Category: MLB

Zebby Matthews got off to a shaky start tonight, with a Jeremy Pena single and Isaac Paredes 2-run homer. However, after that, he settled into things and was able to go 6 innings, scattering 5 hits and striking out 6 along the way. All he needed was the Twins lineup to give him a modicum of run support.

The Twins lineup was not capable of this. In the 3rd, they stranded Byron Buxton at 2nd after his 1-out double. In the bottom of the 4th, Brooks Lee tripled, but with 2-outs, and was left there after Victor Caratini lined out. All of this against Jason Alexander, who was making his first start of the year after Lance McCullers Jr. was scratched with a shoulder issue.

In the 8th, Buxton hit another 1-out double, then Josh Bell hit a grounder to 2nd that Brayden Shewmake couldn’t handle, allowing Buxton to score the first Twins run of the game. Kody Clemens followed with a single to right, but Austin Martin grounded out to end the threat.

Down to their last out in the 9th, the newly called up Orlando Arcia hit a single to extend the game, then Brayan Abreu hit Luke Keaschall, bringing Byron Buxton to the plate with the winning run at 1st. After a 2-2 wild pitch moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd, Buxton popped out to end the game.

Studs:

Byron Buxton: 2-5, 2 2B

Josh Bell: 3-4, RBI

Zebby Matthews: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K

Duds:

Trevor Larnach, Austin Martin: 0-4

Team w/ RISP: 1-7

There has been ample to lament about the Cincinnati Reds of late.

They endured that brutal 8-game losing streak, one that featured record walk rates, bullpen meltdowns, and even a trio of consecutive walk-off defeats. They came back up for air briefly, but rode into Tuesday evening’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies once again on a 3-game skid, one that would put them officially under the .500 mark for the season if it continued.

The bullpen is a disaster. The starting rotation is in tatters. Leadoff man TJ Friedl has been effectively benched during his struggles, and 3B of the present (and future, per his contract) Ke’Bryan Hayes has basically been peak Homer Bailey in the batter’s box all season.

What the Cincinnati Reds do have, though, is Chase Burns, and nobody else does. And when Burns gets the ball, it’s an automatic that something brilliant is going to happen for the Reds regardless of the rest of their struggles.

Burns took the ball in Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday and breezed through the Phillies, firing 6.0 IP of 3 H, ER, 0 BB ball on 86 pitches. He struck out 9, never once looked the least bit fazed, and exited seemingly just fine despite the final out he recorded being a comebacker off the bat of Bryce Harper that hit him somewhere in between the waist and knees.

And for the first time in seemingly forever, handing the ball over to the Reds bullpen didn’t appear to be a problem.

The Reds posted a 4-1 victory that moved them to 25-24 on the season, with a couple timely hits, a series of sacrifice flies, some unequivocally poor defense from the Phils, and quality pitching all around in windy and rainy conditions contributing to their victory. Elly De La Cruz tripled, scored, and walked with the bases loaded to drive in a run, while Tyler Stephenson got a mighty OPS boost by singling and walking 3 times on the night.

It wasn’t a pretty game offensively, with precious few hard-hit lasers. It did feature Ke’Bryan Hayes twice hitting into double plays in big spots and grounding into a force play at home with the bases loaded on a ball that, if the Phillies weren’t playing in to prevent a run, would’ve been a third double-play. Still, the collective parts were good enough to bring home a much needed W for the good guys, and they’ll have a chance to take the series tomorrow afternoon with Andrew Abbott on the bump.

Thank heck for Chase Burns. The Reds would be woefully lost without him, and he’s only 18 starts into his big league career.

One night after the Orioles lost to the Rays because their pitching staff imploded, they lost again to the Rays because their offense failed to show up. Gotta hand it to the O’s — they might always lose, but they’re always keeping it fresh!

The O’s suffered a 4-1 defeat at Tropicana Field in game two of the series, wasting a solid Kyle Bradish effort because they failed to score any runs after the second pitch of the game. An Orioles defensive meltdown in the eighth inning turned a one-run game into a comfortable Rays win and left the Birds seven games under .500.

