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Game Summary

The Cardinals open up by leaving the bases loaded in the top of the first, but struck for two runs in the second, keyed by a 2-RBI Burleson single. McGreevy came out and worked in his normal workmanlike manner, which was welcome against this line-up, which has really been scoring runs. The Nats got to him for 1 run in the third on some small ball. Jordan Walker launched a 3-2 pitch for a solo HR to extend the Cardinal lead in the fifth. Pozo added a late 2-RBI single to extend the lead.

McGreevy’s final line of 6 IP, 1 R, 4 K, 0 BB, 4 hits was very solid. The bullpen was unscored upon for the final three innings to close things out without any drama.

Line-up (and roster) machinations

• McGreevy starts for the Cardinals. The Nats send out old friend Miles Mikolas.
• A mostly stock “Herrera at the C” line-up for today, except Scott II gets the day off, Church to CF and Sags to LF. Urias at third, Gorman at DH.
• Walker and Gorman remain 4-5 in the line-up, after recent adjustments. Who had this in their pre-season predictions?
• It’s been a fascinating series. Arguably, the Cardinals lost a game they should have won, and then won a game they should have lost. What will the rubber game reveal?

The Game Details

A view from the box score, for those who want a deeper sense of the game.

T1 – Wetherholt grounds out, but Herrera follows with a solid single. Burleson with an infield single. Walker K’s (to Mikolas of all people!). Gorman walks, but Winn grounds out to end the threat.

B1 – The first two batters reach against McGreevy with singles, but a 1-6 force, F8 and 6-3 puts a quick end to the traffic jam.

T2 – Urias 4-3. Sags singles. Church with a solid smash pushing Sags along. A handy passed ball moved the runners up to 2nd and 3rd. Wetherholt with the backwards K. Situational hitting continues to be problematic. Mikolas gives Herrera the open base, but Burleson burns him with a 2-run single. Walker grounds out to end the inning. 2-0 Cardinals.

B2 – K. F7. F9. Quick inning.

T3 – Gorman walks again. Winn grounds into a force. Urias with the backwards K. Sags lines out.

B3 – Single. Another single makes it first and third. Boy, they’ve had trouble getting Wood out. So do a lot of people. An infield out scores a run. GIDP ends the threat. Now 2-1 Cardinals.

T4 – Lord in for Mikolas, who gives way after a short start (3 IP). Lord K’s Church. Weird. Wetherholt 5-3. Herrera 4-3.

B4 – L6. F7. 4-3 on a really nice play by Wetherholt ends the inning.

T5 – Burleson F8. Jordan with a solo HR. Gorman out 3u. Winn backwards K. Been a few of those today. Cards now up 3-1.

JORDAN WALKER DOES IT AGAIN pic.twitter.com/a4A6V6hRaQ

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) April 8, 2026

B5 – 4-3. 3-1. 4-3. Very workmanlike.

T6 – Urias 5-3. Sags 3u.

B6 – 1-3. 4-3. 1-3. Wetherholt has been outstanding with the glove today.

JJ Leatherholt pic.twitter.com/5BqkpUK8YM

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) April 8, 2026

T7 – Perez relieves Lord. Wetherholt leads off with a walk. See the Cardinals relievers aren’t the only ones with the obligatory lead-off walk syndrome. Herrera follows with his own walk. Burleson singles in another run. Walker K’s. Pozo pinch hits for Gorman. Odd. Pozo GIDP to kill the rally. Now 4-1 Cardinals.

B7 – Svanson in for McGreevy. He issues the obligatory walk. 6-3. L6. Backwards K. Svanson pitching very tentative. He is working his way down the trust chart.

T8 – Winn K’s. Urias P2. Sags K’s. Still 4-1 Cardinals.

B8 – 5-3. 5-3. Svanson out, Bruihl in. He gets Wood out.

T9 – Church backwards K. Wetherholt F8. Herrera HBP. Burleson walks. Poulin replaces Henry on the mound. Walker walks. Pozo with a 2-RBI single to extend the lead. Winn P6. Cardinals now up 6-1.

