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PHOENIX — It would be inaccurate to describe the Diamondbacks as kryptonite to these Giants, if only because that would imply they had some kind of superpowers.

More than halfway into the season, it’s clear that’s not the case.

If anything, these Giants are super bad.

One thing’s for sure: They don’t have an answer for this Arizona team, which got to Tyler Mahle in the fifth inning and never let the Giants catch up Monday to begin a three-game series.

Final score: 5-4.

It was the seventh time the teams have played this season with the same result. They hadn’t lost seven in a row against one foe to start a season since going 0-7 against the Padres in 2010.

Besides the leadoff homer Mahle surrendered to Ketel Marte that put Arizona up 1-0, things started off positively enough for the Giants. Mahle kept the Diamondbacks quiet, and they tied things up by giving them some of their own small-ball medicine on a squeeze bunt that scored Victor Bericoto.

For a cherry on top, Jonah Cox even beat out the bunt and swiped second.

But Cox didn’t make it past third base, and Mahle didn’t make it out of the next inning.

He walked the leadoff man, allowed the No. 9 hitter to poke a single and loaded the bases with another free pass. That brought up Geraldo Perdomo, who subsequently unloaded them with a bases-clearing double into the left-field corner that Bericoto allowed to bounce around.

Manager Tony Vitello didn’t leave Mahle in to face the damage: He opted for left-hander Sam Hentges to force the switch-hitting Perdomo to bat right-handed with the bases loaded.

The decision was sound, with Perdomo performing substantially worse from the right side this season despite even career splits, but it backfired anyway.

Turns out, the mistake came before the game, when nobody told Mahle he was operating on a pitch count. He said he would have pitched differently to his last hitter, Ketel Marte, the recipient of his second walk, had he been aware it was his final batter.

“I didn’t realize I was on a pitch limit of like 85, so Ketel was up there and he’s done well against me, so I was like, OK, I’m not gonna give him anything to hit,” Mahle said. “Then I got taken out. … I didn’t know I was on a pitch count, or else I would’ve gone about that at-bat differently.”

That’s just how this season has gone for the Giants, who fell back to 14 games below .500. The Diamondbacks are single-handedly responsible for half that margin.

Speaking of ownage, there’s Nolan Arenado, who’s in an entirely different orbit.

Arenado’s 36th career home run against the Giants, a no-doubter to left off JT Brubaker, added to Arizona’s lead in the sixth and proved to be the difference. He also drew the walk that started the rally in the fifth.

Heliot Ramos, in his second game back from a month-and-a-half absence, golfed a slider from closer Paul Sewald over the center field fence to lead off the ninth, and pinch-hitter Drew Cavanaugh singled home Bryce Eldridge to cut the margin to one run.

But Drew Gilbert and Matt Chapman popped out to end the loss.

What it means

Whatever positive inertia was built over the Giants’ 4-2 homestand and a series win over the MLB-best Braves was apparently lost when they ran into the buzzsaw that is the third-place Diamondbacks, who had lost seven of 10 and just been swept by the Rays.

The loss also wrapped up the season series in favor of Arizona for the fifth year in a row, ever since the Giants’ 17-2 campaign during their 107-win 2021 season.

If the results so far were flipped, well, the Giants would be a .500 ball club. They would also be tied with Arizona for third place in the NL West, instead of 14 below .500 and in a seven-game hole.

Who’s hot

The pair of homers from Marte and Arenado represented the first time since June 13 that Giants pitchers have allowed opponents to take them deep more than once in a game.

Marte’s leadoff shot was the first home run any Giants pitcher had allowed in five games, dating back to Max Muncy’s solo shot off Dylan Smith in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s 2-1 win over the A’s, ending a run of 37 straight innings without a home run.

Giants starters had kept opposing batters in the park for even longer, going eight straight games without surrendering a home run since Kyle Stowers hit one against Logan Webb last Sunday.

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the fastball Marte punished was the third-slowest of the 37 four-seamers thrown by Mahle. He averaged 93.5 mph, topping out at 95.5 mph.

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That’s a 1.5-mph increase from Mahle’s average fastball velocity in 11 starts before spending a month on the injured list with a hamstring strain — and would represent his hardest velocity since he averaged 94 mph in 2021.

Who’s not

Giants baserunners have, on multiple occasions already, been doubled off after forgetting the number of outs. Before scoring their first run on a good read from third base, Bericoto managed to make an out in a new fashion even for one of the majors’ worst base running teams.

He confirmed after the game that he didn’t know what the count was when he got caught meandering between first and second after Eric Haase swung through strike two in the second inning.

Catcher Gabriel Moreno fired to first and made Bericoto the third out of the inning after a brief run down, snuffing out a minor rally with two runners on and two outs.

“I don’t want to use the excuse of everything that’s happening back home, but you know, the situation in Venezuela has me rattled up,” said Bericoto, whose brother lost his girlfriend in the powerful earthquakes that struck his home country last week. “It’s not an excuse. I have to do better at my job. But I shouldn’t have made that mistake.”

