Category: Baseball

Rangers 2, Mariners 1

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The Hal Baleigh ad: Josh Naylor -.025 WPA

Game Thread Comment of the Day

Box Score

The Milwaukee Brewers took down the Boston Red Sox in a chaotic, long, cold game by an 8-6 final on Monday night.

The Crew looked like they’d get things going early, as William Contreras singled and Christian Yelich doubled off the Green Monster to put runners at second and third with one out. Unfortunately, Brayan Bello was able to strike both Garrett Mitchell and Jake Bauers out to escape the jam.

In the bottom of the inning, Brandon Woodruff got into some trouble himself. Roman Anthony started things off with a double before advancing to third on a flyout. Willson Contreras followed with a walk to put runners at the corners, and after a Wilyer Abreu strikeout, Trevor Story picked up a single to bring Anthony home for a 1-0 lead.

Milwaukee got a couple more baserunners in the second, as Sal Frelick walked and David Hamilton singled to once again put two runners on with only one out. Blake Perkins struck out and Brice Turang grounded out, and Bello was once again out of the inning unscathed.

The Sox started the home half of the second with a single by Caleb Durbin, who was later caught stealing second with two outs in what ended up being a circuitous 1-2-3 inning for Woodruff.

For the third consecutive inning, the Brewers threatened against Bello in the third. Contreras walked, and Yelich singled to put two runners on with no outs in this go-round. Once again, though, Bello got his way out of the inning, as Mitchell struck out, Bauers grounded into a forceout, and Luis Rengifo grounded out.

Things quickly went awry for Woodruff in the bottom of the third. Anthony started the inning with a single, and Masataka Yoshida followed with a walk. With no outs and two on, Woodruff did the obvious thing and hit Wn. Contreras on the first pitch he threw to him.

Contreras found himself upset on a pitch that barely hit him on the top of the hand (and upon a challenge by the Brewers, it was unclear if it even did hit him — the call stood). Continuing to yell at Woodruff from first (with Woodruff ignoring him), play would continue with the bases loaded and still nobody out.

The next hitter, Abreu, grounded into a softly hit forceout that wiped Contreras out at second but scored Anthony from third. Contreras, though, took what was clearly an overaggressive slide and ripped Hamilton’s pants at second base. From the point of view of my couch, Hamilton was OK, though, and no butterfly bandages were needed. Pat Murphy had a word with the umps, but nothing was done about it, and Boston still had runners on the corners with one out.

Story followed with a sac fly to bring Yoshida home, extending the lead to 3-0, but Woodruff got out of the inning with a groundout from Marcelo Mayer.

In the top of the fourth, the Crew finally broke through.

Frelick started things off with an infield single to Mayer at second, and Hamilton followed with a walk. Perkins then bunted to move both runners up, and Turang walked to load the bases with one out. Wm. Contreras followed with a hard-hit grounder to Durbin at third, but Durbin was unable to come up with it cleanly, and all runners advanced safely to give the Brewers their first run of the night.

Bello exited with the bases loaded and one out, with lefty Danny Coulombe coming in to face Yelich. Yelich, who has come up huge in multiple clutch opportunities this season, hit another hard grounder to Durbin at third, but this time, Durbin had to dive. He once again failed to glove it cleanly, and the Brewers were in the same position with the bases loaded and another run across.

Mitchell then hit another grounder on the infield, this one right down the first-base line. Coulombe let it roll a bit, but it stayed fair, and the game was tied with the bases still loaded. Bauers followed with a walk to make it 4-3, and after a long 10-pitch battle from Rengifo, he ultimately grounded into a double play to end the inning.

The Red Sox got a run back right away in the bottom of the inning, as Durbin doubled off the wall, Carlos Narváez grounded out, and Ceddanne Rafaela brought Durbin in and reached on a fielding error by Hamilton at short. Woodruff then got a flyout from Anthony, but Yoshida followed with a single and Wn. Contreras picked up a ground-rule double to bring in another run and retake a 5-4 lead before the inning was over.

In a continuation of the back-and-forth feel of this one, Milwaukee tied it back up in the fifth against Jovani Morán, as Hamilton walked, Perkins singled, and Turang beat out a double play to bring Hamilton in.

Woodruff finally got a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth, setting Story, Mayer, and Durbin down with consecutive flyouts on just five pitches. The Brewers did the same against Morán in the top of the sixth, though, as Yelich and Mitchell struck out before Bauers grounded out.

Woodruff returned for the sixth, setting Narváez and Rafaela down before being replaced by Aaron Ashby. Ashby then got Anthony out on a flyout for another 1-2-3 frame. That trend would continue for Morán in the seventh, setting Rengifo, Frelick, and Hamilton down in order.

Still tied at five runs each, Ashby worked around two on and no outs in the seventh, allowing a walk and a single before picking up three consecutive flyouts to end the inning.

The Brewers finally broke the stalemate in the eighth, as Turang and Yelich both walked to put runners at first and second with two outs. With RBI Accumulator Garrett Mitchell at the plate, he was able to line a single to Anthony in left. Anthony came up throwing to try to cut down Turang at home, but his throw was way off line and allowed both Turang and Yelich to score. Yelich’s run came with a slide under the tag of Garrett Whitlock, and upon a challenge by the Red Sox, the call stood, giving Milwaukee a 7-5 lead.

Grant Anderson got a 1-2-3 frame in the eighth, and the Brewers tacked on one more in the ninth as Rengifo doubled and came around to score on a Frelick single to make it 8-5.

Ángel Zerpa entered for the ninth, looking for his first career save. He picked up a pair of outs before allowing a homer to Wn. Contreras and a single to Abreu. He was able to get out of it with a groundout by Story, though, and the Brewers locked up the 8-6 victory.

It was an exciting night, one filled with mistakes and missed opportunities for both sides, but the Brewers ultimately prevailed.

Yelich led Milwaukee’s offense with three hits, including a double, while Mitchell is now tied with the major league lead with 13 RBIs after picking up two more tonight. Frelick also had two hits, while Rengifo’s double was the only other hit of the extra-base variety. The Brewer offense totaled 11 hits and eight walks.

Woodruff looked better as the game went on, ultimately allowing five runs (three earned) on seven hits and a pair of walks, striking out four. Ashby got his third win of the year with 1 1/3 scoreless innings, Anderson got a hold with his 1-2-3 eighth, and Zerpa goes home with his first career save.

The Brewers will look for their fourth consecutive series win tomorrow night as they take on Boston in game two of this three-game set. It’ll be a matchup of aces, with Jacob Misiorowski slated to go head-to-head with Garrett Crochet. First pitch is at 5:45 p.m. CT.