B9 – O’Brien in for Bruihl. 5-3. 1-3. 3-1. No sweat. Cardinals win.

Post-Game Notes

• Solid starting pitching following by scoreless bullpen work is a good combination.
• The Cardinals finish the road trip with an overall 7-5 record on the season.
• Day off tomorrow, then home against the Red Sox.

One bad inning cost David Peterson and the Mets' cold bats returned in their 7-2 loss to the Diamondbacks. 

The Mets had eight hits and walked just once as they dropped the middle game of their series against Arizona, and snapped their four-game winning streak. 

Here are the takeaways....

-Peterson was a bit unlucky in the first inning of this one, allowing a run after a Corbin Carroll double, a Geraldo Perdomo infield single -- more of a swinging bunt -- and a sac fly from Gabriel Moreno. But the opposite happened in the second. The Diamondbacks jumped all over the southpaw, scoring four runs in the second frame, with the big hit coming from another Carroll double that cleared the bases. The Carroll double came on a first-pitch down-and-away curve that came off the bat at 103.8 mph. 

The Mets left-hander would settle down, retiring 11 of his last 12 batters to get through five innings, but it wasn't good enough to keep the game within reach, especially with the team's offensive struggles. 

He finished allowing five runs on six hits and two walks while striking out six across his five innings (85 pitches/53 strikes). 

Peterson's last outing saw him allow six runs (five earned) in 4.1 innings pitched against the Giants. After pitching 5.1 scoreless innings in his first start (March 28 vs. Pirates), Peterson has now allowed 10 earned runs in 9.1 innings. 

-D-backs starter Ryne Nelson no-hit the Mets until the fourth when Bo Bichette led off with a single. Bichette would finally get things started in the sixth inning when he hit a one-out single. Back-to-back singles from Luis Robert Jr. and Brett Baty pushed across the Mets' first run of the day. After Mark Vientos struck out swinging, Nelson was pulled. Marcus Semien flew out to end the Mets' threat. 

The Mets would push across their second run in the eighth after a Baty double put runners on first and second with one out, and a Mark Vientos sac fly put the score to 7-2.

-Sean Manaea was tasked with finishing the game after Peterson and was effective until the eighth inning. Ildemaro Vargas hit a one-out single to Robert Jr., who looked to have caught it, but was called a trap. After a single and a walk loaded the bases, Jorge Barrosa lined a pitch to Robert Jr. in center. The Mets outfielder went a long way to catch up to the ball, but the ball bounced out of his glove for a double. 

Manaea saved the bullpen again, going four innings while allowing two runs on five hits and two walks. He struck out two batters. In three appearances, he's allowed three runs in 9.0 IP this season.

-Carson Benge was 0-for-24 before finally breaking that streak with a ninth-inning single through the right side. He did have a hit stolen from him by Barrosa earlier in the game.

Game MVP: Corbin Carroll

The Arizona outfielder went 3-for-5 with three extra-base hits while driving in two runs. 

Highlights

Brett Baty gets the Mets on the board! pic.twitter.com/HYy6jf0Tiw

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 8, 2026

Mark Vientos brings home Luis Robert Jr. with a sacrifice fly pic.twitter.com/33JSBtAWzD

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 8, 2026

Carson Benge breaks his 0-for-24 cold spell with a base hit pic.twitter.com/21vAiLK0oz

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 8, 2026

What's next

The Mets and Diamondbacks wrap up their three-game set on Thursday night. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m.

Nolan Mclean (1-0, 2.61 ERA) will take the mound against Eduardo Rodriguez (0-0, 0.00 ERA).

The Phillies got their obligatory series loss in San Francisco out of the way early this year, going out with a whimper in the rubber match of the series thanks to a silent offense and a back-breaking home run allowed by Aaron Nola. They have still not won a series in San Francisco since 2013 and are 9-29 at Oracle Park since. The last run the Phillies offense scored in this series was Brandon Marsh’s sacrifice fly in the seventh inning of their comeback win on Monday. They have not scored in the ensuing 20 innings since and have totaled only eight hits over that span.

