Category: MLB

The Brewers put up a win in the Cactus League today, but for most fans, they were just interested in today’s bulk pitchers: Jacob Misiorowski, the starter, and Brandon Sproat, who followed. Both did pretty well, and a balanced Brewer offense, powered by homers from three guys who aren’t necessarily known as power hitters, did plenty.

The Miz didn’t get off to a great start. The first three batters of the game, Tyler Freeman, Cole Carigg, and Jordan Beck, all singled. Beck’s knocked a run in, and TJ Rumfeld followed with a sacrifice fly that made it 2-0. After that, though, Misiorowski locked in—he finished the first with a strikeout and a groundout, and then went three more innings without allowing another hit. He did walk two in that stretch, but he ended up with four innings, two earned runs, six strikeouts, and two walks.

The Brewer offense, meanwhile, didn’t have much trouble answering the Rockies. Some bad luck in the first inning cost them a potential rally—after Sal Frelick led off with a hit, Joey Ortiz, perhaps a little sharper than his teammates due to the competitive baseball he’s been playing in the World Baseball Classic, smoked a line drive that turned into a double play. But in the second inning, Milwaukee got to one of the better Colorado pitchers, Victor Vodnik. Things started with a Jake Bauers walk, a wild pitch, and, one out and a wild pitch later, a Brandon Lockridge walk. That brought David Hamilton to the plate, and he got a hanging 1-0 changeup that he crushed 107mph and 431 feet for a three-run, scoreboard flipping homer.

Vodnik got the second out but then gave up consecutive hits to Jett Williams and Frelick before getting pulled. That brought Ortiz back to the plate, and he reached on an infield single that was about 40mph slower than the batted ball that turned into a double play in the first. That scored Williams to make it 4-2, and the Brewers very nearly broke it completely open after that; Christian Yelich walked to load the bases and Bauers hit a fly ball at 112 mph, but Beck caught it for the third out.

Brandon Sproat was the next pitcher in for Milwaukee, and after he threw a three-up, three-down top of the fifth, Ortiz led off the bottom of the fifth with a wall-scraping homer to right. He didn’t exactly crush the ball, but it was one of those up-and-away pitches that when Ortiz is looking good he does damage on. Another Yelich walk and this time another monster shot off Bauers’ bat—this one 113 mph—found grass in the outfield, scoring Yelich from first. Bauers scored a couple batters later on a Hamilton groundout, and Milwaukee led 7-2.

Beck led off the sixth with a solo homer off of Sproat. Ortiz hit another ball hard in the sixth, but it was caught in center field. The game hummed along for a while—Jared Koenig came in with two outs in the eighth, walked a guy, and ended the inning with a groundout. Lockridge hit a homer (on his 29th birthday) in the bottom of the inning, and Sproat returned for the ninth. Sproat did allow a single and a run-scoring double in the ninth, but he finished the game with Milwaukee winning 8-4.

Milwaukee almost got through this one with just two pitchers, as Misiorowski pitched four innings and Sproat pitched 4 2/3. Both pitchers allowed two earned runs on four hits; Miz, as mentioned, struck out six and walked two, while Sproat struck out three and didn’t walk any. Misiorowski threw 70 pitches, Sproat 65.

On the offensive side of the ball, Frelick and Ortiz were the two Brewers with multiple hits, while Ortiz, Lockridge, and Hamilton homered. Bauers also had a nice day, as he went 1-for-2 with a double, two batted balls with exit velocities higher than 112 mph, and a walk.

Meanwhile, some non-spring training news: Andrew Fischer came a couple feet from hitting a grand slam in Italy’s game against Puerto Rico today. A fan reached over the wall and caught it, and it was instead ruled a two-run double (in a game Italy won by two), but Fischer crushed it. I think he can hit. Video below:

The Brewers continue their Cactus League slate tomorrow in Scottsdale against the Giants at 3:05 p.m. No TV for that one, either.

Even as far as spring training games go, this was a pretty forgettable one for the Dodgers, coming out on the losing end of a 7-2 effort against the White Sox. After a strong start to his spring, Justin Wrobleski didn’t showcase his best stuff, laboring through a difficult outing against a White Sox lineup that, to claim it doesn’t quite stand out, would be putting it lightly. Wrobleski came into this game without allowing a single earned run in three appearances (2 starts), and despite nearing 70 pitches, couldn’t quite crack three full innings, responsible for five of the seven runs Chicago scored.

