Category: Sports News

Happy Monday, everyone! We hope you had a restful weekend and are ready to take on the week ahead. We’ve got lots of fun little news bites from over the weekend to ease you into your Monday grind. On the good news side of things, Shohei Ohtani and his wife Mamiko Tanaka welcomed their second child and announced the birth over the weekend. In true Ohtani fashion, he then his a massive home run on Father’s Day Eve to help the Dodgers win.

The Phillies continue to have an unprecedented resurgence that should honestly make any team that has struggled in recent months (not naming names…) realize that there is room to turn things around still. This time, they did it with crazy performances from Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. On the less cheerful side of things, Justin Verlander was scratched from his scheduled Sunday start due to a hamstring injury and will be heading right back to the injured list.

We’ve got all that and more below, so let’s get right into it!

• Michael Baumann looks at the Tigers’ strange and perhaps misguided use of their bench players when it comes to pinch-hitting.
• Matt Martell weighs the ins and outs of whether or not to use the ABS challenge.
• Rafael Devers tried to wave away a pinch-runner and the Giants were forced to respond after the fact. Story by Perla Paredes.
• Making some bold trade deadline predications. (SI)
• Justin Verlander was meant to make his return to the majors this weekend, but his start was scratched after a hamstring issue appeared during a bullpen session. It now appears he’ll be out several more weeks. (ESPN)
• Oh what a night! Kyle Schwarber hit two home runs in an inning and Bryce Harper hit for the cycle. Remember when the Phillies were struggling? Because they don’t. (AP)
• Matt Gelb looks at whether it was a heavier bat that helped Harper pull off that cycle. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Some sweet Father’s Day insights from MLB dads.

• Dan Szymborski looks at some interesting potential call-up candidates.
• Shohei Ohtani just became a dad for the second time, and wasted no time at all celebrating that fact with a massive home run. On Father’s Day Eve no less. (MLB)
• Kenley Jansen may be the MLB active saves leader, but that doesn’t mean he was chill when it came to his best friend setting a saves record for the World Cup. Story by Jason Beck.
• Robert Gasser is feeling great after his first win since 2024. (AP)
• Eric Koreen has a touching post about what his father’s love of the White Sox taught him about baseball and life. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Weird stats gonna do their weird stat thing.

• Michael Baumann assesses whether the end has finally arrived for Salvador Perez.
• Martin Gallegos offers a contender for the catch of the year.
• Got beef? Tarik Skubal and Mike Vasil got into a verbal altercation this weekend, now we have more details on what went down. Story by Tim Capurso.
• The Marlins have DFA’d the struggling Christopher Morel. They also moved Liam Hicks to the IL. (AP)
• Ken Rosenthal looks at what all the suitors for Tarik Skubal have in common. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• I don’t care if we shared this in a million posts, it’s the best thing ever and I’m subjecting you to it again.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.

This was the 11th week of full minor league play (stats are entering play on Sunday, June 21st).

According to FanGraphs (which factors in age and proximity to the big leagues), the Rays top overall prospect Theo Gillen has taken over at the top performer in the system. His full season stat line is further below.

Meanwhile, Aidan Cremarods is back as the top performing pitcher system. The 22-year old Cremarosa is having a solid debut season within the Rays system. The 2025 8th round pick is currently in Single-A and holds a 2.56 ERA | 2.52 FIP with a 32.0 K% & 4.9 BB% over 52.2 IP.

RUMBLINGS

• Kamren James, the Rays 16th round pick in 2022, had a career day on Sunday as he launched three homeruns in a single game. The 26-year old was hitting .209/.294/.341 with 2 HR over 103 PA entering play on Sunday.
• Luke Jackson, the Rays 11th round pick from 2025, made his organization debut. Jackson was among Baseball America’s top 500 prospects entering the draft and signed a $497,500 deal with Tampa Bay. The 22-year old is currently in Single-A.
• Leonardo Pineda, one of the Rays top international signings from 2024, has been placed on the 60-day Injured List
• Daniel Pierce, the Rays top draft pick in 2025, hasn’t played since May 3oth.
• Carson Williams since being optioned at the end of May is hitting .288/.358/.507 with a 24.7 K% and 9.9 BB% over 81 PA
• FanGraphs should be releasing their list of the Rays top prospects at some point this week.

