Category: Baseball

Game Summary

The Diamondbacks got a key win against one of their competitors in the wild card chase to open up this weekend series thanks to some excellent small ball execution on offense and clutch pitching from E-Rod and the bullpen.

E-Rod was looking to shake off his worst start of the season from last Sunday and he bounced back with a strong result, even if he was sometimes wobbly tonight. The Hologram bookended his night getting out of jams of runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out unscathed. The Nats got a pair of runners is scoring position with 1 out in the first inning, but Rodriguez buckled down and struck out All-Star CJ Abrams before inducing an easy fly out to center to preserve the scoreless inning. He weaseled out of the same situation in the 6th inning by going strikeout-walk-groundout to finish his outing.

Between those two innings, he was largely stress free as he only allowed 2 walks and 3 hits and never threw a pitch with a runner past first base. Unfortunately, one of those hits he allowed was a 2-run bomb in the 4th that tied the game. Still, overall, this was a very good outing to get the taste of Sunday’s defeat poor start out of his mouth.

The bullpen came on and was fantastic, retiring all 9 hitters the faced protecting a 1-run lead. Paul Sewald got back up on the saddle today and went strikeout, fly out, groundout to earn his 23rd Save of the season. The fly out was a little scary as Luis García Jr. mashed a first pitch sweeper right in the lefty’s happy zone deep to right field (exit velocity of 107!), but he probably got just a little bit under it and the ball died in Corbin’s glove. Morillo and Ginkel only needed 15 pitches combined for their 2 innings, 12 of those for strikes! Excellent night for the bullpen in high leverage against a very strong lineup.

Finally, the offense did just enough to capitalize on their opportunities by scratching across 3 runs with only 1 extra base hit on the night, a leadoff double in the second by Max Kepler. The real headliner here was the back-to-back excellent bunts by ADC(!) and Tim Tawa to move the runners over and then score a runner in the 2nd inning. Ketel Marte got his RBI by beating out a double play ball and Gabi Moreno got his RBI on a sac fly. The Diamondbacks also applied pressure on the base paths by swiping 4 bases (though 1 TOOTBLAN Domo should probably cancel out his half of a double-steal). This wasn’t a great night for the offense by any means. The Snakes finished 2-for-7 with RISP, left 10 LOBsters, and only scored 3 runs against a very hittable pitching staff, but they made just enough winning plays to hold up, especially with their ace on the mound.

Win Probability and Box Score

Outside the Box Score

• Domo TOOTBLAN’d in the first inning when he made a an aggressive turn around second without checking Carroll running in front of him. Gabi hit a bloop single into center and Carroll had to hang out halfway between second and third to make sure it dropped. Domo was running hard the whole way and was nearly at second by the time it dropped in front of the CF so he made the hard turn to third only to see Carroll hung up in front of him. Gerry tried to dive back in but the throw from the CF was so short it was a pretty easy toss to get him in time. Instead of bases loaded and one out, it was runners at the corners and 2 outs and made Arenado’s ground out to the pitcher an inning ending play. 
• ADC laid down a picture perfect sacrifice bunt to get runners to second and third in the second inning. Great job!!
• Tawa followed up ADCs bunt with an even better bunt that just stayed fair down the first base line to get a hit and scores the runner from third. Holy cow!!
• Ketel legged out a fielders choice to score a second run in the second inning. He hit a grounder to first who threw to second for the first out and then the call in the field was Ketel was out at first for an inning ending double play, but he was clearly safe upon review and Locklear’s run scored. 
• The Nationals tied up the game in the 4th on a 2-run homer, but the baserunner who reached in front of the homer was on base thanks to an excuse-me-swing dribbler into No Man’s Land between third base and the mound. E-Rod tried to make the throw over to first but it was way wide and Tyler Locklear ended up diving and throwing his glove which actually deflected the ball and probably kept it from going into dugout and giving the Nats’ runner a free 90 feet. Obviously, that 90 feet wouldn’t have mattered thanks to the following homer, but I thought it was a pretty good effort by the young first baseman to keep the runner at first.
• Tyler Locklear was credited with a stolen base after his single in the 6th, but it was mostly due to a physical error (not a scored error, mind you) by the Nationals pitcher. Locklear took off for second way early and Zack Littell was alert to the play and stepped off with plenty of time to make the throw to second. The throw, however, was a terrible little humpback soft toss that landed 3 feet short of the shortstop and he couldn’t corral the ball allowing Locklear to slide in safely!
• The Diamondbacks executed a picture perfect double steal in the top of the 7th to get runners in scoring position. Carroll took off for third and Domo was excellent as the trail runner advancing behind. The Nationals were clearly prepared for this instance and the catcher threw to second base to try and get the slower Gerry but was unsuccessful. 

Comment of the Game

I wasn’t able to partake in the GameDay Thread tonight, and it appears I wasn’t the only one marked Absent tonight as there were only 165 comments at time of publishing. Of the Sedona Red comments, I immediately singled out this thread covering one of the biggest sequences of the game by Sneeks and Snake_Bitten:

Coming Up

The Diamondbacks face the Nats for the second game of this pivotal 3-game set tomorrow afternoon with a 1:05pm first pitch Arizona time. In a rare matchup of southpaws, Foster Griffin (11-2, 2.68 ERA) is listed as the probable starter for The District and young Mitch Bratt (0-0, 5.06 ERA) will get the ball for the good guys. Bratt will have to be full brat if we’re going to beat the very good Griffin tomorrow. Tune in and swing by the Pit to see if he can!

