Category: Baseball

How about this Washington Nationals offense folks! Despite some bullpen shenanigans, the Nats snapped their five game losing streak with a comeback win against the Cardinals. The Nats started the game well and ended it well. In the end, that was enough to give them a 9-6 win. James Wood also looks to be getting on track, which is great to see.

Before we talk about the offensive fireworks, I wanted to give a shoutout to Zack Littell. The veteran right hander showed what he can provide to this Nats rotation in his five innings of work. His command was mostly excellent and his splitter was dancing. Littell signed late in the offseason, so he is still not totally built up. However, once he is off his leash, he should be able to give the Nats length as well as quality.

Littell whew pic.twitter.com/U1Fpfzm1Wv

— Kev (@klwoodjr) April 6, 2026

The offense was the star of the show today though. All the worries we had about the unit in Spring Training are gone. This offense looks like it is a force to be reckoned with, especially with James Wood seeming to turn a corner. There is a ton of young talent and guys who are being unlocked by this new hitting staff.

It has also been different guys contributing up and down the lineup. Tonight, the star was James Wood, who seems to be coming out of his hibernation. Wood hammered a 114 MPH homer in the 8th inning to tie the game. His ability to hit homers at lower trajectories is truly a sight to behold.

JAMES WOOD GAME-TYING THREE-RUN HOME RUN pic.twitter.com/bhDHDZTKf8

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 7, 2026

Wood’s homer was part of a massive six run 8th inning explosion that propelled the Nats to victory. It was started by bottom of the order hitters, like Drew Millas and Jorbit Vivas, who both got key singles to start the rally. They got it done off of Ryne Stanek, who the Nats have always seemed to see well over the years.

After Wood’s homer to tie the game, the boys were not done. Curtis Mead ripped a double down the line to keep the pressure on. Then Brady House stepped to the plate and delivered, with a monster two run blast. Ever since the start of Spring Training, House has looked like a different hitter compared to the guy we saw last season. The 22 year old is a young player who is truly figuring it out in the big leagues.

BRADY HOUSE FOR THE LEAD!
CJ Abrams for good measure!

The @Nationals hit three homers in one frame 💪 pic.twitter.com/8rPCs8m0LX

— MLB (@MLB) April 7, 2026

CJ Abrams delivered yet another homer in the inning to give the Nats insurance. However, with this bullpen that had already blown it a couple times, things were not comfortable. The situation became particularly uncomfortable when Blake Butera threw Cionel Perez into the fire the night after he gave up four runs without giving up an out.

That was a move that could have been disastrous if it backfired. Butera would have had a lot of arrows heading his way. To his credit, Perez delivered and put up a zero in the 9th to make it a 9-6 Nats win. The Nats pitching staff is clearly a problem, but they slugged too much for it to bite them today.

One other play that helped keep a run off the board also made the 9th slightly less stressful. In the 4th inning, James Wood made the best defensive play of his career, robbing Nolan Gorman of a homer. He had to run a long way to get to the ball and then he timed his jump perfectly to keep the ball from going in the Nats bullpen.

S P A C E J A M e S !!!!!!!!!?!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/sgkbHddZGk

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) April 6, 2026

After Jo Adell had his crazy game, I guess James Wood wanted to get into the mix. It is great to get back into the win column. The Nats pitching staff needs to be addressed badly, but hey we can talk about that tomorrow. How about James Wood and how about your Washington Nationals.

The Cincinnati Reds swept the Texas Rangers in their first road series of the 2026 regular season, and their road exploits didn’t stop on Monday in their 2-0 series opening win against the Miami Marlins. Lefty Brandon Williamson, making just his second start since late 2024, bounced back from a rough first outing of the season and was simply brilliant, and the Reds offense did just enough to bring home another win.

Williamson kept the Marlins completely off the board in 6.2 IP, his mix of a cutter and slider keeping Miami hitters completely off-balance throughout. He was efficient, needing just 93 pitches, and yielded just 3 hits and a lone walk against 4 strikeouts as he picked up the win. Brock Burke, Tony Santillan, and closer Emilio Pagan similarly were efficient in their ability to shut down the Marlins for the win, as the team needed just 127 pitches in total to win their fourth straight game.

Right now, the Cincinnati Reds are undefeated as the road team this year. Undefeated!

