Category: MLB

What we learned as Matt Chapman delivers Giants' game-winning hit to defeat Cubs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

• BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO — For a second straight day, the Giants went to extra innings at Wrigley Field. This time they were able to avoid a walk-off. 

Matt Chapman drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th and right-hander Dylan Smith kept the Chicago Cubs off the board in the bottom of the inning as the Giants won 2-1, taking the three-game series and finishing with a 5-5 road trip. The road trip was their best by record since their first one, when they won two of three against the San Diego Padres.

Chappy puts the Giants in front 🙌
pic.twitter.com/oZ2JhhZLzg

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 8, 2026

Smith picked up his first career save in his third appearance for the Giants. He struck out Michael Conforto and then got a pair of pop-ups with the tying run on third. 

The Giants had a historic offensive day on Friday and then went down quietly Saturday. In the series finale, they didn’t waste any time getting back on the scoreboard.

A walk of Rafael Devers and single by Luis Arraez got them going in the top of the first, and Jung Hoo Lee drove Devers in with a single. The Cubs tied it up in the third, setting up a battle of two tired bullpens.

After starter Jameson Taillon left in the second with a hamstring strain, the Cubs got 6 1/3 dominant relief innings from Javier Assad, who allowed just one hit and took the ball to the top of the eighth. 

Trevor McDonald handed it over to JT Brubaker and Caleb Kilian, who took the tie game to the bottom of the eighth, which turned into a wild frame. 

Erik Miller ran into trouble right away, walking the leadoff batter and then making an errant throw on an infield single, which put runners on the corners with no outs. Alex Bregman hit a liner to first that found Devers, and pinch-runner Kevin Alcantara inexplicably broke for the plate. He was easily doubled off and the Giants escaped. 

The Cubs got the winning run to second in the bottom of the ninth, but this time Keaton Winn won the battle with Pete Crow-Armstrong. A day after hitting a game-tying homer in the ninth, the center fielder grounded out to first. 

The Giants had just one hit over the final eight innings of regular ball, but Chapman opened the 10th with a single to right that brought Jonah Cox home from second. 

He’s Going Streaking

Lee didn’t waste any time extending his hitting streak, lining a single to center in the first inning to put his hitting streak at 15 games. He finished the game with a .323 average, which is third in the National League.

Jung Hoo Lee stays HOT and gets the Giants on the board 🔥 pic.twitter.com/R4vINuMOr0

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 8, 2026

Lee was batting .265 at the start of the hitting streak, but the string of multi-hit days have given him at least an outside shot to be in consideration for the 2026 MLB All-Star Game if he can stay hot. He entered the day ranked 13th among NL outfielders in wRC+ and 17th in fWAR.

Lee also stole his second base of the series — and the season. He didn’t even have an attempt until Saturday, and that’s certainly an area where the Giants hoped Lee would be much more impactful. Lee is right at league-average in sprint speed, but he stole 10 bases last year and regularly reached double-digits in the KBO.

Trevor Delivers

McDonald had allowed at least three runs in each of his previous three starts, but he went five innings Sunday night and gave up just the one early run. The rookie allowed four hits, walked three and struck out six while leaning heavily on his slider. 

McDonald got six whiffs on the pitch, and it finished off half of his strikeouts. The biggest one came in the fourth, when he loaded the bases ahead of No. 9 hitter Carson Kelly. The catcher has been an ABS master, but he expanded the zone and swung through a filthy slider that ended up well out of the zone glove-side. 

McDonald has allowed exactly one earned run in three of his seven starts. He lowered his ERA to 4.15 and his FIP to 3.51.

Everyday Bryce

Tony Vitello certainly has changed the way he’s handling Bryce Eldridge, and that helped the Giants have a huge offensive trip, even if it wasn’t a season-altering one overall. Eldridge appeared in all 10 games and started nine of them, including all three at Wrigley Field.

Eldridge was 0-for-3 with a walk on Sunday but still returns home in a much better place. He had 15 hits and four walks on the trip, raising his average to .280 and his wRC+ to 126. Most importantly, Eldridge continued to somewhat limit his strikeouts, going down eight times in 41 plate appearances.

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For the first six innings, the Atlanta Braves were looking like they were going to be denied another sweep as the Pirates did just enough to Bryce Elder to salvage a win. But a huge theme of this season is how this team continues to find different ways to win from different contributors, and the stars of this one? 1) Someone who was NOT in the starting lineup 2) bullpen arms coming up absolutely huge in high-leverage situations who aren’t our usual 7-8-9.

