Ducks forwards Mason McTavish speaks to the media during his 2025-26 exit interview.
With the abundance of trade rumors that had cropped up this past week, it was only a matter of time before the hammer dropped. On Friday evening, during the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft, the Ducks traded forward Mason McTavish to the St. Louis Blues for the 15th overall pick and the 29th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. The Ducks then used the 15th pick to select forward Nikita Klepov. There is zero salary retention in the deal.
2025-26 was a rollercoaster season for McTavish. He missed the start of training camp due to a contract dispute before signing a six-year contract with a $7 million AAV. He did have a good start to the season, putting up 18 points in 25 games, but he was unable to perform consistently in a bigger role while Leo Carlsson was out due to surgery to remove a Morel-Lavallée lesion.
The inconsistency persisted into the second half of the season, with McTavish eventually shifted to the wing and even healthy scratched for a handful of games. He was also a healthy scratch in two of the Ducks' playoff games against the Vegas Golden Knights.
While McTavish is a capable player offensively, his lack of foot speed and below-average defensive work proved to be deficiencies. Without the pace needed to adjust to head coach Joel Quenneville's system, he was a square hole in a round peg. In his 2025-26 exit interview, McTavish said that he wanted to come into next season a bit leaner and work on improving his speed and defensive work. The fruits of his labor will be viewed in St. Louis instead of Anaheim next season.
CHICAGO, IL - MAY 12: An exterior view of Guaranteed Rate Field before a regular season MLB game between the Kansas City Royals and the Chicago White Sox on May 12, 2026, at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
It is the end of the sixth inning; the White Sox are leading 17-1. The Royals scored their only run on a double play groundball after David Sandlin walked the bases loaded following a 10-run bottom of the third inning. This comes one night after the Royals were almost no-hit in Tampa Bay and lost 13-2. I’m not watching any more of this and neither should you.
If you’re looking for positives, Steven Cruz struck out 3 in 1.1 scoreless innings. Carter Jensen extended his hitting streak to 17 games. Jac Caglianone had a triple. Kendry Chourio earned his first win with the River Bandits. That’s all I’ve got for you.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 26: Derek Hill #49 of the Philadelphia Phillies scores a run during the seventh inning past Luis Torrens #13 of the New York Mets at Citi Field on June 26, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It’s kind of crazy the way momentum works in baseball. Normally, we equate momentum as when one teams comes from behind on another, scoring runs to take a lead and eventually emerging victorious. One could argue that both teams had some kind of momentum today coming into this game. The Phillies, of course, had several games where they were down to their last strike before demolishing a Nationals bullpen. The Mets had a different kind of momentum. They had earlier fired their manager and were looking to get off to a good start under the interim manager.
In the first inning, the Phillies capitalized on their momentum, the first three hitters reaching on hits and scoring a run. Eventually, the Mets starter Zach Thornton settled down and kept them off the board the rest of the inning to swing some mo’ back New York’s way. Carson Benge singled off of Zack Wheeler to start the Mets’ frame, bringing up Juan Soto. Soto drove a ball that looked off the bat to be a home run, but Derek Hill had other ideas.
The rest of the game, it was Wheeler in total command of his game. He allowed a single run in the fourth when Bo Bichette doubled, moved to third on a ground ball and scored on a Jared Young single, but the rest of the game was a masterclass.
The issue? Thornton had also settled all the way in, limiting the Phillies’ offense to the lone run on seven hits. He was relieved by Huascar Brozaban in the seventh, a move on which the Phillies capitalized. Hill singled, then moved to second on a walk to Bryson Stott. Trea Turner came through with a two-out RBI single to score Hill and give the Phillies a lead.
In the end, the momentum shifting catch by Hill was the difference. Without it, who knows how the Mets respond. They’d have had the lead in the first inning with no outs and the stadium loud. Instead, they allowed Wheeler to get locked in and were summarily locked up themselves.
Good.
These teams will lock horns again tomorrow afternoon, so long as the weather holds up.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - JUNE 26: Colt Emerson #4 of the Seattle Mariners celebrates with teammates after hitting a solo home run during the third inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on June 26, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Mariners 3 (obviously), Guardians 1
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Josh Naylor, -0.24 WPA The Rock, on a roll: Luis Castillo, +0.24 WPA
Apr 1, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) drives to the basket against Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) during the third quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Hey there! With the defending champs about to embark on a well-deserved summer as the defending champs, what better time than now, the oasis between the draft and the corpse of what used to be free agency, to get all high and mighty up in our perch as Knick fans and cast judgment on all the loser teams beneath us — specifically, five current and/or historic rivals and/or curiosities.
