Category: MLB

The St. Louis Cardinals got a strong start from Kyle Leahy and the offense came through when it mattered as they beat their NL Central rival Brewers 6-3 Monday night at Busch Stadium.

The Cardinals offense executed excellent situational hitting early as Masyn Winn walked in the bottom of the 2nd inning. After Nathan Church flied out and Pedro Pagés struck out, Victor Scott II singled advancing Winn to third base and then JJ Wetherholt came up clutch by lancing a single into right-center driving in Winn and giving St. Louis a 1-0 lead.

St. Louis would threaten (and follow thru on that threat) in the bottom of the 4th inning when Nathan Church ripped a double. Pedro Pagés walked and Victor Scott II sacrificed advancing both runners to second and third. Victor, by the way, had 2 hits in addition to his sacrifice bunt. A good night for VSII. The Milwaukee Brewers then made the fateful decision to intentionally walk JJ Wetherholt loading the bases for Ivan Herrera. He promptly unloaded them giving the Cardinals a 4-0 lead.

Kyle Leahy had nasty stuff Monday night (in a good way for the Cardinals) throwing 5 1/3 innings of shutout ball. Unfortunately, he would get into trouble in the top of the 6th inning walking Bauer then surrendering a one-out single to Frelick putting runners and first and third. Oli Marmol brought in George Soriano who gave up a single to Rengifo driving in a run attributed to Leahy making it 4-1 St. Louis. Fortunately, Soriano would get out of the inning with no further damage striking out Hamilton and getting Mitchell to fly out to left. Kyle Leahy’s final stat line was solid allowing only 6 hits, 1 earned run and 5 strikeouts with 2 walks over his 5 1/3 innings. George Soriano and JoJo Romero did a respectable job in relief navigating through singles and walks, but not allowing any further Brewers runs.

The Cardinals would fortunately not be content with their 3-run lead by adding to it in the bottom of the 7th inning. Jordan Walker walked, Nolan Gorman singled and then Masyn Winn came through with a sharp single into right-center scoring Walker, but Gorman was caught adventuring too far past second base which helped contribute to extinguishing the rally as Nathan Church popped out to short to end the inning, but the St. Louis 4-run lead was restored as it was 5-1 Cardinals.

Get this. Ryne Stanek through a 7-pitch top of the 8th inning shutting the Brewers down 1-2-3. That normally wouldn’t be news, but lately that’s a non-typical result. Ryne sure does have nasty stuff that makes him difficult to deal with when he’s on. This is the version of Stanek we’d like to see more often if the Cardinals are willing to accept requests.

The relentless 2026 St. Louis Cardinals showed up again Monday night as Victor Scott II ripped a double into left-center. He was then driven in by super-rookie JJ Wetherholt who had another multi-hit game giving St. Louis a comfortable 6-1 lead. I love watching this team. This is seriously fun.

Gordon Graceffo, who was kind enough to hang out on our podcast this week, was brought in to close out Milwaukee and unfortunately gave up a double to Jackson Churrio and then a 414 foot 2-run homer to Turang cutting into the Cardinals lead 6-3. After Contreras followed that with a screaming single to center, Oli Marmol reluctantly brought in Riley O’Brien to shut down the Brewers which he fortunately did. On his first pitch to Tyler Black, he got him to ground out in a force out to second base, but he got a slight knee in the back covering first barely missing a double play. Riley got Vaughn to fly out to Jordan Walker to close out the game and give the Cardinals the victory.

Congrats to Oli Marmol who tied Miller Huggins for 11th on the all-time St. Louis Cardinals manager win list with Monday night’s victory.

The Cardinals will try to pile on the Brewers Tuesday night as Andre Pallante will start game 2 against Milwaukee as Brandon Sproat will take the mound for the Brewers. First pitch scheduled for 6:45pm central time at Busch Stadium.

The Red Sox won 5-4 on Monday night after two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal was scratched for surgery (boo), the game time was moved up to 6:10 (yay?) and the Justin Bieber to all of my Detroit friend fans (a sizeable faction, randomly), Kevin McGonigle did not play. So things were going well and all but I still cannot not think of the Simpsons at every turn when I hear that dude’s name. And so:

I’m working through it.

Anyhow, back to our sense of hope. This goes a coupla directions for me tonight. One, Peyton Tolle was so good that the opposing team’s announcers were in awe. He’s a dude. Relatedly, two, I listened to the home team’s announcers. That’s Jason Benetti’s crew. This is like winning the lottery on a night like tonight, for reasons explained below. It was like a revival, or like living in an alternate universe. The joy for the game exploded off the screen, and the fact that the game lived to the environment to them is a testament to how good baseball can be. Which is much easier to say because the Sox won. But they did. Which means overthinking things feels good.

I’m not gonna tick-tock what happened in this space any more because you can get that anywhere else. Here is what it felt like: Very fucking cool! A potentially dangerous thunderstorm was bearing down so they started early to avoid it and neither avoided it nor were in danger. It’s weather, so them’s the breaks. And while Skubes was out, Tolle wasn’t, and he was so good that Benetti and co — the opposing announcers — were or just sounded believably in awe. Maybe they’re just good at it, or maybe you just realize how effective the “maybe it’s Maybelline” ads were, or maybe they were telling the truth.

