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Taylor Walls drove in two runs in Tampa Bay's four-run first inning as the Rays won a second series over a top club in a week, toppling the visiting Detroit Tigers 8-3 on Saturday afternoon.
The shortstop's two-run single with two outs helped the Rays win for the second consecutive game against the Tigers, who entered the day 19 games over .500 with a .623 winning percentage.
Tampa Bay, which tops baseball with a 22-8 mark dating back to May 20, swept three games from the then-best New York Mets last weekend in Queens.
Danny Jansen, Junior Caminero and Christopher Morel each hit solo homers, while Yandy Diaz extended his hitting streak to 12 games in a 2-for-4 outing with a double and a run.
In winning his second consecutive impressive start, Ryan Pepiot (5-6) yielded only one run on three hits in five innings. He fanned seven, walked two and hit two batters.
Detroit's Jake Rogers (groundout), Jahmai Jones (double) and Dillon Dingler (sacrifice fly) drove in runs.
Opener Brant Hurter (2-3) surrendered four unearned runs in two-thirds of the first inning before yielding to Sawyer Gipson-Long for 6 1/3 innings (four runs, six hits).
The Rays sent nine men to the plate and scored four times in the first due to a passed ball on a strikeout of Brandon Lowe, who raced safely to first with one out rather than two.
Hurter's wildness became his undoing after Jonathan Aranda's double, issuing two walks (a run-producing one by Josh Lowe), hitting Jose Caballero with a pitch for a 2-0 lead and allowing Walls' single.
Brandon Lowe moved his hitting streak to 10 games with a RBI single to plate Diaz in the second, but Detroit answered with Rogers' groundout to make it 5-1.
The home offense kept at it in the fourth as Jansen and Caminero belted solo homers off Gipson-Long for a 7-1 lead.
In the seventh, Morel smashed a Statcast-projected 434-foot homer to left for a seven-run advantage.
Pinch hitters Jones and Dingler had RBIs in the eighth for the final margin.
More must-reads:
- Biggest impact of Josh Naylor trade may still be to come
- Four teams that should be buyers at the trade deadline
- The 'Multiple 100-RBI MLB seasons' quiz
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Biggest impact of Josh Naylor trade may still be to come
While the Seattle Mariners landed an impact bat on Thursday night, their trade for Josh Naylor has also likely impacted the entire upcoming MLB trade deadline. On Thursday, Seattle sent a pair of top pitching prospects to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Naylor, with left-hander Brandyn Garcia (ranked as Seattle's 13th-best prospect by MLB.com) and right-hander Ashton Izzi (ranked as Seattle's 16th-best prospect by the same rankings) heading to the desert. Knowing what the Diamondbacks received in exchange for Naylor could well set the market for what is to come between now and the conclusion of the 2025 MLB trade deadline, set for 6 p.m. (Eastern) on July 31. The 28-year-old first baseman was ranked by The Athletic as the 17th-best trade candidate likely to be available, but ranked behind just one other first baseman (Baltimore's Ryan O'Hearn, who was slotted in at 16th). If Naylor brought in a pair of pitching prospects, including Garcia, who has appeared in two games this season for Seattle, the Diamondbacks could be salivating over what third baseman Eugenio Suarez and his 36 home runs could bring in return. All MLB teams who will be buying or selling at this year's trade deadline have had the first price bar set for them with the Naylor deal. Now it will be fascinating to see what comes next, especially knowing that Naylor will be a free agent at the end of this season. If Seattle gave up two pitching prospects for a player who could be a late-season rental only, imagine what the Minnesota Twins may be able to recoup for starting pitcher Joe Ryan (under team control through the 2027 season) or the Boston Red Sox might get back for outfielder Jarren Duran, who won't be a free agent until the 2029 campaign. While Naylor may not be the biggest move to come during this span before the trade deadline comes to a close, his deal could be the one that establishes selling prices for the trades that are to come. With so few MLB teams expected to be outright sellers, the price for available talent was expected to be high. We learned on Thursday night with the Naylor swap just how high those prices may go.
East Team’s Potential Decision Could Escalate Jonathan Kuminga Drama With Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are still awaiting a decision by restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga as the NBA offseason is nearing August. Of course, Kuminga has a major decision to make regarding the next step of his career and it appears likely that it will not be in Golden State but rather with another franchise. This comes after the young forward fell out of Steve Kerr’s rotation last season after the Warriors acquired Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat at the trade deadline. While it appears Kuminga’s time in Golden State is nearing an end, the Warriors still have a major say in his next team as they will likely have to agree to a sign-and-trade deal. Despite this, ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel recently reported that one Eastern Conference team could escalate the situation between Kuminga and the Warriors by making a major decision this offseason. “Other teams with rumored interest in Kuminga are the Chicago Bulls, Phoenix Suns, and Brooklyn Nets. Then again, the Nets, who have plenty of cap space, have yet to express serious interest in Kuminga,” Siegel wrote. “If they wanted to, Brooklyn could sign Kuminga to an offer sheet right now and escalate this situation.” This is a massive report by Siegel as the Nets do have enough cap space to sign Kuminga to an offer sheet which would tie the Warriors’ hands. Of course, this is unlikely to happen as the Nets are also dealing with their own restricted free agent problems with Cam Thomas as they are not wanting to offer the young guard the contract that he wants. While that may be the case, if the Nets end up moving on from Thomas in a sign-and-trade deal with another team they could shift their focus on Kuminga, who they have been linked to over the past two seasons. This would be the worst-case scenario for Golden State and one that would extremely hurt them heading into next season, especially with their lack of moves thus far this offseason.
