Category: Major League Baseball (MLB)

The last time Giants right-hander Alex Cobb faced the St. Louis Cardinals, he threw a six-hit shutout on April 24 in San Francisco.

“It was one of the better pitching performances that we’ve seen in the last several years,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said after his team won that game 4-0.

The Giants hope to see more of the same from Cobb on Tuesday as the starts the middle game of a three-game series in St. Louis.

San Francisco won the series opener 4-3 on Monday night for its fifth victory in seven games.

Cobb (5-2, 3.01 ERA) struggled at Colorado in his most recent start, allowing four runs on eight hits over five innings in a game the Giants eventually lost 6-4 on Thursday. He struck out seven and walked one.

Cobb is 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA in three career starts against the Cardinals. Nolan Arenado (3-for-6, double, homer) has had some success against him, but Willson Contreras, Tommy Edman and Paul DeJong are a combined 0-for-16 against him.

The Cardinals have lost eight of their past 10 games. They are 7-16 in one-run games this year, and their hitters are 9-for-73 (.123) with runners in scoring position over their past 13 games.

St. Louis will start Jack Flaherty (3-4, 4.15 ERA), who worked around five walks to pitch six scoreless innings in his latest start at Texas on Wednesday. He allowed three hits by the Rangers, struck out eight and stranded eight runners.

“When things heighten, you’ve got to manage the game,” Flaherty said after the Cardinals won that game 1-0. “You’ve got to figure out what you need to do to do that. So things get heightened a little bit when runners get on, but I kind of did that to myself by walking guys. I’ve got to do a better job of that.”

Flaherty has allowed just two runs in 18 1/3 innings over his past three starts. He has shaved 2.03 runs off his ERA since May 9.

“I’m just making pitches,” he told Bally Sports Midwest. “Still running into times where I’m walking guys, three guys in the first (inning) the other day. (I) wasn’t really giving up hits.”

Flaherty is 1-1 with a 3.80 ERA in four career starts against the Giants, but he has not faced them since 2019.

The Cardinals had to adjust their bullpen against the Giants with late-inning specialist Ryan Helsley landing on the injured list due to a forearm strain. Jake Woodford returned from Triple-A Memphis on Monday to replace him.

The Giants also made a pitching move for the series, calling up Keaton Winn from Triple-A Sacramento to provide a fresh bullpen arm. Tristan Beck returned to Sacramento to make room for Winn, who is getting his first look in the big leagues.

“Keaton’s been good,” Kapler said. “He’s been a good teammate. He’s throwing his split in the zone. His fastball is working well. It’s been more efficient of late. It’s a good opportunity for Keaton to show us what he can do.”

–Field Level Media

The team that has scored the fewest runs in the majors now has to face the major league leader in strikeouts.

Braves right-hander Spencer Strider, who has racked up 121 strikeouts this season, will look to keep missing bats when Atlanta faces the host Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night in the middle game of a three-game series.

The Tigers snapped a nine-game losing streak by rallying to win 6-5 in 10 innings in the series opener on Monday.

Strider (6-2, 3.79 ERA) has collected at least seven strikeouts in all 13 of his starts this season, which is bad news for a Tigers offense that struggles to make contact.

Strider has been susceptible to giving up the long ball as of late, however, and it really cost him in his last start. He surrendered a career-high eight runs and eight hits in four innings against the visiting New York Mets on Thursday. He was spared a loss when the Braves rallied to win 13-10 in 10 innings.

Brandon Nimmo hit a grand slam off Strider and Francisco Alvarez victimized him with a two-run blast.

The Mets also scored four runs in five innings off Strider earlier this season.

“I think you’re fighting yourself more so than anything,” Strider said. “Execution is kind of the universal determining factor as to whether you succeed or don’t. Who’s in the box has little to do with how you execute, in my opinion. Yeah, you give credit to them, absolutely. I don’t know what it is about the Mets, necessarily, that I struggle with.”

Strider has never pitched against the Tigers.

Reese Olson (0-1, 2.70) is scheduled to make his third career appearance and second start for the Tigers. Detroit manager A.J. Hinch used an opener in the first inning of Olson’s last outing on Thursday. Olson then came in and allowed just one run, three hits and a walk in five innings.

Detroit rallied from a 5-1 deficit on Monday, scoring a run in the eighth before pushing across three runs against Braves closer Raisel Iglesias in the ninth.

“I feel like the command and the pitches were there,” Iglesias said. “They came out aggressive, looking to make contact, because I’m a pitcher who throws a lot of strikes.”

Spencer Torkelson hit a two-run homer in the ninth, then had a game-winning RBI single in the 10th.

“That was a really fun team win,” Hinch said. “That clubhouse needed it. It was a lot of chipping away, and a lot of guys needed to do something positive.”

