On May 22, Bryce Elder completed six innings against the Washington Nationals to lower his ERA on the season to 1.97. His FIP sat at a reasonable 3.31 and even his 3.84 xFIP was totally palatable.

Flash forward to Saturday night — a span of six starts — and after surrendering five more runs to the San Francisco Giants over four innings, Elder’s ERA now sits at 4.01 on the season. His ERA over those six starts is north of 10.

Elder was bad, the bats were lifeless again, and the Braves fell to the Giants 5-0 on Saturday night at Oracle Park.

Rafael Devers, who transforms into Barry Bonds against the Braves, hit a solo homer in the second inning and a three-run homer that clanked off the foul pole to make it 5-0. And that, as they say, was that.

Atlanta had one hit, a double from Mauricio Dubon early. They walked three times. Logan Webb and the San Francisco bullpen cruised after the first two innings.

The lone bright spot was Grant Holmes, who was superb in relief of Elder for four innings. He allowed just one hit, walked none and struck out four. We’ll see what Walt Weiss decided to do with the rotation next week.

Chris Sale will try to win the series on Sunday afternoon. He’ll be opposed by Robbie Ray, who mowed the Braves down last week. First pitch is 4:05 p.m. ET as the Braves play their final west coast game of the season.

It was not pretty in the slightest, but the Washington Nationals are back in the win column. They eked out a 4-3 win in extra innings. Foster Griffin was brilliant, and they bounced back from yet another bullpen collapse to get the job done. When a hero was needed, Justin Lawrence stepped up in the top of the 10th to get a monster save.

Scoring was tough to come by in this contest. Both starting pitchers were excellent. Brandon Young of the O’s was getting a ton of swings and misses tonight. He got 23 whiffs in only 5 innings, which is a huge number. His splitter was really fooling Nats hitters. However, the approach of the offense left a lot to be desired tonight even accounting for Young’s sharp stuff.

However, Foster Griffin was even better than Young. Griffin had a laborious first two innings of work, throwing over 50 pitches. He got the efficiency under control as the game went on though, getting through 7 innings without allowing an earned run. Griffin had big time strikeout stuff early in the game, getting 8 K’s in 3 innings. Down the stretch though, Griffin relied more on soft contact, showing how versatile he is as a pitcher.

Foster Griffin in June:

31.1 IP
1.15 ERA
2 starts with 9 K 💥

His ERA on the season now sits at 2.93! pic.twitter.com/ooPV13vu2N

— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) June 28, 2026

Watching Foster Griffin pitch is such a joy to watch. He is not going to blow anyone away, but he has so many different pitches and pinpoint command. In Griffin’s last inning of work, he did not throw a single 4-seamer or sinker. You are truly going to see the kitchen sink from Foster, and it has been working so well for him.

Earlier in the season, there is no chance that Blake Butera would put Griffin out for the 7th inning with his pitch count nearly at 100. However, Griffin has earned the managers trust, and well the bullpen has not.

The boys did not give Griffin a ton of run support, but they did scratch across a few runs. Luis Garcia Jr. continued his monster month of June, hitting a mammoth homer at 114 MPH. That was the hardest hit ball of Garcia’s career and it flew out into the street. 

At 114.0 mph, this was the hardest hit ball of Luis García Jr.'s career. It was also García Jr.'s 11th home run since May 22, the second-most in the National League during that span. pic.twitter.com/xL2lqi35BR

— Nationals Communications (@NationalsComms) June 28, 2026

This has been the best month of Luis Garcia’s career, particularly from a power standpoint. He has hit 9 homers this month and 11 since May 22nd. Early in Garcia’s career, that is the number of homers he would hit in a season. However, he has really grown into his frame and has become a true contact and power threat. He already has 14 homers this year, closing in on his career high of 18.

When Griffin exited the game, the score was 3-1, but the Nats bullpen did their thing again. This time it was Orlando Ribalta’s turn to blow it. He was tasked with coming in the game with 1 on and two outs. Ribalta proceeded to throw back to back meatballs to Pete Alonso and Samuel Basallo, and just like that the game was tied.

Clayton Beeter actually looked very sharp in the 9th, which sent the game to extras. In a bullpen filled with guys who are just flat out bad, Beeter is an interesting case. He is one of the few guys who has the stuff to dominate hitters. However, his erratic command makes him impossible to fully trust. Tonight we saw the best of Beeter, pounding the zone and finishing guys off with his slider. He is a Jekyll and Hyde reliever, which is more than you can say about most of these guys.

In the 10th, the Nats struck right away with Daylen Lile driving home the ghost runner. Jorbit Vivas got on with his third hit of the night. However, with guys on first and second with nobody out, Blake Butera elected not to bunt with Nasim Nunez, who struck out. The inning really fizzled out after that.

