Category: Sports News

It’s Sunday once more, and you know what that means — it’s time for our weekly social media roundup! It was a big week for the Bombers, who finished up a road trip with three games in Arlington, hosted the Savannah Bananas at Yankee Stadium, and came back home for a weekend of Star Wars themed festivities with the Baltimore Orioles. How has social media reacted to all these shenanigans? Let’s find out!

Yankee Yellow

As the Yankees were taking two out of three games against the Astros last weekend, the Savannah Bananas were taking their show to the Bronx. Unlike last September’s Banana Ball weekend, this year’s show didn’t quite have as much craziness (at least, according to the Internet — I wasn’t there either time), although Monument Park honoree Tino Martinez did take an AB as a pinch-hitter. What more than made up for it, though in terms of social media was the sheer number of Bananas players who expressed their excitement for the chance to play at Yankee Stadium — including former Giants QB Russell Wilson — whose baseball rights are owned, as you may recall, by the Yankees!

The Bananas had a bit of fun with the fact that they were in New York, by having Derek Klena — who spent 14 years on Broadway — come in to pitch while singing “Phantom of the Opera.” Oh, the Genie from Aladdin showed up too.

Thank You, DJ

For the first time since the 2020 Major League Baseball season was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, former Yankees leadoff hitter DJ LeMahieu took to Instagram. This time, it was to reflect on and express his thanks for his years in pinstripes. While officially speaking, he has not retired (he is still owed some $12 million left in the final year of his contract), this seems like a goodbye to the game — a feeling reinforced by the number of former teammates who commented on the post: Aaron Judge, CC Sabathia, Dellin Betances, Harrison Bader, Austin Wells, and long-ago Rockies pal Nolan Arenado, to name a few. Age and injuries might have caught up to DJ toward the end of this time in pinstripes, but there’s no denying that man was indeed an MVP-caliber threat and worthy of the “LeMachine” nickname.

Prospect Promotions

The Yankees farm had two of my favorite moments this week, as George Lombard Jr. got promoted from Double-A Trenton to Triple-A Scranton, while Elmer Rodríguez got to make his MLB debut on Wednesday.

Game Belts

As happens when the Yankees win some ballgames, they passed the Game Belt around quite a bit this week. It really is fun to see the exchange progress from player to player, with the previous winner in the new photo, bestowing the honor on his teammate.

Dave’s Thoughts

As always, Yankees radio voice Dave Sims took to Instagram to react to the Yankees’ games this week.

Some Assorted Updates

In a rapid-fire of summary of this week’s post, we’ve got Carlos Rodón advertising this year’s Willow Gala, Camilo Doval getting some throwing in, and Roger Clemens remembering his 20-strikeout game (even if it was as a member of the Red Sox), and the latest episode of Behind the NY.

Question of the Day

This time around, the YES Network asked the Yankees which teammate would lose their hotel room key. Props to Cam Schlittler, who had the self-awareness to understand exactly why a whole bunch of teammates pegged him as the answer without a moment’s hesitancy.

The Chicago Cubs train just keeps on rolling.

Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field, Moisés Ballesteros homered and Michael Busch smacked a bases-loaded triple. That, plus six solid innings from Matthew Boyd, helped the Cubs to an 8-4 win over the Diamondbacks, a series sweep and their 11th consecutive win at home.

Arizona scored first, in the top of the second inning, their first lead of the series. Nolan Arenado doubled with one out and one out later, Gabriel Moreno smacked a home run for a 2-0 lead.

The Cubs chipped away in the second. After the first two Cubs struck out, Busch popped a ball into short center that dropped among three D-backs fielders. Those guys are likely going to be very happy to get out of playing outdoors in the wind. Busch’s ball went for a double.

Carson Kelly’s single cut the Arizona lead to 2-1 [VIDEO].

Pete Crow-Armstrong followed with a double, with Kelly stopping at third, but Dansby Swanson struck out to end the inning.

The Cubs took the lead in the third. Nico Hoerner, back in the lineup after missing a day with a neck issue, beat out an infield grounder for a hit.

Ballesteros launched his sixth homer of the year to make it 3-2 Cubs [VIDEO].

Boyd then started setting down D-backs hitters. After a two-out double in the third, Boyd retired eight of the next nine Arizona batters he faced.

In the meantime, the Cubs extended their lead. Ballesteros drew a leadoff walk in the fifth, followed by Alex Bregman hitting a ground ball to third that wound up as a fielder’s choice when the throw to second was late. Then Ian Happ got a called strike three overturned [VIDEO].

Good call by Happ, and he wound up with a walk to load the bases.

Busch then un-loaded them with this triple [VIDEO].

That was Busch’s first triple of 2026 — he had five last year. More on the bases-loaded three-bagger from BCB’s JohnW53:

Busch’s bases-loaded triple was the Cubs 141st since 1901, only slightly more than one per season. It was their 74th at home and 61st at Wrigley Field. The previous one there was by Nico Hoerner, against the Padres, on April 25, 2023.

They have had two on the road since then, by Cody Bellinger at Philadelphia in 2024 and by Dansby Swanson at Colorado on Aug. 29 of last year.

They have been hit by 113 batters. Busch is the 92nd with one. Frank Schulte and Sammy Sosa hit four; Augie Galan, Ray Grimes and Ryne Sandberg, three.

Boyd completed six innings, allowing just the two runs on the homer. He got out of the sixth on a nifty play by Nico. Corbin Carroll was on first with one out, and he took off on a pitch that got popped into short right.

