a year and a half with the Mets, totaling 12 starts and 28 relief appearances. He had a quite good 3.17 ERA for the Mets in that year and a half. The Mets did make the Wild Card Series in 2022, but Williams did not pitch in it.

So now it’s time to vote. What was the best trade for the Cubs in the 21st Century?

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Yanno, for a game in which the Sox only had five baserunners, made opener Ian Seymour look like Clayton Viola-Koufax for four (!) innings, Tampa couldn’t miss on challenges, and started with a leadoff home run by Yandy Diaz, tonight’s 3-1 loss wasn’t all that bad imho. Connelly Early pitched well and Marcelo Mayer absolutely pasted a homer for Boston’s only run:

Ceddy had a neat catch, too.

Meanwhile:

You win some, you lose some. I wish I had more to say. I actually watched the whole game and everything. It was nice and tense and a good was to pass the time until the basketball game started, if nothing else. That’s what baseball does, baby! Even the so-so kind. So so now it’s time to go.

This game was unnecessarily close for the entire game because the runners in scoring position issues continued, but thankfully, Boston struggled to get anyone into scoring position all night allowing the Rays to score just enough to hold on with a 3-1 victory to open the series at Tropicana Field.

The Rays started off with a bang as Yandy Diaz spoiled the exact pitch and location that Carlos Narvaez requested from Connelly Early:

That pitch jams lesser batters, but Diaz is in a zone this season setting career highs in all the right places as the broadcast pointed out tonight during his second plate appearance:

The game would be tied in the third (see below) and would remain as such until Jonathan Aranda was presented with a chance at redemption in the 5th inning. Aranda, after driving in 43 runs through the first two months of the season, is deep into a June swoon with just a single RBI this month coming into this contest. He struck out in the first inning after Ryan Vilade stole second base and then rolled into a double-play after consecutive walks to Caminero and Vilade to begin the 3rd inning, but came through in the 5th singling through the left side of the infield to drive in Austin Slater and chase Early.

Slater joined the team earlier today and had an infield single along with a stolen base in the 5th after a bases loaded lineout and a strikeout in his first two plate appearances. That successful swipe by Slater in the 5th was his 51st successful steal in 59 attempts, giving him an 86.4% success rate. Perhaps he can show Chandler Simpson a few things while the two are on the roster together and help him break out of his steals slump.

Ian Seymour did so well as an opener that Kevin Cash allowed him to work four innings before giving way to Casey Legumina. Seymour threw 55 pitches over four innings with the sole mistake of badly missing his 2-1 breaking ball location to Marcelo Mayer, who hit the mistake 401 feet into the right field bleachers:

Seymour was otherwise quite impressive tonight generating three whiffs with his fastball and another four with his sweeper going pitch for pitch with the more talented Early while both were in the game.

Seymour gave way to Legumina and then brought in Cam Booser to just embarass Jarren Duran and then work with Nick Fortes to keep Rafaela close enough to first to allow Fortes to erase Rafaela attempting to move into scoring position with two outs to end the 6th inning. Booser gave way to Kevin Kelly after getting Wilyer Abreu to pop up. Kelly then hit Willson Contreras with the first pitch and followed that up with a single to PE Coach Mickey Gaspar. Kelly then rebounded to strike out Caleb Durbin, but ridiculously needed the help of ABS to get the strikeout after executing this pitch location:

A wild pitch to Isiah Kiner-Falefa moved both runners into scoring position, but Kelly got the groundball he needed to end the inning and leave both runners stranded to end the 7th inning. The ball once again found Aranda who came up in the bottom of the 7th with two men on after a one-out single by Caminero and a well-accepted walk by Victor Mesa Jr who did not expand his zone after repeated efforts by Greg Weissert. Danny Coloumbe came in to face Aranda and got both Aranda and Williamson to hit easy fly balls to left to end the scoring threat.

Garrett Cleavinger came in for the 8th and struck out Andruw Monasterio with yet another assist from ABS as Fortes did a fantastic job tonight with close pitches, as well as obvious pitches, behind the plate tonight. Cleavinger fell behind the first two batters of the inning, but came back from a 3-0 count to Narvaez to get a harmless 6-3 groundout before a pop-up to Duran ended the inning

The Rays once again got multiple runners on base in the bottom of the 8th with multiple walks and a steal by Taylor Walls. Diaz drove home Walls with a sacrifice fly as he continues to wear out relievers in the league hitting a league-leading .451 off opposing relievers this season.

