Category: Baseball

Once they got Logan Webb out of the game, the Mets pounced. And thanks to a four-run top of the eighth against the Giants’ bullpen, they went on to win the game 5-2 and take the series in the process.

Webb was fantastic for San Francisco, as he gave up just one run on seven hits in seven innings of work. That wound up being the better starting pitching line in the game, as Kodai Senga started better than Webb but faltered a bit in the sixth inning. Having struck out five batters in a row at one point across the first three innings of the game, Senga saw his fastball velocity taper off a bit in the sixth, and he gave up two runs before he was able to finish that inning.

Still, it was a very good start from Senga, whose work through his first two games has been one of the most encouraging things about this very early phase of the Mets’ 2026 season. Sure, he topped out at 98 miles per hour today with his fastball, a slight decrease from touching 99 in his first start. But his average velocity and results are both very clearly improved following his late-season struggles in 2025.

Huascar Brazobán deserves praise for his work in relief of Senga, as he got the final out of the sixth after inheriting a runner on first base when he came into the game. And he worked a quick scoreless seventh inning, too, to keep the game well within reach.

As for the Mets’ runs in this one, Mark Vientos stayed hot with an RBI single in the second to open the scoring. Jared Young had a 3-for-3 day at the plate—and made a great throw from left field to get a runner advancing to second base on a single—but wasn’t able to score as Webb found ways to keep the Mets to that one run.

Jorge Polanco, Luis Robert Jr., and Vientos all had multi-hit games, too, but the Mets’ biggest opportunity through the first seven innings came with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the seventh. Unfortunately, Francisco Lindor grounded out to second base, leaving the Mets trailing by one.

Polanco sparked the Mets’ eighth inning rally, though, as he hit a one-out double, after which he was immediately pinch run for by Tyrone Taylor. Robert singled to put runners on the corners, and with the left-handed hitting Young due up, the Giants turned to left-handed rleiever Erik Miller.

Carlos Mendoza countered by sending Luis Torrens up to pinch hit. After working the count full and getting a stolen base from Robert to put two runners in scoring position, Torrens roped an outside pitch down the right field line for a double, easily scoring both runs to give the Mets the lead. And the Mets tacked on a couple more runs, as Mark Vientos hit a ground ball to third base that Matt Chapman fielded and threw to first base quickly. Rafael Devers, playing his first game at first base this year, botched the scoop, though, bringing Torrens home with the Mets’ fourth run.

To top things off, Marcus Semien smoked a double to left field to plate Vientos with the team’s fifth and final run of the afternoon.

Luke Weaver and Devin Williams threw a scoreless inning apiece to close out the win. Weaver didn’t strike anyone out, but he only needed 12 pitches to get through the eighth. And while Williams gave up a pair of hits, he notched a strikeout and didn’t really make it feel like the Mets’ lead was at any risk of slipping away.

The Mets are off tomorrow, but they’re 6-4 on the season. They’re set to host the Diamondbacks for a three-game series the starts on Tuesday night at Citi Field.

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Luis Torrens, +30.6% WPA
Big Mets loser: Francisco Lindor, -20.6% WPA
Mets pitchers: +10.9% WPA
Mets hitters: +39.1% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Luis Torrens hits a go-ahead two-run double in the eighth, +31.2% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Matt Chapman doubles in a run in the sixth, -19.4% WPA

SAN FRANCISCO — Tony Vitello was showered and changed out of his No. 23 home jersey and cream baseball pants into athletic shorts and a hoodie by the time he faced reporters Sunday afternoon.

Vitello watched the final two innings of the Giants’ 5-2 loss to the Mets from his office after the rookie manager earned the first ejection of his major-league managerial career.

The Giants got seven strong innings from Logan Webb and timely hits from Matt Chapman and Rafael Devers but were dealt their third loss of the four-game set against New York.

They were leading 2-1 when crew chief David Rackley tossed him in the bottom of the seventh. Things began to fall apart the following inning as Keaton Winn served up hits to Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert, and Erik Miller allowed both inherited runners to score in a four-run frame.

“I saw blips of the last two innings,” Vitello said. “… It’s hard to watch on TV. I’m sure there’s plenty to criticize.”

Vitello was upset with the ruling from home plate umpire Edwin Jimenez that resulted in Jerar Encarnacion being called out on a dribbler in front of the plate, despite the Mets failing to complete the play. Jimenez said Encarnacion had left the base path, interfering with Mark Vientos’ ability to catch the throw from Huascar Brazoban.

“I didn’t watch the replay. I saw it from a great angle,” Vitello said. “Umpire couldn’t have been better with balls and strikes. I’m sure he got it technically right.It’s just a play I’ve got a lot of history (with).”

What it means

The Giants weren’t able to take advantage of Webb’s strongest start of the season and dropped three of four to the Mets. The loss was their third in a row, already the second time in 10 games that Vitello’s squad has strung together a losing streak of at least three games.

Through seven games at Oracle Park, the Giants are 1-6.

Who’s hot

Vitello, first of all. The manager had a history with SEC umpires, once earning a suspension for bumping chests during an argument on the field. He was upset by the call on Encarnacion, which prevented the Giants from getting a runner on with one out, but his temper didn’t seem to escalate until Rackley tossed him as he was heading back to the dugout with his back turned.

