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The season may be 162 games long, but there are certain games that hold more weight than others. In the case of the White Sox, there are few that will hold as much weight as tonight’s game being the first after the All-Star break. It set the tone for the second half, which will be crucial for a White Sox team that finds itself right in the thick of the AL Central race. With a tough road game and the lights shining bright on the forever awful Apple TV, the White Sox continued their dominance over the Toronto Blue Jays in a 12-4 runaway.

Coming into the game, the story was who would prevail in a pitcher’s duel between Anthony Kay and Spencer Miles. Both pitchers struggle to produce many missed swings, and live off of producing weak contact. It was a question on who was sharpest, and Kay won the battle. He certainly wasn’t flawless, but the White Sox got to Miles early, scoring at ease early against one of the better recent pitchers in the American League.

When going up against a pitcher like Miles, it’s important to take what you’re given. Trying to do too much usually is what gets teams in trouble. Fortunately, the White Sox knew exactly what was needed of them and jumped all over the righthander, who only lasted four innings and surrendered five runs.

The story of the night was “the other guys,” and no, I’m not talking about the 2010 movie classic by Adam McKay. Miguel Vargas and Munetaka Murakami are obviously crucial to the success of the White Sox, but it’s going to be the other guys who are going to need to step up if this team wants to win the division. And in a game where Vargas and Murakami struggled, Sam Antonacci and both Montgomerys carried the load.

In the second inning that saw Chicago score five runs, none of them came from the bats of Murakami or Vargas. Toronto fought back with two runs of their own over the third and fourth innings before a Colson Montgomery double with the bases loaded brought in three runs to spike the lead to 8-2; during that same inning, Murakami walked while Vargas struck out.

The role players don’t need to play like stars every night, but if they can pick up the slack here and there when the two All Stars are struggling at the plate, that will be the difference in the AL Central race. With all due respect to Cleveland, Minnesota and Detroit, none of those teams can compete with Chicago’s depth if players like Antonacci continue to step up.

Unfortunately for the White Sox, games aren’t decided in just five innings, so there was still some baseball to be played. In an odd move, Will Venable took Anthony Kay out after just four innings, having struggled through 83 pitches. It was surprising to see the skipper not at least give Kay a chance at going five and collecting the win. On the other hand, it did give fans a chance to suffer from heart palpitations as they watched, so who’s to say whether it was the right call or not.

With a six-run lead, a blown game by the bullpen probably would’ve led to screaming and loud sobbing that could’ve been heard all the way to Canada. Instead, the bullpen only slightly struggled with the golden goose of an 8-2 game.

In what was hopefully more of a “one-off” performance, reliever Trevor Richards struggled to keep the ball in the park. Over five outs, he allowed four hits and two runs thanks to a pair of solo home runs. Luckily, the White Sox would put the game away in the seventh, rendering any other sketchy bullpen work moot. But Seranthony Domínguez mopped up for one out in the sixth and long reliever Tyler Schweitzer brought the game home with three scoreless innings to earn his first major league win.

All in all, it’s hard to complain about a win, especially one of this nature. It is a little odd to see the White Sox score more than 50 runs over their last four games on Friday, but as long as the games keep going in our favor we might as well embrace the chaos.

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Game MVP
Colson Montgomery (SS): 2-for-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B, BB, K, 12% WPA

Runners-Up
Sam Antonacci (LF): 2-for-5, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI, 12% WPA
Braden Montgomery (RF): 1-for-5, 3B, 2 R, 4 RBI, SB, 0% WPA
Chase Meidroth (2B): 2-for-4, 2 R, RBI, 9% WPA
Tyler Schweitzer (LHRP): 3 IP, H, BB, 3 K, first career WIN (1-0), 40-of-54 strikes, 1% WPA
Andrew Benintendi (DH): 1-for-2, R, K, 8% WPA

Cold Cat
Trevor Richards (RHRP): 1 2/3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, K, 2 HR, -2% WPA

Runners-Up
Miguel Vargas (3B): 1-for-4, R, 2 K, -4% WPA
Tristan Peters (CF): 1-for-4, RBI, -2% WPA
Kyle Teel (C): 1-for-5, 2B, RBI, 3 K, 8% WPA

Both teams missed out on some offensive opportunities, but the Cubs’ misses ended up hurting more. Some nice defense by the Twins tonight helped Bailey Ober escape some jams, and Ryan Jeffers’s bomba proved to be enough offense.

Inning-by-inning notes:

1: Colin Rea, whose name sounds Irish but who’s actually from Iowa, walks leadoff hitter Trevor Larnach, whose name sounds more Scottish. Two fielder’s choice outs and a strikeout means no runs for the Twins, who would be called “Efeilliaid” if they were Welsh.

A leadoff walk issued by Bailey Ober, too, except this one actually comes back to haunt. Selya Suzuki walks, and Michael Busch knocks the lead runner in. Wrongly, Twins RF Alan Roden tries throwing home, and that lets Suzuki scamper to third. But Alex Bregman strikes out, and Ian Happ grounds into a 3-6 DP, nicely started by Royce Lewis. So Ober escapes without any more damage. Cubs 1-0

2: The Twins don’t do anything, and Roden loses one of the teams’ ABS challenges. The dude’s got an OPS of .494 — buddy, your problems go deeper than ump calls.

With Bailey Ober throwing that mighty 87-MPH stuff, the Cubs begin with two singles, the second advancing the runner to third. And then —-the same thing happens! Strikeout followed by DP! Wow, that’s some real BAbip luck right there.

