Category: Baseball

The Orioles’ five-game losing streak is over! They beat the Marlins 9-7 on Tuesday night in Miami, bringing an end to the ugly stretch of play that plagued them over the weekend. It was a game that was highlighted by impressive offensive performances, which covered up some questionable work on the mound.

The bats came out ready to wipe away their nightmare in New York. Gunnar Henderson laced the second pitch out of Sandy Alcantara’s hand for a single into right field. A fielder’s choice from Taylor Ward eliminated Henderson, but kept the pressure on Alcantara. Dylan Beavers followed with a a well-earned walk at the end of a 12-pitch at-bat. And then both runners came in to score on a Pete Alonso double into the left field corner, where old friend Kyle Stowers misplayed it to allow Alonso to scoot all the way to third. Samuel Basallo made it a 3-0 game with another two-bagger, this one a 111-mph laser.

Unfortunately, the O’s would need to score a few more because starter Chris Bassitt was not at the top of his game. The first two batters singled, putting runners on the corners with no outs. A wild pitch behind Otto Lopez scored Miami’s first run of the day. But that is all the damage that would be done in the opening inning as Bassitt bounced back to retire Lopez, strike out Stowers, and get Jakob Marsee to pop out.

The Marlins’ half of the second inning was just as ugly for Bassitt. He hit Connor Norby to open the inning, but was saved by Basallo gunning him down at second base on a steal attempt. After recording another out, Bassitt then loaded the bases by hitting Owen Caissie, walking Graham Pauley, and walking Xavier Edwards. That set the stage for Liam Hicks to single in Caissie and Pauley to tie the score at 3-3.

Credit the Baltimore lineup for fighting right back in the top of the third. Ward led off with a walk, then moved to third on another Alonso double. Basallo cashed in on the opportunity with a two-RBI flare into shallow right field to give the Orioles a 5-3 lead.

But yet again, Bassitt could not put together a shutdown inning. He got right back into trouble with a walk to Stowers to begin the bottom of the third. Connor Norby delivered a one-out single before Joe Mack knocked in Stowers on a base hit into left field, making in 5-4.

The O’s added two more crucial runs in the fifth inning. Basallo was responsible for the first one, yanking a perfectly-placed triple into right-center field, scoring Alonso from first base in the process. A few batters later, Colton Cowser hit a slow bouncer to Lopez, the Marlins shortstop. Lopez’s throw home beat Basallo, but the O’s catcher was able to sneak his toe just under the tag for the team’s seventh run of the day.

The two bullpens quieted the lineups for a little while before the seventh inning, when Hicks and Lopez hit back-to-back homers off of O’s reliever Anthony Nunez to draw within one run, 7-6.

The Marlins would knot the score at 7-7 in the eighth inning. With Andrew Kittredge on the mound, Mack singled and was then replaced by speedster Esteury Ruiz. That would prove too much for the Orioles to handle. Ruiz swiped second base, and then third base as well. On the attempt at third, Basallo double-clutched and then made an arrant throw towards the bag. It sailed into left field, allowing Ruiz to jog home as the tying run.

At this point, it felt like the Orioles were bound to lose. The offense had gone quiet since the fifth inning, the bullpen was wobbling, and the defense had just made a poorly-timed miscue. The sky was falling.

But not this time! The O’s bats came through in the clutch. Walks for Ward and Alonso put two runners on base with two outs ahead of Basallo’s spot in the lineup. Basallo, who was in the midst of a 3-for-4 game with four RBI. Could he put the finishing touches on an impressive showing? Well, his manager Craig Albernaz wasn’t interested in finding out. Instead, he called for the switch-hitting Adley Rutschman to face the left-handed Andrew Nardi on the mound. That would prove to a be a wise decision. Rutschman singled into left field, which allowed Ward to motor around third base and put the O’s up 8-7. Leody Taveras followed with a knock into right field, giving Alonso just enough time to rumble around the bases and score a crucial insurance run.

The bottom of the ninth inning was left to Rico Garcia, who had already recorded the final out of the eighth. He made quick work of the heart of the Miami lineup, retiring them 1-2-3 to close out the 9-7 win, ending the losing streak at five.

The Orioles’ lineup gets most of the credit for this win. While he may not be the player he used to be, Alcantara is still a good, veteran pitcher with a Cy Young Award in his trophy case. The Orioles handled him and the Marlins pitching staff with ease, collecting 10 hits and five walks on the day, and then going 5-for-13 with runners in scoring position. This was a performance to be proud of. Something may have finally clicked for Alonso. Basallo is looking like a Rookie of the Year candidate. Ward was an on-base machine yet again. And Rutschman came up clutch. Lots of good stuff to behold.

The pitching side of things was mixed bag. Bassitt was not good. He had seemingly no feel for his breaking pitches at all, missing the zone by a mile on several occasions. Over four innings he allowed four runs on six hits, three walks, and three strikeouts. His season ERA is up to 5.91. That is not the sort of starter the Orioles hoped to be getting when they signed him to a one-year deal.

The bullpen had some highs and lows. Garcia, Keegan Akin, and Grant Wolfram were good. Nunez struggled. Kittredge didn’t look particularly sharp. But it all worked out to a win. The fact they had to cover five innings isn’t ideal.

Hopefully Brandon Young can provided some length in game 2. He will get the start on Wednesday night in Miami, facing off against Eury Pérez. First pitch is 6:40 as the Orioles look to do the unthinkable and win two games in a row. Amazing stuff!

