Category: Baseball

TORONTO — Trent Grisham continued a red-hot run Friday night, but it came at a cost.

After roping a two-run single in the sixth inning, Grisham took second base on the throw home and got hurt doing so, leaving the Yankees’ 8-5 loss to the Blue Jays with right hamstring tightness.

Grisham said he felt it rounding first base but that it was “too early to tell” what his level of concern was.

“We’ll see where it wakes up [Saturday],” said Grisham, who almost immediately began walking off the field after sliding into second base. “Hopefully, it’s good news, no IL, but we’ll see.”

Manager Aaron Boone indicated that Grisham could go for tests in the coming days, but nothing was planned immediately.

If Grisham is forced to the injured list, which would not be surprising given how he needs his legs to play center field, the Yankees likely would activate Jasson Domínguez off the IL to replace him on the roster, with Spencer Jones potentially taking over regular center field duties.

Domínguez, who homered in his fifth rehab game Friday night while coming back from a left AC joint sprain — and playing right field for the third straight game — initially was scheduled to play another game at Triple-A on Saturday, but those plans were up in the air with Grisham’s status.

“There’s a chance we bring [Domínguez] up, depending on Grish,” Boone said. “It just depends. We’ll see what we have overnight and in the morning. But Jasson could be in play.”

The timing of the injury is brutal for Grisham, who entered Friday batting .377 with a 1.014 OPS over his last 18 games — having reached base multiple times in 12 of those games — and .285 with a .832 OPS over his last 34 games.

After a relatively healthy start to the season, the Yankees have taken on a pile of injuries of late. They have Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Austin Wells, Max Fried and Domínguez all on the IL.

Instead of a starting outfield of Cody Bellinger, Grisham and Judge, that unit by Saturday could feature Bellinger, Jones and Domínguez.

“It’s part of it,” Boone said. “Everyone kind of deals with it. Fortunately, as we’ve talked about all year, I feel like it’s one of the deeper rosters we’ve had in a while. So we got capable people of going in there and picking up any slack left. You never like key guys going down of course, but in a long season, that’s unfortunately part of it sometimes.

“Another opportunity for potentially a couple really good players that are stepping in. We’re not hoping on guys that can’t play. We’ll weather it and look forward to getting more and more guys back in the mix.”

After a series victory at home against the Twins, the Tigers headed around the corner of Lake Erie to take on another division rival in Cleveland for a three-game weekend series. The Detroiters could only manage a pair of solo home runs in a losing effort, dropping the opener 3-2 on Friday night.

Jack Flaherty made his fifteenth start for the Tigers, and much has been said about his inconsistency. The good news coming into tonight was that, in his previous three starts, he hadn’t been that bad — pitched into the sixth, gave up a maximum of three runs, struck out at least six each time. With some starting pitchers due to come back from the Injured List soon, you have to wonder if Flaherty stays in the rotation with some of the young kids doing well.

Like Flaherty, Cleveland’s starting pitcher had a 1-7 record coming into tonight’s game, being one Tanner Bibee. But Bibee’s peripheral numbers look a lot better than Flaherty’s: ERA (4.09 vs. 5.31), WHIP (1.234 vs. 1.580), BB/9 (4.8 vs. 2.8). He’s in his fourth year with the Guardians, and he’s been a good, reliable part of their rotation since coming up in 2023 — not to mention a sensational start against Detroit in May. But these are the June Tigers, though, right?

The Tigers had an early squander: with one out in the top of the first, Bibee walked a pair of batters… and then both Dillon Dingler and Kerry Carpenter struck out, stranding a pair. As it turns out, that would be about as close to a sustained threat they’d have all night.

Cleveland got on the board first in the bottom of the second: Rhys Hoskins led off with a double, and Flaherty got the next two batters to fly out harmlessly. Up to the plate stepped a sub-.160 hitter, Patrick Bailey — great defensive catcher, not a world-beater in the batter’s box by any means — and he dumped a liner into left field to score Hoskins. Brayan Rocchio followed with a triple to right to score Bailey and put Cleveland up 2-0. By the end of the second, Flaherty had thrown 49 pitches, suggesting he might not go too deep in this game for any reason. But hey, Newest Tiger™ James Outman made a nice sliding catch.

