Category: Sports News

Detroit Tigers (44-52) vs. Los Angeles Angels (38-60)

Time/Place: 10:07 p.m., Comerica Park
SB Nation Site: N/A
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: LHP Tarik Skubal (5-4, 3.06 ERA) vs. RHP Grayson Rodriguez (3-2, 7.55 ERA)

The All-Star Game and the MLB Draft are behind us. The Rockies drafted 21 total players over the course of two days, and have signed two undrafted free agents. You can keep track of all the action here.

Earlier this week, we asked who was the best Day 1 pick for the Rockies. It was a close race, but Georgia catcher Daniel Jackson edged out UCLA right-handed pitcher Logan Reddemann for that honor.

Meanwhile, only 21% of folks said Kentucky shortstop Tyler Bell — the Rockies’ first pick, 10th overall — was the best pick of the draft.

Do you agree with the results? Which player intrigues you the most from this draft? Let us know in the comments!

Brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.

Hopefully the Nats did not get all of the runs out of their system in one night. After last night’s 23 run explosion, the Nats will look for a series win against the A’s tonight. As we saw last night, this is a hitter friendly yard and the A’s bullpen is also very hitter friendly.

With a righty on the mound, Blake Butera will make some tweaks. Luis Garcia Jr. will get his first start after the break. Dylan Crews is the only pure right handed hitter in the lineup, hitting 9th. Jose Tena, Keibert Ruiz and Jorbit Vivas will be in the lineup. Zack Littell will make his first start of the second half.

The A’s are also making a couple tweaks. Long time Met Jeff McNeil will be in the lineup in the 9 spot. Another veteran in Jonah Heim will be in the lineup, and he will be the DH. Otherwise, it is a lot of the same faces as last night. J.T. Ginn has had a breakout year and he is on the mound tonight.

Game Info:

Stadium: Sutter Health Park

Time: 10:05 PM EST

TV: Nationals.TV

Radio: 106.7 The Fan

The late night Nats are back this evening, with a 10:05 start. If you stayed up last night, you got to see a show. Hopefully that will be the case again in this one. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!

Hitters at the bottom of the roster typically take at-bats in pregame sim games, essentially serving as pawns against rehabbing pitchers several hours before the start of real games.

So it felt notable that Anthony Volpe (along with Ali Sánchez) stepped into the box against Clarke Schmidt on Saturday afternoon in The Bronx.

Before the game scheduled for Saturday night was postponed by rain, Volpe was set to be out of the lineup for a second straight game.

Presuming a nod in one end of Sunday’s doubleheader, he likely will start in one game of this series; just as he started in one game of the previous series in Washington; just as he started in one game in the series at Tampa Bay that preceded Washington.

There are a pair of Shortstop Watches going on, both with George Lombard Jr. and the Yankees’ trade deadline.

But at the moment, José Caballero is separating himself as the shortstop receiving the bulk of playing time.

Manager Aaron Boone still called it a “day-to-day” situation, but there is no denying that Caballero is winning the battle most of the days.

During Friday’s series-opening loss to the Dodgers, Caballero went 0-for-4 but still contributed a pair of head-turning plays.

He robbed a hit from Kyle Tucker by ranging up the middle, gloving the ball with a lunging stab and finishing the play with a spin and throw.

Later, he made a nice basket catch in shallow center field with his back to home plate to take away a bloop single from Dalton Rushing.

His defense at shortstop has been solid, and his arm is better than Volpe’s.

Neither has hit enough to firmly seize the job, but Caballero (.688 OPS) has been the slightly better option than Volpe (.668).

That’s particularly true of late, with Volpe slashing .222/.276/.222 in his past 10 games — perhaps a reflection of a hitter’s numbers suffering amid sporadic playing time.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

“I think both guys have come in with a focus and are ready to play and all hands on deck,” Boone said after Saturday’s game was rained out. “In both cases, I feel like [they] have a very team-first attitude, and that’s the way we need it.”

There are no known plans for Volpe to see time at another position.

