The Yankees came into Boston on the heels of a solid series win in Detroit, looking primed to bury their rivals, who entered in last place in the AL East. Instead, things are feeling a little June Swoony, with the Yankees’ offense looking like they miss Aaron Judge over the last week or so. The team’s starting rotation should be able to pick up the offense and keep them in it every night, but Will Warren and Cam Schlittler have faltered the last two nights. Now, it’s up to Gerrit Cole to try to keep this from turning into a three-game losing streak.

On the site today, get caught up on last night’s action with Andrew’s Rivalry Roundup, and check out Sam’s profile of an interesting player, right-hander Eric Reyzelman . Also, John analyzes José Caballero’s sudden struggles on the base paths, while Matt delivers his All-Birthday team for June, and Maximo compares Willson Contreras’ and Ben Rice’s similar journeys from backstops to hard-hitting first basemen.

Today’s Matchup:

New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox

Time: 1:10 p.m. EST

TV: ABC/ESPN App

Venue: Fenway Park, Boston, MA

Questions/Prompts:

1. What version of Gerrit Cole will we see this afternoon?

2. Were you surprised to see the Mets let go of Carlos Mendoza, or had the writing been on the wall?

The MLB Draft Combine is a time to show off on the biggest stage. It’s the last chance to make an impression on scouts. And for many players, it’s the final chance to make your name known in hopes of hearing it called on draft day.

From June 23-26 at Chase Field in Phoenix, plenty of athletes made the most of that opportunity.

From newly 17-year-old Rocco Maniscalco showcasing elite arm strength to Noah Wilson setting a new Combine record in the 30-yard dash, the next generation of talent did not disappoint at Chase Field.

Among the 140 high school players in attendance, here are six players who stood out with exceptional performances.  

Genson Veras | OF | TNXL Academy

The 6-foot-6, 225-pound outfielder put on one of the most impressive power displays of the Combine during Day 2's batting practice. The son of former big league reliever Jose Veras launched three of the day’s 10 furthest home runs, highlighted by a 443-footer. He also produced elite exit velocities, becoming the only player to reach 114 mph on the day while recording three additional batted balls at 113 mph.

Another electric day at the MLB Draft Combine!

Here's who drilled the furthest homers: pic.twitter.com/DqqLl1CXLx

— MLB Draft (@MLBDraft) June 25, 2026

Rocco Maniscalco | SS | Oxford HS

Maniscalco came in as the youngest prospect at Combine, but you would never know by the talent he displayed. The shortstop, who turned 17 in May after reclassifying to become draft-eligible, stole the spotlight with a 97 mph throw from shortstop – one of the strongest infield throws of the week. The switch-hitter also showed off offensive tools, barreling 22 balls at 100 mph or harder.

Dominic Santarelli | 1B/OF | St. Joseph Catholic Academy

Santarelli’s power was impossible to miss this week. The 6-foot-2, 230-pound first baseman and outfielder led all participants with a 110.9 average exit velocity – more than 4 mph better than the next closest player. He also reached up to 115.1 mph, the fifth-highest exit velocity of the Combine. His strength allows him to generate effortless power to all fields.

Ethan Wachsmann | RHP | Grandview HS

No pitcher threw harder than Wachsmann this week. The Colorado native touched 100 mph twice, making him the hardest thrower at this year’s Combine. He averaged 98.8 mph on his four-seam fastball, leading the pitching group once again. The Wake Forest commit also recorded the top three fastball spin rates on Day 1, further cementing his status as one of the premier arms in the class.

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New York Post | Greg Joyce: Trent Grisham met the Yankees at Fenway Park Thursday to take the next step in his recovery from a hamstring strain. The center fielder took BP and did some fielding drills, a first step before a (likely brief) rehab stint to slated begin soon. Grisham, who’s been out since June 13, has been progressing at or ahead of schedule. “He’s doing really well,” manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s been encouraging. He’ll probably hit the bases … a couple times this weekend while we’re here. But he’s getting close.” With Aaron Judge also on the IL, the Yankees have been shorthanded in Grisham’s absence, using youngsters Jasson Domínguez and Spencer Jones in the outfield as well as José Caballero and Max Schuemann, two utilitymen who have mostly played in the infield in the big leagues.

