Category: Baseball

Well, they got the series loss out of the way. Not surprisingly, it came in a series where the games weren’t really managed with urgency on the pitching side. Now, the season standings are what they are, so I can get soft-pedaling things, though it’s not actually any more enjoyable to watch in the moment than if the standings were more dire. But, it’s not like the team’s first series loss was some kind of devastating blow.

Right now, getting swept also wouldn’t be a devastating blow. But, we also don’t know that the Braves will get swept any time soon. Do you think they will? If so, when? Who’s gonna achieve it?

The 2024 Braves didn’t get swept until early May… by the Dodgers… on a road trip to Seattle and Los Angeles… after losing a series to the Mariners.

The 2023 Braves actually got swept in late April by the Astros.

The 2022 Braves were never swept.

The 2021 Braves were swept in their first series of the year… as were the 2019 Braves. Both happened in Philadelphia.

The 2020 Braves were only swept in a two-game set in Games 19 and 20 of that shortened season. A funny thing there was that they were swept at Yankee Stadium, and then later that month, swept the Yankees in two games at home. The team only participated in one other sweep the rest of the way.

The 2018 team also lasted until early May, where they were swept at home by the Giants.

I keep telling you that there’s something special about this Cubs team.

Maybe if they keep pulling out wins like the one Wednesday night against the Reds, you’ll believe me. I almost have no words… oh, wait, I’ve got about 1,700 words to describe Wednesday’s amazing comeback win.

After the team had one of their worst innings of the entire season, blowing a two-run ninth-inning lead and … well, I’ll get to the rest of that… the Cubs tied the game up, got a solid scoreless inning from a pitcher who had just arrived and was only there because of yet another injury, then won the game on a walk-off walk issued to Michael Busch. The Cubs’ 7-6, 10-inning win was their eighth in a row and their 14th straight at Wrigley Field.

Caught your breath yet? Let’s rewind to the beginning of this bonkers game.

Colin Rea walked the first batter of the game, TJ Friedl. That almost never winds up being a good thing, and it wasn’t in this case, as Friedl moved to second when Rea threw a pickoff attempt away and scored on a single by JJ Bleday.

The Cubs wasted no time in taking the lead back. The first two Cubs in the first grounded out, then Alex Bregman singled.

Ian Happ’s ninth home run of the year made it 2-1 Cubs [VIDEO].

Perspective: This was the Cubs’ 37th game of the year. Last year — when Happ hit 23 home runs — he hit his ninth in the team’s 75th game. The homer was the 182nd of his career, moving Happ ahead of Alfonso Soriano into 12th place on the franchise home run list. Next up: Hack Wilson, 190.

The Reds threatened in the third. Two singles put runners on first and third with nobody out. Rea struck out Bleday, then with the infield in, Busch made this good play [VIDEO].

More good Cubs defense in the fourth, this one from Dansby Swanson [VIDEO].

Did I mention good Swanson defense? He did it again that inning [VIDEO].

The Cubs made it 4-1 in the bottom of the inning. Happ led off with a single and scored on this double by Seiya Suzuki [VIDEO].

Suzuki moved to third on a single by Busch and scored when Carson Kelly hit into a double play [VIDEO].

Rea served up a home run ball to Matt McLain in the fifth to make the score 4-2. Rea was finally lifted with one out in the sixth after putting runners on by a walk and a single. He got one out on a ground ball, then Jacob Webb was summoned. Webb’s been pretty good lately and he got out of the inning with a pair of ground outs — the second, though, required this slick grab from Bregman [VIDEO].

The Cubs had a chance to extend the lead in the seventh. Pete Crow-Armstrong and Swanson began the inning with singles, but Nico Hoerner hit into a double play. Craig Counsell sent Matt Shaw up to bat against left-hander Sam Moll, but Terry Francona countered with Pierce Johnson, so Counsell sent Michael Conforto up to bat for Shaw. That’s something you used to see a lot, but not now with three-batter minimums and four-man benches.

Anyway, Conforto could not replicate his heroics of Monday; he grounded out to end the inning.

Phil Maton threw a 1-2-3 eighth. That’s good because, well, the Cubs need good relievers they can trust right now, what with all the injuries.

In the bottom of the eighth, Happ was robbed of extra bases by Friedl [VIDEO].

Tip o’ the cap there — that could have been a double or triple, instead it was a 402-foot out.

Then, the ninth. If I can be permitted to second-guess Counsell a bit, Webb had thrown only 14 pitches to record five outs. Perhaps he could have thrown the eighth and Maton the ninth. I agree with Counsell on not using Daniel Palencia on back-to-back days, yet, coming off his injury.

So it was Corbin Martin to try to save this game. Friends, you know he did not do that. He served up a leadoff homer to Spencer Steer, then allowed singles to Will Benson and pinch-hitter Tyler Stephenson. That was it for Martin, and Hoby Milner came on to protect what was now a one-run lead.

McLain attempted a bunt. Milner thought he had a play at third, and he might have, only he hesitated just for the tiniest moment and Benson was safe. Milner then struck out pinch-hitter Dane Myers, only to see Bleday hit a single, tying the game.

Okay, tie game, the Cubs got this one. Only… this happened [VIDEO].

Suzuki made a nice grab, then fell down. What you can’t see on the clip is that he flipped the ball to PCA, whose throw was too late to prevent two runs from scoring on Elly De La Cruz’s sacrifice fly.

The four-run ninth was a disaster, one of the Cubs’ worst innings of 2026, as noted above.

Did that matter? No, it did not!

Busch led off and was called out on strikes on a pitch overturned on a challenge. Then Kelly singled.

Then PCA came to bat. Listen to the audio of the clip here, Jim Deshaies was prescient [VIDEO].

In addition to tying the game, that was PCA’s first home run of the season at Wrigley Field (fourth overall). Here’s a cool field view of the homer [VIDEO].

With one out, the Cubs had a chance to walk it off in regulation, but Swanson popped up and Hoerner grounded out.

