Category: MLB

To Dave Roberts, the roster crunch facing the Dodgers might be a good problem to have.

But the situation still presents a problem.

The good news for the club: Mookie Betts is set to be activated from the injured list Monday, making his awaited return from an oblique strain that has sidelined him for more than a month.

What that means, however, is that someone will have to be squeezed off the active roster in a corresponding move.

And on the eve of that decision Sunday, no easy answer had yet emerged.

“It’s a potential tough conversation,” Roberts acknowledged, saying the club had yet to finalize its choice. “I could make a case for all the guys we’re considering.”

The three candidates for the chopping block have been obvious for a while: infielders Alex Freeland, Hyeseong Kim and Santiago Espinal.

Each of them, though, still offers value to the club.

A big caveat to start with: Espinal has easily been the worst performer of the three, batting .188 in extremely limited playing time (his 32 at-bats are the fewest among members of the Opening Day roster). But, the former All-Star utilityman is also the only one of the three without any minor-league options, meaning that he would have to be designated for assignment and exposed to waivers if he were demoted from the active roster.

Kim and Freeland, on the other hand, could simply be optioned to Triple-A, which would allow the Dodgers to preserve more organizational depth.

Another factor: When Betts returns, playing time will be limited for whoever stays with the club.

The Dodgers will still have a platoon opening at second base — at least until Tommy Edman makes his own IL return after missing the start of the year recovering from ankle surgery (he is still at least several weeks away and was transferred to the 60-day IL this week).

But where Kim and Freeland have started regularly over the last month, getting valuable at-bats as young players continuing to develop offensively, one or both of them could see their at-bats severely cut.

Thus, the Dodgers could opt to keep Espinal — a veteran who wouldn’t be as impacted by minimal opportunities — and send one of Kim or Freeland back to Triple-A to continue to play every day.

That would be easier to do, of course, if both players weren’t contributing in the way they have been lately.

Kim, who was sent to Triple-A the last time the Dodgers had to make a similar decision at the end of spring training, entered Sunday hitting over .300 since being called back up when Betts first got hurt. He has also accomplished the primary goal the Dodgers had for him after his up-and-down rookie season in 2025, cutting his strikeout rate from 30.6% last year to 18.3% this year. 

“I think that he’s done a much better job of controlling the strike zone,” Roberts said. “He’s got the ability to put the bat on the ball, get hits, steal bases, play good defense. And I think he’s done all that.”

Freeland, however, has flashed a similar skill set while heating up at the plate in recent weeks.

After hitting .190 over his first 14 games this year, the switch-hitting former third-round draft pick entered Sunday with a .288 average over his last 18 games, improving his plate discipline and quality of contact.

Also of note: When the Dodgers picked Freeland over Kim for their final Opening Day roster spot, Roberts said there was “nothing left for [Freeland] to prove” at the Triple-A level, where he had spent much of the previous two campaigns.

Before Sunday’s game — in which Kim and Freeland once again offered little separation, going a combined 0-for-7 with five strikeouts on a day the whole offense struggled — Roberts said there could be enough playing time to go around to warrant keeping both upon Betts’ return. Read between the lines of his comments, though, and it certainly didn’t seem like the organization views that scenario as ideal.

Then again, none of the three players in question has exactly deserved to be cut from the roster.

One of them will have to be, anyway.

“Obviously, we’ve got a tough decision,” Roberts said. “All of the options, potentially for the corresponding move, these guys have done a great job and served a very good purpose for our club.”

Eduard Bazardo yielded the two runs the Chicago White Sox needed to beat the Seattle Mariners today. His 1-2 breaking ball to veteran OF Randal Grichuk floated over the heart of the plate like a miscategorized deluxe roll of conveyer belt sushi on the cheapest designated plate. Grichuk’s solo shot tied things at 1-1 in the 8th inning, and a sinker doubled to the right field wall by Drew Romo set Chicago in go-ahead position with nobody out.

It did not have to be this way.

The Mariners are in a challenging position. Their lineup is now ostensibly full health, missing only Victor Robles from their Opening Day roster to health issues. The group as constructed is an imposing one, with five above-average hitters at the top and four more (against righties) looming in the back half. On the bench, Connor Joe has delivered well, including two hits this afternoon that placed him in scoring position twice in late innings with less than two outs.

And yet, this good lineup got nearly blanked today. White Sox righty Davis Martin is no slouch, grazing on innings a season ago in his first serious run as a big leaguer for a 4.10/4.64 ERA/FIP in 142.2 frames. He’s been even better this year, albeit seeming to outpitch his stuff in a way that’s not immediately obvious. But after the first inning, where Julio Rodríguez blistered a 110.5 mph double and Randy Arozarena knocked him in with another sharp single, Seattle settled into a familiar malaise to the previous evening.

Brendan Donovan and Cal Raleigh, both recently returned from injuries, struck a few balls sharply, but for Donovan it was on the ground at a defender, and Raleigh it was yanked foul. Timing still off, injury-impacted, the outcome unmistakable. Seattle’s roster is a well-stacked series of hitters in theory, which has inconsistently been in alignment in their heat. It’s meant running out Raleigh in his worst slump as a big leaguer in the top of the order, and Donovan now in similar stead by happenstance for his first few games back.

This is the conundrum. To run out their top bats consistently while mired in these doldrums is to replicate the difficulties of the season’s earliest days, where Raleigh, Rodríguez, and Josh Naylor couldn’t find a store with hits still in stock, much less afford to purchase one. The alternative is trickier, however. To shunt Raleigh, Donovan, or whichever player is at issue in a given stretch is to say it’s likelier a less-talented player will outperform them, or even to say the player is not as talented as believed at the season’s outset. The latter option is most daunting, because it would cast more serious doubt on the club’s ultimate capacity to rebound from this mediocre first month and a half.

