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The Dodgers reinforced their dominance over the San Diego Padres on Sunday, taking the weekend finale by a final score of 4-2.

The Dodgers were left hitless over their first two innings against Michael King, but Alex Freeland tallied their first hit with an opposite field single to lead off the top of the third. Chuckie Robinson put Freeland into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, and Shohei Ohtani brought in the game’s first run with an RBI single.

Emmet Sheehan mowed down San Diego’s offense over his first three innings, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out three. His one-run cushion was short-lived as Manny Machado connected for his second home run against him this season in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Freeland reached base for the second time against King with a leadoff walk to begin the top of the fifth inning, but Robinson failed to move him over as the bunt attempt found King’s glove. Ohtani worked the second walk of the inning to give the Dodgers multiple baserunners for the first time, and King subsequently plunked Pages for the second time to load the bases with one out. Freddie Freeman gave the Dodgers the lead back with a walk, and Mookie Betts broke it open with a two-run single, knocking King out of the game after just 4 1/3 innings. Betts added another hit in the seventh inning, finishing the weekend with an average of .333 (4-12), two home runs and six RBI.

Sheehan walked Song for the second time before plunking Fernando Tatis Jr. with two strikes on him and two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning. With Samad Taylor representing the potential tying run, Sheehan struck him out for the third time to get out of the jam.

Sheehan’s day was done after 84 pitches, but he put up his best performance in two months. It was the first time that Sheehan allowed just one run since May 8 against the Atlanta Braves, and it was the first time he allowed just one run over at least five innings since April 24 against the Chicago Cubs. His two hits allowed on Sunday are tied for the least amount all season.

Alex Vesia came in relief in the bottom of the sixth inning, but a late reaction to a ground ball from Jackson Merrill allowed the center fielder to reach on an infield single. Merrill got into scoring position on a lazy pickoff attempt from Vesia, and the left-hander couldn’t complete the inning after getting two outs.

Will Klein came in to face Xander Bogaerts, but an RBI single cut the Dodger lead in half. For the second straight inning, the Padres got a baserunner on a hit by pitch with two outs and two strikes as Andujar was drilled to put the tying run on base. Sung-Mun Song represented the potential go-ahead run, but Klein struck him out swinging to get out of the jam.

San Diego threatened Klein again in the bottom of the seventh as Tatis lined a single to right to once again bring the tying run to the plate. Klein got Taylor to strike out for the fourth time, but Tanner Scott came in to face the left-handed hitting Merrill. Scott got him swinging on three pitches to end the threat.

Scott stayed in to face the middle of the order in the bottom of the eighth, but a double from Machado and a hit by pitch to Ty France put the tying run on base with nobody out. Scott managed to strike out Bogaerts for the first out, and the southpaw needed just one pitch to get Andujar to ground into a 5-4-3, inning ending double play.

Edgardo Henriquez notched his first save of the season and just the third of his career, as the Dodgers now lead the season series over San Diego 4-2. The two teams are set to meet at Dodger Stadium for a four-game set beginning Thursday.

Game particulars

• Home runs: Manny Machado (15)
• WP– Emmet Sheehan (4-5): 5 IP, 2 hits, 1 earned run, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts
• LP– Michael King (5-7): 4 1/3 IP, 3 hits, 4 earned runs, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts
• SV– Edgardo Henriquez (1): 1 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts

Up next

Before these two teams square off again, the Dodgers head up to Sacramento to begin a three-game set against the Athletics beginning Monday (6:40 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Eric Lauer faces left-hander Gage Jump.

Romy Gonzalez is a good baseball player. He was one of the best hitters in baseball against left-handed pitchers last season. His 162 wRC+ against southpaws last season was ninth-best among qualifiers. Tonight, he makes his return for the Red Sox against Carlos Rodon on the Yankees. While he’s not the flashiest name, it should be a legitimate spark for a struggling offense. Sonny Gray goes for the Red Sox, coming off an 11-strikeout performance against the Rockies. Is a four-game sweep of the Yankees what this team needs to turn things around? Probably not, but it’s a start.

First pitch at 7:20 PM on NBC, Peacock, and WEEI.

