Author: MLB Baseball News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games

What John Sterling always said was true. You can’t predict baseball, Suzyn. Except sometimes you can have a pretty fair guess. The expected outcomes for the American League’s top two teams came to pass last night because both the Yankees and Rays are better than the A’s and Angels. If you’ll forgive getting blue from the jump with a Sandor Clegane quote, sometimes it’s as simple as your opponent not having armor or a big fucking sword (to admittedly stretch a metaphor). The Yankees won 8-2, and the Rays won 8-5. Yup.

Here’s what what went on among some top AL foes.

Tampa Bay Rays (35-19) 8, Los Angeles Angels (22-36) 5

I suppose I’m being a tad uncharitable to the Angels, who did lead the Rays for the middle part of this ballgame at the Trop. But if the Halos have proven anything over their past decade of misery, it’s that they’re never to be trusted. Walbert Ureña did a nice job of matching Nick Martinez, allowing a leadoff homer to Yandy Díaz and really not much else across six innings of one-run ball. And the Angels had a 2-1 advantage by the time Ureña left at the end of the sixth, thanks to a pair of RBI knocks from Vaughn Grissom and Zach Neto. It could’ve been more, as they went 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position on the night. Oh well.

Ryan Zeferjahn took over for Ureña in the seventh and saw it fitting to then give up seven. Okay fine, the last three runs were charged to Brent Suter, but this was some bad relief pitching. Zeferjahn didn’t record his only out until after walking Cedric Mullins, allowing back-to-back homers to Díaz and Jonathan Aranda (Yandy putting the Rays ahead), and yielding a single to Junior Caminero.

Grissom didn’t help matters for Suter upon his entrance, bobbling a Chandler Simpson grounder for an error. Oliver Dunn then reached on a squeeze single, Richie Palacios cleared the bases with a two-run triple, and he scored on a Nick Fortes sacrifice fly. A 2-1 lead had become an 8-2 deficit in an inning. That’s Angels baseball, baby.

Two walks, a Grissom double, and a pair of productive outs helped the Halos trim the score to 8-5 in the eighth. For as lousy as the pitching is, the Orange County offense did manage to get the go-ahead run to the plate down to their last gasp against closer Bryan Baker. With one down, he walked Logan O’Hoppe, allowed a single to erstwhile Rays pest Jose Siri, and despite fanning Neto, he walked Trout to load the bases for Grissom — who actually had a go-ahead slam earlier this week in Detroit. No dice this time around, as Baker got Grissom to pop up to end it. The Rays retain their 1.5-game lead in the AL East.

Other Games

Toronto Blue Jays (29-29) 6, Baltimore Orioles (26-32) 5: It looked like the O’s had a handle on this one, as they seized a 5-0 lead at Camden Yards on the strength of homers from Jackson Holliday, Pete Alonso, and Samuel Basallo. Trevor Rogers threw six scoreless innings on under 75 pitches, and it wasn’t controversial to see him return for the seventh. Four batters later, he was gone and it was quickly a 5-4 ballgame on a pair of two-run dingers from Kazuma Okamoto and the debuting Charles McAdoo. Whoops. As the Toronto bullpen after Austin Voth threw no-hit relief, the Jays finished the comeback in the eighth, blitzing Yennier Cano as well with back-to-back singles and a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. double to plate both runners before an out was recorded. Adley Rutschman had a chance to walk it off in the bottom of the ninth as the winning run at the plate following an error by Ernie Clement, but Braydon Fisher got him to ground out, Clement succeeding in his mulligan. Toronto is back to .500 for the first time since April 4th.

Seattle Mariners (29-29) 7, Arizona Diamondbacks (31-25) 6 – 10 innings: The Jays’ 2025 ALCS foes are back even at .500 as well, and while it hadn’t been quite as long for the M’s, it had still been almost exactly a month. Seattle outhomered Arizona 4-1 on Friday, with J.P. Crawford slugging a pair off Zac Gallen himself. However, three singles, two doubles, and a walk helped the D-backs come back from down 5-1 in the sixth against George Kirby and Matt Brash. Luke Raley countered with a solo shot to make it 6-5, M’s, but Andrés Muñoz’s tough 2026 continued when he blew the save in the ninth. He was honestly fortunate to escape the bases-loaded, no-out jam he put himself in on two singles and a plunking of Nolan Arenado with just one run scoring on a slow grounder that turned into an RBI fielder’s choice. The game went extras, and after Cooper Criswell stranded the zombie runner with two grounders to short and one to second, Randy Arozarena responded to the challenge of Josh Naylor being intentionally walked in front of him, doubling to center to walk it off. The M’s lead the A’s in the AL West by a game and a half.

Cleveland Guardians (34-25) 4, Boston Red Sox (23-33) 3: No one outside of the Buckeye State has really been looking all that much, but the Guardians are putting the finishing touches on an outstanding month of May. They began it dead even at .500; since then they’ve gone 18-9, and that’s even including the recent, weird home series loss to the Nationals. Cleveland got back on track last night with the last-place Red Sox in town, burning Boston’s “opener + Brayan Bello” strategy by crushing said opener, Tyler Samaniego.

