The Devers trade comes five years after the Red Sox traded another star in his prime — Mookie Betts — in a deal that looks worse by the day.
But trading away great players isn’t the only issue with the Red Sox right now.
Yahoo! Sports reporter Joon Lee joined NBC Sports Boston’s Arbella Early Edition on Tuesday and reported that the Red Sox used an AI bot to conduct interviews with a baseball operations job candidate.
“What’s happening with the Red Sox, with Sam Kennedy, with Craig Breslow, with Alex Cora, is a state of organizational dysfunction,” Lee said, as seen in the video player above. “I heard last night about an interview with — the Red Sox were trying to recruit a new person for their baseball operations department, and during this interview process, the entire interview was conducted with an AI bot, where you would record the answers to the questions and then the Red Sox would then evaluate them.
“And this wasn’t just one round. It wasn’t just two rounds. It was five rounds of interviews where this person did not talk to another person in the Red Sox organization.
“This source told me that he had also interviewed with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres. The Dodgers have kind of been the organization that the Red Sox have been trying to emulate for the last five years (in terms of) sustainability, a big market team that knows how to spend money at times, but also is able to develop young prospects, which they’ve done successfully over the course of the last decade.
“What he told me was that the gap between the field, the people skills of (Dodgers president of baseball ops) Andrew Friedman — who, obviously relies a lot on numbers dating back to his time in Tampa Bay — and what he dealt with with Craig Breslow was so far apart that it seemed like utterly delusional that the idea that this is what the Red Sox think the Dodgers are doing is just absolutely crazy.
“The gap between the two organizations and how they’re trying to function is just miles and worlds apart.”
Analytics and AI can be very helpful tools in building a winning organization, both on and off the field. It can help the franchise run more smoothly and efficiently. Some of the most successful teams in sports right now, including the Dodgers and the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, use analytics a lot.
But there also has to be a human element to the operation. Not everything is quantifiable through numbers. You have to learn about people on a human level and build a real working relationship with them.
You can’t do that through an AI bot.
So while the Red Sox are smart to use analytics, it can’t be too much of the equation. And, based on Lee’s reporting, the processes the Red Sox are using clearly need to undergo some dramatic changes.
If that doesn’t happen, it’s hard to imagine a world where the Red Sox are anywhere near as successful as the Dodgers moving forward.
The Giants pulled off the most shocking trade in recent Bay Area sports history by acquiring superstar slugger Rafael Devers in a blockbuster deal with the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
At least, according to local fans.
NBC Sports Bay Area asked fans on X which of the Giants’ trade for Devers, the Warriors’ trade for forward Jimmy Butler midway through the 2024-25 NBA season and the 49ers’ trade for running back Christian McCaffrey during the 2023 NFL season, was the most shocking.
Here is how the 1,635 participants voted:
Which trade was the most shocking in recent Bay Area sports history?
— NBC Sports Bay Area & CA (@NBCSAuthentic) June 17, 2025
Maybe there’s a recency bias, but it’s clear Bay Area sports fans, as of right now, were more shocked by San Francisco’s trade for Devers than the other two blockbuster deals.
The Devers trade, much like the 49ers’ deal for McCaffrey, was completely out of nowhere and sent shockwaves throughout the two teams’ respective leagues.
Of course, the Warriors’ deal for Butler was seismic in its own right, but the expectation for months leading up to Golden State and the Miami Heat’s trade on Feb. 5 was that the star forward would be traded. It came as no surprise that he was dealt.
While Butler and McCaffrey had immense impacts on their respective teams immediately upon their arrivals and throughout those seasons, it’s too soon to tell how the move for Devers will fare for the Giants.
He went 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and an RBI during his debut in the Giants’ 3-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday at Oracle Park, though, wasting no time ingratiating himself with his new fan base.
The Giants pulled off the most shocking trade in recent Bay Area sports history by acquiring superstar slugger Rafael Devers in a blockbuster deal with the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
At least, according to local fans.
NBC Sports Bay Area asked fans on X which of the Giants’ trade for Devers, the Warriors’ trade for forward Jimmy Butler midway through the 2024-25 NBA season and the 49ers’ trade for running back Christian McCaffrey during the 2023 NFL season was the most shocking.
Here is how the 1,635 participants voted:
Which trade was the most shocking in recent Bay Area sports history?
— NBC Sports Bay Area & CA (@NBCSAuthentic) June 17, 2025
Maybe there’s a recency bias, but it’s clear Bay Area sports fans, as of right now, were more shocked by San Francisco’s trade for Devers than the other two blockbuster deals.
The Devers trade, much like the 49ers’ deal for McCaffrey, was completely out of nowhere and sent shockwaves throughout the two teams’ respective leagues.
Of course, the Warriors’ deal for Butler was seismic in its own right, but the expectation for months leading up to Golden State and the Miami Heat’s trade on Feb. 5 was that the star forward would be traded. It came as no surprise that he was dealt.
While Butler and McCaffrey had immense impacts on their respective teams immediately upon their arrivals and throughout those seasons, it’s too soon to tell how the move for Devers will fare for the Giants.
He went 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and an RBI during his debut in the Giants’ 3-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday at Oracle Park, though, wasting no time ingratiating himself with his new fan base.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts argues with umpires after Shohei Ohtani was hit by a pitch in the third inning of an 8-6 win over the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday. Roberts was ejected. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Dave Roberts made it only three steps out of the dugout when he got ejected Tuesday night.
