Category: MLB

It was Opening Day for the baseball Athletics as they enter their second season playing in West Sacramento, a temporary stay after relocating from Oakland as they await their presumed move to a state of the art ballpark in Las Vegas.

To begin what will be the 126th season for A's, the green and gold bunch opened the season on the road. The Athletics take on the Toronto Blue Jays in a season-opening three-game weekend series at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada. They dropped the first game, 3-2, despite two home runs from Shea Langeliers. The Blue Jays won the game on a walk-off single by shortstop Andres Gimenez. The next game is Saturday, March 28 at 3:07 p.m. ET (12:07 p.m. PT).

Last year was kind of weird. It was the first time in 57 years that the Athletics didn't play in the Bay. The last game in Oakland was Sept. 26, 2024.

Athletics owner John Fisher wanted new facilities, fans said "sell the team" and Fisher relocated them to Vegas. Until his fancy new ballpark is ready, they moved eastward to Sacramento.

The Dodgers had an idea about the grandiose nature of their 2025 World Series rings.

“It is substantial,” manager Dave Roberts joked Friday afternoon.

“I heard the ring is pretty over the top,” added now-retired pitcher Clayton Kershaw a little while later.

Indeed, when the club unveiled the jewelry for Friday night’s pregame ring ceremony at Dodger Stadium, there was nary a detail that went unnoticed.

For their third World Series ring in the last six years, no gem was spared.

On the face of the ring, the words “WORLD CHAMPIONS” are spelled out by 86 diamonds and 14-karat gold, while the team’s signature “LA” logo is formed by 17 blue sapphires –– representing the 17 games the team played during last year’s postseason.

The background of the display is filled with 79 more diamonds and 48 round sapphires. Another 50 diamonds glitter around the bezel, while 15 additional round sapphires are embedded along the edge of the piece between the dates of all nine years the Dodgers have won the World Series. If that wasn’t enough, 70 more round diamonds were included to frame the centerpiece.

The bling doesn’t end there.

On one side of the ring, each player’s name is etched above a row of 15 sapphires. On the other, the words “Back 2 Back” highlight another collection of 33 diamonds.

Like last year, the top of the ring is also removable, with home plate dirt from Game 7 of the Fall Classic included in a glass window display.

And lastly, the exterior band shows the number 4,012,470 for the total fan attendance the Dodgers had at home games in 2025.

If you lost count, that’s more than 250 diamonds and nearly 100 sapphires.

Substantial, over the top, yet deservedly decadent indeed.

The Dodgers’ ring ceremony was equally extravagant, with actor Anthony Anderson announcing each player from an infield stage while the USC marching band performed in the outfield. 

There were raucous ovations for everyone from World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto to Game 3 extra-inning hero Will Klein, from Game 7 savior Miguel Rojas to Game 3’s walk-off winner Freddie Freeman, and from two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani to left-handed reliever Alex Vesia (who missed the World Series following the death of his newborn baby, and tapped his chest sentimentally on Friday as he was serenaded walking onto the field).

The last player to receive his ring was Kershaw, who emerged from the dugout following the ceremony to throw out a surprise first pitch.

Freeman went behind the plate to catch his throw (a perfect strike). Then, the rest of the Dodgers joined them to hand Kershaw his third and final World Series keepsake.

Kershaw put it on, held his fist high for the crowd to see, then received a thunderous reception; closing the book on his playing career, and the Dodgers’ 2025 victory.

SAN FRANCISCO — When the Yankees traded for Camilo Doval from the Giants last year, they expected the closer to transition into a setup role as part of a deep, new-look bullpen that also added David Bednar. 

Instead, Doval was mostly a train wreck early in his Yankee tenure and clearly had a hard time getting accustomed to not finishing games. 

He improved toward the end of the regular season, but with Devin Williams and Luke Weaver now with the Mets, the Yankees were again planning for Doval to be a primary setup reliever with Bednar closing, as he did Friday. 

Perhaps it’s the return to Oracle Park, but Doval has been effective in his first two outings of this season — particularly in Friday’s 3-0 win over the Giants. 

He struck out the side in order in the bottom of the eighth in a one-hit shutout that was closed out by Bednar. 

Aaron Boone called the outing — and Doval’s sinker — “dominant.” 

“That’s what he’s capable of,’’ the manager said. “He kind of overmatched them.” 

Doval entered with a three-run lead Friday and whiffed Heliot Ramos, Casey Schmitt and Patrick Bailey — hardly Murderer’s Row, but something he failed to do often last season, when he had a hard time adjusting to non-save situations. 

He managed to finish the regular season on a strong run. Doval pitched five scoreless innings in his final six appearances after a horrid start to his Yankees tenure (10 earned runs in 13 ²/₃ innings in his first 16 games with the team). 

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

Doval said through an interpreter Friday he’s become “comfortable” in his new environment and role. 

“I felt really good,’’ the right-hander added of Friday’s outing. 

Doval saved 39 games for San Francisco in 2023, but looked far from that version for much of the second half of the season. 

