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

SAN FRANCISCO — No, Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing was not trying to belittle the injury that Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee sustained in Tuesday’s game at Oracle Park.

On Wednesday, Rushing was asked about a clip that made the rounds (especially among Giants fans) the night before, when he appeared to say “f— ‘em” after Lee was slow to get up following a tag play at the plate.

Lee eventually left the game with a leg injury.

But Rushing insisted the moment was taken out of context.

“Hopefully he didn’t take it the way it was put out,” Rushing said. “I’ll be sure to say something to him face-to-face tomorrow, making sure he’s OK. There was nothing really directed at him. He’s a great guy.”

Rushing also said the internet’s attempted lip-reading of what he said wasn’t exactly accurate.

“I used a word, but it was not what [people thought] was said,” he insisted. “I’ll just leave it at that.”

Dalton Rushing said he was not directing anything toward Jung Hoo Lee in this moment last night. Didn't even realize in the moment Lee was hurt

"Hopefully, he didn’t take it the way it was put out. I’ll be sure to say something to him face-to-face tomorrow, making sure he’s OK." https://t.co/lTsFtJ9EGq

— Jack Harris (@ByJackHarris) April 22, 2026

The moment in question happened during the sixth inning Tuesday, when Lee attempted to score from first on a single by Helios Ramos.

A relay play from center fielder Alex Call to second baseman Alex Freeland easily beat Lee to the plate.

Still, Lee tried to slide around Rushing’s tag. As he did, his leg got caught underneath him, aggravating a quad injury he said he initially suffered last week.

Lee stayed down at the plate for a few moments after the out, which retired the side, was recorded — though he remained in the game for another inning before eventually being removed.

It was as Rushing was returning to the Dodgers’ dugout after the tag that a TV camera caught him looking back toward the plate, then dropping what many online observers believed to be the F-bomb.

The video went viral, fueled by long-heated emotions that accompany every rivalry meeting between the Dodgers and Giants. One post on X (formerly Twitter) received more than 1 million views.

“It’s social media, it’s fine,” Rushing said. “As long as he’s OK, and he doesn’t think I’m coming at him or any of those guys over there, that’s the biggest thing for me. I don’t care what other people put out there or say. I just want to play the game, play the game hard. That’s what I do every night.”

Rushing noted that he also checked with Dodgers infielder Hyeseong Kim, a fellow South Korean native who has been teammates with Lee in the World Baseball Classic, to make sure Lee was all right.

“He’s playing the game, he’s doing what his coach told him to do,” Rushing said. “Third base coach sent him, and he ran hard the whole way. It was kind of an awkward slide. That’s all it was. There wasn’t anything else added to it. I think it was just media making something out of nothing.”

The Colorado Rockies have mostly pitched well against the San Diego Padres in the five games played thus far this season. However, the Rockies are 0-5 against the Friars due to a lackluster offense that was on display in the 1-0 loss on Tuesday.

Tomoyuki Sugano (1-1, 3.92 ERA) performed well through his first couple of starts in a Rockies uniform before delivering his first clunker in purple. Facing the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sugano allowed five runs on nine hits over four innings. Sugano has also now allowed a home run in each of his four starts, but has also managed 15 strikeouts against five walks in 20.2 innings of work. His last outing against the Padres on April 10 saw Sugano allow just two runs on four hits over six innings with three strikeouts on 81 pitches. The Rockies could certainly use a rebound outing for the veteran right-hander.

The Padres will send out Walker Buehler (1-1, 4.58 ERA) to take the mound. Buehler got off to a bit of a shaky start to the season through his first two outings, but his start on April 10 against the Rockies seemed to get him back on track. Buehler tossed six shutout innings, allowing just three hits with four strikeouts. In the following outing, he allowed two runs on five hits in five innings against the Seattle Mariners while striking out seven. The Rockies would likely hope that Buehler would replicate his last outing at Coors Field in 2024. In that game, Buehler allowed seven runs on seven hits in just four innings of work.

