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Max Fried is set to throw another simulated game Sunday at the Stadium in his comeback from a left elbow bone bruise that’s sidelined him since mid-May.

It will be another step for the lefty who still figures to be about a month away from rejoining what’s been a shaky Yankees rotation.

Fried and the Yankees remain encouraged by his progress, with Fried saying Saturday that he’s made some mechanical adjustments that should prevent the injury from returning.

He said that after his previous live batting practice sessions he’s felt “completely normal. I feel healthy. … I would love to be able to snap my fingers and be back out there, but as a starting pitcher, it takes time to build up. I’ll get back hopefully soon.”

With Carlos Rodón now also out with left elbow inflammation, the Yankees are even more in need of Fried being back on the mound.

Fried is now at a stage where he’s mostly just building up his pitch count.

After throwing 28 pitches over two innings in his previous sim game, he’s expected to go about 35 over two innings Sunday.

If that goes well, a minor league rehab outing could be discussed and as Boone noted, the Yankees will have to decide how deep they need Fried to pitch into a game before welcoming him back to The Bronx.

“When do we take him?” Boone said. “Is it at 60 [or] 75, 80 pitches? Those will be conversations we have over the next couple weeks as he continues to build up. He looks and feels really good. He looks like Max Fried.”

Boone indicated it would likely be “a few weeks” before Fried could realistically be back.

“It’s one of those injuries you have to be really careful with,” Fried said. “If you push it too fast, you risk turning it into some sort of break or fracture.”

He added he’d “really felt off mechanically most of the year” and is now “more balanced [and] on time.”

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

Fried will attempt to bring that into games whenever he does return, as the Yankees have been waiting all season for their full rotation to be healthy.

With Trent Grisham and Ryan McMahon back from the IL, there was a question about how much Anthony Volpe would be in the lineup over José Caballero.

Volpe was in there instead of Caballero on Saturday, as Boone said, “Both guys deserve to play.”

The manager also noted that there was “strong debate” about keeping Spencer Jones in the majors before he was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday to open a spot for Saturday’s spot starter, Brendan Beck.

Boone said Jones would benefit from playing regularly in the minors and they prefer the defensive versatility and right-handed bat of Max Schuemann, who homered and reached base four times Saturday.

Grisham was in the lineup at DH after Boone said he initially had planned on him getting a day off. Boone noted the Twins had originally planned to start a left-hander, but switched to righty Zebby Matthews.

Grisham went 0-for-2 before being replaced by pinch hitter Paul Goldschmidt in the sixth.

Goldschmidt flied out to left with the bases loaded to extend his hitless streak to 0-for-21.

Yankees pitchers allowed a season-high six homers… Both teams wore Fourth of July-themed hats and jerseys. The red, white and blue numbers were virtually impossible to see on the back of the Yankees uniforms… Home plate umpire James Hoye had a rough day behind the plate. The first five calls challenged were all overturned via ABS.

Jesus Luzardo continued his good run of form with an Independence Day gem as the Philadelphia Phillies (50-39) cruised to a 6-1 victory in their series opener against the Kansas City Royals (35-54).

Luzardo retired the first eight batters of the game, which included striking out the side in the second inning, before allowing an infield single to the speedy Tyler Tolbert in the third, who had two hits and two steals on the night.

Luzardo struck out nine, the fifth time he’s done so this season and third time in his last four starts. It was his fifth straight start going 5+ innings with two or fewer earned runs and the eighth time in his last nine starts.

The Royals’ Michael Wacha held serve with Luzardo early but succumbed in the top of the fourth. After a one-out single by Bryson Stott, JT Realmuto and Gabriel Rincones, Jr. hit back-to-back homeruns to make it 3-0.

The Royals scored their only run in the bottom of the fourth after a one-out double by Lane Thomas and an RBI single by Nick Loftin.

Alec Bohm got that run back in the sixth inning with a leadoff homer, his 11th of the season.

The Phillies tacked on another run in the seventh thanks to some heads up baserunning by Trea Turner, who went third to home on a wild pitch by Royals’ reliever, Lucas Erceg.

