Category: Sports News

Morning, all!

Josh Jung has continued to make sad choices at the plate, opening the door for Ezequiel Duran.

Jacob deGrom had an MRI on his knee but there’s no structural damage.

Have the Rangers found a new bullpen duo?

Kyle Higashioka helped the Rangers finally overcome George Kirby, who had been undefeated in his 10 previous starts against the Rangers.

Nathan Eovaldi threw his 1,500th strikeout Tuesday, which was also his first quality start of the year.

Joc Pederson may finally be turning things around after an 0 for 16 start to the season. Then again, he may not be.

Entering the season, the concern among Athletics’ fans and baseball experts was that the team had not done enough to improve their bullpen sans closer Mason Miller. Through ten games, that concern is fully warranted. It is likely that good players with a history of success did not want to sign with the A’s to play at a minor league home field, or the team was unwilling to offer these players the contracts they wanted. As a result, middle relievers Scott Barlow and Leiter Jr. were the best the A’s could do in this past offseason’s free agency relief market.

The A’s have a bunch of iffy relievers, none of whom have extensive closing experience at the MLB level. So then it falls to the team’s manager Mark Kotsay to best position his players for success. Yet, right now it is hard for Kotsay and A’s fans to trust any reliever that enters the game in the seventh inning or later. In Sunday’s series finale against the Astros, Barlow entered with a four-run lead and did not record an out, combining with Leiter to blow that advantage.

Last night, Kotsay thought Leiter’s experience at Yankee Stadium could lead to him getting through the eighth inning, a decision that massively backfired. If Kotsay had switched pitchers after Stanton’s at-bat or before Rosario’s, the game’s outcome might have been different. Yes, two of the first three hits Leiter Jr. gave up were not hit hard, but they still found grass resulting in base runners and runs scored.

Right now, it feels like right-hander Justin Sterner and left-hander Hogan Harris are the A’s two most reliable relievers. Right-hander Elvis Alvarado could join them as he certainly has closer stuff, although his tendency to walk batters remains a problem.

While it’s still early in the season, time remains for the A’s to resolve this bullpen problem as the current mix of guys is not working. Kotsay and the team’s general manager David Forst must make the necessary roster moves or role changes sooner rather than later as this team has too talented of an offense to watch late leads disappear every single game.

What do you think needs to happen for the A’s bullpen to perform better or will this be a problem that lasts the whole season? Is it too early to make wholesale changes? Can they find anyone willing to come who will be any better? Or do we just chalk this up to another rebuilding year?

A’s Coverage:

• A’s Bullpen Blows Yet Another Game
• Luis Morales Optioned to Triple-A
• A’s Add Former Yankees Reliever as Bullpen Depth Option
• Armchair 101: The Challenge Of Judging Decisions In Real Time
• Las Vegas Single Game Ticket On Sale
• A’s Biggest Camp Question is Already Becoming a Strength in 2026
• A’s feed off electric crowd in breakout opener
• Extensions To Colt Emerson And Konnor Griffin A New Trend?
• Here’s where all of the Athletics’ Top 30 prospects will begin 2026 season
• A’s see timing, benefits of move to Las Vegas as a precursor to a dynasty
• AN Exclusive: Blogfather Observes The Wild Denzelope In Its Natural Habitat
• AN Exclusive: Blogfather Toes The Rubber With Pitching Coach Scott Emerson
• AN Exclusive: Blogfather Catches Up With Starting Pitcher Jacob Lopez

MLB News and Interest:

• Amid scandal, is MLB headed for an international draft?
• Hard-charging teams challenge Dodgers atop Power Rankings
• Horton needs elbow surgery that will end his 2026 season
• Scherzer (forearm) exits early as strained Blue Jays staff takes another hit
• MLB 2026 Watchability Index: Ranking most fun teams to watch
• Here are the 10 most prospect-packed rosters in the Minor Leagues
• Unreal bounce helps Twins shut down Tigers in crucial spot
• Hit 24 times by Brewers pitches, Willson Contreras is fed up
• These Mason Miller numbers don’t look real — but they are
• White Sox starting to jell in first homestand of season
• 5-6(?)-4-3 … Royals turn rare double play not seen since 1995
• Hungry Giants not panicking amid early-season funk
• Pirates, Grifffin working towards record-breaking extension
• Orioles’ Samuel Basallo makes MLB’s first game-ending ABS challenge
• Trevor Bauer returns to U.S. with minor league Ducks
• Today in Baseball History
  

Best of X

Starting pitcher Aaron Civale is off to a great start with the Athletics. He has pitched well in two straight starts against tough opponents.

How many blown saves do you think A’s pitchers will have accumulated by the end of the season?

The Athletics need a couple guys to step up and prove they can handle the pressure that comes with pitching in the eighth and ninth innings of MLB games.

I’ve watched a lot of baseball in the last 60 years and have rarely been moved like I was on Opening Day when young Zane Gore stepped to the mound and threw a perfect strike to Alex Gordon. I’m not ashamed to admit that it brought me to tears, and judging by social media, many others felt the same. The Royals organization has had a rough ten years, first losing Yordano Ventura and now Terrance Gore. The organization has done a nice job honoring both men.

