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The Mets defeated the Pirates 6-4 in this series opener at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Zac Thornton delivered five scoreless innings, helped out by strong defense behind him and the Mets tagged Carmen Mlodzinski for four runs in the third, punctuated by a Macrus Semien three-run homer. Devin Williams was shaky, but held on to polish off the victory.

The Mets got on the board right away off Carmen Mlodzinski in the first. A.J. Ewing, who had a good game on both sides of the ball, led things off with a double. Francisco Lindor then truck out, but Bo Bichette singled to advance Ewing to third and then Carson Benge plated him with a single for the game’s first run. Bichette tagged up to third base on a fly out by Jared Young and the Mets threatened for a big inning when Benge stole second to put two runners in scoring position, but Macrus Semien grounded out to short to get Mlodzinski through the inning with just one run.

Zach Thornton started his evening with a 1-2-3 inning complete with a strikeout and Mlodzinski bounced back to log a 1-2-3 inning of his own in the top of the second. Thornton had a quick second inning as well, thanks to his defense, which played well behind him all evening. Thornton walked Esmerlyn Valdez to lead off the inning but then Jared Young made a nice snag on a soft liner by Spencer Horwitz to double Valdez off. At this point, it began to rain rather heavily and A.J. Ewing needed to make a diving play through the rain drops on a Nick Gonzales shallow fly ball to end the inning. We made it to a 2-1 count on Ewing to lead off the top of the third before the tarp went on the field.

After a rain delay of just under an hour, the Mets came out guns blazing. Ewing singled to get things started and then Francisco Lindor worked a walk. The Pirates then got a break when the runners took off and would have executed a double steal, but Bo Bichette flew out to left field and A.J. Ewing failed to re-touch third base after he went past the bag on the steal attempt and went to return to second on the fly ball, and thus was called out on the play. But the Mets weren’t done hitting yet. Lindor stole second base (for real this time) and Carson Benge singled to put the Mets up 2-0. Jared Young followed with a single to advance Benge to third. Marcus Semien then dealt the decisive blow: a three-run homer to cap off a four-run inning and put the Mets up 5-0.

Whether you want to call it pulchritudinous, psychotic, hellacious, or some other adjective, Carson Benge made an unbelievable diving catch up against the left field wall to rob Ronny Simon of an extra base hit in the bottom of the third. Unfortunately he jammed his wrist against the wall in the process and made an early exit from the game as a result, replaced in left field by Cristian Pache. Evan Sisk replaced Carmen Mlodzinski on the mound for the Pirates in the fourth and the Mets tacked on a run against him to extend their lead to six runs. With two outs, Ewing was hit by a pitch and promptly stole second base. Lindor then laced a single to center to drive him in.

Thornton managed to navigate around traffic on the base paths in both the fourth and fifth innings again in part thanks to his defense. He gave up a one-out single to Bryan Reyonds in the fourth and then walked Valdez, but induced a double play grounder off the bat of Spencer Horwitz to end the inning. In the fifth, Nick Gonzales led off the inning with a seeing-eye single between short and third. Ronny Simon popped out and Jared Triolo grounded into a force out at second, but Rafael Flores Jr. singled with two outs to advance Triolo to second and he scrambled to third on a wild pitch by Thornton. Jake Mangum then hit a sharp fly ball to right center that A.J. Ewing did an excellent job to track down and make the running catch to cap off Thornton’s outing of five scoreless frames.

In the sixth with two outs, Luis Torrens drew a walk and stole second base for the Mets’ fourth stolen base of the game, but nothing game of it. Dedniel Núñez came in the game in relief of Thornton and worked around a one-out ground rule double by Bryan Reynolds to pitch a scoreless inning. Meanwhile, Yohan Ramírez kept the Mets off the board over 3 1/3 scoreless innings and the Pirates were able to scratch back two runs off the Mets’ bullpen. Núñez came back out for a second inning of work in the seventh and that proved to be a bad idea, as he gave up a double to Nick Gonzales and a single to Ronny Simon to lead things off. He then made way for Jefry Yan, who allowed a single to Jared Triolo to plate the Pirates’ first run. He then walked Rafael Flores Jr. to load the bases and a sacrifice fly by Jake Mangum scored another run to cut the Mets’ lead to 6-2. Yan got Brandon Lowe to pop out for the second out and escaped the jam in thrilling fashion. He bounced a pitch that skipped away from Luis Torrens, but scampered to cover the plate and Torrens flipped it to him and Yan tagged Jared Triolo out at the plate to end the inning, emphatically slamming his hand down on the dirt in celebration, in keeping with his personality.

