Category: Baseball

Well that was less than fun.

Braves lost 12-0 on Monday against the Marlins. It was the worst loss of the season for the Braves on a rare night where they simply had no answers. While these games happen to all teams at least a few times a year, there is an opportunity for the Braves to bounce back to make sure they make the most of another week of games against the NL East.

Thankfully, the Braves will get a big boost starting today with the return of Ronald Acuna Jr. from the IL. He was activated on Monday, as Kyle Farmer went to the IL. The Braves offense has not been as potent over the past few weeks, so getting their best offensive talent back should help production get back to consistent levels.

Braves News

Demetrius Bell looks at the week ahead vs the NL East.

Matt Powers looks at the history of the 26th pick in the draft.

The Braves have reportedly called up pitcher Victor Mederos from the minors. It will be interesting to see what other moves occur on Tuesday.

Mark Bowman looks at some impressive performances from Braves prospects.

MLB News

The Padres now lead the NL East after a victory over the Dodgers.

The Angels were close to being no-hit, but instead hit a walk-off home run.

Corey Seager went to the IL with a back issue.

Former Braves Gio Urshela announced his retirement.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Athletics starter J.T. Ginn took a no-hitter and a one-run lead into the ninth inning Monday night.

Six pitches later, he walked off the mound with a heartbreaking loss.

Adam Frazier lined a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth and Zach Neto followed with a two-run homer that gave the Los Angeles Angels a 2-1 victory, snapping a six-game skid while stunning Ginn and the A’s.

“Obviously, a tough game,” Ginn said. “Just keep your head up and keep moving forward. It’s just the nature of the game that we play. I attack the zone and I live with that.”

Frazier lined an 0-2 pitch over shortstop for a clean single, giving Los Angeles just its third baserunner. Neto then drove a 2-0 sinker to center field for his eighth home run of the season.

“Just a crazy game to play,” Ginn said. “I fell behind 2-0, threw a good sinker, and he was waiting on it and put a good swing on it. So, tip your cap to him.”

Ginn (2-2) was trying for the first no-hitter in the majors since Shota Imanaga combined with two Chicago Cubs relievers for a 12-0 win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 4, 2024. The previous pitcher to throw a complete-game no-hitter was Blake Snell for the San Francisco Giants against Cincinnati on Aug. 2, 2024.

Ginn threw a career-high 105 pitches, 64 for strikes. He struck out 10, walked one and hit Neto with a pitch in the sixth.

The right-hander from Mississippi, who turns 27 on Wednesday, struck out the side in the seventh and finished the inning with his 10th strikeout — setting a career high.

“J.T. dominated all night. For him to walk off the mound with a loss there, it hurts, obviously,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “He pitched probably the best game he’s pitched in his big league career, and to have an opportunity to get a no-hitter, and two hits later you walk off with a loss, it’s tough. I had full confidence in him going out there in that inning at 100 pitches and trying to get it done. It just didn’t work out.”

Pinch-hitter Lawrence Butler put the A’s ahead 1-0 with an RBI single in the top of the ninth. Angels reliever Chase Silseth got slugger Nick Kurtz to ground into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded.

It was the 30th career start for Ginn, who made his major league debut in August 2024.

“He did such a phenomenal job all night keeping guys off balance. His stuff was nasty. Just kind of rolling, you know, and then it’s gut-wrenching stuff in the ninth for it to end that way. It definitely sucks right now,” Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers said. “Baseball will humble you in all sorts of ways. … It’s going to be hard to flush this one.”

The Angels haven’t been no-hit since Sept. 11, 1999 — the longest active streak in the majors.

The Yankees' first meeting with the Toronto Blue Jays since this past October's ALDS loss saw New York dig deep, especially after a 2-of-3 Subway Series with the Mets.

"We've got a lot of grownups in that room, and I trust they know how to handle the highs and the lows in a lot of these individual cases," Aaron Boone said of his team's 7-6 win Monday at Yankee Stadium.

Boone's quote stemmed from a question about David Bednar, who blew a save opportunity upon starting the ninth inning of Sunday's 7-6 loss in 10 innings.

"It's big-time," said Bednar, whose ninth inning Monday against the Blue Jays (21-26) saw him work into trouble with a walk and RBI double before bearing down for the final three outs over the following four at-bats, capped by Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s 4-6-3 double play. "Ultimately, that's what everyone wants in this room -- trust the guys in here -- and I have the ultimate trust in them. For them to feel that about me is big-time."

With the win, the Yankees (29-19) are three games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East but 7.5 ahead of the third-place Blue Jays.

