Category: MLB

The Milwaukee Brewers were in dire need of a win on Tuesday night to end a five game losing streak. The reincarnated Home Run Race of 1998 has hit the Brewers with Jake Bauers and Gary Sanchez continuing to go tit-for-tat in their bid to be the Crew’s home run leader.

It started with Jake Bauers in the 4th inning. After a single from Brice Turang and a walk from Sanchez, Jake Bauers crushed his 5th home run of the season into the Brewers bullpen, 418 feet away from home plate. That gave the Brewers a 3-0 lead.

The Blue Jays then answered in the 5th with a solo home run from Andres Gimenez and then again in the 6th with a solo shot from Marshfield, WI native Daulton Varsho.

The Brewers had two on and nobody out in the 5th and 6th innings but failed to capitalize in either end.

Then Gary Sanchez happened. He crushed a hanging curveball 409 feet out to left field to provide the Brewers a huge insurance run. That run became all the more important when Abner Uribe allowed a run in the 8th on an RBI groundout by Vlad Guerrero Jr. That left a 4-3 ballgame for closer Trevor Megill.

Megill, coming off a horrendous outing last time out on Friday, had to face the 5-6-7 hitters in the Blue Jays lineup. He allowed a leadoff walk (never a good thing), then a ground rule double, then a single and quickly the Blue Jays tied the game. A soft groundout by Andres Gimenez brought in another run, then a single from Ernie Clement brought home the insurance to make it a 6-4 Blue Jays lead.

Then the Brewers miraculously come back in the bottom of the 9th. Sal Frelick walked, stole second, then Brice Turang brought him home with a single. Turang then stole second, Jake Bauers was intentionally walked, then Brandon Lockridge delivered a game tying double. A walk to Garrett Mitchell loaded the bases for Joey Ortiz, because of course it did. Ortiz promptly struck out on three pitches.

Then in the 10th, Vlad Guerrero Jr doubled, Eloy Jimenez added insurance and the Jays put up another three run inning and the Brewers couldn’t fully come back again in the bottom half.

Jacob Misiorowski threw the ball well, despite feeling sick.

“I felt like I was gonna throw up the whole game” Misiorowski said.

That’s exactly how most of the 25,143 in attendance felt watching the 9th inning as well. Pat Murphy told reporters postgame that he is considering a change in the 9th inning role but wouldn’t commit to that change in the moment.

The Brewers will be back at it on Wednesday with Chad Patrick on the mound.

Kenley Jansen needed little introduction when the Detroit Tigers signed the 38-year-old closer to a free agent deal back in December. He’s one of the truly great relievers in the game’s long history. The one year, $9 million deal was a pretty reasonably price for an all-time great even on the downside of his career. The Tigers also have a $12 million option on Jansen for 2027 to exercise should they choose. As a result, the Tigers’ faithful in Comerica Park on Tuesday night got to see a little history as Jansen closed out the Royals for his 479th save, seizing third place on the all-time saves list behind Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman.

Jansen’s career is a pretty incredible story. The Curacao native was originally signed as a catcher. He didn’t hit enough as a minor leaguer to make it as a position player, but he was gifted with a strong throwing arm. At a certain point, a Dodgers coach suggested he try pitching, and Jansen discovered that the over-the-top motion favored by catchers to deliver a straight ball to the bases on stolen base attempts had given him a gift. Much like Mariano Rivera, who discovered his magic cutter by accident, Jansen too was quickly throwing a true unicorn of a cutter. There are plenty of high velocity cutters around the game, but none of them combine the late cutting action of Jansen’s pitch with extremely good riding action. It’s a true cut fastball, the likes of which have rarely been seen in the game, and Jansen has ridden that pitch to a Hall of Fame caliber career.

I wrote about the cut fastball during the offseason, so we won’t go on about it again, but you can read that article here.

Of course, this is all well and good, but after two postseason appearances, and with the expectation of losing Tarik Skubal in free agency, the fanbase wants present results, not individual player history. The Tigers fanbase has a rough relationship with the idea of signing a great closer in the later years of their career. We don’t even speak of Joe Nathan in my household. Jose Valverde got the job done for a while, and even Francisco Rodriguez had a pretty good season in Detroit before things finally fell apart for him. But the Tigers haven’t had an elite closer in their prime arguably since Joel Zumaya.

There were understandably some fears about Jansen, in particular the notion of making him the dedicated closer rather than mixing and matching between him, Will Vest, and Kyle Finnegan the way AJ Hinch has had to use his fairly makeshift bullpens over the past few years. Jansen still has the outrageous cut fastball, but it’s not the same quality of pitch at 92.8 mph, his 2025 average, as it was when he was sitting 95+ for all those years with the Dodgers. On the other hand, Jansen still has a lot of extra tools to get hitters out, from his size, distinct high arm slot, ability to hide the ball until late in his delivery, and his ability to post up on his right leg and wait different beats before delivering the ball, and still doing all that with good command. He’s also developed a sinker into an occasional change of pace weapon to jam right-handers, and a pretty good slider with a lot of depth to play off the eyeline of the cut fastball.

Still, with his strikeout rate in decline over the last two years, it’s reasonable to expect that Jansen is just a good reliever these days, and certainly no one special. The fact that he averaged about 92 mph in his first few outings for the Tigers wasn’t real encouraging. However, there was a very good sign on Tuesday night, as Jansen dialed the cut fastball up to 96 mph and topped out at 96.8 mph. He only threw 10 pitches 96 mph or better last season. On Monday night, he topped 96 five different times and that 96.8 mph cutter in the ninth was his fastest recorded pitch since 2024. Jansen doesn’t need to throw that hard to be really good, but he’s a much more imposing pitcher when he’s 94 mph or better.

Way back on July 25, 2010, Kenley Jansen collected the very first save of his career, closing out a victory for the Dodgers over the New York Mets. He took over after an eight inning scoreless performance by young Dodgers’ ace, Clayton Kershaw. His catcher that day was Russell Martin. Almost 16 years later, he racked up save number 479 throwing to Dillon Dingler. That save lifted him above Lee Smith (478) to rank third all-time.

