Category: Sports News

As far as Tuesdays in June go, this one wasn’t pretty in The Bronx.

Not only did Aaron Judge miss his first game of the season with the bone bruise near his right shoulder that was diagnosed a day earlier, Cam Schlittler, who started the day as the American League Cy Young favorite, delivered his worst outing of the season.

It ended with a bullpen in need of reinforcements getting knocked around, as the Yankees fell to Cleveland 9-4 and have lost nine of their 12 games against teams above .500.

“His stuff was down just a tick,” Aaron Boone said of Schlitter. “The past couple of times it’s been a little bit down. … He lacked some of his normal power and location.”

Boone added he wasn’t concerned about Schlittler being off and the right-hander acknowledged, “I just didn’t have my stuff [and] they had a good approach and made me fight.”

Schlittler, so important to the rotation while the Yankees were without Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón, said he wasn’t pleased with his four-seam fastball and his mechanics were affected.

It was a rare slip for Schlittler after the Yankees entered the game having won six of their past seven and came back to the Stadium to face the Guardians, leading the AL Central despite the second-lowest payroll in the majors ($88 million).

Cleveland got the better of Yankees pitching time and time again, and after the Yankees scored four runs off lefty Joey Cantillo in just four innings, Cleveland’s bullpen shut them down.

It all started with Schlittler’s clunker, as he allowed a career-high five runs, four earned, in just 4 ¹/₃ innings.

He retired the first seven batters he faced before light-hitting catcher Patrick Bailey tripled to center with one out and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brayan Rocchio.

The Yankees went ahead in the bottom of the inning on Paul Goldschmidt’s two-run homer, as Goldschmidt played with a tight back.

He had three hits through four innings before the Yankees went cold.

Cleveland’s offense made them pay, as Kyle Manzardo took Schlittler deep to right to put the Yankees in a 3-2 hole in the fourth.

Goldschmidt delivered again in the bottom of the inning, this time with a two-run single to right to put the Yankees up, 4-3.

But the Guardians got to Schlittler again in the fifth.

The bottom of the lineup loaded the bases with no one out in the fifth with a Steven Kwan single, a costly error by Amed Rosario at third on Bailey’s grounder and a hit by pitch by Rocchio.

Following a visit from pitching coach Matt Blake, Travis Bazzana’s sacrifice fly tied it and José Ramirez doubled to right to drive in another run, as the Yankees fell behind and Schlitter’s night was over.

Brent Headrick got out of the inning, but Cleveland added to their lead in the seventh against the struggling Tim Hill, as Rocchio singled, stole second and then swiped third by taking off from second and beating Hill to the bag, with Rosario far from the base.

Ramirez doubled in Rocchio to make it 6-4.

Cleveland tried to give the Yankees new life in the bottom of the frame.

Cody Bellinger was on first base with two out when Trent Grisham popped up in front of the plate down the third base line.

Ramirez bumped Bailey, the catcher, who dropped it to extend the inning, but Volpe grounded out.

Camilo Doval allowed a three-run double to Bazzana to seal it for the Guardians.

“We didn’t hold them down enough,” Boone said. “Especially with Cam, you put four [runs] on the board, you’re usually gonna be in position to win, but it got away from us late.”

MILWAUKEE — The Giants got a taste of what they gave up, and it had to be a bitter pill to swallow with the way Kyle Harrison mowed through their meager lineup Tuesday night.

San Francisco had no answers for its former top prospect in an 8-3 loss to the Brewers.

Facing his former team for the first time since he was traded last summer for Rafael Devers (and again this winter, to Milwaukee), Harrison held the Giants scoreless for 5 ⅔ innings and departed to a standing ovation after matching a career high in strikeouts.

Besides a solo shot from Willy Adames with two outs in the sixth, the best piece of contact the Giants put on any of Harrison’s pitches might’ve been a foul ball from Jonah Cox that landed in the second deck — only on the wrong side of the foul pole.

Cox came up empty on his next swing, going down as Harrison’s 11th of 12 strikeout victims.

It proved to be quite the contrast to the performance the Giants got from their starting pitcher.

By the time he took the mound for the second inning, Harrison had already been spotted a three-run lead by Trevor McDonald, his former minor-league teammate.

McDonald walked the first two batters he faced and, after getting two outs, served up a 412-foot home run off the batter’s eye in center field to Jake Bauers that scored all three.

That was more than enough support for Harrison, who hasn’t allowed three runs in any of his 11 starts this season. He hadn’t surrendered any for 23 consecutive innings until Adames snuck a line drive over the left field wall.

His 1.57 ERA is the second-best in the majors.

What it means

Starting pitching problems have plagued the Giants all season, only becoming more glaring in contrast to Harrison. McDonald became their first starter in three games to complete five innings, but he still buried them in a hole they couldn’t climb out of after just the first inning.

San Francisco fell to 9-29 when allowing its opponent to score first.

President of baseball operations Buster Posey made the bold move to trade away Harrison, but he didn’t replenish the pitching depth — and it has shown.

The Giants’ 4.94 ERA from their starters is the second-worst in the majors — ahead of only the Rockies, who have to play half their games at Coors Field. It doesn’t help that their bullpen, which lost Tyler Rogers, Camilo Doval and Randy Rodriguez, has surrendered 13 runs to the Brewers the past two games, including a four-spot in the eighth inning after the Giants had rallied to cut the deficit to one.

Who’s hot

Hardly anybody right now for the Giants, who fell to 5-14 over their past 19 games, tied with the Cubs — who lost 10 straight at one point — for the worst record since May 13.

The highly paid left side of their infield is at least showing signs of life.

Adames’ homer was his second in the past three games, and he’s batting .294 with an .852 OPS since the start of May after reaching base three times Tuesday night.

A night earlier, third baseman Matt Chapman ended the longest homerless drought of his career with his second long ball of the season — after slapping doubles the previous two games.