BOSTON — A week or two from now, the Celtics may look completely different than they do now. Maybe they’ve sprinkled enough leprechaun dust around to pull some more Al Jefferson/KG or Kevin McHale/Robert Parish/Joe Berry Carroll shenanigans. If you had to bet on one team retooling a contender on the fly and coming out ahead, besides the Lakers, you could do worse than placing a fiver on the Red (Auerbach) Devils.
But I can’t live a week or two into the future. I can only live today, and sometimes even that’s pushing it. Today, for the first time in quite some time, I find myself wondering — just who or what are the Boston Celtics, anyway?
For a while they achieved a kind of basketball perfection, featuring a rotation where every player could shoot and play both ends. As the hypocritical, soul-sucking Knick-hating CBA pushed cheap billionaires away from the player-empowering “Big Three” model to teams’ decidedly less romantic search for the strongest weakest link, the Celtics seemed to have cracked the code. Figurative reams of digital press praised them not only for winning just the franchise’s second ‘chip since Rick Brunson was 14, but for Brad Stevens’ gossamer genius in building them to contend for years.
A funny thing happened on the way to paradise, though. The team was sold. Odd, it seemed. The Celtics are a flagship North American sports franchise. They’d literally just won the championship. And the people writing and cashing their checks looked at each other and just said “Peace”?
Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles and the new owners did the *practical* thing, “practical” almost always meaning “cashed in something ineffable and intangible for $$,” using the injury as cover to get rid of Jrue Holiday and three centers who could all shoot, rebound and defend. They were always gonna be better than people expected, but they were better than that, even. Tatum came back from his Achilles tear in, like, record time, a statement that seems as likely to age well as Joel Embiid. The playoffs exposed the team’s Achilles heel as its cheap-ass owners, who knew Tatum would be back for the postseason and gave their plucky squad all of Nikola Vučević at the trade deadline.
Credit to Stevens for possessing a seemingly soberer view of his team than some of its media fanboys. The Cs fell 10 wins short of a title in 2025, 13 last season. That’s not title contention. That’s . . . *waves haphazardly at what’s come of Denver*. Excepting Vučević, everyone on the books this past season is next season, too. Something’s gotta give, and something ain’t gonna be Tatum. So it’s gotta be Jaylen Brown or Derrick White.
Speaking of which . . .
DETROIT –
Going from 14 wins one season to 44 the next? Unprecedented. 44 to 60? Nearly as impressive. Next step? That one’s a doozy. After a bittersweet postseason, the Pistons are firmly in “What do we do now?” territory.
Detroit is neither blind to what ails it nor subtle in pursuing its remedy, and while newly-signed Isaiah Joe will narcotize some of their shooting pains, he isn’t a panacea. The last three Eastern conference champions have featured dynamic offensive duos: Tatum/Brown, Tyrese Haliburton/Pascal Siakam, Jalen Brunson/Karl-Anthony Towns. The Pistons have Cade Cunningham. They need Tobias Harris to not be their second-best offensive player. Kawhi Leonard, Tyler Herro, Norm Powell, Jaylen Brown — more in that vein.
Now Jalen Duren, a restricted free agent fresh off All-NBA Third Team honors, is ready to explore sign-and-trades after being underwhelmed by Detroit in contract negotiations. Harris is an unrestricted free agent. Isaiah Stewart’s in Memphis. Duncan Robinson could be cut loose for $2 million. Kevin Huerter? They don’t know her. Not only are the Pistons in obvious need of a serious talent injection, something they haven’t really had to deal with for, oh, 20 years is rather quite suddenly their new normal. Pressure.
Miami acquired Giannis Antetokounmpo, who’d’ve been a terrifying addition for Detroit. LaMelo Ball is about to co-star in a fascinating experiment alongside Anthony Edwards in Minnesota; might’ve been just as interesting watching him and Cade in tandem. Heck, either of Julius Randle or Naz Reid would level-up the Piston attack. Everyone and their cousin knows what they need. Every time another team acquires an offensive star, whether the Pistons were in or even interested in the player, a pressure builds around general manager Trajan Langdon. How about this guy? Why not this guy? Who’s the next guy? What about him? Even if he himself is unaware of it, that doesn’t mean others around him aren’t unaware, i.e. aware. Got that?
Get this: the Celtics are seemingly nudging Brown out the door this summer. They daren’t send their former Finals MVP to a key conference rival, dare’st they? What would it took to make a trade work? Would Duren appeal to Boston, who’ve preferred to play 5-out but were forced away from that style last year? And if Duren isn’t the Beantown ballast, does Detroit have anyone else who appeals? They wouldn’t consider Ausar Thompson? T’would they?
