MLB News
The Dodgers’ all-interleague homestand concludes this weekend, with the Baltimore Orioles coming to Los Angeles beginning Friday night. After a 2020 World Series rematch against Tampa Bay, this time it’s a 1966 Fall Classic rematch at Dodger Stadium.
Roki Sasaki starts Friday night for the Dodgers.
This Red Sox season has been an exercise in one-step-forward-two-steps-back. And that rubric doesn’t just apply to the game-to-game results, but to the injuries as well. How many times have we gone from “minor injury, hopes to avoid the IL,” to “recovery progressing, hopes to begin rehab assignment soon,” to “RIP, gone but not forgotten”? Roman Anthony has already gone through that cycle, but we may have gotten good news recently. Anthony underwent yet another MRI this week — but this one was apparently one of the good MRIs, performed just to check in on how things are going. ““Everything looked good, healing properly,” Chad Tracy said. Of course we still don’t have any timeline on his return, but hey, we’ll take what we can get. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)
We also got some promising news on Garrett Crochet, which came with a bit more specifics. He’s been cleared to start some “light throwing of weighted plyometric balls, which, y’know, aren’t the kind of balls they use in MLB, but they’re better than no balls at all. (Peter Abraham, Boston Globe)
Unfortunately, we may have reached the point where it’s too late for Anthony and Crochet to save the season. And if that’s the case, we can blame the Sox’ performance against the rest of the AL East. “The Sox have a horrendous 6-15 mark against divisional opponents – the second-worst record by any AL team within its own division. (Only the Tigers, with a 6-16 mark against the AL Central, had an inferior mark.)” (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)
The primary reason why the season may already be over is, of course, the Sox’ terrible offense. With so many individual hitters struggling, we’re starting to see something interesting at Fenway Park: private hitting instructors who do not work for the team. While the optics of this aren’t great, it’s not necessarily something novel. “At this level, players have had a lot of coaches throughout their careers. When they get to this level, there’s a lot of people who have helped them have success,” says Sox interim hitting coach John Soteropulos. (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
And with the season slipping away, it’s no surprise that the Red Sox are involved in so much trade speculation. ESPN ranked the top-25 trade candidates for the upcoming deadline and included 4 Sox players on the list, led by Aroldis Chapman at number 8. (Kiley McDaniel, Jeff Passan, ESPN)
But despite all the trade chatter — and the, uh, standings — CBO Craig Breslow isn’t yet prepared to surrender the ship. Yesterday he appeared on the NESN pregame show and said he was “absolutely not” giving up on the season yet. “Right now, given we’ve got six weeks or so before the deadline, our focus is on doing everything we can to give ourselves a chance to win the game each night.” (Jen McCaffrey, The Athletic)
But while Breslow is probably prudent to wait for as long as he can before going into sell-mode, the fact that the only noise at Fenway is being made by traveling Scottish fans in town for the Wold Cup tells you all you need to know about the direction of this season. (Justin Turpin, WEEI)
Time/Place: 2:10 p.m., Daikin Park
SB Nation Site: The Crawfish Boxes
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Casey Mize (2-3, 2.27 ERA) vs. RHP Peter Lambert (5-4, 3.47 ERA)
Sign up for a user account and get:
The world’s biggest sporting event is underway across the continent and the sports vibes are elite. We’ve already seen some classic World Cup upsets with Spain unable to score against Cabo Verde. We saw a thriller between Netherlands and Japan that ended 2-2. But I think my favorite thing that has happened in the World Cup so far was visible at the only ballpark in the country that rivals Wrigley Field as Scottish fans descended on Fenway Park over the weekend creating an environment at a Rangers vs. Red Sox game in June that rivaled the postseason and reminded me of my experience at the World Baseball Classic in March.
The Red Sox made one of the best marketing decisions any baseball team has made in years when they decided to offer a Scotland kit Red Sox giveaway while the Scots were playing in Boston. The Scots might have shown up at Fenway Park anyway, but this ensured they would. And boy, did they ever show up:
Not only did they show up, they were ready to party. With all due respect to the midwest and tailgate culture, Boston isn’t exactly a slouch when it comes to drinking culture. Boston bars indicated they were well-stocked, having ordered three times the inventory they normally anticipate for St. Patrick’s Day. The Scots drank the the bars dry:
Noelle Somers, chief operating officer at Hennessy’s Bar in central Boston, highlighted the scale of the phenomenon, stating that trade following the Scotland v Haiti match had tripled that of St Patrick’s Day.
