Worldwide Sports News

The St. Louis Cardinals felt like a team with nothing to lose when the 2026 season began, but an unexpectedly strong start has now vaulted them into a time where there suddenly seems to be greater expectations of what they can achieve. How they deal with this will tell us a lot about what kind of team we really have this year.

As I write this, the St. Louis Cardinals are enjoying an off-day in Kansas City (thanks, World Cup) with a record of 40 wins and 34 losses sitting in 2nd place 5 1/2 games behind the NL Central Division-leading Milwaukee Brewers. Keep in mind they have this record even though they are currently on a 3-game losing streak. Someone in the community mentioned yesterday that the St. Louis Cardinals now are only 1 game better than the St. Louis Cardinals of last season which is true, but I think most of us agree that this year’s team is on a much better trajectory than last year.

The St. Louis Cardinals are beginning to feel like a team that has a real chance to compete for a wild card spot instead of a rebuilding club whose focus would be on player development. Instead of Chaim Bloom trading only for prospects as we get closer to the trade deadline, many (including yours truly) are hoping he’ll aggressively try to add pitching (both starters and relievers) to the roster to give the 2026 Cardinals a legitimate chance at the post-season. I have to ask if our “greater expectations” are real and I think the answer is complicated.

As of right now, the St. Louis Cardinals sit in the top Wild Card spot in the National League. Admittedly, the top 5 teams in the Wild Card race are only separated by 1 game as of today, but still that’s quite an achievement for an overachieving team. An article from The Sporting News shared by Yahoo Sports says that the upcoming trade deadline “is especially tough for Chaim Bloom”. Does he buy or sell? This is where I think that many of us whose expectations are now greater need a bit of a reality check. Will the St. Louis Cardinals go for a frontline starter? I cannot see any scenario where that happens. Teams that trade the most prolific starters will want the best prospects and there’s no way that Chaim Bloom makes that happen unless he’s trading from a position with a glut of talent such as the numerous talented Cardinals catchers. I do believe that Chaim Bloom will try to bolster the Cardinals pitching depth, but I don’t think any of us should expect to be buying Tarik Skubal jerseys.

The expectation growth for the St. Louis Cardinals is also happening at the player level. While most of us would have been thrilled at simply a solid season for Jordan Walker has become the question of whether he’ll be an all-star game starter. JJ Wetherholt has gone from establishing himself on the Major League roster to a frontrunner for rookie of the year currently projecting between a stunning 6 or 7 WAR. Rest of season models show Alec Burleson exceeding his career-best 21 home runs total.

The new questions for the St. Louis Cardinals will be how does this roster respond when there are now expectations of winning instead of just competing during a rebuild. What does President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom do at the trade deadline to make the current team better without mortgaging the future by giving up top prospects? I think if you took a poll, a majority of the Cardinals fanbase would have been thrilled to have these be the issues that St. Louis would be dealing with more than 70 games into the season.

Here are my updated expectations for this 2026 St. Louis Cardinals club chronologically for the rest of this season. I believe you will see Chaim Bloom add pitchers to the St. Louis Cardinals, but not top-of-the-rotation level arms. I think the pitchers that will help the St. Louis Cardinals the remainder of this season will come from Memphis. I fully expect that we’ll see Chaim trade Dustin May, Lars Nootbaar, JoJo Romero and one of the catchers in our farm system. I think that we’ll see Joshua Báez make his Major League debut after those trades happen especially if he continues to reduce his strikeouts and bad ball chase rate. I will also predict that this St. Louis Cardinals club will grab a wild card spot and make the post-season. Many things need to go right and the Cardinals need to avoid major injuries, but I now believe this is a club that can compete even as the ongoing rebuild happens. Before the season, I was one of the few that predicted a winning season for St. Louis. I’ll admit that I’ll be a little disappointed now if that doesn’t get them into the playoffs and that’s certainly a different expectation than I had 4 months ago.

MIAMI — There is no shortage of competition for the ugliest, most bumbling display of baseball the Giants have put on in this disastrous start of a season.

We might have a new front-runner.

Sure, the scoreboard may have only read 6-3 in favor of the Marlins on Saturday. The Giants even pounded out 10 hits, including five for extra bases, to Miami’s six.

But consider this: A bases-loaded walk that was the third of the inning. Three hit batsmen in three-plus innings from their starter, plus another from the reliever who took over for him. A cascade of errors, in the field and on the basepaths.

“It’s tougher to play defense, it’s tougher swing the bat when you don’t attack the strike zone,” manager Tony Vitello said. “It just gets everything out of whack. … You’re not going to win too many games when you give up that many free bases, whether it’s walks or hit by pitch — whatever it might be.”

And, to boot, all that before the Giants had even batted for a fifth time.

“Just piss poor overall from me,” said starter Trevor McDonald, who was responsible for the three first-inning walks, three hit batters and five runs (three earned) in his shortest start of the season.

That’s to say nothing of the uncompetitive at-bats that ended in Matt Chapman and Rafael Devers staring at strike three, or the soft ground ball that Devers didn’t hustle down the line.

Drew Gilbert did some good with a line-drive single that drove in a run but then almost immediately negated it caught stealing second with a runner at third and one out, which Vitello said was drawn up as a safety squeeze that went awry when Eric Haase took strike two.

It was a redux of all the tropes that left the Giants 14 games below .500 after the loss.

