After a 5 run first inning, Kansas City had a multi-run lead for over half the game. The Marlins kept chipping away inning after inning to eventually win 9-6.
It was a very exciting beginning to the game tonight, though it was both the good and bad type of exciting. Noah Cameron had a breaking ball hit the back foot of the leadoff hitter to start the game. Then Otto Lopez hit a hard groundball down the third baseline and into the corner that John Rave misplayed into a triple and an RBI. Kyle Stowers was up third and the infield was in. He immediately hit a little single up the middle to make the game 2-0. Cameron started to settle in after that and got out of the first. In the bottom half the Royals decided to show Miami that anything they could do KC could do better. Carter Jensen led the game off by pulling a solo home run and cutting the lead in half. Bobby Witt managed to reach base with a single before Jac Caglianone mirrored the triple in the top half of the inning only down the first baseline and into the corner for a double. It was enough with Witt's speed to tie the game up 2-2. That was not enough for Salvador Perez however, so he also turned on a ball and hit his 18th bomb of the year to score two and give the Royals the lead. After which Vinnie Pasquantino flew out, Nick Loftin worked a walk, and the newly returned Michael Massey drove a double to right center for a 5-2 lead.
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That was a long inning for Eury Perez ending with 34 pitches thrown, and the Marlins even got the bullpen moving a bit before the end of the initial frame. It was a great start after the last two games where the Royals got blown out, but the crazy first was a long way from the end of this one. Cameron, after those first three batters, took down the next 8 in a row before Miami got to him in the 3rd. With two outs and no one on, Stowers got his second RBI knock of the night by hitting a solo homer to left center. It looked like he may have struck out on a check swing the pitch before the home run, but it was called no swing on appeal.
In the bottom of the 4th, with Eury still hanging in there, Carter Jensen tagged another mistake and lined it 110mph into the Royals bullpen. It was his second multi-homer game of his career and brought him to and then above the 20 homer mark. Not bad for your first full season in the bigs. Royals lead 6-3.

#lead #homer

TORONTO (AP) — Jac Caglianone had a homer among his career-best five hits and finished with a career-high six RBIs, Noah Cameron pitched six strong innings and the Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays 13-2 on Thursday night.
The Blue Jays are 3 1/2 games behind Cleveland in the race for the final American League wild-card spot.
The Royals took two of three in the series, have won 10 of their last 11 games and four consecutive series, including two straight on the road after starting the season 3-15-2 in road sets. Kansas City, which went in tied with the Giants for the worst road record in MLB, is 24-45 away from home this season.
Cameron (9-8) allowed six hit and two runs and struck out three.
Carter Jensen hit a 421-foot homer off Spencer Arrighetti to lead off the game, and Vinnie Pasquantino hit a two-run homer that capped Kansas City's six-run sixth and made it 10-0.

#kansas #homer

The Kansas City Royals' nine-game winning streak came to an end with a 3-0 loss to Toronto, but Jacob Milham and Jeremy Greco frame it as a strong stretch rather than any kind of collapse. Bobby Witt Jr. stays in the AL MVP conversation, though the offensive edge right now still points toward Yordan Alvarez. Jac Caglianone's struggles since returning from injury spark a broader conversation about rhythm and confidence, and how much weight a rough game or two should actually carry.
The roster continues to churn. Michael Massey has gone on the seven-day concussion list after a scary-looking play, and Mason Black has been optioned to Triple-A Omaha. Josh Rojas is back for his third stint with Kansas City, and Anthony Gose has been selected after a strong stretch in Omaha and a long MLB career as both an outfielder and a pitcher. Beck Way's returned rehab ***** ignment reignites a heated critique of how the organization has handled player health this year, and Nick Mears' thoracic outlet syndrome diagnosis becomes another example of injuries taking far too long to sort out. The conversation turns pointed when Craig Kimbrel and the broader old-versus-young roster philosophy come up, with Jacob and Jeremy questioning whether Kansas City is leaning too hard on veterans who have no real bearing on the team's future.
The back half of the episode is dedicated to MLB's newly floated CBA proposal, and it is a thorough breakdown. A proposed $265 million cap on free-agent contracts, changes to Rule 5 draft eligibility, and earlier arbitration and free agency timing are all covered in detail. Jacob and Jeremy are particularly critical of the calendar-based offseason plan, arguing that manufactured transaction windows and a winter meetings quiet period would depress salaries and make the sport less interesting rather than more efficient. The very real possibility of a lockout when the current CBA expires in December 2026 closes out the discussion, along with a personal note on how a work stoppage would affect the people who depend on baseball's offseason calendar to network and find jobs in the industry.
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Need your Royals fix? Head to royalsreview.com for news, ***** ysis, and to engage with Royals fans around the world! Follow us online:

#jacob #omaha #game #strong

The Athletics struck first, a Jeff McNeil homer on the first pitch of the game, to go ahead against Michael Wacha right at the start. But the Royals roared back, scoring in five separate innings, to win the game 9-5 in Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia's return from the injured list.
The two returning players combined to go 3-9, but that was mostly Garcia. In the first inning, Bobby Witt Jr and Jac Caglianone got on base with a walk and a single then advanced on a wild pitch. In his first plate appearance back, Garcia singled to right field to score Witt. On the throw home, Garcia went to second. Vinnie then popped a weak flyout in his first plate appearance back, but Salvador Perez picked him up. With two outs and runners going on contact, Salvador Perez knocked in both runners with a trademark "reach a down-and-outside breaking pitch that was obviously a ball but get a hit anyway" to make it 3-1.
For once, that was a lead the Royals would NOT give away, as the Royals kept piling on more runs.
In the second inning, after a Kyle Isbel walk, Carter Jensen took a pitch well above the strike nearly to the right field bullpen. Unfortunately, Lawrence Butler caught it standing just in front of the fence. But then Bobby Witt Jr got Athletics starter, and former Royal, Mason Barnett – Witt lasered a line drive homer to left-center field to score two more runs to make it 5-1 (Isbel had reached earlier on a walk).
In a long third inning with some pitchcom delays, the bottom of the lineup strung together a single, a walk, and another single to score a run, which knocked out Barnett with the score 6-1 Royals.

#witt #first #inning

Michael Massey and Jac Caglianone powered the lineup last night. They did it again tonight, with the only two hits KC had – both singles – in a 1-0 loss to the Angels.
When your team falls by a score of 1-0, it would be easy to place the blame on the offense. But this was really Reid Detmers flashing some of that brilliance I wrote about before the game. When he's on, there's not a whole heck of a lot you can do, and baby, he was on tonight. Detmers struck out 11 over 8 scoreless innings and required only 92 pitches to do it. He didn't walk anyone, and he allowed those two singles mentioned at the top. That's it. The Angels asked closer Ben Joyce to finish it off and, wielding a fastball that easily tops 104 MPH, he did just that with a pair of strikeouts.
Randy Dobnak, known more for his sweeper, threw the Angels a healthy dose of changeups in his 5.2 innings tonight. He figured out early that the sweeper wasn't working and the Angels could do nothing to the changeup, so he threw it more than any of his other pitches. Ultimately, he struck out six while allowing 4 hits and 2 walks in 5.2 scoreless innings. He had some good defense behind him, but Dobnak Time continues unabated as we inch ever closer to the end of the season.
Craig Kimbrel was tasked with escaping the sixth inning with two runners on and managed to do so when a deep flyball from Josh Lowe died just in front of the track, landing in Starling Marte's glove. Kimbrel relied again on the marine layer as well as a fantastic play from Tyler Tolbert in the seventh.
Nate Pearson got the eighth and, unfortunately, his control issues from most of his career popped up again when he allowed a leadoff walk to Wade Meckler. Jose Siri pinch-ran for him and promptly stole second. Pearson got Mike Trout to pop out, but a groundball at 102.6 off the bat of Nolan Schanuel managed to deflect off of Caglianone's glove into right, and that was all she wrote. Pearson recovered to get a strikeout and a groundout, but the winning run was already in.

#tonight #detmers

The Kansas City Royals lost, 5-4, to the Los Angeles Dodgers via a walkoff single in the 10th inning. Royals starter Michael Wacha pitched well into the seventh inning and the offense rallied in the eighth inning, but the bullpen did what it does best—give up runs and lose baseball games.
Most of this game was rather uneventful because Wacha and Blake Snell were cruising for most of it. Mookie Betts smacked a solo home run in the second inning and Salvador Perez lifted a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, but most of the action happened in the final four frames. In the seventh inning, Alex Call doubled home Mookie Betts to give the Dodgers the lead, and then Teoscar Hernandez doubled to score Call and push the lead to two.
Alex for the lead! pic.twitter.com/4NjhGQO9P3
Kansas City battled back the very next frame. Against reliever Evan Phillips, Nick Loftin walked and advanced to third on a Bobby WItt Jr. single. Jac Caglianone and Salvy hit consecutive singles to tie the game.
Rallying back in the 8th! pic.twitter.com/80gMSxbqZn