Before he went back, the Dodgers manager made sure to get his money’s worth.
On a contentious night that saw two superstars get hit by pitches, both dugouts receive umpire warnings, and the Dodgers eventually beat the San Diego Padres 8-6 at Dodger Stadium, tensions reached their boiling point in the bottom of the third inning.
And it was the usually even-keeled Roberts whose emotions burned hottest.
After Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. was hit by a pitch in the top of the third by Dodgers reliever Lou Trivino (the second time in two weeks that has happened), reigning National League MVP Shohei Ohtani was hit in the leg with one out in the bottom half of the inning.
Unlike Tatis’ hit by pitch, which came with a runner in scoring position in an inning that saw the Padres score two runs, Ohtani’s plunking occurred amid more suspicious circumstances.
With one out and nobody on base, Padres starter Randy Vásquez threw an inside, knee-high heater for ball one, brushing Ohtani back off the plate. With his next pitch, Vásquez fired it even more inside, pelting Ohtani’s right thigh with a 94 mph fastball.
Afterward, both Vásquez and Padres manager Mike Shildt insisted the throw wasn’t intentional. “Just trying to make quality pitches and fight for the inner part of the plate, and a ball got away,” Shildt said.
Ohtani was not made available to reporters to discuss the situation.
But in Roberts’ postgame address, he declared he “absolutely” thought it was intentional.
“Vásquez took one shot at him, and then hit him again. It's very hard to miss that bad with a right-handed pitcher,” Roberts said. “For me, if they feel that's warranted on their side, that’s part of baseball. That's what they feel. And I give him credit because they hit him in the leg. Own it, and we move on. But it's not a misfire. I do feel it was intentional.”
Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. is hit by a pitch thrown by Dodgers pitcher Lou Trivino in the third inning.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani reacts after being hit by a pitch thrown by Padres pitcher Randy Vásquez in the third inning.
Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times
What really set Roberts off, however, was what happened after the umpires gathered for a meeting.
Crew chief Marvin Hudson emerged from the huddle and issued warnings to both dugouts. Roberts immediately asked for an explanation, raising his arms in confusion as he started onto the field.
Hudson motioned to Roberts to stay put. But when he didn’t, third base umpire Tripp Gibson did the honors of ejecting him from the game.
“He can’t argue the warnings, so we had to get rid of him,” Hudson later told a pool reporter. “He had to be ejected.”
Initially, Roberts said he wasn’t aware he had been ejected. But once Hudson informed him that Gibson had already tossed him, Roberts unleashed the type of tirade that’s been rare during his 10-year managerial career.
He angrily pointed at Gibson multiple times while pleading his case. He was physically shielded by Hudson from confronting Gibson face-to-face. And only after stomping around for almost two full minutes did Roberts finally retreat, trudging back to the clubhouse with a scowl on his face.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts points at third base umpire Tripp Gibson, left, after being ejected in the third inning Tuesday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
“I didn't feel a warning on both sides was warranted, number one,” Roberts said. “I wanted an explanation on their thought process. I didn't come in hot. I just wanted to know why, why they issued [the warnings].”
Roberts also expressed frustration with the fact that, after he was ejected, Shildt was allowed to walk onto the field to discuss the warnings with the umpire crew.
“I think what anyone wants is consistency, right?” Roberts said. “For me, I wanted an explanation of what's going on for their decision-making. And I got run. ... And then, I see the opposing manager get the same courtesy of an explanation and he stays in the game. So there's just no consistency with that.”
Hudson’s explanation for why Shildt was granted a discussion: “He just asked about the warnings. He asked about pitching inside. I said, ‘We’re not taking that away.’ And he left.”
In what has quickly become a heated rivalry series, there were more fireworks to follow.
In Monday’s series-opener, tempers flared when Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages was hit by a Dylan Cease pitch and immediately stared at the Padres pitcher. In the heat of that moment, cameras caught Shildt yelling from the dugout, “Who the [expletive] do you think you are?”
A night later, Pages provided a resounding answer with a four-for-four performance at the plate. The second-year slugger belted a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the second inning. He launched a tying shot in the fourth. Then, after Will Smith put the Dodgers (45-29) in front with a two-run homer at the end of a 12-pitch at-bat in the sixth, Pages added an RBI single in what became a five-run rally, helping catapult the team to an 8-3 lead.
Andy Pages is congratulated by Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel after hitting a solo home run in the second inning Tuesday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
“I have a lot of confidence in the work I’m putting in,” said Pages, who raised his batting average to .293 and continued to build his case to be an All-Star selection. “I have a lot of confidence in my plan, what I’m doing at the plate to prepare for the games, and finding pitches in my zone and hitting them as well as I can.”
As for Shildt’s dugout comments the night before, Pages offered a diplomatic answer.
“Yeah, I actually saw it this morning,” he said. "Obviously, didn’t pay much attention to it. I left yesterday’s game behind, and I focused on today.”
Teammate Max Muncy, on the other hand, offered a more pointed response.
“I think Andy spoke for himself today,” Muncy said. “I think Andy told him who he was today.”
More controversy around the umpires arose in the seventh, as the Padres (39-33) threatened to erase the Dodgers’ lead.
First, Dodgers reliever Matt Sauer hit Padres shortstop Jose Iglesias with a pitch, but was not ejected — despite Manny Machado taking a couple steps out of the dugout to yell at the umpires, given their earlier warnings.
It ended up not mattering, with Trenton Brooks coming off the bench for a pinch-hit home run in the next at-bat.
