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In the top of the third inning, the plastic wrapper of a hot dog was blown onto the field and picked up by the batboy for the Texas A&M Aggies. That drew the biggest cheer of the day from the Mizzou contingent at Taylor Stadium on Sunday who watched the Tigers lose 14-3 in the third straight game where the Aggies took it right to the front door that is the Missouri pitching staff and did so early. 

Down by eleven after allowing seven in the top of the third, Missouri (17-12, 1-8 SEC) found themselves in a spot that’s been all too familiar the past three games. More specifically, the third straight game where the Tigers have been trailing by at least eight runs before the fourth inning rolls around. 

The clock striking midnight before the halfway point hits hasn’t been a theme that’s been so prevalent up to this point in SEC play for Missouri. Tigers coach Kerrick Jackson has emphasized multiple times in the past, the importance of putting up “zeros” as a pitching staff. As exciting and blistering as the Tigers’ comeback against UIC was, after being down 12-1 past three, it can’t be expected to be the norm once top 25 opposition rolls into town.

Last season, it was the Tigers who rolled into College Station and picked up not only the three-game sweep, but their first SEC wins of the season, capped off by a 10-1 victory in the series finale. A&M well and truly pulled the reversal and in dominant fashion at that, also encapsulating its not sometimes how you finish a game, its how you start. 

“We just flush it,” Jackson said. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to look at what we didn’t do well — which this weekend was pitching — and understand what that means. Next week, we have to pitch it better than we did. We’ve proven we’re going to play defense. We’ve proven we can score runs. We’ve proven we can pitch it well at times. We just haven’t had enough games where all three phases are clicking. Getting that figured out and getting all three phases clicking at the same time will put us in a great situation.”

Aggies long ball proves damaging

Eight of the Aggies’ runs on Saturday came via the long ball, as two each were hit by Gavin Grahovac and Nico Partida. The wind at Taylor Stadium blowing out on a sunny Sunday afternoon was a recipe for disaster for the Tigers’ pitching staff that struggled mightily in the three-game series. All in all, five home runs, totaling nine in the past two days for the Aggies. 

JD Dohrmann, after being a game time decision for the Tigers on the SEC availability report, acted as the opener, pitching one inning of work while giving up no runs and striking out a batter. Dohrmann was one of two pitchers of the day for Mizzou who put up a zero. 

“He just ended up not being healthy,” Jackson said when asked why Dohrmann pitched just the opening frame. “We couldn’t run him back out there, his stuff wasn’t good for where he has been. I think he tried to force it up, and we cautioned him to be honest with us. I think he wanted to go out there and do it, but we couldn’t continue to send him out there when he had below‑average stuff.”

Luke Sullivan came in to replace Dohrmann, after starting earlier in the week on Wednesday against Lindenwood. The Aggies offense got to him early. After a pair of walks and outs, Boston Kellner opened the scoring in the top half of the second with a two-run RBI single. 

Gavin Grahovac started off his day-that wasn’t over by a longshot-with a two-run 405 foot shot over the deep center field fence, putting the Aggies up 4-0. 

If the third inning was an offense, the fourth was a barnyard explosion. Again, a walk started the baserunning traffic for A&M and one batter later, Blake Binderup, who came a triple short of the cycle Sunday, connected on a two-run shot of his own. For Binderup, it marked his fifth tater shot of the season. That marked the end of Sullivan’s line, six earned runs, two strikeouts and four hits in 1.1 innings pitched. 

“Luke, he started against Lindenwood, so that’s a Wednesday start,” Jackson said. “This is the first time he’s gone short‑rested, but we needed to use him. Luke throws strikes, but with some of the pitches we need to execute, he’ll leave stuff over the middle and that’s where we get hurt. But he throws three pitches for strikes, and he’s a true freshman. We’re asking him to grow up at the moment, and that can be tough.” 

Ian Lohse, who’s typically played the role of closer this season, came in to stop the bleeding. The A&M offense didn’t have those plans. Jorian Wilson welcomed Lohse to the game with a single and Lohse gave the next two batters free passes with a hit by pitch and a walk. 