Who’s not

Let’s call it for what it is: Tony Vitello.

With the lefty Harrison on the mound, the manager removed two of the team’s hottest hitters from the lineup, opting to go with journeyman utilityman Buddy Kennedy over Bryce Eldridge as the designated hitter and rookie Victor Bericoto over Jung Hoo Lee in right field.

Vitello explained that the decisions had to do with matchups.

But Eldridge has never had dramatic left-right splits, and Harrison has even exhibited reverse splits with lefties posting an OPS 50 points higher against him than righties.

Kennedy, a career .177 hitter, was a non-factor with two strikeouts and a weak pop-up in three at-bats. Bericoto, at least, contributed one of the Giants’ 10 hits.

Eldridge and Lee each contributed pinch-hit RBI singles in a two-run rally in the eighth, but Drew Gilbert flew out to end the threat, which proved to be too little, too late.

The questionable lineup decisions come on the heels of back-to-back games where Vitello allowed his starting pitcher to exhaust 96 pitches over just four innings.

Up next

Losers of seven of their past eight, the Giants still have two more games against the NL Central-leading Brewers. On the bright side, they won’t have to face Jacob Misiorowski.

The schedule doesn’t get any lighter: San Francisco’s opponents for the rest of the month have a combined .562 winning percentage, the toughest slate for the month of any team in MLB.

Box Score

Jacob Misiorowski has been incredible over the last month. The attention that he has been paid is warranted. But the Brewers have another pitcher who has been killing it lately, one who boasts a lower ERA on the season than Misiorowski. And if you won’t remember how good Kyle Harrison has been, the San Francisco Giants, who traded him away last season, certainly will.

Though the 18-inning scoreless inning streak Harrison brought into today’s game finally ended, he struck out 12 Giants in just 5 2/3 innings while allowing just one run. A big early hit and a late rally were all the Brewers needed to take the second game of this four-game series.

The Giants tried to muster a two-out rally against Harrison in the first inning. After impressive strikeouts of Casey Schmitt and Rafael Devers, Luis Arraez lined a ball into the right-field corner that turned into a triple after Sal Frelick had a little bit of trouble getting it to the infield. Willy Adames then walked (though the fourth ball should’ve been a strike), but Matt Chapman popped out down the right-field line on the first pitch he saw and Harrison had a scoreless first inning.

Yelich started the night for the Brewers’ offense with a five-pitch walk off of Giants starter Trevor McDonald. With Jackson Chourio batting, Yelich broke for second; a perfect throw from Giants catcher Daniel Susac might’ve gotten Yelich at second with a great throw, but he was called safe on a very close play. San Francisco challenged, and after a long review, it was determined that there wasn’t enough to overturn the call, and the Giants had lost their challenge in the first inning. McDonald, who was ahead of Chourio 0-2 when the review came in, threw four straight balls, none of which were close, after the lengthy break.

That put two on with no outs for Brice Turang. Turang, though, struck out looking (on a changeup up that was not remotely where it was meant to be thrown, but which caught him off guard), and William Contreras grounded out on a ball right in front of the plate that functioned as a sacrifice bunt. It looked like McDonald was going to get out of the inning, but he left a 2-2 sinker right down the middle to one of the hottest hitters in the league, and Jake Bauers launched a three-run homer to straightaway center field.

That 3-0 score would stick around for several innings, though there was plenty of traffic on the bases. Harrison worked around a one-out single in the top of the second. Frelick led off the bottom of the inning, but nothing came of it. Harrison struck out the side in the top of the third. A Chourio infield single was erased by a double play in the bottom of the second. Willy Adames led off the fourth with a single, but Harrison struck out the next three, too, and he was up to 10 strikeouts in just four innings. Garrett Mitchell hit a one-out double in the bottom of the fourth and he advanced to third on an errant throw by Susac on a pickoff attempt, but Frelick struck out with Mitchell on third, and Rengifo popped out to end the inning.

Harrison had another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the fifth, and by this point he’d extended his scoreless inning streak to 23 innings. (Imagine what we’d be saying about Harrison if Jacob Misiorowski wasn’t on the Brewers.) Milwaukee got another single, this one from Yelich, in the bottom of the fifth, and Turang walked with two outs, but nothing came of it.

Finally, in the sixth, someone broke through. After Devers struck out (which he did four times in the game) and Arraez grounded out, Adames got Harrison for a solo homer, his ninth of the season. That made it 3-1, and finally put an end to Harrison’s scoreless inning streak. After a Matt Chapman walk, Pat Murphy fetched Aaron Ashby from the bullpen, and he struck out Buddy Kennedy for the third out.

Harrison had another extremely impressive start. He finished with 5 2/3 innings and allowed four hits and one run on two walks and 12 strikeouts, matching a season (and career) high. Technically, his ERA went up today, by fractions of a point (it was 1.57 at the start of the game and a very slightly higher 1.57 at the end of it).

McDonald was replaced by Erik Miller in the bottom of the sixth. The Brewers kept their streak of “get a hit every inning” alive with a one-out Mitchell single, but Frelick bounced into a double play to end the inning. Ashby gave up back-to-back singles to start the top of the seventh, but Jonah Cox popped up a bunt for the first out, Schmitt grounded out, and Devers grounded out.

In the bottom of the seventh, Milwaukee added an important insurance run. David Hamilton started things with a one-out walk, and Yelich kept things going with another walk. Chourio flew out for the second out, but Turang hit a hard grounder up the middle, just past Arraez, for a two-out RBI single to make it 4-1.