Naturally, leading off the third, Outman — not known for his bat the past couple of years — crushed a no-doubter to right-centre to narrow the score to 2-1.

Flaherty’s night was shortened by injury, coming out after three innings — he grimaced while fielding a grounder to end the third with “left leg discomfort.” Other Newest Tiger™, Jacob Waguespack, started the fourth. He pitched in Toronto in 2019-20, pitched a couple of years in Japan, then spent a couple of years mostly at Triple-A, before being added to the Tigers today out of Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate in Nashville. He gave up a single and a walk but ended up getting three outs without any damage.

Drew Sommers took over for Waguespack in the fifth to face a few fellow lefties, and he gave up a harmless single but nothing more. Meanwhile, Bibee was cruising pretty easily: through six innings he’d only thrown 79 pitches, and Outman’s home run was the only hit he’d surrendered.

Drew Number Two (i.e., Anderson) relieved Sommers in the sixth and it didn’t go as well: with one out Angel Martínez doubled, and Steven Kwan — who’s lousy this year against everyone except us — singled to score Martínez and push the lead back up to two runs. Bailey legged-out an infield single (of course) to put a pair on, but a strikeout and a flyout prevented further damage.

The reliever parade continued with Ty Madden for the seventh, and he gave up a one-out double but the runner was stranded and the game carried on with a two-run gap ‘twixt the squadrons.

Spencer Torkelson had something to say about that, though, leading off the eighth:

That was the end of Bibee’s day; giving up two solo home runs as your only hits in seven-plus innings is a weird final line.

Cade Smith was brought in to nail down the save for Cleveland in the ninth; with two out Dingler made a bid for a game-tying home run but unfortunately the fly ball fell short of the fence, and that was the game.

Final score: Guardians 3, Tigers 2

Notes and Observances

• Tarik Skubal’s starting on Saturday.
• Casey Mize is starting on Sunday.
• Who goes to the bullpen? Toledo? Trading block? Released?
• Apparently it’s okay to have two Drews in the bullpen, but not two Zachs/Zacks on the field. Got it.
• Marv Albert, Chick Corea and Roy Harper were all born on this day in 1941. Neat!

The Yankees' outfield depth is about to be tested after Trent Grisham had to exit Friday's game against the Blue Jays with what the team calls right hamstring tightness.

While the nature of Grisham's injury isn't yet known, it seemed that the veteran outfielder pulled up lame rounding first and made an awkward slide into second on a throw home after he hit a two-run single in the sixth inning. Grisham finished 1-for-4, but that single cut Toronto's lead to 7-5 at the time.

A 2-run hit for Trent Grisham, but he’s coming out of the game after advancing to second base on the throw home pic.twitter.com/PeizHZm3ma

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) June 13, 2026

This is not the first time Grisham has had to exit a game against the Blue Jays this season. Back on May 20, Grisham had left knee discomfort legging out a double. The injury didn't land Grisham on the IL, but it's unclear if the same will happen this time around.

Grisham was replaced in the outfield by Max Schuemann, who moved to right field to allow Spencer Jones to man center.

The Yankees already have Aaron Judge and Jasson Dominguez on the IL, with the latter close to returning. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said the plan was for Dominguez to get a couple of more rehab games this weekend with Triple-A before they decide on whether to activate him. If Grisham needs an IL stint, the Yankees may be forced to bring Dominguez back sooner than they originally planned. 

Grisham is having a solid season. He's batting .232 with eight home runs with an OPS of .747 while playing great defense in center every day for the Yankees. 

SAN FRANCISCO — Almost four months since pitchers and catchers reported for spring training, there are still plenty of firsts for the Giants’ rookie manager. 

An easy one he waited until Friday to knock out: Naming a closer.