Zack Short had two hits and drove in two runs, including the tying run in the ninth. Andy Ibanez had three hits, including a homer, and threw out a runner at the plate in the top of the 10th.

“I know the last 10-12 days have not been great, but we will play to the end,” Hinch said. “That’s been a characteristic of this team.”

The Braves may be without their hottest hitter for some time after losing him during Monday’s setback. Marcell Ozuna, who had extended his hitting streak to nine games, left the contest with a right wrist contusion after getting hit by a pitch in the fourth inning.

Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said Ozuna will undergo further tests after X-rays came back negative.

–Field Level Media

TJ Friedl scored on an overturned call in the 10th inning and the visiting Cincinnati Reds extended the Kansas City Royals’ losing streak to seven games with a 5-4 victory on Monday.

Kansas City’s Salvador Perez forced extra innings by hitting a two-out, solo homer in the bottom of the ninth off Buck Farmer (2-3), who still emerged with the win.

Ricky Karcher recorded the save in his major league debut after pitching a scoreless 10th inning. Stuart Fairchild homered for the Reds, who won their third straight game.

Cincinnati scored the decisive run in the 10th against Carlos Hernandez (0-4).

Friedl began the inning as the automatic runner at second base, then moved to third on Matt McLain’s groundout. Friedl originally was ruled out at the plate on Jonathan India’s fielder’s-choice grounder to third before the call was overturned.

Cincinnati, which trailed 3-0 after two innings, took its first lead of the game with one out in the top of the ninth when Kevin Newman’s sacrifice fly off Scott Barlow scored pinch runner TJ Hopkins.

Michael Massey had two hits and two RBIs for Kansas City, which went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10.

The Royals took an early lead against Luke Weaver with two outs in the first inning on Massey’s two-run double. Kansas City pushed another run across in the second when Nick Pratto’s sacrifice fly scored Drew Waters.

Weaver was lifted after giving up three runs on five hits and four walks with three strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings.

Fairchild homered off Zack Greinke to begin the third inning, putting the Reds on the board. The 421-foot blast was his third long ball of the season.

Cincinnati knocked Greinke out of the game in the sixth inning after Luke Maile delivered a leadoff double and scored on Friedl’s double to right field.

Jose Cuas replaced Greinke, and the Reds tied the game when Friedl moved to third on McLain’s groundout and scored on India’s single.

Greinke allowed three runs on six hits over five-plus innings. He struck out four without issuing a walk.

–Field Level Media

Shohei Ohtani hit two home runs, including a go-ahead shot in the 12th inning, as the Los Angeles Angels rallied for a 9-6 victory over the Texas Rangers on Monday in Arlington, Texas.

Ohtani led off the 12th for the Angels and drove a first-pitch cutter from Rangers reliever Cole Ragans over the left field fence to plate automatic runner Taylor Ward. The opposite-field blast was Ohtani’s 20th homer of the season.

The Angels cushioned their lead with another two-run home run off Ragans (2-3), this one coming from Chad Wallach.

Wallach’s homer ended up being much-needed insurance as the Rangers scored one run and brought the potential game-tying run to the plate in the bottom of the 12th. However, with two on and two outs, Angels left-hander Aaron Loup sealed the victory by striking out Marcus Semien.

Angels reliever Sam Bachman (1-0) earned his first major league victory by keeping Texas off the scoreboard in the 10th and 11th innings.

The Rangers had a 5-1 lead early on. All five runs were scored with two outs, coming by way of a three-run homer by Ezequiel Duran in the second inning and RBI hits by Josh Jung and Mitch Garver in the third.

The Angels stormed back with three runs in the fifth, including a sacrifice fly by Ohtani, and then tied it at 5-5 on a monster solo shot by Ohtani in the seventh.

The Rangers had their chances late.

In the ninth, Corey Seager drew a leadoff walk and moved to third on a one-out double by Adolis Garcia. But Angels reliever Carlos Estevez ended that threat by striking out Jung and getting Jonah Heim to fly out.

In the 10th, the Rangers had runners at second and third with one out but failed to bring in the potential game-winning run.

All of it paved the way for the Angels’ extra-inning victory. Los Angeles has now won seven of its last eight. The Rangers have lost four of their past five.

Leody Taveras had three hits for Texas, while Semien finished 0-for-7.

–Field Level Media

Jacob deGrom underwent Tommy John surgery on Monday, and Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy called the operation a success.

deGrom had a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow repaired, a procedure that ends the right-hander’s season and could see him miss at least part of next season.

“All went well,” Bochy said, according to the Dallas Morning News. “He’s feeling great.”

deGrom, a two-time National League Cy Young Award winner, signed a five-year, $185 million free agent deal with the Rangers in December. However, he was just six starts into his Texas tenure when he left his April 28 outing against the New York Yankees due to elbow inflammation.

