TULSA, OKLAHOMA - APRIL 19: Lazaro Montes #33 of the Arkansas Travelers stands on deck during a game against the Tulsa Drillers at ONEOK Field on April 19, 2026 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images) | Getty Images
There are very few hitters in the minor leagues more fearsome than Lazaro Montes right now.
The Mariners #6 ranked prospect, Montes posted one of the finest statlines of his young career in Saturday afternoon’s contest against the Wichita Wind Surge. Ending the game 3-5 with 3 homers and a walk, Montes batted home half of the 16 runs the Travs scored on the day and has been unconscious at the plate as of late.
His first homer of the game, a 118 mph laser over the right field wall, would be the second-hardest hit ball in the majors this season, trailing only Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz’s 119 mph mark he posted against the Nationals. It’s unreal power that you just can’t teach.
His third homer shows off just how silly his power is. A rather tame swing that looks like a surefire flyout continues to carry until it’s over the rightfield wall. Ridiculous pop.
Montes entered this week’s series with a season OPS of .686, a number reflective of his slow start to the season offensively. As of writing, he’s raised that number up over 200 points in just five games and now sits at a season mark of .900. He’s tallied five homers, a triple, and four walks on the week, epitomizing the “TTO” approach at the plate that’s served him so well in the past. He may not make a ton of contact, but his disciplined eye is enough to help offset his high K% and the power plays more than enough in-game. There’s just not many people that can punish a mistake like Lazaro Montes, and though there’s still plenty of development left ahead of him, to see him performing so well after his rocky start to the year is an amazing sign for what’s to come.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - APRIL 29: Will Wilson #7 of the Seattle Mariners plays defense during the game between the Seattle Mariners and the Minnesota Twins at Target Field on Wednesday, April 29, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Michael Turner/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Less than an hour before the Mariners were set to take the field for Randy Johnson number retirement night, the Mariners dropped a significant lineup change, removing starting catcher Cal Raleigh and inserting backup catcher. At the same time, the Tacoma Rainiers announced a roster change, scratching their starting catcher for Saturday, Jhonny Pereda.
This of course led to a good old-fashioned freakout until the next roster move dropped: INF Will Wilson to the IL with a fractured thumb. Wilson’s injury designation is backdated to April 30, meaning he’s been dealing with this since Thursday’s off-day.
Wilson has been providing backup at third base while Brendan Donovan has been on the IL, but Donovan is set to begin a rehab assignment this Tuesday with the Arkansas Travelers in preparation to meet the team in Chicago at the beginning of their next roadtrip. This does leave the Mariners shorthanded on the utility infielder side until Donovan is back, however, meaning a steady dose of Leo Rivas at third base unless the Mariners make another move after the game. If they did want to fill the infielder hole, the options are slim: Ryan Bliss is on the 40-man but limited to second base, where Cole Young has staked a claim; Brock Rodden has positional flexibility, but would require a 40-man move. The other option is bringing up Colt Emerson, but unless the Mariners view the situation as truly dire, it feels unlikely that they’d summon him just for a brief fill-in.
No news from the Mariners yet as to what the issue is with Raleigh; this story will be updated.
Ryan Weathers was solid, if not spectacular, during a 9-4 win over the Orioles in The Bronx on Saturday at a moment when every start matters for a team that is expected to boil down its rotation in the coming weeks.
If the return of Carlos Rodón, who could be ready after his third rehab outing Tuesday, pushes Elmer Rodríguez back to the minors, then Weathers and Will Warren would be competing to hold on to their spots whenever Gerrit Cole is deemed ready in the coming weeks.
“That’s a lifetime away,” manager Aaron Boone said about the rotation jam after Warren was excellent Friday (two runs, just one earned, in 6 ¹/₃ innings) and Weathers was respectable Saturday (three runs, just one earned while pitching into the sixth).
Ryan Weathers throws a pitch during the second inning of the Yankees’ 9-4 win over the Orioles on May 2, 2026 at the Stadium. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
Weathers, who lowered his ERA to 3.03, pulled a Max Fried and temporarily abandoned his windup.
He had walked the leadoff hitters in the first and second innings, base runners who did not score but escalated his pitch count, needing 40 pitches to record six outs.
