Category: MLB

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Happy birthday to Eli Morgan, and a mighty host of others.

Today in baseball history is a story that is so good, so nice it shouldn’t be buried amongst the ther stories. In 1947 – Larry Miggins hits the first of his two major league home runs, going deep off Preacher Roe in the fourth inning of the Cardinals’ 14-8 loss to the Dodgers at Ebbets Field. The round-tripper hit by the Bronx-born outfielder, who had once shared his dream of playing in the big leagues during a prep school assembly with a buddy with aspirations to be a baseball broadcaster, is called by an overwhelmed Vin Scully, Brooklyn’s play-by-play announcer who had wondered that day with his friend “what the odds against that would be.” And enjoy the other stories as well.

Today in baseball history:

• 1911 – Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers hits his first grand slam. After six innings, Detroit leads the Boston Red Sox, 10 – 1. Boston comes back to win the game, 13- 1, in 10 innings.
• 1911 – The New York Giants score a major league record ten runs before the St. Louis Cardinals retire the first batter in the 1st inning. Fred Merkle drives in six of the Giants’ 13 runs in the first en route to a 19-5 victory. When Giants manager John McGraw decides to save starting pitcher Christy Mathewson for another day, Rube Marquard enters the game in the 2nd inning and sets a record for relievers (since broken) with 14 strikeouts in his eight-inning appearance.
• 1923 – Joe Sewell of the Cleveland Indians strikes out twice in one game for the first time in his career. Washington Senators rookie Cy Warmoth is the pitcher. In a 14-year career, Sewell will have only one other multiple strikeout game.
• 1947 – A barrage of racial slurs is directed at Jackie Robinson by the Cincinnati fans at Crosley Field. Brooklyn shortstop Pee Wee Reese, a Southerner from Kentucky, puts his arm around his teammate’s shoulder in support
• 1954 Robin Roberts gives up a HR then retires next 27 men in a row
• 1955 – At Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle hits home runs from both sides of the plate for the first time in his major league career. The New York Yankees slugger finishes the game with three home runs — two left-handed and one right-handed — and drives in all of his team’s runs in a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Whitey Ford is the winning pitcher and Steve Gromek the loser.
• 1958 – Teammates Willie Mays and Daryl Spencer each have four extra-base hits as San Francisco beats the Dodgers in Los Angeles, 16-9. Mays hits two home runs, two triples, a single and drives in four runs, and Spencer has two home runs, a triple, a double and six RBI for a combined 28 total bases. The Ginats set a record with a total of 50 total bases in the game.
• 1958 – Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals collects his 3,000th career hit with a pinch double off Chicago Cubs pitcher Moe Drabowsky at Wrigley Field. The Cardinals win, 5-3.
• 1969 – Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs reaches the 1,500 runs batted in milestone with seven RBI in a 19 – 0 shellacking of the expansion San Diego Padres. Hard-throwing right-hander Dick Selma earns the win as the Cubs tie a modern-day record for the most one-sided shutout in National League history.
• 1976 – For the sixth consecutive game, George Brett of the Kansas City Royals collects at least three hits.
• 1981 – Don Sutton twirls a five-hit shutout to blank St. Louis, 3-0. It is the 53rd whitewash of the Astros hurler’s career.
• 1982 – The Chicago Cubs win game No. 8,000 in their history with a 5-0 shutout of Houston at the Astrodome. Allen Ripley and Lee Smith combine on the blanking.
• 1983 – Reggie Jackson became the first batter to strike out 2,000 (or about four years in the majors now)
• 1988 – Glenn Davis drives in four as Houston pounds the Cubs, 8-2. Nolan Ryan tosses his first complete game in over two years, fanning eleven. Davis leads the league in RBIs (33) .
• 1989 – Kirby Puckett of the Minnesota Twins ties a major league record with four doubles against the Toronto Blue Jays. He becomes the 35th player to hit four doubles in a game, the first since Toronto’s Damaso Garcia in 1986.
• 1993 – George Brett of the Kansas City Royals hits his 300th career home run in the sixth inning of a 7-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians. Brett is only the sixth major league player with at least 3,000 hits and 300 home runs.
• 1995 – As of today, Tony Gwynn has hit .402 in his last 162-game stretch.
• 2009 – Alfonso Soriano hits his 53rd leadoff homer as the Chicago Cubs defeat the Padres, 6-4, in a rain-shortened game. Soriano’s blast ties Craig Biggio for second on the all-time list, still well behind record holder Rickey Henderson at 81; it also breaks the Cubs record held by Jimmy Ryan, as it is Soriano’s 21st such homer since joining the team in 2006.
• 2015 – Last year’s AL Cy Young Award winner, Corey Kluber of the Indians, finally gets his first win of the year after starting off 0-5. He strikes out 18 Cardinals batters and allows only one hit over eight innings to lead Cleveland to a 2-0 win. The 18 strikeouts tie a club record set by Bob Feller in 1938 and are the most by any American League pitcher since Roger Clemens also struck out 18 in 1998.
• 2023 – By striking out Brice Turang and Joey Wiemer of the Brewers in the fifth inning, Zack Greinke becomes only the fifth pitcher in major league history to have struck out 1,000 different batters in his career. The veteran Royals hurler, who is in his 20th season, joins Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux and Roger Clemens in the exclusive club.

Cubs Birthdays:Eli Morgan,* Willson Contreras, Mychal Givens, Terry Hughes, Terry Hughes.

Today in history:

• 1607 – English colonists led by John Smith establish Jamestown at a second landing near the James River in Virginia – first permanent English settlement in North America.
• 1846 – US Congress votes in favor of President James K. Polk’s request to declare war on Mexico over border disputes.
• 1878 – Danvers State Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Massachusetts, opens and later serves as inspiration for Arkham Sanitorium in the work of H.P. Lovecraft, which in turn inspires Arkham Asylum of the D.C. Batman universe.
• 1905 – World heavyweight boxing champion James J. Jeffries retires undefeated after 7 title defences; returns in 1910 to be beaten by Jack Johnson.
• 1940 – Winston Churchill says “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat” in his first speech as Prime Minister to the British House of Commons.
• 1966 – The Rolling Stones release “Paint it Black” single in the UK.
• 1977 – Howard Stern begins his professional broadcasting career at WRNW radio in Briarcliff Manor, New York.
• 1981 Pope John Paul II is shot and critically wounded by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Ağca in St Peter’s Square, Vatican City.
• 1989 – After weeks of unsuccessful attempts between the demonstrators and the Chinese government to find a peaceful resolution, the Chinese government initiated martial law in late May and deployed troops to occupy the square on the night of 3 June in what is referred to as the Tiananmen Square massacre.

*pictured.

