Category: MLB

Recap

The second inning showcased what Sox fans have been waiting for all season: hits in the air, a stolen base, a couple of walks, everyone keeping the line moving. The Sox sent nine batters to the plate and scored three runs, breaking the spell and waking us, and themselves, from the stupor of this heavy 2026 season.

But that was nothing compared to what was to come: another three-run inning in the fifth, courtesy of a three-run double by Connor Wong.

But wait, there’s more! Wong’s hit was the play of the game until the ninth inning—which was a ten-hit, ten-run inning, by the way—highlighted by a grand slam by Andruw Monasterio. It was glorious. Both Ceddanne Rafaela and Willson Contreras had two singles and two bigger hits (a triple and homer, respectively) and crossed the plate twice in the inning. The Orioles eventually brought in a position player to pitch but the damage was done well before that.

With runners in scoring position, the Sox were 8-15 today.

There were a number of firsts today, individually and for the team:

• First individual home runs of the season for Caleb Durbin and Monasterio (his slam)
• First Red Sox triple of the season by Ceddanne Rafaela
• First Red Sox grand slam of the season, courtesy of Andruw Monasterio

It was a huge game with good vibes to spare.

Studs

Garrett Crochet

This is the pitcher we know and love. He was dominant and in control the whole way. 6.0 IP, 7 SO, 3H, 2 BB.

Small Ball

Five walks, capitalizing on errors, and two stolen bases. The hitters kept the line moving.

Big Offense

The Sox scored plenty of runs, logged big hits, and hit at the right time. Wong’s double scored three. Rafaela’s triple led off the huge ninth. Homers by Durbin and Contreras, and of course Monasterio’s slam capped it all off for the offense. Lots of fun.

Duds

Pelvic Thrust Hit Celebration

I will keep saying this until it is dead and gone. Some Sox hitters are still using it and yuck.

Play of the Game

How about that? Andruw Monasterio, hired for his defense, not his hitting, whales a grand slam.

Some days you’re the windshield and some days you’re the bug. The next day after putting a big number up against Boston, the Orioles were on the receiving end of an ugly beatdown. By the time the dust settled, the O’s fell back below .500 with a 17-1 demolition at the hands of their last place division rivals. So much for the idea of building on that momentum. The Orioles remain winless against left-handed starting pitchers in the 2026 season.

The two teams traded zeroes in the first inning before things veered off the rails for the Orioles in the second. Starting pitcher Trevor Rogers, last year’s incredible revelation, continued to look like he’s not going to be able to repeat that form or anything close to it. Rogers simply could not make good pitches to consistently put people away once he got them to two strikes, and the result was that he saw his pitch count balloon in a second inning that he was not able to complete.

Rogers got the hook with the bases loaded and two outs in the second inning, having already allowed three runs on four hits and two walks. Only Tyler Wells coming in and stranding all of the inherited runners kept Rogers from taking an even rougher hit to his ERA. As it is, he’s up to 4.75 on the season with this clunker added to his last outing. It’s not what the Orioles needed today or what they need over the remainder of the season. This is a challenge that they are going to have to work hard to solve.

Still, the game remained in reach until the top of the fifth inning. The Orioles “only” trailed 4-0 up to that point. Reliever Albert Suárez, who was already charged with an unearned run in the fourth, was victimized again by his defense in the fifth. A throwing error by Jeremiah Jackson eventually resulted in three unearned runs crossing the plate in the inning and the Orioles were then behind by seven runs.

Suárez, who had not pitched in six days, could have helped more to pitch his way out of this jam, but the scoring is what it is. This was one of three errors committed by the Orioles in an overall uninspiring game.

The offense was just as uninspiring. They faced a tough task, if you are in the mood to be fair to them. The Red Sox starter was last year’s AL Cy Young runner-up, Garrett Crochet. Although Crochet has had a couple of rough outings early this season, he’s had a couple of very good ones too. At least on Saturday against the Orioles, it looked like he’d fixed his problems. Crochet allowed just three hits and two walks over his six shutout innings. The lone O’s run scored was also unearned; an error committed by Caleb Durbin put the unearned run on the stat line for reliever Greg Weissert.

What really made it embarrassing for the Orioles was Keegan Akin, fresh off the injured list to pitch in his first outing of the season. Akin, again if you are in the mood to be fair, did pitch one scoreless inning after coming into the game in the eighth inning. The problem was he was tasked with pitching the ninth as well, and, uh, he was not up to that task. By which I mean he gave up six runs in the ninth inning before the O’s turned to position player Weston Wilson to pitch. That’s a 54.00 ERA for Akin’s 2026. He’s going to have to put up a lot of zeroes to make up for that.

There was a time where position players pitching was fun. That time has largely passed. The only thing we can say for Wilson is he gave up fewer runs than Akin, allowing four to score while managing to get three outs and end the thing. Wilson had pitched a few previous times in his career and brought a 0.00 ERA into this contest. That perfection has been wrecked.

