Category: Baseball

If there is one thing this Orioles team has been good at this year, it’s failing to maintain any momentum. They are coming off a feel-good series win against the Yankees and could have kept the good vibes going with a solid game tonight against a pitcher who has had no success this year. But they did not. They opened up their road trip with a dismal loss to the Nationals. They made some noise in the ninth to make the score 3-2, but in the end it was another loss.

Nats pitcher Zack Littell has been the worst starting pitcher in baseball this year. He came into the game with an ERA of 6.94 and a FIP of 8.25. He has given up a ton of homers. He doesn’t strike a lot of guys out. His season has been a disaster.

Enter the Orioles, who managed just two hits and two walks against this pitcher. They did hit him hard at times and had some bad luck, but they just couldn’t get the job done against a pitcher who has struggled again and again this year.

Both walks came in the second inning, sandwiched around three outs. They looked like they might score in the fifth inning when Coby Mayo was hit by a pitch. With two outs, Gunnar Henderson absolutely scorched a ball to right field. It got off his bat at 111.9 mph, a ball that would have been a home run in 19 parks. As part of the bad luck by the Orioles tonight, it hit off the wall and bounced directly to the right fielder. Mayo was unable to score and both runners were stranded on a Taylor Ward groundout.

The only other hit Littell allowed was a single by Ward in the second inning.

As for bad luck, in the first, Adley Rutschman was robbed of extra bases by center fielder Jacob Young. In the second, Pete Alonso hit what looked like a homer off the bat, but it stayed in the park. Tyler O’Neill had two flyouts that looked like they might go out. They did not. It wasn’t a warm night in DC, and at least a few of those may have been out of the park on a hot, humid day in the Mid-Atlantic. That doesn’t help the Orioles tonight, though.

Littell exited the game after five innings and was relieved by Andrew Alvarez. The lefty was activated before tonight’s game. He made five starts for the Nationals last year and was pitching as a starter at Triple-A with a 5.29 ERA. So naturally, he dominated the Orioles for three innings. He allowed just two hits, both in the seventh inning. Mayo singled ahead of Jeremiah Jackson, who doubled. Like Henderson’s double, Jackson’s 110.0 mph hit was too hard to give Mayo time to score.

Alvarez allowed just those two base runners in innings six, seven, and eight. He struck out five and looked in control. It did not extend to the ninth, where he allowed a Basallo single and O’Neill walk prompting his removal from the game.

From there, the Orioles made it interesting but couldn’t come all the way back. Pinch-hitter Leody Taveras took a walk from the new pitcher to load the bases with no outs. Mayo, who had been on base twice in the game, flailed at strike three out of the zone. But Jackson hit a sac fly and Henderson lined a single back up the middle to make the score 3-2. Ward walked, but Rutschman struck out to end the game. It was an off night for Adley, who went 0-for-5 with three Ks.

Lost in the offensive futility was a solid start from Shane Baz. Like Littel, Baz got hit hard early on without much damage. He worked around a single in the first inning and got out of trouble again in the second after allowing two baserunners. His first run allowed came in the fourth on a sac fly after back-to-back singles.

With the score just 1-0, it felt like the Orioles were still in the game. But then in the sixth inning, Baz walked Curtis Mead before giving up a big home run to Daylen Lile. It was Lile’s third hit of the game and the 3-0 lead felt insurmountable. Turns out it was. Baz ultimately finished seven innings with pretty good results despite a lot of traffic on the bases. His final pitching line: 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 4 K.

Orioles lose, 3-2. These two teams meet again tomorrow at 4:05 with Chris Bassitt on the mound vs Cade Cavalli.

The Tigers came home from New York with their tails between their legs, hoping their fortunes would change with some home-cooking. An unexpected bullpen game (of sorts) with finally some strong pitching, a key stolen base and a well-placed line drive gave the Tigers a 3-2 victory in the opener of a three-game weekend series against a former division rival.

Brenan Hanifee was the opener; he didn’t make the big-league team out of Spring Training this year, which was a little strange. He’s been a solid part of the Tigers’ bullpen the past two years, and especially in 2024 when he was sensational down the stretch. But, as the saying goes, “relievers are fungible,” so they can be great one year and lousy the next. The plan was for Ty Madden to be the Bulk Guy; he’s done that twice so far this season, and in his previous outing he started the third and finished the game. Kinda seems backwards to me.