Lineups

For the Arizona Cardinals they have two big decisions to make with regards to Monti Ossenfort’s first draft class, and they are two players at premium positions.

Now the question becomes, how will they address each contract situation?

What is interesting is that Paris Johnson Jr. and Michael Wilson seem to be going about their expectations of their next contract a little bit differently.

At least how it is being reported.

What is so interesting is that Wilson is probably better off playing the year out and betting on himself to get from the $18-22 million range to the $26-30 million range.

While PJJ wanting “$40 million a year,” makes sense for the top end left tackles, and maybe PJJ is, but can you pay that to someone who hasn’t played a full season since his rookie year?

The Cardinals also need to be cognizant of how much they’re investing in their “best players” from a three win team. They can control Paris the next two years at reasonable rates (for the position) while Wilson probably needs to prove he is more than just a volume player when the team is down 17+ points.

What do you think?

The Yankees are lucky this series is in Boston, because after three pretty gross outings in a row against the Red Sox, they’d almost certainly booed by the Bronx like the hunter who shot Bambi’s mom. They can get a little bit of good vibes back today by managing a single win in this four-game set, though they’ll need to beat arguably the BoSox’s best in order to do it.

Sonny Gray, who I’m sure many of us remember, has been quite effective from a pure run prevention standpoint. He’s top 20 in baseball by ERA albeit with a 70-inning threshold, but what should be noteworthy is how his strikeouts have disappeared. He sat down 26.7 percent of batters faced last year and over 30 percent two years ago, but manages just a 21.1 percent this year. Far more balls in play are available against Gray, and while he’s juiced his ground-ball rate to something we haven’t seen from him this side of COVID-19. If the Yankees can elevate against him, there are runs on the table here.

Meanwhile, Carlos Rodón will once again take the stage for the Yankees. I don’t want to harp on Carlos too much, he’s a fair pitcher who probably isn’t what you’re paying him to be but his wife is an excellent social media follow. He hasn’t allowed more than three runs a start all year. I hate watching him pitch. He is a laborious viewing prospect, seemingly spotting every hitter an extra pitch and being one of the slowest pitchers in baseball in terms of how long he holds the ball for. Cam Schlittler is the second-slowest, but at least he seems to dock a pitch per hitter rather than donate one. I hope Rodón pitches well, but I doubt I’ll enjoy the journey.

We have a bit of a funky lineup today, with Aaron Boone seemingly try to shake the tree and see if a few runs drop out. Against the righty Gray, Jazz Chisholm Jr. will lead us off for the first time all season–first time as a Yankee actually–and traditional lefty platoon hitter Amed Rosario will DH and bat sixth. This means Paul Goldschmidt is the odd man out, with the league’s oldest position player given the day off. Oswaldo Cabrera also gets his first start since the ugly ankle injury that ended his season early in May 2025.

How to watch

Location: Fenway Park – Boston, MA

First pitch: 7:20 pm ET

TV broadcast: NBC

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY) | WEEI 93.7, WESX 1230 AM, WCCM 1490 AM (BOS)

Streaming: Peacock

For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.

SAN FRANCISCO — Attention, pitching-starved playoff contenders: There’s a left-handed former Cy Young Award winner in San Francisco who just went toe-to-toe with Chris Sale.

It’s not just Robbie Ray’s effort Sunday in the Giants’ 3-2 win over the Braves and their own former Cy Young Award winner that should get phones ringing in the Giants’ front office.

The way Ray has pitched lately, he could be the best arm available at the Aug. 3 deadline.

With eight more innings in the win, securing the Giants’ first winning homestand since the end of April, Ray hasn’t allowed an earned run in his past 22 ⅔ innings, spanning three outings.

“There’s been no talk of that,” manager Tony Vitello said of the boon Ray’s performance of late has been to his trade value. “We just are looking for that deal where the position players and pitchers are in sync, and we just play good ball. If we do that with guys like Robbie Ray, we’ll be in a good spot.”

In the absence of that synchronicity that has existed for much of this season, however, Ray’s name — as a veteran starter both on a roll and an expiring contract — has already come up often in trade rumors.

