Category: MLB

It was an electric night in San Diego as a brilliant start by Michael McGreevy and a “Little League grand slam” from JJ Wetherholt led the St. Louis Cardinals to another victory over the San Diego Padres.

It would be easy to start drawing some conclusions that are likely overreactions from Friday night’s game between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres. Let’s start with the possibility that Michael McGreevy is the current ace of the Cardinals staff. He held the Padres hitless until the bottom of the 4th inning when Jackson Merrill managed a single off of him. It’s also probably too early to start thinking of the Cardinals as a team of destiny but there was another sign that might be the case based on what happened in the top half of the 5th inning.

For the first 4 innings, Ivan Herrera was the only Cardinal with a hit (and he had four of them on the night), but it wasn’t until the 5th inning that the Cardinals started mounting a serious threat (which they followed through on admirably). Masyn Winn singled to start off the top of the 5th. Nathan Church reached on an infield single and Masyn advanced to second. After Prieto struck out, Victor Scott II drew a walk to load the bases and that brought up JJ Wetherholt who did not disappoint. In typical JJ fashion, he did something productive that turned into a play that broke the game open. On the third pitch of his at-bat, he ripped a single to right field which went under the glove of Fernando Tatis Jr. and it was off to the races.

Technically, it was a single and a 3-base/2-run error, but for the rest of us, it was a Little League grand slam that gave the Cardinals a 4-0 lead with JJ getting credited for 2 RBI’s. St. Louis wasn’t done, either. Ivan Herrera snuck another single between third base and short followed by a double that was lanced down the left field line by Alec Burleson which advanced Herrera to third. Jordan Walker followed that with a nice 4-pitch walk to load the bases again and Nolan Gorman came through with a single to score Herrera that made it 5-0 Cardinals. Masyn Winn managed a sacrifice fly to score Burleson and make it 6-0 St. Louis. The Rally Dawg had to be proud of the Cardinals 5th inning.

The real story Friday night was Michael McGreevy. Six innings allowing just 1 hit and no runs with 9 strikeouts and just 2 walks is ace stuff. He did not allow the Padres to create any kind of momentum. Big offense from the Cardinals grabbed the headlines, but Michael McGreevy’s performance deserves its own standing ovation.

Gordon Graceffo pitched a solid inning of relief in the bottom of the 7th and also pitched the bottom of the 8th allowing no Padres baserunners. A nice bounce-back from his last outing. Ryne Stanek was brought in to close out the Padres in the 9th inning and he did it without drama giving Riley O’Brien a night of rest. Cardinals pitchers collectively threw a 1-hit shutout. Very nice.

Dustin May will get the Saturday night start at Petco Park for the Cardinals as he’ll do battle with Randy Vásquez who will take the mound for the Padres. First pitch is set for 6:15pm central time and the musical chairs broadcast schedule has the game being broadcast on Fox Saturday night.

For the first time in 15 seasons, second baseman DJ LeMahieu finds himself without a Major League team. After injury plagued 2024 and 2025 campaigns, the former Gold Glove and Silver Slugger award winner is a free agent.

LeMahieu, 37, spent seven seasons as the franchise second baseman for the Colorado Rockies. While donning the purple pinstripes he won three Gold Gloves, was a two-time All-Star, and even took home the 2016 batting title when he hit .348/.416/.495 while being worth 5.5 wins above replacement.

After the 2018 season LeMahieu left Colorado as a free agent and joined the New York Yankees. In the Bronx he won another batting title, two Silver Slugger Awards, a fourth Gold Glove, and made his third All-Star appearance.

LeMahieu has yet to officially announce his retirement and is still open to playing opportunities. In the meantime, he is exploring his next steps in his baseball life: coaching.

The Royal Oak Leprechauns, a collegiate wood bat team in LeMahieu’s native Michigan, have announced that LeMahieu will be the team’s manager for the 2026 season.

“DJ has been hands-on throughout the entire offseason, and that’s meant everything to our staff,” Leprechauns general manager Danny Weiss said Wednesday. “As he steps into the field manager role, that same commitment carries over to the players he leads. He cares deeply about building a culture players want to be part of — and that’s going to set the standard for everything we do in 2026 and beyond.”

LeMahieu has been a long-time financial backer and supporter of the Leprechauns.

With his move into managing, LeMahieu joins a list of former Rockies players who pursued managerial efforts after their playing career.

• Former third baseman and current special assistant Vinny Castilla has managed in his home country of Mexico.
• 1993 Opening Day catcher Joe Girardi has been the skipper for the Miami Marlins, New York Yankees, and Philadelphia Phillies.
• Former shortstop Walt Weiss managed the Rockies for a few seasons and took over for longtime Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker this season.

Plenty of other former Rockies over the years have pursued Major League or collegiate coaching careers after they hung up their cleats.

What current or former members of the Colorado Rockies do you think would make a good manager or coach? Let us know in the comments!

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For seven innings, the Rockies looked like they had finally found the easy version of a win.

Then the game lost its mind.

Colorado built a 6-0 lead, gave it all back in one disastrous inning, survived repeated late showdowns with Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, and still found a way to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-7 in 11 innings Friday night at Citizens Bank Park.

This was not a baseball game so much as an emotional endurance test.

One night after a thrilling win, the Rockies delivered another chaotic, resilient performance. They are still flawed enough to create their own disasters. But increasingly, they are also showing they can fight through them.

Colorado improved to 16-23 with the win. Philadelphia fell to 17-22.

Dollander sets the tone

The Rockies scored first without a hit.

Jordan Beck walked to open the game, moved to second on a Tyler Freeman groundout, took third on a wild pitch, and scored when TJ Rumfield grounded out to first.

That was enough for an early lead.

Then Chase Dollander made it feel bigger.

The right-hander attacked Philadelphia with upper-90s and triple-digit velocity. He looked calm. He worked with traffic. He did not always command the baseball, but he kept the Phillies from doing much with it.

Dollander used six pitches, leaning mostly on his four-seam fastball and sinker while mixing in his slider, curveball, sweeper and changeup. The stuff was real. So was the occasional scattershot command. He threw 41 balls among his 89 pitches, which helped explain the five walks.

Still, Philadelphia managed only three hits against him.

