LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 31: Jose Ramirez #11 of the Cleveland Guardians reacts after catching a pop out by Kyle Tucker #23 (not pictured) of the Los Angeles Dodgers during the fifth inning of a baseball game at Dodger Stadium on March 31, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ryan Sirius Sun/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Game 2 of the Dodgers v. Guardians series was another late night affair for those of us on the east coast.
Tanner Bibee, after leaving the season opener with right shoulder discomfort, was back and tasked with facing the Dodgers offense while the Guardians offense was tasked with facing Shohei Ohtani.
The top of the first was eventful, but not in a fun way. Kwan and José both had long flyouts, but Chase DeLauter fouled a ball off his back foot. He finished the at bat, resulting in a ground out, but immediately left the field and headed down the tunnel with the trainer. The team updated in the fourth inning that the x-ray was negative.
In the top of the third, Gabriel Arias drew a one-out walk. Angel Martínez broke his bat on what looked like a well placed single, but Mookie Betts made a great play to get the out. Rhys Hoskins recorded the first hit of the game for the Guards in the top of the fourth with a two-out double to left. In the top of the fifth, Angel Martínez was hit by pitch, on his back knee, and stayed down for a fair amount of time. Thankfully Angel was able to take his base and continue playing the game.
Through the third, Bibee kept the Dodgers to two hits and a walk, keeping things scoreless. But as a light rain started to fall in LA, the bottom of the fourth had the Dodgers strike first. A one-out single and two, two-out singles scored Will Smith. Bibee finished the night having only pitched 4.0 innings. He allowed 4 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, and struck out 4 batters on 74 pitches. It was likely that Bibee would be limited due to the aforementioned shoulder discomfort. Kolby Allard came on in relief in the fifth inning to face the top of the Dodgers’ line up.
Allard walked Ohtani, but handled the next three batters. In the bottom of the sixth, Max Muncy got to Allard with a solo homer to right.
The Dodgers brought out relief lefty Alex Vesia in the top of the seventh. Bo Naylor hit into another broken bat out, with Mookie Betts making the play again for the first out.
Allard stayed in for the start of the seventh, giving up a single to Ohtani and striking out two. Matt Festa replaced Allard for Mookie Betts. Festa struck out Betts to retire the side. Angel Martínez was the first up to bat for the Guardians, facing lefty Jack Dreyer. Angel hit a swinging bunt and was standing on first when the umpires decided that it was foul. No one signaled that it was foul, the ball was not foul, Angel grounded out instead. Steven Kwan drew a walk, but David Fry (pinch hitting for Kayfus) and José weren’t able to make anything happen.
Matt Festa remained in for the bottom of the 8th. Four singles burnt Festa, scoring two before the side was retired. The rain was coming down harder, making for tough playing conditions. The weather looked like it was playing into the Guardians favor. Edwin Díaz came in to close for LA. Kyle Manzardo was hit by pitch and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Rhys Hoskins drew a walk. Bo’s flyout put runners on the corner for Brayan Rocchio. Rocchio hit a single to right, scoring Manzo and advancing Rhys. Díaz struck out Schneemann and Angel to end the game. The loss goes to Tanner Bibee.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 31: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers walks back to the dugout during the first inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium on March 31, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ryan Sirius Sun/Getty Images) | Getty Images
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani hasn’t hit much yet this season, but Tuesday night was a reminder that the four-time MVP is also an excellent pitcher. The Dodgers needed his arm to beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-1 in the middle game of their interleague series at a damp Dodger Stadium that was much closer than the final score indicates.
On the eve of the eighth anniversary of his Major League Baseball pitching debut, Ohtani in his 101st career start allowed only one hit, a two-out double by Rhys Hoskins in the fourth inning that provided one of only two at-bats with runners in scoring position off the Dodgers right-hander. Ohtani worked around three walks and a hit batter to finish six scoreless innings, with six strikeouts.
Last season saw a gradual build-up on the mound for Ohtani, who was returning from September 2023 Tommy John surgery, the second of his career. He didn’t top three innings until August, then the reins were slowly loosened into September and October. Manager Dave Roberts noticed Ohtani’s improvements this spring compared to last season.
“The feel for the breaking ball is much better. I think last year he was trying to introduce a slider with maybe a little bit more depth, and just trying to get a handle on that,” Roberts said earlier Tuesday. “But now, the ability to strike it, shorten it, to make it get a little bit bigger, all the while still having 97-98 in the tank when he needs it.”
Ohtani finished off two of his strikeouts with the curveball, two with the splitter, and two with the sweeper on Tuesday.
He also completed six innings for the fifth consecutive time on regular rest, dating back to last September. The only caveat in between was his 2 1/3 innings in Game 7 of the World Series, which was on three days rest.
Ohtani wasn’t all pitching on Tuesday. He walked twice while still pitching and later added a single. He has just three singles in 14 at-bats so far this season (.214), but also has six walks and was hit by a pitch, for a tidy .476 on-base percentage.
Ohtani wants to be a full-time two-way player again, and a start like Tuesday is one of several reasons the Dodgers are willing to indulge the effort.
“I think he’s already proven that he’s the best player to ever play the game, the best baseball player in totality,” Roberts said. “But I think he sees himself as a baseball player yes, but when he’s pitching he sees himself solely as a pitcher, and he wants to be the best pitcher.”
Early offense has been a problem for the Dodgers in the infancy of the schedule, such that when Andy Pages singled home Will Smith with two outs in the fourth inning it marked the first time Los Angeles has scored first in a game this season.
