After six straight games of scoring two runs or less, the Mets offense was able to give their pitching staff enough run support to secure a 4-2 win on Wednesday night at Citi Field.
This win snapped a five-game losing streak as the Mets (23-33) avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds (29-26).
Here are the takeaways...
-Mets relief pitcher Huascar Brazobán opened the game with a clean frame, surrendering two runners on base by striking out Cincinnati's DH, Eugenio Suárez.
-Surging superstar Juan Soto sent a hanging Andrew Abbott curveball over the right field fence to give the Mets a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, his seventh homer in the last 11 days and his 11th of the season.
-Jonah Tong served as the bulk reliever for the Mets tonight. While he struggled with his command, walking four batters and striking out just one, Tong limited the damage, surrendering just one unearned run through 3.2 innings. He was relieved by Tobias Myers.
-In his first game as a Met, exactly a month after being claimed off waivers from the Minnesota Twins, DH Eric Wagaman hit a solo shot to left field in his first at-bat.
-Mets right fielder Carson Benge singled home Brett Baty in the bottom of the fifth inning, extending New York's lead to 3-1.
-With Reds baserunners on first and third and nobody out in the top of the sixth inning, Brooks Raley relieved Myers. An infield single by Sal Stewart scored one run to close the gap on the scoreboard, but Raley was able to get out of the jam for the Mets with the lead still intact at 3-2.
-Jared Young led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a leadoff double, and was eventually driven home by a two-out RBI single by Benge.
-Devin Williams walked the bases loaded in the top of the ninth with the game on the line, but held firm, striking out Dane Myers and Blake Dunn to secure his eighth save of the season and the 4-2 win.
Game MVP: Carson Benge
Benge's two RBI were the difference tonight for the Mets. Both of Benge's hits were singles to center field in two-strike counts with two outs in the inning. Clutch hitting from the rookie leadoff hitter.
The Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals, 7-0, on Wednesday to complete the sweep.
New York has now won four straight games, improving to 34-22 on the season.
Here are the takeaways....
-- Making only his second start of the season, Gerrit Cole loked like his old self on Wednesday night. The right-hander tossed 6.2 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts, allowing just four hits. His fastball topped out at 98.4 mph and averaged 96.3 mph on the night.
Cole opened with a 1-2-3 first inning, including back-to-back strikeouts of Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino. He let up his first hit of the night in the third inning on a double to Michael Massey, and after another strikeout, gave up a single to Maikel Garcia. Luckily, Cole got some help from Aaron Judge in RF, throwing out Massey at home on Garcia's single for the third out of the inning.
He stayed in a groove and retired eight straight from the fourth through sixth innings, including four strikeouts. Garcia snapped the streak with a two-out double, but he got Witt to fly out to end the frame. Cole got two outs in the seventh inning, and was then pulled after 79 pitches with a runner on first base.
-- Paul Goldschmidt got the Yanks first hit of the game in the top of the fourth inning and he'd come around to score on Ben Rice's triple off the LF wall. Rice would then score on Judge's sacrifice fly as New York took a 2-0 lead.
-- Goldschmidt and Rice reached base again in the top of the sixth inning, but Judge grounded into a 6-4-3 double play and Cody Bellinger flied out to end the scoring chance.
The duo bounced back in the seventh inning and found ways to produce for New York. Goldschmidt picked up an RBI on a bases-loaded walk and Rice drove in two more on a single to make it a 5-0 game. Rice finished 2-for-4 with three RBI and a walk, while Goldschmidt went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a walk.
-- McMahon added insurance runs in the top of the eighth inning with a two-run HR, pushing the lead to 7-0.
-- Fernando Cruz kept Cole's line clean by getting Lane Thomas to line out to right field for the third out of the seventh. He continued the shutout by tossing a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Camilo Doval got three groundouts in the ninth to close it down.
Game MVP: Gerrit Cole
The former AL Cy Young Award winner was locked in, recording his first 10 strikeout game since Aug. 10, 2024.
The Colorado Rockies, ranked fifth in the NL West with a 20-36 record, face the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are first in the NL West with a 35-20 record. The Los Angeles Dodgers are favored with a -422 moneyline compared to the Colorado Rockies' +326. Starting pitchers are Tomoyuki Sugano for Colorado, with a 3.86 ERA, and Shohei Ohtani for Los Angeles, with a 0.73 ERA.