His fifth inning was the best example. Bryson Stott drew a leadoff walk and moved into scoring position. Dollander fielded a soft comebacker himself, then struck out Justin Crawford and Trea Turner to strand him.

The sixth made the line messier. Schwarber punished Dollander’s first real mistake with a solo homer to right. Harper walked on four pitches. Dollander nearly limited it there, getting Adolis García to fly out and Brandon Marsh to hit into a forceout, but J.T. Realmuto followed with an RBI double to make it 6-2.

Jaden Hill entered and got Stott to pop out.

Dollander finished with 5.2 innings, three hits, two runs, five walks and five strikeouts. His ERA rose to 3.35.

For long stretches, Dollander felt like an ace, even if he did not always look as sharp as one.

The Rockies make contact count

Colorado broke the game open in the fourth.

Rumfield led off with a single. Hunter Goodman followed with the swing that changed the night.

Goodman’s approach is not subtle: he swings violently, and he swings often. But when he squares one up, the damage is immediate. Jesús Luzardo found that out when Goodman launched a two-run homer to make it 3-0, part of a 4-for-5 night that gave the Rockies damage and length in the middle of the lineup.

Brenton Doyle walked. Willi Castro reached on a bunt single. Kyle Karros ripped a two-run double. Ezequiel Tovar added a good piece of hitting with an RBI single up the middle.

That made it 6-0.

Luzardo’s Jekyll-and-Hyde season continued. He struck out six through three innings. Then the fourth swallowed him whole. The Phillies left-hander exited after just three-plus innings, charged with six runs on six hits, three walks and a homer. His ERA rose to 5.98.

The Rockies struck out 16 times as a team. That is usually a problem.

On Friday, it was not the whole story. Goodman went 4-for-5 with a homer. Freeman and Castro each had two hits. Karros doubled. The Rockies stole four bases and kept adding pressure whenever the game gave them an opening.

Still, after Freeman’s solo shot made it 7-2 in the seventh, the offense went quiet for a while.

The game flips in the eighth

The warning came in the sixth.

Schwarber punished Dollander’s first real mistake with a 415-foot solo homer to right. It was loud. It was also survivable.

The eighth was not.

Brennan Bernardino had delivered one of the biggest outs of the night to end the seventh, striking out Schwarber with a sweeper to strand a runner and keep the Rockies ahead by five. Then Bernardino came back out for the eighth, and the game started to slip.

Harper singled. García walked. Marsh singled home a run.

Then Jimmy Herget entered.

For a moment, it looked like he might stop it. Herget struck out Realmuto for the first out. Then Stott doubled home two runs, cutting the lead to 7-5.

Then Crawford delivered the gut punch.

With two outs, Crawford hit a two-run homer to right-center. Tie game. The 6-0 lead was gone. The 7-2 lead was gone. Most of the good baseball Colorado had played suddenly felt very far away.

One inning changed everything.

Vodnik restores order

The Rockies had a chance in the ninth.

Brett Sullivan was hit by a pitch. Jake McCarthy entered as a pinch-runner. McCarthy stole second with two outs.

Freeman had the chance. He is a hitter the Rockies trust to put the ball in play. He fought through a tense at-bat, fouled off tough pitches, and then struck out. McCarthy stayed at second.

That sent the game to the bottom of the ninth.

Every Rockies fan watched while gripping the couch. Victor Vodnik made sure they could let go for a moment.

Vodnik struck out Schwarber, got Harper to line out to left, then punched out García. That sent the game to extras.

Then he came back out for the 10th and did it again.

The automatic runner started at second. Colorado intentionally walked Marsh to create force plays. Vodnik got Realmuto to fly out, Stott to pop out, and Edmundo Sosa to line out.

Two scoreless innings. No hits. Two strikeouts.

After the bullpen nearly gave the game away, Vodnik gave it back to the Rockies.

The Rockies answer in the 11th

The Rockies did not fold.

After watching a six-run lead disappear, Colorado found another push in the 11th. Troy Johnston, pinch-hitting for Karros, ripped an RBI double into right field to score the automatic runner and put the Rockies back in front.

McCarthy kept it going.

Inserted earlier as a pinch-runner, McCarthy had already stolen a base in the ninth. In the 11th, he delivered with his bat, lining an RBI single into center to score Johnston and extend Colorado’s lead to 9-7.

Shutting the door

That gave Juan Mejía two runs to work with.

Extra innings do not offer soft landings, and Crawford immediately made sure the pressure returned. Crawford, the same hitter who tied the game in the eighth, singled to put runners on the corners with one out.

That brought up Schwarber.

The winning run. Just one easy swing and it is over.

This was the at-bat that could have flipped the whole thing again. Mejía did not pitch around it. He attacked Schwarber with power, reached back for a fastball above the zone, and got the Phillies slugger to check his swing at a pitch he could not do anything with. Strike three.

But the pressure remained.

Harper was up. Of course.

Mejía got him to ground out to second. Game over.

They survived the game they created

The Rockies nearly gave it away.

They did not.

For seven innings, they looked like they had found the easy version of a win. Then the game lost its mind, and for a while, it looked like Colorado might follow it there.

Instead, the Rockies answered.

They survived the collapse. They survived Schwarber. They survived Harper. They survived themselves.

Up next

The Rockies will try to keep the momentum going Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.

Kyle Freeland is scheduled to start for Colorado. He enters at 1-3 with a 5.04 ERA and 24 strikeouts. Philadelphia will counter with Aaron Nola, who is 2-3 with a 5.06 ERA and 40 strikeouts.

First pitch is set for 4:05 p.m. MDT. After two straight chaotic wins, the Rockies will look to keep rolling in the second game of the series.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks! 

What appeared to be a pitcher’s duel between two young pitchers quickly turned into a game of “first to 10.” After sitting down the Seattle Mariners in order and going into the second inning with a lead thanks to another Munetaka Murakami tank, things quickly unraveled for the White Sox, as they dropped the opener of the homestand, 12-8.

A single and walk started the second inning before starter Sean Burke struck out JP Crawford but threw a wild pitch in the process. While he got Luke Raley to go down swinging, he walked another batter before hitting Cole Young to force in a run. Burke got out of the inning, but things didn’t get much better from there.