The teams will play one more on Sunday afternoon with a 1:35 scheduled start time to settle who is the winner of this three-game set. Kyle Bradish is set to make the start for the Orioles. The O’s hitters will have another chance to try to solve a lefty starter, with rookie Red Sox pitcher Connelly Early on the mound. The 24-year-old brings a 2.88 ERA through five games into the outing. He has to feel pretty good about his chances, given what he saw these dudes do against Crochet today.

First Pitch: 3:10 pm CDT
TV: Twins.TV
Radio: TIBN / WCCO 830 / The Wolf 102.9 FM / Audacy

The Minnesota Twins. Ever heard of em?

An early start to the season means that it can be game 27 and still only be April. We’re at the point of the season where the oft-cited “small sample size” begins to stretch itself out a bit, meaning that within the next couple of weeks we’ll have a better sense of flukes vs. trends, like whether or not Austin Martin has actually figured out how to become one of the premier hitters in the game.

One of the biggest questions that will be answered with a larger sample is just what kind of team the 2026 Minnesota Twins are. After absolutely mowing down the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox in a riveting home stretch, the Twins lost seven out of their last eight, including the opener on Friday night.

Bailey Ober has managed to run a 106 ERA+ in five starts so far, despite operating on some godforsaken combination of duct tape and good will. Ober has potentially the lowest velocity manageable in the Big 26, which has led to his changeup outpacing his fastball as his primary pitch, even as the rest of his offerings remain in line with their usage proportions from years prior.

Plus, after catastrophically-low run values from his breaking arsenal last year, Ober’s breaking run value is 94th percentile here in April. Reinventing himself in real-time as a quasi-junkballer, Bailey’s high-wire act has led to team victories in three of his first five starts, and he’s coming off a wonderful outing last weekend during which he held the Cincinnati Reds to three hits and struck out double-digit batters. (Don’t ask what happened after he left.)

On the slibbity-gibbity hippity flip-side is Shane McClanahan, who’s returning to game action this year after not having thrown a pitch since 2023. It’s been a ginger return for the brunette lefty, who has maxed out at 90 pitches in four starts, never going more than five innings and mostly struggling with control (11 walks in 18 innings.)

GO TWINS GO!

It was rough going for a moment there.

The San Diego Padres bounced back late for a 10-8 win over the Colorado Rockies Thursday afternoon. In what felt like a gruelingly long game, the Friars continued to stay within striking distance but couldn’t seem to get ahead of the Rox.

They finally did with three outs left. Rockies reliever Victor Vodnik struggled to record an out, walking Jackson Merrill to start the ninth before giving up three consecutive singles and a three-run blast from Gavin Sheets that just stayed fair.

It was a win the Friars needed. One that proved their bats are still alive after a week of them being peculiarly quiet. They’ll need that slug this weekend as they face the Arizona Diamondbacks in Mexico City tonight.

Taking the mound

Zac Gallen (AZ) v. Germán Márquez (SD)

It was probably never that close, but it felt like Gallen was close to being a Padre this offseason.

After being the subject of a prolonged free agency, he ended up re-signing with Arizona on a one-year deal. He’s pitched serviceably to start the year but has struggled with command (3.51 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 25.2 IP).

In the high-altitude, hitter-friendly environs of Mexico City — a stadium that last saw the Padres face the San Francisco Giants in an 11-homer tirade — Gallen will need to have his command locked down. Otherwise, it’ll quickly turn into a slugfest for San Diego.

The same is true for Márquez, though his statline suggests a worse pitcher than he has been. He’s yet to record consecutive quality outings, going back-and-forth between giving up four runs and pitching a scoreless game.

That’s been the problem for Márquez so far this year: consistency. When he’s on, he’s on. But when he’s not? He’s really not.

He pitched 5 2/3 innings against the Los Angeles Angels last week and only allowed two hits. The Friar Faithful hope that he can follow that performance tonight against the D-backs.

Batter up!

The starters will be out with the off day yesterday giving everyone a breather. That has the lineup looking like this:

1. Ramón Laureano, LF
2. Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
3. Jackson Merrill, CF
4. Manny Machado, 3B
5. Xander Bogaerts, SS
6. Gavin Sheets, 1B
7. Ty France, DH
8. Luis Campusano, C
9. Jake Cronenworth, 2B

Gallen is a tough starter to face, but the Padres have one thing over him: they’ve faced him a lot.

That being said, certain players have had more success than others. Bogaerts, Cronenworth, France and Gavin Sheets all have a batting average over .300 against him. France, Sheets and Fernando Tatis Jr. have an OPS over 1.000 when facing the right-hander.

Those career numbers are why France might start at DH today, though Miguel Andujar could as well after his bat heated up in Colorado.

Those are names to watch for, with Cronenworth having an especially slow start to the year at the plate. He’ll look to get things going today against Gallen.

Relief corps

Starter Matt Waldron did not do much to help his case for a roster spot, giving up six runs in Thursday’s series finale against Colorado. (The signing of free agent Lucas Giolito could not have come soon enough.) But he did go five full innings, so the bullpen can at least be thankful for that.

