Yaxel Lendeborg is not shy about the fact that he’s a big Kyrie Irving fan, and while bringing up the 2016 NBA Finals might offend Warriors fans, it’s a point of pride for the 23-year-old.
“I’m a Kyrie guy, so I go wherever he goes,” Lendeborg told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Bonta Hill and Monte Poole. “I’m a Cavaliers fan at that time. We played [the Warriors] in the Finals like three years in a row. I’m like, ‘Man, I hate these guys, I’m so tired of them.’ “
“That Game 7 when Kyrie hit that shot, I was in New York at our cousin’s house,” Lendeborg recalled to Hill and Poole. “He hit that shot, I ran down the hallway like 10 times screaming, ‘Let’s Go! Go Cavs!’ all this other stuff. It’s so ironic that I’m here now.”
Lendeborg is now teammates with a pair of Warriors who went through that devastating defeat – Draymond Green and Steph Curry – but says he hopes there’s no hard feelings. Lendeborg admitted he used to “hate” Curry in his post-2026 NBA Draft press conference, to which the Warriors superstar replied, “I’m going to work hard to be your new favorite player,” on social media.
“I was a teenager, I was in high school, come on, man,” Lendeborg said. “[Steph] commented on my post on Instagram. I haven’t really said nothing else about it. I just told him we’re all good, tried to leave it at that.”
Now 10 years removed and all in on playing for Golden State, Lendeborg and the rest of the squad will try to bring another title to the Bay Area.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - FEBRUARY 25: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors greets LaMelo Ball #1 of the Charlotte Hornets after the game on February 25, 2025 at Chase Center in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Never say never. Back in March, WSOC-TV asked Steph Curry the question he’s been fielding for years, and instead of the usual diplomatic deflection, Steph grinned and said it outright: you always keep your options open. The question was: will he leave the Warriors to join his hometown Charlotte Hornets? Dell Curry’s number 30 went up into the rafters at Spectrum Center that same week, and Steph had already asked his dad, half-joking but clearly not entirely, whether an exception could be made if it ever came to that. Dell didn’t even blink. Quick yeah, he said. We’d take it down for that, no doubt.
That wasn’t a one-off answer, either. He’s repeated some version of that ever since, always with the same grin, like he knows exactly how much weight the words carry and enjoys carrying them anyway. Since 2022, the Warriors front office has dealt primarily with one question: does this move give Steph another real chance? They traded for Jimmy Butler mid-season because the timeline mattered more than the asset cost. They abandoned the two-timeline philosophy once it became clear that developing tomorrow’s core was costing today’s championship window.
The Hornets just acted like time is their greatest asset. Charlotte had a young, exciting core that played its way to the edge of the playoffs, the kind of team that makes a building loud again, and the front office looked at it and decided the ceiling wasn’t high enough.
Genuinely fascinated by every single piece of this LaMelo trade. Fascinated that Tim Connelly decided this was his move. Fascinated that the Hornets decided to sell high on LaMelo after a great second half of the season.
One of the most interesting trades I can remember.
The Hornets keeping LaMelo for all these years than trading him when they finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel is exactly why bad teams stay bad
Over the span of three days, the Hornets traded away both LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges, the two most talented players on a roster that had just spent a full season looking like the most fun, most dangerous version of itself in over a decade. LaMelo and Josh Green went to Minnesota for Naz Reid, an unprotected 2033 first-round pick, three first-round pick swaps, and three second-round picks. Bridges went to Phoenix days later in a separate deal. By the time the dust settled, Charlotte had also added Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale, restocking the roster with exactly the kind of high-IQ, hard-working, three-point-shooting professionals Charlotte has been hunting for.
Buried in that swap is the actual headline. Kon Knueppel just led all rookies in made threes, breaking the rookie record outright with 273 of them, and he did it while deferring to Ball and Brandon Miller most of the season. Charlotte didn’t wait around to see whether handing him the keys later would work out. They moved the timeline up on purpose, while his stock was rising and before Ball’s injury history or trade value had the chance to slide the other way.
Warriors fans know exactly what that feeling is like from the other side of it. Dub Nation spent years watching their own front office wrestle with the same question Charlotte just answered: what do you do with young, talented, occasionally electric pieces who don’t quite fit the timeline you’re trying to win on right now?
