Category: MLB

The St. Louis Cardinals will have a vexing decision to make about Jordan Walker sooner rather than later. Should they work to extend him or do they wait? There are arguments to be made that it’s worth considering, but at least an equal amount for why the team should wait.

I asked the question a few days ago on The Feed about who the St. Louis Cardinals should work to extend first. While JJ Wetherholt was the winner in a landslide, I was surprised to see that Jordan Walker was the second most popular choice.

The fact that this is even a conversation is borderline miraculous. Very few of us saw Jordan Walker starting the 2026 season in such an impressive way. Through the first 24 games, Jordan Walker is batting .292 with 8 home runs, 16 RBI’s with an OPS of .964. What’s even more remarkable to me is Jordan’s defense which has been a real eye-opener. He’s currently 2nd in the league in defensive runs saved with a +4 margin. I had to remind myself that Walker was not a natural outfielder, but was a 3rd baseman until the Cardinals began to convert him in 2022. His arm strength is becoming elite. There’s a lot to love about how far Jordan Walker has come, but there are also big reasons to pump the brakes on overreacting, too.

Before I look at the reasons why a Jordan Walker extension might be a terrible idea, let’s imagine what that contract might look like. There’s an interesting player to compare Jordan to and that’s Oneil Cruz. He signed a one-year contract for $3.3 million to avoid arbitration for the 2026 season. He’s under team control through 2028 just like Jordan Walker. He has a high-strikeout profile of around 32%. Jordan Walker’s strikeout rate was hovering around the same rate as of this week. Depending on who you ask, I’ve seen possible extensions for Cruz somewhere in the neighborhood of 6–8 years for between $100–$150 million. Cruz has elite exit velocity and a high barrel rate. The one thing that Cruz now trails Walker in is defense. Cruz is considered a massive defensive liability while Walker is more than a plus defender now. If (and that’s a big word that needs emphasis) the Cardinals were to seek an extension with Jordan Walker, I could see a deal looking very similar to Oneil Cruz.

If I were President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom, I would wait before going down the extension road with Jordan Walker. We’ve all seen some of the strikeout tendencies over the past week that look similar to the Jordan Walker we were all worried about during Spring Training and the past couple seasons. I’ve seen better decision making at the plate by Jordan Walker this season than any other previously, but I still want to see him be able to make the necessary adjustments now that opposing pitchers now recognize him as a threat. Cardinals hitting coach Brant Brown said during a pre-game interview this past week that he’s working with Jordan on his approach now that he’s producing and other teams know it. At the bare minimum, I want to see Walker successfully adjust his approach and stay productive through the All-Star break.

Waiting brings with it a risk that the price of Jordan Walker will go up exponentially if he suddenly becomes an all-star near the top of the league in home runs in addition to his now spectacular outfield arm. He could be that middle of the order righthanded bat and a vital part of the new Cardinals core for years to come. But, the possibility remains that he could regress back to the Jordan Walker that some wanted sent back to the minors before the season started. Yes, I was one of them. My vote is that we all continue to enjoy and hopefully see the ascent of Jordan Walker into the player we all knew he was capable of becoming. When and if we commit to locking him into a long-term deal will be one of the most important decisions Chaim Bloom makes – for better or for worse.

The Mets broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning and held on to defeat the Minnesota Twins 3-2 at Citi Field on Wednesday night, ending their 12-game losing streak.

It was the Mets’ first win since April 7.

Here are the top takeaways...

-Mark Vientos, who made a boneheaded play in the sixth inning, running through a stop sign to get thrown out at the plate, found redemption in the eighth, blooping a single to right field with two outs to drive in Brett Baty from second, breaking a 2-2 tie.

Baty and Francisco Alvarez had each walked to set up the go-ahead run. Alvarez battled in a nine-pitch at-bat against reliever Justin Topa.

Mendoza chose to have Luke Weaver close out the win, keeping him in for the ninth after Weaver got the final out of the eighth inning to work out of a bases-loaded situation.

-Juan Soto looked good at the plate in his return to action from the calf injury suffered on April 4.

He hit two hard fly-ball outs in his first two at-bats, both of them over 104 mph off the bat, then walked his third time up, and singled to right in the eighth inning off lefty reliever Taylor Rodgers.

However, Soto got nailed trying to steal second, leaving too early as Rodgers threw to first and Soto was then thrown out at second base.

-Clay Holmes gave the Mets a strong start, allowing two runs over seven innings. Holmes gave up five hits while striking out three, inducing plenty of weak contact with his nasty sinker.

Holmes continues to have a very good season. His ERA after five starts is 2.10.

The right-hander had a 2-1 lead into the sixth but left a sinker up, thigh-high, to Byron Buxton, and Buxton hammered it to left, 409 feet for a no-doubter home run.

-Francisco Lindorleft the game after four innings with what the Mets announced as left calf tightness.

Lindor was having a big night, with two hits in his first two at-bats, a run scored and an RBI. He appeared to feel the calf tightness as he went from first to home on Alvarez’s double to right-center in the bottom of the fourth.

Lindor scored on the play but remained in a sitting position on the ground long enough to indicate something wasn’t right. He then went into the tunnel at the end of the dugout, followed by the Mets’ trainers, and didn’t come out for the top of the fifth.

Bo Bichette moved to short to replace Lindor, while Baty entered the game at third base.

-The Mets’ new-look lineup, with Bichette leading off and Lindor hitting in the clean-up spot, paid immediate dividends with a first-inning run, as Bichette doubled and eventually scored on Lindor’s single down the third-base line.

But otherwise, runs were mostly hard to come by again for an offense that ranks among the worst in the majors in several categories.