The Padres used Adrian Morejon, Ron Marinaccio and Mason Miller to cover the final four frames. Miller extended his scoreless streak to tie the franchise record at 33 2/3. He’ll look to extend it against Arizona this weekend.

But, with the off day yesterday, it’ll likely be all-hands-on-deck for the Friars. That being said, the first out of the ‘pen would be those who didn’t pitch on Thursday. That leaves Jason Adam, Kyle Hart, David Morgan, Wandy Peralta and Bradgley Rodriguez.

If Márquez falters, then expect Hart or Peralta out first to cover multiple innings. But if San Diego has a lead and Márquez makes it through five or six frames, the high-leverage guys will be out in full force.

So there was a bit of Jays news today, check out the posts, but the short of it:

• Nathan Lukes to IL.
• Yohendrick Piñango called up.
• Yimi Garcia to the 60-day IL.
• Trey Yesavage to start Tuesday.
• Eric Lauer to the bullpen.

I feel bad for Lukes, battling through vertigo, finally starting to hit the way we’d expect and then this. That’s the thing about the game, we don’t know what the players are going through at anytime. Sometimes there is a reason they aren’t performing the way we expect.

And it looks like Bo Bichette is starting to get things going for the Mets. He has 6 hits in his last 5 games.

I often say that the start of the season is the worst time for a slump because no one will notice when you turn things around.

And if you start hot, no one will notice when you slump.

I try to tell myself to stay patient, that a guy like Lukes, we know what we have, if he has 50 poor at bats at the start of the year, don’t panic, he’ll likely have the numbers you’d expect at the end of the year.

We get a Kevin Gausman start. He has a 2.54 ERA, in his first five starts. It would be nice if the team could get him some runs today.

Go Jays Go.

This year’s Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders are a team that keeps battling until the final out, and it is quickly becoming their M.O. Seven of their 13 wins through the first 24 games have occurred when the club was trailing at some point in the contest.

There was April 4th in Rochester, when seventh-inning solo shots by Seth Brown and Paul DeJong overcame a one-run deficit for a 4-3 victory. The next day, the RailRiders trailed after one inning, 2-1, but scored in the next four innings and rolled to a 16-5 win.

In the home opener on April 8th against Durham, the RailRiders erased a six-run deficit in their final three at-bats to pull out a 7-6 triumph. The next day, they trailed Durham by one run after five innings, took the lead, watched the Bulls tie it in the top of the ninth, but won it in the bottom of the ninth on an Ali Sánchez home run, 5-4. Two days after that, in the nightcap of a doubleheader, they were down to the Bulls, 2-0, but used a six-run fourth inning to storm back for a 9-5 win.

“With these guys, I always know that when games are close, they grind really well,” said manager Shelley Duncan.

“I like to say they’re gritty. They’re grinders, and when it’s close at the end of a ball game, it’s hard to beat grinders.”

Also, the RailRiders are 3-0 in extra innings, including consecutive wins in the current home series with the Rochester Red Wings at PNC Field.

First, on Thursday, the RailRiders took a 4-2 lead into the top of the ninth, only to have Rochester score three runs on five consecutive hits to grab a 5-4 lead. But the RailRiders tied it in the bottom of the ninth on singles by Jonathan Ornelas and Max Schuemann, followed by an RBI groundout from Spencer Jones. Then in the bottom of the 11th, Jasson Domínguez won it with a RBI single to score the automatic runner Ornelas, 6-5.

The Martian walks it off in extras! 👽#RepBXpic.twitter.com/LlYBsi73QQ

— SWB RailRiders (@swbrailriders) April 24, 2026

On Friday, Red Wings starting pitcher Andry Lara had the RailRiders stymied. All they could manage against the right-hander through the first seven innings were a pair of Yanquiel Fernández singles as he walked none and struck out nine. Rochester built a 2-0 lead on two solo home runs, but the bullpen held it there.

“My main thought was keep it close,” Duncan said. “Down two, if we could just scrap one run across the board to get within one. Two runs is a lot harder than one.”

In the bottom of the eighth, with Lara out of the game, the RailRiders rallied. Brown drew a leadoff walk. Duke Ellis came on as a pinch-runner and immediately stole second. Ernesto Martínez Jr. then sent a 3-2 pitch out to right field for a game-tying home run.

Message Sent: Martínez is Mashin' 💣#RepBXpic.twitter.com/IYJqNTwL1S

— SWB RailRiders (@swbrailriders) April 25, 2026

“I was manifesting it. I was like, I’m hitting a home run right now. It’s going out,” Martínez said. “I was late on a couple of pitches and I was like, ‘OK, if I’m early I’m going to hit one out.

“We always believe and always have faith in our pitchers. They work really hard and are dedicated to their craft. If they have a bad inning, you know they’re going to come back. We trust our guys.”

Neither team scored in the ninth inning and the game headed to extra innings. Rochester scored a run in the top of the 10th and had runners at the corners with one out. But Harrison Cohen came on and struck out the next two Red Wings to keep it a 3-2 game.

