Category: MLB

Mariners fans are still waiting for this offense to break through in the way we know they’re capable of, but in the meantime, please enjoy this Classic Mariners One-Run Win, featuring: a strong-n-long outing from a starter! A shutdown performance from the bullpen! And everyone’s favorite, Just Enough Offense!

The Mariners got on the board first with some small ball: Randy Arozarena led off the second inning with a double, moved to third on a Luke Raley flyout, and scored on a nice two-out RBI single from Cole Young, Young pouncing on a first-pitch fastball and sending it back where it came from.

This was especially good because Cardinals starter Andre Pallante was hard for the Mariners hitters to solve; he racked of up five of his six strikeouts in the first five innings on the slider, which the Mariners hitters just could not seem to pick up. So this is a good plan here by Young to ambush the first-pitch fastball and not let Pallante get to his slider. Someone is putting himself in line for a postgame trip to Dave and Buster’s.

The Mariners were able to small-ball around another run in the fourth, thanks to what we’ll call a leadoff Josh Naylor double (walk, stolen base), but Arozarena and Raley then struck out back-to-back on the slider, natch. With two outs, though, Dominic Canzone came through this time, punching a sinker through the hole in the left side of the infield to score a hustling Naylor.

That slide would be a dream for foley artists to score, but who cares, it worked.

However, all that careful small-balling was undone in the fourth. After looking deadly sharp for 3.1 innings, Kirby seemingly lost the handle in an at-bat against Alex Burleson, walking him on five pitches – the fifth being one Cal Raleigh could have challenged, and in retrospect, probably should have, because Kirby suffered some poor luck after. Jordan Walker hit into what could have been an inning-ending double play but was able to leg it out as the play developed slowly, and then Nolan Gorman turned on an inside sinker and pulled it into right field for a ground-rule double. It looked like the Mariners might have lucked into not allowing a run to score, pinning Walker at third thanks to the ball bouncing into the crowd, but in a 1-2 count Masyn Winn reached into the opposite batter’s box to parachute a slider into right field for a game-tying single. Frustrating!

The Mariners weren’t able to answer back in their half-inning despite Cal Raleigh walking and taking second on a wild pitch, but Kirby did his job to hang another zero with a quick inning in the bottom of the fifth despite giving up another annoying parachute single.

Josh Naylor then helped out in the sixth with a solo homer, clobbering a fastball at the bottom of the zone for his third homer of the season – a 418-foot blast that looked softer than it was actually hit, at 107.3 mph off the bat. This would wind up being the difference in the game, and it’s great to see Naylor’s bat continue to heat up as he wreaks havoc in all facets of the game:

After striking out Arozarena on that dang slider again, Pallante’s day was done, as the Cardinals went to the bullpen to get lefty Justin Bruihl to contend with Seattle’s raft of lefties – meaning Luke Raley’s day was also done. Rob Refsnyder kept things going with a seven-pitch walk, and Canzone – who won the right to stick around against a lefty – followed that with a walk of his own. Sadly, Cole Young killed all those good vibes by grounding into a double play, knocking his contributions back to net zero for the game. He’s gonna have to work harder if he wants to earn that trip to Dave and Buster’s postgame.

Kirby came back out for the seventh with his pitch count still in the 70s, but Winn ambushed a first-pitch sinker for a ground ball base hit. Not messing around, Dan Wilson mashed the Matt Brash button and then Matt Brash mashed José Fermin into a fine paste.

After Gabe Speier and Eduard Bazardo combined to hurl a scoreless eighth, Andrés Muñoz came on for the close and again showed a solid return to form, allowing one stupid little ground ball base hit on a slider but also netting two strikeouts, including the game-ender.

Fun! We would love to see some more offense, of course, but this felt like a Vintage Mariners Win, like a favorite book you’ve read before but will happily read again. Sometimes it’s nice to play the hits.

The Tigers continued their string of games against National League Central opponents on Friday night, in the opener of a three-game series against the Reds on the banks of the Ohio River. There was a big early lead which evaporated, and then a nice comeback for a late lead, but one final home run doomed the Detroiters in a 9-8 walk-off loss.

Making his sixth start of the season for the Detroiters was Framber Valdez. He was coming off a very solid six-inning outing in Boston in which he gave up one run, walked two and struck out seven. It took me a long time to find strikeout percentage — eventually I found it buried deep in Advanced Pitching on Baseball Reference — and his is quite a bit below his career average so far this year. For his career, his strikeout percentage is 23.3% (MLB average has been 22.7% over that time); in 2026, in the small sample we have, it’s been 15.8%.

Andrew Abbott started for the Reds, and his season so far hasn’t been great: his ERA coming into tonight was 5.84 (although his FIP was only 4.32, so he’s been a bit unlucky). But if you’re surrendering four walks and over eleven hits per nine innings, you’re going to have a lot of traffic on the basepaths, and that usually doesn’t help you win too many ball games. A stat in Abbott’s favour, though, is that he’s generally limited hard contact, and that’s a very important stat at Riverfront Stadium Great American Ball Park.

Well, that wasn’t of much use in the second inning when he hung a sweeping breaking ball right into the path of Riley Greene’s bat; he proceeded to clobber that thing into the right-centrefield stands for a 1-0 lead.

A walk and an infield single off Javier Báez’s glove started the bottom of the second, and a double steal pushed the runners up to second and third with one out. But Valdez bore down and struck out the next two hitters, stranding the runners and getting out of the jam.

Báez led off the bottom of the third and refused to be excluded from the home run party, clubbing a fat 3-0 fastball to centre for a 2-0 lead. With one out, Gleyber Torres walked, Kevin McGonigle singled, and a Matt Vierling double plated both runners for a 4-0 Tiger lead.