Now, Doval will be one of the relievers Boone turns to before getting into high-leverage settings. 

Doval followed Fernando Cruz and lefty Tim Hill, as the duo pitched 1 ²/₃ scoreless innings in relief of the outstanding Cam Schlittler. 

With plenty of question marks in this year’s bullpen, as the team still has Jake Bird and Rule 5 acquisition Cade Winquest among their right-handers, Doval will look to be more of a setup man if all goes according to plan. 

There’s always the chance that young phenom Carlos Lagrange, who the Yankees want to keep as a starter for as much of the season as possible, could be brought up to The Bronx as a reliever if he logs too many innings in the minors. 

For now, though, the Yankees hope they get the Doval they thought they were acquiring from San Francisco last season.

All the World Series memories and emotions came flooding back for the Los Angeles Dodgers and their fans on March 27 at Dodger Stadium.

The remaining members of the 2025 team were individually called from the dugout and onto the stage to receive their rings before the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Shortstop Mookie Betts received his fourth career World Series ring, the most of any active player.

“It's super special and this day never gets old,” Betts told Spectrum SportsNet in the moments after receiving his ring. “It shows the accomplishments we made and hope we can do it again.”

Pitcher Clayton Kershaw retired after the World Series, but was also in attendance at the stadium for a second straight night to follow up his broadcasting debut on NBC.

Kershaw was not initially announced among his former teammates, but received a thunderous ovation nonetheless.

Dodgers legend Orel Hershiser was headed to the mound to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before manager Dave Roberts got on the microphone to announce a pitching change, calling on Kershaw from the dugout.

Kershaw stood on the familiar hill to throw the ball to Freddie Freeman before the pitcher was handed his ring and embraced by his teammates, who made their way back out of the dugout.

SCARY THOUGHT FOR MLB: Dynastic Dodgers might have their best team yet

SAN FRANCISCO — Aaron Judge hasn’t needed any help at the plate, having won three of the past four AL MVP awards with some of the most productive seasons in history. 

But for years, he’s been the victim of more than his fair share of called strikes that have appeared to be below the zone. 

So the automated ball-strike system figured to be especially valuable for him. 

On Friday, Judge used it for the first time and — not surprisingly — it resulted in a home run. 

The key hit in a 3-0 win over the Giants at Oracle Park, the homer was set up after Judge got ahead of lefty Robbie Ray 1-0 in his third at-bat, and Ray followed with a slider that was called a strike by home plate umpire Chad Fairchild. 

With Paul Goldschmidt on second in a scoreless game in the top of the sixth, Judge challenged the call and it proved to be a fraction of an inch low. 

He eventually worked the count full before slamming a 405-foot homer to left to give the Yankees the lead. 

“I thought the call was gonna stand,” Judge said. “It was a close one.” 

But he believed the challenge was worth it, with a runner in scoring position in a tie game and Ray — along with Cam Schlittler — rolling. 

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

“I’m not gonna sit here and challenge every one I think is close, but in a big spot, if I’ve got a chance to flip the count, I’m gonna do it,’’ Judge said. “I’ve still got to go up there and do the job as a hitter. All it takes is one pitch — like we saw in that at-bat.” 

Cody Bellinger knows better than most how often pitches below Judge’s knees have been called strikes, at least since last season. 

“He’s so tall, sometimes he gets rung up on that,” Bellinger said. “I see it since I hit behind him all the time. [ABS] is gonna be good for him. He knows the [strike] zone really well.” 

As Judge noted, though, simply winning the challenge was no guarantee of success in the at-bat. 

But it didn’t hurt. 

Still getting accustomed to the ABS system, Judge called it “weird” to use it for the first time in a regular-season game. 

“It’s a part of the game and you’ve got to get used to it,’’ said Judge, who went hitless and struck out four times in the opener and was 0-for-2 with another strikeout in his first two at-bats Friday. “I’m a hitter. I’ve got to focus on hitting.” 

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

It worked well Friday, as Judge got the fourth hit of his career against Ray, all of which have been home runs. 

And it was Judge’s fourth homer in five career games in San Francisco — against the team he grew up rooting for in nearby Linden, Calif. 

This one, of course, was different and showed how much more dangerous he may become. 

“We can use it as a weapon, but you’ve still got to play the game,’’ Judge said. “To have a challenge in your back pocket is nice in certain situations, [like] high-leverage. We’ll see how it goes.”

The Colorado Rockies opened the 2026 season in Miami with a lineup that looked nothing like the one that started 2025 — between debuts and new additions, this felt less like a continuation and more like a reset.  

Kyle Karros made his first Opening Day start, following in the footsteps of his father Eric, who made nine in his career.  

TJ Rumfield made his MLB debut, becoming the first rookie to start Opening Day for Colorado since Trevor Story in 2016. 

Jake McCarthy and Edouard Julien also made their first Opening Day starts for the Rockies, underscoring just how much this roster has turned over. 

Even Warren Schaeffer was managing in his first Opening Day game. 

