Category: Baseball

Let’s get historical tonight!

This was a discussion we had in our SB Nation managers Slack channel today, so I’d like to pose the question to you. The Rockies are turning 33 this year, so they don’t have a long, storied history like other franchises such as the Yankees or the Cubs. But they do still have two Hall of Famers and plenty of history to choose from.

So, if you could put any Colorado baseball player from history on the 2026 Rockies, who would it be?

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

Earlier today, the Colorado Rockies walked off the San Diego Padres in a 3-2 win.

For game highlights, click here.

First, here’s manager Warren Schaeffer’s thoughts on the day’s performances:

Here’s the man of the hour, Zac Veen:

Starting pitcher Tanner Gordon weighed in:

Finally, please enjoy some game highlights, including that Veen bomb:

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

SCOTTSDALE, AZ - Yoshinobu Yamamoto insists he has no concerns.

The Los Angeles Dodgers tell you, well, at least publicly, they have no worries.

And Dodgers fans will be at home watching with a knot in their stomachs, no sure how much success they want their ace to have in the World Baseball Classic, only that he returns fully healthy for the regular season.

Yoshinobu, after giving up five hits and two runs in three innings Friday against the San Franciso Giants in a 12-4 loss, is leaving for Tokyo where he will meet up with Shohei Ohtani and the rest of his teammates as Team Japan defends its WBC title.

“We’re going to miss him certainly when he’s away with Team Japan,’’ Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “but we absolutely got what we needed.’’

Yamamoto, who threw 37 of his 52 pitches for strikes, with four strikeouts, is tentatively scheduled to pitch against Chinese Taipei on March 6 in his WBC opener, where he will be limited to 65 pitches.

“I’m looking forward to that game against Taiwan,’’ he said. “I understand the passion of Taiwanese fans and baseball fans. So I think it’s special.’’

Last time I was at Peoria Sports Complex, I was getting a COVID shot. Wasn’t yesterday either. Weird what sticks in your mind. Anyway, tonight sees the D-backs heading over for a potential get-together with Josh Naylor, who signed a long-term contract – 5 year, $92,500,000 – with Seattle. Though it’ll be a little odd not seeing Eugenio Suarez, who is now a memebr of the Reds. It does feel like the Mariners and D-backs have been frequent fliers as trade partners over the past few years, and it has usually worked out quite well for both. But tonight, they face off against each other.

After Ryne Nelson’s start, it’ll be RHP Taylor Clarke, RHP Juan Morillo, RHP Juan Burgos, RHP Joe Ross, RHP Taylor Rashi and RHP Daniel Eagen. I wonder if there’s a chance he will be the Opening Day starter for the D-backs, now that Merrill Kelly is out? After last season’s performance, it would seem like he deserves it, but there may be other factors at play. He’s younger and less experienced than everyone else bar Brandon Pfaadt, and while it doesn’t “matter”, there’s something to be said for Zac Gallen as well. Hopefully, we won’t see the same issues as last year with Corbin Burnes.

A few options to watch this one tonight. It will be the Mariners’ broadcast, but will be available on dbacks.tv, and is also scheduled to be broadcast on the MLB Network. They’ve additionally added the March 10th game at Camelback Ranch against the Dodgers to their schedule (subject to change), so that’s nice.

As Spring Training hits its stride and the Mariners move past their first week of games, Luis Castillo — La Piedra — takes the rock for the first time in 2026. Castillo, despite an up-and-down regular season, was an absolute hero during the postseason and we are all looking forward to seeing what he has in store in 2026!

It’s an interesting-look starting lineup for the M’s tonight, with the only real MLB players being Victor Robles in center, Josh Naylor at first, Miles Mastrobuoni at third, and Leo Rivas at short. This writer is especially excited to see how Cole Young performs under the lights tonight at second base.

Likely pitchers to follow Luis on the mound include Casey Lawrence, Carlos Vargas, José Ferrer, Tyler Cleveland, and Josh Simpson.

The Snakes are sending out Ryne Nelson (first Stanek now this guy? Someone has to teach pitchers how to spell “Ryan”) to the mound first tonight. Nelson has been a fixture for Arizona over the past three years, and set a career best ERA of 3.39 in 2025. It is also Nelson’s first start of the spring.