After losing three games in a row over the weekend, the Orioles needed a win. And a win is what they got, even if it was a little too close for comfort. The offense was sluggish, this time against a team with a 6.19 ERA so far this year. Ryan Helsley struggled in the ninth to make things dicey. But thanks to an impressive start from Brandon Young, the limited offense was just enough to lock in the 2-1 victory.

The Orioles called on Young tonight to start the 10th game of the season. None of us expected to see him so soon after the off-season bolstering of the rotation by Mike Elias, but nothing ever seems to go as planned. It may have been an unexpected chance, but Young made the most of it.

The first batter Young faced, Chase Meidroth, worked a walk in which none of the balls were particularly close. But after that, he settled in. For most of the game, Young was on the one-baserunner-per-inning plan. Austin Hays led off the second inning with a single, but was caught stealing as part of a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out double play to end the inning.

In the third, Meidroth got on base again, this time via a two-out single. He was stranded. And in the fourth, Young walked Derek Hill. That one got dicey, as Hill stole second base and moved to third on a wild pitch. But he was also stranded.

Young saved his best inning for last, an impressive 1-2-3 fifth that required just six pitches. At that point, he was sitting at 66 pitches. In his first start of the season at Triple-A, Young also went five innings with 57 pitches thrown. If this had been later in the season, or maybe if the weather hadn’t been so frigid, it would have been an easy call to send him back out for the sixth. Instead, he was done after five and I’d say he more than met expectations.

The offense had its struggles in this game, but Young’s effort allowed what little they provided to be enough. They floundered their way through the first three innings, first against opener Taylor and then against Erick Fedde. They got lucky in the fourth inning and were able to take the lead on a fluke. With two outs, Adley Rutschman walked. It was his second nice at-bat of the game. In the first he hit a ball hard to right field that would have been a homer on many other nights.

With Rutschman on first, Tyler O’Neill hit a high pop fly to left field. Hays ranged over to catch it, but in a scene that was familiar to Orioles fans who watched him play for years, he pulled up lame and was unable to get to the ball. It fell just inside the foul line. With two outs, Rutschman was hustling on contact and scored all the way from first to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead. O’Neill, however, just stood at home plate and stared at what he clearly thought was a foul ball. Just a bad decision by O’Neill, who could have easily been on second base.

With O’Neill now on first, Ryan Mountcastle hit a ball to the right side that sneaked through for a single. This time O’Neill was running and made it to third. But it was too little, too late, as Colton Cowser struck out to end the inning.

I don’t think you can say definitively that O’Neill cost the team a run with his mishap, but it was still a pretty inexcusable play.

The team’s second and final run of the game came in a much more decisive way. Gunnar Henderson came up to bat in the sixth inning and crushed a ball to right field. It was out of the ballpark in a heartbeat, a 105.3 mph bullet. It was gorgeous, which is nice because Gunnar’s three other at-bats in the game were strikeouts.

After Young exited the game with a 2-0 lead, Tyler Wells took over. Wells started the season with three shaky appearances, but pitched two perfect innings three days ago. He attempted to build on that tonight. He wasn’t as good, but he kept the White Sox off the board.

Meidroth reached with a single to lead off the sixth, then moved to second when a ball skipped off Rutschman’s glove for a wild pitch. He did not come around to score. In the seventh, Wells walked the leadoff batter, Derek Hill. Hill had replaced the injured Hays. The speedy Hill took off for second and it looked like he had the base stolen. But Henderson signaled to the dugout that he tagged Hill out, and after review, that was indeed the case. It was another strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out.

The Orioles squandered chances on the bases in both the seventh and eighth innings. In the seventh, they were gifted a runner when a Mountcastle dink was deflected in the infield and he reached first. But Cowser flew out and Coby Mayo hit into a double play to end the inning. In the eighth, Jeremiah Jackson singled. He was thrown out by a mile trying to steal.

After a perfect eighth inning from the rock-solid Rico Garcia, it Ryan Helsley time. It was…not great. But it ended well.

With a two-run lead, Helsley immediately walked the first two batters. Things felt ominous. Helsley threw a fastball in the zone to Colson Montgomery, who absolutely smoked the ball towards first base. Pete Alonso, who I haven’t yet mentioned in this recap because he went 0-for-4, made a fantastic diving grab. It got an out and it saved at least one run. Great job there, Pete.

The runners moved up on the play and the drama continued. Lenyn Sosa grounded out for out number two, but a run came in to score. Andrew Benintendi hit a ball softly toward third base that died in the grass. Just like that, the tying run was at third and the winning run at first. But Helsley got his man in the end, striking out Edgar Quero to end the game.

A win! A frustrating win at times, but a win all the same. After the weekend in Pittsburgh, we’ll take a win however it happens.

Who is your Most Birdland Player for this game? Is it Brandon Young for his five shutout innings? Maybe you want to reward Rico Garcia for being the best part of the bullpen. If dingers are your thing, Gunnar might be your guy. Put your choice in the comments.

It’s another Monday night here at BCB After Dark: the coolest nightclub for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and join us. We still have a couple tables available. We’re waiving the cover charge. The hostess will seat you now. 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 week I asked you which current Cubs players should get a contract extension. I let you vote for more than one option, but 22 percent of you thought that Cade Horton should get locked up long term. Another 18 percent (rounded down) said Ian Happ and another 18 percent (rounded up) voted for Michael Busch.

Here’s the part with the music and the movies. You’re free to skip that if you want.

April is Jazz Appreciation Month and we’re doing what we can here to celebrate. I’ve always maintained that the best gateway drug into appreciating jazz is for musicians to do jazz versions of popular songs that audiences already know. In fact, that’s what the giants of an earlier age did. It’s just that the songs of the “Great American Songbook,” which were the popular music of the twenties through the fifties, have mostly faded from the public consciousness, even as they continue to serve as the backbone of jazz.

But today we have the Molly Miller Trio playing the Jimmy Webb song “Wichita Lineman,” which, of course, was made famous by Glen Campbell. Joining Molly and her guitar are JP Maramba on bass and Tamir Barzilay on drums.

A rare bit of jazz/country crossover.

You definitely would not expect a film about Jesus made by a gay, communist atheist who had been convicted of offending Catholicism (overturned on appeal) to end up on the Vatican’s list of recommended films. But director Pier Paolo Pasolini’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964) is a beautiful and faithful retelling of the Greatest Story Ever Told.

Pasolini made the film after accepting Pope John XXIII’s invitation to a dialog between the Church and secular non-believers. As a part of that, he read the Gospels straight through and decided that Matthew was the best suited for adaptation for the screen. (He also dedicated the film to the late John XXIII.)