The result? A competitive game that ultimately slipped away, 2–1, with just a hint of familiar frustration on offense. 

Freeland battles, bullpen delivers 

Kyle Freeland took the loss, falling to 1–3 with a 7.01 ERA in five Opening Day starts — a number skewed to an extent by one rough outing.

This wasn’t ace-level dominance, but it was veteran pitching. 

Freeland bent, but didn’t break. He worked through traffic, issued a couple of walks, and gutted his way through 4.1 innings, allowing two earned runs while keeping the game within reach. 

He handed the game off with a chance. 

And from there, the bullpen was awesome. 

Jimmy Herget, Brennan Bernardino (making his Rockies debut), and Juan Mejia combined for 3.2 scoreless innings—no walks, two strikeouts, and a key escape in the eighth. Mejia stranded a runner at third with a full-count strikeout on a back-up slider that froze Caissie. 

Alcantara in control 

Sandy Alcantara was everything you expect from an ace. 

His fastball touched the upper 90’s, his secondaries had sharp depth, and he worked efficiently — seven innings, four hits, one unearned run, five strikeouts. For long stretches, the Rockies looked eager against him, pressing early before settling in late. 

But they never fully solved him. 

Manufacturing one, missing more 

Colorado’s lone run came in the fourth — and it came the hard way. 

The inning started with Jake McCarthy dropping a drag bunt and using his speed to create some chaos and reach first base. McCarthy then stole second base, but his aggressiveness backfired as he was cut down at home after a Hunter Goodman single.

Willi Castro beat out a double-play ball. Tovar followed with a topped ball that forced a tough play. Rumfield showed discipline with a four-pitch walk in his second MLB plate appearance.  Beck added an infield hit driving in Castro.

It was a textbook manufactured run. It was also the only one. 

The inning that got away 

The Rockies had their best chance in the eighth, and couldn’t cash in. 

Hunter Goodman, who led the team with two hits, put together a strong at-bat against Anthony Bender, fighting off multiple sweepers before lining a two-out single to left. Karros moved to third, and suddenly Colorado had runners on the corners. 

Willi Castro stepped in. 

An ABS challenge flipped a ball to a strike. Castro worked the count full as Bender struggled to land his off-speed. 

Then Bender went back to the sweeper. 

Castro chased one down and in — out of the zone — for strike three. 

Threat neutralized. 

Bullpen escape keeps it close 

Miami immediately applied pressure in the bottom half. 

Connor Norby led off with a double, and after a groundout moved him to third, the infield came in. Mejia induced a pop-up in foul territory for the second out, then delivered the biggest pitch of the night: 

Full count. Two outs. Runner on third. 

A back-up slider that froze Owen Caissie. 

Inning over. 

Last chance, same result 

The Rockies had one more shot in the ninth. 

Facing Peter Fairbanks, they couldn’t break through. Tovar struck out chasing, Beck popped out, and after TJ Rumfield collected his first MLB hit — a broken-bat blooper into shallow right-center — Brenton Doyle lined out to shortstop to end it. 

Ballgame. 

Final thoughts 

The Rockies lose their opener, 2–1. 

There were some familiar frustrations — the inability to sustain innings and cash in with runners in scoring position had a bit of a 2025 feel. 

But it’s too early to spiral there. The hitters were overly aggresive in swing decisions early, but settled in a bit as the excitement of Opening Day dissipated. Colorado struck out nine times — an improvement from Opening Day 2025, when they struck out 12 in another one-run loss in Florida. 

This team looked more athletic. More versatile. More aggressive. The bullpen was excellent. Freeland kept them in it. 

They were competitive. Gutty. A game within reach all night. 

Sandy Alcantara was simply better — and the Rockies couldn’t quite capitalize. 

Up next 

The Rockies will look to even the series tomorrow at 2:10 p.m. MDT. 

Michael Lorenzen is scheduled to start for Colorado, with Miami countering with Eury Pérez. 

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LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers got their 2025 championship rings on Friday night before their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.

Anthony Anderson emceed the event, introducing players as they got their rings. Before the festivities, Anderson said, “Mookie Betts is now on the verge of having an infinity gauntlet,” referencing Betts’ four career championship rings, more than any other active player in Major League Baseball.

Players and coaches were tight-lipped about the rings before the ceremony.

“I heard rumblings, it’s sort of layered. I guess I could kind of tease it with that,” said manager Dave Roberts, who admitted he keeps his rings in a safe and doesn’t wear them. “It’s substantial, I’ve heard that.”

“I’ve seen a picture of it, but pictures don’t really do anything justice until you actually see it in person, and you get that kind of wow factor to it,” third baseman Max Muncy told Kirsten Watson of SportsNet LA in the dugout earlier Friday.

In person, here are the rings, with photos by The Champions Collective.

