Category: Sports News

What we learned as Bryson Stott, Alec Bohm help salvage series vs. Yankees originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Phillies have had quite the rollercoaster of a season.

When they finished out the first half with what Don Mattingly called their “best game of the year,” when they outplayed the Tigers and Tarik Skubal, it felt like the break was coming at the perfect time after the long midwest trip.

Lately, it hasn’t been pretty.

But for a stretch before that, the club had looked sluggish — a squad that boasted six All-Stars at its home ballpark.

Was it much of a break, then, if their core was barely getting any time away from the game?

Don Mattingly noted pregame that it was obviously an “honor” for sluggers like Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber to take part, but he didn’t think the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game were “great things for those guys.”

That can be the case, but they needed to put all of that aside and salvage the series against the Yankees Sunday at Citizens Bank Park. And they did just that in their 11-4 win, snapping their four-game losing streak.

Who and what stood out in game No. 106?

QUIETLY STOTT

Since Mattingly took over and Bryson Stott began getting regular playing time at second — without Edmundo Sosa spelling him against most left-handers — his offensive numbers have taken off.

In the second inning Sunday, after the Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the first, Stott lined a low-and-in fastball into the first row of the right-field seats. Bringing his hands in, the Phillies’ second baseman clubbed the pitch 110.5 mph off the bat — the hardest homer of his career.

Not only has Stott been one of Philadelphia’s most consistent hitters, batting .289 since May 31, but it’s where he’s making contact that tells the story.

For Stott, his key has been where his hands are at the point of contact. His softly-hit batted balls typically head to the left side, but when he really connects, he predominantly pulls it.

Entering Sunday, Stott had pulled the baseball at a 36.2 percent rate, a career-high (second is 32.6 in 2022). His year-to-year jump (from 2025) is the 14th highest in baseball.

What has that led to?

A career-high in hard-hit rate. Last year, Stott produced a 29.5 percent hard-hit rate. That has soared to 38.3 percent — the second-highest jump from last year of all 181 qualified hitters.

You’re starting to see a number of Phillies, like Trea Turner and Alec Bohm, find a rhythm pulling the baseball.

One inning later, Stott knocked another base hit through the right side. And in the sixth, he pulled another — his 14th multi-hit game in his last 48-game stretch.

THE DISRESPECT?

The Yankees made an interesting decision that may have cost them the game.

In the third, with runners on second and third and two outs, Yankees righty Will Warren fell behind in the count 2-0 to Brandon Marsh, who, over his last 18 games entering play, was hitting just .129 — and just .140 against right-handers.

New York decided to intentionally walk Marsh, loading the bases — and pitch to Alec Bohm instead.

The Phillies’ third baseman has been one of the club’s best hitters with runners in scoring position. He’s batting a team-best .304 with a .983 OPS with two outs and runners in scoring position.

Bohm proceeded to work a nine-pitch at-bat, and on the ninth pitch, he dug out a sweeper and swiped it into left field. Neither outfielder could cut it off — hit just 87.5 mph, it rolled all the way to the wall, allowing all three runners to score.

It was a four-run third, and gave the Phillies a 6-0 lead.

Did Bohm have a chip on his shoulder in that spot?

The Phillies were fortunate to get that opportunity. Cristopher Sánchez wasn’t at his sharpest, but he still turned in six innings, allowing three earned runs. He got ahead of hitters all night long. That was enough, especially after the Phillies tacked on five more runs in the sixth.

DOWN ON THE FARM & ROTATION TALK

With all the talk surrounding the Phillies’ fifth-starter spot — which has now lost 11 turns in a row — a reinforcement from within would obviously be preferable.

Andrew Painter, who was sent down on June 18, has found some success recently at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. On Sunday, the tall right-hander made his fifth start, and dazzled. Six innings of one-run ball — the run coming on a homer — with six strikeouts and no walks.

Three of his last four starts have gone at least five innings with two or fewer earned runs. He touched 99 mph on Sunday. He fired 90 pitches, 61 of those for strikes.

Good life on his fastball, paired with strike-throwing, is exactly what the Phillies want to see.

Mattingly also pointed to Painter’s growing feel for a wrinkle in his arsenal.

