Worldwide Sports News

Another day of minor league baseball is in the books. See the results below. Check out the previous day’s recap here.

AAA: Sugar Land Space Cowboys (20-28) lost 8-2 (BOX SCORE)

Alexander got the scoring started with a solo home run in the 2nd inning. Pecko got the start for Sugar Land but struggled allowing 6 runs over 4 innings of work. He was relieved by VanWey who allowed 2 runs. Sugar Land got one run in the 9th on a sac fly but that was it as they fell 8-2.

Note: Biggio is hitting .356 with 5 HR in May.

• Rhylan Thomas, CF: 2-for-4, RBI
• Cavan Biggio, 1B: 1-for-2, 3 BB
• CJ Alexander, LF: 1-for-4, R, HR, RBI
• Riley Unroe, DH: 1-for-2, R, 2 BB

• Ethan Pecko, RHP: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
• Logan VanWey, RHP: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• Anthony Maldonado, RHP: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
• Sam Carlson, RHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (19-23) lost 13-1 (BOX SCORE)

The Hooks got on the board in the first inning on a Holy leadoff home run. Hicks got the start and started off well but ran into some trouble allowing 8 runs, 7 earned, over 5 innings of work. Hader allowed a run in relief and Cuevas allowed 4 runs in the 9th. The offense was quiet the rest of the way as the Hooks fell 13-1.

Note: Holy has a .918 OPS in Double-A.

• Max Holy, SS: 2-for-4, R, HR, RBI
• Taylor Trammell, RF: 1-for-4

• James Hicks, RHP: 5.0 IP, 11 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
• Josh Hader, LHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
• Alejandro Torres, RHP: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
• Michael Cuevas, RHP: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

A+: Asheville Tourists (9-33)

Game One – lost 2-1 (BOX SCORE)

Hertzler got the start in game one and was dominant tossing 6 innings allowing 1 run while striking out 9 batters. The offense got not the board in the 5th inning scoring a run on a Walker bases loaded walk. In the bottom of the 7th, the Hot Rods walked it off with a home run as Asheville dropped game one 2-1.

Note: Hertzler has 49 K in 30.1 innings this season.

• Kyle Walker, 2B: 0-for-2, RBI, BB
• Caden Powell, DH: 2-for-2, R, BB, SB
• Chase Call, RF: 0-for-1, 2 BB, 2 SB

• Cole Hertzler, RHP: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K
• Joan Ogando, RHP: 0.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Game Two – lost 8-3 (BOX SCORE)

Santos got the start in game two but had a tough outing allowing 5 runs, 4 earned, over 4 innings of work. He was relieved by Rodriguez who allowed 3 runs, 1 earned, over 2 innings of work. The offense got on the board in the 6th inning on a Brutcher RBI single. In the 7th, they picked up 2 more runs on a passed ball and a Thomas groundout but that was it as Asheville dropped game two 8-3.

Note: Walker is hitting .283 this season.

• Kyle Walker, SS: 2-for-4, SB
• Justin Thomas, CF: 1-for-4, R, 2B, RBI
• Drew Brutcher, 1B: 1-for-3, RBI
• Chase Call, LF: 1-for-3, R

• Yeriel Santos, RHP: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
• Luis Rodriguez, RHP: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 K

A: Fayetteville Woodpeckers (18-24) lost 12-8 (BOX SCORE) 

The Woodpeckers got the scoring started in the third inning scoring 2 runs on a Huezo RBI double and Flores RBI double. Perez got the start and after 3 scoreless innings to start the game, he ran into trouble allowing 6 runs in the 4th. The Woodpeckers battled back with a run in the 4th on a Cauro sac fly and a run in the 5th on a Salas walk. Wells relieved Perez and 6 runs over 2.1 innings. The offense got one in the 5th on a Newman RBI single and in the 8th, Huezo connected on a 3 run home run. Unfortunately the offense couldn’t complete the comeback as the Woodpeckers fell 12-8.

Note: Huezo has a .810 OPS this season.

• Anthony Huezo, RF: 2-for-4, 3 R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, SB
• Arturo Flores, C: 2-for-4, 2B, RBI, BB
• Hector Salas, 3B: 0-for-3, RBI, 2 BB
• Camilo Diaz, 2B: 2-for-5, R
• Carlos Cauro, 1B: 1-for-2, 2 R, RBI, BB
• DJ Newman, LF: 1-for-2, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB, SB

• Javier Perez, RHP: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
• Jackson Wells, RHP: 2.1 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
• Leomar Rosario, RHP: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 6 K

Today’s minor league starters:

SL: Josh Hendrickson – 8:45 CT

CC: Nic Swanson – 7:05 CT

AV: TBD – 6:35 CT

FV: TBD – 6:05 CT

The Nationals’ farm system has been in the limelight for the past two months, with plenty of lower-level talent already emerging as legitimate prospects. For a franchise that continues to look toward the future, the recent developments have been nothing short of incredibly encouraging.

