MLB News
After eking out a win Friday night and blowing a late lead Saturday night, the series is on the line when the Braves and Red Sox face off Sunday afternoon at 1:35 p.m. EDT.
Grant Holmes gets a regular-rest turnaround on the Braves’ starter carousel against Brayan Bello, who has been bad as a starter but good as a bulk reliever this season.
Let’s see if the Braves can close out the homestand with a winning record.
Game Notes
Taylor Ward will bat first and serve as the designated hitter today as the Orioles look to avoid a sweep in DC. Ward will be followed by shortstop Gunnar Henderson and first baseman Pete Alonso. Samuel Basallo will do the catching with Adley Rutschman starting the game on the bench.
Tyler O’Neill, Colton Cowser, and Leody Taveras will handle the outfield duties with Ward penciled in as the DH. Coby Mayo will play third, and Jeremiah Jackson will take second base against Nationals opener Richard Lovelady. Miles Mikolas is expected to follow Lovelady.
Struggling teams look to their stars. With Rutschman on the bench, the Orioles need Henderson and Alonso to spark the offense today.
The Orioles will send out right-handed pitcher Brandon Young. Young was forced into the rotation after some early injuries, and the 27-year-old has an opportunity to cement his place with a few more strong outings.
Orioles lineup
Starter: RHP Brandon Young
The latest news on the Houston Astros and from around MLB:
The Astros could potentially be without franchise icon Jose Altuve for a while:
Reinforcements are on the way for Houston:
Hunter Brown making progress:
Josh Hader will not be back when first eligible on May 24, but it’s not because of a setback.
Spencer Arrighetti still has faith the Astros can turn season around:
Bryan Abreu getting back on track:
Astros pitching coach Josh Miller on Astros’ league-leading walks totals & how they are trying to get better:
Of course, walks are up everywhere, and it’s no secret why. Jayson Stark on the impact of ABS on the the strike zone, as well as why the NL looks so much better than the AL, the impact of the WBC on MLB team so far and more:
Kai-Wei Teng wasn’t supposed to be the Astros best starting pitching acquisition this offseason, but he’s making his case:
The Astros hit 4 home runs off Jacob deGrom Saturday. Here they are, in case you missed them or just want to bask in the glory again:
In his Sunday Notebook, Bob Nightengale asserts that Astros manager Joe Espada’s job security grows more tenuous by the day:
Phillies DH Kyle Schwarber is racking up HRs:
Mets get another bad break with SP Clay Holmes:
Dodgers SP Blake Snell is the latest casualty of “loose bodies”:
Yankees SP Max Fried will avoid the knife, for now:
No fire sales yet in San Francisco, Flushing:
Unicorns.
You can make a case the Mariners have played without Big Dumper all season long, but…
The White Sox have been the newest version of the Bash Brothers:
The Red Sox might be screwed:
The Stephen F. Austin baseball team got to meet the St. Louis Cardinals #TarpsOff
It helps to know the rules of the field, especially your own field:
After 11 years in the minors, Rodolfo Duran finally got a call up. Saturday, he hit his first MLB HR:
Carson Benge – RF
Bo Bichette – SS
Juan Soto – DH
Mark Vientos – 1B
MJ Melendez – LF
Brett Baty – 3B
Marcus Semien – 2B
A.J. Ewing – CF
Hayden Senger – C
SP: Freddy Peralta – RHP
Trent Grisham – CF
Ben Rice – 1B
Aaron Judge – DH
Cody Bellinger – LF
Jazz Chisholm – 2B
Ryan McMahon – 3B
Spencer Jones – RF
Anthony Volpe – SS
J.C. Escarra – C
SP: Elmer Rodriguez – RHP
First pitch: 1:40pm EDT
TV: SNY
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2
Location: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA
Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet
Pitching Matchup: Zack Wheeler (2-0, 2.55 ERA) vs. Paul Skenes (6-2, 1.98 ERA)
The Pittsburgh Pirates are at home hosting the Philadelphia Phillies today at beautiful PNC Park.
Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.
BD community, this is your thread for today’s game against the Phillies. Enjoy!