Speaking of Gore, the last time I saw him play in person was on July 29, 2017. If the date sounds familiar, that’s because it was the first game after the Royals made a much-celebrated “subtraction by addition” trade with the Padres, in which they dealt three perfectly good players to San Diego for a trio of pitchers (Ryan Buchter, Trevor Cahill, and Brandon Maurer). The Royals, gasping for one last playoff run, came into the game on a nine-game winning streak, with three of those coming in walk-off fashion. The conventional wisdom was that the three new arms would put them over the top.

The game itself was exciting. Cahill got the start, and all three former San Diego arms pitched. Ned used seven pitchers that night, as did the Sox, in a game that lasted almost five hours. Joakim Soria, in his second stint with the team, blew a one-run lead in the eighth inning. Salvy led off the ninth with a single, which brought out Terrance Gore to run for him. Everyone in the stadium knew what he was going to do. It was the most exciting and tense inning of the entire game. Sox catcher Sandy León managed to throw out Gore in one of those crazy challenge situations, where Gore came off the bag by a quarter inch. It didn’t matter, as Mike Moustakas and Brandon Moss both went down swinging to end the inning. The Sox manufactured a run in the 10th, and that was that.

Despite the loss, seeing a game at Fenway is always a good time. Sox fans love their baseball and know how to make a party out of it. Plus, there’s something special about singing “Sweet Caroline” with 37,000 other people. The loss sent the Royals into a tailspin. The team won only 26 of its final 61 games as the San Diego curse took hold.

Speaking of former Royals, how about the start that Joey Wiemer is having in Washington? Through 26 plate appearances, he’s slashing a cool .476/.577/.857 with ten hits, including two home runs. It goes without saying that it’s an incredibly small sample size, and he will cool off. It’s also possible that he’s turned the corner in his age-27 season and could become the next Brent Rooker-type castoff. I understand that he didn’t do anything notable in his Kansas City tenure, where he hit just .182 over 72 games, at Omaha, no less. He’s got the physical tools at 6’4″, 226, with good speed. Here’s hoping he’s figured it out.

The Royals stand at 5-6, hoping to get back to .500 today. Saturday’s first game also happened to be the first time this season I’ve seen them play, thanks to some strange television blackout rules. Much like last season, the bats are early-season AWOL. The starting pitching has been mostly great this season—until this game. Luinder Avila, whom many were pining to have on the Opening Day roster after his stellar showing in the WBC, crapped the bed in his 2026 Royals debut. He’s young and has a live arm. He’ll be okay. The bullpen, at times, has been scarier than a gas station bathroom, but the Royals have had a knack for finding capable relievers.

By and large, Royals fans, including me, are a pessimistic and fickle bunch. We’ve endured a lot of losing over the past 30 years, and it’s worn on us. We’re not at the dish-throwing stage yet, but we can get there in a hurry if the boys don’t start hitting and scoring some runs.

Of course, the big change for 2026 has been the introduction of the challenge system. I’ve been calling for it for several seasons, primarily because one missed strike or ball call can change an at-bat, which in turn can change a game. And many times, playoff berths are decided by one game.

Say, for example, there are two outs with men on second and third, and the count on the batter is two balls and one strike. The next pitch is an inch or so out of the strike zone but is called a strike. Last season, that means 2–2, and the pitcher is now in control. He’d most likely throw a slider down and away, looking for the punchout.

If the call is challenged and overturned, the count goes to 3–1, and the batter is in control. A 3–1 count is a prime hitter’s count, and if I were at the plate, I’d be looking for a fastball.

A base hit scores two.

The system has been very popular with the fans, and some umpires (here’s looking at you, C.B. Bucknor) have taken it in the shorts. I feel some sympathy for the umpires. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to try to gauge a ball moving at 95–100 mph with vertical or horizontal movement over a 17-inch target. Some of the overturns have been egregious misses. Others have been on balls that were less than a half inch off the zone. Pull out a tape measure and look at half an inch. Tough job, but it’s what they’ve been trained – and paid – to do.

I was out at what remains of our mall the other day, looking for clothes in Von Maur, and stumbled across a nifty little leather-bound book called The Ballpark Bucket List by James Buckley Jr. Inside are several pages dedicated to each of the majors’ ballparks, where you can take notes on your visit. The book set off an obsessive search of programs and ticket stubs from games I’ve attended at various parks around the country and brought back many terrific memories.

Surprisingly, in 53 years of attending games, I’ve only seen two extra-inning games. I’ve seen Reggie Jackson hit home runs for three franchises: New York, Baltimore, and California.

I’d forgotten that I’d seen Steve Busby pitch several times. It’s a shame that this generation of Royals fans hasn’t been exposed to Busby’s greatness.

Along with Busby, I’ve seen some other great pitchers: Jim Kaat, Bert Blyleven, Randy Johnson, and Nolan Ryan come to mind.

One game program had an autograph from Buck O’Neil. I wish I’d gotten a picture with him.