The Blue Jays started highly-regarded rookie Trey Yesavage. It seems weird to still think of him as a rookie, given how valuable a pitcher he was for the Jays in their World Series run last year, but the fact remains that tonight was his seventh major-league regular-season start. He gets a lot of attention in Toronto sports media, and rightly-so: he was a first-round draft pick in 2024, rocketed through the minor leagues in 2025, and had a mostly-sensational post-season too. He has an exaggerated over-the-top pitching motion that causes a ton of vertical break on his fastball.

Hanifee had a 1-2-3 first inning, then threw one pitch in the second that Kazuma Okamoto hit for a double; Brant Hurter came in to face a stretch of left-handed hitters. With two out he walked Ernie Clement, and Andrés Giménez squeaked a double down the right-field line to score both runners. After Hurter walked Brandon Valenzuela — nice job with all those lefties, pal — Madden came on and got George Springer to fly out.

In the top of the third, Madden got hit by a 108-mph Yohendrick Piñango line drive on the right arm, and he had to leave the game after two batters; so much for being the bulk guy. I just hope he’s alright; especially so given the spate of injuries to Tigers starting pitchers lately.

Burch Smith became the fourth Tiger pitcher of the night, and they were going to have to get some length out of him, and the rest of the pitchers in the bullpen. Smith then picked off Piñango for a bit of revenge for injuring his teammate, which is nice.

With one out in the bottom of the third, Kevin McGonigle walked and Dillon Dingler singled; McGonigle took third on a wild pitch and scored on another wild pitch to narrow the lead to 2-1.

Smith gave the Tigers two innings, then Drew Anderson — who has a background as a starter — took over. He got a nice 5-4-3 double play to end the fifth after giving up a single to Valenzuela.

In the bottom of the sixth Dingler hit a grounder to Clement at second; he airmailed the throw and Dingler ended up on second base. Greene followed with a double on a middle-middle splitter to the right-field corner to score Dingler and tie the game at 2.

Anderson ended up pitching four innings of one-hit, no-run baseball, doing a heck of a job in a game in which the guys in the bullpen probably thought they could relax for a while. Kenley Jansen took over for the ninth and he sandwiched a lineout between a pair of strikeouts.

Jeff Hoffman, who’s now sharing closer duties with Louis Varland, took over for the bottom of the ninth for the Jays. With one out Matt Vierling blooped a single into centre; Gage Workman struck out and extra innings were looming. With Zach McKinstry at the plate, Vierling stole second base; this prompted Toronto manager John Schneider to intentionally walk McKinstry so Hoffman could face Spencer Torkelson, who went hitless in the Mets series. Well, Torkelson must’ve been saving up his hits for just such an occasion, as he spanked a fastball to the right-centrefield gap; Vierling raced around third to score the winning run.

Final score: Tigers 3, Blue Jays 2

Injured List Update

Notes and Numbers

• Coming into tonight, Riley Greene was second in the American League, hitting .341. If you had that on your bingo card this offseason, my goodness, you’re good.
• Drew Anderson has pitched professionally in Australia, Japan and South Korea. Neat.
• As per usual, there were plenty of Blue Jays fans in attendance that found their way over a bridge or through a tunnel to Detroit.
• On this day in 1911, the US Supreme Court ruled that Standard Oil, founded by John D. Rockefeller, had an unreasonable monopoly on the oil market. As such, it was ordered to be broken up under the Sherman Antitrust Act. Famously — or, perhaps, infamously — a lawsuit filed a few years later against Major League Baseball resulted in the organization not being found to be a monopoly, because it did not engage in “interstate commerce.” Now, I’m no Matlock, but that sounds like complete horsefeathers to me.

Well, after a dramatic walk off victory on Wednesday we get a crushing walk off loss. Jeff Hoffman takes the L, but actually wasn’t really bad. The bigger problem was managing just five hits and two walks off a pretty bad bullpen in a game where the expected bulk guy was knocked out after two batters.