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The Los Angeles Dodgers are bringing out the brooms Sunday night, on the road looking to sweep away their in-state rivals, the Los Angeles Angels.
The Halos might have their best shot at a win in this set, facing struggling Dodgers’ righty Roki Sasaki.
However, my Dodgers vs. Angels predictions and free MLB picks think the visitors will also prove tough for Angels starter Grayson Rodriguez, who hasn’t pitched in the bigs since 2024.
The Los Angeles Angels have just four wins in their last 20.
Offense has been a problem all year, as they’re Bottom-7 in runs scored, tallying just two in two losses to the Los Angeles Dodgersso far.
There is optimism, though, to see what Grayson Rodriguez can do in his 2026 debut, as he fanned 11 in his minor-league tune-up. He missed all 2025 from elbow surgery.
But not sure this is the lineup you want to see first: the Dodgers are second in the majors in road scoring (5.95 runs) and rank Top 3 in average, OBP, slugging and OPS.
COVERS INTEL:Shohei Ohtani will face Grayson Rodriguez for the first time in his career, but he mashes against his former club. In 12 games, he’s hitting .311 with 15 hits, five HR’s, 14 RBI and 12 runs scored.This head-to-head series has put the scoreboard bulbs to work. Including the Dodgers’ 15-2 thumping Saturday night, the Over has cashed in seven of the last nine meetings.
We don’t know what Rodriguez brings to the table, but we know what the Dodger lineup can do, and how Roki Sasaki has struggled.
Not only has he allowed at least three earned runs in five of six starts, but the floodgates usually open in his games, with at least 12 runs combined in four of his last six outings.
Watch for that trend to continue Sunday.
At 8-12 at home, the Los Angeles Angels is tied with the Boston Red Sox for fewest home wins in Major League Baseball. Find more MLB betting trends for Dodgers vs. Angels.
| Location | Angels Stadium, Anaheim, CA |
| Date | Sunday, May 17, 2026 |
| First pitch | 4:07 p.m. ET |
| TV | SportsNet LA, FDSN West |
| Dodgers starting pitcher | Roki Sasaki (1-3, 5.88 ERA) |
| Angels starting pitcher | Grayson Rodriguez (0-0, 0.00 ERA) |
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
Not intended for use in MA.
Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
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Sunday Night Baseball returns as the San Diego Padres go for the road sweep of the Seattle Mariners at 7:20 p.m. ET on Peacock.
With the series wrapped up, the Padres might come out sluggish. I’m bullish on three Seattle Overs with my Padres vs. Mariners props and MLB picks for Sunday, May 17.
For more on this game, read Robert Criscola's Padres vs. Mariners predictions.
| Pick | Odds |
|---|---|
 George Kirby Over 5.5 strikeouts | -108 |
| Randy Arozarena 2+ hits + runs + RBI | -110 |
| Julio Rodriguez 2+ total bases | +100 |
The Seattle Mariners have to be thrilled with what they’ve gotten from George Kirby in 2026.
After a relatively ineffective and injury-plagued season in 2025, "Furious George" is in the Top 10 in innings thrown (57) and wins (five) among starting pitchers.
This is a spot for the San Diego Padres to underperform. They’ve already wrapped up the series by taking the first two on the road, and are looking ahead to tomorrow’s crucial matchup with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who enter Sunday a half-game ahead of the Friars in the NL West.
The Padres haven’t been excellent against right-handed pitchers even when dialed in, posting the second-worst wRC+ (74) and fifth-highest K-rate (24.9%) this month.
Kirby pitches deep into games, averaging 6 1/3 innings per contest. If he goes that long, his ability to control the strike zone (92nd percentile chase rate, 83rd percentile walk rate) makes him a strong candidate to rack up Ks.
Lucas Giolito returns to the big leagues for his debut with San Diego. Given his 5.01 xERA across 26 starts in 2025, the Seattle lineup should be licking its collective chops.
The husky hurler showed reverse splits a year ago, surrendering a 1.40 WHIP to right-handed hitters. That’s a continuation of what he’s done for most of his career (4.60 FIP), so it’s fair to boost projections for all of Seattle’s righties.
