Category: Baseball

Striker Pence, the nephew of former San Francisco Giants outfielder Hunter Pence, announced on Instagram on Thursday afternoon that he is reclassifying from the class of 2028 to the class of 2027.

Striker, 17, is a right-handed pitcher from Santiago High School in Corona and is already considered the class of 2027 No. 2 prospect and the top prep pitcher in the country, behind Dylan Seward of Norco.

Before reclassifying, Baseball America had Striker ranked as the No. 1 player in his class, while Perfect Game has him ranked as a 10.

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Perfect Game vice president of scouting, Jered Goodwin, said what separates Striker from the rest of his class is being able to utilize his tools and seeing how they translate in competition.

Considered a power arm pitcher and having a 6-foot-6 frame, while weighing 185 pounds, Striker has already shown why there is so much excitement surrounding him.

Striker’s pitch arsenal includes a fastball that sits at 98 mph and reaches up to 101 mph, while his slider sits in the mid-80s.

In August last year, he caught everyone’s attention while pitching in the Area Codes game at Blair Field in Long Beach by throwing seven straight pitches at 100 mph.

The knock against Striker has been commanding his fastball when it reaches triple digits. If he is able to locate his fastball better, he will have a chance to unlock another aspect of his game.

In a game against Orange Lutheran last season, he showed just what the potential of his slider could look like in a league game against Orange Lutheran.

Striker threw a slider towards the lower outside part of the strike zone, making University of Texas Commit, Brady Murrieta, drop to his knees swinging for a strike.

Santiago finished last season with a 19-12 record and finished third in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 baseball playoffs.

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Houston Astros (28-35) will continue their nine-game homestand tonight as they play the rubber game of their three-game series opposite their former divisional opponent, the Pittsburgh Pirates (33-29).

RHP Kai-Wei Teng (3-3, 2.57 ERA) will try to pitch the Astros to a series victory in what is his his fifth consecutive turn in the Astros rotation tonight as he starts opposite RHP Jared Jones (0-0, 10.38 ERA) and the Pirates

MY WAY OR THE KAI-WEI: RHP Kai-Wei Teng has split his season between the bullpen (13 G) and rotation (5 starts), posting a 2.57 ERA (12ER/42IP), a .185 opponent average, and a 1.10 WHIP.

Teng is new to the Astros organization, as he was acquired from San Francisco on Jan. 29, 2026 in exchange for minor league catching prospect Jancel Villarroel.

A native of Taiwan, Teng is the second Taiwanese-born player to appear with the Astros in their history, joining RHP Chia Jen-Lo, who made 19 relief appearances with the Astros in 2013.

VS. THE PIRATES: The Astros are hosting the Pirates in Houston for their first series in the city since July of 2024.

Since the Astros moved to the AL in 2013, the Astros and Pirates have split their matchups evenly, winning 10 games apiece. Historically, these teams have played each other 720 times, with the Astros going 349-371.

ASTROS ROSTER MOVES: The Astros have made the following roster moves:

• OF LaMonte Wade Jr. (#31) has been signed to a Major League contract and is active for tonight’s game.

• C Collin Price (#37) has been selected to the Major League roster.

• OF Joey Loperfido has been reinstated from the IL and optioned to Triple A.

• OF Zach Cole has been optioned to Triple A.

• C César Salazar and OF Rhylan Thomas have been designated for assignment.

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Astros rallied back from a five-run deficit, scoring six runs in the 8th inning en route to a thrilling 11-9 comeback victory in Houston. RF Cam Smith (2×5, 3RBI) had the go-ahead hit, a two-run triple in the 8th, while DH Yordan Alvarez (4×5, 2RBI) tied a career high with four hits. LHP Josh Hader (0ER/1IP) closed out the win for his first save of the season in what was his first Major League appearance of 2026.

TONIGHT’S TV: Tonight’s game will be televised locally by Space City Home Network with Todd Kalas, Geoff Blum and Julia Morales on the call. The game will also air locally and nationally on FS1, which will feature Eric Collins and Tom Verducci.

LOS ASTROS: Space City Home Network will televise this series in English and Spanish with the Spanish broadcast being televised on SCHN2. Danny Gonzalez and Enrique Vasquez will be on the call on the Spanish telecast this series.

ON THE DIAL: The Astros English radio broadcast this series will feature Robert Ford and Josh Reddick, who’s subbing for Steve Sparks. Reddick, who played parts of 13 seasons in the Majors and was a 2017 World Series champion, will make select appearances on Astros radio this season.

TONIGHT’S ANTHEM: Tonight’s Anthem will be performed by the Voices of Mobile, which is a vocal ensemble hailing from the University of Mobile, the alma mater of Astros manager Joe Espada.

MONTHLY AWARDS: Announced yesterday, RHP Spencer Arrighetti was named the AL Pitcher of the Month for May after going 4-1 with a 0.93 ERA (3ER/29IP) and a .165 opponent average (16×97) in five starts in the month. He followed DH Yordan Alvarez, who won the AL Player of the Month for March/April of this season.

