Category: MLB

The Iowa Cubs were broadsided by the Columbus Clippers (Guardians), 4-3.

Iowa scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning and then didn’t score again. First, left fielder Justin Dean walked to lead off the bottom of the inning. He then stole second, went to third on a bad throw and scored on a fielder’s choice by first baseman Jonathon Long.

Two batters later, right fielder Kevin Alcántara did this.

The two-run home run went 393 feet and came on a slider from a right-hander that drifted outside the zone.

The I-Cubs got a good 3.1 innings from starter Will Sanders. Sanders gave up one run on a solo home run by Petey Halpin but nothing else. The final line on Sanders was one run on five hits over 3.1 innings. He struck out six and walked just one.

Luke Little relieved Sanders. He did not allow a run or a hit over 1.1 innings. He did walk two while striking out one.

Meanwhile, Iowa only had three hits after the first inning. One of them was this double by center fielder Brett Bateman.

Columbus got one run in each of the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to lose the game. Ethan Roberts gave up a run in the seventh and Yacksel Rios allowed a run in the eighth and ninth to blow the save and take the loss. The final line on Rios was two runs on four hits and three walks over two innings. He struck out one.

Alcántara was 1 for 4 with the two-run home run. Bateman was 1 for 3 with a double and a steal.

There was ample action in Great American Ball Park on Saturday, and the end result was a 6-5 victory by the Cincinnati Reds over the Boston Red Sox.

Dane Myers swatted a single over the shortstop – a replacement shortstop, I should add – in the Bottom of the 11th inning for his first hit, RBI, and Gatorade bath as a member of the Reds, as that was good enough to plate TJ Friedl from 2B and end the game. For that he not only gets mentioned in his first recap here at Red Reporter, but also takes home Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game honors.

How this game got there, though, was a bit of a see-saw.

Cincinnati jumped on Boston early as former Red Sonny Gray struggled early, needing over 30 pitches just to make it out of the Bottom of the 1st. The top of the Cincinnati order got on, got over, and scored twice in the game’s initial frame, and the early damage was enough to limit Gray to just 4 IP before exiting having allowed 3 ER overall.

Cincinnati held an early 3-0 lead and later a 4-1 score, though Brady Singer ran into trouble in the Top of the 4th and allowe another pair of Boston runs before exiting himself after just 4.0 IP. Boston then began to chip away at Cincinnati’s bullpen as just about everyone they have down there got in on the action, including a Wilyer Abreu homer off Emilio Pagan in the Top of the 9th to tie the score at 5 each and send the game into extras.

Pagan, for the record, came on in the 8th to get out of a jam created by Tony Santillan, and his second inning of work wasn’t quite so effective.

Elly De La Cruz socked a solo homer, as did Sal Stewart for the Reds first round-trippers of the season. Matt McLain had himself a day with a trio of hits and a pair of walks, and the heart of the Cincinnati lineup is looking mighty tasty to begin the year.

Eugenio Suarez even picked up his first ’hit’ and ribbie of the season with a dribbler back to Gray early that scored McLain when the veteran righty couldn’t get the ball to the plate quick enough.

All told, it was an entertaining day at GABP as the Reds picked up their first win of the season.

Other Notes

• The ABS system got a workout with the erratic (at best) CB Bucknor behind the plate. The Reds had 6 (six!) correct challenges that overturned calls, Boston blew through theirs early, and shortstop Trevor Story (and manager Alex Cora) eventually got tossed by Bucknor at the end of the Top of the 8th after another one of his questionable calls. Story fanned 4 times on the day.
• Sal Stewart’s homer wasn’t all he did on the day, as he also added an RBI single and walked. The kid’s a machine in the making and the Reds should sign him to a 15 year contract yesterday.
• Boston is set to start lefty Connelly Early tomorrow, so I’d anticipate Myers getting his first start of the year in that one. Rhett Lowder will toe the rubber for the Reds in the rubber match, with first pitch set for 1:40 PM ET.

If the season opener were about the Mets lineup’s liveliness, the follow-up was about first survival, and then one swing.

Surviving all those Pirates base runners. Surviving an infield defense that looked as inexperienced as it is. Surviving first against Mitch Keller, who looks poised to take a leap, and later against a Pirates bullpen that bent but wouldn’t break. Surviving a squibber that would not go foul. Surviving the elements that come with playing baseball in New York in March.

On a frigid and windy Saturday that kept players and bats cold, the Mets gasped for nine quiet, scoreless innings. They found just enough life to keep the game going into 11 innings and then received the jolt of a swing they had long sought.

Luis Robert Jr. looked like the superstar he once was in clubbing a three-run walk-off home run to complete what the Mets so seldom completed last year: a legitimate, late-game comeback. The Mets, who trailed in the 10th and 11th, pulled out a 4-2 victory in front of 37,183 hooded and blanketed fans at Citi Field.

LA PANTERA ARRIVES IN QUEENS.

LUIS ROBERT JR. WITH A WALK-OFF HOME RUN!!!! pic.twitter.com/qJ2JbnRVL9

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 28, 2026

“It’s a different group,” manager Carlos Mendoza said of the Mets, who notably never won a game when trailing after eight innings last season.

The Mets had looked ready to retreat into the warmth of their clubhouse as losers in the 10th, when they first allowed a go-ahead RBI single to Nick Gonzales and then spoiled the good feelings from Luis Torrens’ own RBI single by failing to score with the bases loaded and no one out, groundouts from Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto costly.

The Mets had looked like hard-luck losers in the top of the 11th, when Richard Lovelady, who was on the cusp of stranding the automatic runner, watched Bryan Reynolds’ dribbler down the third-base line hug the grass and go for a go-ahead RBI single.

But in the first sign that this season might be as “different” as the roster itself, Robert provided the swing that swung the game.

The Cuban, surely not used to these temperatures, acknowledged that before stepping into the box, your hands get cold enough “that you can’t really feel them.” But then adrenaline takes over. He ignored a changeup out of the strike zone and found a slider that was low and away — a well-executed pitch that was nonetheless redirected, through the swirling winds and through air that hovered under 40 degrees, over the wall in left-center to ignite those freezing fans who remained.