Daylen Lile grips and rips it to capitalize with the ghost runner in the 10th inning! pic.twitter.com/K5l3PYu76m

— Nationals Advisory (@nats_advisory) June 28, 2026

With Justin Lawrence coming on, with the ghost runner at second, it felt like the best case was a tied game, and a walkoff felt likely. Lawrence buckled down though. He got a ground out to start the inning, but that allowed the tying run to get to third. After that Lawrence got another ground ball, which CJ Abrams made a nice play on to nab the runner at home.

At that point things felt good, but this is the Nationals bullpen after all, so they had to make things interesting. The debuting Lawrence gave up a hit to Gunnar Henderson and walked Pete Alonso. However, the sidearmer got yet another ground ball and the game was over. The Nats finally snapped their brutal four game losing streak, with a reliever on the mound who was not in the organization when this streak started. For a bullpen that is searching for answers, that feels quite fitting. The Nats are back to .500 and got a much needed curly W.

Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that the Atlanta Braves are adding long-time big league first baseman Carlos Santana on a minor league deal. Santana, 40, was release by the Arizona Diamondbacks last week.

Veteran first baseman Carlos Santana and the Atlanta Braves are in agreement on a minor league contract, sources tell ESPN. Santana, 40, will head to Triple-A, where he provides insurance for Atlanta and can try to get back to the big leagues after being released by Arizona.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 28, 2026

Santana made his big league debut with Cleveland in 2010 and the switch-hitter was known for becoming a highly-effective defender while drawing a ton of walk. He has 335 career home runs with a .351 OBP but has bounced around a lot in recent years. He missed time with injury this season, appearing in only eight games, with two hits in 24 at bats.

Santana will head to Gwinnett to provide depth. With Rowdy Tellez on the big league roster, but unlikely to hold a roster spot, there’s a chance Tellez will be claimed or dealt to another team – like Arizona – who needs first base help.

On the back of three Hunter Goodman homers, the Colorado Rockies put up another eight runs tonight, and this time, it was enough to take home the victory.

Colorado’s #3-hitting DH earned five RBI on the night, popping two homers off starter Mike Paredes, who went a career-best 5.1 innings, then one more off Kody Funderburk. Marco Raya, who pitched the final two frames, gave up a dinger of his own to Kyle Karros. Goodman’s splits are fascinating, as the man who calls Coors Field home has actually fared much better in other ballparks:

Home: .193/.276/.393 (56 wRC+)

Road: .281/.335/.614 (156 wRC+)

Former Twin Willi Castro went 0-for-5; no other former Twins made it into the game. And current Twins? Well, let’s get into it.

Paredes’ start was perfectly fine, as he allowed eight hits but held the Colorado lineup to three runs across nearly six innings. While he didn’t walk anybody, he only generated two strikeouts. Meanwhile, Kody Clemens continued a nice stretch with another early RBI, singling in Trevor Larnach in the first inning; Larnach had three hits including his 14th double of the year, a bases-clearing double in the bottom of the ninth.

Taylor Rogers lowered his ERA to 6.16.

With the series split, the Twins will need to take Sunday’s game to avoid a mega-dud of a homestand a week after a hugely successful road trip. As is the case with almost anything in life, we’re just gonna have to see what happens.

STUDS:

LF Trevor Larnach (3-for-5, R, 3 RBI, 2B)

3B Brooks Lee (2-for-4, R, 2B)

DUDS:

RP Kody Funderburk (IP, 2 H, 3 ER, BB, HR)

RP Marco Raya (2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, K, HR)

For just the 11th time this season, Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto played in the same game for the Mets in Saturday’s 6-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies and it was both of their contributions that led New York to a comeback victory and snap an ugly seven-game losing streak.

Down 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning with not much to show for offensively, Soto got things started with a single to right field. Bo Bichette followed with a single of his own to put runners on first and second for Lindor, who was playing in just his third game since returning from the injured list and who had been 1-for-11.

The shortstop came through, though, ripping a liner down the first-base line, under the glove of first baseman Bryce Harper, for a two-run triple that got the Mets on the board and tied the game. 

The hit was Lindor’s first real test on the bases after straining his left calf in April and he handled it with aplomb, easily reaching third base and celebrating with the team’s spider web gesture that was created while he was on the bench. Lindor credited the trainers for getting him healthy enough to be able to sprint to third base once again, although he admitted he’s reaching an age where stopping at second might be preferred.

“The older I get, the more triples I’m getting, I don’t like it. I want more doubles,” he joked. “But no, it felt good. The trainers have done a really good job of prepping me, getting me ready for this and I felt good. I’m in a good spot.”

The inning continued with back-to-back walks by Jared Young and Mark Vientos to load the bases for A.J. Ewing and the rookie wasted no time, jumping on the first pitch and hitting it sharply up the middle past the drawn-in infield to drive in two more runs and give New York its first lead in three days after a four-run inning.