“I said one last thing, just out of frustration or being all fired up that was complete nonsense,” Vitello said, adding that he was upset over something else from the top half of the seventh that he declined to expand on. “I think it was misinterpreted a little bit.”

Vitello added that he planned to pinch-run speedy outfielder Jared Oliva.

“In my mind, we lost a double there,” Vitelo said. “So there was a little bit of frustration.”

The ejection came moments after Webb departed the mound for the last time, limiting the Mets to one run, a ton of ground balls and little hard contact over seven innings.

Webb entered the game with a 7.36 ERA through his first two starts, but he had everything working against the Mets. The Giants couldn’t capitalize and fell to 1-2 with their ace on the mound.

Tony Vitello ejected by crew chief Dave Rackley for arguing call that Jerar Encarnacion was out of the base path.

Vitello’s first MLB ejection. pic.twitter.com/JOBkT6q65g

— Evan Webeck (@EvanWebeck) April 5, 2026

Who’s not

Miller surrendered multiple runs for the second outing in a row. The hard-throwing lefty looked to be vying for some save opportunities as Vitello goes closer-by-committee, but he may have lost some confidence after the Mets tagged him for four runs in two appearances this series.

The Giants also committed multiple errors for the second time in 10 games, bringing their total to eight, more than all but three other clubs.

Devers wasn’t able to pick a low throw from Chapman after an acrobatic stop in the Mets’ big eighth inning, and Patrick Bailey was charged with a critical catcher’s interference that brought up Francisco Lindor with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh.

Chapman also made an inexcusable mistake on the bases, getting caught stealing as the second out of the ninth inning with the Giants trailing by three runs.

“All three (losses to the Mets) kind of had similar things going on,” Vitello said. “There was either defensive mistakes, guys not running the bases hard enough or smart enough … (and) not good enough on the pitching end of things on a couple of occasions.”

Up next

The Phillies visit San Francisco as the Giants wrap up a seven-game home stand. RHP Adrian Houser (0-1, 1.69) gets the ball against RHP Andrew Painter (1-0, 1.69) to open the three-game set with first pitch on Monday set for 6:45 p.m.

The loss dropped the Giants to 1-7 in their last eight games against the Mets at Oracle Park. The good news is they’ve fared much better against the Phillies, who haven’t taken a series in San Francisco since 2013. At home, the Giants are 12-3 against the Phillies dating back to 2021.

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The Mets scored four runs in the eighth inning to beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-2, on Sunday.

New York recorded 13 hits to extend their winning streak to three games after dropping the first game of the four-game series. 

Here are the key takeaways…

-- With Logan Webb out of the game, the Mets bats woke up in the eighth inning with five straight hits to take the lead. Jorge Polanco doubled and Luis Robert Jr. singled, knocking relief pitcher Keaton Winn out of the game after facing just three batters. Robert evaded Luis Arraez' tag to steal second base with one out and came around to score on Luis Torrens' pinch-hit two-run double to put the Mets ahead, 3-2. 

Torrens then scored after a low throw from Matt Chapman on Mark Vientos' hard hit got by Rafael Devers at first base, making it a 4-2 game. The hits kept coming as Marcus Semien doubled to bring Vientos in, pushing the lead to 5-2.

-- Kodai Senga, starting on four days rest, looked great for the first five innings. He struck out two in the first inning (thanks to some help from Francisco Alvarez and the ABS challenge system) and then struck out the side in the second inning. The right-hander kept San Francisco scoreless through the fifth, allowing just two singles up to that point.

Things took a turn in the sixth inning as Senga ran out of gas. Chapman tied the game with a two-out RBI double and Devers put the Giants ahead, 2-1, on a bloop single to center field. Senga's day ended after 5.2 innings and 88 pitches, allowing the two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.

-- Vientoscontinued to swing a hot bat and gave the Mets a 1-0 lead in the second inning with an RBI single, driving in Robert from second base. He had another RBI opportunity in the bottom of the fourth inning with runners on the corners, but grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.

-- Starting in the outfield for just the second time in his career, Jared Young made a nice sliding catch in left field for the second out of the third inning. Young made an impressive throw in the fifth inning, fielding a ball off the wall and launching it in time to get Jerar Encarnacion out at second base on Semien's tag.

-- Manager Carlos Mendoza expressed some frustration in the seventh inning after a strike was called against Semien, but the first base ump said he swung, preventing him from challenging the pitch. Semien ended up striking out swinging with Young on third base. 

New York still had a scoring chance after the strikeout, as Carson Benge walked and stole second base, and Alvarez reached first on a catcher's interference. Although, Francisco Lindor couldn't come up with the big hit, grounding out to second to end the inning.

-- Giants manager Tony Vitello was ejected in the bottom of the seventh for arguing a runner's interference call with Encarnacion at first base with Vientos.

-- Huascar Brazoban, Luke Weaver, and Devin Williams combined to toss 3.1 scoreless innings to secure the win. Williams allowed a one-out hit in the ninth, but Torrens helped him earn his second save of the year by throwing out Chapman trying to steal second base.

