Category: MLB

Hooting, hollering, things of that nature. These activities have found fertile ground at T-Mobile Park this spring, whether the tarps have been off, on, or unnecessary thanks to Seattle’s most beloved roof. If it’s seemed particularly packed at the park so far, you’d be correct.

The Seattle Mariners have drawn 1,158,012 fans to the stadium thus far through a league-leading 35 home games. That’s nearly half 2025’s total of 2,538,053 attendees with 46 games here to go. But contrasting those numbers undersells things a bit.

As Seattle heads out for an extended East Coast road trip, they leave home averaging 33,086 fans per game at home. It’s expected for a team that just had a deep playoff run and a competitive offseason, to see a bump in attendance the coming season, and that sum exceeds 2025’s overall numbers, when the eventual AL West champions drew 31,334 fans per game. It’s a jump of 1,752 tickets sold per game that’d already be one of the top 10 growths in MLB this year.

But that undersells the waves of Salish Sea Supporters who’ve flooded T-Mobile Park. Seattle is up a massive 6,163 fans per game against this point last year, when, helpfully, they’d also hosted 35 home games. That’s over 200,000 more butts in seats so far, the second-largest gain by any club in MLB this year trailing only the Toronto Blue Jays. Understandably, the top three clubs are Toronto and Seattle, whose best seasons in a generation have spurred excitement and trust, along with the Tampa Bay Rays who are both playing brilliantly and, more importantly, back in Tropicana Field where they are physically capable of filling more than 10-12,000 seats.

And it’s still June 4th. That 1,752 per game number over 2025’s final attendance total would still represent growth, but it’s likely to be outpaced even faster. Most local public schools conclude in mid-to-late June, representing one of several milestones that conspire with summer weather to swell attendance nationwide as the season progresses. At this stage, uncompetitive clubs see lesser bumps, or even full degradation. But Seattle, even if they maintain their flirtation with mediocrity for a longer period, is likely to remain a first place team or right amidst the race. The Jerry Dipoto era has been all-but-exclusively a variation on #StillInIt in September. For the first time this early, they are in the driver’s seat by roster quality AND playoff odds, in addition to the actual divisional standings at press time.

Add that with the hotter than usual spring and it’s a recipe for the highest attended Mariners season in more than 20 years. Every season’s attendance from 1997-2004 except 1998 (2,651,511) exceeded 2,900,000, and three eclipsed three million. My preseason bold prediction was Seattle would set their attendance record, the 3,542,938 welcomed for the 2002 season. That’s not likely to occur, but they are drawing like a team who might actually reach the three million mark for the fifth time in franchise history.

To get there, they’d need to be bringing in 37,037 fans a night. A year ago, Seattle saw their per game attendance improve from June 3rd to the season’s end by 4,411 folks. It’s hardly plug and play to expect identical results in 2026, but if Seattle saw that same increase in attendees from now through summertime and the stretch run, they’d be at 37,497 each game. That’s 3,037,257 for the year, which would’ve been 6th-most in MLB a season ago.

The factors involved go beyond just wins and losses, although they are typically most impactful. Seattle had Randy Johnson’s number retirement this May, which drove up attendance for the usually-chillier early games. The weather has been a boon thus far, but the El Niño conditions are likely to bring a heat wave and likely the return of smoke season, which has innumerable more important impacts but would also likely hurt Mariners attendance. The club could completely nosedive, rendering this and much more moot. But as it stands, Seattle is packing out T-Mobile Park, and looks poised to continue doing so all season long.

There will be no rubber match this time for the Braves, with the series already in hand entering Thursday’s home finale against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Instead, Atlanta is going for its first sweep since early May. And it’ll be doing it with its ace on the mound.

Chris Sale (8-3, 2.01 ERA) gets the start for the Braves as they turn the page from Toronto to the Pittsburgh Pirates this weekend.

Just past a third of the way through the season, Sale isn’t really in the conversation at the moment to win his second Cy Young in three seasons with the Braves.

However, that has much more to do with what other pitchers (Jacob Misiorowski, Cristopher Sanchez, Shohei Ohtani) are doing than what he isn’t. His ERA and hits/nine are lower than they were in 2024 — although his FIP is higher (2.91 to 2.09) — and he continues to be a stabilizing force on the mound for Atlanta.

He’s allowed two or fewer earned runs in eight straight starts, finishing May with a 1.69 ERA and 0.97 WHIP.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone what his Statcast profile looks like:

While Toronto hasn’t formally announced its starter, multiple reporters have said that Mason Fluharty (3-0, 3.97) will serve as an opener for the Blue Jays.

The left-hander threw two-thirds of an inning of scoreless relief in Tuesday’s series opener. He’s tied for the major league lead with 32 appearances this season and has allowed one total run over 11 2/3 innings and 16 appearances since the start of May.