“I’m just trying to go out every day and give my team a chance to win,” said Ray, insulated from social media chatter. “The rest is just going to fall into place. Whatever happens, happens.”

Continuing to rely more and more on his two-seamer to generate weak, early contact, Ray turned in his most efficient outing yet, needing only 95 pitches to complete his second straight start of eight innings.

Almost entirely forgoing the four-seam fastball he built his career on, Ray struck out only two batters but allowed only four hits — none until Matt Olson singled to lead off the fifth — and was at only 77 pitches through seven scoreless frames.

He needed 18 to make it out of his last and most laborious inning, finally allowing Atlanta to crack the scoreboard only after an error from Matt Chapman put the leadoff man on.

“It’s been one of my primary pitches my entire career,” Ray said, acknowledging having to let go of an emotional attachment to the four-seamer. “But I still have it. It’s still there.”

Ray, who used to throw his four-seamer on almost half his pitches, unleashed it only seven times, opposed to 36 sinkers — while mixing in a changeup and a slider — a transformation that can be traced back to the start of his recent turnaround.

On May 24, Ray walked a career-worst seven batters while allowing four runs over four innings, ballooning his ERA to a season-high 4.60. After his latest outing, that mark is down to 3.39.

“Guys have been fouling off fastballs [against him] so often, I think it’s a different look to the fastball, and now instead of a bunch of foul balls, you’re getting some induced contact early in at-bats,” Vitello said. “I think it’s led to more early contact, shorter at-bats and him getting deeper into games.”

Surely, the Giants will remind any team that calls of Ray’s dominance of late — back-to-back starts of eight innings with a 1.46 ERA the last six times he’s taken the mound. On an expiring contract, that’s not your average economy rental from Hertz — more like a premium upgrade.

Sale struck out 10 but was out of the game after six innings having exhausted 94 pitches. He wasn’t able to recover from a single from Luis Arraez to lead off the sixth that was followed by a pair of errors that led to both of the Giants’ runs in the inning, putting them ahead 2-0.

As soon as they chased Sale, the Giants’ bats were in business, with pinch-hitter Drew Gilbert leading off the seventh with a single against Didier Fuentes. Chapman doubled him to third, where he was in position to score on a sac fly from Arraez.

The extra run proved to be important as Olson led off the ninth with a double and came around to score. But Caleb Kilian avoided any other damage and finished his sixth save in eight chances, bouncing back from his four-run outing in Wednesday’s loss.

What it means

Heliot Ramos returned to the lineup after missing the past 37 games with a quad strain and helped the Giants find a spark against Sale, lining a single up the middle in the sixth for his first hit back that put Arraez in position to score on the second error of the inning.

Vitello penciled in Ramos as the designated hitter, but the playing-time picture gets murkier moving forward as the rookie manager tries to find ways to fit Ramos, Casey Schmitt, Jung Hoo Lee, Bryce Eldridge, Rafael Devers and Arraez in the lineup regularly.

Facing a tough lefty on Sunday, it was Eldridge who took a seat.

Who’s hot

Ray’s gem against the Braves was merely the latest effort in a strong stretch of starting pitching.

Of the 108 outs recorded in the sixth inning or earlier in six games on this homestand, all but three were recorded by Giants starters, which in and of itself is a step up from earlier this year.

Only Trevor McDonald (5 ⅓ IP) and Tyler Mahle (5 ⅔ IP) weren’t able to complete six innings, and in Mahle’s case it was only due to a 75-pitch limitation in his first start back from injury.

Altogether, it has produced a 1.31 ERA from their starters dating back to Logan Webb’s eight innings of two-run ball last Sunday, the best mark in the majors.

Yet, because of inconsistent offense and a faulty bullpen, the Giants improved to only 4-3 in that span. Dating back to Webb’s eight-inning gem to finish their last homestand, their pitching staff has produced MLB’s lowest ERA, but it has resulted in only a 7-5 record.

Who’s not

Sale, the 2024 NL Cy Young winner, figured to be a tough matchup for the Giants. At 37, he has been as dominant as ever in his third season in Atlanta, taking a 2.14 ERA into the game that trailed only Jacob Misiorowski and Cristopher Sanchez among NL starters.