Bases loaded, up stepped the last person the Tigers needed to face, Grahovac. Four pitches into his at bat, Grahovac continued to tee off as if Taylor Stadium was a local driving range, connecting on a back-breaking grand slam. 10-0 Aggies and the only noise was coming from the pocket of maroon red fans behind the visitors dugout. 

In the words of Tom Cruise in a Few Good Men, “the hits just kept on coming.” Caden Sorell hit a follow up solo home run, drawing a mound visit from Mateo Serna to Ian Lohse, draping his arm on the left-hander. Lohse struck out the remaining two batters, ending the inning of 7 runs and four hits. 

Fast forward to the top of the seventh, Jake Duer’s solo homer increased the A&M lead to eleven, marking the final run of the game in a fitting way, the long ball. 50 runs in the last five games have been given up by Missouri pitching as a whole. 

“At the end of the day, you take the five‑game week, and we had to move McDevitt and Kehlenbrink up, so they were short‑rested,” Jackson said. “Now we’ll be able to go into a situation where they’ll have full rest. We only have four games this week and we’re looking for some other guys to step up and fill in for where JD and Javyn (Pimental) are out. That’s ultimately what it comes down to.”

He continued. “I fully expect next week we’ll get better starts from both McDevitt and Kehlenbrink, because both of their starts this weekend were uncharacteristic. You’re talking about guys who had some of the better numbers in our league in conference play and the short rest with long outings last time didn’t go well for them.”

Peer, Durnin, Ward stand out for the Tigers offense

Kam Durnin continued the kind of weekend that’s reaffirming the why behind the anticipation of his arrival to Jackson’s program. The third‑inning solo shot on Sunday capped off a 6‑for‑12 series that included two doubles, continuing his presence as a reliable bat in the lineup, whether he’s in the leadoff spot or sitting third or fourth in the batting order. 

Blaize Ward, reached base all three times for the Tigers and his recent resurgence has come in his eight hits in the last nine games for the freshman, who’s continued to establish himself in the past week. 

Kaden Peer’s 3-for-4 day at the plate, three singles and a run scored come as less of a surprise, as he’s been a key bat for Missouri dating back to last season, more encouragingly, he’s shown little reason for concern since coming back from injury on Mar. 3.

UP NEXT 

This past weekend might have brought the Tigers a lot of difficulty, this upcoming Tuesday presents them the perfect rebound opportunity. Missouri has the chance to earn what A&M got against them and that was revenge, as the Kansas Jayhawks will come into Columbia for a rivalry clash Tuesday evening. In Lawrence, the Tigers lost 10-0 in run rule fashion; they had the chance to split the season series in the Border War matchup. 

“We need to pitch it better and give ourselves a chance to be in that game a little more,” Jackson said. “If we do that, we’ll be just fine.”

After hosting Kansas, the Tigers head back on the road in SEC play to take on No. 19 Kentucky, beginning Friday at 5:30 p.m in Lexhington. 

After a heartbreakingly close loss last night, the Mariners will look to avoid losing their first series of the season today against Cleveland. Emerson Hancock will make his season debut for Seattle. Thanks to Zach Mason, who accidentally wrote this preview for Hancock when he’s actually recapping Castillo’s start against the Yankees tomorrow. All mine now, baybeeee.

Seattle will hand the ball to Emerson Hancock for his first start of the season. This ought to be Bryce Miller’s spot, but he’s still getting stretched out after missing some time in Spring Training with oblique tightness. Hancock lost his spot as the sixth starter last season to Logan Evans and was eventually relegated to the bullpen. But with Evans out for the year with Tommy John surgery, Hancock returns to the rotation.
Three things to watch from Hancock tonight:

• He was able to gain some velocity on his fastball when he moved to the bullpen, and he kept most of the gain in three-inning outings this spring. Can he hold the added velo over a full start?
•  He workshopped his sweeper over the winter and turned it into a pitch that was highly effective in Cactus League play. How effective is it against a legit lineup, and does he use it more than the three-or-so pitches per game he’s used in the past?
•  He’s had to trade velocity for movement on his slider in years past. This spring, he was able to get both at the same time. Was that a fluke, and, if not, how effective is it now?

