Category: MLB

CHICAGO — It would be hard to say life is grand for the Giants, who still reside far closer to the Rockies in the standings than any other team, but it has begun to feel like it at times lately.

For the second time in as many games, the Giants loaded the bases and cleared them with one swing. A grand slam from Matt Chapman was the biggest blow delivered by San Francisco in an early-round knockout of the reeling Cubs, but it was hardly their only punch thrown in an 18-3 romp Friday to open the final leg of a three-city, 10-game road trip.

Building on a 1-0 win behind Logan Webb on Wednesday, the Giants have exploded for 30 runs and 39 hits their past two games. That has been more than enough to match their season-long winning streak of only three games.

Eric Haase’s grand slam was one of two homers the Giants slugged in the final game of their series against the Brewers, and they left the yard seven more times Friday — twice against a position player once the score was out of hand in the ninth.

Two came off the bat of Willy Adames, including one that left the Friendly Confines entirely, Chapman added a three-run shot to finish with eight RBIs, Jonah Cox got the first of his career against Carson Kelly, who also served up Casey Schmitt’s second of the game to increase his team-leading total to 15.

What it means

Chapman’s grand slam was the Giants’ sixth of the season, tied with the Angels for the major-league lead. Remarkably, every one of them has come since Harrison Bader’s against the A’s in Sacramento on May 17.

Entering this road trip, the Giants ranked near the top of the league in batting average but had converted those base knocks into the fewest runs in the majors.

The results have started to square themselves with three double-digit outputs on the scoreboard in eight games on this road trip. Putting aside their 19-6 win at Coors Field on Sunday, the 30 runs the Giants have scored their past two games are their most in any two-game span since 1944 — 14 years before the team moved to San Francisco.

Who’s hot

Adames began the barrage with one of the purest swings from a Giants batter this season on a knee-high, two-strike fastball from Cubs starter Edward Cabrera. The ball left his bat at 107 mph and didn’t come down until it cleared the left field bleachers, eventually finding the pavement of Waveland Avenue, 427 feet away.

Chapman, who had one home run in his first 245 plate appearances of the season, has gone yard twice in his past 20 trips to the plate. Likewise, Adames has four on this road trip after entering it with only seven through his first 57 games.

As the left side of their infield has improved, so too has the rest of the Giants’ offense.

Since ending April in last place or close to it in practically every meaningful offensive statistic, the Giants have quietly been one of the majors’ better lineups.

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Since the start of May, the Giants have scored the seventh-most runs in the majors; their 116 wRC+ ranks fifth. And, safe to say, no team has hit more grand slams.

There was nothing quiet about their series opener against the Cubs.

Who’s not

For the fifth start in a row, Robbie Ray’s pitch count reached the 90s in the fifth inning.

But, for the first time in any of them, it didn’t prevent him from being the pitcher of record.

Ray’s command problems persisted with five walks, but the Cubs failed to cash in any of them.

Up next

Who knows what’s in store next for these juggernaut Giants.

They will, at least, face a bit more of a challenge in Ben Brown, the Cubs’ scheduled starter, who has a 1.92 ERA in 17 games (five starts) this season. He’ll be opposed by Landen Roupp, who battled his lower back tightening up on him the last time he took the mound.

I thought about it, I really did — just posting the final score here and tomorrow’s pitchers and that’s it.

So, here you go: The Giants crushed the Cubs 18-3 Friday afternoon in a rain-delayed contest at Wrigley Field.

There was some history made here, and I wanted to tell you about that, plus show you one play that might have ignited this rout.

First, that play. It happened in the fourth inning with the Cubs down just 2-0 and Giants runners on first and second with one out.

Bryce Eldridge hit a ball up the middle [VIDEO].

If Cabrera lets that ball go through, it probably goes right to Dansby Swanson, who’s in a position to turn an easy inning-ending double play. The score would have still been 2-0 going to the bottom of the fourth.

Instead, the bases are loaded. Matt Chapman was the next hitter. Could that have rattled Cabrera? Maybe, because two pitches later Chapman hit a grand slam and it’s 6-0 and you know the Cubs aren’t coming back from that.

