Category: Sports News

The Mets were defeated by the Dodgers 4-2 in Friday night's series opener at Citi Field. 

Here are some takeaways...

-- Luis Robert Jr. continues showcasing himself ahead of the trade deadline. The towering outfielder opened the scoring in this one by jumping all over a 2-2 fastball at the top of the zone, crushing it 381 feet to left for his fourth homer of the season and second in three games since returning from the IL. 

-- Sean Manaea did well to limit the high-powered Dodgers offense. He worked around leadoff baserunners in two of the first three innings, erasing a single in the first before putting together a perfect top of the second and breezing past a double against the top of the order in the third. 

LA evened things up with a sacrifice fly in the fourth, but stranded two more on the corners. Manaea almost faced another leadoff man in scoring position, but the Mets used a perfect relay to gun Shohei Ohtani down trying to stretch a double into a triple en route to a perfect fifth. 

The lefty was hurt, then helped by his defense in the sixth. A Carson Benge bobble in right allowed Freddie Freeman to get to a second on what could have been a bang-bang play, but the youngster made up for it two batters later, as he gunned the veteran down trying to score from third on a sacrifice fly. 

Manaea ended his day allowing just the one run on six hits and two walks while striking out three over 6.0 IP. 

-- The lefties in the Mets' bullpen immediately wasted Manaea's strong effort. Brooks Raley allowed LA to scratch across the go-ahead run on an Ohtani sacrifice fly, then A.J. Minter served up an insurance two-run homer to Kyle Tucker an inning later, to make it a three-run ballgame.  

-- New York wasn't able to get much else going against LA starter Roki Sasaki, as aside from the Robert homer, he held them to four other baserunners while striking out nine batters across 6.0 innings of work. Sasaki came into the night with 23 runs allowed (22 earned) over his last six starts. 

-- The Mets did show some fight against right-hander Evan Phillips in the bottom of the eighth, as Francisco Alvarez crushed his 14th homer of the season. The solo shot left the bat at a whopping 108.9 mph and traveled a total of 401 feet deep into the left field seats. 

-- They couldn't rally against Tanner Scott in the ninth, though, and dropped the series opener. 

-- New York suffered a big blow midway through this one, as Juan Soto was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the sixth due to left calf soreness. The outfielder has been limited to DH duties since the All-Star break, and he sat out Wednesday's series finale in Milwaukee, but interim manager Andy Green said pregame he was ready to go. 

Game MVP: Kyle Tucker

Tucker's eighth-inning two-run homer ended up being the difference in this one. 

Highlights

Sean Manaea gets two strikeouts in the first pic.twitter.com/VF2cSzR1Qp

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 24, 2026

Luis Robert Jr. hits his fourth HR of the season!

His second in three games since returning from the IL 🔥 pic.twitter.com/hcN4uLdS9r

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 24, 2026

Carson Benge, Francisco Lindor and Bo Bichette combine on the relay to throw out Shohei Ohtani at third 💪 pic.twitter.com/1Tre3rvAfS

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 25, 2026

Carson Benge picks up his second outfield assist of the night, with a throw to Francisco Alvarez! pic.twitter.com/3wyRthNfgk

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 25, 2026

Francisco Alvarez hits his 12th home run of the year! pic.twitter.com/ZtaO9T8FRM

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 25, 2026

What's next

Nolan McLean takes the ball against Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the middle game Saturday at 7:15 p.m.

The San Francisco Giants welcome the Los Angeles Angels to Oracle Park tonight to begin a three-game series.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Logan Webb, who enters tonight’s game with a 3.87 ERA, 3.54 FIP, with 85 strikeouts to 27 walks in 107 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 4-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Saturday, in which he allowed three runs on two hits with five strikeouts and a walk in six and two thirds innings.

He’ll be facing off against Angels right-hander Grayson Rodriguez, who enters tonight’s game with an 8.23 ERA, 5.22 FIP, with 27 strikeouts to 17 walks in 35 innings pitched. His last start was in the Angels’ 7-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Saturday, in which he allowed six runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and a walk in four innings.