How to watch Colorado Rockies vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MAY 26: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws in the outfield prior to the game against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium on May 26, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Shohei Ohtani faces Tomoyuki Sugano as the Dodgers look to sweep the Colorado Rockies.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 27: Isiah Kiner-Falefa #2 of the Boston Red Sox slides past Chadwick Tromp #39 of the Atlanta Braves during the fourth inning at Fenway Park on May 27, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Paul Rutherford/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Every baseball season has at least a few of these games for every team, but that doesn’t make it fun when it happens to the one you root for. On Wednesday night, the Braves had to suffer through a bunch of things that they didn’t even come close to overcoming: an awful Bryce Elder effort, bad luck on both sides of the ball, and bad defense. That’s how you lose 8-0. It is what it is.
Most of this game didn’t really have anything warranting discussion, and pretty much everything hinged on one inning where the Red Sox plated six runs. Bryce Elder wasn’t particularly good up to that point, with just a 1/0 K/BB ratio through the first three frames. Whatever mechanical adjustments he had made to move up a performance notch this season were seemingly absent, and his pitches were all over the place in eminently hittable ways. A great throw from left field cut down a runner at the plate for the third out in the first, and Elder was relying heavily on his defense in this one.
Which, of course, made it a real issue when the defense stopped backing him up. In the bottom of the fourth, Elder threw a four-seamer down the middle, and it turned into a hard-hit leadoff single. He then had a pretty gross walk (falling behind 3-0, non-competitive 3-2 pitch) to put two on. A bunt moved the runners over and brought up Marcelo Mayer. Elder threw a cutter up and in and Mayer somehow chopped it weakly to Matt Olson at first, but Olson booted it, and it was 1-0 in favor of Boston. Elder then threw a slider that didn’t quite dive as far as it needed to, and it was yanked into left field to make it 2-0. A bloop single on another down-the-pipe four-seamer loaded the bases, and Cedanne Rafaela unloaded them by mashing a meaty first-pitch sinker into left field. That was it for Elder, but Wilyer Abreu got some revenge for Michael Harris II’s onslaught and his own game-ending grounder from last night by hitting a Dylan Dodd pitch below the zone up the middle for a two-run single. So, in the span of not very long at all, it went from a tie game to a 6-0 rout.
This wasn’t Elder’s only bad start of the year (he also had some pretty bad pitching against Detroit and Cleveland), but it’s the sort of thing he needs to avoid to keep the good times rolling. He didn’t really have any trouble bouncing back after those other outings, but he has absolutely no margin for error of just kind of throwing pitches willy-nilly across the strike zone, nor for forcing his defense to make every play because he’s not striking anyone out.
Offensively, the Braves didn’t do much, but it wasn’t entirely for lack of trying. To be fair, Connelly Early had a nice game (7/3 K/BB ratio in seven innings), but things could’ve been different. Ozzie Albies hit into an inning-ending double play with two on in the first. Chadwick Tromp struck out to end the second, stranding two more. Ha-Seong Kim hit a ball decently well with a man on and two outs in the fourth, but it went for a harmless flyout.
Even after the game imploded, the Braves’ lack of sequencing and BABIP fortune didn’t end. Olson had a barreled out to start the sixth. After Tromp doubled in the seventh, Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a 100+ mph liner… but right at the right fielder. Meanwhile, the Red Sox added a seventh run on a seeing-eye roller and a bloop. The top of the eighth was probably the silliest in this regard, as the Braves had two hard liners, a weak fly ball, and a walk, but none of those balls in play found grass. Jarren Duran made it 8-0 with a crush job off Carlos Carrasco, and the game ended with, what else — a hard liner out off the bat of Tromp.
Not much else to say, really — it happens, it sucks. I played catch with my kid after the game got out of hand, and that was a lot more fun to pay attention to than the Braves lining out over and over while the Red Sox sprayed the ball through the fielders.
The Braves can still win the series tomorrow behind Chris Sale, though they’ll need to overcome Payton Tolle and avoid all the nightmarish stuff that happened tonight to do so.
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Dodgers utility man Kiké Hernández went on the injured list with “a significant tear” of his left oblique, manager Dave Roberts said on Wednesday.
The injury was revealed in an MRI, Roberts said. No timeline for his recovery or return was provided.
Hernández tweaked his oblique during batting practice on Monday, shortly before telling the media that he was pain-free. He fought to play through it after being embarrassed that it happened in practice and not in a game.