3: Luke Keaschall with a leadoff infield hit. Then Tristan Gray hits it to first, and 1B Michael Busch makes a wonky throw that glances off Keaschall and hits Dansby Swanson right in the mouth; radio said he was bleeding pretty visibly, ouch!

Then, bam-bam, Larnach single and Ryan Jeffers dinger!

Followed by a single, DP, and flyout, but we’ll take it.

And Ober, still throwing 87, strikes out the side. Crazy! Twins 4-1

4: Two-out single by Keaschall, he’d have stolen second if Gray hadn’t struck out on the same pitch.

A two-out single by Nico Hoerner that becomes a double when Kody Clemens airmails the throw, but Ober gets the next guy to harmlessly pop up.

5: Twins down in order, Rea at 82 pitches. Same for Cubs; Ober at 78. Nice diving/rolling play by Brooks Lee for the second out.

6: Leadoff double into the LF corner by Suzuki. A FC advances Suzuki to third and chases Ober. Recent acquisition Tommy Nance comes in. He throws a wild pitch that bounces off the backstop and allows Suzuki to score. Then Nance walks Bregman. Then Happ singles. Finally Nance gets a groundout and a deep flyout to end the inning. Lake Superior 4 Lake Michigan 2

7: RP Drew Pomeranz in for Chicago; he does not start well. Two walks and an RBI to PH Ryan Kriedler; second and third with no outs!

IT’S A TRAP. Trevor Larnach hits one out of the ballpark, but it’s a foul ball; then he lines out to first. Gavin Pomerall comes in and strikes out Jeffers, then Josh Bell. Hope leaving those RISP doesn’t come back to bite our boys on the butt.

Nance still in there. He gets the first two guys, and Taylor Rogers enters to face LH Pete Crow-Armstrong, who is the son of Sheryl Crow and Lance Armstrong except I am lying about one or both of those. Pete C-A pops out on the second pitch, ‘cause every day is a winding road or something. Non-windy city 5-2

8: Ryan Rolison in to pitch; Brooks Lee gets a two-out single and tries stealing. He’s thrown out, and starts walking off the field; the Twins challenge the call. When even the guy called out thinks he was out, he was probably out; that’s the case here.

Andrew Morris for side Us, working on a 16-inning scoreless streak. Suzuki smacks one to left-center but Keaschall is able to run it down. Then two less-dramatic groundouts. Make it 17 innings.

9: Tyler Fergusfalls Ferguson pitching; the Twins go down quickly.

And it’s Yoendrys Gómez for the Twins; he walks the leadoff guy. Lewis ALMOST turns a nifty DP; still, gets the lead runner. Michael Conforto strikes out; Carson Kelly hits one deep, but there’s Keaschall again to grab it before crashing into the ivy. Twims wim! (We spell it wrong here sometimes.)

That brings the Twins to 49-49; it’s the first time they’re at .500 since April 22nd.

Studs of the game: Ober, lucky or not; Jeffers for the bomba and Keaschall for the defense. Duds: no duds, Twins win, but we’re sorry about Dansby Swanson’s mouth, hope his teeth are okay. I’ve had someone break one of my teeth and it SUCKS.

COTG to sandwiches for a great story about family and co-workers, and BobbyDarwinFanClub for mishearing a famous KISS song: “‘(At one point) I literally thought the lyrics were “Rock and Roll all night and part of every day.” I believe in moderation in all things, especially moderation.’” Thanks to everybody who joined in a pretty fun thread.

Tomorrow’s game is at 1:20, featuring lefty Matthew Boyd against our own Taj Bradley. Catch ya next time!

The Boston Red Sox are 48-48, even for the first time since March 28th—the second game of the entire season. They got there by sweeping a doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays, 10-0 and 5-3, on a Friday afternoon and evening at Fenway Park. Jake Bennett went six innings and gave up one hit in the opener. The offense went bonkers enough to bring in a position player pitching (which feels illegal if you have a 27th man). Wilyer Abreu hit two homers in Game 2 against right-handed pitching, which has been a problem all year. Willson Contreras went yabo in his first game back from suspension. The bullpen held a two-run lead for five frames. Aroldis Chapman closed it with a perfect ninth for his 20th save.

There are 66 games left. Nobody knows what that means yet. But this team has won eleven in a row and the conversation has changed.

GAME ONE: Red Sox 10, Rays 0

There are days where the starting pitcher is the whole story. Friday’s opener was one of them.

Jake Bennett went six innings and allowed one hit. One. Against a Rays lineup with Junior Caminero and Yandy Diaz. He walked one, struck out three, hit a batter, and otherwise quietly dismantled them—65 pitches, none of the drama, all of the results. The offense did plenty of damage behind him, but Bennett’s afternoon set the tone for everything that followed.

The big frame on offense was the sixth. The Red Sox were already up 3-0 heading in, Griffin Jax having already suffered enough damage with Yoshida taking him deep in the fourth—yeah, the wheels came all the way off. And they came off in the most fitting way possible: the Red Sox beat the Rays at their own game. Before this, Jarren Duran brought home two runs with a bases-loaded single, chasing Jax from the game. Now, with runners on the corners, Carlos Narváez laid down a sacrifice bunt that forced a bad throw to first from catcher Nick Fortes, turning a routine sacrifice out into another opportunity for a run. Then Tsung-Che Cheng dropped one so perfectly up the third base line that nobody wanted to touch it. The Rays jawed about this being foul but it wasn’t. Just perfect small ball baseball. Two bunts, two problems for Tampa’s defense, six runs before the inning was done. Chris Roycroft inherited a mess and made it worse. Jarren Duran drove in three total on the day. Caleb Durbin went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. This was an all-team effort.