With all of the hype surrounding prospects still in the early stages of their development, little has been said about players who could see a promotion to the MLB club and make an impact in the near future. The slow start of offseason trade acquisition, catcher Harry Ford (MLB.com #6), hasn’t done much to change that narrative.

One player, however, has been lighting up AAA pitching, and could give Washington some much-needed reinforcements if his play continues to dazzle. You won’t find 24-year-old corner infielder Yohandy Morales on any Top-10 prospect lists, and many don’t even have him in the organization’s Top 20. A middling hit tool has long forced scouts to question his future at the big league level, and he’s remained an afterthought in a rising system. That could soon be coming to an end.

Through 45 games with the Rochester Red Wings so far in 2026, the right-hander is slashing a downright absurd .344/.425/.592/1.017, smashing 10 long balls and driving in 27 runs. He’s hitting the ball hard as much as anyone in the minor leagues, with his Average Exit Velocity, Max EV, 50th% EV, 90th% EV, and Hard-Hit% all landing in the 90th percentile or higher. The whiffs continue to be a problem, but even his swing decisions, a visible weakness in his game that led to 164 punchouts in 2025, have improved in recent weeks.

Critics of a potential promotion point to the largest concern with his game: he simply swings and misses too often, especially on pitches in the zone. His Zone-Contact% is a measly 75.48%, good for just the 20th percentile, and the one fix that batters point to for overcoming said issues, a high Pull-Air%, is nowhere to be found as he’s posting an abysmal 11th percentile mark.

The pathway to playing time is easily visible, with Jorbit Vivas struggling to provide anything in the way of offensive production in his at-bats. Morales has fantastic raw power, and the possibility of injecting that type of life into the Nationals’ lineup may be too appealing for the front office to ignore for much longer.

No one should be expecting Morales to light the world on fire if he does indeed get the call to the majors, but his performance continues to make the decision to keep him in AAA more difficult to support.

Only time will tell, but the Puerto Rican slugger could find his way to Washington in the near, if not immediate, future.

Back in February, ZiPS projections were posted, and they did not have a single Red Sox player reaching the 20 home run threshold. Twitter/X got a hold of this and ran with it, becoming an easy talking point for those who felt that Craig Breslow’s offseason effort to fix the power in the lineup fell short (most of us). 

After 49 games, 30% of the season, here is how the Red Sox regulars are pacing for home runs:

• Willson Contreras – 33
• Jarren Duran – 20
• Wilyer Abreu – 20
• Ceddanne Rafaela – 13
• Trevor Story – 10
• Marcelo Mayer – 7
• Carlos Narvaez – 7

Everyone else on the team has one home run or fewer thus far, including Caleb Durbin, Roman Anthony, and Masataka Yoshida. Feel free to do that math yourself.

It probably should have been obvious at the time that ZiPS was low on Contreras, considering they had him at a projected 118 games played, tracking more like a catcher than a first baseman, but otherwise, they’ve been right on. That being said, it’s Memorial Day Weekend, so things should start heating up at Fenway, right about nowish. Looking at Statcast’s Park Factors for 2026, Fenway has played as the 5th most difficult park to hit in overall, and the #1 most difficult park to hit a home run at, and it’s actually not even close. 

If you use the three years prior (2023-2025), Fenway is the second-most friendly park overall, and tops in terms of doubles, but seventh-most difficult for homers.

I’ll say that Contreras and Abreu reach the 20 home run threshold, and that’s it. If this Sox team makes a wild card run over the next two months in this pathetic American League (outlined here, and here, on Over the Monster over the last two days), it should be pretty clear that a power bat is what the team will need to add at the deadline, and preferably well before the deadline. 

Enjoy the long weekend, and be good to each other.

The Kendall George show took over in Double-A while the Comets shut out Reno at home.

Player of the day

Ask not what Kendall George can do because the answer might just be everything. The Drillers’ center fielder was all over the place in a 6-4 win for Tulsa, raising his batting average to .346 by going four for four and also reaching 25 stolen bases on the year.