“He’s talented. He’s gifted,” Mendoza said of Robert, whose tools are obvious. “With the way the wind was blowing, especially from left field, to just be able to leave the yard like that, in that situation, it goes to show you that this guy’s special.”

He was special in 2020, when he broke into the majors and finished second in AL Rookie of the Year voting with the White Sox. He was special in 2023, when he was an All-Star and received MVP votes while smashing 38 home runs.

He was less special the past two seasons, when his numbers plunged amid White Sox misery and injuries. An early focus with the Mets has been zeroing in on which pitches to slug and which to ignore.

“I think the one thing that great players have is knowing how to select pitches to swing at,” Robert said through interpreter Alan Suriel. “I think for me to be able to go back to being the player that I was and that I know that I’m capable of being, I think that’s going to be a big part of my game.”

Nearly forgotten by the end was the offensive frustration, following up an 11-run outburst Thursday with three hits through nine innings.

Nearly forgotten was a defense — which had looked sharp in the opener — prompting far more questions in Game 2, when Bo Bichette and Jorge Polanco looked like a new third baseman and first baseman, respectively.

And nearly forgotten was the excellent work from the pitching staff. David Peterson, Huascar Brazobán, Luke Weaver, Brooks Raley and Devin Williams combined for nine scoreless innings in which they stranded 12 on base. Luis García and Lovelady allowed just unearned runs in extra innings.

Big swings have a way of heating up cold bodies and pushing all other memories to the side.

“Real special, honestly,” Robert said of his brief Mets tenure so far. “These last two games have really been special.”

Let’s face it: Thursday’s Opening Day win was too easy. Too stress-free. The Mets aren’t really, truly back until they have a game that makes you question all the life choices that led to you deciding to spend three precious hours of your day watching them. Well, you best believe it: the Mets are officially BACK after today’s game in which the bats were held silent for three hours, followed by some extra innings nonsense. And yet, while this game was looking like it was going to be the first infuriating loss of the season, it instead proved to be the first thrilling come-from-behind victory of the season, with Luis Robert Jr. socking an 11th inning walk-off bomb to give the Mets win number two of 2026.

It was a cold and windy day at Citi Field today, and that perhaps played a role in both offenses being helpless for most of the afternoon. Starting pitchers David Peterson and Mitch Keller both put up zeroes in the first four innings while giving up just two hits and keeping their pitch counts low. The Pirates did load the bases with two outs in the top of the fifth against Peterson, but he induced a pop-up to first base from Marcell Ozuna to keep the game scoreless. He got in trouble again in the following inning by giving up two singles—one on a sharp grounder to first that Jorge Polanco couldn’t handle, and another on a bloop single to center—and Carlos Mendoza decided to pull his starter there after 5.1 innings of work in which he surrendered six hits and two walks while recording three strikeouts (a fairly quintessential statline for the longest-tenured Met). But Huascar Brazobán came out of the bullpen and got out of the jam to preserve Peterson’s 0.00 2026 ERA and keep the game scoreless.

Still, the Mets continued to be unable to get any rallies going against Keller. After Luke Weaver tossed a scoreless top of the seventh, the Pirates mercifully went to their bullpen after six scoreless innings from their starter, and it looked like the Amazins might finally break through after back-to-back leadoff walks against Justin Lawrence (who surrendered two homers in Thursday’s game). But he came back to strikeout Brett Baty and Marcus Semien, and the Pirates then brought in Gregory Soto to face Carson Benge, who also struck out to end the threat and prevent the first run of the game from crossing the plate.

After a 1-2-3 inning from Brooks Raley, the Mets tried again to score against Soto in the bottom of the eighth, and Francisco Alvarez started the frame with a leadoff walk and was subsequently pinch-ran for by Tyrone Taylor with the top of the order coming up. Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto were both retired, but Taylor wound up on third base (advancing to second on a wild pitch and to third on a fielder’s choice) to give Bo Bichette—the best hitter with runners in scoring position last year—a chance to give the Mets the lead. Alas, he instead struck out swinging, and the game headed to the ninth with goose eggs on both sides.

Devin Williams came on to make his Mets debut in the top of the ninth. Coming the day after Edwin Díaz made a successful debut for the Dodgers, we were gearing to have some major #discourse from the hysterical population of the Mets fanbase if the team’s new closer blew the game this early in the season. And much like the previous closer, Williams bent—allowing a double and walk in the inning—but did not break, striking out Bryan Reynolds with two outs to end the Pittsburgh threat and send the game into the bottom of the ninth. For the third straight inning—this time against new Pirates pitcher Dennis Santana—the Mets worked a leadoff walk to start the inning, and the winning run advanced to second on a fielder’s choice grounder to first by Luis Robert Jr. Alas, Baty then lined a ball to first base, and the runner at second was doubled off to send the game to extras.

Luis García—who surrendered two runs in his first outing of the season on Thursday—was called upon in the tenth, and the Pirates finally managed to bring home the first run of the ballgame against him on a one-out single to center off the bat of Nick Gonzales. He threatened to give up more after loading the bases on an infield single and a walk, but he retired Jake Mangum on a groundout to third base to keep the deficit at one, giving the Amazins the chance to at least tie the game with the ghost runner at second to start the bottom of the frame.

Well, the Mets finally did score a run in the bottom of the inning—and yet it somehow proved to be the most frustrating inning in a game full of them. Facing off against rookie lefty Hunter Barco with the bottom of the order due up, Semien started things off by getting hit by a pitch. Mendoza then called upon Mark Vientos to pinch-hit for Benge, and Swaggy V started his 2026 season by getting a single to left to load the bases with nobody out. That brought up Luis Torrens, who entered the game after Alvarez left for a pinch-runner earlier. The Mets might have preferred to have the latter up in this spot, but no matter—Torrens came through with another single to left to tie the game and keep the bases loaded. So with no outs and the top of the order coming up, surely the Amazins had this win in the bag, yes? Well… no. Lindor and Soto both had identical outcomes in their respective at-bats, hitting grounders that resulted in force-outs at home plate. Then with two outs, Bichette—who’d already failed with a runner in scoring position earlier—flew out to right field to end the inning. Thus, we were no longer scoreless, but still tied. Onto the eleventh!