Then in the seventh, Carlos Narváez sealed it. His solo shot off Roycroft went 412 feet at 106.9 exit velocity. Soo wee, was that a spectacular shot.

Luis Gamboa handled the final three innings. He was the extra arm up for the doubleheader—going back down when it’s over—which meant Tracey could burn him freely without touching anyone else in the pen. Kind of like a coupon that expires at midnight. Bennett’s 65 pitches and Gamboa’s presence made the whole thing cleaner than it had any right to be. It worked out really well knowing there was a second game to be had.

Final: 10-0. Red Sox with 15 hits and no errors.

Studs

Jake Bennett (6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K)

One hit in six innings against the best record in the AL East. Bennett has been one of the more reliable arms in this rotation all year and this was his best outing of the season. The command was there, the Rays never got comfortable, and he handed things to Gamboa with a 10-0 lead and nothing to worry about. Exactly what a doubleheader opener needs to be. Over his last 5 starts—a 4-0 record, 0.82 ERA, 4 walks to 25 Ks, a .64 WHIP in 33 total frames. Kudos to Breslow on this, this was a shrewd pickup from the Nationals.

Carlos Narváez (3-for-4, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R)

Three hits and a 412-foot shot in the seventh to close the scoring. Narváez is batting .203, which isn’t a number that makes you feel great, but the power is real—this was his third homer—and today he was right there from the first bunt to the last swing.

Masataka Yoshida (3-for-5, HR, 2B, 1 RBI, 3 R)

Three hits, three runs scored, a homer, and a double. The Macho Man was on base all afternoon and driving the offense. Frankly, he’s been one of the hottest players as of late. It so helps round this lineup out. How about coming within a triple of the cycle too?

Caleb Durbin (3-for-4, 1 RBI, 2 R)

On base all afternoon and scored twice to go with his three hits. What else can you say about one of the most changed players in baseball?

Duds

It’s a 10-0 win, so let’s keep this section brief.

Anthony Seigler (2-for-5, 0 RBI, GIDP)

Two hits, but grounded into a double play in a game that scored 10 runs. Fine afternoon overall—the GIDP earns the spot.

Wilyer Abreu (1-for-4, 0 RBI, 2 K)

Two strikeouts and an intentional walk. He’d fix this in Game 2.

Play of the Game

Narváez’s seventh-inning bomb. 412 feet, 106.9 exit velocity, dead pull to left. For a hitter who’s been grinding all year, that one had some feeling behind it.

GAME TWO: Red Sox 5, Rays 3

If Game 1 was about pitching and small ball, Game 2 was about a team that’s learned not to crumble.

Jarren Duran made a throwing error in the top of the first that let two Rays runs score on a Jonny DeLuca single. Rays 2, Red Sox 0 before Boston had even come to bat. This early 2026 version of the Red Sox might have absorbed that kind of start and gone quiet the rest of the night. This isn’t that team.

Wilyer Abreu stepped up and hit a two-run homer to right-center. Tied. Bam. Then Willson Contreras—in his first game back from suspension—hit one to left-center right behind him. Back-to-back. Bam. Bam. Sox lead. Fenway was RAUCOUS.

The Rays tied it in the third. Junior Caminero—who has been a nightmare for this team all series and one of the preeminent power hitters in all of baseball—hit his 29th homer of the season down the left field line to make it 3-3. The Sox responded yet again in the bottom half: Abreu, his second homer of the game, a solo shot to retake the lead at 4-3. He hit both against right-handed pitching, which matters because Abreu has genuinely struggled against righties this season. He didn’t look like it today.

Anthony Seigler added an RBI double in the fourth to make it 5-3, and that’s where the score stayed. Eduardo Rivera gave up all three Tampa runs in 2.1 innings, but the bullpen that took over was extraordinary: Weissert, Morán, Guerrero, Whitlock, Slaten, and Chapman combined for 6.2 scoreless innings. Chapman closed it with a perfect ninth—his 20th save—and the Red Sox had swept the doubleheader.

48-48. Eleven wins in a row. Back to .500 for the first time since the second game of the season.

Studs

Wilyer Abreu (2-for-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R)

Two home runs against right-handed pitching in a game that needed both of them. The first one tied it immediately and made Contreras’s back-to-back shot possible. The second came right after the Rays tied it in the third—Abreu responded before anyone had a chance to feel queasy about this. He’s been squaring the ball up differently over the last few weeks, which the Sox sorely need.

Willson Contreras (1-for-4, HR, 1 RBI, 3 K)

He’s back, and he homered in his first at-bat of his first game back from suspension. The three strikeouts are an afterthought. Bowser can’t do much wrong.

The Bullpen (6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K)

Weissert, Morán, Guerrero, Whitlock, Slaten, Chapman. Six pitchers, 6.2 scoreless innings after Rivera handed them a 5-3 lead that needed protecting. They protected it. Chapman’s 20th save closed it out.

Duds

Jarren Duran (0-for-4, 1 K, E)

The throwing error in the first put them behind before they had a chance to hit. The Sox answered immediately, so it didn’t cost them, but in a tighter game that’s a different conversation. Quiet at the plate too—the sac fly and three RBI from Game 1 feel like a long time ago with a batting average as low as his.

Eduardo Rivera (2.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K)

Responsible for all three Rays runs. The bullpen bailed him out completely. He’s not an opener but not a true deep starter? I don’t know what to make of it.