"Any in-division games are important, even though early in the season -- they all count," said Cody Bellinger, whose two-run home run in the seventh inning tied the game before Jazz Chisholm Jr. did the same two batters later and gave the Yankees a 7-5 lead. "They had a tremendous year last year, they got us last year and this year they're a good team again. We tried to come out first time against them and it was a battle, back and forth, and it was just a fun game to be a part of."

New York's chance for revenge continues with Tuesday's 7:05 p.m. start, the second of a four-game series in the Bronx.

"Especially losing to them in the playoffs, we've got to have a different mindset when it comes to them," Chisholm said. "Every time we see them, it's like, we have that feeling -- at least I do, for sure. I know a couple other guys in the clubhouse have that feeling of, like, 'We owe you something. We're going to show you what we've got.'"

The Athletics and Los Angeles Angels matched up in the first game of this four-game series between these two longtime division rivals.

Few would have thought that this game featuring two teams with struggling pitching staffs would turn out to be a pitching duel, yet that is what happened. Both starting pitchers performed well, especially the A’s starter J.T. Ginn, who took a no-hit bid into the ninth inning. Unfortunately for the A’s, it was the Angels, particularly their shortstop Zach Neto, who got the last laugh, winning this series-opener 2-1 courtesy of Neto’s walk-off blast.

A’s leadoff hitter, right fielder Carlos Cortes, opened the game by working a walk against Angels’ starting pitcher Walbert Ureña. His team left him stranded, as the right-hander proceeded to retire the following three hitters and complete a scoreless first inning. Ginn matched Ureña’s opening frame, working a scoreless bottom of the first. .

A’s Waste First Scoring Chance

In the top of the third, the A’s strung together a two-out rally. Cortes walked for the second time in two at-bats and then catcher Shea Langeliers hit an infield single, the A’s first hit of the game. Alas, first baseman Nick Kurtz popped out to end the inning as the Athletics left two runners on base.

A’s Leave them Loaded

In the fourth inning, the A’s once again generated a two-out rally. Center fielder Henry Bolte hit an infield single and then second baseman Jeff McNeil reached on Neto’s fielding error. Ureña hit A’s third baseman Zack Gelof to load the bases. The Angels starter escaped the jam unscathed by getting A’s shortstop Darell Hernaiz to groundout to third.

Angels Defense Saves a Run

With two outs in the fifth, Kurtz extended his on-base streak to 41 consecutive games with a double down the right field line. Angels’ right fielder Jo Adell made a sliding catch to rob A’s designated hitter Brent Rooker of an RBI single and keep the game scoreless.

Pitching Duel

While the A’s offense struggled to get going, Ginn retired the Angels in order through four innings, totaling five strikeouts and four groundouts on just 39 pitches. The Angels got their first baserunner in the fifth via a walk, but Ginn stranded him at second.

Meanwhile, Ureña completed six scoreless innings, continuing his success since joining the Angels’ rotation. He allowed four hits and two walks while striking out four. Right-handed reliever Sam Bachman entered out of the Angels bullpen in the seventh. He continued to keep the visitors off the board over the next two innings, only allowing Cortes’ one-out single in the seventh. Through eight innings, the Athletics managed five hits and went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position, leaving nine men on base.

Ginn sailed through eight hitless innings, striking out a career-high 10 batters. However, his offense had yet to give him any run support in this pitching-dominated affair.

Crazy Ninth!

In the top of the ninth, the A’s bats woke up. Gelof singled with one out against Angels right-handed reliever Ryan Zeferjahn. He stole second base to put himself in scoring position. Pinch-hitter Lawrence Butler singled to center, scoring Gelof to finally break the deadlock and give the A’s the lead. That was arguably Butler’s biggest hit of the season to date.

Zeferjahn proceeded to walk Cortes and Langeliers to load the bases with one out for Kurtz. Fellow right-handed reliever Chase Silseth replaced Zeferjahn and did his job by getting Kurtz to hit into an inning-ending double play. That was a crucial opportunity to add insurance, but for a change, Kurtz failed to come through.

Adam Frazier led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, breaking up Ginn’s no-hit attempt.

For some reason, Athletics manager Mark Kotsay did not pull his starter from the game despite the fact that Ginn had thrown over 100 pitches and just suffered the deflating blow of losing his no-hitter attempt. That decision predictably backfired as Neto hit a two-run walk-off home run, delivering a 2-1 victory for the hosts that snapped their six-game losing streak.

In a span of a few pitches, the A’s went from thinking they were about to celebrate their pitcher’s no-hitter to sadly walking off of the field losers of a third straight game. This dramatic defeat that put the team’s record under .500 is the kind that can result in a season-derailing tailspin. As a result, it is imperative that the Athletics reset and bounce back tomorrow or else this losing streak could stretch much further like what happened in May of last year.