Hernández was off to a hot start after missing the first 53 games of the season while rehabbing from left elbow surgery during the offseason. He went 4 for 4 with two doubles and the homer in his first two games.
Alex Freeland was called up from Triple-A Oklahoma City to take Hernández’s spot and start at second base Wednesday night against Colorado.
The 24-year-old infielder returns for his second stint with the Dodgers, hitting .235 with two home runs and eight RBIs to start the season.
Freeland played in 11 games with Oklahoma City, hitting four homers and driving in 16 runs.
May 27, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson (2) celebrates with Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman (35) after hitting a home run during the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images | Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images
The O’s scored five runs in the 1st inning and never looked back, completing a sweep of the Rays with an 11-2 pummeling of the American League’s top team.
The Orioles came into Wednesday’s bottom of the 1st ranked 27th in 1st inning runs and 26th in 1st inning average. But just as we saw in the first two games against Tampa, the O’s continued to show their new and improved selves from the start of the series finale vs. the Rays.
Taylor Ward led off the rally by slashing Steven Matz’s first pitch of the evening into center field for a lead-off single. That brought up Gunnar Henderson, who was 0-for-9 in the first two games of the series. The former All-Star SS put those struggles behind him with one swing, launching a 1-1 changeup onto Eutaw Street to give the Orioles a lightning-fast 2-0 lead.
After an Adley Rutshcman walk, Pete Alonso kept the rally going, with the Polar Bear collecting his 1,000th career hit on a single to center. Coby Mayo walked on five pitches to load the bases, setting up Leody Taveras to extend the lead on a single dumped just in front of RF Ryan Villade.
Tyler O’Neill then got the first out of the inning, striking out on a 2-2 changeup after barely missing a grand slam on a ball pulled down the left field line. Blaze Alexander picked up the Orioles’ fifth hit of the inning on a sinker lined to left that brought home Alonso and Mayo. Jeremiah Jackson would fly out to center and Ward would strike out looking after a nine-pitch battle to end the offensive explosion. The O’s saw 36 pitches in the inning, sent 10 batters to the plate and set an early tone against a battered and befudled Matz.
Two of the more often maligned Orioles would combine to extend the Baltimore lead in the 3rd. Mayo led off the inning by turning on a first-pitch sinker and sending it down the left field line for a leadoff double. Two batters later, O’Neill got another changeup left over the plate by Matz, and General Soreness dropped it into left to score Mayo and increase the lead to 6-0.
The Oriole infielders would add on some insurance runs against former Oriole Jonathan Heasley. Mayo and Taveras welcomed Heasley into the game with back-to-back singles to lead off the 5th. After Taveras stole second, Alexander turned on a fastball in on his hands, shooting a double down the left field line that grew the O’s lead to 8-0.
Henderson and Alexander would then give Birdland some fireworks to further bury the Rays. Gunnar led off the 6th with his 13th long ball of the season on a drive to deep center field. The solo shot gave Gunnar his first two-homer game since June 21st, 2024 and has him on pace for 37 homers in 2026. Alexander then hit the O’s final deep fly of the evening, blasting a two-run homer off Hesley to give Baltimore an 11-1 lead. His first Orioles home run gave Alexander 6 RBIs on the night, setting a new career-high for the 26-year-old.
While the offensive fireworks will steal the headlines from Wednesday’s game, the defense behind rookie starting pitcher Trey Gibson also deserves a ton of credit for the Orioles completing the sweep. Baltimore came into Wednesday 25th in Baseball Reference’s Defensive Runs Saved metric, but the infield in particular looked like a unit Earl Weaver would be proud of.
Gibson ran into some early trouble in the 1st after giving up a lead-off single to the speed Chandler Simpson. However, the right-hander then rolled his first double-play ball of the night, getting Junior Caminero to ground into an around-the-horn, 5-4-3 double play to erase the early runner. After a single by Jonathan Aranda and a walk from Yandy Díaz, Pete Alonso made a nice snag for a 3-1 groundout to strand both runners.
The defense would then bail Gibson out again in the 3rd to keep the game scoreless. No. 9 hitter Hunter Feduccia led off the inning with a single up the middle, before Simpson and Aranda walked to put Baltimore in a bases-loaded, one-out jam. Gibson then picked up his first strikeout of the evening on a cutter that just caught the top of the zone against Díaz. That set the stage for the defensive play of the day, as Gunnar Henderson denied Richie Palacios of a run-scoring infield single on a Machado-esque throw from short.