Facing a lineup built almost entirely of right-handed hitters, Wrobleski didn’t allow a ton of hard contact and was probably a bit unfortunate in giving up four runs—his struggles to find the zone consistently were partially to blame, conceding a couple of walks and hitting the zone only 40% of the time.

Putting up a pretty unproductive effort were the Dodgers’ star hitters, who, unlike the White Sox, couldn’t fully capitalize on all of their free passes. Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Max Muncy combined for four walks, and only one of them (Betts) came around to score.

Still needing to fill a bulk of the game with relievers after Wrobleski’s day was done, Dave Roberts turned to Alex Vesia, among others, with a couple of points to highlight regarding his appearance. Traditionally, almost exclusively a four-seamer-slider arm, Vesia tossed in a few more changeups than usual, and his fastball velocity was still well below his career norm (91.5 MPH in comparison with the 92.7 MPH average last season). Following Vesia, Tanner Scott and Alex Vesia both tossed a scoreless inning.

The second Dodger run came courtesy of Zach Ehrhard. The young outfielder, subbed in during the game to play right field, hit a triple in the top of the seventh and came around to score on a Ryan Fitzgerald groundout. That’s particularly noteworthy given it was the only extra-base hit the Dodgers had the whole game. The Dodgers loaded the bases in the ninth, but couldn’t do anything with it.

Up next

Youth versus experience will be on display as the Dodgers face the other Chicago-based club, with Emmet Sheehan going against Jameson Taillon in a split-header day, with games against the Cubs and the Rangers. River Ryan will be the other starter. Both games start at 1:05 PM Pacific time.

One day, I will be able to write up a Cubs recap and present a lot of highlights from the game.

Today is not that day. (Though I do have SOME video to show you.)

The Cubs lost to the Rockies 4-3 at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale Saturday afternoon, another very warm day in the Phoenix area (84 degrees at game time, likely warmer tomorrow). A walkoff homer by a Rockies minor leaguer named Braxton Fulford off Grant Kipp won the game for Colorado, and obviously that means nothing for the 2026 regular season Cubs.

The much bigger story of this game is Ben Brown, who had a very good outing. Brown threw four innings, allowed two hits and one run, didn’t walk anyone and struck out six. He threw an efficient 51 pitches (39 strikes).

Here’s a breakdown of Brown’s day [VIDEO].

And here are the six K’s [VIDEO].

If Brown could throw like that all the time, well, he’d be in the Cubs rotation. Consistency has been one of his big issues. Yes, Rockies today, but that team does have some good hitters and, on a split-squad day for Colorado, many of their regular-season starters were in their lineup. So good for Ben — now go out there and do it again next time, which might wind up being one of the Cubs’ split-squad games next Friday.

Again, I fail to understand, if there’s a video feed like that one available, why that feed couldn’t be streamed. People would watch that! The audio is, as noted, from the Cubs radio broadcast on The Score.

MLB and its teams have to do some hard thinking about how to handle Spring Training games on TV going forward. This year has been a pretty big failure on that account.

The Cubs’ runs scored on a single by Kevin Alcántara, a sacrifice fly by Jonathon Long and a throwing error by Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman after an attempted steal by Matt Shaw. Hoerner scored on the error. Good to see Long back in the lineup after missing three weeks with an elbow issue caused by a collision in a Sloan Park game in February. He went 1-for-3 with the sac fly as the DH in this game.

Hunter Harvey allowed the Rockies a run in the sixth, unearned due to a throwing error by Scott Kingery that allowed Brenton Doyle to reach base to lead off the inning.

The game remained 3-2 until the bottom of the ninth, when the aforementioned walkoff homer happened, sending Rockies fans home happy.

The Cubs return to Sloan Park Sunday afternoon to take on the Dodgers. Jameson Taillon, just returned from the World Baseball Classic, will start for the Cubs and Emmet Sheehan goes for the Dodgers. Game time is 3:05 p.m. CT and this game will be televised on both Marquee Sports Network and the Dodgers channel SportsNet LA — so there will be game highlights Sunday! There will also be a radio broadcast via WSCR The Score.

The St. Louis Cardinals offered us an unprecedented opportunity to have direct access to the thinking of manager Oli Marmol. We were given a 30-minute online session to ask questions and one of the top recommendations from the community here was the viability of a 6-man rotation for this season.