The young outfielder said he was greeted by “words of encouragement” from his teammates in the dugout, and he made up for the error after doubling in his next at-bat and scoring on Cox’s bunt.

“The conversations were overdone, if anything, in the dugout,” Vitello said. “So it was time to move on, and it was a much better trip around the bases for him. Overall, he played great.”

Up next

Landen Roupp will try to get the Giants in the win column against the Diamondbacks for the first time this season Tuesday in the second game of the series. Arizona plans to call up Brandon Pfaadt from Triple-A.

TORONTO — Marcus Semien’s absence from the Mets will be an extended one.

The Post’s Jon Heyman reported Monday that the veteran second baseman, who was placed on the injured list in recent days with a left hip flexor strain, will miss four to six weeks, minimum.

Semien’s injury was a Grade 3 strain; he tried to play through it before it severely limited his movement.

“He’s got a little bit of time before he’s back on the field with us,” interim manager Andy Green said before the Mets fell 2-1 to the Blue Jays.

Ronny Mauricio and Brett Baty are the second base options in Semien’s absence.

Luis Robert Jr. is scheduled to begin a minor league rehab assignment Tuesday with Triple-A Syracuse.

The veteran outfielder has been on the injured list since April 27 with a lumbar disc spine herniation.

Tobias Myers was optioned to Syracuse and Joey Gerber recalled to give the Mets a fresh arm in the bullpen. Myers, who owns a 14.54 ERA this month, allowed three earned runs over three innings against the Phillies on Sunday — a fourth straight shaky appearance.

Green said rather than stretch out Myers as a starter in the minors, the goal is to “stack innings” before he returns.

“He has the ability to win south of the strike zone and he struggled to get pitches down there [Sunday],” Green said. “If he does that, he will pitch meaningful innings for us, and whether that’s in starting capacity or relief is not determined yet.”

Gerber pitched a scoreless eighth Monday night with a pair of strikeouts.

The Mets have Nolan McLean and Freddy Peralta lined up to start the final two games of this series before Thursday’s off day.

The rookie McLean was tagged for six earned runs over six innings last week against the Cubs, but Green said he is not concerned about the right-hander, who has pitched to a 4.03 ERA this season.

“He did a lot of good things and he paid the price for long balls,” Green said. “He was one pitch away of being through six innings of three-run baseball with nine punch-outs; he left a pitch up and it got hit. That’s the nature of the game and I think he takes that personally.”

Out-homering their opponents three-to-one, the Dodgers beat the A’s 9-4 and are now 1-0 all-time in games at Sutter Health Park. Already on their first visit to the A’s temporary home, the Dodgers gave their fans a taste of this park’s propensity for an elevated number of runs by thoroughly dismantling Gage Jump and the A’s bullpen with an incredible eight multi-hit performances. On the Dodgers’ pitching side, Eric Lauer did exactly what this team wanted from him when they acquired him a little over a month ago, navigating a troublesome outing with a respectable line and saving up the bullpen.

Early on, though, a similar fate seemed to be in store for both starters. After avoiding damage in the first inning, both quickly caved, allowing multiple runs in the second, two for the Dodgers and three for the A’s. The Dodgers caught a bit of a break in their first rally, as a Kyle Tucker fly ball was lost in the sun and dropped in for a hit—Tucker would eventually come around to score on a Dalton Rushing single.

Nearly as quickly as the Dodgers relinquished the lead in the bottom of the second—with the A’s scoring three against Lauer—they came back to take it again in the fourth, this time relying on the long ball. In the battle of namesakes, the Dodgers’ Max Muncy proved to be the more impactful hitter. Muncy added to his RBI single that opened the scoring in the second with a solo shot to tie things up at 3-3.

Only a few batters later, Andy Pages handed the visiting team the lead with a two-run bomb to make it 5-3. This was only Pages’ fourth home run against lefties this season, going against his career splits and performing better versus right-handed pitchers.

While all of this damage forced the Athletics starter, who by the way hadn’t yet allowed a homer this season, to leave the mound, the ball didn’t stop leaving the yard. Already in his fourth at-bat by the time the sixth inning rolled around, Shohei Ohtani decided to get in on the fun, hitting a three-run bomb that firmly put the game out of hand.

Because neither starter necessarily struggled with command, the window was there for either of them to remain in the game if they were eventually able to settle down. While Jump was unable to, Lauer did exactly that, squeezing in a quality start out of a game in which he allowed seven hits in the first three innings. In doing so, the veteran left-hander helped save a couple of innings from the bullpen, and by the time he was removed, a five-run lead gave the Dodgers plenty of security to see this one out.

Just one more win in a long regular season to give the Dodgers a 55-30 record; this one puts Dave Roberts one shy of 1.000 career victories as a manager, quite the achievement coming up for the three-time World Series winner.