About the slam, from BCB’s JohnW53:

The grand slam by Matt Chapman was just the second surrendered by the Cubs this season. The first was off Jameson Taillon, by Brandon Lowe of the Pirates, on April 12 — 49 games ago. That slam made the score 5-0 in the second inning. The Cubs won, 7-6, on Carson Kelly’s one-out, bases-loaded single in the ninth.

Unlike that day, the Cubs did not win this game.

Cabrera wound up serving up another homer in that inning, a two-run job, the third homer he allowed on the afternoon, to make it 8-0. After that and another single, he was removed for Phil Maton. Cabrera’s return to action, then, was not successful.

Maton managed to get through the fifth allowing just one run, but Hoby Milner got absolutely hammered by Giants hitters, allowing five hits and six runs, including a home run. Ethan Roberts relieved him and served up yet another homer, if you’re counting, it’s five. Milner’s season ERA went from 2.28 to 4.18 in this one outing.

Thus it’s 16-0 Giants going into the bottom of the sixth, and the Cubs have just two hits. They managed a run in the sixth when Seiya Suzuki walked (his third of the game). Ian Happ singled Suzuki to third and Carson Kelly drove him in [VIDEO].

So, no shutout for the Giants. Caleb Thielbar threw a scoreless eighth, and the Cubs put two up in the bottom of the inning. The first was on a solo homer by Suzuki, his ninth [VIDEO].

After that Pedro Ramirez singled and two outs later Miguel Amaya drove him in [VIDEO].

Giants manager Tony Vitello, a former college coach with no sense of occasion, lifted both Chapman and Willy Adames, both of whom had homered twice, before they had a chance for a third home run. There has never been a game with two players hitting three home runs. Could have at least had that history.

Chapman did have eight RBI. That matches the Wrigley Field record for anyone. Three visiting players had done it before Chapman: Orlando Cepeda of the Giants in 1961, Mike Schmidt of the Phillies in 1976 and Andre Dawson, when he was with the Expos, in 1985.

For some entertainment value, Kelly pitched the ninth inning. His first two pitches were deposited in the bleachers.

Pitch one [VIDEO].

Pitch two [VIDEO].

Kelly then got the next three hitters, two on infield popups, the third on a comebacker [VIDEO].

If you’ve lost count, that’s seven home runs hit by the Giants, one short of the franchise record. More from John:

This was the 12th game since 1901 in which the Cubs gave up at least seven home runs. It was the eighth since 2000.

The previous one was a 10-6 loss to the Diamondbacks on May 20, 2022. The two before that were against the Reds, 14-3 in 2010 and 12-7 in 2008. All three of those game were at home.

The Cubs served up eight homers twice, in an 11-inning, 13-12 loss to the Braves on May 28, 2006, and a 12-3 loss to the Tigers just three weeks later, on June 18.

It was also the most runs scored by the Giants at Wrigley Field since the first game of a doubleheader July 4, 1961. That was the game where Cepeda had eight RBI; he went 5-for-5. The 1961 Cubs were a horrid team that was in the first year of the awful College of Coaches experiment. They went 60-94. This year’s Cubs are, supposedly, better.

The home runs are more than just a concern. That’s 95 homers allowed by Cubs pitching in just 64 games, passing the Nationals (90 entering today) for the most in MLB. That would be 240 homers allowed for a full season, The franchise record is 235, set in 2021, and you know how bad a season that was. Let’s hope we’re not headed that way.

All you can do is pick up and try to win the next day’s game. Ben Brown will start for the Cubs and Landen Roupp will go for the Giants. Game time is again 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

Cleveland Guardians @ Texas Rangers

Friday, June 5, 2026, 7:15 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Apple TV)

The Shed

LHP Parker Messick vs. RHP Kumar Rocker

Go Rangers!

Last night, the Athletics were three outs away from completing their first sweep of the Chicago Cubs since interleague play began in 2004. Instead, the team’s bullpen melted down yet again. The Cubs scored four runs in the ninth inning, rallying for a walk-off victory to salvage the series finale.

