In the midst of one of their worst offensive funks in more than a half century, the New York Yankees are hopeful Sean Casey can get the bats going.
The Yankees reportedly hired Casey to be their hitting coach on Monday, one day after firing Dillon Lawson from the position following a 7-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs to conclude the first half of the season.
This will be the first major league coaching job for Casey, who was a three-time All-Star and a lifetime .302 hitter over a 12-year career spent mostly with the Cincinnati Reds.
The 49-year-old Casey, who was a teammate of Yankees manager Aaron Boone with the Reds from 1998 to 2003, had been working as an analyst for MLB Network.
He'll help oversee a lineup that stumbled into the All-Star break with the majors' third-lowest batting average at .231 - beating out only the Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics.
New York, which enters the break in fourth place in the AL East with a 49-42 record, is also 19th in the majors in average runs per game at 4.40 after ranking second in baseball last year at 4.98 per game.
The offensive woes began shortly before Aaron Judge tore a ligament in his right big toe on June 3.
Since May 31, the Yankees are batting a major league-worst .212, while their 232 hits in that stretch are the franchise's fewest over a 34-game single-season span since late in the 1968 season when the team had 229.
The middle of the batting order has been one of the biggest reasons for the scuffling offence with No. 3 hitter Anthony Rizzo batting .168 with zero home runs and seven RBIs in 31 games since hurting his neck in a collision on May 28, while cleanup hitter Giancarlo Stanton is batting .203 on the season.
"Our offence has struggled mightily, more so than I can recall," general manager Brian Cashman said Sunday. "The team that we have, in fairness to Dillon, we have had some injuries without a doubt but collectively we really have struggled, and we’re best served kind of changing of things up a little bit as we move into the second half.”
This is the first time the Yankees have made a coaching change in the midst of a season since July 1995, when Nardi Contreras replaced Billy Connors as pitching coach.
MLB: Phillies' Suarez becomes majors' first 7-game winner
Ranger Suarez continued his stellar start with seven scoreless innings and was backed by home runs from Nick Castellanos and Johan Rojas in the Philadelphia Phillies’ 8-2 win over the Miami Marlins on Friday.
Suarez allowed three hits with nine strikeouts and two walks to become the first seven-game winner in the majors. His 1.50 ERA is the second lowest in MLB.
Rojas and J.T. Realmuto each had three of Philadelphia’s 15 hits, while Bryce Harper had two with an RBI double.
The major league-leading Phillies have won 12 of their last 14 games.
Castellanos took Trevor Rogers deep in the second inning and Rojas added an RBI single later in the inning. He homered off reliever Eli Villalobos in the seventh to make it 7-0.
The Marlins dropped to 10-30 on the season and 1-6 since trading second baseman Luis Arraez to San Diego.
Arraez lifts Padres with walk-off hit
Luis Arraez singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the San Diego Padres a 2-1 victory, ending the Los Angeles Dodgers’ seven-game winning streak.
Playing his first home game since he was acquired from Miami last Saturday, Arraez lined a single to center to score pinch-runner Tyler Wade with one out.
Padres starter Michael King struck out 11 and held the Dodgers to just two hits in seven scoreless innings.
Counterpart Tyler Glasnow was nearly as good, yielding his only hit over seven innings on Luis Campusano’s third-inning home run and striking out 10 for the third time in four outings.
The Padres have won seven of nine to move back over .500 (21-20).
Twins defeat Blue Jays to stay hot
Carlos Santana homered to snap a fifth-inning tie and Joe Ryan pitched one-run ball over seven innings to lead the surging Minnesota Twins to a 3-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Carlos Correa had two hits and two runs to help the Twins win for the 16th time in 18 games.
Ryan limited the Blue Jays to one hit without a walk and struck out seven for his first victory in three starts. Jhoan Duran worked the eighth and Griffin Jax pitched the ninth for his fifth save.
Santan’s home run off Yusei Kikuchi gave Minnesota at least one in 18 consecutive games in Toronto, extending the second-longest such streak in team history.
Isaiah Kiner-Falefa had a home run among his three hits as Toronto lost for the sixth time in eight games.
MLB: Diamondbacks finish sweep of reeling Reds
Corbin Carroll had a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning and Slade Cecconi pitched 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball as the Arizona Diamondbacks won their fourth straight, 5-4 over the reeling Cincinnati Reds.