It was also the only Dodgers run scored in the fourth inning so far this season, and through five games they’ve been held scoreless in all the first and second innings in 2026. Despite only the one run, they did make Tanner Bibee work to the tune of 74 pitches such that the Cleveland starter was done after four innings, possibly as a precaution after he left his opening day start with shoulder inflammation five days prior.
Max Muncy’s solo home run in the sixth inning provided insurance. His first of the season was the 210th home run with the Dodgers for Muncy, one shy of Steve Garvey of sixth in franchise history. Muncy had the middle of four singles in the eighth inning as the Dodgers added even more insurance to pull away. Pages drove in the final run in the eighth, giving him bookend RBI on the night.
The Dodgers this season have scored 11 total runs through the first six innings of games (30 total innings), and 11 runs in the final three innings (11 total innings).
Tuesday night’s 4-1 victory put the Dodgers record at 4-1. It’s the first time their game score matched their record after that game since April 6, 2023, when a 5-2 win in Arizona gave Los Angeles a 5-2 record.
One more game on the homestand for the Dodgers, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound Wednesday night (5:20 p.m.; SportsNet LA, MLB Network) against Gavin Williams and the Guardians.
Mar 31, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. (13) steals second as Seattle Mariners shortstop Leo Rivas looks on (76) during the sixth inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: John Froschauer-Imagn Images | John Froschauer-Imagn Images
This was the matchup in the series the Mariners had the lowest percentage of winning (even while still being favored, apparently no one told the oddsmakers at FanGraphs the Mariners are suffering a bit of a limp offensively), but it was still pretty rough to watch. Max Fried outdueled Logan Gilbert, holding the Mariners scoreless over seven innings, while Gilbert was fine—collecting 14 whiffs—but not particularly sharp: he missed a bunch of stuff armside, the splitter didn’t have its usual bite, he hung some sliders, and he over-relied on his cutter, throwing it about 15% of the time.
But the biggest problem for Gilbert, again, was inefficiency; it took him nearly 30 pitches to clear the first inning, and his pitch count would have been even more inflated if not for a few well-timed double plays. He got ahead of leadoff hitter Trent Grisham, only to need seen pitches before putting him away on a flyout on a four-seamer. Two hitters later, he again got ahead of Cody Bellinger 0-2 with two outs, but instead of putting Bellinger away, Gilbert tried a pair of splitters and a fastball, none of which he could land, missing armside each time and running the count full before throwing Bellinger a cutter on the plate which Bellinger bopped into right field for a single. Gilbert then fell behind Ben Rice 2-0, resulting in a pretty terrible hung slider that luckily was only a double down the right field line, fielded…not particularly well by Victor Robles, allowing Bellinger to score. Giancarlo Stanton then ambushed the first pitch he saw for a parachute single that dropped in front of Robles, scoring Rice, who was in motion with two outs and giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead.
Unfortunately, that would be all the Yankees needed, even if they went on to add more later, as the Mariners bats were quiet once again. Max Fried carved through the Mariners lineup, no-hitting them the first time through the order with four strikeouts, a lone walk to Julio Rodríguez the only thing between him and a perfect game until Josh Naylor collected his first hit of the season, a line-drive single into center.
Gilbert’s pitch mix tonight was…curious. He led with the fastball and splitter, getting three of his six strikeouts on the splitter, but threw his cutter the third-most of any of his pitches (15%), a pitch he said during spring training Scott Servais once told him was best at about an 8% usage. He got one strikeout on the pitch, getting Ryan McMahon chasing after one up to end the second.
“Cutter feels great. I really like where it’s at,” said Gilbert postgame.
He also dug out his changeup, a pitch he hasn’t thrown significantly since 2022. He got one strikeout on the pitch, a called strike the Yankees challenged and lost. Gilbert threw his changeup intermittently this spring, toying with working it back into his arsenal; apparently, this time both the cutter and the changeup survived the trip north.
“The good [changeups] were good. Bad ones were bad. It’s just kind of the nature of it,” said Gilbert postgame.
Gilbert did get some help defensively in the third, despite some shaky defensive play in the first: Leo Rivas turned a slick double play after a leadoff base hit to Grisham, making a quick turn to get Judge at first, and Cal Raleigh wiped away a two-out walk (no Logan! Bad Logan!) with an absolute seed to pick off Bellinger trying to steal:
There was also this really nifty play by Cole Young in the fifth:
Thanks to some defensive help and some make-it-work pitching, Gilbert was able to keep the Yankees quiet until the sixth, when Trent Grisham realized the cutter isn’t actually a good pitch and ambushed the first pitch he saw for a ground-rule double. Gilbert was able to strike out Judge on a splitter, but Bellinger tattooed a fastball at the top of the zone for a single; Grisham didn’t score then, but did score when Bellinger, who seemed committed to being a pest on the bases that night, stole second and Cal overthrew the base. Things unraveled after that for Gilbert, as he walked Rice, putting runners at the corners with one out for Stanton, who shot a double into the gap on a splitter that did not split to make it 4-0.
Cole Wilcox was charged with cleaning up the damage but couldn’t get Jazz Chisholm Jr. despite having him in a 1-2 count, leaving a slider too much on the plate for an RBI single; Chisholm then stole second, wiping out the double play opportunity. Wilcox did button things down after that, but the damage was done.
