Category: MLB

PHOENIX — The Mets disrespected all mothers on their day by not playing nice.

A no-show lineup has become the norm, but Sunday they added shoddy defense — or run prevention, if you prefer — into the equation and departed the desert with sand in their pants in a 5-1 loss to the Diamondbacks.

It was a second straight game the Mets (15-25) scored only one run after scoring only once in nine innings Friday before adding two in the 10th to win. The Mets lost the series, completing a 5-4 road trip that also included stops in Anaheim and Colorado.

Juan Soto, the team’s best hitter, went 4-for-33 (.121) on the road trip with one homer.

“It’s tough. I have just been missing a lot of balls,” Soto said. “They have been throwing me pitches that I have just been a little under, and I have been working with the hitting coaches, swinging the bat, doing my routine, working on mechanics. You’re at the point where you got to stop missing it.”

If the weak offensive attack (only five hits) wasn’t enough, Andy Ibáñez committed two throwing errors as the starting third baseman. The second of those errors let the D’backs score three unearned runs in the sixth inning to bury the Mets in a 5-1 hole.

D’backs lefty Eduardo Rodriguez brought a no-hitter into the sixth and lasted into the ninth. He allowed one earned run on four hits and three walks over 8 ¹/₃ innings.

“We chased,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “The few at-bats that we got ahead, he kept going to that changeup and getting ground balls. We didn’t make the adjustment there and we swung at his pitches when we needed to do damage.”

How can Mendoza get players to stop chasing pitches?

“We’re trying to figure it out, because we have been chasing a lot,” Mendoza said. “I think it’s just more when we’re ahead in counts, we have seen that the past few days.”

Huascar Brazobán, chosen as the opener, worked into the second inning and walked Ildemaro Vargas and Nolan Arenado to begin the frame. Tobias Myers got two outs before Ryan Waldschmidt’s double gave the D’backs a 2-0 lead.

Soto walked leading off the fourth to snap a streak of 22 straight Mets batters retired over two games. But the inning went nowhere: After Bo Bichette was retired, Austin Slater grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Soto was asked about the biggest issue facing the lineup.

“There’s no issues right here,” Soto said. “We’re all professionals. We all can handle this stuff, but definitely guys are struggling a little bit right now, but I think it’s going to pass.”

David Peterson allowed a two-out single to James McCann in the fourth and should have escaped the inning on Jorge Barrosa’s grounder. But Ibáñez’s throw from third pulled Mark Vientos off first base for an error. Peterson rebounded to retire Waldschmidt.

Peterson’s two-base throwing error on Geraldo Perdomo’s bunt with two outs in the fifth kept the inning alive. Peterson unloaded a wild pitch that moved the runner to third before retiring Adrian Del Castillo.

Rodriguez pitched 5 ¹/₃ hitless innings before Carson Benge’s bloop single ended the no-hit watch. Luis Torrens followed with an RBI double that pulled the Mets within 2-1. But Soto was retired and after Bichette walked, Rodriguez got Slater to ground out.

Ibáñez’s second throwing error of the day allowed Vargas to reach leading off the bottom of the sixth. Peterson got two outs before Barrosa and Waldschmidt each singled. The second of those hits gave the D’backs a 3-1 lead. Ketel Marte’s ensuing triple widened the deficit to 5-1. All three runs were unearned.

“I stood a little bit wide and [the throw] got away from me,” Ibáñez said through an interpreter.

Peterson did not allow an earned run over five innings in a second straight solid relief appearance.

“I felt like I had command of every pitch,” Peterson said. “I felt like everything was working.”

The Kansas City Royals have already clinched a series win and a winning homestand after taking the first two contests against the Detroit Tigers. A thrilling comeback and walk-off on Friday and a dominant Michael Wacha outing last night have propelled the Royals back to 19-21 on the season. If the season ended today, the Royals would be the final team into the field in the American League.

Noah Cameron returns to the mound after missing his Tuesday start due to lower back tightness. The lefty has had a tough start to his sophomore year, with a 5.40 ERA over his first 31.2 innings. After two really good starts to begin the year, Cameron’s last 4 have been really rough, giving up 17 runs in 21 innings pitched. Cameron’s last start came on getaway day in Sacramento. The Athletics crushed Cameron, chasing him for 9 hits, 5 runs, over 5.1 innings. That start came 10 days ago.

The Royals offense has been rather good over the last 15 games, as the Royals have won 11 of those contests. A big part of it has been lineup consistency, with a lot of the same faces getting the start. Tonight however, Salvador Perez will get the game completely off. Perez has been dealing with hip soreness, which has meant a lot of DH’ing. Today is also Salvy’s 36th birthday, along with-it being Mother’s Day. So happy birthday Captain!

Elias Diaz starts behind the plate tonight, and Nick Loftin, who’s been swinging a hot bat, starts at second base. Isaac Collins will hit cleanup with Perez out of the lineup, otherwise, everything else is rather standard for the Royals tonight.

The Tigers have had a really really bad week. Tarik Skubal had elbow surgery and is out for the foreseeable future, Framber Valdez is serving a suspension for intentionally hitting Trevor Story after the Red Sox were crushing him, and position players keep getting hurt. With all of that, they have lost 5 in a row and 10 of their last 14.

Tonight is expected to be a bullpen game for them, after last night they had an opener, with Ty Madden throwing the bulk innings. Brenan Hanifee, a 27-year-old righty gets the start of the anticipated bullpen game. Hanifee has thrown 6.2 scoreless innings so far this season. Hanifee heavily relies on a sinker but also mixes in a slider and changeup.

