Category: Sports News

Hello, friends.

The grind resumes. The Orioles are back at it tonight. Anything could happen. That’s the frustrating thing about these guys. They are really, genuinely capable of playing some good baseball. They have won quite a few games that could be real, signature wins, if only they had won a few more non-signature wins too. Just ordinary, relatively uninteresting wins, like Wednesday’s series finale could have been, if not for, you know, everything that happened late in the game.

Instead, just past the halfway point of the season, just about a month and a week until the trade deadline, they find themselves towards the back end of the muddled pack of AL Wild Card contenders. The third wild card spot is still held by a below-.500 team this deep into the season. The Orioles are not out of it, no matter how much games like the ones they played against the Angels can make it feel that way. It’s just that changing their fortunes is going to require doing something we haven’t seen them do: Playing sustained good baseball. For a whole lot of reasons, they have proven incapable of this.

I think that for a number of those reasons, the cake was baked over the offseason with the decisions that Mike Elias made in constructing the roster. He thought this group of relievers would be good enough to get by. He thought that the defense would be good enough to get by. Each of these things is proving to not be the case and there’s not much he can do about them now. That spray can of potpourri can only affect so much square footage at a time.

Should Elias lose his job for these errors? If this thing doesn’t improve by season’s end, I think that he should. He has not been able to sustain a good baseball team. After the 2024 season ended with another postseason disappointment, there were obvious problems to address. The team didn’t address them sufficiently heading into 2025, and it hasn’t sufficiently addressed 2025’s problems heading into 2026 either.

Although the baseball way is “three strikes and you’re out,” I don’t think that applies to general managers or presidents of baseball operations. Two strikes and you’re out is good enough by my reckoning there. We are looking at Elias’s second strike. If I was the billionaire with authority to make the decisions, I wouldn’t give him another chance, if he doesn’t pull off the mid-season pivot here.

One thing I would be quite interested to know about the Orioles is how they spent their off day yesterday. There’s stuff it sure seems like they could use some work on! We’ve probably all at some point in our lives encountered something spiritually similar to a punitive “one person on the team screwed up, so the whole team runs laps.” I don’t need the Orioles to run laps or wind sprints as punishment. I just want to know if they’re doing useful drills to reinforce the correct response to situations that they have recently screwed up.

If they are doing this, we sure aren’t seeing the results yet. I don’t think that’s totally because of guys playing out of position. Some of it is. But stuff like “cover first base on a ground ball” ought to be basic for pitchers and first basemen and Keegan Akin and Pete Alonso between the two of them couldn’t manage it during one of Wednesday’s crucial plays. Alonso took more firm post-game ownership of his mistake there than Akin did. I don’t know what they should do about that. I guess they don’t know either.

The Nationals await for three games starting tonight. Hopefully the version of Trevor Rogers who most recently pitched seven shutout innings against the Dodgers is the one who takes the field tonight. It’s a 7:05 start for the Friday night game.

Orioles stuff you might have missed

Orioles players reflect on the first half and gear up for what’s next (The Baltimore Banner)
One thing that comes across is that Orioles players don’t feel beaten and lost to the degree that many fans seem to.

Orioles shut out in first round of All-Star voting (School of Roch)
This was the obvious outcome before voting began and only became more obvious with how the team played during the voting period.

Pete Alonso discusses changes coming to Home Run Derby (Orioles.com)
The two-time Home Run Derby champion is a fan of the adjustments made to the format for this year.

Magic in the booth: Kevin Brown makes mark with Orioles (Press Box Online)
An excellent feature profile on Kevin Brown, my honorary cousin, who is genuinely one of the game’s great broadcasters. He is a delight every night he is on the call.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Today in 1970, Frank Robinson hit two grand slams during a 12-2 win over the then-Senators. He was just the seventh major league player to ever accomplish this in the same game. These turned out to be his only grand slams for the team.

There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2022-23 pitcher Austin Voth, 2007-08 infielder Luis Hernández, 1987 pitcher Mike Griffin, and 1960 outfielder Gene Green.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: Civil War general and probably-not-inventor of baseball Abner Doubleday (1819), WW2 Marine Corps legend Chesty Puller (1898), pro football Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe (1968), actors Chris O’Donnell and Nick Offerman (1970), actress Aubrey Plaza (1984), and singer-songwriter Ariana Grande (1993).