Golden State’s version of that question has played out in real time for half a decade, and it hasn’t always ended cleanly. There’s a particular kind of grief in watching a player who made the building louder, who gave you reasons to stay up late checking League Pass, get treated as a trade chip instead of a building block because the front office decided the fun wasn’t the same thing as the path to a banner. Charlotte fans are living that grief right now, watching LaMelo Ball, the most purely entertaining player that organization has had in a decade, get reduced to draft compensation.
Hornets choosing to blow it up after their promising season is smart. They had LaMelo Ball for 6 years. Miles Bridges for 8. During that span, both have been on and off the court. Trading them while their value is peaking does more good for the franchise than keeping them.
The Hornets’ front office looked at a fun, playoff-adjacent roster and decided the version built with picks and cap flexibility gave Charlotte a better chance to become a contender.
The two franchises are solving the exact same problem from opposite directions. Golden State is potentially sacrificing tomorrow for one last run with Steph while Charlotte just sacrificed today for a better tomorrow. That’s probably the right basketball decision, by the way. But if you’ve spent years imagining Steph one day finishing his career where it started for his family, Charlotte just made that ending dramatically harder to picture.
Steph has never closed the door. That’s what has made the fantasy endure for so long. Every few years he smiles, says you always keep your options open, and Hornets fans let themselves dream again.
Another slugfest is expected tonight at Sutter Health Park when the heavily favored Los Angeles Dodgers face the Athletics in Game 2 of their three-game series.
The Dodgers are overpriced tonight (-144), and my Dodgers vs. Athletics predictions and MLB picks are expecting a bounce-back victory for the highly undervalued A’s (+138) on Tuesday, June 30.
Who will win Dodgers vs A's today: Athletics moneyline (+134)
The market is flat-out wrong, pricing the Los Angeles Dodgers as road favorites tonight based on their uber-pristine surface stats.
Justin Wrobleski is the ultimate regression candidate; his 2.71 ERA is a mirage masked by a fraudulent 4.32 xERA and a bottom-tier 17.8% whiff rate.
Conversely, Jeffrey Springs is dynamically unlucky. His bloated 5.52 ERA hides a much sharper 4.41 xERA and a strong .244 xBA, while his 20.6 % strikeout rate provides a true missing-bat floor.
The elements align perfectly for a high-scoring dog fight tonight.
With 90-degree heat and the wind blowing out at Sutter Health Park, flyball tendencies will be heavily penalized.
Wrobleski lacks a solid bat-missing floor (17.8% Whiff%), while Springs possesses an extreme flyball profile (13th percentile groundball rate).
Combined with an Athletics bullpen surrendering a massive 2.55 HR/9 over the last two weeks, routine flyballs turn into cheap home runs in that bandbox.
These two clubs light up the scoreboard whenever they meet and are 9-1 to the Over in their past 10 meetings.
Hammer the Over to 11 runs and -130.
Phil Naessens' 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets: 9-11, +0.01 units
Over/Under bets: 8-10, -3.35 units
Dodgers vs A's weather
Hot, humid weather and winds gusting to 10.9 mph make this an ideal night for hitting for the Dodgers and Athletics.
Dodgers vs A's odds
Moneyline: Dodgers -144 | A's +138
Run line: Dodgers -1.5 (+108) | A's +1.5 (-113)
Over/Under: Over 10.5 (-113) | Under 10.5 (+108)
Dodgers vs A's trend
The Over is 9-1 in their last 10 H2H meetings. Find more MLB betting trends for Dodgers vs. A's.
How to watch Dodgers vs A's and game info
Location
Sutter Health Park, West Sacramento, CA
Date
Tuesday, June 30, 2026
First pitch
9:40 p.m. ET
TV
SNLA, NBCSCA
Dodgers starting pitcher
Justin Wrobleski (9-2, 2.71 ERA)
A's starting pitcher
Jeffrey Springs (3-7, 5.52 ERA)
Dodgers vs A's latest injuries
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
The Warriors on Monday slid toward Phase II of their planned summer refresh. Unless there is an encouraging medical update they haven’t shared, they run the risk of overpaying.
Golden State reached agreement on a two-year contract with Kristaps Porziņģis worth a reported $40 million. It could be responsible for every dollar, as the second year includes a player option.
Though the Warriors beat the free-agency clock, which starts at 3 p.m. Tuesday, their haste comes with a generous dollop of generosity. They’re waving their wallet at a wish. It’s unlikely that many other NBA teams were preparing to pull up to the free agency bazaar to dig into their pockets and offer Porziņģis $20 million per year.
Even $15 million per year would be easier to understand, especially if it came with a team option. As is, it’s a lot of cash for a part-time player, even one as talented as Porziņģis.