“He’s kind of a secret slider guy at this point,” Mattingly said, noting it’s a pitch they want more developed than just a right-on-right weapon.

But even with the flashes, Mattingly made clear there’s no artificial timeline pushing Painter back to the majors.

“It’s not going to be something like, ‘Oh hey, now he’s ready, now he’s good,'” Mattingly said. “It’s going to be, let’s let Andrew develop — same pitch, same work, keep getting better — and when he’s ready, we’ll see him.”

The club has not optioned Brian Keller after he spun three innings Saturday following the opener, so there’s reason to think, as Mattingly put it, that Keller could be in play again in Baltimore this Friday.

With how thin the end of the Phillies’ bullpen is, it’s also reasonable to think Painter could be a contributor there, but the club has not changed his throw-day schedule recently. He’s built up, and the club wants him to be a starter long-term.

If the Phillies are unable to land a back-end starter, an Aaron Nola–Painter opener-bulk strategy could be an outside-the-box look in a playoff format, assuming they clinch later in the season.

Continue to keep an eye on how Painter progresses at Triple-A.

WHAT’S AHEAD

The Phillies have a strong opportunity to get in a rhythm after facing off against the Yankees and Dodgers this past week.

They’ll head to Miami and face the Marlins, who lost their 12th straight game on Sunday. The Phils, just a game over .500 at home (28-27), are 29-22 on the road this year and could build some comfort in the Wild Card race. Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Jesús Luzardo will go in South Beach.

After that, they’ll head north to play the Orioles, who sit fourth in the American League East at 51-55. That three-game set will precede the August 3 trade deadline.

When Jeremy Peña led off the game with a homer off Erick Fedde, it seemed to portend a rough day for the White Sox. It portended wrong.

It only took two Sox batters to turn things around. Sam Antonacci led off the bottom of the first with a walk, and then Munetaka Murakami started his celebration of his own bobblehead day.

Peña tied the game at two with another solo shot in the third, so Murakami struck back by grounding in a run in the bottom of that inning to make it 3-2. Then in the fourth, Braden Montgomery decided to at least stall of the next Astro dinger for an inning.

Still, Taylor Trammell did the solo-shot bit for Houston in the fifth to tie it again in the fifth and it looked like the Astros would have another big sixth inning as they’d had the first two games of the series, but they left the bases loaded and were apparently so discouraged by the failure they gave up on offense for the rest of the day.

Not so the White Sox, who hadn’t hit a homer in a week and decided to make up for that all in one day. Miguel Vargas went deep in the bottom of the sixth to make it 5-3, and then it was time to sit back and have fun.

Chase Meidroth parked one to lead off the seventh, and the bobblehead man drove in two more runs with a single:

Then Andrew Benintendi decided there might as well be a cheap run, too, and blooped a 68 mph RBI to make it 9-3, White Sox.

Not enough long ball? Of course not. Even .171 hitter Junior Perez, a defensive replacement, got in on the action with a two-run shot. And that gave one more at-bat to the man of the hour … and day … and he showed his appreciation.

Make that six RBIs on the day for the bobblehead, and five long balls for the Sox — a season high.

The final score was 12-3, running Chicago’s record to 55-49 with the Yankees heading to town tomorrow and putting Gerrit Cole on the mound for the opener of a four-game series. With the Guardians losing to the Rays (understandable) for their fifth loss in a row and the Tigers falling to the Royals again (huh?), the lead in the AL Central is now 2 1/2 over Cleveland, 3 1/2 over Minnesota, and six over Detroit.

The matchup between one of baseball’s most electric pitchers and one of baseball’s worst teams started off exactly how you would expect.

Jacob Misiorowski set a Brewers franchise record by striking out the first seven Rockies batters and 12 of the first 13 over five innings Sunday in an 11-2 victory.

He allowed one hit and one run.

Misiorowski became the first pitcher since 1920 with 11 strikeouts and no hits allowed through four innings, according to CBS Sports.

He could have been more dominant but was pulled after 83 pitches to manage his workload with the stretch run ahead.

The franchise record for consecutive strikeouts to start a game was only 311 days old.

The Brewers’ Quinn Priester struck out six in a row to begin a 5-2 victory against the Angels on Sept. 18, 2025.