Some in-case-you-missed-it reading:

• Some background info on the Steelheads, as well as quotes from Mark McLemore and Mike Cameron on the significance of wearing the Steelheads jerseys and lifting up this particular part of Negro Leagues history at this moment in time.
• That’s right, three games in and we’re lineup-construction-posting.
• Last night’s loss felt designed in a lab to make me, personally, feel as best as I possibly could about a loss, and after sleeping on it, I tried to explain why.

Lineups:

Back to the usual with a righty on the hill for Cleveland.

The Guardians will send out Slade Cecconi, who was the centerpiece in the trade when the cash-strapped Guardians shipped out Josh Naylor to Arizona. Cecconi is a junkballer (complimentary) who will throw a lot of off-speed at the Mariners to try to disguise his less-impressive heater, so the Mariners’ hitters job will be to not chase after his curve and slider and try to get to the fastball.

Injury Updates:

J.P. Crawford (shoulder) remains with the team; Tacoma has an off day tomorrow and then returns home, so it’s likely he’ll head there on a rehab assignment this week while the team faces the Yankees. Carlos Vargas (lat strain) was in the building today, but no news on where he is in his return from injury. Tomorrow will be Justin Hollander’s weekly update, so look for more info then.

Roster move:

Prior to the game, the Guardians announced they have traded OF Johnathan Rodriguez to the Baltimore Orioles for minor league reliever RHP Carter Rustad.

Today’s Game Information:

Game time: 4:20 PT

TV: NBC Peacock. The broadcast crew for Peacock is Jason Benetti, Rick Manning, and will also include our own Ryan Rowland-Smith.

Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports, with Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill.

Looking Ahead:

The Mariners start a three-game series against the Yankees tomorrow and you know what? Good. Let’s go ahead and get it out of the way early. Monday night is Hello Kitty night with a HK squish pillow promotion (must purchase ticket special to receive promotion)

The San Diego Padres made an announcement before Opening Day that came as a surprise to no one. Yu Darvish was placed on the restricted list and is likely to miss the entire 2026 campaign following offseason right elbow surgery.

Being placed on the restricted list allows Darvish to rehab on his own timetable, while the Padres retain his rights. The star pitcher has voluntarily forfeited his $16 million salary for this season.

Though retirement rumors are swirling, Darvish will not address his future until next offseason.

Athletes have the will, their bodies don’t have a way

It is a harsh reality of professional sports that most athletes are eager to continue to play, but their bodies can no longer compete at an elite level.

The accumulated years on the mound do take a toll on the human body. It leads to degenerative health conditions, such as persistent pain in the hip, back, and elbow joint. 

In Darvish’s case, the mental drive to get batters out remains strong for him. Unfortunately, questions arise about the health of his right elbow and whether it can withstand the physical demands of pitching in games.

Darvish’s historic MLB legacy

For his 13-year major league career, Darvish won 115 games with a 3.65 ERA in 297 starts. He was the No. 1 starter for three different organizations: the Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, and Padres. His performance in the role speaks for itself, as the right-hander was a difference-maker in several notable playoff runs for each franchise.

Unfortunately, the five-time All-Star has struggled to stay healthy in the latter stages of his Padres career. Since 2021, Darvish’s seasons have been interrupted with injury list stints for elbow, neck, and back injuries. There is no doubt that Darvish has reached a breaking point with the amount of missed time.

But the Friar Faithful will not forget Darvish surpassing Hideo Nomo to become the all-time MLB strikeout leader among Japanese-born pitchers. And few Friars starting pitchers have been as dominant as he was in Game 2 of the 2024 National League Divisional Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Darvish gave up only one run on three hits in a 10-2 victory.

Darvish holds all the cards

His time in the majors is very uncertain at this moment. However, there is a glimmer of hope that he may come back for one more season in 2027.

Only Darvish can determine if his arm and body will recover from his recent surgery. Players of his ilk try to conquer every step of the rehab process. But they will step away from their playing career if the physical demands become too much to overcome. 

Darvish has earned the right to end his playing career on his own terms. 

The Guardians will try to win their first series of the year tonight. Here is their lineup:

Here is Seattle’s lineup:

Let’s go, Guardians!

The Brewers fought back from an early deficit to win their third straight game, scoring six runs in the eighth to complete a sweep of the Chicago White Sox.