It’s not great. But at least the Orioles didn’t lose by 10 runs again. So…progress?

Things actually started out OK for the Orioles, who wasted no time taking their first lead of the series. On the second pitch of the game, leadoff man Taylor Ward jumped on a fastball and launched it into the left-field seats for his second home run of the year and first in exactly one month. I must say I didn’t expect Ward, who hit 36 homers last year, to have just two dingers by May 19. But I also didn’t expect him to lead the league in doubles and walks, so I suppose we’ll take what we can get. The O’s were up, 1-0.

The lead didn’t even last an inning. Orioles starter Kyle Bradish came storming out of the gates with two quick strikeouts in the bottom of the first, but an extended Jonathan Aranda at-bat seemed to break his concentration. Aranda battled Bradish for 10 pitches, eventually working a walk, and a rattled Bradish promptly coughed up an RBI double to Yandy Díaz and another walk before Samuel Basallo bailed him out of the inning, alertly challenging a 2-2 pitch to Jonny DeLuca and getting it reversed to an inning-ending strikeout. Bradish had to throw 36 pitches in that opening inning, and it seemed we might be on track for an early Albert Suárez appearance.

But Bradish settled in. He worked past a leadoff baserunner in both the second and third innings to keep the Rays off the board, and followed with a perfect fourth. By the time he got to the fifth, he had retired eight batters in a row, and another scoreless frame left his pitch count at 94. That’s a perfectly reasonable total considering how laborious his first inning was.

Manager Craig Albernaz tried to push Bradish for one more inning, which proved to be a mistake. The first batter of the sixth, Díaz, walloped a go-ahead home run to straightaway center field. Welp. Bradish lasted one more batter before exiting. It was a gutsy effort by the right-hander, who threw 102 pitches in 5.1 innings and held the Rays to two runs. On most nights — or on a better team — Bradish’s performance would’ve been more than enough to earn the win.

Sadly, the team Bradish plays for is the Orioles, who are not good at that whole “winning” thing. His laudable effort was rendered moot by a hapless O’s offense that did nothing against Griffin Jax, a 31-year-old righty who has just recently been converted back to a starter after four seasons in the bullpen. I’d say the starter experiment is going pretty well for Jax, or maybe the Orioles just have a habit of making pitchers look better than they really are.

Jax worked five full innings for just the second time this year, and the Ward home run on his second pitch was the only damage he allowed. The O’s couldn’t do anything with the few scoring opportunities they had. Pete Alonso grounded into a double play after an Adley Rutschman single in the first. In both the third and fourth innings, the O’s put a runner at second with one out but failed to cash in their runners in scoring position. Jax escaped the third-inning jam on strikeouts of Ward and Gunnar Henderson, then wriggled out of the fourth by fanning Samuel Basallo and inducing a Leody Taveras groundout.

The good news for the Orioles was that the still-getting-stretched-out Jax left the game after five innings and 62 pitches. The bad news is that the O’s were equally inept against the Rays’ bullpen. Right-hander Kevin Kelly worked a scoreless sixth, erasing a Henderson single on a Rutschman double play, and lefty Ian Seymour retired all four batters he faced.

Casey Legumina, which I’m not convinced is the real name of a real person, issued a walk to Coby Mayo in the eighth. Pinch-runner Blaze Alexander stole second (overturned on replay after initially being called out) by making a nifty swim move to beat the tag, putting the tying run in scoring position. It didn’t matter. Ward flied out harmlessly just two pitches later, ending the inning. The O’s were 0-for-5 with RISP in this game.

A horrific bottom of the eighth inning truly put the game out of reach. After Yennier Cano retired the first two batters, he drilled Díaz on the hand to keep the inning alive. Albernaz, wanting to keep it a one-run game, turned to his best reliever, Rico Garcia. Unfortunately Garcia’s magic didn’t show up on this night, but mainly the Orioles’ defense is to blame.

