New York Mets pitcher Tobias Myers (32) pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals during the sixth inning at Busch Stadium on March 30, 2026.
ST. LOUIS — Tobias Myers’ first two appearances with the Mets have offered a reminder that he was more than just a throw-in by the Brewers in the Freddy Peralta trade.
The right-hander has been sharp in his first two outings, including his 1 ¹/₃-inning stint in relief Monday, when he struck out three against the Cardinals.
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Myers, who did not pitch in Tuesday night’s 3-0 loss to the Cardinals, pitched three innings on Opening Day against the Pirates and allowed one earned run on one hit.
He began last season in the Brewers starting rotation, and after a demotion to Triple-A returned as a multi-inning reliever.
“It’s very similar to what I was doing the last two months last year,” Myers said Tuesday of his long-relief role. “It’s a little bit more guided, I think, early on, but honestly it feels kind of similar.”
Myers said he takes the mentality that he’s got to be ready at any moment.
“That definitely helps me a little bit,” he said. “Down there, the role I am in, it could be the first inning, could be the ninth, could be the 14th inning. So I am kind of moving around pretty consistently down there and try to keep myself ready for any time that phone rings.”
Tobias Myers pitches during the sixth inning of the Mets’ win over the Cardinals on March 30, 2026. Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Myers built up to 60 pitches in spring training, positioning himself to join the starting rotation if there was a need. He threw 39 pitches in his Mets debut and 14 in his Monday appearance.
“I went [39] pitches last week, and if I go 50 next week, I don’t see that being a big issue, as long as I am kind of ready for it,” Myers said. “But just throw it until [manager Carlos Mendoza] tells me I am done.”
Jorge Polanco was on the bench to rest a sore left Achilles on Tuesday, but Mendoza indicated he would likely return to the starting lineup for Wednesday’s series finale. It’s unclear if that will include playing first base.
Masyn Winn beats Jorge Polanco to second base for an out in the seventh inning of the Mets’ win over the Cardinals on March 30, 2026 at Busch Stadium in St Louis. Getty Images
“We’re in the middle of a nine-game stretch and [Polanco] was going to get a day anyway,” Mendoza said. “He was going to either get today or [Wednesday] … He woke up today and he’s in a good spot.”
Jared Young started a second straight game at first base Tuesday night and picked up one of the Mets’ three hits, and Mark Vientos, in his first start first this season went 0-for-2.
HOUSTON — Miles McBride’s reinjury wasn’t as scary as it looked.
After returning from a long absence Sunday and appearing to aggravate his surgically repaired groin area, the Knicks backup guard said he was just feeling discomfort from scar tissue breaking down.
He played again in Tuesday’s 111-94 loss to the Rockets and made it through 13 minutes unscathed, although his shooting rhythm clearly took a hit as he went 1-for-9 from the field.
“It’s tough having surgery in the middle of the season, especially on an area that’s so important to everything you do,” McBride said. “So it’s just going to be a learning process. I’m going to figure it out, though.”
McBride, who missed 28 straight games after undergoing sports hernia surgery in early February, shot 0-for-3 in his first game back Sunday.
In that game, McBride limped to the locker room in the third quarter after chasing a loose ball and falling on OKC’s Lu Dort.
But McBride said he started feeling pain on the previous play while defending a Thunder player. Luckily, it was just scar tissue breaking down. He didn’t even need another MRI exam before returning to play in Houston.
“Scar tissue is built up because it tightens everything. And now it’s getting more elastic, stretching out,” McBride said. “I came down [defending a Thunder player], tried to switch gears, and the scar tissue is ripping and getting better.
“Surgery is going to cause pain,” he added. “I’m not sure when it’s going to fully subside. So whatever I can do to help the team win.”
Miles McBride looks to make a move on Reed Sheppard during the Knicks’ 111-94 loss to the Rockets on March 31, 2026 in Houston. Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
Next, McBride’s shot needs rebuilding.
“Honestly, I haven’t played in two months, and it was kind of a longer process of being able to get on the court and really do a lot at a high intensity,” he said. “And the last two weeks is when I really take the high intensity up, and even then you’re still dealing with so much. So it’s going to take time.”
This time, Amar’e followed Melo.
A year after his former Knicks teammate was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame, Amar’e Stoudemire was named a somewhat surprising member of the 2026 class, according to ESPN.
Stoudemire earned most of his accolades with the Phoenix Suns as a pick-and-roll partner with Steve Nash but also produced an All-Star campaign with the Knicks after signing as a free agent in 2010.
He and Carmelo Anthony, who headlined the 2025 Hall of Fame class, were pitched as pillars to a championship contender, but Stoudemire’s career in NYC was quickly sabotaged by injuries.
The Knicks ultimately underwhelmed during his tenure with just one playoff series victory.
In 14 NBA seasons, Stoudemire collected Rookie of the Year, five All-NBA selections and six All-Star appearances.
He was also inducted into the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame after converting to Judaism in 2020.
Landry Shamet missed his fifth straight game Tuesday because of a knee contusion, but he’s taking contact and practicing fully, according to coach Mike Brown.
A source said Shamet could return as early as Wednesday’s game against the Grizzlies.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 31: German Marquez #33 of the San Diego Padres looks on as Matt Chapman #26 of the San Francisco Giants rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the third inning at Petco Park on March 31, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Another rough start for a starting pitcher resulted in another loss for the San Diego Padres. German Marquez started the second game of the series against the San Francisco Giants and struggled to get through three innings. Marquez allowed four runs on eight hits with one walk and one strikeout, as the Padres dropped their second game to the Giants by the score of 9-3 at Petco Park, Tuesday.
