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Like so many of the infuriatingly feeble losses I’ve had the pleasure of writing about so far this season, this will be short.

Cantillo was bad, and got beat around by the Rays. Infuriatingly, it wasn’t any of the good Rays hitters that did him in. It was everyone else. Ryan Vilade hit a 94 mph 2-run homer, Cedric Mullins hit a triple, and Johnny DeLuca, Ben Williamson, and Nick Fortes all recorded RBIs.

Cantillo didn’t get out of the 4th. Festa was brought in to relieve him with the bases loaded.

Herrin gave up a run. Armstrong gave up 3 (2 of which were actually given up by Gaddis on a 3-run homer), and Gaddis “1”.

The lineup was similarly atrocious today. 4 Guardians with a hit, 3 with a multi-hit game. DeLauter (1/3, BB), Rocchio, Arias, Hedges. Two XBH among those 4 (Rocchio, Hedges). Two walks (DeLauter, Hedges).

At least Hedges had a good game! 2/3, 2 RBI, HR, BB.

The Guardians lost 11-3.

Bad.

Bibee vs. Martinez tomorrow.

Cheers at Rate Field turned to boos and a stunned crowd of 28,657 could only shake their collective heads in disbelief as the Astros would erase a five-run deficit in defeating the White Sox by a score of 9-5. 

The night began inauspiciously enough.   The White Sox would send all nine men to the plate in the first inning as Spencer Arrighetti was noticeably bothered and largely out of sync with control issues.    Arrighetti would toss seventeen pitches before finally recording his first out.    He’d allow a pair of hits, pair of walks, while also hitting a pair of batsmen.    This resulted in the bases being loaded up twice with the Sox jumping out to an early 3-0 lead.    

AJ Blubaugh would warm up in the bullpen during the disastrous events, ultimately relieving Arrighetti who would walk off the field prior to starting the 2nd inning with trainer Eric Velazquez during his warmup pitches. Arrighetti’s final stat line:  one inning pitched, two hits allowed, three earned runs and a pair of walks on thirty-three pitches.   Early reports are right foot nerve irritation.   Spencer’s last win was 57 days ago, back on May 28th.   Blubaugh would pitch two scoreless innings of relief.    

In the bottom of the fourth, Kai-Wei Teng escaped unscathed after some early control issues.   Teng would hit Drew Romo and Sam Antonacci but would retire the next three.    However, in the fifth, Teng wouldn’t be as fortunate.   Chicago would extend their lead.     Andrew Benintendi would walk and come around to score on a wild pitch.    Chase Meidroth would bring home Braden Montgomery on an RBI double after Braden reached on a single.    By the time Teng completed the inning, the White Sox had increased their lead to 5-0.    Then the comeback started.    

Houston would come to life in the 6th.    Lamonte Wade’s RBI single started the eight-run blitz, bringing home Yordan Alvarez.    That single would chase starter Davis Martin from the game, and then the flood gates would up.    Bryan Hudson would come on in relief and Christian Walker would clear the bases with a double, cutting the deficit to 5-4.    Cam Smith would get in on the fun with a homer to left field driving in Walker and just like that, the Astros had the lead at 6-5.     Jose Altuve would bring in Pena and after a 4 pitch walk to Lamonte Wade, Alvarez would score again.     All told the Astros would send 14 batters to the plate, placing 8 runs on the board.    

In the 9th inning the Astros would do more damage.    Taylor Trammell would be hit by a pitch, then proceed to steal both 2nd and 3rd. After a walk to Cam Smith, Christian Vazquez would bring Trammell home with a ground-rule RBI double.   

The combination of Sousa, Abreu, Okert and Hader would pitch innings six thru nine in a combined scoreless relief effort.   

Odds & Ends:

After a slow start in July, the Astros have now won 4 in a row and are 8-9 for the month.   

Hit streaks continue for the top of the Astros order.   Yordan Alvarez now has a 10-game hit streak.   Jeremy Pena has posted a 6-game streak of his own.        

7 total batters were hit on Friday Night between the clubs.    

Hunter Brown will look to notch his second win of the year.    First pitch will be 6:10 CDT.     He’ll be opposed by Sean Burke.   

COOPERSTOWN — On Sunday, Cooperstown will welcome Andruw Jones, Jeff Kent and Carlos Beltrán into the Baseball Hall of Fame, joining 281 former major leaguers to receive the induction honor.

New York Yankees southpaw and 2025 Hall of Fame inductee CC Sabathia played multiple seasons with Jones and Beltrán in The Bronx and pitched against Kent many times during his 19 seasons in the big leagues.

“Obviously, great players,” Sabathia said at a Hall of Fame signing event Friday. “You know Hall of Fame-caliber players when you’re playing against them.”

Sabathia especially emphasized Jones’ impact on his career early on.

The two were teammates in 2011 and 2012 during Jones’s short stint with the Yankees at the end of his MLB career.

Now, Jones joins his ex-teammate in the Hall after nine years on the ballot.

“Andruw is someone, I always tell the story, he was an inspiration to me,” Sabathia said. “Having a chance to watch him in the ’96 World Series, I was 16 years old. He was 18, and in my mind, I’m thinking I’m going to be in the big leagues as a teenager, just watching him. So that inspiration I got from him was great, and I’m just excited that he’s here.”