The Rays were 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position tonight stranding 10 runners on base and are now hitting just .203 this month with runners in scoring position, 45 points below the league average in June. Hopefully this drought ends soon because this game should have been a lot easier than it was. The game felts like a 7-1 blowout, yet Boston had the tying run come to the plate twice in the 9th inning but Bryan Baker secured his 17th save and the club’s 38th win.

Finally, I found it entertaining to see Tyron Guerrero pitching for Boston, because he was previously Tayron Guerrero and had last been seen in the majors with Miami in 2019. In that time, Guerrero has pitched in Charlotte, Chiba Lotte Japan, Louisville, Mexico, as well as in Salt Lake City, Worchester, and was called up to Boston on May 22nd. He hit 101 with multiple pitches in this game topping out at 102 as a well-traveled 35-year old thrower just overpowering four of the five batters he faced with Taylor Walls making the only decent contact off him.

CLEVELAND — Jazz Chisholm Jr. used Aaron Judge’s bat to hit a three-run home run, but José Caballero didn’t borrow Judge’s size 17 cleats to play right field.

“It’s hard shoes to try to fill,” Caballero quipped, “but I’m trying my best to help the team win.”

After a couple of turns starting in right field in place of the injured three-time MVP, Caballero was back at shortstop — where he played in 40 of the Yankees’ first 41 games this season — Monday against the Guardians as a slumping Anthony Volpe received a day off against nasty right-hander Gavin Williams.

“The comfort level is always there — no matter where I play I’m always going to be confident — but it feels good to be back at short,” Caballero told The Post. “The infield is my natural position, so obviously I’m going to feel way better.”

Volpe started six of the previous seven games at shortstop but produced just three hits in 22 at-bats. He walked ahead of Chisholm’s eighth-inning home run Sunday.

So, whether Monday was just a day off for Volpe or the start of a more reduced role as Caballero reclaims more time at shortstop — as was initially advertised as the plan last month — instead of filling a super-utility role is yet to be seen. In that situation, Spencer Jones (or maybe soon Jasson Domínguez) will plug right field.

“They both, in a lot of ways, deserve to be playing there,” manager Aaron Boone said of his two shortstops. “We’ll continue to try and just do what’s best for the team.”

Volpe has made it easier for Boone to defend the Yankees’ loyalty to their former top prospect by playing 16 consecutive errorless games since a misplay in his MLB season debut. The former Gold Glove winner’s defense became so poor last season that he needed head-clearing breaks.

“Anthony’s defense [has been] excellent: I feel like he’s made half a dozen or so really outstanding plays,” Boone said. “A couple games, I thought he didn’t have great at-bats. I thought [Sunday] the at-bats were there. Hopefully add some results.”

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

Seeing Volpe play cleaner defensively hasn’t changed Boone’s stance that his decline last season was not the direct result of a shoulder injury that forced him to undergo offseason surgery and begin this season on a rehab assignment.

“I think he had a rough three or four weeks on defense last year,” Boone said. “If you look at August and September, he was very much in line with who he was when he won a Gold Glove … and with what we are seeing right now out there. That stretch where [we] were losing some games and he wasn’t playing his best defensively, that becomes the focal point.

“He and Cabby, I have a ton of confidence in both of them and their ability to play at a high level out there. Now we have to keep doing it. But I like what I’m seeing.”

In games Volpe comes off the bench, he is most likely to take over at shortstop and force Caballero to move around to third base, left field or right field. Talk of Volpe adding other positions to his repertoire has all but died.

“José’s versatility kind of solves that a little bit,” Boone said, “but we’ve had [Volpe] take some [grounders] at second just to keep that in play a little bit.”

Caballero’s pregame routine is to field at the position where he is starting. If he has to make an in-game move, he has years of utility training to fall back on.

