Category: Baseball

The home run drought is over, and it only took facing one of the shakiest pitching staffs in baseball for it to happen, as the Dodgers thoroughly outhit Houston in an 8-3 win. It was a win with the particularly sweet taste of seeing Kyle Tucker leave the yard in his old stomping grounds, hitting one out to right field, a place he patrolled for so many years.

Although Tucker had his home run, the first of them—the one that broke the streak—came from an unlikely source. It was Alex Freeland who left the park in the second inning, then tying the game at 2-2 after an eventful first inning in which the offense failed to capitalize on a pop fly from Tucker that dropped for an RBI single, ultimately seeing Andy Pages strand the bases loaded against Ryan Weiss. Set to be the bulk man after Steven Okert dealt with the big bad lefties in the Dodgers lineup, Weiss came in already with a big mess in the first—although he got out of it unscathed, the rest of his performance gave the Dodgers the ideal platform for a badly needed slugfest for a team that hadn’t had one of those away from home since they visited the Rockies a couple of weeks ago.

A Shohei Ohtani walk followed Freeland’s home run in the second, and he was driven in on an RBI double from Smith, then giving the Dodgers a 3-2 lead. The big damage, though, came in the following inning with a four-run spot. By the time Freddie Freeman hit a two-run single, all nine of the Dodgers’ hitters had reached base at least once, signaling a complete performance from top to bottom. In the middle of that complete performance, it’s impossible not to highlight Freeland’s reaching base safely in four of his five plate appearances with three hits and a walk.

Almost used to the idea of not a lot of run support, Yamamoto took advantage of the eight runs his offense scored and delivered yet another terrific outing, especially for a pitcher who had as much trouble as he did in the first inning, in which Houston scored two. Yordan Alvarez lived up to his outstanding reputation and track record early this season with multiple hits, but beyond him, Yamamoto kept the home bats in check outside a Zach Cole home run in the fifth, finishing six innings with three runs allowed and eight strikeouts.

It would’ve been nice to see Ohtani sprinkle in a hit and end this, what is now a 0-for-17 run, but the MVP can only do so much when he’s not really given much to hit. At the end of the day, the two walks he earned both led to runs and played an important role in this offensive outburst.

Following Yamamoto, the bullpen was dominant, earning eight of their nine outs via strikeout, with a scoreless inning each from Kyle Hurt, Blake Treinen, and Jack Dreyer, the latter two striking out the side.

Game particulars

• Home runs— Alex Freeland (2), Kyle Tucker (4), Zach Cole (1)
• WP— Yoshinobu Yamamoto (3-2): 6 IP, 5 hits, 3 earned runs, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts
• LP— Ryan Weiss (0-3): 4.1 IP, 8 hits, 7 runs, 6 earned runs, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts

Up next

The National League Pitcher of the Month in April gets the starting assignment against Peter Lambert, as Shohei Ohtani will also look to keep the offensive momentum going—Dave Roberts has already said that Ohtani will start and hit in Tuesday’s matchup with the Astros. The start time is exactly the same, at 5:10 p.m. (PT).

In losing five-of-eight games, starting with the split against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Mexico City, the San Diego Padres had their first losing streak since the first week of the season. Coming home from Mexico, without a day off to recover, the Padres played six games against the Chicago teams. Losing both series 1-2, the Padres showed a sagging bullpen and an anemic offense most of the time.

You won’t catch the players or the manager using altitude or fatigue as an excuse. They won’t even use the flu that affected Fernando Tatis Jr. for most of the week. Fans are not likely to use those reasons to excuse some of the poor play, poor pitching or lack of offense. Maybe it’s just baseball but the Padres have to figure this out and get better quickly.

Luckily, the beleaguered San Francisco Giants are up next on the schedule. If the Friars don’t play better and score more runs for the next three games then we can discuss having a real problem.

A couple highlights from an otherwise forgettable week:

• Mason Miller, who had his scoreless streak broken by the Cubs with an assist from the umpires, won March/April Reliever of the Month for the NL. His 10 saves, 1.17 ERA, 29 strikeouts, three hits allowed and .118 average against far outpaced anyone else in the NL.
• The Padres sale to José E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones was officially announced on Saturday. It is expected the sale will become final at the next MLB owner’s meeting in early June, unless they hold a virtual vote before then. Feliciano/Jones will reportedly own approximately 40% of the team with other partners investing. Both Dennis Lin of The Athletic and Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Alfredo Harp Helú, as well as multiple members of the Seidler family, will retain ownership stakes.
• Griffin Canning made his Padres debut and helped pitch the Friars to a victory over the White Sox in the final game of the series, salvaging a game after losing four in a row. The Padres called him up to replace Germán Márquez, who was placed on the injured list. Randy Vasquez was pushed back a day in his normal spot in the rotation.
• The Padres sit at 20-13 and are 0.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.

Injuries and owies

Both Manny Machado and Miguel Andujar had limited playing time during the eight games with Machado experiencing cramping in his left calf and missing a game and used as DH in another. This required Jake Cronenworth to play third base for the first time since his inaugural season with the Padres. Normally, Miguel Andujar would have replaced Machado but he was held out of a couple games with hamstring tightness.

David Morgan has battled command issues recently and was sent to El Paso when Jeremiah Estrada was called up after his IL stint. In his 15 days away from the team, Estrada gained weight and strength as well as allowing the inflammation to subside in his throwing arm. His velocity was back to normal on his return.

Tatis Jr. does not have an injury, but he has played the better part of the home stand with the flu. He was given an off day on Sunday.

Márquez experienced tingling in his pitching arm in his last couple starts (per Mark Grant in the Padres broadcast on Sunday) and was placed on the IL as a precaution in hopes that some rest and rehab will improve his results.

Griffin Canning adds a sinker

In 2025, before his injury, Canning featured six pitches and used his four-seam fastball and slider most predominantly. He was obviously working on some things during his time with Triple-A El Paso but was needed by the Padres and didn’t get to his goal of 70-80 pitches before being called up.

In his first start as a Padre, Canning used four pitches in his five innings of work. He struck out seven and had a ground ball rate of 55.6%. His 51.6% ground ball rate last year was the highest of his career, and it seems he is doubling down on that strategy.