Game particulars

• Home runs: Max Muncy (17), Andy Pages (16), Shohei Ohtani (18), Colby Thomas (3)
• WP— Eric Lauer (4-5): 6 IP, 9 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts
• LP— Gage Jump (3-2): 4.2 IP, 11 hits, 5 runs, 5 strikeouts

Up next

Another game, another battle of left-handed starters. On Tuesday, it will be the turn of Justin Wrobleski and the veteran Jeffrey Springs squaring off with the same start time (6:40 p.m. PT).

Teoscar Hernández was back from a hamstring injury, and a little bit humble. He was about to play his first game in a month for the Dodgers.

“I don’t think they really need me in the lineup,” he said, with a hint of a smile.

Hernández hit 58 home runs over his first two seasons with the Dodgers, each of which ended in a World Series championship, so of course they need him. But, in his absence, the Dodgers had more than doubled their National League West lead.

Hernández is back, but Will Smith and Kiké Hernández still are out. So are Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell and Edwin Díaz.

No matter: The Dodgers boosted their division lead to 11 games Monday with a 9-4 victory over the Athletics. Shohei Ohtani, Max Muncy and Andy Pages homered to highlight a 17-hit attack.

Read more:Mookie Betts is 'back' for Dodgers: Offensive takeaways from series win over Padres

The Dodgers are on pace to win the NL West by 21 games. They boast the best record in the major leagues at 55-30, and Ohtani and the Traveling All-Stars remain baseball’s best road show.

Before the game, a guy setting up one of the merchandise stands here pointed to all the Dodgers gear for sale. He wore a Dodgers cap. He said he wished he had more Dodgers stuff to sell, because the crowd would be overwhelmingly in favor of the Dodgers.

And so it was, one day after San Diego fans complained of all the Dodgers partisans at Petco Park. In Sacramento, where the wandering home team wears a Sacramento patch on one jersey sleeve and a Las Vegas patch on the other sleeve, there were loud cheers for Ohtani and Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts, and loud chants of “Let’s go, Dodgers!”

Every Dodger in the starting lineup had two hits except for Betts, who had one.

Eric Lauer, imported to fortify a starting rotation without Glasnow and Snell, worked six innings to record the victory. He gave up three runs and four hits in the second inning, no runs and five hits over the other five.

He is 3-0 with 2.88 earned-run average in six starts for the Dodgers, the last three of them classified as quality starts.

“He’s been nothing but impressive for us,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Glasnow and Snell are weeks away from returning, and maybe more, but Roberts said they would not lose their job because of injury.

“Eric coming over here knew that this was the deal, right?” said Roberts, who posted his 999th career win. “Until they get back. We just don’t know when. He’s just got to stay focused on doing his job. Then when that time comes we’ll see what happens.”

In the top of the second, the Dodgers bunched four hits, all singles — the first by Hernández, beating out an infield single in his first at-bat since the hamstring injury — to take a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the inning, the A’s also bunched four hits, including a Colby Thomas home run, to take a 3-2 lead.

The rest of the Dodgers’ scoring: a solo homer by Muncy and a two-run homer by Pages in the fourth, a three-run homer by Ohtani in the sixth, and an RBI single by Freeman in the eighth. The A’s scored the final run on a wild pitch in the ninth.

And, speaking of wild, each team had a Max Muncy playing third base and batting seventh.

“It’s a strange feeling standing at third base and they’re announcing that you’re hitting and it’s not you,” Muncy (the Dodgers one) said.

Miguel Rojas said the Dodgers have flourished in the wake of significant injuries because the organization places a priority on developing players and giving them a fair shot at playing time, citing Pages, infielder Alex Freeland and pitchers Justin Wrobleski and Emmet Sheehan, as well as wise trades for supplementary players, including infielder-outfielder Tommy Edman and outfielder Alex Call.

“It’s not living with the narrative of ‘We’re buying championships and spending money,’” Rojas said. “Yeah, we’re spending money to get good players. But we’re not really basing our success just on that.

“The front office does quality work on getting the right players and putting the puzzle together. I feel that’s the reason why we can afford losing a couple guys in the middle of the year, because we have a full team that is ready to step up.”

Still, Rojas conceded none of that would matter without Ohtani, Freeman, Betts and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. And, yes, Rojas said, the Dodgers do have an irreplaceable player.

“It’s going to be really hard if we lose Shohei,” Rojas said. “It’s going to be a little bit different than losing another player. Having Shohei at the top of the lineup every single day and doing both sides of the ball has been really helpful.”

Ohtani gave the Sacramento crowd what it wanted to see: a majestic 432-foot home run, with a supercharged, 112-mph exit velocity. On Wednesday, the last day of the Dodgers’ only scheduled visit here before the A’s move to Las Vegas in 2028, he’ll take the mound to give the people more of what they want to see.

“I think we got market share tonight,” Roberts said. “It was fun. A lot of people don’t get a chance to see us play. So people up here in this area, Northern California, get to see us, get to see Shohei put on a show.”

Ohtani, two-way All-Star?