The Orioles would turn two other double plays in the 4th and 5th to kill rallies before they started. Alexander started an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play on a Carson Williams grounder. Then, after a Feduccia leadoff single in the 5th, a sharp grounder from Simpson turned into a 4-6-3 double play—only the second time Simpson has been doubled up all season.
The Rays finally got on the board against Gibson in the 6th, thanks to some would-be double-play balls that the Orioles’ infield didn’t turn. Aranda led off the inning with a single and then moved to second on a Díaz walk. Palacios then pounded a hard grounder to Alonso at first, who tried to start a 3-6-3 double play, only for a high throw to momentarily pull Henderson off the bag and prevent a timely throw back to first. Then, with runners at the corners, Gibson got Villade to hit a grounder to short, which turned into a run-scoring fielder’s choice after the Rays outfielder beat Jeremiah Jackson’s throw to first.
After losing his shutout on his 100th pitch of the night, Gibson would exit to an ovation from the Camden Yard faithful, coming up just one out short of his first-ever quality start. After Keegan Akin got the final out of the 6th, it closed the rookie’s line at 5.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 4 BB and 1 K. With 13 outs via ground ball, Trey Gibson looked like the best version of former Oriole Kyle Gibson as he shut down the Rays.
The win sealed the Orioles’ first sweep over Tampa since a four-game sweep in Tropicana Field in June 2024. The O’s last swept the Rays in Baltimore during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. This is also the first time the Rays have been swept this season.
Baltimore will look to earn their first four-game win streak of the season when they welcome the Blue Jays to Camden Yards tomorrow.
Let us know your favorite moment and player of the game down in the comments.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 27: Jarren Duran #16 and Ceddanne Rafaela #3 of the Boston Red Sox celebrate during the eighth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Fenway Park on May 27, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Paul Rutherford/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Red Sox looked like a different team in the best way possible.
Boston blanked the Atlanta Braves to even the three-game series by way of the pitching staff’s seventh shutout of the season. The Red Sox held down MLB’s best team and knocked around a starting pitcher riding plenty of momentum.
Here’s three takeaways from Wednesday’s win.
EXCELLENT EARLY
Connelly Early had thrown the ball fairly well in his three previous starts with no more than three earned runs allowed. Against arguably baseball’s best lineup on Wednesday, the young Red Sox lefty tossed seven brilliant innings of shutout ball.
Early struck out seven hitters and allowed just four hits on the night. He matched his best start of the year from another seven-inning gem against the Rays on May 8.
HOW MANY RUNS IN AN INNING?
Baseball is a weird sport sometimes.
That’s the only explanation for an offense that’s struggled all season to explode against one of the best starting pitchers in baseball so far.
Bryce Elder sported a 1.97 ERA in 11 starts when he took the mound at Fenway Park. The right-hander posted three scoreless innings before the Red Sox tallied six runs (five earned) in the fourth inning to bring an early end to the night for the Atlanta starter.
Boston posted a six-run inning for just the second time this season, joining the 10-3 win over the Tigers on May 5.
ONE MORE!
The Red Sox are still the only team in baseball without 10 home victories on the season. Beating Chris Sale on Thursday to take the series would finally bring the Red Sox to the double-digits club with the rest of the league.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MAY 22: Starter Tomoyuki Sugano #11 of the Colorado Rockies pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Chase Field on May 22, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) | Getty Images
As the Colorado Rockies aim to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers, there will likely be more than just Colorado and Los Angeles fans eagerly paying attention. The entire country of Japan may very well be checking in as two of their most beloved stars take center stage on the mound to square off for the first time in their careers.
Tomoyuki Sugano ( 菅野 智之 ) enters the game as one of the Rockies’ most reliable starters this season. While Sugano-san has had a couple of rough outings this season, he sports a 4-3 record and a 3.86 ERA. His last outing on the road against Arizona started some of the spiraling for a ragged rotation as he allowed two runs on six hits over 6.2 innings of work. It was the first quality start for the Rockies since the beginning of May and was representative of the veteran at his best. He continues to pound the zone, allowing more than two walks in just a single start this season. He has only gathered more than three strikeouts twice, but ground balls and weak fly balls have been the name of the game. Through his last six starts, he has only allowed four home runs, three of which came in his start against the Philadelphia Phillies.
In his last start against the Los Angeles Dodgers, which came at Coors Field, Sugano gave up five runs on nine hits in four innings of work.
