On a day when the University of Denver hockey team won their historic 11th National Championship, it felt like nothing could go wrong in the Colorado sports world. Alas, there was no more Mile High Magic to go around for the Colorado Rockies (or Colorado Avalanche) tonight.

Things got off to a promising start. Ryan Feltner looked sharp early and the offense came out swinging with some big bombs on Germán Márquez in his first start against the Rockies since signing with the San Diego Padres this offseason.

The start wouldn’t last, as the Padres would quickly get back in front and pull away in the middle innings.

Pioneering the way

What the Rockies possibly needed most in this game was a hot start against starter Germán Márquez. They got just that.

Márquez has been susceptible early and often this season. Across his two starts, he carried a 13.50 first-inning ERA into today’s game. He had also given up 14 hits over eight innings pitched.

The Rockies hope was to put runners on base and rattle him with some early runs. Edouard Julien started that with a leadoff single. Julien attempted to steal second, was called out, but a successful challenge kept him there.

That would prove vital as Mickey Moniak hammered a two-run homer to right for an early lead.

The Padres nearly responded in the bottom of the inning, reaching second and third. With those runners in prime position to score, Nick Castellanos boomed a deep drive to left. With a save that was reminiscent of DU goalie Johnny Hicks, Jordan Beck made an incredible leaping grab at the left field wall to rob Castellanos of a three-run homer and the lead to end the inning.

And the purple coat would not stay away for long!

Julien would come back around and extend the early lead with a solo shot in the top of the third, right before Moniak would do the same with his second of the night, bringing the game to 4-0.

Trust the “proscess”

Following in the footsteps of DU hockey’s intentionally misspelled motto, the Rockies would trust in their gameplan and try to weather some storms.

The Friars got back into things with a strong three run third inning. With runners on first and third, Jackson Merrill would drive in a run on a grounder that was nearly a double play, bringing things to 4-1. With the next at-bat, Manny Machado blasted a two-run homer into left-center to make things a one-run game.

Márquez would settle things down, securing a 1-2-3 fourth inning. That, unfortunately, set the stage for the Padres to take the lead.

After striking out Gavin Sheets, Feltner gave up a double to Miguel Andujar and walked Freddy Fermin. Feltner nearly escaped, striking out Jake Cronenworth for the second out.

Ramón Laureano seized the opportunity with a three-run homer, giving San Diego a 6-4 lead heading into the fifth.

Similar start, different finish

Feltner and Márquez entered the matchup with eerily similar stat lines across their two starts.

In his two games, Feltner went 1-0 across 8.1 innings with a 4.32 ERA, one home run surrendered, and five strikeouts. Márquez was 1-1 across 8.0 innings with a 4.50 ERA, two home runs, and five strikeouts.

Despite a shakier start, Márquez would get the better of Feltner tonight.

After a scoreless first and second, Feltner gave up six runs on seven hits, including two home runs, with three walks, four strikeouts, and a 7.30 ERA for the night.

On the flipside, after giving up four runs in the first two innings, Márquez would rebound and post a 5.54 ERA after five innings of work, with just four hits, including three home runs, five strikeouts, and two walks.

An opportunity on thin ice

The Rockies chances quickly slipped away as the game went on.

Zach Agnos entered in relief of Feltner in the bottom of the fifth and didn’t fare much better. He made it through the fifth unscathed, but would lose control in the sixth. After Fermin reached base on an error, Agnos would walk the next three batters and walk in a run to put the game at 7-4.

Agnos finished his night with a 7.56 ERA on top of those three walks and three runs (two earned) surrendered.

There, things went from bad to worse. Brennan Bernardino came in and immediately gave up a double to Jackson Merrill pushing the score to 9-4. He intentionally walked Castellanos before striking out Gavin Sheets to limit the damage.

Take me home, country roads

The ol’ Fighting Rocks would not go quietly. The makings of a rally would come together in the eighth and ninth.

