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Well, there’s honestly not so much to say about this one. Ryne Nelson was going for us today, which I actually felt pretty good about, given that the Ryno had pitched at least seven innings in his last three starts, and was rocking an ERA right around 2.70 for the month of May. He was going up against Bryan Woo, a very talented Seattle right-hander who’s been pretty good but who has had a middle-of-the-road performance so far this year, much like the rest of the Mariners’ ballclub.

Sadly, though, tonight it was no contest.

It started off okay, or it seemed to. Ketel Marte led off the game by making good contact on the first pitch Woo threw him for a fading liner into shallow right. I thought it was going to drop for a hit, but Mariners’ right fielder Luke Raley made a nice diving-ish catch to snag it just before it landed in the right field grass. Corbin Carroll then struck out looking, and Geraldo Perdomo struck out looking, getting Woo out of the top of the first with all of ten pitches thrown.

Ryne Nelson matched him, sorta, and even did better, sorta—he gave up a leadoff single, but then induced a one-pitch double play and then a lineout to Tommy Troy in left to face the minimum with only eight pitches thrown. So that was cool….maybe it would be a pitching duel.

Woo came out for the second, however, and promptly struck out Gabriel Moreno, Adrian Del Castillo, and Ryan Waldschmidt on fifteen total pitches. So, six batters faced, and after what turned out to be a lineout he struck out the next five. Yeah. It was all like that.

Meanwhile, Ryne Nelson stumbled in the bottom of the second. After getting a one-pitch flyout to start things off, he allowed a solo home run to Raley, who sent a middle-middle fastball over the wall in right center. One out later, he threw a hanging curveball to old friend Dominic Canzone for the same result. 2-0 Seattle

Woo recorded three more outs in order against the bottom of our lineup in the top of the third, though in what seemed like it might be a hopeful sign (SPOILER: it wasn’t), there were no strikeouts involved. In the bottom of the inning, though, Nelson pretty much repeated what he’d done in the previous inning, surrendering his third solo homer to Mariners’ rookie and nine-hole hitter Colt Emerson, and then his fourth one out later to Julio Rodriguez. 4-0 Seattle

But the real story, aside from all the jokes that erupted in the Gameday Thread about “solo homers won’t lose you the game” and so forth, was really Bryan Woo, who continued to deal. He retired the top of our order again in the fourth, continuing what was to that point a perfect game. That, thankfully, was broken up with one out in the top of the fifth, as Adrian Del Castillo lined a single to center, and then, after Waldschmidt grounded to third but beat the throw that would have resulted in an inning-ending double play, Ildemaro Vargas singled to center. That was that, though, as Jose Fernandez, playing third after Nolan Arenado was a late scratch from the lineup, struck out looking to end our one threat. Woo then retired the Diamondbacks in order in both the sixth and the seventh. We could do nothing against the dude.

Nelson, meanwhile, settled down, I suppose, at least insofar as he stopped giving up solo dingers to random Mariners. He pitched around traffic in both the fourth and the fifth, but managed to put up zeroes in both frames, and given that he’d actually been very efficient, he was only at 78 pitches after five innings of work so he came out to start the sixth. Sadly, however, it did not go well, though this time it was not entirely his fault. Randy Arozarena hung a seven-pitch AB on him to start the frame, but hit an easy grounder to Jose Fernandez for what should have been the first out of the inning. Fernandez, however, air-mailed the throw to first, putting Arozarena on second on the two-base error. Luke Raley then singled to left to advance Arozarena to third, and a Cole Young sac fly to right scored him. All that mishegaas brought Nelson to 99 pitches, and with only the one out recorded, Torey Lovullo swapped him out for Ryan Thompson. Thompson gave up a double down the left field line to Canzone, but recorded the last two outs without any further damage. 5-0 Seattle

And you might think that that would be your ballgame—I expected it to be, myself. Woo was basically unstoppable through his seven innings of work, and our offense, which was basically everywhere all the time when they were needed over the last three series, were nowhere to be found. Their bullpen did their job, our bullpen did its job, with Thompson pitching a second scoreless inning for us and Taylor Clarke putting up a zero in the bottom of the eighth, and us squandering a leadoff single from Waldschmidt in the eighth and then going down to our last out with Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll making easy outs on the infield to start the ninth.

