Category: Baseball

SNY | Alex Smith: The Yankees lost for the sixth time in their last eight games on Wednesday, and that’s not even the worst news: left-hander Max Fried had to leave the game after three innings with left elbow posterior soreness. The pitcher himself told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com that it felt like a hyperextension and revealed that the injury made it difficult to warm up before each inning. Despite vowing to make his next scheduled start, this looks like an injured list situation. Stay tuned.

ESPN | Jorge Castillo: Aaron Judge is once again putting up numbers that would appear incredible for others, but seem pedestrian to him. But having recently celebrated his 34th birthday a few weeks ago, the amount of times he’ll be able to lead the charge in a championship run is dwindling. He’s aware of this, but even as the team outwardly displays more urgency than they have in years with their aggressive roster decisions, Judge insists that the level of urgency is the same as its ever been, and will be so long as he plays.

CBS Sports | Rotowire: Giancarlo Stanton, currently out with a calf strain, hasn’t been cleared to start running as the MRI he recently underwent didn’t show enough healing in the area. The slugger has been swinging the bat, but he won’t be able to return unless he can run, and he’s not there yet. He was replaced by Jasson Domínguez on the roster, but since the ‘Martian’ also went down, Spencer Jones has been playing in their place and figures to continue to do so until Stanton regains full health.

NJ.com | Randy Miller ($): Speaking of Domínguez, his return isn’t imminent, but there is some good news to report. He received a PRP shot in his ailing left shoulder, which he hurt last week while crashing against the wall while making a catch, and has shown no concussion-like symptoms whatsoever. He’s still a few weeks away, though.

The Giants beat the Dodgers 29-2 on Wednesday, with their two best players combining to hit 8-8 with a home run, four doubles, four walks, and a stolen base.

Unfortunately, that was in the Arizona Complex League. In the slightly more competitive, and slightly more meaningful Major League Baseball game, the Giants lost to the Dodgers 4-0.

It was a game where San Francisco got up to all their old tricks: feckless at-bats, wasted opportunities, heaps of strikeouts, and, of course, amateur hour blunders.

They wasted no time putting on that ugly show that we’ve seen so many times this year. In the first inning, Heliot Ramos drew a two-out walk against Shohei Ohtani (who is apparently the best pitcher in the world now), and Rafael Devers smacked a single to put runners at the corners.

But Bryce Eldridge, with the unenviable task of playing sporadically and seemingly only against aces, struck out on three pitches. It was the first out made with runners in scoring position for the Giants, and they would repeat that feat six more times. They would not get any hits.

From there, Ohtani mostly dominated the Giants. He retired the side in order in the second, and again in the fourth, and again in the fifth. The second of those two occurrences featured three strikeouts and just 12 pitches.

But the authentic sign that this was the Real Giants, and not those pesky imposters who somehow entered the day with four wins in five attempts against the defending champs, came in the seventh inning. The Giants already trailed 4-0, so they weren’t looking to erase the lead so much as get back into the game, so they’d have a chance against whatever non-Ohtani pitchers awaited them.

They gave themselves a chance, when Willy Adames smacked a one-out single, and Matt Chapman followed with one of his own, putting runners at first and second with just one out. Ohtani’s pitch count had crested triple digits, and the Giants were knocking on the door.

But they wouldn’t be the Giants if they didn’t do something silly, and not just in the outfield celebration way. Today’s brand of silliness? Adames forgetting how many outs there were, and taking off with reckless abandon when Drew Gilbert toasted a ball to Andy Pages, who could have jogged the ball back to the infield and still turned the double play.

Inexplicable.

Adames did not shy away from blunder, telling reporters after the game that, “That obviously is a mistake that can’t happen. That mistake is probably the most ashamed that I would feel in a game. I know that that can’t happen. It was my fault. That’s on me.”

Mistakes happen, but it’s hard not to read too much into it when the mistake is one of that level, from a player of that stature. It feels a touch emblematic for a season that has spent more time going off the rails than coming back on them. And given everything else that has happened this season — and what we know of the ship Buster Posey likes to run — it’s hard not to notice the optics here.

Meanwhile, Robbie Ray’s meatballs proved a tonic for LA’s struggling offense. Namely, for the players who have been struggling the most. The scoring began in the third inning when, a day after Giants ninth-spot hitter Eric Haase hit a pair of dingers, Dodgers ninth-spot hitter Santiago Espinal went deep, on a 2-1 fastball that could not have caught more of the heart of the plate if it’s name was “tee.” And with that, Espinal rounded the bases in a slow trot for the first time in 21 months.

Four pitches later, in the exact same count, Ray threw the exact same pitch, this time to Mookie Betts. The future Hall of Famer has, shockingly, been one of baseball’s worst hitters this year, and if he breaks out in the coming weeks, we’ll be able to look back at this moment as why. It was a home run derby pitch, and a home run derby outcome.

Los Angeles would score their other two runs just an inning later, when Kyle Tucker led off with a double and scored on a single by Teoscar Hernández who, in keeping with the theme, is having a career-worst year at the plate. In doubling down with the theme, Hernández moved into scoring position on a passed ball by not-Patrick Bailey, and took third when Miguel Rojas hit a single, his first hit since April 26. Hernández would then score on an Alex Call sacrifice fly.