The game was scoreless until the Tigers got 2 runs in the bottom of the 6th, which visibly bothered Tolle, who was neither at fault nor ultimately had anything to for which to apologize anyway. In the top of the 7th the Sox plated 5 runs, 3 of them on a home run by Jarren Duran, apparently unshaken by being traded twice in my dynasty league in 2 hours, the first time from me. He really can hit it when he’s right tho. Masa and Wilmer also came up big. The Tigers cut it to 5-4 but that was as close as they got.

To me, that wasn’t the story. The game was delayed 28 minutes by rain, and I got to watch the Benetti feed. They fielded questions like favorite board game, food, etc, so I just happened to be watching as all this happened, below. It’s lovely. You can enjoy it as well:

Maybe I wouldn’t care if this wasn’t on the night John Sterling, the Yankees’ singularly bombastic passed away, probably the last true performer in the booth, literally by decades. But as everything got corporatized (derogatory) he became corporatized (complimentary.) When I told Yankees fans, like the most dyed-in-the-w0ol types, that I said he seemed happiest reading ads they all agreed. A friend who loved him more than about anyone texted today that “His hearse will be driven…by jeep,” and I think he’d have loved that.

He’d been a welcome anachronism and eventually wiped away all traces of cynicism for anyone without hate in their hearts and finished the indoctrination. Yes, it took time: I’ve had him for more than 25 years on local radio and all I can tell you sisters and brothers he is ultimately more fun to laugh both at and with than hate. He loved something about baseball, and pomp, and the use of time. Benetti understands it better than anyone right now, and that he does it in a way that’s 180 degrees away from Sterling is why we love this sport. It takes all kinds. The only common thread is how much we know they love it. We know when it’s real.

I don’t know how much the loss of John Sterling affected the Yankees’ players on the field, but his spirit was certainly palpable in all other forms of the game. Tributes were paid to the iconic broadcaster multiple times, with a touching pregame ceremony and other moments highlighting Sterling’s career and humanity. Perhaps most fitting of all, the Yankees did what Sterling would have wanted most: winning big and sweeping a series. New York completed the four-game rout of the Baltimore Orioles, 12-1.

True to form, Aaron Judge clubbed his 91st first-inning home run, and Sterling’s old radio partner Michael Kay, who seemed to be on the verge of tears just about all night, called it perfectly:

Judge’s blast broke a tie with Albert Belle and moved into another one at 71st on the all-time home run list at 382, even with three outstanding sluggers in their own right: Ryan Howard, Frank Howard, and Hall of Famer Jim Rice.

I actually didn’t think that Yankees starter Cam Schlittler pitched all that well, showing some of the weaker control in his young MLB career. In particular he was falling off hard to the first base side, harder than he normally does. This is often a byproduct of inconsistent mechanics — in essence, your body is out of whack with its normal rhythm. The first inning saw Schlittler slinging 101 with ease the way we have gotten used to, but beyond that it seemed much more work than normal. More inconsistent mechanics don’t necessarily mean you lose velocity, but the three walks to four strikeouts underlines how much more effort Cam needed tonight.

Schlittler got into three jams in 5.2 innings, twice engineering timely double plays to avoid damage, then finally walking in Baltimore’s lone run facing his final batter. Jake Bird made what I think might be the single best pitch of his career to keep the damage at just one, and save Schlittler from what could have been a very ugly line:

With regards to Cam, these things happen to everyone, and certainly to pitchers with 21 MLB starts under their belt. What’s encouraging to me is two things — one, if I can see the mechanical inconsistency, the development team that’s helped get Cam as good as he is now should be able to, and two, he’s been able to adjust between starts a lot in his young career. I expect he’ll be much better next time through the rotation.

After the O’s made it 3-1, the Yankees were able to respond in kind. With two men in scoring position, Shane Baz spiked a ball and Jasson Domínguez was able to scamper home, with the run confirmed on review:

Ryan McMahon tacked on another run with a single, and José Caballero justified the Yankees’ decision to option Anthony Volpe to Triple-A:

All of the sudden the Yankees had a five run lead, and we were all breathing just a little bit easier.

As an aside every Yankee pitcher had some kind of problem with their PitchCom today and I must bring back what I think a very important rule change should be: You get one PitchCom an inning. If it works, great. If it breaks, you have to use old-school signs until you get back into the dugout. There are few things more ludicrous than a trio of grown men staring into an MLB dugout with sad puppydog eyes because their talking PS5 controller’s battery died.

Old friend Lou Trivino was smacked around in the eighth inning in what was his Oriole debut. The Yankees put up a six spot on the right-hander, with all four guys atop the order having run-scoring hits, the biggest one a Cody Bellinger triple that brought in a pair. With a 12-1 lead, it was a pretty easy assignment for Paul Blackburn to close out the game, and the series, and the sweep.