Scoreboard Watching

Oh yes, it’s that time of year Diamondbacks fans! I was going to hold off on adding a Scoreboard section until August, but we’re in a Wild Card spot with a little over a week until the Trade Deadline so let’s keep an eye on those results around the NL Wild Card race. Games of note:

• Cardinals lose to Reds to fall 2.5 games back of AZ
• Pirates lose to Cubs in extras to fall 2 games back of AZ (the Cubs maintain a 3.5 game lead over AZ for the first Wild Card)
• Phillies lose to the Yankees and are now only 1 game ahead of AZ for the #2 Wild Card
• Padres beat the Marlins. The Marlins have lost 10 straight and are now 3 games back of AZ, the Padres are still 4 games back of AZ
• The Nationals are 3 games back of AZ after their loss to AZ tonight

A very good night on the scoreboard, in fact, probably the best possible outcome in all games for Wild Card contenders tonight. Obviously, gaining space between us and the teams on the outside is the top priority, but we are right there in the race for the top-2 Wild Card slots. A lot of season still left, but the Diamondbacks are in excellent position!

The Mets were defeated by the Dodgers 4-2 in Friday night's series opener at Citi Field. 

Here are some takeaways...

-- Luis Robert Jr. continues showcasing himself ahead of the trade deadline. The towering outfielder opened the scoring in this one by jumping all over a 2-2 fastball at the top of the zone, crushing it 381 feet to left for his fourth homer of the season and second in three games since returning from the IL. 

-- Sean Manaea did well to limit the high-powered Dodgers offense. He worked around leadoff baserunners in two of the first three innings, erasing a single in the first before putting together a perfect top of the second and breezing past a double against the top of the order in the third. 

LA evened things up with a sacrifice fly in the fourth, but stranded two more on the corners. Manaea almost faced another leadoff man in scoring position, but the Mets used a perfect relay to gun Shohei Ohtani down trying to stretch a double into a triple en route to a perfect fifth. 

The lefty was hurt, then helped by his defense in the sixth. A Carson Benge bobble in right allowed Freddie Freeman to get to a second on what could have been a bang-bang play, but the youngster made up for it two batters later, as he gunned the veteran down trying to score from third on a sacrifice fly. 

Manaea ended his day allowing just the one run on six hits and two walks while striking out three over 6.0 IP. 

-- The lefties in the Mets' bullpen immediately wasted Manaea's strong effort. Brooks Raley allowed LA to scratch across the go-ahead run on an Ohtani sacrifice fly, then A.J. Minter served up an insurance two-run homer to Kyle Tucker an inning later, to make it a three-run ballgame.  

-- New York wasn't able to get much else going against LA starter Roki Sasaki, as aside from the Robert homer, he held them to four other baserunners while striking out nine batters across 6.0 innings of work. Sasaki came into the night with 23 runs allowed (22 earned) over his last six starts. 

-- The Mets did show some fight against right-hander Evan Phillips in the bottom of the eighth, as Francisco Alvarez crushed his 14th homer of the season. The solo shot left the bat at a whopping 108.9 mph and traveled a total of 401 feet deep into the left field seats. 

-- They couldn't rally against Tanner Scott in the ninth, though, and dropped the series opener. 

-- New York suffered a big blow midway through this one, as Juan Soto was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the sixth due to left calf soreness. The outfielder has been limited to DH duties since the All-Star break, and he sat out Wednesday's series finale in Milwaukee, but interim manager Andy Green said pregame he was ready to go. 

Game MVP: Kyle Tucker

Tucker's eighth-inning two-run homer ended up being the difference in this one. 

Highlights

Sean Manaea gets two strikeouts in the first pic.twitter.com/VF2cSzR1Qp

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 24, 2026

Luis Robert Jr. hits his fourth HR of the season!

His second in three games since returning from the IL 🔥 pic.twitter.com/hcN4uLdS9r

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 24, 2026

Carson Benge, Francisco Lindor and Bo Bichette combine on the relay to throw out Shohei Ohtani at third 💪 pic.twitter.com/1Tre3rvAfS

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 25, 2026

Carson Benge picks up his second outfield assist of the night, with a throw to Francisco Alvarez! pic.twitter.com/3wyRthNfgk

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 25, 2026

Francisco Alvarez hits his 12th home run of the year! pic.twitter.com/ZtaO9T8FRM

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 25, 2026

What's next

Nolan McLean takes the ball against Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the middle game Saturday at 7:15 p.m.

The San Francisco Giants welcome the Los Angeles Angels to Oracle Park tonight to begin a three-game series.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Logan Webb, who enters tonight’s game with a 3.87 ERA, 3.54 FIP, with 85 strikeouts to 27 walks in 107 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 4-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Saturday, in which he allowed three runs on two hits with five strikeouts and a walk in six and two thirds innings.

He’ll be facing off against Angels right-hander Grayson Rodriguez, who enters tonight’s game with an 8.23 ERA, 5.22 FIP, with 27 strikeouts to 17 walks in 35 innings pitched. His last start was in the Angels’ 7-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Saturday, in which he allowed six runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and a walk in four innings.

