Category: Sports News

Shohei Ohtani continued to dazzle on the mound, and the Dodgers gave him plenty of early run support as they shut out the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-0 on Wednesday.

The Dodgers started the scoring with a two-run home run for a second consecutive game, this time being Kyle Tucker launching his first home run since May 4 to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning.

Freddie Freeman added another pair of RBI on an opposite-field single in the top of the third to make it a 4-0 lead. Freeman added another hit in the seventh inning and is now 5-15 (.333 average) with a home run and five RBI over the three games at Chase Field this week. Max Muncy drove home Freeman with a single up the middle to give the Dodgers their first three-run inning of the series and make it a five-run lead.

While the Dodgers didn’t score in the top of the fourth, they continued to make Zac Gallen earn every out. Gallen had tossed just six pitches in the first inning and 20 combined over his first two innings, but he combined for 70 pitches over his next three innings— 32, 24 and 14 pitches respectively. Gallen has now allowed nine runs (eight earned runs) over nine innings against the Dodgers this season.

As for Shohei Ohtani on the mound, he was perfect against the Diamondbacks lineup the first time around while racking up three strikeouts. He was one out away from 10 straight hitless innings since last week, but Gabriel Moreno spoiled the no-hit bid with a two-out, two-strike double down the right field line to give Arizona their first hit. Ohtani got out of the jam by getting Nolan Arenado to ground out.

Ohtani faced the most trouble on the mound in the bottom of the sixth inning, as he allowed a walk and a single to Tommy Troy and Geraldo Perdomo respectively to put two men on base for the first time on the night. Ohtani quickly got out of the jam, getting Corbin Carroll to ground into an inning-ending double play to give the two-way superstar another quality start.

Ohtani has now allowed just two hits and one run while striking out 13 over his last two starts, while Wednesday marked the fifth scoreless start of the year. Ohtani now lowers his ERA on the year to 0.74, the best among all starting pitchers with at least 60 innings.

While Ohtani dazzled on the mound, he reached base five times on a pair of walks and three singles. After May 11, Ohtani’s batting average stood at just .233, but since May 12, Ohtani has multiple hits in 11 of his last 19 games, raising his season average to .301.

Kyle Tucker added a pair of singles to accompany his two-run home run, giving him his first three-hit game since May 17 against the Angels.

Alex Freeland has been hitting well since being called back up from Triple-A, as he collected three hits and added two RBI on a single in the top of the seventh to make it a 7-0 Dodger lead. Freeland is now 6-17 (.353 average) with a home run and four RBI in six games back at the big league level.

With the San Diego Padres dropping their series against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Dodgers division lead now grows to seven games. The Dodgers now join the Atlanta Braves as the only two teams in baseball with at least 40 wins on the year.

Game particulars

• Home runs— Kyle Tucker (5)
• WP— Shohei Ohtani (6-2): 6 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts
• LP— Zac Gallen (3-5): 5 IP, 8 hits, 5 runs (4 earned runs), 2 walks, 1 strikeout

Up next

The Dodgers look to take the series as they wrap things up in Arizona on Thursday (6:40 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA) before heading back home for a three-game set against the Angels. Justin Wrobleski faces Ryne Nelson.

After a 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies in the series opener, the San Diego Padres designated Nick Castellanos for assignment. They called up Samad Taylor from the Triple-A affiliate, the El Paso Chihuahuas.

No buzz, no headlines, but Taylor deserves the opportunity, as he is tearing up the minors. Before his call-up, he was hitting .319/.406/.500 with seven HR and 25 RBI in 51 games. 

Castellanos failed to produce

The Castellanos decision brings a sigh of relief to the Friar Faithful. He was expected to hit for average and drive in runs, but neither happened as the organization hoped. Castellanos struggled, as he batted .191/.221/.339 in 39 games. 

His career numbers (.270/.319/.462 with 24 HR and 88 RBI) suggested he could have a bounce-back season with the Padres. The organization should have taken a closer look at the significant production drop-off in Castellanos’ final season with the Phillies. Hitting .250/.294/.400 with 17 HR and 72 RBI in 147 games did not merit keeping his questionable outfield glove in the lineup.