Tomorrow will be the lefty vs. lefty matchup this series as Jacob Lopez will take on Reid Detmers. Lopez (3-2, 5.80 ERA) has struggled this season for the A’s, although he is coming off back-t0-back quality starts. In his last outing against the St. Louis Cardinals, the southpaw allowed two runs on four hits over five innings. He will be opposed by Detmers, who is 1-4 with a 4.20 ERA through nine starts this year. Lopez will likely not pitch as well as Ginn did tonight, but the A’s simply need him to keep them in the game and give them a shot to win.

Record: 23-23. Pace: 81-81. Change on 2025: -1.

I’ve learned not to tempt the baseball gods by starting on the recap too early. The only time I did so far this season, was the game against the Orioles, where the D-backs led 7-2 in the middle of the sixth inning. It… did not end well. But I did feel tonight, with Arizona ahead by ten runs after five innings, that I could safely boot up the laptop on this one. It was not former Diamondback Robbie Ray’s night. He had only allowed more than six ER once in his career: he gave up seven in just his fourth MLB appearance, back in 2014. It was his worst Game Score too, at 11. But tonight? The D-backs plundered him for 10 runs, 9 earned on 11 hits and 2 walks in just 4.2 innings. The resulting Game Score? 2.

This was an absolute palate-cleanser for the recently struggling offense. Giving a pitcher who came in with a 3.04 ERA, a career-worst outing, is something I hope the “Why do we always make scrubs look like Cy Young winners?” crew remember. Things tonight started early, and extremely quickly. And by quickly, I mean after a 1-2-3 inning by Zac Gallen in the top of the first, six pitches into the bottom half, Arizona had a 4-0 lead. Ketel Marte singled on an 0-1 pitch, Corbin Carroll singled on his first offering, and Geraldo Perdomo reached after he grounded the first pitch off the glove of the Giants’ third-baseman. That set the table for Nolan Arenado, whose ownership of Robbie Ray was close to Goldy/Timmeh levels: 53 career PA and a 1.244 OPS. That increased after this:

It was only the second time in franchise history that our fourth batter of the game had hit a grand-slam. The previous occurrence had been on April 28, 2011 against the Cubs at Wrigley. From the SnakePit recap: “Chris Young led off the bottom with a double, and suddenly, Dempster couldn’t find the strike zone with the help of a native guide. Kelly Johnson drew a walk, and after a LOUD foul ball into the cheap seats, Justin Upton was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for cleanup hitter Stephen Drew. [He] took [Ryan] Dempster to the bank, depositing a fastball into the outfield seats for his first career Grand Slam.” That did take more pitches: nineteen, so more than three times the number to reach tonight’s lickety-split slam.

Okay, having spent over four hundred words and not even reached the first D-back out, I’d better gallop on through the rest of the game. It seemed initially like Gallen might be a little shaky, allowing San Francisco get on the board in the second, then another run in the third. But Arizona had no trouble responding on each occasion. They scored one in the second on a Marte sacrifice fly, then added two more in the third. That came courtesy of a rare Tim Tawa start, who singled home both runs. But the game was ended as a meaningful contest by the D-backs getting a five-run fifth. Gabriel Moreno had a two-run homer, Ryan Waldschmidt and Marte added RBI knocks, and Arenado drove in our twelfth and final run on another of the Giants’ three errors.

Thereafter, it became a bit reminiscent of a spring training game. We pulled Carroll, Arenado and it looked like we were perhaps going to end replacing Moreno with James McCann. I say that, because the last-named did potentially make this a bit of a Pyrrhic victory [to re-purpose one of last year’s popular recap titles]. After a half-inning spent playing 1B McCann, trying to leg out an infield hit, appeared to tweak something in his leg. While he did get the hit, bringing him back over the Uecker Line, he had to be lifted from the game immediately. Adrian Del Castillo took over for him on the basepaths, and Moreno stayed in the game. No word on McCann as yet.

Gallen got through six innings with no more damage, allowing four hits and a walk with five strikeouts, for his first quality start since April 1. At 81 pitches, he could perhaps have gone deeper. But the bullpen probably needed the work. Ryan Thompson, Brandyn Garcia and Jonathan Loaisiga each tossed scoreless innings to close out the Diamondbacks’ first double-digit margin of victory since the 10-0 win over the White Sox last June 23. However, let’s not get too carried away with ourselves. The Giants do have the second-worst record in the league, and we should be shutting down their offense. Their 167 runs is twenty-five fewer than any other NL team.