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Most Birdland Player – May 5, 2026

Here are a few candidates for your MBP consideration on this Tuesday evening. Let us know your vote in the comments section:

• Taylor Ward: 1-for-3, two walks, three runs
• Samuel Basallo: 3-for-4, one run, four RBI
• Pete Alonso: 2-for-4, two walks, two doubles, four runs, two RBI
• Adley Rutschman: Pinch-hit RBI single in the ninth inning
• Rico Garcia: four-out save, two strikeouts

Blue Jays 3 Rays 4

The Jays were leading for most of the game, as if that’s any solace.

Tyler Rogers has been terrific for us, but a ground ball pitcher can have bad luck on occasion. His eighth went ground out, double (66 mph, not hit hard), Yandy Diaz ground ball single (harder hit, 88.5 mph, off Ernie Clements glove), Jake Fraley single (84.3 mph line drive ish) drove in the tying run and Ben Williamson single (ground ball, but hit hard, 103 mph) driving in the winning run.

That was it for Rogers, Louis Varland came in and closed the barn door now that the horse was long gone.

And the Jays went down without a hit in the top of ninth. Andrés Giménez ground out, Myles Straw, pinch hitting for Brandon Valenzuela (a lateral move at best) popped out and George Springer lined out.

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We had nine hits, including another Kazuma Okamoto homer, (our only extra base hit) his 10th of the season. He and Giménez had two hits each.

We scored:

• One in the first: Okamoto’s homer.
• One in the second: One out singles from Daulton Varsho, Clement (bunt single), and Valenzuela scored the run. After that Brandon Yohendrick Piñangoput down a squeeze bunt, it wasn’t good, and Clement was out at the plate. Then Springer ground out to end the inning. There was some discussion of whether Valenzuela decided to bunt on his own. If he bunted on his own. If he did, he should be released. Players should never decide to squeeze on their own (but I’m pretty sure it was called from the dugout (dumb idea, John).
• One in the fifth: Giménez singled and stole second. Valenzuela walked. Springer hit into a double play, moving Giménez to third. Springer had a rough day. Yohendrick Piñango singled bringing in the run.

Valenzuela had a rough day, as well as the 0 for and the bunt, he blew two challenges, early in the game, so we couldn’t challenge anymore. When you waste the two challenges in the third inning (at times that really wouldn’t have changed the game), you’ve really messed up. I’d imagine he’ll be talked too, but Heineman was pulled from a game for a mistake that wasn’t as bad as that.

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Kevin Gausman wasn’t his sharpest, but he allowed just one run in six innings. He gave up six hits, one walk with three walks.

Jeff Hoffman pitched a nice seventh. And we talked about the eighth earlier.

Jays of the Day: Gausman (.14 WPA), Hoffman (.11), Okamoto (.10) and Valenzuela (.09).

The Other Award: Rogers (-.58) and Springer (-.21). And I’m giving one to Valenzuela for the challenges and the bunt (-.04, but the bunt and the challenges…..).

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Tomorrow, being a travel day, is an early game. A 1:00 pm start time. I’m sure the Jays can’t wait to get out of there. I can’t wait until they do as well. But please win.

I really don’t want to watch tomorrow.

Cincinnati Reds closer Emilio Pagan threw just one pitch in the Bottom of the 9th against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night, and it’s a pitch he’ll surely hope to forget.

Immediately after letting it fly to Cubs 2B Nico Hoerner, he reached for his left hamstring – the same left hamstring that had dogged him earlier in the 2026 season. This time, though, it was clear the injury was much more significant than when he was dealing with pain there back in April.

The trainers came out, and it was quickly determined that the cart was going to be needed to come drive him off the field as he couldn’t put any weight on it at all. Righty Jose Franco was summoned to replace him in the 2-2 game in the second game of this series between these two long-time National League Central rivals.

All the best to Emilio, who it looks like the Reds will be without for some time.

American League Central foes, pay close attention to the “objects in mirror may be closer than they appear” note in your rear view mirror. After a less-than-stellar April, the Kansas City Royals have won all five of their games in May and are now half a game out of first place. Kansas City’s efficient 5-3 victory against the Guardians marks the second consecutive win against Cleveland and ensures a series split an minimum.

The Royals got their first runs on the board extremely quickly. Maikel Garcia led off with a walk and a sassy little bat toss, and Bobby Witt Jr. followed that up with a line drive double. Though Vinnie Pasquantino hit a harmless infield popup, Salvador Perez knocked a line drive to right field to score Garcia and Witt. Royals lead, 2-0. Kansas City starting pitcher Stephen Kolek—throwing from the mound in place of Noah Cameron, who’s sidelined due to a back spasm—surely appreciated it.

After that, Carter Jensen struck out (as did Jac Caglianone). This would be a theme of the night.

Kansas City nearly scored again in the second inning, as an Isaac Collins single and Kyle Isbel walk put runners on first and second with one out and bring Garcia and Witt up to bat for the second time in two innings. Unfortunately, they couldn’t push a run across.

This loomed large two innings later. Kolek had largely trucked through the Guardians lineup, but Cleveland started to make some seriously hard contact in the fourth inning. Chase DeLauter led off with a single, after which Royals nemesis Kyle Manzardo singled. Rhys Hoskins then launched a line drive barely fair inside the left field foul pole for a three-run home run to put Cleveland ahead 3-2.

But that was really it for the Guardians offense against Kolek, who turned in a perfectly acceptable, even laudable, performance. Kolek pitched six full innings and didn’t walk anybody, striking out three and only giving up those three runs.

Cleveland wasn’t able to enjoy its meager lead very long. In the bottom of the same inning they scored three, the Royals roared back. Caglianone struck out (I told you, this was a theme), but then Collins notched his second hit of the night—a hustle double to the gap. Then, Cleveland starter Gavin Williams worked Michael Massey to a 1-2 count. Williams unleashed a pitch that was close but was called a ball, and the Guardians challenged. The ball stood, bringing the count even.