The Tigers’ bullpen was mostly effective today. Their intended bulk guy, Ty Madden, was knocked out by a comebacker on his second batter, but Drew Anderson assumed the role and shut the Jays down for four innings. Brenan Hanifee got through the first facing the minimum, but a lead off double from Kazuma Okamoto knocked him out in favour of Brant Hurter. Hurter got two outs, but then a walk to Ernie Clement and an Andres Gimenez double right down the left field line resulted in a pair of runs for the Jays. He’d then walk Brandon Valenzuela, leading AJ Hinch to call for Ty Madden to clean up. He got a fly out to end the inning. Leading off the third, Yohendrick Pinango lined a comebacker off Madden, going for a single and knocking yet another Tigers reliever out of the game. Burch Smith got out of the inning, on a pop up and a K plus picking Pinango off first. Smith stuck around for the fourth, getting a double play to erase a Jesus Sanchez ground ball single. Drew Anderson did exactly the same in the fifth, with George Springer hitting the double play ball to erase a Valenzuela single. Anderson did one better in the sixth, sitting the Jays down in order, and then repeated the trick in the seventh and eighth.

Trey Yesavage had some struggles with his command today, as he has since his injury-delayed debut this season, but was pretty effective in spite of that. He got into a jam in the first, with a walk to Dillon Dingler and a Colt Keith single putting men on the corners with one out, but a pair of Ks helped him escape. After a 1-2-3 second, he found himself in another two-on-one-out jam in the third. Kevin McGonigle walked and Dingler singled. He struck out the next batter, but a pair of wild pitches while facing Riley Greene plated McGonigle and cut the Jays’ lead to 2-1 before a fly out ended the inning. The fourth was another clean inning. His wildness returned in the fifth. His third walk put Hao-Yu Lee on, and his third wild pitch moved him to second base. He got a weak fly from McGonigle that Lee thought was going to drop, but Daulton Varsho made a sliding catch and then threw back to second for the rare fly ball double play. The Tigers tied it up in the sixth. Dingler hit a grounder to second. Ernie Clement fielded it but his throw to first was way wide, allowing Dingler to advance to second. A ground out moved him to third, and a Greene line drive double scored him. The next two batters hit balls hard but some solid outfield D got Yesavage out without falling behind.

In spite of the wildness, Yesavage got through six in 88 pitches. Because he’s still ramping up, though, that was it for his night. All told he allowed two runs on four hits and three walks with three wild pitches, striking out six. He racked up 18 swinging strikes, which shows that his stuff was as dominant as ever. Trey still doesn’t have the feel for his splitter, but it’s a good sign that he’s getting through innings in spite of that, and as he gets dialed in the Jays can hope he gets even better.

Braydon Fisher took over in the bottom of seven. He walked Spencer Torkelson but a double play got him out of it with the tie preserved.

The eighth belonged to Joe Mantiply. Jahmai Jones lined a two out single, but Valenzuela gunned him down trying to steal second to end the inning.

Kenley Jansen sat the Jays down in order in the ninth. In the bottom half, Jeff Hoffman struck Greene out before a soft Matt Vierling fly ball found the exact spot where none of Varsho, Pinango or Gimenez could get to it. Hoffman bounced back to strike out Gage Workman. Vierling stole second, and Hoffman fell being Zach McKinstry 2-0 before deciding to intentionally walk him to get force plays at every base and get a matchup with Spencer Torkelson. That seemed questionable, and sure enough Torkelson lined a walk off single to right to end the game.

Jays of the Day: Gimenez (0.12), Mantiply (0.11)

Less so: Springer (-0.14), Pinango (-0.10), Vlad (-0.10), Varsho (-0.11), Hoffman (-0.36)

It’s a day game tomorrow. The Jays have not officially announced a starter. Last time through, Spencer Miles pitched three innings opening for Eric Lauer. With Lauer banished to the phantom zone, it’ll likely be a bullpen day, probably with Miles as a bulk guy or opener again since he hasn’t pitched in five days now. We know who’ll represent the Tigers: Casey Mize (2-2, 2.90), who’s off to a terrific start. Things get rolling at 1:10pm ET.