But tonight was one for the Arizona offense: 16 hits in total, tying a season high every starter notching one by the end of the fifth. Waldschmidt had three hits, a walk and two stolen bases, while there were two-hit games for Marte, Carroll, Ildemaro Vargas and Moreno. The win pulls the Diamondbacks back up to .500, and with nine more games against these woeful Giants and Rockies (3-1 so far) before we face anybody else, I’m hopeful the team will be able to take advantage of this stretch of the schedule and get well above even by the time we start seeing other franchises.

Click here for details, at Fangraphs.com
Colonel Kurtz: Nolan Arenado, +14%

Seriously, that’s it. Nobody else bar Arenado came in at better than plus seven percent, and nobody at all reached even negative one percent, so I’m not going to call anyone out. It was, I’d say, probably the best-played game by the Diamondbacks all season. Fine pitching (the quality of the opposition notwithstanding), great hitting and solid defense. Hard to ask for much more. I’ll give comment of the night to Webb Gemz, not least for demonstrating the correct use of the sarcasm font.

Same two teams tomorrow, same bat-time (6:40 pm), same bat-channel, and I would not mind at all if it were to be the same bat-result. It’ll be Ryne Nelson taking the mound for the Diamondbacks.

Don’t expect Jazz Chisholm Jr. to go back to his own pants — or bat.

The second baseman continued his recent uptick at the plate — all while wearing Giancarlo Stanton’s pants and using José Caballero’s bat.

He had two more hits with the combo in Monday’s 7-6 win, including a go-ahead, two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh that banked off the left field foul pole.

“It will always be [Stanton’s pants] and José’s bat,’’ Chisholm said.

Aaron Boone said he thought Chisholm looked “great” with the mismatched uniform but had a more traditional explanation for Chisholm’s recent improvement.

“Jazz started swinging better the last few days,’’ Boone said. “He stayed on a couple [pitches Sunday] against [the] Mets where he drove the ball that way, too.”

And it’s paying off.

“He was missing pitches he usually hits,” Boone said. “Now we’re seeing him come to the level with a really good player. I don’t think he was that far off, but I don’t think he [was] swinging the bat that well.”

As for the change in attire and equipment, Boone said, “Whatever he’s got to do.”

Anthony Volpe is at least giving himself an argument to potentially stick around in The Bronx when Caballero returns from a fractured middle finger. He had two more hits and a pair of stolen bases.

“They’re not an easy club to run against,’’ Boone said of Toronto. “Anthony did a good job of getting both [stolen bases].”

And he’s looked better at the plate after struggling in his rehab assignment in the minors and his first games back in the majors.

“He’s had more good at-bats,’’ Boone said. “For the most part, he’s controlling the strike zone the last four days.”

Boone said there is a chance Caballero comes off the IL when he’s eligible May 2, as the shortstop has taken ground balls and begun playing light catch after suffering a fractured right middle finger.

Yovanny Cruz, a hard-throwing right-hander, was called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Monday.

The 26-year-old right-hander never pitched above Double-A before the Yankees signed him to a minor league contract in the offseason, but his ability to throw 100 mph intrigued the team, and he showed positive flashes in the spring after coming back from a shoulder injury.

His recent results at SWB haven’t been as good, as Cruz allowed a run in each of his last five appearances. Overall, he struck out 23 in 18 innings at Triple-A this season.

Boone said the Yankees “really like his upside.”

There are command concerns, and Boone noted Cruz had issues containing the running game.

To make room for Cruz on the roster, Elmer Rodríguez was optioned to SWB.

Rodríguez was coming off his most effective start with the Yankees.

“It’s a tough situation,’’ Rodríguez said of being optioned to SWB. “I’ll take the positives out of it, go down there and hope to be back.”

The Yankees began wearing a patch on their uniform Monday to commemorate John Sterling’s career after the broadcaster passed away earlier this month. Sterling’s children and ex-wife were part of a pregame ceremony in honor of Sterling.

Former MLB commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti wrote about baseball that "it is designed to break your heart." The latest instance of that adage holding up took place on Monday, May 18 at Angel Stadium.

Athletics pitcher J.T. Ginn was flirting with throwing Major League Baseball's first no-hitter since 2024, only to allow a base hit to the first hitter he faced in the bottom of the ninth inning and then a walk-off home run to the next.

The Los Angeles Angels prevailed, 2-1, spoiling Ginn's no-no bid in an improbably thrilling way.

Ginn, who struck out 10 Angels batters through eight innings, saw Adam Frazier end the no-hit hopes with a line drive single to center field. The next batter, Zach Neto, took Ginn deep to quickly turn the tide on the Athletics.