Randy Arozarena’s 148 wRC+ is the highest he’s recorded since 2020. He’s destroyed right-handed pitching, slashing .318/.414/.450 with a 155 wRC+.
Last we saw Giolito, he operated with a three-pitch mix of four-seamers, sliders, and changeups. This is music to the ears of Julio Rodriguez, who has feasted on all three offerings.
J-Rod has strong results against four-seamers (164 wRC+) and sliders (122) while positively demolishing changeups (282). He hasn’t been able to find success against any other pitch type, posting a wRC+ below 100 for all other offerings.
Add that to Giolito’s aforementioned reverse splits, and this is a dream matchup on paper for Rodriguez.
| Location | T-Mobile Park, Seattle, WA |
| Date | Sunday, May 17, 2026 |
| First pitch | 7:20 p.m. ET |
| TV | Peacock |
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
Not intended for use in MA.
Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.
Hickory starter A.J. Russell went 2.1 IP, allowing two runs, striking out two and walking one.
Hector Osorio was 2 for 5 with a stolen base. Yolfran Castillo was 3 for 5 with a double and a stolen base. Marcos Torres was 2 for 6 with a double. Paulino Santana had a hit.
For Hub City, starter Ismael Agreda struck out six and walked four, allowed two runs in four innings. Andrew Susac allowed three runs in 1.2 IP, striking out two and walking one. Joey Danielson walked two and struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings.
Malcolm Moore’s recent hot streak continued, as he went 3 for 5 with a homer. Paxton Kling homered. Gleider Figuereo was 2 for 4 with a double and a homer. Yeison Morrobel had a hit and a walk. Rafe Perich had a hit and a walk.
Frisco starter Leandro Lopez allowed four runs in five innings, walking three, striking out nine and givine up a homer. Wilian Bormie allowed a run in an inning, striking out two. Ryan Lobus struck out two in two shutout innings.
Keith Jones II went 3 for 4 with a double and a walk. Arturo Disla tripled.
Round Rock starter Josh Stephan allowed a two run homer in 5.2 IP, walking one and striking out no one. Chris Martin retired all three batters he faced. Ryan Brasier struck out one in a scoreless inning. Emiliano Teodo walked two and struck out one in an inning of work, allowing one run.
Cam Cauley was 3 for 5 with a double and two stolen bases. Aaron Zavala doubled.
The Phillies will go for the sweep on Sunday as they wrap up their three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.
The good news is that they’ll have Zack Wheeler on the mound. He’s been excellent since his return from surgery with a 2.55 ERA in four starts.
The bad news is that they’ll be facing Paul Skenes. The Pirates’ ace is 6-2 with a 1.98 ERA on the season.
Game time is 1:35 PM and will be televised locally on NBCSP.
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The Seattle Mariners have dropped two in a row to begin this weekend series with the San Diego Padres, but my Padres vs. Mariners predictions believe Seattle's significant pitching advantage will enable them to salvage a game from this interleague affair tonight.
Read on for my free MLB picks for May 17, and don't miss JD Yonke's Padres vs. Mariners props for Sunday Night Baseball.
George Kirby gives the Seattle Mariners a tremendous advantage on the mound, and that will allow them to coast to victory.
Kirby doesn't rack up Ks (38th percentile), but he gets batters to chase (92nd percentile), and doesn't issue many free passes (17th in BB/9 innings among qualified starters).
The San Diego Padres lineup has been absolutely awful in May, ranking dead-last in OPS (.593).
Countering Kirby is Lucas Giolito, who makes his season debut. His minor-league rehab starts do not inspire confidence, as he recorded a 4.76 ERA across 17 innings. He also had a 5.01 xERA in 2025.
COVERS INTEL: The Padres are seventh-worst in the majors in chase rate (32.9%).I'm expecting a heavy dose of the Padres bullpen in this one with Giolito making his first start of 2026, and this unit is fifth by ERA in May (2.24). The Mariners offense is solid but not scary, ranking 16th in OPS.
