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Shohei Ohtani faces Jared Jones as the Dodgers look to take the series.
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What we learned as Jesús Luzardo's road mastery conquers old tipping site originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
370 days ago, Jesús Luzardo was in the toughest stretch of his professional career.
There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to Luzardo’s struggles last year until the Phils headed to Toronto.
The first-year Phillie was coming off a home start on the final day of May against the Brewers. He surrendered 12 runs in 3 1/3 innings to Milwaukee, the most runs allowed by a Phillies starter since 1947.
At Rogers Centre on June 5, Luzardo was not any better.
Eight runs on nine hits in 2 1/3 innings.
That capped off 20 earned runs in two starts.
He was tipping, they later found out. It was something Luzardo, pitching coach Caleb Cotham and the rest of the pitching coaches worked tirelessly to fix.
By the end of the season, his ERA was 3.92. Without those outings? 3.03. One of the best seasons by a left-hander in the sport in 2025, and he earned a contract extension in March to go with it.
On Wednesday, he returned to Toronto and looked like a completely different southpaw from the one who pitched there a year earlier.
The Phillies’ lefty delivered 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts, pairing well with the club’s offensive success against future Hall of Famer and Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer in a 7-4 win.
Luzardo’s start was symbolic in other ways, too. He outmatched Scherzer, a fellow Floridian whom he works out with in the offseason. It also further proved to Phillies fans what the top of the rotation, with Cristopher Sánchez and Zack Wheeler, is capable of producing against a tough lineup in a rowdy road environment.
To begin the week, the Phillies’ big three combined for a 1.93 ERA over 18 2/3 innings.
THE INSANE SPLIT
It also continued one of Luzardo’s stranger splits of the season.
He has been one of the best starters in baseball away from home. At Citizens Bank Park, it has looked completely different. A roller coaster.
Luzardo now has a 1.55 ERA in seven road starts. At home? The southpaw has a 7.34 ERA.
That 5.79-run gap between his home and road ERAs leads all pitchers in 2026, with Logan Gilbert next at 4.56. It would also be the third-largest gap by a left-hander since those splits began being tracked in 1976, minimum 10 total starts.
The biggest difference has been where he has lived in the zone.
At home, Luzardo has allowed seven home runs and 43 hits in 38 innings. On the road, he has allowed 37 hits in 40 2/3 innings and just one homer.
It will be important for Luzardo to right the ship at home. But nights like Wednesday show why his upside remains so intriguing.
PHILS GO BOOM — PLUS AN INJURY
The Phillies’ offense went berserk to back up its starter.
For the second time in the series, they knocked out a Blue Jays starter in the fourth inning. Patrick Corbin and Scherzer sandwiched a dominant Dylan Cease outing Tuesday night.
On Tuesday, the Phillies swung and missed 29 times against Cease. Scherzer, who notched his 3,500th career strikeout Wednesday, still generated 13 swings and misses.
But the Phillies worked his pitch count to 82 in 3 1/3 innings.
Scherzer likes to live in the zone, and that pushed the Phillies to be more aggressive. It worked in their favor.
In the first inning, Bryce Harper hit his fifth career homer off his former teammate. The Phillies’ first baseman let a fastball travel and drove it out to left field.
An opposite-field homer in a season where Harper entered Wednesday going the opposite way at the lowest rate of his career, 22.4 percent.
They stayed aggressive.
In the top of the third, more former Scherzer teammates got things started. Kyle Schwarber jumped on the first pitch for a single. Trea Turner followed with another single.
Scherzer responded with two outs.
Then Alec Bohm got ahead 1-0. Scherzer came back with a slider, but left it in the middle of the zone. Bohm did not miss the mistake, driving it deep into the left-field seats for a three-run homer.
A lot of Bohm’s recent power success has come to his pull side. For a hitter known for his swing to right-center, it is encouraging to see him find that kind of damage to left field, similar to the pull-side success he showed in spring training.
