Mantua, Cuba, is a small fishing village on the northwestern coast of the island; legend says it was founded by shipwrecked Italian sailors in the early 1600s. Los Arroyos, the neighborhood where Randy Arozarena grew up, is a tiny tip of the island, about as close to Cancún as it is to the capital Havana, where Lazaro Montes was born. Maybe their respective hometowns account for their personality differences: Randy is quieter, more removed, shying away from media appearances, while Laz is as big and boisterous as the bustling capital city itself, eager to try out his English with whoever wants to talk. Making his big-league debut tonight, "Big Laz" had an appropriately splashy welcome to the big leagues that will guarantee his megawatt smile will light up highlight reels tonight both in Seattle and beyond, accounting for two of the Mariners' nine runs tonight. But Randy Arozarena also continued doing what he's done all season, leading the team offensively and providing an early separating blow that helped the Mariners outlast the Red Sox in a grueling 9-6 win at Fenway.
The Mariners got on the board right away when Dominic Canzone absolutely obliterated this hanging changeup from Red Sox starter Jedixson Paez:
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Unfortunately, the Red Sox took that run right back with a blast of their own, a four-seamer from Bryan Woo that didn't quite get top rail enough that Mickey Gasper hammered for a matching blow.
But the Mariners offense picked up their starter in the top of the second, pouncing on Paez for five runs of both the small and large ball variety. Josh Naylor got things going with a leadoff double, followed by a line-drive single from Cole Young – not super hard hit, but any contact in the air is good from young Cole, who's been really struggling lately with pounding the ball into the ground. That brought up Lazaro Montes for his very first big-league at-bat in an RBI situation. Facing a flagging pitcher on a bullpen day, Montes took a studied, disciplined at-bat, getting ahead 2-0, whiffing at a changeup on the plate, and then declining to chase two more changeups to earn his way on base. J.P. Crawford put the Mariners ahead on a sacrifice fly, and then Brock Rodden checked in with an infield hit of his own, hustling down the line to allow Cole Young to score. That also turned the lineup over for Randy Arozarena, who continued his audition to Get Real Paid by the Red Sox next season by crushing a sinker middle-middle that would have wound up on Lansdowne Street if not for an inconveniently located billboard.

#Mariners #randy #paez

There haven't been many games like last night, but the couple that the Brewers have had have felt like the worst time to have them. Tonight, the conditions at The Friendly Confines look to be similar to last night, meaning the best pitching staff in the National League will have their work cut out for them yet again.
To make things more interesting, both pitchers toeing the slab have had quite the interesting lines for their respective scenarios. For Robert Gasser, he has not looked comfortable in road games this season, entering tonight's game with a 5.10 ERA, having allowed 45 hits with nine home runs. On the bright side of things, he is coming off of one of his better performances this season as he allowed just one run in 5.1 innings, something he hasn't done since August 1 against the Angels.
While Gasser's stats might sound scary, it's not quite as bad as what we've seen from the Cubs starting pitcher Matthew Boyd during home games this season. Through eight starts, Boyd has posted a 5.44 ERA, allowing at least five runs in each of his last two starts. To pour a little more salt into the wound, Boyd hasn't fared well against the Brewers throughout his career, as he has a 9.00 ERA in five starts, allowing nine home runs, 16 walks, and 30 hits.
With the offense looking like it's going to be the name of the game tonight, the Brewers will continue to go with the home run-heavy top of the lineup. As will the Cubs tonight, as they're fresh off of the second most home runs hit by an MLB team in history with nine last night. The man who had three of them last night, Alex Bregman, will be in the three spot of their lineup last night.
As the calendar flips to September, reinforcements enter the clubhouse. Earlier this afternoon, the Brewers recalled Bo Naylor from Triple-A Nashville, giving the team their third catcher on the active roster. The second reinforcement comes in the left-hander JoJo Romero, who will look to make his Brewers debut tonight. Before the trade with the Cardinals, Romero had appeared in 44 games, recording 20 holds while posting a 3.51 ERA.

#brewers #night

TORONTO (AP) — Alejandro Kirk drove in the tiebreaking run with a two-out single in the sixth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners 4-3 on Saturday.
José Soriano (11-7) struck out six in seven innings to win for the second time in three starts. Soriano allowed three runs and three hits.
Tyler Rogers struck out two in the eighth but left after walking Julio Rodríguez. Josh Naylor singled off Mason Fluharty to advance Rodríguez to third, but Fluharty struck out Cal Raleigh to preserve the lead.
Louis Varland finished for his 31st save in 32 opportunities.
Seattle lost its third straight and dropped to 27-41 on the road.