Shohei Ohtani ( 大谷 翔平 ) has ascended to another level on the mound this season as he has his eyes set on the Cy Young Award. Ohtani-san is 4-2 on the year with a microscopic 0.73 ERA over 49 innings of work. . He has worked at least six innings in seven of his eight starts and allowed at least one earned run in just three starts. His last outing against San Diego saw the two-way star fire five shutout innings while allowing just three hits and striking out four. He features a varied pitch mix with up to nine different types of pitches, making it difficult for opposing hitters to adjust to what’s coming. Ohtani generates plenty of swing-and-misses while pounding the zone.
He has made two career starts against the Rockies, posting a 4.91 ERA over 11 innings of work. His last outing came in 2025, where he allowed five runs on nine hits over four innings at Coors Field.
Detroit Tigers pitcher Casey Mize (12) talks to catcher Dillon Dingler (13) as they walk off the field after top of fourth inning against Los Angeles Angels at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Game two for the Tigers against the Angels as Detroit celebrates Fourth Wing night at the park. I will withhold my opinion on the book, but I will say I hope it does not match the quality of play for tonight. The Tigers were leaning on Casey Mize to get the job done, who has been good since his return from the IL, and the Angels had one of their best pitchers on the mound in Jose Soriano.
Mize initially had some trouble with some full counts. He got an assist from Dillon Dingler with a called ball four that was reversed to a third strike, but then Mike Trout walked. A double play off the bat of Vaughn Grissom ended the inning with no harm done. The Tigers came out swinging with back-to-back singles by Colt Keith and Kevin McGonigle. A Dingler single brought Keith home and put McGonigle on third. Dingler was tagged out at second trying to push his single into a double. Two more outs followed, but the Tigers had scored first.
Jorge Soler started the second inning with a single, but was eliminated in a force out off the bat of Wade Meckler. Meckler then stole second, but two outs followed, leaving him stranded. In the home half, Spencer Torkelson got things underway with a leadoff home run (perhaps to make up for the contested foul he hit that missed being a grand slam last night). Three outs followed in a row, but the Tigers were extending their lead, and doing it against a strong pitcher, which all bodes well.
Donovan Walton started a weird third inning with a single. Two outs followed, and then in Mike Trout’s at bat we saw a series of misadventures. First, Trout seemed to believe the home plate umpire miscalled a strike, but he requested the review too late, this led to some high tension. Then it came down to another ABS review call, this one from Dingler, that resulted in Trout being out, and there being additional words between the umpire, Trout, and manager Kurt Suzuki. No one got thrown out though. Keith started the home half with another single, but he was eliminated in a double play off the bat of McGonigle. A third out promptly ended the inning.
By the fourth, Mize was in his groove, getting the side out in order. In between innings, Mize came off the field and spoke to the assistant athletic trainer, both heading immediately into the clubhouse. Not ideal. With two outs in the home half, Spencer Torkelson hit a ground-rule double. Wenceel Perez walked.
Mize’s day was, indeed done. He went 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K on 58 pitches. Really not good. Hopefully it’s just discomfort and not anything more serious, because the Tigers really can’t afford to lose another starter, especially not so soon after he came back. Drew Anderson came on to pitch. He did manage to get the side out in order, which was a positive. In the bottom of the inning McGonigle got a two-out walk. A ball took a big hop in front of O’Hoppe, allowing McGonigle to advance to second. The ball was ruled a wild pitch, but really it just had a mind of its own. Riley Greene singled, bringing McGonigle home. Zach McKinstry walked, but he wouldn’t get a chance to score as the final out of the inning wrapped things up and the Tigers pushed their lead to 3-0. That was likely also the end of the day for Soriano who had gone to 105 pitches after a 35-pitch inning.
With one out in the inning, Drew Anderson had a rare pitcher W with ABS as he challenged a called ball and got it overturned for a third strike. The Angels went down in order. Brent Suter was the new pitcher for LA. Meanwhile, we got word that the official call on Mize was right groin tightness, the same issue that previously put him on the IL. No bueno. The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning.
The Tigers went three-up, three-down in the top of the seventh, though Drew Anderson briefly forgot how many batters he’d faced. In the home half, McGonigle continues to be one of the most reliable guys on the team with a one-out single. Dingler doubled to push him to third. A passed ball by O’Hoppe was all the Tigers needed to get McGongile home and tack one on to their score. Two outs followed, but the Tigers were now up 4-0.
