Category: MLB

Over the past several seasons, the Athletics have had trouble defeating the Cleveland Guardians, a pattern that has continued this weekend. After losing the first two games of the series, the A’s must win today to prevent a Guardians’ sweep.

The A’s fell apart last May, suffering a long losing streak that doomed any hopes they had of competing for the playoffs. Through the first couple days of May, 2026, the vibes are fairly similar as bad pitching, iffy defense and outfielder Lawrence Butler’s momentum-changing base running blunders have resulted in two-straight losses to begin the team’s second full month of the season. Nevertheless, the A’s remain in first-place in the American League West entering this afternoon’s series finale.

Before we get to the game info, the A’s made a minor roster move this morning, returning right-handed pitcher Luis Morales to Triple-A following his struggles to throw strikes and limit baserunners over the final two innings of yesterday’s game. The team recalled fellow right-hander Tyler Ferguson as the corresponding move. Last season, Ferguson went 4-2 with a 4.66 ERA in 56 relief appearances. He began this season with Triple-A Las Vegas, going 0-1 with a 6.17 ERA in 10 appearances. He is likely here to serve as a fresh arm for the team’s beleaguered bullpen, yet he will have a chance to take advantage of his opportunity like Joel Kuhnel and Jack Perkins have done.

Anyway, back to the contest at hand. Going for the A’s on the pitching side of things will be right-hander Aaron Civale, who has been one of the team’s most consistent starting pitchers so far this season. Civale enters his seventh start with a 2-1 record, 3.23 ERA and 24 strikeouts. In the wake of back-t0-back poor outings by starters J.T. Ginn and Jacob Lopez, the Athletics desperately need a quality start from Civale today if they want to salvage the final game of this home stand before traveling to the East Coast. Civale will have added motivation for this start, as it comes against the team that drafted him and where he spent the first five seasons of his career.

The A’s starting lineup this afternoon looks like this:

A’s manager Mark Kotsay is utilizing an interesting platoon-heavy lineup today. Austin Wynns gets the start behind the plate because Shea Langeliers and his wife welcomed their first child this morning. Hopefully Wynns will get a couple hits and maybe an RBI this afternoon as the longer the backup catcher struggles at the plate, the more complaints the team will receive about not protecting young catching prospect Daniel Susac from the Rule 5 Draft. Should Wynns get hurt, Tyler Soderstrom would replace him as he is the team’s emergency catcher for this game.

Right-handed hitters Colby Thomas and Zack Gelof join Soderstrom in the outfield. Look for left-handed hitters Carlos Cortes and/or Lawrence Butler to pinch-hit if Cleveland brings in a right-hander. Lastly, Darell Hernáiz is starting at third base once again instead of Brett Harris, who has sat on the bench every game since his promotion.

Those hitters are set to go up against Cleveland left-hander Parker Messick, the latest talented young pitcher to emerge from the Guardians’ vaunted pitching development pipeline. The 25-year-old is off to a fabulous start through his first six starts of the season. He is 3-0 with a 1.73 ERA, a 0.88 WHIP and a 38-to-10 strikeout-to-walk ratio. A few outings ago, Messick lost his no-hitter attempt with three outs to go, illustrating how dominant he has been. A’s hitters must be patient, punish mistakes and hope that Messick is slightly off his game. If the left-hander is dealing, it could be a long day for the Athletics’ offense.

Cleveland’s starting lineup this afternoon:

Civale must be careful when pitching to the top four hitters in Cleveland’s lineup, especially rookie right fielder Chase DeLauter, who has tormented the A’s throughout the series. The A’s deserve to get swept if they let light-hitting catcher Austin Hedges have another big offensive game.

Need to win this one as it would not be good to start May by getting swept at home. Let’s go A’s!

Chicago White Sox (16-17) at San Diego Padres (19-13), May 3, 2026, 1:10 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Petco Park – San Diego, Calif.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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Burgeoning Yankee superstar Ben Rice was removed in the fourth inning from Sunday’s game with the Orioles at Yankee Stadium. It was not immediately apparent why Rice, who slugged his 12th home run of the season in the first, exited the game. Paul Goldschmidt entered to replace him.

There was only a small smattering of clues that the YES broadcast could go on following Rice’s removal. Max Fried had made a couple of pickoff throws to Rice in previous innings, one of which appeared to somewhat handcuff him. Rice went on to take his next at-bat, in which he hit a somewhat-fluky opposite-field double on a pop fly (.040 xBA). It did not seem that Rice was injured on the swing or while running the bases. He scored on Aaron Judge’s subsequent home run.