But the Giants will probably look at their offensive output from the previous five games and feel they left some wins on the table this homestand. Their 10-hit effort Sunday only raised their team batting average on the homestand to .232, while they averaged only three runs per game, six that came in a loss blown by their bullpen.

Up next

The Giants’ bullpen should be in good shape as they head back on the road for two more series against NL West foes. Mahle will seek to build on his strong return from the injured list to begin the trip Monday against the Diamondbacks before the team spends Fourth of July weekend in Colorado to wrap up its final road trip before the All-Star break.

In a pitching duel at Oracle Park, it was the Braves who faltered, leaving Chris Sale on the hook for a loss despite a good performance in a way that’s frustrating and familiar.

Sage or something stronger may be needed to get the stink of this team, both bats AND gloves. Generally, the Braves were hitting the ball well… to a perfectly placed Giant playing effortless and Ron Washington-coached defense. The Giants, in turn, were hitting bloops and seeing-eye singles that found grass every. Single. Time. 

The good? Ha-Seong Kim worked another walk. It was apparently a beautiful and clear day in San Francisco. Chris Sale threw the fastest pitch he’s ever recorded since 2018. But otherwise? Yikes.

Sale and Robbie Ray went toe-to-toe in throwing up zeroes for the first half. Ray’s perfect game bid was broken up in the sixth inning with an Eli White single. Sale worked around traffic and stranded Giants runners effectively until the bottom of the sixth.

The Braves’ best chance to draw first blood came in the top of the sixth when White’s leadoff single and stolen base, the aforementioned HSK walk, and Michael Harris II productive out to get the runners to second and third. But Ozzie Albies groundout would send us to the cursed bottom of the sixth.

A particularly annoying Luis Arraez single followed by another by Heliot Ramos would set the table for Rafael Devers. He wouldn’t homer here, but he would single on a ground ball to Austin Riley, who then overthrew it over to first. The error allowed a run to score and for Ramos to get to third. Sale would get two swinging strikeouts, but be burned again by his own defense when Ozzie had a throwing error of his own on a play that should’ve ended the inning and instead made it 2-0 Giants.

Sale’s afternoon concluded with six innings pitched, eight hits, two runs (one unearned), one walk, and ten strikeouts. He was relieved by Didier Fuentes, who allowed a single to pinch-hitter Drew Gilbert, a double to Matt Chapman, and a sac fly to Arraez to make it 3-0. After walking Ramos, he was lifted in favor of Dylan Lee, who ended the threat.

And lo, the scoring drought would end in the eighth. Ray got his own taste of his defense making mistakes. Eli White reached on a Chapman error and got to third after a Mauricio Dubón double. But Harris II sac fly would be all they get to make it 3-1 Giants. Robbie Ray’s final line? 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R (unearned), 1 BB, and 2 K. And he did it in 95 pitches (in contrast to Sale’s 94 pitches). Tyler Kinley pitched a scoreless bottom of the eighth.

And as we’ve heard before, the Braves may not always win, but they’ll give you a finish. Matt Olson would make it interesting with a double in the ninth, advancing to third on a groundout, and then scoring on a groundout to make it 3-2. Walt Weiss turned to Dom Smith with one out left. He singled and was replaced with pinch-runner Jorge Mateo, who did his job to steal second. The script was scripting for pinch-hitter Mike Yastrzemski to deliver against his former team. But it wasn’t to be.

California was not good to the Braves. Good riddance to 2026 Pacific Time baseball. But the Delta plane awaits to bring them back home where the Cardinals and Mendoza-less Mets await. Here’s to hoping for better results as we flip the calendar to July later this week.

The White Sox and Royals played two games this afternoon, but squeezed them both into nine innings.

For the first 3 1/2 innings, it looked like the game would last until roughly Thursday and end up 46-44. For the next 5 1/2, both relief staffs did really good Mark Buehrle imitations, so the game ended up in 2:52, with KC up by a run.