Daniel Duarte worked a scoreless eighth inning, navigating around a two-out single by Spencer Horwitz. The Mets then faced off against old friend Luke Weaver in the ninth, now donning Pirates black and gold. Ewing and Lindor managed to reach base against him via a single and a walk, respectively, but Weaver kept the Mets off the board. Devin Williams then entered the game in the bottom of the ninth in a non-save situation and had a rocky outing, but managed to hang on to seal the victory, assisted by another pair of fantastic defensive plays by the Mets. Ronny Simon got things started for the Pirates with a single and advanced to second on defensive indifference. Endy Rodríguez, pinch hitting for Jared Triolo, flew out to left for the first out. Jacob Gonzalez, pinch hitting for Rafael Flores Jr., launched a ball to deep right field that hit right off the top of the tall fence in right at PNC Park and caromed perfectly to Brett Baty, who threw a perfect strike to second base to nab Gonzalez trying to leg out what he likely thought was a sure extra-base hit off the bat. It was the first outfield assist of Brett Baty’s career and it was a beauty to get Williams within an out of maneuvering through the inning, though Simon did score on the play. Williams then walked Jake Mangum, who also advanced to second on defensive indifference, and Brandon Lowe singled to cut the Mets’ lead to two runs. Bryan Reynolds then came to the plate as the tying run and hit a grounder that seemed to be making its way through the hole between first and second, but Marcus Semien made a great sliding grab to his left to throw out Reyonlds and stymie the Pirates’ comeback to end the game.

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Zac Thornton, +18% WPA
Big Mets loser: Bo Bichette, -7% WPA
Mets pitchers: +23% WPA
Mets hitters: +27% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Marcus Semien’s three-run homer in the third, +18.2% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Jefry Yan walks the bases loaded in the seventh, -6.4% WPA

The Texas Rangers scored two runs while the Baltimore Orioles scored one run.

Back on the streaming service du jour, and sporting their finest cochineal red on a Friday night, the Rangers were seeking a return to .500 with Nathan Eovaldi on the mound against Shane Baz for Baltimore.

Lo and behold, we were treated to a good ol’ fashion pitchers’ duel with Eovaldi sequenced for a run allowed in the top second and Baz holding Texas to just one hit through the first five innings.

The Orioles’ run came with two outs when LSB-disliked former Ranger Leody Taveras smacked a double which was followed by an RBI single from Coby Mayo. From there Eovaldi was trying to match zeroes with Baz as the Baltimore righty was carving up the Rangers.

Texas got a leadoff single from Brandon Nimmo in the bottom of the second but from there Baz retired the next twelve batters. Eovaldi, meanwhile, wiggled out of a jam in the top of the fifth when the Orioles loaded the bases with two outs only for Eovaldi to freeze Pete Alonso with a splitter in the zone.

It wasn’t until an inning later that the Rangers would finally break through against Baz when Elias Diaz singled to lead off the bottom of the sixth. With runs at a premium, No. 9 hitter Nicky Lopez bunted Diaz over giving Joc Pederson an opportunity with a runner in scoring position.

Rather than tying the game with a mere base hit, Pederson had other ideas.

Joc Pederson swats a go-ahead homer! pic.twitter.com/tqzyOyEUbF

— MLB (@MLB) August 8, 2026

A two-run dong that danced around the foul pole put Texas up 2-1. It was dinger No. 21 on the year for the Rangers’ Rubenesque leadoff man.

Eovaldi exited after a walk in the top of the sixth with Tyler Alexander coming in to clean up that inning. Robby Ahlstrom pitched a scoreless seventh inning and with Texas enjoying a day off yesterday, Skip Schumaker elected to have closer Jacob Latz do one of his patented two inning saves.

Latz worked around a walk in the eighth and survived replay agreeing that Taveras was thrown out at home plate on the first hit of Christian Franklin’s big league career to help the Rangers secure the series opener as they climbed back to .500.

Player of the Game: The Rangers collected just three hits on the night but thanks to Pederson’s home run, Baz was saddled with an eight inning complete game loss.

Up Next: The Rangers and Orioles will continue this series with RHP Jacob deGrom next up for Texas opposite RHP Kyle Bradish for Baltimore.

The Saturday evening first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 6:15 pm CDT and will be televised nationally on FOX.

After one inning, this one was looking pretty good for the Royals, but things went downhill quickly in the second as the Royals fell to the Cubs 6-4.

Daniel Lynch IV got his first true start since 2024 tonight against the Cubs. As predicted, the pregame show and broadcast booth both made copious references to Danny Duffy and Kris Bubic. The first inning went pretty well; Lynch struck out Pete Crow-Armstrong to start the game and then got Seiya Suzuki down 0-2. He finished the inning with just the one strikeout and also allowed a walk but no runs.

