Baseball News
SP: Tobias Myers (RHP)
SP: Eury Pérez (RHP)
First pitch: 7:10 PM EDT
TV: WPIX
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2
It’s been pouring all day in the greater Baltimore area, but it appears we’re going to attempt to play baseball tonight, because the public won’t rest until they get to see two teams that are a combined 20 games under .500 do battle. People all around the country are hosting their Orioles/Tigers watch parties, and we wouldn’t want to disappoint them.
Tonight’s game is airing exclusively on Apple TV+, with no local MASN broadcast. So if you don’t have Apple TV+, you have a convenient excuse to not watch the Orioles play. And even if you do have Apple TV+, you should probably just check out some of their original programming instead of watching this awful team. May I recommend Loot? Maya Rudolph is a delight.
But if you’re a glutton for punishment who insists on tuning in tonight, you’ll see the O’s take on a team that’s doing even worse than them. The Tigers, who have been in the playoffs the past two seasons, have collapsed to a 20-31 record and are currently sitting in last place in the AL Central. Their offense has disappointed and their pitching staff has been beset by injuries. Sound familiar? Check out Mark Brown’s series preview to learn more about this weekend’s Orioles opponent.
This is a series that the O’s absolutely need to win if they’re going to start climbing out of the massive hole they’ve dug themselves. Of course, no Orioles fan should feel at all confident that they’ll actually do so. The O’s are facing former Orioles bust Jack Flaherty, who is currently 0-5 with a 5.77 ERA. So of course he’s going to deliver a quality start against the O’s. You can pretty much etch it in stone.
The Birds will use Keegan Akin as an opener for the second time this year, letting him face the Tigers’ top lefty hitters — Kevin McGonigle and Riley Greene — before Chris Bassitt comes in as the bulk reliever. That combination worked excellently on Mother’s Day, when Akin tossed a perfect first inning against the Athletics before Bassitt went six strong frames and allowed just one run. It’s worth doing again, and hopefully the results will be much the same.
Orioles lineup:
LF Taylor Ward
SS Gunnar Henderson
C Adley Rutschman
1B Pete Alonso
DH Samuel Basallo
CF Leody Taveras
RF Colton Cowser
3B Coby Mayo
2B Jackson Holliday
LHP Keegan Akin
Tigers lineup:
SS Kevin McGonigle
C Dillon Dingler
DH Jahmai Jones
LF Riley Greene
1B Spencer Torkelson
CF Wenceel Pérez
RF Zach McKinstry
3B Gage Workman
2B Hao-Yu Lee
RHP Jack Flaherty
The Nats offense just could not get going yesterday, which was a rare occurrence. That led to a 2-1 loss against the Mets, with the Nats settling for a split of the four game series. Now the boys head to Atlanta to face a Braves team that has been baseball’s best this season.
The Nats are making some adjustments with a righty on the mound. Luis Garcia Jr. will return to first base. One adjustment they won’t make is at third base. Despite a righty being on the mound, Curtis Mead will get the start at third base. Drew Millas will get the nod behind the plate in this one. James Wood will DH and Daylen Lile will return to right field. Richard Lovelady will open for Miles Mikolas.
Other than the Nats, the Braves have scored the most runs in baseball. While Drake Baldwin is out, Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris are big threats in the middle of the lineup. Dominic Smith will start at DH, and he has been great for the Braves this season. Former Nat Sandy Leon will start behind the plate with the Braves top 2 catchers both being hurt. The resurgent Bryce Elder will be on the hill.
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Game Info:
Stadium: Truist Park
Time: 7:15 PM EST
TV: Nationals.TV
Radio: 106.7 The Fan
Some bad weather will be looming this weekend in Atlanta, but hopefully it can hold up long enough for these teams to play. The Braves and Nats are two of the most explosive offenses in the league, so this should be a fun matchup. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats.
Go Rays!
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Weather-permitting, the Guardians’ lineup is:
The Phillies’ lineup is:
Let’s go, Guardians!