The Dodgers (26-18) travel to Orange County Friday evening to battle the Angels (16-28) for a three-game series at Angel Stadium. 

Blake Snell was scratched before his scheduled start and is going on the injured list due to loose bodies in his left elbow.

The Dodgers will go with a bullpen game in the series opener.

Jack Kochanowicz (2-2, 3.97 ERA, 1.35 WHIP) starts for the Angels. 

Freddie Freeman also gets a break.

Lineups

Friday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Angels
• Ballpark: Angel Stadium, Anaheim
• Time: 6:38 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA, KTTV channel 11 (Angels broadcast)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

The San Francisco Giants head to Sacramento tonight to begin a three-game series against the Athletics.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Tyler Mahle, who enters tonight’s game with a 5.18 ERA, 5.03 FIP, with 42 strikeouts to 20 walks in 41.2 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 7-6 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, in which he allowed four runs on five hits with eight strikeouts and two walks in five and two thirds innings.

He’ll be facing off against A’s right-hander Aaron Civale, who enters tonight’s game with a 2.59 ERA, 3.78 FIP, with 33 strikeouts to 13 walks in 41.2 innings pitched. His last start was in the Athletics’ 6-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday, in which he allowed six hits and three walks with six strikeouts in five innings.

Game #45

Who: San Francisco Giants (18-26) vs. Athletics (22-21)

Where: Sutter Health Park, Sacramento, California

When: 6:40 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area & KNTV (Giants); NBC Sports California (A’s)

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

Let’s run it back.

Leg two of the Vedder Cup begins Friday in Seattle. The Mariners got swept in the first set in San Diego, so they’ll need to sweep at home in order to have a chance in the tie breaker, which is run differential (Padres lead 16-9) then average exit velocity in the series (Mariners lead 88.8 to 88.6).

Randy Vásquez and Emerson Hancock face-off again in game one. Both pitchers spent years toiling without the ability to miss bats, and both pitchers have suddenly figured it out this year, getting tons of whiffs and strikeouts. They may be their respective league’s most improved players. I wrote about the changes for Vásquez last month at FanGraphs, and on the same day, Michael Rosen outlined the changes for Hancock. The Mariners put up a four-spot on Vásquez last time out, and Hancock held his own. But the Mariners ultimately lost that game after Andrés Muñoz allowed five runs in the bottom of the ninth.

The Padres enter the series as one of the luckiest teams in baseball. For more on that, Jake Mailhot has you covered in the series preview.

The Mariners lineup looks a bit different with Cal Raleigh now on the IL. Randy Arozarena moves up to bat cleanup, and the lefty quartet each moves up behind him. Jhonny Pereda is behind the plate today and bats ninth.

Lineups:

News:

The Mariners provided updates about several players before the game. Kate Preusser has the latest:

Game Information:

Game time: 6:40 PT

TV: Mariners.TV

Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports, with Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr.

Nine days ago, the San Diego Padres placed their starting second baseman, Jake Cronenworth, on the seven-day injured list. The bats have gone cold against quality starting pitching, and the loss of Cronenworth has completely paralyzed the Padres’ offense. It has left a noticeable void at the bottom of the order.

It is still unclear how severe his injury is or how long he will be gone. Keep in mind that concussions are rarely a two-week IL stint. The organization remains optimistic, but it would be reckless to put Cronenworth back in the lineup unless he is fully healthy.

Hopefully, this setback is short-term, and the two-time All-Star will be back in the fold soon.

Padres’ offense needs to improve its run-scoring production

The depleted lineup must find ways to score runs. Friars manager Craig Stammen has resorted to sacrificing defense to bolster the offense. He inserted Nick Castellanos into the lineup as the primary rightfielder and moved Fernando Tatis Jr. to second. 

Unfortunately, the results have not been promising. Castellanos has shown limited range in the outfield, and his bat has looked slow going through the zone.

Granted, he did homer to tie the final game of the series against the St. Louis Cardinals, which the Padres won in extra innings. No question, this is Castellanos’ shot to show his value to the team. It may take a few more consecutive starts before he regains his former stroke and becomes a lethal run-producer.