On this day in history…

In 1917, the first American soldiers arrived in France to join the conflict we now know as World War I. They would see combat within two weeks.

In 1945, the 50 Allied nations signed the charter for the United Nations in San Francisco.

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy delivered the famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech. The remarks, made shortly after East Germany had put up the Berlin Wall, reinforced American support for the democratic West Germany.

In 1974, the first barcode was scanned at a grocery store in Ohio. This first use of a Universal Product Code sold a package of Wrigley gum.

**

And that’s the way it is in Birdland on June 26. Have a safe Friday. Go O’s!

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders:W, 6-4 at Indianapolis Indians

2B Marco Luciano 0-5, 2 K
RF Yanquiel Fernández 1-4, 1 R, 1 K
DH Garrett Martin 1-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
3B Tyler Hardman 2-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R — 100 career home runs, 18 this year
1B Ernesto Martinez Jr. 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R
C Payton Henry 0-3, 1 K
LF Kenedy Corona 0-4, 2 K
CF Duke Ellis 2-4, 1 R, 1 SB
SS Jonathan Ornelas 1-4, 1 RBI, throwing error

Dom Hamel 5 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 5 BB, 4 K (win)
Danny Watson 1 IP, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K (hold)
Angel Chivilli 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H (hold)
Will Brian 0.2 IP, 1 R, 3 BB, 2 K (hold)
Carlos Lagrange 1.1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 K (save) — first career save as his transition to the bullpen continues to go well

Double-A Somerset Patriots:L, 1-2 at New Hampshire Fisher Cats

DH Jackson Castillo 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 SB
CF Jace Avina 0-4, 3 K
RF DJ Gladney 0-4, 4 K
1B Nicholas Torres 1-4, 1 K
3B Coby Morales 1-4, 1 2B, 1 K
C Manuel Palencia 1-2, 1 BB
LF Josh Moylan 0-3, 2 K
SS Kevin Verde 0-3, 3 K
2B Connor McGinnis 0-2, 1 K

Jack Cebert 5.2 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 6 K (loss)
Kelly Austin 1.1 IP, 0 R, 1 K
Ben Grable 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H

High-A Hudson Valley Renegades:L, 5-6 (11) at Bowling Green Hot Rods

SS Kaeden Kent 2-6, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 R, 2 K
DH Core Jackson 1-6, 1 K
RF Wilson Rodriguez 2-4, 1 HR, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 1 R, 1 K — two-run homer in the 10th briefly gave the ‘Gades the lead
1B Kyle West 1-5, 1 K
3B Roderick Arias 2-5, 2 K
2B Enmanuel Tejeda 1-5, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 R
C Josue Gonzalez 2-5, 2 K, 1 SB, throwing error
CF Camden Troyer 1-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 BB
LF Luis Durango 1-3
PH Eric Genther 1-1
PR-LF Robbie Burnett 0-0, 1 BB

Allen Facundo 5.2 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 10 K — third double-digit strikeout outing of his season
Thomas Balboni Jr. 1.1 IP, 1 R, 1 H
Luis Velasquez 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 K
Wilmy Sanchez 1 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 K
Jack Sokol 1 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K (loss, blown save)

Low-A Tampa Tarpons:L, 6-12 at Dunedin Blue Jays

SS Jackson Lovich 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K, throwing error
CF Brando Mayea 0-5, 1 R, 2 K
C Luis Puello 0-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
3B Hans Montero 1-4, 2 K, 1 SB
RF Willy Montero 3-3, 1 HR, 1 2B, 4 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 CS
LF JoJo Jackson 0-2
LF Gabriel Lara 0-2, 1 K
DH Engelth Urena 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 K
2B Luis Escudero 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R
1B David McMann 1-4, throwing error

Wyatt Parliament 4.1 IP, 5 R, 6 H, 3 BB, 3 K
J.T. Etheridge 2 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 4 K, interference (loss)
Parker Seay 1.1 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K
Jordarlin Mendoza 0.1 IP, 0 R, 1 BB

Florida Complex League Yankees:L, 4-18 at FCL Phillies

3B Richard Matic 2-4, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB, fielding error
RF Wilberson De Pena 1-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SB
C Queni Pineda 1-4, 2 K, throwing error
2B Leni Done 0-3, 1 BB, 1 CS
DH Jose Castro 0-3, 1 BB
CF Francisco Vilorio 1-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 2 K
SS Dexters Peralta 0-4, 1 K, throwing and fielding error
LF Estivenzon Montero 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K
1B Christofer Reyes 0-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K