The Gospel According to St. Matthew is shot in the best Italian neorealist tradition. It’s a low-budget film with a documentary look to it all. None of the actors on screen were professionals. Jesus is played by Enrique Irazoqui, who was just a Spanish college student who had come to ask Pasolini about his previous films. He never acted on film again. Most of the rest of the cast were just locals from the impoverished areas of southern Italy where the film was shot. Mary at the time of the crucifixion was played by Pasolini’s own mother.

Pasolini gave himself writing credit, but every word in the film actually comes from Matthew. As such, it sticks faithfully to the Gospel, omitting only that which is necessary to keep the film just over two hours long. But despite not adding any dialog of his own, Pasolini certainly puts his own spin to the tale. Unlike the biblical epics coming out of Hollywood at this time, this is a small film that underplays the miracles. The miracles of the loaves and fishes, healing the lame and lepers, and the walking on the water are all here, but the film very much underplays them. There aren’t hosannahs and trumpets in this film announcing these Miracles of Jesus, rather just the humble actions of a humble Messiah.

In fact, Pasolini shifts the primary focus of story from Jesus to effect that he has on his followers. Yes, there’s plenty of Jesus here, but nearly every word is punctuated by a reaction shot of someone listening to his words. Many of the scenes are shot at a great distance while Jesus speaks. In these scenes, Jesus looks small and the crowd surrounding him looks huge. The crucifixion is here, of course, but Pasolini mostly focuses on the crowd watching it happen than the sufferings of Jesus. In any case, Pasolini gets through it and on to the resurrection quickly.Pasolini especially likes to highlight the children, who smile and laugh when Jesus defies those in power. I would argue that Pasolini isn’t really all that interested in Jesus Himself. His message interests him and the way that message changed the lives of those who heard it.

This casting of non-actors has some weird and effective results. When an angel speaks to Joseph about the Holy Spirit impregnating Mary, the camera cuts to a close-up of Joseph’s face with a look of “What am I doing here?” on his face. Now that may just be the actor not knowing what to do, but that’s actually a very appropriate response by Joseph to the situation! When Jesus rejects the Devil’s temptations, most would expect a look of anger on the reaction shot. Instead, we get a “Huh. Wasn’t expecting that,” look. Who knows if that was acting or some poor southern Italian farmer wondering why he was in a movie?

Irazoqui’s Jesus, on the other hand, is an angry revolutionary. There are times Jesus behaves in a calm and comforting manner, especially in his interactions with children or the infirmed, but most of the time he’s angry at the way those in power do not follow the way of the Lord. This is not a Jesus that questions his own divinity. Every line is read with a firm conviction.

His unibrow notwithstanding, Irazoqui was an attractive young man, but he’s also hardly the long-haired, muscular action-hero hippie Jesus that was common in religious films of the era. Most of the apostles look like they could knock Jesus out in a fistfight. But Irazoqui, with the help of some camera tricks by Pasolini and cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli, give Jesus just a tiny bit of glow that no one else on the screen has. It’s a Jesus that looks like a poor peasant, yet somehow stands out from the other poor peasants. (More makeup, I’d guess. Or maybe just some makeup.)

Despite the slight budget and the documentary feel of The Gospel According to St. Matthew, Pasolini and Delli Colli give the film a stark, quiet beauty. The camera will linger on the branches of a tree, the Italian countryside, a mountain or the sky. The black-and-white cinematography (and cheap costumes, honestly) emphasize the humble origins of Jesus.

This film was protested by both those on the far-left and the far-right, but the Vatican praised it, despite the notoriety of the director. It was awarded first prize from the International Catholic Office of Cinema and got a special screening inside Notre Dame in Paris. There are certainly things to criticize. The non-professional actors are definitely non-professional, although often that works. There are times the scenes look like a Passion Play from your local church on Easter. The laying the blame for the crucifixion on the Jewish council remains unchanged from Matthew, although you get the sense that Pasolini blames anyone with any authority rather than the Jewish leaders in particular. But no film really strips away the pageant and miracles of the Passion and emphasized the message of Jesus any better than The Gospel According to St. Matthew.

Beyond the religious message of the picture, however, is just a solid piece of Italian neorealism filmmaking. Even with the Greatest Story Ever Told, it’s how the story is told that makes a difference.

Here’s the trailer for the restoration of The Gospel According to Matthew. It gives a good sense of the feel of the film.

The Gospel According to Matthew is available in a lot of places. There appears to be a complete copy on YouTube. You can watch it for free without ads on Kanopy if you have a library card. It’s on the Criterion Channel. Tubi, Prime and some other services have it with ads.

Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.

The Cubs aren’t off to a great start to the season at 4-6. That’s not a catastrophic start and it’s not a reason to start panicking or selling off yet. But let’s admit that it’s not nearly as good of a start as we were expecting.

It’s easy to overreact to a bad start. After all, if the Cubs were 6-4 instead of 4-6 at this point, I think the majority of us would be saying “Yeah, that’s a decent start.” So the Cubs are just two wins behind where they maybe should be.

But while panicking at this point is unwarranted, it’s OK to be concerned. And tonight I’m asking what concerns you most about the start to the season?

Let’s be clear, other than Edward Cabrera and Nico Hoerner, not much has gone right for the Cubs so far. The team isn’t hitting. Or rather they are hitting, they just aren’t getting any hits. What do I mean by that? If you look at the Statcast leaderboards, only the Rangers have a higher team hard-hit rate than the Cubs. They’re fourth in the league in walk percentage. The strikeouts are a bit above-average (the Cubs have the 12th-highest strikeout rate in the majors) but that’s hardly a big red flag. But they’re 27th in batting average in balls in play and that’s not leading to a lot of runs.

Then there is the starting pitching, which has already run arguably the two best pitchers off the road. Matthew Boyd hit the injured list today, although the Cubs are saying it should be for the 15-day minimum. Cade Horton is also on the injured list and that’s going to be more than 15 days, although we still don’t have a time estimate on that. Sure, Cabrera’s been great, but even he’s walking more than he should be.

Finally there’s the bullpen. Daniel Palencia’s been great, but he’s also only had one save opportunity. Most of the rest of the re-built bullpen has struggled. Jacob Webb, Hunter Harvey and Phil Maton all have ERAs over seven. I guess Caleb Thielbar has been good and Hoby Milner has been fine. But the Cubs are struggling to keep the game close between when the starter exits and it’s Gasolina time.

So what is worrying you the most this young season?

Thanks for stopping by. We need to stick together at times like this. Please get home safely. Don’t forget any of your personal belongings. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow evening for more BCB After Dark.