Here’s the slick double play Hoerner pulled off [VIDEO].

I think that one should end any concerns about whether Nico returned too quickly from the neck issue. That’s a really athletic play and he doesn’t do it unless he’s 100 percent.

As for Boyd, I thought he had a really good outing, the only real mistake the home run ball to Moreno. Boyd struck out five [VIDEO].

Here’s more on Boyd’s afternoon [VIDEO].

Phil Maton threw the seventh and got himself in trouble with a single, hit batter and walk that had originally been called strike three [VIDEO].

That’s about as close as you can get and still get a call overturned. Good call by the hitter. Maton got out of the inning by striking out Ketel Marte.

The Cubs put two more on the board in the bottom of the seventh. Happ led off with a walk, his second of the game. Incidentally, the two walks extended Happ’s on-base streak to 24 consecutive games. Seiya Suzuki followed with a double, with Happ stopping at third.

Busch hit a fly to medium right, scoring Happ [VIDEO].

Suzuki took third on that play and scored on this single by Kelly that made it 8-2 [VIDEO].

Hoby Milner threw a scoreless eighth and then Corbin Martin was summoned to finish things off. He did so, but not before issuing a walk and allowing a two-run homer to pinch-hitter Adrian Del Castillo. Here’s the final out of the game [VIDEO].

The game was pretty much well in hand, but after the home run, Craig Counsell got just-activated Daniel Palencia up in the bullpen and I am pretty sure he didn’t want to have to do that. I suspect Martin will be replaced on the active roster sometime soon, perhaps even tomorrow if there’s someone else at Iowa who could take that roster spot. As always, we await developments.

Aside from the ninth inning, this was another outstanding team effort, with guys stepping up who hadn’t done much the last couple of days. That’s always good to see.

One last note on the game from John:

Michael Busch’s three-run triple in the fifth inning completed a team cycle by the Cubs for the second day in a row. They had had only two in their first 31 games, April 22 and 24.

They won each previous game this year. They were 18-1 a year ago with a team cycle and 11-2 in 2024, for a combined 32-3 before today.

The Reds, Cardinals and Brewers all lost Sunday, so the Cubs, now 10 games over .500 at 22-12, lead the Cardinals and Reds by two games and the Brewers and Pirates by 3.5. Good times.

The Reds come to Wrigley Field to open a four-game series Monday evening, just the second series so far this year for the Cubs against an NL Central rival. Edward Cabrera will start for the Cubs and Chase Petty will go for the Reds. Game time Monday is 6:40 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

Squandered is the word of the weekend. It means to waste resources or opportunities through negligence or inaction. In this context, it means leaving runners on base at seemingly every turn. The Red Sox pitched a really good game today. Ranger Suarez threw four shutout innings before leaving the game with hamstring tightness. Tyler Samaniego, Jovani Moran, Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman kept the Astros off the board, too.

They played good defense as well, turning a few nifty double plays in the sixth and tenth innings to quell what looked to be big innings. Unfortunately, pitching and defense can only get you so far. The team left 13 runners on base and only managed to score a single run on the afternoon. Some of that was due to poor batted ball luck; Roman Anthony smoked the ball on multiple occasions but only had one hit to show for it, for example.

Winning 1-0 is possible, but it’s not possible to do consistently. The Boston Red Sox, as currently constructed, are going to continue having a hard time winning games. With significant injuries to the rotation, it’s going to be even harder. Astros win 3-1. We go to Detroit for a three-game set starting on Monday.

Three Studs

Jarren Duran

He hit a home run. That was pretty cool.

Roman Anthony

As I mentioned, he crushed a few balls and only had the one hit. He’s starting to get it in the air more, and the production should follow.

Ranger Suarez

His last two starts are a combined twelve innings of scoreless baseball. Let’s hope he isn’t on the shelf for too long with his injury.

Three Duds

Zack Kelly

Navigating the ghost runner in the tenth inning is incredibly difficult, and he was so close to doing it. Unfortunately, a two-run single in the tenth was the difference, and Kelly took the loss.

Caleb Durbin

He’s really great at third base, which only makes things worse, because if you point out how good he is defensively, you look like you’re coping for his lack of offensive ability. When I see “you”, I’m talking about me. Please start hitting, Caleb.

Wilyer Abreu

0-3, three strikeouts. He walked twice, but the Red Sox need him to drive in runs.

Jasson Dominguez hadn’t made much of an impact in his return to the Yankees, but the youngster finally broke through in Sunday's win over the Orioles. 

Dominguez came into the day with just two hits over his first 13 at-bats of the season.

He grounded out in his first two plate appearances of the day, then was able to do damage in each of his next three.

The switch-hitting slugger doubled leading off the bottom of the sixth in a 3-3 ballgame, and scored the go-ahead run just two batters later on Ryan McMahon’s RBI single.

Dominguez helped pad onto that slim advantage two innings later, as he stepped up from the left-side of the plate and crushed a two-run homer to right-center. 

He received another AB in the inning after the Yanks batted around, and came through again, this time delivering an RBI double from the right-side of the plate. 

The 23-year-old finished the much-needed big day 3-for-5 with all three of his hits going for extra-bases, three runs driven in, and a pair of runs scored.

“When you have a game like that and help the team win, it’s awesome,” he said. 

Perhaps the most encouraging part of Dominguez’s day was the fact that two of his three hits came from the right-side, which is an area of his game he’s been working to improve.