She told the Boston Globe: “We’ve been here for over 30 years and we’ve never seen anything like it.”
The bar ran out of beer on Sunday night before being restocked on Monday morning. Another delivery is due on Thursday, ahead of the Scotland vs Morocco match on Friday evening.
Brewing company Sam Adams has also seen its Boston taproom running dry over the weekend as demand for its Boston lager was four times higher than during a holiday period.
The result was an incredible night at Fenway Park, and everyone understood the assignment. The Red Sox organist researched Scottish chants and songs before the game. Yes, you absolutely need to see the results:
The full stadium sing-a-long is an unrivaled experience, and filling up a baseball park with soccer fans turns out to be the perfect storm for a lot of full stadium sing-a-longs. I’m talking about more than “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” A couple of seasons ago when the Cubs looked like they might almost make it to the playoffs, but were flirting with elimination late in the season the DJ at Wrigley Field started playing Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” late in games. Every now and again everyone would sing along. It was great. Fenway already has “Sweet Caroline” in the eighth inning, but on Sunday night they also had this:
The Scots were pretty clearly cheering for the home team, but the atmosphere was so electric, even the Rangers were appreciative of it:
Baseball needs more of this. I hope other host cities have giveaways planned to include their guests at the ballpark in similar ways during the World Cup. If they don’t already, they would be well-served to do it immediately. I can’t imagine there’s a Scot alive who won’t be a Red Sox fan for life after all of that.
Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.
Boston Red Sox starter Jake Bennett draws a tough matchup tonight against the Toronto Blue Jays lineup that profiles extremely well against his pitch mix, making his Over 2.5 earned runs my favorite play of the night.
Find out more in my Blue Jays vs. Red Sox predictions and MLB picks for Wednesday, June 17.
Jake Bennett owns a 5.28 ERA through three starts and has struggled to miss barrels, allowing hard contact at a 42.3% clip.
That sets up poorly against a Toronto Blue Jays lineup that has handled his primary mix of four-seamers, sinkers, and changeups well this season — batting .269 with a .420 slugging percentage against that mix.
The matchup points to another difficult outing for Bennett. I'd play Over 2.5 earned runs allowed down to -130.
COVERS INTEL:Toronto owns a 114 wRC+ against Bennett’s pitch mix since June 1.The batter who profiles best against Bennett is Kazuma Okamoto, who owns a .324 average and a .622 slug-rate against Bennett’s pitch mix.
Since I anticipate a busy day on the base paths for Blue Jays batters, I’ll take Over 0.5 RBI for Okamoto. He’s eclipsed this total in four of his last five games.
Davis Schneider is red hot at the plate with four hits in his last three games since being recalled, including back-to-back games with a home run.
Additionally, he profiles well against Bennett, with a high barrel rate and a solid batting average against the sinker and changeup, two of his most-used pitches.
As mentioned, Okamoto profiles extremely well against Bennett, owning a 57.7% hard-hit rate against his primary pitch mix.
The Boston rookie doesn't generate much swing-and-miss, which should allow Okamoto plenty of opportunities to put the ball in play with authority.
There is some risk here, however. Bennett generates plenty of topped contact and ground balls, which can suppress home-run production. That's why I'm limiting this to a half-unit wager despite the strong matchup.
The Toronto Blue Jays have hit the game total Over in 11 of their last 16 games (+5.60 Units / 32% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Blue Jays vs. Red Sox.
| Location | Fenway Park, Boston, MA |
| Date | Wednesday, 6-17-2026 |
| First pitch | 6:45 p.m. ET |
| TV | Sportsnet 1, NESN |
| Blue Jays starting pitcher | Max Scherzer (1-4, 10.23 ERA) |
| Red Sox starting pitcher | Jake Bennett (1-2, 5.28 ERA) |
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
Not intended for use in MA.
Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.
On the last episode of Dragon Ball: Braves, the Atlanta Braves made a curious decision to start a baseball game in the middle of a downpour. In their efforts to predict the weather, the weather proved to be, in fact, unpredictable. While they were treated to Drake Baldwin hitting the longest home run in Major League Baseball so far this season, it cost them Michael Harris II’s back acting up on him again and three runs given up by Grant Holmes while he admirably tried to pitch through the atrocious conditions.
