Category: Baseball

For the Nats big name players, today was a productive game. However, it did not come in a winning effort, with the Nats dropping this one 7-2. In a surprise to absolutely nobody, the bullpen could not hold down the fort. Cionel Perez and Gus Varland did not have it in a damaging 7th inning for the Nats.

The Nats were facing JR Ritchie, who was making his MLB debut. James Wood gave him quite the rude introduction by sending Ritchie’s first ever MLB pitch over the wall. The wide eyed 22 year old managed to shake that off and cool off this red hot Nats offense though. Ritchie went 7 innings, only allowing two runs in an impressive performance.

James Wood slugs a first-pitch leadoff homer!

He's hit 5 home runs in his last 7 games 💪 pic.twitter.com/Y4P1pEBJ2S

— MLB (@MLB) April 23, 2026

This Nats offense has been elite so far, but even the best offenses have off nights. However, when the offense is not firing, they cannot lean on this pitching staff. So far this season, the Nats pitching staff has been disastrous, allowing the most runs in the league. Some games it is the starters, but today it was the bullpen.

The starting pitching was actually excellent today. Cade Cavalli had his best start of the young season, and arguably the best one of his career. While he only went five innings, he struck out a career high 10 hitters and did not walk anybody. It was a huge step forward for the 27 year old who has been up and down to start the season.

Cade Cavalli's 3Ks in the 5th.

10Ks thru 5. pic.twitter.com/TU3DZPPVW7

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 23, 2026

In this one it felt like Cavalli was going right after guys from the jump. He leaned heavily on his two fastballs and his curve in this one. It felt like Cavalli was getting back to the basics and pitching to his strengths. His velocity also looked really good, averaging over 97 on the four-seamer and touching 99. 

He threw too many pitches over the heart of the plate in the fourth inning, which the Braves punished. Besides that, Cavalli was outstanding. He still needs to give the Nats more length, but a 4.01 ERA is not too shabby. If he throws the ball like he did today on a consistent basis, he will have a lot of success.

Speaking of success, CJ Abrams finally showed up again after a quiet homestand. In the bottom of the 4th, Abrams took young JR Ritchie yard to tie the game. He was in a 2/27 drought, but he responded in a big way today. Abrams can be prone to slumping, but I think this skid has more to do with bad luck than anything else.

CJ Abrams just snapped out of a 2-for-27 skid by belting his 7th HR. The ball traveled 426-feet. pic.twitter.com/HkKw8oY2U3

— Grant Paulsen (@GrantPaulsen) April 23, 2026

Those two homers were all the offense the Nats could muster today though. It was an off game for this usually electric unit. They only had five hits, with four of them coming from Wood, Abrams and Daylen Lile. The supporting cast just did not get anything going today.

That theme also extended to the mound. It was a good start for the bullpen, with Richard Lovelady firing a scoreless inning. However, Cionel Perez and Gus Varland were off their game today for two different reasons.

Perez was not throwing enough strikes, while Varland was throwing pitches over the heart of the plate too often. That combination led to a four run inning for the Braves, which proved decisive. The Nats dropped to 11-15 and 3-10 at home.

They will hit the road to face a rebuilding White Sox team. This will be a good measuring stick series. If they can avoid throwing meatballs to Munetaka Murakami, I like our chances. However, Murakami has been on a roll lately and is a star rookie. The road has treated the Nats well so far this year and hopefully that continues.

Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor said that there is “definitely some level of concern” that the calf strain that landed him on the 10-day injured list could see him miss a decent stretch of the season, while refusing to give any indication of a timeline.

“I’ll be out for a minute, I don’t know how long,” Lindor told reporters outside the Mets’ clubhouse before Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Twins.

Lindor sustained the injury when he scored from first base on a double during the previous night’s win, adding that he felt the injury soon after he touched third base, and it wasn’t an issue before Wednesday’s game.

“I was in some pain, but gotta score,” he said, adding that after he got up from his slide, he was “encouraged” that he was able to walk off the field and down the tunnel to the clubhouse.

As far as when he will return, manager Carlos Mendoza said earlier that while a timetable at this junction is hard to pin down, the Mets “do know that he's going to be down for a while."

Asked directly if he felt he would be back this season, Lindor was emphatic: “A hundred percent. A hundred percent. Yeah, ah… yeah. It kills me not being on the field, but I trust the trainers, and I know they have good care here. 

"And I’ll be back, I’ll be back. Hopefully sooner rather than later.”

He added that he “hopes” to be back before the All-Star break, but this injury is “one of those that I gotta go through the process on a daily basis.” 

Lindor said he’s the kind of person who “doesn’t want to know timetables” or grades on the severity of the strain.

“It just plays with my head,” the shortstop said. “I trust the trainers here; we have really good trainers. I have really good people at the house as well that help me get back on the field, hopefully soon.”

On timetables, he added later that he would ignore any discussion of that. “Let’s just stay off that,” he said of any talk of dates. “I’m a person that live day by day, and I hate living in the future. So focus on what I got today, whatever we’re gonna do at some point today. And can’t wait to go watch the boys and win a game tonight.”

Asked later if he had a goal of when he’d like to be back, Lindor said, “The goal is to win the World Series. That’s the one goal.”

Lindor said he experienced a calf injury on his other leg during the offseason a few years back, and it “took some time.” But this time, he added, with a slightly hopeful tone, “I feel better today than I did last time, but we’ll see how everything goes.”

“Trust what’s happening on a daily basis,” he said of what he learned from the previous injury. “When it’s soft tissue stuff, you just gotta trust what’s happening that day and don’t worry about tomorrow.” 

Lindor said he hasn’t gone through the full details of how his initial rehab program will take shape over the coming days, but he trusts what the Mets have in the training room.

