Category: Sports News

The Yankees dropped their series opener against the Rays on Friday, officially creating their first losing streak of the season with their third straight loss. It’s been a reversal of fate in the last week or so, as the team’s bats have gone from doing enough to support their stellar pitching staff to barely managing to get multiple hits in a night. That has enabled their rivals to gain back ground after the Yanks jumped ahead of the pack, and the same was true last night.

Toronto Blue Jays (6-7) 10, Minnesota Twins (7-7) 4

Patrick Corbin’s Blue Jays debut didn’t get off to a great start, as the Twins jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first thanks to Ryan Jeffers launching a three-run shot. However, that was as good as it got for Minnesota — they got four hits in the other eight innings, and only one of them helped out with a Brooks Lee solo shot in the fourth getting them their only other run.

On the other side, Toronto was dormant for the first three innings but exploded in the fourth. Three of the first four batters to step to the plate hit doubles, plating two of them, and then Andrés Giménez singled to make it 4-3 Twins. Brandon Valenzuela tipped the scales with a two-run shot — his first career homer — to give the Blue Jays the lead for good and capped off the five-run frame, and from there Toronto scored at least a run in every other inning that they batted in.

St. Louis Cardinals (8-5) 3, Boston Red Sox (4-9) 2

The Red Sox acquired Dustin May at the deadline last year from the Dodgers in a trade that has infamously gone south fast, as the main get for LA in James Tibbs III has been on a tear in the minors since, and then May pitched to the tune of a 5.40 ERA in all of six appearances for the Sox. May became a free agent and signed with St. Louis over the offseason, and just to rub salt in the wound turned around and held them down in his first time facing off with them since the move. He pitched six innings, allowing two runs (one earned) with four hits and no walks against four strikeouts. All of the damage came in the fourth inning, when Trevor Story grounded into an RBI and later managed to steal home on a double steal.

The Cardinals scored the first run of the game back in the second inning, getting a leadoff double from Ramón Urías and eventually a sacrifice fly to bring him home. The fifth inning was when they managed to take the lead back after Connelly Early exited with one out, Zack Kelly entering in relief and immediately causing a jam. He gave up a single to Jordan Walker and walked Urías, surrendered another single to Thomas Saggese that tied the game at two, fired off a wild pitch and then allowed a sac fly to fall behind 3-2. The inning mercifully ended on a Pedro Pagés fly out, but Boston mustered just one hit the rest of the way and failed to score them.

Seattle Mariners (5-9) 9, Houston Astros (6-8) 6

Tatsuya Imai has had a very Jekyll and Hyde beginning to his MLB career, debuting with a clunker of a game against the Angels before rebounding with 5.2 shutout innings against the A’s. The pendulum swung back to terrible, and the results were extreme — he failed to escape the first inning, letting the first five batters reach on three walks, a single, and a hit-by-pitch. A groundout exchanged a third run in the inning for the second out of the frame, but another walk forced Joe Espada’s hand and he relieved his starter after recording just two outs. Imai’s ERA is a gaudy 7.27 now, something that surely would’ve gone over well in New York had the Yankees landed him.

Surprisingly, the Astros managed to get him off the hook for the loss immediately despite the short start. Houston scored three runs of their own in the second, loading the bases with no outs before Emerson Hancock battled back to get two consecutive outs. However, he needed three, and Christian Vázquez doubled instead to clear the bases.

So, with the score knotted at three again the Mariners needed another jolt from an offense that has been fairly dormant thus far, especially the top of their order. Randy Arozarena is one of the few bats that has been turning it on, and he broke out with a two-run shot in the fifth inning to take the lead back for good.

The seventh inning put the nail in Houston’s coffin, as they put up a four-spot to triple their lead. Dominic Canzone smashed a double to the wall in right field to get the scoring started, a wild pitch brought home a second, J.P. Crawford got a much-needed hit to score the third run and raise his batting average to .150 on the year, and Cal Raleigh capped off the rally with a groundout to plate the fourth run. Yordan Alvarez did launch a three-run missile to cut the deficit in half in the eighth, setting up a tense ninth inning when Andrés Muñoz walked two batters to bring the tying run to the plate. Jeremy Peña couldn’t convert, however, grounding out as Muñoz picked up his first save of the year.

