Worldwide Sports News

Introduction

Incredibly, the calendar has already flipped its way to June despite it still feeling like it’s early May. As part of that calendar flip, the All-Star Ballot is officially open for the first phase of voting by fans that will run until the end of the month. Remember that you can vote up to five times a day – one of my mom’s favorite pastimes during this time of year. While there are plenty of worthy candidates in a stacked National League, I thought the opening phase was as good a time as any to review some of the possible candidates for our favorite team. Even though some of the big-city teams have a built-in advantage with the size of their respective fanbases and some of the usual All-Stars (like Manny Machado or Mookie Betts) are having down seasons, there are some interesting openings for lesser-known players to step in. This group is an interesting mix of perennial All-Stars, upstarts, and bounceback candidates, highlighting exactly what has made this Arizona team as successful as it’s been through the first two-plus months of the season.

Corbin Carroll

The team’s present and future, Carroll moved himself from the “very good” tier to “MVP-caliber” tier last year when he created the 30-30 club for the D-Backs. That momentum has continued so far this season as he’s already accumulated a major league-leading eight triples, has nearly reached double digits for both stolen bases and homers, and continues to make excellent defensive plays in right field on a nearly nightly basis. If you zoom out to the National League outfield, Carroll has the fourth-best bWAR (2.7), the third-highest OPS (.937), and the third-highest OPS+ (160) which normalizes OPS across the major leagues. Who wouldn’t want to watch Carroll take his 98th percentile speed out for a spin in Philadelphia? It would be the 25 year old’s third All-Star selection already and might be one of the most deserved.

Nolan Arenado

From a youngster just starting his career to a near-lock Hall of Famer, this D-Backs team features a wide range of experience and Arenado’s resurgent campaign certainly accounts for a significant amount of the year-over-year improvement for the team. We’re only about 40% of the way through the season, but he’s having his best season in nearly three years with more bWAR (1.6) accumulated in just over half the number of games played from last year, almost the same number of doubles from last year, and almost two-thirds of the RBI from last year. What’s most impressive – he’s been able to do all of that offensive damage while continuing to act as a leader and mentor to the team as well as making excellent defensive plays every night. Among third basemen in the NL, he ranks third in bWAR, second in OPS (.795) and OPS+, and third in home runs. It would be his first selection to the MidSummer Classic since 2023 among an incredibly restorative season.

Eduardo Rodriguez

I think if you had told me in February that E-Rod would be on this list of All Star candidates, I likely would have laughed you out of the room. He was coming off consecutive seasons with an ERA north of five and a WHIP above 1.5 while demonstrating exactly why so many baseball front offices are reluctant to commit multiple years to a starting pitcher over 30. Instead, since his championship run with Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, Rodriguez has been a different pitcher. He owns a 2.24 ERA in 12 starts and a WHIP under 1.2, accumulating 2.6 bWAR – good enough for sixth-highest in the NL. There’s clearly some room for some negative regression considering the gap between his actual and expected ERA as well as the abnormally high hard hit rate he’s allowed so far, but that level of analysis is unlikely to figure into the average voter’s consciousness. It would be the 33 year old’s first selection to the All-Star game and would be particularly gratifying given how badly he was struggling through the last two years.

Game Summary

The Diamondbacks were coming off a draining victory the night before against their arch rivals and, possibly as a result of that, they just didn’t seem to have any life on either side of the ball on what was apparently Pride Night at Chase Field. Merrill Kelly had his worst start in over a month and the hitters couldn’t find any open grass against the surprisingly stiff Nats defense.

The game seemed to get off to a weird start when we were delayed because Merrill Kelly just wasn’t around in the dugout. My first thought was there was an injury during warm-ups, but I was thankfully wrong. Well, sort of thankful. When Merrill finally did take the mound and the game got underway, he did not look sharp, spraying pitches all over. Many pitches were not even close to the strike zone, and many of the pitches that did find the zone ended up getting smoked into the seats or into the outfield grass. A leadoff walk followed by a 2-run homer set the tone for the night and it did not let up from there as Merrill ended up giving up 6 hits, 3 BB and 3 HR.

The bullpen’s performance wasn’t much more inspiring. Philip Abner and Kade Strowd made their first appearances after being recalled on Thursday from Reno and both went poorly. Abner loaded the bases and then gave up a Grand Slam before recording a single out, but he was eventually able to record 4 outs (while also allowing another homer). Kade Strowd, making the first appearance by any of the returns from the Blaze Alexander trade, started off well enough, getting the final 2 outs of the 7th inning including striking out James Wood looking on a cutter at the knees, but then it all went downhill. Strowd was extremely wild when he came back out in the 8th and loaded the bases while recording only one before leaving with the trainer and handing the ball off to Adrian Del Castillo to finish off the laugher. For ADC’s part, he only allowed one of the inherited runners to score in the 8th and allowed 1 run to score in the 9th. Better than the average for tonight’s crew!

Finally, we come to the offense. I won’t say they were awful, but they just couldn’t find any open grass at all. The Nationals are a middle-of-the-pack defense or worse by all metrics I could find, but on this night, they looked like a lineup full of Gold Glovers. Several plays looked like possible hits, but instead were turned into harmless outs by some outstanding athleticism and glove work. It wasn’t necessarily bad luck and hitting right into the defensive positioning, but more like a night where you just tip your cap to the other side and admit they outplayed you.

Geraldo Perdomo had his second night hitting down in the order, and for the second night in a row he got results like the Perdomo of old. Domo finished the night with 2 hits and hit the ball with authority. I won’t say that the move down the lineup made some sort of mental change and freed him up to play looser because he was still hitting the ball well before, it just seemed like he always hit it right at the defense. Tonight, he was the only one who didn’t get hit with some sort of amazing play to rob him of a hit. Aramis Garcia hit his first home run since 2022 for our only run of the night and Tommy Troy contributed 2 hits (one the benefit of some hometown scoring on a should-be error by CJ Abrams) and that was about it for the offense on the night.

This was a frustrating game to watch. Maybe they’re just out of gas after a 4 game set against Guggenheim’s Billions and playing their 21st game in 22 days. Hopefully they snap back and win out to complete a series win.