But no! While everyone else on the team would have liked nothing more than to simply put this one to bed and absquatulate back to the hotel with all speed, Perdomo decided that he was having none of it. Facing Mariners reliever Alex Hoppe, Gerry drew an eight-pitch walk, then promptly took second on defensive indifference. Hoppe then uncorked a pitch that I thought was wild, but was scored a passed ball instead. It rolled to the backstop, Gerry advanced to third, and when Hoppe forgot to cover home plate, Gerry just kept on going:

Moreno promptly grounded out to short to end things after that, but at least Gerry’s hustle spared us the indignity of a shutout loss? 5-1 Seattle

Loss Probability Added, courtesy of FanGraphs

Good Rhinos: NONE
Bad Rhino: Ryne Nelson (5 1/3 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 K, 4 HR, -26% WPA)

So, yeah. That was pretty much that. Only one Diamondback had a positive WPA contribution, and that was Ryan Thompson, who managed to contribute a whopping +1%. Adrian Del Castillo and Taylor Clarke at least managed to be neutral, contributing 0% apiece in total. But, well, it was that sort of game.

Perhaps surprisingly, given that, we had a pretty well-attended Gameday Thread tonight, with 274 comments at time of writing, so that was nice. Comment of the game goes to Fearless Leader for this one that got the most rec’s, though to be fair it was one of many that appeared around the same time that worked the same theme:

To be fair, it wasn’t the solo home runs that beat us, I don’t think. It was more that we couldn’t score any runs of our own. Well, at least not until the very end.

Anyway.

Tomorrow we will try to avoid being driven back to the desert by sailors brandishing brooms, I guess. Merrill Kelly goes for us, Bryce Miller takes the mound for Seattle, first pitch is scheduled for an actually reasonable time for a weekend game, which is to say 1:10pm AZ time. Join us if you can, we hope to see you!

As always, thanks for reading, and as always, go Diamondbacks!

West Coast trips stink. Unless you’re one of the many Yankees fans who live out west, I think a lot of us can agree on that. When they win, it’s chill, especially if it’s a relative blowout like Friday night, where you could catch some shut-eye a little early.

When they lose, you just feel like you stayed up for nothing. This one wrapped up around one in the morning on the East Coast and I kind of wish that I just went to bed after learning the Knicks will face the Spurs in the NBA Finals on Wednesday.

The story of tonight’s game was the power of the (Sacramento) Athletics. A lineup that can be truly scary at times showed why, as they took what was overall a pretty solid night from Ryan Weathers and completely wrecked his line with a trio of long home runs to center field. Couple that with an offense that blew some opportunities early and couldn’t finish off a marathon rally in the ninth, and you get a 6-4 defeat to set up a rubber game tomorrow afternoon.

Ben Rice got things started for the Yankees’ offense with a one-out single in the first off J.T. Ginn, but was erased on a 5-4-3 double play off the bat of Aaron Judge. Weathers took the bump in the bottom half and gave up a fair amount of hard contact, including an absolute bomb off the bat of Shea “Bangeliers” Langeliers to dead center to give the A’s a quick 2-0 lead.

The second went in a similar fashion for the Yanks, as Paul Goldschmidt ripped a single with two outs before being stranded. Weathers induced more soft contact in a 1-2-3 second. Both teams got a baserunner in the third on an Austin Wells single and Langeliers walk, but both pitchers had settled into a groove.

By the time the fourth came around, the Yankees were able to take advantage of the Athletics’ poor defense. Ginn walked Cody Bellinger with one out before giving up a single to Jazz Chisholm Jr. A bad hop caused Henry Bolte to boot it in center field, allowing Bellinger to advance to third.

That proved costly, as Chisholm bolted for second a few pitches later and forced an E4 on a stolen base that scored Bellinger and got Jazz to third with one out. A Goldschmidt walk set up runners on the corners in a prime position to tie or take the lead, but Ryan McMahon struck out, and Wells flew out to get Ginn out of trouble, but not before the Yankees cut the deficit to one. Weathers’ strikeout stuff came back to him in the bottom half, striking out a pair after a leadoff walk.

