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I want to be more annoyed about this game, but honestly the moment that it ended I didn’t really remember much about it. There were two moments the whole game — Ben Rice hit a home run to give the Yankees the lead, Tyler Stephenson hit a three-run shot to put the Reds ahead. I had to check MLB.com to be reminded Cincinnati tacked on a fourth run in the ninth. The Yankees lost 4-1, and it feels like nothing at all happened.

Sometimes baseball is like that, this is the whole “you play every day” thing.

Elmer Rodríguez…Paul O’Neill said that he didn’t take a step backward today, and I think that’s true. I also think that the flaws in the prospect were on display. He did strike out more batters than he walked, which has been a challenge for him in his previous three outings, so good for him. But you still see that his command isn’t what it needs to be — he reminds me a lot of what Will Warren was a year ago, where he was called upon before he was ready.

The stuff is very much there, especially his breaking stuff. But he’s so married to his two-seamer, and I don’t know that it’s a major league quality pitch. Every time he throws his slider or curveball, I’m impressed. Every time he throws his four-seam, I’m at least on board. Throwing the two-seam as often as he does, 40 percent of the time today, he just never seems to hit the spot he’s going for. Some of that leads to nibbling, some of that leads to easy takes. He did give up the big three-run home run to Stephenson on the four-seam fastball though, so what do I know.

That was the entirety of the Yankee offense. Rice had himself a very good game, with the home run, a walk, and a hustle infield single. The team did manage five stolen bases, so there was traffic, and there were chance, there was just a stubborn refusal to cash in at all. Chase Burns is a very good pitcher, but the Yankees gave him a lot of help today. Even that homer from Rice could have been a two-run blast if Anthony Volpe hadn’t been picked off at first.

I thought this was a trap series from the start, the Yankees were coming off a run of hot games, closing out the homestand against a team that’s not very good and missing their best player. With Burns going today and Cole pushed to tomorrow, it was pretty important to get the win yesterday, which of course didn’t happen. That the Yankees have sleepwalked through two days’ worth of at bats makes that trap series prediction even more prescient.

I am often asked by my non-baseball fan friends what there is to love about the game. I’ll point to Aaron Judge’s ALDS home run last October or Corey Kluber’s inexplicable no-hitter a couple years ago. I do not imagine I will point to this game; this was perhaps not an example of baseball at its best, but perhaps an example of what a lot of baseball sometimes looks like. On the solstice, it seems the dog days of summer have arrived.

The Yankees head to Detroit for a set with the Tigers, and Tarik Skubal looming on Wednesday. On paper they’ll have the edge pitching-wise to open the series, with Cole slated to start against familiar foe Framber Valdez. First pitch from Comerica Park comes at 6:10pm Eastern.

Box Score

The Rays eked out a win over the Nationals with good pitching and defense and just enough offense to win their first series since they took two of three from the Angels a few weeks ago.

Nick Martinez got the start, and while he probably isn’t, over a full season, the Cy Young caliber guy we watched earlier in the season, he is the sort of bulldog fighter who every team needs in their rotation. Uncharacteristically he gave up three walks, and the homerun and two double he surrendered were on pitches over the heart of the plate, suggesting that his concern about command made him reluctant to try to paint corners.

But a guy who can give you six innings with three runs is a pitcher who can keep you in ballgames even when it’s not his best day. I’ve grown quite fond of Nick Martinez.

My usual complaint in the many games where they fail to score runs is that they get very few hits, or their only hits are singles. Today they actually connected for some nice extra base hits, but least early in the game these always seemed to come with two outs, which made it hard to turn those hits into runs. They did score in the bottom of the third on back to back doubles from Taylor Walls and Yandy Diaz, but in other innings they simply left men on base, which is why they found themselves down 3-1 in the middle of the sixth inning.

