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Guess who had another fantastic start in Jersey Shore? Checking in on the kids:

Lehigh Valley 6, Indianapolis 3

Steward Berroa enjoyed a three hit day for the IronPigs, possibly his last day as a member of the Phillies’ 40 man roster with their impending need to add Brian Keller. Berroa was the only one with more than one hit, yet Felix Reyes and Dylan Moore chipped in with a two-run home run apiece. On the mound, Drake Fellows had six innings where he only allowed three runs, but did not walk a single batter and struck out four.

Harrisburg 3, Reading 0

One hit? One gosh dang hit?

That was all the Fightin’ Phils could muster on the evening, Bryan Rincon getting a measly single as Jake Irvin, rehabbing for the Nationals, and two relievers shut them down. A shame as Andy Seminaris had another solid pitching performance for the farm system, also going six innings and allowing only two runs on seven hits and no walks, striking out seven. Considering that they haven’t been getting many good pitching performances lately, this was certainly one where you’d want to see the offense do anything good.

Brooklyn 4, Jersey Shore 3
Jersey Shore 5, Brooklyn 0

Playing in a doubleheader due to weather earlier in the week, the Blue Claws saw the best and most agonizing. In the first game, the two teams were tied at one after seven, yet going into the eighth inning, the bullpen could not hold it together. Camron Hill was on the mound and with the ghost runner on, allowed three straight baserunners to give the Cyclones two runs. Another scored later in the inning before the Jersey Shore got their chance. They capitalized, scoring two runs of their own before Tyler Miller was called out on strikes with runners on second and third to end the first game.

In game two, it was the Ramon Marquez show. In five innings, he was spectacular, only giving up a hit and a walk and striking out ten in yet another showcase for possible teams interested in doing a deal with the Phillies. He has been a revelation this year for the Phillies’ player development system.

Clearwater 11, Daytona 0

Juan Villavicencio had two hits, including a double, while Will Vierling had two hits and three RBI, Nolan Beltran had two hits and two RBI, Matthew Ferrera had an RBI double to help pace an offense that put up another impressive offensive performance before the game was called due to rain after the top of the sixth inning. Cade Obermueller had four innings of no-hit shutout baseball, striking out five and walking two. If we’re looking at teams the Phillies might be trading prospects from, this might be the leader in the clubhouse.

Blake Snell’s second rehab start went well, striking out three in 2 2/3 innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City. He allowed two singles and a run which scored after Snell departed, throwing 49 pitches with no walks.

Player of the day

Matt Gorski had six singles and no extra-base hits in his first nine games off the injured list for Triple-A Oklahoma City, but he made up for lost time on Friday. The Comets first baseman homered and doubles, while driving in four runs.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

The Comets put up crooked numbers in three different innings in a road win over the Sacramento River Cats (Giants).

Hyeseong Kim singled twice, walked twice, scored three runs, stole a base, and made this incredible play at second base.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers were one out away from losing in a combined perfect game, but instead just suffered a blowout loss to the Arkansas Travelers (Mariners). Tulsa’s lone baserunner was a two-out infield single in the ninth inning by Sam Mongelli that involved a throwing error.

Adam Serwinowski struck out nine but also allowed six runs and two home runs in six innings.

High-A Great Lakes

Zach Root had a rough time with more walks (six) than strikeouts (five) in the Loons’ loss to the Lansing Lugnuts (A’s). Root allowed three runs, two earned in 5 2/3 innings, and after a 9.4-percent walk rate through his first 13 starts the left-hander has 10 walks and a 22.2-percent walk rate in his last two outings.

Class-A Ontario

The Tower Buzzers tied things in the ninth inning, then beat the San Jose Giants on the road in 10 innings.

First baseman Easton Shelton homered again, because that’s what he does, with five home runs over his last five games and an .871 slugging percentage in July. Shelton’s 31 home runs lead the minor leagues, one shy of doubling the second-place slot in the California League.

Transactions

Double-A: Shortstop Elijah Hainline was activated off the injured list after missing three weeks. Left-hander Wyatt Crowell was placed on the 7-day injured list.

High-A: Infielder Nico Perez was activated off the injured list after missing six and a half weeks.