Needless to say, this is an ominous sign. Rice has been Judge’s stellar co-star in the Yankee order, hitting .343/.455/.759. His 12 home runs are tied with Yordan Alvarez for second place in MLB. He has been one of the key factors behind New York’s stellar run of play over the past few weeks; if he goes down, the Yankees would sorely miss his absence.

This story will be updated as soon as we learn more about why Rice was removed from the game.

Update

The Yankees provided a quick update on Rice. Thankfully, X-rays taken on his wrist were minor, and he’s only been diagnosed with a contusion. So ideally this turns out to be a short absence, though it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them play it carefully with Rice and also start Goldschmidt tomorrow against the O’s.

Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh is out of the lineup for a second straight day with lingering pain in his right side. The team has not moved to put him on the IL, awaiting results of imaging he had done yesterday.

Raleigh first felt the pain after Friday night’s game, and said he became concerned when his soreness didn’t abate as usual the next day, causing him to alert the training staff.

“Just trying to play it safe,” said Raleigh. “It was just a little sore, and I think they’re trying to be precautionary with it, play it safe rather than let things linger…As an athlete you’re always using your core, so you just want to be smart, right? You don’t want something that could be a day or two to turn into weeks or a month.”

Raleigh said there was no specific moment that triggered the pain – not a particular throw or swing or catch or foul tip – just general soreness that he initially shrugged off at the time as the usual postgame dings and dents before realizing the pain intended to linger.

Manager Dan Wilson said that Raleigh had imaging done, but the results of the MRI are still pending. “Once we get some feedback and understand where he’s at, we’ll make decisions.”

For his part, Raleigh said he woke up today feeling “a lot better” and has gradually been improving since Friday night. “Compared to where it was feeling post-game Friday and yesterday early, very positive, very encouraging.”

“Cal is continuing to make strides,” said Wilson. “He’s got a little soreness in his side, and we want to make sure of where we’re at…he’s going to test it a little bit today and see where he’s at.”

Although it sounds like concern levels are low, the Mariners are being hyper-vigilant with Raleigh, given the nature of the injury – obliques are notoriously tricky, as Bryce Miller or Luke Raley will attest – the punishing position he plays every day, and how early it is in the season.

“Overall, looking at it, it’s May,” said Raleigh. “Trust me, I want to be out there. But obviously, thinking about the team and the long-term picture and thinking about the guys in there [the clubhouse], taking a day is probably best for everybody, including myself.”

The only pain bigger than the one in his side is having to sit out of a second straight game, something that’s difficult for a grinder like Raleigh, who prides himself on his iron-man constitution and ability to play through the nagging bumps and bruises that are synonymous with being an everyday catcher. But he says he has to put his “ego and pride” aside, and ensure he’s not hurting the team in the long run.

“In the moment you hate it, but down the line, I think it’ll pay dividends…It sucks at the time, but you just have to try and be smart and think of everybody else in the clubhouse and not just yourself.”

“Obviously it’s not what I want to be doing, but better safe than sorry in this scenario.”

Mets lineup

Bo Bichette – SS
Juan Soto – DH
MJ Melendez – LF
Brett Baty – 3B
Marcus Semien – 2B
Carson Benge – RF
Mark Vientos – 1B
Tyrone Taylor – CF
Luis Torrens – C

Clay Holmes – RHP

Angels lineup

Zach Neto – SS
Mike Trout – CF
Nolan Schanuel – 1B
Jorge Soler – RF
Jo Adell – DH
Josh Lowe – LF
Vaughn Grissom – 2B
Oswald Peraza – 3B
Sebastian Rivero – C

Jack Kochanowicz – RHP

Broadcast info

First pitch: 4:07 PM EDT
TV: SNY
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2

Braves go for a sweep. Spencer Strider makes his 2026 debut. Jose Azocar starting? Statcast graphic!

It’s been a busy weekend for the Milwaukee Brewers. The team extended their win streak to three with a win Saturday afternoon in the nation’s capital, and plenty of news — some good, some bad — continues to roll in. Here’s a quick roundup of everything we know.