Toledo Mud Hens 19, Omaha Storm Chasers 1 (box)

The Mud Hens got a solid start out of Dylan File, but they didn’t need any help as they piled up the runs early and put it to Storm Chasers’ pitching all game long.

Ben Malgeri doubled to start the game, and Max Clark dropped down a bunt single. A soft tapper from Paul DeJong was booted by Omaha pitcher Ryan Ramsey, scoring Malgeri. Eduardo Valencia flew out, and Max Anderson singled in Clark. That’s all they’d get, but Tyler Gentry led off the second with a single and Andrew Navigato walked. Malgeri stepped up and launched his sixth home run of the season. 5-0 Hens.

An error gave the Hens another run in the third. In the fourth, Anderson singled and rode home on a Jace Jung two-run shot. Walks set up the Hens in the fifth, and Valencia doubled in Clark and rode home on Anderson’s first homer of the year as he only just returned from the injury list. That blast made it 12-0.

Tyler Gentry cracked a two-run homer in the sixth, and you get the picture. This was a full-on beatdown of the Twins’ Triple-A squad.

File allowed a run in the fifth before wrapping up his outing with five strikeout, three walks allowed, and just one run allowed over five innings of work.

Beau Brieske’s rehab work progressed to Toledo in this one. The struck out two, allowing one hit in the sixth inning. Connor Seabold also moved form Lakeland to Toledo for his rehab and spun a scoreless seventh. Woo-Suk Go continues to be the Tigers’ best upper level reliever this spring, and he tossed a scoreless eighth and ninth with three punchouts, maintaining his sub-2.00 ERA on the year, with a strikeout rate approaching 40 percent, though most of that work came at the Double-A level.

Malgeri: 2-6, 3 R, 4 RBI, 2B, HR, BB, K

Anderson: 5-6, 3 R, 4 RBI, HR, K

Jung: 3-6, 3 R, 2 RBI, HR

File (W, ): 5.0 IP, ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 5 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 1:05 p.m. ET start on Wednesday.

Richmond Flying Squirrels 7, Erie SeaWolves 1 (b0x)

A couple of bad innings from Zack Lee and Yosber Sanchez on a bullpen day spelled doom for the Erie SeaWolves. Richmond is now 26-7 and running away with the first half divisional lead.

This was just a tough day for the offense all around. Zack Lee took over from Trevin Michael, who gave Erie two scoreless inning, but Lee allowed three in the third. Yosber Sanchez was knocked around for a four-run seventh.

In the bottom of the seventh, a single from Chris Meyers was followed by a walk to Izaac Pacheco. Andrew Jenkins lined a shallow single to center that loaded the bases. The SeaWolves needed a big knock, but Aaron Antonini grounded into a double play, scoring Meyers, but that was all they’d get.

John Peck, Peyton Graham, and especially Brett Callahan have been swinging hot bats the past few weeks, but they were quiet in this one.

Jenkins: 2-3, 2B

Lee (L, 0-1): 3.0 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: It’s an 11:05 a.m. ET start on Wednesday.

West Michigan Whitecaps 4, Great Lakes Loons 3 (box)

Good defense, solid starting pitching, and homers from Garrett Pennington and Ricardo Hurtado helped the Whitecaps finally break their 14-game losing streak on Tuesday.

Hayden Minton gave the ‘Caps his best start of the year. The right-hander had his breaking stuff working, punching out six, and allowing just a solo shot over five innings of work.

Pennington got the ‘Caps started when he cracked his seventh home in the top of the first inning. In the third, Andrew Sojka and Cristian Santana walked and performed the double steal. A wild pitch eventually scored Sojka to make it 2-0 ‘Caps, but Minton allowed a solo shot to Nico Perez in the bottom half. In the fifth, Bryce Rainer singled in Santana to make it 3-1 Whitecaps.

Hurtado launched a solo shot in the top of the seventh, and it was well that he did. Both Donye Evans and Ryan Harvey allowed a run in relief, but Luke Stofel held things down in the ninth to collect the save.

The Whitecaps still only managed three hits in this one, to the Loons 10.

Pennington: 1-3, R, RBI, HR, 2 BB, K

Rainer: 1-4, RBI, BB, K

Minton (W, 1-2): 5.0 IP, ER, BB, 6 K

Coming Up Next: The Whitecaps will look to keep it going at 6:05 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

Lakeland Flying Tigers 5, Clearwater Threshers 4 (box)

Grayson Grinsell was a bit wild but gave the Flying Tigers a good start anyway, and the top of the order pieced together enough runs to win on Tuesday.

The left-handed Grinsell has been pretty good so far, but still a bit erratic, and that showed up as he walked four and struck out five over five innings of one run ball in this one.

The Flying Tigers jumped out to a quick lead in the top of the first. Jude Warwick singled and Jordan Yost was hit by a pitch. Zach MacDonald singled in Warwick, and a sacrifice fly from Carson Rucker got Yost in from third for a 2-0 lead. Warwick doubled home Sergio Tapia in the second, and is suddenly swinging a pretty hot bat.

Grinsell allowed a run in the third, but in the fifth, Anibal Salas led off with a walk, Warwick was hit by a pitch, and Yost drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. Single-A baseball, folks. MacDonald pulled a grounder to third, and Salas was cut down at the plate. A run was balked in before Rucker struck out and Beau Ankeney popped out. So it was 4-1 at that point.

In the seventh, Warwick singled, and Yost doubled him to third. A MacDonald sacrifice fly made it 5-1.

Preston Howey’s rehab outing in relief did not go well at all. The right-hander was wild, allowing three runs in the bottom of the seventh to make it 5-4 Flying Tigers. Luke Hoskins and Yendry Gomez handled the last two innings with no issues to secure the win.

Warwick: 3-4, 3 R, RBI, 2B

Yost: 1-3, R, 2B, BB, K

Grinsell (W, 3-1): 5.0 IP, ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 5 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:30 p.m. ET start on Wednesday.

FCL Tigers 6, FCL Yankees 4 (b0x)

The Complex Leagues are development ball, so no one cares a lot about their records, but no doubt manager Brayan Pena was happy to get off the schneid with a good start from budding pitching prospect Jhonan Coba on Tuesday. Coba has really good stuff with plenty of projection, and he no-hit the Yankees rookies with six strikeouts and just two walks allowed. Cris Rodriguez cranked a two-run homer at 104 mph in the second inning to help lead the offense.

Rodriguez: 2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, BB, K

Ramirez: 2-2, R, RBI, 3B, BB

Coba: 4.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 BB, 6 K

It might come as a surprise, but negative run differential teams sometimes make the postseason. I am not saying that the 2026 Cardinals will finish with a minus in runs, but I’m not saying they are going to make the playoffs, either. Anyhow, I thought I might go all the way back to 1981, let’s take a journey back into time.

