Category: Baseball

Giants notes: Schmitt makes franchise history in odd way vs. Dodgers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

LOS ANGELES — Logan Porter is not a pitcher. He also might be the most consistent pitcher in baseball.

The Giants’ new backup catcher took the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning of a blowout loss Saturday at Dodger Stadium and threw 15 pitches, all coming in between 34.8 and 37.9 mph. It was the type of inning that has become the norm in modern baseball, with position players being used to save bullpens late in lopsided games, but this one went off the rails when a second position player took the mound.

Utility man Kiké Hernandez already has pitched four times for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and earlier this week he threw 2 1/3 innings against the San Diego Padres in a blowout that the Dodgers were on the other end of. This time, he was asked to protect an 11-0 lead in the top of the ninth, and he couldn’t make it to the 27th out, which allowed Casey Schmitt to make an odd sort of franchise history. 

Hernandez walked the bases loaded ahead of Schmitt, who blasted a 57 mph pitch into the seats in left for his second grand slam in as many nights. The Giants lost 11-5, but Schmitt became the first player in franchise history to hit a grand slam in back-to-back games. Hall of Famer Travis Jackson did it back-to-back days in 1924, but the second one came during the second game of a doubleheader. Schmitt joined Mike Piazza as the only players ever to hit a slam in back-to-back games at Dodger Stadium.

SFG – Casey Schmitt Grand Slam (3)

📏 Distance: 396 ft
💨 EV: 108 mph
📐 LA: 27°
⚾️ 56.6 mph eephus (LAD – RHP Enrique Hernández)
🏟️ Would be out in 30/30 MLB parks

SFG (4) @ LAD (11)
🔺 9th#SFGiantspic.twitter.com/lclh09Emie

— MLB Home Runs🚀 (@MLBHRs_) June 15, 2025

Hernandez threw 38 pitches and only 16 were strikes. When shortstop Miguel Rojas threw away a potential game-ending grounder, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was forced to turn to an actual reliever — Anthony Banda — who got the final out. It was an ugly way to end what had been a raucous night at Dodger Stadium.

“I don’t run that. They do what they do,” manager Bob Melvin said. “I pitched a position player too, but I’ve never done it [when leading].”

Major League Baseball’s rules allow teams to use a position player when trailing by eight or leading by 10. It was an odd way to end the night, but ultimately it will count the same for Schmitt, who put himself in the franchise record books and picked up his third home run of the road trip. 

Rough For Roupp

The game was so far gone because Landen Roupp gave up six runs in the first two innings. The second-year starter recorded just five outs and walked five.

“I don’t think I had anything working for me,” Roupp said. “I couldn’t find the zone with really anything and when I did it got hit hard.”

Roupp said he takes “full responsibility” for the loss, noting that he put the offense in such a deep hole that there was no chance to fight back as they have done so often. He also put the bullpen in a tough spot. 

Spencer Bivens and Tristan Beck soaked up most of the rest of the night, with Bivens throwing 54 pitches in 3 1/3 innings. Melvin was going to take Bivens out after the fourth inning, but the durable right-hander said he could give the manager one more. That was big for a tired bullpen, which was without Randy Rodriguez, who had a marathon outing on Thursday. Bivens and Beck allowed Melvin to save Sean Hjelle as his long man for Sunday’s game, and the Giants will be off Monday, so they’ll have a chance to regroup. 

Same Old Kershaw

The stats almost seem impossible. Clayton Kershaw has thrown at least seven innings against the Giants in 37 different games. Saturday’s game was his 10th time throwing at least seven shutout innings against them.
Kershaw will go into the Baseball Hall of Fame five years after he retires, in part because of more than a decade of dominance in rivalry games. He’s well past his prime, and every start against the Giants might be his last, but they still bring something different out of him.

“We didn’t have much of an answer for him,” Melvin said. 

There’s only one player that Kershaw has faced more than 100 times, and he watched Saturday’s game from a suite reserved for the visiting team’s president of baseball operations. Sometimes, you just have to tip your cap.

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The offense scored 11 times. Shohei Ohtani hit two home runs. And the team regained sole possession of first place in the division.

But on a night of all-around excellence from the Dodgers, no one impressed quite like the man who endures as the most familiar face on the team.

Clayton Kershaw might only throw 90 mph (on a good fastball) now. He might lack the ever-imposing aura that emanated through the peak of his career.

But at 37 years old, and in his 18th MLB season, the future Hall of Fame left-hander can still consistently locate his pitches, still instinctively mix his three-pitch arsenal and still pitch — in every meaning of the word — his way through a big league outing.