MIAMI – “Men were deceivers ever/One foot in sea, and one on shore/To one thing constant never.” That’s from Much Ado About Nothing, fitting both in that it describes Antetokounmpo’s schtick the past couple of years and captures my feelings about the Giannis trade in four words. Not that I don’t see what they’re going for.
There are times a team needs a superstar player for reasons having nothing to do with basketball. When Amar’e Stoudemire signed with the Knicks, it felt like the first thing to go right for the franchise in a decade. The Knicks weren’t suddenly title contenders; they weren’t even 50-win contenders. But the Knicks were back. That mattered.
And oh by the way: squint hard enough and you can see STAT’s signing in 2011 as the first pebble to roll in what became the 2026 Knicks’ title-winning avalanche. Stoudemire putting the “Ooooh!” back in New York showed Carmelo Anthony what he was missing. The Melo era ended with him traded to Oklahoma City, for a draft pick the Thunder initially received from the Bulls along with two future/former Knicks, Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott. Chicago got back another someday Knick, Cameron Payne.
Seven months later, that pick was shipped from OKC to New York, along with McDermott and Enes Freedom, with Carmelo going the other way. That pick, the 36th in the 2018 draft, became some kinda player, the best on either team in 2023 and 2025 playoff series whose significant endgame efforts on both ends helped the Knicks end their 53-year title drought.
Which is to say I understand the Heat trading for Antetokoumpo. You can’t make money if you’re broke. Takes some to make some. Miami is the rare NBA “destination” franchise, though it hasn’t been for a while. Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kel’el Ware are both fun players, but nobody’s uprooting their family to go play with them. Giannis? Different story.
A little less than two years ago, the Knicks added KAT and Mikal Bridges. They saw a way to assemble a title-worthy starting five, which there’s no guarantee pops up in life, and they took it. It cost them depth and continuity, and that cost them in the ECF vs. Indiana. But with the hard part finished, the Knicks used the following summer and trade deadline to assemble a title-worthy bench.
Maybe Miami’s thinking similarly. Even if Giannis never leads them to a championship, or even comes close, there’s a far better chance some future star takes their talents to South Beach in the next few years to join him than Tyler Herro. If that future star is on the Heat in 2030, with Giannis retired, he’ll have delivered what they hoped for. So I get it, in that sense.
What I don’t get is any hype beyond that.
If Antetokounmpo were 25 or 28 next season and not turning 32, I could see them playing a bit of the long game, biding a little time to fully clear their books before adding the next Hardaway to their Mourning, Shaq to their Wade, LeBron to their Wade, Bosh to their Wade, etc. If Bam Adebayo’s fit alongside Giannis felt closer to KAT/OG than Ewing/Cartwright, a little wait would seem to promise a big payoff. If. If! If ifs and ands were pots and pans, there’d be no work for tinkers’ hands.
Before the deal, the Heat weren’t laying a glove on the Knicks, the Celtics, the Pistons or the Cavs. After the trade, and assuming they fill out the roster with an unexceptional lot of role players and given Miami’s success rate turning seeming joes into pros, what’s changed? Cleveland is suspect enough that it’s possible Antetokounmpo’s ferocity alone could take them down. Beyond that? Nah.
If you’re a Heat fan, this trade is a big deal. If you’re a Bucks fan, same. If you root for any other team, this feels like an oddly “meh” takeaway, given this is a story we’ve been hearing about for at least a year. And if you’d told me back then someone would swap four players and a half-dozen picks and swaps for Giannis, I’d have assumed it was a seismic deal, for one team if not two. Not so much.
CHARLOTTE – Hmm.
Hmmmmmm.
Dunno where to go with this one. Let’s try this: when you think of Mitchell Robinson, what words come to mind? What other basketball players or pro athletes in general does he remind you of? Take a minute or two. Think about it. I’ll wait.
Okay, you’re back? Did you think of A.C. Green? Cal Ripken Jr.? Lou Gehrig? No? No ironmen popped to mind? That’s fair. Mitch is a great many great things, but “durable” isn’t one even his biggest stans would attempt with a straight face. What’s that gotta do with Charlotte’s point guard?
The past six seasons, Mitch has played 270 games, only a handful fewer per those six seasons than LaMelo Ball. But while M-Rob is likely to sign for $45-$50 million the next three years, in that same span Ball will make $130 million. Apart from any and all questions of LaMelo’s style of play/stylings, it’s difficult to be worthy of a max or near-max salary even if you’ve generally been available, and generally Ball hasn’t.
So as counterintuitive as it’d seem, it’d seem the situation calls for recognizing and applauding Charlotte for anticipating a tricky point in their aspiring ascension and successfully moving past it. I’m not sure it does, though.
