Category: MLB

Trent Grisham cleared the bases with a double that put the Yankees in front to stay during a six-run explosion in the sixth inning.

Brendan Beck, called up a few hours prior, pitched around some loud contact and took down three innings in which he let up two runs in a successful major league debut.

The Yankees staff, which used six pitchers to stitch together nine innings during a game from which Ryan Weathers was scratched, did its job in a contest that became a 16th win in 19 tries.

A gorgeous and sunny afternoon filled with positive steps around the club was clouded by the step that ended with Jasson Domínguez face down in the dirt, concerns abounding about the mind and body of one of the organization’s most popular players.

A 9-2 Yankees victory over the Rangers in front of 42,729 in The Bronx on Thursday sure felt a lot smaller after the first batter of the game sent Domínguez first to the wall and later to the hospital.

“He’s just such a good kid,” manager Aaron Boone said of Domínguez, who is headed to the injured list with a low-grade AC sprain of his left shoulder and who is in the concussion protocol. “There’s a joy he kind of walks to every day, no matter what’s going on. He’s very consistent in who he is. They love him in [the clubhouse].”

On Paul Blackburn’s eighth pitch to Brandon Nimmo, the former Met smacked a shot that forced Domínguez to scramble back. He did not slow as he leapt, smashed into the left field wall and then smashed into the dirt, his hat and sunglasses tumbling off and the ball secure in his glove.

Domínguez was down for several minutes after completing one of the better and gutsier plays a player can make. He was able to get up on his own but had to take only a couple of steps to reach the cart. He was emotional upon being driven off the field, with multiple reasons for concern.

In the moments after the game, the Yankees were set to call up Spencer Jones for the top prospect’s much-hyped major league debut and were cautiously optimistic Domínguez had avoided the worst.

Jasson Domínguez had to be carted off the field after crashing into the left field wall.

Read more: https://t.co/VJmL7cHaFEpic.twitter.com/WMlR2IyTnS

— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) May 7, 2026

Initial concussion testing came back negative, but the Yankees — who have a history of concussion issues, from Clint Frazier to Anthony Rizzo — will continue monitoring the 23-year-old. After an examination by head team physician Christopher Ahmad, Domínguez traveled to NewYork-Presbyterian, where his left shoulder received a diagnosis that Boone said came with a “few weeks” timetable.

This season already had tested Domínguez, who did not complain when he did not make the major league roster out of camp — a near impossibility once the club brought back Grisham and Cody Bellinger — and reported to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he took out any frustration on opposing pitchers.

“We’ve talked a lot recently about just how well he’s handled his situation here over the last four or five months,” Boone said of Domínguez, who went to the minors, performed, and then was called up to replace Giancarlo Stanton in late April. “And I think another layer as well as being a really good guy and a good teammate, and just — what’s that shirt he wears — ‘Be a good person.’ He kind of embodies that the way he goes about it every day, no matter what’s going on.”

In Domínguez’s third game, he exited after getting drilled in the left elbow. In his ninth game, the concern level escalated — for player and team, whose immediate reactions provided a hint at what Domínguez means to the Yankees.

Bellinger ran over from right field and Grisham from center. So did Jazz Chisholm Jr., all the way from second base, and Amed Rosario from third. They huddled together on the spen track in left, near Boone and several trainers who were checking on Domínguez. Both dugouts were filled with players and coaches on the top step peering over at a player who has transitioned from a mega-prospect to a smiley and talented athlete trying to prove himself at the highest level.

“A tremendous catch,” Bellinger said, “and an unfortunate situation for him.”

“Great, great play,” added the day’s starting shortstop, Max Schuemann. “Sucks to see him go down like that. … We’ll see. Hopefully he’s OK.”

Nothing about the Yankees’ terrific start to May has been guaranteed. The Bombers have routinely had to scratch and claw to stay ahead in ballgames—dodging poor fortune and injury scares to emerge out the other side with a hard-earned win. Today’s getaway day game against Texas was no different.

Scheduled starter Ryan Weathers was out sick, so opener Paul Blackburn and MLB newcomer Brendan Beck stepped up to hold the Rangers close. When Jasson Domínguez had to leave the game after crashing into the wall on the first play of the game, the Bombers picked him up with an immediate run. And when the snakebitten Trent Grisham got an opportunity to flip the contest on his head, he provided the go-ahead three-run double, sparking a six-run sixth inning that carried the Yankees to an 9-2 triumph. New York’s 26th win of the season marked their sixth-consecutive series victory—and their second over Texas in as many weeks.