The only good part of this game is Wilcox got a second inning to try to make his case to stick around once Carlos Vargas is healthy, and he pitched a dominant seventh, striking out McMahon looking on a sweeper and striking out Grisham swinging after a slider, and then got by Aaron Judge with a little help from his friend, who conveniently is also named Cole:
This hot potato came off the bat at 107 directly at Cole W’s dome and, no. No, thank you. I would simply climb under the mound and pull it around myself like a weighted blanket and refuse to leave. But Cole Y was right there to help his buddy out. Hooray for teamwork.
Wilcox came back for the eighth and got his first out but then surrendered a single to Rice, who kind of stuck his bat out at a sweeper and sliced it oppo, so Casey Legumina got a chance to argue why he should get the final bullpen rose and retired his two hitters, and then worked a clean ninth inning. Ever since Casey told the story about his Opening Day suit I have been unfortunately very attached to him so this was a particularly nice little reward at the end of a tough game.
Fried finally came out of the game in the eighth, but by that point, the damage was done, and the Mariners hitters didn’t do anything against the low-leverage Yankees relievers who came in to replace him (although Cole Young did have a single, because again, even though this game was un-fun, the disappointment was offset by lots of little Kate Treats). The Mariners will try to win their first series tomorrow, with George Kirby on the mound against Cam Schlittler, whose name I have looked up three times and am still not sure I spelled correctly.
New York Mets pitcher Tobias Myers (32) pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals during the sixth inning at Busch Stadium on March 30, 2026.
ST. LOUIS — Tobias Myers’ first two appearances with the Mets have offered a reminder that he was more than just a throw-in by the Brewers in the Freddy Peralta trade.
The right-hander has been sharp in his first two outings, including his 1 ¹/₃-inning stint in relief Monday, when he struck out three against the Cardinals.
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Myers, who did not pitch in Tuesday night’s 3-0 loss to the Cardinals, pitched three innings on Opening Day against the Pirates and allowed one earned run on one hit.
He began last season in the Brewers starting rotation, and after a demotion to Triple-A returned as a multi-inning reliever.
“It’s very similar to what I was doing the last two months last year,” Myers said Tuesday of his long-relief role. “It’s a little bit more guided, I think, early on, but honestly it feels kind of similar.”
Myers said he takes the mentality that he’s got to be ready at any moment.
“That definitely helps me a little bit,” he said. “Down there, the role I am in, it could be the first inning, could be the ninth, could be the 14th inning. So I am kind of moving around pretty consistently down there and try to keep myself ready for any time that phone rings.”
Tobias Myers pitches during the sixth inning of the Mets’ win over the Cardinals on March 30, 2026. Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Myers built up to 60 pitches in spring training, positioning himself to join the starting rotation if there was a need. He threw 39 pitches in his Mets debut and 14 in his Monday appearance.
“I went [39] pitches last week, and if I go 50 next week, I don’t see that being a big issue, as long as I am kind of ready for it,” Myers said. “But just throw it until [manager Carlos Mendoza] tells me I am done.”
Jorge Polanco was on the bench to rest a sore left Achilles on Tuesday, but Mendoza indicated he would likely return to the starting lineup for Wednesday’s series finale. It’s unclear if that will include playing first base.
Masyn Winn beats Jorge Polanco to second base for an out in the seventh inning of the Mets’ win over the Cardinals on March 30, 2026 at Busch Stadium in St Louis. Getty Images
“We’re in the middle of a nine-game stretch and [Polanco] was going to get a day anyway,” Mendoza said. “He was going to either get today or [Wednesday] … He woke up today and he’s in a good spot.”
Jared Young started a second straight game at first base Tuesday night and picked up one of the Mets’ three hits, and Mark Vientos, in his first start first this season went 0-for-2.
HOUSTON — Miles McBride’s reinjury wasn’t as scary as it looked.
After returning from a long absence Sunday and appearing to aggravate his surgically repaired groin area, the Knicks backup guard said he was just feeling discomfort from scar tissue breaking down.
He played again in Tuesday’s 111-94 loss to the Rockets and made it through 13 minutes unscathed, although his shooting rhythm clearly took a hit as he went 1-for-9 from the field.
“It’s tough having surgery in the middle of the season, especially on an area that’s so important to everything you do,” McBride said. “So it’s just going to be a learning process. I’m going to figure it out, though.”
McBride, who missed 28 straight games after undergoing sports hernia surgery in early February, shot 0-for-3 in his first game back Sunday.
In that game, McBride limped to the locker room in the third quarter after chasing a loose ball and falling on OKC’s Lu Dort.
But McBride said he started feeling pain on the previous play while defending a Thunder player. Luckily, it was just scar tissue breaking down. He didn’t even need another MRI exam before returning to play in Houston.
“Scar tissue is built up because it tightens everything. And now it’s getting more elastic, stretching out,” McBride said. “I came down [defending a Thunder player], tried to switch gears, and the scar tissue is ripping and getting better.
“Surgery is going to cause pain,” he added. “I’m not sure when it’s going to fully subside. So whatever I can do to help the team win.”
Miles McBride looks to make a move on Reed Sheppard during the Knicks’ 111-94 loss to the Rockets on March 31, 2026 in Houston. Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
Next, McBride’s shot needs rebuilding.
“Honestly, I haven’t played in two months, and it was kind of a longer process of being able to get on the court and really do a lot at a high intensity,” he said. “And the last two weeks is when I really take the high intensity up, and even then you’re still dealing with so much. So it’s going to take time.”
This time, Amar’e followed Melo.
A year after his former Knicks teammate was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame, Amar’e Stoudemire was named a somewhat surprising member of the 2026 class, according to ESPN.