Ezequiel Tovar doubled in the top of the eighth. Moniak’s hot night continued with an RBI single to right field to bring Tovar home and make it 9-5. Moniak finished 3-for-4 with four RBI on two home runs.

Entering the ninth down four, Willi Castro struck out swinging and Brett Sullivan popped out for outs one and two. Just when it looked all but over, things got exciting.

TJ Rumfield, pinch-hititng for Kyle Karros, hit a line drive single to center. Tyler Freeman singled to right. Julien drew a walk on a wonderful at bat to load the bases. The situation forced a San Diego pitching change, bringing in Jason Adam to close things out. Tovar got behind in the count early and popped out to second for the final nail in the coffin.

A lot went well early and late tonight. It was nice to see the Rockies work with a decent lead early on. It felt promising that the big deficit led to an inspired rally. Ultimately, Warren Schaeffer highlighted the team’s seven walks, noting that you won’t win many games that way. The Rockies leave this one with some nice things to point to, but plenty left to clean up.

Up Next

The Rockies will ride three straight losses into the finale of this four game series out in Petco Park on Sunday afternoon.

Back at the top of the rotation, Kyle Freeland will take the mound against Nick Pivetta for a 2:10 p.m. MT first pitch.

The Rockies will look to escape the series with a win before shipping off to Texas for an early season rematch with the Houston Astros.

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Last year, there were only two qualified hitters in Major League Baseball who had a .300 batting average and .500 slugging percentage.

Through the 14 games this season, the Dodgers are just about doing it as an entire team.

After a 6-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night, it’s becoming hard to keep track of all the statistical superlatives the club’s superstar lineup is setting.

Just to name a few, here are the categories in which they currently lead the majors:

–– Batting average: .297. Next closest: The Houston Astros at .281.

–– Slugging percentage: .507. Next closest: The Astros at .462.

–– Home runs: 27. Next closest: The Atlanta Braves with 20.

–– OPS: .879. Next closest: The Astros at .839.

–– Runs per game: 6.4. Next closest: The Astros at 6.1.

All that, despite the Dodgers producing just one run over their final five trips to the plate Saturday.

Behind a solid six-inning, three-run start from Emmet Sheehan, and three scoreless from the bullpen (which turned to Blake Treinen and Alex Vesia to close out the game, after Edwin Díaz threw 23 pitches in a three-run blown save Friday), the Dodgers prevailed on the strength of their early scoring, tagging Rangers starter Jack Leiter with five runs in a laborious first three innings.

Rangers leadoff man Brandon Nimmo went deep two pitches into the game, blasting a solo home run to center.

But the Dodgers (11-3) answered right back in the bottom of the first, when Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff home run of his own –– his fourth long ball this season and first at Dodger Stadium –– and Teoscar Hernández uncorked a three-run blast later in the inning.

The lead would eventually grow to 5-1 after another run in the third –– this one set up by walks from Will Smith and Max Muncy (the latter in a marathon 11-pitch, seven-foul-ball at-bat).

Then, despite some missed opportunities the rest of the night, and another home run from Nimmo that got the Rangers (7-7) back within two, the Dodgers put the game on ice in the eighth, when Hernández doubled and scored on a single from Andy Pages; his MLB-leading 17th RBI of the season.

What it means

The scariest part of the Dodgers’ early offensive outburst?

They still don’t even have all of their best hitters clicking.

Instead, the team is relying on quality at-bats throughout the order to generate consistent scoring. On Saturday, they forced Leiter to throw 93 pitches in his 3 ⅔ inning start.

“We’re really taking good at-bats. And even some of the guys that haven’t gotten going, they will,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s nice when everyone’s not firing on all cylinders, but one through nine, I see a good team offensive approach.”

Who’s hot

Indeed, for all the team-wide success at the plate, there are only two Dodgers regulars currently batting better than .300.

One of them is Pages, whose .442 average remains the best in MLB after a 1-for-3 performance with a walk Saturday.

