Category: MLB

The Yankees wasted away a great start from Ryan Weathers, falling to the Baltimore Orioles, 3-2.

It's New York's fourth straight loss after getting swept by the Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend.

Here are the takeaways...

-- Ben Rice recorded New York's first two hits of the game, and the second got the team on the board. After Trent Grisham walked with one out in the third inning, the growing star smacked a two-run homer to left-center field, putting the Yanks up 2-0. 

It was Rice's 13th home run of the season.

-- Weathers had arguably the best start of his Yankees career, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning.

Weathers dazzled after issuing a leadoff walk to start the game, retiring 13 straight Orioles into the fifth inning, including five straight strikeouts in the second and third innings. The left-hander walked his second batter with one out in the fifth, but locked back in to get the next two outs.

He tossed another 1-2-3 inning in the sixth but lost the no-no bid to Adley Rustchman in the bottom of the seventh inning. Weathers stayed in the game and got Pete Alonso to groundout before walking Tyler O'Neill to end his night. He finished after 101 pitches in 6.1 innings, allowing two runs on only one hit with three walks and nine strikeouts.

-- Aaron Boone's choice to hand the ball to Brent Headrick out of the bullpen backfired, as the lefty allowed a three-run home run to the first batter he faced, Coby Mayo. Baltimore took a 3-2 lead on just their second hit of the night, tacking two runs onto Weathers' line.

-- The Yanks wasted two opportunities to add on to their 2-0 lead. Aaron Judge ripped a leadoff double in top of sixth inning and advanced to third on Cody Bellinger's groundout, but was left stranded after Jazz Chisholm Jr. struck out and Ryan McMahon grounded out (despite a bad toss from Alonso at first base).

The seventh inning was nearly identical as Max Schuemann (getting the start at SS with Jose Cabellaro out) was also left stranded at third base after a one-out double in the seventh inning. Austin Wells and Trent Grisham both grounded out to end the frame. New York ended the game 0-for-6 with RISP and left five on base.

-- McMahon got fans on their feet in the top of the ninth inning with a deep drive to right field, but it was caught at the wall by O'Neill. Caballero came in to pinch run for Paul Goldschmidt with two outs and tried to steal second base, however, Baltimore challenged the ruling on the field and the call was overturn to end the game.

Game MVP: Brandon Young

The Orioles' right-hander allowed the two-run homer to Rice, but that was his only mistake. Young allowed the two runs on just three hits over 5.1 innings with five strikeouts and three walks.

Highlights

Ryan Weathers strikes out the side in the second 🔥 pic.twitter.com/pWDXhS4Uzz

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 11, 2026

Ben Rice's 13th home run of the year! 🍚 pic.twitter.com/vI7NhuL3e8

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 11, 2026

What's next

The Yankees continue their three-game series against the Orioles on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.

Will Warren (4-1, 3.46 ERA) will take the mound for New York. Baltimore has yet to announce a starter.

Tonight’s game was filled with “here we go again” moments. The Orioles scratched an injured player from the lineup before the first pitch, the opponent took an early lead on a home run, and the offense absolutely refused to produce against a left-handed pitcher. Baltimore appeared well on its way to a fifth consecutive loss against the Yankees, but finally some Orioles Magic intervened.

Adley Rutschman broke up a no-hit bid in the bottom of the seventh, and Coby Mayo launched a go-ahead three-run homer. Rico Garcia shutdown the heart of the Yankees order in the eighth, and the Orioles used a successful challenge to secure a 3-2 win at Camden Yards.

Before the fireworks, Brandon Young did his part to keep the Orioles in the game. The 27-year-old held the best offense in the American League to two runs over 5.1 innings. Young retired Jazz Chisholm Jr to dance out of trouble in the first, and he struck out Ryan McMahon and Spencer Jones during a clean second.

The damage came in the third after a one-out walk to Trent Grisham. Young fell behind in the count 3-1 before catching a little too much of the zone with a sinker. Ben Rice took the ball the other way and sent it over the Budweiser advertisement on the left-field wall.

