9 hours ago
Recapping all of baseball's weekend run-ins. Plus: Phillies headline upward trends
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What an intense weekend that was, eh? Plus: The Phillies head up our heat check, and Ken has more Mets-Phillies notes. I'm Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal — welcome to the Windup!
What a wild and full weekend it was. Let's try to catch you up on all the spirited action:
Dodgers vs. Padres: Benches cleared. Managers got hilariously chippy. The games were dramatic and chaotic (Jomboy has a very entertaining two-part breakdown). Padres skipper Mike Shildt says he has no regrets about how his team handled it during the win.
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Astros vs. Angels: Hunter Brown hit Zach Neto with a pitch. Neto yelled at Brown; Brown yelled right back. Benches cleared.
Pirates vs. Tigers fans: Dennis Santana took a swing at a fan. Tommy Pham had other fans thrown out of the game. Toss in some rain delays, a doubleheader and a manager ejection, and it was quite a day.
Rafael Devers vs. Red Sox: This one didn't get heated, though Devers did homer against his old team. In interviews, he demurred, insisting that the Red Sox were in his past, which felt chilly. The Giants took two of three over the weekend.
Jazz Chisholm vs. Orioles catchers: Neither collision seemed malicious, but in the first one — which injured O's catcher Maverick Handley — Chisholm had already lost a shoe. In the second, he had to be reminded to touch home plate after Gary Sánchez dropped the ball.
Cal Raleigh vs. baseballs: The Mariners catcher has 31 home runs now, breaking records and putting him on pace for 66 this year.
Elly De La Cruz vs. his lunch: De La Cruz vomited on the field on Saturday, but stayed in the game and later hit a mammoth go-ahead homer.
Umpires vs. Coastal Carolina: In the latest edition of 'Are Umpires OK?' … In the first inning of a College World Series elimination game, home plate umpire Angel Campos escalated an argument, then ejected Coastal Carolina head coach Kevin Schnall. First-base coach Matt Schilling was also tossed. LSU, by the way, won the game, securing its eighth national championship. Maybe Campos would benefit from reading this interview with former MLB ump Dale Scott?
Jacob Misiorowski vs. all hitters: In Misiorowski's debut, the 23-year-old Brewers starter pitched five no-hit innings before leg cramping ended his night. In his second start, he took a perfect game into the seventh inning. That 11-inning no-hit stretch set the modern record (since 1900) for most no-hit innings by a starting pitcher to begin his career. Meanwhile, in New York, Clarke Schmidt pitched seven no-hit innings on Saturday before being removed for a reliever.
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Dodgers vs. secret police: On the day the team was scheduled to announce plans to donate $1 million to families impacted by immigrant raids, masked federal immigration agents were denied entry to stadium parking lots by team officials. The team said it was ICE, but the organization denied it, saying it was Customs and Border Patrol. The confusion is understandable — both are Department of Homeland Security agencies whose agents are sometimes masked and unmarked. On Saturday, protesters convened at Dodger Stadium, calling on the team to do more to oppose the mass deportations.
There was at least one story of reconciliation: Sammy Sosa returned to Wrigley Field for the first time in 21 years.
Leftover notes from Saturday's Mets-Phillies broadcast on Fox:
Juan Soto's speed: Soto has stolen eight bases in nine attempts; his career high is 12. Soto said Mets first-base coach Antoan Richardson makes base stealing fun for him, providing him with information no one else in the league has. Richardson helps Soto come up with a game plan based on pitchers' and catchers' tendencies, and encourages him to use his instincts and athleticism. Soto's baseball IQ, Richardson said, is 'really, really high.' The coach added, 'When we talk the game and I see him execute the information that's given to him, it's as good as anybody else I've been around.'
Frankie Montas' return: Out all season with a right lat strain, Montas is expected to make his Mets debut tomorrow against the Braves. Montas had a 13.19 ERA in four rehab starts at Triple A and is not fully built up, but the Mets believe they've identified a mechanical flaw that is holding him back. Montas corrects the problem in his bullpen sessions, but has been reverting to his bad habits during games. His most recent outing was better, but he is unlikely to give the Mets length in his first several starts.
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Trea Turner's defense: Turner has worked hard to improve his defense. It's showing in his metrics, and he could sense that he is making plays he did not in the past. Turner said the biggest difference is that he has slowed down — a difficult thing to do, when a shortstop's instinct is to go for every ball hit in his direction. He is taking a split-second longer to react to the ball and putting himself in better position to catch it. By doing that, he's in better position to throw. His exchange needs to be quicker. But he's reading hops better.
J.T. Realmuto's bounce-back: He has rebounded from a difficult first two months with a strong offensive month of June. Realmuto made an adjustment in his load that is enabling him to drive the ball to right-center, which is what he does best. A potential free agent who will be 35 next season, Realmuto isn't sure how long he wants to play. But he said his body feels better than it did the second half of last season, when he was still dealing with inflammation in his right knee coming off surgery. He said he'll know when it's time to retire, and his family will have a say. He and his wife Alexis have four children, ages 2 to 6.
Speaking of those two teams, folks: The NL East has a new leader. After last night's 7-1 win over the Mets, the Phillies sit atop the division (again). They were last tied for the division lead on May 31, but fell to five games back on June 11. But as the Mets went into a recent seven-game losing streak, Philly got hot.
The Phillies actually re-took first place Friday with a win in the series opener, but the Mets evened things up Saturday, snapping that losing streak. The Phillies are a league-best 8-2 in their last 10 games, while the Mets are 2-8. Making matters worse, they just demoted catcher Francisco Alvarez to the minors.
Other upward trends: The Astros, Rays, Red Sox, Braves, Brewers and Dodgers are all 7-3 in their last 10 games. For the Braves, the hot streak — even after sweeping the Mets — only pulls them to within 11 games in the division. Meanwhile, the Brewers now trail the Cubs by just 3 1/2 games in the NL Central, the Astros have extended their lead in the AL West to five games over the Mariners and the Dodgers are 3 1/2 games up on the Giants.
In the AL East, the surges by the Rays and Red Sox have come at a good time, because …
Other downward trends: The Yankees — even on a two-game winning streak — are still 3-7 in their last 10 games, diminishing their division lead to just 2 1/2 games over the Rays, with the Blue Jays (4) and Red Sox (6) in pursuit. Of note: Sox have lost their last two games, and recently sent infielder Kristian Campbell to the minors and pitcher Hunter Dobbins to the IL. So maybe the Red Sox are on both lists, here.
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Other teams are in more dire stretches. The Twins are 6-14 in the month of June, 1-9 in their last 10, and now sit 11 games back in the AL Central. The struggles of the White Sox and Nats (each 2-8 in their last 10) — as well as Pittsburgh (3-7) — are no surprise, but here's something that is: The Rockies aren't on this list. They're 5-5 in their last 10 games.
Chris Sale is on the IL after fracturing his ribcage while making a diving play. Impressive: He stayed in the game and struck out Pete Alonso after the injury.
Angels manager Ron Washington has taken a leave of absence to deal with an undisclosed health matter.
Jim Bowden suggests one impactful trade for each wild-card contender.
Giants reliever Sean Hjelle is still active, but the team acknowledged it is aware of recent allegations of abuse and has forwarded the matter to MLB.
Most-clicked in our last newsletter: Cody Stavenhagen's story on the Tigers pitching prospect who throws an 88 mph knuckleball.
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