Domínguez was only able to contribute for one play this afternoon, and while it was an important play, it was also a painful one. He raced to the track to haul in a fly ball from leadoff hitter Brandon Nimmo, and collided hard into the fence in front of the auxiliary scoreboard. He crashed to the ground, directly slamming the wall with his left shoulder and the side of his head—and struggled to get back up. The full training staff rushed to check on him, and ultimately brought out the medical cart to take him off the field. The team later announced that he was in concussion protocol and that his shoulder needed tests.

In the aftermath of that collision, Cody Bellinger moved to left, Amed Rosario shifted from third base to right field, and Ryan McMahon came off the bench to play third base. Paul Blackburn had some command issues after the lengthy injury delay, but stranded two Rangers without surrendering a run.

The Yankees came out ready to hit—and apparently to torture Joc Pederson specifically. The veteran hadn’t played the outfield in the Majors since 2023, and it showed when a fly ball from Paul Goldschmidt on MacKenzie Gore’s first pitch caromed away from him and led to a triple. After third baseman Josh Jung lunged to snag a hotshot from Aaron Judge and save a run, Cody Bellinger figured hitting the ball to right was a better strategy. His sinking liner dropped in front of a diving Pederson and bounced past him, reaching the wall. Bellinger motored to third for a second triple and a 1-0 Yankee lead.

Blackburn departed after the first inning in favor of 27-year-old Brendan Beck, making his MLB debut. Beck retired the first two batters he faced on five pitches, then struck out Justin Foscue for his first K in the show after a two-out walk.

But the ghost of the 2021 Joey Gallo trade continued to haunt. Ezequel Duran victimized the Yankees yet again in the top of the third with a home run to left field—his fifth hit of the series in just his eighth at-bat to tie the game at 1.

Overall, Beck acquitted himself fairly well in his maiden voyage toeing the slab in the Boogie Down. He had some issues with walks, but was able to pitch around the first two, completing three full innings before his third and final walk to the leadoff hitter of the fifth inning spelled the end of his afternoon.

That runner came around to score on a fielder’s choice by—who else—Duran. It would have been a base hit were it not for a beautiful diving play by Jazz Chisholm Jr., who spun to second to record a forceout. Tim Hill retired the next two batters to prevent the Rangers from building on their 2-1 lead.

The Ranger defense continued to engage in misadventures behind Gore. An infield pop dropped for the often-unlucky Trent Grisham in the fifth—though Gore was able to pitch around it to retire the side. Then in the sixth, another popup got lost in the sun, this time to the benefit of Rosario. Combined with a pair of walks to Bellinger and McMahon, that loaded the bases for Trent with one man out.

We all know the Big Sleep’s been hitting into some hard luck so far this season, so when he got some fortune on that popup, it felt like a sign the tide was turning. It only took one more inning for Grisham to make good, lashing a ball into the left-center gap to clear the bases, send Gore to the showers, and vault the Bombers back into the lead.

Two batters later, J.C. Escarra brought Grisham all the way around on a cheeky check-swing knock to left, extending the lead to 5-2. Then the top of the lineup came out to play against Texas’ bullpen, with RBI singles from Judge and Bellinger to put the finishing touches on a six-run sixth.

Credit where it’s due to Aaron Boone: placing Grisham seventh in the lineup really worked out. Having a hitter of Trent’s caliber—comfortable in clutch situations and rarely giving strikes away—was key to the Yanks grabbing a crooked number.

Grisham’s stellar day wasn’t done. With two outs in the seventh, he smacked his third hit of the game, stole second base, and raced home on an RBI double by Max Schuemann—the utilityman’s first hit and RBI in pinstripes. I’ve deservedly given top billing to Grisham this afternoon, but Bellinger was not about to be outdone, hitting a single in the eighth inning to reach base for the fourth time on the day—with three hits and a walk. He also scored on McMahon’s second hit. McMahon, of course, is also continuing to turn it around at the plate.

The Yankees finished with 14 hits on the afternoon. Everybody in the starting lineup—when you substitute RyMac for Domínguez—picked up a knock, and six grabbed an RBI. That’s what made this win so enjoyable, even with Jasson’s hard fall. Camilo Doval got the final three outs to finish the ballgame.

The Bombers are off on a happy flight to Milwaukee to take on the Brewers for three games. The series opener will feature a can’t-miss pitching matchup between Max Fried and young phenom Jacob Misiorowski. First pitch slides in at 7:40 PM ET on YES.

The Texas Rangers scored twice but the New York Yankees scored nine runs.

No team in the American League is very good right now except for the team the Rangers have played like six times in the last two weeks, which happens to be the team they played today. The Rangers won two of those games and they were both games started by Nathan Eovaldi.

Eovaldi couldn’t pitch today because he pitched last night. Therefore, the Rangers lost.