Canning used his changeup 34% and his four-seam fastball 33% of the time in his start against the White Sox. In his 73 pitches, he mixed in his slider 26% of the time and then flashed a sinker 7%. Canning has not thrown a sinker since 2024. He also never threw his cutter, curve or sweeper (according to StatCast) in his outing on Sunday.

It will be interesting to see what pitch mix is utilized going forward and whether he mixes all seven pitches he throws into his future starts.

Lucas Giolito

The Padres have until May 16 to get Giolito ready to join the Padres rotation. He has made two starts with the Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm with seven innings pitched. He has allowed seven hits and five runs with four walks and 10 strikeouts. His command was improved in the last start versus the first. The most telling factor regarding his lack of Spring Training reps is that his fastball is sitting 89-92 and he normally rides in the 93-94 mph range.

Building arm strength and endurance will be the goals for his remaining time in the minor leagues, attempting to replace a normal Spring Training with two more starts against minor league hitters. It has not been stated whether he will complete his progression with Lake Elsinore.

Yuki Matsui

The Padres either have to reinstate Matsui on today or get his permission to keep him in the minor leagues. He has completed all the goals of his rehab. He has 12.2 innings and a 4.97 ERA with 14 strikeouts and three walks. He has pitched back-to-back games and multiple innings.

Sad offense

Jackson Merrill is hitting .211, Jake Cronenworth is hitting .147, Freddy Fermin is hitting .170 and Nick Castellanos is hitting .164. The Padres’ two best hitters, Miguel Andujar and Luis Campusano, don’t play fulltime. Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts are tied for the team lead in home runs with five each. Bogaerts, Ramon Laureano and Machado each have 18 RBI to lead the Friars.

The Padres rank 23rd in batting average (.234), 25th in OPS (.686), 23rd in home runs (31) and 22nd in slug (.379). It isn’t sustainable to keep a winning record with the offense struggling this way. Oh, and Tatis Jr. still doesn’t have a home run.

Bullpen struggles

In the last two weeks, the Padres bullpen has dropped from being the fourth best in baseball to being the 14th. The ERA has slid from 2.95 to 4.01. Adrian Morejon is still being hit hard at times and even Mason Miller gave up some hits and a run.

The starting staff has slipped from 18th (4.18) to 21st (4.54) in that same time. Overall, the pitching staff is ranked 18th with a 4.30 ERA.

Today is “May the Fourth (be with you)” aka Star Wars Day.

In honor of this very important holiday, I have a Star Wars-themed question for you all tonight: Which baseball player’s name sounds most like a Star Wars character?

Since the Mets are in town, I think I’ll go with Bo Bichette. Tarik Skubal might be a close second.

But are there others? And do you think they’d be a Jedi, a Sith, or something else within the Star Wars universe?

Let us know in the comments!

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

Box Score

Jackson Chourio shined bright in his season debut with four hits, including two doubles and a walk. Unfortunately for the young superstar, the rest of the Brewers lineup could not come through with the clutch hit when they needed it most, stranding 12 runners on base. Most painfully, the Crew had the tying run up to the plate in the top of the sixth and seventh innings.

We were able to see Chourio right out of the gate in the top of the first inning. He watched the first couple of pitches in his at-bat and then on his first swing of the 2026 season, he doubled to left-center field, ultimately being stranded at second base to end the inning.

St. Louis flocked to the base paths early and often against Brewers starter Chad Patrick, as they had at least two runners on in the first three innings. In the bottom of the second inning, former top prospect for the Cardinals, JJ Wetherholt, put his team on top early with a base hit into center field to give them a 1-0 lead.

Patrick struggled to string together consistent outs, as the Cardinals were patient at the plate. In the bottom of the fourth inning, the patience paid off as Iván Herrera doubled with the bases loaded to extend the Cards’ lead to 4-0. That would be the end of the day for Patrick, as for the first time in his career, he was pulled before completing the fourth inning of a start.

Thankfully for the Brewers, their bullpen was well rested, only having used two arms the day prior. DL Hall entered from the bullpen, where he settled in and threw 1 1/3 innings with a pair of strikeouts.

The bottom of the fourth inning featured a scary moment for Andrew Vaughn and Brewers fans alike, as in his return to the diamond, he was hit in the hand – the same hand that he broke his hamate bone, which landed him on the IL. Thankfully, he was able to shake it off and take first base.

Historically, Cardinals right-hander Kyle Leahy has always pitched well against the Brewers. Although most of his starts have come in bullpen appearances, as in 8 1/3 innings that he has pitched in, seven of those have been scoreless innings. Tonight, it was more of the same for Leahy as he threw 5 1/3 innings, allowing just one run and striking out five. The Brewers were able to collect six hits, but clutch pitching prevented them from having any big innings.

It took until the top of the sixth inning for the Crew to crack the scoring column, as Luis Rengifo singled to left field to drive in the team’s first run of the ballgame. Following that RBI base hit, the Brewers would have the tying run at the plate in two of the next three innings, unable to score any runs.

St. Louis tacked on a couple of big insurance runs in the later innings, and it proved to be big as the Brewers’ offense came to life in the top of the ninth inning. Chourio collected his fourth hit of the game with one out, doubling to center field to tie his career high for hits in a game. Brice Turang then came through with a two-run home run to cut the deficit down to just three.

Following the long ball, William Contreras singled. Then, another scary moment for the Brewers’ lineup took place. Tyler Black hit a ground ball where he beat out the return throw to avoid the double play. As he crossed first base, he tripped and hit the ground hard. Slow to get up, he was able to stay in the game and run the bases.

The rally ended there, though, as the Brewers dropped game one by a score of 6-3. Coming up with hits while having runners on continues to be a weak point for this offense. On the bright side of things, the Crew have Chourio and Vaughn back. We already saw what the addition of Chourio has done, and his productivity has historically spread among the others in the lineup. This team is getting healthier, and a better offense is soon to come.

The Brewers will look to build on top of Chourio’s success and even up the series tomorrow night against the second-best team in the National League Central. First pitch is 6:45 p.m.

On Jac’s blazing bat bobblehead night, the Royals were jolted with a little bit of power. They hit two home runs and just barely missed a third in a game that was a joy to watch.

