Category: Sports News

Patrick Bailey's inside-the-park walk-off sparks wild stats, social media frenzy originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Anyone who stayed up late to witness Giants catcher Patrick Bailey’s unbelievable walk-off inside-the-park home run probably was glad they didn’t go to bed early.

Except for Philadelphia Phillies fans, of course.

Those who did stay awake had plenty to say on social media, including NBA star and Phillies fan Joel Embiid, who was left in disbelief.

Needless to say, walk-off inside-the-park home runs don’t happen every day, so Bailey’s unbelievable hit sparked some crazy stats that were shared on social media as well.

Clearly, this was a once-in-a-lifetime moment that Giants fans might never forget.

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The start of Tuesday's Mets-Orioles game has been delayed due to inclement weather in Baltimore.

First pitch at Oriole Park at Camden Yards is scheduled to take place at around 7:00 p.m. on SNY.

Clay Holmes (8-4, 2.99 ERA) will take the mound for New York, while Brandon Young (0-3, 7.02 ERA) will start for Baltimore in the first game of a three-game series.

The Mets' lineup on Tuesday night will also feature Jesse Winker for the first time since May 4 as he was activated earlier Tuesday and Starling Martewas placed on the IL.

Holmes allowed two runs on three hits over 5.1 IP against the Milwaukee Brewers last time out on July 2 and got a no decision, as he's 3-1 with a 2.79 ERA with 23 strikeouts over his last seven starts (38.2 IP). While many starters will be having their last outing before the All-Star break, manager Carlos Mendoza said prior to the game that Holmes will throw again on Sunday in the series finale against the Kansas City Royals. It's undetermined if he or Sean Manaea, who'll make his season debut, will get the start.

Young, 26, is making just his fourth start of his career. He made his debut on April 26 against the Detroit Tigers, but was then sent back down to Triple-A. He returned to the bigs on June 25 vs. the Texas Rangers and most recently started on July 1, also against the Rangers, allowing three runs on six hits over four innings.

What we learned as Patrick Bailey delivers wild inside-the-park walk-off homer originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

• BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO – From misery to joy in one swing.

Patrick Bailey lifted a night’s worth of frustration off the Giants’ shoulders with a thrilling three-run inside-the-park walk-off home run in the ninth inning, securing a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Oracle Park.

Before Bailey’s heroics, it had been a night filled mostly with frustration for the Giants.

The Giants stranded numerous runners on base in the early going and failed to score in the eighth after getting their first two runners on base.

It worked out anyway and should add some momentum to an already hot Giants team as it preps for this weekend’s showdown against NL West leaders Los Angeles Dodgers.

On a cool evening at Oracle Park that began with numerous police motorcycles lining the warning track as part of Law Enforcement Appreciation Night, the Giants were criminally quiet offensively for most of the game until Bailey got it done.

They remain six games behind the Dodgers in the NL West.

Jung Hoo Lee and Casey Schmitt had two hits apiece for the Orange and Black.

That helped on a day when starter Robbie Ray was not at his best.

Five days after throwing his second career complete game, Ray sputtered through an uneven night on the mound. He allowed only one run and four hits but walked three and pitched with runners on base only twice in his 5 2/3 innings of work. Ray had five strikeouts.

Here are the takeaways from a win that boosts the Giants to 51-42:

Ray’s day cut short

Five days after throwing an absolute gem and earning the second complete-game victory of his career, Ray struggled through one of his roughest outings of the 2025 season.

The All-Star pitcher lasted 5 2/3 uneven innings and allowed four hits and one run with five strikeouts and three walks.

Unlike the masterpiece he threw in Arizona last Thursday, Ray pitched with runners on base in three of his five innings of work. He kept the damage to a minimum, striking out the side in the second inning after giving up a leadoff walk.

Although his stat line was respectable, it wasn’t the type of outing that Giants fans have come to expect when Ray is toeing the rubber.

No heavy lifting required

The Giants scored their first run quietly. No power swings into McCovey Cove or drives into Triples Alley. Just simple, old-fashioned baseball to keep the line moving.

Mike Yastrzemski drew a leadoff walk in the second inning, advanced to third on Lee’s hit then scored on Dominic Smith’s check-swing single to left.

It was the first RBI in three weeks for the Giants’ first baseman. Not a huge turn of events but it’s definitely encouraging to see after Smith’s batting average tumbled from .367 in mid-June to the .239 mark he had entering Tuesday.

Buckle to the knuckle

Throughout the 2025 season, Ray has relied primarily on his fastball and slider as his dominant pitches. Against the Phillies, it was Ray’s wicked knuckle curve that had Philadelphia’s batters swinging at air.

Ray doesn’t use the pitch that often – 11 percent of the time, according to Baseball Savant – but it proved to be a great put-away pitch Tuesday.

Of the five strikeouts that Ray had, three came on a knuckle-curve that hit dirt as batters flailed away at the plate.

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The Mets are very close to getting their top two pitchers back this weekend.

Speaking ahead of the team's series opener against the Orioles in Baltimore, manager Carlos Mendoza gave an update on Kodai Senga and when he's set to pitch.

"As of right now, the goal is for him to pitch Game 1 in Kansas City," Mendoza said. "We’ll see how the next few days goes, but that’s the plan as of right now."

Senga (hamstring) had not pitched since mid-June, and after having one rehab start -- where he allowed four runs (three earned) across 3.2 innings with Double-A Binghamton -- the right-hander is ready to return to a big league mound. Mendoza said that Senga is set to pitch a bullpen session either Tuesday or Wednesday, and if all goes well, he'll be the team's starter on Friday.