After the Good Guys went down in order in the second, Burke got two quick outs before the Mariners inflicted some major damage. Two quick singles and a walk loaded the bases before Raley strolled to the plate. He would not be made a fool twice and made Burke pay for a lazy fastball down the middle, swatting it over the fence to give Seattle a 5-1 lead.

In the past, a four-run deficit was enough to make the White Sox pack up their bags for Saturday, but this team is different. After Sam Antonacci brought in Tristan Peters on a single and two consecutive walks, Colson Montgomery came up to the plate. Montgomery did his best Lee Corso impression saying “not so fast, my friend” as his bases-clearing double tied the game at five heading into the fourth.

The bats for both teams finally cooled for a bit, as the next eight straight were retired before Julio Rodriguez left his mark on the game with a solo shot of his own to give Seattle another lead, 6-5. Thanks to Drew Romo’s ability to catch the Mariners stealing in a manner that would make Paul Blart blush, only one run crossed the plate as reliever Sean Newcomb was able to get out of trouble.

A leadoff double by Chase Meidroth in the bottom of the sixth put the Sox in a great position to equalize, but unlike Denzel Washington in any of the three movies, the White Sox couldn’t finish the job.

The stalemate continued into the top of the seventh when yet again the Mariners caused trouble with two outs. A single and a walk set the stage for Raley yet again, and he gave everyone in attendance déjà vu by mashing his second homer on another lazy fastball over the plate. Again, the lead climbed to four runs and this time, Chicago didn’t have enough in the tank to fight back. A Josh Naylor three-run homer in the eighth gave the Mariners a 12-5 lead and all but put the game to bed.

While the White Sox were able to put three more runs on the board over the final two innings, it was all for nothing as the Mariners held on for the 12-8 victory. In a game that saw both starting pitchers look incredibly shaky, it was the Mariners bullpen that outpitched their Chicago counterparts and escaped Rate Field happy.

The Rays had an early opening against Connelly Early. Yes, the pun was sitting right there, and unfortunately so were three Tampa Bay baserunners in the third inning that got stranded on the best opportunity to score a run Friday night.

Tampa Bay opened quietly against Early. Yandy Díaz struck out after an ABS challenge overturned the original call, Ryan Vilade flew out, and Junior Caminero lined out sharply to center. Rays starter Jesse Scholtens had to work around a pair of first-inning walks to Willson Contreras on an ABS challenge and Wilyer Abreu, but he escaped with two popups from Masataka Yoshida and Trevor Story. Early baserunners, no damage. Fine enough.

The Rays had their first chance at runs in the second when Jonathan Aranda singled, but Jonny DeLuca, Ben Williamson, and Chandler Simpson could not advance him. At that point, Early still looked hittable. The Rays just needed to string together some hits.

That inning arrived in the third. Nick Fortes singled, moved to second on a disengagement violation, and Taylor Walls followed with a single to put runners on the corners. Then, Díaz was hit by a pitch, loading the bases with nobody out. This was it. This was the opportunity.

Instead, Vilade struck out. Then Caminero grounded into a double play on a chop to Caleb Durbin at third, and Marcelo Mayer helped turn it. Bases loaded, nobody out, no runs.

Boston made that hurt immediately. Scholtens retired the first two hitters in the bottom of the third, but Abreu jumped a low slider and sent it out to right-center for a solo homer. After the Rays failed to cash in their biggest chance, Abreu cashed in Boston’s smaller one. That was the difference in the game through three with the Red Sox up 1-0.

Early settled in from there. In the top of the fourth, he retired the side in order. In the bottom half, Ceddanne Rafaela added another solo homer, pushing Boston ahead 2-0. Scholtens was not bad; the sweeper that stayed up in the zone resulted in the second run allowed, and ultimately, all the scoring the Red Sox would get or need to win the game.

The fifth gave Tampa Bay its last real opening. Fortes singled again, but Walls and Diaz struck out. That was the Rays’ final hit of the night. From there, Early took control, finishing seven scoreless innings and turning the third-inning escape into the moment that got away.

Mason Englert kept the Rays alive after entering in the fifth with two on and two outs. Fresh off the 15-day injured list, he got Masataka Yoshida to pop out, then worked through the sixth after a Caminero error and the seventh after Jarren Duran reached third on a steal and a throwing error. Englert gave the Rays clean innings to keep hope alive, though the bats did not contribute.

Garrett Whitlock handled the eighth, and Aroldis Chapman took the ninth for the Red Sox. Caminero nearly opened the final inning with a hit, but Durbin made a diving stop at third and threw him out and robbed him again. Aranda and DeLuca struck out, and the Rays’ seven-game winning streak was over.

It was a clean, frustrating 2-0 loss built around one wasted rally, two Boston solo homers, and a lineup that went hitless after the fifth. Sometimes the whole game is right there in one inning, and sometimes one inning is all you get.

The Rays have a chance to start a new streak tomorrow at 4:10 PM with Nick Martinez getting the start for the Rays.

The question Nebraska fans had running through their head before the first pitch against Iowa tonight was whether or not this Cornhusker baseball team would be able to put last week’s dreadful performance behind them.  Haymarket Park has been very good to this team this season and Big Red fans filled the seats to find out.

One would think that with the top two hitting teams in the conference facing off, crooked numbers would dot the scoreboard, particularly with a nearly perfect night for baseball and surprisingly, only a whisper of wind.

Carson Jasa had a Carson Jasa start to the game and was lucky to come out of unscathed.  Joshua Overbeek booted a hard shot hit right at him by lead-off batter Kooper Schulte and then for a minute it looked like Jasa shrugged it off as the next two guys were put out.  However, when Jasa is on the mound, you never know what might happen.  In this case, two consecutive hit batters to load the bases.  Not to worry though as Matthew Delgado flew out on a lazy fly ball to Mac Moyer in centerfield.

After going down in order in the first inning, Nebraska took advantage of Hawkeye starter Tyler Guerin’s control issues in the bottom of the second inning.  Case Sanderson led it off with a four-pitch walk, though he was forced out on a ball hit by Jett Buck on a nice play by the Hawkeye third baseman Jaixen Frost. With Buck on first, Guerin then walked Drew Grego.