The outing for Marquez had an ominous start with San Francisco leadoff hitter Willy Adames starting the game with a home run down the left field line on the second pitch thrown by the right-hander that put San Diego in the hole 1-0. The Giants would go on to add two more runs in the inning and had a 3-0 lead before the Padres took their first at-bat.
San Francisco added the fourth run of the game in the top of the third inning and had a 4-0 lead when San Diego came to the plate in the bottom of the inning. The Padres showed some fight, scoring three runs in the inning, which was capped by a Miguel Andujar RBI-single to right field. That proved to be the final highlight of the game for San Diego.
Kyle Hart came in for Marquez in the top of the fourth inning and worked two scoreless innings, but in the top of the sixth he allowed a leadoff double, a walk to open the inning. Hart recorded the first out with a strikeout, but then Adames struck again with an RBI-single to put the Giants up, 5-3. Hart allowed another single to Rafael Devers before being replaced by Bradgley Rodriguez.
The first batter Rodriguez faced was Heliot Ramos and he hit a bases loaded single that scored two runs to give San Francisco a 7-3 lead. Luis Arraez then hit a sacrifice fly that allowed the eight Giants run of the game to score. Rodriguez followed the sac-fly with a forceout of Matt Chapman to end the four-run sixth for San Francisco.
The Padres went down in order in the bottom of the sixth, but started the bottom of the seventh with a leadoff double from Nick Castellanos. He was stranded there after back-to-back groundouts from Freddy Fermin and Jake Cronenworth and a flyout from Gavin Sheets. The eighth inning had similar results for San Diego. Manny Machado started with a single, but Jackson Merrill grounded into a double play. Xander Bogaerts followed with a strikeout.
David Morgan surrendered an unearned run in the top of the ninth inning to give San Francisco a 9-3 lead and San Diego fizzled out in the bottom of the ninth with a strikeout, a single, a forceout and another strikeout to drop to 1-4 on the season.
Much like the first series of the season against the Detroit Tigers, the Padres will try to salvage the series and avoid the sweep when they face the Giants, Wednesday at 1:10 p.m.
Mar 31, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Jose Fernandez hits a home run and first MLB HR against the Detroit Tigers in the fourth inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
Jose Fernandez. That is it. That’s the recap. Give the guy his flowers.
From a pitching standpoint, Brandon Pfaadt had a very Brandon Pfaadt outing. He rolled through 5 innings, but was so bad in the 3rd the announcers on the broadcast thought he was tipping his pitches. Pfaadt was atleast able to give the team 6 innings, but his innings were so stark. He is either dominating with elite efficiency or he is giving up loud contact at an unimaginable rate. Really a confusing situation that has seemed to plague Pfaadt his whole career and the team clearly hasn’t found an answer for it over the offseason. In the postgame show, Mark Grace was speculating that it may have had something to do when Pfaadt was pitching out of the stretch. Something to continue to monitor.
From an offensive standpoint, this is going to be known as the Jose Fernandez game for a long time. Fernandez was able to get his first career hit out of the way in the bottom of the second inning with a hustle single on a slow roller to the 3rd baseman. It is worth noting that Fernandez’s sprint speed was clocked at 30.2 feet per second when he was busting up the line. That is elite speed! Fernadez came up next in the bottom of the 4th and smashed a hanging slider 408 feet for his first career home run to put the Dbacks on the board. However, it was the bottom of the 8th that really cemented the Jose Fernandez lore. Fernandez came to the plate with the Dbacks down 5-4 thanks to a couple of walks, a clutch double by Corbin Carroll, and some balls in play that moved the runners. The Tigers countered by bringing in their closer Kenley Jansen, and Fernandez took the 3rd pitch 409 feet for a 3 run home run putting the Dbacks up 7-5. What a storybook ending to a rookie game.
It will be very interesting to see what Jose Fernandez’s role looks like moving forward especially considering he was playing for the veteran Nolan Arenado tonight, but you have to continue to give this guy regular playing time in my opinion. Torey Lovullo is notorious for sitting guys the day following big performances, but I would be shocked if Fernandez didn’t earn himself another start tomorrow. So often do we see these guys come up and only get to play sporadically which can make it so hard to get any momentum going. What do you guys think? Did you see enough from Fernandez tonight for an extended look?
Chase Olson throws against K State | Nebraska Athletics
It was a tale of two games between Nebraska and Creighton. The two in-state rivals always seem to play games that have wild momentum swings in the late innings. Tuesday night in downtown Omaha was no different.
Nebraska put its offense to work in the 2nd inning. Dylan Carey led off and sent a pitch deep to right, forcing the Creighton right fielder to make the catch with his back against the fence. It was an out, but a harbinger of things to come for the Jays. Jett Buck reached on an error, with the first baseman dropping the ball. Then Max Buettenback was hit by the next pitch. Clearly rattled, the CU starting pitcher tossed a wild pitch to the backstop, allowing both runners to advance into scoring position.
Freshman Drew Grego, who has been as clutch as anyone in the past month, punched a ball just in front of the left fielder. The runners had to hesitate due to it being a close play, so only Buck could score on the play. After a strikeout, Josh Overbeek drew a full count walk, loading the bases for Mac Moyer. The left handed Moyer hit his patented ball right by the short stop, scoring Buettenback and Grego. Moyer ended the game batting .404, just barely hanging onto the team lead over Carey at .403. Nebraska took the early 3-0 lead.