He hit just .204 with six XBHs as a righty all of last season, but showed tremendous progress to begin this year in the minors, and thus far has carried that over to the majors.

“I’ve been working for a long time on the right-side, so I’m glad it’s showing off,” he said. 

“As I’ve always said, it’s his natural side,” manager Aaron Boone added. “When you see him hit and take BP, you can see it’s not an unnatural move -- I’ve always said it’s about reps, it’s about experience, but it’s good to see.”

This is my first guest recap on this new (well, since last summer) format. Let’s see how this goes, a bit different than how I usually do things. Today it will be Merrill Kelly against Matt Boyd. One March 30th of last year, he went 5 innings and did not give up a run, but surrendered 4 hits and 3 walks against us. The Cubs bullpen then imploded. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ARI/ARI202503300.shtml Before that, he had been in the AL all of his career. I was surprised he debuted in 2015 when I looked. I guess it’s obvious which “League” I pay attention to.

The last few years I would have had confidence that Kelly would rise up and be the stopper, as it seems he has been so often for us. Today, I am not sure. Let’s see how this plays out. First pitch at 11:20 and per Snake Bitten in the GDT, “The wind is blowing out today towards right center, at 21 mph, and it’s gusting to 33 mph. It’s 55 degrees, with a humidity of 54%, and a chance of rain.”

I’ll be honest, I haven’t been able to watch any of the previous two games. For my lunchtime roll call, I am having brats with Don Franscisco buns, peanuts and Pringles with Coors. Might have some chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream later.

First inning

The first offering to Marte from Boyd is popped up out of play, he would strike out on a 2-2 count. Perdomo next, bunts, but it rolls foul 3b side. He eventually popped up to Carson Kelly behind the plate. Corbin struck out to end it.

Merrill Kelly against Nico Hoerner to lead things off for the Cubs. He few out to Barrosa, the wind may have aided the distance of the fly ball, this should be fun. Ballesteros, the Cubs DH, singled in front of Gurriel in LF. Alex Bregman hits a ball that short hopped Perdomo a bit, but he recovered and was able to make a 6-4-3 double play to end the frame.

Second inning

Vargas leads things off and pops up the first pitch pretty much straight up and Carson Kelly gets it for the first out. Arenado on a pitch right down the plate doubles between LF and CF. Gurriel struck out. Gabriel Moreno takes a pitch up and away and sends it into the Wrigley Field bleachers! 2-0, Dbacks. Exit velocity 105 and distance is 427 feet. Probably wind aided. That was Moreno’s first home run of the year. Fernandez taps out to the pitcher, Boyd for a 1-3.

Let’s see how Kelly and the defense responds. Braodcast saying Kelly throws the changeup about 29% of the time, and he hasn’t had a feel for it this year. He strikes out Happ for the first out. Kelly is throwing pretty much all of his pitches and is looking good. Suzuki strikes out on a 94 mph fastball low and away. Busch pops up to shallow CF, too far for Perdomo and it bounces away from Barrosa, and Busch goes to 2B. Yet another probable wind aided thing this afternoon. It would probably have dropped either way, but still. Carson Kelly singles past a diving Marte into CF-RF, 2-1 Dbacks. PCA doubles to CF, Carson to 3B. It started well at least. Swanson, 0-2 swung at the first 2 that would have been balls low and away Merrill comes inside for a ball and Swanson strikes out on the next offering which was pretty much where the first two pitches were.

Third inning

Barrosa popped up to CF. So does Marte. Perdomo shows bunt on the first pitch like last time, then smacks the ball down the LF line for a double. They said it was 99 mph off the bat. Corbin Carroll hit a ground ball to Hoerner at 2B for the final out of the frame.

Hoerner leads off their half inning, ground to Perdomo on the outfield grass, jump throw and not in time to get him. Ballesteros hits the 2nd pitch he sees, and Kelly’s 40th, into the LF bleachers. It is now 3 to 2 Cubs. Happ, full count, flies out to Barrosa in CF. Suzuki lines the first pitch he sees past Arenado for a single. First pitch to Busch is away, Moreno held on to it for a bit like he wanted a call, but apparently not worth challenging. Busch with a 3-1 count now, and walks. Full count to Carson Kelly, with 2 runners on, hits a shot to Arenado for the final out. Merrill Kelly is at 63 pitches, after an 8 pitch first inning.

Fourth inning

Vargas leads things off by flying out to PCA. Arenado strikes out, Boyd’s 4th. Gurriel dumps a 2 out single to RF, that offering was Boyd’s 63rd pitch. Moreno grounds out to 2B to end it.

PCA leads things off by hitting a long fly ball to RF, but goes foul and then flies out to RF. Swanson lined out to Perdomo. Hoerner grounded out to 3B. Kelly only needed 6 pitches to get out of that inning.

Fifth inning

Fernandez struck out. Barrosa showed bunt, eventually lined out to LF. Marte grounds out to Swanson.

Ballesteros draws a full count and then walks. Bregman grounds it to Arenado, a bit behind the 3B bag and Arenado tries to get Ballesteros but he is safe. Two on and nobody out. Ryan Thompson has begun to loosen in the bullpen. Happ on a 2-2 pitch takes a pitch away for a called strike 3, immediately challenges. Not even close, call overturned, no idea what Doug Eddings saw. missed by about 3 inches. Happ walks on the next pitch to load the bases. Suzuki on a 0-2 pitch takes a pitch on the outside corner for a strike out, he challenges. This time the call is upheld. The bases are loaded with 1 out. Busch hits the first thing he sees, a 91 mph fastball right down the middle, to RF for a bases clearing triple. This inning wasn’t wind aided. That will chase Kelly, but at his pitch count it was inevitable anyway, Thompson now in the ballgame. Candiotti talking about how he sees some good signs from Kelly. Carson Kelly grounded out to Thompson and then PCA grounded out to Marte to end it. Thompson needed 4 pitches. The score is now 6-2 Cubs.