Angel Martínez’s two-RBI single paced a four-run first, and though Bello kept it close with seven shutout innings while his offense tallied three in the fifth off Slade Cecconi, the Red Sox never mustered that game-tying score. Reliever Colin Holderman stranded Cecconi’s remaining runner in scoring position, and Boston could only scatter a few singles against the Cleveland bullpen. Cade Smith allowed a leadoff hit in the ninth before striking out the side for his MLB-leading 20th save.

Hello friends and happy Saturday!

The Mariners completed their climb back to .500 yesterday with a 7-6 walk-off victory over the Diamondbacks. Julio Rodríguez and Luke Raley continued their hot starts at the dish with a home run each, while J.P. Crawford had his first multi-homer game as a Mariner.

Raley leads the M’s with 12 dingers so far this year, Julio has 11, and J.P. rounds out the top three with 9. Who do you think will lead the club in homers by the end of the season?

In Mariners news…

• The Mariners provided updates on the injuries of Cal Raleigh and Brendan Donovan. Both players are progressing well in their recovery, but neither appears close to going on a minor league rehab assignment.
• Andrea Arcadipane at The Athletic dug into the changes Emerson Hancock has made this season. ($)
• Zac Hereth at Seattle Sports made the case for four Mariners to be selected for the All-Star Game.

Around the league…

• A’s right-hander Luis Severino left his start last night with right arm soreness.
• Major League Baseball handed Brewers righty Abner Uribe a one-game suspension for the inappropriate gesture he made in a game against the Cardinals.
• Marlins right-hander Eury Pérez will miss eight weeks with a right gracilis strain.
• The Marlins sold 15% of their ownership stake to a South Florida family at a $1.55 billion club valuation.
• Rob Manfred admitted the league didn’t have sufficient evidence that former right-hander Jeurys Familia assaulted his wife. Major League Baseball punished him for it anyway. Bradford William Davis wrote about how this precedent endangers the women who come forward with allegations.
• Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh is running one of the highest BABIPs in MLB history. Mike Petriello says in his case, it may be more sustainable than you think.
• Patrick Dubuque at Baseball Prospectus wrote about why not every fly ball should be measured equally against a pitcher. ($)
• Don’t look now, but the Astros might be back. Chandler Rome at The Athletic reported on how right-hander Spencer Arrighetti helped turn the club around. ($)
• Jake Mailhot penned a piece at Fangraphs about the resurgence of Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz.

The Royals are searching for answers, writes Anne Rogers.

“We felt like there’s a core here that we could rely on for offense,” Picollo said. “Surrounding them with a deeper, better group and more balanced group was the goal. I think we did that. But I’m accountable, too. There are some evaluations made that haven’t lined up just yet. I think we have the pieces to compete and win more games that we have.”

When a team with expectations struggles as much as the Royals have, it doesn’t take long to hear calls for coaching changes. The calls have been loud in Kansas City for quite some time now.

Despite the Royals falling vastly short of expectations so far, a staff shakeup doesn’t appear imminent.

David Lesky writes that the goals for the Royals should change now that they are back in the standings.

It means trading anyone who isn’t under contract beyond this season. Most players on the roster are under team control beyond this season, but a few could bring back some return. Health is a huge part of this with guys like Kris Bubic and Matt Strahm, but I do think they can get some additions to the system. But I also think they need to be open to anything. On our preview podcast on Kauffman Corner, I said the Royals would make a massive deal and move Kendry Chourio (and many others) for James Wood. I don’t think that particular deal is going to happen, but if the Royals can get Witt a sidekick in a deal, even if it doesn’t help them this year, it’s okay to buy at the deadline in that way.

So it’s not just trading everyone. That can get difficult for them because their system is undoubtedly improving, but it’s still not at the point where they have a plethora of top prospects to trade away and remain where they are.

Pete Grathoff writes that the owners’ labor proposal on TV revenue would be a win for the Royals.

In addition to sharing revenue, the league is hoping its plan can help more people watch games. Since the teams would share the TV revenue, there would be fewer restrictions on viewers.

“(B)y sharing media revenue equally as part of our proposal, we can address another top fan concern of local TV blackouts,” MLB spokesman Glen Caplin said on the league’s website.

Mike Gillespie at Royals Keep writes that time is running out for former first round pick Frank Mozzicato.

Troubling, too, are his more advanced 2026 metrics — only in whiff % (30.1, 60th percentile) and K% (25, 51st percentile) is Mozzicato above the 50th percentile, and he’s at the 14th percentile in strike % (14), and the 21st percentile in BB% (16.2) and zone % (42.6).

The southpaw’s fastball is also a concern. Mozzicato simply hasn’t displayed the velocity he needs.

And then there’s his control. If not improved soon, Mozzicato’s tendency to walk far too many batters (career 16.3 BB% and 6.48 BB/9) may well be enough to keep him out of the majors.

Kiley McDaniel at ESPN has a mock draft out with the Royals taking prep pitcher Gio Rojas at #6.

Rojas is a cut-rate option here and otherwise might not have real interest until the teens, so he’s incentivized to cut a deal.

Don’t be surprised if: This is the spot where there could be a curveball. The reason I said the three players in the second tier should go in the next four picks is that the Royals could mix in a surprise.

I think Lombard is the preference, then Booth Jr. and Rojas are next up in some order. But there’s always a surprise in the top 10, and I think this might be the spot. Arkansas slugger Ryder Helfrick also could be an option here.

Brewers pitcher Abner Uribe is suspended one game for his gesture against the Cardinals.

The Giants reassign third base coach Hector Borg after a baserunning blunder.