It’s been a truly remarkable career, and Jansen’s work ethic and drive have sustained him far longer than anyone could have imagined. Detroit Tigers’ fans will hope he’s got plenty more in the tank, not to reach the 500 saves plateau, or somehow catch Trevor Hoffman at 601, but to help the Tigers put together a special season.

The Colorado Rockies rolled into Daikin Park hoping to end a four-game losing streak by winning their fourth consecutive game against the Houston Astros in two weeks.

While they chipped away at an Astros lead amassed in the third inning, the Rockies could never quite get there, losing the series opener 7-6.

Innings 1-3: The Rockies start climbing — and then fall back

The Rockies offense got off to a quick start with a Hunter Goodman home run in the first inning off the lefty starter Colton Gordon.

The Astros got on the board in the second inning, however, with a home run from — who else? — Christian Walker (his fourth of the season).

Things took a turn for the worse in the bottom of the third, which started with a Christian Vázquez double followed by a Willi Castro error that put Jose Altuve on base. After that, Michael Lorenzen was called for a balk, and then Yordan Álvarez entered the chat with a two-run double, tying the game at three.

There were no outs.

Things only went downhill from there. With two outs in the third, after a seemingly endless series of Astros hits and Rockies defensive adventures (Castro had another error), the score was 7-3. At that point, Lorenzen was knocked out of the game with Antonio Senzatela entering in relief.

When the inning (finally) ended, the score was 7-3 with the Astros sending 11 batters to the plate.

Lorenzen’s final line was 2.2 IP on 71 pitches with seven runs, two earned, on six hits. He walked one and struck out three. His ERA is 9.18.

It seemed like yet another game in which the Rockies were too far behind to catch up.

“It just seemed like we were unable to stop the bleeding,” manager Warren Schaeffer said.

Innings 4-7: A slow (but steady) climb

As it turns out, the Rockies were not done yet.

Jordan Beck went yard in the top of the fourth making the score 7-4.

Kyle Karros and Jake McCarthy followed that with their own singles before Tyler Freeman was HBP. (It looked painful.) That knocked Gordon out of the game.

Mickey Moniak came in to hit for Brenton Doyle but popped out to short, leaving the bases loaded.

As for Gordon, he finished the evening with 3.2 IP on 68 pitches. He allowed four runs (all earned) on eight hits while also striking out five.

Goodman led off the fifth inning with another home run, and the score was 7-5.

Innings 8-9: The mountain was too steep

The Rockies mounted another comeback in the eighth as Ezequiel Tovar and Karros managed walks. Troy Johnston came in for McCarthy and promptly hit an RBI single, making the score 7-6 Astros.

There were two on and two out when Moniak came up, but he popped out, ending the inning.

The Rockies kept pushing in the ninth. After two quick outs, T.J. Rumfield hit a single followed by a Tovar single. Brett Sullivan came in to pinch run for Rumfield and stopped at third, leaving questions as to whether he should have continued home.

Beck stepped to the plate after going 2-for-4 with a home run and a single. However, he struck out looking, ending the game, giving the Rockies yet another one-run loss.

The Rockies finished the evening with 6 runs on 12 hits. They went 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base with four walks and 12 Ks.

The Astros never scored again after the third inning, but the Rockies couldn’t overcome the deficit.

“These guys are getting better every day,” Schaeffer said. “We just need to turn these one-run losses into some wins.”

Then he added, “We’re going to turn the page.”

Antonio Senzatela and the bullpen finished strong

The reinvented Antonio Senzatela entered the game in the third to get the elusive final out, which he did, striking out Altuve and then settling in to pitch a gorgeous 3.1 innings. He gave two only two hits on 43 pitches and is now scoreless in his last five appearances.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Senzatela changed the tenor of the game. He stopped what seemed to be an endless Astros rally and gave the Rockies an opportunity to get back into the game.

Schaeffer described Senzatela as “incredibly important” to the Rockies. “You know he’s going to keep you right in the game.”

Juan Mejia pitched the seventh and gave up two hits before getting three outs.

The eighth went to Zach Agnos who made quick work of the Astros, striking out two and getting a ground out to end the inning.

Up Next

Join us tomorrow night for Game 2 at 6:10 pm. Neither team has announced their starting pitcher.

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George Lombard Jr. continues to prove himself capable against MLB’s elite.

The 20-year-old Yankees prospect went 2-for-4 with two RBIs — with a booming double off Phillies ace Zack Wheeler — in the Double-A Somerset Patriots’ 9-6 win over the Reading Fightin Phils on Tuesday.

Wheeler, making his fourth rehab start with the Phillies’ Double-A affiliate as he recovers from surgeries for a blood clot and thoracic outlet syndrome, retired Lombard on a strikeout and a flyout in his first two plate appearances.

George Lombard Jr. with a big league RBI

The @Yankees' No. 1 prospect plates a run for the @SOMPatriots on a long double off rehabbing Major Leaguer Zack Wheeler. pic.twitter.com/3HtUczKa1K

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 15, 2026

In the bottom of the sixth, however, Lombard ripped the first pitch he saw to right-center for an RBI double, giving Somerset its first run of the game.

He added an RBI single in the seventh to extend Somerset’s lead to 7-3.

The three-time All-Star, who struck out nine and allowed three earned runs over 5 2/3 innings, spoke glowingly about Lombard’s potential.

“He was taking good swings all night,” Wheeler told reporters after his outing at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, N.J., per The Trentonian. “You could tell he’s a good, strong kid. He has a good bat path. He’s gonna be a good player.

“Hopefully I don’t have to face him too much.”

Ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Yankees’ top prospect entering the season, Lombard’s offense has begun to match his defensive prowess.