It didn’t start like that though. Both offenses looked off in the first few innings. The game moved at a blistering pace; I thought for a little bit that the game might be over before my kids’ 8pm bedtime (yes yes that wouldn’t happen, I know). It seemed like every plate appearance was a first/second pitch popup for both teams. I blinked and it was the fourth inning already. Good thing I did not blink again, as the Royals bats woke up then. I could use some eyedrops now, maybe. Blinking is important.

In that fourth inning, Bobby Witt Jr opened the scoring with a home run. He got an 86mph cutter at or above the top of the zone. Honestly..might have been called a ball had he not swung. But, he made himself tall and put the ball into the Hall of Fame stands. Beautiful. The Royals weren’t done.

Right after, Vinnie Pasquantino took another upper-zone pitch off the right field fence. He missed a homer by a few feet. The next batter, Salvador Perez, hit a grounder dead up the middle, and the second baseman was in position to make the play. Maybe he blinked – the ball went right through his legs under his glove. Upon replay, we could see that the ball bounced off the base. The spin did not seem to change all that much; the guy’s glove was *right there*. The ball just snuck under the glove. Vinnie scored on the flub to make it 2-2.

Jensen followed with a single and Lane Thomas walked to load the bases with no outs. At that point, I got worried the RISP issues would show up again. Cags and Collins both struck out with no more runs scored. With two outs, Nick Loftin put a grounder perfectly between the third baseman and shortstop for a single. Perez scored easily, and then Carter Jensen rounded third. Steven Kwan made a great throw, and initially Jensen was called out. The Royals challenged, and it was quite clear Jensen was safe. A good slide, keeping his toes down to touch the plate right as he reached it. As in, he did not touch the plate in the middle; he touched right at the corner. That made the score 4-2.

Later on, Jac made his presence known on his blazing bat bobblehead night. He got an up-and-in fastball that he somehow managed to pull, and pull it he did. It was a moonshot past the right field bullpen. Then we got a little bit of manufactured scoring. Bobby reached first on a throwing error from Brayan Rocchio, advanced to second on a wild pitch, stole third, and scored on a Pasquantino single.

I’ve made it nearly 500 words without saying ANYTHING about Michael Wacha. It is time.

Wacha was a machine. He made basically one mistake to David Fry, a meaty cutter that caught too much of the plate. That led to a two-run homer. But then Wacha set down 16 of the next 17 guys. He allowed just one walk in that stretch before David Fry came up again in the 7th inning and hit a single. Angel Martínez followed by roping a double into the right field corner, but Fry was not able to score on it. After a mound visit from Brian Sweeney, Wacha got a lineout to prevent any runs from scoring.

Wacha’s changeup looked like it was working really well. There were several instances against left-handed hitters where he threw it against their shoulder and it ended up crossing the middle of the plate. Guys buckled up against it; he was pounding the edges. The camera view, in my opinion, didn’t quite do justice to the pitch.

As a result, Wacha was wildly efficient. He threw 60 pitches in only 6 innings! He had to throw 19 more to get through that little blip in the 7th inning. Overall, 79 pitches in 7 innings with only two runs allowed on the Fry homer. Four hits allowed. I’ll take that every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Matt Strahm and Alex Lange mowed down the hitters in the 8th and 9th innings.

It was fun to watch. That’s kind of it. That was a really fun game! I love fun baseball games!

Let’s do it again tomorrow!

The St. Louis Cardinals got a strong start from Kyle Leahy and the offense came through when it mattered as they beat their NL Central rival Brewers 6-3 Monday night at Busch Stadium.

The Cardinals offense executed excellent situational hitting early as Masyn Winn walked in the bottom of the 2nd inning. After Nathan Church flied out and Pedro Pagés struck out, Victor Scott II singled advancing Winn to third base and then JJ Wetherholt came up clutch by lancing a single into right-center driving in Winn and giving St. Louis a 1-0 lead.

St. Louis would threaten (and follow thru on that threat) in the bottom of the 4th inning when Nathan Church ripped a double. Pedro Pagés walked and Victor Scott II sacrificed advancing both runners to second and third. Victor, by the way, had 2 hits in addition to his sacrifice bunt. A good night for VSII. The Milwaukee Brewers then made the fateful decision to intentionally walk JJ Wetherholt loading the bases for Ivan Herrera. He promptly unloaded them giving the Cardinals a 4-0 lead.

Kyle Leahy had nasty stuff Monday night (in a good way for the Cardinals) throwing 5 1/3 innings of shutout ball. Unfortunately, he would get into trouble in the top of the 6th inning walking Bauer then surrendering a one-out single to Frelick putting runners and first and third. Oli Marmol brought in George Soriano who gave up a single to Rengifo driving in a run attributed to Leahy making it 4-1 St. Louis. Fortunately, Soriano would get out of the inning with no further damage striking out Hamilton and getting Mitchell to fly out to left. Kyle Leahy’s final stat line was solid allowing only 6 hits, 1 earned run and 5 strikeouts with 2 walks over his 5 1/3 innings. George Soriano and JoJo Romero did a respectable job in relief navigating through singles and walks, but not allowing any further Brewers runs.

The Cardinals would fortunately not be content with their 3-run lead by adding to it in the bottom of the 7th inning. Jordan Walker walked, Nolan Gorman singled and then Masyn Winn came through with a sharp single into right-center scoring Walker, but Gorman was caught adventuring too far past second base which helped contribute to extinguishing the rally as Nathan Church popped out to short to end the inning, but the St. Louis 4-run lead was restored as it was 5-1 Cardinals.

Get this. Ryne Stanek through a 7-pitch top of the 8th inning shutting the Brewers down 1-2-3. That normally wouldn’t be news, but lately that’s a non-typical result. Ryne sure does have nasty stuff that makes him difficult to deal with when he’s on. This is the version of Stanek we’d like to see more often if the Cardinals are willing to accept requests.

The relentless 2026 St. Louis Cardinals showed up again Monday night as Victor Scott II ripped a double into left-center. He was then driven in by super-rookie JJ Wetherholt who had another multi-hit game giving St. Louis a comfortable 6-1 lead. I love watching this team. This is seriously fun.