If the A’s had held on, they would have returned to .500 and gained ground in the division, as both the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers were off. After the game, the A’s traveled to Houston, where they will begin a three-game series against the Astros tonight.

However, right-handed reliever Joel Kuhnel will not be part of the roster. In the wake of yesterday’s poor performance, the A’s designated him for assignment and recalled right-hander Elvis Alvarado from Triple-A Las Vegas. Alvarado had been pitching well in the minors, though command remains the key question as he returns to the majors.

Right-hander Jack Perkins will make his first start of the season to kickstart the series. Since his promotion from Triple-A, the 26-year-old has pitched out of the bullpen, accumulating a 2-2 record with a 5.46 ERA, three saves and 33 strikeouts over 17 relief appearances. A’s manager Mark Kotsay moved Perkins, who started four MLB games last year, into the rotation following a series of injuries and ineffective performances among the club’s other starting pitchers. His performance will determine whether this is a one-time spot start or the beginning of a permanent role in the rotation.

Perkins has not pitched more than 4 2/3 innings this season, with his longest outing coming against the Mariners on May 25. Because he is not fully stretched out, the right-hander is unlikely to work much deeper than five innings, even if he pitches effectively.

On Monday, the A’s promoted right-handers Kade Morris and Mason Barnett from Triple-A Las Vegas, providing additional pitching depth for this road trip. With Morris slated to start tomorrow, Barnett could see action tonight in relief of Perkins.

The Athletics’ lineup for this evening’s matchup shakes out like this:

The A’s lineup remains relatively unchanged, led by leadoff hitter right fielder Carlos Cortes. With left fielder Tyler Soderstrom’s bat showing signs of life, the team needs more production from designated hitter Brent Rooker and second baseman Jeff McNeil.

Lawrence Butler continues to struggle offensively, and if his slump continues, the A’s may eventually have to consider a trip to Triple-A. With his current usage largely limited to pinch-hitting and defensive replacement duties, regular at-bats could be the best path to getting him back on track. For now, Cortes offers more consistency at the plate despite being a weaker defender, while Henry Bolte provides a stronger defensive option in center field.

As for the Astros, right-hander Peter Lambert will get the ball in the series opener. The 29-year-old has capitalized on an opportunity created by injuries throughout Houston’s rotation. Entering his ninth start of the season, Lambert is 4-4 with a 3.77 ERA, a 1.21 WHIP, and 43 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings.

Lambert enters on a two-game winning streak and is coming off a strong outing against the Brewers, allowing two runs on five hits over five innings. He is relatively unfamiliar to A’s hitters, with Zack Gelof the only current Athletic to have recorded a hit against him in his career.

As a result, the A’s lineup will need to stay patient and capitalize on mistakes. The more they can get to Lambert, the sooner they can reach the Astros’ bullpen, which has been nearly as inconsistent as the A’s relief corps this season.

And Houston’s starting nine:

The Astros have been playing better baseball lately and will welcome back second baseman Jose Altuve from the injured list, further strengthening their lineup. A’s pitchers must also be careful with left fielder Yordan Alvarez, who has hit the second-most home runs in the league.

Time to shake off last night’s collapse and get this series off to a winning start. Let’s go A’s!

Follow the Game:
Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA

Listen:
Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, A’s Cast

There might be more clarity on how Aaron Judge landed himself on the injured list with a stress fracture in his first rib.

On Friday, Judge shared that he believes he suffered the injury diving for a ball in Houston during an April 26 game.

The dive happened on a ball that Jazz Chisholm Jr. ended up catching. The following inning? Judge homered.

Judge continued to play through discomfort for over a month before the pain became overwhelming last weekend in Sacramento.

The last game Judge played was the series finale against the Athletics on Sunday. Judge didn’t notify manager Aaron Boone of his discomfort until this past weekend.

The Yankees placed Judge on the 10-day IL on Friday, and he will be shut down for the next four-to-six weeks and then be reevaluated, per the team.

The Yankees said they expect Judge to be back this season, but the best-case scenario is likely a late July return, with mid-August more feasible.

“It’s definitely not what you want to hear,” Judge said of the injury on Friday. “We’ll take a little time to get healthy and get back at it.”

