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NEW YORK –– Carson Benge fanned helplessly on a first-pitch splitter that darted out of the strike zone. He whiffed so badly on another one that the bat went flying out of his hands. By the third one he saw, the Mets rookie was completely befuddled, taking a big swing and an even bigger miss.

Good morning, good afternoon, good night.

Hello to vintage Roki Sasaki.

At his best, this is what Sasaki can do to opponents.

When he arrived from Japan as a highly-touted phenom, this is what the Dodgers had expected to see.

For much of his first couple seasons, of course, such moments were frustratingly infrequent.

But in the Dodgers’ 4-2 defeat of the Mets on Friday night, Sasaki scarily produced them again and again and again.

“Tonight,” manager Dave Roberts said, “was just a good exhibition of pitching.”

Indeed, in a seven-inning, one-run gem that continued the momentum he built last week with another sterling performance at Yankee Stadium, Sasaki delivered more promising signs about the state of his development by striking out nine batters and generating a career-best 21 whiffs.

He didn’t have the same triple-digit fastball velocities as a week ago, eclipsing the 100 mph threshold only once in his 94-pitch start.

However, in an outing that included only three hits and two walks, he found other ways to look dominant again.

“He was efficient, wasn’t stressed, and it was good to see him get through that seventh inning,” Roberts said.

Sasaki’s night started modestly, with the 24-year-old right-hander giving up a home run to Luis Roberts Jr. in the second inning and striking out only two batters in his first three innings.

But then, he kicked things into gear, with his three-pitch humiliation of Benge in the fourth inning highlighting a stretch of seven strikeouts in an 11-batter sequence.

During that time, Roberts described his stuff as “unhittable.”

“I have stacked things up and gained confidence in those things,” Sasaki said, “so I have less to think about.”

The Dodgers’ offense turned around their early deficit, meanwhile, getting sacrifice flies from Miguel Rojas in the fourth and Shohei Ohtani in the seventh, before Kyle Tucker drilled a two-run homer in the eighth (his first since June 27, and one of the three times he reached base Friday).

From there, Sasaki and the Dodgers’ bullpen (including a ninth-inning save from Tanner Scott) wouldn’t relinquish the lead again, rolling to a third-straight win on a night their talented but previously inconsistent starter took another tantalizing step.

“It just doesn’t seem like he’s searching anymore,” Roberts said. “He’s just trying to execute a game plan.”

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What it means

Friday could’ve been an easy mail-in game for the Dodgers (66-38), who are on the tail end of a nine-game road trip and were in their third different city in the last three days, after concluding a series in Philadelphia on Wednesday and visiting the White House in Washington on Thursday.

“It has been a long trip,” Roberts said pregame.

Yet, it continues to be a successful post-All-Star-break trek, as well, with the Dodgers having now won five of seven games. With one more victory this weekend, they’ll have taken all three series on their travels too.

Who’s hot

One important caveat to Sasaki’s start on Friday: The Mets are among the biggest disappointments in baseball this year, thanks largely to an impotent offense that began the night ranked bottom-five in runs and OPS.

Still, for a Dodgers team currently evaluating its potential postseason pitching options –– especially ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline –– Sasaki’s outing was hugely encouraging, showing that 100 mph heaters aren’t the only way for him to have success.

“Obviously, a lot of the talk was about the velocity his last start,” Roberts said pregame, after Sasaki averagedmore than 100 mph with his fastball last week. “But the execution, changing eye level, all that stuff, that was pitching. So [hopefully we] see him do that again.”

Sasaki did, with his reworked splitter emerging as his most dangerous weapon Friday.

He threw the pitch more than 40% of the time. He got whiffs on 15 of the 24 swings the Mets took against it. And he effectively located it both in and out of the strike zone, mixing locations and looks to keep New York hitters on their heels.

“If he can get that split starting in the same window [as his fastball],” Roberts said, “it’s hard to lay off.”

Who’s not

For the last couple weeks, this designation had belonged to Tucker –– who was hitting just .207 over his last 17 games.

But as the Dodgers continued their latest hot streak, even he snapped his ice-cold stretch.

The $240 million legged out an infield single in the seventh, after drawing his first walk in 20 days in the fourth inning (with the help of home plate umpire Mike Estabrook, who refused to grant an ABS challenge to the Mets on a pitch that would have been a strike).

“I hadn’t walked in a while,” he quipped. “So I honestly didn’t know what to do for a sec.”

Then, he took his best swing in weeks on his home run in the eighth, hammering a center-cut fastball for his crucial late-game insurance.

“It’s coming,” Roberts said of Tucker, who is still just hitting .240 this season with a .704 OPS. “It hasn’t been as consistent or as fast as we’d like, but he’s still going through it. He’s still working hard, and to see some success tonight was a good thing for him.”

Up next

The Dodgers will look to clinch another series win on Saturday, when Yoshinobu Yamamoto (10-6, 2.78 ERA) faces Mets rookie right-hander Nolan McLean (7-6, 3.34 ERA) in a rematch of their pitchers’ duel from earlier this season.

Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki had an explanation for why his glove looks so much bigger than it did when he appeared to be tipping pitches against the San Diego Padres at the beginning of the month.

