Still reeling from losing Graham Ashcraft to the 60-day IL with a UCL strain in his right elbow, the Cincinnati Reds lost another veteran arm from their bullpen on Saturday afternoon.

Pierce Johnson was placed on the 15-day IL with inflammation in his right elbow, as MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon relayed, and the ripple effect necessitated deeper roster shuffling to help backfill for his absence. Lyon Richardson – who had been designated for assignment by the Reds during the offseason – had his contract selected and was promoted, and to free up a spot on the 40-man roster fellow reliever Kyle Nicolas was DFA’d himself.

It’s yet another disaster scenario for a unit that was already down closer Emilio Pagan. No relief corps in the game today has walked more batters per 9 innings than Cincinnati’s, and that was with their top arms available; now they’re leaning on a unit that up until a few weeks ago was effectively the back-end of their AAA Louisville unit.

There’s no immediate indication of the severity of Johnson’s elbow problem, but it’s certainly not a great sign when the club placed him on the IL with the problem given how little experience there is down there without him.

The good news, if there is any, is that in Richardson the Reds are at least getting a guy who, for spurts, has held his own as a big league reliever. His overall body of work is rather ugly, but that’s not 100% indicative of his effectiveness on many instances. His AAA numbers so far this year aren’t brilliant – he’s sporting a 4.75 ERA – but he has fanned 34 against 14 walks in 30.1 IP and does have skewed numbers after being shelled for 6 ER in just 1.1 IP in his second to last outing. He’s also been throwing multiple innings for the Bats more often than not, of late, and some of his worst outings came in that role – it’s hard to imagine him being asked to go more than a single IP at the big league level, however.

It’s just about time for the Reds to go find some relief help, since they’re burning through their current stash in a hurry.

The White Sox lacked the inured Munetaka Murakami, but they didn’t lack the long ball late, piling it on to turn close game into rout, 7-1.

They say sinker ball pitchers can struggle in the first inning, and Framber Valdez certainly proved them right, chasing a Chase Meidroth leadoff double with two walks, a wild pitch and an Edgar Quero sac fly to put the Sox up, 2-0. Valdez settled down after that, but ran out of gas in the seventh despite having a relatively low pitch count (74 through six) to keep things close despite the toothless Tiger offense.

Anthony Kay sent Detroit down in order in the first and second despite being hit quite hard, but gave up a leadoff homer to .169 hitter Wenceel Perez to start the third to close the gap to 2-1. Against a good team, Kay probably would have had a short day, but the much-injured and generally awful Tigers went 0-for-6 with RISP, so the southpaw made it through five innings on six hits, one run, one walk, three K’s and 84 pitches.

The Sox bullpen was lights-out, with Grant Taylor coming in with two on and none out in the sixth and proceeding to retire six in a row, four by strikeout. Seranthony Domínguez tossed a clean eighth, but with a little help from Sam Antonacci — feel free to ignore all the drunken shirtless idiots in the first few seconds of the video.

Even Trevor Richards managed to get through the ninth on just one hit.

Meanwhile, the Sox offense decided 2-1 was too close for comfort. Quero led off the the seventh with a high fly struck at only 97.7 mph but landing in the seats, and later Andrew Benintendi doubled and scored when Rikuu Nishida picked up his second career RBI with a single.

That made it 4-1 Sox, more than enough of an edge against the Tigers declawed offense, but Chicago piled it up via long balls in the eighth. The first was an 106.8 mph Colson Montgomery solo shot. After a Quero single, Benintendi blasted a two-run shot.

Heck, Benintendi doesn’t hit the highlight reel often, so let’s give him a break here:

Voila! Up 7-1, which is how it would finish.

That’s five wins in a row, taking the White Sox record to a lofty 31-27. The series and the month wrap up tomorrow afternoon, with Sean Burke throwing for Chicago and Keider Montero for Detroit.

Saturday notes…

• SATURDAY IN THE PARK: The Cubs are 0-3 on Saturday on the road this season. They are 0-4 on the road on Monday and 1-4 on Sunday, for a combined 1-11. On Tuesday-Friday, they are 12-5. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• SPLITTING THE DIFFERENCE: They are 9-9 in second games of series, including 4-5 on the road, but are 4-2 in second games on the road after losing first games. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• NO ONE LIKES THIS SORT OF LONG BALL: The Cubs have not hit more home runs than their opponent in their last 14 games, since they homered once in a 2-0 win at Atlanta on May 14. They hit the same number of homers in seven games and were outhomered in another seven, by a total of 15 homers. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• HAPP-ENINGS: Ian Happ has homered in his last three games and over those three is batting .467/.467/1.133 (7-for-15) with a double in addition to the three homers, and 10 RBI.

The Cubs lineup was not available at posting time. Please check BCB social media for the Cubs lineup.