With the rain being unrelenting, the teams were forced to stop play. Despite an admirable effort from the grounds crew at Truist Park, the rain had done its job and the field was deemed unplayable for the night. So now here we are, just a few hours later and it’s time to pick up where we left off in the bottom of the second inning with Atlanta down 3-2 to San Francisco.
Will the Braves take this as an opportunity to pull off yet another come-from-behind victory? Will the Giants and their beleaguered bullpen be able to hold the Braves at bay? Can Atlanta’s bullpen succeed in dry conditions when Grant Holmes faltered in a downpour? We’re about to find out!
UPDATE [1:56 p.m ET]: James Karinchak is reportedly going to be on the mound once it’s Atlanta’s turn to pitch in the top of the third. The GIants are going with Robbie Ray.
The St. Louis Cardinals wrap up their short homestand vs the San Diego Padres Wednesday afternoon. Kyle Leahy will start for the Cardinals while the Padres will send Bradgley Rodriguez to the mound. First pitch is scheduled for 1:15pm at Busch Stadium.
Sign up for a user account and get:
San Diego Padres (37-35) at St. Louis Cardinals (40-31), June 17, 2026, 11:15 a.m. PST
Watch: Padres.TV
Location: Busch Stadium – St. Louis, MO
Listen: 97.3 The Fan
Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.
Sign up for a user account and get:
Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.
It's Wednesday, and you know what that means. MLB expert predictions!
Our MLB analysts have looked over the slate and are highlighting a couple of games, including what appears to be a mispriced Cleveland Guardians underdog play in Milwaukee.
Bolster your MLB picks on Wednesday, June 17, with this slate of selections.
| Pick | Odds |
|---|---|
 Josh Inglis: PIT/A's: Over 10.5 | +108 |
 Jon Metler: CLE ML | +113 |
 Joe Osborne: TB/LAD: Under 7.5 | -122 |
Prices courtesy of Polymarket.
Sign up now using our exclusive Polymarket promo code 'COVERS' (on your mobile app only) and get a $50 trading bonus after you deposit $50 to trade on any other event contracts — including MLB expert picks!
*Eligible locations only
Price: 48¢ (+108) at Polymarket
It was just last weekend that games in Sacramento were carrying totals as high as 14.5. Tonight, the Over 10.5 is paying plus money, even though the hitting conditions are once again ideal with double-digit winds blowing out to the home run alley in right-center field.
Last night's game produced another four home runs at Sutter Health Park, and there is plenty of reason to expect more offense today.
Pittsburgh Pirates starter Braxton Ashcraft struggles to keep the ball on the ground (39% ground-ball rate), while Athletics starter Aaron Civale is coming off the IL and owns the eighth-worst ground-ball rate among MLB starters, along with the 28th-worst HR/9.
If the starters don't give up runs, the bullpens can help. This matchup features the fourth- and fifth-worst bullpens in baseball by ERA over the last two weeks.
Price: 47¢ (+113) at Polymarket
The Milwaukee Brewers are expected to roll out six left-handed hitters against Cleveland Guardians right-hander Gavin Williams, but that apparent platoon advantage may be more illusion than reality.
There's a reason lefties are hitting just .199 with a .666 OPS against Williams this season, and his skill set is particularly well-equipped to neutralize this lineup.
The key is Williams' four-seam fastball, which features exceptional riding life at the top of the strike zone. That pitch consistently gives left-handed hitters trouble, especially those looking to pull the ball with authority. Instead of driving it, they often get underneath the fastball, resulting in weak pop-ups and harmless fly balls.
At first glance, Milwaukee's left-handed-heavy lineup appears to be a favorable matchup against Williams. Dig a little deeper, though, and the numbers suggest otherwise. That's why I believe the Guardians should be priced more like a 53-cent favorite than a 47-cent underdog.
Price: 55¢ (-122) at Polymarket
Shohei Ohtani has been dominant at Dodger Stadium, allowing one earned run or fewer in all 12 of his regular-season home starts since joining the team.
He has a minuscule 1.06 ERA on the season and faces a Tampa Bay Rays lineup that ranks 26th in OPS against right-handed pitching over the last two weeks.