“It’s gonna be one of those where every day you just gotta show up and give 100 percent of what you got that day,” he said. “And understanding that rehab is not a linear thing, it’s gonna be ups and downs with that. The good thing is that we’re gonna be playing games and I’ll be supporting my guys.”

Of course, catching a good break just hasn’t been in the cards for the Mets or Lindor this season. His offseason began with elbow surgery and included a broken hamate bone that required surgery at the start of spring training

“It was a long offseason,” Lindor said. “With that being said, we’re athletes, we depend on our body, stuff like this happens, it’s part of the game, it comes with the territory. And you gotta toughen up and try to find a way to get healthy and be on the field. 

“Even though the last two weeks weren't the best for us, we were still going through the process and just loving each other and being there for each other, and there wasn’t a day that I took for granted being on the field.”

And the latest injury came on the day Juan Soto returned to the lineup after missing 15 games with a calf strain of his own, after Lindor had two hits and appeared to be breaking out of an early-season funk at the plate, and as the team finally snapped a miserable 12-game losing skid.

“Whenever I get to miss games, it’s disappointing, but, at the end of the day, I am super encouraged by what I saw yesterday,” he said. “I feel like the group is in the right direction and the guys are hungry, they’re ready to start winning games, and what you saw yesterday felt like it was a new day.

“...I’m looking forward to seeing what the guys are gonna be doing and me cheering them on and pulling for them. It sucks to be on the side, but I’ll be there with them, probably just as nervous as every fan out there. When you’re watching the games and not playing, I get more nervous than when I am actually playing.”

In the corresponding roster move, the Mets brought Ronny Mauricio back from Triple-A, and Lindor expressed his confidence that the 25-year-old can bring “a lot” to the table and help the team win in his absence.

“I’m looking forward to seeing him at shortstop and helping us win games. He’s a good player,” Lindor said of Muaricio. “He’s a great competitor, he brings a good energy, and he’s gonna play well. He played well in spring training, the day that he was here, he played well.

“For however many days I’m out, I know the team is gonna be in a good spot.”

TV: NESN

First Pitch: 6:10 p.m. ET

The Red Sox are looking to salvage a series against their most hated rival on Thursday at Fenway Park.

The Yankees are looking to bury them.

Boston will roll out yet another interesting lineup in the series finale, as they remain without Roman Anthony (back soreness). Jarren Duran, who started to get things going during the middle game of the series, will return to the leadoff spot in what could be a sign of things to come:

Tolle on the bump. pic.twitter.com/CaBMH2S5M1

— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 23, 2026

New York hasn’t exactly been crushing the baseball all series, but the offense has put enough runs on the board to pull their weight in a series where the pitching staff has been superb.

Series Finale at Fenway. #RepBXpic.twitter.com/xfNcu2fIuT

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 23, 2026

Payton Toll will get the start for the good guys, having been called up to make it three consecutive left-handers in the series. Brayan Bello and Garrett Crochet were both pushed back and will start this weekend against the Baltimore Orioles. Tolle has a 3.00 ERA in 15.0 innings for Triple-A Worcester in 2026.

Cam Schlittler is probably going to be as annoying as he always is, which is to say he’ll strike out a ton of guys and then post something snarky on the internet afterwards. Schlittler has a 1.95 ERA this season, having struck out 36 batters in 27.2 innings.

A four-game series within the division on the road is always interesting. It was especially interesting considering that the Washington Nationals were heading into this series having scored the third-most runs in the National League (fourth overall) with a MLB-leading 22 of those runs coming in the first inning of their games played so far. It was clear that if the Braves were going to get greedy and think about winning this series, the pitching would have to perform.

Fortunately, Atlanta had a low bar to clear when it came to their pitching staff being better than Washington’s. That’s because as good as the Nationals had been at the plate, they had been just as bad on the mound. Considering how the Braves had been swinging the bat heading into this series, this did seem like a prime opportunity for Atlanta to keep on cooking at the plate and keep on putting some breathing room between themselves and the Phillies and Mets, who had both gotten off to very sluggish starts to begin this season.

The onus was seemingly on Atlanta’s lineup to out-slug CJ Abrams, James Wood and the rest of the potent Nationals lineup. Let’s take a look at how things went down over the past four games for the Braves:

---

Monday, April 20

Braves 9, Nationals 4

The Nationals scored two runs in the first inning because this is apparently they do, now. The Braves didn’t respond until the fourth inning, which is when Matt Olson cracked one out to dead-center field for a two-run shot that tied the game up at two. Daylen Lile then responded in the bottom half of the fourth with a solo shot of his own that gave the Nationals the lead and it sure seemed like we were in for a topsy-turvy game.

Fortunately, once the bullpen entered the game in relief of Bryce Elder (who was unfortunate to end up with four runs conceded as one of those came on an error), they were able to make sure that the Nationals didn’t do any more damage after that. That was a good thing since the Braves were able to eventually get to Jake Irvin for four runs (three earned as well) while he was out there for five innings. Unlike Atlanta’s ‘pen, Washington’s relief corps was unable to keep the Braves quiet.

A five-run sixth inning wound up being the turning point in favor of the Braves in this contest and then Atlanta added a couple more insurance runs in the ninth inning in order to cruise to a five-run victory. Drake Baldwin came up with the huge knock in the sixth that broke the game open, which isn’t surprising because this is Drake Baldwin we’re talking about. This ended up being a win on multiple fronts as Ronald Acuña Jr. withstood two HBPs (one of which was a scary one that smacked him on the wrist) and ended up escaping with no structural damage — he even started for the rest of the series.

