It was Bryan Woo’s world and we were all living in it Thursday afternoon. He spun an absolute gem as the M’s take both the rubber game and the season series from the Orioles, 3-0.

Woo faltered against the same team in Baltimore last Thursday, allowing seven runs over five innings. This time, though, he frustrated Orioles hitters all afternoon — he went seven-plus innings, striking out nine and allowing only three hits and a walk.

“Conditions were different, didn’t have a great feel for the ball in Baltimore, just fell into a lot of hitters counts,” Woo said when asked about adjustments between last week and now. “So I wanted to make sure that I came out and got ahead, was in the spots that I wanted to be in, and do what I wanted to do from there.”

Woo got ahead in the count early and often Thursday. He threw first pitch strikes to 16 of the 25 hitters he faced. He was also incredibly efficient despite nearly touching double digits in strikeouts — through seven innings, he was at only 80 pitches.

Though some other factors were likely at play, the last week further encapsulates a Tale of Two Seasons for Woo that has shown a major divergence between his home and road splits. Entering today, Woo was posting a 2.07 FIP at home, a much more productive figure than his 4.28 on the road. That discrepancy only figures to get larger after you factor in today’s outing.

The Mariners mounted a two-out rally to take the lead in the bottom of the first. Josh Naylor drove a single into right-center and was able to advance to second on an ill-fated decision by Leody Taveras to field the ball with his bare hand. After Dominic Canzone drew a walk, Cole Young scored Naylor with an opposite-field double down the left field line.

That wasn’t all for the M’s in the first. With both Canzone and Young in scoring position, Colt Emerson snuck a base hit through the right side to score two more runs and give Woo a comfortable lead in the early going.

Woo said he’s been impressed by both Emerson and Young’s consistency. “But they’re still kids. They’re still goofballs, they’re still idiots in the clubhouse.”

In the bottom of the second, the Mariners got the first two runners aboard, but couldn’t push across any runs. After getting tagged a bit in the early going, Orioles righty Shane Baz settled in. Neither team got much of anything going after the Mariners jumped out in front. Over the course of the afternoon, Baz also racked up nine strikeouts of his own over seven innings.

It wasn’t until the top of the eighth that a true threat materialized for the Orioles. Woo allowed a Taveras single to center field, then walked Colton Cowser to put two runners on with nobody out. With Woo at 89 pitches, manager Dan Wilson didn’t take any chances and brought in Eduard Bazardo to put out the fire.

Bazardo got the job done. After inducing a ground-ball fielder’s choice and a flyout that nearly gave me a heart attack, he froze Taylor Ward with a 97-mph sinker on the corner to end the threat.

The Mariners weren’t able to add any insurance in the bottom of the eighth, so Andrés Muñoz was called upon for a save opportunity in the ninth. Though he’d allow a couple of baserunners, including a walk to Gunnar Henderson to lead off the inning, Muñoz was able to shut the door. Taveras, representing the tying run with two outs, struck out on a quality slider to end it.

The win marks the Mariners’ first series win over the Orioles since 2022, and today was also Baltimore’s first time being shut out all season — the final team in the majors to be shut out for the first time.

At the end of the day, much like their climb through the farm system, it was Colt following in Cole’s footsteps in the first inning that’d ultimately be the difference in the game. Their combined three RBI were the only runs on the afternoon for either team.

“He’s another guy I look up to,” Emerson said on Young, his middle-infield counterpart. “He’s been here a year before me. He was my comp out of high school. He’s always been somebody that’s been ahead of me, that I look up to, and as even-keeled as he is, I know that he’s had a lot of success. So I know to have success, you gotta do the same thing.”

The Mariners will begin a three-game set against the Red Sox tomorrow at T-Mobile Park.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. was forced out of the Yankees’ 5-1 loss to the White Sox on Thursday night at the Stadium in one of the most painful ways imaginable.

During an at-bat in the bottom of the fourth, Chisholm fouled a ball straight off the ground near the plate, and the ball took an unfortunate bounce and hit Chisholm near the groin area.

The second baseman crumbled to the ground and remained there for several moments before Aaron Boone and the training staff came out to check on Chisholm, who eventually got to his feet but was clearly still in discomfort.

Unable to continue, Chisholm was removed from the game, and Anthony Volpe entered to finish the at-bat.

Volpe ended up drawing a walk against Chicago right-hander Sean Burke but was thrown out trying to steal second to end the inning.

Volpe remained in the game at shortstop, while José Caballero, who started the game at short, moved to second.

Boone said after the game the Yankees were still waiting to find out the severity of the injury, but the manager was “hoping” Chisholm was OK.