After that, things seem to be trending towards a prospect making his major league debut as the bulk pitcher behind Fluharty. Chad Dallas was in Atlanta on the Toronto taxi squad Wednesday and is reportedly a target to debut Thursday.

A former fourth-round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, the right-hander has an 0-3 record and 4.50 ERA in 10 games (eight starts) this season at Triple-A Buffalo. He has 38 strikeouts to 13 walks in 36 innings, allowing just two home runs.

We’ll find out soon enough how the Blue Jays approach their pitching as they look to salvage a game and if the Braves can deny that opportunity.

Game Info

Game Time: Thursday, June 4th, 7:15 pm EDT

Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA

Watch: BravesVision

Radio/Audio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan

Wednesday night, Cubs left fielder Ian Happ recorded his 1,000th career hit, a double leading off the bottom of the fourth.

Here’s the hit and the crowd reaction [VIDEO].

As noted by BCB’s JohnW53 in the game recap, Happ is the 37th Cub to produce 1,000 hits in the blue pinstripes. He likely moves up five or six spots on that list before the end of the season. The two doubles gave him 12 for the year and 229 for his career. That ranks 22nd on the Cubs’ all-time list (next up: Bill Buckner with 235). And, it seems likely he’ll hit his 200th career home run later this year. He’s already got 13 for the season and 186 for his career. Only nine players have hit 200 or more home runs in a Cubs uniform, so Happ could become the 10th.

Add to that his defense in left field — four Gold Gloves and likely a fifth this year — and for me personally, Happ has been a rock-solid Cub for his 10 seasons in a Cubs uniform. He turns 32 in August and becomes a free agent at the end of this season.

Here’s a catch he made on Tuesday [VIDEO].

It seems as if he makes plays like that all the time. He makes them look easy. Trust me, those are absolutely NOT easy plays.

And yet, Happ seems to be the most polarizing Cub in recent years. Many don’t like him. Why is that?

I’m honestly not sure and perhaps if you’re not a fan of Ian Happ, you can tell us why in the comments. My perception — and I could be wrong — is that the Happ dislike is focused on his low batting average.

Happ is batting .232. That’s… low. It’s below his career average of .246, which is also a below-average BA. My response to that is: So what? BA is a poor way of analyzing a hitter. Happ draws lots of walks. He’s walked 37 times this year, on pace for 100. He walked 87 times last year, 80 in 2024 and 99 in 2023. His OBP is .350, which, okay, could be higher, but it still ranks just outside the top third of qualified hitters in MLB this year (56th of 162 qualified hitters). His .473 slugging percentage leads all Cubs qualified hitters and ranks in the top 25 percent of qualified hitters (39th of 162). Lastly, his .823 OPS is just outside the top 25 percent (45th of 162).

Happ has posted 2.0 bWAR in a bit more than a third of this season. He’s generally around a 4 WAR player and should be about there again in 2026.

Is Ian Happ a superstar? No, he is not. What he is, is a remarkably consistent year-to-year player who is prone to long cold spells and long hot streaks. But when things average out, he’s likely to hit 25 home runs, walk 90 or more times, score around 90 runs and have an OPS around .800, while playing Gold Glove defense.

What team wouldn’t want a player like that?

Even though he’ll be going into his age-32 season in 2027, I would not be opposed to signing Happ to a two-year extension with a third-year vesting option. I think he can continue to be this productive for at least that long. And he’s meant quite a bit to this franchise and, at the very least, to left-field bleacher fans, who have a long-standing love relationship with the Cubs left fielder.

Just thought I’d give some praise to a baseball player who deserves it.

The Twins were big-time sellers at last year’s trade deadline, making many feel they were going for a rebuild. But they retained big stars like Byron Buxton and Joe Ryan, and have been a fairly middling team this year hovering near .500 most of the year. They have lost six of their last eight games, and they lost their earlier series against the Royals in Kansas City at the start of the season.

Kansas City Royals (24-38) vs. Minnesota Twins (29-34) at Target Field, Minneapolis, MN

Royals: 3.84 runs scored/game (29th in MLB), 4.65 runs allowed/game (21st)

Twins: 4.60 runs scored/game (10th), 4.98 runs allowed/game (24th)

Byron Buxton is sixth among all American League outfielders with a 132 wRC+, and is tied for the third-most home runs in all of baseball with 17. Luke Keaschall is hitting .302/.396/.395 in his last 26 games. Trevor Larnach is hitting .284/.442/.418 at home. Austin Martin is hitting .306/.457/.435 against lefties.

Brooks Lee has been one of the worst defenders in baseball in Outs Above Average at -7. The Twins have just a 71 percent success rate on stolen bases, one of the lowest in baseball. The Twins have allowed more stolen bases than any team in baseball, and have only thrown out 17 percent of attempts.