Play of the Game

Contreras and Abreu, back-to-back. Down 2-0 in the first inning, Abreu ties it with one swing, then Contreras takes the lead with the very next pitch. The whole game changed in about 90 seconds.

Lost amid the headlines about Tarik Skubal, the Dodgers face this unexpected reality as the trade deadline looms: They would like to add a starting pitcher, but they need to add a catcher.

Will Smith has not played in six weeks. In a “best case” scenario, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Friday, Smith would miss another month.

That left Roberts to make a jolting admission, when I asked him if the team really can count on Smith returning this season.

“We don’t know,” Roberts said, “but we certainly are counting on it.”

Would it be nice for the Dodgers to get their three-time All-Star catcher back in time for October? Of course.

Should the Dodgers count on it? Of course not.

Read more:Dodgers expect Shohei Ohtani to pitch next week as they manage his knee ailment

The Dodgers won’t know where Smith stands by the Aug. 3 trade deadline. That means now is the time to acquire a catching option they may or may not need later.

Dalton Rushing, the primary catcher in Smith’s absence, has a .799 OPS. Among the 24 major league catchers with at least 200 plate appearances entering play Friday, Rushing ranked fifth in OPS.

He is hitless in his last 13 at-bats. His batting average: .266 before Smith’s injury, .233 since then.

On defense, Rushing ranks next-to-last in defensive runs saved among major league catchers, ahead of only the Angels’ Logan O’Hoppe. On Friday, in the Dodgers’ 2-1 victory at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees scored their only run on Rushing’s passed ball.

In past Octobers, the Dodgers have prioritized defense at catcher. In the 2020 World Series, Austin Barnes caught ahead of Smith in four of the six games, including the final two.

In 2025, with Smith recovering from a hand injury, Ben Rortvedt started ahead of Rushing in the Dodgers’ first four postseason games. Rortvedt was a trade deadline acquisition last summer, picked up with pitcher Paul Gervase from the Tampa Bay Rays for catcher Hunter Feduccia.

Rortvedt, currently playing in triple-A for the New York Mets, fits the profile of what the Dodgers need now: a defense-first catcher with major league readiness. With Smith injured, the Dodgers first tried and then cut minor league journeyman Chuckie Robinson at backup catcher. Their current backup, Eliezer Alfonso, made his major league debut in his ninth professional season; he is hitless in nine at-bats.

Could the Dodgers pursue an established catcher, say Ryan Jeffers of the Minnesota Twins or Francisco Alvarez or Luis Torrens of the New York Mets? Possible, but probably not necessary.

Rushing could be their guy. Smith could be back.

Smith has started and re-started baseball activities, only to find out that the inflamed disk in his neck flares up.

“He hasn’t been able to get over the hump,” Roberts said.

The Dodgers are trying another round of complete rest before asking him to try hitting or throwing again.

“We felt that, if he’s inactive, it gives it a good chance to get all the inflammation out, the soreness out, the pain, increase flexibility, all of it,” Roberts said. “Then he has a fighting chance to work his way back. Trying to do everything — even at a lesser dosage — just wasn’t feasible.”

Trying to trade for Skubal might not be feasible, at least so long as his Detroit Tigers remain in the American League wild-card race. The Tigers won seven of their final 10 games in the first half, and they face teams with losing records in 13 of their 16 second-half games ahead of the trade deadline, starting with the Angels this weekend in Anaheim.

The Dodgers do not need a depth starter. However, they might do well to find someone they would feel comfortable starting the third or fourth game of a playoff series, lest they count on Blake Snell (elbow) and Tyler Glasnow (back) and Shohei Ohtani (knee) all returning to the mound healthy and effective.

Important, yes. As important as another catcher, no.

For a team that will spend almost half a billion dollars on its player payroll and luxury tax this season, its most important trade deadline pickup could be a catcher making maybe $1 million.

Read more:Max Muncy makes Yankees pay for keeping Gerrit Cole on mound in Dodgers' win

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Gerrit Cole never threw a pitch trailing in this game. Yet he was on the hook for a fifth loss—wasting what was a magnificent outing—because the Yankees offense failed to score more than one (unearned) run against Roki Sasaki and the Dodgers bullpen to prevent a 2-1 defeat. One mistake by the Yankees starter against Max Muncy, who hit a two-run blast in the seventh inning, accounted for all of the opposition’s scoring in this low-scoring affair. Cole’s pitching line before then was six scoreless innings with three hits, eight strikeouts, and no walks. Alas, that was not how it ended.

Anyone who came into this game with thoughts of a slugfest, given the recent hiccups of both starters, was left somewhat surprised by the efficiency of both of them. Neither allowed a single hit with a runner in scoring position, not that there were even that many types of chances for each team.

It’s a given that with the quality of these offenses, an opportunity or two will arise, but when it did, both Cole and Sasaki handled it reasonably well. Ryan McMahon began the third inning with an automatic double, and a couple of batters later the Yankees had two on and one out as Trent Grisham worked a hard-fought walk. The excitement of this scenario ended as quickly as it came to fruition, with Ben Rice hitting into a double play on the first pitch of his at-bat. One inning earlier, the Dodgers had been the team wasting their chance with a runner in scoring position as Dalton Rushing stranded a pair with a strikeout swinging.