Having stolen 100 bags last season, it’s tough for George to dazzle you now, but think of this success rate, which has vastly improved. Not caught once, George is now 25 for 28 after being thrown out 24 times last season.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

One quiet day was more than enough for Alex Freeland, who made the most out of his one hit in what turned out to be an 8-0 win for the Comets. Freeland left the yard with a three-run shot in the sixth as part of a rally that saw the Comets score seven runs with a home run from Jack Suwinski as well.

Starter River Ryan needed a little over 60 pitches to get through five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and hand it off to a bullpen that was equally as dominant, carrying on to record 14 of their 27 outs on strikeouts against only five from Reno.

Double-A Tulsa

Reaching base safely in all five of his plate appearances, Kendall George could not have done more at the top of the order for the Drillers, a key player in this 6-4 win over the Wind Surge. Scoring half of the Drillers’ six runs, George was his usual dynamic self on the basepaths, responsible for all three of Tulsa’s stolen bases.

Outhitting the Wind Surge 13 to 6 as a team, the Drillers thrived at the top of the order, with 10 of those 13 hits coming from the top four, including yet another productive day from Mike Sirota. The recently promoted outfielder is settling in as nicely as anyone could’ve hoped in this new environment in Double-A.

Payton Martin finally earned his first win of the year, working through nine base runners (6 of them on walks) to allow just one earned run in 5.1 innings.

High-A Great Lakes

It’s tough to outhit your opponent and still lose by nine runs. That’s what happened as a rattled pitching staff for the Great Lakes could not stop walking Wisconsin’s hitters, leading to a 14-5 defeat that was somehow worse than that final score. The Loons managed to put up three garbage-time runs in the ninth to avoid losing by double digits.

On top of starter Jakob Wright, who allowed a couple of runs on one hit and five walks, the Loons had three other relievers concede more runs than they did hits. Among them was Acccimias Morales, the losing pitcher of record with four earned runs in 0.2 innings of work out of the bullpen.

Single-A Ontario

Seven of the Tower Buzzers’ batters recorded multiple hits, and it was the ninth-hole hitter, AJ Soldra, leading the charge in this 13-10 win. Soldra recorded four hits in five at-bats, the last of them a home run, surprisingly the game’s only long ball, when Ontario already led 12-10 in the ninth.

Starter Hyun-Seok Jang had the Tower Buzzers set for a blowout win, but the bullpen almost gave it all away, allowing four runs in the seventh and another four in the eighth. Luckily, Robby Porco provided some stability by pitching two scoreless innings to wrap things up and earn a second save on the season.

Thursday’s scores

• Oklahoma City 8, Reno 0
• Wichita 4, Tulsa 6
• Great Lakes 5, Wisconsin 14
• Inland Empire 11, Ontario 13

Friday’s schedule

• 3:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Christian Zazueta) vs. Wisconsin (Josh Knoth)
• 4:35 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Adam Serwinowski) at Wichita (Sam Armstrong)
• 5:05 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Charlie Barnes) vs. Reno (Kohl Drake)
• 6:35 p.m. PT: Ontario (TBD) at Inland Empire (Mason Peters)

At the beginning of May, the Orioles got their butts kicked for four straight games by the Yankees and they needed to act immediately to prevent the season from spiraling out of control. The O’s managed to do this in winning two of the next three series, including getting some revenge against the Yankees. A struggle of a series facing a poor Nationals pitching staff and a sweep at the hands of the Rays later and the Orioles are back in a tailspin that could prove fatal to their hopes of being able to eventually go somewhere good this year.

If you are reading this hoping to feel better about the Orioles, I am probably not your guy. I am feeling bad about this team. It’s looking increasingly like, for a second consecutive year, they ain’t got it. They should have it. Some of their weaknesses should be their strengths instead. Other things among their weaknesses are going worse than even most pessimists would have predicted. Who to blame for all of this and what to do about it are the subjects of daily argument. Nobody with influence to change things seems to know how to make that happen.

Perhaps at least this weekend will go better for the Orioles. One thing working in their favor is that they are back at Camden Yards, where they are playing at a .500 clip so far this season. Another is that they are playing the Tigers, one of the teams with an even worse record than the O’s themselves have. Detroit has lost its last six games and 14 of its last 16. They were above .500 before this began and now they’re 20-31.

The story of Detroit’s season seems to be the disappointment from its offense, even though they have two great young hitters. 25-year-old outfielder Riley Greene is currently on pace to have the best-hitting year of his five MLB seasons. They debuted a top infield prospect, Kevin McGonigle, early this season, who is already worth 2.7 bWAR in 49 games of his rookie season. That’s basically the guy we wanted Jackson Holliday to be, and unlike Holliday, McGonigle has just showed up and he is doing great. That’s a good start to a good offense.

