Category: Sports News

Monday night’s game at Busch Stadium had its good points, but the end result was a somewhat sloppy night for the St. Louis Cardinals as the Cleveland Guardians ended their 5-game losing streak in the head-to-head against St. Louis by winning 9-3.

Cleveland got on the scoreboard quickly thanks to a 1st inning Angel Martinez home run in the 1st inning off of Matthew Liberatore making it 1-0 Guardians. St. Louis answered quickly with some nice small ball in the bottom of the first after JJ Wetherholt smoked a single into right field then advanced to third base on a nice hit-and-run single by Ivan Herrera and then scored on a golf stroke single by Alec Burleson tying the game 1-1.

The top of the 4th inning was a sloppy one for St. Louis. Ramirez walked and then stole second followed by a walk by Hoskins. Fry singled to left advancing Ramirez to third base and Fry to second. Schneemann singled to right field off of JJ Wetherholt’s glove in what could have been scored an error scoring Hoskins and Ramirez making it 3-1 Guardians. Hedges would then lift a sacrifice fly to left giving the Guardians a 4-1 lead. Matthew Liberatore would be lifted after 5 innings as he gave up 6 hits and 4 earned runs with 3 walks and just 2 strikeouts.

Cleveland would add 2 more runs to their lead in the top of the 6th inning on a 2-run shot by Brayan Rocchio. In the bottom of the 6th inning, Jordan Walker would provide one of the few bright spots as he slammed a laser shot over the left field wall. Yes, that’s 6 home runs in just 7 games for Walker. He is on fire. Jordan also now possesses a 9-game hitting streak.

Sloppiness would rear its ugly head again in the top of the 8th inning when Ryan Fernandez came in to relieve Gordon Graceffo after being recalled from Memphis today. After Fry had walked and Britto singled to center, Fernandez grabbed a dribbler infield single from Rocchio, but then overthrew third base when Fry overran the bag that allowed him to score and make it 7-2 Guardians. Kwan would follow that with another single giving the Guardians a 9-2 lead.

Since bright spots are hard to find in stretches like the Cardinals are currently in, Jordan Walker also legged out a hustle infield single in the bottom of the 8th inning. Nolan Gorman also muscled a single into right field from a ball in on his hands after Walker reached, too. Walker would eventually score on a sacrifice fly from Pedro Pagés to make it 9-3 Guardians which would be the final score despite a small Cardinals attempt at a rally in the bottom of the 9th inning.

The Cardinals will try again Tuesday night against the Guardians as Michael McGreevy will take his 1-1 record to the mound for a scheduled 6:45pm start time at Busch Stadium.

Garrett Crochet had a historic meltdown on Monday night against the Twins, with the Red Sox starter allowing 11 runs before he even pitched two full innings. 

He finished pitching a mere 1 ⅔ innings, giving up nine hits for 11 runs (10 of which were earned), three walks, one hit batter and without recording a single strikeout. 

The left-hander was pulled after throwing 55 pitches and was replaced by Jovani Moran, but the change didn’t do much to help the Red Sox, who ended up giving up two more runs in the fifth inning to put them down 13-0. 

Boston finally scored their first run of the night in the top of the sixth inning.

The outing has raised some concern, considering that the velocity on his four-seam fastball was averaging 94.9 mph on Monday, compared to the 96.1 mph it’s usually at.

He is the first Red Sox pitcher to ever allow 10 or more earned runs in less than two innings, according to the Associated Press’ Josh Dubow. 

Baseball Reference shows that there have only been 10 games in MLB history in which a starting pitcher has given up 11 or more runs without finishing the second inning, and that the last time it occurred was on May 7, 2024, the Boston Herald reported. 

On that occasion, Athletics starter Ross Stripling gave up 11 runs in 1 ⅔ innings of work against the Rangers. 

Ryan Kreidler smashes a 438-foot home run now

The @Twins can't stop scoring! pic.twitter.com/szi3xj7hq2

— MLB (@MLB) April 14, 2026

Crochet allowed back-to-back doubles in the first inning and a single to allow two runs to score. 

With the bases loaded, Brooks Lee was able to drive in some runs when Trevor Story was able to field a grounder, but ended up throwing it away in an attempt to start a double play. 

Things went from bad in the first to worse in the second inning when Crochet loaded the bases without recording an out and Ryan Jeffers hit an RBI single. 