Game #103

Who: San Francisco Giants (42-60) vs. Los Angeles Angels (41-62)

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California

When: 7:15 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area and KNTV

National broadcast: n/a

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

It is tempting to grumble about how this game was such a microcosm of the Yankee season. The starter was phenomenal, truly elite stuff, and the offense had three hitters that looked like they belonged in the majors. I’m gonna choose the optimism; Cam Schlittler is the best pitcher in the American League and he delivered a huge series-opening win tonight, with the Yankees topping the Phillies 1-0.

It’s funny how wrong a first impression can be. Cam has come back to earth a little in recent weeks, still the cream of the crop in the Junior Circuit but a little more touchable. Trea Turner grinded through a great, six-pitch leadoff AB against the young Yankee ace, and for that first batter I wondered if we’d see another Schlittler start where he was just a little off.

It took Cam 25 pitches to set down the next eight men, perfect through his first three frames. Amusingly enough, it was Turner again who saw seven offerings from Schlittler leading off the fourth, but he was retired for the second time. Kyle Schwarber became the Phillies’ first baserunner a batter later, ending a perhaps-too-early bid for history with a double into the right-center gap. It didn’t seem to bother the ace though, who got Bryce Harper and Brandon Marsh to strand War Bear.

And from there, for another 3.1 innings it was academic. Schlittler got into the eighth inning, sitting down 12. He allowed just two hits, with no walks, through 7.1, bringing his overall season ERA down to 2.07 and his road ERA a comical 1.07. There were a lot of very cool moments tonight but perhaps my favorite from Cam was this front-door sinker that froze a future Hall of Famer:

We also saw something in the development of a still-young pitcher. I think sometimes we forget that Cam has been here a little over a calendar year. His immediate success, his demeanor, the way his starts feel different than everyone else’s, makes him feel like he’s been in the bigs half a decade. He’s still developing, he’s not a finished product yet.

If there’s one thing that has attracted a lot of attention with Cam, is whether he can get by throwing fastballs as frequently as he does. Especially against a team like the Phillies, where your 2-4 hitters are all excellent lefties, there’s been a lot of discussion about whether Schlittler should mix in his curve more often. Maybe this is all talk show fodder since he actually pitches better against lefties, but he threw his curveball twice as frequently as his season average tonight.

He got whiffs on half of them, plus dropping one in for a strike, so while it wasn’t the prime reason he succeeded tonight, I think adding something else in the back of a hitter’s mind means something. When you’re facing sluggers like Schwarber and Harper, anything you can do to make them spend another fraction of a second thinking, rather than reacting, is a plus for you.

But Schlittler did seem to run out of gas in the eighth as his pitch count crept over 90. J.T. Realmuto, in competition with Paul Goldschmidt for MLB’s most prodigious unc, managed his second hit of the day off the Yankee starter, and then Cam dotted No. 8 hitter Gabriel Rincones Jr. to put two men on, and end the night. Brent Headrick, perhaps the most reliable man in the bullpen, gave off a leadoff single that Realmuto had to hold at third on, but got a soft flyout from Turner and groundout from Schwarber to end the threat and preserve the shutout.

You’ll notice we haven’t talked much about the offense. Part of this is because Jesús Luzardo is a very good pitcher and mostly held serve with Schlittler tonight, throwing seven innings and striking out nine against a single walk, and only really being touched by MLB’s more prodigious unc, the aforementioned Goldschmidt:

As for the rest of the Yankee offense well…I’d like to say they should think about shaking up the normal lineup facing lefties but there’s nobody really to put in. This is what we’re stuck with until a trade gets made or a slugger heals up, and it’s why we’re further quite lucky to have the talents of someone like Cam Schlittler.

The Yankees must have a bit of a World Cup hangover, because they win one-nil. David Bednar locked down the club’s 10th shutout victory on the season, and Cam gets his 10th win of the year in the same cause.

The Rays look like they’ll win tonight as well, so all the Yankees can do is keep the pace. A series win on the road against a team with their own playoff aspirations is the goal this weekend. Ryan Weathers will be the man tasked with leading the Yankees to that series win tomorrow, possibly against former Yankees draft pick Brian Keller in his MLB debut at age-32 (though Philly has yet to confirm a starter and Keller may be the bulk guy). First pitch will be a little earlier than tonight, at 6:05pm ET.

Box Score

Postscript: I have a running text chain with a friend where pretty much we only talk about baseball. The one text I sent him today was, of course, about Cam.

PHILADELPHIA — Cam Schlittler took the mound Friday night coming off one of the more frustrating starts of his season.

By the end of the night, he had successfully transferred that frustration into the helpless hands of the Phillies lineup, and dissipated whatever his own struggling offense might have been feeling if he had not.

On yet another night when the Yankees pitching staff had a razor-thin margin for error because of a lack of run support, Schlittler dominated the Phillies, tossing 7 ¹/₃ shutout innings and striking out 12 on the way to a 1-0 win at a sold-out Citizens Bank Park.

Brent Headrick retired Kyle Schwarber to escape a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning before David Bednar slammed the door shut in the ninth with his 19th straight scoreless appearance.

“That’s about as well-pitched a game as you’re going to see, both sides,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Cam, obviously he’s been massive for us. [Headrick] gets a couple big outs with some good defense behind him and we’re able to hang on.”