Why did that happen? Well, maybe manager Skip Schumaker will have some interesting quotes about some of his decisions after this one.

He is, after all, the guy who decided to start habitual designated hitter Joc Pederson in the outfield for the first time in eons only to see that go about as well as you’d expect and also made the choice to leave left-handed starter MacKenzie Gore in a game holding onto a tenuous 2-1 lead despite nearing 100 pitches, loading the bases, and having already walked two left-handed batters in what would devolve into the fateful six-run sixth inning that buried the Rangers.

However, my advice is to not wait for Skip’s insight on this one and to instead never think about today’s game again for the rest of your life.

Player of the Game: Ezequiel Duran has replaced Josh Jung as being the player mentioned here every game. Today Duran homered, walked twice, and drove in both of Texas’ runs which at one point seemed like it would be enough to win until the Yankees remembered they’re actually the only good team in the league.

Up Next: No rest for the wicked as the Rangers fly home and immediately begin a series with the Cubs, a squad that is a half game out from having the best record in the other league. RHP Kumar Rocker is expected to pitch for Texas against a pitcher to be determined for the National League’s Chicago squad.

The first pitch in the Friday evening series opener from The Shed is scheduled for 7:05 pm CDT and you can catch it on the Rangers Sports Network.

The Yankees defeated the Texas Rangers 9-2 on Thursday afternoon in the Bronx.

New York has won six series in a row. 

Here are some takeaways..

- The Yankees suffered a big blow just a handful of pitches into this one, as Jasson Dominguez had to be carted off the field after colliding hard with the left-field fence to rob Brandon Nimmo of extra-bases in the first. Dominguez was down for several moments, and was visibly emotional as he left the field. 

The youngster is in concussion protocol, and undergoing an MRI on his shoulder. 

- New York worked out of a two out jam following the pause in the action, then opened an early lead, as Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger laced triples to make to make it a 1-0 game. That marked the first time the Yankees have tripled twice in one inning since April 2015 (Carlos Beltran and Chase Headley).

- With Ryan Weathers scratched due to an illness, the Yanks were forced to go to a bullpen game. Paul Blackburn threw just one inning as planned, before turning things over to Brendan Beck in his MLB debut. The 27-year-old right-hander actually looked pretty comfortable, allowing just two runs on two hits and three walks over three innings of work. 

- MacKenzie Gore held the Bombers in check after the first, until they broke through again with six runs in the bottom of the fifth. The big blow was a Trent Grisham base-clearing double with the bases loaded, but J.C. Escarra, Aaron Judge, and Bellinger added RBI singles to make it a five-run ballgame. 

- Grisham would strike again an inning later, as he lined a two-out single for his third hit of the day, then proceeded to steal second and score the Yankees' eighth run of the afternoon on Max Schuemann's RBI double. Grisham scored twice, drove in three, stole a base, and had three hits in a much-needed big day. 

- Ryan McMahon enjoyed himself a nice day at the plate as well, reaching four times with a double, RBI single, and a pair of walks after coming off the bench to play the hot corner following the Dominguez injury. McMahon is now hitting .304 with seven RBI and a .833 OPS over his last 15 games. 

- Bellinger was also on-base four times with three hits and a walk, and Goldschmidt three (two hits, one walk). 

- Jose Caballero got into the game in the later innings, taking an at-bat and playing shortstop. The infielder was out of the lineup because his elbow was still a bit swollen after being HBP on Wednesday night, but Aaron Boone expected that he'd still be available off the bench. 

- Tim Hill (1.2), Brent Headrick (1.1), and Jake Bird (1.0) combined to all just two walks and two hits while striking out two batters across three innings of work in relief of Beck. Camilo Doval put runners on the corners with one out in the ninth, but did well to keep Texas off the board. 

- The Yanks improved to 26-12, putting them 1.5 games ahead of the Rays in the AL East. 

Game MVP: Trent Grisham

Grisham has had a bit of a tough time at the plate thus far this season, but he drove in three and scored a pair of runs as part of a three-hit day.

Highlights

Jasson Dominguez is emotional as he’s carted off the field 💔 pic.twitter.com/qWKioNxY7V

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 7, 2026

Cody Bellinger gives the Yankees an early lead! pic.twitter.com/VbxT05AzT8

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 7, 2026

Trent Grisham clears the bases! pic.twitter.com/jEOGsTSzXq

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 7, 2026

JC Escarra adds on another! It’s a four-run 6th for the Yankees! pic.twitter.com/pUL8nFWmh6

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 7, 2026

Aaron Judge makes it 6-2! pic.twitter.com/oLBtab4dlL

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 7, 2026

Cody Bellinger drives in the Yankees’ 6th run of the 6th inning! pic.twitter.com/IdkhON01CL

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 7, 2026

Max Schuemann with an RBI double! pic.twitter.com/FO6DkUVK7I

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 7, 2026

What's next

The Yanks head to Milwaukee to start a season with the Brewers at 7:40 p.m. on Friday. 

