Category: Sports News

Seth Lugo has somewhere between 17 and 38 different pitches to stymie opposing batters (nine, technically, per Statcast). He did just that in Tuesday’s start against the Minnesota Twins, tossing six innings and allowing only one run. But none of them can force his offense to score or prevent his bullpen from imploding, and the Twins felled the Kansas City Royals 3-2 on a Target Field walkoff triple.

To be fair, Lugo wasn’t exactly dominant tonight. He only notched two strikeouts, and he allowed nine baserunners via six hits, a pair of walks, and an error. Lugo did very well when it counted, inducing double play after double play—one in each of his first two innings, and one in each of his last two innings. Though the Twins tagged him with one run in the fourth with a Kody Clemens double and a Josh Bell single, that would be it against the crafty veteran righty. It put the Royals bats in a position to succeed.

Well, it put the bats in a position to succeed as much as possible. With Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia both on the injured list, Kansas City was forced to do things tonight like “start Josh Rojas at shortstop” and “use Tyler Tolbert as a pinch hitter.” To be fair to Rojas, he was part of a nifty double steal in the sixth inning that tied the game up.

A double steal ties it up! pic.twitter.com/6kuDgxjgC7

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 29, 2026

Just one batter later, Salvador Perez would single on a bloop fly ball to score Lane Thomas and make it 2-1, Royals.

The Captain drops one in for the lead! 🫡 https://t.co/wHvos43xWMpic.twitter.com/t3nDIF3BWl

— Royals.TV (@kcroyalstv) July 29, 2026

Kansas City actually held onto that lead for a few innings. Daniel Lynch IV, John Schreiber, and Stephen Cruz combined for a scoreless seventh and eighth innings, although they only managed one strikeout. This, despite the offense being totally ineffectual; the Twins struck out the Royals 14 times, and Kansas City was only 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Jac Caglianone and Nick Loftin drew a pair of walks apiece, I guess.

Alex Lange entered the ninth inning, and unlike his compatriots in the bullpen wasn’t so lucky in the batted ball department. It started off darkly, with Victor Caratini singling on a ground ball to lead off the frame. Fortunately, Isaac Collins made a terrific diving catch on a sinking line drive off the bat of Luke Keaschall. Unfortunately, Lange walked Brooks Lee, putting on two on with one out. And though Lange struck out Ryan Kreidler, he allowed a loooong fly ball off the bat of Royce Lewis that bounced away from Thomas and Tolbert. It scored both Caratini and Lee.

BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT EVER? pic.twitter.com/C0GunsxfbX

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) July 29, 2026

The Royals now stand at some record deeply under .500, while the Twins desperately cling to some hope of the postseason—a hope kindled by the American League being largely, ah, poopy. Kansas City is part of the poopy, if you were wondering. See you all tomorrow.

The San Francisco Giants unsteady future plans for their rotation just got murkier. On Tuesday, the team announced what many had feared for a few days: that right-handed pitcher Trevor McDonald will undergo Tommy John surgery to repair his throwing arm.

McDonald, who has a 5.12 ERA and a 4.28 FIP on the year, left his last start after feeling discomfort in his elbow during warm-up pitches before the fifth inning. The 25-year old was promptly placed on the 15-Day Injured List with a UCL strain which, unfortunately, leads to Tommy John most of the time. After getting a second opinion from a specialist, McDonald and the Giants decided on the surgery, which will take place next week.

The timing of the surgery means that McDonald will not only miss the rest of this year, but almost certainly all of next season as well. Barring any setbacks, he should have a good chance of being ready to return by the time Spring Training rolls around in 2028. Unfortunately for McDonald, he’ll find himself in an unenviable situation then: he’ll be not only trying to shake off the injury rust and get back in form, but he’ll be out of options, essentially eliminating his leash to get back in a rhythm and proove himself.

But that’s a problem for another day. Unfortunately, a whole lot of rehab awaits McDonald before he gets to the stage. And a whole lot of moves await the Giants, who will need to rebuild an already-bad rotation this offseason — and one that is likely about to lose Robbie Ray and Tyler Mahle — without McDonald as an option.

The Yankees scored early and held on, despite some ninth-inning dramatics, to beat the White Sox, 3-2.

Here are the takeaways...

-- Anthony Volpe put the Yankees on the board in the second inning, nearly hitting a three-run home run, but settling for an RBI double that bounced off CF Tristan Peters' glove. Max Schuemann then found a way to drive the other runners in, bouncing a double over third base to give the Yanks an early 3-0 lead.

