Category: Baseball

Going into Friday night’s game the San Diego Padres hoped for a turnaround to their recent stroke of misfortune. It was not to be, as the Friars dropped Game 1 to the New York Mets, 5-0.

It was a game full of lowlights, with Michael King surrendering four runs in six innings, while the Padres combined for a measly three hits against Christian Scott and company. They’ll face New York’s ace tonight with a much lower margin for error in a moment where they simply need a win.

The Padres have now gone a full week without winning a game (their last win came on May 29 against the Washington Nationals). The brown and gold simply need to show that they’re capable of outscoring an opponent. Once they do that, the wheels may start turning again.

Taking the mound

Nolan McLean (NYM) v. Griffin Canning (SD)

McLean has looked like an ace despite not pitching like one. He had a rough start to the year before posting a 2.37 ERA in April. His last few starts haven’t been great, raising his ERA back to a modest 4.21 mark.

His one major advantage is that he’s yet to face the Friars. None of San Diego’s batters have faced the right-hander, so they’ll need to figure him out quick. McLean will be sure to rack up some strikeouts, recording 77 through 66 1/3 frames this year.

Canning has rebounded a bit but has not gotten any help. He’s been saddled with a 7.16 ERA but doesn’t deserve it (for the most part). Canning’s certainly been roughed up, but he’s kept the Friars in games. Since giving up six runs to the Milwaukee Brewers in just 1 2/3 innings, he’s allowed no more than three runs in each of his last three starts.

The righty has yet to face most of New York’s lineup, though Marcus Semien has faced him quite a lot (30 at-bats) after their shared time in the American League West. The second basemen owns a career .300 batting average and .856 OPS against Canning.

Batter up!

There’s not much good to say about last night’s lineup. The lone bright spot was catcher Rodolfo Durán walking in two of his three plate appearances. That should tell you everything you need to know about Friday’s loss.

1. Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
2. Gavin Sheets, LF
3. Manny Machado, 3B
4. Ty France, 1B
5. Jackson Merrill, CF
6. Xander Bogaerts, SS
7. Miguel Andujar, DH
8. Sung-Mun Song, 2B
9. Freddy Fermin, C

With the news that Ramón Laureano will likely be out for the remainder of the regular season, the Padres will be forced to tinker with their lineup a bit. Recent call-ups Jase Bowen and Samad Taylor will get some longer looks than they would have if Laureano was returning soon.

Relief corps

After not pitching since last Friday’s win against the Nats, Mason Miller came into the ninth without a lead to protect for the first time this season. He followed a resurgent two innings from David Morgan and promptly gave up a run in 2/3 of an inning before Yuki Matsui pitched the final out.

That leaves the Padres with plenty of options tonight. Morgan was called up last night after Jeremiah Estrada was sent to the injured list. That means Jason Adam, Ron Marinaccio, Adrian Morejon, Wandy Peralta and Bradgley Rodriguez will all be available out of the ‘pen.

The Yankees have placed catcher Austin Wells on the 10-day injured list with cervical headaches, the team announced.

Catcher J.C. Escarra, who was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre earlier on Saturday, was recalled ahead of Saturday night's game against the Boston Red Sox, which was ultimately postponed due to inclement weather.

"Austin came in late last night and just complained about some neck stuff that was leading to headaches, so we got today with the neurologist just to put him through all the battery of tests and everything," manager Aaron Boone said after the game's postponement. "[He] checked out negative for that, but we wanted to look into the neck and how that is affecting things, so another battery of tests tomorrow."

Boone clarified that Wells came back negative for a concussion as part of the initial tests, but that the team will look into more possible reasons for the headaches on Sunday.

Wells, like Escarra, had been struggling mightily at the plate.

Hitless in his last 11 at-bats, Wells' average has dropped to .166 on the season (24-for-145) with a .533 OPS (51 OPS+, 54 wRC+) in 47 games.

"This complaint is new so whether it’s something that happened last night or a cumulative thing, it’s tough to say," Boone said.

As for how long Wells is expected to be out, the skipper said he hopes it's not long, but with the injury being around his neck, it was something they didn't want to "mess around with."

"Hopefully it’s short," Boone said. "That’s the expectation, but, again, he’ll have testing tomorrow morning."

Ali Sanchez, who was called up by the Yanks after Friday's loss to Boston, was in Saturday's starting lineup. 

In 40 Triple-A games this year, Sanchez has posted a .227/.327/.375 slashline (.702 OPS) with six home runs and 11 RBI in 128 at-bats. He has 18 walks to 28 strikeouts.

Sanchez, who signed with New York on a minor league deal in December, has 50 games of big league experience to his name, across four seasons with five different clubs. In that time, the now 29-year-old has 22 hits in 120 at-bats (.183) with a .454 OPS.

Close and late situations are not the friend of the 2026 Minnesota Twins.

After a leadoff homer made it 1-0 Royals, Joe Ryan settled down for six innings of one-run ball, as Royal righty Luinder Avila matched him with five two-hit frames, walking three and allowing one run in a bases-loaded, no-out situation that the Twins mustered in the home fifth.

From there, it was a bullpen battle. Guess how that turned out?