Then, the Padres caught a break when Tatis was initially called out on a fielder’s choice play at second base, only for home plate umpire Ryan Blakney to intervene.
Tatis had initially slid in safely when shortstop Mookie Betts dropped a flip throw from second baseman Tommy Edman, who made an impressive diving stop in the hole. As Betts retrieved the loose ball, however, Tatis stepped off the bag, apparently thinking time had been called. Betts quickly tagged him, and Hudson, the second base umpire, called him out. But moments before the tag, Blakney had called time from behind home plate, to the chagrin of Smith.
“Why you call time [right there]? I don't know,” Smith said. “But he did. So we had to deal with it.”
Tatis was allowed to stay on second, and eventually came around to score when Michael Kopech entered the game and stumbled on a throw with the bases loaded, resulting in a run-scoring balk.
Kopech, however, got Xander Bogaerts to ground out and retire the side. From there, the Dodgers held on, with Anthony Banda stranding the bases loaded in the eighth and Tanner Scott (pitching a third-straight day for the first time this season) collecting his 14th save.
“We all understand how important this is,” Banda said. “The emotions are high. They're always going to be high in this type of playoff atmosphere. The fans were into it. Everybody was loud. It was fun to be a part of.”
Echoed Roberts: “It was a fun game, unfortunately, to watch from my office. But our guys really played well. … Huge win."
David Peterson delivered a quality start in his third straight outing, allowing just three runs over seven innings on Tuesday night against the Atlanta Braves. But in the results business of professional baseball, another solid start from the Mets' left-hander is marred by the bitter taste of defeat.
There are positives to take from the performance – allowing just three runs on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts on just 93 pitches – but there are no moral victories after the Mets fell 5-4 in 10 innings, losing their fourth-straight game.
“It’s baseball,” Peterson said. “You could be perfect and then still end up losing the game.”
“He was really good today,” manager Carlos Mendoza said of his starter. “Got ground balls when needed, attacked, the pace, I thought him and [catcher Francisco Alvarez] were on the same page.
“And for him to get through seven against that lineup pitch efficient, with the way he was at, I thought he was really good. I thought he was solid.”
Peterson said the focus is “attacking guys from the first pitch, trying to get first pitch strikes.” He did just that on Tuesday night, racking up 17 of them to 28 batters. “Fill up the zone a lot and put the pressure on them,” the lefty continued.
Alvarez said the key was to just keep attacking, which Peterson did, getting the Braves to pound a dozen balls into the ground over the course of the game while managing just seven whiffs and 14 called strikes.
“I felt like we were able to get some early contact, defense did a great job of making the plays,” Peterson said. “I think when we’re in a spot where I can get the punch out, go for that. Other than that, just attacking early, staying on them and putting them in a position where they either gotta try and put the ball in play or at least swing the bat.”
With Peterson coming off a complete game his last time out, Mendoza didn’t hesitate to send out the left-hander for the bottom of the eighth on Tuesday night after efficiently recording the first 21 outs. Unfortunately, Peterson didn’t record another out after that.
“Especially with the way he was throwing the ball, you got a three-run lead there, he’s at 82 pitches with the nine-hole [hitter],” Mendoza said of his thought process. “He walked him there, you still like your chances with getting a ground ball, he was getting a lot of ground balls.”
Peterson said after the game that he felt good coming off the complete game last week and Mendoza added later: “Look, when you got the guy that wants the ball at 82 pitches and you got a three-run lead,” he said, before pausing to shrug his shoulders, “that’s an easy decision, there.”
Peterson said it was “good to be efficient, good to get quick outs, good to keep them off the board for the most part, but I didn’t put us in a good spot at the start of the eighth.”
And in baseball, sometimes things just don’t pan out as Reed Garrett entered and allowed a single to put the tying run on base before conceding a two-strike, two-out bases-clearing double to level the score.
“It just didn’t happen today, we were one pitch, one strike away from getting out of it,” Mendoza said of the home half of the eighth. “Just couldn’t get the job done.”
Fine margins are often the difference between flushing a sweep over the weekend with a solid series-opening win over a division rival and a four-game losing streak. For the Mets, the little mistakes in Tuesday’s 5-4 loss to the Atlanta Braves in 10 innings ended up costing them a game they will come away thinking they should have won.
“It’s a tough one there, it’s a tough loss,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.
The Mets were in position to win because they put up four runs against a pitcher who entered the game having their number in Spencer Schwellenbach – with home runs from Juan Soto and Tyrone Taylor – and after getting seven innings of one-run ball from David Peterson, came one strike away from getting out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth inning.
But in that eighth, which began with Peterson putting the first two runners on base, the one strike ended up being a bases-clearing double that tied the game as Marcell Ozuna got a thigh-high splitter on the inside corner and just kept it fair down the left field line. The pitch proved to be the costliest of a series of mistakes that proved too costly to overcome.
Catcher Francisco Alvarez said reliever Reed Garrett called for a fastball, but he changed the third 2-2 offering to the splitter. “I think he was right,” the catcher said after the game. “I maybe made a mistake in that situation, so I feel very bad for that. I gotta stay with him, with the fastball.”
Alvarez said he changed the pitch because on the previous pitch, Ozuana just managed to foul away a splitter below the knees with an emergency hack. “He do a horrible swing,” Alvarez said with a smile. “I was thinking we have [a spot] to throw another splitter.”