First Pitch: 6:40 pm MDT

TV: Rockies TV

Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)

Padres SB Nation site: Gaslamp Ball

Lineups:

For the visiting Padres:

Mid-week matchup. pic.twitter.com/jUcIO2QfOn

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 22, 2026

and the Rockies:

Sugano gets the start! pic.twitter.com/vh8OqKO2h3

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 22, 2026

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San Diego Padres (16-7) at Colorado Rockies (9-15), April 22, 2026, 5:40 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Coors Field – Denver, Colo.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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Mid-week matchup. pic.twitter.com/jUcIO2QfOn

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 22, 2026

Sugano gets the start! pic.twitter.com/pwqtkkkyAQ

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 22, 2026

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• Don’t troll in your comments; create conversation rather than destroying it
• Remember Gaslamp Ball is basically a non-profanity site
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The White Sox are back at it tonight, looking to build on yesterday’s 11-5 win after consistently showing some life at the plate. Winners of three of their last four, the South Siders will try to string together another strong performance against the Diamondbacks. Last night was the first time they scored more than nine tallies over their first 23 games.

In every sense, Tuesday’s contest was a blast. Four home runs left the yard, including the chaos-filled, blink-and-you-miss-it inside-the-park homer from Sam Antonacci and Munetaka Murakami’s ninth bomb. For the fourth straight game, Chicago’s lineup actually resembled something functional.

Tonight’s cautious optimism starts with Anthony Kay. The southpaw (1-0, 2.60 ERA, 1.27 WHIP) has been solid through his first four appearances, even if he hasn’t quite provided length. His longest outing so far has been 5 2/3 innings, which means the bullpen has had to do plenty of heavy lifting. Still, he’s kept the Sox competitive, and at this point, that’s not nothing. If Kay can push a little deeper into the game while maintaining that effectiveness, the South Siders’ chances look a lot better.

On the other side, the Diamondbacks hand the ball to Eduardo Rodríguez, who has been exactly what you don’t want to see if you’re hoping for another offensive breakout. The lefty (1-0, 1.96 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) has been excellent through four outings, including a pair of quality starts. He’s limited damage, worked efficiently, and generally made life difficult for opposing hitters, holding opponents to a .218 BA. In other words, this isn’t exactly shaping up as another obvious “get-right” spot for the Sox offense, even if last night suggested they might be trending in that direction.

So the key question seems all too familiar. Is the 33-run offensive explosion over the last four games the start of something, or are we experiencing just a fun but brief detour? The good news is it took until May 2 for the club to win their ninth game last season, so we’re at least ahead of the curve there.

The Good Guys will once again try to piece together enough offense to support a starter who’s giving them a fighting chance.

Here’s how skipper Will Venable sends them out to face Rodríguez.

The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, will look to do what good teams tend to do — win with steady pitching, timely hits, and capitalizing on mistakes.

The first pitch is set for 8:40 p.m. CST. You can watch on CHSN or listen on ESPN 1000.

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Texas Rangers, April 22, 8:05 p.m. ET

Location: Globe Life Field, Arlington, TX

Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet

Pitching Matchup: Braxton Ashcraft (1-1, 2.38 ERA) vs. TBA

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The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the road today in the Lone Star State against the Texas Rangers looking to grab a win.

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BD community, this is your thread for today’s game against the Rangers. Enjoy!

Pittsburgh Pirates @ Texas Rangers

Wednesday, April 22, 2026, 7:05 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)

The Shed

RHP Braxton Ashcraft vs. RHP Jack Leiter

Go Rangers!

In the wake of his disastrous performance in Tuesday night’s loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, left-hander Enmanuel de Jesus has been optioned to Triple-A Toledo. RHP Burch Smith has been recalled. To open a spot for Smith on the 40-man roster, LHP Bailey Horn has been transferred to the 60-day injured list. Horn had arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow over the offseason, and has dealt with some inflammation this spring. A brief rehab assignment in Lakeland was cut short after the inflammation returned, and he’ll be re-evaluated and won’t be eligible to return to action until late May.

As for de Jesus, he was the darling of spring camp, showing off a solid pitch mix and excellent command both in Grapefruit League action and in the World Baseball Classic for Team Venezuela. The Tigers selected his contract late in spring training as de Jesus had an opt-out clause looming and other teams were starting to inquire on him.

However, that command has been lacking since the season began. The strikeouts were plentiful and he still hasn’t allowed a home run yet, so the potential for him as he transitions from a starter in South Korea’s KBO to a major league reliever is pretty obvious. That potential ran off the road on Tuesday night in Detroit.