Roberts said no decision has been made about whether Ohtani will pitch in the All-Star Game. Ohtani already has been elected as the starting designated hitter for the National League.

If Ohtani is not the starting pitcher, he will not pitch.

In the 2021 All-Star Game, Ohtani was the starting pitcher and designated hitter for the American League. It would be impractical for Ohtani to warm up to pitch in the middle of an exhibition game in which he is the DH.

The Dodgers closely manage Ohtani’s workload on the mound, which could lead to a decision that he skip pitching in the game. The most likely candidates for NL starting pitcher: Jacob Misiorowski of the Milwaukee Brewers and Cristopher Sanchez of the host Philadelphia Phillies, with Yamamoto also worthy of consideration.

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

They’re the reigning champions for a reason. The Athletics dropped their first game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night, losing 9-4 in Sacramento against the team with the best record in the sport. The team is now on a three-game losing streak and will wrap June with a losing record. A tough one to swallow and the A’s are now 40-45 and now three games back and in fourth place in the AL West.

The A’s had rookie lefty Gage Jump on the mound this evening, hoping he could continue his strong start to his career and tame the mighty Dodgers lineup.

After a scoreless top of the second the Dodgers got to work against Jump. Using four singles they put up the game’s first two runs of the night.

The A’s answered back and then some in the bottom half of the frame against LA starter Eric Lauer. First it was left fielder Colby Thomas getting things started with a solo home run, his third long ball of the season:

Expect to see much more of Thomas in the lineup while regular Tyler Soderstrom is out.

They weren’t done there either. Singles from Max Muncy (ours) and Alika Williams brought up tonight’s second baseman, rookie Joshua Kuroda-Grauer. Ranked highly in the Athletics’ farm system, Kuroda-Grauer was making his big league debut and came up in a big spot for the A’s. And how did he respond to his first career at bat as a major leaguer? With a base knock the other way to plate Muncy and tie this game up at 2:

Definitely the first of many to come from the young infielder.

Next up was another rookie in center fielder Henry Bolte. While he didn’t get a base knock to keep the line going, his wheels did allow him to avoid a double play, allowing the Athletics’ third run of the frame to come home and score:

We love productive outs, and now the A’s had a lead. A slim on, but one nonetheless.

At least, for a few frames. While Jump came back with a scoreless top of the third, the Dodgers’ vaunted lineup could not be held down tonight. A pair of home runs, a solo blast and a two-run shot, gave LA the lead back, one they would not relinquish the rest of the evening. Jump ended up pitching into the fifth but couldn’t complete five full frames, departing at 91 pitches and down 5-3.

• Gage Jump: 4 2/3 IP, 11 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 2 HR, 91 pitches

Not a great outing from the young left-hander tonight as his ERA rises to 2.93. The Dodgers are a feared lineup for this exact reason, and plenty of other more experienced arms have gotten beat up by them. Jump can learn from tonight though. He’ll try to bounce back next time out, which lines up to be against the Miami Marlins this coming weekend.

Lefty Matt Krook followed Jump out of the bullpen tonight and got Ohtani’d. The Dodgers’ super mega star swatted a 3-run home run to bust this game wide open for the Dodgers. At this point it was just about getting to the end of the game. Justin Stener provided an inning of work and then Kade Morris was tasked with cleanup duty, pitching three innings and allowing just one insurance run for the Dodgers in the eighth.

The bats meanwhile couldn’t manage much of any sort of fight after that second inning. The A’s ended tonight with 11 hits, with three of those coming off the bat of Kuroda-Grauer. Other than a final run in the bottom of the ninth the A’s went quietly, securing the team’s 45th loss.

Not a great night but Kuroda-Grauer had a memorable night and will likely be back in the lineup tomorrow. He’s the first rookie to get multiple hits in their big league debut since Mark Canha way back in 2015. Jump got knocked around by the Dodgers but that’s what they do. Thomas’ homer was nice but the lineup is clearly missing Soderstrom, Wilson, Gelof, and Rooker. The A’s need to get healthy and quickly or else fall lower and lower in the standings.

The series continues tomorrow night, same time same place. For the Athletics, they’ll have left-hander Jeffrey Springs on the mound looking for a strong start to help snap this losing streak. The veteran has had a tough go of things here in June with a 9.97 ERA this month. He did bounce back in his most recent outing though when he pitched into the sixth and only allowed three runs to the Giants in an A’s win. Overall on the year he’s sporting a 5.52 ERA in 17 starts.

The Dodgers will counter Springs with their own left-hander in 25-year-old Justin Wrobleski. The young arm has been fantastic for the Dodgers in his first extended stint in the starting rotation this season. The third-year pitcher has a 2.71 ERA this season and has put together back-to-back strong starts. The A’s will have their hands full yet again.

Hunter Goodman hit his 26th homer of the season, setting the new all-time Rockies record for most homers before July 1, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a brutal outing from the Colorado bullpen as the Rockies dropped the first game of the series to the Marlins on Monday night.