They were also hurt by bad baserunning when Vientos was thrown out at the plate, ending the sixth inning with the score tied 2-2.

With two outs, Vientos tried to score from first base on Marcus Semien’s double to the left-center gap. Third base coach Tim Lieper put up the stop sign to hold Vientos at third, but in what can only be considered a sign of how desperately the Mets wanted a win, Vientos ran through it and was an easy out at the plate. All in all, a bad gamble considering how slowly Vientos runs.

Game MVP: Mark Vientos

Mark Vientos. Why not? Vientos redeemed himself for his base-running mistake two innings earlier by coming through with the game-winning hit in the eighth inning.

It wasn’t a rocket by any means, just 70.3 mph off the bat, but it found grass when the Mets desperately needed a hit and a win.

Highlights

A leaping grab from Francisco Lindor! pic.twitter.com/qcJ33VZrLX

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 22, 2026

A leadoff double for Bo Bichette! pic.twitter.com/Em5kbfn4JD

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 22, 2026

An infield single for Francisco Lindor gives the Mets an early 1-0 lead pic.twitter.com/7QXeLk1ZP2

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 22, 2026

Francisco Alvarez brings Francisco Lindor all the way home from first with an RBI double! pic.twitter.com/2CNYuvsvGD

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 23, 2026

Luke Weaver gets Luke Keaschall to pop out to Francisco Alvarez and the Twins leave the bases loaded in the 8th pic.twitter.com/ALcrPtNUIC

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 23, 2026

Mark Vientos drops one in to give the Mets the lead in the 8th! pic.twitter.com/CFEUsZFcs1

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 23, 2026

What's next

The Mets and Twins wrap up their three-game series Thursday afternoon. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m.

Christian Scott will make his season debut going up against Twins ace, Joe Ryan. 

The New York Mets entered Wednesday less than 10 games away from the longest MLB losing streak of the 21st century. That title still belongs to the 2024 Chicago White Sox, who lost 21 straight contests during their historically bad season, and the Mets will get no closer after they defeated the Minnesota Twins, 3-2, on Wednesday night.

The victory snaps a 12-game losing streak that had plummeted the Mets to the very bottom of the standings. Mark Vientos, who had been cut down at the plate while trying to score earlier in the game, was the hero, his two-out single in the bottom of the eighth plating the winning run.

The win — which came in Juan Soto's return — was not entirely satisfactory to the reeling Mets. They saw star shortstop Francisco Lindor exit with what the team called left calf tightness.

While they hold their breath over Lindor, they can at least rest easy knowing they are winners for a night:

When did the Mets' losing streak begin?

The Mets' losing streak began after the team started 7-4. They then lost 7-2 to the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 8, which started a catastrophic chain of events that led us to where we are now.

Since then, the Mets lost another game to the Diamondbacks, were swept by the Athletics, Dodgers, and Cubs, and then dropped their opener to the Twins.

Longest losing streaks in Mets history

The longest losing streak in Mets history came during the team's inaugural season in 1962. That team not only lost a franchise record 17 straight games during the season but also had other losing streaks of 13 and 11 games.

Since the turn of the century, the longest losing streak in Mets history stands at 12 games, a tie between their losing streak coming into Wednesday night and the 2002 team, which lost those 12 consecutive games between Aug. 20 and Aug. 31 that year.

Longest losing streaks in MLB history

The longest losing streak of the 21st century belongs to the 2024 Chicago White Sox, who lost 21 straight games. However, that is not the longest such streak in MLB history. That dishonor belongs to the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies, who lost 23 straight games.

Here is a list of every team in the modern era (since 1901) to have lost at least 20 consecutive games:

• 1961 Philadelphia Phillies – 23
• 2024 Chicago White Sox – 21
• 1988 Baltimore Orioles – 21
• 1969 Montreal Expos – 20
• 1943 Philadelphia Athletics – 20
• 1916 Philadelphia Athletics – 20
• 1906 Boston Americans – 20

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mets losing streak ends with victory over Twins

At the end of the recap for tonight’s 8-6 Braves win over the Nationals, I mentioned that the process of getting through that game pitching-wise brought up some questions as to how they would deal with Thursday afternoon’s game. As it turned out, the Braves will be dipping into their prospect pool again in order to bring up one of the hottest prospects in the organization.

The 35th overall pick from the 2022 MLB Draft will be making his big league debut on Thursday night, as JR Ritchie has reportedly received the call and will be starting on Thursday afternoon against the Nationals.

The Braves are calling up No. 2 prospect JR Ritchie to start tomorrow against the Nationals. Ritchie ranks 71st overall on the most recent @BaseballAmerica Top 100 list.

— Geoff Pontes (@GeoffPontesBA) April 23, 2026

The move makes sense, primarily because Ritchie will be making this start on regular rest. He’s also been lights out for the Gwinnett Stripers in Triple-A so far, as he’s made five starts and tossed 27.1 innings while only giving up three earned runs compared to 28 strikeouts. He’s sporting an ERA of 0.99 and a FIP of 3.66 at that level and with the rotation being in a tough spot, the time has come for Ritchie to make a spot start.

According to Mark Bowman of MLB.com, the Braves will be sending Didier Fuentes right back down to Triple-A in a corresponding move. The Braves have a tiny bit of room to add Ritchie to the 40-man roster without designating anybody for assignment so that should be the official move once it’s eventually announced by the club itself.

For now, it’s time to get excited as we’re going to see what Ritchie has to offer at the big league level. He’s certainly coming up in a challenging spot as this Nationals roster is tough to deal with and it’s on relatively short notice. With that being said, this is why the Braves drafted him this high and he’s looked great as he’s made his way through the minors. There’s a reason why there’s a lot of anticipation to see what Ritchie can do at this level and Thursday afternoon will be his big chance.