The New York Yankees are 4.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the best record in both the AL East and the American League writ large. This weekend, they have a golden chance to cut down that deficit, facing them in a three-game series in the Bronx. New York split a four-game set with the Toronto Blue Jays, losing the last two and scoring the grand total of one run between the two games. If the Yanks are going to get closer to the Rays, they are going to need their offense to step up.
Gerrit Cole will be making his 2026 debut tonight, after wrapping up his rehab from Tommy John surgery performed last spring. He completed a long rehab assignment that included six starts across High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A, posting a 4.66 ERA in 29 innings. His most recent outing came in Scranton and included 5.1 strong frames in which he conceded a single run on six hits and a walk, with six punchouts. Cole threw 86 pitches in his most recent rehab outing, hitting 99.6 mph on the radar gun.
Cole will be facing Nick Martinez, a newcomer to the Rays who has put up a brilliant 1.51 ERA in nine starts and 53.2 innings. He has been pitching to contact, but things have gotten a bit extreme as he has just 35 strikeouts this year. If the Yankees can work some deep counts, they might be able to force some mistakes. They will need to be patient, though.
It’s also a perfect opportunity for team captain and three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge to show some signs of life. He has only one hit, a single, in his last five games, covering 21 plate appearances. More concerning is Austin Wells, who has had a nightmare 2026 to date. His middling-at-best .688 OPS from the end of April is almost a dream compared to the .111/.184/.111 showing he’s had thus far in May, walking just four times and delivering zero extra-base hits. Since fellow backstop J.C. Escarra isn’t hitting either, the Yankees just have to roll the dice with one of them on a given night and hope for the best. Wells has just 3 hits in his last 37 at-bats, with 18 strikeouts.
Prior to the game, the Yanks reinstated José Caballero from the injured list in addition to Cole. He is in the lineup for Friday’s opener, batting seventh and playing shortstop with Anthony Volpe on the bench. Trent Grisham is leading off after his knee injury scare, followed by Judge, Ben Rice, Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Caballero, Ryan McMahon, and Wells.
How to watch
Location: Yankee Stadium – Bronx, NY
First pitch: 7:05 pm ET
TV broadcast/Streaming: YES Network, Rays.TV
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280, WDAE 95.7 FM, WQBN/1300AM
Streaming: Rays.TV, MLB.tv (out-of-market only)
For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.
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I could just post this here and end this recap and every single one of you would understand exactly what the problem is with the Chicago Cubs.
But you come here for a game recap and you shall have one, even though you probably won’t like it.
The Cubs lost to the Astros 4-2 and honestly, with that many runners on base and that many chances to score with runners in scoring position, they really should have scored six or seven runs and won easily.
Not on this day, though.
The Cubs, in fact, had RISP in the very first inning, when Alex Bregman singled with two out and Ian Happ doubled him to third. But nope, Seiya Suzuki grounded out. The Cubs didn’t have another hit until the fifth, though they loaded the bases with nobody out on a walk by Nico Hoerner followed by two hit batters (Michael Busch and Bregman).
Nope again, Happ struck out, Suzuki popped up and Michael Conforto grounded out.
The Astros, then, had a 4-0 lead on Jameson Taillon by the fifth and it wasn’t all his fault. I want to call particular attention to this sequence in Houston’s two-run fourth. They’ve got runners on first and second with one out and Cam Smith hit a ground ball to Dansby Swanson:
The ball bounced high in the air and as you can see, Swanson tried for a force at second, but was way too late. Then he couldn’t get Smith at first so both runners are safe. Had he just thrown to first, he would have retired Smith and, presuming the next play goes as it did (not guaranteed, of course), that was another ground ball that would have ended the inning. Instead, that force play scored a run and then Christian Vázquez singled in the second run of the inning.
Little stuff like that drives me crazy.
The Cubs again had two runners on in the fifth, nothing doing.
They finally broke through in the sixth after Houston starter Spencer Arrighetti was lifted, Miguel Amaya was sent up to bat for Conforto and singled.
One out later, Pete Crow-Armstrong lofted this long home run to right field [VIDEO].