While the Hornets’ 28-10 run to close the season certainly was not much ado about nothing, it’s likely whatever something they were up to was never quite all it appeared to be in the moment. A third of the league spent most of the year tanking. When push came to shoving their way to a playoff spot, the Hornets lost 121-90 to an Orlando team that didn’t score 121 points total over seven games versus Detroit.
It’s fair to wonder if the Hornets have any business being self-confident enough to make this kind of move now, and what the optics will be if it backfires. Ball is now cast out, publicly ex-communicated by a sad sack of a franchise. His ego is wounded. He’ll now be playing with by farrrrrr the best teammate he ever has. And it’s fair to wonder if the team might be confusing their success in collecting the right players for once with those players doing the actual work of embettering the team.
I can’t remember where I read this earlier, but Kon Knueppel made well over 40% of his 3s while playing with Ball versus about 37% without him. As a Knicks fan I’m the last person who will ever doubt Coby White, and he’ll cost the Hornets about $20 million less per year than Ball for three years. Still. I wonder, after a postseason watching the Knicks defy the odds over and over again because their shaman had better magic than the other guy, if the Hornets may have short-circuited something special before it got a chance to spread its wings.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - JUNE 26: Payton Tolle #70 of the Boston Red Sox reacts after the final out of the the seventh inning of a game against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park on June 26, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Brian Fluharty/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Payton Tolle last faced the Yankees on April 23rd, when he held them to a run on just three hits in six innings, tallying a career-high 11 strikeouts. It’s hard to think that he could improve on that outing, but he took things to another level tonight, logging one of the most dominant performances by an opposing starter the Yankees have seen in quite some time. He carried a perfect game into the sixth inning before a Spencer Jones single broke up the perfecto and no-hit bids.
By that point, the Red Sox had built a comfortable cushion off Will Warren that the Yankees never really looked like threatening. They may have played a cleaner game in the field than the series opener, but that’s not going to count for much when you manage just three hits on the day. It’s telling that the most exciting moment was a benches-clearing kerfuffle in the fifth as the Yankees sleepwalked to a 6-1 loss.
It wasn’t quite the strikeout display as his first start against the Yankees, but Tolle was nonetheless effective at inducing a whole lot of harmless contact from the Yankees early in counts. He did strike out the side in the second, but mostly it was pop ups and ground balls from the Bombers lineup. Their first baserunner came with one out in the sixth, Spencer Jones flipping a single to the opposite field. They’d muster just two more baserunners against Tolle from that point: a pair of two-out walks by Jasson Domínguez and José Caballero in the seventh, only for Jazz Chisholm Jr. to strand them in place with a routine fly out to center.
There is no doubting that this year’s version of Will Warren is much improved from his 2025 rookie campaign – evidence of his development path over the offseason. However, having watched half a season’s worth of starts from him in 2026, I think I’ve identified the three biggest things for him to continue to work on. The first we have discussed multiple times already – the need to maintain composure upon encountering adversity in a start. Warren tends to unravel with runners on, especially if they got there via an error, and I suspect the problem is down to him pitching out of the stretch instead of the windup.
The second area of improvement is to be smarter with his fastball. I feel he is a tad too brazen with his fastball in the zone – stuff-wise it’s just not good enough to beat hitters when it’s not commanded to the edges. Finally, he has seen his strikeout rate drop with each month of the season as he has really struggled to put guys away with two strikes.
Tonight, it was the latter pair of issues that really bit him. In the first, Wilyer Abreu tripled to center with two outs, and after Warren worked Willson Contreras to a 2-2 count, he made a mistake with a sinker that caught way too much of the zone and Contreras drove Abreu home with a single to left-center. Then in the second, Warren loaded the bases with no outs, giving up a bunt single to Caleb Durbin, a line drive single to Anthony Seigler, and walking Connor Wong. He then managed to induce a pair of ground balls, but the infield failed to convert the double play both times, allowing a further pair of runs to score.
The following inning, Warren once again got ahead of Contreras, 1-2, but this time hung a sweeper up and over the plate, and Contreras crushed it over the Monster and onto Lansdowne Street to make it 4-0, Boston. I don’t think for one second that this engendered any feelings of malicious intent in Warren, but Contreras certinly seemed primed for some form of retribution. He got his opportunity to fly off the handle in the fifth. After drawing a walk, Contreras jawed at Warren as he walked to first after two close pitches up and in, Contreras notorious for his hair-trigger temper given the number of times he has gotten plunked in recent years. This caused both benches to clear in a completely unnecessary brouhaha, everyone eventually filing back into the dugouts after Contreras got his moment to puff out his chest.