Williamson, tonight’s Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game, only truly faced one bout of trouble, that coming after Miami catcher Agustin Ramirez tripled off the top of the wall in RF – a triple that was a foot away from being a game-tying homer. Cincinnati’s lefty pitched out of that jam in short order, however, and that’s as close as the Marlins got.

The Reds took all the lead they’d need in the Top of the 4th when Elly De La Cruz smashed a hustle double into the RF gap and scored a batter later when Sal Stewart smashed an RBI-single up the middle. They got an insurance run in the Top of the 8th, though, when catcher Tyler Stephenson smashed his second homer of the young season over the LF when Miami starter Janson Junk hung a breaking ball in the heart of the zone.

Reds 2, Marlins 0 – and Cincinnati moves to a 7-3 record on the season.

Other Notes

• TJ Friedl shrugged off his rough start to the season by smashing a single up the middle to lead off the game. He later added a bunt single to go 2 for 4 on the evening (and he didn’t strike out once after having fanned 11 times already entering the game).
• Stewart stole his second bag of the game, doing so in front of tons of friends and family in his hometown. He also got thrown out on at TOOTBLAN at 3B a few pitches later, but we’ll let that one slide.
• Will Benson got the start in RF again in lieu of Noelvi Marte and had another laser of a hit.
• Dane Myers, in his first game against his former club, came on as a defensive replacement late (at the expense of Spencer Steer). He walked in his lone PA.
• The Reds and Marlins will recommence their series on Tuesday at 6:40 PM ET, and they’ll do so with Andrew Abbott and Sandy Alcantara sharing the mound.

The opening salvo of the three-game rematch of last year’s World Series was a one-sided affair, in which the Dodgers drubbed the Toronto Blue Jays 14-2 on Monday night at Rogers Centre.

After scoring only seven runs in three games in a languid series against the Cleveland Guardians at home, the Dodgers offense has come alive on the road, topping that figure in each of the first four games of the road trip.

Home runs provided the highlights of the series opener, including a career day by catcher Dalton Rushing.

Rushing got a second straight start behind the plate on Monday — manager Dave Roberts told reporters in Toronto it was partly so Will Smith would catch Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Ohtani in the final two games of the series — and had four hits, his first major league game with more than two hits. He homered in the seventh and eighth innings as the Dodgers just kept scoring.

DALTON AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/WOoo2xQ6hk

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 7, 2026

Coupled with his home run in Sunday’s comeback win in Washington D.C., Rushing has hits in each of his last five at-bats, with three home runs, and he’s reached base six plate appearances in a row.

Teoscar Hernández started off the scoring with a two-run shot in the first inning, part of a four-RBI night for the left fielder. Hernández, who played for the Blue Jays from 2017-22, has 53 career home runs in 252 career games at Rogers Center, his most at any MLB park, though he entered Monday with a 117 wRC+ in this ballpark, right in line with his overall 118 wRC+ line to that point.

Freddie Freeman added a two-run shot in the third inning and later doubled home another run, giving him six extra-base hits in his last five games. Freeman, whose parents were both from Canada and who represented the country in two World Baseball Classics, has seven home runs in 19 career games in Toronto.

Shohei Ohtani reached base two more times Monday, including a solo home run in the sixth inning, his third home run on the road trip after hitting none on the opening homestand. Ohtani has now reached base in 41 consecutive games, the tied with Eric Karros for the ninth-longest longest streak in Dodgers franchise history.

Make it three home runs in four days for Shohei Ohtani 💪 pic.twitter.com/04DM7cSK7p

— MLB (@MLB) April 7, 2026

---

Justin Wrobleski’s first turn this season in the rotation hit a speed bump in a two-walk, two-single first inning that brought home run and needed 29 pitches to complete. But after that, the left-hander settled down and was much more efficient.

Wrobleski needed only 49 pitches to get through the next four frames, during which he allowed only two walks and no more hits. On the night he allowed only four hard-hit balls, two of which came in the first inning.

Notes

• Four straight game scoring at least eight runs is one shy of the Dodgers franchise record. The team has had seven five-game streaks, the last coming from September 15-19, 2024. The last game of that last streak was quite memorable in Miami.
• Dodgers have scored in 22 of 36 innings on this road trip, including multiple runs in 12 different innings.
• Max Scherzer left after only two innings and 36 pitches with forearm tendinitis, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. Toronto’s rotation was already literally hurting, with starters Trey Yesavage, Shane Bieber, José Berrios, and Cody Ponce all on the injured list.