#struck #rodr #Third

With the Mariners showing no consistent signs in the second half that they'd put their first-half struggles behind them, many fans have put to bed their hopes for the playoffs, especially as the team entered into this particularly grueling stretch of a long road trip combined with playing three very tough NL teams: the Brewers, Cubs, and now the Phillies. Both the Brewers and Cubs series featured brutal, humiliating losses, the Brewers a historic 22-0 drubbing and the Cubs – despite a series win thanks to scraping out wins in the first two games – a game that saw multiple position players have to take the mound in a 19-2 loss. But just as the Mariners bounced back to ******* a game from the Brewers after making team history (derogatory), they again bounced back tonight to surprise the Phillies with a dominant 9-2 win that also made history (complimentary).
It certainly didn't look like things were going to go this way. The game got off to a rough start for Logan Gilbert, who walked Kyle Schwarber on five pitches to lead off the game. He struck out Trea Turner on a spicy 98 mph heater, but then surrendered back-to-back singles to Bryce Harper and Luis Arraez to load the bases with just one out. To Gilbert's credit, though, he didn't wilt under pressure, continuing to execute pitch after pitch. Alex Boehm hit into an RBI groundout on a slow roller that could have been an inning-ending double play, and then Gilbert bullied Bryson Stott on four pitches, striking him out on another spicy heater. In the end, the Phillies only got one run out of all that traffic, and the only real damage was done to Logan's pitch count, at 29.
But Zack Wheeler had his own struggles in the bottom of the first, and would finish the inning with a similarly inflated pitch count (33) but significantly more damage on the scoreboard thanks to two Mariners home runs. MULTI-run home runs, even, which is delightful. Randy Arozarena led off the game with a walk, followed by a sharply-hit single from Dominic Canzone (110 EV), and then Julio Rodríguez – who scuffled in the Cubs series, going 1-for-13 with seven strikeouts – tattooed a splitter that caught too much plate for a home run into the visitor's bullpen.
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And then, and this is the part you'll really like, the Mariners didn't stop there. So often we've seen this team score a few early and then take their foot off the gas. Instead, they kept the pressure on Wheeler in the first, with Josh Naylor singling into right field (but then getting thrown out and also bonked on the head trying to stretch it into a double, no Josh!), and then Taylor Ward refusing to chase off the plate for a walk to extend Wheeler's inning. That brought up Cal Raleigh, and Wheeler tried to dispense of him with a fastball up, a pitch Cal has been consistently missing this season. He did not miss this one:

#game #first #Phillies #back

Mariners 3, Astros 2
On fire (complimentary): Andrés Muñoz 0.20 WPA, Bryan Woo 0.13 WPA
On fire (emergency!): Josh Naylor -0.19 WPA
Game Thread Comment of the Day

#FIRE #josh #naylor #comment

One year after flash flooding at Camp Mystic took 28 lives, three fathers are sharing how their young daughters' private faith continues to lift their families.
Speaking on "Saturday in America," Ryan DeWitt, Wade Lytal and Cole Naylor shared how their daughters' deep-rooted faith has sustained them through tragedy. DeWitt and Lytal said they found journals their daughters left behind filled with Bible verses, prayers and messages to God, bringing them comfort as they grieved.
"We knew that she was deeply rooted in her faith, but she wasn't outward about it or braggadocios about it. She just felt it. She felt very deeply," Ryan DeWitt said of his daughter Molly, who was 9 when she died in the floods.
"She just had the biggest heart, and we taught her as much as we could, but there was certainly something else at play, and that was her faith, and it was comforting. As difficult as those days were and still are, it's comforting to know how close she was to God."
Devastated Mother Blames Soft-on-crime Policies After Career Criminal Is Charged In Son's Death