Paul Goldschmidt swatted a solo home run against Jesús Luzardo in the fourth inning, the only run the Yankees (58-45) mustered in seven innings against the Phillies lefty, who scattered three hits and one walk while striking out nine.

Thanks to Schlittler and Co., it was enough to lift the Yankees to their eighth win in the last 11 games.

“Especially these last few weeks when we haven’t been scoring, we’ve had to win some low-scoring games and there’s a lot of pressure on the starting pitcher and the bullpen guys,” Goldschmidt said. “It’s not what we want, but they’ve done a great job picking us up as an offense. Hopefully we can play better offensively, but most importantly, just finding ways to win.”

His last time out Sunday against the Dodgers, Schlittler didn’t make it out of the fifth inning as a tough lineup drove his pitch count up to 98 across 4 ¹/₃ innings.

But on Friday, he threw one more pitch and recorded nine more outs, finding put-away pitches earlier in counts to allow him to pitch deep into the game.

This was much more like the Schlittler the Yankees have become accustomed to seeing all season, as the budding ace recorded his sixth scoreless outing in 22 starts while lowering his ERA to 2.07.

“They got a great lineup,” said Schlittler, who recorded double-digit strikeouts for the third time in his career (including playoffs), all of which have come with no walks. “They’re going to make you battle and you’ve got to make the right pitches. When you don’t, you’re going to get tagged for that. Just trying to stay locked in and make sure I’m executing.”

Schlittler cruised into the eighth inning and struck out the first batter before giving up a single to J.T. Realmuto through the left side.

His next pitch was a cutter that just barely grazed the back knee of Gabriel Rincones Jr., at which point Boone pulled him for Headrick.

The lefty reliever, in the midst of a breakout year, allowed a single to pinch hitter Edmundo Sosa, but Realmuto was held at third base as right fielder Jasson Domínguez got off a strong one-hop throw to the plate.

Headrick then got Treat Turner to line out to left field, too shallow for the Phillies (56-48) to test Cody Bellinger’s strong arm, before Schwarber grounded out in a full count.

The normally reserved Headrick was fired up as he came off the mound, quieting the crowd of 43,165 that was on its feet.

“Cam threw a hell of a game and my job is to come in and keep it at zero,” said Headrick, who has not allowed a run in a major league-leading 44 of his 52 appearances this season. “When you do that and come in and pick up a guy like that who had an incredible day, I think it’s really good for us and the team. Being able to get that win was big.”

I mean, what else can you say?

The Phillies had an outstanding pitching performance by Jesus Luzardo go for naught since they came up against a buzzsaw in Cam Schlittler. Luzardo did all he could, going seven innings and allowing a single run in the form of a solo home run on a great piece of hitting by Paul Goldschmidt.

There wasn’t much else the lefty could do as Schlittler handcuffed the Phillies lineup all night long. Said lineup did not help much, swinging at pitches like they were being chased by bees, but that’s what a great pitcher like Schlittler will do. He’ll see that he can get the hitters to chase and he’ll keep going to the same well over and over.

As the lineup got more and more looks at him though, they started to actually hit him a little harder. They couldn’t do much with it until the eighth when they actually had their threat to score. With one out, J.T. Realmuto got his second hit on the night, then went to second when Gabriel Rincones was hit by a pitch. That sent Schlittler to the bench in favor of Brent Headrick, a move countered by Edmundo Sosa coming into the game. Sosa singled to right, which brings the biggest “What if?” moment into play.

Should Realmuto have been waved home?

Worst case is that he’s thrown out and they still have a fast runner in Derek Hill in scoring position with Trea Turner coming up and two outs. Anthony Morales, the third base coach, opted to hold Realmuto to load the bases and, well, we know what happened next. Turner hit a soft fly ball not deep enough to score Realmuto, then was followed by Kyle Schwarber grounding out to second to end the threat.

Pitcher’s duels are great when they go your way, but tonight did not for the Phillies. They’ll try again tomorrow night.

Tarik Skubal's next start at Comerica Park could be his last as a Detroit Tiger. Yet the way he's been pitching and the Tigers keep winning, the chances keep increasing that he'll stick around the Motor City a couple more months.

Skubal made quick work of the Kansas City Royals Friday, July 24, striking out a season-high 12 and mowing through 7⅓ innings on 91 pitches as the Tigers defeated the Royals 2-1 for their 12th win in 16 games.

The victory moved Detroit to 50-54, the closest they've been to the .500 mark since they were 19-23 on May 12. They remained within six games of first place in the American League Central, and four games of the final wild card berth.

And that could be bad news for the rest of Major League Baseball's contenders.

More: Five MLB teams who will be most aggressive at 2026 trade deadline

The Yankees (58-45) beat the Philadelphia Phillies (56-48) in their road series opener on Friday night, 1-0, the final score.

Here are the takeaways....

-- Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt opened the scoring with an opposite-field line drive solo homer, recording the team's first hit of the game in the fourth inning against Phillies southpaw Jesús Luzardo.

-- Yankees starting pitcher Cam Schlittler also allowed his first hit in the fourth inning, a double by Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber with one out. Schlittler battled back to retire the next two batters and strand the runner in scoring position.

-- Goldschmidt came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth, but he softly grounded out and the score remained 1-0 Yanks.