Boone cited Caballero’s experience as a utilityman in dictating him switching positions when a need in the outfield or at second or third base arises, leaving Volpe to play shortstop.

Those instances, though, largely have dried up since Trent Grisham and Ryan McMahon returned from injury, giving the Yankees more stability and less need of a utility player.

Thus, Caballero’s time elsewhere and Volpe’s time on the field have dipped.

Such a development is significant considering the Yankees watched Volpe win the everyday shortstop job in spring training 2023 and have rarely challenged him since.

The Derek Jeter-loving New Jerseyan played in 472 of 486 games from 2023-25, a constant presence with a bat that did not develop as hoped.

It is possible that, at some point this season, Lombard becomes the new hope at shortstop.

The 21-year-old, who had begun to conquer Triple-A competition before suffering a pair of finger sprains in mid-June, returned to action Friday and went 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

He also had launched a homer in each of his rehab games in the Florida Complex League, so the top prospect may be announcing that his bat is ready.

Boone said “it’s possible” that Lombard can become a factor this season and acknowledged that “we’re having those conversations internally” regarding how much the club will have to see from Lombard before a promotion — which would arrive in the midst of a playoff chase for a team with World Series hopes.

“It’s no secret how highly we think of George,” Boone said of Lombard, who could be used as a trade piece for a difference-maker, though such a blockbuster would be a surprise. “He’s just getting back now from a fairly short IL stint. Had a good game [Friday] night, obviously, and so he’s certainly more and more in his development pushing himself into the conversation.”

Last night, the Athletics kicked off the second half the same way they finished the first half, suffering an embarrassing 23-4 defeat to kick off this three-game series against the Washington Nationals.

The team’s change at pitching coach did not provide an immediate boost, as several A’s pitchers combined to allow 18 runs in another disastrous performance at Sutter Health Park.According to OptaSTATS, during this 10-game skid, the A’s have made unwanted history, becoming the first MLB team to post an OPS that low (.575) while allowing an opponent OPS that high (1.019).

Tonight, the A’s can even this series and collect just their second win of the month. Before the game, the team made several roster moves following its latest humiliating loss.

Right-handed reliever Justin Sterner, who was one of two pitchers that allowed six runs yesterday, lands on the injured list with right knee chondromalacia, otherwise known as runners knee. If that was the cause of his recent struggles, hopefully his performance will improve once he returns from the injury.

The A’s recalled right-hander Geoff Hartlieb to take his place in the bullpen. First baseman Joey Meneses was designated for assignment to open a 40-man roster spot. The 34-year-old went 3-for-20 in nine games with the Athletics over the past few weeks. Now the club has five days to find a trade partner or place Meneses on waivers.

Speaking of trades, the A’s sent Aaron Civale, who had been designated for assignment a few days earlier, to the Chicago Cubs. The veteran pitcher returns to the team he finished the 2025 season with. In return, the “Green and Gold’ received minor-league pitcher Aiden Moffett, an undrafted free agent out of West Virginia. Moffett has struck out more than a batter per inning this season, but he has also issued 42 walks in just 22⅓ innings between the Arizona Complex League and Single-A.

Moving to tonight’s game, A’s right-hander J.T. Ginn will make his 19th start of the season. The 27-year-old enters his first outing of the second half with a 7-6 record, a 3.67 ERA, a 1.25 WHIP and 93 strikeouts over 103 innings.

Ginn ended his breakout first half on a sour note. He exited his start in Detroit after four innings because of an illness. A few days later, he imploded in the A’s final game before the All-Star break against the Chicago White Sox, allowing six runs in the bottom of the first inning and erasing his team’s early 1–0 lead.

This evening, the Athletics desperately need a quality start from Ginn. He must keep the ball down in the zone, trust his sinker to generate ground-ball outs and avoid mistake pitches. That will not be easy, as the Nationals have scored the most runs in the majors, but Ginn has proven to be the one starter the A’s can consistently count on when he takes the mound.