Rookie Andrew Morris will get the start Thursday after spending most of this season in the bullpen. He likely won’t be stretched out to go deep in the game – his longest outing this year is 3.2 innings. The 24-year old had a 4.09 ERA in 94.2 innings as a starter in Triple-A last year. Seth Lugo has a career 7.29 ERA in 21 innings at Target Field.

The Friday game will air exclusively on Apple TV. Zebby Matthews has made 29 career MLB starts and has a 5.71 ERA. He allowed just two runs in 13 innings at home this year. Byron Buxton is 0-for-10 in his career matchups against Michael Wacha.

Joe Ryan has been the sixth-most valuable pitcher in baseball, according to Fangraphs WAR. He has the 12th-highest strikeout rate and the sixth-lowest walk rate. He is 8-2 with a 2.58 ERA in 12 career starts against the Royals.

Rookie Connor Prielipp was ranked as the #5 prospect in the Twins organization by MLB Pipeline before the season. He has given up 16 runs in 14.1 innings over his last three starts. He throws a 95 mph fastball and relies heavily on a slider that opponents are hitting just .157 against with a 30 percent whiff rate.

The Twins have a 4.75 ERA out of their bullpen, eighth-worst in baseball, with the second-lowest strikeout rate, and sixth-highest walk rate. The team acquired Yoendrys Gómez from the Rays, and he has allowed just one earned run in 12.2 innings since the trade, picking up three saves. Lefties are hitting .186/.314/.279 against Anthony Banda.

The Royals are facing a team with a few elite talents, but with a roster largely filled with castoffs and underperformers. The Twins should be a team the Royals can beat, but with a league-worst 9-21 record on the road, every opponent away from Kansas City will be a challenge.

Kyle McCann did not choose catching.

Catching chose him, the way it tends to do in youth baseball, suddenly, out of necessity, because someone else didn’t show up.

He was 12 years old, on a travel team somewhere in Georgia, and the regular catcher was sick. When the coach and the players who would step in, McCann raised his hand.

“Ever since then, I fell in love with it,” he said. “I wanted to catch every day after that.”

What he loved, he said, was the involvement. Other positions offered bursts of action — a ground ball to the shortstop, a fly ball to center — with long stretches of waiting in between. Behind the plate, there was no waiting. Every pitch was his.

“I was in every pitch of the game,” McCann said. “I wasn’t in the infield or outfield, just hoping a ball would get hit to me. I was calling pitches. I was in every play.”

That instinct — to be in the middle of everything, all the time — has followed McCann through a career that has required a great deal of patience.

Getting to The Show

McCann grew up in Suwanee, Georgia, attended Lambert High School, and went to Georgia Tech, where he spent his first two seasons largely at first base while Joey Bart — the second-overall pick in the 2018 draft — handled the catching duties.

When Bart departed, McCann stepped in and made the most of it, hitting .299 with 23 home runs and 70 RBI in his junior season and earning All-American recognition. The Oakland Athletics took him in the fourth round of the 2019 draft — 134th overall — and signed him for $500,000.

Five years in the Oakland system followed. He hit 17 home runs at Triple-A Las Vegas in 2023, posted an .825 OPS, and earned his way on Oakland’s Opening Day roster in 2024, making his major league debut on March 30 of that year.

He appeared in 54 games, hit .236 with five home runs, and then — as the Athletics began their transition to Sacramento — was released the day before the following season.

“I got released from Oakland the day before the season, didn’t get picked up,” he said.

Finding a way forward

“So I chose to go to Mexico to keep playing,” McCann said.

The league was the Liga Mexicana de Béisbol. His team was the Piratas de Campeche. His first game was in Mexico City, in a stadium holding 30,000 fans, with air horns blaring and an atmosphere unlike anything he had experienced in affiliated ball.

“Everyone’s screaming, air horns — the environment was very, very cool to see,” he said.

He enjoyed it. He learned things about elevation that would prove useful later — that at 7,000 feet above sea level, the ball behaves differently; that hydration matters more than you think; that running hard to first base in thin air will leave you more gassed than expected. Denver sits at roughly 5,280 feet. Mexico City had prepared him for what was coming.

Finding the Rockies — and another injury

It almost didn’t come at all. About a month and a half into the Mexican season, McCann was involved in a collision at first base — a season-ending injury that sent him home to rehab. He spent the rest of 2025 recovering. In early January 2026, his agent reached out to the Colorado Rockies. A minor-league contract was signed by early February. Spring training arrived.

Then, in one of the cruelest twists the sport offers, a cutter came in hard and up, McCann put a check swing on it, and the ball hit his wrist. He walked down to first base, thinking it hurt a little but when he tried to go out and catch, he knew it was more than that.