Danny Flatt 2.1 IP, 3 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 K
Manuel Cruz 3.2 IP, 8 R, 7 ER, 5 H, 5 BB, 2 K, throwing error (loss)
Stanly Alcantara 0.2 IP, 7 R, 2 H, 4 BB, 1 K
Jorge Luna 1.1 IP, 0 R, 1 K

Dominican Summer League Yankees: Cancelled due to rain at DSL Marlins

Dominican Summer League Bombers:Suspended, 2-0 (T4) vs. DSL Mets Blue

SS Mani Cedeno 1-2, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K
DH Carlos Bello 0-1, 1 RBI
C Alessandro Rodriguez 1-2
RF David Carrera 0-2
3B Germayhoni Beltre 0-1
CF Alfiery Matos 0-0, 1 R, 1 BB
1B Stalen Ramirez 1-1, 1 SB
LF Sebastian Pinto 0-1, 1 K
2B Adrian Feliz 0-0, 1 RBI

Cesar Acosta 3.2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 3 BB, 8 K

Hodad’s is a third-generation small business, a San Diego treasure that makes a damn good burger. I dropped by one of their two restaurants last winter, but I didn’t see what I wanted on the menu.

The burger I get at Petco Park, I explained to the server. She knew exactly what I meant.

“The F— the Dodgers burger,” she said, with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

In San Diego, it had been an impish inside joke for years. If you didn’t know what FTD meant on the menu at the Hodad’s stands at Petco Park, the burger — with cheese, onion rings, pickles, mayonnaise and barbecue sauce — still was a good time.

Read more:Shohei Ohtani takes control of Dodgers' win after miscommunication with Dalton Rushing

When the Dodgers played here last month, a fan posted a picture of the menu board and explained what FTD stood for. The next day, Jomboy Media did the same, in a post with 1.6 million views.

“When I first saw that,” Hodad’s co-owner Shane Hardin told me, “I thought, ‘Oh, sweet, Jomboy, cool. We’ll get a little bump.’ ”

Then Hardin got a call from Delaware North, the company that handles the San Diego Padres’ concessions. People are talking, Hardin was told.

“And I’m like, ‘Cool, great, let ‘em talk, there’s no profanity anywhere,’ ” Hardin said.

The Padres and Delaware North did not see it that way. “FTD” was stripped from the menu boards at the four Hodad’s stands, initially replaced by the lame quartet of “Foul to Dinger,” “For the Division,” “For the Dugout” and “For the Diegans” and currently replaced by the strained quartet of “For the Dads,” “For the Dub,” “Faithful til Death” and (gulp) “Flyball to Deep.”

The Padres declined comment for this column.

Hardin is more amused than annoyed, particularly given the origin of the FTD Burger. It’s been on Hodad’s Petco Park menu since …

“Was it the 2022 playoffs that the Padres beat the Dodgers?” he asked.

This is how a San Diegan tells time, but yes.

“The Padres hit us up and said, ‘We want a special menu item for the playoffs,’” Hardin said. “We go, ‘OK, without us ever saying what it meant, can we call it the FTD Burger?’ They said, ‘Oh, yeah, ha ha, that’s funny, go for it.’ And so we did.”

The burger has been sold at Petco Park ever since, with the same recipe, despite the online conspiracy theory that its three onion rings represented the Dodgers’ three World Series championship rings this decade.

“Dude, I don’t keep track of what the Dodgers have,” Hardin said. “I really don’t care.”

It is in that spirit that I am stunned the Padres made the change.

The Padres, the team that sells “Beat L.A.” shirts in the team store. The Padres, the team that put up a meme of Clayton Kershaw crying on the video board. The Padres, the team that begged its fans not to sell their tickets to fans of “a team from a little ways up north” and also refused to sell tickets to that 2022 playoff series to anyone in Los Angeles County.

The Padres deserve a ton of credit for breathing life into what now is a feisty rivalry with the Dodgers. It is odd that, all of a sudden, they’re worried about decorum.

“I was under the impression that FTD was just kind of a fun ‘if you know, you know’ sort of thing,” Hardin said. “People will hold up signs saying ‘FTD’ and they’ll get on the JumboTron.