Yet, somehow they hit a new low: Never in the San Francisco era had the Giants committed four errors and hit four opposing batters in one game.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

Even down to the positives, the little of them that there were, provided almost exclusively by Casey Schmitt, whose emergence has been one of the Giants’ few bright spots.

“I’m just going out and trying to hit line drives. If they go over, they go over. It’s not really my goal,” said Schmitt, who hadn’t homered in 11 games, his longest dry spell of the season. “I’m just staying calm, being relaxed in the box. That’s always been the big thing for me.”

Schmitt launched his team-leading 16th homer of the season and came inches away from his 17th, instead settling for an oddity of a double that set up Gilbert’s RBI single.

Center fielder Jakob Marsee came close to robbing Schmitt’s near-homer but trapped the ball against the wall, flipping it to himself. The confusion meant Jung Hoo Lee, who doubled to lead off the inning, had to play it safe and only made it to third, though he was quickly singled home by Gilbert.

“He got up there, almost made a great catch,” Schmitt said. “But on the replay you could see it hit his glove and it was coming out of his glove and off the wall.”

That got the Giants on the board, and Schmitt’s homer tied the score at 2 in the top of the fourth. Schmitt and Lee added a second round of two-baggers to make it 6-3 in the eighth.

But it had all come undone in the bottom half of the fourth as McDonald failed to record an out, Matt Gage hit a batter, walked another and served up a home run, and it required the work of a third pitcher, JT Brubaker, to get out of the inning.

“Basically, the fourth was mismanaged by everybody,” Vitello said. “It ends up being the big inning and the difference in the game. … That inning started with [McDonald] basically getting a three-hitter window and we didn’t get any of those guys out. Things obviously accumulated.”

McDonald was responsible for one of the Giants’ four errors, though he got no help from his defense. 

“When I got out and walk three and hit [three], that doesn’t help either,” McDonald said.

Devers whiffed on a ground ball to first base from the second batter of the game, leading to the Marlins’ first run after McDonald walked his third batter of the inning. 

Devers got another opportunity in the second with the bases loaded and a chance to escape the jam unscathed. He fielded it cleanly, but this time, McDonald missed the bag when he tried to tag it with his right foot, allowing the Marlins to score a second unearned run.

“I was just watching the ball from Rafi,” McDonald said, “instead of getting to the bag like I’m supposed to.”

Catcher Eric Haase allowed another runner to reach on an interference call and went 0-for-3 catching base stealers, with two of his throws so offline that they sailed into the outfield grass.

“When lack of execution occurs multiple times,” Vitello said, “all of a sudden it looks sloppy.”

What it means

The Giants, fresh off a doubleheader sweep of the MLB-best Braves, are right back to where they were when they set out on the road trip after a second straight loss to the Marlins.

Who’s hot

Besides the aggressive steal attempt that didn’t pay off, Gilbert had a nice game with two hits, including a double, to go along with his RBI single for a season-high three knocks — only his fourth multi-hit game since the end of April while he has batted .196.

Gilbert added a highlight-reel catch in center field for the final out of the fifth, tracking down a deep drive from Kyle Stowers before crashing into the wall.

“Early this year, he was so amped up he was almost raging at the plate and going so fast in the outfield, a couple times even failed to pick up the ball,” Vitello said. “I think he’s kind of finding his way and settling in and realizing he belongs here and he’s capable of doing good things for us, but he doesn’t have to be Superman.”

Who’s not

Hours after Vitello affirmed McDonald’s spot in the starting rotation, with Adrian Houser joining the bullpen ahead of Tyler Mahle’s return, he could hardly find the strike zone.

McDonald, it seemed, barely knew where his three-pitch mix was going at all.

“I think [McDonald was] kind of fighting it the last couple times out delivery-wise,” Vitello said. “Just a little bit out of sorts with his delivery. … It was going good for him and for whatever reason [he] got derailed a bit, in particular his last two times out.”

Since beating the Athletics with 6 ⅔ innings of one-run ball in his third start May 16 to lower his ERA to 2.37, McDonald is 0-5 with a 6.75 ERA, including 15 walks and seven HBPs.

He has walked three batters in each of his last four times taking the mound.

McDonald agreed that there was “something small” about his “posture” that was off Saturday but said it was only something pitching coach Justin Meccage pointed out around the third inning.

“I’ve got to figure it out,” McDonald said. “And I will.”

Up next

Logan Webb will look to pick up where he left off the last time he took the mound in the series finale against Ryan Gusto, with first pitch set for 10:40 a.m. PT Sunday.

The Giants’ ace has looked more like himself since returning from the injured list, allowing one earned run over his past three starts, spanning 25 innings.

PHILADELPHIA — The version of Marcus Semien the Mets received over the season’s first two months wasn’t very good.

An almost automatic out in the lineup deep into May, the veteran second baseman was the embodiment of underperformance for a disappointing team.

Lately, there has been a Semien resurgence. Ahead of Saturday’s 15-3 loss to the Phillies, he owned a .750 OPS for June (which included four homers) and had played a significant role in the Mets winning eight of 14 games.

“Every time I show up to the ballpark it’s, ‘How can I grind out my at-bats and help us win?’” Semien said before going 0-for-4 in the loss.