Valdez, meanwhile, was looking good early on — he kept righties off-kilter with plenty of changeups and curveballs. He got into a bit of trouble in the bottom of the third by walking a pair of hitters with two outs. But then Sal Stewart, who’s having a sensational rookie year so far, spanked a scorching liner deep to left field — but Greene made a fine running catch for the third out.

In the fourth the Tigers just kept coming: Spencer Torkelson doubled to lead off, and then with two outs Jahmai Jones, getting a start against a lefty, singled up the middle, scoring Torkelson and making the lead 5-0… which would not hold up, as it turns out.

Kyle Nicolas, a childhood friend of Dillon Dingler, relieved Abbott to start the fifth and he had trouble finding the plate, walking the first two batters he’d face, Torres and McGonigle. Vierling flew out but advanced Torres to third, and Dingler came up to face a guy he grew up with. The battle reached nine pitches, but on that ninth pitch Dingler hit a comebacker to Nicolas to start an inning-ending 1-4-3 double play.

The walks kept coming for Valdez in the fifth, and with one out he walked Dane Myers. That was a bad idea, as Matt McLain then hit a home run to cut the lead to 5-2. After Elly De La Cruz singled, AJ Hinch had seen enough and Kyle Finnegan was brought in. On the first pitch Dingler made a great throw to nab De La Cruz stealing, which certainly helped, and Stewart struck out, which helped even more as it was the third out.

Valdez’s final line: 4 1/3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 5 BB, 4 K. Not great, Bob.

The Tigers loaded the bases with none out in the sixth via a Greene single, a Torkelson walk and a Colt Keith single. Nicolas departed in favour of Pierce Johnson, and Báez hit a grounder to shortstop. De La Cruz came home to get the lead runner, and catcher Tyler Stephenson threw to first but upon review Báez narrowly beat out the throw to first to get out of a double play and keep the bases loaded. However, Kerry Carpenter, pinch-hitting for Jones, hit a liner right at De La Cruz who snared it and doubled-off Keith to end the inning.

That’s a squander, right there. If the Tigers had scored — as one would expect in a bases-loaded, none-out situation — that would likely have changed the outcome of the game.

The Reds further narrowed the Tigers’ lead with one out in the sixth, as Finnegan served up a fat splitter that Nathaniel Lowe launched almost 440 feet (134 m) into the stands to make it 5-3. Rece Hinds doubled down the right-field line with two out as the heavy rain started, but Finnegan struck out Ke’Bryan Hayes looking for the third out of the inning to limit the damage.

A cursory glance at the weather radar didn’t offer a lot of hope for a quick resolution to this precipitation conundrum. But after almost two hours the rain had stopped and the field was suitably prepared, and play resumed at the start of the seventh inning. Brock Burke took over on the mound for the Reds, and he plunked McGonigle on the right hand; he stayed in the game and then swiped second base. But a Dingler groundout ended the inning and it was all for naught.

Will Vest took over for Finnegan after the delay and it did not go well: a four-pitch walk and another two-run home run by McLain tied the game at 5; yep, that comfortable lead was gone. After getting two outs but surrendering a double, Brant Hurter was brought in to face a lefty, and a routine grounder to Báez (now at second base) resulted in the ball being thrown away and the run scoring from second. Another double scored another run and it was 7-5 for the Reds.

Torkelson took matters into his own hands in the eighth, as he turned around a belt-high fastball for a solo home run — his third in three days — to narrow the gap to 7-6. Then, Keith lined a single and Carpenter sat on a fastball and blasted it over the right-field fence to retake the lead 8-7.

Drew Anderson was brought in for the bottom of the eighth; which version of Anderson would we see? Well, it was the version that got two strikeouts and a harmless fly ball, which I’ll definitely take any day.

Graham Ashcraft, who obviously made me think of Richard Ashcroft and how good The Verve’s Urban Hymns is, came on for the ninth and nothing particularly of note happened.

That brought Kenley Jansen into the game, who needed 36 pitches to lock down the win against Milwaukee on Wednesday. After a flyout and a strikeout, Spencer Steer poked a single into right field to put the tying run on base. That would prove to be fateful, as Jansen left an 0-1 sinker middle up right in the meatball zone. Lowe launched his second home run of the night deep into a misty Ohio night, sealing the victory for the home team.

Final score: Reds 9, Tigers 8

Numbers and Such

• Jahmai Jones went 0-for-10 to start his season; mind you, he wasn’t getting many opportunities as the Tigers didn’t face too many left-handed pitchers.
• Since that slow start, coming into tonight, he’s been 6-for-15 with a pair of home runs, including the tying solo home run against the Brewers on Thursday afternoon — but not including the RBI single in the fifth.
• There were plenty of Tiger fans in attendance at the stadium on the riverfront, and could be easily heard on the broadcast.
• Jon Bois has a new weird series about charging the mound. If I were you, I’d make some time for this.
• On this day in 1916 the Easter Rising began in Dublin, Ireland as a rebellion against British rule. It was the first real step towards Irish independence, which was declared in 1918 after Sinn Féin won the first real elections in the country.

The Mets were hoping to extend their winning streak to three games on Friday, especially with their ace Freddy Peralta on the mound against the Rockies.

Unfortunately for the Mets, their high-profile trade acquisition was good but not great and, more importantly, could not go deep into the game again as New York fell, 4-3. 

Peralta, who suffered his third consecutive loss, allowed just two runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out eight batters. However, he only pitched 5.2 innings and gave way to a beleaguered Mets bullpen, which would not keep the Rockies lineup off the scoreboard. 

After Friday's loss, Peralta's ERA is at a respectable -- for this time of year -- 3.90, but the right-hander's inability to work deep into games this season may be concerning. 

He's pitched a complete six innings just once to this point and has not recorded an out in the seventh at all with the Mets. Look even further back and Peralta hasn't recorded an out in the seventh since July 13, 2025. 