Lynch got a quick two outs in the second with a flyout and another strikeout. But then he allowed a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases. Up came PCA again. This time Lynch got a soft roller to the right side. Jac Caglianone went for it even though it was way too far for him to get it, and that left him out of position for the throw from Massey. Lynch tried to cover first, but for the second time in a week, Michael Massey couldn’t get an accurate throw to the pitcher covering after Jac went too far to the right. Two runs scored.

Now, Jac needs to stay home on those balls, but all Royals first basemen range too far to the right. Massey needs to make a better throw, too. But even if everything had gone right, it was probably an infield single for PCA. This is the problem with a pitcher who doesn’t get strikeouts. And it’s a big part of why Lynch hasn’t pitched more than an innings this year. We’ll see if he does better the next time out – the Royals indicated they plan to stretch him out and leave him in the rotation for the rest of the year. If he continues pitching like tonight, we’ll have to see if they stick with that plan, but they don’t really have a better option unless Lucas Braun is closer to ready than they’ve indicated.

Anyway, Lynch was pulled for Jose Cuas. PCA stole second easily, and then Suzuki smacked a single through the right side to put two more runs on Lynch’s scorecard. His ERA went from 1.96 to 2.64. Cuas pitched another inning without giving up any more runs. Mason Black got something approaching a bulk role, going 5 innings and allowing 2 runs on 2 hits, 3 walks, and 2 strikeouts. Lucas Erceg got a scoreless ninth inning despite allowing a single and an HBP thanks to a double play and a foul popout.

As to the offense, the Royals started quickly there, too. Carter Jensen took a leadoff walk, advanced to third when Salvador Perez smoked a two-out single off of Gausman’s shin, and scored when Isaac Collins smacked a double into left-center. The next Royals hit wouldn’t come until Caglianone hit a grounder down the third-base line in the third. Their final hit off of Gausman was Jensen’s two-out solo shot in the fifth.

The Royals made it interesting in the eighth inning. Tyler Tolbert led off and hit it hard to left-center for a double. With one out, Bobby Witt Jr. smoked an RBI single to right field. Jac Caglianone hit a hustle double into the right-center gap to put runners at second and third with one out. Salvador Perez grounded home Bobby for the game’s final run.

Despite the close score, it never felt particularly close after the second inning until the bottom of the eighth and once the Royals failed to tie it, I think most of us assumed that was it. KC will get a chance to even the series tomorrow evening. Seth Lugo (4.41 ERA, 4.66 SIERA) will face off against the Cubs’ other newly acquired starter making his debut, Clay Holmes (2.39 ERA, 3.97 SIERA). The game will start at 6:15 PM Central. See you then.

Box Score

Through five-and-a-half innings, the Brewers and Twins played a wild, back-and-forth game, a game marred by bad defense and the toughest outing of the season for Brewers rookie starter Shane Drohan. But when the Twins’ beleagured but retooled bullpen took over, the Brewer bats couldn’t come up with a needed clutch hit, and Minnesota walked away with an 8-6 victory in the first game of this three-game series.

Drohan took a minute to settle in and walked the leadoff hitter, Austin Martin, on five pitches. Drohan got into the evening with strikeouts of Ryan Jeffers and Royce Lewis, though Martin stole second during Jeffers’ at-bat. With two out, Josh Bell hit a soft line drive up the middle that looked destined for center field, but Brice Turang was able to cut it off and almost threw the lead-footed Bell out at first. Turang didn’t get the out but he saved a run, and one batter later, Kody Clemens flew out to left to end a scoreless top of the first.

Minnesota starter Zebby Matthews, just recalled from Triple-A St. Paul today, started his evening with a strikeout of Turang. But he wasn’t so fortunate against the suddenly red-hot Jackson Chourio, who hit a 108 mph shot off the batter’s eye in center field to get the evening’s scoring started. Jake Bauers and William Contreras were retired to end the inning, but the Brewers had an early 1-0 lead.

👋 WAVE GOODBYE TO THAT ONE https://t.co/iDoKXnLafCpic.twitter.com/gt69IpzHtA

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) August 7, 2026

Drohan issued his second free pass to start the second inning, this one to Luke Keaschall. But the Minnesota debutante Kaelen Culpepper popped out to first, old friend Victor Caratini struck out, and Ryan Kreidler grounded out to short.

