Category: Baseball

After a pit-stop on the way down I-75 for three games and some questionable “chili,” the Tigers continued south to visit the red-hot Atlanta ball club for the opener of a three-game series on Tuesday night. The Tigers’ bats ran cold, two key players left the game with injuries, and they dropped the opener to the tune of a 5-2 tally.

Making his sixth start of the season for the Tigers was Casey Mize, and he’s looked good in his last couple of starts before tonight. Arguably, his April 17 outing in Boston was one of the best of his career: 6 2/3 shutout innings, three hits, one walk and seven strikeouts? By the stat of Game Score — a rough index to try and determine how good a start is — that was a 74, the highest of his career, one above a stellar start in 2021 against the Mariners. (There are some names in that box score, eh?)

Facing Mize and the Tigers was lefty Martín Pérez, making his fourth start (against two relief appearances) for Atlanta this year. He spent nine years in the Rangers’ rotation before bouncing around a little: some time with the Twins, another stint in Texas, and the south side of Chicago last year. He didn’t make Atlanta’s big-league roster out of Spring Training, but was quickly recalled from Triple-A and has had some nice appearances so far. He’ll give you some innings, won’t dominate you too often, generally limits home-run power and, while he used to be an extreme ground-ball pitcher early in his career, has become much less so recently.

On the first pitch of the bottom of the first, Ronald Acuña Jr. smacked a double to the wall, but Mize was able to get the next three batters and strand him at third. He then sawed-through the next three batters in the second, including featuring that right-on-right splitter that, earlier in his career, he’d use primarily against lefties alone.

Meanwhile, Pérez was pulling the string with his changeup more than a kid with a new Chatty Cathy doll: he struck out both Spencer Torkelson, Kevin McGonigle and Jahmai Jones (three hitters on heaters lately) with straight change-ups right down the middle. You know what I said about not dominating teams? Well, he had it tonight.

Atlanta got on the board first with a pair of doubles to start the bottom of the third inning, by Mike Yastrzemski and Acuña to put the home team up 1-0, and let the record show that I spelled Yastrzemski right without looking. The next batter, Drake Baldwin, hit a dribbler up the first-base line; Mize fielded the ball and tossed underhand to first for the out, and he came up limping, favouring his right leg, and that was it for Mize; it was later reported that he had some “right groin tightness.”

Brant Hurter, who’s been used as a multi-inning reliever, came on for Mize and gave up a sacrifice-fly liner to score Acuña for a 2-0 lead.

Dillon Dingler managed the first Tiger hit with one out in the fourth, despite getting three on base before that via the base-on-balls. Alas, Dingler was stranded there after Riley Greene flew out and Torkelson struck out.

Hao-Yu Lee started the fifth with a double, and Javier Báez hit a grounder to shortstop. The throw to first was high, and Báez figured he could get underneath a tag by sliding into first base — which is never a good idea, kids — and ended up twisting his right ankle. He had to be taken off the field on a cart, but if you can have a little hope here, he was seen wiggling and moving his ankle around while on the cart.

(I don’t want to have to point this out, but… that belt of Báez looks a little too Zubaz-ish for my liking. IYKYK.)

After Gleyber Torres walked, McGonigle hit a long fly ball to right, but it was caught halfway up the wall for the third out and the threat was extinguished.

Pérez, whose pitch count was pushed up by a few long at-bats, was out after five innings and Didier Fuentes, a young right-hander from Colombia, took over and he had his slider working overtime, scattering a Greene walk harmlessly amid three quick outs. The Tigers struck out less than the Braves in this one, and hit the ball pretty solidly for the most part, but they neglected to hit them where they ain’t.

Burch Smith took over for Hurter to start the sixth, facing the heart of the order. He got Matt Olson to strike out swinging, and after walking Ozzie Albies, he got Michael Harris II to ground into an inning-ending double play. Smith carried on into the seventh, and with two outs he gave up a double to Mauricio Dubón, who scored on a Yastrzemski single just over Torres’ glove to make it 3-0. But then Chris Fetter paid Smith a visit, whispered some sweet nothings into Smith’s ear, and he struck out Acuña on three pitches.

In the top of the eighth McGonigle singled and Dingler doubled, putting runners on second and third with two outs and bringing Greene to the plate as the tying run. Alas, Greene struck out looking on a pitch that barely nicked the corner of the strike zone, and the inning was over.

Tyler Holton relieved Smith in the bottom of the eighth, and the Georgians tacked-on a pair of runs but-quick: with one out Olson doubled and Albies smacked a fat changeup over the fence for a 5-0 lead.

Torkelson came up first in the ninth inning for one last chance to extend his home run-hitting streak, but he grounded out to third; fun while it lasted. After Colt Keith singled, Wenceel Pérez hit his second home run of the year to get the Tigers on the board, but that would be the final scoring action of the game.