He will face off against Nationals’ right-hander Zack Littell, who is 7-6 with a 4.90 ERA through 19 appearances, including 12 starts, in his first season in the nation’s capital. Yesterday, the A’s offense struggled against Cade Cavalli’s overpowering arsenal. Littell presents a different challenge. With just 57 strikeouts in 90 innings, he relies on keeping hitters off balance and generating weak contact rather than overpowering them. That approach has paid off recently, as the 30-year-old has pitched well over his last three appearances, though he has earned just one win during that stretch.

Littell will face off against this A’s lineup:

While the team’s pitching has received most of the criticism, its offense has also failed to meet expectations.

Catcher Shea Langeliers needs to carryover his All-Star Game performance into games that actually matter. With Henry Bolte on the bench after a tough game in the series-opener,Lawrence Butler shifts to center field. Donovan Walton gets a second straight start at second base, while Jonah Heim and Jeff McNeil make their first starts of the series.

One of the club’s top prospects, Tommy White, is out of the starting lineup after making his MLB debut and collecting his first hit last night. Given the A’s record and the absence of Nick Kurtz, it is surprising to see Tommy Tanks not playing, but hopefully McNeil will prove the doubters wrong.

Ginn will go up against this lineup for Blake Butera’s Nationals:

For the A’s to have a chance to force a rubber match tomorrow, Ginn and the relievers who follow him must keep Washington’s offense in check.

Follow the Game:
Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA

Listen:
Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, KVMX 92.1/105.5, A’s Cast

The Mets' poor defense and lackluster offense continued to hurt them during Saturday's 6-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, as the team committed three errors and had just three hits.

Francisco Alvarez's throwing error in the bottom of the fifth inning on a pickoff attempt moved Kyle Schwarber from first to third base, putting him in position to score on a single later in the frame. Then, in the sixth inning with Philadelphia up 6-1, Francisco Lindor's relay throw to third base went wild, allowing Bryce Harper to advance to second base easily and giving him his third straight game with an error.

Luckily, Lindor's mistake didn't add to the Phillies' lead, but it did continue the trend of poor defensive mistakes for the 2026 Mets as the star shortstop is already up to six errors in only 42 games this season. After the loss, he was asked if what interim manager Andy Green described as "sloppy play" is creating a mental block for the team across the board and took blame for his mistakes, saying his level of play needs to improve.

"I can't really speak about everybody else. From my point of view, he's right, it was sloppy. It's not to the level that I expect myself and it's not the level that people expect us to play here," Lindor said. "For me, defense, it's the most important thing and it's been not good, not good at all. I'm letting down the pitchers that have worked extremely hard. 

"Thankfully, tonight, my error didn't lead to a run. However, it lead to high-leverage situations. Where it was just we could have pitched with someone on first and third. Overall, just got to get better. When it comes to mental mistakes, yeah, that was a mental mistake today. I got a little fast and tried to make something happen and I wasn't fully aligned to go to third base."

Lindor, who owns a career .980 fielding percentage and had made just 55 errors in his first five seasons with the Mets, said the team needs to be better about "turning the page" after a mistake and continue to support each other when they happen.

"You got to focus on what you have in front of you," Lindor said. "And as soon as you make that error, try to focus on turning the page and then expect the ball to be hit back to you. It's one of those where per game, it's happened a little too much. But with that being said, everybody is working... you just got to rely on each other and have the mentality of picking each other up."

He added: "We know each other, we're here for each other and we know nobody's going to make the mistakes. At the end of the day, everybody cares for each other here. As a defensive player, I want to get it done for the pitcher. And in the same thing, the pitchers want to help us when we mess up. And when we're on offense, we want to score for everybody to have the lead and help the pitchers be a little more comfortable. Everybody trusts each other here and we're playing for each other.

After missing 57 games, it was expected that Lindor would take some time to reacclimate at the plate, but not on defense. When asked if there has been a bit of an adjustment period for him defensively since returning on June 24, Lindor said that either way, he needs to get back to his "standard."