“[Caleb] Kilian will close for us,” Tony Vitello declared before the Giants opened a three-game series against the Cubs, departing from their previous by-committee approach.

“We talked to several of those guys about just getting more organized. …The bullpen’s all about chaos, but the more you can have a baseline, I think it brings out the best in the group.”

The decision represents a quick about-face from Vitello, who as recently as this past Sunday commended the group for “being so great all year long” even though “we haven’t really had defined roles. It’s kind of been organized chaos.”

The news also coincides with the return of the last pitcher to formally hold the closer’s title in San Francisco, Ryan Walker, who was called up from a month-long assignment in the minor leagues.

Walker saved 30 games over the past three seasons but struggled last year and never reclaimed the role in spring training. He is 3-for-6 in save situations this season — one of eight pitchers Vitello has turned to in the Giants’ 21 save opportunities, including two on their last road trip who weren’t Kilian.

Keaton Winn, with his devastating splitter, seemed to be being primed to take over the role after receiving four recent late-inning opportunities. But he allowed the tying or go-ahead runs in two of those chances, including one on his third straight day of action that went awry.

Kilian is second to Walker with five save opportunities, converting four of them with a 3.34 ERA.

“I just think he’s done well in that spot,” Vitello said. “It also is a combination of what other guys need to do or can do for us. He wants the ball in that situation.”

Vitello hasn’t had many reliable options, adding an extra wrinkle to his duties managing a major league bullpen for the first time. Since the end of April, the Giants’ ragtag group of relievers have posted a 5.35 ERA that ranks third worst in the majors.

As the skipper attempts to instill some more order, Walker has a new role, too: fireman.

“Obviously he’s been in as big of a situation as you can imagine,” Vitello said. “A big thing for Walk is being able to come in and be the fireman in particular situations that might pop up really anytime after the starter leaves the game.”

In other words, the Giants will trust Walker to handle the biggest situations before the ninth inning. Winn and J.T. Brubaker can both handle multiple innings in the middle, and Vitello has been impressed with Dylan Smith since he was called up last week.

Once it gets to the ninth, the inning belongs to Kilian.

At least for now.

“Right now, I’m here to get my job done, whatever that job is,” Walker said. “But my ultimate goal is definitely to get back into those high-leverage positions and eventually climb my way back into that closer role.”

Walker was 3-for-4 in save opportunities with a 3.00 ERA on April 25 but allowed runs in each of his final five outings, blowing two saves, before being optioned back to the minors.

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It was the first time Walker had been sent back to the minors since he got his initial callup in May 2023, on the same day as former catcher Patrick Bailey.

“It didn’t really surprise me in a way,” he said. “I knew at some point it was probably going to happen. When it did happen, I didn’t hang my head. I was very positive. I told myself, OK, this is going to be a great time to work on your craft.”

Walker first went to the Giants’ facilities in Arizona for about a week, where he worked with Matt Yourkin, their pitching rehab coordinator, to sort through his issues before reporting to Triple-A Sacramento. He had issued 10 walks in 15 ⅓ innings at the time of his demotion.

The two made some small changes to his hyper-rotational cross-fire delivery that appear to have helped him regain his command. Besides one subpar outing, Walker issued only one walk over seven other appearances, including two that spanned multiple innings.

Rather than trying to stay parallel to the rubber in his motion, he’s now at a slight angle.

“Now I can almost have a straight shot to where my landing spot is. It became a lot more consistent,” Walker said. “Once the mechanics kind of cleared up, I noticed the bounce-back was so much easier. Things were moving the way they should.”

The Mets identify as a disappointment, and the possibility their plight will worsen over the 23-game stretch that began Friday night is very real.

With two perennial NL East threats (the Braves and Phillies) scheduled as opponents in 13 of those games, the Mets realize they have perhaps reached a critical juncture in the schedule.

“Definitely, I think this stretch can tell us a lot about who we are,” Bo Bichette said before the Mets faced the Braves at Citi Field.

Who are the Mets at the moment? A team that got buried in April with a 12-game losing streak that hasn’t played nearly well enough to overcome that early horrid play.

