Category: Baseball

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Christian Walker drove in a pair of runs in the fifth inning, and Brendan Rodgers added a solo shot in the sixth as the Astros improved to 3-1 on their six-game road trip.

Gordon (1-1), who was making his fifth start, allowed one run on seven hits and struck out five. The left-hander was an eighth-round pick in the 2021 amateur draft.

Josh Hader recorded his 17th save, tied for second in the American League.

Skubal pitched one-run ball into the eighth inning, and the Tigers beat the Cubs on Friday night, 3-1, in the opener of a weekend series between two of the majors’ best teams.

Skubal (6-2) allowed eight hits, struck out six and walked none in 7 2/3 innings. In his past 11 starts, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner is 6-0 with a 1.61 ERA, 95 strikeouts and three walks.

Skubal left with runners on the corners, then had to wait out a dramatic moment. Seiya Suzuki lifted a deep flyball to right off Will Vest, but Kerry Carpenter reached above the wall to keep Detroit in front.

Vest got four outs for his 10th save.

Cubs right-hander Ben Brown (3-4) permitted two runs and seven hits in seven innings.

Spencer Torkelson and Jahmai Jones homered for the AL Central-leading Tigers.

Lindor had a soothing remedy for his broken right pinky toe — a go-ahead hit. 

Questionable before Friday’s game, the Mets shortstop entered as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning and delivered a two-run double to send New York to a 4-2 win over the Colorado Rockies.

Lindor sent a cutter from reliever Zach Agnos (0-2) into right field to score Juan Soto and a sliding Pete Alonso. It was Lindor’s first go-ahead, pinch-hit RBI of his career, according to the postgame notes.

Lindor’s availability — pain and all — comes as no surprise to Alonso.

“That’s really special, having a teammate willing to put his body on the line every single day like that,” said Alonso, who had a big game with his bat (a two-run double), his arm (he threw out a runner at home in the fifth) and his sliding ability (he avoided a tag at home on Lindor’s double). “That’s a true pro, in my opinion, and he embodies that.”

Aranda drove in two runs Friday to lead the Rays over the Miami Marlins, 4-3, at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

It was the Rays’ fourth straight win to improve to 34-29, and the Marlins’ fifth consecutive loss to drop to 23-38.

Aranda is hitting .379 at the Rays’ temporary home ballpark. He drove in the first run on a single in the first inning, just one of two hits the Rays got with runners in scoring position in 14 chances. He drove in another run on a groundout in the two-run third inning. 

Aranda singled again in the seventh and scored what turned out to be the winning run after singles by Jake Mangum and Matt Thaiss.

Zack Littell (6-5) held the Marlins to one run on six hits over six innings. Agustin Ramirez homered off Littell in the fourth inning and Otto Lopez hit a two-run homer in the top of the eighth inning off Edwin Uceta.

Edward Cabrera (2-2) took the loss for the Marlins. Pete Fairbanks got his 12th save in front of a crowd of 8,448.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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“This organization put a lot of faith in me,” Buehler said after the game. “And I’ve been f–king embarrassing.”

This Red Sox-Yankees matchup should be exciting; it is, after all, getting national network attention throughout the weekend. The Yankees (39-23) are doing their part, boasting a talented, well-rounded roster that represents one of the top teams in Major League Baseball. But the Red Sox aren’t holding up to their end of the bargain. 

Boston’s start to the season has been headline-grabbing, to be sure. Just for all the wrong reasons. 

The season kicked off with the drama surrounding slugger Rafael Devers and real questions about where he would play on the field after the club signed Bregman. After it seemed settled that Devers would transition to full-time designated hitter duties, Triston Casas’ season-ending injury prompted yet another conflict that seeped into the public landscape. Devers’ apparent refusal to play first base could’ve been avoided if the Red Sox had just been up front with the face of their franchise about their expectations for him. 

Offensively, at least, Devers hasn’t let the drama affect him. He’s one of two Red Sox players among the top 15 hitters in MLB. The other player, Bregman, is idling away on the injured list. After that? The Red Sox’ next best hitter is right fielder Wilyer Abreu, sporting a 123 OPS+ that’s good enough for 68th in MLB, followed by left fielder Jaren Duran, who’s just barely hitting above league-average. Still, thanks to the overall mediocre level of competition in the American League — the Detroit Tigers and the Yankees being the exceptions — Boston’s lineup entered Friday having produced the third-most runs in the AL. So it’s certainly not all doom and gloom for this club. 

But can they even capitalize on their remaining chances to move up in the standings? We’ll find out over the next handful of weeks, because this month will likely decide the direction of the Red Sox’ season. 