Other Games

Detroit Tigers (5-9) 2, Miami Marlins (8-6) 0: The Tigers have hardly been inspirational to start the year, but they got a much-needed gem from Keider Montero to lead the way in a shutout. He pitched six innings, allowing just two hits and striking out seven while his offense converted three-straight singles into a run in the second and Javier Báez managed to pull a ball placed near the bottom of the other batter’s box out to left field for a solo shot in the fifth. He may strike out a ton on that very same pitch, but at least he proved he can do damage to that pitch if he ever makes contact.

Atlanta Braves (9-5) 11, Cleveland Guardians (8-6) 5: For a time, Cleveland looked to be in good position to win this game. They managed to chase Bryce Elder from the game in the fifth inning after working a pair of walks and punching an RBI single to take a 2-1 lead, but it all came crashing down in a disastrous sixth inning. Ronald Acuña Jr. led off with a homer, Matt Olson followed up with a two-run shot two batters later, Dominic Smith punched a run in on a single, and then Michael Harris Jr. fulfilled the rule of thirds with another home run to bring six total runs in across the inning. The floodgates opened from there, Atlanta scoring two runs in the seventh and eighth innings each, while Cleveland mustered up three in the eighth but could do no more than that.

Hartman continued his strong offensive start to the season for the Emperors despite the loss.

(8-5) Gwinnett Stripers 6, (6-6) Nashville Sounds5

• Aaron Schunk, 1B: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Jim Jarvis, SS: 1-4, R
• Rolddy Munoz, RP: 1.1 IP, 3 K
• Eliser Hernandez, SP: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K

Box Score

It took some late inning magic and a bit of luck, but Gwinnett managed to get the win by walking off Nashville on Friday to move up to three games over .500 on the season.

Eliser Hernandez got the start on the mound for the Stripers and while he wasn’t exactly dominant, it was enough to keep Gwinnett in the game long enough for them to battle back-and-forth.

Across 5.2 innings of work, Hernandez managed to work around scattering six hits and issuing three walks on the night while holding Nashville to just two earned runs on his part.

One pitching performance to highlight on the night was Rolddy Munoz who tossed a scoreless outing in his 1.1 innings, while striking out three in the process. Through five appearances this season, Munoz has tossed 7.2 innings while striking out seven, while opponents are batting just .120 against him thus far.

It’s a smaller sample size, but encouraging nonetheless from the 25-year-old as he looks to try and break through into the big league bullpen.

At the dish, Gwinnett got several key contributions en route to the win.

Aaron Schunk continued his hot start to the season as he launched his third homer of the season on Friday — a two-run shot to extend the Gwinnett lead to 4-0 in the third — while raising his OPS on the season to .936 as well.

Tied at 5-5 headed into the bottom of the ninth, Ben Gamel reached on an error before coming around to score eventually on a wild pitch, walking things off for Gwinnett.

In other offensive performances, Jose Azocar laced a double on the night while Jim Jarvis also notched a base hit and scored a run as well in the Stripers’ win.

(3-4) Columbus Clingstones 6, (3-3) Montgomery Biscuits 4

• Cal Conley, 2B: 2 3B, RBI, R
• Ambioris Tavarez, 3B: 2-3, R, BB
• Garrett Baumann, SP: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

Box Score

Columbus improved to 3-4 on the young season as the Clingstones rode a solid starting pitching performance and a handful of key offensive contributions in the process.

On the mound, Garrett Baumann managed to work around three earned runs and six hits to produce six innings of work while striking out five and walking two. While it wasn’t his best, it’s a right sight better than Baumann’s first start of the year in which he gave up nine runs (seven earned) in just 3.1 innings of work.