After coming oh-so-close to tying the game in the fourth, the Yankees somehow managed to get even closer in the fifth. A two-out walk by Rice set up Judge for the third time through, and the three-time MVP put a charge into a fastball and sent it to deep right field, only for it to be caught at the wall. That ball is a home run in 16 ballparks, including Yankee Stadium. Ouch

Ginn wrapped up six strong innings with a 1-2-3 sixth, while his offense added some extra insurance. Weathers was in a groove into the sixth inning after allowing the early home run, but was tagged by Tyler Soderstrom with one out to deep right-center field for a solo shot, making it 3-1.

Ginn was finally lifted after six for the lefty Hogan Harris. McMahon, who was taking the at-bat because Amed Rosario left on paternity leave, ripped a leadoff single. After a pinch-hitting José Caballero and Anthony Volpe were both retired, Trent Grisham worked a walk to set up Rice with the tying run on first. Despite working a full count, the third of the inning, Harris’ slow, looping curveball neutralized him the same way it did with Caballero earlier in the inning, ending the threat.

Despite his pitch count climbing, Weathers remained in the game and appeared to be on the verge of completing seven strong innings, but he lost Colby Thomas with two away, prompting a visit from Aaron Boone. With the powerful lefty Nick Kurtz due up, the Yankees’ skipper elected to stay with his laboring left-hander, hoping he had enough in the tank to get him out, rather than go to Camilo Doval.

Sometimes, the ol’ “fake manager hook” works. Sometimes, it doesn’t.

It didn’t work this time.

The Big Amish obliterated the first pitch he saw for a dagger home run that knocked him out after a career-high 107 pitches. 5-1 A’s.

Weathers pitched better than his line of 6.2 innings and five runs allowed, but you are what your numbers say you are. The Athletics can slug, and Weathers gave up three long homers. It happens, but the 10 strikeouts and the ability to grind past 100 pitches are the parts that encourage you here.

Justin Sterner got the eighth for the A’s and sat down the heart of the order 1-2-3. Jake Bird got the eighth and immediately got in trouble, plunking Bolte and allowing a double to Soderstrom. After a strikeout, Zack Gelof lined a two-strike RBI single to left to extend the lead to 6-1. Fortunately, the rally stopped there after some bad baserunning from the A’s, coupled with all-around head’s-up defense, led to a *checks notes* 5-2-6-4-5 double play.

Jack Perkins came on to get the final three outs for the Athletics, but despite the five-run lead, it was never that simple. McMahon blooped a one-out single, Escarra worked a walk, and Grisham extended the game with a walk of his own. With the bases loaded, Mark Kotsay turned to Scott Barlow, who walked Rice to bring in a run and bring up Judge as the tying run in a 6-2 ballgame.

The game got really interesting as Barlow straight up refused to throw strikes with the heart of the order just one swing away from tying the game. He walked Judge and Bellinger to force in another two runs before Chisholm took two called strikes and then finally put one in play. He was jammed on a 2-2 fastball on the inside part of the plate, grounding out to first and stranding the tying run on second.

The final game of the six-game road trip is a much easier watch for those on the East Coast, as the Yankees play the rubber game against the A’s tomorrow at 4:05 pm EST on YES. The pitching matchup will feature Will Warren against lefty Jacob Lopez, who was just announced a few minutes ago.

Box Score

Philadelphia’s Edmundo Sosa sauntered out of the box, motioning with one hand in a pump-wave in front of a nearly packed Dodger Stadium. The left fielder, who had taken over for Brandon Marsh in the top of the sixth, connected on a four-seam fastball that Dodgers reliever Tanner Scott left too far over the plate for a go-ahead home run.

The Dodgers had been playing with fire all night, but they couldn’t regain momentum after Scott’s struggles, losing to the Phillies 4-3 to set up a Sunday series rubber match.

The loss ended the Dodgers’ six-game winning streak for only its third defeat in 16 games.

“I was trying to go up, and I left it more on the plate,” said Scott about the home run pitch. “It wasn’t out of the strike zone with two strikes and it caught me.”

