The Kansas City Royals, who have been scuffling since the first week and a half of May, got a much-needed win yesterday against the Mariners, behind a complete game shutout from Stephen Kolek. The Royals evened the series, and clinched a season series win against Seattle.

Today, right-hander Seth Lugo takes the bump for the Royals. Lugo threw 6 innings of 2 run ball in his last start against the Red Sox, his only mistake was allowing a two-run homer. In his start against the Mariners earlier this year in Seattle, Lugo went 6 innings, allowing 8 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks and striking out 6 batters.

The Royals are running out the same lineup for the third straight day.

As for the Mariners, they are 25-28 on the season, and a game and a half behind the Athletics for the top spot in the American League West.

Bryan Woo takes the ball today. The right hander threw 6 scoreless innings in his last start against the White Sox, allowing just 3 hits, while striking out 8 batters. The Royals knocked him around in the Pacific Northwest, Woo allowed 6 runs on 7 hits over 6 innings of work, including a pair of homers.

The Mariners are deploying a similar lineup to what they’ve done all series as well.

This is the last time the Royals and Mariners will match up this season, barring a playoff series. The Royals will be back in action tomorrow afternoon, starting a three game home series against the Yankees at 2:40 p.m. CT. As for today’s game, it can be watched on Royals.TV, first pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. CT.

In the first two games of this series, the Brewers jumped all over the Dodgers’ starting pitcher in the opening inning. Milwaukee scored four runs in the first inning of Friday’s series-opening win, while all three of their runs in yesterday’s 11-3 loss came in the first.

That’s especially important because Los Angeles will turn to right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto for today’s series finale. Yamamoto has been excellent again this year, posting a 3.32 ERA, 0.966 WHIP, and 0.7 WAR. However, he’s allowed one-third of his earned runs in the opening frame this season and has yet to record a scoreless first inning in two career starts (one in the postseason) against Milwaukee. If the Brewers can apply pressure out of the gate once again, they’ll put themselves in a good position to win today.

Opposite Yamamoto is Brandon Sproat (5.75 ERA, 1.50 WHIP), who has flashed electric stuff throughout his rookie season. Consistency, however, has been harder to come by; Sproat has allowed at least three runs in six of his nine appearances and has only made it through five innings three times.

The top of today’s order is the same as the series opener, with Jackson Chourio, Brice Turang, and William Contreras occupying the first three spots. With Christian Yelich sitting out, Pat Murphy was able to fit both Jake Bauers and Andrew Vaughn into the lineup. Bauers will serve as the designated hitter and bat cleanup, while Vaughn hits fifth and starts at first base.

Garrett Mitchell, who missed the last two games due to back tightness, is hitting sixth and playing center field. Rounding out the lineup are Sal Frelick, Joey Ortiz, and David Hamilton.

Also worth mentioning: last night’s starting pitcher, Robert Gasser, was optioned to Triple-A Nashville this morning. Replacing him on the active roster is righty Carlos Rodríguez, who’s allowed one run while striking out five in four innings with the Brewers this year. If Sproat exits early, Rodríguez could be called upon to cover a couple of innings.

Today’s game will be broadcast on Brewers.TV, WTMJ 620, and the Brewers Radio Network. First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m.

Go Rays!

The rainout on Saturday might have come at a perfect time for a Yankees team that has looked mentally defeated the last three days. They’ve scored just a trio of runs across their last 30 innings. The pitching has held up their end of the bargain, limiting Toronto and Tampa Bay to a combined eight runs over that same span. The Yankees must win this afternoon, or they will fall 6.5 games back of first before it is even Memorial Day.

Ryan Weathers actually pitched well last time out against the Blue Jays, Ernie Clement hitting an improbable three-run home run off a perfect changeup below the zone. It reflects the improvements he has made in his debut season in pinstripes, Weathers placing in the top-10 among starters in strikeout rate and K-BB%. In nine starts, Weathers is 2-2 with a 3.58 ERA (116 ERA+), 3.51 FIP, and 61 strikeouts in 50.1 innings.

The Yankees will not be thrilled to see Drew Rasmussen on the mound for the Rays after he held them to one hit in six shutout innings on April 12th. He’s been a Yankee killer his whole career, posting a 1.03 ERA, 2.04 FIP, .426 OPS allowed, and 51:9 strikeout to walk ratio in eight starts totaling 43.2 innings. In nine starts in 2026, Rasmussen is 4-1 with a 3.19 ERA (1331 ERA+), 3.74 FIP, and 45 strikeouts in 48 innings.

New York rolls out the exact same lineup as the one that got defeated, 4-2, in the series opener. Austin Wells hit his first home run since April 28th. Trent Grisham had three hits including a pair of doubles. José Caballero added a pair of singles in his first game back off the IL after suffering a fractured finger (though he did have a costly error during the Rays’ eighth-inning rally) while Cody Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm Jr. also had multi-hit nights.

The Rays meanwhile make a pair of changes to their lineup from Saturday. Ryan Vilade replaces the injured Jonny DeLuca in right field while Carson Williams subs in for Richie Palacios at second base. They also shake up the order a bit, Yandy Díaz and Jonathan Aranda moving up to leadoff and second, which drops Chandler Simpson to fifth and Junior Caminero to third.

