Category: Sports News

The rain ahead of Saturday’s contest between the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies may have forced Brian Snitker’s Braves Hall of Fame induction ceremony indoors but it certainly didn’t dampen the spirits of anybody who was in the house for Snit’s big day.

That included Braves Hall-of-Famers Tim Hudson and Terry Pendleton, who were two of many former stars, legends and luminaries who showed up to be there for Snit’s time in the sun (well, the rain but I think you know what I’m getting at, here).

Both legends took questions in the Braves dugout right as the tarp was being rolled onto the field and both of them made it very clear just how impactful Brian Snitker was on them — not just as ballplayers but as human beings as well.

“When you start thinking about hall of famers and thinking accomplishments: Who’s been in an organization 50 years? Who’s been a manager who’s won a World Championship and continue to help kids and adults get better Also off the field, too,” stated Terry Pendleton when he was asked about how his feelings on Snit getting inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame.

“We’re all looking at baseball on the field — do you know how encouraging it is for a youngster out there trying to accomplish something? Not just baseball but life or work and trying to be the best they can be and grow and do something special. Snit has shown everybody how to do that, how to endure and continue on.”

Pendleton also revealed that the baseball-lifer Snitker was actually a bit nervous and wondered if he belonged in the same category as those who have been inducted before he was. Pendleton let us know that he made it clear that Snit belonged. “I told him down in Florida, he was like ‘I saw these names and I’m not worthy of this’ and I said ‘Hey, if anybody’s worthy of this, you are.”

Pendleton also spoke about how while the two of them didn’t really cross paths that much during Pendleton’s time as a big-leaguer, he took home some valuable lessons and inspiration from the man once Pendleton became a coach, himself.“

“Well, it took a while. It took some years. I didn’t really get to hang around him when I was in the big leagues since he was in the minor leagues down working,” explained Pendleton. “It didn’t really happen until we came together as coaches in the big leagues and I really got to learn who the man was and I love the man. Don’t get me wrong: I love his coaching, I love his managing but I love the man because I know what the man stands for and I know who he is.”

Once Terry Pendleton got done talking about Snitker, it was Tim Hudson’s turn. The Alabama native whose entire time as a starting pitcher for the Braves coincided with Brian Snitker’s tenure as a third base coach also spoke kindly about the time and experience he got to share with Snitker in the clubhouse and on the field. Huddy even talked about a time when h got to experience something that pitcher’s don’t usually get to do (and they certainly don’t get to do in today’s game).

“I remember there was a game in Washington where I was on first base and there was a double hit to the gap,” explained Hudson. “I thought I was kind of an athlete back then so I’m running hard and nine-times-out-of-ten or almost 100 percent f the time, the third base coach is going to stop you right at third base since you don’t want to hurt the pitcher.”

“Well I’m running and all of a sudden, I get close to third base and I see Snit and he’s giving me the [signal to round third and come home], he’s willing me around third base. I say, ‘Oh yeah, I’m scoring’. We never scored from first base, being pitchers and it was a play at the plate. It was like a bang-bang play. I felt like an athlete. I felt like a baseball player.”

Hudson did admit that the decision from Snitker to wave him around third wasn’t exactly smiled upon but Hudson appreciated it. “I’m sure people’s hearts skipped a few beats when that happened but it was just the kind of guy he was. He loves baseball, he loved working with the pitchers that could handle the bat a little bit and could run the bases and I appreciated that as a player.”

I then asked Tim Hudson if there was anything he he could take away from his experience with Brian Snitker and not just as a baseball player but as a human being, oto.“

“Probably after he’s retired and after I retired, I probably have a lot more respect for him now than I did when he was a manager or a coach because we’ve gotten to be a lot closer now as a family since he’s retired and since I’ve retired than we were [in the clubhouse]. Ronnie, his wife and my wife are really good friends. He always supported anything that we’ve had going on with our charity work and he always comes to Auburn and hangs out and does things. He’s a real person and he’s very approachable. If you can take away from this game four-or-five people that you can really call friends, you’re pretty lucky. He’s one of those guys.”