MLB.com | Mike Petriello: Paul Goldschmidt’s resurgence as one of the best hitters in baseball in his age-38 campaign is one of the biggest surprises of the season. Usually, this type of turnaround comes due to some combination of better hard-hit rate, higher bat speed, and fewer strikeouts. Goldschmidt’s got none of these. Instead, it appears he’s eschewed trying to be a successful all-around hitter for a more extreme approach, making both more very weak contact and more very hard contact. This may be a product of hunting heaters — Goldy’s posted an astonishing 12 run value against fastballs. He also has the widest platoon splits in baseball and has been facing the highest percentage of lefties of his entire career as Boone has been able to insert him into favorable matchups.

The veteran’s manager offers a more simplistic explanation. “Look, he’s just a Hall of Fame player,” said Boone. “Unbelievable hitter in his career. He’s in amazing shape. He’s incredibly prepared. And I think he just enjoys the game as much as you possibly can.”

ESPN | Jorge Castillo: For Cam Schlittler and Ben Rice, the Yankees’ two biggest breakout stars this season, this weekend’s series in Boston represents a homecoming. Both grew up in enemy territory not far from Fenway Park, with Schlittler a die-hard Sox fan and Rice a contrarian rooting for the Yankees. And, while the Red Sox spent time scouting Rice, they eschewed Schlittler, making the latter’s transition from Boston faithful to New York ace an easy one. Another key nugget from this profile: Rice wants in on the Home Run Derby, an event to which he should receive an invite given his 22 home runs rank third in the AL.

Former England fast bowler Liam Plunkett traded the cricket field for the baseball diamond as he made his professional debut for a minor league team in the United States.

Plunkett turned out for the Oakland Ballers against the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds in the Pioneer Baseball League on Friday night in the USA's west coast.

The 41-year-old threw five pitches and struck out the Freebirds' Josh Duarte in front of 1,878 fans at the Ballers' Raimondi Park, although he was unable to prevent the home side sliding to an 18-11 defeat.

Plunkett, who was part of the England team that won the 50-over World Cup on home soil in 2019, emigrated to the United States five years ago and plays in Major League Cricket (MLC), the country's T20 franchise tournament.

He said his style from the mound was a "bit unusual" and a "mix between bowling and pitching".

"I've previously done the ceremonial first pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins as part of being an MLC ambassador, but this is obviously a little bit more serious," Plunkett told BBC Sport.

"I think I'm the first English cricketer to ever play a professional game of baseball. It's obviously a few rungs below Major League Baseball but it's still pretty cool to say I have played as a professional in two bat-and-ball sports."

Plunkett signed a contract to join the Ballers under the Pioneer Baseball League's marketing player exception, which allows clubs to bypass their standard roster eligibility limits.

It enables teams to sign one non-prospect player who is often a notable veteran or former Major League Baseball player to their 25-man active roster, though Plunkett's appearance is unlikely to prompt a permanent career change.

He is part of the San Francisco Unicorns squad for MLC but has yet to make an appearance for the franchise in this year's tournament.

Plunkett tried batting during a training session with the Ballers in the build-up to the game before deciding pitching was his stronger suit.

"The swing path when you bat is so different compared to cricket, especially when someone is pitching at 90mph," Plunkett added.

"I'd have loved to hit a monster home run because that would have gone viral!

"But to play my ​first game and get a ‌strikeout, I couldn't ask for more."

Plunkett played 13 Tests, 89 ODIs and 22 T20s for England, taking 201 wickets across all formats.

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SAN DIEGO –– It was a battle of Dodgers pitching phenoms at Petco Park on Friday night.

The former one, in Walker Buehler.

The current one, in Roki Sasaki.

In a 7-1 Padres win, there was no comparing their two performances.

While Sasaki took a major step backwards in his up-and-down sophomore season, walking five batters and giving up a three-run homer in a shaky four-plus-inning outing, Buehler tapped back into his dominant form of old for San Diego, cruising through 5 ⅓ innings of one-run ball to hand the Padres the opening game of this pivotal mid-season rivalry series.

That Buehler was ready for the moment was no surprise.

Before the game, manager Dave Roberts was only half-joking when he said the former Dodgers ace would “love nothing more than to shove it up our you-know-what.”

Sasaki’s struggles, however, represented a more foreboding development in a campaign suddenly headed back in the wrong direction.

He lacked command from the start, walking three of his first five hitters while grinding through long, foul-ball-extended at-bats. Then, after getting Ty France to an 0-2 count with two aboard in the second inning, he threw a low slider that France launched to left for a no-doubt three-run blast.