#faith #dewitt #felt

Sometimes, you gotta make the tough call to put the old steer out to pasture.
Rhys Hoskins has a 95 wRC+ this season. That, especially on the Guardians, is not bad. However, this includes a 79 wRC+ since June 1st, during which time he has struck out 37% of the time. Even more prominently, since June 1st of LAST season, Hoskins has a 57 wRC+ against LHP. Why has Hoskins forgotten how to hit southpaws on a team that needs him to be able to be the career 130 wRC+ against them he has traditionally been like no other? I don't know. Because the baseball gods hate us, probably. It's likely one of two options: 1. small sample size and he'll eventually correct things, or 2. the canary in the coal mine that he is washed overall.
Regardless, Hoskins isn't helping the Cleveland Guardians win baseball games in his current role of supposed lefty masher who plays first base when LHP are on the mound. He's not a good defender. But, he is, from all accounts, great in the clubhouse. So great that the team is a game under .500 on August 8th. You can probably sense my skepticism that his clubhouse skills are indispensible to this team's success.
I think it's probably time to give Kody Huff a chance at a platoon first-base/occasional catching reps role. Huff has a .793 OPS against LHP and .914 OPS against RHP this season, but has traditionally hit LHP better than RHP as most RHH's do. Most importantly, he has a higher OPS away from the Columbus bandbox than at home (.888/.879). Zach Meisel of the Athletic has repeatedly mentioned on the Selby is Godcast that the team "LOVES" Huff and it was a big reason they were willing to trade Jacob Cozart and Bo Naylor at the trade deadline. Great opportunity to potentially get Huff some experience with Austin Hedges and Patrick Bailey and make use of the 235 innings he has played at first base to hopefully leverage their way to an improvement over what Hoskins has done against left-handed pitching.
By September, if Huff struggles and Ralphy Velazquez continues his recent breakout, I would love to see the team give Velazquez reps in a first base/DH role and let him hit LHP. (Cooper Ingle cannot hit lefties, in case anyone is wondering about him in a full-time DH role). Ralphy has consistently hit LHP slightly better than he has RHP over the past two seasons. He's a full-time hitter, eventually, and it would be great to give him a chance to experience big league pitching and potentially help a team trying to make the playoffs. But, for now, the team needs to take a shot at improving their roster in the Hoskins' role, even at the risk to clubhouse chemistry, and Huff seems to be the best potential option.

#huff #base

Things turned awfully testy during the late innings of Wednesday night's 4-2 Mariners victory over the Detroit Tigers, which evened the pivotal series for both teams in an American League playoff race that is heating up more and more with every passing day. A half-inning after Cal Raleigh was drilled in the ribs with 95 mph four-seam fastball by Enmanuel De Jesus — and no warnings were issued — Gabe Speier pegged Gleyber Torres with a 96 mph four-seamer of his own, leading to an exchanging of words and the benches clearing. Speier and Dan Wilson both ended up ejected. As Kate said in the recap, we'll see if this has any ramifications Thursday.
Speaking of throwing at people, Framber Valdez gets the start for the Tigers on Thursday. His first season in Detroit hasn't gone quite to plan, with many of his numbers across the board taking a step back. His FIP has ballooned to 4.13 in 2026, having not exceeded 3.50 over his previous four seasons in Houston.
The Mariners will look to Bryce Miller to try to secure an important series win before the American League-leading Tampa Bay Rays come to town for 50 Seasons weekend. Big Tex had a much shakier month of July (4.93 FIP) after beginning his 2026 campaign with solid performance in May (2.86) and June (3.22). For more on the pitching matchup, check out the series preview.
Taylor Ward is in the leadoff spot for his first time as a Mariner. Brendan Donovan and Josh Naylor both get scheduled days off, and Raleigh gets a rest day (unrelated to the hit-by-pitch last night). Jhonny Pereda will be behind the plate for the first time since being recalled from Triple-A Tacoma on Tuesday, while Weston Wilson and Leo Rivas make starts at first and third base.
In the aftermath of Wednesday's bench-clearing incident, both Speier and Dan Wilson have been suspended by Major League Baseball. Speier's discipline amounts to three games, which he is appealing. Dan Wilson, on the other hand, will serve his one-game suspension on Thursday afternoon. Manny Acta will be the Mariners' acting manager for this important rubber game.

#speier

The Guardians had an active final day before the MLB's trade deadline passed, pulling off three deals to complement two trades made earlier in the season.
The Guardians first dealt for Angels outfielder Jo Adell and then, within the final half hour before the deadline hit, dealt for Nationals All-star left-handed pitcher Foster Griffin and Reds first baseman Nathaniel Lowe.
Over the weekend, they traded catcher Bo Naylor and pitcher Codi Heuer to the Brewers in exchange for reliever Craig Yoho and outfielder Blake Perkins. And earlier this season, they acquired Gold Glove catcher Patrick Bailey for pitcher Matt Wilkerson and the 29th overall pick in the draft.
The Guardians also announced that utility man David Fry and first baseman Kyle Manzardo would be optioned to Triple-A Columbus. A final corresponding move with the pitching staff is expected Tuesday or Wednesday.
Here's what president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti had to say when he met with reporters via zoom after the deadline.

