Mark Philadelphia Flyers prospect Nikita Grebenkin down as another player who's publicly shared his support for polarizing goalie Aleksei Kolosov.
Kolosov, 23, had a rough first full season with the Flyers organization last year, going 5-6-1 with a 3.11 GAA and .884 save percentage at the AHL level and 5-9-1 with a 3.59 GAA and .867 save percentage at the NHL level.
During his time in the AHL, though, the embattled goalie prospect briefly crossed paths with Flyers trade addition Nikita Grebenkin before getting re-called to the NHL on March 25.
In the duo's brief time together, Kolosov apparently left quite the positive impression on Grebenkin, as he shared in a recent interview.
"Aleksei, a good, positive guy. A professional who knows his stuff," Grebenkin told Legalbet.by of Kolosov. "I'm very glad that I met him."
It should be noted that, in a stretch of five AHL starts in March, Kolosov earned three of his five total wins for the season.
Is it a coincidence that some of Kolosov's best hockey in the AHL came when a fellow Russian speaker joined the fold? Potentially, as those results were rarely repeated in the NHL when playing alongside Matvei Michkov, Ivan Fedotov, and Egor Zamula.
It's been implied that Kolosov only wants to play in the NHL for the Flyers, but it's become clear that the NHL is too great a step up at this time despite the Belarusian's obvious flashes of talent.
Perhaps a full year in the AHL with his new friend, Grebenkin, and/or fellow goalie Fedotov will do Kolosov some good.
The 23-year-old has the talent and apparently takes his craft seriously, but can he muster the motivation to make a career for himself in North America? The Flyers are waiting to see if Kolosov can make it happen.
Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel could have two sons get drafted out of high school, starting with eldest Brady next week. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
As a tour group gathered in the press box at American Family Field on Monday, the stadium guide looked down at the diamond and tried to identify the hitter in a Dodger blue T-shirt taking thunderous swings in an afternoon batting practice session.
“I’m not sure which player that is,” the tour guide said.
One knowledgeable Dodger fan in the group recognized it wasn’t a big-leaguer at all — at least not yet.
“That’s Dino Ebel's son,” the fan said. “He’s gonna be a top draft pick next week.”
Brady Ebel might not be a household name yet around the sport but in Dodger circles, the rise of the Corona High infielder, and 17-year-old son of longtime third base coach Dino Ebel, has long been a proud organizational story in the making.
Six years ago, Brady and his younger brother Trey (a 16-year-old junior on a loaded Corona team last season), first started tagging along to Dodger Stadium with their dad after the Dodgers hired him away from the Angels at the start of the 2019 season.
Brady Ebel could be one of three Corona High baseball stars to be selected in the first round of the MLB amateur draft next week. (Ric Tapia/Getty Images)
Back then, they were like many of the other children of players and staff that the family-friendly Dodgers would welcome around the ballpark. Not even teenagers yet, Ebel's sons would be taking ground balls and shagging in the outfield during batting practice before the start of Dodger games.
Now, they are both standout prospects with major college commitments (Brady to Louisiana State, Trey to Texas A&M) and expected futures in pro ball.
On Sunday, Brady is expected to be a Day 1, and very possibly first round, pick in the MLB draft — a rise borne of his own physical gifts, but also aided by a childhood spent growing up in the presence of big-league players.
“I’m so blessed, me and my brother,” Brady said this week, after accompanying his dad on the Dodgers’ recent road trip in Milwaukee. “It’s my favorite thing to do. Come to the stadium with my dad. Get better. And watch guys go about it. Because I know I’m gonna be here soon. This is what I’m gonna be doing.”
The physical traits that make Brady a coveted prospect are obvious: His 6-foot-3, 190-pound frame; his smooth, compact left-handed swing; his defensive feel and strong throwing arm from the left side of the infield.
What sets Brady apart from the typical high school prospects that populate draft boards this time of year is his unique upbringing in the game, having absorbed countless lessons on his trips to work with his dad.
“Watching those guys do it every day, just being able to be in the clubhouse and walk around and see how guys act, has helped me and my brother a lot,” Brady said, shortly after peppering balls all over the outfield stands at the Brewers’ home ballpark. “I take pieces from everybody.”
