Coming off his second consecutive start in the All-Star Game, Pirates ace Paul Skenes will oppose Detroit Tigers right-hander Jack Flaherty as he tries to get his squad back on track on Monday night in Pittsburgh.

Skenes (4-8, 2.01 ERA) will aim to continue his bid for the National League’s Cy Young Award while trying to pull Pittsburgh out of its worst stretch of this season. The Pirates have lost three in a row since the All-Star break and 11 of their past 12 games.

The Tigers still own the best record in the majors entering Monday’s game with 60 wins, but they have been struggling of late. Detroit’s 2-1 victory at Texas on Sunday night snapped a season-worst six-game losing streak. But the Tigers scored only three runs in the three-game series against the Rangers and nearly squandered another strong start from All-Star ace Tarik Skubal.

Detroit will turn to Flaherty (5-9, 4.65), who is familiar with the Pirates from his days pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals and had plenty of success against them in his career. Flaherty is 10-1 with a 2.75 ERA in 16 career starts and 17 appearances overall against Pittsburgh.

But the Tigers need to get Flaherty going again, as he has not picked up a win since June 8. In his most recent start on July 13 against Seattle, Flaherty allowed two runs on four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts over five innings.

“You kind of stumble into the (All-Star) break a bit, however you want to put it,” Flaherty said after getting a no-decision against the Mariners. “Myself, I could have thrown a bit better in the first half, but you wipe the slate clean and move forward.”

Skenes pitched a scoreless first inning for the National League this past Tuesday, which included strikeouts of two Detroit All-Stars, Gleyber Torres and Riley Greene to lead off the game.

Skenes will now turn his attention to winning a Cy Young while his team looks for any positives down the stretch of what appears to be another losing season. Skenes, who finished third in the Cy Young voting during his NL Rookie of the Year season last year, has struck out 131 batters in 121 innings.

The Pirates have been keeping an eye on his innings as Skenes hasn’t pitched more than five in his past four starts.

“That’s why we’re doing these shorter starts — hopefully to set me up well to come out strong in the second half and continue to take on volume,” Skenes said after his most recent outing on July 11 when he allowed two runs on five hits and struck out six over five innings in a 2-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

Although Detroit is struggling to produce runs of late, Skenes has faced a lack of run support for most of the 2025 season when he’s been on the mound. Skenes is tied with teammate Mitch Keller for the least run support of any NL regular starting pitcher with 2.54 runs per game, according to Screwball.AI.

Detroit shortstop Javier Baez exited Sunday’s game in the sixth inning. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch didn’t elaborate much as to why, but told reporters after the game that Baez “wasn’t feeling right.”

–Field Level Media

Walker Buehler’s season has been quite a grind, but at least he ended the first half with a pair of solid outings.

The veteran right-hander aims to build off those performances Monday when the Boston Red Sox visit the Philadelphia Phillies for the first of three games.

Buehler (6-6, 6.12 ERA) was an All-Star, a Cy Young Award contender and World Series champion during a long stint with the Los Angeles Dodgers. But he has struggled this season upon signing a one-year, $21 million deal with the Red Sox.

After posting an 11.07 ERA during a difficult June, Buehler has authored a pair of respectable outings this month. He gave up two earned runs in five innings in a win over the Washington Nationals on July 5 and then yielded three runs in six frames in a no-decision against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 10.

“It’s nice to go through a week of prep, the five days or whatever, and not feel like I should just retire,” Buehler said after facing Tampa Bay. “I don’t think I’m going to retire anytime soon, but you get into some really dark places and that’s what happens.”

Buehler will be opposed Monday by Philadelphia ace and fellow righty Zack Wheeler (9-3, 2.36), who is one of the leading candidates for the NL Cy Young Award. He was extremely consistent during the first half of the season, although he is coming off one of his worst outings of the campaign.

Wheeler allowed four runs and six hits over six innings in a 5-4 loss to the San Diego Padres on July 12. He went on to voluntarily skip the All-Star Game in order to rest up for the second half of the season.