Read more:Hernández: Cowardly Dodgers remain silent as ICE raids terrorize their fans

It’s why he wanted to keep playing this season, even after a 2023 shoulder surgery and 2024 toe and knee procedures. Why he still holds a place in the Dodgers’ starting rotation, one that has counted on him to compensate for a swath of injuries in the season’s opening two months. And why, when handed a big early lead Saturday against the San Francisco Giants, he knew exactly what to do, breezing through a scoreless seven-inning, three-hit, five-strikeout gem in the Dodgers’ 11-5 win at Dodger Stadium.

Saturday was not exactly a daunting task for Kershaw.

He was facing a Giants lineup that ranks 25th in the majors in batting average. He had the luxury of a six-run lead by the top of the third inning. The assignment, at that point, was simple: Get quick outs, keep his pitch count under control, and ensure a lopsided score stayed that way in a game that put the Dodgers (42-29) one game ahead of the Giants (41-30) in the National League West standings.

All that, he had done countless times before.

The fact he can still perform, however, inspired awe throughout the ballpark, with 51,548 in attendance witnessing his 65th career start featuring seven scoreless innings.

In the lead-up to the game, manager Dave Roberts noted a few simple keys for Kershaw against the Giants. An aggressive team, Roberts expected early contact that would require precision on pitches in the strike zone. He also noted the proliferation of right-handed bats in San Francisco’s lineup.

“We're going to need the slider tonight,” Roberts said. “If he could command that fastball on both sides of the plate, and present that slider as a strike, it should be a good outing for him.”

Kershaw began executing that script quickly.

In the first, he erased a leadoff walk to Jung Hoo Lee by getting Heliot Ramos to ground into an inning-ending double-play, snapping off an outer-half slider to escape one of his few jams.

In the second, he needed just four pitches to retire the side in order, capitalizing on a string of well-located offerings for a lightning-quick inning.

By the time Kershaw returned to the mound, the Dodgers had surged ahead.

Ohtani began the onslaught with his seventh leadoff home run of the season. The Dodgers ambushed Giants starter Landen Roupp — a second-year right-hander who entered with a 3.29 earned-run average in 13 starts — for five runs in the second.

Up 6-0, Kershaw found a groove. He stranded a leadoff double in the third, collecting the first of his five strikeouts along the way; a total that leaves him just 12 shy of reaching 3,000 strikeouts for his career.

He did the same thing in the fifth, ending the inning with two vintage swing-and-miss curveballs that left Tyler Fitzgerald looking silly.

On the whole, Kershaw got eight swings-and-misses, building upon the strides he took in a seven-strikeout performance against the St. Louis Cardinals last week.

And by the time he finished Saturday’s outing with a clean seventh inning — retiring nine of his last 10 batters en route to his first seven-inning start since 2023 — he was getting a standing ovation from the Chavez Ravine faithful, and a long line of high-fives from coaches and teammates in the dugout.

Prime Kershaw, this is still not. His fastball averaged only 88.4 mph, down a tick from its already diminished average, and it generated no whiffs. Even his slider, which remains his go-to secondary weapon, was fanned on only three times in 15 swings.

Yet, he posted a string of zeroes anyway. He lowered his season ERA to 3.25. And he showed that, even now, he is capable of greatness on any given night.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

With the minor league season in full swing, let's take a look at how some of the Mets' top prospects have been doing lately.

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SS/CF Jett Williams, Double-A Binghamton

After a rare 0-for-5 on Friday night, Williams roared back on Saturday with a three-hit performance while playing center field for just the eighth time this season.

The 21-year-old went 3-for-5 with a double, RBI and two runs scored from the leadoff spot to raise his batting average to .298. Williams also boasts a .404 on-base percentage and a .928 OPS while still maintaining his elite speed with 18 steals.

He's really begun to heat up lately as Williams has multiple hits in six of his last eight starts, hitting two home runs, two triples and five doubles during that stretch.

Following a lost season last year due to injuries, Williams is back to doing what he did in 2023 which earned him the Minor League Player of the Year award for the Mets.

C Kevin Parada, Double-A Binghamton

Another player on fire at the dish is Parada who went 2-for-4 with two doubles in Saturday's 8-2 win.

It hasn't always come easy for the former first-round pick, but lately the catching prospect has begun to figure things out with three straight multi-hit games.

Through 35 at-bats in June, Parada is slashing .371/.439/.800 with four home runs and 10 RBI. Over the least three games, the 23-year-old has raised his batting average from .190 to .219.

1B/OF Ryan Clifford, Double-A Binghamton

With another two hits on Saturday, Clifford extended his hitting streak to eight games and is 12-for-30 during that time. The lefty-swinging first baseman hit his 12th double and added two RBI which gives him a team-high 38 RBI this season.