On to the 10th and Milner walked the first Reds hitter he faced. Now there are runners on first and second with nobody out. Trent Thornton was summoned. Raise your hand if you knew, when this day started, that Thornton would be pitching for the Cubs in this very high-leverage situation. (No, no you did not, he’s only there due to the injury to Matthew Boyd.)

Thornton did his job exceptionally well. He got Steer to hit into a double play. Pinch-runner Blake Dunn wound up on third, where he was stranded when Thornton got Benson to ground out. Thornton is 32 and signed a minor-league deal with the Cubs in January. He’s had some decent years in the past in Toronto and Seattle, and this outing, well, the Cubs need that “next man up” theory to hold and it did in this inning.

In the bottom of the 10th, Miguel Amaya was sent up to bat in the DH spot, for Conforto. Remember that Shaw had already been used, the only other bench bat was Nicky Lopez. Amaya was being sent up to sacrifice the placed runner (Nico), and he did so successfully. So now Hoerner’s on third with one out. The Reds chose to intentionally pass Bregman. Happ, though, struck out for the second out in the inning. The Reds then decided to intentionally pass Suzuki. You don’t see this sort of thing often in walk-off situations anymore; teams think it’s too big of a risk when, as was the case here, a walk ends the game.

Busch, who was the wak-off hero Tuesday, was the hitter. He ran a 3-0 count. One more ball and the Cubs win. The fourth pitch was close, and it appeared Busch had challenged — but the umpires didn’t allow it. Counsell came out for a discussion, but the game continued. As it turned out, the pitch was a strike, so the challenge wouldn’t have done anything. A very close pitch, but a strike:

Who knows? Maybe that brief delay by Counsell rattled Brock Burke a bit, because he threw pitch 5 way inside to Busch, and the Cubs had another win [VIDEO].

Just can’t say enough about this team. Even with that awful ninth, you had the feeling that somehow, this Cubs team would come back and win, and so they did. From BCB’s JohnW53:

Last night’s win made Monday-Wednesday just the fourth time since 1901 that Cubs have had three straight walk-offs vs. the same team:

Aug. 16-18, 1932, vs Braves
Aug. 28, 30 and 31, 1932 vs Giants
Sept. 27-28, 1943 vs Giants (doubleheader on 28th).

They have had three straight walk-offs vs. different teams since then, most recently in 2009.

The injury to Boyd, noted above, will have some ripple effects, obviously. Javier Assad likely slots back into the rotation, and for now, Thornton takes his bullpen place. We’ll discuss over the next days and weeks where Jed Hoyer might go for starting pitching help. As for the pen, I’d think this game might be the end of Corbin Martin’s Cubs career — after starting out this year reasonably well (including a save against the Dodgers!), Martin’s last three outings have resulted in one total inning pitched, six hits, four walks, two home runs and six runs allowed for a 54.00 ERA. I’m not sure who the Cubs could add today to replace Martin — Ethan Roberts, currently on rehab assignment, threw an inning for Triple-A Iowa on Wednesday.

There will be more on WPA in Heroes and Goats at 10 a.m. CT, but check out this game’s chart (Bluesky link):

Here are postgame remarks from PCA [VIDEO].

And here are Counsell’s postgame comments [VIDEO].

One more note on the walk-off by Busch:

One more note on the streaking Cubs:

The Cubs now lead the NL Central by 3.5 games over the second-place Cardinals and five games over the Brewers, Reds and Pirates.

The Cubs will go for nine in a row, 15 straight at Wrigley, and a four-game sweep Thursday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Shōta Imanaga will start for the Cubs and Rhett Lowder goes for the Reds. Game time is 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network (and MLB Network outside the Cubs and Reds market territories).

Cole Ragans exited after just 3 innings, in last night’s 3-1 loss.

After just 58 pitches thrown across three innings, starter Cole Ragans exited the Royals’ 3-1 loss to the Guardians on Wednesday with left triceps and elbow soreness. He’ll undergo further testing and evaluation on Thursday to determine the severity and next steps.

Ragans said he felt tightness creep into the back of his left triceps and just above the elbow throughout the third inning. He got out of a jam that had runners on first and third with two outs with a popup to get him through his third scoreless frame, but when he got back in the dugout, he alerted the Royals’ coaching and training staff of the tightness.

“It got to a point where I didn’t feel like I needed to push it anymore,” Ragans said. “Talked to [pitching coach Brian] Sweeney and all of them, and figured that was the best decision.”

Carlos Estevez made his first rehab outing yesterday in Omaha… it didn’t go well.

Three batters into the outing with Triple-A Omaha, Estévez was exiting with shoulder discomfort, motioning to his right arm as a trainer came out for a mound visit.

Estévez was traveling back from Indianapolis, where the Storm Chasers were playing, on Wednesday. He’ll undergo further testing and evaluation on Thursday, manager Matt Quatraro said after the Royals’ 3-1 loss to the Guardians on Wednesday night.

He averaged 90 mph with his four-seam fastball on Wednesday – a pitch he averaged 95.9 mph with last season. His changeup registered at 81.2 mph, while his slider clocked in at an 81.4 mph on average.

Eric Cerantola, who made his MLB debut last night, was tabbed as a prospect with future closer potential.

Cerantola spent all of 2025 with Triple-A Omaha and found some success, posting a 4.04 ERA and 29.6 percent strikeout rate over 49 innings. He’s returned to the International League for this season and been even more dominant (1.42 ERA, 33.3 K%) and a big reason is that he took his slider — which was already his primary pitch, and a dominant one — and improved it by adding about five inches more drop and cutting some of the gloveside break. He’s thrown the slide piece 56.8 percent of the time, and opponents have a .069 average and 59.2 percent whiff rate against it. He also shows a mid-90s four-seamer.

Josh Hammond breaks into the Baseball America top 100 prospect list at #94, joining Kendry Chourio at #53. [$]

“In high school, Hammond was a standout, two-way talent. As a pro, he’s hitting only—but he’s really hitting. He jumped straight to Low-A and has been one of the most productive players on his team and in the Carolina League overall. If he develops the way the Royals hope, he could be a true five-tool talent.”