In all, Ray would make it through just 4.2 innings on the night, ceding seven hits and two walks, while only striking out two. He simply wasn’t fooling anyone, and the lone bright spot of the game was how strong the pitching was once Ray left the mound, as Joel Peguero and Tristan Beck handled the rest of the game with ease.

But other than that, it was as ugly as ugly can be. And the way the season has gone, it just might stay that ugly until Josuar González and Luis Hernández save them in a handful of years…

Until then, though, there’s a series to win tomorrow. And that would be a nice thing.

During their weeks-long slump as an offense, the Dodgers’ primary problems were simple.

They weren’t slugging the ball, and they weren’t capitalizing on situational opportunities.

In a 4-0 win over the Giants on Wednesday, they finally found a way to do both.

On a night Shohei Ohtani continued his dominant start to the season as a pitcher –– spinning seven scoreless innings with eight strikeouts to lower his ERA to 0.82 –– the Dodgers’ Ohtani-less lineup found a way to supply him with plenty of support.

In the third inning, Santiago Espinal and Mookie Betts hit back-to-back home runs, marking just the second time this year the Dodgers had gone deep in consecutive at-bats.

Then, in the fourth, they doubled the lead with a couple of manufactured runs, getting an RBI single from Teoscar Hernández and a sacrifice fly from Alex Call.

It wasn’t exactly a breakout performance from the Dodgers’ offense, which was the primary culprit behind the team’s 9-14 skid entering Wednesday.

But it didn’t need to be given the way Ohtani pitched, with the two-way star turning in his best performance on the mound in a season that has included nothing but gems (he has gone at least six innings, and given up no more than two earned runs in all seven outings this year).

What it means

At a bare minimum, the Dodgers (25-18) avoided what would have been a season-long five-game losing streak, snapping their second four-game skid in the last two weeks with the kind of solid all-around performance that has evaded them too often lately.

The team is still in second place in the National League West, a half-game behind the San Diego Padres.

They are still nowhere near playing the kind of baseball they expect, either, as they failed to score in their final four trips to the plate Wednesday.

But, Wednesday could nonetheless be a start, preserving their chance to salvage a four-game series split against the Giants (18-25) this week while dialing down some of the simmering frustration that had accompanied their recent skid.

Who’s hot

Since dropping him out of the two-spot in the batting order, the Dodgers are finally starting to see the version of Kyle Tucker they expected when they signed him to a $240 million contract this offseason.

On Wednesday, Tucker doubled in each of his first two at-bats, the latter helping spark the club’s two-run rally in the fourth.

Over his last 19 games (coinciding with his move down to the middle of the order), he is now batting .297 with 10 doubles and a .910 OPS.

Who’s not

Any lineup that has to face Ohtani right now.

The Giants became the latest victims, struggling to even put the right-hander under stress during his season-high 105-pitch, four-hit outing.

Instead, Ohtani attacked them with triple-digit heaters (topping out at 100.6 mph). He put them away with a flurry of wicked sweepers (they went 1-for-11 against the pitch with four strikeouts).

And then, as if he needed any help, they even gifted him the final out of his night, when Willy Adames (apparently forgetting how many outs there were in the seventh) got doubled off at second base on a routine fly ball for an inning-ending double-play.

Ohtani’s 0.82 ERA remains the best in the majors, and is the second-lowest by a Dodgers pitcher seven starts into a season; trailing only Fernando Valenzuela’s 0.29 mark to begin his historic 1981 campaign.

Up next

The Dodgers will try to keep the momentum going in Thursday’s series finale, when Emmet Sheehan (2-1, 4.79 ERA) squares off against San Francisco right-hander Landen Roupp (5-3, 3.09 ERA).

For the second night in a row, the D-Backs turned to a starting pitcher looking to return to form. Last night, that strategy worked out poorly and introduced more questions than answers. Tonight, it went substantially better as Ryne Nelson worked seven strong innings of three-run ball on just four hits. Nelson was inarguably the team’s ace last season, compiling 3.4 bWAR in 23 starts with a 3.39 ERA and 1.071 WHIP. There was probably a little regression/good luck hidden inside those top line numbers as evidenced by a 3.71 FIP and 3.93 expected ERA, but I’d defy anyone to prove to me that they expected the kind of nightmarish start Nelson has turned in so far. Entering play tonight, he had compiled -0.7 bWAR in 8 starts with an unsightly 5.68 ERA and 1.263 WHIP. There’s a worthwhile deep dive to be done on what’s causing his struggles, but that can be saved for another time. Tonight, he looked like the pitcher from last year, managing not to walk a single batter in his outing – a major issue for him so far this year. His other bugaboo emerged though – allowing home runs – as all three of his runs came on one swing from Jake Burger who just snuck a ball on the right side of the right field foul pole to open the game’s scoring in the fifth.