Semien, who arrived last winter in the trade that sent Brandon Nimmo to Texas, began the day with a .225/.283/.362 slash line — disappointing numbers for the 35-year-old former All-Star. But since late May, his OPS has jumped from .569 to .644 for a team desperately trying to remain relevant.

“I have been happy with my routine,” Semien said. “It’s become consistent as I have worked with [hitting coach] Troy Snitker in the cage. When you are new somewhere, it takes you a little while to kind of nail that stuff down. I feel for guys who move from organization to organization every year because it’s like you are creatures of habit and sometimes you do too much, too many different things, instead of focusing on something that gets you prepared for the game.”

The most problematic of Semien’s underlying metrics might be his bat speed of 68.7 mph that ranks in MLB’s 10th percentile. Even so, most of his troubles have occurred against breaking balls: He had a .150 batting average against that pitch as play began, with 31 strikeouts.

“At the end of the day, I think the ability to hit velocity and make contact with velocity … you hit a 98 mph fastball to left field, it should go regardless of the bat speed,” Semien said. “That has kind of been the way to attack it.”

Semien’s latest big hit was the two-run triple he delivered Thursday that provided the Mets insurance in their 6-4 victory over the Phillies. It was a second straight win for the Mets in what has been a seesaw season. They began the day 13 ½ games behind the Braves in the National League East. The Mets were five games behind in the race for the NL’s third wild-card spot.

“We dug ourselves a little hole, but we’re getting some good players back,” Semien said. “We want to focus on the present and do everything we can and to win a series here and get some reinforcements and get on a roll.”

The No. 1 “reinforcement” is Francisco Lindor, who could be within days of rejoining the team following a two-month absence to rehab a right calf strain. The timeline is less clear on players such as Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr., both of whom have been sidelined since April.

“We are hoping all those guys who have been banged up come back and stay healthy,” Semien said. “We have got a lot of talent in this organization, a lot of talent on the high end. Some of the guys are starting to swing the bat well and if we bring that into the second half with some of the guys coming back, the sky is the limit.”

The Texas Rangers scored four runs while the San Diego Padres scored six runs in ten innings.

Miracles are real but be careful what you wish for. The Rangers didn’t allow a home run in the first inning for the first time during this entire homestand. Better yet, they didn’t even allow a run altogether in the first inning.

In fact, today’s starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore made it all the way until the top of the third inning before allowing a run. Ultimately, that was the only run that Gore allowed in his six innings of work.

Even though the Rangers scored nine runs yesterday in a show of defiance from the notion that they fold after trailing early in games, today they didn’t score until the bottom of the sixth when Wyatt Langford doubled in a run to tie the game. An inning later, Jake Burger broke the tie with a two-run home run to put Texas up 3-1.

A two run lead in a 3-1 game heading into the eighth inning seemed like smooth sailing to a victory but the Rangers can’t use Jacob Latz for a multiple inning save every day so Cole Winn was tasked to be today’s setup man.

Winn hasn’t had much success in that role, or any other this season, and he immediately coughed up the lead albeit with some poor defense behind him and an assist from Tyler Alexander as well. Luckily the Rangers left the inning with the game tied 3-3 but all that really did was make Mason Miller a looming adversary toward victory.

Latz did eventually pitch a scoreless ninth on 13 pitches but the Rangers couldn’t manage a walk-off in the bottom of the inning which meant they played extra innings for just the third time this season.

Having used their Latz bullet, in the tenth the Rangers had Joe Ross and the Padres had Miller so, uh, you can pretty much guess how that went. Ross walked the first hitter who was trying to give himself up with a bunt and then Manny Machado followed with a three-run home run, driving in his fifth of San Diego’s six runs.

The Rangers scored their free Manfred Man off Miller but lost their fourth game in five tries on this homestand. It was also their first extra inning loss of the year in three instances. No first inning disasters for Texas today. They saved ’em for the first and only inning of extras.

Player of the Game: It’s funny. Had the Rangers won 3-1 after Burger’s home run, I probably would have said Burger deserves the nod. But the Rangers lost so I’ll say Gore’s six innings of one-run ball after starting in place of Nathan Eovaldi seems more appropriate here.

Up Next: The Rangers and Padres will close out the series tomorrow with neither team yet knowing who will make the start.

The Sunday afternoon first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 1:35 pm CDT and you can watch it on the Rangers Sports Network.

Box Score

Despite two-hit games from William Contreras and Cooper Pratt and another quality start from Kyle Harrison (6 1/3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K), the Brewers dropped their second straight game to the Atlanta Braves — this time on a walk-off home run by Ozzie Albies.

As expected, today’s game turned into a pitchers’ duel between Harrison and Braves starter Chris Sale. Sale allowed only two hits through the first five innings — singles by Contreras and Blake Perkins. Harrison was perfect through four innings, striking out six in the process, but Albies led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run.

After getting two quick outs, Harrison then allowed another hit when Eli White hit a slow grounder to third. Joey Ortiz fielded it cleanly but took his time getting rid of the ball, allowing the speedy White to just barely beat the throw to first. The next batter, Joey Bart, flied out to deep center field to end the inning with the score 1-0, Atlanta.

Luckily, the Brewers got that run back almost immediately. Joey Ortiz started the top of the sixth by striking out, but Jackson Chourio ripped a single into right field to give the Brewers a baserunner. Brice Turang then hit a grounder to Albies at second that should have been at least one out, but Chourio was running on the pitch and Albies couldn’t field it cleanly. He flipped it to second, but it was too late to get Chourio, so Turang reached safely on the fielders’ choice.