The 1981 Cardinals outperformed their pythagorean record (what their record should be assuming a normal balance according to run differential) by only three games. That is because of a positive run differential. But, in 1983 they also had a positive run differential and finished 4 games below .500.

In 1984, the Cardinals were 6 games above .500 but with a run differential barely above zero. They should’ve been just over .500, according to their pythagorean record. The 1986 Cardinals did the right thing and absolutely nailed their pythagorean record, finishing at 79-82 with a -10 run differential.

The 1991 Cardinals should have finished at .500 but were a few games over .500. We could talk about the 2006 Cardinals, but they had a positive run differential and barely finished over their pythagorean record. And yet somehow won the World Series, of course. It doesn’t happen often, but a +19 run team can go all the way. But could a team with a negative run differential have possibly pulled that off?

The 2007 Cardinals really paid the piper for that one, finishing with a -104 run differential. That team should’ve been much, much worse though, interestingly enough. So maybe they never paid the piper! Should’ve been 20 games under! Finished 6 games under .500! So strangely enough, that was a team that didn’t give two turds about their run differential.

The 2008 Cardinals were another team to absolutely nail their pythagorean record, just as the 1986 Cardinals did. The Cardinals finished 10 games over in 2008, winning 86 games.

In 2010, the Cardinals underperformed by quite a bit, +95, & should’ve won 91 games but won 86, ten games over just like the 2008 team.

The incredible 2011 team barely overperformed their pythagorean record but was still destined for the postseason. They did have a +70 run differential, however.

Then, something happened to the 2012 Cardinals… they had a +100 run differential, but finished 5 games lower than their pythagorean record, making a team that would seemingly be a good postseason team into a third place team.

The 2013 Cardinals scored so many runs that them underperforming their pythagorean record didn’t matter. That team should’ve won over 100 games! But 97 wins was enough. It is noted that that team didn’t fare too well in close games.

2014 Cardinals won a lot more than they should’ve. They didn’t overperform their run differential like the 2007 Cardinals did, but they were certainly another outlier finishing at 90 wins with a +11 run differential.

The 2018 squad which was lead by both Mike Matheny and Mike Shildt, is the third team that hit their pythagorean record spot on (since 1981). That team actually won 88 games! But somehow finished in 3rd place. And also the Covid shortened 2020 season would make it four.

The 2021 Cardinals were another team that really overperformed their pythagorean record, finishing at 90 wins when they had a +34 run differential. Impressive.

The 2023 Cardinals are our fifth Cardinals team since 1981 to hit their pythagorean record. This team finished 20 games below .500! Far worse than the 2007 squad.

Most fans remember the 2024 team as being a lot better than expected. This is because that team should’ve finished ten games below .500, but Oliver Marmol coaxed a winning record out of a team with a negative run differential. However, an 83 win Cardinals team usually isn’t going to make the postseason. So it’s possible for the Cardinals to have a winning season with a negative run differential, but it would take some opportune circumstances for a team of that caliber to sneak into the postseason. The are however the best example I have come across with success as a negative run differential season performance by the Cardinals.

Last year’s team won 4 more games than their pythagorean record, so maybe the Cardinals are pretty good at overperforming their run differential nowadays. They were still under .500, but what about this season?

Baseball reference has the Cardinals as a pythagorean record .500 ballclub. I’ve always thought this is about what this team would be, give or take 5 games. Fangraphs has them finishing just below .500 now. Certainly much better than the Las Vegas odds we saw at the beginning of the season. Instead, this season the team is 7 games over .500. But what’s most impressive: they are only +3 runs. And have been a minus for much of the season!

There is of course a correlation with run differential, but it’s also much more random than you might think. It’s about as effective as a weather vane. A rather general barometer for the season. But there’s a history to it, and pythagorean records have been around for a while. How meaningful it is for Cardinals fans, I must shrug it off a bit. And there have been teams with a really good run differential in the first half and not so good in the second half, barely over. All sorts of scenarios and situations.

_{Here is a much snarkier article about it that I ran across: https://www.mlb.com/news/mike-bauman-run-differential-far-from-perfect/c-132583912}

It’s hit and miss, but not a bad indicator, really. There are more advanced predictors out there, but it sticks around. It’s fun to look at, simple. But I have to admit, teams that beat their run differential are often more interesting than teams that just crush it. How do they do it? It’s often good bullpens and defense, and we have one of those, at least! At least a good closer helps, too.

It looks like I will have to go outside the Cardinals world to find a really good negative run differential team. Do they have those?

• 1981 and 1984 Royals were both negative run differential teams that had some success
• the (expletive) 1987 Twins had a -20 run differential and, you know… sigh.
• 1997 Giants had a -7 run differential… and won 90 games! but ended up being swept by the Marlins in the NLDS. This particular team was driven by a 11-3 extra innings record resulting from an offense that lead the league in late and close situations. Clearly one of those “devil magic” Giants teams.
• the 2005 Padres were some sort of unbelievable… they won their division only 2 games over .500 and scored -42 runs… the Cardinals swept them in the NLDS!
• 2007 Diamondbacks were a -20 run differential squad that somehow won 90 games, swept the Cubs, then got swept by the Rockies in the NLCS
• 2023 Diamondbacks made it all the way to the World Series with a -15 run differential, but lost
• the phenomenon might actually be happening more often, and more egregiously than ever… the 2023 Marlins finished with a -57 run differential, 6 games over .500 and good enough for a wild card
• last year’s Guardians had a negative run differential and won the AL Central with 88 wins

What did I learn? Successful teams with a negative run differential are rare. They often come from the NL West. The 2007 Cardinals weren’t as bad as I remember. And only two teams have made it to the World Series with a negative run differential in modern times… of course the Cardinals had to lose the championship to one of those two teams. So yeah, the only team to ever win the World Series with a negative run differential beat us.

Music section will be back next week, 1990 was a monster year! And I didn’t have as much time to research this week, being out of town then starting a new job.

Ok, last minute change of subject, where does our pitching stand? Our three best pitchers by BB/9 are Riley O’Brien, Michael McGreevy, and Dustin May. I think those guys will be all right. I would like to see Liberatore, Leahy, Pallante, and Graceffo improve their control. The problem is a big one though: Soriano, Svanson, Bruihl, and Stanek are all walking over 5 batters per 9 innings. That’s bad. Bruihl and Stanek in particular need to control their stuff, although Stanek can get away with it more than Bruihl with his 12 K/9.

I think I trust in Michael McGreevy more than any of our starting rotation, even though I’m a big fan of Dustin May, I just think McG is going to be the most reliable guy out there. I like that he has his walks under control. I like his xFIP. The xERA is worrisome but, whatever, I gotta trust somebody in the rotation. Maybe I’ll trust May more if he strikes out more batters.