Game #103

Who: San Francisco Giants (42-60) vs. Los Angeles Angels (41-62)

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California

When: 7:15 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area and KNTV

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

It is tempting to grumble about how this game was such a microcosm of the Yankee season. The starter was phenomenal, truly elite stuff, and the offense had three hitters that looked like they belonged in the majors. I’m gonna choose the optimism; Cam Schlittler is the best pitcher in the American League and he delivered a huge series-opening win tonight, with the Yankees topping the Phillies 1-0.

It’s funny how wrong a first impression can be. Cam has come back to earth a little in recent weeks, still the cream of the crop in the Junior Circuit but a little more touchable. Trea Turner grinded through a great, six-pitch leadoff AB against the young Yankee ace, and for that first batter I wondered if we’d see another Schlittler start where he was just a little off.

It took Cam 25 pitches to set down the next eight men, perfect through his first three frames. Amusingly enough, it was Turner again who saw seven offerings from Schlittler leading off the fourth, but he was retired for the second time. Kyle Schwarber became the Phillies’ first baserunner a batter later, ending a perhaps-too-early bid for history with a double into the right-center gap. It didn’t seem to bother the ace though, who got Bryce Harper and Brandon Marsh to strand War Bear.

And from there, for another 3.1 innings it was academic. Schlittler got into the eighth inning, sitting down 12. He allowed just two hits, with no walks, through 7.1, bringing his overall season ERA down to 2.07 and his road ERA a comical 1.07. There were a lot of very cool moments tonight but perhaps my favorite from Cam was this front-door sinker that froze a future Hall of Famer:

We also saw something in the development of a still-young pitcher. I think sometimes we forget that Cam has been here a little over a calendar year. His immediate success, his demeanor, the way his starts feel different than everyone else’s, makes him feel like he’s been in the bigs half a decade. He’s still developing, he’s not a finished product yet.

If there’s one thing that has attracted a lot of attention with Cam, is whether he can get by throwing fastballs as frequently as he does. Especially against a team like the Phillies, where your 2-4 hitters are all excellent lefties, there’s been a lot of discussion about whether Schlittler should mix in his curve more often. Maybe this is all talk show fodder since he actually pitches better against lefties, but he threw his curveball twice as frequently as his season average tonight.

He got whiffs on half of them, plus dropping one in for a strike, so while it wasn’t the prime reason he succeeded tonight, I think adding something else in the back of a hitter’s mind means something. When you’re facing sluggers like Schwarber and Harper, anything you can do to make them spend another fraction of a second thinking, rather than reacting, is a plus for you.

But Schlittler did seem to run out of gas in the eighth as his pitch count crept over 90. J.T. Realmuto, in competition with Paul Goldschmidt for MLB’s most prodigious unc, managed his second hit of the day off the Yankee starter, and then Cam dotted No. 8 hitter Gabriel Rincones Jr. to put two men on, and end the night. Brent Headrick, perhaps the most reliable man in the bullpen, gave off a leadoff single that Realmuto had to hold at third on, but got a soft flyout from Turner and groundout from Schwarber to end the threat and preserve the shutout.

You’ll notice we haven’t talked much about the offense. Part of this is because Jesús Luzardo is a very good pitcher and mostly held serve with Schlittler tonight, throwing seven innings and striking out nine against a single walk, and only really being touched by MLB’s more prodigious unc, the aforementioned Goldschmidt:

As for the rest of the Yankee offense well…I’d like to say they should think about shaking up the normal lineup facing lefties but there’s nobody really to put in. This is what we’re stuck with until a trade gets made or a slugger heals up, and it’s why we’re further quite lucky to have the talents of someone like Cam Schlittler.

The Yankees must have a bit of a World Cup hangover, because they win one-nil. David Bednar locked down the club’s 10th shutout victory on the season, and Cam gets his 10th win of the year in the same cause.

The Rays look like they’ll win tonight as well, so all the Yankees can do is keep the pace. A series win on the road against a team with their own playoff aspirations is the goal this weekend. Ryan Weathers will be the man tasked with leading the Yankees to that series win tomorrow, possibly against former Yankees draft pick Brian Keller in his MLB debut at age-32 (though Philly has yet to confirm a starter and Keller may be the bulk guy). First pitch will be a little earlier than tonight, at 6:05pm ET.

Box Score

Postscript: I have a running text chain with a friend where pretty much we only talk about baseball. The one text I sent him today was, of course, about Cam.