"I've never really thought about it, but there have been some plays that have gone a little fast," Lindor said. "I don't know if it's missing time or if it's just, I got to just get better. The way I view it, bottom line, I just got to get better. 

"I don't know if it's a time thing, to me, that's not an excuse. I'm back on a major league field, I got to play like a major league player. I got to play to the standard that the New York Mets want and I got to play up to my standard as well."

Green and the team believe that Lindor can get back to that level this season, especially when they get "on the attack defensively." The 32-year-old noted that returning to full form is a "high mountain" he plans on climbing the rest of the season.

"He's a guy that we believe in, we'll continue to believe in," Green said. "He's got a long track record of being one of the absolute best shortstops in baseball. Have confidence that he will be that before this season is out."

The Orioles may or may not be a good team. But right now, they’re pulling off a heck of a lot of improbable wins.

The O’s stunned the Astros in Houston for a second straight game, somehow emerging with a 4-2, 11-inning victory to extend their season-best winning streak to six. It was a game the Birds seemingly had no business winning. Their offense was a no-show throughout regulation, squandering nearly every scoring opportunity, as the top five hitters in the lineup were a combined 0-for-19. The Birds faced certain doom in the bottom of the 10th when the Astros put the winning run on third base with nobody out. But Tyler O’Neill made a game-saving defensive play and later drove in the Orioles’ go-ahead run, and new reliever Cam Sanders locked it down with a perfect 11th for the save.

Let’s jump right ahead to the most unbelievable part of this ridiculous game, the Orioles’ Houdini act in the bottom of the 10th. The clubs were locked in a 2-2 tie and the Astros loaded the bases with nobody out against Andrew Kittredge. The O’s, for all intents and purposes, were screwed. Doomed. Destined for defeat. There’s no escaping this. The Astros didn’t even need a hit to win. A well-placed grounder or a deep fly ball. Or a walk, or a wild pitch, or a hundred other possibilities. The O’s had only two outfielders, with center fielder Leody Taveras coming in to give the Birds a five-man infield. Only a miracle would keep this game alive for the Orioles.

Apparently, folks, miracles do occur. Jose Altuve lofted a fly to center. Right fielder Tyler O’Neill had to range over to make the catch, and Nick Allen, the runner from third, tagged up and busted toward the plate. O’Neill fired the ball toward home with such force that he knocked himself off his feet. His throw sailed a bit up the third-base line, but catcher Samuel Basallo snagged it and made a great tag of Allen as he slid past. OUT! DOUBLE PLAY! Wow! I didn’t think O’Neill had any chance of cutting down the runner, especially with a somewhat off-line throw, but incredibly, it worked out.

The O’s weren’t done flashing great defense. Now with runners at second and third, the next batter, LaMonte Wade Jr., tried to catch the Orioles off guard with a bunt, laying it down the third-base line. This time it was Kittredge himself who dazzled defensively, racing over to barehand the ball and whipping a strong, accurate throw to first to just nip the runner. One false move — a bobble by Kittredge or an off-line throw — would’ve resulted in a hit and scored the winning run. Kudos to the veteran Kittredge for keeping his cool and making the play. The Orioles, amazingly, had escaped the jam unscathed and lived to play another inning.

The momentum back on their side, the O’s took the lead for good in the top of the 11th. With Gunnar Henderson on second base as the free runner, Taylor Ward drew a leadoff walk. Astros righty Enyel De Los Santos very nearly got out of it, striking out Pete Alonso and Samuel Basallo, but once again it was O’Neill who played the hero. On his slow grounder to second, Altuve was late to get to the ball, and O’Neill — hustling down the line at an uncharacteristically speedy 29.3 feet per second — beat the throw to first. Henderson, who never stopped running, scored all the way from second base with the go-ahead run. Taveras followed with an RBI single to add some insurance, making it 4-2.

