Category: Baseball

It’s official: The Mets are the worst team in baseball. 

And on Wednesday, especially, they looked the part. 

Five weeks into the season and with a sky-high payroll, the mismatched disaster that is the Mets roster was overmatched again in a 14-2 loss to the lowly Nationals at Citi Field that wasn’t as close as the score might indicate. 

“We have to be better,” Carlos Mendoza said after his team’s 16th loss in 19 games. “There’s no excuses. It’s been a long period of time here that we’re not playing well. We’ve got to fix it.” 

Whether that’s even possible is a serious question. 

With their latest defeat, when they allowed a season high in runs, the Mets fell to 10-20. 

That’s a half-game behind their NL East rivals, the Phillies, who were rained out and remained 10-19. 

The weather was not as kind to the Mets faithful, as a few thousand masochists stuck around on a miserable, wet night in Queens to watch … what, exactly? 

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David Peterson delivered his latest awful start, as the lefty’s ERA as a starter jumped to 8.10 after allowing seven runs in just 3 ²/₃ innings. 

Another rotation castoff, Sean Manaea, was called upon to replace Peterson and gave up a grand slam in the fourth. 

And the offense, which briefly awoke during a seven-run fourth inning in Tuesday’s win, went back to its typical ineptness against Washington right-hander Cade Cavalli. 

The lone exception to the collapse was Juan Soto, who looked to be in peak form. 

He homered in a second straight game and added a single and a double. 

But as everyone from Mendoza to David Stearns to Soto himself has said, even Soto can’t carry the team by himself. 

The Mets, though, apparently wanted to test that theory against the Nationals, as Soto — serving as the DH again as he deals with left forearm discomfort — provided just about the only positives for a Mets team that’s now dropped four of five. 

And there are five months to go. 

“The challenge is coming back tomorrow with a good attitude, a good mindset, work hard and try to take care of tomorrow’s game,’’ Peterson said. “It’s easy to let things compound. It’s easy to get caught up in it, but the only way to get out of it is to take it one day at a time and attack and win tomorrow.” 

As Mendoza said before the game: “We’ve got to play better baseball, period. Regardless of who we’re playing, we’ve got to start winning series. We haven’t been able to do that for a long period of time now.” 

And they may have even made it harder on themselves Wednesday during their rare win Tuesday, when Mendoza went to Tobias Myers — who has pitched well out of the bullpen — for two innings with an eight-run lead. 

So the right-hander was unavailable to either open for Peterson — who started because Washington had two left-handers among their top four hitters — or take over for him in the fourth. 

Honestly, it’s hard to fathom any combination of pitchers or position players — short of cloning Soto — would have helped the Mets on Wednesday. 

An announced crowd of 32,624 — and fortunately, not nearly that many actually showed up — made its displeasure known throughout the latest defeat. 

As there has been with alarming frequency this season at Citi Field, the booing could be heard at some point during nearly every inning. 

With five months to go in what’s already been an interminable season, the Mets surely have hit rock bottom. 

But as they’ve proven consistently so far this year, there’s apparently always lower to go.

At times it wasn’t pretty, but the St. Louis Cardinals got it done again as they beat the Pittsburgh Pirates Wednesday night 5-4 thanks to Andre Pallante, two doubles from JJ Wetherholt and a game-saving catch by Nathan Church.

Let’s start with the excellent start from Andre Pallante as he went deeper into Wednesday night’s game than any of his appearances this season. He tossed 6 strong innings giving up only 1 run before he turned the game over to the bullpen. More on that almost dumpster fire later.

The St. Louis Cardinals got on the board first when JJ Wetherholt continued his homecoming party doubling to the opposite field in the 3rd inning which scored Urias making it 1-0 Cardinals.

St. Louis would add to their lead in the top of the 5th inning when Alec Burleson hammered a 411 foot home run to left-center giving the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.

The Pittsburgh Pirates didn’t roll over as they answered in the bottom of the 5th inning cutting into the Cardinals lead 3-1. Victor Scott’s speed would become a factor in the top of the 7th inning when he stole a base and scored on a single by Ivan Herrera increasing the Cardinals lead to 4-1.

Herrera would score on a single by Jordan Walker also in the top of the 7th inning making it 5-1 St. Louis and they would need that additional run because…the bullpen. Ryne Stanek would come in for the bottom of the 7th inning and he was ineffective and that’s being kind. He walked Konnor Griffin then gave up a single to Bart. Griffin would advance to third on a wild pitch by Stanek. Ryne followed that up with a walk to Cruz to load the bases. Manager Oli Marmol went to the bullpen for emergency help in the form of JoJo Romero. He would immediately give up a single to Yorke scoring 2 runs cutting the St. Louis lead in half 5-3. Reynolds was then walked, but JoJo was fortunately able to get O’Hearn on a strikeout followed by a groundout by Ozuna to end the bottom of the 7th.