The Warriors know what KP can do. They closely observed his audition last season, when he appeared in 15 of their 31 remaining games after acquiring him from the Atlanta Hawks in February in exchange for Jonathan Kuminga.
During those 15 games, Porziņģis showcased his unique set of skills. At 7-foot-3, he was a defensive presence in the paint and a fabulous floor spacer on offense. He’s a good passer with a knack for getting to the free-throw line. He comes closer than anyone in the NBA to replicating San Antonio Spurs wunderkind Victor Wembanyama.
But KP’s marvelous gifts too often come wrapped in medical supplies. From the mysterious ailment that results in fatigue – mysterious because the cause has been debated – to back, knee and ankle issues, Porziņģis spent more time watching the Warriors, sometimes from a distance, than working up a sweat on the court.
This is not a case of bad luck, bad breaks or freak injury. This is Porziņģis’ history. He averaged 49 games per season over the last four, with five different teams. The Mavericks traded him to the Wizards, who traded him to the Celtics, who traded him to the Hawks, who five months ago traded him to the Warriors.
Porziņģis, 31, is the latest project for Rick Celebrini, the man responsible for devising plans to maximize the health of everyone on Golden State’s roster. It’s a massive task, but KP is a believer. Porziņģis needed less than two months to proclaim Celebrini as “the GOAT” of his profession.
Given his journey, Porziņģis has had copious experiences with dozens of doctors, surgeons, and trainers. He should know what makes a good practitioner.
If Porziņģis appears in more than 60 games, the risk the Warriors are taking could be lavishly rewarded. He could regain All-Star status, and Celebrini would deserve an handsome bonus.
But if KP spends the season limping back and forth between the court and the trainer’s room, it will look like the Warriors bought too high.
The Vegas Golden Knights entered the offseason with a big decision to make and a ticking clock hanging above their heads. Akira Schmid, a pending Restricted Free Agent, needed a new deal— but to keep him, they would need to do more than just offer him a contract.
During the 2025-26 regular season, the 26-year-old goaltender led the team with 29 starts. Four goaltenders played NHL games for the Golden Knights, and Schmid led them in every category: wins, average goals against, average save percentage, and shutouts. However, he was still the backup to Adin Hill, and when Carter Hart returned from injury in April, Schmid found himself as the odd man out. The final game he started for the Golden Knights was on March 21st.
On Monday, the Golden Knights announced that they’d extended Schmid a qualifying offer. But with Hill— who backstopped the team to a Stanley Cup just three years ago— and Hart— who started all 22 postseason games— still ahead of him on the depth chart, Schmid would have been the third goaltender once more. Later that same day, the Golden Knights announced that they’d traded Schmid to the Florida Panthers in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2028 NHL Entry Draft.
“Akira is a talented and athletic goaltender who has shown poise in high-pressure moments,” said Panthers general manager Bill Zito in a released statement. “We are excited to welcome him to our organization.”
This trade answers the question about Schmid’s future with the Golden Knights, but it also answers that same question regarding Stanley Cup Champion goaltender Adin Hill. Hill, who is under contract for five more seasons at a $6,250,000 AAV, is coming off a down year. During the 2025-26 regular season, Hill posted a 10-9-6 record, an average save percentage of .871, and lost the starting net to both Schmid and Hart at times.
The NHL is in the business of ‘what have you done for me lately?’, and no one understands that better than the Golden Knights. Some teams allow nostalgia to dictate contracts and roster spots, but the ‘villains of the league’ refuse to fall into that trap. When the Golden Knights no longer find a player useful– or can’t afford to find that player useful– they get rid of them, end of story.
Hill has a sizable cap hit, and the Golden Knights aren’t exactly flush with cash. They’ll get some relief when they place Alex Pietrangelo on Season Ending LTIR, but as of right now, they only have $4,625,000 in salary cap space. With that in mind, there were some questions around Hill’s future with the team after his performance last season.
Trading Schmid seems to have answered those questions.
As of now, it looks like the Golden Knights will enter the 2026-27 season with Hart and Hill as the top two goaltenders on their depth chart. It’s the easiest solution, but it’s also probably the right one. Hill will enter the season with something to prove, and he’s a prime candidate for a bounce-back campaign.
Liam Greentree (85) at the New York Rangers 2026 Development Camp.
Liam Greentree was able to cross one milestone off his list Monday as Rangers prospect development camp began at the team’s suburban Westchester facility.
Months after being part of the trade that sent Artemi Panarin to Los Angeles, Greentree was finally able to pull the Ranger crest over his head for the first time.