Liberatore on the mound tonight, we will have to wait until 8:40 at night again. JT Ginn takes the rubber for the Athletics. Fangraphs gives a 41.7% chance of winning to the Cardinals. We’ll take it. I think I don’t mind Liberatore in this particular matchup, especially if he pitches like he has in the month of May as opposed to how he pitched in April.

Hey folks, it was a quick turnaround last night on a weeknight and I was at the game, so we’re going to just do a classic “Today on Pinstripe Alley” post today rather than doing a full question exercise. Thanks for understanding! We’ll still have two rapid-fire questions for folks to talk about if they so desire, as we do on the weekends.

Today on the site, we have a shorter schedule, partially due to the changes in the timing of the Yankees’ series finale in Baltimore. (It was supposed to be a night game but it was bumped up to 1:05 p.m. because it’s supposed to pour tonight.) So Scott will Triple-A Scranton’s big week ahead in Syracuse, Madison will run through the Rivalry Roundup, and Jonathan will salute 2010s Yankees catcher and all-time quote producer John Ryan Murphy on his 35th birthday.

Today’s Matchup

New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles

Time: 1:05 p.m. EST (moved up due to the weather)

Video: Amazon Prime Video, MASN

Venue: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD

Questions/Prompts:

1. Would you rather see Anthony Volpe or Max Schuemann at shortstop in José Caballero’s absence? (No, George Lombard Jr. is not an option here because he is at Triple-A.)

2. How much of the Stanley Cup playoffs do you typically watch?

The Pittsburgh Pirates third highest ranked prospect, Edward Florentino, is off to a hot start in 2026 and is looking like one of the best hitters in minor league baseball.

Florentino is currently with High-A Greensboro and since his debut with the Grasshoppers on May 1, he has been tearing the covers off of baseballs. In the club’s most recent series against Greenville Florentino made a huge impression in the final two games. The 19-year-old centerfielder had homers in back to back contests against the Drive, making it his third with the club sixth on the year.

Fast starts are nothing new for Florentino. The Pirates originally signed him as an international free-agent in 2024, and he was quickly turning heads for Pittsburgh. Florentino started his journey in professional baseball in the Dominican Summer League as a 17-year-old, but just a year later was already playing full-time minor league ball after hitting his way through the Florida Complex League and ended up playing in 54 contests with Low-A Bradenton.

Edward Florentino homers in back-to-back games for High-A @GSOHoppers 🚀

The @Pirates' No. 3 prospect is slugging .691 across two levels: pic.twitter.com/fywZtHR3D9

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 10, 2026

Now in 2026, Florentino is off to yet another hot in 2026. The Dominican native was a non-roster invitee to the Pirates’ big league Spring Training in Bradenton and represented the club in the Spring Breakout. From there Florentino returned to Low-A Bradenton but only played in nine games with the Marauders. In those nine games, Florentino left with a slash line of .321/.500/.750 with a 1.250 OPS and three homers.

With Greensboro Florentino has continued his hot streak, adding the three more homers to bring his season total to six and has been just as efficient at the plate as well. With the Grasshoppers, he is slashing .290/.303/.581 and has 8 RBIs and two steals. Overall Florentino has a .305 batting average with 18 hits, 18 RBIs and a .411 on base percentage in 16 games.

At just 18-years-old the Pirates may have found another solid star in Florentino. As a power threat he has been able to capitalize on his discipline at the plate coupled with his raw strength and hitting IQ will benefit him as he continues to advance in his career. He’s continued to add muscle to his 6’4” frame since signing and many believe this could just be the beginning of his hitting prowess, given the raw power that he already possesses. He’s athletic in the outfield and is showing a further understanding of navigating centerfield and tracking fly balls.

Florentino has a Major League ETA of 2028.

BALTIMORE – If they have a need and want to fill it, the New York Yankees can almost always scratch a check. That may never change.

Yet in this modern era where the Yankees are outflanked in the spending department by a handful of ballclubs and owner Hal Steinbrenner is both far less capricious and much more patient than his father, there’s an almost equal likelihood the Yankees will patch that hole internally: Through scouting and development and guiding to Yankee Stadium players who are ready to meet the moment.

Six of the Yankees’ current 14 regular position players and starting pitchers are products of the system, an output that places them tied for 11^th among 30 Major League Baseball teams, according to USA TODAY Sports research.

More notably, three of them – franchise player Aaron Judge, young slugger Ben Rice and emerging ace Cam Schlittler – are well on track to rep the club at this summer’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia.

They’re the product of organizational consistency, along with coherent messaging that ensures they’re ready as they can be for the Bronx.

Even if you’re a former seventh-round pick who was once too skinny and did not throw nearly hard enough to hear his name called the first day of the draft.

“The Yankees are really good at what they do. They’re a superstar organization, they develop players well and they’re a winning organization,” Schlittler, the American League’s leader with a 1.35 ERA, tells USA TODAY Sports. “They give you the pieces for your success. You gotta be able to do it on your own, as well: ‘Here’s what we can do for you. It’s up to you if you want to put in the work.’

“They’re not going to baby you. This is professional baseball. I took advantage of the resources I had, the coaches and teammates I had along the way and that’s why I’m in the position I’m in.”

Schlittler arrived from Northeastern University with several red flags: He had trouble putting on weight and adding velocity. His mechanics were a mess. And his pitch mix needed an entire makeover, all the way through the Yankees system.

Thanks to the infrastructure the Yankees had in place, there was an answer for it all.

The Guardians were victorious against Mike Trout last night. Some other Angels tried playing baseball, too.

Tim Herrin finally gave up a run. He now has an 0.68 ERA which (without any other details) is arguably more impressive than 0.00.

Around baseball

• MLB and MLBPA are currently holding CBA talks. My hot take for the past year is that few, if any, games will be missed in 2027.

• ATL placed Sean Murphy on the IL once again.

• The Dodgers traded a 17-year-old to Arizona for Alek Thomas. Notttt sure how I feel about the phrase “traded 17-year-old”—maybe there should be something limiting that?

• Bailey Ober pitched a CGSHO.

• The Tigers lost big to the …… Mets.

• Paul Skenes is good at the pitch.

• Yoshinobu Yamamoto is not as good at the pitch as Eric Haase is at the hit. Wait, what?

CBS Sports | Mike Axisa: The Yankees recalled Anthony Volpe on Tuesday, giving their erstwhile starting shortstop another opportunity to carve out a role in the big leagues. After struggling on both sides of the ball last year, Volpe underwent shoulder surgery this offseason and began the year on the IL. Once his rehab stint ended, the Yankees chose to keep him down at Triple-A. It was a remarkable fall from grace for the three-year starter, who won a Gold Glove as a rookie and only turned 25 two weeks ago.