But the Mets weren’t done. An inning later Carson Benge, another rookie, led off with a single for his second hit of the night before Soto hit a triple to drive him in and match Lindor. Bichette’s sac fly was the icing on the cake offensively while New York’s bullpen threw 4.2 scoreless innings in relief of Christian Scott who looked good in his first start off the IL.

“It’s fantastic, it was great,” Lindor said about the win. “To see quality at-bats from the starting lineup all the way to the end is really good. And then seeing the bullpen continue to do what they’ve been doing… It was a great baseball game for us today.”

The great game by the Mets served as a reminder of what the team was supposed to look like all year before injuries and inconsistencies took hold of them.

“I think that’s what everybody was hoping to see repetitively all summer long. It’s good to see it out there today,” said interim manager Andy Green, who got his first win as manager of the Mets, his first in six years.

Lindor shared similar thoughts about the team and what they were supposed to look like this season, praising David Stearns for the job he did in the offseason and chalking up the disappointing year to injuries.

“Like I said outside, I felt like Stearns did a good job of putting the team together, we just haven’t been together, we just haven’t played together and now that we’re slowly getting healthy, little by little, hopefully this next however many games we can play together and make something special out of it,” he said.

Regardless of what happens for the Mets over the next three months, Green will be the one leading them after the firing of Carlos Mendoza. Green’s last stint as a manager came in 2019 with the San Diego Padres where he went 274-366 in four seasons.

Green talked about getting his first win after such a long time, but ultimately lauded his players for their role in getting it done for him.

“Wins are fun,” he said. “It’s not about me in that situation, it’s about the team and winning as a group is fun and playing whatever part you play in that, that’s fun. I think a lot of guys did a lot of really good things today. It was a cool team win where you could just talk about a bunch of different guys. Those are fun games.”

A strong broadcast from a crew consisting of Ryan Spilborghs, Jeff Huson, and Cory Sullivan at one point tonight turned their attention to their favorite songs by Minnesota musical legend Prince. It seems fitting, then, that baseball’s favorite purple team decided to bring the rain down at Target Field in a win that made up for last night’s walk-off loss.

Lorenzen continues his solid streak

Rockies starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen added another game to his streak of starts lasting five or more innings. Lorenzen went five or more innings in just half of his first 14 starts this season with varying degrees of success. However, since simplifying his approach on the mound earlier this month, he has now done so in four consecutive games. In those four starts, he has given up more than two earned runs just once.

Lorenzen gave up a lot of contact against a solid group of Minnesota Twins batters, allowing seven hits and tallying just one strikeout. However, he commanded his pitches well and avoided issuing any ill-advised, potentnially haunting walks. He relied heavily on his sinker, continuing to use a reduced pitch mix compared to earlier in the season. The only other pitches with double-digit uses were his changeup and cutter.

The first of Lorenzen’s two earned runs given up came at the beginning of the game when two singles book-ended Byron Buxton getting hit by a pitch. The second came in the fifth inning when Josh Bell clanged a ball high off the outfield wall for a triple. Bell then scored on a sacrifice fly.

Vodnik and Bernardino keep the scoresheet clean

Relievers Victor Vodnik and Brennan Bernardino had much-needed strong outings against the Twins tonight. Vondik was first in line as he entered the game in the sixth to take over for Michael Lorenzen. Having struggled mightily this season, it was good to see Vodnik deliver quality pitches and set down all four batters he faced in order. Bernardino pitched the eighth inning and worked a quick 1-2-3 inning on 13 pitches with one strikeout.

The drama comes late… again

The running theme this past week has been drama in the late innings, and unfortunately that was again the case tonight. With an 8-2 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth, reliever Zach Agnos was handed the ball in a low-leverage situation. Agnos struck out Royce Lewis, the walk-off hero of last night’s win for the Twins, on a sweeper in the dirt and it looked like Rockies fans could breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy the end of the game free from drama.

Then two straight singles and a walk loaded up the bases.

Twins outfielder Trevor Larnach then cleared the bases with a double to put the Twins within striking distance with only two outs. Agnos was then pulled from the game and replaced with Jimmy Herget.

Herget wrapped up the game on nine pitches, inducing back-to-back flyouts to end the game and cement a Rockies victory and earning his third save of the season in the process.

Purple Rain

“An exceptional night from Hunter,” said manager Warren Schaeffer after the game. “Incredible.”

Proving once again that last year’s 31 home run season was no fluke, Hunter Goodman continued to tear the cover off the ball after he demolished a home run over 450 late last night. Goodman hit two more loud solo home runs in his first two at-bats before hitting a three-run homer in the seventh inning to become the third Rockies player in franchise history to hit three home runs in a game. He did this as the designated hitter, where his numbers have generally been lacking compared to nights when he suits up behind the plate.