So when he fell behind Baltimore’s Blaze Alexander 2-0 to begin the third, he adjusted in the same way Fried has recently by pitching out of the stretch.
“Sometimes windups can have more moving parts,” said Weathers, who later went back into the full windup. “The stretch is literally just pick your leg up and go. I think that simplified what I need to do.”
He did not walk another batter, allowed just three hits and struck out five, all while quibbling with his execution.
He was not thrilled with his fastball location, saying the Orioles were “not really biting” on his slider, and he wanted to bury his changeup more.
Ryan Weathers walks off the mound after getting pulled during the Yankees’ May 2 win. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
And yet on an apparently imperfect day, he did not allow a hit until Pete Alonso homered with one out in the fourth.
“Had a lot of different ways to get you out today,” Boone said of Weathers, who has allowed three runs or fewer in six of his seven starts. “I thought sweeper, changeup, fastball were all playing well.”
The danger arrived in the sixth, when Taylor Ward and Gunnar Henderson singled before Adley Rutschman grounded to Ben Rice, who hesitated to throw to second in a miscommunication and got no outs on the play, creating a bases-loaded, no-out jam that became Jake Bird’s problem.
Two came around to score unearned runs.
For a rotation that owns a majors-best 2.67 ERA, Weathers’ afternoon was strong, if unremarkable, and helped lead to another victory.
The crunch that is a “lifetime away” is getting closer.
“Any day you can get a big league win is a good day,” Weathers said.
It looked like a home run. Sounded like a home run. Heliot Ramos thought it was gone. So did the Giants’ broadcasters. Somehow, it landed in Cedric Mullins’ glove, leaving Ramos slack jawed and leading to two ejections from the visitors’ dugout.
Even home runs off the bat aren’t getting over the wall these days for the Giants, who haven’t hit one since they left San Francisco six days ago.
Ramos appeared to connect on their first dinger of their road trip in the second inning Saturday against Rays opener Griffin Jax. He squared up a 3-2 fastball to straightaway center field, sending Mullins back to the warning track.
It looked like a home run. Sounded like a home run. Heliot Ramos thought it was gone. So did the Giants’ broadcasters. Getty ImagesRamos appeared to connect on their first dinger of their road trip in the second inning Saturday against Rays opener Griffin Jax Pablo Robles-Imagn Images
The center fielder either deked everyone in the building or something else led to him making a late adjustment on his read of the fly ball, which left Ramos’ bat at 107.9 mph on a 33-degree trajectory.
Eight other fly balls with near-identical matches to Ramos’ have been hit inside Tropicana Field since Statcast began tracking batted-ball data in 2015. Every one was a home run.
I decided to see if there were any balls hit with an identical profile to Heliot Ramos' fly out (??).
Eight other balls have been hit between 107-108 mph with a launch angle between 33-34 degrees at Tropicana Field in the Statcast era (since 2015).
Not this swing. Mullins retreated, touched the wall and suddenly came in to make the catch.
Ramos, who had made it to second base, looked stunned. He appeared to remark, “There’s no way,” on his way back to the dugout. On the Giants’ television broadcast, play-by-play man Dave Flemming had broken into a home-run call and was left equally confused.
*Takes deep breath* Heliot Ramos hits a long flyout, which he thought hit a catwalk at Tropicana Field and therefore should have been a home run, but after review, the call on the field stood, which led to pitcher Adrian Houser and assistant coach Frank Anderson being ejected. pic.twitter.com/9r3xGFZZ2o
The catwalks can come into play on high fly balls at Tropicana Field. According to the ground rules, if a ball in fair play comes into contact with one of the two lower rings, it is automatically ruled a home run. If it hits the two higher catwalks, it is considered a live ball.
However, when the Giants requested a video review, there were apparently no angles available showing the catwalks interfering with the flight of the ball. The call on the field of a catch stood.
That led to more drama, with manager Tony Vitello going back and forth with home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt and crew chief Vic Carapazza tossing director of pitching Frank Anderson and right-hander Adrian Houser from the game.
There are no shortage of reasons for frustration in the San Francisco dugout.
