Category: MLB

It feels so good to be back to doing recaps! Was a long offseason. Today was a picture perfect spring training evening in Peoria. The Dbacks took on the Mariners for their first night game of the season under a picturesque Arizona sunset. What a night for baseball.

The Dbacks pitching tonight shined against the Mariners offense. Starter Ryne Nelson looked sharp tonight. His trademark 4 seamer was popping the mitt at 97 mph in his 2 innings. He was able to strike out 3 batters in the 2 innings of work and showcased an arsenal that all graded out as above average per pro stuff plus according to pitch profiler. Most notably for me, his fastball averaged 19” of IVB and his cutter had a 60% whiff rate. Certainly a welcome site after the latest injury news to the rotation and the opening day starter vacancy.

If you would have gotten up to get a beer in the top of the second inning, you would have missed the entire Dbacks offense for the night as it came on a single pitch to AJ Vukovich. Vukovich was able to take a full count sinker above the zone from Mariners regular Luis Castillo out to right center for a 3 run shot. The ball was hit hard, but was also at a 36 degree launch angle likely indicating some wind assistance. Still, what a great moment for the Dbacks minor league journeyman hitting his 2^nd homer of the young spring. The once top Dbacks prospect Vukovich enjoyed a resurgence season last year in Reno belting 22 HR and an .853 OPS. Particularly, Vukovich appeared to figure some things out towards the end of last season batting .354 with 5 HR in the final 30 games of the 2025 season. At still just 24 years old, I suppose Vukovich still has an outside chance at breaking camp as the 4^th OF, especially since Gurriel Jr is likely to begin the season on the IL. Don’t be surprised to see his name in the mix.

Groover was also able to add a pair of hits tonight. A welcomed site after the shakiness he has shown at 3^rd this spring. Ildemaro Vargas also continued to cement an opening day role with this team playing SS and adding 2 more hits of his own.

The bullpen looked especially sharp tonight with notable outings from new (but old) guy Taylor Clarke, former top pick Landon Sims, and most notably for me rising star Daniel Eagan. Eagan put together an especially strong pro debut season last year, and looked incredibly sharp in 2 scoreless innings highlighted by 5 swing and misses largely thanks to his 4 seam fast ball with 19” of IVB sitting 95 mph. That paired with a hammer curve ball was a sight to see. According to TJ Stats, Eagan’s stuff+ averaged 104 thanks to an especially filthy cutter at 110. Maybe there is some room for optimism especially given the Dbacks shift in pitching philosophy highlighted by moving on from Dan Haren and the addition of Jeremy Bleich?

Dbacks would wind up winning this one thanks to their pitching, but most importantly we are watching night baseball games again on a Friday night! Who else had fun?

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Yankees are getting the full Spencer Jones experience early on this spring. 

By and large — emphasis on the large — they will take it. 

Jones homered Friday for the third time in four games, crushing a 427-foot shot off the batter’s eye in a 17-5 win over the Twins at Hammond Stadium. 

“It’s always fun to hit ’em out of the yard,” Jones said. “But at the end of the day, as long as I’m taking swings at the pitches that I want to, as long as I’m seeing the ball well, that’s usually how I judge myself from day to day in games, being able to read pitches and make good decisions.” 

The three home runs account for Jones’ three hits this spring, going 3-for-8 with four strikeouts and two walks.

When he grounded out in the second inning Friday, it marked the first out he had made this spring that was not via the strikeout. 

The 6-foot-7, left-handed slugger has continued to tinker with his swing mechanics early in camp, trying to cut down on the strikeouts. 

“There’s been a lot of conversations behind the scenes, working on some stuff, cleaning up the [bat] path and finding some cues and working with guys to learn,” Jones said. “You don’t really know what you got until you’re out there facing an arm.”

Back in Tampa, Gerrit Cole faced hitters for the second time in his rehab from Tommy John surgery, throwing 22 pitches against Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Trent Grisham.

Stanton remains in line to make his Grapefruit League debut in the coming days.

Let’s get historical tonight!

This was a discussion we had in our SB Nation managers Slack channel today, so I’d like to pose the question to you. The Rockies are turning 33 this year, so they don’t have a long, storied history like other franchises such as the Yankees or the Cubs. But they do still have two Hall of Famers and plenty of history to choose from.