Volpe took the roster spot of José Caballero, who excelled in his absence to earn the starting job at short before recently fracturing his right middle finger. “Small fracture. Tendons and ligaments all good,” said manager Aaron Boone of the injury, noting the Yankees are hopeful Caballero will miss the minimum 10 days. Boone also noted he expects Caballero to reclaim his starting job once healthy. Max Schuemann started at the six last night, though that was partially because he was arriving in Baltimore around first-pitch time.

The Athletic | Chris Kirschner: ($) After an 0-for-4 day Monday dropped his OPS to .604, the normally loquacious Jazz Chisholm Jr. had but one word for beat writers who approached his locker in the postgame: “No.” In his stead, the questions fell to his manager. “You sense guys feeling it when you’re a month-plus in, and you’re not doing what the back of your baseball card is,” said Boone. “It’s part of it. He’s probably feeling that a little bit, probably pressing a little too much, trying to do a little too much.”

Chisholm did have this to say yesterday after sleeping on it: “Everybody gets frustrated with their performance when they’re not doing well. Right now, I’m not swinging well, so I’m just working my butt off every day to get back.”

Entering a contract year, Chisholm called his shot, predicting a 50/50 season. Instead, he’s hit well below the back of his baseball card, swinging underneath the ball far more often while taking fewer hard hacks. He’s particularly struggled against his fellow lefties, potentially opening the door to a soft platoon if his struggles continue. With southpaw Trevor Rogers on the bump Tuesday, Amed Rosario drew the start at the keystone while Chisholm sat; Rosario went 1-for-3 with an infield single and an error before Chisholm flew out as a pinch-hitter for him in the eighth.

USA Today | Gabe Lacques: Ryan Weathers took a tough no decision on Monday, taking a no-hitter into the seventh before watching Brent Headrick blow a late lead. It was a continuation of rough luck for the left-hander, who experienced an illness beginning on May 2nd that caused him to miss a start and lose nine pounds. “It’s definitely been a couple weeks, for sure,” said Weathers, who also welcomed a newborn son with his wife Thayer on April 22nd. “But that doesn’t stop me from doing my job.” Despite an exemplary start to the season, Weathers is at risk of losing his spot in a crowded Yankees rotation once Gerrit Cole returns from the IL, potentially by the end of May.

CBS News | Adam Thompson: Closing out with a bit of housekeeping, today’s game in Baltimore will now start at 1:05 PM instead of the previously scheduled 6:35 PM. The Orioles made the decision in consultation with MLB due to concerns about inclement weather in the forecast for the evening. Tickets will still be accepted at the new time, or may be exchanged here.

Eric Haase is no kid, but he can definitely play.

In his sixth game with the San Francisco Giants, the veteran catcher hit two home runs off Yoshinobu Yamamato (3-3), the second happening one pitch after Harrison Bader took Yamamoto deep in the 5th inning. That put the Giants up 3-2 and they went on to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers for the fourth time in five games.

The Giants ruined Ice Cube Bobblehead Night at Dodger Stadium thanks to a strong start from Adrian Hauser (1-4), who got his first win of the season. Hauser had to check himself during a difficult first inning where the Dodgers loaded the bases with one out, but avoided wrecking himself when he escaped with one run after a sacrifice fly.

His only hiccup after that came when Shohei Ohtani jacked him for beats a leadoff home run with Cube sitting in the broadcast booth.

For Hauser, struggling through a difficult start of the season, giving up three hits and two runs in 5.2 innings certainly qualifies as a good day, and we hope someone gets him a Fatburger.

Yamamoto was mowing down the Giants to start the game, retiring eight straight and striking out four of them, before leaving a cutter to Haase out over the plate. He was greeted by a resounding chorus of boos from the crowd, which had likely only just reached their seats in the top of the third.

Yamamoto continued to pitch effectively to Giants not named Haase, until Bader hit a two-strike bomb to left and Haase followed with a home run eerily similar to his first blast. It was the first time the Giants have hit back-t0-back dingers in 2026.

You could argue that Dave Roberts left Yamamoto in too long, though he’d thrown only 84 pitches through six innings, and Haase was five batters away in the 7th. But Heliot Ramos doubled to left, then Willy Adames drilled a single that was hit too hard to score Ramos from second. Yamamoto then got Bryce Eldridge to line out on a play where only a leaping Hyeseong Kim prevented an RBI single.

Eldridge’s swing is like a Judd Apatow comedy: It’s too long, but it also leads to hits. In theory; he’s still hitting .118.

Roberts brought in Blake Treinen with one out, and he did not Make The Seventh Inning Great Again for the Dodgers. Drew Gilbert delivered a beautiful pinch-bunt on a safety squeeze that handcuffed Freddie Freeman and brought home Ramos.

Haase nearly added his third home run with a drive that went to the center field wall, but had to settle for being the fourth Giants catcher in history and the first since Bob Melvin to have a two-homer game against the Dodgers. He now has twice as many home runs in 2026 as Patrick Bailey.

Jung Hoo Lee gave the Giants two key insurance runs with another two-strike hit, driven to the same area of right-center where Lee would make a nice running catch in the bottom of the inning.

Reliever Sam Hentges got a big challenge in his second appearance of the season, entering to face Ohtani with two out and a man on first after a possibly-mythical hit-by-pitch on Andy Pages. Hentges struck him out, then got in trouble in the 8th when he sandwiched walks to Freeman and Will Smith around a Kyle Tucker double.

But Tony Vitello left Hentges in to sink or swim with Max Muncy at the plate as the tying run. He struck out the Dodgers third baseman, who was 0-for-4 on the night.

Caleb Killian retired Pages to end the threat and worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save. And in a big departure from Monday’s thrust-fest, the Giants outfielders opted for a much classier victory celebration after Tuesday’s win.

There’s no word yet on whether Ice Cube heard Duane Kuiper’s pre-game challenge and a promise to “pour a Blanton’s” on top of an Ice Cube, but please prepare yourselves for what may be the weirdest diss track of all time.

Ohtnai may have broken out of his slump, which is bad news for the Giants the rest of the series. He hadn’t homered in two weeks and put up a slash line of .111/.220/.139, before going 2-for-4 with a walk and scoring both Dodgers runs Tuesday night. Even Ohtani’s game-ending groundout necessitated a diving stop by Luis Arraez to retire him.

Robbie Ray will have to deal with Ohtani in the batter’s box tomorrow night and the rest of the Giants will have to deal with him on the mound. After that, Thursday is Star Wars Night. We can’t wait to hear what Kuiper has to say about Chewbacca.

BALTIMORE — For most of the early going, Smooth Jazz has been on mute for the Yankees.

But Jazz Chisholm Jr. said before Yankees’ 6-2 win over the Orioles Tuesday he is “working my butt off every day to get back” to the player he is capable of being, and the one the Yankees need him to be in order to be their best version.