Kevin O’Brien of Royals Keep talked about how the Royals have won the Isaac Collins/Nick Mears trade.

O’Brien also talks about the Royals starting rotation.

Hawaiian Bros changes the terms of their promotion with the Royals to make it “buy one, get one free”.

With a new Royals stadium downtown, what is next for Washington Square Park?

The Cubs won their 14th straight home game, with another walk-off.

Framber Valdez is suspended five games for throwing at a hitter, and will miss this weekend against the Royals.

Paul Skenes is back to doing Paul Skenes things after a shaky Opening Day start.

Tarik Skubal’s injury leaves the Tigers in an uncertain place.

Bunting and small ball is back!

Walks are surging in baseball and it may be because of ABS. [$]

Today’s song of the day is Riptide by Vance Joy

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The New York Yankees will look to win a series this afternoon when they face the Texas Rangers.

The Rangers grabbed a bit of a surprising blowout win last night, giving them their first win of this series. That won’t repeat here. 

Read all about it in my Rangers vs. Yankees predictions and MLB picks for Thursday, May 7.

Who will win Rangers vs Yankees today: Yankees moneyline (-135)

There’s a pretty big matchup problem for MacKenzie Gore here. He’s posted a 90th-percentile strikeout rate in the early season, showing his ability to miss bats. That will give him success against parts of this New York Yankees lineup.

The rest, though, will be a problem. 

He pairs his strikeout prowess with a walk rate in the Bottom 25% of the sport and a 12th-percentile barrel rate. That combo will punish him sooner or later when facing a lineup that is bottom in chase rate and Top 3 in both barrel plus hard-hit rate. 

On the other side, I’m always a fan of backing Paul Blackburn — filling in for Ryan Weathers — as I view him as one of the more underrated pitchers in baseball over the last two seasons. Why? Contact suppression. He doesn’t give up many barrels, which should play well here. I’d take this to -155.

COVERS INTEL: Blackburn’s contact suppression is best highlighted by Top-20% barrel and groundball rates.

Rangers vs Yankees Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (-105)

Despite scoring 10 runs over the last two games, this isn’t a Rangers lineup that puts up crooked numbers by design. Blackburn’s breaking ball and offspeed pitch both grade above the 80th percentile by run value, which should provide dividends against this weak offense. 

As mentioned, Gore’s strikeout ability will keep a large portion of this Yankees offense from stringing stuff together too often as well.

Texas and New York also feature two of the strongest run-suppressing bullpens in MLB, ranking 1st and 3rd, respectively, in reliever ERA.

I’d play this to -120.

Rangers vs Yankees odds

• Moneyline: Rangers +123 | Yankees -149
• Run line: Rangers +1.5 (-163) | Yankees -1.5 (+135)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (-115) | Under 8.5 (-105)

Rangers vs Yankees trend

The New York Yankees have hit the Moneyline in 12 of their last 15 games (+7.85 Units / 33% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Rangers vs. Yankees.

How to watch Rangers vs Yankees and game info

Rangers vs Yankees latest injuries

Rangers vs Yankees weather

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

The Mets close out a three-game series against the Rockies in Colorado at 3:10 p.m. on SNY.

Mets Notes

• Carson Benge is slashing .273/.320/.455 with two homers and seven RBI over his last 15 games
• Marcus Semien recorded the Mets' first four-hit game of the season on Wednesday 
• Semien is a career .385 hitter in 17 at-bats against Jose Quintana
• Christian Scott struck out eight over 5.0 innings of work his last time out
• The Mets are looking to lock-up their first series sweep since the beginning of April in San Fran

Today's Lineups

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Meet the Mets

The offense showed up in a big way in the Mets’ 10-5 win over the Rockies. Marcus Semien led the offensive charge with a four-hit night that included a home run. Juan Soto also went deep leading off the game to set the tone early on. The pitching struggled a bit, but the Mets have now taken the first two games in the series with a snow day in between.

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue, Faith and Fear in Flushing, MLB.com, Newsday, NY Post

Carson Benge had another good day at the plate, but his defense has also made an impact recently.

Snow days are rare in baseball, but the Mets were able to enjoy their day off in Denver.

A.J. Minter experienced a setback during his rehab assignment and will be reassessed in the coming days.

There is still no timetable for Jorge Polanco’s return, but he expects to play first base when he comes off the IL.

The Mets have a solid core of young pitching with Nolan McLean, Christian Scott, and Jonah Tong, but even more pitching help could be on the way.

Around the National League East

Ted Turner, the former owner of the Atlanta Braves, passed away at the age of 87.

Atlanta fell to the Marlins 3-1 to drop the series against Miami.

The Marlins are calling up Robby Snelling, one of their top prospects, to make his MLB debut against the Nationals this weekend.

Zack Wheeler and the Phillies defeated the Athletics 6-3.

The Nationals exploded for 15 runs in their 15-2 rout of the Twins.

Around Major League Baseball

Astros third baseman Carlos Correa will miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury he sustained in batting practice.

Additional reporting about former Tigers Triple-A manager Gabe Alvarez revealed that he was dismissed after allegedly harrassing a female employee.

Framber Valdez received a 5-game suspension for throwing at Trevor Story which led to a benches-clearing incident between the Tigers and Red Sox.

Cubs starter Matthew Boyd suffered a meniscus injury while playing with his children and will be out for the foreseeable future.

Three batters were hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the contest between the White Sox and Angels which is the first time in at least 70 seasons that has happened.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Chris McShane took a look at Carson Benge’s recent improvements at the plate.

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 2012, Jordany Valdespin hit a pinch-hit three-run home run for his first career major league hit.