George Soriano was brought in for the bottom of the 8th inning, but drama followed him, too, not all of his doing. Gonzalez singled followed by a walk to Horwitz. Mangum grounded into what should have been at least a force-out if not a double play to Masyn Winn, but he bobbled it for an error leaving everyone safe. Cruz would ground out on a fielder’s choice for the 2nd out to JJ Wetherholt, but a run scored on the play making it 5-4 Cardinals.

Riley O’Brien came in for the save in the bottom of the 9th and he succeeded – barely. After getting Reynolds to ground out to start the 9th, O’Hearn hit a bloop single to left. Riley struck out Ozuna for the second out, but the final out would be dramatic. Gonzalez hit a ball to deep left that looked like it would be a walk-off winner for the Pirates, but Nathan Church did a very Nathan Church thing.

St. Louis will go for the 4-game sweep against Pittsburgh on Thursday as Hunter Dobbins will take the mound for his first St. Louis start against a guy you’ve probably heard of named Paul Skenes. First pitch scheduled for 11:40am central time Thursday.

The Tigers needed their ace tonight, and they got him. 

Tarik Skubal was as advertised. Outside of one blemish to start the game, he did not allow a Braves runner in scoring position in his seven innings of work. It would’ve been a well-deserved, tip-your-cap type of win.

But the 2026 Braves simply won’t be denied. Pitching by Ritchie, Lee, and López kept them in it, and our patience was richly rewarded with a Matt Olson walk-off home run to clinch another series win for Atlanta.

JR Ritchie’s first inning set the tone for his home crowd debut: serviceable, but not as dominant as what we’d seen in the DC matinee. The Tigers worked deep counts and didn’t go down 1-2-3 in any inning he pitched. In the first inning, he worked around a Gleyber Torres walk and Colt Keith single, but got two K’s to strand them.

In the bottom half of the first, the Braves drew first blood against Skubal by way of a Drake Baldwin single and an Ozzie Albies home run that looked identical to the one he hit to left field last night. 

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However, Ritchie would give those runs back in the top of the second in a two-out rally by Detroit. Wenceel Pérez, who spoiled last night’s shutout with a homer off Aaron Bummer, doubled to left. Ritchie walked the recently-recalled nine hole hitter Jace Jung. Hitting machine Kevin McGonigle’s single made it 2-1. An ill-advised pickoff attempt would tie it up 2-2. 

Unfortunately, Skubal settled in to shut down the Braves, sending us to the third. Riley Greene’s leadoff homer would give the Tigers the lead, 3-2.

The next few innings would be largely uneventful. Drake Baldwin notched a second hit off Skubal, Ritchie worked around runners on the corners in the fourth. In their respective innings, Matt Olson and Michael Harris II tried to set the table for a Braves offensive rally, only to be erased by double plays by Austin Riley and Jonah Heim, respectively. 

Ritchie came back out for the sixth and walked Kerry Carpenter, but got Spencer Torkelson to fly out before exiting to an appreciative ovation from the fans at home. Ritchie’s final line: five and a third innings pitched, five hits, three earned runs, four walks, and the homer to Greene. It wasn’t as efficient or commanding as his performance against the Nationals, but selfishly, I hope he is able to stick around to start in his hometown vs Seattle next week. 

Dylan Lee, back from his one-day stint on the paternity list, finished off the sixth and set them down in order in the seventh. 

Midway through Matt Olson’s at bat in the seventh, Tarik Skubal summoned his coaches and trainers and seemed to indicate that he was feeling something in his elbow or forearm. But after seemingly easily convincing him that he was fine enough to stay in, he looked more than fine as he struck out Olson, Riley, and Dubón in order.

Reynaldo López came trotting out of the bullpen to relieve Lee and only needed eight pitches to retire the Tigers in order. Efficient, but sideyeing that velo a little as he irons out his mechanics. Another thing to watch? Michael didn’t seem comfortable after gloving a sharp lineout. 

Former National Kyle Finnegan came in to face the Braves in the eighth. He struck out Mike before Walt Weiss went to his bench to pinch-hit for White and Heim. Mike Yastrzemski flew out, and Dominic Smith worked an ABS-assisted walk. Ronald walked and the table was set for our clutchest boy, Drake Baldwin. It was looking promising as he fouled off pitch after pitch and the speedy Jorge Mateo ready to rev the wheels and tie it up on a base knock. But it wasn’t to be as he grounded out to end the inning. Disappointed, but not in you, sweet Drake. Never in you.

Reynaldo went back out for the top of the ninth and threw another nine pitches to get three outs. 

Old friend Kenley Jansen took the mound for the Tigers looking for a save to add to his illustrious career. But he must still harbor some love for his ATL days, as he walked Ozzie on six pitches and getting the leadoff man aboard for Matt Olson. Matt had been hitting the ball pretty hard all night without much to show for it. Austin Riley lurked on the on deck circle. But all Riley had to do was watch it go off the bat of Matty O. 

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Bring out the Dubble Bubble bucket hat! This one feels especially good after Tarik Skubal did Tarik Skubal things for so much of the evening. That’s another series win, and an extension of the winning streak vs Detroit we mentioned earlier. 