The other, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, is Hernández, who bumped his average up to .306 with his 2-for-4 showing in the victory.

The slugger’s first-inning homer came on a vintage Hernández swing, staying inside an inner-half changeup from Leiter and launching it 393 feet to left field. His double in the eighth inning also went to the left-field gap, a sign he is starting to dial in his swing.

“I think it’s getting a good pitch to hit,” Hernández said. “The timing has been there. The pitch selection has been there. Just missing a couple pitches that I should have hit. But definitely it’s been great so far.”

Who’s not

All offseason, the Dodgers said they didn’t need Kyle Tucker, believing that –– even if they didn’t ultimately sign him, as they did to a $240 million deal in January –– their offense would be fine.

Lately, that theory has been put to the test.

While Tucker is not the only big bat still grinding through some early struggles, his recent slump has become the most pronounced. With a 0-for-4 performance Saturday, he now has just four hits in his last 20 at-bats. For the season, his average is down to .250 while his OPS is below .700.

Up next

The Dodgers and Rangers conclude their weekend series Sunday afternoon. Roki Sasaki will start for the Dodgers, looking to bounce back from his five-inning, six-run clunker against the Nationals last week. Two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom will go for the Rangers, entering with a 3.72 ERA in his first two outings.

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We aren’t even a month into the season and I am already out of words with this Guardians rookie class. Chase DeLauter continues to do Chase DeLauter things, Juan Brito gets called up and looks like a seasoned vet, and Parker Messick has his ERA down to 0.51 on the season after tossing 6.2 scoreless innings tonight.

It was also a huge game for José Ramírez, he went 2-4 with a solo HR and a walk. Despite the lackluster results, he had been hitting the ball hard and putting up good at bats for awhile now, it’s nice to see him finally get some good results. Angel Martinez continues to be the hottest hitter on the team, and one of the hottest hitters in the league. He went 2-5 tonight and he’s up to a .342 average with a .919 OPS. Daniel Schneemann had a huge hit in the 9th that scored two after coming in as a pinch hitter earlier in the game. Rocchio went 0-3 with a walk but had some awesome ABs. This feels like the best the Guardians offense has been in a long time. I can’t remember the last time it felt like we had this many players in the lineup contributing to winning, it has been so much fun.

I know I already mentioned Parker Messick earlier, but he deserves so much more praise. Since being called up to the MLB, his ERA is 2.04 and has 54 strikeouts to just 11 walks. The way he gets fired up after getting out of jams is so exciting to watch. Messick was phenomenal tonight, but so was the rest of the pitching staff. Erik Sabrowski continues to be the most underrated relievers in baseball, there are not many guys in the league that are as good as him right now.

The Guardians will take on the Braves again tomorrow at 7:20 pm ET on Peacock. The pitching matchup will be Tanner Bibee vs Chris Sale. Let’s go get 2/3.

The Texas Rangers scored three runs but the Los Angeles Dodgers scored six runs.

Even after turning a corner last season, Jack Leiter remains a work in progress. Or, perhaps a better way to say it is he’ll likely always be prone to having nights like this as long as command is never his strong suit.

Leiter collected swinging strikeouts for each of the outs in the first inning. The only problem is he also allowed two home runs in that inning, including a leadoff homer by Shohei Ohtani and a two-out, three run blast off the bat of former Home Run Derby champion Teoscar Hernandez.

Texas was in a 4-1 hole like 15 minutes into this game which isn’t where you want to be against the best team money has bought.

Leiter also walked four in his wildest appearance of the season which lasted only 3 2/3 innings on 93 pitches. In addition to the fact that Leiter’s command regressed and he simply wasn’t good tonight, the lack of innings meant the bullpen was forced to absorb more frames and they’ve already faced heavy usage in the early going.

With eight more games without an off day on this road trip, the arms will be tested.