They were able to come back, however, with some timely homers against the Nationals bullpen.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Ryan Vilade cut the deficit to one with this homerun:

An inning later, Jonny DeLuca put the Rays ahead for good with this one:

The combo of Cleavinger, Baker and Kelly pitched three scoreless innings, and your Tampa Bay Rays came away with the victory. I liked seeing Bryan Baker used in the eighth, to face the heart of the Nationals order; I was worried that Cash had reverted to rigid bullpen roles and I for one like the idea of using your best pitcher against their best hitters.

A few shout outs. The Rays slump did seem to coincide with DeLuca’s IL stint. Maybe that’s just coincidence, but seeing him come back with a little extra oomph in his bat is great.

Chandler Simpson — his ability to make contact and steal bases — was a key part of the Rays earlier success, and in recent weeks he was looking rough. He wasn’t getting on base very often, and when he did he wasn’t making the kind of ruckus that makes him effective. He’s a young player, not yet an established major league guy, so while it’s possible others teams had simply caught on to him, it’s also possible that a bad run had gotten into his head. At any rate, I hope this series is evidence:

(You can thank/blame Jason Collette for this image).

Finally, Yandy. Don’t need to say more.

It took 77 games, but things finally got weird between Rafael Devers and San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello.

Devers, the Giants' slugging first baseman, wagged his finger vigorously toward Vitello after the rookie manager sent in a pinch-runner for him in the top of the ninth inning at Miami, the Giants trailing by a run.

Yet speedy pinch runner Jonah Cox had already entered. Devers, who'd drawn a leadoff walk, tried to shoo him away from the bag. Yet he had to yield to the rookie who was called up from Double-A on June 1 and left the field cursing into his helmet.

And then, before Cox could even think about stealing second base, Jung Hoo Lee flied out and Willy Adames hit into a game-ending double play, sealing the Giants' 2-1 loss and a desultory sweep in Miami.

Devers was NOT happy.. especially once he got back to the dugout pic.twitter.com/AiQmFQpUcb

— Matthew Crory (@matthewcrory) June 21, 2026

Vitello said in his postgame news conference that Devers' leg had been bothering him a little bit, and that Cox represented their best chance to tie the score, although noting that Marlins reliever Lake Bachar was challenging to steal a base against.

"You know how competitive he is. He wanted to stay in the game," Vitello said. "Once we announce the move, the move is made. Just going with our best effort to win the game. (Devers) was signaling over to us he was good to run. Obviously, would like Jonah to get a bag. He’s relatively quick to the plate. But on a double, going on our best chance to win the game.

"In a perfect world, you’d like to see Cox get a bag at second, if he can. At the very least, if you go down, you go down swinging with your fastest guy."

Yet if Cox found his way home, that still would have only tied the score. Devers' bat would have been removed from the middle of the lineup in extra innings, likely the source of Devers' consternation. Devers is third on the Giants with 11 homers and has 246 for his career.

Still, Vitello insists he and the Giants first baseman, owed roughly $225 million through 2033, are good.

"We talk every day. We’re good. I’d rather have guys you have to rip off the field," Vitello said shortly before the Giants headed to the airport for a cross-country flight back to San Francisco.

"I don’t have any problem with Raffy. We talk every day; he’s one of the most entertaining guys to be around. He wants to stay in the game."

Devers refused comment after the game, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The loss wasted a complete-game effort from ace Logan Webb, who gave up five hits and two runs in eight innings. The Giants are now 31-46 in the first season for Vitello, the first manager to make the leap from college coaching - at Tennessee - to the major leagues.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rafael Devers fumes after Tony Vitello removes him for pinch runner

The Cleveland Guardians drop both this series and the season series against the Houston Astros in another one run loss. Slade Cecconi fell to 3-6 with today’s loss. Both Astro’s runs came off of Cecconi in his 6.0 innings of work. Yordan Alvarez hit a home run in his first at bat in the first inning. In the bottom of the fourth, things got dicey for Cecconi. He allowed a lead off walk and back-to-back singles to account for the second Houston run. He got out of the inning and worked two more relatively calm innings, earning himself a quality start.

Colin Holderman and Hunter Gaddis both pitched clean innings of relief, both striking out one. Hunter Gaddis did give up a single, but otherwise had a solid outing.