De Jesus entered the game with two outs in the sixth inning in relief of Keider Montero. He promptly carved up Garrett Mitchell with a pair of well located fastballs for strikes, and then a nasty cutter that got the swinging strikeout. However, in the seventh inning, de Jesus had a thorough and comprehensive meltdown.

After two fairly loud outs to start the inning, David Hamilton singled, and de Jesus followed that by walking Blake Perkins. Unfortunately, after picking off Hamilton at second, de Jesus started to do the right thing and charge the baserunner, but then hastily threw to shortstop Kevin McGonigle and sailed the throw into the outfield. A pair of singles followed, knocking in two runs, and de Jesus was visibly frustrated with himself through the rest of the inning, which ended on a ground out.

De Jesus is a 29-year-old pitcher who has played around the world. He knows how to field his position, and he should know how to settle himself down after a mistake. Instead, he came back out in the eighth, gave up back-to-back triples and then failed to break for first on a grounder to Spencer Torkelson that would have really helped the cause had de Jesus been on time to first base. He was not, and the inning spiraled into a seven-run debacle that saw Connor Seabold enter in a bases loaded situation and struggle as well.

Obviously, the key issue with de Jesus has been command. He and fellow KBO import Drew Anderson have both struggled to get ahead of hitters and spot their full pitch mix. There’s reason to understand that, as neither are particularly used to relief work, and the KBO ball is made to have some tackiness to the cover and has slightly higher seams. They aren’t the first pitchers to need some time to adapt. However, they were both in spring camp since mid-February, if not sooner, and you can only have so much time to get comfortable with the change. Pitchers who followed this route like Miles Mikolas or Erick Fedde, had some issues but they didn’t extend much into the regular season.

But the real issue, and what got de Jesus optioned, I suspect, was the mental error of letting the issues pile up on his mind, affecting his awareness and performance. That just can’t happen to this degree. De Jesus has never really had any control issues, and while no one expects him to be a closer tier reliever, his stuff is plenty good enough to keep major league hitters in check. The fact that his command disappeared and the metrics on his stuff even took a hit after the mistake in the seventh, speaks to the fact that he boiled over internally. Now he’ll get some time in Toledo to think about things and try to settle back in.

In his place I tended to expect RHP Ricky Nolasco, who has been outstanding for the Toledo Mud Hens early on. On the other hand, the 33-year-old Smith has likewise been nearly unhittable and hasn’t walked a batter in 10 innings of work. He also offers a little more of a unique look to hitters than Nolasco provides in comparison to the rest of the Tigers’ bullpen. Smith also has 247 1/3 innings of maajor league experience, which Nolasco definitely does not.

The Tigers still have Tyler Holton and Brant Hurter in their bullpen, so they’re fine in terms of left-handers. Hopefully Smith can add some quality length to the bullpen and help the Tigers out in the middle innings. They certainly could use some assistance in that regard.

Logan Gilbert is probably thanking his lucky stars he’s OK after a 108 mph screamer came right at him on the mound.

But he might be bummed that the comebacker that got stuck in his jersey was ruled a hit.

Gilbert, starting for the Mariners on Wednesday afternoon, saw a first-inning line drive — officially clocked at 107.8 mph — off the bat of the A’s Carlos Cortes slip in between the buttons of his jersey and get stuck inside his top.

#Mariners Logan Gilbert "caught" a 107.8 mph comebacker with his jersey. That's a first.

It is ruled a base hit. pic.twitter.com/iTsWOgvqtp

— Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland) April 22, 2026

The right-hander tried to locate the ball but had trouble finding it before realizing it was stuck in the confines of his white Mariners home uniform.

He was checked out on the mound by manager Dan Wilson and trainer Kyle Torgerson before he remained in the game.

However, per Major League Baseball rules, a catch must be made with a glove or bare hand “providing he does not use his cap, protector, pocket or any other part of his uniform in getting possession.”

In this case, the jersey helped him gain possession of the ball, so Cortes was credited with a single, while Shea Langaliers, the runner at first, was placed at second, while Nick Kurtz, who was at third, remained there — due to an umpire crew judgement call — to load the bases.

With the bases loaded and one out, Tyler Soderstrom brought in the game’s first run with a sacrifice fly before Jeff McNeil brought in another with an RBI single.