After knocking out the Cooperstown-bound right-hander, Schwarber tagged Blue Jays lefty Mason Fluharty for a long two-run homer that gave the Phils a 6-0 lead.
In games where the Phillies have gotten homers from Schwarber and Harper, they are now 25-8 all-time.
Adolis García, in the Blue Jays’ three-run seventh inning, left the game with a pulled muscle in the area of his right shoulder, attempting to throw out a runner trying to score on a sac-fly. They would take him out of the game immediately.
Philadelphia does not have a great deal of right-field options. Still, it has the flexibility to move Brandon Marsh to right field — which could open the opportunity for Otto Kemp, Felix Reyes, or even Bryan De La Cruz, all at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
TIP THE CAP, DON
Philadelphia picked up its 10th series win under interim manager Don Mattingly out of the 13 series it has played. He became the first Phillies manager to win that many series in that span to begin his tenure in franchise history.
His 28-12 record also ties Steve O’Neill in 1952 for the best first 40-game stretch by a Phillies skipper.
The club has played like a different group since the managerial change.
They will face another tough road test this weekend in Milwaukee. The Brewers have continued their success from the last two seasons and lead the NL Central with 41 wins.
The Phils will face NL Cy Young hopeful and flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski (7-2, 1.50) on Friday at American Family Field. They can improve Sánchez’s case (8-2, 1.54) and even Wheeler’s (5-1, 2.22) with a big day against the other pitcher in the race.
For the first time this season, Shohei Ohtani watched his manager walk out of the dugout to pull him mid-inning.
On a humid night at PNC Park, in a 9-8 loss, Ohtani pitched into the seventh inning against the Pirates. But Brandon Lowe’s two-out, two-run double cut the Dodgers’ lead to three.
And as manager Dave Roberts gathered the Dodgers infield around him, Ohtani made the long walk to the dugout, pushing up his cap to wipe the sweat from his brow on the way.
Ohtani’s performance was enough to leave the mound with the lead, which the Dodgers bullpen surrendered. But in a near-flawless season on the mound, it was his worst start of the year.
Ohtani gave up three earned runs for the first time all season, along with a season-high six hits. That took his ERA from 0.74 to 1.06 And his ninth-inning home run came too late to save the day. It was his third time homering in a game he pitched this season.
Ohtani also came inches away from homering in the third inning. The opposite-field drive sent Pirates left-fielder Bryan Reynolds leaping into the padded wall. As the fans beyond it jumped to their feet with their hands raised, Reynolds reached over and squeezed his glove shut around what would have been the go-ahead home run.
That’s how much of Ohtani’s day went — solid by most standards, but not his.
Ohtani infamously has another level he can reach in leverage situations. And he demonstrated that ability in the first three innings, though he allowed baserunners in each.
After giving up a single and walking a batter to begin his start, Ohtani struck out Reynolds on a 100.2-mph fastball. And after hitting Reynolds with a sweeper in the third inning, he induced Ryan O’Hearn to line out on a 100.3-mph fastball.
Ohtani successfully navigated traffic, despite a wide throw to second on a comebacker in the second inning, without allowing a run until the fourth.
With two out, Ohtani challenged 25-year-old Tyler Callihan with a first-pitch fastball. Callihan sent it not only over the Clemente wall, but soaring all the way over the right-field stands for his first major-league home run.
It was only the third home run Ohtani has surrendered this season. The other two came in his start in Houston a little over a month ago.
The Dodgers (43-25) responded with a first for rookie Ryan Ward.
The Dodgers had a narrow lead after a two-run rally in the fourth, powered by the heart of the order. But Ward made it more far more comfortable when he stepped up to the plate with two out and the bases loaded in the sixth inning, jumped on a first-pitch sweeper, and recorded the first grand slam of his major league career.
The Dodgers, it turned out, would need more than that wiggle room.