That gave the Brewers runners on first and second with one out for William Contreras, who singled into right field to load the bases. Chourio may have been able to score on the play, but with Eli White charging the ball in right field, third base coach Matt Erickson elected to hold him at third.

The decision paid off one batter later. Gary Sánchez lifted a sacrifice fly to right field that was just deep enough to bring Chourio home and tie the game at one run apiece.

Next up was Andrew Vaughn, who swung at a low slider from Sale and hit a soft, looping line drive into no man’s land in center field. Neither Albies nor center fielder Michael Harris II were able to get there in time, so the ball dropped harmlessly onto the grass to give the Brewers a 2-1 lead.

Vaughn’s RBI single came on Sale’s 101st pitch, which would also be his last of the night. Right-hander Didier Fuentes entered in relief and struck out Jake Bauers, pinch-hitting for Perkins, on a foul tip to end the frame.

After a 1-2-3 sixth inning for Harrison, the bottom of the Brewers’ order started another rally in the top of the seventh. Garrett Mitchell lined out to start the inning, but Cooper Pratt singled into right for his fifth hit in the last four games. With Pratt on first, Ortiz perfectly executed a hit-and-run, poking a ground-ball single through the right side as Albies covered the bag.

With Pratt on third, Ortiz at first, and still only one out, Chourio smoked a one-hopper right at third baseman Austin Riley. Riley made a nice play to pick the ball, but instead of coming up throwing to second he threw to first to retire Chourio. Pratt scored without a throw to give the Brewers an insurance run.

Harrison returned for the seventh inning and retired the first batter he faced, Matt Olson, but then allowed a single to Ozzie Albies and a double to Michael Harris II. With Harrison at 85 pitches and the tying run in scoring position, Brewers manager Pat Murphy turned to Abner Uribe to escape the jam. Uribe induced groundouts from both Austin Riley and Dominic Smith to end the inning, but Albies scored on Riley’s grounder to cut Milwaukee’s lead back down to a run.

Heading into the bottom of the ninth, neither team had scored again. Trevor Megill retired the Braves in order in the bottom of the eighth, and the Brewers were held scoreless in the top of the ninth despite another single and a steal from Pratt. Uribe and Megill had both already pitched, so Aaron Ashby came in for the save.

Ashby struck out Drake Baldwin for the first out of the inning, but Matt Olson followed with a soft fly ball single into right-center field to bring the winning run to the plate in the form of Albies. Albies, who had already homered off Harrison earlier in the game, fouled off two pitches before laying off a curveball in the dirt.

Ashby’s fourth pitch was hardly a mistake — a 98 mph sinker right on the outer edge of the plate — but Albies managed to get the barrel on it, lofting a high fly ball down the right-field line. The ball left his bat at just 94.4 mph, too soft to even qualify as a “hard-hit ball” per Statcast. But with the foul pole at Truist Park sitting only 325 feet from home plate, it cleared the fence for a walk-off two-run homer.

In Murphy’s words, Albies’ second home run of the afternoon was essentially a “bloop hit.” Still, the Brewers had opportunities of their own to take advantage of the short porch in right and couldn’t capitalize. Sometimes, that’s baseball.

Robert Gasser will get the ball tomorrow, facing off against Bryce Elder (5-4, 3.15 ERA) as Milwaukee looks to avoid the sweep. First pitch is scheduled for 12:35 p.m.

Austin Wells is expected to be back with the Yankees on Sunday after being sidelined for the past two weeks with cervical headaches. 

Aaron Boone said Saturday that Wells would “likely” be in the lineup in The Bronx for their series finale against the Reds after appearing in three minor league rehab games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. 

After the Yankees lost 10-2 to Cincinnati on Saturday with Ali Sánchez behind the plate, the Yankees optioned J.C. Escarra to SWB — leaving the righty-swinging Sánchez on the roster for now. 

Just getting Wells back, though, doesn’t necessarily solve the Yankees’ season-long issues behind the plate. 

Even when healthy, Wells has slumped badly offensively. 

Of the 241 players with at least 160 plate appearances entering Saturday, only three had a lower OPS than Wells’ .533. 

He has been working on his approach while with SWB and the Yankees are hoping for improved results.

But Wells’ former teammate, Jose Trevino, said even when he’s not hitting, Wells is vital to the Yankees’ success. 

“I had a conversation with him in ’24 toward the beginning of the season about the value of him and his presence,” said Trevino, now with the Reds. 

“He’s gonna be there,” Trevino said. “He’s gonna bounce back. I have no doubt. He’s gonna hit a homer, make a defensive play or call a good game.” 

That presence, Trevino said, has played a significant role in how well the Yankees have pitched as a whole. 

“Look at what their starters are doing, the staff,” Trevino said. “At the beginning of the year, all those zeroes on the board, who calls those pitches? They have a great staff, but he’s the guy coordinating all that. I think some people overlook that. He’s a very important part of that team and they need him.” 

With Wells out, Escarra has also struggled at the plate and the journeyman Sánchez picked up his fifth hit in three games Saturday, but isn’t the answer back there, either. 

But the duo helped the Yankees continue to perform well overall, especially on the mound. 

Prior to Wells being sidelined, the Yankees had a 3.30 ERA, fourth in the majors. 