The Braves will go for the sweep in some brunch baseball tomorrow. Elder and Valdez will face off starting at 12:15 pm ET. 

The Mets were routed by the Washington Nationals 14-2 on Wednesday night at Citi Field.

Here are some takeaways...

- David Peterson's return to the starting rotation didn't quite go as planned. Washington jumped on the left-hander for a pair of runs on three hits and a passed ball in the top of the first, continuing his season-long struggles in an inning he mastered all of last season. 

- Peterson appeared to have settle in nicely, retiring nine in a row, but the roof caved in on him in the fourth. Washington flipped the script on the Mets from Tuesday, putting together a seven-run inning of their own, with two of those coming against Peterson before they chased him from the ballgame. 

- Sean Manaea entered after a bases loaded walk and he didn't fare much better, forcing in another run with a HBP then giving up a grand slam to put this one out of reach. Peterson's ERA now sits at an ugly 6.53 after allowing seven runs on five hits and three walks over just 3.2 innings of work in his first start back in the rotation. 

- The Mets' offense did try to pick Peterson up after his rough start to the night, as they used a double and two walks to load the bases against Cade Cavalli with two outs in the first, but the righty struck out Tyrone Taylor with a 3-2 sinker up in the zone to dance his way out of danger. 

- Juan Soto had the double which started that first inning rally. The red-hot outfielder also got the Mets on the board in the third with an opposite-field homer for the second straight night, and then picked up his third hit to try to start a rally trailing by eight in the bottom of the fifth. 

- MJ Melendez followed Soto's knock with a single off the first baseman's glove. Francisco Alvarez immediately rolled into his sixth double play of the season, though, killing any hopes of a rally and allowing the Nats off the hook. The young backstop struck out looking in his other three AB's, bringing his average down to .123 over his last seven games. 

- Marcus Semien enjoyed himself a nice day at the plate, singling twice across his three at-bats. 

- Manaea ate the next two innings but fared just as poorly as Peterson. Washington tacked on five more runs against him, ripping seven hits, five of which went for extra-bases. Manaea has given up 15 runs over his last five appearances, raising his ERA to 6.14 for the season. 

- Carl Edwards Jr. gave up a run but threw well, striking out six over 2.2 innings of work. 

Game MVP(s): Curtis Mead 

Mead fattened up against the Mets' pitching, stringing together his first career four-hit game. 

Highlights

Juan Soto slices a double the other way pic.twitter.com/qjQ7PrTxMf

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 29, 2026

Bo Bichette with the backhand and the long throw on a hop to get the out pic.twitter.com/dobeEj0viH

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 29, 2026

Juan Soto homers to left for the second straight night! pic.twitter.com/y0fDn9NUOt

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 29, 2026

What's next

Freddy Peralta takes the mound as the Mets look to rebound in the rubber game with the Nats on Thursday at 1:10 p.m.

The Orioles will be without a key arm in the rotation for at least the next two weeks.

Baltimore placed lefty Trevor Rogers on the 15-day injured list on Wednesday with an undisclosed illness. The move is retroactive to Sunday.

 Pitcher Cameron Foster was summoned from Triple-A to fill the open roster spot.

In a start Saturday against the Red Sox, Rogers lasted a season-low 1 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on four hits and two walks in what turned into a 17-1 loss.

“I felt really good going into today. My body feels good. I think my stuff’s in a really good spot,” the 28-year-old told reporters after the loss, according to MLB.com. “I’m just going to keep working and keep staying disciplined and I know, in the long run, this will turn around. … I know if I continue to do what I need to do and keep throwing the pitches in good spots, eventually, it’s going to go my way. I pride myself on getting contact and getting guys to swing the bat. I’m doing that. It’s just falling and just some big innings right now.”

Even though he didn’t take the hill until May, Rogers was one of the bright spots on the Orioles last year when he carried a 1.81 ERA and 0.903 WHIP across 18 starts. He received down-ballot Cy Young Award votes and finished ninth in the American League voting.

It looked like a revival for a starter who came to the Marlins as a first-round pick in 2017 and earned a National League All-Star spot in 2021 before struggling in each of the next three seasons resulting in a midseason trade to Baltimore in ’24.

This year, so far, hasn’t been as promising with a 4.75 ERA through 30 1/3 innings. He’s now the 11th player on Baltimore’s current injured list.

The Orioles, who were rained out on Wednesday, have a 14-15 record and are third in the AL East. The starting pitching has not gotten the job done, as not a single one of their rotation members with at least 20 innings this season has an ERA under 4.00.

It looks like the Colorado Rockies offense just needed an extra day to arrive in the riverside city of Cincinnati. After last night’s two-run affair, the Rockies exploded on offense tonight while largely shutting down the Reds.

A spoonful of Tommy Sugar

Tomoyuki Sugano 菅野 智之 continued his run of strong pitching for the Rockies with 5.1 scoreless innings against what has been a fairly potent Cincinnati offense. Sugano wasn’t as sharp as usual, issuing three walks with two strikeouts, but he kept the Reds off the board despite those walks and four hits. He also had a little help from a sharp Rockies defense. In the bottom of the first inning, Ezequiel Tovar made a diving stop and threw out a Reds baserunner at home to end the inning.