Here’s what Oli had to say about using a 6-man rotation this season:

“I thought that worked really well last year…and here’s the way I was thinking about it. We didn’t have the depth in Triple A so it was almost this game within a game where we had to not get hurt. That was part of the strategy…so how do we keep these dudes healthy and not have to tap into the layer beneath them…thank God we were able to make it through where every starter made every start and the strategies that were put in place worked. I can say that you can plan all you want, but you have to get lucky for that to happen…With having almost every Thursday off if you look at our schedule, it would actually put guys on a 7-day which is not a great thing out of the gate. I think there’s times to plug them in in order to give guys the rest necessary, but not at the expense of part of the rotation being on a 7-day rather than a 6-day. That complicates things as well. People often talk about injury from a workload standpoint, where a lot of times it’s also not enough work and then jumping in. Relievers can go…he got hurt because he went 3 days in a row…well, there’s also the other side of the guy hasn’t pitched in 6 days and you ask for 2 innings. You have to balance that out as you think about the bullpen and the rotation. Out of the gate, I’m less likely to think of it as a 6-man, but I think there are times where you start to get into the schedule where that makes sense”.

You can expect to hear a lot of takeaways from our writers based on Oli’s comments. I was struck by the fact that this get-together with online writers and podcasters was Oli’s idea and not something that the Cardinals came up with. He expressed how vital it is as the team continues this rebuild process to help fans understand what the team is thinking as they make decisions since it’s been a long time since the St. Louis Cardinals have not been in a realistic contention position. He also did emphasize that he’s not assigning any length of time to how long this rebuild will take before the team is competing for a division title or pennant. The current roster could surprise or it could take longer. He wants transparency with the fanbase as we all move forward together.

One final thought on what Oli Marmol had to say. He emphasized that the front office is not dictating decisions on the field. He said that if you don’t like a decision that was made during a game, the responsibility is on him. He said that Chaim Bloom and his team are providing ample information so they can make informed decisions, but he completely owns the decisions on the field. I came away from our time with Oli Marmol impressed with this new direction and inclusion of online personalities into what the St. Louis Cardinals are working to accomplish. I believe the organization is in very good hands. Let’s hope that leads to winning sooner rather than later.

Meeting with the media before the Mets traveled to West Palm Beach to take on the Houston Astros on Saturday night, manager Carlos Mendoza spoke about a number of topics and players with New York still in the thick of it during spring training.

Clay Holmes, the starter

When the Mets signed Holmes last offseason with the idea of converting the career-reliever into a starting pitcher, a lot of people were skeptical if it could work. Even if it did work and Holmes acclimated to the change and pitched well, concerns over his innings pitched were always at the forefront of discussions.

Despite a shaky second half at times, Holmes did, in fact, pitch well in his first year as a full-time starter. The right-hander went 12-8, finished with a 3.53 ERA in 33 games (31 starts) and pitched a career-high 165.2 innings. 

The only time the right-hander ever really faltered came in July when he had a 4.91 ERA (1.57 WHIP) in six starts and even though he finished strong (3.09 ERA in September/October), Holmes’ midseason struggles were to be expected as he entered uncharted territories for the first time in his career.

But with that experience under his belt, Mendoza thinks his starter is now much more prepared going into his second season in the Mets’ starting rotation.

“Second year after a full year as a starter, he’s got a better understanding of what the routine looks like between outings, how he’s going to pace himself in outings, pitch usage, how he’s going to attack a lineup not only once or twice but three times through the order,” Mendoza said. “…This is a guy that wants to use all the resources, wants to use all the information and he continues to tinker with pitches. He’s got a pretty good repertoire versus lefties and righties and he’s in a good place."

Not only does Holmes have more knowledge about being a starter, he’s looked the part of a starter during camp with his 2.84 ERA (0.71 WHIP) through 12.2 innings. Not only that, but Holmes also looked dominant in his lone WBC appearance, going three scoreless innings and striking out six against Great Britain.

With the addition of Freddy Peralta as well as the emergence of Nolan McLean, New York’s pitching staff should be less of a question mark than it was last season and Holmes continuing to improve has a lot to do with that.

Carson Benge, the starter?

While it's too early to tell if Benge has proven enough in spring to be the team's starting right fielder on Opening Day, the 23-year-old has been spectacular for the Mets and has at the very least put himself in the conversation.