Garrett said it is “easy to look back and think we threw the wrong pitch, but Alvy called my swing and miss pitch. I could have executed a little bit better, we could have got a little bit more lucky.”
“I thought after the emergency swing [by Ozuna] that he wouldn’t have been on time for the fastball,” the reliever said, explaining why he called for the heater. “Alvy changed it, and I thought that maybe he saw something that I didn’t see.
“I don’t think it’s the wrong pitch. I don’t think it's the wrong pitch; we have plenty of other options. I just think that if it was executed down a little bit more, it could have been a ground ball.”
Baserunning blunders
On the bases, the Mets had a couple of mistakes that ended up coming back to bite them, two of which were plays where hard-hit balls ended up with runners being doubled up off first base.
The first came in the sixth with the Mets up by three. Pete Alonso was at first base after cracking his second single of the game, and Jeff McNeil hit a sharp liner right at shortstop Nick Allen, who caught the ball and tossed it to first to get Alonso to end the inning.
“We gotta do a better job there reading the line drive in the infield,” Mendoza said, calling it a baserunning mistake by Alonso for not freezing or retreating toward first a bit.
With the score tied in the ninth, Soto (who was picked off first earlier in the game when he broke for second with the pitcher still on the rubber) was caught off first. Alonso crushed a ball to deep right, but Ronald Acuña Jr. ranged back and made a leaping grab just before the wall. Soto, being aggressive and looking to get to third or better, was near second base when Acuña caught the ball.
Only Soto didn’t react to the catch and waited for first base umpire Edwin Jimenez to signal out. The problem by the time Jimenez raised his right arm and Soto realized he had to retreat, Acuña had the ball out of his glove and was throwing to first.
“We rely on the umpires, we wait for them to make the call,” Soto said. “...the goal is to look for the umpire and make sure he makes the right call, and I felt like he took way too long to make a decision and he just put me in a tough spot.”
He added of the Jimenez’s call: “He just took forever to do it.”
The skipper called it “not an easy decision” for the base runner. “Kinda in no man’s land, too and Acuña makes a helluva play,” Mendoza said, adding that in his mind the umpire “took a while” to make an out call.
“Juan is kinda waiting and that was my argument there,” he said. “But for the umpire, he’s gotta wait for Acuña to show him the ball before he makes any call, so, in the heat of the moment, it happens fast and you go and argue, but a tough play for Juan, great play for Acuña.”
Soto called it “part of the game” and something they “gotta learn from.”
“It puts you in a tough spot right there,” he said of the call. “Tie game, I’m trying to at least get to third or score, and then something like that happens. It’s just tough.”
Alvarez throws to second
In the bottom of the 10th after the Mets failed to score in the top half, Mendoza walked Acuña Jr. intentionally to put runners on first and second. Huascar Brazobán got the first out and the Mets had a big chance to steal a second out.
On a ball in the dirt that Alvarez couldn’t backhand cleanly and lost behind him, the runner at second, Luke Williams, broke but then stopped halfway to third. If Alvarez ran at Williams or threw to third, it would have been a rundown and likely the second out.
Instead, Alvarez quickly tossed to second, and the winning run was at third.
Mendoza called it a “good play by the runner,” realizing quickly that Alvarez was going to second and to break from “no man’s land” to the safety of third base. “Gotta give him credit on that one,” he said.
“That’s your reaction there, you pick up the baseball, you get a runner that is hanging there between second and third and he makes an attempt to go back,” Mendoza said. “As a player, your reaction is you gonna try and get him. [The runner] did a good job and took advantage of it.”
Alvarez regretted his throw, calling it a reaction play to snap throw to second.
With runners at the corners, a walk loaded the bases, and a sacrifice fly to the warning track in deep right-center ended the game.
If the cure for the common slump is a matchup with a vulnerable pitcher, the Yankees couldn't have asked for a better chance to finally bust loose. After putting together a 20-inning scoreless streak in two hitter-friendly ballparks entering Tuesday's meeting with the Angels, their opposition was Kyle Hendricks, owning the second-worst ERA among all qualified MLB starters.
How lucky can one team be?
But it didn't take long for disgruntled fans to realize the team's latest slump can't be labeled as common. Despite the more-than-favorable bout with Hendricks, the Yankees once again struggled to pack a punch, as they fell to the Angels, 4-0, in the Bronx for a third straight shutout loss. Their scoreless streak has reached a confounding 29 innings. Their losing skid has dipped to a season-worst five games.
The lack of rhythm and timing at the plate also wasted a stellar performance from rookie starter Will Warren, who learned the hard way that allowing three runs across six innings with a career-high 11 strikeouts isn't always good enough. He's not alone, though -- Yankees starters have given up just nine earned runs during this five-game slide.
Befitting of a team mired in some deep funk, the Yankees essentially turned Cy Yuck into Cy Young. In six innings against Hendricks, they struck out nine times -- a season-high mark for the veteran right-hander -- and mustered only four hits. Overall, they left six runners on base and went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.
"Baseball. We're one of the best offenses in the league, and had a tough few days. I thought maybe today, pressing a little bit," manager Aaron Boone said after the loss. "We've got to go up and focus on having quality at-bats, and that will happen. We'll get there.... These guys are excellent at turning the page... We'll come in with the right process and really focus on grinding out quality at-bats. And when we start to stack those, we'll take off."
Of course, this dry spell doesn't represent the Yankees as a whole. Their season batting average (.253) still ranks seventh-highest in the majors. Their OPS of .784 is best for second -- the same can be said for their home run total (109). They also scored six runs against the league's ERA leader just last week.