Austin Wells’ comeback from the cervical headaches that landed him on the IL on June 6 took a step forward Thursday, as the catcher hit a pair of homers during a minor league rehab game with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Prior to the Yankees closing out their series against the White Sox in The Bronx, Boone said the organization hadn’t made a decision as to whether Wells would come back for Friday’s game against the Reds, but they were “leaning” towards keeping him with SWB, especially since they were rained out Wednesday, robbing Wells of a day on the field, and they have a doubleheader Friday.

Boone said Wells, now over the headaches that sent him to the IL and kept J.C. Escarra in The Bronx, has worked with Jarret DeHart, the organization’s director of hitting, while with SWB.

“He’s had some good days of work,’’ Boone said of Wells, who went hitless in his first rehab game on Tuesday. “He’s getting some results. We want to keep building on that.”

Whether that translates to the majors is a different story, and as The Post’s Joel Sherman has reported, they could be in the market for a right-handed-hitting backstop to go along with Wells, with Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers a potential target.

Also at SWB, top prospect George Lombard Jr. was placed on the seven-day IL with what the Yankees termed “sprained fingers” in his left hand after he was slid into while covering second base on a stolen-base attempt Tuesday.

Despite the IL stint, Boone said there were “good initial signs on testing” and nothing else showed up, so the Yankees hope it’s a short absence for the shortstop.

The 21-year-old has played almost exclusively at short since Anthony Volpe has been back in the majors and is considered major league ready at the position.

José Caballero got the start at short Thursday.

On the bullpen front, Carlos Lagrange made his fourth relief appearance with SWB, and while he nearly touched 100 mph, the right-hander had mixed results over his 1 ²/₃-inning outing.

He allowed four runs — none earned — but gave up two hits and walked a pair without recording a strikeout.

The Yankees are in the process of transitioning him from the rotation, so the 23-year-old is pitching more frequently, including on three days’ rest Thursday. He is expected to join the Yankees bullpen at some point next month.

Angels superstar center fielder Mike Trout is headed to the team’s injured list due to a hamstring injury, as reported by The Athletic’s Sam Blum and Ken Rosenthal on Thursday afternoon.

In a corresponding move, Blum reported that the Angels are calling up former top prospect Christian Moore to take his place on the roster.

Trout, 34, was in the midst of a comeback season, as he was finally playing healthy baseball again.

This year, he’s certainly started to look like his old self and has been one of the best comeback stories in baseball, having 17 home runs and an .866 OPS.

At the beginning of June, Trout was in a cold stretch but once again started to find life in his bat. Over his last seven games, Trout had three home runs, five RBIs and two stolen bases.

Trout was on his way to earning his 12th nod as an All-Star and was set to appear in his first All-Star Game since 2019. He ranks second among American League outfielders in votes (926,601) behind the Yankees’ Aaron Judge.

From 2021-2024, Trout spent significant time on the IL, dealing with a calf injury, back injury, broken hamate bone and a torn meniscus on his left knee. The knee injury in 2024 affected his play in 2025.

Last season, the Angels decided to move Trout from center field to right field to try to keep him healthy.

He appeared in 130 games but didn’t look like the three-time AL MVP that he’s been in the past, hitting .232 and striking out 178 times, his second-highest total in a season.

During spring training this year, the Angels and Trout agreed to move him back to center because he finds it more comfortable and less taxing on his body.

With Trout going on the IL, Moore is slated to fill his place.

Moore was drafted as a second baseman with the eighth pick of the 2024 MLB Draft by the Angels and has struggled against MLB pitching.

In the minors this season, Moore has bounced around various positions, spending time at second base, third base and left field.

On May 3, Moore was placed on the IL while playing for Triple-A Salt Lake. Before the injury, he was struggling in the minors, hitting .213 with 24 strikeouts.

Since he’s returned to the Bees, he’s been on a tear, hitting six home runs, batting .474 and recording a 1.423 OPS in June.

New series set to start! The Athletics’ super long homestand finally enters its final series as the A’s play host to the Los Angeles Angels for the first time this season.

The

Taking the mound for the home team will be rookie Gage Jump. The left-hander has looked as good as advertised since joining the big league rotation. He’s already

Here’s how the A’s will line up behind their rookie starting pitcher tonight:

The hottest hitter on the team will bat leadoff tonight as Zack Gelof man the hot corner and hitting first tonight. Kurtz and Langeliers are right behind him in the order followed by Soderstrom and Wilson, the same middle of the order the A’s have been using recently.