With the Orioles having already used all their high-leverage relievers, Craig Albernaz turned to newcomer Cam Sanders to secure the save in the bottom of the 11th. Sanders had made a fantastic first impression the previous night in his O’s debut, escaping a bases-loaded jam and notching the win, and he was no less impressive this time around. He coolly retired all three batters he faced, including a game-ending strikeout of Dezenzo that clinchde an outstanding O’s win. In his first two games as an Oriole, Sanders has earned both his first major league win and his first major league save. Can’t get much better than that.

What a victory. Before the extra-inning heroics, it seemed like this game was destined to be another of those frustrating Orioles defeats in which they only have themselves to blame. Their offense, specifically, was a source of constant frustration in the first nine innings. They failed to take advantage of Astros starter Spencer Arrighetti, who was a control-challenged mess, walking four batters and plunking another over the course of his five innings.

For example: in the third inning, Arrighetti issued back-to-back walks, bringing up Gunnar Henderson. You would think Henderson might take a pitch or two from a guy who couldn’t find the strike zone. You would think! Instead, Gunnar hacked at the first pitch and popped out to short. (He went 0-for-5 in this game and is hitless in the series. If you thought the All-Star break might cure what’s ailed Gunnar, sad to say he seems more lost at the plate than ever.) Taylor Ward then flied out on a 3-0 pitch, ending the inning.

The frustration only mounted in the fourth. Again, Arrighetti got himself into immediate trouble with an Alonso walk and Basallo HBP. Dylan Beavers followed with a produtive at-bat, lashing a double down the right-field line. Alonso scored, Basallo moved to third, and the O’s were up 1-0 with runners at second and third and nobody out, on the verge of a big inning.

But the next three Orioles put up some pathetic at-bats. Colton Cowser and Christian Encarnacion-Strand, making his Orioles debut, were each retired on the first pitch, failing to score the runner. And Jackson Holliday completed the trifecta of ineptitude by striking out. Ouch. Even after Arrighetti left the game, the O’s biffed another rally in the sixth when Cowser grounded into a double play with two runners on. Remember those two weeks or so when it seemed like Colton had finally figured things out? Those were nice. Now he’s 5-for-44 in his last 18 games, looking hopeless again.

Still, Trevor Rogers nearly made the slim one-run lead hold up. Rogers wasn’t perfect, but he was able to pitch himself out of nearly every threat the Astros tried to put together. One came right off the bat in the bottom of the first, when the Astros had three hits but didn’t score, thanks to a double play and a strikeout.

Rogers dodged a jam again in the fifth. A pair of singles put two aboard for the dangerous Yordan Alvarez, the American League’s best hitter in, oh, basically every category. Rogers made a big pitch when he needed to, retiring Alvarez on a grounder up the middle. The 1-0 Orioles lead was still intact.

But the O’s couldn’t count on Rogers to be flawless forever, and in the bottom of the seventh, the branch snapped. After retiring the first batter, Rogers gave up back-to-back singles that put runners at the corners, ending his night at 99 pitches. For Rogers, it was his fifth straight start of one or fewer runs allowed, lowering his ERA to 4.28. He’s been fantastic since the start of June.

Sadly, he wasn’t rewarded with a win. The Astros’ Nick Allen laid down a perfect squeeze bunt against Rico Garcia that plated Zach Dezenzo from third, tying the score. The Orioles really should have scored a few more runs earlier, huh? Garcia at least got out of the inning without further damage, starting an impressive couple of innings by the bullpens. Yennier Cano and Tyler Wells each worked a perfect inning for the Orioles, while Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader did the same for the Astros, sending the 1-1 tie into extra innings.

Briefly, the O’s got the upper hand in the top of the 10th. An Encarnacion-Strand single moved the free runner, Taveras, to third base, and pinch-hitter Jeremiah Jackson laid down a squeeze bunt to bring him home. It was the Orioles’ first run since the fourth inning, giving them a 2-1 lead.

The lead slipped away in the bottom of the 10th against Kittredge, which began with an Allen bunt single and an Alvarez game-tying RBI double, followed by a Henderson error. That set up the aforementioned bases-loaded, no-out jam and the wondrous escape that followed. The Orioles were facing defeat right in the face. And they said, “Not today.”

