Category: Sports News

TORONTO –– With the chance to complete a perfect six-game road trip Wednesday afternoon, the Dodgers instead stumbled with some uncharacteristically imperfect play.

In a 4-3 loss to the Blue Jays, which snapped the Dodgers’ five-game winning streak, the team fell victim to the kind of mistakes it had largely avoided through the season’s first couple weeks.

There was a blown late-game lead, with the Blue Jays erasing a two-run deficit in the seventh against Jack Dreyer after a pivotal leadoff walk and three straight hits that tied the game.

“Just didn’t do my job,” Dreyer said.

There was a critical defensive breakdown with runners on the corners an inning later, when Will Smith tried to catch Andrés Giménez stealing a base at second –– only to see his throw trickle away from shortstop Miguel Rojas to let baserunner Davis Schneider score the go-ahead run from third.

“We thought we could get an out right there, a big out in that situation,” Smith said. “A little better throw would’ve got him.”

Instead, the Dodgers came up short, missing numerous other opportunities offensively to pull away early [they left six men stranded on base against Blue Jays starter Dylan Cease] and mount a rally late [they stranded the bases loaded in the seventh, and did nothing with two aboard in the ninth].

And despite a solid six-inning, one-run start from Shohei Ohtani, they had to settle for a 5-1 record on this opening East Coast trip.

“When you win the first five, you want to get greedy and win the last one,” manager Dave Roberts said. “But it’s still a really good road trip.”

What it means

With the loss, the Dodgers (9-3) also squandered an opportunity to complete a sweep in this World Series rematch.

And in doing so, they failed to replicate the kind of big-moment execution that lifted them to a championship in last year’s Fall Classic.

No sequence loomed larger than the Dodgers’ botched steal attempt in the bottom of the eighth. Both Roberts and Smith said trying to get Giménez at second –– even with Davis at third as the go-ahead run –– was the right decision. Smith noted the dugout even called for a throw in such a situation.

Alas, Smith delivered a low ball to Rojas, who couldn’t squeeze it as he tried to attempt a bang-bang tag.

“I think it was a ball that I know Miggy would love to have back and hold onto,” Roberts said. “That’s baseball. That happens. There’s nobody more sure-handed than Miggy. But yeah, I thought it was the right play.”

The Dodgers also committed their first two-error game of the season, recorded more walks (four) than strikeouts (three) as a pitching staff, and went just 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position.

Who’s hot

Two pitching starts into his first full-time two-way season as a Dodger, Ohtani has yet to give up an earned run.

That didn’t mean he was dominant in his six-inning start Wednesday. He struck out only two batters while letting five reach base (four hits, one walk). He acknowledged he was battling some end-of-the-road-trip fatigue.

Still, when he needed to make a big pitch, he did –– blowing a fastball by Kazuma Okamoto to strand two runners in the first inning, then getting Tyler Heinenman to chase an inning-ending splitter in the second to work around an Alex Freeland error.

He also finished his day by stranding a leadoff double from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the sixth.

“You’re not going to feel your best every day,” Roberts said. “But to his credit, he found a way to give us length and exit with a lead.”

Who’s not

Last year, Dreyer was one of the pleasant (and rare) surprises in the Dodgers’ bullpen, posting a 2.95 ERA in his rookie season.

But on Wednesday, he took the first lumps of his second big-league campaign –– leading to the first late-game lead the Dodgers bullpen has blown this year.

With the Dodgers up 3-1 in the seventh, Dreyer gave up two runs while retiring just one of the five batters he faced. It began as most bad innings do, with a leadoff walk. Then, with one out, the Blue Jays tagged him with three straight hits, including an RBI double from George Springer and a game-tying single from Daulton Varsho.

“Obviously, I want to be put in that situation and I want to do whatever I can to help the team win,” Dreyer said. “And I just didn’t do it today.”

Up next

The Dodgers will be off on Thursday, before beginning a six-game homestand on Friday when the Texas Rangers come to Dodger Stadium.