Unable to put rallies together, each team had to get creative about getting on the board. They both took advantage of opposition mistakes but went about it very differently. The Yankees pounced on defensive miscues to open the scoring in the bottom of the fourth. Andy Pages misplayed a two-out double from Jasson Domínguez, allowing the Martian to move to third on the error. Sasaki would retire the following hitter, but not before a wild pitch allowed Domínguez to come across and score.

The Yankees could’ve given Cole some cushion in the sixth, when once again they put two men on against Sasaki. Seeing what Domínguez had done against the Dodgers starter earlier in the game, Dave Roberts went to the left-hander Jack Dreyer, who punched out Domínguez looking on a curve.

That moment would loom large in the following frame because that’s when the Dodgers pounced on a different kind of mistake: a mistake pitch. Cole had given Aaron Boone every reason to try to push him for one more frame, a move that did not ultimately work out. Mookie Betts worked a leadoff walk to start the seventh (Cole’s first free pass of the night), and for any other Yankee starter, that would’ve been the end of the line, but not for Cole. Boone walked to the mound and only talked to his starter, letting the veteran keep going—in a tiring at-bat, after three Muncy foul balls, Cole fed him a slider with far too much off the plate, leading to a no-doubt shot, well over 400 feet out to right field.

One subplot of this game was Ohtani’s continued struggles at Yankee Stadium. He came into the game hitting .136 in the Bronx and delivered yet another oh-fer, which included stranding a runner in the eighth, wasting a chance to pad the Dodgers’ lead.

Dreyer stayed in the game after retiring Domínguez, and once again managerial decisions came into play, as Boone opted not to pinch-hit for McMahon with two outs in the seventh and a lefty-lefty matchup. McMahon was 1-for-2, and the Yankees had three lefties following him; McMahon popped out. It turns out that Boone was saving Amed Rosario for the eighth, as he then pinch-hit for Austin Wells against another lefty, Alex Vesia.

It was in that eighth inning that the Yankees had and wasted their best chance to get back in the game. The same defensive impact that handed the Yankees a run earlier in the game came on the opposite side to take one away from them. Grisham worked his second great walk of the game, this one against Vesia, and this time Ben Rice delivered with a ball in the gap that looked like it’d tie things up.

Grisham, however, did not get the best of jumps on it, and he was nailed at the plate with Pages linking up with Mookie Betts to nab the Yankee’ center fielder.

One could quibble with Yankees third-base coach Luis Rojas’ decision to send Grisham despite the poor jump and 32nd-percentile sprint speed, even with Mookie perfectly executing a hard play to coordinate the brilliant relay throw home. Would Paul Goldschmidt or Cody Bellinger have stranded him on third with one out anyway? We’ll never know, though Bellinger had a chance to plate a run anyway after an intentional walk to Goldschmidt; he hit a lazy fly to center.

Tanner Scott tossed a clean ninth, and that was the ballgame.

The Yankees’ hitters better wake up with a better mindset tomorrow, as they face Emmet Sheehan before being tasked with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Sunday. They’ll also need Ryan Weathers to put in a good effort as well against Sheehan, and it might very well be Weathers’ toughest test yet as a Yankee. Assuming the weather holds off, first pitch will be at 8:08pm ET on Fox.

Box Score

The title says it all.

Sometimes a break does the body good. And that’s exactly what the Atlanta Braves have shown in their series opener against the Texas Rangers in a 15-1 win.

Starting off with a Drake Baldwin single to bring in Dominic Smith, the Braves didn’t let up from the bottom of the second inning.

Baldwin would also come back in the bottom of the fourth to feature the play of the night. A three-run homer to drive in Jim Jarvis and Brewer Hicklen would put the Braves up by five runs.

The one and only, Drake Baldwin. 🫡#BravesCountrypic.twitter.com/bmlQnA0bjn

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 18, 2026

Jarvis knocked in a hit of his own by doubling in the bottom of the fifth to drive in Smith to give the Braves a 7-0 lead. The two took turns driving in another run on the board with a Baldwin single to bring Jarvis in for the eighth run (8-0).

Michael Harris put on a show soon after in the bottom of the seventh, where he hit an RBI double to bring in Baldwin, Ozzie Albies, and Matt Olson for an 11-0 lead.

The Rangers avoided a shutout by getting a run in the top of the eighth inning after a single from Rangers’ Nicky Lopez to drive in Cam Cauley for the team’s first and only run of the night.

Sealing the deal was an RBI single to drive in Hicklen and Jorge Mateo for the final two runs to cap off a run-heavy win where the bats were wide awake.

And for Chris Sale, it comes as no surprise that he pitched through seven innings and only allowed two hits, no earned runs and six strikeouts in his outing. And with the run production on his side, it’s safe to say that both sides did their job well to finish with a win.

The Texas Rangers scored one run but the Atlanta Braves scored 15 runs.

When the probables were released and it showed that the Rangers would be facing Chris Sale to open the second half, while countering with Cal Quantrill, the best you could hope for was that they would do what they had been doing through the final weeks of the first half.

Sure, it was kind of embarrassing that Quantrill was all that the Rangers could muster after taking nearly a full turn of the rotation’s worth of days off, but they’d been MacGyvering games into wins on their way to topping their division. Why not tonight too?

Instead, the smoke dissipated and the mirrors shattered. You won’t find many more thorough ass beatings than this game. Sale has dominated the Rangers to a near George Kirby-ian clip throughout his career and he was never really challenged in this one. Heck, at just 89 pitches, Sale probably only exited after seven innings because they game had already gotten so out of hand.

The Rangers collected two hits total off Sale. They got their lone run of the night when the game was already 12-0 in the top of the eighth. The Braves, meanwhile, after two outs to start the game, had already collected six hits off Quantrill in the next nine at-bats.