Today, however, they cast themselves into these questions. Without an offense that can muster more than a run on consecutive nights, they’ll lose outings like Saturday, where Luis Castillo continued to struggle, but they’ll also lose gems like today, which could have easily been a celebration of the best Logan Gilbert start in 2026. Not merely excellent, Gilbert was almost flawless, yielding just a single hit in 6.0 shutout frames, punching out nine, and excitingly showcasing the best slider he’s mustered since at least 2025. Seven whiffs and a couple called strikes on the pitch is a great thing to see, but so too was seeing Gilbert ride the bottom third and shadow of the plate with the pitch. Pulled with 87 pitches after six, it was in many ways a highly-efficient appearance by Gilbert to boot. Would that it’d been enough.

Seattle lost this game in the first inning, not getting to Martin after Julio and Randy cracked the seal, as Cal and Luke Raley each punched out. They did it again in the seventh, spoiling Joe’s leadoff double with a flaccid trio of plate appearances. Buoyed in a shaky bottom of the seventh by a stellar bit of glovework by Cole Young, whose shining play was also matched by a great dashing play from Julio Rodríguez earlier in the afternoon. The defensive moment of memory, however, came in that 8th. A softly hit blooper was well-tracked by Randy Arozarena in left field, but a full sprint catch gave way to an airmailed throw that, on target, seemed near-certain to nab Romo at the plate.

You won’t be receiving a video embed here. It would be illustrative, but if you’ve not seen the throw then it won’t add anything to your experience. I promise. Think about a tie game, a poor throw, and a one-run loss. If you can envision it, nod and clear it from your mind. The best hope is that the Mariners can do the same. They’ll try to reset with another four-game set against the Houston Astros, which balanced their ship for a time back in April.

The St. Louis Cardinals got a positive if not spectacular start from Kyle Leahy on Sunday, but it was Jordan Walker’s Mother’s Day moonshot that helped the Cardinals nearly beat the San Diego Padres. Almost.

If you just look strictly at the numbers, Kyle Leahy really did have a solid start on Sunday. While his bottom of the 1st inning was a bit nerve-racking, he was able to escape without allowing a run and ended up pitching the Cardinals into the 5th inning. His overall stat line was 5 full innings allowing no runs, on just 2 hits with 5 strikeouts and 4 walks. It was the walks that made a few innings uncomfortable, but job well done, Kyle. He made a crucial play in the bottom of the 5th inning when he nabbed a ball up the middle as it ended up in his glove after traveling between his legs before tossing it to Alec Burleson for the final out of the inning.

The big highlight of the game was Jordan Walker as he worked a 2-1 count in his favor against Walker Buehler before he launched a ball off of the upper deck railing of the Western Metal Supply Company building. Suffice it to say that none of those fans at that level expected to get that close to a baseball today, but Jordan gave it a high launch angle 425 foot ride. The look on Walker Buehler’s face when he saw where the ball landed is priceless.

Manager Oli Marmol turned to his bullpen in the 6th inning as Ryne Stanek was the first man up. He got off to a great start thanks in part to the fact that San Diego wasted all of their ABS challenges in the 2nd inning. Stanek shut down the Padres 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 6th inning.

JoJo Romero was given the bottom of the 7th inning task and he kept the Padres bats silent. He stayed in the game to start the bottom of the 8th inning, but was relieved by George Soriano with 1 out. He unfortunately brought up the tying run to the plate when he promptly walked Fernando Tatis Jr. on 4 straight pitches before facing the dangerous Manny Machado. Soriano fortunately struck out Machado and got Sheets out on a soft groundout to second to end the bottom of the 8th.

Riley O’Brien was brought in to shut down San Diego in the bottom of the 9th inning. A save would have given him his 12th of the season which is appropriate as that would tie San Diego Padres Mason Miller for the Major League lead. That unfortunately did not happen. It began with an innocent-looking bloop single to center by Xander Boegaerts. O’Brien was able to get Andujar and France to strike out, but Nick Castellanos connected on a 2-out, 2 strike pitch and send it over the left field wall to tie the game 2-2. Riley got Laureano to strike out to send the game into extras.

The Cardinals could accomplish nothing in the top of the 10th inning stranding the extra innings runner Burleson as Walker and Gorman struck out. Masyn Winn walked, but Fermin popped out to end the Cardinals 10th leaving the game tied 2-2.

Gordon Graceffo was brought in to keep the Padres off the board. After intentionally walking Merrill to put runners on 1st and 2nd to set up a double play, Gordon nearly hit Tatis Jr., but the ball glanced off of his bat for a strike. Tatis Jr. would eventually walk to load the bases bringing up Manny Machado. He unfortunately hit a sacrifice fly just deep enough to right center where Jordan Walker was unable to throw out the runner at the plate giving San Diego a 3-2 victory.

The Cardinals will have a quiet travel day Monday to cruise up the California coast to Sacramento before their late Tuesday night game against the city-less Athletics who are currently in first place in their division. Andre Pallante is scheduled to get the start for St. Louis. First pitch scheduled for 8:40pm central time Tuesday night.

Detroit Tigers (18-22) vs. Kansas City Royals (19-21)

Time/Place: 7:20 p.m., Kauffman Stadium
SB Nation Site: Royals Review
Media: NBC Sports Network/Peacock, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Brenan Hanifee (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Noah Cameron (2-2, 5.40 ERA)

In the “he can’t keep getting away with this” starter battle, it was Bryce Elder who came out on top as the winning pitcher. 