The Dodgers would trail the rest of the way, failing to solve Buehler before squandering a bases-loaded, one-out opportunity after he exited in the top of the sixth. The Padres didn’t even have to go to lockdown closer Mason Miller, either, not after their offense tagged Dodgers reliever Jonathan Hernández with four runs in the eighth to pull away.

For Buehler –– now on his third organization since getting the last out of the Dodgers’ 2024 World Series title –– the outing continued his recent turnaround, giving him a 3.81 ERA this season and a 1.71 mark since the start of June.

For Sasaki –– who has now allowed 13 runs in 14 innings over his last three starts –– the dud continued his recent regression, leaving him on Friday to be outshined by his current club’s former star.

What it means

The Dodgers’ division lead isn’t in danger. But, as they begin a seven-games-in-10-days stretch against the second-place Padres, it is worth monitoring.

With what remains the winningest record in the majors at 52-30, the Dodgers are still eight games up in the National League West on the Padres, who are 42-38. But the Padres have now won four games in a row, coming off an impressive sweep of the Braves, and are 11-7 since a woeful 1-10 rut over late May and early June.

Who’s hot

The Dodgers did lead briefly on Friday, courtesy of the hottest recent hitter in the lineup.

In the top of the second, Mookie Betts tagged Buehler with a solo home run on an elevated first-pitch fastball, continuing a torrid two-week stretch in which he has hit .375 with four home runs.

Nevertheless, even Betts eventually went quiet on a lackluster night from the Dodgers’ offense, hitting into two double-plays later in the game –– including one to end a two-on, one-out chance in the eighth.

Who’s not

Three weeks ago, Sasaki seemed to be on the ascent. He pitched seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts in a June 5 masterpiece against the Angels. He had a 1.49 ERA with 29 strikeouts and only five walks over an extended four-start stretch. And, most importantly, he was finally pairing triple-digit fastball velocities with an expanded arsenal and consistent command.

Alas, he has wasted no time squandering all that momentum.

Though he still averaged nearly 98 mph with his fastball, and topped out at 100 mph yet again, he reverted back to the wild command that dogged him earlier this season, issuing six free bases when accounting for a hit batter in the fourth.

As a result, Sasaki’s season ERA is back up to 4.88, the highest it has been in a month.

And it’s fair to wonder if his uptick in form earlier this year –– which included another seven-inning gem against the Angels –– was more the result of poor opposition and good batted-ball luck than a true turning point in his ongoing development.

Up next

Yoshinobu Yamamoto (7-5, 2.65 ERA) will take the mound Saturday opposite Padres right-hander Randy Vásquez (6-5, 4.17 ERA).

Box Score

Both the Brewers and Cubs came into this series hot, but it was the Brewers who kept that heat going. Despite a cold opening to the game, they turned on the burners late and defeated the Cubs 6-2. It was their 50th win of the season and fifth win in a row.

Jacob Misiorowski was fired up right from the start. On his third pitch of the game, he reached 105.5 mph with his fastball. That was part of a 13-pitch inning where he struck out the first two batters he faced. Meanwhile, the Brewers loaded the bases in the bottom of the first, but left them stranded.

The top of the second was quick as well, with Misiorowski striking out two more. Meanwhile, the Brewers offense was mostly quiet with one exception. Cooper Pratt hit a one-out double down the left-field line for his first career extra-base hit. Pratt moved up to third on a David Hamilton groundout, but was left stranded there.

Both starting pitchers, Misiorowski and Colin Rea, continued to pitch a scoreless duel until the fifth inning. Misiorowski gave up his only run of the night to Seiya Suzuki, who hit a low slider out for the first run of the day. After that, Misiorowski lost a bit of control as he walked Ian Happ and threw a wild pitch, but escaped the inning with no more damage.

As for the Brewers, Hamilton led off the bottom of the inning with a single, then stole second and got to third on a throwing error by catcher Carson Kelly. Despite having a runner at third with no outs, the Brewers could not score him. Christian Yelich and Brice Turang struck out, and Jackson Chourio flew out.