Luckily, that was all they needed.

-- Gerrit Cole dazzled in his 12th start of the year, tossing six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. He allowed just four hits and walked two, lowering his ERA to 3.57.

The right-hander breezed through the first three innings, allowing just one hit with four strikeouts. He then ran into a bit of trouble in the fourth inning as Munetaka Murakami doubled and two walks loaded the bases, but found a way to escape without a run crossing the plate after 32 pitches. 

Cole bounced back for a quick fifth inning on just 14 pitches, striking out Murakami on a low slider to end the frame. Looking to keep the shutout going in the sixth inning, he fought around a two-out hit and struck out Braden Montgomery on his 99th pitch of the night. 

-- In the bottom of the fifth, Schuemann, Amed Rosario, and Volpe had a bit of miscommunication in shallow left field, allowing a single to fall between the three of them. Thanks to Cole, the fielding mistake didn't come back to hurt them.

-- Jasson Dominguez, batting from the right side of the plate, got two hits (plus a HBP) against LHP Anthony Kay. He's now hitting .269 against left-handed pitching this season and .239 overall (finishing the night 2-for-3).

-- Up from the minors with Cody Bellinger on the IL, Spencer Jones pinch-hit for Schuemann against RHP Jordan Hicks in the top of the sixth inning, but struck out on three pitches. He remained in the game in left field.

-- Angel Chivilli tossed a 1-2-3 seventh inning and then Brent Headrick got some help from Jazz Chisholm to get out of the eighth. David Bednar's 24-inning scoreless streak ended in the ninth on a two-out, two-run home run to Chase Meidroth, but he was able 

Game MVP: Gerrit Cole

It was a vintage performance from the ace, as he recorded his third scoreless outing of the year and first since his second start on May 27.

Highlights

An RBI double for Anthony Volpe! pic.twitter.com/xDnqHmGPbm

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 29, 2026

Max Schuemann makes it 3-0! pic.twitter.com/10NRoTSFP8

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 29, 2026

Gerrit Cole sticks with it 😅 pic.twitter.com/fpIRPCiosi

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) July 29, 2026

What's next

The Yankees and White Sox continue their four-game series on Wednesday at 7:40 p.m.

Cam Schlittler (10-6, 2.07 ERA) faces right-hander Davis Martin (9-5, 3.49 ERA).

 

The Philadelphia Phillies (57-51) lost their fourth straight series to begin the second half of the season with a 1-0 loss to the Miami Marlins (54-54) in game two of the series.

Aaron Nola had his second best start of the season, allowing only one run in five and two-thirds’ innings of work. His best also came in Miami back on May 4th, when he pitched six scoreless innings.

The offense only mustered four hits on the evening, all against Marlins’ starter, Sandy Alcantara, who went seven innings. Former Fish, Bryan De La Cruz, had half of those four hits, including a double, to raise his batting average to .727 in 11 at-bats since being called up six days ago.

If there was someone who would end Sandy Alcantara's no-no, it would be Bryan De La Cruz.

Stowers makes a nice stop, but De La Cruz just beats out Alcantara to the bag.#Marlinspic.twitter.com/gIGFrZtiR3

— Kevin Barral (@kevin_barral) July 28, 2026

The game’s lone run came two batters into the bottom of the first when Kyle Stowers sent a 1-1 curveball just beyond the reach of Justin Crawford above the right-center field wall.

Kyle Stowers starts the @Marlins off with a solo shot 🐟 pic.twitter.com/2kRtgLtw7A

— MLB (@MLB) July 28, 2026

Tim Mayza finished off the sixth inning after Nola set the table for a potential scoring threat with a two-out walk to Xavier Edwards and a single to Liam Hicks. Josa Alvarado and Orion Kerkering eached pitched a scoreless inning in the seventh and eighth.

The Phillies are 3-8 since hosting the All Star Game and sit six games back of the Atlanta Braves.

Jesus Luzardo will try to fend off the sweep as the Marlins will counter with a bullpen game.

The San Francisco Giants’ season has already gone horribly wrong. Harrison Bader somehow found a way to make it stranger.

Bader had been scheduled to visit a foot and ankle specialist Monday in Indianapolis about the plantar fasciitis that has kept him out since May 30. Before making the trip, however, the veteran outfielder further injured the same left foot in a late-night scooter accident in San Francisco.