Stoudemire earned most of his accolades with the Phoenix Suns as a pick-and-roll partner with Steve Nash but also produced an All-Star campaign with the Knicks after signing as a free agent in 2010.
He and Carmelo Anthony, who headlined the 2025 Hall of Fame class, were pitched as pillars to a championship contender, but Stoudemire’s career in NYC was quickly sabotaged by injuries.
The Knicks ultimately underwhelmed during his tenure with just one playoff series victory.
In 14 NBA seasons, Stoudemire collected Rookie of the Year, five All-NBA selections and six All-Star appearances.
He was also inducted into the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame after converting to Judaism in 2020.
Landry Shamet missed his fifth straight game Tuesday because of a knee contusion, but he’s taking contact and practicing fully, according to coach Mike Brown.
A source said Shamet could return as early as Wednesday’s game against the Grizzlies.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 31: German Marquez #33 of the San Diego Padres looks on as Matt Chapman #26 of the San Francisco Giants rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the third inning at Petco Park on March 31, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Another rough start for a starting pitcher resulted in another loss for the San Diego Padres. German Marquez started the second game of the series against the San Francisco Giants and struggled to get through three innings. Marquez allowed four runs on eight hits with one walk and one strikeout, as the Padres dropped their second game to the Giants by the score of 9-3 at Petco Park, Tuesday.
The outing for Marquez had an ominous start with San Francisco leadoff hitter Willy Adames starting the game with a home run down the left field line on the second pitch thrown by the right-hander that put San Diego in the hole 1-0. The Giants would go on to add two more runs in the inning and had a 3-0 lead before the Padres took their first at-bat.
San Francisco added the fourth run of the game in the top of the third inning and had a 4-0 lead when San Diego came to the plate in the bottom of the inning. The Padres showed some fight, scoring three runs in the inning, which was capped by a Miguel Andujar RBI-single to right field. That proved to be the final highlight of the game for San Diego.
Kyle Hart came in for Marquez in the top of the fourth inning and worked two scoreless innings, but in the top of the sixth he allowed a leadoff double, a walk to open the inning. Hart recorded the first out with a strikeout, but then Adames struck again with an RBI-single to put the Giants up, 5-3. Hart allowed another single to Rafael Devers before being replaced by Bradgley Rodriguez.
The first batter Rodriguez faced was Heliot Ramos and he hit a bases loaded single that scored two runs to give San Francisco a 7-3 lead. Luis Arraez then hit a sacrifice fly that allowed the eight Giants run of the game to score. Rodriguez followed the sac-fly with a forceout of Matt Chapman to end the four-run sixth for San Francisco.
The Padres went down in order in the bottom of the sixth, but started the bottom of the seventh with a leadoff double from Nick Castellanos. He was stranded there after back-to-back groundouts from Freddy Fermin and Jake Cronenworth and a flyout from Gavin Sheets. The eighth inning had similar results for San Diego. Manny Machado started with a single, but Jackson Merrill grounded into a double play. Xander Bogaerts followed with a strikeout.
David Morgan surrendered an unearned run in the top of the ninth inning to give San Francisco a 9-3 lead and San Diego fizzled out in the bottom of the ninth with a strikeout, a single, a forceout and another strikeout to drop to 1-4 on the season.
Much like the first series of the season against the Detroit Tigers, the Padres will try to salvage the series and avoid the sweep when they face the Giants, Wednesday at 1:10 p.m.
Mar 31, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Jose Fernandez hits a home run and first MLB HR against the Detroit Tigers in the fourth inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
Jose Fernandez. That is it. That’s the recap. Give the guy his flowers.
From a pitching standpoint, Brandon Pfaadt had a very Brandon Pfaadt outing. He rolled through 5 innings, but was so bad in the 3rd the announcers on the broadcast thought he was tipping his pitches. Pfaadt was atleast able to give the team 6 innings, but his innings were so stark. He is either dominating with elite efficiency or he is giving up loud contact at an unimaginable rate. Really a confusing situation that has seemed to plague Pfaadt his whole career and the team clearly hasn’t found an answer for it over the offseason. In the postgame show, Mark Grace was speculating that it may have had something to do when Pfaadt was pitching out of the stretch. Something to continue to monitor.
From an offensive standpoint, this is going to be known as the Jose Fernandez game for a long time. Fernandez was able to get his first career hit out of the way in the bottom of the second inning with a hustle single on a slow roller to the 3rd baseman. It is worth noting that Fernandez’s sprint speed was clocked at 30.2 feet per second when he was busting up the line. That is elite speed! Fernadez came up next in the bottom of the 4th and smashed a hanging slider 408 feet for his first career home run to put the Dbacks on the board. However, it was the bottom of the 8th that really cemented the Jose Fernandez lore. Fernandez came to the plate with the Dbacks down 5-4 thanks to a couple of walks, a clutch double by Corbin Carroll, and some balls in play that moved the runners. The Tigers countered by bringing in their closer Kenley Jansen, and Fernandez took the 3rd pitch 409 feet for a 3 run home run putting the Dbacks up 7-5. What a storybook ending to a rookie game.
It will be very interesting to see what Jose Fernandez’s role looks like moving forward especially considering he was playing for the veteran Nolan Arenado tonight, but you have to continue to give this guy regular playing time in my opinion. Torey Lovullo is notorious for sitting guys the day following big performances, but I would be shocked if Fernandez didn’t earn himself another start tomorrow. So often do we see these guys come up and only get to play sporadically which can make it so hard to get any momentum going. What do you guys think? Did you see enough from Fernandez tonight for an extended look?