Friday scores

• Oklahoma City 8, Sacramento 2
• Arkansas 8, Tulsa 0
• Lansing 3, Great Lakes 1
• Ontario 9, San Jose 8 (10 innings)

Saturday schedule

• 4:05 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Christian Zazueta) at Arkansas (Ryan Sloan)
• 4:05 p.m.: Great Lakes (Brady Smith) at Lansing (Tucker Novotny)
• 5 p.m.: Ontario (TBA) at San Jose (TBA)
• 6:37 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Cole Irvin) at Sacramento (Carson Whisenhunt)

Brady Smith, the Dodgers’ third-round pick in 2023 and now 21 years old, makes his High-A debut on Saturday after posting a 3.88 ERA in 19 starts for Class-A Ontario, with 104 strikeouts (37.5 percent rate) and 27 walks in 65 innings.

The Royals are impressed with Randy Dobnak through his first two starts, writes Anne Rogers.

“I’m just here to pitch,” Dobnak said. “If they want me to start, if they want me in long relief, at the end of the day, I’ll do whatever the team needs. I’ve done both over my career over the years. My mindset is any time I get the ball, just go out there and do my thing.”

Manny Randwaha writes about Kyle Isbel’s performance with three hits in a rehab start.

When he was placed on the IL in early June, Isbel said that the key to his recovery would be managing the inflammation, and so the timetable for a return was uncertain. Now that he’s back on the field in game action, the key will be to keep from reaggravating the foot.

“It’s just getting the inflammation down, and then there’s not really a timetable on it,” Isbel said. “Just more symptom-based. … Just a lot of pressure in the bottom of my foot.”

Kiley McDaniel at ESPN has farm system snapshots for each team.

System snapshot: The system has improved the past few years: Recent draft additions SS Josh Hammond and LHP David Shields have been trending up, RHP Kendry Chourio and CF Angeibel Gomez were signed internationally, and money was spread around in the 2026 draft to land CF Zion Rose, RHP Taylor Rabe and RHP Jack Slightom. Lefties Justin Lamkin and Maxx Yehl are sleepers who could move quickly.

Biggest need: It feels like continuing to add potential impact talent is the long-term focus, but I could see the Royals adding some prospects that can help the 2027 big league team if they see a clear path to filling a role and thus shortening the list of winter needs.

FanGraphs ranks Bobby Witt Jr. as the player with the second-most trade value in baseball.

There’s not really much point in talking to team sources about Witt’s talent. What are they going to say? Instead, we mostly talked about his contract, and whether it should push him down the list a bit. I tried to model it to get a sense of how much of a negative to assign it in my head, but truthfully, I struggled to put a value on it. If you think that the highest AAV he could realistically achieve when getting a new deal at age 31 is $40 or $45 million, the odds of an opt-out aren’t that high, and it won’t cost you that much to renegotiate. If you think that the top end of the salary range has been permanently expanded by the Soto and Tucker deals, it’s a more pressing concern. But even if you treat Witt as being on a four-year deal, he projects as the best player in baseball for those four years. I’m also not particularly concerned with the downside of him declining and then accepting the option; hitters don’t have the same career-altering injury risk that pitchers do, so the odds of taking a huge L on the deal are meaningfully lower.

I know that talking about economics in a baseball article isn’t that exciting, but it’s worth dwelling on the contract in Witt’s case. That’s because there aren’t really any other negatives to be had here. Witt is on a Hall of Fame trajectory. 

The Royals activated Nate Pearson and optioned Eli Morgan to Omaha.

Brian Sparks at Sports Illustrated writes that Luinder Avila could be a 2027 rotation option for the Royals.

There will be a public hearing on a rezoning plan for the proposed ballpark development at Crown Center on Monday.

Boston may be interested in Angels shortstop Zach Neto.

Which teams could be interested in Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman?

How Boston’s winning streak changed the trade deadline.

Who should trade for Luis Arraez?

The Reds won’t do a full rebuild, and will retool for next year.

Clay Holmes says the Mets aren’t talking contract extension.

Blue Jays outfielder Addison Barger will have season-ending surgery.

Does the Hall of Fame need to take another look at Kenny Lofton?

Mark Cuban’s firm buys a minority stake in the Athletics.

LeBron James signs a two-year deal with the 76ers.

Tony Romo is arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence.

Kansas City hotels had their ten highest-revenue days ever during the World Cup.

Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery have agreed to delay closing their billion merger well into next year.

Marmot researchers have put the animals on OnlyFans to raise money.

Your song of the day is Steely Dan with Do it Again.

Good morning everyone and welcome to the weekend!

The M’s dropped a hard-fought first game of the series to the Rangers 5-4, yet another crushing loss for a team that keeps stacking them up.

Somehow, the Mariners are just a good weekend away from reclaiming the AL West crown. Despite their recent poor performance, do you still believe the M’s will end the season atop the division?

In Mariners news…

• Bryan Woo was the latest guest on the Cal Raleigh Show.

• John Trupin offered a trio of blueprints to a successful trade deadline for the Mariners.
• Adam Jude at The Seattle Times reports that the M’s have shown interest in Reds outfielder Spencer Steer.

Around the league…

• Rangers catcher Danny Jansen is considering elbow surgery. The injury has kept him out of action since early June and he’s currently testing whether he can proceed with rehab without going under the knife.
• Blue Jays outfielder Addison Barger will undergo his own season-ending elbow surgery.
• Marlins right-hander Max Meyer has been shut down from throwing after suffering a neck strain earlier this week.
• MLB Pipeline refreshed their list of each organization’s top 30 prospects with the draft concluded.
• Dan Szymborski at Fangraphs tried to figure out when the A’s competitive window will truly begin, pointing out that they’ll need to find some real pitchers first.
• The Astros are dealing with another injury to their pitching corps.

• Here’s another Secret Base auto-recommendation.

What a game the Yankees just pitched to open their series against the Phillies with a 1-0 win! Cam Schlittler was dominant for 7.1 scoreless innings with a dozen strikeouts, Brent Headrick escaped an eighth innings bases loaded jam against Kyle Schwarber, and David Bednar extended his MLB-leading scoreless streak to 22.2 innings to nail down the save in the ninth. They needed this performance to hold serve in the division with the Rays pummeling the Guardians, so let’s see how those other games panned out.

Tampa Bay Rays (60-43) 11, Cleveland Guardians (54-51) 3

The Rays’ offense keeps on rolling, tallying their second double-digit scoring effort in their last four games. It helps when your starter can take pressure off the offense the way Shane McClanahan did with his five innings of one-run ball. Ryan Vilade got things started with a two-run homer in the second after Jonny DeLuca reached on a one-out single. Brayan Rocchio cut that deficit in half with an RBI double in the fourth, but from there Tampa kicked it into top gear scoring nine unanswered.

Three of those came in the fourth, Cedric Mullins leading off with a triple and scoring on a DeLuca single. Chandler Simpson singled and Vilade walked to load the bases with no outs, after which a Ben Williamson fielder’s choice and Nick Fortes singled each plated a run. Junior Caminero added an RBI single in the sixth and Fortes an RBI double in the seventh to extend their lead to 7-1, the number nine hitting catcher Fortes going 4-for-4 on the day. In the eighth, Jonathan Aranda drew a leadoff walk, Mullins doubled, and DeLuca walked to again load the bases. A Simpson sac fly drove in their eighth run, and a Richie Palacios three-run no-doubter made it a complete laugher.

The Guardians got a pair of consolation runs in the ninth, Gabriel Arias reaching on a two-out single and Austin Hedges hitting a two-run homer, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Rays from becoming the first team in the AL to 60 wins.

Other Games

Boston Red Sox (53-49) 6, Toronto Blue Jays (47-57) 4

Two days after having their franchise record 15-game winning streak broken by the Orioles, the Red Sox weathered a late Blue Jays rally to avoid the start of a losing streak. They had control for most of the contest, scoring five unanswered through the first six innings while Patrick Sandoval tossed 4.2 scoreless innings. Anthony Seigler led off the first with a homer and then led off the third with a single to set up a two-run blast from Ceddanne Rafaela. In the sixth, Masataka Yoshida walked, Caleb Durbin was hit by a pitch, and Jarren Duran singled to load the bases with one out. An Andruw Monasterio sac fly brought home their fifth run, though Durbin was thrown out at home on a Connor Wong single to end the inning.