“Probably my face kind of got smaller,” Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo after the Dodgers’ 4-2 win over the New York Mets on Friday. “That’s why the glove looked bigger.”

Well played, Sasaki.

He claimed the glove was “about the same size,” and that he doesn’t think he was tipping three weeks ago. But whether it was a change of glove or face size, the adjustment seems to have worked.

So has the lower-half mechanical change that he made over the All-Star break. He held the Mets to just three hits, including a solo homer from Luis Robert Jr. that accounted for the only run Sasaki surrendered. He threw seven innings for the third time this season.

Read more:Miguel Rojas on decision to visit Capitol Hill, White House: 'I'm representing the Dodgers'

“I thought his last start, he was fantastic, and [Friday] I think was even better,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Just keep stacking good outings. He had a good run in May. Let’s keep building on this.”

The extra velocity that Sasaki mustered in his last start against the New York Yankees — when he surpassed 101 mph in a regular season game for the first time in his MLB career — didn’t make an encore against the Mets (43-61).

Instead, Sasaki leaned on his splitter, throwing it 47% of the time, compared to his season average of 26%.

“When I throw off a new mound like today, velo is usually a little down,” Sasaki said. “So if I’m able to repeat, I think I will have more confidence and keep attacking more.”

Adding this version of his splitter, which is firmer and looks like a fastball coming out of his hand, was a turning point for Sasaki earlier this season.

On Friday, it had an impressive 60% whiff rate.

“It just started out as a strike,” Roberts said. “And obviously the threat of velocity he has, so now if he can get that split starting in the same window, it’s hard to lay off that pitch.”

The Dodgers tied the score 1-1 in the fourth inning. Freddie Freeman, who finished with three hits, led with a single. Mookie Betts matched him, then Miguel Rojas stayed back on a changeup and sent it to deep right field for a sacrifice fly.

They didn’t put multiple runners on again until the seventh inning. This time, Shohei Ohtani was the one to read the situation and deliver a go-ahead sacrifice fly.

Kyle Tucker’s two-run homer in the eighth provided the Dodgers some insurance they would end up using when Evan Phillips gave up a solo homer to Francisco Alvarez in the bottom of the inning. It was Tucker’s first home run since June 27.

“It’s a long season,” Tucker said. “You’ve just got to do your best at forgetting what happened in previous at-bats and previous games and just move on. So it can be tough at times. But you’ve just got to do your best at that and just keep going out there and keep the line moving offensively and just do your best.”

Injury updates

Right-hander Tyler Glasnow (back spasms) has progressed to the live batting practice phase of his rehab progression, Roberts said. It’s a promising sign for a pitcher who twice had to shut down throwing early in his rehab when he aggravated the injury.

Closer Edwin Díaz (arthroscopic elbow surgery) came out well from throwing on back-to-back days in a triple A rehab assignment.

“We talked about him flying across the country; doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Roberts said. “So I think he’s supposed to pitch on Sunday, and then if that goes well, he should be back with us when we get back on Tuesday.”

The Dodgers begin a six-game homestand Tuesday, against the Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox.

Catcher Will Smith’s timeline to return from a neck injury remains unclear, after the Dodgers temporarily shut him down from baseball activities, beginning around the All-Star break.

“He’s pain free,” Roberts. “He’s getting back into being more active.”

Read more:Dodgers visit Trump at White House to celebrate World Series win

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The New York Mets' hope to put Juan Soto's calf trouble behind them lasted six innings.

Soto, 27, exited Friday night's 4-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citi Field with what the team announced is "left calf soreness." Interim Mets manager Andy Green said Soto is headed for an MRI and would not rule out the possibility that Soto will have to go on the injured list. Soto will have imaging done on the calf Saturday.

"He had a recurrence of symptoms in the left calf," Green said. "He felt it pushing off going to second base. At this point, we'll get an image tomorrow and see where he's at."

Green seemed to be bracing for another stint on the IL. It would be Soto's second after going four seasons without going on the IL.

"I think anytime you get an image, you're concerned. Concerned enough to go do it," Green said when asked about the IL possibility. "So we'll wait till tomorrow and figure out what we're doing."

Juan Soto was removed from Friday's game against the Dodgers, as the Mets pinch-hit Jorge Polanco for the slugger in the sixth inning.

The Mets later announced it was due to left calf soreness, and revealed after the 4-2 loss that he will get imaging done Saturday.

“He just had a recurrence of symptoms in the left calf. We certainly hoped we were behind it and done talking about this, but he felt it pushing off going to second base," interim manager Andy Green said. "At this point, we’re likely to get an image to see where he’s at. This has nagged him for a week now. We know it’s frustrating for him, frustrating for us and everybody.” 

While Green wouldn't say if an IL stint is possible, he did say whenever imaging is done, there is some "concern," but they will wait for the imaging to return to decide on next steps.

Soto has been dealing with the sore calf in the opposite leg that landed him on the IL earlier in the season. Soto has been limited to DH duties since tweaking his calf, which is where he started Friday. The left-handed slugger walked twice in his two at-bats and ran the bases, and there was no noticeable issue.