After issuing a single and a walk to start the sixth inning, Sugano managed to get one final out before his pitch count and situation pulled him from the game. His ERA for the season now sits at just 2.84, the lowest of any member of the Rockies’ rotation. Only Chase Dollander—operating largely as bulk relief with an opener—has a lower ERA.

Believe in the bullpen

Lefty Brennan Bernardino entered the game with two runners on and only one out with the goal of keeping the Rockies’ shutout intact. Brett Sullivan and Ezequiel Tovar caught the lightning-quick Elly De La Cruz stealing before an easy flyout ended the inning. Bernardino would work another full inning with a strikeout before his night was done, though he did give up one hit.

Juan Mejia took over for the eighth inning and did give up a leadoff base hit, only to quickly set down the next three batters swinging.

Jimmy Herget, newly reinstated from the paternity list, had a little rust to shake off in a ninth inning that was largely a formality. All three outs he recorded were strikeouts, but he did give up two earned runs on four hits. The earned runs were via a Will Benson home run, the first home run Herget has given up since July 29th of last season.

Pizza or taco’s?

The Rockies still struck out 11 times against Cincinnati pitching—which apparently earns Reds fans a free small, one-topping pizza courtesy of LaRosa’s Family Pizzeria—but that hardly seems to matter in an offensive effort that gave Rockies fans taco’s and more. The Rockies plated 13 runs on 15 hits and drew a strong six walks against Reds pitching staff.

The game had a promising start when Brenton Doyle doubled in his first at-bat of the day and was followed up walks issued to Willi Castro and Hunter Goodman. Backup catcher Brett Sullivan then slapped a bases-clearing double to right field to give the Rockies an early 3-0 lead.

A Willi Castro RBI double in the third inning and a Hunter Goodman solo home run in the fifth had the Rockies up 5-0, but the damage kept coming. In the top of the seventh inning Hunter Goodman demolished a second home run—his eighth of the season and the Rockies’ league-leading fifth multi-home run game of the season—to score another two runs. A Kyle Karros sacrifice fly scored yet another run.

With the Rockies up 8-0 in the top of the ninth inning, the Reds chose to wave the white flag and send in catcher Jose Trevino to pitch. The Rockies didn’t take it easy on Trevino, scoring another five runs on six hits. The inning saw Ezequiel Tovar, Kyle Karros, and Mickey Moniak get their first hits of the ballgame, with Moniak’s double extending his current hitting streak to 13 games. When all was said and done, the Rockies had gone 7-for-14 with runners in scoring position. It was a breath of fresh air after yesterday’s 1-for-11 mark.

Sadly, only Jordan Beck was left hitless after the festivities. Beck went 0-for-6 with two strikeouts and currently has a .440 OPS this season. Meanwhile, Brett Sullivan and Hunter Goodman were the heavy hitters of the evening, both going 3-for-4 with a walk and three RBIs.

Coming Up Next

The Rockies have an early start time tomorrow as they close out the series against the Reds and look for a series win on the road. Righty Michael Lorenzen will make the start for Colorado against Cincinnati lefty Andrew Abbott. First pitch is scheduled for 10:40 AM MDT.

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The Tigers were hoping to bounce back from their Tuesday evening loss to the Braves, and they were hoping Tarik Skubal would be the man on the mound to make that happen. Atlanta was leaning on J.R. Ritchie to get them the second win of the series.

The Tigers started out aggressively against Ritchie, with a one-out walk to Gleyber Torres followed by a single for Colt Keith. But two outs followed, despite Dillon Dingler’s attempt to challenge a third strike call that ended the inning. Skubal, meanwhile, had a rough start to the first. with Drake Baldwin getting a one-out single, followed by some unfortunate deja vu as Ozzie Albies homered into left to score two runs. Atlanta would have to settle for just those runs, but it was a tough way to get the game going.

With two outs in the second it seemed like the Tigers might already be fizzling, but then Wenceel Perez doubled, followed by a Jace Jung walk. Kevin McGonigle then singled on a liner into center, bringing Perez home. Then, Ritchie made an error attempting to pick off McGonigle, which allowed Jung to come home and tie up the game. It was all the Tigers would get, but they were two mighty important runs.

The Braves went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning because Skubal doesn’t like having bad innings and tries to make teams suffer for them.

The third showed that the Tigers weren’t going to let this game stay tied for long. With one out, Riley Greene hit a solo home run practically to dead center. Two outs followed but the Tigers sure did have the lead when it was all said and done. Now they just had to keep it.

With two outs in the bottom of the third, Drake Baldwin singled, but the Braves weren’t able to convert the baserunner.

In the fourth, Perez got on base for the second time in the game with a one-out walk. Another out later, McGoingle continued to McGonigle, singling to put two men on. Unfortunately, a Gleyber Torres groundout ended the inning with no additional runs scored. In the home half, Matt Olson singled to start things off, but don’t clutch your pearls just yet because he was quickly eliminated in a double play off the bat of Austin Riley. A groundout then ended the inning no harm done.