The hulking right winger was still in the OHL when he was dealt in the Panarin deal, and this week’s camp marks the first time Rangers brass gets to see in person the key piece the Blueshirts got back from that February trade.
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“It’s been awesome. New York is such a historic franchise,” Greentree said after his first day on the ice at the MSG Training Center. “It’s an Original Six franchise, and it’s just really cool to be a part of it. This is the first time I’ve worn the jersey, so it’s a pretty cool experience.”
He’s had three consecutive seasons of at least 74 points in the OHL.
And in February following the Panarin trade, Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury told reporters that he valued Greentree “higher than a ’26 or ’27 first-round pick.”
Liam Greentree (85) at the New York Rangers 2026 Development Camp. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Couple all of that with the fact that the winger will be turning pro this upcoming season, it could make any young hockey player feel overwhelmed, but the expectations don’t seem to have bothered Greentree one bit.
“It’s the business of it, and I’ve yet to play an NHL game,” he said in response to a question about feeling any extra pressure. “I’m going through the process of it and trying to make my career a good one. There’s a whole process to these things, so I’m trusting everyone around me.
“I want to play my game and be a Ranger one day.”
Greentree described his game as that of a “big power forward” who can do a little bit of everything, and at 6-foot-2, 207 pounds, it’s easy to see why he would view himself in that way.
Greentree, who was taken by the Kings 26th overall in 2024, is expected to start his professional career in the AHL with the Hartford Wolf Pack, but it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for him to see playing time with the big club at some point.
In preparation for the jump to the pros, Greentree has been working on his skating, pointing to the “different speed” of the NHL as the biggest factor in the jump from junior hockey.
One person who knows what the Rangers potentially have in Greentree is fellow prospect Nathan Aspinall, who has known Greentree since they were 6.
The two have been skating together in the summer.
“I think just his playmaking, goal scoring,” Aspinall said about Greentree’s most exciting attributes. “I think just when he gets the puck on his stick, he’s dangerous everywhere, so that’s something. He’s an amazing player.”
Greentree isn’t the only prospect with eyes on him during the Rangers camp this week.
First-round pick Alberts Smits took the ice for his first time after a whirlwind weekend in Buffalo after he was taken by the Blueshirts fifth overall on Friday night.
Smits didn’t go into too much on his first day as he looks to make his own mark with the Rangers.
He kept it close to the vest when he was asked if he would be at training camp in September — “We’ll see how it goes” — and he said he was “focused on getting to know the organization” when asked about conversations with the team about his development and path forward.
Greentree expanded a bit more about what he hopes to take out of development camp.
“I’m here to get better and to learn a lot,” he said. “Try to see what it takes to make it to the next level. It’s about taking everything in here and taking it to the offseason and really having a good offseason.”
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - OCTOBER 22: Walker Kessler #24 of the Utah Jazz reacts after being charged with a foul during the second half of their game against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Delta Center on October 22, 2025 in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images) | Getty Images
On the eve of free agency, the rumors have not slowed down. The Lakers are remaining active, most notably setting up a call with restricted free agent Jalen Duren once free agency starts on Tuesday.
However, that certainly isn’t the only pot on the stove for the Lakers, who have been busy in the hours and days leading up to free agency.
Here’s the latest rumors involving the Lakers before things really heat up on Tuesday.
Meeting with Walker Kessler
Duren isn’t the only restricted free agent center the Lakers have their eyes on. The team remains linked to Walker Kessler, including a likely meeting with the big man on Tuesday.
On Monday night, NBA beat writer Jake Fischer reported that the purple and gold are believed to be one of three meetings Kessler has scheduled for Tuesday.
Utah restricted free agent center Walker Kessler has meetings lined up with three teams Tuesday night after 6 PM ET at the Los Angeles offices of his CAA representatives.
The Lakers, of course, are strongly believed to be one of those three teams given their considerable interest in trying to swipe Kessler from the Jazz.
Similar to Duren and the Pistons, Kessler and the Jazz are at odds heading into free agency. Unlike Detroit, though, Utah has a whole bunch of other center options, which could make them more open to the idea of moving on from Kessler.
A complete new name has emerged leading up to free agency as a potential back-up big man option in Sandro Mamukelashvili, or Mamu, for short.
The big man opted out of his $2.8 million contract next season and is set for quite a bit more this year with the Lakers as one of the suitors for him in free agency.
