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NEW YORK — Zack Britton might have played his last game in pinstripes Friday night, as the New York Yankees returned the veteran left-handed reliever to the injured list after he struggled in his attempt to come back early from Tommy John surgery.

After being removed from New York’s 2-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles the night before because of left arm fatigue, manager Aaron Boone announced Saturday morning that Britton would go back on the injured list, in effect ending his 2022 season just over a week after he was activated off the IL.

“He’s doing pretty well, actually. Basically, it’s just something that we are kind of running out of time here,” Boone explained. “And having a little bit of fatigue last night, it’s one of those things that you don’t want to power through that and reach for more and then do some damage. He’s in a good spot heading into the offseason, so just continuing with that.”

Britton, who has 154 career saves in 11 major league seasons with the Yankees and Orioles, is eligible for free agency after the World Series. The southpaw went through a taxing rehab in his attempt to return to play less than a year after undergoing left elbow reconstruction surgery and having a bone chip removed Sept. 9, 2021. Britton was activated from the 60-day injured list Sept. 22.

Boone restated before the Saturday game against Baltimore that the elbow checked out fine and he praised Britton’s determination in his comeback attempt.

“I’m just appreciative of how hard he’s worked to get to this point, to give himself a chance, obviously, coming back quick by Tommy John’s standards,” Boone said. “The rehab’s gone really well. It’s just that final sharpness, and at this point in the season he’s just kind of up against [the clock] there. He worked his tail off to put himself in this position and give himself an opportunity and I certainly admire that.”

Britton and the Yankees are already engaged in preliminary conversations about a possible return to the team next season, sources told ESPN. He is in the final season of a three-year, $39 million deal with New York.

The Yankees selected Jacob Barnes’ contract and he will take Britton’s spot in the bullpen, but that will likely be a short-term solution for the team, which expects the return of several bullpen arms soon. Wandy Peralta (back), Miguel Castro (shoulder) and Albert Abreu (elbow) could be options for the Yankees for their last regular-season series, a four-game set against the Texas Rangers in Arlington that begins Monday.

Boone added that the Yankees will finish out the regular season one man short in the pen because they will keep Clay Holmes off the IL in order for him to be postseason-eligible. Holmes has been shut down for several days with right rotator cuff inflammation, for which he received a cortisone shot Thursday. Boone said Holmes won’t pitch again until the American League Division Series starts Oct. 11.

“Based on the injury, I think it’ll be a week of no-throw. I think we’re day five right now. So, he should start to ramp up early this week,” Boone said. “If that goes well, that should put him in line to be in play for the division series.”

Holmes said Friday night that the situation was “nothing too worrisome” and that working out at the Yankees’ alternate site will be enough for him to be postseason-ready.

“Some rest and build back up, and things will be good there for the division series,” Holmes said.

With the three-game wild-card format in its inaugural postseason, the Yankees will have five days off heading into the ALDS. They now have a plan in place for an alternate workout site to keep hitters and pitchers game-ready, hosted by the Somerset Patriots, the club’s Double-A affiliate.

“We have the alternate site lined up, where we have I think eight or nine pitchers. They’ll work out and kind of house in Somerset,” Boone explained. “On the days they’re scheduled to go we’ll have live pitchers there to go along with our own pitchers that will get into some live scenarios probably as well. Friday, Saturday, Sunday [Oct. 7-9] will be a lot of live scenarios for hitters and for pitchers. We have a pretty good plan laid out to try and keep guys sharp.”

One of the hitters who will probably benefit the most from the alternate site is Matt Carpenter. He is close to being fully recovered from the left foot fracture he suffered during an at-bat in Seattle on Aug. 9 and has progressed enough that he expects to be an option for the Yankees as they close out the season in Arlington. Carpenter, a Texas native, lives in nearby Fort Worth.

Boone said he hopes Carpenter will be an available bat off the bench in the postseason. Carpenter has been hitting in the cage and taking live batting practice this week.

“That’s exciting to think about,” Boone said about the possibility of Carpenter being a part of the postseason roster. “He’s doing really well. The hitting is going well. And he ran on the field today. And with the week ahead and what we have lined up, pitching-wise, with the offsite. Hopefully, he should be able to rack up a lot of live at-bats over the next week or 10 days to put himself in a good spot basis. Hitting has gone really well. Running today, I know that went well, so he’s in a pretty good place.”

Carpenter agreed to a one-year contract with the Yankees at the end of May, a week after he was released from the Rangers’ minor league system. In 47 games with the Yankees, Carpenter was one of their biggest contributors at the plate, hitting .305 with 19 homers, 35 RBIs and a 1.138 OPS.

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Ohtani takes Miz deep but phenom fans 12 in win

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Ohtani takes Miz deep but phenom fans 12 in win

MILWAUKEE — Shohei Ohtani greeted Jacob Misiorowski with a leadoff homer, but the Milwaukee Brewers‘ rookie phenom got the last word.

After giving up Ohtani’s 431-foot blast, Misiorowski responded with another dominant outing. He struck out a career-high 12 batters — including two-way superstar Ohtani in the third inning — to lead the Brewers to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.

“It’s Shohei Ohtani,” Misiorowski said. “You kind of expect [that]. It’s cool to see him do it in action, but it fires me up even more coming back the next at-bat and striking him out. I’m right there. I think it was a moment of like, ‘OK, now we go.'”

Misiorowski, whose fastball routinely tops 100 mph, threw an 88.2 mph curveball on an 0-2 count to Ohtani, who crushed it for his 31st homer. That’s the most by a Dodgers player before the All-Star break.