Here is the Tigers starting lineup behind Hanifee and the bullpen.

The Royals can sweep their third straight weekend series tonight with a win. They swept the Angels at home two weeks ago, and the Mariners in Seattle last week. A win would also put the Royals just a single game under .500, which would be the first time since they were 7-8, going into the series finale against the White Sox. Tonight is the last game of 13 straight days of baseball for the Royals. They will finally have an off day tomorrow, before taking on the White Sox and Cardinals on the road next week. Tonight’s game can be streamed on Peacock or NBCSN, first pitch is set for 6:20 p.m. CT.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Max Muncy couldn’t help but throw his hands up in disbelief.

In a frustrating loss for the Dodgers –– that continued a confounding slump from their hot-and-cold offense –– such was the defining image of the day and much of their form recently.

In the bottom of the sixth inning Sunday, with the Dodgers facing a four-run deficit to the Braves, Muncy thought he had done everything right in the most pivotal moment of the game.

He’d worked a full count in a bases-loaded, two-out opportunity. He got the pitch he was looking for from Braves reliever Robert Suarez on a fastball up, but not out, of the strike zone. And even though he’s cooled off recently, he barreled up a vicious swing and launched a 107 mph rocket deep to right field.

For the briefest of moments, it seemed like a comeback was on.

Braves right fielder Eli White, however, had other ideas.

With a leaping effort that sent him crashing face-first into the wall and knocked him flat on his back along the warning track, White held on for a game-changing catch.

It was as close as the Dodgers would come in their 7-2 loss at Dodger Stadium.

And it left Muncy — who later hit a two-run homer that would prove too little, too late — stunned as he pulled up just past first base.

“Who do I gotta pay off at this point?” he thought to himself. “A lot of really good swings, just nothing to really show for it.”

Same thing goes for the entire team now, given its increasingly shaky play lately.

On Sunday, the Dodgers (24-16) fell behind by four runs in the second inning; the low point of a statistically anomalous 8 ⅔-inning, seven-run start from early-season breakout star Justin Wrobleski.

They managed just two hits yet still found a way to strand seven men on base, going 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position in another inopportunistic performance from the lineup.

And in the end, they were simply less clinical than a Braves team that has the most wins in the majors, dropping a marquee series rubber match that leaves them 9-12 since April 18.

“Just kind of as a unit, I don’t think that we’re one piece right now,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s not from lack of effort. We’ve been in this funk for quite some time. Those guys, they pitched well. But still, that’s kind of where we’re at.”

What it means

That, at least for now, the Dodgers aren’t baseball’s best team.

That honor probably instead belongs to the Braves (28-13), who made Wrobleski pay for his own defensive mistake in their back-breaking four-run second inning.

After giving up one run on three consecutive two-out singles (one of them via a bunt), Wrobleski got Sean Murphy to hit a comebacker to the mound that should’ve been turned for an inning-ending double play.

Alas, the left-hander misfired on his throw to second, which was too high for Alex Freeland to make the turn to first. After that, Wrobleski walked No. 9 hitter Jorge Mateo to load the bases, then gave up a three-run double to Mauricio Dubón.

Total frustration. Almost all of it self-inflicted.

“Just didn’t turn a double play,” Wrobleski said. “If I turn a double play … wouldn’t have been a bad outing.”

It didn’t help, of course, that the Dodgers failed to conjure any of their own two-out magic.

In the first inning, they left two runners stranded when Muncy struck out against Atlanta starter Bryce Elder to extinguish the threat. In the seventh, they watched Freeland and Shohei Ohtani (who continued his own personal struggles with a 0-for-4 day) come up empty with two aboard. And in between that, there was White’s robbery of Muncy, which came after Elder issued three consecutive two-out walks in the sixth.

“We really haven’t been able to put together innings,” Roberts said. “We did in that one inning, [and then] the right fielder makes a great play.”

Who’s hot

Wrobleski might not be any longer. But his strange statistical feats sure are.

A week after becoming the first Dodgers pitcher in a quarter-century to pitch six scoreless innings without a strikeout, the young left-hander nearly became the first pitcher in the club’s Los Angeles history to throw a nine-inning complete game with seven runs allowed.

That was only possible because, after the disastrous second inning, Wrobleski retired 16 batters in a row to keep the Dodgers within striking distance. He also set a season high for strikeouts with seven.

However, he faded late, giving up solo home runs to Drake Baldwin and Matt Olson in the eighth and ninth, respectively, before coming up one out shy of going the distance by plunking Mike Yastrzemski with his 100th pitch of the day.

After giving up six total runs in his first six outings this year, Wrobleski’s ERA nearly doubled to 2.42.

Who’s not

Quite simply, the Dodgers’ offense, which once again left Roberts struggling to offer an explanation.

“I really don’t have an answer,” he said, “outside of, it’s kind of the ebbs and flows of a long season.”

While that may be true, this ebb is starting to last a concerningly long time. After believing they’d turned a corner during a series win in Houston, the Dodgers managed just seven total runs in their three games against the Braves this weekend and have failed to score more than three runs in eight of their last 11 games.

“We had some guys hit some balls hard, and we had some guys hitting the ball soft,” Muncy said. “None of them seem to fall. It’s just kind of how the game goes sometimes.”

Up next

The Dodgers open a four-game series with the Giants on Monday. Roki Sasaki (1-3, 5.97 ERA) will face right-hander Trevor McDonald (1-0, 1.29 ERA).

The Dodgers (24-16) dropped their second straight game with a score of 7-2 to the Braves (28-13) on Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium. Justin Wrobleski was one out away from a complete game, but the offense didn’t come through. They collected only seven runs in the series loss to the MLB-best Braves.