He didn’t fight Warren Schaeffer when the manager came to remove him from the game.

“Yep,” he told him. “We’re going to go see what this is about.”

An X-ray confirmed a fracture of the ulnar styloid. Six weeks of healing. Two weeks of progression. A week and a half of games. And now, finally, here — with the Albuquerque Isotopes, behind the plate again, doing exactly what he loves.

Enjoying Albuquerque

McCann is 28 years old and has been around long enough to have a philosophy about how he approaches the job. Ask him about working with pitchers, and he talks about reading people — figuring out which ones need encouragement and which ones need a more direct conversation.

“Some pitchers need a little more loving than others,” he said. “Some guys, you kind of got to get in their grill and say, ‘Come on now, lock in right here. We need to do this pitch in this situation.’ It’s really just learning what each guy likes.”

Regarding the ABS challenge system, he has mixed feelings, which he articulates with precision. As a hitter, he loves it — the ability to challenge a called strike and get it overturned is a real advantage. As a catcher, it cuts the other way. Framing has always been part of the craft, a skill catchers develop over the years, and the ABS system limits how much that skill can influence outcomes.

“It kind of hurts us a little bit,” he said, “because now we can’t steal many pitches.”

He doesn’t think it changes the game as dramatically as some have suggested, but he acknowledges the shift.

He also discussed Albuquerque’s pitch-suggestion system — where the dugout calls pitches for the first four batters of opposing lineups, with the catcher and pitcher able to shake off the suggestion. McCann has embraced it.

“They give us a sheet at the beginning of the game — here’s how we’re going to pitch each guy — so we kind of already have an idea of what we’re going to do,” he said. “I trust what they have in the dugout, what they have on hitters. I don’t mind at all.”

Welcome to Albuquerque, Kyle McCann!!

A two-run homer (428 feet) onto the berm and we're back in this one!

B5: Chihuahuas 6, Isotopes 3 pic.twitter.com/TQEZhxrcLT

— Albuquerque Isotopes (@ABQTopes) May 28, 2026

Giving a shoutout to Chuck Nazty

There is one more Georgia Tech connection worth mentioning. Charlie Blackmon — the longtime Rockies outfielder, a Tech alum himself — used to come back to the Georgia Tech facility in the offseason to hit and work out. McCann and his teammates would seek him out.

“We’d always go up to him and ask questions, trying to pick his brain, because obviously he had a great career,” McCann said.

It’s a fitting footnote for a player who has spent his entire career collecting lessons wherever he can find them — from Blackmon at Georgia Tech, from the veterans in the Oakland system, from 30,000 fans and 7,000 feet of altitude in Mexico. All of it is in the bank now.

The wrist is healed. He’s back behind the plate, for every pitch, right where he belongs.

---

---

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

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

It's a quiet slate across the big leagues today, but I've still found immense value in my MLB player props home run analysis. 

Ronald Acuna Jr. will get things started, followed by Jarren Duran and Bryan Reynolds.

Read more in my MLB picks for Thursday, June 4. 

Best MLB home run props today

Home run pick: Ronald Acuna Jr. (+467)

Ronald Acuña Jr. is in the middle of one of the hottest stretches of his season. Over the last week, the Atlanta Braves superstar owns a barrel rate north of 35% and a hard-hit rate above 60%, indicating he's consistently generating elite contact quality. Acuna has already hit five home runs in his last five games.

The Toronto Blue Jays will use Mason Fluharty as an opener before turning things over to the bullpen. Fluharty has allowed a 45.5% hard-hit rate across his last five appearances, while Toronto's relievers own a 12.5% HR/FB rate over the last week.

That could be problematic against a hitter like Acuna, who has put 54.5% of his contact in the air during that span. With the Braves outfielder consistently elevating and barreling baseballs, this matchup offers another opportunity for his power surge to continue.

I'd play this pick up to +400.

• Time: 7:15 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: BravesVision, Sportsnet One

Home run pick: Jarren Duran (+610)

Jarren Duran is swinging the bat well lately, collecting four doubles and two home runs across his last six games. The Boston Red Sox outfielder has also turned his fly balls into damage, posting a 40% HR/FB rate during that stretch.

The matchup is what stands out most, however. Trevor Rogers has been extremely vulnerable to power lately, allowing 2.53 home runs per nine innings alongside a 6.66 FIP across his last two starts. Opponents have also generated a 47.2% hard-hit rate, 11.1% barrel rate, and 22.7 average launch angle against him.

Those indicators suggest hitters are consistently making dangerous contact against Rogers, creating an appealing opportunity for a hot bat like Duran.

I'd play this pick up to +550.