He entered Tuesday in the midst of a torrid seven-game stretch, slashing .464/.531/.857 with two home runs and four RBIs.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Lombard is building on an impressive spring training, which included hitting a homer off Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet.

“It’s always good getting to face the elite guys in the league,” Lombard said at the time. “I was excited for it. Looking for something to hit, not trying to do too much with it and put a good swing on it.”


Lombard continued to stand out defensively at shortstop, with team brass expressing confidence in his future once he showed improvement with the bat.

“He’s just impressive physically,’’ Boone said in March about Lombard’s development. “As a young man, he keeps filling out and you notice another level every year.. He gives you a really good at-bat, knows the zone and is very disciplined and focused. The last thing for him is to continue to develop the hit tool to finish off the player.”

Lombard, a natural shortstop, showed versatility on Tuesday as he made his professional start at third base to make way for shortstop Anthony Volpe, who began a rehab assignment as he nears a return to The Bronx.

Volpe went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts, and made one throw to first base on a groundball before being lifted in the sixth inning — as Lombard shifted back to shortstop.

Volpe echoed Wheeler’s comments in praising Lombard’s abilities on both sides of the ball.

“I thought he looked great,” Volpe said postgame. “He made great plays in the field, good at-bats and smoked that ball to right [field].

“He’s a really hard worker, really great kid. It’s gonna be really exciting.”

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 3, Charlotte Knights 0
’Twas the series opener against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, not a run was scored — hardly any hits! Charlotte’s lackadaisical stat line tells the whole story. Three hits, three RBIs, and a whopping 13 strikeouts sprinkled throughout the lineup. Somehow, Jarred Kelenic, who’s barely hanging onto his professional career, was the only batter to avoid striking out. Yeesh. 

At least starter Doug Nikhazy, who was claimed off Cleveland’s waivers recently, had a strong outing. He tossed four scoreless innings, giving up three hits and two walks while striking out four. As the guy who is presumably Noah Schultz’s backfill in the Knights rotation, Nikhazy provided a reminder that hitting consistency remains a major issue in the White Sox’s talent pool.

Doug Nikhazy through 4 in Jacksonville. #Knights still in a scoreless tie. pic.twitter.com/onAp0NW6F9

— FutureSox (@FutureSox) April 14, 2026

Birmingham Barons 5, Chattanooga Lookouts 4
In what has been a slow start to the season, the Barons snapped their four-game losing streak with a walk-off win over the Lookouts. 

The top of the order kicked things off with a three-run surge in the first and another run in the second to give the Barons an early advantage. RBI machine Ryan Galanie scored and drove in two of Bham’s first four runs, ending the night as a key contributor. Sadly, the runs paused shortly after. 

Bham was cruising behind Shane Murphy’s six-inning shutout start until Nick Altermatt relieved him. The righty reliever gave up three runs between the seventh and eighth on pitches and calls that didn’t go his way, and Jairo Iriarte allowed Chattanooga to tie it up. Luckily, the top of the order delivered timely hits. Galanie led off the ninth with a single, Jeral Pérez followed suit, moving what turned into pinch-runner Andy Weber to third. Leave it to Samuel Zavala to take the Barons home!

Winston-Salem Dash 16, Asheville Tourists 6
It was raining runs in Winston-Salem! The lineup cycled through nearly four times to shower Asheville with an onslaught of runs in the first half of the game. Starting with a three-spot in the first, Ely Brown got the game going with a walk and a stolen base, then a rare triple from Colby Shelton, and a wild pitch from Tourists starter Luis Rodriguez. Everything went downhill for Asheville from then on, and to make matters worse, the Dash added five runs just for fun in the eighth to tire out the Tourists’ pen further. Thanks, Caleb Bonemer, for another brilliant performance! Winston-Salem did a number on Asheville, deriving seven of 16 runs from home runs and getting a free trot to first nine times.

The lineup’s excessive runs compensated for an unimpressive bullpen. Without Gabe Davis’ three-inning scoreless start, the Dash would’ve been hanging onto its lead tighter. Jake Curtis provided another strong relief outing, not allowing a run in almost three innings while striking out three to drop his ERA to 1.30 and WHIP to 0.67.

A @CalebBonemer HOME RUN! @AtriumHealthWFBpic.twitter.com/Hgo1P6ld7F

— Winston-Salem Dash (@WSDashBaseball) April 14, 2026

BACK TO BACK! @ColbyShelton9 sends one out of here!@AtriumHealthWFBpic.twitter.com/b0kgmRYKlW

— Winston-Salem Dash (@WSDashBaseball) April 14, 2026

BACK TO BACK TO BACK 🤯@ant_depino with ANOTHER Home Run! @AtriumHealthWFBpic.twitter.com/b7bCcZGD2w

— Winston-Salem Dash (@WSDashBaseball) April 14, 2026

Myrtle Beach Pelicans 4, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 0
Like Charlotte, Kanny put up no effort against Myrtle Beach. The CBs were hopeless against Pelicans pitchers, who got plenty of calls in their favor and served plenty of hittable pitches on a silver platter. But the bats were dead for another night.

Riley Eikhoff put in a full day’s work for the Ballers, taking full responsibility for three of the Pelicans’ four runs. Eikhoff pitched soundly, giving up a home run off a precisely placed strike that Cole Mathis somehow got a huge piece of to pull the ball left-center out of the park. You really can’t blame Eikhoff for that one. Chicago’s ninth round pick in the 2025 draft is having a turbulent start to his minor league career after giving up four runs in his first start and none in his second. It’s too early to say if this is rookie jitters or if this spells trouble for his big league career.

MATHIS MASH !!! pic.twitter.com/ok4rLVyfeL

— Myrtle Beach Pelicans (@Pelicanbaseball) April 15, 2026

Well that was dramatic. Two teams in deep skids early in what were supposed to be their years. Whoever lost was going to have serious questions about their season, while whoever won would have to wonder if this represented turning the corner. It was about as dramatic a game as it gets, too, with multiple lead changes late setting up a tense tenth inning. Great win, but let’s try to make it a little easier on ourselves tomorrow, K?