TEAM LEADERS

• Must currently be assigned to that team
• Baseball America’s top ten prospects are featured below each team they’re currently assigned to.
• (minimum of 120 TBF & PA)

Tampa Bay Rays

Top 10 Prospects

• None currently on active roster

Durham Bulls

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .256, Carson Williams
OBP: .342, Carson Williams
SLG: .451, Carson Williams
HR: 9, Tatem Levins
wRC+: 104, Carson Williams
SB: 24, Raynel Delgado (Traded to the Astros on 6/10)

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 2.27, Evan Reifert
FIP: 4.03, Ty Johnson
K%: 29.6% Ty Johnson
BB%: 8.7%, Chase Solesky
WHIP: 1.04, Ty Johnson
AVG: .182, Evan Reifert
WHIFF%: 14.4%, Ty Johnson

Top 10 Prospects

• #2 Brody Hopkins
  • AAA: 4.91 ERA | 5.25 FIP | 25.6 K% | 20.7 BB% | .202 AVG | 12.5 WHIFF% | 58.2 IP

Montgomery Biscuits

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .309, Austin Overn (placed on the IL on 5/27)
OBP: .379, Xavier Isaac
SLG: .533, Austin Overn (placed on the IL on 5/27)
HR: 13, Will Simpson
wRC+: 141, Austin Overn (Placed on IL on 5/27)
SB: 28, Austin Overn (placed on the IL on 5/27)

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.94, Chris Clark
FIP: 3.14, Chris Clark
K%: 26.5%, Michael Forret (Promoted to Triple-A)
BB%:  4.3%, Gary Gill Hill & Santiago Suarez
WHIP 0.97, Chris Clark
AVG: .186, Michael Forret
WHIFF%: 15.4%, Jackson Baumeister

Top 10 Prospects

• #9 T.J. Nichols
  • AA: 7.11 ERA | 4.03 FIP | 17.2 K% | 9.2 BB% | .329 AVG | 10.1 WHIFF% | 19 IP
  • CPX: 1.80 ERA | 2.53 FIP | 20.0 K% | 0.0 BB% | .300 AVG | 9.2 WHIFF% | 5 IP
    • 4/7: Placed on Injured List
    • 5/9: Began rehab assignment in Complex League
    • 5/19: Activated from Injured List
• #10 Santiago Suarez
  • AA: 5.93 ERA | 5.28 FIP | 23.4 K% | 4.3 BB% | .249 AVG | 13.0 WHIFF% | 50 IP
    • 4/25: Placed on Injured List
    • 5/5: Activated from Injured List

Bowling Green Hot Rods

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .340, Theo Gillen
OBP: .449, Tony Santa Maria
SLG: .591, Theo Gillen
HR: 15, Connor Hujsak (Promoted to Triple-A)
wRC+: 165, Theo Gillen
SB: 28, Theo Gillen

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.90, Jacob Kisting
FIP: 2.47, Jacob Kisting
K%: 30.4%, Jacob Kisting
BB%: 5.2%, Jacob Kisting
WHIP: 0.95, Jacob Kisting
AVG: .196, Jacob Kisting
WHIFF%: 15.0%, Jacob Kisting

Top 10 Prospects

• #1 Theo Gillen
  • A+: .340/.446/.591 | 24.2 K% | 14.2 BB% | 12 HR | 28 SB | 165 wRC+ | 260 PA
• #3 Nathan Flewelling
  • A+: .255/.387/.477 | 25.3 K% | 15.6 BB% | 12 HR | 3 SB | 125 wRC+ | 269 PA
• #4 Caden Bodine
  • A+: .330/.411/.472 | 7.3 K% | 8.1 BB% | 4 HR | 2 SB | 132 wRC+ | 124 PA
  • A: .379/.433/.614 | 3.9 K% | 9.2 BB% | 5 HR | 1 SB | 181 wRC+ | 152 PA
• #6 Anderson Brito
  • A+: 3.34 ERA | 4.53 FIP | 28.8 K% | 14.4 BB% | .240 AVG | 13.4 WHIFF% | 32.1 IP
    • 5/23: Placed on 7-day Injured List