-- Luzardo tossed seven innings, holding the Yankees to just one run, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out nine batters.

-- Not to be outdone by his counterpart, Schlittler was utterly dominant on the hill. He struck out every member of the Phillies batting order apart from Schwarber, racking up 12 strikeouts in the process. He finally slipped up with one man out in the eighth inning, allowing a single to J.T. Realmuto before promptly hitting Gabriel Rincones Jr. with a pitch. Schlittler was pulled having completed 7.1 innings, allowing three hits, walking zero batters, and throwing 99 pitches. Stalwart lefty Brent Headrick emerged from the bullpen to relieve the Yankee starter.

-- Edmundo Sosa roped a single into right field to load the bases on Headrick. After a lengthy battle, Trea Turner lined out to left field, but not deep enough to score Realmuto on a sacrifice. With two outs, Schwarber worked the count to 3-2, but Headrick got out of the jam with a groundout and held New York's one-run lead entering the ninth inning.

-- Lefty reliever José Alvarado plunked Ryan McMahon (who was pinch-hitting for Amed Rosario), but recovered by forcing Cody Bellinger into a groundout double play, holding the Yankees scoreless in the top half of the final frame. 

-- David Bednar entered the 1-0 ballgame to face the heart of Philadelphia's order. Bednar struck out Bryce Harper swinging, got some assistance from Bellinger's leaping catch near the left-field wall for the second out, and got Alec Bohm to ground out to end the game. Bednar earned his 19th save of the season, and Schlittler earned his 10th win.

Game MVP: Cam Schlittler

Among all American League pitchers who have accumulated at least 75 IP, Schlittler's 2026 ERA (2.07) is tops, and he's second-best in WHIP (0.93) behind Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal.

Highlights

José Caballero flashes the leather! pic.twitter.com/bLQRsvEm8K

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 24, 2026

The first hit of the game is a Paul Goldschmidt home run! pic.twitter.com/feMwSn1JUM

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 24, 2026

Brent Headrick gets out of trouble! 👏 pic.twitter.com/kxVSAs9nD6

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 25, 2026

What's Next

The Yankees continue this series Saturday night against the Philadelphia Phillies (56-48) at 6:05 p.m.

The starting pitcher for the Yankees will be Ryan Weathers (4.40 ERA, 1.27 WHIP), while the Phillies have yet to name a starter.

The Mets may have another Juan Soto injury concern on their hands. 

Soto left Friday’s 4-2 loss to the Dodgers midway through the sixth inning due to what the Mets described as “left calf soreness.” It’s just the latest injury scare for Soto, who has been sidelined in each of the past three months for at least some period of time. 

“He just had a recurrence of symptoms in the left calf,” interim manager Andy Green said after Kyle Tucker’s two-run homer in the eighth inning helped close the game out for Los Angeles. “Certainly hoped we were behind it, done talking about this, but he felt it pushing off on second base there when he was on the bases. At this point, we’ll likely get an image [Saturday] and try to see where he’s at. 

“This is nagging him for a week now, so I know it’s frustrating for him, frustrating for us.” 

Before leaving in the middle of a 1-1 game at Citi Field, Soto had walked twice. Jorge Polanco ultimately replaced him in the lineup and struck out twice. 

The Mets’ $765 million dollar man has not been able to catch a break this season on the injury front. 

In April, Soto missed 15 games after he was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right calf issue. 

He later experienced back soreness in June that forced him to exit a game against the Cubs and kept him out of the subsequent one. At the time, Soto’s back locked up on him and he was classified as day to day. 

The 27-year-old also left a game against the Phillies earlier this month due to mild left calf cramping/soreness. 

The Mets have had to manage their star player’s workload for a majority of this lost 2026 season. Prior to this season, however, Soto had not been on the injured list since 2021. 

As recently as earlier this week in the series finale against the Brewers, Soto sat out to rest a minor lingering issue with his left calf. 

Green said he wanted to give Soto 48 hours “to get the calf thing completely behind him.” 

Evidently, the calf injury is still nagging Soto. The Mets will have to wait and see just how serious it is. 

“I think any time you get an image, you’re concerned,” Green said. “Concerned enough to go do it. We’ll wait until [Saturday] and figure out what we’re dealing with.”

PHILADELPHIA — Anthony Volpe was back in the lineup at shortstop for the Yankees on Friday against the Phillies, but there’s just as much interest in the starting shortstop at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Top prospect George Lombard Jr. was in the leadoff spot after being used only as a pinch-runner for SWB on Thursday.

And with the Yankees without an everyday starting shortstop, questions will continue about the spot.

Asked Friday about the uncertainty surrounding the position — both with battling for time with José Caballero and knowing Lombard is on the team’s radar — Volpe said, “It’s not my job to be concerned with that. I’m here to help the team win. I’m ready to go every day to help the team.”

That includes, Volpe said, staying in touch with Lombard, who he played with at SWB while Volpe was rehabbing from offseason shoulder surgery and again when he was optioned to Triple-A once it ended.

“He’s doing well,” Volpe said. “I’ve talked to him a little bit, like I would with anyone else.”

Lombard, though, is not just somebody else.

Since coming back from an IL stint because of sprained fingers, Lombard has played well.

Entering Friday, in four games with SWB since his injury, Lombard was 9-for-17 with four extra-base hits.