It looked like maybe today would be different though when Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper both singled in the first to put two runners on with one out, but Alec Bohm lined out on three pitches and Bryson Stott struck out on six pitches against Giants’ starter Tyler Mahle. It was one of six strikeouts for Mahle in 5.2 innings, five of which came on his splitter.

Schwarber and Harper yet again got on base in the third inning, this time with a pair of two-out walks and advancing to third and second respectively on a wild pitch. But yet again, Bohm failed to make the Giants pay, as he softly grounded out to third on a pitch on the outside corner of the zone despite being ahead in the count 3-1.

That would be the Phillies last real scoring chance until the seventh, when pinch hitter Otto Kemp singled, only the team’s second hit since the first inning, with one out and Trea Turner drew a walk. The previous script was flipped this time however, as it was Schwarber and Harper’s turn to not come through with runners on. Schwarber swung over a curveball in the dirt for a punchout and Harper grounded out to first on a slider well below the zone to end the threat and strand two more runners. The Phillies wouldn’t get another baserunner and in total stranded nine total runners and went 0-5 with runners in scoring position.

Aaron Nola meanwhile was excellent through five innings, allowing just three hits and no walks. He escaped a one out triple from Luis Arraez in the first with back-to-back strikeouts of Matt Chapman and Rafael Devers. Danger reared its head again in the fourth when Arraez and Chapman led off the inning with a pair of singles, but Nola was able to get Devers to ground into a double play and induced a fly ball to Jung Hoo-Lee to escape damage once again.

Nola had two runners on again in the sixth following a Willy Adames double and an Arraez walk, but this time he was not able to navigate his way out of trouble. He struck out Chapman after an ABS challenge overturned a call on the field for the second out, but the first pitch Nola threw to Devers was deposited into center field for a three-run home run.

Rafael Devers with a 3-run blast to break the scoreless tie in the 6th! pic.twitter.com/kG57XyFd0X

— MLB (@MLB) April 8, 2026

Nola then finished the sixth and ended his day with those three runs allowed on five hits and one walk with three strikeouts in six innings. Not a bad day, but with how the offense played in this series, it was insurmountable. José Alvarado allowed two more runs to come across for the Giants in the eighth thanks to some singles and his own throwing error as the final humiliation before the Phillies offense went down 1-2-3 in the ninth.

Next matchup

The Phillies will have off tomorrow before opening a three-game series at home with the Diamondbacks on Friday. Jesús Luzardo (1-1, 4.97) is scheduled to take the ball for Philadelphia. Arizona has of this writing not yet announced a starter.

After spearheading last night’s thrilling comeback win, Amed Rosario finds himself back in the starting lineup, and I will be expecting another two home runs from today’s third baseman. He and the rest of the Yankees will be facing off against the man who was once seen as the future long-term ace of the staff, with Luis Severino tapped to start against his old squad for the third time in his career.

Severino’s had a rough start to 2026 after a strong World Baseball Classic — one of many such cases around the league. In two starts he’s posted a 6.48 ERA, but his 3.63 FIP is a little cleaner. He had one perfectly serviceable start in the season’s opening series at Toronto; getting thudded around by Atlanta last week has his early-season numbers looking a little rough. He hasn’t exactly fooled the Yankees in his two previous starts against them, with a 15.26 ERA and 1.136 OPS against. If that trend continues today, New York stands a good chance of winning yet another series.

Will Warren gets the ball for the Bronx Bombers, in a reverse of Sevy — strong ERA, higher FIP. His paltry five percent walk rate is the big thing to watch as he gets into the swing of the season; I can’t imagine he’ll keep it that low but if he can maintain a below-average walk rate, his historical challenges with nibbling might be going away. The rotation has led the way for the Yankees so far this season, and there must be some pressure on the next day’s starter to match what the squad has put up in the year’s first two weeks.

We have a little bit of juggling in the lineup, with the aforementioned Rosario at third and batting eighth. Ryan McMahon returns to the field, this time at shortstop and batting ninth. I’m not in love with McMahon getting much playing time at all, but it’s not like José Caballero has been any better. Austin Wells also enjoys a night off, with J.C. Escarra behind the plate.

