MLB

El Mago looked more like El No Recuerdo on Monday ... 'cause Cubs star shortstop Javier Baez lost track of the outs during an inning, and was then promptly benched over the blunder.

Baez looked straight-up ridiculous during the bottom of the 4th inning of Chicago's game against the Indians ... when the 28-year-old thought there were 2 outs.

You can see in the clip of the play ... after Anthony Rizzo hit a pop-up to left field, Baez began circling the bags completely unaware there was only 1 out prior to the at-bat.

Baez was then promptly doubled off at first base ... and after he didn't seem to care too much about the mistake, his manager yanked him.

Cameras caught David Ross having a deep conversation with Baez about the play in the dugout ... and it wasn't hard to see Baez wasn't happy with Ross' decision to bench him.

The Cubs went on to lose the game 4-0.

Afterward, though, Baez vowed to be better going forward, saying, "[Ross and I] talked about it. We’re on the same page. I’ll be there tomorrow to help the team."

Added Ross, "We had a good conversation, and I think that’s behind us ... Javy’s really important to this team."

Tough scene for Javier ... but hey, remember when he made this play just a few weeks ago???

AEW star Max Caster ain't a one-hit wonder ... 'cause the pro wrestler just dropped another insane TMZ Sports-inspired rap verse -- and it's pretty damn good!!

In case you missed the biggest stories of the week, Platinum Max has got you covered -- from the "Suns In 4" guy to Chris Paul getting COVID-19 to the sticky situation going on in the MLB.

Caster -- half of AEW's "The Acclaimed" tag team -- goes on for a minute straight ... even throwing in a line about the Carmelo Anthony and La La divorce.

Tampa Bay Rays prospect Tyler Zombro is clearly lucky to be alive today ... the pitcher revealed he needed brain surgery after being drilled in the head by a line drive this month -- and the scar he showed off Thursday is gnarly.

Zombro -- who was struck by a comebacker in a minor league game on June 3 -- posted pics from his recovery on his Twitter page ... and it's truly miraculous he appears to be okay following the scary scene.

Zombro showed the entire right side of his head was opened up by docs after he was hit by the baseball ... and then later closed up with a grip of staples.

"Unbelievably grateful to be in the situation I’m currently in with the incredible help from @DukeHospital & staff," Zombro said.

"To all of you that have showered my family and I with positive thoughts, I have no doubt that all of the prayer support kept God with me throughout that night, as I’m in a very fortunate position all things considered."

The initial injury was one of the scariest incidents anybody's EVER seen on a baseball diamond ... Zombro let a fastball go and it was smacked right back at him.

The 26-year-old could be seen convulsing on the mound and was immediately rushed to the hospital.

In fact, things looked so dire, Zombro's minor league team, the Durham Bulls, postponed their game the following day in wake of the injury.

But, Zombro said Thursday he's doing much better ... even cracking a joke about his sprint speed!

"In optimistic news: I’ve never been the fastest on the field so I may have gotten a boost after this surgery," Zombro said.

Zombro added he intends to get back on the diamond eventually ... though there's no timetable for a return at this point.

Blue Jays pitcher Ross Stripling says he's sorry for throwing a temper tantrum after his teammate's error ... calling his actions both embarrassing and mortifying.

The Toronto starter went crazy after Joe Panik botched a throw to first base in the Jays' loss to the Yankees on Wednesday night ... screaming at his third baseman and throwing his hands in the air.

Stripling could be heard telling Panik to essentially play better ... and the on-field explosion was so off-putting, even Yankees broadcasters called Stripling out for it live on-air.

But, it didn't take long for Ross to realize he really screwed up ... 'cause he issued an apology to Panik after the game, calling the scene "the most disrespectful thing I've ever done."

"I'm completely embarrassed about it," the 31-year-old said. "I simply let the moment get too big for me."

Stripling said he not only spoke to Panik about it all, but addressed the situation with his entire team as well.

"I mean, I literally can't explain it," Stripling said. "Honestly, I'm mortified by it, I can't stand that's the way that went."

Ross continued, "It'll never happen again from me, I promise you that."

Ross added that Panik had accepted the mea culpa and told him "no hard feelings."

"Please, just talk to us. Please, just work with us."

Gerrit Cole is BEGGING MLB officials to ease their latest stance on pitchers and foreign substances ... telling reporters Wednesday night he's VERY concerned a league crackdown on it all could lead to serious injuries.

