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The opener of a three-game series in Sacramento saw a highly anticipated big-league debut which absolutely did not disappoint, and a low-scoring game was blown wide open in the late innings as the Tigers won 13-1.

Casey Mize was supposed to be the starter but was scratched because (a.) he might be traded, (b.) his speed was noticeably down in his last start, or (c.) all of the above. So it was a good, old-fashioned Bullpen Day and Tyler Holton got things going. He’s not unfamiliar with the role, as he had nine starts during Pitching Chaos™ in 2024.

Jeffrey Springs got the start for the A’s, and it’s been a rough season for him, especially lately. A month ago he gave up six runs in consecutive starts, and in his previous start he didn’t get out of the second inning. Pitching half his starts at the launching-pad that is Sacramento certainly doesn’t help your stats.

The Athletics got on the board in the bottom of the first: Jacob Wilson walked with one out, and a Jonah Heim double clanked off a diving Riley Greene’s glove in left-centre to score Wilson and put the home team up 1-0, but that was all they’d get, as it turned out.

In the top of the second, Spencer Torkelson singled with one out to bring up Max Clark for the first time in the major leagues. On a full count he took a high four-seam fastball for ball four, putting two runners on for Javier Báez… who grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Henry Bolte, who is the fastest guy in the major leagues, got plunked with one out in the bottom of the second. Dillon Dingler had something to say about him trying to steal a base.

Kevin McGonigle opened the Tigers’ scoring with a solo home run in the third.

Gleyber Torres walked and Dingler followed with a soft single; a Riley Greene groundout acted like a bunt to push the runners up a base. But Hao-Yu Lee grounded out to short and that was that.

Ty Madden took over for Holton to start the bottom of the third. A pair of walks put two runners on with two out, but Tyler Soderstrom grounded out to second to end the mini-threat.

ClarkWatch 2026 continued in the top of the fourth: Torkelson worked a leadoff walk, and Clark served an opposite-field single into shallow left field for his first major-league hit. A lineout by Báez pushed Torkelson up to third, and Ben Malgeri walked to load the bases. McGonigle hit a shallow fly ball to right and Torkelson managed to beat the throw home for a 2-1 Tigers lead.

Meanwhile, Madden settled down and sprinkled a couple of hits here-and-there but nothing the A’s were doing looked vaguely threatening. Drew Sommers took over to start the sixth and he needed all of seven pitches to dispatch the A’s on a pair of strikeouts and a groundout. He also sailed through the seventh: a strikeout, groundout and foul popup to Dingler took eight pitches.

The game was still a tight, low-scoring affair entering the eighth — an unusual occurrence in Sacramento — and pinch-hitter Eduardo Valencia led off the inning with a sharp single. He was lifted for a pinch-runner, Zack McKinstry, who moved over to third on a Torkelson single to put runners on the corners. Clark came up and smacked a double off the wall in left field to score McKinstry, putting the Tigers up 3-1.

Báez snuck another single just over an infielder’s head to score Torkelson and move Clark up to third for a 4-1 score. A hard grounder to third by Malgeri was too hot to handle, and Clark aggressively scooted home for a 5-1 lead; smartly, Clark ran home a couple of feet on the infield side of the third base line to make any possible third-to-home throw that much harder. McGonigle walked to load the bases with none out; Torres hit a hard liner to shortstop for the first out, but Dingler rocketed a grand slam to straightaway centre for a 9-1 lead.

Enmanuel De Jesus, who was just recalled from Toledo, was brought in for the bottom of the eighth. He gave up a couple of very hard-hit outs but ultimately he put up a zero for the inning.

Clark continued his fine debut in the top of the ninth with another double, pushing Torkelson up to third, who’d led off with a single. Both runners scored on a Báez single for a 11-1 lead, and he came around to score on Malgeri’s first major-league home run for a 13-1 score.

De Jesus closed out the ninth — again, some hard contact in there — and the Max Clark Experience was officially in the books. Can we keep him?

Final score: Tigers 13, A’s 1

Bonus Max Clark Content

You want it. You know you want it.