And the very next pitch, Massey turned into his alter ego MICHAEL MASHEY and crushed a no-doubter to right field for a two-run shot that put the Royals back on top, 4-3.

Once again, the Royals threatened in the fifth, but another Pasquantino popup and Salvy double play de-fanged the situation. And once again, a different Royals batter picked him up: Collins, whose solo home run in the sixth inning won someone $100 in the Sonic Slam Inning and gave the Royals some additional wiggle room. It was Collins’ third hit of the night.

Unfortunately, Collins wasn’t able to get a fourth at bat and chance for the cycle, because the rest of the game was relatively perfunctory. Lucas Erceg did walk a batter in the ninth, but it was with two outs and he managed to get a quick groundout. Lights Out Lucas did it again. Royals win, 5-3.

And that trend Jensen was on? He struck out four times, earning the ignominious (yet unofficial) ‘Golden Sombrero’ moniker. Fortunately him, tonight was Taco Tuesday Cinco de Mayo. Let’s just say that Jensen is a cultural ambassador and be pleased with it.

Quotes of the game

“Really good Major League pitcher.” – Matt Quatraro, on how he views Stephen Kolek

“That’ll be a great problem for us to have.” – Q again, on what will happen to the closer spot when Carlos Estevez returns

Look: there have been years in Royals history—multiple—many, even—where Kolek would have been the staff ace. But he’s the sixth pitcher. Quatraro was asked postgame what he thought of Kolek, who to date has delivered six solid starts for Kansas City dating back to last year. The Royals clearly like Kolek, and for good reason. I wonder if Cameron continues to scuffle if they will swap places eventually.

At the end of the presser, I asked Q the one burning question on my mind: what happens when Carlos Estevez is back? Will Erceg remain the closer? Quatraro thinks it’s a good problem to have, and didn’t give away the Royals’ thought process. On one hand, Erceg as a Wade Davis-type fireman might be the better usage of him. On the other, can the Royals really trust Estevez with the closer role when his underlying metrics are scary, to say the least?

Time will tell. We’ll figure it out later. For now, the Royals clubhouse bumps celebratory rap music as Kansas City continues to roll forward with momentum.

The Nationals got on the board first in this game. After a walk to Daylen Lile, Curtis Mead doubled to make it 2nd and 3rd with just one out. CJ Abrams hit a grounder to Luke Keaschall who tried to get Lile out at the plate, but Lile was too quick, putting them up 1-0.

The Twins answered back in the 2nd, though, as Brooks Lee hit a 2-run double with 2 outs to put the Twins in front 2-1.

After a 26 pitch 1st inning, Bradley allowed a walk to Nasim Nuñez and a single to José Tena. He retired the next 3 batters, but with his pitch count at 47 through two innings, it was looking like Taj might not have his best stuff tonight. From the 3rd inning on, though, Taj Bradley settled in. He made quick work of the Nationals batters in the 3rd and 4th innings, throwing just 18 pitches total. In the 5th, he gave up a double to Lile then an RBI single to Curtis Mead, but came back with a clean 6th inning to cap off his night.

In the 4th, the Twins nearly batted around on Cade Cavalli. After a single and two walks, Brooks Lee hit a grounder to Cavalli that he couldn’t handle, allowing a run to score. Then, after a Royce Lewis sac fly RBI, Trevor Larnach plated two more with a double, putting the Twins up 6-1.

In the top of the 8th, Byron Buxton got his first hit this season with runners in scoring position, a 3-run homer to left to put the final nail in the coffin. That’s his 11th of the year, all of those in his last 19 games. That puts him in some good company.

Brooks Lee would hit another RBI double in the 9th, pushing the score up to 11-3, our final tonight.

Studs:

Taj Bradley: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K

Brooks Lee: 3-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R

Luke Keaschall: 1-2, 3 BB, 2 R

Trevor Larnach: 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI

Byron Buxton: 1-6, HR, 3 RBI

Duds:

NO DUDS TWINS WIN!

Shohei Ohtani pitched his deepest into a game in three seasons, but got very little offensive support in the Dodgers’ 2-1 loss to the Houston Astros on Tuesday night at Daikin Park.

Ohtani was efficient on the mound with eight strikeouts and no walks. Not only did he record an out in the seventh inning for the first time with the Dodgers, he completed seven innings on only 89 pitches. It’s his longest pitching start since pitching a shutout on July 27, 2023 with the Angels.

Ohtani didn’t allow a home run in any of his first five starts this season. That streak ended on Tuesday with an expected source, as Christian Walker crushed a ball in the second inning, his 30th career home run in 95 games and 352 plate appearances against the Dodgers. Ohtani’s second home run allowed came shortly after, when Braden Shewmake hooked one just over the left field wall into the Crawford Boxes, akin to Alex Freeland’s home run for the Dodgers in Monday’s series opener.

Those were the only two runs against Ohtani, whose ERA skyrocketed up to 0.97. He leads the National League in ERA again, as he has after each of his six starts this season. And pitching seven innings means he’ll be on the leaderboard through Thursday, with Ohtani now at 37 innings, the Dodgers playing their 37th game on Wednesday before the off day.

Snapping their home run drought at six games with an eight-run effort on Monday was not the start of an offensive turnaround for the Dodgers, who have been held to two or fewer runs five times in their last seven games.

The Dodgers did not score in seven innings against former San Dimas High School pitcher Peter Lambert, who allowed 27 runs in 24 innings in seven previous career outings against them while with the Colorado Rockies. Lambert walked four and allowed three hits but none of those runners came home.