The Guardians offense only recorded four hits and two walks the entire game. Bazzana continued to solidify his position as the lead off hitter with a lead off single on the third pitch of the game. Brayan Rocchio hit a one-out single to follow Bazz’s hit and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. However, with two-outs, both runners were left in scoring position.

In the top of the fifth, Petey Halpin hit a one-out triple to get into scoring position as the batting order turned over to the top.

Travis Bazzana hit into a ground out to second, allowing Petey to score in the process for the Guardians sole run.

The Guardians are floating four games above .500 despite the three injuries that are haunting this line up. They have a 1.0 game lead on the White Sox, who got swept by the Tigers in Detroit this weekend. This next series, in Chicago against the White Sox could be a do or die series for the Guardians. Here’s to hoping Travis Bazzana, Brayan Rocchio, and Kyle Manzardo have what it takes to prop up this offense.

The White Sox offense struggled badly for a second consecutive game on Sunday afternoon, and for a while, they made Detroit starter Keider Montero look more like Tarik Skubal than Skubal himself did on Friday. Three blown leads in three days, this one a 5-4 eye-roller in 10 innings, means three losses. This is the first series sweep suffered by the Sox in more than two months, and now their fifth loss in their last six tries.

Davis Martin’s fastball velocity once again sat at a worrying 93 mph, a full tick down from his average on the season, and it was reflected in other numbers. While getting ahead in the count and aggressively attacking hitters has been his bread and butter all year, he only threw 46 of his 77 pitches for strikes, his second-lowest strike rate of the season. Detroit hitters swung at just about half of the pitches they saw, with only seven pitches flying by for called strikes. Martin got a fair number of whiffs, but he wasn’t fooling too many hitters today.

Nonetheless, it was enough to get the job done. Or so it seemed.

MLB’s Scott Merkin nailed the essence of this game when he noted after the fourth inning the the only batted ball of 100+ mph to that point had gotten spun for an inning-ending double play. Montero wasn’t missing bats, but the Sox certainly weren’t squaring him up, either. It took him just 50 pitches to get through five innings, well on his way to putting the Sox on the receiving end of a second Maddux in as many weeks.

Martin managed to match Montero through four innings before faltering in the fifth, when Colt Keith singled, stole second and scratched across the game’s first run. On the other side, when the Sox last saw Montero on May 31, Detroit might have pulled him just a hair too early, as the Sox offense managed to engineer a late comeback against the Tigers bullpen. Today, manager A.J. Hinch may have left him in just a hair too long.

Enter Luisangel Acuña:

That’s Acuña’s first homer in the big leagues since 2024, and the fourth of his career. At 414 feet, it’s easily his longest hit of the season. Perhaps promisingly, it’s his second 400-footer in almost as many weeks.

The game was close, but Martin’s lack of refined command or putaway stuff remained an issue into the sixth inning, when a two-out Tigers rally threatened to wipe out a slim Sox lead for the third day in a row. But pitching coach Zach Bove delivered the encyclopedia definition of a well-timed mound visit, and a well-placed sinker allowed Martin to strand multiple runners and depart the game with a 2-1 lead. He left in line for a league-best 10th win, and having secured his 10th quality start in 15 tries.

In addition to Acuña, the struggling Braden Montgomery took a step in the right direction with the bat today, recording his first multi-hit game in his last 10 with a pair of singles. His seventh inning single resulted in a critical insurance run for the visitors when Tristan Peters sent him home on a two-out double.

After that sixth inning scare, I sent a text insinuating that I would “have a stroke” if Grant Taylor wasn’t the first pitcher out of the bullpen in relief of Martin. Nonetheless, Bryan Hudson helped ensure that my cranial blood vessels remained intact, tip-toeing around a baserunner to hold the lead at 3-1 into the eighth inning. Then it was Taylor time.

Turns out, Taylor was the one I needed to worry about. For just a moment, I was ready to eat the worst kind of crow. Perhaps rusty after six days without work, Dillon Dingler wasted no time in cutting the lead to one by welcoming Taylor to the game with a solo blast. Kerry Carpenter then looked like he might have made it 2-for-2 were it not for a momentum-swinging snag by Braden Montgomery.