My brother Shane and I love visiting ballparks and sporting venues. We’ll send each other selfies in front of some sporting palace in a “guess where I am” game. If you’re like me and enjoy documenting your baseball visits, take a look at this cool baseball book.

Good day folks!

It’s been a tough stretch for the Mariners, who fell again in a one-run contest to the Rangers to move their season record to 4-8. They’ll look to get back in the win column during a day game today against MacKenzie Gore, with first pitch at 11:35am PT.

For those of you on the west coast, how do you like morning baseball games? It’s been a minute since I got to experience one, but I remember enjoying that I got a baseball game that day and also got to enjoy a rare baseball-free evening.

In Mariners news…

• Daniel Kramer reported that the Mariners have approached Logan Gilbert and Bryan Woo about contract extensions, and presumably the club remains in contact with other young players about potential deals.

Around the league…

• The Pirates officially announced the signing of a nine-year, $140M contract extension with super prospect Konnor Griffin.
• Astros ace righty Hunter Brown was diagnosed with a grade 2 shoulder strain and has been shut down from throwing from a few weeks.
• Young Cubs right-hander Cade Horton will require elbow surgery, ending his 2026 season.
• Blue Jays righty Cody Ponce will undergo knee surgery, forcing him to miss around six months.
• Jays backstop Alejandro Kirk is expected to miss six weeks after undergoing surgery on his left thumb.
• Rangers right-hander Jacob deGrom was limited during his start against the Mariners due to knee discomfort. The team is currently awaiting his MRI results.
• White Sox utilityman Brooks Baldwin underwent an internal brace procedure to repair his right UCL. He is expected to miss all of 2026.
• David Adler wrote about Astros right-hander Tatsuya Imai and his unique “wrong-way” slider.
• It’s early, but catchers have had a much better success rate in their ABS challenges than hitters so far. I suppose this should not come as a surprise, since catchers have a better vantage point of the strike zone.
• Unfortunately, I have to hand it to the Astros for being funny.

The theme of Tuesday’s slate of games was “quite a bit of offense, but not enough.” Starting pitching struggled, and even everyone pitching in at the plate wasn’t enough for Worcester and Portland… but it was plenty for Greenville and Salem, who had the help of solid defense. Let’s get into it.

Worcester: L, 10-14 (BOX SCORE)

It was a good night at the plate for the WooSox. The two-through-five hitters combined to go 9 for 20, with Kristian Campbell chipping in with three hits as his season OPS rises over .700. (He did, however, commit a throwing error in right field.) Even the bottom two hitters in the lineup, Vinny Capra and Matt Thaiss, each got a home run. Note Mikey Romero, who still has a batting average well over .300. And Sogard and Gasper continue to get on base at the top of the lineup.

But the team could not surmount some rough waters churned up by T.J. Sikkemma and Jacob Webb to start the game, as they very quickly found themselves in a 7-2 hole that was impossible to climb back from, especially following Noah Song’s three-run blown save. Columbus (Guardians AAA) had eight hits with runners in scoring position (and twenty-five opportunities to do so) so Tuesday was just a matter of the other team getting on the basepaths earlier in the inning and using their opportunities better.

Portland: L, 7-12(BOX SCORE)

It was opening day in Portland. Great! The Sea Dogs’ Hayden Mullins, Jorge Juan and Cade Feeney gave up ten runs to their neighbors from New Hampshire (Jays AA) in the second inning and saw fourteen batters come to the plate while throwing four wild pitches between the three of them. Definitely not great.

Miguel Bleis did have his first home run of the season, but that only cut the lead to 12-6. Patrick Halligan had seven strikeouts and allowed just one hit and a walk in three innings of relief and Max Carlson struck out five more in his two innings of work, but he was only in the game that long because of the prior pitching meltdown. Still, it is good to see some members of the organization turn early struggles around and remind us all that a small sample size is just that… cough cough… I hope?

Greenville: W, 7-2 (BOX SCORE)

No one went hungry and hitless Tuesday in Hub City (Rangers High-A) as every single member of the Drive chipped in at least one knock even if they struck out fourteen times. It did take until the sixth for the Drive to sling a run on the board, but the offense came in spades when it finally emerged. Shea Sprague left with a 2-0 deficit despite pitching three clean innings following the first, but Jojo Ingrassia had three innings of hitless baseball and Shane Ehrlicher had his first save of the season.

Salem: W, 10-2 (BOX SCORE)

While the Red Sox sweated out a W against the Brewers’ Major League club, the RidgeYaks cruised to a win against their Single-A counterparts thanks to plenty of knocks in the third and fourth frames, putting this one out of doubt pretty quickly behind some solid, if not short, pitching from last year’s sixth-round draft pick Leighton Finley. Catcher Kleighver Salazar had a monster day at the plate, going 4-for-5 with two doubles. It is funny how much getting runners on the basepaths early in the inning and converting those runners when they get into scoring position can affect the outcome of a game … but of course, I’m just speaking out loud here.

Have a pleasant Wednesday!

Last night started off great.

