Sports
Buzzing Phillies, struggling Mets kick off season's second half
Jun 28, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12) and pitcher Jhoan Duran (59) embrace after winning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images After an eventful All-Star break in their hometown, the Philadelphia Phillies have an early start to the second half as they host the New York Mets on Thursday.
As it’s the only game on the MLB schedule, it puts the Phillies right back in the spotlight. Philadelphia hosted the All-Star Game on Tuesday — a 4-0 American League victory in which six Phillies players took the field for the National League.
Citizens Bank Park was rocking on Monday, too, as Kyle Schwarber nearly won the Home Run Derby before Jordan Walker of the St. Louis Cardinals edged him in the finals.
“They erupted. That’s what you live for, right?” Schwarber said on Monday. “You want your hometown to be behind you, and they were every second of it. From when we got introduced to the first pitch to all the way to the end. So I tip my cap to the Philadelphia faithful. They showed out tonight.”
The Phillies wrapped up the first half of the season by winning two of three in Detroit. They sit at 54-43 heading into the second half — good for the National League’s second wild card while sitting just two games behind the Atlanta Braves in the division race.
“I got that October feeling,” Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh said of his first All-Star experience. “(I want to get back to October) more than anything. I’ll do just about anything to get there. … We put ourselves in a better position right before the break. We started slow but we’re back in the fight. We’re within striking distance. We just have to keep it day to day and enjoy it.”
Meanwhile, the Mets endured a nightmarish first half. They hit the break at 40-57 — the fourth-worst record in baseball — and are miles behind the other four NL East teams.
“It’s frustrating for everybody in that clubhouse. … Those guys want to win,” interim Mets manager Andy Green said after his team was swept by the Boston Red Sox last weekend. “That was a tough first half in many respects. … Everybody on that team has a level of responsibility to flip the script going into the second half.”
Aaron Nola (3-6, 5.75 ERA), who’s expected to get the ball for Philadelphia, also had a rough first half. However, the veteran right-hander has shown improvement in July. Though the Phils lost both of his outings, he posted a 3.75 ERA and a 15-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 12 innings.
“I felt like we were mixing pretty well tonight,” Nola said Friday after allowing two runs and three hits in five innings against the Tigers. “Got behind on several guys, but overall, I felt pretty good.”
Nola is 11-10 with a 3.42 ERA in 31 lifetime starts against the Mets.
New York turns to Christian Scott (2-1, 3.17), who concluded his first half with a crisp performance against the Kansas City Royals. The right-hander gave up just three hits and one walk over five scoreless innings, although he needed 90 pitches to reach the minimum to qualify for the win.
“There’s always something to get better at,” Scott said. “For me, I know it’s going deeper in games. I take that to heart; I take that personally. Being able to go out and do that consistently is my goal.”
Scott has faced the Phillies once in his career — a 6-2 win on June 27 in which he allowed two runs over 4 1/3 innings. His six strikeouts included whiffs of All-Stars Schwarber, Marsh and Bryce Harper.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers pound Rockies 11-2
Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski (32) throws during the first inning of their game against the Colorado Rockies Sunday, July 26, 2026 at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Jacob Misiorowski retired the first 14 batters he faced and finished with 12 strikeouts, Andrew Vaughn homered and the host Milwaukee Brewers beat the Colorado Rockies 11-2 on Sunday.
Jackson Chourio, Joey Ortiz, Luis Lara, Cooper Pratt and Jake Bauers had two hits apiece for Milwaukee, which broke open a close game in the sixth inning to win the series.
Misiorowski struck out seven in a row to start the game and 12 of the first 13 batters he faced with pitches consistently above 100 mph. Cole Carrigg ended the bid for a perfect game with an opposite-field homer to left.
Willi Castro was hit by a pitch before Misiorowski got Troy Johnston to ground out to end the inning — and his afternoon. Misiorowski (11-4) allowed one run on one hit and didn’t walk a batter in his five innings.
Carrigg’s home run was his fifth of the season and Castro hit a solo home run in the seventh for the Rockies, who finished with five hits and fanned 15 times.
Chourio led off the bottom of the first with the first of his two doubles and scored on Brice Turang’s single. One out later, William Contreras doubled to put runners on second and third, Turang scored on a Freeland wild pitch and Contreras came home on a groundout.
Freeland (2-10) settled in, giving up just two hits over the next four innings before Vaughn led off the sixth with his fourth home run. Freeland left after a one-out walk to Bauers, having allowed five runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings.
The Brewers added on against Colorado’s bullpen.
