Category: Baseball

It’s another night here at BCB After Dark: the grooviest dive for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and sit with us for a while. There’s no cover charge. The dress code is casual. We still have a few good tables. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

Last night I asked you if the Cubs should sign catcher Carson Kelly to a two-year extension. The slight majority of you thought it was a good idea, as 51 percent of you said yes. Thirty-one percent were against it and the rest of you were “If he’ll sign for cheap,”

On Tuesdays I don’t do movie stuff, but I’m sure I can find some music in here somewhere.

International Jazz Day is April 30 and it’s almost here. As mentioned before, Chicago is the host city of this day that we all celebrate the most American of art forms. Here’s a piece from International Jazz Day in 2023 featuring pianist Emmet Cohen and vocalist Cyrille Aimée. Joining them are Philip Norris on bass and John Lumpkin. This is Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner jazz standard “Almost Like Being in Love.”

Feel free to sing along if you want.

Welcome back to those who skip all that jazz.

Last night we got to see Moisés Ballesteros start behind the plate for the first time this year. At the plate, he was great with his first career grand slam. Defensively, I thought he looked shaky. So did Al in his recap, noting that he had a passed ball, let Ty France steal a base on him and made a bad ABS challenge. I’m going to let the ABS challenge slide a little bit since I thought the pitch was close enough to challenge. The only problem was that Matthew Boyd had made an ill-advised challenge earlier in the game and that meant the Cubs were out of challenges. So I guess Ballesteros should have known that the Cubs were down to one challenge. Also, Matthew Boyd shouldn’t be allowed to challenge pitches anymore.

Of course, those two bad ABS challenges came back to bite the Cubs when Ben Brown had clearly struck out Ty France with two out in the fifth inning, only for home plate umpire Dan Merzel badly blow the call. That’s exactly what the ABS system was designed to fix, but the Cubs couldn’t use it. France ended up walking and the Padres ended up scoring two runs in the inning. The Padres beat the Cubs by two runs.

But that’s an aside. What I want to ask you is do you think Moisés Ballesteros should keep catching? The scouting report on Ballesteros throughout the minor leagues was that he was a great hitter but that he really wasn’t good enough behind the plate to catch. So far in his major league career, he’s lived up to his scouting report. He looks like an elite hitter but a poor catcher.

Is it worth it to try to keep Mo Baller behind the plate? Or would you rather he just concentrate on hitting and maybe getting an occasional start at first base? If Ballesteros is as good a hitter as he’s shown us so far, he’s definitely a good enough hitter to stick at DH. Might he be even better if he didn’t have to work on improving his defense behind the plate. Maybe! It’s certainly no guarantee because he’s already pretty darn great, but I’ve always believed (and many scouts agree with me) that hitting skills of catchers develop late because they spend so much time working on their defensive responsibilities. Maybe that’s what happened to Carson Kelly.

The other reason to make him a full-time DH is that catchers get hurt. It’s a brutal life back behind the plate from foul balls and whatnot. Not only that, but constantly getting up and down out of a crouch can damage the knees.

On the other hand, if Ballesteros can manage to be even a below-average defensive catcher, that makes him a lot more valuable than if he were just a full-time DH. Also, as far as I know, Mo Baller still wants to catch. There’s something to be said for letting a young star do what he wants.

The Cubs faced this same dilemma with Kyle Schwarber a little over a decade ago. Eventually, the Cubs tried to play him in left field. That worked for a while, but he was certainly well below-average out there. Nowadays, Schwarber just serves as the DH almost exclusively and no one is second-guessing that choice.

(Before anyone suggests it, I believe that Ballesteros would be much worse than Schwarber ever was in left field. He can play first base and not be terrible, but with both Busch and Ballesteros being left-handed hitters, that doesn’t work well for the Cubs.)

I’m also going to give you the option of trading Mo Baller and making this issue someone else’s problem. I don’t think many of you will vote for it, but I’ll throw it out there for anyone who wants to bring it up.

Thanks for stopping by tonight. We’ve enjoyed having you. Please get home safely. Call a ride if you need to. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow night for more BCB After Dark.

Every once in a while, you get a picture (like that one up there of Jarren Duran) that so perfectly encapsulates how the night went for the offense, you just have to use it.

But tonight, we got two:

After a three game winning streak that included several signs of life from the lineup, they regressed right back into the puddle of ineptitude at the plate we’ve seen far to often this year. Their best chance to score came in the first inning when Willson Contreras hit a one out double, but after failing to get that run home, they had only one at bat with a runner in scoring position the rest of the night. That’s pretty much all you need to know.

If you’re feeling generous, you can say they were facing Trey Yesavage, who’s an excellent young pitcher and will be a thorn in the side of AL East opponents for years to come. But on the other hand, he was making his first big league start of the year coming back from injury and looked hittable early on before getting stronger as his outing progressed. At the very least, the bats should have made him work harder and generated some chances. While nobody expects this offense to be good, there’s been far too many nights this season where they’ve resembled a corpse.

Going into the game, the story was Payton Tolle, and specifically if he could back up his outing against the Yankees from last time out. The answer to that was a resounding “no,” as unlike Yesavage, he got worse as his outing progressed. Tolle lasted just 4.2 innings and walked four on his way to giving up three hits and three runs.

He also looked like a guy running out of gas, which is notable because he lasted just 68 pitches, had his velocity dipping before Chad Tracy yanked him mid inning, and mentioned that he needed to be quote “better about my recovery, and get better sleep” in the postgame show. Unfortunately, there was no follow up question, because I’d love to know specifically what he was talking about there.