PCA had himself a good day at the plate, good to see after his, uh, eventful week. He also walked twice and went to third on a missed pickoff throw — only to be, as you could have figured, stranded.
Oh, and that home run? It went a long way [VIDEO].
The home run also broke a 1-for-15 streak for PCA.
Cubs relievers did a nice job in this one. Hoby Milner did give up a single that scored a run charged to Taillon, but after that Ethan Roberts, Jacob Webb and Phil Maton threw four scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks and striking out five. Roberts, in particular, has thrown really well since returning from the injured list and I think he’s rapidly moving up on Craig Counsell’s circle of trust list.
The Cubs had another good chance in the eighth. With two out, Carson Kelly was hit by a pitch and PCA drew his second walk. Swanson hit a ground ball to short that was thrown wide by Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña and was safe, loading the bases.
Sigh. Nico hit into an inning-ending fielder’s choice.
In the ninth, Dansby made a play at short that’s worth watching [VIDEO].
Granted, there’s a catcher running but he’s probably 15 feet into left field and made a perfect, accurate throw to first and got Vázquez by a full step. Great defense from Swanson.
The Cubs went down 1-2-3 in the ninth, sparing us more RISP failure. Gallows humor there, a bit, but seriously, the Cubs had tons of chances in this game and cashed in on exactly zero of them. That will have to change to break this losing streak, which has now reached six games.
A couple of game notes from BCB’s JohnW53:
The Cubs had not lost a sixth consecutive game since July 13, 2022, when they were beaten at home by the Orioles, 7-1, after having dropped four in a row on the road to the Dodgers, then the opener to the Orioles, 4-2.
They lost their next three as well, at home to the Mets, before snapping a nine-game skid with a 3-2 win on July 17.
…..
The Cubs are hitless in their last 11 at bats with a runner in scoring position, since Seiya Suzuki’s infield single in the eighth inning Tuesday.They are 2 for 27 since Monday, 4 for 42 since Sunday and 7 for 78 in their last 10 games, beginning May 9.
The last part of that sums up the issues with this team’s offense. They’re getting plenty of runners on base and into scoring position and just… failing.
The Cubs will try to break the losing streak Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Colin Rea will start for the Cubs and Kai-Wei Teng starts for Houston. Game time is again 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
The Red Sox have not had the start they hoped for, at 22-27. Why? Is God finally sick of Red Sox fans?
No ruling that out, but Keagan Stiefel at OTM has a more prosaic answer; the Sox just aren’t hitting. As of Monday they were 27th in total bases, and 29th in both OPS and homers. That’s partially some unfortunate roster moves, that’s partially some guys being less effective than usual. But the team still has a decent pitching staff, so maybe they just need the bats to “come around.” Facing three pitchers not named Joe Ryan this weekend is a good opportunity to do just that. And, BTW, as of Monday, BRef still had the team at a 36.7% chance to make the postseason; they had the Twins at 8.0%.
Their starter today is 6’6” Payton Tolle, still considered a rookie after appearing in a few games late last season. He throws upwards of 96 MPH with a hard sinker, cutter, curve and change; right now his speedy stuff is his best. His profile pic looks freakishly like Nick Offerman.
After last week I highlighted a The Guardian story about a Wisconsin man who Got Bit By Thousands Of Snakes On Purpose, here’s a The Guardian story about a Wisconsin man who’s trying to do something less wacky. Journalist/comedian Charlie Berens is trying to organize communities to push back against massive government giveaways to AI datacenter projects.
The story’s well worth reading, even if it should be three times longer with a ton more detail. (It should be a ProPublica story, in other words.) Do you know what TIF (tax-increment financing) is? I do, but only because I’ve been following Neil deMause’s reporting on stadium subsidies for years; this article is not clear about it. (TIF is, essentially, a scheme where companies are given huge subsidies on the expected economic growth their projects will deliver to a community. Most of the time, they don’t deliver as hoped, or anywhere even close.)