Boston tacked on another in the sixth as Caleb Durbin led off with a double, advanced to third on a Seigler grounder, and jogged home on a deep sac fly from Wong. At least the Yankees managed to avoid the shutout, breaking the ice in the eighth against old friend Tommy Kahnle. Anthony Volpe led off with a double, advanced to third on a Jones grounder, and scored on an Austin Wells RBI groundout. However, Boston reestablished their five-run lead in the eighth as Jarren Duran led off with a single, stole second, advanced to third on a Seigler grounder, and touched home on a Wong single. Domínguez collected New York’s third and final hit–an automatic double to right in the ninth with two outs–but Caballero flew out to wrap up a punchless 6-1 loss.
The Yankees still have two games to save face and split this four-game series against the last-place Red Sox. That starts tomorrow with Gerrit Cole on the mound against a third straight lefty in Jake Bennett. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 pm ET with the broadcast moving to ABC.
DETROIT, MI - APRIL 8: Gary Trent Jr. #5 of the Milwaukee Bucks dribbles the ball during the game against the Detroit Pistonson April 8, 2026 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Per Chris Haynes, Bucks guard Gary Trent Jr. has become a target of teams seeking knockdown shooting and is expected to decline his $3.9m player option and leave Milwaukee after two seasons with the team. Trent had a much better first year in the Cream City than his second one, when he really fell off the map. Of course, year one was capped off by that stellar playoff performance against Indiana, where he dropped 37 and 33 points in Games 3 and 5.
This performance led him to sign what many suspected was the “Bobby special” contract, in which, despite being worth more on the open market, he took a smaller contract with the non-Bird exception to gain early Bird rights with the team the next offseason. This initial contract would have been signed on the assumption—assuming he had another productive season—that he’d ink a more lucrative, long-term deal this offseason (you know, a wink-wink sort of deal-in-principle).
Well, Trent did not have another productive season, and the team has obviously taken on a new direction that wouldn’t really have suited him anyway. Trent’s representatives at Klutch Sports may not be thrilled right now, but that’s business, I suppose. Thanks for the memories, GT.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 8: Hello Kitty throws out the first pitch before the game at Oracle Park on June 8, 2025 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Andy Kuno/San Francisco Giants/Getty Images) | Getty Images
I don’t know why it took the Giants ages to announce Trevor McDonald, the guy whose turn it was all along. Sigh.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - MARCH 25: A general view of Oracle Park during sunset of the game between the New York Yankees and the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, March 25, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The San Francisco Giants welcome the Atlanta Braves to Oracle Park tonight to begin a three-game series.
As of the time this is being written, the Giants have not yet announced a starting pitcher. I assume that means that the last resort left for this season is the element of surprise. But check the comments below for more up to date information.
Whoever it ends up being will face off against Braves right-hander Reynaldo López, who enters tonight’s game with a 3.50 ERA, 4.62 FIP, with 39 strikeouts to 21 walks in 43.2 innings pitched. His last appearance was in relief in the Braves’ 9-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, in which he allowed one unearned run on one hit with three strikeouts and a walk in three innings.
San Diego, CA - December 30: Jalen Warley #8 of Gonzaga looks on during a game against University of San Diego on December 30, 2025 in San Diego, CA. (Photo by K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)
The Swiss Army knife that is Gonzaga Bulldogs wing Jalen Warley will be joining the Indiana Pacers at the NBA Summer League. One of his two reported pre-draft workouts came in Indianapolis, Indiana.
In his last and only college basketball campaign with the Bulldogs, the 23-year-old from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, averaged 7.1 points on a 56.6 field goal percentage, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game. Warley led the team in steals with 1.5 per contest.
The 6-7 defensive standout on the perimeter and slasher spent three seasons with the Florida State Seminoles from 2021-24 and redshirted during the 2024-25 season. He originally was committed to the Virginia Cavaliers, but transferred to Gonzaga after coach Tony Bennett retired.
Warley’s first chance at showcasing his skill set to the masses will come at the 2026 California Classic, a summer league taking place inside both the Golden State’s Chase Center and Sacramento Kings’ Golden 1 Center from July 3 through 6. Following that, the 2026 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Nevada, runs from July 9 through 19.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - JUNE 26: Jonny DeLuca #21 of the Tampa Bay Rays misses a hit by Corbin Carroll #7 of the Arizona Diamondbacks resulting in a triple during the first inning of a baseball game at Tropicana Field on June 26, 2026 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Game Summary
Impressive was the word that Steve Berthiaume kept coming back to when describing Zac Gallen’s start tonight. Can’t say many Diamondbacks fans would agree with that assessment; the ‘Pit sure wasn’t buying it. To be fair, Zac Gallen had one of his best in-game stretches of the season, setting down 15 straight at one point. Unfortunately, the first 3 batters and the last 4 batters he faced tonight pummeled him and provided more than enough to overwhelm Gallen and the Diamondbacks offense.