A combination of Taylor Rogers and Yoendrys Gomez got the Twins to the bottom of the eighth still in a 1-1 deadlock; the efforts of Daniel Lynch IV and Lucas Erceg did the same for Kansas City. Then, with two outs and Matt Strahm on the bump, Derek Shelton sent pinch-hitter Orlando Arcia to the plate. Arcia, not so much known for his power anymore, smashed his first bomb of the year into left, staking Minnesota to a late 2-1 lead.

I guess Eric Orze is a vegetarian. (“Staking/steaking” joke).

If you remember Yostball fondly, the ninth inning was a blast from the past. After Isaac Collins found his way aboard with a groundball single, pinch-runner Tyler Tolbert swiped second and advanced to third after a Kyle Isbel sacrifice bunt. From there, a sac fly tied the game, but not for long! Bobby Witt Jr’s 400th career RBI — a single into left — brought home a third and final run for the Royals, and handed Orze his third blown save of the season.

The Twins, in true Twins fashion, made it as frustrating as possible in the bottom of the ninth. Kody Clemens’ 13th double of the year led off the inning against Alex Lange, but Josh Bell and Austin Martin both went down on strikes. After Victor Caratini reached on a HBP, it was a storybook setup for Royce Lewis (who played second and first in this one.) But on a 3-2 pitch, Royce was called out on a cutter on the corner to lock it up for Kansas City.

The Twins will play for the split tomorrow afternoon. Heck, they might even try their hardest!

STUDS:

SP Joe Ryan (6 IP, 6 H, ER, 2 BB, 5 K)

PH/SS Orlando Arcia (1-for-1, R, RBI, HR)

DUDS:

RP Eric Orze (IP, 2 H, 2 ER, L, BS)

3B Brooks Lee (0-for-4, K)

DH Josh Bell (0-for-4, 2 K)

UPDATE: The game was delayed, then ultimately postponed due to heavy rain. It will be made up in a day-night doubleheader on August 29.

It’s a new-look lineup tonight, with a new guy (Anthony Seigler at second), a still-kinda-new-ish guy (Mickey Gasper behind the dish), Marcelo Mayer at a new-ish position (settled at short), and a guy we don’t see very often (Masataka Yoshida starting at DH). We want to see Ranger Suárez get back on track. Let’s see what Caleb Durbin (back at third base, but newly—possibly—charting a path toward respectability at the plate) gets up to today. Away-game vibes, everybody. Let’s go.

How to Watch and Listen

First pitch is at 7:35 PM ET on FOX and WEEI.

Lineups

Saturday Night Baseball.#RepBXpic.twitter.com/08uoiFEHBl

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 6, 2026

Cleveland Guardians @ Texas Rangers

Saturday, June 6, 2026, 6:35 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / FOX)

The Shed

RHP Tanner Bibee vs. RHP Jack Leiter

Go Rangers!

That wasn’t the usual way to come back from an 18-3 thrashing the previous day, but the Cubs will certainly take it, I’m sure.

Pete Crow-Armstrong’s two-out game-tying homer in the ninth sent the game to extra innings and when Giants right fielder Victor Bericoto fumbled Michael Busch’s single in the 10th, Dansby Swanson scampered home and the Cubs won 3-2, their eighth walk-off win of 2026.

Let’s rewind to the beginning of this back-and-forth game.

Ben Brown, who’s been just outstanding since joining the starting rotation, continued his excellence Saturday afternoon. He’s got to be the closest thing the Cubs have to an ace right now. And in my view, it’s all because he added more effective pitches to his repertoire. Good for him for putting in the work needed to step up his game to the next level. Here’s Brown’s pitch mix for this one [VIDEO].

Brown allowed just one hit and two other baserunners in his 5.2 innings of work Saturday in a game that was started on time and then had some fairly heavy rain fall in the first two innings. After that it cleared up and it was a lovely afternoon with a lake breeze. No Giants runner got past first base against Brown, who struck out five.

More on Brown’s day from BCB’s JohnW53:

Ben Brown today became only the fifth Cubs pitcher since 1901 to pitch exactly 5.1 scoreless innings. The others all gave up at least three hits.

Ferguson Jenkins did it in relief on April 23, 1966, vs. the Dodgers (four hits)

The later three, all starters:
Jake Arrieta, May 3, 2014, vs. the Cardinals (four)
Justin Steele, April 25, 2023, vs. the Padres (three)
Javier Assad, Sept. 28, 2025, vs. the Cardinals

Jenkins walked none; Assad and Browns, one; and Arrieta and Steele, two.

Brown had some help from his defense. Check out this great grab by Seiya Suzuki in the first inning [VIDEO].

And this one by PCA in the sixth [VIDEO].

That was the last batter Brown faced. Caleb Thielbar entered the game to face Rafael Devers, the right move, as Devers hits left-handed.

Unfortunately, Devers took Thielbar deep fot a 1-0 Giants lead, before Thielbar struck out Luis Arraez and Willy Adames to end the inning.

Meanwhile, the Cubs could not do anything with Giants starter Landen Roupp. They had two runners on via walks with two out in the first, but Ian Happ flied out. They had just two other baserunners through five, and one of those runners, PCA on a leadoff single in the third, was erased on a double play.