So, if you could put any Colorado baseball player from history on the 2026 Rockies, who would it be?

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

Some big lifestyle changes have Rockies prospect Zac Veen tearing it up this spring.

Veen, 24, put on more than 40 pounds, going from around 200 to a strong 245 pounds, but the biggest adjustment came outside of the weight room.

“Definitely one of the bigger, main things was sobering up,” Veen recently told MLB.com. “I had a pretty big substance abuse problem for a few years. But I’m completely clean and sober.

“There were times last year where it was out of hand. Coming home in the offseason, I had to look in the mirror and make some adjustments. And I definitely got closer to God, and it made me want to be the best version of myself in every aspect.”

Veen, the ninth overall pick by Colorado in 2020 and No. 11 prospect in the Rockies’ farm system, per MLB Pipeline, has not lived up to expectations during his five seasons in professional baseball. 

After a long slog through the minors, Veen hit just .118/.189/.235 during a brief, 37-plate-appearance MLB debut last season, and he was later sent to the Arizona Complex League. 

Looking back, he said, it was all about what was going on off the field.

.A lot of my meals were smoke — and things that shouldn’t have been,” Veen added. “I was smoking weed every day. If I couldn’t find any weed, I was drinking every single day. I’d say ever since I got home in 2021 after my first season, it was a consecutive streak of not being sober. Being able to cut that out of my lifestyle and replace that with protein is very beneficial to the genes God gave me.”

Now, Veen’s hard work and discipline is starting to show. 

ZAC VEEN MIGHT BE A PROBLEM pic.twitter.com/dFobz8Js26

— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) February 27, 2026

He is 3-for-11 early on this spring with two home runs, both coming in dramatic fashion. 

On Monday, Veen blasted a 113 mph, 468-foot home run to center field to give the Rockies the walk-off win. 

He did it again on Friday, crushing a 447-foot bomb for a second walk-off home run in February. 

Veen credited his high school coach, Johnny Goodrich, and Rockies development player development director Chris Forbes for getting him back on track. 

“It was a collaborative thing – I can’t thank them enough,” Veen said. “I participated in an 11-week program with substance abusers and alcoholics – people wanting to better themselves. I started going to church. I got baptized, went to Bible study every Wednesday.”

Veen is facing an uphill battle if he wants to make the Rockies’ Opening Day roster, but it’ll be hard to keep him off if he keeps hitting the way he is.

Earlier today, the Colorado Rockies walked off the San Diego Padres in a 3-2 win.

For game highlights, click here.

First, here’s manager Warren Schaeffer’s thoughts on the day’s performances:

Here’s the man of the hour, Zac Veen:

Starting pitcher Tanner Gordon weighed in:

Finally, please enjoy some game highlights, including that Veen bomb:

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

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Some pitchers, like Luis Gil, build their velocity up incrementally over the course of the spring.

Others, like Carlos Lagrange, come out firing and do not let up — at least not yet for the Yankees’ top pitching prospect.

Lagrange continued to dazzle in his second Grapefruit League outing Friday, piggybacking Gil and tossing three shutout innings against a Twins lineup filled with mostly regulars while averaging 100.1 mph on his fastball.

The 22-year-old generated some ugly looking swings (or check swings) from the Twins, racking up nine whiffs and four strikeouts on 41 pitches before having to go to the bullpen to throw more because he was so efficient.

“The thing I’ve been pleased with with Carlos is, obviously, the stuff jumps out at you, the big fastball and the slider/changeup are really good pitches for him, but the strike throwing’s been there,” manager Aaron Boone said after a 17-5 win at Hammond Stadium. 

“If he’s doing that, it gets exciting.”

The biggest knock on Lagrange during his rise through the minors has been a lack of command, which is why some scouts believe he will end up in the bullpen. But the Yankees can also dream about what his high-level stuff — he topped out at 102.1 mph Friday and has thrown the three hardest pitches of any pitcher this spring — might look like over longer outings as a starter if he is able to pound the strike zone more consistently, as he did Friday.

Also encouraging is how Lagrange has maintained his velocity through outings.

His fastball averaged 100.2 mph in his first inning, 99.3 in the second and 100.8 in the third.

Gil, meanwhile, had more of a grind, throwing 52 pitches across 2 ¹/₃ innings.

