Category: Sports News

Mets left-hander Sean Manaea had a solid second rehab start Tuesday night in Coney Island as he works his way back from an oblique injury.

After allowing four runs (three earned) in 1.2 innings on Friday, Manaea bounced back to deal 2.2 scoreless innings.

Of course, his outing got off to an auspicious start, as he plunked left-handed batting Joseph Sullivan on the second pitch he threw. Manaea allowed a steal of second on his third pitch before getting a flyout to right, but an infield single to first put runners on the corners with one out. A ball in the dirt put two in scoring position, but the Mets' lefty got a strikeout swinging and a pop-up to right to end the threat.

Manaea got to pitch with a lead after the Cyclones plated two runs in the home half of the first inning, and after retiring the first two of the frame, adding a second strikeout swinging, he issued his first walk of his rehab before recording another strikeout swinging on a nasty breaking pitch.

In his final inning of the night, the lefty sandwiched an infield single to short around another swinging strikeout on a breaking pitch and a pop out to third base.

Manaea threw 46 pitches (31 strikes) to get 10 outs, allowing one hit, one walk, a hit-by-pitch, and striking out four.

Sean Manaea struck out 4 in his rehab outing tonight for Brooklyn

Final line: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 46 pitches (31 strikes) pic.twitter.com/47iWJncZcB

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) June 10, 2025

Adames uses ‘reset' to spur resurgence in Giants' improbable comeback originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Entering the ninth inning Tuesday, even as the Giants trailed the lowly Colorado Rockies 5-2, Willy Adames already had to feel better about himself.

Adames came into the game without a hit in 18 at-bats since June 1 and without a home run since May 13, but he ended both streaks with a blast to center after driving in another run earlier.

Then the star shortstop grinded out an important walk to continue San Francisco’s game-winning rally in the final frame for a 6-5 comeback win at Coors Field. That took his night up another notch, which could mark the start of an impending turnaround.

“Obviously, it’s a good day for me personally, but it’s even better when you get a win like that,” Adames told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Bonta Hill and Ron Wotus on “Giants Postgame Live.” “I think that’s going to get us going.”

After signing with San Francisco as a free agent last December, Adames has underwhelmed so far in the first season of his seven-year, $182 million contract. Before Tuesday, he was hitting just .193 with a .584 OPS.

But on a night when Adames recorded both his 500th career run and 500th RBI, he displayed why the Giants gave him the largest contract in franchise history.

It all started Sunday, when manager Bob Melvin gave the shortstop a rare rest day ahead of Monday’s off day, allowing Adames a full 48 hours to get his mind right.

“It’s always great when you’re not having your best time out there, just to have a day or two days just to reset and go back to who you are,” Adames told Hill and Wotus. “I think those two days were really good for me just to relax mentally and let it go and try to be here for the team and just do whatever I can to help the guys to win.”

He delivered immediately upon his return. After Jung Hoo Lee‘s leadoff triple to open the game, Adames got to a 3-2 count before hitting a sacrifice fly to put San Francisco ahead early.

He remained patient again in the fifth, earning a 3-1 count advantage before smashing a 439-foot, game-tying homer.

“Today, it was just for me to try to be calm on the play and just try to swing at my pitch, to battle the at-bats and put a good swing on it,” Adames explained. “I feel like I got away from that the last week or so. … That homer obviously felt really good.”

But his ninth-inning at-bat arguably was the most impressive. As the go-ahead run at the plate with one out, Adames quickly fell behind 0-2. He then battled back to a full count and fouled off a pair of tough cutters in the zone. On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Adames didn’t swing at a high cutter to draw a walk that loaded the bases.

Three batters later, Adames scored the game-winning run on a Mike Yastrzemski single to cap off yet another wild Giants comeback — their franchise-record sixth one-run win in a row.

“It feels like we never give up. It feels like we always have an opportunity to come back,” Adames told Hill and Wotus. “That’s how the guys feel in the dugout. It’s like, OK, we can be down by three, four, it doesn’t matter. We’re going to go out there until the last out and grind every at-bat, and I think today was a very good example of how good this team is. Everybody went out there in the top of the ninth and battled, took great at-bats, took great swings, just did the fundamental stuff, and it paid off. We got the win.”

Tuesday was the Giants’ eighth comeback of at least three runs in just 67 games this season, which leads MLB. Even Adames isn’t sure how San Francisco keeps pulling out these bizarre wins.