Sixth inning

The Dbacks have not been swept by the Subs since the 2015 season. Perdomo grounds out to Swanson. Corbin Carroll draws a walk, Boyd’s first of the afternoon. Vargas pops up to Hoerner, who started by the 2B bag but had to run a bit to catch it, he then doubles off Corbin at 1B. “That play encapsulates our road trip pretty well”- 1AZfan1

Brandon Pfaadt is now in the game for the Dbacks. Swanson full count, he walks. Hoerner pops up to Marte, as he throws the bat angrily. Bad bat, bad! The Cubs have a 4 run lead and Hoerner himself has a hit and run scored. Ballesteros hits a chopper past Pfaadt, Perdomo plays it but his only play is to 1B. Bregman popped it up to Vargas at 1B to end it.

Seventh inning

Phil Maton now on to pitch for the Cubs. Arenado grounds out to Busch at 1B, who tosses it to the pitcher covering for the first out. Gurriel singled to LF. Moreno hits one to deep right, caught on the warning track with soe difficulty by Suzuki. That definitely was wind aided. Fernandez hit by pitch on a 0-2 count. Barrosa takes a 3-2 pitch up, rung up, but immediately challenges. It’s over rulled and so he walks. Bases loaded for Marte. He struck out on 3 pitches.

Pfaadt still in the game. Happ walked. Suzuki doubled to LF. Busch flies out to Corbin, both runners advance and it is now 7-2 Cubs. Carson Kelly hits a ground ball past Perdomo for a single, Suzuki scores. PCS hitd s line out to Perdomo for the 2nd out. Swanson then grounded out to Perdomo.

Eighth inning

Hoby Miller in the game now for the Cubs. Perdomo grounds a 3-1 pitch to Hoerner at 2B for the first out. Corbin Carroll hits a tapper to the mound for the second out. Vargas singles past a diving Alex Bregman. Arenado hit a line drive right at Hoerner for the final out.

Pfaadt, still in there to start the inning. Hoerner splits Barrosa and Carroll in CF-RF for a double to lead things off. Ballesteros strikes out on a foul tip. Full count to Bregman, he walks, third walk issued by Pfaadt. Happ shattered his bat, Marte plays it almost on the outfield grass and tosses it to Perdomo can’t get Bregman. Everyone is safe. Sewald on to pitch, bases loaded, one out. Suzuki strikes out on 3 pitches. Busch, sees a pitch that almost got thrown to the backstop. Moreno looked like a short stop. Couple pitches later Moreno takes a pitch off his mask. Busch ends up striking out looking.

Ninth inning

The Dbacks game out ahead 2-0, and currently trail 8-2. Corbin Martin, former Dback patient, now on to pitch. First two pitches to Gurriel not even close. Overthrew the catcher to the back stop. Gurriel walks. Moreno pops up to foul territory on the 1B side, Bush goes after it and jumps over the tarp and of course can’t get it. Moreno strikes out on a pitch that would have been a ball. Fernandez pops it up for the 2nd out to 1B. Del CAstillo will bat for Barrosa. Gurriel takes 2B on a defensive indifference. Full count to ADC, he homers to straightaway CF. The wind blew that, but at least if wet something exciting at the end. Marte struck out to end it. Corbin Martin threw 26 pitches, 14 were strikes, unless I am reading this incorrectly.

Time of the ballgame 2 hours and 45 minutes, 35000+ at Wrigley. The Dbacks were 2-5 with RISP and left 6 on and had 4 runs on 7 hits. The Cubs were 4-13 RISP and left 10 on and had 8 runs on 12 hits.

Decent game day thread, 176 comments as of right now. Tied for most reccs was a comment I made, so I am awarding COTN to 2 people.

The Dbacks have an off day tomorrow and will be back at Chase Field to play the Pirates at 6:40pm. The preview person for that series will be DBE. Next Sunday’s guest recapper will be TheRealRamona against the Mets. Have a good afternoon.

The Red Sox’s nightmare season may have taken another unfortunate turn Sunday. 

Starter Ranger Suarez exited in the fourth inning of the final game of their weekend series with the Astros with right hamstring tightness. 

Suarez had thrown 70 pitches through four scoreless innings and allowed three hits before exiting the game. 

The NESN broadcast appeared to catch the moment that he alerted the Boston coaching staff about the issue.

Video showed Suarez walking off the mound into the dugout and telling pitching coach Andrew Bailey something as he went down the steps. 

Suarez has had hamstring issues in the past, which included a 15-day stint on the injured list in August 2023 while he was with the Phillies and a seven-day IL stint when he was in the minors in 2018. 

The left-hander entered Sunday off a start last week when he allowed one hit through eight scoreless innings in a win over the Blue Jays.

Suarez has made six starts this season and posted a 2-2 record, with a 3.09 ERA over 35 innings on the mound. 

He hadn’t allowed a run in four of his past five starts. 

The Red Sox signed Suarez to a five-year, $130 million deal in January after he spent eight seasons in Philadelphia. 