The Cardinals call up former Royals outfielder Nelson Velázquez.

Jeff Passan at ESPN sorts out the owners’ and players’ labor proposals.

Why MLB’s local media revenue sharing is crucial to its salary cap proposal.

Why does ZIPS hate the Brewers?

The National League Cy Young race is loaded.

Sacramento officials launch efforts to land an MLB expansion team.

Marlins ownership sell a 15 percent stake to cover debts.

Johnson County Community College wins its first ever JUCO national championship.

Sports Illustrated lays off a number of writers.

There is a soccer league in Mexico that plays in an extinct volcano crater.

Shrey Parikh wins the Scripps National Spelling Bee with the word “bromocriptine.”

A Blue Origin rocket explodes during an engine-fire test.

The sun is undergoing a mysterious change and no one knows why.

Your song of the day is The Stone Poneys with Different Drum.

Some of the team’s top prospects are looking much better of late, but the churn is beginning on the major league bench.

Lehigh Valley 5, Buffalo 4

It’s starting to become a broken record of sorts, but Felix Reyes just keeps on demolishing Triple-A pitching, homering again last night in Buffalo.

As the kids say, the guy is cookin’. He had help though as Paul McIntosh had three hit, two doubles included, and one RBI in the Ironpigs victory. On the mound, it was Levi Stoudt getting the victory after five innings of only allowing two runs and seeing his bullpen bend but not break.

Harrisburg 9, Reading 1

A wet fart of a game, the Fightin’ Phils offense decided that getting to watch Gage Wood last night in his home debut was mentally and emotionally draining enough that they took the night off. Kehden Hettiger had a solo home run to be the only offense worth mentioning as the remainder of the lineup managed only five other hits in addition to that long ball. On the mound, starter Luke Russo was actually quite good, striking out eight in five innings and only allowing a single earned run, but a bullpen failure allowed seven other runs to score to let the Fightins fall.

Jersey Shore 8, Frederick 3

Devin Saltiban and Keaton Anthony were the offensive stars for the Blue Claws, each collecting two hits, Saltiban having a double and Anthony scoring two runs to help the cause. Mavis Graves looked better, only giving up three runs in 4 2/3 innings, striking out six. It’s these kinds of games that the Phillies do need though. Do a basic search and these three guys are considered to be some of the better prospects the team has right now. Having them start to be a little more consistent would go a long way in evaluating these kids the team has and maybe change those experts’ minds on the health of the lower levels.

Dunedin 8, Clearwater 3

The Ferre-bus continues rolling along as Alirio Ferrebus had two hits in three at bats and a run scored. His season average is up to .342 and his stock is firmly on the rise. A bullpen game saw a lot of arms going for the Threshers, but none of them were particularly impressive outside of starter Cade Obermueller.

That is a fun arm angle he’s coming from. Going to have to keep an eye on him.

Meet the Mets

Despite scoring four runs in the first and adding three additional runs in the rest of regulation, the Mets allowed the Marlins to chip away and ultimately tie it, and the first game of the series between the two division rivals thus went into extra innings. The Amazins emerged victorious, however, thanks to a walk-off two-run homer off the bat of MJ Melendez.

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue, NY Post, MLB.com

The Mets are finally making a shift to their rotation, with David Peterson officially heading to the bullpen and Sean Manaea taking his spot as a starter/bulk arm.

David Stearns acknowledged that the team has underperformed thus far but expressed hope that they could still dig themselves out of the hole they’re in.

Tobias Myers surrendered a game-tying two-run homer in last night’s game and was optioned to Triple-A afterwards.

Jonah Tong has made a few adjustments to his arm slot and pitching arsenal as he seeks to establish himself as a major league pitcher.

Bobby Valentine and Lee Mazzilli will be inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame today, and the former celebrated by donning his famous disguise one more time.

Several members of the 2001 Mets will be on-hand to watch their former manager get inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame.

Around the National League East

The Braves got a leadoff homer from Ronald Acuña Jr., the first of thirteen hits on the night as they slugged their way to an 8-3 victory against the Reds.

Zack Wheeler surrendered four solo homers to the Dodgers last night, and that was enough to doom the Phillies to a 4-2 loss.

The Nationals threatened to make a late-inning comeback, but ultimately fell short in a 7-5 loss to the Padres.

Marlins pitcher Eury Pérez suffered a rather Mets-like injury, as the youngster will miss two months due to a leg injury suffered while stretching.

The Marlins ownership group recently sold a 15% minority stake of the club for over a billion dollars.

Around Major League Baseball

As the league and the MLBPA begin negotiations about the next CBA, there will be a lot of discussions about competitive balance and it’s worth considering what exactly that means.

The owners and the union made their respective first proposals, but the end result will probably look very different from both.

One of the most exciting players of the 2026 season thus far will be off the shelf for a while, as Munetaka Murakami suffered a right hamstring injury in last night’s game.

Old friend Luis Severino exited his start last night with right arm soreness and will undergo testing.

The Reds placed reliever Graham Ashcraft on the 60-day injured list with a right UCL sprain.

Take heart, Mets fans: the Tigers have also had a terrible season and are now in the AL Central cellar.

Abner Uribe received a one-game suspension for his recent colorful mound celebration, but he appealed the decision and picked up a win in the meantime.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Vasilis Drimalitis previewed this weekend’s home series against the Marlins.