After a Garrett Mitchell groundout to start the second, Christian Yelich scalded a line drive into the gap, which Clemens was able to cut off to hold Yelich to a single. After a Luis Lara walk pushed Yelich up to second, Matthews should’ve gotten out of the inning after a Cooper Pratt flyout to right and a weak ground ball to second from David Hamilton, but Lewis whiffed on the ground ball—a really bad error—and Yelich was able to score as the ball rolled into right field. The damage wasn’t done, though; Turang followed Hamilton with a screamer of a double into the right-field corner that scored two more. Chourio grounded out to end the inning, but Milwaukee had a 4-0 lead after two.

Yeli adds to the lead

→ https://t.co/68EQQYUZ6Zpic.twitter.com/3YCnPoFMcA

— Brewers.TV (@BrewersdotTV) August 8, 2026

Bring em all home Brice pic.twitter.com/dh29JifE9b

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) August 8, 2026

Drohan walked his third batter with one out in the third, the first time he’d walked three since June 24. Lewis almost hit a ball out in the left corner, but it hung up enough for Chourio to make the catch on the warning track. Josh Bell, though, didn’t get under one like Lewis did—he got a 1-1 sinker right down the middle and crushed it to the back of the Brewer bullpen for a two-run homer. Clemens grounded out to end the inning but the Twins had halved the lead.

After a very quick bottom of the third, the Twins built on their second-inning momentum. With one out, Kaelen Culpepper—the twins #2 prospect, playing in his major-league debut—got up to an 0-2 fastball that didn’t quite get high enough and hit it out for his first big-league hit, a solo homer. Caratini then walked, Kreidler bunted for a hit, and Martin lined a ball hard into left. Caratin scored easily, but a well-executed relay from Chourio to Pratt to Contreras cut down Kreidler at the plate, keeping the score tied. Jeffers popped out to end the inning, but the Brewers’ early lead had disappeared.

Coop's throw 😮‍💨

→ https://t.co/68EQQYUZ6Zpic.twitter.com/RmTRF73fnU

— Brewers.TV (@BrewersdotTV) August 8, 2026

The Brewers got a one-out single from Lara in the bottom of the fourth, but Pratt hit into a 3-4-1 double play that ended the inning. Drohan, still pitching after his tough fourth inning, gave up back-to-back singles to Lewis and Bell to start the fifth, and when Clemens dropped a bunt down—presumably intended to be a sacrifice—Drohan slipped and couldn’t field it, which loaded the bases with nobody out.

Keaschall swung at the first pitch he saw and managed a jam-shot single into left that scored one and gave the Twins a 5-4 lead. Culpepper was next, and he grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, which scored another run but gave the Brewers a path out of the inning; Caratini nearly added another run when he hit a solid line drive to center, but Mitchell caught it on the run. The inning was finally over, but the Twins had turned a 4-0 deficit into a 6-4 lead after scoring two runs in each of the third, fourth, and fifth innings.

Looking for a quick response, Hamilton gave the Brewers a leadoff baserunner in the bottom of the inning when he hit a soft grounder to short—Culpepper misplayed it, but likely wouldn’t have had a play anyway, and Hamilton was given an infield hit. Turang, who was next, lined a single through the middle on a 1-2 pitch which advanced Hamilton to third and gave the Brewers runners on the corners with no outs for Chourio, their hottest hitter.

Matthews was either rattled or afraid of Chourio or both, and he walked him on four pitches, and just like the Twins in the top of the inning, the Brewers had the bases juiced with no outs. Bauers nearly blew the roof of the place when he hit a ball hard to deep left, but Martin caught it going back on the warning track. Hamilton tagged and scored, but it was a little bit of a letdown that it wasn’t more.

Milwaukee still had a good opportunity with runners on first and second and one out. Contreras hit a fly ball to center that was caught by Keaschall but which advanced both runners, and Mitchell had a chance with two out and two runners in scoring position. What followed was a great example of how speed can be a game-changing tool: Mitchell hit a ground ball to short, and Culpepper fielded it just awkwardly enough that he needed an extra step on his throw; Mitchell, blazing down the line, beat the throw to first and the Brewers tied the game. A Yelich strikeout ended the inning, but this wild one was 6-6 after five.

Mitchell is HUSTLING

→ https://t.co/68EQQYUZ6Zpic.twitter.com/oECxEZWhxK

— Brewers.TV (@BrewersdotTV) August 8, 2026

Antonio Senzatela was out of the Brewer bullpen, but he wasn’t able to settle the game down. After picking up two quick outs, Jeffers and Lewis hit back-to-back doubles to put the Twins back in the lead, 7-6. Bell, already with three hits in the game, came up and on a 2-2 pitch lined a single into left that scored Lewis from second. It was just the sixth inning, and Bell had four hits and three RBI. Clemens hit a hard ground ball to Turang that ended the inning, but the Twins had scored two runs for the fourth straight inning.