With basically everyone else in the bullpen having been used by this point, Mendoza had to turn to Richard Lovelady to try to keep the Pirates off the board. He might be the last man in the bullpen pecking order, but he came pretty dang close to getting out of the inning unscathed after recording the first two outs, with the second out coming via a grounder to second that advanced the ghost runner to second. That unfortunately proved to be consequential, as Reynolds then hit a soft grounder down the third base line that stayed fair and allowed the second Pirates run of the day to score. And Lovelady almost subsequently surrendered even more after Marcell Ozuna lined a ball to right field and put runners on the corners, but he instead struck out Gonzales to end the threat and once again hold the Pirates to just one extra-inning run.

Still, just like last inning, one couldn’t help but feel as though we were setting up for a disappointing end to the game in which the Mets couldn’t bring home the ghost runner. But that very quickly proved to not be the case. Polanco walked to lead-off the inning against Barco, and Robert—lefty-masher that he is—had himself his first signature moment with his new team, as he socked a three-run homer over the left field wall to double the amount of runs scored in today’s game, and to give the Mets the come-from-behind victory.

In the end, it’s just win number two. We still have 160 games to go. But we certainly have seen plenty of these types of games go the other way for the Mets in years past—particularly last season—so to overcome the mostly frustrating affair and come out on the winning side is nevertheless a breath of fresh air. Now we will see the Amazins go for the sweep tomorrow with Nolan McLean taking the mound.

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Luis Robert Jr. (duh), +50.4% WPA
Big Mets loser: Luis García and Richard Lovelady, -31.0% WPA
Mets pitchers: +4.8% WPA
Mets hitters: +45.2% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Luis Robert Jr. walk-off three-run homer in the 11th (duh again), +49.1% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Bryan Reynolds RBI single in the 11th, -34.0% WPA

The Mets rallied in the 11th inning to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2 on Saturday at Citi Field, as Luis Robert Jr. hit a three-run home run to end the game.

The Mets didn’t score until the 10th inning, but rallied twice in extra innings to pull out the win.

Here are the takeaways...

-Here’s how the Mets won it in the 11th: with the free runner at second, Marcus Semien drew a walk and then Robert Jr. jumped all over an 82-mph slider from lefty Hunter Barco, hitting it over the left field wall for the game-winner.

The Mets’ high-leverage relievers were essentially flawless on Saturday, but with the game in extra innings Luis Garcia and Richard Lovelady each gave up a run in the 10th and 11th innings.

-The Mets rallied in the bottom of the 10th inning to tie the score at 1-1, but missed a golden opportunity to win the game as Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, and Bo Bichette all failed to deliver the winning run from third base. to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 at Citi Field on Saturday, pushing their record to 2-0.

Luis Torrens had lined a single to left, tying the game at 1-1. Lindor grounded to second for a force out at the plate, then Soto got jammed on a fastball, and squibbed a ball slowly between the pitcher and the third base line. Barco made a nice play, getting to it and flipping it home to get another force out at the plate.

Bichette then flew out to right to end the inning.

For the day the Mets managed six hits, and Robert Jr.’s home run was their only extra-base hit. They went 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

-Bichette, who hit .381 last season w/RISP, had two big chances to change the game. He struck out with two outs in the eighth inning with the go-ahead run on third base at the time, looking bad chasing sliders down-and-in from Pirates’ lefty Gregory Soto.

And then in the 10th, with the bases loaded and two outs, he got under a 1-1 sweeper from Barco and flew out routinely to right.

-In his first appearance replacing Edwin Diaz as Mets closer, Devin Williams put up a zero in his first appearance as closer for the Mets, striking out Bryan Reynolds with runners at first and third to end the top of the ninth and keep the game tied at the time.

A line double by Jake Mangum and then a two-out walk to Ryan O’Hearn set up the Reynolds at-bat.

Williams got ahead of Reynolds 0-2 with two fastballs, one fouled off. After showing him his signature change-up, the air-bender, for a ball down, Williams beat Reynolds with a fastball for the swinging strikeout.

That finished up an outstanding day for the key relievers in the Mets’ bullpen, as Huascar Brazoban, Luke Weaver, and Brooks Raley all put up zeroes as well over the final 3.2 innings.

-David Peterson delivered a solid first start of the season. Despite allowing nine baserunners, on six hits, two walks, and a Bichette error, the lefthander held the Pirates scoreless over 5.1 innings as he made big pitches to get out of trouble in the fourth and fifth, and got relief help from Brazoban to escape the sixth.

For Peterson, it was a good sign as he looks to bounce back from his poor performance in the second half of last season, especially in September, after making the All-Star team with a strong first half.

Before Saturday’s game, Carlos Mendoza said he felt confident that Peterson’s slump was mostly the result of “hitting the wall” after throwing a career-high 165 innings.

Peterson’s biggest pitch was a 2-0 fastball, with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth inning, to Marcell Ozuna. Though the four-seamer was clocked at only 89 mph, Ozuna popped it up for an easy out.

Peterson’s velocity was down a bit throughout the game compared to last season. He was mostly 89-90 with his four-seamer, which averaged 92.3 mph last season.

Brazoban came on with runners at first and second in the sixth, and one out, and shut the door.

-Bichette made his first error at his new position of third base, fielding a routine ground ball from Reynolds in the fourth inning but then throwing high and wide of first base, as Polanco had to come off the base to catch the ball, too far off to tar the runner.

Bichette also made something of an unconventional play on a slow ground ball, positioning himself as he moved to his left so he could field the ball backhanded. It looked odd, but it put him in position to use his momentum to make a strong throw.

-Mitch Keller threw six shutout innings for the Pirates, allowing only three baserunners, all on singles.

Keller has historically been tough on the Mets. He came in with a 2.06 career ERA against them in six previous starts, though the ERA was higher, 3.46, in two starts at Citi Field.