Final score: Atlanta 5, Detroit 2

Notes and Numbers

• How about that Spencer Torkelson fellow? Five straight games with a home run last week, and still didn’t win American League Player of the Week. That honour went to the A’s Carlos Cortes who went 13-for-24 with three dingers, which is fine, I guess. That Torkelson: he don’t get no respect, I’ll tell ya.
• After Sunday’s game, the Tigers as a team had the third-highest OPS (and OPS+) in the American League. Detroit’s OPS was .750, with an OPS+ of 106; if you don’t like anything related to OPS, the Tigers were fourth in batting average (.253; league-average is .239, which still boggles my mind).
• First Alex Cora in Boston, then Rob Thomson in Philadelphia: managers are getting fired left, right and centre! Who do you have next on your list?
• On this day in 1900, Dutch astonomer Jan Oort was born. He’s probably most famous for lending his name to the Oort Cloud, the spherical repository of tiny, icy bodies past the Kuiper Belt that most likely is the source of comets. But an argument could be made that his calculations regarding the rotation of the Milky Way, and the conclusion that there must be a lot of unseen (i.e., “dark”) matter kicking around, was the most important in the broader science of cosmology.

With the first month of baseball in the books, there have been plenty of surprises across the league. From surprise contenders to fallen favorites and from managers on the hot seat to unexpected performers, the 2026 season has been full of surprises. While things are certain to shift as the long season drags on, here are some of the surprises as April draws to a close:

Up-and-Comers

• As you’re well aware, it took your Colorado Rockies 68 games to get their 13th win in 2025. They’ve already hit that mark in April at 13-16.
• The Athletics are setting out for a better 2026. Not expected to do much after a 76-86 season, they’re currently holding onto first in the AL West at 15-13.
• The Cincinnati Reds are also exceeding expectations. Thought to finish near the bottom of the NL Central, they’re leading the way right now with an 18-10 record.

Underperformers

• From an American League pennant to fourth in their division, the Toronto Blue Jays are struggling out of the gate, currently at 12-15.
• The Boston Red Sox, a Wild Card team just last season, are among the worst in the league at 11-17 and just fired skipper Alex Cora and several other staff.
• The NL East looked like it would yield a number of contenders. The Braves sit at 20-9, but every other team in the division has a losing record. Among the most disappointing are the Philadelphia Phillies (who were the 2-seed in the NL last postseason but are now a league-worst 9-19) and the New York Mets (projected to contend with a loaded roster but join the Phils at 9-19). This led to another firing today, with Philadelphia moving on from manager Rob Thompson.
• The preseason PECOTA standings thought highly of the Kansas City Royals, projecting them to finish with 84 wins at first in the AL Central. So far, they’re in last at 11-17.

Big Time Players

• The Chicago White Sox needed something positive, and they got it. In his first year in the MLB, Munetaka Murakami is showing off the power that made him a star in Japan. He leads the league in home runs with 12.
• A pair of New York Yankees sluggers are also in the top five for home runs. Aaron Judge (11 HR) makes a familiar appearance on the list, but he’s joined by teammate Ben Rice (10 HR) who is having a breakout season after showing flashes last year.
• Contributing to Cincinnati’s hot start mentioned above is a potential breakout star in first baseman Sal Stewart. He came into the year at 22nd on MLB’s Top 100 Prospects list and has started the season with a bang, leading the league in RBI and is slashing .291/.385/.602.

A lot will change in the remaining games on the path to 162, but what’s caught you by surprise the most in this young season? Whether it’s one of the rising or falling teams above, a player crushing it, or a superstar not living up to expectations, what’s happening that you didn’t expect to see? Let us know below!

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Dodgers at the moment have their second three-game win streak of the season. They also have a five-game win streak (April 3-7) and a four-game win streak (April 13-17).

The designated hitter bats leadoff for Los Angeles, per usual.

Tuesday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Marlins
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

The fourth inning concluded Tuesday with a standing ovation from much of the small crowd at Citi Field, perhaps wondering if what it just witnessed was real.

But this wasn’t a mirage. The Mets sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning and scored seven runs. Frustration turned to smiles. The Mets had it all together for a night.

The big inning propelled the Mets to snap a three-game skid with an 8-0 victory over the Nationals before an announced crowd of 33,622 that was much smaller.

In getting swept in three games by the Rockies over the weekend, the Mets scored only four combined runs to continue their season-long offensive woes.

Clay Holmes concluded his dominant April by pitching six shutout innings in which he allowed three hits and one walk with six strikeouts. The right-hander’s ERA dipped to 1.75 before Tobias Myers and Craig Kimbrel finished it.

Now the Mets need momentum. They began this homestand with a series victory over the Twins, and anything less against the underwhelming Nationals will only increase the volume on calls for manager Carlos Mendoza’s firing.

“It’s going to take that daily showing up and doing what we can to be a little bit better,” Holmes said. “I don’t think one day good or bad is really going to change much. I think it’s really having a long-term view if we really want to get where we want to go.”

The offensive fireworks included Juan Soto’s first homer since returning from the injured list last week. Soto’s two-run blast punctuated the Mets’ wild outburst in the fourth against Zack Littell.

Bo Bichette homered on the first pitch in the bottom of the first to get the runaway started. The blast was Bichette’s second this season.

“It sets the tone, first pitch of the game,” Mendoza said. “You want to get the guys going and the last thing you want — I am not going to say panic, but the fact we get the break, loosen it up, which is good to see.”

Jorbit Vivas’ error was the big play in the fourth that launched the Mets’ seven-run explosion. With the bases loaded, Vivas misplayed Marcus Semien’s grounder, allowing two runs to score. Carson Benge’s ensuing two-run single gave the Mets a 5-0 lead. Ronny Mauricio singled to continue the rally before Bichette hit a sacrifice fly. Soto cleared the fence in left-center for his second homer this season, a two-run blast that widened the gap to 8-0.

