MLB News
Let’s beat the Rockies again tonight, but maybe don’t go down 5-0 in the first inning this time. Join us and discuss tonight’s game in the comments below!
Game Date/Time: Saturday, May 2, 8:10 p.m. EDT
Location: Coors Field, Denver, CO
TV: BravesVision
Streaming: MLB.tv (and Braves.tv if you’re in-market, etc.)
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan
We ought to have a boilerplate template for 2026 Twins recaps, because it feels like every time the Twins lose this season, it’s for exactly the same reasons as I am about to describe. Another encouraging start from a young arm was emphatically erased by possibly the most predictably incompetent bullpen you’ve ever seen in your life, rendering any offensive contributions almost entirely meaningless. Sound familiar? Well, these were the same beats that played out in Saturday afternoon’s 11-4 Blue Jays victory, the 20th loss of Minnesota’s season, and another defeat that transpired for reasons that anyone could have seen coming.
In his third major-league start, Connor Prielipp went another five innings and only allowed three hits, although two were homers (Lenyn Sosa and Myles Straw, both in the second inning.) The Jays generated five hard-hit balls off the young lefty, who walked two and only struck out four in a 91-pitch outing, which is the longest of his professional career.
When he left, Minnesota even had a 4-2 lead. Byron Buxton had started the game with a leadoff bomb to right, his 10th homer of the year, and latest offensive outburst in a scorching-hot stretch that has raised his OPS back up to .857. The Twins added two more in the second, with a pair of runners scoring on a Brooks Lee single + Vladdy Jr. throwing error. Add on an RBI single from Trevor Larnach in the fifth, and Minnesota had pole position going into the later innings.
This has happened before, and it will happen again, and the usual suspects will be involved.
Toronto got one back as soon as the doors to Derek’s Magical Arm Barn opened; the homer-happy Kazuma Okamoto tagged Justin Topa for his 8th of the year with one out in the sixth. Okay, 4-3, you say. Not bad.
Bad!
BAD!!!
It could have been 10-3. It could have been 10-3, brother. And the Twins would have lost this game anyway.
That’s because the wheels came off completely in a marathon 8-run 8th inning for the third-place Jays. It’s an inning that behests bullet-pointing brather than a bregular baragraph. Let’s take a look at the highlights real quick before we get you the heck out of here.
It may not surprise you to learn that the Twins did not reach base for the rest of the game.
The team is ass.
STUDS:
RP John Klein (IP, 0 R in his major-league debut. For this bullpen, stud-worthy.)
LF Trevor Larnach (2-for-4, RBI, 2B)
DUDS:
DH Josh Bell (0-for-4, K)
RF Matt Wallner (0-for-4, K)
RP Justin Topa (0.2 IP, H, ER, K, HR)
RP Luis Garcia (0.0 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, BB)
RP Anthony Banda (IP, 2 H, 4 R, 3 ER, BB, HR)
The Colorado Rockies had a prime opportunity to steal the series opener at home against the Atlanta Braves. They jumped out to a 6-0 lead but then, they saw the opportunity walk away. Literally.
Crucial walks in the eighth and ninth innings put the Rox in danger and ultimately behind in a game where they cranked their win probability up to 96.0% at one point. Alas, leads can be fleeting at Coors, especially when a team doesn’t score again after the second inning.
The Rockies managed a 13-15 record in April, avoiding sustained losing streaks outside of a six-game skid. To get May off on the right foot, they’ll try to nip the losses in the bud and take at least one of the next two against Atlanta.
Unfortunately, on Fourth Wing Night at Coors Field on Saturday, the Rockies hitters encounter a challenge tougher than crossing the parapet: facing Chris Sale. Sale has been stellar this year (5-1 in six games started, 2.31 ERA). He’s been incredibly efficient in so many metrics, boasting a sub-1.00 WHIP so far — currently holding at 0.914 — along with 38 strikeouts and just nine walks.
Outside of a bumpy outlier game in which he gave up six runs on two dingers to the Los Angeles Angels in early April, Sale has been the epitome of consistency. In the other five games, he’s given up either just one run or none at all. For the cherry on top, he’s sitting on a .185 batting average against. Father Time has not slowed the 16-year veteran down at all, as he continues to be just incredibly stingy. That’s historically carried through against the Rockies, where Sale is 1-1 with a 1.48 ERA across five games, including 0-1 with a 1.74 ERA at Coors.
