Seeking to end the longest active postseason drought of any National League team, the Philadelphia Phillies acquired a pair of former All-Star pitchers in Noah Syndergaard and David Robertson at Tuesday’s MLB trade deadline.
Syndergaard’s acquisition was one of two separate trades the Phillies struck with the Los Angeles Angels, as the teams agreed to a swap earlier in the day that sent young outfielder Brandon Marsh to Philadelphia.
The Phillies were among the most aggressive teams at the deadline as they attempt to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2011. Only the Seattle Mariners, whose last postseason appearance came in 2001, have a longer active streak of missing the playoffs.
Philadelphia entered the day a game ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals for the NL’s third and final wild card spot, and are 33-18 since Rob Thomson replaced Joe Girardi as manager on June 3, the third-highest winning percentage in MLB over that period.
"I think we’re a lot better ballclub," Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told MLB.com. "We’ve got a tough division and tough people who are in the race, but I think we’re better.
"We tried to address certain areas, knowing that we’re getting [second baseman Jean] Segura back soon. And [2021 NL MVP Bryce] Harper is making progress, which is very encouraging."
Dombrowski sent outfielder Mickey Moniak – the number-one overall pick of the 2016 draft – and minor league outfielder Jadiel Sanchez to the Angels for Syndergaard, an All-Star with the New York Mets in 2016 who has had a bounce-back year after missing nearly the entire 2020 and 2021 seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery.
The hard-throwing right-hander has remained healthy this season and has posted a solid 3.83 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 15 starts. Syndergaard signed a one-year, $21 million contract with the Angels in November.
Robertson, obtained from the Chicago Cubs for Double-A pitcher Ben Brown, has put together a strong comeback season of his own at age 37. The veteran reliever has held opposing hitters to a .162 average while going 3-0 with a 2.23 ERA and 14 saves in 36 appearances.
The 2011 AL All-Star previously pitched in seven games for the Phillies in 2019 before undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing all of the following season. Robertson began the 2021 campaign out of the majors before signing with the Tampa Bay Rays last August.
Philadelphia traded catcher Logan O’Hoppe – the organisation’s No. 3 overall prospect according to MLB.com – to the Angels in exchange for Marsh, who could take over as the Phillies’ center fielder.
The 24-year-old has hit just .226 with eight home runs and eight stolen bases in 93 games this season, but has received high marks for his defensive abilities.
"He is one of the best defenders in baseball in center field," Thomson said. "Obviously, that’s an upgrade. He can run. He’s just a grinder, gamer type of guy. He’s hit in the past. He hasn’t hit lately, but I think there’s some stuff that [hitting coach] Kevin [Long] can do to help him out."
Odubel Herrera, who has started a team-high 43 games in center field, was designated for assignment following Marsh’s addition. Herrera was hitting just .215 with a .550 OPS since June 1.
MLB: Gil's 14 strikeouts, Soto's 2 home runs keep Yankees rolling
Luis Gil set a franchise rookie record with 14 strikeouts and was backed by Juan Soto’s two home runs as the red-hot New York Yankees rolled to their sixth straight win, 6-1 over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday.
Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Trevino also homered for the Yankees, who won for the 12th time in 14 games and improved to an AL-best 32-15.
New York is 12-2-1 in series, matching 2002 as the only time since 1950 it has won 12 of its first 15 series.
Gil allowed one run on five hits over six innings to win his fourth straight start. He surpassed Orlando Hernandez’s 13 strikeouts on Aug. 13, 1998. Hernandez threw out the ceremonial first pitch on Saturday.
Soto hit a 417-foot home run in the first inning, had an RBI single in the second and added another solo shot in the fifth on a 437-foot drive into the right-field bleachers. Soto, who had his 18th career multihomer game and first with the Yankees, went 4 for 4 with a walk and is batting .317 with 11 home runs and 37 RBIs.
The White Sox struck out a season-high 16 times and fell to a major league-worst 4-18 on the road and 14-32 overall.
Marlins stun Mets with late rally
Josh Bell hit a tying three-homer to cap a four-run ninth off Edwin Diaz and the Miami Marlins pulled out an improbable 10-9 win over the struggling New York Mets.
Diaz was called on to protect a 9-5 lead in the ninth but Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled home a run and Bryan De La Cruz reached on an infield single with one out before Bell belted Diaz’s first-pitch slider 428 feet to center field for the tying runs.
After Tanner Scott pitched a scoreless top of the 10th, Otto Lopez singled home automatic runner Christian Bethancourt in the bottom half to give the Marlins a fourth straight win.
Diaz has allowed seven earned runs, seven hits, three walks and two homers over 2 1/3 innings in his past three appearances.
The Mets have lost seven of nine and dropped five games under .500 (20-25) for the first time since an 0-5 start.
Royals’ Lugo gets AL-best 7th win
Seth Lugo struck out 10 to earn his American League-leading seventh victory and Salvador Perez drove in a pair of runs in a 5-3 win over the Oakland Athletics.
Lugo allowed two runs and six hits with a walk in 5 2/3 innings. He notched his second straight double-digit strikeout game.