It was a pitcher’s duel for five innings (and a no-hitter duel for 3 2/3 before a Gavin Sheets miscue). Heading into the eighth inning with the Pittsburgh Pirates leading the San Diego Padres 2-1, it felt like the Friars had a shot.

Adrian Morejon was coming in to pitch and it seemed like San Diego might see Mason Miller in the bottom of the ninth. Those hopes were dashed rather quickly.

After a quick first out, Morejon gave up two singles before a soft grounder to Xander Bogaerts. The shortstop dropped what would have been an inning-ending double play, and the bases became loaded.

What followed was a slaughterhouse, with the Bucs scored five runs on three straight singles before Morejon was finally lifted for Ron Marinaccio. The bleeding stopped there, but the damage was done and San Diego lost the game, 7-1.

Today they’ll face the Pirates in their second straight rubber match. Hopefully they can take the series and end this road trip at .500 before heading home for tomorrow’s series opener against the Colorado Rockies.

Taking the mound

Mitch Keller (PIT) v. Michael King (SD)

Keller has gotten off to a fantastic start in 2026, with only two runs allowed across 12 innings pitched. But, in his last start against the Baltimore Orioles, he struggled to limit the walks (4 BBs).

If San Diego can capitalize on those command issues, the Padres will have a shot at getting Keller out of the game early.

King has also been solid in his first two starts. His first start was a vintage five-inning performance in which he limited the Detroit Tigers to one hit.

But he struggled in his last outing, giving up four runs on seven hits against the Boston Red Sox. That was mostly due to one bad inning, so if King can miss bats like he did in his first start, the Friars should be alright.

Batter up!

Facing the righty Keller will allow manager Craig Stammen to use mostly the same lineup as yesterday’s game. That could change somewhat, with Nick Castellanos either replacing Miguel Andujar at DH or Gavin Sheets at first base:

1. Ramón Laureano, LF
2. Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
3. Jackson Merrill, CF
4. Manny Machado, 3B
5. Xander Bogaerts, SS
6. Gavin Sheets, DH
7. Nick Castellanos, 1B
8. Jake Cronenworth, 2B
9. Luis Campusano, C

After yesterday’s lack of hitting against ace Paul Skenes, San Diego will need to turn it around on Keller. They certainly have done that historically, with those who have faced him having a combined .288 batting average against the righty.

Chief among those is Machado who has a .294 average in 17 at-bats.

What to look out for: Merrill is 3-for-6 in his career against Keller. His bat has been relatively cold to start the year so it would be nice to see him breakout today.

Relief corps

Pivetta was quite sharp through five innings (including four one-hit innings) apart from an Oneil Cruz two-run double that ended his night. His five innings allowed San Diego to be relatively lax in its bullpen usage.

The Padres ended up using Bradgley Rodriguez, Wandy Peralta, Morejon, and Marinaccio. Those four covered the remaining three innings well — apart from Morejon’s blowup.

That leaves multi-inning options like Kyle Hart and David Morgan. Behind those two are high-leverage relievers Jeremiah Estrada and closer Mason Miller.

Miller’s been dominant thus far this season, but San Diego has only used him in save situations. If the Friar Faithful hope to see him today, the Padres’ offense will have to bounce back after yesterday’s one-run performance.

It took a while to overcome the cold, but the bats heated up in the eighth inning for the Yankees to manage the Athletics in the opener of their latest series. Amed Rosario was the clear MVP of the night, smashing a pair of home runs including the go-ahead three-run jack that won them the ballgame. The Yankees’ continued success puts the pressure on the rest of their rivals to keep pace or fall into a widening early-season gap, so let’s see who managed to pull even on the day and who fell a little further behind.

Los Angeles Dodgers (9-2) 4, Toronto Blue Jays (4-7) 1

The Dodgers continue to haunt the Jays, returning from their victory in last year’s World Series just to stick it to them again on their home turf. It wasn’t the absolute beatdown that they gave them on Monday, but the Dodgers ran out Yoshinobu Yamamoto and watched him carve up the Blue Jays’ bats for six innings. He allowed just the one run, an RBI double from George Springer in the sixth inning that briefly threatened to cause a rally for Toronto. Yamamoto allowed a walk to put the tying run on base at the time, but buckled down and got the next two outs on grounders to end his night.

Meanwhile, Kevin Gausman wasn’t quite as effective against LA’s lineup. He lasted 5.1 innings, giving up a pair of runs in the third when Hyeseong Kim led off with a double, got moved to third on a bunt single and scored on a Shohei Ohtani single, and then Will Smith hit into a force out. Later, in the fifth, Kim led off again and worked a walk, and then moved to second on a balk that drew Toronto manager John Schneider’s ire and led to him getting ejected. Alex Freeland slapped a single to right to score him, making it 3-0 Dodgers. They tacked on an insurance run in the ninth inning, but it was hardly necessary as the Blue Jays managed just one hit in three innings against the Dodger ‘pen.

