Mariners sweep Tigers with 35 runs in three-game series
Julio Rodriguez, Randy Arozarena and Mitch Garver also hit solo home runs for the Mariners, who humbled the major league-leading Tigers with 12-3 and 15-7 wins in the first two games of the series.
Seattle's 35 runs is the most they have scored in a three-game series since 2002.
The Tigers are taking a season-high four-game losing streak into the All-Star break.
After Polanco broke a 4-all tie in the ninth and Young created a two-run cushion, the Mariners scored two more runs.
Matt Brash (1-0) struck out two in the eighth to earn the win.
Tommy Kahnle (1-2) gave up three runs on two hits and a walk without getting an out in the pivotal ninth.
Detroit scored two unearned runs off Logan Gilbert in the first inning, taking advantage of Luke Raley's throwing error, and went ahead again in the seventh on Riley Greene's 24th homer of the season.
RED SOX 4, RAYS 1
BOSTON (AP) — Ceddanne Rafaela hit a two-run homer, Brayan Bello pitched one-run ball into the seventh inning and Boston extended its winning streak to 10 games with a series-sweeping victory over Tampa Bay.
Rafaela, who hit a walk-off, two-run homer for Boston on Friday, hit his 14th homer of the season in the sixth inning. Trevor Story added a go-ahead single in the sixth.
Boston last had a 10-game win streak in July 2018 and heads into the All-Star break in third place in the competitive AL East, behind Toronto and the New York Yankees.
Tampa Bay's Chandler Simpson extended his hitting streak to 16 games, a club record for a rookie. The Rays lost for the 11th time in 14 games and closed out their road trip to Minnesota, Detroit and Boston with a 2-8 record.
The 26-year-old Bello (6-3) gave up six hits, struck out five and didn't issue a walk over 6 1/3 innings. He was coming off his first nine-inning complete game in his previous start. All-Star Aroldis Chapman struck out the final three batters for his 17th save.
Boston moved ahead 1-0 when Rays third baseman Junior Caminero was called for obstruction with his foot blocking the bag on a pickoff play, allowing Marcelo Mayer to score.
The Rays snapped an 18-inning scoreless stretch in the fourth inning, tying the game on Josh Lowe's sacrifice fly.
Ryan Pepiot (6-7) gave up four runs, three earned, in six innings.
CUBS 4, YANKEES 1
NEW YORK (AP) — Shota Imanaga struck out Aaron Judge twice while pitching seven sparkling innings, leading Chicago to a victory over New York.
In his fourth start since returning from a strained left hamstring, Imanaga (6-3) allowed a homer to Giancarlo Stanton in the second and a single to Austin Wells in the seventh. He struck out six and walked one.
Michael Busch and Dansby Swanson homered for the Cubs, who headed into the All-Star break with 57 wins, their most since 2008. Daniel Palencia handled the ninth for his 12th save, finishing a two-hitter.
Stanton hit his 433rd career homer as the Yankees lost their second straight following a five-game winning streak. Judge struck out twice on splitters, a day after hitting his 350th career homer.
Cody Bellinger went 0 for 3 on his 30th birthday and had a career-high 17-game hitting streak stopped. He was traded from Chicago to New York in December.
Busch connected on Will Warren's second pitch in his first career plate appearance in the leadoff spot. Swanson made it 3-1 with a tiebreaking two-run drive off Ian Hamilton in the sixth.
Pete Crow-Armstrong added an RBI infield single that scored Seiya Suzuki from second in the seventh when shortstop Anthony Volpe's throw to first baseman Paul Goldschmidt bounced.
Warren (6-5) permitted two runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings.
RANGERS 5, ASTROS 1
HOUSTON (AP) — Marcus Semien hit his 250th career home run and Adolis García also went deep to back up a strong start by Nathan Eovaldi and give Texas a series clinching victory over Houston.
Eovaldi (7-3) limited Houston to five hits and a run with eight strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings for his third straight win.
Houston starter Hunter Brown (9-4) allowed five hits and four runs while striking out eight in five innings as the AL West leaders lost for the fifth time in six games. It was the second straight tough outing for the All-Star, who gave up a season-high six runs in his last start against Cleveland.
Wyatt Langford walked to open the second and the Rangers made it 1-0 when he scored on a triple by Evan Carter. There were two outs in the inning when Carter scored on a ground-rule double by Ezequiel Duran to push the lead to 2-0.
García's third homer in the last four games put Texas ahead 3-0 with two outs in the third inning.