Matthews came out for the sixth, but before the inning started, Derek Shelton and the Twins’ trainer fetched him and he came out of the game. One of Minnesota’s “deadline” pickups (he was actually traded on July 10th), righty Tommy Nance, replaced him. He started against the two Brewer rookies. Lara, in a beautiful at-bat, battled back from 0-2 to a full count and fouled off pitches until, on the 10th pitch, he singled up the middle. Pratt got up 3-1 and took a high cutter that was called a strike but should’ve been ball four, which was followed by a grounder to third—with Lara running on the play, Kreidler’s only play was at first.

Hamilton, on a 2-2 pitch that was pretty clearly a strike, burned the Brewers’ second challenge right after Jeffers’ burned the Twins’ second. In any case, Hamilton was out, and the Twins turned to another new acquisition, AJ Minter, to face Turang—and Minter struck him out on three pitches.

Bryse Wilson finally gave the Brewers a perfect inning in the top of the seventh, their first of the game. Another new Twins pickup, Jeff Hoffman, entered in the bottom of the seventh. Bauers drew a one-out walk, but was erased on a Contreras fielder’s choice. With Contreras at first and two out, Mitchell drew a walk—a walk that would surely have been a strikeout, had Jeffers had a challenge to use. On the first pitch to Yelich, Hoffman yanked a slider that hit Yelich in the foot to load the bases with two outs for Lara. Anticlimactically, Lara struck out on three pitches, and the Twins maintained their 8-6 lead into the eighth.

Kreidler started the Twins’ eighth with a single up the middle, but Martin made the first out on an attempted bunt that he popped up to Hamilton. A strikeout of Jeffers and a pop out by Lewis ended Wilson’s second scoreless inning.

Hamilton hit a one-out hustle double in the bottom of the eighth to give the top of the Brewers’ order a scoring opportunity against the new Minnesota hurler, Andrew Morris. Turang, up next, drew a seven-pitch walk to put two on for Chourio, but on the first pitch of the inning Chourio hit into about as easy of a 4-3 double play as you will ever see.

Wilson, back out for the ninth, did something no other Brewer could do tonight: he got Josh Bell out. A Clemens groundout and a Keaschall fly out capped a fantastic outing for Wilson, who came into a game teetering out of control and retired nine of ten batters he faced, allowing only a single.

Of course, it didn’t mean anything if the Brewers couldn’t muster a couple of runs. After letting golden opportunities go by in the seventh and eighth, they had no such opportunity in the ninth: Twins closer Yoendrys Gómez shut the door with a 1-2-3 inning.

This was a wild game in the early innings, but the bullpens settled things down late, and truthfully, the Brewers were lucky to be in the game at all given how much they’d been gifted by the Twins defense. There were a couple of bright spots offensively for Milwaukee—Turang, Lara, and Hamilton had two hits apiece, with Turang and Hamilton doubling and Chourio supplying the Brewers’ only home run. Drohan suffered through his worst start of the season and Senzatela faltered in his third outing as a Brewer, but Wilson gave the Brewers three good innings.

The Twins send their best healthy starter, Taj Bradley, to the mound tomorrow to face off with the Brewers’ Robert Gasser for a 6:10 p.m. game.

Some games answer questions. Tonight answered several.

Payton Tolle went six innings against the A’s, struck out 14 batters, walked nobody, gave up two hits and one earned run on 84 pitches. The A’s were swinging at air from the first inning on. Henry Bolte struck out three times. Brian Serven struck out three times. Jonah Heim struck out twice. Tommy White struck out twice. Tyler Soderstrom hit a solo homer in the fifth—the lone blemish—and the A’s otherwise had absolutely nothing for Tolle all night. Fourteen strikeouts with zero walks in six innings on 84 pitches. At Fenway, in August, from a 22-year-old the front office and coaching staff has had to trust in such incredible situations—it’s a statement performance.

Raymond Burgos followed with three perfect innings to close it out. Thirty-four pitches, no hits, nothing. Between the two of them, the Red Sox bullpen didn’t throw a meaningful pitch. Chapman, Whitlock, Weissert (from Worcester)—all of them sat and watched. They threw every arm available the night before (genuinely, Tracey said if last night’s bout went any longer, they might have needed to use a position player on the mound), and tonight, Tolle and Burgos handed them an extremely needed full night off.

Meanwhile, the offense showed up early, put up crooked numbers, and didn’t stop. Five in the second inning. Four more in the fourth. 9-0 through four frames against a depleted Athletics roster that was already missing Shea Langeliers—who tore his meniscus before the trade deadline and is done for the season—and Nick Kurtz, who reaggravated a right thumb capsule strain and is also on the IL. The A’s came to Fenway short-handed and left embarrassed. It felt like how the Sox were playing in May, which honestly makes me feel bad, but not too much to enjoy this Friday night victory.