With Oswaldo Cabrera at second base as the automatic runner in the bottom of the 10th, Ellis laid down a sacrifice bunt and reached safely when Rochester’s first baseman, Abimelec Orti,z was called for obstruction as Cabrera moved to third. Again, Ellis broke for second on a stolen-base attempt and when the pitch was wild, Cabrera scored the tying run and Ellis kept going and raced to third.

Martinez followed by lining a 2-2 pitch into right field to score Ellis with the game-winning run.

Message Received: Game Over! 😤#RepBXpic.twitter.com/3A2qF1ocyd

— SWB RailRiders (@swbrailriders) April 25, 2026

“Ernesto had two strikes early, took a deep breath and had an unbelievable at-bat,” Duncan said. “It was awesome seeing these guys stay in the game even though it looked very bleak in the beginning. You have to credit the pitching for keeping us close.”

Wins like these, Martínez said, show the character the RailRiders have and can give them some momentum to get on a roll.

“We’ve been a little bit up and down for the start of the season,” said Martínez. “We have expectations of being the best team in Triple-A, so for us it means a lot. Our spirit is not gone. We’re still going to try to win the first half.”

---

Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe continued his rehab stint with the RailRiders in Friday’s game and played nine innings for the first time. Batting leadoff, he went 0-for-4 with a flyout, two strikeouts, and a groundout. Defensively, he handled three chances and had two assists.

“That was the best I’ve seen him at short,” Duncan said. “He looked really good.”

The plan is for Volpe to again play nine innings Saturday and then likely serve as DH in Sunday’s series finale. What comes after that? Well, Yankees manager Aaron Boone didn’t anticipate a return in time for New York’s series against the Rangers, though he did make those remarks before Giancarlo Stanton left Friday night’s game in Houston early. Unless the DH’s calf strain forces an IL stint that accelerates the timeline, the most logical outcome would be Volpe remaining with Scranton since they have another home series coming up this week against Buffalo, beginning Tuesday. Stay tuned.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A version of this article ran here at BCB 10 years ago on the 40th anniversary of this event. Lightly edited, and with some new information added, I thought you’d like to read it again on the 50th anniversary.

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It was a Sunday that began as any other baseball day at Dodger Stadium. The Cubs, who would wind up with their second straight 87-loss season that year, entered that afternoon with a 6-7 record. The Dodgers, who eventually finished second in the NL West with 92 wins, were 4-9.

The game between the Dodgers and Cubs had no baseball out of the ordinary. The Cubs came from behind in the eighth inning to tie the contest only to lose in extra innings, 5-4.

But it was what happened in the Dodger Stadium outfield in the fourth inning that day that will make this particular game forever remembered. Richard Dozer, recapping that day’s game in the Tribune, described Monday’s save:

Monday explained his role in the chase for the flag with more clarity than anything else discussed in the clubhouse.

”I saw these clowns come out on the field, and I didn’t know what they were doing. I thought they were just out there to prance around,” he recalled.

”But then they spread the flag out like a picnic blanket. I was just going to run them over until I saw them with the can of lighter fluid. I could see they were going to try to burn it.”

After Monday raced in front of left fielder [José] Cardenal and grabbed the flag, he gave it to a security man. The demonstrators were taken to a nearby police station. It was reported they were American Indians, and one of them said something about “squatters” taking over the country. This could not be verified.

One was identified as William Thomas, 37. He gave Eldon, Mo. as his hometown. The other was not identified because police said he was a juvenile, but was reportedly Thomas’ 11-year-old son.

A few days later, the Los Angeles Times reported that Thomas had done this to call attention to what he claimed was his wife’s “imprisonment” in a Missouri mental institution. Here’s a 2016 article from Vice that gives more detail on Thomas and his family, along with a lot of detail about the incident and its aftermath.

Here’s some video of what happened, with the call of the legendary Vin Scully:

The actual flag that was saved is shown in the photo at the top of this post. That photo was taken at an event Monday attended in 2006 on the 30th anniversary of the occasion. In 2013, the Dodgers issued a bobblehead commemorating this event, complete with cloth flag:

I wasn’t in Los Angeles for this giveaway, but as many of you know, I collect bobbleheads. I had to have that one, so I bought one via eBay. The photo above is of my actual bobblehead. Meanwhile, the original flag is headed to Cooperstown this summer:

The flag that Rick Monday rescued 50 years ago today is headed to Cooperstown!

OTD in 1976, Monday, a Cubs outfielder and veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, grabbed an American flag from two protesters who had run onto the field at Dodger Stadium and attempted to burn it.… pic.twitter.com/nnmY8MvkuG

— MLB (@MLB) April 25, 2026

Monday, who played eight years for the Dodgers after the Cubs sent him there in the deal that brought Bill Buckner to the Cubs and hit a famous home run that put the Dodgers into the 1981 World Series, has been a Dodgers broadcaster for the last 31 years.