#pitcher #dealt #baseman

The Milwaukee Brewers, who acquired catcher Bo Naylor and right-handed reliever Codi Heuer in a trade with the Guardians on Saturday morning, had a very quiet lead up to Monday's trade deadline.
The prize of the trade deadline, left-hander Tarik Skubal, went to the mighty Dodgers on Saturday night as the rich got richer. Since that deal, rumors swirled that the Brewers would look to counter the move with some help of their own. It took almost all day, but the Brewers finally added a few reinforcements right before the deadline. We're here to grade those deals.
The first deal of the day came just after 2 p.m. CT, as the Brewers made an intra-division trade with the rival Cardinals. In the deal, right-handed starter Dustin May and left-handed reliever JoJo Romero joined Milwaukee, with outfield prospects Josiah Ragsdale and Alexander Frias heading to St. Louis in the return.
May, who turns 29 next month, has shown flashes of his potential throughout his career. After being drafted in the third round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the Dodgers, he entered 2019 as the team's No. 3 prospect (MLB No. 69) before debuting later that year. He got off to a solid start but immediately dealt with injuries — between 2019 and 2023 (five seasons), he made just 46 appearances (34 starts) with a 3.10 ERA, 3.76 FIP, and 174 strikeouts across 191 2/3 innings.
May then missed all of 2024 due to a pair of injuries, including this wild story where a bite of salad nearly killed him. He made his return with the Dodgers last year and struggled to a 4.85 ERA and 4.74 FIP over 104 innings before being shipped to Boston at the trade deadline, where he struggled even more with a 5.40 ERA and 5.39 FIP over 28 1/3 innings.

#trade #deal

ANAHEIM, CALIF. – The Milwaukee Brewers once again take on the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium on Saturday night, Aug. 1.
Left-hander Robert Gasser (3-4, 4.71) takes the mound for Milwaukee and will be countered by left-hander Brent Suter, who will open after right-hander José Soriano (9-6, 3.29) was scratched by Los Angeles.
There was also a trade earlier in the day, with outfielder Blake Perkins and right-hander Craig Yoho going to the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for catcher Bo Naylor and right-hander Codi Heuer.
68-41, first place in the NL Central.

#milwaukee #anaheim #Angels #angel

ANAHEIM, CALIF. – The Milwaukee Brewers once again take on the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium on Saturday night, Aug. 1.
Left-hander Robert Gasser (3-4, 4.71) takes the mound for Milwaukee and will be countered by left-hander Brent Suter, who will open after right-hander José Soriano (9-6, 3.29) was scratched by Los Angeles.
There was also a trade earlier in the day, with outfielder Blake Perkins and right-hander Craig Yoho going to the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for catcher Bo Naylor and right-hander Codi Heuer.
68-41, first place in the NL Central.

#left #angel

It was about as rough of a first inning as possible for rookie Connor Prielipp. Second baseman Cole Young doubled on Prielipp's first pitch of the game, and then he walked the next two Mariners on nine total pitches to load the bases with no outs. Julio Rodriguez then singled on the first pitch HE saw and it was 1-0 Seattle before Prielipp even worked up a sweat. He walked in one more run a few batters later, but the young lefty struckout the side in the midst of all this chaos to limit the damage.
Seattle got one more in the second inning thanks to a solo homer by Randy Arozarena to make it 3-0, but from there, Prielipp was completely locked in. It took him 55 pitches to get through the first two innings, and then 33 to finish the next 3.1 frames. That's the exact kind of development you want to see from a rookie starting pitcher and why so many people within the Twins are high on his long term outlook. The Mariners did mount another threat in the fifth inning with two men on and one out, but Prielipp successfully worked his way out of that jam and got Josh Naylor to start the sixth for a cherry on top.
On the other half of the game, the Twins had yet another slow start against an opposing starter. If it feels like Minnesota has been playing from behind often you'd be correct. Setting aside the three and four error slop-filled games last week, the Twins have scored just eight total runs in first five innings of games since the All-Star Break. They've taken the first lead in just two of those games as well. It was more of the same against Logan Gilbert and Seattle today.
The Twins had just one hit and baserunner through the first four innings before a Luke Keaschall solo shot got rid of the goose egg on the scoreboard. Trevor Larnach added a bomb of his own in the sixth, and then the Twins played some good small following a Brooks Lee leadoff double and finally worked their way to a 3-3 tie. Minnesota then had a great opportunity to take the lead in the eighth with two runners in scoring position and one out, but Kody Clemens and Royce Lewis struck out to end the threat.
Then, a weird ninth inning happened. With Andrew Morris in to try to send things to extras, Arozarena led things off of with a sharp double and advanced to third on a fly ball. Morris then intentionally walked Julio Rodriguez to put runners on the corners with one out. The Twins brought the infield in for Cal Raleigh, hoping to either get the runner at home or set up a quick double play, and they got exactly what they needed with a hard ground ball hit directly to Royce Lewis at first. Lewis, still fairly new to the position, went to step on first base, but seemed to realize the problem with that mid-play, as you can see below.