The Mets began the day 30-38, trailing the first-place Braves (who own MLB’s best record) by 15 games in the NL East. The resurgent Phillies, under manager Don Mattingly following Rob Thomson’s firing, began play leading by 1 ½ games for the NL’s second wild card.

“We have just got to show up and win as many games as we can — whether we’re playing those teams or somebody else,” Bichette said. “I don’t think chasing someone is the goal. Maybe in late September if we find ourselves in that situation that could be a goal, but right now we have just got to focus on what we can every day.”

Three big lineup pieces remain sidelined: Francisco Lindor, Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr., Nevertheless, their respective returns might be a moot point if the hole in which the Mets are submerged gets any larger.

“Where we are in the season, where we are from a record standpoint, regardless of who we would be playing over the next month, is going to have an added level of importance,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “This is an important time of year for us.”

Stearns was asked why anybody should believe the Mets can still have a shot at a turnaround.

“We’ve got to prove that things are going to change,” Stearns said. “There is no question we have played better since April, but we still haven’t played consistent enough to get out of the hole we dug, and we’re very aware of that. We have to prove it. I continue to believe we have the people in the clubhouse who are capable of doing this.”

The Mets opened the homestand with two losses in three games to the Cardinals after going 3-3 on their last road trip. Since the end of April, the Mets were 20-17 entering play.

“Every series is like a measuring stick, especially where we are at,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “But we’re facing a real good team with the best record in baseball, but I think it’s about us playing our best baseball, and whether we’re playing the Braves it doesn’t matter.

“Our job is to go out there and start playing consistent baseball, winning baseball. So, whether it’s this weekend, it doesn’t matter who we are playing. It starts tonight.”

Bichette was asked what stood out to him about the Braves.

“The same thing that stands out to anybody about them over the past five years,” Bichette said. “They had a down season last year, but they are a proud group with a lot of talent. All their players play every day, too, and it’s tough to find that. They have got everything you need.”

Go Rays!

The Colorado Rockies are opening a six-game road trip tonight with three games against the Athletics in Las Vegas, where the A’s are playing a rare ‘home’ series away from their temporary home in Sacramento. After this series, the Rockies head to Wrigley Field for three against the Chicago Cubs.

The nomadic Athletics enter at 33-35, and only two games out of first place in a middling AL West. They are 5-4 to start June and are coming off taking two of three from the same Milwaukee Brewers team that swept the Rockies last week.

The A’s are not a complete team, but they can hit.

They rank seventh in baseball with a .735team OPS, led by Nick Kurtz (162 OPS+) and Shea Langeliers (135 OPS+). The pitching and defense have lagged behind, with Oakland ranking 27th in starter ERA, 21st in relief ERA, and 25th in Defensive Runs Saved.

Colorado enters the Vegas series at 26-43, but the Rockies are 4-5 through nine June games after taking two of three from the Cubs. That was a needed bounce-back after the Brewers series.

There has also been recent prospect intrigue. Cole Carrigg, the Rockies’ No. 4 PuRP, was called up and clubbed his first big-league homer, and now left-hander Sean Sullivan (No. 8 PuRP) has been promoted to make his MLB debut tonight.

Sullivan, 23, has made 11 starts for Triple-A Albuquerque this season, posting a 5.60 ERA over 54.2 innings with 50 strikeouts, 19 walks.

Sullivan is not a power lefty. He works from a funky delivery and leans on a broad pitch mix: a four-seam fastball (40.1%), sweeper (25.6%), cutter (17.2%), changeup (14.3%), and occasional slider (2.7%). The fastball generally lives around 88-90 mph, with the cutter in the 85-87 mph range, the changeup around 78-80 mph, and the sweeper closer to 76-78 mph.

Sullivan has not missed bats at the same rate he did earlier in his minor-league career, and hitters have made frequent contact against him, especially in the zone. The contact has not been especially loud, though. His hard-hit rate is 30.1%, and his xERA is 4.81, which is more forgiving than the traditional ERA suggests.