If the first dozen games of this Mariners season have felt derivative to you, that wouldn’t be misplaced. Dating back to 2023, Seattle has stumbled out of the gate, starting each season with a record of 4-8. Thankfully, in all previous three years, the M’s have bounced back, staunching the bleeding to win their next game (and more often than not the few following ones). But hasn’t that script gotten old? The trips to the callback well surely wore thin in 2025. What’s next, a clip show episode? A main character has a baby?

You’d do well to know that a new path has been chosen.

Today’s morning contest got off to a promising start, with Rob Refsnyder battling back from an 0-2 count (and missing his first hit of the season by about two feet when he hammered a line drive down the third-base line foul) to work a leadoff walk against new Rangers lefty MacKenzie Gore. Cal Raleigh’s slow start to the year continued on a strikeout, but Julio Rodríguez drew a second walk on a 3-1 pitch that probably would have been challenged in a higher-leverage spot. Although Randy Arozarena and Brendan Donovan both went down on strikes, Seattle pushed Gore’s pitch count up to 26 to open the game; always an encouraging early sign.

By contrast, Bryan Woo stepped out of the gate as his usual self; breezy pace, bevy of fastballs, brisk at-bats. He needed eight fewer pitches to get through two frames than Gore used for one, and aside from a true jammed bleeder from Brandon Nimmo to lead off the first allowed no baserunners. Mitch Garver contributed with a keen ABS challenge in the second against Evan Carter, flipping a 1-1 count to 0-2 before Carter harmlessly flew out to Julio a few pitches later. Despite the efficiency, though, there were some scary contact moments, most notably a shot to left field off the bat of Jake Burger that Randy caught right at the wall and would have been out in seventeen big league ballparks. Those worries continued when Josh H. Smith led off the third by turning on a first-pitch four-seam up in the zone, sending it deep to right field. Refsnyder, filling in for the freshly injured Víctor Robles, had quite the amount of ground to cover, somehow getting a bead on the ball. He leapt, and…

Jo Adell, eat your heart out. Woo had to work a bit more through his next two frames, picking up a pair of strikeouts from Ezequiel Durán and Wyatt Langford that sandwiched a double over Julio’s head from Nimmo. Corey Seager led off the fourth with a walk, but was erased on a double play from Burger.

Meanwhile, Gore settled in, facing the minimum through his next three frames, including striking out the side in order in the third. Any chances for a no-hitter were put to rest in the fifth, though, when Mitch Garver led off the fifth with a solidly stroked base hit into center field for his first knock of the season. After having a possible double taken away by a diving stop by Durán in the third, it was a nice treat to see the Garv man get on the board. Any hopes of a big inning were dashed by a one-out double play from newest Mariner Connor Joe – on the second hardest-hit ball of the game. Tough scenes.

The bottom of the frame is where Woo began to wobble, despite getting a seven-pitch flyout from Carter for the first out. Danny Jansen grinded out another seven-pitch at-bat before hitting a bounding ball to third that Donovan cleanly fielded, but got off a weak throw due to his feet being improperly set, allowing the not-fleet-footed Jansen to reach. Smith and Durán followed with a pair of much more legitimate singles, loading the bases for just the guy we all wanted to see in this spot: Brandon Nimmo. Woo got the count to 1-1, and got Nimmo jammed on an inside fastball, dribbling the ball up the third base line. Joe, giving Josh Naylor the day off at first, charged, fielded, and threw well offline to home plate, allowing a pair of runs to cross on a ball that went maybe seventy feet.

Kyle’s brother tacked on the third and final run of the game with a routine sacrifice fly, and the rest of the game passed by in a blurry blink. While the M’s got Gore out of the game through five on the back of that hefty first inning, the Rangers relievers were suffocating, allowing just one baserunner (a soft line drive into right field from Cole Young leading off the ninth. Hell yeah, Cole) over the last four frames in economical fashion. José A. Ferrer, Eduard Bazardo, and Gabe Speier all stitched together three scoreless innings, facing the minimum thanks to a caught stealing by Garver and a double play from Durán. If you’re looking for a crumb of good news, Speier particularly looked sharp, picking up a pair of strikeouts in the eighth inning to get some work in.