These were just two collections of stories from two of the truly countless amount of players that Brian Snitker got to either play with, coach or manage during his now-50 years with the Braves — remember, he’s still employed as a special consultant. Whether you consider that a ceremonial job or not, he’s still sticking around the organization. Either way, Brian Snitker has truly been an important part of this organization for quite some time and it’s good to see that everybody who he impacted made an effort to give him his flowers on his Braves Hall of Fame induction day.

The San Diego Padres put together another late inning rally to overcome a four-run deficit and beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4 at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in Mexico City. The Padres had to overcome a rough second inning for starter German Marquez who allowed four runs with two outs in the inning. To his credit, Marquez made an adjustment and was able to complete six innings to avoid overworking the bullpen. San Diego was not able to get much if any offense in the early part of the contest, but after Zac Gallen left the game following being struck by a Freddy Fermin line drive. Brandon Pfaadt came on in the fourth and was affective until the Padres were able to knock him out in the top of the seventh. The Padres added four runs to their 4-1 deficit which put them in the lead for good. Ty France hit two homers in the effort and was the star of the game for San Diego on the offensive side. The Padres will finish their series with the Diamondbacks on Sunday at 3:05 p.m.

Padres News:

• The San Diego farm system continues to function as normal despite all the naysayers. Is it the top system in the game? No, but it does not have to be for the Padres to benefit and for the system to make headlines.

• With the Padres and Diamondbacks kicking off the Mexico City Series 2026, Thomas Conroy of Gaslamp Ball took a trip down memory lane and pointed out some of the highlights of past trips for the Padres in Mexico.

• Utility infielder Sung-Mun Song was called up from Tiple-A El Paso as the extra player for the Mexico City series.

• Mason Miller has been more than what the Friar Faithful could have expected as the closer of the Padres and he now stands alone as the franchise leader with 34.2 innings pitched without allowing a run. San Diego general manager A.J. Preller took some criticism for the trade, but it seems to be paying off for him and the Padres.

Baseball News:

• Alex Cora, as well as a large portion of his coaching staff, are out as the Boston Red Sox manager. The move came after the Red Sox were able to snap a four-game skid with a 17-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

• The Seattle Mariners hit three home runs and watched the St. Louis Cardinals hit five home runs. The Mariners came out on top of the slugfest, 11-9.

• The Cincinnati Reds placed Eugenio Suarez on the 10-day IL with an oblique strain.

• Cleveland Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan was scratched from the lineup in their matchup with the Toronto Blue Jays due to neck stiffness.

Rangers 4, A’s 3

• The Rangers beat a lefty starter! Woo hoo!
• MacKenzie Gore had what I’m starting to think of as a rather MacKenzie Gore start. He struck out the side in the first on 14 pitches, making you feel like he was locked in. The broadcast was marveling at how his fastball was playing, how the A’s hitters weren’t catching up to it.
• Then in the second, Tyler Soderstrom had a well struck fly out, Jacob Wilson smoked a double, and Darell Hernaiz had a hard hit single to drive him in for a 1-0 A’s lead. Corey Seager booted a two out grounder, which made things more worrisome, but Gore got Zack Gelof to fly out to end the inning.
• In the third, it looked like Gore was in danger of having a really short outing. A line drive single by She Langeliers, a walk to Nick Kurtz, and a line drive single by Colby Thomas brought a run in. A ground out advanced the runners, Jacob Wilson had a sac fly, and then a seven pitch walk to Max Muncy followed by a six pitch walk to Hernaiz loaded the bases with Gore at 32 pitches in the inning.
• Gore got out of it, though, getting Austin Wynns to fly out. And after that he was fine, allowing a single in the fourth and another in the fifth but not allowing either runner past first.
• Gore’s final line was three runs in five innings, six hits, three walks, seven Ks. He generated 14 whiffs on 106 pitches, 10 of which came on his fastball and another two on his sinker. His offspeed pitches weren’t getting it done.
• The bullpen, on the other hand, did get it done. An inning apiece from Cole Winn, Jalen Beeks, Jakob Junis and Jacob Latz, with just one A’s hitter reaching base over the final four innings.
• As for the offense, they didn’t get on base much, but when they did, they made it count. A pair of two spots, one in the third and one in the sixth.
• In the third they loaded the bases with no one out on a Danny Jansen HBP, an Evan Carter full count walk, and a Sam Haggerty bunt single. Brandon Nimmo brought home one run with a sacrifice fly, and a Corey Seager two out flare single brought home the second.
• Josh Jung was responsible for the second two run inning, as he went the opposite way for a home run after Seager had lead off the inning with a single.
• If you’re keeping track, Jung is now slashing .299/.354/.540 on the season. Not bad.
• Every other inning was a 1-2-3 inning for the Rangers, except for the fourth, when Jansen had a two out single.
• MacKenzie Gore hit 97.6 mph with his fastball, averaging 95.9 mph. Cole Winn touched 96.3 mph with his fastball. Jalen Beeks reached 95.3 mph with his fastball. Jakob Junis’s fastball topped out at 92.9 mph. Jacob Latz hit 97.1 mph with his fastball.
• Brandon Nimmo had a 102.9 mph groundout. Josh Jung’s home run was 100.6 mph. Jake Burger had a 100.4 mph fly out.
• Can the Rangers win the finale on Sunday and take the series? Tune in and find out…