He has limited hard contact and kept the walk rate manageable, but the lower strikeout rate and 10 home runs in 11 starts leave real questions about how thin the margin is. Tonight gives the Rockies a first look at how the pitch mix, deception, and contact-management traits translate against big-league hitters.

The Athletics will counter with another rookie left-hander in Gage Jump. Jump came into the year ranked as the No. 38 prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline and the No. 3 prospect in the Athletics system. The 23-year-old southpaw is making just the fourth start of his major-league career.

Jump enters at 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 13 strikeouts, and five walks across 18.1 innings. After allowing four runs in his MLB debut, he has settled in quickly. He held the Cubs to one run on three hits over seven innings on June 2, then shut out the Astros over 6.1 innings on June 7, allowing just three hits while walking three. Across those two starts, he has allowed one run on six hits over 13.1 innings, though the strikeout total has been modest at five.

Jump brings more traditional left-handed power stuff than Sullivan. He has leaned on a four-seam fastball (49%) at 96.4 mph, while mixing in a slider (24%) at 87.7 mph, a changeup (10%) at 88.2 mph, a sweeper (9%) at 84.5 mph, and a curveball (9%) at 82.3 mph.

Jump’s xERA sits at 3.47, and hitters have not made a ton of loud contact against him, with a 30.2% hard-hit rate. His strikeout rate is only 17.8% in the majors with a 21.3% whiff rate, so the swing-and-miss has not fully carried over yet. That said, he struck out 56 batters in 38 Triple-A innings this season.

Sterlin Thompson and Carrigg both faced Jump earlier this season in Las Vegas on May 20th. Thompson went 1-for-3 with a single and a strikeout, while Carrigg went 0-for-2 with a strikeout and a flyout. Albuquerque eventually scored six runs in the ninth inning to stun Las Vegas, 6-5.

Gage could create a tough matchup for a Rockies lineup that has had trouble with left-handed pitching. As a team, Colorado is hitting .239 with a .644 OPS against lefties this season. Jump has the velocity, five-pitch mix, and prospect pedigree to make this difficult if the Rockies let him settle in.

So, can Sullivan give the Rockies a useful debut, can the offense do enough against another talented rookie lefty, and can the Rockies pull out a late-night win in Las Vegas?

Now for the details…

First Pitch: 8:05 p.m. MDT

TV: Rockies.TV

Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150

Athletics SB Nation Site:Athletics Nation

Lineups:

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks! 

After a day off yesterday the A’s are back at it tonight, welcoming the Colorado Rockies to Las Vegas Ballpark for a three-game weekend series against the worst team in the National League. The Rockies sit at 26-43 and are already gauging the upcoming trade market to see what they can offload on contenders. A big weekend in a minor league, hitter-friendly ballpark could help boost some of their trade chips’ values but the A’s will be hoping for a dominant weekend against a lesser opponent.

Tonight’s starting pitcher for the Athletics will be rookie Gage Jump. The left-hander is set to make his fourth career start and first of many in Las Vegas. So far in the early going he’s been as advertised, especially in his last two contests. After having some debut jitters he’s fired off seven innings of one-run ball against the Chicago Cubs before pitching 6 1/3 shutout baseball against the Houston Astros. He’ll be tasked with keeping that going against a Rockies lineup that is short on big bats.

The starting lineup for tonight’s series opener looks like this:

The team welcomes shortstop Jacob Wilson back to the starting lineup for the first time in a month after he was activated off the IL earlier in the day. The team did lose usual DH Brent Rooker to the IL in exchange for Wilson though. Backup catcher Jonah Heim draws the first start without Rook and he could get plenty of at bats while the regular DH is down. The rest of the lineup looks about as you’d expect versus an opposing lefty. Colby Thomas over Lawrence Butlsr in right, and Zack Gelof over Jeff McNeil at the keystone. The only lefties in the starting lineup are Nick Kurtz and Tyler Soderstrom (though Heim is a switch-hitter).