A final note on this: I am posting this today simply to note the 50th anniversary of this event, a notable event in Cubs and baseball history. It obviously can have political implications. I make no comment on that and remind everyone here of the site rules prohibiting political commentary. Thanks in advance for keeping the comments here related to baseball.

Rick Monday saved an American flag from burning 50 years ago today, Sunday, April 25, 1976.

With a game 1 win in the books, the Braves maintain the top record and run differential in MLB so far this season. They will now have two chances to secure a series win over Philadelphia and the Phillies have now lost 10 straight. This is an important game for the Phillies, as their ace of the last handful of years is returning in the mound from an injury dating back to last season in Zack Wheeler.

Bryce Elder has had an encouraging start to the season and while he has cooled off a bit from what were two brilliant starts to kick off 2026, he has still been effective as a back of the rotation starter outside of the bad but not catastrophic Cleveland game. Bryce has crucially kept the walks down, but is also currently running a career high strikeout rate. He’s also been mixing his sinker and four-seamer more instead of being sinker-focused and has added a cutter to keep hitters less keyed in on his preferred fastball shape. This has been a version of Bryce Elder that can be a rotation regular as a 4th or 5th starter in MLB.

We all know how good Zack Wheeler has been for the Phillies in recent years, but coming back from injury firing on all cylinders is no guarantee, especially without a normal Spring Training. He also had a pretty rough final rehab start, giving up 4 runs and 2 homers over 4.0 innings, sitting lower 90s with his fastball. Wheeler seemed to acknowledge the lower 90s as the new reality for his fastball after the game, at least in the near term, discussing the need for him to be “craftier” for a while upon his return. This may not be the dominant version of Zack Wheeler we’ve come to expect and while it would be a shame for Wheeler’s career to be derailed by this injury, it would be fine with me if the Braves capitalized on him not being fully up to his best on the day today. Wheeler has been a fastball-focused pitcher with his upper 90s velocity, throwing the four-seam fastball 40% of the time, but did throw a sinker, cutter, sweeper, splitter, and curveball all meaningful percentages last season, so he should still have a deep arsenal even if the velocity has taken a hit.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Saturday, April 25, 7:15 p.m. ET

Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA

TV: BravesVision

Streaming: MLBTV

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan

No ABS.

For those of you who, just like me, wasn’t really having its vision towards the next series, it might have come as a surprise to see the Diamondbacks play a two-game weekend series against a division rival.

The reason: the Diamondbacks move to Mexico to face the San Diego Padres in an International Series.

It is MLB’s first international series of the season and, by courtesy of a couple of articles on MLB.com, here are some facts:

• It is the 3rd time that MLB plays a series at the Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú in Mexico City.
• The first time MLB played at this stadium was in 2023, when the Padres faced the Giants.
• In 2024 MLB returned with a game between the Astros and Rockies.
• The stadium has around 20,000 seats and is named after a minority owner of the Padres.
• The stadium is at an elevation of 7,300 feet above sea level, so we could expect lots of homeruns: Padres and Giants launched 11 in their inaugural match of the series in 2023.
• The Padres have played MLB games 4 times in Mexico, one against each NL West opponent so far.
• The Diamondbacks have never played a regular season game in Mexico, though have been in Mexico 11 times for exhibition games (Hermosillo and Monterey).
• This match won’t have the ABS, because the stadium lacks the infrastructure for it.

The Diamondbacks nor the Padres have a Mexican player on their 40-man roster. Alek Thomas has played for Mexico in the past on the WBC. Who will the Mexicans side with?

The Padres are league leaders.

The Padres started the season with a 2-4 record after the first two series but beat the Red Sox and the Pirates after that to get to .500. Ever since, they have taken advantage of a poor Rockies team, sweeping a four-game series and winning a three-game one. In between another sweep of the Seattle Mariners and a series win against the Angels, who halted their 8-game winning streak. It is no surprise that this hot Padres team has taken over the Dodgers as league leaders.

The guys that have carried the Padres’ offence are not the names you’d most likely expect. Sure, Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. have had their share of RBI’s and hits, but since the start of their 8-game winning streak against Pittsburgh, veteran Xander Bogaerts (3 homeruns, 12 RBI, 178 WRC+), Ramón Laureano (12 homeruns, 11 RBI, 148 WRC+) and first baseman Gavin Sheets (3 homeruns, 7 RBI, 134 WRC+) have been driving everyone in. Both Bogaerts (.342 BABIP) and Laureano (.419 BABIP) are especially riding the hot bat. Add to that some excellent pitching from starters like Michael King and Randy Vasquez, reliable innings from former Rockie Germán Marquez and former Dodger Walker Buehler and a stand-out performance from the bullpen, led by Mason Miller and his 9 saves and 0.00 ERA, and you have yourself a very difficult team to beat.

Now the Diamondbacks haven’t been a shabby team themselves either, winning every series since splitting the four-game series against the Braves, until we found our Waterloo in the Chicago White Sox. That loss hurt and seems unnecessary and, from previous years, we know that those losses will cost you the post-season.