The last home run the Giants hit came almost a week ago, off the bat of Casey Schmitt in what was also the last game they won, Sunday at home against the Marlins. They remain the last team in the league yet to hit 20 total and have scored the fewest runs in the majors.
When they finally pushed across a run in the sixth inning, on a pair of doubles from Rafael Devers and Luis Arraez, it was the first time they had scored since they tied an eventual walkoff loss Thursday against the Phillies — 16 innings prior.
Apr 14, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean (26) throws a pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Mets lineup
Bo Bichette – 3B Juan Soto – DH Francisco Alvarez – C Mark Vientos – 1B Marcus Semien – 2B Andy Ibáñez – LF Tyrone Taylor – CF Austin Slater – RF Ronny Mauricio – SS
Nolan McLean – RHP
Angels lineup
Zach Neto – SS Mike Trout – CF Nolan Schanuel – 1B Jorge Soler – DH Jo Adell – RF Josh Lowe – LF Vaughn Grissom – 2B Oswald Peraza – 3B Travis d’Arnaud – C
Reid Detmers – LHP
Broadcast info
First pitch: 9:38 PM EDT TV: SNY Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 02: Ceddanne Rafaela #3 of the Boston Red Sox tosses his bat after striking out against the Houston Astros at Fenway Park on May 02, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jaiden Tripi/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The sequence that most perfectly encapsulates today’s loss to the Astros began in the bottom of the third inning. Willson Contreras was at the plate with the bases loaded and just one out; Astros’ starter Spencer Arrighetti was teetering and had just walked the previous two men, and there was more lumber lurking on deck with Roman Anthony and Wilyer Abreu due up next. The Red Sox were down 1-0, but it very much felt like they were about to take control of the game.
I remember thinking to myself in this moment “Boy, after that three hit game last night, it feels like Roman Anthony’s really about to turn the corner. Now he’s gonna get a golden opportunity to build on that momentum against a struggling starter with either a chance to take the lead or put the Sox ahead by even more if Contreras comes through.”
Instead, by the time Anthony came to the plate, the Sox were down 5-0 in the bottom of the next inning.
The deadly combination of events came as follows:
First, Willson Contreras hit into this brutally costly double play to ruin the third inning threat:
That wasn’t quite the ballgame, but it sure felt like it. The Red Sox are now 0-17 when they fall behind by at least two runs at any point in the game, and this lineup proves itself relentlessly incapable of changing that stat on a near daily basis.
Today was actually a perfect example of why that’s the case. There were plenty of other chances for the Red Sox to get back in the thing and mount a comeback, but time and time again they lacked the big hit when they really needed it. They had opportunities littered throughout the middle innings to the tune of eight hits and seven walks, but not a single one of those hits went for extra bases, and the team went just 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position (zero of which came when the deficit was within three runs).
The Astros meanwhile had three extra base hits in just the fourth inning alone (the biggest frame of the game for either team), and that really was the difference in this tussle. The Astros lineup leads the American League in batting average, RBI, OPS, and wRC+. It doesn’t matter if your measuring stick is a metric old or new, their bats are good! The reason they have an even worse record than the Red Sox overall though is because their pitching staff has fallen apart like a piece of single-ply toilet paper.
And along those lines, I can’t underscore enough how much this Astros pitching staff sucks and how much the Red Sox offense sucks even more. In the five games Houston has played against Boston this year, they’ve held the Sox to four runs or less every single time. But in the other 29 games, the Astros opponents have scored five or more runs 22 times. Ironing that out to a bird’s eye view, the Red Sox have averaged 2.60 runs per game in their five slates against the 2026Astros, and everybody else has averaged 6.45 runs per game in the other 29 contests.
This lineup is beyond disgraceful!
Three Studs
Roman Anthony: After three hits last night, Roman Anthony was on base three more times today with a hit and two walks. Also, the hit was a liner the other way into the left field corner, so it was nice to see Anthony smack a free strike teams have been getting against him on the outer third of the plate.
Wilyer Abreu: On base four times with two hits and two walks, and the only Red Sox player with a multi hit game.