The Yankees star kept it real in his meeting with the media after New York's huge win over Toronto ... saying the lack of sticky substances on his hand really hurt him during the game.

In fact, Cole said he struggled so much with gripping the baseball all night long ... he became not only concerned about his arm, but also batters in the box.

"I would just hate to see players get hurt," the 30-year-old said. "I would hate to see balls start flying at people's heads. I had a really tough time gripping the baseball tonight, especially early when it was windy."

Cole is now imploring MLB officials to back down from their threat to impose fines, ejections and even suspensions on pitchers who are caught putting foreign substances on their hands and baseballs.

"It's so hard to grip the ball," Cole said after the Yanks' 3-2 victory. "For Pete's sake, it's part of the reason why almost every player on the field has had something, regardless if they're a pitcher or not, to help them control the ball."

Of course, the comments echo Tyler Glasnow's concerns from earlier this week ... when the Tampa Bay Rays ace said he believed the league's crackdown ultimately caused a serious injury to his elbow.

For his part, despite grip issues and a dry hand, Cole still dominated a strong Blue Jays lineup ... throwing 8 innings and giving up just 4 hits and 2 earned runs while striking out 4.

"I would encourage the commissioner's office to continue to talk with us, please, because we're the ones that throw the ball," Cole said.

"My lifelong dream -- I want to go out and win a Cy Young, I want to be an All-Star, and now it's all just s*** on."

Rays superstar Tyler Glasnow melted down in front of reporters Tuesday ... claiming the MLB's new crackdown on foreign substances RUINED his elbow -- and he's now VERY upset about it.

The 27-year-old Tampa Bay ace said when MLB officials hinted at punishing pitchers for rubbing substances on their throwing hand and baseballs ... he was forced to adapt.

Glasnow -- who said he usually uses sunscreen and rosin on his hand to get a grip on balls -- did away with the stuff two starts ago against the Nationals on June 8.

And, while Tyler spun a gem, he said the lack of tack on his hands put strain all over his elbow ... claiming that led to it blowing out in his last start against the White Sox on June 14.

"Waking up after that [Nationals] start, I was like, 'Okay, this sucks,'" Glasnow said. "Something is weird here. And then that same feeling is persisting all week long."

"And then I go into my start [Monday] and that same feeling, it just pops or whatever the hell happened to my elbow. Like, I feel it. Something happens. And I'm sitting up here like, 'You've got to be f***ing kidding me.'"

The Rays say Glasnow was diagnosed with a torn lgiament in his elbow as well as a flexor tendon strain ... and it's now very possible the dude will need Tommy John surgery to recover.

Glasnow made it clear he wasn't using the foreign substances to cheat, but rather to just get a grip on the baseball -- and now he's concerned other pitchers might suffer his same fate because of MLB's sudden, midseason rule change.

"I'm frustrated that they don't understand how hard it is to pitch," Glasnow said. "And to tell us to do something completely different in the middle of the season is insane. It's ridiculous."

Tommy Pham says the trash talk directed his way this year has been ruthless -- with fans bringing up his terrifying offseason stabbing incident ... and now, he says he wants MLB to step in.

The Padres star spoke candidly this week about the verbal abuse that's been hurled at him at ballparks this season ... and he says it's been flat-out disgusting so far in 2021.

“The vulgarity this year, the gestures, I've never seen it at this level," the 33-year-old outfielder told The San Diego Union-Tribune.

"I want to know if this is just because fans have been gone for a year and now they’re back and acting a certain way. That (stuff) shouldn’t be tolerated.”

Pham explained it's "common" for him to hear jabs about the October 2020 night in which he nearly lost his life during a stabbing incident outside of a San Diego strip club.

You'll recall, Pham was slashed so badly by a blade following an altercation with people outside of the venue, he said he needed 200 stitches to close the wound.

Pham explained to the Union-Tribune he's quite frankly tired of fans bringing that up and more ... saying he's ready to talk to MLB officials about getting involved to make it all stop.

"I need to talk to MLB," he said.

Have a bad weekend? There's probably no way it was worse than Beau Burrows' ...

The Detroit Tigers pitcher got so sick on the mound Saturday -- he blew chunks ALL OVER IT -- and then he was promptly sent down to the minors afterward.