The problem is nearly every other Tigers hitter. There are some brutal batting splits kicking around, with several Tigers position players among the worst that MLB has to offer so far this season. This includes former Oriole Jahmai Jones, former #1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson, outfielder Wenceel Pérez, and utilityman Zach McKinstry. The best OPS of the players I just named is Torkelson at .681. The others are far worse; they’d fit in with the biggest Orioles strugglers like Tyler O’Neill and Colton Cowser. Pérez is kind of impressively already at a -1.1 bWAR.

Things are going better for Detroit’s pitching staff. Orioles fans looking at the team’s 4.97 ERA have got to be envious of the Tigers having a team ERA nearly a full run lower. How much of this is difference is an “invisible” gap in defensive quality is not something I can say because I don’t watch the Tigers.

They’ve had their share of pitching problems even through the overall quality. Two-time Cy Young Tarik Skubal is out due to surgery for loose bodies in his elbow. The feel-good late-career reunion with Justin Verlander halted after one terrible start. Free agent addition Framber Valdez has a 4.58 ERA through ten games. We’ll see him in this series. Some of their bullpen guys suck. But then, some of every bullpen’s guys suck.

Like the Orioles, this team probably “should” be better than it is. It’s not. One team may come away from this series feeling a little better about itself. Unless the weekend’s weather forecast leads to the teams playing only two games right now and they split the two games they actually play. That wouldn’t do much to feed into anybody’s narrative.

Game 1 – Friday, 7:05

• BAL starter: Chris Bassitt – 5.44 ERA, 4.74 FIP, 1.698 WHIP in 43 IP
• DET starter: Jack Flaherty – 5.77 ERA, 5.03 FIP, 1.603 WHIP in 43.2 IP

Note: This game is on Apple TV. No other TV broadcast will be available.

A theme I return to a lot when I think about these Orioles is that even pessimists could not have predicted these specific outcomes. I mentioned it above and here as I think about Bassitt it is on my mind again. I didn’t like the signing because I thought the Orioles needed to aim higher than stabilizing their back end. Yet even for that, a mid-5s ERA heading into Memorial Day weekend would have surprised me. I figured he might slide into the 4.5 range.

Maybe that’s where he’ll end up by season’s end. Maybe it’s the defense’s fault that he’s not there right now. I don’t know. What I do know is that his strikeout rate has been cut by close to a third compared to a year ago, while at the same time his walk rate has increased by about a third. That’s a tough combination, so even though his BABIP is crazy high (.352) and that’s probably not all his fault, there’s a lot that he could be doing to help his own cause that he’s not doing. Currently not looking like a great use of $18.5 million or a roster spot.

For the Tigers starter Flaherty, that’s a familiar-feeling ERA if you remember his short tenure here. He is failing in a different way than he did with the Orioles. The 2025 issue for Flaherty is that he’s walking way too many guys, handing out one walk roughly every seven batters. Whether Orioles who are not named Taylor Ward can take advantage of this may be one of the keys to success for the game.

Game 2 – Saturday, 4:05

• BAL starter: Brandon Young – 4.25 ERA, 5.23 FIP, 1.483 WHIP in 29.2 IP
• DET starter: Framber Valdez – 4.58 ERA, 4.07 FIP, 1.400 WHIP in 55 IP

At the end of spring training, if you had told me that Young would already have six starts with more coming, I wouldn’t have had a hard time picturing a disaster regarding the Orioles rotation. It has indeed been disastrous, but to be fair to Young, he hasn’t been one of the disastrous parts up to this point. Most likely he’s getting lucky. That’s a big gap between the ERA and the FIP. His strikeout/walk ratio is bad. Still, if he was the fifth-best Orioles starter, this season would probably be going fine. The problem is he’s the second best by ERA so far.

If you checked in on Valdez’s stats at the end of April, when he had a 3.35 ERA, you were probably quite upset that the Orioles didn’t sign him. He got socked in his first May start and hasn’t pitched well enough yet to recover a lower ERA. For the curious, Boston’s Ranger Suárez has a 2.40 ERA and Dylan Cease of the Blue Jays is at a 2.98. Adding either one of these guys to the Orioles rotation wouldn’t solve all of the problems they’ve had so far, but it would solve at least one.