It was a pitchers’ duel between Jacob Misiorowski and Kevin Gausman early on. William Contreras walked in the bottom of the first, Jesus Sanchez singled in the top of the second, and a Sal Frelick pop up dropped in front of a diving Nathan Lukes in the third. In the fourth, Sanchez notched his second single. That was it through three and a half innings.

Gausman blinked in the fourth. Brice Turang singled to lead off the inning, and Gary Sanchez followed with a walk. That set up a three run Jake Bauers homer to centre field. He gave up one more single but was able to limit the damage there.

The Jays got one back in the next half inning, as Andres Gimenez homered to left field to make it 3-1 Milwaukee. Gausman wobbled in the fifth, giving up a walk and a single to open the frame, but recovered with a K, a pop fly and a soft grounder to get out of it. The Jays kept reeling them in in the top of the sixth, with Daulton Varsho’s third home run of the season cutting the gap to one. A Vladimir Guerrero jr. line single knocked Misiorowski out of the game at just 76 pitches and 5.1 innings pitched. DL Hall came on and got the next two batters, so the Jays remained down one. Gausman faced one batter in the bottom of the sixth, giving up a long single off the centre field wall. Mason Fluharty took over and walked Garrett Mitchell to put two on. Joey Ortiz laid down a sacrifice bunt, moving the runners into scoring position with one out. Mason rebounded with back to back punch outs to escape the jam.

Angel Zerpa took over for Milwaukee in the seventh. Kazuma Okamoto beat out an infield single with one out, but a double play erased him. Braydon Fisher got the first two in the bottom of the inning but then Gary Sanchez tagged a hung curveball, extending the Brewers’ lead back to two.

Lenyn Sosa made his Blue Jays debut hitting for Brandon Valenzuela in the eighth, against Abner Uribe. He singled on a soft fly ball to centre field to turn the Jays lineup over. One batter later, Ernie Clement popped a broken bat fly into shallow centre field for a single. Sosa stretched for third. He was called safe on the field, the Brewers challenged, and after a long review the call stood. Clement did manage to take second on the throw, putting the tieing run in scoring position. Guerrero rolled over a slider, which allowed Sosa to come home to bring the Jays back within a run. Taking the extra base was not at all a good decision for Sosa, but it paid off. One run was all they’d get, though, as Sanchez grounded out to end the inning before Clement could come home. Tyler Rogers took the home half, giving up an infield single but getting out of it with the help of Guerrero, who made a superman dive to just tag out Joey Ortiz after fielding a bunt.

Eloy Jimenez worked a walk off closer Trevor Megill in the ninth. Myles Straw came on to pinch run, representing the tying run. Davis Schneider crushed a line double to left-centre that bounced off an angled section of the wall and just over the fence. His hitting it too hard cost him an RBI, as Straw would easily have scored had it been a regular ball in play, instead of moving to third on the ground rule double. Okamoto cleaned it up, though, with a ground ball through the hole that plated Straw and moved the go-ahead run to third with none out. Andres Gimenez hit a chopper that second baseman Turang had to dive to field, allowing Schneider to come home and give the Jays their first lead of the night, 5-4. After a Tyler Heineman fly out, Clement lined a single to left. Okamoto got the wave and beat the throw home, increasing the lead to two. Clement was thrown out trying to go to second, ending the inning there. That set up Jeff Hoffman for the two run save. He battled his command, walking Frelick leading off. He came back from down 2-0 to get Contreras to ground out, but Frelick was able to steal second and then move up to third. Turang grounded through the hole to score Frelick and then stole second, putting the tying run in scoring position. Hoffman got Sanchez to chase a high fastball for the second out. They decided to intentionally walk the lefty Jake Bauers, putting the go ahead run on but getting Hoffman a more favourable match-up with Tyler Lockridge. That proved to be too clever by half. Lockridge doubled on a ground ball to left, tying the game and forcing Hoffman to face lefty Garrett Mitchell with the winning run at third. He walked him, which forced John Schneider to call on Louis Varland to try to avert disaster. He K’d his man on three pitches, sending it to extras.

Grant Anderson faced the heart of the Jays order in the 10th. He got Varsho to pop out, but then Guerrero ripped a double off the right field wall to make it 7-6. Sanchez was intentionally walked to allow Anderson to face Straw. In keeping with the trend this evening, that was a serious mistake. Straw laced a double into the left field corner, scoring both runners to give the Jays a three run advantage. Straw got himself thrown out stealing third and then Schneider hit a check swing roller to first, so three runs would have to stand up. Varland fielded a come-backer for the first out, then got Frelick to hit a soft fly for the second. Contreras hit a soft grounder towards the hole. Gimenez would have likely had him, but Okamoto cut in front of him and deflected the ball, allowing him to reach and the runner to score. Another ground ball single put the tying run on base. Varland got Sanchez swinging, though, locking down the win.

Jays of the Day: Schneider (0.29), Varsho (0.27), Vlad (0.25), Straw (0.10), Okamoto (0.21), Varland (0.20)

Less so: Gausman (-0.13), Hoffman (-0.57)

Same time, same place tomorrow. Dylan Cease (0-0, 2.45) gets the ball for the Jays, while Chad Patrick (1-0, 0.73) goes for the Brewers.

The Cleveland Guardians and St. Louis Cardinals had a back and forth battle in game two of the three game series.

José Ramírez kicked off things for Cleveland with a solo homer to right field.

Iván Herrera responded with a solo homer of his own, but Daniel Schneemann has his own home run locked and loaded.

JJ Wetherholt answered back with his second home run of the season to tie it up, again.

It was looking like the only way to score would be home runs. Joey Cantillo had a great outing, pitching 6.0 innings and allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks. He struck out four but not before the Guards defense turned a gem of a double play.

