Category: MLB

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.

Box Score

Twenty years ago, Bill Hall (one of the author’s all-time favorite players), wearing No. 2, hit a walk-off home run with a pink bat on Mother’s Day. Today, Brice Turang, also No. 2, used a pink bat to add another chapter to Milwaukee Mother’s Day lore when he walked off the Yankees with a two-out, game-ending homer that just squeaked over the wall in center field.

Brewer starter Logan Henderson got off to a positive start with a strikeout of Trent Grisham. Ben Rice, who was next, made hard contact, but Blake Perkins — playing in right field, where he has made only four appearances in the last three seasons combined — made a fantastic catch on the run. Next up was Aaron Judge, and while the Brewers have done an excellent job keeping him down in this series (he was 1-for-6 with only a single and three walks), you can’t do it forever: Judge drove a first-pitch fastball, which was right down the middle, out to right field for his league-leading 16th home run of the season. If he’s going to get you, a solo home run with two outs isn’t a bad time for him to get you.

After the Judge homer, Henderson walked Cody Bellinger, who then stole second base with Jazz Chisholm Jr. at the plate, but Chisholm struck out to end the inning.

Carlos Rodón, who had arthroscopic surgery on his throwing elbow in October and was thus making his first start of the year, walked Chourio to start his 12th major league season. Brice Turang tried to spring a surprise bunt on the Yankees, but Rodón made a nice play to throw Turang out, so Turang’s bunt went into the book as a sacrifice (though he was certainly trying to get a hit). Last night’s walk-off hero, William Contreras, became Rodón’s first strikeout victim this season, and Gary Sánchez struck out, too, and the leadoff walk went for naught.

Ryan McMahon made Henderson work to start the second inning, and would’ve had a 10-pitch leadoff bloop single if not for a nice catch by Luis Rengifo down the third-base line. José Caballero smoked a ball to center field with one out, and despite a valiant effort by Garrett Mitchell, it got over his head for a double. Spencer Jones ambushed Henderson’s next pitch and lined an RBI single to center for his first career hit (after going hitless on Friday). Henderson clearly wasn’t fooling the dangerous Yankee lineup, as four of their first six batted balls were hit at more than 104 mph, but he was able to get the next two — J.C. Escarra on a pop-up, and Grisham on a ground ball that hit Jones, resulting in an automatic out.

Vaughn drew an eight-pitch walk to start the bottom of the second, giving the Brewers a leadoff baserunner for the second straight inning. But Rodón struck out Rengifo and Mitchell and got Perkins to ground out to second, and the inning ended with Vaughn still at first.

Rice put a scare into the Milwaukee faithful with a deep fly ball to start the third, but it held up for Mitchell in center. Henderson then struck out Judge and got Bellinger to pop out, so his first 1-2-3 inning came against the meatiest part of the Yankee lineup. Milwaukee had nothing in the bottom of the inning except three groundouts from Joey Ortiz, Chourio, and Turang.

Henderson had another three-up, three-down inning in the fourth, an especially efficient one with just nine pitches thrown. Contreras walked to start the bottom of the inning, the third time in four innings that Rodón had issued a free pass to the leadoff hitter. Sánchez walked, too, and with the benefit of a successful challenge during the at-bat, Rodón had thrown eight straight balls to start the inning. After a mound visit, Rodón hit Vaughn with a fastball up and in that got him in the shoulder, and Milwaukee had the bases loaded with no outs (and no hits!).

Rengifo hit a ground ball to third, and McMahon went home with it to get the first out. Mitchell fell behind 0-2, but managed to hit a sac fly to center that scored Sánchez and cut New York’s lead in half. A wild pitch advanced both runners to second and third with Perkins at the plate, and Perkins came through — he hit a line drive up the middle, just beyond the reach of a diving Chisholm, and because of the wild pitch, both Vaughn and Rengifo were able to score. Milwaukee, suddenly, had a 3-2 lead.