“Baseball is hard, and some days you’re gonna have days like today, and it stinks,” Wheeler said. “But it is baseball at the end of the day, and you’re in the big leagues, so you’ll get hit around a little bit sometimes. And it’s part of it.”

Wheeler has made three career starts against Boston, going 2-1 with a 2.75 ERA. Buehler, meanwhile, is 1-1 with a 6.48 ERA in four lifetime games (three starts) against Philadelphia.

The Phillies are coming off a series loss against the Los Angeles Angels. The teams split their first two games over the weekend before Philadelphia absorbed an 8-2 defeat on Sunday.

Otto Kemp hit a home run for the Phillies, but the team only managed six hits overall in the series finale.

“I think we just had a lot of weak contact,” the rookie utilityman said.

Boston came out of the All-Star break with a pair of losses against the Cubs in Chicago, but the team recovered to post a 6-1 triumph on Sunday afternoon.

Wilyer Abreu hit a pair of home runs Sunday after going 1-for-12 with six strikeouts over his previous five games.

“He’s got a compact swing,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora, whose team closed the first half of the season on a 10-game winning streak. “There’s a few things he’s still working on, trying to get better. But we’ll take him every day in the outfield.”

–Field Level Media

The Cincinnati Reds continue their six-game road trip when they visit the Washington Nationals for a three-game series beginning Monday night.

The Reds trail the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers by 7 1/2 games in the National League Central Division but are in the thick of the NL wild-card race. They saw their four-game winning streak end Sunday with a 3-2 loss at the New York Mets.

Washington fell behind 5-0 in the first inning Sunday as it dropped the rubber game against the visiting San Diego Padres. The Nationals have lost six of seven.

Cincinnati right-hander Brady Singer (7-7, 4.32 ERA) opposes Washington right-hander Jake Irvin (7-5, 4.58) in the opener.

In his last start, Singer allowed three runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings of a no-decision against the Colorado Rockies on July 12. He tied a season-high with nine strikeouts and walked one in his longest outing since May 27, and the Reds rallied late for a 4-3 win.

“We know where we are and we what we have to do after this break,” Singer said. “I trust a lot in this team and the fight we’re showing. We just showed it right there, so we’re gonna fight and claw in the second half.”

Singer allowed two runs in five innings of a no-decision in his only previous start against Washington while with the Kansas City Royals in May 2023.

Irvin allowed three runs (all unearned) in a loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on July 13. He yielded four hits and one walk with five strikeouts in five innings and threw 93 pitches. It was an improvement over his recent efforts.

“Execution was solid,” Irvin said afterward. “I thought we had a good game plan going into it. I tried to keep guys off-balance all night. I thought we did a good job of that. And I’m looking forward to this time off, but I’m excited to come back hungry and ready to get after it after the break.”

Irvin is 0-1 with a 4.43 ERA in 22 1/3 innings over four career starts against the Reds.

Cincinnati rallied to tie Sunday’s game 2-2 in the eighth inning before New York scored the go-ahead run in the bottom half. Still, the Reds became just the fourth team to beat the Mets in a series at Citi Field this year.

Elly De La Cruz hit an RBI single for the Reds, who left eight runners on. TJ Friedl was hit by a pitch on Sunday, making it six in the last five games.

Reds third baseman Noelvi Marte, 23, made his first MLB career start in the outfield. He had one play in right, fielding a single cleanly and throwing home, but not in time to get New York’s Tyrone Taylor.

“He came in on the ball and it was (a) very good (throw),” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “Kept it down, one hop. He’s OK. He’s going to be fine.”

The Padres got five runs off Nationals All-Star left-hander MacKenzie Gore in the first inning and cruised to an 8-1 win Sunday.

The Nationals finished with only six hits, including a Riley Adams home run. James Wood’s line-drive single to right-center in the bottom of the sixth snapped his career-worst 0-for-20 slump.

“It’s just baseball,” the 22-year-old All-Star said of his slump. “It can’t be rainbows and sunshine all the time. It happens. You’ve just got to work your way out of it.”

–Field Level Media

Not all elbow operations are created equally.

Take, for example, Miami Marlins right-hander Eury Perez, who is set to start on Monday night against the visiting San Diego Padres.