Loss Probability and Box Score

Outside the Box Score

• Start off with the question likely on everyone’s mind, Groover was not using Santana’s now famous purple first baseman mitt tonight.
• The home run Merrill Kelly gave up in the first inning didn’t appear to be a bad pitch. A fastball several inches inside but credit to Luis García Jr. turning on it and just sneaking it fair into the visitor bullpen.
• Merrill recorded the first out of the game with an unconventional ‘kick save’ on a groundball up the middle. He stuck foot out behind him and the ball miraculously hit his cleat and stuck right there, allowing Merrill to easily bend down, pick up the ball and throw the runner out at first.
• Ryan Waldschmidt looked to hit a sure double into the right field corner in the 1st inning, but James Wood covered a ton of ground and turned it into a routine fly out. That defense was then one-upped by an incredible line drive snag by the Nationals second baseman to rob Corbin Carroll of a 2-out knock. The defender was fully airborne and parallel with the ground when he caught the liner and then was able to corral it without touching the ground when it squirted out of his glove.
• Ryan Waldschmidt returned the defensive favor by recording the first out of the second inning by laying out to catch a fly ball to shallow left. The defense in this game has been crazy and we’re only 7 outs in!
• Merrill gave up 4 runs in the third inning and it wasn’t some defensive miscues or seeing eye singles getting strung together that came back to bite him. The Nats were just all over Kelly. Merrill wasn’t sharp with his command, missing the zone badly when he missed; then when he came in the zone, the Nats were drilling the ball. On top of 2 walks, exit velocities that inning were: 106, 66, 108, 84, 103, 103. 
• Tommy Troy’s sharp grounder just under the glove of the Nats third baseman in the 5th was the Diamondbacks first hit through the defense on the night. Aramis Garcia hit a home run in the third, but every ball hit into the field of play somehow found the glove of a Washington defender. Some nights, it’s just not your night.
• Philip Abner came on in the sixth for his first action after getting recalled Thursday from Reno and got bushwhacked. 2 homers, 1 of them a Grand Slam, and other assorted hits. Exit velocities included 114, 104, 106 and 101. Not exactly making a strong case to stay with the club past Taylor Clarke’s return to the active roster.
• Ildemaro Vargas made an appearance in tonight’s contest thanks to the lopsided score, and of course, one night after leaving the game because he ran into a dumptruck, he gets hit by a pitch in his only plate appearance. How is he still walking at this point?

Comment of the Game

The GameDay Thread was definitely light tonight. Understandable considering the rout was on early. A final tally of 146 comments at time of publishing, but since no comments went red after the crews nightly introductions, we’ll just chalk this up as a total loss and not name any COTG.

Coming Up

The Diamondbacks face the Nats for the second game of this 3-game set tomorrow afternoon with a rare Saturday 1:10pm first pitch at home. Righthander Zack Littell (5-4, 5.01 ERA) will take the mound for Washington and The Hologram (5-1, 2.24 ERA) takes the ball for the good guys.

Manager Craig Stammen met with the media before the San Diego Padres versus the New York Mets game on Friday and announced that outfielder Ramón Laureano had surgery in the morning for a torn labrum in his hip. Laureano went on the injured list on Tuesday with right hip inflammation. He was moved from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL.

Reliever Jeremiah Estrada was also placed on the 15-day injured list with right knee inflammation, retroactive to June 3.

In corresponding moves, reliever David Morgan was recalled from El Paso and RHP Jhony Brito was activated from the 60-day IL. Brito was not placed on the active roster at this time and was optioned to Triple-A El Paso.

Laureano’s injury originated in 2021, per Stammen, and was treated with an injection at that time. His testing showed a recurrence, and he opted for surgery this time around. The normal timeline for recovery from labrum surgery is four to five months.

With the release of Nick Castellanos on Friday, the Padres still have four outfielders on the roster. Samad Taylor, brought up when Castellanos was released, is both an outfielder and a second baseman. Both Taylor and outfielder Jase Bowen distinguished themselves with Triple-A El Paso leading up to their promotions.

Outfielder Bryce Johnson has more experience than Bowen and will probably get the bulk of the starts to begin with. He starts in left field to begin the series against the Mets on Friday. All three of them are good baserunners and play good defense.

Stammen also gave an update on catcher Luis Campusano. He is still in Arizona and working toward a rehab assignment next week or soon after.

Second baseman Jake Cronenworth is progressing with activities as tolerated but still has no timeline for his return.

With two starters who have struggled with keeping the ball in the park this season, it felt like we were going to see another offensive shootout, as we saw in the series against the Giants. But that certainly wasn’t the case; then it was, as the Milwaukee Brewers bats scored eight runs between the ninth and 10th innings to beat the Rockies 9-7.

Christian Yelich opened up the game by getting hit by a pitch, and with the heart of the order, it was shaping up to be a great first inning for the Crew. Unfortunately, the rest of the inning was just foreshadowing what was to come for the rest of the game, as Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang went back-to-back with groundouts. William Contreras followed with a first-pitch popout to end the inning, stranding Yelich in scoring position.

The Rockies have been swinging the bat at a successful rate over the last week of play, and that continued in the home half of the first inning as Jake McCarthy doubled. Rockies gave the Brewers a taste of their own medicine by stealing bases and using the small ball to take an early 1-0 lead.

In his first plate appearance of the night, Jake Bauers continued to be one of the biggest consistencies in the lineup as he smashed his 11th double of the season. Following a groundout, then a walk, Luis Rengifo drove in Bauer to tie the game at 1-1 with a groundout of his own. The double by Bauers wound up being the lone hit of the evening for the Brewers as they struggled to find any success against the right-hander Ryan Feltner.

Feltner was making his second start since coming off the 15-day injured list, and boy did he look dominant. Throwing six innings of one-run ball and struck out four batters while allowing just two walks. His offense helped him get into a groove early as Edouard Julien singled to drive in a run to give the Rockies the lead at 2-1. Hunter Goodman followed up an inning later with a solo shot to make it 3-1.

Brandon Sproat continued to struggle on the mound this evening as he finished the night with three runs allowed on seven hits. He has now allowed at least three runs in each of his last five outings, and in that span he has given up four home runs. Entering tonight, the words of Pat Murphy rang through many Brewers fans’ heads, thinking the chances of Sproat being sent down were high if he had another outing like this. Though, with the injuries beginning to rack up for the pitching staff, Sproat will most likely stay with the big league club.

Following his departure, the game went into a stalemate. The injury bug was back, and it bit the Brewers yet again, as Brian Fitzpatrick, who was just called up from Triple-A, departed the game during his warm-ups entering the bottom of the seventh inning. It had appeared that it was something with his throwing arm, and it was instant. Though no official announcement has been made yet, chances are Fitzpatrick will become the fifth left-hander to land on the injured list for the Crew.