The win ended a six-game losing streak for the Angels, who were coming off getting swept in back-to-back series by the Cleveland Guardians and Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Chicago Cubs' Shota Imanaga, Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge combined no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sept. 4, 2024 still stands as MLB's most recent no-no.

After losing two of three to the Milwaukee Brewers on the road, the San Diego Padres arrived in Seattle with an offense that lacked thump, as well as production, from the top of the lineup. With Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill, and Manny Machado scuffling, the rest of the roster carried the team to a sweep of the Mariners and a 28-18 record, a half-game back of the Dodgers in the NL West.

There is not much to say that is new about the problems the three faces of the franchise are experiencing. Over the 18 games from April 27 to May 16, Machado/Tatis/Merrill had a collective .164/.231/.249 batting line. The doubles that Machado and Merrill hit in Sunday’s game were the first extra-base hits they both had in the same game since April 11 (per Kevin Acee in Padres Daily newsletter).

Here is where the Padres offense stands as of the end of the Mariners series:

Batting average – .224, 30th OBP – .296, 28th SLG – .371, 26th OPS – .667, 28th

It doesn’t make sense that this team is 10 games over .500 and in second place in the NL West, but that is the case. As everyone in sports media keeps saying, this isn’t sustainable. Even manager Craig Stammen acknowledges that to be true.

Lucas Giolito

Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller signed right-handed starter Lucas Giolito to a $1.5 million contract for 2026 with a $1.5 million buyout for 2027 and escalators that could net him an additional $5 million. He signed on April 22 and his contract guaranteed a promotion to the major league team by May 16. He had two starts in Single-A and two starts in Double-A before debuted with the Padres on Sunday against the Mariners. After pitching five shutout innings with one hit allowed, Giolito sat for a prolonged half-inning while his teammates put up five runs in the top of the sixth inning.

In the bottom of the sixth, he was not the same guy. After walking three straight hitters, he was removed from the game and was then charged with the three runs scored by the Mariners after his departure. Giolitto got the win after his offense went on a hitting spree (especially Gavin Sheets) and put up eight runs for the game.

Giolito’s performance was all the more impressive considering he hasn’t had anything close to a normal ramp-up to the season. Going unsigned through the offseason and Spring Training, Giolito was on his own to prepare to pitch for a major league team. Staying unsigned until late April, his contract only gave him 23 days to prepare for his debut with the Padres.

His velocity was notably less than his normal 94-95 mph on his fastball (90-92), but his changeup is elite and makes the fastball a playable pitch. He throws those two pitches 85% of the time. In 145 innings pitched in 2025, Giolito threw to a 3.41 ERA, even though his underlying numbers don’t look that impressive.

With time spent working with Ruben Niebla and his staff, and building up his arm, Giolito should get better. His command through the first five innings was remarkable considering his brief amount of prep time.

Gavin Sheets

Since signing with the Padres before the 2025 season, Gavin Sheets has been the power hitter the Padres hoped he would be, in streaks. Always less effective against left-handed pitchers, Sheets has made adjustments during his time with the Padres and continues to improve against righties. Last season his batting average was almost identical between lefties and righties, but his slug against right-handed pitchers was .453 versus .369 against left-handers. He had 17 homers against righties and two versus lefties.

This season, with minimal appearances versus lefties, Sheets is continuing the trend. He is slugging. 596 versus right-handers so far this year (114 at-bats). In 12 at-bats versus lefties, he is slugging .167. Way too small a sample size, but with some of his teammates performing well against left-handed pitching (Miguel Andujar, Luis Campusano) he isn’t going to get many opportunities.

Overall, Sheets has been clutch, with “late and close” hits. He is second behind Xander Bogaerts in RBI; Bogaerts has 23 and Sheets has 21. His nine homeruns lead the team, and his 10 doubles are one behind Andujar.

Sheets was named the National League Player of the Week with these numbers over the Brewers and Mariners series.

Rodolfo Durán

Catcher Rodolfo Durán waited 11 years to get his first chance to play in a major league uniform. With the broken toe suffered by Luis Campusano in the series versus the Giants, Durán was added to the roster and made his first start on May 7 against the Cardinals. He was 0-for-10 before coming to bat in the seventh inning against Seattle on May 16. Durán lined his first hit as a major leaguer into the Padres’ bullpen for his first home run. In his last at-bat in the ninth inning, he was robbed of another home run by a leaping Julio Rodríguez in center field.

Durán will remain with the Padres in place of the injured Campusano, but it is unlikely any other moment will be as memorable as that one for the veteran of four organizations.

