Yardbarker
Yardbarker
x
Curtis Mead's homer carries Rays past Tigers
Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Curtis Mead lofted a tiebreaking home run in the sixth inning as the Tampa Bay Rays salvaged one win in their three-game series with Detroit, taming the hot Tigers 7-5 on Wednesday in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Trailing 5-4, the Rays tied it in the sixth against reliever Will Vest (1-1) on Ben Rortvedt's RBI single. Mead then slugged a two-run shot, his first long ball of the season, down the left field line.

The ball sailed high and landed beyond the foul pole's 315-foot marker for his second career homer, helping the Rays snap a three-game losing streak.

Randy Arozarena hit a solo shot, and Rortvedt went 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and two RBIs. Tampa Bay's Yandy Diaz and Isaac Paredes had two hits apiece.

Though he allowed two runs in the top of the sixth, his only inning, Chris Devenski (1-1) picked up the win.

Rays reliever Tyler Alexander followed opener Shawn Armstrong and retired the first eight Tigers he faced, but he allowed two runs on three hits in four innings in his first appearance against his former club.

Detroit's Matt Vierling went 2-for-4 with a triple and a run. Mark Canha hit a two-run single as the Tigers lost for the first time in four games.

Tigers starter Jack Flaherty rebounded after allowing all four runs against him in the first two frames. He lasted five innings and gave up seven hits while striking out six and issuing no walks.

Armstrong, after allowing a leadoff single in the first to Riley Greene and walking Wenceel Perez, stumbled during his delivery and balked the pair into scoring position. Greene then scored on a groundout by Spencer Torkelson.

In the bottom of the frame, the slumping Arozarena got back on track by sending out a 3-1 slider from Flaherty out to straightaway left for a 1-1 tie. It was his third homer and first since March 31.

The home club strung together a three-run second on an RBI double by Rortvedt and run-scoring singles by Jose Caballero and Diaz to go ahead 4-1.

Canha ripped a two-out, two-run single in the fifth, pulling Detroit within one.

The Tigers evened it up against Devenski in the sixth when Buddy Kennedy singled home Vierling, who had sliced a triple to right. Kennedy stole second and gave Detroit its first lead on Javier Baez's double.

Tampa Bay's Jason Adam retired all six batters he faced in the seventh and eighth before Garrett Cleavinger locked down his second save with a hitless ninth.

This article first appeared on Field Level Media and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads:

TODAY'S BEST

Aaron Boone Had Three Words After Yankees’ Third Straight Loss
MLB

Aaron Boone Had Three Words After Yankees’ Third Straight Loss

The New York Yankees entered Sunday’s finale against the Miami Marlins with increased pressure to deliver. Entering the game down 2-0 in the series, the Yankees hoped to get back to winning ways. However, the team suffered another disappointing defeat on the road, losing 7-3 to Miami. The latest loss compounds New York’s recent struggles. New York is now 25-32 since May 29, including costly series sweeps to the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and now a weekend sweep in Miami. While they’ve managed a 13-10 mark at home during this time, the team’s inability to perform on the road continues to threaten their postseason chances. Aaron Boone’s Comments Amid Yankee’s Embarrassing Form Following Sunday’s loss, Yankees manager Aaron Boone addressed the team’s poor outing. He had a three-word message that summarizes where his team is at following a third straight loss. “Gut check time,” Boone said, describing the urgency to turn things around at a crucial point of the season. Boone, whose job status has come under increasing fan scrutiny, acknowledged the team’s prolonged slump and admitted the Yankees have to take responsibility. Despite notable trade deadline additions—including David Bednar, Camilo Doval, and Jake Bird—the team’s bullpen issues and inconsistent offense have not improved. Boone has been adamant about the need for greater focus and resilience down the stretch. But with New York slipping further behind in the American League East, questions are being asked about whether his voice still resonates in the clubhouse. With the latest loss, the Yankees have now been swept in three of their last seven road series and hold an MLB-worst 5-17 record on the road since June 13. Before that stretch, they were the best road team in baseball at 21-13. Marlins Make History Against the Yankees The Yankees’ latest loss also meant franchise history for the Marlins, who have now completed their first-ever three-game sweep of New York. Kyle Stowers delivered the big blow with a three-run homer, while Edward Cabrera dominated on the mound with six shutout innings and seven strikeouts. With the win, the Marlins hold steady at the third spot of the NL East, improving their record to 55-55 as they continue to fight for a playoff spot. Miami have also now won eight of their last 10 games and appear to be picking up at the right time. As for New York, they continue to trail the Blue Jays and Red Sox in the AL East, and will now turn their attention to a critical road series against the Texas Rangers. The Yankees will hope they can return to winning ways quickly, with the AL East top spot now starting to slip away.