So the game went 1-0 Giants to the bottom of the sixth. PCA was the leadoff hitter in the inning. Roupp ran an 0-2 count on PCA.

Boom! Game tied [VIDEO].

Both teams had chances to score in the seventh and eighth. The Giants got two on with one out against Jacob Webb, but he got two fly balls to Suzuki to end the seventh. In the bottom of the inning, the Cubs loaded the bases on a PCA single, Miguel Amaya hit by a pitch and an infield hit by Busch.

Alex Bregman was the next hitter. He struck out to end the inning, and scattered boos came out of the Wrigley Field stands.

In the eighth, Webb retired the Giants in order. He has become one of the most reliable relievers Craig Counsell has, after a rough start to his season.

The Cubs went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eighth, and Daniel Palencia entered to throw the ninth. Unfortunately, a couple of singles and a sac fly by Matt Chapman gave the Giants a 2-1 lead.

In the bottom of the ninth, Pedro Ramirez grounded out. Carson Kelly hit a line drive — right at Adames.

That brought up PCA. It took him just one pitch to tie the game for the second time [VIDEO].

More on that game-tying blast from John:

The Cubs have hit six solo homers this season that tied the score.

Two by Alex Bregman, two by Michael Busch . . . and the two today by Pete Crow-Armstrong.

They hit 16 such homers last year, three by PCA. He also hit one in 2023. His five are tied with Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki for the most by any Cub since 2022.

Ryan Rolison, another scrap heap pickup who’s done a good bullpen job, threw the top of the 10th. He issued a one-out walk, then struck out Devers and got Arraez to hit into a force play to end the inning — after the ball took a bounce off the mound [VIDEO].

So the game went to the bottom of the 10th still tied. Dansby Swanson had been told by Craig Counsell that he’d be getting a couple of days off (today, and presumably Sunday as well). But with Moisés Ballesteros scheduled to be the placed runner, Swanson was sent out to be that runner instead.

Busch singled, and Swanson was given the stop sign by Quintin Berry at third base. Instead, he scored on this error after the hit [VIDEO].

So the Cubs even up the series with the Giants — and it’s PCA’s day. He’s now on an 11-game hitting streak, and this was his second four-hit game during the streak. He’s got five home runs in the 11 games and overall during the streak is now batting .413/.490/.822 (19-for-45) with three doubles, five home runs, nine RBI and nine runs scored. I’m not sure how he got locked in this way, but he’s hitting the way he was during the first half last year. Keep that up — and get some of the other Cubs bats going — and maybe they can dig themselves out of this hole.

Between PCA and Brown, the Cubs have two young stars. Great stuff. Here’s Busch on the game-winning play [VIDEO].

The Cubs go for the series win Sunday evening at Wrigley Field. They’ll be on NBC’s featured Sunday Night Baseball game (full national broadcast, no blackouts, also streaming on Peacock). Announcers will be Jason Benetti, Jim Deshaies and Hunter Pence. Jameson Taillon starts for the Cubs and Trevor McDonald will go for the Giants. Game time Sunday is 7:30 p.m. CT.

CHICAGO — No matter the momentum built over the past few days, any winning streak longer than three games continues to be a hump the Giants cannot get over.

They looked well on their way, or at least well-positioned, to win their fourth straight for the first time all season Saturday afternoon after Rafael Devers put them ahead with his eighth homer while Landen Roupp cruised through the first five frames in a strong bounce-back effort.

It all fell apart thanks to a familiar culprit.

Their bullpen.

Roupp allowed Pete Crow-Armstrong to tie the score on a mammoth home run to lead off the sixth, and after escaping two bases-loaded jams in the sixth and seventh, San Francisco’s relievers couldn’t hold on any longer.

One out from securing a 2-1 win that would have been their fourth in a row, Crow-Armstrong did it again. He demolished the first pitch he saw from Keaton Winn and sent it toward the scoreboard in right field, sending the game to extra innings.

The Cubs sent the Giants onto the streets of Wrigleyville 3-2 losers with their MLB-leading eighth walk-off win of the season when Victor Bericoto booted a line-drive single by Michael Busch in the 10th that allowed Moises Ballesteros to score from second.

Ballesteros was initially held up at third until Bericoto failed to field the ball cleanly.

Bericoto entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Winn, the pitcher, who was due up in the order in the top of the 10th because manager Tony Vitello pinch-ran for designated hitter Bryce Eldridge with Jonah Cox and opted to keep Cox in the game for defense over Casey Schmitt, who was in left.

It resulted in the Giants playing without their slugging top prospect or their team leader in home runs the rest of the game, with the inexperienced Bericoto in right.

“I mean, we got where we wanted,” Vitello said. “Their best player did what he did and from that point on, you’re chasing your tail a little bit on the road. … Schmitty, I don’t think can be labeled just an infielder anymore, he’s spent plenty of time out there. But obviously with the lead, we want our best defense out there in the outfield.”

Winn was attempting to record his fifth out after entering the game in the eighth, a similar task he executed to secure his first career save in the Giants’ 1-0 win against the Brewers earlier this trip.