Corona High infielders (from left): second baseman Trey Ebel, shortstop Billy Carlson and third baseman Brady Ebel. (Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
The Ebel sons first got an up-close look at major league life in Anaheim, marveling as young boys at superstars such as Mike Trout and Albert Pujols during Dino’s 12-year stint on the Angels' coaching staff.
When their dad was hired by the Dodgers, their first-person education continued at Chavez Ravine, where many Dodgers players and staffers have marveled at their own evolution into coveted recruits and MLB draft prospects.
“As a dad, I love it, because I get to spend more time with them, and I get to watch them get better,” Dino said. “The process of watching them work with major league players is something I’ll never forget.”
Many days in recent summers, the pair have been a constant presence at the ballpark.
There have been ground rules to follow, as Dino noted: “Stay out of everybody’s way. When you shag, get in the warning track. When you go eat, if a player is behind you, you get in the back of the line.”
The fundamental lessons they've learned, from watching players hit in the cage, to catching balls at first base during infield drills, to talking to other members of the coaching staff during quiet stretches of the day, have been endless. The fingerprints it has left on their game have been profound.
“Process, approach, work habits, how to respect the game, how you go about your work every day,” Dino said. “For them to see that, from guys at the top of the chain of elite superstars in the game … that’s what I’ve seen them take into their game. Trying something different. Listening to what the players are telling them in the cage, on the field.”
Brady, for example, has become a keen observer of Freddie Freeman’s work in the batting cage during recent years.
“There’s stuff he grew up doing that he still continues to do,” Brady said of Freeman. “Different drills. Keeping your hands inside. Driving the ball up the middle. I’ve been doing that since I was 8. And he’s 30-whatever, still doing it. It’s the simple, little stuff.”
As the Ebel boys have gotten older, Dino noticed how they would get home from the stadium, go to a practice field the next day, and replicate specific drills and techniques they’d witnessed the night before.
“It’s pretty special for me, as a dad, to watch them go through this process,” Dino said. “And then, as a coach, how they’re getting better each day they come out here.”
Such roots haven’t been lost on evaluators. Most scouting reports of Brady note his advanced approach and discipline at the plate. MLB Pipeline’s write-up of him ahead of the draft lauded his baseball IQ, and that “his experience working with big leaguers for a long time was clearly on display” as a prep player.
In Baseball America’s latest mock draft, Brady is projected to go 33rd overall to the Boston Red Sox — where he could join Corona teammates Seth Hernandez and Billy Carlson as the highest-drafted trio of high school teammates in the event’s history.
Looming seven picks after that, however, are the Dodgers, a team that would need no introduction to a player that grew up before their eyes.
“That would be really cool, just to be with my dad’s organization,” Brady said of possibly winding up with the club. “We’ll see what happens on draft day. You never know.”
Wales win 31-12 for first Test win since 2023 World Cup
Fiji 29-14 Scotland; All Blacks 43-17 France; Portugal 7-106 Ireland
Wales held on to end their 18-match losing Test run with a hard-fought 31-22 victory over Japan in Kobe. Playing under the closed roof of the Noevir Stadium, Wales scored three first-half tries, with Josh Adams opening the scoring and Kieran Hardy going over twice after Lee Seung-sin’s penalty, but Japan struck on the stroke of half-time through Shuhei Takeuchi.
Although Dan Edwards’ penalty extended Wales’s lead, they slipped into trouble as two tries in quick succession from Warner Dearns and Dylan Riley brought Japan back into the game. However, Edwards crossed with five minutes remaining to seal a first Test win since beating Georgia at the 2023 World Cup.
SAN FRANCISCO — Dodgers slugger Shohei Ohtani splashed his 32nd home run of the season into San Francisco’s McCovey Cove beyond the right-field wall Friday night.
It marked the 65th home run into the water by an opponent in Oracle Park’s 25-year history and 171st in all — and 35 of those belong to home run king Barry Bonds.
Ohtani connected with one out in the third inning for a two-run drive after Hyeseong Kim’s leadoff single marked the first hit of the night for Los Angeles against Giants starter Logan Webb.
Set to make his fifth start on the mound pitching Saturday, Ohtani crushed a 91.1 mph cutter on Webb’s first offering of the at-bat and the ball traveled 410 feet. A kayaker immediately jumped into the water to retrieve the special souvenir ball.