“At the end of the day, Hodad’s is a little rough around the edges. But we’re still a family place.”

Hardin isn’t upset with the Padres. It’s their ballpark, after all, and he enjoys being part of it.

“I love being there,” he said. “The relationship is great, honestly.”

Read more:Shaikin: How 'Beat L.A.' became entrenched in the Dodgers-Padres rivalry lexicon

And he had one other thing to say about the demise of the FTD label: “That first homestand after that news broke, we sold 50% more of that burger each game. I’ll take that.”

The Padres might want to reconsider. In baseball, curses are no joking matter, and the Curse of the FTD Burger might now have befallen the team.

When the Dodgers left Petco Park five weeks ago, the Padres were 1½ games behind them. Before the Padres’ next game, the Jomboy post went viral and the “FTD” name vanished.

As the Dodgers return here Friday, the Padres are nine games behind the Dodgers.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Cardinals are in the midst of a fascinating rebuild. Unlike most rebuilds, this one does not involve tanking. Quite the opposite, the 2026 Cardinals find themselves in the #1 wild card slot at the time of writing. Some of you might rightfully argue that the rebuild really began at the trading deadline late in the 2023 season, had a brief lull when they tried to compete on the “pitching, pitching, pitching” premise of 2024 and then restarted the rebuild in 2025 when it had become painfully obvious that the now dismantled 2022 offensive juggernaut was no more.

So here we are in mid-2026 and one of the most vexing challenges in major league baseball continues to … vex. When is the right time and what is the right approach to incorporate a young prospect onto the major league roster?

First, I want to discriminate between a “prospect” and a depth (or role) player. The depth player promotion decisions, while also not easy, involves some attributes not found in the prospect player promotion decision.

• Depth/role players often don’t come with service time calculation concerns. They are often a bit on the older side (see: Velazquez, Torres) and many have a non-zero clock already. For prospects, whom teams can see the possibility of significant future value, when to start their service clock in a not uncommon consideration. I’m not suggesting the Cardinal’s practice service time manipulation (they do not appear to, ever), but they are not blind to such situations like waiting until Aug 15 to promote Baez would preserve the potential of a PPI pick in future years if he emerges as hoped for. I think of this similarly to how they handled Masyn Winn’s original promotion in late 2023.
• While all players need a 40-man spot to get promoted, teams can be more sensitive about pushing aside talent to add a depth/role player. On the flip side, when ready, prospects pretty easily push aside someone at the tail end of the 40-man.
• Depth/role players who get promoted are just that … role players. They will fit in certain role and with that will not come a team commitment to a minimum amount of playing time. Prospects, on the other hand, often don’t get promoted until the team is certain (and willing) they can allocate a significant amount of playing to said prospect. Generally, teams view it as preferable that a “prospect” play every day at AAA and not sit on the bench in MLB, unlike the role players such as Fermin, Saggese, Velazques, Torres.
• While everyone goes through an adjustment period when promoted, depth/role players don’t get a lot of luxury in this regard. There won’t be a lot of tolerance for the ups-and-downs that come with adjusting to MLB competition. If you are a RH hitter, you will be expected to hit the lefties and the opportunities may not come in bunches, so take advantage of them when you get them. If you are prospect, the team will be prepared to adopt a “develop at the MLB level” approach and will live with the ups-and-downs, ala. Walker, Gorman. To a point.
• Exposure is a key issue. Every player has strengths and flaws and how they will get exposed and leveraged at the MLB level is somewhat projectable, but this is not an exact science and sometimes teams just have to jump in the pool and hope it’s not too cold. Depth/role players have an advantage here, because their exposure will be tuned to leverage their strengths and avoid their weaknesses. Prospects are anticipated to emerge as everyday contributors, so they will not get such protection. Are they ready to handle this and the struggles that may come with it?

This is not an exhaustive list, but I felt the need to draw the distinctions. I will address Joshua Baez’s case as a prospect, and I won’t be comparing him to a Nelson Velazquez or Bryan Torres who are role players. Baez, when brought up, will not be brought up to replace their role. He may displace one of them on the 26-man roster, but he will also displace at least one other player who gets significantly more playing time now than they will when Baez arrives.

This is crucial to embrace, because it is easy for fans to look at a player like Velazquez and wonder why they don’t bring up Baez. Baez is probably already the superior player, both offensively and defensively, so why not bring him up? Why? Because of the considerations listed above. Baez vs. Velazques is a red herring, or perhaps more appropriately, an apples-to-oranges discussion that misses the key considerations management thinks about and tries to balance as they seek to introduce a prospect into the major leagues.