A good thing, too, as San Francisco’s offense finally got something going in the eighth. Arraez led off with a double to right, which prompted another pitching change as Abner Uribe came in for Ashby. After an Adames groundout and a Chapman pop-up, it looked like Uribe might get out clean. But pinch-hitter Bryce Eldridge smoked a two-out RBI single into right that scored Arraez, and then Susac and another pinch-hitter, Jung Hoo Lee, got back-to-back weakly hit ground ball singles to score another. Murphy stuck with Uribe, though, and he got another pinch-hitter, Drew Gilbert, to fly out to Mitchell to end the inning with the score 4-3.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Brewers were looking for more insurance (off of new reliever Tristan Beck) to re-establish the more comfortable lead they had heading into the eighth. They started well: Mitchell walked, and Frelick blooped a single down the left field line. After a sac bunt from Rengifo, Hamilton had a golden opportunity to drive in another run, but he struck out. Beck was on the verge of getting out of it, but the Brewers weren’t done. In a 2-2 count with two outs and two men in scoring position, Yelich banged a single through the right side of the infield to score two runs. Two pitches later, Chourio whacked a high fastball and nearly hit it out to center field; instead, Gilbert couldn’t quite come up with it and it bounced off the wall for a double that scored Yelich. The next batter, Turang, shot a single through the middle to score Chourio. Suddenly, the Brewers lead was up to 8-3; all four runs in the eighth were scored with two outs.

Trevor Megill had been preparing to enter a one-run game, but he was in need of some work so he entered with a five-run lead anyway. He had no trouble: Schmitt flew out, Devers struck out, and Arraez flew out.

Harrison was the star today, but for the second straight night, the Brewers put a big number on San Francisco’s pitching staff with a balanced attack. Milwaukee had 11 hits (and at least one in each of the eight innings they came to the plate for the second night in a row) and five players with two: Yelich, Chourio, Turang, Mitchell, and Frelick. Bauers had the game’s biggest hit when he hit the three-run homer in the first, and Mitchell and Chourio added doubles for the Brewers’ other extra-base hits.

The Brewers have already guaranteed a split in this four-game series, but they’ll go for a victory tomorrow. Milwaukee has not announced a starter for either of the remaining games in the series, so we’ll see what happens there, but the Giants will come back with Logan Webb, their nominal ace, though he has struggled a bit this season. First pitch on Wednesday night is at 6:40 p.m.

The White Sox got on the board first in this game, with assistance from the Twins catcher. In the 3rd inning, Connor Prielipp walked Luisangel Acuna, who proceeded to steal 2nd, then 3rd, and come home on an errant throw from Alex Jackson, scoring the first run of the contest. Chase Meidroth hit an infield single, then, after Randal Grichuk doubled, Miguel Vargas hit a 2-run single to push their lead to 3-0. Prielipp was able to limit the damage to that, getting a fly-out and ground out to end the inning.

In the bottom half of the 3rd, Tristan Gray singled and then was balked to 2nd. Jackson tried a sacrifice bunt but got a hit instead, advancing Gray to 3rd. Brooks Lee would later get the Twins on the board with a sac-fly RBI, with Kody Clemens lining out to end the inning.

In the 4th, Prielipp settled down and tossed a clean inning, then the Twins bats went to work against Davis Martin. Trevor Larnach hit a 1-out double, then Austin Martin walked. Luke Keaschall hit an RBI single to left, advancing to 2nd base on the throw. Now with 2 runners in scoring position, Tristan Gray would bring them both home with a single. Then Jackson would make up for his error earlier tonight with an RBI single, giving the Twins a 5-3 lead.

In the 5th, Keaschall came up with a 2-out RBI single to make it a 6-3 game, and everything was looking great for the home team. It looked even better after a perfect 6th inning from Connor Prielipp, who earlier looked destined for a short start but was now poised to pitch into the 7th inning for the first time in his career.

However, just as in the 3rd, Acuna got on base to lead off the 7th, and chaos ensued. Jacob Gonzalez singled to right, with Acuna going to 3rd, ending Prielipp’s night. Andrew Morris came in and threw a wild pitch, giving us runners at 2nd and 3rd with 0 outs. Meidroth dribbled a ball down the 3rd base line to Brooks Lee, who threw to 1st but Clemens couldn’t pick it, and a run scored.

Morris’ wild tendencies continued, as after Grichuk struck out looking, another wild pitch moved the tying run, Meidroth to 2nd. A 9 pitch battle with Miguel Vargas ended with a 100mph fastball that Vargas couldn’t catch up to for the 2nd out. The White Sox pinch-hit Colson Montgomery for Edgar Quero, and the wild Morris hit him on the knee with a slider, loading the bases. Anthony Banda came in to face lefty Sam Antonacci, and struck him out with a slider to end the threat. Despite 3 singles, a hit batter, and 2 wild pitches, the Twins escaped the 7th with a 6-4 lead.

In the top of the 8th, Acuna would get on base yet again and steal his 3rd bag of the game, but Yoendrys Gomez came in and got Meidroth to strike out to end the threat. He stayed in for the 9th inning, tossing a 1-2-3 inning to get the save as the Twins secured a series win.

Studs:

Connor Prielipp (W, 2-3): 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. Maybe should have been taken out after 6 though.

Anthony Banda: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 ER, 3 K

Yoendrys Gomez (S): 1.1 IP, 2 K

Tristan Gray: 2-4, 2 RBI, 2 R, SB

Luke Keaschall: 2-4, 2 RBI

Brooks Lee: 1-3, RBI

Duds:

NO DUDS TWINS WIN!

The Texas Rangers scored seven runs but the St. Louis Cardinals scored four runs.

Player of the Game: Kyle Higashioka had three hits tonight so kudos to him for bringing some productive to the bottom of the order from the catcher position but it’s Pederson who doubled twice and drove in two runs, including the go-ahead and eventual winning run with an RBI single in the top of the ninth.

The Rangers tacked on two more insurance runs in the inning to pick up the win and thwart a would-be come back attempt from the Cardinals after rallying from a 2-0 deficit themselves early on in this one.