LATE NIGHT LAMONT: OF LaMonte Wade Jr. joins the Astros after spending his entire season at Triple A Charlotte in the White Sox organization, appearing in 46 games and hitting .250 (38×152) with seven homers, 26 RBI, 45 walks and an .861 OPS.

Wade has appeared in 560 career Major League games over parts of seven seasons with the Twins (2019-20), Giants (2021-25) and Angels (2025).

VOTING COMMENCES: MLB launched the 2026 Konami eBaseball MLB All-Star Ballot yesterday.

Astros on the ballot: 1B Christian Walker, 2B Jose Altuve, 3B Isaac Paredes, SS Jeremy Peña, C Yainer Diaz, DH Yordan Alvarez, OF Brice Matthews, OF Jake Meyers and OF Cam Smith.

ON THE LEADER BOARD: DH Yordan Alvarez leads MLB in OPS (1.075), SLG (.649), and total bases (146), and leads the AL lead in batting average (.316) and homers (21).

Also in the AL, he ranks tied for first in hits (71), second in extra-base hits (33), second in OBP (.426), tied for second in RBI (44), tied for sixth in walks (40), and eighth in runs (41).

WALKER, TEXAS HAMMER: 1B Christian Walker leads the AL in RBI with 45, which is one RBI more than teammate DH Yordan Alvarez (44), and ranks sixth in the AL in homers (16).

Walker also has not committed an error in 62 games.

FIRE STARTER: SS Jeremy Peña is batting .316 (18×57) with three home runs, 10 RBI and an .866 OPS in 15 games since being activated from the IL on May 18. The Astros are 9-6 since his return.

HIT PAREDES: 3B Isaac Paredes has 99 career homers and is looking to become just the fourth Mexican-born player in MLB history to the reach 100. Paredes just reached another milestone on Sunday vs. MIL, becoming the 10th Mexican-born player in MLB history to reach 500 career hits.

THERE IS A SANTA!: RHP Alimber Santa (pronounced saun-tuh) set a franchise record by retiring the first 18 batters of his career consecutively before giving up a walk last night. The 18 consecutive batters retired are the most to begin a career since the Pirates RHP Nick Kingham retired 20 straight to open his career on April 29, 2018 vs. STL.

TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY: 1997 – 3B Bill Spiers is walked in four straight PAs, including two intentional passes, which ties a club record for the most consecutive walks in a single 9.0-inning game. This streak added to Spiers’ run, in which he would set a club record by reaching base safely in 13 consecutive PA’s over a six-game span (nine walks, three singles, HBP).

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Thursday, June 4, 7:10 p.m. CT

Location: Daikin Park, Houston, TX

TV: Space City Home Network, FS1, SCHN2 (Spanish)

Streaming: SCHN+

Radio: KTRH 740 AM, KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)

The A’s had an awesome come-from-behind victory last night, scoring two runs in the eighth to tie the game before taking a one-run lead into the ninth and holding on. That earned them win #30 on the year and pushed them past the Texas Rangers into second place,

Right-hander J.T. Ginn will be tasked with finishing off the Cubs and helping the A’s to the sweep, something the squad hasn’t accomplished since early April. The 27-year-old is in the midst of a fantastic season and is looking to keep that going against a slumping Cubs squad.

The Athletics’ lineup for tonight’s series finale shakes out like this:

A new man at the top as rookie center fielder Henry Bolte will bat leadoff this evening. He’ll be followed by the usual duo of Shea Langeliers and Nick Kurtz, while the hit-swinging Colby Thomas, who homered last night, bats cleanup. Soderstrom brings up the rear of the top half batting fifth.

We have a couple regulars getting the day off as well in Brent Rooker and Darell Hernaiz. That means catching duties fall to Jonah Heim this evening while Alika Williams will handle shortstop. Second and third are occupied by the regulars in Jeff McNeil and Zack Gelof.

As for the Cubs, they’ll be relying on righty Shota Imanaga to help them avoid the dreaded home sweep. Now in his third year in MLB, the 32-year-old has steadily declined since bursting onto the scene in 2024. He started off strong this year, posting a 2.32 ERA through his first nine starts. Things have quickly fallen apart for him over his last three appearances: eight earned runs, seven earned runs, and most recently five allowed to Cardinals. This recent cold streak has raised his season ERA over two full runs. He may be skidding but the Athletics’ batters have to be on their game tonight and hope this isn’t the game he figures things out. He’s only pitched once against the A’s, firing six innings of two-run ball back when the A’s were still in Oakland a couple years back.

And the Chicago starting nine:

The Cubs are slumping but there’s still plenty of power and danger in that lineup if Ginn takes them lightly. You know he won’t though and he should be ready for tonight’s gamezl

Time to finish off the sweep. Let’s go A’s!

Follow the Game:
Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA

Listen:
Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, A’s Cast

The final game in Atlanta. They’ve lost the series and four in a row, and avoiding the sweep will be difficult with Chris Sale on the mound. They’ve gone for a righty maximizing lineup to try to counter, which has Charles McAdoo at second and Daulton Varsho and Andres Gimenez sitting. That will make defence behind Chad Dallas/the bullpen interesting.

