Worldwide Sports News

Apparently the Rays needed to leave the country to get back on track.

Their offense perked up in their 7-1 win on Monday night, but it caught on fire – in a good, and not a dumpster way— tonight. Every player other than Taylor Walls had a hit, and even Walls still managed to score a run. After running through much of their bullpen, the Blue Jays ultimately brought in outfielder Myles Straw to get the last out.

The Rays started the game with a crooked number — 3 to be precise. Batting in the first against a surprisingly shaky Kevin Gausman, they scored three runs, all with two outs. Junior walked, and after that Cedric Mullins, Johnny DeLuca and Chandler Simpson all got hits account for the three runs.

In the bottom of the first, Rasmussen loaded the bases and I really thought we were back in the nightmare world of the Boston series where the Rays could never hold a lead for more than half an inning. But whatever wasn’t working — either with Rasmussen, or between him and Fortes (they seemed to take a while to get in sync) quickly got set right, and Rasmussen got out of the inning, and rolled through the Jays lineup until the sixth inning.

The Rays also threatened in the second and third innings, as Gausman’s pitch count mounted, although they did not manage to score. But I still want to focus on the third inning, when Chandler Simpson was nearly able to make runs happen. He successfully bunted for a single. The next hitter, Ben Williamson, hit a soft single to centerfield, which centerfielder Varsho bobbled so that Simpson could get to third. We could argue – and Brian Anderson did argue — that Simpson’s speed contributed to that bobble, because Vasho, worried about stopping Chandler at second, was too busy looking to second base to field the ball cleanly. Now Walls wasn’t able to get Simpson home, but nonetheless it’s an example of how his speed can become a weapon in a variety of ways. Unfortunately Simpson has a number of holes in his game; it’s not clear that his speed is enough to merit a starting outfielder role. But speed is a skill that is also so much fun to watch, so let’s enjoy it!

At any rate, the Rays drove Gausman from the game midway through the fourth, after Diaz reached on a single and Caminero on a walk. But the Rays still managed to score another run even with the new pitcher in place; Cedric Mullins, who had reached on a force play, stole second and the Jays (whose defense tonight was…not good!) threw the ball away trying to nab him. That was followed by another DeLuca single to score run number 6.

The Rays, whose offense was on life support a mere two and a half days ago, continued to pile on. Runs 6-8 came courtesy of Nick Fortes’ three-run homer in the fifth inning.

The Blue Jays ended the shut out in the bottom of the sixth inning that to some BABIP magic. Ernie Clement led off with a blooper that fell between DeLuca, Aranda and Williamson (and should have been caught, probably DeLuca needed to call off the others). George Spring hit a legit double, and then Varsho chopped a ball into the ground. It took a long time coming down to Aranda, playing behind first base, but still I think Aranda should have been able to beat Varsho to the bag. But he didn’t, and that chopped infield single ended Rasmussen’s otherwise strong outing.

The Rays bullpen — Sulser, Kimbrell and Cleavinger — were terrific, and the Rays offense continued to roll, adding another four runs in the ninth inning. The big hit there was Yandy’s three run homer, an appropriate way to celebrate his 1,000 major league game:

Of course Yandy’s home run was hit to the deepest part of the park, how emblematic of Yandy’s career.

Overall, the Rays got 21 hits, including four for Simpson and three for Fortes. Savor this dominant win!

Since their season began in San Francisco on March 25 — and really, even before that — it has been expected that the Yankees would need to address the bullpen at the trade deadline.

Suddenly, that date is less than two weeks away, and somehow the Yankees woke up Tuesday — when their game against the Pirates was postponed by the threat of storms — with the second-lowest bullpen ERA in the majors.

It has not always felt or looked that way, and the 3.09 ERA (mere decimal points better than that of the surging Red Sox) is not going to convince them they should not actually add relief reinforcements.

But at least with whatever Brian Cashman is able to land by the Aug. 3 deadline — whether it is as splashy as Padres star closer Mason Miller or more like the array of relievers he has acquired the past few deadlines — the Yankees have gotten enough internally to provide a solid baseline.

David Bednar, one of three relievers Cashman added last deadline (the other two have certainly not been part of the solution), has thrown 17 straight scoreless appearances (spanning 20 ²/₃ innings), five of which have lasted more than three outs.

Lefty Brent Headrick has emerged as one of the best relievers in the game, sitting top 10 in both ERA (1.43) and fWAR (1.4), not allowing a run in 42 of his 50 appearances (both major league highs).