Up Next: The Rangers and Cardinals close out this series with Texas eyeing a second straight sweep. LHP MacKenzie Gore set to make the start for Texas in the finale against RHP Andre Pallante for St. Louis.

The Wednesday evening first pitch from Busch Stadium is set for 6:45 pm CDT and you can catch it on the Rangers Sports Network.

Dustin May did his part by giving the St. Louis Cardinals a quality start Wednesday night against Skip Schumaker’s Texas Rangers. Unfortunately, Nathan Eovaldi was just a little bit better. In the end, it would be so many missed opportunities that would cost the Cardinals dearly. A terrible relief effort in the top of the 9th wouldn’t help either. More on that later.

The Cardinals bats were actually put to good use Tuesday night (unlike the previous night) as St. Louis was first on the board in the bottom of the 2nd inning. After Bryan Torres walked, Masyn Winn singled to center which brought up Jimmy Crooks who dumped a ball into short right field scoring Torres and giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. Not getting any additional runs in the 2nd would sadly be a sign of things to come Tuesday night.

The next Cardinals run would come from a player that all of us collectively hope is a sign of good things to come. Nolan Gorman showed his largely unrealized power by going the opposite way on a 93 mph four-seam fastball and elevating it 373 feet into the left field seats giving the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.

Unfortunately, the Cardinals 2-run lead would not stick as the Rangers strung together hits in the top of the 5th inning as Evan Carter reached on an infield hit where Masyn Winn and JJ Wetherholt partially collided. Kyle Higashioka followed that with a single of his own moving Carter to third. Lopez grounded into a fielder’s choice that scored Carter cutting the St. Louis lead in half 2-1. Joc Pederson would then rip a double down the right field line which scored Lopez tying the game 2-2.

The Rangers would take the lead in the top of the 6th inning when Jake Burger drew a one-out walk. He then was moved over to second on a groundout from Duran. Alejandro Osuna singled to right which scored Burger making it 3-2 Texas. That would end Dustin May’s night. He gave St. Louis 5 2/3 innings allowing 5 hits and 3 earned runs with a stellar 9 strikeouts and just 2 walks. JoJo Romero would come in from the pen and get the last out in the Ranger’s 6th. After the Cardinals failed to take advantage of another Masyn Winn hit in the bottom of the 6th, JoJo would return to the mound to try and keep the Rangers close in the top of the 7th inning. He was only partially successful as the Rangers managed to double their lead on a combination double, successful sacrifice bunt, questionable hit-by-pitch and then sacrifice fly to make it 4-2 Rangers. The hit-by-pitch call of Joc Pederson was challenged by St. Louis, but the review officials in New York didn’t see enough to overturn it and it stood.

The Cardinals were not done, though. JJ Wetherholt, who had 2 hits on the night, led off the bottom of the 7th with an opposite field single past the shortstop. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Iván Herrera was then hit by a pitch which gave St. Louis runners on first and second with none out. Alec Burleson would make the Rangers pay as he smoked a single to left field scoring JJ making it 4-3 Cardinals as Herrera advanced to third on Burleson’s hit. Jordan Walker then did something he hadn’t done all night. He made contact with a 76 mph curve from Eovaldi muscling it out to left field for a single scoring Herrera and tying the game 4-4.

That ended Nathan Eovaldi’s night as Skip Schumaker turned to lefthander Jalen Beeks in relief. Manager Oli Marmol called on Nelson Velázquez to come off the bench and give the Cardinals the lead. He unfortunately struck out as did Masyn Winn who followed. Marmol called on José Fermín to pinch-hit for Nolan Gorman, but he lined out to left field which means the Cardinals had runners on first and third with no one out, but could not bring in any additional runs. Disappointing.

George Soriano was the Cardinals 8th inning answer out of the bullpen. His first pitch resulted in a ground ball deep into the hole at short, but Masyn Winn came up with an absolutely dazzling play throwing out Jake Burger with his rifle arm. That wasn’t his only act of incredible glove work against Burger as he also robbed him with an excellent play in the top of the 4th inning.

Jimmy Crooks had a good night at the plate. His second hit of the night was a double down the right field line to lead off the bottom of the 8th for St. Louis. Thomas Saggese would pinch-run for Crooks as Victor Scott II would unsuccessfully try to bunt him over popping out to third base instead. JJ Wetherholt was also unable to advance Saggese as he popped out to short. The Rangers would bring in Cal Quantrill to face Iván Herrera to try and keep the game tied. One pitch later, Herrera grounded out to short to squander a great chance to take the lead going into the 9th. Disappointing. Again.

Riley O’Brien was brought in to keep the game tied in the 9th, but he would invite trouble by walking the first man he faced which was Evan Carter. He would make matters worse by throwing a wild pitch as Carter advanced to second. Kyle Higashioka singled to right giving Texas runners at first and third with no outs. O’Brien would turn to a disappearing slider to strike out Lopez for the first out, but Joc Pedersen dumped his third hit of the night into left field giving the Rangers a 5-4 lead. That bloop hit would be followed by another one for Jung doubling the Texas lead to 6-4. Nimmo added a sacrifice fly to compound our misery making it 7-4 Rangers.

Andre Pallante will lead the charge Wednesday night as it’s game 3 of the St. Louis Cardinals series versus the Texas Rangers to try and avoid a sweep. MacKenzie Gore is scheduled to make the start for the Rangers. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45pm central time and the game broadcast will be available on Cardinals.tv.

The Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees began their three game series in New York. The game looked to be a nail biter with some back and forth between the two squads until Cleveland ultimately took an insurmountable lead.

Joey Cantillo had a short start for Cleveland. Cantillo only pitched 4.0 innings on 91 pitches. He allowed all four of the Yankees runs on six hits and three walks. Cantillo struck out two batters before turning things over to the Guards bullpen. Colin Holderman, Tim Herrin, and Hunter Gaddis all threw strong scoreless innings.

