The piggyback is back.

And this time, with two different Seattle Mariners pitchers.

Logan Gilbert is scheduled to start Saturday afternoon against the visiting Toronto Blue Jays, throwing approximately 65 to 75 pitches, before turning things over to fellow right-hander Emerson Hancock.

They will be opposed by veteran right-hander Shane Bieber, who will be making his third start of the season after being sidelined for the first three months due to right elbow inflammation. Bieber (0-0, 6.00 ERA) is 2-2 with a 2.30 ERA in seven career starts against Seattle.

So far this season, the Mariners’ Bryce Miller and Luis Castillo have participated in four piggyback starts, with the team going 2-2 in those contests.

Gilbert (6-5, 3.42 ERA) and Hancock (5-4, 3.47) were scheduled to pitch as a duo last weekend in Cleveland, but instead the team went back to a six-man rotation.

“It was a chance to give a couple guys an extra day here or there,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said of altering the plan last week. “The way we had it set up, it just provided a little flexibility there, so we were able to do that. But we will go back to it in this series against Toronto.”

The Mariners’ issue is they have six quality starters for five spots in the rotation.

Hancock pitched so well while Miller missed the first six weeks of the season that he wasn’t getting displaced. The Mariners’ least effective starter has been the veteran Castillo, who is also the highest-paid member of the staff.

The team has alternated between a six-man rotation and the piggyback system in recent weeks. After a meeting with the starters, the coaching staff and members of the front office, it was agreed they would expand the piggyback system to include all of the starters at some point through the All-Star break.

In theory, that would have Bryan Woo and George Kirby piggybacking next week against Miami.

“These guys have all wanted to shoulder the load,” Wilson said. “As we go forward, we’ll make our adjustments.”

The Blue Jays won the series opener 2-0 on Friday as Dylan Cease and two relievers combined on a four-hitter. Cease allowed three hits over seven innings, with just one walk and nine strikeouts.

“I thought it was just a really good outing,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said of Cease. “I thought his pace was a lot better … really the whole time without shaking (off) and being on the same page (as catcher Alejandro Kirk).”

The Blue Jays scored both of their runs in the third inning, on an RBI double to center field by Andres Gimenez and an RBI single to right field by Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Guerrero is hitting just .161 (5-for-31) over the past eight games, though he reported that he is feeling better at the plate.

“But the most important thing is trying to keep doing things to help this team win some games,” Guerrero said through an interpreter.

After averaging 31.8 homers over the past five seasons, Guerrero has just four long balls more than halfway into the current campaign.

The Mariners will remain without Julio Rodriguez after he was placed on the seven-day concussion injured list on Friday. The star center fielder was hit in the back of the helmet by an errant throw while running the bases on Thursday in Seattle’s 1-0 victory against the Los Angeles Angels.

Utility man Miles Mastrobuoni was promoted from Triple-A Tacoma to fill Rodriguez’s roster spot.

–Field Level Media

Seven games of frustration were more than enough for the New York Yankees.

After snapping their ugly slide, the Yankees will shoot for another win Saturday afternoon when they host the Minnesota Twins.

New York ended its longest skid since dropping nine straight Aug. 12-22, 2023, in a season when it won 82 games and was without Aaron Judge for nearly two months due to a fractured toe.

The Yankees have played the past month with Judge, who is sidelined due to a right rib stress fracture. They are 13-15 without their captain, including a series-opening 5-2 win over Minnesota.

After batting .137 during the seven-game skid, New York did enough with six hits on Friday. Ben Rice hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the third inning, Trent Grisham homered and lifted a sacrifice fly, and Jose Caballero had an RBI single.

“It doesn’t feel good to lose so many games,” Rice said. “I think everyone in this room was ready to turn the corner. I’m happy we were able to get the win.”

Rice enters Saturday with 24 homers on the season but just seven hits in 49 at-bats (.143) over his past 13 games. Paul Goldschmidt is hitless in his past 20 at-bats while Cody Bellinger is in a 5-for-49 (.102) skid over his past 14 games.

Minnesota has lost 32 of its past 38 games at Yankee Stadium, regular season and postseason, and has just two wins in its past 14 meetings with the Yankees overall. The Twins went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position in the series opener and struck out 14 times against Gerrit Cole and four relievers.

“We’ve been good with runners in scoring position,” said Twins manager Derek Shelton, whose team is hitting a major-league-leading .285 in those situations. “Tonight we had a tough night. We didn’t get the big hit, which we’ve been getting.”

