A lot of baseball happens in one weekend. This time, the Yankees’ superstars crushed it in the Bay, the Brewers tightened their grip on the NL Central, the White Sox had fighting words off the field (but not much on the diamond), and the Mariners seemed serious about fixing their problems. batting.
Here’s what you need to know from the weekend in MLB.
No one in MLB has more wins than the New York Yankees (42). And that’s because the Bronx Bombers arrived in San Francisco and intimidated the Giants behind dominant performances from their stars. It was the baseball equivalent of a relentless noogie.
The series was defined by the storyline of Bay Area boy Aaron Judge playing his first career games at Oracle Park after his dramatic free agent frenzy broke the hearts of Giants fans (remember Arson Judge?). The big man stole the show in the opener, hitting a pair of big flies to help the Yankees to a 6-2 victory. But the next day was truly unforgettable.
In the first round of Saturday’s contest, Judge destroyed a Logan Webb changeup for a 464-foot supersonic monster in another Yanks victory.
San Francisco entered the ninth inning on Sunday with a two-run lead, with a chance to salvage the final. Crucially, though, the Yankees employ Juan Soto. After an Anthony Volpe triple cut the lead to one, Soto hit a Camilo Doval heater into the right field seats for a one-run lead. It was a Murphy’s Law weekend for the Giants and their fans.
The Yanks return home after a very successful nine-game trip to California – they went 7-2 – for a series against, who else, their all-time punching bag: the Minnesota Twins.
Brewers take advantage of Cubs slump with sweep of woeful White Sox
Milwaukee took care of business against the woeful White Sox in one of three weekend sweeps. After a 23-hit barrage in the opener, the Brewers outscored the White Sox with solid pitching in the final two games from rookie Robert Gasser, ace Freddy Peralta and a locked-down bullpen. That makes five straight wins for Milwaukee, which, along with the Cubs’ recent slump, has given the Brew Crew a strong seven-game lead atop the NL Central.
Rhys Hoskins’ return from injury a few days ago will only help the Brewers’ offense as Milwaukee heads to Philadelphia this week for a brilliant showdown between two of the circuit’s best clubs.
The White Sox, on the other hand, are a catastrophe coated in disaster, wrapped in calamity and fried in disaster. They have now lost 11 straight baseball games and are the worst team in MLB by a significant margin. At 15-45, Chicago is on pace to finish the season with 40 wins, which would tie them with the 1962 New York Mets for the lowest winning percentage in the MLB expansion era.
Things got particularly weird on Sunday after fearless veteran outfielder Tommy Pham tried to tackle Brewers catcher William Contreras following a play at the plate. It was relatively lighthearted on the diamond, but the 36-year-old Pham — who is almost certainly trade bait for the Sox — took it to another level during his postgame media availability, referencing his off-season fighting regimen.
The 2024 White Sox are a singular experience.
“There’s a reason I fight all kinds of fights in the off-season. Because I’m prepared to fuck someone” -Tommy Pham pic.twitter.com/REBPGPj5BX
-CHGO White Sox (@CHGO_WhiteSox) June 2, 2024
Expect Orioles to be active on the trade market after losing 2 huge arms
Baltimore general manager Mike Elias dropped a bombshell of bad news on Friday afternoon, announcing that two of his team’s pitchers, John Means and Tyler Wells, would undergo surgery for torn UCLs. For Means, who underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2022 but has struggled to return to play, it’s a particularly cruel blow. Wells had started in Baltimore early but would likely move to the bullpen by the end of the summer. The double whammy increases the likelihood that Elias will act aggressively at the trade deadline.
In the short term, Baltimore should move forward with the 13 best pitchers already in the organization. That task started well on Friday against Tampa, when 36-year-old journeyman Albert Suárez delivered five strong frames in the win. On Saturday, the Birds hit four long balls in a 9-5 win before the Rays came back with a comeback victory on Sunday.
It’s not surprising that Baltimore can actually hit, but how the Orioles assemble their solid, non-dominant pitching staff in the face of these recent injuries is crucial to their long-term success. It’s good to see Craig Kimbrel roaring again; the future Hall of Famer steadied the ship with eight scoreless games after a very difficult start to May.
Will firing the Mariners’ hitting coordinator change things?
It was a strange weekend in the Pacific Northwest.
Seattle swept the hapless Angels because, surprise, surprise, the Mariners’ starting pitchers didn’t allow a single earned run in 20 innings. That’s how the Mariners do things. This spin is absolutely dynamite, potentially historically good when everything is done and dusted.
Bryan Woo, still on a strict pitching limit, was eliminated on Friday. Bryce Miller, the gangly, flame-throwing Texan, hit nine Halos on Saturday. Luis Castillo, the old reliable, scored seven goals on Sunday. Boring stuff for the M’s.
As good as Seattle has been, they have been horrible in the batter’s box. The horrendous quality of the AL West covered up the Mariners’ offensive ineptitude, but man oh man, this team is hard to watch hit. The Mariners’ struggles culminated in the firing of the team’s “offensive coordinator,” Brant Brown, on Friday afternoon.
Brown was signed in the offseason to help the Mariners move away from elimination and increase contact. But in two months the club is hitting .223, which is not something good teams do.
It’s rare to see a first-year coach get the upper hand after just two months, so keep an eye on Seattle’s offense to see if there’s a significant change.
Tigers split with Red Sox, send No. 1 draft pick Spencer Torkelson to Triple-A
Detroit has been treading water lately in a surprisingly competitive AL Central. Kansas City and Cleveland have been spectacular, while Minnesota’s rollercoaster season is back in full swing. But the Tigers, now one game under .500 after a four-game split at Fenway, have been the epitome of meh. It’s not good, not horrible, just mediocre.
And while there were some definite bright spots — Jack Flaherty was again sensational and leader Matt Vierling is on fire — Detroit made a significant transaction on Sunday that showed things are far from rosy in the Motor City. Spencer Torkelson, the first overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft and the supposed savior of Tiger baseball, was optioned to Triple-A after starting the season with an ugly .597 OPS.
Detroit’s rebuild, like any rebuild, depends on the stars blossoming. Their only obvious success in that regard was the rise of starting pitcher Tarik Skubal.
Torkelson should be that in Detroit’s lineup and his demotion to the minor leagues is an admission that the great first baseman needs a reset. It’s hard to be the face of a franchise in Toledo.