Monday particulars

Home runs: Teoscar Hernández (2), Freddie Freeman (3), Shohei Ohtani (3), Dalton Rushing 2 (3)

WP — Justin Wrobleski (1-0): 5 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 4 walks, 2 strikeouts

LP — Max Scherzer (1-1): 2 IP, 2 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

Up next

Yoshinobu Yamamoto has won all three of his career games at Rogers Centre, and will go for a fourth win in Toronto on Tuesday night (4:07 p.m.; SportsNet LA, TBS), in a fantastic pitching matchup against Kevin Gausman for the Blue Jays.

SAN FRANCISCO — Nobody on the National League’s worst team has had a worse week than Matt Chapman. To his credit, the veteran third baseman and leader in the Giants clubhouse stood at his locker and answered every question in a lengthy session Monday afternoon.

The latest incident in a stretch to forget came in the ninth inning of Sunday’s 5-2 loss to the Mets, when the typically savvy base runner made an inexcusable mistake and ran into the first out.

Chapman took responsibility with reporters and in a private conversation with manager Tony Vitello. There was no missed or misinterpreted sign. No stat-padding or situational ignorance.

He just made a bad read.

“If I could do it over again, I would not elect to steal that base,” Chapman said. “I was paying attention. I just kind of made a bad decision there. If he was long to the plate and I steal second base, then maybe we’re not talking about it, but I did and I got thrown out and it looks really ugly, on top of how things went yesterday and kind of transpired toward the end of the game.”

Trailing 5-2 against Mets closer Devin Williams, Chapman represented a meaningless run but could have been the start of a rally. Instead, it was snuffed out as quickly as it began.

After reaching first to lead off the ninth, Chapman saw Williams was taking his time getting the ball to the plate. The Giants had already grounded into one double play, and Chapman saw an opportunity to potentially avoid another. Only it turned into another kind of rally killer.

“I just picked a really bad time to do it,” Chapman said. “Because he was really slow to the plate, and then when I stole, he sped up a bit and that looks really bad when you get thrown out making an out at second base, killing our rally. … I know that’s completely my fault.”

The display of personal accountability was especially important for Chapman, given his finger-pointing back-and-forth with Casey Schmitt that was captured on camera in San Diego.

Even if only in terms of optics, it was a tad awkward that, in the aftermath of chiding his teammate for not catching a throw, the Gold Glove third baseman has made an uncharacteristic three errors in the five games since. Add on top his base running mistake, and it was hardly a banner week for one of the most respected players in the clubhouse.

“Yeah, it doesn’t look great when things like that happen and things get sloppy,” Chapman said. “But it’s not something that this team is thinking about or I’m thinking about. It’s just something that happened and we’ve moved on.”

It’s been a frustrating start to the season for just about all involved.

According to Vitello, Chapman’s frustrations boiling over on the mound in San Diego was only one of three similar incidents that have taken place.

The other two occurred behind closed doors and were only revealed by the manager, who put a positive spin on it, confirming that each happened before their three wins.

“I think our best games have come when our guys have let loose a little bit – and coaches too – said what they think, do what they think is the right thing in the moment and go out there and just play,” he said. “As opposed to being a little too careful. I’d rather those moments come up than not.”

Vitello didn’t divulge too many other details besides describing the interactions as “minor” compared to the one between Chapman and Schmitt and that “cuss words (were) involved.” He confirmed that different team members spoke up each time.

“Our guys did a good job of turning it into a real positive in a couple different ways,” Vitello said. “The three times that I can remember that that’s occurred, it’s kind of brought our team closer together or it’s gotten our team to play more free.”

San Francisco’s 3-7 start has been the worst in the NL, and worse yet, has included a 1-6 record in front of its home fans — outscored 24-5 over their final three losses to the Mets.

Chapman is responsible for three of the Giants’ eight errors, tied for the fifth-most in the majors. They’ve been held to three or fewer runs in eight of their 10 games, averaging a league-worst 2.6 per game. And his gaffe on the bases even drew the ire of Mets broadcaster Gary Cohen, who said the play “cap[ped] off a horrible, no good, awful week for Matt Chapman.”

“It just hasn’t clicked yet,” Chapman said. “It sucks when it looks like it’s sloppy baseball and we’re making some sloppy mistakes that kind of shot us in the foot a little bit last year and was one of the reasons why we weren’t able to finish as strong.

“But I don’t think it’s going to be something that’s the story of our season, by any means.”