Starter Brandon Sproat got lit up in his Brewers debut, surrendering a grand slam before getting an out. After walking the first two hitters he faced, Chase Meidroth and Munetaka Murakami, Miguel Vargas lifted a fly ball to centerfield that should’ve been the first out. Blake Perkins ran back instead of forward, letting it drop to load the bases with still nobody out. That brought up Colson Montgomery, who smacked a first-pitch cutter from Sproat over the centerfield fence for the aforementioned grand slam.

Austin Hays grounded out for the first out of the game, but Andrew Benintendi walked on five pitches — the third walk of the inning. At this point, Grant Anderson was warming up in the Brewers’ bullpen, but Sproat was able to bear down — inducing a pop-up from Everson Pereira and striking out Edgar Quero to keep the game from getting out of hand.

Milwaukee was able to claw back almost immediately, halving the deficit in the bottom of the first. William Contreras doubled with one out, then advanced to third on a passed ball by Quero. Luis Rengifo lined out to Meidroth at second base for the second out, but Gary Sánchez — hitting cleanup for Milwaukee today — launched a home run into left field for the Brewers’ first two runs of the day.

Things didn’t get much easier for Sproat after a nightmare start. He walked Tristan Peters on five pitches to start the second inning before giving up a grounder into the hole at shortstop that very well could have been a hit. Luckily, the Brewers’ middle infield is Joey Ortiz and Brice Turang, who turned a beautiful double play to get Sproat two outs closer to a scoreless inning.

Up next for the White Sox was Murakami, who hit a towering fly ball to right field. Sal Frelick trailed back with the ball, but when he jumped up to try and make the catch the ball bounced off of his glove and over the wall for a solo home run. Anderson proceeded to get loose in the Brewers’ bullpen once again. Vargas then singled and stole second, and Montgomery drove him in with another single.

Brewers manager Pat Murphy left Sproat in the game to face Hays, who struck out on three pitches to end the inning, After two innings, the score was Chicago 6, Milwaukee 2. Sproat made it through the third inning, but not before allowing another solo home run, this time to Pereira. His day ended there, having allowed seven runs, six hits, four walks, and three homers while striking out three.

No doubt about it: Sproat’s Brewers debut couldn’t have gone much worse. Still, it’s too soon to worry. Back in 2019, a guy named Corbin Burnes gave up 11 home runs in his first three major league starts. He turned out fine. It’s also worth noting that catcher Jeferson Quero was making his major league debut, and that Sproat — who never pitched in the Brewers’ minor league system — very likely hadn’t worked with him much prior to today’s game.

After Sproat exited, the Brewers’ bullpen shut down the White Sox and the offense started to claw back. Grant Anderson tossed two scoreless innings and Jared Koenig struck out the side in the sixth. Sal Frelick led off the bottom of the sixth with a double, and Brandon Lockridge knocked him in with his second RBI single in as many days.

Neither team scored again until the bottom of the eighth, when Ortiz — who’s had a hit in every game this season — singled off of reliever Chris Murphy to start the inning. Jake Bauers, who’d come in to pinch-hit for Quero, struck out, but Ortiz was able to advance to second on a wild pitch. Brandon Lockridge beat out an infield single, Blake Perkins walked, and just like that the bases were loaded. The next batter, Turang, ripped an opposite-field single — scoring Ortiz and keeping the bases loaded. Contreras popped out for the second out, and Luis Rengifo went down to his final strike against Murphy. However, on the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Rengifo snuck a grounder up the middle to score Lockridge and Perkins.

Just like that, the Brewers had the go-ahead run on first with Christian Yelich walking up to the plate to pinch hit for Sánchez. Yelich took a couple balls, fouled off a couple pitches, then hit a towering moonshot down the right field line that stayed just fair — clearing the bases and giving the Brewers a 9-7 lead.

Yelich’s home run came off the bat at 111.1 mph, making it the hardest hit ball by a Brewer so far this year. He may be getting older, but he’s still got it.

Trevor Megill came in for the save in the ninth and immediately gave up a single to Peters, bringing up the top of the lineup for the White Sox. Meidroth and Murakami both went down swinging, and Vargas lifted a deep fly to the warning track in right field that dropped harmlessly into the glove of Sal Frelick — ending the game and completing the season-opening sweep.

