Category: Baseball

The Phillies snapped their ten-game losing streak on Saturday night by actually getting some late, clutch hits and prevailing in extra innings.

The Braves: “I took that personally”

On Sunday, the Braves reverted to their winning ways, while the Phillies were back on their B.S. Aaron Nola was rocked, the hitters looked feeble against Chris Sale, and they lost to the Braves 6-2, marking their eleventh loss in twelve games.

One of the recurring themes of the Phillies’ freefall has been a tendency for their pitchers to give up a lot of cheap hits. And far too often, those cheap hits are followed by not-so-cheap ones. We got to see that familiar sequence immediately on Sunday. Ronald Acuna, Jr. led off the first with an infield single and Drake Baldwin followed with another single. Another phenomenon we’re quite used to is Nola giving up a home run, and that’s exactly what he did next when Matt Olson sent a deep ball to right field to make it 3-0.

The game was essentially over at that point, but the Braves weren’t done. Mauricio Dubon led off the second with a triple, and Eli White followed with another home run. After Nola actually recorded an out, he walked Acuna, allowed a steal of second base, and then another single to Baldwin to make it 6-0.

To Nola’s slight credit, he held the Braves scoreless over the next 2.2 innings, and then the Phillies’ bullpen was also able to keep them off the board after that. But with Sale at the top of his game, it didn’t come close to mattering.

After being retired with ease in the first two innings, the Phillies’ offense almost showed signs of life in the third. With two outs, Rafael Marchan was hit by a pitch, Trea Turner singled, and Kyle Schwarber walked. That brought Bryce Harper to the plate.

Harper was one of the heroes of Saturday, and he clearly wanted to be a hero again on Sunday. He worked a 3-0 count and then swung at a borderline pitch. But as too often happens, when the Phillies swing on hitter’s counts, the result was a foul ball. Harper then watched strike two and was blown away by a 98 MPH fastball to end the inning, and any realistic chance the Phillies had at a comeback.

Sale cruised through the sixth inning, not allowing another baserunner. In the eighth, the Phillies took advantage of the Braves’ bullpen and some defensive sloppiness when Marchan reached on an error. One batter later, Schwarber hit a home run that did little but make his stats – and the final score – a little bit prettier.

With that, the Phillies’ disastrous road trip comes to an end. After a much needed (for the fans if not the team) day off on Monday, they’ll be home to start a three-game series with the Giants on Tuesday. With the team in free fall, we’ll see if the team’s personnel and coaching staff still looks the same when that series begins.

Damn, why didn’t they think of firing Alex Cora earlier? The Red Sox won Chad Tracy’s debut, 5-3. Did anything happen differently than it would have with Cora in charge? It’s impossible to say, but from a strategy perspective, things were more or less the same. Connelly Early was maybe given a longer leash than he normally would have, throwing 6 2/3 innings and 92 pitches. Zack Kelly was the first man out of the bullpen in a spot that Cora usually gives to Greg Weissert, but Weissert pitched yesterday, so it’s tough to say if that was a trust thing or a workload thing. Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman still handled the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, to protect the lead and close out the game — no change there.

On the offensive side, Tracy didn’t go to his bench at all. There weren’t any obvious spots to pinch hit late in the game, but Cora was always aggressive with his bench, so that’s an area to watch. On the basepaths, the Red Sox looked to run. They stole four bases, got thrown out another time, were picked off, and ran into an out at third base. Cora always picked his spots to run, and today could have been a matter of getting hitters on base frequently, but it’s notable to see from the Tracy-led Red Sox in game one.

That out at third base, which came in the second inning, might have been due to the coaching changes. Ceddanne Rafaela tagged from second to third on a ball hit to right field and was called out for popping off the bag after beating the throw. On review, it looked like he kept in contact with the bag through his whole slide, but Tracy elected not to challenge. Did not having a bench coach affect the review process? Was Tracy being conservative early in his first game? I don’t know. He’ll probably address it in his post-game, but I’m on a timer here.

The first one is out of the way now. We’ll continue to pick up differences between Cora and Tracy over the next few weeks and months, but this is the new normal now. On to Toronto to face the Blue Jays, where we’ll look to get the train back on track and climb back up the American League East standings.

Three Studs

Connelly Early

It was the longest outing of Early’s short career at 6 2/3 innings. The only runs came via solo home runs in the fifth and sixth innings. To his credit, he bounced back from the home runs and didn’t let it snowball. The swing and miss still hasn’t returned to his 2025 rates, but his four-seam fastball command was as good as it’s been this year. He earned four whiffs on 32 pitches, the second-best rate of his season for a single game. The two-strike command of his secondaries still needs to improve, but he didn’t let two-strike counts turn into base runners. His late-game fastball velocity was up as well, which is a great sign for the lefty. I would have liked to see him try to talk Tracy into giving him one more batter so he could finish the seventh, but it was a job well done regardless.