Sheesh, that was a game. The Sox stormed out to a 3-0 lead: one run in the second two in the third, all manufactured. Then Brayan Bello’s wildness caught up with him, and he exited with a bases-loaded situation and the Sox up 3-1. Danny Coloumbe came on and then it was 4-3, Brewers. In the bottom of the fourth the Sox struck back, making it 5-4. The Brewers summarily tied it. At some point there was a pointed argument on the field. Most importantly, the Brewers took a 7-5 lead in the eighth inning against new dad Garrett Whitlock, and that was that. The only way to go is up, right?

Three Studs

Roman Anthony

Started the game with a double, followed it up with another hit, ho hum. He’s easily their best hitter.

Willson Contreras

No Jarren Duran means some lineup shuffling, and Big Willie managed two hits while being plunked by Brandon Woodruff for the sixth time in his career owing likely to some vestigial NL Central beef. Then he hit a ninth-inning solo shot. Fun!

Jovani Morán

Went three innings in relief, allowing one run and striking out four. That’ll doo.

Three Duds

Brayan Bello

He managed to avoid disaster in the first three innings but it was illusory. The Sox were down 4-3 in the inning he left, which was the fourth — notably not the, like, seventh. Not great.

Garrett Whitlock

Literally buying a sandwich is difficult on new dad sleep, so I don’t really blame him, but oof.

The bottom of the lineup that isn’t Caleb Durbin

Hitless! Is that good?

Play of the Game

Garrett Mitchell’s two-run single in the eighth, some Garrett on Garrett violence:

Boo. Except that in the great COVID baseball card craze, I got a delicious Garrett Mitchell First Bowman Sparkle Refractor:

So who’s to say what’s good or bad? I mean maybe this builds character for us and equity for me. A guy can dream, even if the Sox stink!

BOX

Bryce Harper ‘loves' Oracle Park, fuels Phillies' rally past Giants originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

SAN FRANCISCO — The Phillies needed somebody to come through Monday night.

With the boos pouring down on him, Bryce Harper delivered. All night long.

For much of the offseason and through the first week of the season, Harper had taken his share of criticism — for a still-solid 2025 campaign, for his slump in the World Baseball Classic and for a slow start through his first two dozen at-bats.

The message from Harper and his teammates stayed the same: the hits would come. He homered in consecutive games to close the homestand and open the road trip. Then, in the Phillies’ opener of a three-game series against the Giants, Harper carried them to a 6-4 win at Oracle Park.

The Phillies’ first baseman, who entered the night hitting .139, delivered a three-hit, three-RBI performance. It was exactly what Philadelphia needed.

For much of the game, it felt like another night when the offense might go quiet. The Phillies were scoreless through the first four innings.

Their rookie, Andrew Painter, dazzled in his Major League debut. His second outing was not nearly as forgiving.

The 6-foot-7 right-hander allowed four runs over four innings and did not provide the length Rob Thomson would have preferred in the middle of a demanding six-game west coast stay. Still, it ended up being enough.

Painter’s outing, plus strong work from the bullpen, kept the Phillies close. And even Painter knew it. He said after the game that the offense and the relievers bailed him out after he failed to consistently work from ahead in counts.

“I’m super happy that they broke through and picked me up,” Painter said.

In the top of the fifth, down four, J.T. Realmuto and Justin Crawford lined a pair of hits. Both finished with two on the night. That turned the lineup over. Trea Turner drove in the Phillies’ first run on a groundout and brought Harper to the plate.

On the first pitch he saw, Harper scorched a low-and-in slider off the brick wall in right field to bring home another run. The ball, which nearly left the yard, slammed off the Levi’s Landing sign at 112.5 mph, his hardest-hit ball of the year.

For Harper, it was the environment that made him aggressive early in counts.

“When it’s windy and cold, right, it’s a little tough to play,” he said. “Throughout the whole night, it felt really good [swinging the bat].”

The Phillies and Harper kept pushing with the deficit in half.

In the seventh, they built a nearly identical rally. This time, Crawford and Turner opened the inning with singles. Harper took his slow walk to the box and, as his name was announced, was met by a fresh wave of boos from the San Francisco crowd.

Ryan Borucki tried to move him off the plate with a 95.1 mph sinker in on the hands. Then he went back inside.

This time, Harper got the barrel there. He ripped the ball through the right side of the infield, and two runs came around to score, tying the game. Harper pumped his fist, turned toward the dugout and roared.