Tuesday, April 21

Nationals 11, Braves 4

The Nationals scored three runs in the first inning because this is apparently what they do, now. Unfortunately for the Braves, Washington was far from done as they followed up on their first-inning damage with consistent offense that eventually crescendoed for them in the final two innings of this one. Reynaldo López got the hook in the second inning after giving up a homer to James Wood and a single immediately afterwards. The good news is that Jose Suarez, Dylan Dodd (who would unfortunately have to go on the IL the next night) and Aaron Bummer were able to keep the Braves in the game as they attempted to chip away at another early deficit.

Unfortunately, this game turned once Ian Hamilton and Joel Payamps entered the contest. They both gave up three runs in their appearances and that allowed the Nationals to pull away while the Braves were unable to keep up in order to make it a truly crazy slugfest. Instead, this was another example of how this Nationals lineup should be taken seriously and is going to win this team a fair share of ballgames via mashing their way out of any trouble. The Braves did mash their way into cutting the deficit to just one run in the fifth inning (with homers from Drake Baldwin and Eli White powering them forward) but that was as close as Atlanta got on this night.

Wednesday, April 22

Braves 8, Nationals 6

The Nationals scored four runs in the first inning because this is apparently what they do, now. This time, the Braves responded right away in order to back up the newly-recalled Didier Fuentes after he suffered another early-game ambush from Washington. The game was tied up at four runs apiece by the top of the second inning, as a two-run homer from Michael Harris II and a sacrifice fly from Ronald Acuña Jr. combined with a first-inning dinger from Drake Baldwin to bring the Braves back on level terms.

The Braves weren’t done crushing the ball, either. Money Mike got another crack at it in the very next frame and while this homer wasn’t as majestic as the one that he hit into the upper deck in the second inning, it still did the job done in putting the Braves in front at 5-4. Matt Olson got his turn in the next frame, as his big fly gave the Braves plenty of space and also doomed Zack Littell to a second-consecutive outing where he gave up at least eight runs. Oof!

Didier Fuentes only went three innings but his performance was encouraging enough to think that he’s absolutely got the stuff to eventually do well at the big league level. For now, he’s back down at Triple-A while consensus MLB Top 100 prospect JR Richie ended up getting a chance on Thursday afternoon.

Thursday, April 23

Braves 7, Nationals 2

The Nationals scored in the first inning because this is apparently what they do, now. Indeed, James Wood gave JR Ritchie a “Welcome to The Show” moment as he took the very first pitch that Ritchie threw as a big leaguer and promptly deposited it into the seats in right field for a leadoff homer. Fortunately, Ritchie proceeded to lock down the Nats from that point forward and ended up delivering a fantastic debut.

I think we’ll all take seven innings, seven strikeouts and just two runs allowed on five hits from a debuting rookie, won’t we? That’s exactly what we got from Ritchie who looked very, very good against a lineup that had been previously mashing the ball. If your only blemishes in your debut are giving up homers to the two best players that the Nats have to offer (CJ Abrams homered as well) then you are doing just fine.

This one actually stayed close while both starters were out there since Cade Cavalli was able to provide a sorely-needed stabilizing presence for Washington’s pitching staff. His only two blemishes came on a sacrifice fly from Ozzie Albies and an RBI single from Michael Harris II — whose day was unfortunately cut short after he had to leave the game in the middle of the seventh inning after feeling some tightness in his left quad.

By the time Mike had left the game, the Braves were in Washington’s bullpen and as we’d seen on multiple occasions during this series, Washington’s bullpen getting involved usually meant good news for Atlanta. Cionel Pérez was unable to maintain the 2-2 deadlock as the Braves broke out for three runs against him and eventually ended up plating four runs total in the seventh in order to turn the game on a dime. Hopefully Harris will be fine as well, since he had a big game (and a big series as a whole) and it’d truly be a shame if he had to experience a lengthy absence right when he’s starting to really heat up.

Ozzie Albies eventually added a solo homer of his own in the ninth inning to add some more breathing room and also cap off on a huge day at the plate for himself. That eventually led to ol’ Cookie Carrasco finishing things off in the ninth inning in order to gave the Braves a four-game series win on the road. Fantastic.

---

Going 5-2 on a seven game road trip that consisted of nothing but divisional games is like picking up a dollar bill on the floor that you forgot about. Winning a four-game series on the road is like picking up a tenner. Doing it against a divisional foe in the form of the Nationals is like picking up a twenty. You can upgrade that to a fifty dollar bill when you consider that the Marlins aren’t doing so hot, themselves, and both the Phillies and the Mets are currently spinning their wheels in the mud. The Atlanta Braves could not ask for a more ideal way to get this season started as they are heading in the right direction while the two other preseason conteners for the division are seemingly heading in the complete opposite direction.

You always have to take April results with a grain of salt since there’s so much baseball to be played but at the same time, we all know from experience that you’d much rather be in a position where you can simply just maintain your position for the rest of the season rather than having to spend weeks or even months trying to dig yourself out of an early-season hole. The Phillies and Mets are going to have to do some serious digging to get back to ground-level while the Braves are sprinting and putting an early gap between them and their two usual foes.

So while it’s tough to say what the long-term impact of this run of form for everybody in the NL east will be, it’s certainly great that the Braves are in the position that they’re currently in. They took care of business on this road trip, they’ve already gone 8-2 in the first 10 games of this 13-game NL East gauntlet and they’ll have a further opportunity to keep on kicking the Phillies while they’re down now that they’ve got a home series against Philadelphia coming up. It will be very important for the Braves to keep this run going in the same direction in order to make sure that any path back for the Phillies will be as difficult as possible.