It was the 21st career leadoff homer for the three-time MVP, who struck out swinging on a curveball in the third and walked to start the sixth. That was the only walk given up by Misiorowski, who scattered four hits.

“Really good stuff, aggressive in the zone,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “But what really stood out to me was his command and control.”

Misiorowski outdueled three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, who surpassed 3,000 career strikeouts in his previous outing. Asked Monday about his matchup with Misiorowski, Kershaw said he only knew that the 6-foot-7 right-hander threw hard.

“I know him now, huh?” Kershaw said Tuesday. “That was super impressive. That was unbelievable. It was really special. Everything. Obviously the velo, but he’s got four pitches, commands the ball. I don’t know how you hit that, honestly. That’s just really tough.”

Misiorowski was glad to get Kershaw’s attention.

“I saw something online that he didn’t now who I was, so I hope he knows me now,” Misiorowski said. “It’s kind of cool.”

In five starts since the Brewers called him up from the minors, Misiorowski has already beaten Kershaw and 2024 NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes. In another outing, Misiorowski carried a perfect game into the seventh inning.

“He’s just broken the shell,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He’s just out of the egg, all arms and legs. He’s still got gooey stuff coming off, you can see it, all arms and legs, but there’s something special about him.”

The numbers would indicate as much. Misiorowski is 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA and has given up only 12 hits in 25⅔ innings.

He topped out at 101.6 mph and threw 20 pitches of at least 100 on Tuesday. He also threw 19 curveballs after using curves only 10% of the time before Tuesday.

He was coming off his only shaky performance, giving up five runs — including a grand slam by Brandon Nimmo — and three walks over 3⅔ innings Wednesday in a 7-3 loss to the New York Mets.

It looked as if it might be more of the same after Ohtani went deep. Misiorowski responded by striking out 12 of the next 16 batters.

“I think that’s my job, is to figure it out on the fly,” he said. “I feel like I did it tonight.”

He got out of a jam in the sixth. The Dodgers trailed 2-1 and had runners on second and third with one out, but third baseman Andruw Monasterio fielded a grounder and threw out Ohtani at the plate, and Misiorowski retired Michael Conforto on a grounder.

Misiorowski pumped his fist as he headed toward the dugout, then watched the Brewers’ bullpen nail down the win.

“It’s so satisfying,” Misiorowski said. “It’s just a dream come true, to do what I did.”

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Giants walk off on Bailey’s inside-the-park homer

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Giants walk off on Bailey's inside-the-park homer

SAN FRANCISCO — Patrick Bailey hit a three-run, inside-the-park home run with one out in the ninth inning, lifting the San Francisco Giants to a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night.

Bailey became just the third catcher in MLB history to hit a walk-off, inside-the-park home run, joining the Chicago Cubs’ Pat Moran in 1907 and the Washington Nationals’ Bennie Tate in 1926.

Bailey’s homer would have been an outside-the-park home run in 29 of 30 ballparks, with Oracle Park being the exception.

Mike Yastrzemski reached base twice and scored to help the Giants to their sixth win in seven games.

Casey Schmitt began the rally with a leadoff double. After Jung Hoo Lee popped out, Wilmer Flores lined a single to center.

Bailey, who grounded into a double play and struck out in two of his previous at-bats, then smashed a 1-0 fastball from Jordan Romano (1-4) into right-center field that ricocheted off the brick part of the wall.

Ryan Walker (2-3) retired one batter, with two on in the top of the ninth, to earn the win.

Phillies All-Star Kyle Schwarber had two hits, including his team-leading 28th home run.

Schwarber flew out, struck out and was hit by a pitch before homering off Giants reliever Spencer Bivens into McCovey Cove. Brandon Marsh, who singled as a pinch hitter leading off the inning, scored on the play.

Two days after being named an All-Star for the second time in his career, Robbie Ray gave up four hits and one run in 5⅔ innings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Mets’ Mendoza: Snubbed Soto ‘an All-Star for us’

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Mets' Mendoza: Snubbed Soto 'an All-Star for us'

BALTIMORE — The New York Mets consider Juan Soto to be a bona fide All-Star, despite the snub he received from those who selected the National League squad for the Midsummer Classic on July 15.

Soto, in his first year with the Mets, has performed well enough to earn the respect of his manager and teammates. In their opinion, he’s deserving of a place in the All-Star Game next week in Atlanta.

“He’s an All-Star for us,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday night after the Mets beat Baltimore 7-6. “It’s frustrating, but I’m hoping in the next couple of days we hear something and he makes it.”

Soto drove in the winning run with a sharp single on the first pitch of the 10th inning. That capped a night in which he went 3 for 5 to raise his batting average to .269 with 21 homers and 52 RBIs.

Soto has walked 72 times, by far the most in the majors, but he can also lash out at a pitcher when necessary.

“He’s got a pretty good understanding of what the pitchers are trying to do to him,” Mendoza said. “There is his awareness of the game, he’s going to see pitchers. There are times when he’s going to be aggressive. Tonight was one of those nights. First pitch in the 10th, he’s attacking.”

Soto made the All-Star team as a member of the Nationals, Padres and Yankees each year since 2021. The streak appears to be over. But his teammates believe he deserves to go.

“What he done all year is just incredible, and the results are good enough,” Mets starting pitcher Clay Holmes said. “The consistency he’s showed up with, at the at-bats he’s taken, is more than an All-Star. He’s one of the best in the game and a big part of our lineup.”

Soto seems rather philosophical about the snub.

“Sometimes, you’re going to make it and sometimes you don’t,” he told reporters after Sunday’s loss to the Yankees. “It’s just part of baseball.”

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