The Mets have used opportunities to get Soto off his feet of late -- usually in a one-sided contest -- but Soto was pulled in a 1-1 game.

Green had said Soto was fine prior to Friday's series opener after staying away from him in the Mets' series finale with the Brewers. The rationale was to give Soto two days to rest and be ready for the homestand.

“We were just gonna stay away from him, try to give him 48 hours to get the calf thing completely behind him,” Green said at the time. “He’s been able to be out there on it, but it has continued to be something that he’s dealt with on a minor level.”

Trade season is upon us! With a little over a week to go before the August 3 trade deadline, it’s expected that the Colorado Rockies will be one of the more active teams as a bona fide seller.

The Rockies have already made one notable trade, sending Seth Halvorsen to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and there are plenty more moves that could potentially be made. The other night, Renee Dechert asked you to speculate about who could be dealt at the deadline, and there was a lot of great conversation.

This time, I’m asking you to put your general manager hats (or, in this case, it can double as a president of baseball operations hat) to build upon that speculation.

If you were the one calling the shots, what deals would you try to make? What players are you getting in return to build this team and fulfill that Rockies goal of getting help right now and in the near future?

Additionally, what other moves are you looking to make after the deadline? For example, what prospect are you calling up, and when, to get a long look at as the season winds down?

For this exercise, I’d ask that you try to be as realistic as you feel you can be, but I also welcome the off-the-wall moves (and please, no mock trades Yankees fans tend to make).

As an added element, I plan on reacting to a number of these moves in my Rockpile next Wednesday. So, without further ado, sound off with your best ideas in the comments below and let’s have some fun wheelin’ and dealin’!

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

What was a close game for much of the evening in this series opener between the Mets and Dodgers ended with an ultimately rather comfortable 4-2 victory for the Dodgers. What’s more, Juan Soto had to leave the game early due to more soreness in his ailing calf.

Sean Manaea, who had a very strong outing, but did not factor into the decision worked around a leadoff single by Shohei Ohtani, who was initially called out on strikes but challenged and got an extra life, which he is going to take full advantage of more often than not. Leadoff hits would be a theme this evening for the Dodgers, but in the first Manaea bounced back to strike out two batters in a row to end the inning. In the bottom of the second, the Mets got on the board first via a towering one-out solo homer to left by Luis Robert—his second long ball in four games since returning from the injured list. Jared Young followed with a double, but the Mets were unable to drive him in and add on.

Heading into the top of the third, Manaea had retired six straight, but that ended when Teoscar Hernández doubled down the left field line to lead off the inning. A.J. Ewing had a chance to throw him out at second, but Ewing rushed the throw and it was off line. However, Manaea was able to navigate around this as well and escape the inning unscathed. Juan Soto drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the third, but Bo Bichette grounded into a double play to end the threat. Roki Sasaki kept the Mets’ hitters off balance all evening with his lethal splitter, generating an enormous number of whiffs on it and ultimately striking out nine in seven innings of work.

The Dodgers tied the game off Manaea in the top of the fourth. Freddie Freeman, who went on to collect three hits, singled to lead off the inning and Mookie Betts followed with a single of his own to put runners at the corners and nobody out. Miguel Rojas then hit a fly ball deep enough to score Freeman and tie the game. Manaea then walked Kyle Tucker; Francisco Alvarez wanted to challenge the ball four call, but he waited too long to do so, prolonging the inning. But Manaea got the next two batters to fly out to end the inning and limit the damage to just the one run, navigating through the Dodgers’ lineup effectively using predominantly fastballs.

Shohei Ohtani demonstrated a piece of hitting only he can achieve in the top of the fifth when he poked a Manaea sweeper that was at least six inches off the plate to right field for a double, but he tried to stretch it into a triple and Carson Benge and Francisco Lindor combined for a sparkling play to throw him out at third base, helping Manaea to get out of the inning. The Mets briefly threatened in the bottom of the frame when Jared Young laced a leadoff single, stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch by Sasaki. But Sasaki did not yield and the score stay knotted at one run apiece.

Freeman led off the top of the sixth with a double that was hit so hard that if Carson Benge had fielded the carom off the wall cleanly in right field, he may have thrown Freeman out at second. Alas, Benge did not field it cleanly, but he would make up for it. Mookie Betts hit a deep fly ball to center and Freeman tagged to third base. Miguel Rojas then hit a fly ball deep enough to right field to go in the scorecard as his second sac fly of the evening, but Benge unleashed a 100mph cannon of a throw—the fastest by any Mets outfielder in the Statcast era—to nab Freeman at the plate and keep the go ahead run off the board, much to the delight of Manaea, who raised both arms above his head in salute.

The joy of Benge’s fantastic defensive play was short-lived because Juan Soto was due up to lead off the bottom of the sixth, but Jorge Polanco strode to the plate instead as a pinch hitter, marking Soto’s premature departure from the game due to continued soreness in his calf that had been plaguing him. The Mets went down 1-2-3 in the inning and Manaea, having given up just one run in six innings of work, made way for Brooks Raley to pitch the seventh. Kyle Tucker slapped a slow bouncer to the third base side to lead off the inning and was able to beat it out for an infield hit. Teoscar Hernández then blooped a soft single to right to advance Tucker to third. Dalton Rushing then attempted a squeeze play, but bunted it too hard back to the mound and Raley threw the ball home. But Rushing managed to get caught in a run down between third and home long enough that the trail runners were able to advance to second and third. That turned out to be a key turn of events because Shohei Ohtani hit a sacrifice fly to plate the go-ahead run. Raley then walked Andy Pages, but got Tommy Edman to ground out to short to end the inning.