Charleston River Dogs

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .379, Caden Bodine (Promoted to A+ on 5/19)
OBP: .433, Caden Bodine (Promoted to A+ on 5/19)
SLG: .614, Caden Bodine (Promoted to A+ on 5/19)
HR: 6, Taitn Gray & Cooper Flemming
wRC+: 177, Caden Bodine (Promoted to A+ on 5/19)
SB: 19, Alberth Palma

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.97, Trey Pooser
FIP: 2.68, Aidan Cremarosa
K%: 31.7%, Mason Nichols
BB%: 3.6%, Aidan Haugh
WHIP: 0.84, Aidan Cremarosa
AVG: .175, Aidan Cremarosa
WHIFF%: 16.3%, Aidan Cremarosa

Top 10 Prospects

• #5 Cooper Flemming
  • A: .281/.369/.433 | 15.7 K% | 10.4 BB% | 6 HR | 8 SB | 121 wRC+ | 268 PA
• #7 Daniel Pierce
  • A: .252/.336/.390 | 28.6 K% | 7.9 BB% | 4 HR | 6 SB | 103 wRC+ | 140 PA
    • 4/22: Placed on the 7-day IL
    • 5/2: Activated from the IL
    • Hasn’t played since May 30th
• #8 Taitn Gray
  • A: .286/.406/.474 | 21.9 K% | 16.1 BB% | 6 HR | 4 SB | 144 wRC+ | 192 PA
    • 6/1: Placed on the 7-day IL

The Pittsburgh Pirates and their ace Paul Skenes are in the midst of an all-time bad string of losses as after Saturday’s contest against the Colorado Rockies the club dropped their seventh straight with Skenes on the mound.

Skenes has been the center of criticism in this stretch with many questioning if he’s slipping in his third big league season. Many have cited his velocity being down, as his four-seamer averaged 98.8 mph as a rookie and 98.2 last season. This season Skenes is averaging 97 mph on his fastball. So there certainly has been a downtick, but the third year pitcher believes that he’s pitching better overall than he has in years past.

“I don’t think I’m necessarily the same pitcher I was my rookie year and last year,” Skenes said. “I do think I’m throwing better. I’m very happy with how I’ve been throwing. I think I’ve evolved. If you’re not getting better in this game, you’re getting worse. I feel I’m better than I was last year. I think there are some numbers that show that; others don’t. But the gut feeling is I’m better.”

In this stretch of losses Skenes certainly has not been dominating opposing hitters the way that fans have grown accustomed to, especially the third time through a lineup where his efficiency starts to slip severely. The commentary team during Skenes’ outing against the Houston Astros suggested that team’s game plans for trying to hit against Skenes could also be why the righty has struggled lately. When Skenes is on the mound, no matter what the count may be, batters are instantly going into protect mode. By taking this approach at the plate the opposing offense is effectively playing a game of attrition. In a batter’s first and sometimes even second time at the plate they’re not necessarily looking for base hits first as much as they’re looking to wear Skenes down by making it longer at bats, where they’re getting six or more pitches.

Skenes stylistically already racks up a lot of pitches because of the swing and miss work that he implements into his game. That aggressive style compounded with batters looking to draw out long at bats has Skenes getting into high pitch counts early and often. In his last five starts Skenes has thrown 103+ pitches in each contest and gave up two earned runs in each but one of those last five outings. Aside from his games against Philadelphia and Toronto in the last seven starts, Skenes has been fairly efficient in not giving up a lot of runs, but he is certainly being pushed to his limits on the mound.

The team as a whole has largely not been great at supporting Skenes when he’s on the mound. The team’s offense is often dormant in these matchups, and the lack of run support has not helped. Against Philly on May, 17 the Pirates scored zero runs. Against Toronto on May, 23 the Pirates scored two runs and repeated the same low on May, 28 against the Cubs. In Skenes’ start against the Astros the Pirates did a decent job on offense by scoring nine runs, but lost the lead once Skenes came out of the game. Against Houston Skenes gave up one earned run, and three runs were scored during his time on the mound, but the Pirates lost 11-9, so that one is on the bullpen which is it’s own disaster zone right now. This trend of no offense continued in Skenes’ starts against the Dodgers, Marlins and Rockies.