Remarkably, the Braves only scored two runs during that barrage but they were far from done. By the time Quantrill’s day finished, he had allowed six runs on 11 hits in just four innings of work. Quantrill provided some much-needed innings in spot starts while ramping up from long relief duties following Jack Leiter’s ankle surgery, but he was probably due for a dud.

After Quantrill exited, the Braves added on another nine runs off the Texas bullpen. It took until Ben Peoples’ one batter outing to end the seventh for a Rangers hurler to make it through an appearance unscathed. He was the only one to do so out of five pitchers. For the final inning, the Rangers turned to Kyle Higashioka to be one of those pitchers. He allowed a home run to the first batter he faced and a couple more runs for good measure.

For a good while now, due to injuries and roster deficiencies, it hasn’t seemed like the Rangers were putting a team with much big league quality on the field each night. That’s why it’s been kind of funny to see them atop the AL West. They’d been getting away with it with some wins over the last month or so.

They did not get away with it tonight.

Player of the Game: So despite not exactly kicking down the door in the minors this year, Emiliano Teodo finally made his MLB debut tonight. On one hand, that’s cool for Teodo. On the other, he’s now sporting an 10.80 big league ERA and has been cursed to remember this particular game for the rest of his life.

Up Next: Good news! The All-Star break ends and the second half of the season begins with a brief two-game series with the Atlanta Braves. In the series opener, LHP MacKenzie Gore will take the bump for Texas opposite RHP Owen Murphy for Atlanta.

The Saturday afternoon first pitch from Truist Park is scheduled for 3:10 pm CDT and you can catch it wherever you get your Rangers Sports Network which has become increasingly difficult to discern.

The Dodgers (62-36) opened the second half of the season with a hard-fought 2-1 win over the Yankees (54-43) at Yankee Stadium Friday night.

Roki Sasaki impressed with one of his best starts of the year. Sasaki limited a potent Yankees lineup to just five hits and one walk while striking out five batters. The only run surrendered on his watch was of the unearned variety.

The Dodgers committed nine errors over their last five games before the All-Star break, and it looked as if the shaky defense spilled into the second half. The defense finally came together to make a spectacular relay play to maintain a one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth.

Sasaki used all three of his pitches to induce swings and misses all night from the Yankees batters. His fastball reached more than 100-mph with location, and his nasty splitter was nearly unhittable.

Rōki Sasaki with back-to-back 102mph Heaters…and ending the at-bat with a disgusting 89mph Slider. 😳 pic.twitter.com/LWk0GUhEap

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 17, 2026

Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernandez collected consecutive two-out singles against Cole in the second inning. Dalton Rushing wasn’t able to take advantage, striking out against Cole to strand both runners.

In the third, Andy Pages also managed a two-out single off Cole. Freddie Freeman struck out on a slider to strand another runner.

A Ryan McMahon double and walk to Trent Grisham in the bottom of the third were erased after Ben Rice grounded into a timely double play.

Poor defense reared his ugly ahead again in the bottom of the fourth for the Dodgers. A bobbling fielding error by Pages in center field allowed Jasson Domínguez to reach third base on what should have been contained to a double. Then a passed ball by Rushing allowed the first run of the game to score, giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead.

Jack Dreyer got the job done in relief of Sasaki when he struck out Domínguez with two runners on base in the bottom of the sixth.

Cole was cruising through the game, but it was also the first time he ventured into the 100-plus pitch mark since returning from injury.

The turning point in the game came when Max Muncy crushed a no-doubt two-run home run against Cole to flip the script and give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.

Max Muncy DESTROYS a 2-run shot to the second deck for a @Dodgers lead 😤 pic.twitter.com/j40oNhZ8r4

— MLB (@MLB) July 18, 2026

Ben Rice hit a booming double to the center field gap with an out in the bottom of the eighth. Mookie Betts made a spectacular throw home to Dalton to tag out the sliding Grisham. It was a fantastic relay all around. Pages recovered the ball, hit deep to the gap. Betts skillfully snatched the relay throw to send it across his body to home plate. Dalton also made an incredible grab on the other side of the plate. He brought the ball back around to tag Grisham and preserve the one-run lead.

ANDY. MOOKIE. DALTON. pic.twitter.com/4RVbtNFzn9

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 18, 2026

It was a satisfying way for the defense to make amends for the earlier miscue which led to the unearned New York run.

Tanner Scott shut down the Yankees in order in the ninth to pick up the save and help the Dodgers start off the second half with a win.

Friday particulars

Home runs: Max Muncy (18)

WP — Jack Dreyer (4-1): 1 1/3 IP, 2 strikeouts

LP — Gerrit Cole (3-5): 6 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts (103 pitches)

Sv — Tanner Scott (14): 1 IP, 1 strikeout

Up next

The Dodgers and Yankees battle again on Saturday when Emmet Sheehan (4-6, 4.81 ERA, 1.24 WHIP) takes on Ryan Weathers (3-7, 4.15 ERA, 1.24 WHIP) at (5:08 p.m. PT, Fox).

Dodgers All-Star third baseman Max Muncy didn’t get a break this week, traveling to Philadelphia to compete in the Midsummer Classic. But even without the extra rest, he put a charge into his go-ahead swing Friday.

The Dodgers struggled against veteran Yankees starter Gerrit Cole — until he hung a slider to Muncy in the seventh inning. Muncy launched it for a two-run blast to carry the Dodgers to a 2-1 victory.