Andy Pages picked up his third base hit of the series with a two-out single against Bryce Elder in the bottom of the first. Kyle Tucker drew a walk to give the Dodgers two on and two out. Elder struck out Max Muncy to strand both runners.

The Braves struck first again, putting up a crooked number in the second inning to take a 4-0 lead. Wrobleski struggled in the fourth inning against the Braves, allowing a four-run rally that included a costly throwing mistake on a potential inning-ending double play ball.

Austin Riley’s base hit and Michael Harris II’s bunt single gave the Braves runners at first and second with one out for Eli White. White’s RBI single to center field gave the Braves the lead first, and they never relinquished it thereafter.

Mauricio Dubón doubled in three runs after a Sean Murphy force out and Jorge Mateo walk.

For the seventh time in the last 13 innings, the Dodgers went down in order again, this time versus Elder in the bottom of the fifth.

After the disaster of a second inning, Wrobleski settled in well. He struck out Matt Olson three times and kept the Braves potent offense to just four hits to that point.

The Dodgers looked to take advantage of Elder’s fading command. Back-to-back free passes from Elder in the bottom of the sixth kept the door ajar for the Dodgers. A fatiguing Elder walked Tucker to load the bases for Muncy.

Walt Weiss went to his bullpen to counter Muncy’s power at the plate with reliever and former Friar Robert Suarez.

Muncy crushed a 3-2 Suarez four-seamer to right field, but Eli White crashed into the wall face first and somehow held on to the scorched ball to end the inning and potentially save the game for Atlanta.

The Dodgers managed to get another two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh. This time they had two outs to work with and runners aboard. Suarez walked Alex Call, and Hyeseong Kim reached on catcher’s interference. Sean Murphy’s glove got in the way, and the Dodgers got their way. Dave Roberts got Shohei Ohtani to the plate with two runners on and two outs.

Ohtani grounded out to first base, his slump persisting. The Braves held Ohtani to just two hits in the series.

Max Muncy and Drake Baldwin both hit their 10th home run of the season in the eighth inning.

Drake Baldwin made it 5-0 Atlanta with a solo home run against Wrobleski in the eighth.

Muncy got a second shot at the Atlanta bullpen with a base runner on in the bottom of the eighth, and he didn’t miss this time. He clobbered the first pitch he saw from Tyler Kinney for a 420-foot two-run home run halfway up the Right Field Pavilion.

Wrobo was back out for the ninth, but Olson took advantage and sent a leadoff solo shot to right-center to make it 6-2. He was one out away from completing the game, but he beaned Mike Yastrzemski. Dave Roberts brought in Wyatt Mills for the final out in his first major-league appearance since 2022.

The Braves cashed in the hit-by-pitch and added another insurance run. Mills allowed hits to Dominic Smith and Mateo to make it 7-2.

The Dodgers now turn to the Giants for a four-game series.

Sunday particulars

Home runs: Drake Baldwin (10), Max Muncy (10), Matt Olson (14)

WP — Bryce Elder (4-1): 5 2/3 IP, 1 hit, no runs, 4 walks, 8 strikeouts (83)

LP — Justin Wrobleski (5-1): 8 2/3 IP, 7 hits, 7 runs, 7 strikeouts, 1 walk (100)

Up next

The Dodgers open a four-game series against the San Francisco Giants Monday night at Dodger Stadium (7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA). Roki Sasaki (1-3, 5.97 ERA, 1.67 WHIP) faces the Giants for the first time in his career. Trevor McDonald (1-0, 1.29 ERA, 7 IP). starts for San Francisco.

Mostly due to another forgettable day at the plate, the Mets lost 5-1 to the Diamondbacks on Sunday in Arizona, as a once-promising road trip ended with two straight losses. 

It was still a winning trip, at 5-4, but the Mets need a winning streak to begin digging out of the hole they’re in, with their 15-25 record. 

Their offense continues to be their biggest problem. They scored a total of two runs in the two losses in Arizona, and their season total of 140 runs is the second-lowest in the majors, ahead of only the San Francisco Giants. 

The defense hurt them as well on Sunday, as the Mets made three errors.

Here are the takeaways...

-- The Mets were dominated by lefty Eduardo Rodriguez for the second time this season. 

Rodriguez held the Mets to one run over seven innings at Citi Field in early April, and he was even better on Sunday, allowing one run over 8 1/3 innings. 

The Mets managed only four hits off the left-hander, two of them by backup catcher Luis Torrens. 

-- Juan Soto had two chances to make a big impact on the game with runners on base, but flew out routinely against Rodriguez in both the sixth and eighth innings. 

Soto is slumping badly at a time when the Mets desperately need him to carry the offense. He went 4-for-33 (.121) on the nine-game road trip, and 2-for-26 (.077) over the last seven games. 

-- David Peterson had a second straight solid outing as the bulk reliever in the game, going five innings that may well have been scoreless if not for an Andy Ibanez error that led to three runs in the sixth inning.

For whatever reason, Peterson seems to pitch better out of the bullpen than as a starter. On this day he followed Huascar Brazoban and Tobias Myers, coming in to start the third inning. 

He allowed four hits and, notably for him, issued no walks. He struck out three D-Backs hitters.

-- Andy Ibanez didn’t look like much of a third baseman in his debut there with the Mets -- certainly not the throwing part anyway. He made two throwing errors, both times high and wide to the home plate side, and the second one, in the sixth inning, proved crucial when the D-Backs went on to score three unearned runs to take a 5-1 lead.

