Columbus jumped out to an early 4-0 lead then held on to preserve the victory Tuesday. Leading the way was Ralphy Velazquez, who snapped out of a short funk by going 2-fo-4 with a massive 415-foot three-run home run in the first inning while also doubling.
In his first game back in Columbus, Daniel Schneemann was perfect at the plate, going 1-for-1 with three walks. Cooper Ingle went 2-for-5 and Angel Genao went 1-for-3 with a walk while Kody Huff homered and George Valera doubled.
Starting pitcher Rorik Maltrud danced around four walks to toss 4.1 innings while allowing one run on three hits with four strikeouts.
All three relievers Steven Perez, Carlos Hernandez and Cody Heuer allowed one run in their appearances.
Akron's offense erupted on Tuesday, scoring 12 runs on a whopping 19 hits with everyone getting in on the action.

#hits

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Royce Lewis hit a two-run triple with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Minnesota Twins a 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.
Taj Bradley threw six strong innings for the Twins (54-54), who have won three in a row and five of six. They are third in the AL Cental, just two games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox.
Kody Clemens doubled for Minnesota in the fourth and scored on Josh Bell's single. But center fielder Byron Buxton left in the fifth with right hip soreness after running to first base. It's the same joint that caused him to miss the All-Star Game this month.
Kansas City went ahead 2-1 in the sixth when Josh Rojas stole home on the front end of a double steal and Salvador Perez had an RBI single.
___

#first

The Twins offense tonight could only be described as groundball happy, get ready to read the words "double play" about a million times. In the 1st, 2 on and 1 out, Kody Clemens hits into an inning ending double play. In the 2nd inning, Luke Keaschall ends the inning with their second double play.
They finally broke through in the 4th inning, after Clemens doubled and Josh Bell hit an RBI single to put the Twins up 1-0. In the bottom of the 5th Alan Roden hits into the 3rd Twin-killer of the night.
In the top of the 6th, Josh Rojas and Lane Thomas did a double steal, with Rojas stealing home. I wasn't there to see it but Gameday says it happened. Two batters later, the Twin killer himself, Salvador Perez, hit the go-ahead RBI single to put the Royals up 2-1.
The Twins rallied again, with Clemens HBP and Bell singling to center with Clemens going 1st-to-3rd on the play. Then Victor Caratini ended the inning by, you guessed it, hitting into the 4th double play of the night. I'm so glad I missed almost all of this game because that had to be depressing.
What wasn't depressing was the performance of Taj Bradley and the bullpen tonight. Taj racked up 10 strikeouts in his 6 innings of work, allowing just 3 hits, 2 runs, and 3 walks. Then Kody Funderburk, Travis Adams, and Jack Anderson combined for 3 innings of shutout pitching, allowing just 1 hit and striking out 4.

#clemens #kody #twin

NavajoStirling saw a fighter in shambles right before his Dana White's Contender Series bout.

Stirling earned his Ultimate Fighting Championship contract with a knockout win onContender Series in 2024. He was sharing the locker room withQuemuelOttoni, who was set to face KodySteele. Ottoni eventually didn't make the walk to the Octagonand Stirling has now detailed what happened behind the scenes.
Stirling (10-0) recently revealed that Ottoni (12-4) was aggressivetowards Steele, and even other fighters, throughout fight weekuntil the weigh-ins. However, the Brazilian's nerves got the betterof him right before stepping out for his bout and he allegedlystarted crying backstage, even ripping off his hand wraps multipletimes.

Cutman Brad Tate, who was in charge of wrapping Ottoni, refused torepeat it after a point. The bout was eventually called off andSteele won his contract in a later Contender Series outing.