Ain't that a kick in the head?
But they've clearly fallen into a valley, and the mess looks even worse with Aaron Judge enduring his own week of hiccups. Over his last seven games, the Yankees' captain is hitting a measly .125 (3-for-24) with 15 strikeouts. There's no player more entitled to a cold stretch than Judge, but his recent woes can't be shrouded either.
"There's always a certain point where it's not necessarily going your way and you feel it," said Cody Bellinger, who registered the Yankees' lone extra-base hit on Tuesday. "You feel this extra pressure to get the job done. At the end of the day, it's the same game... It's been a wild three games. It's been very frustrating... Obviously, we're not getting the job done. We're going to fight like hell to get the job done tomorrow."
Considering how the Yankees fared against Hendricks, there's no telling how or when they'll break out and resemble their old, dangerous self. But if the cure for this type of slump is a second straight matchup with someone sporting a league-low ERA, they're in luck. Jack Kochanowicz, slated to start for the Angels on Wednesday, is 3-8 with a 5.53 ERA this season.
The Mets let a three-run lead slip in the eighth before falling in 10 innings to the Braves, 5-4, on Tuesday night in Atlanta. New York has now lost four straight.
David Peterson cruised through seven innings, but allowed the first two men to reach in the eighth before he was lifted, and the bullpen allowed three runs to score to doom the lefty to a no-decision.
And in the bottom of the 10th after the Mets failed to score, Carlos Mendoza walked Ronald Acuña Jr. intentionally to put runners on first and second in a tie game. Huascar Brazobán got Alex Verdugo on an infield fly before more sloppy baseball hurt the Mets.
On a ball in the dirt that Francisco Alvarez couldn’t backhand cleanly, the runner at second, Luke Williams, was stopped halfway to third. If the catcher ran at him or threw to third, it would have been the second out. Instead, Alvarez quickly tossed to second and the winning run was at third. A walk loaded the bases, and on the first pitch to Austin Riley, he drove a sacrifice fly to the warning track in deep right-center to end the game.
Here are the takeaways...
- Pitching with a lead right away, Peterson walked the leadoff hitter, but got some help from his defense as Pete Alonso made a fine play on a sharp grounder, starting a 3-6 double play when Acuña gave up on the rundown, not wanting to risk cutting back and forth on his knees this close to coming back from a second ACL tear.
Peterson put himself in a tough spot with two down in the third after issuing a walk and an opposite-field single. And after falling behind 3-1 to Matt Olson, the lefty made a good pitch, but it was muscled into center to score the Braves' first run. The lefty limited the damage, but saw his scoreless inning streak snapped at 15.2.
Through five innings, the lefty was giving his infielders a workout, as he got 12 of 15 outs on 10 ground balls. The other outs: Michael Harris II swinging twice on down-and-away sliders and Acuña flying out to center.
The defense, which had been faultless, bit Peterson to start the seventh, as Ronny Mauricio’s low throw to first went for a two-base error. It was an unforced mistake, as Marcell Ozuna was loafing to first. But Peterson got the next three batters with a pair of lineouts around a pop-up to first.
- Peterson came back out for the eighth, but his command didn’t, as he allowed a leadoff walk and a single. Mendoza brought in Reed Garrett (on a week of rest), and the pinch-hitter Verdugo got a single to right to load the bases and put the tying run on first with nobody out.
Garrett rebounded to get Olson looking at a 1-2 splitter that just caught the outside corner, and Riley to flyout to shallow right. But he threw a hanging 2-2 splitter to Ozuna, and he cleared the bases with a double into the left field corner.
Peterson's final line: 7.0 innings, three runs, five hits, three walks, three strikeouts in 93 pitches (55 strikes).
Francisco Lindor may have had a slight chance to get Verdugo at the plate to keep the Mets ahead, but dropped the ball as he went for the transfer on the relay and the game was tied heading to the ninth.
- Edwin Diaz needed 17 pitches for a 1-2-3 ninth with a strikeout to send the game to extra innings. But in the top of the 10th with Luisangel Acuña on second as the ghost runner, Jarred Young went down swinging, Alvarez popped out to shallow right, and Mauricio popped out to the shortstop in shallow left against Atlanta righty Raisel Iglesias, who entered the game with a 6.23 ERA in 26 innings.
- Braves starter Spencer Schwellenbach had the Mets’ number in his previous three games, allowing just nine hits in 73 at-bats (.123) and a .341 OPS with 20 strikeouts and one walk. But the visitors flipped the switch on the right-hander earlier.
With two down in the first, Juan Soto drove a slider that floated over the middle of the plate for a 412-foot opposite-field home run. The signature Soto blast (108.4 mph off the bat) was good for his 14th dinger and 37th RBI of the year.
In the second, Jeff McNeil extended his on-base streak to 19 games by smacking a curveball over the plate for a single to right to start the inning. The big at-bat came when Alvarez worked a one-out walk, after falling behind 0-2 on two whiffs. With two down, Tyrone Taylor lofted a 2-0 fastball into shallow right, but Acuña -- and his bad knees -- couldn’t reach it with a head-first dive and two runs scored on the double.
In the fifth, Taylor, after falling behind in the count 0-2, got a splitter up and clobbered it 407 feet to right for a solo shot, giving him two on the year and 15 RBI.