Seattle is also swing-happy, ranking third-worst in whiff rate (27.7%). That plays directly into the hands of San Diego's relievers, who rank second in K/9 innings (10.91) this month.
The Mariners' bullpen shouldn't be taxed too heavily behind Kirby, but this a strong relief corps. Seattle relievers are eighth by ERA in May (2.38).
The Mariners are 5-1 across Kirby's last six starts. Find more MLB betting trends for Padres vs. Mariners.
| Location | T-Mobile Park, Seattle, WA |
| Date | Sunday, May 17, 2026 |
| First pitch | 7:20 p.m. ET |
| TV | Peacock |
| Padres starting pitcher | Lucas Giolito (0-0, 0.00 ERA) |
| Mariners starting pitcher | George Kirby (5-2, 2.84 ERA) |
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
Not intended for use in MA.
Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza was once again asked about 1B/DH Jorge Polanco on Sunday ahead of the team’s rubber match with the Yankees.
And while there is no updated timeline for Polanco, who hasn’t played since April 14 due to wrist and Achilles injuries, Mendoza indicated that the Achilles bursitis is something that likely will not heal 100 percent this season, and that it comes down to how well the veteran can tolerate and play through it.
If Polanco doesn’t reach that point, it doesn’t sound like he’ll be playing any time soon.
“I think it’s getting to a point where—he’s going to feel it, right? But just keeping it to a point of ‘I can tolerate this’ because if not he’s going to get shut down for a long period of time,” Mendoza said. “So, I think we just continue to go through baseball activities, continue to push it running-wise, and see how he reacts to that.
"Hopefully, he can continue to get treatment and hopefully it goes away, but it's something that he's probably gonna have to manage."
Polanco, who signed a two-year deal with the Mets this offseason with the idea of him being the everyday first baseman, has played in just 14 games this season, hitting .179 with one home run.
“We want to have more good days than the days I don’t feel so good,” Polanco, who recently received a PRP injection, told The Athletic earlier this week. “That’s when I know I’ll be ready to go.”
Sunday notes…
Cubs lineup:
White Sox lineup:
Colin Rea was going along pretty well and then the Braves torched him pretty good last Tuesday in Atlanta.
But, I’d say Rea does well enough for a fifth starter type. Eats innings, and most of the time gives you a decent outing.
Against the Sox almost exactly a year ago, May 18, 2025 at Wrigley Field, Rea held the Sox to one run in 5.1 innings. We’ll take another one like that today, please.
Erick Fedde… what year is this, 2024?
Fedde pitched for the Sox that year, then was shipped away to the Cardinals in a three-way deal that brought Miguel Vargas to the South Side. Since then he’s also pitched for the Braves and Brewers before he came back to the Sox as a free agent this past offseason.
He has pitched well enough for the Sox (3.77 ERA, 1.163 WHIP) in eight games (six starts) that, well, they could flip him again if they fall out of contention.
The Cubs hit him hard twice last year when he was with St. Louis — 10 earned runs in five innings. Dansby Swanson is 10-for-27 (.370) against Fedde with a double.
Here is the weather forecast for the area around Rate Field.
Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. It’s also on Chicago Sports Network and WCIU-Ch. 26 with the Sox announcers.
Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation White Sox site South Side Sox. If you do go there to interact with Sox fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.
The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.
You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).
At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.
The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.
You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.
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Texas Rangers lineup for May 17, 2026 against the Houston Astros: starting pitchers are Nathan Eovaldi for the Rangers and Peter Lambert for the Astros.
Texas will attempt to avoid a sweep. They will also attempt to get their average runs scored per game in this series to at least 1. Corey Seager is out again.
The lineup:
Carter — CF
Nimmo — RF
Jung — 3B
Pederson — DH
Duran — SS
Osuna — LF
Burger — 1B
Foscue — 2B
Higashioka — C
1:10 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are -125 favorites.
Unfortunately for the Mets, injuries have been the major storyline from their first quarter-plus of the 2026 regular season. From Juan Soto, to Francisco Lindor, to Francisco Alavrez, to Luis Robert Jr., to Jorge Polanco, the list goes on and on.
