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Tuesday notes…

• COMING FROM BEHIND: Last night’s game was the 33rd of the Cubs’ 85 in which they have erased a deficit. They are 22-11 in those games and have won seven in a row and nine of 10. They have erased a total of 36 deficits, having done it twice in three games, all of which they won. They have done it in each of their last three games and in five of their last seven, beginning with both games of the doubleheader at New York vs. the Mets last Wednesday. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• KEEPING THE BALL IN THE YARD, PART 1: The Cubs did not surrender a home run last night, snapping a streak of 13 consecutive games with at least one. It was just their ninth streak that reached 13 games since 1901. Their longest was 17 games, in 2000. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• KEEPING THE BALL IN THE YARD, PART 2: The Cubs did not hit a homer, either. It was only the eighth game this season in which neither they nor their opponent homered. The Cubs are 3-5 in the games, all of which took place at home except a 1-0 win at Cleveland on April 5. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• TODAY IN CUBS HISTORY: Geovany Soto’s three-run homer in the 13th inning gives the Cubs a 5-2 walk-off win over the Giants. It happened 15 years ago today, Thursday, June 30, 2011.

Cubs lineup:

See you tonight at our place!

Tune in live on @WatchMarquee. pic.twitter.com/EVB0sDnIyK

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 30, 2026

Padres lineup:

Tonight’s lineup. pic.twitter.com/E1p2KsdSJy

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 30, 2026

Matthew Boyd, LHP vs. JP Sears, LHP

Matthew Boyd’s return to action after his freak knee injury was pretty good, 4.2 shutout innings against the Mets last Thursday. He did walk four and threw 76 pitches, so perhaps he can ramp up to 90+ tonight.

Boyd’s outing vs. the Padres April 27 in San Diego wasn’t good, so don’t click on that boxscore link. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Hoping for better tonight.

JP Sears spent all of this year at Triple-A El Paso, making 14 starts there, before being recalled to start June 24 against the Braves, where he allowed two runs in 5.2 innings.

This is his first career start against the Cubs. One current Cub, Alex Bregman, has faced him quite a bit, going 7-for-20 (.350) with two doubles and two home runs. Perhaps Bregman can get going this week.

Here is the weather forecast for the area around Wrigley Field.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network.

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Padres site Gaslamp Ball. If you do go there to interact with Padres fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.

You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

MLB All-Star voting has advanced to its second phase, with three Yankees, Aaron Judge, Ben Rice, and Cody Bellinger, still in the running after moving on from Phase 1. All three are trailing in the polls with two days left in the voting.

Phase 1 of All-Star voting concluded last week, with the Blue Jays’ Ernie Clement leading the American League in voting and earning an automatic bid as the AL’s starting second baseman. The top two vote-getters at every other position (and the top six in the outfield) moved on to Phase 2, where the slate is wiped clean and the top vote-getter at each position (top three in the outfield) will earn a starting nod at the All-Star Game.

Rice is up against Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first base, and trails 55 percent to 45 percent according to MLB’s latest update. The Yankee first baseman has lapped his Toronto counterpart in terms of on-field production this year, but Guerrero has had a leg up in voting the whole way.

Over in the outfield, Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger are in third and fourth, with 19 percent and 16 percent of the vote, respectively. Mike Trout, who like Judge is on the shelf with an injury, leads with 23 percent, and Byron Buxton is in second at 20 percent. Jesús Sánchez and Daulton Varsho round out the outfield ballot in fifth and sixth.

Judge would likely lead the way save for injury (in fact, he may have simply won the Phase 1 voting), but his time on the IL has certainly dinged his chances. Bellinger has slumped lately, but his overall production on the year is still superb, his 3.7 rWAR leading AL outfielders.

As things stand, Judge would squeeze in as a starting outfielder, but he’d be the only Yankee to make it through to the All-Star Game by way of fan vote. The likes of Rice and Bellinger would still look like good bets to make the team via the player/coach ballots, as would Cam Schlittler on the pitching side. For now, it’s Judge, Rice and Bellinger on the ballots, which will remain open until noon ET on Thursday.

The Mets delivered a positive update on Clay Holmes as the right-hander looks to return to the team. 

Interim manager Andy Green told the media prior to Tuesday's game against the Blue Jays in Toronto that Holmes is set to throw a bullpen session this week. 

"He’s progressing well. Love to say he’s ahead of schedule, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself and actually make that kind of declaration," Green said. "It’s going well and we’re encouraged by that. He should get on a mound in the next couple of days and then we’ll figure out what the next step is after that." 

Holmes suffered a fractured fibula after taking a line drive to his leg against the Yankees back in May. While still weeks away, the latest update on Holmes, as Green said, is encouraging for a few reasons. If Holmes can return to the team sooner than expected, it boosts a starting rotation that has struggled to find consistency.

It also provides the Mets a potential trade piece ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline. In nine starts, Holmes pitched to a 2.39 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP while consistently going deep into games. He was arguably the Mets' best starter this season and could help a team looking to bolster their rotation for the second half and a potential playoff run.

Here are the lineups. For the Phillies:

Sanchie starts the second game of the series#RingTheBellpic.twitter.com/U1ANJwb827

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 30, 2026

For the Pirates:

86/162.

📺: @SNPittsburgh
📻: @937TheFanpic.twitter.com/ShpIEUpVKz

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) June 30, 2026

Let’s talk about it.

Texas Rangers @ Cleveland Guardians

Tuesday, June 30, 2026, 5:40 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)

Progressive Field

RHP Jacob deGrom vs. RHP Tanner Bibee

Go Rangers!