Willson Contreras

His fifth-inning home run extended the Red Sox’s lead to three. The team needs him to continue providing power to give the offense a boost.

Ceddanne Rafaela

Rafaela hit a leadoff double in the second inning and had an RBI triple in the sixth. I mentioned him getting thrown out at third base, but it was less a baserunning error and more an umpiring error. That’s not one to be up in arms about.

Three Sorta Duds

Nobody played particularly poorly.

Roman Anthony

0-3 with a walk. First game back from injury, oh well.

Connor Wong

Also 0-3 with a walk. Pretty serviceable day from your backup catcher.

Garrett Whitlock

He gave up a run, but it should probably be unearned. It’s hard to get an error nowadays (I think it’s a conspiracy to inflate batting average), but a runner reached on a play I expect my second baseman to make. The stuff is still sharp. On to Toronto.

With another series on the line, the Guardians faced the Blue Jays in Game 3, behind starting pitcher Slade Cecconi.

Slade Cecconi struggled in the bottom of the first, giving up two hits, a walk, and two runs and driving his pitch count high for the starter. However, he tightened up for the next four innings and only allowed two hits and kept his pitch count to 70 pitches thrown. The sixth inning bookended the start with similar results as the first. Two hits and a two-run home run gave the lead back to the Blue Jays. Slade recorded two more outs before being replaced by Tim Herrin to retire the side. Slade finished his day having gone 5.2IP/6H/4R/1BB/5Ks.

The Guardians were looking to start the game with some momentum. Steven Kwan hit a lead off single, but Angel Martínez grounded into a force out, leaving Kwan out and Martínez on first base. With two outs and Rhys Hoskins up to bat, Angel attempted to steal second. He was called out and the team challenged the call, but it was ultimately upheld. This retired the side and took the Guards challenge away in the first inning.

Both teams were held scoreless for the second, third, and fourth innings. The bottom of the Cleveland lineup pieced together some offense to tie it up. Juan Brito and Austin Hedges hit back-to-back singles to put runners on the corner. Brayan Rocchio slapped a single of his own to center field to score Brito. Kwan hit into a double play, putting Hedgey on third. Angle Martínez doubled to left, scoring Hedgey and tying the game.

The Guardians didn’t have an answer for the two runs the Blue Jays put up in the sixth. There were two defensive gems today that are worth highlighting.

Rocchio had a great snag at short in the bottom of the third to end the inning.

Angel Martínez made an incredible jumping catch to get Vlad Guerrero Jr. out in the bottom of the eighth.

The Guardians return home to face Tampa Bay in a 3 game series before heading out west for the weekend.

Guardians 2 Blue Jays 4

It didn’t come particularly easily but the Jays win their second in a row.

We only had 6 hits on the day, but they were grouped nicely. We scored:

• Two in the first: Ernie Clement started the game with a double. Daulton Varsho walked. Vladimir Guerrero singled home one. And Jesús Sánchez got a sac fly.
• Two in the sixth: Vlad led off with a double and Sánchez homered. Not crushed, 355 feet (only 5 more feet than Vlad’s) and 98.1 mph, but pulled down the right field line. The pitch was only 70 mph.

Sánchez had a big day with three of our four RBI. And Vlad had a good day, 3 for 4, with a double. He would have had another double, hitting a ball in the ninth 109.3 mph, and 370 feet, but left fielder Angel Martinez made a terrific catch.

Beyond that Yohendrick Pinango got a hit in his first MLB gam. He didn’t look over-matched at the plate.

A bunch of guys had 0 fors: Daulton Varsho (with a walk, and two k), Kazuma Okamoto, Davis Schneider (he’s looking lost at the plate) and Brandon Valenzuela.

Okamoto made a couple of nice plays on defense. The reports that his defense was lacking appears to be wrong.

On the pitching side, Patrick Corbin was doing very well until the fifth inning, went he gave up 4 hits (with a double play mixed in) and 2 earned. He had 2 walks and 4 strikeouts.

And the bullpen did the job:

• Braydon Fisher got the last out of the fifth (after walking two to load the bases). He gave up a leadoff single in the sixth, but then got three quick outs.
• Tyler Rogers did Tyler Rogers stuff, getting a strikeout and two ground outs in the seventh. He was helped out by a very nice play from Okamoto.
• Jeff Hoffman came in for the eighth, which didn’t cause us any angst at all in the game thread. He got a strikeout, gave up a walk, then a fly out and a ground out. He threw 24 pitches, getting a hold.
• Louis Varland got his second save in a row and third of the season, giving up a leadoff single, but gets a ground out, and two strikeouts. He has a 0.60 ERA.

Jays of the Day: Vlad (.21 WPA), Sánchez (.15 ) and Fisher (.12). I think Rogers, Hoffman and Varland deserve honourable mention, for the 4.1 scoreless innings.

No one had the number for the Other Award, but Davis Schneider had a rough day at the plate and made a poor throw from second for an error.