Read more:Justin Wrobleski carries no-hit bid into the sixth in Dodgers' win over Phillies

The Dodgers (37-21) started strong, with pitcher Roki Sasaki giving up just three hits and one earned run over 5⅓ innings.

Sasaki’s elevated velocity posed early concerns for the Dodgers as he struggled more with his command. The right-hander crossed the 100-mph threshold for the first time this season on two pitches: a 100.4-mph four-seam to J.T. Realmuto and another fastball, this time 100.1mph, to Kyle Schwarber.

“The fastball was really good,” Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo. “The velo was there. I was able to execute what the catcher called.”

Three of his four pitches — the four-seam, slider and splitter — averaged at least 1.2 mph faster than his yearly average.

Roberts said he was surprised to see Sasaki hit triple digits. The Japanese pitcher has been working hard in the weight room and, earlier in the season, he would check the speed of his pitches on the radar gun after every throw. The next step will be to execute his harder throws with a more precise location.

“You layer in the confidence and the conviction and all that stuff,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Then you get a really good fastball with very good command. It’s a very good lineup over there. I know they’re not swinging the bats the way that they will. But good team over there, and he really kept them at bay.”

The Phillies (30-28) struggled to generate consistent momentum. Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm hammered a four-seam fastball that skimmed the top of the strike zone over the center-field wall in the first inning. The rest of the Philadelphia lineup struggled against Sasaki, striking out seven times and walking only once.

Roberts pulled Sasaki with runners on first and second in the sixth. Left-hander Alex Vesia walked Bryce Harper but escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam by striking out Sosa and forcing Bohm into a groundout to third.

“Early on, certainly last year, a little bit this year, you’re trying to protect him,” Roberts said of Sasaki. “I think that you’re trying to not let the shoe drop, leave him with a feeling of confidence when he leaves the mound. Today, I thought he was still throwing the baseball well, but with two guys coming up I thought Alex was a good matchup for those two guys.

“There’ll be an opportunity to push Roki later. ... I’m not necessarily pins and needles, but I just feel like I can give him a little more leash now.”

By then, the Dodgers had already established a lead. Alex Call put them on the board in the second on a poked single through the gap between second and short. In the fourth, Call reached third on a double and a fielding error from Adolis García. Santiago Espinal hit a sacrifice fly to deep center field, driving in Call.

Mookie Betts also found his footing after he went 0 for 3 on Friday. The shortstop struggled in the first four games of the Dodgers’ homestand, batting .200 across 15 plate appearances. Against the Phillies on Saturday night, Betts laced two singles and a double.

Andy Pages scored on a close play at the plate after Betts singled to shallow right field in the seventh. Although catcher J.T. Realmuto missed tagging Pages’ foot, the Dodgers center fielder’s cleat didn’t appear to touch the plate. After a long review, the safe at home call stood.

But the Dodgers’ good fortune didn’t last. Scott gave up an RBI single to Harper, and it was like the Phillies could sense exactly when the reliever’s pitches crossed over the zone. Scott (1-2) then gave up the home run to Sosa before the Dodgers were retired on three groundouts in the ninth.

Before Saturday, Scott’s 1.14 ERA ranked third among National League relievers who had thrown at least 20 innings. He hadn’t given up a run in May and he had only given up three earned runs this season.

In the span of two at-bats, however, he looked closer to the pitcher that struggled last year.

“You throw a pitch in [Sosa’s] wheelhouse, and that’s what happens,” Roberts said. “It happened quick. But Tanner has been great. No one is trying to give up hits and homers. But part of the equation is, you get count leverage, and then you have to be able to put them away. And tonight we couldn’t do that.”

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Yankees' offense was quiet on Saturday night after scoring 34 runs this past week, losing to the Athletics, 6-4.

New York made it interesting in the ninth inning, drawing three straight bases-loaded walks to cut into the lead, but Jazz Chisholm Jr. grounded out to end the game.

Here are the takeaways...

-- Ryan Weathers had an up and down outing, allowing five runs on six hits (three home runs) with 10 strikeouts and three walks over 6.2 IP and 107 pitches.