The fifth inning saw the Tigers going 1-2-3. Michael Harris II singled to start the home half, but a flyout and double play then safely ended the inning.

Kerry Carpenter got a leadoff walk in the sixth, and while Ritchie did collect the first out of the inning with a Spencer Torkelson flyout, his day was still done. Dylan Lee came out of Atlanta’s bullpen to get the final two outs of the inning. A nice little 1-2-3 outing for Skubal in the home half had to feel good for everyone involved, especially Colt Keith whose precision throw to first got the final out of the inning.

The seventh was another 1-2-3 inning, and I don’t know about everyone else watching but I do feel like some insurance runs might be a good idea here. There was a concerning pause at the start of the home half where Skubal had Dingler come out to the mound and it looked like he might be having some left forearm discomfort. A.J. Hinch and assistant athletic trainer Kelly Rhoades came out to look at him, but he waved everyone off and stayed in the game. Whatever was going on with him didn’t seem to lessen his skill, though, as he mowed through the side in order.

Reynaldo López was the new Atlanta pitcher out of the pen in the top of the eighth. He got the Tigers three-up, three-down. In the home half, Skubal’s day was done after seven, his final line for the game was 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 1 HR on 91 pitches. Kyle Finnegan came in out of the Tigers’ pen. While a missed call would have gone Detroit’s way with a called third strike, it was overturned by the ABS for ball four for Dominic Smith. Ronald Acuña Jr. then drew a walk. A groundout from Baldwin ended the inning, though, and Finnegan was no worse for the wear.

The Tigers once again went 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth, and had to hope they’d done enough to hold onto the lead. Helping them manage it would be Kenley Jansen in the bottom of the inning, trying to add to his all-time saves total. Jansen started out rough, with a leadoff walk to Ozzie Albies. Matt Olson then hit a home run right into the bullpen to walk off the game and make the Tigers regret not getting more insurance runs.

Final: Braves 4, Tigers 3

This year was supposed to be different for Kodai Senga.

He said he felt healthy during spring training, was throwing hard and expected to get back to the form he showed as a rookie with the Mets in 2023.

But just like pretty much everything else in Queens this season, it hasn’t gone as planned.

The right-hander is back on the IL with lumbar spine inflammation and won’t throw for a week to 10 days after he received an epidural Tuesday.

When the right-hander might return is anyone’s guess.

Senga said Wednesday he’d been dealing with at least some form of discomfort in the area as far back as spring training, but it wasn’t until his most recent outing against the Rockies on Sunday that it became clear he couldn’t pitch with it. 

“I was able to manage it, [but] it got to a point Sunday where it was definitely affecting my pitching and I had to bring it to their attention,’’ Senga said through an interpreter.

Sunday’s performance was Senga’s third straight ugly outing, as he’s allowed 16 earned runs over 8 ¹/₃ innings in the three starts.

He noted that at times “it became difficult to stand on one leg” because of the injury. 

This is just the latest in a growing list of health woes Senga has suffered after his standout 2023 rookie season.

In 2024, Senga pitched just once in the regular season thanks to a shoulder strain and then a strained left calf before he returned for the playoffs.

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Last season, he strained his hamstring when he jumped to catch a high throw from Pete Alonso while covering first base. He pitched poorly upon his return and wound up agreeing to go to Triple-A Syracuse.

Senga said Wednesday no such conversations took place about going back to the minors again in order to get right on the mound.

And he said there was no timeline yet for a potential return.

“The outlook is difficult,’’ Senga said. “We have to see how the body responds. I’m solely focused on getting back out there as soon as possible.”

As the Mets have seen in the past, though, it’s becoming hard to count on Senga’s availability. The Mets have reinserted David Peterson in the rotation after sending him to the bullpen and are set to start Christian Scott on Friday against the Angels in Anaheim.

“As a baseball player, my job is to be on the field and play for my team,’’ Senga said. “Not to be able to do that is frustrating.”

Game two of the series in Sacramento is tonight, and the Royals have an opportunity to lock down their second series win in a row. Winning five out of six, and scoring quite a lot of runs in the process, has really calmed the doom and gloom down. Now the team needs to keep going strong as they try to climb back out of the early hole that they dug for themselves.

Tonight that means we will see Michael Wacha versus Luis Severino. The two veterans have had very different seasons so far. Wacha has been great to start the season posting a 2.51 ERA over his first five starts. He is probably not going to stay quite that good according to the underlying metrics, but he is still looking like a solid starter for the club to depend on. Severino, on the other hand, has a 5.17 ERA and is walking a little over 6 per 9 innings. His peak years of Cy Young contention are now in the distant past, but there is still talent and velocity in that arm, though we hope this is not the start that he finds it.

The Royals will be without Pasquantino, which means Carter Jensen is moving up in the lineup.

The A’s let one slip through their fingers last night against the Royals, but the good news is the two teams are back at it tonight at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento. The lack of clutch hitting was the key last night, so let’s hope the guys in Kelly Green & Gold can mash when it counts in today’s matchup.