“I appreciate the effort that the guys put in,” Soto said. “After the Marcus ground ball everybody took great at-bats and getting base hits. Bo bringing the [run] with the sacrifice fly, it was really cool to see.”

MJ Melendez’s single started the big inning and walks to Mark Vientos and Brett Baty loaded the bases ahead of Vivas’ error.

“I think we all felt it there, like this is the break we have been looking for,” Mendoza said. “Not only that, just to be able to cash in, that is like the next step there … just putting guys on base, a couple of walks set up that situation. We were able to create traffic, which is something we weren’t able to do as of late.”

Soto also gave credit to Holmes following the right-hander’s impressive performance. Holmes has pitched at least five innings and allowed two runs or fewer in each of his six starts this season.

“He’s been doing it since last year,” Soto said. “No surprise what he’s been doing. He’s a grinder. He’s been putting in the work every day, so I am really happy to see that.”

ARLINGTON, Texas — George Lombard Jr. is suddenly on the doorstep of the big leagues.

The Yankees have promoted their top prospect to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, a source confirmed on Tuesday night, after he crushed the first month of the season at Double-A Somerset.

Lombard, who turns 21 on June 2, was batting .312 with a .971 OPS in 20 games at Somerset after going through some growing pains in 108 games there last year.

The Yankees believe that the shortstop — who has also played some occasional third base — is already ready defensively for the big leagues, but they wanted to see his bat catch up to his glove. 

Lombard has impressed in each of the last two springs, as a non-roster invite to big league camp, both with his talent and his character.

The son of a former big leaguer (and current Tigers bench coach), Lombard has often been lauded for his “off-the-charts” makeup and baseball IQ.

It may not be long before the organization’s first-round pick in 2023 makes it to The Bronx — the only question, now — he is just one level away from the major leagues, is how soon it happens.

Giancarlo Stanton was back in a familiar spot Tuesday, with familiar feelings about it.

The veteran DH officially landed on the 10-day injured list with a low-grade right calf strain, and while a Monday MRI exam revealed he was not dealing with something more severe, that did little to temper his frustration with going on the IL for an eighth straight season.

“At this point, there’s no real peace of mind if you’re going to be out,” Stanton said before Tuesday’s game at Globe Life Field. “It’s better [that] it won’t be a long time, but out again is not ideal.”

Stanton was not yet sure how long he might be out, indicating that he would have a better gauge of that during the upcoming homestand once he started to move around more.

“It’s good that it’s not high-grade, but at the same time, you got to make sure it doesn’t happen again and you don’t re-aggravate it,” Stanton said. “Just got to be smart with it.”

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

The 36-year-old is still able to hit, but has not tried running since sustaining the injury Friday. The first day he is eligible to come off the IL is May 5, though it remains to be seen whether he will be ready that soon.

“Hopefully it’s not something that’s long, but obviously [Stanton] has had some of these lower-body issues before,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We’re just going to listen to that and certainly not rush anything. Hopefully it’s on the shorter side of things.”

Angel Chivilli, who flew back to New York to undergo tests after being placed on the 15-day injured list Saturday, will not throw for at least three weeks because of a shoulder injury.

Boone did not have the exact diagnosis, but said the reliever “had some acute and chronic stuff going on in there,” which will keep him from being a bullpen option again at least until June.

José Caballero started the season a perfect 10-for-10 in stolen bases, but since is 1-for-4 over his past four games. He went 0-for-3 in Tuesday’s win and did not have a steal attempt.

“We certainly want to be smart all the time, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to take some chances and take some risks sometimes,” Boone said. “I trust in his ability to execute out there and certainly don’t want him to shy away. We need him to play out there with that kind of confidence and swagger and have that continue to be part of his game — not to say we don’t want to be as smart as we can in certain spots.”

The Yankees called up utility player Max Schuemann on Tuesday as a roster replacement for Stanton.

Schuemann was likely just making a one-day cameo, since the Yankees will have to open a roster spot again Wednesday to make room for Elmer Rodríguez being called up to make his MLB debut.

Anthony Volpe played in another rehab game Tuesday with Double-A Somerset, and is scheduled to play another Wednesday before the Yankees decide his next steps.

The Tigers are holding their breath about Javier Báez.

Báez exited in the fifth inning of Detroit’s game in Atlanta after sliding awkwardly at first base, leaving the field on a cart.

The center fielder rolled over on a first-pitch changeup from Braves lefty Martin Perez, sending a ground ball to shortstop. Mauricio Dubon threw high to first, though, and to avoid a tag from first baseman Matt Olson, Báez attempted to slide feet-first into the bag but appeared to injure the lower part of his right leg after going past the base.

Javier Báez was carted off the field after an awkward slide into first base.

(Via: @BRWalkoff) pic.twitter.com/m1OwOoYRNX

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) April 29, 2026

Báez was helped off the field by first base coach Anthony Sanders and assistant athletic trainer Kelly Rhoades, who got him into a cart.

Wenceel Pérez came into the game to replace Báez.

Báez finished the game 0-for-2 before leaving.

Detroit had not announced what Baez is dealing with, but did say starting pitcher Casey Mize exited the ballgame with right groin tightness after yielding two runs over just 2 1/3 innings.

Báez has played center, short and second base this year and is hitting .256 with a .670 OPS through 78 at-bats.

Earlier this season, manager A.J. Hinch said Báez was looking more like his old self on the diamond after struggling through much of his six-year, $140 million contract he signed with Detroit before the 2022 season.