The 22-year-old native of the Dominican Republic has made an amazing recovery from Tommy John surgery, posting a 3-2 record with a 3.18 ERA this year.

In three July starts, Perez is 3-0 with a 0.50 ERA, meaning he is getting better as the season progresses.

Meanwhile, Perez’s teammate and fellow Dominican, Sandy Alcantara, has struggled after his elbow surgery. The 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner is 4-9 with a 7.14 ERA this year.

Perez had his surgery in April of 2024 and he was activated this year on June 9. That’s a 14-month recovery.

Alcantara, 29, had his surgery in October of 2023 and returned to the mound this year on March 27. That’s a 17-month recovery.

So, despite having a recovery time that is three months shorter than that of Alcantara, Perez is having far and away the better results of the two.

But that hasn’t stopped Alcantara from mentoring Perez, who has never faced the Padres.

As for the Marlins overall, they are 21-11 over their past 32 games following Sunday’s loss to the Kansas City Royals that snapped Miami’s four-game win streak.

“Trying to win series,” Marlins rookie manager Clayton McCullough said of the Marlins’ mindset on Sunday. “That’s what we’re going to continue to focus on … and not get too far ahead of ourselves.”

On the other side on Monday will be the Padres, who have won three straight three-game series. They also split a four-game series during that span.

On Sunday, the Padres routed the host Washington Nationals 8-1 as Xander Bogaerts hit a first-inning grand slam.

San Diego’s Manny Machado also hit a grand slam in Friday’s 7-2 win over Washington.

“We could be ‘Slam Diego’ again,” Padres manager Mike Shildt joked, referring to the nickname given to the team after they hit a grand slam in a record four straight games in 2020. “I’m fine with it.”

The Padres, who would be an NL wild-card playoff team if the season ended on Sunday, are expected to pitch right-hander Randy Vasquez (3-4, 3.80 ERA) to open their series in Miami.

Vasquez, a 26-year-old native of the Dominican Republic, is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA in two career games (one start) against the Marlins.

He made his major league debut in 2023 with the New York Yankees and was part of the December 2023 trade that sent Juan Soto and Trent Grisham from San Diego to New York. He is 9-13 with a 4.10 ERA in 50 appearances (44 starts) in his career.

As for San Diego’s key players on offense this year, two of them have ties to Miami.

Machado, who has 18 homers, 60 RBIs and an .843 OPS in 99 games this year, is a Miami native. And reigning three-time batting champion Luis Arraez won the second of those titles while playing for the Marlins. He also began 2024 in Miami before a May trade to San Diego. So far this season, however, he is hitting just .284, 34 points below his career average.

–Field Level Media

Two teams needing to make up ground in the American League playoff race hope to dig their opponent into a deeper hole when the Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Guardians open a four-game series in Ohio on Monday night.

The pitching matchup in the opener will be a rematch of a 6-2 Baltimore home win on April 17, when the Orioles’ Tomoyuki Sugano (7-5, 4.44 ERA) got the better of fellow right-hander Tanner Bibee (5-9, 4.29).

The Guardians improved their wild-card hopes when they came out of the All-Star break with two wins in three home games against the Athletics. Cleveland twice scored eight runs in the series after having scored eight or more just seven times while going 46-49 before the break.

“We’ve had a great stretch here,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt observed to reporters as his team was running its best stretch of the season to eight wins in 10 games. “We just have to continue to work, continue to work to have good at-bats every single night.”

Eight more runs of support no doubt would be appreciated by Bibee, who saw his teammates put up a total of just 23 runs in his team-high nine losses in the first half of the season.

The right-hander snapped a personal five-decision losing streak in his final start before the break, limiting the Chicago White Sox to two runs in 5 2/3 innings in a 6-2 win on July 12.

The 26-year-old was roughed up for six runs in 5 2/3 innings in the earlier loss at Baltimore, surrendering home runs to Gunnar Henderson on his eighth pitch of the game and later to Ryan O’Hearn and Heston Kjerstad. It leveled his career record against Baltimore at 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA in two starts.