Every Brewers starter recorded a hit today except for Jeferson Quero, who walked in one of his two plate appearances. The bullpen, stretched to six innings today, was once again lights-out. After Sproat exited the game, Milwaukee didn’t allow a run. Anderson and Jake Woodford (who picked up the win) each went two scoreless innings, while Koenig and Megill racked up multiple strikeouts.

The Crew will welcome the Tampa Bay Rays to American Family Field tomorrow for a three-game series. Kyle Harrison, set to make his Brewers debut, will face off against right-hander Nick Martinez. First pitch for the series opener is slated for 6:40 p.m.

Seven of the first eight pitches from Mets right-hander Nolan McLean were outside the zone to start Sunday's series finale against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field. 

McLean, who would walk the first two he faced, managed to overcome the lack of command without walking another man as he pitched 5.0 innings of two-run ball on four hits and a hit batter with eight strikeouts in cool and at times blustery conditions.

“We could see it the first couple of batters he was missing arm side, he didn’t have a good feel for his pitches pretty much 'til the fourth inning,” manager CarlosMendoza said after the Mets fell 4-3 in 10 innings.

The right-hander said that the conditions made it so that he felt like his pitches were “moving a little bit more than they normally do,” and he just had to “pick out the right sight line.”

“At the beginning, the first three innings, especially the secondaries, the spin – the sweeper, the curveball – it was just a ball out of the hand,” Mendoza said. 

McLean indicated that the bigger challenge than getting the right feel came from throwing into a headwind.

“Throwing into the headwind is sometimes a little tricky, especially when my stuff's moving a little more dramatically than it normally does,” he said. “I was just trying to find where I needed to start my pitches, and it was a little bit later than I wanted to be in that.

“But once I found it, it felt good.” 

And finding it when you don’t have it is what every manager wants to see from a guy who entered his first start of the 2026 season with just 48 big-league innings over eight starts under his belt.

"He was able to go out there and compete, continue to battle, and kept us in the game. Found a way. I thought by the time he got to the fourth inning, he was in a much better rhythm,” Mendoza said, adding later that it just goes to show “that on days that he's not at his best, he's still going to find a way to give you a chance to win and that’s what he did today.”

One adjustment McLean made in the final innings was going to his cutter and changeup more – he got Jake Mangum swinging through a low changeup to end a 1-2-3, eight-pitch fourth –  and that helped other pitches come along, too.

“Obviously, I didn’t have much feel early in the game of the sinker, but it started to come back to me later in the game,” the 24-year-old said. “Mixing in some four[-seamers] and some two[-seamers]. Was able to get some quick outs late in the game.” 

And the changeup is a pitch McLean is looking to use more, and he was “happy with how it felt in the cold weather.”

“I haven’t thrown it in the cold for a while now, so I was really satisfied with how it played today,” he added. 

On the 84-pitch afternoon, he threw six varieties of pitches and got 12 whiffs on 32 swings with 20 called strikes, good for a called strike plus whiff percentage of 38.1 percent.

And it was the changeup (six), curveball (six), and cutter (four) that accounted for half of those called strike plus whiff totals on just 27 offerings.

Before you start complaining about Shōta Imanaga serving up another home run at an inopportune time (with two runners on base), consider that you’re not going to win many games when you get only four hits and three of them are solo homers.

That was the tale of the Cubs’ 6-3 loss to the Nationals Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

Imanaga started out well, striking out the first two Nats he faced. Then two of them singled ahead of Joey Wiemer smacking a three-run homer. Wiemer, you might recall from his time with the Brewers, but he’s been in four other organizations (Reds, Royals, Marlins, Giants) before the Nats claimed him on waivers in January.

Imanaga threw pretty well after that, too, allowing just three more hits and a couple of walks. He got charged with a run after he left the game. All in all, it wasn’t a terrible outing for Shōta, apart from the homer.

Meanwhile, Jake Irvin, who led all of MLB in home runs allowed last year (38; Imanaga was third with 31), stymied the Cubs for three innings. The only baserunner up to the third was Alex Bregman reaching on an error in the first, but he did not get past first base. The Cubs did hit some balls hard in those early innings, including this hot line drive by Nico Hoerner, caught by Irvin [VIDEO].