Goodman has 25 home runs after tonight, 18 of which have come on the road. Those 18 road home runs are the most by any Rockies hitter before the All-Star break. With 15 games left before the All-Star Game in Philadelphia, Goodman now has a good chance to become the first Rockies hitter with 30 or more home runs at the break.

Kyle Karros decided to bring some additional rain of his own with a two-run home run in the eighth inning to further pad the Rockies lead—and every run counts with the late inning drama these days. Jake McCarthy would score after hitting a triple in the fifth inning on a 2-for-5 evening, while Tyler Freeman and TJ Rumfield both had two-hit nights of their own.

Coming Up Next

The Rockies have one more game to play in the Twin Cities before heading back to Colorado. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10 PM MDT, at which time the right-handed Ryan Feltner will take the mound against the left-handed Connor Prielipp.

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It’s been mentioned on this site countless times before, but one thing about the Orioles is that they never let you feel good about them for very long.

The O’s followed up Friday’s easy win with an excruciating, 4-3, 10-inning loss to the Nationals. The Orioles put themselves in an early hole through repeated defensive blundery, and while they briefly gave themselves hope with an eighth-inning comeback, they fell behind for good in the top of the 10th, then failed to score the tying run against a reliever with an 8.04 ERA. Your 2026 Orioles in a nutshell, ladies and gentlemen.

Tonight’s game was eerily similar to a maddening loss to the Nationals last year — which also featured the Nats scoring in their final at-bat and an identical 4-3 final score — that prompted the Orioles to fire manager Brandon Hyde the next morning. I don’t think the same fate will befall Craig Albernaz, and I’m not saying that it should. But this 2026 club, like that doomed 2025 squad, is rife with problems that threaten to torpedo the Orioles’ season, if they haven’t already.

Let’s start with the big one: guys, the Orioles’ defense is atrocious. They’re, like, really bad. The O’s can talk all they want (and they have) about how they’re confident in themselves and how they have the talent to go on a hot streak and all that, but they’re simply not going to do so unless they figure out how to field their positions like competent big leaguers. Tonight was not that night.

It’s too bad, because Brandon Young pitched another whale of a game, only for the Orioles’ sloppy defense to muck up his outing. It began in the second inning, when Daylen Lile lofted a fly ball to deep left. Taylor Ward took a terrible route to the ball, and it sailed over his head for a gift double. Jorbit Vivas followed with an RBI single to left to give the Nationals a 1-0 advantage. Ward didn’t cover himself in glory on that play, either, making an ill-advised throw home that allowed Vivas to take an extra base, though the runner was left stranded.

The O’s were up to their antics again in the third. With one out and a runner at first, José Tena grounded a potential double play ball to short. Gunnar Henderson flipped to Jeremiah Jackson, but the Orioles second baseman dropped the ball on the transfer, allowing the inning to continue. That forced Young to throw 11 extra pitches before escaping the jam.

Young wriggled his way out of trouble again in the fourth, racking up huge strikeouts of Drew Millas and James Wood with two runners in scoring position. In the Wood at-bat, Young threw six consecutive splitters, fanning him on the final one to complete the K. It was par for the course on this night for Young, who racked up 23 swings-and-misses in five innings, the most by any Oriole in a five-inning performance in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008). He notched 11 of those whiffs on his nasty splitter. But the Orioles’ defensive clownery made him throw 93 pitches in five innings, and he left the game trailing after coughing up a Luis García Jr. leadoff homer in the fifth.

And then that awful O’s defense reared its ugly head again in the sixth. With Rico Garcia pitching, Vivas led off with a routine grounder to third. But Blaze Alexander booted the ball, then made a panicked throw to first and airmailed it, giving Vivas second base. Alexander was charged with the rare — and brutal — double error, one allowing Vivas to reach first and the other allowing him to advance to second.

Naturally, that free baserunner came around to score, as the struggling-of-late Garcia coughed up an RBI single to Drew Millas, who entered the game with a .527 OPS in 130 PAs. This is not the type of hitter who should be beating you, Rico! Garcia has now been scored upon in six of his last nine outings, inflating his once impeccable 0.68 ERA to 2.62. The damage would have been worse if not for the O’s throwing out Millas at the plate on a Garcia Jr. double to right, a rare gem by the Orioles defense.

For a while, it appeared those three runs would be enough for the Nats, as starter Foster Griffin simply dominated the Birds. The southpaw worked seven innings and threw 112 pitches,, just two shy of the MLB season high of 114 (by the Twins’ Taj Bradley on April 29). The Orioles scored only one run against him, and it was an unearned one at that, as the Nats made a throwing error in the second that set up a surprising two-out RBI single from third catcher Chadwick Tromp. It was Tromp’s first at-bat with the Orioles in almost exactly a year (June 30, 2025), and he certainly made the most of it.