On the other side, Shane McClanahan has surrendered one earned run or fewer in six of his last nine starts and now faces a Los Angeles Dodgers lineup that's 28th in OPS versus lefties over the same two-week span.
Add in the Rays going Under in seven of their last eight road games, and this profiles as a pitchers' duel.
| Pick | Odds |
|---|---|
| Mets ML | -135 |
| Read analysis in our Mets vs. Reds predictions | |
| Brewers ML | -121 |
| Read analysis in our Guardians vs. Brewers predictions | |
| Rays ML | +140 |
| Read analysis in our Rays vs. Dodgers predictions | |
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
Not intended for use in MA.
Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.
The Royals are back at it trying to salvage a win from a series. Luinder Avila, who blew up last time out, will be starting against the best offense in baseball. What a weird thing to say about a Nationals franchise that has struggled along most recent years. At least KC gets to face a righty today. Maikel will not be in the lineup today as more injuries plague the team.
The Rogers Centre has proven to be a house of horrors for the Yankees over the last calendar year. In dropping the recent series opener in Toronto, the Yankees had lost nine of their last ten games north of the border including a pair of thumpings in the first two games of the 2025 ALDS. That the Yankees turned things around and won the final two games of the series—both with go-ahead home runs in the ninth inning—must give the team a ton of confidence after the Blue Jays had their number last year in the regular season and playoffs. Few hitters had a bigger impact for the Yankees that series than Ben Rice, and his late go-ahead blast earns his third appearance on At-Bat of the Week.
We join Rice with one out in the top of the ninth, the score knotted at 3-3. Pinch-runner Ryan McMahon stands on second after Paul Goldschmidt reached on an infield single and advanced on a throwing error by reliever Braydon Fisher. Fisher entered the game as one of Toronto’s most effective relievers with a 2.70 ERA, the righty striking out over a batter per inning and giving up well under one home run per nine. If Rice can come through in the clutch, the Yankees will very likely win the series at the Rogers Centre, something that felt like an impossibility less than 12 months ago. Indeed, they hadn’t done so since 2023.
The scouting report on Fisher shows that he throws the slider just shy of half the time and his curveball just shy of 30-percent of the time, so Rice knows that he will be fed a steady diet of breaking balls. Indeed, out of the six pitches that Fisher has thrown to Spencer Jones and Goldschmidt, four were sliders, one was a curveball, and one was a waste four-seamer just for show. Therefore, Rice is likely hunting a pitch that leaves Fisher’s hand middle-up with the idea that it will land down and in.
This first-pitch slider begins aimed just off the plate inside and drops straight downward. It likely didn’t have quite the aiming point that Rice is looking for, which explains his ability to not chase this pitch despite it landing close enough to the zone for the catcher to unsuccessfully challenge the ball call. When the catcher is fooled that a pitch is a strike and the hitter is not, you know that hitter has an elite knowledge of the strike zone.
True to the scouting report, Fisher sticks with the slider after narrowly missing with the one before.
I’m actually a lot more impressed that Rice took this pitch than the previous one, despite the fact that this one ends up farther from the strike zone than ball one. That’s because this slider exits Fisher’s hand aimed right down the middle, meaning Rice had to pick up the spin early, diagnose slider, and realize that it would break out of the zone all in fractions of a second.
Rice is in the driver’s seat, 2-0, but that does not guarantee that Fisher is going to give in and groove a fastball to get back into the count.
This is just an unfair pitch to drop in back door for the called strike. It looks like a ball high and away out of Fisher’s hand and never looks like it is in the zone until the very last moment where it barely grazes the corner of the strike zone low and away. If the Yankees still had a challenge remaining in this spot I would not have been surprised to see Rice use it a lose it, this curve earning the strike one call by the very slimmest of margins.
The problem for the hitter once a pitcher lands a breaking ball for a called low strike is that you then have to protect the bottom of the zone, which opens up ample opportunity for the pitcher to get you to chase a breaker below the zone. That’s precisely the tactic that Fisher employs with this slider to follow up the curveball.
I’m not sure what Rice is supposed to do in this situation. Once again, this pitch looks like a strike right down Broadway when it leaves Fisher’s hand, and at 89 mph the hitter has way less time to react than against your typical low-80s slider. You can tell Rice is still sitting on a breaking ball from the way he sinks into his legs and aligns his swing plane to track below the zone, but he’s just not precise enough with his barrel to make contact.