Goodman’s solo shot in the seventh increased the catcher’s June total to 12 homers. He will now try to break Todd Helton’s Rockies record of 27 home runs before the All-Star Break. Despite the loss, Goodman continued to prove he should be an All-Star (and participate in the Home Run Derby, too).

“Goody just keeps going. He’s a great player, and he’s having a heck of a first half,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “Twenty-six homers before the All-Star Break is a rare accomplishment … He is a force at the plate.”

Victor Vodnik gave up a three-run homer that squandered the Rockies lead in the fifth inning (two runs were charged to starter Sean Sullivan). Vodnik took the loss, but it was the four runs that Antonio Senzatela allowed in the sixth that doomed the Rockies. It was Senzatela’s worst outing of an otherwise remarkable season where he’s posted an 8-0 record and 3.07 ERA in 44 innings over 25 appearances.

The Rockies tried to mount a ninth-inning rally when Eduardo Julien singled and Jake McCarthy doubled. Mickey Moniak hit a sac grounder to score Julien, but the lone run resulted in Colorado falling short.

Sullivan’s up-and-down start

Sean Sullivan’s fourth MLB start began well with three up and three down in the first, including a strikeout. The Marlins struck back in the second when Heriberto Hernández and Leonardo Jiménez doubled, while Kyle Stowers was hit by a pitch in between, to put Miami up 2-0.

After the Rockies claimed a 3-2 lead, Sullivan overcame a leadoff double in the third and a single in the fourth to maintain Colorado’s lead. Then came the fifth and the downward spiral.

Otto Lopez led off with a homer to trim Colorado’s lead to 5-3. Sullivan sandwiched two outs with a single and a walk to Stowers, which forced Schaeffer to end Sullivan’s night.

Schaeffer said Sullivan had some bright moments in the start, despite not getting ahead in enough counts.

“He got behind some, and when he got behind, he got hurt, but he battled through it. He got into the fifth inning to the third time through the order, and he gave us a chance to win,” Schaeffer said. “The walk to Stowers there was a big one in the fifth inning, but I thought he competed well, even though he wasn’t ahead in a lot of counts.”

He left the game with a young career-high five strikeouts, two walks, one HBP, six hits and three earned runs in 4.2 innings. However, those three runs jumped to five when the two runners he left on base came around to score in the next at-bat.

Bullpen blues

The Marlins attacked Vodnik from the jump as pitch-hitter Griffin Conine crushed his second pitch to the upper deck in right field and quickly flipped a 5-3 Colorado lead to a 6-5 Miami advantage. Vodnik ended the inning and posted a scoreless sixth, but the damage was done.

It got worse when Senzatela entered in the seventh and gave up a single, double and walk before Javier Sanoja hit a base-clearing triple to make it 9-6. Joe Mack followed with an infield single to give Miami double-digit scoring.

Schaeffer blamed one bad changeup that Vodnik left too high and also said Senzatela nearly escaped the jam.

“Senza was one pitch away from putting up a zero there,” he said. “Senza’s throwing the ball fine. He’s just going through a very, very small period here where they are getting some barrels against him. No wavering confidence in Senzatela at all. He’s still one of the best relievers in the league.”

Zach Agnos then came in, getting out of the seventh, and then closed the game with scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth.

On the board early

The Rockies jumped on Sandy Alcantara early, connecting for six hits, including three doubles, in the second and third innings to take a 5-2 lead. The second-inning rally started when TJ Rumfield hit a leadoff, first-pitch single to extend his hitting streak to 12 games.

Cole Carrigg followed with a single, and after Troy Johnson flied out, Kyle Karros singled to load the bases. Ezequiel Tovar hit a sac fly to put the Rockies on the board and cut Miami’s lead to 2-1. Julien followed with a walk and McCarthy took advantage with the first double of the night to put the Rockies up 3-2.

The Rockies added some cushion in the third when Goodman led off with a double and Rumfield joined him on base by drawing a walk. Carrigg hit into a fielder’s choice to put runners at the corners with one out, but then the Rockies took a risk that didn’t pay off.

Carrigg got caught between first and second trying to steal, but it also seemed like he slowed down after the ball was thrown. A pickle ensued, and Goodman tried to go home, but got thrown out.

“We were trying to steal a run there on a Cy Young pitcher, trying to extend the lead and it just didn’t go our way,” Schaeffer said.

Instantly, a promising rally seemed in jeopardy with just Carrigg at second with two outs. But the Rockies caught a break when Johnston got a free pass from Alcantara — one of five he issued on the night — and Karros doubled in Carrigg and Johnston to increase the Rockies lead to 5-2.

Moniak and Tovar combined to go 0-for-8 and never got on base, but each drove in a run. The Rockies only struck out five times, while the Rockies pitching staff combined to strike out six Marlins.