"Hopefully that’s the case that we get to those last few days and we have to make some tough decisions because we got a lot of guys playing well and are healthy," Mendoza said. "That’s the case with Carson. He continues to go out there, continues to give good at-bats, play good defense, run the bases, left on left – so he’s doing what he’s supposed to be doing on his end."

Getting an extended look in camp, Benge has gone 10-for-27 (.370) with a triple, five RBI, four runs scored and a stolen base to go along with an .858 OPS in nine games.

After playing mostly right field so far, Benge is in center field on Saturday (batting third) which Mendoza says is about giving him exposure, like they've done with other players, to "prepare them for potential scenarios that can happen in the regular season."

Mendoza isn’t worried about how his youngster will handle the position change because from everything that he’s seen and heard from Benge, he’s as even-keeled as it gets. It's something that will benefit him in the majors whether he makes the Opening Day roster or not.

"You go by what you hear from people in player development," Mendoza said. "[Benge is a] quiet, baseball guy that doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low and that’s kind of what we’re seeing here. I don’t think the moment is going to be [too] big for him. He’s a pretty neutral guy to be honest with you. He goes about his business, he plays baseball, goes home and comes back the next day and does it again."

Francisco Lindor 'day-to-day' after minor league game

After playing in his second minor league game since hamate bone surgery, Lindor is considered "day-to-day", per Mendoza.

The shortstop remains on track to play on Opening Day which has been New York's message throughout the entire process. What Lindor does next remains to be seen, but he looked good in the game and had a couple of at-bats, per Mendoza.

Mets lineup

1. A.J. Ewing – RF
2. Mark Vientos – 1B
3. Carson Benge – CF
4. Christian Arroyo – 3B
5. José Rojas – DH
6. Austin Barnes – C
7. Vidal Bruján – SS
8. Cristian Pache – LF
9. Mitch Voit – 2B

SP: Freddy Peralta (RHP)

Astros lineup

lineup to follow

Broadcast info

First pitch: 6:05 PM EDT
TV: MLBN, Space City Home Network (Astros)
Radio: KBME 790 AM/94.5 FM HD-2 (Astros)

New York Post may be compensated and/or receive an affiliate commission if you click or buy through our links. Featured pricing is subject to change.

The defending WBC champions will continue its title defense into the quarterfinals tonight.

Team Japan, who has won the World Baseball Classic three times, is currently undefeated going into today’s game with a 4-0 record and wins against Chinese Tapei, Australia, Korea and Czechia. The “Samurai Japan” roster is led by global superstar Shohei Ohtani and features a mix of MLB standouts and top talent from Nippon Professional Baseball.

Venezuela counters with a star-studded lineup of its own, headlined by Ronald Acuña Jr. With a deep group of major league hitters capable of changing the game with one swing, Venezuela has the offensive depth to challenge any pitching staff in the field, including Japan’s. As Pool D runners-up, Venezuela went 3-1 in the group stage, only falling to Pool D winners Dominican Republic.

The winner of tonight’s winner-take-all quarterfinal will advance to Monday’s semifinal against the winner of Puerto Rico vs. Italy.

Japan-Venezuela WBC 2026 start time

The World Baseball Classic quarterfinal between Puerto Rico and Italy is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ET today, March 14.

How to watch Japan vs. Venezuela for free

If you don’t have cable, you’ll need a live TV streaming service to stream the game for free.

DIRECTV is our favorite service for watching baseball live for free — its five-day free trial includes FOX (and FS1, where the rest of the WBC will air). When the trial is over, you’ll pay as low as $59.99/month and gain access to over 90 live channels.

Sling TV is another affordable way to stream live TV; its Select plan includes FS1 and FOX, and starts at $19.99/month.

Japan vs. Venezuela pitchers

Ranger Suarez will start for Venezuela, while Yoshinobu Yamamoto gets the start for Japan. Both pitchers will start their second games of the World Baseball Classic.

