SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 27: Kyle Schwarber #12 of the Philadelphia Phillies hits a single during the fourth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on May 27, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
I find it funny that anything you read about Justin Wrobleski said he didn’t strike anyone out this season, yet in the first inning last night, he struck out the side. The only reason for that is simple: that’s baseball.
May 14, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Kyle Harrison (52) has a mound visit with catcher Gary Sanchez (99) in the fourth inning against the San Diego Padres at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images
Jacob Misiorowski has vaulted himself into the Cy Young conversation by allowing one run in five May starts combined. He leads the league in strikeouts, strikeouts per nine, and hits per nine. He’s also throwing harder than literally any starter we’ve ever seen. (Probably.)
And yet, despite Misiorowski’s unhittable stuff and 1.83 ERA (220 ERA+)*, his teammate, Kyle Harrison, actually has a lower ERA. After six scoreless innings against the Cardinals on Tuesday, Harrison’s ERA dropped to 1.57 (256 ERA+). While Harrison’s peripheral numbers aren’t quite at Misiorowski’s level, they’re still good, and the results are obviously there.
* A quick reminder on ERA+: it’s a way of measuring ERA while accounting for the league environment of the time, with 100 as average, 110 as ten percent above average, 90 as 10 percent below average, etc.
Misiorowski and Harrison are both really good. There are plenty of pieces out there breaking down why. My purpose here today isn’t to analyze their play as much as it is to do what I love doing: look back at history.
I do not expect Misiorowski and Harrison to maintain ERA+ numbers of 220 or higher for the entire season. To say that would be unprecedented would be an understatement: in full-length AL/NL seasons since 1900, only 16 qualified starters total have had an ERA+ of 220 or higher. Still, I was curious about historic pitching partnerships. What are the best single-season teammate pitching duos in baseball history? Who might we say Misiorowski and Harrison are “chasing?”
To create my long list of candidates, I looked for “qualified” starters who finished in the top five in the league in ERA+ and also had a teammate in the top 10. (Right now, Misiorowski ranks fourth in the league; Harrison, who is a couple innings short of qualifying, would be third.) I came up with a little formula—nothing fancy, but a way of ranking these duos to see who came out on top. (I assigned points based on average ERA+, average bWAR, and ERA+ rank in the given season.) I was pleased with the results, and I’m going to share the top seven-ish duos here, then add a couple others that stood out.
7. Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander, 2019 Astros
The 2010s were a weird time for the Astros. They’d tanked as hard as anyone has ever tanked in the first half of the decade—three consecutive seasons with at least 106 losses between 2011 and 2013—but that tank job actually bore fruit, and by 2015 they were back in the playoffs. They won the World Series in 2017, which also started a more-or-less unprecedented run of seven straight years in which they made it to at least the ALCS. They were back in the World Series in 2019, a series which they lost in seven games to the Nationals… and then shortly after the season, news of the sign-stealing scandal that benefitted them in the 2017 and 2018 seasons rocked the baseball world.
Amidst it all, the 2019 Astros had one of the best rotations of all time. Cole and Verlander finished first and second in all of baseball with a 185 and 179 ERA+, respectively. In bWAR, Verlander was third and Cole fifth, while in fWAR, Cole was first and Verlander fifth. Verlander just edged Cole in Cy Young voting; he got 17 of 30 first-place votes, and Cole got the other 13. They won a combined 41 games and struck out a combined 626 batters, and neither had a WHIP over 0.895.
If that wasn’t enough, Zack Greinke was on that team, too. He finished ninth in the league with a 154 ERA+.
Neither Cole nor Verlander was great in the World Series, though. Cole went 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA, but Verlander really struggled: he went 0-2 with a 5.73 ERA in two starts and had nine strikeouts to six walks in 11 innings.
6. Dolf Luque and Eppa Rixey, 1923 Reds
I promise I won’t get super deep into old dudes you’ve never heard of, but I’m just spitting out what the formula gave me.
This is an unbalanced duo: Luque had an all-time good season, while Rixey was run-of-the-mill good. But it was a down year for pitchers, so even though there’s a 62-point split between them in ERA+ (Luque at 201, Rixey at 139), Rixey still finished third in the league, so that’s kind of weighing heavily on this rating.
Luque was just mowing everyone down. In one of the major outlier seasons in baseball history, he went 27-8 with a 1.93 ERA (201 ERA+) and led the majors in both bWAR and fWAR, wins, ERA, ERA+, and shutouts, and led the NL in FIP, hits per nine, and homers per nine. He had one other good season in 1925 (though not nearly on this level), and several others I’d call “solid,” but he was really only a superstar in 1923. The Reds were good at 91-63, but finished second to the Giants in the NL.
Rixey made the Hall of Fame in 1963. He’s what I’d call a “dubious selection,” but he won 266 games in a 21-year career, and that didn’t include a peak season lost to World War I.
5. Hal Newhouser and Dizzy Trout, 1946 (and sort of 1944) Tigers
I swear this is true: I ranked 127 different duos with my formula, and the 1944 and 1946 seasons of Newhouser and Trout came out right next to each other, at 5th and 4th, respectively. I’m going to essentially ignore the 1944 season; most of the league’s stars were in the military, but Newhouser was deemed unfit due to a congenital heart defect. He was probably the best player left in the league during the time, and won back-to-back MVPs in 1944 and 1945. Detroit won the World Series in ‘45.
Luckily for Newhouser’s Hall of Fame case, he was just as good in 1946, when the stars returned. In 1946, Newhouser went 26-9 with an AL-leading 1.94 ERA (190 ERA+) and 8.5 K/9, an astronomical number for the era. He earned 9.7 bWAR, and led the AL in FIP, WHIP, and H/9. Only Ted Williams’ brilliant return season kept Newhouser from winning a third straight MVP.
Trout also didn’t fight in the war. He was just as good as Newhouser in 1944 but not nearly as good in 1945. In 1946, Trout went 17-13 with a 2.34 ERA (157 ERA+) and 7.6 bWAR, an excellent season, but really his only year that I’d call “good” that occurred outside of the war years.
Detroit finished second in the AL in 1946, 12 games back of Williams’ 104-50 Red Sox.
4. Mordecai “Three-Finger” Brown and Orval Overall, 1909 Cubs
I’m happy to talk about this one just because Orval Overall is one of the great baseball names.
The Cubs had a dynasty in the second half of the 19-aughts. They won three consecutive pennants from 1906-08, and the World Series in ’07 and ‘08. This is the “Tinkers-Evers-Chance” team, and while a casual glance suggests they just had a ton of really good pitchers, it seems more likely that they had a historically good defense that was particularly well-suited to the baseball of the time. To illustrate the point: the 1907 Cubs had five of the top seven players in all of baseball in ERA+. That seems to me to be far more a reflection of their defensive prowess than the talent of guys like Overall, Carl Lundgren, Jack Pfiester, and Ed Reulbach.
Still, we need to acknowledge the numbers these guys put up, and the season that grades out best is 1909. Mordecai “Three-Finger” Brown, so called because of a farming accident in his youth, is one of the great Deadball pitchers and a solid Hall of Famer. He peaked from 1906-1909; in ’09, he led the majors in innings pitched and wins (27) and had a 1.31 ERA (193 ERA+). Overall was almost as good that year, and went 20-11 with a 1.42 ERA (179 ERA+) and led the majors with 205 strikeouts and 6.5 K/9. He was a very solid pitcher from 1907-09 but was essentially out of the league after the 1910 season despite being only 29 years old.