PHILADELPHIA — Cam Schlittler took the mound Friday night coming off one of the more frustrating starts of his season.

By the end of the night, he had successfully transferred that frustration into the helpless hands of the Phillies lineup, and dissipated whatever his own struggling offense might have been feeling if he had not.

On yet another night when the Yankees pitching staff had a razor-thin margin for error because of a lack of run support, Schlittler dominated the Phillies, tossing 7 ¹/₃ shutout innings and striking out 12 on the way to a 1-0 win at a sold-out Citizens Bank Park.

Brent Headrick retired Kyle Schwarber to escape a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning before David Bednar slammed the door shut in the ninth with his 19th straight scoreless appearance.

“That’s about as well-pitched a game as you’re going to see, both sides,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Cam, obviously he’s been massive for us. [Headrick] gets a couple big outs with some good defense behind him and we’re able to hang on.”

Paul Goldschmidt swatted a solo home run against Jesús Luzardo in the fourth inning, the only run the Yankees (58-45) mustered in seven innings against the Phillies lefty, who scattered three hits and one walk while striking out nine.

Thanks to Schlittler and Co., it was enough to lift the Yankees to their eighth win in the last 11 games.

“Especially these last few weeks when we haven’t been scoring, we’ve had to win some low-scoring games and there’s a lot of pressure on the starting pitcher and the bullpen guys,” Goldschmidt said. “It’s not what we want, but they’ve done a great job picking us up as an offense. Hopefully we can play better offensively, but most importantly, just finding ways to win.”

His last time out Sunday against the Dodgers, Schlittler didn’t make it out of the fifth inning as a tough lineup drove his pitch count up to 98 across 4 ¹/₃ innings.

But on Friday, he threw one more pitch and recorded nine more outs, finding put-away pitches earlier in counts to allow him to pitch deep into the game.

This was much more like the Schlittler the Yankees have become accustomed to seeing all season, as the budding ace recorded his sixth scoreless outing in 22 starts while lowering his ERA to 2.07.

“They got a great lineup,” said Schlittler, who recorded double-digit strikeouts for the third time in his career (including playoffs), all of which have come with no walks. “They’re going to make you battle and you’ve got to make the right pitches. When you don’t, you’re going to get tagged for that. Just trying to stay locked in and make sure I’m executing.”

Schlittler cruised into the eighth inning and struck out the first batter before giving up a single to J.T. Realmuto through the left side.

His next pitch was a cutter that just barely grazed the back knee of Gabriel Rincones Jr., at which point Boone pulled him for Headrick.

The lefty reliever, in the midst of a breakout year, allowed a single to pinch hitter Edmundo Sosa, but Realmuto was held at third base as right fielder Jasson Domínguez got off a strong one-hop throw to the plate.

Headrick then got Treat Turner to line out to left field, too shallow for the Phillies (56-48) to test Cody Bellinger’s strong arm, before Schwarber grounded out in a full count.

The normally reserved Headrick was fired up as he came off the mound, quieting the crowd of 43,165 that was on its feet.

“Cam threw a hell of a game and my job is to come in and keep it at zero,” said Headrick, who has not allowed a run in a major league-leading 44 of his 52 appearances this season. “When you do that and come in and pick up a guy like that who had an incredible day, I think it’s really good for us and the team. Being able to get that win was big.”

I mean, what else can you say?

The Phillies had an outstanding pitching performance by Jesus Luzardo go for naught since they came up against a buzzsaw in Cam Schlittler. Luzardo did all he could, going seven innings and allowing a single run in the form of a solo home run on a great piece of hitting by Paul Goldschmidt.

There wasn’t much else the lefty could do as Schlittler handcuffed the Phillies lineup all night long. Said lineup did not help much, swinging at pitches like they were being chased by bees, but that’s what a great pitcher like Schlittler will do. He’ll see that he can get the hitters to chase and he’ll keep going to the same well over and over.

As the lineup got more and more looks at him though, they started to actually hit him a little harder. They couldn’t do much with it until the eighth when they actually had their threat to score. With one out, J.T. Realmuto got his second hit on the night, then went to second when Gabriel Rincones was hit by a pitch. That sent Schlittler to the bench in favor of Brent Headrick, a move countered by Edmundo Sosa coming into the game. Sosa singled to right, which brings the biggest “What if?” moment into play.