Game MVP: Luis Robert Jr.

Duh. Robert Jr. is a gamble that so far is paying off in a big way, after coming over in a trade from the Chicago White Sox at a $20 million salary this season.

The Mets are convinced that if he can just stay healthy, he can put up a season as he did in 2023 when he was an AL All-Star.

Highlights

Bo Bichette's first hit as a Met! pic.twitter.com/w4ZJFRKBwu

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 28, 2026

David Peterson gets Marcell Ozuna to pop out and escapes a bases-loaded jam pic.twitter.com/i1nxplposH

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 28, 2026

STRUCK HIM OUT!

Devin Williams fans Bryan Reynolds to keep the game scoreless! pic.twitter.com/l7i1L0gLco

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 28, 2026

Two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 inning for Brooks Raley! 💪 pic.twitter.com/jpUuNrEtmO

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 28, 2026

LUIS TORRENS TIES THE GAME IN THE 10TH! pic.twitter.com/hHMl8vEjfl

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 28, 2026

LA PANTERA ARRIVES IN QUEENS.

LUIS ROBERT JR. WITH A WALK-OFF HOME RUN!!!! pic.twitter.com/qJ2JbnRVL9

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 28, 2026

What's next

The Mets and Pirates wrap up their weekend series on Sunday. First pitch is set for 1:40 p.m.

Nolan McLean will make his 2026 debut, and he'll go against Carmen Miodzinski.

It took the Mets 10 innings to get on the scoreboard, but the result was worth the wait for fans at Citi Field.

Luis Torrens tied the game at 1-1 with a bases-loaded single in his first at-bat of the season, but New York couldn't find a way to get another run in the frame.

The Pirates took a 2-1 lead in the top of the 11th inning, setting the stage for a walk-off win.

Luis Robert Jr. stepped up and became the hero, launching a three-run home run to left field to give the Mets a 4-2 win in 11 innings.

It's Robert's first HR with his new team, his fourth career walk-off, and second career walk-off home run.

LA PANTERA ARRIVES IN QUEENS.

LUIS ROBERT JR. WITH A WALK-OFF HOME RUN!!!! pic.twitter.com/qJ2JbnRVL9

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 28, 2026

"LUIS ROBERT JR. WITH A WALK-OFF THREE-RUN HOMER IN THE BOTTOM OF THE 11TH!"

Gary, Keith and Ron on the call for Luis Robert Jr.'s walk-off home run! 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/1zHHIrI4PH

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 29, 2026

LUIS TORRENS TIES THE GAME IN THE 10TH! pic.twitter.com/hHMl8vEjfl

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 28, 2026

The Orioles unveiled a 2026 slogan, to much self-paid fanfare, that says: Fly Different. Setting aside any grammatical quibbles with this particular slogan or motto, if the team is going to live up to it, they are going to have to do something better than what happened last year, whether this is to be described as different or differently. Their main problem two games into the season is that they are flying same. This continued on Saturday afternoon against the Twins as the O’s lost a 4-1 game for their first setback of 2026.

The most important thing there is to say about this game is that Orioles batters struck out 16 times. That’s twice as many strikeouts as they had in their Opening Day victory over Minnesota. Despite out-hitting the Twins, 5-4, the Orioles had just one hit with runners in scoring position and they ended up leaving a total of 11 men on base. The first seven spots in the starting lineup combined for just one hit in the game. All of these things create a tough environment to get a win, since they pretty much demand that everything else will go perfectly.

Saturday’s Orioles starting pitcher, Kyle Bradish, was not perfectly. We all want Bradish to be able to pick up where he left off from the 2023 season, before Tommy John surgery and rehab interrupted his career. In six starts after coming back last year, he showed that he might be able to do so. That did not continue on into today.

Bradish was not able to complete five innings in his first start of the season. He lost command of his elevated fastball as the game went along and it seemed that he was losing velocity as well. Only in time can we know if these are continual trends of concern. Bradish’s struggle was encapsulated when he allowed a two-run home run to Twins #8 hitter Royce Lewis. Don’t blow it against the #8 hitter! And yet, here we are. These two runs were the decisive ones in the game, and the only earned runs allowed by Bradish on the day.

There was also an unearned run against Bradish. This one was much less his fault. It started with Byron Buxton beating out a ground ball for an infield single. Jeremiah Jackson’s throw from the shortstop side of second base was initially ruled to be an out but overturned on replay. Buxton advanced to second base on a fly ball, showing the kind of disrespect a fast runner can afford to show Colton Cowser, who has not demonstrated accuracy with his arm.

Buxton made it to third base when Adley Rutschman attempted a back pick at second base and ended up throwing the ball into Buxton’s helmet. That was dumb. It cost the Orioles on the very next batter, when the speedy Buxton was able to score on a not-particularly-deep flyout to left field. This was the first Twins run of the game and erased what had been a 1-0 Orioles lead. Earlier in the game, the team cashed in on back-to-back hits by Cowser and Jackson to score the game’s first run. For the Orioles offense, this proved to be the only run.

When the Orioles offense largely struggled on Opening Day, that was, at least, against Joe Ryan, a guy who was pretty good a year ago. That easy excuse is not available for the Saturday loss. Minnesota’s Taj Bradley dropped a 5.05 ERA in the 2025 season and brought a 4.86 career ERA into the game. The O’s did a solid job early in the game of pushing up Bradley’s pitch count, and although they didn’t have much to show for it, and indeed struck out against him nine times, they chased him after only 4.1 innings.

Often, getting the starter out before the fifth inning is step one towards a good outcome. Unfortunately, this involves successfully executing later steps by doing good things against a team’s bullpen. The Orioles could not manage to do this. They had two hits for the rest of the game after Minnesota’s bullpen got involved. That sucks.

If you want to find a silver lining from the loss, that could be found in the major league debut of reliever Anthony Nunez. Acquired from the Mets last July, Nunez probably only made the Opening Day roster due to the injuries to Keegan Akin and Andrew Kittredge. Nunez looked great in the losing effort, pitching for two perfect innings while striking out three batters. I think that’s the first sign, but not the last, that he is ticketed for eventual higher-leverage innings.

