Stay updated on everything baseball with our morning MLB News & Moments articles. We’ve got you covered to keep you in the know.
Friday’s buffet of 15 games featured a pair of double-digit slugfests that ended with last at-bat hometown heroics. The winning teams are both far from the playoff chase, but they provided fans with core memory comebacks. After a simple three-course meal on Thursday, it just took two games under the Friday night lights to serve up a feast. Oh, and this buffet also comes with more late-inning drama for dessert.
Don’t forget to watch every game with the Pitcher List community on Playback!
Today’s Headlines
New Yankee Meltdown in Miami
Before we start asking if the newest New York Yankees can handle the pressure of the Big Apple, we have to ask if they can handle a night in Miami. Jake Bird gave up three hits, one walk, and four runs. He recorded one out. David Bednar blew his first save opportunity in pinstripes. Camilo Doval did the same with help, if that’s the right word, by an error by José Caballero in right field. The Miami Marlins were down 6-0 in the fifth, 9-4 in the seventh, and 12-10 in the ninth.
Anthony Volpe blasted an eighth-inning homer after ball to left center after the Marlins dared to take a 10-9 lead in the bottom of the seventh. His bat slipped smoothly to the dirt, and Volpe hit the “calm down” celebration before he crossed the opposite batter’s box. So what that Kyle Stowers had just hit a grand slam? So what if the new additions had let a fourth-place team back into the game? New third baseman Ryan McMahon singled to bring home fellow acquisition Caballero to make it 11-10 in the ninth, and there was Volpe again with a double to pad the lead.
12-10 in the ninth. Enter Doval. A groundout was a good start, but a single and a walk brought the winning run to the plate. Xavier Edwards poked a simple grounder through to right. Caballero’s attempt to scoop it off the turf turned into a chase to the warning track that allowed both runners to score and Edwards to stand up at third.
Please watch the Field View cut of what happens next. This is currently my favorite Field View. I usually don’t pick them for highlights because they look like all the other Field Views. Instead of the ball instantly disappearing, Agustín Ramírez’s tapper never leaves the frame. He looks over his shoulder to see Edwards dash and dive toward home with Austin Wells holding the baseball a few feet away. You don’t see Edwards touch home to make it 13-12, but you do see him chase Ramirez down for the post-walk-off water bottle dousing.
Doyle Completes Colorado Comeback
The Pittsburgh Pirates entered Friday night’s game in Colorado with the fewest runs scored in Major League Baseball. Oneil Cruz stepped into the box with no outs and the bases loaded in the first inning and sent a Statcast Special into the bullpen, the highlight of a nine-run opening frame. That had to feel like a sigh of relief for an offense that is the exact opposite of a juggernaut. Welcome to Coors Field! The Pirates’ runs allowed total is similar to that of playoff hopefuls (and the .500 Kansas City Royals), so a nine-run advantage provided a semblance of security even in the park where ERAs go to die.
So how did we get to Brenton Doyle and his fellow Colorado Rockies celebrating their 29th win of the season?
Well, there’s Warming Bernabel’s 4-for-6 night, including a three-run homer that cut the score to 9-4 in the third. (Bernabel has a six-game hitting streak over all six games of his week-long MLB career.) And there’s Ezequiel Tovar’s 4-for-6 night that included a pair of RBI doubles. There’s also Yanquiel Fernández’s first career homer, a two-run shot in the eighth that made the score 16-12.
With a score like that, there are obviously heroes on both sides. Andrew McCutchen went 3-for-5 with five RBI, three runs, and a homer. Isiah Kiner-Falefa went 3-for-5 with three RBI, two runs, and a double. But all that just set up the ninth-inning rally. Hunter Goodman homered to left with one out. 16-13. Bernabel tripled to bring in Jordan Beck, who walked. 16-14. Thairo Estrada singled. 16-15. Doyle nailed down the 17-16 win with his drive to left field.