Here are the lineups:

Welcome back to Thursday baseball. I had a couple of weeks off to recharge the ol’ game thread and recap batteries. The Royals played every other day of the week, so let’s see how they di—

Oh.

Oh, no.

Well, on the bright side, they took the series from the Reds in Cincinnati. Going into tonight’s series opener in Minnesota—the first of four, I should add—the Royals are 24-38, 11.5 games back of the Guardians in the Central and 6.5 back of the last Wild Card spot.

They also have the second-worst record in the American League (thank you, Arte Moreno) and are tied with the Giants for the fourth-worst record in the Majors.

Is this season lost? I don’t know. It’s hard for me to definitively say that on June 4. There are still a ton of games to be played. If the Royals reached the postseason, they’d join a list of many teams that started slowly only to rebound and make the playoffs.

The Twins, meanwhile, are 29-34, and just won a home series against the White Sox despite getting blanked yesterday, 8-0. Their three series before that one: swept in Pittsburgh, lost three of four to the White Sox in Chicago, and swept the Red Sox in Boston.

Baseball in 2026, am I right?

The Royals will send to the mound tonight Seth Lugo, who’s pitched pretty well his last three outings against the Red Sox, Mariners, and Rangers. Over those starts, Lugo’s tossed 18-and-1/3 innings while allowing six earned runs with 14 strikeouts versus four walks and 17 hits.

The Twins will counter with righty Andrew Morris, a rookie making just his second start and 18th appearance. Morris is 1-2 with a 4.07 ERA, 3.06 FIP, and 1.521 WHIP. His first start of the year came nearly a month ago on the road against the Guardians. He pitched…one inning.

Ah, an Opener more than a Starter. The Royals did well last time they faced a team utilizing its bullpen the entire game.

Here’s the Royals lineup:

Michael Massey is Michael Mashey recently. He’s hitting the cover off the ball. In his last 23 games, he’s slashing .323/.338/.581 with four home runs. A sliver of good news in a season gone awry.

Now, for the Twins:

This made me feel old: the Twins drafted Byron Buxton fourteen years ago today. He’s one of those great “what if” type of guys. What if he stayed healthy? Dude might be one of the best all-time. And yet, he’s still posted at least 4.9 bWAR in three different seasons including one in which he only played 61 games. He’s slashing .253/.314/.538 in 2026 with 17 home runs, ten more than the next guy on the team.

See you on the other side.

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Houston Astros, June 4, 2026, 8:10 p.m. ET

Location: Daikin Park, Houston, TX

Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet

Pitching Matchup: Jared Jones (0-0, 10.38 ERA) vs. Kai-wei Teng (3-3, 2.57 ERA)

The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the road today against the Houston Astros looking to grab a win.

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Playing at American Family Field, the San Francisco Giants got six insurance runs in the 7th inning that included an Eric Haase grand slam. Their nine-run cushion, plus a home run robbery by Drew Gilbert in the bottom of the inning, proved to be just enough as the Giants held on for a 12-9 win and a series split.

On a day where the wind was blowing out hard to left field, Casey Schmitt hit a leadoff home run, Jung Hoo Lee had another four-hit game, and the Giants piled up 20 hits in a game that unexpectedly turned into a save situation for Caleb Killian (S 4). Adrian Houser hit the wall with one out in the 5th, so Sam Hentges picked up his first win of the season by escaping the inning.

Not only did Schmitt establish a new career high with his 13th dinger, he made a very nice catch in left in the bottom of the inning, as well snagging a tough grounder with the bases loaded while playing first base in the 9th. At this rate, Schmitt will be taking over center field after the All-Star break and become the team’s emergency catcher around Labor Day.

The 5-6-7 hitters did the majority of the damage Thursday afternoon, combing for six runs, 10 hits, and four RBI. It started in the first inning, where the Giants got an RBI single from Bryce Eldridge (3-for-4, BB) and an RBI double from Matt Chapman (3-for-5) that knocked in Lee (4-for-5).

Lee has a 12-game hitting streak, during which he’s raised his batting average by 55 points. He has 19 hits in his last seven games, which no Giant has done since Bill Terry in 1932, a year where he was also managing the team. Watch your back, Vitello! Eldridge has a seven-game hitting streak where he’s raised his average 116 points and his OPS by 300 points, which is probably comparable do something Mel Ott did in 1932, right?

The trio struck again in the 3rd inning. Lee doubled in Willy Adames, who just missed a home run, Eldridge walked, and Chapman hit an RBI single. Schmitt made the game 6-1 with a sac fly.

Jackson Chourio hit the first in his pair of two-run homers in the 5th, during a six-pitch stretch where Houser gave aup a double, home run, and another double. Still, the Giants kept hitting and kept knocking out Brewers pitchers. Literally and figuratively.

The third-inning rally chased Crow. His replacement, DL Hall, might be heading to the IL after injuring his pectoral muscle. He had to leave the game in the middle of an at-bat. Grant Anderson entered the game for him, only to leave when Eldridge lined a ball off his forearm in the 7th.