Other than that, the O’s simply had no answer for Griffin, the former first round pick, who’s been better than ever in his return to MLB after a three-year stint in Japan. He allowed only three hits and two walks while striking out nine Orioles tonight, lowering his season ERA to 2.93. Gotta hand it to the Nationals — signing a live arm who rehabilitated his career overseas has paid dividends for them. Meanwhile the O’s keep signing the Chris Bassitts of the world, which is going great. Anyway, Griffin left the game after seven with a 3-1 lead.

Unfortunately, he then had to turn the game over to a sad-sack Nationals bullpen. Yikes, these guys are going through some stuff. The Washington relief corps is coming off a horrific series against the Phillies in which they blew three consecutive games in heartbreaking fashion, becoming just the second team in MLB history to give up go-ahead home runs in the ninth in three straight games.

This time it was the eighth inning that ruined them. Lefty PJ Poulin was the first to pitch, and once again it was Chadwick Tromp who sparked the rally with a bloop single to lead off the inning. Not bad for a guy who I’d totally forgotten was on the roster before today. Poulin then uncorked a wild pitch but retired the next two batters before ceding to righty Orlando Ribalta, and that’s when the O’s feasted.

Pete Alonso came through with a clutch hit, smashing an RBI double to left to make it a 3-2 game. Craig Albernaz then deployed Samuel Basallo as a pinch-hitter, which proved a stroke of genius. Basallo jumped on Ribalta’s first pitch and lashed it up the middle for a game-tying RBI single, scoring a fired-up Alonso. Tie ballgame! Oh, that Nationals bullpen has done it again.

Sadly, the O’s didn’t sustain the good vibes. After Andrew Kittredge and Clayton Beeter traded scoreless ninth innings, Ryan Helsley struggled in the 10th. Lile greeted him with a sharp single to right, scoring the automatic runner to reclaim a 4-3 lead for the Nationals. The next batter also reached base before Helsley settled down and retired the next three, keeping it a one-run game.

The desperate Nationals turned to veteran Justin Lawrence, whom they claimed on waivers earlier this week, to make his team debut in the 10th. Here’s the thing about Lawrence: he has pitched in 30 games for two other teams this year and has an 8.04 ERA. That’s not a typo. He’s given up 25 earned runs in 28 innings. The Orioles should destroy this guy. Tying the game should be a given; walking it off shouldn’t be too hard, either.

I’ll give you one guess as to what actually happened. Yup. The O’s failed to score a single run against him, and lost the game. Jackson Holliday’s grounder to first moved the automatic runner, Jackson, to third base with one out. But on a Ward grounder to short, the O’s did the stupid run-on-contact play that never, ever works, and — surprise! — it did not work. CJ Abrams threw to the plate to cut down Jackson by a mile for the second out.

The O’s valiantly tried to continue the rally on a Henderson single and Alonso walk, loading the bases for Basallo. But Samuel hacked at a 1-0 sinker and grounded harmlessly to second base for the final out of the game. Sigh. What a letdown of an inning and a disappointment of a game.

This Orioles team has problems, folks. And they’re not going away anytime soon.

It sure is nice when the team for whom I root scores runs.

The Guardians began tonight’s game with more of the same – three scoreless and quiet innings for their offense. Fortunately, Slade Cecconi is on a heater right now and kept the Mariners’ bats quiet for the first three as well. Seven groundball outs in those three frames, four on the cutter, one on the sinker, one on the curveball and one on the four-seamer. His new pitch mix approach as outlined by our Jakhob Clady continues to work.

Then, the blessed fourth inning happened. After Travis Bazzana and Kyle Manzardo singled, Kahlil “I Am The RBI Man You Are Looking For” Watson mashed a double to score Bazzana:

Highlight: Mariners at Guardians (06/27/2026) | MLB Gameday

Then Cooper Ingle picked a GREAT time to get his FIRST MAJOR LEAGUE HIT!

Behold, Cooper Ingle's first career hit and RBI(s). pic.twitter.com/XRV4wp5iu6

— Tim Stebbins (@tim_stebbins) June 28, 2026

Good, aggressive at-bat and he hit a CHANGEUP, folks. We can use some changeup hitters, as you may know.

Brayan Rocchio added an RBI double to score Bazzana in the 5th after Travis had singled. Watson, Gabriel Arias and Petey Halpin had the three hardest-hit balls today for Cleveland. It was fun to see Kwan in the leadoff spot today but I really think he needs to stay 7-9.

Everything went smoothly from there as Slade Cecconi pitched six scoreless allowing only three hits and two walks… until the 8th. Sean Armstrong had only a 2.19 ERA/2.54 FIP since rejoining the team on May 21st. But, he was very bad today, giving up a HBP, a single and then a crushed three-run homer to Randy Arozarena. So, Vogt had to go to Hunter Gaddis whom he wanted to rest, having pitched him yesterday. But Gaddy Daddy got the outs and passed the baton to Cade Smith for the 9th.