“I just think he’s like a kid again,” the skipper said. “He likes playing out there, but I don’t see an energy boost or a difference in him as much as I see a willing teammate go out and fill a void that was unfortunately open.”

The story before the game was Cleveland top prospect Travis Bazzana was recalled to help kickstart a struggling Guardians offense which had posted a 95 wRc+ over the past two weeks. While Bazzana did his part to help matters drawing two walks, Nick Martinez and comapny caused trouble and bothered everybody in the Cleveland lineup limiting the Guardians to three hits and six baserunners in the shutout.

For awhile, this game had the feeling of a Spider-Man meme in action as both Martinez and Tanner Bibee were trading blows from the mound as both hurlers were attacking the zone with their full arsenals, albeit with different approaches. Bibee genereated 12 whiffs in the game and the Rays consistently pushed him into 18+ pitches per inning despite doing little against him in the first four innings. Bibee’s challenge was made easier when Junior Caminero fouled a ball off his face and had to leave the game after his first plate appearance. In-game reports have Caminero with a bruised jaw and day-to-day, and it’s likely he is sitting for tomorrow’s getaway game. The workload caught up to Bibee in the 5th inning when he walked Taylor Walls on six pitches and later allowed back-to-back singles to Ben Williamson and Jonathan Aranda to plate the game’s only run. The bullpen got the final 12 outs for Cleveland with nary a scare, leaving Rays pitching to do some heavy lifting.

Martinez was incredibly efficient this evening as he left the game after a leadoff walk to Bazzana in the 8th inning despite throwing just 78 pitches. Martinez had faced 25 batters to that point, so proactively getting in front of the fourth time through the order penality was the right call by Kevin Cash. However, the opportunity cost was Ian Seymour coming in and yet again walking his first batter on five pitches only because the umpire gifted a strike one call on the 4th pitch. That set up the sacrifice bunt by Brayan Rocchio and an intentional walk to Steven Kwan to load the bases. Seymour then found his command and struck out Chase DeLauter on three pitches allowing Cash to then lift Seymour for Kevin Kelly who kept Jose Ramirez in the yard, barely, to end the inning.

Cole Sulser came in to pitch the 9th and things got a little hairy with a two-out double by Angel Martinez which nearly left the yard and an intentional walk to Bazzana, but Sulser rebounded to strike out George Valera on three pitches to secure his first save and the Rays sixth consecutive win.

Getting back to Martinez, he has simply been incredible for the Rays this season with his efficiency and his results. He has now limited opposing batters to a .196 average swith 31 baserunners in 31 innings and just 3 home runs allowed. This was his fourth quality start on the season and he has yet to allow more than two earned runs in any outing. Martinez, no doubt, took notes watching Steven Matz go changeup heavy as Martinez leaned on his own changeup to keep the batters off balance all evening. DeLauter had the only solid contact off Martinez with a single in the first inning, but nobody else was able to get to Martinez in the rest of the outing. If you are a fan of pitching without gas, these last two nights have been an absolute pleasure to watch by the two free agent vets the front office targeted this winter.

Drew Rasumssen goes to the bump in the getaway game tomorrow, which cannot thrill the Guardians after what they have gone through these past two games. Let’s hope Junior’s jaw is good and he is back in the lineup when the club returns home to kick off a six-game homestand against the Giants and Blue Jays. Pitching and defense have won many a game for this franchise over the years, but tonight was truly about the pitching because Martinez rocked up on the mound and rocked the mound (Right).

Tonight marked the third series in a row in which the O’s have faced a last-place team. Are the Orioles a good team? We’re not sure. But right now, Houston has the worst record in the American League and is down a whole outfield, a shortstop, practically an entire bullpen…  

Surely, given the depleted state of the ‘Stros, the Orioles could hope for nice things tonight? Nice things like Pete Alonso tanks and Shane Baz quality starts.

Well, close enough! Pete the Polar Bear did go deep, a big two-run bomb in the fifth inning to put the O’s up 4-1, and though a shaky Anthony Nunez allowed it to get close in the eighth, Ryan Helsley slammed the door to preserve a 5-3 win. Meanwhile, Shane Baz finished one out short of a QS, but along the way he showed some of his best stuff all season, going 5 1/3 with just one earned run allowed and six strikeouts.

Tonight’s tart felt like a good time for Shane Baz to find his ace stuff. (Or I’m just saying that because this is my recap.) But really, it’s getting late enough in the season—and Baz far enough removed from surgery—that the pressure is on a little bit to see what the talented righty’s really got.

Well, this was a good outing. If we’re nit-picking, Baz is still throwing a lot of uncompetitive breaking pitches outside the zone. But that’s OK. He has a 99-mph fastball and nasty break, and he made a lot of Astros look bad tonight.

Baz also got to pitch from a 2-0 lead, his team spotting him two quick runs against reliever-turned-starter-for-tonight Kai-Wei Teng. Teng had had sparkling results so far (2.16 ERA in 11 appearances out of the bullpen), but the O’s greeted him rudely.

Here’s how it went. Gunnar Henderson led off the game with a noisy double to left and scored on an Adley Rutschman single after the catcher nicely worked the count against Teng. Another hot young bat, that of Samuel Basallo, hit a scorching 112-mph double to right, and the Birds were up 2-0 without breaking a sweat. A nice change of pace from waiting until the eighth inning to start connecting with the ball.

