MLB

Rangers 8, Cardinals 1

Is Marcus Semien beginning to bounce back? It’s too soon to tell, but the second baseman had a great series against the Cardinals, his first productive stretch since late April. The Rangers need the 2024 — or even better, the 2023 — version of Semien to win the AL West. Semien went 2-for-2 with three runs and a stolen base yesterday.

Red Sox 3, Braves 1

The Red Sox and Trevor Story were sliding entering play yesterday, so who better than Story to reverse fortunes? It didn’t take long for the shortstop to place his imprint on this game, as he mashed a three-run double in the first inning. Unsurprisingly, that was the only run support Garrett Crochet needed. The left-hander fanned 12 across seven innings.

I expected the 27-31 Braves to get hot at some point prior to summer, but it hasn’t happened yet. Sure, Atlanta moderately fought back from a 0-7 start, but the club sits 9.5 games back of first-place New York. Heck, the Braves are still behind the Nationals. Atlanta clearly still has a ways to go. At least Ronald Acuna is back and performing well post-injury.

Orioles 3, White Sox 2

After a disastrous start to the season, Charlie Morton has quietly been pretty good for a month-plus. There’s a minimal chance that the 41-year-old lives up to the one-year, $15 million contract he inked with the Orioles, but that’s alright. If Morton can offer consistent, professional outings the rest of the way, I think Baltimore would accept that outcome. Morton pitched 6 2/3 innings with zero earned runs in this victory.

Like Charlie Morton, Josh Rojas was a commodity — although not as hot of one — last offseason. For Rojas, 2025 also hasn’t been rosy, as the 30-year-old is slashing .164/.263/.194. Yesterday’s 0-for-4 showing only hurt that line.

Brewers 5, Phillies 2

What a weekend for the Brewers. Prior to their four-game losing streak, the Phillies held the best record in baseball. That made a sweep by Milwaukee, let alone one at Citizens Bank Park, extremely unlikely. Statistical improbability is the name of the game in MLB, however, and having Jose Quintana on your side can help you beat the odds. The 36-year-old is a bit of an improbability himself, continuing to pitch well after settling for multiple bargain-bin contracts in recent years. Quintana continued doing so yesterday, tossing five innings of two-run ball, lowering his ERA to 2.77.