Gordon Graceffo, who was kind enough to hang out on our podcast this week, was brought in to close out Milwaukee and unfortunately gave up a double to Jackson Churrio and then a 414 foot 2-run homer to Turang cutting into the Cardinals lead 6-3. After Contreras followed that with a screaming single to center, Oli Marmol reluctantly brought in Riley O’Brien to shut down the Brewers which he fortunately did. On his first pitch to Tyler Black, he got him to ground out in a force out to second base, but he got a slight knee in the back covering first barely missing a double play. Riley got Vaughn to fly out to Jordan Walker to close out the game and give the Cardinals the victory.

Congrats to Oli Marmol who tied Miller Huggins for 11th on the all-time St. Louis Cardinals manager win list with Monday night’s victory.

The Cardinals will try to pile on the Brewers Tuesday night as Andre Pallante will start game 2 against Milwaukee as Brandon Sproat will take the mound for the Brewers. First pitch scheduled for 6:45pm central time at Busch Stadium.

The Red Sox won 5-4 on Monday night after two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal was scratched for surgery (boo), the game time was moved up to 6:10 (yay?) and the Justin Bieber to all of my Detroit friend fans (a sizeable faction, randomly), Kevin McGonigle did not play. So things were going well and all but I still cannot not think of the Simpsons at every turn when I hear that dude’s name. And so:

I’m working through it.

Anyhow, back to our sense of hope. This goes a coupla directions for me tonight. One, Peyton Tolle was so good that the opposing team’s announcers were in awe. He’s a dude. Relatedly, two, I listened to the home team’s announcers. That’s Jason Benetti’s crew. This is like winning the lottery on a night like tonight, for reasons explained below. It was like a revival, or like living in an alternate universe. The joy for the game exploded off the screen, and the fact that the game lived to the environment to them is a testament to how good baseball can be. Which is much easier to say because the Sox won. But they did. Which means overthinking things feels good.

I’m not gonna tick-tock what happened in this space any more because you can get that anywhere else. Here is what it felt like: Very fucking cool! A potentially dangerous thunderstorm was bearing down so they started early to avoid it and neither avoided it nor were in danger. It’s weather, so them’s the breaks. And while Skubes was out, Tolle wasn’t, and he was so good that Benetti and co — the opposing announcers — were or just sounded believably in awe. Maybe they’re just good at it, or maybe you just realize how effective the “maybe it’s Maybelline” ads were, or maybe they were telling the truth.

The game was scoreless until the Tigers got 2 runs in the bottom of the 6th, which visibly bothered Tolle, who was neither at fault nor ultimately had anything to for which to apologize anyway. In the top of the 7th the Sox plated 5 runs, 3 of them on a home run by Jarren Duran, apparently unshaken by being traded twice in my dynasty league in 2 hours, the first time from me. He really can hit it when he’s right tho. Masa and Wilmer also came up big. The Tigers cut it to 5-4 but that was as close as they got.

To me, that wasn’t the story. The game was delayed 28 minutes by rain, and I got to watch the Benetti feed. They fielded questions like favorite board game, food, etc, so I just happened to be watching as all this happened, below. It’s lovely. You can enjoy it as well:

Maybe I wouldn’t care if this wasn’t on the night John Sterling, the Yankees’ singularly bombastic passed away, probably the last true performer in the booth, literally by decades. But as everything got corporatized (derogatory) he became corporatized (complimentary.) When I told Yankees fans, like the most dyed-in-the-w0ol types, that I said he seemed happiest reading ads they all agreed. A friend who loved him more than about anyone texted today that “His hearse will be driven…by jeep,” and I think he’d have loved that.

He’d been a welcome anachronism and eventually wiped away all traces of cynicism for anyone without hate in their hearts and finished the indoctrination. Yes, it took time: I’ve had him for more than 25 years on local radio and all I can tell you sisters and brothers he is ultimately more fun to laugh both at and with than hate. He loved something about baseball, and pomp, and the use of time. Benetti understands it better than anyone right now, and that he does it in a way that’s 180 degrees away from Sterling is why we love this sport. It takes all kinds. The only common thread is how much we know they love it. We know when it’s real.

Not long after a pregame ceremony to honor the late John Sterling, Aaron Judge delivered another tribute: a Judgian blast.

By the end of the night, with some late piling on — including a six-run eighth inning — and an effective enough Cam Schlittler, the Yankees were able to reprise Sterling’s most iconic line over the stadium’s speakers:

Ballgame over! Yankees win! Thuuuuuuh Yankees win!

Judge’s two-run shot in the bottom of the first inning set the tone for the night as the Yankees went on to finish off a four-game sweep of the Orioles with a 12-1 win Monday night in front of 36,802 in The Bronx.

On a day that began with news of Sterling’s death at the age of 87, the Yankees (24-11) paid homage to their longtime legendary radio voice — who was well known for his home run calls — as Judge immediately crushed his 14th homer of the season off right-hander Shane Baz.

And it was high, it was far, it was gone.

“[I was] just thinking of his call,” Judge said of his trip around the bases. “Definitely seeing that tribute hit home, because he loved the Yankees. He loved this team, he loved this franchise, he loved the fans, he loved everybody he talked to on a nightly basis. So to do that there in the first, I was chuckling around the bases thinking about what he was probably saying.”

Both Judge and manager Aaron Boone said they would be in favor of Sterling’s “Yankees win” call continuing after wins at home.

“I would love it, right on into Frank [Sinatra],” Boone said. “I loved when they first started doing that [after Sterling retired in 2024], so it was really good to hear.”

Trent Grisham also drilled a pair of doubles and came around to score both times while Schlittler limited the Orioles (15-20) to just one run across 5 ²/₃ innings as the Yankees won for the 14th time in their last 16 games.

Across the four-game sweep, the Yankees boat-raced the Orioles by a combined score of 39-10.

The Yankees blew the doors off the game in the eighth inning off Lou Trivino, including a two-run single from Judge and a two-run triple from Cody Bellinger to turn it into a laugher.

Judge finished the night 2-for-4 with an intentional walk and four RBIs.

While the captain had not exactly gotten red-hot through the first month of the season, he continued to supply the power, and now may be doing both.