Hopefully it’s just earlt season jitters or something of that nature for Baumann, who is expected to take a significant leap this season.

At the plate, Cal Conley had a bit of a rare night in the sense that he laced not one, but two triples on the night while driving in one of Columbus’ six runs on the night.

In addition to Conley, Ambioris Tavarez continued his solid start to the season at the plate on Friday as well.

Going 2-3 with a run scored and a walk to his credit, Tavarez improved his OPS to 1.071 on the season. While we’ve emphasized that it’s extremely early in the season and a smaller sample size, it’s incredibly encouraging to see Tavarez make significant strides at the plate and show a much more mature approach thus far.

(3-4) Rome Emperors 4, (5-2) Bowling Green Hot Rods 6

• John Gil, SS: 1-4, HR, RBI, R, BB
• Owen Carey, LF: 1-4, 3B, R
• Eric Hartman, CF: 2-5, 2B, HR, RBI, R
• Cam Caminiti, SP: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 6 K

Box Score

Rome fell short against Bowling Green on Friday, losing by a 6-4 final despite a handful of key offensive performances from Emperor batters.

Cam Caminiti got the start for Rome and while he didn’t have his best stuff — as he scattered six hits and allowed two earned runs across six innings while striking out six — he managed to keep Rome relatively in the game for the most part.

Caminiti’s biggest issue so far in this early season is that he has been hit around quite a bit. In 9.2 innings, the southpaw has given up nine hits, including a homer, while opponents are batting .250 against him so far. The good news is that he has only issued two walks on the year, so hopefully he’s able to limit the damage in terms of hits and homers and he’ll be able to build off that moving forward.

Offensively, Rome got key performances from the usual suspects as John Gil launched his second homer of the year and Eric Hartman put up a marquee night as he laced a double and a homer to raise his OPS to a team-high 1.037 on the season to this point.

Owen Carey got in on the offensive fun, as he laced a triple in the top of the second and eventually came around to score.

(3-4) Augusta GreenJackets 7, (2-5) Delmarva Shorebirds 3

• Tanner Smith, C: 3-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
• Connor Essenburg, DH: 1-4, 3B, RBI
• Alex Lodise, SS: 1-4, 2B, R, BB
• Ethan Bagwell, SP: 7 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 5 K

Box Score

Augusta got one game closer to .500 on the season on Friday as the GreenJackets rode a solid pitching performance from Ethan Bagwell to a win.

Across seven innings of work, Bagwell did scatter seven hits, but managed to limit the damage to just three earned runs on the night while striking out five and walking not one batter. Through two starts, Bagwell has shown excellent command as he has walked just one batter in 13 innings pitched, while striking out 11 and allowing just the three runs.

It will be interesting to see how Atlanta handles Bagwell and his progression, as he will most likely be ready for a promotion to Rome by the end of May if not sooner.

At the plate, Augusta got a surprise performance out of catcher Tanner Smith, who homered and drove in a pair of runs on the night while Connor Essenburg continues to impress as the 2025 draftee tripled and drove home a run in the process for Augusta on Friday.

Alex Lodise also tallied an extra-base hit on the night while scoring a run and walking as well for the GreenJackets.

Ladies and gentleman, James Wood is all the way back. After a rough second half and a concerning first couple series, the big fella is back to absolutely destroying baseball. I have to say, I’ve got to eat some crow on this. I said the Nats had a James Wood problem, and it turns out the other 29 teams are the ones with a James Wood problem.

In my defense, I was not the only one concerned. After a rough finish to last season, which saw him strike out nearly 40% of the time in the second half, there was reason to be concerned. However, at the end of the day, raw talent usually wins out. Everyone knew the talent level of Wood, it was just frustrating to see him not put it together after his amazing first half.

So what has gotten Wood back on track? The biggest thing I have seen is that Wood is hunting mistakes. For a while, Wood was simply too passive at the plate. He was letting too many meatballs just whiz by him into the strikezone. Right now though, you cannot sneak a heater by this guy.