Doubles by Rincones and Bohm added one more run to close the scoring in the eighth inning.

Jonathan Bowlan, Orion Kerkering and Tim Mayza each pitched a scoreless frame to shut the door for Luzardo and added to his nine K’s with six of their own.

On the night he was named as an All Star Game starter, Brandon Marsh was the only starter not to record a hit and extended his baseless streak to nine plate appearances. Kyle Schwarber had three hits, all singles.

Game two of their visit to Kansas City will take place tomorrow afternoon as Aaron Nola is scheduled to face off against young righthander, Luinder Avila.

After two nights of being walked off, the White Sox reversed course, pushing to a 3-1 lead late and then locking the win up with zero drama. In the process, Sean Burke dazzled through six with a career-high strikeout night, Colson Montgomery celebrated a year since his debut by putting two of the three runs on the board, and Grant Taylor saved the lead by blanking Cleveland in the ninth.

But before we break down the game, let’s take a moment to celebrate Miguel Vargas, who was selected to represent the White Sox in the All-Star Game!

A first-inning walk to Vargas would haunt Parker Messick as Colson Montgomery celebrated the first anniversary of his MLB debut with a broken-bat RBI double:

Burke dazzled in the second inning, with two strikeouts, then notched his 100th strikeout of the season in the bottom of the third with back-to-back Ks, blanking Cleveland once more.

Burke collected his seventh strikeout in the bottom of the fourth, but in the next frame Austin Hedges knotted the game with a homer. Cleveland threatened to take the lead after a Steven Kwan one-out triple, but he was caught in a pickle after the Guardians called for an ill-advised contact play. Burke tidied things up with a punch out of Chase DeLauter, A rundown with Kwan and a strikeout kept Burke away from any further damage, ending the frame at 1-1.

Burke smelled a career high in Ks in the sixth, striking out the first three batters he saw to push is total to 11. However, because Drew Romo couldn’t find the ears on a K of Kahlil Watson, Watson scampered safely to first. Despite the speedster then stealing second and third, but Burke escaped the jam by coaxing Cooper Ingle to ground out to first.

The White Sox offense ultimately did enough for the win, but didn’t act with enough haste to earn Burke a much-deserved win.

Speaking of that sleepy offense, Colson Montgomery opened the eighth by driving in his second run of the game, a solo homer to make it 2-1:

Peters doubled to start the ninth and advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt. Romo picked up a four-pitch walk, and with a sac fly, Vargas sent Peters home for a much-needed insurance run.

Brandon Eisert was fabulous in his two innings of relief of Burke (and vultured the win from him), then handed the ball to Grant Taylor for the save. stepped in to close out the ninth. The win broke a a nine-game losing streak at Progressive Field for the White Sox over the last two years, and knotted the two clubs back up at the top of the AL Central.

The Royals fell to the Phillies 6-1 after Michael Wacha allowed four runs on three homers in six innings. This was Wacha’s first start after being named a 2026 American League All-Star. While it was among his worst starts of the season, it wasn’t a terrible start overall. He even struck out 7! But the Royals’ offense had almost nothing going for it. They managed only 5 hits and didn’t walk once while striking out 15 times.

Bobby Witt Jr., just named an All-Star starter for the first time, went 0-for-4 with a strikeout. Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen struck out a combined 5 times. Tyler Tolbert was the only Royal to reach base more than once. He hit a pair of singles and stole a base each time. His season OPS has now almost reached Salvador Perez’s.

Lucas Erceg pitched the seventh and gave up a run. Jose Cuas, just back up with Stephen Kolek returning to the Family Medical Emergency List, pitched an inning and gave up a run. Beck Way got the ninth and pitched a scoreless inning. He allowed a single and a walk, but he’s the only reliever who got a strikeout. So.

The game was over early when Wacha gave up back-to-back home runs to J.T. Realmuto (with one on) and rookie Gabriel Rincones Jr. in the fourth inning. The Royals scored their run in the bottom of that inning when Lane Thomas doubled down the third base line, advanced to third on a Caglianone groundout, and scored on a Nick Loftin infield single. That single broke an 0-for-23 slide for Nick.