Kyle Finnegan was the new Tigers pitcher for the eighth. Finnegan got the side out in order. Torkelson got a leadoff double in the home half. The Tigers went three in a row after that, though.
Kenley Jansen was in for the ninth. With two outs, Jansen was looking uncomfortable and had been looking a little off in his last pitches. He was done for the game after walking Mike Trout. Losing two pitchers in one game feels very on point for this season. Did someone make a genie wish for a winning game but not think about the caveats? Brenan Hanifee came out of the bullpen after roughly one warmup pitch to hopefully get the final out of the game. Soler walked to put two on, but they did clinch the win and the shutout with a final out. But at what cost… at what cost?
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 25: Manager Don Mattingly #8 of the Philadelphia Phillies speaks to the media in the dugout before the game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on May 25, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Dodgers take on the red-hot Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night at Dodger Stadium, the start of a weekend series against old friend Don Mattingly.
Philadelphia was expected to contend this year but got off to an atrocious 9-19 start. That got manager Rob Thomson fired, with Mattingly sliding over from bench coach to take the helm of his third team, after the Dodgers and Miami Marlins.
The shake-up thus far has worked, with the Phillies 20-8 since the managerial change, winning seven of nine series. Philadelphia is 11-2 on the road under Mattingly, and come to Los Angeles having just swept the Padres at Petco Park in San Diego, allowing only three total runs.
Justin Wrobleski starts Friday for the Dodgers.
Friday’s series opener is exclusively on Apple TV, with Wayne Randazzo on play-by-play alongside analyst Dontrelle Willis and reporter Heidi Watney.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - APRIL 22: Alex Freeland #76 of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws to first base prior to the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Wednesday, April 22, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Kavin Mistry/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Dodgers called up infielder Alex Freeland from Triple-A Oklahoma City, as expected, to fill in with Kiké Hernández placed on the injured list with a left groin strain.
Hernández missed the first 53 games of the season after left elbow surgery before returning Monday, and had four hits in four at-bats in his two games back. But he felt something in his oblique on Monday, tried to play through it, and things got worse on Tuesday, when he was pulled from the game after only four innings.
“It’s a bummer. He’s missed a lot of time and worked hard to get back, and added that spark that we had hoped,” manager Dave Roberts said of Hernández Tuesday night. “I just feel bad for him because he wanted to be back with this, and he worked hard.
“It’s not a season-ending thing, so that’s something to be hopeful with, but yeah it’s just a bummer.”
The switch-hitting Freeland with Oklahoma City hit .333/.415/.815 with both triples and three of his four home runs from the left side, his more prolific side offensively. In his parts of two seasons so far in the majors, totaling 62 games and 209 plate appearances, Freeland hit .224/.311/.346 with an 88 wRC+ as a left-handed hitter, compared to just .154/.241/.192 with a 28 wRC+ in all of 29 plate appearances batting right-handed.
On the whole, Freeland is hitting .235/.309/.337 with an 86 wRC+ with the Dodgers, and he leads the team with 33 games, 31 starts, and 262 defensive innings at second base, where he accumulated four defensive runs saved and three outs above average at the position. He starts at second base on Wednesday night.
May 27, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants second baseman Luis Arraez reacts to being tagged out after picked off the base against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the eighth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images
There are two types of comedy (note: there are probably more, but work with me here). There’s comedy that is about setting up expectations for an audience before subverting them with the unexpected. Then there’s comedy that plays with the audience’s expectations, that pokes and prods it, teasing it just long enough for a tickle of doubt to form before the inevitable happens. This is the kind of humor behind cartoons like Tom and Jerry, or classic Looney Tunes’ rivalries. There is a hunter and hunted, and try as the hunter might, the hunted is never caught. The comedy doesn’t lie in the fact of their failure, but how they fail.
Watching the San Francisco Giants right now is like watching Tom trying to catch Jerry, Sylvester eat Tweety Bird, Daffy outwit Bugs, Wil E. Coyote rundown the Roadrunner. It’s cartoonish how close, and yet impossibly far, this team is from playing winning/compelling baseball. That fact has never been more evident then what happened in Wednesday’s 3-2 loss to the Diamondbacks.
After 56 games, after going 9 for their last 18 and falling more than 10 games below .500, after losing the first two games of the series against Arizona, staring down the barrel of a second series sweep to them in a single week, the expectations were low. We all turned on the tube this afternoon wondering how Tom was going to get a frying pan in his face this time.