Since Wells has been out, it was 3.27, good for second in the majors. 

Still, the Yankees are high on Wells’ ability to frame pitches — even in the ABS era — and some metrics have Wells among the best in the league. 

“That stuff is so valuable,’’ Trevino said. 

Asked whether all he’s asked to do on defense might take away from his offense, Trevino said, “That’s the nature of the beast. You’re in charge of the [pitching] staff.” 

The Yankees know Wells is capable of more power with his lefty swing. 

In the three games with SWB, Wells went hitless twice, but also hit a pair of homers.

The Yankees optioned right-hander Jake Bird and catcher J.C. Escarra to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after Saturday's 10-2 loss against the Cincinnati Reds.

Bird pitched the seventh inning of Saturday's game, allowing one hit while throwing nine strikes on 15 pitches.

He has a 1.33 WHIP through 29 relief appearances this season.

Escarra, meanwhile, had a pinch-hit single to right field in the ninth inning of Saturday's eight-run defeat.

Through 32 games, Escarra is slashing .188/.239/.271 with seven RBI.

New York is set to start right-hander Elmer Rodriguez, who has been with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre since he was optioned May 18, in Sunday's 1:35 p.m. series finale against Cincinnati.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Arizona Diamondbacks fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

Yeah, it’s probably my fault. When I asked this question, I wrote “Through the early weeks of the season, it felt like Arizona could almost have assembled a full roster of players on one of the injured lists.” Unfortunately, I then made the fatal mistake of following that up be saying, “However, it now feels like the tide may have turned.” A classic case of speaking too soon, for the baseball gods have punished me for my hubris. Only three days have passed since that piece came out, but in that time the Diamondbacks have lost a trio of players to the injured list: two starting pitchers, in Ryne Nelson and Michael Soroka, plus – again – outfielder Jordan Lawlar. I can only apologize.

Still, let’s plow on regardless, shall we? For the question at hand, was which of the players making their way back from injury, would have the biggest impact on the team going forward? Here are the results:

Brought to you by FanDuel

That’s actually quite a decent spread of opinions. Well, for everyone except Carlos Santana, whom nobody except his mother seems to want to see back on our major-league roster. I think Santana’s physical glove – still getting a good workout despite the absence of its owner – might have a better chance of being re-signed than the player. [I’d not be surprised to see a write-in campaign for that bit of equipment, when it comes time to decide the award for Unsung Hero at the end of the year] But above Carlos, there was no majority choice, with the other three contenders all getting at least twenty percent.

However, it’s Justin Martinez who came out on top. Which is interesting, consider that last week’s SB Reacts poll, showed full confidence in closer Paul Sewald retaining his position, when A.J. Puk returned. Since then, Puk’s rehab has been seriously derailed, with a capsule sprain in his throwing shoulder. He won’t throw for about another month and will then be re-evaluated, so it will be August at the earliest. That means Martinez will likely be back first, though we’ve not heard anything about him recently. Will he take over from Sewald? Based on current performance, probably not initially. But another solid bullpen arm would certainly be helpful.

I did find it interesting that Brian McCann, a backup player, is seen as being more impactful than an everyday played in Lourdes Gurriel Jr. I think it speaks to the importance of the catcher’s position. They don’t operate in isolation, they are also a significant factor in the performance of the pitching staff, factor into controlling the opposition running game. A backup catcher is also likely to see more playing time than, say, a backup first baseman, due to the wear and tear of the position. [Last year, only a handful of men appeared in even 120 games at catcher. More than three times as many did so at first-base]

With the Diamondacks’ injured list swelling again, this may be a topic I’ll revisit on the far side of the All-Star break. Let’s hope it doesn’t need an extra-large poll by that point.

The Yankees tweaked their starting rotation after Saturday's 10-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. Right-hander Elmer Rodriguez will start instead of Gerrit Cole in Sunday's 1:35 p.m. rubber game, said New York manager Aaron Boone, move Cole to Monday's 6:10 p.m. series opener at the Detroit Tigers.

"Elmer Rodriguez will start tomorrow," Boone said. "Nothing other than just this long stretch, just giving our starters an extra day. So, everyone else will bump back a day. So, I think Gerrit goes first day in Detroit. But it's something we've been  kicking around the last few days and decided to do with just the stretch of ... not having them go five days three times in a row."

Cole, who missed the 2025 season due to Tommy John surgery recovery, is 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA through five starts since rejoining the Yankees May 22.

"Really well," Boone said of how Cole's health has held up. "Yeah, I think he's recovered well, too. But we also want to play the long game with all these guys -- obviously, Carlos coming back, younger guys in the rotation that have logged a lot of innings. Feel like they're all in a good spot, but want to be mindful of this as we go through the summer with a long stretch here."

The 22-year-old Rodriguez is 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA with six strikeouts, nine walks and three hit batters while allowing six runs on 15 hits through 13 IP.

"He's come up, he's had some bumps, but I feel like he's managed it well," Boone said of Rodriguez. "He's shown some poise out there and some moments where it's had chances to get away for us. So, yeah, excited to see him go at it tomorrow and hopefully give us a good outing."

Here is where the decisions of the Cubs front office come home to the proverbial roost.

While other teams crank out seemingly endless supplies of relievers who throw 98+, the Cubs sign retread guys to multi-year contracts.