But people around the NBA, tasked with trying to make sense of the evolving free-agency landscape, started to link the Lakers to a wide range of players throughout Monday. One name has come up from multiple league sources: Toronto forward/center Sandro Mamukelashvili.
Minutes later, Fischer backed up that reporting with some of his own, connecting the Lakers to Mamu.
Sources say Mamukelashvili is likely to generate multiple offers north of $10 million in average annual value after declining a paltry player option in Toronto worth less than $3 million. And we’re told that the Lakers, who have obviously been connected to various big men, have emerged as a notable Mamu suitor.
Mamu had a breakout season with the Raptors last year, averaging 11.2 points per game while shooting 52.3% from the field and 38.9% from three on 3.7 attempts per game. For his career, Mamu is a 36.6% shooter from range, but has been north of 37% in each of his last two seasons.
As a stretch big, Mamu would offer a different look for the Lakers than a lob-catching center. He would also not come at a cheap price and would not be a starter, which could throw off the Lakers depending on how quickly they can fill their hole in the starting lineup at center.
Gambling on a young wing?
The Lakers have loved trying to find a reclamation project under President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka. From Malik Monk to Lonnie Walker to Cam Reddish, LA has targeted a wing whose value is low and tried to hit on them.
The next version of that could be Nets wing Ziaire Williams. The Nets declined his team option for next season, setting him up for unrestricted free agency. According to Woike, he could be someone the team goes after as a buy-low candidate.
According to a league source, one player the Lakers could take a look at in free agency is Brooklyn small forward Zaire Williams, who had his team option declined by the Nets on Sunday. The Lakers have desires to get younger and more athletic on the wing, and Williams is coming off back-to-back seasons in Brooklyn where he averaged more than 10 points and shot better than 34 percent from 3-point range.
Last season, Williams averaged 10.2 points and shot 34.3% from beyond the arc. He’s only a 42.5% shooter overall, but did grab 4.6 rebounds per game in 2024-25.
Interestingly, he was also a teammate with Bronny James at Sierra Canyon, adding another connection to the Lakers.
SACRAMENTO –– Dodgers manager Dave Roberts smirked on Monday afternoon when asked for his thoughts on Sutter Health Park.
“I’m not saying it’s Denver,” he quipped, “but the ball does carry.”
Indeed, in the Dodgers’ first visit to the Sacramento Triple-A stadium masquerading as the Athletics’ temporary big-league home, the ball flew … and bounced … and ricocheted … all over the place in a 9-4 win to start a three-game series.
There were 17 hits and three lead changes through the first 3 ½ innings.
There were four home runs and 33 total baserunners by the end of the night.
Shohei Ohtani rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the Dodgers’ June 29 win. Getty Images
The Dodgers got one rally started when the ball got lost in the sun in the second inning, as a Kyle Tucker pop fly dropped between two Athletics outfielders to fuel a two-run rally.
The Athletics answered in the bottom half of the inning when Max Muncy (the Athletics’ young third baseman) hit a single past Max Muncy (the Dodgers’ veteran slugger) on a ground ball that kicked off the bag and hopped into shallow left.
On and on the night went, with weird bounces and unusual moments thrilling a crowd of 12,394 in MLB’s most unconventional setting.
Colby Thomas rounds the bases after hitting a home run as the A’s lost to the Dodgers on June 29. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Finally, however, the Dodgers (55-30) began to pull away.
Two home runs in the fourth inning negated the early 3-2 deficit, with Muncy tying the game with his 17th of the year before Andy Pages put them in front with a two-run blast for his 16th of the season.
Then, in the sixth, Shohei Ohtani provided the biggest highlight of the night, clobbering a three-run homer that would’ve been gone in any of MLB’s 30 ballparks, flying an estimated 432 feet for the second-longest of his team-leading 18 big flies this season.
“Shohei has been on a heater,” Roberts said of Ohtani, who is hitting .361 with 12 home runs since May 12. “The last six weeks, he’s been the best player in baseball.”
Andy Pages hits a home run during the Dodgers’ win June 29. Imagn Images
Along the way, Dodgers starter Eric Lauer finally brought some calm, bouncing back from the three-run second from the Athletics (40-45) by stranding the bases loaded in the third, then retiring 10 of his final 12 en route to a strong six-inning start.
And after that, the Dodgers bullpen got through the final three innings –– including Kyle Hurt striking out the heart of the A’s lineup in order in the seventh –– with any more theatrics in a ballpark built for them.
What it means
In a perfect world, Roberts would secure his 1,000th career win at Chavez Ravine in front of a home crowd.