The Mets were retired in order in the seventh by Sasaki, who matched his career longest outing. The Mets then turned from one lefty reliever on the trading block to another and as it turns out, neither of them were able to put up a zero. A.J. Minter gave up a leadoff single to Freddie Freeman—the seventh Dodgers leadoff hit in eight innings. The now slow-footed Freeman managed to steal second base and Minter retired the next two batters on popups to get within one out of escaping the jam. But then Kyle Tucker delivered the death knell: a two-run homer that put the Dodgers ahead 4-1.

It was cushion the Dodgers turned out to need, as Francisco Alvarez launched a solo homer off Evan Phillips in the eighth to cut the Dodgers’ lead to two runs. But after Cionel Pérez pitched the only scoreless inning by a Mets reliever in the top of the ninth, Tanner Scott set the Mets down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the frame to close things out for the Dodgers.

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Sean Manaea, +22% WPA
Big Mets loser: A.J. Minter, -17% WPA
Mets pitchers: -8% WPA
Mets hitters: -42% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Luis Robert Jr.’s solo home run in the second, +11.5% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: A.J. Minter gives up a two-run homer to Kyle Tucker in the eighth, -18.2% WPA

PHILADELPHIA — It’s hard to believe there’s much hope for the last-place Mets these days, but maybe there are some signs of hope in Queens. 

Zack Wheeler knows the Mets better than most, as a player who spent the first seven seasons of his major league career with them and now as an opponent who’s been in the same division for the past seven years. 

Asked why his former organization can’t seem to get itself together, Wheeler paused. 

“I feel like some years they’ve had the starting pitching, but not a full lineup,’’ Wheeler said Friday at Citizens Bank Park. “Some years it’s been a better lineup, but not a strong rotation. There’s just a lot of inconsistency. It’s tough to narrow it down to one thing.” 

But the 36-year-old added there is potential cause for optimism, even in this lost season. 

“They’re going to be good, I think,’’ Wheeler said of the Mets. “Some of the young players we play against right now can swing the bat.” 

The rest of this season, clearly, is about the development of A.J. Ewing and Carson Benge, the pair of rookie outfielders that have at least shown progress. 

Speaking of the duo, Wheeler said, “They have a good approach, but [they] have to keep doing what they’re doing. We’ll make adjustments as pitchers. It’s up to them to adjust back or else they’re going to struggle. It’s about more than this year, but if they keep it up — especially with [Juan] Soto there for the long run — they could have something.” 

It’s hard to see at this point, especially considering the Mets and Phillies had identical 9-19 records on April 26 and the Phillies are now in playoff contention while the Mets are in sell-mode as the Aug. 3 trade deadline approaches. 

Wheeler’s return to the Phillies’ rotation helped spark their turnaround, as he’s 10-2 with a 2.16 ERA. 

With this year’s Mets, there has also been praise from around the league about the development of some young starters such as Nolan McLean and Christian Scott and — more recently — Zach Thornton. 

As Wheeler noted, it might take president of baseball operations David Stearns and his crew a while to build a winner. 

“It takes time and guys have got to stay healthy,’’ Wheeler said. “But they have some pieces.” 

As for Wheeler, whose career blossomed in his final two seasons with the Mets and continued after his signing with Philadelphia, he still has good memories of his time as a Met. 

“I loved my time there,’’ Wheeler said. “I really did. Things could get hard there and sometimes it was a little up and down, but the fans, the organization, the players and staff were awesome.”

The Dodgers (66-38) improved to 5-2 on their current road trip after a 4-2 win over the Mets (43-61) Friday night in the Big Apple. Roki Sasaki pitched seven impressive innings, and Kyle Tucker padded the lead in the top of the eighth with a two-run blast.

Sasaki delivered a brilliant performance, pitching 7 innings, allowing just 3 hits and 1 run while striking out 9 batters. After the big velocity spike last outing, Sasaki threw just a few over 100-mph. His splitter and slider took center stage with MLB career highs in whiffs and swings and misses. His new larger glove plus a barrage of grunts helped Sasaki dominate in New York again.

Tucker broke through with a crucial two-run home run, going 2-for-3 with an intentional walk and 2 RBIs to carry the offense.

The Dodgers got the leadoff man on in six of the first seven innings, but they only had one run against Manaea and Mets pitching to show for it.

The Mets got on the board with one out in the second after Luis Robert Jr. took a Sasaki fastball deep for a solo home run.

The Dodgers managed to get runners at the corners again the next inning thanks to back-to-back singles from Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts to start the top of the fourth. A Miguel Rojas sac fly tied the game 1-1.

Sasaki’s splitter was unreal tonight. He absolutely dominated Carson Benge in a memorable at-bat.