The sixth started well for Misiorowski with strikeouts of Dansby Swanson and Pete Crow-Armstrong. However, he struggled after that. Alex Bregman singled to left, then Michael Busch walked on five pitches. Another wild pitch from Misiorowski moved the runners up, and Suzuki walked to load the bases. Despite being over 100 pitches, manager Pat Murphy stuck with Misiorowski, who rewarded Murphy’s trust with a strikeout of Happ to end the inning.

Misiorowski finished the night with 107 pitches thrown over six innings. It was an uncharacteristically wild night for him, as he walked four batters and threw two wild pitches. However, he limited the Cubs to one run and two hits, and struck out eight in the game.

The Brewers’ offense kept trying to break through in the bottom of the sixth. They had a good start thanks to a William Contreras single and Jake Bauers walk. That ended Rea’s night, and Craig Counsell brought in Ethan Roberts. Andrew Vaughn was the first batter he faced, and almost got out of the inning on his third pitch. Vaughn hit a line drive right back at Roberts, who snagged the baseball for the first out. Both Contreras and Bauers were halfway off their bases, and Roberts threw to Nico Hoerner at second to try for a triple play. They got Contreras at second, but Bauers just made it back to first to keep the inning alive.

All that did was delay the Brewers by one batter. The next batter, Garrett Mitchell, hit a high 1-0 cutter out over the right-center field fence. It had an exit velocity of 109.1 mph and traveled 407 feet. All of a sudden, the Brewers had a 2-1 lead.

That wasn’t it for the offense in the sixth. Pratt drew a walk on five pitches, then Hamilton extended the lead with a triple down the left field line that ricocheted off the left field wall. That increased the lead to 3-1.

Yelich finished the inning with a hard hit ball, but Matt Shaw caught it to end the inning.

After Abner Uribe kept the Cubs in check in the seventh inning, the Brewers added on. Chourio led off the inning with a double off new reliever Jayden Murray. Two batters later, Contreras hit a massive 449 foot home run out over the Brewers’ bullpen. It was now a 5-1 lead.

Aaron Ashby took the bottom of the eighth and did get into some trouble. He walked the first two batters of the inning, Crow-Armstrong and Bregman. The Cubs manufactured a run after that with fly outs from Busch and Suzuki that each moved Crow-Armstrong up a base. However, Ashby didn’t allow anything else, getting Happ to fly out to end the inning. The Cubs traded three fly balls for a run, but the Brewers still held a 5-2 lead.

However, the Brewers would get that run back in the bottom of the inning. Pratt drew another walk to start the inning, then recorded his fifth steal in 10 games to put a runner in scoring position. Two batters later, Yelich hit a low and away sweeper hard enough that it should have been a home run. Crow-Armstrong made a leaping attempt to catch it, and the ball was in his glove. He couldn’t complete the catch, but did prevent the ball from leaving the ballpark. It robbed Yelich of a home run, but still went for an RBI double that scored Pratt.

From there, Trevor Megill finished out the game in the ninth. He walked Kelly, but that was it as he locked down a 6-2 win, the Brewers’ 50th of the season.

Yelich, Chourio, Contreras, and Hamilton each had two-hit days for the Brewers’ offense. Pratt also jumped in with a double and two walks, and Bauers went hitless but walked twice. Contreras and Mitchell each drove in two runs. The only two starters who did not reach base were Vaughn (who went 0-for-3) and Turang (who went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts).

After the game, Contreras talked about the game and his thoughts about Venezuela in the post-game interview.

This Brewers’ team is officially the fastest to 50 wins in franchise history, and still have two more games to add on to that before the halfway point. They will send Kyle Harrison to the mound, while the Cubs will start David Peterson, who they acquired from the Mets on Thursday. First pitch is at 6:10 p.m.

Introduction

In the latest example of the linear passage of time, it’s already the halfway point of the baseball season as the D-Backs played their 81st game today in their loss against the Rays. This first half of the season has featured some high highs and some even lower lows. It’s also continued the mystifying trend of key players being hobbled by injuries that have kept the D-Backs from reaching the potential they’ve shown sporadically. Amongst that team inconsistency though, there have been plenty of exciting individual results – from electrifying individual plays to intriguing MLB debuts. And given that at 41-40, the team finds itself at exactly the same place as they were last year after 81 games, I thought it might be a good time to instead check in on the personal milestones I detailed back at the beginning of the season.