He opened with a tough first inning, letting up a huge two-run home run to Shea Langeliers that gave the Athletics an early 2-0 lead. Weathers bounced back with a five-pitch, 1-2-3 second inning and kept it going through the fifth inning, allowing just one hit with six strikeouts in that span. However, his hot streak came to an end with one out in the sixth inning, allowing a solo home run to Tyler Soderstrom as the A's went up 3-1.

Weathers got two quick outs in the seventh inning, and despite his pitch count crossing 100, Aaron Boone kept him in to face slugger Nick Kurtz after a walk. The decision backfired as Kurtz launched a two-run homer to center field, making it a 5-1 game and ending the left-hander's night.

-- New York got a run back in the fourth inning thanks to two mistakes by the Athletics. CF Henry Bolte misplayed Chisholm's single, allowing Cody Bellinger to advance from first to third base. Chisholm then stole second base to avoid the inning-ending double play, but Langeliers' throw got by second baseman Alika Williams into the outfield -- making it easy for Bellinger to score and cut the lead to 2-1.

-- Aaron Judge nearly tied the game in the top of the fifth inning, but his deep drive was just short as right fielder Colby Thomas made the catch up against the wall.

The Yanks had another scoring chance in the seventh inning after Ryan McMahon led off with a single. Although, José Caballero and Anthony Volpe both couldn't get the job done, and after Trent Grisham walked, Ben Rice struck out swinging for the third out.

-- Jake Bird struggled in eighth inning by hitting the leadoff man Brent Rooker, allowing a double to Soderstrom, and letting up an RBI-single to Zack Gelof as the A's took a 6-1 lead.

-- Amed Rosario did not play and will be out again Sunday after he was placed on the paternity list prior to the game.

Game MVP: Nick Kurtz

The reigning AL Rookie of the Year went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. 

Honorable mention goes to RHP J.T. Ginn, who allowed just one unearned run on four hits over 6.0 IP with four strikeouts and three walks.

Highlights

Jazz singles and Bellinger advances on a bobble in center field and the Yankees are set up with runners on the corners and one out for Paul Goldschmidt pic.twitter.com/FUDFf4fUHx

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 31, 2026

What's next

The Yankees wrap up their three-game series in Sacramento on Sunday. First pitch is set for 4:05 p.m.

Will Warren (6-1, 3.55 ERA) will take the mound for New York, while the Athletics are yet to announce a starting pitcher.

LOS ANGELES — Roki Sasaki continued to impress, pitching into the sixth inning, and the Dodgers had a late lead. But Tanner Scott allowed his first runs on over a month in a decisive eighth inning in a stunning 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.

Scott had a rough go of it in his first year in Los Angeles, but this season has looked much more like the dominant reliever the Dodgers signed to a four-year contract. Entering Saturday he struck out a third of his batters with a 1.14 ERA, 2.18 xERA in 23 2/3 innings, and hadn’t allowed a run since April 24, thirteen appearances ago.

Staked to a 3-1 lead in the eighth inning, Scott allowed a pair of singles for one run, snapping his scoreless skid, then Edmundo Sosa hit a two-run home run just over the left field wall to turn the game around.

After leading the majors with 10 blown saves last season, this was Scott’s first blown save of 2026. Before the three runs in the eighth inning on Saturday, all Dodgers actual relief pitchers (Miguel Rojas excluded) allowed two runs in their previous 50 2/3 innings.

Encouraging beginning

Sasaki has found some success of late in throwing his harder split-fingered pitch, which plays better off his fastball. That’s kept him in games longer, and helped him string together confidence-building starts.

“Over the last handful of weeks, he’s just more comfortable,” manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “For me, the quality of [the fastball], the command of it has gotten a lot better. He hasn’t hit 100, but it’s still commanded a lot better than it was early on. 97 commanded is a lot better than 100 out of the hitting zone.”

Sasaki did hit triple digits on Saturday, twice (100.4 and 100.1 mph), plus three more at 99.8 mph and 99.7 mph. It’s the first time he’s thrown 100 mph this year, something he did regularly in Japan and did three times last season. But more importantly, he was effective, matching his MLB high with 18 swinging strikes — eight on the fastball, seven on the slider, and three on the slider.