[RELATED: Top landing spots for disgruntled Red Sox star Rafael Devers]

Soon enough, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow will need to know whether he will be a buyer or a seller at the trade deadline. If it’s the latter, guys like Duran and closer Aroldis Chapman are already rumored to be on the trading block. And it’s possible Cora will be on the hot seat, even though last year he signed a contract extension that goes through the 2027 season. 

“At some point, it has to be on me, I guess,” Cora said after the Red Sox lost, 4-3, to the Angels in extra innings on Tuesday. Boston’s 17 losses in one-run games are easily the most in baseball. The team’s 56 defensive errors also lead the majors.

It’s not ideal that the Red Sox are being asked to play their best baseball without Bregman and Casas, but every team has its setbacks. The Yankees lost their ace, Gerrit Cole, to season-ending Tommy John surgery in spring training, and New York’s rotation still rose to the occasion, manufacturing a top-five ERA in the big leagues to this point. So what’s stopping the Sox? The second half of Boston’s June schedule gets easier, but the team has yet to make a compelling case that it can even defeat the league’s basement dwellers. 

The Red Sox need to be hungrier, sharper, and just plain better. Time is all but running out to save their season.

Deesha Thosar covers Major League Baseball as a reporter and columnist for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

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Kemp was the International Player of the Month in April.

The Phillies also recalled right-hander Daniel Robert from Lehigh Valley and optioned right-hander Alan Rangel. Rangel, 27, made his major-league debut on Friday night, allowing two runs in three innings of relief.

This will be Robert’s third stint of the season with the Phillies. The 30-year-old has given up one run in two-thirds of an inning over two games.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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He is 3-2 with a 2.66 ERA in 11 starts this season.

Arizona signed Burnes to a $210 million, six-year contract before the season, and the 30-year-old has been very durable over the past several years. He’s made at least 28 starts in every season since he won the 2021 National League Cy Young Award for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Burnes’ injury is yet another problem in a season that has already seen the D-backs go just 31-31 with a negative run differential, putting them in fourth place, 6.5 games back in a competitive NL West and 3.5 back of a wild card spot. Arizona missed the 2024 postseason due to losing the tiebreaker for the final wild card spot to the Mets.

The D-backs called up left-hander Tommy Henry to take Burnes’ spot on the roster. He’s pitched in one game this season, throwing 2 2/3 scoreless innings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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3B: The Red Sox have won each of their last three postseason matchups against the Yankees (2004 ALCS, 2018 ALDS and 2021 AL wild-card game).

3C: The Yankees and Red Sox went .500 against each other in the regular season for three consecutive seasons: 9-9 in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

5A: The two teams have faced each other five times in the postseason, with the Yankees winning the 1999 and 2003 ALCS, and the Red Sox winning the next three matchups (2004, 2018 and 2021).

5B: Red Sox manager Alex Cora spent four seasons with his franchise as a player (2005-08), and Yankees manager Aaron Boone spent one season with his franchise as a player (2003); the two combined for five seasons as a player with their respective teams. However, had Boone not torn his ACL in the 2004 offseason, his stint with the Yankees may have lasted longer, as the franchise proceeded to acquire 2003 AL MVP Alex Rodriguez from the Texas Rangers to play third base, Boone’s position. The Red Sox also had trade talks with the Rangers about trading for Rodriguez.

11: Speaking of Boone, the Yankees acquired the third baseman from the Cincinnati Reds during the 2003 season. In Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS against the Red Sox, the Yankees mounted their own famous comeback – that would cost Boston manager Grady Little his job – and sent the game to extra innings. And on the first pitch of the bottom of the 11th inning, Boone launched a walk-off home run to left field, sending the Yankees to the World Series.

163: In 1978, 162 games couldn’t decide the AL East, so a Game 163 was required to determine whether the Yankees or Red Sox would claim the division. Trailing 2-0 in the top of the seventh inning, Yankees shortstop Bucky Dent hit a go-ahead three-run home run over the Green Monster in left field to put the Bronx Bombers ahead, and they later sealed the deal to win the AL East. While more runs would be scored by both teams, Dent’s homer remains the signature moment of Game 163 and earned Dent a forever nickname in New England: Bucky “F——” Dent. And two weeks later, the Yankees won the 1978 World Series.

251: Several superstars and Hall of Famers played for both the Yankees and Red Sox. For instance, Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens each spent a substantial chunk of their respective careers with the Red Sox. However, they later ended up with the Yankees and hoisting up the Commissioner’s Trophy in pinstripes (Boggs was on the Yankees’ 1996 World Series team and Clemens was on the Yankees’ 1999 and 2000 World Series teams), while Johnny Damon won a World Series with both clubs (Boston in 2004 and New York in 2009). Red Ruffing, Herb Pennock and Carl Mays are also among those to play for both franchises for a prolonged period, with 251 players total suiting up for both franchises.

500: Fascinatingly enough, of the 24 combined playoff games the Yankees and Red Sox have played against each other, the two teams are .500 (12-12).