But the 1909 Cubs, though they went 104-49, failed to win the pennant for the first time in four years. The winners that year are among the best teams of all time: the 1909 Pirates, led by the great Honus Wagner, went 110-42 (.724, the third-best winning percentage ever).
A brief historical curiosity: the team that actually had the two starters with the best combined ERA+ in the history of baseball is the 1907 Cubs. The aforementioned Pfiester and Lundgren had ERA+ numbers of 214 and 211 that year. But sometimes bWAR doesn’t make any sense to me, so let’s play “which one of these players is worth 5.7 WAR and which is worth 1.7?”
By the way I’ve framed the question, you can probably guess that Pfiester, who has better numbers, is the one with 1.7 WAR.
I don’t get it, but that’s the number one season of all time for combined ERA+ of the top two qualified starters on a team. In addition to the 1909 duo discussed above which has the second-best combined ERA+ ever, the 1906 Cubs duo of Brown and Pfiester is also seventh. I think the lesson here is that Tinker, Evers, Chance, catcher Johnny Kling, and third baseman Harry Steinfeldt were all quite good with the glove.
3. Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte, 2005 Astros
I don’t know about you, but I just don’t like these guys. I became a baseball fan in the late ‘90s and turned 17 in 2005 and Clemens and Pettitte mean two things to me: Yankee dynasties and PEDs. I don’t like either.
Clemens was 42 in 2005, so you’ll understand why I think about this season much like I think about Barry Bonds’ seasons of a similar vintage. Old Man Clemens started 32 games, threw 211 innings, and led baseball with a 1.87 ERA, 226 ERA+, 6.4 hits per nine, and 7.8 bWAR. He also led the NL with a 2.87 FIP.
Pettitte was 33 in 2005 and coming off an injury-plagued season. He hadn’t had an ERA+ over 135 since 1997, but in ’05 he went 17-9 with a 2.39 ERA (177 ERA+) and earned 6.8 bWAR.
What’s a little funny about this is that both Clemens and Pettitte were outpaced in fWAR by their teammate, Roy Oswalt. He won 20 games, so he finished higher than Pettitte in Cy Young voting (Clemens, Oswalt, and Pettitte finished 3-4-5). It was quite a trio. The Astros, as a Wild Card team, beat the Braves in the NLDS and the Cardinals in the NLCS but were swept by the White Sox in the World Series.
2. Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw, 2015 Dodgers
People might quibble with the way I’ve put this together because I exclusively used ERA and not anything more advanced than that (and thus bWAR instead of fWAR). That matters quite a bit for a season like 2015, because there is a huge discrepancy in bWAR and fWAR for Greinke that year. By the runs-allowed-based bWAR, Greinke, who went 19-3 with a 1.66 ERA and 222 ERA+, led all pitchers with 8.9 WAR. But he had a FIP that was more than a run higher than his ERA, so by the measure of fWAR, he had only 5.3 WAR, eighth in the league.
Of course, if you use fWAR instead of bWAR, Kershaw moves from third (7.2) to first (8.6), so there’s some balance achieved. Kershaw in 2015 was on one of the great heaters in pitching history: from 2011-17, he finished first, second, first, first, third, fifth, and second in Cy Young voting. He won ERA titles in five of those seven years, and in ’15 he was coming off an MVP award.
Those Dodgers had holes, though. They still won the NL West, but with just 92 wins, and they lost in the NLDS to the Mets. Kershaw and Greinke both pitched well in that series.
Kershaw will certainly be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and Greinke should be.
1. Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, 2001 Diamondbacks
When I started this exercise, the first duo that came to mind was Johnson and Schilling. I suspect that many of you went there first, too. Without having to tweak anything, they came out on top of my automated rankings.
That’s mostly due to Johnson, who was just absurdly good in 2001. That was the third of four straight years in which he won the NL Cy Young, and it was probably his best season: he was 21-6 and led the majors with a 2.49 ERA, 188 ERA+, 2.13 FIP, 1.009 WHIP, 6.5 H/9, 13.4 K/9, and an incredible 372 strikeouts. That’s the most strikeouts in a season in the last 53 years, but when Nolan Ryan struck out 383 batters in 1973, he did it in 326 innings. Johnson did it in 249 2/3.
(Only one other player has struck out that many batters in a post-1900 season: Sandy Koufax, in 1965, had 382 Ks in 335 2/3 innings.)
By the measure of fWAR, Johnson’s 2001 season is the sixth-best ever by a pitcher.
Schilling wasn’t as good as Johnson in 2001, but he was still pretty darn good. He was traded to Arizona halfway through the 2000 season, and while he’d been a very good pitcher with the Phillies in the ‘90s (he’d led the league in strikeouts twice), he ascended to another level in Arizona. It was Schilling who led the league in wins in ’01 with 22, and his 157 ERA+ was, to that point, the best of his career. (He’d surpass that, barely, two years later.) By bWAR, 2001 is Schilling’s best season at 8.8.
This duo is not remembered for what they did in the regular season, though. Their performances in that year’s Fall Classic are truly the stuff of legend. Here’s what they did in the first six games of the series:
Schilling, g4: 7 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 9 K (ARI loses 4-3 in extras)
Johnson, g6: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 7 K (ARI wins 15-2, series tied at 3)
Schilling started game seven and went 7 1/3 innings, struck out nine, didn’t walk any, and gave up two runs. Miguel Batista got the second out in the eighth before handing a 2-2 game over to Johnson, the day after he’d thrown 104 pitches in game six. He got four outs without allowing a baserunner, and the Diamondbacks walked off Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the ninth to win a classic.
This feels right. Johnson is a top ten pitcher of all time, and Schilling is probably in the top 20. They were both at or near their best in 2001, and they have the World Series to add to the legend.
Others of note
The first cut is from the 2002 Red Sox. That’s mostly because of Pedro Martínez, who I think was, between 1997 and 2003, the greatest starting pitcher of all time. But look at Derek Lowe, who was 21-8 with a 2.58 ERA (177 ERA+) in ’02, fresh off three years closing games for Boston.
In the Year of the Pitcher in 1968, Bob Gibson didn’t have a teammate worthy of duo status. But in the AL, the two best pitchers were on the same team: Luis Tiant and Sam McDowell, who both pitched for Cleveland, finished second and third in the league in ERA+.
I thought Koufax and Don Drysdale might be near the top, but their best seasons didn’t quite align. The closest they came was in 1964, but Koufax missed some time that season so his bWAR was a little lower than his other best years, and the formula had them at number 26.
There are two particularly balanced examples from recent history. One is Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee of the 2013 Phillies. They finished with 8.8 and 8.5 bWAR and ERA+ numbers of 163 and 160. The other is the 2017 Nationals, who had Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg with identical 178 ERA+ numbers (Scherzer had a 2.51 ERA, Strasburg 2.52). Scherzer led the NL in both versions of WAR that year and won his third Cy Young. Strasburg was just as good, but in 25 fewer innings.
Of note to Brewers fans is, of course, 2021, when Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff peaked at the same time. Because their bWAR numbers aren’t all that high (they each had 5.3), the formula doesn’t love that season (it’s ranked 48th). But Burnes and Woodruff were second and fourth in the league in ERA+, by far the best showing for any Brewers duo.
Misiorowski and Harrison probably won’t add their names to this list this season (a likely limit on both pitchers’ innings being a major obstacle), but who knows!