Sabathia was highly complimentary of Beltrán, his teammate from 2014 to 2016, as well.

“ ’Los is probably one of the smartest baseball players I ever played with. Great teammate, very thoughtful, so just excited that both of them are here in Cooperstown, and they definitely deserve it,” Sabathia said.

Now a year into his membership of the game’s greatest brotherhood, Sabathia noted the relationships he has gotten to build through his career and beyond.

“It’s a brotherhood, so understanding that you know the guys before you are looking out for you. … Reggie [Jackson] gave me a bunch of advice,” Sabathia said. “I can name a bunch of guys, but just having a chance to be a part of this brotherhood … if you’re in it long enough, you’re going to get a lot of advice.

“To be able to come up [to Cooperstown] and really enjoy being around the guys … just the whole weekend is great. It’s exciting.”

Sabathia will receive another honor of his own at Yankee Stadium later this season, when the team retires his number 52 to the rafters Sept. 26 and dedicates a plaque to him at Monument Park in center field.

“We’re excited to be part of the Yankee family forever,” Sabathia said. “Having a chance to go to Monument Park is beyond humbling, so just excited to have a chance to, every time I go to the stadium, see my number up there.”

Baseball has stayed in Sabathia’s family.

His son Carsten was recently drafted by the Brewers, his father’s former team.

Milwaukee signed Carsten on Tuesday, a welcome birthday gift for his father.

Sabathia and his fellow Hall of Famers will welcome the three newest members Sunday.

The Texas Rangers scored five runs while the Seattle Mariners scored four runs.

Despite the fact that half of the time it has felt like these two teams have been fighting to see who most doesn’t want to win the division, the Rangers and Mariners entered tonight’s game within a half game of each other atop the American League West and with neither squad above .500.

Therefore, a mid-summer four game series between these clubs held intrigue and importance despite the lackluster records. The Rangers, who have had a devil of a time beating the Mariners in recent seasons, hadn’t lost to Seattle at home in three tries this season but haven’t had a lead in the division larger than a game and a half all year.

The hated Mariners, who came into the season far and away the favorites in the West if not the American League as a whole, led the West by as much as three games a few weeks ago but were usurped by Texas by the All-Star break as they’ve gone just 7-10 now in July.

So the scene was set for a slap fight in Arlington with positioning in the league’s easiest most unwinnable division on the line ahead of the trade deadline. The first place underdog Rangers got off to a 1-0 lead when Wyatt Langford homered in the bottom of the second. The Mariners tied the game immediately because MacKenzie Gore is often a horror story.

A couple of innings later, the Rangers went up 3-1 when it had seemed as though Gore had settled in a bit. Except a half inning later, Seattle again tied the game as Gore was unable to collect a shutdown inning for a second time in a row. Overall Gore went five innings and allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks with five strikeouts.

A team with a better lineup might have done more damage to Gore when he experienced a couple of his usual flare up innings. The Mariners did not do that so the Rangers entered the bullpen phase of the game tied. You would expect a battle of bullpens would be an advantage for Seattle but Texas ignited a rally fueled by small ball — including a run on a safety sacrifice bunt! — to break the tie in the bottom of the sixth.

Still, after leaving the bases loaded in that inning (because yeah, of course), the team would need to get through three innings up just a couple of runs. Luckily for Texas they were able to set things up well with Peyton Gray pitching scoreless sixth, Jakob Junis pitching a scoreless seventh, Tyler Alexander and Cole Winn teaming up for a scoreless eighth, and then Jacob Latz made use of the insurance run in the ninth before picking up his 20th save of the year.

The victory allowed the Rangers to move back above .500 while also extended their lead in the AL West to a season high-tying 1.5 games.

Player of the Game: Batting sixth in the lineup, and with some light-hitting fellas behind him, the Rangers needed Jake Burger to come through when the opportunities presented themselves and Texas first baseman delivered.

Burger smacked an opposite field two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth to allow the Rangers to retake the lead. Two innings later, in the bottom of the sixth, when Seattle had tied the game again, Burger brought in the go-ahead run on a well-positioned ground ball single up the middle before the Rangers tacked on an insurance run in the same rally.

Overall Burger drove in three of Texas’ five runs to contribute greatly to the series-opening win.

Up Next: The Rangers and Mariners reconvene for the second game of this series with RHP Nathan Eovaldi expected to take the mound for Texas opposite RHP Bryan Woo for Seattle.

The Saturday evening first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 6:15 pm CDT and will be aired nationally on FOX.

The A’s came into the game with the worst pitching staff (statistically) in baseball. The Twins sure couldn’t take advantage of it this time. Inning-by-inning notes:

1: A nice quick inning for Zebulon: two groundouts and a strikeout.

Zebulon Pike is the soldier/explorer who named Pike’s Peak, in Colorado. The song “America the Beautiful” was inspired by Pike’s Peak, and was originally titled “Pike’s Peak.” One of the verses has the line “God mend thine every flaw,” and writer Katharine Lee Bates was, in fact, an ardent proponent of social reform. The famous Ray Charles version includes that verse, which is one of my favorite renditions of a ‘Murica song.

So thanks, Zebulon!

A leadoff walk for Austin Martin; are we gonna have more “Guardsball” tonight? He does advance to second on a hit-and-run FC, but he stays stuck there, so, so far, so Guardsball!