Luis Severino gets the start for the Athletics today. Severino, the 32-year-old righty out of the Dominican Republic is 1-2 with a 5.17 ERA in six starts in 2026. He’s struck out 32 in 31.1 innings so far. Severino has a career 5-1record with a 3.67 ERA against the Royals with 32 K’s across 41.2 innings. He’ll go up against 34-year-old righty Michael Wacha for the Royals. Wacha is 2-1 with a 2.51 ERA this year over five starts. Over the course of his career, he has started three games against the Athletics and gone 1-1 with a 3.31 ERA and twelve strikeouts.

Wacha will face this lineup for the A’s tonight:

Severino will face this batting order for the Royals tonight:

Follow the Game:
Watch:
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Listen:
Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, KVMX 92.1/105.5, A’s Cast

Tyler Fitzgerald had one glorious five-week stretch for the San Francisco Giants in 2024 where he hit 13 home runs in 26 games. He fell off so badly that the Giants traded last season’s primary second baseman to the Toronto Blue Jays in early April. But now Fitzgerald is ready to revive his career with one simple change: He’s been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers tapped their most reliable trade asset to scoop up Fitzgerald: Cash. Cash considerations, to be specific, which we think means they sent their check to the Blue Jays inside a thoughtful greeting card.

There’s a lot of reasons that the Giants gave up on Fitzgerald. He slashed .217/.278/.327 last season in an injury-marred year where he got demoted to Triple-A. His power disappeared but his strikeout rate stayed high. This year, Fitzgerald has struck out in more than a third of his plate appearances in the minors, with his defense looking steadily worse in his age-28 season.

So why should anyone expect him to thrive as a Dodger? Because the Giants gave up on him, and as per the blood sacrifices made from 2010-14, the baseball gods will curse the team until penance is paid and Rusty the Robot rises from his watery grave in McCovey Cove.

It’s also because Fitzgerald is the type of multi-positional utility player that has over-performed with the Dave Roberts Dodgers. Chris Taylor had similar numbers to Fitzgerald in his own age-26 season in 2017. There’s just something about being a middle infielder willing to practice shagging flies in the outfield that leads to wild success in Chavez Ravine. Just ask Taylor, or Kike Hernandez, or Tommy Edman, or Gavin Lux, or Howie Kendrick.

It could be that Fitzgerald will have a Mike Benajmin-like fade into obscurity for Giants shortstops who got insanely hot for short stretches (Benjamin had 13 hits over two games in 1995). But it seems like fate has placed Fitzgerald in Dodger Blue to punish the Giants for giving up on him, like how Michael Conforto got a World Series ring last season with the Dodgers (though he was terrible).

Don’t expect Fitzgerald to go back to his slugging ways right away with the Dodgers. He’ll wait until he can start hitting balls into McCovey Cove when the Dodgers visit again on the last weekend of the season, invariably knocking the Giants out of the wild-card race. Can’t wait!

ARLINGTON, Texas — The decision to designate veteran outfielder Randal Grichuk for assignment Wednesday came just as the 34-year-old was starting to heat up, batting 6-for-16 after starting the year 0-for-15.

The Yankees had signed the right-handed hitter to a minor league deal in camp before he made the team to help them against lefties.

“Difficult decision, just because I feel like Randal’s come in here and fit in really well,” Aaron Boone said before the 3-0 loss to the Rangers. “I feel like, despite numbers-wise a slow start, he’s shown us the at-bats we’ve wanted to see from him when he’s got his opportunities against left-handed pitching.

“But just the fit right now, feel like with me not catching [Ben] Rice much, [Paul Goldschmidt] being backup first baseman, not having that position flexibility right now with the guy on the bench that Max [Schuemann] brings, think it just makes sense for our club right now to be a little bit better fit.

“But Randal, and I even told him [Tuesday] night, he can still do this. He can still play this game at a high level. It was hard though, because he fit in well with this group.”

Anthony Volpe played in a 10th rehab game Wednesday at Double-A Somerset, going 2-for-4 while playing a full nine innings at shortstop for the second straight day.

The Yankees have said they will reevaluate Volpe on Thursday, which is Day 17 of a maximum 20-day rehab clock, but Boone was cagey on whether the shortstop would be activated Friday.

“We’ll see,” Boone said. “We got this game and he’s playing in Somerset today. We’ll see.”

Gerrit Cole made his third rehab start Wednesday afternoon, building up to 60 pitches (45 strikes) across 5 ²/₃ innings with Double-A Somerset. He gave up three runs on three hits and no walks while striking out three. Cole has only walked one batter across 14 ¹/₃ innings on his rehab assignment so far.

“It was nice to get six ups, so it was a good day,” Cole told reporters in Somerset. “Lot of strikes, that’s good. Not a lot of large misses, and consistency out of all the offerings today, which was nice.”

The former AL Cy Young Award winner is expected to need at least a few more rehab starts before potentially being activated in mid-to-late May.