Angels manager Kurt Suzuki sits in the dugout during a game against the Athletics at Angel Stadium on May 21. (Luke Hales / Getty Images)
Three weeks ago The Times published an article in which general manager Perry Minisian said the Angels are “very competitive” and “our best baseball is in front of us.” He then cited run differential and team ERA as examples. After getting swept by the Dodgers by a combined 31-3 the Angels had the worst run differential, worst won/loss record and are at or near the bottom in all pitching and hitting categories in MLB.
Since owner Arte Moreno believes that “winning is not a top priority,” he must be very pleased with both the work of his GM and the team’s performance so far this season. That the three games against the Dodgers were sold out was not because of fans’ desire to see this “very competitive” Angels team.
Rob Nelson Dana Point
The Angels’ ultimate indignity is its own hometown newspaper doesn’t regard it highly enough to staff its games with a full-time writer. The Angels are irrelevant in Southern California and the owner isn’t self aware enough to realize it.
Ron Yukelson San Luis Obispo
I just wanted to give praise to the Angels TV and radio broadcast teams. Even with the Angels having the worst record in baseball, and having suffered 10 straight losing seasons, the broadcast teams approach the games professionally and always with a positive attitude. As a lifelong Angels fan, it always reminds me of that saying “hope springs eternal.”
Steve Shaevel Woodland Hills
Passing on the playoffs
So far, viewing each round of the NBA playoffs, the transformation into the WWE is complete. The NBA has become unwatchable, allowing full-blown, no-holds-barred grabbing, holding and even hugging, with or without the ball, and not even trying to hide it. Physicality has always been part of the NBA game, mostly inside the paint, and never to the extent we are witnessing today. No more traveling calls, rarely calls for over-the-top or blatant shoves in the back to grab a rebound. Hand-checking starts at 70 feet from the basket. This is not great defense — this is simply offensive.
Pat Levitt Los Angeles
Can’t buy good health
So what are the odds of both Kiké and Teo Hernández going down in back-to-back games? Hopefully Tommy Edman will soon be back to play infield or outfield.
Fred Wallin Westlake Village
The Dodgers have seemingly managed to perfect every aspect of running a baseball juggernaut. Why can’t they keep their players healthy?
Bill Hokans Santa Ana
It simply may be a function of today’s near wall-to-wall sports coverage, but it sure seems like pro athletes spend a lot more time injured. Bone chips, ACLs, MCLs, pulled hamstrings, multiple Tommy John surgeries and the recent epidemic of dreaded oblique strains just for starters. You’d think with the tremendous advances in sports medicine, year-round conditioning and, yes, “load management,” players of all sports would be healthier than ever.
John Merryman Redondo Beach
Tough critique
Listening to Shohei Ohtani’s assessment of his own performance on Wednesday, one would have thought he got shelled. All he did was pitch a no-hitter for six innings and walked a few batters. If he were a pole vaulter, he would set the bar at 20 feet and lament that he reached only 19.
Mike Schaller Temple City
Remembering Kyle and Kobe
Even for non-racing fans, one cannot ignore the mastery and dominance of one Kyle Busch in the NASCAR racing circuit. The stamina, coordination, reflexes and maneuvering of a vehicle at such ridiculously high speeds is more than admirable. His 234 wins placed him as tops in his field.
As with Kobe Bryant, his sudden and tragic death deeply affected me.
And, as with Kobe, both were just 41 years of age! Way too soon to have such icons taken from us and the world of sports.
Rick Solomon Lake Balboa
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SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - APRIL 18, 2026: Ryan Clifford #20 of the Syracuse Mets hits a three-run home run during the first inning of the first game of a doubleheader against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders at NBT Bank Stadium on April 18, 2026 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Leah King/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
Syracuse scored seven runs in the third inning but managed to lose anyway. The Red Wings tied the game in the seventh initially, tallying two runs off Jonathan Pintaro. A Kevin Parada put the Mets back in front in the eighth, but Dylan Ross couldn’t hold the lead in the ninth, sending the game to extras tied at 8. After a scoreless tenth and a failed top of the 11th for the Mets, Alex Carrillo ultimately gave up the walkoff hit to Philip Glasser. Rough scenes all around.
Another extra inning game, but this time a win. Chris Suero got the walkoff hit, blooping a single into center in the bottom of the tenth to drive in the game winning one. Oddly, Portland had to use a position player, sending catcher Raudelis Martinez to the mound in the tenth despite only using three pitchers previously. The minor leagues man.
More importantly than all that, the rehabbing Jorge Polanco homered and walked two times while DHing, and encouraging sign as he works his way back from wrist and Achilles injuries.
Brooklyn scored ten runs on only six hits thanks to a whopping ten walks. As said previously, man, the minor leagues. Most of those runs came against former Met farm hand Bryce Montas de Oca who managed only a single out while hitting two batters, walking four, and allowing six runs.
Elian Peña broke out of his recent funk, homering and walking twice to lead a 8-0 win over the Marauders. Jamari Baylor also had a nice day at the plate, doubling twice in a three-hit performance to raise his season OPS to .842. On the mound, Nicolas Carreno had another nice performance as well, striking out seven in 5.2 scoreless innings. His ERA is now down to 1.43 on the season.
Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders:L, 6-5 vs. Worcester Red Sox
SS George Lombard Jr. 0-3, 2 BB, K, SB — no hits, but getting on and causing trouble RF Spencer Jones 2-4, HR, RBI, BB, K — lucky no.13 on the year 3B Oswaldo Cabrera 1-3, BB, K 1B Tyler Hardman 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, K C Payton Henry 0-4 LF Ernesto Martinez Jr. 2-4, HR, RBI DH Ali Sánchez 0-3, BB, K 2B Jonathan Ornelas 1-4, SB CF Duke Ellis 0-4
Elmer Rodríguez 5 IP, 6 H, 5 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HR — back-to-back rough outings for ERC Dylan Coleman 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K Yordanny Cruz 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K — another impressive outing from the Scranton Shuttler Rafael Montero 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K (loss) — former big leaguer has had a rough go of it with Scranton Yerry De Los Santos 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Double-A Somerset Patriots:W, 12-11 vs. New Hampshire Fisher Cats — six-run seventh erased a 10-6 deficit
RF Jace Avina 2-4, BB, K CF Garrett Martin 2-3, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, SB — 16th homer of the year leads the farm system 3B Coby Morales 3-3, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB DH DJ Gladney 1-5, HR, 2 RBI, 3 K LF Jackson Castillo 3-5, RBI, K, SB C Manuel Palencia 1-5, RBI, K 1B Abrahan Gutierrez 2-5, 2 RBI SS Owen Cobb 1-5, 2 K 2B Kevin Verde 0-3, K
Jack Cebert 4 IP, 10 H, 9 R, 1 BB, 7 K, 3 HR — wore it and put Somerset in a deep hole, but they climbed out of it Matt Keating 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR Harrison Cohen 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K Chris Kean 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (win) Ben Grable 0.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K (hold) Chris Veach 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K (save)
Eric Genther sends this one to a galaxy far far away!! The 3 run homer puts the 'Gades back on top! pic.twitter.com/DBhUi7w7Gi
— Hudson Valley Renegades (@HVRenegades) May 30, 2026
Low-A Tampa Tarpons:W, 7-1 (7) vs. Daytona Tortugas, was originally scheduled to be a doubleheader but game 2 was rained out, they’ll try for the doubleheader again today
SS Jackson Lovich 1-4, 2B, fielding error 3B Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek 2-2, HR, 2 RBI, BB 2B Hans Montero 0-3, BB C Luis Puello 0-4, 3 K LF Willy Montero 2-4, 2B, RBI, K, SB DH Engelth Urena 0-2, 2 BB, K CF Luis Durango 0-3, K 1B Austin Green 1-2, HR, RBI, BB, K RF Gabriel Lara 1-3, RBI
Mac Heuer 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K (win) — best start of the 2025 eight-rounder’s pro career Jose M. Rodriguez 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K Parker Seay 0.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K Pedro Rodriguez 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Florida Complex League Yankees:L, 8-2 vs. FCL Tigers
3B Richard Matic 2-4, 3B CF Wilberson De Pena 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, K C Queni Pineda 1-3, K SS Leni Done 0-4 DH David McCann 1-4, 2B, K 2B Dexters Peralta 1-4, 2 K LF Estivenzon Montero 1-4, K 1B Justin Capellan 0-4, K RF Isael Arias 1-3, SB
Omar Gonzalez 5 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 7 K (loss) Enixon Sanchez 1.2 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 0 BB, 2 K Austin Breedlove 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K Marco Manzano 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - MAY 24: Framber Valdez #59 of the Detroit Tigers pitches in the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles during game one of a double header at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on May 24, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Detroit Tigers’ struggles in the late innings continued on Friday night when they dropped the weekend series opener against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Park, 4-3, in extra innings. Troy Melton gave his team seven strong innings for a quality start and Will Vest got credit for holding a 2-1 lead through the eighth, but alas… well, you know how this story keeps ending.