Richie Palacios lined a sharp shot to deep right field. Colton Cowser got turned around and tried to make the catch at the wall, but the ball nicked off his glove as he banged into the fence. It wasn’t an easy play, but one that he probably should have made. Still, the O’s had plenty of time to throw out pinch-runner Carson Williams trying to score. The throw home beat the runner by approximately 10 minutes, but Basallo inexplicably muffed the catch, and Williams scored safely. Just a brutal play by both Cowser and Basallo. Palacios then scored on a DeLuca RBI single, tagging Garcia with just his second earned run of the season. Again, the inning should’ve been over before that ever happened. What a mess.

The demoralized Orioles went down 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth against Rays closer and former Oriole Bryan Baker, sealing another woeful, uncompetitive loss. Can this season be over yet?

The Guardians continue their 13 game stretch with Game 2 of the 4 game series versus the Detroit Tigers in Detroit. The Guards really haven’t had a long look at any of their AL Central opponents, with this being the first time they’ve faced the Tigers this season.

The Guardians got on the board first in the top of the second. Kyle Manzardo hit a lead off single to right. Travis Bazzana reached on a walk and both runners advanced on Angel Martínez’ sacrifice bunt. His bunt did put runners into scoring position, but Angel might be the last person on this team that I want bunting with two on and no outs. According to Stephen Vogt in the post game presser, that was Angel’s decision to bunt in that moment. Steven Kwan hit a sac fly to score Manzardo and put the Guardians in the lead.

Parker Messick got the start for Cleveland, going five innings of work. The Tigers got to Messick to immediately respond to the Guardian’s run. With one out, Riley Greene drew a walk. He scored on Spencer Torkelson’s two-run homer.

In the top of the fourth, Kyle Manzardo lead off on base again, this time with a walk. Travis Bazzana delivered a two-run home run to right field.

The Tigers came back, again, to tie it up on a defensive error. Austin Hedges tried to pickoff the runner at first, but the ball got past Manzardo, allowing the runner to score from second. Messick allowed 3R/2ER on 4H, 3BB, and struck out 6 batters.

Cleveland regained the lead in the top of the seventh. Steven Kwan lead off the inning with a long double to right field that was inches shy of a home run. Austin Hedges hit a sac bunt to move Kwan to third (Austin Hedges is a player that should be sac bunting). Brayan Rocchio recorded his 27th RBI of the season with a ground out that scored Kwan from 3rd.

The bullpen, after a few days of minimal use, got a lot of work tonight. Colin Holderman pitched the sixth, allowing 1 hit and striking out one batter. Eric Sabrowski worked his magic in the seventh inning. The only baserunner was a walk and he struck out two. The eighth inning was not as lights out for the bullpen. Tim Herrin came on in relief, walking one, striking out one, and hitting one. Stephen Vogt went to Hunter Gaddis to finish the inning. Gaddis also walked a batter, but a force out and ground out got him out of the inning without allowing a runner to score.

With it being a close game, the team had no choice but to rely on closer Cade Smith. Cade struck out the first batter, but walked the next two. Kevin McGonigle’s single to right put the tying run in scoring position and the go ahead run on first. Cade struck out the fourth batter of the inning for the second out and faced Dillon Dingler for his final batter of the game. Cade secured his fifteenth save of the season with a strikeout on Dingler.

The Guardians won 4-3 with 4 hits and 1 error. Manzardo went 1-for-3 with 2 runs and a walk. Bazzana went 2-for-3 with a run, a walk, a home run, and 2 RBI. Kwan went 1-for-2 with a run, RBI, 2B, and a walk.

Dodgers objectives in the second game in San Diego: (a) score at least once; (b) make sure the Padres don’t score as many.

Tuesday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Padres
• Ballpark: Petco Park, San Diego
• Time: 6:40 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out of market)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Postgame update: After the game, Warren Schaeffer provided an update.

“Left side contusion on that diving play out there,” Schaeffer said. “We’ll know more tomorrow, but that was painful.”