2: Hey, you heard it here first — Zebby’s gonna pitch the first perfect game in Twins history! Austin Martin makes a dive to get the third out, and does not — Byron Buxton does. With two fielders getting every out, the perfecto is guaranteed!

So, apparently, is a no-hitter for the A’s Jacob Lopez.

3: Zebby still perfect…

First-round pick Vahn Lackey on the radio. The booth guys tell him he’ll have to adjust to the automated ball/strike system, and Lackey says “I looked at every strikeout I had from last year, and they were all balls.” He can joke, because he has yet to experience the soul-crushing hopelessness that is the post-2024 Twins.

The Twins are still hitless when Martin takes his second walk, and Buxton gets HBP. Giving Ryan Jeffers the chance to open the scoring with a two-out RBI. The count goes full, the runners leave early, and… K. Guardsball continues.

4: Damn you, Zebby! A one-out walk to Tyler Soderstrom ruins my evening. A GIDP by the next batter means Zebby has still faced the minimum, but there’s no glory in that. No immortality, for as long as the game of baseball is played (about another ten years with the pace Manfred is at to ruin everything with more expensive tickets/viewing options and the inevitable gambling scandals).

Royce Lewis takes the one-out walk; he steals second and the throw by Shea Langeliers beats him, but 2B Donovan Walton can’t keep it in his glove. After a flyout, Lewis steals third? OK! Luke Keaschall walks, then he steals second. Brooks Lee’s time has come!

Popout, guardsball.

5: Zebby issues the one-out walk, then a double because he knows he’s ruined my evening already and so nothing he does for the rest of this game or the rest of his career matters anymore. A walk loads the bases and a sac fly means one team violates the sacred code of Not Scoring.

Then a wild pitch advances both the runners on first and second… BUT, Jeffers’s throw to third is a bit off. So, lead runner Tommy White tries scoring, and this was a POOR decision. Way to get the opponent off the hook, Tommy!

Hey, the Twins decide to get a hit finally! Austin Martin with a one-out double, giving him a OPS of 3.000 for this game if my math is right and it probably isn’t. Because Guardsball, it don’t matter. A’s 1-0

6: A leadoff infield hit for Henry Bolte, which is a perfect name because he is very fast. It was also the name of a fast Usain, minus the “e,” and a CGI cartoon with John Travolta and Miley Cyrus. Do you ask me how I know this? You do not. Soderstrom knocks Bolte in on a pitch that is VERY outside. He doesn’t advance past first, but methinks he will not need to.

With Jacob Lopez’s no-hitter gone, RHP Geoff Hartlieb comes in (Lopez usually does not pitch deeply into games). Two leadoff walks are promising…

Oh, I forgot, Guardsball. After a Victor Caratini K, Hartlieb walks Keaschall, Hartlieb is replaced, Brooks Lee GIDP. Philadelphia/KC/Oakland 2-0

7: Kody “AC/DC” Funderburk in for Zebby; he gives up the leadoff hit but no more.

The replacement pitcher who stymied the Twins last inning was José Suarez; he is listed at 5’10” and 225 lbs, and I think that might be an underlisting. Anyways, the Twins don’t care that all their good players are about to be traded so they don’t bother hitting anything. Granted, the exit velocity for the three groundouts are 103.1, 96.2, 103.3 MPH so maybe they are trying but I don’t care.

8: Travis Adams in. He does fine.

Ryan Jeffers with the Twins’ second hit. Josh Bell hits one 104 MPH… and it bounces off the pitcher’s mound to become an easy GIDP.

9: Fairly recent waiver claim Jack Anderson comes in and promptly gives up the leadoff double. But he does strike out the next two, and gets some help from a leaping Martin for the last out.

Hogan Harris, the A’s one pitcher with an ERA below 3.50, in for the save attempt. Keaschall is HBP with one out; that’s their eleventh baserunner on the night, and only two were from hits. And there will be no more. Brooks Lee GIDP, Twins lose.

Studs of the game: Zebby Matthews. Duds: Everyone with a bat except Austin Martin… OK, also not Keaschall (0-for-1 but on base three times). Eternal DUD: John Fisher, both for screwing a great city and for taking away one of my favorite team songs:

COTG go to gintzer/sandwiches for a Food Fight (nice respectful discussion) and nagurski for “I mean i guess this is example 1,228,541,749 why you play the game and not count on an easy W… dudes rockin a nearly 7era coming into a game against the statistically best offense and ends up looking like catfish freakin hunter out there”

Thanks for everybody who joined in on a nice summer’s night, the last one before it becomes Venusian atmospheric Hell the next few days.

Tomorrow’s game is at 6:10, and features the first time in baseball history where the same pitcher plays for both teams: TBD vs. TBD. Catch ya next time!

Mets outfielder Carson Benge continues to show out during his rookie campaign. 

We’ve seen what he can do with the glove, we’ve seen what he can do with the bat, and on Friday night he decided it was time to show off his cannon of an arm.

Benge unleashed two different strikes to gun down Dodgers trying to advance. 

The first came when Shohei Ohtani attempted to stretch a double into a triple leading off the top of the fifth, but the youngster made a perfect throw in to Francisco Lindor to start a relay.

Benge cost the Mets by misplaying one of those doinkers down in the Citi Field right-field corner earlier this season, so this time around he knew exactly how to play it.  