With some drama, I must say upfront. But even though Dodgers starter Justin Wrobleski outlasted Elder, you’d take Elder’s final line every day.

This was a fascinating pitching duel: both Elder and Wrobleski had streaks of setting down 10+ batters in efficient and dominant ways. But the Braves managed to get to Wrobleski in a big second inning. 

Matt Olson made the first out in the second, but an Austin Riley single and Michael Harris II bunt (!) put runners on for Eli White’s RBI single to make it 1-0, Braves. Sean Murphy’s forceout put runners at the corners, followed by Jorge Mateo working a walk. That set the table for the Mauricio Dubón special: a bases clearing double to make it 4-0. 

Unfortunately, Wrobleski settled down after that and earned a shot to pitch a complete game. He and Elder would trade off throwing up zeroes for the next several innings. 

Bryce was cruising. The vibes were good. Cy Young jokes were being made. He got two outs in the bottom of the sixth and then just… couldn’t find the zone suddenly, issuing three straight walks to load the bases. Walt Weiss prompted Murphy to chat with him on the mound a little to stall and give the bullpen more time to get ready. Things we love to see: Weiss going to Robert Suarez here in the sixth. Max Muncy worked a tense full count. Eli White, absolutely disregarding his body and physical safety, went full speed into the wall. He careened off of it. Robert Suarez held both arms up in cautious celebration. But we shouldn’t have doubted – you can’t spell elite without Eli. The inning was over. 

Eli would take his next at bat but come out of the game – we await more news on his status.

The next few scoring plays would feature the long ball. Drake Baldwin’s homer in the top of the eighth was the first allowed by Wrobleski this year and made it 5-0. Tyler Kinley came in to pitch the eighth and allowed a two-run homer to Muncy to make it 5-2. Matt Olson was not about to get a Golden Sombrero here on Mother’s Day. His 14th homer of the year and Mateo’s RBI single to drive in Yaz (who wore one on the earhole, yikes) got those two runs back. Wrobleski was lifted one out shy of a complete game after hitting Yaz with pitch #100. 

Bryce Elder lowered his ERA to 1.81, and Wrobleski’s went from 1.25 to 2.42. 

Despite the five run cushion, Raisel Iglesias came in to finish this one out and exorcise some Mother’s Day demons. He worked a perfect ninth to secure the series win and close the book on a 6-3 West Coast road trip. Have a happy flight home, boys.

PHOENIX — The Mets disrespected all mothers on their day by not playing nice.

A no-show lineup has become the norm, but Sunday they added shoddy defense — or run prevention, if you prefer — into the equation and departed the desert with sand in their pants in a 5-1 loss to the Diamondbacks.

It was a second straight game the Mets (15-25) scored only one run after scoring only once in nine innings Friday before adding two in the 10th to win. The Mets lost the series, completing a 5-4 road trip that also included stops in Anaheim and Colorado.

Juan Soto, the team’s best hitter, went 4-for-33 (.121) on the road trip with one homer.

“It’s tough. I have just been missing a lot of balls,” Soto said. “They have been throwing me pitches that I have just been a little under, and I have been working with the hitting coaches, swinging the bat, doing my routine, working on mechanics. You’re at the point where you got to stop missing it.”

If the weak offensive attack (only five hits) wasn’t enough, Andy Ibáñez committed two throwing errors as the starting third baseman. The second of those errors let the D’backs score three unearned runs in the sixth inning to bury the Mets in a 5-1 hole.

D’backs lefty Eduardo Rodriguez brought a no-hitter into the sixth and lasted into the ninth. He allowed one earned run on four hits and three walks over 8 ¹/₃ innings.

“We chased,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “The few at-bats that we got ahead, he kept going to that changeup and getting ground balls. We didn’t make the adjustment there and we swung at his pitches when we needed to do damage.”

How can Mendoza get players to stop chasing pitches?

“We’re trying to figure it out, because we have been chasing a lot,” Mendoza said. “I think it’s just more when we’re ahead in counts, we have seen that the past few days.”

Huascar Brazobán, chosen as the opener, worked into the second inning and walked Ildemaro Vargas and Nolan Arenado to begin the frame. Tobias Myers got two outs before Ryan Waldschmidt’s double gave the D’backs a 2-0 lead.

Soto walked leading off the fourth to snap a streak of 22 straight Mets batters retired over two games. But the inning went nowhere: After Bo Bichette was retired, Austin Slater grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Soto was asked about the biggest issue facing the lineup.

“There’s no issues right here,” Soto said. “We’re all professionals. We all can handle this stuff, but definitely guys are struggling a little bit right now, but I think it’s going to pass.”

David Peterson allowed a two-out single to James McCann in the fourth and should have escaped the inning on Jorge Barrosa’s grounder. But Ibáñez’s throw from third pulled Mark Vientos off first base for an error. Peterson rebounded to retire Waldschmidt.

Peterson’s two-base throwing error on Geraldo Perdomo’s bunt with two outs in the fifth kept the inning alive. Peterson unloaded a wild pitch that moved the runner to third before retiring Adrian Del Castillo.

Rodriguez pitched 5 ¹/₃ hitless innings before Carson Benge’s bloop single ended the no-hit watch. Luis Torrens followed with an RBI double that pulled the Mets within 2-1. But Soto was retired and after Bichette walked, Rodriguez got Slater to ground out.

Ibáñez’s second throwing error of the day allowed Vargas to reach leading off the bottom of the sixth. Peterson got two outs before Barrosa and Waldschmidt each singled. The second of those hits gave the D’backs a 3-1 lead. Ketel Marte’s ensuing triple widened the deficit to 5-1. All three runs were unearned.

