NEWSLETTER
If you took advantage of your MLB.TV subscription yesterday, you probably caught a handful of exciting games around baseball.
Walk-Off Wednesday!
Wednesday featured three walk-off victories, a game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth for the Orioles, and a go-ahead home run in the ninth for the Guardians, as there was no shortage of drama around baseball yesterday.
The Orioles’ game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth went for naught as the Rays plated two in the 10th inning to beat the O’s in extras at Camden Yards. Josh Naylor (AGAIN!) put the Guardians on top for good in the top of the ninth in Boston as Cleveland topped the Red Sox to help Baltimore stay ahead of them in the AL East.
But the most exciting games were the trio of walk-off wins, and none was as exciting or meaningful as the one in Queens on Wednesday evening. After Gleyber Torres took David Peterson deep for a two-run blast that evened things up at two-a-piece between the Mets and Yankees, Starling Marte drove in Eduardo Escobar in the home half of the ninth to give the Mets another win in the Subway Series.
The Rockies and White Sox played a back-and-forth contest, with the Rockies scoring three early, only to watch that lead turn into a two-run deficit when the White Sox scored two in the fourth and three in the seventh inning.
Jose Iglesias trimmed the deficit to one when he singled home Brendan Rodgers in the bottom of the seventh and then scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth on a two-run single to center field by catcher Elias Diaz.
Trailing the San Diego Padres by a pair in the bottom of the ninth, even the lowly Tigers had some walk-off magic in them when Victor Reyes drilled a two-run double off the right field wall to give Detroit a 3-2 victory over the Friars.
Yankees-Royals Strike a Deal
The New York Yankees may have dropped both games to the Mets in Queens and are 2-5 since the All-Star break, but they’ve got help on the way in the form of outfielder Andrew Benintendi after the Royals and Yankees struck a deal late Wednesday night.
The Yankees are sending Beck Way, Chandler Champlain, and TJ Sikkema to Kansas City in exchange for Benintendi, a quantity over quality return for the rental outfielder at first glance. Beck Way (RHP) and TJ Sikkema (LHP) were the Yankees’ 19th, and 21st-ranked prospects, respectively, and Chandler Champlain is an outfielder New York took in the ninth round of the 2021 MLB Draft.
Benintendi, 27, is a free agent after this season and is hitting .321/.389/.399/127 wRC+ on the year and becomes the first outfield bat off the market ahead of next week’s trade deadline with plenty of notable names still on the market, including Juan Soto and Ian Happ.
As Brett pointed out last night, Happ has been linked to the Blue Jays, who, along with the Brewers and Dodgers, were also “in the mix” for Benintendi last night, according to Ken Rosenthal. So, the Jays are clearly looking for another outfield bat, and Happ may be the ideal fit. New York was a team that had been rumored to be a potential landing spot for Juan Soto, and while that may still happen (they didn’t give up much for Benintendi), it now seems more likely that he ends up elsewhere.
More from Brett on the move and the implications:
Despite Messy Outing, deGrom On Track to Return to Mets
Jacob deGrom made what might be his final rehab start for the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse on Wednesday, and it wasn’t pretty. deGrom allowed four runs on two hits and three walks in four innings of work, but he did strike out six and reach 67 pitched before his outing ended.
Despite the bumpy start, Buck Showalter said on Wednesday night that deGrom’s arm felt good and that the Mets hope that his next start will be with them.