Take note that this is the weekly Amazon Prime game!

How to watch

Location: Yankee Stadium — New York, NY

First pitch: 7:05 pm ET

TV broadcast: Amazon Prime, NBCSCA

Radio broadcast: Talk 650 KSTE, A’s Cast (ATH), WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY)

Online stream: MLB.tv (out-of-market only)

For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.

Midweek Matchup. #RepBXpic.twitter.com/EuhMazdMP2

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 8, 2026

Day 2 in the Big Apple 🍎 pic.twitter.com/LfL7ZrPlZJ

— Athletics (@Athletics) April 8, 2026

Go Rays!

For the first time in 14 years, the Colorado Rockies swept the Houston Astros with a 9-1 victory on Wednesday. With the victory, the Rockies improved to 6-6 on the year, marking the latest they had been at a .500 record or better at least 12 games into a season since May 14, 2022. Behind another strong starting pitching performance and quality hitting from the offense, the Rockies have now won four straight games.

Lorenzen’s Refresh

Looking to avenge his rough outing last time around, Michael Lorenzen did that and more against the Astros. He ended up going 5.2 innings, allowing one run on seven hits with four strikeouts and two walks. The lone run came in the top of the second after Isaac Paredes walked to lead off the inning and advanced to third on a single from Christian Walker. Lorenzen then notched a pair of punch outs before pinch-hitter Brice Matthews singled to left field to drive in the run.

Lorezen went right back to work, utilizing all of his pitches to stifle the Astros offense. He induced eight groundouts and threw 62 of his 100 pitches for strikes. He was close to finishing the sixth inning, but ran into trouble after Joey Loperfido had a two-out hit to put men on the corners. Lorenzen then left the game with the bases loaded after issuing a walk to Matthews. Luckily, Zach Agnos bailed him out of the inning without another run scoring.

The Rockies’ starters now sport a 4.44 ERA on the season as a unit at the end of this home stand.

Agnos Carving up the Astros

Speaking of Agnos, the young righty cruised through the end of the game to earn a multi-inning save. He ended up working 3.1 innings, allowing just one hit while striking out two batters. He turned 44 pitches, 29 of which went for strikes.

A Busy Second Inning

Astros’ starter Cristian Javier had to depart the game after throwing his warm-up pitches in the second inning, leaving the Rockies to face off against the Houston bullpen the rest of the game. The Rockies ended up scoring five runs in the second inning, after scratching one across in the bottom of the first. Troy Johnston led off with a double, followed by a bunt single for Brenton Doyle. He then stole second base while Kyle Karros drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. Edouard Julien delivered a two-run single to give the Rockies a 3-1 lead.

Tyler Freeman dropped a sacrifice bunt, setting up a sacrifice fly RBI for Mickey Moniak. Hunter Goodman then drew a walk and stole second base with TJ Rumfield at the plate. A wild pitch scored Julien, upon which Rumfield drew a walk after a 10-pitch at-bat. Ezequiel Tovar put the cap on the inning with an RBI double to give the Rockies a 6-1 lead.

Colorado had four hits, two stolen bases, three walks, and a pair of bunts in the inning, showing off the multiple facets that offense can use to score runs.

Rockies Rockin’ Offense

Goodman would tack on the Rockies’ seventh run with a solo home run in the fourth inning, while another sacrifice fly in the sixth inning would add on an eighth run, and a Johnston single in the eighth tacked on a ninth run. In total, the Rockies scored nine runs on 10 hits with every player reaching safely at least once. Julien, Tovar, and Johnston each had two hits, while only two starters didn’t have an RBI.

Even more surprising and encouraging was the fact that the Rockies drew nine walks against seven strikeouts. In fact, it was the first time in 251 games that they had more walks than strikeouts, which was the second-longest streak since 1901. Add in four stolen bases and a team that also went 5-for-15 with runners in scoring position.