Notes and Numbers

• Hao-Yu Lee’s hitless Wednesday game ended a twelve-game hitting streak for him.
• Max Clark made his debut tonight, of course. In his age-21 season in Toledo before the call-up, he hit .276 in 418 plate appearances, with 11 home runs and 21 stolen bases.
• The Tigers had four rookies in their starting lineup: Lee, Clark, Kevin McGonigle and Ben Malgeri. Another rookie, Eduardo Valencia, got a pinch-hit single as well.
• This day in 1970 was Black Tot Day in the UK’s Royal Navy. For nearly two centuries before this day, sailors in their Navy were given a ration of rum every single day they were at sea. Think that lasted an absurdly long time? Well, the Royal Canadian Navy abolished the ration about two years later, and in the Royal New Zealand Navy it lasted until 1990.

BALTIMORE – Shortly before the Philadelphia Phillies took the field Friday, July 31, desperate to slow their second-half free fall, owner John Middleton and Sam Fuld, their president of business operations, took a tour of Camden Yards’ new amenities, guided by an Orioles official.

The Phillies have big plans for their own Citizens Bank Park, the success of these past five seasons making a refurbishing of their lovely ballpark a well-timed venture.

Down on the field, interim manager Don Mattingly was searching even harder for upgrades.

The Phillies had lost nine of their last 12 games since hosting the All-Star Game, the fourth and fifth spots in their rotation still unreliable, the ennui spreading through the lineup and bullpen. Fresh out of ideas and the trade deadline still three stultifying days away, the Phillies returned promising but erratic right-hander Andrew Painter to the major leagues, not because they envision him immediately locking down a rotation spot.

“He gives us the best chance,” Mattingly said of Painter, 1-8 with a 7.06 ERA his first time up, “to win a game tonight.”

Painter was up to the smaller task at hand, shutting out the Orioles for five innings after a shaky two-run first. He gave them a chance to win. Yet the rookie was powerless to cure every other area failing the Phillies, a notion apparent immediately after he left the game.

Paul Skenes entered the 2026 MLB season as arguably the best pitcher in the game.

The top pick of the 2023 MLB Draft was the Rookie of the Year in 2024 and won the NL Cy Young Award in 2025 with a sterling 1.97 ERA.

After a disastrous 2026 opening day that saw him give up five runs and fail to escape the first inning, the Pittsburgh Pirates ace settled back in, getting his ERA back below 2 by May 12 and keeping it at 3 or below until it hit 3.10 on June 26.

Skenes' ERA sits at 3.90 now after he lasted just four innings on Friday night, giving up seven hits (including two homers) and five runs. The Pirates ended up losing 8-7 to the Cincinnati Reds, though Skenes did not take the loss.

"It took pretty much an inning to find my delivery, which happens. Usually it doesn't look that bad in the first inning," Skenes said postgame. "Just pretty sloppy all around."

According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the Twins have acquired starting pitcher Dean Kremer from the Baltimore Orioles. The Twins are sending outfield prospect Jhonmardo Reyes in return. Kremer is owed $5.75M this season and is controllable via arbitration for 2027.

Kremer has struggled this season to a 6.50 ERA/6.24 FIP in seven starts this year, but has a long track record as a reliable starter. He’s also missed most of the season with a quad strain and just returned July 1, and his advanced numbers paint a prettier picture with a 4.92 xERA/3.81 xFIP. From 2022-2025, Kremer had 3.95 ERA/4.17 FIP in 599 innings, so the Twins are making the bet he’ll return to that form down the stretch.

If there’s one area that is likely to get back to normal immediately, it’s Kremer’s home run rate. Kremer has allowed 12 home runs in those 7 seven starts for a robust 3.00 HR/9. He was sitting at a 1.17 HR/9 for his career before this season and will likely regress closer to that figure as he rounds into shape.

Reyes, 18, will be heading back to the Orioles. He’s still a long ways away, but he’s had some very exciting flashes in his first full season in the Twins’ system. FanGraphs has him rated as the Twins 10th-best prospect, touting his top end power potential with a lot of questions about his ability to make contact against better pitchers. Twinkie Town’s Aidan O’Brien is a bit lower on Reyes, placing him at number 22.

Starting pitching is always significantly more expensive than relievers, but this is a pricey trade for a pitcher that has looked rough this season. His track record will likely pay off in the long run, but Reyes is a significant tier above most 18-year-old wildcard prospects. The Orioles were likely only willing to move Kremer this early specifically because the Twins were willing to offer Reyes. And while I consider this a bit of an overpay, it’s not outrageously high and the cost for starting pitching is high in July (See: Minnesota getting a decent prospect for Chris Paddack last season).