Interestingly, Aaron Boone has not shied away from addressing Lombard in recent weeks as the 21-year-old plays his way into the conversation for a spot on the major league roster.

Before the Yankees opened a series against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, the manager noted that in addition to the superb defense Lombard has displayed since being drafted by the organization, he’s more recently developed physically and at the plate.

“He’s improved a lot offensively,’’ Boone said.

After pointing out how Lombard controls the strike zone and has “some power,” Boone spoke twice about his “hit-abilty.”

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

A National League scout who’s seen Lombard since his return from the IL agreed.

“He’s smarter up there and knows his strengths,’’ the scout said. “It’s what you want to see from a player with that much skill and that good of a work ethic.”

“He’s playing really well now,” Boone said. “Especially coming off the injury… He’s come back and it seems like he hasn’t missed a beat. His performance has been excellent. He brings a lot of things to the table.’’

The next question, which only the Yankees can answer, is if he’s ready to contribute to their playoff push this season.

He began this year at Double-A Somerset, having played two full minor league seasons out of high school.

And Lombard has played just 48 games at the Triple-A level.

As Boone said, he’s put “himself in the conversation.”

Asked what else the organization would need to see before calling him up, Boone said, “I don’t know. He’s done a great job. We’ll see.”

After Thursday night’s thrilling come-from-behind win to open the four-game series against the Royals, the tension was high all night as the Tigers, behind terrific pitching and just enough offence, squeaked-out a 2-1 victory on Friday night to ensure at least a series tie.

Tarik Skubal made his fifteenth start of the season; his previous one was a sensational, seven-inning spanking of the Angels in which he scattered five harmless hits, struck out nine and walked nary a soul. Now, there have been plenty of contrasting rumours about the future of Skubal with the Tigers, but can we please, please just focus on the actual baseball game in which he pitched? Thank you in advance.

Righty Beck Way — no relation to Beck, as far as I can tell — opened for Noah Cameron, a sturdy lefty who’s in his second season in the Major Leagues. Last year went well for him: 24 starts, an ERA a hair below 3, a WHIP right around 1.1, and fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting. This year’s been more of a struggle: his ERA coming into tonight’s game was over 5, his WHIP is north of 1.4, and a few of his recent starts have been drastically shortened by a plethora of walks. Perhaps the Royals’ brass thought an opener might just be what Cameron needed, and they may be onto something.

The Tigers put their first three batters on base with a pair of singles and a Dillon Dingler plunking. Riley Greene put one over the left-field fence but Isaac Collins stole the grand slam, reducing it to a simple sacrifice fly.

Hao-Yu Lee then poked a single up the middle to score Gleyber Torres to make it a 2-0 game. As it turns out, that’d be all the scoring they’d do… and it’d be enough.

In the top of the third the Royals got runners to second and third with a double and a walk, and a sacrifice bunt to skooch the runners up a base. Skubal said, “Relax, everyone, I’ve got this,” and struck out the next two batters to keep the Royals off the board… until the next inning, in which Salvador Perez led off with a double, riding home on Nick Loftin’s double to narrow the gap to 2-1.

Both pitchers settled in for a while, with Skubal being particularly efficient; after six innings Skubal had thrown a meagre 68 pitches, so if AJ Hinch was to try to take him out of the game at that point, fists might’ve gone flying in the dugout. Cameron was no slouch either, only allowing a handful of baserunners on a couple of hits and a couple of walks.

In the bottom of the sixth, Lee punched a double off the right-centrefield wall with two out. Alas, Zack McKinstry lined out to left for the third out to keep the score at 2-1.

Indeed, Skubal came back out for the seventh, in which he notched his season-high 12th strikeout, giving him 999 for his major league career. The Royals then put runners on second and third with two out, but Skubal induced a short, harmless fly ball to centre for the third out. After that he got a fist-bump from Hinch, so it looked like Skubal would start the eighth…

…which he did! He got the first out quickly, which was all Hinch wanted out of him, and his final line was sensational: 7 1/3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 12 K, 68 strikes out of 91 pitches (74.7%), 25 swings-and-misses. (That’s great.) Brenan Hanifee took over, got a pair of groundouts, and that was as deliciously uneventful as you’d ever want a relief appearance.

In the bottom of the eighth Gleyber Torres walked to lead off, and after a Dingler strikeout Greene hit a ground ball that was turned into an inning-ending double play. So, with a one-run lead, to whom would the Tigers turn for the final three outs?

As you might have expected it was Kenley Jansen, whose previous outing was an escape-job that would’ve made Houdini jealous. On the other hand, Jensen hasn’t allowed a run in July and has seemed a bit more in command of the cutter. How’d it go? Jac Caglianone flew out meekly to centre, Vinnie Pasquantino struck out swinging, and Nick Lotin popped up to Lee at second. Never a doubt.

But, alright, if you want to go ahead and speculate if this was Skubal’s final start in Detroit wearing a home uniform, I guess I can’t stop you. I’ve always found those endeavours were mere “micturation into the wind,” myself.