GAME MVP

Jared Young, who made two clutch defensive plays to help out Senga and went 3-for-3 at the plate with a double.

Highlights

Kodai Senga strikes out Willy Adames and Rafael Devers in the first 💪 pic.twitter.com/5f04vajz74

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 5, 2026

SWAGGY V STAYS HOT.

Mark Vientos brings home the first run! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/1LtLA18fma

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 5, 2026

Kodai Senga strikes out the side in the 2nd ♨️ pic.twitter.com/iHILQUIlj4

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 5, 2026

Jared Young runs it down! pic.twitter.com/wS9Odgfw0y

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 5, 2026

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 5, 2026

Lindor ➡️ Semien ➡️ Vientos for the 6-4-3 double play! pic.twitter.com/LMRu9d542f

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 5, 2026

Jared Young throws out Jerar Encarncion at second! 💪 pic.twitter.com/4SmlRlieyw

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 5, 2026

Jared Young adds an opposite-field double and he's 3-for-3! pic.twitter.com/c0jJtgFRr5

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 5, 2026

Jerar Encarnacion is called out for interfering with Mark Vientos at first base pic.twitter.com/TBVd2ufuBj

LUIS TORRENS DELIVERS!

THE METS TAKE THE LEAD! pic.twitter.com/wA3sQKbH3f

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 5, 2026

The ball gets away from Rafael Devers and the Mets add another run! pic.twitter.com/TfeM84KsGj

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 5, 2026

Marcus Semien doubles home the fourth run of the inning for the Mets! 💪 pic.twitter.com/RpAzUjhCHh

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 5, 2026

Upcoming Schedule

The Mets will travel back to New York and enjoy an off day on Monday before beginning a three-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday.

Freddy Peralta will take the mound and face former All-Star Zac Gallen. First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. on SNY.

The Colorado Rockies successfully avoided the sweep in their first home series of the season, putting away the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Very strong pitching—a key theme through most of the nascent season thus far—helped the Rockies keep the Phillies at bay while three home runs from Rockies bats powered them to victory.

Some Sugar in your Easter basket

We can see why they call him “Tommy Sugar,” because Tomoyuki Sugano’s (菅野 智之) start this afternoon sure was sweet. The veteran Japanese righty was excellent in his Coors Field debut. He gave up just one earned run—a solo home run off the bat of slugger Adolis García in the second inning—through six innings of work. He became the first Rockies starter of the season to go six innings and the first to notch a Quality Start. Sugano struck out five Phillies hitters while giving up just four hits and one walk. He was also efficient and commanded the zone well. Sugano threw 78 pitches, 51 of which were strikes. Sugano also did a good job keeping the ball out of the air, recording eight outs via the groundout.

(Easter) chicks dig the long ball

All four of the Rockies’ runs scored in their win against the Phillies came via some much needed power swings. Mickey Moniak opened things up with a solo home run in his first at-bat during the first inning. When Hunter Goodman reached via single, rookie TJ Rumfield showed off some thump of his own by sending the ball over the right field wall.

However, Moniak wasn’t one to be shown up. Perhaps to make up for losing the ball in the sun twice on defense during this series—once during the Home Opener and once today—Moniak sent his second home run of the game out of the park in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Risen from the bullpen to deliver the save

It may be early in the season, but this Rockies bullpen is earning their stripes through their first three series with a combined 3.12 ERA for one of the better marks in the league. The bullpen was dialed in after taking over for Tomoyuki Sugano. Jaden Hill pitched a hitless and scoreless frame, though he also received a little help from the former Gold Glove winner Brenton Doyle. After a runner reached on an error from Edouard Julien, Doyle made an outstanding leaping catch into the wall to keep the Phillies off the board.

Brennan Bernardino worked an excellent 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts while Victor Vodnik entered the game for his second save opportunity of the season after blwoing a save in Toronto. Vodnik gave up a leadoff single to Alec Bohm before striking out Bryson Stott. There was a little sweat on a warm and sunny day when Adolis García reached via a single that got past first baseman Troy Johnston, but Vodnik struck out the next two batters to end the game and earn the save.

Coming Up Next

Starting tomorrow evening the Rockies will host the Houston Astros for a three-game series. The right-handed Ryan Feltner is scheduled to make the start for the Rockies, while the Astros have yet to announce their starter after their ace Hunter Brown was placed on the injured list today. First pitch will be at 6:40 PM MDT.

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The Phillies were going for a sweep over the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on Sunday. But two home runs by Rockies outfielder Mickey Moniak and a second straight day of quiet offense from the Phillies allowed the Rockies to avert the sweep as they beat the Phillies 4-1.

Taijuan Walker was looking to rebound after a poor start his last time out, and after quickly retiring the first two batters of the game, it looked like he might. But then Mickey Moniak sent a ball into the right field stands, and after a Hunter Goodman single, T.J. Rumfield hit a home run of his own to put the Phillies in a 3-0 hole.

The Phillies got one of those runs back in the following inning when Adolis Garcia hit his second home run of the season.

Walker settled down after that and kept the Rockies off the board until the fifth. That’s when the player the Phillies took with the first overall pick of the 2016 draft hit another ball out of the park.

