Category: Baseball

Rookie right-hander Elmer Rodríguez, just days after making his MLB debut with the Yankees, had another memorable moment Saturday, as two of his cousins rode in the Kentucky Derby and finished first and second.

José Ortiz took Golden Tempo to the winner’s circle at Churchill Downs, with Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard favorite Renegade finishing second.

Rodríguez, who is set to make his second start for the Yankees on Tuesday against the Rangers, said he watched the race alone and was “more nervous watching that race than [in] my debut. I don’t know why. I started crying.”

Rodríguez, a 22-year-old right-hander, said he saw Irad Ortiz ride Renegade on Feb. 7 at Tampa Bay Downs.

Rodríguez, who allowed two runs in four innings in a loss to Texas on Wednesday, likely won’t be with the Yankees for long, as Carlos Rodón is expected to return from elbow surgery after one more rehab start in the minors.

But he expects to have gained something from his first outing.

“You take all the good and bad and learn from it,” the right-hander said. “The first one feels like the toughest one. I’m more comfortable now.”

If you had told me about six weeks ago how disappointed I would be at the Sox losing a 4-3 nailbiter and failing to complete a series sweep against one of the National League’s better teams, I probably would’ve told you that it was a good thing.

And I would be correct! While today’s tight 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Padres was certainly a frustrating one to watch, it speaks volumes that I actually expected them to have a chance to win, even after falling behind in the middle innings. They aren’t exactly the Cardiac Bears of this past fall, but if this game gave me anything, it’s that the late innings of a close game are no longer completely futile for the White Sox.

That might seem like backhanded praise, but when it comes to the post-2021 White Sox there haven’t been many avenues for giving them credit without a healthy dollop of criticism. What may seem like a baseline to many other franchises — still hanging around .500 as we get close to a third of the way through the season — seems like excellence to us. That might be embarrassing to some degree, but then again, if you care about being embarrassed, the White Sox are unequivocally the wrong team to get behind.

As has been much the case lately, pitching wasn’t much to blame for today’s tally in the loss column. At the same time, we’re getting to the point in the season where it becomes easy to understand who exactly you do or do not want on the mound at any given time. And as stellar as the Sox pitching staff has been as of late, Griffin Canning gave the kind of performance that would likely make fans wish the South Siders had landed him to fill out the back of their rotation rather than Anthony Kay. Kay has had his moments, and he’s giving the team a chance to win, but after a bit less than a month and a half of play, it seems clear that even a highly successful campaign across the Pacific isn’t quite enough to make a pitcher who can actually get through a big league lineup more than twice.

To be fair, Kay did hold serve plenty well early on, keeping San Diego off the board long enough for backup catcher Drew Romo to continue his best Seby Zavala impression and get the Sox offense rolling early.

Unfortunately, the lefty then provided another few reminders of why it’s been a few years since he consistently threw the ball in an American time zone, as he wasted little time in giving the lead back up thanks to two homers within a span of three plate appearances to homers from Miguel Andujar and San Diego’s third baseman, who Sox fans might be familiar with as the cousin of franchise legend Jon Jay and brother-in-law of noted Chicago slugger Yonder Alonso.

Canning was locked in after Romo’s dinger, but Sox hitters managed to get him out of their faces after five innings. At that point they were confronted with lefthander Adrián Morejón, who probably made them wish they were still facing Canning given Morejón’s bevy of 100 mph sinkers against which Sox hitters had virtually no chance.

There was one member of the Sox who seemed unfazed by Morejón’s electric stuff, as Derek Hill reminded us all that he’s more than a defensive replacement by smashing a home run to deep left-center field to tie things up at three in the seventh inning.

That’s when Jordan Leasure came into the game. While I have been a fan of Leasure since his acquisition, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to deny that the man is simply not the candidate for holding leads or preserving close games. On this day, however, Leasure did his job. It was the combo of righty Tyler Davis and lefty Bryan Hudson — both of whom have admittedly been outstanding, to this point — that did the damage in this one. Davis allowed the first runs of his big league career at a rather inopportune time, allowing a walk and a pair of singles in a manner that gave Xander Bogaerts the chance to put the Padres ahead with just a few outs to play.

It goes without saying that given the presence of Mason Miller, the Padres are probably the last team in the league you want to be playing a close game against in the late innings. Although the Sox did manage to scratch across a baserunner thanks to Tristan Peters poking a scrappy single to right field, that was all the ink the Sox had in their pen this series. Miller had little trouble retiring everyone else he faced to secure a win for the Friars.

The squad will be staying out west for the rest of the week, as they now head north to Anaheim for another three-game set with the Angels. We’ll see you for that one tomorrow night, at 8:38 p.m. Central time!

The big news today came from a player participating in very likely his last game in Double-A: Braden Montgomery, South Side Sox’s No. 1 White Sox prospect, is joining the Triple-A Charlotte Knights on his way up to the South Side. Montgomery has been outstanding so far in 2026, slashing .313/.429/.606 and hitting six homers after putting up just 12 all of last season. Montgomery’s rise through the system has been swift: The former Boston first-rounder made his pro debut at Kannapolis in 2025, and traversed three levels (up to Double-A) over the course of the summer. His Spring Training work with the White Sox impressed, and it was somewhat surprising that he was reassigned to Birmingham to begin 2026. But he’s headed east to Charlotte now, and the countdown for his debut on the South Side — almost certainly to come later this year — is officially on.

Charlotte Knights 10, Gwinnett Stripers 9
The Knights (16-17) ended up splitting the series with the Stripers (20-13) after a walk-off win Sunday, 10-9, despite the Charlotte pitching being a little rough round the edges. Lefthander Hagen Smith slightly struggled through the first inning after loading the bases with all three of his walks on the day, and a two-run single marked the lone hit he gave up to give Gwinnett an early two-run lead. Smith settled in after that and was solid for his remaining pair of frames and ended up striking out three and was able to maintain a sub-3.00 ERA, now sitting at 2.82 after seven starts and 22 1/3 innings.