The Twins have been very active early, completing two of the three trades that have happened so far at deadline week. I still expect them to bring in one more reliever, though the Kremer acquisition makes moving Prielipp to the ’pen much more likely, if not probable.

Welcome to Minnesota, Dean!

Iowa Cubs pitcher Connor Noland was activated off the Development List.

Second baseman Dom Krupinski was promoted from the ACL Cubs to low-A Myrtle Beach.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were tied to the tracks by the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Yankees), 9-5.

Edward Cabrera started this game on a rehab assignment. Cabrera only threw 1.2 innings and 43 pitches. He was charged with three runs on two hits and two walks, although two of the runs scored in the second inning after he was relieved by Ty Blach. Cabrera struck out three. He struggled with control as only 26 of his 43 pitches were strikes. However, his velocity was consistently between 94 and 98 miles per hour.

First baseman Jonathonn Long went 3 for 5 with a double and one run scored.

Center fielder Brett Bateman was 2 for 5.

Catcher Owen Ayers went 1 for 2 with two walks and an RBI.

Right fielder Kevin Alcántara extended his on-base streak to 39 games by going 1 for 4. He drove in one and scored one run.

A strikeout for Cabrera.

RBI single for Ayers.

The Jaguar’s RBI single.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies let the Pensacola Blue Wahoos (Marlins) be the one that got away, 5-4.

Luis Martinez-Gomez started and gave the Smokies a solid six innings, giving up three runs on five hits. All three runs scored on the two home runs he allowed. Martinez-Gomez walked two and struck out five.

The loss went to Kenyi Perez, who pitched the seventh inning and surrendered two runs on two hits. Perez struck out two and did not walk anyone, but he did hit one batter that came around to scored.

Center fielder Alex Ramírez hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning, his 13th on the year. Ramírez was 3 for 5 with a double and the home run. He also stole a base.

Third baseman Jefferson Rojas went 1 for 2 with a double and two walks. He scored two runs.

RBI single for left fielder Carter Trice, who went 1 for 4 with a walk.

The Ramírez home run.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs impressed the Lake County Captains (Guardians), 15-7.

Kohl Franklin started this game on a rehab assignment and gave up one run on three hits over 1.2 innings. Franklin walked three and struck out one.

Nate Williams relieved Franklin and got the win because Franklin didn’t go five. Williams allowed one run on two hits over 2.1 innings. Williams walked three and struck out three.

South Bend scored nine runs in the top of the second inning, sending 13 batters to the plate. The Cubs hit three home runs in the second. The first one was a three-run home run by center fielder Kane Kepley. It was Kepley’s seventh home run on the season. Kepley went 1 for 4 with two walks, a hit-by-pitch, the home run and his 50th steal of the season. He scored twice.

Later in the second, right fielder Kade Snell hit a two-run home run, his sixth of the year and third in two nights. Snell went 1 for 6.

Shortstop Angel Cepeda then went back-to-back with Snell. It was Cepeda’s third South Bend home run and fourth overall. Cepeda was 2 for 4 with two walks and a stolen base. He scored twice in the second inning.

Third baseman Matt Halbach hit the Cubs’ fourth home run of the game in the sixth inning with the bases empty. It was Halbach’s eighth home run. Halbach went 1 for 4 with two walks.

Second baseman Ty Southisene was 3 for 4 with three walks. Southisene scored twice and drove in two.

Left fielder Jose Escobar doubled twice in a 3 for 6 game. He scored one run and had three runs batted in.

DH Logan Poteet was 2 for 5 with a double and a walk. He scored twice and had one RBI.

First baseman Josiah Hartshorn went 1 for 6 with a two-rum double and a walk. I mention this because the switch-hitter hit the double left-handed off a lefty. Hartshorn scored twice

Here are the highlights of the nine-run second.

Halbach’s home run.

Hartshorn’s left-on-left double.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans were hunted down by the Charleston RiverDogs (Rays), 13-1.

David Avita started and took the loss. Avita pitched three innings and surrendered five runs on seven hits. Avita struck out one, walked one and hit one batter.

The only Pelicans run came in the fourth inning when right fielder Eli Lovich singled home shortstop Alexis Hernandez. Both players were 1 for 4.

