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After nearly two months, Fernando Tatis Jr. is finally on the board with his first home run of the season.

In the fifth inning of the Padres’ 9-4 loss to the Nationals, Tatis blasted a towering 451-foot solo homer to left field at Nationals Park to break his harrowing streak without a home run that dated back to last season.

Before Saturday’s game, the Padres outfielder had not gone deep in 240 plate appearances, which was the longest home run drought in the MLB.

“I just knew right away,” Tatis told reporters following the game, according to The Associated Press. “About f–king time.”

Upon hitting the homer, Tatis flipped his bat and got a warm welcome from his teammates as he rounded third base.

“It was very exciting for everybody,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “He’s been carrying that burden. The team has been carrying that burden.”

The last time Tatis had hit a home run was a game against Arizona on Sept. 27.

“Bet you he’ll sleep a little better tonight, knowing that he has a little ‘one’ on his numbers. He has a lot in his career, but it’s different,” San Diego shortstop Xander Bogaerts said. “Everyone knows what the deal is here.

“Everyone knows he has zero, so I think getting that kind of pressure off his back is nice.”

Despite Tatis’ blast, the Padres gave up six runs to Washington in the seventh for their 25th loss of the season.

“There’s no off days over here, man,” Tatis said. “This game will find a way how to still punish you.”

Tatis’ numbers have taken a significant hit so far this season because of his home run drought.

Despite holding a .268 batting average going into Saturday’s game, the three-time All-Star was slugging just .307 across 55 games played.

The Saturday night matchup between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs was supposed to be electric. What it turned out to be was…odd. The St. Louis Cardinals got a solid start out of Kyle Leahy, yet he wouldn’t make it out of the 5th inning and the Cardinals offense was nearly mute squandering what chances they had losing to the Chicago Cubs 6-1 Saturday night. It pains me to admit this, but Pete Crow-Armstrong had a lot to do with it.

Kyle Leahy gave the St. Louis Cardinals 4 1/3 innings allowing 6 hits with 4 strikeouts. He didn’t face any real drama until the top of the 2nd inning when Alex Bregman hit a ball that was initially called a home run, but the umpire review showed it ducked just to the left of the foul pole. Bregman did end up flaring a single to right field, but it didn’t lead to any runs.

The St. Louis offense didn’t awaken until JJ Wetherholt singled to center in the bottom of the 4th inning. He advanced to 2nd on an excuse me groundout by Iván Herrera and then scored the first run of the game when Alec Burleson cracked a single to right field giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.

That lead wouldn’t last long as the dreaded 5th inning rolled around which has been the nemesis of the St. Louis Cardinals pitching staff several times this season. Kyle Leahy would serve up a ball right down the middle that Pete Crow-Armstrong turned into a laser shot double to right. He then advanced to third on a Nico Hoerner groundout and then scored on a single by Michael Busch tying the game 1-1. Ryan Fernandez would come in to get the final outs of the 5th inning which he would do despite throwing a wild pitch in the process.

Ryan Fernandez would not be so fortunate in the top of the 6th inning. After making a good fielding play on a dribbler in front of the mound from Amaya, Ryan would fire the ball past Alec Burleson into right field. He would then walk Dansby Swanson before Manager Oli Marmol removed him for Justin Bruihl to face Pete Crow-Armstrong who he would hit with the first pitch to load the bases. Nico Hoerner then singled to right scoring Amaya giving the Cubs their first lead of game at 2-1. Michael Busch then hit a sacrifice fly to deep right field scoring Swanson upping the Cubs lead to 3-1.

The Cardinals would threaten in the bottom of the 6th when Victor Scott II drew a walk on a full count that was confirmed by a failed Cubs ABS challenge. The Fox announcer then made a big deal about JJ Wetherholt having never hit into a double play in his Cardinals career so far. Spoiler Alert: JJ didn’t hit into one this time either as he instead smoked a single into center field. Unfortunately, Iván Herrera would fulfill the prophecy of the Fox dude and hit into a double play grounding a ball to Alex Bregman who would step on third base and fire the ball across the diamond to first to end the inning.