Ohtani’s seventh inning got off to an inauspicious start. He battled Callihan for eight pitches and walked him to lead off the frame.
Then a looping curveball got Jake Mangum to bounce a swinging bunt up the third-base line. But by the time Ohtani got to it, Mangum was almost to first. Ohtani held the throw.
Read more:Dodgers Dugout: Random thoughts and stats for the season so far
Ohtani buckled down, throwing mostly breaking stuff to Jared Triolo and Spencer Horwitz to strike out both looking. But Ohtani didn’t quite make it out of the inning. Lowe stayed aggressive in a 3-0 count, and it paid off, trimming the Dodgers’ lead to 6-3.
Reliever Alex Vesia finished the inning for Ohtani, but not before a fielding error by third baseman Max Muncy gave the Pirates another run.
The game unraveled in the eighth, as Callihan homered again — this time off reliever Kyle Hurt for three runs and the lead — and Horwitz added a two-run blast off lefty Jack Dreyer.
Ohtani’s two-run homer the next inning cut the lead to one.
The Dodgers are likely to put catcher Will Smith on the injured list Thursday, as the stiffness in his neck continues to linger.
“There’s been some improvement,” Roberts said. “We’ll have to make that decision at some point in time [Wednesday] after the game.”
The Dodgers’ game against the Pirates on Wednesday was the fourth Smith had missed since being scratched from the lineup Saturday with a stiff neck. Teams can backdate IL moves a maximum of three days.
Dalton Rushing is scheduled to catch all three games in Pittsburgh, Roberts said, but the Dodgers will likely add a backup to the roster on Thursday. In the meantime, Smith could catch in an emergency situation.
Read more:Freddie Freeman reaches career milestone in Dodgers' rout of Pirates
The Dodgers have already cleared a spot on the 40-man roster, releasing utility man Tyler Fitzgerald on Wednesday. He had a .998 OPS in 24 games with triple-A Oklahoma City.
Unless the Dodgers bring in additional catching depth from the outside, their options in triple-A are Eliezer Alfonzo and Chuckie Robinson. Roberts downplayed the challenge of integrating a catcher midseason.
“We had Chuckie last year, and we had Eliezer all spring,” Roberts said. “So both those guys are confident. They’re kind of a little older, so they’ve been around, and we’re very familiar with both those guys, so it should be pretty seamless.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Carson Benge – RF
Bo Bichette – SS
Juan Soto – LF
Jared Young – 1B
Marcus Semien – 2B
A.J. Ewing – CF
Francisco Alvarez – DH
Brett Baty – 3B
Luis Torrens – C
SP: Austin Warren – RHP
JJ Wetherholt – 2B
Ivan Herrera – C
Alec Burleson – 1B
Jordan Walker – DH
Lars Nootbaar – RF
Masyn Winn – SS
Nelson Velazquez – LF
Nathan Church – CF
Jose Fermin – 3B
SP: Andre Pallante – RHP
First pitch: 7:10 PM EDT
TV: SNY
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates placed center fielder Oneil Cruz on the 10-day injured list on Wednesday with a broken left hand.
Cruz was injured while sliding into the plate during the fourth inning of a loss to Atlanta on Saturday. Cruz was available as a pinch-runner on Sunday and the club had been hopeful he would avoid a stint on the IL. But additional tests revealed non-displaced fractures between his ring finger and his pinkie.
The move, retroactive to Monday, means the Pirates will have to try to stay in the mix in the NL Central without one of their most productive hitters. Cruz is hitting .264 with 14 home runs and 44 RBIs. His 98 strikeouts also lead the majors.
Pittsburgh recalled utility player Billy Cooke from Triple-A Indianapolis to take Cruz’s roster spot. Cooke is hitting .190 in 32 games this year for Pittsburgh.
The Pirates also placed catcher Henry Davis on the paternity list and recalled catcher Rafael Flores Jr. from Triple-A.