“Same deal tomorrow with Keaton — still have faith in him,” Vitello said. “What he did in Milwaukee was tremendous.”

After banging out 19 hits and 18 runs a day earlier, the Giants were held to five hits by Ben Brown and the Cubs’ bullpen, with their only offense until the ninth coming on Devers’ solo shot.

Two of their hits came from Jung Hoo Lee, who extended his hitting streak to a career-best 14 games. He and Eldridge ignited a rally against Cubs closer Daniel Palencia to give them a brief 2-1 lead in the ninth. But they were unable to advance, let alone score, the automatic runner on second base in the top of the 10th.

“I don’t think you’re ever OK with a loss, but … we’re playing good ball,” Vitello said. “We played good today. They absolutely battled their [rear ends] off.”

What it means

The Giants didn’t invest in their bullpen this offseason, and Saturday’s loss was just the latest instance of it coming back to bite them.

Without a clear closer, Vitello burned through Caleb Kilian and Erik Miller before handing a tied game over to Winn, who retook the mound in the ninth holding a 2-1 lead.

Since ending April with the second-best bullpen ERA in the majors, the Giants’ patchwork bullpen has regressed to the league’s fourth-worst group, with a 5.22 ERA.

---

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

Who’s hot

Roupp looked no worse for the wear after dealing with back tightness in his last start.

After laboring through 96 pitches to complete four innings while surrendering eight runs in his last start, Roupp’s velocity was back to normal, and he cruised through 5 ⅔ frames.

“I felt good today,” Roupp said. “I thought today was a step in the right direction for me.”

The only damage the Cubs did against Roupp came on Crow-Armstrong’s first homer that tied the score at 1 to begin his final inning, but after putting the next batter on with his third walk, Roupp responded by getting Busch and Alex Bregman to swing through off-speed pitches at the knees for the next two outs.

“Overall, I think I made a lot of good pitches,” Roupp said. “Really one mistake all day was the fastball to PCA.”

Who’s not

Eric Haase lost a low-leverage ABS challenge, leaving the Giants with just one for the rest of the game, when he tried to overturn a ball below the strike zone in the first inning with nobody on and two outs.

It wasn’t the first time this trip the Giants chose a poor time to deploy their challenges. They were forced to protect a 1-0 ninth-inning lead against the Brewers without a challenge remaining Wednesday when Drew Gilbert lost their last one on an upheld strike in the top half of the inning. 

On the season, the Giants have been one of the majors’ least effective teams using the ABS system — one of six teams to lose more than they win (48%) with 16.5 fewer overturns than expected, according to Statcast.

Up next

The Giants and Cubs are scheduled to square off at 5:30 p.m. PT on NBC’s nationally televised “Sunday Night Baseball.”

With an expected 4 a.m. arrival back in San Francisco and a date with the Nationals later that evening, the Giants sent Logan Webb, their scheduled starter, home ahead of the team.

“The travel,” Vitello said, “will be a little bit of a kick in the groin.”

After a feel-good win yesterday, the Orioles put up a clunker today. As is often the way, they were unable to score much until the late innings, and this time it was too little, too late. And the recently very steady Kyle Bradish struggled and lasted just four innings. It was not a winning combo and the Orioles fell, 6-4.

Bradish came into this game on a five-game tear that had us all hoping he was back to the vintage Bradish we knew from before his Tommy John surgery. His first start of June did not go so well. He fell behind early and often today and struggled with his control.

The Orioles blew a two-on, no-out situation in the first inning, but got on the board in the second. Taylor Ward started the game with a walk, as he does, and Gunnar singled behind him. Adley Rutschman moved the runners up with a groundout, but Pete Alonso and Coby Mayo struck out to end the inning.

After the first, the Blue Jays replaced opener Braydon Fisher with Spencer Miles. Miles faced the Orioles inlast Sunday in Baltimore and gave up six runs in three innings, three of which came in on a home run by Colton Cowser. Wouldn’t you know it, Cowser faced Miles in the second inning today and hit another bomb. Unfortunately, it was just a solo shot and was not the start of a rally.

In fact, after the Cowser home run, Miles retired nine straight batters. The next Oriole to reach base was Blaze Alexander when he walked with one out in the fifth. He was stranded when Jackson Holliday and Tyler Ward struck out.

While the Orioles’ batters flailed against Mile, Bradish was falling apart. The Blue Jays tied the game at one in the bottom of the second inning, but it felt like they should have gotten more. Three of the first four batters reached on two singles and a double, but Bradish got a big strikeout and then a groundout to escape.

The third inning was…bad, especially when you take into account that Bradish got the first two batters out. He went 3-0 on George Springer before getting him to ground out, then struck out Nathan Lukes. Vlad Guerrero walked and Jesús Sánchez singled on a ball that Jackson Holliday probably should have gotten to. That set up a three-run, no-doubt homer by Ernie Clement. It put the Blue Jays up, 4-1, and they weren’t finished.

Bradish just needed one more out, but he couldn’t get it. Brandon Valenzuela, Kazuma Okamoto, and Andrés Giménez all singled. Valenzuela came in to score on the Giménez hit, but luckily for Bradish, Okamoto got himself thrown out at third to end the inning.