Charlotte’s bullpen also wasn’t on its A-game, and every pitcher who appeared on Sunday surrendered at least one run. Jonathan Cannon allowed the most runs out of the pen (three) in three innings of relief, and is sitting at a 11.85 ERA in 13 2/3 innings (four games) — woof. The Knights offense had taken a one-run lead in the bottom of the second with RBI doubles from Josh Breaux and Jacob Gonzalez — an exclamation point to Gonzalez’s three-hit day — but Gwinnett tied it up in the fourth and the arm barn fumbled the lead shortly thereafter.

That brings us to today’s hero: Korey Lee. Not only did Lee join Gonzalez in the three-hit club, but he capped off a five-run eighth inning with a solo homer to give Charlotte a one-run lead, 9-8. Unfortunately, Zach Franklin gave up a solo homer to Rowdy Tellez in the top of the ninth to tie the game at nine, blowing the save.

But Lee struck again in the bottom of the ninth, walking the game off on a bases loaded, line-drive single up the middle, 10-9, saving Franklin’s outing by gifting him the win.

Birmingham Barons 10, Chattanooga Lookouts 9
They didn’t take the same route there, but the Barons (13-14) and Lookouts (18-9) ended up with the same score as the Knights, with Birmingham outlasting first-place Chattanooga to win the series and their third in a row, 10-9. Two five-run innings for the Barons carried them through to the end, but the bullpen threatened to hand the lead over to the Lookouts.

For four innings, Connor McCullough shut Chattanooga down with just three hits, a walk, and two strikeouts, and the pen had started out strong with one clean inning but essentially spoiled his start.

The sixth inning, especially, was a complete mess. It took three pitchers to get out of the inning after the Lookouts dropped a six-spot to take a one-run lead. Lefthander Jacob Heatherly was responsible for four of the runs, only getting one out before being replaced by Eric Adler. Two more scored off of Adler, receiving the blown save after giving up the lead, also only recording one out before Chase Watkins came in to clean it up and get the third out. Watkins would end up with the win, thanks to the Birmingham hitters exploding for another five runs the very next inning, which set up Nick Altermatt for his first save of the season.

Before officially being promoted to the Triple-A Knights later in the day, Braden Montgomery was 1-for-4 with a run scored, finally making the jump to the next level with an outstanding 1.035 OPS to start the season. The RBI leader for today, however, Wilfred Veras after a three-run homer. And it was another forgotten prospect, Jacob Burke, who tallied three hits for the second day in a row (3-for-5) while driving in two.

Overall the Barons went 6-for-13 with RISP and left six on base, while outhitting the Lookouts, 9-7, and stealing three bases in four attempts.

Greensboro Grasshoppers 8, Winston-Salem Dash 6
The Dash (16-11) were outhit 12-9 by the Grasshoppers (16-11), and a rocky defense committing three errors that led to three unearned runs ended up being the difference in the W-S defeat. The loss was charged to righthander Jake Curtis after Greensboro tagged him for five runs on six hits, though just two of those runs were earned; the home run he gave up hurt a bit more and almost negated his six Ks. Winston-Salem’s bullpen performance wasn’t terrible and at least the final three runs were earned, but the two additional runs that Garrett Wright relinquished were the nail in the coffin for the Dash.

Both Kyle Lodise and Kaleb Freeman drove in a pair of runs each for the Winston-Salem offense, while Anthony DePino stayed hot at the plate with another multi-hit day. The Dash definitely had their chances to win, but went just 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position and left a whopping 14 runners on base. Caleb Bonemer reached base four times, going 1-for-3 with three walks, and while his error didn’t cost a run this time around, he’s committed seven now this season. He’s fielding just .900 at third base, and .895 at short. Let’s get that glove worked in, Caleb!

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 7, Augusta GreenJackets 6
Luckily for the Cannon Ballers (10-17) bullpen, the bats sparked early with a four-run first inning and posted 12 hits on the day, providing much-needed run support to defeat the GreenJackets (14-13), 7-6. After a very slow start to the year, the Ballers have finally won a series and reached double-digit wins in 2026. When times are tough, it’s the little things …

Kannapolis rolled with a bullpen game Sunday, and lefthander Jackson Nove began the game with two scoreless innings while striking out three, but the next two relievers allowed six runs across the next five innings, including three homers that nearly blew the lead for the Ballers. Even though he surrendered four runs in his four innings of relief, Trey Cooper still was awarded a hold, and Jordan Morales secured the win after his final two scoreless innings.

The offense did just enough to maintain the lead, because as a team they were brutal with runners in scoring position (2-for-15), and left 10 runners in base. RBIs were scattered across six different players, but Javier Mogollón was excellent at the plate, going 4-for-5 with two doubles on the day, and was a menace on the basepaths with two stolen bases. Seven of the Dash’s 12 hits were for extra bases, including three solo homers, a triple,and three doubles, putting them in a solid position to win.

Jasson Domínguez provided another glimpse Sunday of what’s tantalized the Yankees since they signed him as an international free agent nearly seven years ago.

The switch-hitting 23-year-old, who’s been unable to prove he’s a full-time major league player, doubled twice and hit his first homer of the season in an 11-3 win over the Orioles.

Starting at DH with Giancarlo Stanton on the IL with a calf injury, Domínguez took advantage of his latest opportunity — something he hasn’t always done.

After going hitless in his first two at-bats, Domínguez doubled down the left field line and scored the go-ahead run in what was then a close game in the sixth. 

Then came a two-run homer, from the left side, to spark a seven-run inning in the eighth, which Domínguez capped by doubling again from the right side.

The Yankees have been waiting for years for Domínguez to hit consistently from that side of the plate, despite having grown up a right-handed hitter.