Ohtani tested his knee again when he tried to stretch a double into a triple to lead off the fifth inning. It’s encouraging to see him feel feisty on his rehabbed knee, but it was also a detriment to the game to erase the base runner in a low-scoring tied game.

Freeman collected his second base hit of the night against Manaea, a leadoff double.

Rojas wasn’t able to drive in a second run with a sac fly. Benge made up for the fielding miscue when he threw out Freeman at home on a fly ball hit by Rojas to preserve the tie.

Things got even more dire for the last-place Mets in the bottom half of the sixth. They pinch-hit for Juan Soto who was taken out of the game for calf tightness. Then Sasaki continued to dominate, striking out the side for the first time in his MLB career.

A couple of soft hits and another sac fly against the Mets bullpen gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead in the seventh. The Dodgers lead baseball in sacrifice fly balls this season.

A Kyle Tucker leadoff infield hit and Teoscar Hernandez blooper to shallow right field put the Dodgers in business to start the frame. The Dodgers moved up to second and third when Dalton Rushing hit into a fielder’s choice. The Mets had to throw home to get Tucker, allowing the Dodgers to give Ohtani the perfect opportunity to break the tie.

Freeman got his third hit of the night and stole a base in the eighth, and the Dodgers finally got that big bomb to drive him in. Tucker’s first home run since June 27 was a two-run blast against A.J. Minter to make it 4-1.

Francisco Alvarez went deep against Evan Phillips in the bottom of the eighth to make it 4-2.

Tanner Scott came in and shut the door on the Mets in the home half of the ninth to secure his 16th save.

Despite going 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position, the Dodgers take down the Mets again and are now 4-0 against them this season.

Friday particulars

Home runs: Kyle Tucker (8); Luis Robert Jr. (4), Francisco Alvarez (12)

WP — Roki Sasaki (4-5): 7 IP, 3 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts (94 pitches)

LP — Brooks Raley (4-5): 1 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 1 wallk, no strikeouts (23 pitches)

S — Tanner Scott (16)

Up next

Yoshinobu Yamamoto ( 10-6, 2.78 ERA, 0.88 WHIP) takes the mound Saturday (4:15 p.m., FOX). New York’s starter Nolan McLean (7-6, 3.34 ERA, 1.09 WHIP) dominated the Dodgers lineup in April, holding them to two hits in seven innings.

Game Summary

The Diamondbacks got a key win against one of their competitors in the wild card chase to open up this weekend series thanks to some excellent small ball execution on offense and clutch pitching from E-Rod and the bullpen.

E-Rod was looking to shake off his worst start of the season from last Sunday and he bounced back with a strong result, even if he was sometimes wobbly tonight. The Hologram bookended his night getting out of jams of runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out unscathed. The Nats got a pair of runners is scoring position with 1 out in the first inning, but Rodriguez buckled down and struck out All-Star CJ Abrams before inducing an easy fly out to center to preserve the scoreless inning. He weaseled out of the same situation in the 6th inning by going strikeout-walk-groundout to finish his outing.

Between those two innings, he was largely stress free as he only allowed 2 walks and 3 hits and never threw a pitch with a runner past first base. Unfortunately, one of those hits he allowed was a 2-run bomb in the 4th that tied the game. Still, overall, this was a very good outing to get the taste of Sunday’s defeat poor start out of his mouth.

The bullpen came on and was fantastic, retiring all 9 hitters the faced protecting a 1-run lead. Paul Sewald got back up on the saddle today and went strikeout, fly out, groundout to earn his 23rd Save of the season. The fly out was a little scary as Luis García Jr. mashed a first pitch sweeper right in the lefty’s happy zone deep to right field (exit velocity of 107!), but he probably got just a little bit under it and the ball died in Corbin’s glove. Morillo and Ginkel only needed 15 pitches combined for their 2 innings, 12 of those for strikes! Excellent night for the bullpen in high leverage against a very strong lineup.

Finally, the offense did just enough to capitalize on their opportunities by scratching across 3 runs with only 1 extra base hit on the night, a leadoff double in the second by Max Kepler. The real headliner here was the back-to-back excellent bunts by ADC(!) and Tim Tawa to move the runners over and then score a runner in the 2nd inning. Ketel Marte got his RBI by beating out a double play ball and Gabi Moreno got his RBI on a sac fly. The Diamondbacks also applied pressure on the base paths by swiping 4 bases (though 1 TOOTBLAN Domo should probably cancel out his half of a double-steal). This wasn’t a great night for the offense by any means. The Snakes finished 2-for-7 with RISP, left 10 LOBsters, and only scored 3 runs against a very hittable pitching staff, but they made just enough winning plays to hold up, especially with their ace on the mound.