'Agreement in Place' - Journalist Provides Key Update on Sunderland’s New Striker Transfer
Soccer

'Agreement in Place' - Journalist Provides Key Update on Sunderland’s New Striker Transfer

Sky Sports journalist Keith Downie confirmed that Sunderland's deal to sign Chelsea striker Marc Guiu on loan remains on track, despite doubts. Yesterday, the mentioned reporter stated that although the flight Guiu (19) was scheduled to take got postponed, the agreement for his arrival at the Stadium of Light remains valid. It was evident that with no recent updates, the press and fans would start doubting the Catalan's arrival at the club, but apparently everything is in order. The FC Barcelona academy graduate has high chances of becoming Sunderland's ninth signing this summer. Journalist provides key update on Sunderland's new striker transfer On Saturday, Downie had reported the following: "Marc Guiu will fly into the North East this afternoon to complete his move to Sunderland. 19yo striker will undergo a medical in the next 24 hours." "SAFC have agreed a season-long loan with PL counterparts Chelsea," added the journalist via his Twitter (X) account. And yesterday, Sunday, the Sky Sports reporter updated: "Little update on this: Guiu's flight was postponed today, but doesn't mean the deal is dead." "Agreement still in place and an expectation that the striker will finalise his move to Sunderland on loan for the season." Therefore, we can expect more concrete updates about Guiu's signing with the Black Cats in the coming hours. We'll see. What is certain is that Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris is frustrated with the club's transfer activity, according to the same cited journalist. Apparently, the Lads are expected to add three or four more players to their squad, with attack being one of the priority areas to strengthen. In recent hours, Sunderland have been linked with a couple of forwards, such as Galatasaray's Baris Alper Yilmaz (25) or Leverkusen's Amine Adli (25). We'll see how many of them ultimately embark on the adventure of keeping the club in the Premier League. Read More:

Troubling update emerges about Joel Embiid’s health
NBA

Troubling update emerges about Joel Embiid’s health

Joel Embiid’s trust in the healing process may not be paying off. A concerning update emerged over the weekend about the health of the Philadelphia 76ers star center. Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reports that there is “genuine concern” around the league about the health of Embiid’s knee. Siegel adds that Philadelphia’s camp is attempting to downplay the concerns but notes that “word is bad” about Embiid’s health around the rest of the NBA. Now 31, the former MVP Embiid is still dealing with the ill effects of a torn left meniscus suffered during a 76ers game in February 2024. Embiid, who previously tore the same left meniscus back in 2017, quickly underwent surgery on the knee and missed two months. It appeared that everything was peaches and cream for Embiid after he returned to finish out the 2023-24 NBA season and even played at the 2024 Paris Olympics last summer as the starting center for Team USA. But Embiid missed significant time while managing his left knee throughout the 2024-25 season and even suggested at one point that he would need to have another surgery. In the end, Embiid appeared in just 19 total games for the 76ers last season and was shut down in February with the team nowhere close to contention. There was some talk a few months ago that Embiid might be undergoing the Kobe Bryant treatment to address the troublesome knee, but it looks like Embiid still hasn’t found a course of treatment that his knee is responding to. We know that the 76ers were already growing frustrated with Embiid’s lack of availability going back to last season. Now they may have to prepare for the potential of Embiid missing more time in 2025-26, a disastrous possibility given that they still owe the seven-footer an absurd $187.6M over the next three seasons.

Yankees’ Ben Rice sounds subtle alarm after embarrassing sweep vs. Marlins
MLB

Yankees’ Ben Rice sounds subtle alarm after embarrassing sweep vs. Marlins

Armed with the gigantic task of holding the fort while Aaron Judge recovers from an elbow injury, the New York Yankees made a mess of themselves in a big way this past weekend in a three-game series against the Miami Marlins. On Sunday, the Yankees were thoroughly outplayed by the Marlins on all sides of the ball, suffering a 7-3 defeat and a series sweep at the hands of the Marlins. Now, it’s not like the Marlins have a bad baseball team. They are hovering around .500 on the season, so it’s not like the Yankees were that heavily favored heading into the series especially amid Judge’s injury. However, this is a continuation of the Yankees’ poor play as of late, and they have now fallen to third place in the AL East standings. For first baseman Ben Rice, the team has to wake up from this rut they’re in lest bigger consequences happen later in the season. “I wouldn’t say there’s concern, but I would say, I think a little sense of urgency would be good for us going forward. Just to continue do what we can to win ballgames. And that’s gonna be do all the little things. It’s gonna be, hopefully, we sync up pitching and hitting. That’s it,” Rice told reporters after the Yankees’ loss, via YES Network. “No, I wouldn’t say that [we lack a sense of urgency]. But I would say, as we continue to move deeper into the season here, in this playoff race, we’re gonna have to pick it up eventually.” Poor pitching was what undid the Yankees most often during the month of July, and in August thus far, they haven’t put it together on either side of the ball at the same time. Yankees are running hot and cold on both ends of the ball As Rice said, the Yankees are going to have to sync their hitting and pitching to avoid suffering the same fate they did in that three-game series against the Marlins. That Saturday loss to the Marlins might be the Yankees’ most frustrating of the year, mustering just two hits and no runs — an uncharacteristic showing for the team that’s tied for the lead in total runs scored in all of MLB. They have no choice but to soldier on, heading into a three-game set against the Texas Rangers next before yet another crucial series, this time against a division leader in the Houston Astros.

Customize Your Newsletter

Yardbarker +

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!