The Guardians put the first run of the game on the board in the top of the third inning. Patrick Bailey slapped a triple to center, putting himself into scoring position for Brayan Rocchio to hit a sacrifice fly.

A two run home run brought the Yankees right back and in the lead in the bottom of the third.

In the top of the fourth José Ramírez hit a lead off double to right. Kyle Manzardo hit a fly ball to the short porch to put two on the board and regain the lead for Cleveland.

The Yankees reclaimed a one-run lead in the bottom of the fourth. Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a one-out single, advancing to second with a José Caballero walk. A flyout and a stolen base put both runners in scoring position, allowing them to score easily on Paul Goldschmidt’s two-RBI single.

In the top of the fifth Steven Kwan hit a lead off single to right field. Patrick Bailey reached on a fielding error by Amed Rosario. Brayan Rocchio, who was looking to bunt but did not offer, was hit by pitch to load the bases. Travis Bazzana hit a sacrifice fly for the first out of the inning, tying the game in the process.

José hit a RBI double to score Bailey and force Aaron Boone to turn to the New York bullpen and giving Cleveland the lead again.

This time New York didn’t have an answer as the bullpen locked the Yankees down.

Brayan Rocchio kicked things off in the top of the seventh with a single on a grounder to left field. Rocchio quickly stole second base then caught Amed Rosario sleeping and stole third base too. José Ramírez hit a double to left to score Rocchio and put the Guards up by two runs.

The top of the eighth inning is what ultimately sealed the victory for Cleveland. Angel Martínez hit a single to center and stole second after a successfully challenged out call on the play. Daniel Schneemann and Steven Kwan hit back-to-back singles. Kwan’s bunt ground ball single was expertly placed and his speedy baserunning allowed him to reach, loading the bases. With two-outs, Travis Bazzana came up with a huge swing.

Bazzana’s three-run double put the Guardians up 5 runs and sent the Yankees fans on there way home. The Guardians didn’t put up another run, but Kyle Manzardo worked a very impressive 13 pitch walk in the top of the ninth. Shawn Armstrong and Matt Festa closed out the eighth and ninth innings without allowing a single baserunner. The Guardians finished the game with nine runs, twelve hits, and one error. Every Guardians hitter reached base with Chase DeLauter being the only batter to only record a walk, no hits.

Tomorrow’s game will be a 7:05PM EDT start with Gavin Williams facing off against Garrit Cole.

The past couple of weeks have been a time of great flux for both the Mets’ rotation and the bullpen. David Peterson has slotted back into the rotation only to lose his job again in favor of Sean Manaea, who has been greatly improved of late. Jonah Tong has been called back up to the big leagues and comported himself well. Tobias Myers has struggled with an unclear role and has been sent down to Triple-A to be stretched out. A.J. Minter has returned from the injured list and been a boost to the bullpen, who had been cycling a couple of guys in and out. Christian Scott continues to pitch well, but Nolan McLean has hit a rough patch.

Player	Last week	This week
Huascar Brazobán, RHP
Daniel Duarte, RHP	—
Craig Kimbrel, RHP
Sean Manaea, LHP
Nolan McLean, RHP
A.J. Minter, LHP
Tobias Myers, RHP
Freddy Peralta, RHP
Cionel Pérez, LHP	—
David Peterson, RHP
Jonathan Pintaro, RHP	—
Brooks Raley, LHP
Christian Scott, RHP
Zach Thornton, LHP	—
Jonah Tong, RHP	—
Austin Warren, RHP
Luke Weaver, RHP
Devin Williams, RHP

On May 22, the Mets called up Jonah Tong from Triple-A Syracuse, which ended Craig Kimbrel’s Mets tenure. Kimbrel had two poor outings in Washington prior to the DFA. He was subsequently picked up by the Rays, pitched one scoreless inning for them, and then went on the injured list. Meanwhile, Tong has pitched well enough to stay in the rotation. He has pitched twice behind an opener since being called up and has yet to allow an earned run across 6 2/3 innings of work. He is still issuing too many walks and not striking out enough batters, but he has been effective so far, earning the win in Wednesday’s game.

Tobias Myers appeared in both of the games Tong pitched in and allowed a run in each of those appearances. In Miami, Myers was the opener and allowed a run in 1 1/3 innings of work. Against the Reds, Myers assisted Tong by getting the final out in relief of him in the fifth, but he came back out for the sixth and created a jam that resulted in a run. But the lowest point of his recent struggles came when he blew the lead in the eighth inning of Friday’s game, resulting in an extra inning affair, which the Mets would go on to win in walk-off fashion. But Myers’ challenges are as much the result of an inconsistent role as anything else—one day he is being asked to be the opener, the next outing he is tasked with multiple innings in mop-up duty, and then another day he is relied upon to be a late-inning fireman. The Mets seem to understand that this is not conducive to his success and have sent him down to Triple-A to stretch out as a starter. Cionel Pérez was called up to take Myers’ roster spot and pitched a scoreless sixth inning on Saturday in his Mets debut.

Meanwhile, Sean Manaea appeared in two games during this two-week stretch and pitched well in both of them. He followed Myers and preceded Tong in last Friday’s closely contested loss in Miami and took the tough luck loss in that one for allowing one run on four hits in 3 2/3 innings of work. In Tuesday’s loss to the Reds, Manaea did mop-up duty for David Peterson, allowing one run in three innings of work, striking out six batters in the process. Peterson was knocked around for six runs on eleven hits in that game and took the loss. He had pitched much better in his previous start in Washington, where he allowed just one run on four hits over five innings of work, striking out three and walking three. But the outing against the Reds was so poor that he lost his rotation job again (to Manaea this time). He appeared in relief in Sunday’s lopsided victory and earned a save for pitching the final four innings of that game without incident.