The Cardinals want Baez to succeed. He brings a mix of talents that begin to approach the coveted 5-tool player label. 4-tool players aint bad, either. The potential and value are obvious to all. But the success is not guaranteed and so the risk is equally obvious. For every supporter that sees a future star, there is a detracter that sees a future less than Joey Gallo. Will he hit? What about the K-rate and BB-rate? How do they translate?

A Cardinal executive recently described Baez’ promotion as inevitable and after that, time will tell on the strikeouts and the walks and the power output he will bring. I do think there are a couple of key questions to answer before the “inevitable” promotion occurs, though.

Where would he play?

Some will say let him play all 3 outfield positions rotationally, and DH some. Mathematically, it is possible to envision such a rotation providing enough PAs to allow him to adjust, grow, develop. Practically, the burdens of adjusting defensively to three positions simultaneously is not a strategy conducive to facilitating his success. Throw in the DH penalty and the adjustments of that role, and they’d be essentially putting challenges in his way on top of the one main one he will encounter – can he hit MLB pitching like his does MiLB pitching? Why put obstacles out in front of him? Won’t he have enough?

So, where? Some will say LF, displacing Nootbaar, who is nearing the end of his time in the Lou anyways, with his own service time and contract status. Fair point. Quite possible that is the decision that getsmade, either that the trade deadline or the off-season. But take a look at Baez’ story and see how many times he has played LF. Not many. While he is unlikely to struggle the way Jordan Walker struggled with the third-to-outfield position change, there would still be a new hurdle to cross for him. Are you ready to introduce that into a pennant race?

Well, then how about CF? He has played there a lot recently but does not have a long history there. Defensively, it is a position where instincts, reads, routes and jumps are crucial. Is he ready for that? His offensive profile could be fascinating in that position and tolerance for ups-and-downs would be higher, since that position hasn’t really been a fountain of offensive production since …. Bader? Offensively, the bar is lower, ostensibly facilitating an easier pathway to success. But can he it handle defensively? I have no clue. My experience is that the defensive features players bring to MLB are often significantly different than what is described in scouting reports. Bader himself was such an example – a guy with question marks about his D turned out to be Gold Glove caliber (or near it, anyway). We are also watching Blaze Jordan make plays at third base that seem to surprise everyone. So who knows until we see it? But are they willing to commit Baez to CF? This would push Church to a 4th OF role, which may be best suited for him (or may not).

How about RF? Oh, there is another guy there. Someone named Jordan Walker.

Another key question…

How will his profile influence the overall line-up construction?

To-date, the strength of the Cardinals has been their somewhat tenacious offense. It is not a juggernaut, but strong enough that they are top ten in MLB in several key categories (not power) and that is without Nootbaar for much of the season. Strong enough to overcome some poor pitching. Key attributes of that offense are low K-rate and pretty good OBP. So, they get on base, and they have more productive at bats than most other teams. They have good hitters but could use some more HR pop.

But where does he hit? To start with, if he displaces either Church or Nootbaar he will upset the L-R-L algorithm and make this a more right leaning line-up. Seems likely he would get the 6th spot behind Nootbaar. We know from his history that he tends to K a lot as he adjusts to a new level, so expect that to continue into MLB. He isn’t terribly selective, running O-swing % in the same neighborhood as Alec Burleson but without the plate coverage Burly gets, running an O-contacts% about half of Burleson. He doesn’t walk a ton, but he doesn’t refuse the walk with a BB% of ~8%. His likely contribution to the line-up will be to increase the K-rate of the line-up, lower the OBP but raise the S part of OPS. The HR park factor for Busch III for RH hitters could bite him, as it runs a 78 (100 is average). In other words Busch suppresses RH power by 22%. That is a stiff premium. How does that affect the recipe as a whole? Will this offense remain tenacious and benefit from extra pop, or will there now be too many guys that strike out with runners in scoring position?

Introducing a new hitter to the everyday line-up changes the nature of said line-up. I am curious the impact Baez will have on the overall output of the group. If I had to guess, this is a mystery enough that they’d prefer to see the answer come later in the season when the playoff position is more clear.