In any case, I wish Mr. Berens and the people trying to resist this stuff the best of luck. I hate many, many things about our world, but if you forced me to narrow it to a top four or five, AI would be right up there. I hate it with pure fury. I hate it all the more because many people love it. Why? Because they are stupid morons. Seriously, if anybody you know likes AI, don’t trust that person to feed your fish when you’re on vacation, much less watch your dog. They are dangerously dumb.
To wit, deMause sharedthis horrible website with hideous AI-generated images of what every MLB team’s stadium should look like if it represented the TEAM’S SOUL. Here’s their ideal Twins stadium:
I guess I’m stealing this image without our site paying that site anything to use it. Oh No! Except that all of AI steals the work of artists and writers and doesn’t pay them anything.
Forget how all the relative sizes of humans are deeply wrong, the bridge is angled backwards (and there aren’t any other bridges), there’s no bullpens, the trees are massively f***ed up, etc. Ignore these things. (It’s what deMause calls “vaportecture.”) Just pay attention to how stupidly ugly this is.
I guarantee you more than 50% of sports team owners think images like this are nifty and wonder “how can I get public financing for an awesome stadium like that!”
And a non-zero percentage of them will get public money for this bullhonky, too. Sigh.
In unrelated news, I was recently trying to look up an old tawnyfroggy post about Big Ed Delahanty recently, for another conversation I was having with another person, not baseball-related. I found the post, here it is. If you don’t know who Big Ed Delahanty was, he was a old-timey (pre-Ruth) baseball slugger who also drank too much, and at one point fell (jumped?) off a train bridge into the middle of the Niagara River about two minutes upstream from the falls. It didn’t end well for Big Ed.
(When I have conversations with friends & associates, I randomly refer to Weird Internet S**t I remember about dead baseball players or 1930s movies nobody has seen, alright? It’s how I do.)
Anyhoo, the thing that struck me about tawny’s post is it’s still on this site… but the byline is gone. It’s by “blank.”
I suppose that’s the fate of all of us who write on the InterWebs, in the end, isn’t it? To be a “by: blank.”
But maybe a phrase or two we use will be recycled in AI! Immortality right there, baby.
And if you clicked on this post wanting Nick Punto content because of the homepage image, here ya go.
These teams honestly could be twins this seasons…almost identical records, not great offenses, stuck in weird places. Still, these Minnesota Twins shouldn’t be taken lightly, as the funniest man on the team takes the mound for the Sox tonight! Welcome to the long weekend for Memorial Day!
⚾️ First Pitch: 7:10pm — Fenway Park, Boston, MA
📺 TV: NESN
📻 Radio: WEEI
With the news of Jonah Tong’s promotion to the Mets on Friday came the decision to designate veteran reliever Craig Kimbrel for assignment.
Kimbrel did not make the Opening Day roster, but the right-hander had been with the team for more than a month since he got called up on April 11.
In 14 appearances for New York, Kimbrel pitched to a 6.00 ERA (1.47 WHIP), but aside from two poor outings against the Minnesota Twins and Colorado Rockies in which he allowed three runs and four runs, respectively, Kimbrel pitched well for the Mets. In fact, the 37-year-old didn't allow an earned run in 10 of his 14 appearances, often pitching in the middle to later innings of close games.
Kimbrel's last outing on Wednesday against the Washington Nationals was the longest of his Hall of Fame career when he pitched 2.2 innings to help save New York's overworked bullpen. Unfortunately for Kimbrel, he faltered in that final inning and gave up a two-run home run that put Washington out of reach for good in that game.
Still, manager Carlos Mendoza has nothing but respect for the former closer for his willingness to pitch in any role that was asked of him this season.
"Super tough," Mendoza said when asked how hard it was to break the news to Kimbrel. "But that’s what makes him who he is. Not only what he’s been able to do on the field, but off the field – the person, the human. He understood, he was very professional, but it wasn’t an easy one for me and David [Stearns] when we talked to him last night.
"But again, such a pro. We appreciate [him], nothing but respect, wishing him the best. [We'll] see what happens here as he goes through waivers and we’ll go from there, but it wasn’t an easy one there."