Here’s the description of the rings, from a press release:

The ring top is a statement of victory. Embellished around the face in 14K yellow gold, the title WORLD CHAMPIONS is written in a spectacular array of stones: 32 diamonds for WORLD and 54 for CHAMPIONS. At the heart of the design, a singular, immaculate diamond symbolizes the Dodgers’ spot as the No. 1 team in baseball. The iconic LA logo hosts 17 custom-cut blue sapphires, representing the 17 hard-fought games of their postseason journey. Behind the logo is a backdrop of 79 diamonds with 48 round sapphires surrounding the display. The Dodgers’ nine championship dates and 15 sparkling round sapphires encircle the ring top, while an additional 50 diamonds decorate the top and bottom of the bezel. Completing the ring top, a total of 70 round diamonds frame the centerpiece. 

The story of the Dodgers’ season continues with a brilliant reveal located beneath the ring top: a glass window, etched with the Dodgers’ logo, protecting genuine dirt gathered from home plate during Game 7 of the World Series. Below this feature, a bespoke band wraps around two World Series trophies — each set with a gleaming diamond — and a championship banner commemorating the franchise’s back-to-back achievements. The band itself boasts a stunning array of sapphires and a prominent princess-cut diamond, finished with an interior engraving of the dual Commissioner’s Trophies and the player’s unique signature.

The left side of the ring honors the individual with the city he represents. LOS ANGELES is proudly displayed above the player’s last name, with a striking row of 15 round sapphires underneath. Each player’s jersey number is meticulously set in diamonds. The classic MLB logo completes the left side of the ring.

The right side celebrates the franchise’s historic year. DODGERS is declared above the year 2025, which is adorned with 33 round diamonds. The BACK 2 BACK title is boldly displayed between two Commissioner’s Trophies and the Dodgers’ script logo in blue.

A stunning array of diamonds cascades from the ring top down the edges, creating a continued brilliance that wraps around the entire piece.

The interior of the ring also features the player’s signature and is etched with the playoff series scores, opponents and the date of Game 7 — the date the Dodgers clinched their World Series title. Finally, the exterior band features the number 4,012,470 as a permanent tribute to the millions of fans who filled Dodger Stadium throughout the season and fueled the team’s second consecutive journey to the top.

The ceremony itself had a few highlights, including thunderous roars for the various superstars, plus Miguel Rojas and Kiké Hernández. Will Klein got a very nice ovation for his Game 3 heroics, and Alex Vesia received a wonderful and emotional response from the crowd when he got his ring.

The ceremony ended without Clayton Kershaw getting introduced. But he wasn’tbusy off doing his special assistant duties. Rather the Dodgers executed a ruse by announcing Orel Hershiser would throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Joe Davis from the announcing booth called down to Hershiser, saying he needed to get back to the press box to call the game for SportsNet LA. Roberts then “called to the bullpen” for Kershaw, who got his own loud ovation before throwing the first pitch. Then, his teammates all came onto the field to give him his ring.

“I’m just really excited,” the now-retired Kershaw said about the ring ceremony earlier Friday. “I know they gotta move on to this season, but I don’t have to. So I’m just gonna keep relishing it.”

One game won’t exorcise all the demons of yesteryear, but the Atlanta Braves made a huge first step in turning things around on Opening Day, dominating the Kansas City Royals to the tune of a 6-0, wire-to-wire victory. Chris Sale was uncharacteristically shaky in the early going, but the bats (three dingers!) and gloves (lots of flash!) showed up in full force — sprinkle in a little luck, and you have a recipe for a feel-good Friday night.

Things even looked auspicious early. After a Maikel Garcia single started the game, Sale pumped in a get-me-over fastball to Bobby Witt Jr., and was “rewarded” with a hard-hit but routine double play ball to Mauricio Dubon at shortstop. Though Royals ace Cole Ragans and his defense got two outs on two grounders in three pitches, Ozzie Albies jumped all over a 2-1 floating changeup and yoinked it into the left-field corner for the Braves’ first homer, and run, of the season. It was a cheapie, coming off the bat at less than 97 mph and traveling less than 370 feet, but we’re exorcising demons here. Ragans probably didn’t intend to float a 2-1 changeup, and he looked shaky afterwards. Matt Olson yanked a pitch way below the zone for a hard single, and then Ragans walked Austin Riley on four pitches. Unfortunately, Eli White had a weak bounceout to end the rally.

Sale’s second inning was a mess, but it cleaned itself up. A hard single, a hit-by-pitch, a strikeout, and a four-pitch walk loaded the bases and brought up Isaac Collins. Sale got ahead with a slider, and then threw a fastball that ended up considerably lower than where it was likely called for… but Collins didn’t do anything with the pitch and instead bounced it right to Dubon for another bacon-saving double play.

Ragans bounced back, striking out the side (but also walking Jonah Heim) in the bottom of the inning. Sale continued to wobble in the third — two walks and two strikeouts, but was bailed out by White’s diving catch of a liner to left that would’ve tied the game.

