Category: Sports News

Yovanny Cruz’s latest call-up was deadly serious.

With the Yankees still searching for solutions to solidify their bullpen, Cruz received his second call-up of the season Tuesday — though the righty reliever initially thought he was being pranked.

“Yeah, very grateful to be back. Obviously, it’s a great opportunity to be up here,” he told The Post through a translator. “I was just in my room last night, and I got the call — I thought it was the guys playing a joke on me. But obviously it was the manager telling me I was going to the big leagues again.”

For Cruz, 26, this will be another audition to stake a spot on the Yankees’ pitching staff after a promising couple of performances in the spring.

After being brought up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Cruz made his MLB debut May 20 against Toronto and pitched 2 ¹/₃ scoreless innings across two games. In a larger sample size in SWB, he produced a 3.18 ERA in 24 appearances. Cruz could prove to be an asset for the Pinstripes with his ability to top 100 mph.

The next step is his command.

“It’s something that gave me a little bit of trouble last year, and I think commanding the strike zone has improved much more this year,” he said.

Aside from his rapid fastball, Cruz is also armed with a slider that can reach 90 mph. At the same time, he’s walked 4.1 batters per nine innings in Triple-A and knows he will have to clean things up in the big leagues.

“Besides the velo, to be effective up here, you just gotta be able to use all of your pitches and command very well the strike zone,” he said.

Cruz’s most recent call-up coincided with Yerry De los Santos being optioned back to Triple-A and comes as the Yankees have lost five consecutive games.

Though the bullpen is considered a relative strength, the Yankees could be in the market for relief help ahead of the Aug. 3 deadline.

Cruz spent eight years in the minors and played in the Cubs, Padres and Red Sox organizations before getting his shot with the Yankees. He would certainly love to stick around and provide general manager Brian Cashman with an internal solution.

“Seeing how close-knit the group is here, definitely feels like a family, like a team,” he said.

Imagine how upset Kirk Herbstreit would be if he were a Mets fan? 

The ESPN college football analyst went off on his beloved Reds and the state of Major League Baseball in posts on X after Cincinnati blew a 3-0 lead to the Brewers on Monday night and eventually lost 5-3 to Milwaukee for their 44th loss of the season. 

It was enough for Herbstreit, an Ohio native, to explode in response to one Reds fan who was railing on the franchise’s current state as well. 

“Bro. After 13 STRAIGHT years of this bulls–t you need to realize you’re pissin into the wind,” he wrote on the platform. “It will not change. The Reds baseball season is mid February to early to mid May. Thats it. This season was over weeks ago. I feel bad for you with all these tweets. Go watch some soccer. Get some preseason football magazines. Go on a summer trip. Anything but deal with this nonsense on a daily basis. It’s over. Time to move on.”

It’s easy to understand Herbstreit’s demeanor toward the team. 

The Reds are sitting in the basement of NL Central and are 5.0 games back of a wild card spot in the National League. 

Cincinnati has made the postseason just twice in the last 12 seasons, including last year, but has not made it past the wild card round in either of those appearances.

But Herbstreit didn’t stop there in his anger. 

In a separate post prior to the loss to the Brewers, the sports media personality criticized the current state of the game of MLB. 

“THANK YOU!!!!! Where did the athletic ability go?” Herbstreit asked in a post, responding to comments made by former Yankees catcher Jorge Posada. “Clutch hitting in the 8th and 9th inning? Starting pitching that goes 8 or 9 innings? Base stealing-hell just good base running and SPEED?!? Sac bunts-moving runners over late in a game?

“Where’s Tony Gwynn? Rod Carew? Wade Boggs? Ichiro? Those guys wouldn’t exist in today’s ridiculous HR or K ‘launch angle’ game! The game has been dying with the youth of America for YEARS and now is losing the core fanbase as well with this ridiculous product we’ve had to digest for the last 7-10 years. Bring back Small Ball and athleticism…this s–t dreadful!!!”

The Mariners attempted to prop up their flagging bullpen today, trading out lefty Josh Simpson for righty Cole Wilcox.

With the Mariners past the Oops! All Lefties Guardians lineup, there’s no need for an extra lefty in the ‘pen, but Simpson didn’t make a strong argument to stay, providing the bottom bread in the disaster sandwich that was the Mariners’ meltdown eighth inning in one of the most unpleasant games I’ve recapped yet this season. For Simpson, the issue remains command. Wilcox hasn’t been the picture of pinpoint command – or he has, if that picture was drawn by someone who’d consumed ten double espressos while riding a Gravitron – but the thing Wilcox does bring is an ability to work multiple innings, something that’s useful for the bullpen-impoverished Mariners, down a man due to the fluctuating piggyback strategy.