For such a cold environment for a baseball game, the Royals hitters sure seemed red-hot today. I realize that’s not something you usually say after a simple 4-2 victory, but there was a ton of loud contact. Carter Jensen’s home run in the sixth inning was a 111mph scorching line drive that just barely cleared the right field fence. Jonathan India launched a towering homer at 101mph off the bat. Salvador Perez just barely missed a home run as it sliced foul.

Jac Caglianone and Bobby Witt Jr did not make as much of an impact on the box score as Jensen and India, but Witt hit four balls above 100mph. Cags hit three. Maikel Garcia doubled on a ball that’s a homer in 6/30 ballparks according to Statcast (and doubled on another ball that would have been a homer in Houston only).

It was just one of those games – a lot of the loud contact was either sequenced without runners on base or hit directly at a well-positioned Guardians defender. The Guardians did not have as much loud contact but their two runs were also on homers. Steven Kwan launched a Wacha fastball over the fence, and it was only the 21st-hardest-hit ball of the game. Brayan Rocchio took a Matt Strahm delivery over the left field fence.

Having said that, Tanner Bibee pitched a strong game for the Guardians. He kept a balanced pitch mix, including higher usage of his curveball, to keep Royals hitter off-balance. While watching, I felt like there were a lot of unusual takes from the Royals hitters on hittable fastballs. I looked it up – Bibee had 11 called strikes on his four-seam fastball out of 27 total pitches. He also got a good number of whiffs on his other junkballs. He was on a sort of pitch count limitation due to shoulder irritation coming out of Spring Training. He made it only 4.2 innings on 87 pitches.

The only run that was not scored on a homer came from the Royals in the fourth inning. Vinnie Pasquantino walked, and Jensen struck out on a wild pitch. I heard the announcers going through the rules around this strikeout/wild pitch. If there were zero outs or one out, Pasquantino would not have been allowed to advance and Jensen just would have been out. Since there were two outs, the play was allowed to run its course. The wild pitch went pretty far, so there wasn’t much of a chance to get Jensen at first for the final out. India took a middle-middle sinker to the opposite field for a single to score Pasquantino.

Aside from the Kwan homer, Michael Wacha pitched really well. He did a good job painting corners and using his changeup, which got him a few whiffs. His fastball wasn’t fooling anyone, but he mostly stayed out of trouble. He threw seven complete innings with three walks and three strikeouts; all three of those walks came near the end of his outing in the 6th/7th innings. He gave up only three hits, including that Kwan homer.

Wacha did get some defensive help on a couple inning-ending double plays. One of those double plays was a 5-6-4-3. A grounder to Garcia doinked off his gloved straight to Witt, who completed the rest of the normal sequence for the double play.

Quick note – José Ramírez played his 1620th game for the Guardians; he’s now the all-time leader for games played in team history.

The Royals and Guardians play a day game tomorrow due to the cold weather forecast. The game starts at 12:10pm US central time. The Royals move to 5-5, and the Guardians drop to 6-5.

The Yankees have taken every series they have played and won seven of their first nine games. They entered Monday’s off-day tied for the best record in the majors. They have been led by a thoroughly dominant rotation with a majors-low 1.81 ERA even before Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón and Clarke Schmidt have thrown a pitch.

Things are going well. But given the expectations for a team that is a persistent contender but ringless since 2009, identifying the potential flaws is just as significant as admiring the strengths.

With the usual early April caveats — they have not even reached double-digit games, the majority of which have been witnessed by fans in blankets — one early possible concern resides in the bottom of the lineup.

Through the first two weeks, Nos. 6-7-8-9 in the Yankees lineup have been the worst in baseball in average (.143), slugging percentage (.167) and OPS (.404). Individually, the sample sizes are minuscule. Collectively, the group has logged 143 plate appearances and totaled 15 singles and three doubles.

“We need to get more production there,” manager Aaron Boone acknowledged Sunday after those lineup slots went 2-for-17 in a series-ending loss to the Marlins, “and we will.”

It is far too soon to panic, but probably not too soon to begin monitoring the bottom of the order, which has consisted of:

Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Concern that Chisholm won’t hit is virtually none, and perhaps his two-run, gapped double in Sunday’s ninth inning to bring the Yankees within one run will be a turning point. 

“I feel like that could help a lot,” Chisholm said. “… Right now, we’re just working day to day, getting better every at-bat and hoping to get hot here soon.”

Last year — his first full season in pinstripes and the first in which he was regularly exposed to frigid temperatures for home games — he logged his worst average (.181) and OPS (.714) in March and April and still authored an All-Star, 30-30 season.

Austin Wells

A bat-first prospect with a questionable ability to stick at catcher has been the complete opposite as a major leaguer, an elite defensive catcher who has been a slightly below-average hitter through two-plus seasons.

Through the very early going, in which he is 4-for-24, Wells has struck the ball hard but, too often, on the ground. Boone thought Wells fought through a few solid at-bats Sunday, including a seven-pitch battle against Calvin Faucher that ended with a long flyout to the left field wall.

“I still think there’s a lot more in there offensively, and hopefully, we can keep moving to that point,” Boone said during camp.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

José Caballero

For there to be any controversy or competition regarding the starting shortstop once Anthony Volpe returns within a month or so, Caballero would need to hit.

He has begun slowly — 4-for-31 — and also recently has been spotty defensively, airmailing a throw to Ben Rice in Sunday’s sixth inning. He can be a terror on the basepaths (and has stolen three bases), but he needs to reach at a better clip than .206.

“Been a struggle, a little bit,” Boone said of Caballero. “He’s swinging through some pitches I feel like that usually he puts in play.”

Ryan McMahon

The discouraging: a hitter who has never finished any of his nine seasons with even an average OPS — and eight and a half of those came with Coors Field as his home — again has not hit, at just 2-for-23 with 11 strikeouts. Boone said he feels McMahon has been “in between” and not simply trying to hit the ball with authority.

The less discouraging: McMahon is working walks, which he always does, and more notably overhauled his swing this winter to bring his legs closer together and be narrower at the plate. It is worth remembering that the adjustments are ongoing.

“Sometimes, it takes time for things to feel natural, to be able to repeat them without having to overthink it,” assistant hitting coach Casey Dykes said during camp.

TORONTO –– Maybe the Blue Jays’ fans should have been more mean.

In the Dodgers’ first trip back to Toronto since last year’s epic World Series, the team was greeted with a largely hostile reaction from the Rogers Centre crowd.

Shohei Ohtani was profusely booed, now two years removed from spurring the Blue Jays in free agency. Kyle Tucker got the same treatment, after also picking L.A. over Toronto as the top free agent in this past winter’s class. 

And on the whole, there was little goodwill paid to the club as a whole, after their triumph here in Game 7 last November.