That lineup will be facing Colorado rookie Sean Sullivan, who will be making his big league debut this evening. It’s a rough assignment for your first big league start as he’ll be pitching in a minor league ballpark where the ball absolutely flies. Add in he’s facing a hot A’s lineup and the expectations can’t be too high for the young left-hander, a former second-round pick and considered a top-10 prospect in a weak Rockies farm system. In 11 starts in Triple-A this year Sullivan has a 5.60 ERA in the hitter-friendly PCL.

And here’s how the Rockies will line up tonight against Gage Jump:

The Rockies don’t have much in the way of big bats. Catcher Hunter Goodman has 18 long balls and rookie first baseman TJ Rumfield is hitting well in his first big league action while outfielder Troy Johnson is holding his own, but they also come into this series down one of their better hitters in Mickey Monika. Jump can handle these guys but we’ll see how Las Vegas Ballpark plays tonight.

We gotta take all three of these games this weekend. Let’s go A’s!

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SAN FRANCISCO — Friday notes…

• MAYBE TRY WINNING THE SERIES OPENER?: The Cubs have lost the first game in each of their last seven series and eight of their last nine. Since winning the final game of their second 10-game streak at Texas on May 8, their only first-game win was at the White Sox on May 15. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• MAYBE THIS WILL HELP?: The Cubs are 8-14 in all first games and 3-8 on the road. But they are 3-3 in first games on the road after having won the final game of their previous series. They are 11-11 in second games, 13-9 in third games and 3-0 in fourth games. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• THE UNFRIENDLY CITY BY THE BAY: The Cubs went 1-6 at San Francisco the past two years, winning the last of four games in 2024. They lost the first game in six of their last seven visits to the Bay Area. The lone first-game win was in 2023, the only year they won a series there since 2013, when they swept three games. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• STILL A HOT HITTER: Pete Crow-Armstrong is on a 15-game on-base streak in which he is batting .359/.423/.688 (23-for-64) with four doubles, a triple, five home runs, nine RBI, 12 runs scored and three stolen bases.

Cubs lineup:

Giants lineup:

Javier Assad, RHP vs. Landen Roupp, RHP

Javier Assad was magnificent against the Giants last Sunday — 6.1 innings of one-hit relief. He retired the last 15 Giants he faced.

Maybe it’s a bit much to ask but… Javier, can you do that again tonight?

Landen Roupp threw 5.1 innings against the Cubs last Saturday at Wrigley Field and allowed three hits and one run.

So you’d think maybe this will be a low-scoring game. But that’s not the way baseball works, right? Roupp got hit pretty hard in his previous start, June 1 vs. the Brewers.

As always, we await developments.

Here is the weather forecast for the area around Oracle Park.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network.

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

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The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.

You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

After taking 2 out of 3 from the New York Mets, the St. Louis Cardinals travel to Minnesota to take on the Twins. Friday night, it’s Kyle Leahy on the mound for the Cardinals as he’ll do battle with Joe Ryan, the starter for the Twins. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10pm central time at Target Field. The broadcast will be available via Cardinals.tv. It’s the major league debut for Blaze Jordan tonight.

The start of the weekend series between the Mets and Atlanta Braves at Citi Field will be delayed due to bad weather, the team announced.

Just under half an hour after Friday's original 7:10 p.m. start time, the Mets announced first pitch would be at 8:30 p.m.

New York was set to have Nolan McLean take the mound. The young right-hander has pitched to a 3-4 record and a 3.98 ERA. McLean is coming off a strong start against the Padres, when he allowed just one run on three hits across six innings of work.

The Braves were set to have Spencer Strider take the mound. The flamethrowing right-hander is 4-01 with a 4.00 ERA this season. Strider allowed three runs on five hits across 5.0 innings against the Pirates his last time out, and has allowed at least three runs in each of his last four starts. 

The Royals start the final series of their Texas homestand tonight, hosting the Houston Astros. Most analysts figured the Royals needed to go 4-2 on this homestand if they wanted to continue to work their way back from the depths they sank to with all their early-season losing. That’s still technically on the table if they can sweep Houston. A sweep would start with a win tonight in what might be the most difficult pitching matchup of the series.