He got stuck in some long at-bats that drove up his pitch count —four that lasted seven pitches or longer — that forced him to exit with two outs in the second before he re-entered to get two quick outs on two pitches in the third inning.

Those two pitches were Gil’s hardest of the day, at 96.5 mph and 96.7 mph, though his four-seamer averaged 94.7 — a slight tick up from his spring debut (94.5) but still below his 2025 average (95.3) and the 96.6 he averaged as the AL Rookie of the Year in 2024.

In the first inning, he left a 94.5 mph fastball down the middle to Trevor Larnach, who drilled it for a home run.

“I think it’s the building process of spring training,” Gil said through an interpreter. “The training has been very good. We’re building on every single outing. I think we’ve had a consistent climb to get to the velo I’m used to. I think maybe by the third or fourth start, it might be more consistent to what I’m used to.”

Boone believes that if Gil — who only induced four swing-and-misses and one strikeout Friday — keeps building with each outing, he will ultimately get to where he needs to be.

“Part of that is just being really comfortable with his mechanics and his throwing motion to where he’s behind the ball and driving it,” Boone said. “We’ve seen when that velocity starts to climb, coupled with the secondary, then the swing-and-miss comes right back.”

SCOTTSDALE, AZ - Yoshinobu Yamamoto insists he has no concerns.

The Los Angeles Dodgers tell you, well, at least publicly, they have no worries.

And Dodgers fans will be at home watching with a knot in their stomachs, no sure how much success they want their ace to have in the World Baseball Classic, only that he returns fully healthy for the regular season.

Yoshinobu, after giving up five hits and two runs in three innings Friday against the San Franciso Giants in a 12-4 loss, is leaving for Tokyo where he will meet up with Shohei Ohtani and the rest of his teammates as Team Japan defends its WBC title.

“We’re going to miss him certainly when he’s away with Team Japan,’’ Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “but we absolutely got what we needed.’’

Yamamoto, who threw 37 of his 52 pitches for strikes, with four strikeouts, is tentatively scheduled to pitch against Chinese Taipei on March 6 in his WBC opener, where he will be limited to 65 pitches.

“I’m looking forward to that game against Taiwan,’’ he said. “I understand the passion of Taiwanese fans and baseball fans. So I think it’s special.’’

Last time I was at Peoria Sports Complex, I was getting a COVID shot. Wasn’t yesterday either. Weird what sticks in your mind. Anyway, tonight sees the D-backs heading over for a potential get-together with Josh Naylor, who signed a long-term contract – 5 year, $92,500,000 – with Seattle. Though it’ll be a little odd not seeing Eugenio Suarez, who is now a memebr of the Reds. It does feel like the Mariners and D-backs have been frequent fliers as trade partners over the past few years, and it has usually worked out quite well for both. But tonight, they face off against each other.

After Ryne Nelson’s start, it’ll be RHP Taylor Clarke, RHP Juan Morillo, RHP Juan Burgos, RHP Joe Ross, RHP Taylor Rashi and RHP Daniel Eagen. I wonder if there’s a chance he will be the Opening Day starter for the D-backs, now that Merrill Kelly is out? After last season’s performance, it would seem like he deserves it, but there may be other factors at play. He’s younger and less experienced than everyone else bar Brandon Pfaadt, and while it doesn’t “matter”, there’s something to be said for Zac Gallen as well. Hopefully, we won’t see the same issues as last year with Corbin Burnes.

A few options to watch this one tonight. It will be the Mariners’ broadcast, but will be available on dbacks.tv, and is also scheduled to be broadcast on the MLB Network. They’ve additionally added the March 10th game at Camelback Ranch against the Dodgers to their schedule (subject to change), so that’s nice.

As Spring Training hits its stride and the Mariners move past their first week of games, Luis Castillo — La Piedra — takes the rock for the first time in 2026. Castillo, despite an up-and-down regular season, was an absolute hero during the postseason and we are all looking forward to seeing what he has in store in 2026!

It’s an interesting-look starting lineup for the M’s tonight, with the only real MLB players being Victor Robles in center, Josh Naylor at first, Miles Mastrobuoni at third, and Leo Rivas at short. This writer is especially excited to see how Cole Young performs under the lights tonight at second base.