“Anytime you can find a way to win a game when Gerrit Cole’s pitching, it’s a good thing,” manager Dave Roberts said.

Between the come-from-behind win, a strong showing from Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki and a defensive turnaround, the Dodgers (62-36) came out of the All-Star break on a positive note.

It was clear early on that Sasaki, who didn’t give up an earned run in 5 ⅔ innings, had something a little extra.

Pitching at Yankee Stadium for the first time, he punctuated a clean first inning by getting ahead of Paul Goldschmidt with 101.8- and 101.7-mph fastballs, en route to a five-pitch strikeout.

“I got a big smile on my face when I saw 102,” Roberts said.

It was the first time Sasaki topped 101 mph in a regular-season game, according to Statcast. He threw 21 pitches at 100 mph or harder, the most of any Dodger since pitch tracking began in 2008. Sasaki pointed to the rest he got over the All-Star break and a delivery tweak for his increase in velocity.

“I kind of changed the way I use my lower body,” Sasaki said. “So I’m really happy to get that velo up.”

The Yankees (54-43) scored their only run against Sasaki by taking advantage of a pair of defensive mistakes.

Read more:Dodgers expect Shohei Ohtani to pitch next week as they manage his knee ailment

With two outs in the fourth, center fielder Andy Pages bobbled Jasson Domínguez’s double in right-center field, giving him time to get to third. The next pitch, a forkball, got past catcher Dalton Rushing, and Domínguez raced home.

Pages later found some redemption with a defensive gem to end the fifth. He made a full-speed tumbling catch in the right-field gap to rob Austin Wells of an extra-base hit.

Cole held the Dodgers to just four hits in six-plus innings. Before the seventh, only one Dodgers runner reached second base, when Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernández hit back-to-back singles in the second.

Cole came back out for the seventh and walked Mookie Betts to lead off the inning. After a mound visit, he stayed in to face Muncy.

“It was a tough decision for [Yankees manager Aaron Boone],” Roberts said. “You’re thinking about going to the ‘pen, or do you let your ace go after Max and Tucker. And Max spoiled some good pitches and then got a pitch in his wheelhouse and put a good swing on it.”

Muncy fell into a two-strike count, but he kept battling. On the seventh pitch, he saw something he could drive — 416 feet at a 30-degree launch angle, to be exact.

Read more:Shaikin: With Will Smith out indefinitely, Dodgers need to trade for a catcher

“The swing felt great,” Muncy said on the Spectrum SportsNet LA broadcast. “The result was better and it gave us a chance to win.”

Dodgers relievers Jack Dreyer, Alex Vesia and Tanner Scott chipped in a combined 3⅓ scoreless innings to secure the win. The Yankees came inches away from tying the score in the eighth, but the Dodgers, shaking off their pre-All-Star break rough patch, delivered on defense.

With Trent Grisham on first after a walk, Ben Rice hit a double into the right-field gap off Vesia. Pages chased down the ball and quickly fired to shortstop Betts, who threw it home. Rushing’s sweeping tag beat Grisham to the plate.

“I think it was huge,” Betts said. “We still had a couple mishaps in this game. We’ve got to clean that up for sure. You can’t win a World Series doing what we did today. But we’ll keep working and try to clean it up.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Yankees' offense mustered just one run and spoiled Gerrit Cole's best start since returning from surgery in New York's 2-1 loss to the Dodgers on Friday night.

The Yankees picked up six hits but were 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left six on base.

Here are the takeaways...

-The first best chance the Yankees offense had against Roki Sasaki came in the third. Ryan McMahon led off with an opposite-field ground-rule double. Austin Wells struck out swinging before Trent Grisham walked. Ben Rice grounded into an inning-ending double play to end the threat.

The Yankees would finally break through on some bad fundies by the Dodgers. Jasson Domínguez hit a two-out double, but Andy Pages bobbled the ball in center, allowing Domínguez to go to third. With Jazz Chisholm Jr. up, Sasaski threw a forkball that Dalton Rushing could not handle, and the pitch went to the backstop, allowing Dominguez to score.

-In the sixth, the Yankees chased Sasaki after Rice and Cody Bellinger singled to put a runner in scoring position with two outs for Domínguez. Going up against a southpaw, Dominguez struck out looking. 

Down 2-1 in the eighth, Rice lined a double in right-center field with Grisham trying to score from first, but a great relay by the Dodgers got the Yankees outfielder at home. After Paul Goldschmidt was intentionally walked, Bellinger flew out. 

-Cole was masterful, even when the Dodgers peppered him with singles in the early innings. The right-hander retired 10 straight as he took the mound in the seventh. Mookie Betts drew a six-pitch walk to lead off and manager Aaron Boone came out. He spoke to Cole and instead of pulling his starter, he let him face Max Muncy, but the left-handed hitting slugger took Cole deep, smashing a 90 mph slider over the heart of the plate 416 feet into the left field seats. 

Cole's night ended with a loud womp. He allowed two runs on just four hits and one walk, and struck out eight batters through six-plus innings. He threw a season-high 103 pitches.

It was Cole's best start since returning from elbow surgery, but he left on the long side of this one.  

-In relief of Cole, Brent Headrick got the Dodgers 1-2-3 to finish the seventh before giving way to Fernando Cruz in the eighth. Tommy Edman led off with a double but Cruz bounced back, getting Ohtani to pop out and striking out Pages. Freddie Freeman flew out to center to come up empty in the inning. 