It took until the eighth inning, against the Astros bullpen, for the Dodgers to score their first run. Pinch-hitter Alex Call opened the frame with a double, and scored on a two-out single by Kyle Tucker. That tally snapped a string of 19 straight innings without a run by the Dodgers offense while Ohtani was in the game on the mound.

The Dodgers have scored eight total runs with Ohtani still in the game as a pitcher in his six starts, and 17 runs total in those starts, which goes a long way in explaining how the team has lost four of six games for their starting pitcher with the sub-1.00 ERA.

The original plan was for Ohtani to pull double duty on Tuesday, but during Monday’s game manager Dave Roberts made the change, opting to have Ohtani only pitch this game, as he works through another slump at the plate. Ohtani has pitched twice since his last hit, going 0-for-17 over his last five games hitting, though with six walks, a hit by pitch, and four strikeouts.

Trying to manage Ohtani’s two-way workload remains a nuanced challenge that the Dodgers are figuring out as they go. Roberts before Tuesday’s game was asked whether the team has weighed whether Ohtani’s greatest value is as a pitcher or as a hitter.

“I try not to get too far in the weeds on that, because it’s moot. He’s going to do both,” Roberts said, as shown on SportsNet LA. “He’s one of our best pitchers, he’s one of our best hitters.”

Ohtani continued to prove the former on Tuesday, and he’ll have a chance to turn things around at the plate on Wednesday, along with his lineup mates.

Tuesday particulars

Home runs: Christian Walker (9), Braden Shewmake (2)

WP — Peter Lambert (2-2): 7 IP, 3 hits, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts

LP — Shohei Ohtani (2-2): 7 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 8 strikeouts

Sv — Bryan King (3): 2 IP, 3 hits, 1 run, 2 strikeouts

Up next

One more game remains on the road trip, with Tyler Glasnow pitching on his third straight afternoon getaway day on Wednesday (11:10 a.m. PT; SportsNet LA, MLB Network). Lance McCullers Jr. starts for Houston.

The Yankees were down 3-0 in the top of the first inning. There were runners on second and third with two out and a 3-2 count on Jake Burger. Struggling rookie pitcher Elmer Rodríguez was on the verge of being pulled as he neared 40 pitches. Before the Yanks even had a chance to bat, they were in danger of being out of it.

But so far, they haven’t quite been out of any game. Rodríguez got through the frame and made it to 4.2 innings in his second MLB start, giving the offense enough time to make up for leaving him out to dry in his debut. Home runs by Ryan McMahon and Jazz Chisholm Jr., along with a pair of RBI doubles by Cody Bellinger, gave Jacob deGrom his worst outing of the season as the Yankees opened this three-game set in The Bronx with a 7-4 win — their 15th in the last 17 games since splitting that strange mid-April series against the Angels.

Rodríguez’s primary pain point from his debut last week in Texas was his very inconsistent command, and that reared its ugly head early with a pair of walks to Evan Carter and Corey Seager to start the game. A single by Josh Jung and a long sacrifice fly by Joc Pederson put the Rangers on the board early, and they’d tack on with Ezequiel Duran’s RBI single and a spiked slider that got away for a wild pitch to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead.

After getting shut out and giving Rodríguez no margin for error in his last start, the Yankees jumped all over deGrom. Aaron Judge snuck a one-out double into the right field corner and scored one pitch later on a scorched RBI double by Cody Bellinger that once again teased us all by hitting the very top of the right-field wall, getting a run back immediately.

Aside from a Carter double with one out, Rodríguez worked a clean second inning, which allowed his offense to get back to work. Paul Goldschmidt, making a rare start against a righty because of Ben Rice’s hand injury, ripped a leadoff single to set up Ryan McMahon. The much-maligned third baseman is slowly heating up as the season goes along, and he deposited his third home run of the year into the short porch in right field to tie the game at three.

The Rangers were able to get baserunners against Rodríguez, but he did a great job at preventing damage while filling up the strike zone. After two relatively quiet innings, he looked to be rolling through the fifth when a pair of soft-hit singles put two on with two out before Jake Burger drew a walk to end his outing.

With the bases loaded and two out, Brent Headrick entered to strike out the pinch-hitting Sam Haggerty, ending the inning.

This will probably be the last we’ll see of Rodríguez for a bit with Carlos Rodón due back for his next start, but Elmer showed real poise in this one despite a worse line than his debut. To rebound after that unmitigated disaster in the first to being a hair away from getting through five solid innings is admirable, and he left with a no-decision.

deGrom really started to settle in after the McMahon home run, only walking Bellinger in the third before retiring 10 consecutive batters to get through 5.2 innings. Then he served up a 1-0 fastball to Jazz Chisholm Jr. that was crushed into the right-field bleachers to make it 4-3, Yankees.

Tim Hill was next out of the bullpen to pitch the seventh, and for once, he wasn’t an automatic ground-ball machine. A long single by Jung and blooper by Yankees legend Kyle Higashioka suddenly put two on with one out, prompting Aaron Boone to come out of the dugout and make the move for Fernando Cruz, whose splitter looked filthy as ever as he retired the next two batters to get out of trouble.

Some insurance would be appreciated, and Skip Schumaker’s decision-making after the seventh-inning stretch opened the door for it. Another good piece of hitting by McMahon and a bunt single by Caballero put two on with one out against a laboring deGrom, who was finally pulled for Jalen Beeks.

After he got Grisham to fly out, Schumaker took advantage of an open base to intentionally walk Judge, but was quickly punished for his misdeeds by the baseball gods, as Bellinger ripped a two-run double over the head of Burger to make it 6-3 after seven. That’s six runs charged to deGrom in 6.1 innings. Not too shabby.