Peterson had a chance to get out of the inning, but with two outs gave up three straight hits, two singles and an opposite-field triple to Ketel Marte down the line in right field, off the fence. 

Ibanez is a 33-year-old journeyman utility man who has played plenty of third base over the years. He was claimed off waivers from the Athletics on April 30, and in the lineup to give the Mets an additional right-handed bat against Rodriguez. 

-- Poor defense cost the Mets in the second inning when Mark Vientos failed to turn a pickoff into an out, reacting slowly to Brazoban’s throw to first, allowing Ildemaro Vargas to reach second base safely. 

When Vargas took off for second early, Brazoban threw behind him to first base, but Vientos didn’t come off the bag toward the ball to shorten the distance on both the catch and the throw to second, and Vargas beat his throw to second base. 

There was no error on the play but the mistake proved costly when Nolan Arenado walked and rookie Ryan Waldschmidt doubled with two outs off Tobias Myers to drive in two runs. 

-- The Mets were no-hit through five innings by Rodriguez before Carson Benge hit a soft liner into center field for a single with one out in the sixth. 

That led to a run when Luis Torrens followed with an opposite-field double down the right field line, scoring Benge to get the Mets on the board, trailing 2-1. 

Game MVP: Eduardo Rodriguez

The left-hander is having an outstanding season, now 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA. Rodriguez had a chance to pitch the first complete game of his career, but when he gave up a bloop single to Vientos with one out in the ninth, manager Torrey Lovullo pulled him with his pitch count at 100. 

Highlights

The Mets are on the board!

Luis Torrens brings home Carson Benge with a double! pic.twitter.com/n0E8HFCuBR

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 10, 2026

Tyrone Taylor makes the diving catch in center field! pic.twitter.com/uzvYT4Um0l

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 10, 2026

What's next

The Mets return home and after an off day on Monday are back in action on Tuesday when they host the Detroit Tigers to start a three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. on SNY.

Neither team has announced a starter yet.

The Braves are currently putting it all on the line in an attempt to pull off a rare series win in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. One of the biggest examples of that has been Eli White’s performance in this game. In an extremely high-leverage situation where the Dodgers had Max Muncy at the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth inning of a 4-0 game in favor of the Braves.

Muncy crushed it out to right field for a line drive that would’ve drove in maybe three runs had it not been caught. Instead, Eli White ran directly into the wall and held onto the ball to make the inning-ending catch.

Eli White did stay in the game to take an at-bat in the seventh inning but he was clearly feeling the effects of his crash into the wall and exited the game. We have no word on what the reason was but considering it was shortly after that big-time slam, you could probably infer that he probably got his bell rung as a result.

We’ll update this post once we get more information.

We come together this Sunday for what is a sorrowful edition of our weekly social media roundup, as we mourn the loss — and celebrate the life — of John Sterling, who passed away this past Monday. How did the Yankees, and others throughout the league, honor the legendary Yankees broadcaster? And what else were they up to this week? Let’s find out!

In memory of John Sterling

Our main story of this week, of course, needs no introduction. As soon as the news broke about Sterling’s passing, tributes poured down throughout the league, from within and outside of the Yankees organization.

Players who posted in Sterling’s memory, but whose posts are unable to be embedded for whatever reason, include Aaron Judge and CC Sabathia, while Gleyber Torres posted on his Instagram story.

Elmer’s Glue? No, Elmer’s Debut!

Two weeks ago, Elmer Rodríguez made his Major League debut, and this week, he finally got around to posting on Instagram about the experience.

Keeping Up with the Joneses

Speaking of Major League debuts, the Yankees brought up former top prospect Spencer Jones this week, with much fanfare surrounding his arrivaling.

His college team, Vanderbilt, also took to Instagram to congratulation him on his promotion.

CC Talks Ball

Some words of wisdom from CC Sabathia this week:

Everybody is better than Jalen Brunson til it’s time to be better than Jalen Brunson…

LFG New York Knicks!!!

Speaking of CC, he spoke about his time with the Brewers as the Yankees visited Milwaukee this week, where the Brewers honored him for his contributions to the 2008 squad.

Behind the NY

In this week’s episode of Behind the NY, we learn about Yankees pitching prospect Carlos Lagrange, who put himself on the map during spring training with his dominant fastball — and caught the eye of Yankees ace Gerrit Cole.

Use the Force, Aaron

We cap off this week with Aaron Judge messing around and pretending to use the Force, recreating what is in my opinion the most relatable scene in the entire Star Wars franchise, Sabine Wren’s battle with the cup.

There were a lot of similarities between today and yesterday’s loss, but at least this one was quicker. The Yankees couldn’t get the one extra hit they really needed, and the Brewers showed why they’ve been so formidable over the past couple years. In the end, breakout star Brice Turang clubbed David Bednar’s offering over the center-field wall in the bottom of the ninth to give the Brew Crew a 4-3 win and sweep the Yankees right out of town.

For the seventh time this season, Aaron Judge was able to spot his club a first-inning run:

That’s Judge’s 16th bomb of the year, moving him back into a tie for the most in baseball, now knotted up with Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies. He also passed Hall of Famer Larry Walker on the all-time home run list, No. 384 putting him in a tie for 69th with Harold Baines. In his first three PAs, the Captain was the Three-True-Outcome player, going deep, striking out, and working a walk in the sixth. Unfortunately old friend Gary Sánchez gunned down Judge’s stolen base attempt in that frame.

The following inning, Spencer Jones got the monkey off his back with his first career hit and RBI, a single to center that scored José Caballero and made it 2-0, New York:

I am not a Spencer Jones believer, and it had been a tough weekend for the sixth-ranked prospect. Good for him for getting his first MLB knock, and even better that it brought a run in. Hat tip to the kid.