Andujar and thrilling late-inning victories

Thankfully, Miguel Andujar has taken the challenge and become one of the Friars’ top run producers. He is hitting .289 with three home runs and 12 RBI in 114 at-bats. Andujar has stabilized the middle of the order. The lone negative is his high strikeout rate (19.5%), which is well above his career average of 15.8%. 

Thrilling, late-inning victories have become this team’s trademark. This season, the Friars have won 11 games in the seventh inning or later. A stark contrast from the five wins achieved in 2025. The late-game magic has accounted for nearly half of their 25 wins. 

Gavin Sheets has hit three go-ahead home runs in the ninth inning, including a walk-off three-run blast against the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park in April. 

The heroics have masked the inconsistency with the lineup. Stammen might experiment with the lineup’s order to jumpstart the struggling offense. 

Preller on the prowl for a bat

Padres President of Baseball Operations and General Manager A.J. Preller is still on the hunt for another bat, as you never have too much hitting on your roster. The absence of Cronenworth proves the gap in the lineup.

Time will tell if the Friars have enough minor-league prospect trade chips to acquire a productive, proven hitter. 

The Padres have shocked the world by playing even with the Los Angeles Dodgers at the top of the National League West. They need to dig themselves out of their current predicament and become more productive at the plate. 
.

In his last experience facing the Yankees’ best hitter in a major league game — before a possible rematch Friday — Luke Weaver was schooled on proper etiquette.

Then pitching for the Reds in 2023, Weaver caught flack from Aaron Judge for not acknowledging him with a head nod when Judge came to bat against him for the Yankees.

The two were teammates in the Cape Cod League as collegiate players.

“We hadn’t seen each other in quite a bit,” the Mets reliever said Friday before the Subway Series commenced at Citi Field. “Aaron Judge was at the plate, and I was in a bit of a trying season, so I needed all the energy I could muster. We had a laugh about it, and he made it a big deal, but in a light, kindhearted way.”

Weaver spent the past two seasons as Judge’s teammate, but has reverted to wearing an opposing uniform.

He entered Friday with a 4.15 ERA in 17 appearances for the Mets this season.

The Mets signed Weaver to a two-year contract worth $20 million last winter after he received limited interest from the Yankees following a rough final stretch with the club.

“There was some light communication, I think respectful communication, and just like staying in touch,” Weaver said. “But I think they were wanting to go in a different direction, so there wasn’t anything major in our discussions about returning.”

Weaver, who pitched to a 9.64 ERA last September before having two ugly postseason outings in three appearances, said he holds no animosity toward the Yankees for wanting to move on from him.

“I have a lot of great, fond memories,” said Weaver, who pitched for the Yankees in the 2024 World Series. “For me individually down the stretch, it didn’t quite click the way it did the year before. Circumstances change and roles change and obviously results sometimes change.”

Weaver had a brutal stretch last month (he pitched to a 7.20 ERA in April), but entered Friday with five straight scoreless appearances.

“I think there were a couple of outings there where I kind of lost myself mechanically,” Weaver said. “It was kind of hard to get ahead in counts and I was pitching behind a lot.

“Lately, things have been going pretty good. Like our team, we go through waves and we’re trying to find ways to get back on track where we feel confident and we’re flowing the right way. I just want to continue to keep that momentum and not change based off who is stepping in the box and just attack.”

San Diego Padres (25-18) at Seattle Mariners (22-23), May 15, 2026, 6:40 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: T-Mobile Park – Seattle, Wash.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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On Friday afternoon, Colorado Rockies right-handed pitcher Chase Dollander spoke with the media about a right elbow injury that led to him being removed from yesterday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates and being placed on the 15-day injured list today.

Dollander described his injury as “just a very minor UCL sprain. That’s just what the MRI showed. I have a little information around the ligament, nothing to be too concerned about. Just thanking God that it wasn’t more than that. Obviously, it’s probably the best case scenario. Trying to look at the positive side.”

This comes as good news for both Rockies fans and for Dollander, who looked despondent in the locker room after yesterday’s game.