Oh, sure, they do fine for a while but eventually games like this are going to happen, and the complete bullpen failure ruined what was a fine afternoon at Wrigley Field — through the sixth inning.

Then Trent Thornton, Caleb Thielbar and Jacob Webb got pounded for eight Blue Jays runs in two innings, including a couple of soul-crushing Toronto home runs, and the Cubs lost a winnable game 8-6.

So let’s start at the beginning, because at least this game was good then.

Rea retired the first 12 Jays he faced, two by strikeout and several others by ground balls. Over the first four innings just four balls were hit out of the infield by Toronto hitters.

Meanwhile, the Cubs were fashioning a 3-0 lead. Alex Bregman and Ian Happ singled to begin the second and then Matt Shaw sent a ball into the bleachers [VIDEO].

Then, unfortunately, the Cubs started to have RISP issues again. They had runners on first and second with one out in the third — nothing doing. In the fourth, they loaded the bases with two out on a double by Dansby Swanson and walks by Pete Crow-Armstrong and Nico Hoerner.

Credit to the Jays right fielder Nathan Lukes for making this catch off a drive by Seiya Suzuki [VIDEO].

If that catch isn’t made the hit probably clears the bases. But it didn’t. Tip o’ the cap to Lukes.

Rea was lifted after 5.1 outstanding innings. He began to run out of gas in the sixth when he allowed two singles to start the inning. After he got George Springer to fly out, Ryan Rolison was summoned to pitch to Lukes.

You can’t get more efficient than what Rolison did — got a double-play comebacker on his first (and only) pitch of the game. Two outs on one pitch, great work. Unfortunately it was the only good Cubs relief work until it was too late.

Regarding Rea, here’s more on his outing [VIDEO].

And more from BCB’s JohnW53:

This was the Cubs’ fifth game of the season in which their starting pitcher gave up no runs while pitching 5.0 to 5.2 innings.

Each was by a different starter: Javier Assad, Ben Brown, Edward Cabrera, Shota Imanaga and Colin Rea.

The Cubs had 13 such games last season, only three in 2024 and 2023, and 10 in 2022.

Imanaga has done it six times in his career, tying Kyle Hendricks for the most. Assad, Cade Horton and Scott Sanderson have had five apiece.

The Cubs have had 146 total games of the kind, 91 of them since 2000 and 38 since 2021.

The Cubs extended the lead to 5-0 in the sixth. With two out, Swanson walked, and then PCA put one out of the yard [VIDEO].

So now it’s 5-0 and we’re heading to the seventh. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, you now know that the answer to that is “Everything.” I’ll spare you most of the carnage, but the key lows were a three-run homer by Daulton Varsho off Thornton, and another three-run job by Kazumo Okamoto, that one off Webb. The other two Jays runs were on a two-run single by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., also off Webb after Thielbar had put two runners on base via walk and single starting the eighth.

The Cubs did attempt a comeback. Miguel Amaya walked leading off the bottom of the eighth and went to second on a single by Swanson. PCA blooped an opposite-field single to left — off a lefty, a real good sign! — to load the bases with nobody out.

Could this be another miracle comeback?

Well, no. The Cubs did score once on this fielder’s choice by Nico [VIDEO].

That left runners on first and third with one out, but Suzuki struck out — badly, look at where the pitch he swung at for strike three was:

Then Michael Busch hit a fly ball that was caught in foul territory by Myles Straw to end the inning.

Ethan Roberts, the only Cubs reliever after Rolison to come through this game unscathed, threw a 1-2-3 ninth.

The Cubs did get a runner on base in the bottom of the ninth. With one out, Happ hit a comebacker that Jays closer Louis Varland threw away for an error. Happ advanced to second on a wild pitch, but Shaw struck out and pinch-hitter Pedro Ramirez grounded to second to end the game.

So on a day when the Cubs got a really good outing out of who’s nominally their fifth starter, the bullpen was awful. That’s going to have to improve if this team’s standing is going to improve. Period, end of story.

One more note from John:

The Cubs’ last loss before today in which they squandered a five-run lead was on Sept. 23 of last season, at home vs. the Mets.

They led, 6-1, after four innings, then surrendered five runs in the fifth and one in the sixth, to trail, 7-6. They tied the score with a run in the bottom half, but yielded two in the eighth and lost, 9-7.

The Brewers lost to the Braves for the second straight day so the Cubs remain 6.5 games out of the NL Central lead. That is not insurmountable with half a season left. And the team has begun hitting again. But the pitching has Got. To. Get. Better.

Sunday’s series finale will feature starters Shōta Imanaga for the Cubs and Dylan Cease for Toronto (weather permitting, and it might not). Game time is 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Houston Astros (36-41) will put their mini three-game winning streak on the line tonight in the middle game of their three-game series with the Cleveland Guardians (40-36) at Daikin Park.

RHP Spencer Arrighetti (7-2, 2.57 ERA), who picked up a win against Cleveland back in April, will get the start tonight opposite LHP Joey Cantillo (5-3, 4.38 ERA) and the Guardians.

HOT SPAGHETTI: Tonight’s Astros starter RHP Spencer Arrighetti, the reigning AL Pitcher of the Month, is 7-2 with a 2.57 ERA (18ER/63IP) and a .200 opponent average while allowing one-or-fewer earned runs in seven of his 11 starts this season.

Among AL pitchers with 60+ innings pitched, he ranks second in ERA, sixth in opponent average, and tied for sixth in wins.