“I saw it running towards the wall, and I’ve already misplayed one of those,” he said. “So I tried to stay deep on it and then I saw him not slowing down when he was heading to second, so I knew just to throw it in and they’d get him.”

Carson Benge, Francisco Lindor and Bo Bichette combine on the relay to throw out Shohei Ohtani at third 💪 pic.twitter.com/1Tre3rvAfS

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 25, 2026

Benge would deliver once again to keep things evened at one apiece just one inning later. 

This time the 23-year-old camped under a fly ball to right, getting himself set before firing a 100.0 mph strike towards home to gun down Freddie Freeman trying to score the go-ahead run.

According to MLB.com's Sarah Langs, that’s the Mets’ fastest outfield assist recorded in the Statcast era. 

Carson Benge picks up his second outfield assist of the night, with a throw to Francisco Alvarez! pic.twitter.com/3wyRthNfgk

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 25, 2026

“It fires me up,” Benge said. “One of my favorite things to do is to throw someone out -- all that was going through my head was get it out quick and as hard as you can -- just look for our big catcher back there and he’ll do the rest.”

Benge became the first Mets rookie since Juan Lagares with two assists in the same game, also as per Langs.

“Watching from my perspective, it was one of the coolest things on a baseball field,” Sean Manaea said. “The play for Ohtani at third, the relay was unbelievable, the throw home, that’s just good baseball right there -- to watch a young player keep his cool and do cool stuff like that, it’s really fun.”

Mets right-handed pitching prospect Jonah Tong has posted two straight quality outings after striking out nine batters for Triple-A Syracuse on Friday night.

Tong pitched 4.2 innings, allowing one run on four hits. The 23-year-old would have gone deeper if he hadn't been burned by the walks, which he had four of against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. That helped push his pitch count to 91 pitches. Otherwise, it was a strong outing for Tong, who hasn't had many this season.

His night started off with a leadoff walk to Yankees No. 1 prospect George Lombard Jr., but Tong bounced back to strike out the next three batters, including J.C. Escarra and Spencer Jones. Tong's lone earned run came in the second, after Scranton got the first two batters on base thanks to a walk and a single from Oswaldo Cabrera. Tyler Hardman grounded out to push across the runner from third, but Tong worked around another single to escape the second, allowing just the one run.

Tong struck out the side in the third inning before allowing a walk in an otherwise clean fourth inning. Tong pitched into trouble again in the fifth. After striking out the leadoff hitter, Tong allowed three of the next four batters (two singles and a walk) to reach base before he was pulled with the bases loaded. Joe Jacques came on to get a flyout to end the threat.

After allowing just two runs across five innings in his last start, Tong has settled down, lowering his ERA to 5.59 on the season. Overall, Tong has pitched to a 2-5 record with 93 strikeouts across 75.2 innings (17 starts) with a WHIP of 1.53. The aforementioned walks have been the biggest problem for Tong this season. After allowing just 47 walks a year ago between Double-A and Triple-A (22 starts), he's allowed 46 in 17 starts in 2026.

With the Mets on the verge of selling pieces ahead of the trade deadline, Tong could receive a chance the rest of the season.

On the offensive side of Syracuse's 8-1 win on Friday night was Ronny Mauricio. Mauricio went 2-for-5 with a home run, his ninth in the minors this season. He also drove in four runs. 

Mauricio has, unsurprisingly, excelled in the minors this season. The switch-hitting infielder is hitting .297 with an OPS of .910 in 28 games. 

Infield prospect Ryan Clifford went 1-for-4 with two RBI and a walk. The first baseman has struggled in his first full season in Triple-A, slashing .187/.282/.373 with an OPS of .655. He has hit 16 homers and driven in 49 runs, but has not been as consistently productive at the plate as he has been in the recent past. 

This could’ve been a barnstormer. Both starters were giving runs away early and often, both lineups had chances to blow this thing open, and instead a game that felt like it wanted to be 10-8 or more ended 6-4. The Red Sox left runners on base all night (11 to be exact), watched the bullpen torch a four-run lead in two innings, and still found a way. Win streak reset. New one starts here.

Patrick Sandoval went 4.2 innings and didn’t allow an earned run. On paper, that looks fine. In practice, he spent most of the night creating his own messes and wiggling out of them—deep counts, walks, pitches left over the heart of the plate that somehow didn’t hurt him. The first inning he pitched at least 25 pitches with multiple runners on base and somehow escaped unscathed. Sandoval made pitching look a lot more precarious than the zero on the earned run line suggests. He’s done it before. The question of how long the rope holds isn’t unfair, but tonight it held.

On the other side, Trey Yesavage burned through 93 pitches in four innings, which is its own kind of collapse. He struck out nine—nine!—and still gave up three earned runs before the fifth inning. The home run ball was not his friend. Anthony Seigler went deep. Ceddanne Rafaela went deep. The Jays burned through their pen chasing the game (where they’re already apparently gassed), and the Sox had built a 4-0 lead through six without ever fully relaxing. Just enough.

Then Greg Weissert entered the seventh with that four-run lead.