#lead #betts

During the top of the third inning of Monday night's Royals vs. Dodgers game, the SportsNet LA broadcast flashed a leaderboard of the lowest starter ERA since the start of the 2023 season. Of the five names listed, four are currently employed by the back-to-back champs: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell and the star of this particular evening, Tarik Skubal. Some understandably pessimistic fans in western Pennsylvania surely harbor fear that the fifth figure, Paul Skenes, will end up in Dodger blue one day as well.
But if that list was a reminder — as if anybody needed another — of the preposterous talent gilding L.A.'s star-studded roster, Skubal's ordinary performance on Monday in his first home start as a Dodger emphasized that nothing in this wonky sport is preordained.
Pitching in front of a revved up, eager audience, Skubal was downright mediocre in L.A.'s 6-5 victory over the Royals.
His fastball command was, by his cathedral standards, scattershot. He struggled to locate the four-seamer consistently at and just above the top rail, right where the world-beating southpaw makes his bread. Skubal had similar issues with his sinker, a handful of which ended up catching far too much plate, including one that resulted in a first-inning RBI single from Royals first baseman Jac Caglianone.
But the hammer blow of Skubal's night came in the third, when he gifted Caglianone a hanging, piped 0-2 slider. The scalding-hot lefty didn't miss the miss, sizzling the breaker 110.8 mph into the right-field seats to give Kansas City an early 3-0 lead.

#four

During the top of the third inning of Monday night's Royals vs. Dodgers game, the SportsNet LA broadcast flashed a leaderboard of the lowest starter ERA since the start of the 2023 season. Of the five names listed, four are currently employed by the back-to-back champs: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell and the star of this particular evening, Tarik Skubal. Some understandably pessimistic fans in western Pennsylvania surely harbor fear that the fifth figure, Paul Skenes, will end up in Dodger blue one day as well.
But if that list was a reminder — as if anybody needed another — of the preposterous talent gilding L.A.'s star-studded roster, Skubal's ordinary performance on Monday in his first home start as a Dodger emphasized that nothing in this wonky sport is preordained.
Pitching in front of a revved up, eager audience, Skubal was downright mediocre in L.A.'s 6-5 victory over the Royals.
His fastball command was, by his cathedral standards, scattershot. He struggled to locate the four-seamer consistently at and just above the top rail, right where the world-beating southpaw makes his bread. Skubal had similar issues with his sinker, a handful of which ended up catching far too much plate, including one that resulted in a first-inning RBI single from Royals first baseman Jac Caglianone.
But the hammer blow of Skubal's night came in the third, when he gifted Caglianone a hanging, piped 0-2 slider. The scalding-hot lefty didn't miss the miss, sizzling the breaker 110.8 mph into the right-field seats to give Kansas City an early 3-0 lead.

#Royals #caglianone #inning #start

The wins are rare and not so easily attained for the Dodgers at this specific moment in the season. And hosting the Royals, it took all that this team had to outlast the opposition in a 6-5 victory in a back-and-forth matchup with multiple lead changes, ultimately decided on a Freddie Freeman RBI single.
Allowing a run in the first, Tarik Skubal didn't deliver a lights-out performance, but how a pitcher handles outings with some form of adversity can often be the true measure of him. The Royals were relatively lucky to get on the board early on with a softly hit single from Nick Loftin that found the right spot—followed by an RBI knock from Jac Caglianone on a groundball that should've found a Dodger glove but didn't, as Miguel Rojas and Mookie Betts didn't react well enough to make a play. Those two singles were enough for the run because once Bobby Witt Jr. replaced Loftin on the basepaths after a forceout, he showed off his speed by swiftly stealing second, his AL-leading 32nd SB.
It would not be the only time Caglianone would hurt Skubal, as a couple of innings later, he would hit a two-run shot on a hanging slider to hand the Royals a 3-0 lead. What was particular about that at-bat was the unpredictable attack plan of Skubal versus Caglianone, with the slider being the fifth different pitch he threw to Caglianone. The problem is that unpredictability can only do so much if hangers are coming to the plate.
Laboring a bit more than he is used to per inning, Skubal established a very high pitch count in the first few frames, allowing him to just complete five, not before getting the final laugh on Caglianone, though. Caglianone came up to the plate with two on and two out in the fifth with the chance to do the most damage in this one. Skubal gave him a recipe of nothing but heaters that laid the groundwork for a strike three swinging on a changeup down and in, a dangerous pitch to throw to the tall lefty, but one that worked out.
Chasing the game from the start, the Dodgers didn't spend a lot of time trailing by those three runs, answering the Royals' two-run third with two of their own in the bottom of the frame. The lefties provided the big hits against Noah Cameron as a Shohei Ohtani RBI double was followed by a Freddie Freeman single to make it 3-2.