Up Next

Colorado heads to San Diego to begin a four-game series. They will use an opener, most likely followed by Chase Dollander. San Diego will send Randy Vasquez (1-0, 0.75 ERA) to the mound.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:40 pm MT. See you then!

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If the first dozen games of this Mariners season have felt derivative to you, that wouldn’t be misplaced. Dating back to 2023, Seattle has stumbled out of the gate, starting each season with a record of 4-8. Thankfully, in all previous three years, the M’s have bounced back, staunching the bleeding to win their next game (and more often than not the few following ones). But hasn’t that script gotten old? The trips to the callback well surely wore thin in 2025. What’s next, a clip show episode? A main character has a baby?

You’d do well to know that a new path has been chosen.

Today’s morning contest got off to a promising start, with Rob Refsnyder battling back from an 0-2 count (and missing his first hit of the season by about two feet when he hammered a line drive down the third-base line foul) to work a leadoff walk against new Rangers lefty MacKenzie Gore. Cal Raleigh’s slow start to the year continued on a strikeout, but Julio Rodríguez drew a second walk on a 3-1 pitch that probably would have been challenged in a higher-leverage spot. Although Randy Arozarena and Brendan Donovan both went down on strikes, Seattle pushed Gore’s pitch count up to 26 to open the game; always an encouraging early sign.

By contrast, Bryan Woo stepped out of the gate as his usual self; breezy pace, bevy of fastballs, brisk at-bats. He needed eight fewer pitches to get through two frames than Gore used for one, and aside from a true jammed bleeder from Brandon Nimmo to lead off the first allowed no baserunners. Mitch Garver contributed with a keen ABS challenge in the second against Evan Carter, flipping a 1-1 count to 0-2 before Carter harmlessly flew out to Julio a few pitches later. Despite the efficiency, though, there were some scary contact moments, most notably a shot to left field off the bat of Jake Burger that Randy caught right at the wall and would have been out in seventeen big league ballparks. Those worries continued when Josh H. Smith led off the third by turning on a first-pitch four-seam up in the zone, sending it deep to right field. Refsnyder, filling in for the freshly injured Víctor Robles, had quite the amount of ground to cover, somehow getting a bead on the ball. He leapt, and…

Jo Adell, eat your heart out. Woo had to work a bit more through his next two frames, picking up a pair of strikeouts from Ezequiel Durán and Wyatt Langford that sandwiched a double over Julio’s head from Nimmo. Corey Seager led off the fourth with a walk, but was erased on a double play from Burger.

Meanwhile, Gore settled in, facing the minimum through his next three frames, including striking out the side in order in the third. Any chances for a no-hitter were put to rest in the fifth, though, when Mitch Garver led off the fifth with a solidly stroked base hit into center field for his first knock of the season. After having a possible double taken away by a diving stop by Durán in the third, it was a nice treat to see the Garv man get on the board. Any hopes of a big inning were dashed by a one-out double play from newest Mariner Connor Joe – on the second hardest-hit ball of the game. Tough scenes.

The bottom of the frame is where Woo began to wobble, despite getting a seven-pitch flyout from Carter for the first out. Danny Jansen grinded out another seven-pitch at-bat before hitting a bounding ball to third that Donovan cleanly fielded, but got off a weak throw due to his feet being improperly set, allowing the not-fleet-footed Jansen to reach. Smith and Durán followed with a pair of much more legitimate singles, loading the bases for just the guy we all wanted to see in this spot: Brandon Nimmo. Woo got the count to 1-1, and got Nimmo jammed on an inside fastball, dribbling the ball up the third base line. Joe, giving Josh Naylor the day off at first, charged, fielded, and threw well offline to home plate, allowing a pair of runs to cross on a ball that went maybe seventy feet.

Kyle’s brother tacked on the third and final run of the game with a routine sacrifice fly, and the rest of the game passed by in a blurry blink. While the M’s got Gore out of the game through five on the back of that hefty first inning, the Rangers relievers were suffocating, allowing just one baserunner (a soft line drive into right field from Cole Young leading off the ninth. Hell yeah, Cole) over the last four frames in economical fashion. José A. Ferrer, Eduard Bazardo, and Gabe Speier all stitched together three scoreless innings, facing the minimum thanks to a caught stealing by Garver and a double play from Durán. If you’re looking for a crumb of good news, Speier particularly looked sharp, picking up a pair of strikeouts in the eighth inning to get some work in.