Baz allowed leadoff hits in both the second and third innings, but no damage. You know what’s a great way to take care of leadoff RISP? Strike out the side. Baz did that in the second, dispatching the 7-8-9 Astros hitters in order. It was beautiful. He retired the side in the third, too, helped out by Coby Mayo’s slick play, gobbling up a slow roller with his bare hand, and firing in time to retire Paredes.

A nice moment in the fourth. Baz fell down 2-0 to Christian Walker, then battled back and finished him off with a cutter. Like “Mike Mussina at his best,” pronounced Jim Palmer from the booth. Hey, that’s pretty good company.

Baz wobbled a bit after striking out the first hitter of the fifth. The No. 9 guy, Brice Matthews, hit a fastball into the bleachers on a strong inside-out swing. Now it was 2-1.

But Pete Alonso wisely chose this moment to go long. After Kai-Wei Teng’s three innings, the Astros turned to an ineffective Steven Okert, and then Ryan Weiss, who entered with an ERA north of six. Gosh, fans have asked, when is Pete Alonso going to start hitting home runs? We have ourselves have an answer. With one aboard via walk, Weiss left a fastball down the middle, and the Polar Bear delivered, cranking the ball into the bleachers. We now had ourselves a 4-1 Orioles lead.

That lead felt kind of safe, actually. Even when Baz, approaching 100 pitches in the sixth, allowed two two-out singles in the sixth. Baz was yanked, and in came Rico “The Janitor” Garcia, to clean up the mess. Well, the Janitor Always Mops Twice. That doesn’t make any sense here, but Garcia did get out of the inning with a divebomber changeup, like he often does.

The lead shook in the seventh and eighth, I admit. Andrew Kittredge looks to have some rust to shake off, too, by the looks of it. He allowed a single and a double before whiffing Carlos Correa. Gutsy! Kittredge intentionally walked the scary Yordan Alvarez, opting to face Isaac Paredes. Paredes swung through some junk! Now José Altuve came up with the bases loaded. More junk! More swings! I don’t know if to give Kittredge flak for loading the bases, or style points for wriggling out of it. Both!

The Astros’ Ryan Weiss, a guy pitching in the KBO last season (where he was known as “Daejeon Jesus”), was a hoss tonight, giving his team length, though the results weren’t always pretty. Weiss threw breaking balls right and left, mostly successfully. Where it didn’t succeed was in the bottom of the seventh, when the O’s tacked on a fifth run on a Gunnar walk + steal and an Adley single. (Adley: definitely hot right now.)

Rookie Anthony Nunez is having a charmed debut, but there will be tougher competition in this league than Double-A, where he was last season. Christian Walker and his sheriff mustache doubled to lead off the eighth and scored on a triple by No. 8 hitter Dustin Harris. Nunez battled to strike out Cam Smith, but Brice Matthews singled to make it 5-3. Would Nunez make it out of the inning? He survived a mound visit, and also Carlos Correa, whom he got swinging on three straight pitches. Onto the ninth!

Ryan Helsley had himself a real save situation. He sat down Yordan Alvarez, Isaac Paredes and José Altuve in order (defensive replacement Blaze Alexander contributed a super-slick barehanded play to retire Altuve). The Orioles have themselves a real closer.

Is Shane Baz an ace who was worth four prospects? Are the Orioles a good team? Maybe not yet. But stacking zeroes/wins against bad teams is how you get to such accolades.

Who is your Most Birdland Player of this tidy Tuesday win? Shane Baz, starting to look ace-like, with 5 1/3 one-run innings and six K’s? Adley Rutschman, 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs and lots of nice contact all night? Pete Alonso, with the big two-run bomb? Samuel Basallo, who had two hits of > 105 mph? Andrew Kittredge, for making a mess and cleaning it up himself? Sound off in the comments.

The struggling Philadelphia Phillies got a masterful start from Jesús Luzardo Tuesday night. He held the San Francisco Giants to two baserunners and three total bases in seven innings of work, striking out eight including a hat trick of Matt Chapman. The only thing he didn’t go was close, leaving with a five-run lead after 88 pitches in the Phillies’ 7-0 victory.

After all, Luzardo (2-3) started the game and left with a big lead. In this game, by rule, Jesus didn’t save.

Giants starter Tyler Mahle dropped to 1-4 in a game where he pitched quite well for five innings, holding the potent Phillies lineup to three hits and a single run, after a Trea Turner single, two walks, and a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Brandon Marsh.

But the wheels came off in the 6th, when Willy Adames bobbled Turner’s grounder up the middle and the Phillies shortstop reached on an infield hit, one of his four hits in the game. After Mahle walked Kyle Schwarber for the second straight time, Bryce Harper doubled in Turner to make it a 2-0 game, then Adolis Garcia followed with another double to push Philly’s lead to 4-0 and chase Mahle.

Both doubles came on Mahle splitters that broke right over the center of the plate. His final line was 5 IP, 5R, 5ER, 3BB, 3K and his ERA rose to 5.87. Matt Gage relieved and let Garcia score on an Alec Bohm double, which was the Phillies’ third RBI on balls hit towards Heliot Ramos.

At the same time, it didn’t really matter what Mahle did in a game where the Giants got only two hits. Luzardo, Orion Kerkering, and Tim Mayza combined to retire the Giants’ final 17 hitters and only two Giants managed to hit the ball out of the infield after Luis Arraez doubled in the 4th inning. For the game, the Giants left the infield only four times, including a leadoff double by Ramos followed by three straight strikeouts on Luzardo sweepers in the 4th.