Colorado Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle left today’s game against the Texas Rangers after making a spectacular diving attempt on a ball in the first inning, but he landed awkwardly on his left arm.

He got up slowly and remained in the game to finish the inning but did not return in the bottom half.

Jake McCarthy shifted from right field to center, and new dad Tyler Freeman — freshly activated off the paternity list — entered in right.

The reasons for Doyle leaving the game are not known at this time, but Purple Row will continue to follow this developing story.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

WASHINGTON — Zach Thornton’s relatively slender frame for a pitcher might benefit him.

Listed at 6-foot-3 and 170 pounds, the left-hander — who will start for the Mets on Wednesday in his major league debut — credits that build for his approach on the mound.

“I’m not the biggest guy in the world,” Thornton said Tuesday at Nationals Park.

“Everything you do is for the people who said, ‘He couldn’t do it.’ And the people who said, ‘He could.’ ”

Thornton, who has endeared himself to Mets officials in part because of his ability to throw strikes, is receiving the first shot at filling the vacancy created by Clay Holmes’ fractured right fibula. Holmes was injured Friday when the Yankees’ Spencer Jones hit a line drive off his leg.

In seven minor league starts this season he has pitched to a 3.16 ERA. Thornton appeared twice for the team in the Grapefruit League and left a positive impression on manager Carlos Mendoza.

“I treat every game the same: I want to go out and compete,” Thornton said. “I am the ultimate competitor, a strike thrower.”

Thornton was selected over Jack Wenninger and Jonah Tong at Syracuse. The Mets also have potential starting options in the bullpen in Tobias Myers and Sean Manaea.

Mendoza was asked if Nick Morabito’s promotion to the major leagues (joining fellow rookies Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing in the outfield) means Juan Soto will be relegated mostly to DH.

“[Soto] is our left fielder, but hopefully we get some of the other guys from the injury list and those guys are going to need some DH appearances and Juan is going to be playing a lot of left field,” Mendoza said. “So right now while we can we will just use those [DH for Soto] days as much as possible.”

Entering play the Mets had participated in 10 extra-inning games this season, the most in the major leagues.

They had won six of those games, also the most in MLB. The most recent was their 16-7 victory over the Nationals in 12 innings Monday.

The Mets set a franchise record with 10 runs in an extra-inning frame. It was tied for fourth highest in major league history.

Well, here's something you don't see every day.

The Washington Nationals hit an inside-the-park grand slam on Tuesday, May 19.

You read that right. Not just an inside-the-park home run. A GRAND SLAM.

The phenomenon happened in the bottom of the second inning during a home game against the New York Mets. The bases were loaded and James Wood stepped up to the plate against pitcher Nolan McLean. On the first pitch, the right fielder swung and sent the ball flying to left-center field.

Two Mets outfielders, Tyrone Taylor and Nick Morabito, ran toward the ball in an attempt to catch it and nab the easy out. Morabito, who was making his MLB debut, leaped against the fence and the ball bounced off his glove. The defenders looked at each other as the ball bounced away and Jorbit Vivas trotted home from third base, Drew Millas ran in from second and Nasim Nuñez rounded all the way from first.

Morabito scrambled, picked the ball up and tossed it to a teammate in the infield, who overthrew catcher Luis Torren as Wood slid across home plate head-first to complete the grand slam.

This Mets-Nationals game is BONKERS, and it's only the second inning. James Wood just hit an inside-the-park grand slam off Nick Morabito's glove. Can't say I've ever seen that one before. pic.twitter.com/sh5h1IyOtU

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) May 20, 2026

The play, which was Wood's 13th home run of the season, trimmed the Mets' lead to 5-4.

According to MLB reporter Sarah Langs, this is the third inside-the-park grand slam in the past decade. The Nationals have two of those, both at home. Besides Wood's massive hit, Michael A. Taylor had his own play in 2017. The third one occurred when Raimel Tapia of the Toronto Blue Jayshit a grand slam in 2022 at Fenway Park.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: James Wood hits inside-the-park grand slam against Mets

The San Francisco Giants continue this three-game road series against the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Landen Roupp, who enters tonight’s game with at 3.49 ERA, 2.68 FIP, with 58 strikeouts to 21 walks in 49 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, in which he allowed four runs on six hits with seven strikeouts and two walks in five and a third innings.