“That’s his natural side,” Aaron Boone said. “When you see him hit or take BP, you see it’s not an unnatural move.”

Domínguez has pummeled the ball right-handed in his month at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season, but has never produced enough from that side to warrant being an everyday player at the major league level.

With Cody Bellinger in left field and Trent Grisham in center, Domínguez found himself at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre again this season.

There remain not only doubts about hitting righty, but also on defense.

Before the game, Boone said he would look to get Aaron Judge a DH day at some point this week, with Domínguez now serving as the fourth outfielder after losing Randal Grichuk.

Domínguez said his three-hit game Sunday was “awesome” and that he’s been working to get more comfortable hitting right-handed.

He’s been down this road before, having first come up to the Yankees late in 2023.

“Adversity is always tough, but that’s what I’ve got to do,” Domínguez said. “I’ve got to do my job.”

A performance like the one Sunday, he said, “definitely helps.” It was the second time in his career he’s had a hit from both sides of the plate in the same inning.

Domínguez is the only Yankee to do that since Mark Teixeira did it in 2016.

The Mets have been looking for this type of response all season. 

Just hours after wasting a handful of opportunities in a walk-off extra-inning loss to the Angels, New York answered right back with a huge 5-1 victory on Sunday. 

That gave them just their second series win since April 5, and their fourth of the season. 

“Last night was a tough one for us,” Carlos Mendoza said. “I’m glad that we were able to turn the page and come back with the quick turnaround and just got out and get the job done -- it was good to see.”

“That’s the name of the game,” Mark Vientos added. “Just putting yesterday behind us and focusing on the next.”

Vientos accounted for the majority of the Mets' offense on Sunday, putting together a much-needed power display with a pair of long two-run homers.  

He’s now hitting .275 with five XBH's a .891 OPS over his last 12 games. 

Clay Holmes was massive as well, continuing his ace-like start to the season, delivering 6.2 innings of one-run ball. 

Holmes and the bullpen were helped by the Mets' defense all day, with the most notable play being Carson Benge's spectacular diving catch in the bottom of the ninth. 

"I thought we played a pretty good game defensively," Mendoza said. 

"A guy like me, I need the defense," Holmes added. “Just to see them out there giving it everything they have and working like they are -- it was fun and really good to see."

The all-around effort certainly was encouraging, but still sitting at 12-22, the Mets know they'll need more of the same moving forward as they look to get things trending back in the right direction.

"The only thing it does is make our flight happier, that's about it," Vientos said. "We've got to win tomorrow."

"That's what it's going to take," Mendoza added. "One series at a time, one game at a time."

Well, it’s finally happened. The San Francisco Giants have backed into the perfect opportunity to recall their top hitting prospect, left-handed hitting DH/1B Bryce Eldridge, along with one of their more intriguing ones, right-handed hitting C/3B/1B/DH Jesús Rodríguez. It’s desperation season already for the Giants and we’re all about to find out if these youngsters will sink or swim.

Buster Posey didn’t have very many levers to pull to try to improve a moribund lineup, but Eldridge’s .963 OPS in 30 games and Rodríguez’s .840 in 24 games for Triple-A Sacramento are solid. It’s also the obvious move at this point, as the chances of the team making the postseason seem to be on the verge of transitioning from “probably not” to “longshot.” They need more and better contact, more on base-ability, and, of course, more power. In theory, both players check all three boxes.

• Eldridge is 5th in the PCL for batting average (.333), Rodríguez is 7th (.330).
• Eldridge is 2nd in OBP (.445), Jesús Rodríguez is 15th (.400)
• Eldridge’s OBP is 5th, Rodríguez’s is 20th.

Of course, they’re not without their flaws. Our managing editor, Brady, doesn’t feel that Eldridge is quite ready at this point for a very simple reason: a 30% strikeout rate. It is the result of plenty of swing and miss in his game (22nd percentile in Whiff rate). The rest of his Statcast profile reminds of Rafael Devers, too. Plenty of swing and miss in the strike zone. Does that make this recall premature? Probably. But the Giants are desperate. And the fans ought to be, too. At this point we’re watching a really bad Marvel movie and only some random cameos are going to rescue the feeling of wasted effort investing in this team. The Giants will be playing at home against the Padres, who will be throwing three straight right-handed starters and, as a staff, are middle of the pack in terms of strikeouts per game. So, Eldridge is getting a nice setup.

Rodríguez doesn’t make consistently hard contact (33% Hard Hit rate — 32nd percentile) despite making lots of it (90% zone contact rate — 89th percentile). It also remains to be seen just how versatile he is as a catcher and corner infielder and whether or not Tony Vitello will deploy him in that way (he can just ask Christian Koss what good being a Swiss Army Player has done him).

This might be a downbeat post about what should be some exciting news. On the one hand, the Giants have two promising prospects to call up; but, on the other hand, those players will be expected to give a team filled with All-Star veterans a season-saving transfusion of talent. It’s far from the front office’s plan they devised in the offseason, but maybe the ones being made out of necessity will prove better in the long run than these best laid ones through which we’re presently suffering.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Mark Vientos doubled to start a rally in the Mets loss Saturday.

A day later, he became a one-man rally for the team.

“I think the work behind the scenes is for sure showing these past two days,” Vientos said after smashing a pair of two-run homers in the Mets’ 5-1 victory over the Angels on Sunday. “I have been seeing the ball great all season. I think I have been just missing stuff, and I didn’t miss those two pitches today.”

Vientos’ homer in the fourth following Carson Benge’s walk gave the Mets a 2-1 lead.

In the eighth, Benge doubled in a run before Vientos again went deep.

The outburst was welcomed by a slumping player and team.

Vientos entered the day with a .650 OPS and had not homered since April 18.

He’s become a regular in the lineup due to the Mets’ mounting casualties.