The MLB record for consecutive strikeouts to start a game was set by Pablo Lopez of the Marlins in 2021.

The MLB record for consecutive strikeouts at any point within a game is 10 — shared by the Brewers’ Corbin Burnes, Phillies’ Aaron Nola and Mets’ Tom Seaver.

Misiorowski threw all 66 of the game’s fastest pitches.

All were 100.3 mph or faster, including a 104.7 mph four-seam fastball.

Cole Carrigg turned around a 101 mph fastball for a solo home run.

It landed 361 feet away in left field.

Misiorowski owns the modern-day record for the fastest pitch thrown by a starting pitcher, topping out at 105.5 mph

“The Miz” entered the game inducing the highest whiff rate of any starter (38 percent) and the highest strikeout rate (39 percent).

He upped his MLB-leading strikeout total to 185 and but his ERA actually slightly climbed to 1.58 as he builds his case for the National League Cy Young Award.

When Jacob Misiorowski is feeling right, there is no better pitcher in baseball. Misiorowski was feeling right on Sunday afternoon against the Colorado Rockies and he absolutely blew them away.

Misiorowski hit 104 MPH four times in the first inning en route to striking out the side. Then he struck out the side again in the 2nd inning, and then struck out Willi Castro to start the 3rd. That meant seven consecutive strikeouts to start the game for Misiorowski, which set a new franchise record that was previously held by Quinn Priester with six.

Then Misiorowski allowed contact for once, with Troy Johnston flying out to center. Misiorowski promptly responded by striking out the next five batters after that. He was at 12 strikeouts across 13 batters.

“That’s pretty impressive. Yeah, there’s nothing more impressive than that.” Pat Murphy said.

However, Cole Carrigg spoiled the fun, lifting a 2-2 fastball up in the zone at 102 MPH over the left field wall for a solo home run to break up the perfect game, no-hitter, and shutout. A hit-by-pitch of Willi Castro gave the Rockies another baserunner, but Misiorowski induced a grounder from Troy Johnston to end a 30 pitch fifth inning.

That inning would be Misiorowski’s last as the Brewers continue to play it cautiously building him back up from his two week layoff in and around the All Star Break. He finished with 83 pitches and could’ve gone out for the 6th, but Pat Murphy ultimately decided to turn this game over to the bullpen.

Misiorowski threw 66 fastballs, all of them at 100+ MPH. He set a new record for most 103+ MPH pitches in a game with 33 of them. The previous record was 12. He also threw seven pitches at 104+ MPH.

Meanwhile, the Brewers offense was peppering the Rockies pitching staff. The Crew put up three runs in the first inning with a double from Jackson Chourio, a single from Brice Turang, and a double from William Contreras.

That was all the Brewers could scratch across until the 6th inning, when they sent 10 men to the plate. The inning started with an Andrew Vaughn solo home run, his fourth of the year. Jake Bauers and Gary Sanchez drew back-to-back walks, then the extended rookies Luis Lara and Cooper Pratt slugged back-to-back doubles.

“They’re going to be very consistent, good baseball players. I think that the reason the organization signed them long-term is they sensed in them that this is how they play and they’ve been really steady” Pat Murphy said.

Third Base Joey Ortiz made it three straight doubles continue to extend the lead. It was also Ortiz’s second extra-base hit of the day as he continues his torrid stretch.

The Brewers scored five runs in the 6th and then piled on a few more in the 7th with four straight hits. A Bauers single, Sanchez and Lara doubles, then a Pratt single.

They would tack on another in the 8th off position player pitching Brett Sullivan.

Milwaukee tallied nine doubles in this game, tying a franchise record with the sixth instance of it. The last time the Crew hit nine doubles in a game was July 6, 2008 against the Pirates.

The Brewers used five relievers out of their bullpen to cover the final four innings. Chad Patrick couldn’t finish the 6th, but Aaron Ashby only took one pitch to do so. Grant Anderson gave up a solo home run to Willi Castro in the 7th. Then Craig Yoho had a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Bryse Wilson secured the 9th.

Next up for the Brewers will be a trip out to the West Coast against the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Angels.

The Texas Rangers scored four runs but the Seattle Mariners scored six runs.