Judge has homered in back-to-back games, five of his last eight and 11 of his last 21 — now on pace for 65 home runs through 35 games — while batting 11-for-25 (.440) with a 1.563 OPS over his last seven games.

Schlittler, whose four-seam fastball averaged 99.6 mph, up 2 mph from his season average after discovering a mechanical tweak in between starts, had some trouble harnessing that velocity as he issued a season-high three walks.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

That included to the final two batters he faced, the last one forcing in a run with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth inning, making it a 3-1 game.

But Jake Bird came in from the bullpen and — after being hit for a pitch clock violation before he threw a pitch — struck out Jeremiah Jackson to leave the bases loaded.

“It’s frustrating,” Schlittler said. “I get on myself for the walks, it’s something you can control. Obviously Birdie’s able to come in there and bail me out. That’s a huge momentum shift for us. Just got to work on that and try not to collapse there in the sixth inning.”

Grisham, whose underlying metrics have suggested he has been better than his surface numbers would indicate, was rewarded Monday and sparked a pair of early rallies.

He doubled into the gap before Judge homered in the bottom of the first, then doubled into the gap again with one out in the third, took third base on a bad throw in and scored on Bellinger’s sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.

The center fielder also added a strong catch to start the sixth inning — just before Schlittler got into trouble — tracking down a fly ball on the warning track before banging into the wall.

I don’t know how much the loss of John Sterling affected the Yankees’ players on the field, but his spirit was certainly palpable in all other forms of the game. Tributes were paid to the iconic broadcaster multiple times, with a touching pregame ceremony and other moments highlighting Sterling’s career and humanity. Perhaps most fitting of all, the Yankees did what Sterling would have wanted most: winning big and sweeping a series. New York completed the four-game rout of the Baltimore Orioles, 12-1.

True to form, Aaron Judge clubbed his 91st first-inning home run, and Sterling’s old radio partner Michael Kay, who seemed to be on the verge of tears just about all night, called it perfectly:

Judge’s blast broke a tie with Albert Belle and moved into another one at 71st on the all-time home run list at 382, even with three outstanding sluggers in their own right: Ryan Howard, Frank Howard, and Hall of Famer Jim Rice.

I actually didn’t think that Yankees starter Cam Schlittler pitched all that well, showing some of the weaker control in his young MLB career. In particular he was falling off hard to the first base side, harder than he normally does. This is often a byproduct of inconsistent mechanics — in essence, your body is out of whack with its normal rhythm. The first inning saw Schlittler slinging 101 with ease the way we have gotten used to, but beyond that it seemed much more work than normal. More inconsistent mechanics don’t necessarily mean you lose velocity, but the three walks to four strikeouts underlines how much more effort Cam needed tonight.

Schlittler got into three jams in 5.2 innings, twice engineering timely double plays to avoid damage, then finally walking in Baltimore’s lone run facing his final batter. Jake Bird made what I think might be the single best pitch of his career to keep the damage at just one, and save Schlittler from what could have been a very ugly line:

With regards to Cam, these things happen to everyone, and certainly to pitchers with 21 MLB starts under their belt. What’s encouraging to me is two things — one, if I can see the mechanical inconsistency, the development team that’s helped get Cam as good as he is now should be able to, and two, he’s been able to adjust between starts a lot in his young career. I expect he’ll be much better next time through the rotation.

After the O’s made it 3-1, the Yankees were able to respond in kind. With two men in scoring position, Shane Baz spiked a ball and Jasson Domínguez was able to scamper home, with the run confirmed on review:

Ryan McMahon tacked on another run with a single, and José Caballero justified the Yankees’ decision to option Anthony Volpe to Triple-A:

All of the sudden the Yankees had a five run lead, and we were all breathing just a little bit easier.

As an aside every Yankee pitcher had some kind of problem with their PitchCom today and I must bring back what I think a very important rule change should be: You get one PitchCom an inning. If it works, great. If it breaks, you have to use old-school signs until you get back into the dugout. There are few things more ludicrous than a trio of grown men staring into an MLB dugout with sad puppydog eyes because their talking PS5 controller’s battery died.

Old friend Lou Trivino was smacked around in the eighth inning in what was his Oriole debut. The Yankees put up a six spot on the right-hander, with all four guys atop the order having run-scoring hits, the biggest one a Cody Bellinger triple that brought in a pair. With a 12-1 lead, it was a pretty easy assignment for Paul Blackburn to close out the game, and the series, and the sweep.

The Yankees are now 24-11 with a +76 run differential; both are still the best marks in the AL. They welcome in the Texas Rangers to the Bronx tomorrow for a three-game set, a rematch of last week’s series in Arlington that saw New York take two of three. One of those wins came against the man tapped to start for the Rangers, Jacob deGrom, while the loss was in the MLB debut of Elmer Rodríguez, who will go for the Yankees. Something’s gotta give this time around, and first pitch from the Bronx will come at 7:05pm Eastern.

Box Score

The Yankees got on the board early and didn't look back, beating the Baltimore Orioles 12-1 on Monday night to complete the four-game sweep.

Here are the key takeaways...

-- New York's bats came to play in the first inning as Trent Grisham doubled and Aaron Judge hit one "high, far, and gone" for his 14th home run of the season, giving the Yanks an early 2-0 lead. In honor of legendary broadcaster John Sterling, who passed away on Monday, Michael Kay called the slugger's sixth first-inning HR of the season a "Judgian blast."

-- Grisham stayed hot in the third innin with another double to the wall and advanced to third on a throwing error. Shane Baz wanted no part of Judge for a second time, intentionally walking the slugger, but let up a sac fly to Cody Bellinger as the Yanks took a 3-0 lead.

-- Cam Schlittler came out firing, throwing the three fastest pitches of his career (101.3 mph, 101.1 mph, and 101 mph) for a scoreless first inning, including a strikeout of Dylan Beavers. The right-hander kept it going in the second, hitting 101.1 mph on the gun again during the four-batter frame with one walk.