Despite giving him the richest contract for a left-handed pitcher in baseball history, the Yankees didn’t sign Max Fried to be an ace. They envisioned pairing him with 2023 Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole atop a formidable rotation, but expected to see them together as a 1-2 postseason punch for years to come.

As Yankees fans know, that didn’t happen. Cole underwent Tommy John surgery last March, and that suddenly thrust the former World Series champion into the undisputed ace role for the foreseeable future. And with players not usually returning to top shape after returning from UCL reconstruction surgery, the balance of power was now firmly shifted to Fried being the ace of the New York Yankees.

Well, as he made his 40th start as a Yankee (playoffs included) on Wednesday night, he continued to show why that was a worthy moniker. After dealing against the rival Red Sox all year in 2025, he started 2026 with a bang, tossing eight shutout innings at Fenway Park on Wednesday, giving no room to breathe for a struggling offense. All the run support he needed came early on two big swings by Amed Rosario, as the Yankees secured a series victory, 4-1.

The Yankees jumped on Ranger Suarez right away. After the former All-Star retired two of the first three batters he faced, Giancarlo Stanton picked up where he left off last night by smacking a ball off the Green Monster in left field for a double to set up Rosario with second and third, two out. Shortly after Michael Kay noted the usual platoon bat’s reverse splits, Rosario evened those up in a hurry, pimping a three-run bomb over the Monster to give the Yankees a quick 3-0 lead.

Fried toed the slab in the bottom half of the inning and pitched around a one-out walk by Willson Contreras to produce a shutdown inning. Suarez settled in to retire 8-9-1 in the Yankees’ order in the second, and his offense looked to respond immediately with a leadoff walk by Andruw Monasterio and a double off the Monster by Jarren Duran.

With runners on second and third and nobody out, Fried gritted his teeth and pulled a Houdini act by striking out the bottom of Boston’s weakened lineup in order to somehow escape without allowing a run.

That big momentum swing allowed the same part of the Yankees’ lineup to further extend the lead. Aaron Judge singled, Stanton hit yet another double off the Monster, and Rosario lifted a long sac fly to the warning track in left field to make it 4-0. Fried would pitch around a two-out single by Wilyer Abreu to finish off the third.

Suarez got another 1-2-3 inning against the bottom of the order in the fourth, and Duran once again doubled off the wall, a fascinating development for a player who has not only struggled his entire career against Fried but also against lefties. Despite once again getting a runner in scoring position, though, Boston stranded it with a groundout and a routine flyout.

Judge walked with one out in the fifth, stole second, and got to third on a groundout, prompting Alex Cora to emerge from the dugout to bring in right-hander Zack Kelly against Stanton, who promptly induced an inning-ending pop fly. Fried continued to deal as Boston’s lineup flipped over once again, sitting them down in order in the fifth.

With the lefty out of the game, Aaron Boone deployed both Ben Rice and Trent Grisham in place of Rosario and Randal Grichuk, but both struck out against Kelly. With Jazz Chisholm Jr. due up, Cora summoned Eduardo Rivera, a World Baseball Classic standout from Puerto Rico, for his MLB debut, and he tallied his first career strikeout against the continually struggling Chisholm.

The game started to enter a lull as neither team’s offense could get going. Fried had back-to-back 1-2-3 innings to get through seven innings, while Rivera rolled along to save the bullpen, only giving up an infield single to José Caballero that was erased on a complicated rundown double play.

Fried stayed on to start the bottom of the eighth and got helped out by his defense. Ryan McMahon entered for defense in the sixth and made a Manny Machado-esque play on the third-base line, but made that look like child’s play to start the eighth. Isiah Kiner-Falefa ripped a liner down the line that McMahon sprawled out to make a spectacular catch on to take away a double.

After that, it was back-to-back strikeouts of Ceddanne Rafaela and Contreras to wrap up eight remarkable innings for the Yankee ace. Nine strikeouts, just three hits and two walks allowed, pure dominance. In five starts against the Red Sox as a Yankee (including his wasted Game 1 gem in the Wild Card Series), Fried has a 1.10 ERA in 32.2 innings. If nothing else, having an ace that always goes out and shoves against your biggest rival is a tremendous privilege.

After Rivera wrapped up an impressive 3.1 frames in his first career appearance, Brent Headrick got the call to pitch the ninth against the heart of the order. Of course, it wasn’t easy, as a pair of hits by Trevor Story and Duran (whose three hits today were approximately 60 percent of Boston’s offense) broke up the shutout and Caleb Durbin was a ball away from walking to bring up the tying run. Thankfully, a strong play by Caballero and a scoop by Paul Goldschmidt ended the ballgame.

The Yankees will go for their first three-game sweep in Fenway Park since September 2021 tomorrow night at 6:10pm EST. It’ll be the Walpole kid, Cam Schlittler, looking to provide an encore to his Wild Card heroics last October against a starter to be determined. Brayan Bello was initially scheduled to go, but was pushed back to Friday.

Box Score

The Washington Nationals have continued to show that their offense is plenty potent at the moment. However, the Atlanta Braves were able to out-slug the Nationals in this one as two massive homers from Michael Harris II helped power Atlanta to an 8-6 win over the Nats.

The fireworks started early for both teams — though one team in particular has grown quite used to getting off to quick starts here in 2026. Zack Littell has proven to be a bit prone to giving up the long ball and the Braves wasted no time in continuing to pour on that particular punishment, as Drake Baldwin hit a deep fly to right-center to put the Braves on the board early.