Since joining the Mets organization, Clifford has been known as a power threat and has hit 30 home runs and 33 doubles in 158 games for the Rumble Ponies.

Still just 21 years old, it'll be interesting to see if New York promotes him to Triple-A sooner rather than later with this kind of production.

OF Carson Benge, High-A Brooklyn

Down a level, Benge continues to shine in his first full season in the minors.

Locked in a scoreless tie through the sixth inning with the Asheville Tourists, the Houston Astros' High-A affiliate, Benge knocked in the game's only run with a single to give the Cyclones a 1-0 win. He finished 1-for-4 and is hitting .302 over 54 games.

The game-winner improved Brooklyn's record to 42-20, good for first in their division.

RHP Nolan McLean, Triple-A Syracuse

The closest to a major league call-up, McLean had another solid outing despite a 5-1 loss for Syracuse. The right-hander went six innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and three walks. He struck out three and threw 90 pitches (55 strikes).

McLean has now allowed two earned runs or fewer in five straight starts and has a 2.56 ERA in seven games (five starts) since his promotion to Triple-A.

After getting off to dominating start in Double-A this season (3-1, 1.37 ERA in five starts), the 23-year-old owns a 2.08 ERA (1.17 WHIP) overall.

The Mets will surely like to see more of the same from McLean this season before they even think about calling him up to the big leagues, but his continued success is nipping at the heels of teammate and fellow top prospect Brandon Sproat who has had a tough time transitioning to Triple-A, owning a 5.31 ERA (1.42 WHIP) in 13 starts.

The Yankees dropped another close one in the second game of their three-game series against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night by a score of 4-3.

Here are the takeaways...

-Hoping to get past his previous outing against the Red Sox in his last start on June 8 at Yankee Stadium, where he allowed five earned runs in five innings, Carlos Rodon let Boston tag him for another run in the bottom of the first inning to kick things off.

Rob Refsnyder led off the inning with a double that just scraped the left field foul line and was almost stranded at second after Rodon retired the next two. With two outs, Carlos Narvaez grounded one to the left of shortstop Anthony Volpe, who managed to get to the ball, but with all of his momentum taking him towards third base, he tried channeling his inner Derek Jeter and jump-threw the ball to first base.

The ball was down the line and even though Paul Goldschmidt came off the bag, he let the ball skip past him, which allowed a run to score. It was ruled a single while Volpe was charged with a throwing error.

-Rodon kept the Red Sox scoreless until the fourth inning, where they scored another run thanks to doubles by Narvaez and Trevor Story, who lined one up the middle and caught Volpe sleeping at second base to hustle into second before the shortstop could tag him out.

-Volpe got a measure of revenge leading off the next half inning, hitting one off the Green Monster but being held to a single. The Yankees would not score in the frame.

-Boston scored again in the fifth on Romy Gonzalez's RBI double, which drove in Kristian Campbell, who was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.

-Down 3-0 through five innings and 90 pitches, Rodon went back out to start the sixth but was pulled after Story's leadoff double. Yerry De los Santos came in for relief but couldn't strand Story at second, allowing the inherited runner to score and putting an end to Rodon's night.

The lefty's final line: 5+ IP, 7 H, 4 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 4 K.

-New York's offense was held in check for most of the night against rookie right-hander Hunter Dobbins, who pitched six scoreless innings and allowed just two hits and a walk while striking out five.

With Dobbins out of the game, the Yanks finally broke through in the seventh with two runs off Luis Guerrero to make it 4-2. After back-to-back walks began the inning, Jasson Dominguez singled home a run before Austin Wells followed with an RBI single of his own. They were the first Yankees not named Aaron Judge to have an RBI in the team's last 30 innings played.

The inning could've been bigger had Dominguez not been picked off and caught stealing third base for the third out after it appeared he thought Trent Grisham struck out to end the inning.

-The game's score stood at 4-2 as New York went up to bat in the ninth inning. Goldschmidt ripped a double off The Monster to start things off against Greg Weissert, who traded to two groundouts to second base for a run to score. Down to their final out, Dominguez also hit a double to put the tying run in scoring position. On a 3-1 pitch in the zone, Wells smashed one to the deepest part of the ballpark for a flyout to end the game.

-The Yankees' top three of the batting order (Grisham, Judge, Ben Rice) combined to go 0-for-12 with six Ks.

Game MVP: Hunter Dobbins

The rookie turned in a masterful performance to grab his fourth win of the season.