Things could have spiraled after the big blast, but the Orioles buckled down. Tyler O’Neill robbed Aaron Judge with a diving catch in left field, and Young overcame a two-out walk by retiring Chisholm for the second time. Young proceeded to retire the side in order during the fourth and fifth innings

Judge snapped Young’s modest streak by ripping a leadoff double down the left field line. Judge advanced to third on a grounder by Bellinger, and Craig Albernaz went to get his starter with one out in the sixth. Enns struck out Chisholm for a big second out before generating a slow grounder by McMahon. Enns raced to cover first and caught the ball with his bare hand to secure the final out of the inning. Enns returned and worked around a one-out double by Max Schuemann to keep the score at 2-0 after six.

The Orioles finally broke through in the seventh inning. Adley Rutschman went down and punched a changeup the other way for the Orioles first hit of the game. Weathers appeared visibly frustrated after losing his no-hit bid on a pitcher’s pitch, and the Yankee dugout quickly responded by sending out the pitching coach for a quick chat.

Weathers remained in the game to face Tyler O’Neill, and the right fielder turned in a quality at bat. O’Neill nearly evened the score at two by pulling a change up down the left field line, but the ball soared just foul. At that point, with the way the season has gone, a strikeout felt like a sure thing. Instead, O’Neill locked in and took the ninth pitch of the at bat low for ball four.

The free pass brought the go-ahead run to the plate. The Orioles did not have Coby Mayo in the original starting lineup, but Albernaz inserted Mayo as the DH when Samuel Basallo was scratched with left-knee soreness. Basallo injured his knee during a collision at the plate in Sunday’s 2-1 win over the Athletics. Basallo held the ball when Leody Taveras threw out the potential tying run at the plate, but somehow even a strong defensive play had come back to bite the Orioles.

Or so we thought. Instead, the chain reaction led to a strong dose of Orioles Magic. The Yankees went to the bullpen, and reliever Brent Headrick threw a hanging slider over the heart of the plate. Mayo smashed a ball 389 feet over the left field fence, and suddenly the Orioles held a 3-2 lead.

Held is the key word, because the Yankees sent up Rice, Judge and Bellinger in the top of the eighth. Rico Garcia has emerged as the leader of the bullpen with Ryan Helsley on the IL. The Orioles deployed Garcia in the eighth to face the heart of the order, and the Honolulu native continued his dream season. Garcia struck out Rice, generated a harmless fly out from Judge, and struck out Bellinger for a shutdown eighth inning.

Anthony Nunez replaced Garcia and provided one more “here we go again” scare. Nunez struck out Chisholm for the first out, but McMahon pulled a towering fly ball to right field. The ball hung in the air for an eternity before O’Neill made a jumping catch at the wall for the second out. Paul Goldschmidt kept the game alive with a single to right, and the Yankees sent José Caballero to pinch run.

Nunez tried and failed to pickoff Caballero, and the speedster broke toward second on an 0-1 fastball. Adley Rutschman threw a dart to second, and Blaze Alexander managed to tag Caballero despite an impressive swim-move slide. The second base umpire initially botched the call, but replay confirmed that Alexander made the game-sealing tag for a 3-2 win.

Young kept the Orioles in it, and Garcia delivered a massive shutdown inning, but Mayo’s big blast stole the show. Give us your pick for the Most Birdland Player of the Day in the comments below!

Yoshinobu Yamamoto takes the mound on Tuesday night for the Dodgers against the Giants, looking to avenge one of his two losses this season.

Yamamoto pitched seven innings on April 21 in San Francisco but took the loss after allowing three runs, all of them in the first inning. The opening frame is the worst one for the Dodgers right-hander this season, with six runs allowed in his seven first innings.

Adrian Houser starts for San Francisco, coming off his best start of the season, allowing only two runs (one earned) in six innings last Wednesday against the San Diego Padres. Houser has a 6.19 ERA and 5.56 xERA, and the Giants have lost six of his seven starts.

Houser has also had rough first innings, allowing eight runs and five home runs in the opening frame.

Tuesday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Giants
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Looking for a spark, the Mets are calling up top prospect A.J. Ewing, SNY MLB Insider Chelsea Janes confirmed.

Ewing, who is SNY's No. 3 Mets prospect, was recently promoted from Double-A to Triple-A at the end of April. 