Wood has clearly been in the lab with Matt Borgschulte working on his approach at the plate. During Blake Butera’s press conferences when Wood was struggling, he kept mentioning how Wood told him his swing was feeling great. That felt odd to me at the time, but now it makes sense. Wood did not have a swing problem, he had an approach problem.

He and Borgschulte have figured out the right balance between patience and aggression. Right now, Wood is just hunting fastballs and spitting on the breaking stuff. He is also hammering balls to center and left center, which is what Wood does when he is at his best.

The Nats have had a lot of great hitters over the years, but I am not sure any of them have quite the same amount of raw horsepower that Wood does. Last night, he hit two balls over 115 MPH. In the first inning, he hit an absolute laser on a line that almost carried out of the deepest part of American Family Field.

This kind of power is why he was a part of the Home Run Derby last year. Ironically, that event seemed to mess with his swing, so I don’t think he will be going back anytime soon. Wood being slightly hot and cold makes sense given his size and age. He is a massive dude who has plenty of moving parts to his swing.

That makes it frustrating when he is not on his game. However, when all those parts are moving well, it is like watching a beautiful symphony of destruction. Right now, his mishits are going about 100 MPH off the bat.

Seeing Wood when he is locked in makes his struggles even more frustrating. He is such a talented player, who has bat to ball skills when he is on his game. Wood has just three strikeouts compared to four walks in his last five games. This is not a Joey Gallo type that just misses at an insane clip. He works deep counts and can be passive when he is off, which can lead to strikeouts. 

There is some pure hitting ability here though. His quality of contact and line drive approach means his average will never get that low either. Even after his disastrous second half, Wood still had a respectable .256 average. When he is right, Wood is not just a one dimensional slugger.

This heater is insane to watch. The big fella has four straight multi-hit games. He is also the only player with multiple batted balls over 116 mph so far this season. His 24.3% barrel rate and 59.5% hard hit rate are absolutely bonkers.

After his strikeout heavy start to the season, Wood has managed to get his strikeout rate below 30%. That 30% mark feels like a magic number for him. With how big he is, there will always be strikeouts and that is fine. However, he can still be an elite hitter with a k% in the high 20’s. Once it gets to 30%, things start to get dicey for him. Right now, he is not even in the top 10 for number of strikeouts.

It is great to see that number get under control because we all know what Wood does when he makes contact with the ball. I would argue that Wood has the best opposite field power in baseball. He makes ballparks look small and hits balls out at crazy low trajectories. 

For a lot of players, they need to tap into their pull side to hit for power. However, that is not the case for Wood. He is at his best when he is thinking about going the other way. Wood is such a physical freak that he can hit balls out to left field like a right handed pull hitter. His air pull percentage is 2.7%, and do you know what, that is fine by me. 

When you have outlier power like Wood does, just do what makes you comfortable. For Wood to take the next step and become a 50 home run guy like Aaron Judge, he may need to pull it more, but he is 23, there is plenty of time for that.

For now, it is great to see Wood exhibiting a confident approach at the plate. At the end of last year and the beginning of this year, he was constantly on the defensive. Now, he is taking the initiative and putting pitchers on the back foot. When James Wood is doing that, he is one of the best hitters in baseball.

Diamondbacks News

Diamondbacks Mount Four-Run Comeback to Take Game One in Philly
Michael Soroka had his first clunker of the year, but he still managed to limit the damage after a four-run first inning to keep the team in the game. Then, the Diamondbacks went to work on Philadelphia’s bullpen.

Diamondbacks Five-Run Fifth Powers Comeback Victory
Michael Soroka gave up four runs in the first inning while battling control issues. Then, Gabriel Moreno was lifted in the third inning for a mysterious injury. Fans of the team would be forgiven if they decided to tune out and go watch something else. But then, the Diamondbacks shut down Philadelphia for eight innings and threw up a big inning of their own in the fifth.

Diamondbacks Engineer Major Comeback
Entering the game as an injury replacement, McCann’s bat helped power the Diamondbacks to another win.