Then Luis Arraez punched a 2-RBI single in the 3rd for an early lead.
Then Trevor McDonald beat his previous game’s 4th inning demons by working around a lead-off hit batter, his sinker breaking through the front and back doors of the strike zone for called strike after called strike.
Despite our better judgement, the strong foundations are reasonable and low expectations were built on started to wobble.
Perhaps this was some weird meta-episode where Sylvester actually grabs Tweety, that the canary stays helpless and trapped in his grasp, that he doesn’t chomp down on his thumb, but maybe, finally…and nope. Of course, yeah. The grandma. We forgot about the umbrella-wielding grandma. An infield single to lead-off the 6th was all it took for Arizona to wiggle free. Corbin Carroll beat out what would’ve been a double play ball to any other runner in the league, finding himself at third on a subsequent Geraldo Perdomo single before touching home on Adrian del Castillo’s flip single into left.
Half-a-lead lost, San Francisco initiated their patented self- sabotage like Wil E. Coyote waddling out crate after crate of cheap ACME TNT.
Desperate for an unproductive out or groundball, McDonald over-cooked a slider that missed the plate by five feet. The wild pitch allowed both runners to advance, setting up Ildemaro Vargas’s game-tying sacrifice fly.
An inning later, McDonald and reliever Matt Gage, laughably found themselves in the exact position as the 6th. One out, two groundball singles — but this time Tony Vitello decided to intervene. Handsome and self-assured, he strolled to the mound and gestured to the bullpen for the lefty Matt Gage. This was the move that would solve all of their problems, that would keep the Giants in the game, he thought to himself…before walking into a glass door.
Gage threw one pitch to Corbin Carroll, and then tasked with fielding the grounder rolling up the line, the big southpaw got his limbs confused. He bent down and just straight-up whiffed on the 5 MPH dribbler.
Gage did the hard part. He coaxed a legless swing from a hot hitter on a well-placed slider. Jerry was sold. The mouse was sniffing the cheese in the trap, and then Tom, rubbing his paws together nearby, got spooked by his shadow. He jumped in fright and somehow his tail landed in the trap instead. The error again gifted Arizona a runner on third with less than two outs, and Perdomo capitalized on the mistake with another sac fly to take the lead.
And even after all that — the groundball singles finding holes, McDonald’s wild pitch, the ineffectual pitching change, the glove biff — there was more embarrassment to reap. Because a team so flummoxed and hapless as the Giants are right now, there will always be one more toe to stub. There will always be a lower bottom, and that bottom came in the 8th, set-up, rather cruelly, when the offense was given an unexpected gift.
As if dropped from the heavens, Willy Adames’s pop fly to left dropped safely to outfield grass after Ryan Waldeschmidt lost the baseball in the sun.
San Francisco’s line-up had only reached base once since Arraez’s two run single in the 3rd inning. Starter Mike Soroka had retired 11 batters in a row before exiting after the 6th. 16 hitters went hitless before Adames’s sun double. Far from deserved, but a lucky break that suddenly put the tying run in scoring position. For all the baseball I’ve seen, and I’ve seen a lifetime’s worth these past 50 games, I admit there was a moment when the doubt lifted. The tease again! That tickle! Something good, something different, might possibly could be maybe who knows happen here! The whole team felt it too. They licked their lips. The bird was just sitting there, just past the window within reach, they just had to pounce, to reach in and snatch it —
SLAM! Window frame shut, right on the fingers. Not even close. Adames was out by a mile, cut down by a janky relay, and a problematic send.
Third base coach Hector Borg has drawn too much attention to himself this year. One could put together a lowlight reel of the decisions he’s made in the first third of this season. He held Drew Gilbert when he should’ve scored against Philly in the 10th. He got Jung Hoo Lee thrown out, and banged up, at home trying to score from first against the Dodgers. Perhaps he was maybe riding high off his aggressive send of Adames that paid off in the 3rd, but this decision proved disastrous because it reeked of desperation. Waldschmidt was clearly there to back-up Arraez’s single. Adames wasn’t able to make a definitive move to advance until he confirmed the ball touched grass. He had no jump, no momentum — but he still got the wave because of how dire things had become. Arraez’s hit was just the lineup’s fifth in the game — and he had three of them. A MLB-leading fifth sweep loomed. That recklessness is exactly the problem. You start to fear the worst. You question whether another opportunity will arise, you remember the flak you got for holding Gilbert in extras. You even doubt with Casey Schmitt, one of the hottest hitters in the league, next to the plate, because there is no future, no guarantees. The Giants’ mindset has become now-or-never, do-or-die.