Three Studs

Willson Contreras: His first inning double was the only extra base hit of the night. Normally a 1-4 effort won’t land you here, but the pickings are slim.

Marcelo Mayer: He went 1-3 at the plate, but that single extended his hitting streak to seven games, and he’s batting .391 over that stretch.

Ryan Watson: Mopped up the last five outs of the game and prevented any other relievers from being used after him. This puts the Red Sox in better position going into the rubber game of the series tomorrow.

Three Duds

Jarren Duran: 0-4 from the top of the lineup. He’s now batting .172 with a .487 OPS.

Carlos Narvaez: 0-3 with a strike out, and two of the fruitless at bats came with a man on base.

Payton Tolle: Unfortunately, he has to end up here given the short nature of his outing and the large step back he took from the Yankee game.

Play of the game:

Here’s something crazy: I think you can make a solid argument that the best play of the game for both teams may have actually been the same play. (I can’t ever remember thinking that in a game before.) For the Blue Jays, the reasons it’s Kazuma Okamoto’s two-run single are obvious. But for the Red Sox, Roman Anthony made a beautiful throw and nailed a runner at second base on a ball hit over his head. Given what’s been happening with some of his throws this year, this is no small thing, and on a night where literally everything else was underwhelming and forgettable, Anthony’s arm looking like it did a year ago should give fans a reason to smile.

So far this year the Yankees have regularly teetered on a knife’s edge from game to game. They typically do enough to win a game but routinely give themselves enough opportunities to give it away. The late innings following a quotidian quality start from Cam Schlittler were typically dicey for the Yankee bullpen, but a couple heroic plays allowed them to stay a whisker’s length ahead of the Rangers. Schlittler outdueled the legendary Jacob deGrom to earn the win, and big insurance home runs from Austin Wells and Aaron Judge proved essential to give New York a series victory.

The Bomber bats arrived to the ballpark early in an opening half-inning which, but for a difference of a few feet, could have plated three runs but scored only one. A two-out walk to Aaron Judge (not so easy to get away with these days!) set the table for a wall-scraping double by Cody Bellinger which missed clearing the right center fence by a few feet. Judge still scored without a play from first base. Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed with a deep drive to center, but a stupendous play from Evan Carter saved extra bases and ended the inning.

The Yankees’ gloves proved similarly available from the jump. Bellinger flagged down a tricky fly ball from leadoff man Brandon Nimmo, and Trent Grisham then somersaulted forward to take a base hit from Josh Jung. Schlittler allowed a third hard-hit ball, this time a double to Corey Seager, before wriggling free on a strikeout.

The tone was set for excellent defense early, and both teams added to their own highlight reels. Texas’ Josh Smith sprawled out at second base to cut down a hustling Ryan McMahon to finish the second, and in the third, left fielder Alejandro Osuna snagged a well-struck liner from Grisham. The center fielder himself got back in the act in the home fourth, covering a ton of ground to catch a hard-hit Pederson smash off a hanging curveball from Schlittler.

The veteran deGrom settled into the contest after that iffy first inning, improving as the game went along. After retiring the heart of the Yankee lineup in order to close out the sixth inning, he received congratulatory handshakes from his teammates, but departed on the hook for the loss thanks to Schlittler’s brilliance. Cam issued a rare walk before closing out the fifth, then allowed a pair of runners to reach to start the sixth—including a second base on balls. That set the stage for his finest work of the night.

Schlittler started with a strikeout of the threatening Seager with a 98-mph fastball. Two pitches later, he induced an infield fly from Joc Pederson. Finally, he faced Jake Burger. Austin Wells successfully challenged a called ball, bringing the count from 2-0 to 1-1. That excellent challenge lowered the pressure on Schlittler, who needed just one more pitch to send Burger out for delivery on a pop to right.

That closed the line on yet another stellar performance from Schlittler, who picked up eight total strikeouts, scattering three hits and two walks. He threw 91 pitches in the effort and now has a 1.51 ERA. Folks, he is simply sensational.

His catcher isn’t half bad either. After making that great call to overturn a ball and help out his pitcher, he provided further aid by taking lefty reliever Jalen Beeks to the skies. Wells cranked a fastball out to right field for his third homer of the year, providing a crucial insurance run in the seventh inning.

The Rangers threatened again in the bottom half, but once again were turned away emptyhanded. Brent Headrick worked around a leadoff single and a dreaded-two out walk to the number-nine hitter, striking out Nimmo to strand a pair.

Texas came back in the bottom of the eighth with pitchforks in hand. Fernando Cruz allowed the first two men to reach in front of Pederson, who bucked his usual convention as a power hitter by dropping down a bunt. Cruz fielded the bunt before tumbling to the turf, then regained his bearings and fired a bouncing throw to McMahon at third, who fielded the peg for an absolutely stunning first out. What could have—and maybe should have—been a cataclysmic blunder was instead turned into a highlight-reel play.

Cruz sensed his moment from there, striking out Burger on a succession of nasty splitters. He then worked ahead of pinch-hitter Ezequiel Duran, and shut out his lights with one last split-finger to quell another Ranger rally.

In a game like this, one more run from the Bombers threatened to be backbreaking for Texas. What better to get it than with a comet from the captain? Judge greeted Cole Winn with a 112.7 mph, 424-foot home run to the second deck in left for his 12th home run of the season, giving the Yankees a 3-0 mandate. That final tack-on run would, perhaps unsurprisingly, prove indispensable in short order.