The gross scene all went down in the Tigers' game against the White Sox ... when Burrows entered the contest in the 4th inning with Detroit losing 8-2.

The 24-year-old rookie cruised in his first inning on the bump ... but ran into some major issues when he came back out for the fifth inning.

He walked a batter, gave up two straight hits, then walked another batter ... and even though he went on to strike out the next two guys -- something went terribly wrong.

Check out the footage, as Burrows was trying to close out the inning ... he got visibly ill -- and threw up everywhere ... TWICE.

Burrows tried to stay in the game ... but he was pulled after trainers and coaches came out to talk with him.

But, the worst part? The Tigers sent him down to Triple-A after the game ... meaning he's going to have to work his ass off to get back up to The Show anytime soon.

As for his health, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch didn't seem concerned this was a long-term or serious issue ... explaining his pitcher was simply just nauseous.

This is a beautiful, beautiful sight.

The Chicago Cubs welcomed a FULL-CAPACITY crowd to Wrigley Field Friday for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic started ... and none other than Bill Murray was present to give a majestic rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game!!!"

Of course, it's tradition for the Cubbies to welcome their biggest supporters to help serenade the crowd during the 7th-inning stretch ... so the team brought out its most diehard fan for the first game back with a full stadium.

"This is what it feels like to be 100%," Murray yelled to the crowd before the big moment. "And, we're gonna be louder from right now until the last out in the top of the 9th inning, understood?"

Remember -- the Cubs haven't hosted a full stadium since 2019 ... so the place was ROCKING during their game against hated rival St. Louis.

"Let's scare the hell outta these Cardinals, let's scare them!!" Murray added.

The whole crowd singing along with the Chicago native was a powerful moment ... and Murray made sure to make the last note hold out as long as possible.

The video is pretty damn emotional considering what sports fans have been through in the past year ... and hopefully, there's more content like this moving forward.

"Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?"

That's how one MLB broadcaster reacted to an INSANE throw by Mookie Betts on Thursday ... and yeah, the play was seriously that good!!!

It all went down in the bottom of the 2nd inning of the Dodgers' tilt with the Pirates in Pittsburgh, when Ka'ai Tom hit a line drive to Betts deep in right field.

Mookie made a hell of a play to secure the out ... but he wasn't done there -- 'cause he then did a 360-degree spin to throw out the tagging runner at home plate!!

Watch the clip, the long toss was amazing ... Betts took several steps, twirled and fired -- and ended up throwing an absolute dart that gunned Erik Gonzalez down at home plate!

In typical Mookie fashion, the dude didn't even celebrate the absurd double play ... he calmly let his teammates know there were two outs, and then went right back to his right field position!

By the way, Mookie also homered in the game, stole a base and scored an additional run -- leading L.A. to a 6-3 win.

An L.A. Angels fan was comically beaten to a pulp trying to chase down a foul ball ... and the whole wacky incident was caught on broadcast cameras!!

It all went down during the Halos' game against the Royals in Anaheim, Calif. on Wednesday night ... when a dude's valiant effort to hunt down a baseball turned disastrous.

You can see in footage, the ball dropped down from the sky ... and, despite the guy being in the perfect position to make the play, it took a nasty hop and drilled him in the throat!

But, things got worse seconds later ... 'cause when he went to run down the ball as it ricocheted under a table -- he smacked his face right on the corner of the ballpark furniture!

The worst part? He didn't even come away with the baseball ... 'cause he was so embarrassed, he let another fan rip it from his hands!

Just another reminder, not everyone can be like SuperMom from Wednesday's Padres game.

Orioles star Ryan Mountcastle drilled a fan in the face with a home run ball last week ... but he more than made up for it Wednesday night -- gifting the dude a signed bat!!!

The story behind it all is pretty damn funny ... during a June 4 game against the Indians, Mountcastle hit a blast into left field that clanked off of Jake Jones' dome as it crash-landed in the seats.

Jones' failed catch attempt did major damage ... he claimed on Twitter the ball hit his forehead so hard, he had a concussion and needed stitches to repair the damage.

But, Jones was still jacked over Mountcastle's knock regardless ... and decided to reach out to the 24-year-old slugger to congratulate him on the blast.

Turns out, Ryan felt bad about hitting the guy ... and promised him an autograph when he returned to Camden Yards.

Fast forward to Wednesday night ... and Mountcastle delivered!!