Fernando Cruz has been best as a fireman, entering jams and escaping them by stranding 31 of his 36 inherited runners this season. Paul Blackburn has worked his way up the pecking order into high-leverage spots, posting a 2.08 ERA in his transition to full-time reliever. Tim Hill, despite some hiccups lately, has still been tough on lefties.

And recently, albeit in a small sample size, even Angel Chivilli has looked like an arm worth seeing more of to find out if he can be a legitimate option in bigger spots.

All of them have contributed to the Yankees bullpen posting a major league best 2.32 ERA over its past 40 games dating back to June 3, a stretch in which it has held opponents to a .188 batting average.

“It’s a really tight-knit group down there and everybody’s pulling for everybody,” Bednar said recently. “Just going out there and doing the job, it’s a lot of fun to watch.”

Again, the positive results of late do not mean that the Yankees do not need to add another trustworthy, high-leverage arm or two at the deadline. They could use more strikeouts and velocity, as the current group’s 22.5 percent strikeout rate only ranked 16th in the majors, while their average fastball velocity of 93.8 mph ranked 26th, according to Statcast.

And they still have a problem in the two relievers that came in with Bednar last summer — Camilo Doval and Jake Bird, the latter now back at Triple-A and the former also potentially looking at being squeezed out of the picture because of his inability to deliver in big spots if the Yankees can add enough in the next two weeks.

But the group of arms that has pitched well, while still containing some question marks, means the Yankees do not need to overhaul their bullpen like they did (or tried to) last summer.

Bednar has been at the center of the bullpen’s turnaround after a rocky start to the season, which prompted early questions about whether the Yankees might have a closer problem, too. After pitching in the WBC this spring, Bednar had a 5.14 ERA through his first 21 appearances. But he has not been scored upon since then, holding batters to a .103 average and .282 OPS with 22 strikeouts and four walks during his scoreless streak.

“He’s been pretty dominant and has his stuff in a really good place,” manager Aaron Boone said. “But then he’s the kind of guy you want helping lead your bullpen culture.

“Obviously he’s a really good pitcher, but really good competitor, really good person and teammate. There’s no ego involved with it. It’s like, ‘Whatever we got to do to win a game.’ We have a number of those guys that are like that down there and Bed’s one of the leaders. I love his makeup. I love what he brings and the example he sets. He just wants to win, and that’s apparent.”

The Atlanta Braves took an 8-3 loss against the San Diego Padres in game two of their four-game midweek series.

After an RBI single from San Diego’s Ty France to drive Fernando Tatis Jr. in for the first run, the Braves answered back with an RBI triple from Jim Jarvis to bring in Mauricio Dubón and Brewer Hicklen. This gave the Braves a 2-1 lead.

The Padres wouldn’t let that lead go on for too much longer as they responded with five more of their own, and set the tone with a homerun from Manny Machado in the top of the sixth inning for a 6-2 lead.

Hoping to clinch a come-from-behind victory like they did the previous night, another run from Jarvis off a balk gave the Braves one more run to advance to three total. It was too late, however, as they couldn’t muster a surge of consecutive runs to end the night.

The Padres finished with a 474-foot two-run homer from Tatis Jr. in the top of the eighth inning to seal the deal with an 8-3 win.

The focus shifts a bit to pitching. In Reynaldo López’s 10th start and 23rd appearance of the season, his consistency has been one of his upsides. Tonight showed differently (4.1 IP/ 9 H/ 5 ER/ 3 BB/ 6 K/ 2 HR). It doesn’t help that his last start against the St. Louis Cardinals also resulted in a shaky stat line.

Jr Ritchie came in to relieve López, pitching through 3.2 innings, but gave up three runs of his own with four total strikeouts.

Though pitching was a major aspect in the loss, the blame can’t all be put on that area. The bats were not ready today, and only Jarvis was awake to knock in some runs for the night.

The Braves will have to pull through in tomorrow’s start to build the momentum back and avoid dropping the series as they did in June with a clean sweep to send Atlanta out of Petco Park.

The offense looked solid coming after the break. Now it’s just consistency with execution that’ll have to stay in place.

The Jays haven’t, obviously, been good this season. This week has felt like the bottom finally falling out, though. They’re now equidistant between the third wildcard and last place in the American League. Their run differential is tied with the last place Angels. It hasn’t been fun to watch, but after months of thinking they might still pull something off in a weak league, at least now there’s clarity and they can focus on getting whatever they can before the deadline the Monday after next.