Chapman had the worst night, earning the dreaded Golden Sombrero by striking out four times in a game. Patrick Bailey struck out twice, dropping his batting average to .143 before manager Tony Vitello pinch-hit Jerar Encarnacion for him in the 9th. Who also struck out.

Philadelphia added on the their lead in the 8th inning after Brandon Marsh singled and stole second with two outs. That may or may not violate the unwritten rules of baseball, which we’ll know if Marsh gets beaned in the second inning of Wednesday’s game.

After Marsh’s steal, Justin Crawford singled him and came around to score on Turner’s fourth hit of the night, a single off daywalker Blade Tidwell that completed the night’s scoring.

Perhaps the Phillies got a boost from Tuesday morning’s dismissal of former manager Rob Thomson. Bench coach Don Mattingly took over as interim manager and is now 1-0 as skipper of the Phillies, whose even-keeled fans will surely give their new leader plenty of patience and support.

Or perhaps everyone looks good against the Giants anemic offense. How do they get back on track? We suggest cheese steaks for everyone.

In the wake of Rob Thomson’s sacrificial demise as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies (10-19) earlier today, the team put together their most complete win of the season for new boss, Don Mattingly, in a 7-0 dismantling of the San Francisco Giants (13-16).

Jesus Luzardo and company held the Giants to two hits and combined for 12 strikeouts.

Luzardo had his best start of the year, lowering his ERA nearly a point and a half by going seven clean innings with eight Ks. He allowed both of the Giants’ baserunners on doubles by Heliot Ramos and Luis Arraez in the third and fourth innings. Orion Kerkering and Tim Mayza each pitched a two-K 1-2-3 frame in relief.

The Phillies opened the scoring against Tyler Mahle in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by Brandon Marsh after a Trea Turner single and walks to Kyle Schwarber and Adolis Garcia loaded the bases.

The bulk of the damage was inflicted in the bottom of the sixth inning when the entire lineup came to the dish and cashed in three RBI doubles by Bryce Harper, Garcia and Alec Bohm.

The Phillies would tack on two more in the bottom of the eighth after Marsh led off the inning with a single, stole second, and came home on a hit by Justin Crawford. Crawford scored two at-bats later on Turner’s fourth hit of the game.

Really the lone blemish on the evening was due to Bryson Stott’s three strikeouts, but he and Rafael Marchan each worked a walk that achieved every Phils’ hitter reaching base safely on the night.

The shutout victory is the Phillies’ first this season after tallying 14 last year.

Cristopher Sanchez takes the mound for Game 2 of the Mattingly era tomorrow night against Logan Webb.

The Mets' bats woke up in a big way, scoring seven runs in the fourth inning en route to an 8-0 win over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night.

Here are the key takeaways...

-- Bo Bichette smacked a leadoff home run to right-center field on the first pitch he saw from Zack Littell to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. It's his second homer of the season and seventh career leadoff HR.

-- The Mets waited until the fourth inning to record their next hit on MJ Melendez' one-out single. That got New York going as Mark Vientos and Brett Baty both walked to load the bases for Marcus Semien, who's grounder got under Jorbit Vivas' glove at third base, allowing two runners to score.

Carson Benge then came through with a two-RBI single and Bichette tacked on another with a a sac-fly, making it 6-0. New York's biggest inning of the year continued as Juan Soto launched a two-run home run to left-center field, pushing the lead to 8-0.

-- Clay Holmes retired the first seven Nationals he faced before letting up a one-out single to Drew Millas in the top of the third inning. The right-hander then walked James Wood with two outs to give Washington a scoring chance, but was able to win his first challenge of the night by striking out Luis García Jr. to end the frame.

Holmes kept it going through the sixth inning, getting three groundouts to keep Washington scoreless. He didn't come back out for the seventh inning having already thrown 94 pitches, finishing after 6.0 IP with six strikeouts, allowing just three hits and one walk.

-- Tobias Myers tossed scoreless seventh and eighth innings, allowing just one baserunner on a walk. Craig Kimbrel shut things down in the ninth, striking out the side to lock up New York's second shutout of the season.

-- The team finished with six hits as Benge was the only Met to have more than one, going 2-for-4 with two RBI in the win. He's improved to 7-for-16 at the plate over his last five games.

Game MVP

While the bats came through for New York, Holmes kept Washington's quiet as his season ERA now sits at 1.75. Holmes became the first Mets starter to earn a win since he did back on April 4 against the San Francisco Giants.

Highlights

BO BICHETTE HITS A LEADOFF HOME RUN ON THE FIRST PITCH! pic.twitter.com/NwRi9lVbfR

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 28, 2026

A shutdown inning for Clay Holmes 🔥 pic.twitter.com/QbpZn6xRvl

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 28, 2026

Jorbit Vivas can't field Marcus Semien's ground ball and two runs score for the Mets! pic.twitter.com/gTZUSsN2Zx

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 29, 2026

Carson Benge brings home two more and it's a four-run inning for the Mets! pic.twitter.com/xmvd5CSj8O

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 29, 2026

Bo Bichette's sacrifice fly brings home Carson Benge with the fifth run of the inning 🤝 pic.twitter.com/OJh9wBmpPU

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 29, 2026

JUAN SOTO HOMERS!