No one ever promised that the bottom of the ninth inning would be easy. David Bednar took over for the save, but an errant throw from McMahon immediately told the viewing audience that this frame would be a struggle. Habitual Yankee nuisance Danny Jansen made the error sting with a triple to belatedly put Texas on the scoreboard. Grisham landed awkwardly on his leg during the play, but stayed in the game after getting a look from the training staff.

After a line shot from Jung sailed into left to score Jansen, the Yankee lead was suddenly whittled down to a single tally. The tying run was in scoring position and the winning run was also aboard. Disaster once again loomed with Bednar on the mound. Needing to induce a roller, he delivered a 1-0 splitter to Seager. The two-time World Series MVP pounded it on the ground to Chisholm, who initiated the 4-6-3 double play that, at last, ended the night.

Everybody has permission to breathe again. The Yankees are 20-10 on the season, ranking as the first American League team to reach 20 wins this year.

Tomorrow promises to be a very exciting afternoon for the Yanks, as they go for the sweep deep in the heart of Texas. Top prospect Elmer Rodriguez is slated to make his MLB debut against veteran Nathan Eovaldi. First pitch for this circle-the-calendar affair comes at 2:35 PM on YES.

Box Score

ARLINGTON, Texas — A young, hard-throwing right-hander who calls New York home, emerging as one of the game’s best pitchers? 

That was once Jacob deGrom. It is now Cam Schlittler. 

And on Tuesday night at Globe Life Field, the two squared off, with Schlittler outdueling deGrom to lead the Yankees past the Rangers for a 3-2 win. 

Schlittler tossed six shutout innings, scattering three hits and two walks while striking out eight and lowering his ERA to 1.51 on the way to the Yankees’ 10th win in their past 11 games. 

The Yankees (20-10) had their hands full with deGrom but got to him for a run in the top of the first on Cody Bellinger’s RBI double before the former Mets ace completed six strong innings of his own. 

“[Schlittler was] going up against a future Hall of Famer like that and going toe-to-toe with him, it was impressive,” said Aaron Judge, whose majestic solo shot in the top of the ninth put the Yankees up 3-0 and proved to be the winning run. 

“Two big, tall, lanky power-pitching righties,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Obviously runs were tough to come by.”

At least until Schlittler and deGrom left the game. 

Austin Wells crushed a left-on-left homer in the seventh inning before Judge went deep in the ninth — his third home run in the past three games and ninth in the past 16 — insurance runs that proved critical as the Rangers (14-16) threatened to spoil Schlittler’s night against the Yankees bullpen. 

Brent Headrick stranded a pair of runners in the seventh before Fernando Cruz did the same in the eighth — helped in part by his own highlight-reel play in which he slid to field a bunt and threw from his rear end to third base, where Ryan McMahon scooped it like a first baseman for the forceout, the first of the inning. 

“All I knew in my mind was I’m gonna do or die there,” said Cruz, who struck out the next two batters. 

David Bednar got into more trouble in the ninth, beginning when McMahon committed a throwing error with one out. Danny Jansen followed by roping a triple into the gap — Trent Grisham banged his knee on the wall trying to make a catch, but Boone said he was “fine” — to pull the Rangers within 3-1. 

A hit batter and single later, it was 3-2, but Bednar held on by getting Corey Seager to ground into a double play to end it. 

The slick twin killing was a fitting way to close out a game in which the Yankees turned in some strong defense behind Schlittler. Bellinger and Grisham both turned in terrific catches in the bottom of the first — Bellinger a running grab into the left field corner up against the wall and Grisham a diving snag on a sinking liner — to keep a 1-0 lead intact. 

“Incredible defense all around out of those two, and then even the double play to end the game,” Judge said. 

Schlittler gave up a hard double to the next batter, Seager, but limited the hard contact from that point on, retiring 13 of the next 15 hitters. He then allowed the first two batters in the sixth to reach but buckled down and retired the next three in order to finish his night in style. 

In the process, the 25-year-old Schlittler bested the 37-year-old deGrom, who is not quite what he was in his Mets prime but still owns a 2.01 ERA. 

“He’s an elite guy,” Schlittler said. “He’s been one of the best pitchers for the last 10 years. Really cool to go up against him.” 

Schlittler is still early in his own path to achieving what deGrom has, but his teammates believe he is on the way. 

“Superstar,” Cruz said. “What he’s doing is really impressive. Throwing three pitches at one speed, but different directions, it’s something you don’t see too often in baseball. Right now he’s one of the best to step on the field.”

The Texas Rangers scored two runs but the New York Yankees scored three runs.

The Yankees got the customary two-out first inning run that the generous Rangers hand out every game. With some excellent starting pitching and some highlight-reel defense from both teams, score stays there.

Sixth inning, 1-0 game. The Rangers get the first two runners on against Cam Schlittler. 3-4-5 hitters coming up. Here’s their chance. Except, inning over in eight pitches without even advancing the runners.

Immediately after Jacob deGrom exited in a 1-0 game through six innings, Jalen Beeks gives up a home run. 2-0, a troubling deficit.

Eighth inning, 2-0 game. The Rangers get the first two runners on. Schlitter has hit the showers. 4-5-6 hitters coming up. Another chance. It’s not yet May and the Rangers ask Joc Pederson to sac bunt. Joc Pederson fails to bunt the runners over. The next two hitters K on a total of seven pitches.

The next half inning, Aaron Judge homers off Cole Winn. It’s 3-0. Lax Yankees defense helps the Rangers get a rally going. Texas gets their customary ninth inning runs to make it close. Lose on double play with tying run at second base.