The blast put the Dodgers up 2-1. The Giants won the game 8-7.
NEW YORK — As Aaron Judge jumped above the wall and tumbled to the turf, Carlos Rodón worried.
“I’m like, `Pplease don’t dive. Please stay on your feet,’” the New York Yankees pitcher said. “Obviously, I wanted him to dive there and he made the play and I’m grateful he got up because that’s a big body.”
Judge made three outstanding catches in right field on Friday night, saving three runs in an 11-0 rout of the Chicago Cubs that extended the New York Yankees’ winning streak to five following a six-game slide. Cody Bellinger hit a trio of two-run homers against his former team.
A two-time MVP at age 33, Judge gets attention for his offense: a major league-best .354 average with 34 homers and 79 RBIs. His defense is just as striking.
The 6-foot-7, 282-pound Judge leaped at the right-field wall to catch a 327-foot drive by Peter Crow-Armstrong against Rodón in the fourth inning, preventing would have been Crow-Armstrong’s 26th home run.
“I think robbing a homer is probably the best, just to keep a run off the board,” Judge said.
When Judge caught the ball, it was about 15 inches over the top of the wall. PCA waved an arm at him in frustration and acknowledgement.
“He knows we work hard for our hits and our homers,” Crow-Armstrong said. “He’s having an unbelievable year and that was me just being like, come on man, like you got to take them away too?”
Judge’s glove avoided the outstretched arms of a fan in a Yankees jersey, who reached over the fence with one hand but missed the ball. After the grab, Judge bowed his head and smiled.
“I’ve hit a couple fans already this year, so I tried to make sure I didn’t get that one,” Judge said.
Two pitches later, Judge rushed in and made a sliding backhand grab on Dansby Swanson’s sinking liner for the third out of the inning. By the mound, Rodón held out his hands while shaking his head in amazement.
With runners at the corners, two outs in the eighth and a full count, Judge sprinted to deny Kyle Tucker of an extra-base hit, catching the ball just before the right-field foul line and sliding on his chest across the warning track. His pinstripes were soiled with dirt when he got up.
“It’s tough, but it’s my job. I got a job to do out there. That’s why they got me playing out there,” he said. “If the ball’s hit in your direction, you got to make a play.”
Judge’s catch caught Aaron Boone’s attention.
“My first thought was a little nervous, just going over there and sliding on the dirt pretty hard, like making sure the big guy was OK,” the manager said.
Judge doesn’t think about sprained right big toe sustained when he ran into the Dodger Stadium fence on June 3, 2023, causing him to miss 42 games and hit far from his standard when he returned.
“That was kind of a freak thing,” Judge said. “You can’t let it hold me back.”
He took time after his last catch to gain his composure.
“I felt like I was running a mile to get to that ball,” he said. “I don’t think I’m getting older but sometimes it feels like it after it catches like that.”
SAN FRANCISCO — On the day that he traded for Rafael Devers, Buster Posey spoke passionately about what the power hitter could bring to the lineup and organization. But in talking about the cost of acquiring Devers, Posey also acknowledged that it put some extra pressure on the front office.
“It’s going to be on us as an organization to do really well in the draft and other avenues as far as being able to develop talent through our system,” he said last month.
Tibbs was the sixth and final first-round pick of the Farhan Zaidi Era. On Sunday, the Posey-led front office will attack a draft for the first time, although there might not be much that’s noticeably different. The head of a baseball operations department is always involved with a draft, particularly with the first-round pick, but when Posey made his evaluations in the offseason, he decided to keep the draft in the hands of senior director of amateur scouting Michael Holmes, who was hired by Zaidi. This is mostly up to Holmes and his scouts.
As Posey and Holmes prepare to embark on their first draft together, here’s what you need to know about where the Giants stand:
The first three rounds will air Sunday on ESPN and MLB Network. The next 17 rounds will start Monday morning and be available on MLB.com.
The Giants’ Picks
There’s a draft lottery at the Winter Meetings now, and the Giants saw two teams pass them. They’ll pick 13th for the third time in six years, and while they’ve struggled in the first round overall, they have at least fared well from that spot.