Highlights

Jasson Domínguez gets the Yankees on the board pic.twitter.com/zdjwmal2T0

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) June 15, 2025

Austin Wells hits an RBI single for the Yankees’ second run of the evening pic.twitter.com/3duxM5Eans

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) June 15, 2025

What's next

The Yankees conclude their three-game set with the Red Sox on Sunday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 1:35 p.m.

LHP Max Fried (9-1, 1.84 ERA) pitches for New York and will be opposed by Boston's RHP Brayan Bello (2-1, 3.96 ERA).

You never want to give teams extra outs, and that was especially the case for Tylor Megill and the Mets on Saturday evening.

Taking a 2-1 lead into the fourth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays, the wheels fell off for Megill and the Mets.

It started with Megill allowing a game-tying solo shot from Junior Caminero on a sinker running in. Although the pitch resulted in a home run, props to Caminero for getting around it and launching it into the stands.

The next batter, Megill hit with a slider before a single and a strikeout led to arguably the biggest play of the inning. With one out and runners on first and third, Taylor Walls laid down a sacrifice bunt. Megill should have taken the out at first but while fielding, he took a look at home before turning to throw to first base. The big right-hander, however, could not grip the ball and it trickled away for an error.

Now with the Rays in front by one run, Megill struck out the next batter, in what should have been out the final out. Instead, back-to-back singles scored two more runs, then a walk loaded the bases. Megill then threw a wild pitch that allowed the fifth run of the inning to cross home plate before walking the bases loaded again, forcing manager Carlos Mendoza's hand.

"He was fine for the first time through the order. And then in that fourth inning, even after the first and third, he gets the strike out and then he doesn’t make the play on that bunt," Mendoza said of Megill's outing. "That’s two outs and then he gets the next guy… And then it spiraled on him. Base hit, base hit.

"There was a lot of non-competitive pitches, especially the secondary, there were a few pitches, ball out of the hand where he’s bouncing. And then when he came back in the zone, they were all over him. He lost it there, pretty much."

Jose Castillo came in and got the final out of the fourth without any more damage but Megill's final line was not pretty. He allowed six runs (three earned) on seven hits, two walks and two HBP.

It was the most runs Megill has allowed this season and the most he's allowed since June of last year. But of all the moments in that fourth inning, Megill says the HBP after Caminero's home run was the difference.

"Biggest difference, probably the hit-by-pitch," Megill said. "Didn’t have a feel for the slider, especially coming in on the backfoot on the lefties. After that, made some good, quality pitches, sinker down and away, found a hole up the middle. The slider fell in short. Then a couple of walks, then a hung slider. By then, kinda ran up and was taken out."

On his error, Megill said the ball felt like it went through his fingers, but admitted that while the ball was slick from the wet field, it wasn't an excuse. He had to secure the ball.

"I should get my hand into my glove, secure it instead of trying to flip it into my hand," he said.

On the wild pitch, Megill said he simply "pulled" the backdoor sinker.

But Megill's error wasn't the only one by a Mets pitcher on Saturday. Castillo led off the sixth with a fielding error that eventually came around to score. The Rays scored four runs on those two fielding errors, which was the difference in their 8-4 win over the Mets.

"We’ve been playing pretty good defense. They are a good team," Mendoza said of the Rays. "When you give them extra outs, they play the small game. We saw it today. They get the bunt down, go the other way, put the ball in play and they are aggressive. That’s who they are. When you give good teams extra outs, extra bases, you are going to pay for it."

It's the first time the Mets have lost back-to-back games since mid-May and have now lost their second home series of the year (10-2). The Mets will look to salvage a win on Sunday before heading to Atlanta and Philadelphia for two consecutive divisional series.

For the entirety of Chris Kreider's career, he’s been with one team until now as the New York Rangers traded the veteran forward to the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday. 

The Rangers and Kreider had a successful 13-year marriage filled with memories of joy and success. 

However, it ended with a season where Kreider was mentioned in trade rumors, dealt with numerous injuries, and had an overall down year for his standards. 

It wasn’t clear if the relationship between Kreider and Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury was hindered after everything that transpired this past season. 

At least according to Kreider, there was transparency from Drury about his trade intentions and there are no hard feelings in terms of how this whole situation was handled by the Rangers organization. 

“I think so. There’s no point of reference for me. I’ve been lucky enough to have been with the Rangers for 13 years, so I’ve never been in a trade,” Kreider said. “I don’t think it’s super common to be afforded the time to kind of do my due diligence and kind of go through that emotional spectrum. I think it was done in a really respectful fashion by the New York Rangers, and I’m very appreciative of that.”

The 34-year-old forward has a 15-team no-trade clause in his contract, so finding an ideal fit was a long process for Kreider. 