As a bonus, Daulton Varsho crashed hard into the wall chasing a ninth inning home run. He stayed in the game, but was in visible pain legging out a ground out in the next half inning. Hopefully it’s just a bruise.

Kevin Gausman had another bad day at the office. He got the first two Rays in the first, but then a walk and three back to back hits, including a Cedric Mullins double, staked the Rays to a three run lead. It was all they’d need. Gausman got out of it and worked through jams with men on first and third in the second in each of the second and third innings to keep Toronto in range, but then a single and a walk knocked him out of the game with one out in the fourth. Mason Fluharty took over and got the second out, but then Yandy Diaz was able to come home on a Brandon Valenzuela throwing error trying to catch Mullins stealing second. A Jonny DeLuca single plated the Rays’ fifth and closed the book on Gausman. All told, he surrendered five runs, four earned, on nine hits and two walks, striking out just one. Not ideal for his trade value.

Lazaro Estrada took over and gave up three more runs in the top of the fifth on a pair of singles and a home run. With the game now firmly in mop up territory, he stuck around for the sixth, getting through it cleanly. Patrick Corbin pitched a couple of solid relief innings, allowing one hit and striking out three. In the ninth, though, the Rays decided to pour a few more on. Three singles and a Yandy Diaz home run scored four, making it 12-2. With the lead now at 10, Myles Straw was able to take over. He was the most effective pitcher of the night for Toronto, giving up just a soft line single and getting a pair of ground outs.

Meanwhile, the offence was on Drew Rasmussen but couldn’t capitalize. Nathan Lukes, Ernie Clement, and George Springer each singled in the first to load the bases, but a pop out and a strikeout prevented any runs. Valenzuela walked in the second. They couldn’t get anything done in the third or fourth, but Myles Straw added another single in the fifth. Finally, in the sixth, Clement got another hit, Springer doubled to move him to third, and a Daulton Varsho single plated the lead runner, knocking Rasmussen out of the game. Reliever Cole Sulser got Kazuma Okamoto to ground into a double play, but at leas that plated Springer.

At that point they went back to sleep, going down in order in the seventh, eighth, and ninth.

Jays of the Day: Absolutely not, no.

Less So: Gausman (-0.20), Okamoto (-0.11 and an error), and really everyone else except Clement.

Since we’re all having so much fun, we’ll play the Rays two more times. The next one is tomorrow at 7:07pm ET. Griffin Jax (5-7, 4.08) takes the mound for the Rays. The Jays haven’t announced a starter, but Spencer Miles (4-2, 3.52) will probably do the bulk of the pitching, either off the bat or following an opener.

MILWAUKEE — Brooks Raley counted down the minutes to the trade deadline in the visitors clubhouse in Kansas City three years ago, half expecting a call into the manager’s office to tell him he had been traded by the Mets. 

That call never occurred. 

This time, the veteran lefty reliever, in the final year of his contract for a sputtering team, understands it makes more sense that he will be a former Mets pitcher by Aug. 3. 

Raley’s lefty cohort in the bullpen, A.J. Minter — who is also a free agent after this season — holds the same mindset: his days with the Mets are likely numbered. 

“This isn’t the ideal situation for the Mets and what we wanted to do here,” Raley said before pitching a scoreless eighth in Tuesday’s 4-0 win over the Brewers. “But it’s also the reality of what’s to come.” 

Together, Raley and Minter have given the Mets a top one-two combination from the left side in a bullpen that serves as a team strength. 

Raley, 38, entered the day with a 2.02 ERA in 40 appearances this season. He first arrived to the Mets in a trade with the Rays before the 2023 season and then re-signed with the club last year while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. 

Minter, 32, began play with a 1.80 ERA in 20 appearances this season. He signed a two-year contract worth $22 million with the club before last season, but was lost in April to a torn lat. He returned this season in May and has found success with a fastball that has averaged 92.9 mph — a drop from 94.5 mph last year. 

Minter, a former Braves reliever, noted this is the first time he’s been part of a trade deadline for a team that is selling. 

“I am going to keep doing my best until they tell me to go somewhere else,” Minter said. “Just keep going out there and performing for this team and go out there and win and see what happens.” 