World Baseball Classic 2026 key dates

• QF 4: Japan vs. Venezuela – March 14, 9 p.m. ET (FOX)
• SF 1: Dominican Republic vs. United States – March 15, 8 p.m. ET (FS1)
• SF 2: QF3 winner vs. QF4 winner – March 16, 8 p.m. ET (FS1)
• Championship – March 17, 8 p.m. ET (FOX)

Why Trust Post Wanted by the New York Post

This article was written by Angela Tricarico, Commerce Streaming Reporter for Post Wanted Shopping, Page Six, and Decider.com. Angela keeps readers up to date with cord-cutter-friendly deals, and information on how to watch your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and movies on every streaming service. Not only does Angela test and compare the streaming services she writes about to ensure readers are getting the best prices, but she’s also a superfan specializing in the intersection of shopping, tech, sports, and pop culture. When she’s not writing about (or watching) TV, movies, and sports, she’s also keeping up on the underrated perfume dupes at Bath & Body Works and testing headphones. Prior to joining Decider and The New York Post in 2023, she wrote about streaming and consumer tech at Insider Reviews.

The Houston Astros (7-10-3) take on the New York Mets (10-7) in West Palm Beach in Grapefruit League play.

RHP Ryan Weiss gets his first start of the Spring for Houston, opposed by RHP Freddy Peralta of New York.

TONIGHT’S STARTER: Weiss is making his first start and third appearance of the Grapefruit League this season. In his previous two outings, he’s combined to record a 1.69 ERA (1ER/5.1IP) with six strikeouts and a .158 opponent batting average. He signed a Major League deal with Houston on December 9, 2025 after some time in Japan. His first appearance for the Astros will be his Major League debut.

TODAY’S POTENTIAL RELIEVERS: RHP Peter Lambert, RHP Roddery Munoz and RHP Logan VanWey.

OTHER NOTES: Joe Espada told reporters that Brice Matthews will see some time in left field today. He’s yet to log any time in left field as a professional.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Saturday, March 14, 5:05 p.m. CST

Location: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches – W. Palm Beach, Florida

TV: Space City Home Network

Streaming: MLB.TV

Radio: KBME 790 AM/94.5 FM HD-2

I think it may be possible there’s some risk in trading for Rockies relievers. The org isn’t exactly known for churning out well-developed arms, and Angel Chivilli is having a nightmare of a spring training. The Yankees got a good start from Max Fried — save one bad frame — and clawed their way out of a couple deficits, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a late home run in Saturday’s 6-4 loss to Philadelphia.

Max Fried was perfect through his first two innings until being clipped a few times in the third. René Pinto got around on a ball that ended up being an automatic double, before a pair of singles brought him around to score. The second single was partially Fried’s fault, as he didn’t do enough to get over to first and turn the hit into a run-scoring out. For a guy as good defensively as Max is, you’ll chalk that up to bad play, so let’s get those bad plays out in March, not September.

Another flub came after a double steal, where Fried lost the handle on a pickoff attempt at third, and a final single from Dylan Moore put the Phillies up 3-0. Max wasn’t exactly hit hard at all, but struggled with command in the zone and certainly did himself no favors on the defensive side of things. I have full confidence in him putting together another excellent season if he stays healthy, but that third inning wasn’t much fun for anyone in pinstripes. If nothing else, he was able to finish two more innings cleanly, leaving the game with one out in the sixth.

Offensively, it seemed the Yankees were getting some baserunning work in, with both Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jasson Domínguez swiping a bag and making an out on the basepaths. Jasson was caught by the catcher while Jazz was picked off at second, but between those two and José Caballero, it feels like the club is going to be more dynamic once on base than most recent Yankee squads. The Martian also chipped in with an RBI single, his 10th run driven in of Grapefruit League play.

Jake Bird had himself a decent enough outing. He did walk the first man he faced but ended up recording four outs, two via the strikeout, in something of a cauterizing effort. Bird has not been a representative MLB player since leaving Colorado — honestly maybe even before that — but putting up zeros in spring is the first step to getting back to being a valuable member of an MLB roster.

The Yankees got their runs back in the bottom of the seventh, with Domínguez once again in the thick of it. A hustle single got him on base, moving to third on Paul DeJong’s autodouble, and coming in to score on a groundout. Marco Luciano grounded a ball to left field to bring in DeJong, and we were all tied up. Both teams also pushed across a run in their eighth innings, with the Yankees’ courtesy of Braden Shewmake:

Unfortunately I don’t think Angel Chivilli will be breaking camp with the MLB team. The winter acquisition has struggled in camp, and while pitching the ninth gave up a bomb to center field that put the Phillies up 6-4. He did get a pair of strikeouts, but the righty has an unsightly 14.85 ERA in exhibition play. I think he needs to work on some things down in Triple-A.