After doing his due diligence, he landed on the Ducks as the team he wants to start this next chapter of his career with. 

Chris Kreider Feels ‘Gratitude’ After Trade To Ducks While Praising The Rangers' Communication Throughout Process The move by the New York Rangers to trade Chris Kreider to the Anaheim Ducks comes with great emotion. 

“I did have to waive my no-trade,” said Kreider. “When we sat down and Drury communicated to us that he was looking to free up cap space and that I could potentially be traded, we were allowed to go out and look at some teams and kind of do our due diligence. I think it’s a great fit. I think it’s a team that’s on the come-up, that has a wealth of talent, youth, veteran presence, speed, and size. 

“It’s a group that I think can win hockey games and make a push to make the playoffs. With the addition of Quenneville and his staff, that’s a massive draw for me as well. It certainly helps knowing some of the guys on that team and kind of being able to get a look behind the curtain.”

The Mets allowed another big inning as they dropped their second in a row to the Rays, 8-4, on Saturday evening at Citi Field.

After the start of the game was delayed for almost an hour, poor pitching and shoddy defense allowed Tampa Bay to score five runs in the fourth inning. In total, the Rays scored four runs on two fielding errors by pitchers, which was the difference in the game.

The Mets have dropped back-to-back games for the first time since May 18-20.

Here are the takeaways...

-After hitting the first batter he faced, Tylor Megill settled down a bit to pitch until the third inning. Megill allowed a one-out double that was hit just fair by Taylor Walls before Josh Lowe's single drove in the game's first run. After allowing another hit, pitching coach Jeremy Hefner came out to settle his starter down. Megill responded by getting the final two outs of the inning.

Megill would pitch into trouble in the fourth after the Mets gave him back the lead. Junior Caminero led off with a solo shot, but then another HBP and single put runners at the corners with no outs. Megill got a strikeout, but a Walls sacrifice bunt was botched by the big righty, which led to the second run of the inning. This is where things fell apart for Megill and the Mets.

Brandon Lowe then hit a two-out bloop single to score another run for Tampa. Yandy Diaz tacked on with an RBI single and then Megill threw a wild pitch with the bases loaded to push across another run for the Rays. After Megill walked Caminero to load the bases again, manager Carlos Mendoza had to take out his starter. Jose Castillo came in and Jake Mangum hit a grounder up the middle but Francisco Lindor backhanded it and tossed it to Brett Baty to get the force out at second to end the five-run inning.

Megill's night was done after throwing 82 pitches (52 strikes) through 3.2 innings, allowing six runs (three earned) on seven hits, two walks and two hit batters. He struck out five batters but his ERA rose to 3.95 on the season.

-Baty has struggled of late (one hit in his previous five games), but the left-hander hit a laser (115.6 mph) off of Drew Rasmussen to tie the game at 1-1 in the third. It was the hardest hit by a Met this season. The Mets would tack on in the same inning whenLindor hit a double, which was followed by a Brandon Nimmo single, all with two outs.

Ronny Mauricio, who was 0-for-his-last-12, tomahawked a Rasmussen fastball up in the zone 374 feet over the right field wall to cut the Rays' lead to 7-3. A two-out walk to Lindor, a passed ball, and Nimmo single brought the Mets within 7-4 in the fifth.

-Unfortunately, the Mets bullpen could not hold the Rays from scoring for long. A Walls double scored Matt Thaiss from second -- Thaiss reached on a single and advanced on a passed ball in the fifth. Castillo allowed the leadoff hitter in the sixth to reach on his fielding error before Jose Butto allowed an RBI triple to Diaz that Juan Soto tried to grab at the wall but it bounced away from him.

Despite that, the Mets tried to get back in this game by putting traffic on the bases, but just couldn't get a clutch hit. They had two runners on in the seventh and eighth with two outs but Nimmo and Baty did not come through. The Mets had 11 hits but only had four opportunities with runners in scoring position (2-for-4), with Nimmo coming through with those lone two hits.

-Pete Alonso extended his on-base streak to 22 games with his eighth-inning single. He finished 1-for-4. Soto went 0-for-4 while Starling Marte, who had three hits and drove in three runs on Friday, went 1-for-4.

On a defensive positive, Luis Torrens gunned down two runners and made a great play in tandem with Butto on a wild pitch that got Diaz out at the plate. Torrens did have two passed balls, so it wasn't all great for the Mets backstop.

Game MVP: Rays bullpen

While the lineup dinked and dunked their way to eight runs, the bullpen held the Mets off the board. They pitched four scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and one walk.