Just to rub salt in the wound, Jonathan Bowlan pitched the seventh for the Phillies, striking out three in a row after allowing a leadoff single to Starling Marte. Clearly, no one was paying any attention to the game as you could hear the sounds of fireworks being fired all around Kauffman Stadium for most of the second half of the contest. I managed to turn the broadcast off before they did their usual annoying thing of attempting to broadcast a postgame show from directly underneath the after-game fireworks display. I don’t know who decided it was a good idea to do that every home Friday game, but it makes for a truly awful television experience, regardless of whether the Royals won.

The Royals will appear again tomorrow afternoon. Not on Royals TV, though. This game will be a national broadcast on Peacock at 2 PM CDT. Luinder Avila will face off against Aaron Nola. Do what you want with that information.

On America’s 250th birthday, the Orioles celebrated in style.

The Birds’ bats dazzled with some early fireworks, roughing up Reds fireballer Hunter Greene for eight runs in the first four innings, and the O’s held the line from there for an 8-5 victory in Cincinnati. Brandon Young struggled early but hung in to earn his seventh win, freshly minted All-Star Adley Rutschman had a pair of doubles, and new closer Tyler Wells notched his second save in as many nights.

One might have thought the Orioles were unlucky to be the first team this season to face All-Star flamethrower Hunter Greene, who was making his season debut for the Reds after undergoing surgery in March to remove bone chips from his elbow. Greene was the hardest-throwing starting pitcher in baseball in 2025, and if you thought he might need some time to ramp up to full velocity, uh, think again. In the first inning alone, Greene fired 11 pitches clocked at over 100 mph.

But that doesn’t mean the Orioles were intimidated. Gunnar Henderson lined Greene’s first pitch of the year, a 100.3-mph four-seamer, straight up the middle for a single. With two outs, Pete Alonso worked a walk after a fantastic, nine-pitch at-bat, five of which were triple digit heaters. That brought up Samuel Basallo, who similarly worked the count full.

On 3-2, Greene tried to pump another fastball past Basallo. Mistake. Samuel was more than ready for it, connecting right on the barrel and smashing it deep into the right-center field seats. That, my friends, is an Earl Weaver Special. What a blast from the rookie on 100-mph heat against a tough pitcher. I like Samuel Basallo.

The Orioles had to be feeling pretty good at that point, handing a 3-0 lead to their de facto ace, Brandon Young. This was a rematch against the team Young faced in his major league debut last April — which was also against Greene, coincidentally — but this version of Brandon is much better than that overmatched rookie from last year. In his 13 starts this season before tonight, only once had Young allowed more than three runs. So this lead was definitely going to hold, no question about it.

Yeah, uh, about that. The Reds had other ideas, and it took them less than two innings to storm back and grab the lead for themselves. They plated one in the first on an RBI single by Eugenio Suárez, and things really escalated in the second. The first three batters of the inning all tagged Young for base hits — a single, double, and triple, in that order — and in a flash, the game was tied. Two batters later, Elly De La Cruz ripped a go-ahead RBI single to right, and the early 3-0 O’s lead had become a 4-3 deficit.

But fear not: the Orioles’ offense wasn’t done bashing Greene. The Hunter became the hunted, if you will. (Now I’m just recycling puns from my Hunter Greene recap last year.) The O’s knocked him out of the game with an extended fourth-inning rally, which began with a Colton Cowser single and a Leody Taveras walk. Jackson Holliday nearly mucked things up by trying to bunt, making one futile attempt that he popped up (foul, luckily) before Greene did his work for him by uncorking a wild pitch to advance the runners. The bunt now off, Holliday worked a walk to load the bases.

Up came Blaze Alexander, perhaps the best #9 hitter in the league, and he did his thing once again by lacing a two-run single to right field, putting the O’s back in front, 5-4. Two batters later, newly minted All-Star Adley Rutschman proved why he was selected, mashing his second double of the game to plate Holliday and Alexander.