The lone first-rounder under Zaidi to reach the big leagues thus far is Patrick Bailey, who was taken 13th in 2020. Tibbs was 13th last year and became a key piece in a blockbuster.
For a second straight year, the Giants will get a bit of a breather after their first selection. They sacrificed their second- and fifth-round picks to sign Willy Adames, which looked like a savvy move on Friday night.
About Those First-Rounders …
Posey was a first-round pick out of Florida State in 2008. He’s now running the Giants in part because of the prior regime’s failure to develop first-rounders over the last six years.
In 2019, the Giants selected power-speed blend Hunter Bishop, who has dealt with injuries and is now in his second season in Triple-A. Two years later, it was right-hander Will Bednar, who also dealt with injuries and is now a reliever in Double-A. Reggie Crawford was a swing for the fences in 2022, and he underwent shoulder surgery late last season. He’s said to be doing well in his rehab, but he won’t get back on the mound until the end of this season.
The big hit appears to be Bryce Eldridge, who was taken 16th overall in 2023 and is now the organization’s top prospect and the 20th-best prospect in the game, per MLB Pipeline. Last year, the pick was Tibbs, the lone Zaidi first-rounder who is no longer with the organization.
The 2024 Group
The Giants gave up their second and third picks in last year’s draft after they signed Matt Chapman and Blake Snell. The Chapman part of it all worked out extremely well, and they seem to have done a nice job of salvaging the top of that draft despite not having much to work with.
Tibbs helped them get Devers, and after sitting out two rounds, they went over-slot to get outfielder Dakota Jordan, a tremendous athlete who dropped because of concerns about his whiff rate at Mississippi State. Jordan is now their No. 5 prospect and has a .841 OPS, nine homers and 27 stolen bases for Low-A San Jose. The front office is thrilled with his outfield defense and all-fields power, and he has made notable strides with his plate discipline.
Who Will They Take?
There’s really no such thing as drafting for need in baseball, so throw out any thoughts you might have about what this organization is lacking. After getting a lay of the land, Zaidi decided the Giants were well short on pitching depth, so they took nine straight to begin the 2021 draft. But generally, teams pick the best player available, and because there are so many players in the draft pool compared to other sports, there can be some wild swings.
Posey played with Joe Panik, who was considered a massive reach when the Giants took him 29th overall in 2011. Panik ended up helping them win a ring three years later.
The Victory Test against England has been immortalised in calypso song but is going unremarked during this series
“So at Lord’s was the scenery / Bound to go down in history.” Why isn’t Lord’s cricket ground marking the diamond anniversary of the Victory Test? We are now almost exactly 75 years on from West Indies’ deeply resonant first win at motherland HQ, two years after the first Windrush crossing, hats in the air, Rae and Stollmeyer, cricket, lovely cricket, a rush of blood in the dry yonic centre of the great colonial game, all of that.
It would be wrong to say Lord’s carries no trace of this occasion. Wander around its fragrant perimeters during the India Test, past the gated lawns, the scrolling bars and food courts, and you might spot an embossed brick in the wall of historical moments, just down from Wangfrott Major taking the inaugural village cup and the opening of the media centre: 1950 West Indies win their first Test at Lord’s.
Clippers forward Kobe Brown shoots a three-pointer during a 95-92 NBA Summer League win over the Houston Rockets in Las Vegas on Friday night. (Logan Riely / NBAE via Getty Images)
The Clippers' NBA Summer League contest Friday against the Houston Rockets offered a chance for Kobe Brown to show he's capable of being a rotational player for the Clippers this season.
But misfortune struck in the third quarter when Brown got tangled with a Rockets defender who fell on his right ankle. Brown sat on the Clippers’ bench for a few minutes before he limped to their locker room.
Brown didn't return in the Clippers' 95-92 win at Cox Pavilion on Friday night after sustaining what the team described as a right ankle contusion.
Brown is entering his third season with the Clippers and the team is eager for the 2023 30th overall draft pick to make an impact. He’ll make $2.65 million this season and will have a qualifying offer for next season at $4.7 million.