For now, you’ve got to tip your cap to the Nationals for continuing to swing the bat very well. Their pitching staff may not be any good but it’s clear that Washington won’t be a doormat for teams to walk all over during this season. The quality of Washington’s offense and Miami’s pitching will likely make things tougher for the Braves within the division but that’ll also be just as annoying for New York and Philadelphia to deal with as well. This division is going to be an interesting one going forward but hey, as long as the Braves can find a way to stay on top of the pile then I think we’ll all take “interesting” over “frustrating.”

Texas Rangers lineup for April 23, 2026 against the Pittsburgh Pirates: starting pitchers are Jacob deGrom for the Rangers and Bubba Chandler for the Pirates.

It is the rubber game of the series, and the Rangers are looking to bounce back from yesterday’s unpleasantness to take the series. Alejandro Osuna makes his season debut.

The lineup:

Nimmo — RF

Pederson — DH

Seager — SS

Burger — 1B

Jung — 3B

Carter — CF

Jansen — C

Smith — 2B

Osuna — LF

7:05 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are -160 favorites.

Michael Harris II has had a fantastic series as he has absolutely feasted upon the pitching that the Washington Nationals have served up for him. Hopefully, he’ll be able to take that with him back to Atlanta instead of the IL, as Harris has been removed from Thursday afternoon’s game ahead of the bottom of the seventh inning.

Michael Harris II has been taken out of the game. Eli White moves to center, Mauricio Dubón goes to left and Jorge Mateo comes in at shortstop.

— Barrett Sallee 🇺🇸 (@BarrettSallee) April 23, 2026

We’ll let you know later what’s going on, since it wasn’t exactly apparent what was going on with Harris while he was out there. He ran the bases fine, so maybe something tightened up on him while he was in the dugout? That’s as much speculation as I’ll give you.

We will continually update this post as the the situation continues to develop.

[UPDATE 3:10 p.m ET]: The Braves have described it as “left quad tightness.” Hoo boy. Keep your fingers crossed, folks.

OF Michael Harris II was removed as a precaution from today’s game with left quad tightness.

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 23, 2026

[UPDATE 4:53 p.m. ET]: Money Mike talked to the media after the game and apparently the precautionary removal was just that: Precautionary. He’s feeling good and is expecting to play tomorrow. We’ll see if Walt Weiss gives him a breather in order to make sure he doesn’t exert it too much but as we just saw with Ronald Acuña Jr. and his scare, there’s a very good chance that we will indeed see Harris in the lineup for the series opener against the Phillies on Friday night.

Michael Harris II expects to play tomorrow night pic.twitter.com/QLRF7zOUOW

— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) April 23, 2026

The Brewers nearly won a pitching duel between Tarik Skubal and Brandon Sproat, but the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead. Milwaukee is now two games over .500 after dropping the final two games against Detroit.

Rookie standout Kevin McGonigle led off the bottom of the first with a double. Sproat got the next two batters to ground out, but his first pitch to Tigers cleanup hitter Riley Greene was a slow curveball that Greene crushed for a two-run homer. Not an ideal start for a team facing Skubal.

Skubal, one of the best pitchers in the game, did what he was expected to do against a top-heavy Brewers lineup. Through six innings, he’d allowed just four hits — two of them bunts — and one run. Skubal didn’t give up a single hit his first time through the order, but Milwaukee got on the board the second time around thanks to back-to-back doubles from William Contreras and Gary Sánchez in the fourth.

Love our two catchers @Wcontreras42 x @ElGarySanchezpic.twitter.com/8b0Oeyc7dj

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) April 23, 2026

Meanwhile, Sproat also settled in after the first inning. He allowed just one other hit — a single to Javier Baez — through five innings, keeping it a 2-1 game.

Sproat retired Gleyber Torres to start the sixth, but walked designated hitter Colt Keith. With Greene coming up again, Pat Murphy pulled Sproat in favor of lefty Aaron Ashby — a move that didn’t pay off as Greene singled to advance Keith to third. Dillon Dingler then grounded into a forceout to make it a two-run ballgame.

As Skubal got deeper into the game, the Brewers started making him work more and more. David Hamilton and Brandon Lockridge had back-to-back bunt singles to start the sixth, but Brice Turang grounded out and Contreras hit into a double play to end the inning.

Milwaukee threatened again in the seventh. After Sánchez led off with a bloop single, Luis Matos went fishing for a changeup low-and-away, grounding it into right field to put runners on first and second.

The next batter up was Blake Perkins, who swung out of his shoes for strike one. He tried to lay down a bunt on the second pitch, a fastball, but it ran inside and he wasn’t able to get his hands out of the way. Strike two. Perkins took ball three high, then fouled off strike three. Skubal’s fifth pitch was a beautiful changeup that dropped just out of the strike zone, but Perkins held off to work the count full.

Hamilton puts us in front in the seventh ‼️ pic.twitter.com/C6IlD5GTpZ

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) April 23, 2026

On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Skubal tried to blow a high-and-inside fastball by Perkins, but he turned on it and sent it down the left field line for a double. Sánchez and Matos both scored, tying the game at 3 and prompting Tigers manager A.J. Hinch to come out and take the ball.

BLAKE PERKINS SMACKS A GAME-TYING DOUBLE OFF SKUBAL

→ https://t.co/eycfmE2vgmpic.twitter.com/3jhM4zBCTa

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) April 23, 2026

Lefty reliever Tyler Holton came in to face Luis Rengifo, who grounded out for the first out. Joey Ortiz, once again hitting with a runner in scoring position, came through with a single into left field. That put runners on the corners for David Hamilton, who grounded a single that scored Perkins and put the Brewers ahead by a run.

