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There was no shortage of excitement at the home turfs of three AL East squads, as the Yankees, Red Sox, and Orioles all won (the Orioles twice). One of these games included an opponent’s no-hit bid into the eighth inning, quickly flipping in favor of the home team. Meanwhile, before Thursday’s action began, the final two Home Run Derby participants announced their arrival for Monday’s event in Atlanta. We now know what players will fill out the eight-man field. There’s no lack of home run prowess between this year’s participants. More on that later.
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Today’s Headlines
Woo’s Bid For No-No Doesn’t End Well
Forget the fact that Bryan Woo threw his fifth straight quality start on Thursday at Yankee Stadium. What MLB fans will remember about Seattle’s bid to avoid a three-game sweep on the road was the 25-year-old’s no-hitter ending in the eighth inning with his team leading by a comfortable 5-0 margin. Once Jazz Chisholm Jr. broke up Woo’s no-no on a single to right to lead off the frame, it all went downhill from there.
Woo surrendered another single to the next batter, Ben Rice, before getting Austin Wells out on a sac fly to left, bringing home the Yankees’ first run of the game. With one out and a man on first, Woo’s day was finished. Mariners reliever Matt Brash entered with one man on and struck out the first batter he faced, Anthony Volpe. However, next up was pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton, who drove a 2-1 sinker over the right field wall to cut Seattle’s lead to 5-3.
The Mariners avoided further damage in the frame, but in the bottom of the ninth, with the score unchanged, the usually reliable Andrés Muñoz entered the fray and allowed two of the first three batters he faced to reach via singles. After getting Chisholm Jr. to hit a fly ball to right for the second out, Munoz walked Rice to load the bases. Up stepped Wells with a chance to drive in another run or more, and the catcher came through with a game-tying two-run single to send the contest to extras.
Yankees reliever Devin Williams tossed a perfect 10th to keep the game even at five. In the bottom half, Mariners reliever Gabe Speier walked two batters to load the bases with one away before facing the reigning AL MVP, Aaron Judge. On a 1-1 slider, Judge casually lifted a lazy flyball to centerfielder Julio Rodriguez, allowing Volpe to score on a dramatic walk-off victory on a close play at home.
The Yankees scored six unanswered runs for the 6-5 victory and series sweep. Woo’s final line in the tough no-decision: 7.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 K, 2 BB.
Boston’s Bottom of the Order Comes Up Big
The first of four games at Fenway between two of the AL East’s postseason hopefuls saw the Boston Red Sox take an early 1-0 lead on the Tampa Bay Rays courtesy of a Roman Anthony RBI single in the third. The Sox were seeking their seventh consecutive victory after sweeps against the Nationals and Rockies prior to the start of this series.
Tampa responded with a go-ahead two-run homer in the fourth inning from shortstop Ha-Seong Kim. This was followed by a Junior Caminero solo blast in the sixth for his team-leading 23rd homer of the season.
Starting pitcher Taj Bradley held the Red Sox to one run over six innings and 88 pitches before being replaced in the seventh by newly acquired Bryan Baker, who was traded earlier in the day from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for a 2025 37th overall pick from Tampa (More details on the trade can be found below in ‘Injuries and Other Moves’).
Anyway, some fans could be wondering if the Tampa Bay front office wished they had delayed that trade with Baltimore until, perhaps, Friday after the 30-year-old right-hander walked the first two batters to start the seventh frame. This was followed by an RBI double on a liner to left center off the bat of eight-hole hitter Marcelo Mayer, and a two-run go-ahead single up the middle by the No.9 batter Ceddanne Rafaela.
Baker was able to wiggle his way out of further trouble in the frame, but with the score 4-3 in Boston’s favor, the damage was already done. Reliever Garrett Whitlock set down the Rays 1-2-3 in the eighth before Aroldis Chapman closed the door in the ninth for his 16th save by striking out Taylor Walls.
Final score: Sox-4, Rays-3
Boston’s seventh straight victory improved its record to 50-45, and though still in fourth place, the Sox are only a half-game behind the Rays for third position in the AL East. Don’t look now, but Boston is only five back of Toronto for the division’s top spot. The Sox are 5-2 against Tampa so far this season.