“I stood a little bit wide and [the throw] got away from me,” Ibáñez said through an interpreter.

Peterson did not allow an earned run over five innings in a second straight solid relief appearance.

“I felt like I had command of every pitch,” Peterson said. “I felt like everything was working.”

The Kansas City Royals have already clinched a series win and a winning homestand after taking the first two contests against the Detroit Tigers. A thrilling comeback and walk-off on Friday and a dominant Michael Wacha outing last night have propelled the Royals back to 19-21 on the season. If the season ended today, the Royals would be the final team into the field in the American League.

Noah Cameron returns to the mound after missing his Tuesday start due to lower back tightness. The lefty has had a tough start to his sophomore year, with a 5.40 ERA over his first 31.2 innings. After two really good starts to begin the year, Cameron’s last 4 have been really rough, giving up 17 runs in 21 innings pitched. Cameron’s last start came on getaway day in Sacramento. The Athletics crushed Cameron, chasing him for 9 hits, 5 runs, over 5.1 innings. That start came 10 days ago.

The Royals offense has been rather good over the last 15 games, as the Royals have won 11 of those contests. A big part of it has been lineup consistency, with a lot of the same faces getting the start. Tonight however, Salvador Perez will get the game completely off. Perez has been dealing with hip soreness, which has meant a lot of DH’ing. Today is also Salvy’s 36th birthday, along with-it being Mother’s Day. So happy birthday Captain!

Elias Diaz starts behind the plate tonight, and Nick Loftin, who’s been swinging a hot bat, starts at second base. Isaac Collins will hit cleanup with Perez out of the lineup, otherwise, everything else is rather standard for the Royals tonight.

The Tigers have had a really really bad week. Tarik Skubal had elbow surgery and is out for the foreseeable future, Framber Valdez is serving a suspension for intentionally hitting Trevor Story after the Red Sox were crushing him, and position players keep getting hurt. With all of that, they have lost 5 in a row and 10 of their last 14.

Tonight is expected to be a bullpen game for them, after last night they had an opener, with Ty Madden throwing the bulk innings. Brenan Hanifee, a 27-year-old righty gets the start of the anticipated bullpen game. Hanifee has thrown 6.2 scoreless innings so far this season. Hanifee heavily relies on a sinker but also mixes in a slider and changeup.

Here is the Tigers starting lineup behind Hanifee and the bullpen.

The Royals can sweep their third straight weekend series tonight with a win. They swept the Angels at home two weeks ago, and the Mariners in Seattle last week. A win would also put the Royals just a single game under .500, which would be the first time since they were 7-8, going into the series finale against the White Sox. Tonight is the last game of 13 straight days of baseball for the Royals. They will finally have an off day tomorrow, before taking on the White Sox and Cardinals on the road next week. Tonight’s game can be streamed on Peacock or NBCSN, first pitch is set for 6:20 p.m. CT.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Max Muncy couldn’t help but throw his hands up in disbelief.

In a frustrating loss for the Dodgers –– that continued a confounding slump from their hot-and-cold offense –– such was the defining image of the day and much of their form recently.

In the bottom of the sixth inning Sunday, with the Dodgers facing a four-run deficit to the Braves, Muncy thought he had done everything right in the most pivotal moment of the game.

He’d worked a full count in a bases-loaded, two-out opportunity. He got the pitch he was looking for from Braves reliever Robert Suarez on a fastball up, but not out, of the strike zone. And even though he’s cooled off recently, he barreled up a vicious swing and launched a 107 mph rocket deep to right field.

For the briefest of moments, it seemed like a comeback was on.

Braves right fielder Eli White, however, had other ideas.

With a leaping effort that sent him crashing face-first into the wall and knocked him flat on his back along the warning track, White held on for a game-changing catch.

It was as close as the Dodgers would come in their 7-2 loss at Dodger Stadium.

And it left Muncy — who later hit a two-run homer that would prove too little, too late — stunned as he pulled up just past first base.

“Who do I gotta pay off at this point?” he thought to himself. “A lot of really good swings, just nothing to really show for it.”

Same thing goes for the entire team now, given its increasingly shaky play lately.

On Sunday, the Dodgers (24-16) fell behind by four runs in the second inning; the low point of a statistically anomalous 8 ⅔-inning, seven-run start from early-season breakout star Justin Wrobleski.

They managed just two hits yet still found a way to strand seven men on base, going 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position in another inopportunistic performance from the lineup.

And in the end, they were simply less clinical than a Braves team that has the most wins in the majors, dropping a marquee series rubber match that leaves them 9-12 since April 18.

“Just kind of as a unit, I don’t think that we’re one piece right now,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s not from lack of effort. We’ve been in this funk for quite some time. Those guys, they pitched well. But still, that’s kind of where we’re at.”

What it means

That, at least for now, the Dodgers aren’t baseball’s best team.

That honor probably instead belongs to the Braves (28-13), who made Wrobleski pay for his own defensive mistake in their back-breaking four-run second inning.

After giving up one run on three consecutive two-out singles (one of them via a bunt), Wrobleski got Sean Murphy to hit a comebacker to the mound that should’ve been turned for an inning-ending double play.

Alas, the left-hander misfired on his throw to second, which was too high for Alex Freeland to make the turn to first. After that, Wrobleski walked No. 9 hitter Jorge Mateo to load the bases, then gave up a three-run double to Mauricio Dubón.

Total frustration. Almost all of it self-inflicted.

“Just didn’t turn a double play,” Wrobleski said. “If I turn a double play … wouldn’t have been a bad outing.”

It didn’t help, of course, that the Dodgers failed to conjure any of their own two-out magic.