With just two pitches, Fisher has turned this AB on its head, going from way behind to being in full possession of count leverage. Rice is in trouble, given that Fisher showed he can both land the breaker for a called strike and command it below the zone for a chase and whiff. Another well-located slider should spell the end of this AB.
Instead, Fisher falls into the classic trap of trying to throw the best slider of his life rather than one that’s just incrementally better than the one before. He spikes this pitch into the dirt by Rice’s feet and he has to hop out of the way to avoid getting hit.
Now that it is a full count, we are once again faced with a situation that in certain cases might dictate an in-zone fastball to avoid putting a second baserunner on, but in Fisher’s case that by no means a sure bet.
Fisher sticks with his plan of throwing sliders and Rice sticks with his plan of hunting one. It’s a really good pitch from Fisher — a slider dotted right on the corner down and in. The problem for him is that it is an even better swing from Rice. This is the exact pitch he has been hunting the whole AB — a slider down and in that he can drop the bat head on and pull in the air with power. His patience pays off, and after having seen four previous sliders, he now knows exactly how this pitch is going to move and anticipates its trajectory perfectly with his barrel. The result: a booming two-run home run to right to give the Yankees the lead in the ninth inning of consecutive games.
Here’s the full AB:
You don’t normally see this level of emotion from Rice, including the bat flip and shouts of encouragement towards his dugout. I wonder if he is feeling extra pressure to be the team’s primary run producer with Aaron Judge out injured. Whatever the case he continues to produce clutch hits for the team in what has been a breakout season from rising star to true superstar. He’s the third-best hitter in MLB by wRC+ (171), and his ABs have become appointment viewing — the first homegrown position player we can say that about since Judge.
Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.
The Chicago White Sox visit the New York Yankees on Wednesday night for the middle game of a three-game set, with the Yankees listed as -190 home favorites after pummeling Chicago 12-2 in the opener.
Anthony Kay's 4.34 ERA hides a brutal underlying profile that catches up against a Yankees lineup running hot, while Carlos Rodon's contact suppression suffocates a White Sox group still finding production outside its top three bats.
Here are my White Sox vs. Yankees predictions and MLB picks for Wednesday, June 17.
This is one of the bigger ERA-to-expected ERA gaps you'll find this season.
Anthony Kay’s 8.74 expected ERA is concerning, especially paired with a .438 xwOBA allowed and a 58%+ hard-hit rate. Regression is coming, and few teams are better equipped to take advantage of it.
In addition, it's not idea tha a 15% walk rate puts free runners in front of a New York Yankees lineup that I think has found its footing again.
Carlos Rodon counters with a 75th-percentile strikeout rate and 81st-percentile xERA against a Chicago White Sox lineup that strikes out heavily. Play to +100.
COVERS INTEL: Anthony Kay has allowed an average exit velocity of 92.4 mph in 2026, one of the worst marks in baseballI like the Over to -130.
Anthony Kay's .594 expected SLG allowed and 10.3% barrel rate is a big story. I mentioned how I expect the Yankees to hit him hard and there's just loads of evidence to back that up.
On the other side, Carlos Rodon's bottom 3 percentile walk rate is always a story. It's an issue here because this White Sox team has quietly hung around the top ten of baseball in various hard-hit metrics.
Yankees do the heavily lifting and the White Sox put up a crooked inning in a hitter-friendly stadium.
The New York Yankees have hit the Moneyline in 7 of their last 8 games (+6.10 Units / 63% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for White Sox vs. Yankees.
| Location | Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY |
| Date | Wednesday, June 17, 2026 |
| First pitch | 7:05 p.m. ET |
| TV | CHSN, Amazon Prime Video |
| White Sox starting pitcher | Anthony Kay (6-1, 4.34 ERA) |
| Yankees starting pitcher | Carlos Rodon (2-2, 3.19 ERA) |
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
Not intended for use in MA.
Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani will make his scheduled start on the mound against the Tampa Bay Rays, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Ohtani (6-2, 1.06 ERA) left a game in Pittsburgh with left knee inflammation. He missed the next day’s game against the White Sox in Chicago, then returned. This will be his first start since the injury in Chicago.
Roberts said the swelling in Ohtani’s knee had “completely dissipated.”