“Everybody gets frustrated with their performance when they’re not doing well,” said Chisholm, who was out of the lineup Tuesday against Orioles lefty Trevor Rogers. “Right now, I’m not swinging well.”

After going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts Monday night — three of those at-bats coming with runners in scoring position — and 0-for-1 Tuesday night pinch hitting for Amed Rosario, Chisholm fell to batting just .200 with a .600 OPS this season.

He has looked like a shell of the hitter he was last season, when he hit 31 homers and stole 31 bases, leading him to proclaim a goal of 50-50 this season.

But in a crucial contract year, Chisholm has yet to live up to his own lofty expectations, though he insisted that his uncertain future is not getting in his head.

“No, not right now,” he said. “It’s still pretty early for that. But right now, all I want to do is help my team win. When you feel like you’re not doing that and you’re not helping, especially with the bat … it sucks.”

Aaron Boone suggested Monday that Chisholm might be pressing and trying to make things happen instead of letting the game come to him.

“There’s been stretches this year where it seems like he’s starting to get it going a little bit and then a little bit of a pullback,” Boone said. “He hasn’t fully broken out yet. And he will. It’s the hard part of this game as a hitter, even the good ones, you’re going to go through it in different stretches That’s where you got to be mentally tough and continue to stick to your process and make subtle adjustments and then walk out there with some swagger.”

Unlike some of the other struggling Yankees in the lineup — notably Trent Grisham, and to some extent Austin Wells — Chisholm does not have the underlying metrics to suggest he has been the victim of bad luck and should be better than his surface numbers indicate.

During his 30-30 season last year, Chisholm posted a 15 percent barrel rate, which ranked in the 91st percentile; this year, it is 6.0 percent, ranking in the 31st percentile.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

Last year, he had an expected wOBA (weighted on-base average) of .346, which ranked in the 78th percentile; this year, it is .262, which is in the fifth percentile.

And last year, his expected slugging percentage was .481, which ranked in the 83rd percentile; this year, it is .310, which ranks in the 11th percentile.

“Just focusing on trying to square the ball up to center field every time I get up there,” Chisholm said. “Swing at the right pitches, put it in play.”

Due to the threat of rain, Wednesday’s series finale has been moved up from 6:35 p.m. to 1:05 p.m.

For a brief moment Tuesday night, smiles and laughter returned to the Dodgers dugout.

Mired in a month-long slump and without a home run in his last 13 games, Shohei Ohtani finally rediscovered his swing, belting a solo blast in the bottom of the third inning that –– for both himself, and his struggling team –– offered a temporary sigh of relief.

As Ohtani returned to the dugout, he sheepishly grinned as teammates greeted him with an exaggerated celebration. Then, as he walked down the bench, he joked with starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto that he should have the ball retrieved, making a hand motion usually reserved for a player’s first career hit.

Good times.

They wouldn’t last.

Instead, the Dodgers once again faded late in an eventual 6-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants, suffering their fourth-straight defeat behind another quiet night from the offense and second-straight shaky performance from the pitching staff.

“When you don’t get a whole lot of opportunities and you don’t cash in on the couple that you do get, you don’t score a lot of runs,” manager Dave Roberts said. “We haven’t given ourselves as many opportunities as we’re used to … So that’s where it’s like, our margins, even on the offensive side, are just more finite.”

Indeed, since April 18, the Dodgers’ 9-14 record is fourth-worst in the majors.

Ohtani went 2-for-4 in the loss, snapping out of his recent 4-for-38 slump with not only the third-inning homer but also a first-inning single that led to the night’s opening run.

Alas, it wouldn’t be enough to get the Dodgers (24-18) out of their ongoing funk; not on a night Yamamoto allowed an MLB career-high three home runs in a 6 ⅓-inning, five-run clunker, and the rest of the Dodgers’ lineup combined for just two other knocks while stranding eight men on base.

The turning point came in the top of the fifth, when Yamamoto gave up back-to-back home runs to San Francisco’s Nos. 8 and 9 hitters Harrison Bader and (for the second time on the night) Eric Haase, turning a 2-1 Dodgers lead into a 3-2 deficit.

Then, the Giants (18-24) broke the game open in the seventh, scoring three times after Blake Treinen failed to escape a two-on, one-out jam he inherited from Yamamoto. The first scored one on a squeeze bunt Freddie Freeman couldn’t bare-hand while crashing from first base. Two more came around on a double from Jung Hoo Lee.

Just like that, the joy was gone again for the Dodgers –– who managed only one run from a bases-loaded opportunity in the first inning, after Will Smith was robbed of extra bases on a running catch in right from Lee; then left the bases loaded in the eighth, squandering their best chance at a late rally.

On another frustrating night, they suffered another dispiriting defeat.

“We just haven’t really capitalized on that much lately,” Tucker said. “So we just need to do a little bit better job at that, just kind of all the way around.”

What it means

The Dodgers’ recent slump first came into focus when they lost two of three in San Francisco last month.

This week, they were hoping to avenge that series, and get back on track against a Giants team that arrived in Los Angeles losers of nine of its last 12.

Instead, the Dodgers are now 1-4 against the Giants this season, and have scored a total of nine runs in the five games combined.

The offense remains the primary problem, with Tuesday marking the 10th time in the last 13 games the team has failed to score more than three times.

If that wasn’t bad enough, it was also their fourth-straight defeat by at least a four-run margin. The last time the Dodgers did that, according to Baseball Reference: 1936.

Who’s hot

At long last, Ohtani.

His first hit of the night might not have been exactly what he was looking for, a ground-ball single that snuck through the right side of the infield.

His next one sure was, though, as he not only snapped his two-week home run drought (and hit just his second in a snap of 109 plate appearances) but did so by going the other way with a towering drive –– using the “big part of the field,” as Roberts likes to say, in a way he has struggled to for most of this season.

“I thought tonight was a really good night (for him),” Roberts said. “He can hopefully take that momentum from tonight and then be building on that through Anaheim and San Diego.”

The reason Ohtani will have to wait until the team’s weekend road trip is because he will not be in the lineup the next two games.

Roberts came to that decision before the game, sensnig the slugger needed an offensive reset after enteing the night batting .200 over his previous 26 games.

Roberts said he didn’t want to change course just because the two-way star –– who will start on the mound as a pitcher Wednesday –– had one good night, either.

“I’ve talked about the workload and I’ve talked to him at length about it,” Roberts said. “It’s tough on days he pitches. I don’t think it’s fair to player just to assume, he threw out a couple knocks so he should be in there tomorrow. I don’t like playing that game.”

Who’s not

Four starts into the season, Yamamoto seemed to be picking up where he left off in last year’s postseason, posting a 2.10 ERA with a sub-1.00 WHIP.