It was a little hairy, but Cade got it done, getting Josh Naylor for the last out with two runners on. Guardians win, 4-3.

If the Guardians can find a way to win this series tomorrow, it will be the first series they have won since José Ramírez got hurt. Speaking of hurt, Watson left the game late and he had jammed his hand/wrist trying to make a catch a couple innings earlier. Hopefully our star slugger is ok. Vogt said his removal was precautionary and he will be checked out but should be good to go. Of course… he said the same thing about Angel Martinez.

Oh, Erik Sabrowski looked good and got his guy on a K, so hopefully he is getting back to normal.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs got stomped on by the Buffalo Bison (Blue Jays), 9-3 in 11 innings.

Grant Kipp made his Triple-A debut tonight. Over 3.2 innings, Kipp gave up three runs on seven hits. Two of those hits were solo home runs. On positive side, Kipp did strike out seven while walking two.

The contest was tied 3-3 heading into extra innings and Vince Reilly had pitched a scoreless ninth and tenth innings.. But when he came out for the elevent., he got shellacked. The final line on Reilly was four runs, three earned, on two hits and three walks over 2+ innings. One of the three walks was intentional. Reilly struck out one batter.

Left fielder Chas McCormick hit a solo home run in the second inning, his ninth on the campaign. McCormick went 3 for 4 with a double. He scored twice.

Center fielder Brett Bateman was 2 for 3 with two walks.

A Grant Kipp strikeout.

Grant Kipp strikes out three in his first Triple-A inning! pic.twitter.com/K5cCXx9RmM

— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) June 27, 2026

McCormick’s home run.

Chas goes deep! pic.twitter.com/iuL2u0gVXq

— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) June 27, 2026

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies scored seven runs in the eighth inning and dethroned the Birmingham Barons (White Sox), 7-3. Knoxville has won eight of their last nine games.

Stater Evan Taylor pitched two innings and allowed one run on three hits. He struck out four and walked one.

The win went to Tyler Schlaffer, who threw the final 2.1 innings of this game without allowing a run. Schlaffer gave up just one hit and one walk while striking out three.

Second baseman Hayden Cantrelle tied this game up 3-3 in the eighth with a two-run single. Cantrelle was 2 for 5 and scored one run.

Later in the eighth, left fielder Andy Garriola had a two-run single of his own. Garriola was 1 for 4.

First baseman Edgar Alvarez was 2 for 4. He scored once and drove in one in the eighth.

Highlights from that eighth inning.

The Smokies score 7 RUNS in the 8th inning to take the lead 🤯 pic.twitter.com/ky4xsoTu5z

— Knoxville Smokies (@smokiesbaseball) June 28, 2026

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs incarcerated the Quad Cities River Bandits (Royals), 11-1.

Jaxon Wiggins made a rehab appearance for South Bend and gave up no runs and just two hits over 3.2 innings. Wiggins struck out four and walked no one.

Adam Stone pitched the next 1.1 innings, allowed no runs on one hit, and was awarded the win. Stone struck out one and walked no one.

Ethan Flanagan got the rare four-inning save. Flanagan allowed one run on four hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out four.

Left fielder Jose Escobar hit a two-run home run in the fifth, his fifth on the year and third with South Bend. Escobar went 3 for 4 with a walk. He had three total RBI.

First baseman Drew Bowser drove in two more later in the fifth inning with his fifth home run of the season. Bowser went 2 for 4 with a walk.

Shortstop Angel Cepeda also had a hug night, going 2 for 3 with a double and two walks. He also stole a base. Cepeda scored three runs and drove in two.

Wiggins highlights.

Jaxon Wiggins looks sharp in his latest rehab outing for the High-A @SBCubs!

3 2/3 IP | 2 H | 0 R | 0 BB | 4 K

MLB's No. 83 prospect (@Cubs) is working his way back from right elbow inflammation. pic.twitter.com/VzT5MEk8sf

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 28, 2026

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans were unable to move the Salem RidgeYaks (Red Sox), 8-5.

Solid start for Braylon Myers, who turned in three scoreless innings with two hits. Myers struck out one and walked no one.

Henry Cone got mugged for five runs in the bottom of the seventh and took the loss. Cone’s final line was five runs on four hits over 1.2 innings. Only two of the five runs Cone allowed were earned. Cone walked two and struck out three.

Third baseman Derniche Valdez went 3 for 5 with a double. He scored twice.

Left fielder Edward Vargas was 2 for 5 with an RBI triple in the seventh. Vargas scored on that triple for a “Little League” two-run home run. Vargas scored twice.

Second baseman Ezequiel Perez was 2 for 4 with a walk. He had one run batted in and one run scored.

Center fielder Alexey Lumpuy was 1 for 5 with a walk and three steals. He had one RBI.

Vargas’ Little League home run.

Inside-the-park home run!!