Tomorrow the Coraless Red Sox come to town, with Ranger Suarez (4.00 ERA). Dylan Cease (2.10) starts for the good guys.

Saturday’s rain didn’t provide relief for the Mets’ stench.

Left to play a doubleheader Sunday against the equally uninspiring Rockies, manager Carlos Mendoza’s crew flatlined in a 3-1 Game 1 loss at Citi Field that gave the Mets a series defeat.

The Mets, who managed only four hits, took a shot at a late rally, but it fizzled in the eighth. After Juan Soto walked to load the bases with one out, Luis Robert Jr. popped out and Mark Vientos struck out, eliciting boos from the crowd.

The Mets lost for the 14th time in 16 games and had struggling Kodai Senga scheduled to start in the nightcap.

Nolan McLean was removed after five innings in which he allowed two runs, one unearned, on five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.

The start matched McLean’s shortest of the season — he also went only five innings against the Pirates in his initial outing.

McLean allowed an RBI single to Troy Johnston in the fourth, but the inning could have gotten much worse. With the bases still loaded and nobody out, McLean struck out Kyle Karros before getting Brett Sullivan to hit a soft comebacker that started a 1-2-3 double play. The rally started with two straight singles before TJ Rumfield walked to load the bases.

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Tyrone Taylor’s homer leading off the bottom of the fifth tied it 1-1. Jose Quintana had retired 11 straight batters before Taylor cleared the fence in left-center for his second homer this season.

Vientos’ throwing error helped the Rockies score an unearned run in the sixth. Vientos, at first base, fielded Rumfield’s grounder and attempted a throw to second to nail Mickey Moniak. But the throw hit Moniak, leaving the bases loaded and nobody out.

Huascar Brazoban replaced McLean and induced a double play grounder from Johnston, with the run scoring.

Brazoban surrendered an RBI single to Jake McCarthy in the seventh, widening the Mets’ deficit to 3-1. Sullivan’s double started the rally.

Luis Torrens nailed McCarthy attempting to steal second before Jordan Beck reached on a pitch clock violation for ball four. Brazoban retired Edouard Julien for the final out.

Luis Gil struggled for the third time in four starts, and the Yankees' bats were held in check through eight frames as they missed out on a sweep in Houston, falling to 7-4 to the Astros on Sunday afternoon.

Gil couldn't build on his good start at Fenway Park, as he got hit hard and struggled for any swing-and-miss stuff, failing to record a strikeout for the first time in his big league career. 

On the other side, Houston's Spencer Arrighetti was spinning the ball very well as he allowed just one run on three hits and a walk through seven innings on 96 pitches. The right-hander, who got 23 called strikes on the afternoon, was punished just once when Aaron Judge, on his 34th birthday, launched a home run in the sixth.

"The curveball was working again today," Arrighetti said on the Astros' broadcast, adding he knew the Yankees would be patient and try to shrink the zone against him, so he "leaned into that" and pounded the zone. His curve tallied 10 called strikes and got six whiffs on 10 swings for a 47 percent called-strike plus whiff rate.

New York got four-straight two-out hits in the top of the ninth to score three runs, but fell to 18-10 on the season with the loss. Houston, losers of 15 of 19 entering Sunday's game, improved to 11-18. 

Here are the takeaways...

- Gil opened the game with a four-pitch walk but got the next two. But the righty left a 3-2 changeup right over the plate and Christian Walker unloaded on it for a 432-foot two-run shot (109.8 mph off the bat) to left-center. A hit batter led to pitching coach Matt Blake making an early mound visit before Gil picked Cam Smith off first (after a successful challenge) to end the 27-pitch frame. 

The righty bounced back with a 12-pitch, 1-2-3 inning with three groundouts. A two-out single in the third that nicked off a leaping Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s glove brought Isaac Paredes up, and he smacked a two-run homer high off the foul pole in left. Gil left a sinker up at the top of the zone over the plate and Parades turned on it (364 feet, 101.9 mph).

A single, a fourth straight hard-hit ball in the frame (108.3 mph) and a walk put two more on base, but Gil managed to strand the runners. After retiring four straight, Gil issued a leadoff walk to start the fifth and Yordan Alvarez yanked a double into right field to end his day early.

After both inherited runners scored, Gil’s line closed with six runs on five hits and three walks (with a HBP) on 83 pitches (48 strikes) in 4.0 innings of work. His ERA now stands at 6.05 on the year.

- Paul Blackburn entered with two in scoring position and allowed an RBI single to Parades on a 3-0 pitch and a two-RBI double to Walker on a 3-2 pitch on a ball that hit high off the wall in left-center to close Gil’s account. He escaped with no further damage as Chisholm ranged into right field for an over-the-shoulder catch and he doubled Walker off second to end the fifth. He stayed on to work 1-2-3 innings in the sixth and seventh with a pair of strikeouts. 

- Judge, after flying out his first time up, had an RBI chance with runners on first and second and two out in the third, but flied out to the edge of the track in left as he got under a sweeper. 

