Category: Sports News

Upstaging Shohei Ohtani, especially on a day he pitches, is no easy feat.

But at Dodger Stadium on Sunday afternoon, teammate Max Muncy did it twice — hitting two home runs and matching a career high with seven RBIs to lift the Dodgers to a 13-7 defeat of the Washington Nationals, and make Ohtani more of the sideshow in his second pitching start of the season.

Despite two strikeouts over a scoreless first inning from Ohtani to begin the day, Dodger Stadium had sat in relative silence for the next five innings.

Ben Casparius, who replaced the still workload-restricted Ohtani on the mound in the second, gave up a three-run home run in the third, when a flyball deflected off Hyeseong Kim’s glove at the wall before hitting a fan reaching over the barrier.

Michael Soroka, the former All-Star turned inconsistent journeyman, held the Dodgers hitless into the fifth, racking up a career-high 10 strikeouts while protecting the 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, however, an opportunity for the Dodgers finally arose.

Dalton Rushing led off with a slicing ground-rule double down the left-field line. Ohtani drew a walk with the help of two favorable ball-strike calls. Badly slumping Freddie Freeman was bailed out of an 0-and-2 count on a wild slurve from Soroka that hit his foot.

And suddenly, the Nationals had to go to the bullpen, summoning left-hander Jose A. Ferrer to face Muncy with the bases loaded.

Read more:Shaikin: Why is Dodger Stadium SO LOUD?

After just three pitches to Muncy, Ferrer called out the grounds crew to rake the mound and smooth out his landing area on the downslope.

But at the plate, it gave Muncy time to think about his at-bat against Ferrer the night before, mentally lock in on what to expect, and catch his breath in the biggest moment of the game.

“When he’s ready, he’s ready,” Muncy said he told himself. “And let’s get a swing off.”

Muncy did on each of the next two pitches, fouling off one center-cut sinker before lining the next deep to left for a script-flipping, deficit-erasing, go-ahead grand slam.

“I saw the guy last night, so had a good idea of what he was throwing in there and how to approach it,” Muncy said. “I was trying to keep the ball off the ground, get something in the air, get at least one run in. Just trying to do a job. And I got a good swing off and got the ball in a good spot.”

Ohtani started the day as the main attraction.

The two-way star drew a crowd as he came onto the field for pregame warm-ups and got loose in the left-field bullpen — prompting fans even up in the upper reserve-level deck to lean over railings and get a look at his dual-role talents.

And once the game began, Ohtani climbed atop the mound and showed progress from his season debut as a pitcher six days before.

"I thought he was considerably better today,” manager Dave Roberts said. “The stuff, the life of the fastball, the command of his pitches — much better.”

Ohtani's scoreless inning included strikeouts of Luis Garcia Jr. on a sweeper and Nathaniel Lowe on a cutter, representing his first strikeouts since returning from Tommy John surgery. He worked around a dropped infield pop-up from Mookie Betts in an otherwise efficient 18-pitch, 12-strike outing. He hit 99 mph with his fastball while mixing in a healthy dose of sweepers, cutters and splitters to complement it.

"Overall, I was able to relax much better compared to my last outing," said Ohtani, who noted that the plan for Sunday’s start was to once again be limited to only one inning.

"I think that it's just more of just trying to get the foundation, the building blocks as he's taking at-bats,” Roberts added. “Getting an inning here, an inning there, and then just gradually progress.”

Ohtani also quieted recent questions about whether his return to pitching was affecting his bat.

After entering the day two-for-19 in five games since resuming two-way duties, Ohtani helped the Dodgers (48-31) pull away late. In the seventh, he laced a bases-loaded, three-run triple past the first base bag, turning a narrow one-run lead into a comfortable four-score cushion over the Nationals (32-46). In the eighth, he added more insurance, belting a two-run homer to left-center field for his National League-leading 26th long ball.

“When he's going to the big part of the field, I think he's really, really good,” Roberts said. “So today was good. And hopefully it quiets the noise a little bit with the days that he pitches."

Not to be outdone, however, Muncy raised the ante himself in the latter innings, following Ohtani’s seventh-inning triple with a three-run home run to right three batters later.

“You look at the last 30 days, I think he's been our best hitter,” Roberts said. “We never wavered in our confidence, and we've shown that, and he's proven us all right."

Indeed, Sunday continued a stunning mid-season turnaround for Muncy — giving him a .305 average with 10 home runs and 38 RBIs over his last 39 games; compared to a .177 average, one home run and seven RBIs in his first 35 contests.

It moved him into third place among National League third basemen this season with an .815 OPS — making a player who once seemed bound for trade rumors this summer unexpectedly on the fringes of the All-Star conversation.