“We have seen that,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We haven’t seen that in a while, but when [Vientos] gets hot, he can carry a team. That’s the power and the hitting that he’s capable of, and I am glad he came through for us today.”

The start time of Monday’s game in Colorado has been moved up three hours to 5:40 p.m. ET due to weather concerns.

Mendoza indicated the plan is to utilize David Peterson in a relief role behind an opener Monday against the Rockies.

The lefty Peterson returned from the bullpen to a starter’s role last Wednesday and struggled against the Nationals, allowing seven earned runs over 3 ²/₃ innings.

Peterson did not pitch during the Rockies’ three-game sweep of the Mets just over a week ago.

Infielder Eric Wagaman was designated for assignment to create space on the 40-man roster for Vidal Bruján.

Another Sunday afternoon home game for the Colorado Rockies meant another autograph Sunday, where fans can head down to the first-base side to get pre-game signatures from a handful of Rockies. This has been a fan favorite for many years at Coors, drawing lines that extend up the rows and into the concourse.

I partook in some autograph Sundays over the years when I was younger. (I’ve still got a Clint Barmes signed hat in my collection.) In recent years, I’ve really enjoyed getting a Mystery Bag during the Rockies’ Wives Charity Night and seeing whose autographed baseball I’d find.

I’ve got a few most-cherished autographs from over the years:

• Having the same last name, my favorite player when I was a six-years-old Rockies die-hard was Neifi Perez. I was able to meet him before a game to get a signed ball, which blew young me away.

• While I don’t seek out and ask for autographs as much now that I’m older (there’s something about crossing the threshold where you’re suddenly older than your favorite team’s prospects), I saw Germán Márquez practicing during my first trip to Scottsdale a few years ago, and I had him sign my spring training souvenir ball to mark the occasion.

• Finally, one of my family’s prized possessions is a signed photo of the iconic Todd Helton picture from the 2007 Rocktober NLCS win that was gifted to my dad from a boss. This is technically his, so I can’t necessarily claim it as something that I own. But, to be fair, I think it’s cool enough that the whole family can be in awe of it.

So whether it was a ball you got signed yourself, something that was passed down to you, an autographed jersey you bought, something from one of history’s greats or a current favorite, or a signature on a random item because it’s all you had during a chance encounter, what’s your favorite baseball autograph in your collection?

Or, if you’re not so into autographs, what’s your favorite piece of baseball memorabilia you own?

Let us know!

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

The Texas Rangers scored one run but the Detroit Tigers scored seven runs.

Looks like I picked the right day to not be subscribed to the 20th different service that MLB has shoved exclusive games on.

The Rangers had a guy striking out everyone and perfect into the fifth inning against a team going with a bullpen game and still got blown out.

After winning the first game of this series, the Rangers scored two runs combined in the next two games to kick off this road trip with a series loss.

Player of the Game: I don’t care that it says Jack Leiter allowed five runs in this game. Sorry, Jack.

Up Next: The Rangers take tomorrow off to cancel their streaming service trials before beginning a series against the Yankees at The Bronx on Tuesday evening.

The Detroit Tigers bullpen put together a really impressive game as six different relievers handled the Rangers without much trouble. Meanwhile, Spencer Torkelson supplied some power, and a parade of soft hits that found holes helped them pile up the runs and win this series two games to one on Sunday night.

The Tigers have a penchant for making a series of odd but ultimately inconsequential moves, and we got an interesting set on Sunday before this game got underway. Zack Short was added to the 40-man roster, RHP Grant Holman was designated for assignment, Short was called up, and Jace Jung was sent back to Triple-A Toledo. Explanation? I’m not sure I have one for you.

Gleyber Torres is day-to-day with what sounds like a minor oblique strain, so the Tigers need help at second base, but Jace Jung has always been a second baseman and only recently switched to playing mostly first base. If he can’t play second base, it’s hard to explain why he wasn’t the one DFA’d, particularly as the pitching staff being banged up is a bigger concern, but these were choices, and they were made. So Zack Short is here to mostly ride the bench for a few days while Torres tries to get his side loosened up. Zach McKinstry is healthy and should be back any day now, and a pitcher they liked enough to claim three weeks ago in Grant Holman was cut loose, soon to be followed by Shorty again.

Meanwhile, the Tigers would go with a bullpen game in Casey Mize’s regular spot, with left-hander Tyler Holton leading the way. And Hao-Yu Lee started at second base.

Tyler Holton has been shaky early on this season, but he actually has a bit more velocity than usual, sitting 91-92 mph more consistently. Brandon Nimmo greeted him with a single up the middle to start the game, but Andrew McCutcheon flew out shallowly to Wenceel Pérez in right field. Holton spun four straight well located sweepers in to Corey Seager and struck him out. That was nice to see, and that was also the end of Holton’s outing. Having faced the tough left-handed Seager, he gave way to right-hander Brenan Hanifee. Pitching chaos is back for an encore, though probably a short one.

Hanifee got ahead of Josh Jung 0-2, but then a sinker up got slapped to right field for a single. He got ahead of Jake Burger 0-2 as well, and this time finished him off with a good slider for strike three.

Jack Leiter was on the mound for Texas, and he quickly popped out Kevin McGonigle on a first pitch fastball, continuing a peculiar trend with McGonigle the last few games, and punched out a scuffing Matt Vierling, and then Colt Keith as well.

Hanifee got the left-handed Evan Carter to ground out to Keith at third. Hanifee got ahead of Duran with good sinkers, and then got a groundout to McGonigle for the second out. A good changeup to the left-handed hitting Josh Smith got a weak flyout to end the inning as Brant Hurter started getting loose. So the lynchpin of the strategy at this point appeared to be getting a left-handed reliever in against Corey Seager, and otherwise just play it by ear.