The 21-year-old hit .349 over 18 games in Binghamton and didn't miss a beat in Syracuse, hitting .326 through 12 games. 

New York currently owns the worst record in the majors at 15-25 and is 12.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East. Injuries have also been a challenge for the club with Juan Soto missing 15 games in April and Francisco Lindor, Jorge Polanco, and Luis Robert Jr. all on the IL.

The hope will be that Ewing comes in and provides energy before it's too late for the Mets to turn their season around.

Overall across 30 games between Double-A and Triple-A, Ewing slashed .339/.447/.514 (.961 OPS) with nine doubles, two triples, two home runs and 17 stolen bases. He's also shown great plate discipline with 22 walks and only 20 strikeouts.

Defensively, Ewing has played mostly center field in the minors (18 games in 2026, 150 for his career). He'll likely slide into that role in Queens with Carson Benge in right field and Soto in left field or DH. The former fourth-round pick has also logged 53 games at second base (four in 2026), 21 in LF, and 20 in RF. 

When asked in a recent interview what fans can expect from him, Ewing expressed tons of confidence and highlighted his ability at the plate. 

"I spray the ball to all fields," Ewing said. "I think I'm a tough out. I think I grind at-bats really well and I see a lot of pitches and I make pitchers work hard."

The Mets begin a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday at 7:10 p.m., ahead of their weekend Subway Series against the Yankees.

If Ryan Borucki strikes out Shohei Ohtani at any point in this upcoming Giants-Dodgers series, I’ll email “Ryan Borucki is as cold as the Bo-Rockies” with zero explanation to the department head at the middle school I work at.    

If Ryan Borucki strikes out Shohei Ohtani at any point in this upcoming Giants-Dodgers series to strand a runner, or runner(s) on base, I’ll slap a “Ryan Borucki brings the Bo-Ruckus” bumper sticker onto my 2002 Volkswagen Eurovan and ride it ‘til it rusts. 

If Ryan Borucki strikes out Shohei Ohtani at any point in this upcoming Giants-Dodgers series to strand a runner, or runner(s) on base in a game the Giants win, I’ll upgrade the aforementioned “Ryan Borucki brings the Bo-Ruckus” sticker to a t-shirt that I’ll wear every time I go grocery shopping and offer an unsolicited explanation to at least one person I encounter, ending said explanation with “Basically, Ryan Borucki is one badass mutha-rucka.”

If Ryan Borucki strikes out Shohei Ohtani twice in this upcoming Giants-Dodgers series — which is the amount of times Trey Yesavage struck out Shohei Ohtani in the 2025 World Series, which is relevant because to make room on their roster for Yesavage last September, Toronto DFA’d Borucki — I’ll wear a backpack over my head at a Giants home game this summer with “Ryan Borucksack” stitched across it. Look for me.

If Ryan Borucki strikes out Shohei Ohtani three or more times in this upcoming Giants-Dodgers series, I might just have to do all four of those things, and then Lord knows what else…

And if Ryan Borucki gives up a game-altering homer to Shohei Ohtani in this upcoming Giants-Dodgers series…well, what’d ya expect?

The Los Angeles Dodgers are hoping to get a much-needed spark back in the lineup.

Mookie Betts, who has been out since April 4 with a right oblique strain, has been activated from the 10-day injured list and will start at shortstop and bat second in the order in the series opener against the San Francisco Giants on Monday, May 11, the Dodgers announced.

"I don't know if there's gonna be a jolt of energy or not," Betts told reporters in the dugout pregame. "I just know that I'm here, I wanna play and I wanna win. Hopefully that gets the guys going as far as focusing on the game and taking care of wining ball games, but we'll see. Only time will tell when it comes to that."

Rookie infielder Alex Freeland was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City in a corresponding move.

No. 50 is back.

Tonight's #Dodgers lineup vs. Giants: pic.twitter.com/SwR5YJA1bB

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 11, 2026

The four-time World Series champion went on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City over the weekend in which he went 2-for-5 with a walk and played 11 innings in the field over two games. Entering May 8, manager Dave Roberts told reporters that Betts could come back as early as May 11 if he came away from both rehab games feeling well.