The Yankees are now 24-11 with a +76 run differential; both are still the best marks in the AL. They welcome in the Texas Rangers to the Bronx tomorrow for a three-game set, a rematch of last week’s series in Arlington that saw New York take two of three. One of those wins came against the man tapped to start for the Rangers, Jacob deGrom, while the loss was in the MLB debut of Elmer Rodríguez, who will go for the Yankees. Something’s gotta give this time around, and first pitch from the Bronx will come at 7:05pm Eastern.

Box Score

The Yankees got on the board early and didn't look back, beating the Baltimore Orioles 12-1 on Monday night to complete the four-game sweep.

Here are the key takeaways...

-- New York's bats came to play in the first inning as Trent Grisham doubled and Aaron Judge hit one "high, far, and gone" for his 14th home run of the season, giving the Yanks an early 2-0 lead. In honor of legendary broadcaster John Sterling, who passed away on Monday, Michael Kay called the slugger's sixth first-inning HR of the season a "Judgian blast."

-- Grisham stayed hot in the third innin with another double to the wall and advanced to third on a throwing error. Shane Baz wanted no part of Judge for a second time, intentionally walking the slugger, but let up a sac fly to Cody Bellinger as the Yanks took a 3-0 lead.

-- Cam Schlittler came out firing, throwing the three fastest pitches of his career (101.3 mph, 101.1 mph, and 101 mph) for a scoreless first inning, including a strikeout of Dylan Beavers. The right-hander kept it going in the second, hitting 101.1 mph on the gun again during the four-batter frame with one walk.

Schlittler got hit in the back of the knee on a comebacker in the third inning, as Blaze Alexander reached first safely. Aaron Boone and a team trainer came out to check on him, but he remained in the game. After Gunnar Henderson singled, New York's defense stepped up to help Schlittler with a 4-6-3 double play. He then won a nine-pitch battle against Beavers with a 101.2 mph heater, his fifth 101-plus mph pitch of the night.

The fifth inning was nearly a duplicate of the fourth, as Schlittler let up back-to-back singles and got a double play. This time, he closed it out on a flyout. Schlittler loaded the bases in the sixth inning with two outs, and after a mound visit with pitching coach Matt Blake, walked in a run to end his night, up 3-1. Jake Bird came through with a big strike out against Jeremiah Jackson for the third out.

-- After reaching base for a third time in the fifth inning, Grisham showed his defensive skills in the top of the sixth inning with a nice running catch on Adley Rutschman's fly ball. It was McMahon's turn to pull off a web gem in the seventh inning, snagging a Beavers' line drive for the third out.

-- Jasson Dominguez was ruled out trying to score from third base on a passed ball in the sixth inning, but the replay showed otherwise, and New York won the challenge to make it a 4-1 game. Ryan McMahon pushed the lead to 5-1 with an RBI single to left field, scoring Jazz Chisholm Jr. from third base and knocking Baz out of the game. José Caballero kept the foot on the gas, ripping a double off the left field wall to put NY up 6-1.

-- New York blew it open in the bottom of the eighth inning against former Yankee Lou Trivino, scoring six runs to go up 12-1. Grisham picked up an RBI on a bases loaded walk, Judge drove in another on a single, Bellinger cleared the bases with a three-run triple, and Dominguez added another on a single.

Game MVP: Cam Schlittler

Schlittler dominated for most of the night, tossing 95 pitches (59 strikes) over 5.2 IP, allowing seven hits, and striking out four with three walks. He threw 21 pitches that clocked in at 100 mph or more, per Statcast.

Highlights

Michael Kay and Suzyn Waldman lay flowers at home plate to honor John Sterling 💙🤍 pic.twitter.com/fKZzduAQwU

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 4, 2026

IT IS HIGH, IT IS FAR, IT IS GONE!

Aaron Judge with a Judgian blast! pic.twitter.com/HxzrxJuGLZ

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 4, 2026

Jake Bird gets out of the jam and he’s PUMPED pic.twitter.com/vvTHPAAFlx

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 5, 2026

After review…Jasson Dominguez is safe! pic.twitter.com/vhCZ9MfHsq

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 5, 2026

After review…Jasson Dominguez is safe! pic.twitter.com/vhCZ9MfHsq

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 5, 2026

Jose Caballero makes it 6-1 with an RBI double off the wall! pic.twitter.com/XTN1L4Tyl1

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 5, 2026

RYAN MCMAHON WOW pic.twitter.com/L6KIHKYWvN

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 5, 2026

Aaron Judge drives in two more! Yankees lead 9-1! pic.twitter.com/kfaiwBcKLR

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 5, 2026

Cody Bellinger triple! 11-1 Yankees! pic.twitter.com/xnsgi8YSwB

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 5, 2026

Jasson Dominguez tacks on another! It’s 12-1 Yankees! pic.twitter.com/SFmPqiOTFV

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 5, 2026

Upcoming Schedule

The Yankees stay home and will begin a three-game series against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.

Elmer Rodríguez (0-1, 4.50 ERA) will make his second big league start and face two-time NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom (2-1, 2.01 ERA).

They say it’s very hard to sweep a four-game series in baseball. But they must not have watched the 2026 Orioles.