Henderson, by this point, was pretty locked in, and he sat down Jones, Escarra, and Grisham in order, with strikeouts of the first two. If you count the ball in the second inning that hit Jones — which was technically scored as a single, even though it would’ve almost certainly been a groundout had it not hit Jones — he’d retired 11 in a row. That would be the end of the line for Henderson, though, who was at 74 pitches and facing the prospect of dealing with the scary part of the Yankees’ lineup for a third time. While it was a bit sketchy in the first two innings, Henderson settled in nicely and finished with five innings, four hits, one walk, and two runs allowed, five strikeouts, and was in line for the win.

With one out in the bottom of the fifth, Turang hit a single up the middle, Contreras walked, and that was the end of the afternoon for Rodón. He was replaced by Jake Bird, who struck out Sánchez looking on a pitch that needed to be overturned by an Escarra challenge. Bird then struck out Vaughn, and the Brewers couldn’t take advantage of their two on, one out situation.

DL Hall was the pitcher tasked with facing the Rice-Judge-Bellinger section of the Yankee lineup. Hall got Rice on a groundout for the first out; Judge walked, but was caught trying to steal second. But with two outs, Hall issued a walk to Bellinger and then gave up a double to Chisholm, which tied the game at 3-3. Hall has been really good this season, but not being able to get either of Bellinger or Chisholm, both lefties, wasn’t great. A McMahon groundout ended the inning, but Milwaukee’s lead had disappeared.

Milwaukee got a leadoff baserunner against the new Yankee pitcher, Paul Blackburn, when Rengifo hit a slow bouncer to third base, and McMahon’s throw was errant. (I thought Rengifo would’ve beaten the throw anyway, but that wasn’t how it was scored.) Mitchell struck out looking, and Perkins was replaced in the lineup by Sal Frelick, who walked (Rengifo stole second during the at-bat, but either way, the Brewers had runners on first and second with one out).

Ortiz was up, and he hit a grounder to third that wasn’t quite hit hard enough for McMahon to turn a 5-3 double play. Somewhat surprisingly, the Yankees pulled Blackburn (who is right-handed) for Fernando Cruz (who is also right-handed) to face the right-handed-hitting Chourio with two outs. Regardless of the reasoning, it worked, and Chourio flew out to right to end the inning with the score still tied at three.

Trevor Megill was the new Brewer pitcher in the top of the seventh, and he got to show off his graceful athleticism when Caballero popped up a bunt for the first out. Jones then grounded out on the first pitch he saw, and after throwing just three pitches, Megill had two outs. Megill then walked Escarra, the No. 9 hitter, never a good move, but he struck out Grisham to end the frame.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Brewers had Turang, Contreras, and Sánchez due up against Cruz, so it was a good time for the Brewers — who’d had a bunch of baserunners but just two hits to that point — to make a move. Turang just missed extra bases when a fly ball down the right-field line went foul by a couple of feet; a pitch later, he struck out. On the first pitch Contreras saw, he blooped a single into right field to give Milwaukee a baserunner. But Cruz struck out Sánchez and Vaughn, and the inning was over.

Aaron Ashby, who threw 27 pitches in two innings yesterday, was the Brewer pitcher in the eighth. He made Rice look foolish for the first out, then surprised Judge with a 99-mph sinker on the low inside corner on a 3-2 pitch to get him looking. Bellinger, with a nice piece of defensive hitting, knocked a single to right with two outs, but Ashby recovered to strike out Chisholm; he was quite dominant in his inning of work.

Tim Hill came to the mound for New York in the bottom of the eighth, and Rengifo greeted him by lining a single to left. Mitchell, who tried to bunt early in his at-bat, hit a ball hard up the middle, but the Yankees had him positioned perfectly and turned an easy double play. Frelick then grounded out on the first pitch he saw, and Hill was through the inning on just seven pitches.

Milwaukee turned to Abner Uribe to keep the game tied in the ninth. He allowed a one-out walk to Caballero, but didn’t have much trouble getting three outs to send the Brewers to the bottom of the ninth with the score tied.

Yankee closer David Bednar was in for the bottom of the ninth, and he struck out Ortiz and Chourio to start the inning. But Turang, the budding superstar, was up next, and he jumped on Bednar’s first pitch, a curveball that didn’t get low enough. Turang crushed it to center field, and the only question was whether it would be over or off the wall. It just cleared the yellow line in the deepest part of the ballpark and landed 411 feet away for a game-ending, sweep-clinching homer.