Highlights

Brett Baty ties it up with a solo home run! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/M8wDQ7f0XK

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 14, 2025

Brandon Nimmo with an RBI single to give the Mets the lead! pic.twitter.com/lcZp7S75gn

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 14, 2025

Francisco Lindor with the backhand flip to Brett Baty to end the inning! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/rf9rKkUAT5

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 14, 2025

Ronny Mauricio solo homer! 💣 pic.twitter.com/lxum25Ho4v

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 14, 2025

Second RBI of the day for Brandon Nimmo 👏 pic.twitter.com/ZJsQDa45jL

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 14, 2025

What's next

The Mets and Rays complete their three-game series on Sunday afternoon on PIX11. First pitch is set for 1:40 p.m.

Griffin Canning (6-2, 3.22 ERA) will be on the mound as Tampa will send Shane Baz (5-3, 4.97 ERA) on the bump.

After a catastrophic season that saw them fall from top spot in the NHL’s 2023-24 regular season to completely out of the Stanley Cup playoffs this year, the New York Rangers have made significant changes to their organization. Coach Peter Laviolette was replaced with former Pittsburgh Penguins bench boss Mike Sullivan, and longtime core component left winger Chris Kreider was traded to the Anaheim Ducks this week for a prospect and draft pick. And the off-season has barely started.

It’s clear Rangers GM Chris Drury – armed with a new contract extension that shows team owner James Dolan has full confidence in him – is going to reshape the Rangers’ lineup in a major way. But is Drury going to completely rebuild the roster from scratch, or is a retool-on-the-fly more likely?

We believe all signs point to the latter option. Dolan has never been one to stomach a full rebuild, and Drury’s work leading up to this point has built a team that’s exceedingly difficult to disassemble. You’re not trading star left winger Artemi Panarin, even if he’s entering the final season of his lucrative contract. You’re not trading star center J.T. Miller, less than a year after the Blueshirts acquired him. You’re definitely not dealing star goalie, Igor Shesterkin. And you’re not trading star defenseman Adam Fox or veteran center Mika Zibanejad, both of whom are signed for at least the next four seasons.

That means the road ahead is a retool, although Drury is still likely to reshape the roster. The Kreider trade opened up $6.5 million in salary cap space, but the Rangers have only $14.9 million in space – far from the amount the Rangers need to outbid opponents in free-agency. Blueliner K’Andre Miller is an RFA, and his asking price may hamper Rangers management’s efforts to acquire veteran players, so he may be traded. 

Thus, trades will probably be the route Drury takes to change the makeup of the team. But even then, Drury may be limited in what he can do. Seven current Rangers have some sort of no-trade or no-move clause in their current contract. And while Drury showed with the trading of Kreider and former captain Jacob Trouba that he isn’t afraid of going to players with no-trade or no-move clauses and still finding a way to trade them, the market for those players may be more limited than the Rangers like.

That opens up speculation about Rangers who don’t have no-trade protection, including young winger Alexis Lafreniere. The 23-year-old’s offence dropped off considerably this season, going from 28 goals in 2023-24 to only 17 goals this season. Lafreniere is entering the first season of a seven-year extension paying him $7.45-million annually, and the Rangers may have buyer’s remorse.

Drury gave up on another high draft pick last year – winger Kaapo Kakko, who went on to have a solid half-season with the Seattle Kraken – and so it shouldn’t be a complete shocker if Drury moved Lafreniere.

Regardless of who winds up getting traded or signed, the prevailing sentiment around the Rangers is that this team will be markedly different by the time training camp rolls around. Drury has a mandate of getting his team back into the post-season right away, and that means he can’t run it back with the same group of players. The Rangers are built to win now, and in a few weeks, we’re likely to see a Blueshirts squad that is even more hyper-focused on being a playoff team in 2025-26.

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It looks like the Yankees are on the verge of getting Giancarlo Stanton back.

After announcing the possibility that Stanton could return to the team for Sunday's series finale in Boston against the Red Sox, it appears the slugger will instead join the team back in The Bronx when New York hosts the Los Angeles Angels for a four-game series starting on Monday, per manager Aaron Boone.

"Giancarlo Stanton is expected to return during the Angels series," Boone said. "Could be Monday or Tuesday."

After sitting out on Friday night for Double-A Somerset, the designated hitter was expected to play in his fourth rehab game on Saturday, but with wet and rainy conditions in the area, Stanton is not in the lineup.

With that, it likely means the 35-year-old will be recalled on Tuesday as the Yanks want him to play at least one more game in the minors. Of course, some of that depends on whether Stanton can play on Sunday, which has inclement weather in the forecast, as well.