The Giants said Bader still attended the appointment, but the new injuries changed the nature of his evaluation. He returned to San Francisco to see team orthopedist Dr. Ken Akizuki and was scheduled for an MRI to determine the extent of the damage.

“Obviously, he’s not better than he was prior to that,” manager Tony Vitello said. “It’s going to delay the recovery process for him, but even prior to it, you’re looking at a pretty frustrating long runway.”

The accident represents a fittingly bizarre addition to a season that has gone pear-shaped at nearly every turn.

Bader signed a two-year, $20.5 million contract in January but has been limited to 30 games by hamstring and foot problems. He is batting .170 with a .198 on-base percentage and .358 slugging percentage, falling well short of the two-way impact San Francisco expected in center field.

This is also not Bader’s first scooter-related mishap. He was suspended from team activities at the University of Florida following a late-night scooter crash in 2014.

Bader’s setback was only part of a brutal injury update.

Casey Schmitt suffered a torn meniscus while rounding first base Monday and could miss the remainder of what had become his breakout season. Pitcher Trevor McDonald will undergo Tommy John surgery and is likely to miss all of 2027.

Those losses arrive as the Giants sit 16 games below .500 and prepare to sell at the trade deadline. Robbie Ray, Tyler Mahle and Luis Arráez could all be moved, while the team faces the possibility of its first 90-loss season since 2017.

San Francisco has experienced disappointing performances, significant injuries and mounting trade uncertainty. Bader further damaging an already injured foot in a scooter crash feels like the perfect cherry on top.

The Mariners are in town as the Dodgers kick off a nine-game homestand.

Tonight's #Dodgers lineup vs. Mariners: pic.twitter.com/1Zn46YWbTU

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 28, 2026

Kicking off our series against the Dodgers tonight. #TridentsUp

📺 FREE on https://t.co/o2PoeYzBMc
📻 @SeattleSportspic.twitter.com/R0X8KFysU5

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) July 28, 2026

Tuesday’s game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Mariners
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
• Start time: 7:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

WASHINGTON - Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s disappointing season has now hit a health hurdle.

Guerrero was removed from the Toronto Blue Jays' Tuesday, July 28 game after three innings due to right hamstring tightness. He was replaced by Kazuma Okamoto, who hit his 24th home run in his first at-bat.

Guerrero has not fared as well; he has just six home runs − none of them at home − and is batting .264 with a .700 OPS in the first year of his 14-year, $500 million contract.

Guerrero suffered the injury when he hit an infield single in the top of the third and then advanced to second on a throwing error by Washington third baseman Jorbit Vivas.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. left the game after this play. https://t.co/CNyZRV4czrpic.twitter.com/rjmb7dwj7Y

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) July 29, 2026

Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters that when Guerrero hit the bag, his hamstring felt a little sore, but the slugger wanted to stay in the game. Schneider opted to remove him for precautionary reasons, and he'll be reevaluated Wednesday morning, before the Blue Jays' afternoon game against the Nationals.

Guerrero is on pace to register full-season career lows in all three slash categories as well as home runs.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. injury update: Slugger exits game with hamstring tightness

The San Francisco Giants just can't seem to catch a break this season.

The club has faced many setbacks this season and can add another one with its Tuesday update on outfielder Harrison Bader.

Bader was involved in a scooter accident over the weekend that further injured his left foot, the Giants announced on July 28.

Bader has been out since May 29, battling left plantar fasciitis.

He met with a foot and ankle specialist in Indianapolis on Monday, July 27, the Giants said, but the team added the meeting "was complicated by the fact that he had a scooter accident on Saturday night/early Sunday morning and further injured his same foot."

"The impact of that injury changed the nature of his evaluation, which had originally been to determine the severity of the initial injury/condition (left plantar fasciitis)," the Giants said.

Bader returned to San Francisco on Monday, July 27 where he was further examined, the team said. He was expected to receive an MRI on July 28 to "better understand the severity of the injuries sustained from the scooter accident," per the Giants.

Not Harrison Bader's first scooter accident

This is not the first documented scooter accident for Bader, 32.

In 2014, when he played for the University of Florida, Bader was suspended for 19 games after an early Sunday morning scooter accident.