Third baseman Corey Nunez is off to a great start to his pro career. Tonight he was 2 for 4 with a double.

Dodgers reliever Will Klein has been battling command problems for a few weeks now.

On Friday night against the Red Sox, it led to a frightening scene in the third inning at Dodger Stadium.

In an at-bat against Willson Contreras, the hard-throwing Klein lost control of two elevated 95 mph fastballs. The first one buzzed Contreras’ tower. The second drilled him straight in the back of the helmet.

As gasps echoed around the Chavez Ravine crowd, Contreras bent over at the plate and seemed dazed by the hit-by-pitch.

The veteran slugger did stay on his feet as coaches and trainers ran out to check on him.

Initially, he even stayed in the game, too, walking down to first base for the rest of the inning.

But in the bottom half of the frame, he was replaced at first base, making an early exit for further evaluation in the clubhouse.

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The Red Sox later announced that Contreras had been removed for “precautionary reasons.”

Klein, a World Series hero for the Dodgers last year who has also battled command problems throughout his career, seemed remorseful about his misfire, walking slowly off the mound with a shake of his head. Dodgers catcher Eliezer Alfonzo also gave Contreras an apologetic tap as he walked up the base line. Contreras received an ovation from the stands as he reached first base.

That pitch would be the last of the night for Klein, who gave up three runs (two earned) in 1 ⅓ innings during the Dodgers’ planned bullpen game.

The right-hander has now allowed runs in six-straight appearances, and has issued multiple free bases (through either walks or hit batters) in four of his last five. His season ERA has climbed from 1.78 on June 2 to 3.89 following Friday’s outing.

The Texas Rangers scored two runs but the Houston Astros scored eleven runs.

I didn’t catch this one because Major League Baseball loves nothing more than gatekeeping its product but I hear the Rangers lost the game tonight. Seems like it didn’t go well at all.

That’s pretty unfortunate for a few reasons. First of all, the Rangers losing the game tonight means they’ve lost three games in a row and are now back at .500. Because they lost tonight, they are now no longer in first place in the American League West by a half game.

Also, because they lost tonight to the Astros, they have lost the season series to Houston which means they have lost the tiebreaker to the new AL West leaders and, more importantly, they’ve once again lost the Silver Boot.

Maybe next year.

Player of the Game: Joc Pederson homered to get the Rangers on the board. Unfortunately it was 6-0 at that point and it only got much worse from there.

Up Next: The Rangers will try to return to above .500 baseball and reclaim the top spot in the division tomorrow. Texas will turn to RHP Jacob deGrom opposite RHP Ronel Blanco for Houston.

The Saturday evening first pitch from Daikin Park is scheduled for 6:10 pm CDT and the game will be back on the Rangers Sports Network.

Mike Elias has made his first move ahead of the trade deadline. The Orioles are trading Dean Kremer to the Twins. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal broke the news of the trade. Another reporter at The Athletic, Dan Hayes, wrote that the return for the Orioles is 18-year-old outfield prospect Jhomnardo Reyes.

Selling off a player right after a dramatic win kind of sucks. The Orioles are one and a half games out of a dang wild card spot and this is how Elias responds. Not only is the first move a sell, it’s selling to one of the teams that is ahead of the Orioles in the wild card standings. That’s the immediate reaction.

On the other hand, Kremer has a 6.50 ERA across his seven starts this year. He is giving up home runs like they are going out of style. He’s been consistent across the past three seasons before that, posting ERAs of 4.12, 4.10, and 4.19. If he finishes the season with that kind of ERA, the Orioles may end up regretting the immediate aftermath of this trade. If he doesn’t, then Elias has moved on from a pitcher at a good time and done well to get a player in the process.

This is a subtraction not just from the rotation for the rest of this season but for next season as well. Kremer has one season remaining before becoming a free agent. He’s making $5.75 million this year and figures to get at least a modest increase on that next year. That’s not even a third of what Chris Bassitt is making this season. Bassitt has started his rehab assignment; he’s probably the rest-of-season replacement for Kremer in the rotation, although that may take a start or two before he’s built back up and can take that spot. It won’t be good if Bassitt pitches like pre-back surgery Bassitt.