#freddie

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tarik Skubal yielded three runs over five innings in his home debut for the Dodgers, and Shohei Ohtani scored the go-ahead run in the seventh while Los Angeles rallied for only its second victory in 10 games, 6-5 over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.
Skubal allowed four hits and struck out six in the back-to-back Cy Young Award winner's second start for his new team since arriving from Detroit in the majors' biggest deadline trade. Jac Caglianone homered and drove in all three runs off the Dodgers' vaunted new left-hander, who left trailing 3-2.
Max Muncy hit a three-run double in the sixth on his bobblehead night for the Dodgers, but Kyle Isbel responded with a tying two-run homer in the seventh for Kansas City.
Ohtani then singled and stole his first base since May 16 before he scored on Freddie Freeman's single, putting Los Angeles ahead to stay in this back-and-forth homestand opener.
Ohtani also had an early RBI double for the Dodgers, who improved to 8-12 since July 19.

#Dodgers #ohtani #three #back

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tarik Skubal yielded three runs on four hits while pitching five innings in the back-to-back Cy Young Award winner's home debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers against Kansas City on Monday night.
Skubal left with the Dodgers trailing 3-2 after a decent, if unspectacular, first start in the home whites. Although he struck out six, Skubal didn't live up to manager Dave Roberts' pregame prediction of "an electric night" for the vaunted left-hander and his slumping club, which lost eight of nine heading into this homestand.
Skubal needed 95 pitches and managed just one 1-2-3 inning against the Royals, with Jac Caglianone tagging him for a two-run homer and an RBI single. Skubal also issued two walks and hit a batter in just his second career appearance at Dodger Stadium, taking the mound nine days after the defending champions acquired him from Detroit in the biggest trade of the deadline.
Los Angeles gave up three promising prospects for what might be a short-term rental of the 29-year-old Skubal, who will reap the benefits of unrestricted free agency this winter.
Skubal made his Dodgers debut at Wrigley Field last Tuesday, pitching six innings of two-run, four-hit ball with six strikeouts in his new team's 5-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

#Dodgers

Tarik Skubal's home debut at Dodger Stadium didn't get off to a great start on Monday night.
Skubal made his second start for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday since he landed with the organization in a blockbuster deal with the Detroit Tigers ahead of the deadline.
Skubal gave up four hits and three earned runs, while striking out six, in five innings and 95 pitches on Monday night. Half of those hits were from Kansas City star Jac Caglianone, who helped power the Royals to an early lead in the outing.
The Royals wasted no time against Skubal, either. He gave up a single just four pitches into the contest, which resulted in a run later in the inning after Caglianone hit one of his own.
That put the Royals up instantly, only 13 pitches into Skubal's outing.

#skubal #Royals #gave #hits

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Royals made Clay Holmes' debut with the Chicago Cubs a forgettable affair Saturday night, hammering him for four runs in his return from the injured list, while Jac Calgianone helped to power Kansas City to a 6-3 victory.
Caglianone hit two homers, two doubles and finished with four RBIs for the Royals. Josh Rojas also had a pair of RBIs.
Seth Lugo (5-7) out-shined Holmes with his eight-pitch repertoire, which included a looping 65 mph curve that fanned MVP candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong. Lugo wound up allowing three runs on five hits and a walk over six innings, striking out five.
Nate Pearson handled the ninth against his former team to pick up his second save of the season.
Holmes (4-5) last started a big league game May 15, when he was still with the Mets, and a 111 mph liner from the Yankees' Spencer Jones fractured his right fibula. He was in the midst of making rehab starts when the Cubs traded for him earlier this week.

#kansas #Royals #four #five

Kyle Schwarber has hit 33 home runs this year, putting him in a four-way tie for second.
The dog days of the summer have almost entirely eaten away at the profits for the MLB best home run bets this season. Sadly, Yordan Alvarez and Jac Caglianone didn't homer on Wednesday, running the cold streak to 12 straight picks. The season's record for home run bets now sits at 18-71, with three no-bets.
Long-shot bets are a blast when cashing them, but they're also ******* e to extended droughts, and the MLB best home run bets are mired in a nasty one. Anyone who has bet $100 on each of the suggested home run props at the listed odds has profited only $61, an unsatisfying number but still better than being in the red.
Two left-handed slugging teammates in their homer-friendly ballpark today have a drool-inducing matchup. Both players have an excellent opportunity to reach the seats, making their home run bets the best on Saturday's MLB slate.
Over 0.5 Home Runs (+230) at FanDuel Sportsbook