Meet the Mets

Yesterday’s game between the Mets and Rockies at Citi Field was postponed due to inclement weather. The game will be made up as part of a single-admission doubleheader today with first pitch of Game 1 scheduled for 1:40pm ET. Nolan McLean will pitch the first game and Kodai Senga, yesterday’s scheduled starter, will pitch Game 2.

Reliever Austin Warren will be serving as the Mets’ 27th man for today’s doubleheader.

Given the Mets’ starting pitching depth, the leash can’t be that long for Kodai Senga, writes Mark W. Sanchez of the New York Post.

Around the National League East

The Phillies rallied to beat the Braves 8-5 in ten innings to snap a ten-game losing streak. Zack Wheeler made his return from surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome for Philadelphia and the results were encouraging for the Phillies; he allowed two runs on three hits, striking out six in five innings of work. The Braves took a one-run lead in the sixth, but Philadelphia tied it in the eighth and put up a four-run tenth against the Braves’ bullpen, who wasted a strong effort from Bryce Elder. Bryce Harper’s go-ahead single was the decisive hit for the Phillies.

Former manager Brian Snitker was inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame prior to the game against the Phillies at Truist Park. He was surprised by his son—Mets hitting coach Troy Snitker—who was able to catch a flight to Atlanta to make the ceremony after the Mets’ game was postponed.

The Nationals beat the White Sox 6-3 also in extras thanks to a four-run tenth. Two Nationals pitchers also combined for the rare four-strikeout inning.

The Marlins fell to the Giants 6-2, as Eury Pérez took the loss for allowing four runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Around Major League Baseball

After a disappointing 10-17 start, the Boston Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora and five members of his coaching staff yesterday in a massive, stunning shakeup.

Yesterday marked the 50-year anniversary of the day two protestors attempted to burn an American flag on the field at Dodger Stadium. Rick Monday, then an outfielder for the Cubs, grabbed the flag from them. The flag, which Monday still owns, will be on loan to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown this summer as part of America’s 250th birthday celebration.

Reds DH Eugenio Suárez was placed on the injured list yesterday with an oblique strain.

The Padres beat the Diamondbacks 6-4 to open the Mexico City Series. With a scoreless inning to close things out, Mason Miller set the record for longest scoreless streak in Padres history.

The Dodgers walloped the Cubs 12-4 to snap Chicago’s MLB-best 10-game winning streak.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

On a new episode of Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World Series, Brian Salvatore and Chris McShane breathe a sigh of relief that the Mets managed to win a couple of games, but remain concerned about the state of the team, especially with the injury to Francisco Lindor.

This Date in Mets History

Two iconic Mets—Keith Hernandez and Mike Piazza—reached career milestones on April 26: 1,000 RBIs for Keith in 1988 and 400 home runs for Piazza.