Toledo Mud Hens 3, Worcester Red Sox 2 (box)

The Hens scored in the top of the tenth after a well pitched game, and reliever Jack Little slammed the door, striking out the side in the bottom half to win in Worcester on Thursday.

Sawyer Gipson-Long has pitched better of late, and he turned in a solid start on Thursday. The right-hander’s outing ended after he allowed a two-run homer to Tyler McGonough in the fifth, but he was nearly perfect otherwise, racking up seven strikeouts on the night. Ricky Vanasco and Woo-Suk Go each gave the Hens two scoreless innings of relief.

The Hens opened the scoring in the third when Andrew Navigato and Max Clark led off with singles. Trei Cruz struck out, but a fly out from Gage Workman was enough to get Navigato to third, and Clark then stole second. An infield single that pitcher Brayan Bello couldn’t handle scored Navigato for a 1-0 lead.

Brett Callahan singled with one out in the sixth and stole second and third, but Tyler Gentry and Jace Jung struck out. Finally in the eighth, Max Anderson tripled the opposite way off Kristian Campbell’s glove in the right field corner, and a blooper over the shortstop from Callahan was enough to get the run home and tie the game.

In the top of the ninth, with Cruz starting at second, Gage Workman walked, and a Max Anderson single to center scored Cruz to make it 3-2. Unfortunately, Callahan popped out and Gentry grounded into an inning ending double play.

So, Jack Little took over in the bottom of the 10th looking to hold the lead and wrap this up. He quickly punched out the first hitter on a bunt attempt, and then punched the second one out as well. A 95 mph heater above the zone blew away Micky Romero, and that was good work from Little to earn the save.

Anderson: 3-5, R, 2 RBI, 3B

Clark: 2-5, SB

Callahan: 2-5, RBI, 2 SB

Gipson-Long: 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K

Coming Up Next: The Hens will look to make it five straight on Friday at 6:45 p.m. ET.

Binghamton Rumble Ponies 10, Erie SeaWolves 7 (box)

It was a pretty good night for the offense, but Max Alba and the pitching staff were not good in this one.

Peyton Graham reached on a force in the first and then stole second, scoring on a Chris Meyers single for an eraly 1-0 lead. It didn’t last as the Ponies got to Alba for five runs in the second and third innings combined.

In the bottom of the third, Seth Stephenson singled and scored on a Peyton Graham triple to left that should’ve been caught, but wasn’t. Thayron Liranzo walked, and Graham scored on a wild pitch that got Liranzo to second. He scored on a Meyers single to make it a 5-4 game, but that was as close as they’d get.

Eric Silva allowed a run in the fourth, but the SeaWolves got that one back in the bottom of the fifth on an Andrwe Jenkins sacrifice fly that scored Meyers. Again it was 6-5 and a one run game, but the bullpen couldn’t shut the Ponies down. Johan Simon allowed two runs in the top of the seventh with aid from a Graham error at shortstop. Max Burt got those runs back with his first Double-A home run, a two-run shot, after taking over for Izaac Pacheco, who left with a leg injury.

Luke Taggart allowed two runs in the top of the ninth as the Ponies put this one to bed.

Graham: 3-4, 2 R, RBI, 2B, 3B, BB, SB

Meyers: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, BB

Bigbie: 2-3, R, BB

Alba (L, 1-3): 2.2 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, BB, K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start on Friday with the SeaWolves up 2-1 in the series.

West Michigan Whitecaps 11, Dayton Dragons 4 (box)

Lucas Elissalt was pulled after a long first inning, allowing just one run but topping the 30 pitch mark that triggers the insta-hook. It mattered little as the offense raked and the bullpen did a solid job holding things down the rest of the game.

The Dragons led 2-0 early, but the ‘Caps seized control in the third. Singles from Caleb Shpur and Woody Hadeen were followed by walks to Andrew Sojka and Ricardo Hurtado, plating a run. A sac fly from Luke Shliger scored Hadeen, and then Clayton Campbell got a mistake pitch and pumped a three-run jack to left to make it 5-2 Whitecaps.

In the fourth, Stephen Hrustich singled and scored on a Sojka single later in the inning. In the seventh, Sojka led off with a triple and scored on a Hurtado single. Shliger singled as well, and after Campbell flew out, Samuel Gil singled to shortstop to load the bases. Juan Hernandez plated two with a single, and Shpur and Hadeen came up with RBI singles to make it 11-4.