Elder grinded through six innings of two-run ball after being greeted rudely by a leadoff homer by Spencer Horowitz to start the afternoon. He only gave up the two hits, but Elder matched a season-high in three-ball counts and some walks came back to bite him in the third. Two walks and a pesky infield single loaded the bases with no outs. Nick Gonzales’s double play minimized the damange, but it did allow Jared Triolo to score and make it 2-0 Pirates.

And so the score would remain through six innings. The Braves had a promising first inning versus the opener Mason Montgomery with a walk from Mauricio Dubón, a double from Ozzie, and a walk from Dominic Smith to put a Brave on every base. But Austin Riley’s late swing on a 99 mph fastball would end the threat.

Scheduled starter Bubba Chandler entered in the second inning for the Pirates with Mike Yastrzemski leading off. The only damage done would be a single from Sandy León (!); the Braves were set down in order in the third, fourth, fifth, AND sixth. For someone known to walk guys and regularly only last five innings, Chandler racked up seven K’s from the Braves lineup in his 5.1 innings of work. 

But that lack of command reared its head in the bottom of the seventh, teeing up a wild sequence. Please don’t forget that all of this is happening with a light but constant little rain shower that would continue until the game concluded. The rally would begin with Dom Smith reaching on a throwing error by rookie Tyler Callihan, giving the Braves their first baserunner since Sandy’s single in the second. Yaz finally worked a walk off of Chandler, and then Jorge Mateo saw four straight balls. The bases were loaded for Sandy León. 

Except it wasn’t Sandy León, and it was never going to be. Sound operator, hit shuffle on the Michael Harris II walk-up songs playlist, please. Walt Weiss has pulled the lever.

In response, the Pirates did the most slow-walking I’ve ever seen that resulted in Chandler’s departure to give way to reliever Evan Sisk. But it didn’t matter. Pinch-hitter Money Mike is a cheat code, and he delivered by smoking the second pitch he saw 109.5 mph to right field for a bases-clearing double to give the Braves a 3-2 lead. Absolutely nuts.

Reynaldo López came out of the bullpen and worked a much-needed scoreless frame in the seventh to wash the taste of his Thursday appearance out of our mouths. But eyebrows raised across Braves Country when he was left in to pitch in the eighth with this tenuous lead. It was understandable to some extent – the bullpen has been taxed this week, particularly the big three of Dylan Lee, Robert Suarez, and Raisel Iglesias. He recorded one out, allowed a single, and walked Braves menace Horowitz. That would end his day. Tyler Kinley came in, got a lineout, walked Bryan Reynolds, and got a massive groundout to preserve the lead. No insurance runs would be added in the bottom of the eighth, so we all collectively strapped in for the top of the ninth. 

Out of the bullpen jogs Didier Fuentes, who is ten days shy of turning 21 and on for the first save opportunity of his career at any level. 

Reports of Brandon Lowe’s death (read: knee injury after yesterday’s game) were greatly exaggerated – they Michael Harris’d us right back with a pinch-hit maneuver that worked beautifully. Lowe ripped a double to right to start the inning and was replaced by pinch-runner Oneil Cruz. Cool cool, Cruz is very fast. Our collective anxiety could power a small city. Fuentes struck out Callihan for out #1. Jake Mangum’s eight-pitch at-bat resulted in an infield single, putting runners at the corners. Triolo popped out for a huge second out. But thankfully, it would end with Endy – Endy Rodríguez’s strikeout secured Didier’s first career save and the Braves officially swept the Pittsburgh Pirates. They may be a little damp at this point, but break out your brooms, y’all. It’s been a minute, which makes it all the sweeter.

Thus concludes a 5-1 homestand as the Braves now sport a 45-21 record. That, some have said, will play. After the off day tomorrow, the Braves will embark on a two-city road trip to Chicago to face the Pope’s own White Sox and then to Queens for the first series of the season vs. the New York Mets.

The Yankees scored a couple of late runs to come away with a 6-1 win over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday afternoon in the Bronx.

Here are the takeaways…

-- Cody Bellinger gave the Yankees the late lead, and they never looked back. With the game knotted 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs, Bellinger unloaded on a Justin Slaten pitch, demolishing a solo home run to right to give the Yankees a 2-1 edge. 