The Rockies will try and counter with a steady presence of their own. Despite Chase Dollander getting his first start in his last outing against the New York Mets, the Rockies will go back to their opener + Dollander approach, with Brennan Bernardino kicking things off tonight. The last time Colorado looked to use Bernardino and Dollander as a dynamic duo (April 4th against the Philadelphia Phillies), it turned into a trio. Bernardino gave up a walk followed by an early run, forcing an appearance from Jimmy Herget to better set up Dollander to enter in the third.
Across the year, Bernardino is 2-0 in 14 games with the one start and a 0.71 ERA over 12.2 IP. He’s looked sharp and will try to move quickly through a hot top of the order for the Braves.
While it looked like Dollander moved closer to securing a full-time starter role like many hoped, his lone start might have been forced by the doubleheader, as he slots back into his bulk relief role today. For his part, Dollander is 3-2 through seven games, posting a 2.25 ERA over 32.0 IP. Atlanta will be one of his toughest tests so far as he continues to make his case for a spot in the rotation.
The Rockies found a spark and got the bats going early yesterday. Their six runs gave them a chance. That many may be harder to come by given the matchup, but they’ll look to hang around in what should be an intriguing pitching matchup on both sides.
First Pitch: 6:10 p.m. MDT
TV: Rockies.TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)
Braves SB Nation Site:Battery Power
Lineups:
Sign up for a user account and get:
Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!
Time/Place: 7:15 p.m., Comerica Park
SB Nation Site: Lone Star Ball
Media: Detroit Sportsnet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Keider Montero (1-2, 4.00 ERA) vs. RHP Kumar Rocker (1-2, 3.38 ERA)
| Player | G | IP | K% | BB% | GB% | FIP | fWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montero | 5 | 27.0 | 21.5 | 4.7 | 34.6 | 2.93 | 0.8 |
| Rocker | 5 | 26.2 | 19.1 | 8.7 | 56.1 | 3.68 | 0.5 |
Sign up for a user account and get:
One of the keys to winning baseball games is hitting the ball. While it is possible to achieve victory without recording a base hit, history has shown that getting multiple hits in a ball game is far more conducive to winning. In their game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday, the Phillies did not get multiple hits. They only got one. One lousy hit. And that hit was promptly erased by a double play!
The hitless afternoon resulted in a 4-0 loss that put an end to the team’s four-game winning streak and was Don Mattingly’s first loss as Phillies manager.
On the other side of the ball, Andrew Painter got the start for the Phillies, and he gave up several hits. In fact, in the second inning, Painter gave up three times as many hits as Phillies batters did all game. But he was somehow able to keep any of those runners from scoring.
In the top of the third, left fielder (!) Garrett Stubbs recorded the Phillies’ only base knock, only to be doubled up by a ground ball double play off the bat of Felix Reyes. (As you read these names, it starts to become clearer exactly why the Phillies struggled on offense.)
Painter again gave up three hits in the third inning, and this time, due to the fact that he also walked two batters with the bases loaded, the Phillies fell into a 2-0 hole.
Painter settled down a bit, but the Marlins extended their lead to 3-0 courtesy of a Xavier Edwards home run in the fifth.
The Marlins concluded their scoring in the sixth when a double, ground out, and infield single against Tanner Banks made the score 4-0.
This was far too much for the Phillies to overcome. Marlins starter Max Meyer struck out seven in his career-high seven innings and walked only one batter. Things didn’t improve after he left the game, as the Phillies went down in order in both the eighth and the ninth.
While the Phillies could be excused because they were missing a couple of starters, it should be noted that their stars didn’t exactly have great games either. Kyle Schwarber struck out three times, putting him at 0-8 with eight strikeouts in the series.
They’ll be back at it on Sunday afternoon. The Marlins will start righthander Chris Paddack who enters the game with a 6.11 ERA. I’m hoping the Phillies will do a little better against him, because let’s face it, they couldn’t do much worse.
The Dodgers look to snap their three-game losing streak against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday. Roki Sasaki faces Michael McGreevy.