A Quiet Assassin

Reliever Bradgley Rodriquez, 22, graduated from the Padres prospect list this month. He appeared in seven games and 7.2 innings for the Padres in 2025 with a 1.17 ERA and nine strikeouts to three walks. In 2026, he has pitched in 19 games (was the opener for two games) and has 22.2 innings under his belt this season. He is on pace to pitch over 80 innings, which would far exceed his 61.1 innings in 2024 in the minors.

It seems likely he will get optioned at some point to give him a break, but the bullpen will be the less for it. His 1.59 ERA includes 18 strikeouts to five walks, and he has allowed no home runs. His effectiveness is only behind Mason Miller and Jason Adam.

Although he has high-leverage stuff, Rodriguez is being brought along carefully. His fastball touches 100 mph, but it is not his best pitch. He has a plus-plus-changeup that he pairs with a slider for 69% of his offerings.

Roster moves and injury updates

General manager A.J. Preller gave an update on the status of Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta in an interview with Ben and Woods of 97.3 The Fan on Friday, May 15. Neither is in a throwing program yet, and he suggested that they would not be until June/July.

It was reported by Kevin Acee in his daily newsletter (via manager Craig Stammen) that Luis Campusano is still unable to come off the IL. His broken toe is still too painful, although he is involved in baseball activities.

The last word on Jake Cronenworth was that he had been referred to a neurologist and is recovering from his concussion under medical care. He did not travel with the team on the latest road trip.

Matt Waldron pitched poorly in his start versus the Brewers on May 12 and then came back and pitched two innings of scoreless relief on May 14. He reportedly came in the next day with a sore upper arm and was placed on the 15-day IL when Alek Jacob was called up to provide extra help to the bullpen. Jacob was sent back down when Giolito was activated.

Jhony Brito has started his rehab from his UCL surgery of last year. He started two games with the ACL Padres and then started for Double-A San Antonio on Sunday, May 17. Brito went four innings with no earned runs allowed. He allowed two hits and had a strikeout, although two unearned runs scored.

It was a stormy night in Minneapolis and no one from Cory Provus to the players on the field thought this game was going to go a full nine innings. The field was a mess, Astros shorstop Jeremy Peña turned the field into his personal slip-n-slide, but no one, and I mean NO ONE, was going to stop these umps from forcing the players out for four more meaningless innings.

But let’s go back to the first inning where we all were thankfully put out of our Simeon Woods Richardson-induced misery. With SWR in the midst of the worst stretch of his career, manager Derek Shelton turned to rookie Kendry Rojas, who immediately showed off why he’s a difficult prospect to figure out. Rojas hit Peña, allowed a single to Isaac Paredes, and walked Yordan Alvarez on four pitches to load the bases with no outs just nine pitches into the game. Luckily, a pop out and a weak line drive double play got the Twins out of the jam without allowing a run.

And then, Rojas was nails. He allowed one hit in the second inning but largely overpowered this veteran Astros lineup all night. Final line: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 0 runs allowed. His hybrid reliever/starter role, combined with the organization trying to limit his workload, means he isn’t really able to throw more than 50-60 pitches per outing right now, but Rojas showcased exactly why the Twins have been hesitant to move him to relief full time.

On the offensive side, it was all Josh Bell early. Bell got a hanging changeup from Tatsuya Imai in the second that he mashed off the batter’s eye in center. Things were quiet until Bell came up again the fourth inning and went oppo-taco to put the Twins up 3-0. It would have been nice to see the lineup have a better performance against a struggling pitcher, but a win is a win.

After the two hour rain delay, the Twins came back ready to add some more runs. Six straight Twins reached base with one out in the 6th, resulting in three additional runs, but a sloppy send/late hold by third base coach Ramon Borrego resulted in Bell getting caught in no man’s land between third and home and getting nabbed on the bases.

Justin Topa came in and gave up three runs in the seventh inning, as he is wont to do, but you don’t need me to recap why a bad pitcher gave up runs. It should be expected at this point. Eric Orze got the Twins out that jam and pitched a clean eighth, but Yoendrys Gomez got the Twins right back in one in the ninth. Gomez walked notable bad hitter Christian Vazquez on four pitches, got Peña to pop out, then walked Paredes on five pitches to bring up MVP candidate Yordan Alvarez as the tying run. Shelty turned to veteran Taylor Rogers who got Alvarez looking and then got Christian Walker to ground out to end the threat and the game.

Two final notable things from this game. First, Ryan Jeffers left the game in the ninth inning after cracking his bat on a foul ball. Jeffers stayed in for two more pitches but left the game mid-AB. No word on what the potential injury is, but Jeffers is a gamer who wouldn’t leave for no reason. For a team missing Byron Buxton, Matt Wallner recently demoted, and Royce Lewis on the verge of the same, they can hardly afford to have Jeffers miss significant time.