This was a fun win in what was one of the better regular-season series in recent Brewers history (and their first sweep of the Yankees since 1989). The Yankees, who came in with an AL-best 26-12 record, were swept at the hands of the Brewers, who look to have new life after Chourio and Vaughn rejoined the lineup. That said, they’ve succeeded mostly because of their pitching in the five games (four of which they’ve won) since those important right-handed hitters returned, and today was another example. Henderson, Hall, Megill, Ashby, and Uribe worked around six hits and five walks to hold the powerful Yankee lineup to just three runs.

On the offensive side, Turang was the obvious hero, as he finished 2-for-4 with the solo homer. William Contreras reached three times (1-for-2 with a single and two walks), and Perkins had a nice moment himself with the big hit early in the game, a two-run single that gave the Brewers their first lead.

What a great series! Milwaukee is off Monday, and then they’ll welcome the San Diego Padres to American Family Field from Tuesday through Thursday. (Will Christian Yelich be with them?) For now, we get a day to bask in the glory of this win.

Right-hander Jostin Florentino was promoted from the rookie ball ACL Cubs to High-A South Bend.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs ran aground against the Columbus Clippers (Guardians), 9-4.

Ty Blach started and took the loss. An error by shortstop Ben Cowles extended the third inning, and with that extra out Kahil Watson hit the first of his two home runs today. The final line on Blach was three unearned runs on four hits over three innings. He struck out two and walked no one.

Kenton Egbert relieved Blach in his Triple-A debut and he gave up a two-run home run to Watson in the fifth. Egbert’s final line was three runs on seven hits over three innings. He struck out one and walked no one.

Tyler Ferguson made his Cubs organizational debut. He pitched the seventh inning, retired the side in order and struck out two. His fastball averaged 95.3 miles per hour, but he mostly (50 percent of his pitches) relied on his 84 mph sweeper.

Second baseman Pedro Ramírez hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning. That home run set a new career-high for home runs in a season for Ramîrez with nine. He finished the game 2 for 4.

The Ramírez home run.

An RBI double for Jonathon Long. He was 1 for 4.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies defenestrated the Birmingham Barons (White Sox), 7-2.

Starter Jace Beck gave the Smokies four scoreless innings, permitting just three hits. Beck struck out two and walked no one.

Nick Dean pitched the next four innings and got the win after he gave up two runs, one earned, on four hits. Dean struck out six and walked no one.

It was a non-save situation, but Evan Taylor chipped in two scoreless innings to close out the game. He allowed two hits and no walks. Taylor struck out four.

Smokies pitchers combined to strike out 12 and walk no one.

Knoxville’s bats were silent, however, as Barons starter Dylan Cumming one-hit the Smokies through six innings, but he left the game after that and the Smokies jumped all over two Barons relievers for seven runs in the seventh inning, highlighted by a grand slam by center fielder Carter Trice. It was Trice’s third home run of the year. Trice went 1 for 3 with a walk.

Right fielder Andy Garriola had an RBI double in the seventh. He was 1 for 3 with a walk and one run scored.

Trice’s slam.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs were wrenched by the Lansing Lugnuts (Athletics), 8-3.

Jostin Florentino made his 2026 debut and he took the loss after allowing four runs on three hits over 3.2 innings. All four runs came in the fourth inning after allowing just one walk (and nothing else) over the first three innings, so that’s a good argument that he was just left in too long in his first start of the season. Florentino struck out four and walked two.

South Bend didn’t have a hit in this game until the seventh inning when first baseman Cameron Sisneros broke up the no-no with a single. Sisneros finished 2 for 3 with a double and one run scored.

Second baseman Drew Bowser was 1 for 3 with a bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning. He also scored one run.

Four Florentino strikeouts.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

As noted yesterday, this game was canceled because of a fire at the Crawdads ballpark.

ACL Cubs

Off day.