"The guy that was on Contenders [Series] was probably the worstone," Stirling told Full Send MMA. "He was fighting Kody Steele. Hechoked out AlexPereira back in the day. I was in the locker room with him… Atthe weigh-ins, he is puffing his chest, he is even looking at me,like, 'You wanna go?' I'm like, 'Bro, save it for tomorrow.' He'sstaunching Kody Steele out at the weigh-ins. And I was thinking,'This is going to be a banger.' We get to the fight night and hejust started crying. He took his gloves off three or four times.They had to re-wrap his hands. I think he had cutman Tate. Thecutman said, 'F*ck this guy, I'm not wrapping his handsanymore.'"

Both Tate and Steele have confirmed Stirling's story about Ottoni,who had choked out UFC superstar Pereira in the latter'sprofessional MMA debut in 2015. Ottoni and Pereira's careers havetaken contrasting trajectories since. While Pereira went on tobecome a two-division champion, Ottoni is yet to make it out of theregional scene. He has fought only once since the Contender Seriesfiasco, suffering a first-round technical knockout loss.

Meanwhile, the undefeated Stirling already has five UFC wins to hisname. The Kiwi is now scheduled to face JanBlachowicz (29-11) on less than three weeks' notice at UFC Belgrade in Serbia on Aug. 1.

#steele #bout

Christine Brown shared a video of husband David Woolley retrieving her dropped cup during a mountain visit
Fans praised Woolley in the comments, calling him the loving partner Christine deserves after her past marriage
Christine and David married in October 2023 after her 2021 split from ex Kody Brown and their polygamous marriage
Christine Brown is sharing her appreciation for her husband David Woolley!
The Sister Wives star took to Instagram on Tuesday, July 21, to share the sweet gesture her husband made for her while they were visiting a scenic mountain area.

#brown #husband #marriage

Clippers 8, IronPigs 5
It was a good day for the Clippers offense. Angel Genao went 2-4 with a walk, Kody Huff went 2-5 with a 430 foot HR. Ralphy Velazquez also had a 3 run HR hit at 109.1 mph off the bat. CJ Kayfus went 1-4 with a HR of his own.
Yorman Gomez continues to rack up strikeouts despite giving up some runs. His ERA is 5.06 but he has 24 strikeouts in 16 innings pitched. I think that ERA is going to go down at some point.
RubberDucks 8, Baysox 2
This was a dominant win from the RubberDucks. Nick Mitchell had a huge game, going 3-4 with a triple and RBI double. The trio of Chourio, Rosario, and Thompson all had one hit each. Jonah Advincula went 1-3 with a walk and a two run HR. Jose Devers went 1-4 with a 2 RBI triple.

Alan Roden delivered the game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth inning in his season debut, lifting the Minnesota Twins to a 6-5 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday, July 8, in Minneapolis.
Roden finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs one day after Minnesota promoted him from Triple-A Saint Paul. Kody Clemens went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI for the Twins, who increased their winning streak to four games.
Brayan Rocchio homered and drove in three runs for the Guardians, who took their fourth loss in a row. Rhys Hoskins added a solo home run.
Twins reliever Yoendrys Gomez (1-0) earned the victory with a scoreless inning of relief. Gomez notched his 10th save one night earlier as the Twins won the series opener 3-1.
Guardians reliever Matt Festa (2-2) allowed one run on three hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning.

Kody Clemens went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple, and the Minnesota Twins held on for a 3-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.
Austin Martin and Brooks Lee added one RBI apiece for Minnesota, which took the opener of a three-game series. The Twins have won three games in a row.
Rhys Hoskins hit a solo homer for Cleveland's only run. Chase DeLauter went 2-for-3 with a double for the Guardians, who dropped their third straight game.
Twins right-hander Taj Bradley (8-3) allowed one run on three hits over seven innings. He struck out 10 without a walk.
Guardians left-hander Joey Cantillo (7-4) took the hard-luck loss after allowing two unearned runs on six hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out seven.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Taj Bradley allowed one run and struck out 10 in seven innings, Kody Clemens had two hits and an RBI, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Bradley (8-3), who set a career best with 11 strikeouts in his last outing July 1 at Houston, had swing-and-miss stuff all night, registering a career-high 25 swinging strikes. He allowed three hits and walked none, winning for the third time in his last four starts.
Andrew Morris pitched a perfect eighth inning, while Taylor Rogers and Yoendrys Gómez combined on a scoreless ninth for the Twins, who have won six of their last eight games
Rhys Hoskins homered for the Guardians, who lost their third in a row.
Joey Cantillo (7-4) pitched five innings, giving up two runs — both unearned — on six hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.