According to the Gainesville Police Department's incident report at the time, via The Gainesville Sun, Bader hit a curb while on his scooter then struck a parked Ford F150 pickup truck while going southbound on Southwest 10th Street. "Bader was found on the ground next to his scooter and was unresponsive," per The Gainesville Sun, part of the USA TODAY Network. He was transferred to Shands Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The report at the time stated there was a strong odor of alcohol, per The Gainesville Sun.

San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello did not have specific details on Bader's weekend crash.

Tony Vitello speaks on outfielder, Harrison Bader, who was involved in a scooter crash last weekend in Indianapolis while seeing a specialist for plantar fasciitis pic.twitter.com/cI1NiEsYc0

— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) July 29, 2026

Harrison Bader's career in MLB

Bader was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the third round of the 2015 MLB Draft. He made his professional debut in the major leagues in 2017. He has since played 12 MLB seasons, where he's batted .244 and hit 93 home runs with 336 RBIs. He won a Gold Glove Award with the Cardinals in 2021.

Bader went on to play for the New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies and Giants.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Giants' Harrison Bader injured foot further in scooter accident over weekend

Game 2 of the day/night double header was another disappointing loss behind some stellar starting pitching.

Gavin Williams pitched another incredible game with a quality start in seven innings of work. Williams allowed two runs on three hits and one walk. He struck out twelve batters, his fourth straight start with eleven or more strikeouts.

MLB pitchers with 11+ strikeouts in four consecutive starts, last 20 years:

Gavin Williams, current (CLE)
Shane Bieber, 2021 (CLE)
Gerrit Cole, 2019 (HOU)
Chris Sale, 2018 (BOS)
Trevor Bauer, 2018 (CLE)
Corey Kluber, 2017 (CLE)
Chris Sale, 2015 (CWS)

— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) July 29, 2026

The two runs allowed by Gavin came on a solo homer in the first and a wild pitch with a runner on third in the fifth. Gavin fell to 10-6 on the season with tonight’s loss. The Reds were held to three hits. Daniel Espino, who was called up as the 27th man, pitched the eighth inning and looked great. Espino only allowed one baserunner via a walk and struck out three batters.

The offense was shutout again and held to only three walks and four baserunners. In the final at bat of the game, with Gabriel Arias on second base, Petey Halpin hit a long fly ball that was caught at the wall. Dane Myers, the Reds center fielder, made an incredible catch, spoiling what would have been an extra base hit. Kwan, Rhys, Rocchio, and Petey reached on walks. Bazzana, Arias, and Hedgey all reached on hits, but the team was 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Cleveland and Cincinnati are back at it tomorrow with another 7:10PM EDT start in Cincy. Joey Cantillo and RHP Brady Singer will face off.

The Orioles were humiliated in the middle game of their series up in Detroit. Dean Kremer was roughed up on the mound, and the O’s lineup did almost nothing to fight back, losing 14-0 at Comerica Park on Tuesday evening.

This was a miserable game to endure from an Orioles fan’s perspective. Even the rosiest of supporters would need to be donning their thickest pair of orange-tined glasses in order to see anything positive at all. The smarter decision would have been to turn the game off completely sometime in the second inning.

Each of the three actual pitchers used by the Orioles were bad. The Tigers scored runs in each of their eight chances to bat. Dean Kremer lasted four innings, and was charged with eight runs. His season ERA is up to 6.50. Albert Suárez coughed up two runs and recorded only four outs. Josh Walker was barely better, giving up two runs and getting just five outs. It got so bad that Chadwick Tromp was asked to fill in on the mound. He was equally ineffective (one inning, two runs) with his offerings that could have safely driven through a school zone.

Kremer is the one to worry about. This is now back-to-back disappointing starts for him. He allowed six runs to the Red Sox on July 22. He hasn’t even put forth a quality start since July 1, when he gave up one run over six innings to the White Sox. His season ERA has more than doubled (from 3.18 to 6.50) since then.

Nothing was working well for Kremer in this one. He was wild, throwing just 45 strikes in the 81-pitch outing. And he struggled to miss bats, inducing a meager 19% whiff rate. His season whiff rate prior to the game was 29.7%.

It should be said that Kremer is a notoriously slow starter in his career. Normally, April is a tough month (6.04 career ERA) for him. This season, a quad injury interrupted the beginning of his season and has made July into the first full month of play for him. Maybe he will improve later on, but the Orioles don’t have any wiggle room to wait. They need to win games, and Kremer isn’t helping them do that as a starter. The Orioles have two days off in the next six days. They can (and probably should) skip Kremer or put him in the bullpen for a few days.