Things stayed even until the top of the eighth when the Guardians decided to play some Guards Ball. With one out, José hit a single liner to right field. Kyle Manzardo followed up with a single of his own, giving José the perfect hit to go from first to third. George Valera, who was just activated off of the injured list, doubled to left on a crazy hit that originally landed foul just outside of the batter’s box before bouncing fair.

Juan Brito came on to pinch run for Valera. With Brito on 2nd and Manzardo on 3rd, Angel Martínez knocked his own double, scoring two.

Shawn Armstrong pitched in the 7th, only allowing a hit and striking out a batter. Erik Sabrowski had an uncharacteristic outing, pitching the 8th. A walk and JJ Wetherholt’s 2nd home run of the night put a two run blemish on Sabrowski’s otherwise impressive season start. Cade Smith was tasked with closing out the game, getting two quick outs before a fielding error by Juan Brito allowed the game tying run on base. Cade gave up a double, sending the game to extras.

A wild pitch from St. Louis pitcher, Riley O’Brien got the ghost runner, Chase DeLauter, in scoring position. There wasn’t a follow up, leaving it to the Cardinals to lose. Tim Herrin’s wild pitch allowed their ghost runner to move to third and a long fly to right gave them the walk off.

The rubber match is tomorrow, first pitch at 1:15PM EDT.

The Rays took the first game of this series against the White Sox, with Shane McClanahan picking up his first win in well over a year while his teammates gathered twelve hits and six walks. Every player was on base at least once.

This game received national attention because of the White Sox starter: Noah Schultz, a 6’10” top pitching prospect. Although I can’t point to specific games, I do have the deep belief that the Rays have struggled: a. against lefties; b. against pitchers making their major leagues debuts; and c. especially against lefties making major league debuts.

On the other hand, sometimes a pitcher making his debut can have some nerves, get over amped, and generally fall apart, at least in the first inning.

Then on the other side, Shane McClanahan is still a work in progress. No shade on him. You can’t be gone from the game for a year and a half and return with your best stuff and command. So far this year, McClanahan clearly doesn’t have the fastball velocity he did pre-injury (in baseball, sitting at 98mph vs sitting at 94mph are two entirely different pitchers), his control is shaky, and while he shows flashes of great it’s been uneven.

So tonight we had something great — a game whose outcome seemed completely impossible to predict.

The first inning gave us some idea that this might go well for the Rays.

Schultz got Yandy Diaz to fly out, things went south for him quickly thereafter. He walked both Aranda and Caminero, and not as in “pitching around the best hitters” but as in “I have no idea where this pitches are going.” Ryan Vilade doubled home Aranda, and then Ben Williamson (on his own or with prompting from the dugout?) laid down a very smart bunt that died between the plate and the mound. Smart because Williamson did a great job placing it, but also because you are forcing a rattled newbie pitcher to field a ball. Schultz hurried a throw to the plate even though Junior was already at the plate, and he overthrew which then allowed Vilade to score as well. Rays up, 3-0.

Shane McClanahan looked a little shaky in the Chicago half of the first, also walking two batters. But after a visit from Kyle Snyder, he got a quick two outs to retire the side.

The Rays added a fourth run in the in third inning, as Ben Williamson doubled to drive in Ryan Vilade. But in the bottom of that inning, McClanahan unraveled. Meidroth reached on catcher’s interference, when someone on the Chicago bench noticed something about Fortes’ stance and complained. After a walk, Everson Periera homered to put the White Sox within a run, 4-3. McClanahan walked the next batter, who then stole second. All seemed to be well as Tanner Murray hit a sharp grounder right to Junior for what should have been a routine out, but Junior’s rushed throw pulled Aranda off first base, so the runner was safe. Fortunately Junior managed not to botch the next play, that also went right to him. At the end of three innings, McClanahan had thrown 60 pitches and given up four walks.

But you know what, McClanahan came back to pitch efficient fourth and fifth innings. He left on the winning side of the game, and had ten whiffs (albeit just four strikeouts along with his four walks). With the fastball not as fast (although he did hit 97 on a few pitches) he is relying more on secondary pitches with some success.

The Rays got the lead back to three in the sixth inning, playing the smallest of small ball.

Williamson walked, got to third on two ground ball outs. He was then able to score when Fortes did….this:

Two out singles by Walls and Diaz drove in Fortes to make the score 6-3.

The Rays piled on more in the seventh inning. Vilade and Williamson teamed up for a single and run-scoring double, followed by another run-scoring double from Johnny DeLuca.

Would it even be a Rays win without some ninth inning drama? Kevin Cash brought in Yoendrys Gomez to pitch the eighth, and he got through the inning without damage. In the ninth inning, though, he gave up a two run home run to make the score 8-5, and then gave up a single to the next batter. That forced Cash to do what he did not want to do: warm up and then bring in Bryan Baker to get the last out.

Despite the catcher interference call and Junior’s throwing error, the defense was sharp. Here’s a nice catch by DeLuca, playing centerfield tonight:

Some concluding thoughts:

• I heard a few folks wondering about hitting Ryan Vilade in the clean up spot. Well, he was 3 for 5 today.
• Ben freaking Williamson. Three RBI today, and some sharp fielding.
• I have been a Rays fan for 20 years, and this is the first year they have been a bunting team. It’s remarkable how they’ve gone from almost never bunting to laying down several bunts a game – plain old sac bunts, bunting for hits, bunting for runs. “Don’t flail away trying to hit dingers, bunt!”
• Shane McClanahan postgame interview. He’s nearly crying. I’m crying. He’s talking about struggling, about losing his dad, saying he loves his mom, but ultimately feeling satisfaction with getting through five innings and helping the team win.

Tuesday night’s game at Busch Stadium was a parade of solo home runs for both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cleveland Guardians. JJ Wetherholt homered twice and made some epic plays in the field as the Cardinals showed their come-from-behind heart yet again to walk off the Guardians in extra innings.