Gilbert, a 2024 American League All-Star, lasted four innings, yielding three runs on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts. His ERA stands at 4.36 for the season.

Here are the lineups. For the Phillies:

Wednesday night baseball#RingTheBellpic.twitter.com/nIerUQ2J4h

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 22, 2026

For the Cubs:

Number three vs. Philly!

Watch the game live on @WatchMarquee. pic.twitter.com/vXwXZk0e8z

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 22, 2026

Let’s talk about it.

Detroit Tigers (12-12) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (13-9)

Time/Place: 6:40 p.m., Comerica Park
SB Nation Site: Brew Crew Ball
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: Game 25: RHP Casey Mize (1-1, 2.78 ERA) vs. RHP Chad Patrick (1-0, 0.95 ERA)

Player	G	IP	K%	BB%	GB%	FIP	fWAR
Mize	4	22.2	26.6	7.4	34.4	3.13	0.6
Patrick	4	19.0	12.0	9.3	37.3	3.97	0.2

Blue Jays 3 at Angels 7

You didn’t really think they were going to get a sweep, right?

The Jays were in tough against Jose Soriano, off to the kind of start that only a handful of pitchers have in the last century. And it was easy to see why he’s yet to allow more than an earned run in a start with Soriano featuring a sinker that waffled in ways that a baseball thrown in the upper-90s has no business doing, a splitter that fell off the table the way a baseball thrown in the low-90s has no business doing, and for good measure a knucklecurve with a sharp downward finish. In other words, good luck to hitters.

In that light, the Jays managed a couple of remarkable feats. First, they managed to get to Soriano for seven hits over five innings. Few of them were really well hit, but they found some holes with decent contact. But second, even with all traffic, not only were they shut out, but they didn’t even manage to get a runner to second. All were singles, and the two innings with two hits had them separated by a caught stealing and double play.

So they were winning battles, losing campaigns, but arguably didn’t lose the war as they battled Soriano enough to run up his pitch count and get him out of the game after just 5 (shutout) innings, giving themselves a shot at a soft(er) underbelly of an Angels pen which would have to bridge 4 innings.

For his part, Eric Lauer worked two very quick and efficient innings, needing just 16 pitches to work around a double on his first pitch and induce three cans of corn in the second. The rest of the outing was rockier, as Lauer’s third inning was far more laborious. Logan O’Hoppe opened with a bloop hit, with light hitting #9 Bryce Teodosio wisely opting to bunt behind him. He laid one down so well he beat it out, After striking out Zach neto he was very carful with Mike Trout and walked him to load the bases, then went 3-0 to Jo Adell before coming back to get him to fly out. It did open the scoring, but also opened a base for Jorge Soler whom he was struggled to hit the corners.

The rest of the damage consisted of a pair of solo home runs over the next two innings. Nolan Schmanuel (close enough) flined one just over the right field wall in the 4th, and Mike Trout slammed a moonshot in the 5th. That made it 3-0 entering a battle of the bullpens in the 6th.

Ryan Zeferjahn dispatched the first four batters he faced (including totally undressing Jesus Sanchez), but walked Kaz Okamoto before yielding a bloop double to Andres Gimenez to finally move a runner past first base. That brought in Chase Silseth, who got Tyler Heineman but yielded a two out smash into the right field corner from Nathan Lukes to break the goose egg and put the Jays within one. Ernie Clement grounded his third hit of the day to cash Lukes, and it was a brand new game.

Briefly, anyway. Seemingly mirroring the Angels, Tommy Nance worked a clean 6th, got the first out of the 7th, then walked Trout. Adell singled to put the go ahead run on third, so it was Fisher time. Unfortunately, he didn’t really have it, striking out Soler but then walking Soler to load the bases for Schmanuel (close enough). This time he didn’t hit it nearly as hard, but lofted a shallow double to clear the bases. Vaughn Grissom in turn flared a ball just past Clement’s grasp for another another run, and 7-3 was the eventual margin.

Jays of the Day: Clement (+0.16 WPA), Gimenez (+0.10). Lukes ended up at just 0.01 despite two hits of which one was critical.

Boo Jays: Fisher (-0.26), Vladdy (-0.12 with the 0fer), Nance (-0.10). A couple of near misses in the battery, with Heineman and Lauer at -0.09 apiece.