Joe Sokolowski compiled another week’s worth of sad Mets quotes.

Linda Surovich argued that Sean Manaea deserved a start, and the Mets front office was seemingly listening.

Brian Salvatore and Chris McShane had another bad batch of Mets baseball to discuss on the latest episode of Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World Series.

This Date in Mets History

In a game that would mirror a certain famous World Series game a few months later, the Mets got themselves a walk-off extra inning victory on an error on this date in 1986.

Good morning, LSB.

The Rangers smoked the Royals last night, 9-1.

Evan Grant writes that the offense went old school.

MacKenzie Gore got back on the right track with a dominant outing vs. KC.

New Ranger Nicky Lopez’s first hit in Texas was a big one and came just days after the death of his grandfather.

Elsewhere Grant’s weekly stock report asks if there’s a Rangers Great Depression on the way.

Wyatt Langford and Corey Seager are on their way back, slowly.

Caden Scarborough returned to action at High-A Spartanburg last night after a melanoma scare delayed the start of his season.

Tom Schieffer is the latest guest on Grant’s podcast.

And finally the DMN’s Kevin Sherrington reviewed the recent Nolan Ryan biography, which “leans into the Rangers legend’s grip on Texas culture.”

That’s all for this morning. Have a great weekend!

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The Houston Astros have won six of their last eight and hope to get back in the win column this afternoon against the Milwaukee Brewers. 

Brandon Sproat can’t stop issuing walks or surrendering home runs, which is why my Brewers vs. Astros predictions and MLB picks are backing Houston to even the series as +104 underdogs in a high-scoring contest on Saturday, May 30.

Who will win Brewers vs Astros today: Astros (-101)

This is a great spot to fade Brandon Sproat, which is why I’m backing the Houston Astros as long as they are at -115 or better on the moneyline. 

The Astros have the league’s fifth-highest HR/FB rate (13.8%) in May, while Sproat’s HR/FB rate (19.1%) is the fifth-highest among pitchers with at least 40 IP.

Daikin Park has a Statcast HR effect of 115 that ranks fourth in the majors. Add in a high walk rate and a fastball run value in the 12th percentile, and I expect the Astros to post some crooked numbers early.

COVERS INTEL: Houston’s soft-contact rate at home vs. RHP in May of 10.4% (the lowest in the league) indicates ample opportunity for the Astros to hammer Sproat before he gets the hook.

Brewers vs Astros Over/Under pick: 8.5 (-115)

Even though I like the Astros in this spot, the Brewers are in a good spot to contribute to the Over, which is 23-12 in Houston’s last 35 home games.

Peter Lambert has been far less effective at home, with a 4.32 ERA driven by rough outings in his last two home starts. 

Milwaukee righties have the third-lowest pull rate vs. RHP during May. That will negate his sinker/slider combo, which Lambert utilizes 44% of the time in same-sided matchups.

Add in the ballpark factor, and I’m bullish on this game getting to nine runs, all the way to -130.

Brewers vs Astros odds

• Moneyline: Brewers -108 | Astros +104
• Run line: Brewers -1.5 (+150) | Astros +1.5 (-156)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (-113) | Under 8.5 (+108)

Brewers vs Astros trend

The Houston Astros have hit the 1st Five Innings (F5) Team Total Over in 10 of their last 13 games (+7.10 Units / 48% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Brewers vs. Astros.

How to watch Brewers vs Astros and game info

Brewers vs Astros latest injuries

Brewers vs Astros weather

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It’s been a bit of an up-and-down start to the season for Mets prospect Ryan Clifford, but the lefty has been showing off his power over the past few weeks in Syracuse. 

Clifford was able to do so again in Friday night’s extra-inning loss to Rochester. 

With Syracuse leading 6-1 in the top of the third, the slugger stepped to the plate and lifted a third-pitch fastball up in the zone to deep right-center for a solo shot. 

That accounted for Syracuse’s seventh run of the third inning. 

It also marked Clifford's team-leading 12th home run of the season, and his seventh during the month of May. 

He's gone deep on back-to-back nights, and five times over his last nine games. 

Clifford went hitless across his other four at-bats on the night, but was sure to make his presence felt in the middle of things with the towering blast. 

The 22-year-old also has a triple, four doubles, and 17 RBI across 25 May games. 

While the power has certainly been there the young slugger still has some holes in his game, hitting just .218 with a .294 OBP and a 35.3 percent strikeout rate through 53 games.

The Mets likely need to see Clifford turn things around in those areas before they decide to give him a shot. 

Ty France smacked a game-tying solo home run in the top of the sixth inning and Jackson Merrill hit what would prove to be a game-winning two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning to give the San Diego Padres a 7-5 win over the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

The home runs were the highlights for the Padres at the plate, but the high-wire act by the San Diego bullpen may have been the most critical part of the game. Mason Miller allowed a two-out walk to James Wood to load the bases in the bottom of the eighth inning. Luis Garcia Jr. came to the plate with a chance to tie the game with a hit and put the ball in play with a sharp line drive to left field. Ramon Laureano got twisted around, but was able to recover and make the catch running back toward the wall to end the inning and the Washington scoring threat.