The bigger struggle continues to be the sputtering Arizona offense. They had absolutely no trouble in creating traffic on the basepaths with 10 hits and 8 walks. There were just two innings when the D-Backs’ offense was retired in order in the entire game. The trouble came when they tried to convert those baserunners into runs as the offense was a woeful 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position and stranded an astounding 13 baserunners for the game. That dynamic was the dominant storyline heading into the top of the ninth inning as Arizona was 1-for-11 entering the inning while trailing by a single run. But the offense finally found their swing at the end of the game with Carroll immediately putting himself into scoring position with a leadoff double and then taking third on a passed ball by Danny Jansen. Geraldo Perdomo earned a walk and Nolan Arenado worked one of the at-bats of the year by seeing eight pitche before punching the ninth into the left-center gap to score Carroll and put both Perdomo and himself into scoring position. Ildemaro Vargas then broke up his 0-for-4 day by dunking a ball into shallow left field to plate both runners and give the D-Backs their first lead of the game.

This whole night felt like it had the makings for a season-altering momentum shift. Nelson had his best outing of the year, the offense finally found some late-inning magic with runners in scoring position, and there were plenty of positive signs for individual players like Marte. And then the bottom of the ninth inning happened. Paul Sewald, who I’m contractually obligated to mention was a perfect 9-for-9 in save opportunities so far this season, entered and quickly retired both Seager and Carter, sandwiched around a Jung single to put him and the team on the precipice of a series win. Sadly, the game and inning quickly unraveled as Sewald hung a sweeper in the middle of the plate to Duran that plated Jung, walked Osuna on five pitches, and then left a sweeper over the heart of the plate for Burger to deliver the final nail in the blown save by scoring Duran. That was evidently enough torture for Torey Lovullo who opted to bring in Juan Morillo to try and force extra innings, but Jansen, the backup catcher hitting just above his weight rocketed the first ball he saw past the dive of Arenado to walk it off for the Rangers.

So, instead of a much-needed series win that might act as a successful blueprint moving forward, the team is left with even more questions than answers. It seems as if no amount of lineup tinkering or prospect call-ups has been able to shake the Arizona offense out of its malaise and the team’s pitching (both in the bullpen and in the rotation) have significant question marks themselves. It’s difficult not to be disappointed in the team’s record to this point. There have been some imminently winnable games that have escaped them that could really come back to haunt them by the end of the season as we saw last year. There will be plenty of time to think on all of those questions on the long plane ride to Colorado and tomorrow’s off day. Here’s hoping they’re able to find some answers at altitude this weekend.

The past 24 hours have delivered the full Shohei Ohtani experience: a home run at the plate on Tuesday followed by dominance on the mound on Wednesday.

The back-to-back National League MVP took advantage of having the next two days off from hitting, throwing a season-high 105 pitches over seven scoreless innings in which he allowed just four hits with eight strikeouts, giving the Dodgers bullpen a much-needed reprieve in their 4-0 win over the San Francisco Giants. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for the Dodgers.

Ohtani's ERA is now 0.82 — the best in the big leagues — through his seven starts this season.

Shohei Ohtani. Gr8tness. pic.twitter.com/lOTiNZdWmX

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 14, 2026

Ohtani's sweeper was particularly effective throughout the outing as he used it for half of his strikeouts on the night and drew 17 total strikes on it for a called strike + whiff rate of 41%.

"The sweeper felt pretty good," Ohtani told reporters postgame through interpreter Will Ireton. "Even if the hitter is sitting on it, it's not necessarily something that I don't throw. But overall, just the quality of it was pretty good."

The Dodgers offense also broke out of its recent woes to give Ohtani some run support. It started in the third inning with Mookie Betts launching a 414-foot moonshot that landed halfway up the left field pavilion seats off of a fastball down the middle from Giants starter Robbie Ray. It was Betts' first home run since returning from the IL on Monday. That homer was a follow-up to Santiago Espinal's solo shot, his first of the year.

Kyle Tucker later scored on an RBI single from Teoscar Hernández, who then came home himself on a sac fly by Alex Call in the bottom of the fourth.

Here's Ohtani's final line from Wednesday's 4-0 win over the Giants:

Shohei Ohtani pitching stats vs. Giants

• Innings pitched: 7.0
• Hits allowed: 4
• Runs allowed: 0
• Earned runs allowed: 0
• Walks: 2
• Strikeouts: 8
• Pitches thrown: 105
• Strikes thrown: 71
• ERA: 0.82

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shohei Ohtani pitching stats, Dodgers vs. Giants highlights

The Mariners got one key player back from injury, but perhaps lost another.

Bryce Miller returned from the injured list Wednesday with his best-ever velocity and posted a solid outing overall. But the Mariners lineup struggled to get him much support and eventually lost in extras 4-3 in a long, bizarre, often frustrating game. The biggest news of the day was Cal Raleigh exiting in the ninth inning after a few awkward plays left him grabbing at his hip. The Mariners win streak against the Astros was snapped at nine games, but they will go for a series victory in game four on Thursday.

Miller was activated from the injured list earlier in the day, having missed the first quarter of the season with a sore oblique. Miller hasn’t pitched much over the last year-plus, spending most of 2025 on the IL with bone spurs in his elbow. There was some question before the game about what his velocity would like on return, as that was the key sign of his poor health last year.