Player of the Game: Brandon Nimmo decided to make an attempt at singlehandedly beating the Dodgers himself as the Texas right fielder homered to lead off the game, doubled later, and then hit a two-run bomb to pull Texas to within a couple of runs.

Other than Nimmo’s feats, the Rangers lineup produced just one other hit with No. 9 hitter Josh Jung singling before Nimmo’s second home run.

The fact that Leiter was neither good nor long for this game, and the fact that facing this Dodgers squad with a big early lead felt like a death sentence, the game being reasonably close late was all thanks to Nimmo until Chris Martin entered like the grim reaper to kill this one with the Dodgers tacking on their final run in the 8th.

Up Next: The Rangers close out this series trying to get off the swept-sweep-swept roller coaster counting on RHP Jacob deGrom in the finale while facing RHP Roki Sasaki for Los Angeles.

The Sunday afternoon first pitch from Dodgers Stadium is scheduled for 3:10 pm CDT and you can view it on the Rangers Sports Network.

LOS ANGELES — Emmet Sheehan had his best start of the early season, backed by early home runs in the Dodgers’ 6-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers wore their city connect uniforms for the first time in 2026, and connected right away off Rangers starter Jack Leiter. Shohei Ohtani homered to start the bottom of the first inning, extending his on-base streak to 45 games, the fifth-longest in modern Dodgers history.

With two on and two out in the first, Teoscar Hernández broke things open with a three-run home run, his first home run at Dodgers Stadium this season after hitting two during the six-game road trip.

The four-run first inning erased the very early deficit for Sheehan, who allowed a leadoff home run to Brandon Nimmo and then not much else at all to any other Rangers hitter.

Sheehan had an uneven spring training, interrupted for a bit by the flu, followed by struggles with his mechanics, affecting both his command and his fastball velocity. He needed 83 pitches to get through 3 1/3 innings in his first start of the year, then allowed three runs in the first inning of his second start before recovering to last 5 2/3 in Washington D.C.

Through it all, neither Sheehan nor the Dodgers expressed much concern, but rather were confident he’d turn things around. A slight rotation shuffle after Thursday’s off day saw Tyler Glasnow pitch the series opener, which pushed back Sheehan to Saturday, on seven full days of rest.

“I think what we’re looking for is just another step forward,” manager Dave Roberts said earlier Saturday. “He had a little extra time in between and the work he did in between, Emmet feels really good about it. The coaches feel good about the mechanics piece of it, so his entire pitch mix seems in a good spot.”

After the home run to Nimmo, Sheehan retired his next eight batters before Nimmo doubled with two outs in the third inning, but was stranded. He didn’t permit another run until the sixth inning, when Nimmo took him deep again, this time a two-run shot after a single by Josh Jung.

Nimmo had three extra-base hits and drove in all three Rangers runs off Sheehan. But the rest of the lineup had only one hit in 18 at-bats plus a walk, with six strikeouts. Sheehan got through six innings, his longest outing of the season, on just 77 pitches, and averaged 95.2 mph on his fastball after just 93.9 mph in his first two starts.

Jack Dreyer struck out all three batters he faced in the seventh, then Tanner Scott pitched a perfect eighth on just nine pitches, even retiring Nimmo.

Hernández doubled to open the eighth inning, and scored on a single by Andy Pages for some insurance. After throwing 23 pitches while allowing three runs in a blown save on Friday night, Edwin Díaz was not used in a save situation on Saturday, with a three-run lead to start the ninth inning.

Instead, Blake Treinen got the ball and saw two runners reach base, one by walk and one on an error by Max Muncy at third base. Facing the potential tying run at the plate, Treinen struck out Andrew McCutchen for the second out of the inning.

Rather than have Treinen face the left-handed Evan Carter, Roberts opted for left-hander Alex Vesia, who faced Rangers pinch-hitter Danny Jansen, a right-handed batter. Vesia ran the count full but struck out Jansen to earn the save on his 30th birthday.