Boston Red Sox (3-8) 3, Milwaukee Brewers (8-3) 2

Boston’s been in a major skid to start the year, going 1-8 after Opening Day to put themselves squarely in last place in the AL East entering play on Tuesday. They faced a tough challenge in avoiding a ninth loss with Jacob Misiorowski on the mound for Milwaukee, but Garrett Crochet was going for Boston and rebounded from his previous poor start against Houston quite nicely.

Misiorowski gave the Sox plenty of trouble out of the gate, striking out the side in the first inning and following that up by striking out the first two batters in the second. Ceddanne Rafaela worked a leadoff walk in the third for the first Boston baserunner, but he was erased on a double play after yet another strikeout victim. Willson Contreras picked up the first base hit for the Sox in the fourth, but two more batters K’d including an ABS-confirmed punchout to end the frame, and the fifth saw a runner reach scoring position after a single and hit by pitch but nothing else.

Things changed in the sixth inning, however. Misiorowski struck out his 10th batter of the night in Roman Anthony to lead off, but then issued three straight walks to load the bases before getting lifted for a reliever in DL Hall. Trevor Story greeted him with a two-run double to break the scoreless tie, and a grounder to second brought in a third run.

Crochet had been matching zeroes on the scoreboard up until this point, but he found his limit in the top of the seventh. Joey Ortiz led off with a single, and two batters later Sal Frelick singled to put runners on with one out. A walk then loaded the bases, and Crochet made a rare error in hitting David Hamilton to force in a run. That would be it for Crochet, who handed the baton over to Zack Kelly and watched as he allowed one of his baserunners to score on a grounder but managed to preserve the lead by getting a second groundout. Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman locked down the eighth and ninth innings, securing Boston’s third win of the year.

Minnesota Twins (5-6) 4, Detroit Tigers (4-7) 2

The Tigers had to feel confident entering this matchup, running Tarik Skubal against Taj Bradley. Their ace wasn’t on top form, however, while the Twins’ starter twirled a gem leading them to victory and overtaking Detroit in the early standings.

The game was scoreless through four, but the Twins jumped on Skubal in the fifth starting with a pair of one-out walks. Luke Keaschall, Ryan Jeffers, and Josh Bell all ripped RBI hits to push four runs across the plate, the last of which drove Skubal from the game after 4.2 innings. The reigning two-time Cy Young Award winner struck out seven in this outing, but he couldn’t avoid contact as he allowed eight hits on the afternoon, and both of his walks came to hurt him.

Bradley, on the other hand, was masterful against Detroit’s lineup. He went 6.1 innings, striking out 10 batters and scattering six hits throughout. Two of those came in the seventh inning, leading to his removal after recording his final punchout of the outing. Taylor Rogers came in and got them out of the inning with just one of those runners scoring, and after wasting a pair of walks in the eighth the Tigers hit two doubles in the ninth to drive in a second run. The tying run made it to the plate following a two-out walk, but Dillon Dingler grounded out to end it.

Colorado Rockies (5-6) 5, Houston Astros (6-6) 1

Raise your hand if you had the Rockies taking back-to-back wins against the Astros in this matchup — no, put your hands back down, we’re not buying it. In all seriousness though, Colorado had a far easier time on Tuesday as Kyle Freeland tossed 6.1 innings of one-run ball, getting beat just once in the second inning for a Christian Walker solo shot. That briefly gave Houston the lead, but they gave it up in the bottom half as the first three Rockies all reached base. Colorado took their own lead in the fourth on a Willi Castro two-run shot, and tacked on two more when Mickey Moniak launched a two-run blast of his own.

Texas Rangers (6-5) 3, Seattle Mariners (4-8) 2

Brendan Donovan owns an OPS over 1.100 in the early going, and he got the M’s off to an excellent start with a leadoff homer. Unfortunately, the rest of the Mariners’ lineup has been rather ice-cold, and they struggled to do much else in support of George Kirby on the mound. Cal Raleigh managed to knock in a run with two outs in the fifth, but the offense couldn’t muster up much else around those two instances. And while Kirby managed to go the distance in this game, it was only an eight-inning effort as he fell behind in the fifth — back-to-back singles set up our old friend Kyle Higashioka for a go-ahead home run.

It was a strong set of games on Tuesday for the Atlanta Braves system, with three of four teams winning and Columbus only losing to some late pitching struggles. The position player depth at the lower levels was at full display with some important performances down in Augusta and Rome, especially the games from Alex Lodise and Conor Essenburg. The top pitching performance of the day came from the top prospect. JR Ritchie took a no hitter in the sixth inning, striking out seven batters over one inning of work and only allowing one run.