“I wouldn’t say it was Game 6 or Game 7,” catcher Dalton Rushing said. “But no, it was good. These fans, sadly, didn’t want to see us come to town.”

There were, however, two exceptions to the stadium-wide jeers: Freddie Freeman, beloved for his Canadian heritage and representation of the country in the World Baseball Classic; and Teoscar Hernández, a former fan favorite outfielder who played for the Blue Jays from 2017-2022.

Which made the Dodgers’ 14-2 win on Monday night all the more painful for the 40,991 in attendance.

As the Dodgers rolled to their fourth-straight win, those were the two players who did the most important damage.

In the top of the first, Hernández hooked a two-run homer inside the left-field foul pole. Two innings later, Freeman nearly cleared the right-field bleachers with a two-run blast of his own.

That marked the start of another big night for the Dodgers’ surging offense, which recorded its third double-digit scoring effort in the past four days with a 17-hit onslaught that featured runs in all but two innings.

And while Freeman (who finished 2-for-4 with a walk and three RBIs, tying the early MLB lead with 12 on the season) and Hernández (2-for-5 with a walk and four RBIs) led the way, almost every other hitter in the lineup produced.

Ohtani had two hits, including a sixth-inning home run that elicited more boos. Tucker reached base three times (a single and two walks) and scored on every occasion. Max Muncy and reigning National League Player of the Week Andy Pages also had two knocks, lifting Pages’ early batting average to an MLB-best .474. 

And then there was Rushing, who got rare back-to-back starts in his backup catcher –– so Will Smith can be behind the plate for Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani the next two nights –– and capitalized by going 4-for-4 with two home runs and a hit-by-pitch. He has reached safely six-straight times going back to a homer he hit Sunday.

What it means

New season, same result in this World Series rematch.

Monday might’ve lacked the dramatics of last year’s Game 7, and it certainly didn’t contain the same emotional stakes.

But, it nonetheless gave the club a chance to reflect before first pitch: “Obviously, a lot of great memories,” manager Dave Roberts said.

Then, it set the stage for their most emphatic early-season victory –– giving them 45 total runs through this road trip’s first four games. 

“Obviously, we threw out a lot of hits today,” Roberts said. “But I think we’re just doing things the right way – running deep counts, hitting to the opposite field … Everyone was really solid.”

With the victory, the Dodgers also improved to 8-2, good for the best record in the majors to this point and a quick three-game lead in the NL West.

Who’s hot

Hernández did not start the season with his power stroke.

Up until the fifth inning Saturday, all seven of his opening-week hits had been singles. Six came on ground balls, and three never even left the infield.

The last several days, however, have been a different story. The All-Star slugger doubled late in Saturday’s game, hit his first home run of the season Sunday, then went deep again to open the scoring Monday –– on a hanging slider Max Scherzer left over the heart of the plate.

By the end of the night, which also included a two-run single in the seventh, Hernández’s early-season batting average was up to .353, second-best among qualified hitters on the team behind only the red-hot Pages.

Who’s not

The 4-6 Blue Jays.

After starting their defense of the American League pennant with a season-opening sweep of the Athletics, the club has not resembled the one that pushed the Dodgers to the brink last fall.

They dropped a home series to the woebegone Colorado Rockies last week, then were swept by the (almost) equally hapless Chicago White Sox this past weekend. They did nothing but help the Dodgers on Monday, making two errors and watching all five of their pitchers give up runs.

Even worse, Scherzer was pulled from his start after just two innings, with the 41-year-old’s velocity looking noticeably down. Oh, and starting catcher Alejandro Kirk is set for thumb surgery Tuesday.

Up next

The Dodgers and Blue Jays continue their series Tuesday night, when Yamamoto (1-1, 3.00 ERA) will face Kevin Gausman (0-0, 0.75 ERA). Yamamoto flipped spots in the Dodgers’ rotation this week with Ohtani, so that he could get an extra day of rest before pitching ahead of an off-day Wednesday.

How about this Washington Nationals offense folks! Despite some bullpen shenanigans, the Nats snapped their five game losing streak with a comeback win against the Cardinals. The Nats started the game well and ended it well. In the end, that was enough to give them a 9-6 win. James Wood also looks to be getting on track, which is great to see.

Before we talk about the offensive fireworks, I wanted to give a shoutout to Zack Littell. The veteran right hander showed what he can provide to this Nats rotation in his five innings of work. His command was mostly excellent and his splitter was dancing. Littell signed late in the offseason, so he is still not totally built up. However, once he is off his leash, he should be able to give the Nats length as well as quality.

The offense was the star of the show today though. All the worries we had about the unit in Spring Training are gone. This offense looks like it is a force to be reckoned with, especially with James Wood seeming to turn a corner. There is a ton of young talent and guys who are being unlocked by this new hitting staff.

It has also been different guys contributing up and down the lineup. Tonight, the star was James Wood, who seems to be coming out of his hibernation. Wood hammered a 114 MPH homer in the 8th inning to tie the game. His ability to hit homers at lower trajectories is truly a sight to behold.

Wood’s homer was part of a massive six run 8th inning explosion that propelled the Nats to victory. It was started by bottom of the order hitters, like Drew Millas and Jorbit Vivas, who both got key singles to start the rally. They got it done off of Ryne Stanek, who the Nats have always seemed to see well over the years.

After Wood’s homer to tie the game, the boys were not done. Curtis Mead ripped a double down the line to keep the pressure on. Then Brady House stepped to the plate and delivered, with a monster two run blast. Ever since the start of Spring Training, House has looked like a different hitter compared to the guy we saw last season. The 22 year old is a young player who is truly figuring it out in the big leagues.

CJ Abrams delivered yet another homer in the inning to give the Nats insurance. However, with this bullpen that had already blown it a couple times, things were not comfortable. The situation became particularly uncomfortable when Blake Butera threw Cionel Perez into the fire the night after he gave up four runs without giving up an out.

That was a move that could have been disastrous if it backfired. Butera would have had a lot of arrows heading his way. To his credit, Perez delivered and put up a zero in the 9th to make it a 9-6 Nats win. The Nats pitching staff is clearly a problem, but they slugged too much for it to bite them today.

One other play that helped keep a run off the board also made the 9th slightly less stressful. In the 4th inning, James Wood made the best defensive play of his career, robbing Nolan Gorman of a homer. He had to run a long way to get to the ball and then he timed his jump perfectly to keep the ball from going in the Nats bullpen.

After Jo Adell had his crazy game, I guess James Wood wanted to get into the mix. It is great to get back into the win column. The Nats pitching staff needs to be addressed badly, but hey we can talk about that tomorrow. How about James Wood and how about your Washington Nationals.