Since then, however, the Japanese right-hander has hit an unexpected skid, culminating in Tuesday’s season-worst performance against the Giants.

Yamamoto not only suffered a season-high for runs allowed in the loss, but also suffered his fourth-straight outing giving up at least three.

As a result, his ERA has climbed to 3.60 on the year, and is at 5.18 over this recent stretch.

He has also now allowed eight home runs, already more than double the total he yielded in 30 starts last year. 

Up next

The Dodgers and Giants continue this four-game series on Wednesday night, when Ohtani (2-2, 0.97 ERA) will face Robbie Ray (3-4, 2.76 ERA).

In what felt like an eternity in today’s pitch-clock era, Dominic Canzone waited over a minute-and-a-half before being allowed to step to the plate in the fourth inning Tuesday.

Following J.P. Crawford’s four-pitch walk, the bases loaded were with nobody out, with a reeling pitcher on the mound struggling to find the strike zone. Astros pitching coach Josh Miller made a mound visit to starter Tatsuya Imai, likely to buy time for the bullpen to warm. Once the visit ended, a back-and-forth between Imai and home plate umpire Jim Wolf ensued, which appeared to be regarding Imai’s ability, or inability, to pitch from the stretch with the bases loaded. In the end, though, the delay didn’t matter.

The first pitch Canzone saw was a hanging cement-mixer of a slider, 87 mph and right over the heart of the plate. He didn’t miss it, launching the ball 105.5 mph off the bat into the right field seats for a grand slam—putting the projectiles that NASA controls from another part of town to shame. It was the first grand slam of Canzone’s career.

The grand slam broke the game wide open, giving the Mariners a 6-2 lead. They wouldn’t look back.

Up until the fateful pitch, Imai’s night had gone much better than his last matchup against the Mariners, which was also his most recent major league start—though that doesn’t say a whole lot. On April 10 at T-Mobile Park, he retired only one batter and walked four before being pulled after allowing three runs over only 37 pitches. He’d go on to spend the next month on the injured list with arm fatigue before being activated for his start today.

Prior to Canzone’s Spicy Meatball, the only damage allowed by Imai came on a two-run homer into the Crawford Boxes by Randy Arozarena. Speaking of which, Arozarena had an incredible night in his own right, going 4-for-4 and coming up a triple shy of the cycle. He also reached base to begin the rally in the fourth, being hit by a pitch immediately following a successful ABS challenge of a would-be strikeout.

Bryan Woo wasn’t quite as sharp as he’s shown he’s capable of, though the line he produced ended up being more than enough given the context. As Woo said postgame, “it wasn’t six-shutty, but it’ll do.”

Woo worked six innings and gave up two runs, the second of which came across after back-to-back walks of Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez to begin the third inning and tied the game at two. After receiving ample run support, though, he cruised, striking out nine hitters over a career-high 104 pitches. He featured his sinker and sweeper more heavily than his season average tonight, but still generated 14 whiffs, half of which came from the four-seam fastball.

In relief, Alex Hoppe worked two scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth, setting down all six hitters he faced in order. The Mariners were able to secure some much-needed rest for a bullpen that is missing several key arms like Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and José Ferrer.

Just when you thought the night couldn’t get much better for the Mariners, Cal Raleigh finally ended his 0-for-38 slump, lining a single to right-center in the seventh. His excitement was palpable.

Raleigh would tack on another single in the ninth inning for good measure, topping off 2-for-4 night in which he came across to score three times. He was also aboard via a walk in the second, and was driven in on Arozarena’s homer.

As a cherry on top, a low-leverage ninth inning allowed for right-hander Domingo González to make his major league debut while Ferrer remains on paternity leave. He got through the frame unscathed despite allowing two Astros to reach base, closing out an emphatic 10-2 win to spoil Care Bears Night. It’s the Mariners’ ninth-consecutive victory over the ‘Stros dating back to last September.

The M’s will be back at Daikin Park in Houston tomorrow night, looking to secure a series win in the third game of the four-game set.

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers are piling up bad losses, and this time the slumping offense had company. Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed three home runs for the first time in Major League Baseball in a 6-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers have lost four consecutive games, all of them by at least four runs, the latter matching the franchise record, last done in 1936 by Brooklyn.

Yamamoto struck out eight and walked none through six innings, to that point allowing only four hits. Three of them were solo home runs, all hit with two outs, including two by Giants catcher Eric Haase. It’s the first time in 67 MLB appearances, including 66 starts that Yamamoto allowed three home runs. He had only allowed two home runs in a start five times, none this year before Tuesday.

San Francisco with those three home runs rank 28th among 30 teams with 30 home runs this season.

But at only 84 pitches through six innings, Yamamoto started the seventh. He was immediately greeted with a double by Heliot Ramos and a single by Willy Adames. One out later, Yamamoto left with those two runners on, in favor of Blake Treinen.

Drew Gilbert popped up a bunt that landed and wasn’t fielded cleanly by charging first baseman Freddie Freeman for one run, then Andy Pages made a leaping catch at the center field wall, eerily close to a third home run for Haase. Then Jung Hoo Lee doubled home two, adding the type of insurance runs the Dodgers can only dream of lately.

Failure to launch

Things looked promising in the first inning, loading the bases on two hits and a hit batter with one out.

Will Smith smashed a drive to the right field wall near the bullpen, and just like Max Muncy on Sunday was robbed by a fantastic catch. This time, Lee did the honors, which prevented multiple runs from scoring but at least Shohei Ohtani scored on the sacrifice fly.

“We do need to get better. We are not performing up to expectations,” manager Dave Roberts said of the offense before the game. “The work’s been consistent, the expectation for it to turn is important, too.

It was only one run, but it was at least something, including just the second time the Dodgers scored in the first inning in their last 13 games. And it marked the first time Los Angeles scored first in their last seven home games.

But they didn’t much else against Giants starter Adrian Houser, who entered Tuesday 121st in ERA (6.19) and 118th in xERA (5.53) among 132 major league pitchers with at least 30 innings. Opponents against Houser this season were hitting .298/.348/.543 entering Tuesday, but the Dodgers managed only two runs and three hits off him in 5 2/3 innings.

One positive is two of those three hits were by Ohtani, including a home run hit to left center field, his first long ball since April 26, with 52 plate appearances in between.

Before Tuesday’s game, Roberts said he planned to not start Ohtani at designated hitter in Thursday’s series finale, and after the game said Ohtani would also not hit on Wednesday as well in a game he’s pitching, after hitting .200/.321/.300 with a 76 wRC+ over his previous 23 games.

“Fatigue is bleeding into the mechanics,” Roberts said. “Most players get that toward the end of the summer. Now I’m learning with Shohei, it’s probably showing itself a little earlier, as far as the tax on pitching and all that comes with it, to the hitting, too.”