Max Fried (4-1, 2.39 ERA) faces Jacob Misiorowski (2-2, 2.84 ERA) in a battle of two of baseball's best. 

Fresh off his promotion from Double-A to Triple-A at the end of April, Mets prospect A.J. Ewing has seen a big jump in the rankings from No. 83 back in January up to No. 37 in Baseball America's most recent Top 100 prospects list released on May 6. 

As the 21-year-old's rise through the system continues, he's working on sticking to the basics and taking things day-by-day.

"I think it's impossible not to find out about that and see that stuff," Ewing told NJ.com's Max Goodman on an episode of Speaking of the Mets. "At the end of the day, no matter where you're at, you just got to show up and play the same game that you've been playing all these years."

Ewing, who is SNY's No. 3 Mets prospect, tore the cover off of the ball in Binghamton, hitting .349 over 18 games in 2026, and hasn't missed a beat so far in Syracuse. The former fourth-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft is currently hitting .393 through eight games at the Triple-A level and said his self confidence has helped him continue to play well.

"Just staying with myself and just having confidence that what I'm doing in the box is going to work and that I'm capable," Ewing said. "Always believing in yourself. I think that confidence in the box and confidence in the field just goes a lot more of a way than people might think."

One of the traits that makes Ewing an enticing prospect is his ability to steal bases with ease. Last season over 124 minor league games across three levels, Ewing stole a total of 70 bases and was thrown out just 11 times. He's already swiped 16 bases in 2026 over 24 games and explained why he enjoys using his speed to his advantage. 

"I love it, I think that there's a lot of value in that," Ewing said. "And I think it sets the team up to get more runs and sets us up for a lot of success."

When asked what Mets fans who don't know about his game should, Ewing highlighted his impressive plate discipline (only three strikeouts in 28 Triple-A at-bats).

"I spray the ball to all fields," Ewing said. "I think I'm a tough out. I think I grind at-bats really well and I see a lot of pitches and I make pitchers work hard."

For his minor league career, he's logged 149 games in CF, 20 in LF, 19 in RF, and 53 at second base, showing the ability to play all over the diamond. Now in Triple-A and just a step away from the majors, Ewing is focused on continuing to improve on his defense, including both the outfield and at second base.

"A lot of it is the defense," Ewing said. "Just like, be lockdown in the outfield and make sure that I can play second base as an option. I've been doing a lot of work with our guys here on trying to refine those skills and stay pretty stable in the infield. Get better at the things that I'm good at in the box, make a lot of contact and hit a lot of line drives."

The Cincinnati Reds entered play against the Chicago Cubs on Thursday afternoon in Wrigley Field mired in an ugly 6-game losing streak. Said streak featured a Saturday game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in which they walked seven consecutive batters en route to a 17-7 loss, and the first three games of the series against the Cubs all had ended in walk-off losses.

They’d lost closer Emilio Pagan to a hamstring injury that could cost him two months. They chose to move lefty starter Brandon Williamson to the 60-day IL with what was originally considered just ‘shoulder fatigue,’ meaning he’ll be out until almost July.

Still, things found a way to somehow still get worse on Thursday, as starter Rhett Lowder – the same guy who was on the mound for many of those seven straight walks in Pittsburgh in his previous start – exited in the Bottom of the 4th with a trainer after walking back to back batters to start a second straight inning.

MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon relayed the news.

It was later confirmed that Lowder was dealing with a right shoulder issue.

Yes, the Reds are going to get Nick Lodolo back tomorrow for the first time all year, but this is the kind of thing that’s going to seriously test their pitching depth. Chase Petty, thank heck, looked much improved from his dismal 2025 debut when getting what then seemed like a spot-start in the series opener against the Cubs, and we now get to wonder if he’ll be brought right back to the big leagues to help fill in for Lowder, should he need an extended absence.

Keep in mind that Williamson hitting the shelf is apparently at least partially related to the injuries he dealt with last season, as coming back full-steam after missing an entire year put too much stress on his shoulder. Lowder, too, basically missed all of 2025 with forearm and oblique issues, and it’s enough to wonder if pushing him back to full-go from the start in 2026 might have taxed something too much, too quickly.

We’ll find out soon. For now, the Reds get to find a way to claw themselves back into it after one of the worst weeks in recent memory.