The Cincinnati Reds swept the Texas Rangers in their first road series of the 2026 regular season, and their road exploits didn’t stop on Monday in their 2-0 series opening win against the Miami Marlins. Lefty Brandon Williamson, making just his second start since late 2024, bounced back from a rough first outing of the season and was simply brilliant, and the Reds offense did just enough to bring home another win.

Williamson kept the Marlins completely off the board in 6.2 IP, his mix of a cutter and slider keeping Miami hitters completely off-balance throughout. He was efficient, needing just 93 pitches, and yielded just 3 hits and a lone walk against 4 strikeouts as he picked up the win. Brock Burke, Tony Santillan, and closer Emilio Pagan similarly were efficient in their ability to shut down the Marlins for the win, as the team needed just 127 pitches in total to win their fourth straight game.

Right now, the Cincinnati Reds are undefeated as the road team this year. Undefeated!

Williamson, tonight’s Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game, only truly faced one bout of trouble, that coming after Miami catcher Agustin Ramirez tripled off the top of the wall in RF – a triple that was a foot away from being a game-tying homer. Cincinnati’s lefty pitched out of that jam in short order, however, and that’s as close as the Marlins got.

The Reds took all the lead they’d need in the Top of the 4th when Elly De La Cruz smashed a hustle double into the RF gap and scored a batter later when Sal Stewart smashed an RBI-single up the middle. They got an insurance run in the Top of the 8th, though, when catcher Tyler Stephenson smashed his second homer of the young season over the LF when Miami starter Janson Junk hung a breaking ball in the heart of the zone.

Reds 2, Marlins 0 – and Cincinnati moves to a 7-3 record on the season.

Other Notes

• TJ Friedl shrugged off his rough start to the season by smashing a single up the middle to lead off the game. He later added a bunt single to go 2 for 4 on the evening (and he didn’t strike out once after having fanned 11 times already entering the game).
• Stewart stole his second bag of the game, doing so in front of tons of friends and family in his hometown. He also got thrown out on at TOOTBLAN at 3B a few pitches later, but we’ll let that one slide.
• Will Benson got the start in RF again in lieu of Noelvi Marte and had another laser of a hit.
• Dane Myers, in his first game against his former club, came on as a defensive replacement late (at the expense of Spencer Steer). He walked in his lone PA.
• The Reds and Marlins will recommence their series on Tuesday at 6:40 PM ET, and they’ll do so with Andrew Abbott and Sandy Alcantara sharing the mound.

The opening salvo of the three-game rematch of last year’s World Series was a one-sided affair, in which the Dodgers drubbed the Toronto Blue Jays 14-2 on Monday night at Rogers Centre.

After scoring only seven runs in three games in a languid series against the Cleveland Guardians at home, the Dodgers offense has come alive on the road, topping that figure in each of the first four games of the road trip.

Home runs provided the highlights of the series opener, including a career day by catcher Dalton Rushing.

Rushing got a second straight start behind the plate on Monday — manager Dave Roberts told reporters in Toronto it was partly so Will Smith would catch Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Ohtani in the final two games of the series — and had four hits, his first major league game with more than two hits. He homered in the seventh and eighth innings as the Dodgers just kept scoring.

Coupled with his home run in Sunday’s comeback win in Washington D.C., Rushing has hits in each of his last five at-bats, with three home runs, and he’s reached base six plate appearances in a row.

Teoscar Hernández started off the scoring with a two-run shot in the first inning, part of a four-RBI night for the left fielder. Hernández, who played for the Blue Jays from 2017-22, has 53 career home runs in 252 career games at Rogers Center, his most at any MLB park, though he entered Monday with a 117 wRC+ in this ballpark, right in line with his overall 118 wRC+ line to that point.

Freddie Freeman added a two-run shot in the third inning and later doubled home another run, giving him six extra-base hits in his last five games. Freeman, whose parents were both from Canada and who represented the country in two World Baseball Classics, has seven home runs in 19 career games in Toronto.

Shohei Ohtani reached base two more times Monday, including a solo home run in the sixth inning, his third home run on the road trip after hitting none on the opening homestand. Ohtani has now reached base in 41 consecutive games, the tied with Eric Karros for the ninth-longest longest streak in Dodgers franchise history.

Justin Wrobleski’s first turn this season in the rotation hit a speed bump in a two-walk, two-single first inning that brought home run and needed 29 pitches to complete. But after that, the left-hander settled down and was much more efficient.

Wrobleski needed only 49 pitches to get through the next four frames, during which he allowed only two walks and no more hits. On the night he allowed only four hard-hit balls, two of which came in the first inning.

Notes

• Four straight game scoring at least eight runs is one shy of the Dodgers franchise record. The team has had seven five-game streaks, the last coming from September 15-19, 2024. The last game of that last streak was quite memorable in Miami.
• Dodgers have scored in 22 of 36 innings on this road trip, including multiple runs in 12 different innings.
• Max Scherzer left after only two innings and 36 pitches with forearm tendinitis, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. Toronto’s rotation was already literally hurting, with starters Trey Yesavage, Shane Bieber, José Berrios, and Cody Ponce all on the injured list.

Monday particulars

Home runs: Teoscar Hernández (2), Freddie Freeman (3), Shohei Ohtani (3), Dalton Rushing 2 (3)

WP — Justin Wrobleski (1-0): 5 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 4 walks, 2 strikeouts

LP — Max Scherzer (1-1): 2 IP, 2 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

Up next

Yoshinobu Yamamoto has won all three of his career games at Rogers Centre, and will go for a fourth win in Toronto on Tuesday night (4:07 p.m.; SportsNet LA, TBS), in a fantastic pitching matchup against Kevin Gausman for the Blue Jays.

SAN FRANCISCO — Nobody on the National League’s worst team has had a worse week than Matt Chapman. To his credit, the veteran third baseman and leader in the Giants clubhouse stood at his locker and answered every question in a lengthy session Monday afternoon.

The latest incident in a stretch to forget came in the ninth inning of Sunday’s 5-2 loss to the Mets, when the typically savvy base runner made an inexcusable mistake and ran into the first out.

Chapman took responsibility with reporters and in a private conversation with manager Tony Vitello. There was no missed or misinterpreted sign. No stat-padding or situational ignorance.

He just made a bad read.

“If I could do it over again, I would not elect to steal that base,” Chapman said. “I was paying attention. I just kind of made a bad decision there. If he was long to the plate and I steal second base, then maybe we’re not talking about it, but I did and I got thrown out and it looks really ugly, on top of how things went yesterday and kind of transpired toward the end of the game.”

Trailing 5-2 against Mets closer Devin Williams, Chapman represented a meaningless run but could have been the start of a rally. Instead, it was snuffed out as quickly as it began.