“If anything happens in that area, your mind automatically goes to the worst case scenario,” Dollander explained. “But you know, as I started to sit with it and talk to some people, I kind of knew going into the MRI this morning that it probably wasn’t what I thought it was. So again, thank God that it wasn’t. This could be a very different conversation.”

Dollander mentioned that he had experienced some discomfort following his last start against the Philadelphia Phillies.

“I started to feel it right after the Philly start, but as I threw it kind of went away,” he said.

“And then for whatever reason [on Thursday] it just never went away. So I’m glad the trainer saw it and came out and got me because, me, I would have stayed out there and possibly could have blown myself out.”

Dollander told the media he spoke with his agent, his off-season pitching coach, and some of his other friends. They helped assuage his concerns.

“They all said typically it’s just one pitch, one moment, and you feel a nervy kind of sensation in your fingers,” described Dollander. “I never felt that.”

He further discussed the advice he got that helped him calm down.

“It’s the worst-case scenario, you know, but that’s where my head was at with it,” Dollander said. “I never want to say it (Tommy John), but they were just trying to calm my nerves and stuff. So it helped a lot.”

One of the friends Dollander spoke to was two-time Tampa Bay Rays All-Star Shane McClanahan. Dollander has been mentored by McClanahan and trains with him during the off-season. McClanahan has had Tommy John surgery twice, most recently missing the 2024 season because of it.

“He reached out to me and made sure I was okay,” Dollander said. “He just told me ‘Don’t overthink it. Just wait for the results and go from there. He’s very good with advice like that.”

Dollander was placed on the 15-day injured list this afternoon, though he doesn’t know when he’ll return to action.

“We’re still waiting for some answers and some things like that,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll have a timetable here soon, but the main thing is just not to rush, to make sure it doesn’t turn into something it doesn’t need to be.”

The 24-year-old former ninth overall pick also took a moment to reflect on his season so far.

“The past couple of outings haven’t really gone the way I intended them to go,” he said. “But I’m just constantly learning, constantly on the attack, and making sure that I am where I need to be. I feel like so far it’s been good, but there’s definitely room for improvements there.”

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Tonight, the Athletics look to get back to winning ways as they kick-off a three-game series against their regional rival, the San Francisco Giants, in West Sacramento. While this rivalry matchup does not feel the same in the wake of the A’s departing Oakland to eventually relocate to Las Vegas, Sutter Health Park should be packed with fans this weekend given the strong fanbase both of these teams have collected across Northern California.

Yesterday, the A’s bullpen blew its American League leading 10th save of the season. The St. Louis Cardinals scored two runs off A’s reliever Jack Perkins in the ninth to turn a one-run deficit into a one-run lead and leave town with the series victory. It is imperative that the A’s move on and turn their attention toward the Giants, who at 18-26 are off to a rough start. Having lost the final two games of a four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Giants are also hungry for wins as they look to build momentum.

Right-hander Aaron Civale will take the mound for the home squad in this evening’s series-opener. The 30-year-old has far exceeded fans’ expectations, doing exactly what the A’s envisioned when they signed him in free-agency this past offseason. He enters his ninth start with a 4-1 record, a 2.59 ERA and 33 strikeouts across 41 2/3 innings. Civale earned the win in his last start against the Baltimore Orioles, recording six strikeouts over five scoreless innings. The team would love for him to continue his strong run of form tonight against a Giants’ offense that has scored the fewest runs in the league.

The Athletics’ lineup shakes out like this:

It is good to see center fielder Henry Bolte in the lineup for the third straight day, and the second straight against a right-handed pitcher. Lawrence Butler gets the start in right field over fellow left-handed hitter Carlos Cortes, a somewhat puzzling decision given that Cortes has contributed more offensively lately, though Butler is the stronger defender. The A’s gave Butler a contract extension before the 2025 season began following his stellar performance over the final few months of the previous season. Both Butler and the team would benefit if he can go on another one of those hot streaks.

Veteran right-hander Tyler Mahle starts for San Francisco. The 31-year-old has struggled through his first eight starts with the Giants, going 1-4 with a 5.18 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. In his last start against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Mahle received a no-decision after allowing four runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings. In two previous starts against the A’s, Mahle went 0-2 with a 1.50 ERA. The “Green and Gold” aim to have more success against Mahle tonight after his strong performances in their previous meetings.