Baseball hinges on the battle between batter and pitcher, and Ohtani as a two-way player is involved in more of those interactions than any other player in the sport. He’s faced 145 batters as a pitcher this season and has now batted 185 times. That’s 330 total plate appearances for Ohtani, 36.3 percent more than the next-most, Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara at 242 batters faced.

The Dodgers loaded the bases with one out again in the eighth inning, but Muncy struck out looking against southpaw Sam Hentges, followed by Pages flying out to left against right-hander Caleb Kilian. No runs cashed in.

The Dodgers offense has been held to three or fewer runs 10 times in their last 13 games, including each of their last five. Most of that stretch has come with pretty good pitching, but that hasn’t been the case during this current four-game losing streak, giving up seven, seven, nine, and six runs.

“It’s just unfortunate when you’re not putting up crooked numbers,” Roberts said. “It’s just hard when the margin is thin, and right now it’s been thin. It’s hard for the bullpen to be perfect, it really is.”

Tuesday particulars

Home runs: Shohei Ohtani (7); Erik Haase 2 (2), Harrison Bader (2)

WP — Adrian Houser (1-4): 5 2/3 IP, 3 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts

LP — Yoshinobu Yamamoto (3-3): 6 1/3 IP, 6 hits, 5 runs, 8 strikeouts

Sv — Caleb Kilian (2): 1 1/3 IP, 1 strikeout

Up next

Shohei Ohtani will take the mound for his seventh pitching start of the season on Wednesday (7:10 p.m.; SportsNet LA, MLB Network), but he won’t hit. Left-hander Robbie Ray starts for San Francisco.

After a 3-3 six-game road trip, the Athletics return home tonight to take on the National League Central’s St. Louis Cardinals. Jeffrey Springs will take them mound tonight for the A’s against Andre Pallante for St. Louis.

The Cardinals teed off against Springs starting with the lead-off batter. Four hits and a walk later the Cardinals put a four-spot on the scoreboard in the first. It took Springs 32 pitches to get out of the inning. In the bottom of the second, Darrel Hernaiz singled, and after fouling a pitch off his ankle Jeff McNeil singled also. Nick Kurtz made it three in a row and his came with an RBI. Shea Langeliers drove in both McNeil and Kurtz with a double to the wall.  At the end of two, the A’s trailed the Cards 4-3.

Springs settled down after that first inning and finished five keeping the Cards off the board the rest of the way. His final line was 5.0 innings, seven hits, four earned runs with three walks and five strikeouts. Joel Kuhnel entered in the sixth and promptly gave up a 2-run homer to JJ Wetherholt, giving the Cards a 6-3 lead. Brooks Kriske entered the game and got the final out of the inning. He pitched a 1-2-3 seventh and after getting an out in the eighth, left the game with an injury. Scott Barlow entered the game to replace Kriske.

Shea Langeliers opened the eighth inning with a monster homer, the 100^th of his career to tighten the score to 6-4.

Mark Leiter Jr. came in to pitch the ninth. He set the Cards down in order giving the A’s a shot in the ninth to tie or take this game. Lawrence Butler led off with a 4-pitch walk. Jonah Heim pinch hit and ground into a double play. McNeil ground out to the pitcher to end the game. Disappointing and a bit surprising that today’s big league call up Henry Bolte didn’t see any action. Let’s see if he makes it into tomorrow’s starting lineup.

The St. Louis Cardinals offense was great out of the starting gate early grabbing a quick 4-0 lead and Andre Pallante’s start was just good enough Tuesday night in Sacramento as the Cardinals offense gave them a 6-4 victory.

The Athletics starter Jeffrey Springs threw 26 pitches before recording an out in the first inning as the St. Louis Cardinals got to him early. It started with a JJ Wetherholt walk followed by a single from Ivan Herrera who executed a hit-and-run to perfection giving the Cardinals a first and third scoring threat from the get-go. Jordan Walker followed that with a smart single to left-center giving the Cardinals a fast 1-0 lead.

The Cardinals weren’t done in the first. After Alec Burleson struck out and Winn popped out, Jose Fermin came through with a clutch two-out double to center scoring Walker and Herrera giving St. Louis a 3-0 lead. Yohel Pozo followed his clutch RBI’s with one of his own with a single to score Fermin making it a 4-0 Cardinals score.

Andre Pallante would allow the Athletics back into the game in the bottom of the 2nd inning allowing a two-out rally that was extended by a challenge at first base that went the Athletics way on a single by Hernaiz. McNeil followed that with a single and then Nick Kurtz ripped a hard single up the middle to left-center scoring Hernaiz cutting into the Cardinals lead 4-1. Langeliers came through with a two-out double scoring both McNeil and Kurtz shaving the St. Louis lead to just 1 at 4-3.

The Cardinals extended their lead in the 6th inning when Nolan Gorman singled to right and then JJ Wetherholt did JJ Wetherholt things by jolting a no-doubt home run over the right field wall for his 8th home run of the season making it 6-3 Cardinals! Wetherholt added a single later going 2-4 for the night.

Andre Pallante’s final stat line was a respectable 5 innings giving up 4 hits and 3 earned runs with 4 strikeouts and 3 walks. He was relieved by Ryne Stanek who came in to pitch the bottom of the 6th inning. He walked one, but kept the Athletics scoreless which was the goal. JoJo Romero pitched the bottom of the 7th inning and had no problems with even Nick Kurtz getting the Athletics 1-2-3. George Soriano was the Cardinals 8th inning hall monitor. Unfortunately, he served up a gargantuan 448 foot blast to Nick Langeliers who hit a ball onto the roof of the visitor’s clubhouse in Sacramento cutting the Cardinals lead to 6-4. Even Soriano outs were hard hit as Victor Scott II made a fine play on a deep fly by Soderstrom. Rooker popped out to right and then Cortez ripped a double down the right field line to bring the tying run up to the plate in the form of Zack Gelof who flyed out to deep left center limiting the damage to just 1 Athletic run.

Riley O’Brien was tasked with taking care of the Athletics in the bottom of the 9th inning and trying to not replicate the final game of the San Diego series when he gave up a two-out, two-strike game tying home run. Riley walked the first batter on four pitches bringing the tying run up to the plate. He threw his first strike on his 6th pitch. Fortunately, the 8th pitch was a ground ball to JJ Wetherholt that he and Masyn Winn turned into a double play. Riley O’Brien then locked down the Athletics by retiring Jeff McNeil to give the Cardinals a 6-4 victory.

The St. Louis Cardinals California vacation continues Wednesday night as Matthew Liberatore will start the game for St. Louis. J.T. Ginn will take the mound for the Athletics. First pitch at Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park is scheduled for 8:40pm central time and the game will be televised on Cardinals.tv.