Jake Woodford came in and gave up a single to Chapman and Haase’s bomb to center field.

Woodford gave up four more singles, including Lee’s second hit of the inning, and a sacrifice fly to make the game 12-3.

Everything nearly fell apart when the Giants’ Choose Your Own Adventure bullpen tried to protect their six-run lead. Chourios went deep again off Brubaker, one of two home runs that bounced off the top of the fence Thursday. David Hamilton hit his second home run off the season off Tristan Beck in the 8th. Still, Wilkin Ramos entered the 9th with a seemingly-safe six-run lead.

Then, as Shawn Estes so poetically said, the Giants and their fans “puckered” a little. Chourio reached on an infield single. Even though the Brewers had cleared their bench in the 8th to rest their 3-4-5 hitters, the replacements delivered in the 9th. Gary Sanchez singled. Joey Ortiz and Blake Perkins walked. That was it for Ramos, and Killian entered with the bases loaded and an improbable save situation.

Killian got a strikeout and an RBI groundout before Luis Rengfio took a break from robbing Giants of hits at third to deliver an RBI single. Then Hamilton delivered a scare, but his potentially game-tying home run died on the warning track.

The wind-aided game should prepare the Giants for a weekend at Wrigley Field, delighting the hitters and terrifying the bullpen. The lineup is looking great — Rafael Devers finally got his first hit of the series in his final at-bat — while the ‘pen remains a work in regress.

Ultimately, the series felt like knocking down the widest pins in a bowling alley

As the Braves go for a sweep of Toronto Thursday night, it doesn’t seem like a very fair pitching matchup on paper.

Atlanta is starting its ace, Chris Sale. Toronto is using an opener, Mason Fluherty, and then likely giving Chad Dallas his major league debut after he was promoted to the major league roster on Thursday.

Follow along once things get underway at 7:15 EDT at Truist Park to see if Atlanta can complete its first sweep since early May with what sure looks like a favorable setup.

Game Info

Preview

Lineups

FIRST PITCH: 6:40p Central

TELEVISION: Twins.TV, “presented by Progressive”

RADIO: ‘CCO 830 AM, KMNB 102.9 FM “The Wolf”, Treasure Island Baseball Network, Audacy Application

KNOW THE FOE: Royals Review

Your Minnesota Twins continue their stretch of games against American League Central enemies, hosting the Kansas City Royals for a four-game set tonight through Sunday before a much-needed day off on Monday. The last time these two teams met was in K. C. for the Twins’ second series of the season in late March/early April when the Royals took the series 2-1. They’ve fallen on hard times since then, limping to a 23-38 record, good for the cellar of the Central. The offense has been off to a slow start, but is starting to pick up steam. Their pitching, like the Twins, have been hit hard with injuries and has an ERA of 4.62, good for 25th in MLB.

The Royals will send veteran righty Seth Lugo to the mound. He’s got a lot of pitches, but throws his slider the most and will mix in his sinker, four-seam fastball, curve, and cutter as well. He’s also known to throw a change from time to time and – very rarely – a splitter. He had a rough-ish month of May but his overall numbers this season so far shows a dip in homers and walks allowed while giving up more hits compared to past campaigns.

With Minnesota’s injury woes to their starting rotation, Derek Shelton has opted for a bullpen game. Multiple beat writers have noted last night that not-veteran Andrew Morris will take the mound first for the Twins. However, the Twins submitted a lineup with newly-called-up right-hander Mike Paredes as the starting pitcher, so maybe everyone’s lying. Either way, someone will be pitching for the local nine tonight and it will be a bullpen effort.

Morris started the season as a long-reliver but he’s only gone more than one inning once in his last 11 outings. He’s started the lone bullpen game for the Twins this season back on May 10 in a 5-4 win against the Spiders in Cleveland, throwing a clean first frame before passing the baton. (Kendrys Rojas started a game for the Twins and maybe that was bullpen game too, but he went four innings. Does that really count as a bullpen game then? I don’t know.)

Paredes has been part of the new-age starting pitching method that Minnesota has been using in the minors. Starting pitchers will go only four innings and pitch every fourth day instead of every fifth day, usually with another starting pitcher piggy-backing or piecing it together with multiple “classic” relievers. Paredes has done a bit of both the starting and the piggy-backing in St Paul, leading to a 3.38 ERA in 34.2 innings of work. He also owns a 1.125 WHIP across his nine appearances.

As a side note, it’s been a while since I’ve written and I forgot that our real-deal names are in the bylines now, so I am Imakesandwichesforaliving and will be taking care of you on Thursdays. Please sit back, crack open a cold one, and GO TWIMS GO. Also, Happy Prince Night!

The Texas Rangers have activated shortstop Corey Seager from the 10 day injured list, per MLB.com. In addition, the Rangers have optioned outfielder Alejandro Osuna and infielder Cody Freeman to AAA Round Rock.