The Brewers entered the bottom of the ninth with just one hit and one run on the board, and no signs of life at the plate. That was, until Turang led off the inning with a single. It was the first of many more hits to come for the Brewers. With two on and no outs, Bauer continued his hot night at the plate as he zipped a single into the outfield to bring them within one. Then, Sal Frelick made his presence felt with an RBI double that tied the game at three. After the tying hit, Andrew Vaughn came through by driving in a pair of runs on a single to give the Brewers their first lead of the night at 5-3.

Trevor Megill came in seeking his first save opportunity since last weekend in Houston, and instead earned a blown save, his first since April 10th against the Nationals. With bases loaded and Megill’s command lacking, he walked Chad Stevens to bring the Rockies within one. Then Goodman came through again with a sacrifice flyout to send the game into extra innings.

The pesky, gritty Brewers were back and stronger than ever entering the top of the 10th inning. Back-to-back walks to lead off the inning allowed Bauers to smash his second double that drove in two runs to give them back the lead at 7-5. For good insurance, Garrett Mitchell and Frelick singled, driving in a run each, to extend the Brewers’ lead to 9-5.

Known win vulture Aaron Ashby came on in the bottom of the 10th inning to shut down the Rockies. Despite loading the bases and giving up a couple of runs, he used a game-ending double-play to lock in the come-from-behind win for the Brewers.

After a late night at the ballpark, the Brewers will be back in action tomorrow night as they will look to lock in the series win against the Rockies. Jacob Misiorowski will take the ball as he makes his first career start at Coors Field.

Charlotte Knights 4, Durham Bulls 3
Eager to post double-digit runs for the third straight night, Dru Baker got the night started with his sixth bomb this season against his former team to break open the game in the third:

Charlotte and Durham traded three runs apiece over the next three innings, which included a Braden Montgomery three-run blast to balance Jonathan Cannon’s three allowed runs:

The scoring held there, and while the Knights didn’t break 10 runs, they at least secured a series win, as they continue to own the Durham Bulls this season.

Riley Gowens deserves a lot of credit for his three stellar relief innings that held the Bulls scoreless for the rest of the game.

Knoxville Smokies 8, Birmingham Barons 7 (11 innings)
The Barons went toe-to-toe with the Smokies in a match that tested the arms and bats’ endurance. Knoxville went up 1-0 in the first, but Bham matched the score with an Anthony DePino sac fly. The Smokies tried pulling away with a three-spot in the third, but the Barons responded with their own three-run tally in the fifth. The wait-an-inning-then-score saga continued for the rest of the game. The schtick was all fun and games until the 11th, when the Barons finally fell off the keep pace after Phil Fox gave up an extra-base hit to allow Knoxville to walk off the game.

Jordan Sprinkle and Drake Logan stood out from the rest in the lineup, with Logan by far the most productive player, going 3-for-4 with two runs, two RBIs and two walks. On the other side, Nick Altermatt came through once again for the Barons, tossing two scoreless innings along with four strikeouts.

Hub City Spartanburgers 8, Winston-Salem Dash 5 (11 innings)
Unfortunately, the first game in this Dash-Spartanburgers series with more than three total runs scored ended unfavorably for our friends down in Winston-Salem. Starter Justin Sinbaldi gave Winston-Salem a gift by allowing just one run and four hits in six frames, and could’ve and should’ve gone longer. Up 3-1, Trey Cooper came in for the seventh and saw the lead shaved down by one run in a matter of minutes by giving up two straight hits, throwing a wild pitch and walking the No. 4 and 5 batters. Cooper then punctuated the seventh with a two-run double that handed the Spartanburgers the lead for the rest of the game.

Although giving up three runs didn’t help, Winston-Salem’s lineup didn’t dazzle, either. After leaving 12 on base and going 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position, it was shocking to see the Dash put the puzzle together at the last minute. Down to their last out, Boston Smith singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Alex Ungar and T.J. McCants capitalized on an error from Hub City’s Ben Hartl, drawing two free passes to first to knot the contest at four apiece.

The Dash clung onto the game through the 10th, but Pierce George’s return to the mound in the 11th was a costly mistake. He gave up a two-run homer that essentially slammed the door on the game.

Hickory Crawdads 5, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 2
There’s no nice way to slice and dice this game in a way that doesn’t completely put the shortcomings on the lineup. After collecting four hits, no walks, and nine strikeouts, the CBs should be grateful they even put a run on the board. Abraham Núñez basically put the team on his back, scoring the only run that came from a ball in play and tallying almost half his team’s hits with a dinger in the fourth. Yeesh. Conversely, Riley Eikhoff is solely to blame for Hickory’s earned runs. Although he managed to punch out eight, he gave up two home runs and eight hits before exiting. He has truly been hit or miss in 2026, with the majority of his games leaning towards hit. The arm barn did its best to clean up the mess, but with a lackadaisical offense, the effort was moot.

ACL White Sox 5, ACL Guardians 4 (7 innings)
In what is hopefully a harbinger of games to come in the major leagues, the Complex Sox beat back the Clevelanders on Friday, and this in spite of four errors squeezed into just seven frames.

Better still is that our ACL heroes fought back from an early deficit, especially important in a shortened game; Cleveland was ahead, 4-1, through the second inning — and the Complex Sox shut them down from there.

Although Jurdrick Profar had the biggest blow of the contest, a two-run shot in the fourth inning that tied the game, 4-4, it was pesky D’Angelo Tejada who made the difference two innings later. Tejada doubled to lead off the frame, was bunted over to third by Jordan Rich, and proved distracting enough at the hot corner to induce a balk from Guards hurler Harrison Ruiz.

That proved the difference-maker, and the ACL Sox move to 9-16; their two straight wins have pushed them ahead of both the ACL Cubs and ACL Dodgers for the 13th-best record in the 15-team ACL. Baby steps!

For a variety of reasons, significantly that the Dominican Summer League has no media coverage and players who often are en masse released before even getting to U.S. play, we no longer cover the daily doings of our DSL White Sox. However, given that today we saw the San Francisco Giants drub the Cubs, 18-3, it was an odd coincidence that the DSL Giants crushed our White Sox, 21-7.

The DSL White Sox were 2-1 heading into this mauling, but did manage to shut out the Giants in two of the game’s seven innings; problem was that the other four innings for the home team saw five, seven, one and eight runs tallied. Unfortunately, all four DSL Sox pitchers (five threw in the game, with shortstop Nestor Perez mopping up the last out and giving up three runs in the process) will now spend their entire short season trying to winnow down their four-digit ERAs.