Cruz stayed on to start the eighth and plunked Danny Jansen with one out. After looking great through three batters, he suddenly stopped throwing the splitter and fell behind the next two hitters, allowing a single before walking Carter to bring up Seager with the bases loaded. Boone called on David Bednar to escape a perilous jam, which he did by striking out Seager and inducing a quick pop-up out of the red-hot Jung.

The Yankees scored more insurance against MLB’s No. 1 bullpen, as Goldschmidt got an at-bat against the lefty Tyler Alexander and didn’t let the opportunity go to waste, smacking an 0-1 changeup into the right-field seats for his second home run of the season to make it 7-3.

Bednar came back out to finish off a five-out save, and he did his job, aside from a mostly-meaningless triple by Duran that wound up leading to a run. He’s now tied for the AL lead with 10 saves on the year. The Yankees’ 25-11 record is tied with the Braves for the best in baseball, though Atlanta is playing out in Seattle at the moment.

The Yankees will look to push this winning streak to six games and lock up another series victory tomorrow at 7:05 pm on Amazon Prime Video. To do so, Will Warren and company will have to beat the only pitcher to hand the Yanks a loss within the last week: old frenemy Nathan Eovaldi.

Box Score

After two innings in Tuesday’s series opener against the Oakland Athletics, it looked like it might be another frustrating night for the Phillies’ offense. One night after squeaking out a 1-0 win over the Marlins, the Phillies seemed determined to leave as many runners on base as possible.

They loaded the bases against A’s starter Luis Severino in the first inning but couldn’t get any runs home. In the second, the first two batters reached base, but once again, Severino escaped unscathed.

In the bottom of the third, Bryce Harper realized that the best way to avoid being stranded on base was to drive himself home. For the second straight night, a Harper solo shot got the Phils out to a 1-0 lead.

Harper's heatin' up 👀 pic.twitter.com/aaqZ0vGOB3

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 5, 2026

After they stranded another three runners over the next two innings, it looked like they might have to win a second straight 1-0 game. However, the way that Cristopher Sanchez was pitching, he seemed capable of pulling that off. After retiring the first eight batters he faced, Sanchez allowed a couple of baserunners but worked around them.

Sanchez didn’t allow another hit until the seventh inning when Colby Thomas led off with a single. When Zack Gelof followed with another single, it appeared that Sanchez’s night might soon come to an end. Instead, he retired the next three batters, showing some real emotion when he fanned Darrell Hernaiz to end the inning.

At that point, the Phillies’ offense finally decided to give him some breathing room. Trea Turner led off the seventh with a double and advanced to third on a wild pitch. After a Bryce Harper walk, Adolis Garcia hit a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0. A Brandon Marsh and J.T. Realmuto double extended the lead to 4-0, and Bryson Stott topped off the inning with a solo home run to make it 5-0.

Despite sitting on the bench during the Phillies’ lengthy at bat, Sanchez came back out for the eighth inning. And he finished his night off with a flair, retiring the A’s in order. It was an exemplary showing for the Phillies’ ace lefthander.

Aced it. pic.twitter.com/n0dmVSLnvL

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 6, 2026

The Phillies padded their lead in the eighth thanks to an RBI single and Harper’s second home run of the game.

IT'S A MULTI-HOMER GAME FOR MV3 pic.twitter.com/9E2RwiQ1X2

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 6, 2026

In the ninth, Jhoan Duran made his return from the IL, and was a bit rusty, losing the shutout thanks in part to three walks. But a nine-run lead is a good time to work out rust, and he was eventually able to finish things off.

This whole stellar pitching from the starter and home runs from the franchise hitter thing seems like a good formula for victory. Hopefully the Phillies can continue to apply it going forward. They’ll get their first opportunity in game two of the series on Wednesday night.

The Rays have taken small ball to new extremes, winning today on 1 double (a bloop that fell into no man’s land) and 10 singles. When your small ball is this small it maybe needs a new name: tiny ball? wee ball? But the key point is that 10 singles and a double added up to a come from behind W.

The only big blast today came in the first inning, when the Blue Jays Okamoto put his team up with a solo home run. The Blue Jays scored their second run in the second inning, with a series of singles, one a bunt RBI. The Jays tried yet another bunt to score run number three, but the Rays were able to cut the runner down at the plate and then get out of the inning.

Gausman kept the Rays guessing with his splitter, but they too were able, eventually, to piece together singles to tie the game. In the third inning, Simpson got a 2 out infield hit, Junior walked, and Aranda singled. With Simpson as the runner on second moving with the pitch, that was an easy RBI.

The Rays second run came in the fourth inning, and again without benefit of an extra base hit. The bases were loaded on two singles and a Mullins bunt that was misplayed by Gausman to load the bases. Feduccia grounded into a double play, which is hardly ideal but it did score a run. At the end of 4 the score was tied, 3-3.

The Blue Jays regained the lead in the fifth inning. A single and a walk put runners on first and second with no outs. Springer flied to center, and both runners tagged. Mullins threw into second and, honestly to my surprise, was able to nail the trailing runner for a double play that looked like it could get the team out of the inning unscathed.

But a seeing-eye single scored the runner from third to give the Blue Jays their third run.

The Rays, however, were able to string together — stop me if you’ve heard this one — a bunch of singles (OK, Aranda’s bloop was a double) first to tie the game and then to go ahead for good. By then the Blue Jays had removed Kevin Gausman and the Rays were facing side arm pitcher Tyler Rogers. Aranda doubled with one out, and Taylor Walls came in to pinch run. He then scored easily on Yandy Diaz’s single. Fraley followed with a single, and Ben Williamson then singled Diaz home for the go ahead run.