In the span of a couple of pitches, a rather large swing in the fates of these two teams perhaps transpired and not in a way that favored the Rangers.

Texas had already won the first two games of this series — so that’s good! — but leading 3-1 in the seventh with a chance to further bury the Mariners went wasted when the Rangers turned to leverage grim reaper Cole Winn who promptly allowed a three-run home run and then a solo shot on back-to-back pitches.

While the three-run bomb off the bat of Dominic Canzone was deflating, it turns out the solo homer by Randy Arozarena that immediately followed was nearly as critical as Ezequiel Duran hit a solo home run in the eighth but that was Texas’ only baserunner after the Winn disaster in the seventh. And then the M’s reclaimed their insurance run in the top of the ninth.

Texas can still win the series tomorrow but today can be marked down as a massive wasted opportunity with potential considerable division implications.

Player of the Game: Joc Pederson legged out a hustle double and scored the game’s first run in the first inning in a time when things were much more jolly in Rangers Land.

Up Next: To win the series and right today’s wrong, the Rangers will need to beat George Kirby, the human Rangers slayer. Meanwhile, Texas will counter with RHP Kumar Rocker. Good luck.

The Monday afternoon finale from The Shed is again scheduled for 1:35 pm CDT and will be carried on the Rangers Sports Network.

Mariners 6, Rangers 4

14th pick of the 2018 Draft: Logan Gilbert, -0,12 WPA
15th pick of the 2018 Draft: Cole Winn, -0.55 WPA

Mighty bad: J.P. Crawford, -0.16 WPA
Molto bene: Dominic Canzone, +0.60 WPA

Game Thread Comment of the Day

It was not pretty in the 9th inning, but the Nats held on to secure a much needed 10-7 win over the Diamondbacks. With the win the Nats are only a game out of the third Wild Card spot with the trade deadline on the horizon. The offense did not skip a beat without Curtis Mead. Now it is time for Paul Toboni to go and get some bullpen reinforcements.

From the outset, this game just felt like a shootout. Miles Mikolas and Kohl Drake were not fooling anyone on the mound. Even the outs they were getting were loud contact. Even though things did not fully set ablaze early on, it was still 3-2 after four innings.

After the D-Backs added another run in the 5th, the Nats exploded in the bottom of the inning. After Nasim Nunez walked to start the inning, the Snakes let Kohl Drake face James Wood for a third time. That proved to be an unwise decision, with the Nats star outfielder punishing a hanging curveball for his first homer of the second half, and 29th of the season.

Later in the game Wood hit another home run, that turned out to be a key piece of insurance. After a slow start to the second half, Wood showed up in a massive way in this big game. He now has 30 home runs for a second straight season. Wood joins Adam Dunn as the second Nat to do that, which honestly surprised me when I saw the stat.

However, Wood was not the only Nats star to go deep that inning. Wood’s partner in crime, CJ Abrams had a huge game of his own. After homering in the third, Abrams did it again in the 5th inning, crushing a ball out the yard for his 27th long ball of the season. He is having the best month of his career in July.

There have been plenty of Abrams trade rumors lately, but this stretch is showing that Abrams is just too good to trade. Unlike the Juan Soto situation, the team has a good shot of being competitive in the near future. This team can make a run with Abrams on the team. Also, they need to push as hard as they can for an extension this offseason.  CJ Abrams is part of this team’s solution.

Even after the Mead trade, this offense showed just how potent they can be this afternoon. They just tore through the D-Backs pitching staff this afternoon. Having success against a rookie starter in Drake was not overly surprising, but they put a beating on the Snakes solid bullpen as well.

Jonathan Loaisiga and Brandyn Garcia are both high velo arms who are having great seasons. That did not phase the Nats though. They roughed up both of those guys on the way to yet another win.

However, that win did not come easily in the 9th inning. Handed a 10-5 lead, Matt Krook came out and walked three straight hitters before being yanked. That is just something you cannot do as a major league pitcher. It also showcased the glaring hole on the Nats roster. Paul Toboni owes it to this clubhouse to bring in some bullpen help at the deadline. This group has just done too much to be let down like this. They did not blow it today, but we have seen that sort of thing happen too many times.