Don Kelly seems to always field the worst possible lineup on nights that Skenes pitches, which isn’t helping matters either. Ryan O’Hearn is regularly missing from the lineup, while poor performers like Marcell Ozuna and Jared Triolo are consistently getting at bats. Henry Davis always catches for Skenes and he is mostly an offensive liability as well. The amount of prospects and random call ups that are on the field for Skenes starts is laughable too. While Skenes has had his own fair share of struggles this season, it’s fair to say that the best product is not always being put on the field to support him either.

Defensively the Pirates are not nearly as sound this year as they were last year either. O’Hearn is being asked to play mostly outside of his natural position, and there have been some shortcomings with him in right field. Oneil Cruz is still not a great defender in center field and to this point has not been able to make the out of the ordinary plays that a Gold Glove defender is capable of. The rotating cast in the outfield has not helped either, and the right side of the infield is average at best but certainly not great.

All things considered it could be a lot worst, as Skenes is still statistically right up there with the best pitchers in baseball, but there’s definitely a different feel around him and his most recent starts. Still though his Pirates’ teammates are confident in his abilities with Brandon Lowe saying he’s still pitching incredibly.

“That’s one of the things that everybody in baseball has been clouded by: how great Paul has been in his first two years,” Lowe said. “When you can look at a guy who has a (2.85) ERA, and the media says he’s having a down year … it’s pretty incredible, the numbers he’s been able to put up and what he’s been able to do, for people to question his ability at this point in the season.”

Some have also pointed to Skenes’ involvement in the World Baseball Classic and the hangover period that many players from the tournament have experienced, but Skenes stands by his conditioning and the work he continues to put in, and is not concerned by a perceived slip or downtick in velocity on his pitches.

“I mean, you can still blow it by them with 97 compared to 98,” Skenes said. “I’m feeling better after starts compared to the last couple years. If it weren’t for a couple short outings, I’d have more innings under my belt. I’m conditioned to throw more innings than I have been throwing.”

Kelly echoes his confidence in the work that Skenes does to keep his body in top shape during the season.

“I think we are trying to keep it in perspective,” Kelly said. “I think Paul has still done that, given us a chance to win, even though he hasn’t been maybe at the exceptional level he has been all of his career. He’s had stretches where he hasn’t been like that throughout the last two years. I think the one thing that we do know: The preparation, the work ethic, the man and how he goes about it, he’s always going to give everything he’s got.”

Skenes is scheduled to start against the Cincinnati Reds in a three game home stand following the team’s next series against the Seattle Mariners.

Hello, friends.

The confusing Orioles have done it again. They wrapped up their weekend series against the MLB-best Los Angeles Dodgers, who also happen to be two-time defending champions, by putting a 12-1 thumping on their opponent. They head to a different part of the metro area to face the AL-worst Angels with a series victory under their belts. They blew Friday’s game while looking like a team that could surely lose 100 games and battled back from that, staving off another almost-morale-draining loss on Saturday before delivering the Sunday beatdown for the series win.

As I listened to the Orioles radio broadcast wrapping up the win, Brett Hollander commented that the Orioles have been on the verge of grasping momentum a number of times this season and they have never quite managed to actually do it. Here they are again, with a real chance to do it. They can feel good about themselves after what they did against the Dodgers overall, even if we still feel bad about them losing that Friday game, and they only have to keep their foot on the gas against the Angels to keep the momentum going.

One thing I keep coming back to is that they’ve yet to win more than three games in a row. Five different times this year, they’ve won three straight and failed to stack a fourth. Right now, they haven’t even won three in a row! They just won the last two against the Dodgers. Maybe they’ll play well tonight against the Angels – it’s another late night game, a 9:38 start, hopefully a better version of Kyle Bradish shows up. If they do that, maybe they’ll make it three in a row. Then they’d still have to win Tuesday to get four.

The Dodgers had not lost consecutive games in more than a month before the Orioles did this to them over the weekend! It is not a meaningless thing that the Orioles managed to win the last two games of the series over this weekend.