The Yankees will be without Aaron Judge for some time, so it was good to see Bellinger have a big moment. 

-- After Bellinger's bomb, the Yankees did a good job of tacking on more insurance runs. Amed Rosario singled, stole second, and came around to score on a Trent Grisham single. Grisham had three hits on the afternoon. Then, with the lead 3-1, Jazz Chisholm Jr., who had been 0-for-3 with three strikeouts, crushed a three-run homer of Joe La Sorsa, breaking the game wide open.

-- Sunday’s matinee featured a pitchers’ duel between Cam Schlittler and Ranger Suarez. Schlittler struck out four over his first three scoreless innings, while Suarez went nine-up, nine-down the first time through the order. 

-- The Yankees had a good chance to get to Suarez when they loaded the bases in the fourth, but Anthony Volpe flew out to center fielder on a 3-1 pitch to end the threat. 

Finally, the Yankees scratched across a run in the fifth inning. After a Jose Caballero double, Paul Goldschmidt came through with a two-out hit to right, giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead.

-- The Red Sox answered back in the top of the sixth on an RBI double from Willson Contreras. On the play, Ceddanne Rafaela scored from first base, but he likely would have been out at the plate if not for a poor throw from Volpe. The shortstop had plenty of time to cut down the run, but his throw was way off the mark.

That ended Schlittler's afternoon, as he went 5.2 innings allowing one earned run on four hits with five strikeouts and a walk. Suarez, meanwhile, went 6.1 innings, allowing one earned run on six hits with six strikeouts. 

-- Volpe had another tough moment in the bottom of the sixth, when he popped up on the first pitch with the potential go-ahead run in scoring position and two outs. Volpe has not a hit with two outs and a runner in scoring position since he was called up earlier this season. He went 0-for 3 with a walk at the dish.

-- The Yankees are now 2-3 since Judge went down with his rib injury.

Game MVP

Bellinger, who put the Yankees ahead for good in the eighth inning.

Highlights

Goldy gets us on the board 👏 pic.twitter.com/iv5GatZtJK

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 7, 2026

Cody Bellinger gives the Yankees the lead! pic.twitter.com/IYtON3aPgL

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) June 7, 2026

Trent Grisham singles to send Amed Rosario home! 3-1 Yankees lead!pic.twitter.com/REwhgPc3KI

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) June 7, 2026

Three-run home run for Jazz Chisholm Jr.!! pic.twitter.com/YDM1LmXtWj

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) June 7, 2026

What's next

The Yankees start a three-game series in Cleveland against the Guardians on Tuesday night at 6:40 p.m.

Will Warren will face righty Gavin Williams.

The Orioles appeared to be cruising toward a series win before a missed call and some shoddy defense resulted in a five-run sixth inning. The Blue Jays rode a bizarre stretch to a come from behind 6-4 victory, leaving the O’s to return to the United States with a bad taste in their mouths.

The disaster inning started with an absolute moon shot from Yohendrick Piñango. Baz entered the inning with five zeros and less than 65 pitches, but he left a changeup up to the Blue Jays number two hitter. Piñango sent the ball 423 feet from home plate, but the Orioles still held a three-run advantage.

Baz retired Vladimir Guerrero Jr., but Jesús Sánchez lined a ball out of Tyler O’Neill’s reach in right field. Baz generated a ground ball from Ernie Clement, but Gunnar Henderson committed a fielding error to place runners on the corners with one out.

Baz, in need of a double play, induced a grounder from Brandon Valenzuela. The bouncer took Henderson to the right side of second base, and the shortstop set his sights on a tag and throw double play. Clement made a clear and obvious attempt to run away from the tag toward the outfield grass, which prompted Henderson to throw the ball to first. However, second base umpire Nic Lentz ruled that the runner did not stray from the baseline, so Clement reached safely and the second run scored.

Alonso and Baz immediately expressed their objection to the call, and Craig Albernaz left the dugout for an explanation. After a discussion, the call stood. The Blue Jays had cut the lead in half, and Clement remained at second base.

Baz, potentially still bothered by the error and controversial call, allowed a base hit to Kazuma Okamoto. Clement raced home to score the third run, and Okamoto avoided being caught straying too far from first base. Andrés Giménez followed with a double down the right field line, and suddenly the game was tied.