And then the Braves more or less took over the proceedings. Drake Baldwin swung at and barely tipped what would’ve been fall four from Ragans to start the bottom of the third, but then got a misplaced fastball that he sweetly hoisted over the brick wall in right. Ragans is actually a bizarre reverse splits guy (are they real? If so, Ragans would be a paragon of the cause), but had been taken deep by lefties all of three times in his entire career, and none since September 2024… at least until Drake Baldwin had his say in the matter. Albies followed by lacing another floating changeup for a single up the middle. The Braves kind of took the wind out of their own sails a bit by having Albies try to steal with Olson at the plate — not only did Olson take a strike when Albies was thrown out, but then he struck out on the next pitch. Riley followed with a bloop single, and White struck out.

By the fourth, we were done with Shaky Sale and had progressed back to the expected, Smooth Sale(ing). He threw a 1-2-3 frame, with two groundouts and a strikeout. After Heim drew another walk off Ragans, it was Michael Harris II’s turn to go off, as he took a hanging first-pitch slider and bashed it for a two-run homer. So, just to be clear: Cole Ragans pre-facing the Braves tonight — three career homers yielded to lefties; Cole Ragans tonight — two homers yielded to lefties. Go figure. At this point, while it wasn’t inconceivable that the Royals could rally, the game started to feel like a fait accompli. Sale ended up with just one more baserunner (a Witt leadoff single) as he completed six frames. The defense continued to help him out — Olson, Ronald Acuña Jr., and Riley all made nice defensive plays to keep the outs tally growing.

Ragans departed after four in favor of Bailey Falter, who was fine for two innings before the Braves got him in his third frame of work. At one point, there was a near-surreal sequence where Acuña struck out looking and challenged the call, with it being confirmed by the slimmest of margins, only for Baldwin to follow and get thrown out trying to beat out a slow roller by a similarly-microscopic sliver. But, in the seventh, a combination of what were essentially bloops by Olson, Riley, and Dubon scored two more runs. The first two bloops were donut holes, but Dubon’s was basically a routine fly ball that just so happened to split the defense in right center, capping the scoring at 6-0.

The Braves’ bullpen had no adventures. Dylan Lee had a nine-pitch inning with three outs in the air. Robert Suarez had a couple of bloop hits go against him in his Braves debut, but collected a strikeout and got a groundout to escape. Tyler Kinley wrapped the game up while looking somewhat unrecognizable, peppering the zone with breaking pitches in a way that baffled the Royals and exhausted their remaining outs.

Overall, it was hard to ask for an easier, more relaxing win — after Sale settled down, anyway. Good enough pitching, some flashed leather, and, oh yeah, homers. We don’t yet know if that’s how the Braves will do it in 2026, but it’s what they did tonight, and it was great.

Walt Weiss got his first win as Atlanta’s skipper. Sale’s line was only okay in the end (6/3 K/BB ratio, and a hit by pitch), but he improved as the game went on and no one’s gonna complain given the game itself. The Atlanta side of the box score generally looked pretty sweet, with Albies and Olson each collecting two hits, and Riley having a perfect 3-for-3 night with a walk, though two of his three hits were bloops and the third was an infield hit not cleanly handled by the defense. The only guy that didn’t have a good time, on paper, was Acuña, who struck out three times, and had a couple of weak balls in play otherwise. Ah, well, he can have the spotlight another day.

Ragans had his worst start by FIP ever and his worst start by xFIP since August 2024, as he managed just a 5/4 K/BB ratio and gave up three bombs. Falter saved the Kansas City relief corps with three innings and a 4/0 K/BB ratio, though he did suffer bloop damage in the seventh.

The series continues tomorrow with a Reynaldo Lopez-Michael Wacha matchup, as the Braves will try to add some old priest/young priest action on top of tonight’s soul-cleansing win.

The day we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived. A’s Opening Day baseball is under way for 2026. Granted, it’s not opening day at “our” our ballpark, we’ll have to wait another week for that celebration, but it is the start of the most promising season in recent memory. Let’s hope that watching the Blue Jays hoist the American League Pennant will serve as even more motivation for this young and uber-talented team to take their play to the next level.

Luis Severino got the start for the A’s today. The 32-year-old righty hopes to improve upon a rough first season in the kelly-green and gold where he went 8-11 with a 4.45 ERA in 162 innings. He matched up against Kevin Gausman, who finished the year with a 10-11 record over thirty-two starts for the Jays, logging a 3.99 ERA with 189 strikeouts.

Both pitchers were rock solid through the first three innings. Severino, only allowing one baserunner, a walk to Vlad Jr. Gausman was perfect through three innings with six strikeouts. But the A’s broke through against Gausman when Shea Langeliers launched the first homer of the season over the left field wall for a 1-0 lead.

Severino worked his way into a bit of a jam in the bottom of the fourth walking Nathan Lukes and giving up a single to Guerrero. But two ground balls; one a double play and the other a 6-3 ground out got him quickly out of the inning. His luck ran out in the bottom of the fifth when a bad miscommunication between Clarke and Soderstrom allowed a gapper to score two runs and bring Gimenez to third with just one out. Seve worked his way out of the jam but hit the bench trailing 2-1 for the first time this game. That was all for Severino, who finished his day with 5.0 innings, three hits, two earned runs, three walks and three strikeouts. Scott Barlow made his A’s debut in the bottom of the sixth with a quick 1-2-3 inning.