In the first inning, they left two runners stranded when Muncy struck out against Atlanta starter Bryce Elder to extinguish the threat. In the seventh, they watched Freeland and Shohei Ohtani (who continued his own personal struggles with a 0-for-4 day) come up empty with two aboard. And in between that, there was White’s robbery of Muncy, which came after Elder issued three consecutive two-out walks in the sixth.

“We really haven’t been able to put together innings,” Roberts said. “We did in that one inning, [and then] the right fielder makes a great play.”

Who’s hot

Wrobleski might not be any longer. But his strange statistical feats sure are.

A week after becoming the first Dodgers pitcher in a quarter-century to pitch six scoreless innings without a strikeout, the young left-hander nearly became the first pitcher in the club’s Los Angeles history to throw a nine-inning complete game with seven runs allowed.

That was only possible because, after the disastrous second inning, Wrobleski retired 16 batters in a row to keep the Dodgers within striking distance. He also set a season high for strikeouts with seven.

However, he faded late, giving up solo home runs to Drake Baldwin and Matt Olson in the eighth and ninth, respectively, before coming up one out shy of going the distance by plunking Mike Yastrzemski with his 100th pitch of the day.

After giving up six total runs in his first six outings this year, Wrobleski’s ERA nearly doubled to 2.42.

Who’s not

Quite simply, the Dodgers’ offense, which once again left Roberts struggling to offer an explanation.

“I really don’t have an answer,” he said, “outside of, it’s kind of the ebbs and flows of a long season.”

While that may be true, this ebb is starting to last a concerningly long time. After believing they’d turned a corner during a series win in Houston, the Dodgers managed just seven total runs in their three games against the Braves this weekend and have failed to score more than three runs in eight of their last 11 games.

“We had some guys hit some balls hard, and we had some guys hitting the ball soft,” Muncy said. “None of them seem to fall. It’s just kind of how the game goes sometimes.”

Up next

The Dodgers open a four-game series with the Giants on Monday. Roki Sasaki (1-3, 5.97 ERA) will face right-hander Trevor McDonald (1-0, 1.29 ERA).

The Dodgers (24-16) dropped their second straight game with a score of 7-2 to the Braves (28-13) on Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium. Justin Wrobleski was one out away from a complete game, but the offense didn’t come through. They collected only seven runs in the series loss to the MLB-best Braves.

Andy Pages picked up his third base hit of the series with a two-out single against Bryce Elder in the bottom of the first. Kyle Tucker drew a walk to give the Dodgers two on and two out. Elder struck out Max Muncy to strand both runners.

The Braves struck first again, putting up a crooked number in the second inning to take a 4-0 lead. Wrobleski struggled in the fourth inning against the Braves, allowing a four-run rally that included a costly throwing mistake on a potential inning-ending double play ball.

Austin Riley’s base hit and Michael Harris II’s bunt single gave the Braves runners at first and second with one out for Eli White. White’s RBI single to center field gave the Braves the lead first, and they never relinquished it thereafter.

Mauricio Dubón doubled in three runs after a Sean Murphy force out and Jorge Mateo walk.

For the seventh time in the last 13 innings, the Dodgers went down in order again, this time versus Elder in the bottom of the fifth.

After the disaster of a second inning, Wrobleski settled in well. He struck out Matt Olson three times and kept the Braves potent offense to just four hits to that point.

The Dodgers looked to take advantage of Elder’s fading command. Back-to-back free passes from Elder in the bottom of the sixth kept the door ajar for the Dodgers. A fatiguing Elder walked Tucker to load the bases for Muncy.

Walt Weiss went to his bullpen to counter Muncy’s power at the plate with reliever and former Friar Robert Suarez.

Muncy crushed a 3-2 Suarez four-seamer to right field, but Eli White crashed into the wall face first and somehow held on to the scorched ball to end the inning and potentially save the game for Atlanta.

The Dodgers managed to get another two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh. This time they had two outs to work with and runners aboard. Suarez walked Alex Call, and Hyeseong Kim reached on catcher’s interference. Sean Murphy’s glove got in the way, and the Dodgers got their way. Dave Roberts got Shohei Ohtani to the plate with two runners on and two outs.

Ohtani grounded out to first base, his slump persisting. The Braves held Ohtani to just two hits in the series.

Max Muncy and Drake Baldwin both hit their 10th home run of the season in the eighth inning.

Drake Baldwin made it 5-0 Atlanta with a solo home run against Wrobleski in the eighth.

Muncy got a second shot at the Atlanta bullpen with a base runner on in the bottom of the eighth, and he didn’t miss this time. He clobbered the first pitch he saw from Tyler Kinney for a 420-foot two-run home run halfway up the Right Field Pavilion.

Wrobo was back out for the ninth, but Olson took advantage and sent a leadoff solo shot to right-center to make it 6-2. He was one out away from completing the game, but he beaned Mike Yastrzemski. Dave Roberts brought in Wyatt Mills for the final out in his first major-league appearance since 2022.

The Braves cashed in the hit-by-pitch and added another insurance run. Mills allowed hits to Dominic Smith and Mateo to make it 7-2.

The Dodgers now turn to the Giants for a four-game series.

Sunday particulars

Home runs: Drake Baldwin (10), Max Muncy (10), Matt Olson (14)

WP — Bryce Elder (4-1): 5 2/3 IP, 1 hit, no runs, 4 walks, 8 strikeouts (83)

LP — Justin Wrobleski (5-1): 8 2/3 IP, 7 hits, 7 runs, 7 strikeouts, 1 walk (100)

Up next

The Dodgers open a four-game series against the San Francisco Giants Monday night at Dodger Stadium (7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA). Roki Sasaki (1-3, 5.97 ERA, 1.67 WHIP) faces the Giants for the first time in his career. Trevor McDonald (1-0, 1.29 ERA, 7 IP). starts for San Francisco.