Trevor Megill came in for the seventh and got three straight groundouts. Angel Zerpa quickly recorded the first out of the eighth, but pinch-hitter Jahmai Jones tied the game with a solo home run. Milwaukee couldn’t score in the top of the ninth, so Abner Uribe came on to try and force extra innings. His first four pitches went for strikes, but the next three were balls, and Spencer Torkelson sent the eighth pitch into the bleachers for a walk-off home run.

The Brewers are back home tomorrow for a three-game set against the 14-10 Pirates. Paul Skenes will be on the mound for Pittsburgh opposite Brandon Woodruff. First pitch is 6:40 p.m.

Texas Rangers relief pitcher Robert Garcia has been placed on the 15 day injured list retroactive to April 20, the team announced today. To take his place on the active roster, the team has purchased the contract of pitcher Peyton Gray from AAA Round Rock. To make room for Gray on the 40 man roster, the Rangers have designated catcher Willie MacIver for assignment.

In addition, the team announced that Carter Baumler, currently on the injured list, is beginning a rehab assignment with Round Rock.

Garcia last pitched on April 16 — a week ago. He has been experiencing shoulder soreness, and the Rangers had held off on making on i.l. move as they felt there was a decent chance he would be recovered in time to avoid an i.l. stint. However, some combination of his shoulder not improving and the Rangers needing a fresh arm in the pen has resulted in his being put on the injured list now.

Gray, a 30 year old righthander, has never pitched in the major leagues. After being released by the Kansas City Royals in 2021, he pitched for Milwaukee in the independent American Association in 2022 and 2023, and pitched in the Mexican Pacific Winter League in 2023-24 and 2024-25. He spent the 2025 since with the Rangers, putting up a 3.58 ERA in 73 innings over 45 appearances between Frisco and (mostly) Round Rock.

Gray had an impressive camp this spring, and in 12.2 innings over seven appearances for Round Rock this year, he has yet to allow a run, and has 15 Ks against two walks.

MacIver was claimed on waivers by the Rangers over the winter, and has stuck around on the 40 man roster as a third catcher, in case one of the two major league catchers got injured.

As for Baumler, as a Rule 5 pick, I imagine the Rangers will not rush him on his rehab assignment, and so long as help in the majors isn’t needed, he’ll get several appearances in the minors on this assignment.

After exiting Wednesday's win over the Minnesota Twins early with left calf tightness, the Mets are placing star shortstop Francisco Lindor on the 10-day injured list with a left calf strain. 

In a corresponding move, New York is recalling Ronny Mauricio from Triple-A Syracuse. 

Additionally, RHP Christian Scott is being recalled and will start Thursday's game; RHP Austin Warren was optioned to Triple-A following last night's game.

Lindor appeared to grimace while rounding third base in the fourth inning on Wednesday before sliding safely feet first into home plate. The shortstop headed straight to the tunnel and did not return to the field for the top of the fifth inning, as Bo Bichette moved to shortstop and Brett Baty entered to play third base.

Manager Carlos Mendoza spoke with reporters Thursday ahead of the game to discuss Lindor's injury, saying that the team will be without him "for a while."

"We still have multiple people looking at the imaging and the MRI and all that. We do know, obviously there's the injury there, and he's going to be down for quite a bit here," Mendoza said. "I don't think we are anticipating something like, we knew right away with Juan [Soto] that it was kind of like the best-case scenario and it was going to be on the short side of things. I don't think we're dealing with the same thing here."

Mendoza added: "It's hard to put a timetable. Because again, we got to wait. We do know that he's going to be down for a while."

The manager was also asked what the plan is defensively -- either keeping Bichette at third and having Mauricio at shortstop, or having Bichette to move back to his old position in some capacity. He reiterated the loose plan mentioned after Wednesday's game, saying they will keep Bichette at third and have Mauricio take over as the starting shortstop. 

"We could, but Mauricio is going to get an opportunity here to play," Mendoza said. "But yeah, depending on matchups, off days for some of the guys, Bo will slide over at times. But in the meantime, Mauricio is going to get a majority of the opportunities here at shortstop."

Mendoza then made it clear Mauricio could start against left-handed pitching going forward, with the occasional matchup change when needed. Mauricio owns a career .134 batting average against left-handers, going 11-for-82 over 42 games.

"He'll get some chances there," Mendoza said. "I'm going to pick what we consider good matchups for him from that side of the plate. But yeah, he'll start against lefties. But I will also not hesitate, if the game's on the line and it's a tough left-on-right matchup there and I have a better option on the bench, I'll probably shoot that bullet if I feel like we need to.

"I feel like it'll be case-by-case, but he'll face lefties."

It had been another slow start to the season for Lindor, but the injury comes at a time when it looked like he was turning a corner. Over his last seven games, Lindor was slashing .360/.386/.640 with two home runs, five RBI, a walk, and a stolen base. Through 24 games overall, Lindor has a .669 OPS, with all his home runs and RBI coming in the last seven games.

Mauricio, who has played in just two big league games this season (including his pinch-hit walk-off on April 7), is slashing .293/.349/.638 with a .987 OPS across 15 games in Triple-A. The 25-year-old is coming off his best game of the season on April 21, when he smashed three home runs to bring his season total to six and his RBI total to 13.

The Mets have placed Francisco Lindor on the 10-day injured list with a left calf strain, the team has announced. This news was expected after Lindor looked hobbled running the bases and scoring on a double by Francisco Alvarez in the fourth inning of last night’s game and subsequently did not return to the field in the fifth due to tightness in his calf. Lindor received an MRI today, which revealed a strain that is worse than the one Juan Soto suffered (also in his calf) that sidelined him for 15 games. Lindor is “going to be down a while,” according to manager Carlos Mendoza. There is currently no timetable for his return, but the Mets expect him to miss significant time.