The club went down quietly in the ninth, making the home run by Phillies minor leaguer Felix Reyes the eventual game-winner. We’ll be back tomorrow afternoon with another spring showdown, with the Yankees welcoming the Tigers to Tampa. Luis Gil gets the ball for that outing, with first pitch at 1:05pm ET.

Box Score

Another double-dip day, and in the World Baseball Classic, Italy and Puerto Rico is already under way. Remarkably, the Italians put up a four-spot in the bottom of the first, so their Cinderella story continues. I’m trying to think of an equivalent team reaching the World Cup semi-final. Morocco were unexpected semi-finalists last time. Maybe Turkey in 2002? Later on (6 pm Arizona time), Japan plays Venezuela to see who the Italians or Ricans will get in the semi-final. And I see Puerto Rico has just loaded the bases with one out in the second, without needing a hit, so this one may be far from over yet…

Back in the more prosaic surroundings of the Cactus League, here’s your line-up for the D-backs.

Zac has been pretty good so far this spring: just one hit through four innings, with no walks and five strikeouts. He has a lot to prove this year, so hopefully the good form isn’t just a spring fling. After Gallen, the scheduled pitchers are RHP Joe Ross, RHP Kevin Ginkel, RHP Ryan Thompson and RHP Juan Morillo. Carroll is back in the line-up again, though still limited to DH duties for whatever reason. Also on the health front, Gabriel Moreno’s imaging (he was a late scratch with forearm tightness last night) showed only some inflammation and no structural damage.

This one is also on dbacks.tv, with the Giants feed this afternoon, so tune in and join us there!

Today the Texas Rangers have divvied up the squad and sent half to Goodyear, AZ to take on the Cincinnati Reds while the rest remain in Surprise, AZ for a Cactus League tussle against the San Diego Padres.

In Surprise, RHP Nathan Eovaldi will take the bump for Texas opposite LHP Marco Gonzales for San Diego. In Goodyear, it will be LHP Austin Gomber for Texas against RHP Rhett Lowder for Cincinnati.

Here are the lineups for the home game against the Padres:

Here are the lineups for the away game against the Reds:

You can watch the Surprise game on the Rangers Sports Network, listen via 105.3 The Fan, or follow along on Gameday. Alternatively, if you want to catch the game from Goodyear, the Reds have a radio feed but you can also follow along on Gameday.

First pitch for both games today are scheduled for 3:05 pm CT.

Go Rangers!

here’s the lineup:

Martinez LF

DeLauter RF

Ramirez 3B

Manzardo 1B

Hoskins DH

Rocchio 2B

Arias SS

Hedges C

Halpin CF

Entering 2026, the consensus around the Athletics was that the team would be led by its talented group of hitters, who may have to outscore opponents to compensate for the team’s average pitching staff. While spring training stats rarely matter and often do not influence how the season will go, the fact that the A’s have scored more runs than every other MLB team shows that their offense is already living up to expectations. The team scored 22 runs across yesterday’s split-squad doubleheader, with one squad putting up 13 against the Milwaukee Brewers and the other scoring nine against the San Diego Padres.

On the other hand, A’s pitchers have struggled this spring, giving up the third-most runs in the league. That is not a good look for a team that needs improved pitching if it wants to win more games this season.

Today marks another opportunity for the team to get its pitchers on the right track before Opening Day. This afternoon, the A’s will host the Royals, looking to get revenge for the Royals winning 7-6 in their first matchup earlier this spring. Left-hander Jacob Lopez will make his second start of the spring. Following a gradual post-injury ramp-up, Lopez made his first Cactus League appearance last Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, allowing three runs in two innings pitched.

Now that he has shaken off some rust, look for Lopez to pitch a little deeper in today’s game with hopefully better results. If the A’s can get Lopez to pitch for a full season as well as he did during his 25-inning scoreless streak last summer, then that dramatically changes the outlook on this team’s rotation. The team will be watching his performance today closely to see if he is ready to be in the rotation by the beginning of the season. An alternative, if he is not yet built up to start, would be to put him in the bullpen as an option in later innings, long relief or as someone ready to slide into the rotation if another pitcher gets hurt.

Here’s how the A’s lineup versus the Royals looks this afternoon:

Once again, the A’s lineup looks very close to how it will be for regular season games. First baseman Nick Kurtz seems locked into the leadoff spot until a more traditional leadoff table-setter hitter emerges for this team. Right fielder Lawrence Butler, who started several games last year hitting first, has the speed and athleticism typically seen among leadoff hitters. However, he has yet to play in a Cactus League game and A’s manager Mark Kotsay seems to appreciate having Kurtz’s power and on-base ability atop his lineup.

