Worldwide Sports News

Melvin reveals fan who threw ball in Giants game still unidentified originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The fan who threw a ball onto the field in the Giants’ 5-4 win over the Atlanta Braves on Friday at Oracle Park has yet to face repercussions.

When asked for an update on the situation by NBC Sports Bay Area’s Tristi Rodriguez before the second game of the series on Saturday, manager Bob Melvin relayed that the person wasn’t caught.

“I heard they didn’t get it, that it came out of the upper deck and the cameras weren’t shooting that high,” Melvin told reporters. “Hope it doesn’t happen again.”

The incident, described after the game by Giants infielder Tyler Fitzgerald as “dangerous,” occurred in the top of the fourth inning with the Braves up to bat. As right fielder Mike Yastrzemski threw the ball home on a Sean Murphy sacrifice fly, another baseball bounced onto the infield from the upper deck.

Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow described whoever threw the ball as a “clown,” and San Francisco players were visibly confused. The run scored, however, and play continued as usual following a brief meeting between the umpires.

Melvin didn’t disclose whether or not the Giants are investigating further. But as of right now, it looks like whoever threw the ball might get away with an offense that could have gotten them banned from Oracle Park.

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Phillies place Bryce Harper on injured list, call up prospect Otto Kemp originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

PITTSBURGH — Bryce Harper was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday and Phillies prospect Otto Kemp, who has raked all season at Triple A, was called up to take his place on the active roster.

Harper is dealing with right wrist inflammation. It was revealed Friday by manager Rob Thomson that Harper has been playing through soreness in the wrist for “a little while,” and that it was likely caused by swinging rather than a specific event.

The Phillies avoided the injured list with Harper last week when he missed five games after being hit in the surgically repaired right elbow by a 95 mph fastball. They hoped to do the same this time with his wrist but sitting Harper for 10 days to help it clear up was determined to be the right move. He is first eligible to return on June 16 in Miami.

The other half of Saturday’s transaction was one Phillies fans have been calling for. The right-handed Kemp impressed in spring training and never stopped hitting once the IronPigs’ season began. He’s hit .313/.416/.594 and leads the International League with 14 homers and 55 RBI.

With Lehigh Valley this season, Kemp has started 33 games at third base, 10 at second, seven at first and seven in left field. The Phils could play him at either infield corner with Alec Bohm on the other side.

The Phillies originally signed Kemp, 25, as an undrafted free agent in 2022 out of Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. He put together a strong 2024, rising from Single A all the way to Triple A, and has been a major difference-maker with the bat this season at the minors’ highest level.

(More coming …)

The Dodgers now have 15 pitchers on the injured list. This team, with all of its talent, is going nowhere without frontline pitching. Andrew Friedman realized this when he emptied Fort Knox during the offseason. But, like previous seasons, they are dropping like flies, with shoulder and forearm issues.

Other MLB teams don't seem to have these issues, at least not to this degree.

At what point do we begin to look at the training staff, starting with pitching coach Mark Prior? What is it that he's asking (and teaching) these guys to do with their arms, to get that extra 'something' out of them? Too often that extra something becomes nothing at all.

Rodger Howard
Westlake Village

The underperforming, injury-plagued — and very well-paid — Dodger pitching staff illustrates the true financial advantage of big-market teams willing and able to spend. Yes, the Dodgers can afford to sign and pay frontline players, but, just as important, they can also afford to set aside or simply eat the contracts of those expensive players if they become hurt or ineffective, and replace them with additional highly (over)paid players. It’s almost a lock that, if their staff isn’t healthier and more reliable come August, the Dodgers will probably trade for pitching help and take on even more salary. Small-market teams such as the Reds, Guardians and Pirates can’t sign many top-tier players in the first place, let alone replace them if they don’t pan out.

John Merryman
Redondo Beach

Instead of spending hundreds of millions on pitchers to sit on the injury list for the majority of every year, I recommend the Dodgers instead allocate those funds to put nine All-Star offensive players in the lineup. Then just do what the team always winds up doing anyway — rely on inexpensive, lower-tier and journeyman pitchers for the season.

Jerry Leibowitz
Culver City

Time to say goodbye

It's about time that the Dodgers separate from Clayton Kershaw. Yes he has been with them forever, and was very good. But that was then, not now. The Dodgers separated from Chris Taylor, and Austin Barnes, long-term team members, now it's time to do the same with Kershaw.

Deborah R. Ishida
Beverly Hills

Dear Clayton,

It's time to say goodbye. Injuries have taken their toll. Don't ruin what has been a first-ballot Hall of Fame career by performing at a level that is a shadow of yourself. It's been a great run, but you are hurting the team. Announce that you're leaving so the fans can give you the send-off you deserve. Please don't hang around and make us watch you continue to pad the worst stats of your career.