The current plan, according to Roberts is to ease Betts back into action. There isn't much opportunity built into the schedule to get Betts rested and recovered with the Dodgers playing 10 games in the next 10 days through May 20, so expect Roberts to give him some days off over that stretch. Right now, the current plan is for Betts to play two in a row before a planned off day on May 13.

"I think he's going to want to be in there regularly, but we'll kind of see," Roberts told reporters. "But this is more just based on the front-end progression."

The Dodgers are hoping that getting Betts back into the lineup will provide some production that has been missing as their offense has stalled to a collective .204 batting average over the last five days with a .658 OPS in that span.

"I think that we certainly have enough talent to be better than we have," Roberts told reporters on Sunday. "But adding Mookie’s at-bat quality, I think, will certainly help. We just haven’t been as consistent as a group as we should be, even without Mookie. But yeah, he certainly raises the floor."

DODGERS-GIANTS SERIES: Comparing teams as rivalry heats up this week

Betts himself struggled to start the season, slashing .179/.281/.429 through eight games, but had finally broken through for his first multi-hit game of 2026 with a home run and two RBI on April 3, one day before he injured his oblique on a check swing.

But in his first game back in five weeks, the Gold Glove finalist isn't worried about trying to overcompensate or do too much.

"It's gonna take us all. It is what it is," Betts told reporters. "We're gonna go through our ups and our downs but it's important for everyone to know that it's gonna take all of us, and not just one guy getting through our struggles."

"I just want to go out and help the team win, whatever it takes... I'm in a really good spot, everything's pretty normal now."

After missing the last 32 games (oblique strain), Mookie Betts speaks to the media after getting activated off the injured list for the series opener… pic.twitter.com/8kx8n46RoL

— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) May 11, 2026

The Dodgers enter May 11 tied for first place in the NL West with the San Diego Padres after back-to-back losses to the Atlanta Braves on May 9-10.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LA Dodgers Mookie Betts returns from oblique injury

BALTIMORE — In his first start since “[throwing] my guts up for several hours” nine days ago, Ryan Weathers took a hurl at history.

The Yankees left-hander took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning before allowing a leadoff single to Adley Rutschman Monday night at Camden Yards, dominating the Orioles while allowing only two walks and striking out nine through the first six frames.

Weathers last started on May 2 against these same Orioles, after which he returned home and got sick, resulting in losing nine pounds and being scratched from his scheduled start on Thursday.

After recovering, he threw a bullpen session on Friday in Milwaukee, clearing the way for him to start on Monday.

The 26-year-old, whose career-high in innings pitched before Monday was eight, entered this start with a 3.03 ERA on the year.

LOS ANGELES — For the first time in 37 days, Mookie Betts is back in the starting lineup, batting second for the Dodgers on Monday night against the San Francisco Giants. In between was a lot of waiting, still hampered by his strained right oblique.

“I didn’t realize how long it takes to really heal. I felt pretty good pretty fast, actually. But some of the movements I just couldn’t do, lingered for a long time,” Betts said Monday at Dodger Stadium. “I was trying to hurry, but the docs were like, ‘It takes a month for it to just heal.’ Then you have to do all your prep to get back to playing. So you can’t really rush time.”

He returns to a Dodgers lineup that could use some offense, having scored just seven runs in the previous three games against the Atlanta Braves, and scoring three or fewer runs eight times over the previous 11 games. Not that the Dodgers are expecting Betts to be a savior.

“Two games of rehab, taking batting practice, a day of live at-bats is not ideal, but I think with Mookie, you just don’t know,” manager Dave Roberts said. “The hope is that he can hit the ground running.”

Betts is keeping things simple.

“Things feel pretty close to the same. I remember all the drills that I did, but the more I focused on my swing, the worse it got. I think hit, take care of myself, and just play the games,” Betts said. “Whatever the game gives you is what it gives you. I’m not trying to focus on how my swing feels.”

The Dodgers plan to give Betts days off this week on Wednesday and Saturday, to ease him back into the lineup. Miguel Rojas will likely start at shortstop against Robbie Ray of the Giants on Wednesday.