Saturday particulars

Home runs: Shohei Ohtani (4), Teoscar Hernández (3); Brandon Nimmo 2 (3)

WP — Emmet Sheehan (2-0): 6 IP, 4 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 6 strikeout

LP — Jack Leiter (1-1): 3 2/3 IP, 5 hits, 5 runs, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts

Sv — Alex Vesia (1): 1 batter, 1 strikeout

Up next

The Dodgers go for the series sweep on Sunday afternoon (1:10 p.m., SportsNet LA), with Roki Sasaki on the mound at the start. Jacob deGrom starts for the Rangers.

Clay Holmes’ next scheduled start is Wednesday against the Dodgers, and Mets officials are confident the right-hander will be healthy enough for it.

A day after Holmes departed his start against the Athletics with left hamstring discomfort, manager Carlos Mendoza indicated Saturday that he’s optimistic Holmes will return to the mound as scheduled. However, Mendoza added that Holmes’ side session between starts will determine if he can proceed.

Mendoza added that there hasn’t been any discussion about pushing back Holmes in the rotation.

“As of right now he continues to feel good, so he’s line to make his normal start” Mendoza said before the Mets lost 11-6 to the A’s at Citi Field.

Sean Manaea would be an option to fill that rotation spot if needed.

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The Mets also have Tobias Myers stretched out in a long relief role. Christian Scott and Jonah Tong are the primary options at Triple-A Syracuse, but the Mets likely wouldn’t recall either unless an extended rotation need arises.

Holmes has pitched to a 1.50 ERA in his three starts this season. On Friday he allowed one earned run on five hits and three walks over 5 1/3 innings before his hamstring discomfort removed him from the game.

Richard Lovelady was designated for assignment to create roster space for Craig Kimbrel.

The lefty Lovelady has been DFA’d five times by the Mets since joining the organization last June. Overall, he’s been DFA’d nine times in his career.

Mets pitchers went 68 innings without allowing a homer before Kodai Senga surrendered a blast to Tyler Soderstrom on Saturday. The seven-game streak was the team’s longest since Sept.19-26 in 2013 when the Mets went eight games without allowing a home run.

Carson Benge stole his fifth base of the season, tying him for fifth in the major leagues in that category.

I was in Los Angeles for an MLB The Show tournament, eating dinner at my hotel with my eyes glued to the TV on the other side of the bar, when the Chicago White Sox drafted Noah Schultz, an 18-year-old left-handed reliever from Oswego East High School, for the 26th overall pick.

“That’s my rival high school! We drafted a hometown kid,” I exclaimed!

Like many other Sox fans, I have eagerly followed Noah’s journey and have been waiting for this day for just under four years.

The now 22-year-old is set to make his MLB Debut for the White Sox in Chicago against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday, April 14 at 6:40 p.m. CT.

The South Side’s No. 2 overall prospect has been virtually lights-out in hist first three games with the Charlotte Knights this season, pitching to a tune of a 1.29 ERA across 14 innings with 19 punchouts. Not to mention, he’s induced a .129 BABIP and has only allowed two walks. Noah rocks a four-pitch repertoire: 4-seam fastball, slider, changeup and cutter. And most importantly, he’s healthy. After battling a knee injury that ultimately sidelined Schultz for much of the second half of the 2025 season, Noah is recovered and ready to impact the big league club.

Now, the question is, who’s next? Tanner McDougal and Hagen Smith can’t be too far behind when it comes to the rotation.

As Noah Schultz makes his way back to Chicago, I make my way back to South Side Sox.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Aaron Judge stood at third base as the go-ahead run with two outs in the top of the ninth inning Saturday when the Rays intentionally walked Ben Rice to bring up Randal Grichuk.

Aaron Boone let Grichuk hit for himself in the right-on-right matchup against reliever Hunter Bigge and did not have much of an explanation afterward for why he did not send up Paul Goldschmidt as a pinch hitter instead.