Carter doubled to start the fourth and Kyle Higashioka singled before Carter scored on a sacrifice fly by Alejandro Osuna to make it 4-0.
The Astros cut it to 4-1 on a home run by Zack Short with no outs in the sixth inning.
Semien's shot with one out in the eighth inning was his second of the series and gave him 250 in his 13-year career.
REDS 4, ROCKIES 2
CINCINNATI (AP) — TJ Friedl homered and scored three times, and Cincinnati manager Terry Francona got his 2,000th win when he directed the Reds to a win over Colorado.
Matt McLain and Austin Hays each had two hits as Cincinnati won the rubber game of the weekend series. Nick Martinez (7-9) pitched 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball.
The Reds are 50-47 at the All-Star break in their first season since Francona was hired in October. The 66-year-old Francona is 2,000-1,719 in 24 years as a big league skipper.
Mickey Moniak drove in two runs for Colorado, and Austin Gomber (0-3) allowed two earned runs in 4 1/3 innings.
The Rockies go into the break with a major league-worst 22-74 record. They have dropped seven of nine.
PIRATES 2, TWINS 1
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Spencer Horwitz had a bases-loaded RBI ground out in the ninth inning and Pittsburgh ended an eight-game slide by beating Minnesota.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa tied a career high with four hits for Pittsburgh.
Ke'Bryan Hayes singled with one out in the ninth off Twins closer Jhoan Duran (5-4). Pinch-hitter Oneil Cruz had an infield single and Kiner-Falefa singled to load the bases.
Horwitz hit a sharp grounder that second baseman Brooks Lee dove to his right to stop. Looking to start a double play, Lee couldn't cleanly get the ball out of his glove and had to settle for a force out at first allowing Hayes to score.
Dennis Santana pitched a scoreless eighth (3-2) for the Pirates and David Bednar earned his 13th save.
Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa and Harrison Bader each had two hits for Minnesota, which finished 6-3 on a nine-game homestand but failed to get back to .500 for the first time since June 17.
Mitch Keller allowed one run in six innings for Pittsburgh but again got little support. The Pirates have scored one or zero runs while Keller is in the game in 11 of his 20 starts.
Yet, his 14 quality starts are tied for second in the majors with Philadelphia's Zack Wheeler. San Francisco's Logan Webb has 15.
Tommy Pham homered in the second for Pittsburgh. Buxton, who hit for the cycle Saturday, had an RBI double in the third.
BREWERS 8, NATIONALS 1
MILWAUKEE (AP) — All-Star Freddy Peralta pitched one-run ball through 6 2/3 innings, Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang homered and Milwaukee extended its winning streak to seven games with a victory over Washington.
Peralta (11-4) carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Jacob Young, Washington's No. 9 hitter, slapped a hit through the infield between third and short. The 29-year-old right-hander got the first four Nationals to open the game and rebounded after Turang's two-base fielding error on Luis García Jr.'s grounder in the second inning by retiring the next 12 batters.
Peralta, who allowed three hits and a walk and struck out seven, left the game following Daylen Lile's run-scoring single with two out in the seventh. The Brewers climbed to a season-best 16 games above .500 at 56-40.
Peralta made his 20th start of the season and relinquished his second All-Star selection. Reliever Trevor Megill took Peralta's spot and joins rookie right-hander Jacob Misiorowski on the NL team.
Chourio hit a three-run homer and Turang added a solo shot, all in the eighth, for Milwaukee.
Washington's Jake Irvin (7-5) allowed four hits in five innings with five strikeouts.
Brewers right fielder Sal Frelick left the game in the third after making a sliding catch in foul territory. The team said he had left hamstring soreness.
Shortstop C.J. Abrams was scratched from Washington's lineup due to minor right-shoulder soreness. Paul DeJong got the start.
After Saturday's game, the Nationals optioned right-hander Shinnosuke Ogasawara (0-1, 13.50 ERA in two starts) to Triple-A Rochester and recalled righty Andry Lara from Double-A Harrisburg on Sunday.
ROYALS 3, METS 2
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Nick Loftin delivered his second game-winning hit in less than a week, driving in Tyler Tolbert from second base with a single in the ninth inning to give Kansas City a win over New York.
Tolbert singled off Sean Manaea, who had been dominant in relief in his season debut for the Mets. And when the speedster stole second base, that gave Loftin the chance to deliver another winner after his deciding single Tuesday against Pittsburgh.