Prior to his injury, Senga dominated his 13 starts. He pitched to a 7-3 record and a 1.47 ERA.

Mendoza said Senga won't have any "real" restrictions, but the team will be monitoring their ace's progress on Friday.

"We have a number of pitches that we are comfortable with him, but Innings, not necessarily<" Mendoza said. "We’ll let the game dictate but we have a number in mind that we want to keep it at."

Sean Manaea to pitch before All-Star break

Manaea is also set to return to the Mets rotation very soon, and if all goes well in his rehab start on Tuesday, the southpaw will be set to join his team in Kansas City this weekend.

When asked if Manaea will pitch before the All-Star break, Mendoza said that was the plan but said it all comes down to how his left-hander comes away from his final rehab start.

The plan for Manaea on Tuesday is to throw 70-75 pitches with Syracuse and will be ready to take the mound for the big league club on Sunday.

Clay Holmes is also set to pitch on Sunday and Mendoza confirmed that if Manaea is good to go, both pitchers will appear in the series finale on Sunday. The Mets skipper said the decision on who will start and which pitcher will come out of the bullpen has not been decided but acknowledged both pitchers' ability to pitch out of the pen.

Holmes has more experience in the bullpen, being the Yankees' closer the last few seasons. Holmes has appeared in 307 games as a reliever in his career as opposed to his 21 as a starter.

Manaea has started 198 games in his career, but does have 30 games as a reliever under his belt.

Phillies notes: RISP problems, Aaron Nola updates and Bryson Stott's struggles originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

SAN FRANCISCO – As observers as to the drought the Phillies are going through with runners in scoring position, you can somewhat feel the angst that the players must be feeling as they are now 0-for-24, turning RISP into a legitimate four-letter word, you know, like the swearing kind.

Phillies reserve Otto Kemp has both been in the lineup when it hasn’t delivered and watched from the bench during the struggles. While the situation is known, the approach to fixing it isn’t the rock-solid answer that many would want.

“It’s just a case where you can’t be over aggressive or looking for too much,” said Kemp, who is in the lineup Tuesday in left field and batting sixth against Giants All-Star lefty Robbie Ray.

“If you get something in the zone you have to hit the ball hard. It’s not just all about getting base hits. It’s about having good at-bats, and that could mean moving the runner over when needed. Hitting the ball hard somewhere which may force an error or something like that. It may not be a hit, but it’s getting the job done and that’s what we’re here to do. It’s not something that’s gone on for weeks and that is getting, like, religious to us, so we just go about our at-bats. You can’t think too much about it, but we know it. Good at bats will come. I’m confident in that. We have too many good hitters for it not to.”

When asked his approach to managing this kind of team slump, manager Rob Thomson kept it pretty simple. “I think Kevin (Long, hitting coach) talks as a team and I approach individually at times, sure, depending on who the player is and what they’re going through. It’s just a matter of relaxing them and as we always say – get a good pitch to hit, work counts, use the field.”

Sounds simple enough. We will see what happens.

What’s the update on Aaron Nola?

Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola flew down to Clearwater this past weekend to rehab himself from a rib cage fracture. A sprained ankle and now the newer injury have had Nola sidelined since May 15. Thomson said last week that his rehab time would be equivalent to going through spring training before he’d be ready to come back. As for the most recent update, Thomson said on Tuesday, “He’s going to throw a bullpen again tomorrow and then on Saturday and then we’ll go from there.”

With Nola out and Mick Abel being sent to the minors, Taijuan Walker took the mound for the start on Tuesday. His has been a roller coaster ride from bullpen to starter, and the manager knows that might be something that has to continue for a little bit.

There has been no commitment by anyone that prized prospect Andrew Painter will be coming up after the All-Star break, which begins after Sunday’s game in San Diego. And Abel is going to need to find his command again before he may get the nod. So, for the foreseeable future, it could be Walker?

“Very professional,” Thomson said of Walker. “It is difficult to go back and forth but he’s really handled it well. He’s all about the team and does whatever is needed to help the team. I know he’s going to go out there and compete. You can check that box before he even goes out because he’s going to compete.”

Monday night’s mishaps

Thomson wasn’t about to pin any blame on Monday’s home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi, who missed many calls, some coming when Bryce Harper was hitting and a couple others when Orion Kerkering was pitching. Each of them had a major effect on what turned into a 3-1 win by the Giants when they scored two runs in the eighth inning after Kerkering wasn’t given a strikeout, not once, but twice, against Matt Chapman.

“Hey look, I don’t blame losses on umpires,” Thomson said. “I don’t. We had plenty of chances to win that game. Everybody has bad nights. I have bad nights, players have bad nights. Phil’s been around a long time. He’s been a really good umpire for a long time. Just one of those nights. Can’t get it back. We had plenty of chances.”

Bryson Stott’s struggles

As the Phillies were going to face a left handed pitcher on Tuesday, that meant Edmundo Sosa at second base and Bryson Stott to the bench. Asked last week about Sosa in the lineup, Thomson definitively said that he will play against lefties, as Stott has struggled at the plate this season hitting .233 against left handers and just .241 against right handers. 

“Kind of hot and cold,” is how Thomson described his second baseman’s hitting. “I think he’s gotten into a little bit of a habit where right now he’s gotten a little bit long (with his swing). He hit the home run the other day (Sunday, game-winning, two-run shot) which was great. It looked real short. He’s had some good swings but then again he gets a little bit long sometimes. He’s still seeing a lot of pitches, which is good. But, yeah, have the balance between seeing pitches and having the right mild aggressiveness go get some and do some damage. I still have confidence that by the time we’re done here this year he’s gonna find it.”