“It seems like that [is my role],” Caballero said. “I’m always trying to be ready at any time at any position to help as much as I can. There are some missing people on the roster. We’re not trying to all do more, but we don’t have Judgy. He’s going to be missed, and we have to combine all together to keep fighting for first place in the East.”

The San Francisco Giants welcome the Washington Nationals to Oracle Park tonight to begin a three-game series.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Logan Webb, who enters tonight’s game with a 4.25 ERA, 3.43 FIP, with 51 strikeouts to 19 walks in 59.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 1-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers last Wednesday, in which he allowed just one hit and walk with four strikeouts in seven innings.

He’ll be facing off against Nationals right-hander Miles Mikolas, who enters tonight’s game with a 6.39 ERA, 5.91 FIP, with 36 strikeouts to 16 walks in 56.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Nationals’ 7-3 loss to the Miami Marlins last Tuesday, in which he allowed six runs on six hits with four strikeouts and two walks in six innings.

Game #67

Who: San Francisco Giants (27-39) vs. Washington Nationals (33-33)

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California

When: 6:45 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

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

The Nationals were unable to secure the sweep in Arizona yesterday afternoon, dropping the ballgame 5-1 after former Nat Michael Soroka threw 7 brilliant innings of 1 run ball, and Cade Cavalli, who allowed 4 runs in 5 innings of work, earned the loss. Still, it was a successful series for the Nats, as they took 2 out of 3, climbed back up to .500, and even raised their run differential above 0 again, thanks to a combined 20 runs in games 1 and 2.

The Nats now continue their west coast trip with a stop in San Francisco for a three game set with the Giants, who took 2 out of 3 from the Nats in DC back in April, but have yet to find their footing under first year manager Tony Vitello in 2026, with their 27-39 record ranking 2nd worst in the National League, and tied for 3rd worst in all of baseball.

The Nats will roll with a rather standard lineup for when they face a right-handed starter, with the only notable exception being Jacob Young on the bench, causing Dylan Crews to slide over into centerfield. Curtis Mead will be making the start at first base rather than third base tonight, meaning Luis Garcia Jr. will be the designated hitter, and Jorbit Vivas will get the start at third base. Starting the game off for the Nats will be Richard Lovelady, who will work an inning or two before handing the ball off to Miles Mikolas for the bulk of the innings.

The Giants’ lineup is not too dissimilar from their trip to DC back in April, with the most notable addition being DMV native Bryce Eldridge up from Triple A and batting 6th for them tonight, playing first base. Getting the ball for the Giants will be their ace, Logan Webb, whose 4.25 ERA is unusually high for him, but he is coming off a 7 shutout inning outing against the Brewers last time out.

Game Info:

Stadium: Oracle Park

Time: 9:45 PM EST

TV: Nationals.TV

Radio: 106.7 The Fan

The Nationals did a good job of rebounding from their sweep at the hands of the Marlins by winning 2 out of 3 in Arizona, and they’ll need to do it again against the Giants if they want to return home to DC with a winning record once more. Luckily for them, they will face a struggling Giants squad, who they were just a pitch or two away from winning the series against back in April. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!

While the Athletics’ new Las Vegas ballpark is not expected to open until 2028, the team is already giving local fans a taste of what is to come. After hosting a pair of spring training games in Nevada’s most populous city for the second straight year, the A’s will now play six regular-season games in Las Vegas this week.

Yesterday, the Green and Gold concluded a six-game road trip by defeating the Houston Astros to salvage the series finale and finish the week with a .500 record.

Tonight marks the beginning of a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers at Las Vegas Ballpark, home of the team’s Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas Aviators. The Las Vegas Series will continue this weekend when the Colorado Rockies come to Sin City. These will be the first MLB games in Las Vegas since the Athletics played a handful of home games there during the 1996 season.

The A’s made a small roster move before this matchup:

It is good to see infielder Max Muncy back from the injured list. Muncy remained in Las Vegas after completing a seven-game rehab assignment with the Aviators.

Infielder Darell Hernáiz was optioned to Triple-A instead of Alika Williams, a somewhat notable roster decision. That said, Williams will likely join Hernaiz in Triple-A soon once A’s starting shortstop Jacob Wilson completes his current rehab assignment.