• Time: 1:35 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NESN, MASN

Home run pick: Bryan Reynolds (+710)

Bryan Reynolds is tearing the cover off the baseball lately, posting a 20% barrel rate, 94 mph average exit velocity, and 53.3% hard-hit rate across his last 29 plate appearances. The Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder continues to generate loud contact and draws an intriguing matchup against Houston Astros right-hander Kai-Wei Teng.

While Teng has pitched reasonably well overall this season, the long ball has become a concern lately. Over his last 11 innings, he's allowed 1.64 home runs per nine innings and owns a 20% HR/FB rate, indicating opponents have capitalized when they've elevated the baseball.

That could be problematic against a hitter like Reynolds, who has put just under 35% of his contact in the air over his last six games while consistently producing hard contact.

I'd play this pick up to +650.

• Time: 8:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SportsNet Pittsburgh, Space City Home Network

Today’s HR parlay

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Astros pitcher of the Month Spencer Arrighetti may have struggled, but the team picked up their pitcher to do what they haven’t been able to do all year: Come from behind with a large deficit. Here are my 3 takeaways from this outstanding comeback performance!

1. Cam Smith’s Spectacular At-Bats.

His at bat in the Bottom of the 5th inning knocked out Paul Skenes which was huge for the Astros. Although Paul Skenes was on the mound he has shown times where he can fall to a decent or bad start. The Astros were good enough to get him out of the game. Their plan was to get him out of the game with a no decision. Cam Smith and company was a big part of that.

Two 2 strike, 2-out hits for 3 RBI tonight for Cam Smith.

One hit 102.0 mph off a 98.3 mph fastball on the outside corner.

This one hit 106.2 mph off a 98.1 mph fastball on the outside corner. You love to see it!!! #Astroshttps://t.co/wSIKsImKZ0

— Don Dougan (@don_dougan) June 4, 2026

This Tweet says it all, and shows that Cam seems to be really putting something together at the plate and the patience of the Astros seems to be paying off at the moment. When you look at what he’s done lately, it seems Cam Smith is more productive, a sign of life this club desperately needs in 2026. As you can see from his MLB.com profile he sits between .290 and .262 with 3 home runs in his last 15 games, with a slug around .500.

2. Spencer Arrighetti: Learning from Mistakes.

Is it possible to improve, even when you fail to complete a task. Absolutely, ask anyone who owns a small business. Many times, if not every time, success comes after failure. As I listened to Spencer Arrighetti address the media after the game I was encouraged how much he has grown up in his young career. After the game he said,

“ I should have known that throwing 5 straight fastballs to a major league hitter was a mistake. Henry Davis is a big leaguer for a reason.” “I was confident in my approach at the time, I just know now not to repeat that.”

The fact that he is aware of this tells me he is going to deal next several outings. It does seem many times a pitcher or hitter who gets one of these awards tails off a little in success. Maybe its a coincidence, then again maybe the athlete whoever it is just presses. No matter the reason Spencer Arrighetti is better after last nights game. There are two different types of athletes: Good athletes and GREAT athletes, the Great athletes are the good athletes that were able to get over their mistakes and failures and not let those setbacks define them.

Absolutely love this clip. Thank you @MaxZepedaSports for posting this. I have been impressed with him since I first spoke with him. He has really grown, and what I love is Spencer sees the mistakes and I am sure he will be dialed in next game. Prayers for his next opponent!… https://t.co/nDAN9O2Cby

— Htown Wheelhouse™️2X World Series Champs '17, '22 (@HtownWheelhouse) June 4, 2026

3. Josh Hader’s Return – The Fireman is About to Burn the League Down!

The Astros bullpen has missed Josh Hader, and this statement alone does capture the frustating performances Astros fans have come accustomed to in 2026. The Bullpen has had to deal with Bryan Abreu in the closer role, and he has not done well. All season his failures have been at the demise of the Astros, even in comback efforts. While you do have semi-reliable arms like Aj Blubaugh, Brian King, Seven Okert and Enyel De Los Santos, these guys do suffer and stand to be exposed if the starting pitching isn’t going the distance. This is why your leader, your stabilizer in Josh Hader is so important.

Having him as the anchor, doesn’t just help, it solidifies your bullpen with the assurance of knowing you know what you’re going to get with Josh Hader. Josh Hader is one of the Best at what he does with a career WHIP of 0.94, 228 career saves and 830 strikeouts, you feel much more confident if you are an arm going out there between a starter and the 9th inning.

These three players can help the Astros move one step at a time closer to .500. This is the goal, the question is can they come out of June with a winning record. I believe with their remaining opponents this month: The Athletics (I know, I know…), Angels, Royals, Tigers, Guardians (who are terrible at home), Blue Jays, Tigers again, and Minnesota. This team with Josh Hader now back, Hunter Brown returning soon, and getting back Jose Altuve and Joey Loperfido will help this team. So you tell me what do you think their record will be in the month of June?