“I saw that he had just a catch-play right now,” Roberts said of Ohtani’s work. “He’s going to do his touchy-feely deal from the mound in a little bit. I saw him play some catch. Looks good, feels good. Look forward to him making a start tomorrow.”
The game against the Rays is an early afternoon start. It’s a tight window to prep and an early start.
“He likes his sleep. It’s certainly not ideal, but the calendar is the calendar,” Roberts said. “He’ll get his rest and do what he can to post tomorrow. … Anyone that has anything that has a potential red flag, we’ll certainly be watching closely. But again, he wouldn’t start if we felt that we were going to put him in harm’s way. He’s a competitor.”
After a 1-0 win over the Rays, Roberts said Ohtani would not hit.
In his last pitching start, Ohtani gave up four runs — three earned runs — in 6 2/3 innings and the Dodgers lost to Pittsburgh, 9-8.
Utility man Tommy Edman was reinstated by the Dodgers following offseason ankle surgery.
Edman, who was the 2024 NLCS MVP in the Dodgers World Series championship year, will make his season debut soon.
“The good thing was, I saw progress with every step along the way. It just wasn’t as fast as I expected,” Edman said.
Santiago Espinal was designated for assignment.
TODAY’S GAME: The Astros and Tigers will play the rubber game of their three-game series today in an afternoon matchup at Daikin Park.
RHP Peter Lambert (5-4), who’s won three straight decisions, will get the start for the Astros opposite the Tigers and RHP Casey Mize (2-3), who’s being activated off of the IL to make today’s start.
DRIVING THE LAMBO: Today’s Astros starter RHP Peter Lambert has been solid in his 10 starts for the Astros, going 5-4 with a 3.47 ERA (22ER/57IP) with 53 strikeouts and a .212 opponent average.
Lambert pitched last year for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in the NPB, posting a 3.98 ERA (55ER/124.1IP) with 111 strikeouts in 23 appearances in Japan.
He began this season at Triple A Sugar Land (1.84 ERA in three appearances) before being called up to join the rotation on April 17.
VS. THE TIGERS: The Astros and Tigers will play all seven of their games against each other within a two-week span, with the Astros traveling to Detroit next weekend.
In 2025, the Astros and Tigers finished with identical 87-75 records, but because the Tigers won the season series over the Astros, they earned the final Wild Card playoff spot.
TODAY’S RADIO BROADCAST: The Astros English radio broadcast today will feature Robert Ford and Kevin Eschenfelder, who’s subbing for Steve Sparks.
Sparks will return to the booth on Friday.
LOS ASTROS: Space City Home Network is televising this series in English and Spanish with the Spanish broadcast being televised on SCHN2.
Enrique Vasquez and Gene Flores are on the call on the Spanish telecast this series.
PEN PALS: Since May 15, the Astros bullpen has a 2.73 ERA (33ER/108.2IP) with 101 strikeouts, a 1.04 WHIP and a .189 opponent average.
Among AL teams since May 15, the Astros bullpen ranks first in ERA, first in WHIP, and first in opponent batting average.
The Astros are also 17-13 since May 15.
ALL-STAR VOTING UPDATE: On Monday, MLB announced the first balloting update for the 2026 MLB All-Star Game, which revealed DH Yordan Alvarez as the AL’s top vote-getter among all position players.
Other Astros among the AL’s top 10 at their respective positions: 2B Jose Altuve (4th), SS Jeremy Peña (5th), 1B Christian Walker (9th), 3B Isaac Paredes (9th), and C Yainer Diaz (9th).
MAKING THE PLAYS: The Astros have committed the fewest errors (29) and own the best fielding percentage (.989) in the AL.
1B Christian Walker has led the way, as he has not committed an error in 74 games and 522 total chances.
LAST NIGHT’S WIN: The Astros and Tigers played an entertaining ballgame last night with Houston scoring three in the 8th for a 4-2 comeback victory.
3B Raynel Delgado (2×4, 2RBI) was the hero as the rookie hit a go ahead, two-run single in the 8th for what were his first Major League RBI.
RHP Hunter Brown (1ER/5.2IP) made his much-anticipated return from the IL and fanned seven in his outing, but did not factor into the decision.
THE HUNT IS ON: RHP Hunter Brown returned from the IL last night after dealing with a right shoulder strain which cost him over two months, 67 team games, and approximately 12 starts.