The bullpen: Ryan Watson and Tyler Samaniego probably wouldn’t tell you it was their best day on the mound, but together them combined for five innings of one run baseball that base kept the team in today’s game and saved all the high leverage relievers for a potential series win tomorrow.
Three Duds
Willson Contreras: That third inning double play was the backbreaker that set the table for the rest of the game. If he gets a hit or a walk in that spot, the Red Sox probably win as Arrighetti walked both the two batters before this and the two batters after.
Trevor Story: Hit into a costly double play in the second inning and then had a costly strikeout with nobody out in the fourth after the first two batters walked.
Connelly Early: The was the worst outing of Connelly Early’s career so far. Four runs allowed in four innings and gave up plenty of hard contact.
Play of the game:
One of the many frustrating things about this Red Sox season in a long line of frustrating things is how high the overall percentage of great defensive plays made in center field have been by their opponents. The Red Sox are supposed to have a huge advantage here with Ceddanne Rafaela patrolling that part of the diamond, and for whatever reason he’s off to a slow start with the glove while just about every opponent coming into Fenway Park has made themselves right at home in one of the more difficult centerfields in all of baseball.
Anyways, it happened again today with Brice Matthews:
Jarred Kelenic makes his first White Sox start. | (Photo by Mike Christy/Getty Images)
Winning is fun! The Chicago White Sox are on a four-game winning streak and have won three of their last four series. The Good Guys look to extend both streaks tonight, to five and four.
After notching his first career road win on April 22 in Arizona, Sean Burke takes the bump tonight and looks to snag his second. He’s been avoiding walks and missing barrels, which will be crucial against one of the best teams in baseball.
The ace for the San Diego Padres, Michael King, plans to put an end to Chicago’s offensive explosion. Where Burke excels with the fastball, King gets his job done with his breaking and off-speed pitches. Hopefully, he’ll hang a few tonight!
Here’s how the Sox are going to line up against King, with a few changes from last night:
Jarred Kelenic makes his first White Sox start, and Edgar Quero will take over tonight’s backstop duty.
The Padres are shaking it up a bit compared to last night:
Gavin Sheets (old friend alert), Jackson Merrill, Luis Campusano and Jake Cronenworth find themselves in the starting nine.
Luckily, starting an hour earlier today, you can catch the White Sox at 7:40 p.m. CT on CHSN for your viewing pleasure and WMVP-AM 1000 for your listening pleasure.
ST. LOUIS — You won’t find anyone with the Dodgers who thinks Dalton Rushing is a bad guy.
But that doesn’t mean the second-year slugger wants to be saddled publicly with a bad rap.
Throughout his career, Rushing has always tried to play with a smoldering competitive fire. He has never shied away from the fact he carries a competitive edge.
The Dodgers’ Dalton Rushing has produced on the field, but some of his heated in-game interactions have rubbed some the wrong way. AP
“I played football half my life,” the Dodgers’ backup catcher said. “So I compete a little differently, I click a little differently.”
Lately, however, a string of heated in-game interactions that have gone viral on social media — and, in one instance, drawn public criticism from an opposing player — have forced the 25-year-old to take a step back and make a renewed effort to keep his emotions in check.
“You never want to be viewed as a guy like that from opposing teams,” Rushing told The California Post on Saturday. “You want guys to hate playing against you because of the player that you are and how great you are on a baseball field. Not because of the verbalized things you say.”
“You never want to be viewed as a guy like that from opposing teams,” Rushing told The California Post on Saturday. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Then came last weekend’s series against the Cubs, when Rushing was captured dropping another seemingly disparaging expletive in reference to Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya.
This time, it wasn’t only lip-reading internet sleuths who called Rushing out but also Cubs veteran Nico Hoerner, who was standing in the box when Rushing made his alleged “fat f–k” comment as Amaya advanced to second base on a wild pitch last Saturday.
“I wish that I had confronted him a little more directly, to be honest,” Hoerner said during a radio interview this week. “It was just kind of a strange thing to experience. So, yeah, I felt a little weird about that.”
Turns out, Rushing did, too.
Rushing and Hoerner are represented by the same agency, Apex Baseball. So this week, Rushing said he reached out to Hoerner through his agents “to clear the air” about what happened.