An umpire asked Elmer Rodríguez to change his glove after the second inning Wednesday, which the rookie right-hander did but was unsure why it was necessary. Making his MLB debut, Rodríguez was sporting a blue, red and white glove, as a tribute to his native Puerto Rico, but then used a black glove for the final two innings.

“Thankfully I had one here,” Rodríguez said. “He just told me I could change it for the next inning and that was it.”

The Kansas City Royals (12-17) face the Athletics (15-14) in the second game of their series. The Royals won the series’ opener 4-3 in 10 innings on Tuesday. Scheduled starting pitchers are Michael Wacha for Kansas City, with a 2.51 ERA, and Luis Severino for the Athletics, with a 5.17 ERA.

How to watch Kansas City Royals vs. Athletics

• Date: Wednesday, April 29

• Time: 9:40 p.m. ET / 6:40 p.m. PT

• Where: Sutter Health Park, West Sacramento, CA

• TV Channels: NBCSCA, Royals.TV

• Live Stream:ESPN+, MLB.TV | Follow on Yahoo Sports

Team records

• Kansas City Royals: 12-17 (No. 5 in AL Central)

• Athletics: 15-14 (No. 1 in AL West)

Odds

• Spread: Athletics +1.5

• Moneyline: Athletics -115 (51.1%) / Kansas City Royals -105 (48.9%)

• Over/Under: 10.0

Starting pitchers

Kansas City Royals: Michael Wacha (2-1, ERA: 2.51, K: 28, WHIP: 0.93)
Athletics: Luis Severino (1-2, ERA: 5.17, K: 32, WHIP: 1.56)

Weather: 80°F at first pitch

Ballpark: Capacity: 14,111 | Roof: Open | Surface: Grass

Once the Mets offseason plan became clear and through spring training, a key question they faced was how to handle first base. 

The early returns have been perhaps worse than anyone could have imagined. 

Jorge Polanco, signed to a two-year, $40 million contract with the hopes that he could transition from the middle of the infield to first base, has been hurt most of the season and played poorly when on the field. 

Brett Baty, introduced to the position during spring training, has been inconsistent in the field and at the plate. He’s shown flashes of his lefty power, but ended an 0-for-10 skid going 1-for-3 in Wednesday’s 14-2 loss to Washington at Citi Field. 

And then there’s Mark Vientos, who has struggled badly on both sides of the ball, looking to recapture at least the power he displayed two years ago, which seems to be more and more of a distant memory. 

Altogether, they entered Wednesday with the fourth-worst OPS at the position this season (.581), a year after Pete Alonso helped them to the second-best OPS in the majors (.861). 

Neither has stood out defensively, either. 

And according to FanGraphs, the group has the second-lowest WAR (-0.5). 

Asked about the spot, Carlos Mendoza said the duo of Baty and Vientos has “handled the position fine,” adding Vientos has been OK defensively. 

But the manager acknowledged: “Offensively, we expect more.” 

In fairness, the lack of production has been a failure of almost the entire lineup — not just at first base. 

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND METS STATS

But it’s felt there especially, since they had such a consistent threat at first with Alonso. 

“They took a strength and made it a weakness,’’ one National League scout said. “I think Baty can hit, but he shouldn’t be at first base. If they had just kept him at third, where he looked comfortable last year, I think he would have come on at the plate. But they’re making it harder on him, all to get another guy who’s out of position [former shortstop Bo Bichette] into the lineup.” 

With Polanco nursing both a right wrist contusion and Achilles discomfort — and considered week to week by David Stearns — the Mets figure to go with Baty and Vientos. 

“We signed Polanco to play there and he’s had health issues,’’ Mendoza said. 

This game started out like it might be something special for Jameson Taillon, but then the home-run bug bit him again.

Jamo recovered from that to throw seven strong innings and the Cubs squeaked out a 5-4 win over the Padres with some nails relief pitching from Ben Brown and Hoby Milner, winning the series and ending a road trip that has to be termed a success with a 3-3 mark against two very good NL West teams.

As they have so many times, the Cubs had plenty of baserunners early. They loaded the bases with one out in the first on a Nico Hoerner single (a popup that dropped between two Padres infielders!), another hit by Alex Bregman and a walk drawn by Ian Happ. Unfortunately, Michael Busch hit into a double play to end the inning.

The Cubs got on the board in the second. Michael Conforto hit a deep fly to center that glanced off Jackson Merrill’s glove for a double. (Yet another reminder that defense matters.) Conforto went to third on a ground out by Matt Shaw, but had to hold there when Pete Crow-Armstrong grounded to first.

Miguel Amaya’s single made it 1-0 Cubs [VIDEO].

The Cubs made it 3-0 in the fourth. With two out, Shaw dribbled a ball down the third-base line that stopped next to the base for a single.

PCA then launched this two-run homer [VIDEO].

That ball was a hanging sweeper and PCA did not miss it, homering for the second time in as many games. He seems to have finally locked in and I hope for a big homestand from him beginning Friday.