Husker nation held their collective breaths in the 3rd. With 1 out, Dylan Carey was hit by pitch on his left wrist. He was seen by the trainer and was in noticeable pain. The call was reviewed to ensure he was hit and the ball didn’t hit the cap of the bat for a foul ball, giving him a bit more time to recover. In true Carey fashion and grit, he stole second base on the next pitch, sliding headfirst, wrist injury be damned…. Two pitches later, Jett Buck split the right center gap for a double, scoring Carey easy, and pushing the Husker lead to 4-0.
Freshman catcher Jeter Worthley showed off all of his offensive skills in the 4th. He rocketed a ball down the left field line for a standup double. He then advanced to third base on a fly ball by Case Sanderson. Carey then lifted a ball to shallow center. The Jays centerfielder caught it and as Worthley tagged and ran home, threw a strike to the catcher who couldn’t hang onto the ball, as Worthley slid by him and knocked the ball out of his glove. Worthley stopped his slide, stood up and stepped on home plate for the Huskers fifth run.
Gavin Blachowicz was making his first mid-week start of the season, and rolled through his 4 innings of work, allowing only 2 hits, and 1 walk while striking out 2. He was on a pitch count after getting the last week off, but looked like he was close to the pitcher we saw early on in the season.
Nebraska built their lead to 6-0 in the 6th, as Creighton’s left fielder misplayed a ball off the bat of Josh Overbeek. Beek motored all the way to third for his second triple in the past week. Moyer would bring him in with an RBI ground ball to the first baseman, his 3rd RBI of the game.
Caleb Clark had come in to relieve Blachowicz, and after a quick 5th, ran into a lot of trouble in the 6th. A walk, hit by pitch, and 4 pitch walk loaded the bases with no outs. He gave up a 2 RBI double, before being pulled for Pryce Bender. Bender seemed to right the ship with a strikeout and a hard hit ball to Overbeek at third, which he gunned down a runner attempting to run home. The next batter hit a 2-0 fastball for a 2 RBI double, and then an RBI single cut the Nebraska lead down to 6-5.
Nebraska looked to respond in the 7th, starting the inning with back to back singles. Three hard hit balls, all coming off the bat at over 90 mph, all found the gloves of Creighton fielders. Creighton was hanging on.
The bullpens held through the 8th, and into the 9th. Nebraska was able to get a pair of 1 out singles from Sanderson and Carey to put the pressure on. Creighton went and grabbed their closer, Matt Goldenbaum, and he slammed the door shut with back to back strikeouts of Buck and Buettenback.
Husker closer J’Shawn Unger had come in to work a spotless 8th, but an error by the usual sure handed Rhett Stokes at second allowed leadoff batter Rocco Gump to reach base. The speedy Gump stole second. Unger struck out the next batter. The next batter hit a fly ball to left, and as Buck hauled it in, Gump had wandered off second a little too far. Buck threw to second and beat Gump back, but was just far enough towards the third base side of the bag that it pulled Stokes off the bag just by a hair, allowing the inning to continue. Unger walked the next batter, bringing up Ben North, Creighton’s best hitter with the winning run on base. North hit a towering fly ball to left center, which Moyer called off Buck, but had overran the play a bit and drifted back towards center field, and as the fans held their collective breath, caught the ball for the final out of the 6-5 victory.
Nebraska has now won 18 of their last 19 games, and in a rare occurrence in that streak, the offense was unable to come up with a clutch hit in the late innings with runners on base. Making the response after the nightmare of a 6th inning even more important. Chase Olson and Unger combined to throw 3 innings of no-hit baseball in a crucial 1 run rivalry game. They are both pitching as well as anyone coming in relief in the scarlet and cream.
The 19th ranked Huskers are back in action Friday as an underachieving Penn State team comes to Lincoln to start a 3 game series. It’s an important series to pile up wins as the next two conference series are against ranked teams in Oregon and USC.
In his second go-around Tuesday night, it was more of the same, but there was nothing grinding about it.
Fried was simply dominant across seven shutout innings, mowing down the Mariners in a 5-0 win at T-Mobile Park to continue the Yankees’ terrific pitching to begin the season.
With their third shutout in five games, the Yankees became only the second team in major league history to allow three or fewer runs in their first five games of a season, joining the 1943 St. Louis Cardinals.
“We have a lot of really talented guys that are really motivated,” Fried said. “We’ve been waiting for this opportunity to have the season start and go compete. We want to go win and we’re leaving everything out there. We got a lot of really good arms and we’re throwing the ball well right now, so we’re just trying [to] keep it rolling.”
Fried is now responsible for starting two of those shutouts.
Max Fried throws a pitch during the Yankees’ 5-0 win over the Mariners on March 31, 2026, in Seattle. AP
After tossing 6 ¹/₃ shutout innings Opening Day against the Giants, the left-hander was even better Tuesday, scattering three singles, one walk and one hit batter while striking out six in a breeze of an outing.
The Mariners did not reach second base until the seventh inning and never went farther than that against him.
“That was an ace in control of the game,” manager Aaron Boone said.
Brent Headrick and Tim Hill each threw a scoreless inning to complete the shutout, setting up a rubber game Wednesday in which the Yankees will send Cam Schlittler — who started their other shutout on the year — to the mound.
Through five games, the Yankees rotation owns a 0.66 ERA, giving up two runs across 27 ¹/₃ innings.
“They’ve made it easier on us, for sure,” said Giancarlo Stanton, who went 2-for-4 for the fifth straight game. “It’s a much easier at-bat when the other team has zero runs. So just continue to have good at-bats, continue to watch them dominate and try to get this series [Wednesday].”