That solo homer ended up giving Didier Fuentes a chance to pitch with the lead. It didn’t last long, as the Nationals jumped on Fuentes and made it a very long first frame back in the bigs for him. Once the Nationals got to two outs, it’s as if their lineup collectively remembered “Hey, we’re the highest-scoring team in baseball in the first inning, we should act like it,” and started mashing. Daylen Lile got a straight heater from Fuentes and crushed it for a three-run shot that put the Nationals ahead and then an RBI double from Jorbit Vivas made it a three-run lead for Washington. The Nats now have 28 first-inning runs this season and it feels like just about half of them have come against the Braves in this series, alone!

While this did end up being a short outing for Fuentes, the 20-year-old did a good job of making sure that it wasn’t a disastrous outing as well. Fuentes only pitched three innings but the youngster was able to pitch his way out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam by striking out José Tena and Keibert Ruiz to end the inning and snuff out the scoring threat. That last strikeout was his seventh of the outing and while everybody would’ve preferred to have seen Fuentes get deeper into this game, it’s pretty clear that Fuentes has the talent to get it done based on the number of punch-outs alone.

It also helped that Fuentes got major backup from his teammates at the plate, as they made this another rough day at the office for Zack Littell. An error from Jorbit Vivas allowed Ozzie Albies to reach base safely to lead off the second and then Michael Harris II immediately made the Nationals pay for the mistake by crushing one into the upper deck in right field for a two-run shot that made it a one-run game. The line kept moving after that and then Ronald Acuña Jr. eventually made it a tie ballgame with his sacrifice fly to deep right-center. Just like that, the Braves had wiped out the three-run deficit in very quick fashion and we had ourselves another high-scoring contest right out of the gate.

The Braves weren’t done there, though. In fact, Money Mike wasn’t done there, either. Harris’ second dinger of the game may not have been as majestic as his first but it was more fun to witness since it put the Braves in front. The one saving grace for the Braves in this series has been that if they can withstand the early flurry of offense from Washington, the Nationals’ pitching staff will provide an opportunity for this team to get back in it. That’s why Didier Fuentes keeping Washington at just four runs was so important since it allowed the lineup a shot to stay in the game and eventually capitalize on some chances.

The big hits just kept on coming for the Braves as Atlanta ended up handing Zack Littell his second-straight outing with at least eight runs allowed. The final blow came from Matt Olson, who hit one into the bullpen out in right-field for a three-run shot that made it an 8-4 game for the Braves in the fourth inning alone. Littell has now giving up homers to Acuña, Harris, Olson and Riley — Riley in particular was probably cursing his luck that he wasn’t able to get in on the fun while he was out there!

Martín Pérez came in to pitch some relief after Didier Fuentes was done, which makes things a bit interesting for the Braves since Pérez was originally scheduled to start tonight’s game and then was pushed to Thursday when Fuentes got called up. We’ll probably see some more shuffling before tomorrow afternoon’s contest as Pérez ended up going three innings in this one. He stabilized things for about two innings before he ran into trouble in the sixth inning. That was when Joey Wiemer led off the sixth with a deep fly and then James Wood continued to mash the baseball as he crushed a solo homer of his own in order to make it an 8-6 game heading into the final innings of the contest.

The onus was now on Atlanta’s high-leverage relievers to get the job done in the late stages of this game. Dylan Lee got the seventh inning and sat down the Nats in 1-2-3 fashion in order to hand the baton to Tyler Kinley. Joey Wiemer and James Wood both reached base in the same inning but this time, it was a lot quieter than what happened in the sixth inning. Wiemer coaxed a one-out walk out of Kinley and then Walt Weiss decided that he wasn’t going to give James Wood a chance to make his presence felt once again and gave him the free pass to first with two outs. Kinley responded by striking out Curtis Mead to end the inning and ensure that the Braves could head to the ninth with the lead.

That set the stage for Robert Suarez to hopefully get the job done to finish things off in the ninth inning. Suarez gave up a leadoff single on the very first pitch he threw but the rest of the inning was similarly quick. It only took eight (8) pitches total for Suarez to finish things off and give the Braves at least a split of this four-game road series.

There are definitely some questions about how the pitching is going to be set up for Thursday afternoon’s game after Martín Pérez was pressed into duty early on in this one but the good news is that the Braves will be able to answer those questions after winning a ballgame [UPDATE: We now know how those questions will be answered. Hello, JR Ritchie!]. Washington’s lineup is no joke but the Braves have clearly found their footing as a collective at the plate so far and tonight was another example of that. Zack Littell was struggling heading into this one and sure enough, the Braves were able to make sure that he was unable to bounce back and stabilize things for this beleaguered Nationals pitching staff.

Instead, the Braves are now heading into Thursday afternoon with the idea that they could be able to slug their way out of any trouble that they may face. It’s not an especially great way to live as a baseball team (as the Nationals themselves are proving) but in this series, the power surge may help push the Braves to a pretty big four-game series win. Also, the more Atlanta can keep on winning while both the Phillies (currently losing 6-2 to the Cubs in the sixth inning as of publishing) and the Mets (tied 2-2 in the eighth inning) continue to struggle, the more they can start putting some increasingly-large distance between them and their two foes from the Northeast. Let’s keep this going!

Box Score

After a burst on offense in Tuesday’s game, it was hard to come by on Wednesday night. The opener strategy didn’t pay off this time for the Brewers, as Chad Patrick struggled and the Brewers’ offense couldn’t break through the Tigers’ pitching.

The game started quietly for the Brewers’ offense, going down in order against Casey Mize in the first inning. Meanwhile, opener DL Hall ran into some trouble. He walked the first two batters he faced, but got Jahmai Jones to ground into a double play for the first two outs. Hall escaped the inning with a strikeout of Riley Greene.