The Baltimore designated hitter signed a bat for Jones ... and the dude loved it, writing on Twitter, "LEGENDARY."

Funny guy Jeff Garlin ain't laughin' when it comes to his beloved Cubs, Jake Arrieta and the COVID vaccine ... saying his favorite team will NEVER win the World Series if it keeps dodging inoculation.

The "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star -- who's a Chicago native and a huge baseball fan -- didn't hold back on the "Waddle and Silvy" show on ESPN Chicago this week ... saying a W.S. trophy won't touch Chicago unless the team gets vaxxed.

"If you don't get to 85% [fully vaccinated], I will wager everything I've got 'No' on the World Series," Garlin said. "If you're playing somebody who doesn't have to worry about that, it's a whole different world."

"If we're playing the Braves in the National League Championship, we're losing."

If you missed it ... the Cubs are one of several teams in the MLB struggling to get all of their players to receive their COVID shots -- with Arrieta being VERY vocal about his skepticism of it all.

In fact, Arrieta and the team are lagging so much on their shots, president Jed Hoyer just said last month he's "disappointed" that it appears the Cubs will not get to an 85% vaccination rate this season.

Of course, that's the MLB's magic number that it's requiring for teams to relax some of the league's strict COVID rules and regulations.

Garlin says the fact that this is an issue inside the clubhouse at Wrigley Field is straight-up "disgusting."

"I don’t get it," Garlin said. "I find it disgusting because I don’t think it's political and I think it’s your responsibility as a human being, part of the human race, to get that shot."

Forget Fernando Tatis ... the best play of the Padres game Wednesday was made by a fan in the stands -- with a woman making a ridiculous catch on a foul ball all while holding her baby!!!

The wild moment went down in the sixth inning of the Padres' game against the Cubs in San Diego ... when Chicago pinch hitter Jake Marisnick lifted a foul ball into the seats.

As the cowhide clanked around the stadium ... it took a wicked hop into the lower deck -- where SuperMom made an absurd play on the baseball!!

Check out the footage from Petco Park ... she reached back with her right hand to make the stab -- not even once putting her baby in danger!!

Everyone at the park went crazy ... and even the game's announcers had to show some love, with one saying on-air, "That's a nice grab."

David Ortiz is still dealing with medical issues stemming from the 2019 attempt on his life -- reportedly undergoing surgery Wednesday to remove two stomach hernias related to his gunshot wound.

Exactly 2 years ago TODAY -- the 45-year-old Hall of Famer was shot in the back while sitting in an outside patio area of a popular nightclub in the Dominican Republic.

The bullet struck Ortiz's liver and his small and large intestines -- he required emergency surgery to save his life, which included the removal of his gall bladder. He spent several days in the ICU.

Ortiz has been rehabbing ever since ... and made a pretty incredible recovery. He was healthy enough to join FOX's MLB postseason coverage later that year.

While the Red Sox slugger's surgery Wednesday is related to the shooting, the procedure is considered to be "low risk" and has been scheduled since February, according to ESPN.

As we previously reported, 13 people were arrested in relation to the incident ... and officials believe Ortiz was NOT the intended target.

Rolfi Ferreira Cruz -- the alleged shooter -- has said on the record that Ortiz was not his target.

The preliminary trial is set for July.

One of the best young hitters in the MLB looked more like a Little Leaguer on Tuesday ... 'cause Ke'Bryan Hayes forgot to touch 1st base on a home run -- and the gaffe REALLY cost his team.

The Bad News Bears moment all went down in the bottom of the 1st inning of the Pirates' game against the Dodgers ... when Hayes cracked a shot to the opposite field.

The ball was a bullet that hit the foul pole, giving Hayes a home run ... but there was just one problem -- he never tapped 1st on his way around the diamond!

The Dodgers noticed Hayes' critical error, challenged the play ... and sure enough, Hayes was ruled OUT for the mistake.

Of course, the play was HUGE ... the first 4 innings ended up being played to a 0-0 tie, with the Dodgers only ultimately winning 5-3.

After the game, Hayes' manager said his 24-year-old third baseman needed to be better.

"Obviously, Ke' got caught watching the ball,'' Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said, before adding, "If he even thinks he misses [the bag], he has to go back and touch it."

Don't worry, Pittsburgh should find it easy to forgive Hayes ... he's batting .333 so far this year, and he's got future star written all over him.