Category: Sports News

Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Yankees and Royals play a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium starting on Tuesday at 7:40 p.m.

5 things to watch

NY’s early season sweep

Even with Carlos Carrasco starting the opener and a rusty Clarke Schmidt making his season debut, the Yanks rolled through Kansas City earlier this season. 

New York put up four runs in all three games, and they held the Royals to only five runs total as they easily secured the three-game series sweep. 

Carrasco provided five strong innings to kick off the series, Jasson Dominguez delivered a three-run knock in the middle game, and then Aaron Judge came through with a go-ahead homer late in the finale.  

They’ll look for much of the same, this time on the road. 

The Yanks, of course, are coming off a disappointing three-game home series loss to the Red Sox but they still hold a 4.5 game lead on the red-hot Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East.

Kansas City has the unfortunate fate of being stuck in the same division of the surging Detroit Tigers -- they currently sit in fourth and are 1.5 games back of the Blue Jays for the final Wild Card spot. 

Max is back. 

Max Fried suffered his first rough outing of the season against the Dodgers, allowing six runs on eight hits across five innings of work in a series opening loss.

It didn’t take the left-hander long to return to his dominant form, though.  

Fried bounced back tremendously his last time out -- allowing just three baserunners as he cruised through six shutout innings in a win over the Guardians during Thursday’s series finale.

He's now won eight of his first 13 contests in pinstripes, pitching to a stellar 1.78 ERA and 0.94 WHIP. 

The southpaw has stepped in masterfully for the Bombers with ace Gerrit Cole sidelined, and continues making a strong case to potentially be the All-Star Game starter for the AL.

He’ll look to keep that rolling against rookie Noah Cameron in the opening match of this three-game set.

AL Player of the Month vs. AL Pitcher of the Month

The middle game of this set brings an intriguing matchup of two of baseball’s best to this point. 

With Kris Bubic taking the mound in the middle game for the Royals, the American League Pitcher of the Month will have his opportunity to face-off with the AL Player of the Month, Aaron Judge.

Bubic has been one of the most unexpected risers this season and he was spectacular last month -- allowing just two earned runs while striking out 33 batters in 32.1 innings of work over five outings. 

He carried that success over to his first June start, giving up just one run on four hits and two walks while striking out nine in a tough-luck loss to the Tigers.

And we know what Judge has done during his historic start to the season.

With a pair of opposite-field homers during Sunday's series finale loss to the Red Sox, the star outfielder is now hitting an incredible .396 with a .493 on-base percentage and 1.264 OPS on the year.

In a relatively small sample size, Judge has gotten the best of the matchup of the two thus far -- hitting .571 with a two-run homer over seven career at-bats against the 27-year-old southpaw.

First look at baseball’s next young star

The Royals added another huge big to their lineup last week, calling up top prospect Jac Caglianone. 

Caglianone was selected out of Florida with the sixth overall pick in last years draft and he quickly established himself as one of the top young talents in the minor leagues. 

The sweet-swinging lefty produced nine doubles, 15 homers, 56 RBI, and a .982 OPS in just 50 games between Double-A and Triple-A before receiving the call. 

He had gotten off to a bit of a slow start at the plate but has been hitting the ball with authority and finally saw the results on Sunday -- recording four knocks during the series finale victory over the White Sox. 

He became the first Royal since Bo Jackson (Sept. 1986) to put together a four-hit showing within their first six MLB contests -- some seriously strong company. 

Caglianone will certainly be looking to do more damage in his first games at Kauffman Stadium.  

Watch out for the Pasquatch 

Royals slugger Vinnie Pasquantino was off to a bit of a slow start the last time the Yanks saw him -- but he's on an absolute tear right now.

The 27-year-old was handed AL Player of the Week honors on Monday evening.

He hit an even .500 (13-for-26) with two homers, seven RBI, a double, a walk, four runs scored, a .769 slugging percentage and a .536 on-base percentage in six games against the Cardinals and White Sox.

Pasquantino is now riding a nine-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in 24 straight -- the longest stretch by a Royal since Nicky Lopez in 2021.

It'll be up to Fried, Clarke Schmidt, and Will Warren to keep him in check.

Predictions

Who will the MVP of the series be?

Aaron Judge.

The Captain has 14 homers and a 1.066 OPS in 40 career games against the Royals.

Which Yankees pitcher will have the best start?

Max Fried.

Coming off back-to-back losses, the Yanks need Fried to pitch like the ace he's been.

Which Royals player will be a thorn in the Yanks' side?

Bobby Witt Jr.

The star SS loves to see the pinstripes coming, and he's hitting .345 over his last seven games.

Watch A's rookie Denzel Clarke make jaw-dropping catch to rob Angels homer originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Athletics rookie Denzel Clarke has done it again.

The 25-year-old outfielder added to his already dazzling highlight reel in the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Monday, leaping over the center-field wall at Angel Stadium to rob Nolan Schanuel of a home run.

It’s a catch that had to be seen to be believed, and A’s starting pitcher Grant Holman certainly was thankful for the effort.

Clarke made his big league debut with the A’s on May 23 just a few years after the team drafted him in the fourth round of the 2021 MLB Draft. He has flashed the leather countless times during his two weeks in The Show, so, somehow, Monday’s catch wasn’t too surprising.

Clarke also robbed Alejandro Kirk of a home run in the A’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays on May 30.

The A’s have to like what they have seen so far from their young center fielder, and he’s sure to provide even more jaw-dropping highlights in the years to come.

Wheeler makes strong return and Phillies end slide with 11-inning win originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Zack Wheeler’s strong return from paternity leave helped the Phillies snap a five-game losing skid Monday night at Citizens Bank Park. 