Luinder Avila has been much better in his second stab at starting at the big league level, but there are still a lot of questions. Like whether a 1.80 ERA is sustainable with an 8-7 K-BB ratio. Or whether he can ever pitch into the sixth inning. There’s no doubt he has the stuff to be a successful big league pitcher, but the biggest question is whether he can ever harness it well enough to be a consistent big league starter. He’s going to have at least a couple more weeks to try and show it.

Tatsuya Imai has had a weird start to his career with the Astros, who were determined to land one of the three Japanese stars that were posted last off-season to go with their Japanese-company-named ballpark. Since they had too many infielders already, they got the starting pitcher. He had a bit of a rough start, but he has pitched much better his last three times out. That includes the first six innings of a combined no-hitter against the Rangers on May 25.

Technically, Imai has a 6-pitch mix, but he primarily throws his goofy slider (meaning it’s thrown like a slider, but moves backwards from how they normally do), closely followed by a four-seam fastball. He struggles to throw his pitches in the zone – even in that no-hitter, he walked 4 while striking out 2 – but the slider can get chase and whiffs. His fastball averages 94.8 MPH, which is downright reasonable in modern baseball. He throws a sinker about 9.8% of the time, but it can get hit pretty hard. He’s thrown 14 splitters, 14 changeups, and 6 curveballs all year, so you can probably just ignore those pitch types.

Lineups

If you’ve been wondering what it would take for the Royals to bat Salvador Perez lower than fifth, you finally have your answer. All it took was Salvy with a .245 OBP and .135 ISO (the absolute lowest of his career, even when he came up with no power.) Plus Jac Caglianone hitting better than Bobby Freaking Witt Jr. (Jac has an .808 OPS to Bobby’s .799.) I still wish Michael Massey was ahead of him, too, but I guess we should be grateful for what crumbs the team will give us in this regard. For all people have been furious with the underperformance of Isaac Collins – batting ninth today – his second-worst-in-the-lineup OPS is still 60 points higher than Sal’s. What a disaster.

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Houston Astros (31-39) continue a six-game road trip with the first game of a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals (28-41) tonight at Kauffman Stadium.

RHP Tatsuya Imai (3-3, 5.24 ERA) will be on the mound for the Astros, opposite RHP Luinder Avila (1-2, 4.02 ERA) and the Royals.

ABOUT IMAI: RHP Tatsuya Imai is set to make his ninth career Major League start tonight and his fifth since returning from the IL after a bout with right arm fatigue.

He’s performed better since his return, particularly in his last four starts in which he’s posted a 2.91 ERA (7ER/21.2IP) with a .176 (13×74) opponent average and a 1.02 WHIP.

In January, the Astros signed Imai to a three-year deal. In 2025, he was an All-Star for the Seibu Lions in the NPB in Japan, where he went 10-5 with a 1.92 ERA (35ER/163.2IP) in 24 games.

ABOUT THE NO-NO: On May 25 at TEX, RHP Tatsuya Imai st arted the Astros 17th regular season no-hitter and their 18th no-hitter overall in club history. Imai worked the first 6.0 hitless innings before giving way to LHP Steven Okert (1IP) and RHP Alimber Santa (2IP).

The no-hitter was the Astros seventh since 2019, which is the most in the Majors in that span. Additionally, the Astros 18 no-hitters overall are the most in the Majors since the franchise was born in 1962.

ROAD TRIP: The Astros traveled to Kansas City on Wednesday night after facing the Los Angeles for a three-game series.

The Astros went 1-2 in Anaheim. The Astros will continue their six-game road trip tonight with the first game of a three-game series against the Royals. The Astros are 15-20 on the road this season and went 7-3 on their last road trip.

PEN PALS: Since May 15, the Astros bullpen has recorded a 2.53 ERA (24ER/85.1IP) with 82 strikeouts, a 1,00 WHIP and a .169 opponent batting average.