He threw a successful 32-pitch bullpen session on May 22 and appeared close to returning. deGrom never did get into another game, though, and an MRI exam early last week diagnosed the torn UCL.

The Tommy John surgery was the second for deGrom. He missed the full 2011 season due to the first procedure while he was a minor-leaguer in the New York Mets’ system. deGrom recovered to be the NL Rookie of the Year in 2014 and NL Cy Young winner in 2018 and 2019.

The past two years, he missed time with the Mets due to forearm, elbow and shoulder issues.

This season, deGrom went 2-0 with a 2.67 ERA, 45 strikeouts and four walks in 30 1/3 innings.

In 10 major league seasons (the first nine with the Mets), deGrom owns an 84-57 record and a 2.53 ERA in 215 starts. According to baseball-reference.com, his career 5.38 ratio of strikeouts to walks is the best in major league history: 1,652 strikeouts and 307 walks in 1,356 1/3 innings.

–Field Level Media

The Boston Red Sox lineup could be receiving a boost soon, as shortstop Trevor Story said Monday that he hopes to be back in action in July.

Story is currently on the 60-day injured list after undergoing an internal bracing procedure of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow in January. He remains without a timetable for his return and wouldn’t be ready to take the field by July, but Boston could opt to use him as a designated hitter.

“(July) is a real possibility for (designated hitter),” Story said. “I think that’s as early as we’ve looked at it. That’s obviously exciting to me. To be able to just impact the team with my bat is something I feel like I can do, so we’ll make that decision soon.”

From there, Story hopes to be back at shortstop a month later.

“I think the progression is kind of a moving thing based on how I feel,” Story said. “I feel good about coming back to play shortstop sometime in August. I know that’s what I want to do. That’s my goal.”

The Red Sox have seen six players take reps at short this season, including Enrique Hernandez, who has played 52 games at the position. Yu Chang (11 games), Pablo Reyes (nine), Christian Arroyo (three), Bobby Dalbec (one) and Enmanuel Valdez (one) have also spent time there.

Story, 30, hit a career-low .238 with 16 homers, 66 RBIs and 13 stolen bases in 94 games last season, his first with Boston. With Xander Bogaerts at shortstop, Story shifted over to second base, where he spent all 94 of his games.

In seven major leagues seasons with the Colorado Rockies (2016-21) and Red Sox, Story is a career .268 hitter with 174 home runs, 516 RBIs and 113 steals. He is a two-time All-Star.

“Arm is feeling really good and my whole body is in a great spot,” Story said. “I want to get back out there as quickly as possible, but I have to respect a lot of parts of this process and make sure we do it right first.”

–Field Level Media

Mitch Haniger drove in two runs as the visiting San Francisco Giants edged the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 on Monday.

Brandon Crawford hit the tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth inning for the Giants, who won for the fifth time in their past seven games.

San Francisco starting pitcher Logan Webb (5-6) allowed three runs on seven hits in seven innings. He struck out six and walked nobody.

Camilo Doval got the final four outs for his 17th save.

Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer and Paul DeJong hit a solo shot for the Cardinals, who lost for the eighth time in 10 games.

Cardinals starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore allowed two runs on seven hits in six innings. He fanned five and walked two.

Reliever Chris Stratton (1-1) took the loss.

The Giants took a 2-0 lead in the third inning. After Austin Slater led off with an infield single, Liberatore hit Thairo Estrada with a pitch and advanced the runners with a one-out wild pitch.

J.D. Davis drove in one run on a groundout, then Haniger’s double scored another.

DeJong went deep in the bottom of the fifth to cut the deficit to 2-1. It was his ninth home run of the year.

The Cardinals surged ahead 3-2 in the sixth inning. Brendan Donovan hit a leadoff single and Goldschmidt followed with his 11th homer of the season.

The Giants tied the game 3-3 in the seventh inning with a two-out rally against reliever Andre Pallante. Wilmer Flores walked, Davis hit a single and Haniger delivered an RBI single.

San Francisco move back ahead 4-3 in the eighth inning. Patrick Bailey hit a one-out double off Stratton, and Crawford punched an RBI single through the left side of the infield.

Donovan hit a leadoff single in the bottom of the inning off reliever Tyler Rogers, and Nolan Gorman hit a one-out single. However, Nolan Arenado popped out, then Doval came on to walk Willson Contreras before retiring Dylan Carlson on a flyout.

–Field Level Media

The Colorado Rockies scored twice in the top of the 10th inning en route to a 4-3 victory over the host Boston Red Sox on Monday night in the opener of a three-game series.

The Rockies led 3-2 after Randal Grichuk drew a bases-loaded walk against Nick Pivetta (3-4) that forced in Mike Moustakas, and Colorado added to its lead when Boston first baseman Triston Casas made a fielding error on a Nolan Jones grounder that allowed Ryan McMahon to score and make it 4-2.