"He’ll get there, he’s an ace," manager Carlos Mendoza said of Peralta after the loss. "I’m not worried about that. I trust him and I know that he’s more than capable of going long in the game."

So, is there a reason during his starts this season that haven't allowed Peralta to pitch deep? The Mets skipper doesn't believe there's any one thing, but every start has been different. 

"I thought today, stuff-wise, was good," he said. "That swinging bunt [by Ezequial Tovar in the sixth] changes the whole thing... In general, every case has been different. I thought today, it was that one pitch the lefty [Jake McCarthy] was very aggressive. A walk here and there, trying to be too perfect…in general, he’s been pretty solid."

That last part from Mendoza, Peralta actually agreed with. 

"I think mentally, I have to allow myself to keep trusting in the process because I feel amazing. I feel very good," Peralta said of what's holding him back. "Everything’s been great, the work I put in every day. It just, whenever I get to the mound, I finish it, that’s it. I know a lot of those are going to come soon.

"Sometimes [wanting to go deep into games] comes to my mind, I got to finish this. I think I put pressure on myself just thinking about it."

Peralta said that mentality has forced him to be too fine with his pitches sometimes, and that has led to walks and hits.

Friday, Peralta's seven hits allowed were a season high, and he has now issued three walks in three of his last four starts. 

"[This has] happened in the past, and then everything’s fine again and I’ve been working on it," Peralta said. "It’s only six games into the season and I’ve been fine. The most important thing is that I’m feeling good... Everything. Pitching arsenal, body, how I feel, my arm. Everything is feeling very good."

Other than the ones involving the major league team which we’ve covered elsewhere:

Right-hander Jace Beck was promoted from Double-A Knoxville to Triple-A Iowa.

Right-hander Ben Johnson was promoted to Knoxville from Low-A Myrtle Beach.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs got spooked by the Louisville Bats (Reds), 5-4 in 11 innings.

Trent Thornton was activated off the injured list and made his season and Iowa debut tonight. He pitched two scoreless innings, allowing just two hits. Thornton struck out two and walked one.

The I-Cubs went into the ninth with a 3-1 lead, but Ryan Jensen couldn’t hold it. Jensen allowed two runs on three hits and four walks over 1.2 innings. Jensen struck out two.

With Iowa out of pitchers, Casey Opitz had to pitch the tenth and eleventh innings. He acquitted himself well, allowing only the automatic runner to score in both innings. But Iowa was unable to score the tying run in the eleventh when automatic runner Kevin Alcántara was thrown out at the plate on a single. So Opitz got the loss.

First baseman Jonathon Long was 4 for 5 with a double and a game-tying RBI single in the tenth. Long scored once.

DH Owen Miller was 2 for 5.

Here’s Long’s game-tying single in the tenth.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies blinded the Chattanooga Lookouts (Reds), 11—9

Jake Knapp pitched the first 2.1 innings and allowed three runs, two earned, on two hits. However, Knapp walked six batters and struck out just two.

Ben Johnson gave up three runs in his Double-A debut, but he ended up getting the win anyways. Johnson’s final line was three runs on three hits over three innings. All three of the runs came on a home run in the eighth inning. Johnson struck out five and walked just one.

First baseman Ethan Hearn hit a two-run home run in the second inning, his first of the season. He was 1 for 4.

Catcher Owen Ayers hit his first Double-A home run in the third inning with the bases empty. Ayers was a perfect 2 for 2 with a double, the home run and three walks. He scored twice.

Later in the third inning, center fielder Alex Ramírez hit a two-run home run, his first on the year. Ramírez went 1 for 5.

The Smokies saved the best for last as their fourth and final home run was a grand slam by right fielder Andy Garriola. It was his fourth of the year and third in two games. Garriola was 1 for 2 with three walks and two runs scored.

Left fielder Carter Trice was 2 for 4 with a double and two runs scored.

Here’s Ayers’ home run.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs were burned by the Dayton Dragons (Reds), 6-4 in a game that ended in the seventh inning because of rain.

Koen Moreno started and took the loss after he allowed five runs, three earned, on four hits over three innings. Moreno had trouble finding the plate as he walked five and struck out just one.

Left fielder Kane Kepley was 1 for 2 with a double and a walk. He scored twice.

Center fielder Kade Snell was 1 for 3 with an RBI double and a walk. He scored one run.

DH Cameron Sisneros was 1 for 1 with a double, a walk and a sacrifice fly. He drove in two and scored once.

Here are Snell and Sisneros’ doubles, which both came in the third inning.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans lost to the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Astros), 5-2.

Victor Zarraga started and took the loss. Zarraga gave up two runs on three hits over 2.1 innings. He walked four and struck out three.

Edwardo Melendez relieved Zarraga and gave up one run on two hits over 3.2 innings. But most impressively, Melendez struck out eight and walked no one.

The Pelicans only had three hits tonight and their two runs were both scored by Jose Escobar on a passed ball and a wild pitch. Escobar was 1 for 3 with a walk.

Right fielder Eli Lovich was 1 for 1 with three walks.

Here are Melendez’s eight Ks.

HOUSTON (AP) — Jazz Chisholm Jr., Ryan McMahon, Ben Rice and José Caballero homered, and the New York Yankees extended their winning streak to seven games with a 12-4 win over the Houston Astros on Friday night.

Chisholm, who had four RBI and scored three runs, hit a two-run single to cap a three-run first inning and added his second homer of the season in the fourth. He had an RBI single in the seventh.

McMahon hit a solo home run in the second, and Rice, who had two RBIs and scored three runs, added a solo shot, his ninth of the season, in the seventh. Caballero, who had an RBI single in the sixth, hit a solo homer in the four-run seventh.