#schwarber

After a one-hour rain delay, the Royals were quickly beaten by the Colorado Rockies on Friday night, 3-1.
Michael Wacha surrendered a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the first, which put the Royals down 1-0.
The Royals were completely stumped against Tomoyuki Sugano, the ****** anese righty was efficient and effective, going 6.2 innings, allowing 5 hits, 1 run, striking out 2. Sugano induced tons of weak contact, outside a very few select at bats. He finished his night at just 83 pitches.
The Rockies scored the two game deciding runs in the bottom of the 4th inning, when with two outs and a runner on second, a routine grounder to second caused the Royals trouble. The ball was hit right to Massey for the third out, but Jac Caglianone, who was playing first, made a move to field the ball, he was out of position to cover the base, so Wacha sprinted over to get there, unfortunately, Massey's throw didn't connect, it was an error, and 2-0 Rockies. The next batter, Brenton Doyle doubled in another run making it 3-0.
The Royals got their only run of the night on Carter Jensen's 15th home run of the season. It was a towering shot into the right field seats. With two outs in the 6th inning, Lane Thomas followed up with a single, but Cags lined out to center, ending the threat.

#Royals #first #inning

It's coming down to the stretch run of the fantasy baseball season, and this is the time of year where fantasy owners try to figure out where they could find the value to push them to the top. There are always plenty of up-and-coming prospects and other players getting opportunities available on the waiver wire. Here are five players who could be available.
Bradley is an ideal pickup for fantasy managers needing strikeouts. A high-upside option, he boasts a pitch mix that consistently overwhelms hitters and keeps them off balance. He has evolved from a volatile prospect into a dependable, strikeout-heavy fantasy starter. His four-seam fastball, combined with a splitter and cutter, gives him tremendous winning upside, highlighted by double-digit K performance in two of his last five starts. Bradley features a 27.2% strikeout rate and solid team win support rarely remain on the wire. While he carries occasional control issues, his swing-and-miss ceiling makes him well worth the add.
Managers often drop talented young players too quickly when immediate production lags, but Crews' toolset is translating rapidly to the Major League level. Far from a finished product, he offers five-category upside with speed that provides a reliable fantasy floor. With seven home runs already on the season, he has shown that his power will continue to mature.
Following a minor league stint earlier this year to tweak his mechanics, Crews returned to Washington's outfield with a refined approach. Now locked into everyday reps, he delivers steady volume and key category support. If you can absorb a minor hit to batting average in exchange for elite power/speed upside, Crews is a strong stash or high-end third outfielder option.
Caglianone brings massive power upside with a strong path toward everyday playing time. While fantasy owners might hesitate over strikeout concerns, his elite raw power yields legitimate 30+ HR potential. Even if his batting average takes a hit, his underlying metrics demonstrate elite output: a 55% hard-hit rate, a 93 mph average exit velocity, and a 15% barrel rate, which places him in the 90th percentile across all three categories. Absorbing his swing-and-miss rate (28% K rate) is a worthwhile trade-off for this degree of power. If available, grab him immediately for home run value.

#rate

Jac Caglianone hit eight home runs at the 2026 Home Run Derby in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Monday night.
In the new format, Caglianone was not among the top four who advanced to the second round. Eight homers may sound like a small number for a Home Run Derby, but it's as many as hometown favorite Bryce Harper hit and one less than Chicago White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami.
Most importantly, Caglianone did not have the lowest total among participants. That honor goes to New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice, who had seven. Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber was the last man to qualify for the bracket stage with 10 home runs, meaning Caglianone needed at least two more to get in.
Despite coming up short, Caglianone showed off his premium power and should be back in the Derby at some point in his career. He was tied for the hardest-hit ball of the night at 116 mph; Junior Caminero did it twice in the first round. Caglianone's farthest ball hit went 477 feet, which tied for 10th on the night; however, seven of the ******* hit farther came from Caminero (3) and Wilson Contreras (2).
Caglianone has emerged as a potential star for the Kansas City Royals in his first full season with the team. He is slashing .260/.321/.461 with a team-leading 15 home runs. The future is bright for Florida's all-time leader in home runs, and the Gators have a history of producing Home Run Derby champions in two-time winner Pete Alonso.

The 2026 Home Run Derby will take place tonight in Philadelphia. It starts at 7pm US Central time and will be shown on Netflix. For an explainer of everything you need to know about the Derby, you can read Kris Willis at the mothership here.
A few key things to note:
Jac Caglianone is participating. The large man can whack the ball really hard, so I'm hoping he can unleash his full power tonight. Would be super fun to see batting practice ******* go out ball after ball after ball. He's hit 15 home runs so far this season has a .201 ISO for power. He went on a huge hot streak in June and is capable of beating anyone in the field.
The format is changing – the timer is gone. It will be swing-based, with 20 swings allotted in round 1, 15 in round 2, and 15 in round 3. I guess the hope is that players's stamina will be pressured less.
The top 4 guys in round 1 will advance to round 2. Then we'll get two winners from round 2 to advance to the finals.