“It’s more on the front end, just kind of how it’s been a while since he played. So the two-on, one-off, two-on, one-off, then after six days I think he’s going to want to be in there regularly,” Roberts said. “We’ll kind of see, but this is more about the front-end progression.”

But they will read and react depending on how Betts is feeling, and at least on Monday he says he feels pretty good.

“I’m fine. I expect I’ll just keep playing,” Betts said. “Everything is pretty normal.”

After laying an egg the size of The Bean in Chicago (sorry, Cloud Gate, one day Anish Kapoor will be called to account for that particular boondoggle), the Mariners limp into Houston for an important AL West showdown. Today I learned Kapoor also has a related work in Houston, Cloud Column, which is basically Cloud Gate but standing up, known by some Houstonians as “El Frijole”, and if it wasn’t for amount I enjoy Claes Oldenburg I’d say maybe public art was a mistake.

(Look at the lone picture I could find of Cloud Column and tell me this isn’t the most Houston take on art. The photograph is itself better art.)

Lineups:

Houston is wearing their city connects on a Monday. Who wants to connect with their city on a Monday?

News:

The Mariners will have to get along without Jose A. Ferrer for at least a couple of games, as he’s on the paternity list. Domingo Gonzalez is up from Tacoma, and you can read about him here.

Also, everyone send your best thoughts and beliefs, Tinkerbell-style, to the corner of Edgar and Dave:

Matt Brash, on the IL with right lat inflammation is scheduled to throw a bullpen today in Seattle. He is eligible to return to the #Mariners May 15.

— Shannon Drayer (@shannondrayer) May 11, 2026

Today’s game information:

Game time: 5:10 PT

TV: Mariners.tv with Aaron Goldsmith, Dave Valle, and because forget it Jake it’s Texas, Jay Buhner

Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports, with Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr.

I made myself wait 24 hours to write this so I’m not sharing something that’s a result of the disappointment of Sunday’s heartbreaking loss in San Diego. I’m satisfied that it’s the perfect time to get myself mentally prepared for what the rest of this St. Louis Cardinals season will likely become. Is this team really gonna be a contender or pretenders? I think it’s time to refocus on what this season really needs to be.

First, a quick refresher on something I shared right before the season started. It was February 11, 2026 when I shared the reasons why I was unrealistically optimistic about the 2026 St. Louis Cardinals season. I stand by my predictions then that this year’s Cardinals team would be better than most of the preseason predictors said they would be. One and a half months into the campaign, this team has overachieved and has proven my faith in them warranted. However, I have been watching the first 40 games with my heart more than I have with my head and the latter is tapping me on the shoulder about the big picture of what this season needs to be and what it likely won’t be. I asked this question in The Feed and it seems like a majority are of the same opinion as I am. This is a team of happy pretenders.

I want to be clear that I’m not waiving the white flag of surrender or conceding anything. I still think it’s within the realm of possibility that the 2026 St. Louis Cardinals team massively overachieves and makes the playoffs. However, it’s time that I whoa myself up and stop focusing on that chance. My instinct watching the first couple months of the season is to scream “go get some bullpen help, Chaim!”. That might still happen to some degree, but I think there is zero chance that the Cardinals front office suddenly goes all in to get the pieces we need to be a serious competitor, nor should they.

Here’s what I’m telling myself. The St. Louis Cardinals bullpen is simply not within striking distance of being fixed this year. Last time I looked at the numbers, the Cardinals arms strikeout rates and pitch-to-contact rates are near the cellar among all Major League teams. Riley O’Brien has been a big bright spot (not including what happened Sunday afternoon), but the rest of the bullpen has been inconsistent and I hold my breath anytime we’re entering the final 3 innings of the game with a small lead. We’re not one or two arms away from having a playoff-worthy bullpen.

I will add that I do think and hope that President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom will trade from our incredible minor league catching depth to improve our roster, but I highly doubt you’re going to see him do something that is designed for 2026 and not future seasons.

The Cardinals starting staff is also full of bright spots and disappointments. Michael McGreevy is starting to look like the ace of the staff while Matthew Liberatore has been disappointing. Dustin May got off to a rough start, but has become more like the Dustin May when he was a Dodger. Kyle Leahy has shown promise pitching above league average and Andre Pallante has had his typical high groundball rate, but low strikeout rate results.