Young Mr. Leiter, son of Al, of course, was looking about the best I’ve seen him to start this one, and that didn’t bode well for the Tigers early on. He bullied his way trhough Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, and Kerry Carpenter with a mix of well located 98 mph heaters and good sliders and curveballs.

Hanifee quickly got catcher Kyle Higashioka to fly out, and then gave way to Brant Hurter as the top of the Rangers order came up for the second time with Nimmo and Seager both hitting left-handed with McCutcheon between them. Hurter dispatched Nimmo with well located sinker up for a called strike three. Hurter threw his sweeper and changeup for strikes against McCutcheon, keeping the sinker out of the zone. In a 2-2 count, a sinker up got a pop-up to Lee at second base. So far, the plan was going according to, err, the plan.

Leiter continued to function as a precision buzzsaw in the third. Pérez grounded out, and Lee whiffed at 99 just off the outer edge after falling behind in the count. Jake Rogers lifted a routine fly ball, and it was on to the fourth. A tendency to hang breaking balls has hurt Leiter’s numbers early this season, but there was no sign of that yet and he was getting ahead in count after count early on, retiring all nine Tigers the first time through the order.

That’s fine though, we have Brant Hurter. The big lefty carved up Seager on three pitches, whiffing him on a sweeper for the strikeout. Jung popped out to Torkelson down the right field line. Hurter was hitting all his spots as well, getting a pair of whiffs on good changeups from Burger. The meat patty in question fought off another changeup, and took a fourseamer up and away from a 1-2 count. Hurter missed with a sweeper, and then got a routine grounder to third for the final out.

Leiter finally missed with strike one to McGonigle, but worked back ahead in the count. Kevin missed a meatball of a curve right down the middle and fouled it off. Eventually, a high fastball got a weak fly out to retire McGonigle. Vierling got ahead 2-1, but grounded out on a slider down and away. Keith got a first pitch ball, but Leiter dropped a changeup on the inside corner down. Keith blew a challenge on that and was wrong, and eventually lined out to center field. 12 up, 12 down.

Hurter remained up to the challenge, quickly getting a soft grounder from Carter to start the fifth. McGonigle made a nice play charging that one to get the out. Two more good pitches got Duran on a roller than McGonigle again read and reacted to perfectly to get the speedy baserunner. Smith singled to right field with two outs. Hurter missed up and away with two sinkers against Higashioka, and walked the catcher on four straight pitches. This was the first trouble for either side in the game. Hurter missed with a sweeper against Nimmo, and that was five straight balls from the big lefty. Ricky Vanasco was warming, but the Tigers wanted Hurter to get through Nimmo, McCutcheon, and Seager again, ideally. Hurter fell behind 2-1, but a good sinker got a soft tapper back to Hurter, and he tossed to Torkelson to escape the jam.

Leiter finally showed a sign of weakness, walking Riley Greene on four straight pitches to lose the perfect game attempt. You can’t show weakness around a Tigers. Ok, frankly it doesn’t matter what you do if a Tiger is coming after you, but I digress…Two fastballs for strikes to Torkelson followed, but you remember what I said earlier about the occasional mistake hanger? Leiter hung a slider up in the zone 0-2, and Torkelson crushed it to left for a two-run shot. 2-0 Tigers.

Carpenter struck out, and McCutcheon made a great play on a drive from Pérez to right. Lee fouled off a pair of fastballs to fall behind 0-2, and a slider down and away got the whiff. Still, the Tigers had one hit but it was the one that counted in this one so far.

McCutcheon singled up the middle on a first pitch sinker to start the sixth. That brought up Seager, with Vanasco ready to take over afterwards. Hurter got ahead 0-2 and got a grounder to Torkelson who turned a slick 3-6-3 double play, and that was well as Vanasco has only a handful of major league innings with the Dodgers and Tigers. Really nice throw to second from Tork on that one. Hurter finished with three innings of scoreless ball and a fine job overall.

Vanasco is a long-strider with big extension, sitting 94-95 mph with a pretty average fastball, but he packs a really good power curve and a quality changeup. He got Smith to ground one to McGonigle’s left, but the shortstop threw it away despite having plenty of time. Would Vanasco crumble? No, he got ahead of Burger and then was supposed to throw a fastball up and away. Instead, he sprayed a 95 mph heater under Burger’s hands and got the whiff anyway. Nicely done. Vanasco still hasn’t given up a run this year.

Leiter got up 0-2 on Jake Rogers, but the Tigers catcher smoked a line drive to center field. Carter dove and missed on it and the ball rolled deep toward the wall as Rogers cruised around to third with a triple. Leiter got ahead of McGonigle 0-2 as well, but Leiter hung a changeup and Kevin did Kevin things, lining an RBI single to right field. 3-0 Tigers. Viering took a called strike three. Keith chopped one back to Leiter and he made a nice barehanded play to barely throw out the Tigers’ third baseman. Riley Greene grounded out, and we were on to the seventh.

Vanasco got Carter on a routine flyout to open the seventh, but Duran reached out and flicked a curveball on the outer edge just fair down the left field line for a double. Vanasco walked Smith, and then yanked a fastball that Rogers couldn’t quite corral, advancing the runners to second and third. Fortunately, he bounced back with a pair of well located fastballs to Highashioka, and eventually got a nubber down to Torkelson for the second out, though Duran scored. So it was a 2-1 game, and Kyle Finnegan was warmed up, but Vanasco stayed soft against Nimmo and got a foul tip into the glove with a nice changeup for strike three. 3-1 Tigers. There was nothing hard hit, and Vanasco struck out two while collecting four outs. Perfectly fine return to the major leagues for him.

