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Do you like baseball? Because God does not. The Almighty affected four games yesterday with the weather. First, He came for the Bronx, shifting Saturday’s match between the Yankees and Dodgers into a Sunday doubleheader. He hit Philly twice, forcing the team to move the game up and then later still causing a delay. Boston stayed on time, but started late. And Cleveland, playing a doubleheader because of Friday’s postponement, dealt with a delay.
Today’s Headlines
Sox Are Scorching
If Paul Revere were reborn, he’d be riding through the greater New England region shouting one thing: “THE SOX ARE BACK! THE SOX ARE BACK!” Boy, oh, boy. Are they ever, Paulie. Boston won 7-6 yesterday for their 12th-straight win. Not only does the win put them one game above .500 for the first time this season, but it also cements their longest winning streak since 2006.
How’d we get here? Wildly. Down 6-3 entering the bottom of the seventh, Boston started chipping away, peppering the opposing Tampa Bay army with shots before busting out the cannon. A Masataka Yoshida grounder and Ceddanne Rafaela double made it 6-5. That’s when Wilyer Abreu stepped to the dish. The Gold Glover galvanized a fastball 412 feet for a no-doubt, go-ahead homer for his second ding-dong of the day. The city explodes. Revere’s revelry calls out. And who knows? It might just be echoing for some time.
Middle America Melee
Last week, the Pittsburgh Pirates took two-of-two in a doubleheader. Last night, they split with the Cleveland Guardians in games of opposites. Game one, a 7-1 Pittsburgh win, wasn’t much of a contest. It’s as if the ball were smeared with honey and the Pirates bats were the bear. Three Pirates – newcomer Jacob Gonzalez, the red-hot Esmerlyn Valdez, and Nick Gonzales – all went deep. The latter made it 5-1. A wild pitch scored the sixth run, and a Ryan O’Hearn sac fly brought about the seventh. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh’s Jared Jones branded the Guardians’ bats, striking out a season-high nine batters. All in all, a drubbing.
Game two was more of the same at first. Pittsburgh led 3-0 through seven and were all but set to repeat last week’s events. Cleveland had other ideas. Three singles plated one run. A wild pitch, a theme of the doubleheader, scored another. One more single, this from Kahlil Watson, tied the game at three-a-piece. Talk about a death by a thousand paper cuts. Pittsburgh’s bullpen cracked again, this time fatally in the ninth. Following a game-saving tag at home, Pittsburgh’s Dennis Santana served up a cookie to Cleveland’s Travis Bazzana. The Aussie’s bat swatted the ball as if it were a giant open palm and sent it 414 feet for the walk-off homer. The two will play for the series tomorrow.
Seattle Puts The Screws to San Fran
The 2026 San Francisco Giants. They know pain well. Nowhere was that more evident than yesterday’s 4-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners. San Francisco was up early and late. Moreover, they’d tagged Seattle’s Bryan Woo for three runs through six innings. Now came the easy part: The nine outs that followed. Except this is where San Francisco faltered. A hit-by-pitch and a walk put two on for Seattle’s Cole Young. Young lashed a low sweeper into the grandstands for a game-tying three-run jack. From there, San Fran and Seattle went scoreless until extras. Leading off, the Giants had the easy thing ahead of them. Again, they couldn’t do it. And again, they were punished for it. Julio Rodríguez hit a fly ball, and the ghost runner tagged from third. The rest, well, have a guess.
Orioles Erase Astros Late
Before our other bit of Baltimore news, let’s start here. The Orioles won 4-2 yesterday in extras against the Houston Astros. No catchy theme? No pop culture reference? Huh? Yes, well, the affair was rather listless. Its impact, on the other hand… Well, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. The heroes for Baltimore, aside from the ghost-runner, are a trio of vets. Outfielder Tyler O’Neill played Superman. With Houston going for the win in the 10th, O’Neill uncorked a red-eyed beam to home. The ball beat the runner and saved Baltimore’s skin. Later, in the 11th, O’Neill leapt Baltimore past Houston in a single bound with an RBI single. Leody Taveras then delivered some insurance with an RBI single of his own. Their triplet, reliever Cam Sanders, then sat down the Astros to seal the game.
Now, onto those ripples. In a crowded AL wild card, head-to-head wins make all the difference. With Baltimore officially taking this series and their series earlier this season, Baltimore now has the head-to-head advantage. Likewise, it puts Baltimore just 1.5 games back of the third wild card spot, while Houston is now three games behind. Football is a game of inches. Baseball is a game of details, folks.
Bradish Staying in Bird Land
It’s pitcher extension season, apparently. After the Reds officially inked Chase Burns to an extension, Baltimore’s done the same for Kyle Bradish. The team inked Bradish to a five-year, $90 million deal. The contract buys out three years of free agency and keeps Bradish in Baltimore. Bradish has been nothing short of sensational since 2023. In the four seasons since, he’s posted a 3.03 ERA, 3.33 FIP, 9.7 K/9, and 21 wins in 63 starts. Those numbers have Bradish ranked 11th in baseball in ERA and 27th in K/9 during that span.
Brad news for the rest of the league 😏
We have agreed to terms with RHP Kyle Bradish on a five-year contract extension for the 2027-31 seasons. pic.twitter.com/8Pyk5ihHfV
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) July 18, 2026
Start Beliebing?