There’s nothing negative that I can say about the St. Louis Cardinals offense other than I question if the current pace is sustainable. I said before the season that the Cardinals would be a much more dangerous team than expected if Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman performed up to potential. We’ve seen Jordan break out, but Gorman remains a low .200’s hitter that isn’t that different than the Nolan Gorman of previous years other than he is making more contact. JJ Wetherholt has been a stellar leadoff hitter with excellent on-base results with some power, but his average is sub-par, too. Overall, the St. Louis Cardinals bats are to be applauded so far. Top 10 in MLB in runs scored. Tied for 6th in home runs hit. Ranked 8th in OPS among all teams. What’s not to love? A little pessimistic voice inside me is whispering that it will be hard to expect them to remain on the current pace.

I have been reminded by many that last year’s disappointing St. Louis Cardinals team was 8 games above .500 going into the all-star break and that’s a valid point to remember. History tells us that team faded massively, but this year’s Cardinals club has a much better personality than that one. They’re young, aggressive and relentless and I fully expect they will continue to play better-than-average baseball. I predicted a winning record just above .500 before the season started and I stand by that prediction. However, I don’t see how we suddenly obtain enough pitching (starting and relief help are needed) to be a real playoff contender. I’m telling myself to reel in my expectations and enjoy the positive stuff we’ve seen happen during this rebuilding season. JJ Wetherholt is having a great rookie season. Jordan Walker has become the Jordan Walker we always hoped he could be. Michael McGreevy has gone next level. If the St. Louis Cardinals shock the baseball world and become a real playoff contender, I’ll be thrilled to be wrong. I just think it’s best to get ready for what the 2026 season will most likely become which is a Cardinals team winning more than expected, but still with eyes toward building a perennial contender for the future and not necessarily this season.

TODAY’S GAME: The Houston Astros (16-25) and Seattle Mariners (19-22) play the first game of a four-game series this evening at Daikan Park with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 p.m. CT.

RHP Peter Lambert (2-2, 2.42 ERA) will be on the mound for the Astros, opposite LHP George Kirby (4-2, 2.94 ERA) and the Mariners.

ABOUT TENG: RHP Peter Lambert tries to continue a string of strong starts that have seen him arguably be the Astros second best pitcher since he was called up..

Last App: Lambert spearheaded the only win against the Dodgers in the three game series as he outdueled Shohei Ohtani over seven sparkling shutout innings.

VS. THE MARINERS: The Astros have faced the Mariners 233 times in their history going 132—101 in the all-time series. They are 0-4 against the Mariners this season

The Astros went 5-8 against the Mariners last season including being on the business end of a three game sweep in September that helped the Mariners clinch the AL West.

REMEMBERING RENÉ: The Astros will hold a moment of silence tonight for Hall of Fame broadcaster René Cárdenas, who sadly passed away yesterday…Cárdenas was a true pioneer in broadcasting as the original Spanish-language broadcaster for the Colt .45s when the franchise was born in 1962…Cárdenas called Astros games for 14 seasons (1962-75) and after a long stint with the Dodgers, returned to the Astros Spanish broadcast in 2007…he called select Astros games since that year, while also covering the team for La Prensa, a Nicaraguan newspaper…Cárdenas was inducted into the Astros Hall of Fame in 2024.

TODAY’S AVAILABILITIES: The Astros clubhouse will be open to approved media at Daikin Park from 3-3:50 p.m. CT…Astros Manager Joe Espada will be made available in the Astros dugout at approx. 3:50 p.m.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Sunday, May 10, 12:40 p.m. CT

Location: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH

TV: Space City Home Network

Streaming: SCHN+

Radio: KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)

Houston Astros

2B Jose Altuve

DH Yordan Alvarez

3B Isaac Paredes

1B Christian Walker

LF Zach Cole

RF Cam Smith

CF Brice Matthews

SS Braden Shewmake

C Christian Vazquez

Seattle Mariners

3B Brendan Donovan

CF Julio Rodriguez

1B Josh Naylor

C Cal Raleigh

LF Randy Arozorena

RF Luke Raley

SS J.P. Crawford

DH Dominic Canzone

2B Cole Young

What a week for Braves country, huh? Two major deaths, almost back-to-back, of notable icons, starting with Ted Turner and shortly after, Bobby Cox. The Braves took the series win against the two-time national champs, the Los Angeles Dodgers. And, surprise surprise, their pitching is holding up solid.