Rangers 6, Yankees 1

• The Rangers have won a game! Huzzah!
• Not only did the Rangers win a game, they won it against one of the two teams in the American League with a record better than .500.
• That’s right, its mediocrity as far as the eye can see in the A.L. right now.
• Outstanding work by Nathan Eovaldi. Really top notch.
• Eight innings, eight Ks, which is some nice symmetry. 101 pitches, of which almost two-thirds were either splitters or curveballs.
• And even when Eovaldi did go fastball, he primarily used his cutter, which he threw 23 times. He only went with the fastball nine times, and threw four sinkers.
• 19 whiffs for Eovaldi, eight of them coming on the curveball. He threw it a lot more often than usual on Wednesday, and you can see why.
• The only damper was a home run by Aaron Judge, but I’m pretty sure Aaron Judge homers every game so we can let that go.
• Plus the Rangers actually scored some runs.
• Novel concept, that.
• Evan Carter homered and Corey Seager homered. We like that, right?
• The Rangers are two games below .500 now, but still just a game back of the A’s, and tied with the Mariners. That mediocrity I was talking about earlier, you know.
• I mentioned that the Yankees are one of two teams in the American League above .500. They are 25-12, tied with the Cubs for the second-best record in baseball, behind the 26-12 Atlanta Braves.
• The other team in the A.L. above .500? The Tampa Bay Rays. They are 24-12.
• Yeah, that surprised me, too.
• Tampa has won 6 in a row and 12 of their last 13. In fact, Tampa has three six game winning streaks so far this year. Its weird.
• So there are four teams with 12 losses currently. There are also four teams with 23 losses — the Astros, the Angels, the Giants, and the Rockies.
• And there are six — count ‘em, six — teams with exactly 20 losses. That seems like a lot.
• Nathan Eovaldi touched 96.8 mph with his fastball, averaging 95.0 mph. Jacob Latz’s fastball reached 95.5 mph.
• Jake Burger had a 109.1 mph single and a 103.0 mph ground out. Ezequiel Duran had a 107.6 mph double and a 102.3 mph sacrifice fly. Evan Carter had a 106.2 mph ground out, and his home run was 99.6 mph. Brandon Nimmo had a 104.2 mph ground out. Corey Seager’s homer was 101.7 mph.
• Wins are good. Let’s do that more.

Juan Soto had only hit in the leadoff spot two times in his big-league career prior to this week. 

But when Carlos Mendoza approached him with the idea of moving him there in an effort to create more traffic for the Mets' shorthanded offense, he was all-in.

"I told him right away, whatever he wants," Soto said. "Wherever he wants me I'll be there -- anything I can do to help the team out, I'm going to be open to it."

Soto went hitless in his return to the spot during Monday's series opener, but he was able to do some damage against Rockies right-hander Michael Lorenzen to open the ballgame Wednesday night. 

Just three pitches into the ballgame, he jumped all over a low-and-away curveball, crushing it 435 feet to left-center for his fourth homer of the season and the first leading off in his career. 

"It's great," Soto said. "To be able to punch first in the first inning with the team is always great -- it gets the guys going and helps the starter sit and breathe a little starting the game with the lead, it's definitely great."

That ended up being Soto's only hit in the ballgame, but he did drive in another run with a sacrifice fly as the bottom of the Mets' order got things going again during the middle innings. 

New York struck three times in the fourth, four in the sixth, and two in the ninth in a much-needed 10-run outburst. 

Brett Baty, Carson Benge, Marcus Semien, and Francisco Alvarez combined to account for 10 of the team's 15 hits while scoring eight runs and driving in five out of the five-through-nine spots in the lineup.  

Semien spearheaded the effort by delivering the team's first four-hit game of the season.

"It's always great to have the bottom of the lineup producing and helping the top part of the order have some breathing room," Soto said. "It was great to see those guys come through like that."

Soto did appear to have a bit of an injury scare, but he told Carlos Mendoza that he was fine. 

The Mets will look to complete their first series sweep since the beginning of April with Christian Scott taking the ball for the third time this season on Thursday afternoon. 

"It's important to continue winning series," Mendoza said. "It's important to come back and get the third one tomorrow -- but it is good to see the guys playing loose, playing with confidence, and not trying to do too much."

The Los Angeles Dodgers finished their road trip at .500, and are exhaling in a multitude of ways.

The most immediate concern was for their starting pitcher, Tyler Glasnow, who exited Wednesday’s matinee game against the Houston Astros just after taking the mound to warm up for the second inning. Initial news was that it was Glasnow’s lower back that was bothering him.

Back pain is nothing new to Glasnow, who has dealt with it most of his major league career. Most recently the 6’8” pitcher skipped a start last September dealing with what he called “tall guy back”. In 2024 he also dealt with it but avoided the IL.

Glasnow did not put up too much of a fight when the trainer came out to talk to him. He had thrown 19 pitches in the first inning, and that would be all he would throw. After the game, Manager Dave Roberts said that there would be a precautionary MRI when the team returned to Los Angeles, but Glasnow is not expected to land on the IL.

“I think today, given the situation with Tyler, it couldn’t have been a better outcome,” Roberts said.

Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic has more info on Glasnow and the pitching staff as a whole here.

Another thing that led to a happy flight home was the offense continued to score against the Astros. The team scored eight in Monday’s game, only one in Tuesday’s game, but then erupted for 12 runs in Wednesday’s game.

They started the game by scoring on three different wild pitches off the arm of Lance McCullers Jr, but that triplet was overshadowed by Andy Pages’ three home runs. He had half of the RBI and made some great plays in center.

“Just having a lot of confidence in what I’m doing up there,” Pages said through interpreter Juan Dorado. “The bad streak really happened when I was hitting the ball well and hitting the ball hard, just not finding a lot of holes. But staying to my plan, staying confident in my approach, and the results are coming now.”

Courtney Hollman of MLB.com covers more of Roberts’ thoughts on the day.

The end of the exhale was over other certain players performances at the plate. Shohei Ohtani had a double to right center in his second at bat, and added a walk and an RBI single to his day. Kyle Tucker’s bat also seemed to come alive in Houston, going 7-for 21.

Bill Plunkett of the OC Register goes in depth with quotes from players here.

The Dodgers will need all cylinders firing together as they will begin a three-game set with the Atlanta Braves on Friday, who are owners of the best record in all of MLB.

Columbus Clippers 2, Iowa Cubs 3

The story of this game was the performance from Rorik Maltrud. He went 7 scoreless innings giving up just one hit with 8 strikeouts. He has had a really awesome season as his ERA is down to 2.08. He is a little older than you’d like to see for a prospect who is just now pitching well in AAA but he has been the Clippers best starter.