“I respect his point of view of it, from the looks and the sound of it,” Rushing said. “And I respect him sticking up for his players. I would do the same thing for any of these guys.”
Rushing has had run-ins so far in series against the Rockies, Giants and Cubs this season. AP
Asked if he thought Hoerner (or, for that matter, the online lip readers) had understood him correctly, Rushing said he didn’t think so — though stopped short of recounting his exact dialogue from the moment in question.
“Regardless,” Rushing explained, “there was a word said, whether it was positive or negative or what. And he didn’t like it. And I respect that.”
Thus, moving forward, Rushing is trying to be more careful about how his emotions are expressed on the field.
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“Obviously, you know what social media can turn you into, [how it can] build an image for yourself both positively and negatively,” the second-year big leaguer said. “So I think from here on out, it’s just my job to build a positive platform for myself.”
“There’s things that can change,” he added. “There’s things I’m going to change.”
Rushing’s fiery temperament is nothing new. It was part of his persona long before the Dodgers made him a second-round draft pick out of the University of Louisville in 2022. And it was there throughout his rise through the farm system as one of the organization’s top prospects.
Thus, moving forward, Rushing is trying to be more careful about how his emotions are expressed on the field. AP
For the most part, the Dodgers have appreciated that component of his competitive makeup.
Even after the recent bouts of drama, manager Dave Roberts said the club doesn’t “want to take the fire out of him.”
At the same time, though, Roberts has cautioned Rushing “to be mindful” of his outbursts. Others in the clubhouse have reinforced the same message.
“He’s bringing stuff onto himself he doesn’t need to bring on,” Roberts said. “There’s a responsibility to not be reckless because everything is captured.”
Rushing also cited that “responsibility” during an interview at his locker Saturday, acknowledging how, when “tempers flare,” he sometimes lets “things take over.”
“I don’t want to create an image like that,” he said.
However, Rushing also noted that nothing “I’ve said verbally on a field has enhanced my play by any means.” AP
The good news: The newfound scrutiny has been spurred by Rushing’s breakout start to the year. Entering Saturday, he was batting .348 with seven home runs and 17 RBIs despite limited playing time in the season’s opening month.
“It wouldn’t matter if I was struggling,” he said. “It would just be, ‘Oh, this guy is just a bad dude. Bad player. Bad dude.’”
However, Rushing also noted that nothing “I’ve said verbally on a field has enhanced my play by any means.”
So, while he won’t douse his competitive fire anytime soon, he will be trying to limit how often it flares up.
“I’m gonna continue to compete, I’m gonna continue to play with an edge,” he said. “But obviously we can hone back a little bit on things that can get you in trouble in this media world.”
The Cincinnati Reds pitching staff accomplished something Saturday that hadn’t been done in more than 40 years.
Two Reds pitchers walked seven consecutive Pittsburgh Pirates hitters in the second inning of a May 2 game at PNC Park, tying an MLB record and turning what was already a rough afternoon into a historically bad day.
Starter Rhett Lowder and reliever Connor Phillips combined to walk seven consecutive Pirates with one out in the second inning. That included issuing the final four walks with the bases loaded. Between them, they threw 42 pitches and only 11 for strikes, according to MLB.com.
Lowder struck out leadoff hitter Oneil Cruz and then it went off the rails from there.
Lowder issued the first three walks before being pulled for Phillips. He came in with the bases loaded and walked four in a row, each one forcing in a run. Reliever Sam Moll finally stopped the bleeding. Entering the game with the bases loaded, he got both catcher Henry Davis and Cruz, batting for the second time that inning, to ground out.
After that inning, the Pirates led 10-3.
The MLB record for consecutive walks had last been set on May 25, 1983, when the Pirates walked seven consecutive Atlanta Braves batters. One of the pitchers that day happened to be named Bob Walk. On April 27, 1994, the Seattle Mariners walked six in a row, hit a batter and then walked the next batter in a 12-2 loss to the Yankees.
The Reds entered play Saturday having walked 11.6% of batters they faced this season, which was the fifth highest in baseball. Saturday, they showed just how much they struggle with the strike zone.