The A’s made a roster move on Thursday morning before their series finale against the Phillies. The team has activated starting catcher Shea Langeliers from the paternity list and designating backup Austin Wynns for assignment to make room for his return:

The return of Langeliers should provide the A’s with a critical bat back in the lineup. The team only managed to score four runs in the two games he missed due to the birth of his first child and will be glad to welcome him back into the starting nine. He’s been one of the best hitters in the Athletics’ lineup and all of baseball so far as he’s slashing .336/.390/.627 with 10 long balls and an MLB-leading 45 hits.

As for Wynns, this may mark the end of his time with the organization. Originally acquired last summer in a minor trade with the Cincinnati Reds, Wynns provided the A’s with a veteran back stop for the past calendar year. He never really hit well in his brief playing time but he was especially helpless in the batter’s box this year, going 3-for-43 with zero home runs or RBI’s. That was evidently just too poor of a performance with the stick to keep him around.

Wynns is signed to a guaranteed $1.1 million deal for this year so any team that claims him would take on that contract for the rest of the year. If he goes unclaimed Wynns, a longtime veteran, can reject an assignment to Triple-A and hit free agency without giving up his guaranteed money. The A’s are likely stuck paying him the rest of that deal. The A’s would love to keep him in the system as depth but Wynns will likely find another opportunity somewhere else. Plenty of teams around the league would value a veteran catcher with his defense.

This means that the newly-acquired Jonah Heim is the new official backup to Langeliers. Acquired for cash just days ago, Heim provides more upside than Wynns. He’s younger, a former All-Star, Gold Glover and World Series winner that bats from both sides of the plate. It’s a full circle moment for the former Athletics prospect, who was sent to Texas in exchange for Elvis Andrus years ago. He went 0-for-4 in his Athletics debut last night but the team clearly believes that Heim is the better option backup to Langeliers at this moment in time.

The rubber game of the series, with the D-backs again seeking to get back to .500. That would be a good platform on which to build, because the rest of the month’s schedule is pretty favorable for Arizona. Indeed, right now, this will be the last game in May where we play a team who doesn’t have a losing record. We play twenty-two straight games against opponents below .500: seven against Colorado, six versus San Francisco, and series against the Mets, Rangers and Mariners. The best record among that lot are Seattle, who are currently 18-20. We definitely need to take advantage, and build a cushion above .500.

Good to see the starting pitching have a couple of good outings in this series, after a couple of wretched turns around the rotation. We’ll see if Zac Gallen can keep things going. His outing in Wrigley Field was very poor, and I wonder if – indeed, I’m hoping – it might have been a reaction to the getting drilled by a comebacker which ended his previous appearance. I’d prefer normal service to be resumed. Gallen’s ERA jumped from 3.14 to 4.45 as a result of that outing, while his FIP hardly budged (3.59 to 3.63). I’d like to see some regression going the other way for once, Zac’s ERA coming down towards the FIP.

If the D-backs can hold the Pirates to zero or one runs again today, that’ll be quite the achievement. From what I can see, the last time Arizona conceded two or fewer runs over a three-game series was September 2017. They went to Los Angeles and swept the Dodgers by a margin of 19-2, winning games 13-0, 3-1 (in ten innings) and 3-1. That came at the end of a franchise-record 13-game winning streak, over which the team’s ERA was 1.91. When you only typically need to score two or three runs a game to win, that’ll help. Be nice if the Diamondbacks were to go onto a similar streak now, and as noted above, the schedule may not give them a better chance in 2026.

It hasn’t been an easy ride for Mets left-hander Sean Manaea this season.

The starter-turned-reliever this year owns a 6.85 ERA in 22.1 innings pitched across eight appearances. But it doesn’t end there. While he has struck out 24 batters, Manaea still has a .312 batting average against and a 1.75 WHIP. Both would be career worsts.

His latest poor outing came on Wednesday against the Colorado Rockies when he was unable to close it out in the ninth inning with New York up 10-4, allowing a run on three hits and a hit batter before getting pulled with the bases loaded and only recording one out.

It was Manaea’s shortest appearance of the season and came on the heels of a disastrous 2.2 innings against the Washington Nationals where he allowed six earned runs on seven hits, two walks and another hit batter. In fact, over his last three relief outings, Manaea has hit a batter in each one.

Manager Carlos Mendoza was asked about Manaea’s struggles after Wednesday’s game and admitted it hasn’t come easy for the former ace who just two seasons ago enjoyed a renaissance with the Mets in his first year in Queens.

“It’s been a tough stretch for Sean,” Mendoza said. “We understand that. He’s too good of a pitcher and he’s very important for us. We have to continue to support him, we have to continue to work with him, especially in moments like this."