On Langeliers, I can’t have any regrets in getting Adley Rutschman—who looks like he could start a rehab stint as early as this weekend—or frankly Jake Rogers who showed up very well in his first Red Sox start. That’s gotta feel good for your first time with a new club to lead a game masterfully behind the dish and put up hits in the box.

Back to tonight. Every starter in the Red Sox lineup collected at least one hit. Wilyer Abreu drove in three runs in two at-bats before being removed—hopefully precautionary from his foul ball off his leg. Duran hit a homer. Yoshida drove in two. Monasterio kept his recent extra-base-hit tear going. Durbin drove in two. This lineup top to bottom put in a full shift.

13-1. Tolle with 14 punchouts. Bullpen rested. This team is cooking.

Studs

Payton Tolle (6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 14 K)

Fourteen strikeouts. Zero walks. Eighty-four pitches. That’s a signature Tolle start. His fastball was touching 98, his curveball was an incredible putaway pitch, he had a career high in strikeouts and swings and misses. That’s a start you remember as a youngster.

Raymond Burgos (3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K)

Three perfect innings on 34 pitches. After Tolle’s six, Burgos walked out and put up zeros until the final out. The Sox emptied the bullpen the night before—tonight, not a single one of those guys had to warm up. In a pennant race, that’s worth a lot.

Wilyer Abreu (2-for-2, 3 RBI, BB, 1 R)

Three RBI in two at-bats before coming out early. Whatever happened, he left a mark before he left the game.

The Whole Lineup

Every starter got a hit. That doesn’t happen every night and it’s worth saying out loud. Top to bottom, this offense showed up.

Duds

The Athletics

How many pitchers did they need to use? A position player pitching? Short-handed without Langeliers and Kurtz. There’s not much to dissect—they just got run out of Fenway.

Play of the Game

Take your pick from the fourteen strikeouts. The front office spent a week deciding whether to deal Tolle, and he went out and answered the question himself, one swing-and-miss at a time. Call it the fourteenth K if you want a specific moment. The whole performance was the play.

The Mets opened up their series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night with a 6-4 win to make it four straight victories.

Here are the key takeaways...

-- Following a difficult outing against the Miami Marlins his last time out, Zac Thornton turned the page and had himself a wonderful start while dealing with the elements. The left-hander’s night began with two scoreless innings where he faced the minimum with help from his defense, particularly in the second inning. 

-- The first nifty play came from first baseman Jared Young, who was in the perfect spot to snag a line drive before stepping on the bag to begin an unassisted double play. A.J Ewing followed that up with a diving catch on a shallow fly ball to center field through the raindrops, which ended the inning.

-- But speaking of rain, it didn’t stop during the next half-inning, which caused the umpiring crew to pause the game and bring out the tarp and resulted in a 35-minute rain delay. 

-- After the game resumed, the Mets tagged starter Carmen Mlodzinski for four runs in the third inning. Ewing began the inning with a single followed by a Francisco Lindor walk. With two outs following a baserunning blunder by Ewing on a flyout by Bo Bichette that resulted in two outs, Carson Benge knocked in a run with a single, his second run-scoring single of the game.

-- With runners at the corners after Young singled, Marcus Semien’s recent hot streak continued as he blasted a three-run shot to left field to put the Mets ahead, 5-0. The home run was Semien’s second in as many days and his 14th of the year, second on the team behind Juan Soto (21).

-- Thornton finally returned to the mound in the third inning after more than an hour since he last walked off the field to end the second inning and picked up right where he left off, but not without more help from his defense.

-- For the first out of the frame, Benge had to sprint across the field toward the left field foul line and made a sliding catch at the wall. The unbelievable play came at a cost, though, as Benge appeared to hurt his wrist. The outfielder finished the inning but left the game shortly after.

-- As for Thornton, the 24-year-old ran into his first trouble of the night in the fourth after a single and a walk, but escaped unharmed after a much more conventional 6-4-3 double play. In the fifth, the lefty had runners on the corners with two outs but retired his final batter to finish five scoreless innings on just 63 pitches (42 strikes). He lowered his ERA to 2.42.

-- Offensively, Semien had the big blow in the third inning, but New York banged out 10 hits with Ewing leading the charge from the top of the lineup and going 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and a stolen base. Fellow rookie Benge went 2-for-2 with two RBI, a run scored and a stolen base before exiting. Lindor also had a good night at the dish, knocking in a run with a single in the fourth, scoring a run and walking twice while adding his third stolen base of the year.