Ketel Marte’s Chase for 200 Homers

Like the rest of the team, the club’s unofficial team captain has had an uneven first half. He started the season very slowly at the plate with his OPS bottoming out at .619 at the end of play on May 15th after an 0-for-5 effort in a win against the Rockies. Even more alarming, he had hit just five home runs and only 12 extra base hits in 41 games. Since that point however, Marte has been among the league’s best hitters with a .329/.381/.580 slash line, eight roundtrippers, and 20 extra base hits in 35 games. That extended hot streak gets him at least within shouting distance of his career norms of a .280/.349/.472 slash line, 23 home runs, and 65 extra base hits. That streak also means that he still has an outside chance at reaching the 28 homers necessary to hit 200 for his career. It would require sustaining and slightly increasing it over the second half of the season, but I’m certainly not counting him out after the turnaround he’s executed already this season.

Nolan Arenado’s Pursuit of 2000 Hits

When Mike Hazen traded for Arenado this past offseason, I thought it was a pretty astute move. It shored up what was a mediocre defense last year, brought in some needed veteran leadership, and while he wouldn’t bring MVP-level offense, the team would take whatever it could get from him. Instead, Arenado has seemingly found the Fountain of Youth in the desert as he’s brought the first two elements and has been surprisingly able to contribute at the plate too. He was always going to reach 2000 career hits unless he completely cratered at the plate or he got injured and was unable to play, but he’s already at 61 knocks for the season and could get to 2000 by the All-Star Break if he gets hot over the next couple weeks. After he reaches that milestone, he can next look to his bWAR milestone of 60 which is currently just 0.9 away and he’s already accumulated 1.1 so far this season. If he were to reach that second milestone, it would make him just the 132nd position player in baseball history to reach 60 career bWAR and would likely indicate further movement towards his resurgent season with the D-Backs and even more good news for the club.

Paul Sewald Securing His 100th Save

Paul Sewald etched himself into Diamondback legend during that magical 2023 World Series run with an incredible eight game, eight-inning scoreless streak that helped the team reach that World Series. He was significantly less effective in 2024 with his ERA jumping from 3.12 to 4.31 and his ERA+ dropped from 132 to 98 (although he did secure 16 saves), prompting the D-Backs to let him walk in the offseason. Those trends continued in 2025 even if he was slightly better after getting traded, leaving Sewald in one of the lower tiers of relievers this past offseason. But given the decimated nature of the Arizona bullpen, it wasn’t a difficult ask to pencil Sewald into the closer role until some combination of AJ Puk and Justin Martinez were back from injury – something the team is still waiting to see. Under the radar, Sewald had amassed 86 saves over the past five years so this was a very reasonable milestone to reach that he actually accomplished at the end of May so the next milestone of 125 saves would only be possible if he maintains his closer status and the team continues to lean on him through the rest of the second half.

The Braves used six pitchers on Friday night to snap their four-game losing skid and finally get a west coast win, taking down the San Francisco Giants, 3-1, at Oracle Park on a foggy night.

Reynaldo Lopez started the game and was shaky in the first, allowing San Francisco’s lone run to score. Despite decreased velocity and a lot of hard contact, Lopez was able to work through three innings in his first start in nearly two months. We’ll see if he gets another turn in the rotation next week.

Dylan Dodd covered an inning effectively and gave the ball to Hurston Waldrep, who was effectively wild — to be nice — over 2+ innings. Waldrep, who was called up to the majors on Friday after a couple of shaky rehab starts, had little command of the strike zone (55 pitches, 28 strikes) but was able to work through it with four strikeouts and a couple of weak-hit grounders. Similar to Lopez, we’ll see what next week brings for the talented righty.

Dylan Lee was masterful for the seventh in relief of Waldrep, stranding two runners and making quick work of San Francisco’s middle of the order. Lee then recorded two outs in the eighth before giving way to Didier Fuentes, who promptly struck out Matt Chapman on a perfectly located fastball to send it to the ninth. Raisel Iglesias worked a perfect 9th on just 10 pitches to close it out.

The Braves didn’t exactly put on a show with the bats, but they managed to squeeze out three runs. Dominic Smith singled home Austin Riley in the second, Ozzie Albies singled home Mauricio Dubon in the third, and Albies was able to hit a deep fly ball to score Dubon again in the fifth. In total, the Braves recorded just seven singles and a double.

Saturday’s pitching matchup will feature Bryce Elder against Logan Webb. It would be swell if Bryce could find himself again. First pitch is at 9:05 p.m. ET.