In an inevitable result, the Yanks completed the sweep of the Orioles with a 12-1 win in the finale. Aaron Judge’s first-inning homer dug the O’s a hole from which they never escaped, with yet more defensive blundering and overwhelming offensive futility in RBI situations compounding the Orioles’ woes.

The Birds’ four-game jaunt to Yankee Stadium was, simply put, an embarrassment. The O’s were outscored by at least five runs in every game. They never held a lead at any point. Their defense was terrible, their pitching was worse, and their offense failed to show up time and time again. They were utterly outclassed at every turn, to the point that they looked like they weren’t even playing the same sport as the Yankees.

Other than that, though, everything is fine.

What’s there to say about a game that was essentially over in the first inning? Shane Baz was the latest O’s starting pitcher to simply not get the job done, and it started immediately when Trent Grisham led off the Yankees’ first with a double before Aaron Judge crushed a booming, two-run homer to right-center. Sigh. That happened, by the way, after Judge took a 2-2 pitch that was practically right down the middle, only to be called ball three, and Adley Rutschman failed to challenge it. I know you don’t generally want to risk losing a challenge in the first inning, but on a pitch that’s so obviously in the zone with Aaron Judge at the plate, I feel like it’s worth the gamble. Instead, it was 2-0 Yankees after just two batters.

There’s no shame in a pitcher being victimized by Aaron Judge, but it’s not as if Baz was good otherwise. He labored through his 5.2 innings and was tagged for six runs (five earned) while issuing a season-worst five walks. Seven starts into his O’s career, his ERA is just a hair shy of five (4.99). When exactly do we get to see the ace-caliber starter the Orioles thought they were trading for?

As usual, lousy defense cost the Orioles a run. On a Grisham double in the third, Leody Taveras lollipopped a bad throw from center field that Gunnar Henderson failed to corral, an equally sloppy play by both fielders. That allowed Grisham to advance to third, where he later scored on a sac fly. I dream that someday the O’s will play a clean defensive game. It probably won’t happen this season, but maybe someday.

You wouldn’t think a 3-0 deficit would be insurmountable, especially since the O’s collected their fair share of hits against Yankees pitching, but with the Orioles, no amount of failure is unachievable. The flamethrowing Cam Schlittler was pumping 100-mph fastballs into the zone with frequency but the O’s managed a baserunner against him in almost every inning. They just couldn’t capitalize once those runners were on base. The third and fifth innings were particularly painful, with the O’s putting the first two runners on base in both instance, only to ground into a rally-killing double play each time (Adley Rutschman first, then Blaze Alexander).

Even when the Orioles finally scratched across their first run, on a Colton Cowser bases-loaded walk in the sixth, they blew a chance at a big inning when Jeremiah Jackson struck out to strand three. At that point the O’s were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

If there were any doubt, the Yankees put the game away in the sixth with three more runs, set up by two Baz walks followed by a run-scoring wild pitch, a Ryan McMahon RBI single, and a José Caballero double off Yennier Cano.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Orioles debuted newly signed reliever Lou Trivino, a 34-year-old with six years of MLB experience. Let’s just say that Lou fits right into this Orioles team. He was bludgeoned for six runs, four hits, and three walks in two-thirds of an inning, an outing so unspeakably atrocious that he had to be replaced by a position player, Weston Wilson. That Mike Elias sure can pick ’em! I can think of no more fitting way for this series to have ended.

The Yankees put the Orioles out of their misery with a quick top of the ninth. That ended the short-term humiliation of these four days at Yankee Stadium. But the long-term humiliation of these 2026 Orioles, sadly, has only just begun.

The Guardians lost a baseball game today.

David Fry hit a two-run homer. Travis Bazzana had another hit and scored on that homer. Angel Martinez had a double and a walk and Fry added another hit. Other than that… bupkis. I can go the rest of my life and not see the Guardians look pathetic against Michael Wacha again and I’ll be a happy man.

Tanner Bibee was good… except for one absolutely dreadful inning. In the fourth, he gave up a leadoff home run to Bobby Witt Jr, then a double to Vinnie Pasquantino, then a single to Salvador Perez that will likely later be changed to an error on Travis Bazzana. Bazzana just plain missed it. Through the wickets. Yikes. Then a single to Carter Jensen and a walk to Lane Thomas. And, after all that, Bibee almost escaped with the game tied but an 86 mph groundball snuck through the infield and he had surrendered four runs.

After I staked my claim that I think Matt Festa and Connor Brogdon are better pitchers than Peyton Pallette, Pallette looked electric today and Festa gave up a bomb to Jac Caglianone and Brogdon gave up a run after a Rocchio error.

Bleach. Got a find a way to win these next two because I do not want to be trying to win that last game on Thursday against Seth Lugo who is even worse to face for the Guardians than Wacha. The Royals have won 8 out of 10. The Guardians… have not. And are back at .500. Tomorrow is another day.

Just a few hours after designating backup catcher Jonah Heim for assignment, the Atlanta Braves announced a trade to the Athletics in exchange for cash considerations.

The #Braves tonight acquired cash considerations from the Athletics in exchange for C Jonah Heim.