Giancarlo Stanton celebrates after ripping an RBI double during the sixth inning of the Yankees’ win over the Mariners. Getty Images
Just like Opening Day, Fried got an early lead to work with — 2-0 in the first inning — and plenty of run support as the Yankees got to Mariners ace Logan Gilbert, a night after being stifled by Luis Castillo.
Stanton was right in the middle of things offensively once again, driving in a pair of runs while becoming only the fourth player in Yankees history to record multiple hits in the team’s first five games of the season.
The veteran DH finished the night 10-for-20 on the year.
Ben Rice (2-for-2, two walks) reached base four times and Cody Bellinger (2-for-3, walk) got on three times, with each scoring a pair of runs.
Trent Grisham also turned in his best game of the season, going 2-for-4 with a ground-rule double and a strong running catch into the gap in the second inning that robbed Randy Arozarena of extra bases.
“One of those plays early in the game that, if it goes another way, who knows?” Boone said.
Trent Grisham (12) greets Ben Rice while scoring on a throwing error by Cal Raleigh during the sixth inning of the Yankees win over the Mariners. AP
After Rice and Stanton each drove in a run in the top of the first, the Yankees added on with three more runs in the sixth to knock Gilbert out of the game.
They did so without leaving the yard, but strung hits together, including an RBI double from Stanton and an RBI single from Jazz Chisholm Jr. to give the pitching staff even more breathing room.
“[Stanton] has been one of the best hitters in the game for a long time,” Fried said. “To see him healthy and out there and ready to do damage, it’s not a fun at-bat when you’re up there facing him. So when he’s locked in like this, I’m really glad I’m on this side, not the other side.”
Mar 31, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Jose Fernandez hits a home run and first MLB HR against the Detroit Tigers in the fourth inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
A night after a not-quite-comeback in Arizona on Monday, the Tigers were the ones with the comfortable lead for most of the game on Tuesday before it all went belly-up late in the game, ending up with a 7-5 loss.
Making his season debut for the Tigers was Casey Mize, who had a generally solid 2025 season… except for July, when in four starts batters had a .970 OPS against him. But hey, Porcello-out those starts and he was lookin’ gooooood. The key for Mize is to stay healthy and avoid spending time on the Injured List.
(For those of you who aren’t old-timers around here, to Porcello-out is a verb meaning to consider the entirety of something, minus a very specific, very crappy part in the middle. If you’re curious if this refers to former Tiger “Kid Rick” Porcello, why yes, yes it does.)
Facing Mize for the Diamondbacks was Brandon Pfaadt (pronounced the same as “fought”). The right-hander from Louisville has been reliable for Arizona in his two-plus years in the rotation, although his numbers don’t really jump out at you in any way. In his career he’s consistently had an ERA around 5, struck out around 8 batters per nine innings, and has had a WHIP of about 1.3 — again, not great, but not terrible.
Early on, the Tigers looked pretty sleepy at the plate while the Diamondbacks were getting some very solid contact. Arizona loaded the bases in the bottom of the second with two out, but Mize got Jordan Lawlar to strike out on a really nice splitter, and that was that.
The Tigers got on the board first in the top of the third: Parker Meadows legged-out an infield single, and Jake Rogers hit a double to the wall in centre, scoring Meadows for a 1-0 lead. Colt Keith singled to right to advance Rogers to third, and Kevin McGonigle hit a dribbler to first on which Carlos Santana (yep, still playing!) couldn’t make a play, scoring Rogers for a 2-0 score. Then, with two out, Riley Greene smashed a double to the right-centrefield gap to score both Keith and McGonigle to put the Tigers up 4-0. Kerry Carpenter thought that all looked pretty fun, so he singled to right to cash-in Greene for a 5-0 lead.
Jose Fernandez, who was making his major-league debut, had an infield single under his belt in his first at-bat. He added to that with great prejudice in the fourth with a no-doubter solo home run to left to narrow the lead to 5-1. (More on him later, unfortunately.) That aside, Mize’s splitter continued looking mighty fine, getting six swinging strikeouts on the pitch; he was also throwing it in unusual counts, too.
Pfaadt had kind of a pfunny game: he was dominant for the first eight batters, then gave up hits aplenty… but then buckled right back down and got a whole bunch of Tigers in a row. The Tigers have broken out for some big innings early on, but the middle of the order bats are scuffling early on.
Mize got the handshake after six innings and I will take this final line from him any old day you like: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 9 K. Mize was relieved by Drew Anderson, who had a sensational spring but a mediocre first outing. Well, his seventh inning featured some nasty changeups and a couple of whiffs.
But in the eighth it all fell apart: Anderson started off the inning by serving up a first-pitch double by Old Friend™ James McCann, and a single to left put runners on the corners, and in came Will Vest. He walked Ketel Marte to load the bases, and Corbin Carroll hit a two-run double to make it a 5-3 game. Another walk reloaded the bases — again, with none out — and a grounder to third got an out but allowed another run to score. A soft grounder to second got the second out and put runners on the corners, and Vest was dispatched in favour of Kenley Jansen.
And then Fernandez, who — again, was in his first major-league game — already had a solo home run, smashed a three-run home run to put Arizona up 7-5.
Saw this and thought you might enjoy this clockwork precision: second baseman moves in, glove drops, pitcher spins and throws, tag applied. That’s how it’s done, kids.
I know it’s early, but that New York Yankees pitching staff has really been getting it done: coming into tonight, they’d only given up three runs in four games.
Ya gotta love the ol’ Small Sample Size, though, eh?
C.B. Bucknor’s having himself a pretty tough week so far, eh?
“Eh?” is a pretty good conversational lubricant, eh?
On this day in 1889, the Eiffel Tower opened. What an eyesore!