Paul Blackburn allowed a walk in a scoreless ninth inning to give the Yankees a chance in the bottom of the frame. Dominguez (lineout), Chisholm (strikeout) and Jose Caballero (flyout) went down in order to end the game. 

Game MVP: Max Muncy

Muncy's two-run blast put the Dodgers ahead for good.

What's next

The Yankees and Dodgers continue their three-game set on Saturday evening. First pitch is set for 8:08 p.m., weather permitting.

Ryan Weathers (3-7, 4.15 ERA) will take the mound. The Dodgers will send Emmett Sheehan (4-6, 4.81 ERA) to the bump.

 

This game was a tease.

Each time the Rays made a little headway on offense, they quickly gave it back on defense. Well, let me be clearer: Mason Englert, the Rays starter, promptly gave it back, because when the other team is hitting dingers it’s not the fielders who are letting us down.

The Rays started the game taking advantage of Edward Rivera’s poor control. In the first inning, the first two Rays batters made outs but Junior Caminero singled, and then both Vilade and Mullins walked. There was a moment of hope when DeLuca drove a 2-2 single, an impressive clutch hit, that scored two runs.

But alas.

Englert got the start, and he gave up a double to Rafaela and then a home run to Abreu and before we even had time to think “ooh a lead,” the game was tied. And then Contreras hit a home run and the score was 3-2. Even the next batter smoked a ball, but Williamson was able to make a great play to turn it into an out.

That’s OK though, because in the top of the third inning, our man Junior tied it up with this shot (111.6 mph by the way):

But the tie didn’t last long; in the next inning the Red Sox hit another home run to retake the lead, and then an inning later they scored again on a long double. At the end of four innings the Rays were down 5-3.

And that’s where it stayed. I guess the good news was that the Rays bullpen – Kimbrel, Sulser and Booser — all pitched scoreless innings, which would have put the Rays in a position to come back had they actually gotten on base. But after Junior’s home run the Rays could muster only two singles, one of which was erased on a double play.

All in all, a disappointing and low energy performance today.

The San Francisco Giants begin a three-game road series against the Seattle Mariners tonight.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Landen Roupp, who enters tonight’s game with a 4.27 ERA, 3.28 FIP, with 104 strikeouts to 42 walks in 97 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 10-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on July 6th, in which he allowed one run on three hits with five strikeouts and two walks in eight innings.

He’ll be facing off against Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller, who enters tonight’s game with a 2.18 ERA, 3.12 FIP, with 65 strikeouts to nine walks in 57.2 innings pitched. His last start was in the Mariners’ 8-4 loss to the Miami Marlins on July 9th, in which he allowed six runs (four earned) on nine hits with three strikeouts and four walks in five innings.

Game #97

Who: San Francisco Giants (41-55) vs. Seattle Mariners (48-49)

Where: T-Mobile Park, Seattle, Washington

When: 7:10 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

Knock knock, rise and shine, let’s get moving and grooving.

The Mariners are back from their horrible, dreamless slumber, with only a groggy recollection of the night before, and an instinct — call it hangxiety — that it’s best to get up before any memory can sneak through their pounding head. Thankfully, their first appointment has it even worse this morning. Long before the Mariners ended their evening by rattling off grievances with the state of Florida, the Giants were shirtless, pissing outdoors, and singing Morgan Wallen to the downward-glancing eyes of the clothed. We might find it within ourselves to forgive the Mariners, their flaws subtle, inward, universal. The Giants are just assholes.

Speaking of which, Landen Roupp is on the mound tonight. He’s been excellent this year, though a step forward (or to the side) on the mound won’t be what we remember about his season. Facing Roupp is Bryce Miller. He’s been the Mariners best pitcher this year, with a 26% K-BB and 3.12 FIP in 10 outings. After five days off, this turn in the rotation could have gone to anyone, and I’m taking note that it’s Miller who gets the first nod.

The Mariners lineup is just as they left it. All-Star Randy Arozarena is batting second. Former All-Star Cal Raleigh is batting fourth. J.P. Crawford is batting first and playing third; Colt Emerson is batting last and playing short. Luke Raley AND Dominic Canzone are in the lineup. No, Julio Rodríguez is not here tonight. Neither is Brendan Donovan.

Lineups

Game Info

First Pitch: 7:10 p.m.

TV: Mariners.TV and KING-5

Radio: Ol’ Reliable

News

Justin Hollander met the with the media today to give some injury updates.

• Julio worked out on the field today but is not playing. The plan is for him to return to the lineup tomorrow.
• Brendan Donovan’s rehab assignment continues in Tacoma.
• Rob Refsnyder will join Donovan in Tacoma tomorrow for a rehab assignment of his own.

Detroit Tigers (44-51) vs. Los Angeles Angels (38-59)

Time/Place: 9:38 p.m., Comerica Park
SB Nation Site: N/A
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Troy Melton (5-1, 1.82 ERA) vs. LHP Reid Detmers (3-6, 4.39 ERA)

Player	G	IP	K%	BB%	GB%	FIP	fWAR
Melton	8	49.1	21.7	5.8	43.7	4.07	0.7
Detmers	19	108.2	27.2	7.7	35.2	3.35	2.7

second half starts now ⤵️

⚾️ 9:38 PM ET
📺 @WatchDSN
📻 @971theticketxyt
🏟️ Angel Stadium pic.twitter.com/Z4iT2ZyrKq

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) July 17, 2026

.@Angels lineup today in the first matchup back since the All-Star break pic.twitter.com/gK0rlGbGN6

— Jack Haslett (@JackHaslett_13) July 17, 2026