Cardinals lineup:

Ben Brown, RHP vs. Kyle Leahy, RHP

Ben Brown has done well all year, and his starts have been very good. Especially good have been his numbers away from Wrigley Field — he has a 1.52 ERA and 0.761 WHIP in eight games (three starts) on the road this year, covering 23.2 innings, with no home runs allowed.

You don’t want to hear about his one career appearance (a start) vs. the Cardinals. Here’s the game. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Kyle Leahy was going along pretty well in May, until the Reds hit him pretty hard in his last start, May 23 in Cincinnati (seven hits, five runs, two home runs in five innings).

Leahy has made nine career appearances against the Cubs, eight of which were in relief. And the start was kind of a throwaway gig, three innings in the last game of the 2025 season. No current Cub has more than seven career at-bats vs. Leahy.

Here is the weather forecast for the area around Busch Stadium.

Today’s game is on Fox-TV (regional — coverage map, scroll 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. Fox announcers: Eric Collins, John Smoltz and Ken Rosenthal.

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Cardinals site Viva el Birdos. If you do go there to interact with Cardinals fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.

You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

On Friday night, the Detroit Tigers accomplished the feat of giving up a walkoff loss in seven straigth road series. Per Elias Sports Bureau, they joined the 1992 Chicago White Sox as the only two teams to manage this since expansion began back in 1961. Surely, such weirdness would satisfy the baseball gods and lead to a Tigers’ victory on Saturday? No, they are not satisfied, and the offense continued to sleepwalk on Saturday until the pitching staff finally crumbled late.

You already know how it ended, but this one didn’t start off too auspiciously either. The Tigers went in order in the top of the first against lefty Anthony Kay. Framber Valdez immediately got into trouble in the bottom of the first.

Chase Meidroth led off with a double to left field, and Valdez walked Miguel Vargas and Colson Montgomery to load the bases with no outs. A wild pitch allowed Meidroth to score, and it was 1-0 still with no outs in the inning. Randal Grichuk lined out to Kevin McGonigle for the first out. Edgar Quero lifted a sac fly out to Matt Vierling in center field, scoring Vargas from third. A pair of good slider from Valdez tied up Andrew Benintendi and he struck out to end the inning. It could’ve been much worse, but that was a quick 2-0 lead for the plucky young White Sox club.

Riley Greene struck out on a Kay slider to open the second inning. Spencer Torkelson and Jahmai Jones, the latter of what do you do here exactly, fame, grounded out. Valdez had settled in and he tossed a quick 1-2-3 inning of his own to open the third frame.

Wenceel Pérez’s bat has finally perked up after a disastrous first third of a season. He really looks like he’s just gone into swing mode, and to heck with controlling the zone. Just look for something you can drive. Since he doesn’t strike out much, have at it I suppose. That something was an 0-2 fastball above the strike zone. Pérez launched it to left center field and out for a solo shot that made it 2-1 White Sox. That was Pérez’s fifth homer, and that 2-1 score would hold true for quite a long time.

Hao-Yu Lee followed with a sharp drive to left field, but Sam Antonacci hauled it in. Zack Short struck out, but Kevin McGonigle came up with a single to right field to keep the inning going, but Dillon Dingler grounded out to shortstop Luisangel Acuña.

Valdez was locked into his rhythm by now, and a one-out Miguel Vargas single was followed by a Colson Montgomery double play ball to Short at shortstop. He stepped on second base and fired to Spencer Torkelson in time to turn two.

Matt Vierling grounded out to start the fourth inning, but Greene and Torkelson spanked ground balls through the infield for singles. That brought Jones to the dish, and he promptly grounded into an inning ending double play. Well, we had some good times in 2025, Jahmai, but I can’t really remember them now.

Valdez continued to roll, racking up three more quick outs in order in the bottom of the fourth. Benintendi whiffed on the slider again to strike out again, ending the inning.

Again the Tigers experimented with TTBDNS in the fifth. Lee singled up the middle with one out in the fifth, and Short drew a walk to set the Tigers up with the top of the order coming up. It still didn’t help. McGonigle grounded into a force of Short, and Dingler grounded out to end that minor threat. Brutal.

Acuña tried to surprise Valdez with a bunt attempt to open the bottom half, but McGonigle adroitly handled that, and Valdez punched out Antonacci. Rikuu Nishida grounded out to send us the sixth, and the game was at least proceeding briskly at this point. It was still 2-1 White Sox.

Matt Vierling gave the Tigers an opportunity with a single to open the sixth. Riley Greene lifted a fly ball to right that Grichuk just dropped. He recovered the bounce and fired to second to get Vierling, who had to wait expecting that ball to be caught. The Tigers challenged, and they were correct as Vierling was ruled safe by a hair, putting two on with no outs. Surely this was the time for the Tigers to pounce?