Up Next

The Rockies will host Miami for the second of four games on Tuesday night. RHP Tanner Gordon (0-1, 6.37 ERA), who returns to the roster after being placed on the 15-day IL on June 5 with a right hip impingement, will get the start for the Rockies. Eury Pérez (3-6, 4.41 ERA) will be on the bump for the Marlins.

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Houston Astros SS Jeremy Pena showed up to Daikin Park today and reported some “left leg discomfort” according to manager Joe Espada. As a result, Pena was kept out of tonight’s 5-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

After the game, Espada announced Pena would be placed on the 10-day IL with a “mild calf strain”. Espada believes the injury to be minor and that it would only require a “minimum stint”.

Pena is batting .295 this season with 6 HR, 21 RBI, and a .799 OPS. In June, Pena batted .319 with an .865 OPS, hitting 3 HR and driving in 13. He also stole 5 of his 8 bases this season in June.

Nick Allen was activated off the IL today and got the start at SS for Pena.

Wheewwwww. Everyone relax, have your drink of choice, and take a deep breath. It may not feel like it, but the Twins did, indeed, win that game.

Things were actually going quite well for 90% of this game. Let’s start on the mound where Zebby Matthews delivered another very solid start. I remain a bit skeptical of how long he can keep this up given all the hard contact he allows, but you can do a lot worse for a fourth/fifth starter (see: Simeon Woods Richardson, Matt Shoemaker, Dallas Keuchel, the starter version of Louie Varland, Josh Winder, or any other “remember some guys” guys over the past half decade).

Zebby and the coaching staff came in with a clear plan: let anyone except Yordan Alvarez beat you. And it worked quite well! Alvarez came to the plate with runners on just once all night and Matthews essentially intentionally walked him, with all his pitches staying far clear of the strike zone. The only hit the Twins’ starter allowed through four innings was a bloop single by shortstop Nick Allen. And the only run came on a hanging slider that was, unquestionably, his worst pitch of the night. Cam Smith deposited the ball, if my estimates are correct, about a mile out of the stadium (don’t check Statcast, I’m sure my math is right).

Since being recalled on May 14, Matthews has gone 6+ innings in eight of his nine starts, including his past five straight. The results have been mixed and he’s given up a staggering 11 home runs already, but it’s hard to overstate how helpful a steady arm like Zebby is when you have a bullpen like this. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The offense was equally absent for the Twins in the first third of the game, but things finally started moving in the fourth when Royce Lewis and Victor Caratini popped back-to-back two-out homers to give the Twins a 2-0 lead. Speaking of good signs, that is now Royce’s fifth homer since his infamous “reset” demotion after having just three in the entire first two months of the season, while the spirit of Ryan Jeffers seems to have infected Caratini who sports a robust 182 wRC+ in the month of June. Those two are a big reason the Twins suddenly have the most runs scored in the American League.

Not wanting to miss out on the action, another resurgent June bat got in on the action for the Twins. Josh launched a two-run moonshot in the sixth, while a little small-ball action got the Twins one more in the seventh for a 5-0 lead that they took into the ninth inning. And then things got weird.

Travis Adams came back out for the ninth inning after pitching a clean eighth. Things started off well when he got Alvarez to ground out to open the frame. Adams then walked Isaac Paredes on five pitches, none of which were anywhere close to the strike zone. And as the Metrodome always says: walks will haunt. And in fact, they would have haunted even more if not for a bizarre ABS situation.

With Paredes on base, Astros first baseman Christian Walker came up and home plate umpire Brennan Miller called a first pitch strike that was a solid 3-4 inches outside which Walker did not challenge. Then, seven pitches later with a full count, Miller called Walker out on strikes on a pitch that was a solid 3-4 inches above the zone. Walker tried to challenge this pitch but Miller wouldn’t allow it, claiming Walker had looked into the Astros dugout and either saw a replay or a coach gave a signal to challenge. Everyone from me, to my wife next to me on the couch, to Cory Provus, to Adams and Caratini knew that was ball four but Miller apparently thought Walker was trying to pull a fast one.

And as an avid Twins fan I just have to say…. I really think the Twins got away with one there.

And it’s a good thing too! Taylor Trammell followed with a two-run bomb to bring the Astros within two runs and force Yoendrys Gomez into the game. Gomez started his outing with an odd situation, where he was charged with a pitch clock violation after forgetting his PitchCom device during a mound visit with Caratini. It took the umps at 10 minutes of deliberating to come to that conclusion. Cam Smith then got his second hanging breaking ball of the night and demolished it into the stands to bring the score to 5-4 and what would have been a tie game if Walker was allowed his challenge. Then, just to make sure we were really sweating, the game ended on a soft grounder that Kody Clemens had to throw with his glove to get the final out.

Somehow, the Twins squeezed out a victory and and have a great chance to take the series tomorrow with Joe Ryan back on the mound.

STUDS

• Royce Lewis, Victor Caratini, Josh Bell: a dong apiece
• Zebby Mathews: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 HR

DUDS

• Me: “watching baseball” to “wind down” and “relax”
• JK NO DUDS TWINS WIN!