It wasn’t a huge day offensively for the Clippers but there were a couple nice performances. George Valera and Nolan Jones both went 2-5. Stuart Fairchild went 1-3 with a smoked double and a two walks. Kody Huff went 2-2 with 2 RBIs and a double. He has had a really nice season thus far.

Akron RubberDucks 4, Richmond Flying Squirrels 5

Ralphy Velazquez continues to have a great season in AA. He went 1-3 with two walks last night and is now hitting .297 with an .893 OPS on the season. He should be promoted to AAA sooner rather than later in my personal opinion. Jacob Cozart went 2-4 with an RBI double. Nick Mitchell went 1-3 with a walk and an RBI double.

It has been a rough season for Dylan Delucia but he had an excellent outing today. He tossed 4 scoreless innings while striking out 6 batters and walking just 1. His ERA sits at 8.41 on the season. Carter Rustad also had two scorless innings of relief with two strikeouts and no walks. He has had a really nice season as his ERA is down to 1.10.

Lake County Captains 1, Great Lakes Loons 7

Is it just me or does it seem like Great Lakes(Dodgers affiliate) has owned the Captains for years now? It was a rough performance overall from the Captains. Jogly Garcia was someone with a bit of hype coming into this season and it has been rough for him. His ERA is up to 7.25 on the season after giving up 6 runs in just 4.1 innings. The Captains totaled just 3 hits in this one, two of those coming from Ryan Cesarini that included a HR.

Fredericksburg Nationals 3, Hill City Howlers 4

The Howlers were the only affiliate to win today, and it was mostly due to their pitching performances. Nelson Keljo allowed 2 runs in his 3 innings pitched, and then the bullpen allowed just 1 more run in 6 innings with 9 strikeouts.

Robert Arias continues to be the most impressive young prospect on a team full of young impressive prospects. He went 0-1 with 3 walks tonight. He is hitting .323 with an OPS of .933. Anthony Martinez went 2-4, Yeiferth Castillo went 1-4 with an RBI double, and Yerlin Luis walked it off with a solo HR in the bottom of the 9th.

A few weeks ago upon the news of Angels franchise icon Garret Anderson passing away, John wrote a tribute to him, saluting him as one of the great Yankee Killers of recent vintage. Although David Ortiz was far more famous, Yankees pitchers were also quite flummoxed by having to pitch to Garret.

Now today, we’re on the other side of the ball and on the heels of the Yankees once again getting rolled by the man we’ve taken to calling “an old frenemy,” Nathan Eovaldi. The Yanks have lost just twice in the last nine games, and both times were at Eovaldi’s hands. The former Yankee has pretty much always pitched well in such situtations, with a 2.82 career ERA in career 153 innings against New York (including his two playoff wins with Boston), and he’s been especially good of late. Since the start of 2025, he’s allowed a grand total of two runs in four starts across a span of 29 innings, a minuscule 0.63 ERA. Goodness.

With Eovaldi’s excellence in mind, who do you think is the best Yankees Killer on the mound? If you need a refresher, there are some good names to consider. Hall of Fame southpaw Randy Johnson was brutal for just about everyone to deal with, and he helped two separate teams send the Yankees home in October around a time when that wasn’t happening very often — first with the 1995 Mariners, just before the dynasty really got humming and then with the 2001 Diamondbacks, who effectively ended the championship run. He even pitched in relief during the win-or-go-home elimination games on both occasions!

There’s also Luis Tiant, Dave Stieb, Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Roy Halladay, A.J. Burnett, Cliff Lee, Dallas Keuchel, Justin Verlander, and of course the originally-named “Yankee Killer,” midcentury All-Star Frank Lary. Knuckleballing Hall of Fame swingman Hoyt Wilhelm also had a 1.98 ERA in 209.1 career innings against New York around the same time as Lary, and he threw what still stands as the last complete-game no-hitter against the Yankees back in 1958. If you want obscure and random, I remember the Red Sox having a soft-tosser named Frank Castillo who absolutely gave the Yankees fits in the early 2000s. More recently, Cristian Javier and Brayan Bello have been tougher customers against the Yanks than most other teams.

So take your pick! I think Johnson probably has too much of a resume to ignore, but if we’re talking non-Hall of Famers, boy was it never, ever fun to face Cliff Lee. And like Johnson, he made the Yanks look awful in postseason play pretty much whenever he got a chance.

It’s not surprising that the Yankees’ front office wanted him so much, nearly trading for him in July 2010 and falling short in the 2011 free agent sweepstakes. If you prefer to be optimistic (in a way) though, maybe it would’ve just turned out like Johnson’s own up-and-down, abbreviated Yankees career.

Today on the site, Peter will focus in on an at-bat from David Bednar’s five-out save on May 5th for his Sequence of the Week feature, Madison will have the Rivalry Roundup, and Jonathan’s Yankees Birthday post discusses Tom Zachary, who won a World Series in pinstripes in 1928 but is most famous for something he did before ever joining the Yankees: surrendering Babe Ruth’s then-record 60th homer of the legendary 1927 campaign. Later, Estevão will ponder the extremely middling American League landscape, and after the matinee, Jeremy will pay his respects to the late John Sterling with a tribute from the perspective of an aspiring broadcaster in his own right.

Today’s Matchup

New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers

Time: 12:35 p.m. EST

Video: YES, Rangers Sports Network

Venue: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY

The Cardinals had found their replacement for Ozzie Smith, but you don’t actually want to be the guy who replaces the legend. You want to be the guy after that. Poor Royce Clayton, who had to follow his childhood idol, and was perfectly cromulent, but he wasn’t Ozzie Smith. Targeted for free agency and with the Cardinals looking for a new direction, they traded Clayton (along with Todd Stottlemyre) at the deadline in 1998. It was a good trade. They received a couple years of Fernando Tatis senior, later traded for a package that included Steve Kline, and Darren Oliver, who had his best season as a starter in 1999.