A frustrating thing about the 2026 Orioles is this never quite grasping momentum. Another way I’ve seen it put stands out to me from The Baltimore Banner’s Jon Meoli, who remarked that the team keeps getting back up after it gets knocked down, but they’d be a lot better off if they stopped getting knocked down in the first place. They sure would! They are just good enough and resilient enough to battle back after disappointment. They aren’t good enough to avoid the disappointment. This year, that keeps you in the AL Wild Card race, at least up til now.

I still think they need to find a strong run later to make it. The only thing stopping them from being in the middle of doing that right now is… them. Perhaps most likely the bullpen, though there are also questionable parts of the rotation, and the offense remains enigmatic in the aggregate. It is nice to see so many players surging who struggled early on. We are going to need to see a couple more guys join that club to really solidify the possibility of a strong stretch of play.

Orioles stuff you might have missed

The Orioles outplayed the best team in baseball. Now what? (The Baltimore Sun)
This is the roughly $160 million question.

Dean Kremer and Cade Povich start rehab assignments (Baltimore Baseball)
These guys have been out for long enough that they should probably get the full length allowed for rehab assignments. It’s easier to imagine Kremer reclaiming his spot than Povich right now.

Father’s Day ‘very special’ for Alby – O’s manager, son and dad of 3 (Orioles.com)
Easier to post a feel-good Father’s Day story after the Orioles won their game on Father’s Day.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Today in 2022, Austin Hays hit for the cycle against the Nationals, managing to do so in a game that was called off in the sixth inning due to rain. The most recent cycle for the Orioles came when Cedric Mullins got his on May 12, 2023.

One current Oriole has a birthday today. Happy 31st to Tyler O’Neill. There are also former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2018 infielder Engelb Vielma, 2001 outfielder Willie Harris, 1996 pitcher Brian Sackinsky, 1978 outfielder Mike Anderson, and 1961-67 outfielder Russ Snyder. Today is Snyder’s 92nd birthday, so an extra happy birthday to him.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you as well! Your birthday buddies for today include: explorer George Vancouver (1757), soldier and author Erich Maria Remarque (1898), author Octavia Butler (1947), actress Meryl Streep (1949), singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper (1953), basketball Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler (1962), and pro football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner (1971).

On this day in history…

In 1633, Galileo Galilei was forced by the Catholic Church to recant his accurate statement that the Earth orbits the sun, rather than the other way around.

In 1812, Napoleon’s France declared war on Russia. This did not turn out to be a good idea for him.

In 1941, Nazi Germany initiated Operation Barbarossa, a surprise attack and invasion against Russia, with whom it had a non-aggression pact. Over a longer timeframe than Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, this did not turn out to be a good idea for the invaders.

In 1969, a section of the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught fire, with one factor being the amount of pollution in the water. This is one of the substantial stories that led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.

**

And that’s the way it is in Birdland on June 22. Have a safe Monday. Go O’s1

Last Week’s Results

• Tuesday: Brewers 2, Guardians 1
• Wednesday: Brewers 9, Guardians 4
• Thursday: Guardians 4, Brewers 2
• Friday: Braves 3, Brewers 2
• Saturday: Braves 4, Brewers 3
• Sunday: Brewers 9, Braves 4

Division Standings

• Brewers 46-29
• Cardinals 41-34 (5.0 GB)
• Cubs 40-37 (7.0 GB)
• Pirates 39-39 (8.5 GB)
• Reds 37-39 (9.5 GB)

Last Week

• Brewers: 3-3
• Cardinals: 3-3
• Cubs: 3-3
• Pirates: 3-3
• Reds: 4-2

Top Pitching Performance of the Week

As usual, the Brewers got good starts this week from Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison. But I’m going to give the week’s Brew Crew Ball honor to Robert Gasser, the only starter who pitched twice this week. On Tuesday, Gasser went 5 2/3 innings, allowed only two hits, and didn’t allow a run in a game the Brewers won 2-1. On Sunday in Atlanta, Gasser was gifted an early lead and pitched to six solid innings in which he allowed two runs on four hits and matched a season high with seven strikeouts. In total, Bobby Gas had a 1.54 ERA with 12 strikeouts, allowing three walks and six hits in 11 2/3 innings.