Who is your Most Birdland Player, Camden Chatters? Is it Tyler O’Neill for his game-saving throw to the plate and his go-ahead single? Andrew Kittredge for escaping a jam (albeit one of his own making)? Trevor Rogers for another strong outing? Let us know in the comments.

I barely have the words to describe my excitement with this streak and my amazement with this team. I’m going to try.

Boy, these Red Sox are winning in every way possible. Yesterday with a starting gem and powerful offense in Game 1, then a bullpen game holding the line in Game 2. This afternoon’s bout did something different.

The beginning of this game was back-and-forth-two runs for the Rays, Sox snatch it right back; Sox grab one, Rays get one very soon thereafter. Jahmai Jones, welcome to Boston with a two-run shot in his first start as a member of the Sox! Wilyer Abreu torched one over the center field fence, 435 feet, and that was the last time the Sox would have the lead for a bit. Yeah, the top of the 4th is when starter Patrick Sandoval collased, just dishing meatballs and giving the Rays a two-run lead. In the top of the 7th, Jonny DeLuca’s solo shot snuck into the Monster seats and it felt like the air deflated out of the crowd; it looked like this was the end.

Not so fast.

Andruw Monasterio opened the bottom of the seventh with a double. Jarren Duran reached on a fielding error by Rays first baseman Ryan Vilade combined with Cole Sulser not actually touching first base—a gift, but this team knows what to do with gifts. Masataka Yoshida pinch hit and grounded into a fielder’s choice that scored Monasterio. That’s one. Anthony Seigler strikes out, now there are two outs. Then Ceddanne Rafaela, down to two strikes, lined a double to make it a one-run ballgame.

The Rays went to Garrett Cleavinger. Whether the thinking was to get a lefty on lefty look against Abreu is a question for their dugout, just my hypothesis. Either way, it didn’t work. Full count. Fenway on its feet. Abreu demolished a two-run shot to the bullpen and both the crowd—and Abreu himself—completely lost it. 7-6. This is the type of frame that has defined this win streak. Don’t go down quietly.

Whitlock threw a clean eighth. Chapman walked two in the ninth—and made everyone in the ballpark chew their fingernails—then slammed the door for save number 21.

49-48. Twelve in a row. And for the first time since March, the Boston Red Sox are above .500. This was the first time all season the Red Sox have won a game being down three runs or more at some point—they were 0 and 34 before this. At some point you stop calling it a hot streak and just BELIEVE.

Studs

Wilyer Abreu (2-for-3, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB)

Four home runs in two games. The last Sox to have back-to-back multiple home run games was Mookie Betts in 2018. The solo shot in the third gave the Sox the lead. The two-run blast in the seventh won the game. Something has clicked for him over the last week that wasn’t completely there most of this season—harder contact, pulling the ball with authority, doing it against all types of pitching. The Sox need it to keep going. If you’re not watching Wilyer Abreu right now, you should be.

Jahmai Jones (1-for-1, HR, 2 RBI, 1 R)

Acquired this week for basically a bag of peanuts, pinch hit in Game 2 of yesterday’s doubleheader, and goes deep in his first start at Fenway Park. The two-run shot in the second off Seymour set the tone for the day, tying the game after going down 2-0 quickly. Walk into a clubhouse riding a 12-game win streak and maybe the nerves don’t hit the same way. Whatever the reason, Jones swung like he’d been there all summer. Well, for only one at-bat. T’is the life of a utility guy!

Ceddanne Rafaela (1-for-4, 2B, 1 RBI, 1 R)

The line is quiet but the hit was enormous. Down two with two outs and two strikes in the seventh, Rafaela poked a double down the line to make it a one-run game and set up the Abreu moment. That’s not an easy spot. Cedd was not giving that at-bat away. Also he continues to define what it means to be a Gold Glove defending center fielder.