Josh Bell hit a two-run double and Victor Caratini connected a three-run home run to give the Twins a 10-0 lead. 

Ryan Kreidler hit a solo home run before Red Sox skipper Alex Cora made the move to yank him from the game.

The Atlanta Braves took on the Miami Marlins in at Truist Park in a game that looked to be in the home team’s favor. Grant Holmes and his sterling ERA backed by an offense that leads the NL East in run differential by a large margin. The Marlins starter, Eury Pérez, has a career ERA of 12.19 against the Braves in his three starts against them.

The Braves went 5-2 against the Marlins last season at home. The Braves currently have an all-time record of 325-217 against the Fish since the franchise started in 1993.

Matt Olson made some history tonight playing in his 799th consecutive game, which places him in sole position of eleventh longest streak of consecutive games played in MLB history. It would have been nice to celebrate this milestone with a win,

Grant Holmes started the first inning well like he has been doing the past few years. He was able to retire the side on only ten pitches to include a strikeout. The second inning was almost as sharp. He was able to retire the side on twelve pitches while picking up his second strikeout of the night.

Holmes looked to just be getting started as he retired the side yet again in the third, and this time it was three ground outs that only took seven pitches. Things fell apart in the fourth inning for him though. Rising star Jakob Marsee led the inning with a single and Holmes control disappeared and he walked the next two hitter to load the bases. After a sac fly, Otto Lopez singled to make the score 0-2 with one out. Holmes got a fly out, but then Norby hit a single to make the score 0-3 before the top of the inning was over. Holmes was then taken out of the game. Holmes ended his worst outing of the year with three ER, two walks, three hits, and three strikeouts in 4.0 innings pitched.

The Braves had a slow start offensively, but were able to respond to the three runs the Marlins put up, but not before some wasted base runners. In the third inning Dom Smith got things going with a double and then Michael Harris walked. That is not a typo, new dad Michael Harris walked. After a pop up, Ronald Acuña hit a long fly ball to left center that was caught close to the warning track. Smith tried to advance but was thrown out at third for the inning ending double play.

The fourth inning for the Braves looked a lot like the Marlins. Baldwin singled on a 109.1 MPH screamer that went almost three hundred feet, followed by Matt Olson also hitting a single. Austin Riley got in on the fun and singled, scoring Baldwin and moving Olson to third. Riley then stole second base.

This might have been exactly what Riley needed. Turned on a 98.5 inside fastball. He then swiped second and is now just 13 away from 15. If you remember Harris is the one who predicted 20. pic.twitter.com/aEXXNex9DU

— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) April 14, 2026

The Braves were not done with singles. Yastrzemski hit the fourth single in a row in this inning, scoring Olson and then he also stole second after an Albies pop up. Smith hit a sac fly to tie the game 3-3 and then Harris reached on a single that deflected off the pitcher. Unfortunately, no more runs were scored that inning.

All tied up!#BravesCountrypic.twitter.com/EpbxK867LT

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 14, 2026

It did not take long for the Marlins to respond. Aaron Bummer came in to pitch the fifth and it is clear he is on his last leg with the Braves. He gave up two singles and then a three-run HR to Agustín Ramírez to make the score 3-6. He did eventually get out of the inning picking up two strikeouts along the way, but the damage was done.

It looked like the Braves may respond in their half of the fifth when Ronald Acuña singled, followed by a Baldwin walk, but they only mustered one run in the inning thanks to a passed ball that moved the runners and Riley having an RBI groundout. The score was manageable at 4-6, but that did not last long.

Newly recalled Rolddy Muñoz came in to pitch and the very first hitter he faced, Connor Norby, on the first pitch he saw. It was a 93.9 MPH sinker right down the middle. The runs did not stop there. Muñoz gave up three more singles and a walk this inning. Add in two steals and that is a recipe for the Marlins to go up 4-9. Rolddy Muñoz ended his 2026 debut with 2.0 innings with five hits, three ER, one walk, and three strikeouts.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Marlins practically begged the Braves to come back. Calvin Faucher walked three hitters to load the bases with two outs, but once John King came in to replace him, he was able to get Baldwin to groundout and no runs were scored. The Braves offense was silent in the seventh, but the Marlins were not in the top of the eighth.