It seems like Toboni is trying to thread the needle between buying and selling. He said this morning that he wanted to give this team a shot. If he is serious about that, he needs to bring multiple bullpen arms through the door. This is a good team with one flaw that is fatal, at least as it stands right now.

Even though the bullpen almost ruined the fun, Clayton Beeter eventually put out the fire to give the Nats the win. With this curly W, the Nats are right in the middle of the playoff race. They face a Blue Jays team whose season has not gone according to plan after this. That gives them another opportunity to collect some wins in the lead up to the deadline.

One last piece of fun from today was the performance of Brady House. The 23 year old is back in the show after the Mead trade. His impact was loud in his return to DC. House hit two doubles in this contest. He looked comfortable at the plate, especially in his at bats against lefties. House has plenty of room to grow, but man can he mash lefties.

Overall, this was an excellent series win. This is a series they had to win to truly remain in the mix, and they did it. Before the deadline, I want at least two bullpen arms and maybe a starter as well. The offense is an absolute buzzsaw, and has me dreaming really big if this team can manage to find even average pitching.

The Colorado Rockies played a game of two acts today — both dominated by the Milwaukee Brewers. They were barricaded early by Jacob ‘Les Mis’ Misiorowski, but were eventually brought down by a barrage of offense in the late innings.

They mustered five hits — including two solo homers — but also struck out 15 times. Kyle Freeland was saddled with his 100th loss in his 250th start after pitching 5.1 innings and allowing five runs on six hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

“Master of the House”

Misiorowski looked down upon the Rockies for almost his entire outing, as expected. He came out firing, striking out the first seven Rockies he saw. That not only set a Brewers franchise record for most consecutive strikeouts to start a game, but also set a Rockies record for most consecutive strikeouts to start a game.

Troy Johnston put the ball in play in the third inning, but ‘Les Mis’ kept racking up the strikeouts — setting another record of becoming the first pitcher since at least 1920 to strike out 12 of his first 13 hitters in the game. He threw 66 fastballs of his 83 pitches, and every single one was over 100 mph.

“That’s like a one-of-one fastball,” manager Warren Schaeffer said postgame, “103 with all that extension. It’s hard to react to that and he just throws it all the time. To me, it’s a one-of-one pitch. It’s elite. There’s nothing really much else to say.”

It was not a great way to kick things off. But then birthday boy Kyle Karros hit a liner to right to break the streak, setting the table for his alliterative teammate in the next at-bat.

“On My Own”

Despite the struggles of the rest of the team, Cole Carrigg broke through the barricade (perfect game) in progress by sending a 101.9-mph fastball 361 feet over the opposite field wall to make the score 3-1.

The Rockies would not be singing “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” after all!

According to Sarah Langs, that was the fastest pitch a Rockies player has homered off of under pitch tracking (2008). Hilariously, the ball only had an exit velocity of 98.2 mph.

Not to be outdone, Willi Castro said “Drink With Me” and added his own solo shot in the seventh to bring the Rockies within six. (More on how they got there later.)

“Bring Him Home”

The Rockies got a few more baserunners in the sixth with back-to-back singles by Mickey Moniak and Hunter Goodman. Unfortunately, though, they were unable to bring either one home and the score remained 3-1.

TJ Rumfield singled in the ninth to record the Rockies’ fifth hit, but he was also stranded.

“Do You See the Brewers Swing?”

The Brewers offense got started early, scoring three runs in the first. Jackson Chourio got things going with a leadoff double, and then was brought home on a soft bunt ground ball back to Freeland, which Freeland fielded poorly, making an error that allowed Chourio to score. Andrew Vaughn flied out to right, but then William Contreras doubled to bring Brice Turang to third. A wild pitch allowed Turang to score, and Jake Bauers grounded out to first to score Contreras. Gary Sánchez grounded out to third to end the inning, but the Brewers had a 3-0 lead after just one inning.

But they cooled off in the middle innings, as Freeland only allowed two hits after that tough first inning.

“After the first inning, he settled in,” Schaeffer said. “That’s a really good hitting team and he battled through that lineup and was efficient. He took the ball with 72 pitches into the sixth inning and he gave us all he had. He gave us a chance to win, for sure, especially against Mis. He kept the score low and gave us a shot.”