“It’s been so fun. I don’t even know how to explain it,” Adames told Hill and Wotus. “We’re just having fun, and just knowing that we can come back, it doesn’t matter [what] the score is.”

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

Giolito gives Red Sox much-needed quality start in win vs. Rays originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox needed a bounce-back outing from Lucas Giolito on Tuesday, and the veteran right-hander delivered.

Giolito, who entered his Tuesday start with a lackluster 6.42 ERA, limited the Tampa Bay Rays to only one run (none earned) on three hits and three walks through six innings. He struck out four Rays hitters en route to a 3-1 Red Sox victory at Fenway Park.

The performance was a breath of fresh air for a Red Sox rotation that has been abysmal with the exception of ace Garrett Crochet. All season, Boston’s starters have struggled and strained the bullpen with their inability to pitch deep into games.

“We needed that,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after the win. “We were very thin in the bullpen. It was good to see him. Velo’s up, location was better, the mix of pitches, really good. And one run over six, that’s more than enough.”

Giolito’s dip in fastball velocity was a concern over his last few starts, but it was back in the mid-to-upper 90s on Tuesday. After allowing seven earned runs in only 1.2 innings during his previous start against the Los Angeles Angels, he went back to the drawing board with pitching coach Andrew Bailey.

“After the last outing, we really broke down a lot of my mechanics and made some big-time adjustments,” Giolito said. “Which is still a work in progress, but we found something to get that life back on my heater. … and then let everything play off of that.”

Tuesday’s win marked the Red Sox’ second straight game with a starter making it at least six innings. Right-hander Brayan Bello pitched 6.1 innings in a losing effort on Monday, his second consecutive six-inning start after failing to make it through five innings in his previous five outings.

“We’re two for two in this series, and hopefully we can do it again tomorrow,” Cora said. “To get the lead is important at this level. You can use the bullpen after that however you want. And it’s tough to comeback. Like, 65 percent of the games we’ve been behind.”

Walker Buehler will look to complete the trifecta when he takes the mound for Wednesday’s rubber match. Like Giolito, the veteran righty is looking for a bounce-back performance after lasting only two innings in Friday’s loss to the New York Yankees.

First pitch for Wednesday’s series finale against the Rays at Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET.

Prior to Tuesday's series opener against the Royals in Kansas City, Yankees manager Aaron Boone gave updates on a few players...

Jake Cousins pulled from rehab assignment

Cousins was on rehab assignment, recovering from a forearm/pectoral injury, when he was suddenly removed by the Yankees due to an elbow issue.

Boone said the assignment was paused because Cousins spoke up after the reliever said he "felt some stuff in his elbow." The right-hander has undergone an MRI and has met with doctors on Tuesday to get to the bottom of the issue.

Cousins, 30, has yet to pitch for the Yankees this season but was a good bullpen piece a season ago. In 37 appearances in 2024, he pitched to a 2.37 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. He also had eight holds and one save in one opportunity.

Marcus Stroman's first rehab start set

On a positive note, the Yankees have set the date for Stroman's first rehab start. The veteran right-hander will take the mound for Double-A Somerset on Wednesday.

Stroman (knee) has been trying to work his way back to the Yankees rotation after making three starts earlier this season. He's allowed 12 earned runs in 9.1 innings across those three starts.

Stroman will join teammate Giancarlo Stanton in Somerset. The slugger started his rehab assignment on Tuesday and will likely be in the lineup for Stroman when he takes the mound on Wednesday.

With a crowded rotation, the Yankees will have to make a decision on what to do with Stroman. The logical move would be to move Ryan Yarbrough back into the bullpen and slide Stroman in the rotation with Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt and Will Warren.

How Giants made franchise history in gritty comeback win vs. Rockies originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Giants are back to their tortuous ways after another nail-biting victory on Tuesday night at Coors Field.

In fact, San Francisco’s 6-5 win over the Colorado Rockies — which came after a wild four-run ninth inning — put the 2025 Giants in the franchise history books with six consecutive one-run victories. It’s the longest such streak in Giants history.

Additionally, the Giants are the first MLB team in 36 years to win six games in a row by one run, per Josh Dubow of the Associated Press. It hadn’t been done since the then-California Angels accomplished the feat in 1989.

The Giants entered the final inning of Tuesday’s game trailing 5-2, but a Casey Schmitt homer closed the gap and a trio of walks set Heliot Ramos up for a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded. Then, Wilmer Flores beat out an infield single to tie the game before Mike Yastrzemski delivered the go-ahead run with an RBI single to right field.