Geno Apicella
Placentia

At 37 and having pitched more than 3,000 innings, there’s no doubt Clayton Kershaw still has the smarts if not the scintillating fastball of days gone by to help the Dodgers race toward another World Series appearance. Manager Dave Roberts says he trusts him to keep taking the mound, and so do I. Like the headline reads, “History says don’t count out Kershaw.”

Marty Zweben
Palos Verdes Estates

Max retention

While we all lament and understand the need to move on from fan favorites, thank goodness the Dodgers resisted the urge to go the youth route with Max Muncy. And it's not his glasses. Have you seen his swing of late? Probably not — it's too fast for the naked eye.

Robert Gary
Westlake Village

Too much Ohtani praise?

Look, I get it. Ohtani is great. Amazing. Remarkable. Fill-in-the-blank with any superlative.

But it seems like every week Dylan Hernández writes the exact same column, praising Ohtani for his greatness and saying how important he is to the Dodgers. And it was the same when he was on the Angels.

Everyone knows that. I'd like to see Dylan mix it up with his critique and commentary a bit more.

Greg Wagner
Huntington Beach

It looks like "Plaschkeitis" has spread to another LAT sportswriter. In his report of the Dodgers' 18-2 win over the Yankees, Jack Harris writes, "It was a statement, a reminder and a warning all wrapped into one." It was also just one game, and 24 hours later, the Dodgers lost to the Yankees.

Try to hold it down fellas; you're giving everybody whiplash.

Ralph Martinez
Arcadia

Don't run from rivalry

An easier path to the playoffs is no reason to cancel the most storied intersectional rivalry in sports. If USC cannot defeat Notre Dame, USC does not belong in the playoffs. Recruit and coach a team to beat them. Don’t look for a way to claim success by running away from them.

Jay McConnell
Los Angeles

USC football coach Lincoln Riley makes excuses why his team can't or won't play Notre Dame. I think the truth is he's scared to play Notre Dame because he feels overmatched. USC lost to Notre Dame in 2023 and 2024, and Riley can't handle another loss.

Neil Snow
Manhattan Beach

Verdict on Bauer

There are two subjects I hope never to read about again in The Times' Sports section:

1. The 2017 Houston Astros.*

2. Trevor Bauer.

Jim Lawson
Santa Barbara

Night terrors

Got an unused night light? Send it to Mookie Betts.

Mike Eberts
Los Feliz

The Los Angeles Times welcomes expressions of all views. Letters should be brief and become the property of The Times. They may be edited and republished in any format. Each must include a valid mailing address and telephone number. Pseudonyms will not be used.

Email: sports@latimes.com

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

When Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said that Francisco Lindor could be available in Friday's series opener against the Rockies after keeping him out of the starting lineup for the second straight game, you just knew what eventually happened was a possibility.

In the ninth inning with the score tied 2-2 and runners in scoring position with two outs, the Mets skipper called upon his shortstop -- hobbled by a fractured pinky toe -- to try and push across the go-ahead run.

Mendoza needed something; the Mets outside of Pete Alonso-- whose two-run double in the seventh put them ahead temporarily -- have struggled mightily this season with runners in scoring position. Entering Friday, Lindor was hitting only .189 with RISP, but the Mets needed their de facto captain and he came through, broken toe and all.

Lindor pulled a sweeper into right field to score two runs to lift the Mets to a 4-2 win.

FRANCISCO LINDOR PINCH-HIT 2-RUN DOUBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND PETE ALONSO WHAT A SLIDE! pic.twitter.com/lc8jCIyRSU

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 7, 2025

"Special player, I’ve been saying it. Special talent. We’re watching greatness," Mendoza said of Lindor after the game. "Continues to do what All-Stars do. Continues to show up in big situations on a day when he was in the dugout with a bat in his hand since the fifth inning, finally gets his chance and comes through for us."

Mendoza said that right before the game, when Lindor came away from hitting in the batting cages feeling ok, he knew he could use him. Ideally, Mendoza wanted to stay away from Lindor, especially knowing that it would have been a two-player move to replace him in the field for the bottom of the ninth, but as the game went on the second-year manager told Lindor in the eighth inning that if Tyrone Taylor's turn at-bat came up in the ninth, he was going to him.

"For me and for a lot of people, we are spoiled," Alonso said of Lindor. "With him, he’s a guy who is ready to strap on regardless... I see him do stuff like this all the time. I know it’s hard to do. Battling through physical stuff, there’s limitations. I have nothing but the utmost respect. He’s a true pro and he embodies that."