Likely pitchers to follow Luis on the mound include Casey Lawrence, Carlos Vargas, José Ferrer, Tyler Cleveland, and Josh Simpson.

The Snakes are sending out Ryne Nelson (first Stanek now this guy? Someone has to teach pitchers how to spell “Ryan”) to the mound first tonight. Nelson has been a fixture for Arizona over the past three years, and set a career best ERA of 3.39 in 2025. It is also Nelson’s first start of the spring.

First Pitch: 5:10pm PT

Watch: Mariners.TV, Mariners.com, and (if you’re outside the PNW like our esteemed Kate Preusser) MLB Network

Listen: Seattle Sports 710AM

As a reminder, we’re hoping to build our community before Opening Day for what promises to be an exciting 2026 season and we’d love to have you with us. If you haven’t yet, sign up (it makes the site function much better for you, as a bonus) and jump on in to the conversation! This is especially helpful on radio-only games to keep the conversation flowing. And don’t worry about making a mistake – it’s spring training for all of us.

The A’s can’t seem to get many wins this spring but luckily these games don’t count just yet. Still would be nice to see another win sometime soon as the Athletics dropped another game on Friday afternoon, losing to the Royals 7-6 and dropping their meaningless record to 1-5.

The A’s jumped out to an early lead this afternoon. A pair of walks put two runners on for Max Muncy. Looking to put some distance between himself and Darell Hernaiz for the starting third base job, Muncy took a fastball down the middle and drove it into center field for a double and bringing in both runs, giving the A’s the first lead.

Left-hander Jeffrey Springs got his first action today, taking the ball to start against KC today. While the stats don’t matter today still wasn’t a great first outing for the 33-year-old considering his early-game struggles last year. Springs had an easy first inning but got hit hard in the second, allowing four runs to score capped by a Bobby Witt Jr. three-run home run that wiped away the A’s early lead. That would chase him from this game after getting up to 39 pitches, which is probably around where the coaching staff wanted him as they slowly ramp the veteran lefty up for the long season ahead.

The A’s got one of those runs back in the next frame thanks to a Carlos Cortes double and a pair of productive groundouts to bring him in. Then the A’s got the big hit they were looking for in the fourth. Shortstop Jacob Wilson came to the plate with a runner on first and blasted a 429-foot home run to left field, his first long ball of spring and one that tied this game up a 5 apiece. The A’s would then take the lead the very next inning, courtesy of Muncy’s first home run of the spring.

The Royals would battle back late however. Lefty Brady Basso began the seventh and didn’t have his best stuff today. A double and a pair of walks loaded the bases and while he was just one strike away from getting out of the jam, a two-run double bit him and gave KC back the lead.

The A’s put together a scoring threat in the eighth thanks to a couple hits from some prospects (including Leo De Vries!), but couldn’t manage to knot this game up, falling 7-6 to finish the afternoon off.

Not great but the offense has really picked it up after a slow start to spring. We do this all again tomorrow, with the San Francisco Giants coming to Hohokam Stadium for another afternoon matchup with our A’s. Right-hander Luis Morales is set to get the ball for his second appearance this spring. He allowed a run on a couple hits in a couple innings of work earlier this week but will be getting his first starting nod. The Giants will go with veteran righty Tyler Mahle for his first appearance of camp. Hopefully the A’s can get another one of those currently-meaningless wins.

Notes:

• Muncy finished the day 2-for-3 with three RBI’s. It’s a super small sample but he’s 4-for-10 so far with one walk and one strikeout.
• Hernaiz isn’t making the coaching staff’s job easy though. He went 0-for-1 today but also drew a pair of walks. He’s 5-for-11 this spring. Does a big showing in the upcoming WBC do him any favors with the coaching staff?
• Jamie Arnold sighting! The A’s most recent first-round pick made it into his first game action for the A’s. He pitched a scoreless inning, allowing a hit and a walk while also collecting two punchouts. A nice little spring debut for the left-hander.
• Center fielder Denzel Clarke has had a rough go of it at the plate to start camp, but he finally collected his first hit this spring today. He doesn’t need to do much offensively to have value for the A’s this coming season but he also can’t be a complete black hole in the lineup.
• Top prospect Leo De Vries went 2-for-2 today, a positive showing for the young shortstop who is nearly in the big leagues. He won’t be breaking camp with the club but a strong showing in front of the coaches during camp doesn’t hurt.
• Righty reliever Elvis Alvarado had a second scoreless appearance this afternoon, while fellow relief pitcher Michael Kelly gave up a run in his inning of work. These two could be closer options for Mark Kotsay this coming year.