With two down and nobody on in the sixth, Arrighetti gave Judge a birthday gift with a hanging sweeper that the slugger cranked 401 feet, 109.3 mph to left-center for a solo shot. It was Judge's 10th long ball of the year (and third career on his birthday), giving him 18 batted in. He finished 1-for-4. 

- Chisholm singled and stole his ninth base of the season his first time up. He went down looking at a 2-2 curveball on the outside corner and nearly challenged, but didn't. It was a good thing he didn't, the ball clearly caught the corner. The second baseman finished 2-for-4 with two strikeouts looking, adding an infield hit with two outs in the ninth.

In that first at-bat, Chisholm had another terrible ABS challenge, losing the Yanks’ first of the game as the strike call was upheld (it was in the zone by three inches) on a 2-1 pitch with one out and nobody on base. He is now 1-for-7 on challenges this year.

- Paul Goldschmidt got a one-out double on a fastball right over the plate in the seventh and added another double to nearly the same spot to knock in a second run with two down in the ninth to finish 2-for-4.

- J.C. Escarra plated the third run with a double just fair down the first base line in the ninth. He went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts swinging.

- Ryan McMahon kept the ninth-inning party going with an RBI single to right to cut the lead to 7-4. He went 1-for-4 with a strikeout looking at a sweeper. He committed an error with two down in the eighth as he tried to cut in front of Caballero at short.

- José Caballero was hit on the left forearm on his first trip to the plate and stole second for his 11th steal of the year. He finished 0-for-3 with a strikeout swinging.

Caballero made a sweet play at short in the third, with a back-hand on a hotshot off Carlos Correa's bat (103.9 mph)

- Ben Rice smoked a ball the other way (106.2 mph) for a lineout his first time up. After going 5-for-9 with a homer, two doubles, and three RBI in the first two games of the series, he went 0-for-3 with a walk on Sunday.

- Cody Bellinger went down swinging on a breaking ball in the dirt in his first at-bat. He went hitless in four at-bats.

- Trent Grisham went 0-for-4 with a strikeout looking and a strikeout swinging.

- Ryan Yarbrough pitched a solid eighth with two strikeouts, getting Walker and Smith swinging on changeups

Highlights

A birthday homer for Aaron Judge pic.twitter.com/YYn9eg8gVv

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 26, 2026

What's next

The Yanks stay in the Lone Star State for a three-game set against the Rangers. 

Max Fried (2.40 ERA and 0.774 WHIP in 41.1 innings) climbs the hill on Monday's opener against Jack Leiter (4.97 ERA and 1.461 WHIP over 25.1 innings) for the 8:05 p.m. ET first pitch.

After giving the Philadelphia Phillies their first win since April 13th yesterday in extras, the Atlanta Braves took advantage early on in today’s matchup and secured the win 6-2.

Kicking the game off with a three-run homer is not so shabby a way to set the tone. Matt Olson took the opportunity in the bottom of the first on a fly ball, bringing in Ronald Acuña Jr. and Drake Baldwin to take an early lead (3-0).

Eli White followed suit in the second with a two-run homer of his own to drive in Mauricio Dubón, extending the Braves’ lead (5-0). It didn’t take long for Baldwin to secure an RBI-single to drive in Acuña for the team’s final run of the afternoon. However, that didn’t mean the job was over.

The Phillies remained scoreless until the eighth, where Kyle Schwarber saved the team from a shutout with a two-run homer to decrease the Braves’ lead by four runs (6-2).

Only going through 4.2 innings with 101 pitches thrown, Phillies’ pitcher Aaron Nola has now raised his ERA to 6.03 after giving up six earned runs, seven hits and three walks with six total strikeouts.

His velocity for his four-seamer averaged around 92.4 mph, but his overall command was out of the zone most of the day as he let the game get away from him from the start.

On the other hand, for the Braves lefty Chris Sale, he not only had a successful outing in his six innings (1 H/ 0 ER/ 9 K), but he also reached a new achievement. Increasing his career strikeout total to 2,612, he surpassed five-time All-Star Chuck Finlay (2,610 strikeouts), placing him 28th on the all-time list.

Now, Sale did run into a little trouble in the third after loading the bases, but he immediately got out of it, throwing a 98 mph fastball to close out the inning in prime Chris Sale fashion. As if that wasn’t enough, both his sinker and slider were extremely difficult to touch today.

An overall satisfying win to secure another win against their division rivals, to enter a well-deserved break before taking on Detroit on Tuesday. Until then, the Braves remain leading the MLB with their 20 wins, and hope to carry it out as long as they can with a target on their back, but a determined team that seems to be immune to defeat.

Do you think the rest of the MLB is on high alert?

After a gut-punch of a loss on Friday night, and a generalized shellacking on Saturday, could the Tigers salvage at least one win from their three-game series in Cincinnati? Well, with the help of some nice home runs — surprise, surprise, in this bandbox — and a feat not seen in a Tiger uniform for almost twenty years, Detroit indeed managed to win a game of the series in an 8-3 victory on Sunday afternoon.