We had a bit of a mixed bag from Carlos Rodón today. I think you can and should be encouraged by the pure stuff we saw — sitting 96 with his fastball and 87 with his slider, both notably harder than he threw them in 2025. The issue, perhaps predictably, was control. Three of the five innings he appeared in opened with a free pass to the leadoff hitter, and while he was able to get through three frames without trouble, if you poke a bee’s nest enough you’ll get stung.

William Contreras and Sánchez both walked to kick off the bottom of the fourth, before Rodón dotted Andrew Vaughn to load the bases. The Yankees cut Contreras down at home but couldn’t get Luis Rengifo out at first, meaning Garrett Mitchell’s fly ball was a sac fly and RBI rather than the third out of the inning, and the Brewers were on the board. A two-run single by recently-recalled erstwhile Yankees farmhand Blake Perkins put Milwaukee up 3-2, and while that would be the totality of damage against Rodón, all of the damage was because of that poor control.

Jake Bird was called upon to navigate a two men on, one man out situation relieving Carlos, and did just that to keep the deficit to just one. Jazz Chisholm Jr. wasted little time rewarding Bird for the clutch bit of pitching with a big swing in the top of the sixth:

That RBI double was as good as it would get though. The Yankees would get a man on in each of the final three innings, but in a repeat of yesterday, couldn’t manage the one hit to push another run across. Five Bombers struck out in the seventh, eighth and ninth, and Cody Bellinger and Jones were the only hitters to get a ball out of the infield — a single and a fly out respectively.

David Bednar was asked to work the ninth, and actually got two outs before facing Brice Turang, who entered action with a 158 wRC+ and a top-10 fWAR that matched Rice (1.8):

This is the second time the Yankees have been swept this year after that nightmare series down at Tropicana Field.

There’s nothing else really to say about the series, the Brewers outplayed the Yankees in all three games, took advantage of mistakes and their pitching staff was seemingly able to stave off disaster at will. Milwaukee’s a very good team, for a reason. The only thing you can do from here is fly down to Baltimore and take a couple games against a team that you should be able to, with a back-t0-health Ryan Weathers back in the rotation for the opener of that series tomorrow against righty Brandon Young. First pitch is at 6:35pm Eastern, and hopefully we get a more robust offensive effort in a different town.

Box Score

Though things looked precarious for a moment there, but the Davis Martin Hype Train choo-choos on!

In the first inning, it looked as if the 29-year-old’s magical run to start this interesting 2026 campaign might finally be at its end. Martin struggled to put hitters away early, letting in a run in the first inning — just the second time this season he’s been tagged for a tally in the first — when Julio Rodríguez drove a double into the left field gap, moved to third on a wild pitch and ultimately scored on a Randy Arozarena poke into center field.

With those hits sandwiching a nine-pitch walk of Josh Naylor, it was one of the more laborious innings we’ve seen from Martin in a while. At that point, I was bracing myself for the inevitable turning of Martin’s luck.

Wrong. Martin gritted his teeth, dug in, and proceeded to allow just two baserunners over his final five innings, one via hit and one via walk. And it wasn’t all soft contact, either — Martin has become a bona fide whiff machine, tying the career high he set just six days ago with 19 swinging strikes.

His pitch chart is a thing of beauty, showing how effectively and consistently located his fastballs up and to the glove side, paired with a healthy dose of changeups and breaking balls just below the zone — more or less exactly where you want them.

Unfortunately, Martin was robbed of what should have been his sixth win of the season by virtue of Seattle starter Logan Gilbert, who the White Sox simply couldn’t touch in what was easily his best start of the season.

That the White Sox managed to win a game in which the opposing hurler twirled six one-hit innings, facing just a hair over the minimum, seems like an alien idea. Yet that’s exactly what happened today.

Sox hitters were clearly pleased to see Gilbert depart the game for José Ferrer in the seventh inning, although Ferrer followed his starter in keeping Chicago scoreless. In the eighth inning, it was Antonio Bazardo’s turn to quiet the Sox bats — and this time, the home team won the matchup with just a few swings of the bat.

First, Bazardo hung a dry-aged ham of a breaking ball to Randal Grichuk, who managed to deposit it into the bleachers despite a heady wind blowing in from left field.

It’s pretty refreshing when the declining veterans get cast off into the White Sox lineup and still actually have something left in the tank, isn’t it!

Almost immediately following, Drew Romo continued his tear at the plate, slicing a double into the right field corner to put the lead run in scoring position. After Sam Antonacci laid down a perfectly-executed sacrifice bunt to move Romo to third, it was Miguel Vargas’ turn to play clutch again. Though he certainly wishes he had hit this fly ball a little deeper, it was just deep enough for Romo to bait Arozarena into air mailing his throw home, allowing what was ultimately the winning run to cross the plate.

Seranthony Domínguez had a very Seranthony Domínguez ninth inning, loading the bases with just one out — and looking like his feel for the strike zone was irreparably gone for the day — before inducing a pop out and a weak ground ball to end the game and earn his ninth save of the season. We’re not even halfway through May, and those nine saves are already tied with Michael Kopech’s 2024 for the most saves by a Sox reliever since Liam Hendriks notched 37 in 2022. What a time to be alive!

With this win, the White Sox remain within striking distance of .500, and with Cleveland dropping their matinee to the Twins this afternoon, they’re just a single game back of the Guardians in an AL Central that is fully AL Central-ing, with four teams all hanging around .500 and refusing to take the reins and separate from the pack. They’ll look to keep climbing during the rest of this season-long homestand, next hosting Kansas City for a three-gamer from Tuesday through Thursday. Erick Fedde takes the hill in the first game of that set, scheduled for 6:40 p.m. CT. We’ll see you there!