Giancarlo Stanton had an RBI single in the sixth before exiting three batters later with right lower leg tightness after being unable to score from second on a J.C. Escarra single to the left field wall. After being checked out by a trainer, Stanton left and was replaced by Randal Grichuk.

Aaron Judge went 0 for 2 with three walks for the Yankees.

Will Warren (3-0) allowed two runs on seven hits with six strikeouts in six innings. Warren has allowed two runs or fewer in five of his six starts this season.

Lance McCullers Jr. (1-2) allowed seven runs — five earned — on six hits with four walks and three strikeouts in five innings. McCullers has yielded at least four runs in each of his last three starts.

Yainer Diaz had an RBI single and a solo home run, and Braden Shewmake hit a solo shot for the Astros, who lost their fifth straight at home. Yordan Alvarez had two singles to extend his hitting streak to 10 games.

Up next

Yankees LHP Ryan Weathers (1-2, 3.18 ERA) will start opposite Astros RHP Mike Burrows (1-3, 6.75) in the second game of the three-game set on Saturday night.

HOUSTON — The Yankees rolled a seven Friday on a night when they just kept cashing in at the plate. 

But they were left holding their breath to see if their good luck ended there. 

Behind a relentless offensive attack that crushed four home runs, the Yankees cruised to their seventh straight win, 12-4 over the Astros at Daikin Park. 

The good vibes were tempered, though, after Giancarlo Stanton left the game in the sixth inning with right calf tightness, threatening to end the Yankees’ run of good health to start the season. The Yankees expected to know more Saturday about their veteran DH, who was not scheduled for any tests as of Friday night. 

Otherwise, the Yankees (17-9) put on a hit parade — 13 in total — against Astros pitching to extend their winning streak. 

Each member of the starting infield homered — Jazz Chisholm Jr., Ryan McMahon, Ben Rice and José Caballero — Chisholm as part of a season-high three-hit night as he finally begins to break out of the rut he was in to start the season. 

“We always say hitting is contagious, so when everybody’s doing it, you just can’t get enough of it,” Chisholm said. 

Rice, Caballero and birthday boy J.C. Escarra all had multi-hit nights as every member of the starting lineup reached base at least once. 

Chisholm, who has homered in back-to-back games after going his first 23 games without one, finished the night 3-for-4 with four RBIs and a walk. He made an adjustment in Thursday’s win over the Red Sox to back off the plate and slightly close his stance, which has paid major and immediate dividends. 

“I feel like me again,” said Chisholm, whose only negative of the night was a brutal automated ball-strike system challenge in the ninth inning on a pitch that was not close to being a ball, for which he said he would be paying a $1,000 fine. 

The Yankees traveled nearly 2,000 miles overnight Thursday and in doing so took a step up in weight class to challenge their red-hot rotation — the Astros (10-17) boasting a much more potent offense than the Red Sox or Royals, their last two opponents. 

But Will Warren proved to be up to the task, working around traffic for most of the night to toss six innings of two-run ball. The right-hander — who has allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of his six starts — scattered seven hits and one walk while striking out six, attacking the Astros while his offense gave him plenty of support. 

“Absolutely no fear when they put up runs like that,” said Warren, who picked off a runner for the second straight game to squash a potential rally in the third inning. “I think you go out there and, ‘Here it is,’ and let them play behind you.” 

Over their last 35 ²/₃ innings, the Yankees rotation has allowed just four runs (three earned), providing the backbone for this winning streak. 

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

Before Warren even took the mound, he was treated to a 3-0 lead courtesy of his offense — which took advantage of a José Altuve throwing error that wiped out a potential double play and scored the first run before Chisholm’s two-run single off Lance McCullers Jr. 

McMahon, who did not start any of the three games against the Red Sox as the Yankees faced three straight lefties, was back in the lineup Friday and made it count. The scuffling third baseman led off the second inning with his second home run of the year, going the other way to poke one into the Crawford Boxes to make it 4-0. 

It was later a 5-2 game after five innings before the Yankees blew it open in the sixth and seventh innings against lefty reliever Colton Gordon, exploding for a 12-2 lead. 

“I thought they were patient,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Really made McCullers work, were able to just string together a lot of really good threats all night and then able to break through there a couple of those times in a big way. Just a lot of really good at-bats up and down the lineup, lot of contributions. So, a good night.”

The Yanks entered Friday night fresh off a sweep of mortal enemy Boston, getting this road trip off to a heck of a start. They turned to Will Warren, coming off one of the finest outings of his career, to keep the momentum going. But the Astros offense is different than Kansas City’s. Yordan Alvarez is terrifying, veterans Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve can still rake, and Christian Walker has rediscovered his stroke at the plate.

So, it was fair to wonder if Warren would have similar success. He was more than up to the challenge, pitching deep into the game for a second consecutive start. Meanwhile, facing Houston pitching can fix what ails you, apparently. Jazz Chisholm Jr., Ryan McMahon, and José Caballero all entered Friday’s game scuffling at the plate. All three went yard. Ben Rice, who struggled against Boston, did so as well, and the Yankees won, 12-4. You love to see it.

The only thing that really went wrong tonight was losing Giancarlo Stanton to “right lower leg tightness” while running the bases. Hopefully we see the big slugger back from this calf injury sooner rather than later.

I mentioned in the preview for today’s game that Astros’ starter Lance McCullers Jr. has struggled with command this season. That immediately reared up as he gave free passes to Trent Grishm and Aaron Judge. One Cody Bellinger single later and the bases were full of Yankees before you had time to grab a beverage and get to your seat.

McCullers induced a tailor-made double play ball from Rice but Altuve threw the ball away. A run scored and the bases remained loaded. McCullers then made a nice defensive play on a 111.8-mph comebacker off Stanton’s bat, throwing home. With Big G running, the Astros easily turned the 1-2-3 double play and it looked like he might escape with minimal damage. Thankfully, Chisholm is heating up and came through. His single scored two more, making it 3-0 Yankees before McCullers escaped the frame.