Kazuma Okamoto was the only Blue Jay who showed up offensively tonight, and Weissert found him immediately. Three-run laser to center field, 4-3, all of a sudden this is a different ballgame. Garrett Whitlock came in for the eighth and gave up the tying run. Two innings, full lead evaporated. The Orioles took one Thursday and now the bullpen was in the process of handing this one back too.

The bottom of the eighth fixed it.

CJ Van Eyk got one out and then couldn’t stop anything. Four straight hits. Two runs. Sox back in front 6-4 before the crowd had fully processed what was happening. That’s been the identity of this team over the last month—it’s not over until it’s over, go find more runs, don’t give an inning away for free. They’ve proven repeatedly that a bad bullpen frame doesn’t mean the game is gone. Tonight proved it again.

Chapman struck out two in the ninth. New streak. Day one.

Studs

Anthony Seigler (4-for-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R)

Four hits in five at-bats. A home run. Scored twice. A triple away from the cycle. Seigler has turned into a real weapon in this lineup—plugging in at second base tonight, wherever Tracey needs him tomorrow—and his bat has been one of the genuine surprises of this whole run. Nobody was writing him into the offensive core of a contending team a month ago. Tonight he was the best hitter on the field, by some distance. Just an absolute firecracker both on the bench and on the field.

Ceddanne Rafaela (2-for-5, HR, 2 RBI, 1 R)

The homer was loud. But Rafaela also made a play on Daulton Varsho in center in the sixth inning that killed a Toronto threat before it could breathe—doesn’t show up in the line, mattered completely. He’s been this good on both sides of the ball all season now. Gold Glove center fielder, legitimate power. The whole package.

Romy Gonzalez (1-for-1, RBI, 1 R)

One at-bat, eighth inning, delivered a run and scored. That’s exactly the job.

Duds

Greg Weissert

A 4-0 lead became 4-3 on one pitch to Okamoto. Weissert has been unreliable in high-leverage moments all season, and the seventh inning tonight was a fresh example. The offense bailed him out. Won’t always happen. The Italian Stallion can certainly throw up some meatballs every now and again.

Garrett Whitlock

Tying run in the eighth is on him. Hard contact for most of the inning and lucky to come out with just one run given up, frankly. This is where the wish of another high-leverage reliever at the deadline may help alleviate the pressure on Whit here.

The Offense’s Missed Chances

Wilyer Abreu went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Caleb Durbin went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. Yoshida had two walks and one run scored off two at-bats. The Sox left enough on base tonight that this game never should have required a bottom-of-the-eighth rescue. Yesavage was giving away pitches and they couldn’t put him away—that’s the part of this win that doesn’t feel as clean as the final score.

Play of the Game

There are plenty—the rally in the 8th, Ceddanne’s diving catch–but we’re gonna give props to Seigler with his solo homer; it came after Sandoval got out of a jam and was literally a leadoff shot. Proof one swing can change everything!

Rangers 5, Mariners 4

Celebrating 50 Mariners seasons: Weston Wilson, Colt Emerson, +0.10 WPA
Celebrating 50 Mariners seasons: Eduard Bazardo, – 0.20 WPA

Game Thread Comments of the Day

Friday night was not Dustin May’s best start of the season, but it was solid. What was not solid was the St. Louis Cardinals offensive approach as their bats were completely silent for most of the game which allowed the Reds to walk away with a depressing Friday night victory.

The eye test for Dustin May as he took the mound for St. Louis Friday night was positive for the first 3 innings as many of his pitches had nasty movement. The Reds did have a couple of singles in the top of the 3rd inning, but no runs to show for it. That changed in the top of the 4th as JJ Bleday led off with a single. Three batters later, Dustin walked Spencer Steer. Tyler Stephenson made him pay for that lack of control as he punished a 97 mph sinker sending it bouncing over the right-centerfield wall for a ground rule double giving the Reds a 1-0 lead.

The best St. Louis Cardinals threat happened in the bottom of the 5th inning starting without a hit. Feel free to insert your own sarcastic impatient St. Louis Cardinals fan remark here. It started when Cincinnati Reds starter Rhett Lowder hit Iván Herrera with a pitch. He would receive double punishment as he would be hit by the throw attempt when he stole second base, too. Three batters later, Nathan Church drew a two-out walk. That set the stage for Blaze Jordan to make the Reds pay dearly for that walk as he crushed an 85 mph slider into the left-centerfield gap for a two-run double which eliminated Lowder’s no-hit bid and gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead after 5 innings.

The Cincinnati Reds did not sit on their hands after the Cardinals took the lead in the bottom of the 5th as they answered with a threat of their own in the top of the 6th inning. Suarez and Lowe both singled to lead off the Reds 6th giving Cincinnati two runners on with no outs. However, Steer was unsuccessful with his bunt attempt that Dustin May made a nice play on to catch the pop-out running toward the third base line. May would end up loading the bases, though, as he plunked Stephenson on the left shoulder. There was still hope of keeping the Reds from cashing in on the scoring opportunity after Myers popped out to Burleson for the second out. Edwin Arroyo flied out to Nathan Church in center to leave the Reds disappointed which is the way it always should be.

Dustin May pitched 6 full innings and, overall, it was a strong outing. Dustin allowed 7 hits, struck out 8 and only walked 1 while allowing only 1 run. That’s the kind of start any contending team would want. Am I right contending trade deadline buyers?