Both relievers are enthralled by the idea of jumping into a pennant race in the next 1-2 weeks. 

“There’s that optimism and I think that is the goal of every player when they put on a uniform, no matter what uniform that is, to go compete for a championship,” Raley said. “I wish we had done more while I was here. I really didn’t get to do the 2024 [NLCS] run, rehabbing from surgery. I think all of us feel a certain amount of responsibility for not getting it done this year. But we are where we are.” 

Minter, who pitched for the 2021 World Series-winning Braves, has appeared in 20 postseason games. 

“It makes the grind of 162 games all worth it,” Minter said. “There’s no words to describe a postseason atmosphere, and that is the reason why we play this game. It’s exciting for that opportunity. At the same time, I am still a Met and it’s frustrating to see where this year has gone, and we try to look at what we could do better.” 

If these are Minter’s final days with the organization, what will be his memory of his tenure? 

“It’s been just sad,” he said. “The New York Mets have changed my life forever. Going into free agency, I wanted to compete and win a World Series here and I had full expectations of doing so, especially with the talent we have. I feel for this organization because they do everything they possibly can to win here, from the owner to the front office to the coaches to the players. They just want to win and you can see that and it’s just frustrating to not be able to deliver that to this fanbase.” 

Raley said he never expected to stay four seasons with the Mets. 

“But I think I have excelled at my position,” he said. “I think I have been really consistent, and this is one of the best, if not the best, division in baseball to play in. Citi Field, a special full ballpark and atmosphere. I have really enjoyed my time.”

Reds reliever Caleb Ferguson has issued a public apology to umpire Bill Miller after Ferguson directed disparaging, expletive-filled remarks on Monday night.

“Don’t feel great about it for sure,” Ferguson told reporters Tuesday. “Definitely pretty uncharacteristic for myself. As long as I have been in this game I don’t know if you will find a clip of me going at an umpire like that. Definitely going to have to wear that one on the chest.”

Ferguson said he’s going to directly talk to Miller if he can to make things right with the veteran umpire.

“Going to seek Bill out, going to try to at some point,” Ferguson added. “Definitely make it right with him cause very unprofessional on my part. Nothing you can do with it now, but just have to move on. I know Bill’s doing his best to not be in his way in that situation, so I’ve got to be better on my part too.”

Ferguson lashed out after Miller inadvertantly got in the way of Cincinnati infielder Edwin Arroyo, preventing him from making a play.

Ferguson’s comments, in which he insulted Miller’s weight, were caught on the broadcast and went viral.

“F–king fatass, get out of the way. Fat motherf–ker,” Ferguson appeared to say toward the umpire.

Ferguson was in the midst of a frustrating outing when he confronted Miller. Two batters before the incident occurred, Ferguson gave up a grand slam to Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh that put Seattle up 7-0. Ferguson was only charged with two earned runs in 2/3 of an inning, but the damage was done.

The Mariners would go on to shut out the Reds 8-0.

“It’s just a very unprofessional thing on my part,” Ferguson said. “I know these things happen within the game.

“But I don’t like that I was kind of the centerpiece of this.”

The St. Louis Cardinals will try to rebound from yet another tough loss Monday night with a Tuesday night clash versus the Los Angeles Angels. Matthew Liberatore will start for the Cardinals while the Angels will give the ball to Walbert Ureña. First pitch is scheduled for 8:38pm central time at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. Game TV broadcast being handled by Cardinals.tv.

KANSAS CITY — With little else at stake, the Giants’ primary focus in the second half will be evaluating who they can count on for next season, particularly in their starting rotation.

It’s a puzzle that Trevor McDonald figured to fit in somewhere.

But things got more complicated when the 25-year-old right-hander walked off the mound with a trainer between the fourth and fifth innings of Monday night’s 4-3 loss to the Royals.

McDonald was placed on the 15-day injured list Tuesday, with Tristan Beck called up to take his place on the roster, but his outlook wasn’t any clearer. He flew back to San Francisco, where he will undergo further evaluation. For now, the Giants diagnosed him with an elbow strain.

They expect to have a better idea by Wednesday morning.

“You don’t want to say it’s a part of the game,” manager Tony Vitello said. “We’re planning on him just having a little bit of time off. We’ll see what we get on the reports and go from there.”

As it stands, Logan Webb and Landen Roupp look like the only sure things in next year’s rotation. Adrian Houser is under contract for 2027 but was relegated to the bullpen. Robbie Ray and Tyler Mahle will both be free agents and are strong candidates to be traded before the Aug. 3 deadline.