The Orioles flew into Cleveland a little later than expected Sunday night, the result of a rain delay during their 5-3 win at Tampa Bay that prevented a three-game sweep.

Sitting four games farther back in the AL wild-card chase than the Guardians, Baltimore got a strong effort from starting pitcher Trevor Rogers against the Rays on Sunday as a springboard to snapping a four-game losing streak.

The Orioles will be hoping for more of the same from Sugano, a rookie in American baseball whose extensive experience in Japan taught him that if something’s not working, fix it.

The 35-year-old, bombed for 13 runs over 9 2/3 innings in his previous two starts as some speculated he’d hit a rookie wall, shook things up in his last outing against the New York Mets on July 10 and came away with a 7-3 win.

“Tomo’s making adjustments,” manager Tony Mansolino disclosed to reporters after Sugano’s six-inning, three-run effort. “The league has adjusted to him, and he’s got to kind of adjust back. We’re proud of him.”

The right-hander recorded his second major league win against the Guardians in April, allowing two runs in seven innings. The only runs were the product of back-to-back solo home runs by Daniel Schneemann and Austin Hedges.

–Field Level Media

Miguel Vargas and Mike Tauchman hit back-to-back home runs to spark a four-run first inning, which propelled the Chicago White Sox to a 7-2 victory over the host Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday afternoon.

Vargas and Tauchman each finished with two hits and three RBIs to help the White Sox earn their first series sweep of the season. Chicago was the only remaining team in the majors that had not swept a series this season.

The Pirates sustained their third loss in a row and 11th in their past 12 games — marking their worst stretch of the season. Nick Gonzales doubled and drove in a run for the Pirates, and Andrew McCutchen added a double.

Chicago’s bats backed up a quality start from Aaron Civale (2-6), who pitched six innings and gave up one unearned run on three hits and one walk while striking out six.

Brewers 6, Dodgers 5

Isaac Collins delivered a go-ahead two-run single in a three-run sixth inning and Milwaukee finished off a perfect run against Los Angeles this season, earning its second three-game sweep of the hosts in less than two weeks.

The Brewers won their 10th in a row as Jackson Chourio had a single to extend his hitting streak to 14 games, tying a career high set earlier this season. Left-hander Jose Quintana (7-3) gave up four runs on four hits while striking out five over six innings.

Shohei Ohtani and Esteury Ruiz hit home runs for the Dodgers, who dropped to 2-10 since July 4. The Dodgers also lost their sixth consecutive home game in the stretch as they committed three errors.

Blue Jays 8, Giants 6

Addison Barger, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer all homered to lead Toronto to the win over visiting San Francisco.

Springer and Barger both went deep as part of a four-run fifth inning to stake a 7-2 lead for the Blue Jays, who won their 10th straight game at home to equal the franchise mark set in 1985. Springer also doubled while Bo Bichette smacked two doubles and drove in a pair of runs.

Matt Chapman had two hits, including a two-run homer, for the Giants, who dropped their fifth straight. Jung Hoo Lee, Heliot Ramos and Dominic Smith each had a single and a double.

Yankees 4, Braves 2

Aaron Judge blasted his 351st career home run to move into a sixth-place tie with Alex Rodriguez for the most in New York history as the visiting Yankees held on for a win over Atlanta.

Giancarlo Stanton went 3-for-5 and Jazz Chisholm Jr. added a single and a double for the Yanks, who picked up their first series win on the road since June 10-12.

Matt Olson and Ronald Acuna Jr. each homered for the Braves, who have lost three of four.

Angels 8, Phillies 2

Taylor Ward stayed hot in Philadelphia with two doubles and four RBIs to lead Los Angeles to the win over the Phillies to complete the series victory.

Ward finished the three-game set with two homers, three doubles and eight RBIs as the Angels picked up their fourth win in six games. LaMonte Wade Jr. went 3-for-4 with a home run for Los Angeles, while Zach Neto chipped in with two hits and an RBI.

Otto Kemp singled and homered while Rafael Marchan added a hit and an RBI for the Phillies, who have lost six of nine.

Royals 7, Marlins 4

Salvador Perez homered and doubled and Kris Bubic logged five scoreless innings to earn Kansas City the road win against Miami.