But after Monday’s win, he is now on the verge of doing it here in Sacramento this week.
At 999 career victories, Roberts is not only on the doorstep of joining the 1,000-win club, but also becoming the fastest manager in MLB history to get there.
With one more win, he will become the fourth Dodgers manager to ever reach the milestone, joining Tommy Lasorda, Walter Alston and Wilbert Robinson.
Who’s hot
There were plenty of big performances Monday from the Dodgers’ lineup, which saw eight of nine starters record at least two hits.
No one’s contributions were as refreshing, however, as Teoscar Hernández, who went 2-for-5 (albeit with three strikeouts) in his return from a month-long absence with a hamstring strain.
Hernández tested out his hamstring immediately by legging out an infield single in the second. He then came back up in the third and singled again, this time on a 103 mph line drive to right.
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Before the game, Hernández joked that “I don’t think they really need me in the lineup,” given how well the club had played without him. Still, keeping Hernández healthy and productive the rest of the way will be important, especially after he struggled following a groin strain last year.
“I never really got hurt before last year, so you learn from that,” Hernández said. “Last year, I tried to come back a little quicker. I think it messed up my timing, my hitting … This time, I talked to the team. I said, ‘I want to take some extra at-bats, so I can feel better, so I can feel like my timing is in place to come back and keep helping the team.'”
Who’s not
Tyler Glasnow, at least not entirely.
The good news is that the injured Dodgers starter has resumed a throwing program, after repeated setbacks in a battle with back spasms that has sidelined him for almost two months now.
However, Roberts said the team is still “being very cautious right now” with his progression, trying to avoid any further setbacks in an injury that has already dragged on far longer than expected.
Up next
Roberts will go for career win No. 1,000 on Tuesday, when Justin Wrobleski (9-2, 2.71 ERA) will take the mound for the Dodgers against Athletics left-hander Jeffrey Springs (3-7, 5.52 ERA).
Jun 29, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners second baseman Cole Young (2) hits a two-run home run against the Los Angeles Angels during the sixth inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images
The Mariners dominated the Angels in a bounce back 6-2 win on Monday.
That’s really it. This game was quick. It was simple. And it was necessary after Sunday’s disastrous, hard-feelings loss in Cleveland. George Kirby was great. He had a few hiccups early, mostly limited to Zach Neto, and then worked through eight innings with vintage efficiency. The Mariners offense backed him up with some timely hits and a trio of homers, including two from Cole Young. With the win, the Mariners are back to .500, beginning a crucial four-series stretch ahead of the All-Star Break.
“Quick wins are always good wins,” Dan Wilson said postgame, clearly pleased with his team’s bounce back performance.
For as great as this game ultimately turned out, it felt a bit familiar through the first two-plus innings. The Angels jumped on Kirby quickly. Neto led off the first by lacing a double into the gap, and he quickly scored on a one hopper from Denzer Guzman. The Angels got Neto back to the plate by the third, and he made it 2-0 with a solo homer. It was early, but it certainly didn’t feel after the Mariners’ lineup had gone went six up, six down against Angels’ starter Ryan Johnson, with a bunch of weak contact to boot.
Then Young stepped to the plate to lead off the third. He watched the first five pitches of the at bat to work the count full. Then Johnson returned with a middle-middle sinker, and Young took his hack, cutting the deficit in half with a laser to right.
The Mariners lineup got right back to it in the fourth. Julio led off with a single. Dominic Canzone followed with a ground into a double a double play — at 103.6 mph, it was by far the hardest batted ball of the inning. But the pressure was on, and Johnson looked vulnerable. Randy Arozarena took a hit by pitch. Josh Naylor hit a 46 mph squibber to third, that spun under Guzman’s glove and leaked into left field, moving Arozarena to third and Naylor to second.
That brought up the slumping Cal Raleigh, who was candid about his and the team’s struggles with runners in scoring position after Sunday’s loss. Johnson got a quick called strike then threw the cutter low and in. Cal took a hack of sorts, getting handcuffed but muscling a flare into no-man’s land in left field. It dropped and plated a scoring a pair of runs to give the Mariners a 3-2 lead.
“I think he hit the nail on the head yesterday,” Wilson said of Raleigh’s comments on Sunday. “Today, he didn’t want to try to do too much. He got a pitch he could handle, it got in on him a little bit, but he was able to hit it to left field and get that ball in and pick up those two runs. That’s the approach – not getting too big where you swing and miss on that pitch, or taking a swing where you’re out front, but he stayed on it, stayed through it, and was able to get it in left field and give us the lead, which I think was obviously the big turning point in the ball game.”