Major League Baseball's All Star celebration technically got underway yesterday even though they basically buried the Futures Game from existence by playing it concurrent with actual MLB games – Alfredo Duno started, caught 4.0 IP, and hit a 400 foot fly ball to CF that was caught.
Tonight, though, comes the Home Run Derby, and MLB isn't about to take that lightly in the marketing department. In fact, they've gone out of their way to hype the revamped format, and this edition will be carried by Netflix and Netflix only.
The event gets underway at 8 PM ET. It'll feature Red Sox slugger Willson Contreras, Jordan Walker of St. Louis, Jac Caglianone from Kansas City, Munetaka Murakami of the Pale Hose, Yankees slugger Ben Rice, Tampa's Junior Caminero, and a pair of Philadelphia homers in Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper (the event and All Star Game are in Philadelphia, if you weren't aware).
A fun twist this year is that there's no longer a timed clock against which the sluggers must face – this time, they'll get a finite number of swings and the most dingers launched on those swings takes the cake. Longest homer will be the tiebreaker should there be a tie in Round 1, while a three-swing swing-off will break any ties in subsequent rounds.
We'll see if it makes the event more watchable!

The MLB Home Run Derby lineup is set and the St. Louis Cardinals finally have a representative again. Jordan Walker will be competing with 7 others in the competition that will be streaming live on Netflix starting at 6pm central time. Here's the lineup:
Kyle Schwarber (Phillies)
Ben Rice (Yankees)
Junior Caminero (Rays)
Jordan Walker (Cardinals)
Willson Contreras (Red Sox)
Bryce Harper (Phillies)
Munetaka Murakami (White Sox)
Jac Caglianone (Royals)
According to MLB.com, here are the rules for this year's competition:
It is no longer time based
Each competitor gets 20 swings in the 1st round, 15 in the 2nd round and 15 in the 3rd round

The 2026 MLB Home Run Derby is tonight, July 13, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, the home of the Phillies.
What time is the Home Run Derby on Monday? What channel is the Home Run Derby on today?
How can you stream the Home Run Derby tonight?
Check out the TV and streaming information for the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby, which is part of the 2026 MLB All-Star Game festivities.
The Home Run Derby field consists of Junior Caminero (Tampa Bay Rays 3B), Ben Rice (New York Yankees 1B), Jac Caglianone (Kansas City Royals 1B), Willson Contreras (Boston Red Sox 1B), Jordan Walker (St. Louis Cardinals RF), Bryce Harper (Philadelphia Phillies 1B), Kyle Schwarber (Philadelphia Phillies DH) and Munetaka Murakami (Chicago White Sox 1B).

Editor's note: Follow the 2026 Home Run Derby live
Eight players are set to face off in the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby at 8 p.m. ET on July 13 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
Two Phillies players will participate: Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. The other six are Jac Caglianone of the Kansas City Royals, Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays, Willson Contreras of the Boston Red Sox, Ben Rice of the New York Yankees, Jordan Walker of the St. Louis Cardinals and Munetaka Murakami of the Chicago White Sox.
Unsurprisingly, that list includes some of baseball's best home run hitters this season. Schwarber leads MLB with 32 homers, while Rice is third with 29 and Caminero is tied for fourth with 28. Four of the remaining five have gone long at least 20 times.
Track all the regular-season home runs belted so far in 2026 by the eight players below. This graphic has their homers laid over Citizens Bank Park, providing a glimpse of how they might fare in the Derby itself:

What channel is the Home Run Derby on tonight? Time, schedule, live streams and more to watch 2026 MLB contest originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
It's officially time for 2026 MLB All-Star week, and a beloved event will be returning Monday — the Home Run Derby.
While the premise remains the same, this year's Derby will have a brand-new format, which is expected to benefit both participants and fans. Instead of competing within a time limit, sluggers will be allotted a set number of swings per round, with no bracket or bonus round included in the structure.
Four batters stepped up immediately and confirmed to be competing: Wilson Contreras (Red Sox), Jac Caglianone (Royals), Ben Rice (Yankees) and Junior Caminero (Rays). Jordan Walker (Cardinals) has also since been confirmed.
The Mariners' Cal Raleigh won the 2025 competition, defeating Caminero in the final round to become the first-ever catcher to win the event. Who will be victorious this year?