First Pitch: 5:10pm PT

Watch: Mariners.TV, Mariners.com, and (if you’re outside the PNW like our esteemed Kate Preusser) MLB Network

Listen: Seattle Sports 710AM

As a reminder, we’re hoping to build our community before Opening Day for what promises to be an exciting 2026 season and we’d love to have you with us. If you haven’t yet, sign up (it makes the site function much better for you, as a bonus) and jump on in to the conversation! This is especially helpful on radio-only games to keep the conversation flowing. And don’t worry about making a mistake – it’s spring training for all of us.

The A’s can’t seem to get many wins this spring but luckily these games don’t count just yet. Still would be nice to see another win sometime soon as the Athletics dropped another game on Friday afternoon, losing to the Royals 7-6 and dropping their meaningless record to 1-5.

The A’s jumped out to an early lead this afternoon. A pair of walks put two runners on for Max Muncy. Looking to put some distance between himself and Darell Hernaiz for the starting third base job, Muncy took a fastball down the middle and drove it into center field for a double and bringing in both runs, giving the A’s the first lead.

Left-hander Jeffrey Springs got his first action today, taking the ball to start against KC today. While the stats don’t matter today still wasn’t a great first outing for the 33-year-old considering his early-game struggles last year. Springs had an easy first inning but got hit hard in the second, allowing four runs to score capped by a Bobby Witt Jr. three-run home run that wiped away the A’s early lead. That would chase him from this game after getting up to 39 pitches, which is probably around where the coaching staff wanted him as they slowly ramp the veteran lefty up for the long season ahead.

The A’s got one of those runs back in the next frame thanks to a Carlos Cortes double and a pair of productive groundouts to bring him in. Then the A’s got the big hit they were looking for in the fourth. Shortstop Jacob Wilson came to the plate with a runner on first and blasted a 429-foot home run to left field, his first long ball of spring and one that tied this game up a 5 apiece. The A’s would then take the lead the very next inning, courtesy of Muncy’s first home run of the spring.

The Royals would battle back late however. Lefty Brady Basso began the seventh and didn’t have his best stuff today. A double and a pair of walks loaded the bases and while he was just one strike away from getting out of the jam, a two-run double bit him and gave KC back the lead.

The A’s put together a scoring threat in the eighth thanks to a couple hits from some prospects (including Leo De Vries!), but couldn’t manage to knot this game up, falling 7-6 to finish the afternoon off.

Not great but the offense has really picked it up after a slow start to spring. We do this all again tomorrow, with the San Francisco Giants coming to Hohokam Stadium for another afternoon matchup with our A’s. Right-hander Luis Morales is set to get the ball for his second appearance this spring. He allowed a run on a couple hits in a couple innings of work earlier this week but will be getting his first starting nod. The Giants will go with veteran righty Tyler Mahle for his first appearance of camp. Hopefully the A’s can get another one of those currently-meaningless wins.

Notes:

• Muncy finished the day 2-for-3 with three RBI’s. It’s a super small sample but he’s 4-for-10 so far with one walk and one strikeout.
• Hernaiz isn’t making the coaching staff’s job easy though. He went 0-for-1 today but also drew a pair of walks. He’s 5-for-11 this spring. Does a big showing in the upcoming WBC do him any favors with the coaching staff?
• Jamie Arnold sighting! The A’s most recent first-round pick made it into his first game action for the A’s. He pitched a scoreless inning, allowing a hit and a walk while also collecting two punchouts. A nice little spring debut for the left-hander.
• Center fielder Denzel Clarke has had a rough go of it at the plate to start camp, but he finally collected his first hit this spring today. He doesn’t need to do much offensively to have value for the A’s this coming season but he also can’t be a complete black hole in the lineup.
• Top prospect Leo De Vries went 2-for-2 today, a positive showing for the young shortstop who is nearly in the big leagues. He won’t be breaking camp with the club but a strong showing in front of the coaches during camp doesn’t hurt.
• Righty reliever Elvis Alvarado had a second scoreless appearance this afternoon, while fellow relief pitcher Michael Kelly gave up a run in his inning of work. These two could be closer options for Mark Kotsay this coming year.

Good evening! I hope your week has gone well and that the weekend treats you just as well. The floor is now yours and here’s a random clip:

JUPITER, Fla. — Devin Williams’ first Grapefruit League pitch in a Mets uniform resulted in a ball disappearing behind the fence at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on Friday.