Reyes is an 18-year-old from the Dominican Republic who signed with the Twins for a bonus of $322,500 in January 2025. He made his US minor league debut this season with the Florida Complex League Twins affiliate and came away with a pretty darn good .296/.406/.541 batting line in 49 games, including seven home runs. He has since played in a small handful of games for Low-A Fort Myers. Presumably, the Orioles will assign him to their affiliate at that level, Delmarva.

At the time of the trade, Reyes checked in at #24 on the Twins prospect list on MLB Pipeline. That could be something of an out of date ranking. The FanGraphs Twins list, which only posted in mid-June, had Reyes as the #10 guy in the Twins system, in the same prospect tier as several Orioles guys including Enrique Bradfield Jr. and Joseph Dzierwa.

I know you’re going to have hard time believing this, but it appears that Reyes is a big lefty-batting guy with major power potential and questions about whether he’s going to strike out too much to ever reach that potential. For what it’s worth, he’s got a 22.9% strikeout rate across 216 plate appearances this season. If he keeps it there, he will probably be okay. Tougher pitchers await at every level.

FanGraphs likened Reyes to a late-first round high school pick. That’s a good get for the price of Kremer, though again, if Kremer turns the ship around and his replacement in the Orioles rotation stinks, that’s not going to be a good one for Elias. In the meantime, the Manny Machado trade tree has another branch. Kremer had been around in the Orioles organization ever since that deal eight years ago, putting up 6.1 bWAR across parts of seven seasons.

It's been 13 days since Kodai Senga last took the mound for the Mets, but what the right-hander did Friday night against the Marlins was commendable considering what was against him.

Not only was Senga, who has been used out of the bullpen of late, down for two weeks, but he found out he was starting just hours before the 7:10 p.m. first pitch. The Mets scratched Freddy Peralta from his originally scheduled start as negotiations heated up ahead of the trade deadline.

It actually worked out for Senga, as he pitched four scoreless innings before running out of gas in the fifth of the Mets' 5-2 loss to the Marlins. He allowed three earned runs -- two coming after he was pulled -- on two hits and two walks while striking out four.

"He was phenomenal today for a guy who hasn’t been out there for 13-14 days. You can’t ask for anything more," interim manager Andy Green said after the game. "That was an impressive four innings. If I’m handling that right, that’s the end of his night and he feels really good about himself."

"To be honest, there was some fear - I hope it's gonna go okay," Senga said of his outing after being down for so long via an interpreter. "Despite that, I was able to go out there, not be too tense or anything, and go out there and pitch."

The first four innings from Friday's start had shades of Senga's monstrous rookie season. He leaned on the fastball that topped out at 98 mph, filled up the strikezone and trusted his signature forkball. But in the fifth, he walked the first two batters he faced with a wild pitch mixed in there, before Green came out to talk with Senga. 

Green said Senga wanted to keep going and even Senga's teammates encouraged him. 

"It was his game, he was pitching extremely well," Francisco Lindor said. "And knowing Andy, he's going to make the pitchers go as far as they can. I just wanted Senga to stay in the game mentally as well."

Unfortunately, Senga could not get out of the jam. Jakob Marsee drove in a run with a double, chasing Senga.

"Thought I still have a job to do on the mound," Senga said of wanting to stay in. "Hope to strive to be a pitcher that can finish off those types of innings."  

"Baseball’s cruel sometimes. He should be celebrated today for what he did for us," Green said. "But when you leave with three earned runs, the line doesn’t show what you did for your team. He was great."

Senga's outing was encouraging for the Mets. Perhaps it can kickstart a resurgence for the right-hander who has been relegated to the bullpen. 

The trade deadline will likely see some openings in the Mets rotation; Peralta and potentially ClayHolmes may not be on the team after Aug. 3, and Senga may be asked to start more often than not to finish up the 2026 season. Green didn't go as far as to say Senga will start again, but the Mets skipper believes Senga will be seen plenty down the stretch. 

"He’s going to get an opportunity to pitch meaningful innings for us," Green said. "What he did today was show the guy we’ve known is still in there. That was really impressive after 13 days off.

"All that I'm able to do and can do is go out and perform," Senga said. "Hopefully, today becomes kind of a trigger to performing well in the future, but that's all I can do. That's what I'm focused on."

If Kodai Senga had pitched like this all season, the Mets would have one more enticing trade chip.

Then again, if Senga had pitched like this all season, the Mets probably would not be collecting all their trade chips to off-load.