Duds

Patrick Sandoval (5.0 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K)

Nine hits in five innings is a lot. He kept the Rays to five runs and struck out five, which is good enough to give his team a chance—and the offense did the rest—but that’s not the outing you draw up. Hopefully a one-off and not a sign that opposing lineups are starting to figure him out. The only good thing is he got long enough and the Sox pulled it back to where they didn’t need to use Brayan Bello!

Anthony Seigler (0-for-4, 3 K)

A golden sombrero on a day when the offense scraped together just six hits. Not the time. He did have an awesome reaction to Willy’s game-winning homer.

Play of the Game

Do I even have to explain it? Of course it’s Wilyer Abreu’s second homer.

The Rays continued their miserable play coming out of the break and extended their losing streak to four games with a 7-6 loss in Boston thanks to an all too familiar script of poor pitch execution and defensive miscues. The loss gave Boston its twelvth consecutive victory while reducing the division lead over the Yankees to two games.

There was hope early in this contest when the Rays scored two runs in the second thanks to a leadoff double by Ryan Vilade and a butcher boy single by Chandler Simpson that had the potential to knock out Willson Contreras who got this close to home plate before Simpson pulled back the bunt to swing away:

Nick Fortes would later drive in Simpson with a single of his own, but that lead would be short-lived as Rays pitching could not deliver a shut down inning. Every time the Rays have had a lead in this series until this moment, the Red Sox have come back to at least tie the game and the bottom of the second would be no different.

After a ten-pitch at bat to Andrew Monasterio which ended with an overturned strike three call, Jahmai Jones and his 23 OPS+ came in and deposited a hanging sweeper 407 feet to tie the game:

The game would remain tied until Wilyer Abreu jumped all over a misplaced 2-1 fastball from Seymour and drilled it out to dead center:

Seymour, coming into this game, had an OPS of .492 when ahead in the count, .644 when even in the count, and 1.156 when behind in the count. Those numbers got worse after this homer. Seymour would go on and retire Willson Contreras, who turns out, would be Seymour’s last batter of the game. Cash went to a quick hook with Seymour entrusting a well-rested A-pen to get 18 outs. The thought process could have been to go for the win here with the unfavorable matchup on Sunday. For three innings, the move looked like a stroke of genius as Kevin Kelly and Casey Legumina held the Red Sox to a single run over three innings. Fans were likely feeling pretty good with a 6-3 lead after a solo homer by Jonny DeLuca in the top of the 7th. Then, the bottom of the 7th inning happened.

The inning began with a legged out double by Andrew Monasterio, who took advantage of Simpson’s throwing arm and got into second because the throw was rushed, offline, and short of second base where an average throw nails him. Jarren Duran would then reach base because Ryan Vilade and Cole Sulser could not cleanly pull off a PFP play. Vilade’s lob was a little high, but Sulser still failed to touch the bag with either of his last two steps. Sulser nearly pitched his way out of it getting an RBI groundout from Masataka Yoshida and a fortunate strikeout of Anthony Siegler who swung through a misplace strike 3. Sulser’s night would be over after allowing a two-out double to Cedanne Rafaela, and Garret Cleavinger was brought into clean up the mess and face the red-hot Abreu.

Abreu has historically been terrible against lefties. Coming into 2026, he had hit .205 against them with a 62 wRC+ and two home runs in 145 plate appearances. Abreu has turned that around, and then some, in 2026 with a .345 average against lefties and a 162 wRC+ in 127 plate appearances and continued that success taking a full-count misplaced fastball into the bleachers for his second homer of the game and his second consecutive multi-homer game:

The Rays would mount a two-out rally in the 9th on back to back walks off Aroldis Chapman, but both runners would stay there and the club has now lost four consecutive contests while Boston simply cannot do anything wrong. Staff ace Sonny Gray takes the mound tomorrow as the Rays attempt to dig themselves out of a hole they’ve mostly constructed themselves with defensive and pitch execution issues.

This stretch of baseball coming out of the break has simply been about as unwatchable as this team has been in some time, and it could not come at the worst possible time.