That’s more like it. So says Toronto and the rest of the world watching Shane Bieber in a 1-0 win over the Chicago White Sox. The 31-year-old pitched six shutout innings, allowed just three hits, and struck out six on eighty pitches. Clean, efficient. It was easily Bieber’s best start of the season, though there’s not much competition. Before today, Bieber allowed runs of four, two, seven, and two while topping out at five-and-a-third innings pitched. Offensively, it’s all thanks to a George Springer RBI single.
By The Numbers
⚾ 33. Kyle Schwarber homered. His 33 homers lead the Majors by two.
⚾ 21. The Cubs roller coaster keeps a ridin’. With yesterday’s win, the team is now 21-9 over its last 30.
⚾ 6.1. A’s pitcher J.T. Ginn carried another no-hit bid deep, this making it 6.1 innings. He is just the fourth A’s pitcher over the last 50 years to have multiple no-hit bids in the same season.
⚾ 4. New Pfaadt, who dis? The Arizona Diamondbacks have won each of Brandon Pfaadt’s last four starts since his return from Triple-A. His ERA in these four starts? 2.14.
⚾ 4, again. TJ Rumfield was left for dead. Now he’s hitting .302 for the Rockies with a .869 OPS and is coming off a four-hit game. Might we have our first Rockie to win Rookie of the Year since Jason Jennings in 2001?
⚾ 1. The Red Sox won their first game this season after trailing by three or more runs at one point. Before today, they were 1-34.
Best Moments From Yesterday
Carter’s Cast In Gold
There are works of art. Then there’s this.
Standing 15 ft tall and weighing 6200 lbs, the
Back-to-Back WS Champions statue captures Joe Carter leaping in celebration.Two sides feature the engraved ‘92/‘93 rosters.
On the back is inscribed:
“Touch ‘em all, Joe. You’ll never hit a bigger home run in your life.” pic.twitter.com/aDtt0p6xwS— Hazel Mae (@thehazelmae) July 18, 2026
Wrigley Wonders Part One
The Cubs celebrated the 10th anniversary of their 2016 World Series-winning team. Wait, 2016 was 10 years ago?
This will always be family. 💙 pic.twitter.com/N9XUBUeRiy
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 18, 2026
Wrigley Wonders Part Two
Present meets past meets amazing coincidence.
Michael Busch hit a homer into the bleachers …
Anthony Rizzo got the ball! pic.twitter.com/oVp6EF54AE
— MLB (@MLB) July 18, 2026
Tyler O’MG
Those arms aren’t just for show.
Tyler O'Neill reached 29.3 ft/sec here to beat the throw from Jose Altuve and allow Gunnar Henderson to score.
📽️: MASN pic.twitter.com/AUWuJy5Qn2
— Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) July 18, 2026
Another for Rafaela’s Reel
It ain’t nothing for Ceddy.
Ceddanne Rafaela. Always making your jaw drop with the glove. pic.twitter.com/cORixcsJeH
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) July 18, 2026
They’re Just Like Us
Boston, your broadcasters can’t help themselves either.
"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" 🗣️
That look back to OB from @LouMerloni was ALL OF US 🤯 pic.twitter.com/35PmvYSi78
— NESN (@NESN) July 18, 2026
Injuries and Other Moves
⚾ Bad news for the Brewers. Once franchise-great Brandon Woodruff is on the shelf long term once again. The 33-year-old will undergo a season-ending, potentially career-threatening capsule surgery on his throwing shoulder. Due to the nature of the injury, Woodruff will miss parts of the 2027 season. Despite all this, Woodruff plans to make another comeback attempt. Through nine seasons, Woodruff has a 3.10 ERA and a 1.022 WHIP.
⚾ He’s back! The Seattle Mariners reinstated star outfielder Julio Rodríguez from the seven-day concussion IL. Rodríguez’s return means the end of utilityman Miles Mastrobuoni’s time with the team. Seattle DFA’d the 30-year-old after just 13 games.
⚾ Houston, you have some problems. Both Jeremy Peña and Christian Walker exited Saturday’s game early due to injury. For Peña, it’s a right hamstring cramp. For Walker, it’s right hip tightness. Peña’s injury is especially of concern. He’s hit the shelf twice already this year. Houston cannot afford a third IL trip.
⚾The Cubs continue to scrounge for starting pitching. Their latest search led them back to the recently DFA’d Aaron Civale. The team acquired Civale from the A’s in exchange for minor leaguer Aiden Moffet. In 16 games with the A’s, Civale posted a 5.42 ERA.
⚾ It’s Bradley Hanner’s big day. The Yankees signed the right-hander to a Major League contract and optioned him to Triple-A. Hanner’s ascension comes at Aaron Judge’s expense. The team also moved Judge to the 60-day IL.
⚾ In other Brewers news, outfielder Sal Frelick landed on the 10-day IL with a right shoulder strain. Outfielder Blake Perkins will join Milwaukee in Frelick’s stead.
⚾ Lourdes can’t catch a break. The Arizona Diamondbacks placed outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on the 10-day IL with a strained right abductor. This makes three injuries for the 32-year-old and keeps him capped at 42 games played. Catcher Adrian Del Castillo replaces Gurriel on the active roster.
⚾ The A’s made a flurry of Saturday moves. Veteran Geoff Hartlieb is up for the injured Justin Sterner, while first baseman Joey Meneses was DFA’d. Meneses had a .430 OPS in just nine games.
Articles You Should Read
7 bubble teams to watch going into Trade Deadline – Thomas Harrigan, MLB.com
Trade rumors: Yankees, Luis García Jr., Holmes, Cubs – MLB.com
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