The Royals scored one in the first off Anthony Kay on a single, stolen base and RBI single by Carter Jensen as he stretched his hitting streak to 19. It only took two batters against Luinder Avila for the Sox to take the lead in the bottom half, after a Sam Antonacci walk and a 407-foot shot into the wind and the bleachers by Miguel Vargas, his 19th blast of the season.

Kay then gave two back in the top of the second on a hit batter, a Colson Montgomery error on a routine grounder (not his day, he was also 0-for-4 with two of Chicago’s six strikeouts), a single and a sac fly, but Avila returned the kindness and handed the Sox back a 4-3 lead on two-out hits by Antonacci, Vargas, and Kyle Teel, the last two with broken bats.

Not one to accept gifts, Kay then gave up another run in the top of the third to make it 4-4, and yet another in the fourth to give the Royals a 5-4 lead. At that point the game had already lasted longer than an hour-and-a-half thanks to a superabundance of pitches (73 in 3 2/3 by Kay, 86 in four by Avila) as well as all the running around the bases by the two teams, who had 13 hits off the starters.

Cue up the second game, in which five White Sox relievers tossed 5 1/3 innings of four-hit, one walk shutout ball (Seranthony Domínguez was even good, probably because he pitched the sixth instead of the ninth), and five Royals out of the pen did even better, giving up just one hit in five innings of work.

It should be noted Bryan Hudson was helped considerably by an excellent throw by Braden Montgomery after Starling Marte lashed a shot down the right field line:

Nailing Marte turned out to be really important at the time, because Salvador Pérez followed with a single to left.

With the surprisingly shutdown bullpen work (especially a surprise for the Royals staff), the 5-4 score at the end of 3 1/2 innings was the same at the end of nine.

The White Sox still won the series and had a 4-2 homestand. Their record is an amazing 43-39, and with a Guardians win the two teams are again tied atop the AL Central. The Sox now head to Baltimore for three games starting tomorrow, followed by four in Cleveland.

A game and a series that started so promising, ended up in an emotional loss for the Milwaukee Brewers as they fall to their rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 4-3 in 10 innings on Sunday afternoon.

Brandon Woodruff was the big positive. In his second start since coming back from the IL, Woodruff shoved once again, allowing just one hit over 5.2 scoreless innings. He was efficient and filled up the strike zone as he usually does. Woodruff ended the day with six strikeouts on his line and protecting a one-run lead.

That one run lead was provided by Gary Sanchez, who took a 1-1 fastball from lefty Ryan Rolison and tattooed it into the second deck in left field. It was Sanchez’s eighth home run of the season.

However, that was all the Brewers offense could really muster off Rolison and then old friend Bryse Wilson, who shut down the Crew’s offense over his 4.1 IP.

The Brewers did have a number of opportunities, though. Runners at the corners in the 3rd with one out, both Chourio and Turang strike out. In the 4th, Andrew Vaughn gets a leadoff triple, no one can even muster a sac fly to bring him home. Runners on first in the 6th, 7th, and 8th, no advancement. In the 9th, the Brewers had runners on 1st and 2nd with one out, a base hit can walk it off, and both Cooper Pratt and Joey Ortiz strike out.

“I think sometimes guy maybe try to do too much, and that’s where we try to preach ‘take what the game gives you and go back to taking pitches and handing it to the next guy'” offense and strategy coordinator Jason Lane said.

Meanwhile the Crew used up their top bullpen arms in those earlier leverage innings. Aaron Ashby spiked a curveball with a runner on 3rd to allow the Cubs to tie the game in the 7th. But then Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill got the jobs done in the 8th and 9th. But with few leverage arms left, the Brewers turned to Joel Kuhnel in the 10th.

Kuhnel was able to get the first two batters out at the bottom of the Cubs order. Then he just lost the strike zone. They intentionally walked Pete Crow-Armstrong, then Kuhnel hits Bregman, then walks Michael Busch to bring in a run. Then Seiya Suzuki rips a single to left to score two more and put the Cubs up 4-1.

The Brewers put together some big chances in the 10th. Christian Yelich singled home Ortiz, then Chourio walked and Turang singled, loading the bases for pinch-hitter Garrett Mitchell. Mitchell worked a walk and the Brewers were within a run, down 4-3, with the bases loaded and nobody out.