Manaea (0-1), who had been out after straining an oblique in spring training and then developing an elbow issue during his rehab outings, allowed that lone run and five hits while striking out seven in 3 1/3 innings.
Noah Cameron delivered another brilliant start for Kansas City, scattering seven hits while matching a career best with eight strikeouts over 6 2/3 scoreless innings. And the rookie left-hander was in line for his fourth win when John Schreiber and Lucas Erceg shepherded a 2-0 lead — courtesy of John Rave's second-inning double — to All-Star closer Carlos Estévez.
Ronny Mauricio led off the ninth with a double off Estévez (4-2). Jeff McNeil followed with an RBI triple off the center-field wall, and fellow pinch hitter Jared Young delivered a sacrifice fly moments later to tie the game.
Clay Holmes allowed two runs and five hits and a walk over five innings for New York.
GUARDIANS 6, WHITE SOX 5, 10 INNINGS
CHICAGO (AP) — Steven Kwan knocked in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning and made a sliding catch to help prevent a run from scoring in the bottom of the inning as Cleveland beat Chicago.
Kwan's fly off Brandon Eisert (2-2) scored automatic runner Angel Martínez. Kwan covered a lot of ground in left field and made a catch just inside the foul line on a fly ball by Mike Tauchman leading off the 10th.
Kyle Manzardo hit his 15th homer — a three-run shot off Aaron Civale, the player he was traded for in June — to cap a four-run sixth and give Cleveland a 4-3 lead. Brayan Rocchio doubled with one out and scored on a force out by José Ramírez for the first run.
Austin Slater hit his fourth home run, a leadoff shot off Joey Cantillo in the fourth, to put the White Sox ahead 1-0. Michael A. Taylor's sac fly and Slater's RBI single extended the lead to 3-0 in the fifth.
Andrew Benintendi hit his 11th home run, a solo shot off Cantillo, to tie it at 4 in the sixth.
Kwan drew a walk in the eighth off Grant Taylor, took third on a single by Nolan Jones and scored on Ramírez's sac fly for a 5-4 lead.
Edgar Quero doubled in the eighth and pinch-runner Will Robertson scored on Luis Robert Jr.'s two-out double to tie it 5-all.
Cantillo allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings with six strikeouts. Closer Emmanuel Clase (5-2) didn't allow a hit in the final two innings as Cleveland won three of four in the series.
MARLINS 11, ORIOLES 1
BALTIMORE (AP) — All-Star Kyle Stowers had his first three-homer game and drove in six runs against his former team, leading Miami to a win over Baltimore.
Stowers is the first Marlins player to hit three homers in a game since Brian Anderson on Sept. 18, 2020, in the second game of a doubleheader against Washington. The 27-yeaer-old left fielder also joins fellow Marlins Mike Lowell (2004) and Cody Ross (2006) in accomplishing the feat.
Ramón Laureano homered for Baltimore, which has lost consecutive games for the first time since July 1-2.
Stowers led off the second inning with a shot to right against Brandon Young (0-4) to open the scoring. An inning later, he sent Young's first-pitch curveball 398 feet for a two-run blast to right-center.
In the fifth, Stowers worked a 2-2 count before homering over the scoreboard in right. The 27-year-old had a base hit in the seventh and added an RBI single in the eighth for his first career five-hit game.
It was Stowers' fourth multi-homer game of the season. At the break, he has career highs in home runs (19) and RBIs (54).
Baltimore selected Stowers in the second round of the 2019 amateur draft. He debuted in 2022, and the Orioles sent him to Miami at last year's trade deadline as part of a package for pitcher Trevor Rogers.
Otto Lopez followed Stowers' homer in the third with a solo shot, the second time Miami hit consecutive home runs this season.
Miami starter Eury Pérez (3-2) allowed three hits and struck out six in seven shutout innings.
Young surrendered a career-high seven runs in 4 1/3 innings.
The game was delayed 1 hour, 38 minutes at the start due to rain.
ATHLETICS 6, BLUE JAYS 3
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Tyler Soderstrom, Nick Kurtz and Austin Wynns each hit a two-run homer, helping the Athletics beat Toronto.
Jeffrey Springs (8-6) pitched 6 2/3 innings of three-run ball in the win. He struck out five and walked none.
The A's won for the third time in four games. They are 41-57 at the All-Star break in their first year in Sacramento.
Davis Schneider and Addison Barger homered for AL East-leading Toronto, who finished with four hits and three errors. The Blue Jays (55-41) dropped to 13-4 in their last 17 games.