There’s a lot to talk about regarding the team, with a returning face in the lineup to face off against the offense-powered Chicago Cubs. Let’s get this conversation started as we look to a new week of Braves baseball.

Any time we go to Globe Field, memories immediately go back to the 2023 World Series, when we faced the Texas Rangers in this ballpark. It’s interesting to note that neither team has made it back to the postseason since then. Indeed, at least the D-backs have come close: the Rangers failed to post a winning record in 2024 or 2025, missing out on the playoffs by eight and six games respectively. The two sides have similar records right now as well, with Texas’s 19-21 a mere half a game behind Arizona’s 19-20. However, in the mediocre AL West, that’s good enough for the Rangers to be in second, two games back of… the Athletics? Wait, what?

Yeah, the last time before this year the A’s had sole possession of first was June 19, 2021 – y’know, back when they were in a different city, and weren’t embarrassed to name it. But, then, the AL as a whole is strikingly mediocre, with only three teams above .500: the Yankees, Rays and A’s. It’s because just four teams have winning records in interleague play, and none of those are better than 5-4. Right now, the National League is 25 games above .500 in interleague play, at 315-290. Texas are 7-8, taking two of three from the Cubs, Phillies and Pirates, but losing to the Dodgers and getting swept by the Reds (y’know back when they didn’t suck).

Last time the Diamondbacks were here was in August last season, and we took two out of three. We lost the opening game on a walkoff, 7-6, but rebounded to take the next two contests, by margins of 3-2 and 6-4. Andrew Saalfrank got the save in the final game. How long ago that all seems. We’ll see if Michael Soroka can keep the sterling streak of starts going. He was certainly a hard-luck loser last time, allowing just the one run over 6.1 innings. But that was enough in a 1-0 loss. In his last three start, the D-backs have scored a total of two runs, so hopefully he gets a bit more support tonight.

Arizona Diamondbacks @ Texas Rangers

Monday, May 11, 2026, 7:05 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)

The Shed

RHP Michael Soroka vs. RHP Jakob Junis

Go Rangers!

Brody Bumila did his best to boost his 2026 MLB Draft stock on Saturday, May 9.

The 6-foot-9 left-handed pitcher posted video-game numbers in his latest start for Bishop Feehan (Mass.) High School. In a perfect game seven-inning performance for the Shamrocks against Moses Brown, Bumila struck out an astonishing 20 hitters.

REQUIRED READING: Revisiting Robby Snelling's football, baseball prep career ahead of MLB debut

The 20 strikeouts broke a 60-year-old school record, with Bumila finding the majority of his success due to his fastball that can reach 100 miles per hour. The pitch helps rank him as the No. 22 Draft prospect in the 2026 MLB Draft, according to MLB Pipeline.

20-strikeout‼️ no-hitter and up to 100 mph from 6-foot-9 Brody Bumila.

2026 high school LHP was overpowering tonight for Bishop Feehan in Massachusetts. Heavy fastball attack and mixed in a quality changeup.

Baseball America projected first-round pick in the 2026 MLB Draft. pic.twitter.com/Y5NDvqS4xQ

— Ben Badler (@BenBadler) May 9, 2026

Bumila also worked in an advanced changeup, which kept the Quakers' lineup off balance, despite them finding a way to put the first run of the season against him on the board.

According to MLB.com, the lengthy pitcher creates 19-20 inches of induced vertical break on his fastball due to his tall frame. He has 69 strikeouts in just 27 innings of work this season.

The last left-handed pitching prospect to come out of Massachusetts was Marlins' prospect Thomas White, who is ranked No. 12 overall. Thomas went 35th overall in the 2023 MLB Draft and is widely expected to make his MLB debut sometime this summer.

Bumila led the Shamrocks to a state championship in basketball earlier this academic year.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: High school pitcher strikes out 20 in perfect game