1-for-10 with RISP overall. Ten left of base. Rangers lose. Series loss. Losing homestand.

See ya tomorrow!

Player of the Game: deGrom lowered his ERA to 2.01 on the year as he tied his longest outing of the season with six innings of one-run ball. It’s too bad he wasn’t perfect, I suppose.

Up Next: The Rangers and Yankees close out this series with Texas finishing up their homestand. RHP Nathan Eovaldi is set to pitch for Texas in the finale opposite right-handed top prospect Elmer Rodriguez who will be making his MLB debut for New York.

The Wednesday afternoon first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 1:35 pm CDT and your eyeballs can view it via the Rangers Sports Network if you’re so inclined.

The D-backs opened their series in Milwaukee with a real clunker on Tuesday night. The pitching wasn’t sharp, the defense botched some routine plays, and the offense was held hitless into the fifth inning. The recent decline in pitching has become a troubling theme over the past week, with command issues putting increasing strain on the bullpen.

Adding insult to injury, the pitcher who no-hit the D-backs through five innings was former Arizona fourth-round pick Chad Patrick. Traded during the 2023 season for Jace Peterson—who provided virtually nothing—this is starting to look like one of the roughest deals of the Hazen era. That’s especially true when you consider the Brewers have Patrick under team control through 2028, and his cutter already looks like an elite offering.

Merrill Kelly got the start and was largely ineffective, struggling to command his signature changeup. The walks piled up early, driving up his pitch count. He finished with five walks and five runs allowed over five innings—far from what the team needed from a veteran brought back to stabilize the rotation. It’s fair to wonder whether Kelly may have been rushed back too quickly from his spring training injury.

Things went from bad to worse in the sixth, when Andrew Hoffmann entered in relief and was immediately overwhelmed. The young right-hander recorded just one out while allowing eight runs to score. Some of the damage came on tough-luck contact and shaky defense against the Brewers’ small-ball approach, but the D-backs desperately needed length in that spot, and Hoffmann couldn’t provide it. A roster move wouldn’t be surprising, with Hoffmann potentially heading to Reno for a fresh arm. Notably, Yilber Diaz pitched today while Kade Strowd did not.

Offensively, Arizona managed just three hits and looked out of sync at the plate. They showed some patience early, drawing five walks, but couldn’t capitalize and frequently expanded the zone in key moments.

The lone bright spot came from Ildemaro “Bonds”… I mean, Vargas, who extended his hitting streak to 24 games—21 of those to open the season.

In an odd statistical quirk, former D-backs closer Jake Woodford was credited with a save in a 13–2 game—an unusual application of the rule, to say the least.

Arizona will try to even the series tomorrow, with Eduardo Rodriguez taking the mound in hopes of providing much-needed length and stability. They’ll need a sharper effort, though—because if there’s one thing you can count on, it’s that the Brewers will be ready to play.

Cam Schlittler and Jacob deGrom went blow for blow, but the Yankees came out on top in their 3-2 win over the Rangers on Tuesday night.

With the win, the Yankees (20-10) stay 1.5 games ahead of the Rays for first place in the AL East. 

Here are the takeaways...

-Going up against deGrom, the Yankees used some two-out magic in the first. Aaron Judge singled up the middle and Cody Bellinger turned on a pitch and hit a double off the top of the wall -- narrowly missing a two-run shot -- to score Judge from first. Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed with a liner that looked destined to split the outfielders, but Evan Carter caught it on the run to end the inning.

-On the other end, the Yankees defense helped out Schlittler. Bellinger ran down a liner moving away from him in left and then Trent Grisham made a diving catch to set the first two batters down. 

-After that eventful first inning, both starters would settle in, getting through five innings with just one run allowed between them. However, Schlittler would get into trouble in the sixth. 

Brandon Nimmo led off with a single, his second of the game. Schlittler would walk the next batter for Seager. Schlittler would get Seager to strike out swinging on three pitches. He'd get the next two batters to pop out to get out of the inning. 

Schlittler pitched six scoreless innings (92 pitches/64 strikes), allowing three hits and two walks while striking out eight. He lowered his ERA to 1.51. 

DeGrom was just as nasty against the Yankees. The two-time Cy Young winner allowed just one run in his six innings (93 pitches/56 strikes) on three hits and striking out five.

-With Tuesday's starters out, it was an adventure for both bullpens. Austin Wells launched his third homer of the season in the seventh to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. While the Yankees relievers had to work out of trouble in the seventh and eighth innings. Brent Headrick worked around the two batters getting on base to escape the seventh, while Fernando Cruz allowed the first two hitters in the eighth to reach. A sac bunt attempt by Joc Pederson was perfectly placed, but Cruz slid to get the ball and threw to Ryan McMahon at third while falling to get the force. He struck out Jake Burger and Ezequiel Duran to escape the inning. 

With a three-run lead, David Bednar came in for the save. Andrew McCutchen reached on an error by McMahon with one out and then Danny Jansen lined a triple to push across the Rangers' first run. On the play, Grisham tried to get the ball but was out of reach and he tripped in the warning track. The veteran outfielder stayed on the ground for a bit, but stayed in the game. Bednar hits Nimmo to bring up the winning run in Josh Jung. Jung hits a single to make the score 3-2 before getting Corey Seager to ground into a game-ending doubleplay. 

-Judge would launch his 12th home run of the season to lead off the ninth, a 424-foot bomb to put the Yankees up 3-0. He's now tied for the AL lead.