Cole Sulser polished off the Blue Jays in the ninth to earn the save.

This was a funny game to watch. It was low scoring but didn’t feel like a pitcher’s duel; neither pitcher seemed to have his best stuff. I can’t even count how many hits — for both teams — were ground balls that managed to sneak over second base for a single. It seems like the laws of probability would suggest that this exact hit can’t happen nearly a dozen times in any one game, yet here we are.

Ben Williamson had two hits and an RBI; he seems to figure so often in important rallies, every time I check stats I’m expecting to see a .900 OPS. He’s at a respectable .670 but his performance somehow feels bigger.

Finally, I would like to go back to the first week of the season and tell my earlier self that the bullpen would indeed find its way. Wow they have been good, complementing what has so far been a pretty effective starting staff. In fact the broadcasters were noting that it’s been nearly two weeks since the Rays have given up more than 3 runs in any game.

The Rays close out the series tomorrow afternoon. I’ll be at the game but I’m too superstitious to bring a broom.

As Spring Training was coming to a close, we collected predictions about the 2026 season from the Purple Row community. At the time, here’s how folks thought the the season would shake out by October:

• Division Winners
  • NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers
  • NL Central: Chicago Cubs
  • NL East: New York Mets
  • AL West: Seattle Mariners
  • AL Central: Detroit Tigers
  • AL East: Toronto Blue Jays
• Award Winners
  • NL MVP: Shohei Ohtani (LAD)
  • NL Cy Young: Paul Skenes (PIT)
  • NL ROY: Konnor Griffin (PIT)/Charlie Condon (COL)/TJ Rumfield (COL) all tied
  • AL MVP: Aaron Judge (NYY)
  • AL Cy Young: Tarik Skubal (DET)
  • AL ROY: Kevin McGonigle
• There was nothing close to a consensus on where the 2026 Rockies record would end up with the range predicted extending from 55 all the way up to 82 wins.

We now have a little over a month of games on the books, which is enough time for opinions to have started to shift.

What are the biggest changes in how you see the season unfolding now as opposed to your predictions before Opening Day?

Are there any of your predictions that seem to actually be coming true?

Have any of your predictions already failed to come to pass?

Let us know in the comments!

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Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

The Texas Rangers scored four runs but the New York Yankees scored seven runs.

Yankees starter Elmer Rodriguez has had a peculiar beginning to his big league career. The 22-year-old has been a big leaguer for just two games in which he has played and both have been starts against the Rangers, a team not in his division and one that will face New York just six times this year.

Predictably, in his first outing at Yankee Stadium, Rodriguez let the nerves get to him in his first time on the mound in front of the home fans as he walked the first two batters and faced a bases loaded, no outs situation to start the game. By the end of the top of the first, he had also hit a batter and thrown a wild pitch that scored a run.

Overall, the Rangers benefitted with three runs off Rodriguez during his shaky first home frame but even that felt like a let down. It felt like the Rangers had allowed Rodriguez to escape when they had him and the Yankees on the ropes.

At the time, up 3-0 early, it might have seemed greedy to not be ecstatic about three runs for a club that often has a devil of a time just scoring at all, but not capitalizing on a youngster handing out baserunners with a bigger inning felt like a wasted opportunity to bury the Yankees from the jump, something that could have impacted not only this game but the series going forward.

And, of course, wouldn’t you know it, the Rangers waited until all the way until an out in the ninth to score again and the Yankees — having basically the only productive lineup in the American League — methodically chipped away at the lead until they eventually overtook Texas before blowing the doors open late to essentially render the final few innings an afterthought.

The Rangers had two hits with RISP in the first inning — their first two chances, no less! — to go along with all their other baserunners against a deer-in-the-headlines rookie starter and only one of those hits scored a run.

After that, the Rangers went 0-for-7 with RISP until they eighth inning when they again had a hit with RISP. That runner didn’t score either and they eventually left the bases loaded with the potential winning run at the plate. The Rangers finally did score again in the ninth. On a groundout.

All told, they went 3-for-13 for RISP and left a ghastly 12 on base for the night.

At this point, LSB might as well stand for LOB Statistic Briefing.

Player of the Game: Josh Jung had three more hits but was also the batter that ended the bases loaded threat in the eighth. Sequencing, surely, but this has to be in their heads by this point.

Nevertheless, we’ll go with Ezequiel Duran who is making the most of more regular playing time as he collected three hits including a triple, drew a walk to reach base four times, and had the only hit that scored a run for Texas tonight.

Up Next: The Rangers and Yankees will play again tomorrow with RHP Nathan Eovaldi set to make the start for Texas opposite RHP Will Warren for New York.

The Wednesday evening first pitch from Yankee Stadium is scheduled for 6:05 pm CDT and will be aired on the Rangers Sports Network. Tune in to see how many the Rangers can strand tomorrow!

Gavin Williams had a rare stinker of an outing. He pitched 6 innings, allowing 5 runs and giving up 8 hits and walking 2 batters. Despite the crooked number put up against him, Gavin still struck out 7 batters.

Kansas started scoring early with Salvy Perez hitting a 2-run single to center field. The Guards offense suffered from a chronic case of “going 1-2-3” tonight. The sole bright spot coming in the top of the fourth.

Chase DeLauter hit a lead off single. José Ramírez grounded into a forceout, leaving CDL out at second and José safe at first. Kyle Manzardo slapped a single to center, putting two on for Rhys Hoskins. Hoskins launched a homer to left field, putting the Guards ahead.

Unfortunately the lead didn’t stay with Cleveland for long. The Royals came back in the bottom of the fourth to tack on two runs and retake the lead.