Final score: Tigers 2, Royals 1

A Blast from the Not-So-Distant Past

Numbers and Notes

• Before his three-run home run on Thursday night, James Outman wasn’t exactly lighting the world on fire with his bat. Coming into that game, he was 10-for-78 with an OPS of exactly .500.
• However, consider this: of his previous three home runs for the Tigers, two of them had been three-run homers. What did he hit on Thursday night? A three-run dinger, natch.
• The run in the top of the fourth by the Royals was the first they’d scored in 20 2/3 innings against Tarik Skubal.
• Pretty interesting visual essay/mini-documentary on The Foul Ball Epidemic. The more you think about it, the more sense it makes about why it’s such a big deal.
• On this day in 1983, George Brett hit a home run for the Kansas City Royals. That wasn’t terribly unusual — he hit 317 in his career, all with KC — but this one featured pine tar on his bat farther up than the allowed 18 inches from the end. Opposing manager Billy Martin of the Yankees was well aware of this, but waited for the most opportune time to call this to the umpires’ attention. The reaction of an enraged Brett tearing out of the dugout, looking to do great bodily harm to the collection of umpires, is priceless.

The Royals dropped yet another one-run game to the Tigers, their fifth in a row. But at least they didn’t give fans any real hope in this one as the Tigers won 2-1.

Here are two things that, had I said them two days ago, would not have made sense. The Tigers scored both of their runs in the first inning and Noah Cameron pitched seven scoreless innings. The Royals chose to use Beck Way as an opener in this one, but he loaded the bases before recording his first out. He almost gave up a grand slam to Riley Greene, but Isaac Collins managed to bring it back for a sacrifice fly. After a ground out, he allowed an RBI single to Hao-Yu Lee.

Noah Cameron looked as good as he ever has as the bulk reliever. He struck out 8 while allowing 2 hits and 3 walks in seven innings. I don’t know if using an opener for him will become the new norm or why it would have such a huge effect on him, but boy it worked tonight. One thing that stands out when looking at his pitch usage and stuff rates is that he really dialed back the four-seam fastball use in this one. For the season he has used it the most of any pitch at 27.2% despite it not being a particularly good pitch. Tonight he only used it 16.5% of the time, less than his cutter and changeup. He usually won’t use his cutter against lefties, but he was all too happy to do so tonight. That’s actually one of the changes I recommended on Royals Rundown earlier this week, so that was pretty gratifying.

Unfortunately, he was in a hole before he took the mound, and Tarik Skubal was on the other side.

In what may have been Skubal’s last start as a Tiger, he struck out 12 Royals – giving him 999 for his career. He also allowed four hits, all doubles. The Royals’ run came in the top of the fourth when Salvador Perez led off with a double and Nick Loftin came through with his own after two outs. The Royals’ other best opportunity came in the third inning when Isaac Collins led off with a double and Michael Massey walked. Tyler Tolbert put down a sacrifice bunt – in the third inning! And the Royals got what they deserved for such tactics when Carter Jensen and Lane Thomas struck out.

If you’re keeping track at home, that’s 7 scoreless for Cameron and 7.1 innings allowing 1 run for Skubal. I say Cameron outdueled him, but honestly it was just terrific pitching by both teams once Beck Way got past his first three batters. But those three counted, and the Royals lost.

In what might be considered a second bright spot, Jac Caglianone was feeling well enough to pinch hit for Starling Marte in the ninth and didn’t show any discomfort while flying out to shallow center.

The Royals will need to win tomorrow afternoon to have a shot at a series split. Michael Wacha (3.66 ERA, 4.37 SIERA) will face off against Casey Mize (2.79, 3.62). The game will be played at 12:10 PM Central.

Clay Holmes is on the cusp of returning to the mound, but the chances of it being for the Mets seem slim. 

That fact is not lost on Holmes, who addressed the looming Aug. 3 trade deadline on Friday after his first minor league rehab start for Triple-A Syracuse.

In addition to recovering from a fractured right fibula over the past two-plus months, the veteran pitcher has also had to come to terms with the possibility of playing for a different team by the time he is fully healed. 

“It’s different, for sure,” he said before the Mets opened a 10-game homestand against the Dodgers. “It’s just a unique scenario. I think the timing of just this injury, just the unforeseen kind of circumstances are with the team. I think all that together has just put together a very unique, weird scenario here. Sometimes it’s easy to let your mind wander, and there’s a lot of things out there that you can’t really control. You do know that there’ll be some impact on your future, but I think just as an athlete, especially me right now, I want to be pitching my best, whether that’s here or somewhere else these last two months. 

“I just need to really be locked in on just the things I can do, things I can do on the mound, and hopefully the other things take care of themselves.” 

Asked if extension talks between the Mets and his agent ever went anywhere, Holmes said he didn’t think “there was a ton there.” 

The 33-year-old has a $12 million player option for 2027 and is widely expected to decline in order to enter free agency this upcoming winter. Considering Holmes is one of the few bright spots on the team, the Mets certainly recognize him as one of their top trade chips. 

Holmes posted a 2.39 ERA over nine starts and 52 ²/₃ innings before getting struck by a comebacker on May 15. 

“I don’t know. We’ll see how this week goes,” Holmes said when asked what the next steps in his rehab are. “We haven’t really had a ton of discussion about it yet, but there’s always that part of you that is like, ‘Man, I can pitch in a game. And feel like I can pitch in the big leagues.’ I think some of that’s just kind of how you’re wired as an athlete. So we’ll just see where we’re at, seek everybody’s opinion. Feel good, feel ready to compete, feel like I can compete anywhere. We just see how this week goes to see what’s next.” 