After starting the game with a sequence of walk, HBP, homer, Zac settled in and was extremely efficient. He was pounding the strike zone and getting the ball in play early in counts. The defense backed him up several times, snaring would be base hits all over the place, but rather than call Zac lucky, I’ll instead say that’s how this team was designed to operate. Have premium defenders around the diamond who can help the pitchers feel confident letting the ball be put in play. Regardless of whether it was luck, skill, or a little of both, Zac was rocking a 1-hitter through 5 innings and got through 6 innings while still only allowing the 3 runs from that first inning deluge. Gallen came back out for the 7th with a low pitch count and a 2-run deficit and left the 7th (and the game) with a 3-run deficit and a runner standing on 2nd base. The fact Zac had as much success tonight as he did with exactly 1 whiff (that didn’t happen until the 7th inning!) and 0 strikeouts is…impressive.
The offense, for its part, didn’t do much to support their starter. Gerry launched a rocket into the right field stands in the first inning and Corbin followed with a triple that was inches short of a homer. Then, the RISP woes struck. The Snakes went 0-8 with RISP tonight, and their first 5 attempts started with Corbin standing at third with 1 or less outs. Of those first 5 attempts, 3 ended up pop outs on the infield. The Diamondbacks outhit their competition 8 to 6, but they couldn’t string their hits together in any successful way, leading to the utter silence after Domo’s homer 2 batters into the game.
At least the DBacks didn’t burn any valuable relief pitchers so everyone will be very fresh for the next couple games. Here’s to hoping for a strong ending to the weekend.
Loss Probability and Box Score
Outside the Box Score
Geraldo Perdomo got all of his first inning solo homer, a 421 foot shot that left the bat at 103 mph.
Corbin Carroll now stands alone at the top of the franchise triples list after he followed up Domo’s homer with his 53rd career triple. The triple looked like it might be a home run off the bat but ended up hitting off the top of the wall and the Rays outfielders glove to let Corbin cruise into third. Unfortunately, Gabi and Arenado couldn’t cash in the runner at third with only one out when they popped out to first and second base, respectively.
Zac Gallen gave up a moonshot homer to Junior Caminero after walking and hitting the first 2 Rays batters of the game. It looked like Zac might’ve got a strikeout a pitch earlier when he dotted the low, outside corner on Caminero, but the umpire didn’t bite and Gabi didn’t challenge and it ended up a 3-1 score the very next pitch.
Corbin made another outstanding play on defense when he snagged a sinking lined drive leading off the second inning. The catch looked awkward, kinda reaching backward while he started sliding feet first, but he came up with the out.
Corbin Carroll attempted a steal in the 4th after getting a leadoff single and Gabi drilled a 104mph liner through the glove of the Rays shortstop. If the defender had been able to catch it, Corbin would’ve been a dead duck. Instead, Corbin got a good read on the ball off the carom from the glove and motored into third to set up a prime scoring opportunity.
Max Kepler nearly got himself an RBI single in his second AB with the DBacks, guiding a humpback liner toward shallow left field, but Junior Caminero made an impressive leaping catch ranging back from his shallow infield starting position and kept a run off the board. He then proceeded to hit himself in the chest and yell several times. He did the exact same thing while rounding the bases after his homer. Not sure I’m a fan of that. He’s a great talent, but I’m glad he’s not on the Diamondbacks.
After the rough first 3 batters, Gallen started cruising, setting down the next 15 in a row. He was pounding the zone and getting early swings, evidenced by pitch counts under 10 in each of the 3rd, 4th and 5th.
Gabi’s single in the 6th was a little bloop shot into shallow right field. The Rays RF dove but was nowhere close to catching the ball and the hit bounced back behind him 10-20 feet. Unfortunately, Gabi couldn’t stretch it into a double because he’s apparently nursing a hamstring that he’s under strict orders not to push according to the broadcast team. A pity because Arenado followed up that near-double with a single that may have been able to score Gabi from second.
Nolan Arenado had another premier defensive play in the bottom of the 6th. After a leadoff double, Gallen gave up a a hard line drive that was between Arenado and the third base line and Arenado made an outstanding dive to catch the ball just before it bounced off the infield dirt. 5 stars!
Late in a lopsided loss, little things help to remind me I love baseball, even if I sometimes hate the DBacks. Tonight’s treasure was Lourdes Gurriel at the plate and freaking out the home plate umpire. Lourdes was doing his customary wait until the pitch clock was about to run out and the umpire misread Lourdes intentions and called time on the batter. Lourdes was clearly confused but let it ride because it’s a blowout and it’s Lourdes. Coming out of the timeout, Lourdes stared back at the pitch clock until the last second again and the umpire couldn’t help himself and had to look back over his shoulder and see what Lourdes was staring at. Pretty funny. Or funny for a blowout loss. I do love baseball.