Alec Bohm hit a 98.9-mph fastball at the top edge of the strike zone over the center field wall for the first run of the game, in the second inning. But Sasaki didn’t allow much else, and retired his next 13 batters in a row before Kyle Schwarber — who struck out in his first two at-bats — reached on an infield dribbler in the sixth inning. A more traditional single, by Trea Turner to right field, ended Sasaki’s night at seven strikeouts through 5 1/3 innings, up 2-1 but with the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base.

Alex Vesia walked Bryce Harper to load the bases, but struck out Edmundo Sosa and got Bohm to ground out to strand the inherited runners, escaping his second jam in as many nights.

Sasaki ended his promising May with a 3.18 ERA in five starts, with 28 strikeouts against only six walks in 28 1/3 innings.

Alex Call, making his second start in a row in left field after Teoscar Hernández strained his left hamstring, was instrumental in the Dodgers’ first two runs. He singled home Will Smith in the second inning, then doubled to center in the fourth on a ball that got past a diving Justin Crawford, and took third on an error by Adolis Garcia attempting to help out in right. Santiago Espinal’s sacrifice fly gave the Dodgers their first lead of the night.

Andy Pages doubled in the seventh inning, and scored on a two-out single by Mookie Betts. Pages nearly got thrown out at home, but was ruled safe. That distinction proved important, because replays were inconclusive whether catcher JT Realmuto tagged his foot or whether Pages even touched home plate at all. Not enough to overturn the Phillies challenge meant the call stood, and the Dodgers got their insurance.

They just needed a little more cushion in this one, and the win streak is snapped at six games.

Saturday particulars

Home runs: Alec Bohm (6), Edmundo Sosa (3)

WP — Orion Kerkering (3-0): 1 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 2 strikeouts

LP — Tanner Scott (1-2): 1 IP, 3 hits, 3 runs

Sv — Johan Duran (12): 1 IP, zeroes

Up next

The homestand concludes on Sunday (1:10 p.m., SportsNet LA), with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound against Phillies rookie right-hander Andrew Painter.

Mariners 5, Diamondbacks 1

Back-to-back series wins: Bryan Woo, +.24 WPA

Letting the shutout get away in the 9th: Josh Naylor, Randy Arozarena, Cole Young, and Mitch Garver, -.02 WPA

Game Thread Comment of the Day:

The only way to build a streak is one game at a time.

After a five-game losing streak, the Colorado Rockies mounted a ninth-inning comeback win over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night to get back in the win column. The Rockies came out swinging on Saturday to make it two.

In a refreshing manner, the Rox made things fairly relaxing. They took control of the game right off the bat and never looked back.

Welcome back, Ryan Feltner!

You’re never quite sure what you’re going to get when a pitcher comes back from an injury. Ryan Feltner progressed nicely after landing on the 15-day injured list and rehabbing in Albuquerque, but there are always some nerves along with the leap back to the majors.

Things couldn’t have gone any better for Feltner in the top of the first. He came out firing, showing off his velocity and putting together an extremely efficient 1-2-3 inning, escaping on just seven pitches.

Feltner continued his hot start with a great day all around. Aside from Ezequiel Tovar snagging a grounder up the middle to save a hit in the bottom of the first, he didn’t need much help.

Feltner did a great job getting ahead of batters. He was aggressive targeting the zone, getting a first-pitch strike on 11 of 15 batters faced through the fifth. He didn’t find himself in many jams, working through half of his innings on 10 or fewer pitches.

You couldn’t have asked for more in Feltner’s return to the Rockies. He bounced back impeccably, notching a Quality Start and finishing the day with 6.0 shutout innings pitched, giving up just four hits with two strikeouts and no walks.

After the game, manager Warren Schaeffer commented on his efficiency: “(His) fastball command was exceptional, slider was good, got double play balls when he needed them early. I just thought he controlled the game very well. He was in attack mode. When he does that, he’s pretty dang good.”

Thanks, Rally Rabbit!

Conversely, things were a struggle for Adrian Houser to start the game. The Giants’ starter was put to work early, giving up crucial hits and walks in the first. He struggled to find the zone, as his two-seam fastball had the velocity but could not hit the mark. He needed nearly 40 pitches to get out of the first.