Sign up for a user account and get:
The Kansas City Royals (13-19) face the Seattle Mariners (16-17) in the second game of their series. The Royals won Friday’s opener 7-6. Starting pitchers are Seth Lugo for Kansas City, with a 2.63 ERA, and Emerson Hancock for Seattle, with a 2.86 ERA.
Date: Saturday, May 2
Time: 9:40 p.m. ET / 6:40 p.m. PT
Where: T-Mobile Park, Seattle, WA
TV Channels: Mariners.TV, Royals.TV
Live Stream:ESPN+, MLB.TV | Follow on Yahoo Sports
Kansas City Royals: 13-19 (No. 5 in AL Central)
Seattle Mariners: 16-17 (No. 3 in AL West)
Spread: Seattle Mariners -1.5
Moneyline: Seattle Mariners -147 (57.0%) / Kansas City Royals +123 (43.0%)
Over/Under: 7.5
Kansas City Royals: Seth Lugo (1-1, ERA: 2.63, K: 31, WHIP: 1.17)
Seattle Mariners: Emerson Hancock (2-1, ERA: 2.86, K: 32, WHIP: 0.98)
Weather: 72°F at first pitch
Ballpark: Capacity: 47,929 | Roof: Retractable | Surface: Grass
The St. Louis Cardinals will play host to the Los Angeles Dodgers again Saturday night for game 2 of their homestand versus the west coasters. Michael McGreevy (1-2, 2.97 ERA, 21 SO) will start for the Cardinals while the Californians will toss Roki Sasaki (1-2, 6.35 ERA, 22 SO) on the mound. First pitch scheduled for 6:15pm central time and this is a national game from Fox.
Sign up for a user account and get:
Texas Rangers @ Detroit Tigers
Saturday, May 2, 2026, 6:15 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / FOX)
Comerica Park
LHP Kumar Rocker vs. RHP Keider Montero
Go Rangers!
On a sunny, but blustery and chilly afternoon at Wrigley Field, two Cubs totally dominated the action.
Shōta Imanaga had another outstanding start, scattering four hits over seven innings and striking out five.
And Ian Happ doubled, tripled and homered, scoring both of the Cubs’ runs in a 2-0 shutout of the Diamondbacks, the Cubs’ second shutout win of 2026.
Neither team scored in the first, then Happ led off the second with his eighth home run of the year [VIDEO].
Happ didn’t hit his eighth home run last year until June 19, the team’s 74th game. And that one went into the proverbial teeth of a pretty strong wind blowing off Lake Michigan.
Imanaga continued to dominate the D-backs. After a first-inning single by Corbin Carroll, he retired 16 of the next 18 Arizona hitters he faced, and got helped in part by some slick defense by Dansby Swanson.
I don’t think any other shortstop in the league makes this play [VIDEO].
It’s not just the stop behind the bag — sure, many shortstops can do that. Then he whirls and makes a strong, accurate throw to Michael Busch. The totality of the play is what makes Swanson so good. That was the first out of the sixth and he wound up making all three plays that inning.
The Cubs, though, could not get any offense going after Happ’s home run. They loaded the bases in the third on a walk, double by Busch and a two-out intentional walk to Happ (now how often do you see that in the modern game in the third inning?). But Seiya Suzuki flied to left to end the inning.
Happ’s one-out double in the sixth gave the Cubs a runner in scoring position, but Suzuki flied to right and after a walk drawn by Pete Crow-Armstrong (he’s getting good at that!), Swanson grounded out to end the inning.
Imanaga got into a bit of trouble in the seventh, allowing a one-out double and two-out walk. But then he got James McCann to ground to third to end the inning.
Overall, Imanaga threw 87 pitches (56 strikes). Here are his five K’s [VIDEO].
Here’s more on Imanaga’s outing [VIDEO].
Imanaga now has a 2.40 ERA in 41.1 innings, with 10 walks and 43 strikeouts. He again did not allow a home run in this game, so he’s still given up just three long balls this year, no more than one in any game. This is exactly the guy the Cubs hoped he’d be, and hopefully Jed Hoyer is working on some sort of contract extension for Imanaga. Yes, it will cost more than the $57 million for three years the Cubs turned down. Yes, it’s worth it.
Ben Brown, who has been so good in a multi-inning relief role this year, threw a 1-2-3 eighth.
Then Happ and the Cubs padded the lead with an insurance run in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Happ tripled into the gap in right-center [VIDEO].
