Twins add 3 pitchers for playoff push
The Minnesota Twins stocked up their sputtering pitching staff Tuesday leading up to the trade deadline, acquiring All-Star closer Jorge López from the Baltimore Orioles, starter Tyler Mahle from the Cincinnati Reds, and reliever Michael Fulmer from the Detroit Tigers.
Minnesota also acquired veteran catcher Sandy León from division rival Cleveland in a minor trade that sent minor league pitcher Ian Hamilton to the Guardians. In the four deals, the Twins traded away a total of nine prospects.
The 29-year-old López is in the middle of a breakout season for the Orioles, with a sparkling 1.68 ERA and 19 of his 20 career saves, while Mahle is 5-7 with a 4.40 ERA in 19 starts.
The 29-year-old Fulmer has a 3.20 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 39 innings for the Tigers, who sent him down the hallway in the last-minute swap before they played the Twins at Target Field.
López and Fulmer join a Twins team that has been desperate to find reliable late-inning options beyond Jhoan Duran.
Baltimore received minor league pitchers Cade Povich, Yennier Cano, Juan Nuñez, and Juan Rojas from Minnesota for López. Only Cano has major league experience, but Povich was a thirdround draft pick last year.
Cincinnati got the bigger haul of minor leaguers — infielders Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Spencer Steer, and lefthanded pitcher and former Central Catholic standout Steve Hajjar.
Yankees ship Gallo, pick up Bader
Joey Gallo’s unproductive yearlong tenure with the Yankees ended when he was traded to the Dodgers for minor league righthander Clayton Beeter. Later on, the Yankees worked on improving their defense, acquiring Gold Glove-winning center fielder Harrison Bader from the Cardinals for lefthander Jordan Montgomery.
A speedy 28-year-old from Bronxville, N.Y., Bader has not played since June 26 because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot. When he returns, he likely would play center field in a move that would put Aaron Judge back in right and see Aaron Hicks in left, with Giancarlo Stanton as the designated hitter.
Mets give up four players for Ruf
The first-place Mets acquired reliever Mychal Givens and designated hitter Darin Ruf in separate deals. New York got a much-needed boost for its bullpen by landing Givens from the Cubs for minor league pitcher Saúl González. Givens, a 32year-old righthander, was 6-2 with two saves and a 2.66 ERA in 40 games for the Cubs this season.
Earlier in the day, Ruf was obtained from the Giants for J.D. Davis and three pitching prospects.
Ruf, 36, has hammered lefthanded pitching this season and throughout his career, something Davis was unable to do in his part-time role primarily at designated hitter this year.
DeGrom dazzles in debut
Jacob deGrom dazzled in his first major league start in more than a year, allowing one run on three hits and striking out six in five innings before a bullpen meltdown cost the Mets in a 5-1 loss to the host Nationals.
Sidelined for the second half of last season by an elbow injury and shut down late in spring training because of a stress reaction in his right scapula, deGrom got a standing ovation from a crowd full of Mets fans. The 34-year-old two-time NL Cy Young Award winner delivered a 99-mile-per-hour fastball on his first meaningful pitch since July 7, 2021, and threw 46 of 59 for strikes. He averaged 99.7 m.p.h. on 31 fastballs, throwing 13 in triple digits and topping out at 101.6 m.p.h.
Gausman shines for rolling Jays
Kevin Gausman allowed one hit and struck out 10 over eight masterful innings and the Blue Jays opened a nine-game trip with a 3-1 win over the Bay Rays. The Blue Jays have won 11 of 13 and increased their lead over Tampa Bay to four games for the top AL wild-card spot.
Jordan Romano worked the ninth to get his AL-best 25th save despite allowing Taylor Walls’s leadoff homer in the ninth.
Syndergaard off to Philadelphia
The Phillies acquired veteran reliever David Robertson, center fielder Brandon Marsh, and righthander Noah Syndergaard in three trades. The Phillies sent minor league outfielders Mickey Moniak and Jadiel Sánchez to the Angels for Syndergaard, who returns to the NL East after spending his first six seasons with the Mets. The 29year-old Syndergaard went 5-8 with a 3.83 ERA in 15 starts after agreeing to a $21 million, one-year deal with Los Angeles in November. Moniak gets a fresh start with a new organization after he was selected by Philadelphia with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 amateur draft. Moniak, 24, is a .129 hitter in 47 career games . . . The Brewers continued to reshape their bullpen by acquiring injured reliever Trevor Rosenthal from the Giants for minor league outfielder Tristan Peters to the Giants. Rosenthal hasn’t pitched since 2020 due to a variety of injuries but is hoping to make it back this season . . . The Royals sent utility man Whit Merrifield to the Blue Jays just minutes before Tuesday’s trade deadline, even though the two-time All-Star was unvaccinated and had to miss Kansas City’s trip to Toronto last month. It’s unclear whether Merrifield, 33, has received or is planning to get the shot required of all players traveling to Canada.