Jonah Heim is back in the lineup tonight but he’ll swap places with Langeliers, taking over the DH role this evening. Outfielder Carlos Cortes, who is 11th in AL All-Star voting among outfielders draws the start in right field against a right-handed starter. Henry Bolte and Jeff McNeil round things out, playing center field and second base respectively.

Los Angeles will counter Jump with righty Ryan Johnson, who will be making his second career start tonight. It’s not likely to be an extended outing as he’s only made six starts split at three levels this season. His big league numbers aren’t all that inspiring for the Angels so the A’s need to take advantage of Johnson tonight.

And the Los Angeles lineup tonight:

No Mike Trout for the Angels tonight or for the rest of the series. He landed on the IL this afternoon thanks to a hamstring strain. They’ll rely on Jose Siri in center instead. Bad news for the Angels but great news for the A’s as Trout had been in the midst of a resurgent season.

Let’s go A’s!

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Is Shohei Ohtani pushing himself a little bit too hard now?

That’s what California Post baseball writers Dylan Hernandez and Jack Harris are discussing on the latest episode of the Dodgers Post podcast, coming off Ohtani’s six-inning, four-run start against the Rays on Wednesday.

After Ohtani pitched through a knee injury and a blister in the outing, Jack wonders whether the two-way star could use a more extended break between outings now, while Dylan counters by noting the value of his innings and his ability to manage a grueling workload.

Later, the two analyze Mookie Betts’ season, what has made him the unluckiest hitter in baseball and why they remain bullish on him turning things around.

Finally, they look ahead to the Dodgers’ upcoming series against the Orioles, which will include a pivotal start from Roki Sasaki.

As always, they wrap with predictions and trivia. Dylan also remembers the time he learned of Manny Ramirez’s PED suspension.

All that and more, on the latest episode of Dodgers Post.

Major League Baseball could be about to change the entire landscape of college baseball. A new proposal from the MLB on Thursday would remove high school players from the draft entirely, while allowing college players to declare after their sophomore seasons.

The new rules, if passed, would obviously change the entire look of college baseball. 96 high school prospects were selected and signed in the 2025 MLB Draft, for reference. That number has been on the decline in recent years, due to a number of different factors. This proposal would force top-level talent to participate at the college level, which would elevate the game to even new heights.

This season, 140 high schoolers have been invited to participate in the MLB Combine. 334 players total will compete in the event. Imagine the difference in the game if all 140 of those elite level athletes hit the college baseball scene.

“Over the last several years, college baseball has undergone a remarkable transformation,” MLB said in a statement. “Expanded scholarships, NIL opportunities, revenue sharing and significant investments in facilities and player development have made college baseball an increasingly important pathway that is producing major league-ready talent at an accelerated rate.”

For a program like Tennessee, this is a potentially major development. The Volunteers hold the nation’s No. 3 ranked recruiting class in the 2026 cycle, according to Perfect Game. Tennessee has been a mainstay in the top five since Tony Vitello revitalized the program, although several of those top commitments never made it to campus.

MLB’s current CBA expires on December 1st. This proposal is part of the negotiation to come to a new agreement. The outcome of that deal could end up bringing in an entirely new era to college baseball. This will definitely be something worth monitoring over the next few months.

After taking two out of three against the San Diego Padres, the St. Louis Cardinals kick off a weekend I-70 series against the Kansas City Royals Thursday night. Matthew Liberatore gets the start for the Cardinals while the Kansas City Royals will send Noah Cameron to the mound. First pitch at Kauffman Stadium is set for 6:40pm central time. Broadcast being handled by Cardinals.tv.

Hello, there.

I have returned after a Thursday away in which Max took over writing duties. If you’ll recall, the last time I covered a Thursday, the Royals won. But that turned out to be an aberration as Max couldn’t keep the good times rolling.

Now, I’m back to cover the Royals facing their cross-state rival. Are the Cardinals the Royals’ biggest rival? That’s debatable.

As Max previewed earlier today, the two teams have gone in different directions this year. The Royals were supposed to compete while the Cardinals struggled through a rebuild. Instead, the Royals are struggling (though not rebuilding) while the Cardinals are the ones competing, second in the National League Central while occupying the NL’s top Wild Card spot.

Great. As I wrote after the 2024 season, the Royals had a great opportunity to become Missouri’s baseball team, a crown which the team has never worn. Instead, Kansas City lost steam last year before faceplanting this season. Meanwhile, under a new front office, St. Louis is on pace to end its long playoff drought—one which spans all of three years.

This is the second and final regular season series between Missouri’s two ballclubs this season. The first took place in St. Louis May 15—17. The Cardinals took the first two games before the Royals won the finale. The teams scored the same amount of runs that weekend: eight.