Game 3 – Sunday, 1:35

• BAL starter: Trevor Rogers – 6.87 ERA, 4.35 FIP, 1.658 WHIP in 38 IP
• DET starter: TBD

No one should have believed that Rogers was just going to come out and drop another sub-2 ERA. I don’t think anyone believed that. Here’s another one for the “Not even the pessimists…” category. An ERA that rounds up to 7? Really? You could have thought that relying on Rogers at the top of the rotation was foolish and that the Orioles not acting to bolster the front of the rotation was a bad decision. Many people thought that and they certainly look like they were right.

Still, after last year, of course the 2026 Orioles rotation plan included Rogers in some capacity. That was always going to be the case. And like so many other guys who are undershooting even pessimistic projections, here he is. Put him at Brandon Young’s 4.25 ERA and he’s still massively disappointing after last year, and he’s more than two and a half runs worse than that.

There was no way to plan for that possibility, and at this moment, with even Cade Povich and Dean Kremer on the injured list, there’s not much way to adapt to it by kicking Rogers from the rotation even if that was an unquestionably good idea on its own merits. Everyone involved just has to hope for magical improvement.

As of this writing, it’s TBD for Detroit. TBD will probably not turn into Casey Mize, who pitched in Thursday’s game. That’s good news for the Orioles in that Mize is the best of the active Tigers pitchers. He’s sporting a 2.47 ERA across eight starts.

**

Here is another time where they have to make a stand. The Tigers are reeling. The Orioles need to make that continue. If they can’t even capitalize on that opportunity, how are we supposed to believe that they will do anything good with the season beyond Memorial Day? There’s also the basic math aspect of it. Even if they turn things around later, losing two of three this weekend would put the team at 22-31. As with last year, that’s a deep hole to escape over the remainder of the season.

How do you think this series will go? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

It was a huge day at the plate for Alex Lodise, who seems to be coming around for Augusta following a two home run performance for them. With that effort Lodise tied for the team lead in home runs, and the top three in the lineup sit 1-2-3 on the team in home runs. Elsewhere Cam Caminiti made another start and had some struggles, giving up a lot of damage to Hub City in a loss in which the offense largely didn’t give him much help to work with.

(27-21) Gwinnett Stripers 7, (24-24) Charlotte Knights

Box Score

Statcast

• Jim Jarvis, SS: 2-3, 2B, 2 BB, 3 RBI, .301/.408/.422
• Rowdy Tellez, DH: 2-4, BB, .262/.358/.518
• Elieser Hernandez, SP: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 5.36 ERA

Adam Zebrowski hasn’t had many chances to make a mark in Gwinnett in his career, but in his first call to Triple-A this season he made the biggest contribution to the game for the Stripers. Zebrowski launched a 412 foot opposite field home run in the second inning, giving the Stripers a 2-0 lead early in the game. He would add on later in the game with a bases loaded walk to again put the Stripers in the lead, and Gwinnett would never trail again. Jim Jarvis, a much less surprising major contributor to this game, drew a walk behind Zebrowski to force home a run as part of his three RBI day that included two hits and two walks. Jarvis sealed the game in the eighth inning with a long drive to right field, bouncing off of the wall for a two-run double that exploded the Stripers lead from 4-3 to 6-3. He scored on a Luke Williams single on the next play to cap the scoring effort for both sides. Jarvis has fallen into a nasty slump this month, but has shown some signs in the past week of digging his way out of it. Jarvis has more walks than strikeouts in his past five games and a four game hitting streak with two extra base hits, by far his best stretch of play so far this month. His first month was absolutely unsustainable statistically, but he hit the ball hard today and is actually hitting the ball harder this month than he was last month. He just has far more ground balls which has led to fewer barrels and less overall impact.

It was a scary outing for Elieser Hernandez, who got a bit fortunate to escape this game without major damage. He was giving up slews of hard hits balls, and more importantly hard-hit fly balls, and he wasn’t really missing bats to make up for it. He managed to escape the game without giving up and home runs, however, so despite allowing seven hits and two walks the Knights were mostly held at bay and only scored two earned runs against him. The Stripers bullpen was excellent, particularly Hunter Stratton who has been quite impressive for them after a rough opening outing this season. Stratton’s walk rates this season are being inflated by a couple of poor outings, but as the season goes on he appears as if he is going to settle in and be significant depth for the major league roster. Ian Hamilton is having a crazy year in terms of his ability to throw strikes, setting behind a history of not being a great control pitcher. He only has three walks in 15 innings this season (though we’re also dealing with the opposite end of the small sample spectrum to Stratton’s) and that has allowed him to be a dominant reliever for the Stripers. Hamilton’s velocity this game was a tick over his season average, but he is still below where he sat at his peak with Yankees a few years back.