The Mariners fell today to 4-9 for the first time in the Dipoto era. If nothing else, this year has gotten off to a different start. An off day tomorrow feels like a gift for fans and players alike before they head back home, kicking off the homestand with a weird, wrap-around Friday-to-Monday series with the Astros – who have just been swept by the Rockies. We’ll see how that turns out when we get there, but for now, I am prescribing reading a book, playing a video game, going for a walk (it’s a perfect spring day in Seattle if you’re so inclined), or any other activity is not paying a disastrous road trip any mind. You’ve earned that.

A former Yankees catcher’s 2026 season is not off to a great start. 

Jose Trevino, in his second season with the Reds after three years in The Bronx, was put on the 10-day injured list on Wednesday with a thoracic spine strain.

Trevino, 33, has played in three games for Cincinnati this season, going 1-for-11 at the plate. 

He has been serving as the Reds’ backup catcher behind starting backstop Tyler Stephenson. 

The injury marks the latest setback in what has been a precipitous fall since a career season with the Bombers four years ago. 

After coming over to the Yankees from the Rangers in a deal for right-hander Albert Abreu and minor league lefty Robert Ahlstrom before the 2022 season, Trevino immediately made a major impact. 

The framer extraordinaire took over the starting catcher job from Kyle Higashioka and made the most of it, making the American League All-Star team. 

Trevino’s prowess behind the plate earned him the AL Gold and Platinum Glove awards as the best defensive player in the league at the catching position. 

His good times with the Yankees would end that season. 

In 2023, Trevino was limited to just 55 games thanks to a wrist injury, and his already below-average effort at the plate took a big step back, as he slashed .210/.257/.312 with four home runs in 168 plate appearances. 

A year later, Trevino appeared in just 74 games, with Austin Wells taking over the starting role behind the plate. 

He was traded to Cincy in exchange for Fernando Cruz and Alex Jackson after the 2024 season. 

Last season, Trevino was below replacement level, according to Baseball Reference (-0.2 WAR), hitting .238/.272/.351 in 302 plate appearances.

The Dodgers were on the verge of ending their first road trip undefeated, but the Blue Jays rallied against the bullpen for three unanswered runs to avoid being swept as the Dodgers fell 4-3.

Before Shohei Ohtani took the mound for the second time this season, he drew a lead-off walk to extend his on-base streak to 43 games, tying Ichiro for the longest on-base streak by a Japanese-born player. His on-base streak is now tied for sixth for the longest such streak in Dodgers history. Kyle Tucker followed Ohtani with a walk of his own to put the first two men on base with no outs, but Toronto starter Dylan Cease struck out Will Smith for his first out and induced a line-drive double play from Freddie Freeman to end the threat.

Ohtani was in danger of having his scoreless streak snapped as he allowed a pair of singles to George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., but he was able to get Jesús Sánchez to pop out on a 3-0 count and struck out Kazuma Okamoto to keep Toronto off the board.

After a scoreless second inning, the Blue Jays proceeded to snap Ohtani’s scoreless streak at 25 1/3 innings as Sánchez lined a two-out RBI double down the left field line to give Toronto their first lead of the series.

The Dodgers were left struggling for answers against Cease after the first inning walks, as they went down quietly over three innings until Smith reached on an infield single in the top of the fourth, advancing to second on a throwing error from Okamoto. Freeman brought him home with a single up the middle to give him his team-leading 13th RBI and erase a short-lived Toronto lead.

The Dodgers got to Cease to begin the top of the sixth inning, as he allowed two hits and a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Cease was pulled after 96 pitches and he was accounted for a Teoscar Hernández sacrifice fly off of Louis Varland to put the Dodgers back in front by a run.

The Blue Jays threatened against Ohtani in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Guerrero lined a lead-off double to put the tying run in scoring position with nobody out. Sánchez followed Guerrero with a hard ground ball to Rojas at short, but he gunned down the lead runner at third for the first out, and Ohtani kept Toronto at bay to end his day on the mound. It was another quality start for Ohtani, and he maintains a spotless earned runs average after allowing just the unearned run. His two strikeouts on Wednesday are a career low for any start of at least six innings in his big league career.