Roki Sasaki delivered the best start of his MLB career Friday night against the Angels (24-40) in what became a scoreless pitcher’s duel through the first eight innings. Freddie Freeman walked off with a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Dodgers the 1-0 win against the Angels in the series opener.

With his newfound confidence, Sasaki pitched a gem for the Dodgers (41-23). He allowed just two hits and struck out a career-high 10 batters in seven scoreless innings.

Sasaki looked sharp and confident to start the game and series. He struck out Mike Trout and Wade Meckler with nasty splitters in the 1-2-3 first inning.

Sasaki didn’t receive any run support, but his defense had his back. Miguel Rojas made a ridiculous bare-hand throw to get Nick Madrigal out at first. Freeman stretched at first base on the other side of the play to finish it. The Dodgers challenged the safe call on the field, and it was overturned to give the Dodgers the second out of the inning in spectacular defensive fashion.

Sasaki was cooking through three innings, and hit 100.4 mph again on the radar gun with his fastball. The young right-hander looked wickedly good through four no-hit innings against the Angels lineup.

On the other side, the Dodgers were struggling to collect a hit against the lefty Detmers until Freeman singled with one out in the fourth. It would be Freeman’s bat which would ultimately win the game for the Dodgers and prevent a second straight extra-innings game.

Mookie Betts drew a walk to give the Dodgers their first base runner in scoring position, but Detmers used a backdoor breaking ball to strike out Will Smith looking and strand both runners.

Nick Madrigal roped a double to left field with one out in the fifth, the first base hit surrendered by Sasaki. The Angels weren’t able to muster anything else, and the scoreless pitcher’s duel continued.

Andy Pages singled against Detmers with one out in the bottom of the sixth. He tried to get something going for the Dodgers but was thrown out on a steal attempt of second base.

Sasaki picked up his 10th strikeout, a career high, utilizing that deadly splitter to send Nick Madrigal down swinging in the bottom of the seventh.

Max Muncy pinch-hit for Rojas to start the bottom of the eighth. Muncy was not in the starting lineup after the much-talked about collision at first base with Ildemaro Vargas the night prior. Muncy went down on strikes against Angels reliever Sam Bachman, and his offensive frustrations continued.

Alex Freeland was hit by a pitch on his thigh with one out in the bottom of the eighth, but Bachman also struck out Pages for a scoreless inning of his own.

It only takes one swing of the bat to win the deadlocked game in the bottom of the ninth. Freeman accepted the challenge and ended the 0-0 pitcher’s duel with a solo home run against old friend Kirby Yates to walk it off for the Dodgers. It was Freeman’s 20th career walk-off home run.

Friday particulars

Home run: Freddie Freeman (10)

WP — Blake Treinen (3-1): 1 out to end the 8th

LP — Kirby Yates (0-2): gave up walk-off HR to Freeman

Up next

Yoshinobu Yamamoto (5-4, 2.86 ERA, 0.995 WHIP) takes on Jack Kochanowicz (2-4, 5.23 ERA, 1.48 WHIP) Saturday night in the second game of the series (7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA).

Freddie Freeman battled in the batter’s box.

No stranger to coming through in a big moment, the Dodgers star was hoping to see a fastball up in the zone from Angels reliever Kirby Yates.

So Freeman stayed patient, working his way into a full count.

Then Yates gave him what he wanted — and Freeman delivered the 20th walk-off hit of his career.

The Dodger Stadium crowd erupted in celebration as Freeman watched the ball soar over the right-center field wall in the ninth inning of a 1-0 victory over the Angels.

Freeman grinned as he rounded the bases. He threw a thumbs up at his teammates before they swarmed him in celebration. He finally had given the Dodgers something to cheer for after being held to just two hits over 25 at-bats.

“I’ve been feeling good lately,” Freeman said. “I was tweaking things early on, just trying to find a consistent feel for things. Sometimes it’s just get a couple of hits, get confidence and get going. Nothing really crazy. It’s the same routine, hitting some soft line drives at the shortstop, and things have been working.”

Through most of the game, the excitement was contained to a pitcher’s duel — a chess game of defensive plays, waiting to see who flinched first.

Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki was red hot in what would tie for his longest outing of the season. Sasaki, for the first time this season, threw triple digits in back-to-back appearances, topping 100.6 mph. The Japanese pitcher threw all three of his pitches harder than his yearly average.

“I’ve been experiencing a lot of good and bad since 2024,” Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo. “But I feel like I’m able to maintain this velocity. I think I’m confident about that, but I’m just keeping working on it to make sure I’m in a better place.”

With the speed uptick, Sasaki has also seen an inverse downtick in the earned runs column on his statline. His monthly ERA reached its zenith at 7.23 in his April starts, descending to its current 4.03 ERA.

In Sasaki’s best starts, the elevated velocity and pitch mix makes the right-hander lethal, giving him extended runway to pitch further into the game. Against the Angels (24-40), the elevated velocity allowed him to throw 4⅓ hitless innings in his career-high 11th appearance of the season. He pitched seven innings, giving up two hits and two walks while striking out 10.

It’s a return to how Sasaki looked when he played in Japan, manager Dave Roberts said. Confidence might be the clearest sign things are clicking. Sasaki thumped his chest after striking out Adam Fraizer in the fifth inning, a rare show of emotion.

“I certainly think we can all agree that the floor for Roki is much higher, and the expectation every time he takes the ball is high, and he’s earned that,” Roberts said. “If you look at the last six or seven stats, it’s been as good as any starter in the big leagues in the consistency of performance. So really proud of him and I know that he wants more, and the floor has just been raised.”

Some quick thinking from second baseman Miguel Rojas also helped preserve Sasaki’s strong start. On Nick Madrigal’s sharp line drive in the third inning, the pitcher reached for the ball and popped it up with the tip of his glove. The ball ricocheted off its intended course, but Rojas nabbed it with his bare hand, throwing it to first where a lunging Freeman caught it. The play was initially ruled as an infield single, but it was overturned on review.

“When it hits off a pitcher — you’re already going, committed to one way, then you gotta make another,” Freeman laughed. “The old guy’s still got it.”

Madrigal would break the Angels’ hitless run in the fifth with a double off the left-field wall. But, he was left stranded when Sasaki induced a groundout before his strikeout of Frazier.