The cutter, a pitch Williams is still learning, got too much of JJ Wetherholt’s strike zone in the fourth inning.

“That one, specifically, I was just trying to throw a strike,” Williams said on a day the Mets rolled to a 14-3 victory over the Cardinals. “He jumped on it, so that is part of it.”

Williams, who is slated for the closer’s role, retired the next three batters he faced in the inning.

He averaged 93.8 mph with his four-seam fastball.

“That first pitch, that cutter didn’t cut much,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It’s a pitch that he is working on, but I thought the fastball was good. He did a couple of good sliders, which is another pitch that he is working on, so a good inning of work for him.”

Williams, who arrived on a three-year contract worth $51 million — he spent last season with the Yankees — said he needs about eight or nine appearances in spring training games to prepare for the season.

MJ Melendez homered twice for the Mets, going to the opposite field for both.

Melendez is attempting to land an outfield job with the team after arriving three weeks ago as a free agent.

“I knew that I was going to learn a lot coming here,” Melendez said. “Very advanced things that I kind of knew about myself, but really not how to get the best version of myself, and just learning those things each and every day, and it’s been amazing so far.”

Melendez’s education has included learning about his swing path and stance.

“Just stuff that my body does well, but I necessarily didn’t know, exactly how and why,” Melendez said. “Just kind of get into those things and on the outfield side, how to get better reads and improve daily out there.”

Grae Kessinger departed the game with knee discomfort, according to Mendoza, and will likely have an MRI exam.

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Dan Serafini was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Friday for the 2021 first-degree murder of his father-in-law and attempted murder of his mother-in-law in Lake Tahoe.

Serafini, who pitched for six MLB teams during a 22-year professional career that ended in 2013, killed Gary Spohr, 70, and seriously injured Wendy Wood during a burglary of their home on the west shore of Lake Tahoe.

"He is a monster who knows no moral boundaries and has zero reservations about taking the lives of others to benefit himself," said Adrienne Spohr, daughter of the victims, at the sentencing hearing.

He was convicted in July after a six-week trial and made two unsuccessful appeals, denied a new trial only a week ago. During his ruling, Placer County Superior Court Judge Garen J. Horst said Serafini, 52, was a "liar, manipulator, arrogant and someone who has a loose relationship with the truth."

The jury also found Serafini guilty of first-degree burglary and found the special circumstance allegations of lying-in-wait and felony murder, as well as related firearm allegations, to be true.

Serafini broke into the Spohr's home while the couple was boating with their grandsons and daughter Erin Spohr — Serafini's wife and sister of Adrienne Spohr. He waited in a closet until his family left and shot them both in the head upon their return, according to prosecutors.

Wood took her own life in 2022 at age 69. After a year of rehabilitation after the shooting, she had regained her ability to read and write, as well as to hike and ride a bicycle, according to Adrienne Spohr. But she battled disability and depression.

Read more:Ex-MLB pitcher Dan Serafini found guilty of murdering father-in-law

Samantha Scott, a nanny employed by Serafini and Erin Spohr to watch their two young children, pleaded guilty to being an accessory to the crimes. She testified in 2025 that she drove Serafini to the crime scene, believing it was for a drug deal.

Scott also testified that she saw Serafini with a gun and a silencer made of PVC pipe in his backpack. She testified that she dropped him off near the Spohr's home and later saw him discard items from his backpack after they crossed the Nevada state line.

"When I learned that my sister’s husband Daniel Serafini and sister’s close friend Samantha Scott were arrested for the shooting of my parents, I was shaken to my core,” Adrienne Spohr said in a statement to the court. “This was a heinous, calculated crime. My parents had been incredibly generous to Daniel Serafini and Erin Spohr throughout their marriage."

The Minnesota Twins made Serafini their first-round draft pick in 1992 out of Junipero Serra High in San Mateo, Calif., the same school that all-time home run king Barry Bonds attended. Serafini made his big-league debut in 1996 with the Twins and pitched with the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies.

Serafini pitched in Japan from 2004 to 2007 before returning to the United States. He was suspended for 50 games in 2007 for using performance-enhancing drugs that he blamed on medication he took in Japan. He also pitched for Italy in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

Serafini’s bar in Sparks, Nev., was featured on an episode of “Bar Rescue” in 2025. The bar’s named was changed from the Bullpen Bar to the Oak Tavern as part of the makeover, but not before Serafini's financial woes were described: He blew through $14 million in career earnings and took a $250,000 loan from his parents.

