5/31-6/02 MLB Newsletter

American League

East

• Yankees (42-19, @ SF): After winning decisively on Friday and Saturday thanks to Aaron Judge's combined three home runs, which put him at 21 total and gave him sole possession of the HR King title, Juan Soto delivered on Sunday with two homers of his own, one in the ninth to give the Yanks a one-run lead to finish the series sweep. They’ve now won 22 of their last 27 games and will head back to The Bronx to host the Twins, then the Dodgers. 🚀

• Orioles (37-20, v. TB): They sealed their second consecutive 17-9 month after Friday's win. Ryan Mountcastle homered twice on Saturday, driving in four runs in the win as Anthony Santander and Jordan Westburg both hit solo homers. After having an early lead on Sunday thanks to Gunnar Henderson’s 19th homer, they allowed three late-inning runs to drop the potential series sweep.
  

• Red Sox (30-30, v. DET): Two strong starting pitching performances, with only one run allowed by Tanner Houck and Cooper Criswell on Friday and Saturday, positioned Boston for victory. Ceddanne Rafaela hit two home runs on Friday, while Enmanuel Valdez added another two on Saturday to help secure the wins. Brayan Bello surrendered four earned runs in 6.1 innings on Sunday, leading to extra innings where Cam Booser allowed four runs, resulting in a loss.
  

• Rays (29-31, @ BAL): On Friday, they only scored one run and lost the series opener. Taj Bradley started on Saturday, but he allowed nine earned runs in 3.1 innings as they lost again to seal the series loss. Jose Siri played hero for the third time in the last week as he hit a two-run double in the eighth, which proved to be the difference as they won and advanced to 12-4 in one-run games.
  

• Blue Jays (28-30, v. PIT): Playing in their longest game of the year on Friday, Davis Schneider hit a walk-off two-run homer in the 14th inning to take the series opener. They scored just one run on Saturday while allowing eight, which ended up being their only loss of the series as they returned on Sunday to win a one-run game where Vladamir Guerrero Jr. played third base for the first time since 2019.

Central

• Guardians (39-20, v. WSH): They won the series’ first two games while allowing a combined three runs as David Fry knocked in three runs on Friday and Kyle Manzardo drove in two on Saturday. The starting pitching wasn’t as strong on Sunday, as Carlos Carrasco allowed five earned runs in four innings. They’ll host the Royals next in a battle for the top of the AL Central.
  

• Royals (36-25, v. SD): Michael Wacha went 5.1 innings on Friday and allowed just two runs, but the bullpen couldn’t back him up, allowing nine earned through the remainder of the game to set up the series-opening loss. They got their lone win of the series on Sunday after Nelson Velázquez tied the game in the ninth with a triple, setting up Nick Lofton to walk it off.

• Twins (33-26, @ HOU): Pablo López pitched seven innings of one-run ball on Friday, while Trevor Larnach drove in two runs with a homer in the win. However, on Saturday, Joe Ryan allowed five earned runs on four homers in five innings in the loss. Trevor Larnach hit his second homer of the series on Sunday, and Jose Miranda hit a solo shot to tie the game in the sixth and a double to take the lead in the eighth, which ended up being the game-winning run.

• Tigers (29-30, @ BOS): Kenta Maeda and Reese Olson both allowed five earned runs in their starts on Friday and Saturday, as the offense put up three runs in each game to lose both. After taking the lead in the middle innings on Sunday, they allowed the Sox to send it to extras, but Detroit scored four runs to seal the win and split the four-game series.
  

• White Sox (15-45, @ MIL): They lost all three against Milwaukee to extend their season-long losing streak to 11, allowing at least three runs in each game. Things escalated on Sunday after Tommy Pham was thrown out at the plate by a mile and exchanged words with the Brewers. Pham commented postgame that he’s not one to start a fight but is ready to finish one as he trains to fight in the offseason. 👊

West

• Mariners (34-27, v. LAA): Cal Raleigh drove in two runs, and Ty France drove in three, including a solo shot to take the lead in the eighth inning, which proved to be the winning difference in the series opener. They threw a combined shutout to win on Saturday while J.P. Crawford hit a grand slam, and Cal Raleigh drove in another two runs. Luke Raley hit his second homer in as many games on Sunday as Luis Castillo threw seven scoreless innings to cap off the sweep.

• Rangers (29-30, @ MIA): José Ureña allowed four runs, two earned, through 2.1 innings as the offense put just two runs on the board to lose the series opener. Well, they didn’t allow a run over the next 18 innings as they held Miami to back-to-back shutouts, scoring seven and six runs, respectively. 🔥
  

• Astros (26-34, v. MIN): Ronel Blanco took his first loss of the season as he allowed four earned runs through 4.2 innings, and their only run of the day was an Alex Bregman home run. They hit four homers on Saturday, two from Yordan Alvarez, to drive in five runs in their lone win of the series. The theme of only scoring on homers continued on Sunday as Victor Caratini and Alex Bregman hit taters in the loss.

• Athletics (24-37, @ ATL): Oakland dropped their third straight series and dropped to 11-21 on the road as they finished their six-game road trip, winning just two of the six games. Miguel Andujar and Brent Rooker both homered in Saturday’s win.

• Angels (21-38, @ SEA): They nearly came back on Friday on the back of a Jo Adell grand slam, which tied the game up at four, but they would eventually go on to lose to finish 10-17 for the second consecutive month. They scored just one run over the next two games, combining 1-for-10 with RISP. They lost both games, were swept by the division leaders, and tied their season-high losing streak (5).