The hits kept on coming for the Marlins as they picked up three more singles in the eighth scoring a run to make the score 4-10. The Braves did some work to try and stay alive in their half of the eighth inning. Harris singled with two outs, followed by a walk from Mauricio Dubón. Acuña worked a full count, but ended up striking out swinging to end the eighth.

In the bottom of the ninth, Olson mustered a single after a Baldwin strikeout, but like a perfect bookend to a terrible outcome of a game, Austin Riley hit into a double play to end the game with the Braves losing by six runs.

The story of the night is that the Braves’ pitching failed them the worst they have all season. For the most part, the Braves’ pitching has been some of the best in MLB. Not tonight. Holmes showed real signs of fatigue, and the lower echelon of the bullpen performed like non-high leverage relievers might. The bad news is that José Suarez came in to pitch and struggled. He gave up four hits and an earned run, raising his ERA to 8.64. The Braves gave up a ton of singles. The Marlins had sixteen hits, and fifteen of them were singles.

Another key to the game is that the Braves failed to get things done with RISP. They were 3-12 when the Marlins capitalized more going 6-14. The Braves left nine runners on base to the Marlins’ eight.

One positive is that Michael Harris came back refreshed. He had two hits and a walk, boosting his OPS to .687 on the year. The Braves’ offense was also patient, drawing six walks.

It was going to be hard for the Braves’ offense to bail out the pitching tonight, and it just did not happen. The Braves dropped the series opener, but will have a chance at redemption when Reynaldo López takes the mound tomorrow at the same time and same place.

OK, folks. That was fun.

The Orioles pulled off their most incredible victory of the young season, rallying back from a six-run deficit in the sixth to score eight unanswered runs and shock the Diamondbacks, 9-7. Jeremiah Jackson’s grand slam — the first of his two homers — whittled away the deficit in the sixth before Pete Alonso delivered his most momentous hit as an Oriole, a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh that sent Camden Yards into hysterics. It was the Orioles’ sixth win in their last seven games, and the kind of exhilarating, improbable victory that makes you think that — just maybe — this 2026 Orioles team might turn out to be a lot of fun.

The emotional whirlwind of tonight’s game was truly wild. I cannot stress enough how frustrating and lackluster the first 5.5 innings of this game were, before it brilliantly transformed into one of the most awesome O’s comebacks in recent memory.

People, this game was over in the sixth inning. Finished. Done. Finito. The Orioles were dead and buried. They were down by six runs, 7-1, and essentially doomed to a forgettable, uncompetitive defeat. It was all over but the shouting. And then, delightfully, it wasn’t.

We’ll start with the bottom of the sixth, where the game turned on its head. After five innings of getting dominated by Diamondbacks starter Ryne Nelson, the O’s offense roared to life. Pete Alonso led off the frame with a double, and Nelson was pulled after 5.1 strong innings. Had Arizona manager Torey Lovullo known what was about to happen to his bullpen, he might’ve stuck with his starter a bit longer.

The Orioles jumped all over reliever Taylor Rashi. Dylan Beavers and Leody Taveras both singled, plating Alonso, and Colton Cowser walked to load the bases. Rashi tried to fool Jeremiah Jackson with a slider, only to leave it flat in the middle of the zone, and Jackson didn’t miss. One mighty swing later, he’d deposited a momentum-shifting grand slam into the left-field seats, the first salami of his career.

Just like that, the Orioles’ deficit was whittled to just one run, 7-6. Five innings of offensive frustration were cast aside, and the Birds could suddenly sense that the game was there for the taking. And so the next inning, they took it.

Former Yankee Jonathan Loaisiga began the seventh by plunking Taylor Ward on a 2-2 pitch, bringing up Alonso. Now, it’s no secret that the Polar Bear hasn’t gotten off to the kind of start with the Orioles that he’d hoped. But that doesn’t matter now because HE CRUSHED A TWO-RUN HOMER TO LEFT FIELD AND GAVE THE ORIOLES THE LEAD. He even directed it straight at Mr. Splash, who was wearing a polar bear head. That happened!

It was bedlam at Camden Yards as the small but vociferous crowd celebrated the biggest hit in the early Orioles career of the Birds’ prize free agent slugger. Alonso pumped his fist and practically danced around the bases as his teammates went crazy in the dugout. What a scene. The Orioles, two innings after trailing 7-1, had taken an 8-7 lead. Remarkable.