Trevor McDonald’s Uncertain Future with Giants

McDonald debuted with one appearance late in 2023, impressed with two strong starts last September and seemed to cement a spot in the big-league rotation this season.

At his best, Vitello said, “it literally feels at the end of the day like he won the game for us.” But his 14 starts before suffering the arm injury were too up-and-down for the Giants to know for sure that he’ll be able to hold down a rotation spot for 162 games going forward.

That was one area they hoped to see improvement from McDonald in the second half.

“The one thing I think he’s searching for is a little bit more consistency,” Vitello said. “Regardless of what he’s got in front of him, I’m sure he’ll find a way to continue to develop.”

McDonald showed what he was capable of as soon as he stepped into the rotation on May 4, striking out eight and walking none over seven two-hit innings against the Padres. He made four more starts where he yielded one run or fewer. But he also failed to complete four innings four other times, including twice when he was lit up for seven or more runs.

The totality produced a 3-7 record with a 5.12 ERA, a 4.27 FIP, 57 strikeouts and 35 combined walks and hit-by-pitches in 70 ⅓ innings when he landed on the IL.

“I’ve talked to other hitters in the league. It’s a tough look,” Vitello said. “He’s a ground ball guy. Normally there’s damage that’s limited when it comes against him.”

Still, Vitello didn’t feel that he’d seen enough to commit to a rotation spot next year. After all, it remains to be seen whether that will be an option at all. While the Giants are waiting for the results of McDonald’s MRI, the combination of elbow and strain is an ominous string of words for any pitcher to hear.

Although 16 of McDonald’s 18 career appearances have come as a starter, he could be an option as a bullpen piece, something the Giants experimented with during this past spring training.

“At the very least, a part of the staff,” Vitello said. “I think he’s versatile for what it’s worth. We’re talking a long way off and a lot of other people are involved in those things. But I think the bottom line is he pitches the way we want. … There’s a lot of things he can provide for us.”

In the meantime, the injury should give the Giants a chance to get an extended look at another one of their young arms. Carson Whisenhunt’s time in the big leagues so far has been limited to spot starts but the 25-year-old left-hander was already expected to get a longer-term opportunity in the second half if and when the Giants trade Robbie Ray or Tyler Mahle.

Vitello said over the weekend that he expected Whisenhunt’s next opportunity would “come at some point soon.” With McDonald going on the IL, that timeline could be accelerated.

Roster moves

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves. The D-backs’ 40-man roster is at 40.

• Recalled from Triple-A Reno: LHP Kohl Drake (No. 58)
• Recalled from Triple-A Reno: RHP Gerardo Carrillo (No. 68)
• Optioned to Triple-A Reno following last night’s game: RHP Juan Burgos
• Placed on the 15-day injured list: RHP Drey Jameson (right hip inflammation, retro to July 20)

Another debutant on the 2026 Diamondbacks! That’s seven all told, so we’ve already crushed the line for that in Place Your Bets, which was originally set at a mere 4.5. Drake becomes the third starting pitcher to reach the majors this year for Arizona, following Jose Cabrera and Mitch Bratt. There have also been four position players: Jose Fernandez, Ryan Waldschmidt, Tommy Try and LuJames Groover. Drake was originally drafted by the Rangers, in the 11th round of the 2022 draft, but came over to the D-backs in the trade for Merrill Kelly – the same deal also gave us Bratt, and David Hagaman, who has a 3.19 ERA in High-A ball this year. Not a bad little haul.

To be fair, Drake has struggled a bit in Reno – though who doesn’t? His ERA with the Aces across 16 starts and one relief appearance is a meaty 6.92, with a K:BB of 60:31 across 66.2 innings in Triple A. But it’s perhaps significant that at home, he has a batting average against of .321, more than ninety points higher than Drake has posted away from Reno. He had a particularly good outing his last road game, tossing five shutout innings of one-hit ball in Tacoma, with no walks and six strikeouts. So there’s quality there. He just needs to tap into it more consistently. He turned 26 on Friday, so should be entering his prime.

Also, just before going to press, Drey Jameson was put on the IL with a hip issue, and Gerardo Carillo will consequently have a shot to become debutant #8! Finally, I’ll just leave this here:

Thoughts and prayers… [Shifts uncomfortably in his seat]