With Judge out for the foreseeable future, No. 6-ranked prospect Spencer Jones was called back up. Jose Caballero and Max Schuemann filled in at right field in the series against Cleveland this week.

Despite the impact that Judge’s absence will surely bring, the team avoided the worst-case scenario. His injury does not appear season-ending, as was initially feared.

Judge was productive to start the season despite not being himself of late. He’s slashing .248/.375/.533 in his first 59 games. But since May 11, his production dipped, going 14-for-68 (.206) with just one home run, eight RBIs and 19 strikeouts.

Another Trey Day. It seems like a good day to get a win streak going. I’m hopeful.

And it is Pride Day. And the roof is open. Aall is good in the world. Or will be if the Jays win.

Apparently the Jays are moving Sean Keys up to Buffalo. He was doing great in New Hampshire, with a .285/.411/.581 with 14 home runs, 28 walks and 51 strikeouts in 49 games.

Lineups:

Go Jays Go

The Atlanta Braves are starting their weekend series against the Pittsburgh Pirates where it looks like they may have lucked out and not have to face Paul Skenes who pitched on Wednesday.

Martín Pérez is easily having his best season since 2022 and will be facing Mitch Keller who is having his standard low fours ERA season that he seems to have every single season without fail. Both offenses have been good this season. The Braves have scored the third most runs in MLB and the Pirates have scored only four less to place them fourth.

The key for the Braves today will be to get to the bullpen as fast as they can where the Pirates clearly are weak placing eighteenth in MLB in reliever ERA.

First pitch is at 7:15 EDT

Lineup

Preview

Say what you will about the series finale on Thursday against the Philadelphia Phillies, but the San Diego Padres showed some offensive fight. Despite not getting a hit until the sixth inning off of Phillies ace Zack Wheeler, the Padres managed to put up two runs in the seventh on a Manny Machado homer to make it a one-run game.

Unfortunately the bullpen (combined with Freddy Fermin’s poor defense) resulted in a three-run seventh inning for Philadelphia that pushed the score to 6-2. The Padres were close to a comeback in the ninth, with a Jackson Merrill homer making the score 6-4, Philly. But Phillies reliever José Alvarado recorded the final three outs.

It’s been a majorly disappointing stretch for the Friars the last few weeks. That being said, this series against Philadelphia was better than it seems. The Padres showed they could score runs, but the bullpen picked the wrong time to get shaky, giving up all three games to the Phils. As San Diego returns home to Petco Park, the Friars will need to rebound while facing the New York Mets this weekend.

Taking the mound

Christian Scott (NYM) v. Michael King (SD)

Scott has had a solid sophomore campaign with the Mets, posting a 2.97 ERA through 30 1/3 innings pitched. He hasn’t worked very deep into games. That’s likely due to New York giving Scott a rather short leash after he had a 4.56 ERA in his 2025 rookie year (47.1 IP).

After struggling at the beginning of May, Scott has turned things around. He’s surrendered just one run across his last 10 2/3 innings. He’s kept balls in the yard well, giving up just one home run this year. The Padres will need to get to Scott early.

King has been an ace for the Friars, though his stat line might not fully suggest it. He’s been saddled with a 3.18 ERA thanks to a few tough outings. For the most part, King has been a stalwart in the Padres’ rotation.

After one of the best starts of his career (7.0 IP, 0 ER), King has since given up nine runs across 9 2/3 innings of work. It’s been a rough go of it lately. King will be looking to rebound against a talented (but thus far unimpressive) Mets lineup.

Batter up!

Machado and Merrill both went yard in San Diego’s series finale on Thursday. Their breakouts (along with Tatis’ recent hot streak) would be incredible for the Friars’ offensive production.

1. Fernando Tatis Jr., 2B
2. Gavin Sheets, LF
3. Jackson Merrill, CF
4. Manny Machado, 3B
5. Ty France, 1B
6. Xander Bogaerts, SS
7. Miguel Andujar, DH
8. Jase Bowen, RF
9. Rodolfo Durán, C

None of the Padres have had an opportunity to face Scott in the past, so they’ll have to figure him out on the fly. France has continued to prove his worth offensively, going 6-for-17 with three walks during this road trip.