MILWAUKEE — The Yankees don’t lose series often, but when they do, they get swept.

At least the last two times, anyway, and this one in crushing fashion.

After arriving here as one of the hottest teams in baseball, winners of 16 of their past 19 games, the Yankees delivered a dud of a series, getting swept by the Brewers, including a pair of walk-offs in the last two games.

Sunday afternoon, it was David Bednar who gave up the game-winning home run to Brice Turang with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, handing the Yankees a 4-3 loss in front of a sellout crowd at American Family Field.

That came on the heels of Saturday’s 4-3 loss in 10 innings when the bullpen and lineup combined to waste Cam Schlittler’s gem, making for a frustrating weekend as the Yankees (26-15) dropped their first series since being swept by the Rays last month, going 6-0-1 in series in between.

They also fell to 1-8 against teams with winning records — the Brewers, Rays and A’s, accounting for their only three series losses of the season — though they haven’t had many chances to improve on that because there are currently only two other teams in the American League above .500.

“We’re really good,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We had a bad series.”

Carlos Rodón was hurt by a lack of command while giving up three runs in 4 ¹/₃ innings in his season debut, but the biggest issue for the Yankees all weekend was trying to figure out the tough Brewers pitching staff.

Coming into this series, the Yankees had outscored opponents 123-52 over their past 19 games, then mustered six runs on 16 hits in three games against the Brewers. They also struck out 39 times in 28 innings, hindering their ability to break any games open the way they had so often of late.

“They got an incredible pitching staff, from the starting rotation to their bullpen, their back-end bullpen,” said Aaron Judge, who crushed his 16th home run of the season in the first inning for the 1-0 lead. “Guys that, from the bullpen to their starters, run up to 97-plus. They got a good thing going over there. So it made for some tough at-bats, some long days, kind of battling back and forth all series long.”

Making his first start in seven months, with elbow surgery in between, Rodón looked like he was still knocking off some rust. The left-hander walked five (three to lead off innings), hit a batter and threw a wild pitch, which turned into three runs — all coming in the fourth inning to erase a 2-0 Yankees lead — across 4 ¹/₃ innings allowing only two hits.

After scoring two runs early off righty Logan Henderson — Judge’s solo shot and Spencer Jones’ RBI single, his first career hit — the Yankees tied it up in the sixth inning on Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s RBI single against lefty reliever DL Hall. But that was all they would get, as the Brewers’ hard-throwing, back-end bullpen trio of Trevor Megill, Aaron Ashby and Abner Uribe shut them down late.

Then, after Jake Bird, Paul Blackburn, Fernando Cruz and Tim Hill had all put up zeros out of the bullpen, Bednar struck out the first two batters in the bottom of the ninth before throwing a first-pitch curveball over the heart of the plate to Turang, who snuck it over the center field wall to end the game.

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“Just didn’t execute the way I wanted to,” said Bednar, who had not allowed a homer in 16 appearances this season. “But that’s baseball. It sucks.”

So did much of the weekend for the Yankees, who will now try to get back on track against the Orioles on Monday.

“Tough weekend, obviously,” Boone said. “Didn’t play our best and I thought they pitched really well against us and matched up well against us. But just not able to string together enough big hits there. Good swing by Turang to finish it off. Obviously a tough weekend, part of it, and look forward to getting on to Baltimore and righting the ship.”

Ahead of Sunday’s series finale against the Athletics, the Orioles gave off the usual signs of chaos. There was a roster move to shuffle for a fresh bullpen arm who nobody really wants to see. There was a day-of decision to have Keegan Akin go as an opener instead of Chris Bassitt making a regular start. If you took those things and also were told that the Orioles would only get six hits and only score two runs, you’d probably be expecting a loss. The O’s surprised us all, avoiding a sweep by the once-Oakland Athletics with a 2-1 win.

The first prong of a successful opener strategy is actually having the opener get through a scoreless inning. When Akin is involved, this is not something you can take to the bank. On Mother’s Day, Akin turned in a fine outing, retiring his three batters on only 13 pitches.

The second prong is having the guy who otherwise would have been a starting pitcher pitch well. When Bassitt has been involved in the 2026 season, this has not been guaranteed, either. There was a “Here we go again” feeling to Bassitt allowing a leadoff double to the first batter he faced, then bungling the fielding of a comebacker hit by the second batter that he faced. The not-officially-called-Sacramento Athletics had two men in scoring position before Bassitt got anybody out and the first out he recorded was a run-scoring sacrifice fly, giving the A’s a 1-0 lead in the second inning.

Bassitt, to his credit, limited the damage to that one run. Also to his credit, he went on to pitch for five more innings without allowing any more runs. He worked through the Athletics lineup just like the Orioles hoped he might, giving up four hits and a walk while striking out six batters. The Orioles needed this kind of outing from the veteran who they signed with the idea of bolstering the back of their rotation. They’re going to need several more for the signing to look like something other than a bust. Bassitt lowered his season ERA to 5.21.

The Orioles knotted the game back up in their half of the third inning. The bottom of the lineup got things going, as Dylan Beavers led off with a double and Weston Wilson drew a walk. Those were the 7 and 8 hitters. #9 guy Blaze Alexander squared, dropped a bunt, and advanced the two runners as the lineup turned over.