With Carlos Rodon on the injured list, the Yankees turned to Brendan Beck as their starter on Saturday.
They had reason for hope as the 27-year-old right-hander had gone 5-0 with a 1.24 ERA at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in June. The right-hander allowed just four earned runs last month and struck out 31 batters in 29 innings.
But Beck's start quickly turned into a disaster en route to an 11-4 Yankees' loss, their eighth loss in nine games. He allowed three runs in the first inning, including a two run homer to Kody Clemens, his 16th of the year
In the second inning, Beck then allowed back-to-back homers to Luke Keaschall (on a four-seam fastball) and to Alex Jackson (on a slider) to fall behind 5-0.
Fans booed Beck heavily.

One of the things that wears on you in stretches like this is the recaps actually start to annoy you. Look, I get it, I’m a silly little baseball blogger, I’m not an ER nurse working a double shift or a teacher paying for their own Elmer’s glue while kids can no longer sound out unfamiliar words. My work here is reasonably low stakes. But my oh my are these games absolute drags to try and ****** yze. The Yankees lost again, badly, because the starter got set on fire and Camilo Doval cannot pitch at the major league level.
11-4 is your holiday final from the Bronx.
For Brendan Beck, it was a hang with ‘em kind of day. Called up to make a spot start with Carlos Rodón moved to the IL yesterday, and it looked like Beck was never comfortable out there. He walked the first man he saw before Byron Buxton put the Twins on the board with a double, only for Kody Clemens to take Beck deep and before an out was recorded, the Yankees were down 3-0.
Minnesota added two more home runs in the second, including Alex Jackson’s first of the year, after the top three in the Yankee order went down smoothly to start their own day. Beck managed to get through the third without further damage, but the team was down 5-0 early. I’ll be honest in that my ****** ysis is somewhat weak today as I was watching Canada put on a masterclass of a first half before fading in the second. Beck’s secondary offerings seem promising but his fastball seems awful flat for an MLB pitcher.
Jasson Domínguez gave us the first offensive sparks of the day, getting the Yankees’ first hit, then second hit and first run a couple innings later:

The Yankees are in the midst of trying to stop a seven-game losing streak with the Twins in town to begin a three-game series. Minnesota took a quick lead off Gerrit Cole thanks to a solo shot by Kody Clemens, but Yankees leadoff hitter Trent Grisham welcomed himself back from the IL by belting a bomb of his own at the start of the game to tie it at 1-1.
Although Cole has since settled down a bit with two scoreless innings, we must now wait before we get baseball again. They've put the tarp on the field at Yankee Stadium with heavy rain expected shortly. The forecast looks like it will clear up in a little while, but for now, it's a rain delay. I would say that I hope it cools people off on this hot, hot day, but it might just end up being steamy. Alas.
We'll keep you all posted with any updates.