Mar 30, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Boston Red Sox right fielder Wilyer Abreu (52) reacts after striking out during the second inning against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
For the fourth day in a row, the Red Sox managed to play their new worst game yet of the young season. And while there’s still 157 more of these after tonight, that’s suddenly starting to sound more like a threat than a reason to get comfortable. Only two good things happened in this one: It ended quickly (two hours and 30 minutes), and nobody got injured.
On the mound, Brayan Bello got clobbered, allowing 11 baserunners and six runs in just 4.2 innings of work. (It was really five innings, but we’ll get to that more in a moment.) In the meantime, here’s three other irritating details from this outing that stood out to me the most:
There were two, two-out walks that helped jumpstart unnecessary Houston rallies.
Bello showed a familiar inability a finish off hitters, and this was despite generating some encouraging swings and misses on his cutter. It’s that familiar “the stuff is there, but he can’t seem to put it all together in a package” trope we’ve seen from him.
Cookies were repeatedly handed out to one of the best hitters on the planet in Yordan Alvarez. I mean, get a load of this pitch:
At the plate, the Red Sox struck out 13 times (that’s 27 over the last two games) and recorded just four hits, with most of them coming late in the proceedings when the house was already on fire. Speaking of four, that’s how many times Roman Anthony struck out, and the first three of them came on a grand total of just nine pitches. For the lineup as a whole, it took until the bottom of the fifth inning for the team to record its firs hit.
But you know what didn’t take until the bottom of the fifth to happen for this Red Sox offense? Dumb baseball! Here’s Ceddanne Rafaela burning an ABS challenge on an 0-0 count with one out and nobody on base in the top of the third inning.
Not only was the pitch not close to being a ball (the Red Sox have been really bad at identifying pitches to challenge out of the gate), but a bases empty, 0-0 count situation screams low leverage. You can’t be burning resources like this in early inning spots!
Now granted, this game stinking worse than a cesspool by the middle innings rendered this mistake irrelevant, but we’re a mere five games into the season and this Red Sox team is already developing a pattern of not knowing how to to use the ABS challenge system properly. There’s a strong argument to be made that burning both challenges early on Saturday cost them that game, and it will probably cost them more wins soon if they keep piling up foolish situational challenges like this one from Rafaela tonight on anything other than blatant missed calls in low leverage situations.
Speaking of dumb things and missed calls in less than high leverage situations, check out the 1:11 mark on this video posted on Twitter from Tyler Milliken:
HP Ump Mark Wegner lost track of the count and it seems like everyone else did too.
That’s everybody on the field falling asleep and not realizing a strikeout just happened, and in some ways, this is the worst sign of all from a game filled with nothing but bad omens. How disengaged does the team as a whole have to be to not realize that’s strike three? Cora missed it, the entire defense missed it, and even Bello missed it. You would think that if you were a pitcher desperately struggling to work your way out of a two out jam, you’d notice when you had strike three to end the frame. It’s a really, really terrible look for everybody involved here, and par for the course in what was a really, really terrible game for the Red Sox.
Studs
None: Nobody is getting a stud next to their name after this hideous performance! It was a complete and total failure of the group project across the board, and garbage time hits against low leverage relievers does nothing to change that.
Three Duds
The entire lineup, but specifically Roman Anthony: He had twice as many strike outs as any Red Sox pitcher recorded tonight. He set the tone early and often for this complete stinker of a game.
Everybody who pitched, but specifically Brayan Bello: Walks, home runs, not finishing guys off, not knowing when you struck a guy out to get out of your last inning. There’s a reason he was demoted to the No. 5 slot out of the gate this year after flirting with being the No. 2 guy for much of last summer. It’s Show & Tell time for him to take that next step, and he didn’t do himself any favors tonight.
The baseball IQ of the entire team: If it gets any lower, we’re going to have water it twice a day.
Play of the game:
If you want one messy highlight play to sum up the embarrassment that was this game, it’s this clown show from the team that’s picking up right where it left off in leading the American League in errors last year.
If you’re looking for some good news, Garrett Crochet starts the series finale tomorrow, so they still might salvage a 2-4 start before the home opener on Friday.
HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 31: Hunter Brown #58 of the Houston Astros pitches in the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Daikin Park on March 31, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) | Getty Images
He may have been on a smaller pitch count than usual, but Hunter Brown didn’t let that stop him from charging through the Boston lineup.
Brown earned his first win of the season tonight, hurling 6 innings of 1 run ball with 8 strikeouts as the Astros throttled the Red Sox 9-2.
Brown was lifted after 6 innings despite only throwing 78 pitches. The Astros led 8-1 at the time. After the game, manager Joe Espada said he wanted to keep Brown’s workload a little lighter after he pushed Brown to 102 pitches on Opening Day.
Brown threw 51 of his 78 pitches for strikes. He had 21 called strikes and 8 swings and misses in a dominating performance in which he allowed only 1 hit.
After dropping the first two games of the season, the Astros have won four straight. They have also scored at least 8 runs in those 4 straight wins, the first time they’ve scored at least 8 runs in 4 straight games since 7/26-30 2021.
Speaking of those 8 runs, Yordan Alvarez was responsible for 4 of those 9 runs. Yordan had an RBI double in the first that banged off the wall in center field in the bottom of the first inning, scoring Jeremy Pena from first. He hit a solo homer in to the second deck in right for the second straight night in the fifth. Alvarez also walked and scored on a Carlos Correa 2-run single in the 6th.
Alvarez (2×3) was one of four Astros hitters with 2 hits on the night. Carlos Correa (2×3), Christian Walker (2×4) and Cam Smith (2×3) had 2 hits as well.
