There are some positives that the St. Louis Cardinals can take away from Sunday’s 11-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, but Dustin May’s start is not one of them as he was hammered through 4 innings.

Dustin May’s unfortunate outing started to go south in the 2nd inning when the Tampa Bay Rays strung together a single by Simpson, a double by Deluca giving the Rays their first run who then advanced to 3rd on a sac fly by Palacios. Deluca scored on a wild pitch from May giving the Rays a 2-0 lead. Williams hit a ground ball up the middle, but ended up with a hustle double. Fedducia singled on a ball that popped out of Burleson’s glove followed by a Diaz single putting the Rays up 3-0 early.

The Cardinals would get on the board in the bottom of the 3rd inning when Jordan Walker ripped a double to left. He would later score when a Victor Scott II infield single was mishandled by Palacios.

Tampa Bay added to their lead in the 4th inning when Fedducia walked and scored after Diaz doubled. Aranda then doubled to right field scoring Diaz who would also score on a double by Aranda. The double parade continued with Mullins which scored Aranda giving the Rays a 6-1 lead.

The Cardinals would show big signs of life in the bottom of the 4th inning when Masyn Winn singled, Thomas Saggese walked and then Jordan Walker lit up an off-speed pitch on the outside part of the plate and deposited it into the left field stands.

The St. Louis bullpen did a solid job for a couple innings when Justin Bruihl relieved Dustin May in the 5th and 6th innings and held the Rays scoreless. George Soriano kept the Rays off the board in the 7th inning, but Matt Pushard’s major league debut in the 8th inning was not a successful one as Tampa Bay would add 3 more runs in that frame giving them a 9-4 lead.

The 2026 Cardinals continue to prove that they have no quit in them as Nolan Gorman slammed a home run into the right field stands in the bottom of the 8th.

Jordan Walker continued to show a much-improved approach as he hit a laser shot single to right field following the Gorman home run. He was followed by Pedro Pagés who also homered making it a 2-run lead at the time.

Tampa Bay added more runs in the top of the 9th inning thanks to a sacrifice bunt given up by Chris Roycroft making the score 10-7 who was also victimized by another dribbler in front of the mound which gave the Rays a 11-7 lead which is how the game would end.

There are a lot of positives even in a Sunday defeat. JJ Wetherholt got another hit as he’s opened the season with a .308 average. Jordan Walker looks like a changed man as he went 3 for 4. Nolan Gorman came off the bench and homered in one of his at-bats. Justin Bruihl and George Soriano did a great job out of the bullpen giving the Cardinals at least a chance to come back.

The St. Louis Cardinals will be back in action Monday night as the New York Mets come to town. Kyle Leahy is scheduled to make his first start of the year for the Cardinals.

The Iowa Cubs were caught hibernating by the Columbus Clippers (Guardians), 7-5.

It was a good start for Jaxon Wiggins, who went four innings and allowed just one run on two hits. Wiggins struck out six and walked two.

Here’s Wiggins getting a strikeout.

Meanwhile, the I-Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when right fielder Justin Dean doubled to lead off the inning and then second baseman James Triantos beat out an infield single to score Dean with two outs.

The I-Cubs made it 4-0 in the bottom of the second with this three-run blast from third baseman Pedro Ramirez.

First baseman BJ Murray Jr. made it 5-1 in the bottom of the third with this solo home run.

But then the I-Cubs bats went silent. Gavin Hollowell threw two great innings of relief, allowing no runs and no hits. He walked one and struck out three. But Tyler Santana was called upon to pitch the eighth and ninth innings. He allowed one inherited run and one more of his own to score in the eighth and then allowed a solo home run to lead off the ninth and a three-run home run to Nolan Jones that gave Columbus the lead for good.

The final line on Santana was five runs on three hits and four walks over two innings. He struck out two.

Iowa did bring the go-ahead run to the plate with two outs in the ninth, but DH Jonathon Long hit the first pitch to the shortstop for an easy fielder’s choice that ended the game.

Pedro Ramirez was 1 for 2 with the home run and two walks. He also stole a base.

BJ Murray Jr. was 1 for 4 with the home run.

Justin Dean went 1 for 3 with the double and two walks.

Having had a while to process last night’s 6-5 loss against the Guardians, I have determined that as far as losses go, I’m pretty okay with this one. Yes, there were incredibly frustrating things: the bullpen coughing up a key run after some questionable decisions, the utter lack of hitting with runners in scoring position, the double-digit strikeouts. But there were enough positives to take away to leave me about as encouraged as one can be about a loss.