“I obviously didn’t set the tone the way I wanted to,” Freeland said after the game. “Giving up three in the first is not a good way to start the day, and putting your offense behind the ball and them having to fight back immediately. Not giving them any sort of momentum was not good. But innings 2-5 were good. I was able to settle in and then the sixth inning just unraveled on us completely.”

Like Javert, the Brewers came back with a vengeance in the later sixth inning. Vaughn homered right out of the gate to make the score 4-1. Then, Contreras struck out swinging but Bauers walked after a failed challenge by Freeland. Freeland was then lifted in favor of Jimmy Herget, and Bauers stole second. Sánchez then walked, and Luis Lara doubled to score Bauers. Cooper Pratt said “Drink With Me” and doubled to score two more Brewers. Joey Ortiz also doubled, but then Chourio grounded out on a swinging bunt to score Pratt. Turang walked, but then Vaughn struck out to end the inning.

For those keeping score at home, the inning started with a score of 3-1 and ended with a score of 8-1.

Things didn’t get better in the seventh with Victor Vodnik on the hill, as four-straight hits — a single by Bauers, doubles by Sánchez and Lara, and a single by Pratt — scored two more runs. Luckily, Ortiz grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning, but the damage was done.

The Brewers recorded 14 hits in the game, and nine were doubles. That tied another franchise record, as well.

“One Day More”

The Rockies have an off day tomorrow as they head west to San Diego for a quick two-game set against the Padres. It’ll be a battle of the Michaels, as Michael Lorenzen will face Padres’ right-hander Michael King.

First pitch is at 7:40 pm MT.

See you then!

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Buyer’s remorse hit quickly for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Only 11 days after trading for Lance McCullers Jr., the team already designated him for assignment on Sunday.

McCullers Jr. was just recently acquired from the under-.500 Astros, along with fellow pitcher Colton Gordon and cash, for Single-A prospect Jadyn Fielder, son of legendary Brewer Prince Fielder.

McCullers, who arrived from Houston with a 6.86 ERA through eight starts this season, pitched in just 4 ⅔ innings across two games out of Milwaukee’s bullpen.

On Saturday, McCullers walked four and allowed three runs (none earned, however) in just 1.2 innings pitched.

In his debut with the team on July 20, he allowed two earned runs in a three-inning stint, striking out four and walking one.

McCullers had been a career-long starter before his run with Milwaukee, opening up148 of his 154 appearances before being dealt — all with Houston, whom he has represented on the mound since the 2015 season.

A one-time All-Star in 2017, McCullers — who also finished seventh in American League Cy Young voting in 2021 — has failed to consistently recapture his previous effectiveness since missing the complete 2023 and 2024 seasons due to injuries in his pitching arm, including flexor tendon surgery, bone spurs and setbacks.

The 32-year-old is in the final year of a five-year deal worth $85 million.

MLB.com notes that Houston also sent the Brewers about $4.23 million to cover a healthy portion of McCullers’ remaining salary.

Gordon is still with the Brewers at the team’s Triple-A affiliate in Nashville.

With heat indexes in triple digits, the St. Louis Cardinals wrapped up their weekend series against the Cincinnati Reds Sunday. Kyle Leahy was a trooper and not only gave the Cardinals a quality start, but also set a career-high for strikeouts. However, the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen would once again become an issue late.

The St. Louis Cardinal s were first to score in a back-and-forth affair Sunday afternoon. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Alec Burleson led off with a double. Masyn Winn singled which gave the Cardinals runners at first and third with no outs. José Fermín gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly to left. Unfortunately, that’s the only run the Cardinals would get in the 2nd inning as Nelson Velázquez lined out to center and Pedro Pagés fouled out to the catcher.

The St. Louis lead wouldn’t last long as Elly De La Cruz caught up with an 88 mph Kyle Leahy slider and launched it 410 feet for a homer tying the game at 1-1 in the top of the 3rd inning.

The Cardinals would seize the lead again in the bottom of the 3rd inning when Iván Herrera met an 81 mph sweeper and gave it a 411 foot ride giving St. Louis a 2-1 lead.

