We salute those that have sacrificed all.
Freddy Ferrmin was a big hero on Sunday, writes Jaylon Thompson.
“Freddy can do it all, man,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.
“He is a leader and … he doesn’t take any pitches off. He prepares on the defensive side as well as anybody I’ve seen. He can really throw. “(H)uge hit for us. That was a two-strike hit, as well. Freddy is a really good competitor.”
But Maikel Garcia had the big hit.
The game became a battle of the bullpens once Bubic exited. Maikel Garcia’s RBI single in the 10th inning, off Twins closer Jhoan Duran, was the difference.
“Yesterday, he threw me a lot of breaking balls,” Garcia said of Duran. “Today he attacked me with the fastball. Immediately, he sent me down 0-2 and tried to go again with the curveball down to chase. The adjustment I did was to put the ball in play.”
Kris Bubic was also fantastic, writes Anne Rogers.
Bubic has always trusted his changeup, but it’s reached a new level this year.
“We’ve been messing around with a lot of nerdy stuff lately,” Bubic said. “Seam orientation on changeups and sinkers and whatnot. … The changeup grip has kind of evolved for me over the years, and especially this year, just seeing a lot more depth on it.”
Jac Caglianone homered twice on Sunday, his fourth consecutive game with a homer.
Caglianone just can’t stop announcing his presence with authority at Triple-A. He’s now collected at least one hit in each of his six games at Omaha and homered five times, including in four consecutive games.
Caglianone’s first two Triple-A homers were measured at 410 and 431 feet, respectively. On Saturday, he homered over the outfield berm at The Ballpark at America First Square. Caglianone topped that with his first homer Sunday, which left the bat at 108.6 mph and traveled a whopping 459 feet.
Matt Quatraro discussed when Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans might return.
“Seth threw off the mound (Friday) and felt good,” Quatraro said. “You know, as far as we can tell right now, things are on track for him to come back on or around his scheduled day.”…
“Cole is also doing great,” Quatraro said. “He’s pushing it and throwing 100% flat ground. He’ll get off the mound here I believe (Saturday) or Sunday, one of the two, and give it a good test.”
He also provided an update on Hunter Harvey.
“Harvey threw off the mound when we were home last week,” Quatraro said. “It felt fine when he was throwing and the next day he was a little bit sore. He’s not throwing off the mound and he is continuing to play catch to keep his arm going. But we need to get all the symptoms out of there before we progress.”
Kyle Wright made a rehab start in Double-A.
The Royals struck out 18 times on Friday, two shy of an MLB record.
“(Jhoan) Duran and (Griffin) Jax are pretty good pitchers,” Perez said. “I don’t think they made a mistake and they were pretty good. Good for them today.”
Sam McDowell writes about a local high school pitcher who didn’t give up an earned run all year.
Some former Royals showed up to moonlight at the Savannah Bananas game
Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal pitches his first career complete game.
Ryan O’Hearn homers twice – including a Little League home run.
Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz hits the hardest-hit home run of the Statcast era.
Guardians pitcher Nic Enright makes his MLB debut two years after a cancer diagnosis.
Boston promotes top prospect Marcelo Mayer.
The Padres are looking for left field help.
ESPN Insider writes why the Rockies are a bookmaker’s nightmare.
Christian Walker hasn’t fixed Houston’s first base problems.
Shohei Ohtani has a bullpen session, causing a buzz.
Inside the end of Brandon Hyde’s tenure with the Orioles.
Japan’s Central League still doesn’t use a DH – but for how much longer?
No Big 12 teams were selected as NCAA baseball tournament regional sites.
Alex Palou becomes the first Spanish driver to win the Indy 500.
The Milky Way has mysterious “broken bones” that may have been caused by a neutron star.
Orange cats are freaks of nature.
Ending the Mission: Impossible franchise was an impossible mission.
Your song of the day is Brandi Carlile with The Story.