In his rehab start on Thursday against the RailRiders, Holmes gave up two runs on three hits, walked two batters and struck out two over 2 ¹/₃ innings.

He threw 28 strikes over his 51 total pitches. 

According to Holmes, the recovery process was pretty seamless.

He said he met all the timelines that were set before him and felt like there were “no huge roadblocks” at any point. 

“I think in this timeline of being back, around or before August 1, was definitely ambitious,” Holmes said. “And you know, here we are looking at it. I think just the plan that the training staff has put in place has been great. We’ve executed it really well, and the ankle’s responded really well. It can be a tricky thing when you deal with a non-throwing arm injury because there’s just a balance of being able to keep the arm ready and keeping, in my case, the ankle in a good place and making sure you just don’t really … ankle may be good, but you still can’t over-push the rest of the body. 

“I think just the balance we’ve kept with that has been really good. So I’m really happy where I’m at and how I feel. Very thankful for that.”

Juan Soto can add actor to his résumé.

MLB’s highest-paid player was seen filming a cameo in the Mets dugout on Friday for an upcoming baseball romantic comedy called “The Catch,” starring Emma Stone and Chris Pine.

Stone was at Citi Field for the shot, which captured Soto exiting the dugout in a scene for the movie scheduled for release on May 21, 2027. 

Dave McCary, who is married to Stone, is directing the film produced by Universal Pictures. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, plot details are being kept close to the vest.

There is word, however, that Stone portrays “the most hated woman in baseball.”

Pine reportedly plays a baseball player. 

Tim Robbins, Sissy Spacek and “Saturday Night Live” breakout star Ashley Padilla have also been cast in the movie.

While Robbins is set to play Stone’s father, Spacek will be playing an aunt. 

PHILADELPHIA — José Caballero insists he is not mad. 

His reaction the last few days to the league tweaking its pitch clock rules (or interpretations) in response to his season-long routine in the batter’s box would suggest otherwise, but even after an off day Thursday, the Yankees utilityman said he was still lacking clarity on what he could and could not do. 

“I’m not mad at anyone,” Caballero said Friday before going 0-for-3 in the Yankees’ 1-0 win over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. “I just want to be a baseball player.” 

Pitch clock rules state that a batter must be in the box and alert to the pitcher by the time there are eight seconds left on the clock. Caballero did that Wednesday (he was actually alert at nine seconds) but was still hit with a pitch-clock violation because, as he has done all season, he spent the seconds before the eight-second mark in the box but looking down until the last possible second. 

Unbeknownst to Caballero and the Yankees, MLB decided to crack down on his tactics beginning Wednesday, restricting hitters from attempting “to deceive a pitcher into beginning their windup or coming to the set position.” 

Caballero, though, does not see it as deception but rather his routine, which meant entering Friday’s game against the Phillies — he did not play the nightcap of Wednesday’s doubleheader — he was still trying to figure out a new routine in the batter’s box. 

“I have to see from when I get in the box,” Caballero said. “We’ll see.” 

On Friday, Caballero seemed to be a mix of despondent and still ticked off as he discussed his new reality. His first four answers to questions on the subject were all one word. He had a brief conversation with the league between Wednesday’s games — he said Mike Hill, MLB’s senior vice president of on-field operations, was on the phone and then passed it to “someone else” — but it only lasted a few minutes and clearly was not satisfactory, in his view. 

Caballero indicated again that he felt like he is getting picked on, but that he would not continue trying to push the issue. 

“They [the league] are above and they control everything,” Caballero said. “We ain’t figuring this out. They say what they had to say. They’re the league, they control [things]. I just have to obey.” 

Aaron Boone said he has also had multiple conversations with Hill about the issue — as he has all season — and indicated they “have to be” OK with where things stood as of Friday. 

Asked if it was worth Caballero continuing to push the issue, Boone pushed back. 

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“Worth what?” Boone said. “Worth having a routine and getting in there and being alert at nine seconds? I mean, I’ve heard the thing of, ‘He’s the only one that does it.’ Every hitter is the only one that does something. At the end of the day, they decide the rules. We have to try to comply with them, which we certainly have done, but obviously there needs to be some kind of adjustment, so we’ll do that. 

“At the end of the day, it’s about going out there and playing and being productive. That’s what we’re trying to do.” 

To that end, aside from all the back-and-forth with his routine in the box, Caballero has not been productive consistently enough with the bat. Over his last 25 games entering Friday, he was hitting just .193 with a .549 OPS, part of the reason (along with struggles from fellow shortstop Anthony Volpe) why the calls for top prospect George Lombard Jr. have only grown louder in recent days. 

“Kind of up and down,” Boone said of Caballero’s at-bats over the past month. “He’s had some big at-bats. … I think as a group, we’ve all gone through it a little bit where everyone’s probably capable of a little bit more. We’ve kind of all gone through it a little bit together. As a result, as a team over the last month, we haven’t been as good as we expect offensively. We all need to get going a little bit more.” 

But Boone did not sound worried about Caballero losing his edge — annoying pitchers by playing the game within the game — because of the new rule interpretation. 

“He’s a killer,” Boone said. “He knows how to play and he’ll do what he needs to do to adjust.”