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 5, 2026

With catcher Sean Murphy ready to be activated from the IL, it was Heim who found himself as the man left out from the 26-man roster.

There was discussion the club could opt to keep Heim around and carry three catchers, especially with Drake Baldwin and Murphy expected to play nearly every day, but given the injured state of the outfield, the Braves had no choice but to part with the veteran catcher.

Heim did a fine job in backup duty of Baldwin over the past month, hitting .231/.311/.410 (99 wRC+) across 45 plate appearances. In case of an injury to Baldwin or Murphy in the weeks to come, the club would likely call upon Chadwick Tromp, who is currently in Triple-A Gwinnett, to serve as the backup catcher.

On a day in which some big, dark, looming injury news was made, some big, dark, looming clouds — literal, not metaphorical — hung over downtown Detroit.

Eventually, those clouds caused a rain delay, but after dodging the drops, the Tigers dropped the opening contest of their three-game home series against the Red Sox, 5-4. It was a somewhat unexpected pitchers’ duel early, but a disastrous outing from the Tiger bullpen erased a slim lead and was their ultimate downfall.

In case you haven’t heard, Tarik Skubal is going to have surgery for “loose bodies” in his left elbow, which is definitely his more important one. So, taking his place for the latest edition of Pitching Chaos was Tyler Holton, who also started Sunday night, going two-thirds of an inning against the Rangers. The planned bulk-guy tonight was call-up Ty Madden, who missed all of 2025 and had made five starts for Toledo so far this season.

Facing the Tigers was left-hander Payton Tolle; at press time, it had not been determined whether or not he is related to German self-help author Eckhart Tolle. Like Madden, Tolle (Payton, not Eckhart) started the season in Triple-A; he had a handful of appearances with the Red Sox in 2025 and did decently well. Unlike Madden, Tolle played some first base and outfield in college, and appeared as a designated hitter fairly often, clubbing a baker’s dozen home runs in 2023.

Holton had a little traffic on the basepaths as he completed the first inning and then hit the showers. Madden started the second and had a fairly uneventful second inning before getting into a bit of a jam in the third: Zack Short handled an Andruw Monasterio grounder at shortstop, but bounced the throw to first base that Spencer Torkelson couldn’t handle.

Jarren Duran singled to put runners on the corners with none out, and Duran stole second to put a pair of runners into scoring position. But then Willson Contreras struck out, Masataka Yoshida hit a grounder to first and Torkelson threw home to easily get Monasterio, who was running on contact, and Trevor Story struck out swinging. Nice work, Ty!

Tolle, meanwhile, was mowing down Tiger hitters like Jack Leiter was on Sunday night; like Leiter, Tolle retired the first twelve Detroit batsmen. But also like on Sunday night, the spell was broken by an extra-base hit in the fifth: Riley Greene hit a leadoff double. He advanced to third with a one-out Wenceel Perez grounder, but was stranded 90 feet (136 links) from home after Hao-Yu Lee struck out to end the inning.

The Red Sox got two runners on in the top of the sixth as well, through a pair of infield singles to third base. But with two outs, Madden froze Marcelo Mayer on a four-seamer on the outer half of the plate for strike three, and with the rain coming down a little harder, that was likely going to be the end of Madden’s night.

The bottom of the sixth saw the Tigers get on the board in a mostly-empty stadium as fans were told to find cover as inclement weather was about to hit the area (although, perplexingly, the players played on): Colt Keith was nicked by a pitch to lead off, and Jahmai Jones walked to put a pair on. Boston catcher Carlos Nárvaez tried to fire to first to back-pick Jones, but he threw it over Contreras’ head and both runners advanced a base.

Matt Vierling hit a broken-bat bouncer to third; Monasterio’s throw home, from his rear end, was wild and both Keith and Jones scored on the play to put the Tigers up 2-0 without a hit in the inning.

Madden did depart after the end of the sixth, and Ricky Vanasco took over. Madden’s final line: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K.

That’s pretty nice, and definitely nicer than the giant egg Vanasco then proceeded to lay: walk, single, home run, and after a double and a single (including a misplayed fly ball by Pérez), it was 4-2 for Boston and Enmanuel De Jesus had to try to clean up the mess. De Jesus didn’t really fare much better, as Boston tacked on another run with three straight hits for a 5-2 lead.

The rain intensified after one pitch was thrown in the top of the eighth; roughly half an hour later, play resumed and De Jesus seemed to have righted the ship, with a pair of strikeouts and a groundout.

But at least the Tigers narrowed the gap in the bottom of the eighth: a single and a walk sandwiched around a pair of outs put two runners on, and a Dillon Dingler double scored both of ‘em to make it a 5-4 game.

Kenley Jansen, who was on the shelf with a groin/abdomen issue (but didn’t officially join the IL), came on for the top of the ninth. Jansen’s issues lately have been well-documented, so was a bit of rest going to produce results? Well, after a strikeout and a walk, Ceddanne Rafaela hit a liner to Short at short who easily threw to first to double-off Wilyer Abreu, who was running on the pitch; that ended the inning.