In general, I am not a fan of sacrifice bunts. This one gets a pass because Alexander’s chances of doing damage are not high, might as well move the guys over for better hitters and see what happens. Not that the hitter who was at the top of Sunday’s lineup, Gunnar Henderson, has been at his best in the 2026 season; he entered the game with a 30.2% strikeout rate for the season and could very easily have struck out and ruined the point of getting a guy to third with only one out.

Henderson did not strike out. He did not even get to two strikes. After fouling off the first pitch he saw, Henderson was able to pull the bat inside and get to a cutter boring in on his hands. This resulted in a grounder to A’s first baseman Nick Kurtz, who was playing deep, not worried about cutting down a runner going home. Kurtz was slow to start running the ball to first himself and A’s starter Luis Severino didn’t rush there initially either. Henderson ran hard all the way for an odd infield hit. This was going to get the run in regardless, but Gunnar will certainly take the hit.

The Orioles still had Wilson at third base with only one out, but he was stranded by Taylor Ward and Adley Rutschman. This was not the only case of stranding runners on Sunday. Over the 5.1 innings that Severino was in the game, the Orioles got six hits against him and drew four walks. That’s a lot of traffic. They just couldn’t capitalize as much as you’d like, in part because they only loaded the bases in the fifth inning after they had two outs.

They did manage to get to Severino for one more run, which turned out to be the game’s decisive run. Samuel Basallo got things started with a double in the sixth inning. Leody Taveras moved him up to third as he added a single to center field; the ball hung up in the air too long for Basallo to be sure it wouldn’t be caught, so he wasn’t able to score. Basallo scored easily as the lefty Beavers slashed a line drive to the opposite field. The Orioles took a 2-1 lead that proved to be the final score.

The game did not lack for drama from then on. The Athletics threatened again in the seventh – Bassitt’s last inning – with Carlos Cortes picking up a one-out single and stealing second base during a strikeout to get himself into scoring position. Then they got one last hit against Bassitt as Nick Gelof drove a single into center field. That probably sounds like a recipe for a game-tying hit, doesn’t it? Except that Taveras, the center fielder, charged in hard on the ball and made a strong, accurate throw home. Basallo picked up the ball and was ready to tag out the runner.

Cortes is listed at 5’7” and 197 pounds. If he ran into you or I, that would probably go badly for us. Cortes’s problem is that he wasn’t running into us, he was running into Basallo, who is listed at 6’4” and 250 pounds. That’s a basic problem that Isaac Newton could have explained for Cortes with his laws of motion. You did this one in middle school math class. Does this moving object have enough force to budge a larger object that is braced to remain still? No, man. You’re going to look like an idiot if you try that. And so:

This was barely even dramatic enough to call it a collision. Cortes, probably realizing that he was running dead, and also realizing that he had no interest in a full-force crash into Basallo – which, remember, is against the rules now anyway – just kind of bumped awkwardly into Basallo. The young Orioles catcher sent Cortes flying as if he was a bumper in a pinball machine and Cortes was the ball.

Basallo stood up and regarded Cortes with a look of disdain. Like, you really tried that? This was a badass sequence reminiscent of Matt Wieters holding on to a ball after a collision during the Chris Davis Pitching Game, after which he flipped up his mitt and showed the umpire the ball, while grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Basallo has his own moment now. Runners beware. If any Orioles outfielder can execute a good throw home, you’re in trouble.

Fortunately, Anthony Nunez didn’t spoil the party in the eighth inning even though he gave up two walks and tossed a wild pitch. In the ninth, Rico Garcia came in and closed the door, allowing a two-out walk but otherwise keeping the maybe-some-day-Las Vegas Athletics off of the bases. This was Garcia’s third save of the year.

It is safe to say that this victory does not dispel any lingering concerns about the Orioles, particularly the state of their offense. Most games, six hits and two runs isn’t going to cut it, especially with another series against the Yankees coming up.

The Orioles are now three wins better than they were through the same number of games last season. That’s good. They are also now on pace to win 71 games this season. That’s not good. Avoiding the free fall is only the first problem. They still need to actually get good. These are problems for tomorrow and beyond. Today, they won the one game they could win today. That’s still worth something.

The Cubs lost to the Rangers 3-0 Sunday afternoon in Texas, dropping a series for the first time in a month.

Well, that’s it! See you here tomorrow!

Oh. Wait. You come here for game recaps and by gum, you are going to get one, though there’s not much to recap.

Jameson Taillon and Jacob deGrom matched zeroes through three innings. The Rangers scored in the bottom of the fourth. Josh Jung singled and one out later Joc Pederson doubled him to third.

Then this happened [VIDEO].

Michael Busch went home right away and it looked like Carson Kelly tagged Jung before his foot came down on the plate. But he was called safe on the field and it was ruled “call stands.” Jim Deshaies, as you can hear on the clip, was not happy on the Marquee broadcast and I agree with JD, though the angle that showed the tag wasn’t the best.

The next hitter, Danny Jansen, grounded into a double play — but the Rangers challenged the call at first [VIDEO].

That’s all the Rangers got while Taillon was in the game. He threw really well, I thought — 5.1 innings, four hits, just the one run, and no home runs allowed. It was just the second of Taillon’s eight starts this year in which he did not allow a home run, and the other was his first, way back on March 31.

Here’s more on Taillon’s outing [VIDEO].

But Jacob deGrom was throwing like 2018-19 vintage deGrom in this one. The Cubs had just three hits off him, a single and a double by Nico Hoerner and another single by Michael Busch. deGrom struck out 10 and didn’t walk anyone, and I rarely show you the pitcher report on the Cubs opponent, but holy moly look what deGrom did in this one [VIDEO].

Hoby Milner had relieved Taillon and didn’t allow a run, and Phil Maton, who’s been very good recently, threw 1.1 scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts.