This news is a huge blow to the Mets, who just got Juan Soto back and halted their 12-game losing streak. Though Lindor got off to his usual slow start in April which this year included some mental lapses in the field, he had just been heating up prior to the injury, putting up a 154 wRC+ over the past nine games with two home runs, four runs scored, and five RBIs, hitting lower in the order in Soto’s absence.

Ronny Mauricio has been called up from Triple-A Syracuse to take Lindor’s spot on the roster and is starting at shortstop in tonight’s series finale against the Twins at Citi Field. Mauricio had been up with the big league squad briefly when Soto first went on the injured list and went 1-for-4 with the one hit being his walk-off knock on April 7, which turned out to be the Mets’ last win before last night. While Lindor is sidelined, the Mets could opt to use Bo Bichette at his natural shortstop position, as they did in last night’s game after Lindor’s early exit, but Carlos Mendoza indicated that Mauricio is going to get the chance to prove himself as the team’s every day shortstop.

The Mets also made another roster move prior to tonight’s game, optioning Austin Warren to Triple-A Syracuse to make room on the roster for Christian Scott, who will make his season debut tonight. Warren stopped the bleeding after Devin Williams’ meltdown on Tuesday by striking out three straight batters. Though it wasn’t enough to save the Mets from defeat, it’s unfortunate that this heroic effort was rewarded with a demotion, but such is the life of an optionable reliever.

Tonight will be Scott’s first appearance for the Mets since undergoing hybrid Tommy John surgery with an internal brace in September of 2024 which cost him the entire 2025 season. Scott got off to a rough start in Triple-A Syracuse, but has been much better lately and is throwing even harder than he did prior to the UCL injury. Scott started nine games for the Mets in 2024 and pitched to a 4.56 ERA in 47 1/3 innings with 39 strikeouts and 12 walks. The Mets plan to keep a five-man rotation for now with David Peterson remaining in the bullpen.

Cam Schlittler is in many ways fulfilling a childhood dream by pitching in Fenway Park. The twist is that he hopes to turn it into a nightmare for the home team.

Schlittler, the Walpole, Mass. kid who's arguably the best pitcher in baseball at the moment, will continue his running feud with Red Sox fans in an April 23 start as the New York Yankees aim to sweep the Boston Red Sox.

Schlittler couldn't be much more Boston - he's still a Bruins fan, and his dad is the police chief of Needham, a town roughly halfway between Walpole and Fenway Park. Yet Schlittler's epic eight shutout innings and 12 strikeouts in the decisive Game 3 of the Yankees-Red Sox 2025 wild card series changed the dynamic between player and hometown team forever.

Buy Yankees-Red Sox tickets!

To the point Schlittler might want to check that no one slipped anything into his Dunkies when he goes back home.

Schlittler said this week he's received death threats in advance of his Fenway start, continuing a pattern that Schlittler said began before the wild card game, when he said many Red Sox fans got out of pocket in their trash talking before wild card Game 3.

Cam Schlittler vs Red Sox at Fenway Park

Calm Cam in the Chicken Coop 👀#YANKSonYESpic.twitter.com/k4ShFte8nM

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) April 23, 2026

Cam Schlittler stats

Schlittler has only raised his profile since that postseason meeting. He's posted a 1.95 ERA in his first five starts and in striking out 36 and walking just three, has the best strikeout-walk ratio in the major leagues. Schlittler has not given up a home run in 27 2/3 innings and leads the majors in fielding independent pitching.

He will be opposed by Red Sox rookie left-hander Payton Tolle.

How to watch Yankees vs Red Sox game

• Time: 6:10 p.m. ET
• TV channel: Fox Sports 1, YES, NESN
• Live stream: Fubo

Watch Yankees vs Red Sox on Fubo!

Yankees lineup vs Red Sox

Starting pitcher: RHP Cam Schlittler

1. Amed Rosario (R) 3B
2. Aaron Judge (R) RF
3. Ben Rice (L) 1B
4. Giancarlo Stanton (R) DH
5. Randal Grichuk (R) LF
6. Trent Grisham (L) CF
7. Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L) 2B
8. José Caballero (R) SS
9. Austin Wells (L) C

Cam Schlittler death threats hover over Boston debut

BOSTON — “I think it’s going to be loud, and I’m really looking forward to it," said Schlittler, anticipating the ire of 30,000 denizens of Red Sox Nation.

“Things definitely get a little more intense when we play Boston," said Schlittler, who has already dealt with on-line threats against himself and his family ahead of this series, as first reported by the New York Post.

“Been dealing with that stuff for six months now,’’ said Schlittler, who is “not overly concerned’’ about it. “Just looking forward to going out there Thursday.’’

– Pete Caldera, NorthJersey.com

Cam Schlittler vs Red Sox: 'There's nothing they can say'

"There's nothing they can say that is really going to shake me up." 😤

- Cam Schlittler on his Red Sox social media critics pic.twitter.com/3YAHPvhfdA

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) April 23, 2026

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Yankees, Cam Schlittler vs Red Sox live at Fenway after death threats

UPDATE 2:23pm MT: The Rockies broadcast just announced that Feltner left with right triceps tightness, and Castro left with right knee soreness.

Here’s a tweet confirmation from Thomas Harding:

#Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner left today's game after two innings with right triceps tightness. 2B Willi Castro left after three innings with right knee soreness.

— Thomas Harding (@harding_at_mlb) April 23, 2026

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UPDATE 2:18pm MT: 2B Willi Castro also exited the game in the fourth inning for unknown reasons. Prior to leaving the game, Castro had one walk and one strikeout.

Purple Row will continue to provide updates as we receive them.

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Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Ryan Feltner left today’s game against the San Diego Padres following the end of the second inning.