James McArthur struck out two in the ninth for his 11th save.
Ross Stripling was saddled with his league-leading eighth loss and Oakland dropped its season-high seventh in a row.
MLB: Pirates' Skenes strikes out 11 in 6 no-hit innings for first major league win
Paul Skenes struck out the first seven batters and finished with 11 as part of six no-hit innings in his second major league start, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 9-3 win over the Chicago Cubs on Friday.
Skenes allowed just one baserunner – Michael Busch’s full-count walk in the fifth – in a dominant performance to earn his first victory. He struck out the side in the first and fanned Mike Tauchman on a 100-mph fastball on his 100th and final pitch – his 12th to reach triple digits.
The No. 1 pick in the 2023 amateur draft became the third rookie with seven strikeouts to start a game, joining Jacob deGrom on Sept. 15, 2014, and Jim Deshaies on Sept. 23, 1986. He also became the first rookie with an outing of at least six no-hit innings and 10-plus strikeouts since Chris Heston threw a no-hitter for San Francisco against the Mets on June 9, 2015.
The Cubs didn’t get their first hit until Christopher Morel singled against Carmen Mlodzinski with two outs in the seventh.
Andrew McCutchen and Jared Triolo homered for the Pirates, who have won the first two games of this series after losing seven of nine.
Kyle Hendricks allowed season highs of eight runs and 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings in his second start since returning from a lower back strain.
Rays’ Alexander flirts with perfection
Tyler Alexander took a perfect game into the 8th inning before Danny Jansen blooped an opposite-field, one-out single and the Tampa Bay Rays held on for a 4-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Alexander retired his first 22 batters, but Jansen dropped a 1-0 changeup between right fielder Josh Lowe and second baseman Richie Palacios.
Davis Schneider homered two pitches later to draw the Blue Jays within 4-2.
Alexander allowed three runs on three hits without a walk and struck out four. He threw 105 pitches, three more than his previous career high.
Pete Fairbanks pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save in five chances.
Palacios hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning off Chris Bassitt as Tampa Bay won for the 10th time in 14 games.
Streaking Astros edge Brewers
Jake Meyers hit a two-run homer and Jeremy Pena added a three-run shot to lift the Houston Astros to their sixth consecutive win, 5-4 over the Milwaukee Brewers.
It was the eighth win in nine games for the Astros, who moved into third place in the AL West.
Jake Bauers homered and Joey Ortiz added three hits, including a three-run home run for the Brewers, who went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
Schmidt shuts down Twins as red-hot Yankees complete sweep
New York Yankees lead-off hitter Anthony Volpe started off Thursday's game against the Minnesota Twins with a home run.
That was all the run support Clarke Schmidt would need.
Schmidt pitched a career-high eight innings and the Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the Twins with a 5-0 win.
Schmidt permitted three hits without a walk while striking out eight as New York won for the 10th time in 12 games to become the first AL club to 30 wins.
The Yankees (30-15) posted back-to-back shutouts at Minnesota and extended their scoreless streak to 26 innings dating to the first inning of Tuesday's series opener.
Volpe's homer sparked a three-run first inning for New York, which outscored Minnesota 14-1 in the three games.
Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres each hit two doubles, while Anthony Rizzo, Austin Wells and Alex Verdugo all drove in one run.
The Twins (24-19) entered this series with only three losses in their previous 20 games before promptly being swept for the first time since April 15-17, at Baltimore.
Mets score two in 11th to edge Phillies
J.D. Martinez hit a go-ahead single in the 11th and later scored on a wild pitch to provide the final margin as the New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies to avoid a four-game sweep in the home-and-home series.
The Phillies sent the game into extras after Bryson Stott tied the game with a single off Mets closer Edwin Díaz in the 9th.
It marked the second straight blown save for Díaz and his third in four opportunities since May 5.
Pete Alonso opened the scoring with a first-inning homer for the Mets (20-23), who had lost to the Phillies at home on Monday and Tuesday and then lost the opener of the two-game series in Phildelphia on Wednesday.
In a scheduling quirk, these teams played four consecutive games split between New York and Philadelphia, as part of the arrangement with the teams playing a two-game set in London on June 8-9.
Kyle Schwarber and Alec Bohm each had run-scoring doubles for the NL East-leading Phillies (31-14), who lost for only the fourth time in 20 games.
De La Cruz runs wild as Reds blank Dodgers
Elly De La Cruz had four hits, three runs and four stolen bases as the visiting Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-2 in their series opener.
De La Cruz now has a major league-leading 30 steals - 13 more than the next-closest player (Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Jose Caballero).
Playing in Cincinnati's 44th game, he is the fastest player to 30 steals since 1996, when Kenny Lofton reached 30 steals in Cleveland's 41st game.
De La Cruz had has many hits as the Dodgers (29-17), who have now totalled one run in their last two games to lose consecutive games for the first time since April 19-20.
The Reds (19-25), who ended up using seven pitchers during a bullpen day, won for the second time in three games after going just 1-11 in their previous 12.
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