Very cautious optimism shall be exercised regarding Jansen going forward.

Another closer who’s been around a block or two, Aroldis Chapman, came into a one-run game. The Tigers couldn’t get anything going against him, and that was that.

Final score: Red Sox 5, Tigers 4

Notes, Reminders and Observances

• It was pointed out in the comments that the Injured List Tigers could field a pretty darn good team: a six-man rotation of Skubal, Verlander, Mize, Olson, Melton and Jobe; a bullpen of Vest, Brieske, Seabold, Miller and Horn; in various places on the field, you’ve got Báez, Sweeney, McKinstry and Meadows. My goodness.
• If you’re Canadian, don’t forget to fill out the census! I got my notice in the mail today. You can fill it out online. Statistics are important.
• On this day in 1886, the Haymarket Affair happened: it was a labour demonstration in Chicago in support of an eight-hour workday. Someone decided to throw a bomb at the police, who returned fire and killed four civilians, and seven police officers died in the melée. I mean, I don’t know much about public gatherings, but throwing a bomb seems like it’s way out of line.

Carson Benge didn't get off to a great start for the Mets in his first taste of the majors, but the rookie has slowly but surely begun his ascension and came through with a solo home run that sparked New York's offense in an eventual 4-2 win against the Colorado Rockies.

Over his last 11 games, Benge is 10-for-33 and his batting average has climbed to .192 on the season. While still not great, the rookie hasn't let a rough start to his career get the best of him and has continued to work and stay the course, trusting that the process and his talent will eventually win out.

"I’d say there were definitely a little growing pains in there and I’m sure there’s still a few many to come," Benge said after the game. "But just being able to step in there with my same level of confidence I’ve always had is definitely a big thing."

Benge's steady approach when things weren't going his (or the Mets) way is a testament to his maturity. And still just 23 years old, it's something that has impressed manager Carlos Mendoza since day one.

"I’ve been impressed with how he’s handled the whole situation, how steady he’s been, how professional, how mature he’s been," Mendoza said. "And those are some really good signs from a young player, especially getting a taste at the big league level for the first time."

Making the Opening Day roster after a spectacular spring training and tasked with playing right field, Benge had a lot on his plate served to him from the jump. However, on a team full of veterans he had the luxury of being able to go at his own pace and not put too much pressure on himself as he found his footing.

But with injuries to many of those veterans that New York was leaning on, suddenly the Mets needed Benge, and others, to come to the forefront. 

For example, when Juan Soto went down earlier this season (and even when he returned), Benge had to move over to left field and handled it with ease. Now with Luis Robert Jr. sidelined with an injury, Benge has also played some center field, including on Monday where he made another nice catch following his pulchritudinous play in right field on Sunday.

There's no doubt Benge's defense has been solid all season, which is definitely important, but for him to stick in the majors and live up to his top-prospect hype his offense would have to follow suit. And lately, it has.

"It’s a good sign," Mendoza said about Benge's improved offense. "And it’s good not only for the team, but good for him to start playing with some confidence."

If Benge can continue his development at the plate, one that includes patience which has led to three walks in his last two games after he walked just five times in April, it helps a Mets offense that has endured a team-wide slump for much of the season.

But even during his and the team's slump, Benge stayed positive through it all and his teammates had his back every step of the way.

"I feel like all the guys here, they had my back and they all believe in me so why can’t I believe in myself?" he said.

Blue Jays 1 Rays 5

That was a very frustrating game. The Jays had ten hits, but just one extra base hit, a double by Yohendrick Piñango. It is hard to have 10 hits and only get one run. You really have to work at it.

And, the Rays scored three in the first. Eric Lauer showed us how much he hated the idea of the opener by showing why we should have an opener for his starts. The first three batters went single, walk, home run. And, really, the Rays could have stopped there.

After that Lauer was ok. He was still giving up hard hit balls, but they found gloves. He went 54.1, with 5 hits, 3 earned, 1 walk and 2 strikeouts.

Spencer Miles finished off the fifth very nicely. But in the sixth, he went ground out, single, strikeout, single, single. He came out of the game for

Mason Fluharty, who gave up a two run single and that was pretty much the game.

Tommy Nance and Joe Mantiply pitched a scoreless inning each.

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On offense…there were a lot of singles. Nine singles and the one double. Piñango had three hits. No one else had more than one. Daulton Varsho had the 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts. Vlad had the only RBI driving home Piñango (who is hitting .500 at the moment, I don’t know how you send him down when Nathan Lukes or Addison Barger come back from the IL).

Ten hits, but one for eight with RISP.

I always hate excuses for not hitting with RISP but I suppose they could be pressing. But these guys went to the World Series last year, they should know how to drive in a run, now and then.

Defensively, they were fine, other than Ernie Clement who had a tough time. I thought he made two errors, but I see the Official Scorer disagrees. I tell you, make me official scorer and I’ll have fielding averages back to where they were in the 1930s. I know it is an old man rant, but when a guy throws wide of first by 10 feet from 30 feet away, THAT’S AN ERROR. And when the same guy goes 15 feet to his left to get a ball and then has it go off his glove, THAT’S AN ERROR. Call them errors.