The Mariners fell today to 4-9 for the first time in the Dipoto era. If nothing else, this year has gotten off to a different start. An off day tomorrow feels like a gift for fans and players alike before they head back home, kicking off the homestand with a weird, wrap-around Friday-to-Monday series with the Astros – who have just been swept by the Rockies. We’ll see how that turns out when we get there, but for now, I am prescribing reading a book, playing a video game, going for a walk (it’s a perfect spring day in Seattle if you’re so inclined), or any other activity is not paying a disastrous road trip any mind. You’ve earned that.

The Dodgers were on the verge of ending their first road trip undefeated, but the Blue Jays rallied against the bullpen for three unanswered runs to avoid being swept as the Dodgers fell 4-3.

Before Shohei Ohtani took the mound for the second time this season, he drew a lead-off walk to extend his on-base streak to 43 games, tying Ichiro for the longest on-base streak by a Japanese-born player. His on-base streak is now tied for sixth for the longest such streak in Dodgers history. Kyle Tucker followed Ohtani with a walk of his own to put the first two men on base with no outs, but Toronto starter Dylan Cease struck out Will Smith for his first out and induced a line-drive double play from Freddie Freeman to end the threat.

Ohtani was in danger of having his scoreless streak snapped as he allowed a pair of singles to George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., but he was able to get Jesús Sánchez to pop out on a 3-0 count and struck out Kazuma Okamoto to keep Toronto off the board.

After a scoreless second inning, the Blue Jays proceeded to snap Ohtani’s scoreless streak at 25 1/3 innings as Sánchez lined a two-out RBI double down the left field line to give Toronto their first lead of the series.

The Dodgers were left struggling for answers against Cease after the first inning walks, as they went down quietly over three innings until Smith reached on an infield single in the top of the fourth, advancing to second on a throwing error from Okamoto. Freeman brought him home with a single up the middle to give him his team-leading 13th RBI and erase a short-lived Toronto lead.

Freddie for the tie! pic.twitter.com/HRyfgQr3RB

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 8, 2026

The Dodgers got to Cease to begin the top of the sixth inning, as he allowed two hits and a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Cease was pulled after 96 pitches and he was accounted for a Teoscar Hernández sacrifice fly off of Louis Varland to put the Dodgers back in front by a run.

The Blue Jays threatened against Ohtani in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Guerrero lined a lead-off double to put the tying run in scoring position with nobody out. Sánchez followed Guerrero with a hard ground ball to Rojas at short, but he gunned down the lead runner at third for the first out, and Ohtani kept Toronto at bay to end his day on the mound. It was another quality start for Ohtani, and he maintains a spotless earned runs average after allowing just the unearned run. His two strikeouts on Wednesday are a career low for any start of at least six innings in his big league career.

Game 7 heroes Miguel Rojas and Smith combined to give the Dodgers an insurance run in the top of the seventh, with the latter driving an RBI single up the middle against Tyler Rogers to make it a two-run game.

Jack Dreyer came in to face the bottom of Toronto’s lineup in the bottom of the seventh inning, and he faced trouble early by walking Davis Schneider and allowing a single to Tyler Heineman to put the tying run on base. George Springer narrowly missed hitting an opposite field go-ahead home run, but still connected for his second RBI double of the series to bring the Blue Jays to within a run. Dalton Varsho got Cease off the hook for the loss with a base hit up the middle to tie the game at three and knock Dreyer out of the game.

Blake Treinen came in to face the righty Guerrero, but walked him on four pitches to load the bases and put the go-ahead run at third. He bounced back to strike out Sánchez for the second out and then got Okamoto to roll over to third to keep the game tied.