Edward Vargas touches all the bases to take back the lead!! pic.twitter.com/DFCGdzphXK

— Myrtle Beach Pelicans (@Pelicanbaseball) June 28, 2026

ACL Cubs

Lost to the Giants, 12-9 in eight innings.

The Mariners lost to the Guardians, 4-3, and are now 42-42 on the season.

I am not a particular Douglas Adams fan but read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy as a middle-schooler, as one does, so I could understand my older cousins’ inside jokes. 42, of course, is the answer to ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything – the catch is, no one knows what the question is. As a literal-minded middle-schooler I was pretty annoyed by this conceit, and more annoyed when I found out later that Adams picked the number 42 entirely at random – an empty answer to a question that didn’t even know what it was asking.

Older, now, and less literal-minded, I can appreciate words that fill in gaps for concepts too hard to name – tough one tonight – and how some questions don’t have answers, or even questions. The 2026 Mariners have won 42 games. The 2026 Mariners have lost 42 games. They are a good team, and also a not-good-enough team.

Tonight the Mariners hitters pounded the ball into the ground against Guardians starter Slade Cecconi, who retired seven of the first batters he faced on grounders. The only damage he allowed the first time through the order was a two-out double to Dominic Canzone, hitting in the three-hole spot for the first time in his career, and even the joy of that was tempered as Canzone, who’s been struggling with a bum hamstring, ran gingerly into second base. The hamstring was obviously bothering Canzone, who was serving as DH, all game; postgame Dan Wilson said the injury was “playable,” which is a word that has some meaning, somewhere, maybe, but not a tremendous amount here, or now.

From there, it was mostly the frustrating Mariners offense you’ve become accustomed to watching over the past few weeks. A leadoff single from Julio Rodríguez in the fourth was squandered after a variety of weak-contact outs. Cole Young uncharacteristically blew a Mariners challenge early, perhaps reacting in frustration after a tough check swing call in the third. Ground ball out. Ground ball out. Groundhog Day.

That left the Mariners starter in a familiar position – this time, Logan Gilbert had the grim task of keeping the Guardians off the board. Gilbert looked strong into the fourth, giving up only a single to the lone right-handed hitter in the lineup in Gabriel Arias, until things devolved in the fourth. Travis Bazzana led off with a groundball base hit on a fastball with good velocity (98 mph) but poor location (right in the middle of the plate). Maybe that scared Gilbert off his heater, because the pitch selection went a little wonky after that: in an 0-2 count where he had Kyle Manzardo whiffing at his four-seamer, he threw a changeup as a putaway pitch that instead Manzardo rapped past a diving Cole Young to put runners at the corners with just one out. Gilbert then hung a first-pitch slider to Khalil Watson for a ringing double that brought in the Guardians’ first run of the day, and went back to the changeup another two times against Kyle Ingle for another sharply-hit ground ball single, this time bringing in two runs. Postgame, Gilbert said the game plan was to use the changeup against the Guardians’ lefty-heavy lineup, but acknowledged “it’s kind of a cat and mouse game,” which must mean something to him.

The Mariners had a chance to answer back in the top half of the fifth despite not recording a hit, with Luke Raley accepting a four-pitch walk and Cole Young reaching on an error, but J.P. Crawford couldn’t come up with a clutch two-out knock, caught looking at a sinker up in the zone for an inning-ending strikeout.

It’s hard to fault Gilbert for the next Guardians run, however: with two outs in the fifth, Bazzana reached after a splitter and floated it into the outfield for a single, and then turned on the jets and scored on an excuse-me swing from Brayan Rocchio on a first-pitch fastball up and out of the zone that dribbled down the left field line for a run-scoring double, extending the Guardians lead to 4-0.

The Mariners had yet another chance in the seventh, with Cecconi’s day finally blessedly coming to an end after allowing a walk (and another walk from reliever Colin Holderman), but Stephen Vogt pushed the Sabrowski Saw button and cut down the Mariners’ attempt at a two-out rally. J.P. Crawford battled, but again was the last out, again caught looking at a perfectly spotted strike three.

If there’s any silver lining to be had for this game, it’s that Logan Gilbert managed to push through the seventh inning, saving the bullpen an inning at least – and maybe a palate cleanser for Gilbert to end his outing, battling Steven Kwan for ten pitches and emerging victorious on a called strike three on the slider for his seventh punchout of the day. Take away the fluky-BABIP run in the fifth (and maybe make a few different pitch calls in the fourth) and that’s a solid outing for the reigning AL Pitcher of the Week. If moral victories are the only kind of victory we’re allowed to savor today, well, there are worse ones.

Having used the Saw Trap already and with the Mariners down to their final six outs, Vogt opted to bring in former Mariner Shawn Armstrong, who had a rough outing, hitting Julio on the hand/wrist with a pitch – he was clearly in pain but remained in the game and even came up with a ninth-inning single – before surrendering a single to Canzone, and then giving up the big hit to Randy Arozarena, who jumped on a 94 mph fastball right in the heart of the plate and demolished it to dead center, giving the Mariners three runs in a hurry.