With runners on first and second, Overbeek slashed a double the opposite way down the third baseline to score Buck.  Big Red was looking for a big inning with two runners in scoring position and one out.  That was not to be as Rhett Stokes struck out and pitcher Guerin saved two runs by snagging a line shot by Trey Fikes to end the inning.

Jasa found is groove and was unhittable in the second and third innings, striking out four of the six batters he faced.  In the fourth inning he worked around a hit and a walk, thanks in large part to a timely 6-4-3 double play followed by his fifth strikeout of the game to end the inning.

In the meantime, Nebraska put a second run on the board in the bottom of the third when Mac Moyer started a new hitting streak with a single, followed by a stolen base.  Will Jesske and Dylan Carey both hit balls that had a good chance to be hits but instead were outs due to the outstanding play of Frost at the hot corner.  With two outs, Case Sanderson hit a nice line drive to leftfield that scored Moyer.  Nebraska was up 2-0.

Iowa missed a golden opportunity in the top of the fifth, and Jasa did what Jasa does.  The Hawkeyes had two runners on base thanks to a hit and a walk with their three-hole hitter Miles Risley at the plate.  The two of them faced off in an eight-pitch battle with Jasa falling behind 3-0 before battling to ultimately get a swinging strikeout, bringing Cornhusker fans to their feet in appreciation of his toughness.

With that 105-mph smash back to the pitcher in the second inning at the front over everyone’s mind, Trey Fikes led off the fifth with another hard-hit ball, this time down the third baseline for a double.  That brought Coach Rick Heller out of the dugout to take the ball from Guerin and pull in another righty, their top arm out of the bullpen, Kyle Alivo.

Mac Moyer greeted Alivo with his second base hit of the game, moving Fikes to third base.  Will Jesske then hit a sacrifice fly to right that put Nebraska’s third run on the scoreboard.  Carey followed with a single and the Cornhuskers looked to break it open.  That would have to wait as Alivo struck out Sanderson and Buck back-to-back to end it.  After five innings, Nebraska held a 3-0 lead.

In the top of the sixth inning, Jasa was back in the zone, sitting the Hawkeyes down in order with a groundout to Sanderson at first base and two strikeouts.  Once again, the crowd showed their appreciation and hoped the Cornhuskers could find a couple of insurance runs

Joshua Overbeek was plunked by Alivo with one out and then Rhett Stokes struck out looking. With two outs, can you say Larry Eugene Fikes the 3^rd have yourself a day!  After crushing the ball twice already, Fikes went yard over the leftfield wall for a two-run homer – his first of the season – to put the Cornhuskers up 5-0.

Jasa pitched the seventh inning before calling it a night, leaving without surrendering a run and recording nine strikeouts, two walks and three hit batters.  He threw 106 pitches and dropped his ERA to 3.31.  The young man from Colorado has handled the pressure and solidified himself as the Friday starter.

After roughing up Alivo, the Cornhusker offense saw a different righthander in the bottom of the seventh inning, Nick Terhaar.  He walked Will Jesske, which brought Iowan Reed Strohmeyer in to pinch-run.  Terhaar then struck out Carey, but hit Sanderson to put two on with one out.  That was basically repeated as Buck struck out and then Drew Grego earned a walk.  That brought Overbeek to the plate with bases loaded and two outs.  Hitting from the left-side, Overbeek laced a single that scored two.  

Rhett Stokes, who had struggled up to this point in the game, fooled everyone in the ballpark pushing a two-out bunt toward shortstop that no Hawkeye could get to in time to make a play.  That drove in Grego, putting the Big Red up 8-0.  Fans in the stands were feeling a run-rule ending, especially after Fikes was hit by a pitch to once again load the bases.  However, they’d have to wait for a bit as Mac Moyer’s sharp hit to third base was gloved and Frost stepped on the bag to force out Stokes.  

Caleb Clark came in relief of Jasa and got the first two Iowa batters to fly out to rightfield.  But the Canadian couldn’t close it out, hitting the next two batters.  Coach Rob Childress came out of the dugout and called for Tucker Timmerman.  He ended it by striking out pinch-hitter Ben Swails.

When Max Buettenback stepped into the batter’s box against Ty Mikkelsen to pinch-hit, there was a sense of anticipation and he delivered, crushing a Roy Hobbs-esque home run well over the rightfield wall.  With the lights flashing and the crowd on its feet, Nebraska was one run away from ending it.  That came quickly two pitches later when Dylan Carey hit is own towering home run to rightfield.  Ball game!  Nebraska 10, Iowa 0.

The Cornhuskers answered the question of whether they could come back in a big way.  They showed their grit, grinding in the early going with a run here and a run there.  They felt the energy of the crowd of 7094 and came up big in the moment late in the game, scoring seven runs in the final three innings.  They played solid defense and made plays when they needed to.

This was a good first step into the weekend, but anyone who follows college baseball knows that Iowa is led by one of the best coaches in the game.  While they have not faced the level of competition as Nebraska this season, they have won their last two series, including one against Illinois.  Rick Heller will have his team ready to play and will put out their best pitcher tomorrow to put one in the win column.  

The same two teams will be back at it tomorrow at 2:00.  Ty Horn will return to his role as a weekend starter and will face-off against Maddux Frese and his 2.56 ERA.  A win tomorrow will secure a top-four finish in the conference standings and the all-important top-four position in the tournament.

Notes:

• Nebraska had 12 hits tonight, one less than all three games last weekend.  
• Reed Strohmeyer, who came in the came to pinch run for Will Jesske in the seventh inning, looked across the diamond tonight at his older brother Kellen.  The two Strohmeyers are graduates of Dubuque Hempstead High School.
• Trey Fikes had a huge game going 2-3 with a double, a home run and two RBI.  Not bad for a catcher known more for his defense!
• Mac Moyer, Dylan Carey, and Joshua Overbeek all had two hits.  Overbeek had three RBI.
• Keeping with tradition, Iowa wore yellow shoes.

Royals broadcast Ryan LeFebvre has a handful of topics he likes to bring up as often as he can. Leadoff walks late in the game, pitchers catching popups, whether a catcher has an advantage when facing a pitcher he’s caught before. But one of the things he brings up a lot that I actually kind of appreciate is the idea of a “circle your scorecard” moment. This comes from Ryan’s own practice of circling what he believes are key plate appearances in a game where the outcome helps define the winner of the game.