Prosecutors said Serafini's crimes were driven by anger and financial distress. Evidence was presented that he made threats and spoke about wanting his in-laws dead for many years. He and Gary Spohr also had disputes over a $1.3 million loan intended for Erin Spohr's horse ranch business.

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

MESA, Arizona — Friday was Edward Cabrera’s first outing in a Cubs uniform and it was a great success. Cabrera retired all six Guardians batters he faced, striking out three. He threw 20 strikes in 31 pitches and had six swings-and misses.

The bullpen did a good job, too — well, with one exception, I’ll get to that — and Dansby Swanson homered and singled and drove in three runs as the Cubs defeated the Guardians 8-6.

Here are Cabrera’s three K’s, all swinging [VIDEO].

Here’s Swanson’s two-run homer in the first inning [VIDEO].

Ryan Rolison, Daniel Palencia, Collin Snider and Jacob Webb all threw scoreless innings in relief of Cabrera. Those four combined to allow just two hits and struck out four.

Swanson’s RBI single in the sixth made it 3-0 Cubs, and things looked good … until Porter Hodge entered the game in the seventh. Hodge again struggled with command, issuing two walks. He also got hit pretty hard, allowing three hits — and remember, these were basically all Guardians minor leaguers. Hodge got charged with five runs and Cleveland led the game 5-4 after seven. Scott Kingery had homered for the Cubs in the seventh.

I’m not sure what’s up with Hodge but he now sports a 31.50 ERA with four hits, seven walks and seven runs allowed in two innings of work this spring. That’s a 5.500 WHIP which, yikes. I suspect Hodge is going to wind up starting the year at Triple-A Iowa.

The Cubs scored four in the eighth to take the lead. The big blow was a bases-clearing double by Leonel Espinoza, an outfielder who split 2025 between Myrtle Beach and South Bend, where he stole 31 bases in 116 games.

Gavin Hollowell entered for the save opportunity. He did give up a pair of hits and a run, and it might have been more except for a really slick play by Pedro Ramirez at short. Ramirez, who was added to the 40-man roster this winter, might wind up at Iowa this year. He’s only 21 (turns 22 in April). Even if he doesn’t hit much, that glove plays in the major leagues.

Attendance watch: 11,217 attended Friday afternoon’s contest at Sloan Park. That makes the season total 56,039 for five dates, or 11,208 per date.

A note on Friday afternoon’s weather: It was 86 degrees at game time and as of 2 p.m., the temperature in Phoenix was 92 degrees, which tied the record high for both the date and the entire month of February. It’s not supposed to be this hot in the Valley in February — the average high right now is 73. It’s forecast to be in the mid-90s for at least the next three days.

Saturday, the Cubs head west to Glendale to face the Dodgers. Colin Rea gets the start for the Cubs and Justin Wrobleski will go for L.A. Game time is 2:05 p.m. CT and the game will be televised via the Dodgers channel SportsNet LA.

The Milwaukee Brewers stayed hot in sunny Phoenix on Friday afternoon, taking down the Chicago White Sox for their fourth consecutive win to move to .500 at 4-4 in Cactus League play. The Crew did it behind a balanced offensive attack and some solid bullpen work late.

Right-hander Brandon Sproat, one of Milwaukee’s acquisitions in the Freddy Peralta trade, made his spring debut in this one. He allowed a leadoff single in the first before striking out the next two hitters. After Chase Meidroth stole second, catcher Edgar Quero singled him home to make it 1-0 early. Sproat would pick off Quero at first base, but the Brewers faced an early deficit.

Milwaukee went down 1-2-3 against Sean Burke in the first, and after Sproat recorded a strikeout of Jarred Kelenic, he allowed a walk and a single. That marked the end of Sproat’s day, as he went 1 1/3 innings with three strikeouts and a run allowed on a walk and three hits.

Kaleb Bowman worked around a passed ball to finish out the inning with the score still 1-0.

After once again going down 1-2-3 in the second, Abner Uribe got the ball in the third. He allowed a run on a walk, a sac bunt, and a double as Quero picked up his second RBI of the day.