With the press conference announcing Shane Baz’s contract extension earlier on Saturday drawing apparently the entire Orioles roster, this could have been a great chance for a fun win to leave everybody feeling good about the direction of the franchise. Instead, the Orioles turned in the kind of loss that they have authored all too many times since around the All-Star Break in the 2024 season.

It’s only one game out of 162, and it only feels so important because it is 50% of the games so far. But even in the one game that the Orioles won, the offense didn’t do much to make anybody feel like the problems have been solved.

Even so, the Orioles can get a season-opening series win on Sunday afternoon starting at a scheduled 1:35 Eastern. That will depend on Baz making a strong first impression on the organization after signing his new contract extension, and probably also on the offense doing something other than stinking against Twins #3 starter Bailey Ober. At least they aren’t the Giants, who got shut out two games in a row to start the season. That doesn’t make me feel much better.

The Texas Rangers scored five runs while the Philadelphia Phillies scored four runs in ten innings.

Never a doubt, right? Ha ha ha…

Corey Seager homered off Aaron Nola. So too did Jake Burger. That was a few hours ago. Feels like weeks.

Then Rangers got a nice spot start from the other other Jacob, Jacob Latz, after Jacob deGrom couldn’t pitch because he’s 38 years old and a strange pillow in a strange land can wreck your day.

Then Latz and four relievers held the Phillies to just one hit through two outs in the ninth inning.

Then Burger dropped his second popup on a play that would have ended the game with Texas enjoying a shutout.

Then former Rangers Adolis Garcia doubled in a run.

Then the Phillies tied it off Chris Martin.

Then the Rangers scored two runs in the tenth after being held off the board since the third inning.

Then someone I don’t think I’ve ever heard of in my life named Tyler Alexander squeaked through the tenth allowing just one run and the Rangers won a game that can only be described as peak Texas Rangers Baseball (TM).

I wonder if MLB knows it’s like 80 degrees in Arlington tomorrow and the Rangers have a retractable roof stadium.

Anyway, with the win, the Rangers avoided their first 0-2 start to begin a season since losing their first two games in Toronto back in 2022.

Player of the Game: Andrew McCutchen driving in Wyatt Langford for Texas’ non-Manfred Man run — proving to be the eventual winning run — in the tenth is now legally the only moment you’re allowed to remember from this game.

Up Next: The Rangers will close out their stint in Philly attempting to secure a series win in their first set of the year with LHP MacKenzie Gore expected to make his debut with Texas opposite LHP Jesús Luzardo for Philadelphia.

The lunch time first pitch from Citizens Bank Park is scheduled for 12:35 pm CT and you can watch it on the Rangers Sports Network.

After eight innings of struggling to muster consistent at-bats against a variety of Texas Rangers pitchers, they woke up in the ninth because the final three outs are always the hardest ones to get.

With a three-nothing Rangers lead heading into the ninth, the Phillies had Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and Alec Bohm due up against left-hander Robert Garcia. Things looked even bleaker when Schwarber struck out looking and it didn’t feel better when Harper grounded a changeup to third baseman Josh Jung for out number two.

But there are 27 outs in baseball, not 26 and sometimes all a baseball team needs is some luck to start a rally. Bohm caught a changeup off the end of his bat that flared right in front of Nimmo for a two out single.

With Garcia still in the game, Rob Thomson called for Edmundo Sosa to hit for Bryson Stott to try and start a rally. Garcia missed his first three pitches outside of the strike zone but located a fastball to make it three and one. Sosa then geared up to swing no matter what but got a slider instead of the fastball he was hoping for. After fouling off two more sliders, he spat on an uncompetitive changeup to work a walk.

Chris Martin rushed in from the bullpen to face Adolis Garcia, who had the chance to make his mark against the team that non-tendered him in November.

The hardest out to get in baseball is the last one. Martin didn’t throw a great first pitch cutter over the middle of the plate but Garcia hit a mile-high pop-up. The game should be over but Jake Burger struggled to kind it for the second time of the day, neither of them even hitting his first base mitt.

With the count one and two, Garcia broke his bat on a hanging changeup but it was perfectly placed down the left field line for a one-run double that put two more runners in scoring position. Brandon Marsh slapped a two-strike changeup right past second baseman Josh Smith to force the game to extras.

Jhoan Duran came in for the tenth to try and keep the game tied with the ghost runner on second base. He got unlucky when Wyatt Langford hit a bloop shot right in front of Garcia for a knock but he spiked a curveball that went from the dirt to JT Realmuto’s face and past him for Brandon Nimmo to score.

With two outs, Andrew McCutchen, normally a short side platoon partner at this stage of his career, pulled a fastball right past a diving Trea Turner that make the game 5-3.

The Phillies once again had to claw back against a shaky bullpen. Otto Kemp hit for Justin Crawford with the left-hander Tyler Alexander on the mound, he took a pitch to his legs and walked down to first. It just wasn’t meant to be, however, Turner hit a pop-up, Schwarber went down looking right after missing a challenge, and Alec Bohm hit a pop up after Bryce Harper singled to right.

The day started well for the Phillies when Jacob deGrom was scratched because of neck stiffness. The news got even better when it became official that Garrett Stubbs cleared waivers and is going to AAA with the Iron Pigs.

Aaron Nola got the start in the second game of the season to split left-handers Cristopher Sánchez and Jesus Luzardo in the rotation. After recording the first two outs of the game, Corey Seager got the fastball he likes to sit first pitch and crushed it.

The Texas Rangers asked Jacob Latz to make an emergency start, likely not super stretched out, and to spend most of the game trying to mix and match the bullpen. The fastball sat roughly 92 mph today but he made it work because of how his slider worked against the Phillies’ left-handed hitters.

Kyle Schwarber went down swinging on one in the first and Brandon Marsh was just browsing in the second. Phillies hitters struggled to pick up his arsenal through four innings and Skip Schumaker pulled Latz right when his stuff and command started to diminish.

