Worldwide Sports News

The St. Louis Cardinals first game after the All-Star break was encouraging as they won a tight back-and-forth game Friday night in Arizona. The word for their Saturday afternoon game against the Diamondbacks would be “concerning” as the Cardinals played flat uninspired baseball for the first half of the game and Dustin May was not sharp. Former Cardinal Nolan Arenado would play a major role in Saturday’s outcome, too. The Cardinals would eventually attempt a rally, but it would be too little, too late.

The St. Louis Cardinals offense seemed to be rolling over Diamondbacks starter Brandon Pfaat sinkers for the first few innings weakly grounding out and not mounting any kind of real threat for the first half of the game. Arizona, on the other hand, were scored nearly every inning for the first few innings of the game starting in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Moreno singled followed two batters later by Nolan Arenado singling. Gabriel Moreno then connected on a two-out single scoring Moreno giving the Diamondbacks an early 1-0 lead.

Arizona continued to chip away at Dustin May pitches in the bottom of the 3rd inning as Marte led off with a single. May then walked Perdomo before getting Corbin Carroll to ground into a double play moving Marte up to third. Dustin would then throw a wild pitch that could have been ruled a passed ball on Pedro Pagés allowing Marte to score giving Arizona a 2-0 lead. Moreno would follow up that with a single followed by a Dustin May walk to Kepler. Nolan Arenado would make the Cardinals pay for their sloppy play as he ripped a double into the left field corner scoring both runners and doubling the Diamondbacks lead to 4-0 through 3 innings.

Through the first 4 innings, the St. Louis Cardinals only had 2 hits while Arizona kept adding to their lead. In the bottom of the 5th inning, Ryan Waldschmidt crushed a 97 mph Dustin May four-seam fastball to centerfield for a double. Ketel Marte singled in Waldschmidt making it 5-0 Arizona through 4 innings.

Dustin May would leave the game after finishing 5 innings allowing 8 hits, 5 earned runs while striking out 6 and walking 4. This is not the outing Dustin May wanted I’m sure and the same can be said for President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom who will likely listen to offers for May around the upcoming trade deadline.

St. Louis would FINALLY get their bats off of their shoulders and string together some hits in the top of the 6th inning. JJ Wetherholt smacked a single up the middle to lead off the Cardinals 6th. After Herrera popped out, Alec Burleson singled giving the Cardinals a runner in scoring position for the first time Saturday. Jordan Walker avoided bad swing decisions of the past showing how far he’s come as he patiently connected on a single up the middle scoring JJ and giving the Cardinals some life making it 5-1 Diamondbacks. Lars Nootbaar followed up Walker’s single with one of his own to load the bases for St. Louis bringing up Masyn Winn as the potential tying run. All Masyn could manage was a weak groundout to short, but he avoided the double play which allowed Burleson to score and cutting into the Arizona lead a little more as the Cardinals drew closer at 5-2. That’s unfortunately all St. Louis could manage to score from that rally as Nathan Church popped out with runners on 2nd and 3rd to end the inning.

The Cardinals would threaten again in the top of the 7th inning when José Fermín drew a walk. Bryan Torres then lined out to center before JJ Wetherholt hit an excuse me single off the end of the bat past Nolan Arenado at 3rd for his second hit of the game. Iván Herrera was unable to drive them in as he struck out and the scoring opportunity would unfortunately amount to nothing as Alec Burleson lined out to right field for the final out of the St. Louis 7th.

The Cardinals last hurrah would be in the top of the 9th as José Fermín led off the inning against Diamondbacks reliever Sewald. He struck out after the ABS challenge proved his demise. Oli Marmol sent up Jimmy Crooks as a pinch-hitter and he destroyed a 91 mph four-seam fastball launching it 443 feet deep into the right-center field stands reducing the Diamondbacks lead to 5-3. JJ Wetherholt struck out after the Crooks blast which left Iván Herrera as the last hope of St. Louis. His lineout to Corbin Carroll in right ended the game for the Cardinals.