The topic of Manaea came up again between Mendoza and the media on Thursday before the series finale with the question revolving around what the process looks like for the Mets to reach the southpaw’s full potential.

“A combination of a lot of things,” the skipper said. “Pitching coaches are really digging in here, watching film, talking to Sean, getting some feedback from him. We need him. That’s the bottom line. This is a guy that’s important for us and it’s our job as the coaching staff to get him back on track.”

In 2024, during Manaea’s career-year and New York’s unbelievable run to the NLCS, the left-hander went 12-6 and had a 3.47 ERA (1.08 WHIP) in 32 starts while unveiling a new side-arm delivery, similar to Chris Sale, that took him to new heights.

That offseason the Mets rewarded Manaea, a free agent after he opted out of the second year of his two-year deal, with a three-year, $75 million contract to be the team’s ace for the foreseeable future.

However, that deal hasn’t exactly worked out with Manaea pitching to a 5.64 ERA in 15 games (12 starts) in 2025 after beginning the season on the IL with a right oblique strain. 

Fully healthy during spring training this season, Manaea made three starts and although he had a 3.72 ERA (0.93 WHIP), he didn’t crack New York’s starting rotation because of concerns over his dip in fastball velocity.

Mendoza spoke to Manaea’s velocity which has not re-appeared thus far.

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” he said. “We got a lot of people working really hard behind the scenes and [Manaea’s] doing a lot of different drills in between outings, whether it’s mechanics or the way he’s moving around the mound. But like I said, we gotta keep going with him.”

The Dodgers and Braves had a nice little October tradition going recently, having met in three playoff series in a four-year span. But the last four seasons they haven’t been able to recreate the matchup. This year, Atlanta owns the best record in baseball heading into this weekend’s matchup at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers beat the Braves in the 2018 National League Division Series en route to winning a pennant. Then the two teams faced off in consecutive National League Championship Series in 2020-21, with Los Angeles overcoming a 3-1 deficit on their way to a title in the first of those years, and Atlanta getting hot at the right time to win their own title in 2021.

Both teams were excellent in the regular season the next two years as well, with the Dodgers winning 111 games and the Braves 101 in 2022. The next year the Braves won 104 and the Dodgers won 100. In both years they were the top two seeds in the National League playoffs, and in both years they lost the NLDS to a division rival, stunningly so.

The Dodgers overcame those October demons by winning the World Series in each of the last two years, the first repeat champion in the sport in a quarter-century. Atlanta made the playoffs as a wild card in 2024 before a terrible start torpedoed their 2025 campaign, finishing at 76-86, their first losing record in eight years.

This year the Braves found their way again, leading the majors in runs scored (5.61 per game) and leading the NL in home runs (55). Atlanta is third in MLB in fewest runs allowed (3.53). The Dodgers are not far behind in offensive categories, despite their recent woes, and pitching his been the strong suit for Los Angeles. Both teams are close in many stats, at or near the top in several categories.

Dodgers vs. Braves pitching matchups

• Friday, 7:10 p.m.: Emmet Sheehan vs. Chris Sale
• Saturday, 6:10 p.m.: Roki Sasaki vs. Spencer Strider
• Sunday, 1:10 p.m.: Justin Wrobleski vs. Bryce Elder

Pittsburgh Pirates, vs. Arizona Diamondbacks, May 7, 2026, 3:40 p.m. ET

Location: Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ

Broadcast: 93.7 KDKA The Fan, Sportsnet

Pitching Matchup: Mitch Keller (3-1, 2.85 ERA) vs. Zac Gallen (1-2, 4.45 ERA)

The Pirates continue their road trip, traveling out west to face the Diamondbacks in a three-game series at Chase Field in Phoenix.

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As Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Tucker have struggled at the plate, the Los Angeles Dodgers have discovered a new steadying force.

A youth movement.

Andy Pages, the 25-year-old centerfielder, hit three home runs and helped power the Dodgers past the Houston Astros 12-2 on Wednesday, May 6. This season, he has eight home runs, second most on the team, and leads the team in batting average at .336.

Dalton Rushing, the 25-year-old backup catcher, went 2-for-5 in the victory over the Astros. He is third on the team in home runs with seven and his slugging percentage is a robust .724.

Hyeseong Kim, the 27-year-old backup shortstop, also went 2-for-5 in the same game against the Astros. Known as "The Comet'' for his speed, Kim is tied for second in steals on the Dodgers with five and he's batting .314.

In other words, as the trio's contributions are no aberration as the 31-year-old Ohtani and the 29-year-old Tucker look for their old form. And the added youth is undeniable, considering seven of the team's regular starters in a healthy lineup are on average 32 ½ years old.