The low point of the night (or best moment ever if you’re somehow a Cubs person) was Pete Crow-Armstrong responding to the “Tarps Off” crowds chants of “OVERRATED” by crushing a home run off of Gordon Graceffo right into the middle of their seats making it 4-1 Cubs in the top of the 8th inning. Well played, Armstrong, but we still despise you.

The Chicago Cubs would make a late innings comeback by St. Louis less likely as Ian Happ doubled to start the top of the 9th inning. Suzuki would then reach on an error from Nolan Gorman. After Ballesteros grounded out, Amaya would be given first base on catcher’s interference by Jimmy Crook. Matt Pushard did not help himself as he bounced a ball off of the backstop scoring Happ from third and making it 5-1 Cubs. Pushard would follow that up with a walk to Dansby Swanson and then…wait for it…another hit by Pete Crow-Armstrong who singled in Suzuki giving Chicago all the runs they’d need as it was 6-1. Believe it or not, it could have been worse. Masyn Winn made an incredible play on a ground ball up the middle that ricocheted off of JJ Wetherholt as he stepped on second and used his rifle arm on a throw to first for a double play.

To add insult to injury, the Cardinals made ridiculous decisions in the bottom of the 9th inning. Wait, there was just one ridiculous decision and it was made by Ivan Herrera. JJ Wetherholt led off the inning with a single. He was one of the few bright spots as JJ went 3 for 4 on the night. Ivan would reach on a fielder’s choice narrowly avoiding hitting into a double play, but would try to advance to third base on a single by Alec Burleson, but would be thrown out trying. Never make the first or second out of an inning at third base they say (for a good reason). Jordan Walker would make the last out of the game driving a ball deep into the left-center field gap, but it was caught by (you guessed it) Pete Crow-Armstrong.

The St. Louis Cardinals will try to rebound and win the series Sunday night when Matthew Liberatore takes the mound for another national broadcast. Jordan Wicks will get the start for the Chicago Cubs. First pitch is set for 6:20pm central time as the game will be watchable on NBC/Peacock.

The Dodgers finish off their homestand on Sunday against the Philadelphia Phillies, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound coming off a pair of seven-inning gems. He’s pitched at least six innings in nine of his 10 starts, averaging 6.4 innings per start this season.

Rookie Andrew Painter takes the ball for the Phillies, with a 5.40 ERA and 4.36 xERA through his first 10 major league games, including nine starts. He’s allowed five total runs in 16 1/3 innings over his last three starts.

The Dodgers are 10-5 during day games this season, including 5-3 on Sundays, though they’ve dropped two of their three Sunday home games.

Sunday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Phillies
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 1:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Tobias Myers departed as a reliever, but could return to the Mets as a starter.

The right-hander, who was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse after Friday’s game — allowing the Mets to add a fresh bullpen arm — will be lengthened out over the next two weeks, according to manager Carlos Mendoza, giving the team additional flexibility on his usage.

Myers will follow a “scripted” program in the minors that allows him to stretch out for length should the Mets decide to insert him into the starting rotation.

“Once these 15 days are up, then we will make that decision,” Mendoza said before the Mets’ 6-1 victory over the Marlins. “He could either go and continue to get stretched out or just back to the role we have been using him. He’s very versatile and an important part of our team.”

Myers allowed two runs in one inning of work Friday, boosting his ERA to 4.05. He has filled various roles for the club, including opener, long reliever and high-leverage arm.

“Not an easy decision, given how important he’s been for the team,” Mendoza said of Myers’ demotion. “We told him, ‘Hey, you are going to be back here soon,’ and he understood, but obviously he’s not happy about it.”

Left-hander Cionel Perez was selected to the Mets’ roster.

He pitched a perfect sixth inning in his Mets debut.

Bobby Valentine and Lee Mazzilli were inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame during a pregame ceremony.

Those in attendance included former Mets managers Joe Torre and Willie Randolph, general managers Joe McIlvaine and Steve Phillips, and team Hall of Famers Mike Piazza, Al Leiter, John Franco, Howard Johnson, Edgardo Alfonzo and Mookie Wilson.