#Seattle

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Guardians acquired outfielder Blake Perkins and right-handed pitcher Craig Yoho from the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday for catcher Bo Naylor and right-hander Codi Heuer.
Naylor and Heuer have been ****** igned to the Brewers 40-man roster and ****** igned to Triple-A Nashville. The Guardians have not determined where Perkins and Yoho will report.
The 26-year old Naylor has spent his entire career in Cleveland but has struggled offensively the past three seasons. He was sent down to Triple-A Columbus after the Guardians acquired Patrick Bailey from San Francisco and batted .225 with seven home runs in 45 games for Columbus.
Heuer, 30, was in his first season with Cleveland and split time between the major league club and Triple-A. He was 0-1 with a 4.66 ERA in eight appearances out of the bullpen.
The 26-year old Yoho has a career 1.10 minor league ERA. He was 2-0 with a 3.15 ERA in three stints with the Brewers this season.

#Guardians #columbus

Sheffield United and Chesterfield played out to a 0-0 draw in North Derbyshire on Saturday afternoon as the Blades continue to step up their efforts in pre-season.
Chris Wilder handed a debut for United's recent summer signing Romelle Donovan while Jamal Baptiste got another run out for the Blades.
Chesterfield: Hemming, Eccleston, Pong, Simpson, Gordon, Naylor, McEachran, Markanday, Trialist, Koroma, Bonis.
Subs: Mandeville, Stirk, ***** erfield, Sotiriou, Dunkley, Cook, Elliott, Whitney, Sissons, Wozniczka.
Blades: Cooper (Davies 45), Arblaster (Peck 60), Tanganga (McGuinness 70), Rothwell (Riedewald 60), Hamer (McGlinchey 60), Cannon (Marsh 60), Donovan (O'Hare 45), Burrows (McCallum 60), Baptiste, Seriki (Sachdev 80), Bamford (Campbell 60).

That game was nearly less bad than the last few games I’ve recapped. Nearly.
The Mariners lost 6-1 to the Rays on Saturday. But they had a shot right from the get go. Griffin Jax could not find the zone in the top of the first. Randy Arozarena drew a walk. Dom Canzone chopped a single into shallow right. Cal Raleigh battled and drew a walk to load the bases with one out. The Mariners could not deliver: Josh Naylor struck out on a middle-middle changeup; Luke Raley went down on three pitches.
But the Mariners weren’t deterred and got right back to it in the second inning. Cole Young led off with a hustle double into the left-center gap the other way. Victor Robles bunted him over to third. Colt Emerson smacked a pitch at his eyes just far enough toward to center to work as a sacrifice fly. It wasn’t a ***** y inning, but it gave the Mariners an early 1-0 lead.
Arozarena began the third with a walk — they really made Jax work in this one — and Cal later slapped a single the other way. Unfortunately, Naylor lined out right to the first baseman, and Arozarena was doubled off at second to end the inning.
Whatever momentum that was kind of just died from there. The Mariners sent one more than the minimum in the next three innings. With one out in the seventh, Victor Robles lined a ball just fair down the line in left for a double. Then Cam Booser picked up his fourth and fifth strikeouts in relief — another dominant outing for a lefty reliever against the Mariners.

Josh Naylor, +0.20 WPA
Cole Young, -0.34 WPA

Assets depreciate over time. A success story lacks little value when he has met his ceiling. That regards the Red Sox first baseman, Willson Contreras. He is playing to All-Star caliber, but the Red Sox are 4.0 games out of the AL Wild Card and are widely expected to miss the postseason. In such a scenario, he is expendable, and thus, the Red Sox are expected to come close to a trade, if not actually make one by the August 3 deadline. Where do fantasy managers wish him to go?
Contreras has a no-trade clause, which will make this process difficult. Surely, he will demand to play for a contender. The Mariners are a contender. They lead the AL West with the 3rd-best record in the league.
The All-Star will cut into the work of Josh Naylor (1B) and Dominic Canzone (DH). The power-hitter's value comes from driving in runs and playing in the most batter-friendly parks.
Seattle ranks 22nd in on-base percentage. In park factor, Seattle ranks as the toughest for hitters. The Mariners are not the ideal landing spot for Contreras, and they have a contentious depth chart.
The Guardians can use their big power in the heart of their lineup to defeat the White Sox for the AL Central pennant. As they are rumored to be a prime candidate for Contreras, the discussion is warranted.