Box Score

For much of the night, the Brewers consistently put runners on base but couldn’t cash them in. Despite going 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position and leaving eight runners on base, timely home runs from Brice Turang and Joey Ortiz, a solid start from Robert Gasser, and quality relief work from Chad Patrick and Aaron Ashby helped Milwaukee sneak away with a late victory.

Gasser opened tonight’s game by striking out Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart, but Spencer Steer kept the inning alive with a single to right. Gasser then walked cleanup hitter JJ Bleday, putting two runners on with two outs.

The next batter, Dane Myers, lined a double down the left field line, scoring Steer and moving Bleday to third. Thankfully, Gasser limited the damage from there, freezing Noelvi Marte with a called third strike on the bottom edge of the zone to end the inning.

Neither team was able to score until the fifth inning, when Cincinnati added to its lead after De La Cruz turned on a 90 mph fastball up and in, sending it over the fence in left-center for his thirteenth home run of the season.

While the Brewers managed just one hit — a Sal Frelick double — through the first five innings, Nick Lodolo wasn’t quite as sharp as he had been in his outing last week. Despite recording just the lone hit, the Crew were able to consistently put pressure on Lodolo — putting at least one runner on base in every inning except the fifth.

Lodolo walked four batters and hit William Contreras over five innings, but the Brewers couldn’t capitalize, going just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position through the first seven innings. Their lone hit with RISP through seven innings finally came in the sixth against reliever Chase Petty. After Andrew Vaughn doubled and Christian Yelich walked, Jake Bauers lined an RBI single into right to score Vaughn with Milwaukee’s first run of the night.

Frelick then worked a walk on a pitch that would have hit him had he not jumped out of the way. The ball skipped past catcher Tyler Stephenson for a wild pitch, allowing Yelich to score from third and trim Cincinnati’s lead to 3-2. David Hamilton, pinch-hitting for Cooper Pratt, and Joey Ortiz were both retired to end the inning, but the Brewers had suddenly pulled within a run.

In the seventh inning, Patrick — who came in to relieve Gasser with two outs in the sixth — worked around a couple of baserunners to keep the Reds scoreless. With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Brice Turang came up and hit a monster home run to center field to bring the score to three runs apiece.

With the game tied, Aaron “The Vulture 2.0” Ashby came in and pitched a scoreless eighth, working around an infield single by Marte and a throwing error by Ortiz that advanced him to second.

Bauers flew out to start the bottom of the eighth against Sam Moll, who came in to get the last out of the seventh. Frelick singled into left field to give the Brewers a baserunner, and Hamilton bunted him over to second to put yet another runner in scoring position for who else but Joey Ortiz.

Reds manager Terry Francona played the matchup, pulling the left-handed Moll in favor of right-hander Tejay Antone. Ortiz, who had struck out with runners on the corners to end the sixth inning, watched a strike and a ball before Antone threw a sweeper down in the zone. Ortiz didn’t miss it, launching the pitch 412 feet over the center-field wall for a go-ahead two-run homer, his second of the season. Chills.

Trevor Megill slammed the door in the ninth, retiring the Reds in order and punctuating his save with a swinging strikeout of Elly De La Cruz. Ashby picked up his 11th win of the season as the Brewers moved back to 20 games over .500.

While the Brewers’ struggles with runners in scoring position made for a frustrating afternoon, the offense came through when it mattered most. It wasn’t a perfect performance, but this Brewers team has shown time and again that it doesn’t go away quietly. Even when things look kind of bleak, Milwaukee finds a way to keep itself in games. More often than not, they find a way to win them.

After winning the first game of this week’s four-game series against the Reds, the Brewers will get a chance to make it two straight tomorrow at 6:40 p.m. Brandon Sproat will get the ball opposite Rhett Lowder (3-5, 4.81 ERA).

In six career appearances against Cleveland, Chris Paddack has a 3.14 ERA. In 114 appearances against every other team in MLB, Chris Paddack has a 4.95 ERA. He led the Rangers to a 6-3 win over the Guardians tonight.

After the game, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said Paddack’s changeup and cutter give their lefties trouble. Join the club, Chris. Every pitcher gives this team trouble.

Oh yeah, the game. Parker Messick competed his butt off tonight but there was zero room for error as always. Texas decided to start slapping balls to the opposite field after making an in-game adjustment. Has anyone on the Guardians ever tried to do either of those things, or to coach anyone to be able to do either of those things?

Maybe, maybe not, but we do know they have been coaching Guardians hitters not to forget the power of a good sacrifice bunt. With two on and nobody out against Chris Paddack in the fourth inning, David Fry popped out on a bunt attempt. Hitting behind Fry was Steven Kwan with his OPS nearing .600 and Austin Hedges, mind you. I heard Stephen Vogt reply to Zack Meisel asking about these insane bunts saying that it was intended to be a sac bunt, but I will have to re-listen to the postgame to see if Vogt says it was the dugout’s call to see if I need to set myself on fire outside his office in protest.