I’d say this was Moniak’s revenge game, but I’m not sure what he’s getting revenge for; Being a massive disappointment, prompting them to trade him for Noah Syndergaard? I guess good for him for establishing himself as a major league player, but this was annoying.

In Coors Field, a three-run deficit shouldn’t be insurmountable, especially since the Phillies’ bullpen chipped in three scoreless innings behind Walker. But since the early explosion on Friday afternoon, the Phillies’ bats have been quiet. The last two days have featured far too many meek at bats, and it seems like the few hard-hit balls have been hit to the wrong part of the park.

The top five of the Phillies’ order went 2-19 against Rockies starter Tomoyuki Sugano and three relievers, and that’s not good enough, especially in a hitter’s park.

It would have been nice to come away with another win, especially since the Phillies will travel to San Francisco for a three-game series. The Phillies haven’t won a series in San Francisco since 2017, and if the bats don’t show more than they did this weekend, that streak is likely to continue for another year.

Right-hander Ryan Jensen joins the I-Cubs to take Riley Martin’s spot.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs won their fifth-straight game, 6-2 over the Louisville Bats (Reds).

Starter Vince Velazquez got the win with five strong innings. He allowed just one run on two hits. He struck out seven and walked just one.

Tyler Santana bounced back from a terrible first outing of the year to throw three shutout innings of relief. He also allowed just one hit and issued one walk. Santana struck out three.

Third baseman James Triantos led off the game with a single. He then stole second, went to third on a bad throw and scored on a single by first baseman Jonathon Long.

Here’s Long’s single.

Center fielder Kevin Alcántara made it 2-0 in the third inning with his fourth home run in just eight games this year.

Velazquez gave up a solo home run to Michael Chavis in the bottom of the third, but Iowa struck back with three runs in the top of the fourth. Catcher Christian Bethancourt had an RBI single and then Triantos struck again with a two-run double.

Iowa’s sixth and final run came on a solo home run by right fielder Chas McCormick. It’s McCormick’s third game in a row he’s homered and his third home run in just four games this year.

Triantos was 2 for 4 with a double, a walk and a stolen base. He scored the one run and had the two RBI.

Long went 2 for 5 with the RBI single.

Alcántara was 1 for 5 with the home run.

McCormick was 1 for 4 with the home run.

DH BJ Murray Jr. was a perfect 2 for 2 with a triple and two walks. He scored on the Bethancourt single.

Bethancourt went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies were forced into peonage by the Birmingham Barons (White Sox), 10-5.

It was a rough start for Yenrri Rojas, who got hammered for ten runs, nine earned, on eight hits. Rojas walked four and struck out three.

The Smokies got 3.1 scoreless innings of relief out of Grant Kipp, although he did let three runners inherited from Rojas to score. Kipp gave up three hits, issued one walk and hit one batter. He struck out three.

Tyler Ras threw two scoreless innings of relief in his Cubs organizational debut. He allowed one hit. He didn’t walk anyone but he did hit one batter. Ras struck out two.

Second baseman Karson Simas hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning.

Simas went 1 for 2 with two walks.

Seiya Suzuki played five innings in right field and was 1 for 2 with a walk and one run scored.

South Bend Cubs

Today’s doubleheader was postponed. The entire opening series for South Bend was postponed because of unplayable field conditions.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Off day.

Chase Burns got the start for the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday in Arlington as the good guys looked to complete the three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers.

Brock Burke got the save for the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday in Arlington as the good guys did, in fact, complete the three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers.

Burns completed 6.0 IP of scoreless ball before finally yielding a run in the Top of the 7th, but Cincinnati’s offense managed to small-ball their way to runs on two separate occasions to make it a nervy, yet brilliant 2-1 win. The brilliance – timely singles by the middle of Cincinnati’s lineup aside – was in the deliveries of some of their electric young arms, who backed Burns on a day when some of their most proven relievers were unavailable.

Pierce Johnson and Sam Moll managed to get around an inherited runner left by Burns in the 7th, at which point things were turned over to Connor Phillips for the Bottom of the 8th inning with the heart of the Rangers lineup coming to the plate. Given that Graham Ashcraft, Tony Santillan, and Emilio Pagan were gassed from holding things together in the previous two wins of the series, it was going to be up to Phillips – and eventually Burke – to get to the finish line in this nailbiter of a game.

Those two did so with aplomb, even though Phillips struggled a bit to get his third out after looking completely filthy getting the first two.

Both Phillips and Burke flirted with 100 mph on their heaters, and Phillips’ slider in particular looked to be moving as well as it ever has. And if you polled the poor Rangers hitters who were tasked with facing those two after 6 dominant innings from Burns, well, I’m not sure exactly who they’d say was the toughest to pinpoint as all three looked simply absurd.

Burns, who finished with an ER, 5 H, BB, and 9 K on 87 pitches, continued his ascent to the top of Cincinnati’s rotation with his second gem of the early going. He’s today’s Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game, and it won’t be the last of those honors he takes home this season.