Observations from Mets’ spring training on Friday:

The whammer

MJ Melendez homered twice for the Mets in their 14-3 exhibition victory over the Cardinals in Jupiter, Fla.

Melendez is competing for an outfield job after arriving on a one-year contract.

Kneed an MRI

Grae Kessinger departed the game with left knee discomfort and will likely have an MRI exam, according to manager Carlos Mendoza.

Caught my eye

Carson Benge looked sharp defensively in the second inning with a diving catch in right field to rob Nelson Velazquez of a hit.

Saturday’s schedule

Tobias Myers will start against the Nationals in Port St. Lucie, with Craig Kimbrel among the relievers scheduled.

Good evening! I hope your week has gone well and that the weekend treats you just as well. The floor is now yours and here’s a random clip:

JUPITER, Fla. — Devin Williams’ first Grapefruit League pitch in a Mets uniform resulted in a ball disappearing behind the fence at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on Friday.

The cutter, a pitch Williams is still learning, got too much of JJ Wetherholt’s strike zone in the fourth inning.

“That one, specifically, I was just trying to throw a strike,” Williams said on a day the Mets rolled to a 14-3 victory over the Cardinals. “He jumped on it, so that is part of it.”

Williams, who is slated for the closer’s role, retired the next three batters he faced in the inning.

He averaged 93.8 mph with his four-seam fastball.

“That first pitch, that cutter didn’t cut much,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It’s a pitch that he is working on, but I thought the fastball was good. He did a couple of good sliders, which is another pitch that he is working on, so a good inning of work for him.”

Williams, who arrived on a three-year contract worth $51 million — he spent last season with the Yankees — said he needs about eight or nine appearances in spring training games to prepare for the season.

MJ Melendez homered twice for the Mets, going to the opposite field for both.

Melendez is attempting to land an outfield job with the team after arriving three weeks ago as a free agent.

“I knew that I was going to learn a lot coming here,” Melendez said. “Very advanced things that I kind of knew about myself, but really not how to get the best version of myself, and just learning those things each and every day, and it’s been amazing so far.”

Melendez’s education has included learning about his swing path and stance.

“Just stuff that my body does well, but I necessarily didn’t know, exactly how and why,” Melendez said. “Just kind of get into those things and on the outfield side, how to get better reads and improve daily out there.”

Grae Kessinger departed the game with knee discomfort, according to Mendoza, and will likely have an MRI exam.

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Dan Serafini was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Friday for the 2021 first-degree murder of his father-in-law and attempted murder of his mother-in-law in Lake Tahoe.

Serafini, who pitched for six MLB teams during a 22-year professional career that ended in 2013, killed Gary Spohr, 70, and seriously injured Wendy Wood during a burglary of their home on the west shore of Lake Tahoe.

"He is a monster who knows no moral boundaries and has zero reservations about taking the lives of others to benefit himself," said Adrienne Spohr, daughter of the victims, at the sentencing hearing.

He was convicted in July after a six-week trial and made two unsuccessful appeals, denied a new trial only a week ago. During his ruling, Placer County Superior Court Judge Garen J. Horst said Serafini, 52, was a "liar, manipulator, arrogant and someone who has a loose relationship with the truth."

The jury also found Serafini guilty of first-degree burglary and found the special circumstance allegations of lying-in-wait and felony murder, as well as related firearm allegations, to be true.

Serafini broke into the Spohr's home while the couple was boating with their grandsons and daughter Erin Spohr — Serafini's wife and sister of Adrienne Spohr. He waited in a closet until his family left and shot them both in the head upon their return, according to prosecutors.

Wood took her own life in 2022 at age 69. After a year of rehabilitation after the shooting, she had regained her ability to read and write, as well as to hike and ride a bicycle, according to Adrienne Spohr. But she battled disability and depression.

Read more:Ex-MLB pitcher Dan Serafini found guilty of murdering father-in-law

Samantha Scott, a nanny employed by Serafini and Erin Spohr to watch their two young children, pleaded guilty to being an accessory to the crimes. She testified in 2025 that she drove Serafini to the crime scene, believing it was for a drug deal.