What time is the Home Run Derby tonight? TV channel, schedule and more to watch 2026 MLB All-Star event originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The MLB Home Run Derby is undergoing its biggest transformation in a decade.
The latest tinkering for the MLB event, which will take place at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park, will be oriented around swings, not seconds. This year, baseball is completely eliminating the clock. Hitters will get 20 swings in Round 1, 15 swings in Round 2, and 15 in the final round. If a player homers on their last swing in any round, they get to keep going until they don’t homer. There are no brackets in the opening round, and there is no bonus round.
The 2026 field includes some familiar faces to the derby, including 2018 winner and Bryce Harper of the host team Phillies and 2025 runner-up Junior Caminero of the Rays. Other participants include Ben Rice of the Yankees, Jac Caglianone of the Royals, Willson Contreras of the Red Sox and Jordan Walker of the Cardinals.
Here's everything you need to know about watching the Home Run Derby, including the full schedule and start times for all of All-Star Week.

What time is the Home Run Derby tonight? TV channel, schedule and more to watch 2026 MLB All-Star event originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The MLB Home Run Derby is undergoing its biggest transformation in a decade.
The latest tinkering for the MLB event, which will take place at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park, will be oriented around swings, not seconds. This year, baseball is completely eliminating the clock. Hitters will get 20 swings in Round 1, 15 swings in Round 2, and 15 in the final round. If a player homers on their last swing in any round, they get to keep going until they don't homer. There are no brackets in the opening round, and there is no bonus round.
The 2026 field includes some familiar faces to the derby, including 2018 winner and Bryce Harper of the host team Phillies and 2025 runner-up Junior Caminero of the Rays. Other participants include Ben Rice of the Yankees, Jac Caglianone of the Royals, Willson Contreras of the Red Sox and Jordan Walker of the Cardinals.
Here's everything you need to know about watching the Home Run Derby, including the full schedule and start times for all of All-Star Week.

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: A lot of the big headlines to come out of Brian Cashman's media availability on Thursday were around the status and recovery of Aaron Judge and his rib injury. Also during that availability, Cashman noted that the performances the Yankees have gotten from the catcher position this season have been an issue. While he emphasized that he's looking to improve themselves in total as opposed to putting all the eggs in one position's basket, he acknowledged that catcher has become an unexpected area of concern.
The Trentonian | Greg Johnson: One annual event during the All-Star Game weekend festivities is the Futures Game played between some of the top prospects from around baseball. The Yankees were set to be represented in this year's event by shortstop George Lombard Jr. and pitcher Carlos Lagrange. However, both have been ruled out with injury. In their place, the Yankees will now send pitcher Ben Grable, an 11th-round pick from Indiana last year who is now in the Somerset Patriots' bullpen. He's much lower in the Yankees' prospect pecking order, but is having a nice 2026 season.
MLB.com | Byron Kerr: The Yankees' offense had one of their best performances in a while on Thursday when they put up 12 runs in a win over the Rays. A couple Yankees gave a bit of credit to a pregame speech from Jazz Chisholm Jr. ahead of that game. Jazz then played a big role in last night's win over the Nationals, so it's been a nice couple days for him.
Netflix: Ben Rice's competition in the 2026 Home Run Derby is set for Monday night. Barring any late substitutions, he will face Junior Caminero of the Rays, Jac Caglianone of the Royals, Jordan Walker of the Cardinals, Munetaka Murakami of the White Sox, Willson Contreras of the Red Sox, and two host sluggers: Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper of the Phillies. Caminero and Schwarber were runners-up in the 2025 and 2018 events, respectively, while Harper was the winner in 2018, the last time he competed in one with the Nationals. Rice will be looking to become the fifth Yankee to win the event, alongside Tino Martinez (1997), Jason Giambi (2002), Robinson Canó (2011), and Aaron Judge (2017).
MLB.com: Another event this weekend is the MLB Draft, which is set to begin later today. If you want to feel old, the sons of Andy Pettitte, CC Sabathia, Jose Contreras, and other famous names from around baseball will be among those available for selection in this year's Draft. And if you're curious about who the Yankees might take with their top pick (No. 35), check out Dan Kelly's article for us yesterday.

The Royals fell 5-3 after another very Luinder Avila start and one too many trips to the bullpen. Matt Strahm gave up the final blow, a two-run home run to Samuel Basallo. Before that, it was a pretty close game.
As noted above, Luinder Avila got the start in this one for KC. He pitched 5 innings and allowed 3 runs with 3 strikeouts and 3 walks. It was a real grind for Avila as it seemed like he was always pitching with a full count even with only the 3 walks. That meant it took him 96 pitches to get through those 5 innings.
Avila gave up two of the runs with two outs in the second inning. The Royals managed to tie it in the fourth thanks to a Michael Massey walk (he's been doing that a lot lately) and a Josh Rojas double. But before that, Jac Caglianone smoked his first home run since that two-home run game in Tampa Bay almost two weeks ago.
Avila got Blaze Alexander down 0-2 with one out in the bottom of the inning, which caused the booth to praise him for his good work following the offense tying the game. He promptly hung a slider that went a long way. The score remained 3-2 until the eighth inning, with Steven Cruz pitching a clean sixth with a strikeout. Daniel Lynch IV did the same in the seventh.
In the top of the eighth, Isaac Collins led off the inning with a home run to dead center. Which I wasn't entirely sure he could do.