He threw 40 pitches, 25 for strikes while allowing two hits and two runs (both earned). He also struck out three and walked one.

Zach Agnos entered the third inning in relief.

The reasons for Feltner leaving the game are not known at this time, but Purple Row will continue to follow this developing story.

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

The year is 1997. Liván Hernández takes the mound for the Marlins in Game 5 of the NLCS against the Braves. Little did the Braves, the fans in attendance, and those tuning in know that they were about to witness one of the most outrageous displays of home plate umpiring in MLB history.

Granted, Greg Maddux also benefitted from this… liberal interpretation of the strike zone, but it really felt like Eric Gregg was on a one-man mission to get home ahead of the traffic.

It’s the era of the sinker. For an entire generation of baseball players and fans, this is pretty close to the norm. Before there were umpire audit accounts and later the ABS system, pitchers learned to weaponize the East-West strike zones of umpires around the league. They knew they could steal strikes often as much as a half-foot off the plate on either side, so horizontally running pitches reigned supreme.

Fast forward almost 30 years and we’ve entered a new age. It actually started on the hitting side with the launch angle revolution, hitters increasing the angles of their swings to lift all those pesky sinkers low in the zone. This precipitated a reaction from pitchers, starting with former Astros pitching coach Brent Strom, the paradigm shifted to high-spinning four-seamers whose late riding life at the top of the zone effectively neutralized the proliferation of steep swings. Aided by advances in pitch tracking and biomechanic technology and the strike zone going from East-West to North-South (as well as some sticky foreign substances), we saw this transition from sinker to four-seamer take place almost overnight.

As with many things in life, patterns and trends emerge and then ebb away in cycles. Now it appears that we’re reaching — if not an end — then at least an inflection point in this cycle of fastball usage, and the Yankees are at the forefront of the reemergence of the sinker.

There are several factors which I feel are influencing the current movement back toward the sinker. The league-wide crackdown on Spider Tack and other foreign substances in 2021 was the catalyst, many pitchers finding themselves robbed of the RPMs and induced vertical movement that were making their four-seamers so unhittable. Over the following couple years, research into the effects of seam-shifted wake and its ability to increase the downward movement of pitches, particularly the sinker, provided further impetus for pitchers to dust off their old sinkers and tinker with seam orientation until they found the perfect combination to achieve maximal downward break.

Then in 2024 and 2025, much of the research in the pitching realm zeroed in on the benefits of starting pitchers throwing multiple different types of fastball. On the surface, it makes intuitive sense that having a more expansive arsenal gives you more weapons to make it deeper into games. Digging a litter farther, we now understand how the divergent movement profiles of four-seamers, sinkers, and cutters are interacting to fool hitters. All three types of fastball look the same coming out of the pitcher’s hand, meaning three pitches that look exactly the same can end up in three different locations once they get to home. The best hitters are able to use certain cues to identify pitch type out of the hand — think the dot made by the rotating seams of a slider, or the upward pop of a curveball out of the pitcher’s hand — but with fastballs it is almost impossible to discern four-seamer from sinker from cutter.

Starting in the second-half of 2024, I’ve been mulling over how I want to explore this topic with our readers. Now, I am very excited to use this as the introduction for a series that I’m really looking forward to jumping in to. Over the course of the season, I would like to pick out individual Yankees pitchers who have not only increased their sinker usage, but also improved the raw characteristics (velo, movement, etc.), especially those pitchers who’ve recently joined the Yankees and saw immediate changes to their sinker deployment. Matt Blake, Sam Briend, and the rest of the Yankees pitching department are constantly looking for ways to innovate, and I am intrigued to learn about their process in disseminating the sinker across pretty much the entire Yankees pitching room. From Max Fried to Carlos Rodón to Cam Schlittler and many others, I can’t wait to share what I’ve observed with all of you, so stay tuned!

It’s our second early game of the week, but thankfully this one wasn’t so early we needed coffee to get through it. The Tigers were hoping to come away with a series win, and with Tarik Skubal on the mound, that could only help their case. They had a great game on Wednesday night, and just needed to ride that high into today. They’d be facing off against Brandon Sproat for the Brewers.

In expected Tarik Skubal fashion, he got the Brewers out in order in the first. In the home half, Kevin McGonigle hit a leadoff double. On two subsequent outs, McGonigle was able to advance to third, then a Riley Greene home run brought two runs in. Great way to get the game going. Dillon Dingler singled as well, but the Tigers would need to settle for just the two runs.

RILEYYYY pic.twitter.com/VvaEQoPwDS

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) April 23, 2026

Skubal was dialled in, getting another 1-2-3 inning in the second. The Tigers, however, did the same in the bottom of the inning, keeping the game moving at a good clip. Speaking of a good clip, the same thing happened in the third, with both teams going quickly through the order.

While Skubal managed to get through the first eleven Brewers in order, he couldn’t get a fourth shutout inning in a row. With two outs, William Contreras doubled, followed by a Gary Sanchez double to bring in the first Brewers run of the game. In the home half, Riley Greene got a leadoff walk, but one out later he was eliminated in a force out off the bat of Kerry Carpenter. One more out followed to end the inning with one man left on the bases.

Skubal was clearly annoyed with his fumble in the fourth, because he turned around in the fifth to just devastate the Brewers in another 1-2-3 outing. With one out in the home half, Javier Baez singled. He was probably hoping to avoid a repeat of the running drills he had to do in a similar situation last night. It turned out worse as McGonigle hit a long fly out and Baez got tagged out at first for a truly odd double play to end the inning.