Correa singled, doubled, walked, scored twice and drove in two.
Walker singled, doubled, scored, and drove in two.
Cam Smith had an opposite-field solo homer in the 7th.
Cody Bolton, called up from Triple-A Sugar Land yesterday, pitched the final three innings for his first career save.
Houston is now 4-2 on the season, the Red Sox are 1-4.
The final game of the series is Wednesday at 1:10pm. Mike Burrows will start for the Astros, opposed by Garrett Crochet.
Mar 31, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; New York Yankees left fielder Cody Bellinger (35) is tagged out by Seattle Mariners shortstop Leo Rivas (76) in a steal attempt during the third inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: John Froschauer-Imagn Images | John Froschauer-Imagn Images
FanGraphs when they listed WPA to the thousandth: Julio Rodríguez, +.01 WPA
FanGraphs now that they list WPA only to the hundredth: Logan Gilbert, -.19 WPA
Game Thread Comment of the Day:
That game may have sucked, but the trans contingent of our community certainly does not. Love to you all.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 31: Yoshinobu Yamamoto #18 of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Donald Glover greet Yoshi after throwing out the first pitch before a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium on March 31, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ryan Sirius Sun/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be the first Dodgers pitcher to make a second start in 2026, finishing off the six-game homestand on Wednesday evening against the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium.
Yamamoto will be on five days rest after earning the win on opening day with six strikeouts in six innings, allowing only two runs to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Gavin Williams starts for Cleveland.
Max Friedthrew seven scoreless innings andGiancarlo Stanton drove in two runs as the Yankees defeated the Mariners, 5-0, on Tuesday night in Seattle.
Yankees (4-1) pitching has dominated so far this season. Starters have allowed just one run in the first five games, and the team as a whole has allowed just two runs this season.
Here are the takeaways...
-Fried was dealing. He didn't allow a hit until two outs in the fourth inning, and even then, he coasted into the seventh inning. But the Mariners would get to the southpaw a bit in that inning.
Fried would erase an infield single by Julio Rodriguez by getting Josh Naylor to hit into a double play. But after hitting Randy Arozarena with a pitch, Brendan Donovan looped a single to give Seattle their best chance to score a run off the lefty. However, Fried hunkered down and got Victor Robles to line out to the outfield to end the threat.
Fried was done after that, allowing just three hits and one walk across seven scoreless innings (90 pitches/60 strikes). He also struck out six batters. Fried has now pitched 13.1 scoreless innings across his first two starts of the season.
-The Yankees scored one run on Mariners pitching on Monday, they would double that in the first inning off of Logan Gilbert. After Gilbert disposed of Trent Grisham and Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger worked the count and eventually picked up a single. Ben Rice then lined a double just fair down the right field line that kicked off the jutting wall. Bellinger scored from first on the double before Stanton's bloop single pushed Rice across for the first two runs of the game.
The Yankees' bats would be quieted by Gilbert after the first, but would break through again in the sixth. After a leadoff double by Grisham, Bellinger hit a one-out single to put runners on the corners. Bellinger stole second, but Cal Raleigh -- who got Bellinger stealing earlier in the game -- threw the ball into the outfield, allowing Grisham to score and Bellinger to get to third.
After a Rice walk, Stanton lined a double to put the Yankees up 4-0. Jazz Chisholm Jr. got into the fun with an RBI single
-Stanton finished 2-for-4 and has now had multiple hits in all five games this season. That's the fourth-longest streak to start a season in Yankees history. Rice was perfect at the plate, finishing 2-for-2 with two walks.
Judge went hitless (0-for-4) with two strikeouts. He did run into a bit of bad luck in the seventh when he hit a liner (107 mph) back to the pitcher. The ball hit Cole Wilcox's glove and right to second baseman Cole Young on a line for the out. It likely would have been a single if Wilcox hadn't slowed it down.
Judge has now started the season 3 of 20 with two home runs and 10 strikeouts.
-JC Escarra made his first start of the season and went hitless (0-4) with a strikeout.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MARCH 30: Ketel Marte #4 of the Arizona Diamondbacks runs to second base during the first inning of the home opener against the Detroit Tigers at Chase Field on March 30, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks defeated the Tigers 9-6. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Introduction
For the past couple of years, I have tried to compile lists of individual player milestones that might be reached during the season. Those lists have included Eugenio Suarez successfully reaching 300 career home runs and Torey Lovullo’s elusive attempts to return to a winning record as a manager. I find it fascinating to see how close (or far) players are to certain big, round-number milestones in their career. I love that baseball is one of the most team-focused sports we have, but I still think it’s worth focusing on the individual from time to time so we can remind ourselves of the kinds of individual goals that players may have. As always, these milestones are not comprehensive, are not listed in any particular order, and are primarily centered on milestones that would make for nice headlines. And since the team is only four games (and counting) into the campaign, I thought a check in at the beginning of the year would be an appropriate way to start the year’s column.
Ketel Marte slamming his 200th career home run
Arguably one of the best second basemen in the game and inarguably the team’s leader on and off the field, Marte has been an incredible offensive force over the last three years. In that span, he’s posted a .283/.368/.519 slash line and blasted 89 homers – seven more than he had in the previous eight seasons. That combination puts him at 172 career home runs, good enough for 53rd on the active list – and somewhere in the upper 400s on the all-time list. No matter, reaching 200 career homers would be a nice capstone for Marte as he enters the next phase of his career of his early 30s, and he’s already got one tater on the young season. And there’s more than a few other milestones that are possibly within sight – including Marte moving to the number two spot in the all-time list for the franchise. He’s currently sitting ~6.8 bWAR behind Paul Goldschmidt on that list so a repeat performance of his 2024 campaign would match that perfectly. As long as he isn’t traded, it’s likely more a question of when rather than if he’ll move up that list, but it’s another one I’ll be watching this season.