Top Hitting Performance of the Week

It wasn’t an especially explosive week for the Brewer offense, which scored three runs or fewer in four of six games. But there are a couple of people worth mentioning: William Contreras, on the back of a four-hit Sunday, hit .350 with a .935 OPS in 20 at-bats. Andrew Vaughn had a smaller workload but led the team in OPS after going 4-for-12 with two doubles and three walks. Sal Frelick, working on turning around a poor start to the season, went 4-for-11 (.364) with two doubles and four RBI.

But for the sake of the big picture, I’m going to give this week’s honor to the new guy, Cooper Pratt. Pratt will still encounter his struggles this year, surely, but given that he was expected to start as a low-offense, high-defense guy, he couldn’t have asked for a better start at the plate. Pratt is still looking for his first extra-base hit, but he went 7-for-19 (.368), knocked in a couple of runs, and walked twice. More importantly, he doesn’t really look overmatched.

Injury Notes & Roster Moves

• The week’s biggest injury news was not good: it was determined that Quinn Priester, who has been dealing with thoracic outlet syndrome since spring training, will need season-ending surgery. He’ll be out 8-10 months, giving him a chance of being ready for spring training next season.
• In happier injury news, Brandon Woodruff made a successful rehab appearance for High-A Wisconsin on Tuesday, and it was announced that his next appearance will come in the majors. He is expected to start against the Reds on Monday.
• Before Tuesday’s game, last weekend’s news that Pratt was being promoted became official. To make space on the roster, Luis Rengifo was designated for assignment. If he goes unclaimed and the Brewers are unable to make a trade, he has accrued enough service time that he can refuse an assignment to Triple-A Nashville and become a free agent.

On Deck

• Monday: @ Reds (6:10 p.m.)
• Tuesday: @ Reds (6:10 p.m.)
• Wednesday: @ Reds (6:10 p.m.)
• Thursday: Off Day
• Friday: vs. Cubs (6:45 p.m.)
• Saturday: vs. Cubs (6:10 p.m.)
• Sunday: vs. Cubs (1:10 p.m.)

Triple-A: Syracuse Mets (38-37)

SYRACUSE 5, NORFOLK 3 (BOX)

Fresh off his solid outing earlier in the week, Xavion Curry tossed another five respectable innings, allowing a pair of runs. Both runs came in the top of the fifth, giving the Tides a 2-1 lead, but Syracuse responded in the bottom of the fifth with two runs of their own, both on a Tyrone Taylor single into left. Heyden Senger and Nick Morabito both added insurance runs, the former on an RBI double and the latter on a solo homer, his eighth of the year.

Syracuse came into this one at an even 37-37, and because yesterday’s game was the conclusion of the first half of the International League season, Syracuse becomes the only minor league affiliate to end their respective first half above the .500 mark.

·  REHAB ALERT SS Francisco Lindor: 0-4, R, BB, SB (1)

·  REHAB ALERT 3B Ronny Mauricio: 1-3, BB, K, CS (1)

·  REHAB ALERT CF Tyrone Taylor: 1-3, 2 RBI, K

·  RF Sam Biller: 0-1, K

·  1B Ryan Clifford: 0-4

·  LF Nick Morabito: 1-3, R, HR (8), RBI, BB

·  RF-CF Cristian Pache: 0-3, BB, 2 K

·  2B Yonny Hernández: 3-4, 2 R, 3 2B

·  C Hayden Senger: 2-4, R, 2B, RBI, K

·  DH Kevin Parada: 2-4, 2B, RBI

·  RHP Xzavion Curry: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, W (2-0)

·  LHP Nate Lavender: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, H (3)

·  RHP Daniel Duarte: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, S (2)

ROSTER ALERT: New York Mets sent CF Tyrone Taylor on a rehab assignment to Syracuse Mets.

ROSTER ALERT: New York Mets sent SS Francisco Lindor on a rehab assignment to Syracuse Mets.

Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (27-42)

NEW HAMPSHIRE 5, BINGHAMTON 4 / 11 (BOX)

Through eight innings, Binghamton managed just a single hit- a Wyatt Young double- and four walks, failing to score. Luckily for them, for eight innings, New Hampshire had the same problem, logging a whopping four hits and three walks but failing to score. Eddie Micheletti Jr. changed that in the top of the ninth, leading off the inning with a grueling at-bat against Saul Garcia that went 10 pitches and ended with a solo home run into right-center. In the bottom of the ninth, Nick Lorusso singled sandwiched around outs by Jose Ramos and JT Schwartz, bringing the fiery-hot Vincent Perozo to the plate with a man on second. The backstop attacked the very first pitch he was and drove a line drive into right center to bring Lorusso home, tying the game up 1-1 down to their last out. After Wyatt Young popped out, into extra innings we went. From there, all hell broke loose. Both teams, who had trouble scoring for virtually the entire game, went crazy, with both teams scoring three runs apiece in the tenth. In the top of the eleventh, the Fisher Cats were able to score a run off of the erstwhile Wyatt Young, who switched in from shortstop to the mound, while Binghamton failed in the bottom of the inning; ballgame.

·  C Chris Suero: 0-1, R, 3 BB, HBP, SB (19)

·  RF Matt Rudick: 1-4, R, 2B, RBI, BB

·  CF Jose Ramos: 1-5, 2 RBI, K

·  3B Nick Lorusso: 1-5, R, K

·  1B JT Schwartz: 0-5

·  DH-LF Vincent Perozo: 1-5, RBI, 2 K

·  SS-P Wyatt Young: 1-5, R, 2B, K

·  LF-2B Jaylen Palmer: 0-3, BB, 3 K

·  2B Nick Roselli: 0-4, 3 K

·  SS Kevin Villavicencio: 0-0

·  RHP R.J. Gordon: 4.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

·  RHP Douglas Orellana: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

·  RHP Zach Peek: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

·  RHP Carlos Guzman: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

·  RHP Saul Garcia: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

·  LHP Gabriel Rodriguez: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, WP

·  RHP Wyatt Young: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, L (0-1)

High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones (25-40/0-3)

WILMINGTON 5, BROOKLYN 1 (BOX)

Neither team was able to do much for most of this contest, with both teams failing to score in the first five innings of the game and then both teams managing just a run each in the sixth. That pattern changed in the bottom of the eighth, when Gregori Louis and Bryce Jenkins combined to allow four runs, all charged to Louis. Suddenly down by a substantial margin with just three outs to play around with, Brooklyn went down meekly in the top of the ninth to end the game.

·  SS Mitch Voit: 1-3, R, BB, SB (24)

·  C Ronald Hernandez: 1-4, 2 K

·  DH Daiverson Gutierrez: 1-3, RBI, BB

·  CF John Bay: 0-3, K, HBP

·  2B Colin Houck: 0-4

·  RF JT Benson: 1-4, K, CS (3)

·  1B Trace Willhoite: 0-4

·  LF Yohairo Cuevas: 0-3, BB, K

·  3B Taylor Darden: 0-3, BB

·  RHP Dakota Hawkins: 3.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

·  RHP Tanner Witt: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

·  RHP Ryan Dollar: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

·  LHP Gregori Louis: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 0 K, L (1-1)

·  RHP Bryce Jenkins: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

ROSTER ALERT: 2B Taylor Darden assigned to Brooklyn Cyclones.

Single-A: St. Lucie Mets (33-33/1-1)

DAYTONA 14, ST. LUCIE 5 (BOX)

The Tortugas scored eleven runs in the seventh inning. And that’s all I have to say about that.