• Jacob Misiorowski, who exited Friday night’s game in Washington with a cramp after 5 1/3 no-hit innings, seemingly avoided a serious injury. The team officially has a TBD spot slated for Wednesday’s series finale in St. Louis, which would be Misiorowski’s turn through the rotation. We’ll see if he makes that start as scheduled or if he’s pushed back a few days to give him some precautionary rest. See a couple of quotes from Pat Murphy re: Miz below. (Note: the Brewers have an off day on Thursday before returning to action Friday in Milwaukee, so it wouldn’t be at all surprising if he took the ball in that one.)

• Todd Rosiak reported that Murphy also confirmed Sunday morning that Angel Zerpa is currently deciding whether or not to have Tommy John surgery. Zerpa, who went on the injured list earlier in the week with forearm tightness, will seemingly face a lengthy absence regardless. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

• After a foul ball off his foot/ankle Saturday night in Nashville, outfielder Jackson Chourio’s X-rays reportedly came back negative, good news for a guy who was expected to return to the majors on Monday. Based on the latest news, Chourio’s return may be delayed a few more days. First baseman Andrew Vaughn, who went on a rehab assignment alongside Chourio this week, is still expected to return Monday in St. Louis.

• Brice Turang was scratched from Sunday’s lineup shortly before first pitch with an illness. It’s unknown how serious the illness is, but we’ll likely see him at some point in St. Louis this week.

• While we’ve got you, a few more quick updates on other players on the IL:
  • Brandon Woodruff, the latest addition to Milwaukee’s IL, is currently out with right shoulder inflammation after a short start with decreased velocity on Thursday. Given that an MRI showed no structural damage, Woodruff seems optimistic he’ll miss close to the minimum 15 days.
  • Quinn Priester made another rehab start on Friday with Triple-A Nashville, though he continues to struggle with command — a common issue among players returning from thoracic outlet syndrome. Over five total innings in three rehab appearances, Priester has allowed nine runs on seven hits, eight walks, and two hit batters, striking out five on 136 pitches. He threw 62 pitches in Friday’s appearance, though he allowed five runs in that one. He’s expected to make at least a few more rehab starts, meaning he won’t be back in the majors until at least mid-May.
  • Christian Yelich has begun ramping up his hitting and running as he works his way back from a left groin strain that has kept him out since mid-April. He’s targeting a mid- to late May return, meaning we should see him on a rehab assignment in the coming weeks.
  • Jared Koenig began a throwing program on April 28 as he works back from a UCL sprain in his throwing arm. He’s targeting a late May/early June return.
  • Rob Zastryzny, who went on a rehab assignment in early May after starting the season on the IL with a shoulder strain, suffered a ribcage strain during that assignment. He’s now back to playing catch as of April 24, with a late May/early June return.
  • Lastly, outfielder Akil Baddoo, who missed the second half of spring training after a left quad strain, is still out with no updates since he went on the 60-day IL to begin the season. Given that designation, he’s out until at least June.

It’s been a busy weekend for the Milwaukee Brewers. The team extended their win streak to three with a win Saturday afternoon in the nation’s capital, and plenty of news — some good, some bad — continues to roll in. Here’s a quick roundup of everything we know.

• Jacob Misiorowski, who exited Friday night’s game in Washington with a cramp after 5 1/3 no-hit innings, seemingly avoided a serious injury. The team officially has a TBD spot slated for Wednesday’s series finale in St. Louis, which would be Misiorowski’s turn through the rotation. We’ll see if he makes that start as scheduled or if he’s pushed back a few days to give him some precautionary rest. See a couple of quotes from Pat Murphy re: Miz below. (Note: the Brewers have an off day on Thursday before returning to action Friday in Milwaukee, so it wouldn’t be at all surprising if he took the ball in that one.)

• Todd Rosiak reported that Murphy also confirmed Sunday morning that Angel Zerpa is currently deciding whether or not to have Tommy John surgery. Zerpa, who went on the injured list earlier in the week with forearm tightness, will seemingly face a lengthy absence regardless. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

• After a foul ball off his foot/ankle Saturday night in Nashville, outfielder Jackson Chourio’s X-rays reportedly came back negative, good news for a guy who was expected to return to the majors on Monday. Based on the latest news, Chourio’s return may be delayed a few more days. First baseman Andrew Vaughn, who went on a rehab assignment alongside Chourio this week, is still expected to return Monday in St. Louis.

• Brice Turang was scratched from Sunday’s lineup shortly before first pitch with an illness. It’s unknown how serious the illness is, but we’ll likely see him at some point in St. Louis this week.