Informed just hours before first pitch that he would be on the mound in place of the scratched Freddy Peralta, Senga reminded everyone he is still on the team while showing off some of the best stuff he has possessed all year.

In his first outing in nearly two weeks Friday night, he dominated for four innings before fading, arguably the most potent the right-hander has looked since his season-opening quality start against the Cardinals back on March 31.

“I think he was phenomenal today for a guy who hasn’t been out there for [13] days,” interim manager Andy Green said after the 5-2 loss to the Marlins. “You can’t ask for anything more.”

Of course, the uptick in stuff arrived long after Mets season unofficially ended. And it ultimately did not matter in a game in which his stat line was skewed upon leaving. Not that the results matter much, with the 33,064 fans at Citi Field more entertained by the superhero renderings on the scoreboard than the action on the field.

The Mets will not have Peralta after Monday. They probably will not have Clay Holmes, either.

Sean Manaea, Nolan McLean, Christian Scott and Zac Thornton are near certainties to remain. Jonah Tong and Tobias Myers are on the 40-man roster with Triple-A Syracuse, and perhaps prospects Jack Wenninger or Jonathan Santucci could pitch their way to relevance.

There will be intrigue to see whether a rotation spot will be reserved for Senga, who will pitch “meaningful innings for us the rest of the way,” Green said, though he stopped short of guaranteeing those innings would come as a starter.

Senga, who on Friday pitched four innings with three runs allowed on two hits and two walks with four strikeouts, lost his job following a June 23 start against the Cubs — after which his ERA was 10.08 — and was shifted to the bullpen, where he has been as invisible as his ghost forkball.

But as long as Senga is showing flashes of the All-Star he was in 2023, there will be reason to give him chances to prove the talent still can be extracted. Add in the fact Senga is due $15 million next season, and the Mets might be incentivized in August and September to learn if they can count on competence from him next year.

“What he did today,” Green said, “showed that the guy we’ve known is in there is still in there.”

Friday, he was better than competent. He retired the first seven Marlins batters he faced, needed just four pitches to get through the fourth inning and had the forkball working early, Xavier Edwards swinging over the top of strike three in the first inning.

After four innings in which he allowed just one base runner, Senga ran out of steam in the fifth. He walked a pair and gave up a double to Jakob Marsee that scored the first run of the game.

Xzavion Curry, called up earlier in the day, entered and surrendered a couple of RBI singles that marred Senga’s line.

Perhaps this is the first step toward Senga proving himself all over again. Perhaps this is another step forward that will be followed by a step back, as has been too often the case with Senga.

“All that I’m able to do and can do is go out and perform,” Senga said through interpreter Hiro Fujiwara. “Hopefully today becomes a trigger to performing well in the future.”

For six-and-a-half innings tonight, this game felt like a hopeless loss. Brandon Young had a little bad luck and made a few bad pitches, which put the Orioles in a hole. And Phillies starter Andrew Painter rebounded from his terrible rookie season so far to look like the top prospect he once was. With the Orioles down 4-2 going into the bottom of the seventh, the energy felt bad. Until it didn’t.

Painter exited after six innings, which was just what the Orioles needed. He was replaced by Orion Kerkering. Kerkering was greeted by a Jackson Holliday single, his first hit after hitting the ball hard earlier in the game. After a Coby Mayo strikeout, Colton Cowser worked a great walk. The tying run was on base, and Craig Albernaz went to Christian Encarnacion-Strand to bat in place of catcher Yohel Pozo.

It was a total no-brainer to PH for Pozo, but Kerkering has been lights-out against righties this year so it was a tall order for Encarnacion-Strand. Kerkering had held righties to a .154 batting average this year and hadn’t allowed a hit to a righty in 17 games. The last righty to get a hit off Kerkering was Randul Grichuk back June 7th. Encarnacion-Strand changed that.

On a 2-2 pitch, Encarnacion-Strand launched a ball to the right-center gap. Holliday scored easily. It seemed like Cowser would stop at third, but third base coach Buck Britton furiously waved him home. Cowser slid in ahead of the tag! Tie game!

After Dylan Beavers struck out, Kerkering hit Pete Alonso to again put two runners on. The problem was that the next guy up was Gunnar Henderson. I hate thinking that, but that’s where we are. The Phillies changed pitchers, bringing in lefty Time Mayza to face him. But this time, Gunnar came through.