Seager last played on May 13. On May 16, he reported back spasms, and while it was initially hoped he would be day-to-day, he ended up on the injured list. He has played for Frisco on a rehab assignment the previous two days, and is apparently ready to go when the Rangers host the Guardians on Friday. Seager had been in a 6 for 61 slump when he went on the injured list, and the hope was that the i.l. stint would also provide him a mental break and a re-set once he returned.

The other roster spot that is now open will presumably go to either Wyatt Langford, who last played on April 21, and who has been on the injured list with a strained forearm, or Sam Haggerty, who is on bereavement leave. Langford has played a pair of rehab games with Round Rock and a pair with Frisco. It may be that he is going to be making another rehab appearance for Frisco tonight before he is activated tomorrow.

Whether Langford returns Friday or later in the weekend, his returning to the roster meant Alejandro Osuna was going to go back to AAA. Osuna has been playing left field against righthanded pitchers, and has slashed .253/.376/.275 in 110 plate appearances over 37 games. With the non-Langford outfield and DH spots manned by lefthanded hitters, Osuna, who is also a lefty, is not a fit as a fourth outfielder, particularly given that he’s more suited for a corner spot than center field.

Freeman was called up to take Haggerty’s place when Haggerty went on bereavement leave. There was some question as to whether Freeman, who was in the mix for a spot on the Opening Day roster, would stick even once Haggerty returned (along with Seager and Langford), but that appears to not be the case.

Day 4 of the search for an Aaron Judge injury diagnosis involved more waiting and question marks, but one potentially concerning revelation.

The specialist that the Yankees were waiting on as of late Thursday afternoon to review Judge’s second round of tests was Dr. Gregory Pearl, who focuses on “complex vascular procedures and thoracic outlet syndrome management in high-performance athletes,” according to his practice’s website.

It is possible that this second opinion was just to rule out a worst-case scenario like thoracic outlet syndrome — which is found more often in pitchers but typically requires surgery — though the Yankees remained in a holding pattern with the three-time American League MVP until they knew exactly what they were dealing with.

“I promise you, when we know, we’re going to give it to you,” manager Aaron Boone said Thursday after a 2-1 win over the Guardians at Yankee Stadium. “I wanted to walk in here and give you something so bad. I want [a diagnosis] too.”

“I checked in the middle of the game, I ran in and asked and we’re waiting on the specialist to weigh in. That’s where we’re at. … It’s a lot of smart people in a specialized area, and guys several states away. Just got to be patient.”

The injury concern has loomed over the Yankees all week.

Judge, who was experiencing shoulder soreness that was affecting his swing, got initial testing on Monday that the team said showed a bone bruise near his right rib cage.

He saw the Yankees’ team doctor on Tuesday and had his imaging reviewed by Pearl, a specialist based in Texas, on Wednesday, which led to more testing Wednesday night (another MRI) and Thursday morning (CT scan and X-ray).

Given all of that, the real question seems to be how much time Judge will miss rather than whether he goes on the injured list, though as of Thursday, the Yankees insisted they did not yet know the answer to either.

“I just think it’s a complicated spot and there’s some edema [swelling] that complicates how they look at it,” Boone said. “I’m obviously not a doctor, I don’t know how it all works, but there’s a lot of people involved trying to make sure we get the right diagnosis.”

Former Met Jeff McNeil is the most recent example of a position player who had thoracic outlet syndrome. He underwent surgery in October but was ready in time for spring training with the A’s.

Other cases include former Rays catcher Mike Zunino, who underwent surgery in July of 2022 and missed the rest of the season, and former Angels first baseman Jared Walsh, who had surgery in August of 2022 and also missed the rest of the year.

Losing one of the best players in baseball for any period of time would hurt the Yankees, especially given how they have played while Judge has been injured in other seasons, but whether that is a short-term problem or something more severe remains to be seen.

“It kind of sucks not having a three-time MVP in your lineup,” Jazz Chisholm Jr. said. “But at the same time, we all know we can’t use it as an excuse. We’re all baseball players and we got to go out there and win a game.”

Thursday notes…

• STREAKING THE WRONG WAY: The Cubs have lost eight consecutive games at home. This is their 17th streak of at least eight straight losses at home since 1901. The most recent was a team-record 13 games July 27-Aug. 22, 2021. That eclipsed the 12 in a row to start the 1994 season, which had topped the 11 games July 25-Aug. 22, 1902. They have had two streaks of 10 games and three streaks of nine, two of them in 2006 and 2021. This is their ninth of eight. The most recent to end at eight was Aug. 6-20, 2010. The seven before then all were between 1938 and 1974. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• HISTORY, THE WRONG WAY: With their losses in the last the three games, the Cubs have fallen below .500 — since Opening Day of 2021, the first full season after the pandemic: 435 wins and 437 losses. They were: 71-91 in 2021 (20 games below .500); 74-88 in 2022 (14 below, total of -34); 83-79 in 2023 (4 above, total of -30); 83-79 in 2024 (4 above, total of -26); 92-70 in 2025 (22 above, total of -4); 32-30 in 2026 (2 above, total of -2). In 2015-20, the Cubs were 140 games above .500, with 505 wins, 365 losses and 1 tie, for a percentage of .580. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• STREAKING PCA: Pete Crow-Armstrong is on an eight-game hitting streak in which he is batting .343/.410/.600 (12-for-35) with three doubles, two home runs, five RBI and six runs scored.
• TODAY IN CUBS HISTORY: Fergie Jenkins throws a three-hit shutout, striking out six, and the Cubs thrash the Braves 11-0 in Atlanta. Joe Pepitone goes 4-for-6 with a home run and three RBI. It happened 55 years ago today, Friday, June 4, 1971.