The Cubs couldn’t do anything with Jacob Latz in the eighth, and with the score still 1-0, Craig Counsell called on Daniel Palencia to keep it that way. Friends, he did not do that. After Palencia recorded the first two outs routinely (one on an ABS challenge), he allowed a single to right and then Evan Carter smashed a home run just out of the reach of a jumping Seiya Suzuki.

Those were the first runs Palencia allowed this year, in his eighth outing. It happens.

Unfortunately, that put the game out of reach and the Cubs went down quietly 1-2-3 in the ninth to end things.

Here are some notes on this one from BCB’s JohnW53:

Yesterday and today are the 94th time since 1901 that the Cubs have been shut out in consecutive games.

The most recent was Sept. 6-7, 2024, by 3-0 and 2-0 at home vs. the Yankees. They made one hit in the first game and four in the second, including a triple.

That was the 84th instance that ended at two games. The Cubs were blanked in three straight games eight times: seven in 1902-24, then July 23-25, 1950.

They did not score in four in a row June 16-20, 1968, and April 27-May 1, 1992.
…..
There had been only 29 previous shutouts since 1901 by all teams with three hits, no walks and exactly 10 strikeouts. Three had been by the Cubs, by 1-0 at Brooklyn in 1951, 2-0 at home vs. the Expos in 1981 and 3-0 at home vs. the Reds on Sept. 9, 2020.

In all games since 1901 with exactly three hits, the Cubs have won 80, lost 445 and tied four, a percentage of .155. 
…..
This was the 12th Mother’s Day game in which the Cubs have been shut out. The previous one was at St. Louis, 5-0, in 2017.

The Cubs also lost on the holiday last year. They have dropped five of six and seven of nine. Their overall record is 54-73-2, a winning percentage of .426.

This series, despite the two shutout losses, doesn’t really concern me that much. The Cubs did score seven runs Friday in a ballpark that appears to be playing as an extreme pitchers’ park this year. They allowed one, six and three runs in the three games, a total of 10, which isn’t too terrible.

All they can do is pick up the pieces, try to get things together after an off day Monday, and try to begin winning again against the Braves. The Cubs and Braves entered the day tied for MLB’s best record, though the Braves are leading the Dodgers late at the time of this recap. Colin Rea is listed as the Cubs starter for the series opener in Atlanta on Tuesday. At this time the Braves do not have a starter listed, but if they stay on rotation it could be Martin Perez facing the Cubs. Game time Tuesday is 6:15 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network (and TBS outside the Cubs and Braves market territories).

The Yankees were swept by the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday afternoon after the Brewers walked them off for a second day in a row.

Here are the takeaways...

-- Carlos Rodon was making his season debut for the Yankees, but before the left-hander could even take the mound Aaron Judge gave him the lead by launching an opposite-field solo home run in the top of the first inning against Brewers starter Logan Henderson.

It was Judge’s AL-leading 16th homer of the season and his seventh in the first inning.

-- Rodon graciously accepted the early advantage and held Milwaukee scoreless for the first three innings despite some early control issues which led to two walks. Those control issues followed him into the fourth inning, when Rodon walked the first two before hitting a batter to load the bases.

-- Rodon nearly escaped the inning with just one run allowed after a force out at home and a sacrifice fly got him on the doorstep of a successful inning. However, following a wild pitch, Blake Perkins got the Brewers’ first hit of the game, a single to center, that drove in two and put Milwaukee in front, 3-2. 

It was terrible timing by Rodon, who allowed just two hits during his outing, to give up his first hit. Rodon was pulled with one out in the fifth after a hit and his fifth walk of the day to give way to Jake Bird,who struck out the next two batters. 

Rodon’s final line: 4.1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 4 K on 78 pitches (42 strikes).

-- New York tied it in the sixth on Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s RBI double, but it could’ve been more had Judge not been caught stealing following a walk. Cody Bellinger also walked and scored from first on Chisholm’s double.

-- The game stayed tied into the bottom of the ninth inning after Bird, Paul Blackburn, Fernando Cruz and Tim Hill kept Milwaukee off the board. In the ninth it was David Bednar’s turn, but after he retired the first two of the inning via strikeout, Brice Turang ambushed the closer’s first pitch of the at-bat and deposited it 411 feet for the walk-off home run.

-- Spencer Jones will remember this game for a long time as he got his first major league hit in the second inning, a single that had an RBI attached to it. He finished 1-for-4.

Game MVP: Brice Turang

Turang sent the home fans happy with his walk-off blast.

Highlights

ALL RISE.

16th home run of the year for Aaron Judge! pic.twitter.com/IoEjm2T65x

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 10, 2026

Spencer Jones' first big-league hit is an RBI single! 💪 pic.twitter.com/Ma3vcHtLL2

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 10, 2026

Jazz Chisholm Jr. doubles to tie the game 🎷 pic.twitter.com/NbVsqzCxfm

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 10, 2026

What's next

The Yankees continue their road trip on Monday with a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.

LHP Ryan Weathers (2-2, 3.03 ERA) goes for New York while Baltimore has yet to announce a starter.

BALTIMORE — All-Star shortstop Jacob Wilson suffered a left shoulder sprain diving for a ground ball and was removed in the fifth inning of the Athletics' game against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards on Sunday, May 10.

Wilson's left arm was in a sling following the A's 2-1 loss to the Orioles, and manager Mark Kotsay said Wilson will need to undergo additional imaging before a full prognosis is made. The A's are off Monday and play host to the St. Louis Cardinals in West Sacramento on Tuesday.