The Red Sox have suffered quite a bit during the start of the season, having already fired longtime manager Alex Cora 

They entered Sunday’s game with a 13-20 record and nine games behind the Yankees for the top spot in the AL East. 

Good teams win close games. The Rays are proving so far this season that they truly are a good team.

Today was another example. Not because every win has to be clean, or because the offense is turning games into batting practice. No, this one was proof in a much more Rays’ way. Tampa Bay beat the San Francisco Giants 2-1 in 10 by collecting just enough soft contact, bunts, walks, defensive outs, and pitching to turn a game that could have slipped away early into a walk-off win.

Every little hit counts. Even the weird ones. Especially the weird ones.

That theme showed up immediately, and not in the Rays’ favor.

Rafael Devers doubled in the first inning on a ball that left the bat at just 59.1 mph, the kind of contact that makes pitchers stare into the middle distance and wonder what they did to upset the baseball gods. It was not crushed. It was just enough. One batter later, Casey Schmitt singled to center, Devers scored, and the Giants had a 1-0 lead early.

Rays starting pitcher Steven Matz, to his credit, did not let that strange little rally become something larger. Luis Arraez grounded into a double play to end the inning, and that mattered more than it seemed at the time. In a game where neither defense was going to create much margin for error, Matz keeping it at one run gave the Rays a chance to keep breathing.

The Rays had their own first-inning answer ready, or at least the beginning of one. Chandler Simpson struck out looking, but Junior Caminero singled and Jonathan Aranda followed with a ground-ball single of his own. Suddenly, Tampa Bay had two on with one out and a chance to erase the Giants’ lead right away.

Instead, Ryan Vilade struck out, and Jake Fraley lined out to right.

They needed more. That would become a familiar sentence throughout most of the game.

From there, the game moved into a middle-innings grind. Matz deserves plenty of credit for that. The Giants had found an early run, but Matz kept them from stacking anything on top of it and kept the game close enough for the Rays to eventually make their brand of baseball matter.

Tyler Mahle did his part on the other side, and then some. He gave the Rays very little room to operate. The Rays went quietly through the second, third, fourth, and fifth, with only a few flickers. Ben Williamson singled in the fourth, but Cedric Mullins popped out to end that. In the fifth, Tampa Bay went down in order. Mahle kept the Rays from ever getting into rhythm, and the 1-0 deficit started to feel larger as the innings passed by.

The sixth inning was the first real chance for the Rays to change the vibe. Aranda singled with one out, building on what would become a strong offensive day for him. Vilade reached when Willy Adames made a fielding error, putting two on. Matt Gage replaced Mahle, Jonny DeLuca came in to pinch hit, and the Rays had an opening.

DeLuca struck out. Williamson walked after the Giants lost an ABS challenge, loading the bases. Now the whole game was sitting there, waiting for one swing. Mullins hit a line drive to right, but it found a glove.

Bases loaded, no runs.

The Rays had already missed a first-inning opportunity, and now they had let another one pass but they kept on fighting.

In the seventh, the Giants threatened when Adames doubled with one out, but they could not bring him home. In the eighth, Hunter Bigge gave up a one-out double to Heliot Ramos, only to strike out Devers and Schmitt back-to-back. That sequence was crucial. The Giants had a chance to finally add the insurance run that would have made the Rays’ afternoon feel desperate. Bigge slammed that door shut.

Then, finally, the Rays started making the little things add up.

Ryan Walker entered for San Francisco in the bottom of the eighth, and Caminero walked. Aranda, once again, delivered, singling to center and sending Caminero to third. Aranda was the lineup’s pulse in this game, the guy who kept showing up when Tampa Bay needed a spark.

With runners on the corners and nobody out, Vilade dropped down a sacrifice bunt. Caminero scored head-first, beating the throw, Vilade reached, and the Rays had tied the game without a big swing. Just a bunt, some pressure, and a ball in the right place.

Very on brand.

DeLuca followed with another sacrifice bunt, moving Aranda to third and Vilade to second. Now the Rays had the go-ahead run ninety feet away with one out. The small-ball machine was humming.

Then baseball proved it is truly a game of failure. Williamson lined a ball to third, and Matt Chapman turned it into an unassisted double play, catching Aranda off the bag to end the inning. He also caught Aranda in the back on a throw home that was not needed. Inning and rally over with the game tied 1-1.

The ninth passed without a breakthrough, just a Hunter Feduccia single for the Rays as the game went to extras and gave Ian Seymour a chance to author one of the most important quiet moments of the afternoon. With the automatic runner on second in the tenth, Seymour retired Jung Hoo Lee, Drew Gilbert, and Eric Haase without letting the Giants move ahead.

That gave the Rays exactly what they needed, with a chance to win, with Chandler Simpson starting at second base, with Caminero and Aranda due up to hit.  

The Giants intentionally walked Caminero, choosing to face Aranda. It made sense in the matchup logic of the moment, but it also meant challenging the one Rays hitter who had been making hits all day.

Aranda made them pay as he floated a single into right, Simpson came home, and the Rays had their 2-1 walk-off victory. The 200^th walk-off in franchise history.

The Rays had no extra base hits, but made the hits they had count as they finished the series sweep of the Giants.

The Rays’ homestand continues on Monday as they start a series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Nick Martinez is scheduled to start for the Rays with a 6:40 PM first pitch.

Max Fried wasn’t at his best.

There was some sloppy play in the infield that didn’t help the lefty.

And one of the best hitters in the game went down with an injury.