Aaron Nola’s command looked shaky at times but he was able to pitch around two walks in the second. The third inning is where troubled turned into results for the Rangers offense. Brandon Nimmo singled to open the inning then Jake Burger pulled a curveball barely down the left field line for a homer that might’ve put a dent in the foul pole.

It could’ve been worse for Nola. Wyatt Langford crushed a fastball right before that homer that is almost always an extra base hit. Justin Crawford read the 107 mph flyball like a book and timed his jump perfectly to haul in a fantastic grab.

Crawford has made a good first impression with the Phillies, picking up two hits on opening day, working a walk, and making that grab today.

Aaron Nola finished the day with five innings, striking out seven, and allowing three runs on two homers. There were some positives, he sat 90-93 for most of the day, which seems solid for him given the weather. He generated five whiffs with both his four-seam fastball and curveball. Nola will always struggle with the home run ball but there was some good in his outing.

There are 160 games to go, at least 1440 innings to play. There is a lot of baseball to play and hopefully most it isn’t as stressful as today.

The Rockies once again fell to the Marlins in a one-run game. This one was marred by a lot of soft contact and weird breaks on both sides of the ball. But there were also some offensive highlights from TJ Rumfield and Ezequiel Tovar, who both his home runs early.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough and they came on the losing end of another close one.

However, maybe you can take some solace in this:

Michael Lorenzen had a solid outing

Michael Lorenzen made his Rockies debut today and it was an up-and-down outing. He ended up going 4.1 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts. He didn’t walk any batters, but all three runs were scored by Liam Hicks. The first one came on a sacrifice fly in the third, and the other two on a two-run second-deck homer in the fifth right before Lorenzen was lifted.

Overall, Lorenzen did induce a lot of weak contact, but there were a lot of weird breaks and hops that led to hits (more on that later). But he also pitched his 1000th career inning today, which is quite the accomplishment!

TJ Rumfield, come on down!

Rumfield made quite the impression during spring training, winning both the first base job outright and the Abby Greer Award for spring training MVP. And he has not yet shown signs of slowing down.

Yesterday, Rumfield made his MLB debut and recorded his first MLB hit in the ninth inning on a broken bat single. Today, he one-upped himself by hitting not only his own first-career home run in the second inning, but the Rockies’ first homer of the season:

And he also made sure to show his versatility by making an outstanding defensive play the very next inning.

Tovar Time!

Tovar was feeling a little overshadowed, so he hit his own two-run home run in his next at-bat in the fourth to not only put the Rockies back on top of the Marlins, but also to give them a little insurance:

Good, bad and weird breaks

The fourth inning got a little weird for the Rockies. First, Griffin Conine hit a single that bounced off the corner of second base and over Tovar’s head into center field. Then, two batters later, Graham Pauley singled after a desperation swing didn’t quite pull it foul. It bounced just in front of the third base bag, and Kyle Karros didn’t have a chance. Luckily, though, Lorenzen struck out Jakob Marsee to end the threat and complete that 1000th inning.

That said, the Rockies got a good break in the fifth when Edouard Julien hit a double — his first Rockies hit — and then Pérez attempted to pick him off, only to throw it to the right of the second baseman and into center field. Julien advanced to third, but unfortunately Hunter Goodman hit a fly ball to left to end the threat.

In the seventh, Karros hit a line drive to the third baseman. Luckily, it hit the ground first so he was able to leg it out and was marked safe at first, but there was a force at second to get pinch runner Ryan Ritter. And then Julien struck out to end the inning.

Ye Olde 7-6-3 double play

And in the bottom half of the inning, they turned a hugely unorthodox 7-6-3 double play. Augustín Ramírez had walked and Hicks hit a high fly ball to left, but then Ramírez attempted to steal second and overran the bag. And because of that, Tovar was able to pick him off on his way back to first.

Unfortunately, though, the dagger came in the eighth on another single by Owen Caissie, who went 3-for-4 with the RBI to put the Marlins up 4-3. The rest, as they say, is history.

Up Next

The Rockies will look to avoid the sweep yesterday in South Beach before they head north of the border to take on the reigning AL-champion Toronto Blue Jays. José Quintana will face off against Max Miller.

First pitch is at 11:40am MT. See you then!

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What the Mets saw last year from Nolan McLean — strong work in Double- and Triple-A, a mid-August call-up, zero noticeable nerves, a seamless transition to major league life and finally general excellence for eight starts, which had positioned the righty for Game 1 of a playoff series that did not arrive — was extraordinary. 

There are young pitchers who, given the sharper book on them that experience affords, take a step or two back after initial success. There are some who, given the added workload of the 162-game season, begin to ache. There are others who lose a tick or two of velocity after a career season. And there are some who run with the early success and become standouts or superstars. 

What does McLean have in store for his encore? The Mets and baseball world will begin to find out Sunday, when McLean Day arrives for the first time this season. 

Is McLean — entering Year 2 (even if he is technically a rookie) after displaying filthy stuff in the World Baseball Classic — better than he was at the end of last season? 

“Absolutely,” McLean said before the Mets hosted the Pirates on Saturday. “Just because I’ve had even more time to work on it. I think getting more and more reps and figuring out myself a little bit better.” 

At all stages of his professional life, McLean has improved from year to year. The McLean who pitched in the Florida Complex League was different than the one called up to Low-A St. Lucie, who was different than the one who pitched with High-A Brooklyn.

He spent most of his 2024 campaign with Double-A Binghamton, where “Cowboy Ohtani” tried to hit, too, before ending the experiment, and he posted a 4.19 ERA in 18 starts. Last season he dominated (1.37 ERA) in five starts at the level before his rise truly began. 

He is still somewhat raw — a college reliever and outfielder, he has only been starting for a season and a half — and is adjusting a few pitches in a repertoire of spin. He believes there are larger steps to take. 

“I think just overall pitchability, I’ve improved a ton,” McLean said. “I’ve got confidence in a lot more pitches as well. And I’ve had a whole ’nother year to work on my body to just hopefully increase longevity.” 