Durán has turned into King’s personal catcher with Luis Campusano stuck on the injured list. After a short hot streak at the plate, Durán has cooled down lately. He’s been much better than his counterpart backstop, Freddy Fermin.

Relief corps

The bullpen was forced to pick up after Lucas Giolito’s shaky start. After giving up just one run across four innings, Giolito came back out for the fifth and surrendered a leadoff home run to Adolis García and a double to Justin Crawford. That forced manager Craig Stammen to turn to Yuki Matsui.

Matsui didn’t do much to limit the damage, walking Kyle Schwarber before getting two outs. With runners on first and third, Matsui made a crucial throwing error attempting to pickoff Trea Turner at first base. The error allowed Crawford to score from third.

In the seventh, Ron Marinaccio worked around a leadoff single to Alec Bohm for a scoreless frame. He was replaced by Adrian Morejon in the eighth and couldn’t get out of the inning. Wandy Peralta emerged from the ‘pen and finished out the inning.

That leaves some options for today, though the Friars certainly will be banking on King to return to form. Jason Adam, Jeremiah Estrada, Mason Miller and Bradgley Rodriguez are all available. They’ve all been high-leverage options for San Diego in the past.

Do you like barrels? Hard hit balls? Dingers and gap-to-gap doubles? Too bad! We’ve got Bryan Woo facing off against Framber Valdez today. 174 pitchers have faced at least 500 batters since the start of 2024, and of them, Woo has the 6th lowest wOBAcon (damage on contact), and Valdez, the 23rd lowest.

On the other hand, each of them will be pitching in front of one of the three worst defenses in MLB, so maybe some balls will get through.

Lineups

Rob Refsnyder gets the nod over the hot-lately Patrick Wisdom, but nothing too fancy from Dan Wilson today as the Mariners face the lefty Valdez.

The Tigers, who also run a pretty platoon-heavy team, will go with their standard lineup against righties except for starting Zack Short over Wencel Perez. As a group, this collection of hitters has slashed .208/.240/.292 against Bryan Woo.

Game Info

First Pitch: 3:40 PDT
TV: Mariners TV
Radio: Old reliable
Game Thread Comment of the Day: To be determined!

The Dodgers and Angels continue their weekend series with the middle game on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto starts for the Dodgers, and Jack Kochanowitz is on the mound for the Angels.

Saturday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Angels
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out of market), KCOP channel 13 (Angels broadcast)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Beucase this is a day ending in Y the Jay have made a roster move. Simeon Woods Richardson is active for tonight’s game. Chad Dallas is on his way to Buffalo.

3.2 good innings from Dallas, thank you very much, 2 hits, 1 earned, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts.

SWR wasn’t good for the Twins, this season, but he’s been a good pitcher in the past and can likely give us 5-6 innings at a go.

And the team says that Dylan Cease is ‘very likely’ to make his next start with the Blue Jays. They say he feels good after his start for the Bisons yesterday. He was hit pretty hard in that game but that’s really not what’s important.

We should hear that Kirk is coming back pretty soon. Max Scherzer will be ready soon. Yimi Garcia will only need a couple more rehab appearances. And Shane Bieber will start tomorrow for Buffalo. He’ll need a couple more rehab appearances before they talk about him coming back. Tommy Nance isn’t all that far from coming back as well. Addison Barger will likely be a week or so before he’s ready to come back.

Tonight’s lineups for Pride Day at the ballpartk. No Lips tonight.

Paul Toboni.

On July 6, 2025 the Washington Nationals sacked President of Baseball Operations and former Diamondbacks head of scouting, Mike Rizzo, and their manager Dave Martinez. It was the duo that surprisingly won the 2019 World Series. But, after winning that World Series, there was a quick downfall from which the Nationals were never able to recuperate.

Though in 2025 the Nationals were probably never expected to be fierce competitors, the onfield performance was not according to the owner’s expectations, where the young core wasn’t as exciting as hoped for.