Kwan ALSO popped out a bunt attempt in the eighth. I heard Vogt looked mad about that to which I would only say “Stevie, baby, you need to be mad at yourself. You simply need to tell your guys not to bunt unless you put the bunt sign on… then never put the bunt sign on.” STOP GIVING THE OTHER TEAM OUTS! ARE WE NOT DOING THAT ENOUGH ALREADY??!! PLEASE, SPARE MY LAST REMAINING SHREDS OF MENTAL HEALTH AND STOP BUNTING.

Oh, also, our Sabrowski is broken. He doesn’t look right. Sigh.

Ok, Kahlil Watson had a big hit, again, as did Chase DeLauter. And Gabriel Arias crushed a homer just as I was ready to assume our hitters wouls never homer again. Thank you, Gabby!

Back at it tomorrow. I’m sure Jacob deGrom will be so much easier to hit.

Marlins 10, Rockies 7

Leverage index & box score

Graphics via FanGraphs.

Grinnin’ Griffin: Griffin Conine, +0.30 WPA

Not Senzational: Antonio Senzatela, -0.28 WPA

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As if things couldn’t get any worse for the Mets, who committed six errors in a game and fired their manager across two different days last week they seem to find new ways to embarrass themselves. 

Facing his first batter of the game, Mets starter Sean Manaea gave up what should have been a routine single to George Springer, only to watch Juan Soto misplay the ball and then A.J. Ewing fumble it — allowing him to score on a Little League home run on Monday.

Springer’s bloop single bounced into left field, and Soto stretched out his glove to grab the ball, only to misjudge it and allow the ball to go past the Mets outfielder and toward the wall. 

Ewing then raced in to try and make a play after it bounced off the wall, but the scoop went horribly wrong and when he went to transition the ball from his glove to his hand, the ball came flying out.

Soto sprinted toward the loose ball, but before he could get a throw off, it became apparent that Springer was nearly home as the crowd at Rogers Center erupted over what they had just witnessed. 

The scorer ruled the play a triple and an error on Ewing, which prevented Springer from being awarded a home run. 

If it had been ruled a leadoff home run, it would have given Springer his 66th and put him just 15 off tying Ricky Henderson’s 81. 

The moment did little to make already-ailing Mets fans feel any better, many of whom took to social media to voice their frustration. 

“Every day I wake up I hate myself for being a Mets fan,” one person wrote.

“Was that the Soto shuffle everyone talks about?” another person mockingly asked. 

“Brought to you by Juan Soto and the New York Mess,” a third fan added. 

The Mets ended up losing 2-1 to the Blue Jays and dropping their ninth game over their last 10.

Juan Soto had a busy first inning in the Mets’ series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night.

After ripping a double in his first at-bat in the top of the first and getting stranded at third base, Soto was immediately put to the test in the bottom half of the inning when George Springer lined one to left field.

Playing aggressive on the artificial turf that can sometimes be tricky at Rogers Centre, Soto charged in on the ball thinking he had a chance to catch it. After realizing the ball was going to drop, Soto pulled back and was ready to play it on a hop, except the ball bounced over his glove and trickled towards the left-field wall.

“I was actually trying to think right before that [play] to come through the ball because weird hops and everything,” Soto said. “Just took a weird hop on me and bounced a little differently.”

To make matters worse, A.J. Ewing, who was backing up on the play, got to the ball in a hurry but had it pop out of his glove on the exchange which allowed Springer to run around the bases and score the game’s first run.

And while only Ewing was charged with an error, the play began with Soto who spoke about what went wrong on the play and his thought process after the game.

“When you have an outfield like that [where the ball] bounces a lot, you have to be aware because you can give up extra-base hits really easily,” he said. “You just gotta be aggressive, that was my mindset. Just be aggressive, come through the ball instead of trying to play back and maybe bounce over my head, but I actually just stopped.”

Despite the misplay, interim manager Andy Green came to the defense of Soto who made some nice plays in the outfield after the first inning blunder.

Just like Soto said, Green saw his outfielder trying to be ultra aggressive on the play and mentioned it’s actually a common occurrence at this stadium.

“I think he’s playing it aggressively on the outset hoping to get to it because he made a lot of really good catches out there today,” Green said. “... I think he’s playing it aggressively hoping to get to it and sometimes on turf if you get caught in between -- I think every single time I’ve come to Toronto I’ve seen that particular play, not necessarily the finish of that play, A.J. usually makes that transfer fine, but that play happens frequently here and it got us in the first.”

The comedy of errors made it a 1-0 game in the first inning and Sean Manaea did a good job of keeping it there until he allowed a second run in the fifth. Unfortunately for the left-hander, other than a Francisco Lindor solo shot in the seventh, the Mets’ offense couldn’t get much going all night and lost 2-1, making the run scored in the first inning the difference in the game.

“I thought I had a chance and then it just kept dying,” Soto said. “Definitely thought [I had] a good first step, but the ball just kept dying.”