For just a brief moment to follow, it looked like we would be blessed with a rare but well-timed 1-2-3 inning out of Seranthony Domínguez. It was not to be. A trio of baserunners with two outs resulted in two runs, and extra-inning affair.

The rest of the game was straightforward, in a way that did not play out well for the Good Guys. A series of productive outs got Jacob Gonzalez home as the 10th inning ghost runner, but Friday’s opener Brandon Eisert was not able to close the game. He retired none of the three batters he faced, and it only took two pitches against the just-returned Jordan Hicks to secure the sweep.

The Sox have a short flight home tonight before ramping up the first of what should be several critical showdowns with the Cleveland Guardians, at home on Monday. Anthony Kay gets the ball opposite big righty Gavin Williams at 6:40 p.m. CT tomorrow night. We’ll see you there!

Box Score

After a pair of heartbreaking one-run losses on Friday and Saturday in Atlanta, the Brewers punched right back today, winning 9-4 behind a strong showing from Robert Gasser and a big eight-run second inning.

Bryce Elder set the Brewers down in order in the first before Mauricio Dubón hit a ground-rule double to begin the bottom of the inning against Gasser. Dubón moved over on a groundout, and yesterday’s hero Ozzie Albies brought him in to score with a sac fly.

Staked to a 1-0 lead, the second inning didn’t go nearly as smoothly for Elder as the first. William Contreras and Jake Bauers started the inning with a pair of singles, and Garrett Mitchell moved them both into scoring position with a groundout. Sal Frelick followed with a double into the left field corner, putting Milwaukee up 2-1. After Cooper Pratt grounded out for the second out, the Brewers rattled off a big two-out rally that went as follows:

• David Hamilton double (3-1)
• Christian Yelich walk, Hamilton stolen base
• Jackson Chourio single (4-1)
• Brice Turang single (5-1)
• Contreras three-run homer (8-1)

Bauers then struck out to end the inning, but the damage was done as 11 Brewers came to the plate.

Gasser held that lead as he worked around a leadoff single in the second, and the Brewers came to bat in the third looking to add on. Frelick singled and Pratt walked with one out, but Milwaukee couldn’t cash them in as Hamilton struck out and Yelich lined out to third base on a nice snag by Austin Riley.

Dubón singled to start the third, but Gasser once again worked around the leadoff baserunner to keep the score at 8-1 before Elder stranded two more runners on bases in the fourth.

Michael Harris II started the fourth inning off with a double — Atlanta’s fourth leadoff hit of the day in just four innings — and, after stealing third, he scored the second run of the afternoon for the Braves on a groundout by Joey Bart in his second game with the team.

In the fifth, Pratt hit a one-out single one pitch after fouling a ball off his leg, and after Hamilton singled to push Pratt to second, the athletic trainer came to chat with Pratt, who ultimately remained in the game and was stranded at second.

Both teams traded 1-2-3 innings through the end of the sixth, allowing both Elder and Gasser to get through six frames, albeit with very different lines. Elder allowed eight runs on 12 hits and two walks with six strikeouts, while Gasser allowed two runs on four hits and a walk with seven strikeouts.

The Brewers added another run in the seventh without recording a hit against reliever Reynaldo López, as Mitchell walked, Frelick reached on catcher interference, Pratt grounded into a double play that pushed Mitchell to third, and Mitchell ended up scoring on a wild pitch.

Chad Patrick closed things out for the Brewers, taking the final three innings as he allowed two runs on three hits — a pair of singles and a homer by Old Friend Rowdy Tellez in the ninth — striking out two to pick up his fourth save of the year.

Contreras led the Milwaukee offense with four hits today, finishing 4-for-5 (and he was robbed of a hit by Riley in his fifth at-bat), driving in three and scoring two. The other seven runs were scored by seven different players, while Frelick was the only other player with multiple RBIs, driving in two on his double. Frelick, Hamilton, and Bauers each had two hit days, while Pratt extended his hitting streak to five.