Chase Olson throws against K State | Nebraska Athletics
It was a tale of two games between Nebraska and Creighton. The two in-state rivals always seem to play games that have wild momentum swings in the late innings. Tuesday night in downtown Omaha was no different.
Nebraska put its offense to work in the 2nd inning. Dylan Carey led off and sent a pitch deep to right, forcing the Creighton right fielder to make the catch with his back against the fence. It was an out, but a harbinger of things to come for the Jays. Jett Buck reached on an error, with the first baseman dropping the ball. Then Max Buettenback was hit by the next pitch. Clearly rattled, the CU starting pitcher tossed a wild pitch to the backstop, allowing both runners to advance into scoring position.
Freshman Drew Grego, who has been as clutch as anyone in the past month, punched a ball just in front of the left fielder. The runners had to hesitate due to it being a close play, so only Buck could score on the play. After a strikeout, Josh Overbeek drew a full count walk, loading the bases for Mac Moyer. The left handed Moyer hit his patented ball right by the short stop, scoring Buettenback and Grego. Moyer ended the game batting .404, just barely hanging onto the team lead over Carey at .403. Nebraska took the early 3-0 lead.
Husker nation held their collective breaths in the 3rd. With 1 out, Dylan Carey was hit by pitch on his left wrist. He was seen by the trainer and was in noticeable pain. The call was reviewed to ensure he was hit and the ball didn’t hit the cap of the bat for a foul ball, giving him a bit more time to recover. In true Carey fashion and grit, he stole second base on the next pitch, sliding headfirst, wrist injury be damned…. Two pitches later, Jett Buck split the right center gap for a double, scoring Carey easy, and pushing the Husker lead to 4-0.
Freshman catcher Jeter Worthley showed off all of his offensive skills in the 4th. He rocketed a ball down the left field line for a standup double. He then advanced to third base on a fly ball by Case Sanderson. Carey then lifted a ball to shallow center. The Jays centerfielder caught it and as Worthley tagged and ran home, threw a strike to the catcher who couldn’t hang onto the ball, as Worthley slid by him and knocked the ball out of his glove. Worthley stopped his slide, stood up and stepped on home plate for the Huskers fifth run.
Gavin Blachowicz was making his first mid-week start of the season, and rolled through his 4 innings of work, allowing only 2 hits, and 1 walk while striking out 2. He was on a pitch count after getting the last week off, but looked like he was close to the pitcher we saw early on in the season.
Nebraska built their lead to 6-0 in the 6th, as Creighton’s left fielder misplayed a ball off the bat of Josh Overbeek. Beek motored all the way to third for his second triple in the past week. Moyer would bring him in with an RBI ground ball to the first baseman, his 3rd RBI of the game.
Caleb Clark had come in to relieve Blachowicz, and after a quick 5th, ran into a lot of trouble in the 6th. A walk, hit by pitch, and 4 pitch walk loaded the bases with no outs. He gave up a 2 RBI double, before being pulled for Pryce Bender. Bender seemed to right the ship with a strikeout and a hard hit ball to Overbeek at third, which he gunned down a runner attempting to run home. The next batter hit a 2-0 fastball for a 2 RBI double, and then an RBI single cut the Nebraska lead down to 6-5.
Nebraska looked to respond in the 7th, starting the inning with back to back singles. Three hard hit balls, all coming off the bat at over 90 mph, all found the gloves of Creighton fielders. Creighton was hanging on.
The bullpens held through the 8th, and into the 9th. Nebraska was able to get a pair of 1 out singles from Sanderson and Carey to put the pressure on. Creighton went and grabbed their closer, Matt Goldenbaum, and he slammed the door shut with back to back strikeouts of Buck and Buettenback.
Husker closer J’Shawn Unger had come in to work a spotless 8th, but an error by the usual sure handed Rhett Stokes at second allowed leadoff batter Rocco Gump to reach base. The speedy Gump stole second. Unger struck out the next batter. The next batter hit a fly ball to left, and as Buck hauled it in, Gump had wandered off second a little too far. Buck threw to second and beat Gump back, but was just far enough towards the third base side of the bag that it pulled Stokes off the bag just by a hair, allowing the inning to continue. Unger walked the next batter, bringing up Ben North, Creighton’s best hitter with the winning run on base. North hit a towering fly ball to left center, which Moyer called off Buck, but had overran the play a bit and drifted back towards center field, and as the fans held their collective breath, caught the ball for the final out of the 6-5 victory.
Nebraska has now won 18 of their last 19 games, and in a rare occurrence in that streak, the offense was unable to come up with a clutch hit in the late innings with runners on base. Making the response after the nightmare of a 6th inning even more important. Chase Olson and Unger combined to throw 3 innings of no-hit baseball in a crucial 1 run rivalry game. They are both pitching as well as anyone coming in relief in the scarlet and cream.
The 19th ranked Huskers are back in action Friday as an underachieving Penn State team comes to Lincoln to start a 3 game series. It’s an important series to pile up wins as the next two conference series are against ranked teams in Oregon and USC.
In his second go-around Tuesday night, it was more of the same, but there was nothing grinding about it.
Fried was simply dominant across seven shutout innings, mowing down the Mariners in a 5-0 win at T-Mobile Park to continue the Yankees’ terrific pitching to begin the season.
With their third shutout in five games, the Yankees became only the second team in major league history to allow three or fewer runs in their first five games of a season, joining the 1943 St. Louis Cardinals.