“He’s just got to continue to do what he did tonight,” said Clippers assistant coach Jerry Castleberry, the team’s Summer League coach. “Play great defense. Make the right reads. We’ve been talking about it all training camp. Get in the paint, draw two, make the right reads and if they put a small on him, he showed his ability to be able to score against a mismatch tonight and doing it the right way — quickly, getting downhill, not dancing, just getting straight to the point.
Brown scored 10 points in the first quarter, going four for five from the field, making both of his three-point attempts. On one of those threes, he ran the length of the court and took a pass for a lob dunk.
Brown finished with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists in 20 minutes.
“Ankle is good,” Castleberry said. “Ankle is fine. Just precautionary. He’ll be OK.”
The Clippers waived Jordan Miller before summer league started, but they still had a roster spot so he was added to the team.
He did not disappoint Friday, producing 23 points and 11 rebounds.
Miller has been given an opportunity to show the Clippers — and any other team — how the Summer League is useful for him.
“With this team it takes a lot of humility. Not thinking less of yourself but also thinking less of yourself,” Miller said. “Just finding a way to maximize whatever role it is. It’s not just for me, but it’s for all the guys. We got guys that can score. The only way we’re going to get on the floor is defending and making open threes. That’s just the reality of it. ... But for the most part, just working game reps. Like, you’re not going to get a lot of ball-screens. You’re not going to get a lot of touches. So you just got to work on your off-ball shooting, movement shooting and being able to not mess up defensively.”
Niederhauser blocked four shots and had 10 rebounds. He used his seven-foot frame as a deterrent and displayed why the Clippers drafted him out of Penn State.
“He did everything he was supposed to do,” Castleberry said. “He was great with rim-protection, changing shots and I just thought he was good.”
We're getting into the deep part of summer, but there is unfinished business in many NHL markets. And one of those markets is Buffalo, where the Sabres continue being unable to move forward on defenseman Bowen Byram, and their roster doesn't inspire confidence they can be in the mix for a playoff spot.
Where could Byram be traded? We've covered many potential possibilities in this series, which focuses on potential trade partners for the Sabres. (You can read some older files by clicking here and here.)
In this file, we're looking at a potential trade fit with the Anaheim Ducks.
FREE AGENTS: Lukas Dostal, G (RFA); Mason McTavish. LW (RFA); Sam Colangelo, RW (RFA); Brock McGinn, RW; Robby Fabbri, C
NEEDS: Elite depth on defense; goal production; fixing league's worst power play (11.8 percent efficiency) and the league's fourth-worst penalty kill (74.2 percent) last season; adapting to system of new coach Joel Quenneville
SABRES FiIT? The Ducks finished the 2024-25 season in sixth place in the weak Pacific Division, 10 points behind the race for a wild card. Anaheim has worked for some time to rebuild their stock of top talent, and that top talent is starting to unlock their potential. But when it comes to the Sabres, Anaheim's focus is the same as Buffalo's -- namely, each of the two teams want the same type of assets. That won't make it easy for Sabres GM Kevyn Adams to find a Ducks player that (a) he'd like as a competitor, and (b) a financial fit.
That. said, Adams has to know he can command a big price if he trades the right player. And that player almost assuredoy will be Byram. As an elite puck-moving blueliner, the 24-year-old is going to commond a major raise on the $3.85 million he earned last season with Buffalo. But the key question is, will he be earning it in Anaheim, or somewhere else?
At that point, all eyes turned to Ducks GM Pat Verbeek. But Verbeek didn't go crazy at the start of free-agenc, Verbeek signed veteran cemter Mikael Grandlund, and he also traded for veteran left winger Chris Kreider. Clearly, Anaheim is intent on being in the playoff race this year.
The way you get there is to trade Byram. Adans has held onto Byram with all his might, but it may be time to part ways with Byram. And that If that's the case, sending Byram to Anahheim could bring back a player who could help them over the long haul -- Ducks winger Mason McTavish.
McTavish made approximately $894.167 last season, and he produced 22 goals and 52 games last year. That's a terrific bargain, but one that won't last any longer. And if the Ducks aren't sufficiently invested in the 22-year-old, the Sabres would gleefully take McTavish off their hands,
One of the Ducks' chief rivals in the Pacific Division is the San Jose Sharks, who made over their back end, bringing in a handful of experienced hands. That's what the Ducks' movees have been all about: if Anahein gets to the trade deadline and they're not in the race, they can trade these veterans for meaningful assets in return.