Keider Montero, everyone’s favourite not-quite-a-Mud-Hen, made his fifth start for the Tigers. His start on April 16 against the Royals was a little shaky, but he’ll usually give you five or six decent innings and keep you in the game… which is what he did today. Notably, he only had three walks all year coming into today’s action. Also notably, in each of his three previous starts before today, he threw 55 strikes. Remember when Khris Davis hit exactly .247 in four consecutive seasons? It’s kinda like that, except not really like that. You’re picking up what I’m putting down, though, at the very least, which is the important thing.

Facing the Tigers today was Rhett Lowder (LOUD-er); his name makes me think he should be co-headling an alt-country music festival with Sturgill Simpson. At any rate, he’s in his first full season with the Reds; he was called up late in 2024 but lost all of 2025 to a forearm strain and, later, an oblique strain. Like Montero, he’ll give you five or six innings and won’t dominate, but will generally keep things under control. He generally doesn’t strike out many and he usually keeps the ball in the yard as well as you can in his home ballpark, but he’ll walk a batter or two.

The Tigers loaded the bases with two outs in the first through a pair of singles and a walk. Kerry Carpenter then laced a double on a low changeup down the right-field line to score Gleyber Torres and Riley Greene and put the Tigers up 2-0.

In the second the Tigers also had two runners on with two out, with singles by Kevin McGonigle and Torres. Alas, those runners were stranded as Colt Keith hit a routine ground ball to second base for the third out.

Nathaniel Lowe and the Reds got a run back in the bottom of the second with a solo home run on the second consecutive knuckle-curve he’d seen. In the bottom of the third TJ Friedl hit a double to left-centre with one out and took third on a bobble by Matt Vierling, and Friday night’s hero, Matt McLain, walked to put runners on the corners. But then Elly De La Cruz struck out and the dangerous Sal Stewart flew out harmlessly to Wenceel Pérez in right, and the Tigers wiggled out of that jam.

The Tigers weren’t so lucky in the bottom of the fourth, as JJ Bleday hit a solo home run to tie the game. Then, leading off the bottom of the fifth, Ke’Bryan Hayes tripled; with one out the Reds took the lead as McLain doubled to score Hayes and put the home team up 3-2. Montero then did a nice job limiting the damage, with a strikeout and a groundout.

Spencer Torkelson led off the sixth off reliever Brock Burke by smoking a double to centre, and one out later Vierling followed with a walk. Jahmai Jones, pinch-hitting for Pérez, walked on four pitches to load the bases. Burke found the strike zone again and Jake Rogers struck out looking; McGonigle followed with a long fly ball to centre which was hauled-in for the third out and the threat had been extinguished.

But the Tigers took the lead in a somewhat unexpected way in the seventh: Torres reached on Hayes’ error at third, and then Hao-Yu Lee, pinch-hitting for Keith, smacked his first major-league home run for a 4-3 Tigers lead. The big man was fired up.

One out later, Torkelson hit a home run in his fifth consecutive game, tying the franchise record last accomplished by Marcus “Country Strong” Thames in 2008; the dinger put the Tigers up 5-3. Carpenter then hit a triple to right — it’s tough to hit triples in this bandbox of a ballpark, but there ya go — and Vierling punched a fly ball to centre which was plenty deep to score Carpenter for a 6-3 lead.

Before I forget, Montero’s final line went thusly: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K, two home runs surrendered. It’s not great, but it’s not bad either. I don’t know how to feel about it. Vote now on your phones or something, I suppose. Brant Hurter pitched a boring sixth, which is all I could ask from Hurter; Will Vest, looking to right the ship a bit, came out for the seventh and got a flyout, a groundout, and a strikeout, which is precisely what you want to see. A healthy, happy and productive Vest will do a bullpen good.

Torres then put the Tigers up 8-3: after McGonigle walked with one out in the eighth, he hit a 2-run home run to right-centre. I’d love to see him have more extra-base power this season, as it’s been a slow start for him in those regards. Would a five-run lead be enough today, though? (As it turns out: yes. Yes, it would.)

Kyle Finnegan had a mostly-uneventful eighth inning, as he only allowed a single and successfully retired the other three batters he faced. Brenan Hanifee, who was just recalled from Triple-A Toledo (see below), was brought in to pitch the ninth; he gave up a long fly ball with two outs but Javier Báez caught it close to the fence for the final out and the victory.

The Tigers have an off-day on Monday before heading to Atlanta for a three-game series there.