Colin Holderman held it down for the Guardians bullpen. He pitched 2 innings, replacing Gavin going into the seventh inning, and did not allow a baserunner. An overturned hit by pitch gave Holderman the chance to send the Royals down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eighth.

Cleveland was unable to rally in the top of the ninth. Chase DeLauter’s single continued his impressive 13 game on base streak and Kyle Manzardo is continuing to show some ramping up in his hitting. The Guards can still split the series, and at least the Tigers lost worse.

The Yankees mashed three homers to overcome a three-run deficit against Jacob deGrom in New York's 7-4 win over the Rangers on Tuesday night in the Bronx.

The Yankees (25-11) extended their winning streak to five games.

Here are the takeaways...

-Elmer Rodriguez's control was an issue in his major league debut, and that reared its ugly head early in this one. Rodriguez walked the first two batters and then a hit to load the bases with no outs. A sac fly and an opposite-field single put the Rangers up 2-0. A fielder's choice and a hit batter loaded the bases again, this time with two outs. A wild pitch allowed the third first-inning run to score before Danny Jansen grounded out to end the frame.

It took Rodriguez 37 pitches to get out of the first. 

But the young right-hander settled down. He stranded runners and was a lot more pitch-efficient, getting ground ball outs with his sinker to make it into the fifth inning. It seemed as if Rodriguez would pitch five innings, but a two-out infield single to Ezequiel Duran, followed by a Jake Burger walk, loaded the bases and spelled an end to his night. 

Brent Headrick came on to strike out a pinch-hitting Sam Haggerty to get out of the jam. Headrick, making his 19th appearance this season, has inherited 13 baserunners and has not allowed any to score. The most by a pitcher without allowing a run this season. (h/t @Katie Sharp)

Rodriguez pitched 4.2 innings (94 pitches/55 strikes), allowing three runs on six hits and four walks while striking out just two. 

-The Yankees got one of those runs back in a hurry thanks to a one-out double by Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger following with a double of his own, that nearly missed being a two-run homer. 

Ryan McMahon would tie the game at 3-3 in the second on a two-run shot off of deGrom on the eighth pitch of the AB. The blast went 359 feet. Over his last 12 games, McMahon is hitting .324 with four extra-base hits and seven RBI. He finished 2-for-3 on Tuesday. 

-Jazz Chisholm Jr. launched a 413-foot blast off of deGrom in the sixth to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead. New York added on in the seventh after McMahon and Jose Caballero singled, Judge was intentionally walked to load the bases with two outs and runners on the corners. Bellinger made the Rangers pay, lining a double to right field and plating two to put the Yankees up 6-3.

DeGrom had his moments against the Yankees, but he allowed six runs on seven hits (two home runs) and one walk across 6.1 innings while striking out seven. 

Paul Goldschmidt, starting at first base for the injured Ben Rice, homered in the eighth to put the Yanks up 7-3. 

-The Yankees used four relievers to lock down the win. Tim Hill struggled a bit in the seventh, allowing two hits and only recording one out, but Fernando Cruz picked up the final two outs to come away unscathed. But Cruz faltered in the eighth, allowing three of the four batters he faced to reach. David Bednar was brought in to get out of the bases-loaded jam, and the Yankees' closer struck out Corey Seager and got Josh Jung to pop out. 

Here's how the relievers did on Tuesday...

• Headrick: 1.1 IP, 3 K
• Hill: 0.1 IP, 2 H
• Cruz: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K
• Bednar: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 K

Game MVP: Headrick and Bednar

The Yankees' bullpen was mostly good, but Headrick and Bednar got out of jams that could have sunk New York.

Highlights

Cody Bellinger barely misses out on a home run, but brings in Aaron Judge for an RBI double pic.twitter.com/ZGxRhnHiWb

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 5, 2026

Ryan McMahon ties it with a 2-run homer! 💣 pic.twitter.com/KZmUHzlF9k

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 5, 2026

JAZZ! 🎷

Yankees take the lead! pic.twitter.com/JaS8TrTIy5

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 6, 2026

Belli extends the lead! pic.twitter.com/KIFOeHq3jg

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 6, 2026

Paul Goldschmidt tacks on another with a solo shot! pic.twitter.com/7NV1lp1KjZ

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 6, 2026

What's next

The Yankees and Rangers continue their three-game set on Wednesday evening. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.

Will Warren (4-0, 2.39 ERA) will take the mound against Nathan Eovaldi (3-4, 4.76 ERA). 

The Athletics were back in the City of Brotherly Love today to start a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizen Bank Park. Luis Severino took the mound for the A’s this afternoon against Cristopher Sánchez for Philadelphia.

Severino worked his way in and out of trouble in the first two innings but escaped both without giving up a run. But the leadoff hitter in the third, Bryce Harper, homered for the eighth time this season to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead.

Headed into the bottom of the fifth, Sánchez has held the A’s to one hit, no walks and has logged five K’s. Scott Barlow replaced Luis Severino in the bottom of the sixth. Severino’s final line was 5.0 innings, one earned run on seven hits and two walks. He struck out three. In the top of the seventh, Thomas and Gelof led off with back-to-back base hits. But with two outs, Darell Hernaiz struck out swinging to end the threat. Mark Leiter Jr. replaced Scott Barlow in the seventh. Trea Turner led off with a double to left field and after a Harper walk, Adolis García drove him in with a sacrifice fly to center. Brandon Marsh singled to right, to drive Harper to third with two outs. J.T. Realmuto doubled to left fielder Tyler Soderstrom, scoring Harper and Marsh, and chasing Leiter Jr. Tyler Ferguson replaced Leiter, and on his second pitch, Bryson Stott homered to deep right center. That brought the score to 6-0. Ferguson continued to show why he belongs in the minors, giving up another run in the seventh after a double by Justin Crawford and a single by Turner, making it 7-0. But the Phillies weren’t done in the bottom of the eighth, when Harper hit his second homer of the game to clear the bases and make it 9-0.