Lowder, 24, came in 3-1 with a 3.18 ERA, which ballooned to 5.09 after that inning. Phillips had been one of the more reliable arms in Cincinnati's bullpen before Saturday’s outing. He had walked just 15 in 17 appearances before Saturday.
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 02: Nasim Nunez #26 of the Washington Nationals hits a single in the third inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Nationals Park on May 02, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images) | Getty Images
As a fan of this team, all of the losing at home is getting old. The Nats have been playing a fun and aggressive brand of baseball on the road. However, they have treated their fans to some flat and sloppy baseball. Today was a perfect example of that. This game was there for the taking, but the Nats did not grab it.
They went 1/11 with runners in scoring position and only scored one run despite constantly getting the leadoff man on. It was not a blowout, but I think this was one of the Nats worst overall performances of the season. The pitching kept them in the game, but the bats went quiet and the gloves were mistake prone.
Final — Nationals lose 4-1 to the Brewers and drop to 3-12 at home.
The offense was 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Left-hander Foster Griffin allowed three runs (0 earned) on three hits with four walks and three strikeouts.
It turned out that this game was decided in the first inning. After Foster Griffin got two quick outs, he ran into trouble, giving up one hit and two walks. However, with the bases loaded, he got a ground ball that should have ended the inning. Instead, an indecisive Brady House booted the ball, allowing a run to score and everyone to advance a base. Then Brandon Lockridge drove a single through the hole to score two more runners.
The game was now 3-0, but none of the runs were earned. It has been a really rough start to the season on the defensive side of the ball for Brady House. He looked rock solid last year, but now already has six errors in 2026. Coming into this game, House had posted -2 outs above average, a number that is likely to drop even further. It has been an all around regression on that side of the ball for the 22 year old.
Brady House's defense at third base this season has been flat out bad
It is still early, but you have to wonder if House’s job could be in jeopardy. Yohandy Morales has been hitting the cover off the ball in AAA and is deserving of an opportunity before too long. Between his poor defense and his issues with fastballs, House might need a re-set if this continues for much longer.
Outside of their 14 run outburst against the Mets, this offense has really cooled off. That was likely to be inevitable given the talent on the roster. It is still a bummer though. The lack of clutch hitting has been very frustrating lately.
One bright spot for today and the season as a whole is Foster Griffin. While Griffin did not have his best stuff or command, he was able to grind through six innings, and did not allow any earned runs. Griffin did not allow any runs at all after that unfortunate first inning.
Griffin only got two whiffs today, both on curveballs. However, he did a good job keeping the ball off the barrel. There was not a lot of loud contact given up by Griffin after that first inning. He was uncharacteristically wild, walking four batters, but that is an outlier for the normally precise Griffin.
Foster Griffin pitched well enough to get a win, but instead, he tasted defeat for the first time as a National. The disparity between how the Nats play at home compared to how they compete on the road is truly jarring. You would think a team would come out with more juice and energy in front of their home fans, but it has been the opposite for the Nats.
Tomorrow is going to be a really big game for them. They desperately need Zack Littell to step up and be the guy Paul Toboni signed him to be. He had a solid start against the Brewers the last time he pitched against them, so hopefully that can give him some confidence.
Today was yet another disappointing day at the yard for Nats fans. They will look to avoid the sweep tomorrow and avoid falling 10 games under .500 at home. This Nats team has shown some real positive signs, but the home losing is becoming a dark cloud for this group.
DENVER, COLORADO - MAY 01: Michael Harris II #23 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates as he crosses home plate after hitting a 2 RBI home run against the Colorado Rockies in the ninth inning at Coors Field on May 01, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Let’s beat the Rockies again tonight, but maybe don’t go down 5-0 in the first inning this time. Join us and discuss tonight’s game in the comments below!
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Saturday, May 2, 8:10 p.m. EDT
Location: Coors Field, Denver, CO
TV: BravesVision
Streaming: MLB.tv (and Braves.tv if you’re in-market, etc.)