Game 7 heroes Miguel Rojas and Smith combined to give the Dodgers an insurance run in the top of the seventh, with the latter driving an RBI single up the middle against Tyler Rogers to make it a two-run game.

Jack Dreyer came in to face the bottom of Toronto’s lineup in the bottom of the seventh inning, and he faced trouble early by walking Davis Schneider and allowing a single to Tyler Heineman to put the tying run on base. George Springer narrowly missed hitting an opposite field go-ahead home run, but still connected for his second RBI double of the series to bring the Blue Jays to within a run. Dalton Varsho got Cease off the hook for the loss with a base hit up the middle to tie the game at three and knock Dreyer out of the game.

Blake Treinen came in to face the righty Guerrero, but walked him on four pitches to load the bases and put the go-ahead run at third. He bounced back to strike out Sánchez for the second out and then got Okamoto to roll over to third to keep the game tied.

Ben Casparius took over in the bottom of the eighth inning, and after getting Ernie Clement to fly out on one pitch, he walked Schneider and allowed a base hit to Andrés Giménez to put men on the corners, once again with the go-ahead run at third. Giménez took off for second base on a 1-0 pitch to Brandon Valenzuela, and Smith’s throw kicked away from Rojas, allowing Schneider to score and giving the Blue Jays the lead.

Kyle Tucker connected for his second straight single against closer Jeff Hoffman to put the tying run on first base with one out in the top of the ninth inning, and Smith walked to put the potential go-ahead run on base. Hoffman got Freeman to strike out on a high fastball and induced a weak ground ball from Max Muncy as the Dodgers suffered their first defeat away from home in 2026.

It was a rare struggling performance from the red-hot Andy Pages, as he went 0-4 with four strikeouts while snapping an eight-game hit streak dating back to March 30.

Three runs are the lowest total the Dodgers have had in any road game this year, although they are still averaging 8.67 runs per game away from Dodger Stadium. Now they’re set to return back home, where they last struggled mightily against the Cleveland Guardians combining for just seven runs in the three-game series.

Game particulars

• WP— Tyler Rogers (1-0): 1 2/3 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts
• LP— Ben Casparius (0-1): 1 IP, 1 hit, 1 earned run, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts
• SV— Jeff Hoffman (2): 1 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

Up next

The Dodgers are off on Thursday but are back at home to open a three-game series with the Texas Rangers on Friday (7:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Tyler Glasnow kicks off the series for the Dodgers against right-hander Kumar Rocker.

The base runners were there. The result? Same old story.

White Sox lose 5-3 to the Orioles, swept again, because of course they are. Sean Burke did his best Houdini act, chewing through 23 pitches in a clean first. More traffic in the second — plunked a guy, walked another, but somehow left them both standing. It was ugly, but it kept the Sox in it.

For a hot second, the bats woke up in the second. Colson Montgomery whiffed, but Andrew Benintendi smoked a triple, Dustin Harris knocked him in, swiped a bag, and scored on Luisangel Acuña’s single. With the bases loaded and one out, a double play killed the rally. They scored two runs, but you could already feel the missed chance hanging in the air.

Naturally, the lead vanished. Burke handed out a free pass to Gunnar Henderson; Tyler Ward doubled him home; wild pitch; groundout; tie game. Blink, and the lead’s gone.

The South Siders snatched the lead back in the fifth, and it was pure White Sox. Walk, walk, another walk, bases loaded. Then Rutschman lobs one back to the mound, Bradish boots it, and Meidroth sneaks home. Free run, thank you very much. Didn’t matter. The lead was gone before you could even enjoy it.

Burke’s afternoon: five innings, two runs, nothing flashy, but he did his job. Then, the bullpen comes in, and the lead walks out the door.

Lucas Sims took a winnable spot and set it on fire with a double, single, and walk to load the bases. Will Venable yanked him for Bryan Hudson, but it was already unraveling. Passed ball, tie game. Sac fly, Orioles up for good.

The Sox had their chances, but don’t they always? Traffic in the sixth and seventh, Vargas bunts his way on, Montgomery takes one for the team, but the bats go silent. Eighth inning? Three up, three down. Just enough left for one last cruel tease in the ninth.