He’ll be facing off against Diamondbacks right-hander Ryne Nelson, who enters tonight’s game with a 5.40 ERA, 4.80 FIP, with 43 strikeouts to 14 walks in 45 innings pitched. His last start was in the Diamondbacks’ 6-5 loss to the Texas Rangers last Wednesday, in which he allowed three runs on four hits with eight strikeouts in seven innings.

Game #49

Who: San Francisco Giants (20-28) – Arizona Diamondbacks (23-23)

Where: Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona

When: 6:40 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

The Mariners defeated the White Sox yesterday thanks largely to a strong performance from Bryan Woo and just enough offense against White Sox lefty starter Noah Schultz before Colt Emerson broke the game wide open, but they’ll face another challenge today with Anthony Kay on the mound. Last time these two teams faced off, the Mariners hitters couldn’t solve Kay’s changeup, striking out five times in five innings while not punishing him for two walks. The Mariners will be switching things up on the pitching side, starting Bryce Miller, who was still on the IL last time these teams met, with Luis Castillo – who gave up two two-run homers in their last meeting – working out of the bullpen for the first time in his career.

Lineups:

With the White Sox bringing out yet another lefty, the Mariners are pulling out their righty lineup. J.P. Crawford gets a day off, shifting Emerson over to shortstop for his first big-league start at the position. Righty Patrick Wisdom will handle third, making his first MLB start since September 28 of 2024, and hopefully defer to Emerson on anything hit to the left side.

Today’s game information:

Game time: 6:40 PT

TV: Mariners TV with Aaron Goldsmith and Angie Mentink, with Ryan Rowland-Smith as field reporter

Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports, with Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr.

There’s a Simpsons joke for every occasion. If the Phillies had tasted victory against Chase Burns, I would’ve had a great opportunity to break out one of my favorite quotes from the character with whom he shares a surname—“Honestly, Smithers, I don’t know why Harvard even bothers to show up— they barely even won!”. Except replace “Harvard” with “Phillies”. Anyway, I say let the Reds have their victory and their elite flamethrowing pitcher. The Phillies will always be first in fuzzy green mascots and gentlemanly club life.

Burns and Jesús Luzardo got off to quick starts, wrapping up their first two innings without allowing a run. Burns allowed a double to Alec Bohm in the first and a single to Bryson Stott in the second, but wrapped the inning up with the next batter in both cases.

Luzardo surrendered his first hit with the first batter of the third, Blake Dunn. He then walked Tyler Stephenson. The warning lights were flashing Reds. But Luzardo was neither to be dissuaded from his task nor persuaded to offer a Redleg a journey home. He induced the next two batters to hit weak grounders, turning the first into a twin killing and the second into the final out.

Burns seemed to be cruising through yet another inning, putting the first two Phillies he faced in the third down. That brought up Trea Turner, who got a slider he liked, then sent it somewhere Burns did not like: The left-field seats, underneath the scoreboard. The Phillies thus drew first blood.

But their own lips would be bloodied soon enough. In the fourth, Elly De La Cruz hit a liner to center that bounced off the top of Justin Crawford’s outstretched glove and bounced to the wall; De La Cruz made it to third. The next batter, Spencer Steer, put much less distance on the ball, chopping it into the infield. But the Phillies didn’t have anyone at first, and the weak contact became a hit. Runners on the corners, none away. Luzardo struck out Sal Stewart to provide some much needed relief, and Stewart, in turn, successfully overturned the challenge to provide some very much not needed heartburn. Stewart would eventually take his base via the free pass, and the bases were more loaded with Reds than Mr. Redlegs’ mustache is loaded with wax. The Cincinnatis hit a pair of sacrifice flies to score two and take the lead.