1919: Of course, another individual to play for both teams was Babe Ruth, who the Red Sox traded to the Yankees in 1919 against the backdrop of financial issues. Ruth had already won three World Series with the Red Sox, but he then went on to win four more titles with the Yankees and became the best player to ever suit up for the franchise. In fact, Ruth is first in Yankees history with a 142.8 WAR, 659 home runs and a .349 batting average. Oof.

2,311: The two teams have faced off a combined 2,311 times (regular season plus postseason), with the Yankees entering June 6 with a 1,245-1,028-14 record in the all-time series.

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Jose Herrera followed with a walk, so, the Braves removed Blewett, who had pitched the eighth and was supposed to be in for mop-up duty, and put in Raisel Iglesias. Corbin Carroll would then double off of Iglesias, putting two runners in scoring position with one out for Ketel Marte. The Diamondbacks were up to a 10.1% win probability at this point. Marte would single in Herrera, pushing the score to 10-8 and the probability to 16.5%. Geraldo Perdomo would then pop out to short, slashing that figure nearly in half, as the D-backs were still behind by two, and with two runners on, yes, but two outs.

Ildemargo Vargas would follow by singling in Carroll, pushing Marte to second, and making it 10-9 Braves. Suárez, who led off the inning by making the first out, would make up for that in one swing: he doubled, clearing the bases in the process, and the Diamondbacks, against the odds, now had an 11-10 lead over Atlanta. Shelby Miller would come on in relief for Arizona, face three batters, and end things with a double play. From 0.1% to a win, and the chart showing as much is as wild to look at as you’d imagine it to be: 

It’s not just that the Braves were up 10-4 to start the ninth, but they were up early: they scored their first run in the second, and then five more in the third, another four along the way. Arizona scored three in the fourth, then their bats went quiet until a solo shot by Marte in the eighth, leaving very little hope for a win from basically the second inning onward. And yet! Baseball.

Hayes shows off range, arm

For the rest of the recap of last night, we’re going to play a little game of back-and-forth. First, you’ll see a great defensive effort, and then, you’ll see the opposite of that. Balance is important in life, you see.

First up is Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, who made an absurd stop and strong throw on a play that feels like it shouldn’t have happened [complimentary]. 

That ball was as close to foul as you can get, and Hayes just snagged it on a hop at the line, then, while still having his momentum carry him in the opposite direction of where he needed to go, turned and threw hard enough to reach first base on time with a one-hopper. Beautiful stuff.

Rangers show they do not know where they are

And here’s another play that shouldn’t have happened [derogatory]. 

First baseman Josh Smith had been playing well off of the bag to begin with, and then he gave chase on the grounder to second by Taylor Walls despite the fact that Marcus Semien was back there, ranging. It doesn’t help that Smith didn’t even try to get back, though — he just stands there as everything happens around him. Semien fielded the ball, but had nowhere to throw it, since Smith wasn’t close enough to first to bother with going back to cover it, while the pitcher, Robert Garcia, didn’t make it in time.

Semien, holding onto the ball and trying to find somewhere to go with it, realized just a moment too late that Junior Caminero had not just gone from second to third on the play, but was also headed home: the throw did not make it in time to get Caminero, and the Rays walked it off essentially because first base was left open by the decision to shade Smith more toward second before the play. Excellent stuff from Caminero, less so by everyone else involved.

What a dive!

This dive by Bobby Witt Jr. looks great at full speed. When you see the zoomed-in replay and then the slowed down version, though, you realize just how far he extended in order to make the play. 

That is basically instinctual: Witt didn’t think, he reacted. And once again it’s incredible to think that this guy’s defense was ever a question mark. It was, though! He was awful out there at the start of his career. And now he’s doing stuff like this that make him as much of a boost to the Royals with a glove as with a bat.

This play also features a dive

Witt Jr.’s dive might have been instinctual and a thing of beauty, but when Mets’ pitcher Reed Garrett went down in the bottom of the eighth against the Dodgers, things were not quite so elegant. With the Mets up 5-4 and trying to take three of four from Los Angeles, a grounder to Brett Baty at third should have been an easy out at the plate, but instead, catcher Francisco Alvarez failed to reel in the throw. Chaos ensued.

Alvarez went looking for the ball, which had ended up in Garrett’s glove. Garrett could very well have tagged Will Smith, but Alvarez was still moving around home plate, and crashed right into the other half of the Mets’ battery. Garrett went down, half intentionally to get to the plate and half because a catcher in full gear just ran into him, but he couldn’t tag Smith. 

The Dodgers would win, 6-5, as Michael Conforto would then drive in Andy Pages, who had made it to first on the fielder’s choice that resulted in the error and Smith scoring in the first place. The Mets might have won the season series against Los Angeles, but had to settle for a series split here.

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