Bauers stole second and Jimmy Herget walked Gary Sanchez ahead of three straight doubles. Lara brought home Bauers with the first two-bagger, Pratt made it 7-1 with a two-run double and Ortiz put runners on second and third with the next double.
Pratt capped the inning when he scored on a groundout.
After Castro’s 10th home run, Sanchez and Lara had RBI doubles in the bottom of the seventh and Vaughn a sacrifice fly in the eighth.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Munetaka Murakami strokes 2 of White Sox's 5 homers in rout of Astros
Jul 26, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami (5) is greeted in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run against the Houston Astros during the first inning at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images Miguel Vargas hit a go-ahead, two-run home run in the sixth inning and Munetaka Murakami added a pair of homers as the host Chicago White Sox routed the Houston Astros 12-3 on Sunday to avoid a series sweep.
Chicago clubbed a season high-tying five home runs compared to three from Houston to extend its lead atop the American League Central to 2 1/2 games over Cleveland.
With his parents throwing out first pitches on his bobblehead day, Murakami went 3-for-5 with a career-high six RBIs. He drilled an opposite-field two-run homer in the first, drove in a run with a third-inning groundout, added a two-run single in a four-run seventh and finished with a solo clout to right in the eighth.
Jeremy Pena cracked solo homers in his first two at-bats and Taylor Trammell added a solo homer for the Astros, whose five-game winning streak came to a close.
The White Sox’s breakout against Astros right-hander Ronel Blanco in the sixth turned the tide. Sam Antonacci, who collected two hits, led off with a double and advanced to third on a Murakami groundout. Vargas followed with a two-run blast to left field, his 21st homer this season, to put the White Sox ahead 5-3.
Blanco (0-1) scattered five runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings with three walks and four strikeouts. It marked his second start since rejoining the rotation last week following Tommy John surgery in June 2025.
After Pena opened the game with a home run, Murakami reached Blanco for a two-run home run in the first to stop a 13-game homerless streak.
Houston’s own penchant for the long ball kept the club afloat in the early innings. Jeremy Pena stretched his hitting streak to eight games with a pair of home runs.
White Sox starter Erick Fedde yielded three solo home runs among his five hits over 4 1/3 innings. Pena homered against Fedde with one out in the third, then Taylor Trammell sent Fedde’s first delivery of the fifth over the wall in right center.
Fedde walked one and struck out two. Sean Newcomb (1-2) worked around a hit and walk to get the final two outs in the sixth to notch the victory.
Chase Meidroth homered in the seventh for Chicago and Junior Perez added a two-run blast in the eighth.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Braves win in 11 innings as Orioles squander opportunities
Jul 26, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson (2) attempting to make a tag on Atlanta Braves center fielder Michael Harris II (23) and is safe in the second inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Lexi Thompson-Imagn Images Austin Riley doubled in the go-ahead run in the 11th inning and the Atlanta Braves beat the host Baltimore Orioles 3-2 on Sunday afternoon in the rubber game of the three-game series.
Dominic Smith drove in two runs with a pair of singles and finished with three hits while starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez threw 5 2/3 shutout innings for the Braves, who won for the eighth time in their last 11 games. Tyler Kinley (6-4) was the winning pitcher by going 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Pete Alonso homered for the Orioles, who tied the game in the bottom of the ninth but then wasted game-winning opportunities in the next two innings. Andrew Kittredge (1-3) took the loss.
After a wild pitch and two walks, the Orioles had the bases loaded with no outs in the 10th. But Gunnar Henderson lined into a double play and Taylor Ward was retired on a flyout. They reloaded the bases with two outs in the 11th but didn’t score.
The Orioles tied the game with an unearned run on Jackson Holliday’s groundout, which accounted for the second out of the ninth inning. The Braves stranded two runners in the top of the 10th.
Lopez allowed five hits and one walk with six strikeouts before Dylan Dodd, Dylan Lee and Raisel Iglesias followed him in relief.
Orioles starter Shane Baz lasted 4 1/3 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on six hits and two walks. Alonso and Ward each had two of Baltimore’s six hits.
The Braves struck first on Smith’s run-scoring single in the second inning. That gave Smith his first 40-RBI season since 2023 when he was with the Washington Nationals.
Smith singled in another run in the fourth.
Alonso’s 22nd long ball of the season came off Lee in the eighth inning to cut the gap to 2-1.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand walked to lead off the bottom of the ninth and Coby Mayo ran for him. Mayo took third on a fielding error by Ozzie Albies at second base before Holliday drove him in, but Iglesias retired Jeremiah Jackson to force extras.
–Field Level Media
Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers pound Rockies 11-2
Munetaka Murakami strokes 2 of White Sox's 5 homers in rout of Astros