That bulk relief appearance came to the benefit of Nolan McLean, who earned the win on Sunday for five innings of one-run ball. It was a big bounce back outing for McLean, but even with the positive result, McLean had to fight for it and it saved him from getting a poop emoji because his two other starts over the past two weeks were awful. In Washington, McLean had the worst outing of his big league career to date, giving up nine runs—only six of them earned—on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. One hoped it was just a blip, but he followed that up with an even worse performance against the Reds, yielding seven runs before being chased from the game after just 3 1/3 innings. Even the best young pitchers struggle sometimes and the Mets hope that McLean can right the ship because they cannot hope to stay afloat otherwise.

Fellow rookie Zach Thornton was called upon to make a spot start in Washington and though he had a better time out there than McLean did, it wasn’t by much. He gave up four runs on four hits, including a home run, in 4 1/3 innings of work, striking out three batters and walking two. But to be fair to Thornton, the Nationals—currently one of the top offenses in baseball—turned out to be a surprisingly tough assignment for the young lefty for his debut.

While we’re discussing the Mets’ young arms, Christian Scott continues to perform consistently well, though he too struggled a bit against the high powered Nationals bats. He gave up three runs on four hits in four innings of work in Washington, but faired much better against the Marlins—once in Miami and once at home. In Miami, he was excellent, twirling 5 2/3 scoreless innings in which he struck out five batters and only allowed four hits. He followed that up with five innings of one-run ball at Citi Field against those same Marlins and this time, the Mets were able to win the game to finally give Scott his first big league win.

Devin Williams was involved in both of those contests to very opposite results. Last Sunday’s game remained a scoreless tie until the bottom of the ninth when Williams was tasked with trying to send the game to extras. But instead he gave up a walk-off grand slam to Heriberto Hernández. All three of Williams’ other outings, including on Saturday in a non-save situation, were effective ones. He capped off Saturday’s win with a scoreless ninth and converted save opportunities in Washington and at home against the Reds.

The Reds series also saw the return of A.J. Minter to the Mets’ bullpen and the veteran lefty picked up right where he left off. Peterson and Manaea combined to pitch the first eight innings of Tuesday’s 7-2 loss, but Minter finished the game with a scoreless ninth in his 2026 debut. On Friday night, Minter recorded the final out of the fifth inning with a strikeout of Jakob Marsee in a tough spot and then went on to record the first two outs of the sixth as well.

That outing came in relief of Freddy Peralta, who continues to be as advertised: a guy who usually won’t go deep into the game, but will keep his team in the game more often than not. On Friday, Peralta couldn’t quite make it through the fifth and needed Minter’s help to navigate out of it. But to be fair to Peralta, only two of the four runs he gave up in the outing were earned and the Mets did go on to win the game. Peralta’s most recent start prior to Friday—also against the Marlins—was the exception to the rule: he was pushed to seven innings, over which he gave up four runs on eight hits, striking out nine and walking two. The Mets unfortunately failed to give Peralta any run support that day and he took the loss for that effort. Jonathan Pintaro pitched the final inning of that game in relief of Peralata and delivered a 1-2-3 inning. Pintaro also pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings in last Tuesday’s game before being optioned back down to Triple-A Syracuse.

Similarly, Daniel Duarte’s time with the Mets has come and gone during the two-week period covered by this meter, despite him pitching well in his cup of coffee with the big league squad. Duarte saved the rest of the bullpen with 2 1/3 scoreless innings in Washington in relief of Nolan McLean after his poor outing. Duarte yielded just one hit, struck out a batter, and didn’t issue any walks in the outing. He was then optioned back to Triple-A Syracuse.

For the time being, it seems that Austin Warren has pitched well enough to avoid being the guy that gets sent back down just because he has options, as he has survived all the roster shuffling over the past couple of weeks. And he has been used heavily during that time, appearing in five games over this two-week span. In the crazy series opener in DC in which the Mets put up a ten-run twelfth inning, Warren pitched two hitless innings in relief of Christian Scott, striking out a batter and walking a batter. He appeared again in relief of Thornton two days later and that was the only recent outing in which he struggled, giving up two runs on four hits. But every pitcher the Mets sent to the mound struggled in that 8-4 loss. After Nolan McLean imploded against the Reds in the fourth inning last Tuesday, Warren calmed things down with 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Warren’s best outing came in Friday’s extra inning game, in which he pitched a scoreless tenth to strand the ghost runner and earn the win when the Mets walked if off in the bottom of the frame. He then capped off his month of May with a scoreless eighth inning in Saturday’s win.

The only guy that has been used just as heavily as Warren is Huascar Brazobán, who continues to excel in every role he has served in this season, including as an opener. Brazobán appeared in both games in this past weekend’s Marlins series that Warren appeared in and earned a hold in both of them, striking out the side in the seventh inning on Saturday. Brazobán’s only outing lasting more than one inning came in the series opener in Washington, in which he earned the win for that group bullpen effort. He earned a hold for a scoreless sixth in the finale of the Nationals series. Brazobán has a fantastic 1.82 ERA on the season. He recorded two outs in last Sunday’s walk-off loss in Miami and then served as the opener ahead of Tong in Wednesday’s win over the Reds.

Luke Weaver also continued his sustained run of brilliance over the past couple of weeks. He has now dipped his season ERA below 3 by not allowing an earned run in the entire month of May. The period encompassed by this meter included 5 1/3 innings across five appearances, over which he allowed just four hits in total, striking out five batters and walking only one. Put simply, Weaver has been the Mets’ most consistent reliever this month and is pretty much automatic right now.