“Fair. Definitely could have, should have, whatever,” Boone said after a crushing 5-4, 10-inning loss at Tropicana Field. “But definitely some consideration.”

Grichuk, who had entered the game as a pinch runner for Giancarlo Stanton in the eighth inning, was off to an 0-for-9 start to the season and made it 0-for-10 when Bigge needed just one pitch to get him to fly out to end the ninth inning.

“Just felt like it was a good spot for [Grichuk] too,” said Boone, who confirmed Goldschmidt was available off the bench. “But fair question.”

Bigge has reverse splits for his career, which is likely why the left-handed-hitting J.C. Escarra did not pinch hit for Grichuk.

But neither did Goldschmidt, and the missed opportunity loomed large as the game went to extra innings and eventually turned into a fourth straight Yankees loss.

Signed during spring training to be a lefty crusher, Grichuk has started the season 0-for-10 with five strikeouts. Eight of those at-bats came against left-handers.

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“He’s played a couple games, hasn’t gotten results, [but] he’s hit a couple balls on the screws, hit one good to center [Friday] night,” Boone said before the game. “Then obviously to start the year, with all the righties we had initially, there weren’t a lot of opportunities. So physically, I feel like he’s in a good place. Not a lot of spring at-bats, but hopefully as we get settled into the season and he gets some opportunities against some lefties, he’ll produce.”

Judge could get his second DH day of the season Sunday, with Stanton heading to the bench for the series finale against the Rays. Boone had initially planned to do that Saturday, but after the Rays bumped lefty Shane McClanahan from Sunday’s start, Stanton will likely sit Sunday against righty Drew Rasmussen.

As Ryan McMahon works to get his bat on track — he went 1-for-2 Saturday before being pinch hit for by Amed Rosarioin the seventh inning against a lefty — the Yankees are still counting on him being a staple in the lineup at third base any time Max Fried is on the mound, given his propensity for generating ground balls to the hot corner.

“That’s kind of Ryan’s superpower, especially as he tries to get it going here offensively,” Boone said. “The one thing we can count on is how good he is on that left side. With Max going, usually he’s pretty busy over there.”

Carlos Mendoza’s changes worked for one day, even if the result was another loss.

The struggling Mets lineup broke out for 10 hits and three homers in an 11-6 loss to the A’s on Saturday at Citi Field.

The manager dropped Bo Bichette to the cleanup spot for the first time this year, and moved Luis Robert Jr. to second, with Jorge Polanco in between the two after being held out of the past two games.

“Just wanted to shake some things up.” Mendoza said. “We still have pretty good hitters at the top. I wanted to give them a different look here. Getting Polanco back in the lineup helps.”

The Mets entered Saturday’s contest against the A’s having managed just three runs in the past four games. They hadn’t scored in the previous 17 innings. There was another 17-inning scoreless drought earlier in this young season. The offense has been a major problem through 14 games.

The Mets hit on Saturday. Polanco, Bichette and Francisco Alvarez all went deep.

They cut a 7-1 deficit to 7-6, before Luke Weaver was tattooed for four runs in the eighth to put the game out of reach.

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“We were one at-bat away from [going ahead],” Francisco Lindor said. “We started putting together better at-bats as the game went on, but we just didn’t finish the job.”

Some of the hitting issues can be attributed to Juan Soto’s absence with a calf strain, and Polanco has been in and out of the lineup as well due to a case of left Achilles bursitis. But plenty of regulars have struggled, led by Lindor and his .167 batting average.

“I mean, these things happen, especially early in the season. It’s not something that we just fall back on, like it’s part of the game. We’re definitely going to get better and have better at-bats,” Bichette said. “Getting off to a hot start and everything rolling, I wouldn’t say it’s a normal thing.”

“Any team is better with those guys [Soto and Polanco]. But in this league, there’s no excuses. We have to step up and just have better at-bats as a team. I think we’re going to do that.”

Even in defeat, Saturday was a step in the right direction.