Leiter was at 81 pitches coming out to start the bottom of the seventh. Torkelson battled him through a long at-bat eventually struck out. Carpenter watched Leiter shift to soft stuff and was ready for a first pitch changeup, flicking a little line drive single to right field. Leiter missed with three straight to Pérez, but grounded one to first on a play that Burger bobbled, but then recovered to get the out. Leiter was now at 95 pitches as Hao-Yu Lee dug into the batter’s box. Lee got behind 0-2, but took a pair of balls and then chopped one off of Smith’s glove at second and into right field for an RBI single. 4-1 Tigers.

That was it for Leiter, as old friend Todd the Painter, aka Tyler Alexander took over. Impressive stuff from Leiter, but he still just has that little flaw of a budding ace who sometimes goes a little haywire at the first sign of adversity. Still, he punched out 10 Tigers, and there were at best three hard hit balls all night. Nice job by the Tigers of battling him and coming through on their few opportunities.

Jake Rogers and Alexander nodded to one another as old battery mates. Jake then dumped a bloop single into right field as Lee raced from first to third. Kevin McGonigle pulled a bouncer down the right field line and over Burger for an RBI single. McGonigle feels like he’s in a tiny slump the last few games and it’s still 1 or 2 hits and an RBI or two every night. Ridiculous.

Rogers purposefully made a big turn around third base, attracting Burger’s attentions, and the Rangers bought it, throwing to third, where they really had no shot. Rogers was easily back safe, and McGonigle adroitly understood the assignment, sprinting to second base. That cost the Rangers a run, as Matt Vierling floated a dying quail into shallow right center field and just out of Carter’s reach. Both runs scored, and suddenly it was 7-1 after Colt Keith grounded out to end the inning.

You know what they say, if you can’t hit it really hard, hit it really soft. This principle applied to the whole inning.

Kyle Finnegan struck out a pinch-hitting Alejandro Osuna to start the eighth. Corey Seager singled, but Jung grounded into a force of Seager at second, escaping a double play only after challenging the call at first base successfully. Burger flew out to Vierling in center to end the frame.

Gavin Collyer took over from Alexander in the bottom of the eighth, whiffing Greene on a cutter to start things off and then striking out Torkelson as well. Carpenter fought off a slew of two strike pitches and worked the count full, but eventually popped out on the infield to send this to the ninth.

Burch Smith took over to close this out, and got Carter to fly out to Greene to start the inning. Matt Vierling made a nice diving play on a Duran sinking line drive for the second out. Josh Smith hit a little flare to left and Greene had to go to the ground and it rattled in and out of his glove for a single. Smith regrouped and got Higashioka on a groundout to Lee to put this one away.

The Tigers are 18-17, tied with Cleveland for the divisional lead. They’ll welcome in the Boston Red Sox for a set starting on Monday night. The entire AL Central is currently bunched within three games of one another.

We’d like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to the Detroit Pistons who rallied back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Orlando Magic in a dominant 116-94 victory at Little Caesar’s Arena on Sunday afternoon. Heck of a comeback as the Pistons advance to the second round.

ST. LOUIS — For the last two weeks, the Dodgers hadn’t felt good.

Both at the plate and behind the scenes.

Starting with last month’s trip to Denver, the club’s lineup had been in a rut, averaging barely four runs per game during a 5-9 skid that derailed their hot start to the season. Over that same period, a nasty bug had been going around the clubhouse, impacting up to 90% of the roster in the estimation of one team staff member.

Slumps and sicknesses, of course, are inevitable realities of a grueling six-month season.

Rarely, however, do teams so severely endure both at the same time.

“I know this doesn’t quantify anything, and no one will care,” veteran third baseman Max Muncy said earlier this weekend, “but for me, one of the side effects when everyone’s feeling bad is, the team doesn’t have the same joy when we show up every day.”

Which meant, as the losses piled up and the search for offense lingered, laughter and levity seemed equally short in supply.

“You have to conserve your energy, so you don’t have the same shenanigans going on in the clubhouse,” noted Muncy, who was so sick during the team’s recent homestand that he had to leave one game early and wear a heavy jacket in the dugout to regulate his body temperature. 

“When you take out any of that joy that comes from being around everybody, it has a negative effect on people.”

Finally, on Sunday, such vibes began to shift. 

In a 4-1 win over the Cardinals, the Dodgers did more than just snap a season-long four-game losing streak. For the first time in a few weeks, energy and enjoyment levels were pulsating through the team again. 

The day started with a telling observation from manager Dave Roberts, who noticed an upbeat atmosphere around the clubhouse ahead of what he described as a “gut check” game.

“I think that there’s a sense of pride that our guys have, that they understand that enough’s enough,” Roberts said before first pitch.

“I think we were just trying to over-caffeinate this morning,” first baseman Freddie Freeman joked later. “I’m glad our aura was a little different this morning. But we try to be the same every day.”

The Dodgers made one intentional change for Sunday, debuting a new drop-kick celebration whenever they reached base.

lol pic.twitter.com/rNZ8j67Otj

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) May 3, 2026

Several veteran players were coy about the origin of the new move –– which may or may not have been inspired by something backup catcher Dalton Rushing did at the end of the previous night’s game (when he frustratedly kicked out his leg upon returning to the dugout following a game-ending strikeout).

#山本由伸 投手 #YoshinobuYamamoto#ドジャース#Dodgers#LetsGoDodgerspic.twitter.com/VgOLJMDnhI

— ℕ.♡* (@Frontier__y18) May 3, 2026

Either way, the message it was intended to send was clear:

“We needed to kick away the negativity,” one player quipped.

That wasn’t the only lighthearted aspect of Sunday’s much-needed victory.

While the Dodgers didn’t exactly break out at the plate, they did enough to warrant a postgame media scrum with one of their top hitters. Thus, reporters initially approached Muncy in the clubhouse for an interview –– only for him to pin the task on Freeman instead.

“Freddie’s coming,” Muncy said with a laugh, before going into the dining room to drag Freeman out for the cameras. “Here he is.”

