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Much of baseball happens in a weekend. This time the Yankees’ superstars crushed in the Bay, the Brewers tightened their grip on the NL Central, the White Sox had fighting words off the field (but not many on the diamond), and the Mariners look serious in as to fixing his hitting problems.
Here’s what you need to know about the weekend in MLB.
No one in the MLB has more wins than the New York Yankees (42). And that’s because the Bronx Bombers came to San Francisco and intimidated the Giants behind the dominant performances of their superstars. It was the baseball equivalent of a vicious hit.
The series was defined by the story of Bay Area kid Aaron Judge playing the first games of his career at Oracle Park after his dramatic free agent frenzy broke the hearts of Giants fans (remember Arson Judge?). The big man stole the show in the opener, launching a pair of big fly balls to help the Yankees win 6-2. But the next day was truly unforgettable.
In the first inning of Saturday’s contest, Judge overturned a Logan Webb changeup for a monster supersonic 464-foot shot in another Yankees victory.
San Francisco entered the ninth inning on Sunday with a two-run lead, with a chance to save the finish. Most importantly, though, the Yankees employ Juan Soto. After Anthony Volpe’s triple cut the lead to one, Soto hit a Camilo Doval heater into the right field seats for a one-run lead. It was a Murphy’s Law weekend for the Giants and their fans.
The Yankees return home after a successful nine-game trip to California (they finished 7-2) for a series against who else, their all-time punching bag: the Minnesota Twins.
The Brewers take advantage of the Cubs’ fall to sweep the pitiful White Sox
Milwaukee took care of business against the woeful White Sox in one of three sweeps of the weekend. After a 23-hit barrage in the opener, the Brewers outscored the White Sox thanks to solid pitching in the final two games from rookie Robert Gasser, ace Freddy Peralta and a tight bullpen. That makes five straight wins for Milwaukee, which, along with the Cubs’ recent nosedive, has given the Brew Crew a solid seven-game lead atop the NL Central.
The return of Rhys Hoskins from injury a few days ago will only help the Brewers’ growing offense as Milwaukee heads to Philadelphia this week for a brilliant showdown between two of the best clubs on the circuit.
The White Sox, on the other hand, are a catastrophe covered in disaster, wrapped in calamity and fried in debacle. They have now lost 11 consecutive baseball games and are the worst team in the MLB by a significant margin. At 15-45, Chicago is on pace to finish the season with 40 wins, which would tie them with the 1962 New York Mets for the lowest winning percentage in the MLB expansion era.
Things got particularly strange on Sunday after fearless veteran outfielder Tommy Pham tried to confront Brewers catcher William Contreras after a play at the plate. He was relatively cheerful on the diamond, but Pham, 36, who is almost certainly trade bait for the Sox, took it to another level during his postgame media availability by referencing his off-field fighting regimen. seasonal.
The 2024 White Sox are a unique experience.
“There’s a reason I do all kinds of fights in the off-season. Because I’m ready to screw someone over” -Tommy Pham pic.twitter.com/REBPGPj5BX
— CHGO White Sox (@CHGO_WhiteSox) June 2, 2024
Expect the Orioles to be active on the trade market after losing two huge arms
Baltimore general manager Mike Elias dropped a bombshell of bad news Friday afternoon, announcing that two of his team’s pitchers, John Means and Tyler Wells, would undergo surgery for UCL tears. For Means, who underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2022 but struggled to return to the game, it is a particularly cruel blow. Wells had been a starter for Baltimore early on, but was likely destined for the bullpen by the end of the summer. The double whammy increases the likelihood that Elias will act aggressively at the trade deadline.
In the short term, Baltimore has to move forward with the top 13 pitchers already in the organization. That task got off to a great start Friday against Tampa when journeyman Albert Suarez, 36, delivered five strong frames in a victory. On Saturday, the Birds made four long balls in a 9-5 victory before the Rays came back with a comeback on Sunday.
It’s not surprising that Baltimore can actually hit, but how the Orioles manage to assemble their solid, non-dominant pitching staff in the face of these recent injuries is crucial to their long-term success. It’s good to see Craig Kimbrel roaring again; The future Hall of Famer has steadied the ship with eight scoreless outings after a very difficult start to May.
Will the firing of the Mariners hitting coordinator change things at the plate?
It was a strange weekend in the Pacific Northwest.
Seattle swept the hapless Angels because, surprise, surprise, the Mariners’ starting pitchers didn’t allow a single earned run in 20 innings. That’s how the Mariners do things. This rotation is downright dynamite, potentially historically good when it’s all done and dusted.
Bryan Woo, still under a strict throwing limit, carved out Friday. Bryce Miller, the lanky, flame-throwing Texan, threw nine Halos on Saturday. Luis Castillo, old reliable, scored seven goals on Sunday. Boring things for the M’s.
As good as Seattle has been in the slump, they’ve been just as awful in the batter’s box. The awfulness of the American League West has obscured the Mariners’ offensive ineptitude, but boy, boy, is it hard to see this team getting beat up. The Mariners’ troubles culminated in the firing of the team’s “offensive coordinator” Brant Brown on Friday afternoon.
Brown was brought in during the offseason to help the Mariners get rid of the strikeout and increase contact. But in two months the club is hitting .223, which is not something good teams do.
It’s rare to see a first-year coach gain momentum after just two months, so keep an eye on Seattle’s offense to see if there’s a significant change.
Tigers part ways with Red Sox, send No. 1 draft pick Spencer Torkelson to Triple-A
Detroit has been treading water lately in a surprisingly competitive American League Central Division. Kansas City and Cleveland have been spectacular, while Minnesota’s rollercoaster season is back on track. But the Tigers, now one game under .500 after a four-game split at Fenway, have been the epitome of meh. Neither good nor horrible, just mediocre.
And while there were some definite positives (Jack Flaherty was sensational again and leadoff hitter Matt Vierling is on fire), Detroit made a significant transaction on Sunday that showed things are far from rosy in the Motor City. Spencer Torkelson, the first overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft and the presumed savior of Tiger baseball, was optioned to Triple-A after starting the season with an ugly .597 OPS.
Detroit’s rebuild, like any other, depends on the stars blooming. His only obvious success in that regard has been the rise of starting pitcher Tarik Skubal.
Torkelson was supposed to be that for Detroit’s lineup and his demotion to the minors is an admission that the great first baseman needs a reboot. It is difficult to be the face of a franchise in Toledo.