But we don't see that happening. We like what Verbeek has done here, even if it will take another year or two for Anaheim to blossom into a true Stanley Cup contender. And if he pulls off a trade for Byram -- with that possibility probably being remote -- Verbeek will install an asset that could be part of their defense corps for the next decade.
It’s been a disappointing start to the year for Mark Vientos.
The youngster was one of the most productive bats in the Mets’ lineup last postseason, but he hasn’t quite been able to carry that success over to this year thus far.
Vientos has been putting together better at-bats over the past couple of days, and he had a big opportunity to come through early in Friday’s contest.
After Royals right-hander Michael Wacha walked Pete Alonso to force in the first run of the game in the top of the third, the youngster stepped to the plate with a chance to do even more damage.
However, Wacha quickly set the slugger aside on three pitches to escape the inning, and his frustration got the best of him as he snapped his bat in half over home plate before walking back to the dugout.
Luckily for Vientos, he had a chance to make up for it later on.
After the Royals jumped in front of the first time, the 25-year-old stepped to the plate with the bases loaded again and one out, this time facing All-Star closer Carlos Estévez who he saw last postseason with the Phillies.
Vientos found himself in a 2-2 count, and on the third consecutive slider throw to him, he laced one 107.7 mph into the left-center gap to bring in all three runs and put the Mets back in front for good.
“I was just trying to stay simple with one out and the bases loaded,” he said. “I was trying to hit then all hard the other way and just bring one run in and luckily I found the gap -- it was good to redeem myself and be able to do my job for the team.”
The Mets followed that up with a four-run ninth inning with back-to-back homers from Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto, but most encouraging in that frame -- another Vientos opposite-field single.
After also reaching twice during Game 1 in Baltimore, he's now put together back-to-back multi-hit showings.
With things finally starting to fall for him, both Vientos and Carlos Mendoza are excited for what's to come over the second-half of the season.
“He’s a really good hitter man,” the skipper said. “It’s taken a little bit longer than he wanted and than we’ve wanted, but he’s been hitting the ball hard and a lot of it’s been on the ground -- for him to come through against a good arm in Estévez, it was huge for us and him there.
“Like I said, he’s a really good hitter and we’re gonna need him down the stretch.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, left, pulls starting pitcher Dustin May from the game in the fifth inning of an 8-7 loss to the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Friday night. (David Barreda / Los Angeles Times)
The Dodgers finally looked like the Dodgers again on Friday night.
Too bad it didn’t happen until they were already down six runs.
For the first time in a week, the highest-scoring offense in baseball finally rediscovered its high-flying form, handing San Francisco Giants ace Logan Webb his worst start all season while sending shivers up the spine of the orange-clad contingent at Oracle Park.
But by the time it happened, the club had already dug a hole too deep for even its star-studded lineup to climb out of, unable to completely erase an early six-run deficit in a 8-7 loss to their division rivals — sending the Dodgers to a seven-game losing streak that marks their longest skid since September 2017.
“I like the fight. I thought one through nine, there were good at-bats in there, scored some runs, had a chance to win again,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And unfortunately, on the pitching side, we just couldn't prevent enough."
Friday, of course, never figured to favor the Dodgers given the difference in caliber of the starting pitching matchup.
On one side stood Webb, the crafty and relentless All-Star right-hander who has largely dominated the Dodgers in his seven-year career.
On the other was Dustin May, the once-promising Dodgers right-hander who has yet to realize his tantalizing potential in what has been his first fully healthy big-league season so far.
Still, for a little while on a cold night along the San Francisco Bay, little separated the two sinker-ball specialists, the Dodgers and Giants locked in the kind of close contest that has been the hallmark of this rivalry in recent years.
In the top of the third, Shohei Ohtani even put the Dodgers in front, splashing his NL-leading 32nd home run of the season into McCovey Cove beyond right field for only the eighth splash-down home run by a Dodger player in Oracle Park history.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani tosses his bat after hitting a two-run home run in the third inning against the Giants on Friday. (David Barreda / Los Angeles Times)
But eventually, May came unglued, giving up seven runs in less than five innings as the Giants surged to an 8-2 lead. And though the Dodgers (56-39) eventually got to within one, tagging Webb with a season-high six runs, they came up empty in their final couple trips to the plate, wasting plenty of positive subplots in another losing story.