In the other corner of the locker room, Emmet Sheehan began cracking up as starting pitcher Justin Wrobleski was asked about his uniquely dominant start –– including a question about whether he realized he had failed to record any strikeouts in his scoreless six-inning outing.

“I mean, yeah,” Wrobleski said with a smirk and a shrug. “I had a lot of two-strike counts, and then they kept putting it in play. So I was like, ‘All right, I’ll take the out.’”

In much the same way, the Dodgers will happily take Sunday’s win, as well.

Their hope is that it will mark a small-but-important step toward getting back on track after the struggles of the last few weeks. All the better if it reignites the joy that had been missing on and off the field.

“Offensively, we just haven’t been very good the last week,” Freeman said. “Just call a spade a spade sometimes. There’s no way to sugarcoat it … But no one’s worried in here. And it’s good to get a win on a day game, salvage a series and hopefully start a better streak tomorrow.”

“You just have to bow your neck and find a way to win,” Roberts echoed. “Doesn’t matter how good or bad it looks, we needed a win today. So [now] we can have a happy flight.”

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were cast out by the St. Paul Saints (Twins), 8-7.

Jordan Wicks had a rough start in a rehab assignment. He took the loss after giving up six runs on nine hits over 3.2 innings. The positive news is that he struck out four and walked just one and 50 of his 75 pitches were strikes.

The also-rehabbing Ethan Roberts threw the ninth inning without allowing a run or a hit. He issued a one out walk, but picked the runner off first. Roberts did not strike anyone out.

For the third-straight game, DH Kevin Alcántara homered. It was a solo home run in the eighth inning and was his league-leading 12th overall. Alcántara was 1 for 5.

Second baseman Pedro Ramírez went 3 for 5 with an RBI double in the sixth inning and he knocked home another one with a single in the seventh.

Right fielder Justin Dean went 1 for 2 with two walks and three runs scored. He also had an RBI single in the seventh.

The Ramírez double.

An RBI double for Hayden Cantrelle. He was 1 for 4.

The Ramírez RBI single.

This one went 426 feet.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies shut out the Rocket City Trash Pandas (Angels), 1-0.

Frankie Scalzo Jr. went two innings as the opener. He allowed two hits but no walks and he struck out three.

Nick Dean threw the next 4.2 innings and got the win. Dean surrendered four hits. He struck out six and walked no one.

Marino Santy relieved Dean after he gave up back-to-back two out singles in the seventh. Santy got out of that jam with a strikeout and then retired the side in order in the eighth.

Luis Rujano pitched the ninth inning and got the save. He allowed a leadoff single, but nothing else. He did not strike anyone out.

Right fielder Carter Trice led off the game with a solo home run. The Smokies only managed one more hit the rest of the game, but that was enough. It was Trice’s second home run this year. He was 1 for 4.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs were cooked by the Ft. Wayne TinCaps (Padres), 11-10.

The wind was howling out in South Bend today, but starter Jackson Brockett was only around for part of the first inning of it. Brockett allowed two home runs in the first inning and was pulled after giving up five runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning. The saving grace there for Brockett was that only one of the five runs was earned.

The loss, however, went to Nate Spears, who gave up three runs on four hits over the next 3.1 innings. Just one of the four hits was a home run. Spears walked two and struck out five.

Right fielder Kade Snell connected in the third inning with a man on for his second home run of the season. Snell went 2 for 5 with three total runs batted in.

Third baseman Cole Mathis then went back-to-back with Snell for his first South Bend home run and his eighth overall. Mathis went 2 for 5. He scored twice and drove in two.

In the sixth inning, first baseman Cameron Sisneros hit a two-run home run that I think still hasn’t landed. Sisneros went 1 for 4 with a walk. He now has four home runs this season.

Shortstop Ty Southisene went 3 for 6 with a two-run double in his High-A debut. Southisene scored one run and had three total RBI.

Southisene’s double.

Snell’s home run.

Cole Mathis goes back-to-back.

I don’t think this one landed.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans got plucked by the Columbia Fireflies (Royals), 7-3.

Birds starter Luis A. Reyes failed to retire a batter. He allowed one hit, walked three and hit one batter. All five runners came around to score, three after he left the game.

Noah Edders relieved Reyes with the bases loaded and no outs in the first. He let all three runners in, but he steadied the ship by going 4.2 innings and allowing no runs of his own. Edders surrendered two hits and issued three walks. He struck out five.

Third baseman Derniche Valdez got the Pelicans on the board with a solo home run in the third inning. It was his third of the season. Valdez went 1 for 4.

First baseman Michael Carico went 2 for 4 with a walk and a two-run double.

Shortstop Alexis Hernandez was 2 for 5 and scored on the Carico double.

Valdez’s solo home run.

The Mets’ offense has been in desperate need of some power to start the season, and on Sunday afternoon Mark Vientos was the man to deliver. 

Vientos crushed not one, but two homers to help New York secure the series win over the Angels.

His first came in the top of the fourth when he demolished a 2-0 Jack Kochanowicz sinker 427 feet to the rock pile in center to give the Mets a 2-1 advantage.

Vientos joked postgame that he liked that one better.

“I got all of it, hit it pretty good,” he said. 

The second one was also a big one for the Mets, though, as it helped extend the lead and put the game away for good in the top of the eighth.

Vientos jumped on a 2-1 Nick Sandlin sinker at the top of the zone, ripping it 103.3 mph over the left-field fence. 

It was the sixth multi-homer game of Vientos’ career.

“I was just trying to put together good at-bats,” he said. “I know when I’m on and I’m feeling good that I’m a game-changer especially with the bat, and I got the job done today.”

And it wasn’t just today, as Vientos has been swinging a much-better bat of late.  

The slugger has turned things around very nicely at the plate -- hitting .275 with two doubles, three homers, seven RBI, and a .891 OPS over his last 12 games. 