Comment of the Game
The GameDay Thread was lively, if not a little distracted. The GTD reached a final tally of 313 comments at time of publishing, though if I had to guess if there were more comments about the game or hippos and tortoises, I’m not sure I could confidently answer. Case in point, COTG tonight goes by popular vote to Sighborg for his this comment on, well, you just had to be there:
Coming Up
The Diamondbacks face the Rays for the second game of this 3-game set tomorrow afternoon with a 3:10pm first pitch Arizona time. Old reliable TBD is listed as the probable starter for the Rays and Jose Cabrera (0-0, 0.00 ERA) making his second big league start takes the ball for the good guys.
Red Sox starter Payton Tolle retired the first 16 straight Yankees he faced and Will Warren surrendered five runs in the first five innings as New York fell 6-1 at Fenway Park on Friday.
The Yankees have now lost two in a row and six of their last nine to fall to 48-33 on the year. The Red Sox improved to 34-46, and the AL East cellar dwellers are now 13.5 games behind the first-place Yanks.
Here are the takeaways...
- Warren got a pair of ground ball outs in the first before Wilyer Abreu drilled a fastball on the outside corner off the wall in centerfield for a triple. Willson Contreras put the Sox ahead by serving a two-strike sinker into center. He got into trouble quickly in the second as a pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out, and pitching coach Matt Blake was out for a visit. Warren didn’t allow a hit, but the first two ground balls netted Boston two more runs as they were hit too slow to turn two.
The righty wasn't so lucky with one out in the third, as a 1-2 sweeper to Contreras was hammered 418 feet (111.9 mph off the bat) over the Green Monster for a solo shot. Warren allowed his third extra-base hit of the night, a two-out double off the wall in center in the fourth to Tsung-Che Cheng, his first big-league hit, but got out without further damage.
His night would come to an end in the sixth as a leadoff double, on a ball that knuckled on Spencer Jones in center, groundout and sac fly extended the Sox lead to 5-0, and after a walk, the bullpen was called upon. Warren's final line: 5.2 innings, seven hits, five runs, three walks on 90 pitches (55 strikes).
- With two down in the seventh, the Yankees finally got something cooking as Tolle appeared to show signs of tiring as he walked Jasson Dominguez and JoseCaballero. That gave Jazz Chisholm Jr. the chance to make anything happen in the five-run game, but he got under a fastball and flied out to the warning track in center.
Chisholm finished 0-for-3 with a strikeout. Caballero went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout, blown away by a Tolle fastball.
Dominguez scaled a ground-rule double past Pesky's Pole with two outs in the ninth. He went 1-for-3 with the walk and strikeout, waving at an offspeed pitch away against Tolle.
- With ex-Yank Tommy Kahnle on the hill in the eighth, Anthony Volpe (a strikeout victim in his first two at-bats) started things off with a double off the Monster in left-center.
Jones, who ended Tolle’s perfect game bid with a single in the sixth, would ground out to the hole in second to finish 1-for-3. Austin Wells (pinch-hitting for Ali Sanchez) knocked in the visitor’s first run with a groundout to second on the ninth pitch of the at-bat.
New York mustered just three hits on the night and finished 0-for-4 with RISP with four left on base.
- Paul Goldschmidt, who entered the game eating left-handed pitching, went hitless against Tolle in three times up with a strikeout swinging. He finished 0-for-4.
- Amed Rosario, who struck out swinging and flied out to center, came closest to getting anything of consequence off Tolle in the seventh with a hard drive to the warning track in right, which would have been a home run in only one big league park: Yankee Stadium. He was 0-for-3.
- Cody Bellinger was hitless 0-for-3.
- Ben Rice, who was out of the lineup, as manager Aaron Boone said before the game that he felt Rice had been “dragging a little bit this week,” grounded out to second to start the ninth.
- Ryan Yarbrough, who picked off the runner at first to end the sixth, added a scoreless seventh with a walk and a strikeout. After the lefty allowed a leadoff hit in the eighth, Yerry De Los Santos was called on, but, after a stolen base and a groundout, a two-out base hit to left tacked on another run for Boston.
- The benches cleared with two outs in the bottom of the fifth after Warren walked Contreras. The coming together, which ended without incident, began when the Sox first baseman and Yankee starter exchanged words, leading to the benches and bullpens emptying. The umpires issued a warning to both teams.
Game MVP: Payton Tolle
The big lefty (6-foot-6, 280 pounds) needed 88 pitches to get through seven scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and two walks while striking out seven.