Michael McGreevy gave the Cardinals a solid start pitching 5 innings allowing just 4 hits and 2 runs over 5 innings to an entirely lefthanded Guardians lineup if you include the switch-hitters. He was touched by two home runs by the Guardians, but fortunately they were both solo shots. Jose Ramirez gave Cleveland a 1-0 lead in the 1st inning while Daniel Schneemann would add another in the top of the 2nd inning.

The St. Louis Cardinals would add a couple of bombs, too, with Ivan Herrera hitting a 401 foot shot in the bottom of the 1st inning.

JJ Wetherholt hit his 2nd home run of the season when he launched a 396 foot shot in the bottom of the 3rd inning which would tie the game at the time 2-2.

Wetherholt would also make an amazing leaping grab on a line drive by Rocchio in the top of the 5th inning, but the problems would fall on the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen yet again. JoJo Romero started out wild and would give up a hit and a walk over his 1 and a third inning, but it was Ryan Stanek who would get touched for 3 late inning runs in the top of the 8th inning giving up a double to Velara which would score Ramirez making it 3-2 Guardians. Martinez would then rip a double down the left field line scoring Brito and Manzardo extending Cleveland’s lead to 5-2.

The St. Louis Cardinals weren’t done as JJ Wetherholt showed his power to all fields in the bottom of the 8th inning by lifting a 366 foot home run barely over the left field wall with José Fermín on base to bring the Cardinals within a run making it 5-4 Guardians.

In an effort to say something nice about the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen, Matt Svanson did a fine job keeping the Guardians quiet in the top of the 9th inning to give St. Louis a chance setting Cleveland down 1-2-3. Herrera deserves a nod for a good ABS appeal to get the final out in the 9th.

The Cardinals would show their fight in the bottom of the 9th inning as they were down to their last strike after Jordan Walker popped out and Nolan Gorman flied out. Masyn Winn reached on an error and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. He would then score on a clutch double by Yohel Pozo to tie the game 5-5. He would be stranded when Thomas Saggese struck out, but that sent the game to extras.

Riley O’Brien was sharp in the top of the 10th inning with the exception of a wild pitch that allowed the designated runner to advance to third, but he was stranded when O’Brien was able to get Brito on a ground out to first.

The Guardians basically handed the Cardinals the game in the bottom of the 10th inning when Herrin threw a wild pitch allowing Thomas Saggese to take third base. He scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly by Nathan Church. Really close play at the plate, but sucks that the Guardians catcher couldn’t hold onto that ball. Oh, wait. No, it doesn’t.

St. Louis will try to win the series against Cleveland Wednesday afternoon as Dustin May (1-2 with a 9.45 ERA) will get the start for the Cardinals and Slade Cecconi (0-2 with a 5.11 ERA) will be the starter for the Guardians. 12:15pm is the scheduled first pitch at Busch Stadium Wednesday.

Looking to get back in the win column and the fact that the rival Creighton Bluejays were coming to town provided all of the motivation Nebraska needed in the second game of their three-game season series at Haymarket Park.

Pryce Bender got the start against the boys from Omaha, but his night ended up being much shorter than anyone hoped.  He struggled to get the ball low in the zone and thus gave up four hits and three runs in the one inning he pitched.  Most significant was a two-run homer to Nate McHugh that gave the Jays a quick 2-0 lead.  The Jays tacked on another run to make it 3-0 after a half inning.

Tucker Timmerman came in for the second inning from Nebraska.  With one out, Bluejay Nick Venteicher smacked a no-doubter solo homer to put Creighton up 4-0.

The story of the game tonight was the bottom third of the lineup making its return.  After struggling over the weekend, Grego, Overbeek, and Stokes were the difference in the game tonight as they were responsible for all five of the Cornhusker runs.

In the bottom of the second, designated hitter Preston Freeman led off the inning with a walk and scored when Drew Grego hit an opposite way home run off starter Mac McClellan to cut the Bluejay lead in half, 4-2.

Creighton brought in Evan Stratton to face Nebraska in the third inning.  He got a quick out on a come-backer from Case Sanderson but then walked both Dylan Carey and Jett Buck.  Preston Freeman then flew out to centerfield to make it two on with two outs.

It was at this point that the game turned, thanks to those bottom three batters in the lineup.  Grego singled to bring in Carey.  Overbeek singled to bring in Buck.  And then Stokes singled to bring in Grego.  Nebraska was up 5-4 after three innings.  Neither team would cross the plate again.

While you don’t see it in the stats, Dylan Carey made three outstanding defensive plays, covering ground and making outstanding off-balance throws to keep Creighton base runners from advancing and ending innings.  After the second inning, three Jay baserunners reached second base, but none advanced any further.

Nebraska pitching also looked very solid after the rough start.  Surprisingly Friday starter Ty Horn made an appearance in relief.  It is not uncommon for a Friday starter to pitch on Tuesdays as part of their bullpen session, but Nebraska has rarely done it.  Horn pitched three innings and threw 30 pitches.  He also got the chippiness ramped up by staring down the Creighton dugout a couple of times.

Nebraska did put multiple runners on base in the fourth and eighth innings but were unable to push any additional runs across the plate.  That included a well-executed hit-and-run by Jeter Worthley to move Mac Moyer with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning.  The freshman catcher has some very solid bat skills.

J’Shawn Unger came on in relief of Horn in the eighth inning and finished off the game without giving much hope to Creighton to get back in it.  This was Unger’s seventh save in seven opportunities this season.

The win tonight marks the first season series win over Creighton since 2017.  It also gets the bad taste out of the team’s mouth from this past weekend with some big games coming up this weekend.

Friday the top-five ranked USC Trojans come to town for three games.  This is a huge series with a lot riding on it in terms of post-season implications.  It’s time for Cornhusker fans to come out and be a factor.  Coach Will Bolt in his post-game comments said he’d like to see 10,000 loud and enthusiastic fans dressed in red in the stadium.