Another Yankee who’s been struggling kept the pressure on Houston in the second when McMahon took McCullers yard to the opposite field. A 336-foot fly ball, Daikin Park is the only stadium in the majors where it would have been a home run. But it still counts in the run column.

The top of the Astros order went down quietly in the first against Waren. But the middle and bottom of the lineup scraped a run across in the second. An Altuve infield single and a walk put two men on. Warren managed to get two outs but Yainer Diaz singled to right and Judge’s throw was just up the third base line, allowing Altuve to score.

Chisholm continued his resurgence in the fourth. After slapping the tag on Yordan Alvarez on a pickoff play at second to end the home third, Jazz took McCullers deep leading off, extending the Yankee lead to 5-1.

Altuve continued to torment Warren and the Yankees, leading off the home fourth with a double to the deepest part of the park. A Christian Walker single followed, putting runners on the corners with none out and seemingly setting the Astros up for a big inning. To Warren’s credit, he buckled down. Though Altuve scored on a groundout to short, Warren avoided the disaster inning.

The Yankee offense kept on keepin’ on in the sixth. After Ben Rice led off the inning with a double to left center, Stanton singled off the glove of Carlos Correa. The ball trickled into center, Rice scored easily, and the Yankees’ sixth run of the night ended McCullers’. Every Astros fan’s worst nightmare… their bullpen, was now in play.

With lefties looming, the Astros turned to southpaw Colton Gordon, who immediately walked Jazz then gave up a single off the left field wall to Escarra, celebrating his 31^st birthday. But it was not all good news. Stanton looked extremely slow lumbering into third and left the game, replaced by pinch-runner Randal Grichuk. After McMahon lined out, Caballero singled and Grisham hit a sacrifice fly, putting two more in the run column, giving the Yanks an 8-2 lead.

Warren finished his night with a clean sixth, whiffing Cam Smith for his sixth punchout of the evening. For as bad as Houston’s pitching has been, this is a team that can hit, led by Alvarez, perhaps the most terrifying hitter in baseball right now. Warren was more than up to the task. I suspect every Yankee fan on the planet would have signed up for six innings of two-run ball from Warren tonight.

Rice continued his strong night in the seventh. He entered tonight 1 for his last 9 with seven strikeouts, including a golden sombrero in Boston. But he followed his double by turning on an inside sweeper from Gordon, who was taking one for the team, and sending it deep into right field for his ninth dinger of the season. Grichuk then doubled and Chisholm drove him in with his third hit and fourth RBI of the night. Chisholm came around to score on a double play and Caballero got in on the action, hitting his second home run of the season. That officially put the Yankee lead in double digits at 12-2 and unofficially moved the game into “laugher” territory.

Fernando Cruz came in to relieve Warren and had an off night, giving up solo home runs to Diaz and Braden Shewmake, who pinch-hit for Correa, as the Astros began pulling some of their regulars. From there, New York handed the ball to Ryan Yarbrough, who recorded the final six outs with no drama, locking down the Yankees’ seventh consecutive win.

Join us tomorrow night as the Yanks try to win another series and continue their excellent road trip. Portside slinger Ryan Weathers makes the start for New York, while Mike Burrows will start for Houston. First pitch is at 7:10 pm EDT.

Box Score

Mariners 3, Cardinals 2

Space Needle: Eduard Bazardo, +.24 WPA

St. Louis Arch: Julio Rodríguez, -.11 WPA

Game Thread Comment of the Day:

Hey, it’s only a bad slide if it doesn’t work.

For a second there, it seemed like South Side Sox recaps might simply turn into Munetaka Murakami home-run watches. Based on the flat start to Friday’s game, a fairly hapless team effort against a mediocre opponent, perhaps.

But the Good Guys rallied late, scraping and scrapping their way to four runs in their final three frames to eke out the win, 5-4.

But let’s get right to the shot that stopped the fizzless White Sox offense, back in the fourth inning.

Already down, 1-0, Murakami reached a tie atop the MLB home run leaderboard with a ball that, off the bat of 99% of hitters in the game, had no business leaving the park:

Murakami left the yard on a changeup, weight fighting to stay back on the ball — and off of the end of the bat, to boot! It’s the kind of swing you might lay out in a backyard Wiffle ball game, only Mune took his in the majors and sent it 415 feet away on 104 mph contact. The rookie is, simply, a beast.

Better, Murakami’s homer broke a streak of 10 straight hitless at-bats against a ragtag assemblage of Nationals bullpen arms. But Washington came right back in the fifth, after a single, (another) catcher’s interference from Edgar Quero and walk packed the sacks. The lead run came home on another walk, although in starter Erick Fedde’s defense, the lead was lost on a poor check-swing call on a full count. A second Nationals run later scored on a failed 6-4-3 double play.

The White Sox did creep to within 3-2 (Colson Montgomery rallied to not give up on an at-bat that saw him crush an RBI single to right field with two strikes) on their own recognizance. But for all the credit due to the White Sox for rallying for the win, the game was handed to them by Washington rookie Riley Cornelio, making his MLB debut.

In the bottom of the seventh, Cornelio entered the game and might as well have pulled his shirt up over his head and shouted FIRE FIRE, as his meltdown inning started with two walks (the second particularly egregious given Luisangel Acuña was showing sac bunt as early as possible) and was secured by throwing a Tristan Peters sac bunt into right field:

Then, with the score tied and runners on the corners after Cornelio’s error, Andrew Benintendi clubbed a sac fly to give the White Sox a 4-3 lead.

Tee-hee, the White Sox held the lead for two pitches in the eighth before Jordan Leasure room-serviced a slider to Brady House to knot the game back up.

