Mickey Togs

Perhaps New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone was trying to fire up his team that had lost six of its past eight games. Maybe he was showing frustration over alternating pitching and hitting struggles as the Yankees slide further down the AL East standings.

Whatever the reason, Boone gave himself an early exit from Sunday’s 7-1 defeat to the Houston Astros by getting ejected in the third inning. It was his fifth ejection of the season, leading all MLB managers.

Boone began arguing with home plate umpire Derek Thomas after he called a low sinker to Ryan McMahon a strike. Judging from strike-zone graphics, the pitch was borderline but was out of the zone.

Apparently, that was one low strike too many for Boone’s liking and he shouted at Thomas from the dugout. Thomas called timeout and warned Boone, saying, “that’s enough” before tossing him from the game.

Marcus Stroman is now on the lookout for a new team.

The 2019 and 2023 All-Star was released by the Yankees on Friday, a day after the league’s trade deadline.

His release comes after New York added relievers David Bednar, Camilo Doval and Jake Bird before the deadline.

In his final start for the Yankees, Stroman allowed four runs and six hits with three strikeouts in a 7-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. He allowed four runs in each of his past two appearances.

Stroman was an All-Star with the Mets (’21) and Cubs (’23) before coming to New York. The 34-year old joined the Yankees on a two-year, $37 million deal in January of 2024, but struggled in his two years in the Bronx.

He had a 4.69 ERA in 193.2 IP over his two-year stretch in New York.

Mountain Dew today announced it is responding positively to gamer-demand and bringing back MTN Dew Game Fuel.

MTN Dew fans can celebrate the return of the iconic MTN Dew Game Fuel Citrus Cherry with Halo Infinite alongside MTN Dew Game Fuel Mystic Punch with Diablo IV, for a limited time.

To celebrate the return of Game Fuel, MTN Dew is extending its partnership with Halo to unveil the first custom, Forge-made map for a brand to debut in Halo Infinite and release a Dew x Halo 3 nostalgic merch capsule collection exclusive to the Halo Gear Shop.

Aaron Judge just keeps hitting home runs.

He homered on Wednesday night in Toronto, giving him 37 for the season and 352 for his career.

After being the fastest player in MLB history to reach 350 home runs, Judge keeps climbing the all-time leaderboard.

He has now officially broken into the top-100 in MLB history. He’s tied for 99th with the 352 HRs, a total also reached by Ryan Braun and Ellis Burks.

Judge is closing in on a couple of Yankees very soon, too.

Yogi Berra hit 358 career homers. Joe DiMaggio had 361.

Judge broke into the majors late, so although his at bat pace has him faster than anyone in MLB history, it’s unlikely he can climb to the very top of the all-time leaderboard. Or is it? 

Four New York Mets currently in the minor leagues are on the Baseball Hot List of Top 50 Prospects

INF/OF Jett Williams: No. 17

RHP Jonah Tong: No. 29

OF Carson Benge: No.32

RHP Nolan McLean: No. 34

Williams, 21, is having a terrific season for Double-A Binghamton, where he’s slashing .288/.396/.495 with eight homers, 24 doubles, five triples, 26 stolen bases, 52 runs scored, and 31 RBI in 334 plate appearances over 78 games. He will very likely get promoted to Triple-A Syracuse before the season is over.

Tong, 22, continues to lay waste to hitters in Double-A. He has a 1.83 ERA and 0.92 WHIP with 125 strikeouts in 78.2 innings over 15 starts. It’s fair to believe that Tong will be promoted to Syracuse relatively soon.

Benge, the Mets’ first-round pick (19th overall) in the 2024 MLB Draft, is excelling for Binghamton after spending the first 60 games of the season with the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones. Overall this season, the 22-year-old is slashing .302/.422/.485 with six homers, 21 doubles, five triples, 57 runs scored, 44 RBI, and 17 stolen bases.

McLean, who turns 24 on July 24, has been dominating for Syracuse and could be on the doorstep of his big league debut. Overall this season, McLean has a 2.17 ERA and 1.17 WHIP with 95 strikeouts in 87.0 innings for Binghamton and Syracuse.

Aaron Glenn’s first preseason as head coach of the New York Jets will kick off this summer on the road and then wrap up with traditional warm-weather games against the Jets’ NFC East foes and neighbors.