Major 2024 NFL free-agency deals are aging very poorly
Several of the high-profile names of the 2024 free-agent class are really struggling to justify the massive contacts they received through the early stages of the 2025 season. Despite the generous contracts, some players have been very underwhelming after getting the big payday. In particular, these players who signed major deals are now playing on new teams or in new roles: Christian Wilkins — four-years, $110M with Raiders, now a free agent Kirk Cousins — four-years, $180M with Falcons, now a backup Bryce Huff — three-years, $51.1M with Eagles, now with 49ers Jonah Jackson — three-years, $51M with Rams, now with Bears Gabe Davis — three-years, $39M with Jaguars, now a free agent Gardner Minshew — two-years, $25M with Raiders, now with Chiefs Chidobe Awuzie — three-years, $36M with Titans, now with Ravens While certain free agents such as Saquon Barkley and Danielle Hunter have delivered massive returns on their contracts to the Eagles and Texans, respectively, these other big signings have taken a completely different trajectory. Whether it is due to injuries, underperformance or not fitting the schemes, these players have not lived up to their deals. Wilkins is a case in point. The Raiders decided to cut him after signing him to a four-year, $110M deal. He struggled with injuries that held him out in 2024, leading to the team and Wilkins disagreeing on how the injury has been handled. Because of this, the two split ways only one year into his contract. Huff only played in 12 games and had a total of 2.5 sacks for Philadelphia after inking a three-year, $51.1M deal. He was traded to the 49ers in June for a 2026 mid-round pick. Cousins might be the most egregious of these deals. The former Vikings QB signed a four-year, $180M, with $100M fully guaranteed. Yet, he only started 14 games in 2024, and now is the backup to Michael Penix Jr. The Falcons now are essentially stuck paying their backup quarterback an annual average of $45M. These signings highlight the risk of free agency. Paying top dollar for past performance runs the risk of overlooking team fit and future value of contracts. Too often, these high-profile veterans who get massive paydays decline very fast or simply fail to mesh with new systems. So far, these investments in 2024 appear to have aged very poorly. Unless these players turn their performances around in 2025, many of the teams will view these moves as a cautionary tale of overspending in free agency.
NBA Champion Picks Paolo Banchero Over Victor Wembanyama, Says Spurs Star 'Ain’t Really Did Nothing'
When speaking about the future of the NBA, the name Victor Wembanyama comes up quite often. The 21-year-old French superstar is coming off a great start to his career after only two seasons. There seems to be a common consensus among fans, media, and the NBA GMs that Wemby will be one of the staples of the league over the next decade. But Jeff Teague isn’t convinced. In fact, the former Milwaukee Buck believes that Paolo Banchero is the better player, and would even pick him over Wemby if he were starting a team. This was the subject of conversation on the latest edition of Teague’s Club 520 podcast. The 2021 Champion’s reasoning for taking Banchero over “The Alien?” Because, according to him, Wemby hasn’t done anything yet. “The reason I say he’s better than Wemby is because Wemby ain’t really did nothing,” he stated. It’s a bit of a wild claim. Wemby won Rookie of the Year in his first season with the Spurs and was en route to being named the Defensive Player of the Year for his second season. Unfortunately, the 7’3″ Frenchman had his sophomore campaign cut short due to a deep vein thrombosis. Teague wasn’t done yet either. He claimed that the only reason people like Wemby at all is because of his unique shape on the basketball court. “We just like Wemby because he’s a freak… He’s a phenomenal player, but I’m just going to go with what I see,” Teague added. One thing that Teague did get right here is the praise of Banchero. The Orlando Magic forward has really morphed into a threat over his last three years. He became an All-Star in 2023-2024, averaging 25.9 PPG and shooting over 45% from the field. This past season, Banchero missed 34 games due to an oblique injury, but still managed to average 25.9 points in the 48 games he did play. Orlando squeaked into the playoffs after victories in the Play-In, while the Spurs finished 22-60 and only finished better than the Blazers in the West. At the end of the day, it’s too early to determine who will have the better career. But expect Wemby to make up for the games he missed last year by coming out dominant to start his 2025-2026 campaign.
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