That’s exactly when it all went sideways. Jake Bauers, after seeing Mitchell get walked, swung at the first pitch and hit a shallow pop fly into left field that was nowhere near deep enough to score a run. Then Gary Sanchez, who homered in the 2nd, grounded into a tailor-made 5-4-3 double play to end the game.

Milwaukee was 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base. Woodruff pitched well enough to win. The bullpen did well enough to win through nine innings. The offense just couldn’t give them enough.

The Brewers missed way too many opportunities to put this game away when they should have and that leaves them on the short end of this series where they had their top three arms in the rotation going. The lead over the Cubs sits at 5.5 games now and the Brewers will look to turn the page to the Reds series.

Not a good day at the ballpark as the Athletics fell to the Angels 4-1 in Anaheim in the series opener.

More to come…

The Mariners finally broke through their three-run cap to score five runs in a game, but a bullpen meltdown in the eighth meant the Mariners took a loss anyway in the season finale against the Guardians, 6-5. The loss means the Mariners fall out of first place in the AL West, meaning Mariners fans don’t even have “at least we’re in first place!” as a comforting balm in the face of one of the toughest losses of the season so far.

The five-run inning will be what undid the Mariners on the scoreboard, but the offense had multiple opportunities to put this game out of reach and failed to capitalize. The Mariners left 14 runners on base today, ranging from the standard – a J.P. Crawford leadoff single stranded in the first, a one-out Cal Raleigh walk stranded in the fifth – to the truly excruciating: back-to-back singles stranded in the fourth; an inning-ending double play in the eighth stranding Julio at third. It seems counterintuitive to fault the offense on a day when they scored more runs than they have in the past two weeks, but had the offense converted a few more of these opportunities earlier, the situation in the eighth might have played out very differently.

The Mariners did score three off Guardians starter Gavin Williams, in their usual fashion of scoring early but not delivering the kill shot. They small-balled around a run in the second off a pair of singles from their catching tandem, Cal Raleigh (DHing today) and Mitch Garver, and then got another two runs in the third: Julio Rodríguez took a one-out walk and scored on a Josh Naylor double, and then Naylor scored on what should have been a routine Randy Arozarena groundout, mishandled by Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio. A particularly frustrating footnote is the Guardians played shoddy infield defense all day, but ultimately the Mariners weren’t able to capitalize enough on those mistakes; this inning ended without further damage, despite a Cal Raleigh walk, as neither of the Mariners’ young infielders were able to cash in on that traffic on the bases; Colt Emerson had a particularly rough at-bat, seeing just one pitch in the zone but striking out anyway.

This game was a particularly brutal shake for Emerson Hancock, who was solid today, navigating around trouble and helping himself out with some defensive plays that gave Bryan Woo, the Mariners’ best fielding pitcher, a run for his money.

Hancock didn’t have the most swing-and-miss stuff against the lefty-heavy Guardians lineup, but he was able to efficiently navigate around minimal traffic all day. The Guardians were able to scrape a run off him in the fifth thanks to some bad-BABIP-luck weakly-hit singles, but Hancock managed to wiggle out of a bases-loaded no-outs situation, allowing just one run on a sacrifice fly.

Not only did Hancock limit the damage in the fifth, but fighting through that inning meant he was able to come back out for the sixth and get another two outs for his bullpen before walking Cooper Ingle. With the Mariners clinging to a three-run lead, Dan Wilson opted to bring in Eduard Bazardo, who immediately gave up a double to pinch-hitter Daniel Schneemann on a sinker located dead red. Bazardo didn’t have great command today, spraying the ball around against pinch-hitter Patrick Bailey and going to a full count, but was able to quell the threat by getting Bailey to chase after a nasty biting sweeper.