Tyler Schweitzer made his debut and looked a little jittery, but he flashed something. Then, back-to-back doubles in the ninth for an insurance run that nobody needed but everyone expected.

Down two in the ninth, the Sox mock us with a pulse. Tristan Peters walks, Miguel Vargas walks, tying run up in Montgomery. You already know: soft roller, game over. Going 3-for-11 with RISP and striking out 12 times usually isn’t going to go well. And it didn’t.

The White Sox are now 4-8, and honestly, that feels generous. The problems aren’t rocket science as the bullpen coughs up leads, the lineup leaves runners everywhere, and close games are just a formality. Remember when they were 4-5? Feels like ancient history.

No day off tomorrow as the team heads to Kansas City for a four-game trip. The boys haven’t won on the Royals’ home turf in I don’t know, 100 years? It will be Anthony Kay against Seth Lugo to kick off the series at 6:40 p.m. CST. See you then!

Ready for Round 2? The A’s and Yankees are set to go at it again tonight in New York. The Green & Gold dropped the first game yesterday evening in heartbreaking fashion with another late-game meltdown so the club will try to run through the finish line in their second try against the team with the best record in the sport.

On the bump tonight for the good guys will be Luis Severino. The right-hander will be going up against the team he began his big league career and spent the first decade-plus with. The Athletics’ Opening Day starter was good in his first game of the year but struggled in his most recent outing, not even able to give four full innings in a loss to the Braves. In two career starts against his former team (both coming last year), Sevy has gotten rocked for 15 runs in just 7 2/3 innings so he’ll be looking to conquer his old team.

The starting nine tonight looks like this:

Mostly the same regular lineup, save for one change from yesterday’s order. Center field will be manning by Lawrence Butler this evening, spelling Denzel Clarke up the middle. That means we’ll see backup outfielder Carlos Cortes draw another start tonight.

The Yankees meanwhile will have right-handed Will Warren on the mound for tonight’s game. He’s off to a quick start this year allowing just three runs in his first two starts. The A’s will hope to give Warren his first bump in his season. They’ve had some poor performances against his in the past though as he’s only allowed one run against the A’s in two starts.

The Yankee lineup tonight:

The A’s did well holding down this potent offense for most of the game last night. Will they be able to do it again? Tall task for the boys tonight but we got this. Let’s go A’s!

Every baseball game has a story. That’s what makes the game so great. Here were some of the narratives working their way through my head as we entered today’s Orioles-White Sox contest:

Will the Orioles get back to .500 and keep pace in the AL East?

Will the offense find itself against a bad Chicago rotation?

Does a post-Tommy John Kyle Bradish still have his ace stuff?

Well, we have some answers for you: Yes. Sort of (Ward and Henderson look pretty amazing). And I think so, but it’s still a work in progress.

Of those queries, the stuff and health of Bradish may be most important. Entering today, the one-time Top 5 Cy Young Award finisher hadn’t quite been himself, with an 0-2 record, a 6.23 ERA, and a 6.23 BB/9 rate in two starts. Today, he was better, but you can tell he doesn’t feel 100%. Bradish threw five innings on 96 pitches, allowed three runs (two earned), struck out seven, walked three, and also made two errors (totally gratuitous—more on those later).

But this was enough, as the Orioles scored four runs off Chicago starter Sean Burke, added a fifth in the ninth, and a bullpen outfit of Tyler Wells, Grant Wolfram, Anthony Nunez and Rico García held the line. The result gave the Birds their first series sweep of 2026, and pushed them back to the .500 mark, at 6-6. Things feel much better in Birdland right now.

Bradish managed to complete five innings today, which is progress. But he won’t be happy with this one, either. The second inning is becoming a thing for him: he allowed four runs his last time out against Pittsburgh, all in the second, and the Second-Inning Blues continued today, as the White Sox scored two off Bradish on five consecutive hits, and the results really could have been worse.