The Giants’ one-run marathon also coincides with their six-game winning streak, which began after president of baseball operations Buster Posey put his first big roster shakeup into place — a series of moves headlined by designating first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. for assignment.

Fans in San Francisco know their way around torture very well, but even the dynastic Giants teams of the 2010s never did it like this.

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

Cubs' enviable offense beats up on Abel and Phillies' bullpen in loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Mick Abel has faced a tougher lineup each time out as a big-leaguer and his third start on Tuesday wasn’t nearly as effective as the first two.

He left three balls up against the Cubs and paid for all three mistakes with homers by Dansby Swanson in the second inning, Ian Happ in the third and Michael Busch in the fourth of an 8-4 Phillies loss.

Abel was able to strike out the dangerous Kyle Tucker on his 30th pitch of the fourth inning to end a bases-loaded jam but it also ended his night. He walked three after pitching 11⅓ innings without one in his first two starts against the Pirates and Blue Jays.

”The Busch one was kind of a flat fastball left over the plate,” Abel said. “The one to Dansby, I’ll give him all the credit in the world, he just smashed it, top-rope.”

The Phillies came back to take the lead in the middle innings on a two-run single to left-center by Alec Bohm, one of their only hot hitters. Earlier, Max Kepler hit a Citizens Bank Park cheapie to the first row in right-center for the Phils’ first two runs.

But Happ, who has hurt the Phillies badly in the two games of this series, answered with a two-out, two-run homer off a middle-in Taijuan Walker cutter in the sixth to put the Cubs ahead. They broke it open with three more in the top of the eighth off Joe Ross and Carlos Hernandez.

The Cubs are second in MLB to the Dodgers in runs per game and rank in the top five in homers, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging and steals. They’ve been a complete offense in 2025, much more dynamic than the Phillies, and leads haven’t felt safe this week.

The Phils are 38-29 heading into the final meeting of the season between the two teams Wednesday at 1:05 p.m. A win would clinch them the series and the season series, with all of these games potentially mattering for seeding come playoff time.

Before any of that matters, though, the Phillies need to find some semblance of offensive consistency. They’ve scored more than four runs twice in their last 12 games, going 2-10. They don’t have much of an offensive identity, especially without Bryce Harper. At many times during the four years with this core, the Phillies have been a powerful offense, a selective offense, one capable of taxing and beating even elite setup men and closers. But they’re none of those things right now, at least not consistently. They’re more of a station-to-station, singles-based offense that doesn’t have great speed and isn’t picking enough big blows with runners in scoring position.

“The last couple weeks, wins, losses, guys getting hurt, it feels like anything that can go wrong has gone wrong,” catcher J.T. Realmuto said. 

“I know we say it all the time but that’s part of the game, it happens every season. We went through a stretch just like this last year. We’ve just got to do our best to press forward. We know we’re a good team, there’s a lot of talent in this clubhouse. We’ve got to get through this stretch as fast as we can and move on.”

The National League is tougher this year. A playoff berth can’t be assumed. The Phillies began the night four games behind the Mets in the NL East and tied with the Giants for the top wild-card spot but only 1½ games ahead of the Cardinals, the first team out. The Brewers, Reds and D-backs aren’t too far behind. There’s a ton of baseball left, 95 games, but there will be no cruising to October this year.

There was no update Tuesday on Harper’s inflamed right wrist. He continues to receive treatment and won’t swing for a little while. It is unclear when he will return but it doesn’t seem like it will be next Monday when Harper is first eligible.

The update on Aaron Nola was worse. Nola has a stress reaction in his right rib on top of the sprained right ankle that initially landed him on the injured list on May 15. It is highly unlikely Nola will return before the All-Star break in mid-July. When he does rejoin the Phillies’ rotation, he’ll have missed more than two months.

It will mean a substantially longer runway for Abel, who is currently occupying Nola’s rotation spot. He wasn’t at his best Tuesday and we’ll now see how Abel responds to his first bit of big-league adversity.

To add insult to injury, Brandon Marsh exited after the fifth inning Tuesday with left elbow soreness after finally heating up for the first time in 2025. He appeared to jam the arm on a slide when stealing second base. Marsh had been 5-for-7 during a season-best three-game hitting streak.

”He kind’ve hyperextended it so there’s some soreness,” manager Rob Thomson said. “He’ll be day-to-day.”