The A's jumped in front in the second. With Gio Urshela aboard after a leadoff single, Wynns hit a one-out drive to left off José Berríos for his sixth homer.
Kurtz hit a leadoff double in the third and scored on Soderstrom's 18th homer, a 410-foot drive to center on a 1-2 sinker. Soderstrom hit a total of 12 homers in his first two years in the majors.
The Blue Jays got one back when Schneider hit a solo shot in the fifth. But Kurtz went deep in the bottom half after All-Star Jacob Wilson reached on a throwing error on reliever Tommy Nance.
Wilson and Kurtz are two of the leading contenders for AL Rookie of the Year at the break. Wilson is hitting .332 with nine homers and 42 RBIs, and Kurtz is batting .257 with 17 homers and 44 RBIs.
Berríos (5-4) permitted four runs and five hits in three innings. He went 3-0 with a 2.52 ERA in his previous four starts.
PHILLIES 2, PADRES 1
SAN DIEGO (AP) — J.T. Realmuto doubled in Bryce Harper with the go-ahead run with two outs in the eighth inning and Cristopher Sánchez was impressive for 7 1/3 innings as Philadelphia beat San Diego to prevent a three-game sweep.
Sánchez (8-2) got a nice ovation from several hundred Phillies fans sitting behind the third-base dugout after manager Rob Thomson lifted him with one out in the eighth. He held the Padres to one run and six hits while striking out six and walking three.
With the Padres ceding most of the left side of the infield and All-Star lefty reliever Adrian Morejon (7-4) pitching, the left-handed Harper sent a hard shot a few feet inside the third base line that rolled into left field. David Morgan came on and struck out Nick Castellanos before Realmuto doubled into the gap in left-center to bring in Harper. Morgan shouted into his glove in frustration.
Harper scored both Phillies runs, the first one coming in the first when the Padres committed two errors. He drew a two-out walk off Nick Pivetta, advanced on All-Star third baseman Manny Machado's throwing error and Realmuto's infield single, and scored on first baseman Luis Arraez's throwing error.
DIAMONDBACKS 5, ANGELS 1
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Jose Herrera hit a two-run double in a four-run fourth inning and Arizona avoided a three-game sweep with a victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
Blaze Alexander had two hits as the bottom of the Diamondbacks' order was productive in a positive result just before the All-Star break. Alexander was batting eighth and Herrera ninth for Arizona, which won for just the fourth time in its past 12 games.
Diamondbacks right-hander Merrill Kelly (8-5) overcame early control trouble to give up one run and one hit over five innings. He had six strikeouts, with two of his four walks to the first three Angels batters of the game.
Mike Trout drove in a run for the Angels, who fell short in their bid to earn a third home series sweep since the start of June.
Los Angeles right-hander Jose Soriano (6-7) gave up five runs, but just one was earned over five innings, with three walks.
The Angels led 1-0 after Trout's RBI single in the third inning.
The Diamondbacks moved in front 4-1 in the fourth inning on a game-tying grounder from Eugenio Suarez, an RBI double from Alexander and Herrera's two-run double. Suarez added an RBI double in the fifth.
DODGERS 5, GIANTS 2, 11 INNINGS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Freddie Freeman blooped a single into shallow right-center with two outs in the 11th inning to score James Outman for the go-ahead run, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat San Francisco for a winning series, one day after snapping a season-worst, seven-game losing streak.
Spencer Bivens (2-3) intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani to start the 11th and retired Mookie Betts and Will Smith before Freeman delivered with a ball that dropped between three Giants.
Teoscar Hernández then beat out an infield single for an insurance run and Andy Pages followed with an RBI single.
Ben Casparius (7-3) got Willy Adames to ground out ending the 10th, then pitched a perfect 11th for the win.
Pinch-hitter Luis Matos hit a tying two-run homer in the ninth after Matt Chapman's one-out single started the rally against Tanner Scott, who blew his seventh save in 26 opportunities.
Miguel Rojas homered and Freeman had an early RBI double that had Los Angeles ahead until the ninth.
Dodgers starter and first-time All-Star Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out seven over seven innings and allowed three hits.
CARDINALS 5, BRAVES 4
ST. LOUIS (AP) — José Fermín hit his first major league home run to break a sixth-inning tie in St. Louis' victory over Atlanta.
In his 159th career plate appearance, the 26-year-old Fermín smacked a sinker over the left-field fence off Jesse Chavez (0-1) with Masyn Wynn on base to cap the scoring.