White Sox 2, Mariners 1

Logan on the upswing: Connor Joe, .15 WPA (Sorry, I meant to have an additional category, but clearly the leader was Logan Gilbert, .39 WPA)

Everyone who was actually swinging a bat today: Eduard Bazardo, -.53 WPA

Game thread comment of the day: Fritz wants us to really dive deep on Josh Naylor’s call-up story, I think.

Listen, you’re probably reading this because you were out today doing things with your mom, wife, grandmother, someone. And that’s fine. It’s darn near impossible to watch every single baseball game. So today, just know this: if you missed the baseball game, thank the moms of Cristopher Sanchez and Kyle Schwarber for giving them to us.

In the first inning, Schwarber and Bryce Harper, sans migraine headache, started the scoring with back to back home runs off Tomoyuki Sugano.

The third run came in the third inning when Bryson Stott scored when trying to steal third and an error by Hunter Goodman allowed him to scamper home. Alec Bohm, who had walked and gotten to second on said error, scored himself when a sacrifice fly by Trea Turner made the score 4-0.

Then Schwarber came up again.

Meanwhile, Sanchez just kept rolling along, setting down Rockies hitter after Rockies hitter without breaking much of a sweat. There was a tiny little issue in the third, but that was really it. He’s rounding back into Cy Young form right when the team needs it.

Alec Bohm gave them their sixth run as his nice weekend continued, driving in Brandon Marsh with an RBI single.

Just another series victory for the Phillies, stacking them up bit by bit, climbing out of the rut they put themselves in. They head to Boston next.

What Henry Bolte did Thursday-Saturday was phenomenal, historical, and raised the question of whether his time is now. Bolte went 12 for 12 from the latter part of Thursday’s game through Saturday’s game, 5 for 5 each of Friday and Saturday — with one single, 4 doubles, 1 triple, and 4 HRs.

The problem is the crowded outfield even with Denzel Clarke sidelined and Brent Rooker back as the every day DH. I thought even so there was a path for Bolte to fit in now if the A’s thought he was ready for prime time — and that only became more the case when Jacob Wilson’s dive for a ground ball ended with a shoulder strain.

Wilson’s injury, the severity of which is still to be determined, solidifies Zack Gelof’s place on the infield for the coming days (and possibly weeks). Gelof, along with Darell Hernaiz and Brett Harris, give the A’s ample infield coverage. So they could, assuming they place Wilson on the IL, replace him not with an infielder but rather with an outfielder.

Meanwhile, the big question has been where would Bolte play and who would he displace? Lawrence Butler and Carlos Cortes, along with Tyler Soderstrom and Brent Rooker, occupy 4 spots and LF-CF-RF-DH are exactly 4 spots. Colby Thomas is also in the mix against LHP.

The answer lies in a rotation that doesn’t bench anyone but gives each player the occasional breather in order to get others in, one which would allow the A’s to get Butler out of playing so much CF and to give Bolte enough playing time to warrant the call up.

vs. RHP for 4 games in a week:

LF – Soderstrom, CF – Bolte, RF – Butler, DH – Rooker

LF – Soderstrom, CF – Bolte, RF – Cortes, DH – Rooker

LF – Soderstrom, CF – Butler, RF – Cortes, DH – Rooker

LF – Soderstrom, CF Bolte, RF Butler, DH – Cortes

vs. LHP for 2 games in a week:

LF – Soderstrom, CF – Bolte, RF – Thomas, DH – Rooker

LF – Thomas, CF – Bolte, RF – Cortes, DH – Rooker

A rotation like this puts Bolte in the lineup 5 of 6 games, Rooker at DH 5 of 6 games, puts Butler in CF only once a week, gives Cortes a start 2/3 of the time, and sits Soderstrom half the time against LHPs (he has a .133 BA, 20 wRC+ this season) and Butler against LHPs (.160 BA, 40 wRC+).

It’s a reasonably good balance that also fortifies the bench a bit with one of these players available to pinch hit. Meanwhile, Gelof is your every day 3Bman with Hernaiz at SS and Harris on the bench — this may not be ideal but it’s what the A’s have if Wilson goes on the IL, as there are no natural reinforcements ready in the minors.