With the score now 2-0, Luis Rengifo cut that lead in half to lead off the third, slugging his first homer of the spring 345 feet over the wall in right. Milwaukee wasn’t done there either.

Garrett Mitchell followed with a walk, Joey Ortiz singled, and Jackson Chourio singled to tie it up at 2-2. Brice Turang then flew into a 7-5-6 double play as Ortiz was thrown out on the basepaths, and William Contreras popped out to end the rally.

Shane Drohan, one of Milwaukee’s acquisitions in the Caleb Durbin trade, made his spring debut in the fourth and proceeded to strike out the side (all swinging).

The Brewers took the lead in the fourth against new pitcher Tanner McDougal, as Jake Bauers doubled and was brought home by Rengifo to make it 3-2 entering the fifth.

Drohan’s fifth inning didn’t go quite as well as the fourth, as he allowed a single and hit Meidroth with a pitch before recording an out. He was able to induce a pair of groundouts — including a fielder’s choice at the plate to cut down Oliver Dunn — and Quero lined out to end the inning with no damage done.

Milwaukee tacked on another in the fifth, as Ortiz singled, stole second, and later scored on a Brice Turang double to make it 4-2.

Most of Milwaukee’s starters were substituted in the sixth and seventh, as Chourio, Mitchell, Sal Frelick, and Turang were all removed before Bauers and Rengifo exited the next inning.

The Brewers were able to tack on one more run in the seventh, as Ortiz, Jacob Hurtubise, and Contreras all singled to make it 5-2.

The White Sox nearly mounted an eight-inning rally against Drew Rom, as Rom walked the bases loaded before his replacement, Will Childers, was able to get a called strike three upon review (initiated by catcher Darrien Miller) to escape the inning unscathed.

Both teams went down in order in their final at-bats, and the Brewers locked up another win to push them to 4-4 this spring.

Ortiz and Rengifo were the big hitters offensively, as Ortiz went 3-for-3 with three singles, two runs scored, and a steal, and Rengifo went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored on his homer. Five other Brewers collected hits in the win, including doubles from Bauers and Turang.

Shane Drohan picked up the win in his Brewer debut, pitching two scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Blake Holub got the save with three strikeouts in the ninth, while Bowman, Easton McGee, Rom, and Childers also had scoreless outings. The two runs went to Sproat and Uribe.

The Crew will look to make it five straight and move over .500 tomorrow, as they’ll stay home to take on the Reds. First pitch in that one is at 2:10 p.m. CT on Brewers TV and the Brewers Radio Network.

The Los Angeles Mike Trouts of Anaheim sent the Cincinnati Reds to their showers with a 4-3 defeat on Friday at Goodyear Ballpark in Arizona. The Reds had been riding a 3-game win streak heading into this game, which did not feature Mike Trout even though I insinuated that it did with a misleading nickname in the very first words of this article.

The Good

Rhett Lowder was simply brilliant as the starter for the Reds today. He fired a trio of scoreless, hitless innings in his second outing of the spring, walking a lone Angel while fanning three. Safe to say his quest to earn the 5th spot in Cincinnati’s starting rotation is off to a pretty, pretty good start.

Meanwhile, Blake Dunn swatted a solo homer, Jose Trevino had a pair of hits and a ribbie, and Rece Hinds tripled, walked, and scored while playing CF on the afternoon. In a similarly positive vein, JJ Bleday continued his hot-hitting start to Cactus League play with another 2 for 3 day (with a run scored).

The Bad

Sal Stewart was actually retired twice on the day, which is bad for him. Just one hit, Sal? That’s all ya had in ya today, superstar?!

I’ve really got to find a better format for these spring recaps.

The Ugly

It was not the finest day for Julian Aguiar in his quest to earn a spot on the team’s pitching staff. Taking over for Lowder in the Top of the 4th, he was tagged for a homer by Logan O’Hoppe of the 2-run variety, and Aguiar eventually yielded 3 ER on 4 H in his 2.0 IP of work.

He didn’t walk anybody, which is a good thing.

Yunior Marte surrendered the other run on the day.

What’s Next

You aren’t going to believe this, but Saturday will feature Cincinnati Reds baseball that’s watchable on your screens!