The Dodgers (41-23) didn’t fare much better against Angels starter Reid Detmers. In the fourth, Freeman singled and moved to third on a forceout on Kyle Tucker. But, with two outs on the board, Will Smith struck out.

Andy Pages squandered a potential scoring opportunity when he was caught stealing in the sixth. The center fielder, who went one for four, has struggled at the plate in recent games. Against Arizona this week, Pages batted .176, collecting only three hits.

As the innings dragged, both the Dodgers and the Angels failed to find momentum. Reliever Chase Silseth took over in the seventh for Detmers, who gave up just two hits, walked two and struck out six. Silseth silenced the opposing batters, issuing only a walk to Smith.

Read more:Roki Sasaki is no longer lost in translation, finding his swagger and delivering wins

Edgardo Henriquez took over in the eighth, striking out the first two batters he faced. Then, he hit Zach Neto with a pitch, and after Neto stole second, the Dodgers found themselves in a precarious position with Mike Trout at the plate. Not for long, though, as Henriquez struck out Trout.

Roberts, who had watched Rojas and Santiago Espinal go a combined 0 for 4, pinch-hit for both in the eighth. To a roaring applause, Max Muncy entered the batter’s box, his first plate appearance since a scary collision with the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Ildemaro Vargas on Thursday. Muncy, though, went down swinging.

Tanner Scott took the mound in the ninth a day after he gave up a walk-off home run to Arizona’s Ketel Marte. Jo Adell hit a one-out single then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Donovan Walton. Roberts then put Blake Treinen into the game, and he got Oswald Peraza to ground out to first.

With Freeman’s sixth career walk-off home run, the Dodgers beat the Angels for the fourth consecutive time this season.

“Freddie just has aura,” Roberts said. “There’s not too many guys in baseball that you’d want in a game-winning situation, and Freddie does it once again.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The margin against the Brewers was thin Friday night, and the final innings showed why.

The Rockies had a 3-1 lead, had allowed one hit through eight innings and were three outs away from taking the opener against the first-place Brewers.

They still lost.

Colorado fell 9-7 in 10 innings Friday night at Coors Field, dropping to 24-40 while Milwaukee improved to 38-23. The Rockies got one of Ryan Feltner’s best starts of the season, early offense against Brandon Sproat and Hunter Goodman’s 16th home run, but went scoreless from the fourth through the eighth before the game turned late.

Milwaukee scored four runs in the ninth to take a 5-3 lead. Colorado answered with two runs in the bottom half to force extras, but the Brewers came back with four more in the 10th. The Rockies scored twice in the bottom of the inning before the comeback ended.

Feltner settles in after high-pitch second inning

Ryan Feltner looked sharp Friday, giving the Rockies six innings of one-run baseball against a first-place Brewers lineup. He allowed one hit, walked two, struck out four and needed 81 pitches. The outing lowered his season ERA to 4.22.

Feltner hit Christian Yelich to open the game, but the only real trouble came in the second inning. Jake Bauers led off with a double, and Milwaukee used a walk, two stolen bases and Luis Rengifo’s soft groundout to tie the game. David Hamilton followed with another walk and a stolen base, giving the Brewers two runners in scoring position with Yelich at the plate.

Feltner ended the inning with one of the game’s biggest pitches: an 86.8 mph changeup for a swinging strikeout. The pitch stranded both runners and kept the game tied at 1-1.

From there, Feltner controlled the game. He did not allow another baserunner after Hamilton’s walk, retired his final 13 batters and finished the sixth at 81 pitches.

The command was a big part of it, the second inning aside. Feltner threw 56% of his pitches in the zone and finished with a 63% strike rate, using the full mix without letting Milwaukee back into counts after the second.

The pitch data backed up the line. Feltner used six pitches, led by 27 sliders, 23 four-seam fastballs and 17 changeups. The changeup produced three of his four strikeouts and four whiffs on seven swings. His four-seam fastball averaged 94.5 mph and topped out at 97.4 mph.

Rockies get to Sproat early, but fail to add on

Brandon Sproat brought plenty of velocity, but the Rockies built their lead by scoring in each of the first three innings against him.

Sproat allowed three runs on seven hits over five innings, walking two and striking out two on 87 pitches. His ERA rose to 6.17.

Jake McCarthy opened the bottom of the first with a double, stole third and scored on Tyler Freeman’s RBI groundout. McCarthy, who entered the game hitting .289 with an .805 OPS, finished 2-for-6 with a double, a run scored and a stolen base.

The Rockies answered Milwaukee’s second-inning run with one of their better offensive sequences. Ezequiel Tovar hit a 103 mph ground-rule double, Sterlin Thompson moved him to third after an eight-pitch at-bat, and Edouard Julien lined a single to left to put Colorado back in front.

McCarthy followed with a 101.4 mph single to right, prompting a mound visit before Freeman ended the inning with a flyout.

Goodman added the Rockies’ final early run in the third. After falling behind 1-2 and working the count full, he got an 81.5 mph curveball and drove it to left field for his 16th home run of the season. The ball left his bat at 106.4 mph and traveled 411 feet, giving Colorado a 3-1 lead.

Goodman, who entered the game hitting .245 with an .831 OPS, finished 1-for-3 with a homer, a walk, a stolen base and two RBI. Thompson went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI, while Tovar and Willi Castro also doubled.

Sproat averaged 95.9 mph with his four-seam fastball and 96.1 mph with his sinker, topping out at 97.8 mph. He used six pitches, led by 24 four-seam fastballs, 20 cutters, 17 changeups and 13 curveballs.

The Rockies finished with seven hits against Sproat, including four extra-base hits. Sproat generated six whiffs on 42 swings, finished with a 59% strike rate and threw 44% of his pitches in the zone.

Ninth inning undoes strong pitching stretch

The Rockies were in good shape after Ryan Feltner exited. Jaden Hill handled the seventh, working around a two-out walk with a strikeout and a forceout.

Senzatela struck out David Hamilton, Christian Yelich and Jackson Chourio in order in the eighth, pushing Colorado within three outs of a win. He entered the ninth with a 1.26 ERA, but the inning changed quickly.

Milwaukee opened the ninth with a single, then reached again on a comebacker and a throwing error by Senzatela. Instead of recording at least one out, the Brewers had runners at the corners with nobody out.

Jake Bauers followed with a 111.8 mph RBI single to center to cut the lead to 3-2.

Senzatela got the first out by striking out Garrett Mitchell with a 92.3 mph cutter, but Sal Frelick followed with a 106 mph double to tie the game.