Swing and Misses

Elieser Hernandez – 7

Hunter Stratton – 3

Ian Hamilton – 3

(20-21) Columbus Clingstones 4, (21-21) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 3

Box Score

• Lizandro Espinoza, CF: 1-4, RBI, .283/.401/.517
• David McCabe, DH: 1-4, .254/.341/.559
• Patrick Clohisy, RF: 0-3, BB, .265/.338/.436
• Julio Robaina, SP: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 2.79 ERA

This game came down to the shakiest of ninth innings, and the tightly-puckered affair ended with the defense of the Clingstones coming through in a big spot. These two teams traded runs back and forth in this game, but there was little on the offensive end that stood out for either side. The Clingstones were able to get mild contributions from all parts of the lineup, starting with a Luke Waddell double that led to the first run of the game for them. Trailing again in the sixth inning the top of the batting order got involved with the game when Patrick Clohisy led the inning off with a walk and stole second base. This set the stage for a Lizandro Espinoza single, who roped one into left field to score Clohisy easy. Espinoza then went wild on the bases and stole his way around to third base, where Waddell lifted a sacrifice fly to give Columbus their first lead of the game. That lead lasted little time as the Blue Wahoos tied it up in the bottom of the sixth inning, but in the seventh the impact swing turned the game in Columbus’s favor for good. Ethan Workinger hit an absolute nuke out to left field, the defender only taking a couple of steps as the ball sailed into the bay to give Columbus a 4-3 lead.

Workinger’s impact extended beyond his contributions with the bat. It was a mediocre day on the mound for Julio Robaina, who didn’t pitch horrible but didn’t really show the stuff to get a ton of whiffs in the game. As a result he had a lot of contact, and that contact turned into a huge fifth inning home run and traffic on the bases that added up to three runs against Robaina. Yet the score could have been worse without an incredible effort by Workinger in the third inning. The leadoff hitter in the inning lifted a slow curve deep out to left field, and Workinger drifted back up to the track and the wall. Workinger went up the wall and reached over to bring back a solo home run, saving an early run that proved critical in the final score of the game. Where Robaina was okay on the mound the relievers struck fear into the Clingstones’s dugout, though they ultimately tip-toed around damage, starting with Blayne Enlow. Enlow allowed two walks in the seventh inning, but the hardest hit ball he allowed sunk right into the glove of Espinoza in center field. Enlow then picked off the runner at second base to end the inning, stopping a potential rally in its tracks before handing the ball to Blayne Abeyta. Abeyta shut down the side in order in the eighth inning, but Tyler LaPorte had no such luck in the ninth. He issued a leadoff walk and then made a throwing error, causing his own jam to start the inning. After a sac bunt and an intentional walk LaPorte found himself staring down a bases loaded situation in a one run game, but the baseball gods shone on him. A hard grounder up the middle found its way directly into Luke Waddell’s glove, and he and Ambioris Tavarez turned an easy double play to close the game and a hard-fought win for the Clingstones.

Swing and Misses

Julio Robaina – 8

Blane Abeyta – 3

Blayne Enlow – 3

(23-19) Rome Emperors 3, (23-18) Hub City Spartanburgers 4

Box Score

• Isaiah Drake, LF: 0-4, BB, .274/.357/.457
• John Gil, SS: 0-2, 3 BB, .268/.380/.430
• Eric Hartman, DH: 2-4, 2B, RBI, .320/.397/.660
• Cam Caminiti, SP: 6.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 5.19 ERA

Results this season have been mixed for Cam Caminiti, to say the least, and his last three outings serve as a disappointing set of games after a terrific opener to the month. Most of that is regression in his slider relative to last year. While he had a fair amount of success locating his fastball in this game, which shows up in his low walk total, his mechanics on his slider are all over the place. He was not able to find a consistent release point and often that led to the slider staying up in the strike zone where hitter could either get good swings or at least foul the ball off. Right handed hitter in particular seem to be getting a really good look at him and are not fooled when the slider comes. This is one of those things for Caminiti that he’s just going to have to grind through over the summer, making those little adjustments to get back on track. We’ve still seen flashes of the guy that was dominant last season and his fastball command may even be a tick better than it was in 2025, he just hasn’t found consistent location to finish at bats. I am far from the point that I would consider this stretch of play anything to fear for a guy so much younger than his competition, and Caminiti has shown the aptitude to make necessary adjustments in the past. He even seemed to settle in late in this game and get better at keeping pitches down and away from the contact zone of hitters.