At that point, the Giants no longer had control of the night. The momentum belonged to the Phillies.

Alec Bohm, who came into the game hitting just .176, followed Harper by shooting a base hit down the first-base line to put the Phillies ahead. It was the kind of inside-out swing that shows why Bohm can still work in the cleanup spot when the hitters in front of him are getting on base.

That’s his game. Put the ball in play. Use the whole field. It ended up being the game-winning knock.

Harper later scored on a sacrifice fly, capping an electric four-run seventh that ultimately changed the game.

The Phillies needed another offensive night where they could string hits together, the way they did in Friday’s 10-1 win in Colorado. Just as importantly, they needed to pick up Painter after he battled through four uneven innings.

Thomson believed the matchup at the top of the order gave them a real chance to do that, even when the Giants went to their best left-on-left option in Borucki.

“Typically those guys hit left-handed pitching,” Thomson said of Schwarber and Harper. “That’s why we sort of stacked those guys together. If they want to take their best shot and do it right there, then that’s okay.”

Harper and the Phillies have long had issues at Oracle Park. Harper came into the night a .215 hitter there, including postseason play. And the club has not won a series in San Francisco since 2013.

That history was part of the backdrop Monday, but Harper made it sound like one he was never particularly bothered by.

“I love playing here,” he said. “It’s one of my favorite parks to play in.”

“I just feel good [here], man,” Harper continued. “My body feels good. My mind feels good. Every time I get in the batter’s box, too. I always have good mornings here too, like going to eat, dinner places. It’s just a good city to come visit.”

The boos, of course, are part of the deal on the road.

“That’s everywhere I go,” Harper said. “I’m used to it.”

Andre Pallante started the game wild, but was able to bring the game under control giving the St. Louis Cardinals a chance to win. It looked like they would win with clutch home runs from Ramón Urías and Jordan Walker, but the Cardinals bullpen blew it in the late innings as the Nationals came from behind for a 9-6 victory.

The Washington Nationals took advantage of a wild start from Andre Pallante banking 2 runs in the bottom of the first inning as Wood scored on a Lile groundout and Garcia Jr. scored on a single by Nuñez. However, Pallante was able to work his way out of the inning and didn’t allow another run through the remainder of his 5 innings.

One of the best plays in the game came in the top of the 4th inning when Nolan Gorman hammered a pitch to deep right, but the ball was pulled back into the park thanks to an amazing catch by James Wood.

The Cardinals would get on the board in the 5th inning after Thomas Saggese doubled and later scored on a fielder’s choice groundout by Alec Burleson. But, it was in the top of the 6th inning when the Cardinals would take a temporary lead on a two-run center field blast from Ramón Urías.

The Cardinals bullpen could not hold the lead as Justin Bruihl came into the game relieving Pallante in the bottom of the 6th. He’d get the first two outs, but then walked two leading to a double by Young which tied the score. JoJo Romero was brought in to put out the fire. He promptly walked Wood, but was able to get Mead to flyout to right to Walker.

The Cardinals went down quietly 1-2-3 in the top of the 7th, but JoJo Romero got into trouble in the bottom of the 7th giving up a leadoff double to House. He advanced to 3rd on a single by Lile. Abrams hit a fly ball to left field that looked like it would be a sacrifice fly, but Lile was thrown out by Thomas Saggese at home which was confirmed after review.

Jordan Walker continued his much improved start to the 2026 season with an opposite field home run traveling 366 feet to lead off the 8th inning giving the Cardinals a 4-3 lead.

After a Masyn Winn walk, Ramón Urías struck again. The Cardinals got aggressive again with a hit-and-run which put another run on the board when Winn was able to score from first base on a double by Urías.

Ramón advanced to third on an infield hit beat out by Saggese. He would then score on a sacrifice bunt by Victor Scott II. giving the Cardinals a “comfortable” 6-3 lead that turned out to not be comfortable at all. Stanek was brought into the game to get the last out in the bottom of the 7th. He gave up 2 hits in the bottom of the 8th inning which brought up Wood who tied the game with a laser shot over the 402 mark in center field tying the game 6-6. Matt Svanson was brought in to relieve Stanek and immediately gave up a double to Mead and then a 2-run bomb to Brady House giving Washington an 8-6 lead. Abrams followed that with his own line drive home run over the right field wall putting the Nationals up 9-6.

Jordan Walker would continue his hot hitting with an opposite field single to start the 9th, but the Cardinals were unable to rally resulting in the final score of 9-6.