Gausman was finished after six, replaced by Louis Varland. Langeliers greeted him with a base hit and Soderstrom walked with no outs. But Varland buckled down and escaped without allowing a run. Barlow got the first two outs in the bottom of the seventh then gave way to Hogan Harris. He walked one but escaped unharmed. Harris came out again for the eighth and tossed another quick inning for the A’s.

The Blue Jays closer, Jeff Hoffman entered to shut down the A’s in the ninth. He got Kurtz on an ABS challenged strike three. But Shea Langeliers ripped his second homer of the game to straight away centerfield to tie the game.

With one out Soderstrom swung at strike three, but the ball got away from Alejandro Kirk and Soderstrom beat the throw to first. Unfortunately, Hoffman struck out the side, and we went to the bottom of the ninth tied at 2-2.

Justin Sterner entered the game to pitch the ninth. Sterner got two easy outs, but then Kazuma Okamoto singled and Ernie Clement doubled to move Okamoto to third with two down. Andrés Giménez singled to drive in the winning run. The A’s dropped the opener in Toronto 3-2 to the Blue Jays.

The bad news? The Royals had a really rough game at the plate and on the mound. The good news? There are 161 more of these, and the Royals will look better in most of them.

Cole Ragans led the way to the Royals’ third straight Opening Day loss with him on the mound. He ended up giving up four runs on six hits in four innings. He walked four and gave up three home runs; he did strike out five. Walks continue to be an issue for him in starts where they show up, not just adding baserunners but really skyrocketing the pitch count. There was a scare in the first inning where Ragans came down on his lead foot weird. His command seemed to suffer after that, but he had only faced two hitters before that, so it might have been a pure coincidence.

Bailey Falter came on in relief and pitched three innings, the first two looked pretty good but he definitely seemed to wear down in the third inning. Ultimately, he gave up two runs in three innings with four strikeouts and no walks. It does seem like he might have something to build on there. Alex Lange got the eighth and pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. So the bullpen is showing some promise to get things started.

Chris Sale really struggled with his command in the early going, but managed to get things under control without giving up any runs, thanks in part to some excellent defensive plays behind him. Their bullpen sent two to the mound, giving up no runs. The Royals managed only five hits and three walks all night. The top of the order did their jobs with Maikel Garcia, Bobby Witt Jr., and Lane Thomas each reaching twice. Salvador Perez contributed a single from the four hole as well. But the bottom five reached only once, a Jonathan India walk.

The offense will need to be better, but Chris Sale is a tough matchup for anyone. They’ll face righties for each of the next two games, so hopefully they’ll be able to put out the stronger iteration of their lineup and get some work done. It’s far too early to panic.

Tomorrow’s matchup will feature Michael Wacha (10-13, 3.86 ERA last year) facing off against Reynaldo López (0-0, 5.40 ERA in one start last year – he was injured for most of it.) It will be a nationally televised game on FOX, so if you’re a cord-cutter, you will already require a second service to watch the game. Hopefully, the Royals put up a slightly better showing. It starts at the same time as tonight’s game, 6:15 Royals time.

18 zeros. 18 goose eggs. 18 uh-ohs. 18 black holes. 18 innings of big ol’ nothin’s from the San Francisco Giants offense.  

Two days removed from being carved up by New York starter Max Fried (with an off-day in-between to recoup), the Giants hitters got right back in the saddle, and promptly tumbled off the other side against young right-hander, Cam Schlittler, in an eventual 3-nil loss. 

It’s not an ideal start…but it could be a symbolic one, because what if I told you that a similar offensive cold snap started the 2002 season? Because what if I told you a similar stumble led to one of the most successful seasons in club history? And what if I told you all of that is a lie? Because of course it is. The Barry Bond-Jeff Kent Giants scored a bajillion runs in the first 18 innings and never lost a game all season.

These 18 offensive donuts — that’s called history folks. The first time the New York Yankees have ever thrown back-to-back shutouts to start a season. The first time the New York/San Francisco Giants have ever been shutout in back-to-back games to start a season.

Add Heliot Ramos’s 2nd inning double — the only knock of the day — to the tally, and we’re still on our left hand. San Francisco’s four hits in these two losses are actually the fewest hit total to start a season in the team’s 144 year history. According to Duane Kuiper on the postgame wrap, that low mark actually tied the 1909 Chicago White Sox’s for fewest in all of Major League history. 

But it’s not like the Giants bats have tripped over their own shoelaces while taking a walk in the park. They’ve had their hands full with these Yankee starters. Fried fried their bats on Wednesday. And Schlittler…well, you can figure out the descriptive name-pun for yourself. 

The 25 year old’s understated and quiet wind-up belies the loud and volatile pitches he unleashes. Schlittler almost looks shy as he starts his delivery. Any movement pre-leg kick is hard to discern. To start, he closes his shoulders off to the plate with the slightest reset of his front foot. He peers down at his shoes, taps his toe on the ground as if to reassure himself it’s there before the knee hoists up and ffoooooommmmpppp… 99 MPH four-seamer, or sinker, or 95 MPH cutter. 