He answered that question early and often on Wednesday. Miller had never thrown a pitch harder than 98.0 mph in a major league game, and in the first inning he touched pretty much every decimal between 98.1 mph and 99.1 mph. He didn’t quite maintain that velocity throughout, but he did average at least 97.0 mph in each of the six innings he worked, ultimately finishing at 97.6 mph on his fastball — by far his hardest throwing day as a major leaguer.

Maintaining that velocity is an encouraging sign. I wrote in his 40 in 40 that he had one of the 10 largest drops in velocity in the majors last year, and it kept him from working deep into games with much effect.

The velocity didn’t quite translate to total dominance, but Miller was still good overall. He worked 5 1/3 innings, walked one, and got three strikeouts on eight whiffs. I don’t think the lack of swing-and-miss was too concerning, as he relied exclusively on the fastball on the the first turn through the order, before mixing it up on each successive turn. Once he got to those secondaries, especially the slider and sweeper, the whiffs trickled in. Like this one: 

Regardless, most of the contact Miller allowed was soft and non-threatening, and he did well to keep the Astros off balance. The only real trouble he ran into was in the fifth inning. He gave up a pair of leadoff singles and, after a sac bunt, faced runners on second and third with one out. He got Jose Altuve to strikeout, intentionally walked Yordan Alvarez to load the bases, and got Isaac Paredes to pop out, escaping the jam.

That’s when things got strange. At just 68 pitches, Miller returned to work the sixth with a 2-0 lead. He gave up a leadoff home run to Christian Walker. It was actually a pretty good pitch — an upper 90s fastball on the black up and away — but Walker got just enough of it to avoid Luke Raley’s awkward leap. Miller then got a groundout and worked the next batter, Braden Shewmake, to a 1-2 count. Shewmake chased a fastball way inside but was able to get a piece of it, fouling it back straight into the face of home plate umpire, Roberto Ortiz.

Ortiz had to leave the game, starting a 15-minute delay while an emergency umpire got ready. When the game resumed, Shewmake poked a single and Brice Matthews followed with another. Dan Wilson turned to his bullpen and Miller’s day was done. Cooper Criswell entered and gave up another single to load the bases. He then walked Alutve to tie the game at 2-2.

The game progressed to Eduard Bazardo in the eighth, still tied at 2-2. Shewmake leadoff with a single. Matthews tried to bunt him over, but sent it right back to Bazardo, who scooped and fired into center field. Julio Rodríguez scrambled for the ball and fired right back toward home plate. No runner advanced, so Josh Naylor cut the throw. But while getting in position to field the throw, Raleigh made an awkward shuffle, appearing to tweak the “general soreness” he’s been battling in his side and winced in considerable pain. He stayed in the game for the moment.

Bazardo then hit Zach Cole to load the bases with nobody out. Christian Vázquez followed with a hard chopper to J.P. Crawford at short, who looked to start a double play with a strong throw home. But while attempting to make the turn, Raleigh’s leg gave out from underneath him, stumbling to the ground with the ball still in hand. Raleigh would exit after the inning.

Altuve followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Astros a 3-2 lead.

The Mariners offense didn’t quite struggle in this one, but they couldn’t seem to string their hits together. Crawford leadoff the game with a solo homer, and Luke Raley added another solo homer in the sixth. There were plenty of walks and singles and doubles throughout, but never that big, bases clearing knock.

They did fight back in the ninth. Rob Refsnyder came off the bench and walked. Mitch Garver came off the bench and walked (Garver replaced Leo Rivas and later stayed in the game to catch with Raleigh removed). Crawford chopped a single that died in the infield grass to load the bases with two outs. Julio then walked to plate a run and tie the game at three. Josh Naylor nearly the gave the Mariners a lead with another chopper and a bang-bang play at first, but replay showed he was out by a lace.

Andrés Muñoz looked terrific in the bottom of the ninth, with three strikeouts and eight whiffs on 10 swings. He was simply brilliant, throwing almost exclusively sliders while avoiding his slumping fastball. If there is a highlight from this game, it was Muñoz in perhaps his best outing of the season.

Alex Hoppe would eventually allow the Manfred Man to score on a single in the 10th to win 4-3.

Raleigh’s health status is unclear at the moment. Wilson told The Seattle Times, “He’s fine… It was just, again, kind of precautionary at this point, and we’ll know more tomorrow.” Raleigh recently sat for several days while dealing with “general soreness” in his side and has struggled mightily since returning. He snapped an 0-for-38 streak with a pair of singles in last night’s game, but he’s clearly been off with his timing and swing. Jhonny Pereda was removed from the game in Tacoma and will presumably be in Houston ahead of Thursday’s game, if Raleigh should need a trip to the injured list.

Matthew Liberatore had a really strong 4 innings, but it was a 41-pitch 5th inning that ended his night and allowed the Athletics to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2.

After a relatively quiet first three innings, the Cardinals were first to score in the top of the 4th inning when Nolan Gorman singled to right followed by a single from Masyn Winn as Gorman advanced to third after the play was mishandled by right fielder Thomas. That brought up Nathan Church as he flipped a single over short which scored Gorman and gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead.

The bottom of the 5th inning would be the undoing of Matthew Liberatore and the Cardinals chances at winning Wednesday night. With one out, Hernaiz singled to center and then Stefanic singled. Liberatore then walked Langeliers to load the bases. That brought up Nick Kurtz who unloaded them and gave the Athletics a 4-1 lead they would not relinquish.