Schlittler got hit in the back of the knee on a comebacker in the third inning, as Blaze Alexander reached first safely. Aaron Boone and a team trainer came out to check on him, but he remained in the game. After Gunnar Henderson singled, New York's defense stepped up to help Schlittler with a 4-6-3 double play. He then won a nine-pitch battle against Beavers with a 101.2 mph heater, his fifth 101-plus mph pitch of the night.

The fifth inning was nearly a duplicate of the fourth, as Schlittler let up back-to-back singles and got a double play. This time, he closed it out on a flyout. Schlittler loaded the bases in the sixth inning with two outs, and after a mound visit with pitching coach Matt Blake, walked in a run to end his night, up 3-1. Jake Bird came through with a big strike out against Jeremiah Jackson for the third out.

-- After reaching base for a third time in the fifth inning, Grisham showed his defensive skills in the top of the sixth inning with a nice running catch on Adley Rutschman's fly ball. It was McMahon's turn to pull off a web gem in the seventh inning, snagging a Beavers' line drive for the third out.

-- Jasson Dominguez was ruled out trying to score from third base on a passed ball in the sixth inning, but the replay showed otherwise, and New York won the challenge to make it a 4-1 game. Ryan McMahon pushed the lead to 5-1 with an RBI single to left field, scoring Jazz Chisholm Jr. from third base and knocking Baz out of the game. José Caballero kept the foot on the gas, ripping a double off the left field wall to put NY up 6-1.

-- New York blew it open in the bottom of the eighth inning against former Yankee Lou Trivino, scoring six runs to go up 12-1. Grisham picked up an RBI on a bases loaded walk, Judge drove in another on a single, Bellinger cleared the bases with a three-run triple, and Dominguez added another on a single.

Game MVP: Cam Schlittler

Schlittler dominated for most of the night, tossing 95 pitches (59 strikes) over 5.2 IP, allowing seven hits, and striking out four with three walks. He threw 21 pitches that clocked in at 100 mph or more, per Statcast.

Highlights

Michael Kay and Suzyn Waldman lay flowers at home plate to honor John Sterling 💙🤍 pic.twitter.com/fKZzduAQwU

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 4, 2026

IT IS HIGH, IT IS FAR, IT IS GONE!

Aaron Judge with a Judgian blast! pic.twitter.com/HxzrxJuGLZ

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 4, 2026

Jake Bird gets out of the jam and he’s PUMPED pic.twitter.com/vvTHPAAFlx

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 5, 2026

After review…Jasson Dominguez is safe! pic.twitter.com/vhCZ9MfHsq

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 5, 2026

After review…Jasson Dominguez is safe! pic.twitter.com/vhCZ9MfHsq

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 5, 2026

Jose Caballero makes it 6-1 with an RBI double off the wall! pic.twitter.com/XTN1L4Tyl1

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 5, 2026

RYAN MCMAHON WOW pic.twitter.com/L6KIHKYWvN

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 5, 2026

Aaron Judge drives in two more! Yankees lead 9-1! pic.twitter.com/kfaiwBcKLR

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 5, 2026

Cody Bellinger triple! 11-1 Yankees! pic.twitter.com/xnsgi8YSwB

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 5, 2026

Jasson Dominguez tacks on another! It’s 12-1 Yankees! pic.twitter.com/SFmPqiOTFV

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 5, 2026

Upcoming Schedule

The Yankees stay home and will begin a three-game series against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.

Elmer Rodríguez (0-1, 4.50 ERA) will make his second big league start and face two-time NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom (2-1, 2.01 ERA).

They say it’s very hard to sweep a four-game series in baseball. But they must not have watched the 2026 Orioles.

In an inevitable result, the Yanks completed the sweep of the Orioles with a 12-1 win in the finale. Aaron Judge’s first-inning homer dug the O’s a hole from which they never escaped, with yet more defensive blundering and overwhelming offensive futility in RBI situations compounding the Orioles’ woes.

The Birds’ four-game jaunt to Yankee Stadium was, simply put, an embarrassment. The O’s were outscored by at least five runs in every game. They never held a lead at any point. Their defense was terrible, their pitching was worse, and their offense failed to show up time and time again. They were utterly outclassed at every turn, to the point that they looked like they weren’t even playing the same sport as the Yankees.

Other than that, though, everything is fine.

What’s there to say about a game that was essentially over in the first inning? Shane Baz was the latest O’s starting pitcher to simply not get the job done, and it started immediately when Trent Grisham led off the Yankees’ first with a double before Aaron Judge crushed a booming, two-run homer to right-center. Sigh. That happened, by the way, after Judge took a 2-2 pitch that was practically right down the middle, only to be called ball three, and Adley Rutschman failed to challenge it. I know you don’t generally want to risk losing a challenge in the first inning, but on a pitch that’s so obviously in the zone with Aaron Judge at the plate, I feel like it’s worth the gamble. Instead, it was 2-0 Yankees after just two batters.

There’s no shame in a pitcher being victimized by Aaron Judge, but it’s not as if Baz was good otherwise. He labored through his 5.2 innings and was tagged for six runs (five earned) while issuing a season-worst five walks. Seven starts into his O’s career, his ERA is just a hair shy of five (4.99). When exactly do we get to see the ace-caliber starter the Orioles thought they were trading for?

As usual, lousy defense cost the Orioles a run. On a Grisham double in the third, Leody Taveras lollipopped a bad throw from center field that Gunnar Henderson failed to corral, an equally sloppy play by both fielders. That allowed Grisham to advance to third, where he later scored on a sac fly. I dream that someday the O’s will play a clean defensive game. It probably won’t happen this season, but maybe someday.

You wouldn’t think a 3-0 deficit would be insurmountable, especially since the O’s collected their fair share of hits against Yankees pitching, but with the Orioles, no amount of failure is unachievable. The flamethrowing Cam Schlittler was pumping 100-mph fastballs into the zone with frequency but the O’s managed a baserunner against him in almost every inning. They just couldn’t capitalize once those runners were on base. The third and fifth innings were particularly painful, with the O’s putting the first two runners on base in both instance, only to ground into a rally-killing double play each time (Adley Rutschman first, then Blaze Alexander).