You can go ahead and put a big old circle around May 8 on your 2026 calendars. If the Royals play into October this year, this game will be a big part of the reason why.

That’s enough of me pontificating; let’s talk about how the game went.

Kris Bubic was fighting his control for most of this game. Ultimately, he only gave up 3 runs in 5.2 innings, which is the next best thing to a quality start. But he walked 4 and only struck out 5. His fastballs, in particular, were all over the place.

That’s way too many in the middle of the zone and way too many nowhere near the zone. But still, he did his job.

Nick Mears came in, allowed the inherited runner to score, and then escaped. He almost escaped without allowing the runner to score thanks to some slick defense by Isbel – more to come – and Bobby Witt Jr., but Carter Jensen was unable to hang on to Bobby’s relay. The throw beat Dillon Dingler to the plate fairly easily, but you can’t tag a runner out if you don’t have the ball. And that felt like the ballgame.

Luinder Avila followed him out of the bullpen and had a clean inning, John Schreiber pitched the eighth, and, thanks to Kyle Isbel – who we will talk about more in a bit – running all over the dang place, escaped unharmed.

Lucas Erceg’s first pitch was a middle-middle fastball that got launched into right-center for a leadoff double, but he caught a break when Zack Short popped up a sacrifice bunt attempt. Scarily, the break almost ended up being his knee as he and catcher Elias Díaz collided while both sliding to attempt to catch the ball – Díaz made the play anyway, but Erceg stayed on the ground for a few minutes and ultimately stayed in the game.

Erceg’s fastball velocity was down around 95 tonight – even before the collision – so things were pretty touch and go. He got Kerry Carpenter to fly out for the second out, but he ended up walking Kevin McGonigle to face Colt Keith, who had hit the walk-off single against Erceg and the Royals in the heartbreaker in Detroit. This time, though, Erceg coerced him to hit a pop-up on the infield, and the Royals’ bats had a chance in the ninth.

So, yeah, I guess we need to talk about the offense. Keider Montero got the start tonight, and the Royals tagged him for four runs in six innings last time they saw him. They’ve been hitting better, so you might have hoped they’d get to him even more tonight. Sadly, it was not to be. Montero ended up pitching six innings of one-run ball.

The Royals had three barrelled balls, only one turned into a hit. Of the 17 balls the Royals put in play, 7 were considered hard hit and turned into outs. The Royals only got three hits, and all were .800 xBA or better. The Royals couldn’t get anything to fall. Then, in the seventh, AJ Hinch caused Ryan to cite one of Denny’s favorite things to pick on. He summoned a reliever despite the fact that Montero, outside back-to-back smash hits from Jac Caglianone and Isaac Collins with two outs in the second inning, had been absolutely dominant. Denny’s point – which is a point you’ll hear anyone who has watched baseball for very long make – is that every time you bring in a fresh reliever, even if he’s been good all year, you risk that this time he just doesn’t have it. Denny and Ryan compare it to spinning a roulette wheel. I’ve compared it to making a parlay bet.

Now, at first, it seemed Hinch was doing just fine. Tyler Holton came on to face Carter Jensen, Caglianone, and Collins, and he got them 1-2-3. But then, just as I was beginning to whine on social media about how much I hate the Tigers, he called upon his second closer out of three, Kyle Finnegan, who had a 0.51 ERA entering the night. When he left, it was 1.53, and the wheels fell off fast.

Michael Massey, leading off, took a splitter that didn’t quite dive out of the zone and drove it into left-center for a leadoff double. Kyle Isbel – we’re still not done talking about him – drove him in with a single. Wencéel Perez, who had driven in the go-ahead run back in the sixth inning, let it go under his glove, and Isbel managed to go all the way to third. We didn’t even have time to start arguing about whether Kyle should have tried to score before Maikel Garcia smashed a line drive right back at the centerfield camera to single Isbel home and tie the game.

Bobby Witt Jr. walked after he finally challenged a fastball just off the outside edge that had been frustratingly called a strike against KC most of the night, and that they had let go unremarked. The Royals had runners at first and second, no one out, for Vinnie and Salvy.

Now, Vinnie and Salvy have been doing better lately. Vinnie, in particular, had a couple of really good swings earlier in the game against Montero. One of them would have been a home run in 14 parks, but was a flyout at Kauffman. But the Tigers called in another lefthander, Brant Hurter, and Vinnie had a 3 wRC+ against lefties coming into tonight. As Matthew Lamar pointed out on social media, this is what Lane Thomas is in KC for.

Salvy, even at his hottest, doesn’t belong in the middle of a big league lineup anymore. We’ve talked about this ad nauseam, so I don’t need to reiterate it. But Vinnie grounded into a double play, and Salvy did everything he could to make an out but was ultimately forced to take a walk. Finally, Lane Thomas was called upon to pinch hit for catcher Carter Jensen – that’s why Díaz was in in the ninth – and he grounded out to end the threat. The game felt over again. Especially after the previously described first pitch from Erceg in the ninth.

In the bottom of the ninth, things continued to go poorly. Hurter was left in to face Caglianone, Collins, and Massey. Cags got a hittable pitch, but one he needed to go the other way with; instead, he hit a soft liner to right for an out. Collins struck out looking. Then Nick Loftin pinch-hit for Massey.

Now, I wasn’t a fan of this move. There were already two outs and we were surely going to want Massey’s glove in the tenth. Even if Loftin got on, Kyle Isbel – almost there! – was next up and against a lefty, that didn’t seem worth bothering with. Loftin had a really good at-bat that ended with him smashing a double into the left-center gap. Great, here comes Izzy to face the lefty.

Isbel did exactly what he should do with that pitch when facing that pitcher, and it was jsut enough to walk off the game.

The Royals now only need to win one of the next two games to be able to claim a successful homestand. No one in Kansas City would complain if they replicated each of their past two weekends and swept the dang thing. But, either way, it will all start again tomorrow night.

Michael Wacha (3.05 ERA) will take the mound for Kansas City. The Tigers started the day with TBA as their starter, changed it to Ty Madden at some point this evening, and now it shows old friend Burch Smith (1.59 ERA in 11.1 innings of relief in only his second big league season since 2021) taking the ball first. Regardless of who starts the game, it – like Sunday’s contest – is likely to be a bullpen affair. Lots of opportunities for AJ Hinch to come up snake eyes in his roulette parlay. The Royals just need to be ready to leap on it at least as well as they were tonight.