Bradish labored through a scoreless fourth inning but got a little help from George Springer who was running on a pitch but got thrown out by a mile. He did not return for the fifth inning. His final pitching line: 4 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K. Let’s hope it was just an off day and he’ll be back on track next time.

Keegan Akin came on in relief to pitch two innings, and immediately gave up run of his own. Of course he did. He followed with a scoreless second inning so his ERA actually went down to 8.64. Great job?

Spencer Miles started the sixth inning for the Jays, but exited after giving up Gunnar Henderson’s second hit and getting Rutschman to fly out on a ball he just got under a bit. With a five-run lead, Toronto manager opted to go with Jeff Hoffman.

When last we saw Hoffman, he was blowing the game for the Jays in the bottom of the ninth in Baltimore. Hoffman was charged with five runs back on May 30th in the Orioles walk-off win. It wasn’t quite as bad today, though he did immediately allow a two-run homer to Pete Alonso. That cut the score to 6-3, but Hoffman got out without other trouble.

The Orioles cut into the lead a bit more in the seventh. Mason Fluharty replaced Hoffman. Fluharty struck out pinch-hitter Tyler O’Neill, which is not a surprise. But he could not retire Alexander, who hit his second home run of the season. That made the score 6-4, but the Orioles couldn’t take it any further. Fluharty struck out both Jeremiah Jackson and Ward.

Henderson started the eighth inning with his third hit of the game, an infield hit up the third base line. But none of his teammates could bring him in. Louis Varland, the closer with a minuscule 0.28 ERA, retired the side 1-2-3 in the ninth to end the game. Samuel Basallo pinch-hit, which was good to see after he left yesterday’s game injured. Of course, the cynic in me is worried that they sent him in there to ground out and reaggravate his injury for nothing.

Shout out to Albert Suárez, who the Orioles just keep DFA’ing and re-signing. He pitched two scoreless innings today and worked around a leadoff double that Leody Taveras should have caught in center field. I think maybe Taveras is afraid of the wall because he has a lot of trouble near it. I would be afraid of the wall, too, but nobody pays me to play center field.

Orioles lose, 6-4. They can still get the series win tomorrow, but they will have to beat former Orioles Kevin Gausman to do so.

It was a pitcher’s duel all day in the Twin Cities. The offense’s got going late, but it was the Royals getting the last laugh, beating the Twins 3-2 after a 2-run top of the 9th inning.

Carter Jensen hit a leadoff homer to the right field seats off Joe Ryan. The first career leadoff homer for Jensen, it was also his 8th on the season.

Hot start!

Vote Carter: https://t.co/fEY1ycYg48https://t.co/to5xpB6oLGpic.twitter.com/vIcc6rCRXJ

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) June 6, 2026

Luinder Avila was really good, his first 4 innings of work were hitless, with a pair of walks. He did run into trouble in the 5th. Austin Martin hit a leadoff single and Victor Caratini smashed a double off the right center field wall. Royce Lewis worked a walk, loading the bases with nobody out. Tristan Gray crushed a liner to center, but Kyle Isbel was able to get underneath it. 1-1 on the sac fly. Avila’s last pitch of the day was the biggest one, inducing Ryan Kreidler to hit into an inning ending double play.

Avila’s final line was 5 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 3 walks and 3 strikeouts, on just 70 pitches.

The Royals had plenty of runners on against Joe Ryan but failed to capitalize. Ryan went 6 innings, allowing 6 hits, 1 run, 2 walks and striking out 5.

Daniel Lynch IV got a 1-2-3 6th. Lucas Erceg gave up a 1 out walk, but no further damage was done in the 7th, an encouraging sign for the heavily struggling Erceg.

Matt Strahm got the 8th, after recording two quick outs, pinch hitter Orlando Arcia launched his first homer of the year to put the Twins in front 2-1. Strahm quickly retired the next batter to end the inning.

Isaac Collins led off the 9th with a single, Tyler Tolbert pinch ran for him and stole second base. Josh Rojas reached on a fielder’s choice, on a grounder back to the pitcher, but the throw went to second trying to get Tolbert, his headfirst dive back into the bag beat the tag.

Isbel would bunt the runners over, before Jensen tied the game with a sac fly to right. Bobby Witt Jr. up next, and he lined one over the head of Arcia at shortstop, Rojas would beat the throw home and the Royals were ahead 3-2.

Swinging ahead in the 9th! pic.twitter.com/1Yyg5yygUg

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) June 6, 2026

Alex Lange got the 9th, trying to record a third consecutive save. He allowed a leadoff double to Kody Clemens off the right field wall but bounced back with two straight strikeouts. Caratini got hit by a 2-2 pitch, bringing up Lewis. After a long battle and full count, Lange struck him out looking.

The Royals have now clinched at least a series split; they are 4-5 on the long road trip. They are 26-39 on the season. Noah Cameron starts the finale tomorrow afternoon. First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. CT.

The Mariners halted a brief two-game losing skid today – over which the pitching staff surrendered 14 runs – with a shutout 4-0 win against the Tigers. Bryce Miller made his first non-piggyback start of the year and delivered six strong innings against the Tigers, one-hitting Detroit over six innings while striking out a season-high nine batters.