Steve Lyons is a baseball lifer, having played the game and commentated for decades.    For Astros fans, “Psycho” as he’s affectionately called had a front row seat as part of the Fox Sports broadcast crew in 2005 when the Astros brought us their first pennant.     

We caught up with one of the more colorful and engaging personalities to ever grace the diamond and broadcast booth to talk modern day Astros and that magical ride from 2005:   

Q:  If you’re only a handful of games out of the wildcard race, it’s almost impossible to push the reset and blow this thing up, right?

A:  I don’t think you can panic.   There’s just too much baseball to be played.   It’s funny when the dog days come around.   To me the dog days are in mid-September when you see teams that you think are going to be there and they drop seven out of ten and fall out of the race.   They go from second place down to fourth and ultimately miss the playoffs.   It’s just way too early, we’re so far away from that point.   

You see clubs that do it but I wouldn’t go that route.    Every year it literally comes down to the final weekend, or final day of the season and one game.   It’s going to happen again, just watch.   You cannot overact in June.   

Q:  So many guys are in the process of coming off the IL, or just now returning.    Does Joe Espada receive a reprieve of sorts or if they fail to reach the post-season, could he be on the hot seat even with the onslaught of injuries, is that even fair?  

A:  It’s not even close to being fair.    I will tell you that in the clubhouse, you have to adopt a mentality that if guys get hurt, somebody else has to step up.    

There’s a big difference between being hurt and being injured.   Most guys are hurt and have to play through it.    When you’re injured though, that’s a different story.    

You just want to make sure you don’t continually have the same type of injuries over and over, and in terms of the manager, they have nothing to do with that.    

If you even have four guys out, you’ll quickly become a Triple-A club and you’ll lose series after series when you are competing against big leaguers.  

Q:  Let’s talk about that 2005 team.   You were there in the clubhouse with Phil Garner, and around that team when you were with Fox.   What do you most recall about that team?

A:  You know, when I think back to that, it’s so ironic because the White Sox weren’t predicted to do anything and Houston of course got off to that 15-30 start.    They called the White Sox one dimensional and nobody thought they’d even reach the playoffs.   They came together as a club, just as the Astros did and started playing better baseball week after week.   

Q:  That series was so evenly matched, I just cannot believe it resulted in a sweep.   The four games were decided by six total runs.  It’s just crazy.  Were you surprised it wound up being a sweep?

A:  Listen, if you look at those games, the White Sox could’ve been the ones getting swept.   The games were all so close.   It could’ve gone the other way.   There are weird things in baseball and Houston not winning a game was one of them.   

Q:  You played with Roger Clemens in Boston.   You know Roger.   How much does it have to be killing him not to have a plaque in Cooperstown?

A:  I have a tough time in general with the hall of fame.    I understand what it’s supposed to represent, but when Pete Rose isn’t in the hall of fame, that’s a problem.    

Outside of Ichiro, he’s the single greatest hitter in our lifetimes and no one else is even close.    Pete Rose wasn’t even a great athlete.    He just willed himself as a hitter to be great.    

The steroids era was bad, it’s a black eye, but these guys should be in, especially if they have the numbers to be in.    There are guys who did steroids who are in the hall of fame right now.    

I know how competitive Roger is, and it’s got to be killing him on the inside.   I love the guy but there’s a lot of smoke about if he did steroids or not. 

The San Francisco Giants wrap up this four-game road series against the Milwaukee Brewers this morning.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Adrian Houser, who enters today’s game with a 5.59 ERA, 5.21 FIP, with 35 strikeouts to 21 walks in 56.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 8-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Saturday, in which he allowed four runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and two walks in three and two thirds innings.

He’ll be facing off against Brewers right-handed rookie Coleman Crow, who enters today’s game with a 3.14 ERA, 3.73 FIP, with eight strikeouts to three walks in 14.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Brewers’ 5-4 win over the Houston Astros on Friday, in which he allowed four runs (two earned) on four hits with one strikeout and two walks in four innings.

Game #63

Who: San Francisco Giants (24-38) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (37-22)

Where: American Family Field, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

When: 11:10 a.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

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

Here’s the Guardians lineup:

Good morning(ish) to everyone. How about a sweep?#GuardsBallpic.twitter.com/YhCBuDmPVD

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) June 4, 2026

Here’s the Yankees lineup

Thursday Matinee. #RepBXpic.twitter.com/tHPXLU3GSK

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 4, 2026

Let’s sweep!

The UIL concludes its 2025-26 athletic season with the Texas state baseball tournament, and as always, it's loaded with players who are either headed to college or waiting for the July Major League Baseball draft to assess their professional options.

Of the 11 state championship games spread over three days, most of the big names are in Class 5A and 6A.