Now, as I write this Bolte has fallen into in a deep slump, 0-3 with a K in today’s game. So he’s only 12 for his last 15 with 10 extra base hits. But his .351/.419/.669 line entering play today is not a Las Vegas or PCL mirage: in the park and league adjusted wRC+ he stood at 159, and the all-important K rate was down to 22.1% for the season. And Bolte is only 22, still young for the league.

Do the A’s feel Bolte’s time is now? Did they when they woke up this morning, and did Wilson’s injury move the needle? We will know in the next 36 hours as the A’s fly home to host the Cardinals on Tuesday night. But with who on the roster and who in the lineup???

The Texas Rangers scored three runs while the Chicago Cubs scored zero runs.

We’ve reached peak baseball at The Shed with two teams playing a full nine inning game in which neither team had a hit with RISP.

The good news is it was only a nine inning game without a hit with RISP for either team because the Rangers scored via a ground out and then Josh Jung singled and Evan Carter homered with two outs in the bottom of the eighth for some much-appreciated insurance.

Further good news, the victory was Texas’ second shutout victory in a row against the NL’s top club and it also means the Rangers are now on the other side of the hellish 40-game slate MLB saddled them with to begin the season.

Through a quarter of the 2026 season, the Rangers are 19-21. Is that ideal? No. But all things considered, it’s not the worst result. Now Texas can test itself against some not-league best teams and perhaps they can rise in the otherwise mid-as-all-heck American League.

P.S. Tell your mom you love them.

Player of the Game: Today’s starter Jacob deGrom was deGreat as the superlative veteran produced seven shutout innings allowing just three hits and zero walks to go along with ten strikeouts as he reached the 1,900 K mark for his career.

If you were to draw up an ideal outing, it would look a lot like deGrom’s from today.

Up Next: The Rangers welcome the Diamondbacks to Arlington as RHP Nathan Eovaldi will attempt to reenact Game 5 of the 2023 World Series against RHP Michael Soroka for Arizona.

The first pitch in Monday’s series opener is scheduled for 7:05 pm CDT and you can watch it on the Rangers Sports Network.

Before any game action today, a quick shoutout to all the Moms out there this 2026 Mother’s Day! I just returned from a trip with my mom to see the Twins in Washington, D.C.! I calculated that she has now seen 10 baseball stadiums (one I’ll never get to—Metropolitan Stadium). It probably helps to have a baseball die-hard son (haha). I pity the fool who doesn’t think of their mother today…

Baseball-wise, the Minnesota Twins—for the second consecutive Lord’s Day—threw their rag-tag bullpen assemblage out to the mound from “Play Ball!” and somehow again came away with a victory.

The Twins struck first in the top of the third inning when a Kody Clemens double was pushed to third base by a Brooks Lee single—and then Kody scampered home on a Guardians SP Gavin Williams heave to the backstop.

The lead didn’t last long—a Jose Ramirez (who else) single scored Brayan Rocchio in B3—but MN second-man-out-of-the-pen Kendry Rojas induced an Angel Martinez fly out to the warning track with the bases loaded. Phew!

In T4, a Ryan Jeffers double and an Austin Martin single seemed to be cooking up more runs—until a Luke Keaschall GIDP doused the fire.

Fortunately, T5 brought more action—and actual scoreboard movement! Clemens again started the rally with a 2B, then scored this time on a Lee 1B. Royce Lewis then chipped in a 2B of his own to score Lee. After two outs, it looked as if the inning might fizzle with nothing further—until Josh Bell cracked a 1B plating Lewis and Martin thought “hey, that was fun—let me try it!”. 5-1 Twins!

After Rojas departed mid-B5 after some really solid (if wild) work, RP Travis Adams’ two-out BB came back to haunt on a Daniel Schneeman RBI single. Once again, however, a Twins reliever wriggled out of a bases-loaded jam to keep the damage to a minimum. 5-2 Twins.

A Chase DeLauter 1B pulled CLE to within two runs, but Anthony Banda put down further rebellion. 5-3 Twins.

As they are wont to do, Cleveland continued chipping away—this time a DeLauter RBI ground-out in B8. Yet again, this time it was Luis Garcia dousing a RISP threat. 5-4 Twins.