With one out, Bradish hung a slider to Andrew Benintendi, who tripled into the right-field corner while outfielder Tyler O’Neill tried to fish the ball out, looking like somebody rummaging around in the toolshed for a screwdriver. Chicago’s five-through-nine hitters made it 2-0 with the bases loaded, and it felt like Bradish was spiraling. But then, the gods smiled on him: Chase Meidroth grounded into a double play, getting us out of the inning and keeping the lead to just two.

This was key, as the O’s immediately tied the game the next inning. As on Tuesday, when Blaze Alexander, Taylor Ward, and Gunnar Henderson led a game-winning rally, it was the Birds’ hottest hitters who got the job done. In the leadoff spot, Gunnar Henderson walked, setting up No. 2 hitter Taylor Ward, who responded with a run-scoring double (the first of three today). A wild pitch moved Ward over, and a productive grounder by Adley Rutschman brought him home.

Bradish left the game furious after giving back a third run in the fifth, one of the strangest runs you’ll see. After walking two batters with two outs, he walked a third, Colson Montgomery, by a hair, to load the bases. A frustrated Bradish turned his back while catcher Adley Rutschman tossed the ball back to him, only to see it roll off his glove, and into the grass. As the runner on third took off for home, Bradish finally realized his mistake, fired way wide of the plate, and now the White Sox had a 3-2 lead. It was stupid. A run-by-tantrum, if you will.

Baseball is weird, though, because while Bradish left the game frustrated, he also left as the winning pitcher, courtesy of a rally the next inning off Chicago’s Sean Burke. Pete Alonso’s one-out hustle double (coupled with a dive into the second base bag) lit the way. “Let go of that anchor and get there, big fella!” said Ben McDonald from the booth, inimitably. Echoed Kevin Brown, “A belly flop for the Polar Bear!” Then Taylor Ward reached on an infield single and Ryan Mountcastle loaded the bases on a walk. The White Sox went to Bryan Hudson, a sidearming lefty, against rookie Dylan Beavers, and it backfired as Hudson fired one that got by the catcher. Alonso scored, showing more hustle. Then Beavers gave the Birds their first lead with a solidly hit sac fly.  

Now, it was time for the bullpen to try to make a 4-3 lead stand. This is not something you can take for granted these days, especially with closer Ryan Helsley out of action today. But they made it work.

First came Tyler Wells for the sixth, and it was a really weird inning. He walked Dustin Harris, gave up a stolen base, which the O’s lost their last challenge of the day contesting. Then Wells threw an inside pitch to Chicago catcher Reese McGuire, who tapped his left arm, alleging he’d been hit, and took first base. I didn’t see any contact, and neither did the MASN booth. Would the dugout have challenged this call if they could have? The world will never know, because two flyouts made the question moot, and got us out of the inning.

Grant Wolfram hit a batter and allowed a bunt single in the seventh, but he got a crucial double play to end the inning: Gunnar-to-Blaze-to-Mounty (just like Tinker to Evers to Chance, but with sunglasses, and more facial hair).

After him, Anthony Nunez continued his charmed rookie season with a clean eighth inning, aided by a great pick-and-throw by Gunnar, and a high swinging strikeout.

The Orioles scored a huge insurance run in the ninth with back-to-back doubles from Gunnar and Ward against the Sox’s Tyler Schweitzer, freshly added to the Chicago roster. That Ward-for-Grayson-Rodriguez trade in the offseason starts to look better when your outfielder is hitting .383 and leading the league in doubles (9).

That left only the ninth. In at closer for the first time in his MLB career, Rico Garcia turned in a ridiculous performance—I mean that in the best way possible. He opened the inning with seven straight balls, looking completely lost, then struck out two in a row, walked another guy, then got a groundout to end the game before things got cockeyed. Congrats on your first career save, Rico!

The Orioles offense is still a mysterious thing, the bullpen is weird, and Kyle Bradish’s command is still a work in progress. But you know, the team is back to .500 and working with something like momentum after handling the White Sox this last series.

So who is your Most Birdland Player of the Game? A gritty Bradish, showing improvement? Rico García with his first career save? Taylor Ward, who went 4-for-5 with three doubles? Henderson who scored two and also did it with the glove? Maybe a write-in nod for the Polar Bear, who hit a hustle double and scored on a passed ball?