With the matinee today followed by the off-day, the Jays are off for the next 48 hours as they return home to take on Cleveland with Gavin Williams scheduled against Max Scherzer on Friday t the usual 7:07 EDT start.

No reason to end the griping, sniping and debating over the so-called "Ohtani Rules."

Not until there’s time to better understand the issue, which bubbled to the surface this week after Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell made remarks that triggered a question laced with conspiracy.

If and why are Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers getting preferential treatment from Major League Baseball?

“First of all, Ohtani is a treasure, right?" Dan Duquette, former general manager of the Montreal Expos, Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles, told USA TODAY Sports.

No debate there, and here’s what you need to know about the rules:

MLB teams are allowed to carry only 13 pitchers on their active 26-man roster, with one exception. Teams can carry 14 pitchers if one of them qualifies as a two-way player. Ohtani, 31, is the only player in the major leagues who qualifies as a two-way player under MLB criteria (more on that later). That means the Dodgers are currently the only team eligible for the exception

With 14 pitchers on their roster, the Dodgers get an extra arm that rivals don't have the luxury of having.

Another rule introduced since Ohtani came to America allows a two-way player who has finished pitching to remain in the game as a designated hitter rather than require him to play in the field.

Duquette suggests the "Ohtani Rules" are in baseball’s best interest.

“He is the most marketable player in the game around the world," Duquette said. “So any discussion about how he is employed on the field needs to be thoughtful and take into account the workload.’’

Ohtani, who is a left-handed hitter and right-handed pitcher, has undergone two elbow reconstruction surgeries on his right arm – in 2018 and 2023. As a result, he did not pitch in 2019 or 2024.

MLB two-way player rules

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has responded to Counsell’s insinuation that Ohtani and the Dodgers are getting preferential treatment.

"We're more than willing to have other teams go out and find a player that can do both (pitching and hitting)," Roberts said. “He's an exception because he's an exceptional player."

It’s more complicated.

One reason the Dodgers have Ohtani is they’re a big-market franchise that had the means to sign the Japanese superstar to a 10-year, $700 million contract in 2023. They’ve also spent massive amounts to money to surround Ohtani with enough talent to win two straight World Series titles and be favored to win a third in a row.

Other teams have tried to develop two-way stars through the draft. But Rick Hahn, former general manager of the Chicago White Sox, said there’s an inherent challenge.

“The challenge is that those two skills (pitching and hitting), when you're talking about an 18- or a 21-year-old and continuing that development in the minors, those two skills can very much develop at different paces,’’ Hahn told USA TODAY Sports. “The player probably wants to be in the big leagues. The team certainly wants to get the benefit of the drafted player in the big leagues.’’

The likely outcome: the player is called up to the major leagues before he has adequate time in the minor leagues to develop as a two-way player.

There was no such conundrum with Ohtani, who developed his two-way skills playing professional baseball in Japan before making his major league debut in 2018 with the Los Angeles Angels.

Not to mention Ohtani is a baseball unicorn.

Shohei Ohtani pitching rules explained

A player qualifies as a "Two-Way Player" only if he accrues at least 20 Major League innings pitched and at least 20 Major League games started as a position player or designated hitter (with at least three plate appearances in each of those games) in either the 162-game season or the prior 162-game season.

John Coppolella, former manager of the Atlanta Braves, echoes a point made by Roberts, the Dodgers manager.

“The rule is not specific to the Dodgers," Coppolella told USA TODAY Sports. “All teams are eligible to carry a 14^th pitcher if the player is classified as a two-way player. If Ohtani signed with the Yankees or the Braves, they would be treated the same way.’’

So why all the fuss?

Dave Stewart, a retired pitcher who won a World Series ring with the Dodgers in 1981, said he thinks people are piling on because the Dodgers' immense payrolls and success. That includes three World Series titles in the past six years.

“Anything that is in favor of the Dodgers, then everybody's got a complaint about it or they see something wrong with it,’’ Stewart told USA TODAY Sports. “But the truth is, if other teams had the ability to do what they're doing, they would do it.”

Stewart also suggested the absence of "Ohtani Rules" would create more harm than the current rules create benefit for the Dodgers superstar.

“If you got a two-way player that's capable of doing it… then you have to create a special rule, a special situation for that type of player," Stewart said. “You can't punish the player because he's capable of doing two things."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shohei Ohtani pitching rules for Dodgers benefit baseball

After one of their best games on offense last night, the Brewers are back for game two of their series against the Tigers this evening.