The lone hit Miller gave up could have been Detroit’s first scoring chance of the day, when Colt Keith led off the third inning with a triple. But Miller buckled down and stranded Keith at third, getting Matt Vierling to pop out, striking out Wenceel Pérez looking (and eliciting a failed challenge from Pérez to wipe out Detroit’s challenges for the game, something that would benefit the Mariners later), and handing Gleyber Torres his second of four strikeouts on the day to end the inning. Miller racked up nine strikeouts over his outing and sixteen whiffs, currently good for best in MLB today (a lead he’ll certainly surrender when Yamamoto faces the Angels tonight).

The Tigers did make Miller work; in the fourth, Kerry Carpenter battled him for 12 pitches before earning the second walk of the inning, putting runners on at first and second with just one out and creating Detroit’s best scoring opportunity of the day. But Riley Greene went after the first pitch he saw, a splitter at the bottom of the zone, for an inning-ending double play.

Miller’s velocity held well over his outing, as he was still touching 96-97 in the fifth inning before tailing off a little in the sixth, when he said he “got a little tired” and lost some of his velo and command. It didn’t help that Pérez led off the inning with another long at-bat, this time one Miller won with a ten-pitch strikeout (he was later helped out by some very generous strike calls against Gleyber Torres—but with the Tigers out of challenges, Torres had no recourse). The bullpen helped Miller’s shutout hold over the back three innings: José Ferrer overcame some early inning jangles and a leadoff walk to hang a zero, ending on a filthy strikeout of Spencer Torkelson on a 98.8 mph sinker; Matt Brash overcame a walk of his own, getting Torres looking at a sinker on the outer edge for the platinum sombrero; and Gabe Speier worked around a leadoff double and a walk of his own to complete the shutout, thanks – once again – to a Riley Greene game-ending double play.

But even if the Tigers had been able to push across one or two runs, it wouldn’t have been enough to overcome the Mariners offense, which stacked four runs in the early innings of this game. The first run came in the second inning courtesy of a Dominic Canzone double which came off the bat at 105.5 mph, traveled 417 feet, and would have been a home run at 24 other MLB parks. Dom had to settle for a double, scoring Randy Arozarena, who had walked.

The Mariners stacked on another two runs in the next inning with back-to-back singles from Julio Rodríguez and Josh Naylor followed by yet another double from Arozarena, who cannot be stopped. Julio scored easily, and then encouraged Naylor to follow him home, making for a close play at the plate where Naylor was luckily ruled safe. With not enough evidence to overturn, the Tigers lost their challenge and final opportunity to argue about anything in this game.

If you can look you can see Naylor toss in his sliding glove as he slides into home, which I assumed was so he had all his fingers available to touch home plate but could also serve as a distraction to the catcher. Maybe that’s part of the reason why the Tigers aren’t very happy with Josh Naylor, who got hit…somewhat obviously in his next at-bat (they’re also mad about this play last night, which seems much more dubious to read for ill intent).

But the Tigers can only complain so much in a game where they were thoroughly shut out; meanwhile, Canzone stretched the lead to 4-0, finally getting revenge on the outfield walls in Detroit with this 451-foot no-doubter, the longest hit homer by a Mariner this season.

That’s all the scoring the Mariners would do on the day, but all they would need thanks to the pitching, bouncing back after back-to-back shaky outings. Tomorrow Luis Castillo aims to prove he too deserves to be freed from the confines of the piggyback, taking the ball in the series finale against another starter with something to prove: Jack Flaherty, fighting for his place in Detroit’s rotation as the Tigers pitching is getting healthier.

Forrest Gump once said that life is like a box of chocolates because you never know which kind you’re going to get. The same can be said for Matthew Liberatore this season. Will you get good Libby or bad Libby? Saturday, the Cardinals ended up with both versions, but it would be more late inning magic powered by Jordan Walker and Lars Nootbaar that would help St. Louis overcome Cincinnati again.

Saturday’s Cards/Reds matchup started out almost completely opposite of what went down Friday night. Instead of coming back from a 3-run deficit in the early innings to tie the game, the Cardinals jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Alec Burleson and José Fermín opened up the inning with back-to-back singles. Bryan Torres then bunted both of them over and ended up on first base himself when he beat the throw to load the bases. After Pedro Pagés flew out to left, Victor Scott II came through with a partial-swing single dumping the ball into right field and scoring both Burleson and Fermin. St. Louis would get a sharp single from Masyn Winn, too, giving St. Louis their early 3-0 lead.

The St. Louis Cardinals enjoyed Good Libby for the first two innings as he didn’t allow any hits or baserunners and got through both innings throwing just 19 pitches. In the Cardinals edition of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Bad Libby took the mound in the top of the 3rd and allowed the Reds to rally. He walked the first two batters, Marte and McLain. After getting one out on a bunt popup gone wrong, Liberatore got the ground ball he needed from JJ Bleday, but it went under the glove of Alec Burleson and first scoring the two runners that Liberatore walked cutting the St. Louis lead down to 3-2. Spencer Steer would hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 3-3.