It's a seven-run inning for the Mets! pic.twitter.com/sHxyB2rw86

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 29, 2026

What's next

The Mets continue their three-game series against the Washington Nationals on Wednesday at 7:10 p.m. on SNY.

David Peterson (0-3, 5.06 ERA) will take the mound against RHP Cade Cavalli (0-1, 4.01 ERA).

The Mets’ lineup took advantage of its opportunities tonight at Citi Field, as the team beat the Nationals by an 8-0 score. Clay Holmes pitched well, and a big error by the Nationals helped the Mets blow the game open, but there’s nothing wrong with any of that as far as the Mets are concerned.

Bo Bichette opened the scoring with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first on the first pitch that he saw from Nationals starter Zack Littell, who entered the game with a 7.56 ERA on the season. His teammates didn’t do any further damage through the bottom of the third, but that changed in a big way in the fourth.

With the bases loaded and one out in that inning, Littell induced a ground ball off the bat of Marcus Semien that had the potential to turn into an inning-ending double play. But Nationals third baseman Jorbit Vivas misplayed it entirely, allowing the ball to end up in left field and plating the Mets’ second and third runs of the game.

That left runners on second and third, and Carson Benge single to left-center to bring both of them home and give the Mets a 5-0 lead. After a Ronny Mauricio single put runners on the corners, Bichette hit a sac fly to bring in the Mets’ sixth run, and Juan Soto followed that up with a two-run home run to left-center field. The Mets were up 8-0, which was more than enough to win the game.

As for Holmes, he threw six innings without allowing a run, struck out six, walked one, and allowed just three hits. He now has a 1.75 ERA on the season, an impressive number even if the underlying metrics don’t fully support it.

Tobias Myers took over in the top of the seventh and went on to throw two scoreless innings before Craig Kimbrel retired the Nationals in order in the ninth to finish the game.

The Mets need to do much more than win one game against the Nationals, but it is obviously a good thing that they snapped a three-game losing streak. David Peterson takes the mound tomorrow night, and he and the Mets’ lineup will try to get the team a series win.

SB Nation GameThreads

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Box scores

MLB.com
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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?
Big Mets winner: Clay Holmes, +22% WPA
Big Mets loser: none
Mets pitchers: +23% WPA
Mets hitters: +27% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Two runs score on a Jorbit Vivas error in the fourth, +13% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: CJ Abrams singles in the top of the fourth, -3% WPA

After sweeping the New York Mets over the weekend, the Colorado Rockies hoped to continue on their winning track in Game 1 against the Cincinnati Reds. However, it was not to be as the Rockies, despite getting on base throughout the game, could never manage to bring runners home and lost the series opener, 7-2.

Edouard Julien powers an offense that can’t finish the job

The Reds took the lead in the first inning on a weird bloop single from Elly De La Cruz that scored Dane Myers. Spencer Steer followed that up with a two-run homer, and the Rockies were down 3-0 as the first inning ended.

(FWIW, Steer is now 3-for-8 against Kyle Freeland.) Making matters worse, it took Freeland 31 pitches to get out of the inning.

“Not a good first inning for us after sweeping the Mets,” manager Warren Schaeffer said after the game.

The Rockies got their first hit in the second inning with a Tyler Freeman lead-off single, but nothing came of it.

Also, I would not be doing my job if I did not share with you this De La Cruz defensive gem:

The Rockies got on the board in the third when Edouard Julien, who walked in the first inning, hit a lead-off home run, making the score 3-1.

The Reds re-established their three-run lead in the bottom of the third, however, when De La Cruz tallied his second RBI of the night, and the score was 4-1.

Julien struck again in the fifth inning when he hit an RBI single to bring home Jake McCarthy, and made the score 4-2.

The Rockies tried to rally in the sixth with runners on second and the third with one out following a Troy Johnston double, but they were unable to capitalize.

The sixth inning was the last for Chase Burns. He finished the evening with 6.0 IP, giving up two runs (both earned) on seven hits. He struck out nine and allowed one walk. After that, the Reds went to their bullpen, which finished the job Burns had started.

The Reds did not score again until the eighth inning when De La Cruz hit a two-run homer, which put the Rockies behind 6-2.

It was another stellar outing for De La Cruz who finished the evening going 3-for-4 with two runs and four RBI.

After that, the Reds continued to get hits, and by the time the eighth inning ended, the score was 7-2.

The Rockies continued to get players on base but failed to bring them home — in fact, they had baserunners on base each inning. All told, the Rockies went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. They struck out 12 times and walked twice.

While hits were spread through the Rockies lineup, the standout was Julien who was 3-for-4 with a walk, a run, and two RBI.

“Situational baseball, not good today,” Schaeffer said.

Freeland has a solid return

Stop me if you’ve head this one before, but it was a first-inning-of-unfortunate-events for Kyle Freeland that involved an RBI bloop single in addition to Troy Johnston botching a pick-off attempt at first. (It was not a great defensive night for Johnston.) The starter’s only real mistake was that pitch to Steer that resulted in a two-run homer.

The consequences were twofold. First, Freeland was already down 3-0 at the bottom of the first; second, he threw 31 pitches, which meant his time on the mound would be short, especially given that he was coming off the IL.

In the end, Freeland (again) did his best to keep the Rockies in the game and got stronger as the evening progressed, but the offense struggled to figure out Burns and provide some run support.