Diamondbacks Remove Moreno from Game for Back Tightness
Let us all hope that the precautionary move allows Moreno to resume his catching duties sooner rather than later.

Lovullo Eyeing Weekend Return for Carroll
If this holds, we should expect to see Corbin Carroll back in the lineup this afternoon.

What the Mets Series Win Says About the Snakes
Eduardo Rodriguez and Jose Fernandez are making lots of noise and the Snakes are finding ways to win even with an ice-cold Marte and without Corbin Carroll.

Other Baseball News

Tigers’ OF Parker Meadows to IL with Broken Arm, Concussion
It is safe to say that Parker Meadows got the short straw in the horrific head-to-head collision with teammate Riley Greene on Thursday in Minnesota.

Ichiro Statue Unveiling Marred by Broken Bat
MLB pitchers should have though of that when trying to keep Ichiro from amassing the most hits ever.

Ohtani Surpasses Ichiro’s On-Base Streak as Streak Extends to 44
Okay, I’m starting to come around to the notion that this Shohei Ohtani guy might actually be okay at baseball.

Top-Five Up-the-Middle Defenses in MLB
With honourable mentions, the list extends to seven teams and yet, somehow Arizona still doesn’t make the cut. Seems a bit suspect to me.

The Mets are calling up veteran reliever Craig Kimbrel, as first reported by The New York Post's Jon Heyman.

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said on Friday that there wasn't a timeline for the right-hander to join the Mets or if he had any opt-outs in his deal, but calling him up was a possibility.

"We continue to believe he can help us this year; he wants to help us," Stearns said. "We have a stable pen so far. We haven’t made a move, but eventually we will. He’s certainly a candidate when we have an opportunity."

The Mets signed the veteran to a minor league deal with an MLB camp invite in late January. He made six appearances during the spring, allowing three runs on four hits (two home runs) over six innings. The 37-year-old issued five walks with five strikeouts.

After breaking camp, Kimbrel pitched a 1-2-3 inning at Single-A St. Lucie with a strikeout on Thursday.

"Craig threw the ball well yesterday. That was very good to see," Stearns said.

This season for Kimbrel will be his 17th season in professional baseball. He appeared in just 14 big league games last year, allowing four runs (three earned) on 10 hits in 12 innings pitched, after signing a minor league deal and spending the majority of his time at Triple-A. The right-hander did strike out 17 of the 49 batters he faced with seven walks while pitching for Atlanta (once) and Houston (13 times).

He pitched to a 3.00 ERA and 1.051 WHIP across 39 innings over 42 minor league appearances last season. He tallied 51 strikeouts to 21 walks. 

Kimbrel's last full major league season came in 2024 with Baltimore, and it did not go well for him as he was designated for assignment in late September after losing his spot as the closer. In 57 appearances with the Orioles, he pitched to a 5.33 ERA and 1.357 WHIP over 52.1 innings with 73 strikeouts to 31 walks. He had 23 saves in 29 opportunities.

When the Cubs decided to largely run it back with a team that pushed the Brewers to their limits before falling just short of the NLCS, one might have hoped it would have been relatively smooth sailing for this team in 2026. This looked, on paper, to be a top 10 team in baseball. I had them pegged a clear cut below the best teams, but comfortably in the second tier of teams. Nothing has been easy and they have not, in any way, appeared to be a top 10 team.

In reality, this team has looked decidedly middle of the pack. Or perhaps a bit below. Of their six opportunities to date to be .500, they have been .500 five times. On Saturday, they’ll have their seventh opportunity to be at .500. Hopefully, they succeed again. A 50/50 record, in this instance, is better than the alternative.

So far, this team is hit or miss. The team has scored 39 runs in their six wins (6.5 runs/game). They have just 17 runs in their seven losses (2.43 runs/game). This team has already been shut out twice and scored only one run twice (winning one). They were shut out 10 times all of last year and held under two a total of 28 times. The results have been stratified and there has been very little offensive consistency, Hopefully, the return of Seiya Suzuki will give them a boost.