Matthew Liberatore would finally finish the 5th inning allowing 9 hits, 4 earned runs, striking out 5 and walking 2. Matt Svanson pitched one inning of scoreless relief, but both Justin Bruihl and Gordon Graceffo would allow a run in the 7th and 8th innings giving the Athletics a 6-2 lead which is how the game would eventually end.

The Cardinals had their chances. In the 8th inning, they’d get singles from Pages and Wetherholt and a sac fly from Ivan Herrera, but Jordan Walker struck out after Alec Burleson singled stranding 2 runners on base. St. Louis would also have two runners on in the top of the 9th after Fermin singled and JJ Wetherholt was hit by a pitch, but Herrera popped out to second and Burleson struck out to end the game.

To look at the bright side, JJ Wetherholt had 2 hits and was on base 3 times. Alec Burleson had 3 hits. Masyn Winn and Nathan Church both had 2. The Cardinals will try to win the series on Thursday afternoon as Michael McGreevy takes the mound for St. Louis while Jacob Lopez gets the start for the Athletics. First pitch scheduled for 2:10pm central time. The game broadcast will be available on Cardinals.tv.

The A’s got back in the win column on Wednesday evening, bouncing back from a series-opening loss by beating the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2 in convincing fashion in front of the Sacramento crowd. And a certain outfielder had an… electric debut. Too much?

Ginn dominates again

Right-hander J.T. Ginn entered this contest coming off the best outing of his career, an eight inning, one-run performance against the Philadelphia Phillies. So how would he top that outing in tonight’s contest?

It wasn’t quite as dominant but it was just as effective. Ginn bounced around a lot of trouble tonight, giving up hits in every inning. He got out of some tight squeezes and got some major help from his defense

Ginn couldn’t hold them back forever. The Cardinals’ efforts finally paid off for them in the top of the fourth. Back-to-back-to-back singles (plus a fielding error from Colby Thomas in right) brought in St. Louis’s first run and with no outs the game felt in the balance. Ginn needed a couple big plays to get out of this jam with no more damage done.

He buckled down and struck out the next batter on three pitches. Out one. Then his battery mate this evening, the newly acquired Jonah Heim who was making just his second start for the A’s, made an absolutely heads-up play by quick-throwing to third base to get a run down out:

Two down. The final out of the frame was a battle but same result for Ginn: another punchout, and escaping with minimal damage done. Ginn would go two more innings after that, allowing a single but stranding the runner in each frame. His night was done after six full frames.

• J.T. Ginn: 6 IP, 9 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 95 pitches

The 26-year-old continues to impress since joining the rotation. He now has 3.12 ERA on the season, but as a starter he’s now at a 2.97 mark. And that’s counting that horrible five-run outing he had recently. Ginn’s spot in the rotation seems as solid and cemented as it’s ever been. He’ll hope to continue his breakout next time out, which lines up to be Sunday in the homestand finale against the San Francisco Giants.

A’s bats wake up for big fourth

On the other side of things, the Athletics’ offense was facing a pitcher having an uneven year in left-hander Matthew Liberatore. The A’s bats were quiet for most of the first few innings. I say quiet because…

… Henry Bolte got his first big league hit! On the second pitch he saw in his first at-bat in the bigs. And the first hit of the game for the A’s as well. Give that man that ball! It’s sure to be the first of many for the young outfielder just beginning his career. In fact, he didn’t wait around long for his second base knock as he got #2 out of the way in his second plate appearance:

Other than that the A’s couldn’t muster much against Liberatore for the first four innings tonight. They did manage to get back-to-back singles to start the third and had runners on the corners with no outs, but some bad baserunning wiped that away. Michael Stefanic, who was only just recalled from Triple-A, was picked off of first base before Shea Langeliers lined out to the shortstop baseman, who threw to the third baseman who then tagged a wandering Darell Hernaiz out for the third of the inning. Frustrating isn’t a large enough word for that sequence of events.

Now down 1-0 entering the bottom of the fifth it was time to get to work. The A’s started with back-to-back one-out singles followed by a walk to Langeliers. That loaded the bases for the lefty-on-lefty matchup the Cardinals probably wanted, Liberatore vs. Nick Kurtz. The power hasn’t quite been there for the young first baseman yet this year but it showed itself in a big way tonight as Kurtz clobbered a slider that didn’t slide, sending it over the fence in center field for a grand slam to take the lead:

I think everyone in that stadium was holding their breath for a moment there. That was almost a web gem from the Cards’ center fielder but thank god it wasn’t. That was Kurtz’s sixth home run of the year, one that gave the A’s the lead and got Ginn off the hook for a loss and put him in line for a win. That also extended Kurtz’s on-base streak, and he’s slowly but steadily climbing the leader board:

Now with a lead the rest of the game felt like it was on cruise control. The A’s threatened again that same inning against Liberatore but couldn’t break through. No matter, that extra work might have been the difference in him leaving the game after the frame.