More: UIL baseball state championship: How to watch, schedule, bracket

The tournament starts Thursday, June 4 at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock.

Here are six top players at the UIL state baseball championships.

Lucas Nawrocki, Aledo, LHP, 1B/OF

Nawrocki is an LSU signee and left-handed pitcher ranked as the No. 151 prospect for the MLB draft. He enters the championship with an 11-0 record on the mound and a .530 batting average at the plate.

Cooper Webb, Lake Travis, RHP/OF

The University of Texas signee has 127 strikeouts and a 1.04 ERA. He has been clocked with a 94-mile-per-hour fastball.

CJ Sampson, Tomball, 3B/RHP

Sampson is a Texas A&M commit and son of former Astros pitcher Chris Sampson. The exit velocity on his fastball has been clocked at 99 miles per hour.

Logan Corley, Lucas Lovejoy, LHP/1B

The TCU signee has a batting average over .450 and a fastball in the low 90s, complimented with a good slider and excellent control

Reed Blakely, Lucas Lovejoy, OF/LHP

A USC signee, Blakely has a 0.70 ERA as a pitcher and a .403 batting average. He has been clocked in the low 90s with his fastball.

Isaac Richardson, Houston Memorial, 3B

A Houston signee, Richardson has hit four home runs in the playoffs, including a walk-off in the semifinals that sent his team to state.

Bret Bloomquist can be reached, bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 6 players to follow at Texas UIL state baseball championship

Mauricio Dubón just continues to get the job done for the Atlanta Braves so far in 2026 in any way that they’ve asked of him. Whether it’s through his versatility in the field or increasingly more at the plate, Dubón’s been all over the place in a good way. Grant McAuley recently wrote an in-depth article covering Dubón’s great start to the season so far and so far, Dubón has been performing like he wants that story to continue rather than this being the peak for him in any way.

Dubón wrote yet another exciting page in what’s been a very fun chapter of his career that the Braves are benefiting from. His three-run homer off of Patrick Corbin in the third inning of Wednesday night’s eventual victory essentially turned the game around for the Braves at that point. While everybody has expected his defense to be what it has been so far (which is to say that there’s an expectation of quality defense no matter what position he plays in the field), the big hits have been something special to see. His numbers may not jump out as something fantastic as he’s hitting .249/.304/.380 with a .305 wOBA, 93 wRC+ and four homers but he’s getting it done in some big spots. He’s hitting .274/.354/.452 with two outs on the board, with an .806 OPS and an sOPS+ of 132 — indicating that he’s doing some of his best work when the Braves are down to their final out of any inning.

When did he crack that dinger last night? With two outs on the board. It’s impressive and a tiny bit shocking to witness Dubón coming up big in so many spots but one person who isn’t surprised by this development is Mauricio Dubón, himself. I asked him after Wednesday’s game about what’s changed at the plate for him with what he’s been doing now compared to what he had done in previous stops in his career. Dubón is a self-described “confident guy” and his answer to my question belied that confidence.

“I’m finally getting a chance to play, man,” replied Dubón. “In times past, I would get pinch-hit for and never get to finish the game. I’d go for 0-for-2…it’s funny because me and my Dad would always talk about ”You can hit righties,“ but I never got the opportunity to go out there [with the confidence of knowing] that I can hit anybody.”

Indeed, Dubón is hitting .258/.324/.411 against right-handers with a wRC+ of 107 and three of his four homers coming against right-handers so far this season. Those numbers are actually way up from his career numbers of .246/.285/.354 with a wRC of 76 against righties. Dubón has been given an opportunity with the Braves to play every day and he’s taking full advantage of showing what he can do in roles that he didn’t usually get to experience in the past.

“It’s just a matter of getting the opportunity and getting the chance to go another [day],” continued Dubón during the presser. “Nobody has given me anything. I’ve gone out there and earned every chance and opportunity that I get.”

Dubón’s glove is more-than-enough to keep him in the lineup on an every day basis at this particular point in time but he’s also shown that he can get it done with the bat whenever the Braves need him the most. It’s been a lot of fun to see him continue to prosper in the role that he’s been put into here in Atlanta and obviously everybody in Braves Country is looking forward to seeing Dubón continue to make good things happen in that role as this season progresses.

Alas, for the Orioles, forward momentum has been hard to come by this season. After a tidy 4-2 Game 1 win on Tuesday behind seven strong innings from Shane Baz, on Wednesday night Chris Bassitt turned in another flawed outing, going three innings with three runs allowed before exiting with back tightness. It’s not clear whether he’ll have to miss any time with this. Meanwhile, the Birds couldn’t get much done against—yes, a lefty, in Peyton Tolle, who silenced them over six scoreless.