Mendoza didn't close the door on the possibility of Kimbrel coming back to New York and is even hoping he clears waivers so he can maintain in the organization. However, the skipper is aware of the very real possibility that that may not happen, given Kimbrel's experience and track record.
"We like being selfish here, we like to keep him around, but also understanding that there might be some options for him out there, especially with the way he’s been throwing the ball as of late," Mendoza said. "What he was able to do for us the other day, going three ups -- something that he’s never done throughout his career -- and he felt good, bounced back well."
Once an elite closer for the Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox, with spurts for the San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros, Kimbrel has been in the league for 17 seasons and owns a 2.65 ERA with 440 saves.
He was able to impart his knowledge and wisdom to his teammates in New York, starting all the way in the spring when the Mets signed him to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training.
"Just how he goes about his business, understanding situations, his ability to pose just that mentality overall," Mendoza said. "From the very first day in spring training, he had a huge impact on the guys here."
Now that Tong is back in the majors, the question is how the Mets will utilize their young pitcher.
The answer, at least for now, appears to be out of the bullpen.
"He’s, as of right now, part of the bullpen," Mendoza said. "Could be a long reliever, depends on how the game goes, but yeah, for today, tomorrow he’s part of the bullpen."
Tong will likely see game action on Friday when New York begins a three-game series with the Miami Marlins because Tobias Myers is getting the start (in what was normally Clay Holmes' spot in the rotation), but is capped at around 35-40 pitches.
Speaking of Myers, who has been excellent for the Mets (3.41 ERA) in various roles out of the bullpen this season, the right-hander will not be stretched out into a full-time starter -- something he has experience doing in his career.
"I don’t think this is gonna be one where we try to stretch him out," Mendoza said. "He’s been huge for us in the bullpen and he’ll continue to be a big part back there. So just happen to be today that we’re giving him the start, but I don’t anticipate trying to stretch him out."
Location: Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON
Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet
Pitching Matchup: Bubba Chandler (1-5, 5.14 ERA) vs. Kevin Gausman (3-3, 3.45 ERA)
The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the road today against the Toronto Blue Jays looking to grab a win.
Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.
BD community, this is your thread for today’s game. Enjoy!
Ahead of Friday night's series opener against the AL East division-leading Tampa Bay Rays, Yankees manager Aaron Boone fielded questions from the press on a variety of hot topics.
Boone began his news conference talking about Gerrit Cole, who will return to the mound for tonight's game against the Tampa Bay Rays for the first time in 569 days.
"We're all really excited to get our ace back...he's ready to perform at a high level...get outs at a high rate."
With the reinstatement of Jose Caballero to the starting lineup tonight, Boone said he is "excited to get [Caballero] back in there at shortstop today to hopefully provide that spark."
He then broke down his strategy in terms of managing both surging shortstops - the aforementioned Caballero and Anthony Volpe - at his disposal moving forward.
"I've talked to both guys...both guys are going to play...[Caballero's] versatility comes into play," Boone said. "These things have a way of working themselves out. We have two players that we feel can play vital roles in us winning games."
However, Boone did acknowledge "it's not going to be the perfect scenario every single day."
"On the days [Volpe] is not playing, I'll have him working a little bit at second base... he has played some second base in the past, at spring training."
Looking past the three-game home stand against Tampa Bay, Boone also expressed a desire to reduce the workload of star outfielders Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge.
"We've got some lefties coming up in Kansas City... I want to give Bellinger a DH day at some point," Boone said. "I want to give Judge a day off at some point."
On Judge's recent struggles at the plate, Boone dismissed any concerns for the Yankees captain. He stated that during these slumps, he is always impressed by Judge's "emotional consistency...it's a grind, even for the great ones...he's as good as I've ever seen."
Boone also reflected on the team's decision to send Spencer Jones back down to Triple-A, explaining that "it was a really tough decision... it was a good experience for [Jones], even though he didn't get a lot of results, I feel like he held his own really well... was having some good at-bats."