Saturday saw the Yankees extend their win streak as they picked up another fairly comfortable win over the Astros. Trent Grisham, José Caballero, and Austin Wells all homered as the Yankees picked up the win to take their eighth consecutive game.

The win streak has seen the Yankees vault towards the top of the standings across baseball, but let’s see if they gained any ground with their competition around the AL yesterday.

Boston Red Sox (10-17) 17, Baltimore Orioles (13-14) 1

The biggest news around them came postgame when they fired Alex Cora, but the Red Sox did well on the field on Saturday, obliterating the Orioles.

Even with that final score, the game didn’t actually get too out of hand until late, although Boston was in control for most it. Caleb Durbin opened things up with an RBI double, as the Red Sox scored three runs in the first. They added one in the fourth and three more in the fifth, with Connor Wong hitting a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double.

Meanwhile on the mound, Garrett Crochet was way better than some of his other recent starts. He lowered his ERA to 6.30, having thrown six scoreless innings, giving up just three hits and two walks. Baltimore then did get on the board in the seventh, giving them a brief glimmer of hope, but that door would soon be slammed shut.

In the top of the ninth inning, the Red Sox scored 10 runs on 10 hits, sending 14 batters to the plate over the course of the frame. O’s reliever Keegan Akin was making his 2026 debut, and will leave the game with a 54.00 ERA after allowing six of the 10 runs in the inning.

Despite that dominance, Boston still pulled the trigger on Cora — and several coaches, including franchise legend Jason Varitek (who got away with reassignment) and former Yankees hitting coach Dillon Lawson — a few hours later. It’s been a less-than-stellar start for them, but that was still an unexpected move.

Toronto Blue Jays (11-15) 5, Cleveland Guardians (15-13) 3

A two-RBI double from Andrés Giménez capped off a three-run sixth inning for the Blue Jays that ended up holding up for a Toronto win.

The Guardians took an initial lead in the third, but the Jays answered on Kazuma Okamoto’s fourth inning homer to tie things up. Two innings later, Toronto broke things open. It was a Daulton Varsho RBI single that gave the Blue Jays the lead, before Giménez plated another two runs.

Cleveland did score two further runs and they did certainly have their chances, putting up nine hits on the day. However, Toronto also scored once more and their bullpen was solid enough to close things down.

Other Games

• Seattle Mariners (13-15) 11, St. Louis Cardinals (14-12) 9: Despite getting only three innings out of Bryan Woo, who left after allowing seven runs, the Mariners used a late surge to overtake the Cardinals. Leo Rivas hit a two-run single in the top of ninth to give Seattle the lead after they trailed 9-7 going into the eighth.

• Tampa Bay Rays (15-11) 6, Minnesota Twins (12-15) 1: Shane McClanahan and the Rays’ bullpen kept the Twins off the board until the game was basically decided as Tampa Bay came away with the win. Jake Fraley and Ben Williamson had two-RBI games each as the Rays mostly cruised.

• Texas Rangers (14-13) 4, Athletics (14-13) 3: Josh Jung’s go-ahead homer gave the Rangers the lead for good as they overcame a 3-0 deficit against the A’s. The artists formerly known as Oakland struck a couple times early, but managed just one hit over the final five innings against Texas’ bullpen, allowing the Rangers to overtake them.

• Cincinnati Reds (18-9) 9, Detroit Tigers (14-14) 2: Despite Kevin McGonigle homering in the game’s very first at-bat, the Reds immediately scored four runs in the bottom of the first and never looked back from there. Sal Stewart had a homer for Cincinnati and drove in five runs on the day.

One thing that is absolutely, undeniably true about sports is that all winning streaks must end, sometime.

Thus we knew that eventually, the Cubs would lose another game after going on their longest winning streak since the World Series year of 2016.

It’s not always pretty when winning streaks end and that was the case Saturday night in Los Angeles, when the Dodgers blew out the Cubs 12-4.

The Cubs actually had a 2-0 lead in this game. Seiya Suzuki was responsible for the first of those runs when he hit his fourth homer of the year in the second inning [VIDEO].