“Today we were able to string some hits together, put some innings together,” shortstop Mookie Betts said. “But we just come up short."
After starting his night with increased fastball velocity and ruthless assault of the strike zone, May lost his command in the fourth inning.
Dodgers pitcher Dustin May delivers against the Giants on Friday. (David Barreda / Los Angeles Times)
Rafael Devers walked on four pitches to start the inning. Matt Chapman received another free pass despite a mid-at-bat mound visit from catcher Will Smith. And with one out, Jung Hoo Lee laced a two-run triple over the outstretched glove of Teoscar Hernández, who returned to the lineup after missing the last four games with a foot contusion but still seemed hobbled while trying to track the ball down in the right-field gap.
“Just got a little bit out of sync, couldn’t time things back up,” May said of his delivery, which has teetered between flashes of dominance and stretches of frustration during his return from a second career elbow surgery.
“During my warm-up throws in the fourth, it felt a little off. Trying to get my foot down a little earlier didn’t really help. That’s been a cue. But yeah, it just went bad.”
Things got worse in the fifth, when the Giants (52-43) plated five more while sending 10 batters to the plate.
Dominic Smith led the inning off with a homer. May then gave up a single and two walks to load the bases. The Dodgers missed their chance to escape the inning, when Hyeseong Kim failed to turn a difficult but potential inning-ending double play quickly enough at second base.
May was replaced by Anthony Banda, who was greeted with another two-run triple by Willy Adames (who had already homered to open the scoring in the second inning) and a run-scoring infield single from Lee, who outraced Banda to first base to punctuate a painfully long inning.
“To win a big-league ballgame is tough, but you’ve still got to pitch well, you’ve got to catch it and you’ve got to take good at-bats,” Roberts said. “If all three of those things don’t line up in one night, it’s hard to get a win.”
Mookie Betts grimaces in pain after being hit by a pitch in the sixth inning against the Giants on Friday night. (David Barreda / Los Angeles Times)
It was at that point, coming off a six-game stretch in which they’d scored 10 total runs, that the Dodgers’ bats finally came to life.
In the top of the sixth, Hernández launched a two-run double that Lee couldn’t quite corral on the run at the warning track, before Michael Conforto followed with a two-run homer that chased Webb and cut the deficit to two.
In the seventh, the Dodgers struck again, when Betts slid into third after hitting another ball just beyond Lee’s reach in center and later scored on Smith’s RBI single.
“It's definitely more encouraging,” said Betts, who has been among the coldest hitters in the Dodgers lineup lately. “I can't speak for everyone. But I haven't done anything this whole time … Just to get us going, get some hits there, that's the positive that you can take out of it."
That, however, was as close as the Dodgers got. Smith was left stranded to end the seventh. Kim’s two-out double in the eighth was squandered. And, in the most frustrating of endings, a two-on, one-out opportunity in the ninth went by the wayside when Smith rolled into a double play.
The division lead is down to four.
And as the Dodgers continue to stumble toward the All-Star break, moral victories remain the only wins in sight.
“I know it sucks, but you have to try to take some positive out of it,” Betts said. “At least we battled back."
Carlos Mendoza knew he only had Kodai Senga for 70 pitches Friday night.
The right-hander made just one rehab outing prior to being activated from the injured list, and with the All-Star break looming the team didn’t want to push him too far as he made his highly-anticipated return.
Still, Senga was terrific across his four innings of work.
The Royals certainly put him to the test as they put runners on base in each frame against him, but as has been the case all season long, he battled and made tough pitches when the Mets needed him to.
It started in the bottom of the first when the first two runners reached on a single and a double, then he used a pair of strikeouts and a liner right back through the box to help him escape the inning unscathed.
“I was a little nervous getting back out on a big-league mound for the first time in a little bit,” Senga admitted through a translator. “Those two runners got on early and I thought to myself this is not a good look for me, and somehow I was able to get out of it.”
After seemingly settling down, he found himself in trouble again after issuing back-to-back two out walks in the second, but he was able to dance out of danger again with some help from a nifty play by Ronny Mauricio at the hot corner.