Boone also provided updates on some injured pitchers, saying Jake Cousins, who began the season on the 60-day IL with a forearm/pectoral injury but has since paused his rehab while dealing with an elbow injury. Boone said Cousins is still waiting on opinions after undergoing an MRI. However, the skipper said it is trending towards Tommy John surgery.

In 2024, Cousins appeared in 37 games and posted a 2.37 ERA (1.05 WHIP).

Meanwhile, Luis Gil (right lat strain) is still 10-14 days away from throwing a live bullpen, per Boone.

What we learned as Roupp gets roughed up in Giants' loss to Dodgers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

LOS ANGELES — First place lasted only 24 hours. 

A night after moving into a share of the division lead, the Giants watched the vaunted Los Angeles Dodgers lineup put on a show and had their usual at-bats against a future Hall-of-Famer who is on his last legs, but still always finds a way in rivalry games.

Clayton Kershaw threw seven shutout innings, cruising after the Dodgers put six runs on Landen Roupp in the first two, and the Dodgers won 11-5 on the second night of this series in Los Angeles. The outing was Kershaw’s best in two years, but fit right in with the rest of his career against the Giants. 

Kershaw will one day join Justin Verlander in Cooperstown, but it wasn’t a stretch to say the Giants held the edge coming into the game. Kershaw entered with a 4.35 ERA in five starts and Roupp found his stride in recent weeks, but this one was a laugher from the start. 

Roupp was knocked out in the second and the rest of the night became about preserving the bullpen. By the bottom of the eighth, backup catcher Logan Porter was on the mound for the Giants. 

Still That Dude (Against the Giants)

Kershaw had not thrown more than five innings since coming off the IL and had completed six just once over the past two years, but he needed just 70 pitches to record the first 18 outs on Saturday. The legendary curveball is still there, although now the fastball sits at 88 mph. 

Even with diminished stuff, Kershaw is still a lefty, and the Giants have struggled against them all year. He also is an all-time Giant Killer. 

The start was his 59th against the Giants, and he entered with a 2.04 ERA in 397 1/3 innings against the orange and black. He now has 27 career wins against the Giants and has thrown at least seven innings against them an astounding 37 times. This was his 10th time throwing at least seven shutout innings against the Giants. 

A Short Walk

With Verlander due back next week, the Giants will have to pull one of their young starters from the rotation. Roupp had the strongest hold on a spot heading into this series, but he had a brutal night at Dodger Stadium.

The young right-hander had an equal number of walks (five) and outs recorded, and he was charged with six earned. It could have been worse, but Spencer Bivens entered and stranded a pair. Roupp’s ERA jumped from 3.29 to 3.99 after the shortest start of his career. 

Roupp was so good in May that the Giants won’t stress too much about one short start, especially one that came against this Dodgers lineup. But there is a conversation to be had at some point in July about his innings total. He threw 76 2/3 total innings across three levels last year but reached 70 on Saturday night. 

The Sho

Logan Webb held Shohei Ohtani in check on Friday night. On Saturday, Ohtani opened the game with a leadoff homer, his 24th of the year. He later lunged across the plate and somehow yanked a Tristan Beck curveball over the wall in right to get to 25. 

Shohei Ohtani's SECOND homer of the night! pic.twitter.com/vgaf9GhSoC

— MLB (@MLB) June 15, 2025

The only takeaway here is that the Giants should have upped their offer to a clean $1 billion. 

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There has been one surprising name that has been the subject of trade rumors for the New York Rangers and that is none other than Alexis Lafrenière. 

During the 2023-24 campaign, Lafrenière had a career year, recording 28 goals, 29 assists, and 57 points in 82 games. 

This breakout season resulted in the Rangers giving Lafrenière a 7-year, $52.15 million contract extension. 

All seemed right for Lafrenière as signs pointed toward him finally becoming the star player that he was expected to be when he was drafted with the first overall pick in 2020. 

However, the 23-year-old’s play regressed during the 2024-25 season, and now everything appears to be on the table regarding Lafrenière’s future in New York. 

According to Larry Brooks of The New York Post, Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury has discussed Lafrenière in trade talks with multiple teams at the NHL Draft Combine in Buffalo. 

A conflicting report came out from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman indicating how desirable Lafrenière’s contract is and that’s not exactly clear if he’s on the trade market as of right now. 

“That contract, if he even comes close to the level where he’s capable of performing at, that’s going to be a really good contract…”If Lafreniere is available it’s not widely known... “Lafreniere, I’ll tell you, I get pushback on it,” Friedman said.

The Rangers have already traded Chris Kreider while other players including K’Andre Miller and even Mika Zibanejad to a certain extent have been mentioned in trade rumors. 