Everything out of Schlittler’s hand is hard, and based on aggressive early swings from Giants bats, hard to lay off. The three variations on heat produced a cruel mix of beguiling movements that avoided barrels like the plague. The confrontations were one-sided and quick. He fanned 8 over 5.1 innings pitched, and I don’t think he broke a sweat doing it, needing just 68 pitches to bag 16 outs before being yanked by Yankee skipper Aaron Boone. But the New York relief was no relief for the Giants offense. Just the same ol’ same ol’ with a stand-out performance from old bud Camilo Doval, who looked as sharp as he ever had in the orange-and-black. He worked quick, established his pitches sinker early, kept his slider tight, and attacked the zone to bag three punch-outs in a 1-2-3 8th. 

One could make a decent argument that the only good thing about the game was the weather, but I don’t think that’s completely fair to Robbie Ray. Though hung with the loss, the veteran lefty ultimately held a potent offense to just two runs, and the only slight against him was leaking a tired four-seamer out over the plate to the best hitter of the decade. 

Back-to-back golden sombreros just wasn’t an option for Aaron Judge, and in a friendly count late in an outing against a pitcher he’s already taken deep three times before, he got a pitch to demolish, and Judge dropped the gavel. 

Other than that offering, Ray has got to be pleased with the way he kicked off his season. The slider he tweaked this spring fetched 8 whiffs on 19 swings (42%) including three of his four strikeouts. And what felt nearly as certain as a Judge bomb was a Ray base-on-balls — but the walk never came (though maybe he should’ve given in to Judge in the 6th). Ray stayed aggressive to the plate and did a solid job keeping the count in his favor. He threw 13 first-pitch strikes, and was 10/14 when starting off an at-bat with his fastball. The lefty didn’t fall into a 1-0 count until the seventh batter he faced — which is a minor miracle and major victory for Ray, who spends the majority of the season battling himself through tough counts and stressful frames brought on by his high walk rate.  

Tony Vitello got his steps in today, making three mid-inning changes, giving us a glimpse of how aggressive he’s going to be with the bullpen. The swaps worked for the most part, though things certainly got dice-y at times. Jose Buttó promptly gave up a monster solo shot to Giancarlo Stanton in the 6th. Erik Miller replaced a runner on from Buttó in the 7th and induced three consecutive ground-outs. Ryan Borucki inherited a one-out, first-and-third situation from Ryan Walker and made it immediately worse by walking Ryan McMahon on four pitches to load bases, before getting out of trouble by coaxing two ground balls from Yankee hitters.  

All in all, it’s nothing. 18 innings. Two games. What’s tough is it’s the first two games. Fans have had a long winter of no baseball, and now we have two days of a different kind of no baseball that has somehow already wrung our souls out like a towel. We know, from an intellectual standpoint, that this line-up is better than the at-bats we’ve witnessed so far in 2026 — we just haven’t seen it yet. We have nothing tangible to grasp and hold tight to. There’s no proof, only mutterings and faint memories that Rafael Devers can, in fact, drive a fastball pumped over the middle of the plate. Little comfort in that hearsay when all we have to go on are the hellacious hacks and fierce uppercuts that have come up empty so far.

The Guardians have released their lineup for tonight:

And the Mariners decided to release one, also:

Let’s go, Guardians!

For a pitcher with just 15 career starts under his belt, Cam Schlittler has looked every bit of a veteran on the mound for the Yankees.

It started last season when he made his debut in July, continued throughout the regular season and culminated in the postseason, where he had a start against the Boston Red Sox in which he went eight scoreless innings in a win-or-go-home game with 12 strikeouts.

Schlittler was similarly dominant on Friday against the San Francisco Giants despite being on a pitch count. The right-hander struck out eight through 5.1 scoreless innings and allowed just one hit in a rather dominant performance.

In fact, over his first 15 career regular season starts, Schlittler has shut out his opponent four times and that’s not including his epic playoff start against the Red Sox last year.

Suffice to say, Schlittler has impressed manager Aaron Boone, who was asked after the game about what was so good from the youngster on Friday.

“Everything,” the skipper said. “The power – eight strikeouts there, but being real pitch efficient too. Only going 70 [pitches] with him today, so to get into the sixth inning really set us up really nice and then the pen was outstanding.”

In two games to begin the 2026 season, New York has yet to allow a run and has limited the Giants to just four hits and four walks.

First, it was Max Fried and Co. on Opening Day and then it was Schlittler. Will Warren hopes to keep things going on Saturday.

“It felt good,” Schlittler said. “Just being able to work the four-seam, the two-seam, the cutter and kind of incorporating the curveball towards the end there. Throwing a lot of strikes, limiting the walks is very important.”

Throwing strikes kept the 25-year-old in the game long enough to get the win despite his short leash that stemmed from a strained oblique during spring training that set him back some.