This one was all the more unfortunate because Shōta Imanaga was lights out. He faced 19 batters and struck out nine of them. He allowed no hits and just a single walk. You might recall that once before Imanaga started a game where the Pirates got no hits against Cubs pitching. I remember that one as I was driving home from a Rays game and listened to the last few outs of that game. It isn’t often that you can go into a game with a split of 0.35 ERA (career against the Pirates) and actually lower that number. It was that kind of day for him.

Unfortunately, the bats let him down and he has nothing to show for it.

Three Positives:

• Arguably Imanaga was so positive that all of the other performances pale in comparison.
• Ian Happ had a pair of singles and drew a walk.
• Carson Kelly had three walks and a single. The Cubs actually had six hits and drew seven walks and were held scoreless.

Honorable mention to Ethan Roberts (4 batters faced, 4 outs recorded) and Riley Martin (3 batters faced, 3 outs). They gave the Cubs every opportunity to come from behind.

Game 13, April 10: Pirates 2, Cubs 0 (6-7)

Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Shōta Imanaga (.350). 6 IP, 19 BF, 0 H, BB, 9 K
• Hero:  Carson Kelly (.145). 1-1, 3 BB
• Sidekick: Ian Happ (.100). 2-3, BB

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Caleb Thielbar (-.307). 0.2 IP, 5 BF, 3 H, 0 BB, 2 ER, 0 K (L 1-1)
• Goat: Pete Crow-Armstong (-.214). 0-4, DP
• Kid: Matt Shaw (-.185). 0-2

WPA Play of the Game: Bryan Reynolds batted with a runner on first and no outs in the seventh. He homered, breaking a scoreless tie. (.264)

*Cubs Play of the Game: Ian Happ batted with a runner on first and no outs in the sixth. He singled, setting up a golden opportunity. (.075)

Cubs Player of the Game: Imanaga, Kelly, Happ, other

Game 12 winner: Nico Hoerner 105-86 over Colin Rea (219 total votes)

Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 3/Bottom 3)

The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.

• Edward Cabrera +6
• Nico Hoerner/Ian Happ (+1 today)/Carson Kelly (+2) : +5
• Phil Maton/Pete Crow-Armstrong (-2): -6
• Matt Shaw -7 (-1)
• Alex Bregman -7 (-3)

Up Next: Game two of the three game series. Edward Cabrera (1-0, 0.00, 11.2 IP) gets his third Cub start. He’s been superb so far. 26-year-old right-handed pitcher Braxton Ashcraft (1-1, 2.25, 12 IP) also makes his third start. His two previous starts were at home. In 2025, he was better away (2.45 ERA) than at home (3.00). But he only had a total of 69.2 big league innings last year. In 11 innings across three appearances last year, he allowed four runs (three in one 9/15 outing).

Let’s hope Cabrera is able to continue his dominance and the Cub bats break through.

FYI: I am on vacation for the next week. Heroes and Goats will continue to run, but you can expect me to be a bit more brief and the timing could be a little different. I appreciate your patience with us in advance.

Walker Buehler has had an uneven start to his tenure with the San Diego Padres. After two starts Buehler had only accumulated 6.2 innings pitched with seven runs allowed on eight hits with five walks and seven strikeouts. With Griffin Canning and Matt Waldron building up in an effort to return to the MLB roster after their respective rehab assignments, Buehler and German Marquez could be playing for respective spots in the San Diego rotation. Buehler pitched that way against the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park on Friday night.

Buehler had his best performance since he joined the Padres on a minor-league deal in the offseason. He completed six innings and allowed just three hits. He did not allow a run or a walk and recorded four strikeouts. Buehler walked off the mound with a 2-0 lead and was in line for his first win with San Diego, but reliever Adrian Morejon gave up two runs, and the game was tied 2-2 when the Padres came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Gavin Sheets hit a one-out three-run home run that won the game for San Diego and extended their most recent win streak to three games. The start by Buehler was critical in providing the Padres bullpen some respite after the 12-inning game the night before. The home run by Sheets, his second of the night, ensured San Diego did not have to play extra innings on back-to-back nights.