Freeland finished the evening with 5.0 IP in which he gave up four runs (all earned) on five hits. He struck out four and walked one.

In short, Freeland was better than the box score indicates.

“I thought Free was really good. Free kept us in the ballgame,” Schaeffer said.

“I definitely got stronger as the game went on,” Freeland said. He added that he did not experience any shoulder issues.

Tanner Gordon was good — until he wasn’t

Schaeffer turned the game over to Tanner Gordon in the sixth inning. Gordon was good for two innings, but allowed some damage in the eighth inning.

His final line was three runs on six hits over 3.0 IP. He struck out three and issued no walks.

Up Next

Join us for Game 2 tomorrow afternoon at 4:40 when Tomoyuki Sugano will face Brandon Williamson.

See you then.

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A lot of things went right for the St. Louis Cardinals Tuesday night. Kyle Leahy pitched a solid 5 innings, multiple Cardinals tried to drown baseballs in the nearby Allegheny River and the St. Louis bullpen was adequate enough for another road victory.

The Cardinals lineup struck early and often with Nolan Gorman crushing a 413 foot home run into the sidewalk next to the river making it 1-0 Cardinals in the top of the 2nd inning.

In the bottom of the 2nd inning, JJ Wetherholt showed why he’s more than just an offensive threat making an acrobatic grab on a ball that was headed into right field before he smothered it and then fired a throw to first that Alec Burleson somehow managed to catch and strafe the bag for a Sportscenter highlight out.

St. Louis added to its lead in the top of the 3rd inning as Victor Scott II did the opposite of bunting for a change and instead launched a ball 2 feet further than Gorman which ended up in the Allegheny River.

JJ Wetherholt showed his power to all fields following up Victor’s bomb with a ball into the left-center field gap. He would later score on a two-out single by Jordan Walker giving the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.

In the top of the 5th inning, JJ Wetherholt and Ivan Herrera would both walk. Alec Burleson then connected for a ground rule double that would score JJ making it 4-0 Cardinals. Jordan Walker hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Herrera upping the St. Louis lead to 5-0. Gorman would follow suit with his own sacrifice fly scoring Burleson making it 6-0 Cardinals.

If you were just judging Kyle Leahy by his first five innings, you would say it was an epic outing. However, he did lose his mojo in the bottom of the 6th inning as he gave up a long home run to Oneil Cruz putting the Pirates on the board. A couple of batter later, O’Hearn would crush a two-run homer cutting into the St. Louis lead to just 6-3. Gordon Graceffo would put out that fire, though, getting a sweet double play to end the inning. Kyle Leahy would end the night after having pitched 5 1/3 inning giving up 9 hits, 3 earned runs with 7 strikeouts and no walks. All things considered, a very positive outing for Leahy.

The St. Louis Cardinals offense continued to be relentless playing small ball in the top of the 7th inning. After Herrera and Burleson walked, Jordan Walker smoked a single to center scoring Herrera and advancing Burleson to third making it 7-3 Cardinals. Gorman grounded out, but Burleson scored on the fielder’s choice upping the St. Louis lead to 8-3. Walker would then score on a single by Masyn Winn giving St. Louis its 6-run lead back making it 9-3 Cardinals.

St. Louis would pile on in the top of the 8th inning as JJ Wetherholt was hit on the hand by a pitch and would advance to third on a double by Herrera. Alec Burleson, in a moment of Deja vu, hammered a double to right center scoring both Wetherholt and Herrera upping the Cardinals lead to 11-3.

While he didn’t make any highlight reels, Jordan Walker made a lot of good decisions at the plate Tuesday night going 2-4 with 3 RBI’s and a run scored. Masyn Winn and Alec Burleson were also 2-4 on the night. Pedro Pagés was the last starter to get a hit as he dumped a single into right field in the top of the 9th inning. Nearly every Cardinal contributed to this lopsided win. Positives in the St. Louis bullpen including 1 2/3 innings of hitless baseball from Gordon Graceffo. Justin Bruihl allowed 3 hits and a 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th, but the Cardinals lead was secure at that point at 11-6. He was bailed out by a Masyn Winn double play to end the crisis. Matt Svanson pitched the 9th inning for St. Louis giving Riley O’Brien yet another down day of rest. He gave up a solo shot to Konnor Griffin which game the Pirates a consolation run for the final score of 11-7 Cardinals.

An honorary tip of the cap to Pirates pitcher Hunter Barco who was tasked with pitching 4 2/3 innings of relief throwing a staggering 84 pitches. Yes, he was shelled with 5 of the Cardinals 11 runs, but he was given the glory-less task of finishing up a lost game for Pittsburgh.

The St. Louis Cardinals are scheduled to start Andre Pallante in game 3 of their series versus the Pirates Wednesday night, but be aware there is rain possible in the forecast that might interfere with the scheduled 5:40pm central time first pitch at PNC Park.

The Dodgers finish off their stretch of 13 game days in a row with a rare weekday daytime start at Dodger Stadium, hosting the Miami Marlins on getaway day Wednesday in Los Angeles.

Tyler Glasnow takes the ball for the Dodgers in the homestand finale, coming off nine strikeouts in eight scoreless innings, the latter tying a career high. He’ll duel with Marlins ace and former Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara.

Wednesday is one of only two weekday daytime starts in Los Angeles this season, both against Florida teams. On June 17 against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Dodgers will play another 12:10 p.m. game.

Wednesday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Marlins
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 12:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)