Second, two different pitchers issued four pitch walks to Christian Vazquez. I don’t need to tell anyone around here that walking Vazquez at all, let alone on four pitches, is a demote-able offense. Simeon Woods Richardson is still adjust to reliever life, it appears.

STUDS

• Josh Bell: 3-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI
• Kendry Rojas: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 4 K, 0 R

DUDS

• NO DUDS TWINS WIN!!!!

Comment of the game goes to norff for finally making Justin Topa’s role on this team clear.

Mariners 6, White Sox 1

Anton Chigurh: Bryan Woo, .31 WPA

Anton Chinacci: Eduard Bazardo, -.18 WPA

Game Thread Comment of the Day:

SAN DIEGO –– The Padres own the worst batting average in the majors. Their starting rotation is being held together by Elmer’s glue and duct tape. And they have the run differential of, at best, a .500 ball club.

After a 1-0 win over the Dodgers on Monday night, they are also in first place in the National League West.

If you’ve been watching from afar, and wondering exactly how the Padres (29-18) are winning so much with their best two players batting a combined .207 and most of their best pitchers on the injured list, then Monday’s series-opener provided a telling answer.

They’ve found ways to limit runs, riding a scoreless seven-inning start from Michael King on Monday (including a season-high nine strikeouts for him).

They’ve gotten unexpected contributions from others in their lineup, including a first-inning homer from Miguel Andujar off Yoshinobu Yamamoto (the only blemish in Yamamoto’s seven-inning, eight-strikeout start).

And once they’ve taken leads, they simply do not relinquish them, with superstar closer (and potential Cy Young candidate) Mason Miller picking up his 15th save in a scoreless ninth inning.

“When they’re ahead in the seventh inning, they don’t lose,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

“It’s hard to score against Mason Miller,” first baseman Freddie Freeman added.

Miller did not make life easy for himself in his save situation. He missed with eight of his first nine pitches, issuing two walks in a game for only the second time this year.

But on a night of missed chances for the Dodgers (29-19) –– who had a runner in scoring position in each of their last four trips to the plate –– they let another one go by the wayside. Will Smith flied out. Max Muncy took a called third strike. And Andy Pages hit a grounder to third that ended the game, handing the Padres the kind of win they’ve been getting all year. 

What it means

Standings might not matter much at this point in the year.

But if the first seven weeks of this season have been any indication, the Padres figure to be a thorn in the Dodgers’ side once again.

The last two years, the Padres have taken the division race down to the final weeks of the season. Last year, they held first place as late as Aug. 23, pushing the defending champions all the way to the end.

Big picture, such competition can be good for the Dodgers.

But right now, it’s only underscoring their uneven start to the campaign.

After appearing to turn a corner during a recent five-game winning streak, their lineup came back to earth on Monday, striking out 10 times against King and company while going 0-for-7 with a runner in scoring position.

Who’s hot

It certainly wasn’t a highlight night for Shohei Ohtani. But he continued to improve his early-season numbers by reaching base three times in a 2-for-3 performance.

Coming off a big series against the Angels over the weekend, when he finally began to emerge from a month-long slump, Ohtani drew a walk in the fourth inning, then followed a two-out single in the sixth from Hyeseong Kim with a swinging bunt that led to an errant throw, putting runners on the corners.

A similar sequence played out in the eighth, when Ohtani followed Kim’s two-out walk with a single off right-handed reliever Jason Adam (and, curiously, not warmed-up left-hander Adrian Morejon in the bullpen).

Alas, on both occasions, Betts made an out behind him to end each inning.

It was all part of the Dodgers’ frustrating night at the plate.

Who’s not

The Dodgers’ baserunning, which made King’s life easier multiple times on Monday.

Through the game’s first five innings, the only two Dodgers players to reach base (Betts after a first-inning single and Ohtani after a fourth-inning walk) were both gunned down by catcher Rodolfo Durán while trying to steal second.

Then in the sixth, they didn’t take advantage of a chance to capitalize on a Padres defensive mistake.

On Ohtani’s swinging bunt, Durán’s throw to first base went up the line and allowed Kim to scurry all the way to third. Once he got there, however, third base coach Dino Ebel threw up a late stop sign –– just as second baseman Fernando Tatis Jr. was struggling to corral the ball in shallow right.

Roberts didn’t second-guess the decision afterward, pointing to the tricky timing of the sequence.

“You don’t know that he’s not going to come up with it clean,” he noted.

However, he also added, “It’s one of those that, yeah, it’s unfortunate. Two outs. If we know something different, he probably would have done something different. But that’s a hard one.”