That was his first triple of the year — and he didn’t hit any last year, either. He now has 17 triples in his career, and that was his first since Sept. 2, 2024 against the Pirates at Wrigley. More on Happ’s day from BCB’s JohnW53:
Ian Happ extended his on-base streak to 23 games with his second-inning homer. He began the day tied with Ronald Acuna of the Braves, Yordan Alvarez of the Astros and Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers for the third-longest such streak in MLB this season. Acuna’s streak was active. So were the two longer than Happ’s: 26 games, by Nick Kurtz of the Athletics, and 24, by Ildemaro Vargas of the Diamondbacks. Vargas’ streak ended in today’s game.
Suzuki drove Happ in with this sacrifice fly to make it 2-0 [VIDEO].
Brown was left in the game to throw the ninth. And Swanson made a nifty play to help out Brown for the first out [VIDEO].
All three outs in the ninth went to Dansby, who had nine assists on the afternoon. Here’s the final out [VIDEO].
What a fantastic team effort — great pitching (from both Imanaga and Brown), outstanding defense and timely hitting. And so, at least for today:
An additional note on the game, and Happ’s afternoon, from John:
With Happ’s eighth-inning triple, the Cubs completed a team cycle — with only five total hits.
Happ missed a cycle by a single. He is the 31st Cub to do that since 1901. Michael Busch was the last, on Sept. 27 of last year. Seiya Suzuki had done it on April 29, 2025, and Garrett Cooper, on April 2, 2024. Those had been the first such games by a Cub since Happ, on May 19, 2018.
There have been seven since 2000. Aramis Ramirez, in 2006, and Moises Alou, in 2004, were the earlier two.
Happ joins Manny Trillo as the only Cub to do it twice.For comparison, a Cub has had 10 complete cycles, while 702 missed one for lack of a triple. They included Nico Hoerner and Matt Shaw this year and 11 last year. Among the nine were Suzuki and Kyle Tucker, three each, and Busch and Happ, twice.
Last note: This was the first time in 2026 that the Diamondbacks lost to a left-handed starter.
Here are Craig Counsell’s postgame comments [VIDEO].
The Cubs won the series and now have not only a 10-game home winning streak, but have won four in a row overall, and are 14-3 since beginning that 10-game overall win streak on April 14. Good times. And at this writing the Pirates are demolishing the Reds 15-3 in the fifth (!) inning. Presuming that score holds up, the Cubs will be in first place by themselves after today’s action.
The Cubs will go for the series sweep Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Matthew Boyd will start for the Cubs and Merrill Kelly goes for the D-backs. Game time is again 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
Go Rays!
Sign up for a user account and get:
With Carlos Rodon and Gerrit Cole's impending returns over the next month or so, Yankees manager Aaron Boone and the organization have important decisions to make when it comes to whose spots they will take.
Ryan Weathers took the mound Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles in his latest pitch to stay in the Yankees starting rotation and was effective. The southpaw pitched five-plus innings, allowing one earned run on three hits and two walks while striking out five in the team's 9-4 win over Baltimore. It was Weathers' second win of the season and the performance dropped his ERA to 3.03.
"I thought Weathers was good," Boone said of Weathers' start. "Scattered a little bit, but other than those two walks, I thought he did a really good job. Had a lot of different ways to get you out. Sweeper, changeup, fastball were all playing well. Maybe ran out of a little steam there, but to get into the sixth inning there with another strong performance, really nice by him."
It's the fifth consecutive start Weathers has pitched at least five innings and he's allowed three runs or fewer in six of his seven starts, including one earned run or fewer in four starts. That's helped the Yankees starting rotation boast the best ERA (2.67) in the majors.
But in a rotation that features Max Fried and Cam Schlittler as stalwarts, there are only so many starts for this team when Rodon and Cole get back. Elmer Rodriguez was called up to take the spot of Luis Gil -- who was optioned earlier this week -- so Rodon could potentially slide in for Rodriguez when he's ready. But when Cole comes back, Weathers will be competing with Will Warrento remain in the rotation.
Boone was asked if he's started to think about what the team will do when both veteran pitchers come back, and the Yankees skipper simply said, “That’s a lifetime away.”