Finally, the news conference ended with some brief updates from the manager on the rehab status of Jasson Dominguez and Giancarlo Stanton.
Boone expects to see Dominguez back in the fold "by the time we're at the back end of the [upcoming road trip, meaning in Sacramento against the Athletics] or at home [starting Tuesday, June 2 against Cleveland]... that's the hope, and that's how he's trending."
Meanwhile, in regard to Stanton's status, Boone simply stated that "[Stanton] is getting an exam again early next week...we'll go from there."
This was a tough series for the San Diego Padres. Not because their offense couldn’t put together runs in the finale. Not just because it was against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. It was tough for all those reasons and more. But what made it tough was how demoralizing it felt.
The Friars seemed to lose the fight that has marked the beginning of this season. They’ll need to find it again to claw back to first in the National League West. Wednesday night’s loss brought the Padres a game and a half back from first.
They’ll face a young Athletics offense that has struggled as of late. A good performance this weekend against the AL West club would be incredibly encouraging for the Friars.
The lefty Springs has had a solid 2026 with the A’s, pitching to a modest 3.93 ERA across 55 innings. His last few games have been serviceable, surrendering seven runs across a combined 16 1/3 innings.
His underlying statistics suggest that he’s been the subject of some bad luck, though not much. His 3.57 xERA is half a run less than his actual ERA. That suggests some luck with batted balls, but not enough to particularly matter.
Buehler was actually pretty great in his last start. He pitched five innings and allowed two runs to the Seattle Mariners. In doing so, Buehler lowered his ERA to 5.01 and his ERA over his last seven games has been an even-lower 4.15 mark.
Much of his success came from hitting his stride in his knuckle curve. That pitch has been his most inconsistent, but when it’s working there’s no better option for the righty. Buehler will have to pitch to keep his spot on the roster with Germán Márquez continuing to work his way back from injury.
The Friars’ offense continued to slump this week against L.A., while the contributors managed to show up a bit. Miguel Andujar homered twice in what’s been a productive week. But Gavin Sheets went cold after putting up a .625 batting average last week. San Diego will need those guys to get it going again this weekend.
Tatis has become the everyday second baseman without any real options outside of Sung-Mun Song to play the position. He’s been solid in his return to the infield, so Tatis seems to be it for now.
With Jackson Merrill exiting the game on Wednesday after tweaking his back, it seems likely the Padres’ outfield will look slightly different in the series opener today. Laureano has played some center and swings a much better bat than bench outfielder Johnson but the Friars have opted to go with the latter to give Merrill a day off.
With the Friars down, 3-0, for most of the game, the club used their low-leverage relievers to get through the final 4 2/3 innings. Wandy Peralta covered 1 2/3 innings, Yuki Matsui 1 1/3 and Ron Marinaccio 1 2/3 innings. The only blemish came in Marinaccio surrendering a home run to Teoscar Hernández.
But, apart from that, the taxed bullpen got a day to rest with the off day on Thursday. That should mean that most, if not all, of the relievers are available. But the primary options will be Jason Adam, Jeremiah Estrada, Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon and Bradgley Rodriguez.
Spencer Arrighetti continued to put up zeros and battery mate Christian Vazquez drove in a pair as the Houston Astros (21-31) slipped past the Chicago Cubs (29-22) 4-2 at Wrigley Field.
Arrighetti did not get deep in this game, but he did throw 5 innings of shutout ball in earning his 6th win in 7 starts this year. He lowered his ERA to 1.32. He allowed 2 hits, 4 walks and struck out 5. He also hit 2 batters, with one of them being Alex Bregman.
Christian Vazquez got things started with a solo HR in the 3rd off Cubs starter Jameson Taillon (L, 2-4). Vazquez also had an RBI single in the 4th, which followed an RBI groundout by Zach Cole to give the Astros a 3-0 lead.
Brice Matthews laced an RBI single in the 5th for the Astros fourth run. The Astros would get 4 earned runs off Taillon today in 4.2 IP, on 8 hits and a walk. Taillon struck out 5.