Jonathan India and Jac Caglianone each doubled and drove in two runs for Kansas City, which led 7-0 before the Marlins plated four unearned runs in the ninth inning. Bobby Witt Jr. and Adam Frazier also had doubles for the Royals.

Agustin Ramirez had two hits, including a run-scoring double, while Xavier Edwards had a hit and two RBIs.

Red Sox 6, Cubs 1

Wilyer Abreu belted two home runs and had three RBIs, helping Boston rally for six unanswered runs to beat host Chicago.

Alex Bregman recorded a pinch-hit, three-run homer for the Red Sox, who have won 14 of their last 18 games. Roman Anthony added two hits for Boston.

Nico Hoerner, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Dansby Swanson each recorded two hits for the Cubs, who had their four-game winning streak snapped.

Astros 11, Mariners 3

Taylor Trammell went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and three RBIs as visiting Houston scored 11 unanswered runs to avoid a sweep against Seattle.

Christian Walker smacked a tiebreaking home run in the sixth for the Astros, who won for just the second time in nine games. Victor Caratini went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBIs, while Mauricio Dubon added two hits.

JP Crawford doubled twice for the Mariners, whose five-game winning streak came to a close. Julio Rodriguez contributed two hits and an RBI, and Jorge Polance had a two-run single.

Orioles 5, Rays 3

Fueled by three home runs, visiting Baltimore salvaged the final game of a three-game series by holding off Tampa Bay. Jackson Holliday, Ryan O’Hearn and Alex Jackson went deep for the Orioles, who ended a four-game skid.

Trevor Rogers (3-1) went six innings and allowed just five hits and two runs. The Baltimore lefty walked two and struck out three. Gunnar Henderson added a two-run double.

Yandy Diaz went 2-for-4 with a run for the Rays. Danny Jansen homered and scored twice, and Junior Caminero had two hits and one RBI.

Padres 8, Nationals 1

Xander Bogaerts had a first-inning grand slam among his two hits, Nick Pivetta pitched six strong innings and San Diego beat Washington, taking the rubber game of the series.

Elias Diaz had a home run and a single, and Jake Cronenworth added two doubles for the Padres, who have won five of seven. Pivetta (10-2) allowed a run on three hits, struck out five and walked one. In his last five starts, he is 3-0 with a 0.57 ERA, 36 strikeouts and six walks.

Riley Adams homered and Luis Garcia Jr. and Paul DeJong each had two hits for the Nationals, who have lost six of seven. Washington All-Star MacKenzie Gore (4-9) endured his worst outing of the season, allowing eight runs on eight hits — two of them home runs — in 2 1/3 innings.

Guardians 8, Athletics 2

David Fry cleared the bases with a fourth-inning double during a career-best four-RBI day, Gavin Williams struck out 11 in seven innings and Cleveland completed a series win over the visiting Athletics.

Angel Martinez chipped in with a single, double and solo home run for the Guardians, who have won eight of 10 bridging the All-Star break.

Rookie Nick Kurtz doubled twice and drove in a run for the A’s, who won just twice in the six-game season series against Cleveland.

Mets 3, Reds 2

Juan Soto scored from third on Luis Torrens’ fielder’s choice grounder in the bottom of the eighth inning, lifting New York over visiting Cincinnati.

Soto started the inning by coaxing a leadoff walk from Brent Suter (1-1), then reached third via Jeff McNeil’s one-out double to right-center. Tony Santillan relieved Suter and Torrens welcomed him by rapping a 3-2 pitch to Reds second baseman Matt McLain, whose one-hop throw home was too late to nail Soto at the plate.

Edwin Diaz (5-0) got the win for the Mets despite blowing a save chance, courtesy of his two-out, bases-loaded plunking of Spencer Steer that allowed McLain to score the tying run in the top of the eighth. Ryne Stanek pitched the ninth for his second save.

Twins 7, Rockies 1

Royce Lewis hit two home runs for his second multi-homer game of his career — and first in the regular season — as Minnesota went deep four times to beat Colorado in Denver.