Source

National League

East

• Phillies (41-19, v. STL): Aaron Nola pitched 6.1 innings of two-run ball on Friday as this team closed out May with a win, ending the month with 20+ wins for the first time since 2010. Bryce Harper hit his 14th homer in Saturday’s win, but Ranger Suárez had to exit after getting hit by a line drive on his pitching hand. They could not finish the sweep on Sunday, losing by one run in extra innings as Brandon Marsh left due to a hamstring strain.
  

• Braves (33-24, v. OAK): Reynaldo López threw six innings of one-run ball to earn a win on Friday. That sealed their monthly record as one game below .500, the first month below .500 since May ‘22. After allowing 11 runs and losing on Saturday, they allowed just one run on Sunday to win the series rubber match, but this was their 14th game out of the last 21, where they scored three or fewer runs. 😬

• Nationals (27-31, @ CLE): They lost the first two games of the series as they went a combined 1-for-7 with RISP in those games, scoring just one and two runs, respectively. Jake Irvin was able to go six innings while allowing two runs as the Nats avoided a sweep on Sunday as Lane Thomas and Joey Meneses drove in two runs each.

• Mets (24-35, v. AZ): After winning the series’ first two games, the team allowed 9+ runs for the third time out of the last four games on Saturday after retiring Darryl Strawberry’s number, resulting in a 10-5 loss. On Sunday, Jose Quintana allowed two first-inning homers, but the team took the lead in the third when Brandon Nimmo and J.D. Martinez hit back-to-back triples. Unfortunately, they couldn’t hold on as they allowed a ninth-inning homer, which evened up the series at two games each.
  

• Marlins (21-39, v. TEX): Nick Gordon and Jesús Sánchez both drove in three runs to win the series opener and seal a May record of one game above .500. Unfortunately, the next two nights, they were held scoreless as Ryan Weathers and Trevor Rogers allowed four runs over six innings.

Central

• Brewers (36-23, v. CWS): On Friday, they had an MLB-high 23 high in hits, of which 18 were singles and none were homers. Willy Adames drove in three of the Brewers’ four runs on Saturday, including the game-winner in the tenth inning. Jackson Chourio hit his sixth homer, a three-run shot, in Sunday’s win to finish the sweep and extend their season-long win streak to five. 📈

• Cardinals (28-29, @ PHI): Nolan Arendado and Brandon Crawford both hit solo homers on Friday as they lost on Friday, closing out May one game above .500 for the month. They scored just one run in Saturday’s loss but returned on Sunday to win in extra innings as Nolan Gorman drove in three of the team’s five runs as Ryan Helsley logged his MLB-leading 19th save.

• Cubs (29-31, v. CIN): They lost on Friday to close out May, dropping eight of their last nine games. A grand slam from Seiya Suzuki and an eighth-inning two-run shot from Dansy Swanson helped seal their lone win of the series as they allowed 5+ runs for the fifth straight game in Sunday’s loss.

• Pirates (27-32, @ TOR): The offense struggled in the clutch on Friday as they went 1-for-15 with RISP and fell in the 14th inning after putting a run on the board in the top of the eleventh and twelfth. Satruday was a good day if Bryan was in your name, as Ke’Bryan Hayes and Bryan Reynolds both homered in the win. Rowdy Tellez drove in all four of the Pirates’ runs on Sunday as they lost the series rubber match by one run.

• Reds (26-33, @ CHC): Elly De La Cruz threw a laser to help save the game on Friday as Cincinnati won only their second one-run game of the year. They finished May with a 9-18 record but went 5-2 in their last seven games. After losing on Saturday, they scored five runs for the third straight game on Sunday as TJ Friedl hit his first homer of the year, a three-run shot to win the series.

West

• Dodgers (38-23, v. COL): In the series opener, they scored their only run of the day in the eighth inning and lost 4-1. The inverse happened on Saturday as they scored four runs while Yoshinobu Yamamoto went six innings of one-run ball in the win. They scored four runs again on Sunday, but this time, held the Rockies scoreless after jumping out to an early lead as Mookie Betts hit his 52nd career leadoff homer. 💥
  

• Padres🔼(32-30, @ KC): A nine-run eighth inning on Friday sealed the win as they went 11-for-18 with RISP. Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his 10th homer of the year on Saturday as Randy Vásquez got his first win of the year, allowing three runs over five innings pitched. Three outs away from their first series sweep on Sunday, Yuki Matsui had to step in for the save attempt as Robert Suarez was unavailable after pitching the two days prior. Matsui allowed three earned runs for KC to walk it off.

• Giants🔽(29-31, v. NYY): Jordan Hicks, Logan Webb, and Blake Snell each allowed 3+ runs in their starts as this team was swept over the weekend to tie their season-long losing streak (4) and fell to 8-18 against teams over .500. Snell exited Sunday’s game after 4.2 innings with a groin injury and will be heading back to the IL.

• Diamondbacks (27-32, @ NYM): They nearly came back in the ninth inning on Friday but fell one run shy and tied their season-long losing streak (5). That streak was snapped on Saturday after scoring ten runs, thanks partly to Christian Walker’s grand slam. Ketel Marte homered twice on Sunday, one of which was a two-run go-ahead shot in the ninth to help this team avoid their third straight series loss.
  

• Rockies (21-37, @ LAD): Winning the series opener on Friday sealed their first winning month since May last year. They were held to just one run over the next two games as they lost the series, going 0-for-7 with RISP on Saturday and Sunday combined.

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