The Rangers Reportedly Don't Want To Give K'Andre Miller A Long-Term Contract ExtensionThere is one major aspect that is holding up negotiations between the New York Rangers and K’Andre Miller. 

​​According to Arthur Staple of The Athletic, Igor Shesterkin, Artemi Panarin, and Adam Fox are the only untouchables for the Rangers in trade talks. 

It isn’t likely that Lafrenière is dealt away this summer, but all of these rumors are at least something to look out for. 

Saturday's game between the Mets and the Tampa Bay Rays is in a rain delay and will not start on time.

The team announced a 5 p.m. start time nearly 45 minutes after the initial announcement. First pitch was originally scheduled for 4:10 p.m.

The Mets are looking to bounce back after the Rays used a six-run inning to defeat New York, 7-5, in Friday's series opener. The loss snapped the Mets' six-game winning streak and dropped their home record to 27-8. 

Tylor Megill (5-4, 3.76 ERA) is the scheduled starter for the Mets, while the Rays will send out RHP Drew Rasmussen (5-4, 2.22 ERA).

Megill allowed two runs on three hits over five innings last time out on June 8 against the Rockies, lowering his ERA to 3.76 on the season.

Phillies grind out victory over Blue Jays, win thanks to Kepler's go-ahead blast  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Max Kepler blasted the Phillies to a series victory Saturday over the Blue Jays.

Kepler clubbed a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning and the Phils picked up a 3-2 win at Citizens Bank Park.

They sit at 41-29 on the season and will look for a three-game sweep on Sunday afternoon. Zack Wheeler (6-2, 2.85 ERA) is set to face Jose Berrios (2-2, 3.38 ERA). 

The Phillies’ pitching was stellar on a day their offense didn’t produce much. Cristopher Sanchez went seven innings and allowed two runs and five hits. He had zero walks, one hit by pitch and five strikeouts.

Orion Kerkering and Matt Strahm threw scoreless innings out of the bullpen. 

Blue Jays leadoff man Bo Bichette struck out on Sanchez’s ninth pitch of the day, waving at a slider. Sanchez increased his season strikeout total to 88 Saturday over 79 and 2/3 innings. The Phillies have three pitchers in the National League’s top 10 for strikeouts per nine innings with Wheeler, Jesus Luzardo and Sanchez. 

The Blue Jays opened the scoring vs. Sanchez in the second inning. Nick Castellanos’ leaping attempt to catch Ernie Clement’s fly ball to the right-field fence was unsuccessful. Myles Straw drove Clement in with a two-out line drive that glanced off the tip of Alec Bohm’s glove on its way to left field.

Despite a couple of long fly balls in the early innings, the Phillies failed to reach base against Toronto starter Bowden Francis until nine-hitter Brandon Marsh knocked an opposite-field single. Francis found a groove, locating well and mixing in his off-speed pitches effectively. 

The righty’s command dramatically deserted him in the fourth inning. 

The Phillies rallied with two outs through simple patience; Francis walked three batters and hit two. Otto Kemp’s HBP put the Phils up 2-1, Francis exited, and Brendon Little jogged in from the bullpen. 

Little threw a 1-2 breaking ball to Marsh in the dirt and J.T. Realmuto made the aggressive decision to sprint home. The gamble didn’t pay off. Jays catcher Tyler Heineman recovered the ball in time to tag Realmuto out at the plate. 

Sanchez and the Phillies narrowly missed a shutdown inning. The Phils couldn’t quite turn an inning-ending double play on Bichette — the Blue Jays won their challenge to overturn the initial out call — and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. then ripped an RBI double to deep right-center. 

The Phillies were unable to cash in on Marsh’s leadoff single in the fifth. Kemp lined out to right field with two outs and runners on the corners in the sixth.

Outside of Kepler’s dinger, the Phillies’ top six batters had zero hits in the game.

Kepler rendered those struggles irrelevant with one powerful swing, lacing a Chad Green fastball into the seats.

Phillies’ plans at first 

Kemp has played the Phillies’ past three games at first base. Phillies manager Rob Thomson said pregame that he thinks the rookie’s looked “very comfortable” there. 

With Bryce Harper sidelined by a right wrist injury, Kyle Schwarber is also in the Phils’ current first-base picture.

“He’s still working out there,” Thomson said. “But now that we have Otto, I’d like to give him some reps. I’d like to get (Edmundo) Sosa back into a game as well at some point. You might see Schwarber in the outfield here a little bit, just to get (Castellanos) off his feet, let him DH for a bit.” 

Schwarber’s started four games in left field so far this season. He’s only made nine MLB starts at first, all with the 2021 Red Sox.