Offense was tough to come by for Rome in this game. They were held scoreless through seven innings, and they didn’t seem to be making a major threat at the plate at all. The team had a total of 12 strikeouts and early in the game the only one who seemed locked in was John Gil, who was able to work three walks in the game. Their big break came in the eighth inning, when Isaiah Drake and John Gil drew back-to-back walks to bring up Eric Hartman. Hartman is exactly the guy they would want at the plate in this spot, and he delivered. He hit a missile into the right field corner for a double, a ball hit so hard that it got the wall too quickly for Gil to score from first base. That did, however, push home Isaiah Drake, and with one out the inning the Emperors were cooking with the tying run on second base. Will Verdung had a chance with the bases loaded and two outs, and he came up with a clutch single. He slapped a sharp grounder through the right side and Hartman was off on contact, using his speed to score without a throw from right field and tie the game at three runs apiece. In the bottom of the ninth inning the Spartanburgers created a threat with a runner on second base and two outs, bringing up their nine hole hitter. He came through with a hit to right field, but a terrific throw from Isaiah Drake made it a close play at the plate. Unfortunately Mac Gusette dropped the throw, and the runner scored to walk the game off.

Swing and Misses 

Cam Caminiti – 11

David Rodriguez – 7

(24-18) Augusta GreenJackets 5, (18-24) Columbia Fireflies 4

Box Score

• Tate Southisene, DH: 1-4, .288/.425/.484
• Alex Lodise, SS: 3-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI, .259/.340/.431
• Luis Guanipa, CF: 0-4, .308/.350/.522
• Landon Biedelschies, SP: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 8.49 ERA
• Luis Arestigueta, RP: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 6.20 ERA

It has been an interesting season for Alex Lodise, with plenty of rough days at the plate but others where he looks like the best player on the field. Thursday was the latter of those performances, as he went deep twice to tie Luis Guanipa for the team lead with eight home runs on the year. Neither of his home runs left any doubt in the mind when they came off of the bat. Following a Tate Southisene leadoff single Lodise got a fastball at 90 mph on the inner half of the plate and he hit it a mile down the left field line, hooking inside the foul pole and into the apartments to give Augusta a two run lead. His second home run looked much the same – an inside fastball at 93 mph that he obliterated to left field for a two-run bomb. He added another hit in the seventh inning, this one a single, giving him his first three-hit game since back on April 7th. It’s been six games since he had an extra base hit, so this broke him out of a short slump that hasn’t been particularly deep. Lately Lodise has been drawing more walks and making more contact, he just hasn’t seen the hits fall quite as often despite positive signs at the plate. Luis Guanipa saw his hitting streak snapped with an 0-4 performance, but it’s not one you can chalk up to a bad day at the plate. Guanipa hit the ball hard all four times at the plate, particularly in his last two at bats, but sprayed the right at defenders where they were easily snagged for outs. The outputs may have trailed the inputs this game, but there is zero doubt that Guanipa is still locked in a the plate and if he makes contact like this in future games he’s going to have even more big days at the plate.

Landon Beidelschies needed a day where things went right for him on the mound, and that came to fruition for him on Thursday with his best outing of the season. Beidelschies still isn’t missing very many bats, but importantly he had solid command of his slider which allowed him to keep hitters off of his fastball and force some weak contact. He did have stretches where he elevated the slider but that wasn’t a consistent problem, and against the left handed hitters in the order he had some success at getting strikeouts. His only trouble in the game came courtesy of his own errors. Beidelschies is in a weird spot on the mound. There has been a steady improvement in his execution of his fastball and if the slider follows suit that will make a massive difference in his results moving forward. Still, he hasn’t shown a breaking ball that has the quality needed to miss bats consistently and that has to be a point of emphasis for his development. It’s a bit early to say that Luis Arestigueta has turned a corner, but after finishing strong two outings ago and looking good last week he came in and had one of his best days of the season. That is by far the most consistency he has shown to date, and he was ripping his fastballs today. Possibly it’s because he knew he only needed to cover two innings after Beidelschies was able to pitch deep, but Arestigueta was up around 95 for this game and for the most part was commanding the ball well. There are occasions that his arm slot drops and drags behind him leading to bad misses, but he has been so much better at staying high and more compact and it’s made a huge difference in how often he can land fastballs and get ahead in the count. His slider was as sharp as I’ve seen it in a GreenJackets uniform, and he even dropped in a couple of changeups to keep lefties honest. His fastball lacks the carry that would get him a ton of whiffs up in the strike zone, but he still has room to add muscle and velocity to his frame to give even more projectability to a profile that has made a jump in the past 12 months. It’s hard not to be happy with how Arestigueta has looked lately and while I have my doubts as to whether the changeup will ever come along enough to get him another shot in the rotation, the fastball-slider is a big league quality combination.