Other Notes

• Elly De La Cruz went 2 for 5 with a run scored, a ribbie, and his first stolen base of the season.
• The Reds, who entered play today with just a lone steal on the season as a team, actually swiped four bags on the day as each of TJ Friedl, Elly, Sal Stewart, and Matt McLain got in on the action.
• The Reds actually struck out 15 Rangers on the day. That’ll do!
• Will Benson did not start today, and instead came on mid-game for Noelvi Marte when a right-handed reliever was on the bump. Benson doubled and singled in his pair of plate appearances.
• The 2026 Reds are now 6-3 despite having scored the second fewest runs of any National League team, to date.
• The Cincinnati Reds will head to Miami later this evening and on Monday they’ll begin a series against the Marlins. Brandon Williamson will get the start looking to improve significantly on his pretty dismal first outing since the 2024 season, and first pitch is set for 6:40 PM ET.

Box Score

Kansas City made today’s game interesting a couple of times, but Milwaukee held on for the win. Kyle Harrison turned in another impressive performance and got plenty of run support, propelling the Brewers to their third straight series victory to begin the season.

Royals starter Kris Bubic retired Brice Turang and Luis Rengifo to start the game, but William Contreras walked to keep the inning alive. Up next was Christian Yelich, who worked a full count before flaring a line drive down the left field line. Kansas City outfielder Nick Loftin, sprinting down the left field line, laid out to catch the liner and just missed it. The ball landed in fair territory and kicked off the wall, allowing William Contreras to score easily as Yelich raced into third with a triple.

Gary Sánchez also took Bubic to a full count before squaring up a fastball up in the zone for a 109-mph two-run home run, already his third of the season.

Luis Matos struck out for the third out, but the damage was done — Milwaukee led 3-0 before Harrison even threw a pitch.

Harrison was dealing to start the game, allowing only one batter to reach (on a walk) through the first two innings. He finally gave up his first hit in the third; unfortunately, that hit was a Maikel Garcia two-run home run on a middle-in fastball that probably shouldn’t be thrown to Maikel Garcia. That brought the Royals within one run, but they weren’t done yet. Harrison didn’t want to give Bobby Witt Jr. anything good to hit, walking him on five pitches to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. After a mound visit, Witt stole second. Vinny Pasquantino lined a single into right field, but Matos — making his first start as a Brewer — nailed Witt at the plate with an absolute frozen rope. Just a beautiful throw:

Pasquantino took second base on a wild pitch, but Salvador Perez flew out to end the inning with the Brewers still ahead by a run.

It didn’t take long for Milwaukee to answer. Sánchez and Matos both struck out to start the fourth, but Brandon Lockridge walked to keep the inning alive. Blake Perkins then hit a fly ball over the head of Loftin that one-hopped off the left field wall, scoring the speedy Lockridge to give the Brewers an insurance run. Perkins promptly stole third, but Joey Ortiz was unable to capitalize, striking out on a foul tip to keep the Royals within two runs.

Harrison retired the side in the fourth and allowed only a single to Loftin in the fifth. Sánchez walked, and Matos singled off of old friend Nick Mears to start the top of the sixth, both advancing thanks to a Lockridge sacrifice bunt. Perkins grounded into a fielder’s choice at home, giving the Brewers runners on the corners with two outs. Up next was Ortiz, who hit a groundout to Witt for the third out.

Harrison was pulled after retiring Pasquantino with one out in the sixth. His final line: 5 1/3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. Other than the home run to Garcia, he was dealing today. It’s only his second start this season, but it’s hard not to think the Brewers may have found something in Harrison.

Grant Anderson came in to face Perez and immediately gave up a double, although he retired the next two batters to keep the Royals off the board. He came back out for the seventh and ceded a single to Starling Marte, then walked Jonathan India to put two runners on. Brewers manager Pat Murphy quickly made the call to the bullpen, bringing in relief ace Abner Uribe to face Isaac Collins. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to escape the jam in his usual fashion. Collins came through against his old teammate, singling to load the bases. Garcia followed with another single, as the runners went from station to station to score a run and keep the bases loaded.

Things looked like they could quickly get out of hand with Witt coming to the plate, but Uribe got him to stare at a fastball on the outside corner for the first out of the inning. With Pasquantino, a lefty, coming to the plate, Murphy pulled Uribe in favor of Ángel Zerpa. The move didn’t pay off, as Pasquantino singled to bring the Royals back within a run. With two on and still only one out, Perez squared up a Zerpa slider for a line drive that settled into the glove of Garrett Mitchell, who had come in as a defensive replacement for Matos. Zerpa then got Lane Thomas to ground out to end the inning and preserve the lead.

Kansas City didn’t score again, while Milwaukee got a couple of insurance runs in the top of the ninth thanks to doubles by Yelich and Jake Bauers (who also entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh) and a bloop single by Brandon Lockridge.

Those two runs would bring the game to its eventual final score: Milwaukee 8, Kansas City 5. Trevor Megill worked around a Witt single in the ninth to earn his third save this season.

Although this was the final game of this weekend’s series against the Royals, the Brewers won’t get to go home yet. They’ll be in Boston tomorrow for the first of three games at Fenway Park. Brandon Woodruff will go for the visiting team, with Brayan Bello scheduled to start for the Red Sox. First pitch is slated for 5:45 p.m.