Even when the Orioles finally scratched across their first run, on a Colton Cowser bases-loaded walk in the sixth, they blew a chance at a big inning when Jeremiah Jackson struck out to strand three. At that point the O’s were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

If there were any doubt, the Yankees put the game away in the sixth with three more runs, set up by two Baz walks followed by a run-scoring wild pitch, a Ryan McMahon RBI single, and a José Caballero double off Yennier Cano.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Orioles debuted newly signed reliever Lou Trivino, a 34-year-old with six years of MLB experience. Let’s just say that Lou fits right into this Orioles team. He was bludgeoned for six runs, four hits, and three walks in two-thirds of an inning, an outing so unspeakably atrocious that he had to be replaced by a position player, Weston Wilson. That Mike Elias sure can pick ’em! I can think of no more fitting way for this series to have ended.

The Yankees put the Orioles out of their misery with a quick top of the ninth. That ended the short-term humiliation of these four days at Yankee Stadium. But the long-term humiliation of these 2026 Orioles, sadly, has only just begun.

The announcers who shared a booth with the great John Sterling, and the players and manager who became the main actors in his theatrical telling of the game, arrived at Yankee Stadium on Monday to celebrate a life well lived, and lived only the way one man could.

Sterling, the legendary and longtime radio voice of the Yankees, died Monday morning at the age of 87, giving way to a day of tributes and remembrances around the Yankees for the play-by-play man who became a fabric of the franchise.

“There is no one like him, and there never will be,” Suzyn Waldman said Monday morning. “He was totally unique and was an original.”

“The thing that comes to mind is one of one,” Michael Kay said.

“A giant in the sport, did it his own way,” manager Aaron Boone said. 

“He brought that New York theater to the ballpark,” said Aaron Judge, he of the many “Judgian blasts” that Sterling called. “He brought this game to life on the radio.”

The Yankees honored Sterling with a ceremony before their game against the Orioles, which included a video, and Waldman and Kay — his most notable partners in the broadcast booth — laying flowers on home plate ahead of a moment of silence.

Every Yankee had the initials “JS” on the back of their caps, above the MLB logo, honoring the man who called 5,426 regular-season Yankee games and 225 more in the playoffs from 1989-2024.

And the Bleacher Creatures finished their roll call with chants of “John Sterling!”

With his iconic calls — from “Thuuuuuuh Yankees win!” to unique home run calls for each player — Sterling’s voice will remain part of Yankees lore.

So, too, will the character that he was.

“The best way to describe John, to me, is he looked at life like this one big cocktail party,” said Kay, who was Sterling’s radio partner from 1992-2001. “He wanted everybody around him and everybody he was around to be having fun.”

Sterling in the booth was the same as Sterling in everyday life, said Waldman, who described him as an “older brother.”

The two sat next to each other on the Yankees team bus since he arrived in 1989 and then shared the WFAN booth from 2005-2024, giving Waldman an appreciation for what Sterling meant to the generations of fans for whom he called the game.

“He was doing Yankee games for Yankee fans,” Waldman said. “He knew who was out there. They loved the references to Broadway shows and things in New York. This was a broadcast for New Yorkers, and people loved him for that. He described things in a way nobody else did.” 

“He was their childhood, he was their summers. I hear it from ballplayers that grew up in New York.”

Sterling was also a family man, so proud of his four children who were his “biggest accomplishment,” Waldman said.

Sterling, who suffered a heart attack in January, was looking forward to walking his oldest daughter, Abigail, down the aisle for her wedding in June.

“They were the love of his life, were his children and the New York Yankees,” Waldman said.

“He was very emotional about a lot of things,” Kay added, “but when it came to his kids, that was his whole world.”

Waldman’s favorite memory in the booth with Sterling came in 2011, when Derek Jeter recorded his 3,000th career hit and Sterling nailed the call with tears streaming down his face.

They had known Jeter since he was 18 years old and Sterling called every single one of his hits on the way to 3,000, as part of the 5,060 consecutive games he called from 1989-2019.

One iconic moment that Sterling did not call was Boone’s walk-off home run against the Red Sox in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS, which Charley Steiner was on the microphone for in extra innings. 

But when Boone was later working for ESPN, he revealed Monday, Waldman handed him a tape from Sterling in which he made his own call of the historic moment.

“Which is so John,” Boone said, smiling at the thought. 

Boone has also taken on the tradition of channeling his inner Sterling after every Yankees win.

As soon as the final out is made, the manager lets out to no one in particular, “Ballgame over! Yankees win! Thuuuuuuugh Yankees win!”

“I loved his calls, I love it,” Boone said. “It’s a sad day, but what a life and what an amazing character John was.”

Judge, meanwhile, said he listened again Monday to Sterling’s call of his record-breaking 62nd home run in 2022.

The captain’s parents, especially his mom, Patty, would often listen to Sterling and Waldman — more affectionately known as John and Suzyn — while working in the yard, he said.

“John meant so much to us as Yankee fans,” Judge said, “but also baseball fans, just the way he described the game, the beauty he brought to it.”

The Guardians lost a baseball game today.

David Fry hit a two-run homer. Travis Bazzana had another hit and scored on that homer. Angel Martinez had a double and a walk and Fry added another hit. Other than that… bupkis. I can go the rest of my life and not see the Guardians look pathetic against Michael Wacha again and I’ll be a happy man.

Tanner Bibee was good… except for one absolutely dreadful inning. In the fourth, he gave up a leadoff home run to Bobby Witt Jr, then a double to Vinnie Pasquantino, then a single to Salvador Perez that will likely later be changed to an error on Travis Bazzana. Bazzana just plain missed it. Through the wickets. Yikes. Then a single to Carter Jensen and a walk to Lane Thomas. And, after all that, Bibee almost escaped with the game tied but an 86 mph groundball snuck through the infield and he had surrendered four runs.

After I staked my claim that I think Matt Festa and Connor Brogdon are better pitchers than Peyton Pallette, Pallette looked electric today and Festa gave up a bomb to Jac Caglianone and Brogdon gave up a run after a Rocchio error.

Bleach. Got a find a way to win these next two because I do not want to be trying to win that last game on Thursday against Seth Lugo who is even worse to face for the Guardians than Wacha. The Royals have won 8 out of 10. The Guardians… have not. And are back at .500. Tomorrow is another day.