Mostly due to another forgettable day at the plate, the Mets lost 5-1 to the Diamondbacks on Sunday in Arizona, as a once-promising road trip ended with two straight losses. 

It was still a winning trip, at 5-4, but the Mets need a winning streak to begin digging out of the hole they’re in, with their 15-25 record. 

Their offense continues to be their biggest problem. They scored a total of two runs in the two losses in Arizona, and their season total of 140 runs is the second-lowest in the majors, ahead of only the San Francisco Giants. 

The defense hurt them as well on Sunday, as the Mets made three errors.

Here are the takeaways...

-- The Mets were dominated by lefty Eduardo Rodriguez for the second time this season. 

Rodriguez held the Mets to one run over seven innings at Citi Field in early April, and he was even better on Sunday, allowing one run over 8 1/3 innings. 

The Mets managed only four hits off the left-hander, two of them by backup catcher Luis Torrens. 

-- Juan Soto had two chances to make a big impact on the game with runners on base, but flew out routinely against Rodriguez in both the sixth and eighth innings. 

Soto is slumping badly at a time when the Mets desperately need him to carry the offense. He went 4-for-33 (.121) on the nine-game road trip, and 2-for-26 (.077) over the last seven games. 

-- David Peterson had a second straight solid outing as the bulk reliever in the game, going five innings that may well have been scoreless if not for an Andy Ibanez error that led to three runs in the sixth inning.

For whatever reason, Peterson seems to pitch better out of the bullpen than as a starter. On this day he followed Huascar Brazoban and Tobias Myers, coming in to start the third inning. 

He allowed four hits and, notably for him, issued no walks. He struck out three D-Backs hitters.

-- Andy Ibanez didn’t look like much of a third baseman in his debut there with the Mets -- certainly not the throwing part anyway. He made two throwing errors, both times high and wide to the home plate side, and the second one, in the sixth inning, proved crucial when the D-Backs went on to score three unearned runs to take a 5-1 lead.

Peterson had a chance to get out of the inning, but with two outs gave up three straight hits, two singles and an opposite-field triple to Ketel Marte down the line in right field, off the fence. 

Ibanez is a 33-year-old journeyman utility man who has played plenty of third base over the years. He was claimed off waivers from the Athletics on April 30, and in the lineup to give the Mets an additional right-handed bat against Rodriguez. 

-- Poor defense cost the Mets in the second inning when Mark Vientos failed to turn a pickoff into an out, reacting slowly to Brazoban’s throw to first, allowing Ildemaro Vargas to reach second base safely. 

When Vargas took off for second early, Brazoban threw behind him to first base, but Vientos didn’t come off the bag toward the ball to shorten the distance on both the catch and the throw to second, and Vargas beat his throw to second base. 

There was no error on the play but the mistake proved costly when Nolan Arenado walked and rookie Ryan Waldschmidt doubled with two outs off Tobias Myers to drive in two runs. 

-- The Mets were no-hit through five innings by Rodriguez before Carson Benge hit a soft liner into center field for a single with one out in the sixth. 

That led to a run when Luis Torrens followed with an opposite-field double down the right field line, scoring Benge to get the Mets on the board, trailing 2-1. 

Game MVP: Eduardo Rodriguez

The left-hander is having an outstanding season, now 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA. Rodriguez had a chance to pitch the first complete game of his career, but when he gave up a bloop single to Vientos with one out in the ninth, manager Torrey Lovullo pulled him with his pitch count at 100. 

Highlights

The Mets are on the board!

Luis Torrens brings home Carson Benge with a double! pic.twitter.com/n0E8HFCuBR

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 10, 2026

Tyrone Taylor makes the diving catch in center field! pic.twitter.com/uzvYT4Um0l

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 10, 2026

What's next

The Mets return home and after an off day on Monday are back in action on Tuesday when they host the Detroit Tigers to start a three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. on SNY.

Neither team has announced a starter yet.

The Braves are currently putting it all on the line in an attempt to pull off a rare series win in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. One of the biggest examples of that has been Eli White’s performance in this game. In an extremely high-leverage situation where the Dodgers had Max Muncy at the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth inning of a 4-0 game in favor of the Braves.

Muncy crushed it out to right field for a line drive that would’ve drove in maybe three runs had it not been caught. Instead, Eli White ran directly into the wall and held onto the ball to make the inning-ending catch.

Eli White did stay in the game to take an at-bat in the seventh inning but he was clearly feeling the effects of his crash into the wall and exited the game. We have no word on what the reason was but considering it was shortly after that big-time slam, you could probably infer that he probably got his bell rung as a result.

We’ll update this post once we get more information.

We come together this Sunday for what is a sorrowful edition of our weekly social media roundup, as we mourn the loss — and celebrate the life — of John Sterling, who passed away this past Monday. How did the Yankees, and others throughout the league, honor the legendary Yankees broadcaster? And what else were they up to this week? Let’s find out!

In memory of John Sterling

Our main story of this week, of course, needs no introduction. As soon as the news broke about Sterling’s passing, tributes poured down throughout the league, from within and outside of the Yankees organization.

Players who posted in Sterling’s memory, but whose posts are unable to be embedded for whatever reason, include Aaron Judge and CC Sabathia, while Gleyber Torres posted on his Instagram story.

Elmer’s Glue? No, Elmer’s Debut!

Two weeks ago, Elmer Rodríguez made his Major League debut, and this week, he finally got around to posting on Instagram about the experience.