The Texas Rangers scored one run but the Cincinnati Reds scored two runs.

It was a battle between two heralded former No. 2 overall picks today with Texas’ 2021 first-rounder Jack Leiter dueling Cincy’s 2024 first round pick Chase Burns. The two memorable college stars both had electric stuff and nearly identical lines with Leiter pitching an inning fewer and allowing one fewer hit but both right-handers struck out nine and walked just one batter while each allowed one run.

The difference nearly was that Leiter made the regretful mistake of allowing a leadoff single to Elly De La Cruz in the top of the 4th and De La Cruz leveraged his speed to reach second base on a flyout to right field and then scored on a Eugenio Suarez RBI ground ball single.

The Rangers, meanwhile, had Brandon Nimmo reach on a leadoff single in the bottom of the 5th and the only speed he leveraged was getting forced out at second base on a bloop flyball that found grass behind first base. So instead of two on with nobody out, the Rangers were back to square one and eventually did not score.

They did an inning later, however, when Joc Pederson quieted the boo birds at The Shed with a solo home run off Burns to tie the game. The Rangers hadn’t scored in 17 consecutive innings this weekend before the dong, and Pederson hadn’t had a hit in 16 at-bats to begin the year. It didn’t seem likely that it would be Pederson to get the Rangers on the board but that’s why baseball is what it is.

One batter later, Evan Carter reached on an infield single and Burns exited. The Rangers eventually had two runners in scoring position with just one out but Andrew McCutchen K’d pinch hitting for Ezequiel Duran and Nimmo worked a full count before striking out to end the threat.

It then took the Reds exactly two batters to retake the lead in the top of the 8th as Skip Schumaker called on Robert Garcia who promptly walked leadoff hitter Matt McLain before McLain stole one of five bases that Cincy pilfered in this one and then scored on a De La Cruz single.

As far as chances for the Rangers the rest of the way, Carter sent one about 405 feet to the 407 center field following a two-out Jake Burger double and Pederson walk in the 8th, but former whipping boy Brock Burke effortlessly striking out the side in the 9th meant Texas lost back-to-back games in which the Reds were held to two runs.

With the sweep and four losses in a row overall, the Rangers are below .500 at 4-5 on the year after starting the season 4-1. They scored four total runs in their first home series of the year. Call it the curse of Captain Jay Banks.

Player of the Game: While it was nice to see Pederson finally do something at the plate, Leiter was Texas’ best performer today as the former Vandy standout tossed five innings of one-run ball with the aforementioned nine strikeouts.

Perhaps the next step for Leiter will be figuring out a way to be a little more efficient so that he stays in games longer but it’s clear that the Rangers have themselves a rare home grown established starting pitcher.

Up Next: The Rangers welcome in the hated Seattle Mariners for a three-game set with RHP Jacob deGrom expected to make the start for Texas in the opener opposite RHP Logan Gilbert for the M’s.

The Monday evening first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 7:05 pm CDT and will be carried on the Rangers Sports Network.

Astros GM Dana Brown joined Todd Kalas and Julia Morales in the SCHN broadcast booth in the top of the 4th inning during today’s game.

Kalas asked the GM about SP Hunter Brown going on the IL.

“We’re gonna remain optimistic,” Dana Brown said. “Hunter felt…pretty good. Ultimately, (Hunter) didn’t feel as bas as some of the …more devastating injuries feel. He felt pretty confident that he was gonna be ok. When a player shows confidence like that, I feel a lot better. Now, we won’t know, of course, until he gets back to Houston…on Monday and we get him looked at.”

Morales then asked Dana Brown about what he may be thinking as far as options for the Astros rotation with Hunter Brown out.

“It’s one of the reasons why we signed a lot of pitching last offseason. You gotta have depth. Last year, you know, we ran into a lot of injuries. This year, we loaded up with some arms…If we can get through this, you know, we gotta use some of our guys…maybe some of the guys in our pen right now, we can get them stretched back out.”

Kalas then asked if the injury to Hunter Brown changes the equation for the team, as they previously intended to go to a six man rotation when they begin a stretch of 13 straight games on April 10.

“Yeah, something that we’re gonna talk about, but…we can use (Kai-Wei) Teng in the…six man. We got (Spencer) Arrighetti in Triple-A, you know, we got (Ryan) Weiss who we could also put in the rotation…So we have some guys and some depth…We can…take (A.J.) Blubaugh out of the pen and put him in the rotation, so we still have depth. We have guys, you know, in Triple-A, (Jason) Alexander, we have (Colton) Gordon, so we do still have enough to go into a six man. It’s just something that we’re gonna discuss over the next few days…that’s the reason why we got all the depth this year.”

It’s Sunday once more, and you know what that means — it’s time for our weekly social media roundup! When we last met, the Yankees had gotten off to a strong start, sweeping the San Francisco Giants while allowing just one run in three games. Since then, the vibes have continued to be great, for while the Bombers have suffered defeat, a strong pitching performance and some timely offense have gotten them off to a hot start. How have those good vibes transferred to the social media landscape? Let’s find out!