(6-4) Gwinnett Stripers 4, (5-4) Nashville Sounds 1

Box Score

Statcast

• Jim Jarvis, SS: 2-3, BB, 4 SB, RBI, .368/.478/.474
• Rowdy Tellez, 1B: 0-2, BB, RBI, .200/.286/.467
• JR Ritchie, SP: 7 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 1.72 ERA

The scorching start to the month of April gave the Stripers another win, with JR Ritchie’s dominant performance leading the way in their series-opener with Nashville. For the first five innings Ritchie was unhittable, mowing through the Sounds order with no hard-hit balls allowed despite some on-and-off command issues. Ritchie mostly kept the ball in the edges of the zone, and his tendency to not make mistakes over the middle did help in him going five hitless innings, but he had a few cases of nasty misses on his fastball. While a line of seven innings, one walk, and seven strikeouts looks incredible, adding in the three batters he plunked sort of dims the final line and shows where he was getting himself into trouble. The final of those hit batters led directly to the only run Ritchie allowed, as a stolen base and a single plated the lone Nashville score for this contest. Ritchie finished off with another hitless inning in the seventh, though, and wrapped a promising start. He held his velocity well throughout the game and was terrific with his curveball, keeping the pitch down and just below the zone consistently to force strikeouts. Six of his seven strikeouts came on that pitch and he got five whiffs on seven swings, and that deeper breaking ball has been the more consistent pitch to both handed batters over the past season.

Gwinnett jumped on Nashville starter Carlos Rodriguez in the early part of the game, taking advantage of Rodriguez’s wildness to put up four runs which they rode to the win despite struggling against the Sounds bullpen. The Stripers just ran all over the Sounds with 10 stolen bases in the game — seven with Rodriguez on the mound. Jim Jarvis alone had four stolen bases, and the pressure he put on Rodriguez offensively helped contribute to three of the Stripers runs. Jarvis’s single and two stolen bases in the first inning didn’t amount to anything, but in the second inning he came up with a two-out walk with a runner on third base. Jarvis broke for second drawing a throw, and on the double steal DaShawn Keirsey Jr. took home and pushed the Stripers lead to 2-0. Two innings later Jarvis reached yet again on a base hit, driving in another run, and after stealing third base he was able to score Gwinnett’s final run on a sacrifice fly. While the sample size is exceedingly small and batted ball luck has a major influence, Jarvis has really shined since coming over to Atlanta last season. In 34 combined games between Columbus and Gwinnett Jarvis has put up a .389 on base percentage, and the Braves have kept him aggressive stealing bases. Jarvis is a perfect 14-14 on stolen bases in those 34 games after only stealing eight bases in 77 Double-A games with the Tigers. The lack of power potential that limits his ceiling hasn’t made any shifts, but if Jarvis can add more value on the basepaths and draw more walks (which he has done in a very small sample this season) it would really help him in trying to carve out a bench role at the next level.

Swing and Misses

JR Ritchie – 11

(0-4) Columbus Clingstones 4, (3-0) Montgomery Biscuits 5

Box Score

• Luke Waddell, SS: 2-4, .250/.357/.250
• David McCabe, 1B: 1-3, HR, BB, 2 RBI, .400/.571/1.000
• Drue Hackenberg, SP: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 0.00 ERA
• Luis Vargas, RP: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 2.70 ERA

Behind a less-than-exciting group of position players it’s been a terrible start to this young season for the Clingstones, though in this one it was the late collapse of the bullpen that lead to their fourth straight loss. Columbus went an ugly 0-5 as a team with runners in scoring position, but thanks to the star of this offense they still held the lead for much of this game. With the game still scoreless heading into the third inning Columbus had an opportunity to strike first with the too of the order, and Luke Waddell managed to reach on a squibber up the middle that turned into a tough play for the second baseman. This brought up David McCabe, who has been the most dangerous threat in this lineup by a large margin. McCabe got a breaking ball that hung up in the strike zone on the first pitch, and there was no doubt when it left his bat that he had hit his second home run of the season and given Columbus a 2-0 lead. McCabe would have another opportunity with a runner on base two innings later, but his fly ball died shied of the warning track in left center field for an out. The game remained quiet until the eighth inning, when the Lizandro Espinoza and the wildness of the Montgomery bullpen allowed Columbus to extend their lead. Espinoza chopped a ball down the line that the third baseman was able to make a good snag on, but the third baseman’s backpedal to get there had him off balance and Espinoza was able to beat out the throw. Espinoza then advanced on a wild pitch and a ground out before a wild pitch on a David McCabe walk brought him in to extend the lead. Montgomery would tie it in the bottom of the eighth inning, but the Clingstones struck back in the ninth after Jordan Groshans reached on a strike three passed ball. Adam Zebrowski’s single the other way was the clutch play of the inning, and with a runner on third and just one out Columbus had a chance to put a lot of pressure on Montgomery’s bats. The next two hitters struck out, though a wild pitch was enough to bring home the runner from third and send the game to the bottom of the ninth with Columbus clinging to the narrowest of margins.