Joc Pederson homered in the first inning and finished with three hits for Arizona, which got RBIs from five different players.
Spencer Steer’s two-run single in the seventh completed Cincinnati’s comeback from a 4-1 deficit, but the Reds lost their eighth in a row, a stretch during which they scored just 17 runs.
Cincinnati has lost 11 of 13 to drop a season-high five games under .500 (16-21).
Cecconi gave up three hits with two strikeouts before Logan Allen allowed three runs over the next 1 1/3 innings. Paul Seward struck out two in the ninth for his first save of the season.
Twins rough up Gilbert in rout of Mariners
Manny Margot highlighted a five-run first inning with a three-run double off Mariners ace Logan Gilbert and the Minnesota Twins rolled to an 11-1 win over Seattle.
Pablo Lopez struck out 10 and allowed one run over 6 1/3 innings to win his third straight start.
Ryan Jeffers and Max Kepler each homered and knocked in two runs for the Twins, who have won 15 of 17 to move a season-best seven games over .500 (22-15).
Minnesota has averaged 6.6 runs and 10.1 hits over that 17-game span.
Gilbert failed to pitch into the sixth for the first time in eight starts this season and surrendered eight runs on nine hits with two walks in five innings. His AL-leading 1.69 ERA increased to 2.94.
Astros avoid season sweep to Yankees
Yordan Alvarez and Jon Singleton homered in the first inning and the Houston Astros held on for a 4-3 victory over the New York Yankees.
Alvarez hit a two-out shot off Marcus Stroman and Singleton followed Jeremy Pena’s walk for a 3-0 lead.
Pena added a fifth-inning RBI single for the Astros, who were outscored 40-18 in the first six games this season – all losses – against the Yankees.
Ronel Blanco allowed two runs on four hits over 5 2/3 innings and Josh Hader got the final four outs for his fourth save.
Anthony Volpe had a two-run homer and Aaron Judge belted a 473-foot shot in the eighth, but New York had a five-game winning streak snapped.
MLB: Stone, Hernandez lead Dodgers to seventh straight win
Gavin Stone continued the Dodgers’ run of strong starts and was backed by Teoscar Hernandez’s two-run homer as Los Angeles won their seventh straight game, triumphing 3-1 over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday.
Hernandez drove in all three runs for the Dodgers, who completed a 6-0 homestand and have won 14 of their last 16 games.
Stone limited the Marlins to one run on six hits with four strikeouts and no walks. Five of the Dodgers’ starters during the homestand went at least six innings and posted a 2.33 ERA with 31 strikeouts and four walks.
Michael Grove pitched the eighth and Daniel Hudson worked a perfect ninth for his second save.
Hernandez’s RBI single marked the fourth consecutive game that Los Angeles scored in the first inning.
Bryan De La Cruz homered for the second straight game as Miami finished a 1-5 road trip.
Blue Jays cool Phillies
Kevin Kiermaier and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. each had three hits and Chris Bassitt pitched into the seventh inning as the Toronto Blue Jays snapped the Philadelphia Phillies’ seven-game winning streak, 5-3.
Philadelphia had an 11-game home winning streak stopped, one off the franchise-record 12 straight victories at Citizens Bank Park, which opened in 2004. The Phillies won 16 consecutive home games at Veterans Stadium in 1977 and 1991.
Bassitt allowed two runs and three hits over 6 1/3 innings with two walks and six strikeouts. Jordan Romano gave up a run in the ninth but retired Kody Clemens and Whit Merrifield with the tying runs on base.
The Blue Jays used five hits to score three runs in the sixth inning. Bo Bichette and Davis Schneider had run-scoring singles before Kiermaier’s hit scored Bichette.
Ozuna hits 2 home runs to back Sale
Red-hot Marcell Ozuna hit a pair of home runs and Chris Sale struck out 10 to beat his former team in the Atlanta Braves’ 5-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
Ozuna’s second two-homer game of the season raised his major league-leading totals to 12 home runs and 38 RBIs, to go with a .315 batting average.
Orlando Arcia also went deep for the Braves, who won their second straight following a three-game skid.
Sale, who pitched for Boston from 2018-23, scattered six hits over six innings with one walk to win on his fourth consecutive start. He recorded his 82nd career game with at least 10 strikeouts.
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