He was effective in his return, improving to 1-0 with a 1.10 ERA (2ER/16.1IP) in three starts in 2026.
A 2025 All-Star, Brown finished third in the 2026 AL in Cy Young voting after going 12-9 with a 2.43 ERA.
ON THE LEADERBOARD: DH Yordan Alvarez leads MLB in OPS (1.074), SLG (.644) and total bases (174).
In the AL, he ranks first in batting average (.326), first in hits (88), first in HR (24), first in XBH (38), second in RBI (54), second in OBP (.430), fourth in BB (46) and seventh in runs (49).
ON-BASE MACHINE: OF Yordan Alvarez is on a 23-game on-base streak (dating back to May 22), in which he’s batting .376 (32×85) with nine homers, 23 RBI, 15 walks, a .471 OBP and a 1.200 OPS.
This ranks as the fifth-longest streak of his career and his longest since he posted a 26-game streak from Aug. 2-Sept. 2, 2024.
SELECT COMPANY: DH Yordan Alvarez played in his 750th career game on Monday and went 2×4 to
raise his career average to exactly .300.
With 194 career HR, Alvarez ranked sixth in MLB history in homers through a players first 750 career games.
THE LINEUP: The Astros have not repeated a lineup, using 75 different lineups in their 75 games.
DH Yordan Alvarez has the most starts at any spot in the lineup among Astros, hitting second 63 times.
WALKER, TEXAS HAMMER: 1B Christian Walker ranks third in the AL in RBI (52), behind only 1B Nick Kurtz (57) and DH Yordan Alvarez (54).
He also ranks tied for fifth in AL in homers (18), sixth in total bases (137) and tied for sixth in extra-base hits (32).
SEÑOR CIEN: IF Isaac Paredes, who recently reached 500 career hits and 100 career homers, recorded his 100th career double last night.
He is now just the fourth Mexican-born player in MLB history with 500 career hits, 100 doubles and 100 home runs, joining IF Vinny Castilla, IF Jorge Orta and IF Aurelio Rodríguez.
WHAT A RELIEF: LHP Josh Hader is 1-0 with three saves and a 0.00 ERA (0ER/6IP) in six appearances this season.
He’s allowed just two baserunners (one walk, one hit) and has fanned eight.
Hader had a delayed start to the season, missing the first two months with left biceps tendinitis.
ON THE MEND: RHP Cristian Javier started last night for Triple A Sugar Land at ABQ (COL) in what was his third minor league rehab start.
He worked 3.1 innings, allowing three runs on four hits with six strikeouts, while throwing 63 pitches (37 strikes).
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Wednesday, June 17, 1:10 p.m. CT
Location: Daikin Park, Houston, TX
TV: Space City Home Network
Radio: KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)
WASHINGTON — Nationals reliever Paxton Schultz has his first career victory thanks to a rarely seen official scorer’s decision.
Schultz pitched a scoreless eighth inning in Washington’s 6-4 victory over Kansas City. The Nationals already were up 6-3 when he entered the game — they’d scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh — but that didn’t preclude Schultz from receiving the win.
In the top of the seventh, Washington was up 3-1 when Richard Lovelady entered the game with one out and two on. He retired two of the three men he faced, but the one batter who reached against him was Isaac Collins, whose two-run single tied the game at 3.
Although Lovelady was in the game when the Nationals took the lead for good, according to Rule 9.17 (c), a reliever is not supposed to receive the win if he has been “ineffective in a brief appearance.” If that sounds like a harsh way of describing Lovelady’s outing — 2/3 of an inning, one hit, zero earned runs — the rule book gives even more guidance.
“The official scorer generally should, but is not required to, consider the appearance of a relief pitcher to be ineffective and brief if such relief pitcher pitches less than one inning and allows two or more earned runs to score (even if such runs are charged to a previous pitcher),” it says.
The rules about awarding wins to relievers have been in the news recently after Texas rookie Robby Ahlstrom got his first victory via a scoring appeal. Ahlstrom entered with two outs in the fifth inning against Kansas City. The Rangers led 3-2 in a game they’d eventually win 4-2. Because the starter didn’t go five innings, the official scorer was supposed to give the win to the most effective reliever.
Ahlstrom got a celebratory beer shower after that game, only to find out that Jacob Latz — who came in later — had received the win. The Rangers appealed, and MLB eventually changed the win to Ahlstrom.