The Mariners broke it open in the sixth against lefty reliever Mitch Farris. Canzone quickly fell behind, but fought and fought and eventually got a middle-middle fastball. He crushed it 428 feet to right center.
Josh Naylor then drew a walk, putting a runner on for Young. He saw one pitch, and obliterated it off the facing of the Hit-It-Here Café. His second homer of the day gave the Mariners a 6-2 lead after six.
The Mariners, of course, have struggled mightily against lefties this year. They simply don’t have many quality righty batters and are now forced to take a number of left-on-left at bats. Young said the key to improving against them going forward is to keep things simple.
“The biggest thing is not thinking too much about it It’s not, ‘Oh, he’s a lefty, it’s gonna be so much different.’ It’s more, ‘All right, let’s create an approach against this guy, and let’s stick to it, not try to do too much and just stick to the approach and hit it hard somewhere.'”
Kirby cruised after his early issues with Neto. He got a double play to work around base runners in the fourth. He struck out the side in the fifth. Then he set down the side in order in each the sixth and seventh with limited labor. The defense behind him was excellent, highlighted by this slick play from J.P. Crawford at third.
A game that looked a bit iffy early saw Kirby at just 79 pitches after seven innings, with a chance to get through eight for the first time since early April. Was there any question about whether he’d go back out for the eighth?
“Yeah we were kind of on the fence about what to do there,” Wilson said with a grin.
Now, the eighth wasn’t perfect for Kirby. Josh Lowe led off with a double, and Neto remained a pest, drawing a one-out walk. But Kirby then had two of my favorite at bats of his season. He threw four straight straight sweepers to start Guzman out 2-2, then a 98-mph dot on the low-and-away corner (or at least close enough) , freezing Guzman.
That brought up Nolan Schanuel, who fouled off several pitches. Kirby then got him to chase way out of the zone on a curveball in the dirt. It was his 17th whiff and seventh strikeout of the day. Kirby stormed off the mound, fired up as the furious George of old, only to enter the dugout through a hand-tunnel from his teammates (which he kindly demonstrated for the press corps). He could be seen in the dugout not long after with a wide grin on his face. It was a good day.
“There was something in him tonight that was a little bit different – the look in his eye – and he was really able to shut them down,” Wilson said.
For Kirby, it was nice to see him not let the game get away after early struggles and an up-and-down season to this point.
“You just gotta tip your cap sometimes, and if that stuff happens early, it doesn’t mean the game’s over,” Kirby said. “I just have to keep going, and I feel like I’ve been doing a lot better job of that. Some stuff happens early on, just keep my head down, just keep going, and get the win for the team.”
Perhaps the Mariners might take something from that as well.
Oakland, June 2015. The Warriors finally break through, Steph Curry is the engine of it, and the Bay Area loses its mind in a way it had been waiting four decades to lose it. People were crying in bars. Strangers were hugging on BART. Nobody at that parade was thinking about an expiration date, they were just thinking about how good it felt to finally have this.
Eleven years later, Steph is still here. Still in the same uniform he won that first one in, still the engine, still hunting ring number five. The same number as Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, and Tim Duncan. Sit with that for a second, because that sentence isn’t supposed to include a guy who just turned 38 and still has a real argument for another one.
Now think about how geeked Bucks fans were in 2021. Giannis drops 50 in Game 6, hoists the trophy, and Milwaukee gets its first title in 50 years. Grown men were openly sobbing in the streets. That city felt like it had arrived, like this was the beginning of a run, not the peak of one.
Giannis' resume:
🔘 NBA champion 🔘 Finals MVP 🔘 NBA MVP (2x) 🔘 All-NBA First Team (3x) 🔘 Defensive Player of the Year 🔘 All-Defense First Team (3x) 🔘 All-Star Game MVP 🔘 NBA All-Star (5x) 🔘 16-17 Most Improved Player 🔘 13-14 All-Rookie Second Team
Five years later, with that single championship still the only one on the shelf, Giannis is a Miami Heat player. That’s the entire gap between euphoria and an exit. Every parade feels like it’ll last forever. Almost none of them do. Giannis isn’t in Miami because he stopped being great. He’s in Miami because organizations can fail great players, even the ones who already delivered them a parade.