Scott also testified that she saw Serafini with a gun and a silencer made of PVC pipe in his backpack. She testified that she dropped him off near the Spohr's home and later saw him discard items from his backpack after they crossed the Nevada state line.

"When I learned that my sister’s husband Daniel Serafini and sister’s close friend Samantha Scott were arrested for the shooting of my parents, I was shaken to my core,” Adrienne Spohr said in a statement to the court. “This was a heinous, calculated crime. My parents had been incredibly generous to Daniel Serafini and Erin Spohr throughout their marriage."

The Minnesota Twins made Serafini their first-round draft pick in 1992 out of Junipero Serra High in San Mateo, Calif., the same school that all-time home run king Barry Bonds attended. Serafini made his big-league debut in 1996 with the Twins and pitched with the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies.

Serafini pitched in Japan from 2004 to 2007 before returning to the United States. He was suspended for 50 games in 2007 for using performance-enhancing drugs that he blamed on medication he took in Japan. He also pitched for Italy in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

Serafini’s bar in Sparks, Nev., was featured on an episode of “Bar Rescue” in 2025. The bar’s named was changed from the Bullpen Bar to the Oak Tavern as part of the makeover, but not before Serafini's financial woes were described: He blew through $14 million in career earnings and took a $250,000 loan from his parents.

Prosecutors said Serafini's crimes were driven by anger and financial distress. Evidence was presented that he made threats and spoke about wanting his in-laws dead for many years. He and Gary Spohr also had disputes over a $1.3 million loan intended for Erin Spohr's horse ranch business.

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

MESA, Arizona — Friday was Edward Cabrera’s first outing in a Cubs uniform and it was a great success. Cabrera retired all six Guardians batters he faced, striking out three. He threw 20 strikes in 31 pitches and had six swings-and misses.

The bullpen did a good job, too — well, with one exception, I’ll get to that — and Dansby Swanson homered and singled and drove in three runs as the Cubs defeated the Guardians 8-6.

Here are Cabrera’s three K’s, all swinging [VIDEO].

Here’s Swanson’s two-run homer in the first inning [VIDEO].

Ryan Rolison, Daniel Palencia, Collin Snider and Jacob Webb all threw scoreless innings in relief of Cabrera. Those four combined to allow just two hits and struck out four.

Swanson’s RBI single in the sixth made it 3-0 Cubs, and things looked good … until Porter Hodge entered the game in the seventh. Hodge again struggled with command, issuing two walks. He also got hit pretty hard, allowing three hits — and remember, these were basically all Guardians minor leaguers. Hodge got charged with five runs and Cleveland led the game 5-4 after seven. Scott Kingery had homered for the Cubs in the seventh.

I’m not sure what’s up with Hodge but he now sports a 31.50 ERA with four hits, seven walks and seven runs allowed in two innings of work this spring. That’s a 5.500 WHIP which, yikes. I suspect Hodge is going to wind up starting the year at Triple-A Iowa.

The Cubs scored four in the eighth to take the lead. The big blow was a bases-clearing double by Leonel Espinoza, an outfielder who split 2025 between Myrtle Beach and South Bend, where he stole 31 bases in 116 games.

Gavin Hollowell entered for the save opportunity. He did give up a pair of hits and a run, and it might have been more except for a really slick play by Pedro Ramirez at short. Ramirez, who was added to the 40-man roster this winter, might wind up at Iowa this year. He’s only 21 (turns 22 in April). Even if he doesn’t hit much, that glove plays in the major leagues.

Attendance watch: 11,217 attended Friday afternoon’s contest at Sloan Park. That makes the season total 56,039 for five dates, or 11,208 per date.

A note on Friday afternoon’s weather: It was 86 degrees at game time and as of 2 p.m., the temperature in Phoenix was 92 degrees, which tied the record high for both the date and the entire month of February. It’s not supposed to be this hot in the Valley in February — the average high right now is 73. It’s forecast to be in the mid-90s for at least the next three days.

Saturday, the Cubs head west to Glendale to face the Dodgers. Colin Rea gets the start for the Cubs and Justin Wrobleski will go for L.A. Game time is 2:05 p.m. CT and the game will be televised via the Dodgers channel SportsNet LA.