The Nationals finished the disappointing 2025 with some interim management and announced as soon as the season was over that Paul Toboni would be the new leader in the front office.

With his signing as new President of Baseball Operations, Paul Toboni is currently the youngest baseball executive in the MLB with his 35 years. A Berkeley graduate, and a 2011 team mate of Marcus Semien’s college world series Golden Bears, Toboni started his career in the MLB in 2013 as an intern. In 2015 he joined the Red Sox (so he must have met Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen) and since 2019 he oversaw the Red Sox farm system. On his arrival in Washington Toboni overhauled the front office, with his most notable signing being Blake Butera as the on field manager.

Toboni’s immediate focus was the starting rotation. He made 3 notable free agent pitching signings: Foster Griffin came over from the NPB, while Miles Mikolas and Zack Littell joined as free agents from the Cardinals and Reds. All three were signed to a 1-year contract. Max Kranick and Cionel Pérez are two relievers who also joined the Nationals on a 1-year contract.

Toboni also made a bunch of waiver claims and DFAd a lot.

However, the biggest headlines were taken when he moved MacKenzie Gore to the Rangers for 5 prospects. Gore struggled out of the gate in Texas, but has found his groove of late. The 5 prospects that Washington got in return have all easily slipped into the Washington Nationals farm system ranking. Though none is seen as a top talent, the expectations is that the first two got join the big league team this season.

There was some speculation that CJ Abrams could be the next player out of Washington, but the Nationals either couldn’t find a willing trade partner or decided to stick with the infielder, who hasn’t been completely free of some controversy.

Many runs guaranteed in this series.

The early results say that when the Nationals play, you get to see a lot of runs.

The Nationals is the team that scores most runs per game: their 331 runs is one run more than the almighty Dodgers and two more than the Atlanta Braves, the two teams that are currently battling for the power ranking throne in the MLB.

The downside is that the Nationals is also one of the teams that gives up most runs: their 341 runs allowed is second behind the Rockies (355). Their 298 earned runs allowed show that defence has a lot of improvement left. Their 90 homeruns allowed is top in the league and shows that their pitching allows too much hard contact. Their FIP, according to baseball reference, is still third worst in the league.

So, while Toboni hasn’t had a lucky hand in his free agent signings on the pitching front, luckily for him Washington’s bats are about as hot as you can get them. That success is pretty much carried by two players: CJ Abrams and his 155 OPS+ and James Wood’s 160 OPS+. Abrams is the team’s RBI leader, while Wood’s has hit most home runs (16), though what stands out is his huge 17% walk percentage. That makes both players a top 10 position in the entire MLB in those categories.

Woods sports a huge BABIP of .400 over the past two weeks, which is enormous, but until now he has always had higher BABIP in the past two seasons than you’d normally see. The Nationals were a bit down in their latest series against the Marlins, scoring “only” 7 runs and getting swept by Miami, dropping from 31-29 to 31-32.

Matchups.

Game #1 Fri 06/05 6:40 PM MST, Merrill Kelly (ARI) vs Foster Griffin (WSN).

• Merrill Kelly. 9 GS, 53.1 IP, 5 W-3 L, 5.06 ERA, 5.60 FIP, 1.46 WHIP, 33/22 K/BB. $18,000,000.
• Foster Griffin. 12 GS, 67.0 IP, 6 W-2 L, 3.76 ERA, 4.90 FIP, 1.15 WHIP, 65/21 K/BB. $5,500,000.

After pitching twice against the Giants and one each against Rockies and Mets, Merrill found himself a tougher opponent in his latest performance in Seattle. The mainstay allowed only 2 runs, but you could say that it could have been much worse. Though Kelly could easily line up for another win in this matchup, it could be more because our bats back him up than him being able to quiet Washington’s. That is a similar view of his performance last time against Washington, last year in May, when he gave up 6 runs in 5 innings, but got a no-decision.

That isn’t such a strange prediction, if you look at it, because Merrill gives up a ton of homeruns, but I give you my Merrill and you show me your Foster Griffin: he has the same HR/9 rate as Merrill Kelly (1.7). Before this season, Griffin had 14.1 innings under his belt in the major leagues, debuting with the Royals in 2020. He played in the NPB the past 3 seasons, where he had an especially strong season for the Yomiuri Giants last season, pitching to a 1.62 ERA in 78 innings.