Kody Clemens homered and Victor Caratini hit an RBI single, but the Twins struck out at least 14 times for the fifth time this season. Royce Lewis fanned twice, and he heads into Saturday with three hits in his past 15 at-bats.

Twins center fielder Byron Buxton missed his fourth straight game because of right hip impingement.

Zebby Matthews (4-5, 4.15 ERA), who is 2-1 with a 2.25 ERA in his past three outings, starts for Minnesota on Saturday. Matthews has allowed two runs or fewer in six of his nine starts, including Monday in Houston, when he yielded one run on four hits in seven innings during a victory.

Matthews is 0-2 with a 12.46 ERA in a pair of starts against the Yankees. He allowed three runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings during a 6-2 loss in New York on Aug. 11, 2025, and was tagged for nine runs on 11 hits in three innings in a 10-9 defeat on Sept. 16, 2025, in Minneapolis.

Carlos Rodon was scheduled to start on Saturday until the Yankees put him on the 15-day injured list with left elbow inflammation on Friday. Instead, Brendan Beck (0-0, 6.00 ERA) will make his first career start and second career major league appearance.

Beck made his major league debut by allowing two runs in a three-inning relief outing on May 7 against the Texas Rangers. At Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this year, the 27-year-old right-hander is 7-2 with a 3.58 ERA in 16 starts, having struck out 91 in 88 innings.

New York rookie center fielder Spencer Jones was optioned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after the Friday game. Jones hit .233 with two homers and seven RBIs in 30 games with the Yankees.

–Field Level Media

Parker Messick couldn’t contain his excitement when it was announced that he would start for the Cleveland Guardians on the Fourth of July against the Chicago White Sox.

The left-hander ordered snazzy red, white and blue cleats for the occasion, which he modeled for reporters earlier in Cleveland’s homestand and called “pretty sweet.”

Messick (7-5, 2.85 ERA) will take on White Sox right-hander Sean Burke (5-4, 3.69) as the top two teams in the American League Central continue their four-game series on Saturday night.

“You’re just jealous,” Messick told fellow pitcher Gavin Williams, who did appear envious of the package delivered to the clubhouse. “Just wait ‘til you see the special hats and jerseys we’re wearing, too. It’s going to be really cool.”

The Guardians’ play has been pretty sweet in the first two games of the series. They now hold a one-game lead over Chicago — and have defeated the White Sox nine straight times in Cleveland — after winning on walk-off hits Thursday and Friday.

Brayan Rocchio’s two-run homer in the ninth inning off Grant Taylor lifted the Guardians to a 6-5 victory in the opener. Rookie Kahlil Watson singled in Steven Kwan in the 10th inning to give them a 4-3 triumph Friday.

Watson, who made his major league debut on June 18, has thrived against the White Sox with a .400 average, one homer and seven RBIs in five games. His game-winning single off Sean Newcomb was his first walk-off hit.

“No moment, no scene seems to be too much for him,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “It’s been really fun to see. Obviously, a really cool moment for him and a huge win for us.”

Messick is 1-1 with a 1.98 ERA in two career starts against Chicago, striking out 14 with just two walks over 13 2/3 innings. The loss occurred on June 23, when he allowed two runs in 7 2/3 innings with 10 strikeouts in the Windy City.

Still classified as a rookie, Messick is experiencing his first rocky stretch in the big leagues, going 1-4 with a 4.26 ERA over his past five starts. Prior to it, he had won nine of 11 decisions since making his major league debut last Aug. 20.

“It’s an ongoing process, I’m still young in my career,” Messick said. “We’re starting to figure out what makes me feel the best going into each start.”

Burke, who will be tasked with stopping Cleveland’s momentum, has been solid of late with a 3-1 record and 3.18 ERA in his past seven outings. That includes beating Messick 11 days ago, when he gave up one run in 6 1/3 innings.

In five lifetime appearances against the Guardians, Burke is 1-2 with a 3.48 ERA and has permitted 32 players to reach base in 20 2/3 innings.

“Our guys are really consistent,” Chicago manager Will Venable said. “They flush whatever happened in the past, and are excited to come to the ballpark and give every ounce of energy they have.”

The common thread in the losses has been poor command by White Sox pitchers, who walked nine in the opener and five Friday. In the latter, deposed closer Seranthony Dominguez was handed a 3-1 lead in the seventh, but walked Rhys Hoskins and Rocchio, and allowed them to score.

“When you’re facing the Guardians, limiting the free passes is No. 1 on the pitching side, as far as a way to beat these guys,” Venable said.

–Field Level Media