Bassitt himself, after the game, said he felt like it was just one of those things and he had “full confidence” that the team would bounce back tomorrow with Trevor Rogers on the mound. Let’s hope so, because last year’s ace hasn’t been very good this year. After starting the year with a seven-inning shutout, he’s thrown a duck in practically every outing since, with four runs-plus allowed in six of his last nine appearances, along with a 10.01 ERA over his last seven outings. I’m sure the Orioles are working hard to fix whatever this is. Hopefully Chris Bassitt’s confidence in Rogers is warranted.

The Sox are countering with fifth-year right hander Brayan Bello. After a strong 2025 season where he went 11-9 with a 3.35 ERA, the team expected Bello to be a rotation contributor this year. But the results have mixed, to say the least. For whatever reason, Bello has pitched poorly as a starter, but very well coming in late behind an opener: in the former role, he has a 9.68 ERA; behind an opener, he has a 0.71 ERA. It sounds like the Red Sox don’t really know why this is, and Bello is getting a shot as a proper starting pitcher today. He’s been allowing lots of hard contact and striking out few hitters. The Orioles need to take advantage.

Orioles lineup

1. Taylor Ward LF
2. Gunnar Henderson SS
3. Adley Rutschman DH
4. Pete Alonso 1B
5. Samuel Basallo C
6. Leody Taveras CF
7. Colton Cowser RF
8. Coby Mayo 3B
9. Jackson Holliday 2B

Red Sox lineup

1. Jarren Duran LF
2. Ceddanne Rafaela CF
3. Wilyer Abreu RF
4. Willson Contreras 1B
5. Isiah Kiner-Falefa SS
6. Andruw Monasterio 2B
7. Caleb Durbin 3B
8. Carlos Narváez C
9. Connor Wong DH

On paper, the Yankees had a real pitching advantage in this series, tossing Cam Schlittler and Gerrit Cole in the first two games of the series before drawing one of Cleveland’s worst performing starters on Thursday.

But the thing about paper is that… It’s paper. The Guardians have put together two impressive offensive performances against two aces and kept the Yankees at bay to win the series at Yankee Stadium, a rarity. From 2022-25 (including playoffs), Cleveland was just 4-13 in the Bronx, but now has a chance to sweep in a Thursday matinee.

Carlos Rodón will look to help salvage the final game of this series, making his fifth start. It’s been a mixed bag for the All-Star left-hander, as he’s gritted his way through back-to-back strong starts after two poor ones to start the year, pitching to a 3.32 ERA (127 ERA+) and 3.89 FIP in 19 innings. He’s struggled with command, often falling behind in counts and already issuing 13 free passes through four starts, but he’s also been able to get outs despite not having his best strikeout stuff or velocity over the last two weeks. Rodón, if you remember, had the best postseason outing of his career in Game 1 of the 2024 ALCS at Yankee Stadium against this team.

The Guardians will counter with 26-year-old Slade Cecconi, who’s in his third year of being a full-time MLB starter. He was solid, if unremarkable, for Cleveland last year, but has struggled to the tune of a 5.25 ERA (79 ERA+) and 4.96 FIP in 61.2 innings across 12 starts. 364 days ago was his only previous start against the Yankees, where he allowed two runs in five innings, taking the loss.

He doesn’t allow too much hard contact and keeps the ball on the ground, but is well below average in strikeout, whiff, and chase rates, while being mediocre in keeping the ball off the barrel. He’s gotten unlucky in terms of batted ball outcomes, but not by much. Cecconi has a six-pitch mix, but throws some variation of fastball 76 percent of the time, while mixing in a curveball, sweeper, and changeup.

Aaron Judge is still out of the lineup as he gets more imaging on his rib injury, so it’s a similar top of the order with Trent Grisham, Ben Rice, Paul Goldschmidt, and Cody Bellinger. The top seven is identical, with only JC Escarra replacing Austin Wells and Max Schuemann replacing Anthony Volpe, playing right field as Caballero takes over at shortstop.

2024 ALCS Game 3 hero David Fry is leading off for the Guardians in front of José Ramirez, Rhys Hoskins, Travis Bazzana, and Angel Martínez. Stuart Fairchild slides in at sixth in front of Steven Kwan, while Austin Hedges gets his first start of the season, batting eighth. Brayan Rocchio rounds it out.

How to watch

Location: Yankee Stadium — The Bronx, NY

First pitch: 1:35 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES, Guardians.TV

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY), WTAM 1100, Guardians Radio Network (CLE)

Online stream: MLB.tv (out-of-market only)

For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.

Thursday Matinee. #RepBXpic.twitter.com/tHPXLU3GSK

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 4, 2026

Good morning(ish) to everyone. How about a sweep?#GuardsBallpic.twitter.com/YhCBuDmPVD

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) June 4, 2026