Late innings

With Ginn out of the game and in line for the win, Mark Kotsay turned to his bullpen, first going with Justin Sterner to start the seventh. He ran into some fast trouble and not looking to let the Cardinals find sudden life again Kotsay quickly turned to Hogan Harris to get out of the jam. He got out of the frame but not before St. Louis brought home their second run on a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 4-2.

The A’s quickly got that run back in the bottom half. Nick Kurtz hit a leadoff double, moved to third on a single and came home to score on an RBI sac fly from, you guessed it, Bolte. That was his first career RBI right there! Then in the eighth, just for good measure, tonight’s third baseman Zack Gelof got in on the fun with a solo blast to right center, his fourth of the year:

Right-handers Luis Medina and Jack Perkins each provided an inning of work at the end with both having scoreless appearances and shutting the door on the Cardinals. Win #22 achieved.

A fantastic night at the ballpark if you were there. Obviously the big hit came from Kurtz with that back-breaking grand slam in the fifth, but the story of tonight has to be Henry Bolte in his big league debut. 2-for-2 with his first big league RBI sac fly. One of those hits he flashed his speed on an infield ground ball. He added in a well-worked two-out walk just to show off some of his strike zone recognition to boot. Oh, and that defense we’ve heard so much about?

This kid had one heck of a debut and we’re all wondering what he’ll do for us the rest of the season. The outfield has been a weakness all year but with Bolte the ceiling just got pushed way higher. Fair to expect him in the lineup tomorrow?

Other than the fantastic Bolte, Ginn was dominant yet again, the bullpen mostly did it’s job, and the errors the A’s made in the field didn’t end up costing them. The Mariners lost tonight so the A’s take a two-game lead over them in the AL West, though because the Rangers didn’t play tonight they’ve leapfrogged the M’s for second in the AL West. With as close as the top of the division has been all season this is something that could go on for the next five months.

The series wraps up tomorrow evening in the series finale. Left-hander Jacob Lopez draws the start for what’ll be his ninth assignment. Things have not gone well for Lopez as he’ll bring a bloated 6.11 ERA into tomorrow’s contest. On the bright side for him he’s coming off a good start last time out when he pitched 5 1/3 innings against the Orioles, allowing just two runs on three hits in Baltimore. That quality outing gave him his third win of the year but the leash can’t be all that long considering his struggles all year. Everyone will be hoping this is the beginning of him turning his season around but another bad start could push Mark Kotsay to reconsider his spot in the starting five.

He’ll be opposed by right-hander Michael McGreevy, who is off to an absolutely stellar start to his season. The third-year starter has a pristine 2.18 ERA through eight starts and has been a big reason why St. Louis is actually outperforming expectations this season. There’s some underlying stats that may concern how sustainable this is but the control-oriented pitcher won’t be an easy task for the A’s offense to take on. None of the Athletics have seen him before so it’ll be a brand new challenge for our A’s.

The Dodgers are back in the win column as they snapped their four-game losing streak behind another dominant performance from Shohei Ohtani on the mound. The Dodgers broke through early and kept their foot on the gas as they shut out the San Francisco Giants for the second time this year, winning on Wednesday by a final score of 4-0.

It was looking like more of the same for the Dodgers offensively, as after a leadoff double from Kyle Tucker in the bottom of the second, the Dodgers stranded him at third while plummeting to a .125 batting average as a team with runners in scoring position to that point.

The Dodgers atoned for stranding Tucker with a leadoff home run from Santiago Espinal in the bottom of the third that just scraped over the left field wall. It was Espinal’s first home run as a Dodger and it was his first home run at the big league level since Aug. 30, 2024 when he was with the Cincinnati Reds. Mookie Betts immediately followed up Espinal with a long home run 414 feet deep into the pavilion— his first since returning from the injured list— giving the Dodgers an early two-run lead.

The Dodgers added another pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth, as Teoscar Hernández brought home Tucker with an opposite-field single to make it a three-run lead before Alex Call drove home Hernández on a sacrifice fly.

Once Ohtani received his first runs of support since April 15, he was lights out on the mound, striking out the side in the fourth inning and retiring eight in a row after allowing the two-out walk to Luis Arraez in the third.

Arraez would get the best of Ohtani again in the top of the sixth with the Giants’ first hit since the first inning, but the two-way superstar worked around the baserunner as he registered his seventh consecutive quality start. Ohtani is now the only Dodger pitcher to pitch at least six innings in every start this year.

The Giants gave Ohtani a scare in the top of the seventh, as they put two men on with a pair of one out singles from Willy Adames and Matt Chapman. Ohtani got Drew Gilbert to fly out to deep left-center field, but Adames thought the ball had landed and was doubled up at second to end Ohtani’s night. Ohtani tossed a season-high 105 pitches, while he now lowers his MLB-best ERA to a microscopic 0.82.

Tanner Scott added another scoreless inning in the eighth to what has already been a bounce back season, while Kyle Hurt worked around a leadoff double from Devers in the ninth to secure the shutout victory.

Kyle Tucker is continuing to heat up in the month of May, as he connected a pair of doubles against Ray to give him his third multi-hit game over his last nine games. Tucker has a batting average of .370 with six extra-base hits while waking seven times and striking out just six times over that span.