McMahon started at third and finished 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. His five-game hitting streak was snapped. 

Jasson Dominguez went 0-for-4 with a strikeout. In his first two games this season, the young outfielder -- who started at DH -- is now 1-for-8 with two strikeouts.

Game MVP: Cam Schlittler

Schlittler was dominant but also showed his resolve, getting out of jams when needed.

Highlights

Cody Bellinger gets the Yanks on the board first with an RBI double! pic.twitter.com/DqJB6S8wnK

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 29, 2026

What a grab from Cody Bellinger! pic.twitter.com/6oKnk3VaWU

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 29, 2026

Fernando Cruz works around trouble with back-to-back strikeouts to end the 8th! pic.twitter.com/ZflANdy3F5

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 29, 2026

SEE YA! 👋

Second deck homer for Aaron Judge puts the Yankees up 3-0! pic.twitter.com/wBEcIMUa2Z

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 29, 2026

What's next

The Yankees and Rangers conclude their three-game set with an afternoon game on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 2:35 p.m.

Elmer Rodriguez will make his major league debut against Nathan Eovaldi (2-4, 5.79 ERA). 

In a pitching duel between Joe Ryan and Logan Gilbert it was the Twins who were the first to break through. In the 5th, Byron Buxton hit a misplaced Gilbert fastball out of the park to left for his 7th home run of the year. It was a good result, but felt somewhat lacking as, in the 4th, they had stranded the bases loaded with Tristan Gray and Royce Lewis unable to get a hit.

That lack of run support hurt, as in the 6th Joe Ryan allowed a 2-out double to Julio Rodriguez, then Josh Naylor singled to left, tying the game. In the 7th, a lead off double by Randy Arozarena spelled the end of Ryan’s night, with Kody Funderburk entering. Kody got the next two Mariners out, but Cole Young slapped a single to left to give them a 2-1 lead.

The Twins batters were unable to get anything done against Eduard Bazardo in the 6th, and Gabe Speier in the 7th. The Twins bullpen was not so lucky in the 8th. Funderburk walked J.P. Crawford, then Cole Sands entered and gave up a double to Rodriguez, followed by a 3-run homer by Josh Naylor to break the game open, 5-1.

In the 9th, Rodriguez would double in 2 more Mariners to push this once close game to 7-1. That’s your final score.

I also wanted to mention that Randy Arozarena went 2-3 with a double tonight, continuing his dominance against Twins pitchers, as he had an OPS of 1.025 against them entering the game today.

Studs:

Byron Buxton: 2-5, HR, SB

Joe Ryan: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, BB, 6 K

Duds:

Cole Sands: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, K, HR

Luis Garcia: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER

The team with runners in scoring position: 0-10

Mariners 7, Twins 1

Good: Josh Naylor, .25 WPA

Bad: Cal Raleigh, -.16 WPA

Game thread comment of the day

Blake Snell had his way with Class-A hitters in his second minor league rehab start on Tuesday night. The Dodgers left-hander struck out six in three scoreless innings for Ontario against the Lake Elsinore Storm, a San Diego Padres affiliate.

Snell struck out all three batters he faced in the first inning, then allowed a leadoff double in the second but struck out the next three batters to escape that frame unscathed. He needed only five pitches to complete a perfect third inning with a flyout and two groundouts.

In all, Snell threw 39 pitches on Tuesday, 29 for strikes. He induced 11 swinging strikes, and retired nine of his 10 batters faced.

This was the second rehab start with Ontario for Snell, who started the season on the injured list with shoulder fatigue. Last Wednesday with the Tower Buzzers in San Jose, Snell pitched one-plus inning and threw 32 pitches, and allowed two runs, one earned, with one walk and no strikeouts.

“The first two starts are like — for me, I’m very patient. I just want to see how I feel, how I respond, what’s working, what’s not working. If offspeed is really good, if the fastball is really good, I want to learn how they’re playing,” Snell told reporters last week in San Francisco after his first rehab start. “After those first two starts, that’s when you get more aggressive, like okay now we need to make it happen.”

The Atlanta Braves took on the Detroit Tigers in a clash of first place teams, both with some of the best rotation outputs in MLB. The Braves are red hot having won twenty games before May for the first time in franchise history, and going 20-9 for only the ninth time in franchise history. This game had the makings of a low scoring affair if Martín Pérez was able to keep up his surprising start. As a side note, this series will be the only time these two teams meet in the regular season.

Martín Pérez has kept runs off the board, but his underlying metrics show he has been lucky. He got the job done again tonight though. Casey Mize, the Tigers’ SP for the night, has been stellar so far this season. However, he has never beaten Atlanta and holds a career 4.66 ERA against them.

Martín Pérez sat down the the first three hitters he faced with relative ease, and this is important because Gleyber Torres has three HRs against him in his twenty-two at-bats against Pérez. Ronald Acuña may finally be heating up as he smoked a ball for a double to lead off the the bottom of the first inning. It looked like the Braves would start their scoring then with Baldwin moving the runner to third with a groundout and then Matt Olson walking. However, Mize was able to Albies to strike out and Harris to ground out.

Pérez made it interesting in the second, but just like the rest of the year he was fortunate in the stranding runners on base department. He produced a groundout, but then gave up a walk on an ABS challenged pitch. After a Greene groundout, he gave up another walk. Fortunately, he calmed down and got the strike out to end the top of the second.