-- The Mets went 5-for-11 with RISP.

-- Out of the bullpen, Dedniel Nuñez struggled once again and allowed two earned runs on three hits. Meanwhile, Jefry Yan had a mixed bag outing in his second career appearance, but was able to end it on a high note by tagging the runner out at home after the ball got away from Luis Torrens. 

-- Daniel Duarte then pitched a scoreless eighth as he continues to impress before Devin Williams pitched the ninth, where he allowed two earned runs on three hits and a walk.

Game MVP: A.J. Ewing

Semien may have had the big hit, but Ewing had his hand everywhere in this one and was the catalyst for the Mets' offense.

Highlights

Carson Benge drives A.J. Ewing home to give the Mets an early lead! pic.twitter.com/j25ipIxRXN

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 7, 2026

A.J. Ewing makes the diving catch through the rain to end the second inning 🙌 pic.twitter.com/tCmEjOhu7d

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 7, 2026

Carson Benge singles and brings Francisco Lindor home after Lindor stole second base! pic.twitter.com/8eUO7hXzVV

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 8, 2026

Marcus Semien hits a 3-run homer to give Mets 5-0 lead 💥 pic.twitter.com/7Cq8EOn44F

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 8, 2026

Carson Benge makes the catch at the wall and gets the out! 😱 pic.twitter.com/gaS5jMgp2O

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 8, 2026

After being hit by a pitch earlier in the inning, A.J. Ewing scores off of a Francisco Lindor single! pic.twitter.com/1RwdJcJdz7

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 8, 2026

What's next

The Mets continue their weekend series with the Pirates on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 p.m. on SNY.

RHP Robert Stock (0-1, 1.80 ERA) will take on RHP Bubba Chandler (4-8, 4.49 ERA).

Detroit Tigers (56-59) vs. San Francisco Giants (48-67)

Time/Place: 10:15 p.m., Pracle Park
SB Nation Site:McCovey Chronicles
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Keider Montero (8-6, 3.17 ERA) vs. RHP JT Brubaker (0-0, 3.17 ERA)

Player	G	IP	K%	BB%	GB%	FIP	fWAR
Montero	24	116.1	17.4	5.4	41.4	3.70	2.2
Brubaker	34	54.0	16.5	10.1	39.6	4.00	0.2

West coast trip continues in SF

⚾️ 10:15 PM ET
📺 @WatchDSN
📻 @971theticketxyt
🏟️ Oracle Park pic.twitter.com/JXybYHR189

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) August 7, 2026

Back for the start of a nine-game homestand 🏠

⌚️: 7:15 p.m. PT
📍: @OracleParkSF
📺: @NBCSGiants | KNTV
📻: @KNBR | KSFN#SFGiants | @CocaColapic.twitter.com/ogSD8FGvRW

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) August 7, 2026

The Boston Red Sox keep rolling.

The hottest team in baseball defeated the Athletics 13-1 at Fenway Park on Friday, Aug. 7, and while the bats did plenty of damage again, on this night it was all about the Payton Tolle show.

The second-year lefthander mowed down the A's, striking out a career-high 14 batters in his six innings of work. He gave up just two hits and no walks, firing 61 of his 84 pitches for strikes.

He was perfect through four innings and struck out the side in the second and fourth. After an infield single to start the sixth, he struck out the last three batters he faced.

Tolle walked off the mound with a 9-1 lead, which the Red Sox then extended to 11-1 in the bottom of the sixth.

They finished with 15 hits as they put up double-digit runs for the third time in four games.

Boston has now won nine games in a row and is a scorching hot 18-3 since the All-Star break. But the Red Sox's hot streak started well before that. After falling to 32-46 on June 24, the Red Sox now sit at 64-51. Their 32-5 stretch has put them well inside wild card position and in striking distance of the AL-best Tampa Bay Rays.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Payton Tolle strikes out 14 A's as Red Sox run winning streak to 9

The San Francisco Giants head back home to Oracle Park tonight to begin a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers.

As of the time this is being written, the Giants have not yet announced a starting pitcher for tonight’s game. Good old element of surprise. Gotta love the consistency there. Anyway, you can head down to the comments to see more up to date information.

Whoever it ends up being will be facing off against Tigers right-hander Keider Montero, who enters tonight’s game with a 3.17 ERA, 3.71 FIP, with 81 strikeouts to 25 walks in 116.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Tigers’ 11-0 win over the Athletics on Sunday, in which he allowed just two hits and two walks with two strikeouts in six innings.