While he wished he could have gone further in the game with how things were going, he understands the process that he needs to take.

“Nothing I can do about it, it’s out of my control,” he said. “… Keep building from this week to next week and then hopefully get up to 90 pitches in a couple starts.”

With the Yankees going with a four-man rotation to start the year, Schlittler’s next start figures to be on Wednesday, April 1, against the Seattle Mariners.

SAN FRANCISCO — Expect changes to the Giants’ lineup after the team was shut out for the second straight game to start its season.

Manager Tony Vitello rolled out the same group after San Francisco was blanked in its season opener Wednesday, but after mustering just one hit off Cam Schlittler in a 3-0 loss to the Yankees on Friday, the rookie manager said he plans to shake things up.

“Wednesday’s lineup didn’t have much to show, but we met on it and left it as is,” Vitello said. “There’s a good chance there will be some variance tomorrow based off the numbers and a new pitcher on the mound.”

In two games against Max Fried, Schlittler and the Yankees’ bullpen, the Giants have produced zero runs, four hits, four walks and 19 strikeouts. It’s the first time in the franchise’s 143-year history that it has been blanked in back-to-back games to begin a season.

Surely, they’ll have more luck against Saturday’s starter, Will Warren, regardless of the batting order. Even a sample as minuscule as 59 at-bats (and the accompanying .068 batting average) is bound for some regression to the mean.

“It’s kind of all about sample size. Over and over, we’ve talked about being in this for the long haul,” Vitello said. “I think that’s where our guys’ mindset is. But there’s also a pressing need in there for some feel-good and also to want to perform for the fans.”

Still, it’s far from the output expected after San Francisco added Luis Arraez and Harrison Bader to a lineup that already included Willy Adames, Matt Chapman and Rafael Devers.

Chapman accounted for both of the Giants’ walks in Friday’s loss, while a softly hit double down the right field line from Heliot Ramos amounted to their only extra-base hit in two games.

Adames struck out three times Friday and is hitless in seven at-bats. Devers also earned a hat trick in their latest loss and is 1 for 8. Bader and Arraez have combined to reach base twice in 14 total trips to the plate.

Adames watched a close strike three that scraped the inside corner after Chapman reached on a walk to begin the seventh, trailing 3-0. Rather than use either of the two ABS challenges the Giants had, he walked back to the dugout visibly upset.

“I think that’s one where if he was disappointed in himself, that’s fine,” Vitello said. “If it was frustration out of [the called strike], that was an opportunity where it could’ve been used.”

The Giants have yet to challenge a pitch on offense, despite watching the Yankees do so twice, including an overturned call a few pitches before Aaron Judge deposited a two-run homer halfway up the left field bleachers that broke a scoreless tie in the top of the sixth.

“I definitely wouldn’t doubt our guys’ efforts, but if you’re trying too hard and things start to move fast on you, maybe you’re a little bit hesitant and you’re not wanting to be the one who makes a mistake,” Vitello said. “I think they’ll settle in and find a little bit more of a comfort zone, but if you analyze the last two days, there were more opportunities to [challenge] than we utilized.”

Effort and emotion were two themes Vitello continued to touch on after the game as he attempted to find answers for the Giants’ woeful start to his tenure in the dugout.

As in: too much of both.

Between Netflix’s Opening Night on Wednesday, the Giants’ traditional season-opening festivities before Friday afternoon’s game and a “fire and brimstone” speech that Vitello gave to the team Tuesday, the manager wondered if emotions were running too high.

“The results, or the numbers, look like there’s not a lot of try-hard,” Vitello said. “But kind of the old baseball adage, there’s probably too much. Maybe that extends to that conversation prior to the season. Or maybe it just stems from all the Opening Day fanfare.”

Robbie Ray, who limited the Yankees to three runners over 5 ⅓ innings besides Judge’s home run and the double from Paul Goldschmidt that preceded it, dismissed that idea.

“We’re all major-league players,” he said. “I think we can handle the ups and downs.”

All the same, Ramos shrugged off the idea of switching up the batting order.

“We’ve just got to get on base,” Ramos said. “We’ve got to execute. … It’s just two games to start the season. We’ve just got to get going.”

Consider it the first true test for the first-year manager, given Vitello at least deployed his bullpen as well as he can while playing from behind. A solo shot from Giancarlo Stanton off Jose Butto amounted to the only run the Giants’ relievers have allowed in 7 ⅔ innings.

The bullpen was considered a question mark. The reinvigorated lineup was supposed to be a strength. That hasn’t been the case, at least through a two-game sample.

“I’d kind of put it on me a little bit,” Vitello said. “Get all fire and brimstone a few days ago. I think some good words were shared. But I also think as of right now, it’s a little emotional in there.”

Detroit Tigers vs. San Diego Padres

Time/Place: 9:40 p.m., Petco Park
SB Nation Site: Gaslamp Ball
Media: Detroit Sportsnet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: LHP Framber Valdez (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Michael King (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

* Note: Stats in the table below are Fangraphs’ 2026 projections