So the tying run is cut down at the plate. That’s bad — but it’s not the worst.
The Dodgers' Kiké Hernández seems to wince after hitting a double against the Colorado Rockies in the fourth inning at Dodger Stadium. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Dodgers utility man Kiké Hernández’s said he was hoping for “somewhat good news tomorrow” after leaving Tuesday’s game with an oblique injury.
But on Wednesday, an MRI exam showed a “significant tear” in his left oblique, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. Hernández is expected to be out six to eight weeks, but recovery timelines for oblique strains vary, depending on how long it takes the player to become symptom-free.
“You don’t really know what the timeline is, but it’s certainly warranting an IL stint,” Roberts said.
In a corresponding move, infielder Alex Freeland was called up from triple-A Oklahoma City.
After returning from a offseason surgery on his left elbow, the 34-year-old Hernández went four for four, including a home run and two RBIs.
However, Hernández said he tweaked his oblique during batting practice Monday, though he felt fine enough to play. The pain returned after his third-inning home run swing, and he was pulled in the top of the fifth Tuesday.
In his absence, the Dodgers will be splitting time between Freeland and Hyeseong Kim, with Freeland getting the majority of the reps. The Dodgers are also navigating third baseman Max Muncy’s return.
“Right now, he’s earned the opportunity to get some looks consistently, and it’s a credit to him to go back down and play well,” Roberts said of Freeland.
In 33 games with the Dodgers, Freeland collected 23 hits and 2 home runs, walking 11 times.
But his time in the minor leagues was productive, as he hit .265 with four home runs and 16 RBIs in 11 games with the Comets.
“It was great, that’s what we talked about doing is going down there and knocking the door down and taking that frustration out on those pitchers,” Roberts said. “And that’s what he did.”
Freeland’s next step is to show he can make those improvements against Major League pitching. His first chance will be against the Colorado Rockies’ Tomoyuki Sugano as Freeland was inserted into the starting lineup at second base.
“You know you’re in a big room, and you’re trying to find your way, not make mistakes,” Roberts said of Freeland. “[He has to] give himself some grace and go out there and play hard and be a tough out. Go out there and play defense, and then good things happen.
With Freeland playing, Kim will take a backseat. In the 27-year-old’s 42 games with the Dodgers, Kim hasn’t reached his previous successes from last season. Currently, he is batting .254 with 29 hits and 11 RBIs.
When asked about how the Dodgers plan to balance also getting Kim some at-bats, Roberts replied: “Hyeseong’s gotten a lot of runway, certainly versus right-handed pitching, and I think that right now it’s skewing towards Alex getting more of the opportunities.”
Ohtani took bat against Rockies’ left-handed pitcher Kyle Freeland during the bottom of the fourth inning when a change-up pitch coming at him at 85.2 mph ricocheted off the padding of his right hand.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and team trainer Thomas Albert came out to check on Ohtani but he waived them off. Shortly thereafter, he was eventually removed from the game with the Dodgers holding a healthy lead over the Rockies.
Shohei Ohtani got hit in the padding of his right hand. Dave Roberts and Dodgers team trainer Thomas Albert came out to check on him and Shohei waived them off. Dave said before the game that he would be in the lineup for his start tomorrow.
Roberts plans to have him pitch Wednesday, but double-duties weren't determined until an hour before game time. Ohtani will hit leadoff in addition to pitching against the Rockies.
"I just want to make sure how he comes in and, physically, how he feels," Roberts said. "Because I want to make sure he feels really good on the pitching side of things."
The pitch just grazed Ohtani’s pinky finger and he did not receive an MRI for the injury scare.
LA has seen Ohtani take form and looking like an early candidate for both NL MVP and Cy Young. He’s been warming up at the plate, but he’s pulled off an impressive 0.73 ERA, the best mark among major leaguers who have pitched at least 30 innings this season.
It appears all things are fine with Ohtani but it will still be something to monitor as he suits in the Dodgers series finale with the Rockies on Wednesday, May 27.
The game begins at 7:10 p.m. PT at Dodger Stadium. Dodgers lead the NL West division with a 35-20 record. The Rockies are the division’s worst team at 20-36.