The St. Louis Cardinals will wrap up their stay in the desert Sunday afternoon as they play a matinee game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Andre Pallante gets his first post-All Star break start for the Cardinals while the Diamondbacks will send Eduardo Rodriguez to the mound. First pitch is set for 3:10pm central time at Chase Park while the TV broadcast will be available through Cardinals.tv.

Sing, O Muse. Sing to me of a baseball player with the mightiest of bats. Many hurlers did he face, with pitches that moved as swiftly as Hermes, and sent them all to dread Hades, where they in great multitudes begged for Charon’s passage. Sing to me of brave Kyle Schwarber, and his noble Phillies, and of the loathed Mets, who besieged verdant Citizens Bank Park, and whom at last were bested, fleeing from rain-soaked battle in defeat.

(I saw the Odyssey today, and the game time being moved up left me without enough time to get it out of my system. I apologize in advance.)

Jesús Luzardo got off to a quick start, putting Francisco Lindor down on strikes and Juan Soto down on a single pitch pop out, but slowed down with consecutive two-out walks. Carson Benge grounded out on a 2-3 play, and the top of the first was over.

Trea Turner led off for the home club, facing off against Sean Manaea, and he made it to first on a shallow chopper that Bo Bichette couldn’t corral in time. What happened next, like the trials and travails of Odysseus, has been spoken of and celebrated countless times, yet never loses its ability to excite: Kyle Schwarber sent a pitch soaring into the second deck, giving the Phillies a 2-0 lead. Manaea hit Bryce Harper, and his teammates compounded the mistake by bobbling a sure double play ball from Alec Bohm, getting only one out; they didn’t surrender any more runs, but the Mets looked thoroughly out of sorts.

They looked somewhat less out of sorts in the top of the second, as Tyrone Taylor sent a solo shot to right. They looked a little out of sorts again in the bottom of the second, as Carson Benge bobbled the pickup of a liner from J.T. Realmuto, allowing him to reach second. They were not, unfortunately, out of sorts enough to surrender any runs.

The Phillies put two on with no outs in the bottom fourth via Edmundo Sosa single and Brandon Marsh walk. A fly out from from Realmuto advanced Sosa to third, but Derek Hill struck out after a protracted battle, and Bryson Stott struck out too, and the Phillies appeared to be as stuck on two runs as Odysseus was stuck on Calypso’s island.

But Athena, bright-eyed Athena, conveyed her vision to Trea Turner, who swung his mighty bat in the bottom fifth, sending a sinker over the fence, whereupon its shade quickly settled into the fields of Asphodel. Schwarber walked, then dashed to third when a pickoff attempt from Francisco Alvarez went sailing on a route that Odysseus himself would refer to as rather off-target. Bohm scored him on a liner to left, and the Phillies were feasting like Penelope’s suitors. Manaea was pulled after a Sosa single and a Marsh K, with Kodai Senga his replacement. Senga loaded the bases with a walk, bringing Hill to the plate, though he struck out.

Orion Kerkering took over for the six, ending a very good day for Luzardo (5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K). Orion, befitting his mythological namesake, hunted down a trio of Metropolitans without issue. Senga would not have nearly so neat of a sixth: Swift-footed Stott led off with a triple, his blazing speed easily beating the throw. Even more swift-footed Turner (look, I’m not Homer, I’m not that creative with the epithets) walked, then stole second. Schwarber walked too, and the bases were loaded with none away. Harper swatted a liner to right to score two, and an error on a fly out not long after advanced Schwarber to third. The Mets, perhaps having eaten of the lotus flower, had forgotten how to field.

José Alvarado took over for the seventh, and navigated it without major incident; there was a close play at first that was ruled an out and then overturned, and the runner advanced to second on a wild pitch, but no further. Senga was clearly not at his best, but was tasked with another inning of work anyway. He allowed a single to Realmuto, and then Zeus sent the rains, forcing a delay.

When the game restarted, 10 years later (perhaps less, poetic license), the seventh was wrapped up without incident. The top of the eighth was taken by Chase Shugart, who faced the top of the Mets lineup, and made those fearsome hitters look helpless.

Having pleased the gods, or at least his manager, with that performance, he was also asked to handle the ninth. He hit Francisco Alvarez on the and with a pitch, but as Alvarez had swung, he did not receive the honor of taking first. Instead, he grounded out. Next was a strikeout, and then a quick 2-3 putout, and the game was over.

The Phillies are 55-44. They’ll conclude the series against the Mets tomorrow at 1:35.

The Mets couldn't get their offense going, and the pitching and defense weren't up to snuff in a 6-1 loss to the Phillies on Saturday afternoon.

New York made three errors, matching their hit total, and multiple defensive miscues, while the combination of Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga just couldn't keep the Phillies off the board.

Here are the takeaways....

-The start time for Saturday's game was pushed up due to impending weather, and both teams seemed off, especially in the field. Trea Turner made his 14th error of the season, and Carson Benge booted a ball he tried to pick up in right field. Marcus Semien, first start since being activated off the IL, botched a transfer on a double play ball and there was also a play where Francisco Lindor nearly tripped over himself as he was ranging to his left on a throw to first. Eric Wagaman saved Lindor from an error by keeping a toe on the bag.

Even Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo seemed uncomfortable at times on the mound, stopping to pace and, as the SNY broadcast pointed out, it looked like he was "pitching mad." But the southpaw made it through five innings, allowing just one run on two hits and two walks, striking out seven.

-Manaea had a tough start to the second half of his season. After Turner reached with a leadoff infield single, Kyle Schwarber launched his MLB-leading 33rd home run of the season into the second deck in right field. 

The Mets southpaw pitched through trouble in multiple innings -- some not of his own making -- but Manaea was not efficient enough. He had thrown 73 pitches through four innings and that affected his ability to give New York length. In the fifth, Turner led off with a solo shot, his second in the series, to put the Phillies up 3-1. 

Francisco Alvarez made a two-base throwing error, trying to pick off Schwarber at first base. Alec Bohm brought Schwarber home to give the Phillies a 4-1 lead. But after allowing a couple of more base runners, Manaea's day was done after 4.2 innings. Manaea allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out seven. His ERA rose to 4.74. 

-Tyrone Taylor, starting in left field with Juan Soto DHing after the slugger exited Thursday's game with calf soreness, got the Mets scoring going with a 406-foot solo shot in the second inning. But that was all the offense the Mets would receive. They had just three hits total -- Taylor picking up two of them -- and their futility with RISP continued.

Mets entered Saturday 1-for-30 (.033) with RISP in their last four games, and on Saturday, they went 0-for-3 with five left on base.

-Senga wrapped up the fifth for Manaea, but it wasn't too easy. He walked J.T. Realmuto, the first batter he faced, on eight pitches to load the bases. He bounced back to strike out Derek Hill on five pitches. 

Senga's second inning of work did not go as well. The right-hander allowed two runs on two hits and two walks in the sixth to put the game out of reach at 6-1. Senga came out for the seventh and after allowing a single to Realmuto, the heavens opened and the rain started to come down hard. The game was halted due to a delay, but resumed about 45 minutes later. 

Senga finished, allowing two runs on three hits and three walks across 1.1 innings. He also struck out two batters and now has an 8.85 ERA. 

Game MVP: The Phillies

Philadelphia pitched well and hit well in an overall dominant win.

Highlights

Keith: "Tyrone, his power has been upgraded this year"

One pitch later, Tyrone Taylor homers! pic.twitter.com/4mjkEsaFF4

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 18, 2026

Back-to-back strikeouts for Sean Manaea to get out of trouble in the 4th! pic.twitter.com/7x0oAQVYCD

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 18, 2026

What's next

The Mets and Phillies wrap up their three-game set on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1:35 p.m.

Nolan McLean (6-6, 3.52 ERA) will take the mound and go up against Alan Rangel (0-2, 4.19 ERA).

When things are cool for the Rockies, they’re ice cold. But when things go well, they go great. Today was, thankfully, the latter. Multiple key defensive plays, resilient pitching across the board, and several batters with multi-hit games came through for a dominant win.

After a less-than-ideal Friday night, the Rockies bounced back in winning fashion. With a dominant start from Tomoyuki Sugano, the Rockies pitching and defense were able to pave the way for their offense to overwhelm Cincinnati’s Rhett Lowder in a 10-3 win where just about everything went right for the Rockies, including the ability to capitalize on the Reds’ mistakes.

Sugano sailing and Reds reeling

The Rockies got the exact start they needed on both sides of the ball. Between Sugano hitting an early groove and making quick work of the Reds’ lineup early, finding a way to get runners on and bring them home, and capitalizing on Cincinnati’s miscues, the Rockies found themselves up 6-0 by the end of the second inning.

Sugano needed just seven pitches to get through the first inning. He got Elly de la Cruz (coming off of a four hit night) to ground out on the first pitch of the ballgame, Jake McCarthy ran down a deep line drive from Sal Stewart, and Sugano fanned JJ Bleday to sit down the side. He carried that momentum into the next inning, going 1-2-3 again on 10 pitches with another strikeout.

The Rockies got an early two-run lead in the first inning. Jake McCarthy notched a leadoff double with an assist from the Colorado sunshine, after a seemingly harmless flyball plopped between center field and second base with the fielders losing it in the July sun. He tagged up and moved to third on a Mickey Moniak fly out before scoring on a Cole Carrigg double. TJ Rumfield got Carrigg the rest of the way home with an RBI single.

The Rockies added four more runs in the bottom of the second, stringing together an almost never-ending series of base knocks, with all runs coming on two outs. Brett Sullivan tripled between the first and second outs and then was scored on a perfect bunt from McCarthy.

That was followed by a parade of singles from Moniak, Carrigg, Rumfield, and Willi Castro. There were lots of RBI to go around. When it was all said and done, the Rockies led 6-0. By the bottom of the inning, Cincinnati had the bullpen getting loose with Lowder nearing 40 pitches.

An early shower for Lowder

Sugano finally sustained some damage in the third inning. He’s been vulnerable to home runs this season; luckily, the vast majority of those have been solo shots. Jose Trevino added another one to the list to make it a 6-1 game. As he typically does, however, Sugano responded and limited things there.

Lowder couldn’t say the same. The Reds let him go into the third, but he didn’t last long. Edouard Julien kicked the inning off with a double. An Ezequiel Tovar single put runners on the corners. That would be the end of Lowder’s day. He was replaced by Colorado’s own Julian Garcia, hailing from Fort Collins and playing his college ball at Metro State.

Garcia got McCarthy to ground out, but the play scored Julien. Moniak nabbed another single, bringing home another of Lowder’s baserunners to make it an 8-1 Rockies lead.

After yo-yoing between the Reds bullpen and rotation to make today’s start, Lowder finished with a whopping 11 hits and all eight runs earned in just 2.1 innings of work. The defense behind him didn’t do him any favors, but it was a struggle of a day for Lowder. His ERA on the season jumps up to 5.75.

Carrigg continues to shine

After coming in with a pinch-hit single on Friday night, Carrigg returned to the starting lineup Saturday. With a great day at the plate topped off with some wonderful defensive plays out in center field, Carrigg continues to be a bright spot in the lineup since his call up to the majors.

Carrigg made some pivotal catches, showing tremendous range and running down a few well hit balls. Especially of note was a sliding catch to end the fourth inning on a ball hit to left center.

At the plate, Carrigg drove in the first run of the game and finished his day with two hits, one RBI, three runs, and a walk. In the sixth, he managed an impressive at-bat, battling back from being down two strikes to draw that walk, which would turn into another run thanks to a Rumfield homer blasted to the second deck to put the game at 10-2.

Goin’ up, up, up, another “Golden” performance from Sugano

As he’s done so many times this season, Sugano delivered a gem. This one wasn’t just good for his first game back from the injured list. It was good, period.

As mentioned earlier, he continued his susceptibility to giving up solo home runs. He gave up two today, both to Trevino, giving the Reds batter his second and third dingers on the season. But that’s about all that was working against Sugano today.

He was otherwise extremely efficient. He needed 10 or fewer pitches to get through four of his six full innings. Although he couldn’t make it all the way through the seventh, he ended his day after 6.1 IP, giving up three earned runs on six hits.

He made use of a nice balance of a wide arsenal of pitches. Of his 77 pitches thrown, he relied heavily on his sinker and splitter (26% each), mixed in his cutter (18%), and rounded things out mostly with sliders and four-seam fastballs (13% each). He sprinkled in just a few curveballs (three total for 4%). On the year, Sugano has relied on his four-seamer most heavily at 22%. With that dropping down to 13% today, he dominated with a mix of off-speed pitches.

Manager Warren Schaeffer lauded Sugano’s day, pointing to his “excellent fastball command, strong velo. His splitter was really good. He gave us just what we needed. Typical Tomo Sugano stuff.”

Firing on all cylinders

Aside from the well-deserved shoutouts to Sugano and Carrigg above, a number of other players pitched in to bolster the strong team effort. Carrigg, McCarthy, Moniak, and Rumfield all notched multi-hit games.

Of note, Rumfield looked incredible at the plate. He logged his first four-hit game in the majors with four RBI and a homer in five at-bats. With his best offensive performance of the season, Rumfield bolstered his NL Rookie of the Year case. On that topic, Schaeffer said “TJ’s making a very, very strong case for that, but he’s got another 6o games to go. So no let-up.” He praised Rumfield’s two Rookie of the Month wins.

The bullpen looked great as well. Juan Mejia, Brennan Bernardino, and Zach Agnos worked through their innings with no earned runs of their own, effectively working out of any jams – but not allowing really any of those to begin with.

In the end, the Rockies played as a team, got ahead early, and never looked back, cruising to win number 40 in the 2026 campaign.

Up Next

Another Sunday, another rubber match.

The Rockies and Reds conclude the three-game series with a Sunday afternoon showdown before the Washington National come to town on Monday.

The Rockies are slated to send out Ryan Feltner (3-3 in 13 starts, 4.55 ERA). Cincinnati turns to a righty of their own in Hunter Greene (1-1 in two starts, 6.97 ERA).

First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. MDT.

---

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks! 

The game will.begin in a rain delay

ere’s the Pirates’ lineup:

99/162. Game 2️⃣ of doubleheader.

📺: @SNPittsburgh
📻: @937TheFanpic.twitter.com/NxqzoKOLQM

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 18, 2026

Here’s the Guardians’ lineup:

Tonight's game will begin in a delay.#GuardsBallpic.twitter.com/oqQr7325eS

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) July 18, 2026

Let’s go, Guardians!

White Sox 0 Blue Jays 1

You really shouldn’t win if you only score one run. I’d search to figure this out, but there are very few 1-0 games in a season.

We got our run in the fourth. Vladimir Guerrero doubled off the center wall, just a couple of feet short of a home run. When it wasn’t, I worried that he could be stranded. But, no, George Springer singled him home in the next at bat. Unfortunately, that is where it ended. Kazuma Okamoto struck out and Daulton Varsho ground out.

We only had five hits and three walks. One (the Springer hit) for four with RISP. Vlad had two of the four hits.

Shane Bieber was terrific. Six innings, just three hits, two walks and six strikeouts. Easily his best start of the season. Maybe he’s rounding into form.

Jeff Hoffman pitched the seventh, giving up a lead off walk, just to get our blood pressure up. But two strikeouts and a ground out (nice play by Ernie Clement got us out of the inning.

Tyler Rogers got the eighth. He gave up a bunt single to Chase Meidroth (very nice bunt hit, no change to get him). But a caught stealing (great throw Kirk), strikeout and fly out ended the inning.

And Louis Varland pitched the ninth. Ground out, strike out, fly out.

Save #20 for Louis. Holds #11 and #20 for Hoffman and Rogers respectively. And win #1 for Bieber.

Jays of the Day: Bieber (0.36 WPA), Varland (0.16), Rogers (0.12) and Hoffman (0.10). Let’s give Vlad one, as well, for his 2 for 4, 0.08 WPA. Hope it is a sign of good things to come.

Other Award: Clement (-0.09, for an 0 for 4, he was at his chase happiest today, swinging at everything), Nathan Lukes (-0.09, also 0 for 4, two strikeouts, a soft ground out and fly out) and Okamoto (-0.08, 0 for 4, 2 k).

Tomorrow is an early start, 12:00 Eastern. Sean Burke (6-4, 3.41) and Trey Yesavage (4-4, 3.72).

I’m still puzzled by the Spencer Miles start yesterday. It seems to be that, after the All-Star break, you’d want to come out with one of your ‘real’ starters.

This game also had the unveiling of the Joe Carter statue (I’ll admit I didn’t love the statue, but since it is replacing the stupid Ed Rogers statue, it is a big upgrade). And they had several members of the 1992 and 1993 World Series winnings. It was great to see those guys again. They are getting up there in age. I’ll take any excuse to see them.

The Twins climbed back to .500, but getting over the hump back to a winning record will have to wait a few more games. Minnesota falls to 49-50 after a decisive win by the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs jumped on starter Taj Bradley early, tagging the Twin for five earned runs in the first three innings. A solo shot from Michael Busch gave the Cubs the lead in the first, and a two-run Miguel Amaya double made it 3-1 Cubs in the second, after Kody Clemens had leveled the playing field with a homer of his own.

A pair of walks — two out of three total on Taj’s line — came around to score in the third, making it a 5-1 Chicago lead. Bradley got through five innings, but it was his worst start in weeks, and it handed him his fourth loss of the season. Mike Paredes struck out four in two relief innings, but allowed a walk and a few hits in a messy seventh inning to give the Cubs one more run.

Clemens would homer again in the seventh, the only other Twins tally on the afternoon.

The Twins attempted to rally in the ninth, putting their first two men on, then proceeded to lose two outs on the bases on a Brooks Lee single, as Josh Bell got hung up between third and home, and Brooks Lee was iced trying to retreat to the bag. It would have been nice to have a few plate appearances with the tying run up and nobody out, but hey, they’re professionals. They know a lot better than we do in situations such as.

The loss means tomorrow’s game will be nice and rubbery. We shall see you there!

STUDS:

2B Kody Clemens (2-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR)

DUDS:

SP Taj Bradley (5 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, HR)

The Dodgers’ game against the New York Yankees on Saturday in the Bronx was rained out and rescheduled as the first game in a split doubleheader Sunday.

It was the Dodgers’ first postponement of the season.

They are set to play Game 1 at 9:35 a.m. PDT Sunday, followed by Game 2 at 4:20 p.m.

Saturday’s game was originally scheduled to air on Fox at 5:08 p.m. PDT. But with persistent showers in the forecast, the decision to postpone was made official more than three hours before game time.

Dodgers right-hander Emmett Sheehan (4-6, 4.81 ERA) was scheduled to take the mound opposite Yankees lefty Ryan Weathers on Saturday. But the Dodgers shifted their pitching plan after the postponement.

Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, already lined up for Sunday, is set to start the morning game. The Dodgers have not announced their Game 2 starter.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.