Ben Casparius took over in the bottom of the eighth inning, and after getting Ernie Clement to fly out on one pitch, he walked Schneider and allowed a base hit to Andrés Giménez to put men on the corners, once again with the go-ahead run at third. Giménez took off for second base on a 1-0 pitch to Brandon Valenzuela, and Smith’s throw kicked away from Rojas, allowing Schneider to score and giving the Blue Jays the lead.

Kyle Tucker connected for his second straight single against closer Jeff Hoffman to put the tying run on first base with one out in the top of the ninth inning, and Smith walked to put the potential go-ahead run on base. Hoffman got Freeman to strike out on a high fastball and induced a weak ground ball from Max Muncy as the Dodgers suffered their first defeat away from home in 2026.

It was a rare struggling performance from the red-hot Andy Pages, as he went 0-4 with four strikeouts while snapping an eight-game hit streak dating back to March 30.

Three runs are the lowest total the Dodgers have had in any road game this year, although they are still averaging 8.67 runs per game away from Dodger Stadium. Now they’re set to return back home, where they last struggled mightily against the Cleveland Guardians combining for just seven runs in the three-game series.

Game particulars

• WP— Tyler Rogers (1-0): 1 2/3 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts
• LP— Ben Casparius (0-1): 1 IP, 1 hit, 1 earned run, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts
• SV— Jeff Hoffman (2): 1 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

Up next

The Dodgers are off on Thursday but are back at home to open a three-game series with the Texas Rangers on Friday (7:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Tyler Glasnow kicks off the series for the Dodgers against right-hander Kumar Rocker.

The base runners were there. The result? Same old story.

White Sox lose 5-3 to the Orioles, swept again, because of course they are. Sean Burke did his best Houdini act, chewing through 23 pitches in a clean first. More traffic in the second — plunked a guy, walked another, but somehow left them both standing. It was ugly, but it kept the Sox in it.

For a hot second, the bats woke up in the second. Colson Montgomery whiffed, but Andrew Benintendi smoked a triple, Dustin Harris knocked him in, swiped a bag, and scored on Luisangel Acuña’s single. With the bases loaded and one out, a double play killed the rally. They scored two runs, but you could already feel the missed chance hanging in the air.

Naturally, the lead vanished. Burke handed out a free pass to Gunnar Henderson; Tyler Ward doubled him home; wild pitch; groundout; tie game. Blink, and the lead’s gone.

The South Siders snatched the lead back in the fifth, and it was pure White Sox. Walk, walk, another walk, bases loaded. Then Rutschman lobs one back to the mound, Bradish boots it, and Meidroth sneaks home. Free run, thank you very much. Didn’t matter. The lead was gone before you could even enjoy it.

Burke’s afternoon: five innings, two runs, nothing flashy, but he did his job. Then, the bullpen comes in, and the lead walks out the door.

Lucas Sims took a winnable spot and set it on fire with a double, single, and walk to load the bases. Will Venable yanked him for Bryan Hudson, but it was already unraveling. Passed ball, tie game. Sac fly, Orioles up for good.

The Sox had their chances, but don’t they always? Traffic in the sixth and seventh, Vargas bunts his way on, Montgomery takes one for the team, but the bats go silent. Eighth inning? Three up, three down. Just enough left for one last cruel tease in the ninth.

Tyler Schweitzer made his debut and looked a little jittery, but he flashed something. Then, back-to-back doubles in the ninth for an insurance run that nobody needed but everyone expected.

Down two in the ninth, the Sox mock us with a pulse. Tristan Peters walks, Miguel Vargas walks, tying run up in Montgomery. You already know: soft roller, game over. Going 3-for-11 with RISP and striking out 12 times usually isn’t going to go well. And it didn’t.

The White Sox are now 4-8, and honestly, that feels generous. The problems aren’t rocket science as the bullpen coughs up leads, the lineup leaves runners everywhere, and close games are just a formality. Remember when they were 4-5? Feels like ancient history.

No day off tomorrow as the team heads to Kansas City for a four-game trip. The boys haven’t won on the Royals’ home turf in I don’t know, 100 years? It will be Anthony Kay against Seth Lugo to kick off the series at 6:40 p.m. CST. See you then!