San Diego and Colorado will meet in Game 3 of their series at Petco Park, today at 5:40 p.m.

Padres News:

• Jason Adam made his long-awaited return to the San Diego bullpen and faced just one batter to get the Padres out of the top of the eighth inning with game tied, 2-2. Adam needed just five pitches to get Ezequiel Tovar to ground out to third base. With Adam returning to the roster, San Diego had to make a corresponding move, and the Padres did so by adding Jeremiah Estrada to the 15-day IL with elbow tendonitis.

• It was a busy week on the road for the Padres as they left Petco Park for the hostile crowds of Fenway Park in Boston and PNC Park in Pittsburgh. San Diego showed its resolve, finning four of the six games before returning to Petco Park to host Colorado.

• Padres closer Mason Miller refuses to give up runs, in fact he does not give up hits either. The right-hander struck out all three batters he faced en route to the win over the Rockies on Friday night.

Baseball News:

• Max Muncy hits three home runs to help the Los Angeles Dodgers get past the Texas Rangers.

• Former Padres farmhand Brandon Valenzuela hit his first MLB home run as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays.

• Four UCLA pitchers combined for 30 strikeouts against Rutgers. The UCLA starter, Logan Reddemann, accounted for 18 of the 30 strikeouts int the contest.

• Detroit Tigers closer Kenley Jansen recorded his 478th career save, moving him into a tie for third on the career saves list.

• Tigers prospect Bryce Rainer crushed a 477-foot home run in a minor league game.

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

The Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks meet today, with two starters taking the hill who have been underwhelming so far.

That matchup headlines my favorite MLB picks for today in the "no run first inning" and "yes run first inning" markets.

Here are my best NRFI bets and YRFI bets for Saturday, April 11.

Best NRFI/YRFI bets today

Pick	Odds
/ - YRFI	-113
/ - NRFI	-135
/ - NRFI	-120

Diamondbacks at Phillies: YRFI (-113)

The Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies continue their three-game set this afternoon, and we could see lots of runs.

Brandon Pfaadt gets the ball for Arizona, and he’s compiled a 6.75 ERA so far. The righty allowed a run in the first inning in his last start vs. Atlanta, and while the Phillies lost 5-4 on Friday, they scored all four runs in the first. 

As for the D-Backs, they’re up against Taijuan Walker, and he has an ERA over 9.00 so far. He’s given up seven first-inning runs across his first two starts, allowing three to the Rockies and four to the Nationals.

• Time: 1:05 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: FS1

Marlins at Tigers: NRFI (-135)

The Miami Marlins send Janson Junk to the mound today, and he’s looked solid so far. The righty has a 3.09 ERA and a perfect 2-0 NRFI record.

Junk has come out and found a rhythm early, and that will be key against a Detroit Tigers team that has scored six times in the first this season. 

As for the Tigers, Casey Mize takes the hill, and he also has a 2-0 NRFI record through two outings. It’s important to note that Miami’s lineup has never faced Mize outside of Otto Lopez, and they’ve only scored once in the first inning in this young 2026 season.

• Time: 1:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Marlins.TV, DSN

White Sox at Royals: NRFI (-120)

We’re looking at two teams who have struggled immensely at the dish in the first.

The Chicago White Sox are hitting just .140 in the opening inning, and they’ve had five NRFI. They’re also up against Michael Wacha, who has a 0.69 ERA so far, and has yet to allow a run in the first. 

As for the Kansas City Royals, they have 14 NRFI this year and are struggling to get it going offensively out of the gates. White Sox starter Erick Fedde also owns a 1-0 NRFI record.

Both of these clubs are towards the bottom of the majors in overall runs scored as well.

• Time: 4:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: CHSN+, Royals.TV

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.