The Jays are now 16-19. Last year, after 35 games, they were 16-19. So all is not lost. But ‘all’ might be behind the couch, and maybe they better look their soon.

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No Jay of the Day today. Vlad had the high mark with a .03 WPA. Let’s give honorable mention to Piñango for the three hits and the only extra base hit.

Other Award: Lauer (-.12, sorry Eric, you are going to see an opener next time around), Varsho (-.09 for his 0 for 4, 3 k), Gimenez (-.08, 0 for 4), Clement (-0.7, plus the two errors), and Fluharty (-.08).

Cinco de Mayo tomorrow. We have Kevin Gausman (2-2, 3.10) vs. Drew Rasmussen (2-1, 2.64). Another 6:40 start time. They need time to all their fans into the park.

Names are a funny thing. Today’s Phillies starter has a name that accurately describes him: Aaron Nola is from Louisiana, where one can find New Orleans, or NOLA (he’s from Baton Rouge, but I have a good time with these puns, so I’m gonna laissez les bons temps rouler). Today’s Marlins starter has a name, that, unfortunately for the Phillies, did not describe him accurately: the quality of Janson Junk’s offerings was quite high today. Also, he’s not a junkballer, which seems like a tremendous missed opportunity.

The Phillies put Bryce Harper aboard against Junk via two-out double in the first, though couldn’t plate him. Similarly, the Marlins put one aboard against Nola, with the other three batters making outs.

The Phillies made a bit of progress in the second, putting two aboard, as Brandon Marsh smacked a single to right, and Alec Bohm reached on a bobbled ball error from Marlins shortstop Otto Lopez. But the end result was the same as their first frame, as they scored no runs. The inning ended when Justin Crawford fought Junk across nine pitches, ultimately grounding out to second.

The pattern was clear, and it was beautiful: one runner in the first, two runners in the second. If it held, the Phillies would get three in the third, then the Phillies would get their fourth baserunner, and their first run, in the fourth. It was elegant and symmetrical, and just-so, and Bryce Harper ruined it by hitting a solo homer to right in the third. Extremely inconsiderate of him.

More considerate was Nola, who provided a steady hand for the visitors. He allowed some scattered baserunners through four, but allowing none to advance past first. He was aided in this by Garrett Stubbs, who put out two Fish trying to steal second.

But the Phillies produced a lot of junk against Junk, and as the sixth dawned, they had still just the one run to their name. Junk, after a start that very much did not live up (down?) to his name, took his leave after inducing an out from Harper and surrendering a single to Adolis García. He was replaced with a hurler who had a significantly more noble-sounding name: John King. King, by royal decree, exiled the remaining Phillies back to their dugout.

Nola kept the Fish flailing through the sixth, with the home club still unable to reach third base. But the Phillies did some phlailing of their own, finishing four consecutive innings without getting a baserunner past first. Nola’s day ended after six (5 H, 5 K, 0 BB, 0 ER), and Tanner Banks came on. Would he live up to his name, by being cash money?

He would. The inning got off to a bit of a rough start as Xavier Edwards made it to first when Trea Turner bobbled a ball. But Banks was unfazed, and tossed the next three Fish back into the sea. Speaking of bodies of water, the next Marlin on the mound was Lake Bachar. Would he live up to his name, by drowning the Phillies?

He would. Harper broke his bat as he bounced a ball into center for a single, but Bachar battled back, putting Harper’s compatriots away and stranding everyone’s favorite fan of the Phanatic on first. The Phillies, still clinging to a 1-0 lead, put José Alvarado on the mound to keep the Marlins on the hook in the eighth. Like Banks and Nola before him, he proved unsolvable for Miami. We thus entered the ninth in a holding pattern. And it held, at least for the Phillies, who went down in order.

Brad Keller was tasked with sending the Marlins home without a run to hang their caps on. He allowed a leadoff single to Kyle Stowers (immediately replaced with Javier Sanoja as a pinch runner), then induced a classic double play ball to put the Marlins on the brink. Edwards came to the plate in the thrilling, chilling position of being both the potential tying run and the potential final out.

He was neither. He singled to right, then saw the game end as Liam Hicks broke his bat on a little chopper to Stott. Thus, we saw exactly what we hoped to see. Namely, a Phillies win.

The Phillies are 15-20. They return home to start a three-game set against their old neighbors, the Athletics, tomorrow at 6:40.

The Mariners, fresh off a brutal sweep at the hands of the Royals, now have to face one of the best teams in baseball, the Atlanta Braves. Read more about what’s coming in the series preview.

To make matters worse, the Mariners are getting steadily more injured without much help on the immediate horizon. Brendan Donovan will start a rehab assignment with Arkansas tomorrow, but he won’t be back for this series; Victor Robles is currently on a rehab assignment in Tacoma but similarly won’t be with the club until next series at the earliest. Cal Raleigh remains out with his mysterious side injury, with no indication from the club about the severity of the injury. The bullpen took another hit today with the news that Gabe Speier is headed to the IL with shoulder inflammation; Matt Brash remains out with his lat issue. The injury bug saw his shadow and that means six more weeks of winter, in which winter is “Leo Rivas, everyday third baseman” and “Mitch Garver, everyday catcher” and “recruiting bullpen help from local travel teams.” It’s rough out here, folks.