LOU 3 – COL 1
Box Score
The Columbus Clippers fell to the Louisville Bats in Friday night’s 97°F game time scorcher. Austin Peterson took the mound for Columbus, earning a quality start despite falling to 0-7 on the season with last night’s loss. Peterson threw six complete innings, allowing two run on four hits and striking out five. Jake Miller and Jack Leftwich both pitched scoreless innings with only one base runner allowed (Miller – BB). Trevor Stephan came out to close the game, giving up a run on a solo homer. Stephan gave up four hits in his inning of work.
The Clippers sole run cam in the bottom of the first. Petey Halpin and Angel Genao drew back-to-back walks to start the inning. Juan Brito slapped a double on a liner to right, scoring Petey. The Clippers had a few scoring chances through out the game, but did not capitalize on any of them. In the bottom of the second, Milan Tolentino converted a one-out walk into a triple with a stolen second base and taking third on a throwing error. In the bottom of the seventh CJ Kayfus hit a lead off double. In the bottom of the eighth Angel Genao hit a lead off single but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. Ralphy Velazquez hit a two out single, followed by Bo Naylor drawing a walk to move Ralphy into scoring position. All runners were left in scoring position.
ERI 6 – AKR 1

As the weather starts to warm up, tensions among players and teams naturally begin to rise, as we've seen multiple altercations occur during games this past week. With Wilson Contreras taking exception to words said to him by Cade Cavalli and Josh Naylor getting into it with former teammate Austin Hedges, it's time to ask the question: What's with the beef?
On this episode of Baseball Bar-B-Cast, Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman break down the bad blood that circulated through Fenway Park between the Boston Red Sox and the Washington Nationals, as well as between the Cleveland Guardians and the Seattle Mariners. Did Wilson Contreras have the right to be as upset as he was with Cade Cavalli? Is there a bigger issue that needs to be discussed regarding Josh Naylor's former actions with teammates?
Later on the show, Jake and Jordan preview the 2026 MLB Draft, including which of Roch Cholowsky, Vahn Lackey and Grady Emerson could go No. 1 overall and why Jackson Flora is the clear top pitcher in this draft class. They then take a look at the New York Yankees suffering their annual June swoon after dropping their series to the Detroit Tigers, with Cam Schlittler helping to extend the skid, and Junior Caminero officially joining the Home Run Derby field.
2:13 - The Opener: Brawl in Boston
19:14 - Naylor vs. Hedges

Like a rollercoaster built by a particularly unimaginative person, tonight’s Mariners game was slow and boring for the first two-thirds, then suddenly rocketed into being fun late. By the time it was over the score was 8-3 and the Mariners offense had somehow not only blown past their former three-run-per-game cap (Rest in Pieces, hopefully never to be seen again), but managed to score all those runs without a homer for the first time in four years. For a team that’s built on on-base and slug, tonight was a lot of death by papercuts inflicted on the Angels bullpen, appropriately ending what’s been a weird June in a weird way – and yet also not, because with this win the Mariners end June at 13-14 for the month, the exact same way they ended June of 2025. Could this boring back-loaded rollercoaster metaphor bear out over the whole season? Reader, we shall see.
Bryan Woo turned in another solid start in what’s been a fairly uneven season for him so far, bobbing and weaving through some bad-luck BABIP hits and fielding miscues behind him; he didn’t have to deal with more than one baserunner until the fifth, when perpetual thorn in Mariners side Jo Adell reached on a throwing error from Colt Emerson and then Woo , maybe shaken, walked his next hitter, Josh Lowe, who is currently running a robust 4% walk rate. Woo rebounded to get out of trouble, getting three straight weakly-hit outs, and then roared through the sixth with a quick 1-2-3 inning against the top of the Angels lineup.
But the Mariners offense limped through those first five innings, tonight missing both Luke Raley and Dominic Canzone, both getting in an extra day of rest before tomorrow’s off-day. The Mariners couldn’t get anything going off Jose Soriano, putting him in a time machine and transporting him back to his early dominant days of the 2026 season despite some wandering command. Soriano struck out nine Mariners over five innings, as they chased after both cutters up and curveballs down, scattering just three hits across the first five frames.
The Mariners finally broke the deadlock in the sixth, finally stringing together some hits against Soriano, and we’re saying finally twice (thrice!) because that’s how finally it felt. Julio Rodríguez, leading off the inning, jumped on the first pitch he saw, a slider, for a single. Josh Naylor then worked a slightly longer at-bat before getting a fastball he could dump up the middle for a single of his own. The Mariners got their first run of the day – and the first run of the game – on a third consecutive single from Randy Arozarena, who took Soriano’s splitter and scorched it into left field, bringing in Julio from second easily.
That * explosion of offense * caused Angels manager Kurt Suzuki (curséd sentence) to call upon Chase Silseth, who sounds like if a Star Wars character went to a fancy boarding school, to face Cal Raleigh. It’s been a struggle for the Big Dumper, and while we would have loved to see a refreshing rainmaking Dum