Matt Wallner and Harrison Bader also homered to back seven strong innings from starter Joe Ryan. Ryan (10-4) tied his season high with 11 strikeouts, didn’t walk a batter and gave up one run on five hits.

Christian Vazquez had three hits and Kody Clemens contributed two hits for Minnesota, which avoided a sweep. Mickey Moniak homered, Jordan Beck had three hits and Ryan McMahon doubled twice for the Rockies.

Diamondbacks 5, Cardinals 3

Eugenio Suarez had his second consecutive two-homer game, Merrill Kelly pitched six strong innings and Arizona completed a three-game sweep of St. Louis in Phoenix.

Suarez hit a three-run homer as part of a four-run first inning and added a solo home run in the third to increase his NL-leading total to 35, one more than the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani. Since June 1, Suarez’s 20 homers are the most in the majors.

Kelly (9-5) gave up three hits and two runs in six innings, striking out five and walking four in the Diamondbacks’ fourth straight win. Ivan Herrera had an RBI single and Jordan Walker added an RBI-double with two outs in the ninth for the Cardinals, who have lost 11 of 15.

Tigers 2, Rangers 1

Matt Vierling’s two-out single in the eighth provided the deciding run as offense-starved Detroit defeated Texas night in the finale of a three-game series in Arlington, Texas.

The Tigers did just enough to snap a season-high six-game skid while Texas had a three-game winning streak snapped. Tariq Skubal went 6 2/3 innings, allowing a run on four hits with no walks and 11 strikeouts.

Rangers emergency starter Jacob Latz went five innings, surrendering a run on six hits.

–Field Level Media

Matt Vierling’s two-out single in the eighth provided the deciding run as the offense-starved Detroit Tigers defeated the Texas Rangers 2-1 on Sunday night in the finale of a three-game series in Arlington, Texas.

The Tigers did just enough to snap a season-high six-game skid while Texas had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Vierling’s game-winning hit off Rangers reliever Chris Martin (1-6) drove home Gleyber Torres, who had opened the eighth with an infield single and moved to second base on Riley Greene’s single.

Tyler Holton (5-3), who entered in the seventh inning in relief of ace Tarik Skubal, was the beneficiary of Vierling’s big hit, with Will Vest striking out two over the final 1 1/3 innings to earn his 16th save.

The Rangers took the first two games of this series 2-0 and 4-1 while limiting Detroit to just seven combined hits. The Tigers turned to Skubal to help break their losing streak but could not produce enough offense against the Rangers’ emergency starter Jacob Latz to allow him to earn the victory.

The Tigers lit the scoreboard in the second inning when Zach McKinstry’s single drove home Wenceel Perez, who had singled and advanced to second on a single by Dillon Dingler. Those three hits matched Detroit’s total offensive output from Saturday’s loss and gave Skubal a small cushion with which to work.

Skubal retired eight batters in a row between Corey Seager’s double in the first inning and Seager’s single to open the fourth. He then set down the next 10 batters before Adolis Garcia’s double with one out in the seventh.

Kyle Higashioka followed Garcia with a soft single to put runners on the corners. Skubal struck out Jonah Heim with his 105th — and last — pitch of the game and was lifted in favor of Holton. The left-handed reliever then uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Garcia to scamper home with the tying run, which ultimately denied Skubal a win.

Skubal went 6 2/3 innings, allowing a run on four hits with no walks and 11 strikeouts.

Skubal was set to be opposed by Nathan Eovaldi in a matchup of team aces, but Eovaldi was scratched late Saturday night with a stiff back. Into the breach stepped Latz, who met the challenge of matching the reigning Cy Young Award winner in his spot start. Latz went five innings, surrendering a run on six hits and two walks while fanning three.

–Field Level Media

Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman departed Sunday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers after he was hit in the left wrist by a pitch from left-hander Jose Quintana in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Freeman tried to let an inside sinker from Quintana pass under his hands, but the pitch made contact just above his batting glove. Freeman immediately walked toward the Dodgers’ dugout and left the game with Los Angeles trailing 6-4. The Dodgers went on to lose 6-5.