Things have not been going so well for the Orioles over the last week. They have lost four games in a row to fall six games below .500. At this rate, they’ll never reach that mark. Maybe tonight will be the start of a six-game winning streak? Probably not. But maybe!
One thing I know for sure is that you cannot start a winning streak without winning the first one, so that is the task at hand for today. The Orioles will face off against righty George Kirby is in a bit of a tough stretch, with a 7.29 ERA over his last four starts, a total of 20.1 innings. If the Orioles want to take advantage of his tailspin, I am ok with that.
Brandon Young is pitching for the Orioles. Young has pitched into the seventh inning in each of his last three starts, but hasn’t completed the seventh in any. Maybe tonight is the night. He continues to impress.
With Samuel Basallo and Adley Rutschman both dealing with injuries, Sam Huff gets another shot behind the plate tonight. The lineup looks a lot less impressive without them in it, especially with Gunnar Henderson and Pete Alonso having such a hard time.
Orioles lineup
Taylor Ward (R) LF
Gunnar Henderson (L) SS
Pete Alonso (R) 1B
Colton Cowser (L) CF
Leody Taveras (S) RF
Jackson Holliday (L) 2B
Tyler O’Neill (R) DH
Blaze Alexander (R) 3B
Sam Huff (R) C
Mariners lineup
Cole Young (L) SS
Julio Rodríguez (R) CF
Josh Naylor (L) 1B
Randy Arozarena (R) LF
Luke Raley (L) RF
Dominic Canzone (L) DH
Mitch Garver (R) C
Miles Mastrobuoni (L) 2B
Patrick Wisdom (R) 3B
Let’s go O’s!
The last game of the series with the Phillies. A series win would be a good thing.
Yesterday’s game was great, but I’d be ok with the Jays winning a blowout today.
There was a roster move today. Max Scherzer, of course, is added to the active roster. Connor Seabold has been DFAed. He’s out of option years. But he’s making near the major league minimum, so it is possible someone will take him off waivers. He didn’t show us much on the mound.
Hopefully Max can give us a decent start.
Today’s lineup. Vlad bats second. Clement third, against the lefty. And Charles McAdoo plays second.
Go Jays Go.
The Dodgers and Pirates finish off their three-game series on Thursday night at PNC Park.
Left-hander Justin Wrobleski starts for Los Angeles, with right-hander Mitch Keller on the mound for Pittsburgh.
Quick: what’s the strongest position on the D-backs this year? It’s really not too difficult a question to get right, because your instincts are probably right. Powered largely by Corbin Carroll (all but 28 PA there, in fact) it’s right field. By bWAA – that’s bWAR above average, not replacement – the D-backs are at +1.7. That trails only the Cardinals, for whom Jordan Walker has been a revelation, batting .301 with 16 home-runs. But which position is the next highest-ranked for Arizona? Probably less obvious: it’s third-base (7th, +0.7 bWAA), courtesy mainly of Nolan Arenado’s unexpected resurrection which has seen some predict he’ll make his 9th All-Star game.
After that, despite Geraldo Perdomo’s struggles, it’s shortstop, which is the only other place at which the D-backs rank in the top ten (10th, +0.7). Ketel Marte, who hasn’t reproduced his previous form either, anchors second-base to 12th place (+0.3). At the other end, no real surprises there either. First-base is easily the worst performing spot for the Diamondbacks, ahead of just the Mets and Tigers (28th, -1.0). Left-field (-0.6) and the designated hitter spot (-0.8) are tied for next worst, Arizona ranking 25th at both places. It’s nice to see our bullpen (-0.4, 14th) is at least non-terrible, and for once our rotation (-0.9, 23rd) is worse.