When a follow-up was asked on how he evaluates which pitchers can be best suited for a bullpen role, Boone offered the same response.
"Lifetime away. We’re in a good spot," he said. "Guys are throwing well. Looking forward to getting other guys into the mix. A lot between now and then."
Rodon and Cole are set to have rehab starts this coming Tuesday. Depending on how he feels after his next start, it could be Rodon's final rehab assignment before returning to the Yankees. And while Cole is still about a month or so away, evaluations are certainly ongoing.
But as Boone said, a lot can happen between now and when both are back, so fans and the baseball world will have to wait and see how the team approaches it when the time comes.
Chicago White Sox (15-17) at San Diego Padres (19-12), May 2, 2026, 5:40 p.m. PST
Watch: Padres.TV
Location: Petco Park – San Diego, Calif.
Listen: 97.3 The Fan
Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.
Sign up for a user account and get:
The San Francisco Giants are set to face the Tampa Bay Rays this afternoon, and the hope is that they can start to turn around a miserable road trip, though they’re fast running out of time. San Francisco has lost the first four games of the six-game swing, and that underscores how bad it’s been: two of the losses have been shutouts, and the other two were walk-off losses after blowing ninth-inning leads.
In other words: please win today.
Thankfully, the Giants have the best guy for the job, as right-handed pitcher Landen Roupp will take the mound. Roupp has been the Giants best pitcher (and player, I’d argue) through the first month of the season, and through six starts is 5-1 with a 2.55 ERA, a 2.77 FIP, and 37 strikeouts against 14 walks in 35.1 innings. In his last start, against the Miami Marlins, Roupp gave up three earned runs, but went 7.2 innings deep.
The Rays, on the other hand, are opting for an opener, as right-handed reliever Griffin Jax will kick things off for Tampa. Jax has had a rough go of it in 12 appearances this year, as he’s 1-2 with a 6.35 ERA, a 6.58 FIP, and 12 strikeouts against eight walks in 11.1 innings. It will be interesting to see how long Jax pitches, as he told reporters that he is beginning a transition to a starting role. In his last game, which was his first start/open of the year, he went a season-high 2.1 innings. The bulk of the innings, however, are expected to be eaten by righty Jesse Scholtens, who in four games this year is 2-1 with a 3.20 ERA, a 4.26 FIP, and 14 strikeouts against six walks in 19.2 innings.
Enjoy the game, everyone! Go Giants!
Sign up for a user account and get:
Giants
RHP. Landen Roupp
Rays
RHP. Griffin Jax
Who: San Francisco Giants (13-19) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (19-12)
Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
When: 3:10 p.m. PT
Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area
National broadcast: n/a
Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM
The Mariners made a surprising move to bolster their bullpen today, calling up right-handed reliever Nick Davila from Double-A Arkansas. In a corresponding move, LHP Josh Simpson – who was just summoned yesterday from Triple-A – was returned to Tacoma. The Mariners roster is now full at 40 players.
If you’re not familiar with Davila’s name, that’s understandable, although Davila is a long-tenured Mariners minor-leaguer; he’s been cropping up in our MiLB round-ups as far back as 2023, when we said the then-24-year-old Davila was “old for the level” at High-A. Davila has stuck around, though, and saw significant action this spring with the big-league club this spring with many players away at the WBC, often being used as a clean-up man after another reliever had made a mess of things.
My blurb for Davila in the NRIs article this spring said this:
The Mariners re-signed Davila, 27, to a minor-league contract this off-season with an invitation to spring training, which is why he’s here. Davila is more of a contact manager than a strikeout artist, a tough fit as a reliever; he also got a little walk-happy in Arkansas this year, which is a problem that will have to be tamped down.
So far, so good on that front. Davila has been serving as Arkansas’ closer this year, and so far over nine innings pitched he’s amassed two saves and 10 strikeouts to just one walk. Davila’s primary weapon is a sweeper that he pairs with a sinker, which doesn’t lead to a ton of strikeouts but does get hitters to put the ball on the ground.
Davila, who spent one season at USF after transferring from Hillsborough CC, was originally signed by the Tigers as an undrafted free agent back in July of 2020 and spent 2021-22 in the Detroit organization before coming to Seattle as a minor league free-agent signing in 2023. When and if he makes an appearance for the Mariners, it will mark the Mariners’ second debut of the season.