Notes:

• Nebraska pitching only gave up one walk tonight, and that happened in the eighth inning.  They also had one hit batter.
• Grego, Overbeek, and Stokes had five of the team’s seven hits and all five of the runs batted in.
• After the win tonight, Nebraska is 16-1 at Haymarket Park this season.  
• There was a little over 6100 fans for tonight’s game in the best weather yet this season for a game in Lincoln.  They were treated to a relatively quick two-hour-and-47-minute game.  This is unique this season as most Nebraska games have gone well beyond the three-hour mark.

The Angels got the memo that Monday night’s slugfest was carrying over into Tuesday.

The Yankees, evidently, did not.

The bell rang for Round 2 to begin and only the Angels came out punching, delivering a trio of right hooks to Ryan Weathers in the form of back-to-back-to-back home runs in the top of the first inning and then cruising from there as the Yankees fell 7-1 on a warm night in The Bronx.

Angels lefty Reid Detmers silenced the Yankees lineup that broke out for an 11-10 win Monday, putting it right back in the rut it found itself in entering the series opener.

Facing a lineup that did not include Ben Rice, the major league leader in OPS who sat in favor of the right-handed hitting Paul Goldschmidt, Detmers allowed just four hits and one run across seven-plus innings, not letting a runner touch second base until the eighth inning.

“I thought [Detmers] was good, but we know we got to do a better job of creating some things,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We just got to get going.”

Meanwhile, over half of the Angels lineup homered — all solo shots, but damaging nonetheless as Weathers surrendered a career-high four and reliever Yerry De los Santos gave up another late. The five homers matched the number the Yankees pitching staff had given up in their first 16 games combined.

The poor pitching and poorer hitting handed the Yankees (9-8) a seventh loss in their last nine games as they will try again Wednesday to shake this early-season funk for good.

“It’s tough for me when we win a game [Monday] night with good momentum, I come in and give up three in the first on three solo shots,” Weathers said. “There was some good tonight, but when I pitch, I want this ballclub to win games and I did not put us in a good position to win a game tonight.”

Weathers came into the night having not allowed a home run through his first three starts (16 innings) this season.

The left-hander had also not received a single run of support from his offense while he was still in any of those games.


Only one of those things changed Tuesday, though, on a strange night in which the left-hander struck out 10 across five-plus innings but had four pitches end up in the seats.

In a span of five pitches in the top of the first, Weathers gave up 1,276 feet worth of homers to Mike Trout, Jo Adell and Jorge Soler.

They all came on low fastballs — Adell’s was actually below the zone — and all came off the bat loudly as the Angels (9-9) stormed out to a quick 3-0 lead.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

“They’re a really good low-ball hitting team, and three misfires against a good low-ball hitting team is not a good start,” Weathers said.

Weathers went on to retire 10 of the next 11 batters before former Yankee Oswald Peraza — as part of a 3-for-3 night in which he added a 12-pitch walk — crushed another solo shot in the fourth inning to make it 4-0.

“You see it all there [with Weathers],” Boone said. “You see all the things that you get excited about. But a little bit tough just command-wise with the heater.”

After Weathers struck out the side in the fifth inning, he issued a leadoff walk in the sixth that ended his night.

Paul Blackburn then entered and evoked some boo birds as he allowed four straight batters to reach base — on three singles and a walk — as the Angels padded their lead to 6-0.

Yoán Moncada later took De los Santos deep to lead off the eighth inning, stretching the lead to 7-0 before the Yankees finally mustered a run in the bottom half.

Randal Grichuk broke his 0-for-15 start to the season by roping a double into the gap, and after Austin Wells singled, Rice pinch hit for Ryan McMahon and delivered a sacrifice fly to snap the shutout.

“I think you see how streaky this game is,” Goldschmidt said. “You just got to take it in stride. When things are going good, you can’t think you got it all figured out. When we’re struggling, you can’t get down on yourself. … We’ve played a lot of close games. We’ve lost unfortunately too many of them here lately.”

It was tenuous and I was convinced the Pirates were going to win until that Nick Yorke pop up landed in Curtis Mead’s glove, but the Nats got the job done. They just barely made their early 5-1 lead stick thanks to some solid work by the bullpen. Tonight, the bullpen and CJ Abrams were the stars of the show.

Speaking of Abrams, he has made quite the statement to start this season. He was in the middle of everything good tonight. The Nats shortstop was three for four with a homer and two RBI’s. His homer off of Mitch Keller tied him with Gunnar Henderson for most home runs by a shortstop with six. The Alien is on a roll right now, and he is leading the Nats to victories.

Hot April’s are nothing new for Abrams. He has started the season strong in the two previous seasons, but tailed off in the second half. With this new coaching staff and an extra year of maturity, I am confident that Abrams will make his hot April stick this time. While he is unlikely to hit .356 with a 1.121 OPS the rest of the way, I think Abrams could be in for a career year.

However, Abrams was not the only offensive contributor tonight. The Nats lit up Mitch Keller early, getting three runs in before the Pirates right hander got an out. They could have created even more separation if not for a couple outs on the bases.

It did not end up costing the Nats the game, but it did make things much more stressful. By the bottom of the 5th, it was a 5-4 game after Miles Mikolas did some Miles Mikolas things. If you told me there would be no more runs in the game, I would have called you a mad man.

That is exactly what happened though. Mitchell Parker, Cionel Perez, Clayton Beeter and Gus Varland combined for 4.2 scoreless innings to end the game. Parker looked particularly sharp, showing off a new slider heavy mix that resulted in a lot of Pirates whiffs.

It was not smooth sailing for Nats relievers, but they ended up getting the job done. Cionel Perez worked out of a bases loaded jam by getting a double play ball on a 3-1 count. That really felt like the turning point of the game. Pirates manager Don Kelly pulled Brandon Lowe in favor of a right handed hitter, and that decision backfired.

While that may have been the turning point, the result was in doubt throughout. The Nats infield defense was pretty shaky tonight, but Daylen Lile made a stellar basket catch in the outfield that really helped Clayton Beeter get out of the 8th inning.