What’s interesting is, the D-backs overall at at -1.1 bWAA, which is only good enough for 18th – despite being in a tie for the third NL wild-card spot, with the 11th-best record. My instinct is it’s a result of the team being “clutch” on both sides of the ball, so scoring more and conceding fewer runs than would be expected. Despite recent struggles, their OPS with RISP is still 5th-highest in the majors. Conversely, in “Late & Close” situations, the D-backs have the fifth-lowest OPS. Taylor Clarke, for example, is 5-for-42 with no extra-base hits allowed. That has likely helped them punch above their weight. But is it sustainable? That seems more doubtful.
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The Pirates have their work cut out for them on the second matchup of a three-game series against the Dodgers at PNC Park. They will face off against one of the best pitchers in the game in Shohei Ohtani, who is 6-2 with a 0.74 ERA so far this season.
Ohtani has not allowed more than two earned runs in a single game. That came on May 5 against the Houston Astros, which is also the last game he lost. Since then, he has beaten the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, and Arizona Diamondbacks in consecutive starts.
The Dodgers are 6-4 when Ohtani pitches, but have won their last four games and have only given up one whole run in all of those starts.
On the flip side, Jared Jones is making his third start of the season for the Bucks. In his 2026 debut on May 29, Jones pitched 4.1 innings and gave up five runs, but the Pirates were able to score six in a 6-5 victory at home. In his last start on June 4 against the Astros, Jones pitched five scoreless innings, giving up four hits, in a 5-1 victory. Now, he will look to remain perfect with the defending champs in town.
Location: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA
Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet
Pitching Matchup: Shohei Ohtani (6-2, 0.74 ERA) vs. Jared Jones (1-0, 4.82 ERA)
BD community, this is your thread for today’s game. Enjoy!
SAN FRANCISCO — Willy Adames’ cold snap progressed into a minor slump with another hitless effort Tuesday night, but that wasn’t the reason he was out of the lineup the following afternoon.
Adames was “kind of fighting through some pain,” in the Giants’ 6-3 loss to the Nationals, manager Tony Vitello revealed before Wednesday’s series finale.
The issue is in the shortstop’s upper leg — “knee to hip,” per Vitello — and only cropped up sometime during the loss Tuesday. He went 0-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts, extending his hitless streak to his past 17 at-bats over the previous four games.
“I think it affected the way he was moving a little bit,” Vitello said. “Yesterday, the read from everybody was he’s fighting through that thing.”
Adames pleaded his case to play Wednesday, Vitello said. But after consulting the training staff, the manager opted to pencil in a different name at shortstop — utilityman Casey Schmitt — for only the second time in 69 games this season.
Schmitt has spent most of his time lately in left field but reacquainted himself with the infield dirt by going through drills at shortstop with infield coach Ron Washington.
Here are the lineups. For the Phillies:
For the Blue Jays:
Let’s talk about it.
The Seattle Mariners were expected to make some moves following Tuesday’s unlikely extra innings victory. They have not disappointed Wednesday afternoon, but the results are in part quite distressing. RHP Matt Brash has been placed on the 15-day injured list for pitchers with a right lat strain, retroactive to June 9th, while INF Ryan Bliss has been optioned to Triple-A Tacoma. In their places are RHP Domingo González and UTIL Miles Mastrobuoni, recalled from Triple-A Tacoma and activated from the 60-day IL respectively. To make room on the 40-man roster for Mastrobuoni’s activation, RHP Yosver Zulueta has been designated for assignment.
While it seemed likely the M’s would make a move in the bullpen, Brash returning to the injured list with the same muscle area that sidelined him at the start of May seems suboptimal. A strain is more severe than the “inflammation” he was waylaid with in May, and typically costs pitchers at least a month or two. Given this appears to be an escalation in Brash’s troubles, the M’s may err on the side of caution with their quixotic Canadian fireman.
Mastrobuoni had been out since Spring Training with an oblique injury that caused him to miss most of his time in Arizona and his chance to play significantly for the quarterfinalist Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic. He’ll replace Bliss despite Seattle’s handedness trend, and take on a pinch-running role as well situationally.