The Reds will head to American Family Fields of Phoenix to face off against the Milwaukee Brewers, and it’s dawning on me that place was way cooler when it was just called ‘Maryvale.’ Anyway, it’s a 3:05 PM ET start time and MLB.tv and Reds.tv (if you’re in-market) will have the stream with the Reds broadcast. If you’re into the Brewers version of calling baseball games, their own broadcast will be viewable via MLB.tv (or Brewers.tv if you happen to be a Reds fan in the Milwaukee region).

Hunter Greene will toe the rubber for Cincinnati, and given who sat out today – Elly De La Cruz & Co. – I’d expect a pretty loaded lineup from the Reds side tomorrow. Rob Zastryzny, a lefty, will start for the Beers though, so Terry Francona could get experimental with his lineup again tomorrow the same way he did today against lefty Brent Suter to start.

The White Sox gave us two games today, with the 100 or so players eligible for the games today split in half. Given that Gameday and radio was the best we could tune into for two simultaneous games, let’s just bullet-point some game performances, and let our game polls tell the rest of the story.

In the interest of good news before bad news, the White Sox won at Camelback against the Rangers, 3-1. Erick Fedde started and pretty well thrived, tossing 29 pitches over two scoreless innings, with two Ks and a walk. Mike Vasil was the third pitcher up, and qualifies as the “bulk” arm of the game with three innings and one earned. There is almost no way Vasil isn’t being considered as a swingman or fifth-starter contender based on this outing, which just eight games in is the longest of this Cactus League for the Sox. Brandon Eisert continued his run at the closer role (jk) with his third scoreless outing and fifth and sixth Ks of the spring.

On the hitting side, just enough got done for the win. Miguel Vargas led off and pocketed two hits, including a double. All three White Sox runs were bunched in the fifth, courtesy of a two-run bomb from LaMonte Wade Jr. and some run manufacturing from Sam Antonacci and Darren Baker.

Want to see Lamonte’s home run? Well sorry, it’s MLB Spring Training, you can’t. But if you stare deeply enough into the black perhaps you can hallucinate the footage:

Over in Phoenix facing the Brewers, things were not so sweet, as the White Sox fell, 5-2. Three Arms of the Future threw, none of them to great effect. Sean Burke started but surrendered two earned over three innings (OK, Vasil, you’re not special, everyone’s throwing three now). Tanner McDougal, who once again lit up the radar gun in touching 100 mph but throwing that heat straight into bats for loud contact, did same. Noah Schultz came on to finish things off with two innings, and may well have had the best outing of all, but three singles in the seventh (one on the infield, two sharp slaps through it) touched the giant for an earned run.

Was it disastrous for the arms? Not at all. But these three need to develop some better movement or sequencing into March.

Outside of Hitting Machine Edgar Quero (2-for-3, 2B, both RBIs), there was not much offensively to write home about.

The White Sox drop to 5-4 overall and head to Goodyear to face off against Cleveland tomorrow. It’s a CHSN and WMVP game, with Shane Smith starting the game.

All good things must eventually end, and that includes the Dodgers winning streak to open the spring as the San Francisco Giants took Friday’s contest 12-4.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto made his final spring tune-up before playing for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic. Yamamoto gave up a pair of runs, including a leadoff home run to Willy Adames, but he managed to toss three full innings on 52 pitches (37 for strikes), striking out four and not allowing a walk.

Once Yamamoto’s day was done, the bullpen was unable to keep the game anywhere near close. Ryder Ryan allowed the Giants to take the lead in the fourth inning, while both Luke Fox and Christian Romero were charged with four earned runs, with the latter allowing a grand slam to Victor Bericoto to put the game completely out of reach.

Both relievers involved in the Hunter Feduccia deal last summer, Paul Gervase and Adam Serwinowski, tossed scoreless innings in the bottom of the seventh and eighth inning respectively while each striking out a pair of hitters.

Outfielder Zach Ehrhard was one of the lone bright spots for the Dodgers offense on Friday, smacking a pair of doubles. James Tibbs III brought home the Dodgers’ first run with an RBI triple in the second inning and Santiago Espinal roped an RBI single in the third inning. Chris Newell hit the only home run of the game for the Dodgers, smacking a two-run home run against lefty Nick Zwack in the top of the ninth inning.

The Dodgers are still averaging 7.86 runs per game this spring despite the lack of offense on Friday, and their 53 total runs rank second in cactus league play behind the Colorado Rockies.