BALTIMORE (AP) — Samuel Basallo hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning, and the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Kansas City Royals 5-3 in the opener of a three-game series between last-place teams Friday night.
Blaze Alexander also homered for Baltimore.
Jac Caglianone and Isaac Collins hit solo shots for Kansas City, which has lost three in a row and 11 of 15.
Matt Strahm (3-2) entered with the game tied at 3-all and yielded a leadoff single to Pete Alonso. Basallo then hooked a 1-2 slider just inside the foul pole in right for his 15th homer of the season and chucked his bat with both hands toward the Orioles dugout in celebration.
Baltimore led 3-2 entering the eighth, and manager Craig Albernaz allowed starter Brandon Young to stay in with only 77 pitches. But Collins capped an eight-pitch at-bat with a shot to center to chase the right-hander.

Veteran Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber is the latest participant announced for the Home Run Derby in Philadelphia on Monday night.
Schwarber joins his teammate Bryce Harper in the eight-man field and the pair will try to put on show for the home crowd at Citizens Bank Park. Boston's Willson Contreras, Kansas City's Jac Caglianone, Tampa Bay's Junior Caminero, St. Louis' Jordan Walker and the New York Yankees' Ben Rice will also be part of the competition.
One other participant hasn't been announced.
The 33-year-old Schwarber enters Friday's games with 32 homers, which leads the big leagues. The four-time All-Star has been one of baseball's elite home run hitters for several seasons with 219 long ***** since 2022, trailing only Aaron Judge (227) over that span.
This is Schwarber's third appearance in the derby. He made the finals in 2018 before losing to Harper at Nationals Park and was also part of the 2022 derby, losing in the first round to Albert Pujols.

We've seen a lot of long, frustrating losses this season. Last night's 16-12 offensive barrage was unique even for the 2026 Mets. Following that monstrosity of a baseball game, tonight's affair was blissfully, mercifully fairly normal in comparison. It was a fairly low-scoring evening until a sudden offensive barrage in the eighth inning, and the Mets came away with a 6-2 victory.
The Mets got the scoring started early against Royals opener Steven Cruz, as A.J. Ewing followed his four-hit barrage last night with another homer to lead off the game for the Amazins. It was Ewing's seventh major league home run—and his first in the leadoff spot—and it quickly gave the Mets a 1-0 lead. That would prove to be the only run the bats would bring home for quite a while, as bulkman Randy Dobnak came on in the second and would go on to shut the Mets down for 5.2 scoreless innings. They came close in the bottom of third when Francisco Lindor socked a ball to deep right field with runners on first and second with two outs, but Tyler Tolbert made a terrific leaping catch against the wall to end the inning.
Thankfully for the Mets, Christian Scott was able to maintain that one-run lead during his start tonight. While Scott has overall had a pretty solid 2026, going deep into games has been an issue for him—as mentioned by Gary Cohen on the broadcast, he had not made it through five innings in any of the past three starts. Tonight, he managed to make it through five scoreless innings, giving up just three hits and one walk while striking out five. The most meaningful threat against him came in the top of the second when he surrendered a two-out walk and single, respectively, before inducing a pop fly to second base from the previously unstoppable Tolbert. All told, it was an encouraging outing from one of the few bright spots in the team's starting rotation.
Unfortunately, the Mets quickly surrendered the lead when Scott exited the game. Tobias Myers was just recalled from the minors today, and he came on for the top of the sixth. He gave up a one-out double to Jac Caglianone, and after a groundout to third brought him within one out of getting out of the inning, Salvador Perez lined a 3-2 pitch to left field to bring the tying run home. Thus, Scott would receive a no-decision despite his solid start, and we were square even once more.
Myers got out of that inning and managed to toss a scoreless top of the seventh. Brooks Raley then came on and contributed a scoreless inning of his own. The Mets' bats, meanwhile, continued to look hapless following the leadoff homer. Reliever Alex Lange came on for the eighth inning and quickly recorded the first two outs, and it looked like it was going to be yet another scoreless frame. Then Lindor lined a single to the outfield to break up a lengthy hitless stretch. Carson Benge followed that with a walk, and then Jorge Polanco hit a dribbler to first base and made it safely when Caglionone made an errant toss to the pitch