Nolan Arenado hitting his 2000th career hit
It’s not often that likely Hall of Famers are traded for relative peanuts, but Arenado is not most players. For one, there aren’t very many players who have complete MLB articles detailing their top-10 defensive highlights. And there haven’t been that many players who have managed to stay in the league for 14 plus years either. While Arenado wasn’t brought to the desert for his offensive prowess at this point in his career, that doesn’t mean there aren’t some offensive milestones the longtime veteran could read this season. In my opinion, the biggest one is hitting his 2,000th base hit which he’s very likely to get at some point this season. Even a particularly disappointing offensive performance similar to the one he put up last year when he had just 95 knocks all season would still net him this milestone. As of writing, Arenado’s 1.923 hits places him sixth on the active list for career hits and reaching 2,000 hits would put him in some elite company as just 298 players in all of baseball have ever reached that plateau.
Paul Sewald securing his 100th career save
It’s not a particularly bold statement to point out that the D-Backs have a bullpen problem. We’ve seen that in four out of the first five games as the relief corps nearly blew an eight-run lead last night and struggled to keep a powerful Dodgers lineup down. Amazingly, Sewald has been one of the few bright spots coming out of the pen as he has yet to allow a hit in either of his first two appearances on the young season. That obviously won’t hold for long, but he will still likely play an important part in the bullpen rotation until AJ Puk and Justin Martinez return from their respective injuries. You’d also be forgiven for not realizing that Sewald was so close to this particular milestone as he’s quietly accumulated saves over the last five years since moving to the back end of the bullpen with the Mariners back in 2021. But reaching 100 saves would similarly put Sewald into some relatively rare space: there are only 171 relievers who have hit that milestone since saves became an official statistic nearly 60 years ago. I’ll also go out on limb and assume that if Sewald reaches the milestone this season, the D-Backs will be in pretty good shape as it likely indicates quite a few converted save opportunities before Puk and Martinez make their way back to the team.
C.B. Bucknor is already catching more heat just days into the MLB season.
The longtime umpire looked foolish yet again on Tuesday after he made a bad call during the Brewers’ 6-2 win over the Rays, when he said Milwaukee’s Jake Bauers missed first base, calling him out after Tampa Bay applied a tag.
The only problem? Bauers very clearly touched the bag, and Bucknor was spotted not even looking at first base when he made the call.
The managers and players were laughing at CB Bucknor for missing the easiest call of all-time pic.twitter.com/z5aMCbQmrH
The call was quickly challenged and overturned, leading the players and managers from both teams to laugh at Bucknor and the broadcasters to mock him on air.
It all started with Bauers’ at-bat with two outs in the bottom of the sixth when he hit a line drive that Rays second baseman Ben Williamson knocked down before he tried to get the out at first.
But his throw went wide, allowing Bauers to seemingly reach first without any issue. That was until Bucknor oddly called that the Brewers first baseman didn’t touch the base.
The play was challenged, and when the Brewers broadcast showed the replay, Bauers could be seen stepping on first while Bucknor was watching the ball, not the runner.
The broadcast also showed both Brewers manager Pat Murphy and Rays skipper Kevin Cash cackling at how outrageous the initial call was.
Umpire CB Bucknor looks on during the eighth inning of the Brewers’ 6-2 win over the Rays on March 31, 2026, in Milwaukee. AP
“I think that is a horrendous call. Where is C.B. Bucknor looking?… C.B. Bucknor wasn’t even looking at the play,” Brewers play-by-play broadcaster Jeff Levering said on air.
Following the overturned call, Bauers stole second base, and Brandon Lockridge doubled to drive him in to give Milwaukee a 5-2 lead.
Bucknor was left with egg on his face over the weekend when he had six calls overturned by the Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) during the Reds-Red Sox game on Saturday.
Two of those reversed calls came on back-to-back pitches in the same at-bat.
Bucknor has been a major league umpire since 1996 and is the second-longest-tenured behind Phil Cuzzi.
A regular-season record crowd of 3,207 at Taylor Stadium saw a contest on an afternoon with little cloud cover. For all nine innings, Columbia had enough wind to launch a combined five home runs between the two rivals, four of which were Jayhawks homers over the wall in what was ultimately a Border War defeat for Mizzou. The defeat marked the fifth straight for Kerrick Jackson’s group, all coming on home turf.
In terms of promotion, Mizzou brought all of the stops. The 2.99 beer and hot dogs, flashy throwback hats for all Missouri students living in residential dorms and the in person appearance of several MU athletes in major revenue sports.
One in particular, Tigers running back Jamal Roberts, who’s 63-yard game-sealing touchdown against the Jayhawks back in September, which fired up the Tiger contingent and the thousands of students who made the rowdy atmosphere.
The same energy wasn’t quite brought on the field. At least not enough for the first three innings for the Tigers, as the Jayhawks took a commanding 6-0 lead, getting to the Tigers’ pitching early. Then, the fourth inning rolled around, and a small spark set gasoline to the eight-run heater that Kerrick Jackson’s offense went on against three total pitchers from Kansas, including two pitching changes to the delight of the sellout crowd.
THE EIGHT-RUN RALLY
After three innings of two total hits and no runners left in scoring position, a strikeout from the freshman Blaize Ward seemed just to continue the story that was being written. A walk from freshman outfielder Donovan Jordan brought up the freshman catcher Juliomar Campos, who was making his third start of the season.