Andy Ibàñez, who will play several positions for the A’s this season, gets the start at third base today. In the outfield, starting left fielder Tyler Soderstrom is joined by two guys performing well at camp. Henry Bolte, the club’s top outfield prospect, may have sped up his MLB arrival with his impressive spring. His three-run home run to right field off right-hander Michael King, one of the Padres’ best pitchers, started the A’s seven-run, four-homer inning that gave them the lead yesterday. Last but not least, non-roster invitee Cade Marlowe has also made the most of his playing time.

That lineup will be facing Royals right-hander Ryan Berget, who will be making his fourth Cactus League start. Berget, who is vying for a spot in his team’s rotation, has performed well so far, going 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA over six innings pitched.

Here’s how the Royals stack up:

With so many of Kansas City’s stars — Bobby Witt Jr, Maikel Garcia and Salvador Perez —still playing for their respective counties in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), the Royals’ lineup today is full of non-roster invitees and players like Nick Loftin and Josh Rojas who are looking to make the team. As a result, it should not be too difficult a matchup for Lopez and the Athletics this afternoon.

Speaking of the WBC, with Team Canada eliminated, Denzel Clarke is set to return to A’s camp. He showed off his defense in the tournament, although he did not contribute much offensively for his country. However, several A’s players are still competing. Darell Hernáiz and Carlos Cortes are in Puerto Rico’s starting lineup for its quarterfinal clash against Italy this afternoon. Tomorrow, Luis Severino will start for Team Dominican Republic in its heavyweight showdown against Team USA. It would not be a shock if fellow A’s pitcher Elvis Alvarado also appears in that game out of the Dominican Republic’s bullpen.

A lot of baseball is happening today and tomorrow! Let’s go A’s!

Tigers 6 Blue Jays 1

Another great start from Max Scherzer. He went 4.2 scoreless innings, 2 hits, 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. He threw 65 pitches. It looks like he’s already ready for the regular season. Two start and no earned runs against.

Other pitchers:

• Tommy Nance: 1.1 innings, 2 hits, 2 earned, 2 walks 1 strikeout. 6.75 ERA on the spring.
• Louis Varland: 1 inning, 1 hit, 1 earned, 1 walk and 1 strikeouts. 9.00.
• Jorge Alcala: 0.1 inning, 4 hits, 2 earned. 8.44.
• Josh Flemming: 2 innings, 2 hits, 1 earned, 2 strikeouts.

Batters, starters:

• George Springer: 0 for 3. .143.
• Davis Schneider: 0 for 3, k. .111.
• Alejandro Kirk: 0 for 3, 2 k. .214.
• Ely Jimenez: 0 for 3. k. .278.
• Daulton Varsho: 2 for 1. RBI, home run, his fourth homer of the spring. .455. He’s looked excellent this spring.
• Leo Jimenez: 0 for 2, k. .267.
• Myles Straw: 1 for 2, k. .192.
• Josh Kasevish: 0 for 2, 2 k. .300.
• Riley Tirotta: 2 for 2. .250.

Others:

• Rafael Lantigua: Walk. .393. Also threw out 2 base runners from the outfield.
• Josh Rivera: 0 for 1, k. .222.
• Robert Brooks: Walk. .286.
• Yohendrick Pinango: 0 for 1, k. .125.
• RJ Schreck: 0 for 2, k. .176.
• Arjun Nimmala: 1 for 1, walk. .261.
• Jonatan Clase: 0 for 1, walk. .272. Also made an error in the outfield.
• Charles MaAdoo: 0 for 2. .214.
• Sean Keys: 0 for 1, k. .214..

Jays are 8-11 on the spring.

The Jays travel to Port St. Lucie, Florida to play the Mets tomorrow, at 1:00 Eastern.

And the USA and Dominican Republic play at 8:00 Eastern tomorrow.

Max Fried had a decent outing for the Yankees as he prepares to start Opening Day, but the Yankees' batters failed to leave much of a mark in a 6-4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday in Tampa during Grapefruit League action.

Here are the takeaways...

- Fried retired the first six batters he faced and appeared to hardly break a sweat, getting four groundouts and a strikeout swinging on a changeup on 19 pitches (16 strikes).