Though Chad Patrick was announced as the original starter, the Brewers have decided to go with DL Hall as an opener tonight. Hall will likely pitch an inning or two, then give way to Patrick for the bulk work. Hall has a 6.75 ERA in two previous appearances against the Tigers, but hasn’t pitched against them since 2023. Meanwhile, Patrick is making his first career appearance against the Tigers. He is coming off of a strong start against the Blue Jays, where he pitched 6 2/3 innings and allowed just one run. This is also the second time the Brewers are using an opener in front of him.

For the Tigers, Casey Mize makes his fifth start of the season. Through his first four games, he has a 2.78 ERA and 3.14 FIP, with 25 strikeouts compared to seven walks. He has allowed zero or one runs in three of his four starts, including a scoreless 6 2/3 innings against the Red Sox in his last start. The Brewers last faced him in 2024 and scored five runs (three earned) in 5 1/3 innings.

Before the game, the Brewers provided a couple of injury updates. Quinn Priester was assigned to Triple-A Nashville to begin a rehab assignment and is pitching tonight. He is scheduled for three innings and 45-50 pitches, but it could be a while before he’s ready. Also, Jackson Chourio took swings on the field today and it went well.

After a 12-run outburst yesterday, the Brewers will use the same lineup with just a couple of changes. Branon Lockridge will play in left field over Blake Perkins, and Joey Ortiz starts at shortstop with David Hamilton moving over to third base. Lockridge will bat sixth and Ortiz is in his usual ninth spot.

First pitch is at 5:40 p.m. The game will be on Brewers.TV and the Brewers Radio Network.

Another one from Detroit

📺: https://t.co/eycfmE2vgm
📻: WTMJ#ThisIsMyCrew x @NicoletLawpic.twitter.com/Jjp5MHWx1M

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) April 22, 2026

25/162

⚾️ 6:40 PM ET
📺 @WatchDSN
📻 @971theticketxyt
🏟️ Comerica Park pic.twitter.com/RPoKd40Nju

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) April 22, 2026

Well folks, we’ve got ourselves a series. If the Braves can win tonight, they’ll at least ensure that their streak of not losing series goes on through another midweek and they can go for an impactful series win of a four-game series on the road. If not, then the pressure will be on to salvage a split on Thursday afternoon.

Didier Fuentes has been called up and will be making the start for the Braves. Opposite of him will be Zack Littell, who has gotten off to a rocky start to begin his season for the Nationals. Will Fuentes be able to quiet this Nationals lineup that’s been doing some damage lately? Will the Braves continue to make baseball life miserable for Littell? This likely won’t be a boring one, so let’s see what happens.

After a very complete performance last night, the Nats are back in action tonight. They split the first two games of the series, so the Nats will look to secure at least a split tonight. Grabbing a split against a team the caliber of the Braves would be big for this young group.

As usual, manager Blake Butera made a few alterations to his lineup. Brady House is back at third base, which pushed Jorbit Vivas to second. Jacob Young was moved out of the three hole and is hitting 6th tonight. Keibert Ruiz is back in the lineup after Drew Millas started the first two games of the series. Zack Littell will look to bounce back from a rough outing last time. He will need to keep the ball in the yard.

lining up

→ https://t.co/iUBDqlACVspic.twitter.com/RTLlr6xKXB

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) April 22, 2026

The Braves are not making a ton of changes tonight. Mike Yastrzemski will be back in left field, but otherwise it is the same group as last night. Jonah Heim will catch again, which pushes Drake Baldwin to DH. The Braves decided to call up 20 year old Didier Fuentes to make this start. Fuentes is one of the youngest players in the league, but his stuff is loud and his control is very good for a 20 year old.

7️⃣2️⃣ on the mound!#BravesCountrypic.twitter.com/0XZDh40LHg

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 22, 2026

Game Info:

Stadium: Nationals Park

Time: 6:45 PM EST

TV: Nationals.TV

Radio: 106.7 The Fan

Last night was a great performance, it is all about stacking those types of games. The Braves will be up for the fight, but the Nats have shown they can compete with anyone, except maybe the Dodgers. Follow along down below and let’s go Nats!