Last Night in Baseball: A long time coming

ADVERTISEMENT

–>

The 26-year-old catcher had another RBI in the fourth inning that broke up a 5-5 tie, though the Braves battled back to send it to extras. In the 10th inning, Amed Rosario stepped up to the plate for his first at-bat in a week and brought in the game-winning run for the home team, who have now won five in a row.

Rosario had been out since last Friday after cutting his leg on a table at the team’s hotel. (Strange injury, but maybe he’s a Bills fan.) 

His return, and Ruiz showing out for his parents, were the highlights of the hottest stretch yet for Washington this season.

On the other hand, it was a tough loss for the Braves, who have lost three of four since finally getting above .500. Fortunately for them, reinforcements are coming: Former MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. is set to make his 2025 debut Friday night. 

Vivas’ first MLB dinger

Jorbit Vivas had to wait a long time for his first homer in the majors. He signed as an international free agent with the Dodgers all the way back in 2017, and was traded to the Yankees in the Trey Sweeney deal in 2023. He was brought to the majors in mid-July 2024, and optioned back down without ever being put into a game; it happened to him again at the start of the 2025 season, when he was called up to take Trent Grisham’s roster spot while he was on paternity leave. 

Vivas got another chance — an actual one this time — when Jazz Chisholm Jr. landed on the IL. The 24-year-old infielder hasn’t hit much at all in the 17 games he’s now appeared in — he entered play on Thursday batting .156/.250/.188 — but he got a hit that made a difference against the Rangers. 

Vivas took Nathan Eovaldi deep in the bottom of the fifth, a solo shot that gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead … and the only offense either team would see all afternoon.

Eovaldi was excellent otherwise, allowing just four other hits and one walk across six innings, in which he also struck out six Yankees hitters. Too bad for the righty and the Rangers, though, is that Carlos Rodon was even better: He tossed six innings himself, but they were scoreless ones, with eight strikeouts against four baserunners. Five scoreless innings combined out of the team’s bullpens later, and New York held on for the win and a sweep of Texas.

Astros party like it’s 2017

As much fun as it is to see young players experience career firsts, it’s also worth celebrating when veterans put together old-school performances (and honestly, there’s a sense of relief, too, that Father Time hasn’t caught up quite yet).

Jose Altuve and Lance McCullers Jr., the longest-tenured Astros, did that on Thursday night in a 9-2 win over the Mariners. Altuve knocked two shots out of the park to end a 20-game HR drought.

Meanwhile, McCullers struck out eight batters, his most in nearly three years. Although he didn’t get the win, McCullers still went longer (4.1 innings) and threw more pitches (91) than in his previous three starts this season.

Altuve, who turned 35 earlier this month, hadn’t even had an RBI in May before his four-RBI night. He had also been on pace for his lowest slugging percentage of his career until then. We’ll see if Thursday night was simply a throwback game for Altuve, or if, like the Astros’ theme weekend, The Force has awakened. 

Even the security at Coors Field is struggling

First, the setup:

There are two ways to approach making a joke about this happening to Johan Rojas, who was batting just .259/.316/.341 for the Phillies in 34 games this season at the time of this case of mistaken identity. You could be like all the amateur comedians on social media saying, “The guards are right, though, Rojas isn’t a big-league player.” 

There’s a problem there, however: As poor as Rojas’ season has been, it’s still significantly better than what the Rockies are hitting as a team. Colorado is batting .219/.286/.362 even with Coors Field’s inherent boost to offense, giving them an OPS+ of 74 that’s 10 points lower than Rojas’ own. 

So, the solution is to instead say that you can’t blame the guards for this, they simply don’t know what a baseball player is even supposed to look like anymore. This one is on the house, no need to credit us after you one-up your buddy’s bit.

Gavin Sheets vs. the Blue Jays

The Padres entered the series finale with the Blue Jays as losers of their last five, as well as the recipients of a 14-0 drubbing at the hands of Toronto the previous game. Padres first baseman Gavin Sheets did his best to make sure there wasn’t a repeat of those events, as he went deep in the top of the second with a two-run shot to put San Diego up 2-0 …

… and then tied it up 4-4 in the ninth with a second two-run blast:

Both times, it was center fielder Jackson Merrill on base for Sheets to drive in, and good thing, too, because the Padres couldn’t seem to get anything else going outside of a double by Luis Arraez; he was stranded, however. 

Sheets would once again come to the rescue in extra innings. With the score tied 5-5 in the top of the 11th, he’d single on a line drive to center, scoring someone besides Merrill — Manny Machado. 

Alas, it was not to be for the Padres, despite Sheets’ many efforts. The Jays would score two in the bottom of the 11th, with Daulton Varsho hitting a game-tying triple and then scoring on a Nathan Lukes’ single. “A” for effort for the Padres’ first baseman, though. Sadly, effort is not the same thing as a win, so San Diego has now dropped six in a row.

Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!

<!–>

–>