The Cincinnati Reds matched the Cardinals again in the top of the 5th inning when Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a 91 mph four-seam fastball just far enough for a game-tying 387-foot home run locking the game at 2-2. That would be the last damage that Kyle Leahy would allow as he completed 6 strong innings striking out a career-high 9 batter while allowing just 6 hits and walking only 1.

With the game tied 2-2, the St. Louis bullpen entered the equation. Luis Gastelum did a solid job of keeping the Reds quiet in the top of the 7th inning. The Cardinals would threaten (sort of) in the bottom of the 7th inning when Lars Nootbaar would reach with a leadoff walk. Blaze Jordan flied out to deep center for the first out followed by Bryan Torres grounding out which moved Nootbaar into scoring position at second, but JJ Wetherholt was unable to make anything other than a groundout to first happen which ended the Cardinals scoring opportunity.

Ryne Stanek was the next St. Louis bullpen representative in the top of the 8th inning. He set the Reds down 1-2-3 which was a pleasant development. In the bottom of the 8th inning, the Cardinals would try to mount a two-out rally which started when Alec Burleson ripped a ball down the right field line which glanced off of Nathaniel Lowe’s glove. Masyn Winn moved Burleson into scoring position when he singled up the middle. That left the Cardinals 8th inning fate in the hands of José Fermín. He ended up reaching base to load the bases when the Cardinals successfully challenged catcher’s interference. Unfortunately, Lars Nootbaar flied out to left field to end the bottom of the 8th inning. The Cardinals RISP woes continue.

George Soriano entered the game in the top of the 9th inning as the TV dudes said Riley O’Brien was under the weather. All he needed to do to give St. Louis a walk-off opportunity was to keep the Reds off the board and he was successful as he only allowed an infield single to Marte.

Would the St. Louis Cardinals offense rise up and shock the world by scoring a run for a walk-off winner? Blaze Jordan weakly grounded out to first to lead off the bottom of the 9th inning off of Reds reliever Brock Burkes who made odd barking sounds after each pitch which was distracting. Jimmy Crooks was the next bat with an opportunity for hero status. He unfortunately struck out, but the Cardinals still had JJ Wetherholt with a chance to end the game in a great way. He did the opposite with a strikeout sending the game to extra innings.

The top of the 10th inning was Matt Svanson’s responsibility for the Cardinals. Tyler Stephenson was the Reds free runner at second base. It only took 2 pitches before he was standing at third as Jimmy Crooks allowed a passed ball to the backstop which the official scorer may have called a wild pitch, but this one’s on Crooks. He easily scored on a single by Sal Stewart to right field giving the Reds a 3-2 lead. Elly De La Cruz followed that with a single of his own giving Cincinnati runners at first and second with nobody out. Arroyo then laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt moving runners up to second and third with just one out. Manager Oli Marmol then turned to Justin Bruihl for a lefty-on-lefty matchup against JJ Bleday. Could Bruihl be a hero and hold the Reds to just one extra innings run? Spoiler Alert: NOPE. He struck out Bleday for the second out which was crucial. The Cardinals then intentionally walked Suarez to load the bases setting up a force at any base. That brought up Lowe who already had two hits on the day. He sadly added another single to that effort which scored two more Reds giving Cincinnati a 5-2 10th inning lead.

We had heard about the bad reputation of the Reds bullpen. Could the Cardinals do anything against them? Well, Jordan Walker nearly injured himself tripping over first base on a ground out with free runner JJ Wetherholt at second base. Iván Herrera did manage a single into left moving JJ over to third which brought up Alec Burleson as the potential tying run. He looped a ball over short for a single scoring Wetherholt and bringing up the potential winning run to the plate in the form of Masyn Winn. Nathan Church smartly took Burleson’s place at first as the tying run pinch-runner. Masyn sadly struck out which brought up José Fermín as the Cardinals final hope with two outs. He flew out to left to end the game and give the Reds the series victory. BUMMER.

The St. Louis Cardinals begin a crucial 4-game series versus their arch rivals the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium Monday night. According to MLB.com, the Cubs will start LHP David Peterson. The Cardinals starter is to be determined. First pitch set for 6:45pm Monday night at Busch Stadium with the TV broadcast available through Cardinals.tv.