That was all for Sánchez who was totally dominant tossing eight scoreless innings, giving up three hits and one walk while striking out ten. Jhoan Duran replaced him and quickly loaded the bases in the top of the ninth. Wynns struck out for the second out of the inning leaving it up to Hernaiz to get the A’s on the board. He walked to drive in Colby Thomas for what would be the only run of the night for the A’s.

The Tigers find themselves in a precarious position early in the season. They’ve lost two starters as Casey Mize and now Tarik Skubal are out of commission, and they just dropped the first game of the series to one of the most struggling teams in the AL. They needed to start winning, if only to prove to themselves that they still had it in them, but more importantly to keep themselves atop of the division or close enough, for it to count when they start getting some pitching help back later in the month. In the second game of the series against the Red Sox, the Tigers were leaning on Framber Valdez, while the Red Sox went the Opener routine, starting lefty specialist Jovani Moran.

In the first, with two outs, Wilyer Abreu singled. Abreu then stole second. Trevor Story reached thanks to a fielding error by the freshly returned Zach McKinstry, pushing Abreu to third. Then Story stole second as well. A Ceddanne Rafaela homer was the worst-case scenario, and was precisely what happened, pushing the Sox to an early 3-0 lead. Valdez managed to get the final out of the inning, but it was quite the deficit to start the game with. Heading into the home half, Matt Vierling took one back, hitting a leadoff home run.

Matty V gets us on the board pic.twitter.com/UwtbCFn0Zr

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) May 5, 2026

With one out, Jahmai Jones hit a single on the first pitch he saw. Why wait? After a second out, Riley Greene worked his way to a walk. A Wenceel Perez single then got Jones home. Spencer Torkelson was walked as well, but the Tigers ended up having to settle for just the two runs. But at least it was now only a one-run game, and the team had really tested the upper limits of what an Opener could do.

right back in it pic.twitter.com/ThK9dihAJV

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) May 5, 2026

With one out in the top of the second, Connor Wong got a free bag for getting hit in the shoelaces with an 0-2 breaking ball. After the second out, it turned out to be Dillon Dingler saving the inning as he made an ABS challenge call on a called ball for it to be overturned as strike three, ending the inning. Brayan Bello came in for the Red Sox in the bottom of the inning and got the Tigers out in order.

Willson Contreras took a leadoff walk, then with one out, Story came through again, with a single that bumped Contreras to third. Rafaela then singled to bring Contreras home. An Andruw Monasterio single scored Story. The Sox weren’t done yet, though. Caleb Durbin singled, scoring Rafaela. Connor Wong singled, scored Monasterio. The Tigers challenged the safe call of Durbin sliding into third, but there wasn’t a definitive angle to overturn the call and it was upheld. Nothing was particularly hard hit, but everything was finding the grass. Thoughts of Rick Porcello vs. the Angels came to mind (IYKYK). Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounded into a force out for the second out of the inning, but it also allowed Durbin to score. Jarren Duran was the final out of the inning, but it was safe to say the damage was done. The Red Sox now led 8-2. In the home half, the Tigers managed a two-out single from Riley Greene, but they left him stranded.

Things continued to decline in the fourth. Contreras started things out with a homer to left on a first pitch sinker. Then right on his heels was an Abreu homer to right. Following those, Valdez hit Trevor Story directly in the back with a sinker. Now… Framber Valdez has obviously not been pitching well all game. It could have been an accident, but under the circumstances Trevor Story sure didn’t think so, and the benches cleared. As the dust started to settle with no warnings issued, Valdez was suddenly tossed from the game.

Some drama has unfolded between the Red Sox and Tigers 👀#DirtyWater#DNMWpic.twitter.com/cdLrFCfQsc

— Fireside Baseball (@FiresideBsbl) May 5, 2026

Brenan Hanifee came in from the pen to replace Valdez. Rafaela then hit into a double play, and then got the final out of the inning. In the home half, the Tigers went 1-2-3.

Caleb Durbin singled to start the fifth, but three outs followed, letting Hanifee and the Tigers breathe a little sigh of relief. Matt Vierling continued to be The Man in this game, starting the home half with a single, but he was then eliminated in a force out off the bat of Kevin McGonigle. Kerry Carpenter then singled. Dillon Dingler singled right on his heels, bringing McGongile home. They’d only get the one run, but one is better than none.

In the sixth, Wilyer Abreu got a one-out walk. He was then eliminated in a force-out off the bat of Trevor Story. Rafaela then singled right into center. A Monasterio groundout ended the inning, though, with no harm done. In the home half, the Tigers once again went three-up, three-down.

Burch Smith came out of the Tigers’ pen in the seventh and he got the Red Sox out in order. In the home half, Kevin McGonigle got a one-out walk and then stole second base, but Kerry Carpenter hit into a double play to end the inning.

In the eighth, Abreu continued to be a pest with a two-out single, but the Red Sox weren’t able to do anything with the base runner. The Tigers made no real effort to get any runs back in the bottom of the inning as they went 1-2-3 and the game headed to the ninth.

Enmanuel De Jesus was the Tigers’ choice for the ninth and he was the man for the job, getting the Red Sox out in order. The Tigers headed into the home half with a big gap to overcome. The Red Sox finally dipped back into their bullpen, turning things over to Alec Gamboa who was making his major league debut. And he got his first 1-2-3 inning, as the Tigers fell and fell hard against the Sox. Better luck tomorrow.

Final: Red Sox 10, Tigers 3