Before getting to the lineups and starting pitchers, two other things are happening at The K tonight that should be noted.

First, England’s World Cup team is attending. The Three Lions won their first match of the tournament yesterday down in Arlington, Texas, defeating Croatia 4-2 thanks, in part, to Harry Kane’s brace.

Second, tonight the Royals will be hosting a flash fundraiser to benefit the Kansas City Urban Youth Academy. Up for auction are four World Baseball Classic baseball bats—one for Team Italy, one for Team USA, one for Team Venezuela, and the fourth an all-Royals bat. They all look pretty dope. If I had discretionary income, I’d be interested!

All right, let’s get to the lineups. First, of course, for the Royals:

Well, just by looking at their lineup and nothing about what the Cardinals are doing, I can tell the Royals are facing a southpaw. Lane Thomas hit one of four homers yesterday for the Royals en route to their victory over the Nationals. I’m glad to see Jac Caglianone getting action not only at first base but also batting third. Starling Marte batting cleanup is…something.

Noah Cameron takes the mound. Though the Astros touched him up a bit during his last outing, he’s been pitching well as of late. Just two outings ago, he tossed six against the Twins with seven strikeouts, zero walks, and no earned runs. Before that, he went seven against the Reds while fanning eight, walking zero, and giving up just one run. He hasn’t surrendered a walk in his last three outings.

For the Cardinals:

Couple of interesting names in the lineup. JJ Wetherholt was taken with the pick after Cags in the 2024 MLB Draft. Jordan Walker, who’s having a breakout year, was taken with the pick after Brady Singer way back in the 2018 MLB Draft. Ex-Royal Nelson Velasquez is tarting in left—he’s not played much in the bigs this year, but is posting a sterling .972 OPS. The Cardinals’ third baseman’s first name is Blaze, which is not a real first name.

And on the mound, yes, it is a left-hander: Matthew Liberatore. Liberatore, making his 15th start of the season, has failed to get out of the fifth inning in his last two outings, though St. Louis still managed to win both of those games. Last time out, against the Twins, he gave up five hits, three of which left the field of play.

May the Royals have such success against him this evening.

Just about everyone seems to be weighing in on the polarizing Pride Night at Oracle Park last week. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie is the latest public figure to criticize the four Giants pitchers who protested the team’s annual celebration of the LGBTQ+ community.

Ryan Walker, Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker and Sam Hentges have sparked an outcry among San Franciscans as well as other Pride Night supporters. Walker chose to wear the standard Giants hat rather than the special hat for the event, which has a rainbow-colored team logo.

The latter three added a Bible verse on their Pride Night caps to demonstrate their religious beliefs.

Lurie revealed he was “really upset and disappointed” by their decision.

“This is why we need Pride. We need to lean in and we need to keep educating people, even here in San Francisco,” Lurie said. “It was a rough night, but one that we need to learn from.”

He isn’t the first to call out the Giants hurlers, and Lurie likely won’t be the last.

Longtime voice of the Giants Mike Krukow believes the players should have been more aware of the city’s strong beliefs and ties to the LGBTQ+ community.

“I think when you’re a player and you come into this environment, it’s your responsibility to know just how sensitive this city is in regards to that cultural freedom and religious freedom, and just the way that you live your life,” Krukow said on KNBR.

“And I think they were in for a rude awakening with the response, and it wasn’t just from the gay community; it was from the Northern California community that supports the gay community.”

The four Giants pitchers have also been reprimanded by Major League Baseball, not for their beliefs but for their violation of the uniform rules.

“The writing on the cap violates our rules and consistent with normal practice we have warned the players about future violations,” MLB said in an initial statement.

“To be clear, this routine verbal warning not to wear the hat in future games is not disciplinary and had absolutely nothing to do with the content of the message,” MLB added in a follow-up statement. “We respect players’ right to free expression. However, writing of any kind, with any message, is prohibited.”

While the Giants players have been criticized in the court of public opinion, they have not issued an apology for their decision. Rather, the group has stood firm in its beliefs and remarks.

The EEOC will investigate the report that MLB warned Giants players after they displayed the biblical verses on their hats, said Harmeet Dhillon, head of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice.

“It is illegal to treat employees differently” on the basis of “protected characteristics, and religion is one of those protected characteristics under our federal laws,” Dhillon said in an appearance on the right-wing Newsmax outlet, encouraging unnamed plaintiffs to pursue legal action through private litigation or through her “friend,” Andrea Jacobs, the head of President Donald Trump’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.