A MONTH OF WINNING: Over the last month, dating back to May 19, the Astros have gone 17-11 (.607), which ties as the fourth-best record in the Majors and the second-best record in the AL.

Top Records since May 19 (AL)

1. Yankees 17-9 (.654)

2. Astros 17-11 (.607)

3. Mariners 16-12 (.571)

4. White Sox 15-12 (.556)

WITH A WIN: A win tonight would move the Astros to four games below .500, a mark they have not reached since they were 8-12 after a loss on April 16. A win would also improve the Astros record to 20-20 in their 40 home games.

VS. THE GUARDIANS: The Astros and Guardians have played each other in the regular season 101 times in their franchise histories, with the Astros edging out the Guardians with a 51-50 record.

In the all-time series, the Astros are 26-25 vs. the Guardians in Houston, 25-25 against them in Cleveland, and are 23-22 vs. CLE at Daikin Park.

PEN PALS: Since May 15, the Astros bullpen has a 2.69 ERA (34ER/113.2IP) with 109 strikeouts, a 1.01 WHIP and a .186 opponent average.

Among AL teams since May 15, the Astros bullpen ranks first in ERA, first in WHIP, and first in opponent batting average.

The Astros are also 19-13 since May 15.

MAKING THE PLAYS: The Astros have committed the fewest errors (29) and own the best fielding percentage (.989) in the AL.

1B Christian Walker has led the way, as he has not committed an error in 76 games and 531 total chances.

ALL-STAR VOTING UPDATE: On Monday, MLB announced the first balloting update for the 2026 MLB All-Star Game, which revealed DH Yordan Alvarez as the AL’s top vote-getter among all position players.

Other Astros among the AL’s top 10 at their respective positions: 2B Jose Altuve (4th), SS Jeremy Peña (5th), 1B Christian Walker (9th), 3B Isaac Paredes (9th), and C Yainer Diaz (9th).

ON THE LEADERBOARD: DH Yordan Alvarez leads MLB in OPS (1.065), SLG (.637), and total bases (177), and ranks tied for first in extra-base hits (39).

In the AL, he ranks first in batting average (.324), first in hits (90), first in homers (24), second in RBI (55), second in OBP (.428), fourth in walks (47) and tied for fourth in runs (52).

WALKER, TEXAS HAMMER: 1B Christian Walker ranks tied third in the AL in RBI (52), behind only 1B Nick Kurtz (58) and teammate DH Yordan Alvarez (55). He also ranks tied for sixth in the AL in extra-base hits (33) and in total bases (139), and tied for seventh in homers (18).

BACK WITH A VENGEANCE: Since SS Jeremy Peña returned to the lineup on May 18, the Astros have gone 17-12, while Peña has hit .303 (33×109) with four doubles, six homers, 18 RBI and an .873 OPS in 29 games. P

rior to that date, Peña played in only 10 of the Astros first 48 games of the season, with the Astros going 19-29 in those contests.

TAPPING FOR SUCCESS: Astros batters have won 48 ABS challenges on the season, which ties as the most in the Majors (also, MIN).

The Astros are 48-for-85 in ABS challenges for a 56% success rate, the second-highest in the Majors. 3B Isaac Paredes (7-for-7) is perfect in successful challenges, while 2B Jose Altuve has been successful on 11-of-16 challenges (69%).

WHAT A RELIEF:LHP Josh Hader is 1-0 with four saves and a 1.29 ERA (1ER/7IP) in seven appearances this season.

He’s allowed just three baserunners (one walk, two hits) and has fanned 11. Hader had a delayed start to the season, missing the first two months with left biceps tendinitis.

DOWN ON THE FARM: Class A Asheville picked up a win last night on a walkoff homer by SS Reylin Perez in a 10-9 win over Bowling Green.

At Class A Fayetteville, RF Anthony Huezo hit his 13th homer of the season in a 10-8 win over Kannapolis.

TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY: 1970 – CF César Cedeño, 19, makes his Major League debut, batting third, and tallies two hits in a 9-6 win over the Braves in Atlanta.

Cedeño would go on to play 12 seasons (1970-81) and 1,512 games in an Astros uniform, which ranks seventh in franchise history. Cedeño was added to the Astros Hall of Fame in 2020.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Saturday, June 20, 6:15 p.m. CT

Location: Daikin Park, Houston, TX

TV: FOX

Radio: KTRH 740 AM, KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)

In a battle of tough lefties, Chris Sale and the Braves faced Kyle Harrison and the Brewers for game 2 in Atlanta.

After 1-2-3 frames from each lefty to start the game, Sale worked around some traffic to keep things scoreless in the second. From there things settled in for a pitching duel, as Harrison carried a perfect game into the fifth. Fortunately, righty Ozzie broke the perfect game, no-hitter, and shutout in one swing with a solo homer. Eli White legged out an infield single in the same frame, but was unable to score.

In the sixth, Chris Sale came out for what was presumably his last inning. Ozzie Albies fumbled a double-play ball with one out that would have ended the inning, but Contreras singled on the next AB, loading the bases. A sac fly tied the game and left runners on the corners with two outs. A brutal bloop single gave the Brewers 2-1 lead, as that Albies error became incredibly costly, as he could likely have even salvaged that play with an out at first, but instead went for the double-play despite the fumble, resulting in a 1-0 lead turning into a 2-1 deficit. At this point, Didier Fuentes took over for Sale (who had thrown 101 pitches) and struck out Bauers to mercifully end the inning. Sale ended his day with 5.2 innings of “2-run ball” on 7 strikeouts and 1 walk, another good day for the veteran ace.