Last season McLean pitched in 29 games between the minors and majors. This year, he said, a goal is around 35 — last year’s major league leader was Logan Webb with 34. 

The most tangible difference between this year’s McLean and last year’s McLean might be his heat. In the majors last season, his four-seamer averaged 95.8 mph. During the WBC, the same pitch registered 97.7 mph. 

Was the bump the product of the intense atmosphere? The result of unleashing more with a shorter pitch count, building up to 63 pitches in the championship game? Or a sign that he will be throwing harder this year? 

“I’ve never had [that velocity] before, so I guess we’ll see,” said McLean, who said a stronger body and “just learning how I move on the mound a little bit better” might help him reach back for more this year. “I expect it to go down a little bit. But if I can average one more mile an hour than I did last year, that’s a win for me.” 

Even if his fastball gains are real, he always will be known for his breaking stuff. His biggest projects this offseason were fine-tuning his cutter, which can help particularly against lefties, and improving upon a changeup that he rarely threw last season.

That offering — more technically a kick-change, which he began toying with in 2024 — became a focus of camp, leaning upon it to help its consistency and see if he could induce any more drop on the pitch. 

“Hopefully I got a little more reps under my belt” with the kick-change, he said. 

The true reps are about to begin. If Sunday will not quite reach the levels established by Harvey Day, there is potential for McLean Days to take on their own energy. 

“He’s equipped. He’s built for it,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We’ve just got to enjoy it now and watch him do his thing.”

This one was dramatic. Dylan Cease looked excellent in his Blue Jays debut, which is great news. The offence took a while to get going but lead big rallies when they were needed. And the Bullpen collapsed early and then kept it interesting but ultimately did enough.

Cease cruised through the first two innings, giving up just a line drive single to Tyler Soderstrom in the first. He got into a minor jam in the third, walking Nick Kurtz with two outs and giving up a single to Shea Langeliers to put Kurtz on third, but he struck out Soderstrom to escape. He struck out the next six A’s, cruising into the sixth with a 1-0 lead. A lead off walk to Kurtz and a one out double from Soderstrom tied the game, though, and then Brent Rooker reaching on a fielder’s choice knocked him out of the game. The final line was one earned on three hits and two walks over 5.1 innings pitched, with a dozen Ks. He and Kevin Gausman became the first teammates since 1901 to punch out at least 11 in a team’s first two games of the season. Braydon Fisher cleaned up from there, getting a double play ball to preserve the tie.

Meanwhile, the offence struggled with Jeffrey Springs. Vladimir Guerrero jr. worked a two out walk in the first, but then got himself thrown out trying to stretch to third on Kazuma Okamoto’s ground ball single, wasting what would prove to be a rare scoring opportunity. A double play erased a Daulton Varsho single in the second. Their first run off Springs came in the third. Myles Straw and Andres Gimenez lead off with back to back singles, and George Springer crushed a double to left. It was one of those that might have scored two if it were hit more softly, but Soderstrom was able to field it on one hop off the wall and hold Gimenez at third. Two batters later, Okamoto worked a walk to load the bases, but Alejandro Kirk grounded out softly to end the inning. They went down in order in the fourth and fifth. Vlad walked to open the bottom of the sixth, and Springs got Okamoto to pop out before being lifted from the game. A Kirk ground out off reliever Mark Leiter jr. advanced Vlad to second, and a softly lined Varsho single cashed him in, putting the Jays in front 2-1.

The seventh went poorly. Mason Fluharty was hit by two comebackers from his first two batters, leaving the game with an injury at that point. Brendon Little took over and struck out his first batter, but then he forgot to check the runners, allowing a double steal to put men on second and third. Denzel Clarke dribbled one back to the mound and reached on the fielder’s choice, tieing the game at two with two on. Little walked Kurtz to load the based, and then gave up a grand slam to Jay killer Langeliers, putting Oakland out front 6-2. He did get the next batter swinging while John Schneider got another pitcher warmed up. Tommy Nance took over and struck out his man to end the inning there.

The Jays rallied a little in the bottom half. Jesus Sanchez, getting his first game action of the year pinch hitting for Straw, took a curveball off the toe. Andres Gimenez hit a single into right that knocked Leiter out of the game in favour of Elvis Alvarado. He got the first two Jays out, but Vlad grounded a single through the second base hole to bring Sanchez in, cutting the deficit to three. Okamoto battled but eventually struck out swinging to prevent them from getting more.

Nance returned and worked a 1-2-3 top of the eighth. Alvarado lost the plot in the home half, walking Kirk and Varsho to lead it off. Hogan Harris got the call to face Ernie Clement. He got him to fly out, but it was deep enough for Kirk to tag and move to third. Sanchez then reached well into the right hand batter’s box to poke one halfway up the third base line and Kirk beat the throw home, making it 6-4 and putting the tieing run on base. Gimenez ripped a one hopper up the middle to move it into scoring position and cut the gap to one. Springer popped out, but Barger worked a walk to load the bases for Vlad and knock Harris out. Vlad got jammed a little on a Michael Kelly slider in and lined it directly to second base for the third out.

Tyler Rogers got a soft grounder and a pair of Ks in the top of the ninth. Man he makes it look easy when he’s on. Kelly got Okamoto looking on a fastball several inches outside that Okamoto opted not to challenge, which might have cost them had Kirk not launched the second pitch he saw over the home bullpen to tie the game at 6. Varsho broke his bat on a soft line out to first. Ernie Clement slapped a single into right to put the go ahead run on, but Sanchez hit a hard grounder right to Kurtz at first to send it to extras.

Louis Varland pitched around Langeliers leading off the 10th, then erased him with a double play ball from Soderstrom. That advanced the Manfred man to third, though, and allowed him to score when Rooker slapped a grounder against the shift into right. He got Jacob Wilson swinging to get out of the inning only down one. Gimenez hit a soft liner off Scott Barlow leading off the bottom half that dropped in front of Soderstrom. Jesus Sanchez was caught in between before deciding to try to go to third. He just barely beat the throw, and then Gimenez stole second to put the tieing and go ahead runs in scoring position. One batter later, Addison Barger hit a towering fly right to the wall in right centre. It was caught, but was plenty deep for Sanchez to tag and score to tie it. The A’s opted to walk Vlad to pitch to Okamoto, who popped out to send it to the 11th.