SEATTLE (AP) — Julio Rodriguez had three hits and scored twice, Bryan Woo took a shutout into the seventh inning and the Seattle Mariners put together a five-run sixth on Tuesday night to beat the Los Angeles Angels 8-3.
Rodriguez and Colt Emerson both had three of Seattle’s 13 hits. Randy Arozarena and Cole Young scored two runs apiece.
Woo (7-6) allowed just four hits and struck out five in 6 1/3 innings. The Angels’ first two runs in their three-run seventh were charged to him after he gave way to reliever Eduard Bazardo. That ended Woo’s streak of home shutout innings at 32 1/3, which stretched over a span of five games dating to May 6 against Atlanta.
Michael Rucker pitched a scoreless eighth for the Mariners, and Andres Munoz set L.A. down in order in the ninth.
The Mariners batted around in the sixth, with their first five hitters reaching base on four hits and one walk. Rodriguez and Josh Naylor both singled, then Arozarena singled to score Rodriguez with the first run and chase Los Angeles starter Jose Soriano (8-5).

The Guardians will approach MLB's 2026 Trade Deadline with some interesting decisions to make.
With Jose Ramirez and Angel Martinez likely to still be on the IL as the deadline approaches, the Guardians will have to evaluate what their team is likely to be in need of when their best player as well as their current slugging leader make their returns. One would THINK that a team that is steadily in the bottom of all offensive categories except on-base percentage would still be in the market for some slugging, particularly from the right-handed side of the plate.
The number one place on the team where there is no clear internal option is for one more high leverage reliever, preferably one that bats left-handed. Of course, every team in MLB will be hoping to find a high leverage reliever and a right-handed power threat at the deadline. Will Cleveland be willing to do a little overpay to get one of these players? …It doesn't seem like the kind of thing they typically do… but I suppose the Lane Thomas deal kinda qualifies.
The trickiest category of potential acquisitions is a starting pitcher. The Guardians' rotation is strong. However, how likely is it that all five of them will make it through the season, because the depth behind them is practically non-existent. Personally, I'd be delighted if the Guardians shocked us and added another front of the rotation arm and showed willingness to let Cantillo or Cecconi become multi-inning weapons in the pen. But, I don't expect that kind of move, and admit it probably makes sense to focus your resources on improving the lineup and bullpen. So, I'm not going to spend time below focusing on the starters the Guardians could target. If they do, great. If anything, I'd see them doing a 2024 Matthew Boyd-type deal where they find a pitcher who is rehabbing they can take a flyer on. (But, they do also have Ben Lively somewhere who may fit that category).
I see the Guardians being willing to consider trading prospects for major league help, but I also suspect they will look to trade some of their own players even independent from acquiring help for now. I ***** ume, at this point, that they will trade Franco Aleman, who should be an ***** et in a deal for help now. Otherwise, I'm not sure why he wouldn't be with the major league team at this point. Bo Naylor probably gets moved for a comp pick at best, but more likely a lottery ticket-type prospect. I think they may deal Steven Kwan to a team who believes they can fix what ails him as a hitter, as many of his underlying skills remain. They're not going to get much for Kwan, though, so imagine him as more of a third-piece or a player they trade for a comp pick/lottery ticket, also.

Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor is a former All-Star, a former first-round draft pick, and a fan favorite in Seattle. He has also been traded four times in the last decade, rare for a player of his talent.
Naylor's off-the-field reputation among his peers was called into question in a game against the Cleveland Guardians. He and Guardians catcher Austin Hedges were teammates from 2019-24, traded together from San Diego to Cleveland in 2020.
But they engaged in a shouting match during the sixth inning of a June 28 game, a 6-5 Guardians win, after Naylor appeared to lean into a pitch to get hit on the arm.
Did Hedges say to Naylor "nobody asked you" or "nobody likes you?" Many **** umed the latter, sparring his defenders in the Mariners' fan base to come out of the online woodwork in his defense.
MORE: Former Dodgers infielder, 31, announces retirement from baseball

Apparently not everything was cool among teammates when Josh Naylor, now with the Seattle Mariners, was with the Cleveland Guardians from 2020 to 2024.
Well, at least that’s the way it appeared from an exchange between Naylor and Guardians catcher Austin Hedges at the top of the sixth inning during the Sunday, June 28 game between the two teams.
Naylor, up 1-0 in the count, leaned into pitcher Tim Herrin’s pitch intentionally to get on base, drawing Hedges’ ire.
The former teammates went back and forth verbally with Hedges delivering the ultimate stinger after Naylor’s choice words.
Guardians news: How Patrick Bailey and a new slider turned around Slade Cecconi's 2026

SEATTLE (AP) — Ranger Suarez carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and the Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners 6-2 on Friday night.
Suarez (3-3) struck out five and walked three in 6 2/3 innings. His no-hit bid ended with Josh Naylor's one-out double in the seventh.
The 30-year-old lefty earned his first win since April 27 against Toronto.
Caleb Durbin put the Red Sox ahead with a second-inning solo homer, his fifth of the year. Durbin had his second three-hit game this season, with his first coming against Tampa Bay on June 10.
Ceddanne Rafaela scored on a wild pitch in the seventh, and Marcelo Mayer drove in two more runs with a bases-loaded single.