Keeping Up with the Joneses

Speaking of Major League debuts, the Yankees brought up former top prospect Spencer Jones this week, with much fanfare surrounding his arrivaling.

His college team, Vanderbilt, also took to Instagram to congratulation him on his promotion.

CC Talks Ball

Some words of wisdom from CC Sabathia this week:

Everybody is better than Jalen Brunson til it’s time to be better than Jalen Brunson…

LFG New York Knicks!!!

Speaking of CC, he spoke about his time with the Brewers as the Yankees visited Milwaukee this week, where the Brewers honored him for his contributions to the 2008 squad.

Behind the NY

In this week’s episode of Behind the NY, we learn about Yankees pitching prospect Carlos Lagrange, who put himself on the map during spring training with his dominant fastball — and caught the eye of Yankees ace Gerrit Cole.

Use the Force, Aaron

We cap off this week with Aaron Judge messing around and pretending to use the Force, recreating what is in my opinion the most relatable scene in the entire Star Wars franchise, Sabine Wren’s battle with the cup.

There were a lot of similarities between today and yesterday’s loss, but at least this one was quicker. The Yankees couldn’t get the one extra hit they really needed, and the Brewers showed why they’ve been so formidable over the past couple years. In the end, breakout star Brice Turang clubbed David Bednar’s offering over the center-field wall in the bottom of the ninth to give the Brew Crew a 4-3 win and sweep the Yankees right out of town.

For the seventh time this season, Aaron Judge was able to spot his club a first-inning run:

That’s Judge’s 16th bomb of the year, moving him back into a tie for the most in baseball, now knotted up with Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies. He also passed Hall of Famer Larry Walker on the all-time home run list, No. 384 putting him in a tie for 69th with Harold Baines. In his first three PAs, the Captain was the Three-True-Outcome player, going deep, striking out, and working a walk in the sixth. Unfortunately old friend Gary Sánchez gunned down Judge’s stolen base attempt in that frame.

The following inning, Spencer Jones got the monkey off his back with his first career hit and RBI, a single to center that scored José Caballero and made it 2-0, New York:

I am not a Spencer Jones believer, and it had been a tough weekend for the sixth-ranked prospect. Good for him for getting his first MLB knock, and even better that it brought a run in. Hat tip to the kid.

We had a bit of a mixed bag from Carlos Rodón today. I think you can and should be encouraged by the pure stuff we saw — sitting 96 with his fastball and 87 with his slider, both notably harder than he threw them in 2025. The issue, perhaps predictably, was control. Three of the five innings he appeared in opened with a free pass to the leadoff hitter, and while he was able to get through three frames without trouble, if you poke a bee’s nest enough you’ll get stung.

William Contreras and Sánchez both walked to kick off the bottom of the fourth, before Rodón dotted Andrew Vaughn to load the bases. The Yankees cut Contreras down at home but couldn’t get Luis Rengifo out at first, meaning Garrett Mitchell’s fly ball was a sac fly and RBI rather than the third out of the inning, and the Brewers were on the board. A two-run single by recently-recalled erstwhile Yankees farmhand Blake Perkins put Milwaukee up 3-2, and while that would be the totality of damage against Rodón, all of the damage was because of that poor control.

Jake Bird was called upon to navigate a two men on, one man out situation relieving Carlos, and did just that to keep the deficit to just one. Jazz Chisholm Jr. wasted little time rewarding Bird for the clutch bit of pitching with a big swing in the top of the sixth:

That RBI double was as good as it would get though. The Yankees would get a man on in each of the final three innings, but in a repeat of yesterday, couldn’t manage the one hit to push another run across. Five Bombers struck out in the seventh, eighth and ninth, and Cody Bellinger and Jones were the only hitters to get a ball out of the infield — a single and a fly out respectively.

David Bednar was asked to work the ninth, and actually got two outs before facing Brice Turang, who entered action with a 158 wRC+ and a top-10 fWAR that matched Rice (1.8):

This is the second time the Yankees have been swept this year after that nightmare series down at Tropicana Field.

There’s nothing else really to say about the series, the Brewers outplayed the Yankees in all three games, took advantage of mistakes and their pitching staff was seemingly able to stave off disaster at will. Milwaukee’s a very good team, for a reason. The only thing you can do from here is fly down to Baltimore and take a couple games against a team that you should be able to, with a back-t0-health Ryan Weathers back in the rotation for the opener of that series tomorrow against righty Brandon Young. First pitch is at 6:35pm Eastern, and hopefully we get a more robust offensive effort in a different town.

Box Score

Though things looked precarious for a moment there, but the Davis Martin Hype Train choo-choos on!

In the first inning, it looked as if the 29-year-old’s magical run to start this interesting 2026 campaign might finally be at its end. Martin struggled to put hitters away early, letting in a run in the first inning — just the second time this season he’s been tagged for a tally in the first — when Julio Rodríguez drove a double into the left field gap, moved to third on a wild pitch and ultimately scored on a Randy Arozarena poke into center field.

With those hits sandwiching a nine-pitch walk of Josh Naylor, it was one of the more laborious innings we’ve seen from Martin in a while. At that point, I was bracing myself for the inevitable turning of Martin’s luck.

Wrong. Martin gritted his teeth, dug in, and proceeded to allow just two baserunners over his final five innings, one via hit and one via walk. And it wasn’t all soft contact, either — Martin has become a bona fide whiff machine, tying the career high he set just six days ago with 19 swinging strikes.

His pitch chart is a thing of beauty, showing how effectively and consistently located his fastballs up and to the glove side, paired with a healthy dose of changeups and breaking balls just below the zone — more or less exactly where you want them.