This opened the door for a Blue Jays rally the next inning. Ernie Clement got plunked and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. blooped a one-out single to put a pair on with one out for Kazuma Okamoto, whose three-run home run pulled Toronto within one and gave him 23 on the year to break Shohei Ohtani’s record for the most home runs by a Japanese-born rookie. After Durbin grounded out with the bases loaded in the bottom of the frame, the Blue Jays tied the game on a Nathan Lukes leadoff double, Daulton Varsho single, and Andrés Giménez sac fly. That would not last for long as the Red Sox reestablished a two-run lead in the bottom of the inning on a Duran leadoff single and back-to-back RBI doubles from Romy Gonzalez and Seigler, the former Yankee farmhand going 4-for-5.

Houston Astros (51-54) 9, Chicago White Sox (54-48) 5

The White Sox looked to be well on track for a stress-free win, scoring three in the first and two in the fifth without the Astros managing a reply. In the first, they loaded the bases with no outs to set up a Colson Montgomery sac fly, Braden Montgomery RBI single, and Chase Meidroth HBP with the bases loaded, while in the fifth, Meidroth hit a two-run double. Meanwhile, Davis Martin pitched a shutout through five, only for the wheels to fly off in the sixth.

The Astros sent 14 men to the plate and scored eight runs — four apiece off Martin and Bryan Hudson. Amazingly, they only hit one homer in the frame — a two-run shot from Cam Smith to give them the lead. By the time the dust had settled on the inning, the Astros had tallied seven hits, two free passes, an intentional walk, and a hit-by-pitch, so rather than regurgitate it all, I’ll just leave this here for you:

Christian Vázquez wrapped up the scoring with an RBI double in the ninth in what was a wild game both literally and figuratively — a combined seven batters were hit by pitches, four for the White Sox and three for the Astros.

Texas Rangers (52-51) 5, Seattle Mariners (51-53) 4

Neither starter was at their sharpest, Bryce Miller allowing five runs on six hits in 5.1 innings while MacKenzie Gore gave up three runs on seven hits in five innings. A Wyatt Langford solo shot opened the scoring in the bottom of the first. Weston Wilson responded with an RBI single in the second, though Randy Arozarena would ground out to strand the bases loaded. Texas retook the lead in the fourth on a two-run blast from Jake Burger. Dominic Canzone responded with a two-run double in the fifth to grab Seattle’s first lead. Burger tied the game with an RBI single in the sixth and Nicky Lopez restored their lead with an RBI sac bunt, though this time it was Joc Pederson’s turn to strand the bases loaded with a pop fly. Seattle almost made them pay, pulling to within one in the ninth as Colt Emerson doubled, advanced to third, and scored on a wild pitch, but the comeback attempt would fall just short.

Here's what happened in Mets Land on Friday, in case you missed it...

• Mets' bullpen wastes Sean Manaea's strong six innings in 4-2 loss to Dodgers
• Juan Soto to get MRI on Saturday after exiting game vs. Dodgers with left calf soreness
• Carson Bengeshowcases arm with two outfield assists in loss to Dodgers
• Manaea relishes the "challenge" of facing Dodgers
• Amid Francisco Lindor chatter, David Stearnswon't rule anything out ahead of trade deadline
• Clay Holmes on Mets future, reveals not "a ton" of progress on contract extension talks
• Stearns discusses approach with Mets’ catchers ahead of trade deadline, long-term state of rotation
• Jonah Tong strikes out nine, Ronny Mauriciogoes yard for Triple-A Syracuse 

• WATCH: How much of Mets roster should be moved in preparation for the 2027 season? 

Mark Bowman of. MLB.com is reporting this morning that rehabbing outfielder Ronald Acuña, Jr. may play in both of today’s Gwinnett Stripers games after last night’s contest was unable to be played due to inclement weather and thus he return to the big league roster could be delayed until Monday.

Coming into Friday, it was expected that Acuña, Jr. would return during this weekend’s series against the Baltimore Orioles. If his activation occurs on Monday, it would be against the New York Metropolitans.

Acuña, Jr. has played in only 53 games with Atlanta this season but was third on the team in wRC+ prior to last night’s game. His returns would bolster a Braves team whose offense has rebounded after the All-Star break but cratered in June and early July when the team saw its double-digit division lead dwindle to a handful of games.

He went on the 10-IL on June 10th with a left hamstring injury.

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Dylan Cease is riding the best stretch of his career, and his slider is the pitch Boston can’t touch.