And so Pages, Rushing and Kim have helped keep the Dodgers atop the NL West.

Pages on fire: Dodgers' Andy Pages continues insane season, has first 3-homer game of MLB career

The Diamond Heels come into this weekend having played a fair bit less baseball in the last couple of weeks than they usually have going into a weekend series. After their series win over Duke two weekends ago, they played their worst game of the season against Coastal Carolina, then cancelled a game against Queens College ostensibly due to weather (Queens’ RPI being in the 200’s probably didn’t motivate the coaching staff to try and work around it). They played an exam-weekend nonconference game against Duke that was over in 7 innings, and then had another midweek matchup cancelled, this one against Winthrop (Winthrop has an RPI near 100 and is in contention to win the Big South — this time, weather doesn’t feel like a convenient excuse to protect the team’s postseason positioning).

Rest versus rust is an open question in a lot of sports, but I tend to feel like baseball, as a sport that relies on a lot of unnatural motions and movements, falls generally on the rust side. Pitchers’ arms need to be working on consistent schedules to minimize injury risk from deviations to mechanical routine, hitters need to see pitches to keep their eyes sharp. Technology, including UNC’s Trajekt machine, is allowing players to come closer and closer to replicating game situations, but it’s still not going to be quite the same. So it’s going to take some work for the coaching staff to have their team game-ready for a Pittsburgh team that has been up and down of late but presents plenty of danger.

Pitt looked like they might be making a late push to be solidly in the Field of 64 after a 23-1 win against West Virginia followed by a sweep of Virginia two weeks ago, but find themselves back on a crowded bubble after losing four straight since then. There’s no shame in being swept by Florida State in Tallahassee, to be fair, but losing a midweek 13-5 against Kent State is not a fantastic look. With the regular season winding down, this series will probably be the Panthers’ best opportunity to renew that push to keep playing baseball through the end of May. With a sweep of Virginia, a series win over Louisville, and a competitive series against Georgia Tech under their belts, this definitely isn’t a team to take lightly, even though their conference record of 10-14 isn’t incredibly inspiring.

Everything for Pitt starts with star right fielder Lorenzo Carrier, who’s having an All-American caliber season. His OPS of 1.360 ranks 2nd in the country, and a look at his stats show a player who doesn’t really have holes at the plate: he’s walked more than he’s struck out, he’s hitting for both average (.378 BA) and power (31 extra base hits including 18 home runs), and while he’s maybe not a dynamic speed threat, he does have 6 steals on the season. He’s been somewhat cold lately; in his last four conference series he’s gone 3/10 (against Cal), 2/10 (VT), 8/13 (UVA, an obvious exception), and 2/11 (FSU). Those two hits against FSU were both home runs, though, so clearly he’s still a danger to change the game in any given at-bat, and his 10 walks over those 12 games show that his approach is as good as ever. Shortstop Caden Dulin is also having an excellent season with a .363/.443/.626 slash line and 12 home runs, while stalwart catcher Sebastian Pisacreta has taken a step up this year with 13 long balls and an RBI total of 43 that ties Dulin for second on the team.

They lead an offense that’s put up gaudy numbers this season — 18th in the country with a .310 batting average, 6th with a 1.000 team OPS, 8th with 92 home runs, 1st in walks with 322, and 11th with 411 runs scored. It’s not Georgia Tech’s lineup where 1-9 are threats to leave the yard — most of the slugging is taken care of by the top 4-5 guys — but they’re all tough outs who grind at-bats and make pitchers work. They’ve made some headlines this year for how well the entire team works in 2-strike counts, and it’s just become their identity that they’ll make pitchers throw enough that eventually they’ll find a mistake and punish it.

With offensive numbers like that, it might be a little surprising that this team hasn’t done better in conference. Part of it is a brutal schedule thanks to the unbalanced nature of conference play, but they also haven’t really had reliable pitching. Their team ERA of 5.90 ranks 6th-worst in the ACC, opponents hitting .277 against them is 5th-worst, and they have fewer strikeouts than anybody else in the conference. They have also allowed the fewest walks, so that’s something, but it almost seems like they could stand to throw a few more pitches out of the zone rather than allowing teams to get good swings off.