One: Bryan Woo looked unhittable for five innings

Woo’s postgame interview was agonizing as he shouldered the blame for the loss after giving up [checks notes] two runs over six innings. Yes, the command faltered in the sixth, but Woo’s performance up to that point was dominant. The Guardians came in with a plan to be aggressive against him and Woo pounded the zone anyway, forcing the Guardians into quick, weak-contact outs. He also racked up nine strikeouts, 15 whiffs, and hit a career milestone of four hundred strikeouts en route to re-establishing himself as the ace of the rotation.

Two: Randy keeps getting on base

Randy Arozarena’s ice-cold challenge in the second inning that resulted in a walk was one of my favorite moments from yesterday’s game. Randy will get his hacks in, make no mistake about it, but he is running an extremely hilarious (to me) 7.7% strikeout rate vs. a 31% BB rate over these first three games.

Three: Cole Wilcox makes a strong Mariners debut

Wilcox, who’s up in place of the injured Carlos Vargas, showed why he was a spring training standout with an efficient 1-2-3 inning. The issue for Wilcox is throwing strikes, and he did that last night against the bottom of the Guardians’ order, including a fairly devastating three-pitch sequence to CJ Kayfus that ended with Kayfus chasing after 96 on the top rail. You can read more about Wilcox here.

Four: Cole Young continues to be on time for the fastball

Young didn’t have a great day at the plate but he came up huge in the ninth, shooting a 97.5 mph fastball oppo down the left-field line for a leadoff double and eventually scoring the tying run. Young continues to handily beat his preseason projections into the ground and while pitches will eventually stop throwing him fastballs on the plate, Young also did a good job in this at-bat of laying off a couple of tough splitters.

Five: Julioooooooooo

This was the feel-good moment of the night for me. It’s been a scuffle for Julio over these first three games but this game-tying single where he just used his strength to muscle the ball into right-center was cathartic. It’s encouraging to see Julio not getting too big with his swing and doing what the moment calls for, tying it up and passing the baton.

“What we saw from Julio throughout the spring was using the whole field, and that was a perfect example there,” said Dan Wilson. “Not trying to do too much, especially with two strikes, just trying to get something in play there, and he did get a pitch he could handle and found a hole over there on the right side and gave us the tie at the time. Outstanding at-bat for him.”

Six: That Chase DeLauter homer was an anomaly

96.6 up and away? On a cold March night in Seattle? xBA of .490, 99 mph off the bat and 365 feet? Home run at 20 of 30 parks? Get all the way out of here.

Seven: Healthy Luke Raley is a menace to opposing teams

[Crocodile Dundee voice] That’s not a home run, that’s a home run. Raley had one home run over 400 feet last year after hitting 11 in 2024, including a career-long 459-footer, and 12 in 2023 with Tampa Bay. He’s already notched one such blast three games into the 2026 season with this 411-footer, scorched off the bat at 108.9 mph.

Eight: Return of the comeback kids

Maybe the most encouraging thing from last night’s loss: the comeback the team mounted in the last few innings, even if it fell short. Cole Young said that J.P. Crawford took him aside between innings to encourage him and help coach him up with a scouting report on the pitcher, right before his leadoff double. Young also said Josh Naylor was feeding positive energy to the dugout, telling everyone the Mariners were going to come back and win that game. It didn’t happen last night, but the pieces are in place.

“That’s what this team does,” said Wilson. “We have seen that time and time again, and to feel that energy in here, to feel that fight in here again, that’s a really good sign as we get started.”

The Colorado Rockies were unable to avoid the sweep in their Opening Weekend series against the Miami Marlins. The Fish walked off the Rockies on a two-run home run, cementing an 0-3 record to kick off the 2026 campaign with three straight one-run losses.

Unable to capitalize

The Rockies struck first, when Jordan Beck hit a bases-loaded and bases-clearing double in the first inning to put the Rockies up by three.

Those would be the only runs the Rockies would score for the rest of the game. Striking out a whopping 11 times—with four hitters being punched out at least twice — the Rockies finished the series with 30 total strikeouts.

The Rockies had multiple opportunities to score more runs throughout the game. They drew two walks and had six hits in total. In the top of the seventh, the Rockies had both Jake McCarthy and Kyle Karros on base with no outs, only to come up empty. They then went down in order with two strikeouts in both the eighth and ninth innings.

Overall, the Rockies were just 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

A solid debut for José Quintana

Like Kyle Freeland and Michael Lorenzen before him, Rockies starting pitcher José Quintana went for 4 1/3 innings in his season debut. Quintana, signed this off-season on a one-year, $6 million contract, held the Marlins to two earned runs during his start despite not having his best stuff. He nibbled the strike zone and struggled somewhat with command, walking four batters and giving up four hits. He threw 78 total pitches, 42 for strikes. It took more than 50 pitches for Quintana to make it through the first two innings of the game. However, he made much quicker work of the third and fourth frames.