The Rockies offense was still feeling the effects of the loose bunny that ran the warning track and jumpstarted the bats on Friday night:

The Rally Rabbit made an early appearance to keep things rolling Saturday night, lurking in the grass before the game started. Whether you attribute things to the bunny or to the offense finding their groove, the Rockies struck early.

Colorado took advantage of Houser’s struggles. After Jake McCarthy and Hunter Goodman both walked, Willi Castro brought McCarthy home with a line drive to center field. Tovar singled to join his friends on the basepaths to load things up.

Sterlin Thompson put together a great at bat and was hit by a pitch (on what would’ve been ball four anyway), as Goodman came home. Edouard Julien was unable to do more damage, striking out with the bases loaded. But the Rockies took a 2-0 lead into the second.

Later in the bottom of the fourth, McCarthy followed up a Julien single with a two-run dinger at the expense of Houser to increase the lead to 4-0. Not long after that, Houser was yanked with two outs, replaced by Sam Hentges. Houser finished his day with just 3.2 innings pitched, surrendering eight hits, four earned runs including a home run, and two walks with four strikeouts.

Piling on some insurance

The Rockies offense continued a steady assault through the middle innings, getting runners on base and increasing the lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, Hentges got the first two outs but couldn’t stop Colorado from breaking through. Julien drew a walk and was moved to second base by a Brett Sullivan single. McCarthy grabbed another RBI with a single to left, bringing the lead to 5-0.

Later, in the bottom of the seventh, Kyle Karros joined the fun and blasted a solo shot into the bullpen over the right center fence — his first against a team other than the Los Angeles Dodgers.

McCarthy’s thirst for RBI wasn’t quenched, so he knocked another single to left to bring Tyler Freeman home and put the Rockies up by a touchdown with a successful PAT. Schaeffer noted that, “Jake’s taken the opportunity and run with it… he’s taken full advantage of his playing time.” TJ Rumfield would return McCarthy’s favor, with another single to get McCarthy across the plate. The Rockies left the seventh up 8-0.

Staving off a comeback

Alas, it wouldn’t be a shutout. After a clean seventh from Brennan Bernardino, Blas Castaño entered in the top of the eighth, going on to give up a two-run home run to Drew Gilbert. He surrendered a triple to Jung Hoo Lee in the ninth, followed by an RBI single to Matt Chapman to make the game 8-3.

Luckily the Rockies had plenty of cushion. With seven shutout innings from the pitching staff and 14 hits from the offense, Colorado gave the fans little to worry about as nearly everything went right across the board.

Up Next

With the series win in hand, the Rockies will try to sweep the Giants on Sunday afternoon.

Robbie Ray gets his 12th start of the season, going 3-6 so far with a 4.60 ERA with 53 strikeouts across 58.2 innings pitched. For the Rockies, Tanner Gordon is set to get another start. Gordon has a 0-0 record with a 5.85 ERA in eight games and one start this season. First pitch is at 1:10 p.m. MDT.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

This season is going astonishingly well in Atlanta. They are the first team to 40 wins despite missing half of their projected rotation, having missed time from Ronald Acuna and Drake Baldwin, Ha-Seong Kim only playing 12 games and being astonishingly bad, and Austin Riley struggling. Now Schwellenbach, Waldrep, and Smith-Shawver are progressing back towards health, Ronald Acuna is healthy and in full form, Drake Baldwin should hopefully be back soon, they have the depth to bench Kim for real MLB shortstop options, and Austin Riley is (maybe? hopefully?) showing some life. This could be a SCARY team in October if health doesn’t betray them, but we’ve still got ~100 games to go for the regular season. Let’s enjoy what a journey it’s been so far, what a journey we’ve got to come, and hope for something special come October.

Braves News

Ronald Acuna led the way as the Braves homered their way to a 5-2 win, with strong pitching from the bullpen behind a solid Martin Perez.

MLB News

Breakout star Munetaka Murikami will miss a month or two with a grade 2 hamstring strain.

Former Braves Jarred Kelenic elected free agency after being DFA’d by the White Sox.

The A’s placed veteran Luis Severino on the 15-day IL with a shoulder strain.