Whether it was three games or three months, he’d played, Campos rose to the occasion. A two-run shot over the wall in right-center field gave the Tigers fans something to cheer about for the first time all game long. Little did they know, it was just getting started.
“We’ve talked about our freshmen, there’s a true freshman there that can step in,” Jackson said. “Mateo (Serna) was sick today, so he wasn’t here. Juliomar does a good job behind the plate. One thing we know about him, he’s gonna swing, and he does strike out a lot, so that’s the gift and the curse of it. He battled during that at-bat, and then you saw what he’s capable of doing, what he can do when he puts the barrel on the ball.”
The gift of the free pass and a pair of singles, in order from Keegan Knutson, Tyler Macon and Kam Durnin gave the Tigers the absolute best case scenario. Kayden Peer, bases juiced, momentum swinger. Peer gave the black and gold, exactly that with his two-run single.
One batter later, designated hitter Jase Woita was hit by a pitch, and the second pitching change of the evening occurred, and in perfect sync, the Tigers’ PA system played Mr. Brightside, firing up the Mizzou faithful and the dugout in sync.
That’s the best home crowd I’ve ever seen,” Woita said. “Huge shoutout to them. They showed up, showed out, and totally fired us up that inning. They put pressure on their pitchers to make some pitches and fired us up in the box…I’m getting chills thinking about it right now.”
Post rivalry anthem, the freshman, Blaize Ward, lit up Taylor Stadium as I’ve never seen before, with a bases-clearing, three-run triple. Another Freshman, Donovan Jordan, scored Ward on an RBI double right after, and the once quiet stadium had a highly ruckus atmosphere.
In the moment, Missouri taking an 8-7 lead, despite it being small, could’ve easily been a back-breaker for the Jayhawks. That wasn’t in their plans.
ROUGH START AND ENDING FOR THE TIGERS’ PITCHING
PJ Green was on the bump for the Tigers to open. Both of his starts this season have come on a Tuesday, both against Missouri rivals Illinois and Kansas.
Kansas started getting to him right away as Cade Baldridge took a 3–1 pitch from PJ Green in the first and sent it out to center for a solo homer. Despite a mound meeting from Drew Dickinson after a walk from Green, another walk and a single from Tyson Owens made it 2–0 Jayhawks in the second.
In the third, Augusto Mungarrieta got Green again with a 390‑foot shot to right‑center for his ninth homer of the season. Dylan Schlotterback added another run on a fielder’s choice as the inning kept moving, and a pitching change, Jackson Sobel came in after that, and it didn’t slow down the Jayhawks offense. Brady Ballinger opened the fourth by turning on a 3–2 pitch from Sobel and sending it to right‑center for a two‑run homer.
Sam Rosand came in following Sobel and gave the Tigers what they desperately needed. Innings with stability and zeros. Despite one run, not earned, on an RBI single, Rosand had few blemishes throughout his 2.2 innings of work, as did the pitcher who replaced him at the start of the seventh inning, Kadden Drew.
The heartbeat (for Rosand) never goes over, you know, then doesn’t rise, and he just gets out there and just works and works and works and gets things done for us.
The eighth inning very much brought the rocky pastures for Drew after a 1-2-3 seventh, a single, and a balk kickstarted the inning, followed up by an RBI single hit by Jordan Bach, tying the game up at 8, leaving runners on first and second, as Jackson replaced Drew.
One batter later, Kansas flipped any Missouri momentum on its head, on a three-run shot from Tyson Leblanc, that sucked the air out of the stadium. A rocky start and a finish, concluded by the fourth homer of the day, surrendered bye the Tigers staff.
“When you go back, and you look at some of the hits that they got early to start, you get some little slap hits to the middle on the change-up, and some little things here and there,” Jackson said. “Again, at least in that situation, we weren’t necessarily executing pitches where we wanted them to be executed, and they just did a good job of putting the ball in play and giving themselves a chance.”
THE ATMOSPHERE
The stadium felt bigger than a regular Tuesday night. A record crowd for a regular season game thoroughly packed Taylor Stadium to the brim for the second leg of the Border showdown and it left me with the feeling of wanting to see this not just for this game, but more home games in the future.
“Most of the time we don’t have a big crowd here, and so when we’re playing someplace else, we talk about taking the energy that you’re getting from the crowd,” Jackson said. “Whether or not what they’re saying or what they’re doing, you use that energy to fuel you. That helped with our guys today, and being able to get fueled by that energy.”
In the fourth inning, each foul ball, each pitch taken for a ball got a rise and Ward’s bases-clearing triple had the place rocking. Following the three-run inning by the Jayhawks, the bottom of the ninth saw the Tigers put runners on base, starting with a leadoff walk from Peer, who stole second and later, a free pass issued to Cameron Benson.
Donovan Jordan had the chance to be the hero who tied the game for Missouri, with the crowd fully behind him, and ultimately grounded out, giving Kansas the 11-8 victory. The air might have left the building in the eighth, but the ninth certainly didn’t see a deflation of the rivalry atmosphere.
NEXT UP
It’s back to SEC play for Missouri, as they’ll travel to Lexington to clash with the No. 24 Kentucky Wildcats in a 3-game set. As April begins, the Tigers’ chances to pick up conference victories like they were able to do in Knoxville will continue to be on the table.
“If we just play good baseball, I told our guys in our post-game, but out of the 13 games that we lost, there’s not one of those games that I walk away from that game saying, we played really well, and they were just better than us today,” Jackson said. “We have a lot of self-inflicted wounds, and so we have to be able to fix that.”