For good measure, Jackson added an insurance run in the eighth with his second dinger of the game, a solo shot off Andrew Hoffmann. I should mention that Jeremiah, earlier in the game, had smoked a foul ball into the dugout that hit Craig Albernaz in the face, leaving a rather rough-looking bruise on the manager’s right cheek. I’d imagine Alby can find it in his heart to forgive the guy who drove in five runs tonight.

The Orioles’ late-inning relievers took it from there. Rico Garcia continued his dominant start to the season, working a perfect eighth, and has now pitched eight games this season without allowing a hit. He’s one shy of Yennier Cano’s record of nine hitless appearances to start a season, set in 2023. And closer Ryan Helsley didn’t mess around in the ninth, mowing down the D’Backs with two strikeouts and a weak grounder, to seal the memorable Orioles win.

Briefly let’s cover all the stuff that happened before the game turned awesome. Dean Kremer, after two weeks in Triple-A purgatory, made his long-awaited season debut for the Orioles…and his very first pitch was clobbered onto the flag court by Arizona’s Ketel Marte. His first pitch of the season! You can’t make this stuff up, folks. “And that’s why he was in the minors,” said every Orioles fan simultaneously, laughing at their own joke.

Kremer got through the rest of the lineup unscathed before Marte struck again with another moon shot to right in the third, almost to the same place as his first. Maybe just don’t give this guy anything to hit, Dean? Then the Orioles’ defense abandoned Kremer in the fourth when Gunnar Henderson (who’d hit an RBI triple earlier) made a throwing error on a routine grounder, extending the inning for Nolan Arenado to hit a two-run homer. Kremer ultimately allowed four runs (two earned) in five innings, though his nine strikeouts were his most since May of 2024.

Arizona extended the lead to 7-1 in the sixth when Arenado launched a three-run homer off Albert Suárez. The corpse of Arenado had entered the game with no homers and just one extra-base hit in his first 14 games as a Diamondback, but had no problem feasting on O’s pitchers tonight. That’s something I’d be complaining more about if the game had turned out the way I thought it was going to.

But it didn’t. The Orioles pulled a most unlikely victory from the jaws of defeat, and it was glorious.

Who is your Most Valuable Oriole for tonight, Camden Chatters? Does Jeremiah Jackson get the nod for his grand slam that brought the O’s back into the game and insurance-run homer that iced the victory? Or is it Pete Alonso for delivering the big hit Orioles fans have been desperately waiting for? Let us know in the comments.

Record: 9-8. Pace: 86-76. Change on 2025: -1.

Well, I guess it had to happen eventually. The D-backs looked to be cruising in this one, enjoying a 7-1 lead in the opening game at Oriole Park in the middle of the sixth. But the bullpen, which had been so impressive over the first two series of the road trip, had their most spectacular meltdown of the season. Oh, hang on, to channel Homer Simpson: their most spectacular meltdown of the season so far. They allowed seven runs over just 2.2 innings of work, with each of the three relievers used giving up a long ball. Taylor Rashi surrendered a grand-slam, and Johnny Lasagna got cooked, allowing the go-ahead home-run to Pete Alonso.

And it had been going so well too.

The Diamondbacks came into this game with only nine home-runs for the season: that put them ahead only of the Giants (8). They had hit a total of three home-runs over their first eleven games in April. That’s a total of 353 at-bats. Of course, this evening in Baltimore, they then went and hit four (below) before the middle of the sixth, a span of just 25 at-bats. It was their first four-HR game since August 11th last year. But more surprising than that, was likely who hit them. Oh, you won’t be surprised to learn that Ketel Marte was responsible for a pair, doubling his tally for the season to four. But the other two came off the bat of Nolan Arenado, who entered the day with zero home-runs and a mere one extra-base hit over his first fifty at-bats as a Diamondback.

Marte wasted absolutely no time, taking the very first pitch of the game deep. It was a high fastball, well above the strike zone, and the perfect execution of an ambush sailing the ball 443 feet and, literally, out of the park beyond right field. When he came up again in the third inning, he took advantage of a mistake pitch by Orioles starter Dean Kremer. He offered up a 78 mph lollipop curveball in the middle of the plate, and this one was deposited 409 feet: not quite out of the park, but certainly good enough for a 2-0 lead to Arizona. The Orioles did get one back, courtesy of former D-backs Blaze Alexander. Corbin Carroll couldn’t catch a foul ball, Alexander reached on a questionable catcher’s interference call and scored on a triple past Alek Thomas in center.