One mistake from the bullpen is the Rockies’ undoing

With a runner on and one out in the fifth inning, Quintana gave way to Jimmy Herget for his second appearance of the young season. “The Human Glitch” quickly dialed up back-to-back strikeouts on eight pitches to end the inning.

Following Herget, starter-turned-long reliever Antonio Senzatela took the mound for his first appearance of the year. Senzatela was incredibly sharp during his first two innings. He set down all six batters in order with three strikeouts. His fastball was clocking near 99 MPH and his pitches were showing good shape and movement compared to previous seasons. Senzatela recorded the first two outs in the eighth inning but did allow a walk and a single before being pulled for Victor Vodnik.

Vodnik—looking for the four-out save—was charged with hitting the first batter he saw even though the ball hit the knob of the bat and not the batter himself. He quickly struck out the next hitter on three well-placed pitches, including a 94.4 MPH changeup and a 99.7 MPH four-seam fastball.

In the bottom of the ninth inning Vodnik gave up a ground ball single to Xavier Edwards only for Liam Hicks to line into an unassisted double play via the glove of Rockies first baseman Troy Johnston. With two outs, the save—and the Rockies’ first win of the season—was in sight. However, Vodnik gave up a double to Javier Sonoja and then left a changeup hanging middle-middle to Owen Cassie, who sent the ball over the outfield wall for a walk-off home run.

Coming Up Next

The Rockies will continue their season opening road trip tomorrow evening with a trip to visit the defending American League Champion Toronto Blue Jays. Right-handed veteran Tomoyuki Sugano will make his season debut for Colorado while the right-handed Cody Ponce will toe the rubber for the Blue Jays. First pitch is at 5:07 PM MDT.

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The Mets fell to the Pittsburgh Pirates by a final score of 4-3 in 10 innings on Sunday afternoon.

Here are the takeaways...

-- With the game still tied in the ninth, Luke Weaver worked around a pair of walks to keep things knotted at 2-2. After the Mets couldn't score in the bottom half, Richard Lovelady came on for the 10th, and Ryan O'Hearn greeted him with an RBI single to score the free runner. Lovelady, pitching on back-to-back days, allowed another RBI hit to Henry Davis, giving the Pirates a 4-2 lead.

In the bottom of the 10th, after a Lindor walk, Juan Soto crushed a double to left-center, and while free-runner Francisco Alvarez scored easily, Francisco Lindor was out by quite a bit at the plate for the first out of the inning, following a questionable send from third base coach Tim Leiper. Later, with two outs and a runner on third, Jorge Polanco hit one to the wall in right, but it was just off the end of the bat enough to be caught for the final out of the game.

-- It was clear from the jump that Nolan McLean had a hard time getting comfortable on the mound. After walking the first two hitters of the afternoon, McLean allowed an RBI single toO'Hearn, and then gave up a solo shot to Brandon Lowe (his third homer of the series) in the top of the third inning, the first homer he's ever allowed to a left-handed hitter in the big leagues.

McLean settled in during the middle innings, striking out four combined hitters in the fourth and fifth frames, and his afternoon ended there. McLean went 5.0 innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits with eight strikeouts and a walk. He threw 84 pitches, 52 of which were strikes.

-- Pirates starter Carmen Mlodzinski had the Mets baffled early. The young right-hander struck out the side in both the first and third innings, fanning Lindor, Soto, and Bo Bichette two times each. That being said, the middle and bottom parts of the order were able to push a run across in the second, as Luis Robert Jr. singled and came around to score on a Marcus Semien sac fly. Mlodzinski set a new career-high with seven strikeouts through just three innings.

--But the top of the order came through the third time through the order, as Lindor tripled in the fifth (his first since the 2024 season), followed by a Soto RBI single, which tied the game at 2-2 and chased Mlodzinski from the game after 4.1 innings. He allowed two earned runs on six hits, striking out a career-high eight while walking none.

-- Sean Manaea made his season debut out of the bullpen, coming into the game with two outs and nobody on in a 2-2 game in the top of the seventh. With a fastball around 88-90 MPH, Manaea allowed an Oneil Cruz single and committed an error on a pickoff attempt to allow Cruz to get into scoring position, but got out of the inning with a grounder to second. He pitched into the eighth, when he allowed a pair of two-out walks, but he again got out of the jam.

--It was another big day at the plate for Robert and Baty, with both recording a pair of hits. Meanwhile, Bichette and Soto each struck out three times, but Soto did also drive in a pair of runs.

Game MVP

O'Hearn, who had three hits and a pair of RBI on the afternoon.