And, it somehow managed to top the all-around production Ohtani displayed in his two-way encore, lifting the Dodgers to a weekend series win and 7-3 record overall on this 10-game homestand.

“It’s definitely a snowball effect,” Muncy said. “Confidence is high right now.”

Read more:Contributor: Baseball is mostly mistakes. How else can we learn grace?

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Despite a 2-for-5 night, including a ninth-inning home run, against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday, Francisco Alvarez just hasn't had the consistency -- both offensively and defensively -- that the Mets were hoping for from the young catcher this season.

After news broke on Sunday afternoon that Alvarez was sent down to Triple-A, manager Carlos Mendoza explained the team's reasoning behind their difficult decision.

"The consistency," the skipper said. "There were stretches where we felt, I felt like a couple of games where okay that’s what it’s supposed to look like. But then he’ll go a couple of games where he’s late with the fastball and then he chases, so just looking for consistency here."

Mendoza went on to say that having Alvarez not play every day while splitting time with Luis Torrens this season wasn't helping the 23-year-old's development.

"When you’re playing, even though we gave him a chance, if you’re playing 3-4 games a week compared to having an opportunity to play six (games a week), that’s how you’re gonna get better," Mendoza said. "In reality, Luis is continuing to earn playing time so we’re getting to a point where like 50/50 and that’s what’s best for Alvy? Probably not at this time, so that’s why."

Obviously the decision to demote a player that was regarded as a top prospect, has shown he's capable of playing in the majors and has so much potential at still such a young age wasn't easy and came after "extensive conversations."

At the end of the day, New York believes the decision will benefit Alvarez and the Mets in the long run and they fully expect the catcher to return at some point after working on what he needs to work on.

"We decided it was best for him to go down in Triple-A, play everyday, work on whether it’s the offense, defense, just in general," Mendoza said. "There’s a lot of potential there and when he’s playing up to his potential he’s got a chance to be a pretty special player. And we’re gonna need him. We expect him to be back, but right now we feel like it’s best for him to go down there and get reps."

Not only has Alvarez's offense been a disappointment this season as he's slashing .236/.319/.333 with just six extra-base hits, his defense has taken a step backwards as well, especially in regards to blocking pitches -- a passed ball in Saturday night's game led to a run.

To his credit, Alvarez took the news well but couldn't help but feel disappointed.

"Very professional -- he listened, very respectful," Mendoza said. "Obviously frustrated because when you’re in the big leagues and you get sent back down you don’t wanna hear that... it’s part of the process, part of the business."

Some of Alvarez's struggles, particularly offensively, can surely be attributed to his hamate bone fracture (his second hand injury in two years) he suffered in camp which caused him to miss most of spring training and a chunk of the regular season.

Not only can an injury like that take a toll on a player, especially a catcher, but in Alvarez's case the missed time didn't allow him the appropriate time to work on the offseason adjustments he made with his swing -- adjustments that Mendoza called "legit." Instead, he'd been trying to do it on the fly in the majors which isn't easy for any player, let alone a 23-year-old.

"You’re going through a major adjustment, you’re gonna need (at-bats) and that’s what spring training is for," Mendoza said. "And the goal when he reported was like ‘hey, we’re gonna try and get you as many at-bats as possible before we break camp’ and then unfortunately he went down. So, not trying to make excuses for the kid, but it’s something that we also talk about."

Mets right-hander Kodai Senga is throwing and third baseman Mark Vientos continues to play for Triple-A Syracuse, New York manager Carlos Mendoza explained in injury updates before Sunday's game at the Philadelphia Phillies.

"He is -- he's throwing," Mendoza said when asked if Senga "is throwing or doing anything at the moment."

"That's a good thing that, even right after the injury, he was able to keep the arm moving. So, yeah, I think he's playing catch. I'll see him (Monday) and have more info there. But, yeah, I was told that he's throwing."

Mendoza most recently said last Sunday that Senga (7-3, 1.47 ERA), whom the Mets placed on the 15-day injured list June 13 due to a right hamstring strain, was not "completely shut down" and already "in a better place" since sustaining the injury June 12 in New York's 4-3 win over the Washington Nationals.

Meanwhile, Vientos -- on the 10-day injured list since June 3 due to a right hamstring strain -- batted second and started at third base Sunday in Syracuse's 6-4 win over the Miami Marlins' Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.

"He was playing (Sunday) in Triple-A," Mendoza said of Vientos, whose fourth rehab game since last Tuesday saw him produce a 1-for-5 performance that featured a third-inning single. "We've got to make a decision where we'll give him a couple more games on the Triple-A level.

"So, I've got to check with (president of baseball operations) David (Stearns). I've got to get the report from him and some of the coaches down there in Triple-A and then we'll have a decision."