Left-hander Jeffrey Springs will make his 14th start of the season for the A’s. The 33-year-old enters this evening’s outing with a 3-6 record, a 4.37 ERA and 60 strikeouts over 70 innings pitched. He received a no-decision in his last start against the Chicago Cubs, allowing four runs on seven hits over 3 2/3 innings.

Springs has not recorded a win since April, a drought he hopes to end in one of the most homer-friendly ballparks in the minor leagues. The ball tends to carry well at Las Vegas Ballpark, as only the Rockies’ home field sits at a higher elevation among active MLB stadiums. That is a concerning sign for Springs, who has already surrendered 14 home runs this season.

Given the warm weather and hitter-friendly ballpark, the southpaw is likely to allow a long ball or two. However, if he can limit the damage and pitch deep into the game, he should give the Athletics a chance to emerge with the victory.

The A’s lineup for today’s game:

A’s manager Mark Kotsay is stacking tonight’s lineup with right-handed hitters against Milwaukee’s left-handed starter. Catcher Shea Langeliers will lead off, marking the third straight day the team has used a different player at the top of its order. The starting nine also features right-handed outfielders Colby Thomas and Henry Bolte in place of left-handed hitters Lawrence Butler and Carlos Cortes.

Zack Gelof has been solid defensively at third base over the past few weeks. With Max Muncy back from the injured list, Gelof moves back to his natural spot at second base. Muncy gets another look at the hot corner, a position he struggled to handle consistently before his injury.

The A’s offense will face Brewers’ left-hander Kyle Harrison, who has been excellent in his first season in Wisconsin. Harrison and flame throwing right-hander Jacob Misiorowski have formed a dynamic duo atop the Brewers’ rotation.

Milwaukee’s coaches have unlocked another level in Harrison’s game that the San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox were unable to tap into. The Bay Area native is 7-1 with a 1.57 ERA and 73 strikeouts through his first 11 starts with the Brewers. The A’s offense will need to be patient, capitalize on hittable pitches, and take advantage of the hitter-friendly environment against one of the National League’s top pitchers.

And Milwaukee’s starting nine:

The Brewers remain in first place in part due to a well-rounded roster. While their pitching staff, led by Misiorowski, has drawn attention, their offense has also been a key factor, ranking fifth in the majors in runs scored. Brice Turang and William Contreras have been among the league’s most productive hitters at their respective positions. Along with Jackson Chourio and Christian Yelich, they help form a Brewers’ lineup that presents a difficult test for opposing pitchers. As a result, Springs will need to pitch carefully and efficiently to avoid another short outing.

Time to make it two consecutive wins.  Let’s go A’s!

Follow the Game:
Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA

Listen:
Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, A’s Cast

On the one hand, it’s a bit hyperbolic to declare that a 31-33 team playing a road series in San Diego is playing for their season. There are, after all, almost 100 games left in the 2026 regular season.

For the Cincinnati Reds, though, it’s been five-plus weeks of absolute crud on the baseball field, both in the form of their overall record and in terms of the health of the roster. This is a team that’s threadbare in almost all facets right now, a team now lacking identity and depth at the very same time. And when you factor in that the trade deadline comes at just about 100 games – not the full 162 – suddenly game 65 takes on a lot more meaning when it comes to how aggressive this tepid front office will be about a run this season.

God that’s embarrassing to say yet again. It’s only the exact same admission I’ve had to make mid-June for all of the 15 or so seasons that I’ve covered this franchise.

Anyway, Andrew Abbott takes the mound against the Padres tonight in late night West Coast action, with Lexington, Kentucky’s own Walker Buehler on the bump for the Friars. First pitch is set for 9:40 PM ET, so you’ll need to stay up much, much later than you probably should to see the end of this one.

Lineups for both clubs are listed below.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I think the St. Louis Cardinals have reached the point where they need to stop doing the same thing with Nolan Gorman while expecting something different than what we’ve seen for the past three seasons, but what should that thing be?

If you look at Nolan Gorman’s numbers from 2023 moving forward, you see a downward trend in both power and average. From 27 home runs in 2023 to 19 in 2024 and 14 in 2025, it’s the same story when it comes to Nolan’s batting average. A non-spectacular .236 in 2023 to .203 in 2024 and .205 in 2025 and now below the Mendoza line at .199 in 2026 so far, push has now come to shove. You can dive as deep as you want into exit velocity, hard hit rate and numerous other metrics, but the bottom line is Nolan needs a career correction at this point.