Game #116

Who: San Francisco Giants (48-67) vs. Detroit Tigers (56-59)

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California

When: 7:15 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

The Dodgers (69-46) look to snap their six-game losing streak in the desert when they open a three-game series against the D-backs (61-55) Friday night. 

Roki Sasaki (5-5, 4.64 ERA, 1.30) makes his 20th start of the season for the Dodgers. 

Merill Kelly (8-9, 5.04 ERA, 1.49 WHIP) toes the rubber for the D-backs.

Lineups

Tonight’s #Dodgers lineup at D-backs: pic.twitter.com/vrHBWcDb2W

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 7, 2026

Ready to battle.

Get https://t.co/epBmrbYHsx for $17.99 all weekend. pic.twitter.com/7THoqfTMkI

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 7, 2026

---

Friday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Diamondbacks
• Ballpark: Chase Field, Phoenix
• Start time: 6:40 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Go Rays!

Starting pitcher Blake Snell is expected to make his return to the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers next week.

The left-handed pitcher is expected to start for the Dodgers on Tuesday, Aug. 11, according to manager Dave Roberts.

The two-time Cy Young winner made his way back from an elbow injury and recently participated in a minor league rehab assignment for the organization's Triple-A affiliate. He pitched 3⅔ innings in the Aug. 4 game, striking out three in 73 pitches (41 strikes). But Snell also allowed five hits, two home runs and four walks during the outing.

Blake Snell 2026 season stats

Snell has pitched just three innings against the Atlanta Braves on May 9 and was credited with the loss in his only start this season. He struck out five runners but allowed six hits, five runs (four earned runs) and two walks this season.

Blake Snell career stats

The 33-year-old pitcher is in his 11th season in the majors. He began his big-league career with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2016 and played there for five seasons, winning the 2018 AL Cy Young Award.

He was traded to the San Diego Padres following the 2020 season, adding an NL Cy Young Award in 2023 in his final season with the team.

Snell then signed a one-year deal with the San Francisco Giants ahead of the 2024 season before the Los Angeles Dodgers signed him as a free agent on Nov. 30, 2024.

During his career, Snell has started 223 games and posted a win-loss record of 81-63 with a 3.17 ERA and 1,445 strikeouts. He holds the MLB career record with 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings pitched.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Blake Snell injury update: Dodgers pitching ace to return after long layoff

After yesterday’s shellacking at the hands of the deadline-selling Tigers during a series where they were outscored 4054 – 4, the Mariners limp into their 50th Anniversary Weekend to face the best team in the AL, the Tampa Bay Rays. We’re already brainstorming names for what we’ll nickname this potential debacle, in the grand tradition of Lollablueza, Deadgar Weekend, and the Big P.Unit Weekend. I favor Golden Poopilee, but I also have the taste level of a toddler, so I welcome your suggestions in the comments.

Lineups:

No lineup graphic from the Rays.

#Rays lineup vs. #Mariners, RH Gilbert: pic.twitter.com/rNnWpZH6lP

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) August 7, 2026

News:

The Mariners announced that Cole Wilcox, who was injured pitching in yesterday’s blowout, has been placed on the 15-day IL with an oblique strain. RHP Nick Davila has been recalled from Triple-A Tacoma.

#Mariners RHP Nick Davila was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma today.

A few days ago, I caught up with Davila to talk about his Major League debut earlier this season, handling the nerves that came with it, and the players he's learned the most from so far. pic.twitter.com/Vw94L06Rb6

— Kristilyn Hetherington (@khetherington21) August 7, 2026

Those of you hoping to see former Mariner Ben Williamson in this series will unfortunately be disappointed; the Rays placed him on the 10-day IL yesterday with a hamstring injury. INF Carson Williams has been recalled to take his place.

The Yankees have signed recently-released Mitch Garver to a minor-league deal as catching depth. We wish Mitch luck in pinstripes, and with the famously kind and patient Yankees fanbase.

Tonight’s game information:

Game time: 6:45 PT

TV: Apple TV, with Alex Faust and Ryan Spilborghs on the call and Tricia Whitaker serving as field reporter

Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports, with Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr.

Postgame, the Mariners will air their first-ever Alumni Home Run Derby on Mariners.TV (free to stream), called live on air by Aaron Goldsmith and Gary Hill Jr.

The derby participants will include Ichiro, Mike Cameron, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Ryon Healy, Stefen Romero, Austin Nola, and Bucky Jacobsen. Julio Rodríguez will DJ the event as “DJ Pleno” and MLB Network studio host Greg Amsinger will host the event. Ken Griffey Jr. will serve as the event’s Commissioner, and the two team captains are Jay Buhner and Nelson Cruz.