The Mariners were able to get that run right back, again capitalizing on Guardians mistakes. With former Mariner Shawn Armstrong on in the sixth, Robles reached on a bunt, then stole second and third, realizing Armstrong wasn’t paying any attention to him. Julio then brought Robles home on a weakly-hit ball that didn’t leave the infield, again poorly handled by Travis Bazzana at second, who had an absolutely brutal series defensively. But again, the Mariners weren’t able to extend the lead against lefty Tim Herrin, who came in for Armstrong and immediately hit Naylor with a pitch; Arozarena went after the second pitch he saw and pounded it on the ground to the Guardians’ one sure-handed infielder, Gabriel Arias at third, for the inning-ender.

That lack of adding on would loom large in the eighth, after the Mariners squandered yet another opportunity in the seventh against former Mariner Matt Festa. Again, the Mariners had two runners on, and again, they failed to convert that traffic into runs, with Arozarena hitting into an inning-ending double play. Gabe Speier was able to knock the Guardians down in the bottom of the seventh, but that left the eighth.

With the bottom of the lineup coming up and Muñoz as “the ninth inning guy” per Dan Wilson, the Mariners sent in Michael Rucker. On the one hand, Wilson’s options were limited: Bazardo and Speier had already pitched, José Ferrer was down after pitching the last two nights, Nick Davila has poor splits against lefties, and the six-man rotation has already shorted the pen an arm, leaving Rucker and lefty Josh Simpson, recently returned from Tacoma. Both of them would pitch in this inning. Neither would pitch well.

If you’ve been a Mariners fan a while, you already know how this went. I don’t need to describe each agonizing detail, and you probably don’t want to read it. There’s no value to be extracted from examining why each of these pitchers failed. It was a late-innings spring training game, but played in late June instead. If you’re really dead-set on imagining it, here’s a visual representation:

By the end of the inning, the Guardians led, 6-4. The Mariners would claw one of those runs back in the ninth against Guardians closer Cade Smith – Cole and Colt teaming up for back-to-back singles, a weak ray of sunshine on a dark day, and Robles again making Bazzana reconsider life at the keystone – but it almost felt even more insulting to lose by one run, especially coming in on Bazzana’s umpteenth fielding miscue of the series, like pointing up the fact that even spotted shoddy infield defense, the Mariners still couldn’t overcome their fatal flaws of non-clutch-hitting and bullpen implosion.

Losing a game that’s winnable is always frustrating, but with the way the team has been playing lately, today’s game feels like salt in the wound. Breaking out of the prison of three-or-fewer runs scored only to lose feels not so much like a finger on the monkey paw curling down, but the Mariners taking the monkey paw and beating fans over the head with it – the latest not-fun entry in the captain’s log of what has been, so far, an almost wholly unenjoyable season.

Gavin Williams had to work a bit extra this outing, throwing 103 pitches in 5.0 innings. He allowed 3R/2ER on six hits and three walks, striking out six batters. The unearned run for Gavin came in the top of the third. A throwing error by Brayan Rocchio allowed Josh Naylor to score. Shawn Armstrong only worked 0.2 innings, giving up a run on two hits before Vogt went to Tim Herrin. Herrin pitched a full inning of work, only giving up one hit. Matt Festa earned the win, improving to 2-1 on the season. He worked 1.1 innings, allowing only three base runners via two base hits and one walk. Cade Smith earned the save, but not without some struggles. Cade allowed two hits and only struck out one. A throwing error from Travis Bazzana to Rhys Hoskins scored a runner from third, accounting for Cade’s unearned run.

The Guards offense woke up in the bottom of the fifth. Gabriel Arias, Austin Hedges, and Steven Kwan all hit singles to load the bases. Kwan’s single was called an out, but Cleveland won the challenge earning Kwan another successful bunt single. Travis Bazzana hit a sac fly with no outs and bases loaded to Julio Rodríguez, scoring Gabriel Arias from third.

The Guardians remained down until the bottom of the eighth when the offense put up a five spot. Brayan Rocchio led off with a single. Cooper Ingle drew a walk and Daniel Schneemann singled on a ground to center to score Rocchio.

Patrick Bailey hit a perfect sac bunt that moved both runners with Steven Kwan loading the bases in the next AB via a walk. The Mariners opted for a pitching change to face Travis Bazzana. Bazz popped out for the second out of the inning. Chase DeLauter hit a 2-RBI single to tie it up for the Guardians.