The Braves could not get anything going in the second, and to add salt to the wound Dominic Smith lost a challenge on a strikeout. Pérez settled down for the most part in the third by only giving up one baserunner, but it was yet another walk. The Braves finally broke through in the third inning. Yastrzemski decided it was time to get out of his slump and hit a double. Not to be outdone, Acuña followed that up with his second double of the night to plate the first run of the game.

Drake Baldwin grounded out to the pitcher, and unfortunately Mize then left the game due to groin tightness.

On the same play, it moved Acuña to third and Matt Olson cashed in by hitting a sacrifice fly to make the score 2-0. Albies grounded out, but the Braves had done what they needed to. In the fourth inning, Pérez finally gave up his first hit when Dingler hit a single. By this time it seemed like it was not possible that it was the first hit because of the amount of baserunners, but Pérez has been really good at keeping his composure this season to stay calm and strand runners. Dingler’s single was the only base runner of the inning for the Tigers.

The good news for Austin Riley in the fourth inning is he finally got on base. The bad news is that it was due to a throwing error from a pitcher who would not have even been in the game if it were not for an injury. Kyle Farmer finally saw some playing time replacing Dominic Smith at DH due the pitching matchup, but he unfortunately struck out. The Braves were not able to capitalize on the error and Riley was the only baserunner of the inning.

Pérez stayed in the pitch the fifth inning and it was the right move, technically, but it was not without its drama. Lee doubled to start the inning, but Pérez got Báez to groundout. He then got a strikeout, but then it got scary for a second when Torres walked and then after a mound visit Kevin McGonigle looked to have hit a HR, but Acuña does what he does best and jumped at the wall to make the play to end the top of the fifth. The Braves were shut down in the fifth, but thanks to Acuña, they maintained their lead.

In the sixth inning Didier Fuentes made his first appearance since being called up. This goes to show he likely will remain in the reliever role for now. Pérez ended his night with 5.0 IP with two hits, zero runs, and five strikeouts, lowering his season ERA to 2.22. Fuentes stayed in the game for 2.0 innings and only allowed one baserunner via a walk. He also picked up a strikeout along the way. The Braves again had a blank on offense in the bottom of the sixth.

In the bottom of the seventh Riley led off with a strikeout which was confirmed via ABS and Farmer stuck out again as well. However, the back end of the lineup came through as Dubón had a double, making it four total for the Braves thus far in the game and then Yastrzemsi knocked him in with a single to make the score 3-0.

Moving onto the eighth inning and we see that Tyler Kinley is human after all when he gave up a single and a double. But, he did not give up a run and had assistance from ABS with a strikeout when Greene challenged and failed on an excellent pitch on the lower corner.

In the bottom of the eighth Baldwin continued to struggle with a pop out but Matt Olson and Ozzie Albies made up for it when Olson hit a double and then Ozzie Albies smacked a HR to make the score 5-0. Shocker alert, it was against a lefty.

It looked like more damage may be done with a single from Harris and Farmer but no more runs were scored. With the Braves bullpen, confidence was high.

With a five run cushion, Aaron Bummer came in to pinch. Fortunately the five run cushion existed because Bummer did not have his best night. He gave up a two-run HR, but was able to get three outs to end it.

It is hard to say if the Braves would win this game if it was simulated multiple times because of the Mize injury and Pérez walking as many hitters as he did, but the Braves were having no issues hitting doubles like it was batting practice and score enough runs to get the job done.

The first team to twenty-one wins will have a tougher test tomorrow as they face two-time reigning Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal tomorrow at the same time and the same place.

The Cubs claimed left-handed reliever Doug Nikhazy off of waivers and assigned him to Triple-A Iowa. Infielder Ben Cowles was designated for assignment.

Left-hander Jackson Brockett was promoted from Low-A Myrtle Beach to High-A South Bend.

Shortstop Yahil Melendez was promoted to Myrtle Beach from Mesa.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were declared heretics by the St. Paul Saints (Twins), 9-5.

Jordan Wicks made a rehab start today and he was greeted with a leadoff home run and things didn’t get much better from there. The first four batters reached and then after a ground out to first, Wicks gave up a three-run home run. Overall, he gave up five runs in the first inning and one more solo home run in the second.

The final line on Wicks was six runs on seven hits, including three home runs, over two innings. Wicks walked one and struck out no one. I suppose in his defense, the wind was howling out to dead center. In fact, Iowa allowed six home runs total and hit four themselves.

Ethan Roberts pitched the fifth inning on a rehab assignment and gave up a home run to the first batter of the inning. But then he settled down and struck out the next three batters to end his day.

Minnesota native center fielder Brett Bateman led off the top of the third inning in front of his family and connected for his first home run of the year. Bateman was 1 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base.

Third baseman BJ Murray singled after Bateman’s home run and then second baseman James Triantos clobbered a two-run home run. It was Triantos’ fourth on the year. Triantos went 1 for 3 with a walk and Murray was 1 for 4.

In the sixth inning, left fielder Kevin Alcántara crushed his ninth home run of the year with the bases empty. Alcántara was 1 for 4.

Finally, Hayden Cantrelle took over for Ben Cowles at shortstop when Cowles was designated for assignment mid-game. Cantrelle hit a solo home run in his only time at bat in the top of the ninth. It was Cantrelle’s second this season.

Iowa had five hits today. Four of them were home runs.

Bateman’s home run.

Triantos went to the opposite field and just barely got over the wall.

No doubt on the Jaguar.

Cantrelle’s home run.

Knoxville Smokies

Postponed for inclement weather. A makeup date has not been announced.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs boiled the Ft. Wayne TinCaps (Padres), 6-4.