Final score: Tigers 8, Reds 3

Workin’ on our Roster Moves

Numbers and Observances

• Coming into today’s game, Spencer Torkelson had hit a home run in four consecutive games. The last Tiger to do that was Ian Kinsler in 2016. And we all know what Torkelson did today, but I’ll leave this fact in here regardless.
• How many strikes did Keider Montero throw today? Fifty-six. So close!
• I see that Alex Cora and his coaches “got the ziggy” in Boston yesterday. I love that particular term for a manager or head coach being fired; it’s a Detroit-specific thing, as far as I can tell, and I hope it stays alive in the lexicon.
• This date in Irish history, specifically that of the Easter Rising of 1916, saw the Battle of Mount Street Bridge take place. Nearly two thousand British soldiers, who had landed at Dún Laoghaire, headed towards the bridge and were bravely fought by Irish volunteer forces. A mere handful of well-placed snipers managed to attack the invading British, killing 28 and wounding hundreds more, against only four Irish deaths in the battle.

The Mets and Rockies play a single-admission doubleheader at Citi Field on Sunday, and the second game is scheduled to start around 4:55 p.m.

Mets Notes

• Nolan McLean took a tough-luck loss in the first game, as the Mets managed just four hits a in a 3-1 defeat
• Meanwhile, Kodai Senga, who has struggled thus far (8.83 ERA), will start the second game
• Brett Baty came in hot, hitting .375 with a home run and 5 RBI over his last seven games, but went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in Sunday's first game
• Right-hander Austin Warren is the Mets' 27th man, and he pitched the ninth inning in the first game

Today's Lineups for Game 2

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The Mets fell to the Colorado Rockies by a score of 3-1 in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader at Citi Field.

Here are the key takeaways...

-- Nolan McLean was locked in early, racking up six strikeouts through the first three innings. The only hit he allowed the first time through the order was a bloop single to right by Jake McCarthy, who was then picked off as McLean showed off a terrific move.

But the righty found himself in a jam in the fourth, as the Rockies loaded the bases on a pair of hits and walk. A Troy Johnston hard-hit single to right made it a 1-0 game, but McLean got out of it by allowing just one run thanks to a strikeout and a 1-2-3 double play.

McLean ran into similar trouble in the sixth, allowing a double and a walk before Mark Vientos made a throwing error while trying to get an out at second base. McLean’s afternoon ended there with the bases loaded and nobody out. 

Huascar Brazoban allowed an inherited runner to score on a double-play ball, but limited the damage. In all, McLean went 5.0 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. His season ERA sits at 2.55.

--Brazoban stayed in to pitch the seventh, allowing a leadoff double and an eventual RBI single from McCarthy, pushing the Rockies' lead to 3-1.

-- The Mets had a chance to get to old friend Jose Quintana early, making him throw 31 pitches in the first inning. But with the bases loaded and one out, Marcus Semien went down swinging, and Brett Baty was called out on a 3-2 pitch that was initially called a ball but successfully challenged by Colorado.

-- Quintana settled in over the middle innings, but the Mets got to him in the bottom of the fifth, as Tyrone Taylor slugged a solo home run. His second big fly of the season tied the game at 1-1. Quintana left the game with the lead, going 5.1 innings while allowing just one earned run on two hits, striking out five and walking two.

-- A huge moment came in the bottom of the eighth. With the Mets trailing by two, they loaded the bases on Francisco Alvarez's first-career pinch-hit hit, a Bo Bichette single and a Juan Soto walk. But Luis Robert Jr. popped up for the second out, and Mark Vientos struck out, marking the second time the Mets left the bases loaded.

-- The Mets had just four hits as a team. They went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.

Game MVP

Quintana, who pitched into the sixth inning and allowed just one run against his former club.

Highlights

Nolan McLean picks off Jake McCarthy! pic.twitter.com/wEC4M28bHS

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 26, 2026

Six strikeouts through three for Nolan McLean! pic.twitter.com/9YyVlvHJCm

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 26, 2026

An athletic double play turned by Nolan McLean and Luis Torrens limits the damage pic.twitter.com/vE6S8yi5qP

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 26, 2026

Tyrone Taylor goes yard to get the Mets on the board! pic.twitter.com/hljfevLUgL

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 26, 2026

Next Up

Game 2 of the double-dip is coming up, with Kodai Senga on the mound for the Mets.

The Minnesota Twins flew into St. Pete late Thursday night and will depart shortly. Much like a group of college spring-breakers, they will likely want to forget everything in between (if they remember it at all).

In a move that felt a little like “playing with their food”, Tampa Bay ran old friend Griffin Jax out as an opener today. He pitched a clean 2.1 IP before bulk man Jesse Scholtens took over. The Twins put two baserunners—Ryan Jeffers BB, Kody Clemens 1B—on with zero outs in the second inning, but a Luke Keaschall fly out and a Matt Wallner GIDP extinguished hope for a run before it could really even be cultivated.

Instead, the Rays activated the scoreboard first in B3 when Twins SP Simeon Woods-Richardson threw a Hunter Feduccia bunt attempt wild (resulting in two bases) and then allowed a Chandler Simpson single to put ducks on the pond. Both would fly home on a Jonathan Aranda base knock. Freak-of-strength Yandy Diaz then basically popped a ball up—which carried over the RF fence beyond Wallner’s reach. 4-0 Rays.