The O’s lead was up to 7-4, and a visibly fatigued Greene was done for the night. He lasted just 3.2 innings and surrendered a career-worst eight runs, the last one scoring on a Pete Alonso RBI single off reliever Sam Moll. I know it was Greene’s first start of the year and maybe he’s rusty, but still, great job by the Birds’ bats to put up that kind of damage against one of baseball’s most intimidating pitchers.

Young, with new life, kept the Reds off the board from there, though he needed a little help. He tossed a scoreless fourth and fifth and returned for the sixth with his pitch count escalating. He allowed a leadoff walk and a sharp single, and at 102 pitches, he was done for the night. It wasn’t Young’s finest outing — five innings, four runs — but he owes a debt of gratitude to Grant Wolfram, who escaped Young’s two-on, no-out jam on just three pitches by inducing a double play and a groundout to second.

In the seventh, it was Wolfram’s turn to get into trouble with a leadoff walk, and Yennier Cano wasn’t quite as generous at bailing him out. The inherited run scored on a Suárez RBI single to make it 8-5, though Cano didn’t allow any runs of his own. The O’s caught a break prior to that when JJ Bleday bounced a hit into right field and greedily tried to take second base, only to get thrown out by Taveras. If not for that baserunning blunder, the Reds might’ve put together a more threatening rally.

Andrew Kittredge mowed through a perfect eighth and, with a three-run lead in the ninth, Craig Albernaz again entrusted Tyler Wells with a save situation. Wells, the closer replacement for the injured Ryan Helsley, was seeking to record saves in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.

He got it done, but it wasn’t easy. A De La Cruz leadoff single and Sal Stewart walk immediately brought the potential tying run to the plate with nobody out. Hoo boy. Can’t we just have one stress-free win? But Wells locked it down from there, retiring Bleday on a foulout, Suárez on a fly to center — on a nifty running catch by Cowser — and Nathaniel Lowe on a popout to short. Nice job by Tyler to not let that inning get away from him.

Orioles win! The Birds now head into Sunday’s finale with the chance to earn their first sweep since late May and their first four-game winning streak of the season. And maybe they’ll give O’s fans a reason to feel just a little bit more optimistic about this team.

It’s been a weird night at Coors Field. It started with a weather delay, and then there was another delay after home plate umpire Scott Barry was hit with a foul tip and was removed from the game. The Rockies are currently down 6-3.

Once again, there has been a lot of action in the comments that we decided it warranted an overflow thread for the final 4+ innings!

As a reminder, here are the lineups:

The National League All-Star roster was announced tonight. The inclusion of Corbin Carroll wasn’t really a surprise. He gets his third selection in four years, coming into tonight ranked 6th for bWAR among position players in the league, at 3.3 wins. But in addition, Eduardo Rodriguez was also named to the squad, and that’s a bit of a surprise – not least because this is his first selection in his 11th season in the majors. However, his 2.21 ERA is fourth in the NL, and his 3.7 bWAR is fifth among pitchers, so you’d be hard-pushed to argue that Rodriguez does not deserve his spot.

Through 86 games, Eduardo’s ERA is the lowest by a qualified pitcher on the Diamondbacks for 17 years, since Dan Haren 2.16 figure in 2009. Randy Johnson’s 1.77 in 2000 is the only other which is better than the current campaign by Rodriguez. It’s a startling – and very welcome – turnaround for Eduardo, who struggled to an ERA above five in both 2024 and 2025. After signing a four-year, $80 million contract in December 2023, he is now well on the way towards rescuing it from the abyss of all-time awfulness, on the edge of which this deal was certainly teetering. Hopefully it’ll continue for the remainder of its duration.

Carroll’s season has been almost as fabulous as the one he put up last year, which got him an All-Star selection, a Silver Slugger award and sixth place in the NL MVP voting. His OPS is just fifteen points down (.883 vs. 868) on the 2025 figure, and his ten triples not only lead the majors, they have propelled him to the all-time franchise career mark in that department. The honor pulls Corbin into a tie with team-mate Ketel Marte on three All-Star nominations. Among position players, only Paul Goldschmidt (6) and Luis Gonzalez (5) have more, with Randy Johnson (5) joining that pair from the mound.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto meets the Padres for the second straight week.

Saturday’s game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Padres
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
• Start time: 7:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)