That ball was hit 102 miles per hour — tip o’ the cap to Irvin for that catch.

Bregman touched ‘em all leading off the fourth with his first Cubs home run [VIDEO].

Nice grab on that ball in the bleachers, too.

Two pitches later, Ian Happ went deep [VIDEO].

So now it’s 3-2 and the Cubs did get the tying run on base later in that inning when Nico singled with one out. As Carson Kelly struck out for the second out, Hoerner stole second and moved to third on an error, but he was stranded.

The bullpen did all right, though Phil Maton allowed a run to score in the sixth, charged to Imanaga. That made it 4-2, where it stayed until the eighth, when Keibert Ruiz hit a two-run homer off Hoby Milner to make it 6-2.

The Cubs got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning on Bregman’s second homer of the game [VIDEO].

That was the end of the Cubs offense, unfortunately. As I said — four hits with three of them being solo homers isn’t going to win you too many games. The Cubs did prevent a seventh run from scoring off Daniel Palencia, making his 2026 debut, in the ninth. Palencia had allowed a one-out single, then struck out Brady House.

Then this happened [VIDEO].

Good defense all the way around there. Nice throw by Pete Crow-Armstrong, good relay by Dansby Swanson, good tag by Kelly.

The Cubs won a couple of ABS challenges in this game.

Here’s one by Carson Kelly on a called ball [VIDEO].

Here’s one by a Nats hitter on a called strike that was… well into the zone [VIDEO].

Overall, I don’t have too many complaints about Imanaga’s game. Yes, he gave up another home run, but he did strike out seven. Here’s more on Shōta’s outing [VIDEO].

So the Cubs begin the season 1-2, losing this series to the Nationals, not the way we’d like to have had 2026 begin. But there are plenty of games remaining and I’m not concerned. I was glad to see Bregman break out and have a two-homer game. I’m thinking there will be more of those to come this year.

A note from BCB’s JohnW53 on this game:

Last season, the Cubs gave up 23 triples, nine of them with nobody out, including six with nobody on base, as happened in the fourth inning today. All six of those runners scored, unlike the runner today. Four of the six did so immediately, two on wild pitches and one each on a double and groundout. The remaining two scored on a one-out groundout and one-out sacrifice fly. The fly turned into a double play.

Also from John, regarding the three solo homers:

Today’s game was the 32nd among the 19,506 that the Cubs have played since 1901 in which they scored three runs, on three homers. The have won nine of them. They finished only one previous game with three homers plus one other hit: a 6-3, 10-inning loss at Brooklyn on July 19, 1957. The hit was a single. They made three homers among five hits in four games: wins at home vs. the Giants in 1910 and at St. Louis in 1979, and losses at home vs. the Rockies in 2004 and Tigers in 2006.

The Los Angeles Angels will visit Wrigley Field for a three-game series (weather permitting, and it might not on Tuesday) beginning Monday evening. In the series opener, Edward Cabrera will make his Cubs debut. He’ll face Angels right-hander Ryan Johnson. Game time Monday is 6:40 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