The Phillies’ attempts to take it back in the fourth and fifth were stymied by Burns, who put them down in order both times. Bohm grounded to short to make the first out of the fourth, and the next five Phillies were struck out by Burns. The next three weren’t, but they were sent back to the dugout in other ways.

Luzardo’s day ended as the seventh dawned. His performance had been quite good outside of a shaky fourth, and even there he recovered quickly and limited the damage. He just had the bad luck to face off against a pitcher having an even better day. Tanner Banks was the choice from the bullpen, and he encountered trouble fast, surrendering a leadoff double to JJ Bleday, and an infield hit to Dunn. Banks was a bit late in running to cover first, and Harper’s subsequent throw was rushed, sailing past Banks and allowing Dunn to advance to second. Banks then walked Tyler Stephenson, and the bases were more loaded with Reds than a bowl of Cincinnati chili is loaded with shredded cheese. A grounder from Ke’Bryan Hayes turned into a force out at home, and the Phillies turned to Jonathan Bowlan to get the next two outs. The same seemed to happen with Matt McClain’s grounder, but the Reds challenged, and the replay officials agreed that Dunn had made it home before the ball did. The subsequent run-scoring walk to Elly De La Cruz was not the worst thing that could happen when a slugger approaches the plate with the bases loaded, but it wasn’t terribly pleasing to the eye of the faithful Phillies fan either. The Phillies put the next two batters away to end the inning with the Reds up 4-1.

Burns’ brutally effective night concluded with the sixth inning, and the Phillies set out to redeem themselves against the Reds’ bullpen. First order of business: Piercing the line of defense offered by Pierce Johnson. Rain began to fall on Citizens Bank Park, as the Phillies began their comeback campaign. Bohm worked a leadoff walk to continue a his hot streak, but Brandon Marsh struck out, and McClain made a great dive to turn a broken-bat liner up the middle from Adolis García into an out, and Stott went down on strikes.

Chase Shugart wears 55 on his back, and tonight that number served as a reminder of his task: do not let the Reds get their fifth run. The number that turned out to define his outing was three: the number of Reds that he faced, and the number that he sent trudging back to the dugout.

The Phillies took their next shot at narrowing the lead against Sam Moll, with Otto Kemp pinch-hitting for Crawford. Moll mollified the Phillies batters, and the home team was left with their fifth straight scoreless inning. Shugart took the ninth, and once again stymied the Cincys. That left the Phillies trio of Turner, Harper, and Bohm to kickstart a comeback. But Turner flew out, Harper struck out, and Bohm did too. The last strike came on an initially-called ball overturned by ABS; a final frustration in a wet, irritating night. So it goes.

The Phillies are 25-24. They’ll take on the Reds in the rubber match tomorrow at 1:05.

The Tigers went into their second of four games against the Cleveland Guardians tonight, hoping to split the series early and end their growing losing streak. They had Keider Montero on the mound, up against Parker Messick for the Guardians. After a rough series opener on Monday, Detroit definitely wanted to turn things around for the hometown crowd.

Montero got things going exactly the way the Tigers hoped he would, getting the Guardians out 1-2-3. In the home half of the inning, the Tigers did the same, however, going three-up, three-down to end the inning quickly.

Kyle Manzardo started the second inning with a single, followed by a walk to Travis Bazzana. The Guardians love a bunt, so Angel Martinez laid down a sac bunt to advance both baserunners. A Steven Kwan sac fly then brought Manzardo home, putting the Guardians on the board first. In the bottom of the inning, Riley Greene got a one-out walk, then Spencer Torkelson hit a home run over the wall in left field. Wenceel Perez also singled, but two outs left him stranded. However, the Tigers now had the lead in the game.

Jose Ramirez got a two-out walk for Cleveland in the top of the third, but he was left stranded. In the home half, Jahmai Jones took a two-out walk as well, but much like with Cleveland, he was left stranded to end the inning.