The Toronto Blue Jays send their ace, Dylan Cease, to the mound at Fenway Park on Saturday against a red-hot Boston Red Sox club and Sonny Gray.

Cease has been overpowering lately, and his highly effective slider highlights my Blue Jays vs. Red Sox predictions and MLB picks for this Saturday, July 25 matchup.

Blue Jays vs Red Sox predictions

Blue Jays vs Red Sox best bet:  Dylan Cease Over 7.5 strikeouts (-125)

Dylan Cease is the Toronto Blue Jays’ one bright hope this season, pitching at an AL Cy Young level and cashing the Over on this prop in nine of his last 11 starts, thanks to a deadly wipeout slider that will be effective again Saturday.

Cease’s slider is a deadly weapon that the Boston Red Sox simply can’t handle. It’s the best slider in baseball at a +16 run value, and opposing hitters are batting just .135 against it, an absurd number for that pitch.

Cease does have to be careful with Willson Contreras, who owns a .500 slugging mark against sliders this year. But Contreras also whiffs 44% of the time on the pitch, so Cease still holds the strikeout edge.

It helps that this comes a night after Boston struck out 13 times against Toronto’s staff. I wouldn’t play this bet past -130.

COVERS INTEL: Cease is pitching the best ball of his career right now, leading the AL in FIP (2.39), H/9 (6.4) and K/9 (13.4).

Blue Jays vs Red Sox same-game parlay (SGP)

For the same-game parlay, I’m building around Cease and a couple of low-bar bats. 

Dylan Cease Over 7.5 strikeouts doubles down on my best bet, and I’ll add the Blue Jays moneyline in a near-pick’em with the ace on the mound. 

From there, Daulton Varsho Over 0.5 total bases and Kazuma Okamoto Over 0.5 total bases ask only that two of Toronto’s streakier bats reach base once, with Okamoto coming off a three-run blast on Friday.

Blue Jays vs Red Sox SGP

• Blue Jays moneyline
• Daulton Varsho Over 0.5 total bases
• Kazuma Okamoto Over 0.5 total bases
• Dylan Cease Over 7.5 strikeouts

Blue Jays vs Red Sox home run pick: Kazuma Okamoto (+450)

Kazuma Okamoto woke up on Friday with a massive three-run blast to dead center, snapping an 0-for-24 skid. As we know, Okamoto goes on these home run sprees.

He homered five times in five games in early May, then three times in four games around the All-Star break, and his swings on Friday suggested another run could be coming.

Red Sox starter Sonny Gray is a tough customer, but he isn’t unbreakable, as his 1.0 HR/9 shows. His four-seam fastball is vulnerable, allowing a .493 slugging mark, and Okamoto is the Grim Reaper for center-cut fastballs, slugging .580 with a +12 run value on the pitch.

I’d play this until +400 at a quarter unit. 

Blue Jays vs Red Sox odds

• Moneyline: Toronto -110 | Boston -110
• Run line: Toronto -1.5 (+155) | Boston +1.5 (-180)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (+100) | Under 7.5 (-120)

Blue Jays vs Red Sox trend

Dylan Cease has struck out at least eight batters in 12 of 18 starts this season. Find more MLB betting trends for Blue Jays vs. Red Sox.

How to watch Blue Jays vs Red Sox and game info

Blue Jays vs Red Sox latest injuries

Blue Jays vs Red Sox weather

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The 2026 season is on life support for the San Diego Padres after losing five of seven games to open the second half of the season following the All-Star break. With three games against the Kansas City Royals (the worst team in baseball at the time) and four games against the Atlanta Braves (a team the Padres swept earlier this season) San Diego was expected to give general manager A.J. Preller some reasons to be a buyer at the upcoming trade deadline. Instead, the Padres dropped 2-of-3 to the Royals and 3-of-4 to the Braves. San Diego was expected to charge out of the gate, but they have limped to just two wins.

San Diego opened its series with the Miami Marlins on Friday night and the offense, as it has been known to do, struggled to get anything going against Miami pitching. The Padres did not record their first hit of the game until the fourth inning when Manny Machado singled to left field. His single was one of just five hits in the game for San Diego while Miami finished with nine hits.