None of it stopped the freight train that is the Yankees on Sunday in The Bronx, as they beat the Orioles 11-3 to win for the 13th time in 15 games.

They’ve also won eight straight over Baltimore and look to complete a four-game sweep at home Monday.

“It just feels like guys are in a good place and we have a lot of ways to beat you,” Aaron Boone said. “I like the fact guys are doing the little things. To win in different ways is nice.”

While it’s true they have added aspects to their overall game — improved speed and defense — it’s also true they still thrive on mashing the opposition.

They hit three homers for a second straight game and turned what had been a tight game into a laugher.

Home runs by Ben Rice — who exited with a hand injury — and Aaron Judge gave the Yankees an early lead before they scratched together a run in the sixth to go ahead for good, thanks to solid bullpen work and a seven-run eighth inning.

Facing Trey Gibson in his MLB debut, Rice opened the scoring with his 12th homer of the season with one out in the bottom of the first.

Fried, who hadn’t allowed a run in his previous two outings — covering 14 innings — gave up three runs in 5 ¹/₃ innings and threw a season-high 107 pitches.

The lefty also left a pair of runners on base when he exited in the top of the sixth, with Fernando Cruz getting out of it unscathed.

Fried gave up a run in the third that tied the game and was saved from more damage by a running catch at the wall by Judge to rob Taylor Ward of a run-scoring extra-base hit.

And after Judge’s two-run homer, his 13th of the year, in the third, Fried found trouble again in the fourth.

Pete Alonso opened with a double.

After a walk to Tyler O’Neill, an infield hit by Coby Mayo loaded the bases on a play Ryan McMahon might have made.

With the bases loaded, a grounder up the middle by Leody Taveras hit a grounder up the middle — stopped by Jazz Chisholm Jr. — for an infield single a run.

Baltimore then tied it on a Jeremiah Jackson double play.

But a leadoff double by Jasson Domínguez sparked the Yankees in the sixth with a leadoff double from the right side of the plate.

He moved to third on an Austin Wells groundout, and with the infield in, McMahon scored Domínguez on an infield single.

Left-hander Brent Headrick got Adley Rutschman to ground out to end the top of the seventh, leaving Samuel Basallo at third as the potential tying run.

The Yankees put an end to the drama in the eighth, as Domínguez hit a two-run homer — his first of the season — and Paul Goldschmidt, who replaced Rice at first, drove in a pair with a single.

Since dropping five straight to the A’s and Tampa Bay and then splitting a four-game series with the Angels, the Yankees have been nearly unstoppable.

Their message at the beginning of the season was that they wanted to close out series sweeps more effectively than they did last season and avoid the lulls that have interrupted their success in recent seasons.

“It’s something we’ve been trying to do a better job of: Being consistent,” Fried said. “We want to play the caliber of baseball we know we can. We know these games in this part of the season are just as important as they are late, and we want to stay on top of it.”

ST. LOUIS — The Dodgers’ offense isn’t quite fixed.

But for one day, at least, it looked less broken than before.

For the first time in almost a week, the Dodgers scored first Sunday, tagged an opposing starter with at least three runs … and, oh yeah, actually won a game, too, beating the Cardinals 4-1 to snap a four-game losing streak and avoid a series sweep at Busch Stadium.

“We didn’t break out today,” manager Dave Roberts said. “But we scored more than they did. So that’s good.”

Indeed, this was no tour de force.

For the sixth straight game, the Dodgers (21-13) failed to hit a home run. For a second consecutive day, they also bounced into four double plays. In their last 12 games, they’ve now failed to eclipse five runs nine times.

But behind another uniquely dominant start from left-hander Justin Wrobleski — who pitched six scoreless innings, despite not striking out a batter, to lower his ERA to 1.25 –– the Dodgers’ slumping lineup found a way to do just enough.

Most of their scoring came against a familiar face in Dustin May, the homegrown Dodgers right-hander who signed in St. Louis as a free agent this offseason after being traded by the club at last year’s deadline.

In the second inning, they got on the board via doubles from Kyle Tucker and Andy Pages, who capitalized on an 0-2 mistake by lofting a hanging curveball to left for the day’s opening run. Hyeseong Kim then followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0.

In the fifth, Kim got another rally started, legging out an infield single to lead off the inning before scoring on a two-out knock from Freddie Freeman, who also came through in an 0-2 count.

In the ninth, Alex Call added some insurance with a pinch-hit RBI single off the bench.

“Overall,” Freeman said, “better quality of baseball from us today.”

A big reason for that was Wrobleski, who became the first Dodgers pitcher since Mike Morgan in 1991 to throw six shutout innings without striking out a batter.

“I’m out there trying to get outs,” Wrobleski said. “However I get them, that’s great.”

The bullpen also came through, with Will Klein, Blake Treinen and (in his latest appearance filling in at closer in the ninth inning) Tanner Scott navigating the final three innings to bring the Dodgers’ losing streak to an end.

What it means

Roberts described Sunday as a “gut check” moment for his club, noting that “it’s certainly not a must-win, but this is a game that we need to find a way to win.”

Presciently, that’s how the afternoon played out.

The Dodgers still aren’t slugging the ball, now mired in their longest home run drought since 2014. Their biggest bats aren’t producing, either, with a top four of Freeman, Tucker, Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández going a combined 4-for-17 with two walks Sunday.

But, the Dodgers did enough little things to win, from their 4-for-10 mark with runners in scoring position to a run-saving throw from catcher Dalton Rushing in the second inning when the Cardinals tried a double steal.