Despite entering the inning with a low pitch count and a four-run advantage, Baz failed to complete the sixth. Albernaz summoned Yennier Cano from the bullpen, and Baz voiced his displeasure toward the second base umpire before he entered the dugout.

Cano entered and got Nathan Lukes to put the ball on the ground, but the ball deflected off the mound and to the right side of the infield. Holliday, with no time to transfer the ball to his throwing hand, flipped the ball directly from his glove to first base. Unfortunately for Holliday, he never stood a chance with either type of play. Instead of eating the throw, his lollipop attempt allowed Giménez to break for home. Alonso bounced the ball to the plate, and Samuel Basallo aggravated his wrist on a late tag attempt. The Blue Jays stole a 5-4 advantage as Baz continued to steam in the dugout.

The Orioles should have escaped the inning with only one run allowed, but Baltimore was done in by more than just one blown call. Henderson should have made the play on Clement’s grounder, and he could have made a more aggressive effort to tag Clement to prevent a runner from reaching scoring position with a multi-run lead. Jackson Holliday never should have flipped the ball to Alonso, and a better throw home may have nailed the go-ahead runner.

The Orioles squandered a golden attempt to bounce back in the top of the seventh. Tyler O’Neill and Holliday reached on a single and walk, but the hot-hitting Blaze Alexander decided to lay down a bunt. Alexander failed to push the bunt far enough beyond home plate, and the Blue Jays got the lead runner at third base. Taylor Ward stepped in with the tying run in scoring position, but Ward bounced into a tailor-made double play to end the inning.

The Blue Jays added an insurance run when Valenzuela tagged a solo shot off of Rico Garcia.

The Orioles attempted to start a rally in the ninth when Colton Cowser reached on an infield single. Holliday bounced a ball to the right side and attempt to dodge the tag when running to first base. Holliday was called out for running outside of the basepaths, which added insult to injury to Albernaz and his squad. Blaze Alexander struck out looking to end the game.

The Orioles jumped out to their early advantage with a four-run fifth inning. Colton Cowser got the party started with a solo shot, and the Birds used some two-out lightning to extend their advantage. Holliday tripled off the wall, and Alexander drove him in with a double to right-center. Kevin Gausman left a splitter up to Taylor Ward, and Ward cleared the fence for his third homer of the season.

The Orioles will return home with a 31-35 record. The team has officially listed tomorrow’s starter as TBA. Chris Bassitt would be on turn, but he left his last start early with back tightness. Trey Gibson remains an option at Triple-A.

Today, the Marlins played a sort of game that felt familiar. Their pitching, from starter to bullpen, was outstanding. Their defense possibly robbed Cedric Mullins of a home run and was sharp across the board.

They ran the bases well, making just one mistake (Heriberto Hernandez was thrown out at second trying to stretch a single to a double) but otherwise stole four bases, including a double steal that led to two runs.

I realized, this style of play felt familiar for a reason: this had been the way the Rays were playing until about a month ago.

But now that is gone. They have lost their good luck but also lost some of their basic ability to play clean baseball.

Griffin Jax started and pitched five shutout innings, bouncing back after his last (four inning, six run) start. And the Rays got on the board early as well, piecing together a hit, a stolen base, and an RBI single for a 1-0 lead. Things were looking up!

But their offense, after that, was AWOL. They scored just one run on six singles, and managed to lose two runners who were caught stealing.

And their relievers struggled to avoid walking people (Rays pitchers gave up six walks altogether), with several of the batters they walked ultimately scoring.

Catcher Hunter Feduccia had an especially terrible day. He blew the Rays two ball/strike challenges early on. Now, I have been frustrated in the past when the Rays DON’T use their challenges — you can’t save them up for a rainy day! But if you have lost your first challenge and it’s not even the fifth inning I would be very very cautious about using another.

But his biggest error? Following that double steal, with Miami runners on second and third base, Joe Mack hit a weak grounder that was fielded by Taylor Walls. Walls fired to Feduccia and the throw was in time to get the runner out….but Feduccia muffed the catch, the ball bounced away, and not just run but two runners scored. Was it a difficult throw to corral? Sure. Should he have held on to it? Yes! Here’s the video, what do y’all think?

The Rays continue to disappoint on both sides of the ball, although at least in this series we got some decent starting pitching. Now it’s up to Boston, and it would be really nice to win that series and NOT give the Red Sox any glimmer of hope.

Emmet Sheehan faces José Soriano as the Dodgers look to win every contest against the Angels this year.