Matchups.

Game #1 Sat 04/24 3:05 PM MST, Zac Gallen (ARI) vs Germán Márquez (SDP).

• Zac Gallen. 5 GS, 25.2 IP, 1 W-1 L, 3.51 ERA, 3.87 FIP, 1.48 WHIP, 14/7 K/BB.
• Germán Márquez. 4 GS, 18.2 IP, 2 W-1 L, 3.86 ERA, 5.97 FIP, 1.39 WHIP, 15/6 K/BB.

Gallen sure isn’t pitching like an ace and battles heavy traffic on the bases each time he goes out there, though it hasn’t resulted in too many runs. The Padres aren’t a team that get on base easily, but once they get on, they are one of the better ones in running them to get home. Currently the offence is one of the colder ones and they lean heavy on the hot bat of Bogaerts and Laureano. The other bats will probably come alive sooner or later, but let’s hope it won’t happen in Mexico City against Zac Gallen.

Germán Márquez was once a promising pitcher in Denver until he wasn’t, hampered by many injuries. Last year he was crap for the Rockies, finishing the season with 26 games and a 6.70 ERA. Positive thing was: it was his first full season since 2022. The Padres offered him a 1-year contract with an annual average salary of $1,750,000 in the off-season. So far, that has paid off, especially considering he is de-facto the 5th starting pitcher in the rotation. His first outing of the season was a bit of a hiccup against the Giants, but since then he has fired two scoreless outings against Pittsburgh and, his most recent one, against the Angels. In between his former team, Rockies, punished him with 4 runs in 5 innings, though he still got the win.

Game #2 Sun 04/25 1:05 PM MST, Ryne Nelson (ARI) vs Michael King (SDP).

• Ryne Nelson. 5 GS, 20.2 IP, 1 W-2 L, 6.97 ERA, 5.02 FIP, 1.45 WHIP, 20/9 K/BB.
• Michael King. 5 GS, 27.2 IP, 3 W-1 L, 2.28 ERA, 3.67 FIP, 1.12 WHIP, 26/14 K/BB.

Michael King has been leading the Padres to 3 wins in 5 of his outings, so on the outside his performance looks terrific with that 2.28 ERA. However, his command hasn’t been terrific and he has been allowing quite some base on balls, though that isn’t really a surprise with Michael King, but it hasn’t come back to hurt him so far. His change-up has always been one of his better pitches, especially in 2025 when it carried him through the season, but this season it has lost some its effectiveness. However, his breaking balls are getting the job done at the moment.

After hopeful outings against the Mets and Baltimore, his outing against Toronto was a day to forget for Ryne. So let’s not talk about that one and hope he can find his groove in an exciting, though pitching wise difficult, environment.

The St. Louis Cardinals play game 2 of the 3-game series versus the Seattle Mariners Saturday as Matthew Liberatore (0-1 with a 3.67 ERA) gets the start for the Cardinals. The Mariners will send Bryan Woo (1-2 with a 2.25 ERA) to the mound for his 4th start of the season. First pitch is scheduled for 1:15pm central time at Busch Stadium.

The Texas Rangers have traded catcher Willie MacIver to the Toronto Blue Jays for cash considerations, the team announced yesterday.

MacIver was claimed on waivers by the Rangers from the A’s at the end of the 2025 season. The 29 year old had been originally drafted by the Colorado Rockies out of the University of Washington in the 9th round of the 2018 MLB Draft — 21 picks after the Detroit Tigers selected Tarik Skubal from Seattle University. Two college players from universities in Washington being taken in the 9th round of the same draft and ultimately making the majors! Though Skubal has had a bit of a better career than MacIver…

MacIver signed with the A’s after becoming a free agent following the 2024 season, and split the 2025 season between AAA and the majors, putting up a .186/.252/.324 slash line in 111 major league plate appearances. In 14 games for Round Rock this year, he has slashed .170/.333/.255. He was designated for assignment earlier this week to clear a 40 man roster spot for Peyton Gray.

After a thrilling win against the New York Mets last night, the Colorado Rockies will have to wait for game two of the series. Rain across the Big Apple pushed today’s game to a Sunday doubleheader.

In lieu of a Rockies rematch, here’s what’s going on today for our minor league clubs! Check out the Pebble Report for more info on the Rockies’ prospects. (More details to be added about the later games as they become available.)

Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes (13-11) vs. Sacramento River Cats (13-9)

Like the Rockies will tomorrow, the Isotopes get a doubleheader today after their Tuesday matchup against Sacramento was postponed for weather. The ‘Topes will look to snap a losing streak after dropping Thursday’s game 12-10 and Friday’s 4-3. Valente Bellozo, recently optioned to the minors after some rough relief innings for the Rockies, will get the start in the first matchup of the evening.