Who is Samad Taylor, and what is his role with the Padres

The Cleveland Guardians drafted Taylor in the 10th round of the 2016 MLB Draft. He played in the Toronto Blue Jays organization before making his major league debut with the Kansas City Royals in 2023. Taylor also played in the majors with the Seattle Mariners in 2024-25. In January, he signed as a minor league free agent with the Friars. 

The Padres consider Taylor a versatile player, as his primary position is second base, but he can play the other infield positions and all three outfield spots. Plus, the organization believes the 27-year-old Corona, Calif. native can become an important late-inning base-stealing threat off the bench. Taylor has 282 stolen bases in 883 minor league games. 

The Friars’ lineup has too many holes to wait for Castellanos to get hot at the plate. The fit was never right. 

Out goes the former slugger, and in comes Taylor.

Sidelined with a calf strain since April 24, Giancarlo Stanton resumed live hitting Wednesday.

The 36-year-old Stanton took three at-bats against Angel Chivilli (right shoulder discomfort) for the first time since straining his right calf while running the bases during a game against the Astros earlier this season.

Only soft ground balls to the left side — outside of one foul ball — came off Stanton’s bat.

Outfielder Jasson Domínguez also participated in the pregame activity. Projected to begin a minor league rehab assignment Friday, Domínguez continues to work his way back from an AC joint sprain in his left shoulder he sustained May 7.

“Good to get the reps and get outside and do that,” manager Aaron Boone said before the Yankees’ 5-4 loss to the Guardians. “Good day. I think we’re going to do that again Saturday with Giancarlo, with the expectation that Jason will start his rehab on Friday.”

The Yankees optioned Domínguez to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to start the regular season. After he was recalled April 27 in the wake of injuries to Stanton and Luis Gil, Domínguez suffered his own injury after crashing into the wall in left field and had to be carted off.

Both players’ progression is an encouraging development for the Yankees, who are still waiting on an official timeline for Aaron Judge’s return from a bone bruise in his upper rib cage.

The Yankees will miss their top slugger no matter how much time he misses, but Stanton’s return to the lineup would certainly help alleviate some of the offensive burden.

Stanton has exclusively been deployed as a designated hitter so far this season to manage his workload.

His .256 batting average is also ranked sixth on the team among players who have appeared in at least 20 games so far this season.

Carlos Lagrange, who was recently shifted to the bullpen at SWB and could potentially help the Yankees down the stretch, threw four scoreless innings, struck out seven batters and walked two during his first relief appearance Wednesday.

He hit 101.4 mph, according to YES Network.

Boone said Max Fried — out since mid-May with a left elbow bone bruise — will continue to ramp up his throwing program at 75 feet, progress to 90 and potentially be set for re-imaging later next week, which will determine if the lefty can progress to throwing off a mound.

José Caballero is prepared to step up in Aaron Judge’s absence. 

Still awaiting the results of more extra imaging on Aaron Judge’s upper right rib cage and chest, the Yankees had Caballero back in right field in the captain’s place for their 5-4 loss to the Guardians on Wednesday night in The Bronx. 

It was Caballero’s second assignment in right field since Judge has been unavailable after not having taken many reps in that spot since last season. 

“Whatever the manager needs, I’ll be able to do it and more than happy to do so,” he said after going 2-for-4 from the plate with a solo home run that pulled the Yankees within one in the fourth inning Wednesday night. 

His fourth-inning homer was his fifth of the season, but the play went under review first. 

A fan caught the ball, which just barely made it into the stands at 364 feet. Cleveland’s Angel Martinez chased it into the wall, but pointed up at the fan after it was ruled a home run on the field. 

Caballero said he wasn’t concerned the homer would get overturned, but he was sure it was going to go out.  

“He’s a player, man,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Caballero before the game. “Just have a lot of confidence with him anywhere on the field. You saw his first day out in left field in Kansas City, first play of the game, there’s a rocket hit right at him and he lays out, makes a great play. So just a really good baseball player that you trust in a lot of places.”