It’s never a good sign when your first mile feels like you’ve already run a full marathon. For Tatsuyi Imai, the outing was quick and ugly. Twins 8 Astros 3.
Imai’s early game struggles were on full display before an announced crowd of 29,179. In the opening several minutes, Trevor Larnach would double and Josh Bell would hit a ball to dead center that’s still traveling. Bell’s blast would officially become the fifth longest ball hit to center field since the ballyard at 501 Crawford Street opened its doors in 2000. Just like that, it was a 2-0 lead, and the following inning Minnesota would continue the **** ault.
Luke Keaschall and Brooks Lee would reach on walks, and then Kody Clemens would do his version of a deep shot to center, and the Twins had put five runs on the board. Clemons has now hit 14 homeruns this season. For good measure, Imai would issue another walk to Josh Bell and mercifully the curtain would come down. Imai’s final line would read: 1.1 IP with 5 earned runs, 5 walks and 4 hits allowed, including 2 HR. In sharp contrast was his counterpart Taj Bradley would record a season high 11 strikeouts, at one point mowing down five in a row.
The Astros scored their initial run thanks to Jose Altuve’s leadoff walk of the game. Altuve would advance to third on Yordan Alvarez’s first hit of the night, eventually scoring on a double play groundout by Isaac Paredes.
The next time there would be signs of life would be in the 6th. Brice Matthews (who replaced Christian Walker, who left the game with lower back stiffness) and Cam Smith would reach base in consecutive fashion to start things. Then Joey Loperfido and Nick Allen would each notch RBI’s singles, cutting the deficit to 7-3 but that would be as close as they’d get.

HOUSTON (AP) — Taj Bradley struck out 11 to tie his career high, Josh Bell, Kody Clemens and Luke Keaschall homered and the Minnesota Twins beat the Houston Astros 8-3 on Wednesday night.
Bradley (7-3) allowed a run and four hits and walked four in five innings. After Jose Altuve scored from third base when Isaac Paredes grounded into a double play in the first inning, Bradley recorded 10 consecutive outs by strikeout.
Bell has a career-high 16-game road hitting streak, the longest active streak of its kind in the majors. Trevor Larnach went 3 for 5 with a double and a two-run single.
The Twins have won three consecutive road series for the first time May of 2025.
After Larnach doubled to lead off the game against Tatsuya Imai (5-4) Bell hit a two-out, two-run homer. Clemens hit a 399-foot shot to make it 5-1 in the second.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Hunter Goodman hit three homers and drove in five runs, powering the Colorado Rockies to an 8-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night.
Goodman, who also went deep in his final at-bat Friday, launched a solo shot in the first inning and another in the third off starter Mike Paredes. After grounding out in the fifth, the slugger made it 6-2 in the seventh when he connected for his 25th homer this season, a three-run drive to left-center against reliever Kody Funderburk.
Kyle Karros added a two-run homer in the eighth.
Michael Lorenzen (3-9) allowed two runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings to earn his first win since April 24.
Trevor Larnach’s three-run double in the ninth made it 8-5 before Jimmy Herget came on to get two outs for his third save.

Clippers improve to 41-32
Don’t look now, but catching prospect Kody Huff has quietly been having a great season in Columbus as well. Huff was perfect at the plate on Saturday, going 1-for-1 with a home run and three walks, raising his season OPS to .929, which is second on the team only to Cooper ingle.
Speaking of Ingle, he walked and had an RBI from a sacrifice fly.
Other standouts for the day were Ralphy Velazquez, who went 2-for-4, and C.J. Kayfus, who went 1-fo-3 with a walk.
This game saw the activation of top pitching prospect Yorman Gomez and he was solid, striking out eight batters and walking zero in 3.2 innings. He allowed two runs on four hits.

OMA 11 – COL 2
Box Score
The Columbus Clippers were defeated by the Omaha Storm Chasers Friday night. The loss falls to starting pitcher Ryan Webb who fell to 1-5 on the season. Webb threw 4.1 innings with 4H/4R/6BB/4Ks. Tanner Burns and Pedro Avila both gave up three runs each. Burns in 0.2 innings of work on 3H/1BB and Avila on 3.0 innings of work on 3H/0BB. Franco Aleman closed out the game, also allowing one run on two hits.
The Clippers offense only recorded three hits and five walks on the night with Petey Halpin and Kody Huff account for the two runs. In the bottom of the fourth, Kahlil Watson drew a one-out walk and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Petey Halpin hit a two-out single to center to score Kahlil. In the bottom of the eighth, Kody Huff hit a lead off, first pitch home run to center field. The ball travelled 437 feet at 109.5 mph.
AKR 19 – CHE 3

Thank you Buck for making up for that Kody base running gaffe