The most critical hit of the night for the Padres came from their most recent roster addition who is also one of their hottest hitters at the moment. Luis Rengifo was called on the pinch-hit for Luis Campusano in the top of the eighth inning. Rengifo stepped to the plate with pinch-runner Jase Bowen on second base after Ty France hit a leadoff double. With one out in the inning, Rengifo hit an 0-1 sweeper that was left over the middle of the plate 361 feet down the right field line for a two-run home run that gave San Diego a 4-2 lead.

Adrian Morejon worked a scoreless eighth inning and turned the ball over to All-Star closer Mason Miller in the bottom of the ninth inning. Miller got two groundouts and a strikeout to earn the save and end the game to keep the Padres’ slim playoff chances alive.

San Diego plays the second game of the series against Miami today at 1:10 p.m.

Padres News:

• The Padres minor league system has apparently been taking its cues from the parent club as teams at all levels have struggled to have success over the past week.

• Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta faced live hitters in Arizona as they work back toward a return to the MLB roster.

• The Padres signed their first-round draft pick Coleman Borthwick and could be getting some bullpen help with Jeremiah Estrada on a rehab assignment in El Paso.

• Ty France has been a nice addition to the Padres roster, but he may also be a valuable trade piece if they decide to sell.

• There are a lot of superstitions in baseball and Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune tried to determine which Padres player is the most superstitious.

• There is a lot of speculation about what the Padres will do at the trade deadline, but everyone outside the organization and maybe some inside, just have to wait and see.

Baseball News:

• Cam Scchlittler finished with 12 strikeouts to lead the New York Yankees to a win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

• Roki Sasaki pitched the Los Angeles Dodgers past the New York Mets, 4-2.

• Kazuma Okamoto hit his 23rd home run for the Toronto Blue Jays, but it was not enough to lead them to a win as the Boston Red Sox handed the Blue Jays a 6-4 loss.

• The Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners as the two teams battle for the AL West.

• The Atlanta Braves beat the Baltimore Orioles in 10 innings.

• The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in 10 innings.

• Gabriel Moreno led the Arizona Diamondbacks to a win over the Washington Nationals.

That Atlanta Braves continue their season-long bullpen shuffling by designating last night’s winning pitcher Elieser Hernández for assignment and recalling Connor Thomas ahead of tonight’s match-up against the Baltimore Orioles.

The right-handed Hernández made his Braves debut – and first MLB appearance since 2024 – last night, pitching three innings and picking up the victory. This has been a common theme this season when the team has extended a reliever or swing man an extra inning only to option or designate them for assignment the following day.

Taking Hernández’s spot is another former Milwaukee Brewers pitcher, Connor Thomas, who appeared for the Braves earlier this month. He pitched 3.2 innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates, allowing four runs after starter Hurston Waldrep allowed seven run in 3.1 innings in what would be a 12-4 loss for the Braves.

Thomas the, like Hernández now, was shuffled off the big league roster.

Hernández, who debuted with the Miami Marlins back in 2018, could return to Atlanta if he isn’t claimed by another organization.

The Mets (43-61) continue their series against the Los Angeles Dodgers (66-38) on Saturday night at 7:15 p.m. on FOX. Here's what to know about the game and how to watch...

Mets Notes

• Nolan McLean takes the mound as he looks to follow up a stellar 10 strikeout performance over 6.0 scoreless innings on July 19 in a win over the Phillies
• Juan Soto left Friday's game in the sixth inning due to left calf soreness and will undergo an MRI on Saturday
• Francisco Alvarez homered in Friday's loss and is now hitting .304 (7-for-23) with three home runs, four RBI, and four walks over his last seven games

The Wild Ride Is Over

The front office is facing a hell of a dilemma due to the Red Sox historic 15-game winning streak. The team was completely written off by almost everyone, including yours truly, well before late June when they sported an abysmal 32-46 record. Then the Sox put their heads down and matched a franchise record by winning 15 straight games before finally losing to the Orioles in the second game of a doubleheader on Wednesday. Until they started rattling off wins, Craig Breslow was universally expected to sell at the August 3 trade deadline—especially with stars like Roman Anthony and Garrett Crochet sidelined on the injured list—but a breathtaking run vaulted the Red Sox straight into the third AL Wild Card spot.