Kansas City pieced together another two-out rally with a pair of knocks in the third, but Senga went to work and quickly eliminated rookie Jac Caglianone with four consecutive nasty forkballs out of the zone.
He finished his day with a perfect fourth -- closing his line with no runs allowed on four hits and a pair of walks while striking out four to lower his ERA to a stellar 1.39 on the year.
“I thought he was really good,” Mendoza said. “First inning they made him work right away, second ands third nobody out and he gets out of it. I thought the fastball had life, the split was really good and got them to chase, the cutter, the slider -- everything.
“He looked like he didn’t miss a beat, that’s a really good sign heading into the break.”
That certainly is a great sign for the Mets, who could desperately use both Senga and Sean Manaea healthy and leading the way at the top of their struggling rotation.
The Mets rallied to beat the Kansas City Royals 8-3 on Friday night at Kauffman Stadium.
Here are some takeaways..
- After a brief rain delay, Kodai Senga was finally able to get out there in his return from the IL. The right-hander was greeted rudely as Kansas City quickly pushed the first two batters into scoring position, but two strikeouts and a liner right back through the box helped Senga out of the inning unscathed.
He faced even more trouble over the next two innings, both coming with two outs. Senga issued back-to-back walks in the second but was helped out by a nifty Ronny Mauricio snag, then he got rookie Jac Caglianone to chase a forkball in the dirt and strand runners on the corners in the third.
Senga was again helped out by Mauricio, as he finished his night with a much-needed clean fourth inning. He threw 67 pitches in his first start back and allowed just four hits and two walks while striking out four over four scoreless innings -- he lowered his ERA to 1.39 on the year.
- The Mets appeared to have Michael Wacha on the ropes in the third as a walk and two hits loaded the bases, but they were only able to scratch across a run on a Pete Alonso walk -- Juan Soto and Mark Vientos struck out between that -- Vientos smashed his bat over the plate in frustration as his recent struggles continued.
- Alex Carrillo worked a scoreless inning behind Senga. The rookie right-hander came back out for the sixth and was able to get the first two outs, but Brandon Nimmo was unable to come up with a sliding grab on a sinking liner to left, and the game-tying run scored on a double.
- An inning later, the Royals jumped in front for the first time in the game as All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. crushed a go-ahead two-run homer to deep left-center on a Huascar Brazoban middle-middle fastball with one out in the seventh.
- The Mets answered right back, though, as the frustrated Vientos was able to deliver this time with the bases loaded. After falling behind in the count against Royals closer Carlos Estévez, the youngster laced a bases clearing double into the left-center gap to put New York back in front.
- Then in the ninth, New York would put this one away for good as Francisco Lindor lifted a three-run homer and Soto put one over the left-center fence, giving them back-to-back jacks. Lindor now has 19 on the season and Soto regains the team-lead with 22.
Game MVP: Mark Vientos
The go-ahead hit was a good sign for Vientos, who needed it desperately.
DETROIT (AP) — Cal Raleigh hit his 37th and 38th home runs in Seattle’s 12-3 victory over Detroit on Friday night to move within one of Barry Bonds’ 2001 major league record for homers before the All-Star break.
Raleigh hit a solo homer off former teammate Tyler Holton in the eighth to tie the American League record of 37 set by Reggie Jackson in 1969 and matched by Chris Davis in 2013.
“(Holton) and I are really good friends and I’ve caught a lot of his pitches,” said Raleigh, who was in the lineup as the designated hitter instead of at catcher. “I don’t think that helped much, but I’m sure he’s not very happy with me.”
Raleigh hit a grand slam off Brant Hurter in the ninth.
“I didn’t even know it was a record until just now,” Raleigh said. “I don’t have words for it, I guess. I’m just very grateful and thankful.”
Seattle has two games left in Detroit before the break.
“Cal Raleigh ... this is just unbelievable,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “He’s already set the AL record and now he’s only one short of Barry. There are two games, so who knows?”
Raleigh hit 10 homers in March and April, 12 in May, 11 in June and has five in July.
“This is a very boring comment, but baseball is all about consistency,” Wilson said. “This hasn’t been one hot streak, he’s doing this month after month. That says everything.”
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