Taillon retired the first 14 Padres he faced before he, too, was victimized by a sweeper that didn’t sweep. Miguel Andujar homered to break up any thought of a no-hit or perfect game bid. Look where this pitch was!

Way above the zone and Andujar just yanked it out of the yard.

Maybe that rattled Taillon a bit, because then he walked Jake Cronenworth and Nick Castellanos, who came into this game with a .151/.196/.208 slash line, smacked his first home run of the year to tie the game.

Home runs have been an issue for Jamo this year. That’s nine home runs allowed in 34.2 innings, yikes. Nevertheless, Taillon settled down after that and retired seven of the final eight Padres he faced. Overall Taillon had a good outing — seven innings, 95 pitches (66 strikes), three hits, one walk, six strikeouts.

More on Taillon’s afternoon from BCB’s JohnW53:

Jameson Taillon is the Cubs’ third starter this season to complete seven innings. Shota Imanaga and Edward Cabrera did it against the Phillies, two days apart, April 21 and 23. Imanaga gave up one run on three hits and one walk; Cabrera, three runs (two earned) on six hits and no walks.

Taillon had pitched six innings in three previous starts.

Taillon’s longest as a Cub was eight innings, with one hit and two walks, at New York against the Yankees on July 7, 2023. He has gone 7.1 twice, both in 2024. This was his 10th of 7.0, for a total of 12 of at least 7.0, in 86 starts as a Cub.

Here’s even more on Taillon’s afternoon [VIDEO].

While Taillon was holding the Padres down after the home runs, the Cubs took the lead back. Busch led off the sixth with a walk and was forced at second by Conforto. Matt Shaw doubled, with Conforto stopping at third.

Then this happened [VIDEO].

With only one out, that’s a risky contact play. Conforto never hesitated and made a great slide under the attempted tag by Luis Campusano and the Cubs had a 4-3 lead.

That lead was increased to 5-3 when Shaw hit his third homer of the year with one out in the eighth [VIDEO].

Corbin Martin entered to throw the eighth. It did not go well. He walked the first three hitters he faced. That brought Ben Brown into the game, raising the question: Why didn’t Craig Counsell just start the inning with Brown?

Also, here’s a not-so-fun fact about Martin, from John:

Martin became just the 10th Cub since 1901 to walk the only three batters he faced.

The first four were in 1910-37, then Eddie Solomon in 1975, Chuck McElroy in 1993, Justin Berg in 2011, Steve Cishek on April 3, 2019, at Atlanta, and Dan Winkler on April 8, 2021, at Pittsburgh. The Cubs won only two of the previous games: 6-3 at Philadelphia in 1993 and 4-2 at Pittsburgh in 2021.

Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a deep fly to center field that made it 5-4. Brown then induced Manny Machado to hit into an inning-ending double play [VIDEO].

That was just about the best possible result you might expect with a reliever coming in to a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation. Brown did an excellent job here, recording the three outs on only five pitches, and he’s clearly well into Counsell’s circle of trust.

Mason Miller, who gave up two runs to the Cubs Monday night, entered to throw the ninth. This is the first time this year, in his 15th appearance, that Miller pitched when the Padres were trailing. With one out, he walked Bregman and wild-pitched him to second. But Happ struck out on an ABS challenge and Busch hit a deep fly into the gap that Merrill ran down to end the inning.

Brown stayed in to close things out. He struck out Xander Bogaerts and got Ty France to ground to third. The Padres sent Gavin Sheets up to pinch hit for Andujar, and Counsell countered with left-hander Hoby Milner. The Padres burned Sheets and sent up Ramon Laureano to bat for him.

Milner did not waste any time ending the game [VIDEO].

That is absolutely outstanding relief work from Brown and Milner, who recorded six outs in about the highest-leverage situations you can imagine, on just 14 pitches. Really good stuff — and as pointed out on the broadcast, that was just the second save of Milner’s career, the other one coming two years ago for the Brewers.

Some last notes on this big win from John:

The Cubs have won all three games this season in which their starter completed seven innings. Last year, they were just 13-10, including five straight losses and seven of eight from Aug. 2 to the end of the season.

This was just the 12th game since 1901 in which the Cubs allowed four runs on three hits. The first three were in 1914, 1944 and 1956, then there have been eight since 1987. The previous one was at home vs. the Giants on Sept. 1, 2016. That was only the second the Cubs won, both by 5-4. The first was at home vs. the Mariners in 2007.

They lost four times by 4-3, once by 4-2 and four times by 4-1.

None of the previous games were vs. the Padres.

Two of the hits were homers in one earlier game, a 4-3, 12-inning loss at home against the Phillies on Aug. 11, 2009.

The Cubs will certainly have a happy flight back to Chicago this evening and enjoy their off day at home Thursday. Then they will open a three-game series against the Diamondbacks Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Colin Rea will start for the Cubs. The D-backs, who have an afternoon game Thursday in Milwaukee, have not yet listed a starter but if they stay on rotation, it will likely be Zac Gallen. Game time Friday is 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network (and MLB Network outside the Cubs and D-backs market territories).