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Two rain delays totaled 4 hours, 2 minutes. The game lasted 2:38.
The Braves added a run off Gordon Graceffo (3-0) in the seventh. Graceffo threw 1 2/3 innings. Ryan Helsley pitched the ninth for his 19th save.
Matt Olson led the Braves with three RBIs on two hits.
Chavez started the fifth for Atlanta. He gave up two runs with two outs when Willson Contreras dropped a double in shallow right field to tie it at 3.
Reliever Steven Matz surrendered two runs in the fifth. Just before the game was halted for a second time, Olson singled home two runs for a 3-1 advantage.
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Toronto Star
38 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
New Leafs defenceman Henry Thrun grew up a Bruins fan. He's anxious to see the other side
Henry Thrun began his first media conference as a Maple Leaf with a confession. 'As much as I hate to say it, I was a Bruins fan growing up,' he said. Childhood loyalties aside, the 24-year-old defenceman, acquired in the trade that sent Ryan Reaves to the San Jose Sharks last week, said he was happy to be the newest member of the Leafs. Thrun grew up in the Boston suburb of Southborough, not to be confused with Scarborough, which means he'll arrive in Toronto relatively well-versed in at least a few recent chapters of Toronto's difficult post-season story arc. 'I knew the Toronto-Boston rivalry and kind of the history that they've seen in the playoffs, and just knowing how electric of a hockey market (Toronto) is,' Thrun said. 'When (Sharks general manager Mike Grier) told me I was traded, it was definitely a nice way for that phone call to wrap up, just knowing I was going to a city like Toronto, just knowing the history and the success that the team has had the past couple of years, with obviously the end goal still in sight. There's more to push for.' That there's 'more to push for,' of course, is a kind way of saying a team that has won two playoff series in its most recent nine playoff runs has massively underachieved. But achievement is relative. And Thrun, after spending the past two-plus seasons with the league's worst team in San Jose, would be taking a big step up in class if he can carve out a role with the Leafs. Exactly what that role will be is anybody's guess. Not that the trade didn't make sense. The Leafs had essentially given up on Reaves, who played in just 35 games last season and did not see the ice in the playoffs. Moving out the remaining year on Reaves' contract, with a $1.35-million (U.S.) cap hit, in exchange for the remaining year on Thrun's $1-million deal offered salary-cap savings. Still, Thrun, a fourth-round 2019 draft pick of the Ducks who signed in San Jose as a free agent after his junior year at Harvard, is far from a proven commodity as an NHL regular. He has played 119 NHL games as a second- and third-pairing guy on a bottom-feeding team. Grier told reporters in San Jose last week that the Sharks' depth chart was such that Thrun was going to be in tough to earn regular playing time this coming season. 'It's going to be heavy competition here (for spots in the lineup on defence),' Grier said. 'And at the end day, I think this (trade) might help Henry out as well.' If Thrun was going to have a hard time finding ice time on the back end of the reigning basement dwellers, it's difficult to know where he slots on a Leafs blue line where the top six spots appear spoken for. Then again, depth never hurts. And perhaps Toronto's perceived defensive surplus means it's the logical place from which to eventually pluck a trade piece to service GM Brad Treliving's self-announced need for another top-six forward. It's possible, of course, that the Leafs see untapped potential in Thrun, a left-shot blueliner who made the case on Monday that his puck-moving skills weren't exactly showcased in San Jose, where it's safe to say the Sharks spent plenty of time in their own end. Perhaps the game will look different for Thrun in Toronto, even if Reaves offered a cautionary view of life as a Leaf in his introductory media availability in San Jose last week. 'I started the season two years ago really well, and then things were just going really wrong for me. All of a sudden the whole city wanted me out of there. I don't think you see that in other organizations,' Reaves said. Reaves was right about his great beginning: In his first two games as a Maple Leaf in engaged in a pair of fights. But less than a month into his first of two seasons in Toronto the fundamental worth of carrying a so-called enforcer on an NHL roster was called into question when Boston's Brad Marchand delivered a dirty hit that injured then-Leaf Timothy Liljegren. That nobody on the Leafs, including Reaves, offered any sort of response did not sit well. Liljegren, of course, now plays in San Jose, where he and Thrun were neighbours and friends. 'I got to hear (from Liljegren) a little about Toronto, and just, you know how passionate the fans are and how first class in the organization it is,' Thrun said. 'So it's something that I've only heard good things, and I'm excited to see it all firsthand and experience it.'