Andrew Vaughn then came off the bench and bounced a single through the drawn-in infield, scoring two runs and giving Milwaukee a 5-3 lead.

Senzatela finished with 1.2 innings, allowing four runs, three earned, on four hits with four strikeouts. His ERA moved to 1.98. Brennan Bernardino entered and got Yelich to ground out to end the inning.

Rockies answer in bottom of ninth

The Rockies did not let the game end in the bottom of the ninth against Trevor Megill.

Colorado loaded the bases after Thompson reached on a strange play near first base, Kyle Karros followed with a 101.7 mph single to right off a 96.6 mph four-seam fastball, and Freeman singled to left.

Chad Stevens worked a bases-loaded walk to score Thompson and cut Milwaukee’s lead to 5-4. Goodman followed after an ABS challenge overturned a ball call and made the count 0-2. He still got a 98.5 mph four-seam fastball in the air, hitting a sacrifice fly to right at 96.6 mph and 323 feet to score pinch-runner Braxton Fulford and tie the game at 5-5.

Troy Johnston came up with runners on the corners and two outs, but flew out to left to send the game to extra innings.

Brewers take control in extras

Juan Mejia took over in the 10th with Yelich starting the inning at second as the automatic runner. Mejia got the first out by striking out Chourio, but back-to-back walks to Brice Turang and Gary Sánchez loaded the bases.

The walks set up the inning. Bauers doubled to center to give Milwaukee a 7-5 lead, and Mitchell and Frelick followed with run-scoring singles to make it 9-5.

Mejia allowed four runs, three earned, on three hits and two walks in one-third of an inning. His ERA rose to 6.67.

“Walks kill you. Especially late in the game. Walks always kill you,” Warren Schaeffer said after the game.

Seth Halvorsen entered with runners on first and second and one out, but walked Joey Ortiz on four pitches to load the bases again. He avoided further damage, striking out Hamilton on three straight sliders after starting him with a ball, then getting Yelich to ground out on a 96.7 mph four-seam fastball after falling behind 3-0.

The Rockies had one more push in the bottom of the 10th against Aaron Ashby. Johnston started the inning at second, Castro was hit by a pitch and Tovar walked to load the bases. Thompson followed with a two-run single to center, scoring Johnston and Castro to cut Milwaukee’s lead to 9-7.

That was as close as Colorado got. Brett Sullivan grounded into a double play, moving Tovar to third but clearing the bases, and McCarthy struck out on a foul tip to end the game.

Interesting notes

Feltner has allowed one run over 12 innings in two starts since returning from the injured list, with six strikeouts and two walks.

Goodman’s homer was his 16th of the season. It came off an 81.5 mph curveball from Sproat and traveled 411 feet with a 106.4 mph exit velocity.

The Rockies finished 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position, while the Brewers went 6-for-15.

Milwaukee had the edge in stolen bases, finishing with three to Colorado’s two.

The Rockies had three two-out RBI, while the Brewers had four.

Colorado scored in each of the first three innings, went scoreless from the fourth through the eighth, then scored two runs in both the ninth and 10th.

Milwaukee scored eight of its nine runs in the ninth and 10th innings.

Up next

The Rockies and Brewers continue the series Saturday at Coors Field, with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 p.m. MDT.

Milwaukee is scheduled to start Jacob Misiorowski, who enters with a 6-2 record, 1.65 ERA and 108 strikeouts. Schaeffer declined to name Colorado’s starter after Friday’s game, saying, “Not yet,” though Zach Agnos could be part of the pitching plan.

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Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were chicken against the Toledo Mud Hens (Tigers), 8-4.

Rough start for Jordan Wicks, who took the loss after allowing six runs on seven hits over 4.2 innings. Two of the hits were home runs. Wicks walked two and struck out five.

Left fielder Chas McCormick hit a solo home run in the second inning, his seventh on the year. McCormick was 1 for 4.

First baseman Jonathon Long cranked a solo home run in the seventh inning, his third on the year. He was 1 for 4 with a walk.

Third baseman James Triantos tied the game 3-3 with a two-run double in the bottom of the third. Triantos went 2 for 4.

Matt Shaw played the whole game in center field and went 1 for 4 with a walk. He also scored on Triantos’ double.

Triantos’ home run.

Triantos’s two-run double.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies usurped the Birmingham Barons (White Sox), 8-7 in 11 innings.

Starter Dawson Netz threw the first three innings and allowed one run on three hits. Netz walked four and struck out two.

Marino Santy had 2.2 innings and allowed just one unearned run—the automatic runner in the tenth—on no hits. Santy walked three (one intentionally) and struck out three.

Tyler Santana relieved Santy in the bottom of the tenth with the bases loaded and two outs. He got a fly out to end that threat and then went on to pitch the eleventh, where he gave up one run. But the Smokies scored twice in the bottom of the eleventh and got the win. Santana’s final line was one run (which was earned) on one hit over 1.1 innings. Santana struck out one and walked no one.

Third baseman Jefferson Rojas doubled in the winning run in the bottom of the eleventh. Rojas was 2 for 6 in this game with a double and a steal. He scored three times.

Catcher Owen Ayers hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning, his eighth of the season. Ayers went 3 for 4 with a double and the home run. He also walked and stole a base. Ayers had five total RBI tonight.

Shortstop Karson Simas was 3 for 5. He scored once and drove in one.

An automatic double for Ayers.

Ayers’ three-run home run.

An RBI triple for Hayden Cantrelle, who went 1 for 4 with a walk.

Ayers’ fifth RBI of the night came in the tenth.

Rojas’ walk-off.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs split a doubleheader with the Quad Cities River Bandits (Royals), losing game one 13-8 and winning the second one 4-3.

The River Bandits hammered South Bend’s Jostin Florentino for four runs in the first inning. Florentino was finished after only one inning having allowed the four runs on six hits. He walked none and struck out one.

Brayden Spears then gave up five runs in the second inning to put the game out of reach. Spears allowed five runs on seven hits over 2.2 innings. Spears struck out two, walked two and hit one.

South Bend trailed 9-0 after two innings and almost tied it up with an eight-run third inning. DH Kane Kepley went 1 for 3 with a walk and a double. He scored once and had one run batted on.

Second baseman Alex Madera tripled home two in the third. He was 1 for 4 and scored one run.

Here are the highlights of the eight-run third.

Mason McGwire made his first start for South Bend in game two and got his first Midwest League win. McGwire pitched five innings and allowed three runs, two earned, on three hits. McGwire struck out four and walked one.