Baltimore Claims Two Comeback Wins in Doubleheader
It has not been a pretty start to the warmer months for the Mets after beginning the season 21-9 through April. New York entered Thursday’s doubleheader at Baltimore with a 17-19 record since the start of June. In the opening contest, the Mets drew first blood on a Tyrone Taylor RBI double in the fifth. Starter David Peterson was cruising along with six strikeouts over seven scoreless innings until a leadoff single in the eighth by Colton Cowser marked the end of the lefty’s afternoon. Unfortunately for the road team, reliever Ryne Stanek surrendered a go-ahead two-run tater to the first batter he faced, pinch-hitter Gunnar Henderson, ending Peterson’s hopes for his seventh win of ’25.
The O’s added one more in the eighth on a Ramón Laureano sac fly before closer Félix Bautista finished off the Mets with a perfect ninth, leading to a 3-1 win.
Game 2 once again saw the Metropolitans score first, this time with two runs in the opening inning. Baltimore responded with three runs in the third, highlighted by Jordan Westburg’s 10th long ball of the season to give his team a 3-2 advantage.
The Mets tied the game at three apiece in the fourth, but a Cowser run-scoring single in the fifth gave the O’s a 4-3 lead.
Baltimore tacked on another run in the frame, followed by two more in the sixth. Neither team scored again as the O’s swept the doubleheader with a 7-3 victory and, ultimately, a 2-1 series win. The Mets fell to 53-41 and 1.5 games behind the idle Phillies in the NL East.
Home Run Derby Participants Are Set
The Athletics‘ Brent Rooker and the Yankees’ Chisholm Jr. both announced their entrance into the 2025 T-Mobile Home Run Derby in Atlanta to officially give the event its eight challengers. Rooker has 19 homers on the year, and Chisholm Jr. has tallied 17 long balls so far in the first half. They’ll join MLB home run leader, Seattle’s Cal Raleigh, Nationals rookie slugger James Wood, Minnesota’s veteran outfielder Byron Buxton, Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz, Tampa Bay’s third baseman, Caminero, and finally, Atlanta’s very own, 2023 NL MVP, Ronald Acuña Jr. The Derby takes place on Monday at 8 p.m. ET.
THE HOME RUN DERBY IS SET‼️
Jazz Chisholm Jr. joins the field to complete the derby bracket 🍿
📺 Monday, July 14 | 8 PM ET | ESPN pic.twitter.com/ibWPQrAVA2
— ESPN (@espn) July 10, 2025
Best Moments From Yesterday
Soderstrom Walk-off Versus Atlanta
It was quite a day at the dish for Tyler Soderstrom after the A’s left fielder collected three hits and four RBI, which included this walk-off single in the 11th inning for a 5-4 victory and a 2-1 series win over struggling Atlanta.
Crow-Armstrong Homers Twice For Cubbies
It’s been a great season for first-time All-Star Pete Crow-Armstrong. That greatness continued on Thursday at Minnesota as the Cubs avoided being swept thanks to an 8-1 victory highlighted by two homers from their 23-year-old centerfielder, giving him 25 round-trippers on the year. Armstrong collected three knocks, three runs, and three ribbies in the game.
Machado Hits Game-Winning Homer
After collecting his 2000th career hit a few days ago at the start of San Diego’s series with Arizona, the two-time Silver Slugger, Manny Machado, had three more knocks in Thursday’s 4-3 victory. He also had the eventual game-winning hit on a fifth-inning solo shot to left. The Friars and Snakes split the four-game series in San Diego.
Injuries and Other Moves
⚾ As mentioned earlier, the Orioles traded reliever Bryan Baker to the Rays in exchange for the 37th pick (Competitive Balance Round A) in the 2025 MLB Draft beginning on July 13. Baker had been with the O’s since 2022, and after taking the loss in his Tampa debut versus Boston on Thursday, Baker has a 3-3 record with a 4.12 ERA.
⚾ The Houston Astros are promoting their top prospect, Brice Matthews. The 23-year-old shortstop is expected to make his big league debut at home on Friday versus Texas. Matthews hit .283 with 10 homers, 39 RBI, and 25 thefts at Triple-A.
⚾ More Astros news. The team activated first baseman Christian Walker from the paternity list. Walker last suited up for the ‘Stros on July 6.
⚾ The Dodgers’ Blake Snell threw two scoreless innings on Thursday while on rehab with the team’s Single-A affiliate, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. Snell hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since April 2 after shoulder inflammation landed him on the IL.
Articles You Should Read
The extraordinary mystery of the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal — Tim Keown, ESPN.com
ABS Is Coming To MLB All-Star, But Is It Welcome?: ‘It’s Good And Bad’ — Deesha Thosar, Foxsports.com
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