Wilcox is carrying a rough-looking ERA of over five in Triple-A, but his peripherals are good: his FIP and xERA are both about half that, and he’s striking out over a third of batters faced while keeping his walks in check. It’s the walks that were the pain point for Wilcox in his first go-round with the big-league club in April, when he flashed solid strikeout stuff but also walked almost as many hitters as he struck out. That issue has calmed down significantly in his time at the notoriously hitter-friendly PCL, where he’s also collected a pair of saves.

Wilcox was my Pile Pick this spring training but his command issues caused Alex Hoppe to leapfrog him in the pecking order. Hoppe had his own struggles, however, and was optioned down to Triple-A three days ago. With Hoppe ineligible to be recalled from Triple-A for at least another week, Wilcox has some runway for another audition to the big-league club as they continue to search for consistency in the bullpen. And as a fun bonus, Wilcox has brought along a good luck charm this time that he keeps in his locker: a bobblehead of former Georgia teammate Emerson Hancock given away at Foley Field this May – a reminder from one Bulldog to another that the path to a big-league career doesn’t always run smoothly.

Jac Caglianone is back in the lineup, but he’s only at DH, so Salvador Perez is batting sixth at first base. Nick Loftin is back, too, so at least the Royals have their second-string 3B in there again. The Royals already lost to this starter last week, and after a brilliant stretch where Noah Cameron was one of the best pitchers in baseball for a few weeks, he’s gone back to looking pretty meh again. Fingers crossed this game goes better than last time.

Royals 6/30 lineup

Rays 6/30 lineup

In Game 1 against the Miami Marlins (45-40), the Colorado Rockies (33-52) were unable to survive another bullpen implosion.

Tonight, they will even things up in Game 2 of a four-game stand with the Fish. As a reminder, the Rockies were swept in Miami to open the 2026 season, losing each game by one run.

given that it’s the final day of June, it’s worth noting that the Rockies are 11-14 overall this month, holding a 4-4 series record. Their eight series wins match last season’s total. In addition, the eight series wins pre-All-Star are their most since winning 10 first-half series in 2023. In 2025, a season in which the Rockies were historically bad, they only won two series pre-All-Star break (both on the road).

Starting for the Marlins is Eury Pérez. This will be his 14th start for the Marlins in 2026. He has made three previous starts against the Rockies, owning a 1-1 record with a 3.31 ERA (6 ER/16.1 IP), 10 hits (2 home runs), four walks, and 17 strikeouts.  Pérez last faced Colorado in his first start of the season on March 28 where he yielded three earned runs on five hits (2 home runs) with one walk and eight strikeouts over 7.0 innings in Miami’s 4-3 victory.

In 2026, the righty has a 4.41 ERA in 67.1 IP. He’s struck out 73, walked 28, and given up 12 home runs. Pérez has a 1.22 WHIP. 

Taking the mound for the Rockies will be RHP Tanner Gordon. This will be his third start (10th appearance) of 2026. His last start came on May 31 against the San Francisco Giants. That game was 19-6 Rockies loss during which Gordon allowed four runs on six hits across three innings in what was his first loss of the season.

Currently, he has an ERA of 6.37 in 35.1 IP. He’s struck out 35 while giving up eight walks and six home runs with a 1.57 WHIP. Gordon’s 5.1% walk percentage ranks in the 94th percentile among MLB pitchers.

And now to the details.

First Pitch: 6:40 pm MDT

TV: Rockies TV

Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)

Lineups:

For the visiting Marlins:

And the home Rockies:

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TONIGHT’S GAME: The Houston Astros (42-45) will play the middle game of their three-game series against the visiting Minnesota Twins (41-45) tonight at Daikin Park.

RHP Mike Burrows (3-8, 5.48 ERA) will make his team-leading 16th start of the season tonight opposite the Twins and their ace RHP Joe Ryan (5-4, 3.18 ERA).

ABOUT BURROWS: RHP Mike Burrows is coming off a strong start his last time out on June 24 at TOR, in which he worked 6.0 innings, allowing one run on two hits and one walk.

Burrows has been a durable starter in his first season in Houston, as he leads the Astros in starts (15) and innings (85.1).

He joined the club from the Pirates this offseason as part of a three-team, six-player trade in which the Astros sent OF Jacob Melton and minor leaguer RHP Anderson Brito to the Rays, while the Rays sent IF Brandon Lowe, OF Jake Mangum and LHP Mason Montgomery to the Pirates.