But this was not a Brendan Donovan got traded and JJ Wetherholt was ready to step in situation. They Cardinals did not have an in-house replacement for Clayton. Their first choice was Barry Larkin, who was apparently unhappy, because the Reds had just traded Bret Boone, and Larkin was promised the Reds would build around him and Larkin. I think it had less to do with Boone, who honestly wasn’t that good at the time, and more as Larkin puts it: “I feel as if I’m being held hostage by a team with no immediate plans to be competitive.”

Larkin had a no-trade clause, but was willing to be traded to five teams, which included the Cardinals. That’s interesting because the Cardinals did not have a particularly good 90s and didn’t have a good 1999 season either, although Larkin would have helped. But I’ll give some credit to Jim Bowden, who didn’t seem to usually make smart moves. He held out for JD Drew and Rick Ankiel. Larkin had one great year and one good year left, so that would have been a bad trade by the Cardinals. Walt Jocketty thought so too.

So they pivoted. And this is really why I’m writing the article. Because there are a few confusing aspects of the Edgar Renteria trade that followed. It’s the kind of trade that reveals how different front offices operated as it pertained to value than today’s game. The structure of that trade would not get made today. Decisions made prior to that trade would not get made today either.

And it starts with Braden Looper. Looper was the 3rd overall pick in the 1996 MLB Draft out of Wichita State University. Highest draft pick the Cardinals have ever had. And they drafted him that high knowing, essentially, that he would be a reliever. I mean they envisioned a closer, but still. What is the absolute highest round a team will draft someone knowing they will be a reliever now? We all knew the Cardinals would convert Tanner Franklin to starting specifically because of how high he was drafted and he was drafted 72nd. Looper was the THIRD OVERALL PICK.

He did start games at first, but barely. He signed late in the 1996 season, so he didn’t pitch in his draft year. This wasn’t for modern reasons like saving his arm, the draft pick signing deadline was VERY late in the season and a lot of the high picks used all of that time to come to an agreement. He started 12 games at High A in 1997, wasn’t particularly impressive, and then they converted him to reliever. After 12 starts. They promoted him to AA and also moved him to the bullpen at the same time. He honestly still wasn’t that good.

So of course, he made the team out of spring training in 1998. They gave him all of 4 games before they sent him to Memphis. All of this is impossible to wrap my head around. They used a high draft pick and immediately converted him to relief. And with not very good minor league stats and not even at AAA, he made the majors, and they were so confident in this decision that he got demoted after 4 games. He actually struck out 25% of the batters he faced, which is like 30% nowadays, but gave up 4 runs (2 were not earned). He spent the rest of the year in Memphis.

He’s not the only weird part of that trade. Looper wasn’t actually the highest rated prospect in the trade. Which doesn’t sound that weird when I describe Looper the player, but he was the 23rd best prospect in Baseball America. There was no doubt he was a reliever when they ranked him. It is not strange that there was a more valuable prospect than him, but somehow the player ranked above him was weirder.

Pablo Ozuna was the #8 prospect in baseball when this trade was made according to Baseball America. Walt Jocketty got extremely lucky on this one. The Cardinals had signed Ozuna at 16-years-old in 1996 out of the Dominican Republic and if you go to his stats page, you will notice he was not actually 16 in 1996. He could have graduated college in 1996. He was actually 22-years-old.

This was not known at the time of the trade. As far as anybody knew, Ozuna was about to be 19 in 1999. He had just batted .357 in Low A and had stolen 62 bases. In reality, he was 23-years-old and also he got caught stealing 26 times. Which is a horrible success rate. And I guess teams didn’t learn what a good success rate was, because he was allowed to be a bad base stealer for his whole career.

So we have the #8 prospect in baseball and the #23 prospect in baseball, but it was a magic act. It was a soon-to-be 24-year-old who hadn’t played above A ball and a relief pitcher. There was a third player involved, but he had to be considered a throw-in. I can’t imagine this guy had real value then. Armando Almanza was a soon-to-be 26-year-old left-handed relief pitcher with swing-and-miss stuff but spotty control who hadn’t actually pitched in the majors yet.

For two relief pitchers, one of whom is barely a prospect, and a super old for his level infielder who is bad at stealing bases, the Cardinals received four years of 22-year-old shortstop who had 3.5 fWAR as a 19-year-old and then kind of underwhelmed in his next two seasons. You could not ask for a better trade or a better acquisition for the future.

Baseball Prospectus, weirdly obsessed with him maybe being a year younger than he said (it’s mentioned in SIX of their yearly profiles), said this about Renteria: “Good comparisons would be Barry Larkin or Alan Trammell: the power should keep getting better; he’ll take a few more walks and have a shot at an MVP award someday. While he isn’t an ideal leadoff man, the Cardinals don’t have many alternatives.”

Didn’t quite work out that way, although he did have a couple All-Star caliber seasons. After 1999, the Cardinals signed him to a four-year extension with two club options. They picked up his 2004 option, but confusingly apparently the 2005 option was voided because they waited too long to pick up the 2004 option. If anybody has any information on that, I would love to know. I have not heard that one in baseball before. David Eckstein ended up being better than Renteria in 2005, so it worked out, but I definitely would have done one more year with Renteria. They tried to sign him in free agency too, so this wasn’t a no interest situation.

Anyway, this is a perfect Walt Jocketty trade and also… a very lucky Walt Jocketty trade. I really doubt he knew Pablo Ozuna was older than he said. Ozuna’s real age was revealed in 2002 thanks to the September 11th attacks, when foreign-born players had to show their birth certificate to apply for a work visa. Nearly 300 players saw their birthdays change from this. Overnight Ozuna was four years older and a utility player, not a highly touted prospect. And he also did draft Looper 3rd overall, so it’s not like he didn’t agree with the consensus that relievers could be very valuable.

But I will also say for a guy who was known for trading for veterans, our past looks a lot different if he decides to trade for Barry Larkin. Renteria was, mostly, not as good as you remember, because his bat wasn’t very good in his Cardinals tenure – the run environment then was crazy in the steroid era – however he did peak more in line with when the Cardinals were genuine title contenders. Larkin had already peaked, although he did have a peak season left in 1999, but that wouldn’t have made the Cardinals a playoff team.