How to watch

Location: Yankee Stadium – Bronx, NY

First pitch: 1:35 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES, Rays.TV

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY) | WDAE 95.7 FM, WQBN/1300AM (TB)

Streaming: Gotham Sports App, MLB.tv (out-of-market only)

For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.

The St. Louis Cardinals will have to finish their series with the Cincinnati Reds later this season as Sunday’s game has been postponed due to inclement weather in the area for the next several hours. Game has been postponed and will be made up August 17 as part of a doubleheader. Next up for St. Louis is a Monday, Memorial Day game against the Milwaukee Brewers. First pitch scheduled for 1:15pm in Milwaukee. Jacob Misiorowski is set to make the start for the Brewers. It’s unclear if the Cardinals will start Matthew Liberatore on Monday, but that appears to be the tentative plan as of now. Stay tuned.

Juan Soto is a late scratch for the Mets today due to illness. Soto came to the ballpark with a fever, body aches, and other flu-like symptoms. According to Carlos Mendoza, the entire clubhouse has been struggling with illness for the last week, and Soto himself has been experiencing symptoms for the last three days.

Soto had provided the only run that the Mets scored on Friday against the Marlins, one of only two runs they have scored in this series thus far. MJ Melendez will replace Soto in the lineup as the team’s designated hitter, and A.J. Ewing will move up to bat third.

Soto has been the Mets’ best hitter by a wide margin this season. Among hitters who’ve made at least 50 plate appearances this year, his .294/.390/.559 line, 10 home runs, and 163 wRC+ all lead the team. The injured Francisco Alvarez ranks second with a 106 wRC+, and Mark Vientos is second on the team with six home runs.

The Mets currently have 13 players on the injured list, but it seems at least a few of those players are on the right track to returning to the team.

Starting with Jared Young, who has been on the IL since April 13 with a torn meniscus in his left knee, the 30-year-old has already begun a rehab assignment and is currently with Triple-A Syracuse working on his timing at the plate.

Nearing a return in either late May or early June, manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters before Sunday’s series finale against the Miami Marlins how he expects to utilize Young once he rejoins the team.

“Most likely going to play against righties. First base, DH, coming off the bench – we’ll use him for sure,” the skipper said.

Before landing on the IL, Young had been hitting well for New York, slashing .350/.391/.450 with two doubles in 11 games – all against right-handed pitching. 

After Young went down, Mark Vientos took over at first base and took on a more prominent role in the lineup, mostly hitting cleanup. MJ Melendez was also called up in Young’s absence but after he hit the ground running, Melendez has struggled at the plate with just one hit in his last 29 at-bats. 

Both Vientos and Melendez are in Sunday’s lineup with Melendez a late addition following Juan Soto’s late removal due to an illness. Mendoza said that the whole team has been “battling for the past week” with the “kind of like a flu going around,” although he wasn’t making excuses for the offense scoring just two runs in the first two games of the series.

Not in the lineup is Nick Morabito who has started just twice since his promotion to the big leagues on May 19. Morabito, who bats from the right side, is still searching for his first major league hit (0-for-7).

So, when Young and other injured Mets return, how will Mendoza be sure to give everybody enough at-bats to stay consistent?

“That’s the balance. That’s the balance here, trying to get all of them playing time, including Morabito,” Mendoza said. “We know how important playing time is going to be for him and we’ll continue to just treat it day-by-day.”

As for another injured player, Jorge Polanco had a positive development in his recovery from Achilles bursitis.

“Polanco is in Port St. Lucie today getting live at-bats,” Mendoza said. “So that’s a positive there. [We’ll] see how he comes out of that one and hopefully he can go on a rehab assignment here pretty soon.”

Here’s the Guardians lineup:

Here’s the Phillies lineup:

Let’s go, Guardians!

First Chuck: 12:35 PM (new anthem each week!)

The Tube: Twins.TV

The Dial: Treasure Island Baseball Network

Spies ‘R Us: Over the Monster

This weekend, the Minnesota Twins are on the east coast for some Beantown baseball against the Boston Red Sox. About a week and a half ago, I was also on the east coast—seeing the Twins battle the Washington Nationals! Here are a few highlights of that jaunt (taken with my mom)…

Of course we had to hit the monuments, this being my first time in D.C.:

A few museums & tours were also on the docket:

Finally, of course, we have the baseball that brought us to D.C. in the first place:

As far as Nationals Park goes, I put it right about in the middle of my ballparks-seen so far. I’m not sure there is anything extraordinary about it visually—the paltry crowds & atmosphere for a Twins/Nats series probably didn’t help in that regard. But it is also perfectly serviceable and pleasant as an MLB receptacle. I especially enjoyed the food offerings and a little city block right outside the ballpark featuring some great eateries too!

Without a doubt, my favorite part of the whole experience was the Presidents Race! For my money, that’s the best mascot race in all of MLB! I love the creative ways they use to make sure Teddy Roosevelt does not win (hahaha).

All in all, it was a wonderful first foray into our Nation’s Capital! The games were fun, the monuments were a sight to behold, and the museums/tours were all unique. Someday, I’ll get to the site of today’s contest—Fenway Park—and I have a sneaking suspicion it’ll immediately vault to the top of my list.

Click here for Lineups!