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After hitting five home runs through 126 games in 2025, the Yankees utility player now has five through 51 games this season.

He has also reached base safely in 30 of his last 36 games with a plate appearance, dating back to April 13. 

Over that span, Caballero has slashed .303/.362/.479 with 19 runs, six doubles, 12 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. 

The 29-year-old wasn’t sure if the plan was for him to continue taking a majority of the reps in right field going forward without Judge.

Asked if he had a chance to work in right field prior to the last two days, Caballero downplayed it as a necessity.  

“I feel like it’s not like a big need,” Caballero said. “Now, I’m able to do the job out there and I’ll be ready to play whatever position.”

With so much uncertainty swirling about the status of Aaron Judge, the bone bruise near his right rib cage that’s impacting his swing and how much time the Yankees’ superstar could miss, the only thing that’d become certain by the end of Wednesday night was that the waiting game continued into Thursday.

Judge, who was out of the lineup for a second consecutive game during the Yankees’ 5-4 loss to the Guardians, saw a specialist Wednesday who confirmed what the Yankees had seen to this point with his injury, manager Aaron Boone said.

But Judge is going back for “more high-power, more specific” tests around the rib and chest area to get a “really strong diagnosis of things.”

“We just want clarity on what exactly we’re dealing with,” Boone said. “Then we can set the course of action and kind of have an idea of what the timeline’s gonna be.”

So when the Yankees left the ballpark after a second consecutive loss, Judge remained off the injured list, but the additional testing certainly cast an ominous tone about the status of their superstar.

Judge last played in a game Sunday, underwent imaging on the team’s day off Monday and met with team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad on Tuesday before the specialist got involved.

He was left to work out in the weight room Wednesday, get treatment and await his fate — whether this was a best-case scenario that didn’t involve the injured list, a short stint on the IL or something more long term.

The Yankees were left to tweak their lineup, with José Caballero in right field and Ben Rice as their lineup’s power source.

Asked before the game how long the Yankees would go without Judge being an option before making a transaction, Boone said he didn’t know.

“It kind of depends on probably this diagnosis with the doctors and seeing where he’s at [Wednesday] and [Thursday],” Boone said.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

So the Yankees needed to pivot again. They started Caballero in right field again, a spot the utilityman, who Boone said the Yankees “trust in a lot of places,” hadn’t played since September before Monday.

They needed to rely on Rice, in just his second full MLB season, as their lineup’s anchor, banking on the lefty slugger’s ability to adapt if pitchers approach him differently without Judge lurking in the on-deck circle.

Caballero homered and singled, while Rice wasn’t able to add to his 17 homers and 44 RBIs but did rip a double as one of the Yankees’ five hits.

Boone and the Yankees hoped initially that Judge, someone they’ve struggled without in recent seasons, could miss only a few days and that they avoided anything serious. With each added day of testing and consultations, that feels more and more distant.

Judge’s last stint on the IL occurred in July 2025 due to a flexor strain in his right elbow that caused him to miss 10 games. He also missed more than a month in 2023 with a torn ligament in his big right toe. It forced the Yankees to find ways to cobble together production to replace the three-time American League MVP, who also won the AL batting title last year (.331 average) and has collected another 17 homers to start 2026.

Recently, though, Judge struggled, going just 17-for-82.

(.207) across his past 22 games prior to Tuesday with 26 strikeouts. His average dipped to .248. He collected just six extra-base hits across that stretch and launched just one homer since May 11.

Judge went a career-worst 11 games without an RBI last month too. It was a concerning stretch, even for one of the sport’s best hitters, and Boone admitted Wednesday that “I think there is some correlation” between the nagging injury that gradually worsened and the slump.

Boone thought the Yankees were better equipped to handle a Judge absence than they were in past seasons.

They failed in their first two glimpses of life without Judge. And the looming question of just how long they’ll need to survive without him was punted to the next day.