Welcome Home

The New York Yankees had themselves a very Good Friday (gotta get that Easter humor in there), as they celebrated their home opener with a dominant 8-2 victory on Friday over the Miami Marlins. Although it does not generate quite as much social media buzz as when it is the first game of the season, the home opener nonetheless was the biggest topic this week — particularly with Olympic gold medalists Jack Hughes and Aerin Frankel on hand to celebrate the U.S. men’s and women’s hockey teams with the ceremonial first pitch.

Behind the NY

The Yankees’ YouTube account has begun a new series this year, Behind the NY. This past week, the second episode released, titled “The Standard.”

Sightseeing in Seattle

While the Yankees took two out of three on the diamond in Seattle, the broadcasters had some fun sightseeing and hanging out with some old friends. Remember, Dave Sims spent 14 years calling games for the Mariners, and he was thrilled to be around to see soon-to-retire M’s radio voice Rick Rizzs.

Don’t Quit Your Day Jobs

Back in spring training, we got a glimpse of the Yankees engaging in some art behind home plate during drills, but never got to see the results. Well, with the off day on Wednesday, the social media team finally decided to grace us with the video, and, uh…yea, these guys aren’t exactly artists.

The Game Belt

The Yankees haven’t quite been as good as the Knicks are at posting their Game Belt exchanges on social media, but we still got to learn that Aaron Judge received the belt for his two-run homer in the first inning during the home opener.

Somerset Media Day

The Somerset Patriots shared pictures and videos from their own media day, which took place after the Yankees and their minor league system broke camp in Tampa.

On a day the Twins really needed some length, starting pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson gave the Twins everything they could ask for and more. Unfortunately, the bats didn’t do their part, leading to another loss that was well within reach. 

Let’s start with the good. Woods Richardson looked sharp all day, despite his stuff being down a touch. Most importantly for him, he attacked the strike zone and was remarkably efficient, pitching into the 7th inning on just 88 pitches. 

The lone run off of Sim came on a very well-placed splitter to all-world home run hitter Junior Caminero in the fourth inning. Up to that point, SWR faced only one batter over the minimum. He didn’t run into trouble again until the 7th when a couple of singles put runners on the corners with one out. Woods Richardson was able to get Jonny DeLuca swinging before fireman Kody Funderburk got Nick Fortes to hit a comebacker and end the threat. 

Minnesota’s hitters were equally quiet for most of the day against Rays starter Nick Martinez. Martinez has had an up-and-down career, but his strength has always been a filthy changeup, a pitch that the Twins have particularly struggled with early on in 2026. The Twins’ lone run (and hit) off Martinez came from a patented Matt Wallner moonshot, his third of the season, that nearly hit some kids playing in the plaza over right field. 

Their next hit didn’t come until the 7th off of old friend Griffin Jax. It was Wallner again who was able to beat out an infield single that rolled into first base, causing Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda to misplay the ball. Wallner immediately wiped that out with the classic Twins Boneheaded Base-running Play of the Day (TBBPoD, if you will. Trademark pending), where he took off for second base while Jax was still holding the ball, leading to an easy pick off. 

Knotted at 1 the whole way, the game went to extras where things fell apart for the Twins. Known bad pitcher Justin Topa came in for the Twins in the 10th and immediately gave up a two-run blast to Richie Palacios, his third hit on the night despite having just one prior to this game. He followed that with a single and two walks to load the bases with one out, forcing Taylor Rogers out of the bullpen to get things in order. 

Rogers was able to get Chandler Simpson to ground out, but walked Caminero to bring in the Rays’ third run of the inning and give them an insurmountable three run lead. Tampa’s Kevin Kelly retired all three Twins he faced and that was all she wrote. 

This is normally the point of the post where I point out a few positives despite the loss, but other than Sim, there’s not much! The hitters only managed 6 hard-hit balls all game. Wallner’s homer was the only Minnesota hit that left the infield. The at-bats by everyone save Trevor Larnach looked pretty poor. Kaelen Culpepper is playing well for the Saints, so that’s something. 

To put it simply, Derek Shelton’s go-to top 3 hitters have given them absolutely nothing all season and there’s not much you can expect from this team when that’s the case. We’re just over a week and nine games into the season, but Byron Buxton and Luke Keaschall having an OPS under .500 is going to tank the rest of this lineup. Also, get Kody Clemens out of the leadoff spot. He’s a useful role player who can get incredibly hot, but there’s no reason he should be getting the most PAs on a day-to-day basis. 

Don’t worry, things will get easier this next series where the Twins are scheduled to face (checks notes…) back-to-back Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal and All-Star Framber Valdez. No rest for the weary. 

STUDS

• Matt Wallner, technically: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI
• Simeon Woods Richardson: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K

DUDS

• Known bad pitcher Justin Topa: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 HR
• The rest of the lineup: 1-28, 2 BB

I’ll see you back here tomorrow where hopefully Kody Clemens is in the bottom half of the lineup. 

The Royals fell behind early and made a couple of pushes to cut the deficit to one run, but couldn’t overcome three and four run deficits, as they dropped the rubber match 8-5 to the Brewers.