Mize continued rolling through the second, but did allow a single to Brandon Lockridge. That was it as he struck out two Brewers on his way to a scoreless second inning. Hall’s second inning went better, this time retiring the side in order as the game remained scoreless.

In the third, the Brewers scored first thanks to some two-out offense. After Brice Turang drew a two-out walk — extending his on-base streak to 21 games — he stole second to get in scoring position. On the next pitch, William Contreras singled to center, and Turang scored, putting the Brewers up 1-0.

The Turang-Contreras combo delivers yet again

→ https://t.co/eycfmE2vgmpic.twitter.com/TIhrLLWK3S

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) April 22, 2026

That staked Patrick to a one-run lead as he entered the game. His day started well with a scoreless third, working around a walk of Jake Rogers. Meanwhile, Mize rebounded in the fourth with a 1-2-3 inning.

Patrick started to falter in the bottom of the fourth. Greene hit a one-out single to center, which set up Spencer Torkelson. He hit a sinker that was down the middle out to left-center field, giving the Tigers a 2-1 lead. He continued to unravel in a rough 37-pitch fifth inning. After Javier Báez hit a leadoff single, a 10-pitch at-bat went to McGonigle, who doubled to drive in Báez. Colt Keith then brought in McGonigle with an RBI single, increasing the Tigers’ lead to 4-1.

As for Mize, the Brewers didn’t have another scoring chance against him. He finished the day after six innings with one run allowed on three hits. He struck out seven Brewers and walked three. Meanwhile, Patrick got through the sixth but it was his worst day so far this year. He allowed four runs on six hits and a walk in four innings. He only struck out two.

The Brewers did get a second run in the eighth, cashing in a leadoff single from Luis Rengifo. After he moved up on a Contreras groundout, Jake Bauers drove him in with a single to make it a 4-2 game. However, the Tigers responded with a solo home run by Kerry Carpenter off of Carlos Rodriguez, pushing it back to a three-run lead. That was the only run Rodriguez allowed in two innings of relief.

With one more chance in the ninth, the Brewers made it interesting against Tigers’ closer Kenley Jansen. Lockridge hit a one-out bloop single into right for the first baserunner. After Sal Frelick worked a nine-pitch at-bat into a fly out, David Hamilton and Rengifo worked back-to-back walks to load the bases and drive Jansen’s pitch count up to 33. Turang had a chance to tie it or take the lead, but a ground out to Torkelson at first ended the game.

The Tigers kept the Brewers’ offense mostly in check, limiting them to six hits and five walks. Lockridge was the only Brewer with multiple hits, going 2-for-4. Turang also reached base twice with two walks, and Rengifo had a hit and a walk.

This sets up the rubber match for tomorrow afternoon, and the Brewers will have a challenge ahead of them. They will have to go through Tigers’ starter and two-time AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal to earn the series win. Meanwhile, Brandon Sproat will get the call for the Brewers. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10 p.m.

The Dodgers are looking to get back to .500 on the road trip, as they take on the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Wednesday. Shohei Ohtani makes his fourth start of the season against Tyler Mahle.

Tonight’s #Dodgers lineup at Giants: pic.twitter.com/JpdYszJhsS

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 22, 2026

WEDNESDAY GAME INFO

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Giants
• Stadium: Oracle Park
• Time: 6:45 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 (Spanish)

The Red Sox feel absolutely hopeless offensively. Absolutely hopeless. 

Was a slow start expected given the personnel at the plate? Yes. But this is borderline unwatchable. 

Boston narrowly avoided another shutout in a 4-1 loss and dropped its first series of the year against the Yankees. New York has a sweep on the table with Cam Schlitter’s anticipated Fenway start on Thursday. 

Here’s three takeaways from another lifeless loss Wednesday night.

WILL OFFENSE EVER SURVIVE? 

Entering the season, I fell back on the same historical trend: the Red Sox have finished as a top-10 OPS team in baseball every season since 2018. 

There’s been some question marks in that span, but the group always seemed to be a top-third lineup in the sport. 

Well, that feels like a nearly-decade-long streak could come to an end in 2026. (It’s still April, but this is rough).

Boston mustered just eight hits in the first two games of the series. The Red Sox are tied for last in baseball with just 13 total home runs (for reference, the Dodgers already have 42). They hold the second-lowest OPS in baseball, second only to the Mets, who could have 13 consecutive losses by the end of the night.

Guys are scuffling, but there just isn’t enough here to be an offensive threat in this league. 

If nothing else, Jarren Duran tallied three hits (two doubles, RBI single) against left-handed pitching. He’s right in the middle of several cold starts, so maybe that’s one trend that can turn around. His ninth-inning single also put a run on the board for the first time since the eighth inning of Monday’s win over the Detroit Tigers.

MAX FRIED SHOVES AGAIN

The counter-move still worked out because the Red Sox landed Garrett Crochet, but man, missing out on the other southpaw hasn’t been painless for Boston.

Fried entered with a 2.37 career ERA against the Red Sox and surely lowered that with eight brilliant innings and nine strikeouts. This team just cannot figure Fried out and continues to validate the 2021 World Series champion as one of the best starting pitchers in the game right now. 

For that alone, cut the lineup a centimeter of slack.

RIVERA ROCKS 

Eduardo Rivera rewarded Boston for his aggressive call-up after not pitching above Double-A so far. The 22-year-old lefty looked fantastic in his MLB debut with 3 ⅓ scoreless innings with a trio of strikeouts and just one hit allowed. 

Welcome to The Show, Eduardo Rivera!

The @RedSox No. 26 prospect generates three whiffs of Jazz Chisholm Jr. to record his first MLB strikeout🚀 pic.twitter.com/vxNjPYkMVt

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 23, 2026

Payton Tolle should also be on the way this week, but Rivera already showed he can contribute with real stuff, including a fastball that jumped up to 97.5 MPH on the night. 

Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell pitched into the second inning in his first minor league rehab start for the Class-A Ontario Tower Buzzers on Wednesday night on the road against the San Jose Giants.

Snell was pulled with nobody out in the second inning after throwing 32 pitches. He threw 16 pitches in each frame, and didn’t retire any of his four batters faced in the second, though two of those batters reached on errors by Ontario infielders.

Blake Snell throwing strikes for the Tower Buzzers 🐝 pic.twitter.com/8yVCxISG4f

— Ontario Tower Buzzers (@towerbuzzers) April 23, 2026

The Dodgers left-hander allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits in his one-plus inning, with one walk and no strikeouts among his eight batters faced. There is no radar gun info available from this game on Baseball Savant, but the site did show that Snell induced one swinging strike among his 32 pitches.

Snell had the approach that many veteran pitchers sometimes have during a minor league rehab appearance, in that he completely ignored the runners on base while pitching, and in doing so allowed three stolen bases in his brief time on the mound on Wednesday.

He began the season on the injured list with shoulder fatigue, after not throwing much during the offseason following the extended postseason run.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters in San Francisco on Tuesday that Snell would need at least three, most likely four minor league rehab starts, and would be stretched out to five innings before rejoining Los Angeles. Wednesday’s 32-pitch, three-out effort all but ensures Snell will need at least four rehab starts before returning.

That puts the left-hander right in line for returning in mid to late May.

After a brutal outing against the Brewers on Tuesday, the Tigers were hoping to come back stronger in tonight’s game. They had Casey Mize on the mound, who has looked good this season, and the Brewers were opting to go the Opener route, something that would either mess with the Tigers completely, or work in their favor.

Mize got off to a good start, getting the Brewers out in order to open the game. In the home half, Kevin McGonigle walked, and Gleyber Torres walked right behind him. Jahmai Jones then came up and hit into a double play to eliminate Torres, and a Riley Greene strikeout ended the inning with two batters stranded and no runs scored.

With two outs in the second, Brandon Lockridge singled on a perfectly placed and unplayable bunt to third. The baserunner didn’t end up mattering as they finished off the side on the next batter. It was awfully quiet for the Tigers’ bats in the home half as they went 1-2-3.

In the third, Mize once again got through two before the Brewers got a man on base, with Brice Turang getting a walk. Turang then stole second. William Contreras singled into center, which was enough to get Turang home and put the Brewers on the board twice. The home half of the third saw the Brewers dip into their bullpen, replacing DL Hall with Chad Patrick. Jake Rogers got a one-out walk. The Tigers didn’t manage to convert the runner, though.

Mize was having a great game, getting through the fourth with a three-up, three-down inning. With one out in the home half, Riley Greene laced a double into center, finding the gap perfectly. Then, after a sluggish start to the season, Spencer Torkelson hit a two-run bomb over the outfield bullpens in left center, his first home run of the year. They’d have to settle for those two runs, but they managed to get the lead and end Tork’s slump all in one go.

TORK BOMB 💣 pic.twitter.com/VSinw5aYoN

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) April 22, 2026

In the fifth, Sal Frelick singled to start things off. Hamilton attempted a bunt, but fouled it off for an out. A lineout, and then a tagout on an attempted steal by Frelick ended the inning. Love to see Jake Rogers use his relief pitching arm to pick off runners. Heading into the bottom of the inning, Javier Baez got a leadoff single. Then, with one out and about a hundred attempts to advance on second for Baez, McGonigle doubled and Baez just hauled it from first to home. I got tired just watching him.

LOOK AT JAVY GO pic.twitter.com/n6p0J5OIPb

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) April 22, 2026

With two outs, Colt Keith hit a sharp liner into right, bringing McGonigle home.

more pic.twitter.com/GMvRJTTx1W

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) April 23, 2026

Riley Greene singled, sending Keith to third, but a Torkelson flyout ended the inning. They did get two more runs added to their lead, though, a nice buffer for Mize to work with.

Brice Turang continues to be a pest, getting on in the sixth with a leadoff walk. Three outs followed, but I’m going to be glad when the Brewers leave town, and we don’t need to see Turang for a good, long while. The Tigers went 1-2-3 so quickly in the bottom of the sixth that if you went to grab a drink, you would have missed the whole thing.

Garrett Mitchell got a leadoff walk in the seventh, something the Brewers seem to do well. That was the end of the day for Mize, who went 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K on 88 pitches. Man, I love healthy Casey Mize, you guys. Kyle Finnegan came on to replace him, and while Mitchell did steal second, Finnegan got three outs in a row to end the threat. Carlos Rodriguez was the new Brewers pitcher in the home half. Torres got a two-out single, then Colt Keith singled, getting Torres over to third. Unfortunately, a Riley Greene strikeout left them stranded.

Will Vest came out of the Tigers’ pen in the eighth. He gave up a leadoff single to Luis Rengifo, but he got Turang to fly out, so that was a positive. With two outs, Jake Bauers singled, and Rengifo, who had advanced to second on a groundout, was able to get all the way home and score another run for the Brewers. It was all they’d get, though, as Vest collected the final out. In the bottom of the inning with two outs, Kerry Carpenter hit a solo home run.

KERRY BONDS pic.twitter.com/vKf445cq45

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) April 23, 2026

Kenley Jansen came on for the Tigers in the top of the ninth. With one out, Lockridge singled. Then Jansen had quite a fight with Frelick before finally getting the out nine pitches later. Lockridge took second on defensive indifference. Hamilton took a walk, which offered Jason Benetti the perfect opportunity to drop, “It’s Quiet Uptown,” and I hope I’m not the only Broadway nerd who appreciated that reference. Rengifo drew a walk after working a full count, and suddenly this game wasn’t quite as fun anymore. The bases were loaded and Kenley was still hunting for his third out. In the end it was Turang to end our collective misery, grounding out to first to end the inning and the game. Phew.