“You don’t want to see any player get hurt, right?” Gerrit Cole said. “Aaron, obviously, means a lot to us and just plays great baseball all the time and brings great energy, so, you know, it’s tough when guys get hurt. But unfortunately, it’s part of the game and as a team, you gotta figure out how to step up in those situations.

“So that’s what we’ll do.”

MILWAUKEE — Tony Vitello apparently didn’t get the message: Logan Webb wasn’t coming out of an active no-hit bid. No chance.

“I would’ve thrown 200 pitches,” Webb said. “I would’ve asked for an extra day.”

It didn’t come to that, not once Brice Turang flicked a sweeper below the knees and off the plate just out of reach of a diving Matt Chapman with one down in the seventh inning.

But that’s the kind of ace Webb is.

Excuse the wording — staff leader.

“I hate the word ace, to be honest,” Webb said. “I feel like I haven’t done my job as a leader … I feel like I’ve not led the right way — just in my performance. To be able to get healthy, feel better and throw the way I feel like I should, it was nice to get this one.” 

For better or worse, the Giants’ starting rotation has largely taken after its leader. In the past that has meant a bulldog mentality and competing to one-up each other.

But this year, the 4.82 ERA Webb took into Wednesday’s 1-0 win over the Brewers was indicative of the rotation’s performance as a whole. Even after Webb’s seven shutout innings, only the Rockies possess an ERA from their rotation worse than the Giants’ 4.84 mark.

With an example set to follow, there’s hope the winds will begin to change.

It starts with Adrian Houser in the matinee finale of the four-game series Thursday.

“The one group that I felt like the whole season was really good was ‘21 — I hate bringing it up all the time — but it felt like we always tried to out-do each other, in a good way,” Webb said. “Say, OK, I went seven [and] gave up none today. Houser tomorrow, you try to go eight.”

It didn’t just come from Webb: Vitello singled out the way Winn responded after Christian Yelich led off the ninth by placing the tying run on second with a broken-bat double into the right field corner.

It was a whole team effort, with Daniel Susac picking two splitters out of the dirt, preventing them from going to the backstop, with Yelich 90 feet away.

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“In the room, it was a great opportunity to say, ‘Here we go again,’” Vitello said. “We’ve been in that situation a lot and it hasn’t gone our way.”

Webb described the win, complete with a highlight reel of defensive plays, just enough offense from the first home run of Victor Bericoto’s big-league career and a gritty five-out save that was also the first of his career for Keaton Winn, as “a very San Francisco Giants win, in a good way.”

There haven’t been many of those in a season that had produced the majors’ worst record entering the night, having lost seven of their previous eight.

“I’m not saying I’m leading the way, but hopefully this is a step in the right direction,” Webb said. “I think everyone gets excited when you have a game like this because wins are hard to come by, especially ones like this.”

Webb took his perfect game bid into the sixth and a no-hitter into the seventh. Vitello was asked if there was ever a point where he thought Webb would take it to the finish line.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “I don’t know that it would’ve been fair to him.”

Webb’s pitch count had risen to 85 and he was at 95 when he departed the game for good after the seventh. It had been more than a month since he had thrown that many pitches after a 15-day stint on the injured list nursing bursitis in his knee, one rehab start and an abbreviated return last week at Coors Field.

That context weighed on Vitello’s mind as Webb continued to retire batter after batter in his bid to toss the Giants’ first no-hitter since Blake Snell’s against the Reds in 2024.

“With these circumstances, with it being such a tight score and him being back just his second time after being on the IL, it’s a constant conversation,” Vitello said. “I think we started to kind of talk about him going eight. … But he was going to have to be pretty efficient.”

Webb, on the other hand, watched Tim Lincecum throw 148 pitches during his first no-hitter in 2013 and Alex Cobb come one out away while extending himself to 131 three years ago.

Whether or not Turang’s flare found the outfield grass, Vitello had already shown his hand.

“I’m gonna blame Tony because he did call down [to the bullpen] right before I gave up the hit and said have someone ready,” Webb joked. “So I’m going to blame him.”