Monday’s loss brings the Cardinals back to the .500 mark with a 5-5 record. They’ll try to get back to their winning ways Tuesday night as Matthew Liberatore will make his 3rd start of the season against Cade Cavalli who’s scheduled to start for the Nationals.

Tom Nieto, a World Series champion with the Twins and a former coach for the Yankees and Mets, died of a heart attack at the age of 65. 

Nieto died on March 27 while at his home in Florida, his sister wrote in a post on Facebook on Sunday and the Twins later confirmed the news in a social media announcement on Monday.

“On Friday, March 27th, my brother Tom passed on after a heart attack, leaving cherished memories in Florida with his family; his strength and resilience will continue to inspire us all,”

Nieto played seven years in Major League Baseball as a catcher, first being drafted by the Cardinals organization in the third round of the 1981 amateur draft and made his debut in 1984. 

He played the 1984 and 1985 season in St. Louis before joining for the Expos in 1986 followed by two seasons with the Twins. He finished his playing career with two seasons in Philadelphia. 

Nieto reached the World Series twice in his career, first in 1985 with the Cardinals, where they lost to the Royals in seven games, and then was part of the 1987 World Series-winning Twins. 

“The Twins organization mourns the loss of 1987 World Series champion, Tom Nieto. Our thoughts are with the Nieto family in their time of grieving,” the ballclub wrote on X. 

After his playing career came to an end, Nieto coached in the Twins, Yankees and Cardinals systems.

From 1995-2002, he coached in the Yankees organization, which included serving as the their major league catching coach from 2000-2001. 

He spent three years with the Mets beginning in 2005 after Willie Randolph was hired as Mets manager. 

Nieto served as the Mets’ catching instructor before being moved to first base coach. 

Nieto was let go along with Willie Randolph during the 2008 season.

In a video posted by MojoSportsLLC a few days ago, Luis Gonzalez talks about a very subtle easter egg planted in the background of one of his baseball cards. While holding his 1994 Donruss Studio card, Gonzo points out that he hung a rubber rat in his locker that can be seen just above his shoulder.

As one of many Diamondbacks fans that name the left field legend as their favorite player in franchise history, I especially love Gonzo for a few reasons. Like I mentioned in my last article, I always sat in left field so I was always sitting closest to Luis. I am left-handed and played left field, and I loved mimicking his batting stance. We even share the same birthday in September. I thought I knew the kind of personality Gonzo had – at least, as much as a normal fan could interpret from interviews and commercials. But this baseball card told a whole different story. I did a little research to see how much of a prankster our World Series hero was.

Gonzalez explains in the video that the rat was a go-to prank method in the clubhouse. He would hide the rubber rats in laundry bins and equipment boxes to terrify clubhouse attendants.

Mustaaaaaaaard!

During his time with the Florida Marlins, Gonzalez put a little mustard on his pranks. He once took a jelly-filled donut, and injected it with bright yellow mustard. He placed the sabotaged pastry back into a fresh box and waited for any sorry sucker that would take the bait. One of the clubhouse staff ended up being the fish at the end of this line.

The victim was so shocked by the taste they called the donut shop to complain about the atrocity.

Par for the Course

One of the more calculated pranks mentioned in an interview involved the visiting clubhouse at San Francisco. There was a rumor that the San Francisco Giants’ away clubhouse attendant, Harvey Hodgerney, wasn’t changing the chili every day and was instead recycling the same pot of chili for the visiting teams throughout a series.

Gonzo decided to see if this was really true. He took a golf ball from the team shop and dropped it into the bottom of the chili pot on the first day of the series. Things didn’t really go to plan when an infuriated Randy Johnson discovered a Titleist in the ladle and chewed out the clubbie for it. Gonzo begged everyone else who knew about it to not tell Randy it was him that did that.

However, that hiccup did not stop him. He tried it again the next day; lo and behold, 24 hours later and the golf ball was still at the bottom of the chili. Hodgerney called Gonzo into his office “like a principal” to tell him he couldn’t believe he did that.

Clowning Around with Bob Melvin

Now this last prank, I haven’t been able to confirm anywhere of it being the brainchild of Gonzalez, but it happened on March 10, 2003. So with the prankster we know him to be now, I’m sure we can find it most likely that he was part of this little welcome party. Bob Melvin just left Arizona to become the manager of the Seattle Mariners, and this day was his first encounter with the Diamondbacks during Spring Training.