Griffin has a huge 7-pitch arsenal. Cutter, four-seamer, sweeper, sinker, change-up, curve and split finger. His fastball is weak, reaching an average a bit above 91 mph. The change-up is his best pitch, but he only shows it against right-handed pitching. His barrel percentage is in the 8th percentile, i.e. one of the worst in the league.

With Corbin being a lefty, Ketel a switch hitter and CJ Abrams and James Woods on fire, I foresee a slugfest in this first matchup, with the decision coming late in the game.

Game #2 Sat 06/06 1:10 PM MST, Eduardo Rodriguez (ARI) vs Zack Littell (WSN).

• Eduardo Rodriguez. 12 GS, 72.1 IP, 5 W-1 L, 2.24 ERA, 3.64 FIP, 1.19 WHIP, 52/26 K/BB. $21,000,000.
• Zack Littell. 12 G, 8 GS, 59.1 IP, 5 W-4 L, 5.01 ERA, 6.22 FIP, 1.37 WHIP, 35/19 K/BB. $3,000,000.

After a great 2024 season for the Rays, Littell was okay-ish in 2025, though probably worse than hoped for, for both the Rays and, after a trade, for the Reds. That is how Littell got to see the Diamondbacks twice last season, in April in a Rays shirt, in August in a Reds shirt. Both times he could not get a win. This year Littell hasn’t been great for the Nationals, though his numbers are very much skewed by three terrible performances at the end of May against Giants (!), Braves and Mets, when he gave up 18 runs in 13.2 innings. Lately, Littell has navigated into quieter waters, a couple of times behind an opener, and over the past 6 innings he sports a 2.53 ERA and 3.49 FIP, pretty similar to Eduardo Rodriguez’s season numbers. His command and his breaking balls (split finger, sweeper) are Littell’s strengths. Littell is a lefty and has a slightly better split against lefties because of that.

So, this matchup could be way more different than the previous one and instead of a slugfest, it could be a tight game with both starting pitchers leaving the game with less than 5 runs scored.

Game #3 Sun 06/07 12:15 PM MST, Michael Soroka (ARI) vs Cade Cavalli (WSN).

• Michael Soroka. 12 GS, 67.0 IP, 7 W-3 L, 3.49 ERA, 2.95 FIP, 1.19 WHIP, 66/15 K/BB. $7,000,000.
• Cade Cavalli. 13 GS, 64.2 IP, 3 W-3 L, 3.62 ERA, 3.00 FIP, 1.42 WHIP, 74/24 K/BB. $862,500.

Despite making his debut in 2022, we have never seen Cade Cavalli starting against the Diamondbacks and that is because the former star prospect struggled with injuries and setbacks until returning to the MLB in August 2025, when he made his first start in 3 years. Now, Cavalli is finally ready for his first full major league season in his career, at 27 years of age. His four-seamer/sinker combo is a strong 96+ mph fastball combo, but his strength is in his off-speed changeup and sweeper. Cavalli also shows a knuckle curve. The Oklahoma native is a ground ball pitcher, so a bit of a different profile than Michael Soroka. Cavalli has some strong splits, with lefties getting the upper hand over him.

Soroka will be eager to show the Nationals that his 2026 version is a lot better than the 2025 version who was in Washington. Michael survived the Dodgers’ batting lineup, but will have to be wary of allowing too much hard contact.

Texas Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford has been activated from the 10 day injured list, the team announced today. Because there was an open spot on the active roster after yesterday’s transactions, no additional move was necessary to clear a spot for him. In addition, the Rangers activated Sam Haggerty from the bereavement list and have designated him for assignment.

Langford has been out since mid-April due to a forearm strain. He had gotten off to a slow start prior to his landing on the injured list, but hopefully he will be able to hit the ground running and, along with Corey Seager, who was activated yesterday, will be able to provide a boost to the Ranger offense.