For some reason, Cornelio came back out for the eighth, and though slightly more composed still handed the lead right back. Miguel Vargas hustled out an infield single to start things, chased by a Montgomery walk on pitches that weren’t close. Quero sacrificed the runners over (on another ball that the rookie almost threw away), and eventual winning margin came home on another battling at-bat from Sam Antonacci that ended in a deep fly to left for a sacrifice fly:

Seranthony Domínguez flirted with another tie in the game, but left a runner on third base after a one-out double and productive ground out by muscling up for a game-ending K against W’s slugger James Wood:

The White Sox improved to 11-15, and 5-5 in their last 10 games. Tomorrow is Noah Schultz Day, and we’ll see you right back here for more scrapin’ and scrappin’.

For much of the night, it looked like a step forward. And this time, they finished it.

Behind a quietly brilliant outing from Michael Lorenzen and a lineup that adjusted as the game went on, the Colorado Rockies (11-16) defeated the New York Mets (9-17) 4–3 on Friday night at Citi Field.

Lorenzen set the tone early and never really let it slip.

He wasn’t overpowering. He wasn’t racking up strikeouts.

But he was in control.

Working efficiently and generating consistent contact, Lorenzen leaned on his defense and kept the Mets from building anything sustained. Aside from a few isolated moments — including a 114 mph single from Juan Soto — he managed traffic, avoided big innings, and pitched deep into the game.

His final line told the story: 7 innings, 7 hits, 1 earned run, no walks, and three strikeouts on 90 pitches (55 strikes). Lorenzen improved to 2–2 on the season while lowering his ERA to 5.97.

It wasn’t flashy.

But it was exactly what Colorado needed.

The defense backed him up throughout. Ezequiel Tovar made a standout play up the middle, and the Rockies turned multiple double plays — including a key twin killing after Soto reached — to erase potential threats before they could grow.

Speaking of defense, check out this incredible catch from Carson Benge:

Freddy Peralta was sharp on the other side.

The right-hander worked 5.2 innings, allowing seven hits and two earned runs while striking out eight, leaning heavily on a devastating changeup that generated plenty of swings and misses. He threw 95 pitches (67 strikes) and, for long stretches, looked in control. Peralta’s changeup was absolutely nasty and really played off the fastball well.

And the strikeouts never really went away.

Colorado finished with 15 on the night — eight against Peralta and seven more against Sean Manaea, who struck out seven over 3.1 innings of relief.

But they didn’t let it define the game.

Instead, the Rockies chipped away.

They mixed in patient at-bats, forced Peralta into uncomfortable spots, and capitalized in small ways. TJ Rumfield delivered one of those moments, battling through a bases-loaded at-bat before tapping a slow roller that brought home a run to tie the game. TJ made the heads-up decision to stop running up the line, forcing Peralta to toss the ball to first for the out. Smart baseball.

It wasn’t a big swing. It was just enough.

Staying alive

The Rockies stayed persistent, continuing to put the ball in play and forcing action. They scratched across another run — the first time all season Peralta had allowed a hit with a runner in scoring position — and eventually pushed him out of the game.

Once into the bullpen, they found their opening.

In the seventh, Colorado finally created separation. After putting runners in scoring position, Troy Johnston delivered a clutch two-run hit off Manaea to extend the lead.

They didn’t blow the game open. They didn’t need to.

The Mets made things interesting late, but the Rockies didn’t lose control.

Jaden Hill ran into trouble in the eighth, allowing four hits and two earned runs as New York cut into the lead and brought the game back within reach.

For a moment, the pressure returned.

But Antonio Senzatela stepped in and restored order.

Working 1.2 innings out of the bullpen, Senzatela stabilized things and didn’t let the game drift any further. He worked quickly, got outs, and ultimately finished the game with authority — blowing a 98 mph fastball MJ Melendez to seal the win.

Lorenzen gave them the game. Senzatela made sure they didn’t give it back.

Functioning just fine

For a team that entered the night 3–10 on the road, this was something more than just a win.

It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t dominant.

But it was controlled, complete, and, most importantly, it traveled.

And for one night, at least, the Rockies didn’t just compete away from Coors. They finished.

Up Next

The Rockies will look to keep things rolling as they continue the series at Citi Field on Saturday afternoon.

First pitch is set for 2:10 p.m. MDT, with José Quintana (0–2, 6.23 ERA) getting the ball for Colorado against Kodai Senga (0–3, 8.83 ERA) for New York.

On paper, it’s another matchup where both teams are searching for stability on the mound.

For the Rockies, it’s a chance to build on a complete performance and carry some momentum into the rest of the series.

Let’s keep the good vibes going.

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The A’s sure needed that day off apparently. They marched into Texas this evening and looked like the better team in every facet of the game against the Rangers. That allowed the A’s to romp to a series-opening win and reclaim sole possession of first place in the AL West. Life is good.

A’s ambush Eovaldi

Entering tonight’s game, Texas starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi, a veteran of 15 years in the major leagues, had generally had the A’s number over the years. He came into tonight’s contest with a 2.54 ERA in 15 career starts against the Green & Gold.

Well the A’s really didn’t wait around for him to get comfortable tonight. On the very first pitch of the game, leadoff man Nick Kurtz took Eovaldi deep to right field to take the quick lead:

After Shea Langeliers grounded out, it was Carlos Cortes’ turn at the plate and he took the third pitch he saw and delivered it over the wall in right field as well for a solo home run to double the lead for the A’s:

Think they were done there? Think again. On the very next pitch from Eovaldi, Tyler Soderstrom got in on the fun and blasted his own solo shot to make it a 3-0 game just four batters into this contest:

What a start! That is the first time the Athletics have hit three home runs in the first inning in franchise history! That’s quite a stat to think about considering how long this team has been around for.