Game 1 First Pitch: 5:30 p.m. MDT

TV: MiLB.TV

Radio: MiLB.TV

Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats (8-10) vs. Portland Sea Dogs (9-9)

The Yard Goats look to add another win against Portland after taking three out of four in the series so far. Their latest came in a 5-1 win over the Sea Dogs yesterday. RHP Eiberson Castellano (1-1, 3.60 ERA) takes the ball for the Yard Goats. In his last outing, Castellano pitched five innings and allowed three runs on seven hits with a home run, one hit batter, three walks and four strikeouts.

First Pitch: 11:00 a.m. MDT

TV: MiLB.TV

Radio: MiLB.TV

Lineups:

Here’s our line up for today’s game!
⚾️@PortlandSeaDogs
⏰ 1:00PM
🏟️Delta Dental Park
📺https://t.co/QpdabTibvq
📻https://t.co/dY5nqsNRQnpic.twitter.com/m3IHNmpZkH

— Hartford Yard Goats (@GoYardGoats) April 25, 2026

High-A: Spokane Indians (6-13) vs. Everett AquaSox (11-8)

After last night’s 2-1 loss, the Indians will look to bounce back. Brody Brecht (No. 3 PuRP) will get the start. In his last outing against the Vancouver Canadians, Brecht threw just three innings but put up a lot of zeroes — zero hits and zero runs, but also two walks and five strikeouts.

First Pitch: 8:05 MDT

TV: MiLB.TV

Radio: MiLB.TV

Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies (12-7) vs. Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (10-9)

The Fresno Grizzlies beat the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 10-3 last night and will look to capitalize that on their “Halfway to Halloween” day. Lefty Brady Parker will be making his second start (fourth appearance) of the year. In his last outing, Parker threw 2.1 innings of relief against the Ontario Tower Buzzers in the 23-7 loss last Sunday.

First Pitch: 7:50 p.m. MDT

TV: MiLB.TV

Radio: MiLB.TV

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With the Cincinnati Reds entering the weekend as joint leaders of the NL Central and the Detroit Tigers rounding into form, today’s matchup is one of the standouts on the slate, especially after last night’s fireworks.

Nathaniel Lowe mashed a two-run walk-off dinger for Cincinnati yesterday to cap a barrage of homers either side of a rain delay, but my Tigers vs Reds predictions expect the visitors to get revenge here, giving starter Jack Flaherty enough run support to escape with a victory.

Read on for my free MLB picks for this April 25 battle.

Who will win Tigers vs Reds today: Tigers moneyline (-105)

The Detroit Tigers have found a nice rhythm since getting swept in Minnesota earlier this month, and that uptick in form has translated to a 10-4 mark in their last 14 games.

Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Reds have had erratic outings from tonight’s starter Brady Singer, who enters with a 5.32 ERA and could be vulnerable against a potent Detroit lineup.

Jack Flaherty racked up walks in Boston on Monday, but he’s only allowed two earned runs across his last 15 innings of work, so I’m riding with the Tigers, who’ve won six of the past nine meetings between these teams.

Tigers vs Reds Over/Under pick: Over 9.5 (+100)

These squads crushed eight homers last night, so look for the scoreboard to be busy again here. The Over is 5-1 in the Tigers’ last six games – and it has cashed easily in their past four matchups against the Reds.

The visitors rank 10th in the majors in hits, and they’ve scored 34 runs across their past six contests. Cincinnati is trending up at the plate too, with 6+ runs in four of its last five outings.

With both starting pitchers searching for their best stuff, we should see the batters on top after the lineups combined for 17 runs and 22 hits last night.

Tigers vs Reds odds

• Moneyline: Detroit -107 | Cincinnati -103
• Run line: Detroit -1.5 (+146) | Cincinnati +1.5 (-161)
• Over/Under: Over 9.5 (+105) | Under 9.5 (-161)

Tigers vs Reds trend

The Tigers have won seven of their past 10 matchups against the Reds in Cincinnati. Find more MLB betting trends for Tigers vs. Reds.

How to watch Tigers vs Reds and game info

Tigers vs Reds latest injuries

Tigers vs Reds weather

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Seattle looks to build on what, for the 2026 Mariners, counts as a formidible winning streak of two games into today’s mid-morning contest against the Cardinals. The M’s will hand the ball to Bryan Woo, who’s been his regular spectacular self for most of the year and is coming off a six-strikeout performance against the Rangers in his most recent start. The at-bats to watch will be when he faces Jordan Walker, who jumped into the center of the national baseball discourse with his hot start. But his hot start has cooled since opposing teams figured out that he’d finally learned to punish a fastball and consequently started throwing him more breaking balls. That’ll make for an interesting puzzle for the fastball-dominant Woo.

On the other side, the Mariners will face St. Louis’s Matthew Liberatore, who pronounces his name LIBB-er-uh-tore, but who I always say in my head like Super Mario would right before slamming some canolis—lib-er-uh-TORRE. Originally drafted by the Rays, Liberatore was the return when Tampa Bay acquired Randy Arozarena before the 2020 season. That reunited Liberatore with Cardinals’ third baseman Nolan Gorman, who started playing baseball with Liberatore when they were five years old. Fun story.

