Sports
After 5-homer barrage, Orioles seek encore vs. Tigers
Sep 20, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander (25) swings through a first inning two run home run against the Detroit Tigers at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images When the Baltimore Orioles finally rediscovered their power stroke at the plate, the homers came in bunches.
The Orioles will be looking for the victories to multiply in a similar fashion.
Winners of two games in a row, the Orioles meet the visiting Detroit Tigers again Saturday in the middle contest of a three-game series.
In a 7-1 Baltimore win Friday night, the Orioles got two home runs apiece from Colton Cowser and James McCann plus one long ball from Anthony Santander.
“Hitting is contagious, right?” McCann said. “So all it takes is that one guy to come with a big hit and the next thing you know it follows on with everyone else in the lineup.”
The Orioles (86-68) aren’t necessarily back in a groove, but they have won back-to-back games for the first time since a three-game streak from Sept. 2-3. They sit four games behind the first-place New York Yankees (90-64) in the American League East.
The Tigers (80-74) are playing important games as well. After their four-game winning streak ended in the series opener, they trail the Minnesota Twins by one game for the final AL wild card.
“You just keep playing,” Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said.
Tigers center fielder Parker Meadows said of the Orioles, “They came out swinging. It’s a three-game series for a reason, so we’re going to come out (Saturday) and give it everything we’ve got.”
Baltimore had two players produce multiple homers in the same game for the first time in more than three years.
It was like a flashback to earlier in the season when home runs seemed to come at the same frequency as singles.
“We haven’t had homers in bunches in a while,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “We did in the first half.”
Not to be overlooked was Santander’s two-run shot in the first inning. Santander had ended the Thursday game against the San Francisco Giants with a walk-off two-run homer.
The Orioles have only two home games remaining before a series in New York against the Yankees. Baltimore wants to arrive in the Bronx with a reasonable chance to win the AL East.
“Hopefully it’s a momentum thing that we keep on riding out through the end of the season,” McCann said.
The Orioles have left-hander Cade Povich (2-9, 5.74 ERA) lined up as their starter on Saturday. Povich struck out eight Detroit batters in five innings while giving up two runs in a road loss on Sunday.
Povich has fanned 23 batters in 17 innings this month. Both of the rookie’s victories have come in home games.
The Tigers will give the ball to right-hander Reese Olson (4-8, 3.50). He will be making his 21st start of the season, and his numbers are similar to those from his 2023 rookie year, though he needs another victory to match his win total from last season.
Olson was sidelined for almost two months due to a shoulder ailment before returning for a start against the host Kansas City Royals on Monday. In that outing, he was dinged for four runs on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings, but the Tigers wound up winning 7-6.
Detroit won all three games that Olson pitched in during July before he went on the injured list. In his 41 career appearances (38 starts), he has yet to face the Orioles.
–Field Level Media
Sports
CJ Abrams, Foster Griffin spark Nationals over D-backs
Jul 25, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams (5) hits a two RBI double against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the third inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-Imagn Images CJ Abrams had three hits including a home run, Foster Griffin pitched into the seventh inning and the Nationals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3 on Saturday in Washington.
Abrams tied the game with a two-run double in the third and hit his 25th home run in the fifth, giving him a major-league-leading 79 RBIs. He also singled and stole his 17th base.
Griffin (12-2), a free agent at the end of the season, may have been making his final start for Washington with the trade deadline approaching. Griffin, who struck out two and walked one, allowed three runs on six hits after giving up one or zero earned runs in eight straight starts.
Clayton Beeter pitched 1-2-3 ninth for his ninth save.
Gabriel Moreno had a two-run single for Arizona, which had won four straight, and Tim Tawa had two hits and a run.
Rookie Mitch Bratt (0-1) gave up five runs on seven hits over five innings in his fourth start. He struck out three and walked five.
An error by second baseman Ketel Marte gave the Nationals runners on first and second with one out in the second, but Bratt retired Nasim Nunez and Keibert Ruiz.
The D-backs struck for two runs in the third. Ryan Waldschmidt led off with a single and Corbin Carroll was hit by a pitch. Geraldo Perdomo bunted the runners over and Moreno followed with a two-run single.
Washington answered with a four-run rally in the bottom half. Curtis Mead walked with one out and Andres Chaparro doubled him to third. Abrams lined a double to center and the game was tied. After Abrams was out trying to steal third, Dylan Crews walked. Jacob Young singled and Daylen Lile tripled into the right field corner and the Nationals led 4-2.