Final: Tigers 5, Brewers 2

José Soriano leads the major leagues with a 0.24 earned-run average. It’s hard to think of something the Angels could do to make him better.

Shohei Ohtani ranks second with a 0.38 ERA. It’s not so hard to think of something the Dodgers could do to make him better.

On Wednesday, however, that might not have turned the Dodgers into winners. The San Francisco Giants won in the unlikeliest of ways: on one swing, a three-run home run from Patrick Bailey, a catcher who opened play batting .145 and had not hit a home run since the last week of last season. After Ohtani pitched six shutout innings, Bailey homered off Jack Dreyer in the seventh.

That was not the only unlikely performance: The winning pitcher was Tyler Mahle, who pitched seven shutout innings for his first victory in 10 months. Mahle started the game with an 0-3 record and 7.23 ERA.

That was the ballgame: Giants 3, Dodgers 0, with San Francisco clinching the series and the Dodgers losing for the fourth time in five games. In two games in San Francisco, the Dodgers have scored one run.

Ohtani went hitless in four at-bats, striking out twice. His on-base streak ended at 53 games, five shy of Duke Snider’s franchise record.

On the mound, Ohtani was brilliant, giving up five hits and walking none, striking out seven.

Ohtani threw seven pitches at 100 mph, including the first pitch to the first batter he faced and the first pitch to the 23rd and last batter he faced.

That came with two out and two on in the sixth inning, and immediately after the Giants got their only extra-base hit off Ohtani, a double by Rafael Devers.

On his final pitch, Ohtani stuck out Casey Schmitt, then twirled off the mound, pumping his fist and letting out a yell of delight.

There was no such delight when the Dodgers were at bat, triggering a renewed debate about whether Ohtani and his team might be better off if he did not hit on days he pitched.

In his career, Ohtani is batting .185 as a pitcher, with three home runs in 65 at-bats, according to Baseball Reference.

On the other hand, who could forget the three-home run, 10-strikeout show that Ohtani put on in the National League Championship Series clincher last October?

Even if his batting performance on pitching days might not live up to his usual otherworldly standards, would you really submit a lineup with nine batters, but not the one who hit 55 home runs last year and 54 the year before?

Read more:Who's the Dodgers closer? Tanner Scott ... maybe

And, if not Ohtani, who would the Dodgers use as a designated hitter?

For now, manager Dave Roberts said, the Dodgers have not had a conversation with Ohtani about whether he should pitch and hit in the same game.

“I’m going to continue to keep my eye on it,” Roberts said. “I think everything should be on the table. But again, you have to look at what’s the alternative?

“For me, I don’t like having conversations that are open-ended where you don’t have an alternative. Tonight, what’s the alternative? I’m not trying to get into a discussion. But people can pose questions and unless you have an alternative, for me, I don’t really pay too much attention.”

The alternatives: Roberts said he understands the appeal of using the DH to give a position player a break from the field, the so-called “half-day off” that could be particularly valuable on a team with the oldest collection of position players in the major leagues.

He also could use backup catcher Dalton Rushing, who is batting .414 over nine games, with seven home runs in 29 at-bats. The only Dodger with more home runs: Max Muncy, with eight in 82 at-bats.

“Dalton is swinging the bat well, but no one was saying that two weeks ago,” Roberts said. “He’s on a heater. He’s swinging the bat well. Let’s just keep monitoring it. I’ll keep monitoring it and making decisions.”

Rushing downplays incident with Jung Hoo Lee

The Dodgers concluded a peaceful if unsuccessful game here Tuesday, and then the waves hit: On social media, catcher Dalton Rushing had become the newest enemy among Giants fans.

In the sixth inning of Tuesday's game, Rushing tagged out Jung Hoo Lee at home plate to end the inning. Lee, who tried to step around Rushing and then reach behind him to tag the plate, then slid awkwardly and sat up in discomfort.

Television cameras caught Rushing, who walked toward the Dodgers' dugout, looking back toward Lee, shrugging and saying something.

The Bay Area news site SF Gate said Rushing was "crudely dismissing the injury with an NSFW phrase," with the first word a four-letter expletive. Rushing said Wednesday he said nothing disparaging toward Lee.

Lee left the game with what the Giants listed as a quadriceps injury but was in the starting lineup Wednesday. In an indication this might not be a crisis after all, neither Roberts nor Giants manager Tony Vitello was asked about it during their pregame interview sessions.

Rushing was not in the starting lineup Wednesday but is expected to be Thursday, and he planned to check in with Lee to ensure he was not seriously hurt. Rushing said he already checked with one of Lee's South Korean countrymen, Dodgers infielder Hyeseong Kim.

"To make sure he was OK. That’s the biggest thing," Rushing said. "That’s the only thing that matters. Hopefully, he did not take it the way it was put out. I’ll be sure to say something to him face to face [Thursday], making sure he’s OK. There was nothing really directed at him. He’s a great guy."

Rushing said he was unaware Lee was hurt.

"No, I thought it was just a weird slide," Rushing said. "As long as he’s OK and he doesn’t think that I’m coming at him or any of those guys over there, that’s the biggest thing for me. I don’t care what other people put out there or say. I was just trying to play the game, play the game hard."

Rushing said he was not frustrated with Lee.

Read more:Dodgers Dugout: The first problem of the season has arrived

"It was kind of an awkward slide, and that’s all it was," Rushing said. "There wasn’t anything else added to it."