Cincinnati took their first lead of the game in the top of the 4th when Dunn singled and then two batters later, McClain hit a 381 foot home run on a 85 mph Liberatore slider making it 5-3 Reds. That would end Matthew’s day as Oli Marmol brought in Gordon Graceffo to put out the fire which he did. Matthew Liberatore’s final stat line for Saturday was 4 1/3 innings allowing 4 hits, 5 runs total, 3 of them earned with 4 strikeouts and 3 unfortunate walks.

Not so fast say the comeback Cardinals. In the bottom of the 5th inning, Jordan Walker hammered a 94 mph full-count sinker and sent it off of the railing above the right-center field wall for his 16th home run of the year cutting the Reds lead to just 1.

The Cardinals and Reds would team up in the bottom of the 6th to try and cause trouble for Cincinnati. José Fermín ripped a single to center and then Bryan Torres would chop a ball into the ground toward third when Suarez would decide to not let the ball go foul and threw high to first base giving St. Louis runners on first and second with no one out. Fermin and Torres then stole the bases in front of them making it second and third with no one out. Lars Nootbaar was sent up as a pinch hitter, but the Reds intentionally walked him to load the bases because they apparently wanted Cincinnati to lose as much as we did. Oli Marmol then pinch-hit Jimmy Crooks for Pedro Pages, but he hit into a rally-killing double play. Masyn Winn’s ground out ended the inning with the Cardinals getting ZERO runs out of a bases-loaded nobody out opportunity. Even with the Reds tendencies toward self-destruction, we got nothing.

Gordon Graceffo did a solid job in relief. He allowed 2 hits, but got out of a couple jams allowing the Reds no runs during 1 2/3 innings of relief. Ryne Stanek was brought in to pitch what turned out to be a very uneventful 1-2-3 top of the 7th inning. It was George Soriano answering the bell in the top of the 8th inning. Other than a pitch clock violation and a double given up to Dunn, no real harm done as he did not allow the Reds to extend their lead.

The Cardinals would threaten in the bottom of the 8th inning when José Fermín hit the 7th pitch he saw for a single through the right side of the infield. Bryan Torres executed a perfect sacrifice bunt moving him up to second base. That brought up Lars Nootbaar who reminded everyone why we always scream NOOT! With one Lars swing, the Cardinals were back in the lead 6-5 on a 433 foot 2-run homer!

Riley O’Brien was brought in for the top of the 9th inning to confirm the win we all knew was coming in and he did, but not without drama. He allowed two 2-out hits giving Cincinnati the tying run 90 feet away. It was all down to Riley O’Brien versus Spencer Steer who he walked to load the bases for rookie Sal Stewart. That led to a Dusty Blake mound visit. Not sure what was said, but it led to a full count ground out to second to end the game. Thank you, Jimmy Crooks for that ABS appeal on the 3-1 pitch that was called a ball, but was overturned. Whew, that was too close. Somewhere, I’d like to think that former Cardinals catcher Jason LaRue is smiling watching the Reds be miserable again.

The St. Louis Cardinals will wrap up a long homestand on Sunday by trying to sweep the Cincinnati Reds. Michael McGreevy is scheduled to make the start for the Cardinals while RHP Rhett Lowder will take the mound for the Reds. First pitch is scheduled for 1:15pm central time at Busch Stadium and the broadcast will be available on Cardinals.tv.

Padres left fielder Ramón Laureano will be out 4-5 months and could potentially miss the rest of the season, manager Craig Stammen announced Friday.

Laureano, who will be a free agent this offseason, went to X on Friday night during the Padres’ 5-0 loss to the Mets and posted the Bible verse “Hebrews 12:11” hours after it was announced his season could potentially be over.

“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields othe peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” was the first quote from the verse.

pic.twitter.com/DgrfpYroHf

— Ramón Laureano (@ramonlaureano22) June 6, 2026

The quote was followed by others that read “Create your own reality” and “Today is the beginning of the rest of your life.”

Earlier this week, Laureano was placed on the injured list due to what the team called right hip inflammation. On Friday, it was revealed that he has a torn labrum.

“Ramón Laureano, he had right hip surgery today to repair a labrum, which obviously is devastating news for us,” Stammen said. “Most likely out until at least the end of the season, or the entire season.”

Craig Stammen announces that Ramon Laureano had right hip surgery today to repair a labrum.

Laureano may miss the remainder of the season. pic.twitter.com/JnFSWBRZCx

— 97.3 The Fan (@973TheFanSD) June 5, 2026

Laureano was traded from the Orioles to San Diego, alongside Ryan O’Hearn, for six minor leaguers at last year’s MLB trade deadline.

When Laureano arrived, he instantly made an impact, with nine home runs, 30 RBIs and nine doubles in 50 games.

This season, Laureano is batting .203 but has similar production to last season, with seven home runs, 21 RBIs and six doubles in 53 games.

With Laureano potentially out for the rest of the season, San Diego will need to find a way to bounce back. The Padres’ outfield is already struggling, with Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill having uncharacteristic down years.

With Gavin Sheets needed in the infield, the Padres will likely have to platoon left field between Bryce Johnson and Jase Bowen, who was called up earlier this week.