Kenyi Perez pitched the final two innings without allowing a run for the save. Perez did not give up a hit, but he walked one and hit one batter. Perez struck out five.

Catcher Miguel Useche hit a two-run home run in the second inning. It was his fifth of the season. Useche went 1 for 3.

Left fielder Jose Escobar was 2 for 3 with a double and one run scored.

Center fielder Miguel Olivo was 2 for 2.

Useche’s home run.

A diving catch for center fielder Olivo.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans got kenneled by the Charleston RiverDogs (Rays), 9-8.

The Pelicans wasted a strong start from Noah Edders, who gave the Birds five scoreless innings on just two hits. He walked one and struck out three.

Jordan Henriquez got called upon for the two-inning save. The eight inning went fine when he retired the side in order. But he went in the ninth with an 8-5 lead and he gave up four runs to take the loss. The final line on Henriquez was four runs on four hits over 1.2 innings. He walked two and struck out two.

Catcher Logan Poteet hit a solo home run in the third, his eighth on the year. Poteet went 2 for 4 with the home run, a walk. and a stolen base. He scored twice.

Right fielder Eli Lovich cracked a two-run home run in the seventh, also his eighth of the year. Lovich was 2 for 4 and scored twice.

Shortstop Alexis Hernandez was 2 for 4 with a double and a walk. He scored one run.

ACL Cubs

Got rocked by the Rockies, 15-4.

Too often this season, the New York Mets have been the slumping team that opponents are looking to beat up on. Those roles were reversed Friday night in a 5-0 win over the San Diego Padres.

San Diego has now lost 10 of its last 11 games, while the Mets have won six of their last eight, thanks in large part to New York’s starting pitcher Christian Scott. The Florida product pitched five 2/3 shutout innings against a Padres lineup that is last in baseball in runs scored. Jared Young and Luis Torrens each hit home runs to lead the Mets’ offense.

Scott allowed a base runner in each of the first three innings but was able to keep San Diego off the board. Fernando Tatis Jr. singled in the first, Ty France singled in the second, and Rodolfo Durán walked in the third. All three Padres were stranded as Scott appeared to settle in as the game went on.

Scott retired the side in order in the fourth and fifth innings, then ran into a bit of trouble in the sixth. He walked Durán before striking out Tatis Jr. and getting a popout from Gavin Sheets. Manny Machado singled to center, advancing Durán to third base and ending Scott’s night at 98 pitches. Huascar Brazobán entered in relief and struck out France, ending the threat and securing Scott’s shutout appearance. Scott, who is coming off Tommy John surgery, has allowed just one run across his last three starts.

Brazobán, Luke Weaver, and A.J Minter were solid out of the bullpen for the Mets, combining with Scott for the team’s third shutout win of the season.

Young started things for New York’s offense with a solo home run off San Diego starting pitcher Michael King to lead off the second inning. Young worked a full count before hitting King’s center-cut changup 422 feet. That’s Young’s third home run in his last six games.

The Mets were back for more in the third inning with multiple extra-base hits and another run scored. Torrens doubled off the wall before advancing to third base on a flyout from Carson Benge. Bo Bichette tripled to the right-field corner to score Torrens. Tatis Jr. fumbled the ball in the corner, and Bichette’s good read allowed him to easily get to third. The Mets could have added another run when Juan Soto grounded the ball to second baseman Sung-Mun Song, who didn’t field the ball cleanly. Soto put his head down in frustration before realizing Song’s mistake had given him a chance to beat out the throw, score Bichette, and keep the inning going. None of that happened as New York settled for the 2-0 early lead.

New York went up 4-0 with Torrens’ two-run homer in the top of the fifth inning. Brett Baty reached on a single before Torrens took King deep to centerfield. The homer was Torrens’ first of the season.

Bichette added a double with two outs in the eighth inning, but Padres reliever David Morgan struck out Soto to strand him. Bichette is showing signs of awakening from his season-long slumber with six hits combined in his last two games. He had six hits in the nine games previous to his current outburst. Soto finished hitless for the 11th time in 46 games played this season.

The Mets tacked on in the ninth inning against San Diego’s closer, Mason Miller, who was only in the game to get his first work in a week due to the Padres skid. AJ Ewing knocked a one-out single, then stole second and third base. Baty brought him home with an RBI single.

Saturday’s game (10:10 PM ET) sets up nicely for New York. The Mets have Nolan McLean on the mound going against former Met Griffin Canning, who has a 0-4 record and a 7.16 ERA through six appearances this season.

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Christian Scott +25% WPA
Big Mets loser: Carson Benge, Marcus Semien -6% WPA
Mets pitchers: +34% WPA
Mets hitters: +16% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Luis Torrens home run in the fifth, +13.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Marcus Semien grounds into double play in the fourth, -3.8% WPA

SAN DIEGO — Christian Scott’s reemergence is among the Mets’ most positive developments in this so far disappointing season.

A rotation in need of arms, preferably powerful ones, has found a potential keeper in Scott, who Friday night posted a third straight tantalizing start, helping the Mets to a 5-0 victory over the Padres at Petco Park.

In winning their second straight, the Mets (28-35) received much of the offensive firepower they needed on home runs from Jared Young and Luis Torrens, giving Scott the space he needed for his second straight win after going 15 starts to begin his major league career without one.

“My body feeling good is a huge part of it,” said Scott, who missed last season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. “It’s easy to have confidence when things are going well, but it’s tough to have that when the stuff starts to hit the fan. It’s just keeping the confidence as best I can for the good ones and bad ones.”

Scott came within an out of completing six innings for the first time this season, but was removed following Manny Machado’s single with two outs. Scott pitched 5 ²/₃ scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks over 98 pitches. His ERA dropped to 2.50.

“I was hoping he would get Manny because that was his last batter,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “[Scott] executed a sweeper there and he was able to foul it off and then [Machado] got a fastball that he hit it up the middle, but it was like, ‘He’s done his job.’ ”

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In Scott’s previous two outings, both against Miami, he combined to work 10 ²/₃ innings, allowing only one earned run. Scott’s start was his 17th straight to begin his major league career with four or fewer runs allowed, extending his franchise record. Eight of those starts have occurred this season.

“He commanded pretty much all of his pitches,” Torrens said. “He attacked the zone with the same type of game plan that we prepared with, but also he’s been able to just prove the type of pitcher that he is.”

Young’s homer leading off the second against Michael King gave the Mets their first run. The homer was Young’s third in his last six games — he began the night with an .899 OPS since returning from the injured list May 26.