Should Realmuto have been waved home?

Worst case is that he’s thrown out and they still have a fast runner in Derek Hill in scoring position with Trea Turner coming up and two outs. Anthony Morales, the third base coach, opted to hold Realmuto to load the bases and, well, we know what happened next. Turner hit a soft fly ball not deep enough to score Realmuto, then was followed by Kyle Schwarber grounding out to second to end the threat.

Pitcher’s duels are great when they go your way, but tonight did not for the Phillies. They’ll try again tomorrow night.

Tarik Skubal's next start at Comerica Park could be his last as a Detroit Tiger. Yet the way he's been pitching and the Tigers keep winning, the chances keep increasing that he'll stick around the Motor City a couple more months.

Skubal made quick work of the Kansas City Royals Friday, July 24, striking out a season-high 12 and mowing through 7⅓ innings on 91 pitches as the Tigers defeated the Royals 2-1 for their 12th win in 16 games.

The victory moved Detroit to 50-54, the closest they've been to the .500 mark since they were 19-23 on May 12. They remained within six games of first place in the American League Central, and four games of the final wild card berth.

And that could be bad news for the rest of Major League Baseball's contenders.

More: Five MLB teams who will be most aggressive at 2026 trade deadline

The Yankees (58-45) beat the Philadelphia Phillies (56-48) in their road series opener on Friday night, 1-0, the final score.

Here are the takeaways....

-- Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt opened the scoring with an opposite-field line drive solo homer, recording the team's first hit of the game in the fourth inning against Phillies southpaw Jesús Luzardo.

-- Yankees starting pitcher Cam Schlittler also allowed his first hit in the fourth inning, a double by Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber with one out. Schlittler battled back to retire the next two batters and strand the runner in scoring position.

-- Goldschmidt came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth, but he softly grounded out and the score remained 1-0 Yanks.

-- Luzardo tossed seven innings, holding the Yankees to just one run, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out nine batters.

-- Not to be outdone by his counterpart, Schlittler was utterly dominant on the hill. He struck out every member of the Phillies batting order apart from Schwarber, racking up 12 strikeouts in the process. He finally slipped up with one man out in the eighth inning, allowing a single to J.T. Realmuto before promptly hitting Gabriel Rincones Jr. with a pitch. Schlittler was pulled having completed 7.1 innings, allowing three hits, walking zero batters, and throwing 99 pitches. Stalwart lefty Brent Headrick emerged from the bullpen to relieve the Yankee starter.

-- Edmundo Sosa roped a single into right field to load the bases on Headrick. After a lengthy battle, Trea Turner lined out to left field, but not deep enough to score Realmuto on a sacrifice. With two outs, Schwarber worked the count to 3-2, but Headrick got out of the jam with a groundout and held New York's one-run lead entering the ninth inning.

-- Lefty reliever José Alvarado plunked Ryan McMahon (who was pinch-hitting for Amed Rosario), but recovered by forcing Cody Bellinger into a groundout double play, holding the Yankees scoreless in the top half of the final frame. 

-- David Bednar entered the 1-0 ballgame to face the heart of Philadelphia's order. Bednar struck out Bryce Harper swinging, got some assistance from Bellinger's leaping catch near the left-field wall for the second out, and got Alec Bohm to ground out to end the game. Bednar earned his 19th save of the season, and Schlittler earned his 10th win.

Game MVP: Cam Schlittler

Among all American League pitchers who have accumulated at least 75 IP, Schlittler's 2026 ERA (2.07) is tops, and he's second-best in WHIP (0.93) behind Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal.

Highlights

José Caballero flashes the leather! pic.twitter.com/bLQRsvEm8K

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 24, 2026

The first hit of the game is a Paul Goldschmidt home run! pic.twitter.com/feMwSn1JUM

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 24, 2026

Brent Headrick gets out of trouble! 👏 pic.twitter.com/kxVSAs9nD6

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 25, 2026

What's Next

The Yankees continue this series Saturday night against the Philadelphia Phillies (56-48) at 6:05 p.m.

The starting pitcher for the Yankees will be Ryan Weathers (4.40 ERA, 1.27 WHIP), while the Phillies have yet to name a starter.