Hall of Fame hockey executive Lou Lamoriello, who as baseball coach at Providence College recruited Valentine to play in the Cape Cod League, also attended.

Jorge Polanco, who is continuing his rehab at Double-A Binghamton, could potentially rejoin the Mets for their series next weekend in San Diego.

The veteran infielder has been on the injured list since April 15, rehabbing a wrist contusion and Achilles bursitis.

The Mets are 8-3 in their last 11 home games.

Overall, they are 14-15 at Citi Field this season.

The Dodgers and Phillies are back at it, this time on SportsNet LA.

Saturday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Phillies
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out of market)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

With two veteran serviceable but uninspiring pitchers on the mound in the Great American Ballpark, this had the looks of a high-scoring affair on paper.

Six batters were all it took to get through the first inning, as Martin Perez walked the only baserunner and got a double-play to erase him. The Braves struck first in the second, as Ozzie Albie doubled and came around to score after a Dubon walk and a Yaz single. Dubon was caught with a big lead at third on a throw-down by Stephenson at catcher, but the throw was low and bounced off the bag. Dubon came home and the throw from Suarez beat him there, as he was called out. He appeared to have eluded the tag on replay and the Braves challenged, but the call stood due to lack of clear and convincing evidence, though it feels like a call that would have been “confirmed” as safe if Dubon had been originally called safe. Not a great MLB replay challenge system moment, but the Braves had a 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the second inning.

Perez walked Steer with one out in the second and then gave up a homer to JJ Bleday, as the Reds took the 2-1 lead. Ronald Acuna brought us level in the third with an opposite field homer of his own, as this was starting to look like the slugfest we expected.

The scoring resumed in the fifth, as Jorge Mateo jumped on a Singer breaking ball for a big solo homer to give the Braves a 1-run lead. Still with two outs in the fifth, Ronald, Harris, and Olson walked to load the bases for Ozzie. Ozzie flied out to extinguish the threat.

Tyler Kinley took over for Perez in the sixth and worked a quick 1-2-3 frame with a strikeout, as he has bounced back from a rough patch. Matt Olson gave Atlanta a big insurance run for a 4-2 lead with another solo homer in the seventh. The Death Star that is the back of the Braves’ bullpen was brought in and Lee and Suarez did their part with a scoreless 7th and 8th inning. Just to make sure we knew he is fully back and in peak form, Ronald Acuna launched another homer in the ninth, giving Raisel Iglesias a third run’s worth of cushion as he goes for another save. Raisel did his part and worked a 1-2-3 inning, securing a 5-2 victory on the night, a series win in Cincy, and a chance for a sweep on Sunday.

Join us tomorrow as the Braves go for that sweep with Spencer Strider on the mound at 1:40 PM ET.

Here we are again.

For the sixth time this season, the Mariners will look to break above .500 after a wild walk-off win on Friday in front of a crowd of over 44,000. Bryan Woo will look to keep rolling from his last pair of starts, while the Diamondbacks will be running out right-hander Ryne Nelson.

Lineups:

Mitch Garver is behind the plate for Seattle tonight despite the righty, continuing the fairy even job share with Jhonny Pereda while Cal Raleigh continues to work back from his oblique injury. Cole Young is once again in the six-hole above Dominic Canzone, and it’s very plausible that this is for splitting up the platoon bats. Despite Nolan Arenado suffering a gnarly-looking hit by pitch in the ninth inning in last night’s contest, he’s back at the hot corner for the Snakes. (UPDATE: Arenado has been scratched. José Fernández will play third and bat eighth in his stead, while Gabriel Moreno will hit cleanup with Adrian Del Castillo behind him hitting fifth. The rest of Arizona’s lineup remains unchanged.)

Game Info:

First Pitch: 7:10pm PDT

TV: Mariners.TV

Radio: Ol’ reliable

The ebbs and flows of a long, long baseball season can totally change your mood in a matter of days. Just six days ago, the Yankees had lost three consecutive games against division rivals and had fallen to 5.5 games back of the first-place Rays. Six days later, they have a chance to pull within a half-game after winning five in a row and Tampa dropping their fifth game in six days this afternoon against the Angels.