Miller came back out for the ninth inning and issued a leadoff walk to Curtis Mead, who hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning off starter Lucas Giolito. Miller was able to lock in and looked more like the dominant closer the Friar Faithful have come to expect and struck out CJ Abrams, got a flyout from Dylan Crews and ended the game with a strikeout of Daylen Lile to secure the win for the Padres and earn his 17th save of the season.

Giolito was staked to a 1-0 lead after San Diego manufactured a first-inning run on a sacrifice fly from Xander Bogaerts to score Fernando Tatis Jr. Giolito gave up the lead with the two-run home run to Mead, which put Washington ahead, 2-1. The Nationals would push the lead to 3-1 with a solo home run by Keibert Ruiz in the bottom of the second and the Padres answered with and RBI-single from Manny Machado to score Gavin Sheets in the top of the third inning to make the score, 3-2. The single by Machado snapped an 0-for-35 streak with runners in scoring position for San Diego.

Washington regained a two-run advantage in the bottom of the third inning when Crews singled to score Abrams to make the score, 4-2. Giolito was replaced on the mound one batter later after allowing a walk to Jacob Young. Giolito ended his day with four runs allowed on five hits with four walks and one strikeout in just 2.2 innings pitched. The Padres answered back in the top of the fourth inning with an RBI-groundout from Freddy Fermin to pull within a run and then tied the game when Tatis hit an RBI-single to right field, which scored France. The Nationals took the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning when Young singled to center field off Jeremiah Estrada to score Abrams to make the score, 5-4. That set the stage for France who tied the game with his solo home run in the top of the sixth before Merrill homered in the top of the seventh to give the Padres their first lead since the top of the first inning.

The back-and-forth game was much different than what San Diego fans have come to expect and the blast from Merrill may have provided a sigh of relief for many. He finished his night 1-for-4 with a walk and two RBI, but that followed a multi-hit performance in the final game of the homestand against the Philadelphia Phillies. Additionally, Tatis finished 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored, while Machado went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. The Padres got production from each of their three struggling stars, which might indicate they are breaking out of their offensive slumps. France and Sheets also went 2-for-3 and were part of 10 total hits for San Diego.

The Padres snapped a four-game losing streak with the win and will look to make it two wins in a row today at 1:05 p.m.

Padres News:

• Craig Stammen has shown a willingness to do what it takes to help his team win games. He has shuffled the lineup, rotated players in and out of the lineup and has held his team accountable with comments in the media. AJ Cassavell of Padres.com looks at what Padres fans have learned about their first-year, first-time manager two months into his tenure.

• Jhony Brito is working to make his way back to the MLB roster for San Diego. He took a step in that direction with six scoreless innings in his latest rehab start.

• In some positive news on the injury front for the Padres, Nick Pivetta played catch.

Baseball News:

• The Los Angeles Dodgers hit four home runs and outslugged Zack Wheeler and the Philadelphia Phillies to get win.

• Chicago White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami left their game with hamstring tightness and is expected to miss a couple weeks.

• The New York Yankees got a stellar start from Carlos Rodon and pushed their win streak to five games.

• Ethan Holliday, the Colorado Rockies top prospect, is expected to have season-ending foot surgery.

• Ezequiel Tovar lifts Colorado over the San Francisco Giants with walk-off home run.

• The New York Mets got a 9-7 walk-off win over the Miami Marlins.

• Bryan Reynolds hit a walk-off home run to help the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Minnesota Twins.

• The Seattle Mariners got a one-run win with walk-off against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Rangers 9, Royals 1