Lineups:

This picture is doing everything it can to spark joy.

Local kid JR Ritchie, who grew up on Bainbridge Island, gets the start tonight for the Braves, so don’t be too surprised if you hear a lot of cheering when he strikes a Mariner out – apparently he’s going to have quite a support squad in the building.

Injury updates:

Unfortunately these are all bad, for the Mariners. LHP Gabe Speier is headed to the IL with shoulder inflammation. Read more here.

Atlanta, conversely, is getting healthier. They welcome back their catcher Sean Murphy today; catcher and old AL West foe Jonah Heim was DFA’d in a corresponding move, which unfortunately means there’s a chance he could be a Texas Ranger again. The Braves are still fairly beat up, though; Michael Harris II isn’t in tonight’s lineup as he battles a quad injury, and Ronald Acuña Jr. will miss this entire series with a hamstring injury.

Tonight’s game information:

Game time: 6:40 PT

TV: Mariners TV, with Aaron Goldsmith and Dave Valle, with Angie Mentink as the field analyst

Radio: Seattle Sports 710 AM, with Rick Rizzs and Aaron Goldsmith

The San Francisco Giants begin a three-game home series against the San Diego Padres tonight from Oracle Park.

Game #35

Who: San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California

When: 6:45 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

Michael Kay honored the late John Sterling on Monday night by replicating his well-known home run call for Aaron Judge in the bottom of the first inning. 

Sterling, the longtime Yankees broadcaster, died Monday at 87 years old.

Kay paid homage to his friend and former broadcast partner — having called games on the radio with Sterling from 1992-2001 on 770 AM WABC — when Judge hit a two-run blast to right center field to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead over the Orioles. 

“It is high! It is far! It is gone!” Kay belted, using the same home run call that Sterling made famous while calling Yankee games. “Aaron Judge! A Judgian blast! Here comes the Judge!”

"It is high! It is far! It is GONE! Aaron Judge! A Judgian blast! Here comes the Judge!"

Michael Kay with the John Sterling tribute call on an Aaron Judge home run in the first inning. #MLBpic.twitter.com/wzf4MVthCM

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 4, 2026

All were phrases that Sterling used to call an Aaron Judge home run. 

Sterling was synonymous with Yankee baseball, calling games on the radio for 36 years. 

His death led to tributes from across the baseball world, and Kay became emotional during his radio show on ESPN New York earlier Monday in recalling Sterling’s reasoning for making such a big push to walk again. 

Kay said that Sterling had been bedridden and lost the ability to walk after open-heart surgery following “so many heart attacks that it would’ve killed most people.”

The Yankees TV voice said that Sterling had been “really pushing” his rehab in order to walk his oldest daughter down the aisle when she gets married over the summer. 

“’Michael, I have to walk her down the aisle’,” Kay recalled him saying to him, having to pause as he became emotional. “And that’s why he was hanging on. But he had trouble about a week ago, heart failure, and he finally succumbed today. But he’ll be walking her down as he looks down on his family.

“The one thing he wanted to do, he was unable to make it.”

Sterling’s presence was felt around Yankee Stadium quite a bit on Monday as the Yankees battled the Orioles. 

The players wore hats with “JS” written on the back of them, and prior to the game, a moment of silence was held as Kay and Suzyn Waldman — Sterling’s broadcast partner — laid flowers at home plate.

Prior to the game, Judge told reporters that “fans all around the country are going to remember his voice” when he was asked about Sterling.

“I’m just going to remember he brought that New York theatre to the ballpark is the best way to describe it,” Judge said.

The last time the White Sox saw the Angels was just last week, and it ended with a White Sox sweep at home. This time, the Good Guys are coming off a series win against the Padres during this latest West Coast road trip, and seeing the somehow even worse-for-wear Angels for the second and last time this season.

A quick update: Randal Grichuk has agreed to a one-year, $1.25 million contract with the White Sox. I will leave a screenshot of a viral post from April 17, 2019, for no particular reason.

In other news, Austin Hays has landed back on the injured list (retroactive to May 2) with a left calf strain, and Tanner Murray (shoulder surgery) has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Now onto tonight’s late-night lineup. Davis Martin is on the mound tonight for the visitors. Martin has been electric, with a record of 4-1, 33 strikeouts, and a stellar ERA of just 1.95 over 37 innings. Sam Antonacci leads off, and Drew Romo is behind the plate.

José Soriano will be on the mound for the home team. Soriano was just named American League Pitcher of the Month, and is the third pitcher all-time to finish April with 5+ wins, 49+ strikeouts, and an ERA of less than 1.00, joining Randy Johnson (2000 Diamondbacks) and Jered Weaver (2011 Angels).

We’ll hopefully be in for a good duel tonight.

Tonight’s matchup starts at 8:38 p.m. CT. You can watch on CHSN or listen on ESPN Chicago 1000.