Schwellenbach managed to work around the four runs to go seven innings, allowing six hits and two walks while getting eight strikeouts.
- The Mets ran themselves out of the third as Soto walked with one out, only to get picked off first (1-3-4) when he started for second and Schwellenbach managed to step off the mound in time. Three pitches later, Alonso lined a slider (105.9 mph) toward the left-field corner and dug for second but was cut down easily as Eli White got to the ball in a flash and made a decent throw to end the inning.
Bad luck got them in the sixth, as Soto lined one sharply to left (100.6 mph), but it was the first out. After Alonso cracked his second single of the game, McNeil roped one (97.9 mph) right at the shortstop, who was able to double Alonso off first with a good throw to end the inning. The two hits that made three outs carried an xBA of .450 and .600.
The combo of bad luck and bad baserunning stung in the top half of the ninth. Soto smashed a single (110.5 mph) into right to start the inning, and Alonso drove one deep to right and Acuña -- bad knees and all -- ranged back to the wall and for a leaping catch. Unfortunately, Soto didn't get a read on the ball or the catch, and was easily doubled off first as he was a dozen feet from second as Acuña started tossing the ball in.
SAN FRANCISCO — Rafael Devers strolled into the clubhouse side-by-side with home run king Barry Bonds, a fellow left-handed slugger who San Francisco's new big hitter has long admired from afar.
“I think just looking at him my game has already improved a lot,” Devers joked as he was formally introduced by the Giants on Tuesday, when he started at designated hitter batting third in the series opener against the Cleveland Guardians.
Cheered warmly when introduced before first pitch before a rousing ovation when he walked to the batter's box to chants of “Rafi,” Devers struck out swinging on five pitches in his initial at-bat in the first. Fans held their phones high to capture photos and video.
Devers is determined to leave his own lasting mark on the franchise in what is a much-needed fresh start for him and a monumental mid-season acquisition for Buster Posey and San Francisco's front office.
And whatever went wrong in Boston, Devers is done discussing any issues he had with the Red Sox and eager to move forward across the country with the Giants.
“That’s in the past now, I’m looking ahead and focusing on what I have here being a San Francisco Giant,” Devers said. “I’m eager to go out there and play and see what I can do.”
With a bright smile to match his bright new No. 16 jersey, Devers insisted he will play anywhere and do whatever manager Bob Melvin and his staff ask.
“I really like his answers by the way,” said Posey, in his first year as president of baseball operations.
And on Day 1, Devers was out fielding groundballs at first base - something he wouldn’t do in Boston. His batting practice drew a huge crowd at Oracle Park, where fans arrived early wearing his jersey.
The Giants will take on a mega contract after Devers signed a new $331 million, 11-year deal in January 2023. He joins several other stars here with long-term contracts - shortstop Willy Adames has a seven-year, $182 million deal and third baseman Matt Chapman at $151 million over six years through 2030 - as Posey builds a roster he expects will compete for another World Series championship, like the ones the Giants won with him as their star catcher in 2010, ‘12 and ’14.
San Francisco last made the playoffs in 2021, when it won a franchise-record 107 games and edged the rival Dodgers for the NL West title on the final day.
“I think this organization has talent, they have won championships. I am here to play, to win and to win a championship,” Devers said through an interpreter.
Posey thanked ownership for its willingness to go for it and trade for Devers to boost a club that has lacked power and struggled to score runs for extended stretches this year. The trade announced Sunday came together in the past few weeks after countless hours and conversations.
“I think the persistence really paid off,” chairman Greg Johnson said.
While the Giants will gradually get Devers up to speed playing the field again since he has strictly been a DH this year, they know he has plenty of mentors eager to help. Melvin doesn't expect Devers to play third but rather DH and first, the very position he didn't want to play after losing his job at third when the Red Sox signed Alex Bregman to a $120 million, three-year contract in February to be their third baseman - the spot where Devers made 130 starts last year.
“When you have a guy like Barry Bonds around, arguably the greatest hitter of all-time, it's an added benefit for sure,” Posey said.
It will only be a matter of days before Devers' first reunion with the Red Sox, who visit Oracle Park for a weekend series.
He was batting .271 with 14 home runs and 57 RBIs over 72 games as Boston's primary DH. When asked what the differences will be as he begins anew, Devers noted: “It’s the same baseball. I’m here to give my 100%.”
“Been a fan from afar,” pitcher Justin Verlander said. “Excited to add a player like that to our lineup.”
The 28-year-old Devers hadn’t been thrilled with the idea of playing first base in Boston but thanked the people who cheered him, calling them “great fans who supported me my whole time there.”
After all the fanfare of his introduction and receiving his jersey in front of most of his teammates, who made time to be at his news conference before doing their pregame routines, Devers got to work.
“The Giants brought me here for a reason and I will give 100%,” he said. “I'm now happy to be part of the team.”
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani came out of his pitching debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers in good order, even if he was his own worst critic.
The two-way superstar from Japan gave up a run and a pair of two-strike hits in one inning of work Monday night against San Diego as he returned from right elbow surgery. It was his first outing since August 2023 with the Los Angeles Angels.
At the plate, he had two hits and two RBIs in the Dodgers' 6-3 win.
“I think he's just a little fatigued but feels good,” manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday.
Ohtani was in his usual leadoff spot as the designated hitter Tuesday night against the Padres. He'll likely throw a light bullpen in the next few days.
“Not quite happy with the results overall,” he said through a translator. “But I think the biggest takeaway for me is that I feel good enough to be able to go out for my next outing.”