Today’s #Dodgers lineup vs. Angels: pic.twitter.com/KUT26IAncp

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 7, 2026

SUNDAY GAME INFO

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Angels
• Stadium: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 1:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 (Spanish)

Last week the Cubs were the Sunday Night game of the week on NBC against the Cardinals. It did not go well for the North Siders with the Cardinals winning 5-1. But the broadcast was pretty good, albeit a little crowded sometimes. And it turns out that Bingo is good on any network for a weekly showcase, so with that in mind, here’s another edition of Cubs Sunday Night Baseball Bingo!

Jason Benetti is always on point and NBC is fortunate to have one of the best in the business anchor this Sunday Night showcase. The Cubs’ own Jim Deshaies gets a chance to shine on national TV. JD has been a gem on the Cubs broadcasts for years with his deadpan humor, well-timed one-liners and knack for spotting an egregious strike call or quality baby from the press box. Add in a loved player from both teams and you’ve got yourself an excellent combination of commentary. Last week we heard from Albert Pujols on the Cardinals side plus Cubs World Series Champion Anthony Rizzo. Rizzo will join again tonight and pair his always great vibes with the eccentric musings of Giants World Series Champion Hunter Pence.

All in all, it should be a fun night at the Friendly Confines. As always, if you really want to challenge yourself make it a blackout game. I don’t recommend making it a drinking game unless you are personally trying to black out.

There was a Tarik Skubal party in Comstock Park on Sunday. The Detroit Tigers’ ace took the mound for a rehab outing against the Dayton Dragons, the Cincinnati Reds’ High-A affiliate. Huge crowds turned out on a beautiful, sunny day, and Skubal did not disappoint. He appeared fully on track to rejoin the Tigers’ rotation for his next start, which should be on Friday or Saturday at Progressive Field against the Cleveland Guardians. All that’s left is to recover normally from the outing, throw a bulllpen this week, and make sure all systems are go.

A rehab start from a major leaguer is generally a good day for the team. Skubal took care of the boys, getting a mobile coffee bar for the clubhouse, and planning to treat them all to a nice dinner after the game. Meanwhile, Dan Hasty and the Whitecaps’ staff got a break from a brutal six-week stretch of baseball with the Tigers’ High-A affiliate to call a Skubal game and see the park packed to the gills.

Good morning from @LMCUBallpark, where mysteriously, someone has hired a local coffee shop to hand out drinks to players and staffers as they enter the building.

Coincidentally, @tigers pitcher and coffee enthusiast @TarikSkubal is here to make a rehab assignment for the… pic.twitter.com/jdNlKIWV6V

— Dan Hasty (@ThatDanHasty) June 7, 2026

This whole recovery story has been pretty incredible. Skubal felt some discomfort in late April, and during a start against the Atlanta Braves in early May, his elbow was locking up on him. The diagnosis was bone chips in the elbow, which typically requires arthroscopic surgery to remove the loose bodies from the joint. Instead, Dr. Neal ElAttrache offered Skubal the option to try a new nanoscope procedure that could cut the recovered time in half. Everything went well in the May 6 surgery, and almost exactly a month later, Skubal took the mound for his first game action.

He looked 100 percent. Skubal punched out two in the first inning, sitting 96-97 mph with his fastball. He needed just nine pitches. A flyout and another pair of strikeouts followed in the second, and by then Skubal was reportedly up to 99 mph per Jason Beck. A two-run shot from Tigers’ center field prospect Jackson Strong, Strong’s third homer in as many days, gave him an early lead to work with, but he wouldn’t need much assistance.

Victor Acosta got a single off of Skubal in the third, earning bragging rights among his Dragons teammates. Otherwise, Skubal cruised through the third and fourth innings, needing just 46 pitches and punching out six to that point. The goal was to get him through five innings to show he’s 100 percent ready to rejoin the Tigers’ rotation, and Skubal managed that without breaking a sweat.

He collected the first two outs of the fifth and was still only at 50 pitches. Jacob Friend reached on an infield single for the second hit against Skubal. Third baseman Alfredo Alcantara hit the hardest ball of the day as the next hitter up, but Jackson Strong hauled it in to end Skubal’s fifth inning of work.

That was all that Skubal needed to accomplish. He threw 44 of 54 pitches for strikes, and there was really just one hard hit ball. He struck out six without a walk, and appears set to return on schedule. The Tigers will see how Skubal recovers, and have him throw his usual bullpen mid-week, and as long as nothing goes wrong, we should see him back on the mound next weekend in Cleveland.