And the Giants will line up like this tonight:

The Giants have several well-regarded hitters in their lineup, so it seems unlikely that they will keep struggling offensively much longer. Civale needs to be careful when pitching to former A’s player third baseman Matt Chapman and first baseman Rafael Devers.

Additionally, catcher Daniel Susac will be in the spotlight. The A’s declined to protect their 2022 first-round pick ahead of the Rule 5 Draft this past offseason. The Minnesota Twins selected Susac and then traded him to the Giants for minor-league catcher Miguel Caraballo and cash. Susac got off to a strong start before getting injured and is now back in the lineup against his former organization.

A win would put the A’s two games over the .500 mark and assure that the team will remain in first place at least for one more day. Not to mention, it would further perpetuate the Giants’ miserable start to the season.  Let’s go A’s!

Follow the Game:
Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA

Listen:
Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, KVMX 92.1/105.5, A’s Cast

Jordan Westburg’s 2026 season is over before it even started in a huge blow for the Orioles.

Westburg, 27, underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow Wednesday and is expected to miss the remainder of the season, Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias announced Friday.

The infielder, who has a partial UCL tear, was hoping to play this year after receiving a plasma injection on Feb. 20, MLB.com reported.

Westburg, selected by the Orioles with the No. 30 pick in 2020, has had trouble staying on the field since being called up by Baltimore midway through the 2023 season.

The 2024 All-Star fractured his throwing hand in the second half of that same season and missed over a month of 2025 while rehabbing a left hamstring strain.

Westburg had been building on his throwing progression following the plasma shot before being shut down earlier in May due to recurring discomfort in his elbow.

“He’s hanging in there the best he could,” Baltimore manager Craig Albernaz recently said, according to MLB.com. “But also, it weighs on you. You want to be out here, you want to be out here competing, being with the boys, playing the game he loves. … Yeah, it sucks. I feel for him.”

When healthy, Westburg has proven to be a key part of the Orioles’ lineup, posting a slash line of .265/.313/.457 with 53 doubles and 38 home runs in 260 games over the past three seasons.

Westburg is just the latest addition to a slew of injuries for Baltimore to start 2026, with over a dozen players now on their injured list less than two months into the season.

Albernaz, who has used 41 players in just 44 games, told reporters that everyone has to be “ready to compete” as injuries plague the roster.

“The next-man-up mentality is real,” Albernaz said, according to Baltimore Baseball. “All our guys will go there ready to compete, doesn’t matter who we have. First of all, they’re trying to win the game. We gotta look at things differently and do things differently.

“We’ve gotta try to do whatever and evaluate every aspect to make sure that we’re taking care of our guys and we’re doing the right thing around here, and that’s something I’m challenging the whole staff on. That’s a point of emphasis right now.”

The Yankees will not be replacing one ace with another, at least not yet. 

The final steps of Gerrit Cole’s comeback from Tommy John surgery will not be accelerated by Max Fried landing on the injured list with a left elbow bone bruise, manager Aaron Boone said Friday, meaning the Yankees will likely go two turns in the rotation without either one in it. 

As of Friday, the plan was for Cole to make two more rehab starts — the next one coming Saturday with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre — before he could rejoin the Yankees by the end of the month. 

“The likelihood is two more with him and then we’ll be in position to roll,” Boone said before the Yankees beat the Mets 5-2 at Citi Field. “Don’t want to take him off track for a short-term need. When he’s ready, then he’ll insert in.” 

Cole will likely build up to 80-plus pitches Saturday and then repeat that threshold in what would be his seventh and potentially final rehab start. Saturday marks the 30th day of his rehab assignment, typically the maximum allowed for pitchers, though they can be extended (with the player’s approval) if they are coming back from Tommy John surgery. 

All along, Cole has been on board with taking his time in his rehab process, sticking to a 14- to 18-month timeline for a return — with last Monday marking 14 months since surgery. 

“Just wanting to build him correctly and safely,” Boone said. “Just want to get him to a threshold to where he’s in a good spot. … Just want to be disciplined to coming off of a serious injury where he missed a lot of time. Want that build to be a steady one and one that puts him in the best position to come back and have a lot of success up here.” 