It was a much-needed win for a team that dealt with some unfortunate luck over the last few days, as the Brewers now head into a gauntlet of five of six series against NL Central opponents leading into the All-Star break. First up is a visit to Cincinnati to take on the Reds. Brandon Woodruff is expected to make his return in Monday’s series opener opposite Brady Singer for the Reds, with first pitch slated for 6:10 p.m.

The Yankees dropped Sunday's rubber match against the Reds by a score of 4-1 at Yankee Stadium.

Here are the takeaways...

-- Elmer Rodriguez, called up to make the start with Gerrit Cole pushed back a day, had a 21-pitch first inning, but got out of runners on corners jam by striking out Spencer Steer.

Rodriguez got into another jam in the top of the fourth, and he wasn’t able to get out of this one, surrendering a two-out, three-run homer to Tyler Stephenson on a sinker that was right down the heart of the plate.

The young righty went 4.0 innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits while striking out four and walking two. He threw 80 pitches, 46 of which were strikes

-- The game stayed scoreless until the bottom of the third, when Ben Rice launched a solo home run to right field. Rice somehow got on top of a Chase Burns high heater, and he demolished it to give the Yankees the lead with his 22^nd home run of the season.

But that was all the Yankees could must off of Burns, who went 5.0 innings while allowing just the one earned run on five hits. He struck out seven and walked three.

-- Austin Wells made his return to the lineup after a stint on the IL due to cervical headaches. H went 0-for-2 with a strikeout before being replaced by a pinch-hitter.

-- Hitting with runners in scoring position has been a real bugaboo for the Yankees over the last two games. On Sunday, the Yankees went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.

-- The Yankees played some very sloppy defense in the ninth to allow the Reds to tack on. First, a grounder up the middle was ruled a double, but Jazz Chisholm Jr. really should have at least knocked it down. Jose Caballero, playing center field for the first time, threw the ball away at second, allowing Steer to go all the way around to third. Steer would score on a Noelvi Marte double to right that Jasson Dominguez couldn't get to, pushing the lead to 4-1.

Game MVP

Stephenson, whose three-run homer put the Reds up for good.

Highlights

Rice rakes! pic.twitter.com/W01sIuARyv

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) June 21, 2026

Up Next

The Yankees hit the road for a seven-game road trip, beginning with three games in Detroit. 

Gerrit Cole will face Framber Valdez on Monday at 6:10 p.m.

Kai-Wei Teng (W, 4-6) had struggled in his most recent 4 starts, and very much looked like a candidate to be replaced in the rotation. Teng put at least a temporary hold on all of that today.

Teng pitched 6 strong innings against the Guardians this afternoon, allowing just one run on 4 hits with a walk and 4 strikeouts in earning his 4th win of the season. Steven Okert, Bryan King, and Josh Hader (S, 5) followed with scoreless innings of relief as the Houston Astros (37-42) defeated the Cleveland Guardians (41-37) 2-1 at Daikin Park on Father’s Day.

The victory clinched the series victory for the Astros, who have won three consecutive series for the first time this season. The Astros are now 17-11 since May 21.

Yordan Alvarez got the Astros on the board first with his league-leading 25th HR of the season in the bottom of the first, a solo shot off Guardians’ starter Slade Cecconi (L, 3-6).

Alvarez would later off the bottom of the 4th with a walk, advance to 2nd on a single by Christian Walker, and the score on a single by Isaac Paredes to make it a 2-0 lead. However that was all the Astros could muster in both that inning and the rest of the game.

In the bottom of the 5th, a one-out triple by Petey Halpin followed by a groundout by Travis Bazzana accounted for the Guardians only run off Teng.

The Guardians did not get another hit the rest of the way.

The Astros are currently 2.5 GB of the Seattle Mariners pending the results of their game today, and 2GB the Blue Jays and Athletics for the final Wild Card spot.

Following today’s game, the Astros travel to Toronto for a 3 game series with the Blue Jays.