When Henderson swung through a 2-0 pitch that wasn’t near the strike zone, my heart sank. He didn’t miss the next pitch. He turned on an inside sinker and lined a ball to the left-center gap. Both runners scored and Henderson landed on third base with a triple. He emotionally pounded on the ground in celebration and the Orioles were up, 6-4.

From there, Albernaz turned to Yennier Cano and Tyler Wells out of the bullpen. They did not waste any time. Cano, celebrating his new contract, retired the side in order. And Wells needed just 10 pitches for a 1-2-3 ninth to seal the win. What a win!

Before all the excitement of the seventh inning, the Orioles offense was unable to solve Andrew Painter. Painter had been the Phillies’ top prospect coming into the season, but was demoted to Triple-A after 14 games and a 7.06 ERA. He righted the ship some in the minors and tonight looked much more like the prospect people thought he was.

It got off to a pretty good start for the offense, actually. In the first, Dylan Beavers doubled and came in to score on Alonso’s 23rd home run of the year. The opposite-field shot made it into the first row of the Eutaw Street seats and tied the game at two. But after that, Painter put it together. He retired the next three batters after Alonso and had a 1-2-3 second. He worked around a Cowser walk in the third inning.

Beavers and Alonso tried to make something happen in the fourth with a walk and a single, but Henderson struck out, and neither Taylor Ward nor Leody Taveras could get on base. The Henderson strikeout kicked off a streak of 10 batters retired for Painter. He walked Ward with one out in the sixth, but Taveras hit into a double play.

Finally, after six innings, Painter exited. That’s when the magic began.

As for Young, he wasn’t as successful tonight as he has been for most of this year. But he didn’t look too bad, honestly. He had a little bad luck and made a few bad pitches, and that was enough to do him in.

The very first batter of the game, Trea Turner hit a weak ground ball up the third base side. It died in front of Coby Mayo, who didn’t have a play. Turner hit it at all of 70.7 mph. Young followed that by walking Kyle Schwarber, then Bryce Harper hit a soft liner that fell into left field. Turner scored on the play.

Alec Bohm finally made the first out, a fly ball that moved Schwarber over to third base. One ground out to second later and the score was 2-0. JT Realmuto struck out, but it was a long inning for Young. The Phillies didn’t hit him hard, but he threw 24 pitches and left with the Orioles down by two.

After the first inning, Young allowed just three more hits. That sounds good, except two of those hits were home runs. Trea Turner took him deep in the third inning, then JT Realmuto hit one with two outs in the sixth. That was Young’s final batter. In between the two home runs, he walked one, gave up a single, and retired 11. Pretty good! But not good enough. His final pitching line: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 5 K.

After Young exited the game, the bullpen was outstanding. Josh Walker replaced him and finished the sixth inning. He started the seventh and got one out, then gave up a single. That was the last hit the Phillies got. Anthony Nunez came in and sandwiched two outs around a Schwarber walk. That was enough for him to get the win. Cano and Wells slammed the door after the Orioles took the lead and that was all she wrote.

Orioles win, 6-4! They are still two games below .500 but are just 1.5 games out of the last Wild Card spot. Some mediocre team is gonna be in the last spot when the season ends. Why not the Orioles?

Who was your Most Birdland Player for tonight? Tell us in the comments! Was it Christian Encarnacion-Strand for his game-tying double? Or maybe Gunnar Henderson, who had the game-winning RBI? Maybe a relief pitcher?

Nick Martinez is in line to be one of the finalists for the AL Cy Young award this season. So far this year, he’s done a great job at limiting hard hits and walks, making him a tough pitcher to attack. But that was before the White Sox made Friday night look like a Home Run Derby on their way to a convincing 6-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

The fireworks started early on — and they started out of nowhere, too. After getting two quick outs in just six pitches, Martinez’s next pitch was launched 433 feet by Miguel Vargas as John Schriffen was giddier than a kid on the first day of summer vacation:

While it was just a solo shot, and just a 1-0 lead against the AL’s best, it clearly set the tone for what would be a great night for the South Siders.

After Erick Fedde set the Rays down in order, Andrew Benintendi continued blasting for the White Sox. After falling behind in the count early, a “Benny Bomb” to right doubled the lead and clearly had Martinez questioning himself.