Brooks Raley has been one of the other most consistent performers in the bullpen but he’s scuffled just a little bit of late. In the series opener in Washington, Raley got himself into quite a jam by giving up a double to the lefty James Wood who he was brought in to face and then walking two batters to load the bases with nobody out. A run scored on a sacrifice fly in that inning, but the Mets did maintain the lead. Raley bounced back with a scoreless seventh inning (Weaver followed with a scoreless eighth) in the series finale in DC to protect a one-run lead and earn his eighth hold of the season. In Miami Raley allowed what would have been a go-ahead RBI hit in a scoreless game in the seventh, but A.J. Ewing threw Javier Sanoja out at the plate to help Raley keep the Marlins off the board (until they walked it off in the ninth). Raley contributed 1 1/3 scoreless innings to the victory in the series finale against the Reds on Wednesday and struck out Kyle Stowers in a key spot in Friday’s game.

This was a long, ugly game that kind of confirmed all our priors about the 2026 Yankees. The starting rotation is dynamite but if a guy has an offday, the offense isn’t really deep enough to pick him up, they rely a little too much on one guy. The bullpen shows signs of something special — Camilo Doval throws 103?? — but the sum is less than the whole of the parts. On the whole, the Yankees failed to capture their third straight win, downed by the Guardians 9-4.

Y’know what’s compelling about August 17, 2003?

That was the worst start of Roy Halladay’s season, by Game Score. Three innings, 20 batters faced, 11 of them reached base. Seven men total crossed the plate. He was 26 years old. He would go on to win the American League Cy Young Award that year.

Cam Schlittler is 25 and just had the worst start of his career. I am not saying that he will win the AL Cy Young, more that this kinda stuff happens to everyone. A bad play by Amed Rosario arguably doomed him to that worst start, but there was plenty of mess that he was responsible for as well. He didn’t walk anyone largely because nobody had to hang around at the plate long enough to walk — eight hard-hit balls and a very unfortunate HBP took care of the traffic for him.

His cutter and sinker were pretty in line with seasonal averages, but what is worrying is that four seam was a full mile per hour slower than his baseline. We had a similar story last week in Kansas City, where the breaking fastballs were pretty ok, but the four seam was also down. I don’t know if Cam is fatigued or there’s a sore spot somewhere, but I can’t imagine this is intentional. We’re seeing all over baseball the value of starting pitchers just chucking 4SFBs by guys, Cam wouldn’t be taking velo off at this point in the season.

He was also stung by a two-run home run in the fourth inning, and he has done an exceptional job keeping the ball in the park this year. Sometimes that just happens, sometimes, inexplicably, Patrick Bailey hits a triple off you. It was a mix of bad stuff and “that’s baseball, Suzyn,” so as long as his health is as close to 100 percent as possible, you take the bad outing on the chin and look ahead to the next start.

Offensively, we continue to be thankful for the existence of Paul Goldschmidt:

That Cam has been so dependable, and Will Warren did such a masterful job shutting down the A’s after Sunday’s big inning, definitely made it feel like Goldy’s effort was a little “wasted” early, since Schlittler for once couldn’t maintain a lead.

And that was the Yankee offense. Thank you for paying attention to this update.

I want to take a moment and give a little praise to a player that I don’t give a lot to, and that’s Anthony Volpe. He’s gone cold after a really good start to his season, but he made a hell of a defensive play in the seventh:

As I’ve stated above this was a crummy game to watch so instead enjoy the parallels to perhaps my favorite defensive play of all time, and certainly one of my favorite calls:

Anthony Volpe is not 20-year-old Manny Machado, but a hell of a job done there regardless.

It turns out Camilo Doval does throw 103 (or at least 102.5), and after loading the bases with nobody out flashed that velo in striking out back-to-back batters. Unfortunately, with two strikes on him, Travis Bazzana started his swing super early and landed a double in right field, enough to clear the bases and put Cleveland up by five. Doval has stuff that makes your eyes pop, but man I wish someone on in that bullpen could strike out like, 30 percent of batters faced. There’s no replacement for a whiff, no matter how soft the contact is.

In May it felt like the Yankees alternated good weeks and bad weeks. They just had a very good week with the walkoff over the Rays, a sweep of the Royals and taking two out of three in Sacremento. This was a bad night, but a bad night can turn into a good week if you’re able to get back on the horse the next day. Gerrit Cole has yet to allow an earned run in 2026, and he will be tasked with getting the Yankees right back on that horse tomorrow. Game two of this series comes at 7:05pm Eastern, and it’s the weekly Amazon Prime affair.

Box Score

It’s Tuesday night here at BCB After Dark: the grooviest gathering of night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come in and sit with us for a while. We’re always happy to see a friend. There’s no cover charge. The hostess can seat you now. There’s a two-drink minimum, but you need to bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

Last night I asked you if MLB had a competitive balance problem. The vote was close, but 53 percent of you say that it does and that there should be more done to help small-market clubs. The other 47 percent think things are mostly fine now.

On Tuesday nights I don’t do any movie stuff. But I always have time for jazz and that time is now.

My tribute to the late, great saxophonist Sonny Rollins (gift article) was delayed by my previously-scheduled look at Miles Davis’ career for the 100th anniversary of his birth. But I think we can move on from Miles after Bitches Brew. He certainly made some great music later on, but I don’t think he revolutionized music again after that seminal jazz/rock fusion album. Only so many times in a career can one artist re-invent jazz.

Sonny Rollins, however, was the last surviving member of the legendary group of musicians who played bebop in the late-40s along with Miles, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell and the other titans. Born in Harlem in 1930 to parents who came from the Virgin Islands, Rollins got his first saxophone at age 11 and largely taught himself how to play it. By the time he was 18, he was good enough to be playing with Miles and Powell at the many jazz clubs across New York. As the forties turned to the fifties, Rollins was at the forefront of the “hard bob” movement, which incorporated elements of rhythm and blues and gospel into the bebop format.