“I feel good,” he said. “I like the at-bats I’ve taken the past few days, I just want to keep on it, keep putting good at-bats together, and just take it into this series in Colorado.”

With all of the Mets’ injuries, this would be the perfect time for him to catch fire.

“We’ve seen it when he’s going, when he’s driving the ball,” Carlos Mendoza said. “We haven’t seen it in a while, but when he gets hot he can carry a team -- that’s the power and the hitter he’s capable of, he came through today.”

It’s no longer just a crazy idea – Clay Holmes is a bona fide starting pitcher for the New York Mets.

After another stellar outing against the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday in which he went 6.2 innings while allowing one run on four hits and three walks in the Mets’ 5-1 win, Holmes is now 4-2 with a 1.69 ERA (0.98 WHIP) in seven starts. 

That’s more than simply a good beginning to the season, Holmes is pitching himself into the Cy Young award conversation and it’s time people everywhere took notice.

“It’s unbelievable,” said manager Carlos Mendoza about his right-hander’s performance. “We saw it again today. That first inning was a battle after the first couple of guys get on and he’s up to like 30-something pitches, [but] before you know it he’s able to get to those middle innings.

“[He] kept making pitches and for him to go back out for the seventh, he’s just on another level right now physically, mentally.”

It’s true, Sunday’s outing didn’t start out the best for Holmes who walked the first two batters he faced as part of a 27-pitch first inning. But after giving up a run four batters into the game, Holmes turned it on and settled in nicely, not only holding the Angels scoreless the rest of the way, but keeping his pitch count low enough to go deep into the game.

After the game, Mendoza marveled at the former reliever’s ascension into ace starting pitcher.

“The way he’s making adjustments in games, the way he’s using his pitches, trusting the defense when he needs to… overall from Clay, solid,” the skipper said.

Over his last three starts, Holmes has allowed three earned runs over 19.2 innings and has gone at least six innings in all of them. Twice already this season Holmes has pitched seven innings after achieving that just once in 2025.

Holmes’ 1.69 ERA is the fourth-lowest in the majors and his 42.2 innings pitched this season is top-10, wildly impressive for a guy who made the switch from reliever to starter just last year.

Holmes credits his success with the “confidence and trust” of his sinker, the pitch that made him so effective as a late-inning reliever in his career and why David Stearns believed he could make the transition to the rotation in the first place.

While the sinker is his bread and butter and the pitch he throws 49 percent of the time, according to Baseball Savant, Holmes knew he would have to expand his arsenal to more than just one pitch, which he did.

Mixing in a sweeper, changeup, cutter, curveball and four-seamer, Holmes has options up there. However, instead of shying away from his sinker this season and abandoning what makes him so special just because his role has changed, the right-hander has embraced who he is and is using it to his advantage.

“I think for me there’s kind of a comfort thing and I feel like – you know the trust with the sinker was always there, but I feel like, especially now I just feel like there’s a lot of confidence and trust with the sinker,” he said. “That’s who I was as a reliever and I knew that was who I would be as a starter, but I felt like I kinda had the confidence and the trust of the sinker and when I have that I feel like I’m able to pitch off of it and really feel like myself and pitch with some confidence.”

Now in his second year as a full-time starter, Holmes knows the ropes a bit more and rather than learning how to be a starting pitcher and focusing on superfluous things, he can dial it in on what kind of starter he wants to be.

So who does Holmes want to be? Someone who unapologetically throws his greatest weapon, the sinker, nearly half of the time.

“I knew I would have to expand the arsenal, it wouldn’t be all sinkers, but with that, I’m not gonna say distracted but you know there has to be some kind of widening of the arsenal and so there’s focus there,” he said. “And I think more than anything this year is just the confidence with the sinker, like I can still pitch off this and it’s more of a mentality thing, just kind of attacking with the sinker.

“That’s kind of what I had as a reliever and it’s not so much, okay let me get ahead with the sinker or kind of use it to set up something else, it’s like here’s the sinker. So I think just getting back to that mentality with it has kind of just helped the life and the finish to it and I think it’s just been helpful so far this year.”

Ronald Acuna Jr. was placed on the injured list on Sunday morning due to a hamstring strain that he suffered the day before. 

Acuna had come out of the Braves’ 9-1 win over the Rockies on Saturday after starting to limp in pain during the second inning when he was running out a ground ball he hit to second base. 

Acuna had undergone an MRI in Denver to understand how severe the injury was and will now be on the IL with a left hamstring strain. 

The MRI revealed a Grade 1 hamstring strain and Braves manager Walt Weiss said it “could have been a lot worse.” 

“Not too serious, but serious enough that we had to put him on the list,” Weiss told reporters on Sunday. “It’s not going to be just a couple of days. It’s going to be more than, so we need to put him on the IL. Hopefully, it will be sooner than later. No idea with these soft tissue injuries, how long they’re going to take. 

“But I think the silver lining is the MRI showed it wasn’t too serious.”

An update on Ronald Acuña Jr. from Braves Manager Walt Weiss: pic.twitter.com/rXxpWG6ubH

— BravesVision (@BravesVisionTV) May 3, 2026

The Braves called up José Azócar to fill the spot left by Acuna. 

The five-time All-Star was off to a slow start this season, slashing .252/.362/.378 over 152 plate appearances, while hitting just two home runs. 

Atlanta has also dealt with its fair share of injuries this season, with the loss of Acuna being the latest one. 

The Braves have eight pitchers listed on their IL as of Sunday, with a varying degree of injuries that they’re recovering from, which includes closer Raisel Iglesias, reliever Dylan Dodd and starter Spencer Schwellenbach.

The Braves won Sunday’s game 11-6 over the Rockies to take the weekend series. 

Atlanta is in first place in the National League East with an 8 ½ game lead over the Marlins.