Ryan Weathers will take the bump, looking to secure the series victory in West Sacramento in his 11th start of 2026. It’s been a terrific start to the season for the former Marlin, posting a 3.14 ERA (131 ERA+) and 3.45 FIP in 57.1 innings with 65 strikeouts. He’s coming off a strong seven innings against the Rays at Yankee Stadium, and will look to replicate the eight innings of one-run ball he put up against this potent offense in early April.

Toeing the slab for the (Sacramento) A’s is J.T. Ginn, the one-time Mets prospect who you might remember from his near-no-hitter against the Angels earlier this month that resulted in a heartbreaking walk-off defeat. Despite a nightmare start last time out, he’s still pitching to a 3.19 ERA (141 ERA+) and 4.18 FIP in 12 appearances (nine starts) across 53.2 innings with 48 strikeouts. He’s faced the Yankees once before, throwing five innings of one-run ball back in 2024.

The peripherals are fairly pedestrian all around on Ginn, but he’s been well above-average at preventing hard contact in the air and keeping the ball on the ground. He has a five-pitch mix, led by his sinker, which he throws 54 percent of the time against right-handed hitters. It’s a much more even split from the left side, which he’s struggled with more, tossing his cutter, changeup, slider, and four-seamer all at least 14 percent of the time.

Trent Grisham, who’s been heating up of late, will lead off again, followed by Ben Rice, Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. Paul Goldschmidt will get another start at first base, batting sixth, while Ryan McMahon, Austin Wells, and Anthony Volpe round out the lineup. Keep in mind that Amed Rosario is unavailable after being put on paternity leave.

It’s more of the same for the A’s. Colby Thomas leads off in front of Nick Kurtz, Shea Langeliers, Brent Rooker, and Tyler Soderstrom. Henry Bolte and Zack Gelof get another start, while Darell Hernaiz and Alika Williams round out the bunch in the middle infield.

How to watch

Location: Sutter Health Park — West Sacramento, CA

First pitch: 10:05 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES, NBCSCA

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY), Talk 650 KSTE, KVMX 92.1/105.5, A’s Cast (ATH)

Online stream: MLB.tv (out-of-market only), Gotham Sports App

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

We’re now two months into ABS, and it has largely become part and parcel of the landscape. We’ve now got enough data to see some interesting trends. For example, this confirms what we suspected: that catchers (and pitchers, though those are a tiny fraction – no AZ pitcher has yet challenged) are better at it than hitters. 58 percent of fielding team challenges have been successful, but for batters, the number drops to 47 percent. The D-backs reflect this too, but have actually been better on defense, where they’re challenging successfully at an impressive 65% rate. But it’s been a while: Arizona haven’t put in a successful defensive claim since May 21, losing their last three in a row.

At the dish, Arizona have gone 19-21, a 48% rate that’s basically right in line with league average. The hitter most likely to be tapping his helmet for the D-backs is perhaps unsurprising: it’s catcher Gabriel Moreno, who has challenged seven pitches. However, he’s not quite as good there as when wearing the mask, having gone 4-3. And three of the four were called strikes which actually were out of the zone by more than two inches, including the most egregious overturned strike yet of 2026 for an Arizona hitter, more than three inches out. Corbin Carroll has only challenged twice, but has won both of them.

On the other hand, D-backs have challenged and lost five pitches which were inside the strike zone by more than two inches. The worst one there was this challenge by Lourdes Gurriel, which was again, over three inches from being a ball. Considering Gurriel wasn’t even facing the plate when the ball reached the catcher… Yeah. What’s interesting is, overall, the ratio of challenges has remained fairly static at around four percent since the beginning of the season. I might have expected either umpires to get more used to calling the “right” zone, or players to get better at challenges. Perhaps those two things cancel each other out!

Mets DH/1B Jorge Polanco's rehab assignment continued on Saturday night for Double-A Binghamton as he nears his return to the majors.

After serving as DH in his first two games in the minors, Polanco got the start at first base and played three innings in the field.

Offensively, Polanco went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts a night after hitting a three-run homer.