“You just have to bow your neck and find a way to win,” Roberts said. “Doesn’t matter how good or bad it looks, we needed a win today.”

Who’s hot

Wrobleski, who turned in a very Wrobleski-esque start.

As usual, the left-hander filled up the strike zone (58 strikes in 83 pitches) and hardly seemed to care about generating swing and miss (he only got four whiffs on 44 swings). Instead, he pitched to contact and worked around traffic, scattering six hits (all singles) and a walk even without a single punchout.

Since 2017, the only other MLB starter to go six scoreless without a strikeout was José Quintana in 2024. That seems fitting, with Wrobleski adopting a style similar to Quintana’s crafty left-handed arsenal –– and using it to put up stunning early-season results.

In five starts since moving into the rotation, Wrobleski has allowed just two runs in 32 innings. He only has 13 total strikeouts in that span but has still managed a 5-0 record with a minuscule 0.56 ERA.

“I think the strikeouts will come,” he said. “I struck out people last year. That’s not something that’s a crazy worry for me. I’m never going to give back six zeroes. However I need to do it, I’ll do it and hopefully keep rolling.”

That could be crucial for the 25-year-old’s future role, as Blake Snell nears a return from injury (he pitched four innings in a rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday). While the Dodgers haven’t ruled out moving Wrobleski back to the bullpen as a multi-inning reliever, his performances lately are making that seem borderline impossible. Sunday was just the latest example.

Who’s not

Speaking of upcoming roster decisions, Mookie Betts is expected to return from his oblique strain in the next few weeks.

That means someone from the current lineup will get squeezed out. And lately, Alex Freeland is looking like the likeliest candidate.

Freeland went 0-for-3 as the No. 9 hitter on Sunday and is now just 3-for-his-last-15 after collecting six hits the week prior. Overall this season, he is batting .232 with a .606 OPS.

Up next

The Dodgers will travel to Houston and open a three-game series with the Astros on Monday night. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2-2, 2.87 ERA) will be on the mound.

The Yankees have come to rely on production from their superstars, and this afternoon against the O’s, they got just that. Aaron Judge and Ben Rice both homered early—before Rice left the game in the fourth inning with a hand contusion suffered on a pickoff throw. But for a team to sustain a hot two-week stretch, everyone needs to contribute. With the game tied in the sixth, Jasson Domínguez lit the rocket fuse with a double and scored the go-ahead run on a single. Then he kick-started a furious eighth-inning onslaught with his first home run of the year, one of two run-scoring extra-base hits he provided in the frame. The Bombers wrapped up a series win with a 11-3 victory by feasting on Baltimore’s bullpen late.

Rice set the tone looking right as rain, ambushing Gibson on the first pitch and socking a line drive over the short porch in right field for his team-tying 12th home run. This ball was blistered—Rice hit it 110 mph for the opening salvo and a 1-0 Yankee lead.

But once again, he wouldn’t have the homer lead for long. Aaron Judge stepped up in the bottom of the third and smashed a hanging slider over the left-center wall by the loading bay. Lucky number 13, as Michael Kay would say, traveled 413 feet and gave New York a 3-1 lead.

Even in the inning where Baltimore scored that first run, Judge stole the show on defense. Weston Wilson was picked off by Fried, but outran Rice’s throw to second to put himself in scoring position. So when Blaze Alexander blooped a single the other way, Wilson easily scored. But Judge caught Alexander rounding first base too aggressively, and threw behind him to start a rundown. Jazz Chisholm Jr. raced to apply the tag on Alexander to secure the out.

The next batter was Taylor Ward, Judge’s one-time teammate at Fresno State. Ward skied a ball to right, testing the wall, but Judge had it measured perfectly, making a leaping catch as he hit the fence.

The vibes took a 180-degree shift in the top of the fourth, however. First, Rice was removed from the game for reasons unclear. Rice had taken his second at-bat and legged out a bloop double ahead of Judge’s homer. Nothing the YES cameras captured could elucidate why he was removed, but the fact remained that Paul Goldschmidt was in the game to play first.

As if a big balloon deflated in the park, so too did Fried’s command. After a leadoff double, Fried issued a walk and gave up a pair of infield hits, one of which plated a run. He prevented Baltimore from putting up a crooked number by inducing a ground ball double play from Jeremiah Jackson, but Tyler O’Neill still scored the tying run to make it a new ballgame at 3-3.

The Oriole rookie Gibson departed after walking Judge with two outs in the fifth. Manager Craig Albernaz brought in a southpaw, Grant Wolfram, to face a lane with consecutive left-handed hitters. Bellinger, unfazed by lefty pitching, hit a wallscraping double to right. It was the second time this week the scorching Bellinger had missed a homer by a matter of feet, but it placed two runners in scoring position. Chisholm, less adept against same-siders, rolled over to first and was unable to leg out an infield hit when first baseman Coby Mayo bobbled the baseball.

Fried tossed a scoreless fifth inning, then re-emerged from the dugout despite having thrown over 90 pitches. He appeared to be off to a good start to the sixth, but a throwing error from Ryan McMahon on a routine grounder made things complicated. As usual, Max rebounded a batter later, getting Mayo to roll into an apparent double play—however, the out call at first was successfully overturned. Fried walked Leody Taveras and was removed from the game.

Fernando Cruz took over to face Jackson, and got the Baltimore second baseman to ground into yet another inning-ending double play—saved at the end by a beautiful stretch by Goldschmidt to corral a low throw from Jazz. That twin killing preserved the tie and preventing any further runs charged to Fried’s account.