• While we’ve got you, a few more quick updates on other players on the IL:
  • Brandon Woodruff, the latest addition to Milwaukee’s IL, is currently out with right shoulder inflammation after a short start with decreased velocity on Thursday. Given that an MRI showed no structural damage, Woodruff seems optimistic he’ll miss close to the minimum 15 days.
  • Quinn Priester made another rehab start on Friday with Triple-A Nashville, though he continues to struggle with command — a common issue among players returning from thoracic outlet syndrome. Over five total innings in three rehab appearances, Priester has allowed nine runs on seven hits, eight walks, and two hit batters, striking out five on 136 pitches. He threw 62 pitches in Friday’s appearance, though he allowed five runs in that one. He’s expected to make at least a few more rehab starts, meaning he won’t be back in the majors until at least mid-May.
  • Christian Yelich has begun ramping up his hitting and running as he works his way back from a left groin strain that has kept him out since mid-April. He’s targeting a mid- to late May return, meaning we should see him on a rehab assignment in the coming weeks.
  • Jared Koenig began a throwing program on April 28 as he works back from a UCL sprain in his throwing arm. He’s targeting a late May/early June return.
  • Rob Zastryzny, who went on a rehab assignment in early May after starting the season on the IL with a shoulder strain, suffered a ribcage strain during that assignment. He’s now back to playing catch as of April 24, with a late May/early June return.
  • Lastly, outfielder Akil Baddoo, who missed the second half of spring training after a left quad strain, is still out with no updates since he went on the 60-day IL to begin the season. Given that designation, he’s out until at least June.

Suffice it to say the first two games of this three game set against one of the best current teams in baseball has not gone well for the Colorado Rockies. After a bullpen meltdown on Friday and an overall poor performance—with a rare clunker from Chase Dollander—on Saturday, the Rockies are facing a sweep at the hands of the Atlanta Braves.

Left-handed starter Kyle Freeland will make his second appearance since returning from the injured list last week. Freeland pitched fairly well in his first start after dealing with left shoulder soreness, considering he didn’t take a rehab assignment, and faced a Cincinnati Reds offense riding a hot streak. Freeland allowed four earned runs on five hits—including a home run—and a walk while striking out four batters.

Their opponent today will be the right-handed, mustachioed menace known as Spencer Strider, who will be making his season debut after missing time with an oblique strain.

Strider’s first two full seasons in the league saw him take second in National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2022, and he was both an All-Star and Cy Young candidate in 2023. However, he missed the majority of 2024 due to needing Tommy John surgery. His 2025 campaign—while relatively successful with a 4.45 ERA and 131 strikeouts over 125.1 innings and 23 starts—wasn’t quite the same.

Now more than a full year removed from his surgery, Strider will look to begin a rebound campaign against the Rockies’ flat offense.

One of the major problems of the series has been inconsistent offense. Despite roaring to a six-run lead early on Friday, the Rockies failed to plate another run for the rest of the game. On Saturday, the Rockies had just two hits after the third inning (and four in total).

At his best, Strider relies on a four-pitch mix both heavy on whiffs and heavy on strikeouts. His primary offering is a four-seam fastball that sits in the mid-90s, and he backs it up with a vicious slider with plenty of gloveside break. Strider also throws a very good curveball and a solid changeup.

First Pitch: 1:10 PM MDT

TV: Rockies TV

Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)

Braves SB Nation site:Battery Power

Lineups:

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One more game in St. Louis for the Dodgers to salvage a victory, possibly even hitting a home run, if one would dare to dream.

Sunday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Cardinals
• Ballpark: Busch Stadium
• Time: 11:15 a.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

The D-backs have lost the first two games of the series – albeit by just a pair of runs in each, a significant improvement over the losses in Milwaukee by 11 and 12 runs. There’s therefore the specter of a sweep at the hands of Chicago. It’s actually the first time since the opening series in Los Angeles that the D-backs face this possibility, entering the final game of a real series without a win [I’m discounting the two-game set in Mexico City for this purpose] It has now been more than two weeks since Arizona either won a series or consecutive games – both of those happened against Toronto on April 18.

They’ve gone 3-8 since that point, but haven’t actually lost that much ground in the NL West. The Rockies actually have the best record since then. Although everybody in the division are below .500, with Colorado’s 6-7 mark the least woeful. As noted in a comment on yesterday’s recap, the entire division is on a losing streak of three games or more, the first time that has happened to any division in baseball history. Put another way, the NL West have a collective losing streak of nineteen games in a row. With everyone playing outside the division again today, it could potentially reach 24 games, before they start facing each other on Monday. Somebody’s gotta win, right? RIGHT?