Highlights

Marcus Semien with a sacrifice fly to tie game at 1! pic.twitter.com/9YQkUQXEiO

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 29, 2026

Marcus Semien with a sacrifice fly to tie game at 1! pic.twitter.com/9YQkUQXEiO

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 29, 2026

Francisco Lindor with a triple for his first hit of the year! pic.twitter.com/DYzzhGEnfq

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 29, 2026

Juan Soto brings home Francisco Lindor to tie the game 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ULfxxXiNlt

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 29, 2026

Francisco Lindor plays the deflection and just gets Jake Mangum at first! pic.twitter.com/TR3liTSVbb

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 29, 2026

Juan Soto doubles home Francisco Alvarez to bring the Mets within one

Francisco Lindor is thrown out at home trying to score the tying run pic.twitter.com/Wz8P9ly1Ri

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 29, 2026

Upcoming schedule

The Mets begin a seven-game road trip on Monday with the first of three against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Clay Holmes will face righty Kyle Leahy, with first pitch on SNY at 7:45 p.m.

It’s not even March, but today’s game is an example of why I couldn’t fully buy in on this Red Sox roster. Starting pitching is great, but when the offense can’t support it, you’re always in danger of one swing changing the game. Connelly Early pitched well, although it wasn’t a dominant performance, but his offense only gave him two runs of support. A single and a walk later, and the go-ahead run was at the plate for Cincinnati. Greg Weissert left a pitch over the plate, and the Reds had a lead in the sixth inning.

The Red Sox threatened in the eighth inning, but Jarren Duran was picked off to give away an out. Andruw Monasterio doubled in the ninth inning, but Ceddanne Rafaela and Trevor Story couldn’t get him home. Timely hitting comes and goes throughout a 162-game season, but it’s fair to wonder if the offense isn’t good enough after a slow start. For the record, I think they’ll be better, but hitting with runners in scoring position has been a problem to this (incredibly early) point.

Back to Early. 5.1 innings of one-run baseball is great. At the same time, he wasn’t as sharp as he was at the end of last season. His four-seam fastball caught a lot of the strike zone and generated just two whiffs on 37 pitches. He did a good job of jumping ahead of hitters, but had a hard time putting them away. Reds hitters fouled off nine two-strike pitches, forcing Early to work hard for outs. His curveball, in particular, was fouled off several times and didn’t return a swing and miss. It’s a good start to build off of for Early, but better two-strike execution and fastball command will help him get deeper into games.

The Reds held on to win the game and the series by a run and a game. We’ll travel to Houston for a three-game set with the Astros on Monday.

Three Studs

Wilyer Abreu (3-4, HR, 2B)

Abreu continues to swing a hot bat. He went yard again in the fourth inning after fouling off nine pitches. He also doubled to the opposite field off a lefty later in the game, and singled to continue a rally in the eighth inning. He’s seeing the ball really well right now.

Jovani Moran (2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 0 ER)

Moran handled the seventh and eighth innings, keeping the deficit at one. His command wasn’t sharp, but his fastball shape is going to miss bats, and the changeup has always been a good pitch for him. Nice start to the season for the lefty.

Connor Wong (2-3, 2B)

How about Connor Wong? He singled early in the game, and then stuck his bat out at a ball off the plate that somehow flew to the warning track for a double. It’s nice to see him get a couple of early hits and start his numbers off without being anchored by a frigid streak. Decent day for Wong.

Three Duds

Greg Weissert (0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 ER)

Weissert came in in relief of Connelly Early with a runner on and one out. He walked Sal Stewart on five pitches, and then got ahead of Eugenio Suarez 0-2. He tried to elevate a four-seam to punch Suarez out, but channeled his inner Italian, throwing a meatball directly in the turbo zone. Suarez hit the ball almost to Italy to put the Reds in front in the sixth inning.

Side note: I saw a lot of “what was Weissert thinking?” in response to him throwing that pitch. I’m sure he was thinking, “I’m going to throw this above the zone”, not “I’m going to throw this in the perfect spot for him to hit it 500 feet.”

Jarren Duran(0-2, 2 BB)

Tony Santillan pitched on Saturday and walked two of the five hitters he faced. He walked Jarren Duran, and then went down 3-0 to Willson Contreras. Given those two facts, you absolutely cannot be picked off of first base representing the tying run in the eighth inning. Credit to Santillan, it was a good move, but Duran can’t let it happen.

Caleb Durbin (0-4, 2 K)

Durbin is now 0-12 with three strikeouts to begin the season. He was acquired in part because he doesn’t strike out frequently, but struck out in a huge spot late in Sunday’s game. Let’s hope he picks it up offensively soon.