Luke Raley’s done a lot of things in his career. He’s the rare Mariner who can both get to the third deck in right field and also routinely bunt for a base hit. He burst into fans’ hearts in 2024 by doing exactly that. But something he’s never done is hit a grand slam. At least, it was something he’d never done until tonight.

It was the second time the Mariners had loaded the bases in just the first three innings. The first time, they were turned back after driving in just a single run on a Cole Young HBP. But this time, Luke Raley would torch a fastball at 113 mph off the bat into the Mariners’ bullpen.

Mariners fans in the Chicago crowd would come up with a few of the balls hit into the stands tonight, but Raley’s lucky this one went to the pen. Eduard Bazardo ran it down and affectionately dusted it off for presentation to Raley after the game.

Another thing Raley’s never done is drive in seven runs in a game, which is hardly a surprise, given that only a dozen Mariners had ever done it before. At least, it was something Raley’d never done until tonight. But in the top of the seventh inning, Luke Raley matched the 372 feet of his prior home run with his second of the night. 

After an injury-riddled 2025, Raley has been hitting the ball so hard this season that he’s got a 149 wRC+ despite striking out more than a third of the time. That comes from the kinds of full-effort swings that he just couldn’t get to while nursing a sore oblique throughout last summer. He’s also taken over the team lead in home runs with 8 and RBIs with 23.

Of course, RBIs aren’t really an individual achievement, as they require your teammates to get on base in front of you. “I was blessed that the bases were loaded,” Raley said after the game. So he’ll probably buy a Chicago steak dinner for Randy Arozarena and J.P. Crawford, who accounted for four of Raley’s RBIs, with each man quietly reaching base three times tonight. For setting up Luke Raley’s achievement with little fanfare, Randy gets tonight’s Sun Hat Award for individual contribution to a game (edging out J.P. with a stolen base).

Like Luke Raley, Julio Rodríguez has done a lot of things in his career too, such as being one of just three Mariners with at least 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases. But one thing he’s never done is get off to a hot start. At least, it was something he’d never done until this season. For despite struggling through the first week of 2026, Julio’s started his take-off earlier than usual this year. Since April 8, he’s got a 152 wRC+. So yes, he took a minute to get going, but unlike in prior years, it really was just a minute. He kept that going tonight, going yard for the sixth time.

This home run highlights a mechanical change that’s led to Julio looking much more comfortable in the box this year. After keeping his bat pretty straight up and down, he’s now resting it almost parallel to the ground with just a little waggle until the pitcher starts his motion. The result is a more fluid motion that just goes straight into the swing rather than backing the bat up first. Whether the mechanics are actually better is above my pay grade. But the results are not: He’s never had a wRC+ this high by May 8 before.

Josh Naylor has done a lot of things in his career too. And Josh Naylor always looks fucking sick.

Police have been called to the Fairfield, Conn., home that former Yankees pitcher Carl Pavano and his ex-wife, Alissa Pavano, still share custody of nine times since 2024 — and as recently as April 29 — as a nasty legal battle involving a prenuptial agreement drags on, according to CT Insider.

Divorce papers were served two years ago, according to the outlet, and Alissa has wanted the court to invalidate the prenup agreement signed in Florida before they were married in 2011.

Carl allegedly “demanded” Alissa sign the prenup, according to a court briefing viewed by The Post, and she also alleged “intense” and “controlling” behavior by the ex-pitcher. According to the briefing, she walked on “eggshells” around the allegedly controlling right-hander and he insisted she give up “her residence, potential employment, and all financial independence.”

Alissa, an Instagram influencer with 20,000 followers, alleged that Carl “planted drugs” in her belongings to get children taken away from her, placed a secret camera in the bedroom and stole her jewelry, in addition to calling Alissa words and phrases such as “loser” and “white trash,” according to the brief.

State Superior Court Judge Thomas O’Neill initially ruled the prenup valid, according to CT Insider, but also gave Alissa a one-time payment of $300,000 — in addition to reportedly ruling that Carl buy her a house containing a value up to $1 million, $50,000 worth of jewelry and a new car.

“A prenuptial agreement is an acceptable way for individuals, prior to marriage, to condition how their financial interests and responsibilities will be determined after marriage,” Alissa’s lawyers alleged in a brief. “It should not be an acceptable way for a monied spouse who has already started a family with his significant other to force her to give up her financial independence, and then to extract financial advantages in the premarital agreement under the threat of taking the minor children away from her and leaving her destitute.”

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The couple shares three children, with two born before they were married.

They met in 2005 — when Carl pitched for the Yankees and Alissa was working as a waitress after graduating from Florida State, according to the brief — before breaking it off and beginning to date again two years later.

Pavano, who had a 14-year MLB career, only made 26 starts for the Yankees across three seasons after signing a four-year, $39.5 million contract before the 2005 season and earned the nickname “American Idle” from The Post’s George King for how little he pitched.

The Texas Rangers scored a run but the Chicago Cubs scored seven runs.

The Rangers introduced Elvis Cam tonight with Elvis Andrus manning one of the television cameras for an inning or so. It was a cute idea to see a Rangers legend and fan favorite covering the “action” but then they ended up forcing the poor guy to film the most wet fartiest game possible as Texas was pummeled by an actually good team while cosplaying as the junior varsity Anaheim Angels or whatever those City Connect uniforms are.

The Rangers didn’t have a hit until the fifth and luckily for them their second hit scored a run otherwise they would have been easily shut out.

Meanwhile, tonight’s starter Kumar Rocker couldn’t make it out of the fourth inning again as he endlessly went to 3-2 counts and collected just 11 outs for his 87 pitches to put the bullpen behind the eight ball to begin this series.

The Rangers are a season-worst four games under .500.

Player of the Game: Maybe statistically history’s worst big leaguer Justin Foscue drove in the only run if you’re curious just how much the rest of the lineup should feel embarrassed.

Up Next: No matter how we feel about it nothing can stop the fact that the Rangers and Cubs will play again tomorrow with RHP Jack Leiter set to take the mound for Texas opposite RHP Edward Cabrera for Chicago.