Down in Tucson, “Bo-Mel” went to say hi to his former team in their locker room, and that’s when the operation began.

Melvin returned to find his duffel bag in a different state than he left it. His uniform was tied in knots, shoelaces removed, and a lovely picture of Tony Dello, the Diamondbacks’ batting practice pitcher, placed lovingly in the bag.

That was just the beginning.

They did make sure to return some of his old stuff to him, like his trusty fungo bat, dubbed “Wonder Bat.” Although, there was a suspiciously large drilled hole right into the sweet spot. Earlier that morning, someone had told the Diamondbacks about a big secret that Melvin had been able to keep hidden for two years.

Bob Melvin is terrified of clowns.

So we would only find it logical that two fully outfitted clowns, “Bob” and “Melvin,” showed up during the third inning at Tucson Electric Park to throw t-shirts into the stands. I’m sure you can guess where they were standing.

They came out a few more times to stand on the Mariners’ dugout, where Bob Melvin would retreat back into like an underground bunker.

Gonzo just happened to get beaned by Jeff Nelson in the bottom of the sixth; he promptly walked towards the mound screaming who knows what at him and caused the benches to clear.

Bob Brenly later said, “I noticed the clowns. I had nothing to do with it. Other than that, I have no comment.”

The Guardians lost to the Royals in the series opener tonight 4-2. They also lost Gabriel Arias to hamstring tightness – we will see for how long.

The Guardians continued to get good starting pitching, this time for 4 and 2/3rds from Tanner Bibee who gave up 1 run on 5 hits and 1 walk, striking out 3. Tim Herrin finished out the fifth and Peyton Pallette pitched two innings, giving up a homer to Carter Jensen. Kolby Allard finished off the game and gave up a two-run homer to Johnathan India.

The Guardians had one of those “hit the ball hard and got nothing to show for it” games, and were generally stymied by Michael Wacha. But, there were some positive signs – Steven Kwan and Brayan Rocchio hit their first homers of the season, and Jose took two walks.

Steven Kwan gets us on the board first with his first homer of the season!#GuardsBallpic.twitter.com/1KFcsnh9No

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) April 6, 2026

Brayan Rocchio gets us closer with his first homer of the season!#GuardsBallpic.twitter.com/jLONogMWc3

— GuardsTV (@GuardsTV) April 7, 2026

Jose Ramirez is now the franchise leader in games played in a Cleveland uniform. Amazing.

Arias appeared to tweak his hamstring after hitting a double and was removed from the game. I suspect this means an IL stint for Arias which is a real shame because he had been playing well over the last couple games. I wonder if Juan Brito will get a shot at second base with Brayan Rocchio moved to short (where Rocchio made an excellent play late in the game).

No time to feel bad about this one as the Guardians will return to action tomorrow at 1:10PM to accommodate a return to winter temps forecasted for our area. Let’s hope to see our lefty masher lineup come out in full force. Brito generally hits lefties well, so hopefully it will be a good debut if he is called up.

The San Francisco Giants welcome the Philadelphia Phillies to Oracle Park tonight to begin a three-game series.

Taking the mound for the Giants is righty Adrian Houser, who makes his second start with the organization. His first start was solid, as he gave up three runs to the San Diego Padres in 5.1 innings, but just one of the runs was earned.

Houser will face off against Phillies right-handed rookie Andrew Painter, making his second big league start. His first was in the Phillies’ 3-2 win over the Washington Nationals on March 31st, in which he allowed one run on four hits with eight strikeouts and a walk in five and a third innings.

Lineups

Giants

1. Willy Adames — SS
2. Luis Arráez — 2B
3. Matt Chapman — 3B
4. Rafael Devers — 1B
5. Heliot Ramos — LF
6. Jung Hoo Lee — RF
7. Jerar Encarnación — DH
8. Harrison Bader — CF
9. Patrick Bailey — C

RHP. Adrian Houser

Phillies

1. Trea Turner — SS
2. Kyle Schwarber — DH
3. Bryce Harper — 1B
4. Alec Bohm — 3B
5. Bryson Stott — 2B
6. Adolis García — RF
7. Brandon Marsh — LF
8. J.T. Realmuto — C
9. Justin Crawford — CF

RHP. Andrew Painter

Game #11

Who: San Francisco Giants (3-7) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (5-4)

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California

When: 6:45 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

The Atlanta Braves face off against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in what looks to be a pitchers duel between the two staff aces. Chris Sale has only given up one run in his two starts, and José Soriano has yet to surrender an earned run this season in twelve innings.