The numbers for Drue Hackenberg’s season debut look impressive despite him throwing too many balls, but unfortunately there isn’t a lot that can be gleaned from this start. The five strikeouts and seven whiffs over two innings open eyes, but due to technical difficulties the first three innings of this game are lost to history and we’ll just have to wait another week to see Hackenberg in a Columbus uniform again. The person we can evaluate is Luis Vargas, who has been dominant after injury prematurely ended his 2025 season. We had hoped last season would be his breakout campaign, but he has new life in 2026 and is taking full advantage of it. Vargas was efficient with his fastball in his first inning of work and struck out the side, though the only couple of times the slider came into play it missed badly. He started off the next inning by leaving a slider over the plate that got smacked for a solo home run, after which he settled down and started to make quality pitches with that slider. Still he left one in the zone that got hit for a double in a later at bat, and it was the clear weak point for him in this game. He was pretty much just spamming sliders over and over again in the second inning, a sequence that wouldn’t really be the strategy in a typical scenario, so it appears as if that was a point of emphasis for him to work on this game and it led to some struggles in the second inning. In the eighth inning Columbus turned to Blane Abeyta to protect a two run lead, a decision that last season would have been a great one. Abeyta was strong in 2025, but 2026 didn’t get the best start as he allowed a two run home run that tied up the game. In the ninth inning Blayne Enlow didn’t even record an out. He allowed a leadoff home run that tied the game right back up, then after a walk gave up a double that walked the game off for the Biscuits.

Swing and Misses

Drue Hackenberg – 7

LJ McDonough – 6

Luis Vargas – 6

(3-1) Rome Emperors 6, (2-2) Bowling Green Hot Rods 2

Box Score

• Isaiah Drake, CF: 1-5, BB, RBI, .294/.400/.647
• John Gil, SS: 1-4, 2 BB, 3 SB, .286/.444/.500
• Eric Hartman, CF: 1-4, HR, BB, 2 RBI, .200/.294/.600
• Colin Daniel, SP: 4 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 4 K, 4.50 ERA
• Owen Hackman, RP: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 0.00 ERA

It was another exciting game for the Rome offense, with every batter in the order recording at least one hit and the team combining for 10 hits and nine walks in their win. The first scoring inning for them kicked off with a defensive miscue, however. Owen Carey led off with a great swing to send the ball hard the other way, but it was within the range of the left fielder. The defender took a terrible route and overran the ball, and was unable to recover with the ball sailing over his head for a leadoff double. Carey would end up scoring on a single from Colby Jones, and after a catcher interference call the lineup flipped and Isaiah Drake came up with a two-out RBI single. It was still a close game later on in the eighth inning, and the top of the lineup was looking for a chance for some key insurance runs. Isaiah Drake led off and drew a walk, but with two outs the chance to score came down to Eric Hartman, who had already struck out three times this game. Hartman fell down 0-1 in the count, then got a slider that stayed up and on the inner half of the plate where he likes pitches. Hartman turned and launched one down the right field line, launching a no-doubter that broke the game open and put Rome up 5-2. Elsewhere John Gil had another great game, extending his opening hitting streak to four games. He had a hard hit line drive single in the first inning and also reached twice with two more walks. So far Gil has stolen eight bases in four games, has more walks than strikeouts, and is hitting the ball much harder than he was last season.

11th round pick Colin Daniel made his debut for Rome, and the Hot Rods struggled to do much with him at the plate. His sinker was forcing the hitters to roll over and make weak contact, and Bowling Green couldn’t plate a single run before Daniel left the game, despite Daniel struggling to command the ball. Daniel was able to hold it together in the early stages of the game, but as his outing went on the walks started to pile up though he also began to miss more bats. As he integrated his sweeper into his approach the second time through the order the Hot Rods began to whiff more and Daniel struck out three batters in the fourth inning. He came out for the fifth inning but walked the first two batters and was immediately yanked in favor of Owen Hackman. Hackman allowed both inherited runners to score before getting out the inning, and that was all that Bowling Green would get in the game. Hackman and Rodriguez both locked down over the final four innings, combining for seven strikeouts and only one more baserunner allowed.

Swing and Misses 

Colin Daniel – 6

David Rodriguez – 5

(1-3) Augusta GreenJackets 10, (1-3) Delmarva Shorebirds 7

Box Score

• Tate Southisene, 2B: 2-3, BB, .267/.476/.267
• Conor Essenburg, CF: 3-4, 2B, 2 BB, 2 RBI, .333/.524/.600
• Alex Lodise, SS: 3-6, 2B, 3 RBI, .421/.450/.526
• Luis Guanipa, RF: 1-5, RBI, .357/.400/.500
• Aiven Cabral, SP: 3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 3.00 ERA

The top of the Augusta lineup went off in this game, combining for eight hits and three walks, finally earning the first win of the season for the GreenJackets. Tate Southisene had trouble in his first series last week, but made a huge impact in this game despite not making solid contact. He struggled with six strikeouts in the three games this week, but made contact and was able to grab two hits and reach base a total of five times. Southisene drew a walk and was also hit by pitches twice, and his three runs scored led the way for Augusta. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Conor Essenburg, who hasn’t slowed down at all this season as he has reached safely multiple times in every single game. On the second pitch he saw in this game he rocketed a grounder down the third base line and cruised in for a double, igniting a scoring chance for the GreenJackets. Alex Lodise followed with a with an inside out line drive that sunk in front of the right fielder, pushing Essenburg 90 feet forward, and Luis Guanipa slapped a line drive the opposite way for an RBI to put Augusta up early. That lead lasted until a four run outburst from Delmarva in the third inning, and Essenburg popped up with another impactful plate appearance. With the bases loaded Essenburg worked a 3-2 count and then got a pitch in the zone, and shot a hard liner through the left sign of the infield to drive in a run and cut a bit into the lead. Lodise followed again with a huge swing, bashing a fastball off of the right field wall for a double, erasing that lead and scoring two runs. Augusta had a huge opportunity to extend the lead with one out and two runners in scoring position, but Luis Guanipa and Nick Montgomery struck out back to back to end the inning.