It was one of the best catches of Lile’s young career. While the hits are not falling the way they did at the end of last year, Lile looks much improved on the defensive side of the ball. I also think his swings are looking a lot better the past few days. He had a couple really unlucky outs tonight.

All of this set up a ninth inning for Gus Varland, who is just coming off his first career save. Now, he was going for save number two. He did not make it easy, allowing a double and a walk to the 8 and 9 hitter. However, Varland locked in with a strikeout of Oneil Cruz. Then he got Nick Yorke to hit a weak pop up to Curtis Mead.

It may have taken some years off my life, but the Nats ended up pulling it out with a 5-4 win. That was a very gritty win, which showed their offensive fire power as well as some positive signs on the mound. Hopefully that can carry over, and the boys can at least split this four game series in Pittsburgh.

The Twins struck first in this game with a Luke Keaschall single scoring Byron Buxton from 2nd. There was a tag play at the plate and he was initially called out but replay overturned it, putting the Twins up 1-0. In the 3rd, Buxton would make it 2-0 with a solo shot to left.

In the 4th, Brooks Lee blasted his 3rd homer of the year, a solo shot. Then, Trevor Larnach lined a ball down the right field line with 2 on, scoring both but getting thrown out at 2nd, making it a 5-0 game. The lineup was able to knock old friend Sonny Gray out of the game after 4 innings. In the bottom of the 6th, Buxton blasted another solo shot into the bullpen in left-center.

That was plenty of run support for the starter, Mick Abel, who looked great tonight. He never allowed more than one baserunner in any of his 7 innings, striking out 10. Taylor Rogers and Cole Sands both pitched scoreless innings to secure the Twins a series win, and their 11th win of the season.

Studs:

Byron Buxton: 4-5, 2 HR, 4 R

Trevor Larnach: 1-3, 2 RBI, BB

Luke Keaschall: 2-4, RBI

Brooks Lee: 1-4, HR

Mick Abel: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 0 R, 10 K

Duds:

NO DUDS TWINS WIN!!

Francisco Lindor checked off his first RBI and home run in one fell swoop.

The Mets shortstop blasted a leadoff home run off Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto to give the Amazin’s an early 1-0 lead on Tuesday night before New York fell, 2-1.

Not only did the homer break a drought for Lindor, but it marked the first time the Mets scored a run since the bottom of the seventh inning of Saturday’s loss to the A’s, breaking a scoreless stretch of 20 innings.

LAUNCHED!@Lindor12BC | #LGMpic.twitter.com/1mFb1IltM4

— New York Mets (@Mets) April 15, 2026

Lindor, a notoriously slow starter, was hitting .176 with a .541 OPS through his first 17 games this season.

“There’s always been pressure and I’ve always put a lot of pressure on myself, because I expect a lot of myself,” Lindor said Saturday. “It’s the same every single year.”

Monday night was a kind of heavyweight prize fight, with each team trading blow after blow after big home run. Tonight was much more like a heavyweight prize fighter fighting me, with the Angels playing the former role and battering the Yankees all over their home ballpark. LA took off almost immediately, hitting the same number of home runs in the top of the first as outs they made, and they really didn’t look back. New York was shellacked in this one, 7-1 your final.

I suppose that first inning was inevitable, as the one thing we know about Mike Trout is the man loves to study Weather(s):

It would get worse from there, with Jo Adell and Jorge Soler also taking Ryan’s fastballs into the bleachers, three straight solo shots that had the Angels up 3-0 before many Yankee fans had bought their chicken buckets. The Angels clearly came out hunting fastball, with Weathers far better with his slider/sweeper and changeup, and their homework paid off.

Indeed Trout was a particular thorn in Weathers’ side today, even though the home run was the only damage done. The three-time MVP saw 24 pitches in total across three ABs against the lefty, wearing out a pitcher that the Yankees have to at least be questioning the ideal role for. Weathers actually got Trout looking in those other two at-bats, but the pitches necessary ended up costing him, and Weathers was gone after throwing five innings plus a batter.

It was really a game for the FIP lovers, with Weathers boasting an excellent 10:1 strikeout to walk ratio, the kind of outing that might in other circumstances lead to the starter receiving the Player of the Game belt. Those circumstances though, the three home runs in the first and a final dinger from old friend Oswald Peraza, take the start more into the pure bizarre territory. When Weathers was locating with his secondary offerings, he was absolutely dominant, and then he left four of the fattest cookies you could imagine right to MLB caliber hitters. I had mentioned in the gamethread that Ryan might be best off to pitch “backwards”, but he didn’t seem to adopt that strategy tonight. Former #1 overall prospect Yoan Moncada added a trio of RBIs himself, one hit with the bases loaded and one porch job solo shot.

Angels starter Reid Detmers did Weathers one better, with nine strikeouts and no walks, allowing just two hits — one of them a ground ball that third baseman Moncada lost his footing on — through seven innings. The lefty retired 15 consecutive Yankees before Randal Grichuk led off the eighth with a double, his first hit in pinstripes. Grichuk would eventually plate thanks to pinch-hitter Ben Rice:

And uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh that’s about it. Aaron Judge added a double of his own in the bottom of the ninth, but nothing came of it, and the Yankees dropped to 9-8 on the year.

From the Department of It Could Always Be Worse, let’s check in on the scene at Target Field:

It hasn’t been a very fun week to be a Yankee fan. Last night felt like it might be the start of a hot streak, the kind of inconceivable win that everyone gets a little extra out of the next day. Instead, the Yankees looked just as flat as they did at the Trop, and some of that pitching regression is starting to set in. Luis Gil is set to make his second start of the season after a laborious effort against the Rays last weekend, and will need to set the tone as both the rotation and bullpen have had to work quite a bit in the first two games of this series.

The third game of this series comes at 7:05pm Eastern, the weekly Amazon Prime game. I hope the Yankees see the value in starting the guy who is right now the best hitter in baseball.

Box Score