González returns to the bigs after a stretch similar to last night’s hero Nick Davila, having worked 5.2 scoreless frames over four games in mid-May but being returned to the Rainiers due to a lack of space and some askance peripherals. Inarguably, he’s been nails in Tacoma, albeit less of the strikeout-heavy monster he showed at times in previous organizations. Zulueta drew the short stick, but has struggled to separate himself in the Pacific Coast League. The groundball specialist has always been able to get away with some wildness thanks to his penchant for eliciting double play balls, but walking 16% of hitters you face while punching out just 21% is a recipe for the waiver wire.
The Mariners 40-man roster remains full at 40.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza provided several updates on his club ahead of Wednesday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citi Field.
Outfielder Luis Robert Jr. was seen throwing the ball in the outfield at Citi Field.
Robert, who has been on the injured list since April 30 (retroactive to April 27) due to lumbar spine disc herniation, was transferred to the 60-day IL in late May.
Meanwhile, Ronny Mauricio has progressed to the baseball activities portion of his rehab, the manager said.
“He’s throwing, he’s hitting,” Mendoza said. “So he’s now at the phase where he’s doing a lot of the baseball stuff.”
Mauricio, who was seen doing some running in the outfield near Robert, landed on the IL with a right thumb fracture in early May and was expected to miss six to eight weeks.
Mendoza confirmed pushing back Nolan McLean to Friday and having Christian Scott on Thursday was just about getting the arms an extra day amid a long stretch without a day off.
“This was something that we discussed over the weekend,” the skipper said, adding it was always part of the plan. “[The pitchers] knew the plan, the Cardinals knew the plan that we were going bullpen game today, Scotty tomorrow, and then Nolan.
“Just kinda giving those guys an extra day this early in the stretch we’re about to go here.”
The stretch, which began with Tuesday night's game, sees the Mets play 22 times over 23 days, with only Friday, June 19, without a fixture during that run.
Peterson could see action in Wednesday’s game as the left-hander has not appeared since tossing four scoreless frames on May 31 after his move to the bullpen.
Mendoza said the time out of action had been influenced by how the schedule fell, especially with the Padres sporting a very right-handed-heavy lineup during the series in San Diego.
“There’s a good chance he pitches tonight, so, he’s ready to go,” he said, adding that Peterson had been “touching the mound and throwing aggressive side [sessions]” and they don’t see the time off as an issue.
“This is a guy that we’re gonna use because he’s important for this team,” Mendoza said.
The manager had nothing new to report on Kodai Senga other than the right-hander “felt good” on Tuesday after playing catch. The starter was scheduled to play catch again on Wednesday and Mendoza said he “wouldn’t be surprised if he was pitching in a game tomorrow or the next day.”
Senga was scratched from a rehab assignment with ulnar nerve irritation earlier this week.
Francisco Alvarez is back in the lineup as the DH on Wednesday, the day after making his return from the IL. Mendoza said there were “no issues” physically for the catcher after his first game back.
Tobias Myers is still working to get stretched out at Triple-A Syracuse, and is likely scheduled to throw around 35 to 40 pitches on Wednesday after throwing 1.1 innings on Sunday.
“After that, he’s probably gonna get three days [rest], and then revisit,” Mendoza said, adding the righty is “throwing the ball well, doing everything we’re asking him to do.”
Texas Rangers lineup for June 10, 2026 against the Kansas City Royals: starting pitchers are MacKenzie Gore for the Rangers and Seth Lugo for the Royals.
We have game two of the three game series in Kansas City. After the Rangers put just three runs up on the board yesterday, Skip Schumaker has decided to put offensive catalyst Nicky Lopez back in the starting lineup. Jake Burger is getting the day off.
The lineup:
Pederson — DH
Seager — SS
Jung — 3B
Nimmo — RF
Langford — LF
Duran — 1B
Carter — CF
Higashioka — C
Lopez — 2B
6:40 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are -119 favorites.