Abrams made it 5-2 when he homered to right-center leading off the fifth.
In the seventh, Tawa doubled with two outs and scored on a single by James McCann. Eddy Yean came on and retired pinch hitter Max Kepler to end the inning.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Dylan Cease tosses dominant 1-hitter as Blue Jays blank Red Sox
Jul 25, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease (84) pitches during the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images Dylan Cease threw a one-hitter and George Springer hit a three-run home run as the visiting Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox 6-0 Saturday.
The teams will play the rubber match of the series on Sunday. Boston is 11-2 in its last 13 games against the American League East and has won 16 of its last 18.
Cease (7-5), who took a no-hitter into the ninth against the San Francisco Giants on July 8, only allowed four Red Sox hitters to reach base.
He was perfect until walking Caleb Durbin with two outs in the fifth and didn’t allow a hit through five innings.
The complete game was the first for Toronto this season and the 12th in the majors. Seven of the complete games have been shutouts.
It was Cease’s fourth career complete game and his fourth career shutout. The right-hander walked three and struck out 12 on a career-high 120 pitches.
Boston starter Sonny Gray (12-2) gave up five runs on 10 hits in five innings. The right-hander didn’t walk anyone and struck out three on 75 pitches.
The Blue Jays took control in the third when they used six straight hits to score five runs with two outs.
Nathan Lukes started the rally with a double into the left-field corner and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. lined a single to left.
Kazuma Okamoto kept it going by singling off the glove of third baseman Durbin and Springer made the Red Sox pay by homering just over the Green Monster in left to make it 4-0.
Varsho continued the inning with a single to center and he scored when Ernie Clement doubled off the base of the left-field wall to go up 5-0.
Gray had been 10-0 since coming off the injured list in mid-May. This was his worst outing since giving up five earned runs in four innings in a 6-0 loss to Minnesota on April 14.
Cease, pitching on the second anniversary of his no-hitter for the Padres, didn’t give up a hit until Andruw Monasterio doubled to lead off the sixth.
Monasterio did not advance, however, as Cease induced Connor Wong to ground out, struck out Anthony Seigler and retired Ceddanne Rafaela with a pop out to shallow center.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jung Hoo Lee, Rafael Devers shine as Giants torch Angels
Jul 25, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants first baseman Rafael Devers (16) celebrates with second baseman Luis Arraez (1) after batting him in on a three run home run against the Los Angeles Angels during the fourth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images Jung Hoo Lee lifted a three-run home run as part of a five-run third inning, Rafael Devers homered for the second consecutive day and the San Francisco Giants made it two straight over the visiting Los Angeles Angels with a 9-2 shellacking Saturday afternoon.
Robbie Ray (9-6) threw six shutout innings for the Giants, who followed up on a walk-off win by scoring nine runs in the rematch’s first four innings.
Lee’s homer, his sixth of the season, capped a lead-creating third that began with one-out hits by Luis Arraez and Heliot Ramos, followed by two-out RBI singles from Devers and Casey Schmitt.
Arraez also singled in the fourth, an RBI hit that plated Drew Gilbert, before Devers launched his 22nd homer, another three-run shot, that made it 9-0.
Angels starter Ryan Johnson (2-5) was pulled one out into the fourth, eventually charged with eight runs on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out four.
Ray retained the nine-run margin through his six innings, during which he allowed six hits and two walks. He struck out five.
In becoming the team’s first nine-game winner, the left-hander ran his career record against the Angels to 4-1, equalling his best career winning percentage against any opponent.
The Angels avoided a shutout in the seventh when Mike Trout, who had two earlier singles, grounded into a bases-loaded double play, scoring Jose Siri.
The visitors completed the scoring in the ninth when Vaughn Grissom drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk.
Backup catcher Tyler Heineman finished the game on the mound for the Angels, throwing a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth.
Devers, who had a fourth RBI taken away in Friday’s opener when what was originally scored as a two-run, ground-rule double was changed to a walk-off, RBI single, got his four RBIs a day later along with three hits and two runs scored. Arraez had two hits and scored twice for the Giants, while Lee added a double to his home run.
Siri and Logan O’Hoppe joined Trout with two hits each for the Angels, who dropped their third straight. The Angels were out-hit 11-9.
-Field Level Media
CJ Abrams, Foster Griffin spark Nationals over D-backs
Dylan Cease tosses dominant 1-hitter as Blue Jays blank Red Sox