Up next

The Dodgers will try to even this rivalry series on Tuesday, when Emmet Sheehan (3-1, 4.54 ERA) faces off against Griffin Canning (0-2, 10.64 ERA).

The Mets have won three straight games, including six of their past seven, after they emerged from Monday's wild series opener at the Washington Nationals with a 16-7 win in 12 innings.

"It's huge," said Brett Baty, whose 2-for-6 night featured three RBI on a fourth-inning solo shot and his two-run single in the 12th inning when New York (21-26) scored 10 runs to pull away from Washington (23-25). "Just come in here and try to win Game 1. We've got three more here, so just came in here and tried to win Game 1, honestly."

The four-game set starts a seven-game swing that is set to continue this weekend in Miami and follows the Mets' 2-of-3 Subway Series result against the Yankees, which included Sunday's 7-6 win in 10 innings.

"I mean, the resilience, the grit -- that's a group that we came today and it's a new series, it's a new day," said Carlos Mendoza. "What happened yesterday doesn't matter, you know? And that's the mentality for tomorrow. We show up tomorrow.

"We won a very good game today. It was a back-and-forth, and we never got down. We kept punching. And even when we didn't score those couple of extra innings there, we were able to -- the pitching staff was able to give us a chance, and the guys came through.

"So, emotions -- like I said, we've got to be able to turn the page. I say that when we're losing, I'm saying the same thing when we're winning, you know? It's another important game tomorrow. We'll come here and that's what we'll do."

The Mets totaled 18 hits and used seven pitchers, including Huascar Brazobán, who earned the win after entering in the 10th inning and gave New York a chance before the bats broke out in the 11th and 12th.

"That's the team that we are," Brazobán said through an interpreter. "Whatever happened in the past happened in the past, and we go out there and compete. And now, it's favoring us. The talent that we have, the way that we're able to play -- it's turning out the right way now for us."

Nolan McLean (2-2, 2.92 ERA) gets the start next as the Mets seek a season-high-tying fourth straight win in Tuesday's 6:45 p.m. game on SNY.

"We're just doing our job -- showing up every day and trying to win games," said Bo Bichette, whose 3-for-6 night with three RBI was among New York's key contributors Monday. "And when you win games, you start to kind of feel what it feels like and you just try to keep that going. So, it's fun to win -- fun to come to the park right now."

Late Sunday afternoon in Seattle was the setting for Lucas Giolito’s debut with the San Diego Padres. His emotions were high, but he channeled his energy into a decent outing. No question, there are plenty of positive takeaways from his first start of the 2026 campaign.

This season is different from others, as Giolito had to battle back from a right elbow injury that sidelined him for the entire 2025 postseason with the Boston Red Sox. He was the last starting pitcher standing on the free-agent market. 

The Padres signed him to a one-year, pro-rated contract in late April. His outstanding season with Boston fueled their interest. Giolito posted a 10-4 record with a 3.41 ERA in 26 starts. His partnership with Garrett Crochet at the top of the Red Sox rotation earned the franchise an unlikely postseason berth.

Giolito overcame season debut nerves

Giolito shook off some nerves in his debut start, allowing only one hit against the Seattle Mariners. He showed no fear in attacking the strike zone with quality pitches. His command was sharp until the bottom of the sixth inning.

Giolito struggled with his control, walking three batters before Friars manager Craig Stammen removed him from the game. Granted, he was sitting in the dugout for an extended time while the offense scored five runs in the top of the inning.

The finish should not put a bad taste in your mouth. Instead, everyone’s optimism level should be high from Giolito’s first start. You have to be impressed with his presence on the mound, as he showed flashes of his former self.

I cannot wait to see Giolito’s second start, as he should be more comfortable and have better command of his pitches.

When he is on, Giolito’s pitching repertoire is elite

Giolito has an impressive repertoire, especially when his three-pitch mix (four-seam fastball, slider, and circle changeup) is effectively dominating the strike zone. But make no mistake: he relies heavily on his four-seam fastball to get batters out.

His pitching approach is built on neutralizing right-handed hitters by throwing a heavy slider and lefty batters swinging out in front of a fading circle changeup. It allows him to throw his four-seam fastball at the top of the strike zone. 

Not too many hitters feel comfortable in an at-bat against Giolito.

Questions will linger about the Padres starting rotation until Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta return to action. The team is playing above .500, but there is no time to rest on their laurels as the Los Angeles Dodgers are coming to Petco Park this week.

The Friars know how to survive and compete without a full roster available. The organization is looking for Giolito to carry some of the load. It may produce his signature moment in the Brown & Gold uniform. 

The Padres, by virtue of their solid start to the season, can afford to wait for Giolito to return to 2025 form.