Kris Bubic got two quick outs to start the game, but a four-pitch walk to William Contreras set the table for Milwaukee. Christian Yelich hit a slicing ball down the left field line that Nick Loftin dove for, but missed, resulting in an RBI triple for the former MVP. Gary Sánchez followed that up by blasting a two-run homer into the left field seats, and suddenly it was 3-0 Brewers.

Jonathan India led off the third inning, by taking a fastball off the elbow. After a Loftin strikeout, Maikel Garcia smashed his first home run of the season into the Brewers bullpen. A 388-foot shot for the WBC MVP.

Bobby Witt Jr. walked next and stole second. The Royals seemed poised to tie the game. Vinnie Pasquantino singled into right field, but Witt got gunned down at the plate, and the Royals still trailed 3-2 after three innings.

Similar to the first inning, Bubic got two quick outs in the 4th inning, however a two out walk to Brandon Lockridge spelled trouble. Blake Perkins did the damage this time, smacking a double off the left field wall, extending the Brewers lead to 4-2.

Fast forward to the 7th, Royals still down two, Matt Strahm made his first appearance of the series. A leadoff walk, followed by a Luis Rengifo double put the Royals in trouble. Contreras promptly smacked a single up the middle to score two, putting the Royals down 6-2. Despite allowing the first three to reach, Strahm buckled down and didn’t allow any further damage.

Starling Marte led off the bottom half of the inning for Kansas City and smoked a single, India walked and Isaac Collins pinch hitting for Loftin, loaded the bases with a single to right field. Nobody out.

Garcia drove in his third run of the day, singling to left. 6-3 Brewers, still nobody out and Witt, Vinnie and Salvy coming up. But credit to Abner Uribe, and maybe the Royals being out of ABS challenges, he struck out Witt looking.

Former Royal, Angel Zerpa would then get brought into the game, his first appearance against the Royals since being traded in the offseason. Pasquantino came through, perfectly placing a line drive into the left-center gap, scoring two runs. First and second, one out, Royals down 6-5, Salvy up.

Zerpa’s slider just got enough depth for Perez to fly out to deep center, instead of a go-ahead three run home run. 104.5 mph off the bat for Perez. Lane Thomas grounded out to third on the first pitch to end the threat.

After Steven Cruz, pitching for the fourth time in five days, worked around a lot of traffic, getting a scoreless top of the 8th, the Royals had a chance to tie or take the lead. With two outs, India walked, getting on base for the third time today, and Tyler Tolbert came in to pitch run. He got picked off during Collins at bat to end the 8th inning.

Lucas Erceg got the ninth, and similar to Strahm, it didn’t go well. Back-to-back doubles plated the first run and a two out single the second. 8-5 Milwaukee going to the final half inning. The Royals walked eight batters, and every one of them seemed to come back and haunt them. In the bottom of the ninth, the Royals got a two out single from Witt, but nothing else.

The loss puts the Royals back under .500, at 4-5. It was a 3-3 homestand as well. The Royals have been outscored 14-0 in the 9th inning this season so far. Michael Wacha starts in Cleveland tomorrow for the Royals. First pitch is set for 5:10 p.m. CT and can be streamed on Royals.TV.

The Rays beat the Twins today 4-1, and won their first series of the season.

This was a quintessential pitcher’s duel, with both starters pitching at least six strong innings. Nick Martinez, making his second start as a Ray, was especially impressive. He gave up one hit – of course it happened to be a booming home run to Matt Wallner — and walked just one batter. He struck out four, relying on weak contact to get his outs.

So it was fortunate that today was also a day when the Rays infield avoided costly errors, and in fact I’d say they looked pretty sharp. Junior Caminero, whose fielding has been atrocious over these first 10 days, made all his routine plays and even a few tough ones. (He and Chandler Simpson did nearly collide while letting a foul ball drop in the tenth inning, but fortunately it did not lead to damage.)

The Rays had their opportunities through the first nine innings, but were not able to deliver. Their only run during regulation also came on a solo shot, Junior’s first home run and shockingly first RBI of the season.

With Griffin Jax and Bryan Baker keeping holding the Twins scoreless in relief of Martinez, the game headed into the 10th inning. Ben Williamson was the — do we still call them ghost runners? — well the guy on second to start the inning, and Richie Palacios came to bat.

Richie has missed a lot of time the last two seasons with injuries, and was a bit of a forgotten man coming into this season, what a great pick-me-up for him and for the Rays, then, for him to take a 1-0 pitch well over the right field fence to give the Rays a 3-1 lead.

The Rays continued to apply pressure, as Nick Fortes singled and both Yandy Diaz and Jonathan Aranda drew walks to load the bases. Junior Caminero came up with two outs, and patiently took his walk as well, to drive in the fourth run.

Before we could even remember how terrible the Rays bullpen has been in most of this season’s games, Kevin Kelly had retired the Twins to earn himself a save and the team a victory.

We hate to over-extrapolate from very small samples, but Nick Martinez and Steve Matz are looking very good. Ben Williamson has also impressed with his versatility, sharp fielding and reliable bat. Chandler Simpson is on a tear, and perhaps less surprisingly Yandy Diaz has been unstoppable. So, Rays fans have reason to feel optimistic.

It’s great that the team returns, victorious, to re-open Tropicana Field tomorrow.