Among AL teams since May 15, the Astros bullpen ranks first in opponent batting average, first in WHIP and first in ERA…the Astros are also 14-11 during since May 15.

HIT PAREDES: IF Isaac Paredes is one double away from recording his 100th career double. He is looking to become just the 4th Mexican-born player in MLB history with 500 career hits, 100 doubles and 100 home runs, joining IF Vinny Castilla, IF Jorge Orta and IF Aurelio Rodríguez.

ON THE MEND: RHP Hunter Brown allowed two runs (one earned run) on three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in five innings on Wed. night in a rehab start with Triple A Sugar Land.

C Yainer Diaz went 0x3 with a walk and caught seven innings last night in a rehab appearance with Triple A Sugar Land.

TODAY’S ROSTER MOVE: Following Wed. night’s game, the Astros optioned IF Shay Whitcomb to Triple A Sugar Land. To take his place on the active roster, the Astros selected IF Raynel Delgado (#29) to the Major League roster today. To make room for Delgado on the 40-man roster, the Astros designated RHP Ryan Weiss for assignment today.

MAKING THE PLAYS: The Astros are tied for the fewest errors in the AL (28) with the Athletics. Houston has posted the best fielding percentage (.988) in the AL, topping the Athletics (.988), Royals (.988) and Mariners (.988) by a few percentage points.

VS. THE ROYALS: The Astros and Royals are facing each other for the first time this season. The Astros went 3-3 against the Royals last season, including a 1-2 record at Kauffman Stadium. The Astros own a 58-49 record all-time record against the Royals, including a 29-24 record at Kauffman Stadium.

ON THE LEADERBOARD: DH Yordan Alvarez leads the Majors in OPS (1.066), SLG (.636) and total bases (157) and leads the AL in home runs (22). Also in the AL, he ranks tied for first in extra-base hits (35), second in OBP (.430), second in batting average (.316),tied for third in RBI (48), third in hits (78), fourth in walks (46) and tied for fifth in runs (46).

ON BASE MACHINE: OF Yordan Alvarez is on a 18-game on-base streak. During the streak, he’s batting .355 (22×62) with 16 runs, two doubles, seven home runs, 17 RBI, 15 walks and a 1.207 OPS.. It is his second-longest on-base streak this season, behind a 22-game on-base streak from April 4-28.

AL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: On Monday, OF Yordan Alvarez was named the AL Player of the Week for the week of June 1-7. For the week, he batted .476 (10×21) with six runs, one double, two HR, nine RBI, five walks and a 1.386 OPS.

WALKER, TEXAS HAMMER: 1B Christian Walker ranks tied for third in the AL in RBI with teammate DH Yordan Alvarez (48). Walker also ranks tied for fifth in the AL in extra-base hits (30), tied for sixth in total bases (127), tied for seventh in home runs (16) and 11th in SLG (.494).

In the field, Walker has not committed an error in 68 games.

MOVIN’ ON UP: RHP Bryan Abreu recorded his 343rd career appearance on Wed. night at LAA surpassing RHP Ryan Pressly (342g) for the sixth-most relief appearances in Astros franchise history.

Abreu is five appearances shy of tying LHP Joe Sambito (348g) for the fifth-most relief appearances in franchise history.

TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY: 2019 – The Astros set a franchise record with 24 strikeouts in a 14-inning, 6-3, loss to the Brewers in Houston. The game is played in a crisp four hours and 16 minutes. RHP Justin Verlander does most of the work, striking out a career-high 15 batters in 7.0 innings pitched. This start was one of many excellent starts for Verlander in 2019, en route to earning his second career Cy Young.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Friday, June 12, 7:10 p.m. CT

Location: Kaufmann Stadium, Kansas City, MO

TV: Space City Home Network

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

A weekend trip to the south side of Chicago. No Shohei Ohtani in this one, after suffering knee inflammation Thursday night.

Friday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at White Sox
• Ballpark: Rate Field, Chicago
• Time: 4:40 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out of market)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)