Kenton Egbert started and gave South Bend three scoreless innings, permitting three hits. Egbert struck out one and walked no one, so he kept the ball in play.

Brayden Spears took over for Egbert in the fourth inning and got the win. Spears allowed a solo home run to the second batter he faced, but that was the only hit and the only run he gave up over three innings. Spears walked one and struck out one.

Jackson Kirkpatrick had an ugly save in the ninth. First, he loaded the bases with no outs on two hit batsmen and a walk. After getting a strikeout, he walked another batter to force in a run. But with the tying run on second and just one out, Kirkpatrick got a second strikeout and a grounder to second base to end the game.

DH Cameron Sisneros hit his third home run of the year with the bases empty in the fifth inning. Sisneros went 1 for 2 with three walks and two runs scored. One of the three walks was intentional.

First baseman Cole Mathis was 2 for 4 with a double and a bases-loaded walk in the fourth inning for the Cubs first run. Mathis also scored once.

Shortstop Miguel Olivo was 3 for 4 with an RBI double.

Some great defense for Matt Halbach at third base. He was 1 for 5.

The Sisneros home run.

Olivio’s RBI double.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans extinguished the Columbia Fireflies (Royals), 7-6.

Starter Noah Edders went four innings and allowed just two runs, both unearned, on five hits. He struck out two and walked no one.

Daniel Avitia pitched the next three innings and allowed four runs in the seventh inning, coughing up the Birds 6-2 lead. Avitia’s final line was four runs, three earned, on three hits over three innings. Avitia struck out four, walked one and hit two batters.

Eli Jerzembeck was activated off the injured list, pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth inning and got the win. Jerzembeck allowed no hits, but he did walk three while striking out five.

Shortstop Ty Southisene broke up the 6-6 tie with an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth. Southisene went 1 for 4 with a walk and a stolen base.

First baseman Michael Carico hit a solo home run in the second inning. It was his third of the year. Carico finished the night 1 for 4 with a walk and two runs scored.

Next up, catcher Logan Poteet went back-to-back with Carico to make it 2-0. Poteet was 1 for 3 with two walks.

In the fifth inning, DH Eli Lovich connected with the bases empty for his second home run of the year. Lovich was 2 for 4 with two runs scored.

The back-to-back home runs by Carico and Poteet.

Lovich’s home run.

Southisene’s double.

After a pit-stop on the way down I-75 for three games and some questionable “chili,” the Tigers continued south to visit the red-hot Atlanta ball club for the opener of a three-game series on Tuesday night. The Tigers’ bats ran cold, two key players left the game with injuries, and they dropped the opener to the tune of a 5-2 tally.

Making his sixth start of the season for the Tigers was Casey Mize, and he’s looked good in his last couple of starts before tonight. Arguably, his April 17 outing in Boston was one of the best of his career: 6 2/3 shutout innings, three hits, one walk and seven strikeouts? By the stat of Game Score — a rough index to try and determine how good a start is — that was a 74, the highest of his career, one above a stellar start in 2021 against the Mariners. (There are some names in that box score, eh?)

Facing Mize and the Tigers was lefty Martín Pérez, making his fourth start (against two relief appearances) for Atlanta this year. He spent nine years in the Rangers’ rotation before bouncing around a little: some time with the Twins, another stint in Texas, and the south side of Chicago last year. He didn’t make Atlanta’s big-league roster out of Spring Training, but was quickly recalled from Triple-A and has had some nice appearances so far. He’ll give you some innings, won’t dominate you too often, generally limits home-run power and, while he used to be an extreme ground-ball pitcher early in his career, has become much less so recently.

On the first pitch of the bottom of the first, Ronald Acuña Jr. smacked a double to the wall, but Mize was able to get the next three batters and strand him at third. He then sawed-through the next three batters in the second, including featuring that right-on-right splitter that, earlier in his career, he’d use primarily against lefties alone.

Meanwhile, Pérez was pulling the string with his changeup more than a kid with a new Chatty Cathy doll: he struck out both Spencer Torkelson, Kevin McGonigle and Jahmai Jones (three hitters on heaters lately) with straight change-ups right down the middle. You know what I said about not dominating teams? Well, he had it tonight.

Atlanta got on the board first with a pair of doubles to start the bottom of the third inning, by Mike Yastrzemski and Acuña to put the home team up 1-0, and let the record show that I spelled Yastrzemski right without looking. The next batter, Drake Baldwin, hit a dribbler up the first-base line; Mize fielded the ball and tossed underhand to first for the out, and he came up limping, favouring his right leg, and that was it for Mize; it was later reported that he had some “right groin tightness.”

Brant Hurter, who’s been used as a multi-inning reliever, came on for Mize and gave up a sacrifice-fly liner to score Acuña for a 2-0 lead.

Dillon Dingler managed the first Tiger hit with one out in the fourth, despite getting three on base before that via the base-on-balls. Alas, Dingler was stranded there after Riley Greene flew out and Torkelson struck out.

Hao-Yu Lee started the fifth with a double, and Javier Báez hit a grounder to shortstop. The throw to first was high, and Báez figured he could get underneath a tag by sliding into first base — which is never a good idea, kids — and ended up twisting his right ankle. He had to be taken off the field on a cart, but if you can have a little hope here, he was seen wiggling and moving his ankle around while on the cart.

(I don’t want to have to point this out, but… that belt of Báez looks a little too Zubaz-ish for my liking. IYKYK.)