He threw 28 pitches - 16 for strikes - and his fastball topped out at 100.2 mph - the second-hardest pitch thrown by a Dodgers hurler this season.
“What I noticed is that when I warm up to pitch in the game, I’m already really warmed up going into the game,” he said. "So I did feel a lot better overall than when I’m just DHing.”
Roberts indicated Ohtani could pitch Saturday or Sunday when the Washington Nationals are in town.
“It's kind of a week situation,” he said, “but it’s not like a hard and fast seven days.”
The Dodgers open a six-game trip at Colorado on Tuesday, but it seems unlikely Ohtani would pitch in Denver's high altitude where the thin air reduces the movement of pitches, particularly fastballs and curveballs, and favors hitters.
The team has the option to add an inning in his next start or keep him at one. The decision will be made between the medical staff and Ohtani, Roberts said.
Carefully and cautiously.
Despite a pitching staff that has been decimated by injuries, the team is not putting pressure on their $700 million man.
In fact, it was Ohtani who told the Dodgers he wanted to test himself in a big league game rather than face hitters in simulated at-bats as he'd been doing over the last three weeks.
“This is a unique situation,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said. “We have to make sure that we’re also keeping one of our best hitters in the lineup. So much of it is the back and forth and how he’s feeling and making sure that every step we’ve done along the way is just erring on the side of caution.”
The Dodgers have eight starters, including Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell and Japanese rookie phenom Roki Sasaki, and six relievers on the injured list.
Glasnow (shoulder) threw about 40 pitches over two innings in a live batting practice session Tuesday. The right-hander looked “really good,” Roberts said.
Glasnow could throw a bullpen in a few days and go on a minor league rehab assignment soon.
Blake Snell (shoulder) threw a bullpen Monday.
Sasaki (shoulder) has been shut down from throwing after not feeling comfortable. He's been out since May 9 and Roberts has said “we have to plan on life without him as far as this year.”
Emmet Sheehan takes the mound for the Dodgers on Wednesday, his first start in the majors since his rookie year in 2023. He had Tommy John surgery in May 2024.
The Yankees couldn't muster up a single run for a third straight game, as they fell to the Angels, 4-0, on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium for a fifth straight loss.
Here are the takeaways...
-- Will Warren looked comfortable from the jump. The Yankees' rookie starter retired the first five batters with three strikeouts and pushed his fastball velocity to 96.3 mph, up an average of 2.1 mph. But his groove didn't last long, as the Angels took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI single from Luis Rengifo that narrowly missed DJ LeMahieu's glove on a diving attempt and trickled into right field. Warren gave up more soft contact in the third, and while facing a bases-loaded jam, Taylor Ward pushed the Angels' lead to 3-0 with a two-run single to left that deflected off Jazz Chisholm Jr. at third.
The early mistakes didn't faze Warren. He quickly settled back in after the two-run single, retiring 11 straight on 46 pitches. The impressive bounceback effort allowed him to complete six innings for the first time since May 9, and he registered the quality start with a career-high 11 punchouts and zero walks across 93 total pitches. Warren also threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of 24 batters, fell into a full count only twice, and induced four groundouts.
-- Unfortunately for Warren, his strong performance was spoiled by a dormant offense. The Yanks entered Tuesday riding a jarring 20-inning scoreless streak, and the skid confoundingly reached 26 after six shutout frames and a season-high nine strikeouts from Angels starter Kyle Hendricks. Their struggles against Hendricks defied expectations, as the veteran right-hander took the mound with the second-worst ERA among all MLB starters.
-- Ian Hamilton took over for Warren in the seventh, and the Angels took advantage of the welcome pitching change by producing another bases-loaded rally on a single from Rengifo, a catcher's interference error from Austin Wells, and a hit by pitch to Zach Neto. With one out, Nolan Schanuel grounded out to second, driving in Rengifo and bumping the Angels' lead to 4-0.
-- The Yankees had no answers for the trio of Angels relievers that entered after Hendricks' exit. They went down in order during the seventh and eighth, and only managed to reach base once in the ninth on a walk. Overall, they struck out 12 times and produced just four hits. The ugly loss marked their first time being shut out in three straight games since 2016. It's happened just six times before.
-- Jasson Dominguez, who was penciled in to the leadoff spot for the first time this season, finished 1-for-4 with a single. The only Yankee with a multi-hit night was Giancarlo Stanton, who went 2-for-4. The sample size is somewhat small, but call the past week a slump for Aaron Judge -- he's hitting .125 (3-for-24) over his last seven games.
Game MVP: Will Warren
Sure, this accolade could belong to Ward, who delivered a back-breaking, two-run single in the third that essentially put the game out of reach. But the terrific performance from Warren can't be ignored. Despite the early blunders, he recorded a career-high 11 punchouts across six innings.
Vientos served as the DH on Tuesday night for Triple-A Syracuse and looked to kick off the rust from his time on the bench, as he finished 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
Batting in the first inning with a runner on first against right-hander Matt Pushard, Vientos swung through the first two pitches, a 94 mph fastball and a high, looping 79 mph curveball. He hit the next curveball hard (93.6 mph off the bat) but got under it for an easy fly out to center.
He came up again with a runner on first base in the third. This time against righty Josh White, he took a called strike on a slider before working the count to 2-1, laying off a pair of pitches down and off the plate. After fouling a slider the other way, he swung right over a thigh-high slider to end the third frame.