More importantly, they held onto JD Drew who later net the Cardinals Adam Wainwright. Imagine that alternate history where the Cardinals get Larkin! He would have pivoted, but it is very difficult to imagine the last 25 years going as well as they did if they made that Larkin trade.

The slow decline in the prominence of the starting pitcher in baseball has been in full swing for decades. In the place of hurlers that would routinely throw every pitch of a game when called upon has come an increasingly large carousel of single-inning (or less) relievers.

The prevailing strategy throughout the league can be summed up like this: fewer pitches per pitcher, but more effort per pitch. Whatever you or I think about the aesthetics of this change, it has seen widespread adoption from MLB teams with the understanding that it gives them the best chance to win each game.

As behind the times as the Rockies have been in recent years, even they had adapted to this particular facet of modern baseball before the offseason front office overhaul brought in a new perspective on the sport. Some of what the Paul DePodesta-led front office was trying to change about the moribund franchises’ approach to pitching was signposted clearly (larger pitch arsenals, pitch suggestions from the dugout, and simply throwing the ball in the strike zone more often).

However, perhaps the most profound shift wasn’t noticeable until the season started.

At the start of play on Thursday, the Rockies have had 20 relief appearances that lasted more than two innings. Only the Washington Nationals with 18 such appearances come close to matching this total. The Rockies are on pace to feature a reliever going more than two innings in 120 games this year, which would break the previous record of 116 set by the fledgling 1977 Seattle Mariners (one of only four teams with over 100 such relief appearances).

Unsurprisingly, the Nationals (173.1) and Rockies (170.0) also lead the league in total relief innings pitched this season. At first glance, this would seem to indicate that both teams have similarly used bullpens, but there is something that separates the two: While the Nationals are middle-of-the pack in terms of total number of relief appearances, the Rockies are tied for the fewest in the league.

The Rockies are leaning on their bullpen as a group just as much as anyone, but the shape of that usage is different. They have specifically stacked their bullpen with long-relief arms that are pitching more innings per appearance, but making fewer appearances.

One could assume that this was purely a byproduct of Chase Dollander essentially being used as a starting pitcher without getting that designation officially because he was paired with an opener. The Rockies, however, have so far had five different pitchers throw more than two innings in a game that they entered as a reliever:

• Chase Dollander (six times)
• Antonio Senzatela (four times)
• Tanner Gordon (four times)
• Zach Agnos (four times)
• Valente Bellozo (two times)

That’s just the Rockies major league team. The same strategy is also being employed in Albuquerque.

Isotopes Keegan Thompson, Carson Palmquist (No. 19 PuRP), Gabriel Hughes (No. 12 PuRP), Parker Mushinski, Patrick Weigel, and Collin Baumgartner have had two-plus-inning relief appearances more than once so far this season. This means that if/when the major league pitching staff becomes depleted, either from injuries or trades, there is a surplus of longrelief capable arms ready to be called up.

It has become clear, based on comments made by DePodesta in recent weeks, that this was the intended plan coming into the season and not just a natural byproduct of the specific makeup of players in the organization he inherited. This may, in fact, be part of the workload management new bullpen coach Matt Buschman was starting to implement in spring training.

The thinking is pretty obvious: For a team that plays at elevation that lacks a rotation of aces able to go seven every night, the bullpen being composed of one-inning flamethrowers that empty the tank on every pitch leads to extreme second-half swoons. We’ve seen this exact story play out seemingly every year recently where the bullpen will come out the gates looking incredible in April, lead the league in usage, and then fall off a cliff by mid-summer. For evidence one need look no further than Jake Bird’s 2023, Victor Vodnik’s 2024, or Seth Halvorsen’s 2025.

By leaning into arms that pitch less frequently but longer when they do, the hope seems to be that the wear and tear of the same number of innings will be reduced. This could be through either more rest days or simply the idea that pitchers will naturally pace themselves and throw with less max effort if they know they are expected to be out there for longer outings.

Will this work? We won’t know until the grind of the season has had a chance to settle in on this new look bullpen. It is, however, just nice to see the organization genuinely trying new things instead of being content to fail in the same way every year.

On the Farm

Triple-A:Albuquerque Isotopes 12, Sugar Land Space Cowboys 2

The Isotopes keep raking. All of Cole Carrigg (No. 4 PuRP), Blaine Crim, Charlie Condon (No. 1 PuRP), Chad Stevens, and Drew Avans had multiple hits including home runs from Stevens and Avans. Zac Veen (No. 9 PuRP) only had a single hit… but that was because he worked a walk in all four of his other plate appearances. On the mound no one truly stood out, the closest being Welinton Herrera (No. 17 PuRP) who struck out three in two scoreless relief innings, but as a group Erasmo Ramírez, Mason Green, Herrera, and Blas Castaño combined to only allow two runs on six hits.

Double-A:Hartford Yard Goats 3, Binghamton Rumble Ponies 4

This was the Dyan Jorge game as he reached base four times and stole two bases on three attempts. Otherwise the offense was relatively quiet other than a double and a stolen base from Roc Riggio (No. 14 PuRP). Blake Adams was the bulk reliever, coming in after the opener Sam Weatherly, and didn’t allow an earned run over 5.1 innings. Ultimately it came down to a sacrifice fly bringing home a zombie runner in the bottom of the tenth inning that sealed the deal for the Rumble Ponies.

High-A:Spokane Indians 3, Tri-City Dust Devils 2

A tight affair that ended with a walk off RBI single from Roynier Hernandez in the ninth. To start, Jordy Vargas (No. 21 PuRP) took the ball and set the town with 5.2 innings of one run ball before handing it over to Bryan Perez and Fisher Jameson to finish out the remaining 4.1 innings. Almost everyone in the lineup reached base at least once but it was Jacob Humphrey (two for three with a stolen base) and the aforementioned Roynier Hernandez (three for four with a walk) that were the difference makers.