What are the Cardinals Nolan Gorman options?

My understanding is that Nolan Gorman is out of minor league options. To remove him from the Major League roster, he’d have to be designated for assignment or the Cardinals would need to trade him. As much as it pains me to say it, I think the latter option is the best thing the St. Louis Cardinals could do for their roster and for Nolan Gorman, too. I think he’s become a player who would benefit most from a change of scenery to try and achieve his potential elsewhere.

What would Nolan Gorman’s trade value be?

It’s hard to imagine the St. Louis Cardinals getting much in return for Nolan Gorman at this point, but he’s not without value. I could see the team attempting a “struggling-bat-for-struggling-arm” challenge trade or a low-leverage, mid-tier relief option. Exchange Nolan for another team’s “change of scenery” candidate might not be the worst thing. I could also imagine if St. Louis hangs onto Gorman until we get closer to the trade deadline that he could be an addition to a trade package where he’s not the centerpiece, but a lottery pick type of addition for a team willing to take a chance that his high power ceiling might reappear. If there’s a team that needs temporary help at third base due to an injury, perhaps there’s a way to harvest some value for Nolan.

Who would replace Nolan Gorman on the roster even if the St. Louis Cardinals can find a trade partner?

I’ve heard many say it’s time to call up Blaze Jordan, but I’ve seen reports saying his range at third base is limited and that’s he’s viewed as more of a first baseman long-term. Jose Fermin has only played 5 major league games at third base while Thomas Saggese has logged 18 games at third. This has been part of the valid argument that has kept Nolan Gorman making consistent lineup appearances. There isn’t a 100% solid answer of who would take his place.

I think the time has come for the St. Louis Cardinals to do something different regarding Nolan Gorman. I’d rather see a platoon situation with multiple players like Fermin or Saggese taking care of third until the team has a better option. We wanted the 2026 season to let us know where the Cardinals needs are and it’s now clear third base is one of those needs. For the record, I want to see Nolan Gorman succeed, but I’m now convinced his best chance to do that is with a different uniform. It’s time to see if we can find a trade partner to make that happen. I believe that’s the best thing that could happen to the St. Louis Cardinals and Nolan Gorman.

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Astros begin a six-game road trip with the first game of a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels tonight at Angel Stadium.

The May AL Pitcher of the Month, Spencer Arrighetti will be on the mound for the Astros, opposite RHP Grayson Rodriguez and the Halos.

The Astros have won 10 of their last 16 games. 

HOT SPAGHETTI: Tonight’s Astros starter RHP Spencer Arrighetti made his season debut on April 15 and has since gone 7-1 with a 1.94 ERA (11ER/51IP) and a .184 opponent average while allowing one- or-fewer earned runs in seven of his nine starts.

Among AL pitchers with 50+ innings pitched, he’s posted the lowest opponent average, while ranking second in ERA and tied for third in wins.

PITCHER OF THE MONTH: RHP Spencer Arrighetti was named the AL Pitcher of the Month for May after going 4-1 with a 0.93 ERA (3ER/29IP) and a .165 opponent average (16×97) in five starts in the month.

In May, he posted the lowest ERA and opponent average among AL starters, while ranking tied for third in wins.

ROAD TRIP: Tonight is the first game of six game road trip for the Astros.

The Astros will face the Angels for a three-game series before traveling to Kansas City to face the Royals for another three-game series.

The Astros are 14-18 on the road this season but went 7-3 on their last road trip.

THE LAST 22: Since May 15, the Astros are 13-9 thanks in large part to their pitching, which has produced a 3.54 ERA (77ER/196IP) and a .194 opponent average, which ranks second in the Majors in that span.

Their bullpen has been even better in those last 22 games, working to a 2.77 ERA (23ER/74.2IP) and posting a league-best .160 opponent average.

YESTERDAY’S GAME: The Astros were shutout by the Athletics, 5-0 yesterday at Daikin Park.

RHP Mike Burrows (5.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) made his 13th start of the season.