In the sixth, the Brewers were back at their nonsense, with David Hamilton getting on with a soft bunt. Then they had the audacity to do it again, this one down the first base line by Brandon Lockridge, putting two on safely. A force out off the bat of Brice Turang got Lockridge out at second, but left men at the corners. A double play was exactly what the team needed, and that’s exactly what they got. Skubal induced a ground ball on a 3-0 count and the inning was suddenly done, the threat over. With one out in the home half, Colt Keith walked, and that was it for Sproat, who was replaced by Aaron Ashby. Riley Greene singled, sending Keith to third, then Dingler hit into a force out, eliminating Greene at first, but scoring Keith to give the Tigers another run. Matt Vierling came out to pinch-hit and drew a walk. The Brewers went back to their bullpen, this time for Grant Anderson, who came out and got the final out of the inning.

The Brewers opened the seventh with back-to-back singles from Gary Sanchez and Luis Matos. A Blake Perkins double right to the warning track brought in two runs and tied the game up at 3-3 after a lengthy battle against Skubal. That was it for Skubal, who went 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K on 94 pitches. The game started incredibly strong for him, save one rough inning. It wasn’t until the seventh that he really started to falter, and it’s a shame to see his game end that way. Tyler Holton came out in relief. After getting the first out of the inning, Holton gave up a single to Joey Ortiz. A David Hamilton single then brought one more run in to break up the tie and give the Brewers the lead. Lockridge walked, the first Brewers walk of the game, loading the bases with still just the one out. It was a bad situation for the Tigers until a rare 3-2-2 double play ended the inning. Gotta love it.

Trevor Megill was next out of the Brewers pen in the bottom of the seventh. He got the Tigers out in order on three consecutive groundouts.

Burch Smith came out for the Tigers in the top of the eighth making his Tigers debut. What the team needed was a clean inning, and Smith gave them just that, getting the Brewers out in order. Angel Zerpa was the new Brewers pitcher, and with one out, Jahmai Jones took him yard, hitting a home run to left center. Two outs followed but the Tigers had tied things up again.

JAHMAI FOR THE TIE pic.twitter.com/dB1Y6uoS7a

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) April 23, 2026

Sal Frelick singled to start the ninth. Then, a Rengifo bunt (these guys and their bunts, I swear), saw him out at first but got Frelick to second. Ortiz walked, and Smith was replaced by Brant Hurter. Hurter came in and induced a double play to end the inning. The Tigers headed into the bottom of the ninth hoping to eke out a win and avoid extra innings. Abner Uribe was in for the Brewers. And with one out, last night’s home run hero Spencer Torkelson did it again with a walk-off home run to wrap up the series and game with a win.

TORK BOMB WALKOFF ‼️ pic.twitter.com/IDxZePSz54

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) April 23, 2026

Final: Tigers 5, Brewers 4

JR Ritchie’s major league debut couldn’t have started much worse.

He gave up a home run on very his first pitch.

From there, though, he certainly looked like he belonged.

The 2022 first-round pick, called up to close out the Braves’ road trip in Washington Thursday afternoon, didn’t just excel in his debut. He set the tone in Atlanta’s 7-2 win over the Nationals, which clinched the team’s fifth straight series win and completed a 6-1 road trip.

Atlanta’s No. 2 prospect bounced back from the challenging first pitch to get through an efficient seven innings on 89 pitches, allowing two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. His seven strikeouts are tied for the third-most by a starter in his debut in franchise history, behind only David Hale (2013), Bob Dresser (1902) and Kenshin Kawakami (2009).

He’s the first pitcher in franchise history to throw seven-plus innings, allow no more than two runs and strike out seven batters in his major league debut.

JR Ritchie today became the first pitcher in franchise history to complete at least 7.0 innings while allowing no more than two runs and striking out at least seven in his major league debut. pic.twitter.com/4LBrBgX3We

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 23, 2026

Ritchie’s two walks came in the final innings. His two runs allowed came on solo homers, a middle-middle fastball to Wood and a changeup below the zone which CJ Abrams still managed to power out.

The debutant got an assist from Washington in the second inning, when the Nats put on an ill-advised delayed steal to run their way out of an inning when it had runners on the corners. From there, Ritchie didn’t face much more traffic, never again allowing multiple baserunners at the same time.

It wound up being quite important that Ritchie settled in so well as Atlanta’s offense was largely held down by Washington starter Cade Cavalli.

The majority of their damage against him came in a four-hit fourth which Matt Olson and Austin Riley started with back-to-back doubles. The pair scored on an Ozzie Albies sacrifice fly and a Michael Harris II RBI single, respectively, to stake Atlanta to a 2-1 lead.

Cavalli finished his first start against the Braves allowing two runs on seven hits with no walks and a career-high 10 strikeouts.

Once the starter was out, though, Atlanta got to Washington’s bullpen. After failing to score with two in scoring position and one out in the six, the Braves broke a 2-2 deadlock with a four-run seventh to take control.

After a leadoff strikeout, Drake Baldwin walked, Olson singled and Riley walked to load the bases. Baldwin gave the Braves the lead when he scored on a wild first pitch from Gus Varland. The next pitch was hit to right by Albies for a two-run single to make it 5-2.

Harris capped the big inning with an RBI double to right-center to cap off a 3-for-4 day at the plate. However, he was removed from the game after the inning with what the Braves called left quad tightness in a brutal bit of timing given the torrid run he’s been on at the plate.

For good measure, Albies added a run in the top of the ninth on a solo homer, his fifth of the season. Albies finished the day 3-for-4 as well with four RBIs and two runs.

The Braves bullpen again protected a lead with minimal stress. Dylan Lee struck out two in a 1-2-3 eighth and Carlos Carrasco, also called up on Thursday, delivered a 1-2-3 ninth in his season debut.

The Braves return home and kick off their second straight weekend series against the Phillies, this time at home, Friday night.