The Saturday evening first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 6:05 pm CDT and will be aired on the Rangers Sports Network.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have backtracked their "precautionary measures" with starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow and placed him on the 15-day injured list.

Glasnow reinjured his back during a May 6 meeting with the Houston Astros while throwing warmup pitches during the second inning, which took him out for the rest of the game. The Dodgers won 12-2.

Glasnow's back injury history was known by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. He said that it's been "a reoccurring theme" and would monitor the pain with more precautionary measures, such as pushing back his starts.

But the team announced on X, formerly Twitter, Friday that Glasnow was placed on the injured list with low back spasms and recalled right-handed pitcher Paul Gervase.

Jacob Misiorowski celebrated CC Sabathia being inducted into the Brewers’ Wall of Fame in the most ceremonious fashion possible, by striking out 11 Yankees and not allowing a single run, as he led the Brewers to a 6-0 series-opening victory.

Kicking the festivities off in the top of the first inning, Misiorowski was able to strike out the first two Yankees batters he faced on three pitches each. With Aaron Judge at the plate, he was able to quickly get the first two strikes, as he looked to become the first Brewers pitcher since Josh Hader in 2019 to throw an immaculate inning, and then he missed about an inch out of the zone. On the next pitch, he got Judge to fly out to right field to end the inning.

With how spotty the Brewers offense has been to start the 2026 season, jumping on a Cy Young Award candidate like Max Fried early in the game was crucial to any success they were seeking. Luckily for the Brewers’ bats, Fried struggled to find the zone, giving up back-to-back walks after allowing a lead-off single to Gary Sánchez. With the bases loaded, the Crew got RBI singles from both Brandon Lockridge and Sal Frelick to give them a 2-0 lead. Joey Ortiz was then tasked with yet another bases-loaded opportunity, although this time, it wasn’t the worst-case scenario, as he grounded into a fielder’s choice, but a runner did score to extend their lead to 3-0. After the RBI groundout, Jackson Chourio made his presence felt with an RBI knock, wrapping up a nine-batter, four-run bottom of the second inning.

As Misiorowski continued to wheel-and-deal, there was a scary moment with Lockridge, who was off to a great night at the plate. With Cody Bellinger at the plate, he hit a fly ball down the left field line where Lockridge slid in foul territory, banging his knee into the cement along the wall. Lockridge was carted off the field and ultimately pulled from the game. Post-game comments from Brewers manager Pat Murphy indicate that his X-rays were negative for a fracture and he suffered a deep laceration that goes to the bone.

The Brewers offense was able to scratch across two more runs following Lockridge’s injury, but made Fried work. He ended the night with six innings thrown, giving up five runs, three walks, and striking out five batters.

Outside of the stellar outing for Misiorowski, we saw a couple of other positives tonight. First and foremost, Ortiz hit his first extra-base hit of the season. They have gotten virtually nothing out of his bat this season, but perhaps this could be the turning point of his season, as he also had an RBI tonight.

On the pitching side, Shane Drohan picked up his first-ever career save. Meaning, first-ever save in high school, college, Minor Leagues, or Major Leagues. He threw almost three perfect innings as he allowed just one walk and struck out three batters.

Despite getting a much-needed game one win, two big questions loom: how long will Lockridge be out for, and who will his replacement be? Will we see the promotion of a top-performing prospect or an old friend rejoin the team after being in Triple-A for a week?

It’ll be another night of young shining stars on the mound as the Brewers go for the series win tomorrow night. Cam Schlittler will get the ball for New York while Kyle Harrison takes it for Milwaukee.

A new series means a fresh start. After losing two out of three against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Athletics began a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles on Tupac bobblehead night at Camden Yards. The A’s ruined the Orioles’ Tupac celebration, winning the first game of the series 4-3, thanks to timely hitting, arguably Jacob Lopez’s best start of the season and a bullpen that bent, but did not break.

Orioles Waste Early Scoring Chance

Yesterday, the A’s scored four times in the first inning against the Phillies’ pitcher. In contrast, Orioles’ starting pitcher Kyle Bradish retired the first six A’s hitters.

His counterpart, A’s left-hander Jacob Lopez got into some trouble in his first inning. He walked Orioles’ shortstop Gunnar Henderson and then catcher Adley Rutschman singled to put runners on the corners with one out. Somehow Lopez escaped the early jam unscathed by getting first baseman Pete Alonso to pop out and then right fielder Tyler O’Neill to ground out. Buoyed by that escape, Lopez shut down the Orioles over the next three innings.

Bradish Halts A’s First Rally

With two outs in the third inning, Bradish hit Jeff McNeil with a pitch then A’s first baseman Nick Kurtz hustled down the line to beat the Orioles third baseman’s throw for an infield single, his team’s first hit of the game. Kurtz’s hit extended his on-base streak to 32 games, the longest active streak in MLB. Alas, Bradish struck out A’s catcher Shea Langeliers to end the rally and the inning.

Orioles Strike First

With one out in the fourth, Alonso hit his eighth home run of 2026, a solo shot to right field to put the hosts up 1-0 after four frames. The four hitters in that inning all hit deep fly balls off of Lopez, but fortunately only Alonso’s reached the seats.

A’s Immediately Respond

Athletics’ shortstop Jacob Wilson led off the fifth with an infield single, extending his hit streak to 12 games. Center fielder Lawrence Butler followed with a single to left. Then third baseman Zack Gelof came up and hit a single to left, scoring Wilson to tie the game.

A few pitches later, with runners on second and third and one out, Kurtz came through! The “Big Amish” hit his first triple of the season, a rocket down the right field line that scored both runners to put the A’s up 3-1.

Unfortunately, the visitors stranded Kurtz at third base. Bradish got the next two hitters out to limit further damage. Langeliers struck out for a second straight time with a runner in scoring position and then left fielder Tyler Soderstrom grounded out.

Lopez, who has struggled this season the deeper he pitches into games, recorded a much-needed shutdown inning in the bottom of the fifth.

Orioles Inch Closer

In the bottom of the sixth, the Orioles halved their deficit. Rutschman hit his fifth home run of the season, a solo blast to left-center. A’s manager Mark Kotsay promptly pulled his starter from the game. Lopez performed much better tonight. He gave up three hits and those two solo home runs in 5 1/3 innings, striking out five while walking only two.