What would the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen do? Stop me if you’ve heard me say this a lot lately, but they almost immediately lost the lead. George Soriano, who has been one of the more reliable arms for St. Louis, gave up a one-out single to Stewart. Two batters later would be the real damage as Eugenio Suarez destroyed an 87 mph Soriano slider launching it 435 feet into the left field stands giving the Reds a 3-2 lead. It pains me to use the words “Reds” and “lead” in the same sentence.

After the Cardinals did nothing in the bottom of the 7th inning, Ryne Stanek took his turn in the St. Louis bullpen merry-go-round in the top of the 8th inning. The highlight (or lowlight depending on your viewpoint) was an umpire’s call of catcher’s interference which replay showed Crooks glove was not even in the same zip code as Myers bat. As a matter of fact, the ball glanced off of his bat for the second strike which was proven when the Cardinals challenged the call.

Hard to believe the St. Louis Cardinals didn’t get their 2nd hit of the game until the bottom of the 8th inning when Jimmy Crooks ripped a ball into the right-centerfield gap for a one-out double. That gave two of the most dangerous bats in the Cardinals lineup a chance to be a hero. JJ Wetherholt failed in his effort with 3 very poor swings at 3 consecutive 85 mph sweepers. Jordan Walker didn’t fare much better as he unintentionally fouled off the first pitch he saw and then popped out weakly to second base to end the Cardinals 8th. Very disappointing.

Luis Gastelum was tasked with holding the Reds close in the top of the 9th inning, but he was not successful. He walked De La Cruz on 5 pitches. That brought up Sal Stewart who (no offense intended) looks like he walked out of a 1930’s gangster movie. After De La Cruz stole second base, Luis threw a ball past Stewart advancing De La Cruz to third who then singled him in to add to the Reds lead making it 4-2. This has been the St. Louis Cardinals fan experience lately. Fortunately, Gastelum was able to escape the top of the 9th with no further damage as he got Lowe to ground into an inning-ending double play.

The Reds bullpen is not known to be a force of nature, so many of us held onto a glimmer of hope that the St. Louis Cardinals could rally against Cincinnati’s Emilio Pagán. Alec Burleson tried, but ended up flying out to deep center to lead off the Cardinals 9th. Herrera struck out with little fanfare for the second out leaving the Cardinals hopes in the hands of Lars Nootbaar. He struck out, too, and there’s no way to sugarcoat how awful the St. Louis offensive efforts have been lately.

It’s game 2 of the St. Louis Cardinals weekend series against the Cincinnati Reds Saturday night. The Cardinals will hand the ball to Andre Pallante while the Reds will have Hunter Greene to make the start. First pitch is set for 6:15pm central time and the TV broadcast will be available through Cardinals.tv.

The Orioles had plenty of chances, but failed to cash in on enough of them, wasting a great start from Trevor Rogers and losing the series opener to the Braves 7-6 in extra innings on Friday night in Baltimore.

This was yet another strong showing for Rogers. The lefty worked seven innings, six of which were pretty smooth. His one tough frame came in the fourth, when he gave up a pair of runs on three hits and a sacrifice fly. But outside of that, he was dominant.

Rogers pounded the strike zone. Over his seven innings he threw 88 total pitches, 72 of which went for strikes. So it’s no surprise that he didn’t issue any walks. This was his third start of the season without a free pass.

The stuff looked good too. His fastball velocity was up slightly over his season average (from 93.5 to 94.3 mph). He encouraged a 62% chase rate and saw the Braves lineup whiff on 31% of all swings. Those are good numbers.

This latest outing from Rogers lowered his ERA even further. Back on May 24, he had a season-worst ERA of 6.96 after a bad showing against the Tigers. Since then, he has seen it drop like a rock. Now, after allowing two runs on six hits, no walks, and six strikeouts tonight, his ERA is down to 4.17. His ERA in the month of July is a minuscule 1.04. The 2025 version of Rogers has fully arrived in 2026.

The Orioles offense, meanwhile, battled against Braves starter Grant Holmes. They had runners on base in four of the five innings that Holmes was in the game. Ultimately, they cashed in for three runs against him.

In the second inning, Leody Taveras walked with two outs, and Jackson Holliday followed with a single into right field to put runners on the corners. Christian Encarnacion-Strand then brought them both home following a seven-pitch battle (which featured four foul balls) that ended with a two RBI double into the left field corner that gave the O’s a 2-0 lead at the time.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Orioles answered the two runs that the Braves had scored in the top of the inning with a run of their own. Taylor Ward led off with a single, scooted to second on a Colton Cowser walk, advanced to third on a Taveras sac bunt, and then finally scored on a Holliday sac fly. It was an old-fashioned way to score a run, but sometimes that’s what a lethargic lineup like this needs.

Rico Garcia came on to relieve Rogers in the eighth. It didn’t go well. He gave up a solo home run to Drake Baldwin, tying the game at 3-3 and removing Rogers’ great effort from the win-loss decision altogether.

The Orioles had a chance to win the game within the regulation nine innings, but failed to do so in the bottom of the ninth. They loaded the bases with two outs, when Gunnar Henderson was intentionally walked in front of Taylor Ward. Ward went up 3-0 in the count against Elieser Hernández before the count was eventually pushed to 3-2. On the payoff pitch, Ward hit the ball 102 mph on the ground right at the third baseman Austin Riley, who fumbled it for a moment or two, but managed to gather himself, throw out Ward, and leave the three runners stranded.