Cubs lineup:

Athletics lineup:

Shōta Imanaga, LHP vs. J.T. Ginn, RHP

Didn’t we just do this Tuesday? Shōta Imanaga’s last three starts have been just awful. He’s allowed 21 hits and five walks (1.660 WHIP) in 15.2 innings, with 20 (!) earned runs (11.49 ERA) and eight home runs. He was striking out a lot of guys earlier in the season (28 percent K rate over his first nine starts) but that has plunged to just 13.7 percent over those last three starts, suggesting… I dunno, velocity drop? Injury? Both?

In any case, it’s not good.

His only career start vs. the A’s was Sept. 16, 2024 at Wrigley Field. He allowed two runs in seven innings (a two-run homer by Brent Rooker) and struck out 11.

It would be nice for Shōta to get back there.

J.T. Ginn has been the A’s best starter this year since he joined their rotation in mid-April. In 10 starts since then: 2.56 ERA, 1.139 WHIP, has allowed more than two runs just once in that 10-start span.

One thing he’s had a bit of trouble with is walks — his 24 walks among 213 batters faced as a starter this year is an 11.3 percent walk rate, which is kind of high. So maybe the Cubs can, for once, be patient?

Ginn has never faced the Cubs and only two Cubs (Alex Bregman, 1-for-2 and Carson Kelly, 0-for-2) have ever seen him.

One potentially good thing: Ginn is right-handed, the first RH starter the Cubs have seen in this series. They are 25-21 vs. RH starters this year, just 7-9 vs. LH starters.

Here is the weather forecast for the area around Wrigley Field.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network.

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Athletics site Athletics Nation. If you do go there to interact with A’s fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.

You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

The vibes couldn’t have been higher for the White Sox in May, which sets the stage for Chris Getz to do almost anything he wants without upsetting fans. The crew went 18-10 and came out of the month with a positive run differential for the first time since last July, when Chicago went on a heater and came the closest to posting a winning month since May 2023. Everything was sunny for the South Siders, but let’s take a deeper look at the common threads that underlie this team’s performance.

One team’s benchwarmers are another team’s starters

Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to player swaps. I hate to hand it to Getsz (in reality, the majority of the credit should go to the scouting and baseball operations departments), but the trades and free agent signings he cooked up during the last two trade deadlines and offseasons are turning out to be some of the smartest moves made to this day.

Giving up Michael Kopech for anyone but a proven major leaguer initially seemed ludicrous, but Miguel Vargas’ breakout campaign is proving the trade’s early critics wrong. Vargas recorded a hearty .250/.356/.510 slash line, seven home runs, 19 RBIs, and 14 walks in 100 at-bats. Although his productivity wasn’t as high as Munetaka Murakami’s, his reliability in the lineup came up clutch to tip the scales in Chicago’s favor multiple times. His latest two-run blast punctured the wounded Tigers and made a poignant statement that the Sox will do more than play spoiler in the AL Central.

Similarly, former Banana baller Tristan Peters has quickly quelled worries about the outfield. His exceptional .293/.354/.415 slash line and stellar glove have prevented losses and saved several games that a 1.6 WAR doesn’t adequately reflect, but at least his 2.91 range factor in nine innings comes close. Drafted by the Brewers in 2021, Peters only played four games last year with the Rays, one of which was his MLB debut. The Sox paid cash for Peters in December, representing the only offseason move made by the Sox until the Murakami signing. Now, he’s a staple in the Sox’s outfield platoon.

Not every trade is a success, but it’s nice to see that the Sox are finally benefiting from some of these seemingly one-sided exchanges. These guys don’t need to become MVPs to provide value and be difference makers.

Talent dispersion outweighs concentration in small markets

For a team whose payroll wouldn’t meet MLB’s proposed $171.2 million salary floor, the Sox are serving as the poster child for why salary caps and floors won’t immediately solve MLB’s economic disparities. 

Although there’s no denying that Murakami was the most underrated free agent signing by the Sox or any smaller market MLB team this season, Murakami’s co-stars deserve a hand clap. In May, the Sox ranked fifth in runs (141), first in home runs (42), third in RBIs (141), seventh in batting average and on-base percentage (.252 and .328, respectively), and fifth in slugging percentage (.435). Murakami ranked in the top 10 in only two of those six categories. This proves that although he may be most often in the national spotlight, he isn’t the only one pulling the cart.

The same goes for pitching. Davis Martin may be a top-five contender for the AL Cy Young after publishing a 4-0 record, 2.05 ERA, 38 punchouts, and .188 batting average allowed in May, but this rotation and bullpen don’t rely on just one guy. Bryan Hudson, Grant Taylor, Sean Newcomb, and Anthony Kay combined for a sub-1.70 ERA and 77 strikeouts in nearly 78 innings in May. On most teams, those numbers would make them a major storyline.