Highlights
The benches clear at Fenway Park after Will Warren throws one up and in to Willson Contreras pic.twitter.com/Nam64bgUpc
The Mets mustered just five hits in their 2-1 loss to the Phillies on Friday night at Citi Field.
New York has lost seven in a row and is a season-low 14 games below .500.
Here are the takeaways...
-Zach Thornton, making his second career and his first start since being recalled, worked in and out of trouble in the first. He allowed three straight hits, with Bryce Harper's single scoring Trea Turner to put the Phillies up 1-0. Thornton and the Mets bounced back, getting Alec Bohm down swinging and then Jared Young robbed Brandon Marsh of a double down the first base line with a magnificent dive to get the second out. Derek Hill ended the opening frame, striking out swinging.
After a quiet second, Thornton found himself in trouble in the third, allowing the first two runners on. He got Harper to fly out -- he just missed a three-run homer -- before Bohm lined the ball right at Young, who caught the liner and hit first base to double up Kyle Schwarber to end the threat.
Thornton would settle down, getting through six innings, allowing just one run on five hits and one walk while striking out seven.
-The Mets bullpen, which has been great this season, faltered in the seventh. Huascar Brazoban allowed the Phillies to retake the lead after Trea Turner singled to bring home Hill.
Cionel Perez was great after Brazoban, allowing two hits in two scoreless innings.
-Young did more than just make a couple of stellar defensive plays. He drove in the Mets' first run, singling home Bo Bichette in the fourth. The Mets had just five hits and five baserunners. A.J. Ewing reached base twice -- finishing 1-for-2 with a walk -- but was caught stealing second twice.
-Friday was just the 10th time Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor were in the lineup together. They went a combined 1-for-8 with a strikeout. However, Soto was close to giving the Mets an early lead. In the bottom of the first, Soto hit a bomb to center field off Zack Wheeler, but Hill made a tremendous leap and robbed Soto of a two-run shot.
Game MVP: Derek Hill
Hill scored the go-ahead run and his catch changed the game.
The Mets and Phillies continue their three-game set on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is set for 4:10 p.m.
The Phillies will send Alan Rangel (0-0, 2.25 ERA) to the mound as their opener. The Mets have yet to announce their starter, but it's expected to be Christian Scott returning from the IL.
The Los Angeles Angels announced the firing of general manager Perry Minasian and hiring of John Mozeliak as the team's "Baseball Operations Consultant" and interim general manager.
Mozeliak replaces Minasian, joining the Angels after spending 30 years with the St. Louis Cardinals, including 18 as the head of the club's baseball operations.
He will be tasked with overseeing the day-to-day baseball operations for the team while also "refining a baseball operations strategy."
Mozeliak is not expected to be the full-time replacement as general manager but instead will help assist the team in its search for a new general manager, according to the announcement made by club president Molly Jolly.
OFFICIAL: The Angels announced that the Club appointed John Mozeliak as Baseball Operations Consultant, serving as Interim General Manager after relieving Perry Minasian of his General Manager duties. pic.twitter.com/FUmwQJTbLv
“John is one of the most accomplished and respected baseball executives with a proven track record of building a winning organization,” Jolly said in a statement. “For three decades, he constructed one of baseball’s most respected organizations, combining strong leadership with a commitment to player development and organizational excellence.”
Mozeliak had signed a contract extension with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2023 that lasted through the 2025 season. The team suffered its first two losing seasons during Mozeliak's tenure, leading to him stepping down from the role as his contract expired.
Minasian had been with the Angels since 2020, following the firing of Billy Eppler. Minasian initially signed a four-year contract before signing a two-year extension in August 2024.
“Perry has been a valued leader who worked tirelessly over the last six years to strengthen our baseball operations department,” Jolly said in a statement. “I am grateful for his dedication, insight and many contributions to our organization.”
The Angels have compiled a 418-534 overall record since 2020.
The team is currently 34-48 through the first 82 games of the season, sitting in last place in the American League West standings. The Angels are seven games behind the division-leading Seattle Mariners.
There’s been a sense of frustration for a portion of the Angels’ fan base, including groups of fans who sit in the upper deck of home games shirtless, waving their shirts while asking for team owner Arte Moreno to sell the team.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JUNE 12: Roki Sasaki #11 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at Rate Field on June 12, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Daniel Bartel/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Dodgers (52-29) battle the Padres (42-37) down south in San Diego for a three-game series.
Roki Sasaki (3-4, 4.76 ERA, 1.29 WHIP) starts for the Dodgers in the series opener Friday night.
Old friend Walker Buehler (4-3, 3.96 ERA, 1.32 WHIP) takes the ball for the Friars.