Just a few hours after designating backup catcher Jonah Heim for assignment, the Atlanta Braves announced a trade to the Athletics in exchange for cash considerations.

With catcher Sean Murphy ready to be activated from the IL, it was Heim who found himself as the man left out from the 26-man roster.

There was discussion the club could opt to keep Heim around and carry three catchers, especially with Drake Baldwin and Murphy expected to play nearly every day, but given the injured state of the outfield, the Braves had no choice but to part with the veteran catcher.

Heim did a fine job in backup duty of Baldwin over the past month, hitting .231/.311/.410 (99 wRC+) across 45 plate appearances. In case of an injury to Baldwin or Murphy in the weeks to come, the club would likely call upon Chadwick Tromp, who is currently in Triple-A Gwinnett, to serve as the backup catcher.

On a day in which some big, dark, looming injury news was made, some big, dark, looming clouds — literal, not metaphorical — hung over downtown Detroit.

Eventually, those clouds caused a rain delay, but after dodging the drops, the Tigers dropped the opening contest of their three-game home series against the Red Sox, 5-4. It was a somewhat unexpected pitchers’ duel early, but a disastrous outing from the Tiger bullpen erased a slim lead and was their ultimate downfall.

In case you haven’t heard, Tarik Skubal is going to have surgery for “loose bodies” in his left elbow, which is definitely his more important one. So, taking his place for the latest edition of Pitching Chaos was Tyler Holton, who also started Sunday night, going two-thirds of an inning against the Rangers. The planned bulk-guy tonight was call-up Ty Madden, who missed all of 2025 and had made five starts for Toledo so far this season.

Facing the Tigers was left-hander Payton Tolle; at press time, it had not been determined whether or not he is related to German self-help author Eckhart Tolle. Like Madden, Tolle (Payton, not Eckhart) started the season in Triple-A; he had a handful of appearances with the Red Sox in 2025 and did decently well. Unlike Madden, Tolle played some first base and outfield in college, and appeared as a designated hitter fairly often, clubbing a baker’s dozen home runs in 2023.

Holton had a little traffic on the basepaths as he completed the first inning and then hit the showers. Madden started the second and had a fairly uneventful second inning before getting into a bit of a jam in the third: Zack Short handled an Andruw Monasterio grounder at shortstop, but bounced the throw to first base that Spencer Torkelson couldn’t handle.

Jarren Duran singled to put runners on the corners with none out, and Duran stole second to put a pair of runners into scoring position. But then Willson Contreras struck out, Masataka Yoshida hit a grounder to first and Torkelson threw home to easily get Monasterio, who was running on contact, and Trevor Story struck out swinging. Nice work, Ty!

Tolle, meanwhile, was mowing down Tiger hitters like Jack Leiter was on Sunday night; like Leiter, Tolle retired the first twelve Detroit batsmen. But also like on Sunday night, the spell was broken by an extra-base hit in the fifth: Riley Greene hit a leadoff double. He advanced to third with a one-out Wenceel Perez grounder, but was stranded 90 feet (136 links) from home after Hao-Yu Lee struck out to end the inning.

The Red Sox got two runners on in the top of the sixth as well, through a pair of infield singles to third base. But with two outs, Madden froze Marcelo Mayer on a four-seamer on the outer half of the plate for strike three, and with the rain coming down a little harder, that was likely going to be the end of Madden’s night.

The bottom of the sixth saw the Tigers get on the board in a mostly-empty stadium as fans were told to find cover as inclement weather was about to hit the area (although, perplexingly, the players played on): Colt Keith was nicked by a pitch to lead off, and Jahmai Jones walked to put a pair on. Boston catcher Carlos Nárvaez tried to fire to first to back-pick Jones, but he threw it over Contreras’ head and both runners advanced a base.

Matt Vierling hit a broken-bat bouncer to third; Monasterio’s throw home, from his rear end, was wild and both Keith and Jones scored on the play to put the Tigers up 2-0 without a hit in the inning.

Madden did depart after the end of the sixth, and Ricky Vanasco took over. Madden’s final line: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K.

That’s pretty nice, and definitely nicer than the giant egg Vanasco then proceeded to lay: walk, single, home run, and after a double and a single (including a misplayed fly ball by Pérez), it was 4-2 for Boston and Enmanuel De Jesus had to try to clean up the mess. De Jesus didn’t really fare much better, as Boston tacked on another run with three straight hits for a 5-2 lead.

The rain intensified after one pitch was thrown in the top of the eighth; roughly half an hour later, play resumed and De Jesus seemed to have righted the ship, with a pair of strikeouts and a groundout.

But at least the Tigers narrowed the gap in the bottom of the eighth: a single and a walk sandwiched around a pair of outs put two runners on, and a Dillon Dingler double scored both of ‘em to make it a 5-4 game.

Kenley Jansen, who was on the shelf with a groin/abdomen issue (but didn’t officially join the IL), came on for the top of the ninth. Jansen’s issues lately have been well-documented, so was a bit of rest going to produce results? Well, after a strikeout and a walk, Ceddanne Rafaela hit a liner to Short at short who easily threw to first to double-off Wilyer Abreu, who was running on the pitch; that ended the inning.

Very cautious optimism shall be exercised regarding Jansen going forward.

Another closer who’s been around a block or two, Aroldis Chapman, came into a one-run game. The Tigers couldn’t get anything going against him, and that was that.

Final score: Red Sox 5, Tigers 4

Notes, Reminders and Observances

• It was pointed out in the comments that the Injured List Tigers could field a pretty darn good team: a six-man rotation of Skubal, Verlander, Mize, Olson, Melton and Jobe; a bullpen of Vest, Brieske, Seabold, Miller and Horn; in various places on the field, you’ve got Báez, Sweeney, McKinstry and Meadows. My goodness.
• If you’re Canadian, don’t forget to fill out the census! I got my notice in the mail today. You can fill it out online. Statistics are important.
• On this day in 1886, the Haymarket Affair happened: it was a labour demonstration in Chicago in support of an eight-hour workday. Someone decided to throw a bomb at the police, who returned fire and killed four civilians, and seven police officers died in the melée. I mean, I don’t know much about public gatherings, but throwing a bomb seems like it’s way out of line.