Enter Nolan Arenado, with two down in the fourth inning. Kremer had been offering up a series of splitters, and been having a lot of success with them. But Arenado was clearly looking for some high heat, and when it arrived, after an error had allowed Jose Fernandez to reach base, Nolan did not miss, and it was 4-1 to the D-backs. Better was to follow for him in the sixth. Adrian Del Castillo had singled, and Ildemaro Vargas hit a ground-rule double. Again, a mistake pitch – this time a cutter which really didn’t – was then disposed of, in the way a professional batter should. Arenado had himself his first two-homer game in getting on for three years, since July 7th, 2023.

Ryne Nelson had been very effective, relying as usual on his fastball, which he threw 63% of the time tonight. But he got it up there as high as 98 mph, and was eventually lifted with one out in the sixth. He had allowed three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts, and was at 92 pitches. Should he have been allowed to finish out the sixth? Obvious answer, in hindsight. But that was already a season high count for Ryne, his previous being 86. Nelson’s velo was also dropping: an average of 97.0 mph in the first inning had become 94.4 in the sixth inning. To be fair to Torey Lovullo, you should be able to trust a major-league bullpen to protect a six-run lead for 3.2 frames.

It’s not as if he was sending up Joe Ross either. Taylor Rashi had looked very good since being called up. Small sample size, but you can’t ask for better than retiring every one of the nine batters faced, three by strikeout. Tonight, however? He didn’t have it. Rashi entered with a man on base and one out. A single and RBI single made it 7-2 – to be fair, again, the latter was more fortunate than hard-hit. But the walk and grand-slam which followed? Yeah, that’s on Rashi. [The latter was hit by Jeremiah Jackson, and a neutral observer might well have appreciated it, since he had previously sent a screaming liner into his own dugout, leaving the Orioles manager with a bloody cheek.]

After that, while the Diamondbacks still have the lead at 7-6, it seemed almost inevitable that it wouldn’t hold. The offense sent the minimum to the plate the rest of the way. The only Arizona base-runner was Geraldo Perdomo, who walked in the seventh, but was caught stealing second, as he failed to sustain contact with the base. Meanwhile, Jonathan Loaisiga got the loss, after hitting a batter, and allowing a home-run to the Polar Bear. Only his second since signing a 5-year, $155 million with Baltimore this winter. Andrew Hoffman got the final four outs, but gave the Orioles another home-run, providing them with insurance they turned out not to need.

Click here for details, at Fangraphs.com
Homers (good): Nolan Arenado, +20%
Also homers (good): Marte, +17%; Nelson, +15%
Homers (bad): Jonathan Loaisiga, -42%
Also homers (bad): Taylor Rashi, -27%

It was a positive and upbeat Gameday Thread, until it wasn’t. Blame can be leveled at a lot of places. Me, for deciding to start the recap when we were up 7-1. Mrs. SnakePit for coming home with Chinese and disturbing the fragile mojo. Still, it is only one game, and so I give Comment of the Thread to gzimmerm:

The post-game news confirmed what we more or less expected. Merrill Kelly comes back tomorrow, with Brandon Pfaadt going to the bullpen, and Taylor Rashi returning to Reno. And after tonight, I hope he has to pay his own bus fare there. We’ll look to bounce back tomorrow behind Kelly: it’ll be another awkward start time for us Arizonans, with first pitch scheduled for 3:35 pm here.

Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo recap a rough week on the latest episode of The Mets Pod.

The guys take a look at the offense, which is mostly missing-in-action, the state of the pitching staff, the struggles of Francisco Lindor, plus roster moves made so far and others that might be ahead. 

Later, Connor and Joe go down on the Farm to talk prospects Cam Tilly and Elian Peña, and discuss how much blame for the Mets' early-season struggles should fall on manager Carlos Mendoza. 

Be sure to subscribe to The Mets Pod at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Mets come into town for the first time in 2026.

Tonight's #Dodgers lineup vs. Mets: pic.twitter.com/MhyHGUYDmo

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 13, 2026

LA 📍#LGMpic.twitter.com/GQWa6ytJSo

— New York Mets (@Mets) April 13, 2026

Monday’s game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Mets
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
• Start time: 7:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA & SNY
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)