• The Rangers won!
• Yeah!
• Woo-hoo!
• And they won by a lot!
• Look, I know that last time they won by scoring a bunch of runs, we thought that things were on the upswing, and then Texas lost their next two. But this time its going to be different.
• Let’s “power of positive thinking” them on a win streak!
• If we all set our minds to it, I bet we can do it!
• MacKenzie Gore recorded a Quality Start, throwing 6.1 shutout innings.
• There have been games this season where we have talked about a pitcher pitching better than the results indicated. This was kind of the other way around.
• Gore threw strikes for most of the game — he hit one batter and allowed one walk, and those happened with the final two batters he faced.
• He wasn’t missing bats, though, putting up just three strikeouts and getting just seven swings and misses. Gore gave up a lot of loud contact to the Royals hitters, and was somewhat fortunate to allow just four hits to the 24 batters he faced.
• The only real trouble he got into was in the first, when a two out single was followed up by a double that was too hard hit to bring the runner home from first. A ground out ended the inning.
• The first inning could have gone a lot worse — the Starling Marte ground ball for the third out was 102.1 mph off the bat, and was still the softest hit ball of the inning.
• Bobby Witt Jr. crushed a line drive to dead center that Evan Carter made a very nice running catch on for the second out. Let’s give some partial credit to Carter for keeping a 0 on the board in the first.
• After the potentially scary first, the Royals banged balls less bangily against Gore, and when they did hit it hard it tended to be at a defender or a ball where a defender could make a quality play, such as Kyle Isbel’s line drive back up the middle in the third that Ezequiel Duran made a great leaping grab of.
• So we are glad of that.
• Tyler Alexander came in for Gore with one out in the seventh after the HBP-walk sequence and needed just three pitches to get out of the inning, thanks to a 6-4-3 GIDP. Jalen Beeks handled a scoreless eighth before Gavin Collyer pitched the ninth, allowing a run to end the shutout.
• We have talked before about Collyer’s ability to pitch in the majors being dependent on his ability to throw strikes. Collyer walked the first two batters he faced in the ninth.
• Collyer now has issued 11 unintentional walks and hit four batters this season. He’s struck out 15 batters.
• When you are allowing as many batters on base via walk and HBP as you are striking out, that’s a problem.
• When you walk the first two batters you face when you have a 9-0 lead, that’s also a problem.
• You may recall a couple of weeks ago, the Rangers brought Collyer in to close out a 7-1 game and he walked the first three batters he faced, and ultimately got pulled for Jacob Latz without retiring a batter.
• Not throwing strikes when you are closing out a blowout is the type of thing that makes you fall out of a manager’s tree of trust pretty quickly.
• Still, Collyer finished things out, and recorded a pair of Ks in the process.
• The offense scored a bunch of runs, so that was fun.
• Four came in the first inning, and as a general rule, when you score four runs in the first, your chances of winning go up.
• Let’s do a compare and contrast. The Royals had a runner on first and two outs in the top of the first inning, had a two out double, held the runner at third base, and then saw the inning end on a groundout.
• The Rangers had a runner on first and two outs in the bottom of the first inning, had a two out double, held the runner at third base, then had Ezequiel Duran single home the two runners.
• What we can learn from that is that it is better to get a hit with two outs and runners on second and third than to make an out. You might want to right that down.
• Clownball from the Royals brought home two more runs, due to an E4 on an Alejandro Osuna grounder that allowed Duran to score, then Salvador Perez throwing the ball into center field on an attempted Osuna steal of second base, which allowed Evan Carter, who had doubled after Duran had singled, to score from third.
• Stephen Kolek, the Royals starter, retired 11 of the next 12 batters, reminding us of the 10-7 win against the Astros where the snowman in the first was followed by batters being mowed down until the late innings.
• A Josh Jung double and Brandon Nimmo homer in the fifth busted that up, though, and added some additional breathing room.
• Continuing our theme of “the Rangers have de-nerfed the Shed,” Nimmo’s homer went 435 feet, per Statcast. It is the farthest that a Ranger has hit a ball this season at the Shed. It is the fifth farthest that anyone has hit a ball this season at the Shed, with the four ahead of the Nimmo homer all coming earlier this week in the Houston series.
• Eight of the nine longest balls in play at the Shed this season, and 10 of the 13 longest, have come this week.
• Joc Pederson also homered for the Rangers, as did offensive catalyst Nicky Lopez. Lopez’s homer was his first hit for the Rangers. Neither of those homered went super-far, and the Pederson homer was down the line in right field and barely made it over the wall, but they still count.
• Pederson is now slashing .244/.356/.437, and has a 136 OPS+. That’s the third best OPS+ on the team, behind Jung and Duran.
• MacKenzie Gore hit 96.7 mph with his fastball, averaging 95.0 mph. Tyler Alexander’s fastest pitch was an 85.0 mph changeup. Jalen Beeks hit 94.1 mph on his fastball. Gavin Collyer reached 99.0 mph on his fastball.
• Jake Burger had a 108.8 mph double. Brandon Nimmo had a 108.1 mph home run and a 100.7 mph home run. Nicky Lopez had a 101.7 mph home run.
• Let us see if the Rangers can keep the vibe going over the weekend.

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With another jam-packed slate today, I've dug deep to find value in my MLB same-game parlay predictions. 

I'm expecting Trey Yesavage to run through the Baltimore Orioles, while Bryan Woo should miss some bats as the Seattle Mariners face the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

Read more in my MLB picks for Saturday, May 30. 

Today's best MLB SGP picks

Game	SGP Odds
TOR vs BAL	+325
SD vs WAS	+296
ARI vs SEA	+400

Blue Jays vs Orioles SGP: Yesavage Dominates O's

Toronto Blue Jays rookie Trey Yesavage has been impressive since returning from injury. Across six starts, he's compiled a 2.25 ERA, holding opponents to a .207 average. Yesavage has cashed the Under in earned runs allowed in all but one of his outings. He comes up against an inconsistent Baltimore Orioles lineup, and his ERA sits at 1.69 on the road. 

Toronto is riding a six-game winning streak against the Orioles, and three of those victories have been on the road. The O's have lost two straight at home. Ernie Clement has cashed the Over in runs in three of his last five games, and his high degree of contact (8.3% strikeout rate) leads to more opportunities to get on base and get driven in by Toronto's bats.

• Time: 4:05 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MASN, Sportsnet

Padres vs Nationals SGP: Tatis Stays Hot

The San Diego Padres are riding a four-game winning streak on the road, and they've captured five victories in the last six meetings with the Washington Nationals. Washington has lost two straight, and starter Foster Griffin has allowed 14 earned runs across his last three starts. 

Michael King owns a 2.86 ERA on the road this season, and he's given up Under 2.5 earned runs in three of his last four contests. Fernando Tatis Jr. is finally starting to find a rhythm, with four multi-hit games over the last week. He's cashed the Over in total bases in back-to-back contests, and in four of his last five. 

Griffin is shaky at times lately, and Tatis is batting .317 against left-handers. 

• Time: 4:05 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Padres.TV, Nationals.TV

Diamondbacks vs Mariners SGP: Whiffs Against Woo

Bryan Woo has been inconsistent at times this season, but he's still missing a lot of bats. The right-hander has 59 Ks in 63.2 innings, and 34 in 31 frames at home.