That is where the score would stay, with Yoendrys Gomez (who I’m sure you’ll remember on the ‘26 Sporcle roster quiz) recording the save with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Your Final: Minnesota Twins 5, Cleveland Guardians 4

For the first time since September of 2023, the Twins have won a series at Progressive Field. The combination of Morris, Rojas, Adams, Banda, Garcia, & Gomez held Cleveland to 4 runs. While perhaps unremarkable by other clubs’ standards, after a week of MN bullpen blow-ups it was truly a remarkable thing to behold.

Go call your Mom and tell her the Twins won!

Zach’s Zealot

• Clemens: 3-4, 2 2B, 2 R, 1 SB (3B), generally just the offensive instigator all afternoon!

Zach’s Zombie

• Keaschall: 0-4, 1 K, GIDP, .612 OPS on the season

Egg-cellent Elocution

• norffagreeing with my Zealot

Who’s Got Next

• Off Monday; returning home to host the Miami Marlins (Tues. night, Wed. night, Thurs. afternoon).

Today’s Mother’s Day matinee gave us fans the first look at the newest Cleveland Guardian, Patrick Bailey and Tony Arnerich as a manager. Bailey got his first start as catcher for the club, hitting 8th and catching for Gavin Williams. Stephen Vogt was unable to manage today’s game due to illness, prompting Arnerich to step in. Gavin came into today’s game 5-2. Williams had a textbook start to the game, only allowing one run through the fourth inning. On a day where José is DH-ing, it is always nice when the defense still backs up the pitcher. In the top of the fourth, the Guards turned an impressive double play to retire the side.

The fifth inning saw a mini implosion from Gavin. In the top of the fifth, Gavin gave up 6 hits, allowing the Minnesota Twins to score 4 runs. He went 1-2-3 in the sixth inning, finishing his day 6.0IP/10H/5R/1BB/6K on 101 pitches.

Cleveland offense peppered in some runs, once again struggling to capitalize with runners in scoring position. Going into the bottom of the seventh, the team was 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded a base runner in every inning except the first.

The Guardians’ first run came in the bottom of the third on three single. Brayan Rocchio hit a lead off single to right. Chase DeLauter reached on a single and was follow up by José Ramírez hitting a RBI single.

In the bottom of the fifth, with two outs, the offense pieced together another run. Kyle Manzardo drew a walk and scored on back-to-back singles from Daniel Schneemann and Angel Martínez. Travis Bazzana drew a walk, loading them up for nothing to happen. Patrick Bailey struck out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the sixth, yet another patch work run crossed the plate. Much like the third inning, Brayan Rocchio and Chase DeLauter manufactured a run on back-to-back singles.

Patrick Bailey did get to flash his highly touted defense in the top of the seventh. Trevor Larnach was caught stealing 2nd base with a throw from Bailey to Rocchio.

Franco Aleman made his major league debut only a few days after his call up and proved to be everything he was expected to be. Aleman pitched two innings of much needed scoreless baseball. Aleman allowed two hits and struck out a batter.

The Guardians continued their piecemeal scoring attempt in the bottom of the eighth. Arnerich made the call to pinch hit David Fry for Patrick Bailey as the Twins turn to RHP Luis García. It was the right choice as David Fry hit a lead off single. Brayan Rocchio continued his hot hitting day, slapping another single of his own. Rocchio went 4-for-4 on the day with 3 singles and a double. A still struggling Steven Kwan laid down a perfect sac bunt to move both runners to scoring position. CDL hit into a ground out to first, but it allowed Fry to score, bringing the Guards within one run.

Tim Herrin was tasked with closing the game. The lefty got himself in a bit of a high leverage situation, but shut it down and maintained his 0.00 ERA. A single, sac bunt, and stolen base had the runner on third with two outs and Byron Buxton up to bat. Arenrich learned from last night’s Buxton beat down and wisely intentionally walked the Twin. The final out, Victor Caratini, flied out to Chase DeLauter who caught the ball on the warning track.

Schneemann, Angel, and Bazz went 1-2-3 to end the game, adding another loss to the Guardians’ record against one of the worst bullpens in the American League. The Guardians scored 4 runs on 11 hits and 6 walks.