Low-A:Fresno Grizzlies 2, San Jose Giants 12

The Grizzlies had an all around poor showing in this one. On the mound Austin Newton allowed six earned runs on nine hits over 4.2 innings and it only got worse after that when Manuel Olivares walked four and allowed three hits over 1.1 innings and Austin Emener “closed out” the game with another three runs over two innings. In terms of the lineup, while Carlos Renzullo had a nice day at the plate with two hits and a walk, the only runs were accounted for by a two run shot from Ethan Holliday (No. 2 PuRP) to go along with his three strike outs.

The Quiet, Unmistakable Ambition of Kyle Karros | Blake Street Banter

This is an in-depth piece by Eli Whitney that features a wide ranging interview with Karros. It covers everything from the differences between him and his dad, his love of third base, and his dreams of bringing October baseball to Denver. It’s a fantastic interview that I cannot recommend enough.

These young starting pitchers are emerging as MLB aces | The Athletic (Gift Link)

Chase Dollander’s hot start to the season is starting to be noticed by media outside of the Rockies direct orbit. Jim Bowden places him amongst young stars like Cam Schlittler and Jacob Misiorowski as one of the burgeoning aces throughout the league. The particular insights aren’t new to folks who frequent Purple Row, but it is nice to see this start to percolate to the general baseball public.

Mejia embraces new pitching philosophy, K’s 5 of 6 in relief | MLB.com

Thomas Harding talks to Juan Mejia about the adjustments he’s making that are leading to his success early in the season. It’s interesting to see the coaching staff be able to help him through the growing pains of competing at the major league level, especially considering Mejia is one of the few true max-effort short relief options in the Rockies current bullpen.

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

Triple-A: Gwinnett Stripers (Braves) 8, Norfolk Tides 6

Norfolk’s offense did some good things in the losing effort. José Barrero hit two home runs, bringing his season total to six. Creed Willems added a two-run shot, which was also his sixth round-tripper of the year. The only other RBI came from Christian Encarnacion-Strand, who went 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored, and the aforementioned RBI. The rest of the Norfolk lineup was rather quiet. The team struck out 12 times and had just two at-bats with runners in scoring position.

But that would have been enough to win if not for a late collapse from the bullpen that saw them allow five runs in game’s final two innings. Six different Tides pitchers took the mound. Cameron Weston started and allowed two runs on two hits, two walks, and four strikeouts over 2.2 innings. Yaqui Rivera followed with one run allowed and four strikeouts over his 2.2 frames. Andrew Magno recorded two outs without allowing a baserunner. Nick Raquet is where the wheels started to fall off. He gave up two runs in his two innings, and then Cameron Foster was handed the loss by giving up three runs and recording just two outs. Hans Crouse came on to retire the final batter of the ninth.

Double-A: Chesapeake Baysox 19, Altoona Curve (Pirates) 4

This was a seriously impressive showing from the Baysox lineup. They scored more runs than they had hits because they were so darn efficient with runners on base. The club went 9-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left just three runners on base all game. Home runs also helped. Five different Baysox hit home runs and all of them came with runners on base. Anderson De Los Santos hit a three-run shot. Carter Young smacked a two-run dong. Frederick Becosme drove in two with his homer. Ethan Anderson had an Earl Weaver special. And Tavian Josenberg had two RBI on his first long ball of the year. It’s a lovely box score to skim through.

The pitchers, overall, did well too. Sebastian Gongora went six innings and allowed just one run while striking out seven. His season ERA is down to 3.62 on the year, and he has now struck out 35 batters over 27.1 innings. The lefty could be one worth watching. Juan Rojas had a tough day, allowing three runs in his lone inning of work, but it was also just his second appearance at Double-A. Eric Torres closed out the win with two scoreless frames.

High-A: Frederick Keys 11, Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies) 5

Here’s another big scoreline from an Orioles affiliate. Frederick collected those 11 runs on 15 hits and three walks, and they went 6-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Ike Irish continued to rake, going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, a walk, a stolen base, four runs scored, and two RBI. Him and his 1.055 OPS might be ready for another challenge soon. Not to be outdone, Wehiwa Aloy may have been even better on this day. The shortstop was a perfect 4-for-4 with two doubles, a homer, a walk, one run scored, and four RBI. Victor Figueroa added a double and two RBI while Colin Yeaman hit his first career home run.

It was a mixed bag on the mound. JT Quinn, the starter, gave up two runs (one earned) while walking five and striking out two in his three innings of work. Eccel Correa earned the win with 2.1 scoreless innings in which he struck out four batters. Keagan Gillies recorded four outs without allowing a run, three of those came via strikeout. Chandler Marsh allowed two runs over 1.1 innings. And then Braeden Sloan coughed up a run in the ninth.

Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 6, Salem Ridge Yaks (Red Sox) 4

Caden Hunter turned in one of the better pitching performances of the day. He tossed four scoreless innings, giving up just two hits and a walk while striking out six. J.D. Hennen was charged with just one earned run, but the Ridge Yaks scored all four runs of the game against him. That is a reflection of the messy game that the Shorebirds played. They made four errors and uncorked three wild pitches. After that, though, it was smooth sailing. Kenny Leiner, Bradley Brehmer, and Riley Cooper combined to throw 3.2 scoreless innings and close out the win.

Raylin Ramos led the offensive effort for Delmarva. He went 2-for-4 as the DH, stealing a base and driving in a run in the process. Braylon Whitaker and Félix Amparo also had two hits each. Amparo added a steal, an RBI, and two runs scored. Jose Perez’s double was the team’s only extra-base hit of the day.

Box Scores

Thursday’s Schedule

Norfolk: vs Gwinnett, 12:05 pm. Starter: Levi Wells (2-2, 4.28 ERA)

Chesapeake: vs Altoona, 6:35 pm. Starter: Juaron Watts-Brown (0-1, 13.50 ERA)

Frederick: vs vs Jersey Shore, 7:00 pm. Starter: Boston Bateman (0-2, 6.35 ERA)

Delmarva: at Salem, 6:35 pm. Starter: Esteban Mejia (0-2, 7.36 ERA)