Game particulars

• Home runs— Santiago Espinal (1), Mookie Betts (3)
• WP— Shohei Ohtani (3-2): 7 IP, 4 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
• LP— Robbie Ray (3-5): 4 2/3 IP, 7 hits, 4 earned runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts

Up next

The Dodgers wrap things up at home against the Giants on Thursday (7:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA) before heading down 31 miles south for a three-game set against the Angels beginning Friday. Emmet Sheehan starts the finale against Landon Roupp.

On a night where Carson Benge was the hero with his game-winning hit in the 10th inning against the Detroit Tigers, Christian Scott and the Mets’ bullpen should not be forgotten.

While Scott only lasted 4.2 innings after throwing a season-high 89 pitches (59 strikes), he limited the damage after the Tigers scored two in the first inning to take a quick 2-0 lead.

The right-hander didn’t have his best stuff, allowing seven hits and two walks, but he battled his way through constant traffic and kept New York within striking distance while he was on the mound.

“He just had a hard time putting hitters away,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “The times that he got ahead he had a hard time – they fouled off some pitches, three-ball counts, but he fought and I thought he gave us a chance. So yeah, I think it was okay.”

Scott still finished with five strikeouts on the night which puts him at 20 Ks in 15.2 innings this year and he hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any of his four starts this season after holding Detroit to two earned runs. His season ERA is 3.45.

Actually, one could argue those runs should not have been charged to Scott at all after Benge misplayed a routine fly ball in right field which resulted in a double and eventually two runs scoring. 

Without that mistake, which is all part of the learning experience for a rookie, it could’ve been an entirely different outing for Scott who is still searching for his first major league win.

“I thought I did a good job of filling it up,” Scott said of his start. “They had a really good game plan against me, didn’t really get a lot of swings at the top of the zone with the four-seam. Made me go deeper in counts, obviously I want to go later in the game, but all the credit goes to the bullpen. 

“They did an unbelievable job starting with [Huascar Brazoban] going two-plus there. Really kept us in the game. Obviously made them work a little harder than I wanted to, but overall, pretty gritty outing. A lot of pitches out of the stretch, they had a lot of runners on, but felt like even without my best stuff I was able to get some outs when I needed to.”

After Scott left (and the Mets still down 2-1), Brazoban entered and pitched 2.1 perfect innings with two strikeouts, lowering his sterling ERA to 2.14. 

Not only did New York eventually tie it in the seventh, Brazoban’s performance also bridged the gap to the team’s late-inning relievers in Luke Weaver and Devin Williams who both pitched scoreless innings before Brooks Raley also shut the door in the 10th inning, stranding the ghost runner.

“For him to go two-plus [innings] and keep the game there; he was pitch-efficient, he was attacking [the strike zone] and he gave us an opportunity to hand the ball to the guys at the back end of the bullpen. It was huge,” Mendoza said about Brazoban. “All of those guys did their part, but Brazoban, getting two-plus [innings] from him was huge.”

The Mets are nearing another Francisco Lindor update, and given Francisco Alvarez’s recent right meniscus tear along with Juan Soto’s concerning early exit Wednesday, they need it to be a positive one.

Lindor underwent a follow-up MRI exam on his strained left calf Wednesday morning ahead of the Mets’ 3-2 walk-off win in 10 innings against the Tigers at Citi Field.

Manager Carlos Mendoza anticipates he will have the results by Thursday.

The injury has sidelined the shortstop since April 22. Lindor got hurt scoring from first base during the fourth inning of the 3-2 win over the Twins to end their 12-game skid.

Initially, the Mets did not picture a quick return for the five-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner. However, Mendoza said Lindor is “feeling better.”

It would be a huge boost for the Mets if they can get Lindor back sooner rather than later. He went down in the same game that featured the return of Juan Soto, who had missed the previous 15 games because of a right calf strain.

The Mets lost Alvarez to the IL on Wednesday, and he will be out six to eight weeks while Soto is day to day. This comes on the heels of the promotion of rookie A.J. Ewing, who powered the Mets to a 10-2 win Tuesday and scored the winning run on Wednesday.

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Asked if he is worried about his optimal roster not having a shot together to turn things around in Queens, Mendoza explained he couldn’t think about that possibility.

“My job is to get the best out of them today and continue to take it one day at a time,” he said. “If I’m worried about when are these guys going to get back. … that won’t help us. Our job is to go out there and find a way to get the job done.”

Kodai Senga (lumbar spine inflammation) threw a bullpen session on the Citi Field mound with hitters standing in ahead of Wednesday’s game. Mendoza said Senga “looked fine” and will see how he responds to determine the next step.

Jared Young (left knee meniscus tear) is set to begin a rehab assignment by the end of this week.

Some good stuff has been happening on the farm for this Braves franchise this year, as a number of position-player prospects have been really showing out, including shortstops John Gil and Tate Southesene. Perhaps the most impressive has been 2024 20th round pick, Canadian centerfielder Eric Hartman. Hartman joined Baseball America’s top 100 prospects list and for due reason. He has been absolutely raking, to the tune of a 182 wRC+ and a .695 SLG. Hartman is well known for elite speed, but his power and exit velocities have been arguably most impressive this season and what the Baseball America crew discussed as important to this ranking so early in the season. While I’m not a prospect expert, its really nice to see the Braves with a handful of exciting hitting prospects again after such a pitching dominated system for the last number of years.