There was a rain delay of nearly 1 1/2 hours following the Casas error. The Red Sox avoided further damage in the top of the 10th before pulling within a run in the bottom half of the inning. Connor Wong made it 4-3 when he scored on a fielder’s choice before Alex Verdugo grounded into a game-ending double play.

Daniel Bard (2-0) earned the win for pitching a scoreless ninth, and Matt Carasiti worked the 10th to record his first save.

Boston’s Christian Arroyo hit a solo home run that broke a 1-1 tie with one out in the seventh. It was his second home run of the season.

Colorado starting pitcher Connor Seabold held Boston to one run on six hits in six innings. He struck out six and walked one. Seabold, who pitched for the Red Sox in 2021 and 2022, has allowed no more than two runs while going at least five innings in each of his last three starts.

The Rockies tied the game, 2-2, when Jurickson Profar doubled and scored on an Elias Diaz two-out single in the eighth. Profar’s double was his third hit in the game.

Boston starting pitcher James Paxton surrendered one unearned run on four hits in six-plus innings. He struck out eight. Paxton was pulled after he walked Jones, the first batter in the seventh.

McMahon doubled and later scored on a throwing error by shortstop Enrique Hernandez to give Colorado a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning. Boston tied the game in the sixth when Justin Turner drove in Verdugo with a one-out double.

–Field Level Media

The Seattle Mariners moved left-hander Robbie Ray to the 60-day injured list on Monday amid a series of transactions.

The Mariners also selected right-hander Ty Adcock from Double-A Arkansas. He will take the roster place of righty Penn Murfee, who was placed on the team’s 15-day IL because of an inflamed right elbow.

Ray will be out for the rest of this season after undergoing surgery on his elbow in early May to repair his left flexor tendon. He made just one start this season, struggling with his velocity over 3 1/3 innings on March 31 against the Cleveland Guardians and being placed on the injured list the next day.

Ray, 31, is in the second season of a five-year, $115 million deal with the Mariners. He signed as a free agent after winning the American League Cy Young Award in 2021 for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Murfee, 29, tossed a scoreless inning Sunday in his first relief outing since May 3 after missing over a month with similar right elbow swelling that kept him on the IL. He has gone 1-2 with a 1.29 ERA in 16 appearances this season, his second in the big leagues.

Adcock, 26, has never appeared in the majors after being drafted by Seattle in the eighth round in 2019. He owns a combined 1-0 mark with a 1.35 ERA and three saves in his 18 games this season spent between High-A Everett and Double-A Arkansas. He has struck out 22 with just three walks in 20 innings.

–Field Level Media

Spencer Torkelson blasted a two-run home run in the ninth, then delivered a walk-off RBI single in the 10th as the host Detroit Tigers snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 6-5 win over the Atlanta Braves on Monday night.

Andy Ibanez had three hits, including a homer, and scored the winning run. Zack Short had two hits and drove in two runs.

Alex Lange (4-2) tossed an inning of scoreless relief to pick up the victory. Mason Englert, making his first career start, gave up one run and three hits in 2 2/3 innings.

Ronald Acuna Jr. drove in three runs for the Braves. Michael Harris II had three hits, including a solo homer.

Charlie Morton tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits while striking out eight.

Marcell Ozuna, who extended his hitting streak to nine games, left the game with a right wrist contusion after getting hit by a pitch in the fourth inning.

Detroit staged a three-run rally in the ninth to force extras. Jonathan Schoop led off against Raisel Iglesias with a single and Torkelson followed with his sixth homer over the left field wall to cut it to 5-4. Kerry Carpenter then singled before Iglesias struck out Javier Baez and got Nick Maton to ground into a forceout.

Matt Vierling and Short followed with singles, the latter plating Maton to tie the game.

Atlanta’s automatic runner in the 10th, Sam Hilliard, was thrown out at the plate by left fielder Ibanez.

Jake Rogers sacrificed Detroit’s automatic runner, Ibanez, to third, but Rogers reached on Austin Riley’s fielding error. Schoop lined out before Torkelson ripped a long single to center off Joe Jimenez (0-2).

Ozzie Albies’ sacrifice fly in the second inning and Acuna’s two-run double in the fifth gave Atlanta a 3-0 lead.

Atlanta scratched out a run against Tyler Alexander in the sixth. Albies walked, stole second, advanced on Baez’s fielding error and scored on Acuna’s fielder’s choice.

Ibanez broke up the shutout when he smashed his third homer over the left field wall to lead off the seventh.

Harris made it 5-1 with his fourth homer, a two-out shot in the eighth.

Baez, who led off the bottom of the inning with a double, scored on Short’s two-out single to trim it to 5-2.

–Field Level Media