Another day, another chance to get back in the win column. On Saturday afternoon, the two American League Central rivals will battle again, this time with left-hander Framber Valdez taking the bump for the Motor City Kitties.
The 32-year-old’s last outing was among his best this season so far, throwing six frames of one-run ball on a solo home run plus a single along with two walks while striking out five Baltimore Orioles only to earn a no-decision in a losing effort. Valdez faced the ChiSox twice last year with the Houston Astros, throwing five innings in both to mixed results.
The home team will have fellow southpaw Anthony Kay climbing the mound looking to clinch a series win. The 31-year-old has had a superb May, putting up a tidy 1.98 but disconerting 4.27 FIP over five games stretching over 27 1/3 innings, allowing 22 hits (three home runs) and nine walks while striking out 24 — plus five hit batters and a wild pitch.
Kay has never faced Detroit in any of his 55 previous major league appearances. Take a look at how he stacks up against Valdez on Saturday.
Detroit Tigers (22-36) vs. Chicago White Sox (30-27)
Time (ET): 2:10 p.m. Place: Rate Field, Chicago, Illinois SB Nation Site:South Side Sox Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Game 59: LHP Framber Valdez (2-3, 4.28 ERA) vs. LHP Anthony Kay (4-1, 3.96 ERA)
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 29: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees stands next to Nick Kurtz #16 of the Athletics at first base in the seventh inning at Sutter Health Park on May 29, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Just as it looked like the Yankees were swooning, they’ve pulled out of it. Five straight wins will do that, with New York now within 1.5 games of Tampa Bay and one off their highwater mark above .500 for the season. It’s times like these that the club’s stellar starting rotation feels so imposing; coming off a quick stretch in which Carlos Rodón, Gerrit Cole, and Cam Schlittler all shoved, the Yankees can casually toss out another player with an ERA that’s threatening to go under 3 in Ryan Weathers tonight. When your starting pitching gives you a great chance to win every night, well, you’re gonna win a lot of games.
It’ll be another long day’s journey into night today, with the Yankees and A’s facing off at 10 pm EST. Before that, Andrew will get you caught up with today’s Rivalry Roundup, and Matt’s profile of Rube Oldring will be the next entry in our Yankee Birthday series. Later, John analyzes the opening salvos in the CBA negotiations from the MLBPA and the league, Josh discusses The Backup Catcher situation, and Kento analyzes Amed Rosario’s quality work at the plate.
Today’s Matchup:
New York Yankees at Athletics
Time: 10:05 p.m. EST
TV: YES Network, NBCSCA
Venue: Sutter Health Park, Sacramento, CA
Questions/Prompts:
1. Have Carlos Rodón’s back-to-back solid starts convinced you that he’s all the way back?
2. The A’s, at 27-30, are just one game back of first in the AL West. Who do you favor in this division of sub.-500 clubs?
The Hens offense had a good night, but Carl Edwards Jr. and the Hens bullpen did not.
Edwards Jr. is being stretched out as a starter for whatever reason. Probably because Scott Harris and Jeff Greenberg liked him as a Cubs reliever nearly a decade ago. Anyway, he got shelled right out of the gate much like his last outing and was pulled before the first inning was over. Scott Effross allowed two run in the second, and so it was 6-0 real quickly.
It was 7-0 by the time the Hens got on the board in the bottom of the fourth. Max Anderson drilled an opposite field homer, and two batters later Jace Jung launched his seventh of the year to make it 7-2 Columbus. Corey Julks immediately followed with another solo shot, and Tomás Nido doubled. Kerry Carpenter singled to right to get Nido to third, and Ben Malgeri doubled in Nido to make it a 7-4 game.
Anderson was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the fifth, and two batter later Jung cracked a two-run shot, his second of the game. 7-6 Columbus.
Lael Lockhart Jr. allowed two runs in the eighth, and Luke Ritter one in the ninth. The Hens got a run in the bottom of the eighth when Tyler Gentry singled against Daniel Espino and Trei Cruz doubled him in.
Carpenter went 1 for 2 with a pair of walks and a strikeout in his first rehab game with the Hens. Trei Cruz had the double and two strikeouts. Cruz shouldn’t be too far from readiness, particularly as the Tigers need him to play shortstop and center field, so all he has to do is be slightly more effective than Zack Short.
Jung: 2-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR, BB, K
Julks: 2-5, R, RBI, HR, 3 K
Cruz: 1-5, RBI, 2B, 2 K
Clark: 1-4, BB
Edwards (L, 1-4): 0.2 IP, 4 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:05 p.m. ET start at Fifth Third on Saturday with the Clippers up 3-1 in the series.
The Baysox clobbered lefty Carlos Peña in this one, and they found that clobbering pitchers was fun. So they continue to add on as they ran away with this one.
Peña got through the first, but the second was just a parade of hits that wouldn’t end. He didn’t even walk a batter, but the Baysox racked up seven runs in the second inning, knocking him out of the game.
Luke Taggart took over, but left in the fourth with two on, and Johan Simon got a grounder that went for an error on first baseman Chris Meyers to plate another run. Eric Silva gave up another in the fifth.
In the bottom of the fifth, Justice Bigbie doubled to lead off and a flyout and a ground out were enough to score him. Thayron Liranzo has been red hot the past few weeks after a slow start, and he crushed his seventh homer of the year, this one right-handed, in the seventh. That’s six homers in Liranzo’s last 12 games.
Thayron Liranzo goes to the opposite field for his 7th home run of the season. pic.twitter.com/uzaIPNbURN
Catcher Aaron Antonini pitched 2.1 innings, which tells you all you need to know really. First baseman Andrew Jenkins got the final two out.
Liranzo: 1-3, R, RBI, HR, BB, K
Bigbie: 1-3, R, 2B, BB
Peña (L, 3-2): 1.2 IP, 7 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. ET start on Saturday.
West Michigan Whitecaps 4, Lansing Lugnuts 2 (box)
Carlos Marcano gave the Whitecaps a solid short start and the bullpen held up in this one as they evened the series on Friday.