May 2, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Kazuma Okamoto (7) celebrates his solo home run against the Minnesota Twins in the sixth inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images | Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images
We ought to have a boilerplate template for 2026 Twins recaps, because it feels like every time the Twins lose this season, it’s for exactly the same reasons as I am about to describe. Another encouraging start from a young arm was emphatically erased by possibly the most predictably incompetent bullpen you’ve ever seen in your life, rendering any offensive contributions almost entirely meaningless. Sound familiar? Well, these were the same beats that played out in Saturday afternoon’s 11-4 Blue Jays victory, the 20th loss of Minnesota’s season, and another defeat that transpired for reasons that anyone could have seen coming.
In his third major-league start, Connor Prielipp went another five innings and only allowed three hits, although two were homers (Lenyn Sosa and Myles Straw, both in the second inning.) The Jays generated five hard-hit balls off the young lefty, who walked two and only struck out four in a 91-pitch outing, which is the longest of his professional career.
When he left, Minnesota even had a 4-2 lead. Byron Buxton had started the game with a leadoff bomb to right, his 10th homer of the year, and latest offensive outburst in a scorching-hot stretch that has raised his OPS back up to .857. The Twins added two more in the second, with a pair of runners scoring on a Brooks Lee single + Vladdy Jr. throwing error. Add on an RBI single from Trevor Larnach in the fifth, and Minnesota had pole position going into the later innings.
This has happened before, and it will happen again, and the usual suspects will be involved.
Toronto got one back as soon as the doors to Derek’s Magical Arm Barn opened; the homer-happy Kazuma Okamoto tagged Justin Topa for his 8th of the year with one out in the sixth. Okay, 4-3, you say. Not bad.
Bad!
BAD!!!
It could have been 10-3. It could have been 10-3, brother. And the Twins would have lost this game anyway.
That’s because the wheels came off completely in a marathon 8-run 8th inning for the third-place Jays. It’s an inning that behests bullet-pointing brather than a bregular baragraph. Let’s take a look at the highlights real quick before we get you the heck out of here.
Eighth inning begins. Luis Garcia enters. (Why?!)
Ernie Clement singles
Vladdy Jr. walks
Okamoto ties the game with a shot back up the middle off Luke Keaschall. 4-4.
Lenyn Sosa drops an infield single into the mix and scores Vladdy from third. 5-4.
Anthony Banda comes in. At least we tried, Luis!
Daulton Varsho reaches and everybody’s safe on a fielder’s choice attempt that ends in an Anthony Banda error.
Myles Straw walks and everybody moves up. 6-4 Jays.
Davis Schneider smacks a two-run double to left. 8-4 Jays. Two runners still in scoring position.
Brandon Valenzuela ropes a three-run homer to center. 11-4 Jays, although at this point, it would be reasonable to assume that nobody is keeping score anymore.
Three quick outs are then recorded. Presumably the Jays got bored.
It may not surprise you to learn that the Twins did not reach base for the rest of the game.
The team is ass.
STUDS:
RP John Klein (IP, 0 R in his major-league debut. For this bullpen, stud-worthy.)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 21: Brennan Bernardino #83 of the Colorado Rockies delivers a pitch delivers a pitch in the ninth inning against the San Diego Padres at Coors Field on April 21, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Colorado Rockies had a prime opportunity to steal the series opener at home against the Atlanta Braves. They jumped out to a 6-0 lead but then, they saw the opportunity walk away. Literally.
Crucial walks in the eighth and ninth innings put the Rox in danger and ultimately behind in a game where they cranked their win probability up to 96.0% at one point. Alas, leads can be fleeting at Coors, especially when a team doesn’t score again after the second inning.
The Rockies managed a 13-15 record in April, avoiding sustained losing streaks outside of a six-game skid. To get May off on the right foot, they’ll try to nip the losses in the bud and take at least one of the next two against Atlanta.
Unfortunately, on Fourth Wing Night at Coors Field on Saturday, the Rockies hitters encounter a challenge tougher than crossing the parapet: facing Chris Sale. Sale has been stellar this year (5-1 in six games started, 2.31 ERA). He’s been incredibly efficient in so many metrics, boasting a sub-1.00 WHIP so far — currently holding at 0.914 — along with 38 strikeouts and just nine walks.