After reaching first to lead off the ninth, Chapman saw Williams was taking his time getting the ball to the plate. The Giants had already grounded into one double play, and Chapman saw an opportunity to potentially avoid another. Only it turned into another kind of rally killer.

“I just picked a really bad time to do it,” Chapman said. “Because he was really slow to the plate, and then when I stole, he sped up a bit and that looks really bad when you get thrown out making an out at second base, killing our rally. … I know that’s completely my fault.”

The display of personal accountability was especially important for Chapman, given his finger-pointing back-and-forth with Casey Schmitt that was captured on camera in San Diego.

Even if only in terms of optics, it was a tad awkward that, in the aftermath of chiding his teammate for not catching a throw, the Gold Glove third baseman has made an uncharacteristic three errors in the five games since. Add on top his base running mistake, and it was hardly a banner week for one of the most respected players in the clubhouse.

“Yeah, it doesn’t look great when things like that happen and things get sloppy,” Chapman said. “But it’s not something that this team is thinking about or I’m thinking about. It’s just something that happened and we’ve moved on.”

It’s been a frustrating start to the season for just about all involved.

According to Vitello, Chapman’s frustrations boiling over on the mound in San Diego was only one of three similar incidents that have taken place.

The other two occurred behind closed doors and were only revealed by the manager, who put a positive spin on it, confirming that each happened before their three wins.

“I think our best games have come when our guys have let loose a little bit – and coaches too – said what they think, do what they think is the right thing in the moment and go out there and just play,” he said. “As opposed to being a little too careful. I’d rather those moments come up than not.”

Vitello didn’t divulge too many other details besides describing the interactions as “minor” compared to the one between Chapman and Schmitt and that “cuss words (were) involved.” He confirmed that different team members spoke up each time.

“Our guys did a good job of turning it into a real positive in a couple different ways,” Vitello said. “The three times that I can remember that that’s occurred, it’s kind of brought our team closer together or it’s gotten our team to play more free.”

San Francisco’s 3-7 start has been the worst in the NL, and worse yet, has included a 1-6 record in front of its home fans — outscored 24-5 over their final three losses to the Mets.

Chapman is responsible for three of the Giants’ eight errors, tied for the fifth-most in the majors. They’ve been held to three or fewer runs in eight of their 10 games, averaging a league-worst 2.6 per game. And his gaffe on the bases even drew the ire of Mets broadcaster Gary Cohen, who said the play “cap[ped] off a horrible, no good, awful week for Matt Chapman.”

“It just hasn’t clicked yet,” Chapman said. “It sucks when it looks like it’s sloppy baseball and we’re making some sloppy mistakes that kind of shot us in the foot a little bit last year and was one of the reasons why we weren’t able to finish as strong.

“But I don’t think it’s going to be something that’s the story of our season, by any means.”

Sheesh, that was a game. The Sox stormed out to a 3-0 lead: one run in the second two in the third, all manufactured. Then Brayan Bello’s wildness caught up with him, and he exited with a bases-loaded situation and the Sox up 3-1. Danny Coloumbe came on and then it was 4-3, Brewers. In the bottom of the fourth the Sox struck back, making it 5-4. The Brewers summarily tied it. At some point there was a pointed argument on the field. Most importantly, the Brewers took a 7-5 lead in the eighth inning against new dad Garrett Whitlock, and that was that. The only way to go is up, right?

Three Studs

Roman Anthony

Started the game with a double, followed it up with another hit, ho hum. He’s easily their best hitter.

Willson Contreras

No Jarren Duran means some lineup shuffling, and Big Willie managed two hits while being plunked by Brandon Woodruff for the sixth time in his career owing likely to some vestigial NL Central beef. Then he hit a ninth-inning solo shot. Fun!

Jovani Morán

Went three innings in relief, allowing one run and striking out four. That’ll doo.

Three Duds

Brayan Bello

He managed to avoid disaster in the first three innings but it was illusory. The Sox were down 4-3 in the inning he left, which was the fourth — notably not the, like, seventh. Not great.

Garrett Whitlock

Literally buying a sandwich is difficult on new dad sleep, so I don’t really blame him, but oof.

The bottom of the lineup that isn’t Caleb Durbin

Hitless! Is that good?

Play of the Game

Garrett Mitchell’s two-run single in the eighth, some Garrett on Garrett violence:

Boo. Except that in the great COVID baseball card craze, I got a delicious Garrett Mitchell First Bowman Sparkle Refractor:

So who’s to say what’s good or bad? I mean maybe this builds character for us and equity for me. A guy can dream, even if the Sox stink!

BOX

Bryce Harper ‘loves' Oracle Park, fuels Phillies' rally past Giants originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

SAN FRANCISCO — The Phillies needed somebody to come through Monday night.

With the boos pouring down on him, Bryce Harper delivered. All night long.

For much of the offseason and through the first week of the season, Harper had taken his share of criticism — for a still-solid 2025 campaign, for his slump in the World Baseball Classic and for a slow start through his first two dozen at-bats.

The message from Harper and his teammates stayed the same: the hits would come. He homered in consecutive games to close the homestand and open the road trip. Then, in the Phillies’ opener of a three-game series against the Giants, Harper carried them to a 6-4 win at Oracle Park.

The Phillies’ first baseman, who entered the night hitting .139, delivered a three-hit, three-RBI performance. It was exactly what Philadelphia needed.

For much of the game, it felt like another night when the offense might go quiet. The Phillies were scoreless through the first four innings.

Their rookie, Andrew Painter, dazzled in his Major League debut. His second outing was not nearly as forgiving.

The 6-foot-7 right-hander allowed four runs over four innings and did not provide the length Rob Thomson would have preferred in the middle of a demanding six-game west coast stay. Still, it ended up being enough.

Painter’s outing, plus strong work from the bullpen, kept the Phillies close. And even Painter knew it. He said after the game that the offense and the relievers bailed him out after he failed to consistently work from ahead in counts.

“I’m super happy that they broke through and picked me up,” Painter said.

In the top of the fifth, down four, J.T. Realmuto and Justin Crawford lined a pair of hits. Both finished with two on the night. That turned the lineup over. Trea Turner drove in the Phillies’ first run on a groundout and brought Harper to the plate.

On the first pitch he saw, Harper scorched a low-and-in slider off the brick wall in right field to bring home another run. The ball, which nearly left the yard, slammed off the Levi’s Landing sign at 112.5 mph, his hardest-hit ball of the year.

For Harper, it was the environment that made him aggressive early in counts.

“When it’s windy and cold, right, it’s a little tough to play,” he said. “Throughout the whole night, it felt really good [swinging the bat].”

The Phillies and Harper kept pushing with the deficit in half.