Marcano needed 55 pitches to work through three innings, and for whatever reason the Tigers refuse to stretch their pitchers out. He allowed just one hit and two walks, striking out four in a scoreless outing.
Caleb Shpur doubled and then stole third in the third inning. Woody Hadeen singled him in for a 1-0 lead.
Lefty Ethan Sloan allowed the Lugnuts to tie it up in the fourth, but bounced back with a scoreless fifth inning. Doubles from Ricardo Hurtado and Garrett Pennington in the sixth made it 2-1 ‘Caps. In the eighth, they loaded the bases and a two-run single from Clayton Campbell made it 4-1.
Kelvis Salcedo’s command just wasn’t there in this one. The offense made a nice push late to come back, but couldn’t complete the task.
Salcedo just couldn’t find a groove in this one. His fastball velocity was down, and while he only walked one in three innings of work, he was behind in counts though much of his outing. He gave up a solo shot in the second inning, and three runs in the third before departing. Jatnk Diaz settled things down in the fourth, but then surrendered a pair of runs in the fifth. So it was 6-0 Cardinals at that point, and Yendy Gomez balked in another in the sixth.
Zach MacDonald continues to mash and play a good center field. He crushed a rocket to left in the top of the seventh for his 12th home run on the year with Beau Ankeney board. 7-2 Cardinals.
In the eighth Newremberg Rondon (I can’t help but think Nuremberg) doubled to lead off the inning and singles from catcher Hunter Dobbins and Jordan Yost singled in Rondon. The Cardinals went back to their pen, but Jude Warwick greeted Jesus Garcia with a double to left to plate Dobbins. Yost was thrown out trying to go first to home, but Warwick took third on that play, and Nick Dumesnil lifted a sacrifice fly to score him.
So it was 7-5, but the Flying Tigers couldn’t muster anything more.
MacDonald: 1-4, R, 2 RBI, HR, K
Yost: 1-4, RBI, K
Dobbins: 1-2, R, BB
Salcedo (L, 0-2): 3.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, BB, K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. ET start on Saturday with Palm Beach leading the series 3-1.
Aleiman Cruz gave the Tigers a very good start and they pounded out 14 hits to crush the Yankees on Friday. Cruz scattered three hits and no walks over four innings of scoreless work, striking out five.
MLB Trade Rumors | Anthony Franco: We’re still a bit of a ways off from the Trade Deadline and the season leading up to it, but a picture is starting to be painted in regards to what the Yankees might do. Reports have the Yankees looking at relievers and catching options most notably.
MLB.com | Clark Fahrenthold: The phrase “there’s no such thing as a pitching prospect,” isn’t meant to be taken literally, as much as it is to get across that so much can go wrong for even the most “can’t miss” young pitchers. However, you can still get excited by them, and Carlos Lagrange is an exciting one. While he still has to put things all together, Lagrange has had the raw “stuff” for a while now, and he’s turning heads down in Triple-A.
New York Post | Greg Joyce: The Yankees’ roster as currently made up contains quite a number of left-handed hitters. Now while they do have quite a very good right-handed hitter in Aaron Judge, the only other currently righty regulars are José Caballero, and Paul Goldschmidt. That’s why the Yankees believe that Giancarlo Stanton’s eventual return to the lineup will be a massive plus, even if he had gotten off to a slow start prior to his injury.
A drunken lifeguard. A laptop with no disk space. A millenial regularly buying and consuming avocado toast. The San Francisco Giants bullpen.
What do they have in common? They’re not good at saving.
That was the case Friday night at Coors Field, where the Colorado Rockies hit two home runs and scored five runs off Caleb Killian (1-3) in the bottom of the 9th inning, sending the Giants to their fourth straight loss and their eighth loss in their last 10 games.
Hunter Goodman hit a three-run homer to tie the game. Then with two outs, Ezequiel Tovar finished the shot with a two-run shot to left that gave Colorado an 8-6 victory and prompted the Rockies social media department to quote a song from “The Lizzie Maguire Movie,” which is about Lizzie Maguire traveling to Italy and meeting a pop star who looks exactly like her — a plot point only slightly more improbable than this Giants loss.
Just a note: That film pre-dated Hannah Montana, a series where Miley Cyrus leads a double life as a regular teenager and a famous pop star, but no one notices because she wears a blonde wig. Also for some reason, Haylie Duff does the singing for her sister’s Italian doppelganger.
Was that a digression? Sure, but isn’t it better than talking about the 2026 Giants?
Perhaps the Giants should have been more wary of a clutch two-run homer from Tovar, considering he did it one inning earlier to pull the Rockies to a 4-3 deficit in the 8th. Tovar hit it off Keaton Winn and the official 441-foot measurement honestly seems low.
How did the Giants get enough of a lead to set up their epic bullpen collapse? Logan Webb returned from the IL and fought his way through 4 1/3 innings that included three hits, three walks, a hit-by-pitch, and surrendering a steal of home on a Little League-caliber trick play.
But the Giants still held a 3-1 lead after five innings, even after SF nemesis Goodman (2-for-4, 3 RBI, BB) doubled the pitch-hit Tyler Freeman to third and Jung Hoo Lee, also fresh off the IL, made a very creative catch in right field.
You know who else is bad at saving? People not lucky enough to join the Safeway Select Club.
The Giants got on the board when DH Bryce Eldridge (1-for-1, two walks and a sac fly) doubled in the third and scored on a Willy Adames sac fly. They took the lead in the third with two walks, a Daniel Susac sacrifice fly, a single from Lee (4-for-5, two runs) and an RBI single from Harrison Bader.
The Giants scored three runs on sacrifice flies and another when Lee scored from second on Bader’s single, and not one player was thrown out at home plate. Welcome back to the third base coaching box, Ron Wotus!
Like the outs at home plate, the Giants also solved their season-long aversion to insurance runs Friday night. Lee doubled and Eldridge drove him home to make it 4-1 in the 8th. In the 9th, the Giants made it 6-3 after Rafeal Devers tripled home Luis Arraez, and Matt Chapman followed with an RBI single.
That missionary who tried to convert the tribespeople of North Sentinel Island, that guy was really bad at saves.
But a three-run lead wasn’t enough at Coors Field. Killian allowed an infield single to himself to start the 9th. Freeman singled and Goodman hit a Carlton Fisk-esque bomb to left field that just barely stayed fair. The umpires reviewed the play and confirmed the home run, which Goodman appreciated because he was “pretty gassed.”
That was Goodman’s fifth career home run against the Giants and his 24th-26th RBIs, which is 11 more than he has against any other team. He’s also slugging .591 against the Giants and he may have advised the Giants to buy the Curran Theatre in the offseason.
Jose Mejia (1-4) got his first win of the season and did not deserve it one bit after giving up two runs and three hits in the 9th, while also hitting a batter. Tovar ended up doubling his 2026 home run total in two at-bats, having gone deep twice in his first 202 trips to the plate this season before duplicating that feat after the 7th inning.
We should note that Tovar’s walkoff didn’t just give the Rockies a win. It gave the Rockies fans discounted tacos. At participating Denver-area Taco Bells, four crispy tacos can be had for just $3 from 4-6 PM tomorrow night. Just a warning — fans still have to pay for their own toilet paper after that promotion gives them diarrhea.