The Dodgers celebrated Pride Night on Friday night at Uniqlo Field and donned their traditional Pride Night hats.

Just before Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off home run in the ninth inning to give the Dodgers a 1-0 victory over the Angels, Blake Treinen came out of the bullpen in the top half of the inning and wore a different hat.

Last night the Los Angeles Dodgers had their pride night as every player was wearing pride hats.

Blake Treinen was not wearing a pride hat when he entered the ballgame. pic.twitter.com/JMeEKBMJPu

— js9innings (@js9inningsmedia) June 6, 2026

Treinen donned the Dodgers’ usual blue and white “LA” hat, while the rest of the team wore an LGBTQ+-inspired hat that had the color of the rainbow on the “LA” logo.

The Dodgers have worn the LGBTQ+-inspired hats annually since they first did it during a road game against the Giants in 2022.

The teams made history that day, as it was the first time two teams wore rainbow hats during a game.

The Dodgers are wearing Pride hats for Pride Night at Dodger Stadium pic.twitter.com/ndpBknt5By

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 6, 2026

It’s unknown why Treinen didn’t wear the same hat as the rest of his teammates, but the special event has been celebrated by the Dodgers for the last 13 years.

The Dodgers Pride Night event kicked off with festivities celebrated throughout the ballpark.

Before the first pitch was thrown, the Dodgers unveiled a display that they said would be permanent in the stadium.

The display features pictures and a rainbow on the wall of former Dodgers players Glenn Burke and Billy Bean, who were the first professional baseball players to openly come out as being gay after they retired.

When Treinen came into the game, he needed to throw only one pitch and got Oswald Peraza to ground out to end the inning.

On Saturday, the Dodgers donned their traditional blue and white “LA” hats for the second game of the series against the Angels at Dodger Stadium.

let’s talk about it.

TODAY’S GAME: The Houston Astros (29-36) will continue their nine-game homestand this afternoon as they play the second game of a three-game series against the Athletics (30-33) at Daikin Park.

RHP Tatsuya Imai (2-3, 5.52 ERA) will make his eighth start of the year for the Astros tonight opposite the A’s and RHP Kade Morris (0-0, —- ERA), who’s is starting his first game as a big league pitcher

VS. THE A’S: The Astros are hosting the A’s in Houston for their first series in the Bayou City since last July.

The Astros are 2-2 vs. the A’s in 2026 and are looking to reverse their luck vs. the A’s this season after going 5-8 against them in 2025. That marked the Astros first season series loss to the A’s since the 2020 season (3-7).

THREE-SOCK PAREDES: 3B Isaac Paredes has homered in a career-high tying three consecutive games for the third time in his seven-year career (last, April 11-13, 2025)…should he homer today, he’d become the first Astro to homer in four straight games since 3B Alex Bregman did so from Aug. 10-13, 2024.

SEÑOR CIEN: 3B Isaac Paredes hit his 100th career homer on Thursday and his 101st last night, making him one of just four Mexican-born players in MLB history to the reach 100 career homers, joining Vinny Castilla (320), Jorge Orta (130), and Aurelio Rodriguez (124)…Paredes also reached another milestone last Sunday, becoming the 10th Mexican player to reach 500 career hits.

ABOUT THE NO-NO: On May 25 at TEX, RHP Tatsuya Imai started the Astros 17th regular season no-hitter and their 18th no-hitter overall in club history…Imai worked the first 6.0 hitless innings before giving way to LHP Steven Okert (1IP) and RHP Alimber Santa (2IP)…the no-hitter was the Astros seventh since 2019, which is the most in the Majors in that span…additionally, the Astros 18 no-hitters overall are the most in the Majors since the franchise was born in 1962.

THERE IS A SANTA!: RHP Alimber Santa set a club record by retiring the first 18 batters of his career consecutively before giving up a walk on Wednesday…the 18 consecutive batters retired are the most to begin a career since the Pirates RHP Nick Kingham retired 20 straight to open his career on April 29, 2018 vs. STL…Santa still has not allowed a hit in his first 6.0 Major League innings, which per Elias, ties as the third longest of such a streak in franchise history.

TODAY’S AVAILABILITIES: The Astros clubhouse will be open to approved media at Daikin Park from 11:20-12:10 p.m. CT…Astros Manager Joe Espada will be made available in the Astros dugout at approx. 12:10 p.m.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Saturday, June 5, 310 p.m. CT

Location: Daikin Park, Houston, TX

TV: Space City Home Network, SCHN2 (Spanish)

Streaming: SCHN+

Radio: KTRH 740 AM, KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)

Astros lineup

SS Jeremy Pena

DH Yordan Alvarez

1B Christian Walker

3B Isaac Paredes

2B Jose Altuve

LF LaMonte Wade Jr.

RF Taylor Trammel

CF Jake Meyers

C Christian Vazquez

Athletics Lineup

RF Carlos Cortes

C Shea Langeliers

1B Nick Kurtz

DH Brent Rooker

LF Tyler Soderstrom

CF Henry Bolte

3B Zack Gelof

2B Jeff McNeil

SS Darell Hernaiz