Syracuse has Monday off before a six-game series at the Nationals' Rochester Red Wings from Tuesday through Sunday.

"Well, I mean, with him, he's had a lot of at-bats here," Mendoza said of Vientos, who has a .230/.298/.380 slash line with six home runs and 21 RBI through 53 games this season with the Mets. "He went down ... what, two, three weeks (ago)? ... I don't know if you're comparing it with (catcher Francisco Alvarez's) case or not -- completely different cases here because (Vientos) had a full spring training, 200 plate appearances.

"But, again, we'll see if he needs more at-bats because of the timing. But I think the health is going to be the No. 1 question and, if he's physically ready to go, then the next phase or the next step will be, 'OK, how are you feeling?' Timing-wise and things like that."

Phillies remind themselves they can outplay the Mets with 2 blowouts in series win originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Phillies will play 84 more games this season but that doesn’t take any importance away from the result of Sunday night or this weekend.

Finally, they played well against the Mets, winning a series and reminding themselves that this isn’t as bad a matchup as the previous 11 — nine Phillies loss — indicated.

And beyond the symbolic meaning, beyond ending the weekend in first place thanks to two blowout wins, these head-to-head matchups could end up determining the NL East. The Phillies and Mets won’t play again until the final week of August. There aren’t many opportunities to make up direct ground and this was one both teams wanted to seize.

In Friday night’s series opener, the Phils’ offense came alive in the seventh inning to turn a tie game into an eight-run win. On Saturday, the Mets won a laugher. Sunday night’s finale had the look of a pitchers’ duel early but the Phillies broke through in the bottom of the fourth, batting around and scoring five times off lefty David Peterson in a 7-1 win.

“You play for the lead, you play against a division rival, it makes it exciting,” Edmundo Sosa said. “We got the win, now we’re leading the division and need to keep working day by day so we can sustain that lead.”

Kyle Schwarber started the party with a 432-foot solo home run off the ivy wall past center field. Nick Castellanos doubled with one out and was singled in by Otto Kemp, who hit a ball hard off the glove of shortstop Francisco Lindor.

The biggest blow of the decisive fourth inning, though, was an opposite-field three-run shot by Sosa. It had to feel like a redemptive moment after he was picked off of second base with nobody out the prior inning and had been 3-for-39 (.077) in the calendar month leading up to Sunday. He went 3-for-4 in the win with a single, double and homer.

Sosa is 5-for-7 lifetime against Peterson and started at second base because of the lefty opponent. He could start twice more on Tuesday and Wednesday against Astros southpaws Framber Valdez and Colton Gordon.

“I had a feeling this morning,” Sosa said. “I woke up really optimistic and talked to my wife, we prayed together and I told her I felt optimistic about the day, that I felt I was going to have a great day.”

Manager Rob Thomson also went with Buddy Kennedy at first base and Kemp in left field on Sunday, the rookie’s first major-league start in the outfield. This could be the arrangement against lefties until Bryce Harper returns from a bout of wrist inflammation. Harper is expected to swing in the batting cage on Tuesday or Wednesday and if he responds well the next morning, could be right back in the lineup in Houston.

That’s the Phillies’ next stop. They emerge from the weekend 47-31 and a game ahead of the Mets, who they trailed by 5½ as recently as June 12.

Jesus Luzardo turned in his second-best start of the season with 6⅔ scoreless innings, walking off the mound to a standing ovation. The best offenses Luzardo has faced this season have been the Dodgers, Mets and Cubs twice. He’s allowed one earned run in 25⅔ innings in those four starts, proving he can dominate even the most powerful and patient lineups when he’s on.

“Ideally you have the same juice for every start but I’d be lying if I said starts like tonight you don’t bring a little extra,” he said. “You know what’s on the line.”

Luzardo did an excellent job against a tough top of the Mets order. Lindor, Starling Marte, Juan Soto and Pete Alonso were a combined 1-for-11. He put multiple men on base in only the fourth inning, which he ended with a groundball. Luzardo set down 10 in a row after Lindor’s leadoff single and retired nine of his final 10.

“Sunday Night Baseball is what you live for, two top teams tied for the division,” he said. “It’ll be fun going into the second half seeing them again. We put up a good fight, it was fun.”

The Phillies are off Monday after a stretch of 19 games in 20 days. Two of their final three weeks before the All-Star break will be spent on the road — Houston and Atlanta this week, San Francisco and San Diego to close out the first half.

The Phils will adjust their rotation slightly to move Zack Wheeler ahead of Cristopher Sanchez. They’ll start Ranger Suarez on Tuesday, Wheeler on Wednesday and Sanchez on Thursday, splitting up the lefties against an Astros lineup that is almost entirely right-handed.