Jets at Green Bay Packers, Lambeau Field, Saturday, Aug. 9 (8 p.m. ET kickoff), TBA
The Jets’ summer schedule opens on a Saturday afternoon in Cheesehead Country. This will be their 10th preseason game against the Packers. The Green & White are 3-6 in their first nine summer meetings with the Pack, but they’ve won two of the last four,

Jets at New York Giants, MetLife Stadium, Saturday, Aug. 16 (7 p.m. kickoff), WCBS
The Jets will be the road team against the Giants at MetLife Stadium the following Saturday night, and there remains at least a theoretical possibility that the Jets’ Justin Fields and the Giants’ Russell Wilson, both of whom were QBs with the Steelers last season, could get a few snaps against the other’s defense in this one.

The Jets have won the last four games in their summer series with Big Blue and are 29-25-1 all-time. 

Jets vs. Philadelphia Eagles, MetLife Stadium, Friday, Aug. 22 (7:30 p.m. kickoff), WCBS
The August wrapup will pit the Jets and Eagles at MetLife on Friday night, Aug. 22, for the familiar foes’ first meeting in the past three summers. From 1985-2022, the teams that wear the different shades of green met each year except 2000 and the aforementioned summer of ’20. The Jets lead the preseason series 26-16-1.

The teams’ most recent meeting was a 24-21 Jets victory to open the ’22 preseason schedule.

Not much has come easily for the Yankees over the last three-plus weeks, and that remained the case in Sunday afternoon’s Subway Series finale.

But clutch heroics by Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger helped the Yankees survive the Mets’ furious comeback bid, snap a six-game losing streak and prevent a sweep at Citi Field.

Judge homered, drove in three runs and made a lead-preserving diving catch in the sixth inning of the Yankees’ 6-4 win.

Bellinger’s sensational shoestring catch on a Juan Soto line drive, meanwhile, turned into a rally-killing double play in the seventh.

The win was the Yankees’ seventh in their last 23 games, a stretch that included two separate six-game losing skids.

Overall, the Yankees and Mets split their six head-to-head games this season, with the Yankees taking two of three during their series in the Bronx in May.

The Buss family has agreed to sell the majority ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers to TWG Global CEO and chairman and Los Angeles Dodgers majority owner Mark Walter for a franchise valuation of approximately $10 billion, which would be the largest sale of a professional sports franchise in the world.

The price beats the previous records set during the $6.1 billion sale of the Boston Celtics in 2025 and the $6.05 billion sale of the NFL’s Washington Commanders in 2023. Walter’s purchase of the Dodgers in 2012 as part of the Guggenheim contingency ranks 12th all-time.

Walter has served as a minority stakeholder in the Lakers since 2021 and also has interests in the Los Angeles Sparks, the Billie Jean Cup, Cadillac Formula One team and the Professional Women’s Hockey League. 

Lakers controlling owner Jeanie Buss, the daughter of late former owner Dr. Jerry Buss, will reportedly continue to serve her role as the team’s governor after the completion of the sale.

Dr. Jerry Buss purchased the Lakers from the late Jack Kent Cooke for $67.5 million in 1979, a deal that also included the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and the Los Angeles Forum, the team’s home arena until 1999. Dr. Buss died in 2013, with his daughter taking over as the team’s governor ever since.

The New York Mets broke a streak and made some history against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.

Facing a streak of seven straight losses, the Mets offense posted seven homers, all solo, in an 11-4 win to move back into a tie with Philadelphia at the top of the NL East. Their record is 46-31.

Those seven solo homers tied the Mets with six other teams for the most in a game in MLB history. Only three of those teams hit only solo homers, like the Mets, who got long balls from Juan Soto twice, Brandon Nimmo twice, Francisco Lindor, Jared Young and Francisco Alvarez.

Three of those came in consecutive fashion in the third inning.

It was a big game for Soto in particular, going 4 for 5 with two homers and four RBI. It was his eighth career game with double-digit total bases, putting him in some elite company given his age.

Marcus Stroman allowed one run and three hits in his return to the New York Yankees’ starting rotation, pitching five innings in a 12-5 win over the Athletics on Sunday.

Stroman threw 74 pitches, 42 for strikes, and walked two batters. 

Though he didn’t need the help, Stroman received plenty of run support from his lineup, scoring six runs versus Athletics starter Luis Severino.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. provided the early offense with a second-inning home run and two-run triple in the third. Aaron Judge added two more runs in the fourth with his 29th homer of the season. And Cody Bellinger hit a three-run shot to give the Yankees a 10-1 lead when Stroman was finished.

Judge added his 30th homer in the eighth inning, going 2-for-4 with four RBI.