To survive a trade deadline that is expected to be a seller’s market, with the CBA renewal negotiations going as expected, and to stay within playoff contention, everyone on the Sox needs to pull their weight. 

Summary Metrics

Trade Confidence (How many players traded for are making valuable contributions to the organization?): 30%

Average Innings Watched (Average number of innings fans have patience for): 9…? Wait, yes, that’s right

Rebuild Index (1 is full rebuild, 5 is sustaining current pace, 10 is aggressively pursuing a World Series): 6

MILWAUKEE — Gary Pettis must be so confused.

Since he arrived two days ago, the Giants have looked nothing like a team that was floundering so badly it needed to bring in a new third-base coach just two months into the season.

They’ve strung together two complete, generally clean efforts in a row — an accomplishment for a team that hasn’t won more than three consecutive games all year.

And it has come against no slouch.

Casey Schmitt slugged his 13th home run of the season on the first pitch from Brewers starter Coleman Crow and the Giants kept on hitting enough to survive a subpar start from Adrian Houser against his former team, knocking off the NL Central leaders Thursday afternoon for the second straight game, 12-9, to claim a split of the four-game set.

Catcher Eric Haase, another former Brewer, added a cherry on top of the win with a grand slam to straightaway center before an out had been recorded in the seventh.

Drew Gilbert even got redemption for the catch he missed at the wall earlier in the series, leaping for a spectacular home run robbery of Andrew Vaughn for the final out of the eighth.

Perhaps the only knocks were a throw in the dirt from Willy Adames that Rafael Devers wasn’t able to scoop and the pitching staff’s ongoing affinity for issuing bases on balls — three in 4 ⅓ innings from Houser, whose day was over after serving up a two-run shot to Jackson Chourio, plus five more from the bullpen for 28 total over the course of the series.

“Not that the pitchers didn’t do some good things,” manager Tony Vitello said. “But you’re not going to win games when you have eight walks. You’re just not.”

Vitello was forced to turn to his closer, despite leading by five runs, after Wilkin Ramos failed to record an out and walked home a run in the ninth. Representing the tying run, David Hamilton sent a fastball from Caleb Killian to the warning track in center field but it just stayed in the park for a far more stressful final out than there should have been.

San Francisco led 3-0 after bringing nine men to the plate in the top of the first and added on with back-to-back doubles from Adames and Jung Hoo Lee that began another three-run rally in the third. That, it turned out, was merely an appetizer for a six-run seventh inning in which 11 batters came to the plate.

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It made for plenty of activity for Ron Wotus in his final game as the interim third-base coach.

When the Giants take the field Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field, Pettis will be standing in the box, hoping to get as many opportunities to wave runners home.

What it means

The Giants haven’t enjoyed many games like these, let alone strung them together.

Logan Webb was hopeful his seven shutout innings in Wednesday’s 1-0 win would set the tone for the Giants to begin to flip the script. It didn’t translate to the next man up in the rotation, but maybe it was the start of something positive nonetheless.

“The blueprint is there,” Vitello said.

Who’s hot

Jung Hoo Lee singled three times, doubled and scored three runs, extending his hitting streak to a career-long 12 games. Over the course of the stretch — the longest active streak in the majors and the longest by a Giant since Dominic Smith’s 15-gamer last year — Lee is batting a remarkable 24-for-45, including five multi-hit efforts in seven games since returning from the IL.

Lee’s 19 hits in seven games since returning from the IL are the most any Giants hitter has had in a seven-game span since Bill Terry in 1932.

Bryce Eldridge also extended his on-base streak to 11 games with an RBI single to drive in Luis Arraez in the first, then worked a walk and scored in the third and lined another single to right field on the sixth pitch of his third trip to the plate. 

Schmitt, meanwhile, set a career high for home runs in the 63rd game of the season and is making a strong case to represent the Giants at the All-Star Game next month.

Who’s not

Just about everyone has gotten in on the good times the past two games.

Except for Rafael Devers.

The first baseman is back in the slump that he appeared to have broken out of in May, when he slashed .306/.356/.593 with 14 doubles, tying a franchise record for the most in one month.

Since the calendar flipped to June, Devers had been 0-for-16 with eight strikeouts until he lifted a double off the right-field wall in the top of the ninth.

Still, Devers was already responsible for one of the Giants’ hardest-hit balls of the game — a 107 mph line drive that went straight into the back of third baseman Luis Rengifo’s glove.

Up next

The Giants will play their second and third matinees in a row to begin a three-game series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, then face a quick turnaround following a 5:30 p.m. start on “Sunday Night Baseball” before beginning a homestand the next evening.

Robbie Ray will seek to complete at least five innings for the first time since May 8 when he takes the mound in the series opener Friday with first pitch set for 11:20 a.m. PT.