Bo Bichette’s RBI triple in the third extended the Mets lead to 2-0. Torrens doubled with one out before Bichette hit a shot just inside first base that reached the right field corner, where Fernando Tatis Jr. had trouble fielding the ball. Bichette raced to third.

Bichette was coming off a 4-for-4 performance Wednesday in Seattle. The Mets are still waiting for Bichette’s bat to arrive with a flurry following a disappointing two-plus months to begin the season. Bichette finished the night 2-for-4, but still owns an anemic .609 OPS for the season.

Torrens’ two-run blast in the fifth gave the Mets a 4-0 lead. Brett Baty singled leading off the inning, and Torrens cleared the center field fence with one out for his first homer of the season. This could be Torrens’ final weekend as the starting catcher, with Francisco Alvarez potentially set to conclude his minor league rehab and rejoin the Mets on the next homestand following surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee.

Scott walked Rodolfo Duran leading off the sixth and got two outs before Machado’s single to center spurred a pitching change. Huascar Brazobán struck out Ty France to end the threat. The Mets received a scoreless seventh from Brazobán before Luke Weaver and A.J. Minter finished it.

Weaver extended his streak of scoreless appearances to 14. He has pitched 16 innings over that stretch and allowed only nine hits and four walks.

Baty stroked an RBI single in the ninth after A.J. Ewing singled and stole both second and third base.

A less-controlled-than-usual Matthews manages to last longer than we (or I) expected, and he’s helped by some Cuddyer/Rosario-style cannon shots from the outfield. Inning-by-inning notes:

(Rain Delay): Hey, remember when rain delays might have Kris Atteberry interviewing a baseball book author or something interesting like that?

No. It’s a 1991 game. I like hearing Herb Carneal and John Gordon as much as anybody, but this is LAZY, WCCO.

1: Apple’s game preview has “U Got The Look” for Zebby (he doesn’t walk a lot of guys) and “When Doves Cry” for the bullpen ‘cuz it sucks.

Original choice on one Prince title, kinda cliched on the other.

Zebby promptly walks Bobby Witt, Jr., only the fastest guy on the team. He steals but didn’t need to; he would have scored on the subsequent Vinnie Pasquantino double anyways. Then it’s Jac Caglianone’s turn to put one in the gap.

Two stung liners to second, and a two-out Klobberin’ Kody Klemens single. He doesn’t score because all the Twins fell asleep during the boring rain delay radio filler. Royals 2-0

2: Apple tells us that during the “rain delay,” no actual rain fell at Target Field. I know none did where I am in Saint Paul. So thanks, Twins, for 75 minutes of Stoopid provided by whatever AI bot is making your weather decisions.

Zebby walks the #8 hitter with one out and realizes “I’m pitching to the #8 and 9 guys” and gets the GIDP.

Another two-out hit, this an Austin Martin double. He doesn’t score either. I told you the Twins are all sleepy like me they should call it a Royals win now so we can all go to bed

3: Short delay when Bux hits the wall after catching a long hard fly. He is OK, we think.

Zebby finishes this inning with 41 pitches thrown, a nice rebound after the earlier wildnessyness.

Bux maybe not OK. Tristan Gray now pinch-hitting. He drops a bunt down the third base line, and Alex Jackson (who led off with a single) takes third on a Wacha airmail throw to first. He’ll score on a Brooks Lee FC. Visiting fans’ team 2-1

4: Apple graphic shows that in Royals history, the only player to make it to the majors faster than Caglianone was Bo Jackson. Boy, THAT takes me back. Anyways, BoJac knows Zebby; he takes the 3-2 walk after the earlier double. Then Isaac Collins singles. Then Michael Massey does… but Martin’s throw beats Caglianone by a millimeter. Wow, can’t believe Zebby got out of this one.

1-2-3 for the Twins. We so TIRED

5: 1-2-3 for Zebby too. I have to get a sammich. I so hungered.

AND for the Twins, too. They also hungered. For BED.

6: Another good frame for Zebster.

OH NO! A Brooks Lee leadoff homer! I mean, yay for him, but if this game goes to extra innings I will curse his favorite hamster. Clemens follows with a double. So does Josh Bell! Then Orlando Arcia singles to right, and Caglianone’s throw to the infield is WAY offline, so Bell scores and Arcia takes second. A Keaschall lineout. Then a passed ball sends Arcia to third. Wacha has Martin down 1-2… and Sal Perez lets another one get by! (He’s a very good catcher, this usually doesn’t happen.) Arcia scores!

Actually, those were officially scored as wild pitches and not PBs, but that’s because a bad person instead of me is the official scorer. Hard-throwing Steven Cruz finishes the inning, but it’s Twins 5-2

7: Zebby still in there, and he walks Collins on four pitches. He gets the next hitter, then steps off/throws to first one too many times, and it’s an automatic balk. (I hate this rule.) Gets Nick Loftin, then Kyle Isbel singles to right… and Martin throws out the runner at home! Again! Crazy!

Tristan Gray has a one-out double but does not score because the Twins are sleepy again.

8: Here we go bullpen time. Anthony “The Last Waltz” Banda pitching. Boy does he love throwing sliders. It works on Starling Marte but not Witt, Jr., who doubles into the right-center gab. Then it works on PH Lane Thomas, and Perez goes down on one pitch. Yay!

RHP Beck Way making his MLB debut at age 26. His debutante inning goes fine.

9: Travis Adams in for the Twins with his 8.18 ERA in 11.0 IP. Leadoff hit by Caglianone, one-out hit by Michael Massey, sending Caglianone to third and putting the tying run at the plate in PH Maikel Garcia. He groundout RBIs, and Isbel pops out. Whew! Twims wim! (Yes we spell it wrong on purpose here sometimes.)

Studs: Zebulon, Martin (duh), two hits apiece for Gray and Clemens, 2 RBI for Lee. Duds: the Twins’ fuggin’ weather department.

COTG to Minnesota1952 and nagurksi for food / mob movie references, and me for predicting that Zebby couldn’t possibly go seven innings (which we call in the sports-scribing business an “intentional reverse jinx”). Thanks everyone who was at least adding something from time-to-time; I know this one went late.

Tomorrow’s game is at 1:10 and features something called a Luinder Avila against our own Joe Ryan. Byron Buxton T-shirt giveaway, he may be playing or not. (It’s a “shoulder contusion,” day-t0-day.) Catch ya next time!