Win Probability and Box Score

Outside the Box Score

• Domo TOOTBLAN’d in the first inning when he made a an aggressive turn around second without checking Carroll running in front of him. Gabi hit a bloop single into center and Carroll had to hang out halfway between second and third to make sure it dropped. Domo was running hard the whole way and was nearly at second by the time it dropped in front of the CF so he made the hard turn to third only to see Carroll hung up in front of him. Gerry tried to dive back in but the throw from the CF was so short it was a pretty easy toss to get him in time. Instead of bases loaded and one out, it was runners at the corners and 2 outs and made Arenado’s ground out to the pitcher an inning ending play. 
• ADC laid down a picture perfect sacrifice bunt to get runners to second and third in the second inning. Great job!!
• Tawa followed up ADCs bunt with an even better bunt that just stayed fair down the first base line to get a hit and scores the runner from third. Holy cow!!
• Ketel legged out a fielders choice to score a second run in the second inning. He hit a grounder to first who threw to second for the first out and then the call in the field was Ketel was out at first for an inning ending double play, but he was clearly safe upon review and Locklear’s run scored. 
• The Nationals tied up the game in the 4th on a 2-run homer, but the baserunner who reached in front of the homer was on base thanks to an excuse-me-swing dribbler into No Man’s Land between third base and the mound. E-Rod tried to make the throw over to first but it was way wide and Tyler Locklear ended up diving and throwing his glove which actually deflected the ball and probably kept it from going into dugout and giving the Nats’ runner a free 90 feet. Obviously, that 90 feet wouldn’t have mattered thanks to the following homer, but I thought it was a pretty good effort by the young first baseman to keep the runner at first.
• Tyler Locklear was credited with a stolen base after his single in the 6th, but it was mostly due to a physical error (not a scored error, mind you) by the Nationals pitcher. Locklear took off for second way early and Zack Littell was alert to the play and stepped off with plenty of time to make the throw to second. The throw, however, was a terrible little humpback soft toss that landed 3 feet short of the shortstop and he couldn’t corral the ball allowing Locklear to slide in safely!
• The Diamondbacks executed a picture perfect double steal in the top of the 7th to get runners in scoring position. Carroll took off for third and Domo was excellent as the trail runner advancing behind. The Nationals were clearly prepared for this instance and the catcher threw to second base to try and get the slower Gerry but was unsuccessful. 

Comment of the Game

I wasn’t able to partake in the GameDay Thread tonight, and it appears I wasn’t the only one marked Absent tonight as there were only 165 comments at time of publishing. Of the Sedona Red comments, I immediately singled out this thread covering one of the biggest sequences of the game by Sneeks and Snake_Bitten:

Coming Up

The Diamondbacks face the Nats for the second game of this pivotal 3-game set tomorrow afternoon with a 1:05pm first pitch Arizona time. In a rare matchup of southpaws, Foster Griffin (11-2, 2.68 ERA) is listed as the probable starter for The District and young Mitch Bratt (0-0, 5.06 ERA) will get the ball for the good guys. Bratt will have to be full brat if we’re going to beat the very good Griffin tomorrow. Tune in and swing by the Pit to see if he can!

Scoreboard Watching

Oh yes, it’s that time of year Diamondbacks fans! I was going to hold off on adding a Scoreboard section until August, but we’re in a Wild Card spot with a little over a week until the Trade Deadline so let’s keep an eye on those results around the NL Wild Card race. Games of note:

• Cardinals lose to Reds to fall 2.5 games back of AZ
• Pirates lose to Cubs in extras to fall 2 games back of AZ (the Cubs maintain a 3.5 game lead over AZ for the first Wild Card)
• Phillies lose to the Yankees and are now only 1 game ahead of AZ for the #2 Wild Card
• Padres beat the Marlins. The Marlins have lost 10 straight and are now 3 games back of AZ, the Padres are still 4 games back of AZ
• The Nationals are 3 games back of AZ after their loss to AZ tonight

A very good night on the scoreboard, in fact, probably the best possible outcome in all games for Wild Card contenders tonight. Obviously, gaining space between us and the teams on the outside is the top priority, but we are right there in the race for the top-2 Wild Card slots. A lot of season still left, but the Diamondbacks are in excellent position!

The Mets were defeated by the Dodgers 4-2 in Friday night's series opener at Citi Field. 

Here are some takeaways...

-- Luis Robert Jr. continues showcasing himself ahead of the trade deadline. The towering outfielder opened the scoring in this one by jumping all over a 2-2 fastball at the top of the zone, crushing it 381 feet to left for his fourth homer of the season and second in three games since returning from the IL. 

-- Sean Manaea did well to limit the high-powered Dodgers offense. He worked around leadoff baserunners in two of the first three innings, erasing a single in the first before putting together a perfect top of the second and breezing past a double against the top of the order in the third. 

LA evened things up with a sacrifice fly in the fourth, but stranded two more on the corners. Manaea almost faced another leadoff man in scoring position, but the Mets used a perfect relay to gun Shohei Ohtani down trying to stretch a double into a triple en route to a perfect fifth. 

The lefty was hurt, then helped by his defense in the sixth. A Carson Benge bobble in right allowed Freddie Freeman to get to a second on what could have been a bang-bang play, but the youngster made up for it two batters later, as he gunned the veteran down trying to score from third on a sacrifice fly. 

Manaea ended his day allowing just the one run on six hits and two walks while striking out three over 6.0 IP. 

-- The lefties in the Mets' bullpen immediately wasted Manaea's strong effort. Brooks Raley allowed LA to scratch across the go-ahead run on an Ohtani sacrifice fly, then A.J. Minter served up an insurance two-run homer to Kyle Tucker an inning later, to make it a three-run ballgame.  