Cortes adds insurance

Clinging to a 3-1 lead, the A’s were on the lookout for some insurance. Carlos Cortes, who was the backup outfielder to begin the season but has steadily increased his playing time, had already hit one homer this evening. But here he comes, our #3 hitter striding to the plate with two on and two outs in the top of the fifth inning. And what does he do?

He does it again! Except this time a 3-run shot to double the A’s lead and really blow this game open. Cortes is now hitting .339/.403/.625 with four long balls. Quite the production from someone considered the backup. When Brent Rooker returns from the IL (which seems like it could be sooner than later), Kotsay is going to have to find a way to keep Cortes’ bat in the lineup. Butler to center, Cortes to right, Rooker DH?

Severino bounces back

On the other side of things, the A’s had Luis Severino on the hill for them to start this series off. He was coming off a pair of tough outings that saw him allow nine total runs so he was in dire need of a rebound performance this evening.

The team got just that from their expensive right-hander. Sevy sat down the first three batters of the game on just seven pitches, and over the next 5 1/3 innings only allowed one run in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a pair of doubles. That was all the damage that they could ultimately do against him tonight though as he absolutely smothered the Texas offense this evening. Of course, he got some serious help from his defense tonight too, from Nick Kurtz…

… to Max Muncy:

It was only once he gave up back-to-back singles and was approaching the 100-pitch mark did Kotsay finally elect to take him out and turn this game over to the bullpen. A respectable move, even though Severino probably didn’t want to leave quite yet.

• Luis Severino: 6 1/3 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 98 pitches

That’s what we’ve been missing right there. Severino was dominant tonight as he held down a Texas offense that has some serious weapons in their lineup. This is what was expected of him when he signed that massive contract and he delivered on it tonight. Hopefully he can take this momentum with him into his next start, which is tentatively scheduled to be next week against the Kansas City Royals.

Adding on

After Severino came Hogan Harris and he got a couple strike outs, but also gave up a couple hits. Righty Justin Sterner relieved him and escaped that jam, bringing us to the final frame of the game.

Still up 6-1 and with one inning to go, the A’s still didn’t let their foot off the gas. A leadoff base knock by Jeff McNeil started things off and after a quick couple outs it seemed like this was almost it from the bats tonight. Except new center fielder Zack Gelof had something else to say about that:

That blast was his first of the season for the big league squad and it wasn’t even his best highlight of the night. That would be his leatherwork in center field earlier in the game:

He ultimately finished 2-for-4 on the evening. With that two-run homer plus the robbery, he was worth at least three runs this evening and is hitting .250 so far in the early going. He’s yet to draw a walk though compared to seven strikeouts already. The concerning trend from the past couple of seasons is continuing in that regard.

Anyway, that home run all but sealed tonight’s outcome. Luis Medina came on for mop up duties in the ninth and had a perfect frame, shutting down the Rangers 1-2-3 to finish them off and reclaim first place in the AL West for the Athletics.

Good game all around. Severino finally showed what he can do on the mound with a dominant performance against a division foe. The offense continues to rely on the long ball even while missing their All-Star DH in Brent Rooker. Though they seem to have a new middle of the order bat in Carlos Cortes, who had two home runs and four RBI’s this evening. The bullpen did it’s job and the defense flashed some leather, especially Gelof in center on that robbery. And for all their efforts this evening, the A’s are rewarded with a night’s sleep knowing that they are in first place in the AL West.

We do it all again tomorrow, same place, different time. It’ll be an afternoon matchup between left-handers Jeffrey Springs for the A’s and MacKenzie Gore for the Rangers. Springs has been the Athletics’ best pitcher this year but is coming off easily his worst outing of the season when he allowed seven earned runs against the Chicago White Sox. Gore meanwhile has also been solid for the Rangers for the most part but is also coming off a down performance that saw him yield five runs to the Mariners. Will either or both bounce back, or are we in store for another offensive night?

The Texas Rangers scored a run but the West Coast Athletics scored eight runs.

The Rangers donned their new Oklahoma Sooner college baseball uniforms and then Nathan Eovaldi allowed three home runs in the game’s first seven pitches and then like two and a half hours later here Texas is back at .500.

Player of the Game: Our lone star Josh Jung doubled in the Rangers’ lone run.

Up Next: The Rangers and A’s are back at it tomorrow in a battle of left-handers with LHP MacKenzie Gore set to pitch for Texas against LHP Jeffrey Springs for the formerly-Oaklands.

The Saturday afternoon first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 6:05 pm CDT and will be aired on the Rangers Sports Network.

It was a second straight heartbreaker as the Philadelphia Phillies (8-18) blew two leads en route to their 10th straight loss and fourth within that span to come at the hands of the rival Atlanta Braves (19-8) by a score of 5-3 on Friday Night Baseball.

Andrew Painter made his fifth career start, his second on the road and his second consecutive against the Braves.

The Phillies opened the scoring against Braves’ starter, Grant Holmes, in the top of third inning when Trea Turner followed a Garrett Stubbs’ leadoff single with a two-run home run to right field, his third of the year.

Ronald Acuña, Jr. answered Turner’s shot in like-fashion in the bottom of the inning after a leadoff single by Eli White to tie the game at two.

In the top of the fourth, walks to Alec Bohm and Turner and Stubbs’ second hit of the night loaded the bases but Kyle Schwarber struck out to end the inning.

Bryce Harper continued his productive April with a tie-breaking opposite field solo shot to begin the fifth inning, his sixth of the season.

Other than the mistake to Acuña, Painter kept the Braves in check until the bottom of the sixth inning, when he allowed a one-out infield single to Dominic Smith and a walk to Mauricio Dubon. After Painter got Mike Yastrzemski to fly out, Michael Harris II, who was 2-2 with a home run against Painter last weekend, pinch hit for Eli White and stroked a two-RBI double to give the Braves the lead. Another run would come across the plate on a wild pitch before Rob Thomson finally took Painter out of the game, having surrendered five earned across five and two thirds.