Here’s hoping.

Tarik Skubal on when he’ll return to the #Tigers: “That’s a good question that I’m not gonna answer.” pic.twitter.com/7V0Vr0sabe

— Tony Paul | Detroit News (@TonyPaul1984) June 7, 2026

Mets lineup

1. Carson Benge – RF
2. Bo Bichette – SS
3. Juan Soto – DH
4. Jared Young – 1B
5. A.J. Ewing – CF
6. Marcus Semien – 2B
7. Brett Baty – 3B
8. MJ Melendez – LF
9. Luis Torrens – C

Huascar Brazobán – RHP

Padres lineup

1. Fernando Tatís Jr. – 2B
2. Jackson Merrill – CF
3. Ty France – 1B
4. Manny Machado – 3B
5. Xander Bogaerts – SS
6. Miguel Andújar – DH
7. Jase Bowen – RF
8. Samad Taylor – LF
9. Freddy Fermin – C

Randy Vásquez – RHP

Broadcast info

First pitch: 4:10pm EDT
TV: SNY
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2

New York Mets (28-36) at San Diego Padres (33-30), June 7, 2026, 1:10 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Petco Park – San Diego, Calif.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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Sunday matinee. pic.twitter.com/wQoPlDURwK

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 7, 2026

Series finale ⚾️ #LGMpic.twitter.com/qT6ajGWTK0

— New York Mets (@Mets) June 7, 2026

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Sweeps have been hard to come by for the Nats in recent years. They only have one this season, and that was back in April against the Brewers. The boys have a chance for their second sweep of the season this afternoon against a D-Backs team they have beaten comfortably in the first two games.

With a righty on the mound, Blake Butera is making some lineup adjustments. Luis Garcia Jr. is back in at first base to nobody’s surprise. James Wood is moving from DH to left field, trading places with Daylen Lile. Jose Tena will get the start at second base this afternoon. Cade Cavalli will look to lead his team to a sweep.

today's cast 🍿 pic.twitter.com/OdCWbbmS0p

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 7, 2026

The Diamondbacks actually have the same nine players as yesterday. There are a couple tweaks in the actual order, but it is almost an identical lineup. The Snakes have been quiet, but Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte are constant threats. Old pal Michael Soroka will be on the mound, and he is actually having a very good year in the desert. Soroka has a 3.49 ERA in 67 innings this season.

Series finale. pic.twitter.com/8N8yKzEXlB

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) June 7, 2026

Game Info:

Stadium: Chase Field

Time: 3:15 PM EST

TV: Peacock and NBCSN

Radio: 106.7 The Fan

Finishing off a sweep on a national broadcast would be a big statement for the Nats. It would show that they have the killer instinct and can truly finish a team off. The D-Backs will be desperate today, but if the Nats play like they have, this is a winnable game. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!

Discuss the Guardians-Rangers rubber match below

Roster moves

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves. The D-backs’ 40-man roster is at 40.

• Reinstated from the family medical emergency list: RHP Taylor Clarke
• Optioned to Triple-A Reno: LHP Philip Abner (following yesterday’s game)

Abner didn’t exactly cover himself in glory, during his brief stay on the big-league roster. When he came into Friday night’s game, it was already out of hand, the D-backs trailing 7-1 in the top of the sixth. Seventeen pitches from Phil later, it was really out of hands, the Nationals have scored five runs on two home-runs, one of them a grand-slam. He has pitched 3.2 innings in the majors this year, with an ERA of 17.18. That kind of performance is more likely to get you a ticket to DFAville. To be fair, Abner only turned 24 last month and being a lefty, also gives him a longer leash. His 5.12 ERA over a large sample size in Reno is also better than team average (5.56).

But to illustrate something I said in the GDT yesterday: the performances of Abner, Kade Stroud and Drey Jameson since getting called up illustrate\ the lack of depth in the D-backs bullpen. All told, Arizona’s relief corps is firmly in the middle of the pack. Their overall 4.13 ERA ranks 16th, and at the risk of flogging a deceased equine, that’s considerably better than we’ve managed in most of Mike Hazen’s tenure. But there’s a huge gulf between the regular guys and the ones we’ve asked to fill in. Below is a breakdown of all the relievers used by Arizona this season, in descending order of innings pitched.