Swing and Misses

Luis Arestigueta – 6

Landon Biedelschies – 5

Diamondbacks News

(The Denver Post) Rockies waste Zach Agnos’ brilliant start, get walked off by D-backs

Colorado’s demise on Thursday began ominously when reliever Juan Mejia walked Moreno to open the frame. Mejia also walked Ketel Marte to move Moreno into scoring position. All told, Colorado pitchers issued eight free passes.

The Rockies, who were 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position, wasted a brilliant start from usual mid-game reliever Zach Agnos. Making his first start since high school, Agnos pitched five shutout innings, giving up one hit, striking out four and walking just one.

(SI.com) Corbin Carroll’s Walk-Off Winner Puts Diamondbacks in New Territory

But despite the surprisingly-meager crowd of just 14,761 (the lowest since May 8 of 2023), the cheers rang out around Chase Field as Carroll shot a single through the first base gap with two outs in a 1-1 game, scoring Gabriel Moreno from second base. It was Carroll’s fourth career walk-off hit.

But the hit stood for more than just an exciting Thursday night. With that win, the Diamondbacks are suddenly in new territory: a five-game winning streak. That is their longest win streak of the season, and their longest since June 9-14 of 2025. Arizona has not had a six-game win streak since August of 2024.

(Arizona Sports) Corbin Carroll walks off Rockies, Diamondbacks win 5th straight

This was the second walk-off win of the week for the Diamondbacks and third of the year. Ketel Marte hit a game-winning home run on Tuesday, as Arizona’s top two hitters have come through in the clutch during this homestand.

The Diamondbacks have won five straight games (season high) to improve to 26-23, starting this Rockies-Giants-Rockies-Giants stretch of the schedule 6-1.

(SI.com) Diamondbacks’ Strange Attendance Drop is Starting to Raise Concerns

Through the first 24 games of 2025, the D-backs had drawn 32,607 fans per game. So far in 2026 that number in the same amount of games is all the way down a whopping 5,413 per game. That is by far the biggest numerical drop of any team in the league. The second-highest drop is the Kansas City Royals, down 2,527 fans per game.

MLB News

(Yahoo! Sports) A’s $2B Las Vegas Strip stadium on schedule to open before 2028 season, officials say

“The lower-suite level is progressing substantially,” said Tyler Van Eeckhaut, project director for contractors Mortenson-McCarthy. “We’re starting to see a lot of rooms taking shape and a lot of that environment has really started to become a component of the stadium.”

Buttress work has been completed to mark a significant milestone, and the upper deck began going up in April. A parking garage on the southeast side will be phased in with 1,500 lots initially available and 2,500 by the time construction is completed.

(Battery Power) Ronald Acuña, Jr. leaves game with thumb issue; is day-to-day (Updated)

When getting ready to take the field in the bottom of the fifth, Acuña, Jr. lingered near the dugout while his thumb was examined before jogging back to right field. Acuña, Jr. had singled in two runs in the top of the inning.

(CBS Sports) A’s pitcher J.T. Ginn loses no-hitter and then the game vs. Angels in span of four pitches

Major League Baseball still hasn’t seen a no-hitter since Sept. 4, 2024. J.T. Ginn of the Athletics strongly flirted with snapping the drought on Monday evening in Anaheim against the Angels. In fact, he took the no-hitter to the ninth inning with a 1-0 lead. But instead of making history, he came out on the wrong side of a walk-off loss.

The game was actually tied, 0-0, heading to the ninth, and a small rally gave the A’s the lead and set the table for Ginn. Adam Frazier singled to start the ninth inning for the Halos. Three pitches later, Zach Neto hit a walk-off home run to center field.

(NBC Sports) Tarik Skubal takes ‘great step’ in recovery from elbow surgery, throws third bullpen session

Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Stubal threw another bullpen session, his third since his rehab program from elbow surgery began.

The two-time American League Cy Young Award winner underwent a non-invasive procedure on his left pitching elbow on May 6 to remove a loose body. He threw his latest bullpen session prior to Detroit’s home game against Cleveland.

Manager A.J. Hinch called it a “great step” but stopped short of saying when Skubal might return to action.