The club’s latest stroke of bad injury luck came on Friday night, when starting pitcher Clay Holmes fractured his fibula on a comebacker to the mound.
Holmes, who stayed in the game on Friday a bit longer after the injury occurred, said he initially thought he could pitch through it, but by the end of the outing he was not surprised by the diagnosis.
“When it first hit me, I knew I could still put pressure on it, so I thought I still had a chance to pitch,” he said. “I’ve done this before, back in 2020, and it kind of immediately gave away on me then, so I was kind of hoping this was different.
“I kind of knew walking off that it was probably broken, so I was kind of expecting it and wasn’t surprised with the X-rays. But it caught me good. Had some hope there for a little bit, but the more I was throwing on it, it kind of continued to feel worse. Like I said, I have some history with it, so I knew that it probably wasn’t great.”
Back in spring training of March 2020, Holmes suffered a similar fracture in his right foot after a Nelson Cruz comebacker caromed off of him. But Holmes said it’s hard to compare the two injuries because the last time he recovered happened during the COVID shutdown and he was back for the start of the shortened season in July.
The good news, it seems, is that Holmes believes he can avoid surgery. While adding a plate or a screw to stabilize the bone hasn’t been entirely ruled out, Holmes said that having surgery “doesn’t seem to be the case,” though the medical staff is still gathering information.
“Comes down to how well the bone heals,” Holmes said.
Injuries are never welcomed with open arms, but Holmes’ fracture comes at an especially rough time for both the player and team. Individually, Holmes has been one of the Mets’ most consistent starters this season, pitching to a 2.39 ERA. The Mets, meanwhile, have gotten off to a rough start as a team, but are a game over .500 in their last 10 games.
According to Holmes, the toughest part is not being out on the field with his teammates as they try to climb out of this early hole.
“It’s tough. Just from a personal standpoint, I feel like I was in a good spot, the body and the arm,” Holmes said. “It’s kind of hard to stay healthy in this game as is, and I’ve had some freak accident things that are out of your control that are tough. More than anything, not being able to compete with the guys here, the team.
“We haven’t gotten off, I think, to the start that we wanted or everybody wanted, but just to see how guys were battling through it and seeing how things were starting to come together, you just want to be in the fight with everyone.”
Nobody who watched the first week of Rece Hinds’ MLB career will ever forget it. Most everybody who watched it will use it as a measuring stick for the debut of any other player, so rife was it with gargantuan homers and pinpoint precision with his powerful swing.
If only things had managed to keep even a sliver of that pace.
The Cincinnati Reds designated Hinds for assignment on Sunday morning as part of a larger series of short-term focused roster moves. They needed a 40-man roster spot for a catcher since they needed to place Jose Trevino back on the 10-day IL, and it was Hinds’ spot that, for whatever reason, was up.
Cincinnati also shuttled Luis Mey back to AAA after his rough outing last night, recalling a fresher Jose Franco to help add to the bullpen depth for the time being.
The story here, though, is with Hinds. Even as recently as spring training, manager Terry Francona spoke about how Hinds had done everything he needed to do to make the team only to lose out on a numbers game. Then, when Noelvi Marte ran into a serious slump to begin the 2026 season at the big league level, it was Hinds – not JJ Bleday – who was turned to, and he got a multi-week run in the outfield almost every day to show whether or not he’d made significant enough improvement at the AAA level to warrant a full-time role in the big leagues.
He went 4 for 33 with a lone walk and 18 strikeouts, with nary a homer to his name.
There is huge swing and miss with Hinds, that’s undeniable. The former 2nd round pick is still just 25 years old, though, and the rest of the tools in his arsenal are pretty dang impressive, and there will undoubtedly be another team out there willing to take a flier on him to see if they, unlike the Reds, can unlock the rest that’s there.
If anything, this also rings as an endorsement of who else the Reds have in their current outfield mix. Bleday has obviously hit the ground running, and the presence of Blake Dunn, Hector Rodriguez, and Marte has obviously given the Reds the impression that they’ve got a baked-in hierarchy at the position that no longer needs Hinds, should he be claimed on waivers.