Outside of a bumpy outlier game in which he gave up six runs on two dingers to the Los Angeles Angels in early April, Sale has been the epitome of consistency. In the other five games, he’s given up either just one run or none at all. For the cherry on top, he’s sitting on a .185 batting average against. Father Time has not slowed the 16-year veteran down at all, as he continues to be just incredibly stingy. That’s historically carried through against the Rockies, where Sale is 1-1 with a 1.48 ERA across five games, including 0-1 with a 1.74 ERA at Coors.
The Rockies will try and counter with a steady presence of their own. Despite Chase Dollander getting his first start in his last outing against the New York Mets, the Rockies will go back to their opener + Dollander approach, with Brennan Bernardino kicking things off tonight. The last time Colorado looked to use Bernardino and Dollander as a dynamic duo (April 4th against the Philadelphia Phillies), it turned into a trio. Bernardino gave up a walk followed by an early run, forcing an appearance from Jimmy Herget to better set up Dollander to enter in the third.
Across the year, Bernardino is 2-0 in 14 games with the one start and a 0.71 ERA over 12.2 IP. He’s looked sharp and will try to move quickly through a hot top of the order for the Braves.
While it looked like Dollander moved closer to securing a full-time starter role like many hoped, his lone start might have been forced by the doubleheader, as he slots back into his bulk relief role today. For his part, Dollander is 3-2 through seven games, posting a 2.25 ERA over 32.0 IP. Atlanta will be one of his toughest tests so far as he continues to make his case for a spot in the rotation.
The Rockies found a spark and got the bats going early yesterday. Their six runs gave them a chance. That many may be harder to come by given the matchup, but they’ll look to hang around in what should be an intriguing pitching matchup on both sides.
Detroit Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson (20) reacts after a fly out against Texas Rangers during the eighth inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday, May 1, 2026. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Detroit Tigers (16-17) vs. Texas Rangers (16-16)
Time/Place: 7:15 p.m., Comerica Park SB Nation Site: Lone Star Ball Media: Detroit Sportsnet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network Pitching Matchup: RHP Keider Montero (1-2, 4.00 ERA) vs. RHP Kumar Rocker (1-2, 3.38 ERA)
May 2, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Max Meyer (23) throws against the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Rhona Wise-Imagn Images | Rhona Wise-Imagn Images
One of the keys to winning baseball games is hitting the ball. While it is possible to achieve victory without recording a base hit, history has shown that getting multiple hits in a ball game is far more conducive to winning. In their game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday, the Phillies did not get multiple hits. They only got one. One lousy hit. And that hit was promptly erased by a double play!
The hitless afternoon resulted in a 4-0 loss that put an end to the team’s four-game winning streak and was Don Mattingly’s first loss as Phillies manager.
On the other side of the ball, Andrew Painter got the start for the Phillies, and he gave up several hits. In fact, in the second inning, Painter gave up three times as many hits as Phillies batters did all game. But he was somehow able to keep any of those runners from scoring.
In the top of the third, left fielder (!) Garrett Stubbs recorded the Phillies’ only base knock, only to be doubled up by a ground ball double play off the bat of Felix Reyes. (As you read these names, it starts to become clearer exactly why the Phillies struggled on offense.)
Painter again gave up three hits in the third inning, and this time, due to the fact that he also walked two batters with the bases loaded, the Phillies fell into a 2-0 hole.
Painter settled down a bit, but the Marlins extended their lead to 3-0 courtesy of a Xavier Edwards home run in the fifth.
The Marlins concluded their scoring in the sixth when a double, ground out, and infield single against Tanner Banks made the score 4-0.
This was far too much for the Phillies to overcome. Marlins starter Max Meyer struck out seven in his career-high seven innings and walked only one batter. Things didn’t improve after he left the game, as the Phillies went down in order in both the eighth and the ninth.
While the Phillies could be excused because they were missing a couple of starters, it should be noted that their stars didn’t exactly have great games either. Kyle Schwarber struck out three times, putting him at 0-8 with eight strikeouts in the series.
They’ll be back at it on Sunday afternoon. The Marlins will start righthander Chris Paddack who enters the game with a 6.11 ERA. I’m hoping the Phillies will do a little better against him, because let’s face it, they couldn’t do much worse.
