00:00Friends, I'm Lauren Gardner, and welcome to this edition of A Quick Pitch.
00:03Well, Thursday's slate contained just seven games, but there's no shortage of action.
00:08Juan Soto went deep against the Cards at Citi Field.
00:11As for his former teammate Pete Alonso, he connected for the second straight night against the Mariners.
00:17And Alex Bregman's homer helps the Cubs stave off a sweep at Coors Field.
00:22But first, we start with the rubber game in Pittsburgh between the Dodgers and the Pirates.
00:28Well, the ball was flying out of Citi Field on Thursday, with both the Cardinals and the Mets each going
00:34deep three times.
00:35So which team would come out on top? Find out next.
00:39Supreme when it comes to superstitions.
00:42From Wade Boggs taking BP at 517 exactly before every game, to Richie Ashburn sleeping with his bats,
00:48and who could forget Jason Giambi in the, we'll call it the gold undergarment.
00:53Well, things are a bit less extreme in the case of Cardinals right fielder Jordan Walker,
00:57who's already set career highs in home runs and RBI in just 64 games this season.
01:03And when asked about the chances of playing in his first career All-Star game, he said, quote,
01:07I try not to think about it. I get real superstitious.
01:10I just play my game, and whatever happens, happens.
01:13So does this superstition pale in comparison to those that came before him?
01:17Well, maybe.
01:18But if it gets him a spot in this year's Midsummer Classic, who cares?
01:22And maybe the entire Cardinals team will have whatever superstitions or we'll call them routines they have
01:27if they win seven in a row for the first time since May of 2025.
01:32Alec Burleson homered in each game of the series.
01:35Juan Soto had the go-ahead homer in the seventh.
01:38He has just three hits in his prior eight games.
01:41And finally, Luke Weaver threw a scoreless eight.
01:44So check this out.
01:45He hasn't allowed a run in 18 straight innings.
01:48Hopefully we don't jinx him, but we don't believe in jinxes here on QP.
01:51Coming up next, it's the D-backs and Marlins.
01:53As seen on app, he's one of the hottest hitters in all of baseball.
01:57But could he keep his average above 500 in the month of June?
02:00Find out next when the Royals take on the Rangers.
02:03Fun to be the answer to a trivia question, as is the case for this Rockies outfielder, Sterling Thompson,
02:09who became the first Colorado-born position players.
02:12I know there's a lot of qualifiers here to make his debut with the club,
02:15which is a running joke with Thompson as his family moved to Colorado,
02:18from Colorado to Florida six months after he was born.
02:22But the Rocky Mountain pride runs strong for the 24-year-old who grew up a huge Rockies fan
02:27and made his mark on Wednesday with that walk-off single you just saw against the Cubs
02:31to set his team up for a chance to earn their second sweep of the season.
02:36As for the Northsiders, well, it's been a rocky road for Craig Council's club,
02:40who are an MLB worst 7-22, dating back to May 9th.
02:44Let's get you out to Coors Field for the highlights.
02:47He has absolutely tortured the Rockies since debuting in the majors in 2022.
02:52Across 26 career games against him, he's a .380 hitter with six homers, 25 ribbies, and 1126 OPS.
03:00Only Alex Dickerson has a higher average versus the Rocks over the last 10 seasons.
03:05The Rangers have won nine of their last 12 games, with five of those wins coming against the Royals.
03:10Corey Seager hit his sixth career homer against KC and is a career .324 hitter in 26 games against him.
03:18Meanwhile, Jack Caglione had his third straight multi-hit game and is hitting .533 in the month of June.
03:24As for Cags, he joined the MLB Central crew on Thursday morning.
03:28What's up there from Cags and our MLB Central crew?
03:30Well, a homerun derby broke out that Thursday afternoon in Detroit with six different Tigers going deep.
03:36So if you dig the long ball, don't go anywhere.
03:38More highlights next.
03:40Home of homeruns.
03:42Well, coming up next, it's the Twins taking on the Tigers in the same game parlay spotlight presented by FanDuel.
03:48Well, the Phillies are surging after their slow start, and a big reason why is Brandon Marsh's breakout at the
03:55plate.
03:55Up next, we'll take a deep dive on more with our guy Dero leading the way.
04:00Now, someone who is very familiar with Citizens Bank Park and could very well find himself playing in his first
04:05career All-Star game in his home park
04:07is one of the more colorful characters in the game in Brandon Marsh.
04:11Through 63 games this season, the 28-year-old is hitting .326 and has established himself as a real threat
04:18in the heart of this resurgent Phillies lineup.
04:21And on Thursday morning on MLB Central, Mark DeRosa took to the Skybox to break down what's made Marsh so
04:26successful this season.
04:28It only seemed natural to celebrate the World Cup kickoff with a little bit of a baseball twist.
04:34So kudos to the Dodgers social.
04:36For our great crew here at MLB Network, I'm Melchie Rad.
04:39We'll see you next time.