Woo has cashed the Over in strikeouts in three of his last four appearances, and the Arizona Diamondbacks are striking out a lot more on the road, averaging 8.60 per game. Woo has a 70.7 first pitch strike percentage. He's getting ahead of hitters, which undoubtedly helps him strike out more opponents. 

The Seattle Mariners won the series opener by just one run on Friday, but they've now covered the run line in three of their last four contests. Ryne Nelson takes the hill for the D-Backs, who owns a 4.65 ERA. Julio Rodriguez is in the midst of a five-game hitting streak, and he had three hits on Friday. 

• Time: 10:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Dbacks.TV, Mariners.TV

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A pitcher's duel between the Minnesota Twins and Pittsburgh Pirates highlights serious value in a scoreless first inning this afternoon. 

That matchup headlines my top MLB picks today for the "no run first inning" and "yes run first inning" markets. 

Here are my best NRFI predictions and YRFI picks for Saturday, May 30.  

Best NRFI/YRFI predictions today

Pick	Odds
/ - NRFI	-108
/ - NRFI	-100
/ - NRFI	-100

Twins at Pirates: NRFI (-109)

It's Mitch Keller vs Bailey Ober on the mound in this matchup, two starters who have had success this season. Keller owns a 3.64 ERA, and he's compiled a 9-2 NRFI/YRFI record this season.

Keller hasn't allowed a run in the first inning in three consecutive appearances. The Minnesota Twins are hitting just .199 in the first stanza, and they've been held scoreless in the opening frame 40 times this year. 

As for Ober, he sports a 3.92 ERA and a 10-1 NRFI/YRFI record. In fact, Ober hasn't given up a run in the first inning in nine straight outings. While he has gotten into trouble at times on the road, it's usually later in the game, and the Pittsburgh Pirates haven't scored in the first inning in two of their last three games. 

Play this one to -130. 

• Time: 4:05 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SportsNet Pittsburgh, Twins.TV

Brewers at Astros: NRFI (-100)

While the matchup on the hill here between the Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers isn't elite, it's a pair of guys that rarely get into trouble out of the gates.

Brandon Sproat hasn't surrendered a run in the first inning in five consecutive starts, and Houston hasn't scored in the opening inning in three of their last four games. 

As for Peter Lambert, he owns a sub-four ERA and a 6-1 NRFI/YRFI record in 2026. Milwaukee's lineup has had minimal success against Lambert, and they've been held scoreless in the first in three straight. The Brew Crew is also hitting just .205 in the opening inning.

Play this to -125.

• Time: 4:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Space City Home Network, Brewers.TV

Phillies at Dodgers: NRFI (-100)

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies haven't been two teams that score a lot out of the gate this season. They've both compiled 38-19 NRFI/YRFI records, and tonight's clash is expected to be another quiet first.

Jesus Luzardo has historically dominated the Dodgers, holding them to a .168 average across 107 at-bats. He's also allowed a run in the first inning just once this season. 

As for Roki Sasaki, he has an 8-1 NRFI/YRFI record in '26, and the Phillies have gone back-to-back games without creating any meaningful offense in the first inning. They're also hitting just .125 against Sasaki, although it's a small sample size of 24 at-bats. 

• Time: 10:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia, Sportsnet Los Angeles

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Here's what happened in Mets Land on Friday, in case you missed it...

• The Mets opened the series with a 9-7 walk-off victory over the Marlins in extra innings
• MJ Melendez played hero late, overcoming recent struggles to deliver his first career walk-off hit
• The bullpen was mostly terrific helping the Mets get there, headlined by A.J. Minter and Austin Warren
• The one arm who did struggle was Tobias Myers, who was reportedly optioned to Triple-A postgame
• Pregame, Carlos Mendoza and David Stearns provided a number of injury updates
• Among those was Jorge Polanco, who enjoyed himself a strong second rehab game with Binghamton
• Stearns took stock of where the club stands at this point in the season
• David Peterson is moving back to the bullpen, and Sean Manaea is taking his place in the rotation
• WATCH: Melendez, Mendoza, and Freddy Peralta discuss the victory
• WATCH: Stearns discusses the Mets' struggles to this point in the season

There have been some subtle changes in the things Don Mattingly has done different than Rob Thomson this season. There had to be since whatever the team was doing prior to Thomson’s firing was clearly not effective any longer.

One of, if not the, biggest changes has been the usage of Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh. Lately, they have been in the lineup not matter who is on the mound, left or right handed pitcher. They have responded by hitting much better against southpaws, their weaker side. A lot of that was out of necessity since the team really doesn’t have that much in the way of right handed alternatives for either, but it is nice to see nonetheless.

So far, what has been your favorite thing Mattingly has done that has been different than that of what Thomson did? Maybe it’s the idea of letting Marsh and Stott play more, maybe its in his handling of Andrew Painter or some other reason.

Cubs left-hander Shōta Imanaga was off to such a good start this season. Over his first nine starts he posted a 2.32 ERA and allowed just five home runs in 54.1 innings. Maybe, just maybe, he had put the home-run issue from last year in the past?

Well, nope, or so it now seems. Over his last three starts Imanaga has an 11.49 (!) ERA and eight (!) home runs served up in just 15.2 innings. Perhaps needless to say, the Cubs have dropped all three of those games, including Friday’s 6-5 loss to the Cardinals.