Excluding Brandon Pfaadt – who was only in the bullpen as a failed starter, and is now down in Reno – the top eight all have an ERA below 3.50. Small sample sizes, but the ones below them have all have an ERA of 5.40 or worse: and the best among them is actually third-string catcher Adrian Del Castillo. If you add up all the work by those two groups, here’s what you get:
A-bullpen: 157.2 IP, 111 H, 50 R, 44 ER, 11 HR, 43 BB 142 SO, 2.51 ERA
B-bullpen: 30.1 IP, 48 H, 41 R, 38 ER, 8 HR, 23 BB, 23 SO, 11.27 ERA

Obviously, every bullpen is going to have its weak links. But it’s striking that if you exclude the position players from the B-bullpen, the overall ERA of the remaining pitcher would go up. So far, we’ve been remarkably lucky in terms of the A-pen being almost entirely healthy. If that doesn’t continue, it could pose major problems over the next few months.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering. This is not an early Gameday Thread, it’s an early game. A 12:15 pm start, because it’s on Peacock. I wonder how many people will show up at Chase expecting the usual 1:05 pm first pitch?

The Dodgers are off on Monday before opening a road series against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on Tuesday night, and will face off against Paul Skenes in the first game.

Skenes has a 3.09 ERA and 2.29 xERA this season, though has allowed 15 runs (13 earned) in 20 innings over his last four starts, all Pirates losses. Pittsburgh has won only six of Skenes’ 13 starts this season, though he’s left with a lead eight times.

We narrowly missed a Skenes vs. Shohei Ohtani pitching matchup in this series, with Ohtani starting on Wednesday in Pittsburgh. Left-hander Eric Lauer starts for the Dodgers. We’ll still get to see Skenes vs. the Ohtani the hitter, one of the sport’s best individual matchups.

Tuesday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Pirates
• Ballpark: PNC Park, Pittsburgh
• Time: 3:40 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

When the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers came to Denver for the weekend, common sense would say the rebuilding Colorado Rockies could—with a little luck—win perhaps one game in the series. They came tantalizingly close on Friday but a disastrous collapse in the ninth and tenth innings sealed their fate. On Saturday the loss was more traditional with a 7-1 blowout. Now as thousands of fans flock to Coors Field to receive a bobble-headed facsimile of our beloved mascot Dinger, the Rockies have one more chance to salvage a win and avoid a sweep.

On the mound for the Rockies is the left-handed Kyle Freeland, who is having a season he’d probably like to forget with an 8.06 ERA through his first ten starts. He has given up at least five earned runs in five of his seven starts since returning from the injured list and has gone five or more innings just three times in that span.

Freeland is having an odd season. He’s getting batters to chase his offerings and his strikeouts per nine innings currently sits at a career high 8.1. However, he’s getting hit and hit hard. He’s already given up 13 home runs this season. His last time out against the Los Angeles Angels he gave up six runs—five earned—on seven hits with a home run over 5.2 innings of work.

On the bump for the Brew Crew is left-handed rookie Shane Drohan. Originally a fifth round pick out of Florida State by the Boston Red Sox, Drohan was obtained via trade by the Brewers this off-season and is off to a strong start following an April Major League debut.

Drohan currently has a 2.87 ERA in 12 appearances with the Brewers, two of which were starts, with a save and 33 strikeouts over 33.1 innings. He made his second career start against the San Francisco Giants his last time out, going 4.0 innings with two earned runs on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts. It was his first start since making his debut on April 8th.

Drohan’s primary pitch is a four-seam fastball with a surprising amount of armside horizontal movement that averages 95.1 MPH. He is able to generate whiffs at 33.8% rate on the pitch. He backs the fastball up with an arsenal of breaking pitches that get batters to chase and whiff, especially his curveball and slider. He also throws a cutter with vertical drop, a sinker, and a changeup.

First Pitch: 1:10 pm MDT

TV: Rockies.TV

Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)

BrewersSB Nation Site: Brew Crew Ball

Lineups:

Sweep alert in the mountains

📺: https://t.co/eycfmE2vgm (FREE!)
📻: WTMJ#ThisIsMyCrew x @NicoletLawpic.twitter.com/1INCQmlYRg

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) June 7, 2026

🚨 6-7 LINEUP 🚨 pic.twitter.com/CDitZCo0EU

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) June 7, 2026

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