After the game, Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said when Freeman came off the field, all he said was that the pitch hit his wrist, adding, “I’m gonna go get it checked.”

He was initially diagnosed with a left wrist contusion after going 0-for-2 with two strikeouts. Roberts said that X-rays were negative and noted that Freeman fell in the “day-to-day category.”

“To lose him would have been really tough to overcome,” Roberts said after the game, “but we dodged a bullet there.”

Freeman, 35, has been plagued with injuries. Toward the end of the 2024 season, he sprained his right ankle after making an awkward step at first base. While he played out the postseason, Freeman underwent surgery on the ankle in December.

He also opened the season with rib discomfort that was attributed to lingering pain from the 2024 playoffs. Freeman then aggravated his surgically repaired ankle in March after slipping in the shower at home, which resulted in the Dodgers placing him on the 10-day injured list.

The World Series MVP last October, Freeman is batting .292 with 10 home runs and 49 RBIs in 87 games. In 16 major league seasons with both the Atlanta Braves (2010-21) and Dodgers, he is a .300 hitter with 353 home runs and 1,281 RBIs in 2,119 games.

–Field Level Media

Eugenio Suarez had his second consecutive two-homer game, Merrill Kelly pitched six strong innings and the Arizona Diamondbacks completed a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with a 5-3 victory in Phoenix on Sunday afternoon.

Suarez hit a three-run homer as part of a four-run first inning and added a solo home run in the third to increase his NL-leading total to 35, one more than the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani.

Suarez, who leads the majors with 85 RBIs, has three two-homer outings over the last six games and six this season. He became the 19th player in major league history with a four-homer game against Atlanta on April 26.

Since June 1, Suarez’s 20 homers are the most in the majors.

Kelly (9-5) gave up three hits and two runs in six innings, striking out five and walking four in the Diamondbacks’ fourth straight win.

Anthony DeSclafani gave up a ninth-inning run in a three-inning save.

Corbin Carroll had two hits including his MLB-leading 13th triple in a four-run first for the Diamondbacks, who outscored the Cardinals 16-1 in the first three innings of the three games.

Ivan Herrera had an RBI single and Jordan Walker added an RBI-double with two outs in the ninth for the Cardinals, who have lost 11 of 15.

Miles Mikolas (5-7) gave up five runs on four hits, including both Suarez homers, in four innings with three strikeouts and two walks. He has given up eight homers in his last three starts.

The Diamondbacks started early for the third time in the series. Carroll tripled to open the first and scored on Geraldo Perdomo’s one-out fielder’s choice grounder, when second baseman Brendan Donovan threw late to the plate.

After Josh Naylor walked, Suarez hit a 425-foot homer to left.

Scott doubled and scored on Herrera’s single in the third to make it 4-1 before Suarez homered off the top of the left-field fence with two outs in the home half of the inning.

Kelly walked the first three in the fifth, but he got out of the inning with two groundouts and a strikeout as the Cardinals managed only one run to cut the deficit to 5-2.

–Field Level Media

A month after he was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse, former top prospect Francisco Alvarez is set to return to the New York Mets, The Athletic reported Sunday.

The Mets intend to recall the 23-year-old catcher from Triple-A ahead of their Monday matchup against the visiting Los Angeles Angels.

Alvarez was optioned by New York following the team’s game on June 21. At the time of his demotion, he was batting just .236 with three home runs and 11 RBIs in 35 games. As a rookie in 2023, Alvarez belted 25 homers and hit .209 across 123 games.

Over the past month, however, Alvarez has shown notable improvements. Since joining Syracuse, he batted .299 with 11 home runs. That included a long ball on Sunday that was his third homer in three days and seventh in 19 at-bats.

Additionally, per The Athletic, Alvarez’s defense and framing — which ranked in MLB’s bottom 9 percent, according to Baseball Savant — earned rave reviews from coaches and pitchers in Syracuse.

Alvarez was considered the No. 1 prospect in 2022, but wrist and hand injuries hampered him after his rookie season. Since first debuting with the Mets in 2022, Alvarez has batted .223 with 40 home runs and 122 RBIs in 263 games.

–Field Level Media