The Twins threatened again in T4 by putting two more runners on base, but once again they were LOBster’d by a meek Royce Lewis pop-up out. Tampa nearly increased their lead in B4, but a nice Larnach-to-Jeffers relay cut down the run at the dish.

Nothing much of note transpired in the middle innings of this one, but in T7 the bats finally did some damage: a James Outman double was allowed to trot home on a Brooks Lee home run! 4-2 TB.

Alas, that was the only offense that could be mustered the rest of the way.

Your Final:Tampa Bay Rays 4, Minnesota Twins 2

Despite cleaning up the defense a bit and the pitching keeping them in the majority of these ballgames, the offense—especially the ability to finish rallies and drive in runs—remains equal parts un-playable and un-watchable at the moment. An Island of Misfit Toys of spare parts, floundering once-thought core pieces, and folks who probably shouldn’t be on the roster to begin with.

Zach’s Zealot

• Denard Span: Bringing his children into the TV broadcast booth. The Span-Man seems like a legitimately great guy and family man. I enjoy him supplementing Morneau & Perkins on the mic.

Zach’s Zombie

• SWR continuing to struggle: 4.1 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K

Egg-cellent Elocution

• Kirillofffan19regales us with tales of a Chicago musical tour and more attempts to get now-realtor Alex Kirilloff to sign a jersey

Who’s Got Next

• The Minneapolis temperatures drop, which means the Twins are back home hosting the surprisingly-struggling—13-15 coming into today—Seattle Mariners (Mon. night, Tues. night, Wed. afternoon)

Andrew Friedman became the latest member of the Dodgers organization to defend an MLB rule that allows Shohei Ohtani to effectively be an extra pitcher on the team’s roster.

In an interview with AM 570 that aired Sunday morning, the club’s president of baseball operations acknowledged that Ohtani’s two-way status –– which prevents him from being counted as one of the 13 pitchers the Dodgers are allowed to carry on their roster –– is “certainly an advantage” for the team.

“But it should be an advantage,” Friedman argued. “What Shohei does and what he is capable of is so unique, it should be rewarded. It should be celebrated.”

Andrew Friedman: “It felt very random and strange he felt the need to bring it up.” @THEREAL_DV talks with Andrew Friedman about the Ohtani rule and Craig Counsell’s comments. pic.twitter.com/q9LS7W5tix

— AM 570 LA Sports (@AM570LASports) April 26, 2026

Friedman’s comments came in the wake of recent discourse around the baseball industry over MLB’s 13-pitcher-maximum rule and how Ohtani’s two-way status effectively allows the Dodgers to carry an extra arm.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell has been the most vocal critic. Last week, he called Ohtani’s exception to the rule “bizarre.” On Friday, ahead of the opening game of this weekend’s Dodgers-Cubs series at Dodger Stadium, he doubled down by saying “it is a bad rule.”

“Look, this is not a Dodger thing, it’s not an Ohtani thing,” Counsell said. Yet, he later added, “There’s not another player like that, but one team gets different rules for that player.”

Friedman pushed back on that narrative in his radio interview, noting how “it felt very random and strange to me [that Counsell] felt the need to bring it up.”

When MLB instituted its rule that limits teams to having only 13 pitchers on their 26-man active rosters in 2022, Ohtani was still a member of the Angels. At that time, Friedman said, MLB officials surveyed executives from other clubs –– the Dodgers included –– to solicit feedback on the way Ohtani would factor into that roster restriction as a two-way player.

“I said, ‘Look, from a competitive standpoint, as the Dodgers, I don’t love it,’” Friedman recounted. “But wearing my industry hat, what’s best for Major League Baseball? It is to do everything we can for Shohei Ohtani to be in, and stay in, games. And obviously with the 13-pitcher rule, that’s a part of him being able to stay in the game when he pitches.”

Now, of course, the Dodgers are beneficiaries of the Ohtani carve-out, having signed the four-time MVP to a 10-year, $700 million free agent contract before the 2024 campaign. 

This year, they are the only team in MLB capable of using a six-man starting rotation (including Ohtani) without having to sacrifice a full complement of eight relievers in the bullpen.

“Everyone knew the Shohei rules and had an equal opportunity to sign him two years ago,” Friedman said. “So not sure where the Cubs were in that process, or what Counsell’s thoughts were on it then. But that seemed like more of the relevant time to voice it than now.”

Granted, part of the reason for the renewed conversation about the rule is because Ohtani is back to being a full-time two-way player again this year.

He missed all of 2024 as a pitcher while recovering from a second career Tommy John surgery and was limited on the mound last year while completing his recovery process. But this season, he has made normal turns through the Dodgers’ rotation as a fully built-up starter, allowing the team’s other starters to get an extra day of rest between outings. 

If Ohtani counted against the club’s 13-pitcher maximum, it could complicate the team’s ability to maximize his two-way talents.