Armstrong then gave up a first-pitch opposite-field single to Josh Naylor before being replaced by Hunter Gaddis. Gaddis got his first two outs before surrendering a first-pitch single to Cole Young on a changeup. But Colt Emerson couldn’t catch up with Gaddis’s slider, closing the book on the Mariners’ best scoring opportunity for the day, as Cade Smith allowed some uncharacteristic traffic but ultimately slammed the door for the Guardians in the ninth.

The Mariners are 42 and 42. They left 11 men on base. Their bottom four hitters, which tonight includes the reigning MVP runner-up, went 1-for-13. It is their 13th straight game of scoring three runs or fewer, tying a franchise record. These are all numbers that might mean something, but probably don’t, let alone the answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything.

Before you could grab your hot dog, popcorn, and preferred pilsner beverage, the Diamondbacks took a 1-0 lead on a Geraldo Perdomo double, Corbin Carroll single, and a whiff of a tag from catcher Hunter Feduccia.

Geraldo Perdomo pulls out the swim move to avoid the tag at the plate 😮 pic.twitter.com/G0QGoJ8f8d

— MLB (@MLB) June 27, 2026

In the bottom half of the first, Junior Caminero hit a thunderous, sky-scraping blast for his sixth homer in his last 19 innings played. The 43-degree launch angle was matched with a 107 MPH exit velocity, the tallest round-tripper of Caminero’s career.

HE'S GONE YARD AGAIN 🤯

Junior Caminero has 6 home runs in his last 5 games! pic.twitter.com/C8eKAOsyYU

— MLB (@MLB) June 27, 2026

For the first time in 630 days, Michael Grove got to pitch in an MLB game, and my goodness did he deliver.

Grove retired nine of the 10 batters he faced over three innings, struck out four, all on sliders, and collected the win.

We've seen knuckle curveballs …

But a knuckle slider?! pic.twitter.com/PSj043tXil

— MLB (@MLB) June 27, 2026

Jonathan Aranda hit his 13th longball of the season in the fifth inning, taking us to 3-1 Tampa Bay.

Ketel Marte would cut the deficit in half with a 430-foot solo shot off of Kevin Kelly in the 8th, and Brian Baker would come on in the ninth with a new light show entrance for save number 21 in 1-2-3 fashion.

The two expansion cousins will have getaway day tomorrow, with first pitch scheduled for 1:40 PM EST and Merrill Kelly and Dre Rasmussen as the probable starting pitchers.

Another disappointing loss. Five in a row now, as they fall towards the back of the AL wildcard chase. Really, it’s remarkable that 39-44 counts as in the race at all, but the AL being what it is they’re just 2.0 games back of Texas in spite of having ceded three games to them in the last three days.

• Dylan Cease was messy today. He did pick up 10 Ks in 4.2 innings, but strikeouts are never his problem. Walks sometimes are, and he had five of them en route to allowing four runs. He gave up a run in the first on two walks and a single, but it looked like he was pulling it together for the next three innings. Two more singles and another walk in the fifth plated Texas’ second run in the fifth, and also forced him from the game as his pitch count reached 107.
• Mason Fluharty wasn’t able to pick him up, allowing both inherited runners to score and plating two of his own on a walk, a single, and a double. The first of his own runners would end up being the decider.
• Derek fisher allowed a solo shot in the 5th, running Texas’ total to 7.
• Tommy Nance, Jeff Hoffman, and Tyler Rogers eached worked a scoreless inning of relief.
• On offence, they really couldn’t do much against Cal Quantrill, managing just two singles and a walk over 4.0 scoreless innings while striking out five times.
• They did jump on relievers Robby Ahlstrom and Joe Ross. Ernie Clement doubled and the newly recalled Yohendirck Pinango homered to score two in the fifth. Alejandro Kirk lead the sixth off with a solo homer, and debuting rookie Sean Keys singled, moved to second on an Clement hit, to third on a Pinango, and across on an Andres Gimenez line single to plate the Jays’ fourth and final run.

If you want a bright spot, it was contributions form Keys and Pinango. The former was playing his first major league game, and while one for four isn’t exactly setting the world on fire it was a solid first effort. He outhit their other first baseman, for about 1/45th the price. Pinango, meanwhile, has looked like a solid MLB hitter throughout his MLB time this season. Both look to be long term contributors in some fashion. Plus, Ernie Clement looked like the All Star he’s about to be, accounting for four of the team’s 17 total bases on the afternoon.

We’ll wrap things up tomorrow at 1:37pm ET. Shane Bieber (0-0, 9.82) will look to find some kind of form in his second appearance of the season. The Rangers will start Kumar Rocker (2-6, 4.14).