In the seventh, they built a nearly identical rally. This time, Crawford and Turner opened the inning with singles. Harper took his slow walk to the box and, as his name was announced, was met by a fresh wave of boos from the San Francisco crowd.

Ryan Borucki tried to move him off the plate with a 95.1 mph sinker in on the hands. Then he went back inside.

This time, Harper got the barrel there. He ripped the ball through the right side of the infield, and two runs came around to score, tying the game. Harper pumped his fist, turned toward the dugout and roared.

At that point, the Giants no longer had control of the night. The momentum belonged to the Phillies.

Alec Bohm, who came into the game hitting just .176, followed Harper by shooting a base hit down the first-base line to put the Phillies ahead. It was the kind of inside-out swing that shows why Bohm can still work in the cleanup spot when the hitters in front of him are getting on base.

That’s his game. Put the ball in play. Use the whole field. It ended up being the game-winning knock.

Harper later scored on a sacrifice fly, capping an electric four-run seventh that ultimately changed the game.

The Phillies needed another offensive night where they could string hits together, the way they did in Friday’s 10-1 win in Colorado. Just as importantly, they needed to pick up Painter after he battled through four uneven innings.

Thomson believed the matchup at the top of the order gave them a real chance to do that, even when the Giants went to their best left-on-left option in Borucki.

“Typically those guys hit left-handed pitching,” Thomson said of Schwarber and Harper. “That’s why we sort of stacked those guys together. If they want to take their best shot and do it right there, then that’s okay.”

Harper and the Phillies have long had issues at Oracle Park. Harper came into the night a .215 hitter there, including postseason play. And the club has not won a series in San Francisco since 2013.

That history was part of the backdrop Monday, but Harper made it sound like one he was never particularly bothered by.

“I love playing here,” he said. “It’s one of my favorite parks to play in.”

“I just feel good [here], man,” Harper continued. “My body feels good. My mind feels good. Every time I get in the batter’s box, too. I always have good mornings here too, like going to eat, dinner places. It’s just a good city to come visit.”

The boos, of course, are part of the deal on the road.

“That’s everywhere I go,” Harper said. “I’m used to it.”

Andre Pallante started the game wild, but was able to bring the game under control giving the St. Louis Cardinals a chance to win. It looked like they would win with clutch home runs from Ramón Urías and Jordan Walker, but the Cardinals bullpen blew it in the late innings as the Nationals came from behind for a 9-6 victory.

The Washington Nationals took advantage of a wild start from Andre Pallante banking 2 runs in the bottom of the first inning as Wood scored on a Lile groundout and Garcia Jr. scored on a single by Nuñez. However, Pallante was able to work his way out of the inning and didn’t allow another run through the remainder of his 5 innings.

One of the best plays in the game came in the top of the 4th inning when Nolan Gorman hammered a pitch to deep right, but the ball was pulled back into the park thanks to an amazing catch by James Wood.

The Cardinals would get on the board in the 5th inning after Thomas Saggese doubled and later scored on a fielder’s choice groundout by Alec Burleson. But, it was in the top of the 6th inning when the Cardinals would take a temporary lead on a two-run center field blast from Ramón Urías.

The Cardinals bullpen could not hold the lead as Justin Bruihl came into the game relieving Pallante in the bottom of the 6th. He’d get the first two outs, but then walked two leading to a double by Young which tied the score. JoJo Romero was brought in to put out the fire. He promptly walked Wood, but was able to get Mead to flyout to right to Walker.

The Cardinals went down quietly 1-2-3 in the top of the 7th, but JoJo Romero got into trouble in the bottom of the 7th giving up a leadoff double to House. He advanced to 3rd on a single by Lile. Abrams hit a fly ball to left field that looked like it would be a sacrifice fly, but Lile was thrown out by Thomas Saggese at home which was confirmed after review.

Jordan Walker continued his much improved start to the 2026 season with an opposite field home run traveling 366 feet to lead off the 8th inning giving the Cardinals a 4-3 lead.

After a Masyn Winn walk, Ramón Urías struck again. The Cardinals got aggressive again with a hit-and-run which put another run on the board when Winn was able to score from first base on a double by Urías.

Ramón advanced to third on an infield hit beat out by Saggese. He would then score on a sacrifice bunt by Victor Scott II. giving the Cardinals a “comfortable” 6-3 lead that turned out to not be comfortable at all. Stanek was brought into the game to get the last out in the bottom of the 7th. He gave up 2 hits in the bottom of the 8th inning which brought up Wood who tied the game with a laser shot over the 402 mark in center field tying the game 6-6. Matt Svanson was brought in to relieve Stanek and immediately gave up a double to Mead and then a 2-run bomb to Brady House giving Washington an 8-6 lead. Abrams followed that with his own line drive home run over the right field wall putting the Nationals up 9-6.

Jordan Walker would continue his hot hitting with an opposite field single to start the 9th, but the Cardinals were unable to rally resulting in the final score of 9-6.

Monday’s loss brings the Cardinals back to the .500 mark with a 5-5 record. They’ll try to get back to their winning ways Tuesday night as Matthew Liberatore will make his 3rd start of the season against Cade Cavalli who’s scheduled to start for the Nationals.

Tom Nieto, a World Series champion with the Twins and a former coach for the Yankees and Mets, died of a heart attack at the age of 65. 

Nieto died on March 27 while at his home in Florida, his sister wrote in a post on Facebook on Sunday and the Twins later confirmed the news in a social media announcement on Monday.

“On Friday, March 27th, my brother Tom passed on after a heart attack, leaving cherished memories in Florida with his family; his strength and resilience will continue to inspire us all,”

Nieto played seven years in Major League Baseball as a catcher, first being drafted by the Cardinals organization in the third round of the 1981 amateur draft and made his debut in 1984. 

He played the 1984 and 1985 season in St. Louis before joining for the Expos in 1986 followed by two seasons with the Twins. He finished his playing career with two seasons in Philadelphia. 

Nieto reached the World Series twice in his career, first in 1985 with the Cardinals, where they lost to the Royals in seven games, and then was part of the 1987 World Series-winning Twins. 

“The Twins organization mourns the loss of 1987 World Series champion, Tom Nieto. Our thoughts are with the Nieto family in their time of grieving,” the ballclub wrote on X. 

After his playing career came to an end, Nieto coached in the Twins, Yankees and Cardinals systems.

From 1995-2002, he coached in the Yankees organization, which included serving as the their major league catching coach from 2000-2001. 

He spent three years with the Mets beginning in 2005 after Willie Randolph was hired as Mets manager. 

Nieto served as the Mets’ catching instructor before being moved to first base coach. 

Nieto was let go along with Willie Randolph during the 2008 season.