“I was able to look at what is best for the industry, and Shohei playing, and playing more often, and staying in games is what is best for the fans and everything else,” Friedman said. “We don’t have nine relievers. We have eight relievers, just like everyone else. We have five starters, just like everyone else. It’s just when Shohei is able, and the rest makes sense, Shohei pitches also. It is not that we are carrying an extra reliever relative to others.”

While Ohtani has gotten off to a slow start at the plate this season, he has reemerged as one of the best pitchers in the game, posting a 0.38 ERA through his first four pitching starts with 25 strikeouts in 24 innings.

He will next take the mound on Tuesday against the Marlins.

Don’t expect consternation over his special rules to die down before then. 

Looking to take two of three, the Dodgers host the Chicago Cubs on Sunday. Justin Wrobleski faces Shota Imanaga.

SUNDAY GAME INFO

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Cubs
• Stadium: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 1:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 (Spanish)

After a slow start to the 2026 season, Detroit Tigers’ first baseman Spencer Torkelson is suddenly scorching hot. His approach has remained strong throughout some early struggles, with a consistently low chase rate and plenty of walks. He just wasn’t swinging at enough strikes. Problem solved. On Sunday, Torkelson homered for the fifth straight game, tying Marcus Thames most recently, along with four other Tigers including the legendary Hank Greenberg, Willie Horton, Rudy York, and Vic Wertz for the franchise record last accomplished in 2008.

Torkelson didn’t get his first home run of the season until Wednesday, when he took Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Chad Patrick deep in the fourth inning of a Tigers victory. On Thursday he upped his game, walking off the Brewers with a blast to left field off of Abner Uribe. On Friday in Great American Ballpark, Torkelson took Tony Santilan deep though the Tigers crumbled late with a loss. On Saturday, Torkelson’s victim was Brady Singer, with another fourth inning shot.

On Sunday, the Tigers were down 3-2 after a solid start from Keider Montero, but one that featured a pair of Great American Park specials from the Reds. In the seventh inning, Gleyber Torres reached on a Ke’Bryan Hayes error, and rookie Hao-Yu Lee mashed the first home run of his major league career to give the Tigers a 4-3 lead. Riley Greene struck out, and Reds manager Terry Francona pulled his lefty in favor of right-hander Pierce Johnson to face Torkelson. It went…poorly for them.

Really good to see the big bat heating up.

The Red Sox’s shock firing of Alex Cora was “necessary” in the eyes of team president Sam Kennedy, but the move is seemingly not sitting well with players.

Cora and five members of his coaching staff were dismissed on Saturday amid the team’s 10-17 start and last place standing in the AL East.

However, Trevor Story told reporters on Sunday that the higher-ups’ explanation of the move was insufficient.

“Some of the best coaches in the world didn’t get a fair shot,” he said.

Garrett Whitlock added: “They made it very clear that we get paid to play baseball, and we need to just focus on playing baseball.”

As reported by the Boston Globe’s Tim Healey, players were not invited to ask higher-ups any questions about the changes during a meeting on Sunday morning.

“It’s up in the air what the true direction of the franchise is,” Story said.

Hitting coach Peter Fatse, bench coach Ramon Vazquez, third-base coach Kyle Hudson and assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson were all part of the wholesale changes as well, while game-planning coach Jason Varitek will be reassigned elsewhere in the organization.

Chad Tracy, who had been managing Boston’s Triple-A affiliate in Worcester, was named interim manager.

During a press conference on Sunday, Kennedy revealed the move was the “bold decision” of general manager Craig Breslow, with the latter explaining the timing of the move.

“By acting today, it gives us 135 games ahead of us, so we’ve got almost a full season’s worth of run to take advantage of this fresh start and ultimately to compete for a division and deep postseason run in the way that we talked about it and envisioned and believed heading into spring training,” Breslow said.

“We believe in the group of players that we have in the clubhouse, down the hallway, and we believe that a new direction is warranted, new voices, and something that enables us to take a fresh start.”

Despite their 17-1 win on Saturday in Baltimore, the Red Sox have gotten off to a slow start this season.

Boston’s offense has struggled mightily, with the team’s OPS of .667 ranking 27th in MLB. The Red Sox have also struggled on the mound, with their team ERA of 4.44 tied for 20th in the league.

“Yesterday was definitely painful, but we felt it was a necessary move, and we felt it necessary to take decisive action to achieve the goal of a fresh start for the 2026 season,” Kennedy said.

“We have full confidence in the players in that room to perform at the very highest level and get us back to playing baseball in October, which is the goal. Ultimately, what matters is the performance on the field at the major league level, and a new beginning starts today.”

Breslow, meanwhile, added that he also has “full confidence” in Tracy.

Cora, who led the Red Sox to a World Series win in 2018, left his job in 2020 in the wake of his alleged role in the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal while he was their bench coach.

He was later re-hired by the Red Sox in 2021, and finishes his time in Boston with three trips to the postseason and a 620-541 record.