The Braves’ offense has been up and down to put it lightly. The underlying metrics show that they should see some positive regression to the mean, so tonight may be that time. Michael Harris is primed for a good game with an xwOBA of .395 which is top 16.0 percent of MLB, when his wOBA is only .255. His expected slugging is in the top 4.0 percent of all MLB hitters.

The metrics are there for the Braves’ offense to take off. Hopefully that will happen tonight. Follow along in the comments.

First pitch is at 9:38 PM EDT

Lineup

Preview

Max Scherzer was pulled after two innings of his start against the Los Angeles Dodgers Monday, April 6, a development the injury-ravaged Toronto Blue Jays pitching staff cannot afford.

Scherzer, the 41-year-old future Hall of Famer, was facing the Dodgers in a rematch of his Game 7 World Series start in November, and gave up a two-run homer to Teoscar Hernández in the top of the first inning.

Something seemed to bother him in both innings, as cameras caught him telling the Blue Jays dugout, "I'm OK" on multiple occasions. Yet he seemed to expend a lot facing his last batter, Andy Pages, who worked him for 10 pitches before popping out to second.

Scherzer threw 36 pitches before getting replaced by lefty Josh Fleming in the top of the third. He re-signed on a one-year, $3 million deal to add depth to a rotation that faced question marks.

Just two weeks into the season, Jose BerrÍos, Trey Yesavage, Shane Bieber, Cody Ponce and Bowden Francis are all on the injured list, most of them coming back from off-season maladies or out for extended periods. Now, they must dig out from a short Scherzer start.

The biggest stories, every morning. Stay up-to-date on all the key sports developments by subscribing to USA TODAY Sports' newsletter.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Max Scherzer leaves Blue Jays games vs Dodgers after 2 innings

The Phils open up a three-game series in San Francisco with Andrew Painter on the mound for his second career start. Here are the lineups, let’s discuss.

For the Phillies:

The road trip continues in San Francisco#RingTheBellpic.twitter.com/3cNc1hfAtG

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 6, 2026

For the Giants:

Brand new week ahead!

⌚️: 6:45 p.m. PT
📍: @OracleParkSF
📺: @NBCSGiants
📻: @KNBR | KSFN #SFGiants | @CocaColapic.twitter.com/uRUHzuhpYe

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) April 6, 2026

1987 World Series champion Tom Nieto passed away March 27 after suffering a heart attack, per Nieto's sister. He was 65 years old.

Nieto, a former catcher with the St. Louis Cardinals, Montreal Expos, Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies, played on teams that reached the World Series twice (1985, 1987) in his seven-year career.

Nieto's MLB career

Nieto was a highly touted prospect before his MLB career; he was drafted in the third round of the 1981 draft. He endured a solid career in the minors, ranking high in the Cardinals' system before finally joining the club in 1984.

Nieto helped the Cardinals reach the 1985 World Series, though the team ultimately lost to the Kansas City Royals in seven games. Nieto would return to the Fall Classic in 1987 though as a member of the Twins. This time, Nieto's team would emerge victorious, taking down Nieto's former team, the Cardinals, in six games.

Nieto's final regular season came in 1990 as a member of the Phillies. While he did sign a minor league contract with the Cardinals for 1991, Nieto would spend most of the decade as a coach.

He began his coaching career with the Chattanooga Lookouts, a Cincinnati Reds affiliate, in 1992. He continued managing various teams including the Charleston Wheelers, Greensboro Bats, Tampa Yankees, and Palm Beach Cardinals through 2004.

Nieto returned to the big leagues in 2005, this time as the New York Mets' first base coach and catchers instructor. He stayed at that position until 2008. Afterwards, he would return to managing, becoming the manager of the the Twins' Double-A affiliate New Britain Rock Cats in 2009 and their Triple-A affiliate Rochester Red Wings in both 2010 and 2011. His professional MLB career ended in 2013 after managing the New York Yankees' rookie-level affiliate GCL Yankees for two seasons.

Minnesota Twins react to Nieto's death

The Twins organization mourns the loss of 1987 World Series champion, Tom Nieto.

Our thoughts are with the Nieto family in their time of grieving. pic.twitter.com/Cuvb17pISh

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 6, 2026

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: World Series champion Tom Nieto suddenly dead at 65