Preston Howey tossed three innings of one-run ball to pace the bullpen, while Ryan Harvey earned the win despite allowing a pair of runs in 2.1 innings of work.

Bryce Rainer had the day off.

Hadeen: 2-4, R, RBI, BB, K

Sojka: 2-4, 2 R, RBI, 3B, BB

Campbell: 1-3, R, 3 RBI, HR, BB

Harvey (W, 2-2): 2.1 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, BB, 2 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:05 p.m. ET start on Friday with the Whitecaps down 2-1 in the series.

Lakeland Flying Tigers 12, Daytona Tortugas 6 (box)

Malachi Witherspoon got wild after a good start to his outing, but it didn’t matter to this game as the Flying Tigers cranked out 14 hits and drew 7 walks to crush the Tortugas with ease.

Jordan Yost opened the game with a single but was erased on an Edian Espinal double play ball. That was too bad, as Beau Ankeney smoked his 11th home run for a 1-0 lead.

In the second, Zach MacDonald reached on a bunt single with one out and then stole second for his 20th steal on the season. Anibal Salas reached on an error and a wild pitched scored MacDonald. Hunter Robbins doubled in Salas, and Jack Goodman was hit by a pitch. An Espinal two-run single made it 5-0, and then Ankeney doubled in Espinal and scored on a Carson Rucker single to make it 7-0 through two innings.

Witherspoon gave up a solo shot in the third. In the fourth, he issued three walks and allowed three runs, with a Rucker error extending the inning and making them unearned.

An RBI double from Dobbins that initially looked like a homer scored MacDonald in the fifth. Ankeney singled in two runs later on in the inning to make it 10-4.

Xiomer Guacache got into a huge two-out, bases loaded jam in the bottom of the fifth, but MacDonald made a spectacular diving catch in center field to rob an extra base hit and probably save three runs.

Dobbins and Yost walked in the top of the seventh and advanced 90 feet on a passed ball. An Espinal two-run single made it 12-4. The bullpen leaked a run each in the seventh and eighth, but this was out of reach by then.

Ankeney: 3-6, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2B, HR, K

Espinal: 2-5, R, 4 RBI, BB, K

Dobbins: 2-3, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, K

Yost: 2-3, R, 3 BB

Witherspoon: 4.0 IP, 4 R, 1 ER, H, 4 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start on Friday with the Flying Tigers down 2-1 in the series.

FCL Blue Jays 2, FCL Tigers 0 (box)

Alemain Cruz gave the Tigers a pretty good outing and the bullpen was alright, but they couldn’t put any runs up on the board. Michael Oliveto had a double for his first extra base hit in pro ball, and shortstop Angel de los Santos continues to hit and get on base, but otherwise it was a pretty weak effort in this one from the offense.

De Los Santos: 1-2, BB, SB

Olivato: 1-3, 2B

Cruz: 3.1 IP, 0 R, 4 H, BB, 2 K

The Yankees dropped their series opener against the Red Sox in a rather sloppy effort, with several errors culminating in Cam Schlittler allowing a four-run fifth inning capitalized by a big two-run home run off the bat of former Yankee prospect Caleb Durbin. That blew what was a 2-0 New York lead up until that point, but despite clawing one of those runs back the Sox added some big insurance with two runs in the eighth and then survived an Aroldis Chapman jam in the ninth. A rough one to be sure, but there’s still three more games to be played out in Fenway before heading back to the Bronx.

We’ve got a loaded schedule on deck before the Yankees take the field again later tonight. Nick starts us off with a look at the rotation depth as June comes to a close, and then Sam has the Rivalry Roundup featuring the Rays gaining a game back in the standings after a dominating win. Josh takes the opportunity to regard Derek Jeter’s illustrious career in relation to his baseball fandom on the captain’s birthday, Peter examines Ryan Weathers’ latest start in the Sequence of the Week, Michael takes the June Swoon narrative under the microscope, and finally I’ll be back to open up the mailbag and answer more of your questions.

Today’s Matchup:

New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox

Time: 7:10 p.m. EST

TV: YES, NESN

Venue: Fenway Park, Boston, MA

Questions/Prompts:

1. Tonight will be the Yankees’ 81st game played. Will their second-half record eclipse the 48-49 wins they’ll have from the first half?

2. Did you believe that the old Aroldis Chapman was going to emerge in that ninth inning and blow it last night?