UP NEXT

The Dodgers have a pair of split squad games on Saturday, as they are on the road against the Texas Rangers and host the Chicago Cubs (12:05 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Jackson Ferris faces Jack Leiter at Surprise Stadium, while Justin Wrobleski faces Colin Rea at Camelback Ranch.

Much has been made of the Dodgers’ exorbitant spending, magnified by a pair of World Series titles for the franchise, as Major League Baseball enters the final year of the current collective bargaining agreement.

The Dodgers open 2026 with a record $381 million payroll, while having over $1 billion in deferrals. As if signing Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernández and Blake Snell, and extending Tyler Glasnow and Will Smith weren’t enough, the club once again opened up its wallet this winter, spending a combined $309 million on four-time All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker and three-time reliever of the year Edwin Díaz.

Relief pitcher Blake Treinen, one of the longest-tenured players on the Dodgers heading into his seventh season with the team, did not mince words when asked about how outsiders view the organization.

Read more:Shaikin: Dodgers hype time: How many games will they win in 2026?

“Perception is built from the media and maybe owners that don’t like what the Dodgers are doing because they would have to do something similar,” Treinen said earlier this week. “And I say to that, ‘Maybe you’re in the wrong business.'”

Treinen thinks more teams should spend the way that the Dodgers do.

“Is it a bad thing that the people who pay our checks and our salaries want a winning product?” Treinen said. “If you’re going to complain about a team willing to do what it takes to win, then I think you’re in the wrong business. And, if you win, to say that you lose money by winning is a wild statement, so I think the perception is more or less if you don’t like what the Dodgers are doing, either take a look in the mirror or look at the people who aren’t putting a product on the field.”

Treinen went on to say that teams don’t necessarily need to be lavish spenders in order to compete, pointing to how the Milwaukee Brewers posted baseball's best record a season ago, with the 22nd-highest payroll. The Brewers bested the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central by five games, despite having a payroll nearly $100 million lower than their rival, and reached the National League Championship Series.

“You don’t always have to spend money to be great, look at the Brewers,” Treinen said. “But to say that you can’t compete — like they did — is a wild thing, because [they had] the best record in baseball last year. Draft and development is a big deal, a lot of teams have leaned into it. So, if you either invest heavily in one or the other, and the Dodgers have done a great job of doing both and that’s why players sign here. If you don’t like it, then maybe find a new business model.”

How the Dodgers operate has garnered some praise — the Padres' Manny Machado and the Phillies' Bryce Harper weighed in on the subject early in spring training — but the front office wasn't really seeking it out.

“We’re not looking externally for validation,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said earlier this month at Camelback Ranch. “The validation is winning championships and putting out as good a team as we can each and every year, and all we’re trying to do is get a little bit better each and every season, with the goal of winning championships. [Our] coaching staff, our players I think view it as that. Good, bad or indifferent, the external stuff is something we can’t worry about.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, speaking at Cactus League media day earlier this month, said the fixation on the money spent makes people miss the things they do well.

Read more:'Just go out and pitch.' Dodgers' Tyler Glasnow is efficient in his first spring start

“It does get lost, the things that we do well,” Roberts said. “Scouting and player development, I think we do as well as anybody in baseball … to get superstars to play well every night, to put out a good product every single night, I think we do a good job at that.”

“That’s why the biggest conversation should be that instead of a payroll question,” Roberts added. “Why are we good for baseball? Because our players play the game the right way."

Yoshinobu Yamamoto makes final start before WBC

Six days after Roberts mistakenly wished his ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto luck in the World Baseball Classic, the reigning World Series MVP took the mound one last time before departing for Team Japan against the San Francisco Giants at Scottsdale Stadium on Friday.

Yamamoto threw 52 pitches while completing three innings, giving up five hits and two runs — including a solo home run in the first — while striking out four.

"Overall, I was feeling good physically," Yamamoto said via interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda after his outing. "Early on, my command was a little off in the first inning. But once I got into the second inning, the feel came back."

Roberts said the Dodgers are on the same page as Team Japan is regarding Yamamoto’s workload in the WBC.

“Yoshinobu knows when he’s going to pitch for Team Japan,” Roberts said before Friday's game. “And we’re aligned as far as our organization, our pitching guys, he’s comfortable with it.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.