Saturday night Adrian Hauser takes the mound for the Giants as they face right-hander Ryan Feltner, who is coming off the injured list. He’ll probably throw a no-hitter.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - MAY 29: JP Crawford #3 of the Seattle Mariners reacts after hitting a solo home run during the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at T-Mobile Park on May 29, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jack Compton/Getty Images) | Getty Images
J.P. Crawford hit two homers, saved the go-ahead run, and then scored the winning run in extras.
The Mariners returned to .500 with a 7-6 win over the Diamondbacks. Randy Arozarena picked up the final knock, lacing a double into the right center gap to score Crawford in the 10th. It was the 13th — and the sixth for extra bases — on what turned out to be a phenomenal day for the Mariners’ lineup. But a sixth-inning implosion another blown save for Andrés Muñoz kept this one close to the very end.
It all started with Crawford, way back in the first inning. He led off and worked a three-ball count, as he does, laying off a nibbling Zac Gallen. Crawford got a fastball up and out over the plate, turned, and launched it into the right field stands.
It’s been a great season for Crawford at the plate. He’s continued to showcase his tremendous eye, and he’s continued to avoid strikeouts. His 0.81 K/BB is top 20 in baseball. But it’s his .179 ISO that really stands out, looking far closer to his excellent 2023 than what we’ve seen the last two season. The (relative) power is back.
In some ways, it never really left. Crawford changed his swing in 2023 and began hitting the ball much harder. He maintained that hard contact in 2024 even as he struggled, and it stuck around for his bounce back season last year, too. The lesser power numbers in either season were more about the angle that contact was going. Last year, most of his hardest hit balls were on the ground. This year, they’re in the air.
We saw that again in the fifth. Jhonny Pereda smoked a groundball single to lead off the inning. Crawford got a changeup down and out over the plate. He crushed the pitch at 104.8 mph and a perfect 27 degrees and sent it 417 feet over the fence in center field.
Crawford is now up to a 121 wRC+ on the season. It wasn’t just the homers that improved his line Friday. In the third, he drew an eight-pitch walk with two outs. That kept the inning alive to bring Julio to the plate. Gallen hung a slider, and Julio hit a missile to left — 113.6 mph at a razor thin 16 degrees:
It was Julio’s 11th homer of 2026 and his ninth in May. It’s the most homers he’s ever hit in a month for his career. It’s not quite his best month ever as a matter of total production; he entered the day with a mere 141 wRC+ (Julio has had some very, very, very good months). But he’s making great contact, hitting the ball hard and in the air, and avoiding strikeouts. Julio also rocketed a 109.2 mph single and 112.3 mph double on Friday to bring his wRC+ up to 126 on the year.
That’s how the Mariners built a comfortable 5-0 lead, setting themselves up to cruise to a fourth win this week. It wasn’t so easy from there.
George Kirby was fine until he wasn’t. He faced the minimum in the first, thanks to a nifty double play turned by Cole Young. He faced the minimum in the second. He worked around a hit and a walk in the third, and he gave up a leadoff homer in the fourth. He got through five inning without too much trouble and holding 5-1 lead.
Then the Diamondbacks stepped to the plate in the sixth. As it happens, this was exactly the start of their third time through the lineup — something Mariners’ pitchers have struggled with this season. Kirby entered the day with a 4.07 FIP on the third pass in 2026, making him the Mariners only somewhat effective pitcher on that split. That wasn’t the case Friday.
Corbin Carroll laced a one-out single. Geraldo Perdomo flared a weak double to left that got tangled where the wall juts out in foul territory. Gabriel Moreno plated them both with a well-hit double to make it 5-3. That was the end of Kirby’s day: 5 1/3 innings, six hits, four strikeouts, one walk, and a fair amount of hard contact allowed. Meh.
Matt Brash replaced Kirby. He was bad. He walked a batter and gave up a sharp single to load the bases, still with one out. He gave up a run on a groundout. He gave up another on a single to tie the game at 5-5. He walked one final batter but finally ended the inning — the 10th batter of the frame — with a strikeout. It was his worst outing of the season, or rather, his first bad one.
The Mariners lead was gone. No matter: Luke Raley stepped to the plate. With his all-or-nothing dial set to “all,” Raley crushed a hanging, middle-middle changeup way out to right field, giving the Mariners a 6-5 lead. He now leads the team with 12 homers.
Then came the tight rope. The Diamondbacks threatened in the seventh with a couple hits, but Eduard Bazardo eventually shut the door. The Diamondbacks threatened in the eight with a double and a walk, but Dan Wilson brought in Gabe Speier to strikeout Carroll — the best left-on-left hitter in baseball — on three pitches.
That got the ball to Muñoz in the ninth with a 6-5 lead. He struggled, as he has several times this year. He gave up a pair of leadoff singles. Then he hit Nolan Arenado really hard in the elbow to load the bases with nobody out; Arenado exited in considerable pain. Muñoz limited the damage, but still gave up a run on a weak roller. He escaped the inning with a blown save and a 6-6 tie.
Cooper Criswell worked the 10th. He got a groundout to move the Manfred man to third. The Mariners infield came in to cut off the run at home. Carroll then smacked a 101.6 mph hopper up the middle. Crawford ranged a step to his left and dove, snared the grounder, popped to his feet, looked the runner back to third, and fired in time to first.
“That’s just a great reaction on his part to glove that ball, to get it and get the throw to first and keep that runner at third,” Dan Wilson said after the game. “I thought that was the turning point in the game there.”
The play kept things tied until the Mariners turn to bat in the 10th. Arozarena stepped to the plate with one out and Crawford on second as the Manfred Man. Juan Morillo go him to two strikes, and he got Arozarena to chase a nasty slider way out of the zone. But Arozarena was on it, driving it hard the into the left-center gap, bringing Crawford around to score the winning run 7-6.
Arozarena said after the game he wasn’t trying to do too much in that spot, just get the ball in play and try to move the runner. He said the team feels relaxed right now, with everyone feeding off each other’s at bats.
“I think this whole team, right now, it’s in a good spot. Everybody’s been working, putting up good at-bats, and even last year, we still had a good team, but I think right now things are just working and clicking.”
For Crawford, scoring the final run was a nice cap for one of his best games as a Mariner. It’s been a weird start to the 2026 season, with his replacement getting a historic contract and eventually a call up. Crawford’s defense has been measurably and observably poor, with talk of a move to third (to this point, it remains just talk). But it’s games like Friday that show why he’s still around. He gets on base, sometimes he slugs, and he’s one of the great clutch performers in team history. He did all those things Friday. The Mariners won.
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 29: Ben Rice #22 of the New York Yankees is congratulated by Aaron Judge #99 after he hit a home run against the Athletics in the seventh inning at Sutter Health Park on May 29, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Athletics as an organization have gotten themselves in a weird situation where they, as a major league team, are playing games in a minor league ballpark. The team themselves are a perfectly solid major league team, fighting atop an iffy AL West at this point of the season, with young talent that could make them very dangerous in the coming years.
That being said, during Friday night’s series opener in West Sacramento, one team was definitely at a higher level, and it wasn’t the A’s.
Led by home runs from Paul Goldschmidt, Ryan McMahon, and Ben Rice, the Yankees’ offense had no issues against Athletics’ pitching, putting up eight runs on 11 hits. Meanwhile on the mound, starting pitcher Carlos Rodón had arguably his best start of the season so far. He went six innings, allowing just one run on four hits and two walks, striking out three. From the first inning on, there wasn’t much drama in the game, as the Yankees came away with an 8-2 win.