Two singles and a fielder’s choice scored an insurance run against Fuentes in the seventh. Still facing Harrison, Ozzie and Mike singled and doubled with one out in the seventh, giving Atlanta a huge chance to tie the game up or more. Austin traded an out for a run with an RBI fielder’s choice of his own, giving Dom Smith the next chance with two outs. Unfortunately, Dom was unable to deliver and the game went into the eighth a 3-2 Brewers ballgame. James Karinchak and Dylan Lee did their job in the eighth and ninth to give Atlanta a chance and Matt Olson represented the tying run with a bloop single in the home ninth. Ozzie Albies was next at bat, batting from the right side again and he pulled on just fair and just into the Chop House for a massive walk-off and redemption of his error, as his early homer, error, and walk-off homer really defined this game.

Join us again tomorrow at 1:35 PM ET, as the Braves go for what would be a very impressive sweep against this quality Brewers club with Bryce Elder on the mound.

Through the first 15 innings of this series, the Chicago Cubs had outscored the Toronto Blue Jays by a margin of 21-2. Which is not what you’d consider ideal as a Jays fan. Things turned a corner in the bottom of seven, though, and an 8-1 stretch gives them the win and the chance to take the series tomorrow.

The lineup could not lay a finger on Colin Rea early. He sat the first dozen Jays batters down in order, and following a Brandon Valenzuela line single to open the fifth looked to be back in control as he retired the next three as well. It was the bottom of the order that rallied to knock him out of the game in the sixth, with Andres Gimenez and Myles Straw opening the frame with back to back singles. Rea got George Springer to fly out, though, and reliever Ryan Rolison induced a double play off the bat of Nathan Lukes to preserve the Cubs’ shutout. The offense would have to wait one more inning to wake up.

Meanwhile, Patrick Corbin started well. He worked around a single in the first with a K and a pop up. It fell apart right away in the second though. Alex Bregman and Ian Happ singled, setting the table for a three run Matt Shaw blast to left field. Corbin Rallied to get the next three batters and then worked around a walk and a single in the third. In the fourth, though, a Dansby Swanson double and back to back walks by Pete Crow-Armstrong and Nico Hoerner forced him out of the game.

Lazaro Estrada took the reins. He got out of the fourth, and managed a clean fifth with the help of a double play to erase a Michael Busch walk. In the sixth, though, a walk to Swanson and a Crow-Armstrong homer to right increased Chicago’s margin to five.

That’s where things stood when Vladimir Guerrero jr. stepped to the plate to open the seventh, facing old friend Trent Thornton. He lined a single, and one batter later was followed by a hit by pitch to Kazuma Okamoto. Daulton Varsho brought the runners home with a line drive down the right field line and out, putting the Jays on the board, 5-3. Thornton got Davis Schneider and replacement Caleb Thielbar got Ernie Clement (pinch hitting for Gimenez) to hold it there for now.

They gave the Cubs a chance to rebuild the lead with some mistakes in the bottom of seven. First, Ernie Clement misplayed a Seiya Suzuki soft liner, allowing him to reach. A double play erased that runner, but then Jeff Hofman hit Bregman, advanced him to second with a wild pitch, and walked Happ. He recovered to strike Shaw out looking to keep the Jays within two.

That was all the offence needed. Myles Straw opened the eighth with a walk. Springer singled the tying run aboard. Both managers made moves at that point. John Schneider called Alejandro Kirk to hit for Nathan Lukes, and Craig Counsell swapped Jacob Webb for Thielbar. Schneider won the exchange, as Kirk ripped a single through the gap to score Straw and put the go ahead runner on. Guerrero followed with a soft line single of his own that plated Springer and tied the game. One out later, Okamoto launched one into the left field bleachers, putting the Jays out in front 8-5.

Mason Fluharty gave the Cubs yet another chance, walking Miguel Amaya and giving up back to back line singles to Swanson and Crow-Armstrong to load the bases in the bottom of the eighth with none away. That forced the Jays to ask Louis Varland for a six out save. He was more than up to the task. He traded an out for a run on a Hoerner grounder, punched out Suzuki, and got Busch to fly out softly in foul territory. Straw made an impressive leaping catch for that last out, leaning into the stands to bring the ball back. He got a pop out from Bregman to open the ninth. Happ reached on Varland’s throwing error and advanced to second on a wild pitch, but Louis sat Shaw down looking and got a routine grounder from pinch hitter Pedro Ramirez to end the game.

Jays of the Day: Varland (0.36, which jumps him in front of Jacob Misiorowski for the MLB lead with +2.84 on the season), Okamoto (0.32), Vlad (0.20), Straw (0.12), Kirk (0.12)

Less so: Fluharty (-0.27), Corbin (-0.19), Lukes (-0.14), Valenzuela (-0.10)

Same time, same place tomorrow (2:20pm ET, Wrigley Field, Chicago, Il., for those who weren’t paying attention). Dylan Cease (4-3, 2.71) will hope for an easier ride after an effectively wild outing last time in Boston, while the offence takes on Shota Imanaga (4-6, 4.26).