In the top of the fourth, Manzardo got a leadoff walk, then Bazzana homered, bringing in two runs and putting the Guardians back in the lead. Kwan got a one-out walk, continuing his on-base efforts from the previous evening, but the Guardians weren’t able to add any additional runs. The game was still within one run. Riley Greene got a leadoff single to start the home half, and two outs later Hao-Yu Lee singled to put two men on base. In an effort to get Lee out at first, the catcher threw over to first, but it ended up in the field, and Greene was able to get all the way home, to tie up the game. Great work all around for everyone being on the ball with that one. Austin Hedges was charged with an error.

Lee continued to contribute with a crazy good catch and accurate throw over to first to get the first out of the inning in the fifth, in Daniel Schneemann. Dillon Dingler tried for his own highlight reel moment as a pop-up headed behind the plate but he couldn’t quite get his glove on it. The Tigers did get the next two outs, though. In the home half Matt Vierling got a leadoff walk, then with one out, Jones hit into a double play to end the inning.

Montero’s day was done after five innings, with a final line of 5.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 1 K, 1 HR on 85 pitches. It was a fairly unremarkable outing for Montero. Could have been better, but last night showed us it also could have been worse. Tyler Holton came in and got three outs in a row. Colin Holderman came in for the Guardians in the bottom of the inning. Greene continued to be the best performer on the team with a one-out single, but the Tigers failed to bring him home, with two outs to leave him stranded.

Steven Kwan got a leadoff double to get the seventh inning started, and he advanced to third on a sac bunt by Hedges. A Brayan Rocchio groundout brought Kwan home and pushed the Guardians into the lead. They’d have to settle for just the one run, but the game was no longer tied. In the home half, Erik Sabrowski was the new pitcher for Cleveland. With one out, Zack Short walked. Two outs followed, though, so the Tigers once again left a man stranded.

A freshly returned Will Vest came in for the Tigers in the top of the eighth, and he got three outs in a row. In the bottom of the inning, the Guardians once again dipped into their bullpen for Tim Herrin, who gave up a leadoff walk to Jones. Then, with one out, Riley Greene was hit by a pitch to send him to first. That was all she wrote for Herrin who faced the minimum three batters and got yanked. Hunter Gaddis replaced him and Colt Keith got a free ball thanks to a pitch timer violation. He ended up grounding into a force out anyway, eliminating Greene. Wenceel Perez walked to load the bases. A pinch-hitting Zach McKinstry came in, and in the Tigers’ best chance of the game, he grounded out to end the inning.

Burch Smith replace Will Vest for the ninth, and gave up a leadoff single to Bazzana. A double play off the bat of Martinez eliminated him, though, and then a truly remarkable catch by Matt Vierling in center kept Steven Kwan from getting on base yet again, and ended the inning. With only a one-run deficit, the Tigers still had a chance to turn things around, but they’d have to do it against Cade Smith. With one out, Vierling singled, followed by a single to Kevin McGonigle. With two on and two out, it was up to Dingler. Alas, he was struck out to end both the inning and the game, and the gap between the top and bottom of the AL Central widens.

Final: Guardians 4, Tigers 3

Roster moves

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves. The D-backs’ 40-man roster is at 39.

• Selected from Triple-A Reno: C Aramis Garcia(No. 35)
• Placed on the 10-day injured list: C James McCann (strained right quad)

As expected, McCann has to hit the IL, having injured himself legging out a ground-ball late in last night’s blowout win. It really wasn’t necessary, but I can’t criticize a player very much for trying too hard. He’ll probably miss 4-6 weeks. It leads to the return of Aramis Garcia, who was DFA’d earlier this month. He made it through waivers, returned to Reno – and, hey, what do you know, he finds himself back on both the 40-man and the active roster again. We had two empty spots, so there’s no need for a move as yet. We’ll have to wait and see which of the players on the 60-day Injured List are ready to be activated first. Best guess? Might be Jordan Lawlar, might be A.J. Puk.