Regardless of how good or bad Kremer was, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway because of the way in which the Orioles lineup was dominated by Tigers starter Troy Melton. There’s no real shame there. Melton is in the midst of a terrific season and has been cruising through most opposing lineups. But this was a particularly poor showing for the Orioles offense.

Across nine innings of baseball the Orioles were unable to create even one at-bat with a runner in scoring position. They collected just three total hits, all of which were singles, and they walked twice. Jackson Holliday had two of the hits as his batting average on the season reached .252 after this one. So, that’s something.

There could be an argument to start putting Holliday at the top of the lineup, at least occasionally. He has been taking the best at-bats on the team recently and is walking more than 15% of the time. The offense needs a consistent spark, and manager Craig Albernaz is clearly trying to figure out the top spot in the order. They don’t want to fix something that isn’t broken by taking Holliday out of his current comfort zone. But they also have always wanted him to be their lead-off hitter anyway. The time to try it again is coming.

There isn’t much else to say about this game. The Orioles were utterly dominated in every facet of the game. It happens sometimes, and it’s not usually helpful to overthink it. Chalk it up as a bad night at the office and hope you do better next time out.

Speaking of which, this series will conclude on Wednesday afternoon in Detroit. It should be a nice pitching matchup. Trevor Rogers (6-7, 4.17 ERA) is on the bump for the Birds. He will be matched up against fellow lefty Tarik Skubal (7-5, 2.70 ERA). First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m.

The Dodgers continue their series against the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.

Eric Lauer gets the start for the Dodgers, who have won all eight of his appearances since trading for the left-hander. Right-hander Emerson Hancock starts on the mound for Seattle.

Wednesday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Mariners
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Start time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

The Texas Rangers scored four runs while the Tampa Bay Rays scored one run.

Tonight the Rangers were facing the team with the American League’s best record at 62-43. They were at their home park where they were an MLB-best 38-15 coming into the game.

Nevertheless, the Rangers won. Here’s some of the major contributors to tonight’s victory:

Starting pitcher Cal Quantrill, who at this point is essentially a mop up journeyman long reliever who has been reborn into the rotation due to injuries. Tonight Quantrill faced a team that is among the toughest to strike out in the league as a pitcher who is among the worst at striking guys out. So of course he struck out seven in 5.1 innings of one-run ball.

The Rays scored that one run with the Rangers up 2-0 after Nicky Lopez had plated the a first inning run for Texas via a sacrifice fly. Lopez, of course, is only here because Corey Seager has been hurt practically all year necessitating the Rangers to sign the veteran utility infielder basically off the street.

After the Rays had tightened the score to a run with Quantrill out of the game, Austin Wynns hit a solo home run to once again give Texas a cushion. Wynns is here because he has arms and legs and owns his own catcher’s mitt and the Rangers don’t have any catchers.

Another journeyman, Wynns joined the Rangers as his third team in 2026. The 35-year-old had only collected 19 career big league home runs in his eight big league season. No. 20 provided Texas some much-needed insurance.

The other star in this one was Ezequiel Duran, who isn’t a journeyman and wasn’t signed for peanuts to plug a hole. However, Duran was something of an afterthought coming into this season only for him to become one of the most important cogs in a machine that is anything but well-oiled and is in need of constant maintenance.

Tonight Duran drove in the Rangers’ second run with a second inning sac fly and then scored Texas’ fourth and final run after getting hit by a pitch, stealing second base, and coming in on an Evan Carter RBI single.

It was the DFA All-Stars who got it done for Texas tonight. At three games over .500, the Rangers have tied their high-water mark of the season.

Player of the Game: While Quantrill has provided the Rangers with some much needed innings, many of his successful frames have felt like Patrick Corbin-esque smoke and mirrors. Not tonight, though. Tonight Quantrill was inexplicably quite good.

At only 69 pitches, Skip Schumaker was careful not to let him go for too long, much to his chagrin, but Quantrill’s five plus innings with one inherited run crossing the plate on just two hits and a walk and seven K’s was a very welcome surprise in the series-opening win.

Up Next: The Rangers and Rays are back at it tomorrow with LHP MacKenzie Gore expected to take the mound for Texas against LHP Ian Seymour for Tampa Bay.

The Wednesday first pitch from The Trop is scheduled for 5:40 pm CDT once again and you can catch it via the Rangers Sports Network.