ASTROS-TWINS: Tonight is the 100th regular season game between the Astros and Twins in their franchise histories, with Houston owning the all-time advantage with a 52-47 record. There are several connections between the two clubs including both team’s catchers, with C Victor Caratini spending his last two seasons (2024-25) in Houston and C Christian Vázquez spending his last three years (2023-25) in Minnesota.

THE SLOW TURNAROUND: After a slow start to the season, the Astros are 22-14 since May 21, which is the best record in the AL in that span. On that date, the Astros were 20-31, 11 games under, which is their low water mark for the season.

Winning Percentage since May 21, AL

1. Astros 22-14 (.611)

2. White Sox 19-15 (.559)

3. Mariners 19-16 (.543)

RECENT ‘STROS: The Astros have won five of seven, six of nine, and are 9-4 in their last 13 games. The Astros 15-11 record in June ties as the best in the AL, along with their rival Rangers.

SERIES-LY SPEAKING: The Astros have won five consecutive series dating back to June 12, posting a 11-5 record in those games. The last time the Astros won five straight series was from June 20July 6 of last season (went 12-3 in that stretch).

WINNING THE CLOSE CALLS: The Astros are 9-5 in one-run games and 18-10 in two-run games. Each of the Astros last six wins and 11 of their last 12 victories have come by two-or-fewer runs.

PEN PALS: Since May 15 the Astros are 25-17 thanks in part to their bullpen, which has posted the lowest ERA in the AL in that span at 2.62 (45ER/154.2P). They’ve been led by their lefties since that date with LHP Josh Hader (0.75 ERA), LHP Bryan King (2.25 ERA) and LHP Steven Okert (2.29 ERA) all posting low ERAs.

GET ‘EM EARLY: The Astros lead the AL in 1st inning runs with 60 runs scored in their 87 games. Overall, the Astros rank fifth in the American League in runs scored (391), with their opponent tonight, the Twins, leading the AL in runs (417).

TODAY’S ROSTER MOVE: The Astros have placed IF Jeremy Peña on the 10-day IL with a left calf strain and have recalled IF Raynel Delgado from Triple A Sugar Land.

OUT ON ASSIGNMENT: The Astros have several players out on minor league rehab assignments and are adding to that group today.

OF LaMonte Wade Jr. (right hamstring strain) will begin a minor league rehab assignment tonight for Triple A Sugar Land in their series opener at OKC.

RHP Hayden Wesneski (right elbow surgery) began his minor league rehab assignment today for the FCL Astros, tossing 3.0 scoreless innings.

MVP-CALIBER: DH Yordan Alvarez has had a torrid first half to his season, currently leading all of baseball in OPS (1.031), OBP (.424), SLG (.607) and total bases (185). Additionally, he ranks tied for first in the AL in homers (25) and extra-base hits (41), while ranking second in batting average (.308), tied for second in hits (94), third in runs (58), fourth in walks (58), and tied for fifth in RBI (56).

ALL-STAR UPDATE: DH Yordan Alvarez has been named a finalists for the 2026 KONAMI eBaseball MLB All-Star Ballot with second-phase fan voting available now through Thursday, July 2 at 11 a.m. CT. Alvarez has been an All-Star three times thus far in his career.

Since 2017, the Astros 37 All-Star selections are tops in the AL in that span.

ROAD WARRIORS: With their win on Sunday in Detroit, the Astros completed a seven-game road trip with a 5-2 record after stops in Toronto (2-1) and Detroit (3-1). The Astros are 15-8 in their last three road trips combined and are 21-14 on the road since going 1-9 on their first road trip of the 2026 season.

DOWN AT TRIPLE A: The Astros have several players performing great down at Triple A Sugar Land, including RHP Ethan Pecko and IF Cavan Biggio. In June, Pecko has gone 3-0 with a 0.75 ERA (2ER/24IP) in four games, while Biggio has hit .321 (26×81) with nine extra-base hits, a .476 OBP and a 1.032 OPS in 21 games in June.

TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY: 1962 – At Colt Stadium, the Colt .45s defeat the Reds, 7-3, in a game shortened to just 7.0 innings due to heavy fog. RHP Bob Bruce goes the distance to improve to 6-1 on the season for the expansion Colt .45s.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Tuesday, June 30, 7:10 p.m. CT

Location: Daikin Park, Houston, TX

TV: SCHN

Radio: KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)