If he was not frustrated with Lee, was he frustrated with himself? No, he said.

"I play with fire," Rushing said. "Everybody that has ever played with me, everyone that has watched me play knows that. Whatever people want to make of it, I hope it’s not negative. I just hope he’s OK."

Rushing declined to say exactly what the cameras caught him saying.

"I used a word, but it was not what was said that was said. I’ll just leave it at that. There was no direction toward him.

"I just think some people make something out of nothing."

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Max Fried baffled Boston batters for eight scoreless innings, Amed Rosario tallied all four runs batted in, and the Yankees grabbed a 4-1 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Wednesday night.

New York (15-9) has now won five straight games. Boston (9-15) has now lost four of the last five.

Here are the takeaways...

- Fried, who came to the mound with a three-run lead, worked around a one-out walk with a pair of strikeouts on the fastball (one looking and one swinging). The lefty didn't look too sharp to start, issuing a leadoff walk in the second and leaving a fastball up and over the plate to Jarren Duran to double off the Monster. That’s when Fried went to the offspeed, getting Caleb Durbin whiffing on a pair of good changeups, Connor Wong swinging on a change below the zone, and ex-Yank IsiahKiner-Falefa fishing on a curveball in the dirt. 

Fried had an easier third, allowing only a slapped two-out single the other way to Wilyer Abreu as another cutter found too much of the plate. The lefty got dinged by Duran with one out in the fourth as a 2-2 fastball over the plate was driven off the Monster in left-center for a double. But once again, the lefty pitched his way out of danger. 

Fried then put his early-inning wildness to bed; he retired the final 14 batters he faced, adding four more strikeouts in the process.

His final line: 8.0 shutout innings with just three hits and two walks against him and nine strikeouts on 100 pitches (66 strikes).

- Rosario, after swinging through a first-pitch changeup, didn't miss the next change. A hanging Ranger Suarez offering was absolutely pummeled 416 feet (108.4 mph off the bat) over the Green Monster for a two-out, three-run homer in the top of the first. He added a fourth RBI with a sac fly to left in the third before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the sixth.

- Giancarlo Stanton ripped a changeup into the left field corner and scampered into second with a double to put two in scoring position. Stanton hit a liner off the Monster for a double with one down in the third, this one 107.4 mph off the bat, six mph faster than his first extra-base hit. He had a two-out RBI chance with a man on third in the fifth, but the Red Sox went to the bullpen and righty Zack Kelly got him to pop out on the infield. He finished 2-for-4.

- Aaron Judge ripped a single into left to start the top of the third. He also worked two walks against Suarez, who was pitching the slugger very carefully. Judge swiped his fifth bag of the season in the fifth and finished the day 1-for-2.  

- Randal Grichuk singled to the left side in his first at-bat and flied out to right before being pinch-hit for in the sixth. After starting the season hitless in his first 13 at-bats, he is now 5-for-13 in his last five games.

- Paul Goldschmidt, batting leadoff against the lefty, grounded out to first after a 10-pitch at-bat to start the top of the first. He went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts as his early-season struggles continue during his inconsistent playing time; he’s now 3-for-24 (.125) at the plate.

- Cody Bellinger went down swinging on a good low-and-away fastball in the first. He finished 0-for-4. 

- Jazz Chisholm Jr. popped out to left to end the first, popped out to left on the first pitch of the fourth, and went down swinging on a fastball above the zone to end the sixth against lefty Eduardo Rivera, who was making his MLB debut. He finished 0-for-4 and is now batting .173 to start the year (14-for-81).

- José Caballero went down swinging on a changeup in the dirt his first time up. He got an infield hit to start the seventh to go 1-for-3.

- Austin Wells popped up to the catcher in foul ground first at-bat, was caught looking to end the top half of the fourth, and grounded into a 3-6-4-5 double-play as Caballero made it interesting in a rundown.

- Aaron Boone made two pinch-hit decisions with the lefty starter out of the game at the top of the sixth, but neither worked out as both Ben Rice (for Rosario) and Trent Grisham (for Grichuk) went down looking. (Grisham finished 0-for-2.)

- Ryan McMahon, who took over at third base for the bottom of the sixth, made a nice play on the hot corner to end the inning with a nice backhand and throw across to end the inning. He made a better play to start the eighth, robbing a Kiner-Falefa double with a diving grab on a sizzling liner down the line. He struck out swinging in his only at-bat. McMahon's struggles at the plate continue – 6-for-48 (.125) with 20 strikeouts on the year.

- Brent Headrick allowed a one-out single before Duran snuck a single up the middle for his third hit of the night to end the Sox's scoreless run against the Yanks. After a mound visit from pitching coach Matt Blake, the big left-hander got Durbin to ground out to short to close the door.

Game MVP: Max Fried

The southpaw was sensational, dispatching a lousy-hitting Sox lineup (.643 team OPS through 24 games, tied for second worst in MLB). Fried had 20 called strikes and 18 whiffs (on 46 swings) for a 38 percent called-strike plus whiff rate. The changeup was his best of the bunch with seven whiffs on 11 swings.

Highlights

Amed Rosario with a three-run shot onto Lansdowne Street! pic.twitter.com/jxhIQhfyfs

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 22, 2026

Amed Rosario drives in another with a sac fly! pic.twitter.com/Hej9oGKXAk

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 22, 2026

Ryan McMahon with the backhand! pic.twitter.com/XtbJ4ob8rR

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 23, 2026

What's next

The Yanks go for the sweep on Thursday night with a 6:10 p.m. first pitch.

Cam Schlittler (1.95 ERA, 0.759 WHIP with 36 strikeouts to three walks in 27.2 innings) gets the start for the Yanks. The home side has yet to announce a starter.