Haggerty had a solid 2025 campaign, and started the 2026 season as Evan Carter’s platoon partner. He has just a 395 OPS this year, however, and it appears Michael Helman has displaced him in that role.

It has been nearly a calendar year since Atlanta Braves pitcher Spencer Schwellenbach fired a pitch in a baseball game. On Friday, Braves manager Walt Weiss confirmed that Schwellenbach continues to throw from flat ground but is still nowhere near close to beginning a rehab assignment for the team.

It’s not exactly surprising news as the Braves have preached caution and a long timetable for Schwellenbach’s potential return since he underwent elbow surgery in February. Schwellenbach also, of course, broke his elbow last June.

It’s good news that Schwellenbach continues to throw, although it would seem based on the timeline that even if everything goes perfectly from here, we’re likely looking at August or September before Schwellenbach could find himself in the mix to make starts for the big league club.

It’s also worth considering that even if Schwellenbach is physically up for pitching in a game, would he be effective enough to make crucial starts for the Braves in September and October? That would mean 14 or 15 months since the young righty appeared in a big league game. That certainly feels like a cart-before-the-horse situation at the moment, but it’s something that may present itself at some point.

The Milwaukee Brewers are back on the road for the beginning of a six-game road trip out west. After failing to complete comebacks in the final two games against the National League West’s San Francisco Giants, the Brewers look to set the record straight against the NL West’s worst, the Colorado Rockies.

Yesterday afternoon, we watched the ball fly at American Family Field as we saw a combined five home runs and seven doubles in the series finale. Thankfully for Brewers fans, the Brewers had their hat mixed in consistently throughout the day, with Jackson Chourio going deep twice and David Hamilton hitting his second long ball on the season, not to mention the numerous flyouts to the warning track. Expect similar action tonight at Coors Field, another ballpark that’s notorious for deep flies.

The Brewers will try to avoid losing three in a row for the first time since late April, and getting the ball in tonight’s series opener will be Brandon Sproat. There’s no doubt that Sproat has struggled this season in terms of giving up runs, but home runs have been a backbreaker so far this season, as he has allowed 10 on the season. In his last outing against the Houston Astros, he made it just 4 1/3 innings while allowing five runs on six hits and gave up one home run.

Though the Rockies are at the bottom of their division, they’re still pesky and have been playing better ball over the last week, as they have won back-to-back series, winning four out of their last six. The big question surrounding tonight’s game is how short Sproat’s leash will be after some comments made by manager Pat Murphy following his previous start: “We’re not going to tolerate too many duds like this, that’s for sure.”

Getting the ball to open up the six-game home stand for the Rockies is the right-hander, Ryan Feltner. The month of April wasn’t too kind to Feltner, posting a 7.41 ERA while allowing five home runs. After being placed on the 15-day IL and having most of May off, he came back and dominated against the San Francisco Giants, throwing six scoreless innings while allowing just four hits on the day.

After the bullpen had a rough day at the office yesterday, we saw a couple of changes. DL Hall is officially on the 15-day IL with a left pectoral strain, with Jake Woodford being designated for assignment after another rough outing in yesterday’s game. Replacing the two arms will be Craig Yoho and Brian Fitzpatrick.

Yoho is back on the big league club for the first time since last season and is looking to have a better trip around. Last season he posted a 7.27 ERA through eight appearances. This season down in Nashville, he has had a great start to the 2026 season as he has posted a 1.00 ERA in 18 innings, recording three saves and 24 strikeouts.

Backup with the club is the southpaw Fitzpatrick, who has shined in his first four outings with the Brewers. Through 5 2/3 innings, he has four strikeouts and has allowed just one earned run.

Though Murphy has yet to announce tonight’s starting lineup, most of the everyday starters have seen Feltner a fair amount throughout his first six years in the big leagues. William Contreras has seen the most of him, as he has 16 at-bats, though he hasn’t fared well against him, batting just .188. Christian Yelich has hit the best against Feltner — through 12 at-bats, he’s hitting .417 with a 1.084 OPS.

Like most nights, you’ll be able to catch the game on Brewers.TV, WTMJ 620, and the Brewers Radio Network. First pitch is set for 7:40 p.m.