Red Sox 6, Mariners 2
Piggy Back: Bryce Miller, .11 WPA
Broken Back: Luis Castillo, -.21 WPA
Saving Me From Recapping a No-Hitter Back: Josh Naylor, .88888888888888 kWPA
Game thread comment of the day:

The good thing about the punishing grind of an MLB season is it doesn’t allow a lot of time for wallowing. Just one day after the Mariners blew a winnable game in Detroit to drop a series against the lowly Tigers, they escaped with a win in Baltimore today in the series opener against the Orioles, 6-3. There were many aspects of this game that mirrored Sunday’s heartbreaking loss, but today the Mariners came out on top thanks to some timely challenges and a big blast from Josh Naylor.
Emerson Hancock was good, not great, today. The Achilles heel in Hancock’s breakout season – aside from some yucky peripherals on his fastball – has been his occasional command outages, something that’s plagued him since he was in the minors, although his struggles with command now seem to be more related to his expanded ******* nal, especially the devastating but finicky sweeper.
That sweeper got away from Hancock in the third: he hit Blaze Alexander to lead off the inning before getting it back to strike out Sam Huff looking on the pitch. But Hancock then lost the handle on his sinker to Taylor Ward, walking him on five pitches, and losing an eight-pitch battle with Gunnar Henderson to walk the bases full. A sacrifice fly from Pete Alonso brought home the first run of the game, but Hancock was able to cap the damage there, getting Colton Cowser to fly out harmlessly to end the Orioles threat.
It wasn’t pretty – Hancock was at 69 pitches by the end of the third before bouncing back with a six-pitch fourth – with Hancock missing his good secondaries, needing to lean heavily on the sinker today, a pitch that has a propensity to get hit hard; he almost doubled up his usage of the pitch today, but also had some extra velo on the sinker, which helped keep the ball finding gloves. The only tick against Hancock was his search for command cost him about an inning of work, going just five innings a day after the Mariners got just 5.2 innings out of their starter yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Mariners hitters struggled against Orioles rookie Trey Gibson (not to be confused with umpire “Power” Tripp Gibson), making a start in place of the injured Chris Bassitt. Gibson poounded the bottom of the zone, eliciting a bunch of weak-contact groundball outs. Finally, in the fifth, Dominic Canzone led off the inning with a single, and then with one out Jhonny Pereda hit a solid line drive single (101.2 mph exit velocity). Ryan Bliss, getting a start after Colt Emerson was a late scratch with back tightness and J.P. Crawford was placed on the 10-day IL after being hit in the hand by Public Enemy #1 Framber Valdez – did his job, knocking in the run with a sac fly. Pretty good, considering Bliss had been ferried to the ballpark with such little fanfare his bags didn’t even arrive (leading to a very cute exchange postgame where similar Short King Brad Adam offered to loan Bliss some of his clothes). Cole Young, pressed into leadoff duty, kept the pressure on, cashing in his Dollar Token o

BALTIMORE (AP) — Josh Naylor hit a grand slam during a five-run fifth inning and the Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-3 on Monday night.
Randy Arozarena had three hits for the AL West-leading Mariners, who have won 10 of their last 13 games.
Baltimore, which was 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position, has lost three in a row for the first time since getting swept May 18-20 at Tampa Bay.
The Mariners tied it at 1 in the fifth on Ryan Bliss’ one-out sacrifice fly. Cole Young’s single ended Baltimore rookie Trey Gibson’s outing, and reliever Anthony Nunez walked Julio Rodríguez to load the bases. Naylor then lofted a fly just over the wall in right for his seventh homer of the season.
The Orioles closed within 5-2 in the seventh when reliever Matt Brash’s wild pitch reached the backstop and allowed Coby Mayo to score. Brash nearly walked Pete Alonso to force in another run two batters later, but Seattle challenged and Alonso was out on a called third strike. Colton Cowser grounded out to leave the bases loaded.

Tanner Bibee finally got some run support and a win against the Rangers.
Zach has your recap here. The series rubber match today features Joey Cantillo vs. Jacob deGrom. Then, the Guardians come back home to play the Yankees again on Monday.
Michael Baumann has an interesting article for FanGraphs about how contracts formerly seen as immovable are probably no longer immovable.
AROUND MLB:
Josh Naylor has been doing silly things like throwing his sliding glove into the catcher and the Tigers responded by throwing a 97 mph fastball at his head.