Rangers 8, Phillies 3

• Way to go, Rangers!
• Texas took 2 of 3 in Philadelphia. This is important for a few reasons.
• First, 2026 is the first time the Rangers and Phillies have faced off in the regular season and one team has not swept the other since 2014.
• Um, wait, 2014 is bad. Hmmmm…
• It is the first time the Rangers have won a series in Philadelphia since 2022.
• Okay, 2022 was also bad.
• Prior to yesterday, the Rangers had only won three games ever in Philadelphia — a two game sweep in 2022, and one game in 2011.
• Hey, 2011 was good!
• But also, 2011 was kind of bad.
• But more good.
• Okay, let’s move on.
• MacKenzie Gore was as advertised. He looked great at times, and missed bats, striking out seven and generating 15 whiffs on 90 pitches. He also got wild at times, walking three batters and hitting Alec Bohm with the bases loaded in his final pitch of the game.
• Gore gave up one well struck ball, a Kyle Schwarber line drive in the first that was snagged. Every other ball in play was either weakly hit or hit at an angle that made it not threatening.
• The Phillies didn’t get their first hit until the sixth inning, after being no hit by Jacob Latz for 4-plus innings the day before. That has to have Phillies fans feeling great.
• The Phillies got two hits off of Gore in the sixth, one a swinging bunt by Justin Crawford that there was no play on, and one a flare to center by Schwarber after Trea Turner had walked. That loaded the bases for Bryce Harper, who Gore struck out swinging, and you were thinking hey, maybe Gore can get out of this, give the Rangers six full innings.
• He then hit Bohm with an 0-1 fastball that, as indicated above, brought his day to a close.
• Cole Winn, asked to come in after a sterling effort by a lefty starter for the second day in a row, gave up a smoked sac fly off the bat of Adolis Garcia on the ninth pitch of the at bat before retiring Bryson Stott on a 1-0 comebacker to end the inning.
• After Texas regained those two runs in the top of the seventh to make it an 8-2 game, Rule 5 pick Carter Baumler was asked to get some outs. Baumler was the only reliever not to pitch on Saturday (unless you count Kumar Rocker, who was available in the pen as a long man), and thus was the one rested guy Skip Schumaker could turn to. Baumler walked the first two batters he faced before striking out Crawford and getting Trea Turner to hit into a GIDP.
• Baumler issued two more walks in the eighth, sandwiched between a Kyle Schwarber fly out and an Adolis Garcia swinging K. A line drive run scoring Bryson Stott single then ended Baumler’s day, with Schumaker turning to Chris Martin to get out of the inning. Martin allowed a 2-0 line drive off the bat off J.T. Realmuto, but it was caught for the third out, easing Rangers’ fans troubled minds.
• Every Ranger fan’s favorite reliever Robert Garcia pitched the ninth. After striking out Brandon Marsh he issued a five pitch walk, but ended things by going up 0-2 on Trea Turner before inducing him to hit into another GIDP, this time of the game-winning variety.
• I will note that there has to be some concern in regards to Carter Baumler. The stuff is legit. The command, through his first two major league games, has not been. Only 22 of the 43 pitches he threw on Sunday were strikes, and he struggled badly to locate his breaking ball. He has faced 15 batters so far in the majors, and has walked five of them while hitting another. He’s going to have to show much better command if the Rangers are going to be able to keep him on the roster all season.
• On the offensive side, things went well. Sam Haggerty, getting the start in place of Evan Carter against the lefty, singled with one out in the third, meaning that when Brandon Nimmo homered two batters later, it was a two run bomb instead of a solo shot. Just an inning later, a Corey Seager walk and a Jake Burger single preceded an Andrew McCutchen home run right down the line in left field, giving the Rangers a 5-0 lead and resulting in booing from the Philly fans.
• McCutchen scored the next run as well, smoking a two out double and then coming in to score on Kyle Higashioka’s single. The final two runs in the seventh were from an Evan Carter leadoff walk followed by an Ezequiel Duran double. After a Brandon Nimmo HBP and a Wyatt Langford fielder’s choice, Seager brought Duran home with a sac fly that Nimmo made scarier than it needed to be by advancing to second and just barely beating the throw.
• Carter and Nimmo tried to get some more of that action going in the ninth, with Carter working a seven pitch walk off of lefty Kyle Backhus and Nimmo picking up a one out single, but Langford and Seager decided to save some runs for Camden Yards instead.
• MacKenzie Gore’s fastball maxed out at 97.3 mph. Cole Winn’s fastest pitch was a 94.6 mph fastball. The fastest pitches for both Gore and Winn were against Adolis Garcia, which is interesting. Or maybe not. Carter Baumler topped out at 96.2 mph. The fastest of Chris Martin’s three pitches was his 94.4 mph fastball. Robert Garcia reached 94.5 mph with his fastball.
• Corey Seager had a 106.7 mph line out. Andrew McCutchen’s homer was 105.7 mph. Josh Jung had a 104.0 mph ground out. Brandon Nimmo’s homer was 103.7 mph. Wyatt Langford had a 100.8 mph fielder’s choice.
• Now to Baltimore, where Texas will be hoping Jack Leiter can give them a lot of innings on Monday.