The Cubs made it interesting in the 6th when Pete Crow-Armstrong drove a 2-run homer to right off Steven Okert. The one-out blast chased Okert from the game in favor of Enyel de los Santos, who gave the Astros 5 clean outs to get them to the eighth.
Bryan Abreu came on in the 8th, and got the first 2 outs before getting into trouble. He hit Carson Kelly and then walked Pete Crow-Armstrong, which led to manager Joe Espada summoning Bryan King.
Abreu’s fastball velocity continues to be well below his norms from past seasons, and he used it sparingly. His fastballs registered 92.4 MPH, 93 MPH, 92.7 MPH, 94.6 MPH. He threw 14 pitches, including 10 sliders. He only threw 6 pitches for strikes.
King escaped the inning, working around an error by SS Jeremy Pena, without allowing a run to score. He then pitched a 1-2-3 9th for his 5th save.
The Astros look to claim the series tomorrow with RHP Kai-Wei Teng (2-3, 2.61) vs. the Cubs RHP Colin Rea (4-2, 4.98). Game time 1:20 pm.
The Brewers are coming off quite a high, as earlier this week they swept their biggest division rival, the Cubs, and moved back into first place in the NL Central. This weekend, they’ll look to keep the momentum going as they face off with the NL West-leading Dodgers in a rematch of last year’s National League Championship Series. (Check out Harrison’s series preview here.) In game one of this three-game series, the Brewers will send Logan Henderson to the mound to face off with lefty Justin Wrobleski.
Henderson is having another good season in 2026 after he impressed in five major league starts in 2025. He’s been especially good since rejoining the Brewers’ rotation in May. After a spot start in early April didn’t go especially well, Henderson went back to the minors, but since returning on May 3, he’s got a 2.81 ERA in three starts (16 innings) and an eye-catching 20:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. In his most recent outing, Henderson picked up a win and went five innings, allowed one run on six hits while striking out seven and walking one.
Wrobleski is having a sort of bizarre season. The results are good: he’s 6-1 with a 2.49 ERA. But Wrobleski is striking out batters at an alarmingly low clip; with 27 strikeouts in 50 2/3 innings, he’s averaging just 4.8 strikeouts per nine innings, a number that would be good if it were the 1930s. The major league evidence we have suggests that Wrobleski isn’t much of a strikeout pitcher as a starter — in 2024, when six of his eight appearances were starts, he averaged 6.4 strikeouts per nine. What’s a bit confusing about it, though, is that when he was mostly relieving in 2025, he averaged a solid 10.3 K/9. In any case, don’t expect many strikeouts tonight, as the Brewers are one of the better teams at not striking out regardless of who they’re facing. Wrobleski also recently had one of the stranger outings I can think of in recent times: on May 10, he threw 8 2/3 innings, but in a game in which he allowed seven runs, all earned. He threw only 100 pitches, but it’s still not something you see every day.
The big news out of Milwaukee this evening: The Brewers are using a lineup they’ve used already this season, which ends a streak of 47 consecutive unique lineups to start the year. Pat Murphy, for what it’s worth, claims he was unaware:
The lineup is the same as it was on Monday, and it worked then: that’s the game in which the Brewers put eight runs on Shota Imanaga and won 9-3. This lineup includes Christian Yelich at DH, an outfield of Jake Bauers, Jackson Chourio, and Sal Frelick and an infield that goes Luis Rengifo, Joey Ortiz, Brice Turang, and Andrew Vaughn from left to right. William Contreras is behind the plate. The Dodgers, as they tend to do these days, boast at least three and maybe four Hall of Famers at the top of their lineup with Shohei Ohtani followed by Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Kyle Tucker. The back of their lineup includes Andy Pages, Max Muncy, Teoscar Hernández, Dalton Rushing, and Hyeseong Kim.
A brief note of good news from the minors: Luis Peña starts a rehab assignment in Arizona today.
First pitch in Milwaukee is at 6:40 p.m. on Brewers TV and the Brewers Radio Network!