Today’s first pitch was fairly representative of how most of today’s game ended up going. Brewers starter Coleman Crow threw a 90.7 mph sinker up and in to Casey Schmitt, who leads the Giants in home runs. Schmitt tagged it for his thirteenth of the year, and all of a sudden the Brewers were already behind just one pitch into the game.

Crow quickly got two outs, but also allowed singles to Luis Arraez and Jung Hoo Lee. Bryce Eldridge came up with two on and two out and singled into center field for the Giants’ second run of the inning. Matt Chapman then took a strike, fouled off three pitches, and ripped a line drive into left field. Lee scored, Eldridge made it around to third, and Chapman ended up on second with a double.

For a moment, it looked like the Giants were going to add to their lead again after Crow walked the next batter, Eric Haase, on four pitches that were all low and away. Luckily, nine-hitter Drew Gilbert grounded out to end the inning.

Crow would make it through the second inning unscathed, but allowed two runs on four hits and a walk in the third. He was eventually pulled with only one out in the frame and the bases loaded. DL Hall came in to try to get out of the jam and limited the Giants to a sacrifice fly.

Crow’s final line reflects how rough of an outing this was for him: 2 1/3 innings pitched, 9 hits, 6 earned runs, two walks. He had looked good through his first three appearances, but the Giants jumped on him early and often. Even during a 1-2-3 second inning, Rafael Devers hit a 107 mph liner that Luis Rengifo made a ridiculous diving play on to take away a base hit.

I still believe Crow can eventually become an effective part of Milwaukee’s pitching staff, but he’s a rookie who doesn’t throw particularly hard. Eldridge’s RBI single, an Adames double that almost cleared the outfield fence, and a Jung Hoo Lee RBI double were all on 87-88 mph cutters. His fastball, which he also gave up a couple big hits on, was sitting at 91-92 mph. As he learns how to navigate major-league hitters, outings like this are bound to happen. With that being said, one rough start isn’t an immediate red flag, especially if he follows it up with a few more strong performances.

On the offensive end, the Brewers got a run back in the first thanks to a Chourio walk, a Turang single (initially ruled an error on Adames), and a Contreras sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the fifth, Chourio followed a Christian Yelich double with a two-run home run that cut the deficit to three.

Since Crow exited so early, the Brewers were forced to lean heavily on their bullpen. Unfortunately, the story of the game quickly shifted from Crow’s struggles to a series of injuries among Milwaukee’s relievers.

Hall pitched 2 1/3 one-hit innings, but ended up leaving the game with a trainer. After throwing an 0-1 sweeper to Gilbert, Contreras — the catcher — saw something he didn’t like. He immediately called time out and went out to check on his pitcher. Brewers manager Pat Murphy, a couple pitching coaches, and the trainer all came out and, after conferring with Hall, took the ball from him.

Grant Anderson came on in relief, getting out of the fifth and pitching a scoreless sixth inning. In the top of the seventh, he allowed two straight singles, and the second was a comebacker off the bat of Eldridge that got Anderson on his right forearm. He looked to be in serious pain, doubling over immediately and remaining on the ground while talking to the training staff. Eventually, he got up — still clearly shaken up — and walked off the field with a trainer.

After a few warmup pitches, Jake Woodford quickly allowed a single to Chapman, loading the bases for former Brewer Eric Haase. Haase took the first pitch for a ball, then launched a grand slam 406 feet to pad the Giants’ lead even further. Before escaping the inning, Woodford gave up four more singles and two runs to bring the score to Giants 12, Brewers 3.

Milwaukee quickly got a couple runs back in the bottom of the seventh after Yelich led off with a single and Chourio again brought him home with his second two-run homer of the day. Andrew Vaughn almost added two more runs, but Gilbert robbed him of a home run.

Milwaukee would keep chipping away in the eighth courtesy of David Hamilton, who homered into the Brewers’ bullpen for his second of the season.

San Francisco brought in reliever Wilkin Ramos for the ninth to try and close it out. Ramos, pitching in his second career game after making his major league debut in the series opener, started the inning by allowing singles to Chourio and Gary Sánchez. Both Joey Ortiz and Blake Perkins worked the count full before walking, and the walk to Perkins brought home Chourio from third.

With the bases loaded and the tying run in the on-deck circle, Giants manager Tony Vitello didn’t want Ramos facing Vaughn. He turned to Caleb Kilian, who struck Vaughn out on a foul tip before getting Frelick to ground into an RBI force out at second.

Even down to their last out, the Brewers still weren’t done. With the score now 12-8 and runners on the corners, Rengifo floated a soft liner into left field to score Ortiz from third and keep the inning alive.

That brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Hamilton, who had already homered in the previous inning. After taking ball one, he got a sinker he could handle and drove it deep to right-center field. For a moment, it looked like it might have had the legs to get over the center field fence. Instead, the ball died on the warning track, just a few feet short of a game-tying three-run homer.

After today’s loss, the Brewers settled for a split in their four-game series with the Giants and have now dropped two straight games. They’ll head out west tonight for a six-game road trip against the Rockies and Athletics before their next scheduled off day. First pitch for tomorrow’s series opener in Colorado is set for 7:40 p.m.