The scoring threat brought a ptiching change, ending Kay’s afternoon. Sox manager Will Venable called on hard-throwing Grant Taylor, and he quickly blew away Torkelson. Colt Keith pinch-hit for Jones against the right-hander and flew out to center field. Pérez grounded out to end the threat, and you could feel Tigers’ fans moving on with their day. Valdez was still up to the task in the bottom of the sixth, retiring the first two hitters before allowing a hard-hit double to Colson Montgomery. Grichuk lined a hard hit ball to right, but Pérez ran it down to end the inning.

Taylor went through the Tigers like a weed eater in the top of the seventh. Needing baserunners, Lee was locked up by a well located fastball. Zach McKinstry pinch-hit for Short, and he too struck out. Kevin McGonigle chased a 99 mph heater up out of the zone to punch out as well. Le sigh.

Valdez’s pitch count was still in pretty good shape, and the Tigers were still behind, so he came back out for the bottom of the seventh. It did not go well. Edgar Quero got a 2-1 curveball down and in and he launched it to left for a solo shot to make it a 3-1 game. Benintendi followed with a double and things looked bleak. Acuña flew out to right field, and Antonacci grounded out, moving Benintendi to third. Would Valdez escape? No, he would not. Nishida singled to right, and it was a 4-1 game.

That ended Valdez’s day. Through six innings it was a pretty nice outing, but it fell apart in the end. AJ Hinch called on Beau Brieske to make an appearance in relief. Just up with the Tigers, Brieske hadn’t found his command during his rehab work in Toledo, so he wasn’t really ready for this. Still, the Tigers had nothing else to offer in terms of relief “help” and Brieske retired Meidroth on a drive to Vierling in center field.

Would the Tigers respond in the eighth?

No, of course not. Seranthony Dominguez got Dingler on a line out. Gage Workman hit for Vierling and grounded out, and Riley Greene struck out. Cool, cool.

Brieske punched out Vargas to start the bottom of the eighth, but Montgomery turned on a 96.6 mph heater on the inner edge and crushed it to right for a solo shot to make it 5-1. Brieske punched out Grichuk, but Quero singled, and Benintendi followed Montgomery’s example, mashing a 1-1 fastball into the right field seats. 7-1 White Sox. It took a Dingler challenge to retire Acuña and mercifully end the inning.

Spencer Torkelson led off the top of the ninth with a single off of Trevor Richards and that was cute, but they went in order from there to end this.

The suffering continues. Hopefully you’re getting a little numb at this point. The Tigers will try again at 2:10 p.m. ET on Sunday. RHP Keider Montero will go up against the White Sox’s RHP Sean Burke.

The Tigers are 22-37, 29th in MLB in win percentage.

The Braves are giving two struggling infielders a break on Saturday, though for Kim this is becoming the new normal, as the $20 million shortstop is sitting for the third straight day with Jorge Mateo simply outplaying him so far this season. It’s only been 12 games for Kim, but he did not look like an even remotely replacement-level player in those 12 games in any aspect of the game. Austin has been better (albeit streaky) in May, so this seems like more of a regular day off in that regard, as we hope for an explosive Summer from the third baseman who has been known for those.

Elsewhere, the Reds have shifted their lineup a decent bit, going from facing the righty Holmes yesterday to the lefty Perez today. The only constants are their franchise cornerstone Elly De La Cruz in the two hole and catcher Tyler Stephenson batting eighth.

Game Info

Game Time: Saturday, May 30th, 7:15 pm EDT

Location: Great American Ball Park, , Cincinnati, OH

Watch: FOX

Radio/Audio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan

Here’s the Red sox lineup:

Here’s the Guardians lineup:

Let’s go, Guardians!

Mets Lineup

1. Carson Benge – RF
2. Bo Bichette – 3B
3. Juan Soto – LF
4. Jared Young – DH
5. Mark Vientos – 1B
6. A.J. Ewing – CF
7. Marcus Semien – 2B
8. Vidal Brujan – SS
9. Hayden Senger – C

SP: Christian Scott -RHP

Marlins Lineup

1. Xavier Edwards – 2B
2. Liam Hicks – 1B
3. Otto Lopez – SS
4. Kyle Stowers – LF
5. Jakob Marsee – CF
6. Leo Jimenez – DH
7. Owen Caissie – RF
8. Christopher Morel – 3B
9. Joe Mack – C

SP: Tyler Phillips – RHP

Broadcast Info

First pitch: 4:10 PM ET
TV: SNY
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2

The Jays are .500, coming into today’s game, and they hold the final Wild Card spot, which seems hard to believe. It would be nice to be a game above .500 after today’s game.

The Jays have a new member of the constantly evolving bullpen. Hayden Juenger is the latest contestant.

Today’s lineup. No Lips today. He’s in a bit of a slump, with 2 hits in his last 16 at bats and his average has dropped from .313 to .277 in his last six games. Slumps happen. I’m sure he’ll pull out of it soon.

Go Jays Go.

Go Rays!