With one out in the sixth, Vientos got nothing but soft stuff from left-hander Josh Simpson and, after fouling off several pitches, reached out and smacked a low-and-away changeup 104 mph off the bat but right at the center fielder. Aside from the hard contact, Vientos' third at-bat was clearly his best, especially when he took a 1-2 changeup that was just off the outside corner.
In his final at-bat against righty Anderson Pilar, Vientos went down swinging on a 94 mph cutter off the inside corner. He is clearly kicking off a lot of rust after a fortnight on the shelf, as he swung and missed six times in four times up.
The Mets hope the rehab can jolt Vientos back into form, as he had just six hits in his last 36 at-bats (.167) and a .549 OPS in the 12 games before hitting the IL.
He has posted a .230/.298/.380 slashline for a .678 OPS (95 OPS+ and 94 wRC+) through 208 plate appearances in 53 games.
Before the Mets took on the Braves in Atlanta, manager Carlos Mendoza said Vientos will likely have Wednesday off before playing at third base in Thursday night's game. The Mets will look to get him into back-to-back games and give him time in the field before bringing him back to the big-league roster.
Singer and social media personality Nezza sings "The Star-Spangled Banner" in Spanish before the Dodgers game against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium on June 14. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
What started as a subtle act of protest has become national news.
Three days after singer and social media personality Nezza performed a Spanish version of the national anthem at Dodger Stadium — despite being asked by a team employee to sing it in English — the performer further addressed the situation Tuesday in an interview with CNN.
“With everything that’s been happening, I just felt like I needed to stand with my people and show them that I’m with them,” Nezza (whose full name is Vanessa Hernández) said on CNN’s “The Lead.” “I wanted to represent them that day.”
Nezza’s performance of the Spanish anthem — a version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" commissioned by the U.S. State Department in 1945 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt — became a viral story after she posted a video on TikTok of an unidentified Dodgers employee telling her beforehand that “we are going to do the song in English today, so I’m not sure if that wasn’t relayed.”
Nezza proceeded to sing the Spanish version anyway; doing so on the same day thousands gathered downtown to protest President Trump and recent ICE raids around Los Angeles in the last two weeks.
In email communications with the team leading up to her performance, Nezza said she asked if she could sing the anthem in both English and Spanish, but was told no because she would have only a 90-second window for her performance.
Still, she said she arrived at the stadium “fully thinking that I was welcome [to sing in Spanish], because nobody told me in that email thread, ‘No, you can’t.’”
“Had they told me you can’t have any Spanish in there,” she added, “I would have respectfully declined and not shown up on Saturday.”
Instead, Nezza performed the anthem in Spanish prior to the Dodgers-Giants game, before posting two videos on TikTok explaining the situation that quickly went viral.
On Sunday, a Dodgers official told The Times in a statement that she would be welcome back at the stadium.
In Tuesday’s CNN interview, Nezza said she was “very shocked” to learn she was welcome back at the ballpark, noting that “30 seconds after my performance, we actually received a call that said, ‘Don’t ever call us again. Don’t ever email us again. The rest of your clients are never welcome here again.’ So for me, that kind of feels like a ban."
The Dodgers, however, reaffirmed to CNN that there were “no hard feelings” resulting from the situation. And a team spokesperson confirmed to The Times this week that, “She is certainly welcome back at the stadium. She is not banned from the stadium.”
Hall of Fame manager Joe Torre will serve as an honorary coach for the American League at the All-Star Game in Atlanta next month.
New York Yankees skipper Aaron Boone invited Torre on Tuesday to join his staff at the Midsummer Classic. The 84-year-old Torre, currently a special assistant to the commissioner, won 2,326 games as a major league manager over 29 seasons. He led the Yankees to four World Series titles and six AL pennants in 12 years with the team.
Torre also managed the New York Mets, Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers.
In addition, Boone invited Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt to join the AL staff for the game. He will join Yankees coaches in the dugout.
On the NL side, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts asked Braves manager Brian Snitker and Miami Marlins first-year manager Clayton McCullough to serve as coaches. They will join the Dodgers’ coaching staff.
The All-Star Game takes place July 15 at Truist Park, three days before Torre’s 85th birthday.
NEW YORK — Yankees reliever Luke Weaver threw a simulated game Tuesday afternoon and is getting closer to rejoining New York's bullpen.
Weaver, who strained his left hamstring June 1 while warming up at Dodger Stadium, faced teammates J.C. Escarra and Oswald Peraza before the Yankees played the Los Angeles Angels.
“Kind of simulated four outs,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He looked great. He really looks good.”
The team initially expected Weaver to miss four to six weeks, but the right-hander said any pain in the hamstring disappeared within days of the injury. He had three side sessions before Tuesday’s simulated game.
“Obviously we passed the activation date, but we want to be smart and make sure the recovery is going well,” Weaver said. “Today was the biggest step thus far and I feel really good. So I’ll definitely advocate to tell them how I’m feeling.”
Weaver’s return will give the Yankees two legitimate ninth-inning options. He has a 1.05 ERA this season and emerged as New York's closer by converting six saves in seven chances after Devin Williams posted an 11.25 ERA in his first 10 appearances.
Williams, however, has a 2.90 ERA in his last 20 games and has converted all four save opportunities this month.
“I haven’t gone into that full-bore yet,” Boone said. “Filing that under a good problem to have. Love the way Devin’s throwing the ball right now. Just looking forward to getting another hammer back in Weave."