-- New York wasn't able to get much else going against LA starter Roki Sasaki, as aside from the Robert homer, he held them to four other baserunners while striking out nine batters across 6.0 innings of work. Sasaki came into the night with 23 runs allowed (22 earned) over his last six starts. 

-- The Mets did show some fight against right-hander Evan Phillips in the bottom of the eighth, as Francisco Alvarez crushed his 14th homer of the season. The solo shot left the bat at a whopping 108.9 mph and traveled a total of 401 feet deep into the left field seats. 

-- They couldn't rally against Tanner Scott in the ninth, though, and dropped the series opener. 

-- New York suffered a big blow midway through this one, as Juan Soto was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the sixth due to left calf soreness. The outfielder has been limited to DH duties since the All-Star break, and he sat out Wednesday's series finale in Milwaukee, but interim manager Andy Green said pregame he was ready to go. 

Game MVP: Kyle Tucker

Tucker's eighth-inning two-run homer ended up being the difference in this one. 

Highlights

Sean Manaea gets two strikeouts in the first pic.twitter.com/VF2cSzR1Qp

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 24, 2026

Luis Robert Jr. hits his fourth HR of the season!

His second in three games since returning from the IL 🔥 pic.twitter.com/hcN4uLdS9r

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 24, 2026

Carson Benge, Francisco Lindor and Bo Bichette combine on the relay to throw out Shohei Ohtani at third 💪 pic.twitter.com/1Tre3rvAfS

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 25, 2026

Carson Benge picks up his second outfield assist of the night, with a throw to Francisco Alvarez! pic.twitter.com/3wyRthNfgk

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 25, 2026

Francisco Alvarez hits his 12th home run of the year! pic.twitter.com/ZtaO9T8FRM

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 25, 2026

What's next

Nolan McLean takes the ball against Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the middle game Saturday at 7:15 p.m.

The San Francisco Giants welcome the Los Angeles Angels to Oracle Park tonight to begin a three-game series.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Logan Webb, who enters tonight’s game with a 3.87 ERA, 3.54 FIP, with 85 strikeouts to 27 walks in 107 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 4-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Saturday, in which he allowed three runs on two hits with five strikeouts and a walk in six and two thirds innings.

He’ll be facing off against Angels right-hander Grayson Rodriguez, who enters tonight’s game with an 8.23 ERA, 5.22 FIP, with 27 strikeouts to 17 walks in 35 innings pitched. His last start was in the Angels’ 7-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Saturday, in which he allowed six runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and a walk in four innings.

Game #103

Who: San Francisco Giants (42-60) vs. Los Angeles Angels (41-62)

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California

When: 7:15 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area and KNTV

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

It is tempting to grumble about how this game was such a microcosm of the Yankee season. The starter was phenomenal, truly elite stuff, and the offense had three hitters that looked like they belonged in the majors. I’m gonna choose the optimism; Cam Schlittler is the best pitcher in the American League and he delivered a huge series-opening win tonight, with the Yankees topping the Phillies 1-0.

It’s funny how wrong a first impression can be. Cam has come back to earth a little in recent weeks, still the cream of the crop in the Junior Circuit but a little more touchable. Trea Turner grinded through a great, six-pitch leadoff AB against the young Yankee ace, and for that first batter I wondered if we’d see another Schlittler start where he was just a little off.

It took Cam 25 pitches to set down the next eight men, perfect through his first three frames. Amusingly enough, it was Turner again who saw seven offerings from Schlittler leading off the fourth, but he was retired for the second time. Kyle Schwarber became the Phillies’ first baserunner a batter later, ending a perhaps-too-early bid for history with a double into the right-center gap. It didn’t seem to bother the ace though, who got Bryce Harper and Brandon Marsh to strand War Bear.

And from there, for another 3.1 innings it was academic. Schlittler got into the eighth inning, sitting down 12. He allowed just two hits, with no walks, through 7.1, bringing his overall season ERA down to 2.07 and his road ERA a comical 1.07. There were a lot of very cool moments tonight but perhaps my favorite from Cam was this front-door sinker that froze a future Hall of Famer:

We also saw something in the development of a still-young pitcher. I think sometimes we forget that Cam has been here a little over a calendar year. His immediate success, his demeanor, the way his starts feel different than everyone else’s, makes him feel like he’s been in the bigs half a decade. He’s still developing, he’s not a finished product yet.

If there’s one thing that has attracted a lot of attention with Cam, is whether he can get by throwing fastballs as frequently as he does. Especially against a team like the Phillies, where your 2-4 hitters are all excellent lefties, there’s been a lot of discussion about whether Schlittler should mix in his curve more often. Maybe this is all talk show fodder since he actually pitches better against lefties, but he threw his curveball twice as frequently as his season average tonight.

He got whiffs on half of them, plus dropping one in for a strike, so while it wasn’t the prime reason he succeeded tonight, I think adding something else in the back of a hitter’s mind means something. When you’re facing sluggers like Schwarber and Harper, anything you can do to make them spend another fraction of a second thinking, rather than reacting, is a plus for you.