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Philadelphia Phillies, June 30, 2026, 6:40 p.m. ET

The Pittsburgh Pirates are fresh off of a big comeback victory against the Philadelphia Phillies to start their three-game set in Citizens Bank Park. The Pirates trailed 5-0 after the third inning, but a pair of runs in the fourth and a run in the fifth gave the Pirates the lead for good. The Phillies responded with two runs in the eighth inning, but the Bucks put three insurance runs on the board in the ninth, which was enough to give them an 11-7 victory.

The Pirates will look for their third straight win, starting Bubba Chandler on the mound. Chandler pitched 5.1 innings yesterday, allowing five hits and an earned run in his last start on June 25 against the Seattle Mariners at home.

Meanwhile, the Phillies are starting Christopher Sanchez, the left-handed ace who has been tremendous for the Phillies this season, going 9-3 with a 2.13 ERA. Sanchez is coming off the shortest outing of his season from his last start against the Washington Nationals on June 25. He only pitched five innings, giving up seven hits and five earned runs. He left the game trailing 5-0, but the Phillies rallied in the second half, scoring 10 in the final four innings to capture a victory.

Location: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA

Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet Pittsburgh

Pitching Matchup: Bubba Chandler (3-7, 4.42 ERA) vs. Cristopher Sanchez (9-3, 2.13 ERA)

BD community, chime off in the comments section below.

Cristopher Sánchez's latest Pirates shutdown adds to historic home stretch originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Nine righties? No problem.

It did not seem to matter what the Pirates ran out against Phillies left-handed ace Cristopher Sánchez on Tuesday night.

And if it was not already clear, Sánchez has a strong handle on Pittsburgh’s offense.

He was going to bounce back after his rough outing last week in Washington.

Forty-five days ago, Sánchez was in the midst of one of the most dominant scoreless stretches by any pitcher in recent history. He threw a complete-game shutout against the Pirates on a sunny afternoon at PNC Park, striking out 13 without a walk.

Pittsburgh had three left-handed hitters in the lineup that day. They went 0-for-8.

A month and a half later, the Pirates loaded up with nine right-handed hitters against Sánchez. It did not change much.

The left-hander flirted with untouchable over seven scoreless innings, leading the Phillies to a 8-0 win after an ugly series opener Monday night.

Typically, a pitcher facing a team for the second time in a short span has to adjust once the lineup turns over. Sánchez had to do that Tuesday against Don Kelly’s exclusively right-handed lineup.

The caveat: Sánchez operates with three primary pitches.

He again leaned heavily on his changeup, but he made a notable adjustment with his slider.

Sánchez had thrown his slider to right-handed hitters only 16.1 percent of the time this season entering Tuesday. That number climbed to 20 percent.

It worked.

Of the 17 sliders Sánchez threw, 13 drew swings. Eight produced whiffs. Four ended in strikeouts. That was a 62 percent whiff rate, nearly double the pitch’s mark entering the night.

And he did it while dealing with a blister, or cut, on the top of his left thumb. That did not seem to matter, either.

As the game moved along and the Pirates’ order turned over for a third time, Sánchez leaned on his old reliable.

His changeup, arguably one of the most devastating pitches in baseball, took over. He threw it 62 percent of the time and recorded four of his nine strikeouts with it.

Sánchez finished with 23 swings and misses, the first time a Phillies pitcher had recorded at least 23 in a game since Statcast tracking began in 2009.

In two starts this season against the other Pennsylvania club, Sánchez has struck out 23 without allowing a run over 16 innings.

Tuesday’s outing also matched Jacob deGrom’s 24-game streak allowing two or fewer earned runs at home, the longest such run at one ballpark since 1913.

Sánchez’s ERA now sits at 2.00, three points lower than Zack Wheeler’s. The last time the Phillies had two starters (min. 10 starts) with an ERA of 2.05 or lower through June of a season was 1916 — Grover Alexander (1.65, 18 GS) & Eppa Rixey (1.91, 10 GS).

110 years ago.

His start, paired with a sharp night behind him, was the recipe the Phillies needed.

Alec Bohm made two diving plays that likely saved extra-base hits and possible runs. He robbed Henry Davis in the third, then took away another likely run-scoring hit from the speedy Konnor Griffin in the fifth.

The third baseman also made a running stop and strong throw in the seventh.

Bryce Harper added two impressive plays at first base. Bryson Stott made another sliding stop that nearly turned into an out.

Entering Tuesday, the Phillies’ infield ranked seventh-worst in outs above average at minus-14. Their minus-26 defensive runs saved ranked second-worst in baseball.

For one night, they looked nothing like those numbers.

They arguably saved the day.

The offense helped, too.

Justin Crawford had two hits, but his second-inning at-bat may have been the most important of the game.

Bubba Chandler attacked Crawford in the area that has troubled him lately: fastballs at the top of the zone, particularly triple-digit ones.

Crawford hung in.

After six straight fastballs, Chandler tried to finish the at-bat with a breaking ball nearly a ball and a half off the plate. Crawford stayed back and sent it on the ground down the left-field line.

His new setup, with lower hands and a no-stride approach, helped him stay through the ball and take the breaking pitch the other way.

Crawford finished with three hits. He is quietly batting .306 over his last 30 games and .362 over his last 15.

The Phillies added three more runs in the seventh, and then three more in the eighth, thanks to another Crawford run-scoring hit and a Trea Turner, the birthday boy, two-run shot to stretch their lead to eight.

A dominant win for the Phils, who are now three games back of the first-place Atlanta Braves.