The top of the 10h inning would, unfortunately, be the low point of the game for the Orioles. With the Manfred runner on second base, Joey Bart led off with a single to put runners on the corners. Jim Jarvis then hit a bouncer to the right side of the infield that Holliday did well to dive for and successfully field. Where he went wrong was his throw towards Henderson covering second base. It was airmailed into left field, allowing not only the run to score but the two other runners to advance into scoring position too. Andrew Kittredge almost got out of the jam, striking out Baldwin and Ozzie Albies. But Craig Albernaz decided to pitch to Matt Olson rather than walking him to the open base at first and facing Michael Harris II. It didn’t work out. Olson launched a 416-foot, three-run homer to right field, blowing the game open and giving the Braves a 7-3 lead.

Credit to the Orioles, or at least to Encarnacion-Strand, for showing some fight in their half of the 10th. Tyler O’Neill led off with a single, which pushed the Manfred runner to third. The two batters that followed were retired before Encarnacion-Strand hit what is already his third major league homer of the season to make it a 7-6 game and bring the tying run to the plate. Unfortunately, the bench was empty at this point, and that meant Sam Huff had to take the at-bat. He struck out on a slider that was hung in the middle of the plate, sealing the Orioles frustrating loss.

The goodness in this game was largely contained to two players: Rogers and Encarnacion-Strand. Rogers is back to being an ace. That’s good news for the Orioles. Their either have a dependable arm for the final two months of the season, or they have one of the most attractive trade chips in the sport. Encarnacion-Strand is playing himself into being the team’s everyday third baseman, at least for right now. They need help scoring runs, and he’s making it happen. Keep playing him until he proves otherwise.

The bad was much more widely shared. The Orioles went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base. It’s nearly impossible to win with numbers like that, and they happen far too frequently for this crew. It doesn’t help that the current catcher situation, with Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo both on the IL, is an offensive black hole. Holliday made a rather terrible error. He had done the hard part, which was catching the ball. Maybe he should have just taken the easy out at first. At the very least he can’t let the runners take another base. And the bullpen, specifically Garcia and some blame to Kittredge, wasn’t good enough. That’s nothing new, of course, but it is a problem that will have to be addressed if Mike Elias and company do decide to buy at the deadline.

These two teams will be back at it again on Saturday night in Baltimore. The Orioles will start Brandon Young (8-2, 3.25 ERA) against the Braves’ Bryce Elder (6-6, 4.06 ERA). First pitch is set for 7:05 from Camden Yards.

Mets starting pitcher Sean Manaea spoke to the media following his strong outing in the team's 4-2 loss against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.

The southpaw held his own against the defending back-to-back World Series champions, completing six innings and allowing just one earned run on six hits across 84 pitches.

"It's everything you live for," Manaea explained postgame. "It's the big leagues; we want to pitch against the best. They're one of the best teams in the league, and have a bunch of superstar players. You're not going to survive (in MLB) long if you don't want to pitch against a team like this."

Manaea held the Dodgers' cohort of four superstar players - Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, and Kyle Tucker - to just two extra-base hits, both of them doubles. 

Ohtani's double was as amazing as it was strange, with the lefty slugger using one hand and desperately poking at a sweeper moving away from him, hooking it down the right-field line and into the corner. Ohtani was thrown out trying to stretch the play into a triple thanks to a perfect relay from Carson Bengeand Francisco Lindor.

"Ohtani is Ohtani. He's a pretty good player," Manaea chuckled as he reflected on the strange play. "That was a good pitch. It was crazy, the fact he even got to the ball...unbelievable."

Manaea was efficient throughout his outing thanks to a heavy reliance on his four-seam fastball. The left-hander throws that pitch around 34 percent of the time on average, but against the Dodgers on Friday, he upped the ante with a 61 percent clip, over 70% of them being strikes.

When asked if the uptick in usage was a conscious choice, Manaea responded, "If I'm executing pitches from the get-go, it's my plan."

Through two starts against the Dodgers during his time in Queens, Manaea has recorded a 2.45 ERA in 11 IP. He clearly appreciates the opportunity to do battle with the cream of the MLB crop.

"Anytime we face those guys, it's always a challenge, and I love that stuff. They've definitely kicked my butt before, but it goes both ways, so [I have] a lot of respect for them," he concluded.

PHILADELPHIA — Most of Citizens Bank Park on Friday was still buzzing from the news earlier in the day that LeBron James was taking his talents to the City of Brotherly Love. 

Aaron Boone included. 

The Yankees manager, a longtime 76ers fan, was among those excited for James to be signing in Philadelphia on a two-year, $8 million deal at the age of 41. 

“Looks like they got a pretty good starting five in the mix,” Boone said with a big grin before the Yankees opened a series against the Phillies. 

“The East is getting interesting.” 

Boone’s 76ers fandom stems from spending part of his childhood growing up here while his dad, Bob, was playing for the Phillies.

But he now manages in New York and has also gotten to know some of the Knicks’ personnel during his tenure, so naturally he was asked whether he favored the Knicks or 76ers heading into next season. 

“The Knicks are the champs,” he said diplomatically. “But you bring Jaylen Brown in and LeBron, it’s two pretty good pieces I’d say. 