Kyle Backhus, Chase Shugart and Tim Mayza held the line in relief of Painter, with Mayza withstanding a bases loaded threat in the eighth.

A leadoff walk by Turner and a one-out hit by Adolis Garcia provided a glimmer of hope against Braves’ backend stopper, Robert Suarez, but Brandon Marsh hit a weak grounder to end the threat and seal the loss.

The ten-game skid is the Phillies’ longest such streak since September of 1999 when Rico Brogna & Co. lost 11 straight.

Garcia grew his hitting streak to five games with three hits on the night.

The teams are back at it tomorrow night as Zack Wheeler is scheduled to make his first start since being shut down last August with the shoulder injury which required offseason surgery. Wheeler will be opposed by Braves’ right-hander, Bryce Elder.

Guardians 8 Blue Jays 6

I really hated them signing Max Scherzer again this season (even if it was cute that his daughter wrote to the Jays to plea for them to sign him). I didn’t think Scherzer had much left last year, I couldn’t imagine he’d be any better this year. So far, I’m thinking I was right.

He was just awful today. He gave up five in the first. Got out of the second without giving up a run. And then gave up two more in the third. Max gave up two home runs in the first and another in the third. He likely should have come out sooner, but I can understand John hoping to save a few pitches for his bullpen, with this being the first game of the series.

In all Max went 2.1, with 6 hits, 7 earned, 3 walks, and 0 strikeouts. I’m not sure I would have done worse (well, I am sure I would have been worse, but it is nice to dream).

As it was, the Jays used five relievers. And they did a great job:

• Joe Mantiply got five outs, giving up two hits with a strikeout.
• Spencer Miles got six outs, giving up two hits, with two strikeouts and one fun, coming in his second inning. He was impressive, likely out there too long, but we had to cover a lot of innings with the bullpen.
• Tommy Nance struck out the side in his inning.
• Mason Fluharty struck out two in his clean inning.
• Braydon Fisher had a walk in his shutout inning.

The run against Miles came with a running on third and one out. The Jays had the infield in, and got a soft grounder to Vlad, who fired home, but it was just too soft to get the out.

Our offense had a good night. We got homer from Jesus Sanchez (solo) and Kazuma Okamoto (solo). Both crushed to dead center. Sanchez at 111.8 mhp and 422 feet. Okamoto 109.9 mph and 430 feet (good to see him getting his bat going).

Andrés Giménez went 3 for 4, with a double and 2 RBI. Okomoto had 2 hits. Ernie Clement, Nathan Lukes, Sanchez and Lenyn Sosa each had a hit. 0 fors go to Vlad (0 for 4 with an RBI), Daulton Varsho (0 for 4), Tyler Heineman (0 for 3).

Lukes doubles in the first but limped into second and left the game with a sore hamstring. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow if it is serious. We have been very unlucky with injuries this year.

We had a shot in the ninth, when Okamoto and Giménez each singled to start off the inning, giving us the tying run at first, winning run at the plate, with no outs. But Eloy Jiménez bounced into an easy double play.

Jays of the Day: Giménez (.29 WPA) and Okamoto (.19). And give an honourable mention to all the relievers.

Other Award: Scherzer (-.48, I would think he will have to come out of the rotation when Yesavage comes back. Could be used as a long man/inning eater from the pen), Davis (-.10 for his 0 for 3, with a walk and two runs scored) and Jiménez (-.28, for his double play ball in the ninth).

Tomorrow is game two of the three games. Kevin Gausman (2.54) vs. Joey Cantillo (3.20). A win would be nice.

Michael Conforto never played worse in his career.

But Conforto said he reflects on his time with the Dodgers last year as a positive experience, a feeling that was amplified when he received a reward he pursued for more than a decade.

Now a reserve outfielder for the Cubs, Conforto was presented with his World Series ring on Friday before the opening game of a three-game series against his former team at Dodger Stadium.

Conforto was met by a group of Dodgers that included Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, Kike Hernandez and Tommy Edman.

“Seeing this ring, holding it and putting it on, it’s one of the cooler moments of my baseball career,” Conforto said.

Batting a career-worst .199 last year, Conforto wasn’t on the Dodgers’ roster in the postseason. 

“Being back here, it’s kind of a weird experience for me,” he said. “I wasn’t on the roster, but I very much felt like I was part of the team, and I was able to support these guys and just be there for them,” Conforto said.

As much as he struggled, Conforto drew high marks as a teammate.

“I know he didn’t perform the way people would have liked and he would have liked, but I loved him on the team,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I loved what he brought to the Dodgers.”

Conforto said he was proud of that.

“I’ve had good role models, guys who let me know one of the most valuable things in a clubhouse is a guy who’s always the same,” he said. “Consistency is huge, especially when you’re seeing others [for] eight months every day. 

“I wanted to make sure that the way I was playing didn’t affect my relationships with guys on the team.”

Conforto recalled being next to Kirby Yates on the top step of the Dodgers’ dugout when Miguel Rojas tied Game 7 with a ninth-inning home run.

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“Just think about that all time and I’m sure Miggy is thinking about it if I’m thinking about it,” he said. “Just pretty cool to be there to experience one of the best games ever played.”

Conforto entered the game Friday with a .304 average, and he credited his turnaround to lessons he learned with the Dodgers.

“I kind of brought a lot of things that I learned from this past season with me to Chicago and into my workouts in the offseason,” he said. 

He said his conversations with Roberts were especially important.

“Doc really just kind of being brutally honest with me, saying, ‘I need to see more, I need you to make some baseball plays, move guys, get them in from third with less than two [outs], focus more on that stuff rather than slug, big swings and all that stuff,’” Conforto said. “I really took that to heart. And I think in my role with this team, it’s pretty valuable stuff to bring.”