The Bombers took the lead back in the home sixth through a series of unexpected-but-welcome developments. First, Jasson Domínguez picked up his first extra-base hit of the year, ripping a double from the right side of the plate against Wolfram. He advanced to third on a productive out, then up came Ryan McMahon, staying in the game to bat left-on-left. The embattled third baseman dribbled a grounder toward first, but Mayo, preoccupied with Domínguez streaking toward home, never fielded the glove cleanly. Domínguez scored and McMahon reached first with an RBI infield hit. Yennier Cano entered the game afterward, and Trent Grisham nearly plated McMahon with a ball in the gap, but a terrific diving catch by O’Neill saved a run and retired the side.

Following a clean eighth from breakout reliever Brent Headrick, the Bombers got their lineup in full working order. Facing veteran Andrew Kittredge, the Yankees smacked five consecutive hits—and all five runners went on to score. The second in that sequence was another loud sound from Domínguez. Having gotten his first extra-base hit in his previous AB, The Martian checked his first homer off the list with a fly ball to the short porch in right.

The top of the Yankee order added on further from there with a sac fly from Grisham and a two-run single from Goldschmidt to give the Yankees a 9-3 lead. Kittredge departed having allowed seven hits in eight batters faced. Ouch! The fun didn’t stop there—Jazz grabbed a sac fly to give the Yanks double digits, then Domínguez repeated his sixth-inning act with another double hitting right-handed to plate the seventh and final inning of the home eighth.

Needless to say, David Bednar had a good bit of margin for error, entering in a non-save situation. He still turned in a scoreless ninth to give New York another breezy victory in the Bronx. They now sit 12 games over .500, and remain the top team in the American League.

Normally, the series would be done after the Sunday matinée, but not this time. Baltimore will stay in town on Monday—I suppose they’re enjoying themselves too much? Cam Schlittler will face former Ray Shane Baz to try and get the four game sweep—mop?—with first pitch set for the usual evening timeslot: 7:05pm ET on YES.

Box Score

Box Score

Logan Henderson looked great through six strong innings, but Milwaukee couldn’t complete the sweep of the Nationals as a ninth-inning rally fell just short in Sunday’s series finale.

Both teams combined for just one hit, a Brandon Lockridge double, through the first four innings. Milwaukee was the first team to score, breaking through in the top of the fifth after Lockridge led off with a bunt single off Zack Littell. Littell then walked Sal Frelick to put runners at first and second. David Hamilton, who struck out on a bunt in his first at-bat, got it down this time — advancing Frelick to second and Lockridge to third.

As is often the case, Joey Ortiz came up with runners in scoring position. Littell left a sinker up in the zone, and Ortiz squared it up, sending a fly ball to left-center that likely would’ve been a three-run homer if not for the wind blowing in at Nationals Park. Center fielder Jacob Young ran it down on the warning track, but the sacrifice fly still gave the Brewers a one-run lead.

Henderson’s bid for perfection ended in the fifth when CJ Abrams led off with a ground ball to first. Jake Bauers made a nice play, but Henderson slipped on his way over to cover the bag, allowing Abrams to reach safely. Daylen Lile struck out on a foul tip for the first out, but Abrams promptly stole second to give Washington its first runner in scoring position.

Nasim Nuñez followed with a single to center, scoring the speedy Abrams and tying the game at 1-1. The next batter, José Tena, worked the count to 2-2 before turning on a cutter and driving it into the right-center gap. Nuñez came around to score from first on the triple, giving the Nationals the lead.

With still only one out and Nuñez on third, Henderson managed to bear down, inducing a soft lineout from Jorbit Vivas and a flyout from Keibert Ruiz to keep the deficit to one run.

Washington added an insurance run in the seventh against Brian Fitzpatrick, who came in for Henderson to start the seventh. In a sequence that felt like déjà vu all over again, Abrams led off with another infield single and Nuñez came through with another RBI single to extend the lead to 3-1.

Meanwhile, the Brewers’ offense went quiet. Milwaukee went down in order in the sixth, seventh, and eighth before finally showing signs of life in the ninth. William Contreras grounded out to start the inning, but Gary Sánchez singled to bring the tying run — Jake Bauers — to the plate. Bauers hit a single to right to advance Blake Perkins (running for Sánchez) to third.

With runners on the corners, Garrett Mitchell hit a slow chopper to second. Nuñez charged, fielded it cleanly, and threw across his body to get Mitchell by a hair. Perkins scored to make it a one-run game, with the tying run now in scoring position.

Unfortunately, that’s as close as Milwaukee would get. Brandon Lockridge waved at a sweeper in the dirt for strike three, ending the game.

The biggest positive from today’s game was Henderson. Despite taking the loss, he went six innings and struck out eight, allowing two runs and just three hits without walking a batter. Every time Henderson has started for the Brewers, he’s shown he belongs in the majors, but it’s hard to win games when your offense can only muster four hits. Brandon Lockridge’s bunt single was the only hit the Brewers recorded in 5 2/3 innings against Zack Littell (7.24 ERA after today’s game) and Mitchell Parker (4.05 ERA).

The Brewers will look to bounce back in tomorrow’s series opener against the second-place St. Louis Cardinals, who currently boast a 20-13 record. They’ll also be getting first baseman Andrew Vaughn back, who has been out since March 28 with a fractured left hand (and maybe Jackson Chourio, too). First pitch is slated for 6:45 p.m.