Spencer Miles made his MLB debut in the 11th. In spite of only having appeared in 10 pro games in his career to date, he made a veteran play right away, fielding a come-backer and catching the automatic runner hung up between second and third for the first out. Then he punched out (the other) Max Muncy for his first career K, issued a walk, and got a can of corn to right to end the inning. About as solid a debut as you could ask for for a reliever. Luis Medina struck out Kirk and intentionally walked Varsho. That brought Clement to the plate. He worked the count full, although to my eye it sure looked like he went around on ball three. He got the call, though, and lined the next pitch into left for the walk off hit.

Jays of the Day: Andres Gimenez put up a 0.77 which, combined meaning more than a quarter of his career offensive WPA has come in the last two games. Stay hot, Andres. Spencer Miles (0.13) earns his first every Jay of the Day (and his first MLB Win, but that kind of pales in comparison, doesn’t it?). Fisher (0.18), Kirk (0.47), Varsho (0.24), and Clement (0.16).

Less so: Fluharty (-0.18) qualifies, but I’m not going to add insult to injury. So we’ll blame it all on Little (-0.46). Springer (-0.25), Vlad (-0.15), Okamoto (-0.31), and Varland (-0.3) also had the number

We’ll be back tomorrow to wrap up the series. Eric Lauer will take on Luis Morales. First pitch is set for 1:37pm ET.

The best part about starting the season a day later than almost everyone else is that we don’t have to wait through an off-day to get the taste of a dud out of our mouths. Sure, the Royals had a pretty awful offensive game paired with a mediocre pitching effort in last night’s match, but tonight’s could (and probably will) go better!

The Royals will have Michael Wacha on the mound. While Michael does not have the upside of Ragans, he also comes with far less variability. Per a Royals press release, Wacha has allowed three runs or fewer in 23 of 29 road starts over his career with KC. That’s pretty good! You can refine that even further using the FanGraphs splits tool to discover that he’s allowed two or fewer in 16 of those 29 starts, so more than half the time. The last time he faced Atlanta was in 2023 with the Padres, but he went six shutout innings with ten strikeouts and only one walk. It’s easy to feel confident the Royals will get a competent outing from Wacha today.

Atlanta will counter with Reynaldo López. López missed most of last year with an injury, so it’s hard to know what he’ll do tonight. Like last night’s starter, Chris Sale, he spent a large chunk of his earlier career in Chicago with the White Sox so he’s faced the Royals many times. But the most recent outing was in 2024 when he pitched six innings of one-run ball against the Royals B-Squad following their post-season clinch party the night before. In Spring Training, he made five starts to the tune of a 4.15 ERA. But his fastball velocity was way down. In 2024, he averaged 95.5 MPH, but this spring, he was down to 91.3. It’s safe to wonder if he’d even be in the rotation at all had Atlanta not suffered a bevy of injuries this March. Whatever concerns we’re all feeling about Carlos Estévez, at least we aren’t currently considering him our second-best starter.

Lineups

This lineup seems a bit more like what we should expect for most of the season. Kyle Isbel will make his season debut; Jac Caglianone got in as a pinch-hitter but will get his first start; Carter Jensen is still the DH but will bat fifth instead of ninth. I wonder if we could have expected Michael Massey to get the start over Jonathan India if he were healthy, but he’s not. Hopefully, he gets better soon, and hopefully, this version of the lineup does a bit more damage than what we saw last night.

Don’t forget tonight’s game is the first of 13 scheduled national games for the Royals. This one will be broadcast on Fox. Fingers crossed that competing with the Yankees/Giants broadcast that’s taking up more of the United States attention means that we won’t be subjected to John Smoltz tonight.

The Braves look for their first series win of the season, while the Royals look to score a run and get their first overall win. I kinda hope neither of the latter happens, for obvious reasons.

If it was not already obvious, Paul Toboni is going to make a lot of moves this season. The latest one just happened, when he traded for Curtis Mead of the White Sox. Mead is an Australian infielder who split time between first base, second base and third base with the White Sox last year.

Interestingly, Mead was actually traded for Cristopher Sanchez back in 2019. For a while, it looked like the Rays had done it again, as Mead’s stock soared while Sanchez struggled. However, we now know that the Phillies fleeced the Rays.

The 25 year old Mead was a top prospect at one point, but has struggled to translate his offensive game to the MLB. He will get a chance to do that now with the Nats. It is unclear if he will go right to the big leagues, but I assume he will get a shot at one point.

While Mead is not a great defender, he gives the Nats a versatile piece. He played 31 games at first base, 29 at third base and 17 at second base. I am curious to see what the Nats do with all these utility infielders. It is clearly something they covet, but they have a bit of a log jam now. Jose Tena’s time in DC could be coming to an end soon. He is firmly a DFA candidate now.

Tena was not the man DFA’d though. That was Jake Eder, who the Nats just acquired at the deadline last year. I would not be surprised if Eder cleared waivers and stayed in the Nats organization.

Mead was actually a player who I thought would be a good fit with the Nats when he got DFA’d. Paul Toboni is clearly searching for upside, and Mead’s pedigree gives him that. He has mashed in the minors, with an .878 OPS in over 1,500 career MILB AB’s.

If at least some of that hitting ability can translate to the big leagues, the Nats could have a steal on their hands. However, with over 150 career MLB games, the chances of Mead recapturing that prospect magic he had are fading. 

In exchange for Mead, the Nats had to give up Boston Smith, who was a sixth round pick in the 2025 draft. Smith was a senior sign who put up massive numbers at Wright State University. He is a catcher, but his defense is fringy at best. 

Hopefully Mead can make an impact for the Nats and play all over the infield for them. We are going to see a ton of these kinds of moves. If guys like Mead and Vivas produce, they will stick around, but if they do not, the Nats are more than happy to replace them.