But Rollins’ approach could never really be defined by one sub-genre of music. After he took a time-out from music to deal with the medical and legal issues around his heroin addiction, he came back strong in the mid-50s and released his first albums as a band leader. Two of those albums, Tenor Madness and Saxophone Colossus were both released in 1956 and both are considered to be all-time classics. The title track of Tenor Madness contains the only recorded collaboration between Rollins and John Coltrane. Saxophone Colossus would give Rollins the nickname that he would have for the rest of his life. The “colossus” part referred both to his height and his talent.

But the best-known song that Rollins ever released was the first track on Saxophone Colossus, “St. Thomas.” This tune moved Rollins beyond hard bop and incorporated the calypso music of his parents’ native Virgin Islands. In fact, it’s based on a nursery song that his mother used to sing to him. Even if you don’t listen to jazz, this song is so famous that you’ll recognize it immediately.

Here is Rollins playing “St. Thomas” with Kenny Drew on piano, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on bass and Albert “Tootie” Heath on drums. The video doesn’t list when or when it was made, but the presence of NHØP likely means that it was at least 1964 and with Drew, likely for Danish television. Since Rollins took a break from performing in 1966, this is probably 1965, give or take a year.

Welcome back to everyone who skips all that jazz.

I’m not going to deny that May was a rough month, with the Cubs going 13-16 with a ten-game losing streak in there. But now that it’s June, they have the chance to put all that behind them.

What helps in June is that the Cubs have what should be a soft schedule. Here are the 27 games that the Cubs have scheduled this month:

June 2,3,4 Athletics

June 5,6,7 Giants

June 9,10,11 @ Rockies

June 12, 13, 14 @ Giants

June 15,16,17 Rockies

June 19,20,21 Blue Jays

June 22, 23, 24, 25 @ Mets

June 26,27,28 @ Brewers

June 29, 30 Padres

So let’s look at that schedule. The A’s are kind of a meh team. They’ve got some good young talent, but they’re under .500 in the lousy AL West. The Giants and Rockies are flat-out terrible. The Blue Jays aren’t nearly as good as they were last year and are below .500 at the moment. The Mets are maybe better than they were the last time the Cubs played them, but they still aren’t good. Only the final five games of the month at Milwaukee and home against San Diego represent a real tough challenge.

I’m not going to ask you to predict the month. But I am going to ask you what you would consider a successful month. That’s 27 games there. I’m going to assume that a losing month would be a failure. In fact, I’m saying if the Cubs only go 14-13 with that schedule, that’s not a success.

But how many games would the Cubs have to win for you to say they had a successful month? It they go 17-10, is that a good month with this schedule? Or 16-11? Or maybe they need to go 20-7?

Thanks for stopping by tonight. We always look forward to your visits. Please get home safely. Call a ride if you need one. Don’t forget any personal items. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow evening for more BCB After Dark.

The A’s were able to snap their losing ways on Tuesday evening, winning the series opener against the Chicago Cubs behind a strong second start from their prized rookie starting pitcher and winning their 29th game of the season in a 2-1 win. Starting the road trip right!

Taking the hill for the A’s tonight was left-hander Gage Jump, who was making just his second career start. Things didn’t start well for him in this one. Chicago leadoff man Nico Hoerner began with a single then stole second base and advanced to third on another single. With runners at second and third and no outs Jump was able to get a much-needed out but that was enough to give the Cubs the first lead of the game. A caught-stealing at third from Langeliers wiped out the other runner and Jump struck out Seiya Suzuki to end the first. Damage contained.

Meanwhile on the mound for the Cubs it was veteran Jameson Taillon. The A’s went 1-2-3 in the first inning before threatening but coming up short in the second. Then with two outs in the third, Nick Kurtz stepped to the plate and tied this game with a solo blast to the opposite field:

That oppo taco was Kurtz’s 11th of the year and his third in the last four games. Are we finally getting ready to see his power surge?

They A’s would keep up the pressure on Taillon in the fourth. Back-to-back one-out singles put a runner in scoring position, then Zack Gelof came through one batter later with a two-out RBI base knock to give the A’s their first lead of the evening:

Just barely made it over Hoerner’s glove there but that run would end up being huge. The A’s bats were seeing Taillon and making him work for every out tonight but he managed to keep the A’s from adding on from there. He’d end up pitching into the seventh inning tonight before making way to the Chicago bullpen.

Back to Jump. He settled into a rhythm after giving up that first inning run. The lefty bounced around a walk and another hit but kept the Cubs in complete check for the next six innings tonight. He finished his outing retiring the final 14 batters he saw, gaining confidence and looking even more dominant as the game went on.

• Gage Jump: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 85 pitches

An absolutely fantastic performance from the 23-year-old in his second career start. The Cubs offense had no idea what to do against Jump and he kept Chicago from ever getting anything going after that first inning. That’s the type of pitcher the A’s are hoping he can be going forward. He’s lined up to go next against the Houston Astros on Sunday for his third career start.

With Jump out of the game manager Mark Kotsay needed his bullpen to be perfect to hang onto this one-run lead. He first turned to a right-hander in Justin Sterner to start the eighth and switch things up on the Cubs. He did his job with a perfect 1-2-3 inning, setting up Scott Barlow for the save opportunity. He played with fire allowing back-to-back singles top open the bottom of the ninth but managed to get two outs before Hogan Harris came on and secured the final out to secure the win.

The story tonight is all Gage Jump. The lefty was the rock behind the win in this contest, holding down the Cubs’ offense for seven innings. The offense got just enough to get him the win, and the bullpen did its job to secure his first as a big leaguer, even if it got a little hairy at the end. Fun, close, great win all around tonight.

The series continues tomorrow evening, same time same place. It’ll be left-handed Jeffrey Springs on the mound for the Athletics while the Cubs have Colin Rea set to take the ball for them.