While former Yankee and current Athletic Luis Severino retired Trent Grisham to open the game, his former team then got off to a quick start after that. The Yankees got a bit of fortune as A’s first baseman Nick Kurtz threw wide of a covering Severino after a Ben Rice grounder, which was then followed by a Severino balk. Aaron Judge then poked through a single to get the scoring started. Following another single from Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt then kept his good run going, homering to left to put up a crooked number.
The Athletics did get one of those runs back in the bottom half of the inning. Nick Kurtz hit a home run of his own in the first, getting his team on the board.
During his warmup pitches prior to the second inning, Severino appeared to tweak something, leading to his exit before the frame even began. Hopefully, it’s nothing too serious, as lot of us still have a soft sport for Sevy.
The Yankees’ offense continued to add on to their lead after Severino’s departure. In the second, Rice hit an RBI single that scored José Caballero, who was on after a double. In the third, Ryan McMahon hit a homer in his second consecutive game, also reaching the No. 150 mark for his career. Then in the fourth, Aaron Judge grounded out with two runners on, but it was a weak and slow enough grounder to allow Grisham to score from third.
Rodón would end up getting through six innings before making way for the bullpen. He ended his day on a very strong note, retiring the last seven batters he faced.
In the top of the seventh, Rice picked up his second RBI of the day with a homer to center-ish field. It broke a seven-game home run-less streak, which had been the longest of his season to this point.
Replacing Rodón was Brent Headrick, who enetered for his daily appearance. This time around, he got one quick out, but then loaded the bases, leading to Aaron Boone going back to the bullpen. Fernando Cruz came in for him and induced a 1-2-3 double play to get out of the jam.
Paul Blackburn then got the eighth and worked a quick inning, despite having to hit the deck to avoid taking a comebacker to the face. Blackburn returned for the ninth and got in some early trouble when the first two Athletics’ batters reached base. One of those runs did come around to score, but Blackburn bounced back after that to finish the proceedings.
The Yankees and A’s will continue their set tomorrow night, with a game starting at 10:05 pm ET. Ryan Weathers and J.T. Ginn are expected to be the starting pitchers in that one.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - MAY 29: Julio Rodriguez #44 of the Seattle Mariners celebrates with JP Crawford #3 after hitting a two-run home run during the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at T-Mobile Park on May 29, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jack Compton/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Game Summary
Full recap to follow shortly. Feel free to vent on the close loss in the comments!
Loss Probability and Box Score
Outside the Box Score
Geraldo Perdomo’s poor batted ball luck continued in the first inning tonight where he lined into a double play. It took a very acrobatic play to record the out, with Cole Young throwing his gloved hand up and deflecting the ball straight up in the air where he was able to better collect himself and then make the catch and throw to first and double off Carroll.
Julio Rodriguez 2-run homer off Gallen in the 3rd came after Gallen got 2 quick outs and then walked JP Crawford on a full count. Off the bat, it looked like it might be a double into the corner based on the extremely low trajectory. Baseball Savant registered the homer as having a 16* launch angle which is tied for the lowest trajectory launch angle for a non-inside-the-park-homer this year with Vladimir Guerrero.
Zac Gallen was the beneficiary of excellent defensive decision-making and perfect alignment after getting into a little trouble in the bottom of the 4th. With runners at 1st and 2nd and no out, there was a fly ball to deep center field which was going to allow Arozarena to advance to third easily. Instead of getting greedy and trying to throw out Arozarena at third, Waldschmidt made the catch and then fired in to second base, keeping the trail runner at first. The very next hitter smoked a line drive right over Gallen’s head, but Perdomo was positioned right behind second base and was able to field the ball and record the 6-3 double play to get the Snakes out of the inning.
Diamondback defense saved Zac Gallen from further injury in the fifth, as well, when Josh Naylor smoked a deep fly ball to right center field. Naylor stood in the batter’s box and admired his handiwork as the ball…smacked off the top of the wall and back towards centerfield. Waldschmidt picked up the ball and threw in to Ketel Marte who quickly pivoted and fired a strike to Gerry who applied the tag on Josh Naylor just before he slid into second.
Gabi Moreno gave the Snakes some life in the 6th when he smoked a 2-run double on the 7th pitch of his AB off the base of the center field wall to score Carroll and Domo. The ball ‘lodged’ at the base of the wall, but fortunately everyone was advancing no more than 2 bases on the play anyway so we weren’t victims of ground rules for the second series in a row.
Waldschmidt came up with Gabi at second base and got a hit, but he hit the ball too hard for Gabi to score. Waldy smoked a single into left field at 108mph and Gabi had to stop at third.
Nolan Arenado reintroduced himself to the team after missing a game and not starting tonight with groin tightness. The very first pitch he saw he fouled off his foot. Welcome back, but Ouch!
The Diamondback defense was aided by the field to start the bottom of the 8th when Randy Arozarena hit a sharp grounder back up the middle. The ball went straight through Jonny Lasagna’s legs and looked destined to be a hit. Ketel was ranging over from second and looked like he might be able to dive to keep the ball on the infield but likely wouldn’t have enough time to pick back up and throw to first, but in a twist, the ball hit perfectly off the second base bag and bounced chest high to Ketel who, to his credit, adjusted well and then rifled a throw across his body directly to Vargas at first for the out. On his way back to the dugout, Arozarena looked back out to the field and shared a laugh with Ketel. Baseball is hard; it’s good to see competitors laughing together after plays like that.
Josh Naylor gave us a flashback to old times when he muffed a barehanded fielding attempt in the 9th inning that resulted in the tying run scoring.
Comment of the Game
The GameDay Thread was certainly….interesting tonight. A final tally of 396 comments at time of publishing with Comment of the Game by popular vote awarded to Dano_in_Tucson for his lineup advice to Torey:
Coming Up
The Diamondbacks face the Mariners for the second game of this 3-game set tomorrow evening with a 7:10pm first pitch Arizona time. Righthander Bryan Woo (4-3, 3.82 ERA) will take the mound for Seattle and Ryne Nelson (2-3, 4.65 ERA) takes the ball for the good guys. Hopefully Ryno can get the starting pitching back on track after Gallen’s hiccup tonight.
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 29: Tyler Soderstrom #21, Alika Williams #12, and Zack Gelof #20 of the Athletics misplay a ball hit by Ben Rice #22 of the New York Yankees in the ninth inning at Sutter Health Park on May 29, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Athletics and New York Yankees kicked off a three-game weekend series tonight in Sacramento. The A’s entered the game trying to end a three-game losing streak, while the Yankees sought to make it five-straight wins. The “Bronx Bombers” took the lead before most fans had reached their seats and did not look back, earning a blowout 8-2 victory over the A’s in a game they dominated in all facets.
Early Action
A’s starting pitcher Luis Severino gave up runs in the first inning for a second-straight outing, but this time he was not helped by his defense. A’s first baseman Nick Kurtz made a throwing error allowing Yankees designated hitter Ben Rice to reach safely. Rice advanced to second on Severino’s balk and then scored on Aaron Judge’s RBI single to give the Yankees an immediate lead. A few batters later, with two on and two outs, Yankees’ first baseman Paul Goldschmidt hit his sixth home run of the season, a three-run blast just over the left field wall to give the visitors a 4-0 lead after the first half inning of the game. All four runs were unearned, yet that three-run home run really stung.
In the bottom of the first, the A’s got a run back. Kurtz atoned for his error by hitting his ninth home run of the season, a solo blast to left-center field.