Delmarva retook the lead in the fifth inning, and once again the top of the order was needed to pull the GreenJackets ahead. Southisene led the inning off with a swinging bunt single, and Essenburg exploded his bat but came through with a soft single, and the middle of the order had no outs and two runners to work with in a hurry. Lodise again came through in a big spot, lacing a single up the middle to score Southisene and tie the game right back up. Caden Merritt would finally let Augusta retake the league, beating out a soft roller down the line with two outs that the third baseman misplayed. The lead did not last. Delmarva scored a run to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth inning. In the top of the seventh inning the Shorebirds let up four consecutive walks, the final of which was issued to Essenburg and gave Augusta a lead they would not relinquish this time around. Lodise finally failed to come through in the clutch as he struck out swinging, but an error on a Luis Guanipa grounded scored two runs and ballooned the lead to three runs. Merritt once again knocked in a run on a slow grounder over to the third baseman that the defender dropped, accounting for the final run of the game for Augusta.

Swing and Misses

Aiven Cabral – 8

Mathieu Curtis – 6

Lewis Sifontes – 6

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The Philadelphia Phillies will be looking to win the rubber match this afternoon against the San Francisco Giants as they send Aaron Nola to the hill. 

My Phillies vs. Giants predictions are targeting Philly to deliver behind a stellar outing from Nola.

Read more for my MLB picks for Wednesday, April 8. 

Who will win Phillies vs Giants today: Phillies moneyline (-133)

The Philadelphia Phillies lost 6-0 on Tuesday, as Robbie Ray dominated.

However, today, they’re up against strugglingSan Francisco Giants right-hander Tyler Mahle, who has allowed seven earned runs over nine innings in two starts. The Phillies’ lineup is also hitting .308 against Mahle across 52 at-bats.

Aaron Nola, meanwhile, has compiled a 3.18 ERA across his two outings, and he’s held this San Francisco lineup to a .178 average across 73 at-bats. The right-hander gave up a mere one earned run in his most recent game against the Rockies at hitter heaven, Coors Field. 

The Phillies are in a great position to take the series finale in the Bay Area.

COVERS INTEL: Mahle has already allowed two home runs, and opponents are hitting .351 against him in two appearances.

Phillies vs Giants Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (-108)

Oracle Park is a pitcher-friendly stadium, and I don’t expect Nola to allow many runs. Plus, even when the Giants get to the Philadelphia bullpen, that doesn’t mean they’re going to magically wake up. 

San Francisco is struggling at the dish, ranking 29th in runs scored, 29th in OBP, and 28th in slugging. While I believe the Phillies will do some damage against Mahle, there’s still value in the Under in a ballpark like Oracle, which is huge. 

Two of the last four meetings have cashed the Under as well.

Phillies vs Giants odds

• Moneyline: Phillies -127 | Giants +122
• Run line: Phillies -15 (+127) | Giants +1.5 (-138)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (+100) | Under 8.5 (-104)

Phillies vs Giants trend

The Philadelphia Phillies have hit the Moneyline in 27 of their last 45 games (+2.90 Units / 4% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Phillies vs. Giants.

How to watch Phillies vs Giants and game info

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Jeff McNeil found himself floated in trade rumors throughout his seven years with the Mets, but the infielder was still a little surprised when he was finally moved this offseason. 

McNeil, of course, was one of several long-time members shipped out of town as the front office decided to shake things up with the teams core over the winter. 

“That’s the way the organization wanted to go,” he said Tuesday in the Bronx. “There’s a lot of us that were there for a long time that are no longer there, it was a little crazy to see, but it is what it is.”

Just a few months later, McNeil is already set to return to the Big Apple. 

Him and the Athletics kicked off a three-game set with the Yankees on Tuesday night, but it’s the one later this weekend at Citi Field that he’s had circled on his calendar. 

“When I got traded I saw this pretty early on the schedule,” he said. “These three games are like normal road games for me, but when we go to Citi Field it will be a little different, there will be a bit more emotion there.

“Seven years with the Mets, I enjoyed my time and have nothing but great things to say about the organization, but I got traded and I love it here -- we have a great group and we’re having a lot of fun, so it’s been nice.”

The A’s have gotten off to a bit of a rough start, sitting in the basement of the AL West with three losses in 10 games, but McNeil has begun finding his footing at the plate. 

After starting the season in a 1-for-13 funk with six strikeouts, the 34-year-old slugger now has knocks in four straight games following a two-hit effort in in Tuesday’s loss to the Yankees.

While he is yet to pick up an extra base-hit, he’ll certainly be looking to do damage this weekend against his old club.