The red-hot St. Louis Cardinals will attempt to sweep away the Los Angeles Billionaires Dodgers at Busch Stadium on Sunday. In the most appropriate jersey number meets day on the calendar, Dustin May (#3) will start for St. Louis while the evil empire Dodgers will send Justin Wrobleski to the mound. First pitch scheduled for 1:15pm on Cardinals.tv.

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Sunday Night Baseball features a shaky pitcher on one end and a bullpen game for the other when the Detroit Tigers close out a series with the Texas Rangers.

There are many reasons to expect offense in this game, and the underdog Rangers are live.

Read all about it in my Rangers vs. Tigers predictions and MLB picks for Sunday, May 3, 2026.

For more on this game, check out our Rangers vs. Tigers props from analyst JD Yonke.

Who will win Rangers vs Tigers today: Rangers moneyline (+115)

The Detroit Tigers are piecing this game together with a variety of arms and a bullpen that isn’t fully rested or healthy. What initiates the game for Detroit, however, sets the tone for the story to follow.

That Tyler Holton’s expected ERA exceeds 6.00 tells you all you need to know, and he pairs that with a chase rate, whiff rate, and K rate that all rank in the Bottom 20th percentile.

Success against the Texas Rangers usually comes from attacking their Bottom-five whiff rate in the league. Holton won't do that, which makes him vulnerable to the power throughout their lineup (whether he goes for one inning or two innings).

Who Detroit goes to after Holton is anyone's guess, but there are three contenders that stand out the most: Kyle Finnegan, Brant Hurter, and Emmanuel De Jesus.

None of those three has even an above-average whiff rate. On the other side, Jack Leiter isn’t a great pitcher, but he doesn’t need to be; he just has to be better than what the Tigers are throwing out there.

At a plus money price point, I’m willing to wager he can be.

COVERS INTEL: Corey Seager and Josh Jung are among the league leaders in barrel rate and hard-hit rate.

Rangers vs Tigers Over/Under pick: Over 8 (-114)

I made this a total of 8.9 runs and will be taking the Over for my third two-unit play of the season.

Runs coming early seems like a strong likelihood given some of the stuff I’ve mentioned above. There will also likely be chances for them late, as Detroit's bullpen is middling at best (as evidenced by their 4.17 ERA). 

On the other hand, I see Leiter as highly exploitable. His secondary pitches rank in the abysmal second and 17th percentiles by run value. This Tigers lineup will work counts and wait on his fastball, making him vulnerable, especially given the legitimate barrel threats Detroit features up and down the order. 

Rangers vs Tigers odds

• Moneyline: Rangers +105 | Tigers -125
• Run line: Rangers +1.5 (-225) | Tigers -1.5 (+150)
• Over/Under: Over 8 (-105) | Under 8 (-115)

Rangers vs Tigers trend

The Texas Rangers have hit the Game Total Over in 31 of their last 50 away games (+11.20 Units / 20% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Rangers vs. Tigers.

How to watch Rangers vs Tigers and game info

Rangers vs Tigers latest injuries

Rangers vs Tigers weather

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The Mets have placed infielder Ronny Mauricio on the 10-day IL with a fractured left thumb. 

Infielder Vidal Brujan has been called up from Triple-A Syracuse to take his place on the active roster.

According to manager Carlos Mendoza, Mauricio is expected to miss 6-8 weeks.

Mauricio, who homered on Friday night, suffered the injury on Saturday when sliding head-first into first base in the seventh inning of the 4-3 extra-innings loss.

Mauricio has slashed .219/.219/.313 with a homer and two RBI in 10 games this season. 

Brujan, 28, had a chance to make the club in a bench role out of spring training, but began the season with Triple-A Syracuse, where he posted a .618 OPS with one home run and seven RBI in 24 games.

This is the latest bit of bad injury luck for the Mets. Juan Soto missed time in April due to a calf strain, and shortstop Francisco Lindor is currently on the IL with a calf strain of his own.

While Brujan could see plenty of playing time, Mendozasaid that Bo Bichette will also be in the mix to play some shortstop.

Additionally, infielder Eric Wagaman has been designated for assignment. 

Wagaman did not appear in a game for the Mets after being claimed off waivers in late April.