In the second inning, Severino got hurt warming up, exiting his start with right arm soreness. Apparently, he has been dealing with shoulder soreness, which is why his start got pushed back to tonight. Maybe it should have been pushed back a bit longer to prevent a bullpen game to open the series.
Left-hander Jose Suarez replaced him on the mound. The Yankees’ offense went right back to work. They got three-straight hits with Rice’s RBI single pushing their fifth run across home plate. Suarez escaped the inning, limiting the damage to one run.
A’s Offense Stalls
Athletics left fielder Tyler Soderstrom worked a walk to begin the A’s half of the second. Center fielder Henry Bolte singled to left, advancing his teammate to second base. The A’s rally fizzled out from there as back-t0-back groundouts with runners in scoring position erased the momentum they had built at the start of the frame.
Yankees’ Offense On Fire
Suarez only pitched one inning. A’s reliever Joel Kuhnel replaced him in the third. He gave up third baseman Ryan McMahon’s sixth home run of the season, a two-out solo shot to right-center. The Yankees added a seventh run in the fourth, courtesy of Judge’s RBI groundout. Through four innings, the Yankees scored at least one run in every inning.
Gelof Not Coming up Clutch
In the bottom of the fourth, Soderstrom and Bolte strung together two-straight singles with two outs. Alas, Rodòn got Gelof to fly out, completing a third-straight scoreless inning. Gelof has twice failed to come through in prime run-scoring opportunities for the hosts this evening. Left-handed reliever Hogan Harris answered by recording the first scoreless inning by an A’s pitcher in the fifth.
Yankees in Cruise Control
With a six-run cushion, Rodòn cruised through six innings of one-run ball, limiting the slumping A’s offense to only four hits. In the seventh, the Yankees extended their lead to seven runs via their third home run of the game. Rice blasted his 17th home run of the season against new A’s reliever Scott Barlow. He finished with three hits in five at-bats and was a triple shy of the cycle.
Cortes’ Magic Wearing Off?
Bolte was one of the few positives for the A’s tonight. He recorded three singles in four at-bats, the last one coming off Yankees’ left-handed reliever Brent Headrick in the seventh. After his third single, he moved up a base on Gelof’s first of two hits in this game.
With the bases loaded, Yankees manager Aaron Boone replaced Headrick with right-handed reliever Fernando Cruz. A’s manager Mark Kotsay countered by bringing Carlos Cortes off the bench to pinch hit for Darell Hernaiz. Cruz won the matchup, inducing an inning-ending 1-2-3 double play as the A’s failed yet again with runners in scoring position and less than two outs.
That outcome was indicative of the A’s teamwide offensive struggles not only tonight, but this whole week. The Athletics’ recent offensive ineptitude during home games remains perplexing, especially considering that visiting teams seem to take full advantage of the hitter-friendly ballpark to score runs in bunches.
The A’s offensive struggles carried over to defense. In the ninth, three A’s defenders collided trying to cleanly field Rice’s catchable pop-up that somehow ended up on the grass.
The A’s got a consolation run off former A’s pitcher Paul Blackburn in the ninth. Gelof’s RBI single scored designated hitter Brent Rooker, who started the rally with an infield single, for the A’s second run of the night. Blackburn buckled down, retiring the next two hitters to seal the Yankees fifth straight win and doom the Athletics to further misery.
The A’s have been outscored 30-6 during this woeful, winless late May homestand. Additionally, they have committed 15 errors in their past 17 games. Currently riding a four-game losing streak that has dropped their record to 27-30, the vibes are not good for this team. As a result, something must be done sooner than later to restore some positivity and turn things around before the team’s 2026 season spirals completely out of control.
The Athletics will look to snap their losing skid and even up this series tomorrow evening. Right-hander J.T. Ginn, who is 2-3 with a 3.19 ERA, will look to play stopper. The A’s need him to pitch at least five or six innings in the wake of the bullpen having to cover eight innings today. The Yankees will counter with left-hander Ryan Weathers, who is 2-2 with a 3.14 ERA.
The Yankees beat up on old friend Luis Severino in the first inning before he got hurt, then continued to add on the rest of the way while cruising to their fifth straight win, 8-2 over the Athletics on Friday night in front of a sell-out crowd of 12,254 at Sutter Health Park.
Paul Goldschmidt, Ryan McMahon and Ben Rice all homered — Goldschmidt a three-run shot off Severino that keyed the first-inning attack — as the Yankees (35-22) stayed hot after outscoring the Royals 26-4 during their sweep in Kansas City earlier this week.
“This is the type of offense we have,” said Aaron Judge, who went 1-for-4 with a walk and two RBIs in a homecoming of sorts, having grown up an hour away. “You’re going to have the ebbs and flows of the season, where you’re going to have some down weeks, some down months, but when this offense is rolling like that and staying aggressive, we’re at our best. That’s what I feel like we did today.”
Carlos Rodón, pitching for the first time in over a week, grinded through six innings but allowed just one run — a solo homer to Nick Kurtz in the bottom of the first — while navigating some early traffic from the Athletics (27-30).
The left-hander finished strong, retiring the final seven batters he faced, while becoming the eighth straight Yankees starter to allow two runs or fewer.
After a 16-game stretch in which the Yankees scored just seven runs in a game one time, they have now scored seven or more in three straight games, once again getting contributions from all parts of the lineup.
Ben Rice celebrates after hitting a solo home run in the seventh inning of the Yankees’ 8-2 win over the A’s at Sutter Health Park on May 29, 2026 in Sacramento, Calif. Getty Images
“It’s fun to watch when we’re clicking like that,” said Rice, who went 3-for-5 and fell a triple short of the cycle.
The Yankees had clobbered Severino here last year before he kept them in check in The Bronx in April. But back in the Triple-A stadium that Severino has expressed his frustrations about pitching in, the Yankees got to him again in his first and only inning before leaving the game with what the A’s called “right arm soreness.”
The rally got started when Rice reached on an error, which Judge and Cody Bellinger followed with back-to-back singles. Then with two outs, Goldschmidt crushed a 1-2 sweeper over the left field wall for a three-run homer.
The veteran first baseman, starting for the eighth straight game to help give the Yankees some better balance in their lineup, has just kept hitting with the increased playing time.
Ben Rice is congratulated by Aaron Judge after hitting a solo home run in the seventh inning of the Yankees win over the A’s. Getty Images
He had largely been relegated to starting against lefties earlier this season, but is now facing righties too and finding success.
Over his last 23 games, Goldschmidt is hitting .304 (24-for-79) with a .952 OPS. He is also batting 7-for-20 (.350) with 14 RBIs with runners in scoring position this season.
“He’s been huge, and has given us a little bit of balance,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s held his own against righties, continues to do what he does against lefties. He’s hit for power, he’s gotten some important hits for us. Obviously plays great defense over there at first. When [Giancarlo Stanton] goes down, you’re looking for someone to step up and Goldy’s certainly done that.”
Carlos Rodón held the A’s to one run over six innings in the Yankees’ win. Getty Images
The Yankees added on with a single run in each of the next three innings — including McMahon’s 150th career homer, and second in as many games — before Rice drilled his 17th home run of the season in the seventh, tying Judge for the team lead.
The A’s threatened to stage a rally after Rodón exited, loading the bases off Brent Headrick with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but Fernando Cruz came in to get an inning-ending double play.
Cruz has now stranded 20 of his 24 inherited runners this season.
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“That’s the game right there,” Boone said. “That’s their chance to get back in it, and he executes strike one right away and then executes a really good pitch.”