He is expected to mostly DH when he returns to the Mets, which the team said is likely to happen during their upcoming road trip. 

They are hopeful that Polanco will rejoin them in San Diego when they face the Padres for a three-game series starting on Friday, June 5, according to the New York Post's Mike Puma. Puma notes that Polanco won't be joining the Mets for their series against the Mariners in Seattle that begins on Monday.

Overall, Polanco has played parts of three games during his rehab assignment, going 2-for-5 with a home run, three RBI, two walks, and three strikeouts. He last played in the majors on April 14 due to Achilles bursitis and a wrist issue.

A failed automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge from Pirates second baseman Brandon Lowe somehow led to the umpires giving him the boot.

During the fourth inning of Pittsburgh’s 10-9 win over the Twins on Saturday in Pittsburgh, Lowe attempted to challenge a called strike from home plate umpire Alex Tosi.

Despite Lowe tapping his helmet to signal for an ABS review on a pitch that appeared to be below the zone, Tosi did not allow it, making it a 1-2 count rather than 2-1, if it had been a successful challenge.

Lowe then became frustrated at the fact that Tosi refused to give him the challenge, prompting Pirates manager Don Kelly to emerge from the dugout and exchange words with the umpire.

“I did the challenge right away,” Lowe could be heard saying over the SportsNet Pittsburgh broadcast.

The at-bat then resumed, with Lowe later flying out to left field after working a full count, screaming in anger while spiking his bat into the ground.

As Lowe rounded first base and headed back to the dugout, however, first base umpire John Baker threw out the two-time All-Star.

Pittsburgh first base coach Tarrik Brock had to hold Lowe back while arguing the umpire’s decision, with Kelly also coming back out from the dugout.

“There’s no way you eject a player for that,” announcer Joe Block said during the broadcast.

Second-year utility player Tyler Callihan entered the game in place of Lowe.

The ejection marks the first in Lowe’s nine-year career in the big leagues, according to MLB.com.

Lowe, who spent eight seasons with the Rays before being traded to the Pirates in a three-team deal this past offseason, has shown to be one of Pittsburgh’s top hitters this season.

Headed into Saturday’s game, Lowe, 31, has posted a slash line of .260/.349/.540 with 14 home runs and 36 RBIs through 52 games.

Don’t let the scoreline fool you. For eight innings, this was the same old Red Sox team, struggling to string together any semblance of offense behind yet another solid start from Sonny Gray.

But lest we despair too much, let’s note that Guardians starter Parker Messick is no slouch on the mound, having entered today’s game with the seventh-best bWAR amongst all pitchers. The Sox didn’t exactly do damage against him, but they made him work, putting two runners on base in three of his five innings.

Getting Messick out of the game early was the most important thing the lineup did, as they proceeded to score eight of their nine runs against Cleveland’s bullpen, including sixth in the ninth, as Guards’ skipper Stephen Vogt more or less waived the white flag.

Three Studs

Sonny Gray: When the sox win a ballgame, it’s usually because the starting pitcher did his job. Sonny Gray continues to be the steadying force in Boston’s rotation, throwing six relatively clean innings and striking out seven. Three walks drove his pitch count up a little higher than you’d like, but there’s nothing really to complain about in this outing.

Connor Wong: Is Connor Wong really going to go two whole seasons without hitting a homer? Is that even possible in 2026? When you see what happened to him today, you wonder. Wong — along with everyone else in the ballpark — thought he’d broken his drought in the sixth inning, only for replay review to downgrade his knock to a double. But it was the double that would give the Sox a lead they would not relinquish, and he would get another RBI in the Sox’ big ninth inning outburst.

Caleb Durbin: Yes, Jarren Duran hit a three-run bomb in this game. But the game was already on ice at that point, so get that front-running shit out of here! (Plus he also struck out three times…) Instead, let’s give some much needed glory to our beefy, slumpy, third baseman, who started the scoring with a sac fly and then added an insurance RBI on a double in the eighth.

Three Duds

You know what? I’m in a generous mood, so let’s skip duds tonight and let everyone go home early.

Play of the Game

Poor little Connor!