Pitching probables for that series:

Mon: Hunter Brown vs. Dylan Cease

Tues: Peter Lambert vs. Shane Bieber

Wed: Mike Burrows vs. Trey Yesavage

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter has been placed on the injured list with a left ankle injury, the team announced today. To take his place on the active roster, the Rangers have recalled pitcher Jose Corniell.

Leiter had been dealing with the ankle issue for most of the season, but reportedly made it worse slipping on the on deck circle in the Rangers’ April contest against the Pittsburgh Pirates. You remember the play, I’m sure, but in case you need a reminder, here it is:

The general reaction to the play at the time was, oh shit, now Jack Leiter is hurt. I think most of us of were surprised he even stayed in the game. Per Chris Young, Leiter felt he could pitch through the issue, but scans after his last outing showed it had gotten worse, so he’s being shut down so the ankle can heal.

One might wonder whether the Rangers would have made this move sooner if they had a viable option to replace Leiter in the rotation. Jacob Latz, who was the de facto sixth starter early on, has taken on the closer role, and given the injuries the bullpen is dealing with currently, along with ineffectiveness by a lot of the non-Latz relievers, trying to stretch him out and have him starting again isn’t realistic.

It is worth noting, though, that Jordan Montgomery is beginning a rehab assignment with Frisco. He’s recuperating from Tommy John surgery, and so probably isn’t a realistic option in the rotation until after the All Star Break, but there is some help on the way.

Corniell returned in the second half of the 2025 season from Tommy John surgery and pitched extremely well in the minors, earning a late season callup, and ultimately being the last Rangers pitcher to pitch in 2025, as his major league debut ended in a walkoff homer in his second inning of work in extra innings in Cleveland. He got off to a bit of a rocky start to the season, but in his last two appearances has allowed two runs in nine innings while striking out six and not walking anyone. He presumably will be used out of the pen for the time being.

In case you’re curious, here’s the Rangers’ current nine man major league bullpen:

Jacob Latz

Jakob Junis

Tyler Alexander

Cole Winn

Cal Quantrill

Peyton Gray

Robb Ahlstrom

Joe Ross

Jose Corniell

Yeah, probably need to leave Latz in the pen for now…

The Atlanta Braves took the series win, but couldn’t complete the sweep against the Milwaukee Brewers after falling 9-4 at Truist Park.

Atlanta got on the board early on with Ozzie Albies picking up where he left off from last night’s game with a sacrifice fly to bring Mauricio Dubón in for the first run.

It was after that, however, when the Brewers answered back, going on a tear against Bryce Elder (6 IP/ 12 H/ 8 ER/ 6 K/ 1 HR) to make their presence known in the second inning. Brewers’ Sal Frelick hit a two-run double, and from there, Milwaukee caught the wave to end with a three-run homer from William Contreras (8-1).

It wasn’t until the bottom of the fourth that Atlanta would see another run from a Joey Bart ground ball to bring in Michael Harris II. The Brewers scored their last run on a wild pitch in the seventh (9-2).

And the Braves attempted to come alive again late in the ninth with a two-run homer from Rowdy Tellez to drive in Albies (9-4), giving the Braves a little action with no outs.

The efforts to get back in the game fell short after an out from Joey Bart’s ground ball.

Though Elder gave up eight runs in the second, he did improve, staying out longer than his previous appearance last week. His confidence in targeting the strike zone, however, hasn’t looked like what he’s displayed earlier in the season, yet, instead looking as he did when he struggled last season.

The Braves will have to put together a new game plan to get back to executing basic fundamentals if they want to look like the promising team they’ve shown Braves country just a few weeks ago.

Finding ways to win has its perks, but it isn’t sustainable against teams that are targeting them to put a stop to their run.

Grant Holmes is set to take the mound tomorrow to face off against the San Diego Padres. The Braves will need the offense to be on their side as they look to be the dominant team once again.

Happy Father’s Day! The A’s have their fourth and final game of the series this afternoon, taking on the Angels for the fourth and final time this afternoon.

The lineup today:

And the Angels:

Let’s go A’s!