Wheeler didn’t pick up a win, but he was excellent in the Phillies’ 4-3, 11-inning win to open their series vs. the Cubs. 

Brandon Marsh delivered the walk-off hit, an 11th-inning knock to the base of the left-center wall off of Daniel Palencia. 

The last of Wheeler’s seven strikeouts was his 1,000th as a Phillie. He pitched six innings in his first start since May 29 and allowed three hits, one walk and one run. 

Cubs starter Matthew Boyd went six innings and conceded eight hits and two runs. The southpaw struck out no Phillies and walked two. 

Kyle Tucker spoiled Wheeler’s first inning by smashing a 1-2 fastball into the right-field seats. 

In the velocity department, Wheeler appeared well-rested out of the gates. He threw 13 four-seamers in the first and averaged 97.5 mph with his heater. Wheeler’s final four-seam average was 96.6 mph, which is 0.8 mph above his season average. 

Several long Cubs at-bats prevented Wheeler from a truly deep outing. The righty’s pitch count rose considerably in the top of the fifth. After a two-out Matt Shaw single, Ian Happ took nine pitches to strike out. 

Boyd pounded the strike zone and kept the Phillies scoreless through three innings. 

The Phils didn’t boost their cause on the bases. Edmundo Sosa wanted a double on his second-inning jam shot down the right-field line, but Tucker rifled him out at second base. Boyd picked Trea Turner off first base to finish the third. 

The Phillies evened the game up in the fourth.

Kyle Schwarber came back from an 0-2 count to begin the frame with a walk. Alec Bohm and Nick Castellanos each followed by lacing first-pitch singles to left field. 

J.T. Realmuto’s grounder to third drove in Schwarber and put runners on the corners with one out. A pitch later, the inning was over. Sosa rolled a routine double-play ball to Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson. 

The bottom of the fifth was all about Otto Kemp. The 25-year-old notched his first MLB hit on a leadoff knock to left-center. He then sprinted to third base after a wayward Boyd pickoff attempt and scored his first big-league run on an opposite-field Weston Wilson single, giving the Phillies a 2-1 edge. 

Despite leadoff hits in the sixth and seventh innings, the Phillies couldn’t add to their lead. A single swing tied the contest in the eighth. Ian Happ ripped a 3-2 Matt Strahm sinker 424 feet to left field.

The Phillies should’ve had a leadoff runner in the eighth, but Castellanos tried to stretch a single to left into a double and wasn’t close to successful in his high-risk venture.

Kemp reached to kick off the bottom of the ninth, hustling to first base after a squib just in front of home plate. Cubs manager Craig Counsell was ejected for arguing that Kemp should’ve been called for runner’s interference on the play. The inning then fizzled out; Brandon Marsh, Max Kepler and Turner all came up empty.

Jordan Romano pitched a 1-2-3 top of the 10th, but the Phillies again failed to find a timely hit in the bottom of the inning. Following Bohm’s double play, Castellanos’ ground out sent the game to the 11th.

The Cubs pulled ahead in the 11th on Pete Crow-Armstrong’s one-out RBI double off of Carlos Hernandez. The Phils bounced right back, though.

Realmuto lined a game-tying single to right. Bryson Stott and Kemp then both legged out bunt hits, loading the bases with no outs. Marsh handled the rest.

The scheduled starters Tuesday night are the Phils’ Mick Abel (1-0, 0.79 ERA) and the Cubs’ Colin Rea (4-2, 3.59 ERA). Wednesday’s pitching matchup is Jesus Luzardo (5-2, 4.46 ERA) vs. Ben Brown (3-4, 5.37 ERA). 

Thomson’s message for slumping Stott 

Turner led off against a lefty and Stott sat until pinch-hitting for Sosa in the eighth inning.

Asked whether Turner would stay at the top of the Phils’ lineup vs. righties, Phillies manager Rob Thomson didn’t reveal anything.

“We’ll see tomorrow,” he said. “I think we’ve got a righty tomorrow.”

Stott’s been in a major funk of late. Entering Monday, he’d been 2 for 26 (.083 average) in June with no extra-base hits and two walks. 

“Start controlling the strike zone again, try not to do too much, think left field — because that’s who he is,” Thomson said. “I don’t think he’s thinking about hitting home runs, but he’s certainly pressing to get hits and get on base. He’s got to relax and just be himself.”

Injury updates 

Aaron Nola (right side soreness, right ankle sprain) had a doctor’s appointment Monday.

“I talked to him and he said he’s feeling a little better, but he’s going to get checked out by a doctor,” Thomson said.

Bryce Harper (right wrist soreness) also had a Monday night doctor’s appointment. Thomson was unsure whether Harper’s absence will extend beyond his 10-day injured list stint. 

“He was tolerating it early in the year,” Thomson said. “It just kept going worse. That’s why we shut him down. Get him in with the trainers on a daily basis, get treatment every day and try to knock this thing out.”

Kemp and Bohm might swap soon 

Without Harper, Bohm has been manning first base. Thomson indicated there’s a decent chance that will change in the near future. 

“The plan really is to get Otto a little bit of work at first base, and then we’ll be flipping them,” he said. 

Kemp has 13 career starts in the minor leagues at first base, including seven this season for Triple A Lehigh Valley. While third base has been Kemp’s primary position, he also started Triple A games this year at second, first and left field.

“I would think in the next week … sometime in that area,” Thomson said of when Kemp could slide to first. “(Infield coach Bobby Dickerson) is going to get him some extra work and we’ll see how it goes. I’ll lean on Bobby for that, too.”