Pitt has been shaking up the rotation recently because they haven’t really gotten consistency from any of their starters. Antonio Doganiero has been the Game 1 guy lately, and his numbers have been solid with a 3.89 ERA and a 42:18 K-BB mark in 44 innings. Even so, he hasn’t really been able to last as long in games as a Friday night guy should — until his game against Florida State where he went 5.1 (and gave up 8 runs with 4 unearned), he’d only gotten out of the 5th inning in starts against Kent State and Youngstown State. Drew Lafferty has been the other consistent starter, sometimes going on Saturdays and sometimes on Sundays, and the drop from Doganiero to him is fairly steep. Batters hit a whopping .317 off Lafferty, and while he gives them appropriate length for a Sunday starter, he simply has been too easy for hitters to square up, and that’s led to an elevated ERA at 5.51. David Leslie and Vincent Spizzoucco are the other guys who have started a lot of games for Pitt, and they both have ERAs north of 7. The Panthers rely on a lot of guys out of the pen — every pitcher who has made at least an appearance for them has made at least 8, and that’s a total of 15 arms. That tells me that their relievers don’t tend to last very long, with the exception of Freddy Beruvides, who’s been a pretty reliable if not shutdown closer. Freshman Brandon Reiter hasn’t thrown a lot this season, but his numbers have also been very good.

The last time I wrote a preview of a UNC opponent with a dangerous lineup and a weak pitching staff, it was Virginia, who proceeded to embarrass the Diamond Heels for two games straight before the Heels put up a fight to dodge getting swept. This UNC team is very good, but especially against a team that fills the zone to the point of their own detriment, they’re liable to get quiet at the plate, and this Pitt staff, for any of its shortcomings, is not going to bail them out with a ton of walks — the Heels are going to have to swing the bat and hit a lot of baseballs to win this series, the last regular season action that Boshamer Stadium will see this year.

Hitting Leaders

• Batting Average: CF Owen Hull, .379 (t-4th ACC)
• On-Base Percentage: Hull, .491 (4th ACC)
• Slugging Percentage: 3B Cooper Nicholson, .601
• Home Runs: Nicholson, 11
• Runs Batted In: Hull, 56 (t-7th ACC)
• Walks: C/DH Macon Winslow, 41 (5th ACC)
• Runs: 2B Gavin Gallaher, 57 (6th ACC)
• Stolen Bases: SS Jake Schaffner, 22 (6th ACC)

Pitching Leaders

• Earned Run Average: Jason DeCaro, 2.07 (1st ACC*)
• Strikeouts: Walker McDuffie, 65
• Innings Pitched: Ryan Lynch, 63.2 (7th ACC)
• Wins: DeCaro, 8 (4th ACC)
• Saves: McDuffie, 4 (1st ACC)
• Batting Average Against: McDuffie, .181 (1st ACC)

* Notably, UNC also has the #2 and #4 pitchers in the ACC by ERA — Caden Glauber ranks 2nd at 2.09 and McDuffie is in 4th at 2.40.

The Cincinnati Reds look to salvage a game from this brutal series against the Chicago Cubs on Thursday afternoon in a vintage Wrigley Field matinee.

Rhett Lowder starts for the Reds opposite Cubs lefty Shota Imanaga, and the Reds have tweaked their lineup according. Elly De La Cruz also gets his first start at DH today, so Matt McLain will slide over and man shortstop duties for the day (with Sal Stewart at 2B).

Lineups for both clubs listed below.

Go Reds!

The Colorado Rockies are one a bit of a skid, having lost six games in a row dating back to their series in Cincinnati. After a brief break for some snow, the Rockies now find themselves on the verge of being swept at home by the New York Mets for their seventh consecutive loss. The very same New York Mets the Rockies swept in Queens just over a week ago.

The left-handed José Quintana will be making the start for the Rockies. Quintana is coming off one of his best starts of the season against the Atlanta Braves. He pitched six innings while giving up just one earned run on a solo home run with three strikeouts. Quintana would unfortunately see the Rockies bullpen give up the lead he left the game with in an eventual loss.

On the mound for the visiting Metropolitans is Christian Scott. The 26-year-old righty made his debut in 2024 with a 4.56 ERA over nine starts. Unfortunately, he missed the entirety of the 2025 season needing Tommy John surgery with internal bracing.

Now healthy, Scott started the season with the Triple-A Syracuse Mets but has been called upon twice to start for the big league squad. His first outing of the season ended after just 1.1 innings when he walked five of the ten batters he faced, as well as hitting a batter and balking. Scott’s second start went much better. He struck out eight batters without any walks and gave up three runs—two earned—on three hits.

Scott has faced the Rockies once before, where he gave three earned runs on seven hits—two of which were home runs—in 4.1 innings. This season he is working with a five pitch arsenal: a mid-90s four-seam fastball, a cutter, a sweeper, a sinker, and a split finger.

First Pitch: 1:10 PM MDT

TV: Rockies TV

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

Mets SB Nation site:Amazin’ Avenue

Lineups:

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