Braves News

Walt Weiss gave a number of injury updates that were generally positive or neutral on Ronald Acuna, Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep, Eli White, and Joe Jimenez.

Weiss also discussed the need for adjustments to the team’s baserunning, as pickoffs stack up.

Draft expert Matt Powers took a look at the recent history of the 9th overall pick in the draft, as the Braves own that pick in the upcoming draft.

The Braves won again Wednesday night, with brilliant pitching and offensive heroics, clinching the series against the formidable Cubs.

MLB News

The Dodgers signed Jason Heyward to their front office as a special assistant.

Braves’ legend Max Fried left his start Wednesday with left elbow discomfort, but he did not seem to think it would be anything more than a short term issue.

Mets’ catcher Francisco Alvarez received meniscus surgery and may miss around two months.

Juan Soto dodged a bullet. 

The Mets star provided his team with yet another injury scare after fouling a ball off his right foot and leaving Wednesday’s 3-2 win early, but he’s “day to day,” according to Carlos Mendoza in a massive sigh of relief for the organization.

The manager added that X-rays came back negative. 

Soto, who missed about three weeks in April with a right calf strain, hobbled away from the batter’s box and kneeled in pain after the moment occurred against the Tigers in the bottom of the third inning. 

Though he managed to finish his at-bat — and returned to the plate once more in the sixth inning — his night was noticeably cut short an inning later as Mets fans held their collective breath. 

“I was concerned as soon as he got hit,” Mendoza said. “We went out there, and you could tell that he was in pain. And then just that second at-bat didn’t look right.” 

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Soto’s exit took place as he was due to come up with two outs and runners on the corners, with MJ Melendez replacing him. That inning ended soon after when eventual walk-off hero Carson Benge was caught stealing home. 

Soto finished the night 0-for-3 at the plate with a strikeout, though the mood will be positive after his minor prognosis and the Mets’ 3-2 win. 

Soto’s injury scare came mere hours after Mendoza announced Francisco Alvarez would be undergoing surgery for a torn right meniscus — and with starters Francisco Lindor, Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr. all out injured as well. 

The Mets also lost Ronny Mauricio to a left thumb fracture shortly after calling him up from Triple-A Syracuse, as they’ve been consistently undermined by injuries in their efforts to undo their difficult start to the season. 

For now, though, it appears they can exhale when it comes to Soto’s health, with Mendoza even refusing to rule him out of Thursday afternoon’s series finale against Detroit. 

A win in that contest would give the Mets their first series sweep of the season and give them some much-needed momentum heading into the Subway Series.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were too quiet for the Nashville Sounds (Brewers), 4-1.

Connor Noland pitched the first five innings and took the loss after he permitted three runs on six hits. He walked two, hit one and struck out two.

The I-Cubs’ only run came on left fielder Kevin Alcántara’s league-leading 14th home run in the second inning. He was 1 for 4.

First baseman Jonathon Long was 2 for 3 with a double and a walk.

Alcántara’s home run went 377 feet on a line.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies were canned by the Columbus Clingstones (Braves), 9-5.

Grant Kipp started and took the loss. Kipp was tagged for six runs on seven hits over 4.2 innings. He walked two and struck out five.

Center fielder Carter Trice hit his fourth home run of the year with the bases empty in the sixth. Trice went 1 for 4.

Shortstop Karson Simas had a pair of doubles in a 2 for 4 night. He also walked once. Simas scored twice and drove in one.

DH Alex Ramírez was 2 for 4 with a double. He drove in two runs, one with each hit.

Right fielder Andy Garriola was 1 for 2 with two walks. He scored once and drove in one.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs were snakebit against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Brewers), 11-6.

Starter Eli Jerzembeck didn’t make it out of the second inning today as he gave up one run in the first and five more in the second. His final line was six runs on seven hits over 1.2 innings. He struck out two and walked two.

Jackson Brockett gave the Cubs 3.1 innings of relief while allowing just one run on four hits. He walked one and struck out one.

Shortstop Ty Southisene continued to hit, going 3 for 5 with an RBI double in the top of the first inning. He also stole two bases. Southisene scored one run and had three total RBI.

Center fielder Kane Kepley was 1 for 2 with three walks and three steals. He scored twice.

Southisene’s double.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans bogied against the Augusta Green Jackets (Braves), 3-1.

Pierce Coppola started this one and got the loss after surrendering two runs on four hits over 3.2 innings. Coppola struck out six and walked two. He also hit one batter.

Mason McGwire tandem started with Coppola and turned in another great performance for him. McGwire gave up a solo home run in the seventh inning, but that was the only run he allowed on three hits over 4.1 innings. McGwire struck out eight and walked no one. McGwire now has 37 strikeouts in 24.1 innings and a 1.85 ERA.

As good as the pitching was, the Pelicans could only managed two hits and both of them were singles. First baseman Michael Carico had an RBI single in the sixth inning. He was 1 for 4.

McGwire’s eight strikeouts.

Full highlights.

ACL Cubs

Off day