“We have a lot of really talented guys that are really motivated,” Fried said. “We’ve been waiting for this opportunity to have the season start and go compete. We want to go win and we’re leaving everything out there. We got a lot of really good arms and we’re throwing the ball well right now, so we’re just trying [to] keep it rolling.”
Fried is now responsible for starting two of those shutouts.
Max Fried throws a pitch during the Yankees’ 5-0 win over the Mariners on March 31, 2026, in Seattle. AP
After tossing 6 ¹/₃ shutout innings Opening Day against the Giants, the left-hander was even better Tuesday, scattering three singles, one walk and one hit batter while striking out six in a breeze of an outing.
The Mariners did not reach second base until the seventh inning and never went farther than that against him.
“That was an ace in control of the game,” manager Aaron Boone said.
Brent Headrick and Tim Hill each threw a scoreless inning to complete the shutout, setting up a rubber game Wednesday in which the Yankees will send Cam Schlittler — who started their other shutout on the year — to the mound.
Through five games, the Yankees rotation owns a 0.66 ERA, giving up two runs across 27 ¹/₃ innings.
“They’ve made it easier on us, for sure,” said Giancarlo Stanton, who went 2-for-4 for the fifth straight game. “It’s a much easier at-bat when the other team has zero runs. So just continue to have good at-bats, continue to watch them dominate and try to get this series [Wednesday].”
Giancarlo Stanton celebrates after ripping an RBI double during the sixth inning of the Yankees’ win over the Mariners. Getty Images
Just like Opening Day, Fried got an early lead to work with — 2-0 in the first inning — and plenty of run support as the Yankees got to Mariners ace Logan Gilbert, a night after being stifled by Luis Castillo.
Stanton was right in the middle of things offensively once again, driving in a pair of runs while becoming only the fourth player in Yankees history to record multiple hits in the team’s first five games of the season.
The veteran DH finished the night 10-for-20 on the year.
Ben Rice (2-for-2, two walks) reached base four times and Cody Bellinger (2-for-3, walk) got on three times, with each scoring a pair of runs.
Trent Grisham also turned in his best game of the season, going 2-for-4 with a ground-rule double and a strong running catch into the gap in the second inning that robbed Randy Arozarena of extra bases.
“One of those plays early in the game that, if it goes another way, who knows?” Boone said.
Trent Grisham (12) greets Ben Rice while scoring on a throwing error by Cal Raleigh during the sixth inning of the Yankees win over the Mariners. AP
After Rice and Stanton each drove in a run in the top of the first, the Yankees added on with three more runs in the sixth to knock Gilbert out of the game.
They did so without leaving the yard, but strung hits together, including an RBI double from Stanton and an RBI single from Jazz Chisholm Jr. to give the pitching staff even more breathing room.
“[Stanton] has been one of the best hitters in the game for a long time,” Fried said. “To see him healthy and out there and ready to do damage, it’s not a fun at-bat when you’re up there facing him. So when he’s locked in like this, I’m really glad I’m on this side, not the other side.”
Mar 31, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Jose Fernandez hits a home run and first MLB HR against the Detroit Tigers in the fourth inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
A night after a not-quite-comeback in Arizona on Monday, the Tigers were the ones with the comfortable lead for most of the game on Tuesday before it all went belly-up late in the game, ending up with a 7-5 loss.
Making his season debut for the Tigers was Casey Mize, who had a generally solid 2025 season… except for July, when in four starts batters had a .970 OPS against him. But hey, Porcello-out those starts and he was lookin’ gooooood. The key for Mize is to stay healthy and avoid spending time on the Injured List.
(For those of you who aren’t old-timers around here, to Porcello-out is a verb meaning to consider the entirety of something, minus a very specific, very crappy part in the middle. If you’re curious if this refers to former Tiger “Kid Rick” Porcello, why yes, yes it does.)
Facing Mize for the Diamondbacks was Brandon Pfaadt (pronounced the same as “fought”). The right-hander from Louisville has been reliable for Arizona in his two-plus years in the rotation, although his numbers don’t really jump out at you in any way. In his career he’s consistently had an ERA around 5, struck out around 8 batters per nine innings, and has had a WHIP of about 1.3 — again, not great, but not terrible.
Early on, the Tigers looked pretty sleepy at the plate while the Diamondbacks were getting some very solid contact. Arizona loaded the bases in the bottom of the second with two out, but Mize got Jordan Lawlar to strike out on a really nice splitter, and that was that.
The Tigers got on the board first in the top of the third: Parker Meadows legged-out an infield single, and Jake Rogers hit a double to the wall in centre, scoring Meadows for a 1-0 lead. Colt Keith singled to right to advance Rogers to third, and Kevin McGonigle hit a dribbler to first on which Carlos Santana (yep, still playing!) couldn’t make a play, scoring Rogers for a 2-0 score. Then, with two out, Riley Greene smashed a double to the right-centrefield gap to score both Keith and McGonigle to put the Tigers up 4-0. Kerry Carpenter thought that all looked pretty fun, so he singled to right to cash-in Greene for a 5-0 lead.
Jose Fernandez, who was making his major-league debut, had an infield single under his belt in his first at-bat. He added to that with great prejudice in the fourth with a no-doubter solo home run to left to narrow the lead to 5-1. (More on him later, unfortunately.) That aside, Mize’s splitter continued looking mighty fine, getting six swinging strikeouts on the pitch; he was also throwing it in unusual counts, too.
Pfaadt had kind of a pfunny game: he was dominant for the first eight batters, then gave up hits aplenty… but then buckled right back down and got a whole bunch of Tigers in a row. The Tigers have broken out for some big innings early on, but the middle of the order bats are scuffling early on.