The Mets may have another Juan Soto injury concern on their hands. 

Soto left Friday’s 4-2 loss to the Dodgers midway through the sixth inning due to what the Mets described as “left calf soreness.” It’s just the latest injury scare for Soto, who has been sidelined in each of the past three months for at least some period of time. 

“He just had a recurrence of symptoms in the left calf,” interim manager Andy Green said after Kyle Tucker’s two-run homer in the eighth inning helped close the game out for Los Angeles. “Certainly hoped we were behind it, done talking about this, but he felt it pushing off on second base there when he was on the bases. At this point, we’ll likely get an image [Saturday] and try to see where he’s at. 

“This is nagging him for a week now, so I know it’s frustrating for him, frustrating for us.” 

Before leaving in the middle of a 1-1 game at Citi Field, Soto had walked twice. Jorge Polanco ultimately replaced him in the lineup and struck out twice. 

The Mets’ $765 million dollar man has not been able to catch a break this season on the injury front. 

In April, Soto missed 15 games after he was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right calf issue. 

He later experienced back soreness in June that forced him to exit a game against the Cubs and kept him out of the subsequent one. At the time, Soto’s back locked up on him and he was classified as day to day. 

The 27-year-old also left a game against the Phillies earlier this month due to mild left calf cramping/soreness. 

The Mets have had to manage their star player’s workload for a majority of this lost 2026 season. Prior to this season, however, Soto had not been on the injured list since 2021. 

As recently as earlier this week in the series finale against the Brewers, Soto sat out to rest a minor lingering issue with his left calf. 

Green said he wanted to give Soto 48 hours “to get the calf thing completely behind him.” 

Evidently, the calf injury is still nagging Soto. The Mets will have to wait and see just how serious it is. 

“I think any time you get an image, you’re concerned,” Green said. “Concerned enough to go do it. We’ll wait until [Saturday] and figure out what we’re dealing with.”

PHILADELPHIA — Anthony Volpe was back in the lineup at shortstop for the Yankees on Friday against the Phillies, but there’s just as much interest in the starting shortstop at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Top prospect George Lombard Jr. was in the leadoff spot after being used only as a pinch-runner for SWB on Thursday.

And with the Yankees without an everyday starting shortstop, questions will continue about the spot.

Asked Friday about the uncertainty surrounding the position — both with battling for time with José Caballero and knowing Lombard is on the team’s radar — Volpe said, “It’s not my job to be concerned with that. I’m here to help the team win. I’m ready to go every day to help the team.”

That includes, Volpe said, staying in touch with Lombard, who he played with at SWB while Volpe was rehabbing from offseason shoulder surgery and again when he was optioned to Triple-A once it ended.

“He’s doing well,” Volpe said. “I’ve talked to him a little bit, like I would with anyone else.”

Lombard, though, is not just somebody else.

Since coming back from an IL stint because of sprained fingers, Lombard has played well.

Entering Friday, in four games with SWB since his injury, Lombard was 9-for-17 with four extra-base hits.

Interestingly, Aaron Boone has not shied away from addressing Lombard in recent weeks as the 21-year-old plays his way into the conversation for a spot on the major league roster.

Before the Yankees opened a series against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, the manager noted that in addition to the superb defense Lombard has displayed since being drafted by the organization, he’s more recently developed physically and at the plate.

“He’s improved a lot offensively,’’ Boone said.

After pointing out how Lombard controls the strike zone and has “some power,” Boone spoke twice about his “hit-abilty.”

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

A National League scout who’s seen Lombard since his return from the IL agreed.

“He’s smarter up there and knows his strengths,’’ the scout said. “It’s what you want to see from a player with that much skill and that good of a work ethic.”

“He’s playing really well now,” Boone said. “Especially coming off the injury… He’s come back and it seems like he hasn’t missed a beat. His performance has been excellent. He brings a lot of things to the table.’’

The next question, which only the Yankees can answer, is if he’s ready to contribute to their playoff push this season.

He began this year at Double-A Somerset, having played two full minor league seasons out of high school.

And Lombard has played just 48 games at the Triple-A level.

As Boone said, he’s put “himself in the conversation.”

Asked what else the organization would need to see before calling him up, Boone said, “I don’t know. He’s done a great job. We’ll see.”