After Gleyber Torres walked, McGonigle hit a long fly ball to right, but it was caught halfway up the wall for the third out and the threat was extinguished.

Pérez, whose pitch count was pushed up by a few long at-bats, was out after five innings and Didier Fuentes, a young right-hander from Colombia, took over and he had his slider working overtime, scattering a Greene walk harmlessly amid three quick outs. The Tigers struck out less than the Braves in this one, and hit the ball pretty solidly for the most part, but they neglected to hit them where they ain’t.

Burch Smith took over for Hurter to start the sixth, facing the heart of the order. He got Matt Olson to strike out swinging, and after walking Ozzie Albies, he got Michael Harris II to ground into an inning-ending double play. Smith carried on into the seventh, and with two outs he gave up a double to Mauricio Dubón, who scored on a Yastrzemski single just over Torres’ glove to make it 3-0. But then Chris Fetter paid Smith a visit, whispered some sweet nothings into Smith’s ear, and he struck out Acuña on three pitches.

In the top of the eighth McGonigle singled and Dingler doubled, putting runners on second and third with two outs and bringing Greene to the plate as the tying run. Alas, Greene struck out looking on a pitch that barely nicked the corner of the strike zone, and the inning was over.

Tyler Holton relieved Smith in the bottom of the eighth, and the Georgians tacked-on a pair of runs but-quick: with one out Olson doubled and Albies smacked a fat changeup over the fence for a 5-0 lead.

Torkelson came up first in the ninth inning for one last chance to extend his home run-hitting streak, but he grounded out to third; fun while it lasted. After Colt Keith singled, Wenceel Pérez hit his second home run of the year to get the Tigers on the board, but that would be the final scoring action of the game.

Final score: Atlanta 5, Detroit 2

Notes and Numbers

• How about that Spencer Torkelson fellow? Five straight games with a home run last week, and still didn’t win American League Player of the Week. That honour went to the A’s Carlos Cortes who went 13-for-24 with three dingers, which is fine, I guess. That Torkelson: he don’t get no respect, I’ll tell ya.
• After Sunday’s game, the Tigers as a team had the third-highest OPS (and OPS+) in the American League. Detroit’s OPS was .750, with an OPS+ of 106; if you don’t like anything related to OPS, the Tigers were fourth in batting average (.253; league-average is .239, which still boggles my mind).
• First Alex Cora in Boston, then Rob Thomson in Philadelphia: managers are getting fired left, right and centre! Who do you have next on your list?
• On this day in 1900, Dutch astonomer Jan Oort was born. He’s probably most famous for lending his name to the Oort Cloud, the spherical repository of tiny, icy bodies past the Kuiper Belt that most likely is the source of comets. But an argument could be made that his calculations regarding the rotation of the Milky Way, and the conclusion that there must be a lot of unseen (i.e., “dark”) matter kicking around, was the most important in the broader science of cosmology.

With the first month of baseball in the books, there have been plenty of surprises across the league. From surprise contenders to fallen favorites and from managers on the hot seat to unexpected performers, the 2026 season has been full of surprises. While things are certain to shift as the long season drags on, here are some of the surprises as April draws to a close:

Up-and-Comers

• As you’re well aware, it took your Colorado Rockies 68 games to get their 13th win in 2025. They’ve already hit that mark in April at 13-16.
• The Athletics are setting out for a better 2026. Not expected to do much after a 76-86 season, they’re currently holding onto first in the AL West at 15-13.
• The Cincinnati Reds are also exceeding expectations. Thought to finish near the bottom of the NL Central, they’re leading the way right now with an 18-10 record.

Underperformers

• From an American League pennant to fourth in their division, the Toronto Blue Jays are struggling out of the gate, currently at 12-15.
• The Boston Red Sox, a Wild Card team just last season, are among the worst in the league at 11-17 and just fired skipper Alex Cora and several other staff.
• The NL East looked like it would yield a number of contenders. The Braves sit at 20-9, but every other team in the division has a losing record. Among the most disappointing are the Philadelphia Phillies (who were the 2-seed in the NL last postseason but are now a league-worst 9-19) and the New York Mets (projected to contend with a loaded roster but join the Phils at 9-19). This led to another firing today, with Philadelphia moving on from manager Rob Thompson.
• The preseason PECOTA standings thought highly of the Kansas City Royals, projecting them to finish with 84 wins at first in the AL Central. So far, they’re in last at 11-17.

Big Time Players

• The Chicago White Sox needed something positive, and they got it. In his first year in the MLB, Munetaka Murakami is showing off the power that made him a star in Japan. He leads the league in home runs with 12.
• A pair of New York Yankees sluggers are also in the top five for home runs. Aaron Judge (11 HR) makes a familiar appearance on the list, but he’s joined by teammate Ben Rice (10 HR) who is having a breakout season after showing flashes last year.
• Contributing to Cincinnati’s hot start mentioned above is a potential breakout star in first baseman Sal Stewart. He came into the year at 22nd on MLB’s Top 100 Prospects list and has started the season with a bang, leading the league in RBI and is slashing .291/.385/.602.

A lot will change in the remaining games on the path to 162, but what’s caught you by surprise the most in this young season? Whether it’s one of the rising or falling teams above, a player crushing it, or a superstar not living up to expectations, what’s happening that you didn’t expect to see? Let us know below!

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

Dodgers at the moment have their second three-game win streak of the season. They also have a five-game win streak (April 3-7) and a four-game win streak (April 13-17).

The designated hitter bats leadoff for Los Angeles, per usual.

Tuesday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Marlins
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)