Canada Standard
44 minutes ago
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Shohei Ohtani (NL), Gleyber Torres (AL) to lead off in All-Star Game
(Photo credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images) The American League and National League announced their lineups for Tuesday's All-Star Game at Atlanta with Shohei Ohtani leading off for the NL and Gleyber Torres at the top for the AL. National League manager Dave Roberts, who is Ohtani's skipper with the Los Angeles Dodgers, opened his lineup for Tuesday just as he has done throughout the regular season with his designated hitter at the top. Ohtani was the NL's leading vote getter during Phase 1 of the balloting process. Ohtani will be followed by hometown favorite Ronald Acuna Jr. (left field) of the Atlanta Braves and Ketel Marte (second base) of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Dodgers' Freddie Freeman (first base) will bat cleanup, followed by the San Diego Padres' Manny Machado (third base), the Dodgers' Will Smith (catcher), the Chicago Cubs' Kyle Tucker (right field), the New York Mets' Francisco Lindor (shortstop) and the Chicago Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong (center field). The Pittsburgh Pirates' Paul Skenes already has been named the NL's starting pitcher. Torres has been used mostly in the No. 2 spot this season by Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who is also the AL manager, but now moves up a spot. The Detroit Tigers' Riley Greene (left field) is batting second, followed by Aaron Judge (right field) of the Yankees, who led all players after Phase 1 of the voting. MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh (catcher) of the Seattle Mariners is in the cleanup spot, followed by the Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (first base), the Baltimore Orioles' Ryan O'Hearn (DH), the Tampa Bay Rays' Junior Caminero (third base), the Tigers' Javier Baez (center field) and the Athletics' Jacob Wilson (shortstop). The Tigers' Tarik Skubal already has been named the AL's starting pitcher. The American League has won 10 of the last 11 All-Star Games, with the National League winning only in 2023 at Seattle during the stretch. --Field Level Media
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Former Braves players Freddie Freeman and Max Fried are making their return to Atlanta as All-Stars
ATLANTA (AP) — Four years of return visits to Atlanta has prepared Freddie Freeman for another Tuesday night, this time as the starting first baseman for the National League in the All-Star Game. Freeman, now in his fourth season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, played his first 12 seasons in Atlanta. He makes no effort to hide his emotions when he returns and says he won't be surprised if another warm reception from Atlanta fans creates another emotional response. 'Now that I'm here, I think it's going to be special,' Freeman said before Monday night's Home Run Derby. 'For the last four years, every time I come back, the fans, they've given me such great big, standing ovations, so I don't expect anything. 'I'm just happy to be back and play in front of these fans again. So if they give me one, believe me, I'll take it all in. I think you guys know, whatever I feel on the field, I let it come out. So we'll see what happens tomorrow.' Freeman won't be the only former Atlanta star making his return. Max Fried, who leads the American League and is tied for the MLB lead with 11 wins in his first season with the New York Yankees, returns following eight seasons with the Braves. Both players still have homes in Atlanta and get to sleep in their own beds this week. Fried won't be able to participate in the game due to a blister on his left index finger. Fried left Atlanta to sign an eight-year, $218 million contract with the Yankees in December. Freeman said he was 'so happy' Fried landed the big contract. 'I think we all know Max and how wonderful a person he is,' Freeman said. 'And to see him get that contract rightfully, he deserves. He's, you know, a big-game pitcher pitching on the biggest stage. … And it's really hard in your first year of a new contract, new team. … And for him to go out there and have (success), it's awesome. Especially in pinstripes in the Bronx, when there's a lot of pressure on you.' Fried was replaced on the All-Star roster by Yankees teammate Carlos Rodón but is still attending the festivities in Atlanta. The Yankees may start Fried in a three-game series at AL East-leading Toronto on July 21-23 after opening the second half by visiting the Braves. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said it was clear how much it meant to Freeman to return to Atlanta as an All-Star. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. 'It's something that I know once they announced that it was going to be held here, it was marked on his calendar,' Roberts said. 'And then that was kind of his goal, was to get back here and get in front of the Braves' faithful that cheered him on for, what, 11, 12 years. So he's sleeping in his own bed for a couple nights.' Freeman said he has visited with Braves manager Brian Snitker and some former teammates but spent more time relishing his relationship with the Atlanta fans. 'It's special,' he said. 'I think every time I come back, I try to portray what Atlanta means to me. Oh, it's special every time I come back and the receptions they've given me the last four years. So I spent a lot of wonderful years here. … I'm excited to be back.' ___ AP MLB:
