Category: MLB

The Milwaukee Brewers are looking to keep their four-game winning streak alive and secure a series win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night.

The Crew took care of business on Friday with Logan Henderson on the mound, and now they’ll try to do it again with another young starter in Robert Gasser. Gasser is making his second start of the season with the big league club. He last pitched against the Twins and allowed two earned runs over four innings.

On the mound for the Dodgers is right-hander Roki Sasaki. Sasaki has a 5.09 ERA on the season. He’s a talented pitcher, but very young and still has a lot of development ahead of him. He’s likely a starter long-term, but spent time in the Dodgers’ bullpen last season, primarily in the playoffs. Sasaki has been exclusively starting this season and is coming off his best start yet, going seven innings and allowing just one run against the Angels.

William Contreras is getting a scheduled day off today, according to Pat Murphy. He homered in Friday night’s win and has been on a hot streak at the plate. Andrew Vaughn jumps into the three-hole in the order with Gary Sánchez batting fifth and catching. Garrett Mitchell is out of the lineup once again, as Murphy is giving him an extra day to make sure he’s recovered from the sore back that he’s been dealing with. Mitchell is available to pinch-hit later in the game if needed.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers will continue to roll out their trio of future Hall of Famers atop their lineup with Ohtani, Betts, and Freeman. Kyle Tucker drops to sixth in the lineup.

This is going to be a big test for Robert Gasser as he tries to prove he should stay in this rotation.

First pitch is at 6:15 p.m., and this one will be nationally televised on FOX. You can also listen in on the Brewers Radio Network.

Stars are just like us, and Olivia “Livvy” Dunne was the latest example for baseball fans.

Dunne, the former LSU gymnastics star, was in attdence for boyfriend Paul Skenes’ start for the Pirates on Saturday against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

She was invested in the game as the broadcast caught her yelling, taking photos and videos of Skenes, and also muttering profane language.

After the crack of a bat that prompted Blue Jays fans to get on their feet, Dunne was seen saying “f–k” twice before leaning back in her seat in frustration.

The announcers didn’t miss a beat on it.

“Paul Skenes is on the mound today and his girlfriend — the equally famous, maybe more famous — Livvy Dunne is here,” the SportsNet TV commentator said. “She was a gymnast at LSU. They met in college and she has eight zillion on social media right now. I believe she attends almost every single game of his and she is invested.

Livvy Dunne is in the house supporting Paul Skenes pic.twitter.com/zQ2NpTVGAy

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 23, 2026

“She is not just sitting around and looking around. She is into the game. Emotional and occasionally profane. But she is invested in the successes and rare failures of her Cy Young award winning boyfriend Paul Skenes.”

The reaction came from early on in Skenes’ start in the Pirates’ eventual 5-2 loss to the Blue Jays.

To open the game, Skenes gave up a leadoff home run to George Springer, who ripped the ball 396 feet to left field for an early Toronto lead.

Dunne certainly wasn’t a fan of the moment.

Nor likely as more trouble came in the sixth inning when the Blue Jays found an offensive spark and scored three runs to earn a 4-1 lead.

After five-plus innings, the two-time All-Star and the 2024 Rookie of the Year allowed nine hits for four runs (all earned). He also logged two strikeouts and one walk.

It was Skenes’ lowest strikeout tally since recording just one in Pittsburgh’s season opening 11-7 loss to the Mets. Skenes only lasted 2/3 innings as he gave up four hits and five earned runs at Citi Field.

Skenes has returned the support, including when he shared a positive reaction to her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit debut in 2023.

“I texted him. I was like, ‘Hey, the SI photos are out.’ And he’s like, ‘Where can I see them?’” Dunne told People recently.

“He loved it. Yeah, he loved it. He always does,” she added.

The couple has been together since 2023.

To national television we go.

Saturday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Brewers
• Ballpark: American Family Field, Milwaukee
• Time: 4:15 p.m. PT
• TV: Fox
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

In today’s game thread, I wrote that Stephen Kolek’s second-best career start probably came against the Mariners last September, and we might need him to do even better if they were going to win today. As it turned out, they probably didn’t need him to be quite that good, but he absolutely was anyway.

Things got started fast for the Royals today. Stephen Kolek retired the Mariners in order on 10 pitches to start the game. Then, on the second pitch he saw, Maikel Garcia tattooed a line drive into the left-center gap for a leadoff double. Bobby Witt Jr. got an infield single that sent Maikel to third, and then Maikel scored on a groundball from Vinnie Pasquantino that was only ever likely to be worth one out, but became none when J.P. Crawford couldn’t hang on to Cole Young’s glove flip at second.

Salvador Perez came to the plate, and Bobby and Vinnie each took off on the first pitch, successfully swiping their bags and giving the Royals second and third with no one out. This is where you’d expect the Royals to completely choke, and it looked like that’s exactly what was going to happen. Salvy grounded to the pitcher, though George Kirby could only deflect it to Crawford. Crawford still managed to throw Sal out because he’s so dang slow. Then Carter Jensen hit a soft roller to first, and when Josh Naylor realized he was going to have to run to the bag for the out, Bobby took off and scored.

Sure, that gave the Royals two runs, but getting two straight weak outs after putting runners at second and third didn’t feel good. Fortunately, Jac Caglianone came through with a single to right that scored Vinnie from second, and the Royals had a three-run lead. That was when it finally felt like maybe things could go their way today.

Bobby scored again in the third when Carter hit a shallow fly to left-center and Randy Arozerena couldn’t get the throw home quite quickly enough. They scored their final run in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a single from Carter, a groundout by Jac that advanced Jensen to second, and a solid single to center from Isaac Collins.

But Kolek will be the talk of today’s game as he pitched the first complete game shutout by a Royals pitcher since Brad Keller in 2020. Despite the fact that he got only two strikeouts on the day, and none until the eighth inning, Kolek made it look easy.

As you can see, this was far from what we’ve come to expect from dominant pitching performances in 2026. He wasn’t necessarily in the strike zone very often, he didn’t get an excessive amount of chase, and the whiff% is frankly abysmal. But the Mariners couldn’t square him up at all; they had four hits all day, and three of those were from Luke Raley. Even one of Raley’s hits was an infield single. Thanks to his pitch efficiency, the inability of the Mariners to do anything with his pitches, and some slick infield defense that turned a pair of double plays on the day, Kolek faced only two batters over the minimum in this one. That is just absolutely wild.

This game was the first in a while for a lot of different things:

• As noted earlier, this was the first CGSO for a Royals pitcher since Brad Keller on September 13, 2020.
• It was the Royals’ first complete game with any number of runs scored since Seth Lugo got the White Sox on July 21, 2024.
• It was Kolek’s second career CGSO; he also got one against the Rockies in Coors Field while pitching for the Padres on May 10, 2025. He allowed 5 hits and 2 walks in that one, but did get 7 strikeouts, so it’s up to you which one was more impressive.
• It was the first time the Royals had scored more than three runs in a game since last Friday, May 15.
• It was the first time the Royals had a three-run inning since May 13.
• It was the first time the Royals won a game by more than 2 runs since May 9.
• It was the first time the Royals had a three-run first inning since May 1 against Bryan Woo and the Mariners.
• It was the best the Royals have looked on the field since at least May 13 and probably more like May 9
• Unfortunately, it did not end the Hawaiian Bros Curse, as the Royals still haven’t scored six runs in a game since May 4

Today’s win gives the Royals a victory in the season series regardless of tomorrow’s outcome, giving them a tiebreaker should it somehow matter by the time the season comes to an end. It would be really cool if this win was something of a turning point for the Royals. If so, hopefully we’ll see more evidence of it in a victory tomorrow to win their first series since the Detroit series two weeks ago.

Tomorrow’s game will air on Royals.TV at 1:10 p.m. Central time. Seth Lugo (3.68 ERA) will face Bryan Woo (3.51 ERA) in the rubber match. Woo has been one of the better pitchers in the AL this year, but the Royals got to him in Seattle to start the month. It would be fun to do it again.

After a memorable game 1 where the St. Louis Cardinals pounded the Cincinnati Reds 8-1, the second game of the doubleheader is scheduled to get underway at 6:15pm central time in Great American Ball Park as the Cardinals will send Kyle Leahy (5-3, 3.94 ERA, 34 SO) to the mound while the Reds will rely on the arm of Chase Petty (0-0, 4.76 ERA, 1 SO). Game 2 will be watchable on Fox during a national broadcast.

MIAMI — The Mets evidently want to leave zero doubt over the identity of the NL East’s worst team.

They held that distinction by only a half-game over the Marlins as they arrived at loanDepot park on Saturday and by early evening had created a cushion.

Instead of simply not hitting, they added a second straight lackluster performance from their ace in a 4-1 loss to Miami. It was the fourth loss in five games for the Mets, who fell eight games below .500.

The Mets had only one hit until pinch hitter Tyrone Taylor doubled with two outs in the ninth. Mark Vientos’ ensuing single brought in their only run.

After a resurgence offensively on the last homestand and to begin this trip, the Mets have scored only four runs over their last three games.

“I think the past couple of games we faced some good pitching,” Vientos said. “Obviously we haven’t done what we wanted at the plate, but we have got to give credit when credit is due. We’re going to come back [Sunday] and come back strong.”

Max Meyer dominated the Mets, allowing only one hit over seven shutout innings. Vientos’ grounder to right field against a shifted infield leading off the second was that only hit. Meyer struck out eight and walked three.

A night earlier, the Mets managed only three hits in a 2-1 loss to the Marlins, spearheaded by Eury Pérez’s strong outing.

“We are coming off a few games where you are starting to see some of the guys coming out of the struggle,” manager Carlos Mendoza said, referring to the Marlins. “In the past couple of days, Pérez, even though he has been struggling as of late, he was on [Friday] and today another good pitcher. So, yeah, we are better. We have seen that, but at the same time we ran into two pretty good arms over the last couple of days.”

Freddy Peralta, who slogged in his outing against the Yankees last Sunday, allowed two homers, both to Liam Hicks, on this day.

The right-hander surrendered four earned runs on eight hits over seven innings with nine strikeouts and two walks.

“[The outing] was probably a plus in the innings and all that, because I was able to save the bullpen,” Peralta said. “But it wasn’t enough because we didn’t get a win.”

Owen Caissie stroked a two-run double in the second that put the Mets in a 2-0 hole.

Peralta walked Jakob Marsee with one out in the inning and got stung, as Connor Norby singled and Caissie followed with the double. Peralta escaped further harm by retiring the next two batters.

Hicks homered in the third to extend the Mets’ deficit to 3-0. It was the third straight appearance in which Peralta surrendered a homer. Otto Lopez followed the blast with a double, but Peralta got two outs to end the frame.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND METS STATS

Peralta dodged trouble in the fourth when Graham Pauley was thrown out at the plate attempting to score on Xavier Edwards’ grounder off Vientos’ glove. Pauley’s two-out single and a walk to Joe Mack created peril for Peralta.

Hicks’ second homer of the game, leading off the bottom of the fifth, sank the Mets into a 4-0 hole. The multihomer game was the first of Hicks’ career.

“It was a big mistake that I made with the curveball with the second home run,” Peralta said. “I shook to that pitch with Luis [Torrens] and I should have made a better pitch, but it happens and I learned from that one.”

Vientos was hit by a pitch in the seventh to snap a string of 10 straight batters retired by Meyer, but A.J. Ewing struck out and Marcus Semien hit a grounder that became an inning-ending fielder’s choice.

Anthony Bender struck out the side in the eighth and remained in the game to retire Bo Bichette leading off the ninth before lefty Andrew Nardi recorded the final two outs, with a run scoring.

“It was one of those days where [Meyer] had everything going for him,” Mendoza said. “I thought he was better than the line, to be honest with you.”

Washington Nationals right-hander Jake Irvin held the Atlanta Braves hitless through five innings Saturday before leaving with an apparent injury at Truist Park, putting his health in question.

After the game, Nationals manager Blake Butera told reporters that Irvin felt something in the back of his shoulder or lat area during the game. Butera says Irvin will have an MRI Sunday. Irvin told his manager this was something he has felt before.

Irvin was dominant through the first five innings, striking out seven and walking just one over 80 pitches against one of the National League's most dangerous lineups.

Then, after walking out to the mound and trying to warm up for the bottom of the sixth inning, Irvin departed with a trainer.

Brad Lord entered in relief with the no-hit bid still intact, but gave up a single to Michael Harris in the bottom of the seventh. That was the only hit the Nationals' staff allowed in the game.

The Mets' bats stayed dormant, mustering just three hits in their 4-1 loss to the Marlins in Miami on Saturday afternoon.

Mark Vientos picked up a squib hit (64.2 mph off the bat) in the second inning, but wouldn't get another until the ninth. New York worked three walks as a team, and Vientos was hit by a pitch and was the only Mets batter to get on base twice. 

Even the red-hot Juan Soto (0-3, BB) was held hitless as the Mets (22-30) lost back-to-back games and are 2-4 on the current seven-game road trip.

Here are the takeaways...

- Unlike in the series opener, the Marlins would get on the board first against Freddy Peralta. Back-to-back one-out singles in the second inning put runners on second and third -- thanks to an ill-advised throw bySoto -- before Owen Cassie lined a double past a diving Vientos to drive in the first two runs of the game. 

Liam Hicks launched a 389-foot blast, just past the outstretched glove of Carson Benge, to give Miami a 3-0 lead. It wouldn't get much better for Peralta in the fourth as the Marlins got two men on base with two outs. Xavier Edwards hit a slow grounder to Vientos at first, but the young infielder couldn't make the shovel pass to Peralta covering, allowing Edwards to reach, but fortunately for the Mets, Vientos threw out Graham Pauley at the plate trying to score from second. 

In the fifth, Hicks would get to Peralta again, leading off with his 11th homer of the season to put Miami up 4-0. It's Hicks' first career multi-homer game.

- To Peralta's credit, he grinded into the seventh inning. After allowing a leadoff single, he struck out Edwards, got Hicks to fly out and Otto Lopez to strike out to get through seven innings for the first time as a Met. 

The veteran right-hander gave the Mets what he had on extra rest, throwing a season-high 108 pitches (67 strikes). He finished allowing four runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out a season-high nine batters. 

- Max Meyer, on the other hand, had no issue with the Mets, who are in the midst of a major offensive slump. After scoring just one run on three hits in Friday's loss, Meyer pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing just one hit. 

- Even with Meyer out, the Mets bats stayed dormant. Anthony Bender struck out three batters in his 1.1 innings of work. Tyrone Taylor hit a two-out, pinch-hit double in the ninth against Andrew Nardi to give the Mets their second hit of the game. Vientos followed with a hit to drive home Taylor and break up the shutout, but then A.J. Ewing grounded out to end the game.

- Jonathan Pintaro, called up on Saturday, pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning on just 12 pitches. 

Game MVP: Max Meyer

Meyer matched his longest outing of the season and kept the Mets off balance with his vast arsenal of pitches.

Highlights

Mark Vientos can't make the play at first but recovers to throw out Graham Pauley trying to score pic.twitter.com/YUAbGgcQ4m

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 23, 2026

Mark Vientos gets the Mets on the board pic.twitter.com/iCL7Y18aKw

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 23, 2026

What's next

The Mets and Marlins complete their three-game series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1:40 p.m.

Christian Scott (0-0, 4.12 ERA) will take the mound for New York. Miami has yet to announce its starter.

The Mariners did not score, and they did not win.

The Mariners dropped game two of their series in Kansas City on Saturday by a score of 4-0. They collected just four hits — three from Luke Raley — and drew one walk, allowing Stephen Kolek to work through all nine innings with ease. The few chances they had ended with bad base running. George Kirby was fine but had a bit of a paper cut problem, with the Royals finding every nook and cranny on the infield grass to score. The Mariners fell to 25-28.

Kirby’s had a bit of a weird season to do date, striking out batters at a career low while walking batters at a career high. He’s gotten by with tons of grounders, which is why his xERA entering the day was an impressive 3.21. Still, the result of that approach has been a mix.

We saw the downside of balls in play — even grounders — right from the jump. Maikel Garcia led off the game with a low sinking liner that snaked its way into the outfield gap for a double. Then began a sequence of five weak grounders, none of which left the infield and all of which helped the Royals. The speedy Bobby Witt Jr. hit a weak chopper to no man’s land at third, and beat the throw to first, moving Garcia up. Vinnie Pasquantino hit a weak chopper to second that took Cole Young to his right, but his flip to second was awkward and not in time, scoring a run. Witt and Pasquantino stole second and third. Salvador Perez then hit a weak chopper back at Kirby, who reached for the ball over his head, deflecting it to J.P. Crawford, who got the first out of the inning. Carter Jensen then hit a hard grounder to Josh Naylor at first, who had to range his right and then race back to first, getting the second out and allowing a run to score. Jac Caglianone singled in a third run on a grounder into the outfield. A strikeout would end the inning at 3-0.

That’s a mouthful. Basically, the Royals hit 5 1/2 grounders, four of which never left the infield, and it resulted in three runs. That inning is case in point for why strikeouts are so coveted: Even great contact suppression can result in minor meltdowns. And while it wasn’t bad defense so much as just perfectly placed BABIP, a grounder-first approach isn’t ideal in front of the Mariners’ bottom ranked infield defense.

Things got more normal from there for Kirby, but not quite better. The Royals got a couple legit singles in the second and a sac fly to make the game 4-0. They got a couple legit singles in the sixth to make it 5-0. He finished the day after six with three strikeouts, no walks, nine hits (including eight singles), and a 50% groundball rate. That’s pretty much in line with his season to this point.

The Mariners were bad on offense. Again, they managed just four hits and couldn’t score. They sent the minimum to the plate in all but one inning, allowing Kolek to cruise through nine innings unbothered. They did have a couple opportunities to score, but base running mistakes cut those threats short.

With one out in the second, Luke Raley beat out an infield single (he was initially called out but was clearly safe after review). Cole Young singled him to third. Dominic Canzone then hit a sharp grounder right to Pasquantino, who was literally standing on the bag while holding the runner at first. Pasquantino stepped on the base and threw home in one motion, getting Raley in a pickle, eventually ending in a 3-2-5 double play.

Raley led off the fifth with a single. Young traded places with him on a fielder’s choice. After a Canzone fly out, Young tried to make it all the way to third on a passed ball. He was thrown out to end the inning.

That was it. They’ll go for a series win Sunday.

Royals 5, Mariners 0

Good: Luke Raley, +.07 WPA

Bad: George Kirby, -.22 WPA

Game Thread Comment of the Day:

The Yankees saw another lead vanish in Friday’s loss to Tampa Bay, highlighting perhaps the team’s biggest need as trade season approaches.

Their three main acquisitions to the bullpen from last year have been part of the problem this season.

Camilo Doval has already given up as many homers — four — in 20 innings as he did all of last season in 65 ¹/₃.

Jake Bird has battled inconsistency but has been better recently, pitching effectively in his last 10 appearances, covering 7 ¹/₃ innings.  

And then there’s David Bednar, who has struggled keeping runners off the bases — and from scoring.

Of 200 qualified relievers, only 19 have a higher WHIP than Bednar, who’s pitched into some bad luck, but has also seen his strikeout rate dip from his career-best a year ago.

Last week, pitching coach Matt Blake said Bednar’s fastball command had been off, but he’d been impressed with the right-hander’s splitter and he’d look to use it more.

In Friday’s loss, marred by Tim Hill’s worst outing of the season out of the pen, Bednar did go to his split-fingered fastball with greater frequency and it helped him allow just one baserunner in a scoreless ninth.

They’ll target more prominent names as they get closer to the deadline — and also have some internal candidates.

In addition to Carlos Lagrange — still in the rotation at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre — and perhaps lefty Ryan Weathers if the rotation is healthy when Max Fried returns from a left elbow bone bruise, the Yankees could look at right-hander Eric Reyzelman, who tossed two scoreless innings in his first outing for SWB on Friday.

The 24-year-old was just promoted from Double-A Somerset.

And they signed right-hander Peter Strzelecki to a minor league contract Saturday, as first reported by The Post’s Jon Heyman.

Strzelecki, 31, last pitched in the majors with Cleveland in 2024, but was selected to Milwaukee’s active roster last week and designated for assignment without getting into a game.

He struck out 20 in 19 ¹/₃ innings over 16 appearances with Triple-A Nashville this season and will head to SWB. 

Pirates 2 Blue Jays 5

I thought we were in tough against Paul Skenes today.

And then George Springer started the game with a home run

And then got three more run on him in the sixth, after the Pirates tied it in the top of the inning.

In the sixth:

• Vladimir Guerrero started it off with a single.
• Yohendrick Piñango followed with another single.
• And Jesús Sánchez doubled one home.
• Ernie Clement singled on the first pitch of the at bat, scoring one more.

That was it for Skenes, who had been cruising along before that.

• Andrés Giménez bounced into a double play that scored our fifth run. I was surprised the didn’t try to stop the runner from scoring. but Sánchez didn’t start for home until the Pirates took the out at second.

Right in there, the Pirates had some issues with plate umpire Alan Porter. It seemed strange, they had challenges left, but instead wanted to just yell at the umpire. In a matter of moments, pitching coach Bill Murphy and manager Don Kelly were thrown from the game. I’d be curious to find out why.

Skenes went 5 innings, allowing 9 hits, 4 earned, 1 walk and 2 strikeouts.

We got the fifth run on Tyler Heineman’s first homer of the season.

Patrick Corbin was terrific. 6 innings, just 5 hits, no walks with 7 strikeouts. He gave up the run in the sixth, on a single and a double with two outs, but got out of the inning with a Spencer Horwitz strikeout. I was worried he wouldn’t get the well deserved win. But the team got those runs in the bottom of the inning.

Braydon Fisher had a terrific seventh, allowing a walk but getting two strikeouts.

Yariel Rodriguez didn’t have a terrific eighth. Ground out, walk, steal, walk, blown pickoff play at second and a ground out to score the run.

I hate pickoffs attempts at second base. I bet we don’t get three pickoffs at second that work in a season and must see ten errors on the play.

Adam Macko came in, hit a batter and then got a ground out.

Jeff Hoffman got the ninth with a three-run lead. I do admit, I am still hating that Varland pitched that second inning last night. But Hoffman got 3 strikeouts without anyone touching a pitch (wrong Tom, there was one foul off, but still he was amazing).

We had 11 hits on the day. I’m sure that gets us to the over on any gambling site in a Skenes start. Springer, Vlad, Piñango and Sánchez had two each. Daulton Varsho (with our only walk) and Lenyn Sosa had the 0 fors.

Jays of the Day: Corbin (0.20 WPA), Sánchez (0.18) and Springer (0.10).

No one had the number for the Other Award. Sosa had the low mark at -0.06.

Other than that, Andrés Giménez made a very nice play, going to his left, spinning and making a good throw to Vlad (who did make a nice dig on the play).

Fourth win in a row.

Tomorrow is an early start. 12:15 PM. I guess I gotta get out of bed tomorrow morning.

It is Mitch Keller (4-2, 3.86) vs. Dylan Cease (3-2, 2.98). A sweep would be nice.

The San Diego Padres needed this. After only scoring five runs across their entire series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Friars put up seven runs with three homers against the Athletics. It was a barrage that felt warranted.

The Padres offense looked healthy as ever against the Seattle Mariners last weekend but went cold against their division rivals. It’s nice to see that some slug was rediscovered — especially from the struggling bats of Manny Machado and Ramón Laureano.

Starter Walker Buehler struggled with command, but managed to work around it, pitching five solid innings and surrendering three runs. But two of those came in the first inning and Buehler settled down after that.

With the game tied when Buehler exited, San Diego was forced to use their high-leverage relievers. That could affect the game today if Lucas Giolito doesn’t pitch as well as he did in his debut against Seattle.

Taking the mound

J.T. Ginn (ATH) v. Lucas Giolito (SD)

Giolito impressed in his 2026 debut, pitching five great innings before struggling to finish his sixth. His final line of three runs allowed doesn’t quite do justice to the fantastic start he had.

The right-hander was signed late into the season for a measly $3 million. He’s already impressed despite only making one start. If Giolito can continue that against the A’s tonight it would go even further toward his Padres resumé.

Ginn was an inning away from a no-hitter in his last start before the wheels fell off and the Athletics lost the game. He’s been one of the more impressive parts of the A’s lackluster pitching staff.

Through eight starts Ginn owns a 2.98 ERA and 1.07 WHIP with 44 strikeouts. He’ll look to limit the Friars offense tonight after their power surge in Friday’s game.

Batter up!

Friday’s win was great for a lot of reasons, but chief of them was San Diego finally flashing some power. Four of their seven runs came via the long ball, with Machado and Laureano starting to break out of their slumps. 

1. Fernando Tatis Jr., 2B
2. Miguel Andujar, DH
3. Gavin Sheets, 1B
4. Manny Machado, 3B
5. Xander Bogaerts, SS
6. Ramón Laureano, LF
7. Jackson Merrill, CF
8. Nick Castellanos, RF
9. Freddy Fermin, C

Tatis is still without a homer, though he found other ways to be productive. He went 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored in last night’s game.

Merrill will likely be back in the lineup though he could continue to sit on the bench if the Padres want to play his injury safe. Bryce Johnson played in center last night and made several great defensive plays. 

Relief corps

With the game close (and several innings to cover), the Padres used Bradgley Rodriguez, Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam and Jeremiah Estrada to finish out the game. 

The quartet pitched fantastically, though Rodriguez floundered in the sixth, struggling to record the final out. Morejon was called on and finished the job.

For today’s matchup, the Friars will have Ron Marinaccio, Yuki Matsui, Mason Miller and Wandy Peralta available. Only Miller has been viewed as a high-leverage piece of the four, though Matsui has yet to allow a run this season.

So let me get this straight. After Friday’s loss to the Astros, here’s what Cubs manager Craig Counsell said he would do:

So what do we get as “something different”?

Pete Crow-Armstrong leading off, Nico Hoerner batting cleanup and Ian Happ getting a day off. That’s it.

That’s not a “different look,” in my view.

The Cubs, over the last two days, have added two of their top prospects to the 26-man roster: Pedro Ramirez and Kevin Alcántara. Why not start them, Craig. I mean, how much worse could it have been than the pathetic, three-hit offense the Cubs put on the field Saturday in a depressing 3-0 loss to the Astros?

Both players got pinch-hit at-bats, both made outs and Alcántara played a couple innings in left field. Big whoop.

Or why not do this?

I mean, that was silly (and the Rays lost the game 8-1) but I mean, something, ANYTHING to get these guys to maybe have a little fun on the field. They sure don’t look like they’re having any.

Oh, the Cubs solved the RISP problem in this one by not having a single at-bat with runners in scoring position. The only time a Cubs runner got past first base was when Dansby Swanson and Pete Crow-Armstrong singled with two out in the third. Alex Bregman was at bat when PCA got thrown out trying to steal to end the inning [VIDEO].

The only other Cubs hit was a two-out single by Bregman in the ninth.

I’ve said many times that too much is made of lineup construction and I’ll stand by that but in a situation like this, where Counsell literally said he wanted to try “something different,” well, DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT! This wasn’t “different.” This was a proverbial “deck chairs on the Titanic” move.

Colin Rea deserved better, he made two mistakes, both of which were deposited in the bleachers by Christian Walker, a two-run homer in the first and a solo shot in the fourth. Rea threw seven solid innings, striking out four. He threw 98 pitches (56 strikes) [VIDEO].

Here are Rea’s four K’s [VIDEO].

Here’s a note on Rea’s outing from BCB’s JohnW53:

The only Cubs pitcher this season before Colin Rea today to pitch at least seven innings and allow three or fewer earned runs was Shōta Imanaga, who has done it three times, throwing 7.0 innings in each. He gave up no, one and two runs.

Trent Thornton and Ryan Rolison both threw scoreless innings in relief. So that’s good.

The other thing I can show you here is some good PCA defense. Here’s a nice sliding grab he made in the third [VIDEO].

Here, he leaps into the ivy for a grab in the sixth [VIDEO].

PCA seems a man on a mission in this series, about the only Cub producing any offense. In the two games against the Astros he’s 2-for-6 with a home run and two walks and several nice defensive plays.

Speaking of good defense, here’s an amazing behind-the-back flip from Hoerner [VIDEO].

So the Cubs are still playing solid defense and in this one they got good pitching. It’s just the offense that’s completely disappeared.

More notes on this loss from John:

The Cubs have scored seven runs in the last five games.

They scored five in a five-game span May 9-14. That is their only span of five games with fewer than seven runs since they scored six April 28-May 3, 2022. They have played 677 games since then.
…..
The Cubs have scored four runs in the last 40 innings and seven in the last 45.  

Thus, Craig Counsell: When you talk about doing “something different,” please actually do that. I, personally, would like to see both Ramirez and Alcántara in Sunday’s starting lineup. Again: HOW MUCH WORSE COULD IT BE?

At least it was quick. At 2:18, this was the fastest game at Wrigley Field this year. The previous fastest: 2:30, March 30 vs. the Angels. Four other away games were faster than 2:18, the fastest: 2:10 vs. the Rays April 6 at Tropicana Field. Curiosity: The five fastest Cubs games this year are all losses.

The Cubs will try to salvage one game of this six-game homestand on Sunday. Shōta Imanaga will start for the Cubs and Peter Lambert goes for the Astros. Game time is again 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

Phillies end three-game losing skid, ride all-weather Wheels to win in the rain originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

If you were wondering whether Zack Wheeler would still be Zack Wheeler post-surgery, your question has been answered over the last month.

He is.

Wheeler has made six starts since his recovery from surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome. The Phillies have won all of them.

The latest came Saturday night when he pitched six scoreless innings in a 3-0 win over the Cleveland Guardians at Citizens Bank Park. 

Wheeler gave up just two hits, walked one and struck out six. He threw a first-pitch strike to 17 of 21 hitters. He generated 15 swings and misses, seven on his four-seam fastball and six on his splitter. That pitch was sharp early and catcher J.T. Realmuto rode it.

“I threw 22 splitters,” Wheeler said. “That’s probably a record for me.”

Wheeler said he had trouble harnessing the movement on some of his pitches early, but “J.T. got me through it.”  

His fastball was down a tad from its 95-mph season average. It sat at 94.4 mph but topped out at 95.9.

Still, manager Don Mattingly was impressed with the way Wheeler was able to “bully” hitters with his heater.

“It’s a pretty amazing pitch,” Mattingly said.

Wheeler has registered a quality start in five of his six outings. The right-hander, who has two second-place finishes in NL Cy Young voting during his time with the Phillies, has yet to qualify for a spot among the league leaders in ERA, but his mark of 1.67 is impressive, just the same.

Wheeler’s Saturday Night Special followed Cristopher Sanchez’ Fantastic Friday. Sanchez pitched eight shutout innings, running his scoreless innings streak to 37 2/3 innings, second-best in franchise history, and lowering his ERA to a league-best 1.63. The Phillies, however, lost that game, 1-0.

While Sanchez received zero offensive support, Wheeler got two runs in the fourth and another in the sixth as the Phillies snapped a three-game losing streak and got back to .500 (26-26), heading into Sunday afternoon’s series finale against Cleveland.

Orion Kerkering, Brad Keller and Jhoan Duran completed the shutout.

“Those guys are a weapon,” Mattingly said of Wheeler and Sanchez. “You get outings like that, it helps keep your bullpen fresh and allows you to use guys where they’re supposed to be used.”

The start of the game was delayed one hour, 56 minutes by rain. The cold, wet weather continued throughout the night, but the teams played through it. With more bad weather forecast for Sunday and a flight scheduled to San Diego, followed by a day game Monday, the Phillies were eager to get the game in, even if it meant playing in icky weather.

Wheeler returned from the injured list on April 25 as the Phillies were struggling to win games. They dropped to 9-19 a day later, leading to Rob Thomson’s firing. Mattingly took over as skipper. The Phils are 17-7 under Mattingly. Since Wheeler’s return, the team is 10-1 in games started by Wheeler and Sanchez. The duo has combined for a 1.06 ERA in those 11 starts.

“I don’t know if there’s a better 1-2 punch in the game right now,” Bryce Harper said. “I don’t know. I really don’t think there is one.

“It’s been fun to watch. On any given night, when you can go (almost) 38 scoreless innings with Sanchy, then Wheels. It’s tough coming to the ballpark knowing you’re going to face those guys. And when (Jesus) Luzardo is going right and (Aaron) Nola is going right, it’s even tougher.”

Over the years, Wheeler has often talked about how the members of a rotation feed off each other and compete with each other. Cole Hamels used to talk about the same stuff. Intrastaff competition is real and it’s good for a team.

“You always try to beat the guy the day before you,” Wheeler said. “Sanchy is pretty hard to beat right now, but you’ve got to go out there and try. We always say that. We have a good group of guys to do that little competition within ourselves. But what a run (Sanchez) has been on. It’s pretty special. Almost unmatchable.”

Offensively, the Phillies were led by Harper, who had three hits and scored a pair of runs. Bryson Stott drove home two runs with a two-out single against Cleveland starter Slade Cecconi in the fourth. Adolis Garcia, dropped to eighth in the batting order, drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth inning for the Phillies’ third run.

The pitching did the rest. Particularly Wheeler.

“Zack’s been amazing,” Mattingly said. “Getting to see this firsthand is fun to watch. Where he’s come from. Everything.”

Andrew Painter starts Sunday as the Phillies try to win a series.