In the third, René Pinto cracked a one-out ground-rule double down the left field line (105.7 mph off the bat), Christian Cairo blooped a single into left to cover the corners, and a Baltimore chop infield single plated the first run. Philadelphia executed a double-steal to put two in scoring position, and after Fried beat EdmundoSosa for a nine-pitch strikeout, getting him to chase a 96 mph heater above the zone, a pickoff attempt at second saw the ball squirt out of Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s glove, allowing Cairo to score from third. Fried was charged with the error.

Fried left a sinker over the heart of the plate to DylanMoore, who cracked an RBI single just fair down the first base line. The lefty got Brandon Marsh looking at a sweeper to end the inning on his 31st pitch of the frame.

Fried rebounded with consecutive 1-2-3 innings, needing 12 pitches in the fourth and nine in the fifth. He allowed a single to left by Sosa before getting Moore swinging on three pitches to close his day. The Opening Day starter’s final line: 5.1 innings, five hits, three runs, four strikeouts, and no walks on 75 pitches (53 strikes).

- Jake Bird was the first man out of the ‘pen and he issued a four-pitch walk to the first man he saw to put two men on base. The righty got Liover Peguero swinging and a grounder to third to strand the runners. Bird added a strikeout in the seventh, finishing his four-out day on 21 pitches (12 strikes).

- Phillies starter Bryse Wilson, a non-roster invitee to camp who pitched with the Chicago White Sox the last two years, allowed three base runners (two walks, reached on error) but no hits in three scoreless innings against the Yanks’ starters, who didn't have a great day at the plate.

- Cody Bellinger reached on an error in his first at-bat on a grounder that ate up the Phillies’ first baseman on a wild bounce. He drilled a triple into the right-center gap on a center-cut 96 mph fastball from Jonathan Bowlan with one out in the fourth, taking third on a bit of lackadaisical relay work. He finished 1-for-3 with a strikeout.

- Ben Rice, playing first base as he hasn’t caught a game during spring, cracked a ground-rule double in the left-center gap to start the sixth against left-hander Kyle Backhus’ side-arm delivery. 

- Chisholm walked and stole second to start off the second inning, but he was then picked off second base. He finished 0-for-1 with two walks and a non-competitive, three-pitch strikeout looking against the lefty in the sixth.

- Jasson Domínguez walked his first time up and, after Chisholm was picked off, tried to steal second on the next pitch, but was erased on a good throw and tag.

Domínguez, who is on the roster bubble, cracked a two-out RBI single to put the Yanks on the board in the fourth, muscling a 96 mph fastball on the inside corner up the middle. He then stole second to put two in scoring position, but was stranded there. He bounced an infield hit to third to start the seventh and later came around to score, finishing 2-for-2 with a walk, a steal, and a caught stealing.

- Ryan McMahon made a fine play at third base to open the game by retiring Justin Crawford, son of former MLBer Carl, by charging a slow roller and making a running throw to get the Phillies speedster on a bang-bang play. 

He struck out looking in his first at-bat before popping out to left with two men on to end the fourth, and finished 0-for-3. McMahon is 3-for-30 this spring.

- Giancarlo Stanton lined out to left to end the first, and went down swinging at a slider well outside the zone in the fourth before swinging through a sinker over the heart of the plate in the sixth to go 0-for-3.

- Trent Grisham popped out in foul territory with Sosa ranging over to make a nice back-handed grab by the tarp down the line in his second at-bat. He finished 0-for-3.

- José Caballero lined out to center to start the third inning and grounded out to first to start the fifth, going 0-for-2.

- J.C. Escarra had a base hit up the middle on a sharply hit grounder (104.7 mph) taken away by Sosa and lined out on a hard shot to center (103.2 mph). He went 0-for-2.

- Paul DeJong, vying for a roster spot, cracked a ground-rule double into the right-center gap in the seventh in his first at-bat and later came around to score, tying the game.

Highlights

A triple for Belli! 🤝 pic.twitter.com/jQpyofNSBe

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) March 14, 2026

Jasson Domínguez with an RBI single to put the Yanks on the board pic.twitter.com/BiUjgWghW1

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) March 14, 2026

What's next

A split-squad day on Sunday sees the Yanks host the Detroit Tigers in Tampa with Luis Gil getting the start for the 1:05 p.m. first pitch and Paul Blackburn toeing the rubber for those traveling to Sarasota to face the Baltimore Orioles at 6:05 p.m.