In the third, Miguel Amaya led off and was hit by a pitch. He took off for second on a wild pitch that bounced in front of the plate and was safe on a close play. One out later, Amaya scored on a single by Michael Busch [VIDEO].

The Dodgers tied things up in the bottom of the third on a two-run homer by Max Muncy off Colin Rea. But the Cubs took the lead again in the top of the fourth. Moisés Ballesteros smashed his fourth homer of the year off Roki Sasaki [VIDEO].

Then the wheels fell off. Rea, who had thrown 73 pitches over the first three innings, allowed a one-out single and then a game-tying RBI double to Alex Freeland. Shohei Ohtani walked and then Freddie Freeman singled in Freeland to give the Dodgers the lead. About Rea’s evening, from BCB’s JohnW53:

Colin Rea gave up six hits and walked four. He was the first Cubs starter in eight games to allow double-digit runners and just the fourth this season. Edward Cabrera allowed 11 vs. the Pirates on April 11 and 10 vs. the Mets on April 17. Javier Assad surrendered 13 at Philadelphia on April 13.

Maybe Craig Counsell should have just lifted Rea after three innings and brought in Javier Assad to start a clean inning in the fourth. As it was, Assad walked the first hitter he faced, loading the bases. He got Kyle Tucker to pop up for the second out, but then the Dodgers smacked three straight singles off Assad, scoring four runs in all (two of which were charged to Rea). If you’ve lost count here, that’s a six-run inning and a five-run Dodgers lead.

A home run by Amaya with one out in the fifth made it 8-4 [VIDEO].

The Cubs did have a chance to get back in this game in the sixth. Ian Happ led off with a walk. Then Suzuki singled and Sasaki was lifted for left-hander Jack Dreyer. Counsell left Ballesteros in to face the lefty and Moisés walked, loading the bases with nobody out.

But Dreyer struck out Dansby Swanson and Pete Crow-Armstrong and got Amaya to ground out, so the Cubs turned that opportunity into no runs at all, and then the Dodgers pushed four more runs across the plate. Assad started the sixth and, as was the case for Rea, maybe Counsell should have taken him out and started the inning with Vince Velasquez, who eventually entered after Assad had allowed the first four Dodgers to reach base, followed by two outs, the first of which scored a run. Eventually the Dodgers made it a four-run inning, the last of the runs scoring on a wild pitch by Velasquez.

And that, as they say, was that. The Cubs had just one baserunner after the seventh, Suzuki with a leadoff single in the eighth, but he was erased when Swanson hit into a double play. Props to Suzuki, who had three hits including his home run and is now batting .327/.439/.564 (18-for-55) in 15 games played since his return from the knee injury suffered in the World Baseball Classic.

Oddly enough, this game felt a lot like the loss that preceded the 10-game winning streak, the 13-7 loss to the Phillies in Philadelphia. Assad pitched in that one, too. This one appeared to be just one of those nights when neither Rea nor Assad had it, and those kinds of things happen from time to time. Here are some postgame comments from Counsell [VIDEO].

A couple final notes on this one from John:

This is just the third of the Cubs’ 27 games in which they have allowed at least eight runs. The first two were Opening Day, when they lost at home to the Nationals, 10-4, and the 13-7 shellacking on April 13 at Philadelphia. They had given up 100 runs in 26 games before this one — 3.85 per game.

Also, remarkably:

The 12 runs scored by the Dodgers tied for the most they have scored against the Cubs since moving to Los Angeles in 1958. This was the 368th game there between the teams. The Dodgers had scored 12 in four previous games at L.A., beating the Cubs by 12-6 in 1960, 12-5 in 1947, 12-3 in 1991 and 12-4 on April 24, 1998.

They scored more than 12 runs against the Cubs at Brooklyn in 10 games between 1901 and 1953. Their high was in a 16-1 win in 1922.

The Cubs still have a chance for a series win in the finale Sunday afternoon, and hopefully begin another winning streak. Shōta Imanaga will start for the Cubs and Justin Wrobleski will go for the Dodgers, a battle of left-handers. Game time is 3:10 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network (and MLB Network outside the Cubs and Dodgers market territories).