"It illustrates what type of person Francisco Lindor is," Kodai Senga, who allowed just one run over six innings on Friday, said through an interpreter. "A leader. He's just a superstar."

So, how did Lindor prepare for his pinch-hit opportunity? The shortstop said he was ready because he discussed the possibility with Mendoza before the game and the team's trainers got him ready.

"Mendy had a great game plan from the beginning of the day, he told me what was in his mind. It was just a matter of the trainers," Lindor said. "They did a fantastic job, they prepped me the right way. They did everything in their power to get me on the field. Around the fourth or fifth inning, Mendy asked me if I was available to hit and I said yeah."

This isn't the first time Lindor, who usually plays just about every game, has come up with heroics while not at 100 percent as a Met. Last season saw him overcome the flu to deliver a game-winning hit, and when last year's back issues first popped up, he delivered down the stretch, including help the team clutch a playoff berth.

Lindor said he can feel he's not 100 percent at the plate, but knows he's not the only big league player playing through injury. So when he's good enough to play and help the team, he'll be ready.

"The Lord has blessed me to play this game and stay on the field. When I’m not on the field, the trainers do a fantastic job. You see the results, but they are the one putting in the time to get me right and on the field. This training staff is one of the best, if not the best. Once it comes to those moments, I’m just there to make something happen. Just get a good pitch, and what happens happens. Don't let the moment get too big."

Lindor hopes he's in the lineup on Saturday, but knows that he needs to see how he feels tomorrow and speak to Mendoza and the trainers. But even if Mendoza wants to give his shortstop another day off, he knows he can use him again when he needs a big hit.

There’s something special brewing with Pete Alonso this year.

The Mets slugger is having the best start of his career. Entering Friday’s game against the Rockies, Alonso was batting .298 with 15 home runs and 55 RBI to go along with a .972 OPS. He leads the team in all those categories and they needed that production against Colorado in the series opener.

Down 1-0 in the seventh inning, the Mets had already squandered multiple chances to put up runs. No matter how many batters were on base, the clutch hit would not come, but Alonso provided the first with a two-run double that put the Mets in front.

Before that hit, the Mets were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position in the game.

“We didn’t have good at-bats for the first 6-7 innings before Pete finally got that two-run double,” manager Carlos Mendoza said of the team’s struggles after the game. “Our at-bats with runners in scoring position weren’t good.”

Mendoza said his players were “in between” at the plate and just need to continue to work to break out of their collective slump.

But that slump hasn’t hit Alonso much this year. After he went into his first downturn in May, Alonso has turned it on in June, driving in 14 runs in six games this month. With his two-run double, his batting average with RISP rose to .358 while the rest of the team, at that point, was just .194 on the season.

When asked how he has seemingly stayed “immune” to the RISP slump of his teammates, Alonso downplayed what he's done.

“No one is immune to anything. This is the big leagues," he said. "For me, this is one of the things, I just want to win and stick to my plan, that’s really it. Stay disciplined in that because when guys are on base, pitchers are going to try and find another level, go to a dark place and do whatever they can to get a guy out. Whoever is at the dish, whether it’s me or other people.

"For me, I want to combat that with owning my strikezone, owning my process and holding on to my mechanics as much as I possibly can.”

PETE ALONSO COMES THROUGH!

2-RUN DOUBLE! pic.twitter.com/Yx6qPjnMjD

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 7, 2025

But Alonso showed how much he’s meant to the 2025 Mets on Friday and not just at the plate. His throw home to gun down the runner when the score was still 1-0 was crucial for the Mets’ comeback, and his base-running to score from first on Francisco Lindor’s pinch-hit double in the ninth, while also sliding around catcher Hunter Goodman’s tag, helped lift the Mets to their 40th win of the season.

“Pete has meant a lot,” Lindor said. “Leading the team in batting average, OPS, he’s been tremendous for us. He makes us all better. He’s special. The defensive play he made today, running the bases the right way. He’s turning himself into a well-rounded player. He’s a very special player and we’re glad he’s on our team.”

After Friday’s performance, Alonso has added to his league-lead in doubles (20) and RBI (57) while continuing to lead the team in just about every offensive category. Lindor was asked if he's seen a season like this from Alonso before, and the shortstop said he hasn't.

"I think this is going to be the best year of his career, God willing," he said. "He’s going to keep up doing what he’s doing, I think he’s going to end up with one of the best Mets seasons ever, probably."

After review, Pete Alonso throws out Ryan Ritter trying to score! pic.twitter.com/J5BpfiV6yX

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 7, 2025