As great of a start as it was for the White Sox, the Rays still had a chance to get right back into the game in the bottom of the second. A Cedric Mullins leadoff double put the White Sox in a hole, but once again Fedde came through in the clutch and got out of the inning unscathed.

As the third rolled around, so did Munetaka Murakami’s wish to be invited to the fireworks show. He got the green light on a 3-1 count and made the most out of it, as he crushed a two-run bomb to double the lead yet again. While that was the only action offensively in that inning, the damage was done to Martinez’s confidence. By that point, the Rays starter had already allowed more runs in just two-plus innings than he had in any other game this season.

Junior Caminero tried to will his team back into the game by joining the bomb squad himself in the fourth inning. But even though his home run landed more than 450 feet away, it still only counted as one run, leaving the Rays in a hole that would soon get even deeper.

It looked like the game might return back to normal over the next two innings before Colson Montgomery launched a 425-foot home run that all but confirmed that the air indoors at Tropicana Field was much lighter than the swampy humidity outside the park. The shot ballooned the lead to five and the Rays looked completely out of it.

While the Rays offense was sputtering for most of the night, it’s hard to blame them when the White Sox were looking like Josh Hamilton in the 2008 Home Run Derby. It gets to a point for any team that the writing is on the wall and the offense usually lays down. Chicago deserves a lot of credit for keeping their foot on the gas in a night that was clearly going their way early.

After the offense has slowed to a crawl for most of the last seven games, the sudden power surge was a very welcome sign for Chicago fans. As we get deeper into the season, each win feels just a little bigger than the last, and more pressure is put on the trailing teams in the AL Central.

It’s always important to temper expectations on the season after just one game, but man, is that getting harder and harder to do with every win. October baseball, anyone?

MVP
Munetaka Murakami: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI

Runners-Up
Erick Fedde: 5 IP, 4 H, ER, 6 K, WIN (6-6)
Andrew Benintendi: 2-for-3, R, RBI, BB

Cold Cat
Braden Montgomery: 0-for-4

Runners-Up
Chase Meidroth: 0-for-3, HBP
Tristan Peters: 0-for-4

Cardinals 1 Blue Jays 3

A very nice win.

Dylan Cease maybe wasn’t as good as he’s been in his last couple of starts, but he was still very good. 6 inning, just 3 hits, 3 walks with 7 strikeouts, and 1 run against. A pretty good month for Cease, 5 starts, 36 innings, 4 earned runs, a 1.00 ERA. Oh and 46 strikeouts.

But he didn’t get the win today.

Spencer Miles threw a scoreless inning, with 1 hit and 2 walks.

Jeff Hoffman got the win, with a scoreless inning, no baserunners, 2 strikeouts.

And Louis Varland gave up a single in the ninth, picked up his 24th save.

On offense, 9 hits and 4 walks, but we didn’t score until the sixth. Vladimir Guerrero led off with a double off the center field wall, roughly two feet too low for a home run. 112.4 mph. The hardest hit ball of the game

Kazuma Okamoto followed with his own double down the left field line, tying the game at one.

Then, in the eighth, we got two more. With one out, George Springer walked and Daulton Varsho each walked. Ernie Clement, also walked, after swinging at a ball that was a long way inside. But then he didn’t swing at the next one that was low and outside. Bases loaded.

John decided to pinch hit Luis Urías for Davis Schneider and Luis single two home. Unfortunately, Brandon Valenzuela hit into a double play to end the inning.

We also loaded the bases in the seventh, with one out on singles from Brandon Valenzuela and Andrés Giménez had singles. And Myles Straw took a pitch off the elbow. No padding. I was surprised that he stayed in the game. I hope he’s ok tomorrow. But Vlad hit into a double play.

We also had two runners on in the third and fifth innings, but didn’t score.

There was some rough defensive moments too. Especially from Ernie Clement, who made a couple of misplays on ground balls. Vlad had a very good day with the glove.

Jays of the Day: On the pitching side: Cease (0.18 WPA), Hoffman (0.11) and Miles (0.09). And an honourable mention to Varland (0.07). Hitting side: Urías (0.18), Straw (0.09) and Okamoto (0.09).

Other Award: Vlad (-0.18, mostly on the double play ball).

Tomorrow we have a 3:00 Eastern start time. Lefty Quinn Mathews making his first MLB appearance vs. Kevin Gausman (4-10, 4.51) making likely his last start for the Blue Jays.