The deal that got him there is enormous. The Bucks sent Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis to Miami for Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, three first-round picks, a pick swap, and a second-rounder. That’s a franchise hitting the eject button and hoping the parachute opens before the ground does. And it didn’t happen overnight. The Bucks finally accepted their fate only after a 32-win season, a league investigation, and missing the play-in tournament entirely. Rather than mortgage what little future they had left trying to convince Giannis to stay, they pivoted toward maximizing the return. He was a two-time MVP with a championship already on his résumé, and it still took total organizational collapse to get everyone on the same page.
Reflecting after 24 hours, we should have been harder on Giannis at the end. Bucks gave him everything (two brothers on NBA contracts lol) and it still wasn't enough. He sat on the floor of the house that "he built" and gave us double thumbs down and booed us. We let it slide
What got Milwaukee here wasn’t one decision. It was years of them. The locker room reportedly slid into chaos, with center Myles Turner later describing a level of dysfunction around accountability that stunned him once he saw it up close. Antetokounmpo’s frustration with roster construction dated back to the 2023 Jrue Holiday trade, a move one Bucks source openly admitted gutted the team’s defensive identity in exchange for offense they didn’t end up needing.
That’s the part that should scare every fanbase with a generational talent, even the ones holding a trophy. It’s never the trade demand that kills you. It’s the accumulation of small organizational failures that eventually convince a superstar the climb isn’t worth it anymore. The Warriors have made mistakes, plenty of them, but they’ve never let Steph reach the point where the relationship felt like it was quietly eroding underneath him the way Antetokounmpo’s did in Milwaukee. They kept showing him they were still trying, even when the results didn’t always cooperate.
Hard to imagine a worse-handled superstar exit. Move Giannis last summer and you have multiple suitors, a bidding war and a real return. Instead the Bucks waited and settled for a package of quarters from the Heat.
Oh, and let's not forget waiving and stretching Damian Lillard…
Greatness alone doesn’t keep a superstar in your building, and apparently neither does a championship. Commitment does. Communication does. A front office willing to keep adjusting instead of asking the player to absorb every shortfall does.
Antetokounmpo gave Milwaukee a championship and over a decade of his prime, and five years after the parade, Milwaukee gave him back two fired coaches in three years and a roster that never replaced what it traded away. Of course that ends in Miami.
Steph Curry gave the Warriors four championships, the first arriving eleven years ago, and reshaped a generation’s basketball identity along the way. The Warriors responded by continuing to build around him through every phase of the dynasty instead of treating contention as optional.
The Bucks are dead. Long live the Bucks.
Players come and go. The team is the thing that lasts. It's the deal every one of us signs up for, whether we know it or not. You get your window to be the man and you try to give the city everything you've got while you're there.…
Same parade energy. Same euphoria in the streets. One franchise spent the next decade giving its superstar reasons to stay. The other spent five years giving him reasons to leave. That’s how quickly confetti becomes a “For Sale” sign in today’s NBA. Dynasties don’t end because stars suddenly forget how to play basketball. More often, they end because organizations slowly stop earning the trust of the player who built them. Milwaukee found that out five years after the confetti fell. What the Warriors have managed to hold onto might be the rarest accomplishment in the league right now.
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.
Tyler Mahle gets pulled from the game during the Giants’ June 29 loss. Getty Images
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.
Geraldo Perdomo celebrates after hitting a three-run double during the Diamondbacks’ June 29 game. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
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.
Victor Bericoto scores for the Giants during their June 29 loss to the Diamondbacks. Getty Images
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.
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.
Marcus Semien reacts after striking out during the Mets’ June 12 game. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
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.”
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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.”
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 29: Max Muncy #13 of the Los Angeles Dodgers trots around the bases after hitting a solo home run against the against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the top of the fourth inning at Sutter Health Park on June 29, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) | Getty Images
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)
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 showers Shohei Ohtani in sunflower seeds after Ohtani hit a three-run home run in the Dodgers' win over the Athletics in Sacramento on Monday night. (Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
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.
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.
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.
Dodgers starting pitcher Eric Lauer worked six innings to record the victory. He gave up three runs and four hits in the second inning, no runs and four hits over the other five. (Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
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.
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.
Shohei Ohtani tosses his bat after hitting a three-run home run for the Dodgers in the sixth inning against the Athletics on Monday night. (Sara Nevis / Associated Press)
“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.
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 29: Manager Mark Kotsay #7 of the Athletics takes the ball from pitcher Gage Jump #61 taking Jump out of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the top of the fifth inning at Sutter Health Park on June 29, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) | Getty Images
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.
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.
COVERS INTEL: The Athletics are batting .261 with a .789 OPS with 