·  SS Elian Peña: 1-2, 2 R, 2 BB, K, HBP

·  CF Trey Snyder: 1-5, 2 K

·  3B Antonio Jimenez: 1-4, RBI, BB, K, SB

·  1B Julio Zayas: 1-3, R, RBI, BB

·  LF-2B Branny De Oleo: 1-4, RBI, K

·  C Chase Meggers: 0-4, 2 K

·  DH Simon Juan: 1-4, R, 3B, K

·  2B Jeremy Rodriguez: 1-3, RBI

·  LF Jackson Hauge: 0-1

·  RF Heriberto Rincon: 1-4, R, K

·  LHP Conner Ware: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4 K

·  RHP Christian Rodriguez: 3.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

·  RHP Elwis Mijares: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, WP, HBP, L (3-4), BS (2)

·  RHP Joe Scarborough: 0.0 IP, 0 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 0 K, W 2P

·  RHP Tyler McLoughlin: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

·  RHP Joe Charles: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Rookie: FCL Mets (14-19)

NO GAME (SCHEDULE)

STAR OF THE NIGHT

Tyrone Taylor

GOAT OF THE NIGHT

Elwis Mijares, Joe Scarborough, Gregori Louis & Bryce Jenkins

Free of charge for the discerning reader.

Happy birthday to Jason Motte, and a mighty host of others.

Today in baseball history, in 1914 – The Giants shade the Reds, 3-2, scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 9th off Red Ames. Christy Mathewson gives up seven hits and no walks as the Giants increase their lead over the National League to four games. For the second year in a row, Matty will end the season with fewer walks than victories, the only pitcher ever to accomplish that, and other stories as well.

Today in baseball history:

• 1908 – Honus Wagner gets hit No. 2,000 in the 8th against Jake Weimer of the Reds, who win 4 0 over the Pirates.
• 1947 – Ewell Blackwell just misses pitching back-to-back no-hitters when Eddie Stanky of the Brooklyn Dodgers singles with one out in the ninth inning.
• 1951 – 20-year-old Willie Mays hits a 10th-inning home run, the first of his 22 extra-inning home runs, off 42-year-old Dutch Leonard of the Cubs.
• 1959 – At Kansas City, Mickey Mantle drives in six runs with a triple and two homers to lead New York to a 13-6 win.
• 1961 – Roger Maris leads the Yankees on an 8-3 thrashing of the A’s by belting his 27th homer of the year. Maris has now hit 20 homers in the past 30 days (May 24th to today), to tie the mark set by Ralph Kiner in 1947.
• 1962 – Stan Musial becomes the all-time total bases leader, raising his total to 5,864, in the first game against the Phillies. 
• 2002 – The scheduled game between St. Louis and the Cubs is postponed after 33-year-old pitcher Darryl Kile is found dead in his Chicago hotel room of an apparent heart attack.
• 2022 – One day after setting a personal best as a hitter with eight RBIs, Shohei Ohtani sets another one on the mound as he racks up 13 strikeouts in eight scoreless innings in a 5-0 win over Kansas City.

Cubs Birthdays:Jason Motte*, Brant Brown, Jim Asbell. Also notable: Carl Hubbell HOF.

Today in history:

• 1934 – John Dillinger is informally named America’s first Public Enemy Number One.
• 1937 – Challenger Joe Louis KOs James J. Braddock in the eighth round at Chicago’s Comiskey Park for the world heavyweight boxing title.
• 1938 – Joe Louis scores a stunning 1st round KO of German Max Schmeling at Yankee Stadium, NYC to retain his world heavyweight boxing title.
• 1949 – Ezzard Charles beats Jersey Joe Walcott in 15 for National Boxing Association world heavyweight title, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois.
• 1961 – Beatles record “Ain’t She Sweet”, “Cry for a Shadow”, “When the Saints Go Marching In”, “Why”, “Nobody’s Child” & “My Bonnie”, in Hamburg, Germany.
• 1963 – “Little” Stevie Wonder, aged 13, releases his first single “Fingertips” (first live non-studio recording to go to No. 1 on Billboard).
• 1969 – Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River catches fire due to pollution.
• 1971 – Reprise Records releases “Blue”, Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell‘s 4th studio album.
• 1979 – Larry Holmes TKOs Mike Weaver in 12 rounds for heavyweight boxing title.
• 1981 – John McEnroe‘s famous “You cannot be serious” rant in first-round win over Tom Gullikson at Wimbledon.
• 2007 – Patrick Kane is selected by the Chicago Blackhawks as the first overall pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.
• 2011 – After hiding for 16 years, Boston gangster Whitey Bulger is arrested outside an apartment in Santa Monica, California.

*pictured.