Mize got the handshake after six innings and I will take this final line from him any old day you like: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 9 K. Mize was relieved by Drew Anderson, who had a sensational spring but a mediocre first outing. Well, his seventh inning featured some nasty changeups and a couple of whiffs.
But in the eighth it all fell apart: Anderson started off the inning by serving up a first-pitch double by Old Friend™ James McCann, and a single to left put runners on the corners, and in came Will Vest. He walked Ketel Marte to load the bases, and Corbin Carroll hit a two-run double to make it a 5-3 game. Another walk reloaded the bases — again, with none out — and a grounder to third got an out but allowed another run to score. A soft grounder to second got the second out and put runners on the corners, and Vest was dispatched in favour of Kenley Jansen.
And then Fernandez, who — again, was in his first major-league game — already had a solo home run, smashed a three-run home run to put Arizona up 7-5.
Saw this and thought you might enjoy this clockwork precision: second baseman moves in, glove drops, pitcher spins and throws, tag applied. That’s how it’s done, kids.
I know it’s early, but that New York Yankees pitching staff has really been getting it done: coming into tonight, they’d only given up three runs in four games.
Ya gotta love the ol’ Small Sample Size, though, eh?
C.B. Bucknor’s having himself a pretty tough week so far, eh?
“Eh?” is a pretty good conversational lubricant, eh?
On this day in 1889, the Eiffel Tower opened. What an eyesore!
Mar 30, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Boston Red Sox right fielder Wilyer Abreu (52) reacts after striking out during the second inning against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
For the fourth day in a row, the Red Sox managed to play their new worst game yet of the young season. And while there’s still 157 more of these after tonight, that’s suddenly starting to sound more like a threat than a reason to get comfortable. Only two good things happened in this one: It ended quickly (two hours and 30 minutes), and nobody got injured.
On the mound, Brayan Bello got clobbered, allowing 11 baserunners and six runs in just 4.2 innings of work. (It was really five innings, but we’ll get to that more in a moment.) In the meantime, here’s three other irritating details from this outing that stood out to me the most:
There were two, two-out walks that helped jumpstart unnecessary Houston rallies.
Bello showed a familiar inability a finish off hitters, and this was despite generating some encouraging swings and misses on his cutter. It’s that familiar “the stuff is there, but he can’t seem to put it all together in a package” trope we’ve seen from him.
Cookies were repeatedly handed out to one of the best hitters on the planet in Yordan Alvarez. I mean, get a load of this pitch:
At the plate, the Red Sox struck out 13 times (that’s 27 over the last two games) and recorded just four hits, with most of them coming late in the proceedings when the house was already on fire. Speaking of four, that’s how many times Roman Anthony struck out, and the first three of them came on a grand total of just nine pitches. For the lineup as a whole, it took until the bottom of the fifth inning for the team to record its firs hit.
But you know what didn’t take until the bottom of the fifth to happen for this Red Sox offense? Dumb baseball! Here’s Ceddanne Rafaela burning an ABS challenge on an 0-0 count with one out and nobody on base in the top of the third inning.
Not only was the pitch not close to being a ball (the Red Sox have been really bad at identifying pitches to challenge out of the gate), but a bases empty, 0-0 count situation screams low leverage. You can’t be burning resources like this in early inning spots!
Now granted, this game stinking worse than a cesspool by the middle innings rendered this mistake irrelevant, but we’re a mere five games into the season and this Red Sox team is already developing a pattern of not knowing how to to use the ABS challenge system properly. There’s a strong argument to be made that burning both challenges early on Saturday cost them that game, and it will probably cost them more wins soon if they keep piling up foolish situational challenges like this one from Rafaela tonight on anything other than blatant missed calls in low leverage situations.
Speaking of dumb things and missed calls in less than high leverage situations, check out the 1:11 mark on this video posted on Twitter from Tyler Milliken:
HP Ump Mark Wegner lost track of the count and it seems like everyone else did too.
That’s everybody on the field falling asleep and not realizing a strikeout just happened, and in some ways, this is the worst sign of all from a game filled with nothing but bad omens. How disengaged does the team as a whole have to be to not realize that’s strike three? Cora missed it, the entire defense missed it, and even Bello missed it. You would think that if you were a pitcher desperately struggling to work your way out of a two out jam, you’d notice when you had strike three to end the frame. It’s a really, really terrible look for everybody involved here, and par for the course in what was a really, really terrible game for the Red Sox.
Studs
None: Nobody is getting a stud next to their name after this hideous performance! It was a complete and total failure of the group project across the board, and garbage time hits against low leverage relievers does nothing to change that.
Three Duds
The entire lineup, but specifically Roman Anthony: He had twice as many strike outs as any Red Sox pitcher recorded tonight. He set the tone early and often for this complete stinker of a game.
Everybody who pitched, but specifically Brayan Bello: Walks, home runs, not finishing guys off, not knowing when you struck a guy out to get out of your last inning. There’s a reason he was demoted to the No. 5 slot out of the gate this year after flirting with being the No. 2 guy for much of last summer. It’s Show & Tell time for him to take that next step, and he didn’t do himself any favors tonight.
The baseball IQ of the entire team: If it gets any lower, we’re going to have water it twice a day.
Play of the game:
If you want one messy highlight play to sum up the embarrassment that was this game, it’s this clown show from the team that’s picking up right where it left off in leading the American League in errors last year.
If you’re looking for some good news, Garrett Crochet starts the series finale tomorrow, so they still might salvage a 2-4 start before the home opener on Friday.
HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 31: Hunter Brown #58 of the Houston Astros pitches in the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Daikin Park on March 31, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) | Getty Images
He may have been on a smaller pitch count than usual, but Hunter Brown didn’t let that stop him from charging through the Boston lineup.
Brown earned his first win of the season tonight, hurling 6 innings of 1 run ball with 8 strikeouts as the Astros throttled the Red Sox 9-2.
Brown was lifted after 6 innings despite only throwing 78 pitches. The Astros led 8-1 at the time. After the game, manager Joe Espada said he wanted to keep Brown’s workload a little lighter after he pushed Brown to 102 pitches on Opening Day.
Brown threw 51 of his 78 pitches for strikes. He had 21 called strikes and 8 swings and misses in a dominating performance in which he allowed only 1 hit.
After dropping the first two games of the season, the Astros have won four straight. They have also scored at least 8 runs in those 4 straight wins, the first time they’ve scored at least 8 runs in 4 straight games since 7/26-30 2021.
Speaking of those 8 runs, Yordan Alvarez was responsible for 4 of those 9 runs. Yordan had an RBI double in the first that banged off the wall in center field in the bottom of the first inning, scoring Jeremy Pena from first. He hit a solo homer in to the second deck in right for the second straight night in the fifth. Alvarez also walked and scored on a Carlos Correa 2-run single in the 6th.
Alvarez (2×3) was one of four Astros hitters with 2 hits on the night. Carlos Correa (2×3), Christian Walker (2×4) and Cam Smith (2×3) had 2 hits as well.
Correa singled, doubled, walked, scored twice and drove in two.
Walker singled, doubled, scored, and drove in two.
Cam Smith had an opposite-field solo homer in the 7th.
Cody Bolton, called up from Triple-A Sugar Land yesterday, pitched the final three innings for his first career save.
Houston is now 4-2 on the season, the Red Sox are 1-4.
The final game of the series is Wednesday at 1:10pm. Mike Burrows will start for the Astros, opposed by Garrett Crochet.
Mar 31, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; New York Yankees left fielder Cody Bellinger (35) is tagged out by Seattle Mariners shortstop Leo Rivas (76) in a steal attempt during the third inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: John Froschauer-Imagn Images | John Froschauer-Imagn Images
FanGraphs when they listed WPA to the thousandth: Julio Rodríguez, +.01 WPA
FanGraphs now that they list WPA only to the hundredth: Logan Gilbert, -.19 WPA
Game Thread Comment of the Day:
That game may have sucked, but the trans contingent of our community certainly does not. Love to you all.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 31: Yoshinobu Yamamoto #18 of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Donald Glover greet Yoshi after throwing out the first pitch before a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium on March 31, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ryan Sirius Sun/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be the first Dodgers pitcher to make a second start in 2026, finishing off the six-game homestand on Wednesday evening against the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium.
Yamamoto will be on five days rest after earning the win on opening day with six strikeouts in six innings, allowing only two runs to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Gavin Williams starts for Cleveland.
Max Friedthrew seven scoreless innings andGiancarlo Stanton drove in two runs as the Yankees defeated the Mariners, 5-0, on Tuesday night in Seattle.
Yankees (4-1) pitching has dominated so far this season. Starters have allowed just one run in the first five games, and the team as a whole has allowed just two runs this season.
Here are the takeaways...
-Fried was dealing. He didn't allow a hit until two outs in the fourth inning, and even then, he coasted into the seventh inning. But the Mariners would get to the southpaw a bit in that inning.
Fried would erase an infield single by Julio Rodriguez by getting Josh Naylor to hit into a double play. But after hitting Randy Arozarena with a pitch, Brendan Donovan looped a single to give Seattle their best chance to score a run off the lefty. However, Fried hunkered down and got Victor Robles to line out to the outfield to end the threat.
Fried was done after that, allowing just three hits and one walk across seven scoreless innings (90 pitches/60 strikes). He also struck out six batters. Fried has now pitched 13.1 scoreless innings across his first two starts of the season.
-The Yankees scored one run on Mariners pitching on Monday, they would double that in the first inning off of Logan Gilbert. After Gilbert disposed of Trent Grisham and Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger worked the count and eventually picked up a single. Ben Rice then lined a double just fair down the right field line that kicked off the jutting wall. Bellinger scored from first on the double before Stanton's bloop single pushed Rice across for the first two runs of the game.
The Yankees' bats would be quieted by Gilbert after the first, but would break through again in the sixth. After a leadoff double by Grisham, Bellinger hit a one-out single to put runners on the corners. Bellinger stole second, but Cal Raleigh -- who got Bellinger stealing earlier in the game -- threw the ball into the outfield, allowing Grisham to score and Bellinger to get to third.
After a Rice walk, Stanton lined a double to put the Yankees up 4-0. Jazz Chisholm Jr. got into the fun with an RBI single
-Stanton finished 2-for-4 and has now had multiple hits in all five games this season. That's the fourth-longest streak to start a season in Yankees history. Rice was perfect at the plate, finishing 2-for-2 with two walks.
Judge went hitless (0-for-4) with two strikeouts. He did run into a bit of bad luck in the seventh when he hit a liner (107 mph) back to the pitcher. The ball hit Cole Wilcox's glove and right to second baseman Cole Young on a line for the out. It likely would have been a single if Wilcox hadn't slowed it down.
Judge has now started the season 3 of 20 with two home runs and 10 strikeouts.
-JC Escarra made his first start of the season and went hitless (0-4) with a strikeout.