RF Cam Smith (2×3, 1BB) recorded his 11th multi-hit game of the season.

VOTING COMMENCES: MLB launched the 2026 Konami eBaseball MLB All-Star Ballot last week.

The Astros on the ballot: 1B Christian Walker, 2B Jose Altuve, 3B Isaac Paredes, SS Jeremy Peña, C Yainer Diaz, DH Yordan Alvarez, OF Brice Matthews, OF Jake Meyers and OF Cam Smith.

MAKING THE PLAYS: The Astros have committed the fewest errors in the AL (25) and have posted the best fielding percentage (.989) in the AL, topping the Royals (.989) by a few percentage points.

Among all Major League teams, only the Padres (20) and Dodgers (22) have committed fewer errors than the Astros.

VS. THE HALOS: The Astros and Angels will face off for the second time this season.

The last time was on Opening Weekend at Daikin Park, where the two teams split the four-game series.

The Astros went 8-5 against the Angels last season, including a 4-2 record at Angel Stadium.

The Astros own a 140-90 all-time record against the Angels, including a 66-46 record at Angel Stadium.

TODAY’S ROSTER MOVES: The Astros placed IF Nick Allen on the 10-day IL due to a left hamstring strain.

To take his place on the active roster, the Astros recalled IF Shay Whitcomb from Triple A Sugar Land.

ON THE LEADERBOARD: DH Yordan Alvarez leads the Majors in OPS (1.080), SLG (.650) and total bases (154) and leads the AL in home runs (22) and RBI (48).

Also in the AL, he ranks tied for first in extra-base hits (35), second in batting average (.316), second in OBP (.431), second in hits (75), fourth in runs (45), and tied for fourth in walks (44).

YORDAN’S SLAM: DH Yordan Alvarez hit his fifth career grand slam on Saturday vs. ATH and shockingly, the first of his career at Daikin Park.

Alvarez now ranks fifth in franchise history in grand slams, trailing only 2B Jose Altuve (7), 3B Alex Bregman (7), OF Carlos Lee (7), and 1B Jeff Bagwell (6).Yesterday’s 3-0 win was the Astros 5th shutout of the season, which is T-3rd in the AL.

KEYSTONE FLIGHTS: 2B Jose Altuve hit the 260th home run of his career on Saturday and his 240th while playing the second base position, surpassing 2B Lou Whitaker for the 10th-most home runs by a second baseman in MLB history.

Per Elias, Altuve now immediately trails 2B Ian Kinsler (246) and 2B Joe Gordon (246) on that all-time list.

EVERYDAY OKERT: LHP Steven Okert worked 1.0 scoreless innings yesterday, giving him 31 appearances this season, which ranks tied for sixth in the Majors.

Since May 3, he’s recorded a 1.69 ERA (3ER/16IP) with 17 strikeouts, four walks, a 0.69 WHIP and a .130 opponent batting average.

WALKER, TEXAS HAMMER: 1B Christian Walker ranks second the AL in RBI with 46, trailing only teammate DH Yordan Alvarez (48).

Walker also ranks fifth in the AL in tied for fifth in extra-base hits (28), tied for fifth in total bases (122), tied for sixth in home runs (16), and 10th in SLG (.496).

AL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: OF Yordan Alvarez has been named the AL Player of the Week for the week of June 1-7.

For the week, he batted .476 (10×21) with 6 runs, 1 double, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 5 walks and a 1.386 OPS.

Marked his second AL Player of the Week award this season, also won for the week March 30-April 5.

DOWN ON THE FARM: RHP Javier Perez was named the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week for the week of June 1-7.

Perez made one start for Single A Fayetteville on June 5, where he allowed two hits and struck out 10 in seven scoreless innings against Columbia.

This season, Perez has posted a 2.82 ERA (17ER/54.1IP) with 64 strikeouts, a 0.83 WHIP and a .181 opponent batting average in 10 appearances .

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Monday, June 8, 8:38 p.m. CT

Location: Angel Stadium, Anaheim, CA

TV: Space City Home Network

Radio: KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)

Cincinnati Reds (31-33) at San Diego Padres (33-31), June 8, 2026, 6:40 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Petco Park – San Diego, Calif.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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