The likely fill-in between Fried and Cole is Elmer Rodríguez, who had replaced Luis Gil in the rotation for two starts before Carlos Rodón returned from the IL last weekend. 

Entering Friday, Cody Bellinger had some drastic home/road splits — batting .377 with a 1.259 OPS in 19 games at Yankee Stadium and .188 with a .516 OPS in 24 road games. He then went 1-for-5 with an RBI double against the Mets. 

“I think part of it is he is cut out for our ballpark,” Boone said. “One of the reasons we went and got him was we feel like he’s set up for Yankee Stadium. But that said, I would expect these things to balance itself out a little bit with how good a player Belli is.” 

Ben Rice crushed his 14th home run of the season in the ninth inning off Craig Kimbrel, capping off a strong three-hit night. He and Aaron Judge (16 homers) are the second pair of Yankees teammates to record 14 or more home runs through the team’s first 45 games of a season, joining Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris (1961). 

In his second game of the season, Anthony Volpe drew three walks for the first time since March 28, 2024.

Into Coors Field for the first time this year go the Diamondbacks. Always an… interesting experience, shall we say. No lead should ever be considered safe, and it tends to be where bullpens go to die. But the D-backs’ relief corps has, by and large, been performing quite well so far in May. And that’s putting it mildly. I was shocked – SHOCKED! – to discover that the Diamondbacks actually have the lowest bullpen ERA for the month so far. They have allowed only seven earned runs so far in May – and three of those came in Paul Sewald’s outing in Texas on Wednesday night.

It’s worth noting the D-backs also have the fewest number of relief innings pitched for the month. This is mostly due to starters who have been pitching much deeper into games, since Torey Lovullo has his “come to Jesus” meeting with the rotation in Chicago. As a result, the D-backs have needed only about 2.2 innings per game out of the bullpen. Compare that to the Tigers, who have taxed their bullpen for a whopping 63.1 innings – twice as much as the Diamondbacks, using them for an average of more than five innings per game. That has helped the overwork issue Jack previously noted: things are much more under control there now.

We will see whether that remains the case after three days at altitude. As usual, Colorado is a tougher proposition in their home park: 8-11 vs. 9-16 on the road. Though we are only a quarter of the way through the season, that 171-point gap in win percentage is a lot more than it was in 2025, when the difference was only half as much, at 86 points. It’ll be interesting to see what reaction Nolan Arenado gets. While he played there with the Cardinals, of course, this will be his first return to Coors since being dealt to a divisional rival in the NL West. Maybe his departure cursed Colorado. Since then they have been the worst team in the majors and it isn’t close, with 27 fewer wins than anybody else.

Former MLB All-Star Lee “Buzz” Capra died on Monday, Illinois State University, his alma mater, confirmed. 

He was 78.

Capra was a 27th-round pick by the Mets in the 1969 draft after his time at Illinois State. 

“When I was hired as head coach of the Redbird Baseball program, Buzz was one of the first people to reach out, wish me luck and offer any assistance he could provide,” ISU head baseball coach Steve Holm said, per the school. 

“Buzz is a legend in our program and one of the best baseball players to ever wear a Redbird uniform. He was a Hall of Famer, national champion, longtime MLB professional and coach and his legacy in the game of baseball will live on. Our condolences go out to his family, friends and former ISU teammates at this difficult time.”

Capra made his big league debut with the Mets in 1971, making appearances in three seasons before having his rights sold to the Braves before the 1974 season. 

He had a career season that year, making the National League All-Star team for Atlanta while posting a 16-8 record and winning the NL ERA title with a 2.28 mark. He also received down-ballot Cy Young and MVP votes.

An arm injury would derail his career shortly after, limiting Capra to just 62 more big league appearances after his All-Star campaign.

Capra retired after being released by the Braves before the 1978 season, finishing his career with a 3.87 ERA across 544 ⅓ innings. 

After his playing days, Capra would coach baseball at Northeastern Illinois University and later served as a minor league pitching coach for various organizations, including the Braves, Mets, Expos, Phillies and White Sox.