Arizona will look to build on last time’s offensive outburst: insert obvious comment about “perhaps they should have saved some of those runs for tonight.” After a couple of dismal outing, Ryne Nelson has bounced back, with a May ERA of 2.33 across three outings. That goes with a very solid K:BB of 19:3 across 19,1 innings. However, Ryne still has only one win in nine attempts this year, and has a six-game winless streak coming into tonight’s outing. The Giants, as we have already documented, have struggled on offense this year, so this could be a good chance for Nelson to end that run and get back into the W column.

Upodate on the Corbin Burnes front. Nick Piecoro reports that Burnes “said he has two more bullpen sessions before he faces hitters, likely in a live session next Friday. He thinks it could be a couple of weeks or so before he starts getting into games. Still targeting a mid-July-ish return.” That’s still a couple of months off, but it’s going to be interesting to see how the team handles it, in terms of roster spots and rotation places. Presuming none of the other starting pitchers need to hit the IL, there’s going to be seven starting pitchers for five spots. Could be a case of the audition starting tonight for Nelson…

James Wood gave Nick Morabito a rude “welcome to the big leagues” moment on Wednesday night in the nation’s capital.

The Nationals slugger crushed a deep fly ball to left that not only popped out of the Mets rookie’s glove but ended up turning into a rare inside-the-park grand slam.

Mets starter Nolan McLean easily got the first two outs of the bottom of the second inning before allowing a double and single with a hit by pitch sandwiched in between.

JAMES WOOD INSIDE-THE-PARK GRAND SLAM! pic.twitter.com/8P0K4jhApZ

— MLB (@MLB) May 20, 2026

Wood, who had 31 homers last year and 12 entering Wednesday’s ballgame, sent a high, arcing fly deep to left field that sent Morabito back to the fence.

At the top of his leap, Morabito, making his major league debut, saw the ball bounce off the heel of his glove and roll all the way to center field. Center fielder Tyrone Taylor didn’t appear to know where the ball was and stayed near Morabito, who was down on the warning track.

By the time Morabito got to his feet and went for the ball, Wood was inevitably going to score on a wild homer that went 379 feet but never left the confines of Nationals Park.

Wood’s unlikely grand slam changed the tenor of the game as the Mets blew a 5-0 lead en route to a 9-6 loss to the Nationals.

To add insult to injury, Morabito was plunked in his second plate appearance in the top of the third.

But Morabito got a measure of redemption in the bottom half when he made a leaping catch reaching into the stands down the left field line on a Jorbit Vivas fly ball that turned into a sacrifice fly.

The outfield prospect had a .754 OPS with four homers and 14 steals in 41 games with Triple-A Syracuse this year.

The Astros’ injury woes are only getting worse.

Houston right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. was scratched from his start on Tuesday and placed on the injured list with shoulder inflammation, adding to a long list of health issues for the club. 

Astros manager Joe Espada told The Athletic’s Chandler Rome that McCullers had been dealing with the shoulder injury “a while” despite the last-minute scratch. 

Injuries have been a major part of McCullers’ career over the last several years. 

After missing the 2023 and 2024 seasons with a flexor strain, McCullers struggled in his return last season, posting a 6.51 ERA across 16 outings. 

It didn’t get any better in 2026, having put up a 6.86 ERA in eight starts until hitting the IL. 

The McCullers loss is the latest for a ravaged Astros team that’s struggling to stay in the American League playoff race. 

Before McCullers went down, Houston was already without starters Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier, who are both on the IL with shoulder strains. 

Another trio of hurlers – Ronel Blanco, Brandon Walter and Hayden Wesneski – are still yet to return from Tommy John surgeries a year ago. 

On Monday, the Astros lost star second baseman Jose Altuve, who suffered a left oblique strain on Sunday and later went on the IL. 

Third baseman Carlos Correa, center fielder Jake Meyers, left fielder Joey Loperfido, and catcher Yainer Diaz and closer Josh Hader are all also sidelined with various injuries. 

The bad luck has the Astros, who have finished above .500 in each of the past 10 full seasons, struggling out of the gate. 

Heading into Tuesday’s play, they sit at 19-30, which is the second-worst record in the American League.