Still, the Cubs might have had a chance to win this game if not for yet another bad outing from Phil Maton, who gave St. Louis the insurance run they needed in the eighth. Do the Cubs still score in the ninth if it’s 5-4 instead of 6-4? Pitch sequencing might have been different. Still, Maton dug the hole deeper and that’s exactly what the Cubs did not need.

More on that later. Let’s start at the beginning, which was actually good.

After the first two Cubs grounded out, Michael Busch and Alex Bregman singled.

Then Ian Happ left the yard for the third straight game [VIDEO].

This is classic Happ — cold streaks followed by hot streaks. Here’s hoping the hot streak lasts a while.

What did not last was that lead, as Imanaga gave up the first of the three home runs in the bottom of the first, to, of all people, former Cub Nelson Velázquez. Velázquez was playing his first MLB game since 2024. More on that three-run homer from BCB’s JohnW53:

Shota Imanaga also gave up a three-run homer that wiped out a 3-0 lead last season, on Sept. 25 at home against the Mets.

Of the last 10 three-run shots that came with the Cubs up by three, seven have been with the score 3-0.

Kyle Hendricks and Jameson Taillon did it in 2024, three days apart; Jeremiah Estrada and Justin Steele in 2023; and Adbert Alzolay in 202.

Last night’s was just the third of 88 total three-run homers with a 3-0 lead that came in the bottom of the first. The first was off Kerry Wood, at San Francisco in 2000, and the second off Steve Smyth, at Houston, in 2002.

Smyth’s was the 60th of the 88 such homers.

The Cubs took a 4-3 lead in the second. With one out, Dansby Swanson singled. One out later, he stole second and Nico Hoerner walked.

Michael Busch singled in Swanson [VIDEO].

That’s where the game stayed until the fourth, when St. Louis’ Thomas Saggese homered off Imanaga to make it 4-4. And in the next inning, the Cardinals took a 5-4 lead on the third homer off Imanaga, that one by Ivan Herrera.

Cubs pitchers have allowed 82 home runs, most in MLB (Nationals are second-worst with 79). For individual pitchers, Jameson Taillon has served up 19, four more than anyone else (Zack Littell of the Nats, 15). Third is Brady Singer of the Reds with 14, then Imanaga with 13 (tied with five others, including, of all people, Jacob deGrom). None of this is any good for the Cubs, who rank 18th in fewest runs allowed.

More on all the home runs given up by Cubs pitchers this year from John:

This is the eighth game of the season in which the Cubs have surrendered at least three home runs.

Through the first 58 games of previous seasons, they gave up three or more nine or more times in 10 years and eight in seven, including a year ago.

The most were 11, in 1956, 2000 and 2022.

They did it 10 times in 1999 and 2020, and nine in 1959, 1960, 1966, 1994 and 2017.

After the Cardinals took that fifth-inning lead, the Cubs went down meekly in the sixth and seventh, and also in order after a leadoff single by Seiya Suzuki in the eighth.

Ethan Roberts, who relieved Imanaga with two out in the sixth, retired five of the six Cardinals he faced, two by strikeout. Roberts got helped out by this nice defensive play by Busch [VIDEO].

Roberts has been very effective recently and the Cubs can really use another trustworthy reliever.

That’s in part because Maton has become the opposite of “trustworthy.” What’s a good word for that? Don’t answer that question.

Maton allowed a one-out single to Velázquez, then struck out Alec Burleson. Okay so far, but… two more line-drive singles scored the sixth Cardinals run. Craig Counsell had to call on Hoby Milner to bail out Maton, which he did with an infield popup.

Maton, who Jed Hoyer signed after he had a solid year in 2025 split between the Cardinals and Rangers, has been just awful in 2026. He has a 7.64 ERA (5.10 FIP) in 20 appearances, his walk rate is way up (11.6 percent compared to 9.5 percent last year) and he’s already allowed as many home runs (three) in 17.2 innings as he did all of 2025 in 61.1 innings.

This kind of feels like the relief pitching version of the Trey Mancini signing in 2023 — a two-year deal for a guy who didn’t really rate that sort of contract. The Cubs simply cannot use Maton in any more high-leverage situations and if they do and he does this again, they might have to think about just eating the rest of the deal and letting him go.

The run that Maton allowed turned out to be very important, as the Cubs scored off Cardinals closer Riley O’Brien in the ninth. Pete Crow-Armstrong led off with a double [VIDEO].

PCA advanced to third on a comebacker by Nico that hit O’Brien but went for an out. Then Busch grounded out, scoring PCA [VIDEO].

Bregman came to bat as the potential tying run, but grounded out on the first pitch to end the game [VIDEO].

Now, does that ninth inning go exactly like that if Maton doesn’t give up the run in the eighth? Obviously we’ll never know, but it sure would have been better to go into the ninth down one run instead of two.

Here are Craig Counsell’s postgame comments [VIDEO].

The Cubs will look to even up the series Saturday evening in St. Louis. Ben Brown will start for the Cubs and Kyle Leahy goes for the Cardinals. Game time is 6:15 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Fox-TV (regional — coverage map, scroll down to the bottom of that link). A reminder that if you subscribe to MLB.TV or MLB Extra Innings, you can watch this game via those services even if it’s not on the Fox affiliate in your market. Announcers: Eric Collins, John Smoltz and Ken Rosenthal.