Roman Road to Victory
Roman Anthony’s first walk-off hit soared to the deepest part of Fenway Park and stole the headlines from old names reuniting in a new place. The Houston Astros–Boston Red Sox match-up featured some soap opera connections. Alex Bregman welcomed Carlos Correa to his new home and his old position. Correa re-joined the team where he earned his reputation as a post-season villain/hero, but shifted to third base to make way for the reactivated Jeremy Peña. Pena went 3-for-5 in his return, Bregman went 2-for-4 against his former team, and Correa went o-for-4 in his first game back with the Astros. Boston’s now-former top MLB prospect overshadowed the reunions and earned the Red Sox their 60th win of the season with his 10th-inning, warning-track single.
M’s Collect Walk-Off Division Win
J.P. Crawford slugged the Seattle Mariners to a key AL West win over the Texas Rangers. The M’s got a pair of hits from new arrivals Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez. Crawford spared Logan Gilbert from the loss after the Seattle starter went six innings and struck out seven, and he helped pick up a game on the division leaders in one of the tightest remaining races. The Astros, Mariners, and Rangers are all within 5.5 games of each other.
Walk-Off Number Five
We’re staying on theme with the Cleveland Guardians‘ 3-2 win over the Minnesota Twins. Kyle Manzardo’s game-winning single put Cleveland a game over .500 and eight games behind in the AL Central.
Duran Closes Down Detroit
Jhoan Duran locked down a win in the only matchup of teams with 60-plus wins. (This is Pitcher List, so it’s only right that we get a hurler in here with all these hitters.) The Detroit Tigers got a strong outing from Jack Flaherty (6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 7 K), but the Philadelphia Phillies battled back to put Duran in the position to earn his first save with his new team. He needed just four splitters to secure the 5-4 victory, and they were the four fastest of the game: 98.4, 99.0, 99.7, and 98.8.
Best Moments From Yesterday
Cruz Control
Doyle was this close to hitting for the cycle. Cruz’s cannon kept him from a triple.
Vladdy the Daddy
Vlaimel and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had just about the best combination of birthday and take your daughter to work day possible. First pitch: check. No-doubt homer: check. The only thing missing was the W for the first-place Toronto Blue Jays, who lost to Kansas City 9-3.
Throwing the First Pitch on her birthday: Vlaimel Guerrero 😃Happy Birthday, Vlaimel 🥳
— Toronto Blue Jays (Bot) (@bluejaysbot.bsky.social) 2025-08-01T23:35:38.000Z
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. just launched a no-doubter to open the scoring for the #BlueJaysAnother birthday present for his daughter, Vlaimel, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch tonight:
— Keegan Matheson (@keeganmatheson.bsky.social) 2025-08-01T23:22:53.799Z
Power of the Pancake
The Milwaukee Brewers scored 16 runs on 25 hits on the same night that their manager pulled a pancake out of his pocket during an interview. Is the pocket pancake the 2025 version of the rally sausage from Minnesota?
Brewers manager Pat Murphy has a pocket pancake
Brotherly Love
Did the Phillies and their new closer just become best friends? The coordination to put this together between acquiring Duran on Thursday and trotting him out for the ninth on Friday is impressive. Flames, of course, and also a spider for his Durantula nickname.
this RULES
— Matt Snyder (@mattsnydercbs.bsky.social) 2025-08-02T02:42:11.151Z
Pulling Up the Sox
The 2024 Chicago White Sox finished 41-121. The 2025 White Sox are now 41-69.
Injuries and Other Moves
⚾ The day after the trade deadline involves plenty of roster shuffling. Check here for new player activations and corresponding roster moves.
⚾ The New York Yankees released right-hander Marcus Stroman as part of their rearrangement to add deadline acquisitions to their roster.
⚾ The Brewers placed center fielder Jackson Chourio on the 10-day IL with a hamstring injury.
⚾ The St. Louis Cardinals placed third baseman Nolan Arenado on the 10-day IL with a shoulder injury.
⚾ The Guardians no longer have lockers for Luis L. Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase. Both pitchers are under investigation regarding gambling allegations and suspicious pitching activity.
Articles You Should Read
Breaking Down All 30 Teams Following 2025 MLB Trade Deadline — Steve Drumwright, Pitcher List
ZiPSing Up the Trade Deadline: 2025 Edition — Dan Szymborski, FanGraphs
Fantasy Baseball Coverage