But Schlittler did seem to run out of gas in the eighth as his pitch count crept over 90. J.T. Realmuto, in competition with Paul Goldschmidt for MLB’s most prodigious unc, managed his second hit of the day off the Yankee starter, and then Cam dotted No. 8 hitter Gabriel Rincones Jr. to put two men on, and end the night. Brent Headrick, perhaps the most reliable man in the bullpen, gave off a leadoff single that Realmuto had to hold at third on, but got a soft flyout from Turner and groundout from Schwarber to end the threat and preserve the shutout.

You’ll notice we haven’t talked much about the offense. Part of this is because Jesús Luzardo is a very good pitcher and mostly held serve with Schlittler tonight, throwing seven innings and striking out nine against a single walk, and only really being touched by MLB’s more prodigious unc, the aforementioned Goldschmidt:

As for the rest of the Yankee offense well…I’d like to say they should think about shaking up the normal lineup facing lefties but there’s nobody really to put in. This is what we’re stuck with until a trade gets made or a slugger heals up, and it’s why we’re further quite lucky to have the talents of someone like Cam Schlittler.

The Yankees must have a bit of a World Cup hangover, because they win one-nil. David Bednar locked down the club’s 10th shutout victory on the season, and Cam gets his 10th win of the year in the same cause.

The Rays look like they’ll win tonight as well, so all the Yankees can do is keep the pace. A series win on the road against a team with their own playoff aspirations is the goal this weekend. Ryan Weathers will be the man tasked with leading the Yankees to that series win tomorrow, possibly against former Yankees draft pick Brian Keller in his MLB debut at age-32 (though Philly has yet to confirm a starter and Keller may be the bulk guy). First pitch will be a little earlier than tonight, at 6:05pm ET.

Box Score

Postscript: I have a running text chain with a friend where pretty much we only talk about baseball. The one text I sent him today was, of course, about Cam.

PHILADELPHIA — Cam Schlittler took the mound Friday night coming off one of the more frustrating starts of his season.

By the end of the night, he had successfully transferred that frustration into the helpless hands of the Phillies lineup, and dissipated whatever his own struggling offense might have been feeling if he had not.

On yet another night when the Yankees pitching staff had a razor-thin margin for error because of a lack of run support, Schlittler dominated the Phillies, tossing 7 ¹/₃ shutout innings and striking out 12 on the way to a 1-0 win at a sold-out Citizens Bank Park.

Brent Headrick retired Kyle Schwarber to escape a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning before David Bednar slammed the door shut in the ninth with his 19th straight scoreless appearance.

“That’s about as well-pitched a game as you’re going to see, both sides,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Cam, obviously he’s been massive for us. [Headrick] gets a couple big outs with some good defense behind him and we’re able to hang on.”

Paul Goldschmidt swatted a solo home run against Jesús Luzardo in the fourth inning, the only run the Yankees (58-45) mustered in seven innings against the Phillies lefty, who scattered three hits and one walk while striking out nine.

Thanks to Schlittler and Co., it was enough to lift the Yankees to their eighth win in the last 11 games.

“Especially these last few weeks when we haven’t been scoring, we’ve had to win some low-scoring games and there’s a lot of pressure on the starting pitcher and the bullpen guys,” Goldschmidt said. “It’s not what we want, but they’ve done a great job picking us up as an offense. Hopefully we can play better offensively, but most importantly, just finding ways to win.”

His last time out Sunday against the Dodgers, Schlittler didn’t make it out of the fifth inning as a tough lineup drove his pitch count up to 98 across 4 ¹/₃ innings.

But on Friday, he threw one more pitch and recorded nine more outs, finding put-away pitches earlier in counts to allow him to pitch deep into the game.

This was much more like the Schlittler the Yankees have become accustomed to seeing all season, as the budding ace recorded his sixth scoreless outing in 22 starts while lowering his ERA to 2.07.

“They got a great lineup,” said Schlittler, who recorded double-digit strikeouts for the third time in his career (including playoffs), all of which have come with no walks. “They’re going to make you battle and you’ve got to make the right pitches. When you don’t, you’re going to get tagged for that. Just trying to stay locked in and make sure I’m executing.”

Schlittler cruised into the eighth inning and struck out the first batter before giving up a single to J.T. Realmuto through the left side.

His next pitch was a cutter that just barely grazed the back knee of Gabriel Rincones Jr., at which point Boone pulled him for Headrick.

The lefty reliever, in the midst of a breakout year, allowed a single to pinch hitter Edmundo Sosa, but Realmuto was held at third base as right fielder Jasson Domínguez got off a strong one-hop throw to the plate.

Headrick then got Treat Turner to line out to left field, too shallow for the Phillies (56-48) to test Cody Bellinger’s strong arm, before Schwarber grounded out in a full count.

The normally reserved Headrick was fired up as he came off the mound, quieting the crowd of 43,165 that was on its feet.

“Cam threw a hell of a game and my job is to come in and keep it at zero,” said Headrick, who has not allowed a run in a major league-leading 44 of his 52 appearances this season. “When you do that and come in and pick up a guy like that who had an incredible day, I think it’s really good for us and the team. Being able to get that win was big.”