Unfortunately, Martin was robbed of what should have been his sixth win of the season by virtue of Seattle starter Logan Gilbert, who the White Sox simply couldn’t touch in what was easily his best start of the season.

That the White Sox managed to win a game in which the opposing hurler twirled six one-hit innings, facing just a hair over the minimum, seems like an alien idea. Yet that’s exactly what happened today.

Sox hitters were clearly pleased to see Gilbert depart the game for José Ferrer in the seventh inning, although Ferrer followed his starter in keeping Chicago scoreless. In the eighth inning, it was Antonio Bazardo’s turn to quiet the Sox bats — and this time, the home team won the matchup with just a few swings of the bat.

First, Bazardo hung a dry-aged ham of a breaking ball to Randal Grichuk, who managed to deposit it into the bleachers despite a heady wind blowing in from left field.

It’s pretty refreshing when the declining veterans get cast off into the White Sox lineup and still actually have something left in the tank, isn’t it!

Almost immediately following, Drew Romo continued his tear at the plate, slicing a double into the right field corner to put the lead run in scoring position. After Sam Antonacci laid down a perfectly-executed sacrifice bunt to move Romo to third, it was Miguel Vargas’ turn to play clutch again. Though he certainly wishes he had hit this fly ball a little deeper, it was just deep enough for Romo to bait Arozarena into air mailing his throw home, allowing what was ultimately the winning run to cross the plate.

Seranthony Domínguez had a very Seranthony Domínguez ninth inning, loading the bases with just one out — and looking like his feel for the strike zone was irreparably gone for the day — before inducing a pop out and a weak ground ball to end the game and earn his ninth save of the season. We’re not even halfway through May, and those nine saves are already tied with Michael Kopech’s 2024 for the most saves by a Sox reliever since Liam Hendriks notched 37 in 2022. What a time to be alive!

With this win, the White Sox remain within striking distance of .500, and with Cleveland dropping their matinee to the Twins this afternoon, they’re just a single game back of the Guardians in an AL Central that is fully AL Central-ing, with four teams all hanging around .500 and refusing to take the reins and separate from the pack. They’ll look to keep climbing during the rest of this season-long homestand, next hosting Kansas City for a three-gamer from Tuesday through Thursday. Erick Fedde takes the hill in the first game of that set, scheduled for 6:40 p.m. CT. We’ll see you there!

MILWAUKEE — The Yankees don’t lose series often, but when they do, they get swept.

At least the last two times, anyway, and this one in crushing fashion.

After arriving here as one of the hottest teams in baseball, winners of 16 of their past 19 games, the Yankees delivered a dud of a series, getting swept by the Brewers, including a pair of walk-offs in the last two games.

Sunday afternoon, it was David Bednar who gave up the game-winning home run to Brice Turang with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, handing the Yankees a 4-3 loss in front of a sellout crowd at American Family Field.

That came on the heels of Saturday’s 4-3 loss in 10 innings when the bullpen and lineup combined to waste Cam Schlittler’s gem, making for a frustrating weekend as the Yankees (26-15) dropped their first series since being swept by the Rays last month, going 6-0-1 in series in between.

They also fell to 1-8 against teams with winning records — the Brewers, Rays and A’s, accounting for their only three series losses of the season — though they haven’t had many chances to improve on that because there are currently only two other teams in the American League above .500.

“We’re really good,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We had a bad series.”

Carlos Rodón was hurt by a lack of command while giving up three runs in 4 ¹/₃ innings in his season debut, but the biggest issue for the Yankees all weekend was trying to figure out the tough Brewers pitching staff.

Coming into this series, the Yankees had outscored opponents 123-52 over their past 19 games, then mustered six runs on 16 hits in three games against the Brewers. They also struck out 39 times in 28 innings, hindering their ability to break any games open the way they had so often of late.

“They got an incredible pitching staff, from the starting rotation to their bullpen, their back-end bullpen,” said Aaron Judge, who crushed his 16th home run of the season in the first inning for the 1-0 lead. “Guys that, from the bullpen to their starters, run up to 97-plus. They got a good thing going over there. So it made for some tough at-bats, some long days, kind of battling back and forth all series long.”

Making his first start in seven months, with elbow surgery in between, Rodón looked like he was still knocking off some rust. The left-hander walked five (three to lead off innings), hit a batter and threw a wild pitch, which turned into three runs — all coming in the fourth inning to erase a 2-0 Yankees lead — across 4 ¹/₃ innings allowing only two hits.

After scoring two runs early off righty Logan Henderson — Judge’s solo shot and Spencer Jones’ RBI single, his first career hit — the Yankees tied it up in the sixth inning on Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s RBI single against lefty reliever DL Hall. But that was all they would get, as the Brewers’ hard-throwing, back-end bullpen trio of Trevor Megill, Aaron Ashby and Abner Uribe shut them down late.

Then, after Jake Bird, Paul Blackburn, Fernando Cruz and Tim Hill had all put up zeros out of the bullpen, Bednar struck out the first two batters in the bottom of the ninth before throwing a first-pitch curveball over the heart of the plate to Turang, who snuck it over the center field wall to end the game.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

“Just didn’t execute the way I wanted to,” said Bednar, who had not allowed a homer in 16 appearances this season. “But that’s baseball. It sucks.”

So did much of the weekend for the Yankees, who will now try to get back on track against the Orioles on Monday.

“Tough weekend, obviously,” Boone said. “Didn’t play our best and I thought they pitched really well against us and matched up well against us. But just not able to string together enough big hits there. Good swing by Turang to finish it off. Obviously a tough weekend, part of it, and look forward to getting on to Baltimore and righting the ship.”