Liberatore has a kitchen sink approach befitting his career 18.5% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate. But his slider and his changeup are his best pitches, which may well befuddle this Mariners lineup right now.

Lineups

The Mariners will run out what’s become their standard attack against lefty starters, including having Mitch Garver catch and Cal Raleigh DH, though I still wish they’d shuffle the front three to be Julio-Refsnyder-Cal. The one change from their standard will be to have Will Wilson play third instead of Leo Rivas while Brendan Donovan continues his IL stint.

The Cardinals will mix things up significantly from last night, with the change wer’re most likely to notice being the addition of Victor Scott II in center field. Scott’s sprint speed really jumps off the screen, though it comes across more on defense since he’s not on base often enough to steal as many bases as you’d expect.

On the Mend

Bryce Miller fared well in his second rehab start last night, pitching three scoreless innings in Everett. He was up to 47 pitches and struck out six while surrendering one walk and one hit.

Colt Emerson was back in the lineup for Tacoma, having missed the midweek games after being hit by a pitch. He was 0 for 5 with a walk, but it’s nice to know the injury didn’t keep him off the field for long.

Game Info

First pitch: 11:15 PDT
TV: Mariners TV
Radio: Old Reliable

After looking very comfortable in Low-A as a 17 year old last year, Eli Willits got off to a surprisingly slow start for the Fred Nats. The former first overall pick was only hitting .139 in his first nine games. It was great to see the rest of that Fred Nats team performing, but Willits struggling put a damper on that.

However, he has really turned things around lately, which is not much of a surprise. Willits is just too skilled and too talented to struggle for long. That slump was not going to last for long, and it has not. In his last 10 games, Willits is hitting .391 with an OPS of 1.101. He is hitting the ball with much more authority and settling into pro ball nicely.

Eli Willits has found his groove and is on fire over his past 10 games — .341/.491/.610.

The @Nationals' No. 1 prospect filled up the box score for the Single-A @FXBGNats: https://t.co/LF03mXTd7rpic.twitter.com/qsh1A8Ygoj

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 25, 2026

For the season, Willits’ OPS is up to .799. That number should keep rising as he gets further removed from his cold streak. What we have seen the last couple weeks is the Willits we thought we would get from the jump. He is showcasing his combination of contact skills, a great eye, speed and defense.

When I saw Willits this spring, the thing that stood out to me the most was his plate discipline. He was casually spitting on borderline pitches from Liam Doyle, a top five pick, in the Spring Breakout game. Willits has shown his eagle eye so far in Low-A, posting an 18.1% walk rate.

The one thing I would like to see Willits improve on is his strikeout rate. Right now, he is striking out 21.3% of the time. That is higher than I want to see for a player of his profile. He is a hit over power guy, so hopefully he can get that K rate closer to 15%. Maybe the strikeouts are elevated because he is just working a lot of deep counts.

While Willits will never be a big power guy, he is showing more impact lately. He hit home runs in back to back games about a week ago, though one was an inside the park homer. However, he did hit one over the fence and it was a real nice opposite field shot. Willits becoming a 15-20 home run guy will be crucial if he wants to be a star player rather than just a solid starter.

Eli Willits homer! And this one leaves the yard 😀@Nationals | @FXBGNats | @Nats_PlayerDevpic.twitter.com/NbA5UmM7Nn

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) April 16, 2026

Another part of Willits’ game I really like is his speed and instincts on the bases. He may not have Trea Turner speed, but Willits is a good runner who is very aggressive. The 18 year old already has 16 stolen bases on the season. Whenever you watch him play, you immediately notice the all out hustle he plays with. Sometimes he can be overly aggressive on the bases and get thrown out, but he will learn where he should pick his spots as he gets older.

Eli Willits’ polish extends to the defensive side of the ball as well. Most evaluators expect him to be an above average or even plus defender at short. He has all the requisite physical tools to play the position, but his instincts and internal clock are what really separate him.

Last season, his defense may have stood out even more than his offense, despite the fact he was hitting well. That has continued this year. The teenager has not made a single error in his 15 games at shortstop. That is a crazy stat for such a young player. He has also made some really nice plays as well.

Eli Willits is 18 with a MLB ready glove god damn pic.twitter.com/QoJL25CEVx

— Kev (@klwoodjr) April 22, 2026

After a shaky start, it is back to scheduled programming for the Nats number one prospect. I would like to see him make a bit more contact, but I think that will come as he starts to really establish himself in pro ball. It is important to remember that Willits just turned 18 in December. He should be in this upcoming draft, yet he is already performing in full season ball.

It just shows how refined he is and why the Nats took him first overall. He may not have the tools to be a Bobby Witt Jr. type mega star, but for an 18 year old Willits is a very safe bet to be a quality starter for a long time. If he taps into more power than expected, there is also star upside here. 

Just look at what Geraldo Perdomo did last year if you want to see a peak of Willits’ ceiling. Eli Willits struggled out of the gate, but you can’t keep a talent like this down for long. There is a reason this kid went first overall.