Rhys Hoskins doubled to left field, with the ball falling just fair. Chase DeLauter, with an aggressive send, was on the heels of Steven Kwan to score the go-ahead and insurance runs.

Is the offense back? Were the only pieces we needed a load-bearing Kahlil Watson and Chase DeLauter’s return to turn things around? The Texas Rangers will be in town for a three game series starting tomorrow. Here’s to hoping the team can keep this momentum into the next few series and keep in the fight for first in the AL Central.

The Mets dropped their second one-run game against the Phillies this weekend, losing 5-4 to drop the series against their division rivals. In a game Gary Cohen aptly called “excruciating”, the Mets went 2-16 with runners in scoring position, leaving 14 men on base, in the loss.

The beginning of the game had a much different tone than that, however, especially the first four innings. Jesus Luzardo, who got the ball for the Phillies, looked great over the first four frames, allowing four base runners (with the first one coming in the third inning), and the Mets had trouble keeping the Phillies bats silent.

The Mets operated with a quasi-bullpen game, with lefty Cionel Pérez opening the game against the lefty heavy top of the Phillies lineup. He was excellent, striking out two, before handing the ball to the first of their two bulk relievers behind him in Tobias Myers. Myers had an iffy outing, throwing two zeroes in the second and fourth but also getting hit around in the third, surrendering three runs in that inning.

Trailing 3-0 after four, the Mets handed the ball to the second of their two bulk relievers, Kodai Senga. He started off strong, sitting the Phillies down in order. The Mets finally got on the board in the fifth, when Carson Benge lined a Luzardo sinker to left field to drive home Tyrone Taylor, making it 3-1.

Senga worked himself into a jam in the sixth, walking Alec Bohm and allowing a double to Brandon Marsh, setting up second and third with no outs. He worked himself out of a man made jam of his own creation, striking out J.T. Realmuto, getting Bryson Stott to ground out to a drawn in Brett Baty, and getting Juan Soto home run stealer Derek Hill to go down swinging to end the frame still down 3-1.

Francisco Alvarez doubled to lead off the sixth off of Chase Stugart. Stugart got a pinch hitting Jared Young on strikes, but did not get a pinch hitting A.J. Ewing out. The rookie blasted a hanger of a sweeper 382 ft. into the bullpen, making it a 3-3 game. Ewing crushed it, hitting it 104 mph. Ewing exited the game with a 123 wRC+, which is a wonderful silver lining in this mostly lost campaign, especially considering he is only 21 years old.

A.J. Ewing digression aside, lets get back to the sixth inning, because it did not end there. Brett Baty followed up the two run home run with a walk, and Luis Torrens singled to make it first and third, with still only one out. Carson Benge hit a soft liner up the middle that ricocheted off the pitcher’s glove, allowing Baty to scamper home on a fielder’s choice, making it 4-3 Mets.

The good vibes would end there, really. Justin Crawford led off with a single in the seventh, and Kyle Schwarber would soon after hit his 30th home run of the season to make it 5-4 Phillies, the eventual final score. Kodai Senga would stay in the rest of the game and genuinely pitch well, but that no-good, terrible pitch to Schwarber was one mistake too many.

The Mets offense did not roll over and die, but instead could not find the big hit after Ewing delivered one in the sixth. They got two runners on with two outs in the seventh but stranded them on a Baty ground out. They loaded the bases with one out on three walks against Orion Kerkering, but a Ronny Maruicio pop out and a Francisco Alvarez strike out ended the threat. They got a base runner against closer Jhoan Duran as well, but the two-out walk would be in vein.

The Mets, who at 35-49 are facing a season fading into obscurity, are 1-8 over their last nine games, which is, in my humble opinion, not what you want. (The one win, however, was the game I attended, moving my personal record to 2-0. Season tickets please @Mets!)

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: 29% WPA
Big Mets loser: Ronny Maruicio -24% WPA
Mets pitchers: -37% WPA
Mets hitters: -13% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: A.J. Ewing’s two run home run in the fourth, +27.0% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Kyle Schwarber’s two run home run in the seventh, -37.8% WPA