The Orioles starter was also much improved from his last start. Bradish struck out ten over seven innings of three-run ball.

It was up to the A’s bullpen to hold the team’s slim lead. Right-hander Justin Sterner got the final two outs of the sixth inning, aided by Wilson’s nice ranging defensive play to field Alonso’s hard-hit ground ball. Fellow right-hander Scott Barlow set Baltimore down in order in a scoreless seventh.

A’s Get Crucial Insurance Run

In the eighth inning, the Athletics sought insurance runs against Orioles’ reliever Trey Gibson. Langeliers and Brent Rooker singled. With two outs, Wilson poked his second single past the diving Alonso, scoring Soderstrom from second to restore his team’s two-run lead.

Once again, the A’s needed a shutdown inning and they got it, this time from reliever Joel Kuhnel, who got three quick outs in the bottom of the eighth.

A’s Barely Hang on

The Orioles did not go quietly in the bottom of the ninth. A’s hard-throwing right-hander Jack Perkins entered the game seeking his fourth save. Rutschman led off the inning with a walk. Perkins bounced back by striking out Alonso and pinch-hitter Dylan Beavers. With the Orioles down to their last strike, designated hitter Samuel Basallo bounced a single into center field, scoring Rutschman from second to make it a one-run game.

The A’s brought in left-hander Hogan Harris to replace Perkins, a risky decision that could have backfired. Harris walked the first batter he faced before striking out Orioles’ second baseman Jeremiah Jackson to put a stop to Baltimore’s last-ditch comeback attempt, pick up his second save of the season and seal the Athletics victory in this tightly-contested, entertaining series-opener.

These two teams will play the second game of their series tomorrow afternoon. The A’s will send right-hander Aaron Civale (3-1, 2.95 ERA) to the mound in pursuit of the series title. The 30-year-old has been a steadying presence in the team’s rotation through his first seven starts with the A’s. Civale will be opposed by Orioles’ right-hander Shane Baz, who is 1-3 with a 4.99 ERA through his first seven starts with Baltimore. It should be another great game between two well-matched teams.

The big story for the Yankees going into Friday night’s matchup against the Brewers was the debut of Spencer Jones. The outfielder is a former first round pick and has some intriguing tools, including massive power. However, we didn’t get to see any of that in his debut, because, unfortunately, other teams are allowed to have young talent too.

On the mound for the Brewers was their young ace Jacob Misiorowski, who the Yankees were facing for the first time. In this particular game, they had no answers for this newest puzzle. Regularly topping 100 MPH all night, Misiorowski ended up going six innings, striking out a peronal season-best 11 Yankees, while giving up just two hits and two walks.

Jones did end up drawing one of those walks, but other than that, it was an uneventful game for him and an uneventful one for the Yankees in general. Misiorowski and the Brewers blanked them, as Milwaukee won the series opener 6-0.

With Misiorowski throwing fireballs, the Brewers gave him an advantage verus Fried in the second inning. While fomer Yankee Gary Sánchez led off the inning with a single, Fried then hurt himself by walking the next two batters to load the bases with no outs. Brandon Lockridge and Sal Frelick then hit a couple of soft singles, scoring a run each. While Fried then finally got an out, it came on a grounder that scored one run, and moved another runner to third, where they scored on another weak single. Fried then bounced back with two strikeouts, but plenty of damage had been done. Milwaukee added more the following inning when Lockridge hit another RBI single.

The top of the fourth saw an unfortunate moment, as Lockridge — who is a former Yankees’ prospect — slammed his knee into the bottom concrete part of the wall in the left field foul territory. It evoked memories of former Yankee Dustin Fowler, as Lockridge was carted off the field.

After the bumps in the second and third innings, Fried did settle in and at least soaked up some innings. He ended up going six frames, allowing five runs on six hits and three walks. He wasn’t particularly sharp, but he did also get bit by just some unfortunate contact.

The main issue with the game was that the Yankees just had no answer for Misiorowski. The young star ended up allowing just two hits while he was in, both singles to José Caballero. That’s just never going to be enough, no matter how good or bad Fried was doing.

The Yankees also gave another debut — this one not an MLB one, though — to reliever Kervin Castro, who they called up alongside Jones. He gave up one further run, as the Brewers picked up some insurance in the seventh inning. However, he came back in the eighth and looked better. Castro ended up striking out two batters in his two innings.

For the day, Jones ended up going 0-for-2 with two walks, while striking out twice. Swinging and missing is the major question mark surrounding Jones, but Misiorowski was making pretty much every Yankee hitter doing that all night.

The Yankees and Brewers will continue their matchup tomorrow night at 7:10 pm ET. The Yankees will get to send their young stud to the hill in that one, as Cam Schlittler and Kyle Harrison are penciled in to be the respective starters in that one.

Box Score

Back when Ronald Acuña Jr. was initially diagnosed with a Grade 1 hamstring strain, there was a feeling that Acuña’s stint on the IL might be a quick one — one where the starting right fielder for the Braves would simply just take some rest before ramping back up for a return within a 10-day span.

The fact that Acuña was in high enough spirits to be trolling his good buddy Ozzie Albies back in Colorado appeared to be anecdotal evidence that he was going to be fine and that this wouldn’t be a serious injury situation and now that does appear to be the case. Mark Bowman of MLB.com shared the news from Braves manager Walt Weiss that there’s a very good chance that Acuña could be back in action on this coming Wednesday, which would be the first day where he’s eligible to come off of the IL.

It also helped that Acuña was on the field before tonight’s game against the Dodgers getting in some exercise work.

Needless to say, this is very good news for the Braves as it really does appear that they could be getting their primary right fielder back in action as soon as possible. Usually it’s safe to assume that this is the type of injury that’ll take anywhere from 2-to-3 weeks to recover from so the fact that Acuña may be back in 10 days is a very positive development. I’d imagine that they’ll take it easy with bringing Acuña back into the fold once h is activated but the fact that this could be just 10 days after all is pretty solid news.

Hopefully there aren’t any more setbacks for Acuña between now and Wednesday so that this could come to pass. For now, the Braves can keep going knowing that it probably won’t be long until they get one of their star players back from injury. We’ll see what happens.