“I’ll be watching with interest, I’m sure, this winter.” 

Carlos Rodón (left elbow inflammation) is set to throw a “two-up” bullpen session Saturday — throwing a handful of pitches, sitting down and then getting back up for the equivalent of another inning — with about 35 pitches in total.

If he gets through that session without issue, he should advance to facing hitters by next week. 

Boone said he still has “no idea” when Rodón might be ready to return to the rotation, though at this rate, he will almost certainly need to go on a rehab assignment. 

Clarke Schmidt (Tommy John surgery) is scheduled to face hitters for a second time Sunday, throwing another simulated inning as he works toward a potential return later this season. 

Luis Gil (right shoulder inflammation) has advanced to facing hitters at the club’s player development complex, according to a video he posted on social media. … Dax Kilby, the Yankees’ first-round pick last summer, was activated off the injured list Friday for the first time this season at Single-A Tampa. The shortstop prospect, battling a hamstring injury, played in a rehab game in late May but then was out of action again until last week, when he played three rehab games without issue, clearing him to join Tampa’s roster.

Tampa Bay brought the unusual combination of the the original home white jerseys and the 2001-2005 era hats. That unusualness continued in the game because these two teams frequently play close games, but this game was never really in doubt as the Rays went up in the second inning and never looked back in this 11-3 win over Cleveland.

The Rays and Guardians squared off in Cleveland at the end of April and neither team scored more than three runs in any contest. The teams scored a combined 10 runs in the three games in two 1-run wins by the Rays and a 2-run win by the Guardians. That came after a 2025 history which saw three 1-run games between the two teams along with a blowout win by each club. Coming into this contest, the talk was focused on how evenly matched the clubs were, so much so that Brian Anderson invoked a Spiderman meme joke in the pre-game when previewing the game.

The first inning saw both Shane McClanahan and Joey Cantillo look sharp, particularly Cantillo as he carved up Yandy Diaz on three pitches. The second inning was more of the same from McClanahan, but the offensive party got started after a one-out single by Jonny DeLuca who was on base when second baseman Ryan Vilade sabotaged yet another first pitch for a two-run homer that included an entertaining slide into third base as Vilade was not convinced the ball cleared the wall. The home run was Vilade’s eighth of the season, and five of them have now come on first pitches:

The game was momentarily close in the fourth when the Guardians cut the lead in half with two doubles in the fourth inning from Chase DeLauter and David Fry, but then the club gave it all back and then some in the bottom of the frame. Cedric Mullins tripled to lead off the bottom of the fourth, which was followed by a single by DeLuca and an infield bunt single by Chandler Simpson that was successful despite being well-defended by the Guardians. A walk to Vilade loaded the bases for what should have been at least a forceout at home on a batted ball by Ben Williamson, but Rhys Hoskins threw one juuuuust a bit high:

Fortes hit his second single of the game to drive in a run, and the Rays found themselves up four runs with no outs in the inning. It is tough to nitpick in a blowout win, but as the late great Dave Wills loved to say, the Rays left some chicken on the bone in the inning. Diaz and Jonathan Aranda struck out while Junior Caminero hit into a 6-3 forceout. Aranda’s strikeout was particularly frustrating because he was victimized by a 3-0 auto-strike call and did not challenge the pitch:

That walk would have driven in a run, but Aranda did finally challenge two pitches in the 8th inning with the game out of hand, including challenging a pitch in the same location which got him in the 4th. It is unclear what the team strategy is for challenging pitches these days after watching them accept the very large zone Shane Bieber was afforded in Toronto.

The Rays would resume the scoring in the 6th on an RBI single by Junior Caminero that was a close call at the plate thanks to a throw by Petey Halpin that was better thatn the reception of said throw by Austin Hedges:

The scoring would continue in the later innings with a Fortes double driving in Williamson and the club hanging some runs on former teammate Shawn Armstrong, who unfortunately had to leave with what appeared to be an achilles injury. The scoring would be capped with a first pitch blast by Richie Palacios off Hunter Gaddis.

If this were a hockey matchup and we were giving out the stars of the game, they would be as such:

1st star of the game: Ben Williamson

Williamson was 1 for 5 with a double in this game, but he made two outstanding defensive plays tonight. The second one came on a tricky bounce on the final out of the game, but his first play to rob Angel Martinez of a hit was special as it prevented a run and ended a rally:

2nd star of the game: Shane McClanahan

McClanahan had another strong, even if abbreviated, outing. Kevin Cash decided the game was well enough in hand after five to entrust the bullpen to get the final 12 outs. McClanahan threw 16 of 19 first pitch strikes and got 13 whiffs on 35 swings. The changeup was particularly nasty tonight, but it was also notable to see him hit 99 twice in this contest.

3rd star of the game: Nick Fortes

Fortes has been red hot at the plate over his last five games with 2 home runs, 8 RBIs going 5 for 8 with runners in scoring position along with a .579 average. Tonight was his third multi-hit contest this week after just three such games in his previous 22 games

The home runs by Vilade and Palacious tonight give the Rays 29 home runs in the month of July, which at press time, leads all American League clubs. Unfortunately, the Rays did not gain any ground tonight as the Yankees shut out the Phillies 1-0 behind Cam Schlittler while the Red Sox defeated the Blue Jays 6-4.