That much we all know. Heck, we lived it. Before writing another word, I want to tip my cap to our guys, our “bunch of dogs” who want to win, and offer a genuine word of thanks. I predicted great things from them right up until March, and then soured on them almost immediately. No one was more surprised than me by this glorious accomplishment, so I feel like I owe it to this team to say something. I didn’t see it coming (even when I was bullish on them over the offseason), but they did it, and it was a hell of a ride. We may never see anything like that again from our beloved team in our lifetimes. It’s still sort of sinking in.

So what I’m about to write causes me pain, and as a fan, I don’t want it to be true. But here it is: I don’t believe the front office will be swept up in this euphoria to the extent that they’ll buy at the trade deadline. I think they’ll play it safe once again and do a little bit of buying and selling. That routine will look familiar to anyone who’s been around this team the past few seasons.

The Evidence

Rumors are linking them with Angels shortstop Zach Neto but the Red Sox are always in on the rumors game. It’s not a great fit (though it speaks worlds about the front office’s lack of confidence in Marcelo Mayer) and I believe the price will be too high.

I believe Jeff Passan was closer to reality when he said:

“For now, their plans are fluid. Boston isn’t discounting pursuing help before Aug. 3. The Red Sox also know that, for an entire half of the season, they personified mediocrity and that 15 games does not a season make.” 

I think he’s being generous to describe their earlier play as “mediocrity” but overall, doesn’t that sound more like the Craig Breslow we know and love?

Breslow knows this team stumbled into the history books by the grace of the baseball gods. It happened at a perfect moment when the rest of the AL has also been pretty terrible. When call-ups like Anthony Seigler and Tsung-Che Cheng stepped up in the face of a slew of injuries. When Wilyer Abreu got hot at the right time. With a perfect suicide squeeze from Carlos Narváez. Clutch home runs by Caleb Durbin. Masataka Yoshida going on a tear. Everyone played a part.

But that’s kind of making the case for me: this group shouldn’t win. This group would never have come together if it weren’t for the string of untimely injuries that forced the team to rely on replacement players (who to their credit became key contributors), good timing, Willson Contreras’ big heart, and some amount of luck. When the rookie call-up pitcher who begins the game that might put you in the history books in your own right (not just as a tie) gets immediately optioned back to Triple-A after the streak ends, well, you can see how this was kind of put together with duct tape from the beginning. The team has essentially run out yet another Quad A lineup in many ways – except that in July, it happened to work! We saw alchemy right before our eyes. It shouldn’t work, but it did work.

Can the Magic Keep Going?

Lightning in a bottle probably only happens once. Don’t get me wrong; I love Seigler and his style of play and I devoutly hope that Contreras continues to be a bedrock and an inspiration for this team. This is not a knock on what has been, but a realistic assessment of what might lie in front of the team.

Neither Craig Breslow nor John Henry are going to get caught up in the emotional high of the 15-game streak because that’s not what they do. They don’t think or behave like fans, which is partly why they’re so infuriating.

Suppose that they did strengthen the roster. It might possibly play in the AL which is a weak, weak league this year. But even if they could make it through to the World Series, does anyone think they can out-roster the Dodgers? No way. Yes, relying on a strong rotation is a strategy in the postseason, especially in the short rounds. But several issues there: our own rotation has been, and is still, depleted by injuries, and our young arms are quickly about to bump against career highs in innings pitched. Also, teams still need to score runs, not just prevent them (we learned that lesson the hard way, all the way through June).

Trading long-term assets to bolster a team that is still deeply flawed, and deeply depleted—no matter how much they over-performed in July—doesn’t feel like something Henry and Breslow would do. The baseball gods stepped in for a while to make sure we didn’t forget how wonderful baseball is. Maybe they didn’t want soccer to have all the fun this summer. But Breslow won’t pay a premium to save a season that came back from the brink by the alignment of the stars.

That’s what fans want – myself included. How much different would our roster look right now if the front office listened to the fans? No need to answer that rhetorical question because we know it in our bones. They don’t listen, and they won’t buy.

To clarify, they won’t buy much and they won’t buy enough. Look for a some-of-this-and-some-of-that approach, as they try to satisfy both sides of the equation. It hasn’t worked in recent seasons and it won’t work this year either.

But we’ll always have those 15 games in July – the games that almost pushed ownership into thinking about being all-in buyers at the deadline.